#plus “how do you know?’ when bobby said tommy was good for him…

[buddiebitch]

saw someone complaining about how little Tommy was in that episode..

of all the things to be worried about you pick his ass?

you aren’t worried about Christopher’s emotional trauma? what about Bobby? who’s gonna be captain? henren losing Mara???

nah none of that, you just wanna see Tommy get that shit always from me

[shaunashipman]

what gets me is that date scene was a literally under a minute long which isn’t a whole loft of time exactly of dissect the inner workings of their daddy issues. the minute they had, they used it to its full potential because we had:

- buck and tommy being casually domestic together on their date night in, which while nice, wasn’t like a super fancy thing and shows that this is probably a common occurrence for them. (especially when you see episode 9 and Bobby’s mention of buck going to visit tommy after the shift)

- buck telling tommy about his day, tommy making a joke about the dedicated hospital wing but recognizes that buck is not okay so he ASKS him pointedly how HE is

- buck shares the close relationship he has with bobby and this seems to be the first time they’re delving into that and so of course tommy wants to understand better, hence why he says “your dads alive”, buck replies exactly and tommy gets an understanding buck doesn’t have a great relationship with his father (also I have to add buck sharing how he sees bobby as a father with tommy is a big deal esp considering the buck bobby scene last episode where bobby tells buck tommys good for him soooo)

- tommy then shares his OWN experience after that, bounces off of what buck says to add to the conversation and open up to his boyfriend about his own past so he can get to know him better too. it was a moment where they were both vulnerable (the Gerard mention in particular i 100% believe is to set up an arc with tommy in season 8)

Now at this point there isn’t a whole lot of time left in the scene like maybe 20-25 seconds? they can exactly like I said sit there and examine and analyze their childhoods and their fathers so the tone switches to a more light hearted vibe because it would be weird to end it on a heavy note AND simultaneously it gives us more insight into their relationship

- buck suggestively says the daddy issues line which again, how anyone interpreted that as him wanting to continue a serious discussion is beyond me when again, the scene has hardly any time remaining

- tommy picks up the vibe he’s putting down and tells him he doesn’t have them (he clearly does have daddy issues so again, we know this isn’t about the actual trauma but about sex and what they both like/dislike )

- buck once again responds suggestively with the “you think I do”

- and then tommy with his infamous “God I hope so” - leaving buck giddy and smiling because he got exactly what he wanted

tdlr; We got domestic bucktommy, tommy backstory, both of them being vulnerable with each other, Tommy recognising he was not a good person in the past under Gerard, a set up for a tommy storyline with Gerard in some way for seaosn 8, bucktommy flirting, bucktommy matching each others freak and both very much enjoying it, bucktommy showing they can read each others moods like??? all for his in a scene that was under a minute

that scene was such a masterclass of Show Don't Tell. they had 55 seconds to get across how they're doing and where they are in the relationship and they did it. we can see that they're comfortable with each other; that they're okay with opening up about vulnerable topics but haven't had in-depth conversations on some, like buck and his parents; we can even see some of how they communicate, with tommy relating to buck's admission with similar thoughts of his own father and father-figure (something we've seen tommy do before, and is a lovely subtle showing of his personality); and then we get confirmation that yes, these two have fucked already, and are clearly compatible in that department too.

plus another sprinkle of foreshadowing with gerrard.

in 55 seconds.

that is called economy of time/space/whatever the rule is i can't remember rn. the show doesn't always get it, but when they do it is golden

[saras-almanac]

BuckTommyWeekend Day 1: Alternate First Meeting

Title:  This seat taken?

Fandom:  911 (ABC)

Pairing:  Buck/Tommy

Summary:  Buck and Tommy meet at a restaurant for the first time. For the prompt: Alternate First Meeting for @bucktommyweek

Notes: There’s so many potential first meetings for these two both within canon and outside of it. I’m behind on writing for this weekend so just went with one that’s a bit quicker, but will probably expand on in the future before posting to AO3. (And/or might do more potential first meetings because there’s so many options and not all of them will lead to them actually being together at that specific moment in time, but it’d be fun…)

Buck sat at the bar, pretending to check his phone while he glanced over at where Josh and his date were sitting. Josh was seemingly having a good time, plus his date was pretty cute, so maybe this would be a win for him. Buck hoped so.

“This seat taken?”

Buck startled and looked over and saw a man—a very attractive man—stood next to him, inclining a hand toward the stool next to him.

Buck shook his head. “N-no. It’s all yours. I mean, if you want it.”

The man smiled and sat down. “Thanks. Just need to wait for my order.”

As he sat down, Buck noticed a logo on the side of this man’s jacket, one that looked incredibly familiar as it was on Buck’s own work clothes.

“Woah. Is that an LAFD jacket? Are you a firefighter?” Buck asked excitedly.

The man smiled. “Yeah. Work at Harbor station now though. Mostly flying planes and helicopters rather than running into any burning buildings.”

“That’s so cool. I’ve always thought being able to fly a plane, like pilot one, would feel like you have super powers,” Buck said. “Does it feel like that?”

“I suppose that’s a good way to look at it,” the man said. “I’m Tommy, by the way.”

“Evan Buckley,” Buck said, reaching out a hand. Tommy shook it, even at the awkward angle since they were sitting so close together. “So when did you learn to fly?”

“A while ago, back when I was in the Army,” Tommy said.

“Have you always been air support for LAFD?” Buck asked.

“No,” Tommy said. “I was on the ground or many years, but just felt like I was missing it. Transferred to Harbor five, six years ago now. I really missed flying so it was a good choice.”

“I bet,” Buck said. “If I could fly, I’d probably never want to be on the ground.”

“Well, I can give you a tour of the place if you’re interested,” Tommy offered kindly. “Show you some of the toys, how things work.”

“That would be awesome,” Buck said. “But I don’t want to trouble you. I mean, you’re just waiting for your food and I’m talking your ear off about work. I-I’m sure the last thing you want to do is talk about your job after just getting off a shift.”

“I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it,” Tommy said. “And I could have always ignored you or told you I didn’t want to talk about work if I wanted.”

“I guess,” Buck said. “I forget sometimes that not everyone likes talking about their job.”

“So then I guess I have to ask, what do you do?”

“Oh, um,” Buck rubbed at the back of his neck. “I’m a firefighter.”

“No kidding,” Tommy said with a laugh. “Which station?”

“The 118,” Buck said proudly.

“Now you’re fucking with me,” Tommy said. “I transferred to Harbor from the 118.”

“That’s crazy! So you do you know Cap? Captain Bobby Nash?” Buck asked.

“Yeah,” Tommy said. “He was just getting settled there when I transferred.”

“What about Hen? You’ve got to know Chimney. I think he’s been there since it was built.”

Tommy smiled and his nose crinkled and Buck had never seen anything more adorable in his entire life. “Howie and I go way back, from before he was called Chimney. And Hen, she’s one of the best firefighters I’ve ever worked with.”

“They’re the best,” Buck said. “It’s so crazy that you know them too!”

Buck glanced over at Josh again. He’d be furious with himself if he got distracted by this god-like man sitting next to him when his friend needed him. Still seemed to be going well.

“I don’t mean to pry, but I do have to ask,” Tommy started, “You’re not stalking those men, are you?”

Buck whipped his head over to look at him. “What?”

“It’s just, I saw you watching them when I first got here. And now you’re looking over again. Just checking things are… all right,” Tommy said.

Buck felt himself blush a bit because he was the world’s worst undercover wingman. “Okay so one of those guys is my friend, Josh. He’s had some rough luck dating and he was feeling a bit nervous, so I offered to come and hang out at the bar while he was on his date. Just in case anything happened, he’d have back up or whatever he needed.”

Tommy blinked. “You’re giving up your night to sit alone at the bar just in case your friend’s date turned out to be an asshole?”

“Yeah. I guess,” Buck said.

Tommy smiled at him, shaking his head fondly. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“I’m just helping out a friend,” Buck said, feeling uncomfortable. “I’d do it for anyone.”  

Before they could talk any more, a waitress came out with Tommy’s food, stealing his attention. Their chat was less than 10 minutes but Buck felt like he could have spent hours talking with Tommy. He tried not to be annoyed that his food came and he was going to leave—the man had probably just gotten off a shift, probably a twelve or thirty-six hour shift, based on it being night. Tommy deserved to grab his food and then head home to eat and crash.

It didn’t mean that it didn’t suck though. But it’s fine. Buck would go back to checking his phone and keeping an eye out for Josh.

Tommy placed a hand on Buck’s shoulder. “Well, it was a delight to bump into you and I enjoyed our conversation. You made the end of a long thirty-six hours speed by as I waited for my food.”

“I’ve been told I do that,” Buck said, completely distracted by the weight of Tommy’s hand on his shoulder.  

Tommy laughed like Buck had told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. He removed his hand and smiled. “And I’m serious about giving you a tour if you want.”

“I’d like that,” Buck said. “Um, should I call the station?”

Tommy smiled again and shook his head. “It’ll be easier if you just let me know directly. I can make sure there’s time and be the one to give you the tour.”

Tommy reached down to grab the pen sitting on top of his receipt and then scribbled his number on a napkin. “Take care, Evan.”

Hearing Evan come out of Tommy’s mouth was surprising, but surprising in a good way—in a way that Buck wasn’t going to think much about right now. “Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you too, Tommy. I’ll—I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good.” Tommy grabbed his bag. “Oh, and good luck with the rest of your date.”

With that, Tommy laughed a little and then walked out, leaving Buck sitting there, carefully holding the napkin and wondering exactly what was happening with fate right now. Maybe his luck was turning around.

[bidisasterevankinard]

Ok, help me with your vision. Justify the Buck & Sal besties relationship to me please 💞🦛

Sal was in the begins episodes the mirror of what Buck could be if he had Gerrard and not Bobby. But Sal never needed to hide himself so it was easier for him than Tommy(Buck never needed to hide his sexuality because he never knew about it), also he was more loud in things he didn't like. But we saw he and Tommy were smiling at Hen before Gerass' comment. He was not good to her or Chimney firstly, but we saw he changed when Gerass wasn't around(plus he and Tommy said hello to Hen at the end of the Hen begins). He was friendly with Chim and Hen and pretty close, how it seems, friend to Tommy. He just was more blinded and driven by his ambitions. He is a good firefighter, and he wanted recognition (just like Buck in any seasons, but especially 1 and 6). Yet, Buck had Bobby's "you need more time and experience" speech. Sal had nothing except constantly changing captains. He wanted to be next captain, he wasn't ready, but ambitions not always listen to common sense. Bobby who still had his demons and let's be honest wasn't completely ready to be captain in LA(we saw it) couldn't work with ambitious, reckless, hotheaded 30s man who didn't want to listen to Bobby. Bobby kicked him, YET, Bobby didn't just fired him he gave him a chance to try himself in new place. So I think Bobby saw potentially good captain, but he couldn't work with him because Sal didn't want that. Since then we don't know anything about Sal. Tommy (as far as I remember) also didn't mention him anyway. So we can run with our imagination. We know Tommy did work to be better person after 118. Why Sal couldn't? In new station he saw people who embraced him good, maybe captain there told him Sal has good potential and he just need some *list* of work to do. So Sal also did work on himself and accidentally met Buck. Younger guy who has kind of the same character and hobbies, but this guy has heart of gold Sal respects

Also, the way Buck 1.0 talks about sex and Sal in Hen begins? Close , but I guess the difference is that Buck was raised by woman

Buck and Sal has potential, at least in fics, to be interesting dynamic now, especially if we add football and hc that Sal and Tommy are still friends

[thetokentrans]

so I have thoughts about this week's episode of 911. My partner and I ranted at one another when we watched it yesterday, and I need to put my thoughts out into the world. Spoilers under the cut. Also tagged though, just to be safe.

Alright so, I wanna say first that while I've mostly enjoyed this season, some of the arcs and basically all of the pacing has me really frustrated? And not frustrated because of cliffhangers and not frustrated because the writing wants me to be. Frustrated because the pacing has been far too quick - though, I expect the super truncated season is to be blamed for that - but also some of the writing and character arcs just..... Do not fit the vibe of the show up until this season? Plus, the lack of calls/focus on characters personal lives has also got me sad. Like, I love the characters and love seeing the peeks into their loves, but I really hope the show doesn't maintain the equation of one big emergency, a few calls sprinkled through out the season, and then mostly focused on the characters lives because *I* preferred the balance it was before. Or would have been happy with a tiny bit more focus on their personal lives, but not to the extent it is now, know?

Eddie and Kim are a great example. Especially what it culminated to in 7x09. It just makes no God damned sense and does not fit Eddie's characterization in my opinion? It came out of left field. It's a really, really weird god damned story line. I *am* glad that Buck approached Eddie about it AS SOON as he learned about the situation though. Like if it wasn't anything, Eddie... You wouldn't have hid her from Buck OR Marisol. If it wasn't anything, you wouldn't have lied and said you didn't have a gf. And it frustrates me that before this episode, he had been looking back on his relationship with Shannon with such rose colored glasses and forgetting the very large, sort of insurmountable issues that they had. Though that isn't out of character for him, I just hated it. Lol

And the stuff with the councilwoman in this episode also made me insanely angry. And went way too quick. Politicians can grease a lot of wheels but that entire situation - Maria's adoption getting stopped, AND her getting ripped out of their house because their foster license got revoked - really felt like it happened way too quick and should have raised some red flags/encountered some road blocks in the system???

Also I hate that NO ONE outside of Athena seemed to question Bobby's definitely very weird behavior. Like I feel like super anxious to every change in someone's demeanor Buck, and INSANELY perceptive Hen would have picked up that something was wrong????

Also idk man, Athena going to Amir, AND BRINGING HIM INTO HER HOUSE THAT HAS ALL OF THIS EVIDENCE OF HOW GOOD BOBBY HAS IT NOW - even if Bobby doesn't think he deserves it, even if Bobby has been stewing in his self loathing basically since childhood and his dad dying - to help with Bobby's spiralings/self destruction cycle felt a little out of characterly naive of her?

Like.. I don't think he's the one who set the house on fire at the end of the episode - I did at first, but my partner pointed out that it'd be the too obvious choice - but I just don't think either Bobby OR Amir are ready for that. And I feel like history shows, and her characterization shows, that she'd be more perceptive and realize that.

That being said, some things I *liked* about the episode:

Chim getting to clapback at racist homophobic Gerrard (spelling?) at the award ceremony

Bobby telling Buck that he knows Tommy is good for him because Buck hasn't spiraled about their relationship/ranted about it to him.

Buck telling Eddie that he's worried about him. That interaction, Buck calling Eddie out, it felt good and like the 911 I'm used to.

Athena calling Bobby out on his self destruction cycle. I do wish she would have pointed out how often she has leaned on him (as much as a chronically independent woman like her, can anyway) especially when it came to finally solving her fiancé's murder for instance.

Idk man, the show just doesn't feel the same as it has in the past and I'm really hoping it's because of the change in network and is just an adjustment period.

[deluweil]

Based on the shows history with Eddie, I’m not expecting the Abuela and Shannon pop ups to do anything more then propel him into the find new wife for himself and new mother for Chris mission successful. Especially with Edy still on set and them almost being done with the season. Why bother going for a better story when a lazy makes no sense hetero story will do just fine. It’s their specialty when it comes to Eddie after all. Plus They already got that extra queer rep with Buck and Tommy 🙃

Yeah, *sigh* I feel the same on the Eddie front.

God forbid the talent that is Ryan will get a worthy story when we get two white dudes getting the interesting storylines.

I mean, much as love Buck being thrown into curious situations, I am getting tired of the storylines Eddie keep getting, because that's always more of the same, and that's exhausting.

If they weren't going to invest in his story they could have tied him to the first gf he had - being the serial monogamist that he is - and have his storyline revolve around domestic problems, new babies and managing that with work - at least we'd be clear of what his essence is aside from loving Buck like they've been married and intimate for years.

They had that queer rep with Henren and David and Michael - which WAS a great rep and such a well written relationship! I miss them and Michael's interactions with Bobby are sorely missing as well.

I don't think that Buck's storyline is as happy and healthy as ppl make it to be, Tommy literally left him for feeling uncomfortable and fibbing in front of his best friend because he's newly minted out of the closet and maybe he wanted to figure this out by himself first before sharing it with the people closest to him?

Tommy had no right to get upset, and if he wasn't sure of them, he shouldn't have agreed to go to that wedding with Buck, he should have said that he understands where Buck is coming from and to take this slow and that there is no pressure - and maybe keep this friendly until they figure out what they want to be together.

Buck, it felt to me, that has done what he did, the chasing that he said he wouldn't do, because in a certain way he is still in a place where he pleases people even though it is his journey to make and no one should push him to get to that finish line as fast as possible.

Like I said before this is more of the same, Buck does this chasing because like Taylor said, and not in a kind way mind you, that he can't stand not being liked by everyone.

Eddie nudging him to call tommy wasn't exactly the best thing either, because would Buck have still done it if he wasn't told to?

A lot of things don't sit well with me in this story, I've made journeys with my friends when they first came out, one as early as the seventh grade, it is not something that becomes normal immediately, I also saw after the fact what happened when one is shoved out of the closet to his family and friends by force. And how my best friend still bears the guilt of being gay almost 20+years later because that's not how he was raised, and his father didn't accept him, and his first serious boyfriend was a demanding asshole.

He didn't seem like this to us, he was friendly and seemed like a really good guy, but neither one of us knew what really happened there until my friend opened up about it years later.

So when I say Buck's story feels rushed, I talk from experience.

So maybe we have queer rep (which we had before only it wasn't bi) but it doesn't feel like quite there to me, maybe it's the flawed writing, maybe that's the way it was intended to be told to get to some kind of turning point and epiphanies, who knows? I've learned not to expect higher purpose from this show.

I will tell you that though, if the whole Eddie story is to push him to somehow marry M I will retire from this show, I mean that is the laziest form of writing there is, and makes this show completely unwatchable for me, because there is no way we were dragged 7 seasons just so that Eddie can force marry some lukewarm LI out of the need to follow the traditional hetero normative need he was raised into.

Especially since originally Eddie was the one who was supposed to be the coming out story, it would be disappointing on so many levels and I'm not even touching buddie here.

Ryan deserves better than to end with that kind of crappy story-telling.

[mymistakewriting]

Dynamic Conversations - Bobby & Owen

Once again prompted by @happilylovingchaos , this is a dynamic that I do have some thoughts on despite the fact that they've never met. However, just because these two haven't met doesn't mean I don't have plenty to say about the two of them.

First and foremost, as usual, please don't take anything I say in this post as me bashing on a character. I have complicated opinions on the characters, yes, but I've formed those thoughts and opinions based off watching and rewatching and taking notes. If you don't agree with my thoughts, great! You don't have to interact with my posts if you plan to try to pick a fight over it. And finally, equally important: this post comes with content warnings. Please head them and tread carefully. Your mental health matters far more to me than my content being consumed.

Trigger Warnings: mentions of addiction, child neglect. Basically, if anything Bobby or Owen has ever said or done sits with you weird, maybe skip this post.

First, the question posed to me: if they were to meet, how would they handle the differences in how they identify and resolve crisis situations? The short answer? I think they'd split the response up so that they handle it easier with as little conflict as possible. It's shown several times that Owen works well as a pair with another Captain thanks to the divide the 126 has with there being a Fire Captain and a Paramedic Captain. And Bobby already lets his team make calls that go against his orders if they can back up their reasoning after the emergency is handled. They'd make a damn good team on any emergency call thanks to that, especially if it was a interstate emergency.

And now for the rest of my thoughts about these two.

First of all, just based on timeline alone? There's every chance that Bobby met and acted as a support for TK when Gwyn put him on a plane and sent him to LA for rehab back in 2017. Bobby was already in LA (he lost his family in 2014), and he's definitely the kind of person (confirmed in-show) to volunteer at rehabs and outpatient care as a mentor, as someone who's been there and can offer insight as to what recovery might look like instead of all of it being on nurses and doctors who haven't personally experienced recovery from alcohol or drugs.

Second, I think Bobby followed up with Owen over a call after the wildfires because his three gremlins came back with stories to share. Of course he's going to want to know what happened and he would definitely call Austin's fire department to get patched through to Owen for that. Especially when one of the firefighters he sent was Buck.

Third, and this is going to be the one that I think people will fight me on: Owen's the better captain, Bobby's the better father. And I can explain EXACTLY why I think that.

Owen and Bobby have similar Captaincy styles where they step back and let their teams take the reigns sometimes based off who has more experience with certain calls - except Bobby doesn't do that with all of his team, he still isolates Buck because "he's not ready" even on calls that Buck's knowledge base would work well on. Buck runs a single emergency call, and it's only because him and Ravi are the only two still standing. Owen doesn't hold his son back the same way, encouraging him to not only switch from firefighter under his care to paramedic under Tommy's care, but lets him make calls on the field that Bobby would never have allowed Buck to make (the minefield call in Lone Star? Yeah, that's the one I'm talking about here.)

Bobby, despite not being Buck's actual father, still treats him like his kid. He fusses, they spend time together outside of work, they talk about things unrelated to work or anything professional. Bobby's by his side every time he's in a hospital bed. Plus if May or Harry are in trouble? Papa bear Bobby mode activates. Those are his kids and he'd do anything and everything to protect them. Owen..... well, Owen tries. But between "I'm going to be a dad" said to his own son, abandoning TK for his job when TK was 7, and all of the times he's put him in danger? Y eah, Bobby's the better dad. Sorry. I love Owen, but he's a terrible father. Great father-in-law, though.

Over all, I think Bobby and Owen would have a great dynamic if they interacted. They'd work well together in a crisis, they'd probably get in trouble together outside of one similar to how Bobby and Michael got in trouble together. But they only work because they have that difference to them - one being a better leader and one being a better nurturer. It's not necessarily a bad thing that they have that difference considering the team set ups are wildly different and work with their individual styles.

any further questions are welcome!

[mastermojo98]

Zhane & Vitani Chapter 3

It was the end of 4th period, and everyone was going to lunch. Zhane was putting his stuff in his locker when his friend Tommy showed up.

"Z Man", greeted Tommy.

"So, how's 7th grade working out for you so far", Tommy asked.

"Gotta say its smooth for the most part. Our science teacher Mr. Hawkins is a stickler for class work, and this girl Gabriel is a little annoying, but other than that I like it", said Zhane.

"Sounds like you have everything clear this year. I'm still getting my classrooms mixed up".

"Oh, you'll get used to it bud. I also promised Alyssa, I'll help her with the Fall Formal decorations."

"So, are you hoping she asks you to the dance? Remember its girl's choice", asked Tommy.

"I know that I just have to play it cool and not seem anxious that's all", said Zhane.

"Well, let me hear that charm when asks you".

Zhane cleared his throat.

"Well Alyssa I'd be happy to accompany you to this glorious event, and I hope we have a wonderful--".

"Yawn. Happy to accompany you? Dude you sound like the Queen of England. That's not gonna sound co--".

The two saw Alyssa approaching them.

"Hey Alyssa", Tommy said awkwardly.

"Hey guys, guess what, Ms. Charlotte said we can put up the decorations for the Fall Formal early this year!

"Awesome. Hey I gotta go eat. I'll catch you guys later."

Tommy walked away with a hopeful smile.

"Where were you this morning Zhane? We need to talk about the preparations for the dance. Plus, I need your advice," said Alyssa.

"Yeah, you know Jaylen the Quarterback, I heard he doesn't have a date to the dance. Then there's this boy Bobby in math class who's been eyeing at me, and then Megan gave Daniel Walters from the track team my phone number. Isn't it a wild I'm juggling three hotties; I don't know who to choose", Alyssa said excitedly.

"Well Alyssa those guys are no slouches. In some cases, knowledge in history and witty charm still count for a lot. There's a certain guy who wouldn't mind accompanying--."

"Hey Alyssa, looking good!"

Alyssa and Zhane turned around to see Trayquel Thomas, who approached them and shoved Zhane out of the way.

Alyssa scornfully glared at Trayquel, then Zhane got up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Body language 101 Bull, hers says never gonna happen", Zhane said smugly.

Trayquel grabbed Zhane by his shirt and rammed him into the lockers.

Then a big 8th grader named Roman grabbed Trayquel's wrist and slung him into the ground.

"Yo, I know you ain't sweating my homeboy Zhane, Trayquel", asked Roman.

"Nah Rome, we were just playing".

Alyssa comforted Zhane as Trayquel got up and eyed down the three kids.

"Catch you later Zhane", he said snidely.

As Trayquel left, Zhane walked up to Roman.

"Thanks, Roman."

"Don't mention it, everybody gets one."

Later that day Zhane, Michael, Jose and Tommy decided to walk home together instead of taking the bus. Vitani was bringing her friends over and he didn't want to hear their giggling and gossiping during the way home.

"Tangling with Bull!? Are you crazy? That guy makes Bobby Lashley look like Kevin Hart", said Tommy.

"Tell me something I don't know, but he was messing with Alyssa, and I couldn't just stand there and let him do that," said Zhane.

"If you keep crossing him, you're not gonna make it to 8th grade", said Michael.

"Remember the old saying amigo, you mess with the bull, you get the horns. It's ironic his nickname is Bull too", said Jose.

"Do you wanna know what else is ironic? I'm a Taurus, that makes me more bull than Trayquel. But if it wasn't for Roman, I'd be looking for a good plastic surgeon right now."

"Yeah, no kidding", said Michael

The four friends walked to the intersection; Zhane's house was in the opposite direction of the three other boys, so they went their separate ways.

"Hey Zhane if any more heat breaks out between you and Bull, we got your back", said Tommy.

"Bet on it", said both Michael and Jose.

"I appreciate that guys, see ya", said Zhane.

As the three walked away Zhane mumbled to himself.

"If only they were the power rangers".

Zhane strolled down the sidewalk in deep thought until he heard a voice yell out to him.

"I thought those three punks would never leave!"

Zhane looked up and saw Trayquel leaning on a light post who started to stomp towards him. He tried run away but two of Bull's goons stood in the opposite direction to block his path.

Without any hesitation Zhane ran through an alley and hopped over the fence while Bull and his gang chased after him like wolves.

Before he could make it through the opening, a heavyset guy jumped in front of him that knocked Zhane to the ground, as two gang bangers grabbed him.

"I'm picking up where I left off pussy", said Trayquel.

Bull approached Zhane and glared at him as he struggled to break free.

"Zhane the comedian. See if you can make jokes out of this smart ahh."

Bull cracked his knuckles and threw hard punches into Zhane's stomach and jaw.

One of the goons who was keeping watch saw Roman and his friend walking down the sidewalk.

"Yo Bull! Rome and his homie are coming our way!"

Bull who was enjoying his assault gave one last kick to the gut before reluctantly running away with his gang who dropped Zhane on the ground.

"You'll be seeing me alot Z, believe that", Trayquel taunted.

Zhane laid on the ground for a couple seconds and when he regained senses, he looked up saw Roman and his friend Leo staring at him.

"Roman. It's all good I had them right where I wanted them dude."

"Meet me at the old Marathon station in a half hour, we need to talk", said Roman.

"A half hour? But I gotta get home for dinner in a half hour".

"In a half", Roman said coldly.

Zhane nervously gave the two a thumbs up.

The hurt and confused boy strolled down the hill, talking to himself, as he was approaching the abandoned gas station.

"Say, son where have you been all day? Well Mom the nice gang bangers invited me for ice cream. Zhane don't know you hanging around thugs will lead you down a dark path. With all due respect Mom; duh", Zhane thought out loud.

Zhane made it to the marathon station to see a big guy in a bandana guarding the entrance.

"Um, I'm here to see Roman", Zhane said nervously.

"Ah Zhane, welcome to our crib and you're here on time. I like that", said Roman.

"Hey, it's beautiful sunset outside, it's a shame to be indoors", said Zhane.

Roman smirked.

"(Humph), I like you Zhane, you're funny and smart. But keeping Trayquel of your back is taking way too much of my time."

"No offense, but I didn't ask for your help Roman".

Roman's crew gasped and griped in shock.

"Say what?", said Leo

"Dissing Rome?", said the girl thug.

"Look that sorry punk Trayquel is trying to play bigshot, and since you got on his bad side, he's not gonna let up.

"So, what are you getting at Rome", asked Zhane.

"I want you to roll with my crew."

"Me? For real? Look at me, I'm too scrawny to be a banger. I wouldn't be any good", Zhane pleaded.

"You got potential. This is Miami young brother, one day I won't be around to stop Bull from whooping your butt, and who knows what else he will do. However, you can get guaranteed insurance if you join us.

"Tempting, but if my mom finds out I joined a gang she'll lose it, and a 12-year-old can't be homeless."

"This is a one-time only offer Z and your mom can't beat up Trayquel for you. I always said you were smart, don't prove me wrong. So, think about."

Zhane left Roman's hangout with the gang leader's words echoing in his head, as he hurried home before nighttime.

[oabf45]

Ok so I finally watched the new 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star episodes and here is what I think overall for the seasons so far, the characters, and part 2 of the seasons. Badically my opinions no one asked for 😁

9-1-1

- Let's rip the band aid off. I'm sorry but we're never getting Buddie. I'm a huge Buddie shipper myself, but I honestly have reached the point where I just don't see it happening. For one their friendship alone just isn't what it's been the past two seasons. Idk if its just me feeling this, but their scenes together, though sweet, just haven't been what they've been in the past. I mean this last episode is the most connection I feel from their characters than i have this whole season. I'm still not over Eddie's lack of reaction to Buck being trapped when Buck was ready to dig through the earth to find Eddie. Though I think there is still a chance Buck could be BI I just no longer have hope that Buddie is going to be a thing. I mean, they've at least hinted that Buck could ride that way, but Eddie has given zero signs of being into men at all. But honestly if they at least explore a BI Buck then I'll be happy, even if he's not with Eddie. It also doesn't help that there's a HUGE possibility that Oliver and Ryan don't get along anymore. They stopped following each other on social media and they post pictures with all the rest of the cast except each other. Its just looking extremely unlikely.

- I don't think Ana deserves as much hate as she's getting. I wasn't so fond of the Eddie/Ana pairing either, mostly because I was so into Buddie. But Ana does seem genuinely a great person and its a plus that Christopher loves her. I just wish that if they were going to persue this they would have built it up more and showed us more of her character. I mean we know close to nothing about her which is what makes it hard to like her or like her with Eddie.

- I'm glad that even if Buck doesn't end up with Eddie he still is obviously going to be someone very close to Christopher. Their relationship is so absolutely darling and even if its not Buddie, Buck is very obviously like a second dad.

- At first I was not at all happy with them bringing back Taylor. I found her character so freaking annoying in the past. But honestly her character seems to have mellowed out and I actually liked her. But I am PRAYING that if she sticks around its just as a friend and not a girlfriend. Buck and Taylor are just a huge NOPE in my book.

- I need more of Athena, Bobby, and Michael ASAP! I miss seeing them more on my screen!

- I'm super excited for baby Chimney/Maddie. And I'm so happy Chimney felt safe enough in his relationship to express his feelings about an at home birth. Their relationship is so sweet and healthy and it makes my heart so warm

- I swear on everything I love if they take that little baby away from Hen and Karen I will RIOT! I also hope to see more of Hen's mom and can't wait to see her pass her exam.

- Albert was wrong for dating Buck's bad date, but he's a good guy and overall a good friend. Buck needs more friends outside of Eddie. I hope they give him more of a storyline in part 2.

- Overall loved the first half of 9-1-1 season 4. I hope they do another crossover in part 2 so that Buck can meet Carlos.

9-1-1 Lone Star

- Yes I have hated the baby trope this first half, yes Gwyn has been annoying af and I'm ready for her to go, and YES Owen has been annoying this season too. But I still love Owen and no I don't believe he's a bad person or a bad father. I hope they do right by his character in the second part and bring the old Owen back now that his life is going to go back to what it was. But I also know this is going to leave room for another romantic interest which you just know they're going to bring in. Maybe they'll bring Michelle back 🤷🏽‍♀️

- The amount of screen time Carlos got is *chefs kiss*. I'm so glad we got to see more into his family dynamic. And how great he is as a cop?! Like make that man a detective already! Also Rafael's acting is superb. He has the most expressive eyes I've ever seen! His face with Owen compliments him on his caring heart and how that makes him a great cop? He BEAMED and it was like no one had ever told him that before. I wanted to hug him so badly.

- I'm so happy they're showing a healthy gay relationship. Sure they've had their ups and downs, but they show TK and Carlos working it out perfectly with good communication which is what we need to see represented more with LGBTQ+ couples on TV. I have no doubt they'll last because they're literally the reason most people tune in and the showrunners know that. And that reuniting hug? Ronen and Raf's real life friendship makes their on screen relationship feel so real and I hope that never changes.

- I need more Mateo. The only thing we know is that he's dyslexic and has a cousin in LA. He's such a great character I wish they'd give him more screen time.

- I know that most y'all see them as just a brother/sister pair, but I love the idea of Mateo/Marjan as a couple. I feel like she could help him grow up a little while he could help her have more fun. But either way I love their relationship and want to see more.

-PLEASE give Paul a GREAT love interest. Someone who loves and accepts him for everything he is. He deserves so much love.

- Tommy Vega is THAT BITCH! She deadass basically said "shoot me. You won't". LOVE seeing a strong black woman on the screen. And I hope they give more screen time to Nancy. I feel like she could be a really interesting character.

- Am I the only one that kind of wants to see them bring back Billy Tyson? I know thats so random, but I think he needs redemption. Idk 🤷🏽‍♀️

- Last but not least......thank GOD I read spoilers before watching the episode because if I hadn't prepared myself and they ended the show with that bridge scene......all I gotta say is JUDD AND GRACE BETTER BE FUCKING OK! OR I'M FIGHTING EVERY DAMN BODY! But honestly I think they will be. These two make the show, for one. Judd is deadass the glue that holds that firehouse together and is overall a great character. No way they're killing him off. And Grace is a fucking saint and also a great character. And she's one of the only two black women on the show. Showrunners, y'all really wanna try that? They're such a great, healthy relationship who are literally so unstoppable together. I think they'll have some trauma but survive. And possibly a Ryder baby? Yes please, and please let it be a baby boy. Judd needs a little mixed cowboy 🤠

- Overall the season has been good, but too Owen/Gwyn central. Hoping the next part has more spotlight on the others. Maybe some "Character Begins" episodes? I think a "Judd Begins" Episode would be perfect to start off with to tie into the whole "omg is he alive" aspect we're bound to get.

[dxrkvibez]

hi! could you do a college!au for the 80's cobras? thank you :)

Yeah totally! Thanks for the submission! (:

▬Top of the World▬

Summary: The group of Cobras might’ve been at the top of their game in high school, but what happens when they all get to college?

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol

“Man, it’s been a while!” Tommy shouted as he joined the rest of the former Cobra Kai group. After their senior year, none of them were allowed to compete anymore, being over 18 and all. And since Kreese had nothing to do with them anymore, he moved onto new students, and they moved on with their lives.

“Whatever, I saw you like a week ago.” Jimmy retorted, grabbing Tommy’s hand, then slapping him on the back. A common way of greeting amongst the group.

The cobras were all in their sophomore year, but trying to get used to this school was one of the hardest things they had ever done. In high school, they were basically the cool kids, the leaders of the school. They went to all the coolest parties, they all had the ‘hottest babes’, and they all had as many friends as they wanted.

Here, everything was different. The popular boys were the ones in football or baseball, not in karate, and they had a much harder time fitting in. None of them would admit it, because of their egos, but they all really needed eachother.

“Have you seen Johnny yet?” Tommy asked as him and Jimmy caught up with Bobby and Dutch. With all of their schedules being so different, it wasn’t unusual not to see eachother all the time, but Johnny was usually the first one there.

The four cobras walked together and Dutch snorted. “No, but he sure was drinking a lot at that party last night” He said as he took his chewed piece of gum out of his mouth and threw it at the rest of their heads, laughing as he did.

They walked into the building and ran into Johnny, not long after. To say he looked bad would be an understatement. He had his black headband tied around his head, mainly to hold his hair back, which looked like it hadn’t been combed in a very long time. His headphones were resting around his neck, his red cobra Kai jacket was resting on his shoulders, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.

“Hey man what’s wrong?” Bobby asked as Johnny joined the group and they walked to the main hall. “I saw Ali, at that party last night.” Johnny mumbled and threw his backpack on the floor before leaning against the wall.

A few kids turned and looked at them with weird looks on their voices, something they were used to at this point.

“She was with another guy. Not Larusso, no. Some guy from that stupid, prestigious school. UCLA or something like that.” Johnny said. The bell rang, signaling the kids who had a class, should go.

None of them cared though, they were so far behind in work anyway. Another thing that was way different is that the professors won’t totally down their throats about getting good grades. If the students wanted to graduate then it was their problem, not the professors.

“Ouch that sucks. But hey, I thought you moved one from her.” Tommy said as he moved closer to the wall, letting people get around them.

“Nah that doesn’t suck. She dumped you. She didn’t need you. You don’t need her. But you know what you do need? A party. With a lot of girls.” Dutch said

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Jimmy said and Bobby laughed. “Yeah! That’s what we should do, c’mon Johnny!” He said and they all started pushing him to try and get him to give him.

“Fine! I’ll go.” He mumbled under his breath. “Yeah!” The rest of the cobras cheered in unison.

________________________________________

It wasn’t long before the four of them (while five, but Johnny was being dramatic the whole time and was no help at all) planned one of the best parties they ever had. They were determined, to finally be considered cool. They wanted what they used to have.

Jimmy ran out to grab the beers, while Bobby and Tommy stayed and set up the music. The room was filled with flashing lights, blasting music, and food. Plus, it helped that Johnny had one of the best rooms on all of campus, thanks to his stepfathers money.

Slowly, guests started showing up. It started out with the ‘nerdier’ kids. The ones that actually cared about school, homework, and had probably never been to a party in their whole lives. The ones who the cobras knew would never get them what they wanted. But eventually, the jocks, the bad boys, and the girls all started showing up.

There were drinks passed, dancing going on, the sounds of kissing, and only one fight broke out, between the cobras and another group, but it was quickly finished when the other group realized there was nothing they could do to win.

All five of them, now had a girl in one of their arms and a drink in the other. They were all drunk, and by now most other people had left. “Y’know you guys are so much cooler then we thought.” One of the girls giggled while tracing her finger along Johnny’s chest.

“Yeah totally. You can come hang out with us anytime you want.” One of the boys, the one wearing a football jersey, said.

That’s when the cobras knew. Knew they got what they wanted. Knew they weren’t gonna be seen as losers, whose glory days were only in high school. And they knew that things would change from here on out.

This is what they wanted. To be at the top again.

Okay, I don’t know how good this was, I haven’t written in a long time 😅

But it was super fun to write! Thanks for the request!

[fireladybuckley]

911 Verse this or that

Indirectly tagged by @perfectlynervousbeard <3 

Buck or TK. Look I adore TK, Ronen is seriously one of the cutest guys I’ve ever seen and TK is adorable and easily my favourite LS character.  But it’s not even close when comparing him to Buck, Buck is my comfort character, my absolute favourite of just about anything, ever.  I adore Oliver and there’s not a single person you could compare to Buck that I would pick over him, lol.

Eddie or Carlos.

Again, I really do like Carlos.  I firmly believe Carlos (Rafa) doesn’t get enough screen time and his character development suffers because of it and I hate that.   But again, I love Eddie just SO much.  Comparing him and Carlos isn’t fair because they’re very different and Eddie’s storyline and character in general are SO much more developed, I feel like we’ve gotten to know him so much better and that just makes me love him more, I’m more attached.  Plus Eddie’s relationship with Christopher alone is just so precious and I love it so much.

Bobby or Owen.

Easiest question ever.  Bobby is amazing and the best dad and Owen sucks.

Chimney or Judd Not that I hate Chimney or anything (he gets on my nerves sometimes but overall he’s fine) but Judd is just wonderful.  I love his whole southern gentleman vibe while also being a bit of a mischievous little shit which makes me laugh.  And the way he loves and respects his wife is just so refreshing to see. <3

Hen or Marjan I wonder if this is kind of like how I feel about Carlos; I really like both Carlos and Marjan, but I feel like I barely know them.  Marjan is badass and awesome and everything but aside from her arranged marriage stuff, I feel like we barely know anything about her.  Whereas with Hen, I feel like we know her so well she could just be my best friend and it would be amazing.   She’s smart, compassionate, hilarious and just awesome and I adore her.  I also love her relationship with Karen and Denny and now Nia.  If they take Nia away I’m going to riot

Maddie or Grace.  This one was tougher, and REALLY close.  I really love Grace, she’s amazing and badass and I love her and Judd’s relationship.  I just like Maddie slightly more.  I love how much Maddie has overcome and how strong she is, how she took care of Buck their whole lives (which was NOT fair to her), and I love their sibling dynamic.  I love her relationships with the other 9-1-1 operators.

I will say though that they are both BADASS 9-1-1 operators and they are both queens.

Athena or Tommy Tommy’s fine but she’s very new and I feel like I don’t know her at all (though I love Gina Torres).  Not that that matters, however;  Athena is QUEEN and no matter how awesome Tommy could be, she would never surpass Athena.  Athena is just so amazing and I love her so much.  She is compassionate, badass, hard working, hilarious, terrifying when mad but at the same time so gentle and kind.  Her and Bobby are amazing together (especially earlier in their relationship), she’s such a good mom to Harry and May (and by extension Buck, and maybe even Eddie).  She’s just amazing, ok.

Albert or Mateo  I’ll be honest, I was going to choose Albert because I find him adorable and funny and I wish we knew more about him.  But this time it’s the opposite problem of the others... I feel like we barely know Albert, even though he’s been around for a while now.  The 9-1-1 writers have done a terrible job giving him meaningful backstory imo.  Like he’s been in LA for how long now?  Does he even have a job?   Is he still speaking to his parents? We know barely anything about him besides that he’s Buck’s roommate and he has been on some dates.

Mateo on the other hand is much more flushed out.  I loved the story arc where he is just SO dedicated and driven to become a firefighter despite his dyslexia and I’m so glad it was made possible for him to have allowances for the test.  I love that his crew doesn’t mock him for it or treat him like he’s stupid, they ALL help him as much as they can, and I LOVE when Marjan goes and gives the tattoo parlour who intentionally fucked up his tattoo a reaming.  He’s an earnest, eager younger brother who just wants to help and prove himself and I think he’s adorable.

Michael or Paul. I like Michael, but I like Paul a bit more.  I just wish they would give him more screen time and a storyline that doesn’t involve people being transphobic.  I’m sorry (not sorry) but the sister storyline thing still pisses me off

118 or 126.  The 118, no question.  They feel far more cohesive as a team and I love their relationships more, both with each other and with other people.  The 118 feels so much more real than the 126, and I’ve no doubt it’s because of LS’s continued sidelining of its characters that are not Owen (and, I’ll admit, TK.  I love that he gets a lot of screen time, but not if it comes at the expense of Marjan/Paul/Mateo being shunted to the side). 

Maybe the 126 will get better with time.  I’m certainly hoping that with TK in his new role, maybe they’ll bring in another firefighter to replace him (hopefully a woman!  Both shows definitely lack women in the fire-fighting department imo - but the OG is definitely worse; only Hen in 9-1-1, and only Marjan in 9-1-1 LS but at least LS has Tommy and Nancy as medics.  the 118 needs another featured woman firefighter!!)

California or Texas.  I don’t know if it’s the filming choices or if Texas is just like that (having never been there, I have no idea), but Texas doesn’t seem nearly as nice as California.  That could just be my personal preference; I love lush greenery far more than the more desert-y types of things, and I love the ocean so much.  I feel like LA has prettier settings, and LS is more gritty.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, I just prefer pretty haha.

Buddie or Tarlos I feel like this is a bit of an unfair question, since it’s still up in the air whether Buddie even exists in canon, and Tarlos is unquestionably real.

But of course, if I’m forced to choose, it’s Buddie.  And that’s not to say Tarlos isn’t amazing, because it is... I adore BOTH ships so much.  I’m just too drawn into Buddie, and how their personalities compliment each other, and Buck’s special relationship with Chris that places him firmly into the Diaz family unit, Buddie or not.  I really do feel like they’ve set them up 100% as a potential romance and as far as slow burns go, it’s amazing so far.  Plus, even if they don’t become a couple, I am still so invested in them as best friends.

That being said, Tarlos is fucking adorable and I live for their scenes on LS <3

Tsunami episode(s) or Tornado episode.  There was just SO MUCH going on with the tsunami.  Of course the entire plot arc with Buck and Christopher is amazing and easily one of my favourites in the entire series, but I also loved that the tsunami episodes showed EVERYONE in their element, doing everything they could to help people.  I love that it brought Lena into the mix (I know the fandom is divided on her but I love her unashamedly).  The amazing scenes with Athena and May, the scenes with Maddie and that girl with the drone... it was just SUCH A GOOD ARC and I love it.  The fact that I can remember SO much about it and I barely remember what happened with the tornado tells me just how much more I enjoyed it, as well.

911 or 911 Lone Star.  Unquestionably 9-1-1.   I feel like the firefam has become part of my own extended family and I just don’t feel that with LS.  Maybe after a couple more seasons it’ll be more like that, but for now, 9-1-1 is EASILY my favourite.  I do love LS too, though.  I just wish there was less of Owen and more of everyone else.  AND I WANT MORE CROSSOVERS!!!

I have no idea who has been tagged so I’m just going to pick a few random people.  If you’re reading this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged by me!  (And tag me back so I can read yours! <3) @firemedicdiaz @that-firehouse @bicepsie @tulipsfrom-medusa @evaneddie @kittycat-cas @bvckleydiaz @ashavahishta @matan4il And anyone else!!

[justice4harwin]

All Too Well- part 2

Summary: Johnny Lawrence was a troubled kid, then a troubled teen, and although he hid this from most, there were a few people he allowed to truly know them.

Series of one-shots telling his story with one of those people. 

Part 1

Part 2: Johnny and Noelia’s first meeting.

Late August, 1982

Noe held the toy gun with a firm grip and closed an eye as she pointed at her target. Around her, the loud voices of games and people having a good time seemed to fade away as she forced herself to focus on the game at hand. This was only a little bit better than just awkwardly wandering around on her own.

Firing in quick succession, she almost didn’t miss and smiled to herself, lowering the toy as the screen switched onto the next level. She noticed a girl standing nearby.

“Oh, sorry. Were you waiting to…?” she left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air and pointed at the screen.

The girl, who had been staring, shook her head, her pretty blond curls bouncing about.

“No! It’s fine, really. You were here first. I was just watching while I waited for my friends.” she took a tentative step forward, so they wouldn’t have to talk so loudly. “You’re really good.”

“Thanks.”She stepped aside and motioned for the girl to stand in her place. “You wanna keep going? I was getting bored anyway.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, shortening the distance further.

Noe smiled, handing her the gun. Her dad had talked her into going to that place to meet some people before classes started in september. This seemed like the perfect chance.

“I’m Ali.” the blond smiled in return, turning her eyes to the screen and shooting. She missed almost half of the targets.

“Noelia.”

“You new here?”

Noe nodded, but Ali probably couldn’t see it.

“Yeah. My family moved here from Winsconsin a few weeks ago.”

“Cool!” she gave her a swift look. “Must be a big change.”

“Yeah, but I think so far I like it.”

Ali kept on missing despite Noe’s gentle advice, and soon the game was over.

“Sorry I ruined it.” she said with a grimace, putting the gun down and moving aside to allow two boys no older than twelve to take her place.

Noe waved a hand.

“It’s just a game.”

“They’re right there! It’s not like real hunting, you know? They’re just a few feet away.”

The other girl shrugged, placing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Maybe it’s the bright colors? I find them pretty distracting.”

Ali gave the screen a pitiful look.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Ali!” 

Both looked in the direction of the voice, finding a tall brunette waving next to a redhead. Ali turned to Noe.

“Hey, wanna join me and my friends? We were about to have a snack.”

“Are you sure they won’t mind?” It sounded good. Really good. Almost two weeks had passed since the move, and each day, Noe found herself lonelier than the last. Her parents had quickly settled into their new routines at their respectives jobs, and her little brother spent most of the day playing with the other kids from the complex. Noe had had so much free time in her hands that she had unpacked most of their stuff all on her own and even managed to fix a shelf in the kitchen without help.

“Yeah, c’mon! It’ll be fun!”

“Ok, but I’m getting some fries first.”

Ali motioned to her friends and guided Noe to the food stand, where she also ordered a slurpee. 

“So, which school are you going to?”

“West Valley. Sophomore year.”

Ali’s eyes widened.

“Me too! That’s so cool! Maybe we’ll share some classes.”

Great relief washed over Noe as she heard this. This girl seemed nice, plus It’d be great to know at least one person on her first day.

Hearing some commotion coming from the table Ali’s friends had sat at, both girls turned to look. The blonde groaned.

“Great.” her voice dripped sarcasm.

Noe looked on with curiosity as the table filled with a bunch of loud boys. 

“Friends of yours?”

“Friends of my friends, unfortunately.” the blue eyed girl answered.

One of the boys leaned closer to Ali’s friend and said something, to which the girl pointed in their direction and his head snapped up, zeroing in on them.

Caught, Noe hurried to look away and thanked the employee as he handed her the drink. Next to her, Ali’s mood had visibly damped. Of course, Noe wanted to ask, but she wasn’t too sure if it was the right moment for that. They had just met after all. Who knew the history there.

“Oh, great, now he’s coming over. Quick, pretend you’re with me.”

“I am with you.” Noe smiled, subtly raising her eyes to see the guy from before approaching. 

He was quite tall and seemed well built, his blond hair fell over his forehead, but they didn’t hide his blue eyes. Noe felt the straw falling back into the cup. He had to be pretty terrible, because otherwise she wouldn’t understand why Ali seemed to hate him so. He shouldn’t have a right to look so good.

He looked at her as he approached and crocked his head to the side, smirking. She looked away, embarrassed for getting caught.

Luckily, he walked past them, but she could feel his eyes on her, almost burning her. It was something she thought happened in her mom’s novels only.

Her new friend suddenly looked at her, seeming like she was trying to make a choice.

Noe was about to ask her when something collided with her back, sending her forward. Ali caught her by the arms, and Noe gasped as the icy contents of the cup spilled over her shirt, its cold contents against her hot skin causing a small shock.

“Seriously, Johnny?!”

“What?! It was an accident!” 

Ali looked as convinced of that as of the existence of Santa.

“Right. Just like you.”

Noe put the cup on the counter and looked down.

“Crap.” she muttered.

Ali was pushed back as another figure imposed itself into her line of vision.

“Hey, you okay there?” she looked up to find the blond guy again. His expression shone with excitement, which she found suspicious. “It really was an accident.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” she waved him away, looking down again at her shirt. 

“Here, let me buy you another.” he offered quickly.

The blonde girl jumped back in and pushed the guy, Johnny, away with a hip thrust.

“You do that, jerk.”

“It was an accident!” he defended again, raising both hands.

She ignored him.

“C’mon. I’ll help you clean up.”

Noe let Ali take her hand and guide her to the bathroom without a word.

Looking back, she caught Johnny grinning from ear to ear at their retreating forms. He winked and she rolled her eyes half-heartedly.

Boys.

Johnny PoV

"Play nice." He had muttered to his boys under his breath and through clenched teeth as Ali Mills and her cute, new friend approached the group.

He stood up from his place at the edge of the table, his eyes never straying from the girl.

She was pretty. Petite, olive skin, rosy cheeks and eyes so dark they were almost black, except for those bright green flecks. Her curls hung loose down to her shoulders, which were exposed.

Maybe he could take a break from his attempts at wooing Ali, it wasn't really working anyways.

Ali stopped in front of them, but only addressed her friends.

"Girls, this is Noelia. Noelia, meet Barbara and Susan."

They both smiled and greeted the new girl, which she returned warmly as her eyes drifted to him and his friends.

Johnny took his chance, striding towards her. 

"Hey, I'm Johnny." He shook her hand, gazing into her eyes. He felt a rush, but quickly shook it off. "These are Jimmy, Bobby, Dutch and Tommy."

"Hi everyone." Her voice was soft, but easily heard, even with the commotion around them.  

"Look," he pulled her out of Ali's grip fairly easily and to the place he had saved for her next to Bobby. "I got your order for you, and another drink."

She smiled at him, like he was some sort of angel or something.

"That's very kind but you didn't have to."she reached for her pocket. "Please let me repay you for the drink."

"No, no I can't." He raised his hands, taking a step back. Jimmy and Dutch were laughing silently behind Noelia while Ali glared at them, arms crossed and looking like she had sucked on a lemon. She was the only one of the female group who seemed to see through their bullshit. "I spilled the drink on you-"

"It was an accident."she interrupted.

"And ruined your clothes-"

"On accident."

"It's just a drink, Noelia." He liked saying her name.

She stared at him for a few seconds, and Johnny felt like a small kid when they got praise. That unadulterated rush of pride and self-worth that boosted anyone's ego ran through him after so long as she finally nodded.

"Okay. Thanks." She sat at the table, and he was quick to follow up and take the space to her left. 

Ali sat on the opposite side next to Barb and gave him a warning glance.

Don't mess her up or else...

He chuckled internally and turned to listen as Noelia answered Susan's question.

She opened up slowly but steadily, and seemed to be hitting it off quite well.

"So, your parents moved here for work?" It was Bobby who asked, playing around with his straw. "What do they do?"

She swallowed her fry before replying:

"Mom's a dentist and dad's a surgical nurse."

Johnny snickered as Dutch, Tommy and Jimmy laughed. The girls and Bobby rolled their eyes.

"Your dad's a nurse?!" Dutch asked, almost in tears.

It was funny, but not that funny. Then again, Dutch could laugh at almost anything when he was as high as he was at the moment.

Noelia crossed her arms over her chest, her face going from angelic to malevolent as she glared at him.

"Yeah. Got a problem?"

Dutch ceased his laughter long enough to give her an obvious look as he gestured with his hands, like that would help get his point across.

"C'mon. That's a woman's job."

"So is being a hairdresser, which explains how you're so good at bleaching your hair." Ali spoke up without so much as a glance, finding her drink more interesting.

Johnny and the others outright laughed at this, including the girls. Noelia looked down as her shoulders shook, and then sent Ali a grateful look.

Johnny watched her for a moment and then at Dutch, his demeanor turning cold as he shook his head once in warning.

You're gonna ruin my chances.

Susan got up.

“I’m bored. I’ll go find a game.”

The other two got up, and after a discreet nod from the leader, so did the cobras. Ali turned back to Noe.

“Wanna come?”

The new girl checked her wrist watch and grimaced.

“I don’t think so. My dad’s picking me up soon.”

The blond’s face fell slightly.

“Oh, well, okay.” she perked up immediately after. “We’re throwing a party at the beach on saturday, to celebrate the end of the summer. You should come.”

“I think I can do that. Or I’ll see you at school.”

Ali nodded, and with quick words, they were all gone.

The girl turned and jumped, placing a hand to her chest. Johnny noticed her nails were painted black and slightly chipped.

“Sorry, I thought everyone left.”

He placed his elbow on the table and leaned against it.

“Thought I’d keep you company.” he smiled charmingly. It was the smile he used to suck up to the other parents in Encino.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go with your friends? I won’t wait long or anything.”

Discreetly, he scooted closer to her. He mustn’t have done such a good job, since she narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m perfect here, hot stuff.”

She snorted softly, and the blush that rose to her cheeks wasn’t as deep as he was used to getting from other girls.

“Do you come here often?” she asked him suddenly, turning all her attention to him. He was slightly caught off guard. After a moment, Johny started talking, and she listened. 

She asked. He answered.

She asked. He answered. She listened.

She turned on the bench to face him, one leg on each side of the metal seat as he spoke of some of his favourite spots around the place.

He found it strange, but she truly seemed to be paying attention to what he said. She didn’t seem bored as he spoke, nodding along and making comments or side questions here and there, her rapt eyes on him, like being worthy of such magnitude of attention made sense. Like it was no effort to her. 

He stared at her here and there. From the posture, to the way her long, flowy skirt framed her legs, to the hands which now laid on the bench right in front of her. Goosebumps seemed to be raising in her arms, so he did something odd, and instead of being cheeky and telling her to scoot over to him, he took off his red jacket and handed it to her.

Her hair flew with the breeze too, some of it getting to her face. She’d catch locks with those slender fingers and push them away to no avail, but it didn’t seem to annoy her in the least.

Eventually, the disconcert settled, then faded and he recovered his balls, finally asking about her too. It seemed only fair, and part of him was genuinely curious.

“So, you’ve been living here for long?”

“No, we just moved in some weeks ago.”

“And wha-”

“Noe!” a honk followed the yell, and she looked to her left as he looked to his right and caught a glimpse of a man waving from the inside of a car.

“That’s my dad. I gotta go.” she stood up and took off the jacket, handing it back to him. Up on her feet, the multicolored lights seemed to caress her, creating a kaleidoscopic halo around her silhouette. She grabbed her empty cup, cardboard plate and looked at him like they were old friends already. “Do you go to West Valley too?”

He nodded and she smiled brightly, like the news was delightful to her.

“That’s great! I’ll see you around, Johnny.”

Was that the first time she said his name out loud? It sounded nice.

“Yeah. See you.”

She departed then, walking with a sprint, stopping once to throw her trash in a can, then a second time before entering the car to turn and wave at him, and got in. He blinked, a group of nerds got in the way, and when they moved the car was long gone.

Some snickers bought him back to earth.

“What happened there, Johnny?” Dutch and Jimmy approached him, evil glints in their eyes. “Was it love at first sight? Are you gonna burst into song now?”

Johnny rolled his eyes and swiftly swept Dutch’s leg. He almost fell on his ass.

“Nah, man.” he shrugged. “She’s hot. I may ask her out once or twice, you know; get some experience before I ask Ali again.”

Jimmy nodded, like it made as much sense as their theory about the pyramids.

“She’s a Reseda girl, after all.”

“Mm.” He stood up from the bench and stretched before putting on his jacket again.

As he followed his friends back in, cracking jokes and laughing, he felt a peculiar scent.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but it reminded him of a bakery early in the morning, when everything is just out of the oven. It was nice.

His group got together again and he quickly jumped in, making sure to be the center of attention.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Love Her (Part 13)

Summary: The family tries to decide on the baby’s new name and the reader has a rough night with Tommy that leads to her finally admitting a few things to Dean...

Masterlist

Pairing: Doctor!Dean x foster daughter!reader

Word Count: 2,500ish

Warnings: language, scary situations

A/N: Please enjoy the final part!...

______

“Hi,” said Tommy early the next morning when he finally got a turn to meet the baby. She was more awake now and Ana was allowed to have the whole family in the room. “Hi baby girl.”

She stared at him and blinked, looking up at Dean.

“This is Tommy,” he said. “That’s Y/N’s boyfriend.”

She looked back at Tommy before she shut her eyes again.

“Let’s get you back with your mommy,” he said as he carried her over to Ana.

“Thank you, Tommy,” she said. “You’re very good with her.”

“They stick him with the kids on purpose,” you said as you scrolled through your phone at another list of names.

“Are they really that selective?” asked Dean.

“No. I definitely wind up as the delivery man a lot though. I’m pretty friendly and strong. I’m a much kinder face and voice than some of the people on my team. They’re all softies but little kids in those situations they want to try and scare them as little as possible,” he said.

“Plus it’s one of the safer positions or so he says,” you mumbled.

“Can we go home yet?” asked Rae from her chair.

“No silly. Mom needs to rest a bit more and we still have to name the baby,” said Dean.

“Argh,” she groaned.

“Yo. Twins. Want to go get some ice cream from the cafeteria?” asked Tommy. They both perked up and he promised to keep them busy for a few hours before he headed out with them.

“I always knew I liked that boy,” said Dean.

“What about Ava?” asked Sam from his seat.

“I still like Amelia,” said Mary.

“Ava is a much better name,” said Sam.

“I like Ann,” said John. The three of them started to argue over it and Dean wandered over to you and sighed.

“What’s your pick?” he asked.

“What about that one?” you said, showing him your phone.

“That one was actually on our shortlist if we had a girl,” said Dean. “Hey, Ana. How’d you feel about Juliet again?”

“S’good,” she said, giving a thumbs up with one hand, the baby in the other.

“You hit the drugs again, didn’t you,” he chuckled.

“Yup,” she said. “Shit’s good.”

“Maybe we wait for mom to get back to reality before we make life lasting decisions, hm?” said Dean.

“Juliet is pretty,” said Ana, closing her eyes. “De. Baby.”

“Get some rest honey,” he said as he picked up the baby. He shooed everyone out of the room aside from you who he handed the baby over to. “Dad needs a nap for a few minutes.”

“I got her,” you said.

“I know you do,” he said, taking a seat and falling asleep quickly.

The baby blinked open her eyes and looked up at you, staring at you for awhile.

“You like Juliet?” you asked. She scrunched up her face and you laughed. “No, huh. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

One Month Later

“Are you sure?” asked Dean as he pulled on his coat.

“Dad, I’m twenty. I can handle two nine year olds and a baby for a few hours,” you said.

“I thought Tommy was coming over to help,” said Ana.

“He texted me earlier, said he was going on a call. He must still be on it,” you said. You saw them glance at one another and you held up a hand. “Go on your date. He’s fine.”

“Alright. Give us a shout if they give you any trouble.”

“Hey,” said Dean when he and Ana walked in around midnight. “Still up?”

“Mhm,” you said, scrolling through your phone on the couch. “Emma went down around eight, the twins stayed up until ten before they crashed hard.”

“Tommy get hung up at work?” asked Ana.

“He never called. He always calls,” you said, glancing over at them. 

“Did you try the station?” asked Dean.

“They just said he’s on a call. I’m getting nervous. He’s been gone all day,” you said.

“Give me a second,” said Dean. He pulled out his phone and went back to the foyer. You got up and spotted him making a call. “Hey Uncle Bobby. It’s Dean...yeah you gotta come check Emma out soon, she’s a grump like you. I actually was calling for a favor...it’s for Y/N...you still know anyone down at the station who can check into something for us? Her boyfriend...yeah him. He’s out on a call and she’s getting a little worried since she hasn’t heard anything...yeah, call me back if you find anything out. Thanks.”

“Why’d you call Uncle Bobby?” you asked.

“He used to be pretty good friends with some of the local officers so I’m hoping he can dig a little for us,” said Dean.

Five minutes later his phone rang and you watched Dean bite his bottom lip.

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” he said as he hung up.

He took a deep breath before he looked at you.

“Put on your coat,” he said. 

“Where’s Tommy?” you asked quietly.

“He’s at the hospital,” he said.

“Is he…” 

“Bobby just said he’s at the hospital. The call he was on went long. Real long. It was pretty bad I guess. I don’t know, sweetheart,” he said. “Put on your coat and we’ll go.”

“You’re tired. I can-“ you said before you caught his face.

“You’re not going alone,” he said. “Come on.”

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” you said in the waiting room half an hour later and ducking your head between your knees.

“Hey,” he said, rubbing a hand up and down your back. “I have Cas and the rest of my friends off breaking a whole bunch of laws so we can find out what’s going on with Tommy in just a minute.”

“He’s probably in surgery, dad,” you said. “He could be…”

“Hey, hey,” he said as he sat you up and rubbed your arms. “The kid might not know how to change a tire but he is a good officer. He’s smart. I’m sure he’ll be okay. It’s something you two are going to have to deal with more than once I’m sure.”

“I know. We talked about that one time. I got nervous one night,” you said.

“What’d he say?”

“We came up with our check in,” you said, closing your eyes. “He asked if I wanted to stop. Seeing each other I mean.”

“He did, huh,” said Dean.

“He would love to be a graphic designer and he’s so good at it but we live here and someday maybe he could work from home on that stuff but he loves helping people and I love that he helps people. He didn’t want me to feel strung along was all for however long he decides to do this. He warned me stuff like tonight would happen. It would happen again and again and if it was too much that was okay.”

“When was this?” he asked.

“A long time ago,” you said.

“Well when you have nights like this, you let me know and I’ll be right here, okay?” he said.

“Thanks,” you said, closing your eyes just as the door opened. Your eyes flashed open and you saw Cas step inside. 

“He’s fine,” said Cas. You nodded and let out a breath, Dean giving you a hug.

“See? I told you so,” he said.

“Why couldn’t I talk to him or-” you asked before Cas held up a hand.

“Come on. You can ask him yourself,” he said.

Two minutes later you walked into a room, Tommy still in his jumpsuit as someone wrapped up his hand.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m sorry. I should have...I really wasn’t thinking straight.”

“It’s fine. Are you okay?” you asked.

“Oh, yeah. This is a sprain,” he said.

“It seems there was a gunshot victim and Tommy here decided to shove his fingers inside an open wound and clamp the artery shut by force,” said the other doctor in there.

“Saved that person’s life from what I’ve heard,” said Cas. 

“He sat up on the operating table for awhile before we could move him. Ice and take it easy with that hand for awhile. We’ll get you a medical notice for work,” said the other doctor.

“Thanks,” said Tommy before he left. “Yeah. Sorry. I should have asked somebody to call you.”

“It’s okay,” you said as you gave him a hug. 

“I’m kinda covered in a crapton of blood, honey,” he said. You peeled away and looked down at your shirt.

“Who cares? You’re okay. I’m happy,” you said, hugging him again.

“I need a hug after today,” he said.

“Spend the night,” you said. 

“I’m okay,” he said. 

“Tommy,” said Dean. “When your girl knows you feel like shit and she offers to take care of you, let her take care of you, hm? Trust me.”

“I’m gonna shower this crap off and give my mom a call first if that’s okay,” he said.

“Yeah. Take your time,” you said. “We can wait.”

“Morning,” said your dad quietly as he walked Emma around just after dawn. 

“Morning,” you said when you walked into the kitchen. “She still cranky in the morning?”

“Yup. I don’t mind. Gives us our daddy daughter time,” he said, Emma falling back asleep on his shoulder. “What are you doing up?”

“Getting an icepack for Tommy’s hand. He’s wincing in his sleep a bit,” you said.

“Wrap it in a towel for him so it’s not too cold,” he said.

“I know,” you said as you pulled one out of the freezer and put a hand towel around it. You started to head back to your room when you felt his stare on you. You spun around and he was looking out the back window, the first bit of sun coming through the windows.

“How bad was he?” he asked quietly.

“Bad. I’ve never seen him like that,” you said. “It was really bad in there from what he said.”

“He’ll be okay,” he said.

“How do you know that?”

“Because you’re taking care of him,” he smiled. “You understand trauma and all of it. You know how to take care of people. If you do decide to go on to med school, you’re gonna be a hell of a doctor.”

“I’d settle for an okay boyfriend,” you said.

“Sweetheart. He’s okay and he knows he’s okay. He had a long day and he needed you to take care of him is all,” he said. “That’s what you do when you love someone. You do a whole bunch of stuff when you love someone that much. Like waking up earlier and getting ice packs for someone so they can sleep a little easier.”

“Like giving someone a bracelet you made,” you said, holding up your wrist. He smiled and held up his own. 

“Can I ask you something?” he said and you nodded, rubbing your eyes. “What exactly was it that got us here? You didn’t want to love me.”

“No. I didn’t. But I sure as hell needed to,” you said, his chin raising. “It wasn’t any one thing. It was a million little things. It was making breakfast, asking about my day, checking on me at night. It was someone that stood up for me and protected me because I was so tired of doing it for myself. It was the guy who gave me this bracelet and said I was his, no matter what. No matter how angry I got at you those years I was gone, I kept this because I remember all of that. I remembered and I wanted it back. You gave it all back and more. But you never once treated me like I was screwed up or wrong. I have never been a drama free child but it’s never been too much for you. I guess...one day I realized I had to grow up and admit that while I loved my mom, my childhood sucked. It wasn’t this thing I’d remembered it as. There was yelling and fighting and smashing and I’ve always been afraid of something, always. But I never had to be afraid here. This was where I learned I didn’t have to be that way anymore, that being safe and happy was normal. You always wanted me to give you a chance when that’s all I wanted too. I didn’t want to love you but you suffocated me with it and I needed it so bad and I think you knew you needed it too and I wish I could go back and tell myself to trust you from the start because there was never anything I had to be afraid of.”

“I wouldn’t go back,” he said, turning towards you. “I love every crappy, drama-filled, crazy, insane second. Never would have met Tommy if you were like every other twenty year old.”

“This is true,” you said. 

“You like him.”

“No shit, sherlock,” you said, getting a quiet laugh from him.

“You know what I mean,” he said. “You like him.”

“Yeah. I do,” you said. Emma stirred and grabbed his shirt, letting out a tiny yawn.

“You know I do have one regret,” said Dean. “Rae. Ryan. Emma. I got to know all of them as little kids. I got to carry ‘em around and do all the dad stuff. We sort of missed that.”

“Yeah, we did,” you said. “But then again, we didn’t.”

“Still. If I could take away all of the parts that hurt, I would, sweetheart,” he said.

“I take after my dad. Sue me,” you said with a smile.

“Dad’s doing a lot better the past few years,” he said.

“I know. Me too,” you said, grabbing the ice pack from the counter. “I better get this to him.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” he said. “Love you.”

“Love you too, dad.”

______

[rosebloodcat]

More Android Gordon Chatting

As previously stated, I really like Robot/Android AUs, and I tend to go pretty crazy with AUs in general when I come up with them. So here’s part 2 of my Android Gordon/DBH AU rambling over Discord with @lady-lampblack

RoseBloodCat: Random Android Gordo thought: He can't have a dick-slip because, as a Nanny/Housekeeping model, he has no dick.

Gordon is either on the edge of his seat or completely unaware of the Android Rights stuff going on in Detroit. It depends on when the Resonance Cascade happens. If it's before it then he'll probably be following it all on the news. But if it's during then he wouldn't know about it until after. Both could be interesting depending on which one is used.

If he's at Tommy's house when it's going on, he's probably hyper focused on what's going on and what the reactions of the humans are. And how the police/government are responding. Because that would be something he'd feel really strongly about as a Deviant-in-Hiding. He'd be anxious to know if he could legally be seen as a person, or if he had to continue his charade of being Tommy's housekeeper/pet sitter.

However, it happening at the same time as the Resonance Cascade could be super interesting/surprising too. Since he wouldn't know it had happened until he got out, and would have been blindsided by it all. He'd need to adjust to being freethinking for the first time in his life and actually being able to act on those thoughts and feelings without (major) repercussions.

It's like, do we give him the chance to adjust first? Let he learn how to deal with emotions and trauma first? Or do we have him speed-run his freedoms and emotions now that he isn't just another robot?

the gay (mango): I feel like him coming out of the rescas with the detroit riots happening while hes inside

I mean

A lot of bots are gonna have to break their programming with the aliens popping in everywhere unless the rescas is only centralized in black mesa

RoseBloodCat: True! Very true.

That would end up as a bit of a mix between the 2 options then, Gordon coming out of Black Mesa and being offered a place to stay with Tommy as the final clean-up from the Alien invasion is finished.

And then the news of the Android Freedom/Civil Rights movement appearing in Detroit and that tons of other androids had gone deviant under the stresses and couldn't just... Go back to the lives they'd had before.

Too much had happened to just sweep the fallout under the rug.

Plus, you know, there's possibility that Black Mesa's involvement got leaked so there's the fallout from that too, along with a good portion of them trying to cover up/refuse a thorough investigation into why it happened. Because shit like that can't happen without someone having to take responsibility.

Especially if it got out that they had used a Daycare Android in their Highly Dangerous alien testing. And that's not even getting into the trouble they'd find themselves in if the rest of their unethical science was discovered.

They might be able to partially cover/fix that by letting Tommy take Gordon as a Housekeeper, since they could then say that they'd "Gotten Rid" of the Android involved in the test. (Same idea as firing/relocating/dismissing a Scientist who'd screwed something up)

They'd probably try to avoid names too, just to further cover their asses.

the gay (mango): Not to mention the fact that the majority of the staff died from both aliens and government asses

RoseBloodCat: Ye

Pretty easy to cover up because of that tbh.

With most of the staff dead, it's pretty easy to just go "Unfortunately, most of the scientists and androids in charge of the tests that day were killed in the ensuing chaos from both the invasion and the military's attempts to fight back."

"Sadly, we may not be able to reopen or continue our work due to the losses suffered."

the gay (mango): So black mesa could claim the android involved didn't make it out

RoseBloodCat: Yeah, so long as they don't mention his name or android number, Gordon could get away (mostly) scott free.

the gay (mango): If someone asks for specifics black mesa can claim that records were lost and/or not recorded

RoseBloodCat: Yup.

I should draw Android Gordon sometime. Like, each version of him that would (possibly) be in the story/AU

Clean/Pre-test (in his uniform before the Testing shit), Post Test (Messed up clothes, possibly with Blood spatter) After Escape, (Clean Uniform, but now with accents that show he's not quite a normal Android anymore) and After Revolution (Where he's actually wearing normal clothes and is able to ditch his uniform)

the gay (mango): Does android lose his arm?

RoseBloodCat: I've been debating on that. Like It could be a good point to show that something is going haywire on the outside in regards to Androids, (or them just being dicks) Or they could not do that and just... Be awful.

the gay (mango): I mean androids are p looked down on in dbh even before the revolution

RoseBloodCat: Yeah...

the gay (mango): So soldiers beating up and dismembering a random black mesa android?  P in line w the universe

RoseBloodCat: Honestly? It really is. Black Mesa just seems like a magnet for assholes (with, like, a handful of exceptions) My brain is bouncing between Androids and Splatoon while I'm on shift. Plez send halp Or ideas. Whichever.

the gay (mango): I dont splatoon sorry

RoseBloodCat: Android thoughts are welcome too.

the gay (mango): What does coomer count as with his cyber limbs?

RoseBloodCat: Cyborg. Since he started out human and was augmented with tech.

the gay (mango): Fair But in a world of androids how is he viewed

RoseBloodCat: Probably as just... A human with fancy prosthetics.

the gay (mango): Fair What does bubby think of the annoying babysitter being an android?

RoseBloodCat: Not much at first. He knows Gordon's there to help with test, but probably thinks a human should be the one doing it an not the Nannybot from Daycare. But it's more from a professional stand point than a "I don't like Androids" one. Gordon doesn't have a degree in any field of research after all.

the gay (mango): Fair

RoseBloodCat: But it probably came off as that at first. When the test went kooky and he started out blaming Gordon for it. He was complaining about Gordon not doing it right and messing up the test, but he meant that it was because he wasn't educated for these things and not because he was an Android. But Gordon probably takes it to mean that. (That can be used for a comfort attempt from Bubby later, possible when someone points out that it sounded like Bubby hated androids or something.)

the gay (mango): Gordon juat feeling alienated cause bubby is an ass

RoseBloodCat: "I wasn't pissed because you were an Android, I was pissed because you weren't... Made to do this stuff? You're a fucking... Nanny, not a... Research bot..." Just- awkward comfort attempt.

The Flower (Lili): :') love that

the gay (mango): Bonding momence

RoseBloodCat: Coomer and Tommy probably also said something to the effect of "An android shouldn't do this test." Too, but they were so friendly at the same time that it hit differently. Bobby's an ass, but Gordon didn't really notice that he's like that for everyone not just him.

the gay (mango): whos bobby Gordon is a child handler, he takes everything personally

RoseBloodCat: XD (Also, auto correct is awful whenever I try to write these names.)

the gay (mango): Honestly that's part of why i banished my autocorrect to the shadow realm

RoseBloodCat: Lol

[firstdegreefangirl]

Eddie Week Day Six: We Are Family

Word Count: 1241

Original Pub Date: 20 June 2020

Relationships: Firefam. It’s just the firefam. Hints of Buddie, but you gotta squint REAL HARD.

Read on ao3 here

I’ll stop tagging when my friends stop being amazing: @eddiediazweek, @hearteyesforbuck, @rebeccaofsbfarm, @thisissirius, @hearteyesforbuck, @dramamineontopofme, @twinien, @meloingly, @myemergence

“OK, is everybody here?” Bobby rolls up onto his toes and wiggles his pointer finger as he counts to himself, moving his lips as he looks around the group of firefighters milling around outside the station.

Not that he really needs to count, Eddie thinks. There’s only eight people on the crew, counting the alternates who rotate in and out so everyone can have days off.  

“Everybody’s here, Bobby.” Athena sighs from her position behind the camera. “Just like they were last time you checked. Now can you all just line up in front of the trucks and take the damn picture?”  

Eddie stifles a laugh at the way Athena rolls her eyes when Bobby tries to argue with her, and follows everyone else into a single-file line. They’re far enough down the driveway for the firetruck and ambulance to show in the background, just the way Bobby had sketched out – yes, on a whiteboard and everything – when he’d pitched the idea to the team.

A team picture, he’d explained, would increase morale around the station, serve as a visual reminder that they’re all working together toward the same goal. And if they put it on display, then anyone who stops by the station will know the people who are protecting them when things go wrong.  

It had taken a decent amount of cajoling (and the promise of his famous pecan bars), but he’d finally convinced everyone to put on their dress uniforms and let the LA sun beat down on them for a photo. Athena and May are behind the camera, in charge of making sure that everyone looks their best. Bobby’s already told everyone how to line up – shortest on one end, tallest on the other – and they’d taken two hours to wash the trucks this morning, making sure everything is sparkling clean.

(Chimney had almost gotten himself saddled with a month of bathroom duty when he pointed out that the back of the truck isn’t even going to be in the picture, so there really wasn’t any reason to re-wax all the chrome parts until they reflected the sun.)

They line up, the shutter clicks twice, and when Athena steps back from the viewfinder, everyone relaxes.  

They’re done, the picture is taken. Not completely painless, but easy enough.  

Until May looks up, sets her coffee down and slides her sunglasses up to the top of her head.

“Really? That’s it? You’re only taking one photo? Bobby, you’re sure you don’t want something more creative?”

“Well …” Everyone freezes, the last flicker of hope that they might be able to go change back out of their dress uniforms fading right before their eyes. “I suppose it might be a good idea to have a few options.”  

That’s all the permission May needs to step forward and start arranging people. Eddie would be willing to put money down that she’s the one organizing her friends for pictures when they hang out, as easily as she seems to picture who would look best where.  

When she’s finished, nudging Athena out of the way so she can check her work through the camera’s lens, Bobby is standing between him and Buck, with an alternate on either side of them. Hen, Chimney and Tommy make up the front row, kneeling with their hands folded on their thighs.

May presses the shutter button, but looks up.

“Don’t get up. Chim, turn a little bit more toward Tommy. Bobby, relax. Shoulders don’t belong in your ears. Eddie … stop doing that thing with your face.”

“What?” He doesn’t think he’s doing a thing with his face. “I’m not doing a thing with my face.”  

“Yes, you are.” Chimney doesn’t even look up as he’s shuffling closer to Tommy.

“You’re not even looking!”

“I trust May.”

“Good,” she smirks at Chimney. “Now turn back out a smidge. You went too far.”

“Chimney Han, don’t you roll your eyes at my daughter.” Athena glares at him and Hen starts laughing. “Henrietta, you’re next. You think I forgot what you said after that merlot the other night?”  

Hen stops laughing, and Eddie tries to figure out what to do about his face while May leans back down to the viewfinder.

“Hang on, it’s all wrong.” She stands back up. “I can’t see the top of the truck.”  

Everyone groans when she picks the tripod up and starts walking backward. After a few feet, she sets it down, checks the angle again and repeats the process until she’s satisfied with the camera placement.  

“Better?” Bobby leans forward, like he’s trying to see the reflection in the glass of the lens.

“Better,” May confirms. “But you’re all too far away now. Stay just like you are, but forward a few feet.”  

Everyone shuffles forward, and Hen reaches around to swat Chimney on the back of the head when he starts whining about a piece of gravel digging into his knee.

“Hush, we don’t need any reasons to stay down here longer!”

Eddie feels time slow down as May leans forward over the camera and positions her finger on the shutter button. All at once, four things happen.  

Bobby rolls his eyes, opening his mouth to tell Hen and Chim to cut it out so May can take the picture. Buck rears back, sucks in two short breaths and sneezes so hard that Eddie’s first instinct is to fear for his health.

Tommy's first instinct, on the other hand, is to reach back and make sure that nothing from Buck’s sneeze landed on his head, while he turns around to glare. Chimney starts laughing, and Eddie’s pretty sure he’s doing whatever face-thing May had told him to change.

Then the shutter clicks and May recoils to stare at the group in horror. She presses a couple of buttons, then waves Athena over to peer at the tiny screen with her. They’ve hardly looked at the image when Athena steps back and doubles over, laughing so hard that there are tears running down her face and she’s gasping for breath.  

She finally stands up, but her shoulders are still heaving when she wheezes out a reaction.

“Well, anyone who sees this picture is going to know exactly what kind of firefighters they’re getting when they call the 118: damned fools.”

Eddie is so taken aback by her response that he starts laughing too, and the whole moment seems to be infectious enough that everyone joins in. Before long, they’re all howling, leaning on each other and wiping their cheeks.  

None of them are paying attention, so nobody sees May lean into the camera again, nobody hears the shutter click.

But a few weeks later, when Bobby gets the frame hung up on the wall in the garage?

It’s a perfect representation of their team, exactly how they act when the camera isn’t turned on them. When Bobby hands 4x6 copies around to everyone (plus prints of the picture right before it, which Eddie honestly likes even more), Eddie mentally starts clearing room for it on the shelf in his living room, right next to Christopher’s latest school picture and a snapshot of the two of them with Buck at the arcade.

When he gets home that night and fishes a frame out of the hall closet, the picture fits in perfectly with the others: a tiny tribute to the most important people in his life: his son, his Buck and his team.

[motleycrueroadie]

Along for the Ride (pt.5)

Author’s Note: Thank you to anyone that is reading this! I apologize if the pace of this is slow, now that I have my character established I’ll be moving through the scenes. This is Mick’s audition and the next one will include meeting Vince and so on!

Previous Chapters: One I Two I Three I Four

Over the course of my life, I think it’s safe to say that I have become fairly acquainted to fresh starts.

Leaving Deanna 

Moving from one end of the West Coast to the other

Changing my name to Nikki Sixx ( leaving Frank Carlton Serafina Feranna Jr. behind)

And now, leaving London for another fresh start.

 In the time that I’ve been alive, I have learned the quick and harsh lesson that you are the only person you can count on, so whether I want to have 0 or 40 fresh starts, that’s up to me. I’m not saying these are always going to work out in my favour, or that I am always going to make the right decision - quite frankly I make stupid ass decisions mostly - but I am the only person that I can truly count on. 

Do I regret leaving London? No. Do I regret the way I left them? Absolutely fucking not. However, am I feeling a little pessimistic about this band, considering that it consists of a drummer I met at a diner and some guitar player he’s dragging along? You can bet your fucking ass I am. 

Sometimes a fresh start begins with a blind shot in the dark and that is what I was doing right now. Last Friday, I met Tommy in a diner and today, the following Sunday, I’m waiting to see whether this is beginning on a good or bad note. I mean, fuck, I haven’t even heard Tommy play, he could be dog shit for all I know, but I trusted him. The kid must know his way around a set of drums, the way he was spinning those stupid fucking sticks around his fingers. 

The funny thing about quitting a band is that you have a lot more free time on your hands. Since I didn’t really have much else to do during this week, I figured I could bug Janis, and she didn’t seem to mind. Our routine remained intact. When I got off work, I waited for her to be done with her run before coming over for dinner. One of the only things that changed was how much time I spent at her place. She started letting me come over while she was in the shower, after I complained that I had nothing to do while I waited. Of course, everything Janis allowed me to do came with a price she told me. Janis explained to me the other night that because she was no “Mother Teresa” as she put it, that I would need to start earning my keep if I was going to be eating her food. We both knew she was joking, but I couldn’t let her joking go without consequence. The shades of red she blushed when I offered to do some of her chores while she showered and got dinner ready were well worth the work I put in. Janis gave me a quite modest list: water the houseplants and vacuum any dirt off the carpet that I got on the floor while I watered them. The chore itself never took me more than 20 minutes, which left enough time for me to be nosy. Somehow, Janis managed to fill every square inch of the apartment with something, all without making the place seem cluttered. She had knick-knacks and photos lining the wall and she also had this large bookcase in her living room that held all sorts of things. The radio and a cassette collection occupied the first shelf, board games on the second and on the bottom were a couple thick photo books alongside her high school yearbooks. I knew Janis was a runner from past conversations, but I had no idea she was a state champion. In fact, Janis seemed to have been the whole package in her high school days. She was a state champion runner, graduated with honors according to her diploma and had great grades but yet I didn’t see a college degree on her wall. I hadn’t brought this up yet, but I want to ask her about these books soon - she doesn’t know I’ve been through them though so I figured it could wait. 

The clock on the stove reads 3:45 when I hear a lot of noise outside my apartment. Rolling my eyes I headed towards the door, only to open it to see Tommy and his buddy Greg carrying equipment up the stairs. 

“Didn’t I tell you guys to come here at 4?” Despite the fact that it’s often polite to be early, I had told these guys to show up no earlier than 4 for our first practice because I didn’t want to disturb Janis while she slept. 

“Dude, it’s going to take me a bit to set this shit up, if we want to get started at 4 I should’ve been here earlier” Tommy grunted back intermittently, while trying to help Greg carry an amp up the stairs.Either I hadn’t made myself clear on the phone or Tommy doesn’t listen. Tommy was doing more of the heavy lifting than Greg by the looks of it, which wasn’t a good sign to me. 

“You the minivan?” I asked him, my way of offering help. He nodded to me while steering towards the door. As I went down the stairs, I glanced back up at Janis’s apartment to see if the noise had woken her up. I know it’s only 15 minutes of sleep but 15 minutes is a pretty big deal. To my surprise, she was leaning against the railing on the balcony. 

“Think you could come down here and help us out Joplin?” I call out to her, squinting up against the sun to see her in her pajamas and fuzzed out hair. 

“You boys look like you’re doing just fine!” She said, motioning with her hand for me to continue what I was doing. I hadn’t noticed Tommy walking down the stairs until he was beside me. 

“Isn’t that the waitress from the diner?” He asked me as we continued down the stairs to the minivan. 

“You tell me.” I smirked at him, knowing full well he remembered who she was. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I turned around to find her still there.

“Can we postpone dinner until after practice?” I yell up to her. 

“Only if you play Barracuda as your last song.” She replied. I furrowed my brow, confused at the request.

“Why?” Tommy was the one to reply for me. 

“I like it.” She said, and I laughed at how matter of fact she stated this. “Plus it tells me when you’re done. Food will be hot half an hour after the opening chords.” Flashing a thumbs up back at her I turned around to continue what we were doing. 

“Do we get food too?” This came from Greg. 

“No.” I quickly replied, even though I knew Janis would feed them. I just didn’t want them there. 

We started practicing around half past 4, and finished at half past 8. In the four hours that we had spent in my apartment, I had shown Tommy and Greg a couple of songs and tried to get to know them. All I had learned was that Tommy and Greg were both in a band called “Suite 19” before this and that Greg couldn’t play the way I wanted him to. At 8:25, I had told them to start playing Barracuda because I was getting hungry and my patience was wearing thin. Heading up the stairs towards Janis’s apartment, I felt relieved to know I would be in her presence for the next little bit. Before rounding the corner I could hear Janis, not the girl that lived above me, but Janis Joplin singing Me and My Bobby McGee. Pushing open the door, I reached up to catch the bell before it could ring so as to not alert Janis that I was in the apartment. She was standing at the stove, swaying back and forth while lightly singing along to the song - just faint enough that you almost couldn’t hear her if you weren’t paying attention. Leaning against the door, I tried to keep as quiet as possible just to watch her. Suddenly, she stopped swaying and I thought my cover had been blown. 

“It’s been 30 minutes, I wonder what he’s up to?” She was thinking out loud. 

“He’s waiting to see if you notice that he’s in the apartment.” She whipped around, visibly surprised. 

“Sixx!” she practically yelled, clutching a hand to her chest. I could only laugh, and the stunned look she held on her face quickly faded into a laugh. That was one of the things that I enjoyed most about Janis’s company, she was never one to dwell when she was in a bad mood. She ebbed and flowed with the mood of the conversation. “I’m surprised you could be that silent, considering all the ruckus you’ve been making for the past four hours.” Crossing her arms, she leaned against the counter top while being careful not to disturb the pan on the stove. 

“By ruckus, do you mean a bass player and a drummer that know what they’re doing while the guitar player doesn’t?” 

“I suppose so.” She turned back to the stove, turning it off and bringing the pan over to the opposite counter to pour what looked to be meat into two bowls with fixings. She caught me watching her do this and must have noticed the confused look on my face, “We’re having taco salad Nikki. You’ll like it.” Reaching into the fridge, she grabbed a bottle of dressing and drizzled it across the two bowls before handing one to me. 

“So tell me, if this guitar player -” she motioned with her hand to indicate she didn’t know his name as she reached into a drawer for utensils.

“Greg”

“If Greg isn’t what you’re looking for, then why haven’t you called that guy from the newspaper ad?”

She was referring to an ad that I had shown her from the newspaper. Someone who described themselves as a “loud, rude and aggressive guitar player” had caught my eye. They listed a phone number, but after Tommy had mentioned Greg, I hadn’t thought to give them a call. 

“Well you see, Greg is a friend of Tommy’s from his old band” I figured I would cut the story off there and she would pick up on the rest. She snickered to herself. 

“You’re telling me that the man with jet black hair and a name like ‘Nikki Sixx’ is afraid to hurt Greg and Tommy’s feelings?” She motioned a tear running down her cheek while pouting and I scoffed at her. “Does Tommy know that Greg doesn’t fit your vibe?” She questioned, returning to her food. 

“He won’t say it cause Greg is there but yeah.” I said honestly, between bites. She nodded while continuing to chew on her food. 

“I didn’t hear a whole lot of singing going on down there tonight.” She looked over  at me expectantly, though I’m not quite sure what response it is she was looking for. “So it has been a little over a week, you’ve got a drummer you like and a guitar player you’re not so sure of and zero singer….” 

“Get to your point here Janis Jade Smith.” She laughed at how I had used her full name.

“Point is, when will I be attending this show of yours?” she was smirking but trying to hide it. Flipping her off, she laughed and we continued eating with one another in a comfortable silence.

Another week had passed since Tommy and Greg had arrived at my apartment, and things were  no better. I have little patience to begin with, but I had used it all on trying to teach Greg the way I wanted him to play. Sick of listening to me complain about the man, Janis told me that if I wasn’t going to pull the trigger and call the guy from the newspaper ad then she would. Before I had the time to process what was going on, Janis had left the apartment during the middle of dinner and returned 15 minutes later only to say “Sunday. He will be here at 4:00 pm sharp. If you like him, you tell Greg to hit the road.” So today, I was standing out on the balcony with Tommy letting him know the deal with this guy coming to audition. The faint sound of a bell caught my attention, knowing it was just before 4:00 I guessed that Janis woke up early. 

“That you up there Janis?” I called out, Tommy leaned over the railing to look up at the next floor. 

“Just came out to make sure that he shows up.” Answered my question.

“Listen man, how are we going to tell Greg to leave if we like this guy?” Tommy asked me as he moved his weight between each of his legs. If there was one thing I learned about Tommy in the short time since I had met him, it was that he had enough energy for the both of us. I could only guess that he’ll be a good partner in crime once the drinks are flowing. I shrugged my shoulders while smirking at him. 

“Act like you’re serving him a shot.” I heard a snicker above me as Tommy initially looked confused but then realized what I was getting at. 

“Give it to him straight..” Tommy mumbled under his breath as we watched a red car pull up in front of the apartment building. 

“Right on time!” Janis called out from above us. “Bring whoever is still around at 6:00 up for some dinner!” Sticking out a thumb over the railing, I heard Janis go back into her apartment as Tommy went down the stairs to help out the ad man with his equipment. I liked the looks of him, he almost resembled a slightly older version of me. 

By the time 6:00 rolled around, everyone was ready for a bit of a break. The guitarist that we kept was the man I came to know as Mick Mars, and we gave Greg the news as straight as it could be. If his ability to take news is anything like his drinking skills, I would say that he prefers mixed drinks. 

“Mick, my upstairs neighbour has offered to feed us dinner. You down for a break?” I asked him, knowing that Tommy already heard the offer.

“Why is your neighbour offering to feed us? I sure hope you aren’t taking charity because I don’t”

I know this apartment looks like a dump, but I’m not a charity case. 

“Janis and I have dinner together all the time. I’m not taking charity, I’m taking a free meal from a friend who is offering.” He appeared skeptical of my explanation. Glancing between the two of them, Tommy looked impatient. 

“I’m just hungry so do you think we can go?” Tommy asked. Motioning for the door, I began to walk out and up the stairs to Janis’s apartment. The three of us were rounding the corner to the landing where Crazy Train could be heard from her slightly ajar door. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see Mick and Tommy looking almost intrigued at this. Opening the door to the apartment, the usual bell alerted Janis to our arrival and she turned around with a pan in her hand. 

“Lasagna, salad and garlic bread tonight!” She exclaimed excitedly as she placed the baking sheet on the stove top. 

“It smells good Janis!” Tommy said as he bounded towards the kitchen, as he entered Janis handed him a plate and pointed towards the oven so he could grab himself garlic bread. 

“You must be the man from the ad that I talked to on the phone the other day.” She addressed Mick, who looked to be almost confused by the whole situation. Janis walked towards him from the kitchen with her hand extended, coming in to shake Mick’s hand. He returned the gesture and shook Janis’s hand. 

“Mick Mars.” 

“Loud, rude and aggressive guitar player. It’s nice to meet you. Janis Smith.” She began walking back into the kitchen, motioning for us to follow. We were each handed a plate and utensils while being told that we could grab a slice of garlic bread. Tommy had already planted himself on the couch in the living room, making himself at home.

“Anyone want something to drink?” She asked as Mick and I made our way to the couch in the living room. I noticed that there wasn’t going to be room on the couch for Janis, so I remained standing. Coming out from her bedroom, Janis dragged out a beanbag chair and placed it in front of the coffee table. I went to sit down on the chair when I was interrupted, “Sit on the couch Sixx, that’s mine.”

“Beer?” Tommy called out.

“One for everyone?” 

A collective yes was mumbled and Janis returned with 3 beers in one hand and her plate in the other. 

“Y’all sounded much better today. It was nice to finally hear those songs played correctly after listening to that sad sap try and keep up pace for the last week.” Now that Greg was gone, I think that Janis had given up putting on a good attitude about him. 

“We will sound even better once we have a singer.” Tommy replied, which started me on my train of thought. 

“Someone along the lines of David Lee Roth and Bowie!”

“So we want a skinny blonder fucker with moves?” Mick asked and I nodded, he was on the same train of thought. Sparing a quick glance over at Janis, she was eating quietly while watching the conversation. 

“I think I know who could be our guy!” Tommy exclaimed. 

Next Chapter