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higheldertala · 6 months

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the star beast commentary

a bit of a mixed bag! some bits i liked, some bits i didn’t! but i wouldn’t be a dw fan if i wasn’t complaining so let’s go ✌️

the opening is awful!!! omg this is so bad. the directly talking to camera for exposition is 😖😖😖 cringe…

and the full shot of david tennant just standing on a green screen to the left of screen 😭😭😭 what is going on??

they could have just done a flashback montage? surely it would have been better than this?? idk i don’t care about new viewers what can i say

‘once upon a time lord’… cringe 😖 shut up

also this is all so pointless because fourteen literally repeats all of this exposition to shirley later!!!

title sequence! they are okay. maybe slightly overdone on the animation, i don’t know if the logo fits in well with it? will it grow on me? idk

the rtd1 era title sequence is still the elite one for me.

camden market! been there 😉

i feel like the doctor runs a very long way to help what would be a stranger with some boxes, i think the bumped into person gag would work fine (sorry this really nitpicking isn’t it)

the ‘what what what’ gag doesn’t get any funnier the more you do it russell 😭

‘never trust a man with a goatee’ the master brainrot in me says this is a reference to delgado!master

‘woman in the shop’, ‘man in the post office’ it’s all the master, i’ve connected the dots 😏

‘you can wear a suit that tight up to the age of 35 and no further’ 😂😂 russell you are so unserious

‘grand master/ mistress‘ more master reference 👀👀👀

also great to see we’re still making jokes about the doctor’s gender, im so glad we carried that on from the previous era(!) shut up boomers!!

the legacy of nerys 😂

living in london must be a nightmare if you live mortgage free and still can’t afford to live 😭 cost of livves crisis indeed

the deadnaming of rose was awful and really just unnecessary. like we didn’t need to know that knowledge at all

i understand the sentiment of wanting to show the existence of transphobia in society but idk i don’t think we need to see it in every piece of media that features a trans person (not to say this doesn’t exist, im sure there’s media out there!). i think trans people deserve to watch media where they don’t have to be reminded of the horrible discrimination they face daily. especially with shows that are escapism like doctor who

lovely to see donna being a fiercely protective and supportive mum tho

the sonic creating a screen and interface is so silly. whyyy 😭 it’s not necessary. i don’t actually mind not seeing a visual of the sonic readings the doctor sees

maybe the exposition dump of the doctor getting his old face back and the donna situation would be fine if this aired a week after potd but we’ve had this same ass conversation for the past 13 months and im so sick of hearing it

maybe this is just preference, but sometimes i feel like we treat different incarnations as different entities to an extent? i don’t know i don’t think it (regeneration) would be such a big deal to timelords themselves. but that’s my opinion, we know russell think very grandeur-ly of regeneration. i guess it doesn’t matter and i think this dialogue probably fits in as exposition for audience about the previous incarnations of the doctor so idk ignore this rambling i guess

i will say i don’t like the reducing incarnation down to a single trait. and 13 just being referred to as ‘woman doctor’ 😖😖😖 same vibes as people referring to missy as ‘woman master’ 😭

when i say i want doctor who to talk about/ explore gender… this ain’t it

sylvia slapping 14 is awful and unnecessary. the companions’ mums slapping the doctor gag still isn’t funny russell, it’s just assault.

‘space rat’ ‘ferret from mars’ ‘mad paddington’ i love donna 😂

it’s so sad to see them talk about wilf in context of bernard cribbins passing away. i thought he might have had a dedication at the end of the episode. maybe he will for the giggle if that’s the episode with his scenes in?

it’s such a boomer thing to do the whole gen z accusing ’you’re assuming x pronouns’ 🙄

the sonic creating shields. FUCK. OFF. this is silly!!!! why is sonic so fucking overpowered now it’s ridiculous!! please stop with the sonic pleaseeeeee. this is worse than 13 using it to scan everything constantly 😭

the doctor giving donna the sonic subconsciously was very cute though

‘resonating concrete’!! i love this reference very good very good

the meep running across the doorway was funny

the barrister wig is so cringe 😖 please stop i know it’s a reference to the 4th doctor but uhhhh… just no. it’s almost as bad as the sontaran chocolate joke 😖

the sonic can now teleport people as well? 😭😭😭 paiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

so glad to see everything can be solved with a wave of the sonic, nothing fucking changes there then(!)

im not sure what to think about the weapons in shirley’s wheelchair, i think it would be best to consult wheelchair users on what they think on this

donna calling him the doctor 🥹🥹🥹

a glass wall dividing the middle of the room is such a plot contrivance… what?? why on earth would this ever exist on a ship??

‘who cares about me? i do!’ 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

there’s so much technobabble in this climax, uhhh it’s way too much to me, it’s overkill it really is

on first viewing i nearly cried at donna ‘dying’ knowing full well she lives 🥺 it’s so great to feel something again watching doctor who

14 cradling donna’s body is so heartbreaking and then him not caring if he dies 😭😭😭

i was so happy to see the meta crisis had passed onto rose, that was cool

i don’t understand the ‘binary/ non-binary’ bit, it doesn’t add anything to the explanation, just rose being donna’s child makes sense enough

‘the doctor is male and female’ i don’t get this at all, i feel like we’re adding gender to where it doesn’t need to

‘and neither and more’ i agree this sentiment more.

i would presume the boss is the toymaker, but the in-vision commentary for the episode says david doesn’t know their identity and idk if they were just joking or if this boss is someone entirely different

‘it’s a shame you’re not a woman anymore cause she’d have understood’ first of all… cringe, second god such a fundamental misunderstanding of 13’s character 😖

every reference to 13 in this episode is just to bring up that shes a woman 🙃🙃🙃

‘something a male presenting time lord will never understand’ shut! up! boomer! this is one of the cringey-est lines in the show omg. also so stupid to think the doctor has immediately forgotten their perspective of the world as 13??? literally doesn’t make sense, time lords wouldn’t see gender this way?

this make much better sense by just saying the doctor wouldn’t understand ‘as a time lord’ and not a human, i mean the resolution is still naff but this would make it slightly better by not adding this gender aspect for like no reason

the resolution of the meta crisis of ‘just letting is go’ is so stupid!!! this completely undermines the ending of journeys end!! at least the trend of undermining previous events in anniversary specials carry on(!) at least russell only doing to this to own work this time… but still

why can’t just spilting the meta crisis between two people be enough? i’d buy it.

so by ‘letting go’ donna and rose aren’t part time lord anymore?? do they still have the memories/ knowledge of the doctor?? slightly unclear

14 and donna making pouty faces at sylvia 😂

i said it before but yeah tardis interior bad 😖😖😖 why is it all white? 😭

at least 12’s interior can sleep at night knowing it’s still the goat

very cute to see david tennant doing zoomies tho

14 and donna fangirling aw ☺️

donna spilling coffee on the console was so funny 😂 honestly might be my favourite bit of the episode

booooooo disney logo at the end :/

concluding thoughts: it was good, i did enjoy it, although there was quite a lot of cringe in it for me. and i think the gender stuff was very clumsy done (even if rtd has good intentions), it really didn’t land and just didn’t add anything. seeing the doctor and donna again was very comforting, there was definitely a warm blanket of nostalgia that certainly carried the episode, i would guess the story might not appeal to me as much without them im sure. i didn’t notice the directing, so it did a good job, very glad to see that!! i liked rose, it certainly great to see a trans woman in doctor who and im so happy for that! im sure she’ll definitely be a good addition if (when) she comes back for ncuti’s run. i love donna of course! always and forever my queen, such a joy to see her! i didn’t expect anything less. the other negatives ive discussed, the sonic being wayyyyy overpowered is certainly annoying and the tardis reveal was underwhelming for me unfortunately. but im very excited to see the upcoming episodes, hopefully it will only go up from here. will be clowning myself this week that either sacha or peter will be in the next episode! 😅

have i done ratings out of 10 before? idk this would probably sit around a 7? maybe. could have been tweaked just to bump up the rating but what can i say, a massive improvement from the ch*bnall era and for that im certainly happy!

#we’re back and we’re ready to do it all over again #sorry for the typos as always!#dw commentary

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rebelwriter99 · 1 year

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As a Star Wars fan that is relatively new to all of this, given that there have been fans around for 40 odd years and I haven’t been alive that long, I have made some *observations*.

We’re not nearly as terrible a fandom as advertised. And especially as experienced online.

Hear me out.

I have never attended any kind of con before. Ever. Too scared. I have a metric ton of traumatic experiences linked to my CPTSD where my special interests (as an autistic person) were mocked to the point I felt physically unwell whenever I looked at them or tried to engage with them. It reached the point I was meticulously secretive about the things I loved. Star Wars being one of them. A few years ago though, I got sick, I now have 7 medical conditions that disable me in differing ways and in differing degrees and Star Wars has kept me alive while I dealt with all of that. Learning to Hope and learning to action Hope are key skills when living as someone like me I feel. I also have an Assistance Dog now, and have to deal with everything the world and the general public throw at me about that.

Two weeks ago I went to Star Wars Celebration. I got on the tube in the Star Wars dress I loved so much I hopped around my flat with joy when the parcel arrived but never had the courage to wear anywhere. My Assistance Dog had his Star Wars patch on. I got there, near shaking because I was no nervous, and I was inside for about 30-45mins before Skye (my dog) put me on the floor to lie down because my HR got too high.

And I have never felt safer doing that anywhere. Ever.

In a venue with that many people, I have never had such a tiny number of people distracting/trying to pet my dog. And the few that did, 90% of the time there was a language barrier so reading his gear wasn’t going to be super helpful to them. And every single time I said “sorry he’s working-he’s my medical equipment!” people instantly just backed off. No shouting at me, no complaining or saying how rude/grumpy/horrible/mean to my dog I am. Hey just two days go I got told on a train mid medical episode whilst Skye was alerting that I didn’t deserve to have a dog because I stopped a man from petting him, twice! But not at Celebration.

If I was sat on the floor or otherwise sorting a medical episode, and people asked ‘are you OK?’ people actually listened to and respected the answer I gave, rather than calling security or staring for ages or refusing to leave me alone. Skye had to do crowd control one day to keep me safe when we got the tube at the end of the day. Everyone just seemed to ‘get it’ and gave him the space. Previously I’ve had people walk straight into him like he’s not there. He’s 35kg of very large Labrador.

And more than anything-people spoke to me and not my dog. Despite seemingly everyone there eventually knowing his name, if people said hello to us or asked for a picture or anything at all-they spoke to me instead of Skye. I was a real human being and not just the thing that happened to be holding the cool dog’s lead.

I wish people knew how rare it was for me to have such an overwhelmingly safe and positive experience in such a large crowd of people. It is genuinely a testament to the kindness and understanding of thousands of people that I was able to spend 4 days there and the worst moment be when I realised I had to leave at the end.

There will always be people, I think, who say they love Star Wars and mean something quite different. But honestly having found my corner of the Star Wars fandom here, and having been to celebration-I don’t think I’ve come across a not nice human as of yet (I do not count comments of YouTube videos I glance over I do not interact with this species). Sure some of us like different things-but I feel that’s rather the point. Some people were at Celebration for the pin collecting, some for Lego or something similar, I was there to listen to people talk about storytelling for hours on end. But we can all agree that Star Wars is wonderful at the end of the day.

I’m not entirely sure how to go about saying it-but please be happy you’re a Star Wars fan. And don’t feel like saying so out loud might make people think you’re “one of the mean ones.” Based on my experience, I think the vast vast majority of this fandom are rather lovely. And since I am unable to say thank you to thousands of people at once for enabling me to exist in a building and be very happy whilst I’m there, or thank everyone individually on here for geeking out about these things with me and making me feel like part of a little community of writers and artists I shall forever be in awe of-I wrote this post.

So. Thank you humans who love Star Wars. I think you’re all rather wonderful. And I shall send you all of the Star Wars joy. Always 🌟

TLDR: in this essay I will explain why Star Wars fans are very lovely actually. No I will not be taking corrective comments at this time. I am having feelings about experiencing happiness in an accommodating space and can’t possibly be interrupted.

#star wars #because funnily enough the story that tells you compassion is great and kindness is generally a good idea #and we must be good people to make the galaxy a good place to be #is loved by lots of very nice humans #who knew right?!

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kainosite · 5 years

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Les Misérables 2018, Episode 3

Les Mis fandom: Andrew Davies is a scoundrel. What is he?

Me: ... Scoundwel.

The Good:

• I can’t believe the BBC actually filmed the “Now the people of this town can see you for what you really are” scene of a thousand Valvert fanfics. They know what the people want.

• The Thénardiers are still fantastic. Somehow the BBC has achieved the impossible feat of portraying them as loathsome abusers whom you hate with every fiber of your being, while simultaneously making them the fun comic relief you’re sort of rooting for in their capacity as the wacky crime duo. On Christmas Eve I wanted the Seargeant of Waterloo to burn to the ground with everyone inside it, except for Cosette who was out getting water, Éponine and Azelma who were playing on the swings and Gavroche who was out back playing with Chou Chou or something. I still grinned when Madame Thénardier cheerily reminded her husband to bring the pistol the next morning. Striking this balance is a truly impressive achievement that I’ve only seen equalled by the Dallas production of the musical.

Their family dynamics are also coming across very well, sometimes through very subtle touches. The differential treatment of Éponine and Azelma vs. Cosette and the way the Thénardier girls have been trained by all the adults around them to see Cosette’s abuse as a hilarious game, Gavroche being conscripted to fill Cosette’s role as household drudge once Valjean takes her, Mme. T slipping a bill out of Thénardier’s stash once he goes after Valjean – it’s all really good.

Their reactions to Valjean were good too. Mme. Thénardier was thoroughly unimpressed with this roughly dressed man she’d decided was a hobo and only reacted with hostility when he was kind to her little whipping girl, but Thénardier as the criminal mastermind of the outfit decided the moment he noticed Valjean paying inordinate attention to Cosette that he must be a pedophile and they’d stumbled upon a lucrative financial opportunity. I know some people don’t like this change, but honestly it makes a ton of sense. Valjean’s interest in Cosette is strange, and considering the usual clientele of the inn cheer whenever Mme. T hits the kid with the strap, the Thénardiers aren’t used to seeing other people regard her plight with compassion. Unlike in the Brick, this Cosette is a very pretty child, something discernible even beneath the dirt. And it’s Thénardier, so of course he thinks the worst. Valjean doesn’t volunteer that he’s representing Fantine (perhaps in this universe where he knows Javert is so fixated on him, he’s worried that would make him too easy to trace?), so really, what else is Thénardier meant to think?

• There are some priceless interactions between the protagonists and Thénardier: when he’s trying to haggle and Valjean keeps ignoring him and just repeating “How much?”; Javert’s baffled “Nothing!” when he asks Javert what Javert is planning to do for him.

• Javert and Gavroche’s preliminary encounter over the coffee cup was a nice, subtle touch.

• A+ hair analogy between Fantine last week and Valjean this week. A+ removal of the godawful ponytail. That prison barber in Toulon deserves the Légion d'Honneur.

• I’m enjoying Javert’s meteoric rise at the Prefecture and I love Rivette. “But Kainosite, you love every long-suffering lieutenant.” Yes, what’s your point? Javert deserves a long-suffering lieutenant and so do I. Although it’s hilarious how much Oyelowovert is Fanfic Javert, in his relationship with his subordinates as much as in everything else.

I also enjoyed Javert’s phrenology skull, which I hope he sometimes monologues at Hamlet-style. A black Javert might hesitate a little before going all-in on phrenology, but I do appreciate his commitment to cutting-edge criminology research.

• LMAO at Javert’s fanart commission.

• Valjean and little Cosette are adorable together, and I really appreciate how much time Davies devoted to just depicting them interacting and letting the relationship breathe. The strength of their bond is going to be very important later on, especially to Valjean, so it’s worthwhile to establish it now. And they were suuuuper cute. This adaptation tends to cut out Hugo’s humor sections, so it was nice to get a bit of relief from the grimness with endearing family time.

• I rather like Cosette calling people “nosy bitches”. I mean, who socialized this kid? The Thénardiers, that’s who. It makes her seem more like a real child and less like a perfect little doll designed to reward first Valjean and then Marius for fulfilling their roles as protagonists.

It’s also an early hint at Valjean and Cosette’s unhealthy isolation and codependency. The principal tenant is actually fulfilling her duty of care here in a society without any proper system for child safeguarding. Cosette never seems to leave the apartment, certainly not to attend school or to learn a trade. There’s no family resemblance between herself and her guardian. (Incidentally, I’m impressed by how much Mailow Defoy really does look like the child of Lily Collins and Johnny Flynn. All the matching between the kids and their “parents” has been superb.) They give inconsistent stories about their relationship. And Cosette is, as previously mentioned, an exceptionally pretty child. The principal tenant should be worried - she doesn’t want Hector Hulot taking up residence in her building, and this pair are deeply suspicious. But they can’t perceive her attention as legitimate concern, just as an unwarranted and unwanted intrusion into their little idyl.

• Similarly, Valjean’s early worries that he’s isolating Cosette too much by denying her all contact with the outside world or other children her own age are a nice piece of foreshadowing, as is her blithe answer that the only friends she needs are Valjean and Catherine. Of course she’s content: she has food and warmth and security and the undivided attention of a loving adult. To a child whose previous experience of the world has been so traumatic, their isolation must seem like paradise. But this isn’t healthy and it isn’t sustainable, and the show is flagging that up early. In many adaptations Valjean’s Cosette Issues seem to come out of nowhere, so it’s great that they’re laying the groundwork here.

• The whole “For a dark hunt, a silent pack” sequence is very well done. There’s a nice piece of foreshadowing with the lamplighter hoisting up a candle as Valjean and Cosette are coming into Paris. (Most of the Parisian lamps are nice flickery ones, although you do occasionally see those peculiar white ones we saw in Montreuil.)

I also appreciate Davies cutting Valjean’s canonical “Be quiet or Mme. Thénardier will catch you and take you back” line to Cosette from the Brick, which was an awful thing to say to a traumatized child.

• Things continue to look right. The courtroom setup was really quite good.

The Meh:

• After watching the episode twice I think I finally understand what was going on with Javert at the trial.

His plan to entrap Valjean is no less incredibly stupid and risky than it was last week, but at least Javert has finally realized this. He looks increasingly worried as each convict gives his testimony and identifies Champmathieu because they’re getting closer and closer to the end of the trial and Valjean still hasn’t acted. Unlike Étienne in the 1952 movie, Oyelowovert has already testified and perjured himself, so he has no failsafe – if Valjean refuses to take the bait then Champmathieu is condemned in his place, the real Valjean is protected from legal pursuit forever, Javert’s perjury has real, long-term, perverse consequences, and Javert needs to find a new career. The shock we see on his face when Valjean finally confesses is relief and the shock of seeing a scenario he must have played out a hundred times in his dreams becoming a reality before his eyes, or possibly a consequence of him coming in his pants, not shock at the revelation that Madeleine is Valjean.

But there are few members of the audience who are keener observers of Javert’s face than I am. Most of those people are probably in the Valvert Discord chat, and none of them could figure out this scene on their first viewing either. We should not have to analyze Javert’s microexpressions to determine the answer to a question as fundamental as “Did Javert sincerely believe Champmathieu was Valjean?”

• On the whole the trial was bad but I did appreciate Brevet just yanking out his suspender to show the court. Although @prudencepaccard is gonna be mad it wasn’t checkered.

• The amount of time it takes Valjean to escape from Toulon is really of no great importance to anything. Maybe this Javert gave them specific instructions to search him with care so his files kept getting confiscated and it took him longer to file through his chains. We know the Orion incident never happened in this universe, so maybe it took two years for Valjean to spot a good escape opportunity. Who knows? Who cares? It has zero impact on the plot.

People concerned about the extra time Cosette was left languishing with the Thénardiers should direct their complaints to Brick Valjean, who faffed around in Montreuil for a month while her mother lay on her deathbed constantly asking for her, and only decided to go pick her up once he was under arrest and it would obviously be impossible. Davies’ sins pale in comparison to Hugo’s in this regard. At least Westjean tried to send someone to retrieve her.

• ‘Rosalie’? Okay, fine, but I’m not sure why this adaptation feels compelled to give everyone first and last names. Thénardier could just call her ‘Darling’.

• I know they also abandon Catherine in the Brick, but in the Brick Valjean doesn’t pause in their flight to pack the candlesticks, the objects that are precious to him, and Cosette doesn’t specifically ask about bringing her. Put the pillow under the blankets to fake out Javert like a normal person and let your child keep the one toy she’s ever had, what the fuck is wrong with you, Valjean?

On the other hand, the doll is made of dead people and it may be possessed, so perhaps this was just responsible parenting. I’m calling it a draw.

• It’s not that I have any great objections to giving Simplice more screen time or letting the Mother Superior of the Petit-Picpus convent decide to shelter a convict, but there was no particular reason not to use Fauchelevent for the Fauchelevent plotline. It’s a small instance of a good deed being paid forward that underlines the main theme of the book, as does Simplice’s act of self-sacrifice in lying to Javert to protect Valjean. All of that has been lost and nothing has been gained in its place. (Also is Cosette just... “Cosette Valjean” in this adaptation? “Cosette Thibault”?)

The Bad:

• If Javert perjures himself to trap Valjean that is an incredibly big deal and we should see it. I accept that this Javert might do it: Oyelowovert cares about his career and about ruining the lives of criminals, not about the rules. If he can trap Valjean, superb. If Champmathieu ends up in the galleys because of it, well, he’s a filthy apple thief and he deserves it. Javert is subverting the course of justice in the service of a greater social justice. But this monumental deviation from his Brick characterization, this enormously consequential lie, should not occur off-camera, for fuck’s sake!

Also it’s not clear what reason a Javert who is happy to lie under oath would ever have to throw himself into the Seine.

• Why the hell was Valjean so hostile to the other convicts? He assumes they’ve been paid off, but... by whom, and to what purpose? By Javert, to entrap him? We the viewers at least know that can’t be true – Javert only found out about Champmathieu from the Prefecture, after Champmathieu had already been identified as Valjean. By the public prosecutor at Arras, who is desperate to close the case of a minor highway robbery that happened almost a decade ago on the other side of the country completely outside his jurisdiction? By the many enemies of Champmathieu the random hobo, who really want to see him go down for a felony? It makes absolutely no sense.

Possibilities that make more sense: a) the convicts are sincerely mistaken about the appearance of a guy they’ve not seen in eight years, b) they just wanted to get out of Toulon for a month and they’re willing to say anything to do it because Toulon is a hellhole, as the first episode made exceedingly clear, c) they know perfectly well Champmathieu is not Valjean and they’re lying to protect the liberty of their old comrade by condemning a stranger in his place. The whole dynamic of this scene – Madeleine, the respected mayor and factory owner, who’s been clean and well-fed and safe for years, yelling at these filthy men in their convict uniforms, Chenildieu with some kind of open wound across his forehead, quite possibly a lash mark – is deeply unpleasant. It makes Valjean look like a complete asshole and sets a sour tone for the whole episode.

• The entire trial is just off. Valjean’s off-putting and inexplicable hostility to his fellow convicts, Javert’s mystifying facial expressions, the audience who keep laughing at unfunny lines – the scene just doesn’t work, it doesn’t come together. It was at something of a disadvantage because I came into it having just watched the 1952 trial scene for the previous episode’s review post, which is the best ever adaptation of the Champmathieu trial, and any other version was likely to pale by comparison. But this one was particularly poor.

• I said last week we’d have to see what the series made of Valjean’s externalization of his emotions. Well, what it has made is an awful lot of shouting at everyone, starting with the poor convicts and continuing from there, and also an excess of violence. Valjean charges into the soldiers in Montreuil-sur-Mer and bowls them over, he threatens to knock Thénardier down and then to blow his head off, he gets Thénardier into a headlock and grapples with him. Even when Westjean is coming into the convent he has to practically break down the doors. Everything is violent action with him. It’s OOC to the point where it’s becoming a problem rather than merely a different interpretation of the character.

All this aggression isn’t even effective at making him seem dangerous! The thing he does in 1978 where he gently removes Javert’s hand from his collar is vastly more intimidating because it showcases his superhuman strength. He should have just plucked the gun out of Thénardier’s hand like he was taking it away from a child instead of all this undignified scuffling.

• Tumblr, a humble reviewer has failed in accuracy, and I have come to bring this matter to your attention, as is my duty.

I argued last week that Westjean is not a misogynist: he yells at everyone in his vicinity regardless of gender. Well, you were right and I was wrong. That menacing lunge he takes towards Victurnien while screaming at her, calling Mme. Thénardier “woman” and shouting at her to bring his supper, the way he bursts in on the nuns at the end – it all adds up to something pretty unpleasant.

• I have never in my life seen an adaptation that makes Fantine’s death so much about Jean Valjean’s manpain.

If you look a 1978, an adaptation that gives if possible negative fucks about Fantine, it still manages to make the confrontation over her deathbed a conversation between three people, in which she has agency and reacts to what people are saying and is present in some capacity other than that of an object to make Valjean sad. Someone compared Collinstine to a substitute Coin of Shame, and I think that’s really apt: Valjean is distressed and guilty because he’s failed to rescue Cosette, so he goes to Fantine’s bedside to sear the image of her despairing face onto his retinas in the same way he seared the imprint of Petit Gervais’s forty sous onto his palm. He’s punishing himself by deliberately upsetting her. For both Valjean and the camera, this scene is all about Valjean’s feelings and not about Fantine’s.

The person in this room with the biggest problems is not Jean Valjean, for pity’s sake. I like to see the man cry as much as the next fangirl, but this was vile.

• Valjean’s visit to Fantine on her deathbed is a stupid, irresponsible thing to do and a direct cause of her unhappy death in the Brick and in every adaptation where she survives long enough for Javert to turn up. Valjean knows he has no good news to give her, he knows that the criminal justice system will be after him sooner or later, he knows that having Fantine and Javert together in the same room is a phenomenally bad idea, and he has urgent business in Montfermeil, or if he’s resolved to stay in Montreuil-sur-Mer to await arrest then he urgently needs to designate some representative to go and pick up Cosette in his place. Instead he loiters by a sick woman’s bedside until Javert shows up and predictably traumatizes her to death. As a result, Fantine dies in misery and Cosette suffers under the Thénardiers for another year.

But in the Brick it was at least not an insane thing to do. When he left Arras he was not being pursued, and he reached Montreuil well ahead of the news about the trial. The magistrates in Arras were in two minds about how to handle the situation. Given Madeleine’s status, the widespread affection and admiration for him in the region, and the fact that he turned himself in, it’s not inconceivable that had it not been for his little Bonapartist slip in the courtroom, they wouldn’t have issued a warrant for his arrest at all and would simply have sent him a summons to appear at the Var Assizes to stand trial, or directed him to surrender himself at the prison in Montreuil rather than sending Javert after him. I’m not sure it’s likely, given that he’s a known flight risk and parole violator illegally occupying a public office and they seem keen to get their hands on his fortune, but it’s not inconceivable.

In this adaptation Valjean breaks away from the police in the street and leads them straight to Fantine’s deathbed. There is no fucking excuse for this. NONE. Brick Valjean was a fool to come at all and a bigger fool to stage a massive confrontation with Javert while he was still in the infirmary, but his mistakes were those of a man under immense stress who never bothered to think about Javert long enough to construct a working psychological profile of him. Westjean’s mistakes were the mistakes of a selfish asshole too caught up in his own feelings of guilt and shame to have any regard for the people he allegedly cares about and wants to help. Valjean is an extreme deontologist and his actions are always self-absorbed to a certain degree, because they’re fundamentally more about whether he can feel he’s done the right thing than about the actual effects of his actions on other people. (He and Brickvert have that in common.) But it should never get to the point where he’s actively harming people to this extent.

• Brickvert doesn’t seem to care for firearms much, and Oyelowovert looks like a jackass waving his two giant pistols around, but he’s a different character and if he’s decided they make him look cool then fine, I guess. But in that case he should not be intimidated by Valjean’s strength in the infirmary. You have guns, idiot! If he threatens you just shoot him in the leg!

Guns completely change the dynamics of this scene, as the Dallas staging of the musical conveys very well. The BBC handed Javert some pistols and then forgot he had them.

• In 1862 people would probably have found the implication that Catherine has Fantine’s hair to be sweet and charming, because the Victorians loved toting bits of their dead relatives around and hair mementos were so common that no one would have considered it weird. In 2019 it is CREEPY AND GROSS. I know there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism but we did not need to know that Cosette’s doll was made from the body parts of desperately impoverished and now dead women, really.

• Oh, so we’re flipping over beds when we fail to catch our favorite fugitive convict now, are we? Great, now everyone is yelling. FFS, Javert, I thought you were supposed to be the emotionally continent one.

• Where was Marius this week??? If Davies was happy to cut that leg of the stool out of whole episodes then why the fuck not just let Georges die when he’s supposed to and let Marius have a coherent character arc? It makes no sense whatsoever.

I’ve got to be honest, I was not a fan of this episode. But it did get Valjean and Cosette’s relationship right, and that is the most important relationship in the story.

#Sick of hearing people complain about this week's episode?#Come watch me complain about... last week's episode!#Because I write reviews in a timely manner #Les Misérables 2018 #Les Mis Adaptations #Les Misérables

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mashiraostail · 3 years

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could you maybe do a part 2 of the depressive episode ask with fatgum, hawks, n gang orca pease?

ofc anon! I think these get progressivley longer also fldsfdsjl idk why that is, sorry!

Taishiro Toyomitsu/Fatgum You were both busy people, Taishiro was even busier than your average pro now that he’d taken on those two students, he didn’t mind the extra work though. Plus he was used to having you around on top of it all. He understood you worked as well, and he’d even tried going there to surprise you since it had been a few days since the pair of you spent any time together which was entirely unlike you only for your coworkers to say that you’d called out a fair bit of time. Maybe you’d headed home, a family birthday or special occasion beaconed you, but whenever you left you always asked him to watch your place, he’d hardly heard from you beyond a text for the past week or so now. So he decided to head over to yours after calling it early one day, he sent Kirishima and Amajiki packing and told them he had a small emergency to deal with, which wasn’t exactly a lie. He was growing a bit concerned for you your lack of communication with him wasn’t just rare it was totally unheard of, normally you were joined to him at the hip, you adored him and you always made sure he heard it all the time. He didn’t want to be overbearing or show up uninvited but he hated the idea of you being sick or worse with no help around, he understood how badly you wanted to be perfect for him, you didn’t want to add to his workload or be a bother at all, he was just trying to figure out the best way to make you see that you could never do any of that to him, and you’re perfect for him however you want to be. He knocks on the door a few times to no avail before electing to use his key, you’d given it to him a while ago but he still knocked most of the time, he didn’t like barging in on you, despite how he loved to have you do it to him, nothing was better than an unannounced surprise visit from you in his eyes. “Anyone home?” He shuts the door quietly behind him and looks around. The mess says you should be in, that’s for sure. He’s holding a bag of snacks in his hands, plus some medicines and general stuff in case you were sick with a cold or the flu, and he already had his whole chastising speech set up in his head for you. But he had to find you first. There wouldn’t have been any place for you in the living room, the couch was littered with groceries that had yet to be put away, the coffee table covered in glasses and the kitchen wasn’t much better, it was full of everything and anything but actual food. The door to the laundry room was just barely holding a tidal wave of unfolded clothes back. The bedroom door was slightly ajar. “Hey, you-” He nudges the door open with his shoulder, “‘re you decent? Can I open my eyes ‘fore I bump into something-” “Taishiro?” He hears the rumpling of blankets, and your voice is wet and tired and warbly and even though you didn’t give him the go-ahead he couldn't help but rush over to you at the sound of it. “Hey, what’s the matter? He drops the bag on the bed to your other side and instinctively cups your face in his hands. “What are you doing here I-” “I was just in the area and... it’s been a while since I spent any time with you, sorry barge in like this, you didn’t answer the door, I just wanted to check on you..and it seems like it was a good thing I did..” You’re looking up at him like a deer in headlights, it’s only then that he realizes his potential indiscretion. He moves to pull away from you, to wait for a green light to touch you and be close to you, he didn’t want to overwhelm you, or make you feel guilty or anything like that. You can sense that he’s about to pull back, and a few minutes ago all you wanted was to be alone but now that he was here, the last thing you wanted was for him to not be near you. You take a hold of his wrist. He let out a long, thankful sigh, “alright then, I’ll stay right here.” He sits on the edge of your bed, “I’m glad you’re here.” He nudges your hair back with his other hand, “’re you sick?” You shake your head in his hands, “No I just-” Your voice waivers, “I feel so terrible-” “Terrible like how?” He looks guilty of something and it just makes you feel worse, “did something happen? Someone giving you a hard time or-” “No-” You choke it out tears already slipping down your face, “I just..I’m so exhausted and I feel like everyone hates me or forgot about me and I know somewhere in my head that that’s such a stupid thing to even worry about but I can’t stop worrying and-” “Hey, it’s alright, it’s alright,” he shushes you, “I see now, I get it now.” He pushes your cheeks up under his palms, “I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner. I didn’t come sooner-” “It’s not your job to take care of me-” You warble, “I’m being a stupid baby I-” “Stop that. Just because something isn’t my job or responsibility doesn’t mean I still won’t wanna do it. You take care of me all the time.” “This isn't the same I-” “Come on and give me a hug.” He cuts you off before you can get anything else out, “I really need a hug, can you?” He scoops you up, underneath your arms and pulls you forward, he drops back into your mussed up pillows. “Tighter,” he complains as your arms coil around him weakly, and you laugh through a cascade of tears. “Feels good to cry huh?” He’s holding the back of your head with more protective instinct than you’ve ever felt from anyone. His other hand pulls the blanket up around you. “I couldn’t- I’ve been- all week and I just-” You hiccup, “I had to so bad but I couldn’t, and you-” He shushes you again. “Go on ahead, cry as much as you need to. I won’t say it doesn’t break my heart a little to hear it, but I know you’ll feel better after. And don’t go apologizing for this either, sometimes it’s just what you need. Let it all out. I’ll be here if you get sick from it. Afterward, I can help clean up, get you in a nice hot shower, make you something to eat? Sound good?” “Will you stay all night?” You were pressed into his chest, his tear-stained shirt muffled your voice but he got the idea. “Honey, I’ll stay as long as you want me.”

Keigo Takami/Hawks The no. 2 hero rarely has much time to kill, that being said Keigo liked to make it a point to see you as often as he could, or at least to text you. But over the past few days, you'd hardly replied at all, and when you did they were just simple one or two-word answers. It worried him, gnawed at him, for a myriad of reasons; were you sick? Were you drowning in work? Had you run into some kind of trouble? Were you injured? Had you gotten tired of waiting up for him? Sick of canceled dates and being woken up by him clambering out of bed early in the morning to answer a call, exhausted by all the would-be intimate moments between the pair of you that were interrupted by his work? All of these possibilities were equal parts nerve-wracking and heartbreaking. If you were sick he wanted you to reach out and ask him for help, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t make time for if you were involved, he’d figure it out, he always did... if you were in some kind of trouble or injured did you not feel like you could ask him to come to watch out for you without being a bother to him? Did he make you feel like a burden? Or worst of all had you just grown tired of him? Him and his baggage and his job? The gnawing in his chest become too hard to ignore. He could pawn this patrol off on someone else, it was a slow enough day anyways, maybe Enji would do it. He snorted at the thought. He’d just fly by your window, see if you were in, what you were up to. Maybe you were just swamped at work, he reminded himself, sure he was busy but that didn't mean you couldn’t be too, and two busy partners can make for sparse communication, there was a fair chance all of this was just you being busy too. He counts the windows and flies up, it wasn’t hard to memorize which one leads to your apartment. When he gets up there the blinds are open, he can see right inside. You woke up feeling okay today, okay enough that you figured maybe you could tackle this goddamn laundry at least, it was making such a mess in the hall and you thought maybe if you got that sorted out you’d feel a little more useful. But somehow you just ended up sitting on the floor in the hall, back against the wall, laundry basket spilled before you in a bigger mess than when you started. You may be an adult with a job and apartment but you were crying about the mess. You were an adult, you can cry about whatever you want, that’s a perk of being an adult. You sink further into the wall somehow. His vantage point lets him look clean through the living room into the small hallway where you sat. It’s slightly cracked, just enough that a few feathers can wiggle in and push it open enough that he can slide his fingers underneath. He should head to the ground, walk up the stairs and knock, like a normal person. But he can’t help it, he’s panicked, what the hell happened to you? You were just sitting there, laundry basket spilled, sobbing into your hands? Were you hurt? Did someone break-in? He couldn’t waste time on foot. “Hey-” He strangles it out as he’s contorting himself to duck into your window, “It’s okay, hey- I’m here, I’m here now, babe what happened?” He’s squeezing into your window, his wings folding and tufting up against the windowpane, “do you need my help? Are you hurt? Is someone here did someone-” He falls inside unceremoniously, a ball of red feathers and sherpa by your house plant. You’d never been so happy to witness his stupid antics, you’d never met someone so smart yet so dumb. It felt good to see him, you hadn’t realized how much you missed him. “Keigo?” You drop the shirt you were crying into, “n-no, I’m not hurt I just dropped the laundry and..-” Coincidentally it was his shirt. “Is this because of me?” He notices it fall to the ground, he looks incredibly guilty, “did I do something to upset you? To-” he scrambles up into a sitting position, “make you feel like I don’t care about you?” A feather is already righting the tipped over laundry basket, a few more collecting various tee shirts and socks. “What?” You wipe your face with your hands as he clambers over to you, you sniffle, “no Keigo you didn’t-” You shake your head as he nudges your legs apart and sits between your bent knees, “I’m sorry I’m the problem it’s me-” You look forward to him and his eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean? No one’s the problem there isn’t a problem what’s the-” He squeezes your arms, “forget it. Where have you been? I’ve been so worried about you..and now I find you crying on the ground and-” “I’ve been here.” Your voice cracks, “I haven’t gone out once.” You laugh wetly, “it’s embarrassing. I just...I can’t do it. I feel so useless. I do nothing all day but I’m so tired Keigo..I’m even too tired to sleep..” The mess that would have taken you days to clean on your own was practically rectified now, and Keigo hadn’t even lifted a finger. “I’m sorry I worried you.” You wither back into the wall and he shakes his head. “I don’t want sorry. I get it, I understand now.” He takes your face in his hands, “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner-” “Your job’s more important than taking care of me like a child-” “That’s not a fair comparison. And it’s not true anyway. I know my work is important but that doesn’t mean other things can’t be important too. I want to be here for you. You would if it were me right?” You nod meekly at that, “thank you for coming I- I don’t even know what happened one minute it was fine and the next I-” “It doesn’t matter. It happens to the best of us. I just wish you’d called me. Asked for my help I... I was so worried that you were sick or..worse than that.. you were sick of me.” He laughs a little, “how stupid is that right? Like you’d ever get sick of me.” “Does that feather have my underwear?” You look at it over his shoulder.�� “Sorry. I... thought it would be funny.” It falls to the ground, you snort. “You’re right. That is stupid Keigo.” You murmur, “I’d never get sick of you.” “My job’s important, I know it eats up my time, and we don’t get to be together as much as I want to sometimes...” “I think I should be the one pleading my case right now Keigo.” You laugh a little, “my apartment is disgusting, I’m crying over dropped laundry and you haven't even seen the state of my kitchen yet. I ignored you for days over nothing, I’ve barely showered I probably smell abysmal and-” “It wasn’t over nothing and you don’t need to plead your case with me because you’re going through a rough patch, I’m the one that’s been too busy to notice you struggling-” He shakes his head, “all because of my work, I can’t... not do it but I want to be with you, I want to be with you all the time, I’m probably so annoying blowing up your phone and climbing in your window whenever I have a few second... I don’t know how you put up with me, I’d get sick of me in a few days.” He reaches out and tugs the bottom hem of your shirt aimlessly, “I don’t know how you do it. I guess all I do know is that I want you to stay near me.” “Keigo-” You warble and pull him into your chest, “I'm sorry I scared you-” “Don’t be sorry just...know that I want you to ask me for help...I know it’s easier said than done but..well I just said it. I just wanna be with you, all the time, like 24/7 I don’t even care what we’re doing. I’ll do all your laundry forever if you just stay near me while I do it. It’s not a bother you aren’t burdening me just ask me for help. I don’t want you to feel like this...let’s just..” He turns into the crook of your neck and sighs, “stay like this for a minute. And then I’ll help you clean up around here, that’s what's upsetting you right? The mess? Lucky for you I’ve got plenty of hands...well feathers. And then we’ll see what else we can get done, together okay babe?” “Yeah.” You press your cheek into his hair, “thank you for understanding.” Keigo nods, his finger traces the neckline of your shirt and he speaks again, “Please don’t pull away so much, I missed you, you’re the only person around here who has any fun besides Rumi, and whenever we’re together one of us ends up with a broken bone or worse.” You snort at that, “okay, noted.” “And I think you smell great by the way.”

Kugo Sakamata/Gang Orca It felt weird to be away from Kugo so much. You just hated the idea of him seeing you like this. You were tired and irritable and in a mess all the time, you hadn’t changed your pants in days and the only meal you’d had over the past 3 days was crackers and bread, maybe toast depending on your mood. Not to mention the laundry situation or the chaotic state of your bathroom. You normally hated mess, and even though you didn’t have the energy to clean it ..it still made you terribly anxious. You were almost out of crackers, you hated that you lived in the exact area Kugo patroled, it was how you’d met in the first place, and normally it was a delight to run into him on your way home from your own job, even just catching a glimpse of him patroling out your window usually really improved your mood but the thought of running into him now made you sick to your stomach. You couldn’t get the energy up to put something nicer on, but you didn’t even have a morsel of food left, everything you had you’d Mcgyvered into something to eat. If you saw him you’d have to explain where you’d been for the past week, why you’d been basically ignoring him, and even when you did answer him it was just to blow him off or send him to voicemail. You wanted to see him, but you were too afraid at this point, you’d dug yourself into a deep hole, there’s no way he wouldn’t be mad at you. Not that he’d ever gotten mad at you before really. But this time would be different. Or at least you’d convinced yourself of that. Maybe keeping your hood up would stop him from recognizing you. You made it to the store with no incident, you were feeling pretty hopeful, though equally drained, you barely went up and down 3 isles before deciding you were done after finding the pre-made cold brew you’d been craving. It amounted to about 3 bags total, and the cold brew bottle wasn’t exactly small..well you could always order out. Worried was a gross understatement, Kugo was sick with it. He wanted to barge in, everytime he offered to go to you you said no, you had a conference call, you were working late, your neighbors were fighting again, so on and so forth. That paired with the one to two-word answers he’d been receiving made his stomach hurt in a way he only experienced when he couldn’t tell the outcome of a big mission. He asked if you were okay practically every day and you always said you were fine. Though when he mentioned it to Hakamada the other hero informed him that ‘I’m fine’ was usually 'code’ for something else. If space was what you wanted then he’d let you have some...that being said when he saw what was certainly your receding figure on the street..wearing shorts in this weather? “Hey-” His voice makes you jump out of your skin. God the universe seriously hates you this week. “Kugo-” You don’t wanna turn around. “What are you wearing? It’s freezing out you should be wearing a coat and pants.” He wraps an arm around you, “you’re shaking. What were you thinking huh?” He reaches out and takes your groceries too, “you better be going home.” “I am..” You murmured, “I just needed to run out fast, I’m not cold, don’t get distracted from work because of me-” “I’ll bring you home. It’s fine, don’t worry about that there are plenty of people out today.” “I-” “Please let me bring you home.” He huddles you into his side, “I’ve been worried..” “Have you?” “Of course I have, you’ve made yourself so scarce recently, and now this?” “’m sorry..” You hug your chest as you turn the corner to your complex. “Do you want me to come up with you?” He turns to you. Now you were at a crossroads, you’d seen him, you were seeing him, he was touching you, his side was warm and his arm around you was comforting and the idea of being alone was equally as upsetting as the idea of him seeing the state of your apartment or the state of you close up. “You aren’t even wearing layers.” He scoffs as the neckline of your hoodie dips a bit. “Do you want me, yes or no? Either is okay but you need to get inside before you get sick.” “I do want you to come with me I just-” “Well explain upstairs then.” He's ushering you inside the moment you finish. “Did you lose your keys?” He’s still squeezing you into his side when you stop at your front door. “I... don’t want you to see it.” “See what my love? Your apartment? I think we’re a bit past that.” He presses his nose into your hood which is still covering your head. “It’s a mess- I’m a mess Kugo.” “I doubt it's that bad. Even if it is I won’t mind, so let’s go in instead of standing out here like two fools.” “Promise you won’t be mad.” You turn the key and he sighs. “I promise.” The door creaks open and you aren’t sure if it’s your anxious mind playing tricks on you or if it’s 10x worse than what you remember. “Oh god-” You warble, “I'm so sorry Kugo this is so embarrassing.” The way your voice breaks makes him jump. “Hey-” He sets your groceries down on the sliver of free counter space he can find, “no tears my love, no tears okay?” He puts his hands on your shoulders, “is this where you’ve been? Why you haven’t been talking to me? You’ve been all shut up in here?” He turns to you and you just want to fold in on yourself and disappear. “I wanted to clean, and I wanted to call you but I just couldn’t get the energy to and it kept piling up and my bathroom is even worse and I didn’t know what to do and then even when I started to miss you I was too embarrassed at the idea of you seeing me like this because I can’t even comb my hair right now let alone take a shower or even change my clothes and I was afraid you’d be angry with me for letting it get so bad and I-” “Stop.” He pulls you forward and you fall against him wistlessly, “relax, you’ll work yourself up to tears like that.” He cups the back of your head. “I won’t ever be mad you for something like this. Why would you be afraid of that?” He takes your face in his hands, “and why would you be embarrassed of me seeing you when you don’t feel well? I’m here to help you.” He nudges your hood back, “call me sooner next time, please, if not for your sake for mine.” A big hand cups the nape of your neck, “I was worried sick about you dear.” “I’m sorry-” Your voice cracks, “I’m sorry Kugo I just-” “I understand. I’m sorry too, I should have checked in sooner, I should have made sure you knew you can trust me with this sort of thing.” “It’s my fault not your’s don’t be sorry Kugo I-” You’re blinking back tears and he sighs. “There’s no sense in going back and fourth about it.” His thumb rubs your temple, “I’m just glad I’m here now. I’m sorry you don’t feel well but seeing you after so long is a relief, I really missed you.” “I missed you too Kugo-” Your voice cracks and you throw your arms around his neck and shoulders. “Do you need to cry? Don’t hold back for my sake.” A big hand rubs circles between your shoulder blades egging you on, “if crying will help then cry. I’m right here for you. No more worrying okay my dear?” “Okay-” You wipe your nose on your sleeve over his shoulder, tears falling freely, “thank you for coming Kugo-” Your feet are hardly on the ground anymore, your face nestled into his shoulder, “I’m sorry for getting tears all over your-” “What did I say about worrying?” He pulls you back and uses his thumb to clean off one cheek, leaning down and brushing his nose against the other you let out a thankful sigh at the gentle touch. “I just can’t help it Kugo-” You murmur, voice still wet with tears, “i just love you so much and I don’t-” “Oh, you’re such a sweet little thing.” He pulls you up a bit by your cheeks, “it just breaks my heart to see you like this. I may never let you out of my sight again.” “I’m okay with that.” You duck into his neck with a hiccup and he laughs. “I love you too, why don’t you take a warm shower, I’ll help you however I can, then I think we should call it a night, we can worry about the mess tomorrow.” “You don’t mind?” You squeeze him around his shoulders and he hums. “I don’t mind at all.” He promises, “I’ll do whatever I can to help you feel better.”

#fatgum x reader #taishiro toyomitsu x reader #hawks x reader #keigo takami x reader #kugo sakamata x reader #gang orca x reader #bnha x reader #bnha requests #hawks #gang orca #fatgum #keigo takami

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talesofafangirlwithadvr · 3 years

Text

April 2021 Picks

And we’re back with the end to another month. April! Wow! Lots more great picks to talk about this time. Lots of new ones to the list too. So, let’s dive in!

Spoiler territory ahead!

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

or should I say Captain America and the Winter Soldier

I just finished the finale last night, so it felt right to start off with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I really enjoyed it and I feel the episodes got stronger as the series went on. Each one felt like a mini-movie and I was upset it was over and had to wait another week for another one. I think the finale was my favorite. Especially the reveal of Sam as Captain America. I love his suit, his speech and the montage of everyone watching him. The last part of the episode was definitely my favorite and one I can watch on repeat. I loved seeing happy Bucky and him goofing off with the kids in Louisiana. He deserves so much happiness as he has now accepted he’s no longer who he once was. Bucky and Sam’s relationship is fantastic and I can’t wait to see it more. I know there’s a possibility of a second season and they have to be in a future MCU movie. Regarding the villain, I feel I was confused for most of the show as to what their objective was. I’m curious if this is because they had to reshoot parts during the pandemic. I also am mad with Sharon. Like what happened with her? She is definitely the true villain of the show. I also don’t love that we haven’t seen the end of Walker (but Wyatt Russell did a fantastic job). I also loved Torres and I hope he becomes the next Falcon. Definitely so different vibes from Wandavision, but just as good!

THE IRREGULARS

This is a show that more people need to be talking about! It was SO GOOD! I feel like I heard some buzz about it when it first came out, but not much after. It follows the teens featured about who live on the streets during Victorian London. The leader of their group, Bea gets approached by Dr. John Watson (that’s right...as in Sherlock and Watson) to take on a case that has more supernatural qualities. The story takes off from there. I think the group dynamic was fantastic. There wasn’t a character I didn’t like and each one brought something else important to the group (which they even bring up towards the end of the show). [I’ve watched a few cast interviews since finishing the finale and they seem like they get along really well in real life too.] There is a kind of love triangle, but it didn’t bother me and was over fast. I did like both combinations though. Lots of twists and turns along the journey. I have no idea if there will be another season, but there should be. It didn’t end on a major cliffhanger, but definitely ended in a way where it could continue nicely. Come on Netflix.

HBO’S THE NEVERS

From one show set in Victorian times to the next. The Nevers just premiered on HBO and HBO Max earlier this month. It follows an ensemble of characters, similar to other HBO shows, ranging from characters who are called “the touched” to men in government who are against them. Being “touched” means they have a special talent or power, which can range from healing to speaking other languages, being extremely tall, or being an expectational inventor (I seriously love Penance. I just don’t know how to explain her ability). Amalia True and Penance Adair are two of the main characters and they help bring in others who are touched to a remodeled orphanage that is a safe haven for people like them. Of course there are those who are against them existing. This seems to be at least two groups as someone is abducting and experimenting on some of the touched, but we don’t know who they are...yet. I love the fusion of a historical setting with a fantasy element. I am very excited to see where the show is headed. I also love seeing so many of my favorite British actors on the screen together.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND

Time for a throw back. Fans of ABC’s Once Upon a Time might remember the short lived spin off following Alice in Wonderland (and some of Aladdin). It only lasted for one season of 13 episodes, but I remember loving it and I am so happy I can rewatch it on Disney Plus. It reminds me of why I enjoyed OUAT so much and I think this show deserved another season or more crossover with the original show. (Luckily the Knave got that opportunity.) I think it should have aired as a summer show or when OUAT was on hiatus, this way more fans would have tuned in. It is something I’ll believe forever.

Anyway, I’ll stop ranting now... I love Alice. I think she’s a badass and a fierce warrior. If you follow some of my posts on my other blog, Lydia-yougowith-Stiles, you’ll know that I love a warrior romance and Cyrus and Alice fit that perfectly (even if they are apart for much of the series). I also love Alice’s hair and outfits. Everything about her is cool. Her relationship with the Knave is one of my favorite friendships ever. I think they balance each other out so well and how they spend most of the journey together. Back in the day, I totally shipped them, but now I definitely don’t. (Even though I don’t love Anastasia.) This is definitely worth the watch if you’ve ever heard of Once Upon a Time or not. There is very cheesy CGI especially for 2013, but once you get pass that you’ll love it.

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST

It was on a longer break than I expected, and I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would (which I know doesn’t sound good for a show), but I am still loving all the episodes this season. It feels like there are more musical numbers, which I love. Mandy Moore is killing it with the choreography. There are so many amazing moments. I also was a big fan of the newest glitch episode. Everyone is so talented and I also like that we’ve started to hear from more like Jenna and Tobin. Leif has become one of my favorites. I don’t love the new neighbor next door, but I think we’re done with his storyline. I’m not loving the Zoey love triangle, but I do like her with either Simon or Max. She seems really happy with Simon now. (FYI: I haven’t watched the most recent episode yet. The glitch one was my latest.) Can’t wait for more!

KUNG FU

CW’s newest show this month was Kung Fu, which I just learned was a reboot. It follows Nicky who returns after 3 years to her home in San Francisco. Her family has mixed feelings as she has had no contact with them for the last 3 years. She is now a Kung Fu master and warrior, out to avenge her mentor’s death and stop a villain from acquiring mythical weapons. The show gives me Arrow vibes every time I watch it. It has similar flashbacks each episode to an earlier time in Nicky’s life. While Nicky’s mission is different, the style just gives me early seasons of Arrow vibes, which I am not complaining about. It stars Legacies’ Alyssa Chen, who I didn’t love on Legacies, but instantly fell in love with Nicky. I think she’s a bad ass character and love how she’s fighting for the underdogs on the streets of San Fran, while also taking down a bigger evil. The love triangle is heating up and I’m definitely team Henry (even though there’s some mystery there). I think he’s great and once again we have an awesome warrior romance. They balance each other so well and it’s only been like 3 episodes. Now they’ve also been sleuthing together and it’s just amazing.

NANCY DREW

Are you sick of hearing me talk about CW’s Nancy Drew? I hope not because I’m going to fangirl again. I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH! I can’t wait till Wednesday comes and I tune in a little after it starts, so then I can fast forward on my DVR. Then when the episode is over I basically start it all over again and watch select scenes that were awesome. (More specifically, they tend to be Nancy and Ace scenes because I love them and we’re entering so much angst I don’t know if my heart will be able to handle it!!!)

I’ll say it a thousand times: THIS CAST IS EVERYTHING! Their dynamic is amazing. You can have any match ups and it’ll be a great time. There is not one person I don’t like. I was so upset that there wasn’t a new episode last week (especially because it was my birthday). I loved the last one with the Hardy Boys and that Nace reveal! OMG! I’m so sad that Grant has left again because we barely had him, but I feel he’ll eventually come back. He has to. I loved the ending when he spoke to Thom by signing to him. (My heart!) I seriously can’t say enough great things about this show. It is not your typical CW show and deserves more love and views. So happy a third season has already been confirmed!!

LAST NOTES

Just started Shadow and Bone on Netflix and am loving it! I’m sure I’ll have an entire post dedicated to it when I’m done. (Currently going to start episode 6.) I have no background on the universe or the books (just what my sister is filling me in with as we watch). I definitely plan on reading Six of Crows after this!

So what are you enjoying? Let me know. I’m always looking for more shows to add to the list! Can never have enough.

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lovelystay · 3 years

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𝑀𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒 - 𝐽𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑔🍒 💣1/2

(𝑅𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡)

[Rᴇsᴜᴍᴇ : Jisung is obsessed with you so he asked his parents to arrange a wedding . Your family, on the other hand, is pretty poor so they immediately agree. You don’t like it but can't do something to stop them... there will be some smut but little fluff at the end.]

~Pᴀʀᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ɴᴏɴ ᴄᴏɴ sᴍᴜᴛ~

Jisung finds everything about you perfect , from your head until your toes , inside like outside , you were the most perfect human he had ever seen . He believed you were his soulmate , lovely and kind with him when even his own « friends » found him weird . You acted this way around him because the little boy was very adorable and cute , but mostly by pity ...

Nobody stayed around him a lot and it looked like you were the only person he would smile and be happy with .

And it was true , Han liked you a lot , you actually think he have a crush on you , he treated you like you were his girlfriend . You weren’t against it though , he offered you a lot of stuff , and your family wasn’t really wealthy , so it was win win for both of you . He gets to be with his « crush » and you get to not pay for food and stuffs and worry about money .

But for jisung , all of this will lead to something else much important , he wasn’t buying you things and treating you like a princess for you to leave him a week later . In facts , he wanted to make you his , completely. To marry you basically. The cute boy was always spying on you by some way, because you were the only person he cared of , and you actually cared of him too . So why not , right ?

He was getting sick every time he had to leave you , jisung always wanted to be by your side , to see you . He thought that secretly taking pictures of you and stay the whole night watching them would make him feel better , but no , he wants to feel you , to hug you .

Being away from you would now bring him into a sudden episode of depression, he won’t have the strength to do anything and can’t smile at all . Seeing you became vital for him .

So he went and had a discussion with his parents . They were worried for him , every time they saw him , he looked sad , hurt and won’t talk at all . They could do anything to bring a smile on their only child’s face again .

So , as soon as jisung entered the big room his mom ran to him . « Hello jisung ~ are you okay ? Do you need anything sweetheart? » she asks in a rush , desesparated to make him happy and figure out what’s wrong .

« Actually , yes . Yes I need something » Han answers . « Can you bring dad , I need to talk to the two of you » he continued .

Han’s mother go upstairs , running to find her husband . She comes back with him still in a rush , dragging him by the arm .

Jisung sits down on the long and expensive couch , he invites his parents to do the same in front of him and starts to talk , « Mom and dad , I’ve found someone I really love » he ignores his parents surprise and big eyes and continue « I always miss her and I’m sad whenever I don’t see her . You’ve noticed too right ? »

« Yes we’ve did , everything was just because of a girl ? » his dad answers and asks .

« It’s not just a girl , I really feel empty without her , I want her to be mine... »

« We understand , but , why would you say that to us instead of asking her to be your girlfriend ? » han’s mother asks confused .

« I’m going straight to the point , I want to marry her , I want her to be my wife »

« Jisung ! She’s not even your girlfriend ! We do not even know her name... »

« Y/n , y/l/n y/n , do you accept and support it or not ? »

« Jisung , you can’t just do that »

After a long debate going on between Han jisung and his parents , they finally accept . They’ve thought of it , and , it was the only thing that could make him happy . And they were rich anyway , a wedding wouldn’t be annoying financially. Jisung gave his dad your parents number , because , of course he have those basic information, to let them call your parents and convince them .

His dad promised them money and wealth if they would let you marry their son Han jisung . Your parents thought about the offer a lot after the call , they had a debate concerning the wedding . But there wasn’t many negative point . They weren’t going to pay anything and are going to get out of the poverty they were in for years .

Your parents said it was good for you as well , so they called back and accepted.

It was now late and you came back from school , you were exhausted and tired . With the small energy you have left , you run to your room to do what you waited for all day , sleep . But as soon as you jump on your bed to get some rest , you hear the sudden voice of your mom which prevented you from doing so .

« Come down y/n , we need to tell you something ... »

You let out a long sigh , you were sensitive right now and didn’t want to talk to anyone . But it seemed to be important so you join your mom in the living room . Your mom and dad were looking strangely nervous , your mom was playing with her fingers and rings and your dad couldn’t even make an eye contact with you .

« i can’t understand what’s going on but can you please be quick , I’m very tired »

Your dad’s breath was shaky and he sighed like he was preparing to tell you something big and important , which made your heart beat a little faster and awoken you a bit . Instead of your tired eyes they had now your entire attention. They’ve never been so weird around you .

« You know we are pretty poor right ? »

You bob your head up and down agreeing with him .

« Wouldn’t it be great if we would be less poor ? Or even rich ? »

You giggle a bit and say « of course it would be great , nobody would disagree with that »

Your mom smile gently and asks « do you know Han jisung ? You like him right ? »

You were surprised and didn’t understand where they’re point and all of those question were supposed to lead .

« Continue » you didn’t want to respond to that question , you just wanted to know what your parents wanted to say .

« He said he liked you a lot , he wants to ... » your dad say hesitantly.

« To marry you » your mom finish .

« Well I’ll just tell him no , what the hell does that have to do with all of us ? »

« Listen , their parents said he is really sad when he’s away from you , his parents hated to see him like that and they promised us a lot of money if you’d marry him »

Your dad finally confess. You felt horribly disappointed and betrayed by your own family .

« So you said yes to them ?! Did you two even thought of how I feel ? If I like him ?! You don’t even know if he’s a perv or a bad person but you just agreed to literally sell your only daughter’s happiness for money ?! Seriously ? »

« Calm down y/n , it’s even beneficial for you , you’ll finally be rich and live like the princess you deserve to be , Han jisung is pretty handsome too , I don’t understand why you’re so mad » your mom dare to say.

« If I want money I’ll gain it myself , I don’t need a fucking weird rich boy like him to live happily »

You rushed into your room to cry , you hated to show your « weakness » and cry in front of your parents . You try to be quiet and ruin your pillow to muffle your cry in it .

•*•*•*•*•

The wedding is in 3 days , you are still against it , your parents are still for it .

Jisung’s parents prepared everything , you had nothing else to do but wait . They didn’t even have you the location or the instructions, they told you that a private driver was going to get you . The only time you’ll see jisung it at the actual wedding . You would try and run away before the d-day but your parents would never let you . Now you only see them as the worst person in the world , you never want to see them again , you didn’t care how poor you and your family was , how can you sell your daughter for money and force her to marry a random guy you don’t even know .

You were cleaning your room and complaining about your fate when you receive a message from jisung . You open and read them .

Han jisung

[ hi y/n ]

[did they send you the dress ? ❤️ ]

You close your phone and throw it on your bed , yes they did send the dress but you absolutely didn’t want to talk to him , everything started because of him and his obsession for you . Now your family is breaking and you’ll have to be with him for the rest of your life . You start crying again , the feeling that you can’t do anything to stop it made you angry and stressed out .

•*•*•*•*•

During those three days before the disaster , you were alive but dead at the same time . You hated your parents and wanted to make them feel bad about they’re decision by just locking yourself in your room . You know it would hurt them and you did it on purpose , you only ate two meals during those three days . You didn’t want to marry jisung but you’re forced . How could you feel happy or joyful about this .

Your mom dragged you to the expensive looking car , you were going to get prepared for the wedding . When you got there you were amazed , it is so beautiful , it felt forbidden for a poor girl like you to even be able to see such a pretty and luxury looking place . The people working looked like they already knew who you were , they were waiting for you . Many people came and after the greetings they rapidly set themselves to work . Many person were taking care of you at the same time , you felt special but uncomfortable . They helped you put on your dress and heels , made your hair , did your make up , gave you snacks , did your nails etc ...

Everything seemed to be ready and you got back to the car where the driver was waiting . You wanted to cry but held the tears in not wanting to ruin the amazing make up they did on your face . After arriving at the town hall you saw a lot of people you didn’t even recognize that were waiting for you. You were walking and walking with a bouquet of flowers in your hands . The stress made you hold them really tight you thought you were going to break them . Jisung was right in front of you , you could see in his eyes that he loved the way you looked . Everything went good until the moment arrived where you needed to say yes to jisung . You wanted to say no , but you were too scared of the consequences and the silence started to get awkward . You said yes , he kissed you , you didn’t kiss him back , and everyone clapped . The discomfort obvious on your face and the love obvious in jisung’s eyes . After the party that was thrown you didn’t saw you’re parents anymore . They’ve already packed your stuff and send them to han’s parents . Talking about them , they’ve rented a big house for you and jisung , they wanted for you two to get to know each other better . Maybe they should’ve made us do that before getting us married ...

You took off everything , showered and put on your pyjamas . During the wedding and even after , jisung was trying to talk to you , laugh with you , he was clingy . But you ignored him the whole time . So since the beginning of the wedding and a little before you did not have a proper conversation with someone who is now your spouse .

« Y/n » said jisung entering your room .

« Let’s talk »

#stray kids fanfiction #skz imagines #stray kids fanfic #jisung #han #han jisung #jisung smut #stray kids smut #Stray kids forced marriage #yandere jisung #stalker jisung #forced marriage #skz angst #jisung angst

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anotheronechicagobog · 3 years

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Rangers, Lead the Way

Written by: @anotheronechicagobog

Warnings: Swearing, canon compliant violence, I had to use a lot of material from the actual episode, mention of domestic abuse

tagging: @detectiveinchicago

A/N: So, this is a new series. Basically, OA Zidan (FBI), Jay Halstead (Chicago PD), and Kenny Crosby (FBI: Most Wanted) all went to Ranger training together and kept in touch, something that was useful when they couldn’t be the one to keep their ‘partner’ safe and need to call one of the others for assistance when their ‘paartners’ are temporarily working with another member of the trio.

OA wasn't a name that he'd heard in a long time. They weren't in the same unit but they were in Rangers training together. Jay was one of the only two people there who didn't have it out for him solely because of his religion, while he was shocked to find a Muslim among the ranks at first, he quickly got over it. Not only did he trust that his superiors wouldn't let a terrorist into the army at all, let alone Ranger training, but OA was a U.S. citizen, and had a very personal hatred for everyone who sullied the name of Islam and used it for violence and their own personal gain. So he and Kenny Crosby befriended OA despite the shock and ignorance from their brothers and sisters in arms. They studied together, trained together, ate together, and bunked together. When they'd all been given different assignments they made sure to stay in touch. And they continued to call, email, and text each other after they'd all been discharged.

When Hailey got temporarily assigned to New York Jay was... Well, it's hard to describe how he felt. It was such a nightmarish combination of devastated, terrified, and heartbroken. It was like an icy hand had enclosed around his throat and was slowly squeezing, painfully closing his throat, all while his heart was being dissected out of his chest by another. Not only was he reliving one of the most traumatic moments of his life all over again, but Hailey was going to be in the field without him. She was going to be in danger without him there to watch her back.

And since Hailey was amazing, she could tell just by looking at him that his mind was dropping down into a dark place faster than Alice tumbled into Wonderland. "It's just temporary. And I'll be okay, Jay."

"Hailey..."

"I'm going to put in my time and come back as quickly as possible. It's okay. It's all going to be okay." Hailey's words didn't reassure him in the slightest. How could they, when they didn't even reassure Hailey?

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"Special Agent Zidan."

"Hey OA, it's Jay."

"Hey man, how are you?"

"Honestly, not great."

"What's wrong?"

"My- uh my partner..."

"Hailey Upton."

"Yeah. She's getting detailed out to the FBI for a bit. I found out that she's getting assigned to your unit."

"That makes sense, my partner's doing a UC detail right now, we'll probably be partnered together."

"OA... Watch out for her. Please. She is strong and more than capable of defending herself, and you quite frankly, but- she's my- I..."

"Don't worry, Jay. I'll have her back. She'll make it back to you."

"Thank you. Seriously, you have no idea how much this means to me."

OA looked at the now-empty desk that had been causing his heart to ache at the sight of it. His shoulder sagged at the pain that was pulling in his chest, the dark fog that filled his mind whenever he started to think, started to wonder, caused his head to throb. "Actually, I know exactly how you feel."

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"You will be partnered with Agent Zidan."

"Hi, I'm OA."

"Hi. Hailey."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Listen up, everyone. This is Detective Hailey Upton from Chicago PD. She will be with us for the next few weeks as part of our interagency training program."

"All right, so let's, uh, direct our attention to the screens here. Found the body of a young John Doe in St. Nicholas Park. A hundred yards from Alexander Hamilton's house. Federal land, federal case- and no, it is not where Aaron Burr shot him. The famed duel took place in-- anyone, anyone? Weehawken, New Jersey. Kristen knew. Unfortunately, there's far less clarity in the present homicide case. Evidence of torture and abuse, the victim was brown-skinned, but there was no other evidence of a hate crime. So let's dig in, get to work, start filling in the blanks. Yeah? Go."

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

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"So, Chicago PD? Should I be nervous?"

"Nervous?"

"You guys have been in the news a lot and not for good reasons."

"Uh, yeah, we've had some issues, but they're being addressed. It's a great place. I'm proud to be a part of it. The next time you want to insult me, just come out and say it, you don't need to disguise it as a compliment. This car right here?"

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just my way of saying we do things differently here."

"Mhmm."

"Just trying to keep it real." And keep you from getting hurt so that Halstead doesn't develop a full head of grey hair. "So, you spend much time in New York?"

"Nah, first time here."

"Any early observations?"

"Pizza's too thin. It's like a cracker with sauce on it. Just trying to keep it real."... Okay, so maybe it would've been nice if Jay had warned him that she had an axe to grind, but he could make do.

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"If I hear you're harassing any more immigrants, I'm gonna come back here, and I'm gonna break your arm. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"I forwarded Kristen the pictures of Aman. She'll get us a street block number based on the license plates in the background."

"Just like that, huh?"

"The FBI, Upton. Our tech resources are pretty sick. Look, it's not a big deal, but now that you're working with us, just try and be a little bit more careful. If that guy Prichard calls the Bureau complaining that you threatened to use force..."

"Look, man, I don't need a lesson on how to talk to people, all right?"

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with someone breaking that idiot's arm, it's just... It's just that the Bureau is hardcore, and they take that stuff really seriously."

"You're right. I'm sorry. If he files a beef, I'll eat it and make sure you're clear. All right?"

"Appreciate that. But what the hell's a beef?"

"It's an expression."

"I'm kidding. Kristen said Aman's house is around this area."

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So, Hailey is a badass. That was pretty damn cool to witness. Sidenote; Jay is going to murder him.

Hailey was fine, more than fine, she actually saved his ass. But that didn't matter, Jay had trusted him to protect Hailey and hadn't failed, but he hadn't done the best job either.

They'd been searching a house, and after coming down the stairs he completely missed an assailant in the kitchen. But Hailey hadn't. No, she saw him and got him out of the line of fire. He provided cover fire while she jumped back over to the wall at the end of the stairs. OA tensed, more than usual when he was in a firefight unless Maggie was- nope, not going there, the point is, he didn't miss the way a bullet penetrated the wall a few centimetres from Hailey's head.

"Halstead."

"Don't be mad-"

"Oh god-"

"Hailey's fine. One-hundred percent fine, not even a scratch. We just, uh, we got into a shootout with an assailant. He got a shot off close to her head. She's fine- more than fine! I swear! She actually saved my ass in that altercation! And I was covering her the whole time!"

"... That's it? That's a pretty normal day for us, OA. She's okay, you're okay... So, everything, is... Okay. And seriously, thanks again, man. I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me. I know that she can take care of herself and the others around her, but it's hard when I'm not the one there to have her six. So I really appreciate that I know and trust the person who is."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not gonna come at me like you did when I stole one of the cookies your mom made from your care package."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want a repeat of that."

"Plus, I know how it feels to... Not know. My partner is under right now and..."

"You're going out of your mind?"

"More than you can believe. I can't eat or sleep, and every time my phone buzzes I think it's a death notification instead of an emergency call from work."

"Sounds like you've got your own Hailey. You'll have to introduce me to Maggie one day."

"Yeah, I will. And Ken's definitely gonna have to introduce Hana. We have heard far too much about her to not even be able to put a face to the name."

"Tell me about it. Sometimes I regret our 'no search' rule, but then I remember how much we embarrass each other."

"By the way, thank you."

"Huh? For what?"

"For saving my ass back there. In the house."

"Oh. Okay. Cool. You're welcome."

"Halstead, how much do get shot at, exactly?"

"Why are you asking?"

"She pushed me out of the path of a bullet and when I thanked her afterwards she treated it like it was nothing."

"... I mean, there's not exactly a whole lot I can do about people trying to kill us..."

"Jay. Dude."

"I can try to stop being 'idiotically reckless' as Hailey calls it, but I'm not trying to be a hero or a dumbass or anything, it's just that... If it's not me getting hurt..."

"...It's her."

"Yeah."

"We're both whipped, aren't we?"

"Oh, ridiculously whipped. The desk Sergeant at my precinct is constantly making fun of me for it."

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"Just got ballistics back on the slugs fired at OA and Upton. They match the bullets that killed Aman, but get this; they also match the bullets pulled from a drive-by murder victim two months ago."

"Could they ID a suspect yet?"

"Yeah, arrested him too. Name is Santiago Gonzalez, known associate of the Latin Players. He's being held at MDC pending trial."

"Latin Players. That's a Chicago gang."

"Hmm, looks like they're expanding."

"So the Latin Players killed someone, they get arrested, go to jail, and the gun

stays on the street."

"And the new owner uses said gun to kill Aman, a studious Indian engineering student?"

"Right. What are we missing? How are these two murders connected?"

"Have OA and Upton pay a visit to Inmate Gonzalez. Maybe he can help us answer that question."

"Right."

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"So this guy, Gonzalez, is originally from Chicago. Runs with the Latin Players, so maybe you should take the lead on this one. But go hard on him." Hailey and Gonzales were from the same city, same blood, this was her turf, and OA wanted to make sure that he abided by that.

"You want a reaction?" Hailey seemed to get exactly what he meant, what he wanted, but she also seemed hesitant, like she needed more than clarification. It was like she needed permission.

"A big one. Big enough to force him to call his people."

"I think I can do that." And just like that, she had a smirk in her voice and was walking ahead of him. OA could see the wheels turning in her head and a coolness to her features let him know that she'd come up with a game plan. He didn't know if he should be afraid or not.

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"Where's the gun you used in the drive-by?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." They were less than a minute into the interrogation and he was already annoyed. Why did these guys always have to be so smug? He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and just let Hailey do her thing, only popping in to keep the flow going. "One of your friends used it to kill a civilian last night."

"Used it again this afternoon on us. Fired off ten rounds."

"Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about." OA had to hold in a sigh.

"You're staring 20 to life on the case you're riding. Give us the name of the person you gave the gun to, and maybe I'll be able to get you a reduced sentence."

"Get my ass, blondie." OA quickly debated the pros and cons of stepping in. Honestly, this guy would probably just make him angrier with his smug attitude and sexist remarks, plus Hailey wasn't even phased. She was still in control, and she actually seemed a little... Bored.

"I'm not a fed like him. I'm Chicago police."

"So what?"

"Means I play by different rules. Also means I know the names of all the shot callers in the Latin Players. Tomorrow morning, we're gonna do a warrant sweep. Means a lot of people you know are gonna get arrested."

"That's not my problem."

"But it is. Because I'm gonna make sure that they know you are the snitch who gave them up."

"Now, you know nobody's gonna believe that."

"Really? Because in my experience, pissed-off bangers don't do their homework, and if they think you're a snitch, you're a snitch. In the street, rumours become facts like that."

"I'm done talking."

"Alright."

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"So you think he believed us?"

"I don't know. What?"

"Nothing, you just reminded me of my partner, Maggie, in there."

"Oh."

"In a good way."

"Then thank you."

"Can you cue up the audio feed?" The prison guard nodded back at OA and did as he asked.

"So where is your partner?"

"Uh, she is on an undercover assignment. That I know absolutely nothing about besides the fact that she is gone and unreachable."

"That's gotta be pretty tough."

"Yeah, but she's really good, so she'll be fine."

"We're up." The guard unmuted the computer and moved out of the way so that he and Hailey could see it clearly.

"Yo, just say the word, man. Chicago about to throw that heat."

"What are you talking about?"

Gonzalez sighed. "Police and FBI here sweating me, man."

"About what?"

"That piece that I left behind. I'm guess it's all connected to what happened on the night at Highbridge Park."

"All right, thanks for looking out."

"No doubt."

"Can you trace the number that he called?" OA was ansty, ready to get moving fast before their lead disappeared and from the honed in look in Hailey's eyes he could see she felt the same.

"Payphone up in Washington Heights." The prison guard was curt and efficient, exactly what they needed and OA was silently grateful.

"Okay. Thank you."

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"I'm guessing that's his girlfriend."

"Hold on. I talked to her at the park, right before we found Ernesto's body." From the way her body tensed OA could tell Hailey wasn't happy she'd let this girl slip through her fingers. He could tell her that it wasn't her fault, no one was even remotely aware of this connection, but he knew that was pointless. Any passionate law enforcement officer would beat themselves over something like this, himself included.

"Ah, and we have a hit off of social rec. Her name is Harper Quinlan, 23 years old, last known address is 84 Groton Street, Queens, New York."

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"Why were you at the park?" OA sat across from the young woman, dead set on getting all the information she knew. Arman's murder was quickly dissolving into a larger more horrifying crime and he was worried that the poor man who this had all started with would be forgotten and he didn't want to think about why that enraged him so much.

"I told you before. I was walking."

"Or was it to recover the glove that Lucas dropped after he killed his drug supplier?"

"I don't know anything about that."

"We have video of you in the driver's seat of Lucas' Range Rover at Highbridge Park the night that Lucas killed Ernesto Garcia, so you are now an official suspect in a murder investigation. That means no more lying, no more protecting your boyfriend. You either cooperate with us here and now, or you go to prison."

"I'm not gonna help you ruin Lucas' life. I just won't. He's a good person."

"Harper, good people don't sell drugs or kill people."

"Yeah, you don't know him like I do. He's so nice, and... he's sweet... He really loves me."

"Lucas isn't who you think he is, Harper. Protecting him will only get you and more innocent people hurt. Tell me why you think he was in the park that night."

"I'm not gonna help you."

"Are you listening to what I'm saying to you? You're a suspect in a murder investigation here. Lying to protect him makes this worse. You're putting more lives at risk. Be smart. Tell me why you were there that night. Harper, you don't need to go to prison for him." OA knew he wasn't getting anywhere and was trying to think of some other- any other method- to try and get Harper to talk, when Hailey burst into the room. She looked calculated, like she had a plan or idea that needed to be executed exactly or else the worst might befall those she was trying to protect. Which, if he read her character right, was everyone.

"Unlock it."

"What's going on?" Harper was just as confused as he was, but he knew better than to show it.

"Do it. Pull up your texts."

"Oh, my God."

"What does it say?" Hailey already knew, that much was obvious, but whatever was going on needed to be as brutally real as possible to Harper, and voicing it out loud would drive whatever was going on home for Harper.

"'Return the product, or he's dead. You have four hours. Tell your man to meet us at the place we did our first deal.' Oh, my- oh, my God." Harper's sobs quickly took up the space of the interrogation room, it didn't matter that she hadn't seen her father in so long, losing him would devastate her, and the Latin Players knew that well.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Let me take a run at her. I might have an angle to play." OA watched Hailey carefully, trying to make out was she was thinking, what angle she could possibly have, but he hadn't known her nearly long enough for any of that. There was this... Knowing glint in her eyes, and a sort of dark confidence had taken over her aura. She was confident in whatever plan she had, obviously, he just had no way of predicting what it was. In that moment, OA could really see what made Jay all twisted over her. She didn't look excited to break the accomplice of a drug dealer, or eager to impress the FBI. She looked like she was ready to get elbow deep in someone else's mess just for the sake of protecting as many people as possible with her quick wit and razor-sharp intelligence. So he just inclined his head and got ready to watch her work from the other side of the glass.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're in a tough place right now, Harper. We have video of you at the scene of a murder, which makes you an accessory. You're looking at 15 to 20 years in prison. But if you cooperate, we can help you. We'll talk to the prosecutor, explain why you were there, help him understand the nature of your relationship with Lucas."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know what's going on. He hurts you, doesn't he?"

"No. That's not true. He's a good guy-"

"No, he's not. What are those bruises on your neck? You tried to cover them up, but I can see them. When you first met, I bet he was great. You guys hit it off, you had fun. He was everything you wanted. But then he started chipping away at your friends and your family. So you pop a pill to numb the pain and tell yourself everything's okay, just hoping that the abuse is gonna stop. Harper. It won't. I talked to your dad. He loves you very much. And he needs you right now. He's in a lot of danger. If these guys don't get their drugs back, they will kill him. The only thing that matters now is you helping us to find Lucas, so we can recover the drugs and find your dad." Watching Hailey in the interrogation room really was something else. From the slight waver of her tone, the palpable understanding in her voice that seemed to wrap a crying Harper in the first hug she's had in a long time, he could tell that she was exposing a pain-filled part of herself to this- this girl, this accomplice in drug dealing and murder. And still, she was able to remain professional and in control, and OA could honestly say that her incredible ability to do her job both made his heart ache for her and impressed him far more than he thought she would.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They were in the surveillance van, waiting for Harper and the SWAT team to get in to place. What OA was itching to ask her was highly personal. He did not expect her to feel comfortable talking to him about it, but she'd given Harper some of her strength and after revealing something so heart-wrenching, the protective Egyptian older brother in him needed to make sure that she'd left enough for herself. "So, how do you know so much about abuse? I am sorry, I did not mean anything by that."

"No, it's fine. It's all good. Everyone becomes a cop for a reason. I guess that's mine."

"Uh, yeah."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Don't forget, Harper. He wants the cash to get out of town, but we need the location where he first met his dealer. That's where your dad is." OA nodded along to Hailey's instruction, keeping a critical eye on the emotionally distraught Harper.

"Babe. They took my father."

"What are you talking about?"

"That guy that you deal with, they grabbed my father and texted me that they're gonna kill him unless we return the drugs that you took."

"Oh, no, no. I can't- I can't do that."

"They took my father!"

"Look, I feel bad, but they will kill me. Oh, Jesus, don't-"

"Lucas."

"Don't give me the sad eyes look."

"Lucas."

"I'm screwed. Look, I gotta look out for me- for us, you understand?"

"Look, I need to know where you and Ernesto did your first deal 'cause that's where they wanna meet."

"I just told you, I'm not going-"

"I will go! I'll call my uncle. He has a lot of money. Maybe I can negotiate a deal or something."

"I gotta get moving, all right, so give me the money."

"Where did you meet him?"

"Stay strong." Hailey could see her waver, could see her lose her ground and need someone to keep her steady. "Location first, then give him the money."

"Lucas. Lucas. Lucas!"

"I'll call you later on, all right?" Lucas, being the selfish douchebag that he is, grabs the bag of money and moves to book it, leaving his girlfriend who needs him behind.

"Damn it. Move in now!" OA sounded the call and immediately all agents left their posts and honed in on Lucas.

"Lucas!"

"You lying sack of..." Lucas, in an effort to prove that he really is a stellar guy, pulls out a gun and starts shooting at the agents, causing panic and fear in the civilians around them. Really, Harper? This guy?

"Get down! Get down!" Hailey pulled Harper out of the line of fire and pushed her to the ground before covering her with her own body, amazing OA with her selflessness yet again. You really picked a good one, Jay.

"Move, move!"

"Drop it!" Scola had joined them when Lucas went for the kill, forcing OA to do the same. Only OA was a good shot, though.

"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas! Lucas..." Harper couldn't stop calling for him, and OA was certain that the only reason she hadn't crawled over to his body was that Hailey was holding her in place. "It's okay." Hailey seemed to be stuck on repeat, comforting Harper. OA personally couldn't see how someone who had been abused would mourn their abuser... But then again, he thankfully had never had to suffer through that. Unlike Hailey.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Sounded like he was ready to hit the road, so I'm guessing his dope is close by. Nothing back here." OA went to the Range Rover with Scola to look for anything- finding the drugs would've been preferable, but as long as it was a tangible clue, they could call it a win.

"Yeah. There's nothing here either."

"Any luck?" Hailey approached them, her I-know-something-that-you-don't-but-don't-worry-I'll-tell-you plastered on her face.

"Nope. Nothing."

"You have the keys on you?"

"Yeah."

"Here, let me try something. Hop in. Shut the trunk." Hailey closed the driver's door, started the engine, pushed a button on the stereo and on the car door. A drawer illuminated by blue light opens, containing the missing drugs.

"I already pushed it. Nothing happened." Scola sounded mildly insulted, but OA just chuckled internally.

"Okay, Chicago." He was impressed, and he wasn't going to hide that. He was also going to give Jay a call later to tell him to ask her out already. There's no way a woman this amazing stays single for long.

"I have a CI who installs these things. Engine has to be on and doors closed in order for it to open."

"Okay, we got the dope. Now we just gotta figure out where to deliver it to."- OA

"Yep."

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"We have Lucas' texts from the phone he was carrying since Harper said he started doing business with the Latin Players about a month ago-" Kristen was leading their group of field agents and Jubal towards the front desks, explaining what she found, and while normally they would have totally enjoyed her explaining just how smart she is, things were a little time-sensitive.

"Yeah."

"We need to scrub that time period."

"There, on the 28th. There's a text that says, 'Meetings at 2. Let's do 9 instead of 8.'" One of the analysts pulled the info onto the computer screen in front of them, showing them the text records.

"'Let's do 9 instead of 8'? But the meeting's at 2:00. Is that some sort of code?" Jubal's mind was whirring away with Kristen's, figuring out exactly what it meant.

"Well, here's Lucas' GPS data from that day around that time." Kristen worked her magic so that Jubal could work his.

"All right, so from 1:37 to 3:12, he was in Brooklyn down by the river. Kris, can you zoom in? Get a more specific look at this. Yeah, over here. Can you drill down right there?"

"Okay."

"They met at 2:00 at a dock. Pier nine instead of pier eight. That's the meeting place." Scola voiced it out loud, like he was still in thought and hadn't had time to put all of the pieces in place internally first.

"There it is." Jubal's prideful voice made OA smirk.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We've got 67 minutes to get the drugs down to pier nine. Unfortunately, the guy we need to deliver the drugs is at the city morgue." Isobel voiced the dreadful obvious from her office, forcing them all to sigh and start their plan to catch Arman's killer from scratch.

"I'll go under as Lucas' friend. I'll give him the coke in exchange for Harper's dad." Hailey volunteered herself, but not with the same gusto she'd been working the entire case. Something was off and OA's 'spidey senses' were giving him no peace.

"No. These guys have done their homework. They're not gonna buy that." OA knew he made a good point, but he hoped that no one saw the way his shoulders went rigid.

"I get it, but I think I can pull it off."

"No, I agree with OA. It's too risky." Isobel agreed with him and OA felt like he could breathe again, he promised Jay that he'd watch her back, something he couldn't really do if he was watching her not with her. And if he were honest with himself, he'd become a little attached to her in the time they'd been partnered together, hoping that they would become friends.

"So we need a plan C."

"Let me do it. He's my father. I'm the one who got him into this awful situation. So let me do it. Let me do something meaningful. Something that will make me feel good about myself... Please. Gotta let me do it." Harper looked at Hailey, not even acknowledging the rest of the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're gonna do great. Just follow the plan we laid out."

"He doesn't get the second bag until you see your father."

"Right. Got it."

"And if your dad's not at the meeting place, you tell the man to bring him there. He'll say no. You stand your ground." Hailey seemed to be offering more comforting advice.

"You have more leverage than you think. This dope is worth a lot of money, and that's all they really care about." While he seemed to be offering more calculated advice.

"It's okay to be nervous. They'd be suspicious if you weren't. You good?"

"I'm good."

"Okay."

"Okay. Here we go."

"Alpha team in position."

"Where's Lucas?" The gang leader, covered in tattoos was menacing as he approached.

"He sent me instead."

"And my product? There's only one kilo here."

"The other four are close by."

"Close by doesn't do me no good."

"Show me where my father is, and I'll get you the other four."

"Don't get cute with me, mama. I'll cut your throat. Go get my dope."

"Let's get ready to move in."

"No, no. Give her a chance."- Hailey was confident, but OA couldn't help but side-eye her. Wondering just what made her so sure.

"You trying to get your dad killed? 'Cause, that's what's happen if you keep playing."

"I need to see him."

"He's alive. I promise."

"I need proof."

"[whistles] Right over there, chica."

"Okay, we got eyes on the dad. We're good to go."

"Wait, wait, wait. Let's see if we can get him talking about Aman's murder. As soon as we see a weapon, we roll."

"Okay." OA knew that Hailey was smart, and she had been making great calls throughout this case, but he was still hesitant. An innocent man's life was in the balance, but he wanted justice for Arman too.

"Be a good girl, go get my dope. Do that, Big Papa walks. I'll go with you."

"So... So... How do I know you're not gonna kill me and my father once I give you the dope?"

"I don't kill civilians. Bad for business."

"You kill that Indian guy? He was a civilian."

"I try my best, but I'm not perfect, mama." Harper meekly retrieved the second bag from behind construction equipment.

"You did good, Harper." But 'good' wasn't enough for him. Suddenly a large silver gun was pointing at the middle of her forehead.

"FBI! Don't move!" OA lead the charge, coming out of hiding and announcing himself the second that they got confirmation that he murdered Arman they'd burst out of the van and beat SWAT to Harper, the Latin Players, and Harper's father.

"Drop your weapon now! Let me see your hands now! Put the gun on the ground! Step away! Put it down now!"

"Get on the ground! Get on the ground, now!"

"Dad!"

"Let me go! Dad! Dad! Dad!" Honestly, he didn't give the tearful father-daughter reunion much attention or thought, but he noticed that Hailey did, if only for a couple of seconds longer than necessary. He didn't know what to make of that, though.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey."

"I just filed my 302. Do you need help with yours?"

"Nah, I just finished."

"So, I have to admit, I wasn't so sure about you."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure about you either. But you're all right. For a fed."

"You wanna grab a beer?"

"I'm okay. You don't have to look after the new kid."

"I am pretty sure you don't need looking after. Come on, you saved my life. The least you can do is let me buy you a drink."

"For the tenth time, I didn't save your life. All right, let's grab a beer, but only if you tell me why you became a fed. I told you my reason. It's only fair you tell me yours."

"Deal."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They didn't quite 'go out for a beer'. When OA heard Hailey's stomach throw a temper tantrum in the elevator he suggested going out for food that was accompanied by a beer. She'd agreed as long as they didn't go out for "crackers with sauce on them". OA had laughed, not even remotely or phased by Hailey's obsession with Chicago pizza. It's just another thing she shares with Jay. Besides, he wanted to take her somewhere else.

When they sat down Hailey looked around, taking it all in. Omar has been coming to this restaurant all his life. It had been open longer than he'd been alive, he'd even had his tenth birthday here. He hadn't brought Maggie here yet, not because he didn't think they were close enough, he just didn't know how she'd react to realizing that they are that close. "I hope you like Egyptian food."

"I've never had it, but I'm Greek and I know that there are a few shared foods and ingredients."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed Greek from 'Upton'."

"My parents changed it when they moved here, their name was too difficult for Americans to pronounce, and there was some... Other stuff."

"I'm familiar with 'other stuff'. Do you want any recommendations or need me to explain anything on the menu?"

"You know what? You can choose what I eat tonight. If I like what you pick, I won't tease you for it the rest of the time I'm here."

"Well, for the record-"

"What record?" Hailey laughed.

"For the record, I am completely confident in my knowledge of food so I know I'll find something you'll like. After all, it can't really be bad so long as it's not non-Chicago pizza. Right?"

OA ended up choosing a dish called 'kushari', it wasn't like the Chicago or Mediterranean food Hailey was used to but she'd loved it. OA was smiling at her, proud of his victory, Hailey rolled her eyes, smirking at his impishness. "Tell me about your partner." The question caught him off guard and for a moment he'd felt a significant crack in his walls, leaving him exposed. Suddenly all the feelings he'd been pushing back since Maggie went UC enveloped and starting drowning him. Fear gripped his heart, haunting curiousity stabbed his mind, and loneliness hooked onto his soul. "OA? We don't have to talk about her, I'm sorry I asked, I didn't mean to upset you."

"She's one of the most amazing people I know. She's smart, strong, generous, empathetic, courageous... She's honestly one of the most amazing people in my life and I love having her as my partner." Hailey looked at him the same way his sisters and mother did whenever he spoke about one of the most important people in his life. Like they were able to listen between his words and decipher another meaning to what he'd said. But like his mother, his sisters always gave him hell for it, she said nothing. I couldn't even dispute it if she did say anything.

"She sounds badass."

"She is. What about your partner? Tell me about them?" He'd narrowly averted saying 'him', unsure how she'd react if she knew just how close she and Jay really were, and just how much Jay had told him about her. She got this smitten grin on her face, and OA knew that the roles were reversed from a few moments ago when he had that same smirk and far off look in his eyes. "His name is Jay Halstead, and he's an amazing person, except for when he's getting himself shot, the reckless idiot. He would rather get shot at than get a needle which rattles me to no end, especially because he's so much more kind and intelligent than he gives himself credit for and we need him you know, alive, but still, I admire him so much. He makes me laugh and he just knows how to get to me, you know? I would... I would follow him anywhere. Wow... What is in this food? Truth serum? I'm not usually that open..." It was like he could literally see a forcefield shaping around her. Shrinking in on herself, her face hardening, hastily putting a forkful of food in her mouth. She looked at the wall behind him, pretending to be interested in the decorations, trying to pass off the slight panic in her eyes.

"Maybe it's just my charming demeanour, or that I got personal first, really personal. Or maybe it's because you needed to tell that to someone you don't see every day."

"Yeah. Maybe." She still wouldn't look at him and a tense silence enveloped them until she took a deep breath and shook herself. Light seemingly went off in her head before she gave him an absolutely devilish smirk. "I believe I was promised your origin story."

"Is that what we're calling it? An 'origin story'?"

"It is now."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Halstead."

"Get your head out of your dumb ass and ask Hailey out."

"I- OA-"

"You won't regret it, Jay. I actually think that you will regret it if you don't."

"I just don't know if I'm ready to admit anything to myself, forget Hailey."

"When does life ever wait until you're ready, man? Neither of you work in a stable occupation, and even then the universe isn't exactly known for working on anyone else's timeline. I can literally feel you aching for her from here."

"But what if I'm not good enough."

"Oh, I've only known her for a few days and I already know that no one's good enough for her-"

"Damn have you adopted her as another honourary sibling? How many do you have now? And Hailey actually knows you've adopted her, right?"

"Not important, and don't try and change the subject."

"But if no one's good enough for her, then..."

"You're too hard on yourself Jay. No one's good enough for you either. Why shouldn't two people who are far too good for the world be together? You deserve happiness, Jay. You both do, and I think telling her that you're far gone with her would be a great start."

"Thanks, man. Really."

"No problem."

"... So you think that I'm 'far too good for the world'?"

"And now I'm regretting every word we've spoken." No I don't, but your head really doesn't to get bigger.

"Nope, no take-backs. You think that I'm badass and amazing."

"I never said 'badass' or 'amazing'."

"Jay Halstead- described as 'far too good for the world' by the humble and decorated OA Zidan-"

"I also called you a 'dumbass' but whatever, goodnight Jay. And seriously, ask Hailey out."

#One Chicago #Chicago PD #hailey upton #hailey x jay #jay halstead x hailey upton #upstead #upstead fic #jay halstead #OA Zidan #maggie bell #oa zidan x maggie bell #zibell #fbi cbs

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muilkyu · 4 years

Text

Cuddling With Treasure

🐷 Hyunsuk

"I can't get the laptop to connect," you complain. The screen has just been loading for the past 10 minutes trying to find a connection that apparently doesn't exist.

"Just connect your phone instead," Hyunsuk suggests.

"I already tried, I just don't think the TV wants anyone to connect," you explain shutting the laptop, "Should we just watch it on my phone?"

"The screen will be too small to see from the table," he points out, "Here come lay down. I'll hold the phone up till the episode is over."

"Are you sure? Isn't your arm going to hurt," you question.

He shakes his head, "No I'll be fine."

You end up laying on his chest as he holds up his phone. You keep asking if his arm is getting tired, but he softly denies insisting he is fine.

🐼 Jihoon

"My arm is going to fall asleep," Jihoon grumbles, shuffling his arm around under your head.

"Not my fault you forgot the pillows," you snicker snuggling up into his arm.

"I thought they would have chairs," he replied under his breath.

"You're a talkative pillow," you tease.

"I'm never going to win this debate am I?"

"You already know the answer to that question."

🐯 Yoshi

"I'm so sleepy," you yaw, stretching your arms up into the air.

"We still have a long time till we are back in Seoul," he says looking at the map. Both of you decided that it would be fun to have a day outside of Seoul. It was nice out so you decided to visit Daejeon. The trip itself was not long, just a half a day trip, but it was tiring walking around all day.

"How much longer?"

"We have 40 more minutes till we get near Seoul," he replies.

"I can take a small nap then," he decides. Then he tries to find a comfortable position to lay his head on the window. If he sleeps that he will get a neck cramp.

"Don't lay like that you will hurt yourself. Lay your head on my shoulder, it will be more comfortable," you suggest.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yeah, you should sleep. You deserve to rest. I had a really great time today all thanks to you," you smile.

Laying his head on your shoulder he lets out a soft thank you.

🐨 Junkyu

"Are you still feeling nauseous?" You ask Junkyu.

He weakly shakes his head, "No, I think it passed. I'm cold now."

"You're under 2 blankets right now. I don't have another. I could turn up the heat," you suggest.

"No, then you'll be hot," he points out.

"I'll be fine as long as you are comfortable."

"Can you lay with me?" He asks.

"If you want, sure," you answer back.

Junkyu smiles for the first time that day then, "Thank you for taking care of me."

🐹 Mashiho

"I want cuddles," Mashiho demands when he walks through the door of your dorm.

You take the bag from his hand laughing, "Wow no 'Hello' or anything."

Walking past you he gets comfortable on the couch, then opens his arms, "Nope. I haven't seen you in a week. It's time for cuddles."

"What if I don't want cuddles," you counter. Then you go to place the food on the table.

"Then I'll have to steal them."

"I would like to see you try."

That statement was a mistake. Mashiho takes it to heart. He chases you around the dorm. Screams and shouts leave your mouth when he finally catches you.

"Can I have my cuddles now?"

You fake a thinking look taping your chin and all, "I suppose."

🦁 Jaehyuk

"I thought I had put them in my bag for sure," you complain, shuffling through your tote bag. This morning you were sure you had placed your earbuds in the small side holder.

Jaehyuk wanted to take a trip to Yeosu to see the beaches. He set everything up. He planned out the bus route, bought the train tickets, and planned out the tourist stops. Now without your earbuds, you will have to sit through a 3-hour train ride without music.

"You probably just left them at home," Jaehyuk points out. It's too late to go back, you are already on the train. You're still looking through your bag desperately, "We can just share my AirPods."

You stop looking through your bag looking up a little hesitant, "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

After the earbud situation. Jaehyuk and you settle down for the rest of the long ride. As you reach the hour and a half point though looking out the window makes you sleepy. Jaehyuk seems to notice you nodding so he sets your head on his shoulder. Cuddling up to him you allow yourself to fall asleep in his warmth.

🤖 Asahi

The woman slowly creeps her way into the room. There is obviously a ghost haunting her, but she's too stupid to realize. Who just walks into a room with a creep rocking chair moving on its own? She still goes inside the room like an idiot. You then slowly raise my hands to cover your ears because you know the door is going to slam behind her. Sure enough, it does. Okay, that wasn't that bad. It's only when she turns around to see the ghost behind her that reaches for her neck strangling her that you finally scream. Covering your eyes with your hands you block yourself from looking at the screen.

Asahi is sitting right next to you. He doesn't even seem to flinch at the movie. Even when you screamed he just looked at you. He really is a robot sometimes.

"No I can't watch this," you confess, "How are you not scared?"

"I don't know it's kinda predictable," he shrugs.

"Still you don't jump at all. Are you a robot? Are we secretly in I'm Not A Robot? Is this a k-drama?"

"Neither of us is Korean why would it be a K-drama?" Asahi says, he has a point.

"True. Can we watch someone else though?" You suggest, "Let's watch P.S. I Still Love You."

"You've watched that a million times," Asahi complains.

"Every time it gets better and better. Plus we all know Ambrose is way hotter than Kavinsky," you rant on already reaching for the remote.

He just yawns, "Fine but I'm going to sleep." He moves so his feet are handing off the edge of the couch and his head is placed in your lap.

"You can't lay on my lap. My feet will fall asleep," you groan pushing his head up only for him to fall back down.

"If we have to watch this cheesy movie, then you have to let me nap."

"Fine." And with that, he falls asleep on your lap facing the TV. The movie plays in the background with you softly playing with strands of his hair.

🦊 Yedam

"I started working on a new song for the talent show," Yedam says.

"I thought you weren't going to audition."

He shrugs, "I changed my mind last minute."

"What song are you thinking about performing."

"I actually wrote a song," he says a bit timidly, "I can play it for you actually. I made it on the bus home the other day."

"I can't believe you actually wrote a song," you smile back in disbelief, "Can I hear it?"

🐰 Doyoung

"Look in my bottom drawer. It's a little pink cow," you tell Doyoung. He looks through the drawer for the pink cow when he finds it he lets out a relieved 'ah'.

"Okay, what do I do now?"

"Fill the belly up with hot water," you instruct. He hums and then a few minutes later he is back with the hot pack.

"Thank you." You say then place the pack down on your lower belly. The immediate warmer starts working its magic.

"Yeah, do you need anything else?" Doyoung asks.

Nodding you ask for him to just hold you.

🐏 Haruto

Rubbing your hands together you let out an irritated sigh, "Are we heading back soon?"

"Yeah. I'm just waiting for my hot dog to be done," Haruto replies.

The line to the stand is long. It's the middle of winter in Korea which means it's beyond freezing. Today was supposed to be a stay inside with a blanket day, but Haruto wanted to see a movie. So you bundled up just enough for a few hours and made your way out in the cold. It was supposed to just be a movie and then back home, but Haruto really wanted a hot dog with cheese. You agreed thinking it would only take a few minutes. You were wrong.

"Can't you just order one to the dorms?" You ask, still rubbing your fingers together. The hot packs you had given out about an hour and a half ago.

"No, it's break remember. We can't order after 9." He reminds you.

"Then I think I'm going to head back early. It's too cold to wait."

Haruto doesn't seem to like that idea by the looks of that, "No stay here let me warm you up." Haruto then wraps his arms around your shoulder pulling you into his body warmth. It doesn't help much, but it is a cute gesture so you stay until he gets his dumb hot dog.

🐺 Jeongwoo

"10 feet apart," Jeongwoo demanded walking backward.

"Stop being dramatic," you say walking forward he proceeded to take some steps back.

"No, we are supposed to be social distancing."

"You did not just pull that card on me."

Jeongwoo just shrugs, "That sucks no cuddles."

"You have the common cold. You're not going to kill me." You say walking closer.

He takes a step back, "See we don't know that."

You take another step forward, "No we do know."

"Still no hugs or cuddles," he takes another step back. So you take another step forward and his back hits the wall.

"Now you're trapped," before he can move around you put him into a hug, "I win."

"Fine, but I'm only hugging you for 2 minutes," Jeongwoo declares hugging you back.

🐮 Junghwan

"I think I'm sick," Junghwan tells you during homeroom. It's early morning just around 8 am.

You place a hand on his forehead, "Your forehead isn't hot. Did you take some medicine?" He shakes his head. The face he is sporting is actually making you kind of sad. His eyes are downcast which means he's not playing around, "Should I take you to the nurse?"

"No, maybe I should just rest," he replies. He moves his workbook to the side of his death and places his head down, arms folded to act as a makeshift pillow.

"Class starts in 15 minutes. Also, you'll get a cramp laying like that," you warn.

Sitting up Junghwan sighs, "You know what your right," To your surprise, he then pulls your chair closer putting his head on your shoulder. His arms wrap around your waist very tenderly, "Be my pillow."

This gains some states from people in the classroom. Calling him out will only make a bigger scene so you play along. Placing your arms on top of his head stroking his head softly.

"Okay, but not for too long."

Thank you for reading!

I honestly ran out of ideas for this one so I hope it doesn’t sound repetitive.

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penaltbox · 4 years

Text

your side of the bed - roman ahcan

feedback & reblogs are always so appreciated!! if you like it, let me know your favorite line or part 😊

word count: 3k

You glance up from your phone, seeing the tv show playing far later at night than you needed to be awake, but not remembering a single thing that had happened during that episode or any prior. You glance over to your left and see the back of someone who had been there plenty of times now but who you still weren’t used to.

Technically speaking he was your boyfriend. He did everything you asked, went out of his way to be sweet to you, and his mom thought the world of you. From the outside looking in you had it all and you felt like you owed him for all the good things he did for you, but something always felt missing. Something was always off. He didn’t feel like home the way Roman had.

You think about the night everything fell apart more frequently than you wanted to admit. The two of you didn’t always get along but you didn’t fight every time you were together either. You were quick to butt heads on some things, but being together always had a spark that you knew you’d be chasing your whole life.

You were out with Ro and his friends one night, trying to wind down after a long week and two tough games on their end. You’d been a little irritated that day, but you didn’t think you were super crabby. He had other thoughts though and made them known.

“If you’re gonna have an attitude all night just go home. I don’t want to deal with it,” he says, shaking his head after you glare at some girl who had come to try and talk to the boys.

“What are you talking about?” You ask, not realizing your face had betrayed your thoughts that way.

He laughs a little, but there’s no humor behind it, “don’t act better than her just because you hang out with my friends now. You used to be in her position not that long ago.”

“I didn’t even do anything. What’s your problem?” You ask, your temper flaring a tad over his accusations.

“Oh don't start with that. Why do you always have to pick a fight when I put you in your place?” He says, quickly backing you against the wall so he can keep the inevitable argument between you two.

You lean back against it and glare up at him, knowing this tactic well. It wasn’t your first fight at the bar and sometimes you both lost your temper so he’d started corralling you to try and keep things calm. It worked sometimes, when he didn’t talk down to you like he was now, but other times the boys still picked up on the problems that would arise as your voices got louder and would usually have to intervene.

“I’m not picking the fight. You started this!” You poke his chest, knowing it would start him up.

He takes a deep breath before he mumbles through his teeth, “don’t fucking poke me like that.”

“Or what? What are you gonna do, Roman?”

“I’m gonna tell you to shut the fuck up and check your attitude. Why are you so goddamn crabby tonight?” He asks, his voice raising a little already.

“I wasn’t crabby but if you keep being a dick and telling me what you think I am, it’ll change really fast,” you roll your eyes and try to push him out of your way.

“I’m not dealing with this tonight. I’m not your babysitter,” he scoffs, but puts his hands on the wall on either side of you to keep you in front of him.

You clench your jaw then, hating that he was pushing you around in public, “let me go. I wasn’t in a bad mood until you started being an ass and telling me I was. You won’t stand here and act like you’ve got all this power over me because you can hold me in place.”

He smirks then, like this is some game, “you never seem to complain when I hold you in place in bed.”

Your patience has worn out and his comment is ill-timed. You push his arm down and step around him, determined to go back to your drink and talk with people like you had been before he decided to unnecessarily give you a hard time.

“I’m sick of you treating me like a little kid when we fight,” you say, looking over your shoulder at him, “why can’t you just be fucking nice to me?”

“Are you kidding me?” He asks louder than you expect, but he’s quick to glance around. A couple of the boys look over and you know you’re being watched after that outburst, “I am nice to you and it’s not fair for you to try and say that. I’m just trying to make sure everyone has a good time tonight by checking your attitude early.”

You feel your jaw tense again and you somehow cool your tone down as you explain, “I’m not a child, Roman, and I would really appreciate it if you let me be my own person rather than making sure I fit into your little group here. If you want someone that just does what you say then I’m not the girl for you.”

Roman’s jaw drops a little at how even your tone is and how serious you sound. He’s quickly stuttering, trying to spit out an apology but you’re quicker than him.

“I’m fucking done. I can’t deal with the bullshit that comes with you and this team anymore,” you say, a statement that would end up being so untrue but you had no clue then, “We’re done.”

You weren’t sure exactly what you expected, but suddenly Roman straightens up and shrugs his shoulders. You frown a little at the action and he seems to finally know what he wants to say.

“Fine, go then but don’t talk to us anymore either. This isn’t your group to be friends with,” he says, his tone cold and unfamiliar.

You glance around at the boys you’d become close with, the ones who you’d spent so much time with over the last half a year, and especially the ones you really liked. You swallow hard but know you have to play it like this doesn’t hurt. But it really fucking does.

You look back at Roman and give him a little nod before turning and brushing past Owen who calls your name softly. You can’t look at him, your composure wavering at the sound of your name coming from him, but you swear you hear him yell something at Roman as you stay on your path out of there.

You make your way out of the door, spilling out onto the sidewalk of Lake Street. You have to take a couple deep breaths as you try to stop the tears from falling but it doesn’t work. You turn and head towards your apartment, not having any patience to wait for an Uber. You hardly make the turn onto State Street when you hear your name called.

This had to be a sick joke. He embarrassed you like that in front of so many people and now he wanted to chase you down and make amends? You feel the sadness start to quickly switch over to anger as you quickly turn towards the voice, tears still burning down your face.

“What do you want?” You spit out, but you gasp right after, “Mike, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you.”

He gives you a little smile as his hand scratches the back of his neck, “he shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t argue in public with you just because he thinks you were in a mood. It just makes problems for everyone.”

“Oh,” you mumble as you wipe at the tear tracks, surprised by the closest thing you’ll get to an apology for the situation, “thank you?”

Mike blushes a little and gestures randomly towards the street, “I didn’t want you to have to walk home alone either. That’s not safe.”

“You coming with me then, Vorlicky? Am I the chaperone here or is that you?” You joke, finally smiling a little.

“Hey now,” he laughs, walking past you down the road, “you coming with, pretty, or are you just gonna cry in the street all night?”

It’s your turn to blush then as your stomach flutters a little. You duck your head to try and hide your smile, but you quickly match his pace. It had been a long time since you flirted the way you and Mike did that night. It was light and the banter came easily. He’s good at getting your mind off the issue at hand and before you know it the late hours turn into early morning and you let him crash on your couch eventually.

When you didn’t hear from Roman for the next week, you figured he really was over it. You’re heartbroken and you hate that it ended the way it did. You had so many questions and problems with him just giving up on you two, but Mike provided a pretty good distraction that you didn’t expect to have.

—

You knew Roman’s friends hated you. How could they not? You had broken up with one boy and then pursued another on the team. They didn’t say anything out loud but you saw the looks you got from his group whenever you were all in the same place.

You never brought it up though. You opted to stay quiet and take on a different approach than the first time. You didn’t get drunk around them anymore or argue loudly, even when you had an opinion on something. You kept to yourself unless one of them asked you something and you always deferred to Mike when a decision needed to be made.

You hated every minute of it. You were a shell of what you used to be but you had yourself convinced if you just got through school then things would turn out okay eventually. You wouldn’t have to see the team anymore and you wouldn’t have the reminder of the one you’d lost staring you in the face every time you wanted to see your new boy. If he even lasted that long.

It wasn’t like Roman was completely gone though. It wasn’t just seeing him with the guys that happened every now and then; no, there was more than that. There was still this odd level of contact that was happening and it was on purpose from you, but you weren’t sure about him. Every Instagram story was checked by one another, always being one of the first few to watch it. Neither of you had unfollowed the other on anything and you refused to take down any pictures from vsco. That didn’t set extremely well with Mike but he never said too much on it either. You couldn’t quite let go of him even though you technically had someone new.

You stare at your bed one Saturday, silently thinking about all the nights Roman has been taking up the space, and some of yours as well. You can’t help but wonder what would have happened if you tried harder to get him back. When you look back on things you know he deserved an apology, too. You’d gotten a little out of hand and let your temper run the show. Not once did you take a step back and tell yourself to calm down for a second rather than escalating the situation.

You know you could have done things differently but you didn’t and now you had what you had. You were stuck home on a weekend but you were more than okay to have the place to yourself for once and you were soaking in the quiet.

You would finally get to sleep alone that night, the boys having plans to go out and you definitely didn’t get those invites anymore. As you get changed, you swap his shirt out for one of Roman’s to wear to bed that night. You know you should have gotten rid of it when you broke up but you just couldn’t do it. You knew it wasn’t right, but you stored it in the back of a drawer and only pulled it out when you knew Mike wouldn’t be around.

You slip into bed, mind racing all over again. It was quickly nearing 2:00 in the morning and yet you couldn’t seem to slow down. You realize you’re laying on his side of the bed and you pull an extra pillow closer, hugging it tight. Your heart strings tug a little as you remember how much he used to beg to be the little spoon. You never denied it, but you did pick on him just a bit for it.

—

“You’re too big for this,” you giggle, but do your best to wrap your arms around him.

“No, it works! I promise,” he says, his laugh easily filling the quietness of the room with a sound you loved to hear.

He scoots down the bed a little and wraps his arms around your waist, lifting your leg up over his hip. He finally gets comfortable and lets out a sigh as your fingers begin to run through his hair, gently massaging his head every few swipes.

“I love that you always do this,” you admit quietly, barely above a whisper.

He hums and keeps himself squished against you, “I’m glad you still let me. Don’t tell the boys.”

“And risk you not doing this anymore?” You ask, “not a chance.”

—

You never did tell any of the boys about it and you never would. It was too intimate of a moment, only a memory to you now, for other people to know about it. It was also something you didn’t have with Mike and you weren’t sure you ever wanted him to try. He didn’t ask for it or pull you close and bury his head in your chest like Roman would. He liked to have his hair played with but everyone pretty much does so you never saw it as a big deal.

Sometimes you really missed having a big tough hockey player all curled up and needing some extra attention, especially once it got dark outside and you were left alone with your thoughts of how things used to be.

You know you’re not about to fall asleep so you do what you’d been doing for the last couple months since things ended: Post a story and see what Roman would do about it. He would be the only one who would know you weren’t on your side of the bed and you wondered if he even remembered or not anymore.

It’s a simple picture, one that someone else would glance over in an instant. The soft glow from the string lights over your bed showed the side you were on and a little slip of red fabric - his shirt - with your tv on in the background. You put a little ‘no sleep’ comment with a crying emoji and shrink it, placing it right above the spot where you can see the shirt.

It’s all so subtle that you’re not sure he’ll even realize it but you have this feeling that you need to just post it. Your heart is hammering for some reason as you tap through the screens, posting it to your story and then making sure it uploads right away. 2:03am is what your phone tells you and you sigh, swallowing at the lump that formed suddenly from your next thought. He probably had someone else keeping his attention. They were out at the bar and some new girl probably was getting that signature smirk from him instead of you. He didn’t need to check on you anymore.

You lay back down and get comfy all over again, still holding the pillow close like it would somehow make things feel better and make the tugging feeling in your heart go away one of these days. Your mind wanders to the last time he was in your bed and you have to shake your thoughts.

He was gone. He wasn’t yours to miss anymore. Why couldn’t you just accept that and move on?

You feel your eyes finally getting heavy as you do anything you can to think about something, anything else but him. You’re about to doze off when your phone vibrates in your hand. You frown and lift it up, heart stopping when you see what the notification is on the screen.

‘roman_ahcan3 sent you a message.’

You read it over and over, trying to see if you’re imagining things, but you’re not. You open your phone to pull up the message as quickly as the page will load and you’d be lying if you said the contents of it didn’t take your breath away.

‘That’s not your side of the bed’

You have to pull yourself together and read it again. He noticed. He had taken the time to watch your story, look at it, and then send you a message. You can’t believe this played out the way you’d wanted it to.

But why now? Why did he choose this story to respond to? There had been plenty of other chances to say something or make a comment. This wasn’t the one you expected to get a reaction from.

‘No, it’s yours’

It’s bold and feels too forward. You regret it immediately and consider unsending it but he reads it almost as quickly as you send it. You’re panicking now because you’re sure he’s about to tell you to knock it off or that you can’t say that anymore. But he doesn’t.

‘Is it really mine though? Still?’

You know your response as soon as you read his questions and you type it out faster than you can even process it. Every word is honest and you know you mean what you’re saying.

‘If you come back it is.’

#roman ahcan #wisconsin hockey #mine #my writing #hockey fic #college hockey fic #hockey writing #college writing

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theonlinemuse · 3 years

Text

And me and @freckledpianoman are back with more Beth Chapel content! Continuing from this post, here’s even more headcanons about our favourite Dr Mid-Nite:

Beth is nearsighted and started wearing glasses when she was three and a half. Bridget started noticing that her daughter kept squinting all the time and eventually took her to an eye doctor, attributing Beth needing glasses so early to all the times that she hid under the covers with a flashlight and read late into the night instead of sleeping

Her prescription is really strong and while her glasses correct most of her vision, she still needs accommodations like enlarged and high contrast texts and other visual aids

Chuck eventually becomes another accommodation since he acts as a cross between telescopic and magnifying glasses and a talking watch

She’s fluent in French thanks to her grandma Beatrice’s influence and she can carry a conversation in Spanish (she picked it up from Bridget, who often talks with her patients in Spanish) and Norwegian. That last language throws people off when they first hear about it, but it comes in handy when four-year-old Pieter Cross and his family (who don’t speak much English) move to Blue Valley from Trondheim, Norway

Yolanda grumbles about not being able to talk to Beth in Spanish class whenever she’s home sick from school because she's the one decent conversation partner she has in that class

Rick often practices translating for his French class with Beth. Once he goofed and said “madame le docteur”. And poor Beth was close to shaking him and going, “Rick, that's wrong on so many levels”

He knows by the incredulous look on her face that he’s all sorts of wrong and he blushes all embarrassed. But later he mistranslates on purpose just to see her adorable reactions

She wants to pick up more languages eventually (she’s deciding if she wants to take both Mandarin and Arabic in college like her dad did) and is currently learning ASL

Beth is a Star Trek fan thanks to her dad’s influence. She and James would watch reruns of Deep Space Nine while she was growing up and it was their way of bonding. While that tradition didn’t happen as often when Beth started high school, she and Yolanda (who had watched Voyager with her brother and cousins) eventually start a tradition of watching Star Trek Discovery

Beth and Yolanda’s love for Star Trek is often a point of contention with Rick and Courtney, who are both Star Wars fans. It’s been the subject of a lot of arguments about what to watch for JSA marathons. Pat is usually the tie breaker

Beth learned how to garden from her grandma Beatrice, who raises African violets in her rooftop garden. Beth’s backyard isn’t big enough for a garden so instead she keeps all sorts of plants in her room, including little teacup succulents on her bedroom windowsill and in honeycomb shelves

While her backyard’s too small for a garden, there’s a pink dogwood tree and she loves reading and having picnics under it when it’s in bloom. In the summer Beth makes her own butterfly feeders and hang them from the tree and watch the butterflies gather

She grew up listening to Schoolhouse Rock thanks to her dad, who would play their songs in the kitchen whenever he made breakfast on Saturday mornings while she was growing up. Even now, Beth sings along to them whenever she hears them and Chuck starting adding them to karaoke mode, including her favourites “Three is a Magic Number”, “The Tale of Mr Morton”, and “The Energy Blues”

When she was in middle school, she started using the melody of Schoolhouse Rock songs to memorize things like country names and the periodic table. She used the latter to help Rick memorize different elements for his chem class. Yolanda actually caught Rick softly singing to himself at his locker when he was searching for his notes for one last read through

“Beth got you to sing? Willingly?” “I wasn't singing, you’re hearing things.”

Courtney is weirded out by the fact that Beths texts with Mike of all people, but it's mostly through gifs, emojis, and random memes. She has no idea what they even talk about, saying that Beth texts with Mike more often than she does with Rick, much to the latter’s annoyance. In reality Beth and Mike talk about robotics competitions, the latest episode of whatever they were binging (this week was Julie and the Phantoms), and their ongoing bet on when Courtney and Yolanda will finally get together

If Beth wins, Mike has to help upgrade her costume and if he wins, she owes him an ice cream cake

“It's like their own little nerd language, it makes no sense.”

Her style icon when she was little was Ms Frizzle. Beth thought that Ms Frizzle’s themed dresses and jewellery were so cool and she wanted to dress up like her. She still loves Ms Frizzle’s style and you can see the influence it has on Beth’s fashion from bright colours, unique patterns, and quirky jewellery

Beth has a special section in her closet for Ms Frizzle like outfits that she wears to the children’s library she volunteers at. It makes her very popular with the kids there

She actually dressed up as Ms Frizzle for Halloween in seventh grade

Despite being on opposite sides, Beth and Cindy have a begrudging respect for each other similar to Betty and Wilhelmina’s relationship on Ugly Betty, Beth being the JSA member that Cindy tolerates the most

Cindy begrudgingly thinks that she does know a thing or two about fashion because she often upcycles clothes. Courtney’s surprised that Beth’s still alive after she said that Cindy dresses like an evil PTA mom within earshot, though she did kidnap Beth a few times for a shopping spree

“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!” “Did you just quote Mean Girls?”

The first time they had a standoff, Cindy went “please, I’m Japanese, you’re Black, we’re not talking around this thing like a couple of dull white people”

Cindy once called Rick a feral raccoon and smirked when it made Beth accidentally burst out laughing

While Beth is more than confident with her personal style, but she’s still very new to makeup in general. Yolanda and Artemis (even Cindy much to everyone’s shock) have taken it upon themselves to help experiment with makeup and find out what she likes. Beth immediately knows that she doesn’t like mascara, even as Yolanda scolds her to stay still while she’s trying to put mascara on her

“You’re making it seem like I’m torturing you.” “Your superhero costume has claws, that doesn’t exactly scream safe.” “I’ll have you know I’m very practiced with my claws, now stay still!”

Beth likes the lipsticks and glosses much better, she likes the different colours and how it feels on her lips

She has to get used to the feeling of makeup on her face in general, but she doesn’t mind it and she’s shocked when she looks in the mirror. It’s still very much her, but it's like she’s glowing. She can’t stop smiling and the girls all look at her fondly

And they also exchange knowing looks, knowing that Rick is going to lose his mind

She did a history report on Bessie Coleman in middle school and she eventually drew inspiration for her Dr Mid-Nite costume from looking at photos of Bessie’s pilot outfit

Beth and her mom often did ceramics classes when she was a kid. They weren’t very good at it at first, but the little lopsided knick knacks they made always made them laugh. Beth and Bridget got better over the years with Beth painting colours and patterns on whatever her mom helped her make before they went into the kiln. She thought they would be plain otherwise and Bridget agreed with her

While ceramics classes have since stopped, they still use the honeycomb mugs and planters that they made and painted when Beth was in middle school. Bridget uses one for the aloe vera plant she keeps in her office at the hospital

Beth is allergic to pineapple. She found out during a school trip in third grade when Henry offered some of his fruit salad and she ended up with a swollen face and tongue, which really freaked Artemis and Cindy out. Yolanda and the villain kids ended up taking care of her until the ambulance came and Beth jokes that it was the one time the JSA and ISA kids worked together on something

She now carries an epipen in her backpack and Rick has taken to carrying a backup one in his jacket in case Beth can’t get to her backpack in time

She had a stargazing phase that she never grew out of. Her parents got her a mini telescope for her fifth birthday and Bridget started teaching her about the solar system before Beth started learning about constellations on her own. Bridget jokes that if her daughter hadn’t been set on becoming a doctor, she would’ve gone into astrophysics

Beth still has a telescope set up by her bedroom window. Sometimes when she has trouble sleeping and she’s not in the mood to read, she’ll look for constellations through the telescope while Chuck chimes in with little known star facts

She also has a starry globe nightlight and a constellation globe

She and Rick sometimes have stargazing “dates” out on her back porch. They curl up together in a patio chair with midnight snacks while they watch meteor showers. Sometimes Yolanda and Courtney will join them, curled up together in the other patio chair

Beth and Courtney often have karaoke nights at the Pit Stop after Pat souped up Barbara’s old karaoke machine. The usual playlist includes fun 80s and 90s jams as well as modern songs like Bruno Mars, Lizzo, and Janelle Monae. Yolanda often joins them for girl group songs (Little Mix is a favourite), even though she protests that she’s not much of a singer when she’s not singing Selena songs

Rick gets roped into doing a song too, much to his dismay. Courtney pouts and complains that he has to because there’s an unspoken rule that everyone has to sing

“I don't sing, dammit.” “Oh really, are you forgetting about that little ditty you were singing before your chem test?”

Beth sees how nervous Rick is and decides to go easy on him, finding a slow, bluesy song that he can keep up with and assuring him that even if he can’t croon those long deep notes, everyone will cheer him on. He ends up giving the best performance of the night, shocking the girls and impressing them all

He blushes when he sees Beth looking at him all starry eyed

When Beth was growing up, her family would have game night every Thursday and they were always old fashioned board games like Clue, Scrabble, and Pictionary. Whenever they would play Clue, Beth would always choose to be Miss Scarlett while her dad would switch between Professor Plum and Colonel Mustard. Beth could never beat her mom at Scrabble and it often ended up with Beth’s chemistry words versus Bridget’s medical terms

While game nights have since stopped, James will sometimes have Beth join him for a card game at three or four in the morning after he comes back from a business trip. He taught her how to play games like crazy eights, gin rummy, and cribbage when she was in middle school and it’s now their way of catching up after he comes back from travelling

Both her parents are only children. James’ family was originally from California before he moved to Nebraska for work while Bridget’s family are of Louisiana Creole descent and hail from Omaha. Beth is quite close to Bridget’s side of the family, especially with her second cousin Delphine’s family. Beth sometimes helps look after Delphine’s daughter Eliana whenever she and her husband are in town

Rick once mistook Eliana for Beth’s baby, hilarity ensued

Beth has a love for animals and since the fandom has collectively decided that Beth is a Disney Princess, she has a particular talent for being an accidental animal tamer. During a mission, three of the ISA’s attack dogs made a beeline for her and attacked her with doggie kisses instead of doing their job

The ISA are torn between being pissed (“when the hell did Mid-Nite become an animal tamer?”) and confused. Sportsmaster is vaguely impressed and takes it as a challenge

Later they tried scaring Beth with a python, which only really worked on Yolanda (“oh my god, what is that?”) while Beth just boops the snake on its snout. The snake swooned. So did Rick

After Rick and Yolanda recover from the shock, they look at the trio of attack dogs follow Beth all the way to the Pit Stop and go “we’re not keeping you”. Rick just hopes that the trio are the only attack dogs that follow her back home. He wishes that he had been more specific because he was not expecting an actual maned wolf suddenly coming up and sniffing all over Beth during a visit to the Dugan-Whitmores’ cabin

“What the fuck, where did that come from and why is it all over Beth?!”

It turns out that Beth didn’t realize that she had a cookie in one of her pockets and the maned wolf caught a whiff of it and was now trying to find it. The way it sniffs her is ticklish and she’s laughing the entire time

Once the maned wolf brought over a friend to see Beth and Courtney goes, “aww, he met another–oh my god, that’s a panther!” The panther also wanted one of Beth’s treats and it swooped in between her and Rick and started pawing at her like a spoiled kitten

Rick picked Beth up and carried her inside because “we can’t trust her outside anymore”

#Stargirl #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Hournite #ship it

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