#at some point they get married and Eddie lasts two seconds with the secret | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ruvviks · 2 years

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may i request some fun fact about each of the mercenary ocs <3 and also can i hold cato and laurens hands <3

OOGH THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK AND HELL YEA TO BOTH OF THOSE >:)) i'll put it under a read more because. well. there's so many of them LMFAO but enjoy <3

so these mercenaries are all part of vitali's inner merc circle, he has a LOT of mercs that stop by his office for gigs and whatnot but these are the Regulars so to say :) including vincent and mikhail of course but you guys know them by now LOL, all of them together make The Clown Brigade but i couldn't fit all their names on my banner </3

cato is a melee merc, mostly doing courier gigs and cargo transport gigs for vitali. she is clever, energetic and forgiving. she's a very fun person to be around and her friends mean the world to her, and she would do pretty much anything for them

cato used to work at the same independent security organization as mikhail and they were in the same squad together, until they got a job offer from kang tao; cato and the rest of their squad accepted, but mikhail declined, and he ended up working for arasaka instead. one of cato's squad members stayed in touch with him and leaked a lot of kang tao secrets to him; when kang tao found out, they killed him, and the rest of the squad had to be dealt with as well. ever since, cato has been on the run from kang tao, with a newfound hatred for pretty much every megacorporation out there

she found out about vitali through their shared hatred for arasaka and began working for him. naturally, it was quite the shock to her to find mikhail there as well. she was angry with him, rightfully so, but eventually forgave him for what he did, no longer wanting to dwell on the past, knowing how short life can be and wanting to enjoy it as much as possible

nowadays, cato is around the office a lot. since she mostly does courier work, she has a pretty steady routine since she moves down the same routes every week; whenever she has nothing to do, she can be found hanging around the office, talking to anyone who wants to listen

eddie is a heavy merc, mostly doing cargo transport gigs and class 3 gigs for vitali. he is charming, insightful and rational. he's very kind and a real family man, always putting his daughter and ex-husband first and his job second

eddie used to be a bouncer at a club. it was a pretty regular job and not much exciting stuff happened, until he at some point decided to intervene when some shady business was starting to turn sour. he got caught up in the drama somehow, resulting into him getting sucked into the mercenary world; he managed to wrestle his way out of it, but came out a changed man, and he continuously got sucked back in whenever certain people would turn up, resulting into him occasionally doing a gig or two

at the same time he fell in love, with one of the other bouncers at the club. they ended up getting married and even adopted a daughter together- after which eddie quit his job and stopped taking the occasional gigs, so he could become a stay-at-home father. unfortunately, their relationship didn't last, and they ended up getting divorced; still, eddie has a good relationship with his ex-husband (and ex-husband's new girlfriend), and they have shared custody of their daughter

eddie picked up the merc life again after his divorce, and found a stable job at vitali's office. because of his history with security and his intimidating looks, he does a lot of class 3 gigs for him; heavy gigs, often directly concerning megacorporations, stuff only mercs who know what they're doing can handle. he mostly does these with mikhail and shiro, but occasionally another merc or outsider will jump in to help

huxley is a heavy merc, mostly doing class 2 assassination gigs and escort gigs for vitali. she is disciplined, loyal and witty. nobody is entirely sure how she ended up in vitali's inner circle, but on god is she there and she is not leaving

i haven't written all that much yet for huxley, but what i do know is that she didn't always live in night city. she only recently made her way here, and has mostly just been insanely confused about how fucked up the place is. she would've already been knee deep into the mercenary life; this place is just a new chapter for her, and she's managed to find a nice job at vitali's office

she never meant to stick around as long as she did; sure, the pay was good, but she knew nobody there while everyone else did seem to know each other, and felt like an outsider a bit. however, after witnessing some of the batshit insane things the rest of the gang does at the office, she decided to just join in on some conversations, and quickly learned it was very easy to make new friends there. she decided to stick around just a little longer, "just to see what would happen"; and she's still there as we speak

huxley mostly focuses on class 2 assassination gigs, having a very neutral attitude towards killing and not being afraid to use the necessary force to get a job done

lauren is a ranged merc, mostly doing netrunning gigs and infiltration gigs for vitali. she is efficient, reliable and straightforward. while some would say she's a little quiet, once you really get to know her she'll show her true colors as an incredibly fun woman to be around

lauren knows vitali from their college years; she was a year below him, but knew about his existence because 1) he was a troublemaker and 2) he was known for, um, having worked his way through most of the non-straight guys from his year and the years above him. they never spoke, but lauren sometimes wishes they would have

all she wanted was a quiet office job somewhere- not at a megacorporation, though- but shit hit the fan like it does in night city and she tumbled head-first into the wonderful world of netrunning. she mostly did gigs for wakako, and this is how she ended up meeting t-bug. t-bug was a friend of vitali's at the time, and soon introduced lauren to him; needless to say, lauren was shocked to see vitali again, and when she was offered a gig she obviously couldn't say no

nowadays, lauren does mostly netrunning work for vitali, which is basically a thing in most his gigs so she works on anything from class 1 all the way to class 3, wherever she's needed. she gets assigned to a lot of the same jobs as cato, and the two of them end up falling in love at some point; though it takes some time for them to actually start talking to each other, because for the longest time they both believed the other didn't like them because they were convinced they did not share any interests whatsoever

shiro is a stealth merc, mostly doing class 3 gigs and infiltration gigs for vitali. he is clear-headed, honest and intuitive. probably one of the oldest people at the office, but still young at heart, and he hangs out with the rest of them a lot even though they're much younger

shiro used to work for arasaka as well, at their security division. he was mostly a background kind of guy, not too interested in talking to others and he spent most of his time carefully observing; this is why he would know a lot of information, and he would also already know of mikhail's existence for example, having seen him around when mikhail still worked there as well

much like vitali, shiro ended up getting screwed over by the megacorporation and he got fired, leaving him with pretty much nothing, around the same time vitali was fired as well. this is why he easily found him, and was one of the first mercs to start working for him; back then, vitali also still did a lot of gigs himself, so he would work with shiro and mikhail to get shit done and that's how he ended up very quickly making a name for himself because they were essentially unstoppable

shiro takes it a bit easier nowadays, taking a gig every once in a while and filling the rest of his time with doing paperwork or helping out the security division at vitali's office. he also likes to sit around and talk to people, now that he's finally found people he enjoys being around

thibault is a stealth merc, mostly doing infiltration gigs and class 2 assassination gigs for vitali. he is helpful, practical and quick-witted. he's a little silly and would be considered the office jester by many, but has proven time after time he's as deadly as the rest of them

thibault used to be a doll at clouds and met mikhail when mikhail had just quit his job at the independent security organization he used to work for. mikhail helped thibault get out of the place and move into a nice little apartment, and thibault latched onto him very quickly. they grew pretty close in the span of only a few months, but then mikhail started working for arasaka and thibault felt a bit betrayed by him, having an immense hatred for megacorporations himself

when mikhail then also reunited with vitali, he suddenly wasn't there for thibault anymore, almost entirely disappearing out of his life; thibault felt horrible about this and ended up having to fend for himself again, which he did successfully, but he still felt bad about how things had gone

he ended up falling into the mercenary life after he was caught stealing some food in the grocery store and got fined for it, despite literally not having any money at all. he still wanted to take down clouds as well, and was kind of looking for other mercs who would be willing to help him with it; though most of them only worked with him on gigs out of necessity, because their fixer told them to do it, and thibault did not trust any of them. he ended up burning through a lot of fixers until he found vitali, and he stuck around because of the good pay, but was also very surprised to see mikhail there

thibault wanted to be pissed at him, but couldn't stay mad for too long now that he was, in mikhail's words, licking the same boot (vitali's boot) mikhail had been licking for years now and thibault figured that was a fair judgement

nowadays, thibault uses his skills to infiltrate and assassinate, a quick and powerful force not to be reckoned with. he even gets what he wanted to do; together with vincent, judy and mikhail he takes down clouds, and helps rebuild it from the ground up to be a safe space for everyone who used to work there

#asks #mutuals #steelport #ask:cato #ask:eddie #ask:huxley #ask:lauren #ask:shiro #ask:thibault #oc asks #ANYWAY. HERE THEY ARE. ENJOY. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH #thank you so much for the ask auauauuauaua i love talking about the little people living in my brain. they are so special to me #these are just generic profiles :) i have a lot more facts about them but i just. wanted to get these done first LOL #because now you have the basics tee hee >:)))

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st4rship · 4 years

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Can you do a oneshot were the reader is Bellas sister and she is secretly dating Alec Volturi and the Volturi show up to Bella and Edwards wedding and Edward confronts reader about her relationship and she looks Edward dead in eyes and tells him she has no idea who Alec even is and jusg denys knowing Alec even when Edward catchs them kissing.

I love this request omg, I have so much fun writing it lmao, hope you like it. 💕

Secret.

Pairing: Alec Volturi x fem! human! reader.

Summary: On Bella and Edward's wedding day, he decides to confront you about your secret relationship with Alec.

You never really approved the relationship your sister had with Edward, you always find him annoying and dangerous. But you knew that it didn't matter what you say to your sister, she wouldn't leave him

In general you understood that she was the only person who could decided about her life, thing sometimes you doubted Edward or any other person that wasn't you or your father understood too.

Obviously every person has their own consciousness to do what they want but you realized that you couldn't say anything about your sister lovelife when you become the same if not worse.

Not worse for you obviously, but seeing how the Cullens and your sister were, it was bad from their point of view. It's not like you cared about what they have to say but you rather don't start a useless fight in order to not having to deal with them.

So once you started to date the powerful, intimidating and "sadistic" vampire, Alec Volturi, you both agreed to keep it a secret. He didn't really care about starting a "fight" with the cullens but he loved you so he did what you preferred.

Deep down he knew that sooner or later you will have to say it to someone, he knew that you were his mate even tho you didn't know it. He was planning on telling you soon but before he could do anything you told him the news that your sister was getting married.

The Cullens weren't planning on inviting the Volturi due to their history with them but you didn't know. They didn't have any reason to tell you because you obviously had nothing to do with the Volturi at all.

At least that's what they thought. Alec told the kings about the wedding but didn't tell them about who told him. He liked to be honest but Aro always talked more than he should so he preferred to keep it a secret. If Marcus knew something, he didn't tell Aro neither.

The day of the wedding arrived and your sister looked beautiful, you were one of her bridesmaid obviously. Even tho you didn't love the cullens, Alice made a great choice with the dresses and decorations.

The ceremony passed rather fast, it was really beautiful if you were being honest and you couldn't help but let a few tears escape your eyes. Or maybe more than a few.

After the ceremony and some people giving speeches to Bella and Edward, including you in those people, there was a big party. There were many vampires and you couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.

You saw a certain group that you didn't see before a little more away from the rest of the people and once you realize they were the volturis you instantly wanted to go with Alec but having to keep your relationship a secret, you text him to go with you to the forest. He did and you go some minutes after without raising suspicions.

You two took advantage of that moment to share a little dance and a kiss, but before you could realize it a considerable time passed and you decided to go to the party with intentions of having fun "by yourself."

However, your plans didn't last long because you saw Eddie boy coming your way on his own, you just knew that he was gonna tell you something dumb by the look in his eyes.

— Hi Eduardo, how can I help you? — You asked with a little bit smug smile on your lips.

— Are you dating Alec? — He asked directly and serious. You let a little laugh escape your lips before answering.

— I'm sorry, who? — Edward may read minds but you knew how to hide your thoughts pretty well, at least that's what you thinked.

— You know who I'm talking about, don't play dumb. — He said crossing his arms. — He's dangerous and you shouldn't be with him, for your own safety.—

You looked at him dead in the eyes before replying again. — Listen Edison, I don't know what are you on but I don't even know an Alec so cut it, I don't have anything with him cause I don't even know him. — You said with the more serious face you could pull off.

He sighed before speaking. — I saw you two kissing five seconds ago. — He said looking directly at your eyes too.

That caught you off guard but you weren't going to give up soon. — Well you may be blind cause I didn't kiss anyone Eddie boy, and I have places to be so talk to you later, brother. — You smirked and walked away before sighing.

You couldn't keep it hidden for much longer but hey you can always try for a little bit more.

#volturi #alec volturi #alec volturi imagine #alec volturi x reader #alec x reader #twilight renaissance #twilight one shot

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madamewriterofwrongs · 4 years

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ooh for the july prompt list can you do 28 + buddie

For you, darling, anything!

July Prompt List

28. “Just by existing and by letting me speak to you, you give me an immense amount.”

Without Question

“No, no, I’m serious, Eddie.” Buck let his beer slosh over the coffee table as he emphatically pointed at his best friend. He could clean up later; there were more important things happening at the moment. “You, need to get laid.”

On the carpet across from him, Eddie threw his head back in a groan of frustration. “Not this again, Buck, I told you.” He had, in fact, told Buck three times since arriving and subsequently leaving the bar with their friends, but it bared repeating. “I am not interested in hook-ups. I need a relationship – with someone Christopher would approve of.” At least, Eddie hoped that’s what he said (words were a bit fuzzy in his head at the moment). “I don’t need to get laid; I need to get married.”

That seemed to sober Buck just a little, his mouth drooping downwards. “You’re ready to get married again?”

Eddie found himself doing his best impression of that singing bass (weren’t brains funny at 3am?), thinking of the right answer. “No. Yes? Maybe. I hadn’t really thought about it but yeah” he eventually decided. “If I’m going to put myself out there again, it’s going to be with someone I can see a future with.”

“How are you supposed to know that on a first date?” Very good question, Buck. Eddie’s face scrunched in on itself as he sought the answer.

“I don’t know that I know what it would look like to meet that person.” Buck’s eyes were really blue when his face was red from too much alcohol. They were like an ocean in a storm. What?

“Okay.” Buck slammed his bottle onto the coffee table with so much force, it shattered their eardrums but he was already crawling to his feet.

He was halfway into the kitchen when Eddie finally realized that Buck was gone and called out “where did you go?”

Suddenly Buck was back where he started (had he even left?) throwing himself to the ground, now with a pen and a piece of what looked like old mail. “That looks important.”

“This is important-er” Buck insisted, leaning his weight against the edge of the table, giving his full attention to the paper stuffed under his forearm. “We’re going to figure this out.”

“Figure what out?”

Buck rolled his eyes and nearly hit his head on the table in the process. Should they really be doing this now? Well, if not now, then when?

“We’re going to figure out the perfect person for you” he declared with the confidence of a man who would have a splitting headache and a few bruises in the morning.

“You have a rolodex of every person on the planet that we can go through?” Eddie scoffed, taking another ill-advised drink.

Buck stared at Eddie too long for either of them to properly see straight, eyes forced wide before he inevitably fell asleep. “A rolodex? What are you, fifty?” Before he could process Buck’s words, they were moving on. “No, we’re going to write down exactly what you’re looking for in a partner, so that when you do meet someone, you’ll know they’re the one.”

Seemed reasonable enough. Buck was so smart sometimes, but sometimes he was an idiot (like that time he tried to pet a dog after they found it covered in – what they thought at the time was – blood. It turned out to be ketchup from where his owner had collapsed from a heart attack in the middle of making lunch). Buck was probably the dumbest smart person he knew. But in a really smart way.

“Okay.” Eddie leaned forward to match his friend’s position across the coffee table. “What’s first?”

Buck squinted at the paper, waiting for it to reveal its secrets. Just as quickly, he perked up and began to scribble.

“Number one: good looking.”

Eddie scoffed, wiping his spit from the table with his sleeve. “Why is that the first thing on the list?”

“Because” Buck drew out emphatically. “The whole goal is to get you laid. If you don’t find them attractive, then this whole experiment is for not.”

It was Eddie’s turn to roll his eyes so hard he felt dizzy. “Now who’s fifty?”

In lieu of a response, Buck went back to his scribbling. “Number two: they have to love Christopher.”

“That is an absolute must.” Anyone he was with had to love Christopher the way Buck did – with his whole heart. He really was a great person.

“Three: someone who understands your schedule. Being a firefighter is not a 9-5 thing; they have to be prepared for late nights and crazy danger.” Buck’s face twisted as he wrote, into something Eddie recognized as hurt. It took him a little longer to realize why that sadness was marring that pretty face. He slowly reached out a hand to touch his wrist. Buck shouldn’t feel like he was alone, or that Ali leaving was his fault. He deserved to know that there was someone who wanted to be with him – despite the schedules and the dangers. His eyes really were so perfectly blue; even when they were starring at him hopefully. Especially then.

Eddie opened his mouth but nothing came out so he closed it again, hoping the lack of oxygen would help him remember. He didn’t remove his hand right away.

Buck spent the next forty minutes emphatically telling Eddie exactly what his ideal person would be, with Eddie adding commentary here and there to make sure Buck got the wording right (maybe, things were still a bit hazy).

At the end of everything, there were ten items on the list. Ten items for the perfect partner for Eddie. Now all he had to do was find that person. He stared at Buck, proudly handing Eddie the paper for him to tuck into his back pocket, and something of a smile rose to his lips. Finding that person would be the easy part, thought Drunk Eddie. All he had to do was remember the list and even his sober counter-part (as obtuse as he was – excellent word choice, Drunk Eddie) would able to figure it out.

Just to be sure, Eddie waited until Buck stumbled towards the bathroom for the third time, before he retrieved the list from his back pocket and added an eleventh item.

There. Easy as pie.

Thoughts of delicious, sugar-filled pastries, had Eddie stumbling up the stairs to the master bathroom. Why did he think getting drunk at Hen’s birthday party was a good idea? He was not in his twenties anymore. This shit had consequences.

Of course, he expected those consequences to be a massive hangover and some second-hand embarrassment (which he did have). What he wasn’t expecting, was to wake up with his arm around the waist of a half-naked Buck.

Well that was new.

The soft smile on his face as he watched Buck’s even breathing, so calm and safe, was also…not that new. Certainly not one he’d ever experienced while sleeping shirtless in his best friend’s bed, obviously; but being happy that Buck was peaceful and all right was something Eddie experienced on a daily basis.

He carefully pulled his arm away from that – surprisingly soft – abdomen, and rolled onto his back as naturally as he could without waking the other man. If Buck woke up to them cuddling like that, there might need to be a discussion about why he felt so comfortable like that; and morning afters were not the time for existential wanderings.

Not that this was a ‘morning after’. It was the morning after a night of heavy drinking and clearly neither of them were fit to drive, let alone sleep on the couch without hurting themselves. Buck’s bed was big enough for two grown men to rest comfortably (not that they seemed to be using half of the space) so it made sense that they would share.

Yup, perfectly reasonable. Anything else – like his heart beating out of his chest with longing – was just an aftershock of the abhorrent amount of alcohol they’d consumed.

Who thought any of that was a good idea?

Oh right. Christopher was away at camp and Buck had dragged him to Hen’s birthday party; where she’d loudly declared that for one damn night, she wanted to celebrate everything she’d accomplished with her closest friends, consequences be damned. Which, of course, meant that several rounds of tequila shots were ordered in honor of the birthday girl. He vaguely recalled Karen getting exasperatedly drunk beside her wife, which encouraged Eddie to drink his loneliness away. Which seemed to have led back to Buck’s apartment.

There were definitely some dots missing there.

Namely, why he’d let himself sleep in his jeans but not his shirt (in Buck’s bed!).

Before he could even attempt to make connections, the body beside him began to stir, and the peaceful rest on Buck’s face soured into disgruntled pain.

“What died in my mouth?” He chewed on the words as they left his lips, leaving Eddie to dodge a few flailing limbs as Buck returned to the living. A few more scrapes of his tongue against his teeth seemingly had Buck satisfied that he wouldn’t get the taste out of his mouth without help, so he rolled over to check the time on his phone, only to find a body in the way.

“Eddie?” he groaned against the morning light through his window. “What are you doing here?”

The firefighter tried to shake his head but found it only made his stomach protest harder than it had been already. “We are too old to be drinking this much” he hoarsely declared.

Buck’s reply was swallowed by his retreating form as he stumbled towards the bathroom to empty the contents of his bad decision. Eddie let his head fall back against the pillow, the only sounds in the apartment becoming Buck’s retching, and Eddie’s painful decision to forget everything about last night.

Stumbling through the door of his bedroom a few hours later (Buck had insisted on taking him out for a greasy breakfast before dropping him off at home), Eddie had just enough mental energy to toss his clothes vaguely near the hamper before jumping in the shower and then straight to bed. He had never been so grateful for a day off in his life.

Much like the night before, Eddie remembered very little of the day he slept away; those 24 hours became a blip in the string of time that carried no real significance in his life and was happily forgotten.

When doing laundry a few days later, he did find a piece of Buck’s mail folded into the back pocket of his jeans. So, he tossed it onto the ever-growing pile of things on his dining room table colloquially called ‘things that need to be returned to Buck’s eventually’, and thought nothing of it.

It would be another month before Eddie thought about the letter or the night that time forgot.

Hosting random get-togethers for the firefighters and paramedics of the 118 (along with their families, of course) was practically a bi-weekly tradition at this point. Whoever was available would offer their space, and everyone was welcomed in, bringing food and drinks and games. It was one of Eddie’s favourite things about being a part of the 118: the inherent companionship. He had never been a part of anything where it was just assumed that he would have a babysitter, or someone to barbeque for two dozen people in his backyard, or drive him to the hospital when his grandmother broke her hip. No matter what was going on, they could always rely on each other.

He loved the family he’d built at the 118.

So what if he was a little lonely sometimes; he was never alone and that was just as good. Still, maybe it was time for him to put himself out there again. The idea of dating – of random hookups and dead-end dinners – felt exhausting (and not at all what he needed). What else could he do, though?

Luckily, it was his turn to host, so no matter how he was feeling, it would soon be replaced with joy and contentment and laughter. But first, he needed to clean up.

As was tradition, Eddie grabbed the pile of things on his table lovingly titled ‘things that should get back to Buck’s but likely never will’ and shoved them onto his bed until their guests had left for the evening. One of these days, he would remember to tell Buck about all the things of his that had accumulated at the Diaz house over the years (a spare charger, a hat, a few bits of mail he would bring over when he was helping Eddie with tax season – or Eddie was helping him, they weren’t really sure). Small things that might not be missed, but also a spare tooth brush, a pair of sweatpants, and a book he’d only ever seen Buck read at his dining room table while Christopher did his homework.

Maybe he should just get Buck a drawer for his things and then he wouldn’t have to lug it around every time he had company over.

The doorbell rang, sending Eddie sprinting to throw everything onto his bed so he could answer the door in a timely manner.

He loved having a full house. It made everything feel lived in. Sure, he strived to ensure that Christopher’s room (and any room his son spent a lot of time in) was warm and inviting. But there was something about 20 people crammed into the small sections of his house, filling the air with love, that made his house feel like home.

It also meant that there was a mess everywhere. He really didn’t mind it – part of having a big family was accepting that there would be a mess sometimes. With so many little ones running around, however (especially one who wasn’t so steady on his feet), it was best to keep the floors and corners tidy as much as possible.

That was when Eddie noticed a folded-up piece of paper on the floor of the hallway leading to his bedroom. It must have been a some of Buck’s mail that fell when he ran to get the door. An easy enough fix. Curiously, he unfolded the paper for the first time, just to see if it was something important.

Just a flier for some new gym Buck was on the mailing list for. Nothing special.

He turned it over to see the writing on the back, expecting contact info for a trainer or something equally relevant.

1. Someone good looking (you have to want to bone them or it’s all for not don’t make fun of me for using that phrase it’s rude)

He recognized Buck’s messy handwriting straight away. What he couldn’t remember was why he’d written some sort of list on the back.

2. Someone who loves Christopher (obviously that kid is your whole world so he has to be theirs too)

Okay, so this had something to do with Christopher, it probably had something to do with Eddie, too.

3. Someone who understands your schedule/lifestyle (your job is important to you and you need someone who gets that)

Eddie stared at the page, memories of too much tequila and not enough inhibitions flooded back to him.

4. Someone who will make you a priority (you need to make you a priority too you know)

Buck had written him a list of things he should be looking for in a partner, that much he remembered now. The commentary scrawled beside the list, however, was new.

5. Someone kind (you’re so kind you need someone whose just as kind and appreciates your kindness because you’re so kind)

Eddie found himself dragging his feet towards the sounds of people, eyes still glued to the page.

6. Someone smart (not like a doctor or anything but you have to be able to hold a conversation obviously)

He’d laid it out so simply that night; told Eddie exactly the type of person who would make him happy. How could Buck know that?

7. Someone loyal (you deserve someone as loyal as you Eddie you stick by people even when they’re awful jerks who almost screwed up the best thing they ever had)

Eddie couldn’t breathe, head buzzing with the sincerity in Buck’s words, even sloppily written on the back of a flier.

8. Someone who makes you laugh (I wish you could laugh more I like your laugh)

Someone called out to him – maybe the real Buck – but he was trapped in the memories of this world of possibilities.

9. Someone who can read you (not read to you idiot you need someone who knows what your face means because you don’t always say things out loud but you do say a lot)

The new voice was in front of him now, reaching out to him, trying to pull him to the present, but he refused to leave.

10. Someone who makes you feel safe (you make me feel safe)

And there it was; the list of qualities for Eddie’s perfect partner. The person who he could marry – because he remembered telling Buck that he wanted someone he could marry (that’s where the list had originated). It seemed an impossible task to find someone who fit all ten items on the list.

And yet.

Underneath it all, Eddie recognized his own handwriting, as messy as it was. The note he’d written himself so Sober Eddie would remember who it was that fit every criterion.

11. Someone who’ll stay

When he finally found the strength to raise his eyes to meet the real Buck’s, he was breathless all over again. The concern, the absolute care on his face, tipped Eddie over the edge.

“It’s you.”

Buck ducked his head but didn’t physically retreat; he was still so close, all-encompassing – the same way he’d ingratiated himself into the Diaz family long ago.

“What’s me?”

Wordless, Eddie presented the list for Buck to read. He watched the journey of emotions play through like a slideshow from confusion, to embarrassment, to realization, to confusion once again, mixed with painfully unending hope.

“I didn’t mean me when I wrote this.”

How had he not seen it before? How could Eddie have been so blind?

“But I do.” His eyes really were like the ocean, weren’t they. Even sober, he could stare into them forever.

“Marry me?”

Buck’s chest expanded with the weight of Eddie’s question, eyes wide in a disbelief that made him feel giddy; knowing Buck was just as stunned by these turn of events as he was. The fact that neither of them had run away screaming in horror, had to be a good sign.

“What the hell is going on?”

In hindsight, Eddie should have known better than to have his earth-shattering realization in front of their friends and family. Everyone was too nosey for their own good. Just because he’d suddenly proposed to Buck despite the fact that they were not dating.

He’d just proposed to Buck despite the fact that they weren’t dating.

Athena called out to the boys again when neither answered. “Does someone want to clue me in?”

Buck turned back to Eddie, a calm smile on his face – the same peace that he’d had when they were lying in bed together (visions of memorizing his sleeping face filled his hope to the brim).

“Eddie and I are getting married.” Buck spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear, but his announcement was just for Eddie. The only word he had left to describe his beating heart was ‘disbelief’.

He’d just proposed to Buck despite the fact that they weren’t dating. And he’d said yes.

He should be more panicked. He should run away screaming. Ask to take it all back. What the hell was he thinking? Asking his best friend to marry him because of a list that seemed too good to be true. Just because Buck ticked every box that said they were perfect for each other. Just because Buck wanted him back, just as deliriously.

How could he not embrace it all?

The noises that erupted from their family was drowned out by the thrumming of his heart when Buck pulled him in for a kiss punctuated by the infectious laughter bubbling in his chest.

The list floated to the floor as Eddie wrapped both arms around his fiancé (holy shit, he had a fiancé), to be retrieved after everyone had gone home. Buck and Eddie would talk about everything – sit Christopher down with them to make sure he was as happy as he seemed as well – and the list would eventually make its way to their bedside table.

On their first anniversary, Eddie would present it to Buck in a frame, and they would hang it in their bedroom as a reminder of the night their drunken selves figured out what it took them years to discover.

Their perfect partner.

#cj writes things #cj answers things #prompt fill #buddie #buddie fic #911 fox #911 fic #love allie #getting together #love confession #maysgrant

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

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OK, March 29

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Panic at the Palace -- Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Duchess Kate Middleton

Page 1: Big Pic -- Kevin Bacon and Juliette Lewis were among the many artists who put on a performance for Linda Perry's Rock 'N' Relief Live Stream Concert Series, benefitting Sean Penn's CORE Response organization

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Sparks are flying between Sandra Bullock and Brad Pitt on the set of their new action movie Bullet Train and not just when the cameras are rolling -- their chemistry is through the roof and Sandra lights up whenever she's around Brad and some of the cast and crew could swear they've seen him blushing in her presence -- Brad and Sandra have been hanging out more than your typical costars and they have a lot in common and seem to really enjoy each other's company and they'll frequently spend their breaks socializing and they can often be heard laughing over each other's stories and topics of conversations range from mutual friends and house repairs to more personal stuff, like kids

Page 6: Bruce Willis turned 66 on March 19 and as he celebrates the occasion, he has been reflecting on his life and it's been quite the journey but Bruce looks back at it all with that classic smirk

Page 7: Producers of the Gossip Girl reboot have been begging Blake Lively to join the cast of the new show but she's turned up her nose at the idea -- she's not ungrateful, because the original show made her star, but she closed the book on that part of her life a long time ago -- she's blissfully content in her role as a mom to daughters James, Inez and Betty whom she shares with her husband Ryan Reynolds and being a stay-at-home parent and filming an occasional movie sounds way more appealing to her than returning to that hothouse Gossip Girl universe -- she says she had her show and wants the new team to have theirs, but to die-hard fans, it still feels like a major snub

* After calling it quits on her romance with Ben Affleck in January, Ana de Armas is ready to play the field and Hollywood's heartthrob du jour, Rege-Jean Page has caught her eye and she was over the moon when the Bridgerton hunk recently signed on to her new thriller The Gray, which also stars Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans -- of course, Rege is gorgeous, but Ana also likes that he isn't your typical Tinseltown success story and comes from a rich cultural background, just like she does and she's hoping to get to know him better once they start shooting in L.A. -- while Ana has been warned that won't sit well with Rege's live-in girlfriend, Emily Brown, that doesn't seem to bother Ana

* Janet Jackson's life story is set to get the full documentary treatment next year, and no stone will be left unturned when it comes to her famously dysfunctional family -- the family is freaking out, as well they should be -- Janet will be brutally honest about her late father Joe Jackson, who bullied her and made her feel like she was nothing with out him but her siblings say they had it much worse especially when it came to Michael Jackson, who suffered verbal and physical abuse from Joe throughout his childhood -- Janet, who became a mom at 50 with her businessman ex, Wissam Al Mana, is also ready to tell all about their divorce and custody battle -- doing this documentary has been incredibly cathartic for her and she can't wait to shed light on her family's deep, dark secrets

Page 8: Angelina Jolie has been legally single for two years, and now she's finally ready to mingle -- she's been laying low since her 2016 split from Brad Pitt and she's feels it's time to get out there and she's eager to meet some new and interesting men and the mom of six is open to being hooked up by Hollywood pals like Ellen Pompeo, whom she was seen dining with in Beverly Hills and Angie likes the idea of dating a fellow A-lister who can relate to her about living in the spotlight and Ellen's been helping out with suggestions -- Angie is even open to joining an elite dating service and now the hunt is on to find a suitable bunch of candidates -- she wants fun and adventure again and after months of just being Mom, dressing up, putting on some perfume and engaging in stimulating conversation sounds good to Angie

* It's only been six months since Drew Barrymore launched her chirpy daytime talk show, but behind the scenes, she's on the verge of a major meltdown -- the multitasking mom who shares daughters Olive and Frankie with ex-hubby Will Kopelman, has no idea that juggling work and family would be this hard and she's feeling pressure from every side -- she desperately wants to be there for the kids, but she's trying to make her show a hit, and with her production company, she has a million others things on her plate as well -- the stressed-out star has also been chowing down on junk food and drinking too much caffeine so she can't get more than a few hours of sleep a night -- Drew doesn't want to let anyone down, but if she doesn't dial it back, she's going to collapse from exhaustion

* Matthew Perry announced his engagement to his on-off girlfriend Molly Hurwitz in November, but he seems to be having second thoughts -- he's crazy in love, but he's scared of messing up a good thing by making things official and he also worries what kind of husband he'll make given his health woes and battles with addiction -- Molly has faith in Matthew, but she can see wedding planning is stressing him out, even more so now that the Friends reunion is set to start shooting and he's pushing himself to go through with it, but his doubts are gnawing away at him

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars show some skin in dramatic decolletage-baring frocks -- Nicole Richie, Aja Naomi King

Page 11: Kate Hudson, Becky G, Mindy Kaling

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Kat Graham vs. Nicole Kidman in Erdem, Oliva Wilde vs. Bella Hadid in Ralph Lauren

Page 13: Danielle Bradbery vs. Paula Abdul in Hamel

Page 14: News in Photos -- Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox stepped out for dinner in West Hollywood

Page 16: Ariel Winter brightened up her monochromatic look with a pink face mask during a trip to the hair salon in West Hollywood, Justin Theroux went for a walk with his beloved dog Kuma in NYC, Arnold Schwarzenegger was spotted on his daily bike ride in L.A.

Page 17: Susan Sarandon stopped to get her caffeine fix while shopping solo in Soho

Page 18: Lea Michele proved to be quite the doting mother while walking with her son in a stroller in Brooklyn, Lucy Hale and her dog Elvis were inseparable during an outing in L.A., Krysten Ritter took her RadRover electric bicycle out for a spin in L.A.

Page 19: John Stamos and his wife Caitlin McHugh stopped by an antique shop where they purchased a bunch of old goodies in Santa Monica

Page 20: This year, instead of a traditional runway show, Moschino released a 12-minute film featuring Karen Elson, Shalom Harlow and Amber Vallera wearing new styles from the Fall/Winter 2021 line

Page 21: Alessandra Ambrosio caught up with a pal while walking dogs in L.A., David Harbour eating a treat while out and about in NYC, Daisy Ridley stopped by The Graham Norton Show in London

Page 22: Amelia Gray Hamlin and boyfriend Scott Disick caught some rays while vacationing in Miami, Katie Holmes and boyfriend Emilio Vitolo Jr. color-coordinated their gray-and-black outfits for a lunch date in NYC, Rebel Wilson taking a walk around the neighborhood in L.A.

Page 24: While on the set of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Rachel Brosnahan shielded herself with a see-through umbrella, a newly brunette Lady Gaga in a white suit as she left her hotel in Rome to film the upcoming Gucci biopic, The Masked Singer panelist Jenny McCarthy gave herself a last-minute touch-up before posing for some promo shots

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Chelsea Handler's sleek setup -- she is checking out of her longtime L.A. home

Page 28: In 2009, LeAnn Rimes made headlines when she was caught hooking up with her costar Eddie Cibrian while they were both married to other people and now, more than a decade later, she is opening up about that time in her life and spilling secrets that she's never shared before -- looking back, LeAnn thinks it's unfair that she got raked over the coals like that and the public shaming caused her to suffer panic attacks and all LeAnn did was fall in love -- of course, there are likely big regrets about the way everything happened, but she and Eddie never meant to hurt anyone and they just had this connection they couldn't walk away from and a few months after their romance was revealed LeAnn parted ways with then-husband Dean Sheremet and Eddie filed for divorce from Brandi Glanville and they wed in 2011 -- while LeAnn has been a great stepmom to Eddie's sons Mason and Jack, she'd love to have a child of her own someday and she and Eddie have tried and tried with no success and now that she's pushing 40, they know time is ticking and they could always go the surrogate route, and they just might do it if it doesn't happen naturally in the next few months

Page 29: Liam Hemsworth has been dating Gabriella Brooks for 15 months, and he's so smitten that he could put a ring on it any day now -- Liam's made it clear that he's ready to walk down the aisle again after calling it quits in longtime love Miley Cyrus in 2019 -- everyone is thrilled because Gabriella is so sweet and easygoing, which is just what Liam needs -- Gabriella has already gotten the stamp of approval from the Hemsworth clan, who had long been skeptical of Miley and when Liam brought Gabriella home, his parents thought, that's more like it -- now that Liam's settled in at his new $5 million spread on Byron Bay, all signs point to him popping the question because he's never been happier

* Shedding post-pregnancy weight is never easy but luckily Katy Perry has a secret weapon to help her get back in shape which is Orlando Bloom -- Katy had already dropped 35 pounds since giving birth to the couple's first child, Daisy Dove, thanks to her fitness-obsessed fiance and Orlando has her eating five small vegan meals a day and he follows the same diet to make it easier for her, and Orlando makes sure she hikes or swims at least five days a week and those are the type for fun activities where he can join her -- Orlando's also her biggest cheerleader: during their recent Hawaiian getaway, Katy was nervous because she felt she hadn't lost enough weight but Orlando told her she was one sexy momma and he really is her biggest supporter

* Despite the pandemic, Nicole Kidman's remained one of the busiest women in Hollywood, which is getting under her stuck-at-home husband's skin -- while Keith Urban was forced to cancel his concert tour last year, Nicole had a whirlwind 2020, shooting her miniseries Nine Perfect Strangers in Australia and her historical thriller The Northman in Northern Ireland back-to-back and it's been incredibly hard on Keith because it drives him crazy not being able to get out there on stage -- Nicole hates seeing him the dumps, but she's told him he's lucky to be able to spend so much time with their daughters Sunday and Faith -- with Nicole set to play comedy legend Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, which starts filming this spring, that can only put more stress on the marriage but Nicole has no plans to slow down, and she's not making any apologies

Page 30: Patrick Duffy and Linda Purl went from zero to 60 practically overnight, but their turbo-charged romance appears to be slowing down -- ever since Patrick and Linda reconnected last summer, the late-in-life lovebirds have been joined at the hip at Linda's Colorado home, where things have gotten too close for comfort because Patrick's a laid-back guy, but he hasn't had a moment to himself because Linda is always pushing him to get outdoors and do stuff with her and Patrick feels the need for more space and some along time -- spending every moment together and hanging on each other's every word was fun for a while, but they don't want to lose their independence and they realize they need to bring their relationship back down to earth if they actually want to go the distance

* After nearly five blissful years together, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are still going strong, and it looks like a baby could be in their near future -- Sam recently sent tongues wagging when he revealed that he wants to take their relationship to the next step and be a young dad and Britney is totally on board because she has always wanted another child and now with Sam raring to go, she figures it's the perfect time -- growing her family would be a welcome distraction from Britney's bitter battle with her father Jamie Spears over her controversial conservatorship

* Love Bites -- Jenni "JWoww" Farley and Zack Carpinello engaged, Morena Baccarin and husband Ben McKenzie welcomed a son named Arthur, Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata married

Page 32: Cover Story -- Palace in Crisis -- the Royal Family is in disarray following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's bombshell tell-all -- what really offended them was how much Harry and Meghan said they love Queen Elizabeth in one sentence and attacked the institution, everything she stands for and works for, in the next -- it's going to take a miracle for Harry to reconcile with his family after what he and Meghan revealed

Page 36: Celebrity Hall Passes -- stars reveal the Hollywood crushes their partners have granted as freebies -- Eric Decker gets Jessica Alba and his wife Jessie James Decker gets Post Malone

Page 37: Lisa Vanderpump gets George Clooney, Seth Rogen gets Charlize Theron while his wife Lauren Miller gets Brad Pitt, Mark Consuelos and Kelly Ripa both get Cynthia Bailey

Page 38: Taron Egerton gets Rachel Weisz while his girlfriend Emily Thomas gets Daniel Craig, Kyle Richards wouldn't let her husband Mauricio Umansky near Eva Longoria or Demi Moore but he gets a hall pass for Betty White, Beau Clark gets Bethenny Frankel while wife Stassi Schroeder gets Joaquin Phoenix

Page 40: Interview -- Queen Latifah -- the entertainment icon is having a blast kicking butt in her new TV crime drama The Equalizer

Page 42: The Great Outdoors -- these stars know fresh air and fitness make a killer combo

Page 46: Style Week -- Hailey Bieber has been named global ambassador for Superga's Spring/Summer 2021 season

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- lifestyle brand Sporty & Rich just launched chic athleisure pieces to help you look effortlessly cool this season -- Amber Valletta

Page 49: Stylish Shades -- shop Ashley Graham's flattering frames the model's new collection with Quay

Page 50: Chic House Dresses -- trade knits for airy frocks that will make you feel beautiful all through spring -- Whitney Port

Page 52: Girls' Getaway -- planning a safe spring break with a few BFFs? Pack these stylish essentials to easily look fab on the fly -- Rita Ora

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Wayne Brady

Page 58: Buzz -- Lady Gaga sent the internet into a frenzy after sharing a behind-the-scenes photo of herself with Adam Driver from the set of their Ridley Scott movie, House of Gucci

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Cardi B on staying away from celebs, Mary Steenburgen on husband Ted Danson, Kate Hudson on her iconic yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Page 61: Paul Bettany on his stunt with Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code, Jada Pinkett Smith on not focusing on exterior beauty at age 49, Nikki Bella on being intimate with fiance Artem Chigvintsev, Charlize Theron on homeschooling, Julia Garner on her roles of choice

Page 62: Horoscope -- Aries Jessica Chastain turned 44 on March 24

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Paris Hilton

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themattress · 4 years

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OUAT AND ME: SEASON 4

Story - The story for the first half of the season is the Frozen Saga and the story for the second half is the Operation Mongoose Saga. The Frozen Saga is about Elsa from Arendelle crossing over into Storybrooke in search of her sister Anna, bonding with Emma in the process and helping her face another Snow Queen who has a secret connection to both of them, while the Operation Mongoose Saga is about heroes and villains alike searching for the elusive author of Henry's storybook so that he can give them their happy endings.

The Frozen Saga is noteworthy for being the last time that OUAT was big in the mainstream, due to the ubiquitous nature of the Disney phenomenon it was capitalizing on not even a year after its release in theaters. And despite the initial apprehension of many, it's actually the Frozen elements that are the strongest part of this story. The flashbacks tell an interconnecting tale serving as the backstory of the present-day events much like the flashbacks of the Dark Curse Saga did, making excellent use of both Frozen and OUAT's established mythology. And the present-day story is all about the unexpected yet perfectly natural bond between Emma and Elsa, and it's honestly one of the strongest depicted friendships the show has ever had. The way the two of them are further linked through the Big Bad is also ingenious, bringing about a great feeling of cohesion to the narrative.

In fact, rewatching this arc after Frozen 2, it's kind of funny how I actually prefer it as a sequel to the original movie than the actual sequel! Like Frozen 2, this arc deals with why Elsa and Anna's parents left on their fateful voyage, the discovery of a secret from their mother's side of the family, a revelation of what the source of Elsa's power is, Elsa making peace with herself while Anna learns to be more independent and ends up marrying Kristoff, and a location called the Enchanted Forest. But it does so in a way that feels more true to the characters from the original film and avoids all of the pratfalls that Frozen 2 stumbled into. There's no over-its-head political message, no sisterly separation ending, and no Olaf.

Unfortunately, there are two subplots that put a damper on things. The first subplot starts off well enough, with Rumpelstiltskin returning to his former villainous glory as he sneaks and schemes and manipulates his way through a plan to obtain the power of the Sorcerer's Hat of Fantasia fame, but it sadly fails to stick the landing in a way that matches the build-up and there end up being no lingering consequences to it when there really should have been. The second subplot is horrendous, focusing on the increasingly skeevy romance between Regina and Robin Hood while also pushing Regina forward on a ridiculous quest to find the Author of Henry's storybook. Why? She believes some cosmic rule is preventing her from having a happy ending because she was written as a villain in the book (and not because, y'know, she was actually a villain in the past), and if she's rewritten as a hero she thinks that will change. Yes, that is the absurd idea that this whole subplot is founded upon, and the fact that everyone goes along with it as if there is an ounce of logic behind it is cringe-inducing.

Sadly, that subplot ends up becoming the plot of the Operation Mongoose Saga, which on the one hand gives Season 4 more connection between its two arcs than Season 3 had, but on the other hand it's so fucking stupid. Now, whenever it's Rumple leading around his villainous team, "the Queens of Darkness", to find the Author before the heroes can, things are fun and watchable in spite of the plot's stupidity. But whenever it's Regina and Robin's continued relationship angst or a horrendous new subplot about Snow and Charming having secretly been villains in the past by causing Maleficent to lose her child, it's tiresome and insulting. The finale, a two-parter actually named "Operation Mongoose", is highly enjoyable, but it can't fully wash away the taste of what came before it....or what it sets up to come after it.

Characters - Heroes and villains everywhere, and not always where you expect.

* Remember how in Season 3, Emma had a great character arc in the Neverland Saga but then it came to a halt in the Wicked Saga until the two-part season finale finally picked it up and resolved it? And that the Wicked Saga did her dirty by building her up as the only one who could defeat Zelena only for Regina to defeat her instead? Season 4 does kind of a repeating of these problems, except this time around they are a lot more glaring.

For most of the Frozen Saga, Emma has a great arc that's essentially her and Elsa's shared journey toward self-love; learning from each other to accept themselves and their innate powers without having to always rely on the approval of a loved one. But then, after a huge broo-ha-ha is made about how Emma must be the one to defeat the Snow Queen....she doesn't, and Anna barges in to help the Snow Queen see the error of her ways before Emma can lift a finger. She isn't even the one to save her own boyfriend from Rumple afterward, Belle does it instead. It makes Emma look like the definition of a Boring Failure Heroine.

And things don't improve for her in the Operation Mongoose Saga. Her roles are being subservient to Regina in spite of the abuse Regina had thrown her way in the previous arc, being unreasonably angry at her parents for keeping a secret from her, being vilified for daring to kill a heinous villain in defense of her son, going back and forth between being a friend or an enemy to her "dark half" Lily, and being hyped as the key to restoring reality to the way it was in the season finale...only for Regina, yet again, to end up taking that role away from her. I think it was Disney's insistence that Emma be tied to Elsa and have that arc in the Frozen Saga, because Adam and Eddy clearly couldn't care less about her.

* Snow and Charming....SIGH. In the Frozen Saga, Snow is the new mayor of Storybrooke...until the Operation Mongoose Saga, where she suddenly isn't anymore and Regina takes up the mantle again. Through both arcs, Snow reaches new levels of bad motherhood toward Emma while continuing to coddle Regina, which is not touching, it's creepy. Charming, meanwhile, is revealed to have been a long-haired coward during his shepherd days and owes his bravery and swordsman skills to Anna, which neuters just about any coolness he ever had. And then, of course, there's the egg-napping subplot from the Operation Mongoose Saga, where Snow and Charming are revealed to have stolen the egg containing Maleficent's baby, transferred Emma's darkness into it while Emma was still in Snow's womb, and then sent it away in a portal. All because of some nebulous prophesizing and interference from Isaac. And this revelation means, according to the show, that they were villains all along and thus all this time have been pious hypocrites who just do things the easy way rather than the right way. Doesn't Regina look so much better in comparison to them now? Because that's clearly the intent behind this fucking writing decision. Character assassination at its finest.

* Henry sucks, Henry sucks, Henry.....doesn't suck? Yes, for most of the season Henry is lamer than he's ever been, still being treated like a precocious kid character even though Jared Gilmore has clearly entered puberty. But then he ends up as the leading character of the season finale, and shockingly rises to the occasion. It concludes with him becoming the new Author, and this marks a turning point in Henry's character that has been a long time coming, which I will go more into detail about when I talk about the next two seasons.

* This is the season where Regina officially crossed the line into Mary Sue territory. She decides that Marian's reappearance means that she is being punished for being a villain...not because she actually was a villain, but because some Author dared to write her as a villain in a storybook, and that he needs to rewrite her into a hero so that she can get the happy ending that she's entitled to. And in true Mary Sue fashion, she warps the plot and characters around her so that nobody objects to this idea and instead whole-heartedly embrace it.

Every good guy in Storybrooke fights to help Regina get her happy ending, constantly repeating that she "deserves it" and has "come so far" even as she continues to act in ways contradicting that notion. In the end, she doesn't even need the Author since she gets Robin Hood back, gets the adulation of being a "Light Savior" who restores reality back to normal, and has Emma sacrifice herself to the Dark One curse in order to save Regina and her "hard-earned" happy ending. I think the scene that best displays the problem is in the flashback of the episode "Mother", where we see Regina in the past remorselessly murder a groom on his wedding day for no good reason, then immediately go cry over Daniel's grave since this is the anniversary of his death, and then we cut to present-day Regina mention how life always "kicks her in the teeth". Yeah, I kinda think life kicked that groom in the teeth WAY more. So where the Hell is the Author who's gonna give his poor widowed bride her happy ending?

* Rumple, for the most part, is great in this season. In the Frozen Saga, we see him going back to his Dark Curse Saga roots as he plays the role of the true villainous mastermind behind the female Big Bad, dealing and manipulating his way toward one single objective - in this case being to use the power of the Sorcerer's Hat to "cleave" himself from the Dark One dagger. And in the Operation Mongoose Saga, he steps up as the direct Big Bad who leads a team of other villains in pursuit of the Author, under the promise that he can give them their happy endings. It helps that Robert Carlyle is clearly enjoying himself; that fun is infectious.

Unfortunately, there is a problem: Rumple fails to stick the landing in his last three episodes of both arcs. In the Frozen Saga, his failure to absorb Emma into the Sorcerer's Hat seems to drive him bonkers because he then rips out Hook's heart, relying solely on commanding him to do his dirty work all while ranting and raving repetitively about how when the stars in the sky and the stars in the hat are aligned, he will cleave himself of the dagger and he will kill Hook to do so, and that Hook better enjoy so-and-so because it'll be his last and blah blah blah. It's boring and silly, and Rumple's arrogance as he keeps saying it just makes his failure that much more pathetic. And in the Operation Mongoose Saga, his suddenly revealed heart condition ends up taking its toll on him and he is ultimately unable to mount a final assault against the heroes on his own, requiring the far less impressive Isaac to do so instead. The "Light One" version of him that Isaac overwrites him with manages to put up a fight, but that's not nearly as good. Rumple as the Big Bad should have gone out with a bang, not a whimper.

* Hook remains one of the best characters in the ensemble, forced to reconcile his pirate past with his heroic present in both the Frozen Saga and the Operation Mongoose Saga. In the former, his fears of regressing allow Rumple to manipulate him into servitude, which Hook ends up fighting against until Rumple rips out his heart. In the latter, he contends with the way in which he'd wronged Ursula in the past, and with the help of Ariel (whom he also finally does right by), he is able to rectify his mistake and grant Ursula her true happy ending. I'm not really a big fan of his new modern leather jacket, though. The pirate coat was iconic!

* Following such a good Season 3 performance, Belle looks like she's on track to become even better at the end of the Frozen Saga when she finally sees Rumple for who he is and dumps his ass all the way across the town line. It was a powerful scene with some great lines from Belle, and by all logic it should have been the end of her and Rumple as a romantic pairing. They needed to be done after that, with Belle now being free to develop her character entirely apart from Rumple. But of course, Adam and Eddy would never allow that, so all she does in the Operation Mongoose Saga is date a man she doesn't actually love to soothe her heartbreak, fall passed out on the floor, have her heart stolen by Regina and then have it recovered by Rumple which causes her to inevitably crawl back to him at the end of the finale. As the next seasons will show, this damaged Belle's character beyond repair, turning her into the very Stockholm Syndrome-afflicted abuse victim that stupid detractors of the Disney version always claimed she was. This isn't a love story anymore. It's a horror story.

* Robin Hood is a regular for this season in all but title, being present for many episodes in the Frozen Saga and even getting his own focus episode in the Operation Mongoose Saga. If there was any chance of salvaging this horrendously misused character, it died the moment it showed that he still desired a relationship with Regina even after learning that she was the one who killed Marian, which would have stuck if not for Emma and Hook's time travel adventure. I'm sorry, who does that!? That is not realistic human behavior! And it only gets worse when he ends up deliberately and vocally throwing away his honor code by cheating on Marian with Regina while Marian is frozen solid and could possibly die! Oh, but Marian ends up being Zelena anyway, so all's cool. No! All's not cool! Why did this show make Robin Hood into such a lame character!? It's especially a disservice to Sean Maguire, who's a smooth and funny guy in real life and the Robin Hood he plays utilizes none of his charm.

* And then we have the regular in title only, Robin's former associate Will Scarlet, carried over from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Of all the screwed-over regulars the show has had, none can compare with Will Scarlet. He does little of interest in the Frozen Saga except for enticing viewers with various mysteries about who he is, why he's here and what's he up to...and those mysteries get absolutely no pay-off in the Operation Mongoose Saga, where he barely shows up and when he does is mainly just Belle's new boyfriend (whom she scarcely interacts with directly!) so that Rumple can get jealous and more determined to find the Author. In the end, Will Scarlet is a nuisance who has fuck-all to do with anything that's going on in the season, leaving viewers scratching their heads as to why he was included to begin with. I can't believe that in his last speaking appearance, the show actually has him deliver the line "I warn ya, I'm scrappy", to which Rumple replies "All right, Scrappy." It's funny because Scrappy, in the TV Tropes usage of the word, perfectly describes Will here.

So, what went wrong? Well, originally the Wonderland spin-off was meant to take place during Season 2 of the main show, with the originally filmed pilot making this explicit. So Will in Season 4 was to be the Will we have after the Wonderland Saga's conclusion, meaning somehow he'd gone back to Storybrooke and regressed back into a selfish, self-esteem lacking, seemingly heartless thief separated from his true love Anastasia / the Red Queen. Highly unoriginal of Adam and Eddy, but whatever, there were still plans to move forward with him as a character on the main show. But those plans failed to materialize and Michael Socha spent a lot of time on set doing nothing, a miserable experience which he was very vocal about afterward. And what was Adam and Eddy's excuse? "It’s just, you know, there’s just so many…there’s just so many people that it’s like, it’s sometimes hard to do that story and sacrifice Regina’s story. That’s just showbiz." It all comes down to Regina. Of course.

In the end it's for the best that the confirmation of the Wonderland Saga as taking place in Season 2 never happened in the pilot we actually got, since Will's existence in this season only makes sense now if it was happening before the Wonderland Saga rather than after, thus my headcanon will always be that Will's fateful break-in to Granny's was after it closed up on the night "Operation Mongoose" ended on rather than the night of the wraith attack.

* Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, Hans, Grand Pabbie, Oaken, the Duke of Weselton, and the former King and Queen of Arendelle are all lifted from Frozen to OUAT, and for every character that required an actor they got an actor who perfectly brought the animated movie character to life. They are also written accurately as well, with Elsa naturally being the stand-out given how much she gets to do and the bond she forges with Emma. And then there are the new Frozen characters invented for the show: Elsa and Anna's aunts - the deceased Helga and the icy-powered Ingrid, who is also the Frozen Saga's Big Bad, the Snow Queen. Ingrid, played beautifully by Elizabeth Mitchell, is essentially what Elsa might have become if Anna hadn't been so unconditionally loving toward her - her mind warped by her past pain and trauma, embittered toward all normal people, and willing to cross any moral boundary to find a family and place to belong to. Her connection to Elsa and Anna is perfectly exploited, her interactions with characters like Emma and Rumple are fascinating, and her ending where she realizes the error of her ways and sacrifices her life to reverse the damage she's done is the show's most beautiful, emotional send-offs for a villain since Rumple's death.

* The Queens of Darkness are Rumple's cohorts in the Operation Mongoose Saga who also desire the Author to write them a happy ending. The initial group is the trio of Maleficent, Ursula and Cruella De Vil, and it's later revealed that not-so-dead Zelena is also a member.

Maleficent, in spite of being played competently by Kristen Bauer van Straten and having great fashion sense in both worlds, is the weakest of the initial trio, since she is saddled with the mind-bogglingly stupid eggnapping subplot. Ursula isn't actually reflective of the Disney version of the character (Regina already did that in Season 3) and is more like a dark version of Ariel in regards to her backstory. She also isn't nearly as villainous as her peers and naturally she is redeemed rather quickly and easily as a result. And then there's Cruella De Vil, who is not a fairy tale character so everyone feared how she'd come off. Well, she's not only the best of the trio but one of the show's best villains, period. Victoria Smurfit looks, sounds and moves like the cartoon character made flesh, backed up by strong writing that makes her both funny and menacing - especially the latter when it comes to her backstory, a twisted little tale that subverts the show's usual "evil isn't born, it's made" mantra HARD.

Zelena.....SIGH. Like I said before, Adam and Eddy were dropping obvious clues that she wasn't really dead at the end of Season 3, which begged the question why they did a fake-out death to begin with. Apparently, it's because of this season's twist where, with almost no foreshadowing whatsoever, Marian is revealed to actually be Zelena in disguise, having traveled back in time with Emma and Hook and then killed the real Marian in order to take her place. She's revealed to then be pregnant with Robin Hood's child (since he slept with her thinking she was Marian...therefore, she raped him) before being hauled right on back to Storybrooke prison again. It's awful writing, salvaged only by Rebecca Mader's performance.

* We get some welcome returning characters this season, including Sydney Glass, Blackbeard, Ariel, Cora, and against all expectations August Booth. There are some interesting new side characters introduced as well, such as warlord Bo Peep (yes, really), Ursula's father Poseidon played by the great Ernie Hudson, and the Sorcerer's Apprentice, keeper of the Sorcerer's Hat and the Author's boss, meaning he naturally plays a major role throughout the season. The Author himself is Isaac Heller, played by Patrick Fischler, and he turns out to be a surprise villain who abuses his powers to influence events, which an Author is not supposed to do. While I wish he didn't take over the Big Bad position to such a degree in the finale, Isaac is still a very entertaining villain, especially when he's playing off of Regina and Rumple. His sardonic and cynical attitude also make him the perfect foil to Henry.

And then there's this season's biggest waste of a new character: Lilith "Lily" Page. There are three major problems with Lily. First of all, her origin - she's Maleficent's child that Snow and Charming kidnapped, passed all of Emma's natural-born darkness onto, and sent through a portal when she was still in an egg. It's so utterly stupid. Second, she is played by a Latino actress as a child only to have a white actress playing her as an adult. How does that work!? Finally, for all of the build-up she receives, she and her story go absolutely nowhere after she is reunited with her mother. They even make a point of giving her a scene toward the end about wanting to find who her father is, and that never gets followed up on. Even worse, the next story arc is all about Emma going dark, which Rumple had been trying to make happen throughout this arc and Lily was linked to, and yet Lily, her literal dark half, ISN'T involved!? Honestly, Mal from Descendants made a better "daughter of Maleficent" character! MAL!

Atmosphere - The Frozen Saga's atmosphere is very...Frozen-y; I don't really know another word to describe it. At least whenever it's focused on the Frozen characters. The Rumple subplot gets progressively darker to the point of becoming unpleasant, while the Regina subplot is just romantic and existential angst 24/7. These atmospheres don't fit in with the Frozen one at all, which is a testament to how Adam and Eddy are going the wrong direction with this show. Once the Operation Mongoose Saga happens, the atmosphere of the show goes insane, flip-flopping back and forth between family fairy tale wholesomeness to dark and disturbing and depressing to campiness on a level that feels off even for this show.

Episode Quality - For the most part, the Frozen Saga's episodes are perfectly fine and entertaining, although stretching out the 8th episode, "Smash the Mirror", into a two-parter was a horrible idea that cost the show terribly in the ratings. The only two standouts of badness are the 5th episode, "Breaking Glass", which introduces Lily in the flashback story while the present day story is all about Emma just having to sit back and take Regina's verbal abuse in spite of doing nothing to deserve it, and the final episode, "Heroes and Villains", whose only redeeming quality is the scene with Rumple and Belle at the town line, which doesn't even have lasting consequences. For the rest of the episode, we either spend time giving the Frozen cast a rushed, underwhelming send-off, having Rumple continue to abuse Hook while none of the idiot heroes catch on, fixating even more on Regina's angst as she has to let Robin Hood leave town in order to "save" "Marian", and watching a stupid Rumbelle-based flashback introducing the Queen of Darkness trio. In short, the episode is more the start of the Operation Mongoose Saga than it is the end of the Frozen Saga, which feels like a slap in the face to the last thing that made this show relevant to the mainstream.

And the Operation Mongoose Saga's episodes....actually got a lot better on a rewatch!? Don't get me wrong, this story arc is BAD. But when you detach yourself emotionally from the show and its characters, it becomes So Bad It's Good. It's as if the entire saga is Isaac's fanfiction; after all, it truly got started in "Heroes and Villains", and that's the name of Isaac's book in the "Operation Mongoose" two-part finale. Some episodes are unironically fun: "Darkness on the Edge of Town", "Poor Unfortunate Soul" and "Sympathy For the De Vil", but the other episodes are also fun when you just embrace how batshit crazy this whole story is and just enjoy watching how these poor actors are struggling to make something out of the material, and it's just as much fun when they fail as it is when they succeed. "Heart of Gold", the Robin Hood focus episode that reveals the Marian = Zelena twist, is one I have a soft spot for, because between Mader and Carlyle's acting, the scene of that reveal is hilarious.

Overall - Season 4 is basically the inverse of Season 2. Whereas Season 2 was horribly structured but a lot of strong material in either writing or acting was able to make it stronger than the sum of its parts. Season 4, on the other hand, has a solid structure with two inter-connected story arcs, but the material gets so increasingly shoddy that it doesn't matter. Until Seasons 6 and 7 came along, this was definitely the weakest season the show had to offer. If you don't mind a So Bad It's Good quality, then you should stick with the entire thing. But if you only want something that's actually good, then just watch all of the Frozen material.

#Once Upon a Time #ABC #OUAT and Me #Opinion #Analysis

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potatocrab · 4 years

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Salvation is a Last Minute Business (13/18)

Chapter 13: An Abominable Man

At the Valentine Detective Agency, the group reconvenes to discuss MIT’s revelations to the public. With more questions than answers, it’s up to Piper to follow the trail while Nick continues the cold case investigation. After reliving a past trauma, Madelyn takes comfort in the distractions Deacon provides. Later, Nick and Madelyn follow a clue straight to the man they’ve been hunting for.

“He was an abominable man. Why do women marry abominable men?” - Charlotte Inwood as played by Marlene Dietrich (Stage Fright, 1950)

[read on Ao3] x [chapter masterpost]

May 16th, 1958

Man or Machine? –The Synthetic Truth Behind MIT

The newest copy Publick Occurrences was waiting on Ellie’s desk when Madelyn arrived at the agency early that Friday morning, the stack of newspapers fresh off the presses and ready for circulation. Piper certainly didn’t dawdle after attending the MIT demonstration—she knew how to strike when the iron was hot and get a story out in record time. But Piper was never one to procrastinate—if you gave her and inch, she’d run a mile. Madelyn was interested to see what kind of marathon the reporter would run this time.

“What do we really know about MIT?”

Piper’s question hung in the air of Nick’s office as she paced before his desk, arms crossed with a steely expression. The detective himself was still reading over that morning’s edition, already on his second smoke of the day—nobody dared to reprimand him for getting such an early start, not when he was still within his grieving period. Madelyn watched the newshound’s movements from her usual spot in the armchair to the left, wondering if Piper’s eyebrows furrowed any further they might mold together into one, brown, bushy line. She hid her amusement behind her hand, glancing back to where Deacon was leaning against the back wall, holding a relaxed smirk as he silently observed the room’s occupants from behind his tinted shades. Even though the chair next to her was empty, she knew he was more comfortable where he stood, still cautious about being invited back into the fray of agency life.

“You’re worried about…” Nick looked up from reading the Publick Occurrences article. “A robot?”

Piper balked in offence, abruptly stopping in her strides to face him. “Jesus, Nick, did you lose track of your reading comprehension skills or something?”

“Not a robot,” she corrected, waving her hands in dramatic fashion as Nick frowned at her intended insult. “An android. A synth. MIT have essentially built themselves an infiltration unit—”

“We don’t know that,” Nick interrupted with a grumble.

“They installed it with a distinct personality,” Piper explained, gesturing to the black and white photo of the mechanical man that had been presented the previous day. “The Doctor said it himself. Makes it so they are indistinguishable from you or I.”

Nick rubbed at his chin as he studied the snapshot before pulling away to stare at his prosthetic hand—built by the very scientists Piper was questioning. He clenched his fingers into a fist and sighed. “I’d like to think I’d be able to tell that thing from a human,” he muttered, extinguishing his cigarette. He refrained from igniting a third from his nearby pack. “Looks fairly metal to me.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Piper argued. She pivoted, gesturing towards Madelyn and Deacon. “You were there! You saw how it moved.”

“Yes,” Madelyn agreed with a short nod, though she had her own hesitations. Despite the suspicion raised at the demonstration, she wasn’t one to jump to conclusions without solid proof in hand. “Doctor Ayo suggested it would be years before the synth could actually look anything like a human.”

“Can we actually trust the scientists and researchers at MIT?” Piper countered.

This wasn’t her usual wild goose-chase or paranoia fueling her, but genuine fear and concern. A kind of worry that Madelyn hadn’t seen in her friend since they started investigating Eddie Winter’s rise as family crime boss and his rampant spree through Boston. But this wasn’t some mobster they were after, this was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—a revered university that had always played a pivotal role in the city’s development of modern science. Without the Institute—as some affectionately called the college—Boston would still be in the dark ages. Like any industry giant, however, so much of what the Institute accomplished was shrouded in mystery. From their elusive board of directors, to their once-in-a-blue-moon presentations—it was any wonder Piper was suspicious.

“The way that doctor spoke,” Piper continued, a little calmer than before. “There’s the implication they’ve built more than one, and they’re just itching to put them to use. If they haven’t already.”

She picked up a spare copy of Publick Occurrences from Nick’s desk and stared at her own headline. “It bears repeating. What do we really know about the Institute?”

Silence settled within the room as the group contemplated what Piper said.

“She’s right.”

Madelyn peered over at Deacon, who barely moved from his spot against the wall. He offered a small shrug as he repeated his words. “She’s right,” he spoke, much to Piper’s surprise. “What do we know?”

“You’ve covered them before, right?” he asked, continuing his train of thought. “Something about the mayor’s campaign funds?”

The journalist raised a curious eyebrow in his direction. “Didn’t realize you were such an avid reader of my publication.”

“I like to stay informed,” Deacon replied, cheekily. “Freedom of the press, and all that.”

“They’ve shown up in Railroad reports as well,” Madelyn added, keeping the conversation on point. It certainly caught Piper and Nick’s attention. Deacon, however, seemed less than enthused about her sharing insider knowledge. But the information was out in the open now, ripe for dissection.

“Seems suspicious—promising,” Piper said with a curious smile. She glanced to Deacon. “For an undercover organization, can’t you find out more? Send one of your agents to snoop around the university for secrets? Sneak around yourself, Mr. Spy?”

“You make it sound so easy,” he responded with a smirk, though Madelyn could tell Piper’s tone was getting on his nerves. “Why don’t you go stalk the boogeyman, Miss Wright?”

“Maybe I will!”

“For once I’d like to have a civil conversation in my office,” Nick interrupted, already striking a new match to light another cigarette.

Madelyn could only imagine the amount of stress he was experiencing, and their presence wasn’t helping. She glanced at the others. “We might as well start from the beginning. What else do we know about the university? Media reports, rumors…anything?”

“There was an attack in 1955 at University Point,” Deacon recalled. “A fight broke out between some Mass Bay and MIT students over some supposedly stolen tech. One of the MIT kids lost control and beat a Mass Bay freshman to a bloody pulp.”

“I wrote about that too,” Piper remarked. “The student died. Didn’t think it was anything but a student brawl gone bad. Seen plenty of those covering the Fens district. What does that have to with what they’re doing now?”

“You’re the one who’s suggesting they’ve been using synths longer than they claim,” Deacon explained. “I’m just trying to offer evidence that supports your theory, is all.”

“That would mean…” Madelyn trailed, alarmed by the connotation. She furrowed her brows, unable to wrap her head around what was being suggested. She wasn’t about to trust what the Institute scientists had claimed at the demonstration—that they were years away from life-like synths— but she needed more proof than one incident that sounded more like a disagreement gone awry. “Is there anything else?”

“1949,” Nick spoke, gaining everyone’s interest. “I had just set up the agency here. Vadim told me about an Italian restaurant across the way from the stadium, praised their homemade pasta,” he leaned back in his chair, clearly reminiscing on nearly a decade’s old memory. “Before I could make a visit, the place was shut down. Turns out a professor, Mr. Carter, from MIT decided it was the perfect place to commit mass murder.”

“I remember that restaurant, but I’ve never heard about that!” Piper seemed genuinely shocked, especially as someone who had lived in the Boston area all her life. “What happened?”

“Seemed like any other patron at first, according to witnesses. Sat at the bar and told war stories, spoke about a big government grant his department had just been given. Then suddenly—” Nick snapped his fingers, his expression solemn as he explained. “Pulled out a revolver and started shooting. After an hour-long stand-off, Boston P.D. opened fire and put him down. When the dust settled, eight people were dead, including the professor.”

Madelyn pointed out what she hoped would be obvious. “If Mr. Carter were a synth, you’d think they’d be able to determine that after his death.”

“Assuming there wasn’t a cover-up,” Nick offered with a shake of his head. “The event itself was conveniently swept away in the news-cycles. Between the Red Scare in Hollywood and some ape dying in space—”

“Poor Albert,” Deacon quipped. Madelyn resisted the urge to laugh amidst their serious discussion and looked his way. He only smiled.

Nick cleared his throat, pulling their attention back. “As I was saying,” he tapped his fingers against the newspaper spread across his desk. “That’s two instances of MIT personnel losing themselves to madness. Piper, you’re the one who is worried about synths going unchecked. Malfunctioning and attacking without provocation. I’m all for throwing accusations against a reputable establishment when something smells rotten, but you need to be sure before going after something, or someone as big as the Institute.”

He was right, even as he inferred he believed Piper’s theories. Madelyn thought about what the group had discussed, and what she’d seen at the MIT conference the previous day. To think that the university had lied and had secretly placed realistic synths—indistinguishable from real humans—in the Boston populace. Worse yet, they had been doing so for years. Confusion settled in her mind—why? Why come forward now with the revelation of a new prototype if they’d been infiltrating the city all this time? It wouldn’t be the first time she dealt with a corruption scandal. What did the university have to gain from planting sleeper agents—synths—throughout Boston in the first place? She only ended up with more questions than answers.

Piper seemed to share a similar sentiment, a worrisome frown etched into her features. “I’ll hit the streets, connect with some sources,” she paused, giving Nick a cautious glance. “I know you still don’t trust him, but ol’ Danny Sullivan might be my best shot at getting any information from old police files,” she rolled her eyes when he groaned. “Or would you rather I break into precincts, for old time sakes?”

“Do what you will,” Nick sighed, rubbing at his temple. “Just leave us out of it for the time being,” he motioned towards Madelyn. “We’ve got enough on our hands with this cold case.”

Not that Piper needed his permission to follow her own leads for a story, but it was nice to have the support of a friend—the three had been working together for a few years now, and despite her reputation, she wasn’t one to run off and go rogue. Especially when it could put herself, or others, in danger. Considering they’d just come off from putting an end to Eddie Winter and his wide-spread corruption, she needed to tread lightly—well, as lightly as Piper was capable of. With a shrug, she moved to occupy the opposite armchair, sinking back into the cushions.

“Do you think any of this is connected to the Shaun Perlman case at all?” Madelyn decided to ask, gauging Nick’s reaction.

“I’d rather not cross that bridge right now,” he mumbled, dragging his palm across his face in exasperation. He shot a warning glance to Piper before she could get started. “Better we focus on the best lead we have—the kidnapper, and the fact he very well may be the same man who killed Madelyn’s husband.”

It felt like the air was sucked out of the room as she sensed all eyes focus on where she was sitting. She hadn’t expected Nick to be so upfront about sharing the information, but they were amongst trusted colleagues—anyone else and she likely would’ve had a more hostile reaction. That being said, she hadn’t divulged any case details to Deacon, and she his subtle reaction to the news didn’t go unnoticed out of the corner of her eye. Her secrecy wasn’t to be deceptive, but rather to protect her emotions. Madelyn was still struggling with the reality of the situation, and it took all the mental fortitude she had left to focus on helping to solve the case.

“What are you talking about?” Piper asked, looking between her and Nick.

“Preston, our witness from Concord. His description of the kidnapper…” he trailed.

“That wasn’t all,” Madelyn reluctantly added. “The way the wife, Nora…the way she described the kidnapping. It was all too familiar,” she swallowed down the nervous flutter rising in her throat and steadied her breathing the best she could. “From being ambushed in a public setting, to the way he made them—us—beg for our lives.”

“You don’t have to—” Nick tried to interrupt but she hushed him with one steely look.

“He was wearing a military fatigue and a leather jacket. His head was shaved, and there was a long scar that crossed over his left eye—just as Preston described,” Madelyn continued. “His gun wasn’t military issue, that much I know. Had to be modified, on account of the—” she broke off as the tears prickled her vision. Deacon shifted from his spot against the back wall, but she shook her head, silently rooting him to the spot.

“The coroner pulled a .44 hollow point from Nate’s chest,” she stated, biting back the overwhelming desire to cry. She lowered her gaze, focusing on the wedding ring she’d moved to her right hand. “Same kind they pulled from…” she found herself unable to say the husband’s name.

Nick took note of her struggle and interjected. “Mr. Perlman’s arm.”

Piper loudly clapped her hands together, causing Madelyn to flinch at the sound. She didn’t pause to apologize before she was bent forward and speeding through another tangent. “That weapon! A .44 caliber with hollow point bullets? I’ve read about several unsolved murders up and down the Eastern coastline with that modus operandi.”

“We can’t say that every shooting with a magnum was him, can we?” Madelyn asked, focusing her attention on Nick. He was smoking again, but she’d lost track of what number he was on.

“No,” he mumbled, the cigarette bobbing between his lips as he maneuvered the paperwork strewn about his desk, pulling out a tattered notebook. She wasn’t sure what he was looking at when he started reading. “1950—robbery outside the Boylston Club. Two injured, one dead, with—wouldn’t you know—a .44 hollow point bullet to the head.”

Madelyn grimaced, trying not to imagine what that would’ve looked like for the victim—perhaps Nate had it easier, even if he had a slow, and painful death.

“There was a suspect,” Nick read on, flipping though an old casefile. “Released on a technicality, but we all know by now that is code for corruption. Disappeared after that. No trace.”

“How much do you want to bet it’s our guy?” Piper asked to nobody in particular.

“Five bucks says it was Kellogg!”

Everybody in the room turned towards the new presence in the doorway—MacCready, who stared back with equal surprise. “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop or nothin’ but…” he jutted his thumb over his shoulder towards the lobby. “That blonde chick wasn’t around to shoo me away, so I thought I’d—”

“Who the hell is Kellogg?” Nick stopped him from rambling.

“Oh, yeah. Right,” MacCready stepped into the office and shrugged. “Way you described him and that gun, only one person I know that fits the bill,” he said. “Conrad Kellogg.”

“Who is he?” Piper asked this time, turning in her seat so she could look at the former mercenary properly.

“Used to run with the Gunners, still might for all I know, but was high up in the ranks way before I came to Boston,” MacCready explained, leaning over the back of the armchair where Piper sat. “Rumor has it he killed some gang leader out in California before heading East. Never met him, but he’s got one hell of a reputation. Can’t believe that fu—” he hesitated, awkwardly clearing his throat. “Guy is still alive.”

“We don’t know that,” Nick said for the second time that morning. “Hasn’t been any reports of similar cases since—”

“Since Nate,” Madelyn finished, gulping down the ache that had formed in her chest.

“At least now you have a name,” Piper remarked, but it was hardly any consolation. “A lead. Better than nothing.”

“Sure, sure,” Nick agreed, though he didn’t lift his gaze from Madelyn, the two sharing a silent exchange. “MacCready, you know anybody in Quincy who’d be willing to talk?”

Their mercenary-turned-informant looked stunned, jolting upright as he anxiously rubbed at his neck. Getting dragged into another investigation was probably not why he had chosen to visit the agency that morning. Whatever the reason, it would have to wait. “Well, sure,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah, I guess.”

Nick pushed back his chair to stand, moving towards the nearby coatrack to tug on his patched trench-coat and fedora. He pointed to the younger man. “Alright. You’re with me.”

When the detective noticed the confusion on Madelyn’s face, his expression settled. “I’m officially assigning you R&R.”

She couldn’t help but smile a little. “You don’t have the authority to assign me.”

Nick rolled his eyes, mumbling something about how stubborn women would be the death of him before nodding towards Deacon. Her Railroad partner understood the gesture and moved away from his spot to stand next to her. She didn’t need watching over, or protection, but she’d gladly take a reprieve if it meant spending time with him. Madelyn glanced up to find him with a tiny smile of his own, and he reached out to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze before retreating his hand back to his side before anyone could notice.

“Piper,” Nick gave the reporter a pointed stare before exhaling as he shook his head. “Whatever you do, just—be careful.”

She stood, playfully mocking him with a salute. “Aye, aye, detective.”

“You lied.”

“Of course I lied,” Deacon responded without missing a beat. “Which lie are we talking about?”

Madelyn softly laughed from her spot across the circular dining table, watching as he poured her another glass of wine. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to dinner—to an actual restaurant that wasn’t a 24-hour café—and was suddenly grateful for Nick’s subtle push. On Deacon’s suggestion they traveled uptown and found themselves a hidden gem of an Italian bistro in the process. More than one macabre joke about running into an Institute spy was made, wondering if Nick’s earlier mention of pasta had indoctrinated them, if only a little.

“When Piper asked about sending an undercover Railroad agent to MIT,” she clarified, bringing her refilled glass to her lips. “You lied.”

A sideways smirk. “I didn’t lie, I just omitted the truth.”

Madelyn chuckled, nearly choking on her drink. “That’s—that’s the same thing!”

“Hardly,” he countered with a wave of his hand. “Do you honestly think I’d talk about Railroad business in front of Piper?” It was a rhetorical question, followed up with words Madelyn had heard him speak time and time again, “you can’t trust everyone.”

She sighed, and couldn’t help it as her demeanor fell, ever so slightly. “Even me?”

Deacon’s expression was hard to read—it always was when he shielded his eyes with those sunglasses—but she figured he was studying her carefully. After all the emotional breakthroughs they’d shared, she didn’t want to think for a second he didn’t trust her—not when he was one of the very few she found faith in. She wondered if it had anything to do with her holding back information on the Shaun Perlman case, and even more doubt filled her mind. Before he could say anything, she had to speak—

“Sorry,” she set her wine glass down and fidgeted with the linen tablecloth. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about what Nick and I discovered while investigating. I should’ve said something sooner and—”

“Charmer,” Deacon stopped her short, reaching over the small table to cover her hand with his own, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. “That doesn’t bother me. If it wasn’t you, I would’ve snooped around and found out already. But that’s not my place in this partnership, not anymore. I trust you to tell me whatever’s important, on your own terms.”

Trust—there it was.

Madelyn gradually allowed the smile to return and flicked her gaze across his face. “Does that mean I’m allowed to have secrets?”

“A few,” he caught on to her tease. “You still haven’t told me who really taught you how to pick locks.”

Her chest tightened as she thought about her departed husband, simultaneously reminiscing about her and Deacon’s first jaunt together through the underground Switchboard tunnels. Her fingers twitched beneath his grasp. “Who says anybody taught me?” she joked, recovering as best she could.

He nodded, flashing that secret smile that told her he knew she was bluffing—but he was never one to rat her out. Instead, he leaned back in his chair, slowly withdrawing his hand from hers.

“Dez is the only one that knows,” he started. “We’ve had an inside man—hell, it might be a woman—nobody has met with the agent face to face,” Deacon’s lips skewed to the side in thought. “They aren’t an official Railroad operative. But they’re the ones that started feeding us information while we were still operating at the Switchboard.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Madelyn asked, trying not to sound accusatory.

“Back then, Dez and I weren’t sure of what we were dealing with,” he explained. “It was all coded. Most of it still is. We only knew the source was coming from what we believed to be an ally, working on the inside.”

“How can you be so sure?” She was rightfully skeptical. “You never found out who was responsible for attacking the Switchboard.”

“Fair point,” Deacon replied with a shrug. “We never stopped receiving correspondence either. Even after moving to the church. Dead drops with encrypted MIT data from Doctor Rendezvous themselves.”

She tried not to laugh. “Is that what you call them? Of all the codenames…”

“No,” he shook his head. “Dez and I call them Patriot.”

At least that explained all the reports Tinker Tom and Glory had been sifting through for the last several weeks. She wondered if any of it would prove fruitful, and if something of value would materialize sooner rather than later. You can’t trust everyone—and yet, the Railroad leaders seemed to be playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an unknown. She hoped they knew what they were doing.

“Enough work chat,” Deacon mused, plucking the napkin from his lap and placing it across the table. “What would you say to some blueberry pie?”

Madelyn grinned, pulled from her doom and gloom thoughts. “Yes.”

-x-

It was a short, hand-in-hand stroll through the uptown district to the Olympia Theatre, where she fixated on the matinee signs advertising Gigi—she hadn’t seen a film in years. If it wasn’t a late night rerun on CBS, she was completely out of the loop on modern day culture. She’d seen Leslie Caron in An American in Paris—a movie date with Nate so many years ago—seeing her picturesque face on the advertisement now brought back bittersweet memories.

“Pie and dancing tonight,” Deacon’s voice was suddenly in her ear as he leaned close. “Lerner and Loewe tomorrow.”

The promise alone caused excitement to bloom in her heart, even if a trickle of guilt remained. He gently tugged on her hand, and she followed him down the cobblestone alleyway to the familiar red door and golden placard, leaving the theatre behind.

The Memory Den was expectedly crowded for a Friday evening, but as soon as Irma caught sight of the two, she quickly ushered them to a private corner of the bar. Madelyn recognized it as Deacon’s corner—if he had such a claim to the place. Given Irma was an unspoken Railroad informant, Madelyn was sure he could very well have run of the place—especially now that Eddie Winter was out of the picture. It was hardly quiet were they perched themselves on two barstools as the house band played an upbeat song, but Irma’s cheery voice was loud as ever.

“We have a live singer tonight,” she boasted, standing between them with her hands on her hips.

Madelyn chuckled as she glanced towards the stage. “As long as it isn’t Bobby Darin.”

“Oh—” Irma faltered, unsure of her joke. “Uh, no. You’ll see! They came all the way from New York!” she beamed. “Now, I’ve seen the way you two can move, so why are you sittin’ around?”

Deacon arched an eyebrow and leaned against the bar-top. “We can’t dance on an empty stomach.”

Ironic, considering their stomachs were full of pasta, bread and wine. Madelyn only smiled at Irma when she glanced between them with curiosity. The other woman sighed before moving around the bar, walking down to the far end of the counter where a glass display showcased a variety of deserts. After a few minutes, she returned with a plate and two forks.

“Lucky you,” Irma remarked. “Last slice of the night.”

Deacon deferred to Madelyn, allowing her the first bite—it was just as delicious as she remembered, when he brought her an entire blueberry pie from Irma on Valentine’s Day. She held her palm beneath her chin on the second bite, trying not to disperse crumbs or berries all over her satin dress. She didn’t realize Deacon was watching her movements until she went for a third forkful, noticing he hadn’t taken his first. Very suddenly, a blush crept up her cheeks and he smirked.

Irma baked away with a bright grin. “You’re welcome!”

Deacon finally took a bite, followed up with a second so they were even. They sat and ate in silence, smiling and laughing at each other over nothing and everything as the atmosphere around them intensified. Madelyn blamed it on being tipsy from her dinner wine, but a lingering thought in the back of her mind echoed it was more than that. It was always more with Deacon.

“You said there’d be dancing,” Madelyn noted, eying the crowd of dancers when their desert was finished. The singer Irma mentioned had taken the stage and had already played through a melody of fast-paced swing ensembles to warm up the audience and the band.

He nodded, taking her hand in his as he slid off the barstool to stand. As soon as they navigated through the throng of people, the lights dimmed into a bluish-purple hue, and the band’s music slowed. It didn’t deter them—they’d slow danced before, but that was undercover and what felt like a lifetime ago. This was something entirely different. Deacon’s arms encircled her waist, one hand on her lower back and the other planted firmly between her shoulders. Madelyn loosely wrapped her arms around his neck, leaned back far enough so she could study his face in the dark lighting.

“Last time we were here, you tried to slice my throat in the hallway,” he smiled at the memory, and so did she. Thinking back, it was any wonder he hadn’t turned the tables and pinned her to the wall—he certainly possessed the strength to do so. Madelyn didn’t let the thought get carried away in her mind, as much as it thrilled her.

“You weren’t so keen on dancing with me,” he remarked, tilting his head to the side.

“But I did,” she countered, inching herself closer. “You were a stranger. I should’ve known better, but I still danced with you.”

Deacon shrugged. “I still might be a stranger, you never know.”

“Bullshit.”

“Adorable,” he retorted, right on cue. “You still want to dance with me, after everything you know?”

Madelyn suddenly wondered if they were speaking in code—Deacon wasn’t really talking about dancing, was he? She desperately wished she could see beyond the tinted shades he was wearing, knowing if she caught a glimpse of those baby blues, she’d have her answer within a heartbeat. Regardless of the inuendo, she knew what to say.

“Why not?” she offered in a soft voice. “You make one hell of a partner.”

He smiled. “You’re not so bad yourself, Charmer.”

As the song continued, she steadily drew herself closer until she was resting her head against his shoulder, swaying slowly in his arm as the soothing beat echoed around them.

“You’ll see me home tonight?” she asked, closing her eyes to the world around her. She felt his lips brush against her temple near her ear as he whispered so only she could hear.

“Yes.”

-x-

Madelyn had never traversed the stairwell of her apartment so slowly. With Deacon at her side, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to reach the seventh floor, knowing that when they reached her door he would have to depart. That wasn’t necessarily true, but after the evening’s events, she wasn’t entirely sure if inviting him in for their usual nightcap would constitute crossing some kind of unspoken line. But what had started as a distraction had turned into what felt like a date. She was faced with an increasing dilemma with every step, one she’d been suppressing for weeks.

Their relationship—whatever it was—wasn’t a topic of discussion. Even after so many near misses, and what might as well have been a confession in a church—of all places—Madelyn couldn’t pinpoint where they stood. Partners? Friends? Something more? Or something in-between? Mitigating circumstances forced them to pump the brakes before discovering if what they had was meant to be. But now, Madelyn was tired of waiting, tired of hiding her emotions to the world. All she wanted to do was drive off the cliff with a lead foot and find out.

“Charmer,” he said her name—her codename—in that sly way of his as he leaned against the doorway outside her apartment, glancing up at the shiny lettering D. Madelyn took it as some kind of sign. “Here we are.”

She nodded but didn’t move to rummage through her purse for her keys. “Here we are,” she repeated. Her eyes danced across the hall. “Do you think Drummer Boy is listening to us right now?”

“Without a doubt,” he responded with a soft laugh. “He needs all the gossip he can get.”

There was somebody else that was listening too, judging by the robotic voice that echoed out from beyond her door. “Miss Madelyn, is that you? Oh, it’s such a late hour!”

She groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead in a vain attempt to hide her embarrassment. What was worse than having a Mister Handy that acted like her parental guardian, reprimanding her if she came home past midnight?

“Your metal hubby is calling for you,” Deacon joked. His next action surprised her as he reached up to remove his sunglasses, tucking them away in his coat pocket. Even in the faint lighting of her hallway, his eyes gleamed with a certain kind of magic. “Shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

“Let him wait,” she hushed.

It was the cue she needed, taking a hesitant step forward, closer to where he was. She reached out, one hand gripping the fabric of his tie while the other sought out the side of his face, tugging gently to bring him closer. Madelyn thought about all the times she’d wanted to kiss him but didn’t, all the times they’d almost kissed but hadn’t, every time he had slipped through her fingertips. Standing there, in front of her apartment door, it seemed to mirror previous occasions—they were so close, Deacon’s breath ghosting over her mouth as their hooded eyes locked under the intensity. She hesitated, waiting for the other foot to drop, for some kind of interruption—except, it never came. Instead, his hand at her waist tugged her just close enough as he tilted his chin and—bliss—as their lips softly met.

For a long moment, the kiss was nothing but chaste, sweet. But there was a certain kind of desperation behind the contact—understandable considering how long it had been for her since her last kiss. She wasn’t sure how long it had been for him, but if she believed what he’d said about his wife—which she did—it had to be a significant time. Madelyn increased the pressure first, Deacon taking the cue to slide his tongue past her lips. His fingers gripped her side as they continued, the two content with the measured pace being set. Even though they both had done their fair share of waiting—there was no need to rush.

With a soft breath, she reluctantly pulled away, a delightful heat encompassing her entire body. She relished in being able to witness the sparkle of Deacon’s eyes, his blown pupils as they darted across her face and body before snapping back up to meet her gaze.

“Shouldn’t keep him waiting,” he repeated, voice raspy. As far as goodbyes and goodnights went, it was fitting for the Railroad spy. He smirked, replacing his sunglasses where they belonged before slowly backing away towards the stairwell. “Charmer.”

Madelyn didn’t enter her apartment until she was sure Deacon had descended at least a few flights of stairs, leaning against the door as she closed it behind her. Her heart was racing, the speed of which made it feel like it was lodged in her throat. She raised her fingers to trace over her lips where his mouth had just been and felt a warmth she had been chasing for months—years—a sprinkle of goosebumps appeared across her skin. She felt foolish, like a schoolgirl with a crush all over again—except, this was much more than a crush. She felt a rush. She felt alive. She felt—

“Mum?” Codsworth’s voice made her realize he’d been hovering in front of her frozen state, robotic eyes zooming in on her body with curiosity. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” she answered, without hesitation. “Never better.”

May 18th, 1958

“You’re smiling.”

Madelyn tried her best to suppress the grin she knew was pulling at her lips but failed. “Am I?”

She glanced over to Nick as they walked, noting that for some inexplicable reason he was in a better mood than usual. It likely had something to do with their case, and how after a decade of little to no progress, things had heated up in a matter of days. After leaving her alone for most of the weekend, he’d finally called her early that Sunday morning with an update from his own investigating. He had a lead promising enough that it demanded swift action, though Madelyn was glad to be back on the streets and investigating with the detective—just like old times.

“Yeah,” he nodded, raising a quizzical brow in her direction. “Something I should know?”

Madelyn played coy, moving closer to link her arm in his as they continued their stroll down the Fenway district sidewalks. She patted his coat affectionately. “Mr. Valentine, don’t you know a lady shouldn’t kiss and tell?”

The surprise in his expression was short-lived as he caught on to her insinuation, and after a small stretch of silence, a low smirk settled on his face. “It’s a good look, doll.”

“Where are we headed?” Madelyn asked before he could start a line of questioning—not that she expected it, but she wanted to avoid any unnecessary pestering. “You never told me how your little date in Quincy faired.”

“I’ll tell you about my date when you tell me about yours,” he countered, with expert precision. Instead of taking offense, Madelyn laughed. They hadn’t bantered in so long and it felt refreshing. “MacCready can be a hard-ass, when you need him to be.”

“Good cop, bad cop?”

“Detectives,” Nick corrected. If there was one thing he hated, it was being mistaken for any member of the Boston police force—even if the two had snuffed out Eddie Winter’s corruption. It was one of the reasons they were heading this investigation on their own, and without assistance from the inside. As far as they knew, the only people worth trusting were themselves. “We got what we needed. Last known address for a one Conrad Kellogg.”

The pair continued walking past the large green walls of the Fenway stadium until they reached they grouping of apartments situated on the western side of the district. Almost immediately, the memory of when they’d last visited the Parkview Apartments came flooding back and she stared up at the tall buildings.

“Earl Sterling,” she muttered under her breath before looking to Nick. “Is it coincidence that Boston serial killers like to congregate in one area?”

“Cheap place to live, in a nondescript area of the city,” Nick frowned. “Hiding in plain sight. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe they don’t realize they all eventually follow the same patterns eventually.”

The two didn’t delay for much longer in the courtyard, entering the building and ascending the stairs after finding initials C.K. on one of the lobby’s mailboxes. On the fourth floor, they made their way towards a faded green door, Nick double checking the number scrawled on a lose piece of paper before shoving it back into his pocket.

“This is the place,” he assured.

“Looking for someone?”

Nick and Madelyn turned to find not exactly who they expected—a well dressed man in a tan colored suit, a freshly picked flower pinned to his lapel. He regarded them with a polite smile, but there was something unsettling about the way he stared ahead that had Madelyn’s skin crawling. Be it the location they were in, or the assumption of the people who lived there, she didn’t want to make any sudden movements.

“Do you know anything about the person who lives here?” Madelyn asked.

The suited man shook his head. “Lived. Haven’t seen his handsome face in quite a while.”

“Did he die?” she continued her line of questioning, careful not to reveal too much about the circumstances of why they were there. “We’re…old college classmates of his. In town and thought to surprise him.”

“Oh, I do love surprises,” the man replied with the same, measured smile as before. “He isn’t dead. Just gone. Just like that child that came to visit every now and again. What an adorable young man.”

“A child?” Nick questioned, on high alert.

“Around ten years old, I should say,” the man answered, raising his hand to gesture height. “Hm. But what do I know? He always did say I was…too nosy.”

“Thank you,” Madelyn hesitantly nodded. “For letting us know.”

He made to move past them down the hallway in the opposite direction but stopped at the last moment. “The next time you’re in the neighborhood, please, stop by my gallery,” his recommendation came in a soft, eerie tone. “I have a feeling you’d be an admirer.”

Madelyn’s grip on Nick’s arm didn’t loosen until the mystery man was out of sight and even he didn’t seem to relax until all was quiet around them.

“Jesus,” he muttered, swiftly turning towards the apartment door and shuffling through his coat pockets, pulling out a lockpick. He made quick work of the deadbolt, catching the doorknob in his hand so it wouldn’t swing open. “Come on.”

Nick took the lead, his gun unholstered and at his side as he took measured steps through the small space. Madelyn followed, closing the door behind her and securing the lock—the last thing they needed was a visitor while they were sneaking around. The apartment itself was sparse, barely filled with any furniture or proof that anyone had lived there before or had been there recently. As she loitered near the kitchen nook, glancing over a pile of forgotten comic books and a case of cigars, she heard Nick call from the back bedroom.

“All clear!” he announced. “What do you make of this?”

The bedroom was just as empty as the entranceway, a double bed and desk occupying the space. Madelyn found Nick studying a pile of documents, shifting them about with a mix of confusion and concern. She plucked a dusty file from the stack and was alarmed to see a familiar set of emblems and insignia.

“These are military documents,” she confirmed what he already knew, being a former airman himself. “What are they doing here?”

Nick shook his head, unsure. “Kellogg was described as a military man in suspect reports. What if that description is accurate and he really is an enlisted officer?”

“A killer in the ranks?” Madelyn didn’t want to believe it.

Nick didn’t respond, his eyes shifting rapidly as he read over more and more of the scattered reports, even if they were mostly redacted. Madelyn couldn’t make heads or tails of them—she never could, even when she would try to sneak a peak at the files Nate would bring home. Whatever Kellogg was researching, it involved a scientific endeavor—backed by the government and heavily funded—that required top level security clearance.

“There’s only one military base in town that would be responsible for such a project,” Nick explained. Madelyn knew. The only question would be how to get inside.

He tapped the document. “Fort Hagen.”

#fallout 4 #noir au #deacon x f!solesurvivor #madelyn hardy #deacon #nick valentine #piper wright #robert joseph maccready #and other spoiler characters...#more easter eggs than your body can handle!#something happens in the chapter that you've all been waiting for #👀👀👀

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heyyyharry · 5 years

Text

Chapter 13: Stay The Night

(from the My Girl Trilogy: Be My Only)

…in which Y/N doesn’t feel safe in her flat, but Harry is too far away.

AU: actor!Harry, older!Harry, younger!Y/N (4-year age gap).

Chapter 12: Ex’s And Oh’s - Their relationship is no longer a secret.

Wattpad link

When Y/N left her flat this morning, she was filled with stress.

She had taken the bus to clear her mind instead of driving to work, but as she waited at the bus stop, she realized it was a terrible idea. She loved mornings in London. The feeling of being just a tiny nobody in the sea of busy strangers rushing off to work made her feel at ease. After yesterday, however, everything had changed.

A group of schoolgirls also waiting for the bus had been staring at her for two minutes now. As their chatter and snickering rang in her ears, she was sure one of them had taken a photo without her consent and posted it on Instagram with the caption: 'I met the bitch who kissed Harry, and she was ugly as fuck.'

Y/N told herself to ignore them, not giving them the satisfaction of being right about whatever personalities they had picked out for her. Besides, there were only four of them, so maybe she was overreacting. She wasn't the center of the universe and didn't walk down the street with that kissing photo glued to her forehead. But unfortunately, that was exactly how she was feeling right now. She envisioned a spotlight shining on her everywhere she went, and even the homeless guy across the street knew she'd kissed the Harry Styles.

It was the longest bus ride ever, even though she'd chosen to sit at the very back to avoid unwanted attention. Thank God, those teenage girls had got off one stop before her, and she was allowed to walk the rest of the way to the bookstore in peace. Well, it had been peace before she entered the bookstore.

"Good morning, Y/N!" Alice and Eddie said at the same when she walked in. Since when did she get a heartwarming welcome for being thirty minutes late? Was she living in a nightmare? Should she pinch herself to wake up?

"So, I was just telling Eddie that I need a new haircut—" Alice started speaking as Y/N hung up her jacket. "I would like it shorter, and maybe I'll have it dyed to match the color of my dress. My cousin Layla is getting married soon and—"

"It's okay, Al. You can ask me anything," Y/N cut her off, and Alice's eyes grew slightly bigger.

"W-What are you talking about?" the girl stuttered as she exchanged looks with Eddie, who was tongue-tied and could only shake his head.

"I know you've seen those photos and read all the things people have said about me," said Y/N. "And because you're my friends. I want you to be honest. Tell me what you think about me. Ask me questions. Just...don't be so weird. I can't take it."

Shifting from one foot to the other, Alice exhaled as her chest caved in. "I-I'm very sorry it happened to you. And...and for what I said about Harry and Ruby being soulmates or whatever. I did-didn't know it was you."

"I'm sorry too," Eddie blurted as he adjusted his glasses. "I mean...I mean, what Alice just said."

"Nice try, dumbass."

"Hey!"

Y/N snorted as Alice gave Eddie the finger. "So you guys believe me?" she asked.

"Of course we do!" piped Alice. "You and Isaac broke up on good term so you're free to date whoever the fuck you want. Fuck those bitches. Believe me or not, I created another account, just to defend you from hate comments."

For a second, Y/N thought she was only joking, but then quickly realized she was not. "You didn't have to, Alice! I don't even read those comments!"

"Yes, I did have to, because you're my friend." Alice's face contorted as she placed both hands on Y/N's shoulders. "I'm so glad it's you, by the way."

To hear this from Alice of all people made Y/N feel much better. She didn't need validation from every single fan of Harry's to feel worthy of her own relationship, but it was nice to have at least one who supported her.

"It's all thanks to you, Al," she said.

"Thanks to me?!"

"Thanks to her?!"

Y/N couldn't help but laugh at Alice's and Eddie's reaction. She answered them with a firm nod. "If last year you hadn't given me those tickets to see the Heathers musical—"

"Wait a minute! You went to see it with him?!" Alice covered her mouth as her jaw dropped.

"Yeah, well, no, we were...caught in the rain so we didn't get to see it. But before that, we were going to see it together. That was basically how it all started. It's—" She rolled her eyes and exhaled. "It's a long story."

"Tell me!"

"Maybe some other time. I'm sure Eddie doesn't want us to—"

"Tell us!" Eddie chimed in, already resting his chin on his palms like a child waiting for his bedtime story. As they continued to chant "tell us, tell us!", Y/N was left with no choice but to grab a chair and sit down with them.

Taking a deep breath, she began, "Harry and I met when I was nine..."

Nine-year-old Y/N was thrilled when Gemma agreed to take her to Harry's football game. It was not only the first time she'd got to see him play, but also the first match she had ever attended. She didn't even know the rules. All she knew was, there were two teams, Harry's was red, the opponent was blue. If a player kicked the ball into the other team's net and the goalkeeper from the other team couldn't catch it, then this team got one point. The team with the most points at the end won. It sounded simple when she put it like that, but she knew it was more complicated in reality.

Gemma seemed to know all about football, but the more she explained, the more confused Y/N got. How could anyone remember all these positions? What did a 'penalty' mean? And what the heck were those red and yellow cards the referee was holding?

Frustrated, Gemma eventually gave up and told her, "you'll get it when you're older."

Y/N knew Gemma didn't mean to hurt her feeling, but her words had done just that. 'Older', she despised that word, yet it was all she wanted to become. Older. Smarter. Prettier. If she'd achieved all of those things, she would be good enough to become Harry's girlfriend. Sitting with her head hung, she bit her nails and pondered the idea. It was only when the parents roared with cheers that she snapped back to reality. She looked up just in time Harry was running toward his teammates and screaming with joy, as the goalkeeper on the other team flopped down on the grass, looking defeated. Their reactions made it clear that Harry had just scored.

"Did they win?!" She looked up at Gemma with hopeful eyes, and the older girl gave her a shrug.

"Not yet, but they're already leading 2-0 and there's only five minutes left."

"So they're surely gonna win?!"

When Y/N received a nod as an answer, she jumped and screamed his name so loud it startled Gemma and a few other parents. But she didn't pay attention to them. Every fiber of her being was vibrating with anticipation and her eyes were fixed on her crush. In her imagination, the other boys started to fade into the green of the field, the spectators evaporated like mist in the sun, and Harry was glowing like an angel.

His team won that day, as predicted. Y/N knew she hadn't contributed even the slightest to their victory, but she prided herself on being his good luck charm. And therefore, Harry would be so happy to see her.

While Gemma was chatting with a cute guy she'd run into, Y/N rushed toward the group of older boys who were heading out of the field. Harry spotted her right away, his face gleamed as he waved his hand in the air.

"You were amazing!" she bubbled. "Gemma and I were cheering so loud for you! I knew you'd win!"

"Thanks, Bambi. I'm glad you came," Harry said as he stroked her head, making her feel so happy she almost didn't notice the other boys.

That was only until she heard them snickering, and one said, "I didn't know you had a little sister."

"No, she's my neighbor," Harry answered with a straight face. And the smile Y/N was wearing slowly withered. 'Neighbor'? Was that all she was to him? Not even a friend? Just his 'neighbor'? Ouch.

"You're hanging with little kids now, Harry? Are you a babysitter?" a fat boy said as he cackled and showed his shiny braces.

"How old are you, little baby?" said the skinny one with red hair and squinty eyes. She should've taken his condescending sneer as a sign not to answer his question, but being the only girl there and younger than them all made her feel pressured to tell them what they wanted to hear.

"I'm nine," she said while fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

All the boys cracked up like she'd just told a funny joke. But the only joke here was...her. They were all laughing at her.

"Hey, that's enough, Jake!"

When Harry glowered at them, their laughter slowly died down. But neither that thin boy nor those who'd laughed at her showed any remorse for picking on a little girl. Y/N hopelessly studied Harry's reaction, a line appeared between her brows as she clutched her hands tightly together. She was waiting for him to ask them to apologize, or at least tell them that she was more mature and probably smarter than all of them combined.

But Harry said nothing about it. He told her to get back to Gemma before she got lost and then walked off with the rest of the team.

That photo. That goddamn photo.

Harry knew it should've been the least of his concern now that there were at least five different shots of him kissing his girlfriend floating around on the Internet. Still, he was sitting here and getting fed up with the photo of her and Isaac at the wedding reception.

They looked happy. Way too happy. If the way they laughed hadn't already driven him up the wall, seeing Isaac's arm tightened around his girlfriend's waist had done the perfect job. It was all he'd been thinking about since last night.

Given a short break between the two scenes, Harry returned to his chair and pulled out his phone to send Y/N a text, but he sat and contemplated at the screen for a long moment. He felt petty when his brain told him to ask her about the photo with Isaac. But his heart, which knew better, told him to avoid talking about any photo. She had dealt with enough of shit on her own, and the last thing she needed was her pathetic boyfriend getting jealous like a hormonal teenage boy.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally typed down a line and pressed send.

⌲ Morning, love! How's your day been? :)

It didn't take too long for her to reply, so he guessed she was on her phone while 'working' again.

⌲ Bambi: So far so good. How's yours?

⌲ Everything's great, except for the fact that you're not here, which sucks.

⌲ Bambi: You're a good liar.

⌲ I'm not! I really miss you! :(

⌲ Bambi: No, silly. I mean...

⌲ Bambi: Niall told me you asked for his thought about the photo of me and Isaac.

⌲ Damn it, Niall.

⌲ Look, baby, it's no big deal.

⌲ Bambi: Yeah? Then tell me what you think about the photo. Answer honestly.

⌲ I think you looked great in that dress.

⌲ Bambi: Harry...

⌲ Okay. Fine. I don't like the way he had his arm around you. And you two looked like a happy couple...

⌲ Bambi: We're not though. I'm with you.

⌲ I know...I'm not doubting you or anything.

⌲ Bambi: You sound like you are...

⌲ I'm not. I swear!

He impatiently drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair, and let out a harsh breath when her reply finally popped up.

⌲ Bambi: They were playing a really good song so I got lost in the moment and kept stepping on his feet. That photo was the exact moment when I was about to fall and he caught me just in time. We were just laughing at how stupid I was.

⌲ Oh...

⌲ Bambi: Feel better now?

⌲ Yeah :)

Three dots appeared as she was typing, but they were interrupted by a call from Jeff. Harry had been expecting the call since last night, but his manager had been too busy to respond.

"Hey, man, how's it?" Harry implored as he leaned back in his chair.

"We can't figure out who leaked the photo," Jeff said, his voice was heavily low. "You need to ask her, Harry."

The actor tossed his head back and drew in a long breath. He didn't even want to face Ruby after what had happened the other night, so asking her if she'd leaked the photos of him and his girlfriend would be much worse. But it seemed like he had no other choice.

"Fine, she'll be here any second. I'll try to speak to her."

"Great!" Jeff marveled, but Harry didn't see what was so great about that. He was still full of tension as he tapped his foot and buried his hand in his hair.

"What about the other thing?"

"What other thing?"

"Have you read my text from last night?"

"Oh, that." Jeff huffed. "You can't do that, mate."

"What? Why?"

"You'll draw even more attention to yourself and your girlfriend if you speak up about the issue."

"But people want to hear the truth. They'll stop talking if I just make a post to explain everything—"

"Harry, stop!" Jeff cut him off. "These people won't ever stop unless they forget. You know you can't please the angry mob no matter what you feed them. They're not here for answers, they're here for drama. So they will just turn every word you say against you."

"This is not about me though, this is about Bambi!"

"Bambi? That's her name?"

"N-No, her name's Y/N." Harry squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his forehead. "I want to protect her. She's not...she's not like the others. She's not used to this."

"Then you need to let this go. Don't give people more reasons to hate Y/N."

Harry nodded as he unclenched his fists. "You're probably right...thanks, man."

"Hey, your mess is also my mess." Jeff cackled and told Harry that he needed to go, but if Harry needed anything, he could always ring him up. "Good luck with your Bambi," he said before ending the call, and Harry only gave a chuckle as a response.

The last text he'd received from Y/N was: 'I gotta go. Talk to you later.' So he guessed their conversation was also over. He quickly typed down 'I love you', sent it, and put his phone away.

"Is Ruby here yet?" he heard the director ask everyone as she made her way toward him. "Harry, have you talked to Ruby?"

"No, I—"

"Hold on!" Evangeline held up a finger in front of his face as she checked her phone. "Her assistant just sent me a text. She'll be here late due to traffic. Well, why aren't I surprised?"

Laughing, she sat down in Ruby's chair next to him and snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Hey, you alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He almost blurted out his usual answer to every situation, but nothing seemed to get past the eyes of this woman. "I know no criticism could bring you down, but you're worried about your girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah," he admitted, not knowing why, but he went on anyway. "She's not famous. She doesn't even like the idea of being famous, so this is a lot for her to handle. I just...I wish I was home with her right now. To make her feel safe."

It was the first time he'd openly talked about Y/N to a co-worker, and it felt really nice to be able to get certain feelings off his chest. Besides, he trusted Evangeline. This lady had never worn fewer than three colors in one outfit, and her hats were always much bigger than her head. Right now she was wearing a massive yellow summer hat with extravagant ruffles feathers on the wide brim. No negative comment about it could force her to take it off. She simply didn't care about being judged and had never judged anyone.

"I kept wanting to ask you if you got a girlfriend at home, but now I know," she said and patted him on the shoulder.

"Really?" He snorted, his eyebrows pulled together. "I mean, most people would've assumed I was with Ruby."

"You and Ruby?!" the director gasped as if he'd just said something outrageous. "Hein? You and Ruby don't look happy together. You're just good at pretending like you are in love. I thought you had great chemistry on-screen, but off-screen? Not so much."

"Well, that's a relief." He rolled his eyes and exhaled a laugh. "I'm just so tired of people thinking we're 'a match made in heaven' just because we look good together on-screen."

"What's her name?"

"Huh?"

"Your girl. What's her name?"

"Y/N." Harry smiled as he scratched his nose. He could never say her name without a smile on his face.

"That's a pretty name," said Eva.

"I call her Bambi instead." He shook his head at the memories and laughed a little. "She has...these...very pretty eyes. The prettiest I've ever seen. But they were so sad, and—" The man stopped talking when he saw the way Eva was gawking at him. Immediately, he exclaimed, "oh God, I'm sorry for oversharing. Let's just...just forget what I said."

"Quoi! Please continue! I love hearing stories about love!" she said and clutched her chest. "I'm a hopeless romantic and I think the story of how you met Y/N was beautiful!"

"Thank you." He hung his head, picking at his own nails as his voice lowered to slightly above a whisper. "I care about her a lot. And sometimes, I just feel like...she could be happier without me."

"Doesn't she love you?"

"She does, of course...Very much I'm afraid." He twisted one of the rings on his fingers, eyes on his feet instead of Eva. "She could just have a normal relationship without having to hide, or going online and read the terrible things people say about her that aren't true. I'm trying to protect her, but it's scary to think that...that she should be protected from...me."

Eva was deep in thoughts as she cocked her head and fiddled with her hoop earring. Harry assumed she agreed with him but then she uttered, "you know, you do think a lot like your character Jay."

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, you're in love but your insecurities tell you you're not good enough, and therefore you don't deserve to be in love. That is not fair for sweet Y/N." Eva wrapped one of her curls around her finger and gave a half shrug. "The only thing which is worse than loving someone who doesn't love you back, is loving someone who's afraid to love you."

"I'm not afraid," he said, almost defensively, and she pressed her lips into a gentle smile.

"I know you aren't. But when things get...complicated, and you feel like you should let go, just remember what I've told you today. If you let go, thinking it's what's best for Y/N, you're not doing it for her, you're doing it for yourself, and it's very selfish."

Harry stayed quiet, needing time to let the advice sink in. But before he could open his mouth, Ruby burst into the room and frantically apologized for being late...again.

Eva stood up fast and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Next scene in five minutes!"

Ruby was quick to spot Harry from across the room. Instead of looking away when their eyes met, she shot him a smile. This could be a good sign, he thought and rose from his chair. They held that eye contact as he walked over to where she stood, and she didn't wander off to avoid a confrontation. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. She was finally ready to talk.

"Hey," he said with both hands in his pockets. "How are you?"

"Better than ever. Thanks for asking," she said. Her face showed the opposite of distress, and this time he couldn't tell whether her cheerfulness was fake or real.

"I actually want to ask you about—"

"I know you think I took and leaked those photos, but I didn't," Ruby told him with her head held high. "It was the Declan twins."

"So you knew it all along?"

"Yes," she admitted without pause, keeping her expression neutral. "They did it because they were both bitter that Isaac had turned them down. They were obsessed with him. The only thing I'm guilty of is not doing anything to stop them, because I also wanted to get back at you and the girl."

"Right..." Harry breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose and putting a hand on his hip. He wasn't sure what to do with this piece of information. He couldn't call up the twins and demand them to take down the photos, which had already been shared all over the internet. He couldn't sue them either, it would only make everything worse. He couldn't stop being friends with them, because, well, he had never been friends with them, to begin with, and they obviously didn't care about him. So there was absolutely nothing he could do but accept that fact and move on. Nevertheless, he was glad to have found out the truth.

"Anyway, um, thanks for telling me."

"Wait," Ruby stopped him, making him turn around and blink at her in confusion as she stood there with her lips slightly parted. It took her a second to finally say, "how is she?"

"What?"

"How's Y/N?" She cleared her throat and shifted from one foot to the other while plucking at the cuff of her shirt. "Um...I've read the things people said. Know how it feels to deal with shit like this so..."

To say he was shocked would be an understatement, because this wasn't the Ruby who'd shown up at his hotel room two nights ago. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her like this. He supposed it was a good thing, yet he would need some time to get used to it.

"Yeah, well, I'm taking care of her," he said, giving her a smile.

"You're always taking care of people." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shook her head a bit. "But...at least now it's someone who deserves it, right?"

Harry stilled, not knowing what to say. If Eva hadn't intervened right then, he might've just blurted out something stupid to get rid of the awkward tension.

"Harry, Ruby!" Her thick French accent turned their heads at the same time. The lady snapped her fingers at them. "I need you both! Hurry!"

Breaking into a grin, Ruby hastened to her position. Harry felt a surge of happiness as he watched her start a conversation with Eva. What he saw was the charismatic woman who had enchanted him when they first met. The old Ruby was back, and she was finally healing, this time, all on her own.

Whenever Y/N felt dejected, she would seek for therapy in writing. She would write to kill time and to be distracted, and at the moment, she needed her imagination more than she needed air. She had eaten dinner alone and sat in front of her laptop since 6 PM. Hours had passed and she had written almost three thousand words in total. She was too tired to continue, but not tired enough to fall asleep. So if she stopped now she would lie in bed wide awake and think about all sorts of negative things.

She knew she shouldn't have done what she'd done earlier that day. She had sworn to herself and Harry that she wouldn't go online and scroll through the comments about the photos, but she had. And it was too late to regret it now. She had thought she could sympathize with what Ruby had dealt with. But now that she was in her shoes, she realized she could never sympathize with what someone was going through, until she had to go through it herself.

She'd been teased in school when she was about six or seven. Back then she hadn't got the guts to stand up for herself, so her greatest escape would be going home and holing up in her room, where there was no more invasion of destructive words. Now with social media, the bullying started all over again as you went home and logged on. People were free to share pictures and videos, and one tiny mistake could ruin your life. That was the reason she'd tried to keep her life online and offline as private as possible. She knew what would happen when people knew too much about her. But everything was different now. Those people had got inside her head.

She wanted to tell Harry as he was the only one who could make her feel safe. But she didn't want to make this a bigger problem for him. If he'd known how she was feeling, he would've dropped everything and flown home to make sure she was okay. Hadn't she messed up his life enough already? Besides, he had a movie premiere to attend tonight. He'd been so excited when receiving the invitation, because some directors and actors he looked up to would be there. The least she could do for him as a girlfriend was to allow him to have fun without worrying about her every single minute.

It was 1 AM, and the sound of doorbell woke Y/N from her sleep. She lifted her face from her arms and realized she'd been asleep on her desk for God knew how long. Tired, she checked the clock again to make sure she hadn't mistaken. It was exactly 1 AM. And the unexpected guest rang her doorbell a couple of times more to make it very clear that they wanted to get in. All the people who could pay her a visit at this time of the day would never do that.

She got up, feeling a bit woozy as she walked to the living room and picked up her keys from the coffee table. There were footsteps rushing down the stairs as she headed toward the door. Did that person just...run away?

Y/N's heart was pounding so hard she almost couldn't breathe. She unlocked the door and pulled it open immediately, panting with wide eyes when she saw nothing but an empty hallway...and a box left on the doormat.

She looked to her left, and then to her right, and once she was sure she was alone, she picked up the box and shook it twice. The object seemed to be much smaller than the space within the box, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It couldn't have been a bomb, because who would've bombed her, anyway? So it couldn't be that bad.

And she was right, it wasn't that bad. Because it was worse. It made her wish it'd been a bomb.

The box dropped to her feet as she shrieked and jumped back, gripping the edge of the door so she wouldn't fall. Covering her mouth with one hand, she gulped down breaths to stay quiet.

It was a rat. A dead rat.

The head was flattened. Fresh blood soaked into the fur it touched, matting it together. She noticed an eyeball had been squeezed out and turned away, pale in the face and feeling like she might throw up. She hadn't touched it, but her fingers were already numb. It took her a few seconds to look at it again. Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths as she read the letters written on the bottom of the box.

GOLD DIGGING SLUT!

Y/N slammed the door, locked it as fast as she could and covered her mouth to muffle her crying. Fighting the weakness in her knees, she dashed straight into her bedroom to get her phone and call the police.

"Don't open the door! No!"

Y/N shrank back into her blanket as the girl in the movie was stabbed to death by the creep in the mask. After only a second of resisting and screaming for help, knowing no one would be able to hear her, her body dropped to the ground, and she laid there like a butchered animal in a waste of blood.

Y/N's heartbeat was racing, nearly exploding as she held her breath and turned to aunt Lynn, who had dozed off a while ago. The babysitter's head was tilted back, her mouth was open, and her eyes were closed. Y/N had never thought sleeping aunt Lynn would be scarier than the usual aunt Lynn, but right now it appeared so.

When the doorbell rang, Y/N jumped to her feet, clutching her chest as she took a few steps backward until her thighs hit the edge of the coffee table.

"Who's there?!" she raised her voice.

Her aunt was still sleeping soundly on the couch. If the person outside were to kill both of them, aunt Lynn would probably die in peace, and Y/N would die screaming like the girl in the movie.

"Who is it?!" the little girl asked again when the doorbell rang for the second time. She gathered all the courage she had left and marched toward the door. "I-I have a...a knife here! I'm not afraid to use it!"

"You have a knife?!"

"Harry?!" Y/N blew out her cheeks as her shoulders sagged. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you," he said. "Just let me in."

She was about to unlock the door but then she cowered back, her hands squeezed into fists against her chest. "How do I know you're really Harry?" she asked, and the boy responded with a soft chuckle.

"Who else would I be, kid?"

"Maybe you're just really good at faking his voice."

"Are you watching horror movies with aunt Lynn again?"

"How do you know that?! Who are you?" she gasped and stepped away from the door, but she could hear Harry let out a sharp breath.

"Don't be silly, Bambi. Aunt Lynn always makes you watch those stupid movies—" he paused suddenly. "She's not there, is she?"

"She's sleeping," Y/N mumbled, now feeling less on edge because this boy sounded a lot like Harry. Still, she needed solid proof in order to trust him. "If you're Harry, then...then tell me something only Harry knows."

"Bambi, come on."

"I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay!" He laughed and his shadow underneath her door moved around a bit. "So uh...you hate green peas but your mother loves them, so you keep it as a secret to not hurt her feelings."

"I love green peas."

"No, you don't!"

"I just changed my mind yesterday."

"Then how could I know if you're only telling me now?"

"Fine, you're right," Y/N breathed as she finally relaxed and unlocked the door.

Harry greeted her with a big smile. He was wearing flip-flops and pyjamas so she guessed he had been ready for bed before he came over. She hadn't checked the time, but she was sure it was almost midnight now. So why was he here?

"Couldn't sleep. Want to talk to you," he answered the question she hadn't asked and stepped into her living room, smirking as he saw her aunt drooling. "Man, she looks even scarier sleeping."

"Right?" Y/N snorted, closing the door and telling him to follow her to her room before they woke up her babysitter.

There they sat on the edge of her bed, side by side. Neither knew how to begin even though they both had a lot to say to each other. And as usual, Harry had to start the conversation. Y/N would never swallow her pride to forgive him before he apologized.

"I'm sorry about the other day," he said while tapping his foot and staring at the floor. "I...uh...I know you're mad at me—"

"Yes, I am," she cut him short, arms crossed over her chest. "I'm also disappointed. But my mum said if a person didn't want to be your friend, then you shouldn't try to change their mind."

"I do want to be friends with you, kid."

"You have friends." She turned her face away and gave a mirthless laugh. "Awful ones. But who am I to judge?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. She wasn't looking at him to see his reaction but she could feel his eyes on her.

"I love hearing you say things. Even when you're upset with me," he said, a smile could be heard in the tone of his voice.

Unexpectedly, he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and she jerked away, making him set his palms down flat on the bed.

"You're the smartest girl I know, Bambi," he said with a timid smile. "Sometimes you're even smarter than me and those boys."

"Sometimes? You mean, all the time."

Her remark made him cackle. "Yeah. All the time." He nodded. "I guess...I was just...trying to make myself seem cool, but it actually made me look like a jerk. So...I'm very sorry. You know I would choose you over anyone else."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Even when the whole world tells you to stop being friends with me."

"Yup." He took her hand and hooked their pinkies together. "You have my word."

"Well then, apology accepted." Beaming, she rose from the bed and pulled him up by the arms. "Now you should go before my aunt gets here."

"Right! My mum would be so mad if she found out I was gone!"

A thunderous boom made the kids jump and scream as they clung to each other. In a blink of an eye, the rain came pouring down like a giant waterfall. With both arms wrapped around Harry's waist, Y/N hid her face into his chest when a flash of lightning blinded her. She knew it was silly but she couldn't help it. She was stuck in adrenaline mode.

Harry stared out of the window, watching the violent wind bending the trees, and he grumbled, "crap, how am I supposed to go home?"

"Then don't!" Y/N blurted, making the boy chortle.

"Are you scared?"

"I'm not! It's just—"

"Just what?" He cracked a smirk, held onto her shoulders and bent his knees to look into her eyes. "What did I tell you about watching those horror movies?"

"If you're only teasing me, then maybe you should go home." She shrugged his arms off and gave a dismissive wave of her hand, but the boy stayed right where he was instead of leaving. Sitting back on her bed, she crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow at him. "Well?"

"I think I'm gonna stay," Harry said with a shrug. Without waiting for a response, he jumped back on the bed and lied down with his arms folded under his head.

"What about your mum? Wouldn't she be angry?" Y/N questioned as she held back a smile.

"She'd be angrier if I came home all soaked. Might as well just stay here and face the consequences in the morning."

Nodding once, the girl climbed on the bed to lie down on her back, her hands resting on her belly. She closed her eyes so the lightning couldn't bother her anymore, but then she felt Harry inching closer.

"I will protect you," he said.

Y/N turned to lie on her side as she opened her eyes slowly. She found herself mirroring him. His luminous green eyes were so different in moments like these, softer than she knew eyes could be. And she almost drifted off when she remembered what he'd just said.

Yawning, she told him, "the murderer would just kill you first."

"If there was a murderer, then we'd both be dead."

"I feel much safer now. You're doing a good job."

Harry snorted at her sarcasm while toying with a lock of her hair on her pillow. She didn't think he was aware of him doing that, but she didn't say a word, not wanting him to stop.

"I'll protect you from everything else," he went on. "Storms. Bullies. Spiders...Wait, you're the weirdo who loves spiders."

"They're cute. My teacher has one as a pet."

"Your teacher's a weirdo."

"That's...kinda true," she said, making both of them laugh.

"But seriously—" He stopped twirling her hair as his eyebrow snapped together. "I will protect you."

"I know you will." She giggled, clutching his hand and holding it tight.

When another bolt of lightning struck and rumbles of thunder shook the earth, she didn't even notice. Nothing could scare her now that he was here.

"You didn't have to come over, you know?" Y/N said as she locked the door, but Isaac didn't speak. He cautiously looked around her living room to make sure everything was normal. His hair was soaked from the rain and so was his jacket, which he shrugged off and hung on the coat stand by the kitchen door.

She knew no one else to call. Harry was in Paris, her father was in Holmes Chapel, her best friends had gone on their honeymoon. It was only at times like this that she began to see the importance of having more than a few people you could trust. She had never hated loneliness until tonight.

She'd called Isaac only to have someone to talk to. But what she hadn't expected was him driving all the way here in the pouring rain just to make sure she was okay.

"Have the police arrived?" he asked when she came out of her bedroom and brought him a towel to dry his hair.

"You came shortly after they'd left," she said. "They took care of the box, but there was no way to figure out who put it there."

"Have they checked the camera in the hallway?"

"There's no camera in the hallway. The lift here doesn't even work." Y/N covered her eyes with one hand and laughed out loud. She didn't know what was so funny about receiving a dead rat as a gift while living in the most unsecured building in London. But finding humor in a situation like this made her feel less anxious.

For the next fifteen minutes, they were just sitting on the couch and checking their phones in silence. Y/N didn't have anything to check on her phone, but she didn't know what to say to Isaac either. So she ended up looking through the old pics and reading old messages from Harry. She was too scared to even turn off the airplane mode, let alone go online and get bombarded by more hate words. At least those words didn't smell like dead rats.

"Ugh..." she grunted and held her nose. Just the thought of that nasty smell could almost make her vomit.

"You okay, Smiley?"

"I'm fine," she lied, nodding fast. And then the words just slipped out before she could stop them. "Do you think you can stay longer? I know you have to go to work tomorr—"

"I'll stay until sunrise, yeah?" he said without a second thought. "You can just go to bed. I'll still be here when you wake up."

"No, I'll...I'll stay up with you."

"You seem tired, Smiley."

"I'm not..."

She was though. She'd been struggling to keep her bloodshot eyes open ever since they sat down. But Isaac knew better than to argue with her.

"How about I get you a blanket and a pillow so you can lie down here?" he suggested.

She thought for a moment before giving him a nod. Her eyes followed him as he got up and walked to her bedroom. He came back not so long later with a blanket and a pillow, and took a seat in the armchair so she could take the couch. Y/N lied down on her side, facing him with her hands under her cheek. There was a window behind Isaac, and from where she laid, she could see lightning jag across the night sky, ripping it like paper. Quickly, she covered her ear before the loud thunder cracked the air, making Isaac jolt upright.

He chuckled when he saw her grin. "Are you making fun of me?"

"I am, yeah." She nodded, making him screw up his face.

"That's not how you treat your hero."

"Aww, I'm sorry, my hero," she said, pouting at him.

Isaac shook with laughter as he leaned back in his chair. Although he didn't want to show it, he was exhausted. She could see it in the way he stretched and kept rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm.

"I hope after tonight you won't regret being my friend," she murmured, watching his eyes widen.

"No, I love being your friend," he said. But she didn't know how much of that sentence was the truth. She didn't speak, so he went on, "are you going to tell Harry about tonight?"

"I don't know." She stuck out her bottom lip, shaking her head. "He'll freak out for sure."

"Yeah, but you should tell him. Maybe wait until tomorrow."

"Yeah..." She gripped the blanket and shivered when there was another thunder. "I hope whoever sent me the rat got swept away by this rain."

Her random remark got Isaac laughing. "I hope so too," he said. "They deserve it."

"Promise you won't tell Harry?"

"That I was here?"

"No." She shook her head slightly, feeling a lump in her throat as she spotted the frown on his face. "Just don't tell him about tonight. I'll do it myself."

"Okay." He forced a smile. "I promise."

Neither of them said another word, and Y/N couldn't feel her muscles anymore. Her eyelids fluttered as her eyes became heavier and heavier, finally sending her into a dreamless sleep.

When Y/N woke up, Isaac wasn't sitting in his chair anymore. The window curtains were closed for he didn't want her to get blinded by the light. She pushed herself up from the couch, resting her arm on the backrest and looking around to find him. He wasn't there, but his jacket was still on the coat stand, so she assumed he was in the bathroom. She held onto her head, and the memories of what had happened seemed like a terrible nightmare. But she knew it'd been real because she could still smell the rat.

The ringtone caught her by surprise. She muttered a curse word and reached for her phone on the coffee table. It was Harry. Great! She had just woken up, and now she had to improvise a speech to explain the previous situation without freaking him out. She meant to sit and watch her phone ring, but her conscience didn't let her do it. So she let go of a harsh sigh and picked up the phone.

"Good morning, my favorite girl in the world!" he said with a sing-song voice, and she silently cursed him for it. She didn't want him to be so cheerful before she told him a real-life horror story.

"Hey, baby. I just woke up."

"What's wrong? You sound tired."

Fuck, he noticed.

"No, I...well..."

"Smiley, can I borrow a towel?"

Shit!

"Is that—"

"Smiley!"

"Yes!" Y/N almost screamed at Isaac, who was standing at her bedroom door. He quickly caught on to what was happening when he saw her on the phone, so he mouthed an apology and hurriedly went back inside.

"Is that Isaac?!" Harry sounded out of breath. "Why is he there at seven in the morning?"

"Harry—"

"Did he spend the night there? Bambi, please tell me—"

"Fuck, someone was outside my flat at 1 AM!"

The other side went silent. For a second, Y/N thought Harry was gone.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, but with a much softer tone this time.

Taking a deep breath, she kneaded her shoulder and shut her eyes and she said, "someone rang my doorbell at one in the morning. I came to answer it, but no one was there. There was a...a box."

"A box?"

"Yeah, a box...And...and there was—" A dead rat in it. "There was a note in it that said 'gold-digging slut'."

"Fuck," he cursed heavily. If this was his reaction to only the message, she didn't want to find out how he would've reacted had she told him about the rat.

"I called the police and they couldn't do anything about it, so I had to call Isaac. I didn't know anyone else, I—"

"It's okay, baby. I get it, I get it," he breathed. "I don't want you to stay there tonight, alright? I'll phone my assistant. You already have the key to my house so—"

"Harry, I cannot stay at your house."

"—I'll send a bodyguard. You'll be much safer there. I'll call my assistant right now," he said quickly, not listening to whatever she wanted to say.

"Harry!" she raised her voice, at the same time, laughing to lighten up the mood. But both of them knew she was awfully stressed out. "I can't...I can't stay at your house."

"Bambi, don't do this, okay?" Harry hissed, sounding so frustrated that it made her guilty she had brought this upon him. "You're staying at my house until I get back. Just a few days more, baby. Please."

She swallowed and massaged the back of her neck. She didn't want to bother him, but if she'd said no, he would've done something as crazy as gone home to her. She couldn't let that happen.

"Fine, I'll get my stuff," she said at last, blowing out her cheeks.

"Good girl." Her boyfriend sighed in relief. "I'll keep you safe, yeah? Even when I'm not there, I'll...I'll make sure that you're safe. Just a few days more and I'll be home with you and everything will be okay."

"Okay," she mumbled, faking a smile even though he couldn't see her.

When she was a little girl, she would feel safe every time he promised to protect her. But now she feared it wasn't true anymore. There were things that were not in his power. There were things that he couldn't prevent. She could only hope nothing worse would happen in the next few days before he returned. She needed him badly, now more than ever. If only she could tell him that...

#my girl series #harry styles fluff #actor!harry #older!harry #younger!y/n #harry styles writing #harry styles angst #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles series

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blackkudos · 4 years

Text

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. Baker was the first African-American to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

During her early career Baker was renowned as a dancer, and was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in Paris. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol of the Jazz Age and the 1920s.

Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the “Black Venus”, the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France. "I have two loves, my country and Paris", Baker once said, and she sang: « J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris ».

She was known for aiding the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, she was awarded the Croix de guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.

Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. After thinking it over, Baker declined the offer out of concern for the welfare of her children.

Early life

Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie, was adopted in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1886 by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former slaves of African and Native American descent. Josephine Baker's estate identifies vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson as her natural father despite evidence to the contrary. Baker's foster son Jean-Claude Baker wrote a biography, published in 1993, titled Josephine: The Hungry Heart. Jean-Claude Baker did an exhaustive amount of research into the life of Josephine Baker, including the identity of her biological father. In the book, he discusses at length the circumstances surrounding Josephine Baker's birth:

The records of the city of St. Louis tell an almost unbelievable story. They show that (Josephine Baker's mother) Carrie McDonald ... was admitted to the (exclusively white) Female Hospital on May 3, 1906, diagnosed as pregnant. She was discharged on June 17, her baby, Freda J. McDonald having been born two weeks earlier. Why six weeks in the hospital? Especially for a black woman (of that time) who would customarily have had her baby at home with the help of a midwife? Obviously, there had been complications with the pregnancy, but Carrie's chart reveals no details. The father was identified (on the birth certificate) simply as "Edw"... I think Josephine's father was white – so did Josephine, so did her family ... people in St. Louis say that (Baker's mother) had worked for a German family (around the time she became pregnant). He's the one who must have got her into that hospital and paid to keep her there all those weeks. Also, her baby's birth was registered by the head of the hospital at a time when most black births were not. I have unraveled many mysteries associated with Josephine Baker, but the most painful mystery of her life, the mystery of her father's identity, I could not solve. The secret died with Carrie, who refused to the end to talk about it. She let people think Eddie Carson was the father, and Carson played along, (but) Josephine knew better.

Josephine spent her early life at 212 Targee Street (known by some St. Louis residents as Johnson Street) in the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood of St. Louis, a racially mixed low-income neighborhood near Union Station, consisting mainly of rooming houses, brothels, and apartments without indoor plumbing. Josephine was always poorly dressed and hungry as a child, and developed street smarts playing in the railroad yards of Union Station.

Josephine's mother married a kind but perpetually unemployed man, Arthur Martin, with whom she had son Arthur and two more daughters, Marguerite and Willie. She took in laundry to wash to make ends meet, and at eight years old, Josephine began working as a live-in domestic for white families in St. Louis. One woman abused her, burning Josephine's hands when the young girl put too much soap in the laundry. By age 12, she had dropped out of school.

At 13 she worked as a waitress at the Old Chauffeur's Club at 3133 Pine Street. She also lived as a street child in the slums of St. Louis, sleeping in cardboard shelters, scavenging for food in garbage cans, making a living with street-corner dancing. It was at the Old Chauffeur's Club where Josephine met Willie Wells and married him the same year. However, the marriage lasted less than a year. Following her divorce from Wells, she found work with a street performance group called the Jones Family Band.

In Baker's teen years she struggled to have a healthy relationship with her mother, Carrie McDonald, who did not want Josephine to become an entertainer, and scolded her for not tending to her second husband Willie Baker, whom she had married in 1921 at 15. Although she left Willie Baker when her vaudeville troupe was booked into a New York City venue and divorced him in 1925, it was during this time she began to see significant career success, and she continued to use his last name professionally for the rest of her life.

Though Baker traveled, then returned with gifts and money for her mother and younger half-sister, the turmoil with her mother pushed her to make a trip to France.

Career

Early years

Baker's consistent badgering of a show manager in her hometown led to her being recruited for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show. At the age of 15, she headed to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, performing at the Plantation Club, Florence Mills’ old stomping ground, and in the chorus lines of the groundbreaking and hugely successful Broadway revues Shuffle Along (1921) with Adelaide Hall and The Chocolate Dandies (1924).

Baker performed as the last dancer on the end of the chorus line, where her act was to perform in a comic manner, as if she were unable to remember the dance, until the encore, at which point she would perform it not only correctly but with additional complexity. A term of the time describes this part of the cast as "The Pony". Baker was billed at the time as "the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville".

Her career began with blackface comedy at local clubs; this was the "entertainment" of which her mother had disapproved; however, these performances landed Baker an opportunity to tour in Paris, which would become the place she called home until her final days.

Paris and rise to fame

Baker sailed to Paris for a new venture, and opened in La Revue Nègre on 2 October 1925, aged 19, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

In a 1974 interview with The Guardian, Baker explained that she obtained her first big break in the bustling city. "No, I didn't get my first break on Broadway. I was only in the chorus in 'Shuffle Along' and 'Chocolate Dandies'. I became famous first in France in the twenties. I just couldn't stand America and I was one of the first coloured Americans to move to Paris. Oh yes, Bricktop was there as well. Me and her were the only two, and we had a marvellous time. Of course, everyone who was anyone knew Bricky. And they got to know Miss Baker as well."

In Paris, she became an instant success for her erotic dancing, and for appearing practically nude onstage. After a successful tour of Europe, she broke her contract and returned to France to star at the Folies Bergère, setting the standard for her future acts.

Baker performed the "Danse Sauvage" wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. Her success coincided (1925) with the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, which gave birth to the term "Art Deco", and also with a renewal of interest in non-Western forms of art, including African. Baker represented one aspect of this fashion. In later shows in Paris, she was often accompanied on stage by her pet cheetah, "Chiquita", who was adorned with a diamond collar. The cheetah frequently escaped into the orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, adding another element of excitement to the show.

After a while, Baker was the most successful American entertainer working in France. Ernest Hemingway called her "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." The author spent hours talking with her in Paris bars. Picasso drew paintings depicting her alluring beauty. Jean Cocteau became friendly with her and helped vault her to international stardom.

Baker starred in three films which found success only in Europe: the silent film Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935). She starred in Fausse Alerte in 1940.

At this time she scored her most successful song, "J'ai deux amours" (1931). At the start of her career in France, Baker met a Sicilian former stonemason who passed himself off as a count, who persuaded her to let him manage her. Giuseppe Pepito Abatino was not only Baker's management, but her lover as well. The two could not marry because Baker was still married to her second husband, Willie Baker.

Under the management of Abatino, Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, were transformed. In 1934, she took the lead in a revival of Jacques Offenbach's opera La créole, which premiered in December of that year for a six-month run at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées of Paris. In preparation for her performances, she went through months of training with a vocal coach. In the words of Shirley Bassey, who has cited Baker as her primary influence, "... she went from a 'petite danseuse sauvage' with a decent voice to 'la grande diva magnifique' ... I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer."Despite her popularity in France, Baker never attained the equivalent reputation in America. Her star turn in a 1936 revival of Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway generated less than impressive box office numbers, and later in the run, she was replaced by Gypsy Rose Lee. Time magazine referred to her as a "Negro wench ... whose dancing and singing might be topped anywhere outside of Paris", while other critics said her voice was "too thin" and "dwarf-like" to fill the Winter Garden Theatre. She returned to Europe heartbroken. This contributed to Baker's becoming a legal citizen of France and giving up her American citizenship.

Baker returned to Paris in 1937, married the French industrialist Jean Lion, and became a French citizen. They were married in the French town of Crèvecœur-le-Grand, in a wedding presided over by the mayor, Jammy Schmidt.

Work during World War II

In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland, Baker was recruited by the Deuxième Bureau, French military intelligence, as an "honorable correspondent". Baker collected what information she could about German troop locations from officials she met at parties. She specialized in gatherings at embassies and ministries, charming people as she had always done, while gathering information. Her café-society fame enabled her to rub shoulders with those in the know, from high-ranking Japanese officials to Italian bureaucrats, and to report back what she heard. She attended parties and gathered information at the Italian embassy without raising suspicion.

When the Germans invaded France, Baker left Paris and went to the Château des Milandes, her home in the Dordogne département in the south of France. She housed people who were eager to help the Free French effort led by Charles de Gaulle and supplied them with visas. As an entertainer, Baker had an excuse for moving around Europe, visiting neutral nations such as Portugal, as well as some in South America. She carried information for transmission to England, about airfields, harbors, and German troop concentrations in the West of France. Notes were written in invisible ink on Baker's sheet music.

Later in 1941, she and her entourage went to the French colonies in North Africa. The stated reason was Baker's health (since she was recovering from another case of pneumonia) but the real reason was to continue helping the Resistance. From a base in Morocco, she made tours of Spain. She pinned notes with the information she gathered inside her underwear (counting on her celebrity to avoid a strip search). She met the Pasha of Marrakech, whose support helped her through a miscarriage (the last of several). After the miscarriage, she developed an infection so severe it required a hysterectomy. The infection spread and she developed peritonitis and then sepsis. After her recovery (which she continued to fall in and out of), she started touring to entertain British, French, and American soldiers in North Africa. The Free French had no organized entertainment network for their troops, so Baker and her entourage managed for the most part on their own. They allowed no civilians and charged no admission.

After the war, Baker received the Croix de guerre and the Rosette de la Résistance. She was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.

Baker's last marriage, to French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon, ended around the time Baker opted to adopt her 11th child.

Later career

In 1949, a reinvented Baker returned in triumph to the Folies Bergere. Bolstered by recognition of her wartime heroics, Baker the performer assumed a new gravitas, unafraid to take on serious music or subject matter. The engagement was a rousing success and reestablished Baker as one of Paris' preeminent entertainers. In 1951 Baker was invited back to the United States for a nightclub engagement in Miami. After winning a public battle over desegregating the club's audience, Baker followed up her sold-out run at the club with a national tour. Rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences accompanied her everywhere, climaxed by a parade in front of 100,000 people in Harlem in honor of her new title: NAACP's "Woman of the Year". Her future looked bright, with six months of bookings and promises of many more to come.

In 1952 Baker was hired to crown the Queen of the Cavalcade of Jazz for the famed eighth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 1. Also featured to perform that day were Roy Brown and His Mighty Men, Anna Mae Winburn and Her Sweethearts, Toni Harper, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Witherspoon and Jerry Wallace.

An incident at the Stork Club interrupted and overturned her plans. Baker criticized the club's unwritten policy of discouraging black patrons, then scolded columnist Walter Winchell, an old ally, for not rising to her defense. Winchell responded swiftly with a series of harsh public rebukes, including accusations of Communist sympathies (a serious charge at the time). The ensuing publicity resulted in the termination of Baker's work visa, forcing her to cancel all her engagements and return to France. It was almost a decade before U.S. officials allowed her back into the country.

In January 1966, Fidel Castro invited Baker to perform at the Teatro Musical de La Habana in Havana, Cuba, at the 7th-anniversary celebrations of his revolution. Her spectacular show in April broke attendance records. In 1968, Baker visited Yugoslavia and made appearances in Belgrade and in Skopje. In her later career, Baker faced financial troubles. She commented, "Nobody wants me, they've forgotten me"; but family members encouraged her to continue performing. In 1973 she performed at Carnegie Hall to a standing ovation.

The following year, she appeared in a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, and then at the Monacan Red Cross Gala, celebrating her 50 years in French show business. Advancing years and exhaustion began to take their toll; she sometimes had trouble remembering lyrics, and her speeches between songs tended to ramble. She still continued to captivate audiences of all ages.

Civil rights activism

Although based in France, Baker supported the Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. When she arrived in New York with her husband Jo, they were refused reservations at 36 hotels because of racial discrimination. She was so upset by this treatment that she wrote articles about the segregation in the United States. She also began traveling into the South. She gave a talk at Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee, on "France, North Africa And The Equality Of The Races In France".

She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States, although she was offered $10,000 by a Miami club. (The club eventually met her demands). Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate live entertainment shows in Las Vegas, Nevada. After this incident, she began receiving threatening phone calls from people claiming to be from the Ku Klux Klan but said publicly that she was not afraid of them.

In 1951, Baker made charges of racism against Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club in Manhattan, where she had been refused service.Actress Grace Kelly, who was at the club at the time, rushed over to Baker, took her by the arm and stormed out with her entire party, vowing never to return (although she returned on 3 January 1956 with Prince Rainier of Monaco). The two women became close friends after the incident.

When Baker was near bankruptcy, Kelly offered her a villa and financial assistance (Kelly by then was princess consort of Rainier III of Monaco). (However, during his work on the Stork Club book, author and New York Times reporter Ralph Blumenthal was contacted by Jean-Claude Baker, one of Baker's sons. Having read a Blumenthal-written story about Leonard Bernstein's FBI file, he indicated that he had read his mother's FBI file and, using comparison of the file to the tapes, said he thought the Stork Club incident was overblown.))

Baker worked with the NAACP. Her reputation as a crusader grew to such an extent that the NAACP had Sunday, 20 May 1951 declared "Josephine Baker Day". She was presented with life membership with the NAACP by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Ralph Bunche. The honor she was paid spurred her to further her crusading efforts with the "Save Willie McGee" rally after he was convicted of the 1948 beating death of a furniture shop owner in Trenton, New Jersey. As the decorated war hero who was bolstered by the racial equality she experienced in Europe, Baker became increasingly regarded as controversial; some black people even began to shun her, fearing that her outspokenness and racy reputation from her earlier years would hurt the cause.

In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Baker was the only official female speaker. While wearing her Free French uniform emblazoned with her medal of the Légion d'honneur, she introduced the "Negro Women for Civil Rights." Rosa Parks and Daisy Bates were among those she acknowledged, and both gave brief speeches. Not everyone involved wanted Baker present at the March; some thought her time overseas had made her a woman of France, one who was disconnected from the Civil Rights issues going on in America. In her powerful speech, one of the things Baker notably said was:

I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents. And much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, 'cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over the world ...

After King's assassination, his widow Coretta Scott King approached Baker in the Netherlands to ask if she would take her husband's place as leader of the Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined, saying her children were "too young to lose their mother".

Personal life

Relationships

Josephine Baker was bisexual. Her first marriage was to American Pullman porter Willie Wells when she was only 13 years old. The marriage was reportedly very unhappy and the couple divorced a short time later. Another short-lived marriage followed to Willie Baker in 1921; she retained Baker's last name because her career began taking off during that time, and it was the name by which she became best known. While she had four marriages to men, Jean-Claude Baker writes that Josephine also had several relationships with women.

During her time in the Harlem Renaissance arts community, one of her relationships was with Blues singer Clara Smith. In 1925, she began an extramarital relationship with the Belgian novelist Georges Simenon. In 1937, Baker married Frenchman Jean Lion. She and Lion separated in 1940. She married French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon in 1947, and their union also ended in divorce but lasted 14 years. She was later involved for a time with the artist Robert Brady, but they never married.

Children

During Baker's work with the Civil Rights Movement, she began adopting children, forming a family she often referred to as "The Rainbow Tribe". Baker wanted to prove that "children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers." She often took the children with her cross-country, and when they were at Château des Milandes, she arranged tours so visitors could walk the grounds and see how natural and happy the children in "The Rainbow Tribe" were. Her estate featured hotels, a farm, rides, and the children singing and dancing for the audience. She'd charge admission for visitors to enter and partake in the activities, which included watching the children play. Baker used her children as metaphors: living examples of what humanity should look like, and her diverse children were used in a sort of attack against racism. She created dramatic backstories for them, picking with clear intent in mind: at one point she wanted and planned to get a Jewish baby, but settled for a French one instead. She also raised them as different religions to further her model for the world, taking two children from Algeria and raising one Muslim and the other Catholic. One member of the Tribe, Jean-Claude Baker, said:

She wanted a doll.

Another, Akio who was adopted from Japan, said

She was a great artist, and she was our mother. Mothers make mistakes. Nobody's perfect.

Baker raised two daughters, French-born Marianne and Moroccan-born Stellina, and 10 sons, Korean-born Jeannot (or Janot), Japanese-born Akio, Colombian-born Luis, Finnish-born Jari (now Jarry), French-born Jean-Claude and Noël, Israeli-born Moïse, Algerian-born Brahim, Ivorian-born Koffi, and Venezuelan-born Mara. For some time, Baker lived with her children and an enormous staff in the château in Dordogne, France, with her fourth husband, Jo Bouillon.

Later years and death

In her later years, Baker converted to Roman Catholicism. In 1968, Baker lost her castle owing to unpaid debts; afterwards Princess Grace offered her an apartment in Roquebrune, near Monaco.

Baker was back on stage at the Olympia in Paris in 1968, in Belgrade and at Carnegie Hall in 1973, and at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium and at the Gala du Cirque in Paris in 1974. On 8 April 1975, Baker starred in a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris, Joséphine à Bobino 1975, celebrating her 50 years in show business. The revue, financed notably by Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, opened to rave reviews. Demand for seating was such that fold-out chairs had to be added to accommodate spectators. The opening night audience included Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Shirley Bassey, Diana Ross, and Liza Minnelli.

Four days later, Baker was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a coma after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. She was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died, aged 68, on 12 April 1975.

She received a full Roman Catholic funeral that was held at L'Église de la Madeleine. The only American-born woman to receive full French military honors at her funeral, Baker's funeral was the occasion of a huge procession. After a family service at Saint-Charles Church in Monte Carlo, Baker was interred at Monaco's Cimetière de Monaco.

Legacy

Place Joséphine Baker (48°50′29″N 2°19′26″E) in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and on 29 March 1995, into the Hall of Famous Missourians. St. Louis's Channing Avenue was renamed Josephine Baker Boulevard and a wax sculpture of Baker is on permanent display at The Griot Museum of Black History.

In 2015 she was inducted into the Legacy Walk in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The Piscine Joséphine Baker is a swimming pool along the banks of the Seine in Paris named after her.

Writing in the on-line BBC magazine in late 2014, Darren Royston, historical dance teacher at RADA credited Baker with being the Beyoncé of her day, and bringing the Charleston to Britain. Two of Baker's sons, Jean-Claude and Jarry (Jari), grew up to go into business together, running the restaurant Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York City. It celebrates Baker's life and works.

Château des Milandes, a castle near Sarlat in the Dordogne, was Baker's home where she raised her twelve children. It is open to the public and displays her stage outfits including her banana skirt (of which there are apparently several). It also displays many family photographs and documents as well as her Legion of Honour medal. Most rooms are open for the public to walk through including bedrooms with the cots where her children slept, a huge kitchen, and a dining room where she often entertained large groups. The bathrooms were designed in art deco style but most rooms retained the French chateau style.

Baker continued to influence celebrities more than a century after her birth. In a 2003 interview with USA Today, Angelina Jolie cited Baker as "a model for the multiracial, multinational family she was beginning to create through adoption". Beyoncé performed Baker's banana dance at the Fashion Rocks concert at Radio City Music Hall in September 2006.

Writing on the 110th anniversary of her birth, Vogue described how her 1926 "danse sauvage" in her famous banana skirt "brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination" and "radically redefined notions of race and gender through style and performance in a way that continues to echo throughout fashion and music today, from Prada to Beyoncé."

On 3 June 2017, the 111th anniversary of her birth, Google released an animated Google Doodle, which consists of a slideshow chronicling her life and achievements.

On Thursday 22 November 2018, a documentary titled Josephine Baker: The Story of an Awakening, directed by Ilana Navaro, premiered at the Beirut Art Film Festival. It contains rarely seen archival footage, including some never before discovered, with music and narration.

In August 2019, Baker was one of the honorees inducted in the Rainbow Honor Walk, a walk of fame in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood noting LGBTQ people who have "made significant contributions in their fields."

Portrayals

Baker appears in her role as a member of the French Resistance in Johannes Mario Simmel's 1960 novel, Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein (C'est pas toujours du caviar).

A character loosely based on Baker is featured in an episode of Hogan's Heroes titled "Is General Hammerschlag Burning?", which originally aired on 18 November 1967. The character Kumasa (played by Barbara McNair) is a chanteuse based in Paris. She later reveals herself to be Carol Dukes, a high-school classmate of Sergeant James Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), on whom she had a secret crush.

The Italian-Belgian francophone singer composer Salvatore Adamo pays tribute to Baker with the song "Noël Sur Les Milandes" (album Petit Bonheur – EMI 1970).

Diana Ross portrayed Baker in both her Tony Award-winning Broadway and television show An Evening with Diana Ross. When the show was made into an NBC television special entitled The Big Event: An Evening with Diana Ross, Ross again portrayed Baker.

A German submariner mimics Baker's Danse banane in the 1981 film Das Boot.

In 1986, Helen Gelzer portrayed Baker on the London stage for a limited run in the musical Josephine – "a musical version of the life and times of Josephine Baker" with book, lyrics and music by Michael Wild. The show was produced by Baker's longtime friend Jack Hocket in conjunction with Premier Box-Office, and the musical director was Paul Maguire. Gelzer also recorded a studio cast album titled Josephine.

British singer-songwriter, Al Stewart wrote song about Josephine Baker. It appears in album "Last days of the century" from 1988.

In 1991, Baker's life story, The Josephine Baker Story, was broadcast on HBO. Lynn Whitfield portrayed Baker, and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special – becoming the first Black actress to win the award in this category.

Artist Hassan Musa depicted Baker in a 1994 series of paintings called Who needs Bananas?

In the 1997 animated musical film Anastasia, Baker appears with her cheetah during the musical number "Paris Holds the Key (to Your Heart)".

In 2002, played by Karine Plantadit in Frida.

A character based on Baker (topless, wearing the famous "banana skirt") appears in the opening sequence of the 2003 animated film The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville).

The 2004 erotic novel Scandalous by British author Angela Campion uses Baker as its heroine and is inspired by Baker's sexual exploits and later adventures in the French Resistance. In the novel, Baker, working with a fictional black Canadian lover named Drummer Thompson, foils a plot by French fascists in 1936 Paris.

Her influence upon and assistance with the careers of husband and wife dancers Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder are discussed and illustrated in rare footage in the 2005 Linda Atkinson/Nick Doob documentary, Carmen and Geoffrey.

Beyoncé has portrayed Baker on various occasions. During the 2006 Fashion Rocks show, Knowles performed "Dejá Vu" in a revised version of the Danse banane costume. In Knowles's video for "Naughty Girl", she is seen dancing in a huge champagne glass à la Baker. In I Am ... Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas, Beyonce lists Baker as an influence of a section of her live show.

In 2006, Jérôme Savary produced a musical, A La Recherche de Josephine – New Orleans for Ever (Looking for Josephine), starring Nicolle Rochelle. The story revolved around the history of jazz and Baker's career.

In 2010, Keri Hilson portrayed Baker in her single "Pretty Girl Rock".

In 2011, Sonia Rolland portrayed Baker in the film Midnight in Paris.

Baker was heavily featured in the 2012 book Josephine's Incredible Shoe & The Blackpearls by Peggi Eve Anderson-Randolph.

In July 2012, Cheryl Howard opened in The Sensational Josephine Baker, written and performed by Howard and directed by Ian Streicher at the Beckett Theatre of Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York City, just a few doors away from Chez Josephine.

In July 2013, Cush Jumbo's debut play Josephine and I premiered at the Bush Theatre, London. It was re-produced in New York City at The Public Theater's Joe's Pub from 27 February to 5 April 2015.

In June 2016, Josephine, a burlesque cabaret dream play starring Tymisha Harris as Josephine Baker premiered at the 2016 San Diego Fringe Festival. The show has since played across North America and had a limited off-Broadway run in January–February 2018 at SoHo Playhouse in New York City.

In February 2017, Tiffany Daniels portrayed Baker in the Timeless television episode "The Lost Generation".

In late February 2017, a new play about Baker's later years, The Last Night of Josephine Baker by playwright Vincent Victoria, opened in Houston, Texas, starring Erica Young.

Baker appears as a recruitable secret agent with French citizenship in the 2020 DLC La Resistance for the WWII grand strategy game Hearts of Iron IV.

Film credits

Siren of the Tropics (1927)

The Woman from the Folies Bergères (1927) short subject

Zouzou (1934)

Princesse Tam Tam (1935)

Fausse alerte (The French Way) (1945)

Moulin Rouge (1941)

An jedem Finger zehn (1954)

Carosello del varietà (1955)

#06/03 #04/12

9 notes · View notes

bitchinrichie · 5 years

Text

Show Me How to Love

a gift for @gildediris for @itfandomprompts secret Santa!!! I hope you like it!!!

ship: stozier

warnings: angst, relationship angst, Pennywise

*************

It started with a call, one phone call from a person that meant so much but held so much pain, one phone call and everything felt wrong. Stanley Uris had accomplished plenty in his 40 years of living, even if he couldn’t remember the first 13 or so years of it. He didn’t really think about it much, it hadn’t been relevant until now. A phone call from Mike Hanlon in Derry, Maine; Mike had been his best friend, one of seven. The losers, Derry, the sewers, a house on Neibolt street, a killer clown, and something he couldn’t place. Stanley had forgotten but in that moment he felt everything.

“See you tomorrow, Stan the Man,” that was the last thing Stan heard before Mike hung up. He was shaking, knees giving out and he fell back down on the couch in his small apartment. Pennywise, that thing had almost killed him 27 years ago and he was supposed to go back and fight it again? He was losing focus on his surroundings and he couldn’t feel the tears on his cheeks; just before he blacks out he remembers a song a boy used to sing to him,

“Songbird.”

***

Richie Tozier had just finished a show in Chicago as he sped back to his hotel, his head was spinning and nothing made sense. He fucked up his act and he knew his manager would be on his ass about it later but right now he just wanted to stop shaking. He felt comforted by Mike’s voice but he still couldn’t entirely place why, he was bound to find out as he headed for Derry. It was slow paced but names continually came back to him: Big Bill, Bev, Ben, Eds, Stan.

He supposed these people were important to him but Stan held something deeper. His chest hurt and he had to take deep breaths in order to properly breathe. He turned the radio on to get his mind off the weird feelings he had, but he heard the beginning of ‘The One I Love’ by R.E.M. and he remembered.

***

December 25, 1989

“You know I don’t celebrate Christmas, dumbass.”

“I know but I saw this and I had to get it, Happy Hanukkah?” Richie grinned and Stan just rolled his eyes but still smiling as he opened the small box Richie handed him. Richie watched timidly as Stan opened the box and his eyebrows raised. It was a small pendant of a bluebird made entirely of glass.

“Richie I-” Stan was speechless.

“I thought you’d like it. Bluebirds are supposed to represent hope and be a good omen or some shit and I thought since what happened this past summer, you’d need that,” Richie smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at Stan.

“I love it, Richie,” he sniffled and pulled him into a tight hug. Stan rarely gave hugs so Richie knew that Stan really loved it, now if only he was brave enough to tell him how he feels.

***

Jade of the Orient was the designated meeting place and Stan still didn’t feel any better, when he had woken up after passing out he was determined to come back. His fear was still crippling but his friends needed him and he wanted to kill the fucker for good. He entered the restaurant and the scars along the sides of his face started to burn, he felt so small, so scared, so weak.

“Holy shit, Stan is that you?” He whipped his head around to face Mike Hanlon and Bill Denbrough as they smiled at him, both pulling him into a hug which he hesitantly returned. Not even seconds later, they were met with Eddie Kaspbrak who just smiled and waved at them.

Stan was trying to pay attention to Bill talking about his books and something about his wife but he just kept spacing out, until the banging of a gong brought him back to the present and he was met with his songbird, Richie Tozier.

Stan’s breath was caught in his throat and he felt like crying, a part of him wanted to run to him and another wanted to run away. He looked Richie up and down and he could see beads of sweat on his forehead. His eyes looked pained but he was still smiling at him. Stan gave him a small smile before sitting down, Richie sitting next to him but never looking his way.

He waves to Bev and Ben who look worried at his quietness and small staring contest with the trashmouth himself but they don’t say anything.

“So Stan the man!! You married? Engaged?” Bill pointed his drink at him and smiled. Bev was next to him wiggling her eyebrows. Stan sighs and nervously laughs,

“No I’m not married. I never really found the right person,” Stan took a sip of his drink and shrugged. They accepted that answer but when he looked at Richie, he looked almost relieved,

“You aren’t married, Staniel?? Even Eds got married!”

“Hey fuck you!” Eddie pouted across the table while Richie laughed at him.

***

As the night went on it felt like no time had passed, Richie told his dumb jokes that only the losers could appreciate and Stan tried his hardest not to indulge him. Stan felt safe again, talking to Eddie about his risk analyst job and talking to Bev about fashion while Richie rated what would look best on Stan.

“When Mike called me I threw up, I was shaking, it was weird- I’m okay now though but I don’t usually feel that way unless I’m-”

“Scared. Yeah, I passed out after he called me.” Stan interrupted Richie looking between Mike and the table as he spoke. Bev’s breath hitched and she whispered,

“Pennywise.”

No, not again. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him, he thought he was having a nightmare. Pennywise was dead, they killed it, this was a joke. He couldn’t catch his breath and he started to hyperventilate, he felt something on his right shoulder and he looked at Richie, who was attempting to calm him down. He just kept staring into his soft, brown eyes and he felt better, but then the fortune cookies started shaking.

***

“Come on, Stanny, I got you. Let’s get back to inn and get the fuck out of here,” Richie pleaded. When the fortune cookies attacked, he pulled Stan close to him and vowed to himself to never let him go again.

“No Richie, I don’t want your help. I’m fine-”

“No you’re fucking not!! You’re scared! I’m scared! Let’s get out of dodge, please Stanley.” Richie had gotten Stan to his car and he didn’t want to fight with him now, he wished they didn’t remember everything.

“Yeah I’m scared but I don’t want you to touch me. Just drive to the fucking inn,” Stan growled at him and Richie felt his heart break again. He unlocks the car, getting in and driving in silence as Stan looked out the window.

***

December 25, 1992

“You’re a goddamn liar! How dare you just sit here and tell me you love me when you denied it more than once! Do you think I’m stupid?” Stan had his arms crossed tightly against his chest until he began to cry. He started pacing around his living room, feeling his heart ache.

“Stan! No it’s not like that! Please listen to me! You’re my best friend.” Richie was so fucking scared, he couldn’t lose him but he fucked up. Stan wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t let him touch him.

“Is that what I am? You think you get to reject me, lie and tell me you love me and then call me your best friend? No, fuck you, Richard.” Stan pointed at the door, Richie sniffled and ran out, slamming the door behind him.

***

Richie had his hand raised to knock on Stan’s door but he hesitated, he didn’t want to leave without Stan or at least saying goodbye to him.

As he went to knock, the door opened and Stan was taken aback before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring. Richie sighs,

“Listen, I’m fucking leaving. I can’t do this shit again and I want you to come with me. You don’t deserve to suffer again but-”

“Since when do you get to tell me what’s good for me? I remember what happened to me, as soon as I got into Derry my scars started burning. I’m fucking scared and I know I’m the weakest one of us but we made a promise to each other. Besides I’m not a selfish bastard like you,” Stan pushes past him and walks away to join the others downstairs.

Richie regretted rejecting Stan, it was a lie. He loved Stan with his entire being, he would do anything for him. But he felt disgusting, he hated himself and he just wanted to feel normal. He was forgettable, annoying, desperate, and lonely. He craved attention and he was a loud mouth so he wouldn’t be forgotten.

He had decided that Stanley deserved better than him, so he broke his and Stan’s heart so it could be better in the long run. If he lost Stanley, he’d be lost forever, so losing him as a lover but keeping a friend seemed like the better option. But he lost him all the same.

He slowly joined the others as well, standing by the bar because Stan was right, the losers needed each other. He looked around at his friends and he felt strong, brave, and more importantly, loved. His only wish was that they didn’t have to deal with a killer clown.

***

December 25, 1991

Stan was sitting on Richie’s bed with his head against Richie’s shoulder while the trashmouth, himself, read comics in his dumbest voices just to make Stan laugh. In that moment, it was just the two of them, the rest of the world didn’t matter.

Richie would look over at Stan, watching how his eyes would crinkle when he smiled or how his nose scrunched up when he laughed. He doesn’t know how it happened but before he can stop himself, he’s leaning in and pressing his chapped lips against Stan’s soft ones.

It was quick and over before he knew it but Stan thought different and pulled him in again. This one was held more feeling, Richie dropped his comic and cupped Stan’s face. Stan had one arm around his neck and the other playing with his wild curls. Both pulling away, cheeks red and very giggly.

That was it, they didn’t talk about it or how it would affect their relationship because it just felt right. It was easy, no butterflies or shaky hands. Just pure, unadulterated love for the other. Friends could randomly make out with each other, right?

***

“Stan! Stanley, just wait!! What happened?” Richie yelled breathlessly behind him as they both approached the inn after splitting up to find their tokens. Stan stopped and sighed,

“What do you want, Richie?”

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” Richie’s voice was barely above a whisper as he stared at his shoes, waiting for Stan to walk away again. Instead, he scoffed and turned to face him,

“I’m peachy! I’m doing fantastic, this is a wonderful vacation! Are you kidding me?! I’m not your problem anymore but apparently the world hates me. My token was the bluebird you gave me, and here I thought I threw it away.” He tried desperately not to let his tears fall down his cheeks.

“Fuck you Stan. I’m so fucking sorry I still care about you! After this shit show, you can forget me again and you’ll be happy. But just so you know, that bluebird? It took me months to find because they didn’t have the right glass or whatever, but fuck me I guess.” Richie cleared his throat and held his eyes shut to rid of the tears. He walked past Bev and Ben on the stairs, there was no point in staying, he was gonna die anyway.

He entered his room and just started throwing his clothes into the bag and muttering to himself. There was a knock on the door and he hoped it was Stan, opening it revealed it was only Ben. Richie sighs, letting him in and returning to pack his belongings,

“Hoping for Stan? Sorry it’s just me but Richie you have to stay, we can’t do this without you,” Ben stepped into the room, blocking the door.

“There’s no point, Haystack. We’re gonna die anyway, how do you expect us to defeat a killer clown with dumb memories from our past?” Richie stopped, turned to face Ben and sat down on his bed.

“You have to trust Mike, he stayed here all this time so we could defeat it again. He sacrificed for us, don’t we owe him for that?” Ben pats Richie’s shoulder as he nods. Satisfied, Ben goes back downstairs; Richie letting his body decide before his mind, grabs his belongings and heads out the back door.

***

Stan made his way to the small bar inside the inn, he didn’t drink much but after what’s happened and what is going to happen he needs it. He drank his bourbon while he absentmindedly twisted the small, crystal bluebird in his other hand. He saw Ben come back down the stairs but no Richie, he wanted to be relieved but he wasn’t, he just felt worse.

He didn’t hate Richie, he never could, he was confused and angry. He knew Richie remembered and yet he still acted like nothing changed, he couldn’t let himself suffer again.

“You okay, Stan?” Bev had interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality.

“Oh yeah, I- I’m fine,” He hoped she’d take his answer but from the look on her face, she did not.

“Stan, you know you can tell me anything. I know how hard this must be for you, well I know you suffered the most,” she takes his hands and squeezes them, giving him a small smile.

“Thanks Bev, I just- my scars burn and I can’t close my eyes without seeing IT. What am I changing if I stay?”

“I’m sorry, you don’t deserve to be in pain. I wish we could’ve stopped IT before it got to you- but we need you here. We can’t do this without you.” He nods and pockets the bluebird before telling her he needs to clear his head for a moment.

He started walking, not anywhere in particular, it was peaceful which shocked him because this town brought him nothing but pain. Every shred of happiness left him when he moved away and he was left with memories of heartache and fear shrouding his mind in darkness. He approached the synagogue, where he messed up his bar mitzvah, which his father never let him forget.

***

Richie doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting in the synagogue but he does know that Stan’s bar mitzvah keeps replaying in his head. He remembers how shocked he was when Stan cussed out his dad and him letting the doors softly close behind him was so perfectly Stan.

He missed him. He missed the way his eyes lit up when he talked about birds, the way his soft, golden curls shone against the sun or even in the moonlight. Sometimes when Richie snuck over to Stan’s because he was lonely and vulnerable enough to tell someone, Stan would fall asleep and he’d run his fingers through his curls. Richie used to think he was dreaming because of how perfect Stan was and he had nightmares of losing him. Now it just seemed the nightmare would never end,

“Of course you’re here too, I can’t catch a break can I? I thought you were leaving?” Richie looks up at Stan’s tired voice, the doors softly swinging behind him.

“Uh yeah I was, but I saw your name- um I got lost in a memory. I’ll leave, sorry,” Richie sounded defeated, broken, scared which was nothing like him. Richie got up from his spot and headed toward the door, toward Stan; when he stopped and blinked his eyes a couple times and huffed a small laugh,

“Do you remember when you moved away for college? You didn’t tell me when you were leaving but I was still excited for you. You always talked about getting into Yale and how you thought you’d never get in, you always sold yourself short, I was proud of you though.” Richie sniffled and gave him a watery smile-

“Just like I was when you stood up to your dad at your bar mitzvah. But anyway, I remember the day you left, I walked over to your house like I did almost everyday that summer to make sure you hadn’t left yet but, when I got there that day, you were gone. You left me without saying goodbye.” Richie took off his glasses to wipe his tears and he tried to regulate his breathing.

“Rich, I-”

“No, it’s okay. I fucked up, I fucked up really bad and I know you hate me. I hate me too, I lost you and I’m lost. No matter what happens in the next couple hours or even days, just know that I did love you and I still do,” He pushed his way out through the doors but Stan caught his arm, Richie turned to look at him through his tear stained glasses and blurred vision,

“I don’t hate you. I never hated you, I was just angry and maybe I still am. I-I don’t know but I have never hated you,” Stan gently pulled on Richie’s arm and he just collapsed into Stan’s arms. He just sobbed and held him as close as he could without breaking him, Stan rubbed his back and just held him.

“God, look at me, I’m more of a pussy than you and we haven’t gone up against the damn clown yet,” Richie let out a little laugh but Stan just stared at him until he started giggling which turned into full blown laughter. Richie thought he was dreaming again, he adored Stan’s laugh; it was loud, obnoxious, and perfect. If only it was just a joke.

***

“Eddie! Eddie get the knife! EDDIE!” Bill screamed, trying his hardest to get spider Stan’s head off of Richie’s face. Pennywise had cooked up something special this time around and all of the losers were going to pay for the summer of 1989. Eddie, Bill, and Richie had gotten separated from the others, they heard Ben screaming from the other side but the door wouldn’t budge.

Eddie wouldn’t move from the corner, he was paralyzed with fear. Bill kept screaming at him but Eddie still remained in the corner. Richie had his eyes screwed shut as he screamed but he couldn’t bear to look at the love of his life trying to eat him, even if it truly wasn’t.

The door finally opened and Ben grabbed the knife, stabbing it into the spiders head relentlessly. Richie finally stopped screaming to breathe and sputter while trying to, Bev and Stan rushing to his side. Bev cleans his face with her jacket and Stan puts his glasses on his face, Richie looking at Stan immediately. He refused to tell him what that thing was but Stan still sensed fear behind his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Bill, I was just scared,” Eddie was pinned to the wall by Bill, he let go of him, guilt clear on his face.

“I’m okay, Eds. It’s okay, we’re all scared,” Richie remained close to Stan, trying to comfort Eddie. Eddie nodded and sniffled, turning to Mike who had pushed past the others to the basement door.

“Here we go again, can’t wait,” Richie sighed but nervously laughed.

“Beep beep, Richie,” Bev whispered.

The others followed Mike, Stan was hesitating, he couldn’t get his feet to move. Richie noticed and held out his hand for him, figuring he wouldn’t take it but hoping anyway. Stan took it and squeezed, following behind to the basement once again.

***

“RICHIE!” Stan shrieked was he watched Richie float into the air, caught in the deadlights.

Not even moments later, Eddie ran out throwing a fence post like a javelin into Pennywise’s mouth, releasing Richie from its hold. Eddie ran to Richie, hovering over him and Stan couldn’t stop himself. Stan ran up onto the ledge where Eddie and Richie were, he watched Richie push Eddie away from him and then he saw the claw.

It was just darkness and there was screaming, so much screaming. Stan didn’t comprehend what had just happened until he felt arms around his waist. Eddie was on the edge of the ledge but he was unhurt so Stan looked down and found Richie holding onto him for dear life.

“Oh my god, you’re okay,” Stan breathed out- “I thought you got hurt, I couldn’t see anyt-” Richie interrupted him with a kiss. It didn’t last long but Stan got the message, helping him off the ground and quickly grabbing Eddie to rejoin the others.

They needed a plan and they needed it fast, as they joined the other losers down below in a cavern with Pennywise clawing his way to them, everyone was relieved that no one was hurt.

“What do we do now?” Ben threw his hands up and sighed.

“Wait, I remembered something, all things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit. So if we can make him small, we can beat him.” Mike looked around at them and it seemed to be the best option.

***

The caverns were crumbling around them, Pennywise had become dust, and they needed to get out. Climbing back through the sewers and through Neibolt, watching it become nothing but a ghost of the pain they endured. All of the losers watched in relief and weariness as they realized IT was finally gone.

They decided one more trip down memory lane, a good one at least, would be the best way to end this past week. Standing at the edge of the quarry, where they spent most of their summers just being kids, they jumped off one by one. Swimming around in dirty water, while Eddie complained they were going to die or get some disease felt like they were kids again.

Richie sat on a boulder to clean his glasses, watching, well squinting, Ben and Beverly finally share a kiss while Bill and Eddie splash each other, Mike watching his friends finally be happy and him finally realizing he’s free. He saw Stan laughing at Mike as they hugged and eventually making his way over to him,

“How’s it going, Stan the man?”

“Listen, just shut up for a sec, I don’t hate you. I’m not mad anymore either, I used to think you hated me and that you were disgusted by me. I realize now that you were just scared, I was scared too I just took it out on you. I’m sorry, Richie.” Stan grabbed his hands and he watched how Richie’s lips curled into a smile and how his eyes lit up and even the small freckles on his cheeks.

“I knew you couldn’t resist me, hot stuff,” Richie winked. Stan rolled his eyes but pulled him closer by his shirt collar and kissed him, it was just purely them. Stan pulled away and rested his forehead on Richie’s,

“One more thing, I love you too.” They both burst into giggles and Richie pulled him in for another kiss.

***

December 25, 2019

The Uris-Tozier household was always alive with laughter and today was no different, they didn’t really celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah for that matter but they still decorated. It was minimal Christmas decorations, mostly snowmen and colorful lights; no tree because they bought each other small things and usually went on vacations. Stan still had a menorah that he lit each night of Hanukkah but he didn’t feel the need to have strict Jewish traditions.

This year was special however, they had been married for almost three years and they both wanted to do something special, Stan walked into their house and found Richie sitting on the couch, staring at the floor and holding a small box. Stan smiled and set his bag down, walking to the hall closet to retrieve his gift for Richie. They had already planned their vacation to Buenos Aires earlier in the month,

“You ready to bawl your eyes out, Stanny?” Richie wiggled his eyebrows and Stan laughed.

“I should be asking you that, should we do this at the same time?” Richie nodded excitedly and they exchanged gifts.

Stan opened his gift and it took him all of his willpower not to absolutely sob right then and there, it was the small bluebird Richie had given him so long ago,

“I found it in a glass shop downtown. I know you gave up the first one I gave you but I had to buy it, I think it means more now than it did when we were 14. Also I love you, songbird.” Richie was already crying. He opened his gift and it was the comic, an X-Men comic, that Richie read to him in his dumb voices when they had their first kiss.

“I found it when we went to that comic book store last week, I immediately recognized the cover and I had to get it. It reminds me of one of the best days of my life, also, I love you too babylove.” They were both crying, though Stan vowed he never did, Richie would always know how much of a softie he was.

#secret santa #Stozier #richie tozier #stanley uris #stan uris #eddie kaspbrak #bill denbrough #beverly marsh #ben hanscom #mike hanlon #itfandomprompts #it 2019

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octoberobserver · 4 years

Note

I recently had a dream about a plot for a fic where reddie get a duck from mike on their wedding day and the note makes it seem like it’s meaningful to their relationship and they spend their whole honeymoon trying to figure out what the deep meaning of this duck is and it turns out stan and bev dared mike to do it to fuck w/ them and when i woke up i immediately was like SOMEONE HAS TO WRITE THIS and i immediately thought of you! (literally u don’t have to it’s just funny how i thought of you)

Hi Nonnie! This *probably* isn’t what you had in mind, but I hope you like it anyway ^_^ ♥��

Your Love Life’s DOA (read on ao3)

“...a chick.”

“Pretty sure it’s a cock, dude.”

“It’s a chicken, asswipe. Cocks are roosters.”

“Huh. And here I thought cocks were—”

“Don’t,” Eddie Kaspbrak held up his hands, cutting Richie Tozier off mid-terrible-joke.

Richie just smirked, his eyes alight in a way that never failed to make Eddie’s stomach swoop.

“Cock, chicken, whatever it is,” he waved dismissively with the hand not cradling the miniature poultry, “it’s cute as fuck.”

Eddie stared at Richie staring down at the (probable) baby chicken, warmth spreading across his chest.

He only basked in the feeling for .2 seconds however as the irritation he had felt this morning when he opened the door to go grab their mail and nearly stomped on the little feather-ball, made a swift resurgence.

“But why the fuck was it outside our door?”

“...”

“Richie.”

“...”

“Rich.”

“...”

“Trashmouth!”

Richie’s head snapped up from where he had been gazing down at the chick that looked comically small in his ridiculously large hand.

Eddie’s treacherous stomach did an impressive (if annoying) front handspring.

“I don’t know, Eds. Maybe it was meant for the butcher shop down the street. Or a petting zoo,” he tilted his head, looking pensive, “maybe it’s Erica Delaney getting her sweet revenge on me after I broke our egg-son in the first five minutes of class. Or it’s the chicken god’s gift to us to raise in his image, fucked if I know. All I do know is,” he shrugged, gently, with one shoulder as to not jostle the chirping baby bird, “we're definitely keeping it.”

Eddie blinked.

“We can’t keep a chicken in the apartment, Richie.”

Richie’s eyebrows raised halfway up his expansive forehead.

“Why not? I own the building, and I say it’s all good for lil Chick-Fil-A to stay.”

“We’re not naming it after a homophobic chicken restaurant, dickwad.”

A slow smile spread across Richie’s face that had Eddie’s pulse simultaneously racing and screeching to a halt.

“...But we are keeping it?”

Fuck.

~*~

“Chicken Little?”

“No.”

“Chicken Run.”

“What?”

“Chick Flick.”

“Hell no.”

“Oh! Wait! I got it - Chicken Carbonara! Carbs for short.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I agree,” Stanley Uris piped up as he meandered his way over to where Eddie and Richie (baby chick loudly making her presence known in his shirt pocket) were arguing at the sink, glass in hand, topping up Patty’s Merlot.

“You don’t have a horse in this race, Staniel,” Richie dismissed his input, gently running a finger over the chick’s fuzzy head, adopting a sickening sweet baby voice, “Isn’t that right, Carbs? Uncle Stan the Man wouldn’t know a good nickname if it kicked him in the face.”

“Coming from the man called ‘Trashmouth.’”

“Eds gave me that name, so blame him,” Richie quirked an eyebrow, elbowing the man in question.

Eddie’s Chardonnay tipped dangerously close to the rim of the glass.

Richie ignored his murderous glare.

“Now all we need,” Richie beamed with pride as ‘Carbs’ gave another loud chirp from her cloth perch, “...is a duck.”

Eddie winced, “You need to stop binge-watching Friends, Rich. Who are we, Joey and Chandler?”

“Dibs on Chandler!”

Eddie rolled his eyes, gesturing up and down at Richie.

“Well duh.”

Richie merely smirked, tilting his head at him, “You’re definitely more of a Monica than a Joey, though.”

“So in this scenario, you two are married?”

Both Eddie and Richie whirled around to blink at Stan who had attracted the attention of the rest of the Losers, each now awaiting some sort of response with rising interest.

Eddie refused to give one.

He also refused to look at Richie not give one.

“Ooh we’re playing the Which Friends Character Are You game, huh?” Richie asked, stepping around Stan, eyes still focussed on the chick.

Stan rolled his eyes, “There’s eight of us, it doesn’t work.”

“Spoken like a true Ross.”

Stan shook his head and sighed.

Like the Ross he was.

“Alright, I’m game,” Bev piped up, raising her glass from across the room, her eyes glinting at Richie.

“Do your worst, Trashmouth.”

Richie smirked, clearly tickled by the challenge.

“Alright, Marsh,” he cleared his throat, beginning to pace the room like Columbo at the end of every episode, where he explained how he solved the whole damn case with nothing but a moved potted plant, “You’re Phoebe obviously, because you’re a fiery but lovable enigma who’s cooler than all of us combined.”

Bev chuckled, “Damn straight.”

“Haystack here,” Richie whirled around, cradling Carbs to his chest in one hand and pointing with the other, “is our Joey for his actor good-looks and lovable nature.”

Ben sank down into the couch next to Bev, picking up her socked-feet and rubbing them, “I’ll take it.”

Bev grinned, “I did always think Joey and Phoebe should’ve got together. Although Paul Rudd was great.”

“Which leads me to,” Richie turned to his left, smirking.

“Oh no,” Mike held up his hands, “count me out. Black people weren’t even a thing on Friends until like season 9 or whatever so—”

“Oh yeah, the diversity sucks ass Mikey, no one’s disputing that,” Richie agreed with a nod, “but hear me out. You’re Mike, Mike! A sexy, African-American Paul Rudd. Think about it...you may come in late in the game but you win everyone over instantly with your good looks, nerdy charm and wicked air-piano skills! Just like you did with the Losers Club!”

Mike blinked, amused.

Stan tilted his head.

“I don’t think that’s exactly—”

“Same with Patty!”

Richie cut Stan off, clearly on a roll, whirling around to point at his wife.

“It feels like she’s always been with us, right?” he asked the group at large, smile pleased when everyone nods in agreement, Bev winding an arm around her from where she was perched on the arm of the couch, causing Patty to flush and grin behind her wine glass at the compliment.

“And you know who was always with the Friends? Always there, like an honorary 7th member? Or 8th in this case?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, not quite believing he was going to participate in this.

“Gunther.”

Richie winked, “Gold star for Kaspbrak.”

“She does make a mean Cappuccino,” Stan mumbled almost absentmindedly as Patty gave her charming snort-laugh, letting her head rest against her husband’s shoulder as he stood next to the couch.

“Which leaves…”

Richie slowly turned on the spot, like the dramatic bastard he was.

“Congrats, Bill. You’re Rachel. Our Jen Aniston. People are gonna start copying your hairstyle soon.”

Bill chuckled, “Yeah, don’t think ‘The Bill’ has quite the same ring to it, Rich.”

Richie gave a dismissive wave.

“It’ll catch on. Then you’ll become a mega movie star and forget the rest of us exist. Except for Eddie, of course.”

Bill frowned.

“Why just Eddie?”

Richie threw him an exasperated look.

“Because he’s Monica! Courteney Cox. Best friend of Jen to this day. Duh.”

“So you two are married, then?”

Eddie felt his throat tighten as Richie squared his shoulders at Stanley, gently putting Carbs in her bed before huffing out a laugh.

“Nah man, we’re still in the friends-who-help-friends-give-their-dates-orgasms-in-seven-steps, stage.”

Stan rolled his eyes.

“Right.”

Eddie watched as the two friends stared at one another, a weird tension draping over them.

And in true Phoebe-style, Bev broke it.

“Hey, who wants to hear my Smelly Cat rendition?”

Richie’s analysis was flawed, of course. Bill didn’t know jack about fashion (that was Bev), Ben built stages not performed on them, Stan actually loved, cherished and respected his partner, Patty wasn’t desperately in unrequited love with Bill (that was Mike, though it was requited), Mike wasn’t married to Bev (that was Ben) and Bev…

Well.

Bev was spot on, actually. A riddle, wrapped in an enigma, shrouded in mystery, all while being simultaneously cool and lovable.

And Eddie?

He was Monica Geller and proud of it, dammit.

A damn shame Courteney never got the Emmy-nom, in his opinion.

As for Richie?

Richie wasn’t Chandler Bing. Chandler Bing was Richie Tozier.

“If only they had let Chandler be gay,” Richie sighed wistfully as Eddie closed the door, waving off the last of their guests, Bill and Mike as they hopped in an Uber headed for Casa Denbrough.

“Why? So you could fuck Ben instead?”

Eddie knew how his voice sounded as he slowly leaned back against the door, reaching out to pull Richie towards him by his collar, crashing their lips together in a bruising kiss that he had ached for all night.

Richie gasped into his mouth, his hands roaming Eddie’s body like a hyperactive octopus, pressing him back against the door and rolling his bottom lip between his teeth.

Eddie groaned, breaking the kiss, staring up at his best-friend-turned-secret-boyfriend.

“So, when do we tell them we hooked up at Ben and Bev’s wedding?”

Richie chuckled, leaning down and pressing his lips against Eddie’s neck, right over the spot he knew drove him crazy, breathing hot against his skin.

“Not until I ask Bill for his eyelash curler and Ben figures us out. Duh.”

~*~

They really should have been all fucked out after three weeks of eating, drinking, sleeping and sex-ing in Barbados, and yet, as soon as they got back to their apartment, they christened their old bed, their leaking shower and the living room floor because they just couldn’t get enough of each other.

Married.

They were fucking married.

Husbands.

Legally bound.

Til death—

No, not even death could stop them. They proved that already.

“You’re heavy,” Eddie groaned, his chest vibrating under where Richie had his face squished against it.

“It’s all the Barbadian food, dude. S’gone straight to my thighs.”

Eddie brushed his hand along said thigh, squeezing roughly.

“Hmm. I like your thighs.”

“I like you.”

“You better. You’re kinda stuck with me now.”

Richie lifted his head off Eddie’s sweaty chest, smiling softly, interlocking their left hands, pressing their rings together.

“Guess my love life isn’t D.O.A anymore, huh.”

Eddie groaned, and not in the sexy way he had been five minutes before.

“Those Friends references grew old in the nineties, dude. Stop.”

Richie pecked at his lips, letting out a sound of disagreement.

“I’ll have you know, Eds, I—”

The unmistakable sound of a knock echoed throughout the apartment.

They blinked at one another.

“Who the fuck is that? No one knows we’re home yet.”

The post-Honeymoon-fuck had come (heh) above all - including texting the group chat that they had made it back safely onto California soil.

Marriage had made them selfish like that.

Eddie shrugged, “I don’t know. Could be Rosa dropping off Carbs. I did tell her we’d be back today, and she might have like...sensed us. You know what she’s like.”

Rosa was their downstairs neighbour, a lovable, elderly woman who seemed to have had a sixth sense for everything Richie and Eddie-related even before they had become a couple, often calling them out for the pining bullshit before they got their act together, got tipsy at Benverly’s wedding and jumped each other.

Or as Richie put it once - “She high-key ships us, man. Wants us to bone it out.”

To this day, Eddie had no idea what that meant.

Another knock came, this one louder.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Eddie called out, pushing a whining Richie off his chest before he could make the obvious joke and forcing himself to sit up, grimacing as the sheet stuck to his back.

He’d have to be the one to answer. No way he was unleashing a half-naked Richie onto Mrs Hernandez.

Eddie actually had the decency to pull on sweatpants and an old Trashmouth-tee before padding to the door.

He knew his husband did not.

Husband.

Eddie smiled to himself, his stomach doing its usual somersaults that he knew would never fully disappear.

Richie Tozier, his lifelong best friend, was now his husband too.

Crazy.

“Sorry Rosa, we were—”

His incredibly made-up-on-the-spot excuse died on his lips as he opened the front door to reveal - nothing.

Frowning, Eddie stared into the empty air, turning his head to glance down the very vacant hallway.

And then, he heard it.

Quack!

“Oh, not again.”

“Duck!”

Richie said it like fuck.

Like he had been human-autocorrected.

“Yes, Richie, I see that,” Eddie sighed at his husband who had appeared over his shoulder, still shirtless, staring down at the baby duck sitting pretty in a box, much like Carbs had two years before.

“We’re not naming him Daffy,” Eddie grumbled, bending down to gently pick up the box, cradling the duckling against his chest and kicking the door shut.

Richie opened his mouth.

“Or Donald.”

Richie closed his mouth.

One quack called Donald was enough.

“We’ll brainstorm,” Richie grinned, leaning down and capturing Eddie’s lips, before softly patting the new addition to their family on the head.

They’d find the note later. The one that read,

To Chandler and Monica,

You two were the last to find out.

Not Stan.

Here’s a brother for Carbs.

We left her with you as a prank, for Richie’s Friends obsession, but you became the best dads ever instead. You’ll do it again.

Just don’t get them stuck in the Foosball Table.

~The Losers

#reddie #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #prompt #lovely anons #friends #i tried lol #my fanfiction #writing stuff

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dyingswanpavlova · 5 years

Text

“We don’t have to” Part 1 || REDDIE [Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak]

Pairings: Stan x female!Reader, Richie x Eddie

Author’s note: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I present you my first ever m x m fanfic, so please please don’t be too harsh on me. I saw It Chapter 2 on Saturday and my heart is aching so bad for what happened to Stan and Eddie (it’s not like I’ve read the book before and stuff but still). Also English isn’t my first language and since I haven’t really been writing anything at all for the last 1-2 years because of the lack of motivation caused by depression - blah, what I was trying to say: don’t hate me, if this turns out to be shitty. Love you!

Plot: Some years after the Losers Club split, they find themselves reunited for a beautiful occasion: the wedding day of Stan x Reader [also this will be a spin-off oneshot or fanfiction I’m currently working on, this one focuses more on Reddie]. The night before the big day, all of you are having a good time, drinking and eventually playing Truth or Dare like you did in the good old days. Everything seems to be fine, until you dare Richie to do something that might have questionable consequences...

_______________________________________________

“I don’t understand you people. Bacardi is fucking disgusting.”

“You wanna know what’s disgusting?”

“Richie, if you even dare to only take my mother’s name in your mouth, I will fucking end-”

Right before you could finish your sentence, you felt someone softly grabbing your shoulder. To your relief, it was Stan. You felt how you melted under the gentle touch of his hand. Almost ten years together and he still made you gasp with only a touch.

“Trust me, Richie. This girl here does not banter when it comes to her Mama.”

Everyone shared a laugh until you heard the bottles cracking on the table. Ben immediately started filling everyone’s cups up, with no protest allowed. You leaned back and placed your hand on Stan’s hand. You could hear him smile.

“Okay. Now give me the empty one, please”, Beverly ordered and Ben handed it over to her, so quickly that he almost tripped over his feet. She smiled at him and asked him to take his place down next to her. He smiled back at her. These people were some serious goofs. But they were your goofs.

“This might be fun.” Beverly chuckled before spinning the bottle for the first round. Everyone heard Eddie groaning and everyone ignored it, except for Eddie who made a filthy comment about “jizzing” in “one’s pants”.

“Might be seems very common. I hate this game”, Mike moaned and gave Beverly a death glare, right before the bottle stopped to point right at him. Everyone laughed hysterically except for Mike. He smiled shyly and much less confident.

“Okay, Mikey-boy. Truth or dare?”

Mike rolled his eyes back and then lowered his view to the least. “Truth, I guess.”

“Oh-oh, can I, can I?”, Bill asked, suddenly fully attentive. Usually, Bill was the calmer one of the group, but after the right amount of alcohol, the Losers found, he turned into a witty sport.

Beverly gave Mike a knowing smile and then nodded at Bill.

“How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“Oh my- what! How old are you people? Like seriously!”

Mike complained a bit, but after some time, he smiled and unwillingly answered the question. “I was 18, okay?”

Richie snorted and suddenly widened his eyes. For him it was common sense to comment everyone and everything but all of a sudden he felt like he might have made a mistake. It was not Eddie he was balling, it was Mike. And he wasn’t so good, at least not as good with...

“And how old were you son of a mother, if I may ask you, Richard?” Mike pointed on Richie’s chest with his index finger.

“Me? I was...It’s not my turn yet”, Richie grinned and made a face at Mike. Suddenly he felt a heat in his cheeks. It normally didn’t bother him when people were looking at him, au contraire, actually, he enjoyed it. He was a show host, dammit! But right now, in that second...A pair of eyes was smothering him.

“Take it easy, Mikey”, Eddie interrupted. “He mustn’t admit the only relationship he’s ever had was with his right hand.” Eddie gave him a warm wink.

“Alright, years left, years to come and I still wanna puke”, you heard your fiancé blurt out. Everyone was laughing and the atmosphere seemed as calm as it could be. You kept playing for a few rounds and suddenly you had to ask Richie.

“Okay, Richie from the ditchie”, you smiled, “Tell me: Truth or dare?”

You stared at your best high school friend with deliberate provocation in your eyes. The two of you had played this game over and over and every time Richie had made you do some extra foolish shit. Today was the day to let justice win.

“Dare, baby. All over.”

“Okay.”

For a second you asked yourself if you could do it, if you could really ask your best friend to do the thing he was the most afraid of but would or at least should also make his life a whole lot more interesting. Actually, he should be thankful if you did, you thought.

Richie had a secret and you had little but still had knowledge about it. You were the only one to know and you had promised to keep it a secret. It was an asshole kind of move, but so was it that one time when Richie forced you to sneak into Henry Bowers house. That was the time he almost murdered you and you had to talk yourself out of it by telling him you were secretly into him and had sneaked in to write him a note. That was the worst summer of your life, you decided and you shivered.

“I dare you to kiss Eddie on the lips.”

For a good second, everyone was quiet and you could hear someone gasping. It was Ben.

You looked Richie right in the eyes and saw frustration but also surprise there. It was almost as if he was gonna ask you “Why?” if there just wouldn’t have been all those people.

“Oh, come on, Rich. Everyone here has kissed everyone here...I mean, almost. Or. Okay. Maybe it was just Bill and Beverly, then Ben and Beverly [now a couple], then me and Beverly and even Bill and Mike [for scientific reasons - the project failed and Bill was now happily married]. Don’t make a fuss.”

“She’s right”, Mike said and gave Bill a curious look. Bill laughed and pretended to look at his phone.

“When did you and Beverly kiss?”, Stan suddenly asked and you looked at him in shock.

“Oh, shit”, you said and sounded a little too tipsy. “Okay, it was before us...And it was only one kiss.”

“And what a kiss”, Beverly added with a grin. Ben laughed awkwardly and grabbed Beverly harder by her waist. She gave him a short kiss on the cheek.

“Okay, so what now?” Eddie asked, almost impatiently.

Your face went from Eddie to Richie and back to Eddie.

“This is bullshit. We don’t...I mean, we don’t have to do this. This is a bullshit game and no one really cares if...”

“Are you gonna do it or what?” Eddie lifted his left eye brow and watched how Richie frowned in confusion.

Eddie groaned like he had before and all of a sudden took Richie’s face in his hands. Richie felt how his heart slipped down his stomach. He gasped for air, right before he felt how Eddie pressed his lips against his own. For a short moment he couldn’t even close his eyes and just stared in disorientation, then he felt how slowly his eyes closed.

It was...the most beautiful kiss he had ever experienced in his whole life. Eddies lips tasted like coffee and Bacardi and even a bit like his inhaler. He felt his heart beat through his chest as Eddie softly strengthened his grip on Richie’s face.

After a few seconds he felt how Eddie slowly pulled his head back. When he opened his eyes again, he looked into a pair of warm, acquainted eyes.

“Could be worse, right?” Eddie quipped, suddenly sounding like a mixture of serious and sleepy. His voice was higher than it was before and he didn’t take his eyes off of Richie as fast.

“Sure”, Richie spoke under his breath.

That was the second Beverly put a satisfied look on her face and continued to spin the bottle. Everyone was doing normal things again but for Richie the time seemed to move in slow motion.

Suddenly you felt bad. Maybe you shouldn’t have. Maybe...

“Honey, I’ll just go to the kitchen and grab some fresh glasses”, you said to Stan and vanished like a flash.

After entering the kitchen and before you heard the door slam, you heard Richie calling “I’ll help you!” from behind you. Before you could get away, he stood already in front of you.

“Why?”, he asked you.

He looked at you with slight disappointment in his eyes. The rest seemed just...tipsy.

“I’m sorry, Richie. I don’t know why I did that. It was wrong. I shouldn’t have. I really don’t...I’m so sorry”, you said, trying to calm yourself rather than him, because he seemed surprisingly calm.

“I just-”

“Do you guys need any help?”, you suddenly heard somebody asking. It was Eddie. You didn’t hear when he entered but you were pretty glad that he had come in.

It was true. It was just a stupid kiss and what one would make out of that. It was not your fault that Richie seemed to maybe see more in that game of Truth or dare than there actually was. People had to kiss other people all the time for that exact reason. You had kissed Beverly, Mike had kissed Bill, all for that reason. Why should Richie be spared?

“Actually, we do. I’ll take these glassed out, maybe you could help Richie with the snacks. Thank you, Eds”, you smiled at him, as he gently grazed your arm.

“Anything for the bride.”

With those words, you vanished. Back to the others. Other than for Richie, Eddie seemed less concerned about the kiss. Actually, he seemed...content.

“I can take care of the snacks. You can go back and...”

“Can we talk about it?”

Richie felt how the blood in his veins froze. “About what?”

“The kiss.”

Oh no. Oh no. He would totally mention how he had noticed what Richie felt and that he could never have the same feelings...not for a man. Not for Richie. He felt quiet nauseous.

“I hope it won’t do any harm on our friendship, that’s all”, Richie lied and told the truth at the same time. “I mean, it’d be the fucking worst. I’ll never play truth or dare again for the sake of-”

“Richie...”

“Also, what are we? Teenagers maybe? We’re fucking adults! Can’t we act like it? [Yikes.] People of our age don’t play games at parties anymore, no, they rather do-”

“Richie.”

Before he could keep talking, he felt how Eddie tried and pressed him against the breakfast table. Richie was awkwardly bent over aback while Eddie was coming nearer. He couldn’t take his eyes of him for a second. Even though Richie was tripping backwards, Eddie wouldn’t stop and went along until they had reached the wall.

“Richie, I want you to kiss me.”

Eddie wasn’t really this confident when he was sober. Sure, he was not really shy and especially not around Richie. But right in that second he exuded some kind of dominance that made Richie weak by his knees. He stared at him and tried to say something just to close his mouth again.

“But...why would you...”

“No talking”, Eddie ordered, almost craving. He placed his hands gently on Richie’s chest and let his fingers run up and down through the material of his shirt. Richie felt how it slowly became harder to breathe. “Just kiss me”, he said. His eyes followed the structure down from his head to his feet just to get to his eyes again. He bit his lip and for Richie it was inexplicable how one person alone could be so damn hot.

His lips could only form two words, before he let go of all.

“Oh fuck.”

After that he placed his hands on Eddie’s hip and pulled him closer, so close, that nothing could ever fit between the two of them. After shortly looking into his eyes, he almost lost himself in them.

He felt the relief of eventually placing his lips on Eddie’s. It was the best feeling ever. Under his breath he could hear how Eddie softly moaned into his mouth. His tongue circled shyly along Eddie’s lower lip, then always faster. Eddie placed his hands in Richie’s dark hair and gently pulled a bit.

It was romantic and slow but it was also expectant and so damn past due.

After quiet some time, Richie felt how Eddie pulled his head back. He was breathing heavily and looking at him with a look in his eyes that Richie had never before seen on Eddie.

“What is it?”, he whispered.

“I-I wanted to ask you...ask if maybe you wanna continue but in my bedroom.”

What had begun and sounded like an unfunny joke in the beginning, was now Richie’s life long dream which became true.

“We don’t have to...I mean...you don’t have to think you’d have to do anything that you don’t really...”

“I want it”, Eddie burst out. He coughed slightly. “I mean...I want it. I do”, he said in a soft voice.

“Isn’t it...quiet early to say I do?”, Richie asked and gave his friend a big, confident grin.

“I should have said it years ago”, Eddie said and smiled.

They stood there looking at each other for a few seconds, when Eddie grabbed his hand.

“Okay. Sneak me in, Eddie spaghetti.”

“There is no spaghetti for you if you call me that again”, Eddie laughed and Richie laughed, too, knowing he was joking. Oh shit, he wanted him.

And that was the only thing he had wanted for years.

Actually...forever.

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pinkbutterfly84 · 5 years

Text

Scorpion Season 3

I have read several posts that Toby is really irritating in this season I have never seen it before but will be keeping an eye out. Interested to see how Happy explains herself and how Toby reacts....

3.01 - Toby dealing with it in a typical genius way practically looking for her husband

Poor Toby he looks so hurt when Happy walks through the door

For him to say he doesn't trust her must of really hurt Happy. I still dont get why she cant tell him what's going on he looks in so much pain. The only time I dont like Happys actions.

We heard Happy tell Toby she loves him for the first time, presume it has been said behind closed doors but nice to hear she does love him

Walter knows who Happy is married too! Has he kept it a secret all this time thats gonna really hurt Toby's feelings.

Toby is still on point with his behavioural skills

I know that they are dealing with a lot but Happy really needs to be more understanding of Toby and tolerant of his questions she must know what he is like and how he wont stop until he finds the truth

Toby telling Happy he is hurt and angry and she offers no source of comfort I think she finds it easy to switch from work Happy to home Happy and now she is completely focused on work

She says Toby has her heart and soul which is romantic but I'm sure that is not what Toby is feeling - Happy still has some work to do with herself but she has come so far and Toby really should remember that

Toby says he is resinding his proposal but Happy doesn't want that Toby us lashing out in anger Happy looks so hurt

Happy is retreating into her hard shell - maybe she is expecting Toby to break up with her or she feels guilty either way she is acting slightly like the beginning of season 1

Can I just point out Toby may of hit the bottle understandably but he didnt gamble even in his darkest moment his promise to Happy still means something and he didnt want to hurt or disappoint her

Favourite quote- 1. I am married 2. I didn't delete anything 3 I dont like t you 4. I'm in love with you

Favourite scene- it's not a favourite scene because it's so heart breaking but Happy and Toby talking for the first time

3.02 continuation from last episode

Happy still snapping at Toby it may be the next episode but still the after he found out

Toby maybe upset but he still worries for Happy when she is in the pipe with Paige

Favourite quote- you pretend you dont love Paige and I will pretend Happys not married to some yaho

You think the fish are farting away from the submarine

Favourite scene- the end scene Happy telling Toby they will be a family if two and eating there tea together there is hope

3.03 - not much quintis to evaluate...... Toby is meditating not sure how productive it is

The question is how much are Toby and Happy hanging out, outside of the garage. He may be avoiding hounding her about it but has he forgiven her enough to spend time with her

I like Walter and Toby's relationship they both respect each and what they do

It's quite noticable in this episode how far apart Happy and Tiby are usually they work together, stand together even after the failed date now contact is limited

Favourite quote- some world class behaviourist like me would say this will drive you crazy

Favourite scene- my favourite scene is not because of the story but its Toby in his denim shirt looking beautiful ❤🔥❤

3.05 - oh no Collins a short cameo I hope!

Toby must be desperate to ask Collins for help just shows the extremes he will go to, to find the answers. Surly Happy should have told him by now. It shows just how much Toby loves Happy to stay with her with this huge secret between them

The U Dog need I say more........

Still a lot of distance between quintis and Happy berating Toby for talking to Collins when she is the one keeping the secret

Side note- this is a really important episode showing the true struggles of Autism something which many families deal with and not enough attention is made of it is written and played perfectly by all the writers and cast. Well done 👏👏👏

Happy showing a glimpse into her childhood is heartbreaking and gives an insight to why she can be closed off

I cant imagine how hurt Toby must be when he finds out it is his best friend Walter who Happy is married too. Why did Walter keep it a secret he could of told Toby years ago, whenvtgey guest got together or now, makes you understand why Walter was so against the relationship

Happy drops a bombshells........ I'm pregnant

What I would of loved to see is Toby and Happy conversation straight after the bombshell what did Toby say???

I hope she wasnt to marry Toby because she loves him not just because she is pregnant

Favourite quote- frustraters riddle solvers incorporated, you riddle I fiddle

Favourite scene- Toby finding out Walter is the husband

3.06 - glad got to see the meaningless wedding proves it was just for a green card

Toby is showing signs of jealousy and is obviously keen for them to get a divorce

Happy is being very hostile towards Toby I can however imagine Toby is being very full on with pregnancy and is probably worried about being a mother due to her childhood

Walter is being slightly selfish he should be doing whatever he can to make it up to Toby

Toby is being an arse in this episode I think he still has hostility built up in him and cant air his frustrations with Happy as he is over worried about her so takes it out on everyone else

I switch from being annoyed with Toby to feeling sorry for him in this episode

Happy wearing Toby's clothes gives me all sorts of feels!

Happys face is very Happy when she hears Toby's voice over the comms

Happy and Walter having to live together...... and Toby wanting to be with Happy so stays on the floor. This shows Happys love for Toby as she is willing to do something which makes her so uncomfortable and Toby is there to support her. I like to think that she isnt used to bring vulnerable with anyone else so lezbs towards toby in the night holding his hand or moving to the floor as she isnt used to sharing a bed with anyone but him

Favourite quote- who was your caseworker mr magoo

Perhaps I should wax my chest incase the milk comes

Favourite scene- Paige giving Toby advice first time you get to see a friendship between these two

Happy has always been a strong independent women I think having someone sharing her burdens is taking her some getting used to I hope she can learn to share her burdens with Toby

3.07 - l love this episode mostly because Toby looks fine in the overalls and slightly tanned!

Poor Happy she looks so uncomfortable the things she does for love

Happy looking after Ralph is funny she gets an insight of what its like to raise a child

I always like to see Toby in his medical element its when his character really shines

Toby phoning Happy because he knows she needs his support he does his best anticipating her needs

Toby made a rocking chair for Happy so sweet man of many talents

Favourite quote- maybe you could save that costume for the homeymoon

Favourite scene- Happy and Toby talking on the rocking chair both admitting their fears to each other is good progress

3.07 - this episode is funny at the beginning and ends on one of the most emotional scenes I've ever watched

Poor Ralph trying to get a sensible answer from geniuses

This episode touches on a couple of important issues 1. The importance of voting and the implications of voter fraud 2. Pregnancy loss

Happy and Toby seem more of kilter this episode working and talking together and back to shared looks

Is this the first compliment Happy has given Toby

Toby negotiating with the Chinese is a great scene only Toby could do this!

I watch the Happy Toby scene several times- hearing Happys voice crack is heart breaking she had come to terms with the pregnancy and wanted a family so bad

Toby looks destroyed between Happy's pain and his own he tries to comfort her with words but in the end its the action of still wanting to marry her even without the baby which shows her she can lean on him at this difficult time

I would like to think after this they leave and spend some quality time together comforting each other

I love how Toby finally understands and loves Happy enough to give her space and not force physical contact on her because it's not how she deals with lsin even though it's the one thing he needs and I love how Happy eventually learns into to Toby for comfort and provides him with what he needs even though it doesn't come naturally

Favourite quote- I screamed into that crap pile for 20 minutes

Speaking of the fetus I can't wait to meet us when is your overdue pre natal check up

Favourite scene- the end scene with Happy and Toby so superbly acted by Eddie and Jadyn you can feel the emotion and end with Happy finally agreeing to marrying Toby

3.08 -

As Toby and Happy stayed back at the garage I would like to of seen a bit more conversation over the false pregnancy it seems to have been glossed over when in real life this can effect couples for longer then a day or 2

Love how Happy wants to get married straight away she feels the need to secure her family

Toby wants a big wedding

Happy shows real anxiety thinking Toby is having second thoughts but Toby just wants to show of his 'babe' of a wife

Another way Happy shows her love for Toby by agreeing to a big wedding the one thing that makes her really uncomfortable

Favourite quote- my baby's got a heart of gold

Whats the scoop kitten

You're a softie - be glad I am because that is why your getting a bug wedding - really- if that grumpy can smile at his wedding maybe this grump can too

Favourite scene- each quintis scene they may only be short scenes but they really show there love for each other in their own unique ways

3.09 - the next few episodes lack quintis scenes many rumours why this is I think Toby and Happy are dealing with a lot out of work so use work times a chance to get some space and thinking time

Although they are not in many scenes the ones they are in show they are comfortable in their relationship

Favourite quote- Walter if my Turkey is not cooked in time your goose will be

Sweetheart you have some explaining to do

Grandmas a jail bird

Favourite scene- Toby getting pelted by golf balls is always funny

3.10- not much quintis in this. I have come to the conclusion this means that are settled into a relationship and comfortable with each other they simple exist together

Toby agreeing that he knows what it's like not to be a great guy with no direction before meeting a special women. I think the playboy life was a bit much and Happy obviously disagreed to. I hope she liked hearing Toby admit how she had changed him for the better

Favourite quote- I smell a rat a ripe raw rat

Favourite scene- no favourite scene but a nice episode I like that Ralph teaches veronica a valuable lesson

3.11 love this Christmas episode send favorite next to the one in season 2

Toby's jumper is horrific

I love that Toby is trying to make perfect Quintis memories for Happy trying to erase the memories of the past

Happy must really love toby dressing up in order to get Toby's present plus she knows him well enough to know she couldn't make him something without him knowing

Toby and his costume fetish poor Happy the things she must have to wear to get Toby's motor running

Love Toby and Happy snuggled up together I think Happy is trying to keep Toby Happy

Toby showing his immature side by pointing out Tim was photo shopped out of the picture

Happy is like a sister to Sly I like their relationship

Toby looks so happy that Happy loves her gift if a little hurt by her lack of thanks but her gift more then makes up for it

I would like to think they have there own Quintus Christmas at home after

Favourite quote- ok you heard my lady let's home alone their arses

I'm a pissed off ex navy seal and even I'm scared of her

Favourite scene- Happy and Toby exchanging gifts

3.12 - fantastic episode the team working well together

Toby is amazing in this episode what a doctor!

Ahhh Happy loves having Cabe around he is like a surrogate dad

Now Happy is with Toby her jokes and sarcasm are flowing

Toby is always confident to tell Happy how he feels or how hot she looks no matter who is with them

Everyone has faith in Toby no jokes today

Quintis work so well together with Toby there Happy can overcome her fear of blood. Toby needs Happy and he knows how hard it is for her to deal with blood. There he is with his soft voice he uses just with her

I would of liked to have seen Happy tell Toby how amazing he did

Toby looks like he has had a rough day looked like he was going to throw up at one point, it must be very hard and emotional to work on your friend/father figure. I hope he manages to unload and Happy provides support to him when they get home

Favourite quote- winner winner fermented fish dinner

Isn't that the cutie who's hot for your bootie

Sly I'm wearing Cabe on me like a sock puppet sterile went along time ago

You kiss me with that mouth

Hey, I'm really proud of you

So many great funny quotes in a tense episode

Favourite scene- any scene where Toby is being a doc he really is amazing

3.13 - this episode shows the light hearted quintis its nice to see them back to normal

Walter and his conch is a recipe for disaster

The thought of them both up all night discussing wedding venues is too much I love to imagine at home Quintis

Happy is particularly touching in this episode hold Toby's hand and she is the one instigating looking at the winery as a wedding venue

Toby is pissed how funny 🍷🍷

Cute quintis kiss Happy pulling Toby towards her

They work completely in sync with each other

Walter using his 197 IQ to override everyone's opinions

Happy actually chooses a wedding venue then Toby admits he is in debt love he expects Happy to overreact yet..... she is also in debt doesn't blow up at Toby such growth

They are both just desperate to get married dont care where. Happy has really developed emotionally she is not afraid of bring with Toby now and is actively wanting her family

Favourite quote- my opponent is a dork I win

Why dont we roam around the grounds there could be a sweet spot to tie the knot

You drive I'm pickled

Favourite scene- quintis at the winery and quintis talking wedding venues

3.14 - I think ive said this for the last few episodes but I love how easy their relationship is at the moment gentle banter, loving looks and advice they are in a great place

Love that even before they were together they had their own secret projects likd the Waltercon something they had just between the 2 of them

Both Toby and Happy know and are open about Happy bring able to deal with Walter emotionally or not as the case may be

Favourite quote- you will be the first politician taken down by a never had sex tape

I dont have time to babysit that emotional stunted genius

Favourite scene- Happy and Toby showing paige the Waltercon

3 15 - perfect Toby episode funny Toby moments plus heartfelt Quintis moments

Toby fulfilling a childhood fantasy of being a pirate I think he had to he fo grown up as a child with his parents that he never got the chance to play smart being a pirate

Toby getting bored is funny shows how a genius mind needs to be kept active

Toby being the hero is very rarely seen, seeing him jump to rescue Toby is great to see even with a cheese knife in his mouth

Happy has grown and is now more comfortable in airing her concerns and fears with Toby.

She loves him so much that she fears that he will get bored with her Toby needs to reassure her how much she means to him everyone else knows his love for her but her past still makes her worry

Favourite quote- you are the treasure I've been searching for my whole life

Toby hold onto your frilly hat I see something coming into view

Favourite scene- Happy showing her fears that Toby will get bored with her

3.16 - this episode shows just because quintis arnt together doesn't mean they dont have each others backs.

The emotion Happy shows in this episode just goes to show the depth of Jadyns acting ability she really nails these scenes

Toby looks good in any type of hat 🧢

Toby knows Happy needs a bit of space before ge goes too her so her comforts Cabe before going to provide Happy with the comfort and support she needs

Favourite quote- that is not a coat hook it is a coat rook

Love bug we'll check in with you later, Paige it's time to carbo load

Look what I learned from my main squeeze

Favourite scene- Happy watching her dad go to prison such raw emotion

3.17 - so much about this episode I love one of the best quintis episodes so far

Happy is now so comfortable in her relationship that she openly displays affection by resting her feet on Toby may not seem like a big deal for for Happy this is huge

Toby makes a great surrogate uncle always providing Ralph with great advice even when it's hard to hear

Toby is so worried about Happy and feeling helpless as he cant be there with her

Another superb acting job by Jadyn the emotion she puts in is heart wrenching

Happys biggest fear is Toby rejecting her I love that Toby got to realise this and it proves how much she does love him and she admits she is perfect for Toby

God that speech from Toby melts me everytime his soft voice his love for Happy is probably my favourite scene of all seasons so far

Happy sees Toby in front of her he is her security and what age needs

Favourite quote- my biggest regret in life is that we didnt meet when we were 8 cause I would have fallen in love with you from that moment, the truth is you've never been alone my love for you has always been there it just took a while for our paths to cross so I could share it with you and underneath all those neuro toxins in your head you know I'm right. You have nothing to be scared of ever

Favourite scene- Toby talking Happy out of her hallucination

3.18 - now Happy has a family and lover she is branching he friendship circle even if it is online

Toby is very concerned when Hsppy goes off on her own

My question is who does Hsppy call Walter or Toby - I like to think its Toby hes always the one she turns too

Toby knows this is something Happy needs to manage so he supports her without taking control

l love how Happy calls on Toby everytime she is worried about Ava and how Toby calls Happy out for her lack of friends

Favourite quote- do you know how long it's been since I slept, I need my jammies

You must be Walter, Happy said you were a wackadoodle

Favourite scene- opening scene especially when Happy throws the wrench

3.20 - a great quintis episode which is funny yet shows their love for each other

Seeing them in therapy is a great step and the fact Happy initiated it shows how much Toby means to her and in Toby's eyes she can do no wrong

Watching Tobh attract the monkey always makes me giggle how Eddie Kaye Thomas did this without falling apart is beyond me. Always great acting whether funny or serious

Although Happy is perceived as slightly mean in this episode if you think of all the other episodes she is never this mean and he loves it anyway her sarcasm and his immaturity are part of what attracts them to each other

Toby in his denim shirt 🔥🔥

Favourite quote- she's my spicy Asian noodle

Wow nobody looks good in that hat

The hat and I are one

Whats Toby talking about - a pile of crap - doesn't he always

Favourite scene- Happy and Toby in therapy

3.21 - nice to see Happy involved in wedding prep even if its begrudgingly

Happy and Toby working in sync together show that he helps Happy with mechanical projects in the garage and in the field. Happy never would of allowed anyone to help her mechanical so she now must trust Toby

Happy struggles knowing his to deal with a girl friend like Paige she obviously hasn't had any before Paige giving her a valuable lesson in friendship

Poor Toby having to electrocut Happy even with her permission, knowing you are causing pain to the person you love cant be easy

He looks so concerned for Happy when he pulls them off the rope

Hsppy doesn't want to let Toby down I love how she looks at him with pure love

Favourite quote- get ready for Sly heartbreak in 3 2 1

Man they sound like they've been married for years

You cant get rid of me that easily Quinn

Favourite scene- Paige and Happy talking in the ambulance it truly shows Happys trud feelings and worries about the wedding but solidifies her feelings are strong for Toby

3.22 - I don do wonder how much they pay Eddie kaye thomas as he always has to do things that make him look stupid

Happy Quinn is at a spa a sight no one would ever have predicted

Oh Walter where is your romance

Even though Happy tells Toby and Walter to shut it over the Astriod / Meteor debate she continues to call it a meteor showing her alliance with Toby

Favourite quote - Walter weddings are about love and magic and hope.

Well I would love to hope they buck the trend, but the best approach is preparation and magic is nonsense.

Why does Superfun guy have a helicopter when he can fly?

Its for when he gets tired

Favourite scene- Quintis at the Spa - completely out of character yet they seem so at ease

3.23 - quintis on batchelor parties this I would love too see

Happy struggling to adjust to Toby moving in with her. You don't see Quintis disagreeing often to reassuring to see it does happen as with every norms couple

Happy worrying about Toby is always great to see as its usually the other way round

Happy doesn't deny having sexy dreams about Toby!

Happy and Toby are willing to do what they can to make there relationship work counselling, making room for each others things

Favourite quote- she's hotter then a street corner Rolex

I kissed paige on the rocket - you should of kissed her on the mouth

Maybe you had a sexy dream - gross - there's nothing gross about them there perfectly normally Happy has them about me all the time ' gross

Favourite scene- Happy giving Toby the framed picture all these scenes over this half of the season shows how much she loves him in her own unique way

3.24 - this episode ❤❤❤❤❤

When I first watched it I was confused as the episode went on why are they working on their wedding day but as I rewatched it I realised how completely Quintis the episode is a perfect nod to an amazingly unique relationship

Toby couldn't comprehend Happy looking at Ryan Gosling only the suit

Happy getting bolshy at Walter with the fear he will screw up her wedding day for all her hard shell exterior she wants the perfect wedding

Happy not keen on flowery wedding vows Toby knows this and Happy knows Toby is the one for words

They are both devested thecweddingvis seemingly cancelled

Best thing Paige has done in all the episodes impromptu wedding!

Both Toby and Happy stay true to themselves Happy in a simple dress understated hair and make up and black boots! Toby in his American Pie tux and converse trainers

Tobya face when Happy walks down the alse stunned, in love, in awe that one look says it all every girl dreams of finding someone to look at them the way Toby looks at Happy

At crunch time all Toby can say is I love you he is actually speechless

Happys vows are beautiful honest and very Happy they blow Toby away

Does anyone else notice its Happy who is leading the way very quick to say I Do and goes to kiss Toby as soon as they are pronounced husband and wife

I love Eddie kaye thomas dance moves

The only thing I dont like about this episode is the writers chose this episode to put Paige and Walter together

Happy has secrets..........

Favourite quote- happy saw Ryan duckling wearing a tux like that in a movie poster

Its Gosling and she lingered, she likes the threads

You ever think she lingered on Gosling

Favourite scene- wedding vows don't need to say anymore

3.25 / 3 26- highly tense episode love seeing Quintis transition to husband and wife

2nd time we actually hear the words I Love You from Happy

Loving Toby's medical abilities in this episode

Happy has more secrets not as big as being married to Walter but she needs to start opening up to Toby

Poor Toby learning lots of new facts about the love if his life

Working together as a great team as always Toby has obviously been watching Happy work as he is getting better at engineering work. Happy thinking like a doc as well

Its nice to see Toby can be annoyed with Happy its usually the other way round

Love Happy speech she doesnt show her love often but when she does its honest and real. Her marriage to Toby means a lot to her and she realises that her past has lead her to her future

Favourite quote- please remain in your seats until the captain turns off the crap your pants sign

Who's Jake Gylinhall is he related to that Gilligan fellow

Oh so my physic needs some fine tuning, it's not Gylinhall enough for you

Sorry about that we were just looking to grab a couple of coconuts - me too

Favourite scene- Happy telling Toby outfit all the things she's been or will ever be, being his wife is her favourite

Happy and Toby having some private time and Ralph and Cabe catching them

#scorpionedit #cbs scorpion #jadyn wong #happy x toby #toby x happy #happy quinn #eddie kaye thomas #toby curtis

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tintinwrites · 6 years

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the story of a starry night | 1950′s!Poe Dameron x Reader

A/N: After my work tomorrow is when I start having a few days off and will work on the musical prompts. But I got listening to a record of Nelson Eddy’s from the 50′s and I started writing okay. I also have a thing for the 50′s (I am well aware of the very bad things in them, don’t worry). I also have a thing for Oscar in that movie based then which is like Suburbia or Suburbicon I DON’T EVEN KNOW and like while Poe still looks like Poe in this and not Mustache Mcgee this was still slightly driven by Oscar looking that way

Rating: T

Warning: Naughty words.

Word count: 1,718, apparently!!

Summary: You don’t know why you even bother coming to these parties when no one cares to dance with you. And then comes Poe.

GIF credit: I have no idea, but it’s not mine.

Important song that inspire this little fic: Story of a Starry Night - Nelson Eddy

You weren't sure why you had decided to attend the party in the first place.

It wasn't like you were oblivious to the gossip that women — and even some men — whispered when it came to the subject of you; you were well on your way to spinsterhood. Most women you knew had been with the same man since sixteen or seventeen, and the couples had been married since eighteen. Some had children and some were desperately trying.

But you had never seemed to catch anyone's eye. Not in high school, not in college, not at the market, and certainly not at the job you had that earned you pitying looks from women who spent their days at home thanks to working husbands.

You enjoyed working and intended to continue, but you also sometimes longed for a man to look at you the way they all seemed to look at everyone else.

The party was hosted by the most glamorous woman you knew, who seemed to garner the attention of any man within ten feet, yet never settled down with one. Her soirees were always crowded and fun, if watching everyone dance with their respective partners while you stood in the corner could be considered fun.

The hostess was on her fourth dancing partner, swaying with everyone to some love song coming from the phonograph; while you stood off to the side, sipping champagne in your best dress.

It was the prettiest shade of green that you felt most beautiful in.

But perhaps you didn't look as good as you thought, since every man was passing by you without so much as a second glance.

When a beautiful song came on about deep love and passionate, secret nights, and you were still standing alone, you suddenly couldn't take it and escaped to the balcony of the beautiful house the hostess had inherited.

The air was warm as was the breeze, which played with your hair that you had tried to style so perfectly. You leaned heavily against the railing of the balcony, looking up at the star-filled sky and willing yourself not to cry from your loneliness.

There were footsteps coming from behind you. "Oh, shit. I didn't realize anyone was out here."

The swear word had you looking over your shoulder in slight surprise to see a man that was gossiped about nearly as much as you.

Poe Dameron. He'd fought in the war quite impressively, yet hadn't returned to a loving wife like so many. It had been years now, and he still hadn't taken a wife even though he was in his mid-thirties.

Some said he preferred the company of men, while others said he was an absolute cad and masher who seduced women then left them. A select few people said he was just too strange to find the right woman.

His hair was curly and he made no effort to use products in it like others; he believed heartily in the rights of women, and spent more time joking around than being a respectable man.

He just wasn't your typical family man, you supposed, and therefore hadn't found a woman willing to put up with him.

"I'm surprised you even noticed I'm here." You straightened up and moved to go back inside, but he gestured for you to stop as he came to stand beside you.

"You don't have to leave just 'cause I'm here. Unless I scare you, in which case you can feel free to run away." He leaned on the balcony much like you just had. "Why wouldn't I notice you? It's hard not to notice the girl standing alone all night."

You almost felt embarrassed that anyone had noticed you all by yourself, but you gave him a stubborn look. "I'm not a girl."

He seemed taken aback by your fiery response. He grinned. "You're right. You're a damn lovely young woman who shouldn't be standing alone all night."

"Well, you're the only man to think so."

"What do you mean?"

"Not one man has ever wanted to dance with me. Not back in school, not at any parties." Your voice trembled slightly. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I put on my best dress, I spend hours at the beauty parlor..."

"I have a theory." His words had you looking at him with teary eyes. "They're all stupid."

You gave a fairly pitiful laugh, shaking your head. "I don't know why I come to these parties anyway. Everyone gives me looks of pity and no one ever dances with me. I doubt if anyone ever will. I should just go home and stay there." You turned and started towards the door, your heels clicking against the hard floor of the balcony.

"You could dance with me."

You paused and looked back at him. "Why would I do that?"

"Why not? We can hear the music out here."

You bit your lip and, now feeling slightly giddy at the thought of a man as handsome — if not quite controversial — as Poe Dameron wanting to dance with you, walked over to let him take your hand. His other hand went to respectfully grasp your waist, not daring to tread even an inch too high or too low, while your free one took hold of his shoulder.

He began to lead you slowly, keeping impressive time with the music.

"I didn't know you could dance," you said before you realized how insulting that must sound.

"Because I'm such a rascal?" His teasing tone showed that he took no offense and almost seemed used to such assumptions.

"—no." And, though you had believed the gossip about him before, you realized it was just that — idle gossip. His dancing made it clear that he was more sophisticated than people suspected and the way his hand stayed firmly on your waist was the complete opposite of what a masher would attempt. "I'm sorry I ever listened to them."

"Next thing you know, I'm going to find out you're not really a man-hating spinster."

A burning sensation bloomed in your chest from embarrassment, but the crinkle of his amused eyes eased it somewhat. "Is that what they say about me?"

He nodded. "I never believed it."

It took you a moment to realize you were smiling for what felt like the first time in a long time.

Though part of you wondered why the rumors about Poe seemed so true when they weren't even close.

"Why haven't you gotten married since returning from the war?" you asked softly as the music from inside turned to a song so quiet that it could barely be heard.

"You want the truth?" At your slight nod, he moved his hand from your side to tug a chain that he wore around his neck out from under the collar of his shirt; there was a wedding band on it, sliding and spinning from the movement before it stilled. "My mom's. She died when I was young and my dad let me have this, to give to whoever I marry. I figured if I have something like this, I should wait until I find that special person. Right?"

So there you were, unmarried and almost desperate for any man to show you affection, while Poe was unmarried because he was waiting for that one perfect person.

Maybe you were supposed to find each other. Maybe no men wanted you because, like Poe, you need to find that perfect person.

What if Poe was yours and you were his?

Could such romantic things happen outside of moving pictures?

"I think that's sweet." The two of you had stopped dancing at some point, just standing close and looking at each other.

"Do you?"

The conversation had lulled, not because you ran out of things to talk about, but because he kept glancing at your lips and you kept glancing at his.

You had never kissed anyone before, yet you were leaning in closer and closer. You panicked at the last second and pressed a quick, inexperienced kiss to the corner of his mouth.

He was smiling when you pulled back with a sheepish look. His eyes ran over your face before they darkened with what seemed to be lust, and this time he leaned in. Instead of panicking like you just had, his lips met yours with warmth and gentleness. You practically fell against his chest.

You were well aware that kissing was something people enjoyed; having finally experienced it, you understood just how enjoyable it really was.

If it wouldn't get you in trouble, you should have just grabbed a man and kissed him.

Though something told you that other men would not be as fun to kiss as Poe Dameron was.

He pulled away and you gave a deep gasp, having far too much of that fun to notice that you were running out of air.

"That was..." You giggled like a teenager and he grinned at you.

"You wanna get out of here and get a soda—"

"Poe, darling! I've been looking all over for you!" The hostess of the party could be seen standing in the doorway to the balcony as you both looked over. "I just finished dancing with Armitage and it was dreadful, just dreadful! I always have fun dancing with you."

"—uh..."

She spoke and dressed like a leading lady from the thirties, and her presence reminded you of how undesirable you were. How, while Poe was willing to kiss you, he definitely wouldn't choose to get a soda with you when he could dance with such a vixen.

Even nice men had their standards.

"Please go." You untangled yourself from him and tried to keep your tears away. "I don't want to keep you from enjoying yourself."

"Wait—"

"Goodnight." You quickly walked away, squeezing past the woman in the doorway.

"—goodnight." The disappointment in Poe's eyes wouldn't be seen by you as you just kept on walking, wanting to get far away before you broke down.

You weren't sure why you had decided to attend the party in the first place.

But it had almost seemed worth it for a moment.

Then someone more deserving of a sweet man like Poe came along.

And you decided that you would never attend a party again.

#poe dameron imagine #poe dameron x reader #star wars imagine #poe dameron fic

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years

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“After the disappointment of the Andrew Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man movies, everyone’s favorite wallcrawler has been having a renaissance. Entering the Marvel cinematic universe in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, the webslinger fully redeemed himself with well-crafted live-action film in Spider-Man: Homecoming.”

Yes...okay...that was definitely what Homecoming was....

“and a wildly successful spin-off film Venom, ”

I mean financially successful sure...

“In the midst of all his success, Spider-Man has quietly become one of the most inclusive and socially conscious superheroes of today.”

*raises eyebrow*

Okay...go on...

“Last week, it was announced that Spider-Man: Far From Home would feature two out transgender actors playing trans characters, the first big-budget superhero film to do so. Spider-Man: Homecoming also featured a queer character, as well as numerous people of color.”

Wait who was the queer character in Homecoming?

“It’s also worth mentioning that Spiderverse included a Jewish version of Peter Parker, who is typically portrayed as either secular or Christian.”

....ehhhhhhhhh....yes and no.

In media adaptations barring maybe one (the 1994 show cos I do not remember where he got married) Spider-Man is portrayed as...I guess secular but really it’s more that they just don’t say anything.

It’s not that the character is not a believer in a faith per se, especially if you go by older adaptations during times when hardly anyone was secular. It’s just that they, understandably, aren’t saying anything.

In the comics Peter is some kind of Christian but probably a Protestant (unless you go by Amazing Grace where he is an atheist but that’s hot trash we don’t talk about) but we don’t really talk about it that specifically.

We just know that he and his family celebrate Christmas and very, very occasionally Aunt May references going to church and that she, Peter and MJ believe in a monothetistic deity they refer to as ‘God’.

And really apart from the Church thing there is no clue to Peter’s religion and Marvel probably (wisely) would rather keep it that way. He even got married in a civil ceremony!

However in the SUBTEXT...he’s Jewish. And it’s basically an open secret that he is and always has been Jewish.

“The Spider-Man video game also featured a wonderful easter egg for queer fans by having a giant rainbow flag, as well as several smaller ones, scattered around the game’s fictionalized New York City map. ”

I mean that’s wonderful but I wouldn’t call that an Easter Egg so much as...it’s just what you’d find in modern NYC.

“Even the Venom film got in on the fun, with fans shipping Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and the titular male alien-symbiote after the two kissed in the film. Sony even encouraged the pairing, releasing a romantic comedy-esque trailer for the film to promote the home release. While some complained of queer-baiting, most felt that it was all in good fun and included queer people in on the joke, instead of making us the target.”

Again, good for them but I don’t think that was the movie actively trying to be positive towards queer people.

Brock and Venom kissed when Venom was bonded to Brock’s ex-fiance and had a pronounced female form, being an adaptation of a character literally called She-Venom.

And it was based upon a script written in the 1990s so really it was more the movie did it and then people took it as a thing that was shipping Venom and Brock (even though Venom is sexless). Brock and the symbiote have been shipped numerous times in the comics but the subtext has always been that the symbiote, if any sex, is female. In the Spec cartoon it is referred to as Symbi (a pun on Cyndi) and in the Spider-Girl comics it is marked out as female (granted this happens after it’s bonded to a woman).

And again, headcanon away but like...that probably wasn’t intentional at all Sony were just being goofy or unintionally made something people took a certain way.

“Indeed, even in the comics, Spider-Man has always been a fairly inclusive hero. Miles Morales was introduced in the early-2000s, taking over the mantel from Peter Parker for several years. ”

Okay, this is so weird for me to be correcting such a praising point but lets really look at this.

First of all Miles didn’t take over Peter’s role for several years he did it permanently.

Second of all Miles is from 2011 so that’s not the early 2000s, that’s the early 2010s, but okay maybe that was a typo.

Third of all, is it really all that logical to say this franchise that began in 1962 has always been fairly inclusive and then cite a character from 2011 as proof of this? Wouldn’t examples from during the FIRST quarter century have been more apt?

Fourth of all...eh. Has Spider-Man been fairly inclusive from the start? Yes, no, its complicated.

Look there were exactly 0 LGBTQ+ characters in Spider-Man until maybe the 1990s and even then I couldn’t off my head tell you who they were. Felicia Hardy is bisexual but we didn’t find out until the 2000s and it was most prominent in an AU. Really the most significant LGBTQ+ character who’s had the fact that they are queer be more than a one off reference was Max Modell and he debuted 2011 and IIRC wasn’t established as queer until 2012. In defence of Spider-Man the Comics Code literally FORBID any character be anything other than straight until the 1990s and even then it was relatively rare, even in X-Men which you’d think it wouldn’t be.

If we’re talking POC again this one is a bit complicated Glori Grant, Joe Robertson, Randy Robertson are frequently appearing POC characters but not in every run and they aren’t usually as prominent as like Jameson, Aunt May, Harry Osborn, MJ, etc. Characters of other ethnicities are even less frequent and I don’t even know what we should make of Puma/Thomas Fireheart. I mean A for effort, they wanted a Native American character who wasn’t really a villain and wasn’t exactly a sterotype so there is that I guess.

Again though...most other Marvel franchises decade by decade weren’t much better with this and we should give credit where credit is due to the same guy who created Black Panther writing a nuanced scene where 2 black people in the 60s separated by age discuss different approaches to civil rights with neither being proven right or wrong.

When it comes to disabled people, outside of evil insane villains, forget it, there is nothing before Flash Thompson in 2008 unless you count Aunt May’s chronically poor health.

“Spider-Gwen quickly became one of the highest-selling female superhero comics. Spider-Woman was a prominently featured bisexual character, and the female Asian-American hero Silk also had LGBT supporting characters, Rafferty and Lola, who were in a healthy relationship. Additionally, many view vampire villain Morbius, who is getting a spin-off film starring Jared Leto next year, as a metaphor for those suffering during the HIV crisis of the '80s. ”

Again...Spider-Gwen and Silk are 2010s characters so that’s not ‘always fairly inclusive’.

I don’t even know if Jessica Drew is bisexual, I’ve never heard that but I don’t think she is.

Morbius as a metaphor for HIV...MIGHT be true if we are specifically talking about his 1990s solo-book which I’ve never read. But the character as originally created 100% was never about that because he was created in the 1970s before HIV was known about.

“Unlike his Marvel counterparts Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, Spider-Man’s world has accurately reflected real world diversity for years.”

....Not really.

I’m not even saying Spidey maybe haven’t been comparatively better at it than those guys but he’s deffo not been accurate.

Plus to be fair to the other guys, Captain America and Iron Man have had at least one major black supporting cast member and in Cap’s case he was fairly candid about social strife and issues.

And with Thor it’s not that fair to throw shade at him for not reflecting the real world given that 90% of this characters and stories are literally pulled from fantasy and myth. I don’t even know if there are any queer figures in Norse myth let alone poc.

“While it’s a seemingly simple idea that any of us can be a superhero, it’s sadly still a radical concept in a endlessly growing film genre that has predominetly centers straight cisgender white men. ”

Well that’s mostly because the comics the movies adapt are about those types of people.

“That is because relatability and inclusion has always been core to Spider-Man’s appeal and message. It’s why the late Stan Lee decided that, unlike other superheroes who expose parts of their faces, Spider-Man had to wear a full-face mask.”

Stan Lee only speculated that that was part of Spider-Man’s appeal, he never had any input on that design choice it was all Steve Ditko...who frankly was unlikely to have been thinking about that...

“Even further, Spider-Man isn’t the king of a country, a billionaire, a woman out of a Greek myth, or a brilliant scientist. He’s just an average high-school kid from Brooklyn who always strives to do the right thing even while struggling to balance his everyday life and hiding a secret identity.”

WHOA there buddy...Spider-Man isn’t routinely ‘a kid’ nor is he from Brooklyn.

MILES is from Brooklyn but Peter, as evidenced by that great big caption in Captain America: Civil War, is from QUEENS.

“And it’s the idea of balancing a secret identity with everyday life that has always allowed Spider-Man to connect with queer audiences long before comic writers were allowed to explicitly include LGBT characters.”

...I’m not denying this necesarrilly but whilst i’ve heard stories from poc who connected with Spider-Man I’ve never heard this about LGBTQ+ fans of Spider-Man.

“Indeed, perhaps the strongest part of Spider-Man’s inclusivity is the subtlety to which it has been done. While Black Panther, Black Lightning, and Wonder Woman rightly put issues of identity front and center, Spider-Man’s quiet diversity allows audiences who typically cry “SJWs are ruining my favorite characters” to actually see diversity showcased without it being overt.”

Errrrrrr...sure....*represses memories of when Miles Morales was first announced*

Lets um...wait and see what happens when those trans characters show up in the movie this year okay.

#Spider-Man #Peter Parker #Miles Morales

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cards-onthetable · 5 years

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Seems I'm wearing grumpy pants again... sorry

(LOL OOPS I get notifications for asks and messages but not submissions for some reason, so I’m just seeing this. Sorry if it’s been sitting since last week...)

Thanks for the review. I needed that laugh!! But I had questions, oh so many questions. So I watched the Jamko bits on instagram. I tried to send an ask but not enough characters (do you wanna punch me yet)?

1. Why does arsehole Janko have Jamie's mobile number? Do they have a relationship independent of Eddie? Maybe it's just me being stupid for assuming, but wouldn't Jamie's number be unlisted to avoid dealing with BS from those he arrests?

I’m sure Jamie’s actual cell number is not public knowledge - Maybe Armin knew which precinct Jamie’s at, and went through Police Channels to contact him? Like maybe that’s his duty phone as a sergeant or something? Or maybe Lena had passed on an NYPD courtesy card to him in jail lol. Hooray for plot holes. Who knows.

2. Did Lena know more about her husbands shady dealings than she lets on/Eddie is aware of? To me that would explain why never divorced. Or she may just be the marriage is forever no matter what type. Given the strained relationship between Eddie and her mother and also the way Lena seems to have treated her, I'm not so sure Lena was totally clueless. She may have moved a bit because people give her grief but she sure is not struggling financially so maybe her husband in jail is worth the high life.

It wouldn’t surprise me. When I wrote (and named, yo) Lena Janko I characterized her as a petty, materialistic person who was a knowing bystander at least, if not actually complicit in Armin’s crimes. But lol I also wrote Armin as a reformed, sympathetic, Good Guy out of prison so what do I know? But we saw that Eddie does not have contact with her father so I do assume Lena still has contact with him at this point - how else did he know Eddie’s engaged, which precinct to find her fiancé, etc?

3. Does Eddie still drive her Porsche? Given that it came from a dubious money source, it seems odd to me that she would still be driving it. The fanfare of the wedding will invite media attention so why make it so easy to make nasty comments? You know Garrett is all about OPTICS and she is about to be a REAGAN aka NYPD ROYALTY. What if Frank is asked about their relationship at a press conference? OPTICS PEOPLE! OPTICS!

No idea dude. When’s the last time we actually saw that car? I don’t know but previously I accepted the headcanon that she kept it at her parents’ suburban McMansion most of the time, with rare times she’ll bring it to the city for a few days. Parking in NYC is expensive af, yo. Like an actual assigned space costs as much as a second rent in some places. But now we know Lena’s been moving around the city for the last 5 years, not up in Westchester babysitting Eddie’s car, so your guess is as good as mine. As far as the optics, I’m not sure how they’ll play it. Lena has brought up the Irony of Eddie, daughter of a criminal, marrying the PC’s son but nobody else has said very much. Maybe the show will address it in a typical Who Cares way and it’ll just be a non-issue.

4. REDACTED because I have some Thoughts about this topic that I hope to address in this fic I’m hoping to finish soon. 👍

5. Why do you hate Anthony? I personally enjoy his sarcasm. But then I also enjoy Gormley's putting the mouth in gear before the brain so frequently.

WHY DO I HATE ANTHONY? OH HERE’S A CAN OF WORMS, AUSSIE. But I’ll be succinct. Anthony’s entire existence bothers me. He’s only here to make Erin’s lawyer-y storylines into detective-y storylines. How often do we see Erin actually act as a lawyer? We usually see her and Anthony Investigating or maybe arguing/discussing a case. We rarely see her actually going her job (except when her ADA position conflicts with Frank’s NYPD agenda). It’s like the show runners have no faith in their audience, and think the viewers only want to see detective/police storylines - as if lawyer storylines, and that whole branch of the justice system, would be too Boring for tv. So I hate Anthony because he takes away any opportunities for Erin - a supposedly powerful and successful woman - to do her actual job, and her entire position as ADA is minimized in the show. It’s insulting to the audience and insulting to Erin too. Anthony’s entire existence is unnecessary for the show to go on. Let us see Erin actually be a lawyer in a context other than being the Reagan Family Bad Guy (and maybe that would humanize her a little bit! We all know she gets some pretty shit writing/characterization lately) and drop this whole charade that investigative, action-packed storylines are the only interesting or relevant storylines.

The whole Jamko and the precinct secret is still BULLSHIT. There is no way there is no push back if their coworkers do in fact know. Does anybody know if this is actually allowed in the NYPD? A superior can date a direct subordinate? Seems ridiculous if that is actually true. Corruption allegations would be made daily. (Agreed yo. We all know it’s ridiculous. And like, does the precinct know? Are they still in the dark? Jamie and Eddie can discuss wedding plans in front of everyone, but it’s still a secret? Coooolcoolcool.)

Jamie not understanding Eddie's messy family situation is BULLSHIT for someone about to be married. If Eddie can't talk to Jamie about this because she fears being judged/not supported then really they should not be getting married. I'm not saying spouses have to share absolutely everything, but what you go through in life often does shape how you see the world generally, so the fact both Eddie and Jamie have chosen to not discuss important aspects of their lives with each other should be a massive red flag. (AGREED AGREED AGREED. I have so many issues all the time. If they’d dated like normal people before jumping into rings and vows, they’d have worked out the majority of this Big Stuff before deciding to commit to one another for life. Like, you typically want to know these things as relevant info when making that decision to get engaged - not after. This “get engaged and figure everything else out later” shit was/is terrible. If the show insisted on doing it this way, they AT LEAST should have moved the Armin situation and the Baby Discussion to the first few episodes of the season. Don’t talk to me about the weird time lapses and inconsistencies in this show, I don’t care if a month of ~actual time~ passes in one week between back to back episodes... they should not be introducing these topics for the first time in the two episodes leading up to the wedding. GOD I HATE EVERYTHING.) There's a reason divorce is so prevalent. I wonder if Eddie feels she should reconcile with her parents because of the closeness of the Reagan family. Or is it something Eddie herself actually wants? Family or not, sometimes people are just toxic and you need to cut them off for your own sanity. (I hope the Reagans don’t put pressure on Eddie to fix things with her parents, ugh. That would be overstepping in a major way and yeah, your relationship to someone shouldn’t trump their toxicity - like Eddie doesn’t have to forgive her parents just because they’re her parents.)

We've already discussed my thoughts on the Reagan siblings getting arsehole sprung from jail before the show aired (spoiler: they were not nice thoughts folks), but as for the BB continuity, consider this: the only consistency is the inconsistency!

@kwannemacher and I have kinda discussed the whole prison fiasco and I think arsehole lost his temper one night after watching a TV show that drove him insane so he started a prison riot and got extra time. He didn't just throw things at TV, he tore TV off wall, set fire to his mattress and started an all in brawl. So 5 years extra for totally losing his shit. BB has the capacity to ignite tempers here so it's feasible arsehole Janko totally lost it. Probably watched one of those dating shows where they pick the so called love of their lives and he couldn't believe who the guy picked. We all have bad days!! (😂😂😂😂😂 omg I can be on board with this)

In closing I hope @ontherockswithsalt has insurance because I am wondering if her TV can withstand the wedding viewing party if you will be enjoying with her (lol I think I will be, and I plan to wrap myself in whole body bubble wrap for the protection of myself and everyone/everything around me). I'm already emotional 🤮🤮🤮 if they go with their own vows. I may be wrong, but I think Will shows Jamie's soft side next week. He won't be dead face or whatever it is you call him. (Dude I am ALL IN on those ridiculous vows. If they’d only said them once, I’d be rolling my eyes @ the grossness, but it would be whatever. BUT THEY MADE A POINT OF SAYING THEM TWICE so they’re committed at this point. Make Jamie recite those ridiculous words for the third time. I want to see the pain on his terrible face as he suffers through that again. If we don’t get those vows I’ll riot.)

Enjoy your week

Aussie

P.S. Yes I realise his name is Armin, but that guy is a narcissistic ARSEHOLE

#submission #aussie

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