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ofstarsandvibranium · 6 months

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Unexpectedly Yours: Part 5

Fandom: Ted Lasso (Regency AU)

Pairing: Roy Kent x F!Reader

Summary: Lord Roy Kent still has yet to marry. He hates the notion that marriage is a way to ensure your status in society. You have delayed your debut to society for years because of the same idea. So what happens when two people who hate the idea of marriage are constantly drawn to each other?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

You didn't want to speak to anyone the next morning after the dinner. You didn't want to see anyone. You were annoyed and slightly embarrassed with how you behaved last night.

You decided you'd stay in your room for the entire day. Cece had tried to get you to come out and play with her but you expressed that you weren't feeling well. Did you feel bad for lying to your cousin? Yes, but you really just needed to wallow in your room by yourself.

________________

"Lady Clara is here to see you, Miss." Jane announces as she peeks her head into your room.

You sigh, "Did you tell her that I'm feeling unwell?"

"Yes and she's very insistent that she sees you."

You groan as you sit up in your bed, "You may send her up, I guess."

Minutes go by and the door opens. Clara walks in, "Good day, Y/N."

You give a stiff nod, "Clara."

She clears her throat, "I came by to apologize. I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable last night. It was never my intention. My brother has always told me how stubborn I can be. I just-I love him so much. He deserves to be happy. However, I understand that while you and my brother are amicable that doesn't mean you are to be with each other. I apologize greatly for practically forcing you to be together. I am ashamed to say that I'm no better than the rest of society," her head hands low in shame.

"I accept your apology, Clara. Thank you. I admire your love and concern for your brother. He's...a good man. He does deserve love in his life. I'm-I'm just not sure that's me."

Clara nods in understanding, "Yes, well, I'll leave you to rest. I hope you feel better soon," she gives a bow and sees herself out.

As soon as the door closes, you groan and fall back against your pillows.

______________

Roy watches as Cece and Phoebe run around the garden. He's glad that his niece found a friend after moving here. Things haven't been easy for the young girl, and Roy's always done his best to make sure she lives a loving and happy life.

He hears his sister before he sees her. She's walking down the path that leads to where he's sitting, a bench underneath a tree on the property.

"Where did you go off to?" he asks, eyes still on the young girls playing.

"I went to apologize to Y/N," Roy grunts and Clara continues, "I won't meddle anymore. I'm sorry that I've made things uncomfortable for you both."

He nods to his sister, "Thank you. She-She already feels so much pressure on her from her mother, society, she doesn't need more."

"I know, but, Roy...please be honest with me, do you care for her?"

Roy's jaw clenches and he looks away from Clara. He sighs, "I do, but, again, it's complicated. She's so...aggravating, smart mouthed, opinionated. But she's also sweet, she cares deeply for her friends and family. I can't help but be drawn to her."

Clara softly smiles at her brother, she places a hand on his shoulder, "I know I said I won't meddle, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to win her affections. I do think there may be something promising between you two and I don't mean in a business transaction way."

"Clara?"

"Hm?"

"Did you love Andrew?" Clara sits and thinks about her husband, who's passed, "I wouldn't say love, but I cared for him as a friend. He was definitely the best out of the other men that have asked to court me. He was kind, understanding. He's also the reason I have Phoebe. I may not have loved him in a romantic way, but I do hold him dear."

"Do you think you could've fallen in love with him over time?"

She shrugs, "Maybe."

Clara and Roy both look on to Cece and Phoebe who are rolling in the grass. Their laughter echoing throughout the property.

_____________________________

In the late afternoon, you eventually grew tired of your self-isolation. So you called upon Keeley and Jamie to join you for tea.

In the sitting room, the three of you are lounging, sipping from your cups.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," Keeley states as she takes a bite from a biscuit.

"It's been a few days, Keels," Jamie says with a snort.

She waves him off, "Too long. Tell me, what have you been up to?"

You sigh, setting your cup down, "My family and I had dinner with the Kents last night."

"Oh! I heard about that!" you look at her with a cocked brow, "Your mother told mine. Honestly, I'm a little upset you didn't tell me!"

"How was it? Was Lord Grumps his usual grumpy self?" Jamie asks with a smirk.

"We hardly interacted. He seemed quite miserable actually. Then his niece asked when Roy and I would get married." Keeley and Jamie give you a questioning look and you respond, "Because we played princess and dragons with them. They were the dragons, I was the princess, and Roy was the knight who saved me. The princess and the knight always get married in the stories they've read. Anyway, I told her that what we did was make believe and she got upset. She ran upstairs. Roy followed. Clara and my father made a comment that Roy and I should be together and I-I just got so annoyed and upset. I left the dinner."

"Y/N, why are you so against you and Lord Kent being together?" Jamie asks, genuinely.

"I-He-We're just so different. He's so uptight and grumpy all the time! He's probably only smiled five times in his life! Besides, Jamie, isn't he always rude to you?"

"He's rude to everyone, ain't he?" Jamie responds with a shrug.

You point to him, "That's another thing. He's rude!"

Keeley's interjects, "I think that's just him trying to protect himself from anyone getting too close and potentially hurting him." You and Jamie look at her confused, "What? It makes sense! I heard he was previously engaged to this woman name Georgina Afton. They were super in love, at least it seemed that way. Then Georgina caught the eye of a duke and she broke off the engagement. People say Roy was completely heartbroken."

"So...he's just scared of getting hurt?" you ask in clarification.

"Probably."

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," Jamie says, "Wow, love. You never seize to amaze me," he says looking at Keeley like she hung up all the stars in the sky.

"Aw, thanks, love!" she leans in and pecks his lips.

The sight makes you smile. You always hoped to find a love like theirs. It was rocky at first, but Keeley and Jamie...they just make sense to you. They fit each other well and you dream of finding someone who fits you.

Is that someone Roy Kent? You're still not sure.

He frustrates you and makes you doubt yourself sometimes, but he also challenges you. He's caring and adores his family. He's quick witted and snarky, but also funny.

Hmmm...you really had to think about this.

Besides, there were other men that could potentially catch your eye. Maybe...maybe you should start taking finding a suitor more seriously...

#roy kent x reader #roy kent imagine #regency au #ted lasso au #roy kent au

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clumsycapitolunicorn · 11 months

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If Ted and Rebecca were never meant to be, then I want to know why Jason made the choices he did with certain things. Because they ended up pointing towards them. We didn't just make this up.

How on earth did he not think that we would think something was there, with Ted pulling out the green matchbook that connects to Rebecca's psychic prediction and Rebecca pulling out the green army man out of the green matchbook... Surely he had to know how that would look? I know he had to. He went out of his way to do a fake out scene at the beginning, that was the first thing we got after that the truth bomb ending. Plus, Rebecca's prediction plot still had to finish. There was only one ep left. How are we ridiculous for thinking that was where it was going? Plus, Rebecca was heartbroken about him leaving! She wanted him to stay and was thinking of solutions for him to stay.

They gave boatman barely 20 minutes of screen time with Rebecca, have Rebecca mention him once next ep, then nothing... Then he shows up last minute and that's it. We have to find out his freaking name from the credits.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that he made her laugh and so happy, but they could've brought him up more than just have him show up half way through and not have him show up until the end, to complete Rebecca's plot. It felt rushed. Combine that with what they did that made us think it was Ted, it just felt not as satisfying all round. I would've loved that ending if they'd actually done more and not had me hoping for Ted and Rebecca at the same time.

I don't know, there was so much potential for an outcome of either if they'd done it right..

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #rebecca welton #ted x rebecca #finding out the bbp meant nothing feels like a slap in the face too #i wish they'd just said no they're not happening #i would've been disappointed but then would've taken Rebecca's end well (especially if they did more with mattijis #because i genuinely liked the scenes #they had Rebecca's guy feel so last minute #it's like my disappointment with the bantr plot all over again putting her with a 21 old just because he interacted with her once #i genuinely wonder if they ever actually considered t/r #compare a 2 hour chemistry read to not even having hannah meet mattijis actor until the actusl filming #like see what i mean by how last minute?#idk it just uhhhh #now i feel like im a silly little shipper they can mocj #i thought i was watching a slow burn between two adults getting a second chance at love #apparently not

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rootingfordorks · 3 months

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One-shot getting together Ted/Trent as part of a polyam Ted/Trent/Beard relationship. Domestic fluff, rated PG.

Hearth & Home

Trent's kitchen was warm and bright with huge windows over the sink that let in the summer light. Glass-fronted cabinets on either side of the windows displayed mismatched dishware, and the several tea towels hung around the kitchen were equally discordant. Trent only bought things that made him smile -- or had the same effect on his daughter -- without a thought of coordination. The result was eclectic, but homey.

The countertops were covered with groceries, the result of a shopping run he'd done before picking Adeline up from school. Truthfully, the shopping could've waited a few days, but he had wanted to give Beard some space to talk to Ted. He looked over at Ted, who had bustled into the room as soon as Trent mentioned supper and was now at the stove making some sort of sauce, a soundtrack of Beard and Adeline playing together in the next room.

"Good talk, then?" he asked Ted. Ted lit up and turned half towards him, keeping one eye on his saucepan.

"The best," Ted said. "Coach filled me in about a few key details that I had previously misunderstood -- all things that he's already told you, of course -- and we're on the same page now. Same paragraph, even. We had a good ole fashioned heart to heart."

Ted's happiness was magnetic (but then, what about Ted wasn't?) and Trent was pulled closer.

"And a bit of a snog," Trent smirked. He was surprised when Ted shook his head and tutted.

"No, sir. It's my understanding that you all use that term about something hot and heavy." He paused long enough for Trent's noncommittal head tilt. "Beard and I stuck to kissin' and cuddlin'."

Trent had a brief marvel at what his fifteen year old self -- dutifully closeted, dreadfully lonely, diligently socially acceptable -- would think about this. Nevermind the whole friends with professional footballers thing. He thought his younger self would be shocked senseless by the rush of fond satisfaction his current self felt at hearing someone talk about kissing his live-in boyfriend.

"And talkin'," Ted added thoughtfully. He checked the sauce, nodded, and turned off the hob. "The hickey was a last-minute addition, a little gift from me to you."

Trent snorted. "You're so thoughtful," he commented drily. Ted grinned, then waggled his eyebrows. He didn't elaborate on the comment, but Trent had a sense of what he meant: he wanted to show he was serious. That this was real.

Ted stepped forward, reaching out to trail his hand down Trent's arm and take his hand. Trent interlaced their fingers and squeezed. He could feel his heart beating, let out a breath he suddenly realized he was holding.

They leaned in and their lips met. Ted's lips were soft and his moustache a bit prickly. He kissed Trent gently, a slow interplay of pursuit and withdrawal. Trent met his every move, savoring the slide of their mouths. It was almost entirely different to the week prior's experience; Trent resolved to catalogue every type of kiss in Ted's repertoire.

Ted's free hand rested on Trent's waist, and Trent had mirrored the pose. He tilted his head minutely and sucked Ted's lower lip into his mouth, but Ted didn't pick up the pace. Instead, Ted seemed to slow down. Time slowed down. The only thing in the world was this kiss. They were stood close enough that Trent could feel Ted's belly against his whenever they inhaled at the same time. It was perfect.

Eventually Ted ended the kiss (with a peck on the lips and then one on the cheek). He smiled into the space between them.

"Hi," Trent said softly. Ted smiled back, saying nothing but staring into Trent's eyes.

"Trent?" Ted asked, but didn't wait for a reply. He knew he had Trent's attention. "Be my boyfriend?"

"Oh, you smooth bastard," Trent said. He shook his head, thoroughly charmed.

"My momma insists that she was married to my daddy when I was born."

Trent kissed him briefly for that, because he apparently had a weakness for smartasses. Then he said yes, because after a year and a half of close friendship he knew Ted needed certain things said aloud.

A small voice yelling "dad!" from the other room popped their bubble, and Trent turned toward the doorway as Adeline marched in demanding her supper.

"It's almost ready, sugar," Ted told her. As usual, Trent got all soft and gooey at Ted's relationship with his daughter. Getting to see him with his own son over the last few months had only intensified the effect. "Why don't you and Coach get the table ready?"

As Adeline and Beard went in and out of the kitchen to set the table and make a salad, Ted quickly finished preparing the pasta and Trent cut the bread.

He waited until Adeline was clinking around in the dining room and asked, "When do you want to tell the kids? We could tell Addy tonight if you don't mind Henry hearing the news after her."

"Doesn't Tasha have to interview me, first? Run a background check?"

"It was more of an interrogation when I did it," Beard commented as he gathered more supplies. Ted pointed at his retreating back for emphasis.

"You're on first name terms with my ex-wife," Trent pointed out. "The agreement is that we introduce our S.O's to each other before they get to meet Addy, but you've been in Addy's and my life for years. Tasha already knows and trusts you."

Trent paused while Adeline and Beard rummaged through the pantry. He watched Ted carefully, trying to track his thoughts as they flew across his face.

"I gotcha," Ted said when they were alone again. "Let's tell the kids together, though. Too bad Henry's at a sleepover. Maybe we do movie night tomorrow at my place?" Trent nodded his agreement, satisfied.

#ted lasso #trent crimm #scenes from fics i might never write #coach beard #ted/trent/beard #tedependent #ted/trent #trent/beard #beard/ted #one shot #fanfic #happy valentine's day #my writing #fanfiction

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jout--jout · 2 years

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one thing that's been itching me now that some time passed since the episode is that they could've done the same thing they did to Laudna, but to Orym.

like Chetney said, Orym was a breathing, living being before going down, there wouldn't be any doubts about his state when the moment of resurrecting him came, he Would come back.

now Laudna, who has died before and went down a few times, is a big question mark when the thing is her resurrection. will she come back like the Laudna that we know? will she come back as herself before dying 30 years ago, fully alive but no memories of her time after those events? or her time with bell's hells? will only her come back, without Delilah?

plus, all the doubts about the rez spells themselves with 5e, would they even work on her, her being a hollow one? would they do the 1k gp one or be able to do the 25k one if powerful people are involved?

i feel like, in the heat of the moment, the cast maybe didn't think about that and how easier it would be if Orym was the one to stay down (tho he is a big asset and need for the group on the frontlines, that tiny lil man), and how could they really because a lot was at stake and emotions were high and they thought they could fix it (fuck you Ruidus die i still aint over that nat1), though they've been playing this game for a decade and probably will pull it off. and Matt is merciful. sometimes.

so in both scenarios, going to VM is completely plausible, if they so choose. Keyleth would resurrect Orym for... obvious reasons imo. and Orym, knowing what he does about Laudna and the Sun Tree and working for Keyleth, would totally be able to turn the tides to their side (although there would be some complications with the Briarbitch still roaming Laudna's head, if they decide to mention her at all)

but, storytelling wise... oh boy, storytelling wise Laudna dying is making me buzz with excitement for what's to come. it's a sad buzz, but a buzz nonetheless. ANYWAYS thanks for coming to my ted talk

edit: actually if orym died they wouldn't know about kiki being able to bring ppl back so you can scratch that BUT they'd still be able to bring him back w no worries through someone else. i think.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr #c3ep34 #imodna #laudna #orym of the air ashari #keyleth of the air ashari #bells hells #boy that was a big ramble i apologize #had to let that thought out #i dont know shit bout the rez spells btw so take that with a grain of salt #like laudna did #i hurt myself with that last one damn #sorry #:')

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viddo3k · 10 months

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Okay so... I watched Sonic Prime, the first season. And I'll have to say, i was (almost) pleasantly surprised. (Spoilers for Season 1 i guess?)

Before watching it, i remember what my friend told me, to watch this show without the mindset of a Sonic fan, or something like that.

I didn't listen and i regret it BUT it ended up not being as bad as i thought.

Season 1 was decently quick to watch, the 8 episodes were roughly 25 minutes long so i easily got through all of it in one go; something I haven't done in a looong while 💔

The pacing seemed pretty fine to me, most of the time, it had decent set-up, get introduced to familiar faces, get to see the classic Sonic v Robotnik fight, you know, the good stuff, and all seems well. Then the Paradox Prism Shatter happens and all goes to shit, both in and for the show.

I think they had lots of cool stuff they could work with; the Sonic franchise is filled to the brim with lots of events that could be twisted around to create alternative realities that could've been interesting! Problem is, they did exactly not that, or at least they didn't for the Jungle and the Pirate dimensions.

They have this Dimension where you have an almost Sonic Forces setting; Robotnik controls an entire city, everyone is sad, everything is robotic, and Sonic is uh... Not gone, per se? He was completely non-existent, so It's more or less the same. You also have a group of rebels too, commanded by Rouge (known as Rebel) and Knuckles (known as Knux. No I'm not kidding), so it really seems like a Sonic Forces' premise rehash, which I was excited about.

As a matter of fact, this New Yoke City dimension is actually pretty good, and it had some cool stuff going on around it. For one, Robotnik and his other 4 alter egos managed to capture a Shard of the Paradox Prism and use it as an energy source, and Sonic wants to get them Shards to fix the Prism, once he's realized his mistake, that of breaking it.

When Sonic goes around the dimensions, Nine (Tails) gets the Shard for himself and starts going around places and/or dimensions to find one most suitable for him, and he did, in the form of The Grim (as he calls it), all while the Resistance is managing to rally up against the 5 Robotniks.

I found this whole thing happening pretty damn cool, which is a shame because the other dimension are pretty disappointing by comparison.

This show is targeted towards children and it shows in the Jungle and Pirate worlds. I honestly think that it was borderline lazy, they literally just made everyone a pirate or a monkey, and have the most basic ass conflicts going on.

Like, in the Jungle episodes, Knuckles, Rouge, Big?? And Tails were all thrown on top of big big trees because Amy thought they were disrespecting and destroying the forest (they were), then at the end Sonic just gets them to do a quick Ted talk and look at that, all the problems are suddenly gone. A shame because it also had cool ideas, that of gigant flickies and the Shards having specific powers tied to the dimensions they're in (the Jungle Shard can grow trees at light speed). And God forbid they don't show you a flashback at least 20 times.

Then the Pirate episodes are just Knuckles having ptsd after he failed to grab the Shard for himself and his old crew, but then Sonic's all like "dude you could become famous" and suddenly he wants it again, and the funniest thing is that he actually gets it; much to Sonic and New Yoke City's Amy's dismay (she's evil over there). Unfortunately this world's Shard doesn't have any specific power, excluding for being exceptionally bright but every Shard glows anyway.

It kinda just boggles me how they went for such boring alternate world ideas when they had so much potential to work with, and i just think it's kinda lame, especially because the only actual location ever used is Green Hill Zone, It's like Sonic Generations all over again!

It's also worth noting that Sonic in this show is nothing like ever seen in the franchise: He's an actual idiot.

It's almost as though he's never had any coherent thought, since he struggles to make the easiest of connections throughout the show, and he's also kind of annoying at some points, ESPECIALLY in episode 2, good lord. I can hardly believe this is the same Sonic that went through Sonic Forces and/or the Metal Virus, and yet it is and it's terrible.

On a more positive note, this show looks pretty damn good, the animation is just on point, on par or even better than Sonic Boom's, which had great animation of its own; this goes to show just how much emotion can the Sonic cast portray simply via well animated gestures and such. They also had pretty well animated action scenes, like the Shadow v Sonic fight, or the Big Flicky chases. The environments themselves look pretty good too, especially NYC but that's probably just because I'm very emo.

I also liked the OST a bunch, i liked the almost underground mixed with Hip-hop influence the soundtrack had in NYC, and the Pirate/Jungle themed uh... Hip-hop tracks it had; yeah i think the Prime composers liked Hip-hop, It's like listening to Linkin Park, but i think that's cool, I'd like to see more of it in the Sonic Franchise.

Then there's the voice acting and like... I don't know about it. The cast just sound really weird for some reason, like the vas we're trying to do playful impressions of the game vas, mind you I didn't check who's voicing who so yeahh lol.

Well, i guess that's it really. What did i think about Sonic Prime's Season 1?

It's... Fine. Nothing outrageously bad and nothing amazingly good, just a Sonic themed kids show that has a surprising amount of potential left untouched by the authors, albeit with great animation and backing music, which isn't anything new to Sonic but yeah, still worth noting.

I'm hopeful for Season 2 actually, I've been told it's better than Season 1 so i have relatively high hopes for it, and I'll be definitely watching it soon and talk about it, so yeah, wait for it. All i hope is that they use more interesting ideas for alternative universes other than "Knuckles is a lame ass Pirate now".

#Sonic #sonic prime

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anonymityisfunwriter · 1 year

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I just got a comment on AO3 about Sharon Carter's treatment by fan media when she's actually not that bad.

The comment isn't popping up on AO3, and I don't know if it got lost in the ether or if the commenter took it down, but I'm going to take this opportunity to address something.

*Very mild spoilers for Chapter 15 and rant incoming*

Yes! They said it exactly right. Sharon Carter is constantly screwed over, in both canon and fan media!

And I can't speak for every fandom writer out there, but I don't particularly care for the whole Sharon hates Reader (in this case Sunshine), Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, or every female that she's ever come in contact with for no particular reason.

But I want to make one thing clear, this is not going to be the case with this story.

Sharon doesn't hate Sunshine, she hates what Sunshine represents.

I swear I have a point.

Think about it, Sharon has done (mostly) everything right. She wasn't a bad SHIELD agent. Before she was a villain, she didn't do anything any worse than any other character did. She just never got the chance for a redemption arc.

I think the same thing could be said for Wanda. They're sort of pushed to that point where they no longer see a point in being good anymore because where has being good gotten them?

And they both sort of own that they were turned into villains.

Of course, now she's the Power Broker and has done/is doing some pretty bad things of her own volition, but she didn't start off that way.

Sharon turned her exile and life as a fugitive into ruling over Madripoor. That's a pretty incredible power move.

And here comes Sunshine, who isn't very serious, who goes with the flow, can be a little immature, but people like her. Sunshine excels in a seemingly effortless manner, emphasis on the seemingly.

And because people like her, she gets chances that Sharon was never afforded. Sunshine represents everything Sharon could've had if only she'd had someone in her corner, if people liked her more than they liked Sunshine.

The same could be said for any of the women in the MCU who had powerful men in their corner.

Natasha had the Avengers (a group of very powerful men) backing her.

Maria Hill is (was?) Nick Fury's right hand man.

That's not to say that any of these woman don't have the ability to stand on their own, but they all constantly break rules and aren't punished as harshly (or as long) as Sharon.

Because the team liked Sunshine, had a soft spot for her, however you'd like to put it, Sunshine is given a chance.

Sharon says it herself, she didn't have the Avengers backing her, so she's still on the run, still in exile, when no one else is still being held responsible for the actions during Civil War.

And yes, there are consequences for her actions, but why is she the only one still paying them? That's hardly fair.

But because Sunshine smiles, because she laughs, is polite, kind, sweet, and everything else people want woman to be - Because Sunshine is more palatable, Sunshine got what Sharon had worked her whole life for.

Now, is that fair to Sunshine? No, of course not. Sunshine should be allowed to be herself (more traditionally feminine) without being infantilized or being told she's undeserving of the opportunities she's received. Sunshine's had it pretty tough and paid a hefty price too, but I could see how that would eat at someone.

So, yeah, I think Sharon is more than justified in her bitterness toward Sunshine.

And I think Sharon Carter gets way more shit than she deserved.

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

#anonymityisfunwriter #anonymityisfun #sharon carter #mcu #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel fandom #fandom discourse #fandom #fandom culture

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childrenfromthecrypt · 1 year

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Laurel Dmitrović

Age: 40

Birthday: July 6th

Gender: cis woman, though she'd toying with demi-girl as a label (she/they pronouns)

Sexuality: pansexual

Conditions: anxiety

FC: Troian Bellisario

Laurel Dmitrović was the only daughter of a Serbian immigrant and his Creole wife. As odd of a pair those two would seem, they were the best parents a young girl could ask for, raising her securely in the Jewish faith. Beyond that, they also were very set on making sure Laurel was secure in herself before anything else and be able to provide for herself rather than rely on anyone else. It was hard for them to say with any certainty that their daughter would be truly safe in the world they lived in, and so she needed to be reliant on herself, but know that good things happened because of good people, and while she needed to protect herself, being a good person and standing up for those who needed it was the most notable thing she could ever do.

Perhaps that was why she wanted to be a reporter from a young age. What she dreamed of doing was to showcase what was wrong to let the public know what needed to be done. As a young woman, she went to Dartmouth for her undergraduate in journalism before going to Emerson for her masters. While it looked impressive on paperwork, getting a job was hard as still few people wanted to take her seriously with what were still rather idealistic and even radical views. All the same, she had found a jobs eventually, though she shifted several times before finding a good paying job that also allowed to take the "risks" she wished to.

Her mother died when she was 25, and while her father still worked and was able to take care of himself, Laurel then made it her duty that her father would have a good life, after he worked his ass off her entire childhood to give her everything she needed. She often sent money back home, even if that meant making budget cuts for herself. It was worth it. ...of course, what she really wanted and needed was a promotion for all her hard work and years at the paper. She was hoping for an editor position, to allow for more ethical journalism practices and to influence the owners and CEOs to lessen the pay gap between its male and female workers, but also its black and white workers. Many people didn't see all she was attempting to do once she got to her goal, and because of that, she as often seen as a hard and too ambitious woman. In an age where it seemed men still wanted a homemaker, she wasn't exactly any man's first pick. So, she passed through her thirties without many serious relationships, still clawing her way up the ladder to finally put in motion all her plans, both for her family and the journalistic team that became like a second family.

It seemed like a test when she was given what could've been the biggest story of the century, one she'd be following and continuously writing about for months. ...granted, Laurel knew very little about science, so writing about the logistics of a space mission and the newly invented and perfected Gravity Wave was... a lot to take in. She felt a little lost, honestly, but put her best foot forward for what would likely be two years in Houston, mostly interviewing with those as mission control, but being able to meet the two man crew of the Ocula before launch and occasionally speak with them over technologies not often allowed to the public once they were in space. She found herself indifferent about Alex Toomey, the young man whose father had been the first man on Mars. He was a little off-putting, though she could tell it wasn't thinking himself above her, so much as it was some sort of facade. All the same, she couldn't get much deeper than an interview with him. ...Ted Lockwood, the man who invented the Gravity Wave, though, was kind. He was down to earth and understated in a way few important people she ever interviewed were. There came to be a lot of meetings off the record before launch, something she was looking forward to when they did plan to meet. Not only was she amazed by his humble attitude, but she felt close to him. Closer than she'd felt to anyone in a long time. Perhaps it was something. ...but maybe she was reading too much into it.

Laurel's story seemed like something out of someone's cliche romance movies, and she acknowledged that. However, there were clues pointing somewhere else that she never picked up at all.

This wasn't a romantic comedy. Oh no. Laurel was in the middle of a science fiction thriller, and that was something she'd learn when her world quite literally ended.

#muse: laurel

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isobel-thorm · 2 years

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Even numbers for Dani from the Saints row ask meme!!

2. Describe your Boss’s fashion sense. Did it change after joining the Saints? Dani's fashion sense can only be described as "Biker chic" - leather jackets and leather pants or biker pants, lots of high contrast black and neon colors, namely pink and purple. Post Saints when she notices the color palate is shifting more towards purple, more so that.

4. Which voice did you use for your Boss? Would you change any of their voicelines or how it presented them? Or did they add to your meta? For the game itself, I think it was voice 3? Whatever sounded closest to SR3/4's American Female voice.

6. Where did your Boss come from? What was their family like? Still haven't decided where the Ashfords originated from, but Dani's family life was overall good. She's a child of divorce, but Leo and Shalini kept things as amicable as possible, and Dani and her sister Jai were loved and knew as much, and they're all pretty close. Really the only reason why three out of four of them got into crime was Leo's best friend Reiss' influence and then Leo's own indifference to being a dirty FBI agent.

8. How did your Boss meet their roommates? I figure something as simple as a coffee run where she met Eli or Neenah first and then they introduced them to Kev and the other one and the rest is history.

10. How did your Boss feel about starting the Saints? For my universe, they're well aware they're just another chapter of Reiss, Quinn and Audrey's Saints, so Dani's all for it considering it runs in the found family. And she's well aware she and her friends aren't as batshit insane as her 'half-cousin' Quinn is, so she figures they've got a decent shot at success.

12. What does being a Saint mean to your Boss? Going off the last question, it's continuing the family business and making a name for herself within it

14. If there had been another option besides starting a gang, what would your Boss have done instead? Why? Leo probably could've set her up on the straight and narrow somewhere FBI adjacent, but considering who the both of them are, it would've ended badly, so the Saints outcome is just as well.

16. Did your Boss enjoy LARPing? What story and attributes would they give their character? Dani would probably be pretty close to canon here. Like she'd hate it and think it was weird first, but give her a few weeks/rounds to get into it and she'd be all for it.

18. Does your Boss prefer bikes or cars? Do they have a favorite ride? Motorcycles are her Thing. I didn't pay much attention to the models in game, but probably one of the sleek, sporty ones that are borderline dirt bike-y, probably with that under-body glow

20. Did your Boss let their friends play their preferred music in their cars or change the station immediately? Is your Boss actually annoyed by Roger McGillicutty (be your own boss ted talk)? She'll give them the aux cord/bluetooth clearance except for Roger McGillicutty. She hates that guy.

22. Describe your Boss’s relationship with their friends. Would die for them, and knows full well they'd do the same. They're her besties. And Neenah might?? Be her girlfriend.

24. Did your Boss call on their friends often? What activities do they like doing with them? TBH I forgot you could call them til a few of those rough 'call x gang to x fight' ones, so... she'll hang out with them 'off the clock' per se, unless she needs them in a fight.

26. How did your Boss feel about the event before After Party? Hurt but not surprised. She didn't have long to stew about it either bc as far as I'm concerned she woke up in a hospital after the attack to news that Leo Handled Things. With his bare hands because no one messes with his daughters.

#Dani Ashford

0 notes

boldlyvoid · 3 years

Text

Intro to Criminal Minds: Why They Did It

Criminal Minds x MINDHUNTER AU

Spencer Reid x Margaret Carr (OC)

Part 1: Ed Kemper.

Summary: Spencer is teaching a 7-week seminar on the most interesting criminal cases, explaining their actions to understand why they took place. Only, not everyone in the audience is a student.

warnings: graphic details of a real rape and murder case, like every trigger in the book, applies to this fic so read with caution (if you watch either show you're used to it, however), it's all real and did actually happen and I don't support any of it. strangers to lovers, mutual pining, flirting, fluff, eventual smut, idiots in love, OC is Wendy Carr's daughter, her bio father is Jason Gideon

word count: 3.9K

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't having fun teaching.

He started with guest speaking, moving to special seminars a few times a year. But he wanted something more, settling for a 7-week criminal justice elective of his choosing.

Intro to Criminal Minds: why they did it. Giving Spencer an excuse to share the most intimate facts about serial offenders in a setting where no one could tell him to shut up.

14 students total signed up for the two-hour Seminar, taking place every Thursday at 11 am from September until Halloween. Over the 7 weeks, he would explain the fascinating insights of the most successful killers in the United States. Only asking that his students write about a prolific crime they find interesting by the end of term, for their full grade.

All he wanted was to read about obscure killers from around the world, from the perspective of aspiring profilers.

The first Thursday, he came prepared with his coffee a half hour before the class. He wanted to write the main points on the whiteboard in advance, nice and neatly.

To his surprise, a student was already there waiting for him. "Oh, hello,” he smiled softly.

She was sitting with a book in her hands, she pushed her glasses up her nose to look at him as he walked in. She was older than his typical student, around 35. Probably finishing up a degree or adding something to what she already had.

"Hi," she smiled at him. “Sorry, I’m early, I was visiting my mom at Quantico earlier.” She explained. "I'm not a teacher's pet or anything. Promise, I’m not even a student.”

It made him laugh slightly, correcting him like she read his mind. "It's okay, I'm Doctor Reid," he introduced himself softly.

“Margaret Carr, Peggy is also fine.”

"Pleasure to meet you," he said quickly before focusing his attention on the whiteboard.

He could feel her eyes on him the whole time he wrote, not wanting to turn around and catch her. "That's so interesting," he heard her mumble under her breath.

"Hmm?" He turned around.

"It's just that, everyday occurrences that never phase the regular person somehow cause psychopaths to kill," she read the board back to him.

"I was reading a study a while back about how psycho killers medulla oblongata is approximately 19% smaller than the average human’s. Based on the way they're nurtured as children affects if they grow up to kill. The ones that don't often end up in law enforcement and other positions of power where their psychopathic tendencies can come to play."

He was taken aback for a moment. He had never experienced a student who was like him before. Someone who just pulled facts into conversations like it was nothing.

"I read that as well," he smiled. "It is fascinating. The smallest amount of bullying and abuse from a mother or disappearance of a father figure can set them off."

"Or, on the other hand, there are people like Ted Bundy," she added. "He was well-loved and taken care of, but it went to his head. His god complex and affinity for lying led him to be incredibly charismatic and enabled his killing."

"You're very educated on this already; are you just interested in hearing me speak today?" He asked, not wanting her to leave, finding it interesting that she was there.

"Oh," she blushed. "I was going to talk to you more about it after the seminar actually."

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you,” he felt a little giddy at the prospect.

"Thanks," she laughed. "Seriously though, I'm a big fan of your teaching style, I saw a few of your classes when my dad was teaching at the academy in 2005. It's a lot easier to remember facts if the lecturer genuinely loves what they're talking about."

"You're going to like this Seminar then. It’s basically just a way for me to get paid while unloading all the random facts I have,” he warned her with a smile.

"I know." She smiled back at him.

The rest of his students filed in slowly. By 11 am, 14 faces were staring back at him.

"Hello," he waved awkwardly. "I'm dr. Spencer Reid. For the last 12 years, I've worked with the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit. Catching serial offenders across the country."

He took a deep breath, letting the nerves find their way out of him. "I've been asked time and time again who my favourite serial killer is, which is a peculiar way to phrase the question. It feels morally wrong to have a favourite in the way people do with baseball players.

"I am, however, fascinated with several serial offenders' reasoning and explanation for why they did what they did. Every single killer is different, but it all comes back to 1 thing. Do you know what that is?"

They all shook their heads. “What is your relationship with your parents like?" He asked.

Everyone in the room reacted; some students sighed, some rolled their eyes as they recalled their parents and childhoods to memory.

"When a person decides to kill, it's often never in the moment. It's in childhood. The majority of serial offender's stories start the same; their mother didn't love them, their father left. Someone at home abused them or put them down repeatedly."

"Thus, causing a hatred so primal to bubble. No matter how hard they try and fight it, the bubble always bursts. They go from fantasizing to killing in retaliation for their abuse, taking the anger out in stages."

He referred to the board. "Every killer has a stressor and a trigger—something that causes the urge to bubble and the event that causes the bubble to rupture.”

"Edmund Kemper is a fascinating example of this. He grew up with a family for the first few years of his life before his father fully abandoned them. His mother handled the situation by turning her anger onto her son; it was his fault his father left, he looked just like him, Ed was just another useless man who would never amount to anything," he emphasized the words. Hoping the class sees the effects words have on children.

"He started by cutting up dolls, stealing his sister's barbies and cutting their heads off. In his mind, he was getting out his anger and hatred for how his mother saw him. She hated men, causing him to mature with a warped idea of what women are truly like."

"His attraction to killing worsened his mother's hatred; she could tell something was wrong with him, that he didn't react to everyday situations the way he should. By the time he was ten, she was locking him in the basement for days on end, telling him he was a monster and her biggest regret."

"The change in her rage amplified his own. He hated hearing her speak. He hated the way she walked around, thinking she was better than him. That just because she was a mother and a working woman, she deserved respect and submissive’s. All he could see was a woman with a big head who needed to be humbled. This is the moment when the psychotic side of his brain blended his hatred of his mother with how good it felt to kill."

"Is that why he, you know?" Peggy cut in, running her finger along her neck as she pretended to cut her head off.

He pressed his lips together in an awkward smile, nodding. "His signature, as it's called, was decapitation. But more specifically necrophiling the severed head of his victims."

The whole class let out a disgusted noise, Peggy and Spencer making eye contact while they shrugged, it wasn't news to them.

"At age ten, he moved from barbies to cats and dogs, never leaving them around for his mother to see. While he hated her, he was also absolutely terrified of her. Breading a special type of killer. When you think of school shooters or preferential predators, what do they have in common?" He asked.

He pointed at a student in the back. "They have a specific type of victim they’re after?"

"Exactly. Most serial offenders want to go after the cause of their pain or attraction. However, Ed wasn't able to kill the source of his rage for a long time. His mother mentally abused him so intensely that he believed she was in control of him and that her opinion of him mattered. He saw her as his God, he loved her, but he also knew that he disappointed her.

"He ran away soon after to find his father. Travelling to California, only to be told he was unwanted there as well. It wasn't just his mother that his father was escaping; it was the fundamental aspect of family that he didn't want. Ed defiantly didn't want to go back to his mother after that, so he moved in with his paternal grandparents."

He kept catching the looks on Peggy's face. She knew the story already, waiting patiently to hear the words he chose to make the horrific acts seem a little more conversational.

"His grandmother was exactly like his mother. If I had to guess, his father most likely had a distaste for his own mother and thus divorced Ed's mom. Only he never grew up to be a killer, just an absent father—his absence doing to Ed what never happened to him."

"Ed killed his grandparents when he was 15. Telling the police and his therapists that they had beaten him constantly, they refused to feed him and called him names. He said he snapped from the trauma; it was self-defence."

Peggy laughed to herself, making him smile softly. "Sending him to a mental hospital instead of a juvenile facility was the worst thing they could've done for him," Spencer added.

"Why?" A student asked.

"Ed is a psychopath." He reminded them. "He doesn't feel empathy the way we do. You can admit that you feel bad for him, yes? If you understand why he killed people, it doesn't make you sick, like him, it makes you human. You see a hurt person hurting others; Ed Kemper sees himself as a new sort of God, choosing who dies, how and when."

"He was brilliant, having the exact IQ as I do," just a humblebrag, "the staff trusted him. He looked like an innocent boy, smart enough to take matters into his own hands for the betterment of his life. They gave him computer privileges, they let him work the front desk and file patient information. Giving him all the resources to learn about who he was inside and how to get away with it perfectly."

"Damn," another kid added. "When did he get out?"

"At 21.” He answered the student quickly. “Ed was interviewed by my mentor Jason Gideon, in the 70s. Where he explained that being locked up during his sexual prime, as well as the access to information, is what truly set him off more than his mother.

"He moved back in with her and his sister when he came out of the institution, immediately returning to the constant ridicule. He went from being told all the time that he was a smart and charming young man, capable of rehabilitation to a useless, no-good son, who would have been better off collecting in a condom or running down her leg."

The whole class laughed, shocked at his repetition of Ed's mother's words.

"He got his licence when he was released. And remember, this was prime time for hitchhiking in California; everyone and their mother walked the roads with a thumb in the air. It was the birth of free love and recreational marijuana usage. It was also the best hunting ground for a learning serial killer."

"He was able to pick women up, but like I said, missing his sexual prime while in an institution made him almost impotent. He didn't know how to speak to women; he had to create a fantasy in his mind every time, one that involved killing, before he could look at a woman."

"How did he get them in his car then?" A voice asked from the back.

"He was 6'9, 300lbs; he looked like a big teddy bear. And his mother was the local college administrative assistant, so the whole town knew him anyway. If Ed offered to give them a ride, it wouldn't be that bad, right?" Peggy turned around to face the class as she explained for Spencer, who just shook his head.

"He only wanted to rape the victims, originally," Spencer added. "But he couldn't. There was no release of the tension. The bubble that had been growing inside him was at its breaking point; he needed to just do it. Get it over with and move on."

"He killed 6 women in succession after that. Gaining the name "The Co-Ed Killer," well before anyone even suspected Ed Kemper," Spencer took a sip of coffee, feeling his throat start to dry as they reached the insane part.

"He was overly friendly with the cops; he wanted to get his record expunged and join the force.” Spencer finally continued. “Being told, "don't worry about your record, worry about your weight.""

"Most killers enjoy wearing a uniform for the power and talking to the police about their cases, in the hopes of gauging how smart they really are—taking pride in the fact that they are getting away with it for so long."

"He watched all the cop shows, and he read all the books. He knew that in order to get away with it, he had to do it where no one could trace it back to him. He knew he had to keep his cool and avoid looking obsessed with the case, but just curious enough to gain insight into how they thought he was doing it. It went on for years, and they had absolutely zero leads, finding headless bodies every few months before they finally received a call." He left them hanging, walking over to his sheet of paper and pretending to read it while they anticipated the catch.

"Ed always knew that he wanted to kill his mother. He just never knew when,” Spencer teased the story along. Noticing as the students fidgeted in their seats as they wondered what happened next.

“In his interview with Gideon, Ed said that he knew she would die 7 days before he killed her. He walked into her room that night to find her reading, with the audacity to ask if he wanted to come in and chat all night. Teasing him for the way he rambled to her. It was the last time she ever did that."

"It's hard to imagine his signature with the fact his second last victim was his mother," Peggy added, cringing at the thought.

"Wait," another student interjected. "Who was his last kill then if he only really wanted to kill her?"

"Remember how I said he lacked empathy?" Spencer asked. "He loved his mother in the same way a prisoner can end up loving their captor."

Peggy nods at the comparison, looking like she's never thought of it that way before, then smiling at him.

"You grow a bond through the trauma and when the only thing you've ever known is violence and hate, you don't know what to do when that's gone, it's hard to cope."

"He said he killed his mother so that she never had to know what he did. She'd never have to sit at his court hearings or be able to tell the media that she always knew he was a killer."

"His last kill was his mother's best friend," He finally answered the question.

"He didn't want his mother to be even more disappointed in him, but he also didn't want his mother's best friend to find her like that and be upset. So the obvious answer to him was to kill her too."

"What the fuck?" He heard a couple of kids say under their breath.

"Yeah," he agreed with an almost chuckle. "This is what I mean by their answers are fascinating. It makes so much sense to them; clearly, if I kill my mother, her friend will be upset, so the best answer would be to put her out of her misery as well. He sees them as objects, like a matching set. One would lose value without the other."

Everyone was silent then. The students took in all the information they had just received, staring up at him with a look of disgust mixed with wonder.

"Any questions?"

Peggy raised her hand for a change; he pointed towards her in approval. "You missed the part where he specifically took the heads from the three women before his mother and brought them back home with him. He buried them in the yard outside her bedroom window, making sure they were always looking up to her."

Spencer was amazed that she knew the details. "Yes, I guess I did."

"I always found that part particularly interesting in this case," Peggy added. "Her opinion mattered so much to him. He knew how much she loved her co-ed's and how they looked up to her so much. They'd be exactly like her. He felt trapped in a town of women who were exactly like his nightmare, and his response was to make them physically look up to her for the rest of her life."

"Exactly." Spencer smiled. "understanding how he sees the situation and how the events played out in his mind is the key in figuring out who he is."

"If you were on the case in '72 when the first victims were discovered, how would you have handled it, Dr. Reid?" A male student in the back asked in the silence between answers, taking his shot before Peggy and Spencer went any further in their discussion.

“That's a hard thing to answer, connecting evidence back then was a lot harder than it is today, if it wasn’t for men like Ed there wouldn’t really be this many answers,” Spencer said honestly.

Another student put her hand up, “what’s the worst thing he did in your opinion?”

That racked his brain, there was a handful of horrific things he did that were particularly horrific, “probably his mother's entire murder.”

“What did he do?”

Before Spencer could answer he saw Peggy open her mouth and start explaining. “He not only cut off her head and fucked her neck, but he also took her vocal cords out and shoved them down the garbage disposal. And before he called the cops, he cleaned everything up and made her look presentable because he said his mother wouldn’t want guests to see the mess.”

The class all cringed, sinking into their seats with disgust. But that didn’t stop Peggy from explaining it all further.

“He used to go to a bar all the cops went to and he would talk about his case. They would always one-up themselves and say they were close which gave him this false idea that they were on his tail and they’d find his mother soon. But when they didn’t, he called it in from a payphone and said he’d come over and explain it all. And boy did he ever, the cops said he wouldn’t shut up. And then when they put him in the cop car finally, a woman walked past him and he threw up.”

Spencer watched her with awe, the way she could call information to memory like that was beautiful. He listened to her like he’s never heard a fact before, she was so intriguing.

“Thank you for the detail,” he teased her lightly. “Sometimes I get so caught up that the really gross parts get swept aside.”

The class smiled at him, he had gained their trust and attention within only 1 hour of class.

“I know you said you don’t have a favourite,” another student asked from the back. “I agree it’s weird, but who is the one you gravitate towards the most?”

“I’ve met hundreds of serial killers, I’ve read about thousands,” he explained. “I think Ed Kemper is the one I gravitate the most around because he was so willing and open to explaining why he is the way he is. Going as far as to say that the only way they could keep women safe is to give him a lobotomy. He didn’t believe there was any correcting to be done, only removal of the evil within him.”

He heard slight mumbles as everyone took in what he said. “Does anyone here have a killer or a case that interested them in learning more, or just introduced you to the chase of justice?”

Peggy put her hand up, “I personally think BTK is the scariest, most tactical, and just downright evil man to ever exist. He scares me to no end but he’s so interesting to learn about.”

“Ahh,” Spencer agreed. “Too bad you won't be here for week 3. But with that I think I’ll end the class, next week we’ll be discussing the difference between Ted Bundy and Richard Speck.” He nodded lightly, watching the majority of them close their books and had on out.

“I really enjoyed the class,” she said softly. Holding her purse in one hand, a collection of files in the other.

Spencer turned to look at her then, smiling right back. “It was a pleasure to teach alongside you.”

“What do you mean?” She teased, “it’s not like my mom and dad were the ones who did all the interviews."

“Carr,” he repeats her last name. The gears turning in his mind as he brings all the information forth.

“Your mother is Wendy Carr, she was recruited after the BTK case with Bill Tench, she’s who was behind that study you mentioned.”

“I know,” she smiled.

“Who’s your father?”

“Guess,” she looked at him with an unimpressed look on her face, pushing her glasses up slightly.

“You’re kidding? Gideon never said he had a daughter let alone a,” he stops himself before he can embarrass himself any further.

She smiled at the implication of his words, “but he’s told me all about you Dr. Reid, that’s why I'm here.”

“You need help with a case and I’m the only agent in Virginia currently,” he pressed his lips together awkwardly. Knowing it was too good to be true that she would have any interest in him in the slightest.

“No actually, I have a case I’ve been working on privately and I need some help. I asked my dad but he said you’d be able to help me the best. I agree,” she corrected him softly. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a big fan of yours. When I would sit in and watch his lectures, before he knew I was his kid, you would always step in at the best parts, adding the smallest details to the story that the average person would forget. It’s magnificent.”

He laughed slightly, tugging at his collar as she complimented him. “Thank you, you’re quite magnificent as well,” he replied with a blush and a smile

She didn’t look like Gideon, probably because she smiled so much. Like sunshine on legs, she beamed, all but blinding him with her smile as she stared at him, “do you want to get lunch and go over this case with me?”

“I’d love to.”

taglist: (message me if you want to be added or removed)

@shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria @spookyspence @reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @samuel-de-champagne-problems @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor @blanchardsbk

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #intro to cm #mindhunter #wendy carr #peggy carr

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annapogorilayas · 3 years

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LoD season 4 rewatch Thoughts

there is surprisingly little complaining about the trajectory of the writing in this one lmao. this season was fun! the kate vs steve stuff has its own section at the end

jason watkins is such an underrated actor and it's a shame we only got him for one episode :(

everything about kate vs buckells is hilarious in light of recent events

i don't think it's ever made clear why tim tried to get hana to visit his flat/why he went to her flat to have sex with her? i think that's the only red herring this season that didn't quite make sense

kate worked with buckells and hilton at the same time back in S1, and yet she isn't worried at all about hilton recognising her when he walks into the office in 4x02... even though they had a whole conversation in 1x01 where he addresses her by name! there's no way he doesn't remember the woman who threw a fire extinguisher through a DCI's door?

again, the whole "buckells is a blundering fool" angle had not quite taken off yet. he's a bit flustered when ted confronts him in the alley, and he's clearly ~one of the lads~ but other than that there's nothing to suggest he's an idiot.

buckells clearly didn't get the memo about michael farmer being balaclava man. i'm not against show writers making it up as they go along (this essay makes a good case for not planning too far ahead), and i do think he was the one who left roz the "someone is watching you" note, but if hilton appointed him SIO of trapdoor to keep the investigation on michael farmer he doesn't do the best job - he keeps pointing out evidence that supports michael farmer's innocence!

steve and kate take a backseat in 4x04 and yet it's my favourite post-S3 episode! the scene where roz turns the interview on ted is one of my favourite interview scenes and definitely my favourite post-S3.

the nerve of ted and kate to drag buckells into his office for "blowing kate's undercover" when she's clearly just... bad at keeping her cover

i think the roz-tim murder plotline could've been more interesting if we hadn't seen their fight. like maybe if we'd just seen roz walking into tim's flat? then again i could be biased because i thought the ending to 4x01 was ridiculous

this season had its silly moments, and it was the start of the H storyline which i think was the downfall of the show, but overall it holds up better than i remember? almost all of the red herrings actually go somewhere/make sense in hindsight (except for the tim/hana thing). this was also the last season before the dialogue, particularly ted's, slid into self-parody. that being said, i think jamie's character could've been better developed.

the kate vs steve subplot

kate and steve spend the first two and a half episodes bickering. steve seems to have a problem with her promotion (why tho?), and she makes a jab at him about lindsay (fair enough, but it sort of came out of nowhere). it goes as far as steve accusing kate of colluding in the framing of michael farmer! it seems like it's heading somewhere, when i first watched i thought it would culminate in a massive come-to-jesus fight... and then kate brings him a lamb madras and suddenly they're fine, with no acknowledgement of why they were fighting or what the problem was?

i'm not sure if J*d wanted us to make a link between the sexism subplot and the bickering; did he want us to think that kate thinks steve is sexist? or that steve actually is sexist and can't handle his female partner being of equal rank to him, even though in the previous three seasons steve never pulls rank on kate and they treat each other like equals? in fact, if you watched S1-3 without knowing what ranks they are you probably wouldn't know that steve was kate's superior. and when he finds out she passed her inspector's exam, he is genuinely happy for her?

the scene where ted and steve meet in the pub to discuss his promotion (an opportunity he denied kate) reminded me of S1, where tony gates decides whether kate is fit to be on his team based on how well she fits in at a drink with the lads. (i don't think ted was wrong to not want to have a drink with kate - he does have a point about what people might think - but it was a dick move to then go with steve)

who deserved the promotion? on one hand, steve had much more experience as a sergeant than kate, who had probably only been sergeant for ~1 year; that's a perfectly legit reason to pick steve. i also don't think that identifying the caddy should make kate a slam dunk - solving one case doesn't necessarily make someone better leadership material. however, steve has done something to earn a bollocking off ted about once a season at this point (going rogue in S1, the nurse in S2, lindsay in S3) while as far as ted knows, kate is always on her best behaviour (he doesn't know about rich akers).

this line from the script made me chuckle. you and me both, steve.

#line of duty #kate fleming #steve arnott #ted hastings #lod critique

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