#5x01 “both sides now"

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

Campbell? Like the soup? Yeah.

911 Lone Star: Both Sides, Now (5x01)

(insp.)

[renegadesstuff]

THEIR FIRST ILYs ON SCREEN AS HUSBANDS 🥺🤍

[lonestardust]

post episode STILLS of TK STRAND : 9-1-1: Lone Star S5E01 "Both Sides, Now"

[eclectic-sassycoweyes]

Since Monday I’ve had thoughts about how TK’s hair appears fluffier than ever and Carlos’ hair appears more cropped short and gelled down than ever and what symbolism that might carry… but thanks to Jen @strandnreyes pointing it out as I recall as well as her, Lana @ironheartwriter and Andie @paperstorm so perfectly writing it out for us in tantalizing detail in Before the Storm and brighter in the morning I now know that is of course just because they are ✨HUSBANDS✨ who are vEry hOt for each other and in loOVE who just had to have each other before work that day😌

And maybe also because Carlos is grieving and stressed and trying to fill shoes that feel too big and something about feeling less in control than ever before and how that all relates to his father both bc of the unresolved feelings there that made Carlos shoulders-in-making-himself-a-bit-smaller. Hair-short-and-gelled-perfectly that he was when we first met him and directly through solving his murder🥺

And how Carlos is feeling a bit stuck in that past (not just the murder but maybe also his unresolved feelings regarding Gabriel) and his storyline is that he has to dive deeper back into that before he comes out the other side (hopefully with curls running wild all over the place) and TK is so ready to be a Husband, fluffy-haired, lizard-feeding, asleep-on-the-couch-at-8 and soft-sweatered, and his storyline is about looking forward to new chapters that move him further away from trauma and into the life he was meant to have but he has to be patient and bring Carlos with him bc that’s who he’s meant to have it with bc they’re SOULMATES and Carlos is in so many ways right there with him but he also just has to have some time to deal with what he’s dealing with right now🥺

This is a weird way for me to also say FIC RECS btw 🥰

[kboo1999]

Countdown: 3 hours 40 minutes

officially in the home stretch . . .

seriously can't believe that it's been 497 days since we were given our last episode

[lonestardust]

"Carlos’s father’s murder is a thing that Carlos is not giving that up. It is the central driving force in Carlos’ life. And there’s no way we’re going to end the series without giving that poor guy some answers. So there will be some answers at the end of the day on that."

"And so for Carlos, this burden of his dad’s murder is going to sit there and take up a lot of oxygen in the room and T.K., who is an incredibly supportive husband, is gonna try and be patient and graceful and allow Carlos to have that space. But at a certain point, he’s got to advocate for them to have a future together, and that’s part of what you were talking about with Jonah. I like to think that little boy, in some ways, represents the future of their relationship and Gabriel’s murder represents the past of their relationship, and there’s gonna be a tension between those two things and that’s gonna be their central dynamic this year, is that one person is struggling to get answers in the past and the other person is struggling to move on and build a future, which I think is a very relatable human experience."

I can't get over this and how real it is! rashad put that perfectly! I love how Gabriel will get justice. How carlos' need to avenge his father and bring his murderer to justice is going to be fulfilled. I love how he's not gonna be forced to just forget the past by moving on to the future before he tie up loose ends but it's gonna be the central dynamic!! we obviously can't judge before we watch but I already I love how carlos and TK are not really gonna compromise over things they deeply care about and ESPECIALLY each other!!! And this is simply so realistic!!!!!

[tellmegoodbye]

Carlos reassuring TK vs TK reassuring Carlos

2x07: Displaced | 5x01: Both Sides, Now

[sibylsleaves]

Ok since you talked about conflict: what do you think their arguments will look like!!! (The first one and then perhaps the ones after)

oh i do believe their first fight is messy af!!! Because I think the only time we really have seen conflict between them has been during the Lawsuit era, which was so long ago and relatively early in their relationship, and then like little hints of it in s5 (in 5x01 with the panic attack stuff, and kind of in 5x10 with Eddie basically shutting Buck down about coming back to the 118).

And I think fundamentally they would HATE arguing. Like they are ALWAYS on the same team and I think it would be excruciating for both of them to be at odds with one another, so I think even a relatively small disagreement about something could easily blow up into something way bigger because one, or most likely BOTH, of them try to bury it and ignore it and pretend everything's fine because how can they not be on the same side about something??? and then when they refuse to address it it just gets bigger and bigger and their first fight is like...this kind of catastrophic explosion.

(omg sorry putting the rest under a readmore because this got so long...)

Like not screaming at each other or anything like that, but like their argument gets out of hand and one or both of them have to remove themselves from the situation and a little part of them is like is this it? is this where it ends? what if we really weren't ever meant to get together what if we really were better as friends? We NEVER fought when we were just best friends maybe this is too much for us...and then they get some Wise Perspective from someone or they have a classic Call That Mirrors Our Current Conflict moment and they're like wait. we're being stupid. yeah maybe we're fighting right now but we also both want to fight FOR each other and FOR this relationship.

I do think one of their early if not their earliest fights might be something about Eddie keeping something from Buck--not something nefarious at all, but something where it's Eddie basically processing or refusing to process something and not letting Buck in on the processing/lack thereof and Buck finds out and gets upset because when Eddie keeps things from him BAD THINGS HAPPEN. And Buck LOVES to fix things and Eddie loves that he wants to (comes in handy when you've got a bunch of holes in your walls...) but also he doesn't want to admit that there's anything TO fix and also, maybe this isn't something that can just be FIXED.

Just spitballing but maybe it's that Eddie is avoiding telling his parents about Buck and it's not that Buck needs him to do that but that Eddie is HIDING the fact that he hasn't told his parents FROM Buck because he doesn't want to admit how scary it is to come out to them and also to possibly open up this relationship (that he feels SO sure of and SO happy in) to the judgement of his parents who, for all the progress they've made HAVE proven themselves to be judgmental in the past. And Eddie thinks Buck is going to be hurt and disappointed that he hasn't told his parents but Buck is just hurt and sad that Eddie hasn't shared his feelings about the situation with Buck. (This also fits into my desire to see the friction of like, here's something i would've shared with you without question before we got together but now we ARE together and you are the SUBJECT of the thing I would previously have been sharing with you as like a friend/third party to the situation). Cue the Diaz parents showing up unexpectedly for a surprise visit and it all goes to hell. and i for sure think their future arguments get messy not just for them but also for the entire firehouse. because you know who loves oversharing about their relationship problems at work??? BUCK. and you know who hates talking about his problems and wants to pretend they don't exit? EDDIE "I don't panic" DIAZ. So I do think their little tiffs tend to bleed out and affect everyone on the team (but important to note I don't think they let it affect them on calls, it's more just a general disruption of the Team Vibe like in the truck/at the station because they can't stop sniping at each other). Like I think we'd see something very similar to how pissy Buck was with Eddie in 5x01 and Eddie being like BUCK FOR GODS SAKE and Hen and Chim are like 🍿🍿🍿 and Ravi is like. traumatized because everytime Buck is upset with Eddie somehow HE gets punished for it. and maybe even Chim and Maddie end up in their own argument because they disagree about who is in the wrong in the Eddie/Buck conflict (who is siding with whom...now that's the real question...but for the record in my head Chim is on Buck's side and he is FLABBERGHASTED that Maddie wouldn't take her own brother's side!!! But Maddie and Eddie are so similar so she REALLY empathizes with him in this situation and also she's ALWAYS primed and ready to call Buck out for being a dumbass.) I could see this being played for laughs and/or also as part of a larger conflict about Buck and Eddie being allowed to work together on the same shift. Like maybe it's kind of played somewhat comedically at first and then they like, resolve their fight in some cute way but Bobby still sits them down and is like you have GOT to figure out how to fight as a couple without dragging us all into it. Or you can't work together anymore. I'm so serious.

And Buck and Eddie are like what are you talking about we're all good now!! we love each other everything's great! And Bobby is like *stares directly at the camera* oh so you're never going to have another conflict again for the rest of your lives?

And then Buck starts thinking about how HES GONNA SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE WITH EDDIE AND HOW AMAZING IS THAT--sorry I'm getting distracted.

But anyway. Yeah. I think it's a process and they have to actually sit down together and figure out how they're going to handle conflict going forward because as much as they love each other and as much as it KILLS THEM to fight, no relationship is perfect at all times, even theirs.

[nachosncheezies]

The Bet - Chapter 7

A canon-adjacent "pilot wedding" fic. Previous chapters can be found here.

Shock & Woe

5x01 - Redux, and 5x02 - Redux II; also on AO3. tagging @today-in-fic

~~~~~

For being ride-or-die, they sure were a pair of odd ducks. The Hoover's social diaspora was not wrong about that.

They didn't talk about their bet. Only once, indirectly - after the submarine incident. When she told him she'd had to paddle the juice back into his heart, she made one request. She renewed her licenses to practice on the living, and was officially listed in all the relevant places as his personal physician. If he did anything that hare-brained again, she wouldn't have to fight for the right to save him, and no one would have to know.

Strange, they would each reflect sometime later, the mutual assumption that that other card would remain in both of their arsenals.

Four years gone and no one knew, no one apart from three bureaucrats in some northwestern backwater who wouldn't be able to tell them from Adam. No one had learned when she was taken. No one had learned when she was returned. When her living will was to be carried out and her life support removed, her mother had called it 'a moment for the family, but.’ But then she offered him a place in the room to bear witness. As if it were a kindness. As if he needed permission. 

Maggie would drop her rosary if she knew the truth of it.

It remained their unexamined secret, but with her pale and unconscious from hypovolemic shock and two agents dragging him away, he almost, almost told the world. 

He spent as much time at her bedside as he could, probably more than propriety would have advised. Her mother was tolerant, even kind. Her brother hated him. 

Junior didn't know that Fox Mulder already had that market cornered. The man could be as much of a dick as he wanted. Soon, Mulder feared, soon he would know their secret, too.

~~~~~

Mulder, alive to the world, so busy and unsleeping. He was under suspicion, and for once rightfully so, but he would not take what she offered. He would not free himself on the back of her reputation, even as she was very nearly certain she wouldn't need it anymore. Every time he came to her room, she would try to ask him about the case. She worried for him, all alone now trying to root out the traitor and clear his own name. Halfway neglecting his own fate, she suspected, in scrambling for a means to save her. But when she asked, he just smiled and shook his head. "I'm not here for that," he said. "I'm here for my friend Dana."

She screwed up her chin, and said she wished he wouldn't call her that. Not now.

After so many months - years - together, they knew each other in ways she scarcely even knew her family. But somehow in all their long hours in the office and on the road, between the intellectual repartee, the philosophical debates, the quoting of studies both psuedo- and scientific, there were still things - little, biographical things - they had yet to learn about one another. He wanted to know what her favorite color was. Did she have a lucky number? Did she know how many generations back was she Irish-American - as opposed to Irish-Irish, he clarified - and was it just on her father's side? What superstitions did she have as a child - come on, Scully, kids are insane; surely you weren't always so committed to rationalism - and had any of them hung on? What was her favorite dessert; and was he right? Was it ice cream?

It was like he was trying to etch even the most mundane pieces of her into three dimensions in his mind. And that, more than anything, made her fear for him.

Mulder being Mulder, he sensed it. Mulder being Mulder, he wanted to change the subject rather than acknowledge it.

He started carrying a fat deck of Trivial Pursuit cards in his pocket. There was no board, but he'd cut the deck and hand her half, and they took turns asking each other whatever questions they felt like, tallying their points as they went. She surprised him by knowing much more than he would've guessed about sports. He surprised her by knowing very little about science. Or, he pretended to; she suspected he just wanted to listen to her lecture him on the topics she was best at. She, in turn, started playing dumb on things that might be of personal interest to him. She loved listening to him talk, too. 

On one visit, her energy waned much more quickly than normal, and she set aside her share of the cards. "Mulder-" she started, but he was instantly on his feet, leaning over her with his thumb brushing back and forth across her brow.

"Shh," he hushed. "I know." Her brows knit together and she opened her mouth to protest, but he put his finger across her lips and shook his head. "I know," he said again. He seemed surprised to find himself touching her lips, and didn't linger, but immediately moved to tuck back a lock of her hair.

She watched him, glassy-eyed, while he watched his hand, then he met her gaze again, his expression softly sad, his eyes pleading.

It wasn't fair. 'Until death do us part' was not supposed to have been literal. It was supposed to mean, 'Until one of us meets someone, or we otherwise come to our senses.' They were supposed to have been colleagues, amiable - she had hoped even good friends - with a silly story they could tell one day when it had been long enough to not matter. Something light to go with the war stories they would inevitably accrue. Since then he had become her confidant, her partner-in-crime, her blood brother. He was her dimorphic counterpart, her insular twin; grown up beside her and communicating with her in their own twisted tongues that no one else could understand. He was more than all of that in ways she could never hope to explain. He was the only one she truly trusted, the only one she would put herself on the line for, the only one she was always happy to see. He was her very best friend.

"Tell me about the pukwudgies," she requested, and he lulled her to sleep with one of the most fantastical, most ludicrous stories she'd ever heard.

~~~~~

She woke in the dead of night to someone holding her hand. Hot, jagged puffs of air blew over her knuckles. She peeked, and saw the top of his head resting very close to her pillow, his face turned away from her. His shoulders strained in an irregular rhythm and his whole body seemed to rise and fall with them. Her breath hitched as she realized what was happening, but he seemed too lost in his agony to notice.

She wanted to soothe him. To let him see that she hurt for him just as much. But he had asked her not to say it. He said that he knew. She hoped - she prayed - that they were talking about the same thing.

She took deep, measured breaths, and pretended to sleep. If the truth was too painful, she could at least give him his dignity.

When he seemed to have exhausted himself and cried himself to sleep right there on her floor, she opened her eyes. She looked at his darkened form, the light from the window catching on his silhouette and giving him a bluish aura; a full-body halo for her sad and tragic guardian. She slowly, gingerly moved her face closer, until her forehead came to rest on his crown. She placed a careful kiss there and nuzzled in, her dried-out nostrils giving her only a bare hint of shampoo and Mulder. She thought she heard his own breathing hitch, but if he was awake after all, if he knew, she knew they would never talk about it. She stilled, and after a time he got to his feet. She let her head roll limp on her pillow and kept her eyes closed. He whispered her name, sorrowful and reverent, and after another moment he bent to brush his lips, barely-there, upon her cheek.

When he was gone, she put her palm flat on the wet spot he'd made of her sheets, and she cried for him, too.

~~~~~

remission (noun)

/rəˈmɪʃən/ ruh-MISH-uhn

From Anglo-Norman remissiun, remissione, remissioun, via French remission. Historical meanings included forgiveness or pardon of sins; pardon for a political or legal offense; reduction of a debt; weakening or diminishing of a thing. Also from Latin remissiōn-, remissiō. Meanings included the action of sending back; action of letting go; action of slackening, relaxing, softening; action of relieving (the mind) of cares or preoccupations; cancellation (of a debt or penalty); forgiveness, pardon (of sins). Compare to Old Occitan remessió, Catalan remissió, Spanish remisión, Portuguese remissão, Italian remissione.

Definitions:

      1. Forgiveness or pardon of sins or other offences.

      2. Release from the obligation of a debt or payment.

     3. a. The cancellation or reduction of a debt, payment, etc.; an instance of this.

         b. The cancellation or reduction of a penalty or punishment; (now) esp. the reduction of a prison sentence as a reward for good behaviour; an instance of this.

      4. Diminution or reduction of effect or force; decrease or abatement of a condition or quality, such as heat, cold, etc.; (also) an instance of this.

      5. In medicine, the lessening of the severity of a disease or symptom; disappearance of symptoms or cessation of the activity of a disease for a period; an instance of this.

      6. The action of sending or sending back. In law, the action or an act of referring a case from one court to another....

No. Scratch all that.

remission (noun) 

/rəˈmɪʃən/ ruh-MISH-uhn

Definitions:

      1. Scully is alive. 

      2. Scully is going to live.

~~~~~

Content notes:

Regarding the pukwudgies: these are described as small, disappearing creatures, from the Wampanoag tradition. I found them while searching for mythologies and cryptids of Massachusetts, figuring that Scully would ask him about something he might have known since childhood. (I'm also assuming that young Mulder, at some undefined time in his past, turned his insatiable curiosity on Aquinnah and the Wampanoag just next door to Chilmark, and that Scully would have known or assumed this, too.) I selected them from amongst other legends precisely for being Wampanoag and thus local to him, but I do not know anyone from or very well-acquainted with indigenous traditions in the east of North America, so if I've carelessly stepped on something sacred or taboo here please DO let me know. I would be happy to explore alternatives.

The end section of this chapter was adapted (read: gently mutilated) from the Oxford English Dictionary's academic database here. You'll need an institutional or library login to access the full entry.

[paperstorm]

Okay I have a question. We all went a little bonkers when the title of 5x01 was announced because Both Sides Now is such a poignant and bittersweet Joni Mitchell song about life and loss and the ache of nostalgia, and everyone had theories about what it would mean that the episode was named after it. Thoughts, now that we've seen it? I feel like the most obvious answer is that the narrative of this first episode follows three people who are now on the other side of having lost something that they had at the end of the last season - Carlos having lost his father, Owen his brother, and Judd his beloved job (and wife, although that one is temporary). But is there more to it? Gimme your insights into this I'm so curious.

[reasonandfaithinharmony]

911 Lone Star: Austin, We Have a Problem (1x10) | Both Sides, Now (5x01, season 5 promo)

based on this tweet by @ TheTarlost

[renegadesstuff]

“GOOD NIGHT, TK.”

“GOOD NIGHT, CARLOS.” 😩

[lonestardust]

9-1-1 LONE STAR : S5E01 "Both Sides, Now" Ranger Reyes and Ranger Campbell capturing the armoured truck heist thieves.

[chirpsythismorning]

ST5 SPOILERS

Caleb and Sadie were filming at the cemetery??

Tbh I think they’re filming in order as much as they can bc if it ends up being released in two volumes, ideally they’ll want to have the first half completed sooner because that will be dropped slightly sooner, therefore it’s priority. Not to mention the young cast aging, so it makes more sense to film scenes earlier in the season ASAP, as opposed to filming them 8 months from now when the teens are bound to look at least a little bit older.

Which means this scene they were filming was likely from 5x01-5x02…

And considering Max’s state at the moment, I wonder if this scene is actually going to be a hallucination or nightmare Lucas is having? Because I don’t see her getting out of wherever she’s at for at least 2 episodes, even if she does appear in some shape/form during that time.

It did make me think of Dear Billy though and her nearly dying at that same spot last season.

Also idk if it was at the same time, but we also saw Gaten filming at the cemetery location, so maybe they’re both there? I could see maybe Lucas looking at Patrick’s grave on the other side of the cemetery while Dustin is looking at Eddie’s and maybe because they’re apart, that’s when Lucas has a hallucination involving Max or something?

I don’t think it would be your typical Vecna’s curse situation obviously because with the spores and everything, we don’t know if maybe everyone could be at risk of experiencing weird symptoms, including hallucinations. And since Vecna succeeded in opening the gates, and once he’s healed he’ll finally be able to carry out whatever it is he has planned, means what’s about to go down likely involves everyone in some capacity…

[kboo1999]

awww, glasses Judd🥰

[911lsbts]

5x01 “Both Sides, Now” Synopsis

THE 126 RACE INTO ACTION WHEN AN ARMORED TRUCK IS HI-JACKED; OWEN GRAPPLES WITH HIS BROTHER'S DEATH; CARLOS BEGINS A NEW JOB; A FAMILAR FACE JOINS THE CALL CENTER ON THE ALL-NEW SEASON PREMIERE OF 9-1-1: LONE STAR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, ON FOX

The 126 race into action when an armored truck and its guards are attacked by a group of masked men. Carlos, in his new job as a Texas Ranger, is assigned to investigate the case. Owen attends group therapy with Tommy to deal with his brother Robert's death; Both Marjan and Paul each apply for the open lieutenant position, replacing Judd, who finds himself lost without his old job. Wyatt begins work at the call center and a major train derailment signals tragedy in the all-new "Both Sides, Now,"