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stefanmikaleson1864 · 2 years

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I Need To See Her Part Two

A/N: I know I said that this was only going to be a part two but then the Idea just came as I began writing but the next part to this will be the last one lol I hope you all enjoy this and it’s not boring or weird. If you like this please like and reblog and comment it means a lot to see interactions on my work.

OA’s POV

“I love you so much�� I said to her

My heart broke into a million pieces. I hated seeing her like that. I knew how worried about me she was but she would never admit to it.

She always felt the need to be strong and hold things in.

I wanted nothing more to get into that car and drive home with them.

To be able to hold Y/N’s hand and walk home with her and be able to go to sleep in my bed. To be stop hiding and stop looking over my shoulder.

I was constantly worried I would make the wrong move and blow my cover. The real fear that no matter where I went they followed me.

The whole time i drove over here I kept looking back to make sure I was alone.

I wanted to be me again. Living this was life was just to hard a lie and making sure each lie covers each other.

That there is a never whole in my story for someone to question me. Trying to close this thing without causing alarm.

I wanted to see her. I thought if i had seen her that it would remind me on my life.

But it was even harder on me than I thought. It just made me miss her more and want to leave more. It got me all messed in the head more than I thought.

I sat there and watched them drive off. Making Maggie promise me that she would be okay.

It made me feel better knowing she wasn’t alone. I couldn’t the thought of her dealing with this alone.

I sat there for a few after they drove off. I needed the moment to clear my head and be able to take a moment to gather myself.

I missed her already is that crazy ? I just saw her and missed her so much.

I didn’t want to go back to where I was. It was messed up there and even without me being undercover it would be dangerous

. These people are not to be messed with. There was also this part of me that was getting to settled in there.

The line of me and this undercover was getting crossed. Let me tell you about this OP and maybe your understand me more.

My undercover name was Khalid. I started under as someone was a part of the lower drug cartel.

I was moving weight in and out of small places like school to college kids then started growing into selling to more suburban moms and rich people.

I meant the “Big Boss” Jamal. He was the one who ran half of Maryland if not more.

These people were down here were fucked up and did not play around. Anyone who was involved undercover or not was at risk.

I had managed to work my way up to the inner circle. I was in “Meetings” and doing what ever was needed of me. It was good because along the way i was able to keep records and evidence on everyone and everything that was going on.

The higher up i got the more i was worried. I didn’t know that there was so many important people.

From judges and cops and even corrupt detectives. The operation was more than just dealing that we originally thought.

These cops weren’t arresting anyone and if there it was from a rival gang. Then the detectives would take the drugs seized and sell them back to the gang for a cut.

When ever someone from the inside did get arrested they had judges on their payrolls and even gave harsher sentences to rival people.

Know you see why I am so paranoid and made it hard to go back.

The second i saw Y/N i was so happy to see her but i was also kind of regretting it. If anything bad happened to her because of me and being selfish I would never forgive myself.

I couldn’t trust anyone not even cops anymore. I truly was alone in all of this. My undercover had a girlfriend to.

She didn’t know I was under but her brother was Jamal. It was helpful to get my foot in the door.

I felt bad for using her. I had her make connections for me and get me in places.

She talked about nothing more than getting out and making a name for herself. I always thought for a second here and there to tell her who I was and getting her out.

It was to risky though i don’t know if i could trust her. She’s already starting to pick up on something.

We don’t act like a normal couple would. We don’t have sex with each other we barely kiss i mean if we do there’s nothing behind it.

We go on dates and hold hands but there’s always guilt behind it. I always think of Y/N when i’m with her.

Wishing it was her I was holding hands with and going out with. I always felt bad for Mya too.

She didn’t deserve someone who was just using her. Hopefully i could find a way of ending this without getting hurt.

She deserved to keep seeing the good out there. And for her to find a way out and live a good life.

So here i sit on this bench dreading going back. I stared at my phone just scrolling through pictures of her and one’s of us together.

On dates and just doing couple things. She always made me go out and try new things.

She brought me out of my comfort zone and that’s one of the reasons why I loved her so much.

I didn’t even realize I was crying until i saw the teardrops hit my phone. I just kept telling myself we are so close to wrap this up.

I just needed something Jamal that’s it. I had everything else on the cops and detectives and even the small players.

But damn Jamal was good and I couldn’t get anything on him. Eight long months and nothing.

I was broken out of my thoughts when my other phone rang. It was Mya probably wondering where I was. I lied and said I had a job down here to do and would be back soon.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes trying to get back into the Khalid mindset. I wasn't OA anymore.

“Hey baby what’s up” I asked answering the phone

“Babe where are you Jamal said you didn’t have a job up there where are you” She asked worried

“I’ll explain when I get home” I said hanging up the phone. I needed to keep it short and sweet.

Fuck i thought i’m screwed. It felt like it was time now that this case had to come to an end. If i lied and said I was cheating than Jamal would certainly kill me for doing that to his sister.

Then if i got caught in another lie than my cover would be blown. I knew after seeing Y/N it would be soon I was coming home but I didn’t think it was this soon.

I got in the car and drove down to Mya’s house. I was wracking my brain to see what was the best thing I could do.

The only solution I could come up with was to come clean.

To tell her who I was and hoped she would leave with me to go the FBI office. I knew if we gave a deal to another player there would be a good chance we could get them to flip.

At this point it was the only thing I could do. There was no other play considering I didn’t think it was going to come down like this so fast.

The drive to her apartment was fast considering how late it was. There was barely any traffic on the road.

The closer I got to her apartment the more I could feel my heart beating fast. The anxiety was taking over.

I pulled into the garage and made my way up. I tried to keep calm but it felt like my legs were going to give out

. Not knowing what really awaited me up there. Mya told Jamal i was on a job and he knew I didn’t have one he would hesitant to kill me.

He was very paranoid and he has killed for a lot less. I got in the elevator and made my way up.when i got to her door I hesitated before opening it. I took a deep breath and said fuck it let’s do it.

When I opened up the door. Mya was sitting on the couch when she saw me she had a look on her face.

“Where have you been” She asked

“I need to talk to you but not here and I need you to trust me” I said

“Is Jamal here” I asked

“No why would he be and what the hell is going on why are you acting weird” Mya Asked.

“Please okay come with me” I said

She nodded and got her stuff. I couldn’t trust her apartment he probably had it bugged. We drove out to an abandoned parking lot.

We pulled in and I turned off the car and turned and it looked at her

“Okay I know this is going to be hard to hear but my name is not Khalid It’s Omar and I work with the FBI you told me before you wanted out I can help you but we need to get out of here and go to the FBI office” I said

“Your kidding me what the hell is wrong with you?” she said

“You lied to me about everything who you are how can I trust you” Mya said

“I Know you have no right to trust me but you have to believe me I can help you” I said

She just looked at me with this face that was hard to read.

“I do I really do want out but Jamal he’s family and when you said you were on a job he said it wasn’t true he got paranoid and he came to my apartment. He said he would follow you” She said

My heart dropped how long was he following us for was my first thought.

“How long has he been tailing me” I asked

“Sense you left this morning I told him you were going out and even before the phone call earlier he said he couldn’t trust you he saw you with some white girl with a ponytail she looked like a Fed he told me” Mya said

My heart stopped beating he saw me earlier with Y/N and he saw me “cheating” on Mya. The fact that he never pulled up to our car left only one option.

He followed Y/N and Maggie and they were in trouble.

I got my phone out and called Maggie no answer not a good sign. I then called Y/N no answer. My hunch was right I could feel it. They were in danger.

I looked at Mya

“We are going to New York now” I said

“No I mean I don’t even completely know If i trust you” Mya said

“I know i have lied and been someone else but please we don’t have a choice I can help you live a better life get you into witness protection program. I know Jamal talks to you and I can back you up but you have to trust me” I said

“This is your shot at a new life a new beginning start over and life live you for you no one else” I said

“Okay Let’s go” Mya said

We drove to NYC. I speed the whole way there praying it was too late. This was my fault

I had to be selfish and see her and now she’s in danger because of me. I pray I can save her and Maggie.

while on the way there i got a call from Jubal

“OA we got a problem I talked to Maggie they said they got a tail on them and were thinking it’s got to do with your undercover work” He said

“It is please get help to them i’m on my way to NYC” I said

“I’ll try and contact them I’ll keep updated” Jubal said hanging up the phone

“Call your brother tell him to back off” I said

“I’ll try” Mya said

She called him and he answered thank god

“Jamal this is Khalid my real name is Omar I need you to back off please this is between me and you” I said pleading

“Can’t man you screwed me over what ever happens is on you” He said

“ I see them now right in front of me” he said laughing

When he said that there was a huge crash and the phone hung up.

We didn’t know what happened or what was going on. That was the hard part.

#oa zidan x reader #oa zidan imagine #oa zidan one shot #OA Zidan #zeeko zaki #Jubal Valentine #Maggie Bell #fbi #FBI show #fbi x reader #FBI imagine #fbi one shot #fbi cbs

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we-are-alive-and-deviant · 3 years

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If You Could Read His Mind Headcanons/Imagines

This is for Gavin, Markus, and Connor! The only three I have on here so far! I hope you enjoy!

Markus

If you could read my mind love, what a tale my thoughts could tell

You and Markus have been together as android partners to Carl Manfred since the beginning

He was just the android that did the caring for him. You were the android that cleaned up and also sort of helped Carl, but only if Markus had to do something for him outside the house.

You two became deviants at the same time, and you couldn’t help but have your hand on your mouth with tears streaming down your face as you saw your owner pass away in front of your eyes.

The police shot you first before they shot Markus; I’ll never forgive you Leo

From there, you two rebooted yourselves and have been inseparable… until…

Markus’ story began as a leader of Jericho. Your story is lost, just mentions in his and non existent by the fourth chapter.

For Markus, he found North. They have some disagreements sometimes but they still make it work. However, he never thought about how you would feel.

“It looks like North and Markus are a couple now.” Josh saw you leaning against the ship’s walls and decided to tell you the rumor that’s going around.

Silence just came from your aura, not wanting to reply or make a reaction.

They came back to the ship with their hands held together, walking by you without Markus looking back at you.

If only he knew how you feel… if only he could read your mind…

‘I was there first…I’ve loved you ever since we became deviant together… but you moved on. Now, I will.’

‘Now to think of our next plan. I now know that North is with the side of our people, on my side. For Y/N, I’ll have a talk with her later.’

Gavin Reed

I don’t know where we went wrong, but the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back

A few weeks of being Gavin’s partner, that’s what brought it all up

One night, during a drive around the city, Gavin decided to stop a bar to drink while you waited in the car, knowing that Gavin might not come out sober

You were right about him not being sober, but you would not stop hearing those words he would say about the bartender he saw inside. You won’t lie, she is pretty.

You took him home, carried him inside the house and then threw him gently to the couch to sleep.

This house you go to sometimes, it won’t be welcoming anymore.

When Gavin arrived at the station the next morning, having a hangover of course, he became confused at why you weren’t at the coffee machine.

He made himself a cup of coffee and talked with the police woman beside him, and in his mind, he wonders where you would have gone.

That thought went out of his brain and straight to his mouth when he saw you at his desk, putting files on top of other files.

“Where were you last night? Did you drive off to meet that plastic shithead at the other end of the block?”

He quickly regrets saying it as you turn around and he sees your puffy red eyes and a cold chuckle.

“You think I would just abandoned your drunken royal highness? To meet up with Connor who, in case you haven’t noticed, hasn’t been back from his fucking mission that you almost killed him over?”

“At least we don’t have to lose another couple of officers because of a damn prototype!”

“That ‘prototype’ might be the only one that can save our lives. You only care about your job.”

“Because they’re stealing it from us!”

“You guys never learn, do you? There were many people that were already homeless and wanted to steal people’s money or cigarettes because they were too fucking lazy to get a job. Guess what? They still complain to others that are now homeless like them! Humanity, us, always love to keep the drama around.”

“I didn’t ask for a fucking history speech!”

“Goodbye, Detective Reed.”

“Hey!”

From that point on, you never saw him that often. You used to love him dearly, ignoring his boasting and asshole attitude. But seeing him drunk and wanting to stay for another girl took over you.

From there, he never knew what happened that night. He never saw you that cold before, and he would deeply regret it for as long as he was sober. Drunk, and he doesn’t remember you existing.

He apologized for being an asshole to you that day but you would just nod your head and walk off, saying you have to work.

Connor

If I could read your mind love, what a tale your thoughts could tell

Connor is just the cutest android ever and that is true to you too (hopefully)

Everytime you see him at work, you can’t help but have to say hi to him at least once, or maybe twice

And yes, Hank teases you for having a crush on Connor. The thing is, you tease Hank for treating Connor like a son, although you think it’s adorable (unfortunately, you don’t know Hank’s story about losing his son)

Connor is always happy to see you, but is oblivious to your outbursts of saying, “I like you, more than just officers.” Or the kisses on his cheek that you plant each time he does something for you, which he doesn’t need to but Hank tells him to do it

Secretly, Hank wants you two together sooo

At the coffee room, you kissed Connor’s cheek as thanks for making coffee for you and even fix his tie for him.

“Is there an issue with my tie, Y/N?”

“You just need a bit of help.” You blush as you look to see his eyes meeting yours.

Software Ability: ^^^^

Y/N: Friend to Companion

You kiss his cheek again and leave with your coffee, having fixed his collar and tie

His LED glows from yellow to blue in a blinking motion, having grown confused at why it went up to Companion

‘Hank’s goes up to Friend, but theirs goes up above that?’

‘I just wish that he can see my actions more closely.’

#connor rk800 #dbh connor #dbh androids #dbh headcanons #dbh gavin #dbh fanfic #dbh markus #detroit become human #dbh #detroit: bh #detroit: connor #detroit: become human #dbh imagine

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osakaso5 · 3 years

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IDOLiSH7 6th Anniversary Special Story: Full of Heart...

Chapter 4: Unreasonable Demands

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'm glad you can get your photo now, So-chan. But are you sure you can make it to the North Pacific?

Sogo Osaka: I think so... He did say he could make a stop at the nearest yacht harbor.

Sogo Osaka: What about your photo? You mentioned that Re:vale could help...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I just messaged them, and they said they were gonna come pick us up.

Sogo Osaka: Pick us up?

[Toot toot!]

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ah! That's Momorin's car!

Momo: Tamaki! Sogo!

Yuki: Good evening.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry you had to come all this way! Tamaki-kun didn't tell me you were coming for us until just now...

Momo: It's fine! Hop on!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Where are we going?

Yuki: Back in time.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Heh. If I could time travel, there's a ton of stuff I'd wanna do.

Yuki: Same here.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I bet you would too, So-chan.

Sogo Osaka: Sure.

Momo: I've got a ton of stuff I'd change, too. But sorry, we're not actually going back in time. We're going to Yuki's place!

Tamaki Yotsuba: That's fine. There's a bunch of stuff I wanna do there, too.

Yuki: Like what?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Playing the guitar. Teach me.

Yuki: Okay.

Sogo Osaka: You could've asked me, too... Though I'm sure Yuki-san has better foundations and technique...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't wanna learn from you. You'd get on my case about being bad. Yukirin seems way nicer.

Yuki: I'm a lot scarier than you think.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Huh..? Oh, right. No way am I gonna learn from you. I'll just ask Ban-chan.

Yuki: Ban's not any better, you know. He'll click his tongue and call you an amateur.

Tamaki Yotsuba: If he did that, I'd start crying...

Sogo Osaka: I would, too...

Momo: I'd cry so much, my tear ducts would never recover...

[Toot toot!]

Momo: Ah! We can talk later! Hurry up and get in the car!

Sogo Osaka: ...Thank you!

Momo: Off we go!

- - - -

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yaaay! Long time no see, Yukirin's place.

Sogo Osaka: Tamaki-kun, you could at least thank Yuki-san for his hospitality.

Yuki: It's fine... Hey. Tamaki-kun, wait, at least put some slippers on before you walk in.

Tamaki Yotsuba: It's fine.

Yuki: It's not fine. Put them on.

Sogo Osaka: I'm sorry about him! I'll make him wear them! Tamaki-kun, come back here. You can't just run into people's homes like that.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I was so excited that I had to floor it.

Momo: I guess you'll need to install traffic lights at your entrance hall, Yuki.

Yuki: I'll paint a little crosswalk on the floor while I'm at it.

Sogo Osaka: Thank you, and I'm very sorry for the trouble...

Yuki: I was joking. I guess you can be a bit soft on Tamaki-kun, too.

Sogo Osaka: Oh, that was a joke?

Momo: So, what's up?

Momo: You needed help finding a childhood photo for Welcome to Kids' Room, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Y'know the apartments I used to live at? There was this guy there who had a camera.

Momo: A guy with a camera?

Tamaki Yotsuba: I forget his name, but I think he lived in our neighborhood. He took a family photo of us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna meet him, so I can ask if he could reprint the picture we put in Mom's casket...

Tamaki Yotsuba: And for that, I need you guys to make some shady deals.

Re:vale: Shady deals..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah.

Re:vale: Shady deals!?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah. I need the help of some underground type guys for this. Can't Re:vale make that happen?

Yuki: You want us...

Momo: To make shady deals...

Sogo Osaka: Re:vale... Please. If it's at all possible, then I'd like you to help him, too.

Momo: Now even Sogo's asking... No, hold on just a minute!

Momo: I'm not sure where you got the idea that we make ANY kind of shady deals to begin with. Yuki, do you know what they're talking about?

Yuki: I have no idea. You?

Momo: Nope... I feel like shady deals are the one thing we can't help with...

Tamaki Yotsuba: No way... I was sure you guys would have some leads.

Yuki: What kind of a deal were you planning?

Momo: I think we'll be more helpful than any of the "underground type guys" you had in mind.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I need someone to hack into every surveillance camera in the world, to find out where that dude is now.

Sogo Osaka: Every surveillance camera in the world..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Even though most people don't realize it, there's shady organizations that control the world from the shadows!

Tamaki Yotsuba: Or at least that's what it said in this "Scary Truths of the World" book that Isumin had.

Yuki: You mean you read it in some book about the occult? And you went ahead and assumed we were associated with these shady organizations?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah... Re:vale kinda gives me that sort of vibe sometimes...

Momo: I never knew people saw us that way. Heh, not bad.

Yuki: So basically, you want to know where that camera guy is now? Good thing I happen to know a private detective.

Sogo Osaka: You know a private detective? Did you meet him while studying for a role?

Yuki: No... I met him while looking for your manager...

Tamaki Yotsuba: Oh, Ban-chan!

Yuki: Yep.

Momo: But if that private detective couldn't find Ban-san, how useful could he possibly be?

Yuki: Probably not very useful, no.

Momo: But you still kept him on your payroll?

Yuki: Well, Ban taught me not to keep replacing our bandmates, and you taught me to hold people dear...

Momo: Oh, Yuki! You're such a good boy!!! You're a gentleman and a hottie rolled into one!

Yuki: I sure am. I'll even forgive you for our earlier argument.

Tamaki Yotsuba: You guys had a fight?

Momo: We butted heads over our Welcome to Kids' Room photos, that's all.

Sogo Osaka: But why would you fight over your childhood pictures..?

Momo: Well...

- - - -

Rinto Okazaki: Then it's settled. This will be your picture for the show, Momo-kun, and this will be yours, Yuki-kun.

Yuki: Wow..! You look adorable, Momo! A little round-cheeked boy with a tan, playing soccer. It's so cute.

Momo: ...Holy crap... A listless pretty boy, playing the guitar...

Yuki: I like this photo. I feel like it'd be a great source of energy whenever I'm tired from work.

Yuki: I know we talked using each other's selfies as lock screen backgrounds, but I think these childhood photos would work better.

Rinto Okazaki: Great idea! I happen to have these picture lockets, would you like some?

Yuki: A locket? If I put Momo's picture in that, it'd be like he's my son.

Yuki: That could be kind of funny. Should we try it?

Momo: No way...

Yuki: What!?

Momo: I can't take this photo! As both your fan and your partner, I think this picture's bad news!

Yuki: How is it bad news!? Are you saying I'm not cute in it!?

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're positively adorable!

Momo: You're wearing SHORTS! Since when do you wear shorts!? There's no way we can show this on TV!

Yuki: And why not? Even I was once an innocent kid, like Iori-kun and Tamaki-kun.

Rinto Okazaki: I think you're still plenty innocent, Yuki-kun!

Yuki: That's it. I'm making a copy of this picture, and putting it inside your locket.

Momo: Oh, no you don't! I'm not wearing that, you hear me!?

Yuki: But you said we should use each other's pictures as lock screens!

Momo: I didn't say anything about our childhood pictures! I'm gonna lose my mind if I have to walk around with a picture like this dangling from my neck!

Momo: And how did you just so happen to have two lockets lying around!?

Rinto Okazaki: The president got them for you.

Yuki: He wants us to have each other's pictures?

Rinto Okazaki: No, he actually wanted you to have a childhood photo of himself and I.

Momo: Wait, I wanna see that!

Rinto Okazaki: Here it is.

Momo: Wow! You went to a studio for this one!

Momo: Okarin, is the one sitting on the chair you? Does that mean our prez is the one standing up?

Rinto Okazaki: That's correct.

Yuki: You and Rintaro look really alike. The suits look chic, so it's actually kind of cool.

Yuki: Was this taken for a special occasion?

Rinto Okazaki: Our neighborhood cameraman needed something to display on his shop window, so he took a picture of us.

Rinto Okazaki: We received the lockets as thanks.

Rinto Okazaki: He thought that if we brothers kept a picture with us, we'd always be able to find each other, no matter how far apart we end up.

Yuki: Huh. So it's a novelty gift. If you can call it that, anyway.

Rinto Okazaki: This was 20 years ago. Come to think of it, there was a picture of the cameraman's two sons on the window, too.

Rinto Okazaki: Though even our parents said they'd only ever seen the older brother.

Yuki: I see. Maybe something happened to the younger one, then. Poor thing...

Rinto Okazaki: Perhaps...

Rinto Okazaki: The older son's business failed, too, and eventually, the camera shop closed its doors for good.

Rinto Okazaki: My brother remembered the cameraman thanks to this picture. That was probably why he wanted you to have some, too.

Momo: So we could keep each other's pictures close by?

Rinto Okazaki: No. Like I said, it's our picture he wants you to put in the lockets.

Yuki: I think Rintaro's a little too in love with himself.

Rinto Okazaki: I'm sorry about him...

Momo: Ahaha! Still I think it could be funny to walk around with your picture hanging from our necks! Right, Yuki?

Momo: It would really show off our loyalty to Okazaki Productions, don't you think!?

Yuki: ......... Do you really hate the idea of having my picture that much..?

Momo: Uh, no...

Yuki: I see how it is. You refuse to keep my picture in a locket, but the Okazakis are fine?

Momo: I didn't mean it like that...

Rinto Okazaki: Ah, how unusual. Normally, it's Momo-kun doing these sort of interrogations.

Yuki: I can keep your photo in a locket, you know. I could even make you lunch for your practice match, Momose-kun.

Momo: Dang! I'm starting to feel jealous over my picture self..!

Yuki: I hope you'll grow up into an idol and be happy with me.

Momo: I don't think I can talk to your picture that easily... Or that casually...

Momo: Then again, wouldn't it be a little pervy if I started calling this picture of my partner "Master Yuki", or something..!?

Rinto Okazaki: I don't see the problem. Re:vale's already got an eccentric image, after all.

Yuki: I feel bad for my unwanted younger self. Give him back to me. I'll raise him with little Momose here.

Momo: I told you, that's not it! I'd never neglect little Yukito-san..!

Rinto Okazaki: There you go, starting some bizarre family roleplay. Allow me and my brother's picture to join in!

- - - -

Momo: And that's how we started arguing.

Sogo Osaka: That sounds rough...

Yuki: Here's Momo's picture, by the way.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Wow! Momorin was so cute! Used to be super tan, too! With shiny white teeth!

Sogo Osaka: You really did put it in the locket.

Momo: Wanna see Okarin and his brother?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okarin was adorbs, too! And I've never seen his brother! He's cute!

Yuki: Not anymore, he's not.

Sogo Osaka: So you did use Okazaki-san's picture for the locket.

Momo: I thought it'd be funny, and a good way to advertise our agency... Yuki's is too real for me to walk around wearing it. Do you get what I'm saying, Yuki?

Yuki: Not at all. I still feel bad for little me.

Momo: Don't you get grumpy on me again!

Yuki: ...In any case, I can introduce you to a useless private detective.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd rather you introduce me to a useful one. Does your detective pal know any better detectives?

Momo: Good point. If he's in the business, he's gotta know who his biggest rivals are!

Yuki: I'll try asking him.

[Dial tone]

Yuki: Hello, it's Yuki from Re:vale. Do you know any good detectives, other than you? Like, the king of private detecting or something...

Yuki: What..? There's a detective so great, he's only spoken of in legends..?

Tamaki Yotsuba: ........! A legendary detective..!!!

Sogo Osaka: He sounds like someone who could help! That's great, Tamaki-kun!

Yuki: I have a job for that detective. Get in touch with him for me. I need to find somebody. Yeah. I'm counting on you.

[Beep]

Momo: He's going to introduce us to a legendary detective!?

Yuki: He's willing to try, at least. I'll get in touch as soon as I hear from him again, Tamaki-kun.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Okay! Thanks!

Yuki: But... If it's too hard for you to get a hold of that picture, you can quit if you want, you know.

Momo: You guys must have better things to do, anyway. It's not like Ban-san or Maneko-chan are forcing you to do this, right?

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yeah, but...

Tamaki Yotsuba: I wanna have something like this pic of Momorin playing soccer, or Yukirin playing the guitar.

Re:vale: .........

Momo: Right. I hope you find your picture, Tamaki. We'll help in any way we can.

Yuki: If you run into trouble, call us.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ehehe... Okay!

- - - -

Sogo Osaka: .........

Sogo Osaka: They even drove us back to the dorm.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Yukirin's cooking was so yummy, and Momorin played with me a lot. Re:vale's super nice!

Sogo Osaka: It's because you're such a good kid.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: You're so honest and kind, there's not a single person who wouldn't want you to live a happy life.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Haha... That's the opposite of what I used to hear, though.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Like when something I had broke, or something didn't make it to me in time, or something I'd been excited for didn't work out.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Apparently it was all a punishment, 'cause I'm such a bad, nasty kid.

Sogo Osaka: ........

Tamaki Yotsuba: I'd get mad and yell, "That's not true!", but still. Sometimes when I'm having a bad day, I remember that stuff.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I fall down, or something I like breaks, or I get caught in a rainstorm... And I wonder if I'm being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I mean, I'm not THAT good of a kid. I don't work hard, I'm kinda rude. Plus I'm dumb.

Tamaki Yotsuba: ...If I was smarter, maybe I would've gotten a copy of that photo before it went into Mom's casket.

Tamaki Yotsuba: I don't have any pictures 'cause I'm an idiot who can't take proper care of anything.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Meanwhile, you're good at keeping things clean, and you do everything right.

Sogo Osaka: ...You're not an idiot, and the photo thing wasn't your fault.

Sogo Osaka: I can't believe anyone would say things like that to a child. Of course you're not being punished.

Tamaki Yotsuba: .........

Sogo Osaka: I can guarantee that you're not, so don't worry.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Ahaha! So-chan, you're acting kinda cool all of a sudden.

Tamaki Yotsuba: Thanks.

To be continued...

#idolish7 #anniversary story 2021 #translation #i7 #trigger #re:vale #zool #other translations

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themaribatpit · 3 years

Text

Jasonette July Day 15: Night

Written by: The Maribat Pit @jasonette-july-event Prompt: Night Rated: T

A/N: A continuation "Game On” and “Pixie” Marinette had been in Gotham for a little over a year now, having left behind her life in Paris to attend Gotham University. It all started when she got involved with Catwoman, who saved her one night when she was in trouble. Then she got roped into a little game between Catwoman and Batman, and that was how she met Jason and Roy, Red Hood and Arsenal respectively. While with Jason and Roy, they had their ups and downs. Initially she felt that the two were overprotective, but they were able to reconcile after a fateful encounter in the Iceberg Lounge. Ever since that fateful encounter, what started as a harmless little crush began to grow over time. For once, she got to know people who understood both the real her and her superheroine persona. They knew her as a quick thinker in battle, and a civilian with a tendency to catastrophize things. While she was sitting in the car with Jason and Roy, driving back from Star City. The only sounds that could be heard were the scratching of pencil on paper, and the hum of the engine as they drove. She tried to throw herself into her upcoming design assignments that weren’t due for another few weeks, doing anything to avoid thinking about Jason sleeping peacefully in the front seat of the car. Tikki was nestled in her bag nibbling on a cookie and only Roy seemed to notice how quiet the drive back to Gotham was. She had developed a close friendship with the three of them, one which wasn’t complicated by secret and civilian identities. They had each other’s backs in combat, and they worked well as a team together. Marinette cursed herself, for the first time in a long time, she had relationships that weren’t complicated by secrets and secret identities. Now she was going to ruin everything just because she could not keep her heart and her feelings under control, it was pathetic. It was easier to think that Jason was a stubborn, sarcastic brute who couldn’t possibly understand her. He could still be stubborn and sarcastic at times, but then he had to go and have another side to him. A side of him that cared deeply for those close to him, a group of people that now included Marinette. It wasn’t fair. Marinette shook her head and turned her attention back to her design work, these patterns weren’t going to sketch themselves. It was also one of the few times she got to work with more delicate fabrics. Jason was pretending to be asleep on the drive from Star City back to Gotham, not unlike the one that happened a few months ago. It seemed like yesterday they first heard about a new superheroine who managed to take on two of his younger brothers. Marinette was certainly a girl with many contradictions, even when they first met her on that rooftop that fateful night. She could be very creative with her magic yo-yo, and in a fight she was usually a level-headed and quick thinker. That much was clear to anyone who saw her in action, which was probably for the best, given that Jason had a very short fuse and a tendency to brute force his way through situations. By the same token, the same person was prone to flying off the handle in much more mundane situations. One time she woke up early for a test that wasn’t for another two days, and flew into a panicked stream of consciousness that made it sound like she was going to be shipped back to her home city in a matchbox if she was late. Jason didn’t dare turn around to look at her in the backseat, but he could just about imagine what she looked like. The scratching of pencil on paper told him that she was probably designing something that had more in common with a ball gown than body armour. Her skills as a seamstress came in handy when their body armour needed upgrades or adjustments, not everyone could be gifted with the power of a magic body suit. Even Hal Jordan was a test pilot long before he became a Green Lantern, Marinette was just a teenager when she got given magic jewelry. Secret identities and personas aside, at her core Marinette was still the same person. She was kind, forgiving, but most of all she trusted him, something very few people did. At first he wrote it off as all of them having each other’s backs in a fight. While that was true it wasn’t the whole story, he knew because he could say the same thing about Roy. He considered maybe it was because she managed to calm his pit madness, but that was because she had the very creatures who created them by her side. Jason still called her “Pixie '' from time to time, really out of affection more than anything. He only used her name when he was being absolutely dead serious. It was a lot more than that and he knew it, he knew that she was worming her way past all the walls he had put up, seemingly without even trying. He convinced himself that it was dangerous for all involved, that it would just leave him vulnerable in the end. She was getting closer and closer to his heart, at which point he would be completely and utterly vulnerable. He wanted to hold her close to him, but was afraid that she would hold his heart in her tiny delicate hands and squeeze.

Roy was exhausted, not just from the mission, but from being caught right in the middle of two of his friends pining after each other. In the car ride back to Gotham, he could easily tell that Marinette was busying herself with design work while Jason was pretending to be asleep. It would be cute if it wasn’t a sign that these two were actively avoiding talking to each other. Possibly because they were worried they might slip up and reveal their very obvious feelings for the other person. He overheard Marinette confiding in the Kwamis late one night, when she thought both of them were out. Jason by contrast was a little less expressive, but Roy could still tell that he was also pining after her, in his own little way. He had tried to gently coax it out of them, and even though they refused to admit it Roy could tell. Marinette was an open book whenever he even suggested the idea that she might be slightly attracted to Jason. At the slightest suggestion that there was something between her and Jason, her face would go tomato red and she would deny it. Jason was a much tougher nut to crack, but Roy already knew that from the get-go. If Marinette wore her heart on her sleeve, then Jason kept his heart guarded with steel and lead. He tried to ask him about it on a mission, when Marinette was out of earshot. Instead he took a leaf out of Dick’s book and asked if it was really the time and place for a “man chat”. The three of them could be compared to The Three Musketeers, but Jason and Marinette were more like Beatrice and Benedict from Much Ado About Nothing. He was cursing Jason’s detective training, because it meant he would see right past a forged love note, while making things worse for Marinette. If Roy was still drinking, he would have probably told them that they should just screw and get it over with. He was starting to understand why Lian would smush her doll’s faces together and get them to ‘kiss’. That gave him an idea...

Marinette and Jason were calmly watching TV together one night. It was Valentine's Day, but neither of them really had any plans with anyone. Staying in and waiting for chocolate prices to crater seemed like a much better idea. Tikki was perched on Marinette’s shoulder, while Plagg was about to inhale a very large piece of camembert. The two of them were a comfortable distance apart, neither of them were willing to make the first move. Suddenly, Roy busts in through the front door. Dressed up as Arsenal with a few extra accessories, a tutu and a pair of fairy wings he likely borrowed from Lian. He came in wide grin, wielding his bow with an odd heart shaped arrow.

“Happy Valentine's Day bitches!” he yelled out, taking aim at Marinette and Jason. The grappling arrow wrapping around the two, tightly binding them together on the sofa. Just as Marinette and Jason realise what just happened, Roy runs back out the door, slamming it on his way out.

An awkward silence hung in the air as Jason and Marinette were tied together, their faces mere inches apart. Marinette blushing a storm, while Jason tried to keep his composure and looked away from her. That said, he could feel her deep blue eyes watching him, and he was fairly certain she could hear the sound of his heart beating in his chest. Their arms were clamped firmly to their sides, and both of them thought that Roy had done this as a stupid prank. “Did Roy tell you he was going to…” Marinette began. “...put on a tutu and fairy wings and tie us up on the couch?” Jason finished, he swallowed, she already looked embarrassed by the whole situation. “No, did he tell you?” he asked. Marinette shook her head, “No, but he seems to have got it into his head that you’re interested in me.” she said as she tried to wriggle free, “as if that would ever happen.” “I mean...” the conversations he wrote off as late night man-chats were starting to make sense to him. “...is that really so hard to believe?” he asked quietly. There was no keeping her at arm’s length at that moment, physically or otherwise. He noticed that she had stopped trying to wriggle free of the cord wrapped tightly around him. “A little,” she said, “It just seemed too good to be true,” she muttered. “You’re one of the few people who knows about both Marinette and Ladybug, you know that they’re the same person.” she explained, “the idea that you would be interested in me on top of all that just felt like it was too good to be true, like something will do horribly wrong sooner or later. Like there was no way the universe was going to let me be that happy.” Jason was surprised to hear that, but also he understood what she meant. It was funny how on paper, they were two completely different people, and in some way they were. It was moments like these that reminded them there were still similarities that kept them together. For the first time since Roy had tied them up, he looked at her. “Marinette, take it from someone who’s a literal dead man walking. Trust me, that is not the most impossible thing out there, not even close.” he tried to say, Marinette looked up at him, trying to make sense of the meaning in his words. “If anyone’s going to get slapped around by the universe, and feel as if they don’t deserve to have someone who’s seen different sides of them and still cares about them, it’s probably me,” he explained.

Both of them finally knew what Roy was trying to do, after all he had been painfully obvious. Jason himself tries to get a sharp batarang from his pocket, he assures Marinette, “Don’t worry Pixie, I’ll get us out of here and we can forget this ever happened.”

Marinette remains silent as Jason struggles against the wire tying them together, Tikki floats to her side and whispers into her ear. “Marinette, it's now or never.” Marinette looks back to see all the Plagg cheering her with a grunt. If lifting the piece of camembert with little enthusiasm counts as cheering.

Marinette takes a deep breath, and gathers her courage. “Jason?” she asks, and Jason pauses to look back at her. Her face had a rosy pink glow as she leaned forward to give Jason a kiss. Jason pauses in shock at first before, and slowly melts to return the kiss. As the two kiss, Tikki helps untie the two. Just as Tikki finishes untying, Marinette and Jason hold each other in a tight embrace, eagerly savouring their newfound relationship.

Roy peeked his head through the window watching Marinette and Jason finally confess to each other. “About time you two got together” he cheered from the fire escape, giving the two a thumbs up and a big grin. This breaks Marinette and Jason from their affectionate moment together, embarrassing Marinette and annoying Jason.

Jason stomps over to the fire escape, Roy nervously greets Jason “Hey buddy, how’s it going?”

Jason grabs Roy by the ankle, dangling him off the edge of the fire escape. “Pixie, why don't you give him a taste of his own medicine?” Marinete nods and walks over with the grappling arrow Roy shot at the two.

Roy pleaded, “Come guys, you two had it bad for each other it was obvious.” Marinette begins to tie Roy to the fire escape with the grappling wire. Roy attempts to struggle but Jason holds him down.

As Marinette progresses further in tying Roy up, his pleas become more and more desperate.

“I did you two a favour.” Roy begs, “Come on, is this how you two repay me? Help! Somebody! Batman! BATMAAAN!” Roy wailed.

Marinette and Jason ignore Roy’s begging. Once they were finished they both left, hand in hand, leaving Roy tied upside down to do some self-reflection.

BONUS

Cupid: What's this I hear about you playing Cupid?

Roy: Sorry, it was for two people who were actually in love.

Cupid: Why you little-

Roy: Cupid, it's been YEARS, you're a very attractive woman. It can't be that hard to find someone who loves you back, someone who doesn’t have a goatee.

#jasonette #jasonettejuly2021 #ml x dc #maribat

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julieloveupstead · 3 years

Text

"I Never Leave You" - Upstead

CHAPTER 5

- And that's pretty much it. - Jay closed the file and handed it to the Sergeant. They sat in the office for a good thirty minutes, during which the Detective explained all the information they'd managed to get so far. - They ran this case to Sergeant Benson with his people and then the FBI took it over, and now we're just waiting for their back answers, which I suspect they won't send out until tomorrow morning. - He finished and looked at his boss.

He was trying, really trying to be calm and talk normally, but every time he looked at Voight he could feel it boiling inside him. He couldn't help it that every time he looked in the boss's direction and heard his hoarse voice, he had the sight of his crying, broken, terrified beloved standing in front of him in their flat.

Not so long ago, standing in that office, he felt respect, reverence and wished that one day it belonged to him alone. And to the man sitting across from him though after many years of disbelief and skepticism he finally believed that underneath that mask of harshness, of ruthlessness Voight was a righteous though strangely he showed it he cared about his people. Jay wanted to believe that Sarge wasn't a bad person, just simply the death of his wife and then his son had destroyed a part of the man.

He thought Erin's departure from Chicago brought him and Voight closer together, after all they both loved her and cared about her, though Jay was angry at him for letting it happen, but in the end he understood that New York for Lindsey was the best thing. So Jay forgave this Voight thing the hard way, and it must have taken some time, but he did.

And then losing Alvin made another part of Voght's humanity disappear, irrevocably. It seemed to Jay that this event had tipped the scales of bitterness, that Voight would no longer be the same as before, so he made it a point of honor to help Hank. And just when he thought he'd succeeded, just when he thought he was finally on track to get Voight back on track, the Kelton case came up, and everything went to hell. Jay lost confidence in Voight, because knowing the history and knowing what the man was capable of, I don't think anyone had any doubts about that.

But again, if it wasn't for Sergeant Jay would have lost his job, because of Angela. He didn't know what Voight had done to shut her mouth, and he didn't want to know, but that way he could still be a cop.

But he'll never forget when Hank Voight sent Hailey to NY, it caused the relationship that had just managed to get a little better to shatter. Until now, Jay couldn't forgive his boss for treating Hailey that way.

Although the blonde said that this trip had worked out for the best, that she had no regrets for the older man, he still couldn't look at it that way.

When Hailey showed up at the department, he saw that Hailey wasn't fond of Voight, and the fact that she wasn't afraid to tell him what she thought intrigued him the most about her. Later, however, he would notice a change in their relationship. He didn't know exactly when, but at some point he felt a strange sense of déjà vu. He couldn't explain it, but he felt that Voight was treating Hailey like a daughter a bit like Erin, and that was ridiculous after all, right?

But then it only got worse, and as Jay knew more and more about Hailey's family he realized that Voight might be playing a father role in her life, but he still wasn't sure if he was imagining things again, and he let the subject go for another time. What he didn't realize was that next time it might be too late to react in any way.

Cameron's death had turned everything upside down. That's when Hailey started losing herself, and he didn't notice because he was too busy salving his conscience. How selfish he was back then. His then still friend was going through a horror story, and he was taking care of the child of the guy he had wrongly put in jail. And from that moment on everything went wrong. And he still can't forgive himself for that.

Because if he'd reacted the right way back then and through his stupidity hadn't ended up in hospital, then maybe Hailey wouldn't have crossed all those lines. Maybe they wouldn't be in this situation now. There are thousands of these questions of what ifs in his head, but now it's too late to speculate. They found themselves in the place they were in and nothing can change the time. All they could do was find a solution to make Hailey the woman he can't imagine living without, the love of his life, suffer through his conscience and the selfishness of their Sergeant. Because the fact that what happened is Jay's wine is clear, but the biggest fault lies with the man who now sits in his office as if nothing happened. And that's what drove Jay the most crazy.

- You really have no sense of guilt, do you? - Jay couldn't take it anymore and spoke harshly. - Do you really have nothing left of a man? - If the Detective's gaze could kill, the Sergeant who only now raised his eyes to him would already be dead.

If Jay's coarse tone surprised the Sergeant, he didn't show it in any way. But it didn't surprise the young policeman at all. He didn't expect the older man's conscience to suddenly stir.

- Did it even cross your mind for a moment what Hailey is going through right now? - He saw Voight trying to say something, but Jay couldn't stop. He finally had to react, to say what he was thinking, what he'd been holding back inside for so many years. - Did her fate ever bother you at all? Does the fate of us ever matter to you? Did you only think about yourself all the time?

There was silence for a moment, during which both men measured each other with their eyes for a moment.

- 'Well, keep me informed. Jay, this is your business, and you have the final say and don't give into Smith. Remember, this is your turf, not theirs - Voight spoke up after reviewing the file he handed back to Jay.

Jay just nodded and snorted in disbelief that Voight had changed the subject, but on the other hand, he didn't count on moving the older man's conscience. The man is too canny and too emotionally brainwashed for that.

He took the papers and stood up without even saying anything.

- Jay? - the detective was stopped before leaving the room by a hoarse voice.

- Yes, Sergeant? - he asked himself, reluctantly turning towards the older man.

- I didn't want it all to end like this. Hailey should be with Adam. - If Jay didn't know what Voight was really like, maybe he would believe the fake guilt painted on his face.

- You know what, cut the bullshit. - He walked over to the desk and leaned on it with both hands to be closer to Voight. Jay was furious that the older man thought words would make a difference. - You destroyed her life, and I will never forgive you for that. - And with that he walked out of the office. He grabbed his things from the locker room and then walked down the back entrance to the car park. He knew that Hailey was hard and that she was going through a lot, so he decided to do something for her. Something that would at least for a little while make her forget about what had happened recently and feel better. He wanted to hear her sincere, resonant and beautiful smile again. He wanted to see her beautiful blue eyes smiling again, too. Not only that, but he promised himself that he would do anything to bring that back, to bring back a happy Hailey, and he would start with food. So before coming home he will go to the shop some more and maybe find some more florist. He should buy her flowers more often. Hailey deserves it, the best, and he will do anything to give her that best, no matter what.

In the meantime, Kevin and Hailey pulled up outside the Detective's flat. Hailey looked out the window, instinctively looking for Jay's truck, but didn't find it. She didn't know how much longer Jay and Voight would be discussing tonight's case (she hoped that was what the Sergeant had asked Jay to do), and she didn't want to be left home alone. Not yet ready to face her thoughts by being alone with herself. So she sat in silence hoping her friend wouldn't throw her out of the car and hoped Jay would be able to arrive by then.

- Thank you, Kev - Hailey said after a moment of silence.

- 'It's no problem. - Kevin turned in his seat so that he could get a better look at the blonde. - 'Hailey, are you all right? - he asked worriedly.

Hailey closed her eyes to keep from crying in front of him, and when she opened, she was met with a worried look from her friend. She knew she should tell Kevin the truth, because he deserved it, as much as any of them did, but she also knew that the truth would only make things worse.

- Yes, I'm just worried about Kim and you know it all - she didn't lie, she just told part of the truth. Kevin just nodded, though she could see that he didn't quite give credence to her words.

- And what's up with Vanessa - Hailey decided to change the subject.

Hailey didn't find out that Van had left the department until after she returned to Chicago. They rarely talked because they both had a lot of work to do, and besides, Van was deep undercover and couldn't be talked too often. Hailey missed her friend and she missed her a lot.

- Yeah, we talked yesterday. She said she was finishing up her job soon and going back to her department. - He answered, and Hailey noticed a smile on his friend's face whenever the name of the junior police officer was mentioned. She had suspected for some time that the two of them had something in common, and she was very happy that her two friends had become closer, because they both deserved to be happy.

- This is great. - she said for the first time in a while, smiling sincerely. She was proud of Van, because she knew that not many young police officers who had recently graduated from the academy got the chance to work in two elite departments. She predicted that her friend would have a stunning career in the gang division.

For a moment they sat in silence, each submerged in their own thoughts, when suddenly they noticed lights, and then a familiar car emerged from around the corner.

- Was it Halstead's car? - Kevin spoke up first, wondering what Jay's truck could be doing under Hailey's house. She turned towards her friend, biting her lip nervously.

- Ammm, right. - She replied, looking at the figure approaching them. Hailey felt ashamed, realizable that this would be the first time anyone had seen them in such private circumstances, and officially confirmed that she and Jay were together. She knew it would happen at some point, but she still couldn't stop stressing about it.

- Now it's getting clear, he said, smiling warmly. Hailey looked apologetically at Kevin for not saying anything about it earlier.

Jay knocked on the window and Hailey and Kevin looked in his direction, then both got out.

- 'Hey,' Jay called back, then moved closer to Hailey and stole a kiss. She felt her cheeks flush red because it was the first time they'd done it in front of people. Jay quietly laughed at her reaction.

- 'Hey,' Hailey quietly replied, and Kevin just nodded, still smiling widely.

- 'What are you grinning about? - turned Jay to Kevin.

- Nothing. - He shrugged his shoulders, still smiling broadly. - I was hoping it would end like this sooner or later. - He added, looking at his two friends.

Jay and Hailey laughed at Kevin's words. Did they seem so obvious, only they themselves noticed it so late?

- I am very happy for you both. You both deserve it. - said Kevin sincerely. Hailey and Jay were very happy that their friend had taken the news of their relationship so positively and that he enjoyed their happiness.

- Thank you - said Jay for both of them

- How long have you two been together? - Kevin asked curiously.

- 5 months - said the so far silent Hailey.

- Yes exactly 5 months, 15 days, 18 hours and 27 minutes - answered Jay in a tone as if he was talking about the most important ceremony. Hailey looked with admiration at her partner, who, feeling her gaze on him, looked at her with tenderness and a smile reserved only for her.

- Wow - whistled Kevin, being impressed that they managed to keep it to themselves for so long. - All right, lovebirds, I will leave you alone. - he said, pushing away from his car, wanting to give his friends a moment to themselves. Opening the driver's door, he looked at his friends - Are you going to Kim's today? - he asked even before getting into the car.

- Yes, we'll just have something to eat, and then we'll clean up. I think we can be there in about 2 hours. - said Jay with a questioning look at Hailey, who nodded her head.

- 'Okay, then I'll see you then. - Kevin got in the car and drove off, while Hailey and Jay stared at the departing car for a moment longer.

- 'Well, that's another person to tick off,' joked Jay, walking with Hailey to the truck for a moment more.

- Yeah? - asked Hailey, unable to remember who else they were talking to.

- Well, my brother and I don't suppose you think Trudy doesn't know anything. And let's not forget the devil in a human body - he enumerated opening the back door of his car.

- Well yes - she said quietly, waiting for her boyfriend to take what he needed. She knew who Jay meant about the devil in a human body. To be honest, she regretted letting herself be fooled by Voight back then. In general, Hailey regretted letting Sarge get inside her head and ruining her life because of it. She wanted to fix it all, but unfortunately she didn't know how.

Hailey leaned her back against the car, gaining the courage to ask a question.

- How did the conversation with V... Voight? - She turned to Jay, biting her lip nervously. She didn't know what to expect from the answer. Had they talked about her? Had Jay lost his temper? Had Voight said something? Did that mean she should look for a new job? She looked at Jay, who now had two nets in one hand and a bouquet of red roses in the other.

- Jay? - She asked herself, not really knowing what to say. Did they talk about her? Did Jay lose his temper? Did Voight say anything? Did that mean she should look for a new job? She looked at Jay, who now had two nets in one hand and a bouquet of red roses in the other. - Jay? - She asked herself, not really knowing what to say.

- This bouquet of flowers is for you - he set the paper bags down on the ground and then approached her with the bouquet. - I know that you got your first bouquet from me as a pretend girlfriend, but I knew already then that I wanted you to be my real girlfriend and I promised myself that when I finally dared to tell you about my feelings, I would always make you smile, I would always make you feel loved, and I would do everything to make you feel safe. - He paused for a moment to look at the girl. Tears came to Hailey's eyes and she gasped. What should she do now? No man she had ever met had ever brought her flowers or said such things to her. - Hailey, I love you the most in the whole world, and I'm sorry I didn't notice earlier how Voight was manipulating you and that.... - Hailey noticed tears appearing in the man's green eyes. - 'Angel, I'm sorry that I let you down, that I wasn't there when you needed me the most, when that son of a bitch needed you - the blonde couldn't listen to Jay blaming himself for something that was completely not his fault, so she did the only thing that would silence Jay. She simply kissed him, Jay was surprised but not a second passed when he put his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him.

- 'Jay, nothing that happened is your fault,' she said quietly as they pulled away from each other, and she looked into his eyes and placed one hand on his cheek. - No, Jay - Hailey didn't let Jay speak, knowing he would want to deny it. - If anyone needs to be blamed, it's me. I'm the one who let him get inside my head, I'm the one who killed Roy. - She spoke quietly so that no outsiders could hear them. Jay started to shake his head, so she put her other hand, on his other cheek to steady his head. With her thumbs, she wiped away the tears falling down his cheeks. She kissed him again and when she pulled away from him, she joined her forehead to Jay's forehead, although it was difficult because of their height difference, but somehow they managed. - I love you, Jay. Thank you for the flowers. They are beautiful. - She said with a slight smile, which Jay reciprocated. She didn't want to continue this conversation further because she knew they were both too stubborn and knew that this conversation wouldn't end soon.

- Shall we go home? - Jay finally spoke up. Hailey nodded and took the flowers while Jay took the groceries.

- I can't remember the last time we prepared meals together. - Hailey said enthusiastically.

- 'True,' Jay smiled slightly as he looked at the satisfied blonde hugging the flowers. His heart beat faster, seeing that such a small thing made her happy. - And that's why I thought home cooking would be a good change today. - Hailey nodded, looking lovingly at the boy.

- 'So what, you go wash up, and I'll make the food? - Jay suggested when they finally entered their flat.

- Actually, why not. - Hailey only now felt how tired she was from all these events. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep in the last few days, because every night she was woken up by nightmares with images of what she had done. She wanted to finally get some sleep and start living without the fear that killing Roy would come out, and she would lose everything she had. Hailey put down the bag she had been carrying on her shoulder the whole time since she got out of Kevin's car and leaned against the wall, looking at Jay, who was unpacking groceries and humming a tune quietly.

Hailey couldn't believe how, in their still new relationship, all the new activities had become normal for them. Jay quickly learned his way around her flat, and his presence quickly became a daily occurrence. More and more she caught herself imagining just such a future with Jay in some not so big house with a garden, with a dog or a cat and maybe with little versions of them running and prancing around.

But so what if it can all come crashing down like a house of cards in an instant?

For the first time in her life, she has so much to lose. For the first time she is not ready, and above all she does not want to lose what is finally good in her life.

Imagining the future that may have been waiting for her, she felt tears appear in her eyes, so she blinked. She couldn't lose Jay for anything in the world, not now that she was finally feeling happy and when she was ready for the future.

Jay had been busying himself in the kitchen the whole time and Hailey, with a smile on her face, walked over to him and clung to his back, causing him to stop cutting the vegetable. She closed her eyes and let herself inhale his soothing, woody scent that she always associated with the woods and the kind of peace she only found with him after a hard day. She felt Jay turn in her arms so that she was now hugging his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer. Now Hailey felt like she was in her own place, like she belonged in his embrace.

Just being in his arms was enough for Hailey to breathe and feel the stress and drugs accumulated over these 3 days leave her body.

- Hey - she heard Jay's tender voice and although her eyes were still closed, she was sure that a slight smile was wandering on the man's face.

- Hey - she replied, reciprocating the smile and snuggled tighter into her boyfriend's body. They stood like that for a while in silence in the middle of the room, Hailey with her head against his chest so that she could hear the steady beat of his heart, and Jay rested his chin on the top of her head. Standing like that in each other's arms, for two people in love, nothing mattered except this moment, where it's just them alone, in their house, and no problems, no arguments, no Voight, just them, doesn't matter.

Just Hailey in Jay's arms and Jay in Hailey's arms.

- Let's go away and leave it all to hell. Let's start somewhere else, somewhere where it's just the two of us. Just you and me. - She whispered into Jay's T-shirt, after a moment. These last few days had given both of them a hard time. She wouldn't forgive herself for the rest of her life for what she'd done in that warehouse, and the nightmares of images of the bloodied man and the look of fury in Voight's eyes would drag on for years, so maybe this trip wouldn't be so stupid. Maybe if they started somewhere else it might be different.

As much as she loved her job and working at Intelligence and the people who worked there and who she could call her family and Chicago her home without a doubt and while for many years she couldn't imagine life without it all and living in another place now she couldn't imagine life without Jay alone. He was the only thing that mattered to her and the life she wanted to start with him. She felt at home with him and as safe as she had ever felt in her life so far.

- Okay, where do you want to go? Greece? Australia? Italy? The Caribbean? - she heard Jay, which made her heart beat harder.

- Are you serious? - she pulled away gently to get a better look at him and make sure he wasn't joking, but from his face she read only complete love and confidence in what he was saying.

- Hailey, I am deadly serious. I'm ready to fly out even now - assuring Hailey, who couldn't believe what had just happened.

- Really? - she was still in shock that Jay had just agreed to her crazy idea.

- For real. - He assured - I'm sure he wants to be with you, and where we live is secondary. As long as we are together, we can even live under a bridge. The most important thing for me is that we are together. Just you and me - he put his hands on the blonde's cheeks and looked her straight in the eyes. - With you, I would go to the end of the world and even to outer space. Where you go, I go too. Remember? I'll follow you anywhere. - Hailey heard Jay's declaration and felt her heart beat faster, and she felt butterflies in her stomach. - That night when we talked about your offer from the feds those 5 months ago and then if you told me you were accepting their offer, I was ready to fly with you. - When he said this Hailey tried to find at least a shadow of doubt, but she didn't see anything like that, on the contrary Jay was deadly serious.

Although it still seemed surreal to Hailey, it didn't surprise her at all, because over the years of their partnership they had assured each other many times that they would always follow each other, no matter what, they were always there for each other, and now that they were together privately it hadn't changed, only now all those words had a new, even deeper meaning.

- You know I love you, Jay? - Hailey stood on tiptoe to reach his lips, cursing her short height in her mind. Jay laughed, seeing the woman's efforts and the annoyance painted on Hailey's face when, despite standing on tiptoe, she didn't reach. He shook his head in disbelief at how lucky he was and how much affection he had for the petite blonde. Those 3 words that had caused Hailey anxiety, stomach tightness, paralysis and the desire to run away were now the most beautiful words, causing her heart to beat faster and wanting to hear it over and over again.

For Jay, these words from Hailey's mouth are like the most beautiful melody, and I don't think he will ever get tired of hearing it.

- I love you, Angel - he said with a slight smile, blinded by the blue of her eyes. - You are my whole world.

Jay leaned over her and brushed his lips gently against hers. In time, the gentle kisses turned into more passionate ones. Jay grabbed Hailey's hips and, guessing his intentions, she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck. Without stopping kissing, they had crossed the threshold of the bedroom when an audible burbling came from Hailey's stomach, causing both she and Jay to finally pull away from each other, quietly giggling about it.

- 'Is anyone hungry? - he asked provocatively with a sly grin on his face.

- I'm sorry - she laughed, embarrassed, and rested her forehead against Jay's chest, entwining her hands more tightly around Jay's neck. Why exactly was it that her stomach decided to give out now? Now that it was getting so wonderful.

- You're cute when you blush. - he said kissing Hailey on the top of her head

- Stop it. - she tried to sound annoyed. Biting her lip with her teeth holding back her emerging smile, she patted his shoulder with her hand.

- Okay, okay, I'm stopping now. - He replied trying to stop laughing, and when Hailey finally looked at him, she saw Jay trying to hold back his laughter - Do you think your stomach is capable of giving me about 30 minutes? - he asked, setting her down on her feet on the ground.

- Well, I don't know, but I'll try. - she looked up into his green eyes also in a hooked voice. Suddenly she realized a thing and the smile immediately came off her face.

- 'Are you all right? - Jay asked himself, immediately noticing the change in his girlfriend's mood. He put his hand on her cheek, thus giving her encouragement, as something told him that she might need it now. - Angel, tell me.

- Yes... I mean no. Kim is still fighting for her life, I... - the words couldn't come out through her mouth. - We can't laugh and pretend everything's okay, Jay. - She pulled away from Jay. In the shadow of all the upsetting events that had happened over the last few days, she couldn't do that. She had no right to laugh and be happy.

- Hailey, we're not doing anything wrong. - Jay tried to touch Hailey, but she kept backing away and shaking her head.

- 'You can't do that, Jay. It's not fair to Adam, Makayla'i and the family who are now sitting at her bedside dying from worrying about Kim. - Hailey turned her back, unable to bear Jay's tender gaze. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, so she closed them. - I can't, I can't - she didn't stop repeating it over and over again. Her heart was pounding madly, she couldn't catch her breath, and her vision began to blur.

- Hey, Hailey, Angel - she felt Jay's arms turn her around and wrap around her body. She snuggled into his body and began sobbing loudly, not caring that she would leave a wet tear stain on Jay's T-shirt. - Shh. It's okay. Shh, I'm here. - He whispered in her ear and made patterns on her back, trying to calm her down.

Hailey felt guilty and angry that she had allowed herself this moment of joy. She shouldn't, just not. Not after what she'd done. Not after what Kim and her family are going through. Not when her friend is fighting for her life. Not when a 6-year-old girl might lose her mum again. Not when Adam might lose the love of his life.

It just wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair, but why? Why does anyone allow someone to be hurt, to suffer?

- Hailey, will you look at me? - Jay's quiet voice brought her back to earth, but she couldn't look at him. Not just yet. - Please. - Finally hearing Jay's calm and soothing voice, she dared.

- 'Angel, Kim is still fighting, which means she's alive, and that's something to be happy about, don't you think? We managed to find her in time, and now she's in the best care in MED - Hailey slowly nodded her head in agreement.

- 'But if it hadn't been for that whole agreement between Kevin and Adam, if it hadn't been for Voight separating us, we would have found Kim sooner. - Hailey couldn't stand how many bad things had happened that evening and couldn't stop thinking that it was her fault too. - Jay, maybe Voight was right, and I am actually like him. I knew what he was capable of, I saw the diabolical look in his eyes. Why didn't I just walk out of that warehouse when I heard you found Kim? Why did I stay with Voight, knowing what might happen? Why did I let him lead me to kill a man? - she wiped her tears. She felt exhausted by it all. Of having to pretend to be strong when everything was falling apart for her, of having to lie to those closest to her, of not sleeping at night because of these damn nightmares. She was tired of fighting with herself. She wanted it all to finally end. - I don't have the strength, Jay. - She said in a breaking voice and lowered her head down.

- Hey, don't say that - Jay with two fingers lifted Hailey's face by the chin, so he could see her beautiful blue eyes, though now reddened by crying. - I have strength enough for the two of us. I will be by your side every step of the way, I will never leave you. I promise you. - Jay wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks. His heart was breaking at the sight of his distraught beloved. It shouldn't be like this. Hailey doesn't deserve something like this. - You have a good heart, you're a wonderful person, and you believe that everyone deep down is good and if you see someone being hurt you immediately run to help them. And you wanted to help Voight, you wanted him to report that he found Roy, you wanted to stop him from killing a man.

- I did, but so what because I killed him myself! I pulled the trigger! - she screamed, still crying.

- Angel, but if you hadn't done that, he would have hurt you or Voight. You saved your life, and that's not a bad thing. - He tried to calmly explain to Hailey that she shouldn't blame herself.

- But I broke the law. I didn't report it - Hailey was unable to calm down. She did not know what she should do.

- Angel, you didn't break the law, Voight did. He should have reported it. It's all his fault, not yours. - Hailey wasn't letting Jay's words sink in. She couldn't. It couldn't be that simple. - Hailey Anne Upton, I forgive you.

- What? - Hailey looked at Jay, not believing what she had just heard.

- If you need forgiveness, I give it to you. What matters now is whether you can forgive yourself. - said Jay without breaking eye contact with her.

- I... Mmm... I don't know - she replied, still in shock.

Although Jay had nothing to forgive Hailey for, because she hadn't done anything wrong, he still knew that the woman needed it.

A few years ago, he himself didn't know how much he needed those words until someone told him. It doesn't solve the problems right away, but it's a good start.

Hailey needs to know that he doesn't hold it against her and that she hasn't done anything wrong, and the most important thing is for her to understand that herself and let it go to her head that no one is blaming her. That he doesn't blame her for anything and that he will never judge her. That he will always be there for her, just as she has been for him all these years. He loved her very much and would not let her lose herself in guilt.

- Angel, you did everything you could, don't be so hard on yourself, please - Jay tried to reach out to Hailey again.

For a while they stood like that, embraced in silence, listening only to the sound of their hearts beating.

- How am I supposed to do this? - she asked in a weak voice.

- Why don't you go take a bath first and then eat something and then go to bed? - he suggested quietly kissing the top of her head. Hailey immediately clung to him.

- I can wash up, but I don't know if I can swallow anything. And besides, I would like to go to Kim's. - After a while, she said in a hoarse voice.

- Okay, this is what we will do. First you go take a bath, and then we will see what happens next - he tried to propose something else, leaving a kiss on Hailey's forehead. - I love you Hailey - he whispered pulling away from her and headed off giving Hailey a chance to calm down and although his heart was breaking knowing she would be left alone he knew she needed it.

Once she was alone, Hailey couldn't stop the tears flowing again, but she blinked a few times to chase them away. She didn't have the strength to cry anymore, so she decided to take a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. When she finally felt that she was regaining the power in her body, she headed towards the dressing room to grab some fresh clothes and underwear, and with that she walked to the bathroom.

She turned on the water in the shower, undressed, and then stepped under the stream of water. It was only under the stream of warm water that she allowed herself to let go of the barriers that had held her down all day and from Jay.

She cried and cried and cried, shedding what she hadn't dared in front of Jay until the water she stood under cooled to the point where goosebumps appeared on her skin and even though she couldn't see, she was aware that her lips were bruising, and she could feel herself shivering. So she quickly soaped up the sponge with gel and washed herself, then took the shampoo and started washing her hair. After a few minutes she got out, took a towel and started to wipe herself. She put on fresh clothes, and only then could she completely breathe a sigh of relief.

- The pasta is coming. - Jay was standing with his back to her, stirring something in the pot, but it was enough for him to hear her coming out of the bathroom.

- It smells lovely. What are you cooking? - she asked, coming closer and looking into the pot.

- Chicken in Gorgonzola sauce - he answered, finally looking at the girl. - Did you wash yourself with my body lotion? - he asked teasingly, smiling, smelling the familiar scent of his cosmetics.

- Oh really? Apparently your gel smelled nicer - she shrugged her shoulders, biting her lip, holding back a laugh. Only now did she realize she had mixed up the bottles.

- You've got my blouse too - Jay touched the hem of the blouse she had put on that had once belonged to Jay.

- Mmm - she turned to face Jay - it hasn't been your jumper for a long time, Jay. - She replied, reciprocating the smile. Jay moved closer to her with an even bigger smile, from which Hailey's knees were softening. He put one hand on Hailey's waist to pull her closer to him and tilted his head and brought their lips together in a sweet, slow kiss.

After a moment, they pulled away from each other, both with big smiles on their faces. Jay placed both hands on Hailey's cheeks, gazing with infinite love. As if Hailey was the only person on earth. To him, that's exactly who she was. The one, unique, special, strong, brave and his woman of life.

- I love you, Angel - he whispered. Hailey heard the words he said, and she pulled back. She felt as if those words unlocked some secret box in her head and everything began to whirl and images of what she had done over the past years appeared before her eyes. She couldn't believe that the man standing in front of her knowing what bad things she had done still loved her, still wanted to be with her. Not only that, but she couldn't fathom it, why he wouldn't hate her like she hated herself.

- How could you? - Hailey burst out, barely holding back the panic that was emerging again.

- What, how can I? - Jay was surprised by his beloved's reaction.

- How can you love me? - she threw her hands in the air, completely consumed by panic - How, after all I've done, are you able to look at me? Touch me? Kiss me? Make love to me? - she ran her hands over her face, wiping away the tears that were coming.

- Hailey, what are you... - Jay tried to figure out what was going on, but Hailey didn't give him a chance.

- You know I'm the reason Cam died. You know, I'm the one who caused Walker to be murdered. I'm the one who planted the drugs in the car to save the Van boy. - the words were coming out of her mouth at machine-gun speed.

- Hailey... - spoke again, Jay, already increasingly horrified by his girlfriend's behavior.

- Jay how can you be so in love with me knowing that I've crossed boundaries so many times. Recently even because of me you had to break your rules and I put you in trouble. Hell I killed a man, and you still kiss me, look at me with this love, sleep with me, touch me. You do all these things like nothing bad happened. As if I haven't broken the law. Like I didn't do anything wrong," she said, drenched in tears and not stopping talking.

- Hailey, Angel - he tried again to approach the girl. He approached very slowly and spoke very quietly. He had never seen Hailey like this, and it scared him, and it broke his heart to see her like this. He wanted so much to take this fear, pain away from her and do something, so she wouldn't suffer like this. But the problem was that he didn't know how he should do it, and it was killing him even more. It was all his fault, because he wasn't there when she needed him most.

- No, leave me. I don't want to - she stopped, unable to speak through her tears and sobs. She felt she was running out of air, but she couldn't stop crying, she couldn't stop talking. She had to free Jay from this burden. From the weight of her mistakes, her demons, her guilt. Voight was right about one thing, Jay is a good man and a good cop, and that can't be changed. She can't change that. Jay can't pay for her faults. He doesn't deserve that.

- Okay, so what do you want? - He asked himself, no longer holding back the tears that were now streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't look at her suffering, it was breaking him. He was ready to do anything, really anything, to take away all her pain.

- I... I want - she leaned against the wall and slid down it to the floor. She curled her legs, which she wrapped around her shoulders, and looked at Jay. He had to know she was serious. - I want you to hate me, just like I hate myself. I want you to look at me with revulsion, with disgust. I want you to stop loving me, to leave me alone. I want you to be happy. You're a good man and a good cop, you don't deserve all this shit. Jay, I love you more than a man should love another man, it can't even be described how happy I was with you. I thought that this - she pointed at them - that this would be good, but I was wrong.

- Hailey I'm begging you to stop - Jay fell to his knees in front of Hailey begging her, he was begging the universe that what he just heard was a dream.

- Jay, go away, come back to your place. Forget about me, please - a single tear flowed from her eyes - It's better this way - she said the last words so quietly that Jay had to wonder if they definitely came from her mouth.

It all seemed like a bad dream, this couldn't be happening for real.

- Hailey - he began slowly, afraid that the woman would interrupt - I know that fear is speaking through you, and I know that you don't mean it. - Hailey, hearing Jay's still calm and tender voice, closed her eyes and begged him to stop, to leave her. To let her suffer alone. - Hailey, Angel look at me please - The woman couldn't resist the request, so she did as Jay asked. When their gazes met in Hailey's eyes seeing her suffering, he took a deep breath to stop himself from pulling her to him, so he continued. - I'm not able to stop loving you or hating you. You are the most important person in the world to me. I love you so damn much that I can't even name it. You are the only meaning to my life, Hailey Anne Upton, and I can't live without you. - He paused for a moment, wiping the tears from his cheeks and to take a breath. He decided to move a little closer to his girlfriend, hoping she wouldn't run away.

He didn't break their eye contact. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, he could feel Hailey freeze under his touch, but he kept moving closer and continued to keep his hand on her shoulder. When he thought he was at a sufficient distance to hold Hailey and to give her space, when he suddenly had an idea. He moved a little away from Hailey and pulled down her blouse. Hailey looked at him, not understanding what he was doing as he took it off, put it aside and then returned his gaze to the blonde, still puzzled by his behavior. In truth, he was surprised by it himself and didn't know if it would do anything at all, but he didn't know what to do. He was losing hope, and he felt he was losing Hailey too, and he couldn't let that happen. Not when he knows he can help her, he doesn't know how yet, but he's not going to give up. Jay gently placed his hand on her cheek and then gently took her hand and placed it where his heart was beating. Hailey wanted to pull her hand away, but he held it steady and tight enough to keep her from discomfort and pain. - Angel, my sweet princess, I cannot, will not and cannot give up on the love of my life. I know you don't have the strength to fight, that you think you don't deserve all the good things, love, me, happiness, but it's not true. You deserve so much more and as long as I'm alive, as long as this," he placed his other hand on their hands that were next to his heart, "as long as my heart beats I will fight for both of us. I'm not going anywhere, Hailey. No matter what. And you can hate me for it, you can call me names, you can kick me out of the house, but I will never leave you, you understand. - He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. He felt Hailey cuddled against his bare chest start to cry, so he hugged her even tighter. - We will think of something together. Even if it is just the two of us against the whole world, we will not give up. - he whispered in her ear, rocking their bodies. Shh, quiet, I'm here. I'm here. Shh, I'm here, I'm with you. Shh, shh, shh. - He repeated over and over again. They didn't know how long they sat like that on the floor in the middle of the flat and wept, but Jay hoped that the warmth of his body, that the beating of his heart, would be able to calm his Angel. He tried to be strong for both of them and prayed that it would be enough, because he didn't know how much more his Angel could take.

#upstead #upstead fanfiction #upstead fic #jay x hailey #hailey upton #jay halstead

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ymawgat · 2 years

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saw batman today,

- very much felt like the director’s movie rather than a movie for the franchise or any one of the actors? lots of cinnamon-tography, lots of clever scenes and shots and weird colour arrangements. not necessarily a bad thing, just interesting that that’s what was prioritized?

- I had this idea going in that the movie was like, really out of step and counter to what a lot of (superhero) movies are nowadays? which I don’t think is untrue, but the movie definitely felt in step and consistent with the batman begins trilogy, and it very much fit into the “dark gritty batman movie” genre, even if it had a very different core message to other similar movies

- having said that there was a hell of a lot of like, delayed gratification sequences? like the bit at the end where bruce and selina are on their motorcycles and you know they’re gonna part ways and drive down different roads, but it takes like, a good 10 seconds to get to that moment. felt a lot more like an older (20th century?) movie than a 2020s superhero movie, which was nice to experience, at the very least.

- (although those slow 20th century movies didn’t have a 3 hour long runtime :/ but w/e)

- the batmobile scene felt a little out of place. you’ve got this incredibly masturbatary shot of the car’s engine and this rev-ing build up before the chase scene (where batman 100% kills people btw), but it’s in a movie that ends up with the message very counter to the whole hypermasculine “I am vengance my car go vroom vroom”?

- I guess the car scene was primarily aimed at people who’d come for the action rather than the character story, as something to hook them in and get them invested before you then say “this is what the consequences/weight of those violent action sequences are”, but I was already on the other side of that hump so ultimately that scene and the way it was framed didn’t really add that much?

- the Selina characterisation felt a little weird. batman stops her from killing the man who killed her mother and girlfriend(?) and she ends up just being kind of fine with that? and forgives him for stopping her from killing falconey? I didn’t feel like that sequence of decisions made sense really. It’s like after he got killed by the riddler her arc seemed to kind of just, end? and she had no lasting character strings other than that she was the love interest? idk

- i liked the riddles. it felt a lot more like a detective story than i remember any of the christopher nolon movies did. the fact there were kinda red herrings and that batman missed stuff was also really great

- i think at the pictures of people going in and out of the penguin club (like the dirt on mayor don?) where taken from the Riddler’s apartment?

- i had gotten spoiled on the ending being that batman chooses to be a symbol of hope instead of fear/vengeance, but i didn’t know how much the climax was a character beat rather than an action/combat beat? like the climax is about that moment of realisation and the act of saving people more than defeating the villain. using his baterang/knife weapon to cut the dangerous electrical cord rather than to beat someone... just like, yeah. that’s good.

- the fact that batman was so much of a civilian rescuer at the end of the movie, and the fact that batman was so openly working working with the police (and that this was a point of conflict) was really refreshing, and it really does feel like a bridge between the dark and gritty nolon movies and the more comic book superhero batman (in which batman being a public hero who does search and rescue and publicly helps police is never questioned), or getting closer to it at least

- on that note i’d love to see a brigher sequel that included robin/dick grayson, like some people have suggested. I honestly feel like robin is the only natural progression a batterson sequel could take? seeing the riddler in a campy-er outfit would also be great.

- i need the riddler to have a redemption arc. let him be an autistic antihero. let him kill the joker. let him say riddle me this, please. please

#the batman #the batman spoilers

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openheartfanfics · 3 years

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Newly Added Fics

July 25-31

Ethan x F!MC

Begin Again - @genevievemd ☁ After months of waiting, Ethan finally asked Genevieve out on a real date. Their first official date. [Date; DTR]

BIKE LESSON - @a-crepusculo 📷☁ Ethan surprises his wife with an unusual gift and takes her to the Boston Common. [Domestic]

Broken Dreams - @liaromancewriter 🎭 When Cassie’s ex returns, she has to reflect on the person she was and the love she’s found that is worth fighting for. [In Love]

Fantasy - @lsvdw-blog ♥ Write a fantasy one of them has about the other. [Ethan POV; Office; Lewd Thoughts; Oral]

Fix It Series - @gryffindordaughterofathena 📚 [extended: wip] Open Heart 2 and 3 [Pining]

4. Holding Tight

For Forever - @jerzwriter ☁ Day two of Ethan’s surprises for Casey’s 29thBirthday, and this one has a lasting impact [Birthday; Proposal]

Harmony - @utterlyinevitable ☁ Ethan’s learned to love these mundane moments and he wants more of them. [Domestic; Cooking]

In Flagrante Delicto - @jerzwriter ☁ Ethan is mortified after finding himself in a compromising position with Casey.

In Plain Sight - @queenbirbs 🛸📚 [extended: wip] Detective AU

Part 4

Just Two People - @utterlyinevitable 📚 [mini: completed] Sienna comes to check on Becca after she survived the assassination attempt and wants details of her night with Ethan in isolation. [Hurt/Comfort; 2.11]

III. Later

Makita Kang Muli - @izzyourresidentlawyer 🎭 The story ends with healing, forgiveness and coming back.

Mia Cara - @izzyourresidentlawyer ☁ Snippets of Ethan being a father [Family]

Please Drive! - @mm2305 🛸 They jump into your car breathless and tell you to keep driving

Second Year Rewrite - @genevievemd 📚🛸 [extended: wip] After deciding to stay together, but in secret, Ethan and Genevieve navigate the ups and downs of her second year of residency.

Chapter Two: The Art of Secrecy

Surprise - @jerzwriter ☁ Ethan has a weekend full of surprises ready for Casey’s 29th birthday. Today is day one and he invited some special guests to help them celebrate. [Birthday]

The New Leader - @potionsprefect 🩺☁ It’s Victoria’s first day as head of the Diagnostics Team. [Post-Ending]

Their First Two Months - @jerzwriter 🩺📚 [extended: wip] Their first two months after sharing their feelings. [Post-Ending]

Untitled - @jerzwriter 🩺🎭 Having started a new life in New York, an unexpected visit from Ethan leaves Casey wondering if they have another chance. [Post-Ending; Broke Up; Meet Again]

Untitled - @bex-la-get 🩺☁ Five years. Five long years since Natalie had left Edenbrook. In those five years, she had thrived. [Post-Ending; Broke Up; Meet Again]

“We’re either getting married, or we’re breaking up.” - @bex-la-get ☁ [Proposal]

Winter Warmth - @adiehardfan 🎄☁ A winter morning at the Ramsey apartment.

Love Triangle

Delaying the Inevitable - @jerzwriter 📚 [extended: wip] Ethan x F!MC x Tobias

Chapter 14 - Nightfall

Chapter 15 - Tea and Empathy

Tobias x F!MC

A Forced Vacation - @lucy-268 ♥ Except for the attack in her second year, Samantha hasn’t taken time off during her residency, Ethan says she needs to take a vacation before she takes over the diagnostic team.Tobias helps her relax.

#open heart #choices open heart #open heart fanfic #open heart fanfics #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey x mc #tobias carrick #tobias x mc #tobias carrick x mc #newly added fics

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mssleepy876b · 3 years

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Family Ties Chapter 6

Summary: Family can be a positive and negative force in one's life. Detective Jay Halstead knows that personally and he helps a new Intelligence family member through it.

Requested? No. But promised @resanoona that I would post mine once she posted hers.

Word count: 2426

Warnings: domestic violence, PTSD possible

A/n: Unedited Sorry for any mistakes

Family Ties Chapter 6

It had been over a year and Brie felt solid on her life and her path. She worked because she wanted to and felt her work in Intelligence was helping out the unit who had helped her back to her feet. She had started to take over more and more of the technology work from Adam and Kevin since she had a knack for it. She could figure out tech searches, etc. that they needed and found her skills meant she was faster than Ruzek or Atwater, so Hank had her trained more and more by CPD for technology support for Intelligence.

She was sitting at her desk in the bullpen when Trudy came up. She was carrying a floral display. It included her one-time favorite blue roses, but she didn’t have any guys in her life, so she figured it was for Kim, Hailey or Vanessa. They had quickly become her friends and had helped her build her confidence. She had cut & colored her hair, was wearing different clothes that made her confidence show, and her make-up had changed as well to enhance her features showing the outside changes to match the stronger person now underneath the surface thanks to the support of those around her.

It shocked Brie when Trudy placed the flower display on her desk pulling her again from the work in front of her. “Here. A delivery for you, Cinderella.” She said. Jay turned to see the flowers on Brie’s desk.

Brie stood looking confused and spoke, “Are you sure, Sergeant? Who would send flowers to me? It’s not my birthday so it’s not my parents.” The girls all smiled as Brie took the card from the display and Platt moved back downstairs. Her face paled as she read the card to herself. She reached behind her for her chair in order to sit. Brielle took a moment to gather her thoughts and she shocked the unit by dropping the flowers vase and all in the trash can next to her desk calling out. “Hell, no. How did he find me?” she said her voice angered and wavering as the sound of the vase breaking echoed her comments.

Jay and Hank quickly walked to her and she handed them the card. It was from Michael. Hank read it out loud, ‘You have had your year of fun, love. I will collect you soon from you little experiment at a life without me. And you will be back where you belong at my home and under my orders. See you soon, Brielle. Michael, your husband.’ Brie had walked from her desk and entered the break room leaving the Unit stunned.

Jay followed her once he read the card. “Are you okay, Brie?” he asked placing his hands on her shoulders.

She sighed as she placed one of her hands over his on her right shoulder. “I think so, Jay. I hate feeling scared again. It is like he keeps creeping in taking control of me again and I hate it. How can I stop him?” she said taking a breath and sounding determined.

“You know we all have your back, right?” he said to her as she turned to face him.

“I do, Jay. And I trust you all.” She said smiling up at him.

It took the unit less than 2 hours to track the flowers and how Michael purchased them. It caused Brie to get angrier and angrier thinking about the message. She finally threw down her pen and grabbed her coat running down the stairs to the front door. Hank spoke up, “Halstead, go calm her down. She needs to keep her head on straight while we look for him.”

Jay nodded and moved to follow her grabbing his own coat. He opened the gate to Intelligence only to hear Platt fussing at him. “What’s the deal, Chuckles? What crawled up her butt?”

“The flowers were from her ex.” He replied as he headed to the door as Trudy’s face darkened knowing the full story about Michael and Brielle.

“Check her car first. She is smarter than just heading off.” Platt shouted as he moved through the main doors of the district.

Jay didn’t have to go that far seeing her pace near a bench by the front door. “Talk to me, Brie.” He said moving closer slowly.

“I’m angry, Jay. The thought that he believed I would just give in, fall right back into a situation where he beat me and hit me, and I would just let it go and forgive him is ridiculous. It is as if he never saw me as a person at all. I hate that idea of that for anyone. I haven’t done everything I have this past year to fall back into that death trap. He will NEVER put his hands on me again.” She said venting to him as she motioned displaying her anger with her hands.

“Okay. That is a natural reaction. And you have done a lot of changing in the past year. Your confidence is a big piece that I have noticed. Atwater and Ruzek tell me that you have been swatting the guys away at Molly’s lately.” He said getting a small laugh from her. She took a breath and sat next to him on the bench. “Look until we know more, you have to be more careful. Running out of the building like this alone is not safe. Michael’s crew is still around you know that. They work for his uncle. They were absorbed back in. Michael coming out probably means they will be back with him. Until we get him off your back, stick close to us and don’t leave the building alone. You have learned from all of us this year. Use those skills we taught you, okay?” he said. She nodded and took in a deep breath sighing out loud. “Ready to head back in?” He asked. She nodded and stood as he smiled and led them back into the unit.

Two weeks later, Brie had to take a personal day to complete some personal tasks that had been left undone due to her focus on work in Intelligence. She smiled as Ruzek and Atwater texted her about how they missed her tech skills on a new case they had started today. She also smiled when Jay called to check on her during her lunch. She had a huge amount of respect for Jay but was cautious about letting any feelings grow for him. She had heard from Kim how he had been hurt several times by different people in his life. Brie knew she thought of Jay differently than the others, but she would never cross the line unless she knew how he felt. She valued their friendship too much to risk alienating him.

Brie left from her quiet lunch at the small café and started to feel disconcerted. She felt like she was being watched and it worried her. Her senses started to react to her intuition. She quickly spotted the car following her. She could tell that there were at least 2 men in the car. Her first thought was Michael sent them. She wasn’t close enough to go to the Precinct but noticed she was not far from Firehouse 51. Christopher Hermann and Kelly Severide were guys that she learned to trust from Molly’s, and she knew they would help her. She pulled into the parking lot and quickly walked to the door of the building closest to the lot. She entered and watched as the car parked across the street from the lot and waited. She started to get concerned and went to find Hermann or Severide. She ran into Captain Casey first literally almost knocking herself down. She blushed as he caught her to prevent her fall. “Oh, god. Captain Casey, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She said trying to control her emotions.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. But you look upset, Brielle, right? You work in Intelligence, with Detective Halstead, right?” he asked her.

She nodded. “I’m an administrative assistant as well as a tech assistant for the unit.” She said.

“What’s got you upset?” he asked her.

“I think I am being followed, Captain. I came here to get help.” She said. She pointed to the car. “I took a personal day to handle errands, etc. and that car has been following me since I left the café where I had lunch. It follows me everywhere.” She said.

He nodded and she noticed a stern look come over his face. “Come on. Let’s go call your Unit. They will not put up with this.” He said leading her to the Bullpen.

He led her to a desk near Chief Boden’s office and he let her sit while he let Chief Boden know what was going on. Boden stepped out and told Casey he would stay with Brie while Casey told the others at the house what was going on. Brie sat and pulled her cell from her pocket. She pulled Voight’s number from her cell and dialed it into the phone in front of her. She listened as the phone rang. He then spoke clearly. “Voight.”

She spoke clearly and quickly. “Uncle Hank? It’s Brie. I’m at Firehouse 51. I was out running errands after lunch and I saw a car following me. I can’t seem to lose it and it is sitting across the street from the parking lot at the station. I didn’t feel like I had enough time to come to the precinct. It is a navy four door sedan with tinted windows. I can tell there are two guys in the front seat, but I can’t see the back seat. I was concerned as I felt like I was being watched since I left my lunch stop.”

Hank spoke after listening to her. “You did good, Brie. Stay there at 51. We will come and get you, make sure you are safe. 51 will keep you safe until we get there. We’ll look into this.” He said hanging up the phone. He exited his office and called out across the unit. “Halstead, Upton, and Burgess. Go to Firehouse 51. Brie is there. Thinks she is being followed. Navy 4 door sedan parked across from the station’s parking lot. She is inside the house with Chief Boden and the 2nd shift.”

Jay stopped near the station and let Hailey and Kim handle the car while he continued on to see to Brie. He quickly parked his truck and recognized her car sitting in the lot next to Captain Casey’s truck. He walked quickly onto the apparatus floor finding the Squad table empty he entered the doors near the common room. Severide greeted him. “Jay.” Kelly said shaking his hand. “Your unit’s assistant is in the Bullpen with Boden and Casey.” He said leading the way.

Kelly heard Jay release a breath and spoke again. “Everything okay? You all seem protective over her.”

“Her abusive ex got out of jail last week. He started to harass her two weeks before that. He has ties to organized crime and can’t seem to take no or being ignored as an answer. He was controlling and told her in a note with flowers that he was going to get her back.” Jay said his face setting in anger. “She’s a good person, Severide. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s done a lot to help herself in the last 18 months. Voight has known her since she was a kid and used to work with her father who is retired CPD.”

“Enough said.” Kelly answered turning the corner to enter the Bullpen.

Jay let out another deep breath when he saw her sitting at a desk with Chief Boden standing nearby. He walked over to the Chief and shook his hand. “Chief Boden.” Jay said.

“Detective Halstead. Ms. Jacobs came here due to the vehicle she says appears to be following her this afternoon.” Chief Boden said.

“Understood, Chief. Detective Upton and Officer Burgess are across the street right now and handling the vehicle.” Jay said. He looked down and saw Brie watching him from a nearby desk. “How are you feeling, Brie?”

She replied quickly as he moved closer to her, “Better. I felt safer once I got inside here. I promised I would keep the Unit alerted to anything unusual.” She said.

“Good job. You used the skills you have learned to protect yourself. We’ll find out soon if Michael is involved.” He said placing a hand on her shoulder.

His radio began to sound causing him to move his hand to turn up the sound. It was Hailey’s voice calling in the license plate and alerting that she was approaching the vehicle with Kim. It took a few minutes before Hailey came back on the radio and said the vehicle was departing with a warning to stop tailing a CPD employee. Jay released another breath. He felt Brie slide her shaking hand into his and take a deep breath herself. Hailey and Kim quickly joined Jay, Brie and the others.

Hailey entered leading Kim, smiled at Jay and Brie before she spoke. “Driver and friend were paid $500 bucks to tail her for the afternoon. Approached through a registered PI and paid by the PI. Got his information so we can pay him a visit later.” She said.

“So, no solid connection to DiLeone yet?” Jay asked.

“Not yet.” Hailey said.

Jay turned to Brie who had pulled her hand back when Hailey arrived. “What do you want to do, Brie? Do you want us to help you get back to the Precinct or what?”

“I should probably head in. Sergeant Voight will want my statement as well needing to help Ruzek and Atwater with the technology searches.” She said standing and running her hands over her slacks. “How do we get my car from here if I ride back with you? I am not sure I could drive right now.” she asked.

“I’ll drive it to the district for you, Brie.” Kim offered.

Brie nodded accepting Kim’s offer. “Thank you for your help, Chief Boden. I’m sorry if I disrupted your house.” She said to him shaking his hand.

#jay halstead fanfiction #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead imagines

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hannigramficrecs · 4 years

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Provenance by drinkbloodlikewine, whiskeyandspite [words: 62,735]

A delightful AU about a rare book dealer, an owner of a high-end coffee shop, and murder. This does involve Hannibal Lecter, after all.

I Am Not A Morning Person by stratumgermanitivum [words: 14,852]

I Am Not A Morning Person opened at 4:30 AM. Usually. Their menu was obscene and ever changing, and they offered shots of tequila in their coffee to anyone with an ID. Hannibal fell in love with their grouchy baker anyway.

Fruitful by Everett_Harte [words: 11,629]

An AU where they both meet several years before the show, start dating, and get married. And bang, a lot.

Teen Hannibal Ficlets by emungere [words: 10,927]

AU where Hannibal never meets Lady Murasaki and is somehow found by Will Graham and Will raises him instead. As Hannibal gets older he becomes obsessed with Will and so Teen Hannibal tries to seduce Guardian Will who is just like oh god someone save me.

Ticket Pocket by geneticallydead [words: 1,669]

Hannibal needs a new tailor. He finds Will Graham.

Taste by emungere [words: 4,575]

Hannibal is a tailor (and may or may not also be a serial killer) and Will comes to him for a new suit.

Professional Help by xzombiexkittenx [words: 1,969]

There's a stranger in Hannibal Lecter's house, peering out the window through the scope of an L115A3 bolt-action rifle.

Black Rock Mountain by bokunojinsei [words: 23,964]

Will is a hitchhiker with questionable hobbies. Hannibal is a man who has questionable motives. When Hannibal drives by Will who just so happens to need a ride, things quickly take a turn from the questionable to the downright depraved.

Lazy Coffee by lonelywalker [words: 1,104]

The baristas of Baltimore are dropping like flies. Why? Because they just can't get Dr. Lecter's coffee order right, and he's very particular. One day, an awkward young man with "Will" on his nametag changes Hannibal's life.

Page Six by ThisBeautifulDrowning [words: 66,839]

Crime reporter Will Graham's column on page six of the Baltimore Sun garners him the attention of many: fans, hobby detectives, the FBI...and others. Hannibal cut off a piece of meat with surgical precision. “I find your company rather engaging.” “Maybe I don't find you all that engaging.” Silence. Hannibal grinned. “I see that it will take more than one dinner to earn your forgiveness. Challenge accepted.”

How To Save A Life (The Cannibal-Friendly Handbook) by Kittendiamore [words: 3,463]

There’s a man looking up at Will, who has clearly been distracted from - Oh. Throwing limbs into the river. Human limbs. Lovely, he thinks sarcastically. Then he thinks it again because it actually is kind of lovely. The man looks confident. At ease with what he is. He’s kinda hot, too. Or: Will tries to jump off a bridge but ends up offering himself up to a cannibalistic serial killer...as you do.

Never Conquered, Rarely Came by thisisthefamilybusiness [words: 3,242]

Will is in an abusive relationship but can't see a way out - he's tried to leave before, but his partner is in law enforcement and always manages to track him down while pretending to be the understanding, forgiving, loving type. One day, Will stumbles across an ad in the Classifieds of the cleverly worded cannibal-seeking-fresh-meat-but-veiled-as-private-cooking-classes type, and decides to answer. Hannibal is pleased when his ad bears fruit, then surprised when his intended dinner apparently knows exactly what he's in for

Triage by ErisPhoenix [words: 5,469]

Cop Will and ER doctor Hannibal

The Ripper and the Black Dog by HigherMagic [words: 16,249]

A 'Mr & Mrs Smith' Hannigram story.

Money Where Your Mouth Is by OneWhoSitsWithTurtles [words: 3,792]

Will Graham is a dancer in a strip club trying to earn enough money to pay rent when he catches the attention of Hannibal Lecter, a man and a predator willing to pay any price for what he wants.

Late Shift by Sugarmouse [words: 4,307]

Hannibal is nearing the end of his shift in the ER when one of the students makes a mistake with the dog bite victim in room four.

Our Stars are the Same by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened [words: 42,578]

Someone's moved into the old creepy, supposedly haunted, mansion down the way from Will Graham and his family. Will never expects to befriend the new family's son.

Moorings Built on Sand by beforethedawn, ConstructFairytales, Destinyawakened [words: 100,289]

Will and his dad are moved to Germany for the foreseeable future and Will is surprised when he befriends a boy a few years older than him who seems to be mute.

Fix All My Broken Things by xstarxchaserx [words: 16,177]

When Will is introduced to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist is only supposed to be a client for him, just a couple of small repair jobs and nothing more. Will isn't prepared to fall headfirst into feelings, operas, and murder, but there's something lurking behind Hannibal's cool facade. When Will discovers it, his entire life will change.

The New Boy by TigerPrawn [words: 11,904]

(Hannigram + Spacedogs High School AU) Nigel recently moved to a new school after being kicked out of the last five he'd attended. He just wants to keep his head down and get through senior year so his parents will let him work in their profitable family business. When he's asked to play guide to another new student - strange little Adam Raki - he thinks he might have found help in passing his classes. If he can keep his mind on his studies around his new friend...

I'll Will My Wild Eyes Bright by HigherMagic [words: 24,398] ]

"You would do well to remember that people like you are best seen and not heard," Mason says sharply. "Our new friend is far less forgiving than I am, if the rumors are even half true." Will nods, and resists the urge to pet over his face and wipe Mason's scent away. "I want you to kill him, Will. Whatever it takes. Will you do it?" "Of course, Your Majesty," Will replies, nodding. "I am your humble servant."

Ero̱totropía by drinkbloodlikewine, whiskeyandspite [words: 49,243]

Will is 16 when he finds himself given to an older man to be mentored and apprenticed in the art of war and horsemanship. It is traditional, and all would be well, had Will not run his mouth to this particular general in the public baths not several hours earlier...

The Aesthetics of Pleasure by exarite [words: 2,056]

Hannibal Lecter did not watch porn. If he did, though, it would certainly explain why the man waiting in line with him looked incredibly familiar.

Out of Order by HigherMagic [words: 7,346]

Hannibal's car breaks down on a long road in the middle of West Virginia. In his quest to seek help, he ends up at an abandoned gas station, with a little house and a large barn. Living there is a man, Will Graham, who offers to take a look at his car and drive him to the next town so he has a place to stay. Hannibal cannot resist digging into Will's mind and personal life during the drive, learning that Will teaches remotely for the FBI, and in particular, lectures on the Chesapeake Ripper.

The One That Got Away by whatacunningboy [words: 4,694]

Hannibal Lecter had this macabre air to his name. Everyone knew who he was and in what he specialized in—assassination was his trade and no one questioned it. He could make anyone disappear with a simple trick or two. He never missed a target, he was quiet, and swift. Yet, he missed the biggest target of all.

Ethics & Aesthetics by fragile-teacup [words: 106,330]

Pride and Prejudice omegaverse AU

Inconvenient by fragile-teacup [words: 69,621]

England, April 1815. Hannibal Lecter, the third Earl of Raven, gets more than he bargained for when accepting a bet from a desperate man leads to him being saddled with the man's dilapidated estate - and son. Will Graham is eighteen, hot-headed, and unnervingly intriguing. As for Will, the idea of having to spend time with the person whom he holds responsible for his father's untimely death is anathema. And yet, when circumstances leave him with no other choice, he is forced to adapt. It does not help matters that Hannibal Lecter is most annoyingly attractive...

4 (25/25)

#hannibal au #hannibal fanfic #hannigram fanfic #hannibal #hannigram #au

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onlyhenrys · 4 years

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What a Plot Twist you were

What a Plot Twist you were - Chapter 2

Summary: The one time Walter’s feelings are genuine, destiny has to destroy certain aspects

Word Count: 1.9K

Warning: Violence, graphic death of characters

Thank you @iloveyouyen for being my lovely friend and for beta’ing this story and thank you @penwieldingdreamer for making this beautiful cover <3

Not a basic Soulmate AU

Steam covered every inch of your bathroom as you showered, savoring the feeling of hot water against your skin. The small of your back burned like you’ve been lashed and you released a hiss as the water touched your tender skin, easing some of the pain. Your entire body felt sore from your previous night with the detective, but it was a different kind of sore, something you hadn’t experienced in a long time.

You sighed and reached out for your shampoo. It was rare for you to have moments like this, moments where it was just you and the peaceful quiet. Your life was a whirlwind of excitement as you were always on the run, always hiding from authorities, and yet, you had lured one of the hunters in bed with you.

The detective had no idea that you were the one who he was hunting, you made sure of that as you pleased him last night. For one night you were there for him, and he had his mind completely focussed on you, not on the person that was wanted for violence and murder.

You turned off the water and quickly dried yourself before covering your skin with a bathrobe as a shield to protect you from the icy cold that threatened to creep into your body. It took some adjusting, getting used to Minneapolis winter, but it was a welcome change compared to mild winters of the UK. The sound of the door dragged you from your train of thoughts and your head snapped up as soft footsteps made their way over to the bathroom.

You held your breath as you carefully reached for the hidden gun in the pocket of your bathrobe. The footsteps stopped in front of the door and the hairs on your arms and the nape of your neck lifted as you heard how the person cleared their throat. The doorknob turned and you lowered the gun, shaking your head slightly as you released a breath.

‘’You could’ve knocked, you know.’’

The man leaned against the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his chest. ‘’And where’s the fun in that, princess?’’

You slapped him with your towel and a smirk started to pull at your lips. ‘’You’re here early.’’

You walked past him towards your room, where you dropped your bathrobe, highly aware of his eyes that trailed down your body. You jumped as his fingers touched the small of your back and quickly turned, swatting his hands away. ‘’What are you doing?’’

‘’How did you get this scar?’’ he took another step closer and pulled at the sensitive skin, earning a groan from you, ‘’It looks like two crossed swords.’’

You looked at him over your shoulder and raised an eyebrow. ‘’Did you fall on your head or something?’’ You stepped away from him and grabbed your bra from the nightstand before wrapping yourself in a tight, midnight blue dress. Your raven-colored strands falling down your back as you tilted your head towards Asher. ‘’Zip me up?’’

You trusted Asher with your life. In the company of the other men he hid behind a thick wall, never truly showing his real character, but with you, he was just Asher. He was a lost boy, just like you were a lost girl before you found a purpose and that connected the two of you. It also helped that he wasn’t bad to look at, with his sandy hair and moss green eyes.

He flicked your forehead and a scowl appeared on your face as you rubbed the sore spot. ‘’Was that really necessary?’’ He nodded and you slapped his chest before walking back to the bathroom to apply your make-up. You gazed at him through the mirror, frowning at his serious expression. ‘’What are you not telling me, Asher?’’

He bit down on his lip and you felt your stomach flutter at the sight. The bastard knew exactly what kind of effect he had on you and smirked before answering.

‘’We caught them.’’

“You’re absolutely sure it’s them?”

You bounced up and down on the passenger seat as you waited impatiently in front of the red light. Asher tightened his grip around the steering wheel as he watched you bounce from the corner of his eye, knowing exactly how much this meant to you.

One of his hands kept its grip on the steering wheel while the other found its way to your knee, squeezing slightly. “I checked it myself, it’s them,” he shot you a quick look before focusing on the road again, “you know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

You intertwined your hand with his and leaned your head back, closing your eyes. ‘’I know,’’ you dragged your other hand through your hair, ‘’this whole thing just makes me anxious.’’

It didn’t take long for the two of you to arrive at the abandoned warehouse and you immediately jumped out of the car, breathing in the fresh winter air. Two of your men waited outside the warehouse, their guns held loosely in the hand as they acknowledged you with a small nod. You barely noticed them as Asher opened the door for you, revealing the two people who ruined your life so many years ago.

Their hands were tied around the back of their chairs and a black blindfold covered their eyes. The smell of fear clung heavily in the air as you ripped the blindfold from the woman’s face. Her face was soaked with tears and sweat as she stared up to you and her eyes widened with recognition.

She opened her mouth to speak but you were faster and covered it with your hand. ‘’Ah ah, I’ve waited years for this moment, you’re not gonna ruin it by opening your filthy mouth.’’

You reached out and dragged a hand through her slowly greying hair. It has been years since you last saw her, since she abandoned you in the cold streets of London, leaving you to take care of yourself. You had forgiven her for that, you truly had, but you couldn’t forgive her for what she did to the rest of your family.

His skin was still warm, despite being out here in the cold for so long and you softly smoothed the hair that covered his eyes away. His bright eyes, always so full of life, started back at you - unseeing. A sob escaped your throat as you cradled his body against yours. He didn’t deserve this, this cruel ending. He was supposed to have a long and happy life, you sacrificed everything to make sure that at least he would get a chance of happiness. But they had to come in and ruin everything.

You closed his eyes with a gentle touch and leaned forward to press a kiss on his cheek. ‘’I’m gonna make them pay, brother. I promise.’’

The two of them had already disappeared from the radar before his body had grown cold, activating a burning rage inside of you. You had spent years tracing their footsteps but they always managed to stay one step ahead of you, until today.

You ripped the other blindfold from your foster dad’s face and watched in amusement how his eyes flickered around the room, searching for a way out as he would ever get the chance to escape. Asher turned to face the other guards and dismissed them with a quick nod before grabbing a stool for you to sit down. You shot him a grateful look and sat down, focusing your gaze on the two people in front of you.

‘’You know - ‘’ you leaned back and crossed your legs over each other, ‘’I made a promise to my brother.’’ A smirk appeared on your lips as you cocked your head to the side. ‘’And unlike some people, I actually keep my promises.’’

You pulled your gun out and pointed it to the woman’s head. ‘’I believed you when you told me that you would give your life to keep him safe and look what happened.’’ You pointed your gun down and shot her in her leg, drawing a sob from her lips. You did the same thing with the man before handing the gun over to Asher, watching how he left the room, giving you space.

‘’Why didn’t you kill us?’’ the woman breathed, her eyes squeezed shut against the burning pain in her leg.

You rose and untied the robes that kept the two of them hostage. ‘’Oh I will, don’t worry about that,’’ you shot her a lopsided smile, ‘’the bullets that I used are laced with a strong toxic that will slowly deactivate all the organs in your body.’’

‘’What happened to you?’’ the man spoke up, ‘’you were such a sweet little girl when you were younger.’’

A chuckle escaped as you wiped a tear away. ‘’I grew up,’’ you turned to face him, looking up as he towered over you, ‘’and you killed my brother.’’

He took a sharp intake of breath before he crumbled at your feet, foam covering the sides of his mouth. His face scrunched together as an immense pain raged through his body, slowly pulling him down. The woman fell by his side, tears streaming down her face as she dragged his body on her lap, cupping his face in her hands.

You crossed your arms in front of your chest, a look of disinterest covering your features. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Watching how a loved one dies, without you being able to save them.”

The woman sobbed even louder as the man took his last, shuddering breath before becoming completely still. “Why are you doing this?”

You crouched down next to her and grabbed the tip of her ponytail, pulling her towards you. “I already explained why. You took his life and now I’m taking yours,” you chuckled as you stared down at the dead man, a few feet away, “I waited for years, it’s funny how quickly he’s gone.”

The woman’s body started to shake and she fell back against the floor, her eyes burning with rage as she stared up at you.

“You’re a monster,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “a reckless monster, and one day it’s coming back to bite you in the ass.”

The silence was tense as you watched how she struggled to breathe, her body shaking violently as she fought to stay awake, to stay alive. It was when her body started to grow limp that you finally rose from your position, moving closer to the twitching body in front of you.

It took her everything to open her eyes when you cupped her face in your hands, searching her face for a sign of remorse. When you found none in those cold eyes, you made up your mind. You tightened the grip on her face and smoothly snapped her neck, wincing slightly at the sound before dropping her head back on the ground, avoiding looking at her lifeless gaze.

“Trust me,” you whispered, “you will get what you want, because he’s gonna find me, and when he does, he won’t hold back.”

#henry cavill #henry cavill characters #walter marshall soulmate au #walter marshall fic #walter marshall x y/n #walter marshall x you #walter marshall x reader #walter marshall #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill imagines

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that-shamrock-vibe · 3 years

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Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I haven’t been able to see this movie when it came out here in the U.K, so had to wait until a couple of days after Christmas to both watch and review it. If you haven’t seen this movie by the last week of the year and want to avoid spoilers go and watch it before reading on.

General Reaction:

I have finally seen Wonder Woman 1984, the first new superhero movie I have seen in 2020 outside of The New Mutants and my god it has been a trial to be able to watch this.

Being from the U.K, which was surprisingly a factor with one minor part of this movie, we over here usually get the big blockbusters particularly of the comic-book variety before or on the same day as the U.S. However, thanks to this fakakta pandemic and the new world order that movie studios and theatres find themselves in during 2020, I have been reduced to watching a blockbuster movie for the first time initially on my laptop rather than on the big screen as movies like this should be brought out first as.

I am fully aware that this is a global pandemic and that watching movies in the cinema pales in significance to what needs to be done to combat and eventually defeat this crisis, but being from an area where all cinemas are closed I’m out on a limb basically.

I won’t turn this part of the review into a COVID rant because frankly I am sick of talking about it but I do feel COVID will be a factor with the performance of these upcoming movies.

That being said, the second real world rant factor I have for this is WW1984 I feel has suffered due to constant schedule shifting and I feel a fairly uneven advertising campaign.

I went into this movie not thinking I was going to see the villains the way they are in the trailers or the comics and honestly it does seem that Cheetah and Max Lord, who are both credited Wonder Woman villains, have their roles reversed and the one who you think is going to be the biggest threat pretty much becomes a henchman and the one mainstream fans may not know a lot about is surprisingly the big threat but you’re also meant to feel sympathetic for both of them to a degree.

It seems a complete 180 spin from the first Wonder Woman movie which was a very grounded and gritty WW1 story to now be in the zany 80s...which as a decade has aspects of being zany yes but the way in which this movie plays out genuinely made me think of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies...but the best of them rather than Emo Peter.

There are so many plot points in this movie that more or less spawn from the main McGuffin of the movie which is the Dream Stone allowing people to make wishes but grants them with a sacrifice. The movie has several sub-plots that are the repercussions of the wishes that everyone makes and individually all of these sub-plots are very interesting...it’s when you then try to tie them all together for the big climactic battle that is when you get a bit of a mess,

Also, there is hardly any action in this movie and as both a Wonder Woman movie and a superhero movie in general, I am longing for some action sequences this year and the fact there are almost no good v evil fights would be disappointing, if not for the fact I understand where Patty Jenkins and the writers are trying to accomplish with this movie in comparison to the first movie.

I am not a massive Wonder Woman fan, I know the basics of Diana, the two Wonder Girls, Cheetah and Max Lord enough to understand what is going on. But the one thing that has always drawn me to her is that she is a hero with two distinct sides.

Firstly there’s the warrior that most mainstream fans would be aware of which is more played up in the first movie, but then there’s also the diplomat and the ambassador who attempts to always get across her message of peace which is more played up here.

If I think about it from that perspective, I can forgive the lack of action.

That being said, there is still a jumble of plot points that once you do untangle them all lead to the same conclusion, but there are too many ideas in 2h30 to make the movie coherent.

That’s the main negatives out of the way, the positives somewhat outweigh the negatives, let it be known I did enjoy this movie and there are some brilliant moments and sequences, but a lot of scenes aren’t developed enough or some aspects seem to be kept on the backburner maybe for a sequel.

Characters:

Diana:

We have to start with Wonder Woman herself, but as I mentioned before I am calling her Diana rather than Wonder Woman in my subheading because there wasn’t a lot of Wonder Woman action in this movie. If you’ve seen the trailers you’ve seen pretty much everything.

Going back to that first action piece when we are reintroduced to Wonder Woman at the shopping mall, I do understand why she’s doing what she’s doing by acting as a vigilante rather than a public superhero and not using violence does keep in step with where we first met her in Batman v. Superman during present day where she claims not to be about fighting or saving mankind anymore and to be honest here she does keep with that. She’s given up her Godkiller sword and shield but still makes full use of her lasso of truth along with her bracelets of submission and Aunt Antiope’s Tiara in a defensive manner but never to outwardly cause harm.

But yes, this entire sequence could easily substitute Wonder Woman with Spider-Man and her lasso and tiara with his web-shooters and feel like the good parts of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. It’s just borderline corny and somewhat cartoonish particularly when she’s saving the two young girls by either dropping them on a rocking horse or spinning them into giant teddy bears.

Also there’s that Cairo highway chase scene which sees Steve and Diana chasing after Max Lord who has just achieved his goal of claiming an army. I both like and dislike this scene. I like the scene for showing the starting effects of Diana’s power loss which is later explained to be the cause of Barbara’s wish to be like her which means she is syphoning Diana’s power.

On the flip-side, I really don’t like the overall action in this scene. Firstly, she seemingly has her armour on underneath her clothes because as she’s getting out the car she has her clothes on one minute and her armour in the next shot with no spinning involved.

Secondly, she gets out the car and starts running almost instantly while the car is still moving...I get she’s a demigoddess and therefore normal laws of motion may not apply to her but there’s no dodgy transition or stumbling or anything, she just starts running...Baywatch style to a remix of her theme which is brilliant but because of her losing her powers she is somewhat weakened and therefore you see her bleed. The whole scene just seems rather sloppy.

Regardless of the somewhat lacklustre action of the movie, Wonder Woman 1984 excels in presenting a different form of battling with words rather than weapons. Diana’s message of hope and love at the end of the movie may be a complete switch around from how she was all for being the god-killer in the first movie where Ares was involved, but it’s definitely a good message and, particularly in these times, a needed message.

Sometimes love and hope is enough, Diana does try and see the best in everyone and cannot understand or comprehend evil unless there is no other option. Ares was the God of War and as such a personification of hate and therefore evil. Max was simply corrupted and misguided and Diana could see that, just as Barbara was.

All of this is sold in Gal Gadot’s performance. You can tell from the start Diana is doing what she’s doing because she feels it is what’s right, but particularly when Steve comes back and the ultimatum is either saving the world or keeping him she is definitely torn at one point. Steve is the only thing she has ever wished for herself other than becoming a warrior and protector so why shouldn’t she be rewarded for her decades of servitude?

Also, much like every movie she appears in, Gal Gadot looks stunning throughout this movie. Not just in her Wonder Woman and Golden Armor but also in her Diana persona, she wears what appears to be a boiler suit at one point in this movie and still looks like it could be modelled on a runway. I know Gal is/was a model but she is never defined by that. When she’s acting she’s an actress first and a model second and the clothes never wear her.

My favourite look of hers which I now have in Funko form is her gala dress because not only does it honour her Amazon roots but it just looks stunning.

Her Wonder Woman armour here is made somewhat more cheesecaky than her other versions and it does make Diana look somewhat like Wonder Woman barbie but because of the vibrant 80s setting this movie is in and particularly with who else shows up in the movie offering a great parallel to it, it actually won me over. If this is how Wonder Woman looks as a diplomat I’ll allow it.

I really do enjoy the parallels between the DCEU’s Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne in terms of the detective/vigilante combination. Because there was little fighting here, Diana was allowed to be the detective more, travelling to different places tracking down Max Lord and figuring out that the Dream Stone is the cause of Steve returning from the dead.

However, while they may be pushing Diana and Bruce together in the present day, Diana’s true love is Steve Trevor and the two do have a fantastic blend of a working and romantic partnership on par, for me, with Ant-Man and the Wasp from the comics.

Outside of Steve though, Diana definitely has no love-loss for other men until the end of this movie. She sees right through Max Lord’s childish bravado at the start of the movie, she’s quick to repel any letchy guy throughout this movie, and it isn’t until Steve effectively gives her permission to move on at the end that she does...albeit seemingly with the man whose body Steve took over which seems a little backwards to me but I’ll allow it.

Wonder Woman also gets some fancy new upgrades in this movie. Not only do we have more functions of the Lasso of Truth with showing memories and broadcasting a voice, but also Diana gets her invisible jet through the means of a new power being able to make things invisible which she says is inherited from her father (Zeus) who used the power to hide Themyscira from the world.

The jet is a great precursor to what comes later because while flying in the jet, Diana talks about her longing to be able to fly which we all know as fans that she can do in pretty much every other incarnation yet all we’ve seen her do in the DCEU is leap long distances.

So the payoff when she actually flies after letting go of Steve finally was fantastic, honestly a fist-pumped the air and startled my dog because I got that excited. I do love how she still uses her lasso to propel herself and swing from lightning because it’s kind of like training wheels but seeing her fly at the very end unaided was everything.

I can’t decide how I feel about the ending, I do love how Diana saved the day in terms of using words over weapons, but it’s the fact she is pretty much looking directly at the camera while giving this big hope and love speech implying that she is talking to us as an audience as well as the world within the movie. It just seems very much a #BeKind movement which, again, is an important message particularly in today’s climate. But why does this need to be in a superhero movie?

Gal Gadot continues to be rather funny in the role as well. As with the first movie though, her humour is never really in jokes or in her actions but rather in serious dry whit. This kind of humour is right up my street. From her rejection of Max’s offer to buy her a TV to teaching Steve about the advancements in the 1980s from his time it was all rather well handled.

Diana simply continues to be a very warm and welcoming hero and Gal Gadot radiates these traits effortlessly. You feel bad whenever she feels bad, you want to cry whenever she cries, you get angry whenever she gets angry and you smile whenever she smiles. Gal Gadot continues to be as perfect in the role of Wonder Woman as Johnny Depp is for Jack Sparrow and Rosario Dawson is Ahsoka Tano.

Max Lord:

Okay so this is where things get complex because, to the best of my knowledge, this version of Max Lord is not the same as the one from the comics or any other media I’ve seen...I genuinely actually think they say Lord isn’t even his actual surname in this movie.

Alright, so this is where I’m slightly conflicted on this character. Maxwell Lord from the comics and Smallville where I first became aware of the character is a meta with the ability to control minds.

Becoming the Dream Stone doesn’t really give him the same power as effectively it makes him a genie but the power of the dream stone being equivalent to that of the Monkey’s Paw which grants wishes with consequences I guess is of similar elk.

Also, it’s not stated but shown that Max has some sort of degenerative condition before obtaining the stone but using the power of the stone seemingly sped up the condition because by the third act of the movie he looked like a shell of a man.

Obviously he knew of this which is why he wanted to utilize the stone’s power to a mass audience in order to grant their wishes and in return syphon their health and wealth but this is why I say that neither he nor Barbara were true villains because they were corrupted by the power the stone gave them.

I have a very weird stance of sympathetic villains, Cheetah is supposed to be a sympathetic villain to a degree but I’ve never really seen Max as such. In Smallville he is pretty much a henchman or underling whereas in Supergirl he was somewhat an anti-hero towards the end but mainly a villain.

I get the movie’s message of “Nothing good comes from hate” is in reference to the stone which was made by a trickster god and as such is inherently corrupt which makes its users also corrupt but not evil. But considering I originally didn’t think Max would be the main antagonist of the movie, when it was revealed he was I wanted to see some evil for evil’s sake behaviour rather than power corrupts twice over.

Also, in relation to his wishing power, the scene in which he tries to go through numerous clients to regain his health does play off a lot like Lucifer luring out people’s greatest desires.

Speaking of the wishes, two aspects of this I want to highlight. Firstly, when he reaches out to the world and grants everyone’s wishes, that one wish the diner lady utters about wanting the Irish to go back to where they come from...as someone of Irish heritage this is that wish I mentioned being from the U.K. was a surprising factor in for me...despite my Irish heritage being of Republic blood rather than Northern.

Secondly, I have now seen this movie twice and I do not know the reason for the weird satellite light that Max was in during the climax. I mean everything was basically going to hell and Max receiving the energy of the wishes and granting the wishes was basically giving him this protective funnel which Wonder Woman couldn’t penetrate, but was the light from the satellites and why did he need the satellites other to broadcast himself which he’s clearly already doing so what’s going on? I may not be making much sense but I genuinely don’t know what was going on at that point.

Pedro Pascal was still very good in this role, he comes across a lot better in the actual movie than he does in the trailers because the shots we see of him in the trailers I genuinely thought he was wearing a hairpiece, and he still might be but it looks more natural throughout the movie.

I know Pascal to be a rather funny individual in interviews and behind the scenes of other projects, but I’ve never seen him actually be funny in character...again I’m not sure how I feel about a comedic villain, but between this role and his role as Agent Whisky in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, he has the makings of a great villain actor.

There were times when Pascal played the character like Steve Carrell voice’s Gru in Despicable Me which again plays into the comedic villain angle but overall I felt his motives were clear and the way in which he went about achieving his goals was bold, ballsy and well executed.

I get why they added a son for Max in this movie and I am glad they stuck with the fact Pedro Pascal is Latino despite I don’t believe the character originally is but it added some diversity to the movie along with Gal Gadot’s Israeli accent. But yeah the point of the son was to personify what Max sacrificed in exchange for his wish because all he wants deep down is to be a success in his son’s eyes and feels this is how to go about it, but when it’s the choice between his son’s safety over the completion of his dynastic plan, similarly to Diana choosing to give up what she wants (Steve) for the greater good, he chooses his son.

Also I will say this. When Alastair tells Max that he already loves him because he’s his dad and strokes his face...Had I actually seen this movie when it came out in the U.K. it would have been two days before the finalé of The Mandalorian Season 2. But because I saw that finalé first and the very emotional scene between Din and Grogu...to see that pretty much replicated here felt slightly lacklustre.

Max doesn’t die at the end, no one dies in this entire movie (technically) so there is room for him to return unless they do another time jump. I’m not sure why he would return unless he goes full villain for villainy sake rather than corruption but I am actually happy he survived.

Having said that, one of Wonder Woman’s most famous moments from the comics is snapping the neck of Maxwell Lord. This could have easily been the climax of the movie but I feel thanks to Man of Steel giving this plot point to Superman when he snapped Zod’s neck, despite chronologically this coming first it would lose it’s momentum,

Cheetah:

I will admit I was not as disappointed with Barbara as I thought I would be going into this movie.

Having said that, I’m going to start with the negatives before talking about the positives of the character.

Firstly, both Barbara and later Cheetah are redheads, Kristen Wiig is naturally not but for the role of the character she could have easily worn a wig or died her hair for the role because not only is Barbara being portrayed as the ditzy blonde at the start of the movie a little redundant at this point, when she became Cheetah it did not look right with her as a blonde.

Now let’s talk about the actual Cheetah look. We’ve seen that one shot of her in the DC Fandome trailer but it was so dark and so quick that there was practically nothing to analyse, seeing her appear in the final 30 minutes of this movie...which is how long she actually appears as Cheetah...it’s both a lot to take in but also a lot to be disappointed in.

So Barbara’s turning point to villainy I feel isn’t when she beats up that man who attempted to assault her, but instead when she fears Diana and Steve are talking about killing Max to save the world because he absorbed the stone and the stone needs to be destroyed to save the world from carnage.

At this point she appears at the White House just as Diana has Max captive, dressed in this admittedly trendy Cheetah-print attire, incapacitates or possibly kills the White House security team and gives both Wonder Woman and Steve a whooping.

Firstly, the very fact there was no mention of the fact Barbara could tell Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person just shows how daft the secret identities of some of these DC Heroes is.

But secondly, when Max retreats, Barbara hitches a ride with him and gets another wish for saving his life. Rather than wishing to be like Diana this time, she wishes to become an Apex Predator and is therefore granted the anger and vengeance of all the people Max grants wishes to via satellite.

This combination somehow turns her into a Cheetah as when we next see her she is Cheetah...a very badly CG’d undeveloped version of Cheetah but this is our Cheetah.

My version of Cheetah is from Injustice 2 and I know a bit of her backstory in the comics enough to know she was an archaeologist who was cursed to become the Cheetah and how in the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman, Barbara and Diana were friends but then when she became Cheetah, she felt betrayed by Diana and became her enemy that way.

That’s kind of similar here but it’s not a Cheetah curse that made her Cheetah, it’s a wish and a very literal interpretation of the wish “I want to become an Apex predator”...what’s an apex predator? A cheetah, get it?

Also as Cheetah, she just looks like Barbara styled her hair different and bought a Cheetah onesie. I wish she had gone full cheetah with the face, instead we get some very weird make-up which seems to wash off when they land in the water and some weird contouring or something to give Kristen Wiig a different nose...they could have continued the Cheetah fur on the face, given her cat-eyes, bigger fangs, something!

Again, Barbara’s villainy stems from power corruption, Barbara’s first wish was wanting to be like Diana and because of this got her powers so went a little bit power mad when she discovered she had super strength and speed.

Interestingly though, despite being electrocuted, Barbara does survive and when all the wishes are renounced she reverts back to a human...or does she?

Keep in mind that we never see Barbara take back her wish, in fact she is quite adamant in not doing that which leads Diana to making the hard call. The fact is it was by Max’s hand that Barbara finally became Cheetah so when he took back the wish of becoming the Dream Stone, that wish was rescinded…but Barbara’s original wish of becoming like Diana and thus gaining the powers of an Amazon demigoddess actually might still be in tact.

It’s implied that she is still pissed at Diana even after reverting back to human, so I do see her returning more than I do Max Lord but in her return I hope there’s a Cheetah redemption.

Steve Trevor:

I am really starting to be won around by Chris Pine as an actor. Originally in my list of “Hollywood Chris’” he was at the bottom because he isn’t Marvel, but now I think I actually would put him ahead of Pratt. Not only do I love him in this role here but also Rise of the Guardians which I’ve re-watched over the holidays.

So when it was announced that Pine would return as Steve Trevor in a movie set decades after the first movie which he died in, I like a lot of fans were curious as to how they were going to accomplish this. I mean we’re dealing with the DC variation of Greek Mythology and so I thought maybe Hades could be a factor, but then when the MacGuffin known officially I think as a Dream Stone became a factor with the trailers, the idea of him being resurrected as a wish by Diana was speculated which was kind of true but there was a catch in that he only came back to Diana but taking over another man’s body.

The movie I think beautifully brings Diana’s childhood lesson taught to her by Aunt Antiope about cheating full circle with the wish she makes to see Steve again. In her defence, Diana did not know what she was doing or that she was actually wishing on a wishing stone, but when she realises the impact that this seemingly innocent wish is having on the world, ultimately she has to wake up to the fact that this is a cheat because Steve is dead but Diana has brought him back in another man’s body...without his consent. Again, NOT DIANA’S FAULT, but she is pseudo-responsible and so can’t win because she cheated. This is a plot point I wish they had developed further or highlighted more because, having seen it twice now in the past 24 hours, that is probably my favourite message of the movie. Cheaters never prosper, not even Wonder Woman or Cheetah.

Steve being introduced to the 1980s was a great chance to reverse the fish out of water story Diana had in the first movie but while hers was one of both wonder and humour, Steve’s was mostly wonder and it was so endearing to see.

I loved how we didn’t take too long on Steve exploring the 80s, I liked how organically it was woven into the ongoing story. We did get that great small touring scene of Diana showing Steve the art and the breakdancing, but that he discovered pop tarts and his wonder in wanting to fly that jet rather than simply get on a plane to travel to Cairo, it was all very well done and that’s mostly on Chris Pine.

I did find the body-snatching a little bit creepy at first and at the very end. We didn’t meet the guy that Steve inhabited (for want of a better word) so I don’t feel strongly positively or negatively about him because we don’t know him, but when we meet him at the end when we somehow flashforward from July to Christmas, I did feel weird that not only did it seem that he and Diana were interested in each other but also the fact it wasn’t even mentioned that he couldn’t remember the time that Steve was in his body.

As I said before when talking about Diana, the blend of the romantic/working relationship between Diana and Steve is (sorry) #relationshipgoals for superhero couplings. I am aware that Steve Trevor isn’t a superhero but neither is Lois Lane but both civilian halves of these superhero couples are very potent in the comics and I have never understood this particular relationship until now.

Steve is as strong a part of the duo as Wonder Woman is because while he doesn’t have her Amazon physiology, he has that core inner strength that he had in the last movie which is why he sacrificed himself originally...now yes he pretty much did the exact same thing here but this was after he was pretty much carrying Diana through that D.C. street and seeing all the chaos that these wishes were causing...genuine anarchy....that Steve knew the only way Diana could regain her strength and save the world was for her to let go of him.

It was the most emotional scene of the movie for me and the only scene to almost make me cry. after crying at the Mandalorian finalé I am not crying at another show or film for a while but still, because not only could you tell both of them didn’t want this to happen but also as Diana pulls herself away from Steve not looking at her as the camera pans away from him you just hear his voice saying “I will always love you Diana, no matter where I am”. There’s never been a more potent portrayal of a superhero couple in my opinion in the movies. Tony and Pepper came close in Avengers: Endgame but this tops it for me.

Do I see Steve returning again? Yes, because I feel when you’re dealing with a property about gods and magic there is always potentiality for anything. I mean this movie is the definition of potentiality for anything because I think if it does succeed then they get away with a lot that other properties wouldn’t, but anyway yes I want Chris Pine to return to this role because I love him in it.

Amazons:

This is another scenario where the advertising lets the audience make up what is in store for us with announcements because announcing that Robin Wright is returning as Antiope after dying at the start of the last movie does raise suspicion.

The obvious solutions were resurrection, vision or flashback and for the majority of Amazon scenes save for one it was all flashbacks which I’m not going to grumble at because I enjoyed that opening scene.

I like how Themyscira basically has their own version of Ninja Warrior and that this scene was most likely set chronologically after Antiope agreed to train her. Which begs the question why her mother was so okay with it considering even as an adult Hippolyta has issues with Diana becoming a warrior but her contribution was so short I let that slide.

I’ve already mentioned how Antiope’s lesson of cheater’s never prosper was utilized so well in this movie but, similarly to Chris Pine, I just love any reason to bring back Robin Wright.

Aside from Hippolyta and Antiope though there was a third minor Amazon focused on in a couple of scenes in this movie, that is the ancient Amazon warrior Asteria.

Asteria was mentioned a couple of times, firstly by Hippolyta in reference to her statue as someone to strive to become and then by Diana to Steve when discussing the origins of her Golden Armor. During this discussion we see a flashback of Asteria in a crouched position being whaled on by Neanderthals protecting the Amazons as they retreated to Themyscira. We only see her eyes and at this point in the movie I thought Asteria was a throwaway character and so Connie Nielson was doing double-time as Hippolyta and Asteria.

However, this proves to be untrue as in the only post-credits scene we get we see Asteria walking down seemingly the same street we left Diana on in Washington, though they never clarify where it is. Furthermore we originally only see the back of her and she is dressed a lot like Diana with the same hair and clothing style. She even effortlessly stops a pillar or lamppost from crashing down.

But it isn’t Diana, at least not the one Gal Gadot is portraying...as it is revealed to be Asteria portrayed by Lynda Carter in a fabulous short, sweet and somewhat cheeky sequence where she states “I’ve been doing this for a long time” with a cheeky wink directly to the camera. I mean she basically echoes lines Diana says in the movie, but the fact it’s OG Wonder Woman and knowing we’re also getting Michael Keaton returning as Batman in the upcoming Flashpoint movie, it’s all just brilliant.

Obviously for fans of the Supergirl series, Lynda Carter had a recurring role on that as Earth-38′s President of the United States who was an alien and I have also seen her in Sky High, but looking at her here she just looks flawless.

Does this mean we’re going to see Asteria in Wonder Woman 3? I can’t wait to find out.

DCEU:

Speaking of the larger DCEU, this movie does absolutely nothing to connect itself to any other DC movie or property. We’re in 1984...Bruce Wayne is 12 so at this point has lost his parents, the original Black Canary is potentially crime-fighting, it’s the year Lex Luthor is born, Clark Kent is living in Smallville, Amanda Waller would just be starting out in the career that would see her become director of ARGUS. There are so many possibilities particularly as we haven’t had a movie set in the 80s within the DCEU before.

This is where DC continues to flounder where Marvel succeeds. They do not grab the opportunities for a cinematic universe expansion and instead keep everything contained. I don’t even think the events of Wonder Woman were mentioned outside of Steve’s death.

Particularly as we now have to wait until August for The Suicide Squad as the next DC movie (outside of the Snyder Cut), it would have been nice either if there would have been a tease to lead into that or even if something in this movie links to the Snyder Cut of Justice League.

Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it’s a very enjoyable movie if you manage to follow all the threads the plot weaves into this movie, because they’re not seamless.

I’ve actually paid attention to the box office, reviews and CinemaScore for these movies since Birds of Prey and I have to say for being a focussed Wonder Woman movie it is underperforming from the first one with a B+ here as opposed to an A there, but considering Diana’s first outing was in Batman v Superman with a B score, I think the fact both Justice League and this have a B+ bodes well as it averages out with middle of the pack superhero movies, and that’s a good way to describe this movie.

It’s not better than the original, and there are many tangles within it, but it’s not a terrible movie. Again I’ve seen it twice in the last 24 hours and neither time got old for me.

So that’s my review of Wonder Woman 1984, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

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servantofclio · 4 years

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More book recs (first half of 2020)

This year/century is a bit more than half over, so it seemed like a good time for a round-up of things I’ve read this year. (Last batch of recs was here.)

T. Kingfisher, The Twisted Ones. I am not usually a big horror person, and in fact I had to put this book in timeout for a while because it creeped me out. The main character is living in the country with her dog while cleaning out the home of a deceased hoarding relative and then things gradually get... weird. Really well written and great characters (and the dog comes out of things okay).

Sarah Gailey, Magic for Liars. A private investigator is brought in to investigate a mysterious death at the magical school where her sister works -- the two sisters haven’t talked in years, and the fact that one has magic and one doesn’t is a big part of the problem. Great, engrossing, often bittersweet read.

Lina Rather, Sisters of the Vast Black. This book had me at “space nuns.” It’s Firefly-esque in a good way (space as a lonely, dangerous frontier) and I really enjoyed the space nuns.

Seanan McGuire, In an Absent Dream and Come Tumbling Down. The latest two in the Wayward Children series. In an Absent Dream deals with a character I found difficult to like in Every Heart a Doorway, but I found more compassion for her here, and the prose is beautiful. Come Tumbling Down features the return of Jack and a bunch of other characters I like, and I found it a satisfying read.

Seanan McGuire, Imaginary Numbers. Latest in the Incryptid series and told from the POV of Sarah Zellaby. I love Sarah and the series is generally a must-read for me; however, it would probably be best to start at the beginning of the series, which is consistently excellent.

Jo Walton, Lent. Part historical fantasy about the 15th-century preacher Savonarola, part exploration of redemption, friendship, and forgiveness. Like most Jo Walton books, that description really doesn’t do it justice. Very worth reading.

John Scalzi, The Last Emperox. Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy that started with The Collapsing Empire. Great space opera, I loved this whole series and think it’s some of Scalzi’s best work (and it centers female characters, including queer ones).

Martha Wells, Network Effect. It’s the Murderbot novel! I read it immediately, then reread the whole series from the beginning and read the novel a second time. Murderbot is still trying to figure out feelings (ugh) and now has a teenager to keep track of (ugh ugh) and look, I can’t recommend this enough.

Nghi Vo, The Empress of Salt and Fortune. A gem of a novella in which a historian collects stories about an empress-in-exile, laying bare a whole history of intrigue in a setting that imperial China.

Ted Chiang, Exhalation. Ted Chiang’s stories are always beautifully crafted and intensely thoughtful, and here’s a whole bunch of them.

Alix E. Harrow, The Ten Thousand Doors of January. January is a biracial girl whose father travels collecting oddities for a wealthy and eccentric collector. One day, she discovers a door, and gradually finds herself in the midst of mysteries about where such doors go and her own past.

P. Djeli Clark, The Haunting of Tram Car 015. One of a series of stories in a fun setting where the world became open to djinn, resulting in a magical-industrial fusion. Two occult detectives in Cairo try to exorcise a tram car, having assorted misadventures along the way.

Rivers Solomon, The Deep. Inspired by clipping.’s song “The Deep,” this story posits a society of ocean people descended from captives who drowned during the Middle Passage; it’s a meditation on memory and trauma and community.

#books #servantofclio reads

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coreastories · 4 years

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Modern Royals: Queens Day Q&A about the queen of Corea

Corea celebrates Queens Day annually on September 9

All eyes the world over are trained on the kingdom’s young new queen, former detective Jeong Tae Eul

Speculation is rampant on whether the Queen is in a delicate condition. Clues might be seen through the security and catering protocols in the upcoming celebrations

In a shocking move that has the Queen’s characteristic stamp of irreverent impishness and modernity all over it, the Royal Public Affairs Office released an open call for submissions of questions people want answered about the Queen. (But don’t get too excited, as you’ll see below).

Corea has a long tradition of celebrating the Day of Queens on September 9th, the most auspicious date in the kingdom.

The first Queens Day was held by HM The Queen Tae-Ra, who wanted to honor the Queen Mother and the Queen Dowager for their contribution to the country’s stability in the conflict with Japan in 1592. 400 years later and the tradition continues.

The palace opens its doors to the public on Queens Day. The people can pay their respects to the queen, or queens, in residence. You’ve read that correctly. Unlike other royal families, the Royal Court of Corea keeps no dower house. As many as three to four queens can be alive and in residence in the main palace, counting generations rather than the multiple wives/consorts of the polygamy periods.

It seems implausible that nearly 500 years of queens never came into conflict, but this seems to be the truth as far as the Royal Public Affairs Office and the archives kept by the media would reveal.

At present, there is only one queen. The king’s mother died in 1990. His wife is the current and only queen of the kingdom, and it’s the first Queens Day in 30 years that Corea has a queen enthroned.

The palace gates open and festivities start September 2nd, lasting the week through until the grand feast on September 9th, when 999 lucky children will dine with the queen.

The Q&A

With resignation, Corean media-- and the rest of the world, including this author-- learned that the queen forwarded the questions for her Unbreakable Sword, Jang Mi-reuk, to answer.

Coreans can’t and don’t complain: After all, the call of submissions never stated that the Queen herself will answer the questions.

Majority of the press and the citizens find this move amusing.

As for us, we’ll take what we can get. We are absolutely delighted at the candor and lack of censorship in the Q&A, directly transcribed from audio.

Jang Mi-reuk, 27, started the rigorous and highly selective training with Royal Guards in 2016, rising in the ranks and emerging the best trainee in all fields, excelling in both close range combat and long-range weaponry.

In 2020, his strength and abilities made him the Queen’s Unbreakable Sword, the life title given to the king’s and queen’s personal defender.

Traditionally, the Unbreakable Sword is close to the king’s or queen’s age, a confidant as much as a bodyguard. Appointment is at the discretion of the king and queen, a personal choice without any influence or veto from the Court or Parliament.

The king’s Unbreakable Sword is Jo Yeong, famous in Corea in his own right for his dashing good looks. (Rumors abound that Jo Yeong is dating Myeong Seung-ah, one of the daughters of the old-money Myeong family, and working in the Royal Public Affairs Office).

This author has seen both Unbreakable Swords from a short distance, and they are both intimidating. You wouldn’t want to cross either of them.

HM The Queen sends her warm greetings and thanks to everyone who sent their questions. The Palace carefully reviewed them all. HM The Queen assures everyone that all your questions and wishes have been received and will be addressed sooner or later.

HM The Queen wishes you all a Happy Queens Day, and thanks her Unbreakable Sword Jang Mi-reuk for his service in this task.

Q. Is HM expecting?

A. It’s not my place to answer that either way.

Q. What is HM’s favorite food?

A. I’m not aware. She asks me to get tteokbokki often, but sometimes this is a ruse to lose me, and I don’t fall for it after that one time, and she has a whole herd of us now. Good luck losing us.

Q. What is HM’s favorite music?

A. Is this a test? I don’t know. She’s tone deaf.

Q. How did the king and queen meet?

A. They’ve already met when I met Her Majesty. I’m not aware. I think it’s romantic. It’s one of my fondest wishes to know the story myself.

Q. What is HM’s favorite color?

A. I’m not aware. Neutrals. Her Majesty wears a lot of neutrals. It’s a good choice. It becomes her, especially cream and ivory shades of white.

Q. What is HM’s favorite scent?

A. I’m not aware. If you mean the scent she wears, it’s very subtle citrus, florals, herbs and woods scents. She appreciates lavender in the car, too. We both like it.

Q. What is HM’s shoe size?

A. This is ridiculous. I think it’s 7 or 8. Her feet are small for her height, which is why she prefers sturdy shoes. Her Majesty does wear heels from time to time. It makes her legs and ankles look really nice. His Majesty and I agree she shouldn’t wear very high heels. It’s not safe. And Her Majesty likes to run around.

Q. Does HM call the king an endearment?

A. I. Am. Not. Aware. But I’ll get back to you if I hear them use one. It’s sweet, isn’t it?

Q. Does HM miss being a detective?

A. She does. I… I won’t elaborate on this.

Q. What does HM think of PM Koo? Are they really friends?

A. As far as I’m aware, Her Majesty and Her Excellency are on good terms. Sometimes they argue about the kingdom in the car. But nothing malicious. Mostly it’s the prime minister making acerbic remarks about the queen’s outfits. She thinks Her Majesty should dress better so she can dress better, too. *laughter

Q. How many children does HM want to have?

A. I am not aware. I think they should have four. That’s a nice number. No one will feel left out. Two sets of close friendships between the siblings. That always happens. I’m one of three and I’m left out. Their Majesties should start soon though.

Q. Where did HM live before becoming queen?

A. Seoul, of course. You know she worked in Jongno-gu. She lived there.

Q. Does HM truly love the king?

A. Wow, I’m glad the queen doesn’t have to answer crap questions like this. She loves him. He loves her. It makes the others uncomfortable when they’re together. We take 10 steps back but we can see them. Sometimes when the queen is in a temper, we hear them, too. *laughter

Q. Does HM ever have fights with the king?

A. Not really. Just normal squabbles. The queen doesn’t have tolerance for bullsh--. Pardon me. I don’t mean to imply that His Majesty ever says bullsh--. Forgive me. Are you sure you’re deleting that? This gesture means I want you to delete it. I’m not just fanning my neck with my hand. Delete it.

Q. How and where do Their Majesties date?

A. I want the answer to that myself. I think they sneak out. Wait. Delete that. Hey. That compromises security. (Editor’s Note: We’ve confirmed with the Royal Court and the Royal Public Affairs Office that this is safe to publish, and the Royal Court assures the public that the king and queen are always safe).

Q. Does HM have advice for other female detectives, or female professionals in general?

A. Well, this question should have gone to the queen. I’ve worked long enough with Her Majesty to confidently say she would advise women to never back down from what they believe to be right and just.

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I think Jang Michael/Jang Mi-reuk is adorable. This is a guy unafraid of what society would consider “feminine” sensibilities. I love him. 😆

If you have questions you think the public of Corea would wanna know, send them in and I’ll pass them on to Jangmi lol

And yep, I made Tae-ra a queen too haha.

In case you’re wondering, it’s the Corea Times/Corean Inquirer excerpts when they refer to the queen as HM or HM The Queen. It’s the Daily Mail everywhere else.

#yeah tae eul had fun with this #imagine her giggling to death #the king doing his put upon sigh #CoreaNews #the king: eternal monarch #the king eternal monarch #woo do hwan #kang hong suk #lee min ho #kim go eun #lee gon #jeong tae #tkem #CoreaFiction

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