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morganaspendragonss · 3 years ago

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The Broken Soul of TK Strand (2/?)

once again, not my words, i'm just the messenger 😊

warning for a fair bit of gore in this chapter, some torture, and mentions of vomiting.

ao3 | 3.4k | chapter one

Carlos’s arrival at the station was Owen’s first sign that he needed to worry about TK. He had seen this expression before, when Carlos had come to his house, asking about his son. That time, TK had been kidnapped, almost killed, and he had spent two days in the hospital with a severe concussion.

“Have you heard from TK?”

This question was the second sign which set alarm bells ringing in the captain’s head.

Although he could just be acting a little bit paranoid; TK had left early to find an anniversary gift for Carlos, so that he would forgive him for having forgotten the day. There were many reasons why he might have been delayed, there was no reason to always think the worst. But, with the years, it was always easier for Owen to think about all the bad things that could have happened to his son.

“I’m sure I’m worrying about nothing,” Carlos continued whilst everyone was looking at him, accepting the coffee Mateo made for him. “But I’ve called him six times in the last two hours and he hasn’t answered or called me back. I’m worried that he feels bad for what happened this morning.”

“What did happen this morning?” Mateo asked, worry all over his face.

“TK didn’t remember that it was our anniversary. I think he still struggles to believe that we’re serious or that I’m not going to hurt him. I didn’t take it badly...well, I did a little. I was disappointed because I’d planned the whole day, and I didn’t hide it well. I think I scared him.”

“Oh, sweetheart, TK was mortified that he forgot your anniversary,” Tommy said, coming to sit at the table. She and Owen filled Carlos in on their conversation with TK and how they had told him that he could leave early.

“He even asked me what he could buy to impress you,” Owen added, trying to calm Carlos a little. “I’m sure that he has spent the time looking for the perfect gift to get you to forgive him.”

“So why doesn’t he answer my calls? He knows I worry.”

Carlos finished his coffee and tried to call TK again, this time with the speaker on, but he was sent to voicemail.

“I’ll send him a message saying that there’s an emergency here.” Tommy stood up to get her phone, but before she could go up the stairs to her office, Marjan’s voice grabbed everyone’s attention as she entered the kitchen.

“Guys, I just found TK’s phone on the ground outside with a bunch of missed calls from Carlos. Oh, hey, I didn’t know you were here. Is everything okay?”

Carlos clenched his jaw to keep from shouting, I knew it.

No more signs were needed to prove that something bad had happened to TK, so Owen mobilised everyone for the search operation he’d planned in his head in case anything happened to anyone.

He didn’t tell Carlos about the fear he always had when it came to TK, that when he was scared or feeling bad about something, he would end up in the first bar he found. This task he left for himself, and he headed off as fast as he could to some bars in the area to discard this possibility.

A panic attack could lead TK to drinking in order to free himself from insecurity or the fear that he wasn’t a good boyfriend to Carlos. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened, and Owen didn’t want to find him drunk over a misunderstanding, ruining his more than twelve months of sobriety. Forgetting an anniversary wasn’t a good reason to throw it all away.

“You could go to your regular places in case anyone has seen him,” he told Carlos, then asked Tommy and Nancy to go for a look around, now that they had finished their shift.

“I’ll call Grace,” Judd offered. “She might have heard something at the call centre.”

Carlos thanked him, and Paul and Mateo decided to look around the station. If his phone had been left there, maybe they would find another hint.

“I’ll stay by the phone in case TK calls us or someone has something for us,” Marjan said, and they all set off.

The last thing Owen wanted was to return to the station without having found him. In a way, this would be good news, because it meant that TK wasn’t in a bar, but if Carlos had also heard nothing, it wouldn’t make him feel better, given how they’d called their close friends.

But nobody had seen TK all afternoon, and Tommy and Nancy had no luck either.

“Hey guys,” Grace greeted the group, hugging Carlos and Owen. “I haven’t had any call that could have anything to do with TK all shift today. I’m truly sorry, I wish I could help more.”

“Well, that could be a sign that nothing is wrong,” Mateo noted, smiling.

“Or it could mean that something is wrong, nobody found him, and TK wasn’t able to call for help,” Carlos replied, saying aloud what everyone else was thinking.

“Then where is he? Why doesn’t he call us?” Mateo said again, too innocent to realise that this was only serving to scare everyone more.

Paul sent him a murderous look.

Panic began to set in for Carlos. It wasn’t the first time someone had taken TK, and they had been so lucky then. He still dreamed about the gun sometimes, about hugging TK and sensing that he was about to pass out from the blow to his head. So it also wasn’t the first time he had feared for his boyfriend’s life, but as many times as it had happened, he couldn’t calm down any.

The next time could always be the last, after all.

TK woke up with the worst headache he’d ever had in his life. He’d suffered concussions before, and this was somehow even worse. He wanted to rip his head off, or at least stop hearing the banging that slammed against his eardrums.

He opened his eyes and looked around him, though the almost complete darkness made it impossible to see anything other than what was right next to him. He was sprawled on a mattress which someone had placed on the floor—a floor that smelt awful, like the whole room. It was a strong odour of blood and other horrible things that almost made him throw up right then and there.

He had to make a huge effort to push himself up so he was sitting on the mattress. Doing so made him touch the mattress, and he quickly regretted it; it was sticky with some substance that TK didn’t want to identify.

Lifting his hand to his head, he felt the blood smeared across part of his face, then turned his gaze down to his clothes. He was wearing the same hoodie he was when he left the station, but it was stained with blood.

His blood.

He couldn’t remember what happened. It hurt to think, but he tried anyway, going back to the last clear memory he had.

Carlos had been upset because he’d forgotten their anniversary. He’d decided to buy a gift at the end of shift, something unique and special, with which he would show Carlos how much he loved him and how stupid he’d been for forgetting.

Then nothing. He didn’t know what had happened after that, not even going to work, and much less how he had ended up in this situation.

TK tried to get to his feet, but he only managed to stumble a couple of steps until he had to hold himself up on the wall. He wouldn’t be able to get very far in his condition, so it made sense that whoever was holding him here didn’t see it necessary to tie him up; two steps and he was already about to throw up and fall to his knees.

He squeezed his eyes shut and, when he reopened them, he tried once more to concentrate on his surroundings. The room seemed like a basement; there wasn’t anything more than a tiny, dirty window, which was the only source of light. But it was so small that there was no chance he could escape through it, even if he wasn’t concussed.

Worse, though, was the smell. It was like something had died...or someone, though TK didn’t want to think about that, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to avoid the nausea, and he didn’t think there would be anyone to clean up after him.

TK groaned, hurting himself with how hard he was gritting his teeth. He fell to his knees, the pain in his head creating the sensation that someone was driving a million needles all over at the same time.

He breathed harshly, closed his eyes, then focused on moving.

Bad idea, though he realised it too late, when he was already on the ground. He looked at his arm where the stranger had cut it the day before, realising that the wound had opened and it was bleeding.

It did not look good.

But he didn’t have time to think on it anymore, as at that moment, the door opened and a dark shadow appeared. It was against the light, so TK could only see a double silhouette… He definitely had a concussion.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“It matters little who I am,” said an almost guttural voice, deep and dark, which made TK’s hair stand on end. “Nor does it matter what I want from you. It is my Dark Lord who has called you.”

“Who?” TK just about managed to sit up on the mattress again, though it wasn’t any better or worse than being on the floor. He must be pretty out of it, because what this guy was saying didn’t make any sense.

The other man stepped into the room. TK estimated that he was more or less as tall as him, maybe a little taller, but he was wearing a type of cape or hood or something that made it difficult to see his face. The man laughed as he closed in on TK and squatted down in front of him.

“The Lord of Darkness doesn’t show himself to those who don’t believe in him. But don’t worry—as soon as we perform the blood ritual and the mark of hell is on your skin, my Lord will present himself before you, and then you will understand.”

“You’re crazy, man. Let me go and I won’t tell anyone who you are. I don’t even know where I am, so if you just leave me somewhere…”

“I haven’t kidnapped you.”

“Oh, no?”

The ham shook his head and, being so close, TK could see his dark, piercing eyes, making him tremble.

“No. I’m not one of those crazy psychopaths on the news. My purpose is to open the door to this world for my Dark Lord. His kingdom of darkness will be better than the shit we are living in now.”

“Okay, um, that sounds great and all, but what does it have to do with me?” TK asked. The pain in his head stopped him from thinking clearly or quickly.

The man took TK’s chin in a large, rough hand and pulled him towards him. “There’s no rush. Rest your soul, you will be able to ask all the questions you want during eternity with your new master.”

TK feared that he would kiss him and after that, he would want… He shook that thought from his head. But no, his kidnappers pushed him hard so he landed on the bed, putting emphasis on ‘rest’.

“Aren’t you at least going to give me something to eat and drink?”

“You’re right; I almost forgot.” The man moved quickly, turning and walking out the door, only to return two seconds later with a cup in his hands. He was also carrying a dish, and he placed them both in front of the bed.

TK looked at them—the strong smell had already reached him from the door, but seeing it was even worse.

It was a large heart, hopefully from an animal so at least it wouldn’t be human; the madness of this guy knew no bounds. The smell was awful, nauseating, as if it had just been taken from the animal’s body and put there.

The cup almost made him feel worse—it was wine, and TK could even smell it over the odour of blood from the heart.

“Couldn’t I have a little water? It’s not that I’m not grateful for the wine, but I don’t drink.”

“It’s time to leave your normal life behind. Your soul needs to be perfect to accept my Lord.”

The guy got up, clearly having said what he needed to say. He did a kind of bow, or something like one, and prepared to leave.

“Hey, no. You don’t mean to make me eat this?” TK called, but the man didn’t turn and kept walking towards the door. “Don’t leave me here, just tell me what you want from me.”

TK tried to launch himself at the man; maybe he could knock him down, run to the door, and escape. But he only took two steps before his legs failed him; he fell to the floor, hit his arm, and lay there prone, dizzy, fighting against the rising nausea, and watching as the man left and closed the door.

“Thank you, really. Thanks for being so quick.”

Carlos left his phone on the table and covered his face with both hands; he felt about to cry, but there was so much to do, and not enough hours had passed since TK’s disappearance for him to lose hope.

“It’s TK’s, right?” Owen asked, sitting in front of him, two mugs of tea in hand. “The blood on the floor is TK’s.”

Carlos nodded. “It matches his.”

Carlos’s phone pinged with another message, and he looked over at it. It was a link to a police video database; Carlos was grateful that he had friends in all departments, as everyone started working at full speed when he told them that someone had kidnapped TK.

He asked Owen for a computer and opened the video he’d been sent.

“It’s the security feed from outside the station, right where we found the blood. In theory, this is the moment TK was taken, so maybe we’ll be able to see something.”

The two of them watched the video in silence. It began with TK leaving, just as Owen and Tommy had told Carlos. The officer felt his heart stop, thinking that this might be the last time that he saw his boyfriend.

An instant later, a hooded figure appeared at TK’s back.

“It matches the description he gave me of the guy he said attacked him by the dumpsters,” Carlos said, not looking away from the screen. “I don’t know why I didn’t take him seriously when he told me.”

The man hit TK on the head and he fell to the ground, Owen and Carlos holding their breath. TK turned, looking up from the ground, and they saw him say something. They couldn’t see the face of his attacker, only that he hit TK again, leaving him unconscious...or so they hoped.

A moment later, TK’s inert body was loaded into a car parked not far from there. Carlos zoomed in but, as expected, there was no license plate.

“So now we know that TK was kidnapped.”

“Those blows could have killed him,” Carlos whispered.

“You know as well as I do—TK has a hard head. We’re going to find him.”

TK didn’t know how much time had passed by the time the man returned. He had thrown up twice due to the smell and, though he had tried to throw the wine away, a part of him told him that he needed the liquid. This was better than nothing, despite the danger that alcohol posed for him.

He left it to one side and pushed the plate with the heart away—he had no intention of touching it.

The cell door opened again. It was the same man, or so TK thought, given the few things he could see. The guy looked at the plate and cut and clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed that TK hadn’t followed his orders.

But he didn’t say anything; instead, he took a knife from underneath his cape and TK forced himself to his knees as quickly as he could—which wasn’t very quick—backing up against the wall.

“Listen, I don’t know what you have in mind but…” His captor closed the gap separating them and grabbed TK’s arm; they struggled until he was able to free himself. “Don’t hurt me, please. I’ll meet your Lord, I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Of course you will, starting right now.”

He stuck the knife into TK’s sweater and made a long enough cut so that he could rip it with his hands until TK’s shoulder blade was exposed. TK writhed but he was weak from thirst and the concussion, which was getting worse with every minute nothing was done about it.

“Please… No…”

“You have to do things right, just as my Lord likes, or else he won’t allow you to open the door.”

“What do you want me to do? I’ll do it, I promise, just don’t hurt me.”

The lord of darkness says that I have to teach those who don’t believe and make them obey rules so that, one day, they will follow them of their own will.”

TK tried to move away but the cold edge of the knife against his throat made him freeze. His captor was also straddling him, so TK couldn’t go anywhere or do anything.

“Drink the wine and eat the heart.”

“No… Please…”

TK stifled a moan as the knife dug into his throat, making a small cut. The man didn’t say anything, and he wasn’t going to give him any more options or opportunities. So there was nothing left to do—TK reached out and took the cup in a trembling hand, lifting it to his lips.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had wine, but the feeling of throwing his whole future away as he felt the alcohol running down his throat made him cry. Suddenly, the worst of torture didn’t seem so bad as what he was being forced to do know.

The man told him to drink it all, and TK did it.

“Now eat the heart.”

“If I do, I’ll throw up, and I don’t think your master would like that.”

“If you vomit, I will bring you another, until you have it inside you with the wine.”

The man pushed the plate closer. TK looked at it, terrible nausea rising up again, which only got worse when he took the organ in his hands and raised it to his mouth. The only way he could do it was by closing his eyes; thinking that he would never be able to eat anything again, he sank his teeth into the viscous, bloody, raw flesh. Blood ran down his throat and his face, staining his clothes, already ruined by his own blood.

Soon he felt pain in his shoulder. The man had stabbed him with the knife and he began to move it, drawing something on TK’s skin, paying no attention to his cries and protests. He had him well restrained and he wasn’t going to move until he was done, ordering TK to continue eating while he drew on his body.

When he climbed from on top of him, TK threw the heart to the other side of the room. He was barely able to hold onto consciousness for a few seconds, time in which he saw the man cleaning the knife on his clothes.

“Tomorrow we will finish the ritual, and with the full moon you will be the first to see the arrival of the lord in darkness in this world. You should feel proud.”

Then he left TK there alone, bleeding, in pain, terrified, fighting against nausea, trembling, and exhausted. He crawled over to the wall and hugged his legs, but he had no time to cry though he wanted to, as in a few seconds, he fell into unconsciousness.

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #tarlos #tarlos fic #tk strand #carlos reyes #owen strand #911ls #lone star #fanfiction #my fanfiction #writing #my writing

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kaypeace21 · 4 years ago

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do you think it’s possible sarah (hoppers daughter) was an early-formed alter that went dormant before the events of season one? it’d make a lot of sense with how much of hoppers arc in season one was him mourning her and channeling that grief into protecting will (which would make sense since he seems like a protecter to both will and el). love your posts!☺️

Yep . :D

I already discussed all of this in the original did post - how sarah was a “little” (kid ) alter. And how hopper was a protector /introject alter. I also discussed her going dormant as a major possibility in my did theory. My assumption is she either (a) “became dormant” like some alters do- aka they are “gone” sometimes for many years but can return . And this can happen in a myriad of ways - sometimes alters go dormant after they had a simulated death in the inner world . theoretically sarah had such a Death. And so did El. Death isn’t really a permanent thing for alters ...they usually will come back or stay dormant - unless the body of the host dies (or they integrate) . They can’t really die . I think it’s very possible she comes back and Hopper while exploring the various innerworlds of Will’s minds (like the Russian one, the memory scapes , etc ) reunites/ finds her . look at the st s4 movie inspirations. In ‘what dreams may come” a guy with the guidance of his dead kid explore a heaven like world influenced by a painter’s emotions.We also have the movie ‘inside out’ -which involves “memory islands” (distinct worlds based on a child’s memories) which are influenced negatively by the kid being depressed she moved to California. The characters traveling to these memory islands are constructs of kid’s mind -and 1 of them also has a guide helping them explore the ‘memory islands’. in Inception a guy says he’s a construct of a guy’s mind and needs to help him escape the many different Ievels of the dream worlds.The in inception who made the worlds- had dad issues. 'the cell’also had alternate dimensions of a man's mind that a cop explored ( the dimensions were created by a man who was ab*sed by his dad). Movies like inception, matrix, Truman show, total recall, the cell, enter the void, wizard of oz, Peter Pan, hellraiser 2, dream warriors, bill & ted’s bogus journey, and welcome to marwen also allude to this: because they involve entering simulated abstract worlds usually created/based on happy& traumatic memories/fears.Cough s4 using the movie wizard of oz quote “we’re not in Hawkins (kansas) anymore.While truman show/matrix are more about realizing your reality isn’t real.in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper realizing he’s an alter and not in “actual Russia.” Before seeing the other segments of the innerworlds with sarah. Like in total recall- the bad ass spy is told all his memories: his wife/ years of marriage, , his name, are just implanted memories. And she says “you’re life is a dream.”

In s2 Nancy asks Steve how his “grandpa’s time in the war is a metaphor for your life?” And steve compares the mf to the germans in the war. Dr owens mentions Will has ptsd like “ (vietnam) soldiers’, Hopper saying he had buddies like Will . “In the 70s there was a study that compared the post-traumatic stress symptoms in Vietnam veterans and adult survivors of childhood s**ual ab*se. The study revealed that childhood s**ual ab*se is traumatizing and can result in symptoms comparable to symptoms from war-related trauma.” Hopper isn’t actually in Russia -but in one of the innerworlds (after he jumped through the rift of the machine- into Will’s mind). We’ll see flashbacks but also present circumstances of his imprisonment echo Will’s past with Lonnie (if the movies indicate anything)- being starved, guards getting payed in order to let other prisoners r*pe a gay prisoner (than claim incorrectly because of his sexuality he wanted it) , as well as a gang of sadist men who r**e others and a warden using that as a threat to be compliant , being thrown in a dark room of solitary confinement and starved when they didn’t obey the warden, the warden being religious, etc. And the Anerican soldiers (in Vietnam) in the movies aren’t much better and do similarly horrific acts to civilians like r**e and bragging/ happily k*lling women, children, and the elderly. The drill sergant in vietnam calling them homophobic slurs & women, and chocking one of the soldiers with one hand, slapping one for not believing in christianity. Tying up a soldier in a bed , gagging him, beating him and saying “remember it’s just a dream.” Only praising them when good in fire arms.(movies : fullmetal jacket, papillon, shawshank redemption, platoon, welcome to marwen, etc ) . My assumption is flashbacks of his life- will hint he’s an alter of Will’s-the boxes in the basement are “vietnam” ,“dad”, and “ny” (and these are the memories of his we’ll see). And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . For instance in s2, Jonathan mentions Indiana writer Vonnegut- In his book ‘slaughterhouse 5′- Vonnegut begins the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who has “come unstuck in time”. It accounts of Billy Pilgrim's capture and incarceration by the Germans during the last years of World War II, and scattered throughout the narrative are episodes from Billy's life with his dad, and his own wife and kids.Billy is forced to be part of the war and similar things against his free will. The moments start from his childhood when his father throws him in the water to teach him how to swim. He was unwillingly drafted into the war. Later, he is kidnapped by Tralfamadorians (aliens that are implied to be caused by his mental health issues/trauma) against his will. Therefore, he realizes that this concept is just an illusion.

And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . Like how in ‘peterpan’- the young girl Wendy imagines netherland and the villain -captain hook- is based off her father ( in the movie they have the same voice actors/while in all stage productions the 2 characters are always played by the same actor). Similar to the other s4 film- ‘wizard of oz’ where the wicked witch of th west from the mythical land of Oz (is played by Dorothy’s real life mean neighbor in the real world/kansas). Or ‘in the cell’- every villain from the alternate-mind- dimensions is played by same actor in diff makeup. Not sure if they’d use Ross Patridge (actor of Lonnie) in this way . But it would be very interesting if (In makeup) Ross played many negative people in Hopper’s life/past -as a way to show Will’s past tr*uma.

Like also-look at Sarah’s tiger plushie! In chinese mythology/culture: “The tiger is personified by the constellation Orion (interesting given Sara’s interest in space/blackholes). The tiger represents protection over human life (hmm?). Tiger charms were used to keep away evil and disease (that’s awful ironic if she died in the manner she did). In Buddhism, wearing tiger skins during meditations was believed to bring protection from spiritual interference and potential harm while exploring astral dimensions.” HMMMMMMMMM XD

Kali in the stranger things novel ‘Suspicious Minds’ says…

“I was named after a goddess. She wore a tiger skin and was fierce in battle.”

Then Kali says to Alice (a women who can see future visions): “I love you, Alice. We can be tigers together.”This parallel (in relation to Alice) is fascinating because Kali actually uses her powers to fake Alice’s death- and to trick Dr. Brenner, and allow Alice to escape. The allusion was so realistic, that Terry could even touch the ‘dead’ Alice.

So the tiger symbolism could be a HUGE hint- that Sarah’s death was simulated and she’ll come back and travel the innerworlds/alternate dimensions of Will’s mind (as Hopper’s guide). Hopper about sarah “galaxies the universe-she always understood that stuff.”

Another possibility (theory b) is she integrated with another alter or with Will (which means she can’t return) .Hopper saying about Sarah “the black hole it got her.” Could imply she integrated with the mf/shadow monster? And ,or maybe she will later ?

But... I lean heavily to theory (a) the most , though.

Obviously sarah has a lot of the connections to Will. will and Sarah both being into science, Sarah winning a spelling bee, Will winning the science fair, both being connected to tigers. Both hallucinating something no one else can see and people trying to snap the 2 out of what they’re viewing. Joyce saying as a witch she’ll eat Will. Parallels Hopper saying as an ogre he’ll eat sarah. Hopper, in s1, when seeing Will (with a vine in his mouth) has a flashback of Sarah on a mouth respirator. And he also has a flashback of Sarah when seeing Will’s lion plushie which resembled Sarah’s tiger plushie. And el also had a lion plushie-like Will’s in s1. Hopper monitored both Will and Sarah at the hospital when they were “dying”. Will has a fear of clowns- and Sarah’s hospital gown had clowns on them. All 3 kids draw.

Plus, we all know the parallels of Will to El (Hopper’s new daughter).

I discussed in my did theory that Hopper (as an adult alter) is a form of protector to all the kid alters - el, Sarah, and Will (host/core). And Hopper as an introject-alter (who are alters based on a person the child knows ) are usually put in the system cause the kid assumes that person could protect them . And since original-Hopper was a police man (a little kid could easily assume that). Although, because he’s a “father figure” for the system he has some of Lonnie’s traits- which are reflected in other perpetrator alters/ bad npcs in the system- Brenner, Neil, Billy, the evil’s Russians,etc . So sometimes he acts similar to a Perpetrator alter too . And I listed those examples/bad parallels extensively in the original did post (linked in the beginning).

And I used these quotes from psych papers in my original did post to pretty much sum up Hopper’s use in Will’s system .

“Introjects can also be based off of figures that the dissociative child found strong, courageous, heroic, or otherwise worthy of being emulated and internalized and could theoretically protect them.”

“Older adult alters are created to serve a nurturing or parenting role, thus serving as a protector. (*protecting Will/el) . However, sometimes their older age is related to taking on the identification of the ab*ser and can therefore take on any of the other more hostile roles too ... Introjects which are mimicking ab*sers are trying to "keep you inline" in order to protect you from external ab*sers. They are copying behaviors shown to them by bad people, not harboring the intent, s*dism or imm*rality of the actual perpetrators.”

I think it pretty much sums up the nuances and motivations of Hopper’s character.

Thanks for the ask, anon :)

#jim hopper #stranger things #sarah hopper #will byers #kali prasad #el hopper #stranger things theory #did theory #s4 theory #st movies

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bellakitse · 5 years ago

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I was born Thursday's Child

“It’s Carlos, sir,” Judd gets out quickly, and TK feels an ice-cold fear run up his spine at the urgency he hears in his friend’s voice. “He was a step behind me, the floor caved, and he went through into the basement.”

Carlos gets hurt on a call.

30 days of Tarlos - Day 18

Part Three of Firefighter Carlos! AU, Part One, Part Two

It’s eight pm on a Thursday, TK is rolling up the water hoses they used on their last call with Carlos’ help while the rest of the team details the truck as they try to guess what the letters of his name stand for. It’s become something of a game to the crew when they have downtime. His dad walked away as soon as the game started. He can never keep a straight face at all the ridiculous combinations his crew comes up with and instead headed to his office to do some paperwork.

“Thomas Kayden,” Paul shouts out from the top of the truck, rolling his eyes when he shakes his head.

“Tristan Kristopher,” Mateo points at him with a grin. “Christopher with a K, that feels very ‘city boy.’”

“Tanner,” Marjan starts, smirking at him when he makes a face. “Kingston.”

TK scowls at his friend, and then turns it on Carlos when he hears him snort quietly next to him. He tells his stomach to quit it with the butterflies it gets from Carlos’ beautiful unapologetic smile.

“No, Marjan,” he says dryly, rolling his eyes again. “My initials don’t stand for Tanner Kingston. Did you really have to pick the douchiest name ever?”

Marjan lifts a slim shoulder, shrugging as she sweeps the floor. “If you would just tell us, we’d stop.”

“Let me think about that,” he says, bringing a finger up to his face, tapping his cheek as he pretends to give the suggestion some serious thought. “Nope, I don’t think so. Request denied.”

TK grins as more than one of them scoffs or shakes their heads at him. Judd being the loudest.

“This is ridiculous,” the cowboy grumbles as he turns his sight on Carlos. “Reyes, what’s your boyfriend’s real name?”

Carlos looks up from the water hose, his eyes going wide as he finds them all staring at him. “What?” he asks, shaking his head. “He hasn’t told me.”

“Please,” Judd scoffs again.

“I’m serious,” Carlos says standing up straight, he throws him an accusing look, and this time it’s his turn to smile at him unapologetically. “I have been trying to get it out of him for months now; he won’t tell me, and trust me, I have tried everything.”

“He has,” TK pipes in with a shameless grin. “And I have enjoyed every attempt he’s made.”

TK laughs at the team’s collective groan as they go back to work, he turns towards Carlos, his laughter turning into a soft chuckle as he spots the sweet pink blush on his face.

“Brat,” Carlos scolds him when he sees his grin. “Stay where you are.”

TK shakes his head, dropping the hose to close the small distance between them. He smiles as he places his hands on Carlos’ hips, and he lets him.

They’ve been dating for four months now, they told his dad and the team after their first date, surprising absolutely no one.

The team has been nothing but supportive, but it still took a while for Carlos to be completely comfortable with displays of affection in the workplace, the old habit of keeping this part of himself on the DL at his old station lingering. Now when TK places his hands on his hips, Carlos wraps his around his neck.

“That’s a cute blush you got there, baby,” he whispers teasingly, loving how it makes Carlos turn pinker.

“You are a brat,” Carlos repeats but doesn’t pull away. “You’re lucky you’re also adorable.”

“And hot,” he adds, laughing when Carlos rolls his eyes at him.

“And humble,” he retorts sarcastically.

“Mmhmm,” TK nods, pressing his lips into a firm line to keep from smiling like an idiot. It doesn’t help; he can’t not smile when he’s in the presence of his boyfriend.

Carlos shakes his head softly at him; the look he gives him is tender and fond. “Are you ever going to tell me what the letters stand for?” he asks curiously.

“Does it bother you that I haven’t yet?” TK asks, his brow creasing in the middle with sudden worry. He’s never really considered that it might upset Carlos not to know what his initials stand for. He’s been called TK for as long as he can remember, that sometimes even he forgets the letters stand for something. It’s only when he has to fill out a form and sees his name in full that he remembers with a roll of his eyes. It’s not that he hates his name, it’s just that it’s so pretentious that he can’t help but groan when he hears it out loud.

“No,” Carlos says, shaking his head again. The hands on his shoulders now give the back of his neck a reassuring squeeze. “I mean, I’m curious as hell, obviously, and you keeping it a secret makes me think it’s something hilarious like Thacker Kale.”

“Thacker?” he questions incredulously. “Kale?”

“Hey, the Captain loves kale,” Carlos argues. “He totally could have named you after it.”

TK opens his mouth to answer only for the alarms of the firehouse to go off over their heads.

“To be continued,” Carlos says with a half-smile as he lets go of him.

TK gives him a nod, before turning to get ready. It takes them minutes to get into their gear and into the truck, his father in the front speaks to them through their headsets.

“Alright, we got a two-story house fire,” he starts. “Neighbors called it in, said they heard screams from inside, from what they told dispatch it’s a family of five. Two adults and three kids, it’s after nine, we have to assume they’re all home.”

TK looks around the truck; the crew is quiet and serious as they do last minute checks on their gear. Everyone's expression turns more severe as they turn into the street; the flames in the house are high; they seem to lick the sky.

They jump out of the truck before it completely rolls to a stop, right behind them is Captain Blake and her EMTs.

TK watches as his father assesses the situation quickly before giving them a sharp nod.

“Okay, I want Reyes, Ryder, and Strickland to start making their way inside the house,” his father says looking at the three men in question, they all nod back to him before going for their axes. “Strand, Marwani, Chavez, you’re on the hoses. We need to start controlling this now.”

TK looks at the house, the smoke is getting darker by the second, never a good sign and he feels a moment of trepidation. As Carlos starts to walk by him, he grabs at his turnout coat tightly.

“Be careful,” he says quickly, swallowing hard. It’s not the first time he’s told Carlos this. Usually, one of them says it if the other is going in, and it’s always met with a cocky grin. TK can see the beginnings of it on Carlos’ lips, but he must read the fear in his face because instead of a smile, Carlos gives him a serious look.

“Of course, baby,” he says softly, he gives the hand holding his coat a squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”

TK nods, reluctantly letting go of him, getting to work himself. He, Marjan, and Mateo handle the hoses with his dad; he focuses on the flames that are blessedly diminishing and not on the fact that the rest of his team is still inside.

Over the radio, he hears them as they go through the house and starts to breathe easier as they bring out members of the family. Once Paul has gotten the last civilian out – the father, Michelle and her team already treating the rest of the family – his dad calls out for everyone to evacuate.

“Reyes, Ryder, time to pull out, we got all of them,” he speaks into the radio, it takes a moment for the receiver to static back.

“Roger that, Cap,” Judd's voice rings out through all their sets. “We’re – shit!”

“Judd, report,” Owen says sharply as they hear a crash, the house, now fire-free, creeks ominously.

TK is moving towards the house before Judd is even done explaining the situation; he’s halfway across the lawn when a hand comes down hard on his shoulder, holding him in place. He swirls around, ready to curse whoever is daring to stop him, only to find his father giving him an unshakeable look that tells him before his father even speaks that he’s not going to let him go in.

“Dad – “ he tries anyway, pleading, letting out something between a scream and a sob when his father shakes his head at him remorsefully.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, still shaking his head. “You’re too close, TK; it can’t be you.”

TK wants to argue, but he sees that his father is already nodding towards Paul and Mateo.

“Get him out,” he tells them, his voice cracking as his eyes sting. “Please.”

Mateo and Paul look at him, worried but resolved. “You got it, brother,” Paul says softly as they head back inside.

“I’m climbing down, Cap,” Judd’s voice comes through again.

Judd keeps his radio on as he works, and TK can hear every grunt and huff as he moves, for a moment, that, and Paul and Mateo reporting in is all they hear. Carlos’ radio is silent even as his father keeps trying to call him.

“I can see him,” Judd shouts, it’s followed by more heavy breathing before he speaks again. “Carlos, bud, come on man, I need you to open your eyes for me now.”

TK covers his mouth; it’s the only thing that’s keeping him from screaming. He feels someone behind him, and then a small hand on his shoulder, he knows it belongs to Marjan without turning around. Her hand on him is the only thing that keeps him up when he hears a low groan come through the radio.

“That’s it, man, keep your eyes open,” Judd speaks, and then another pained filled groan follows it.

“T – “

TK grabs his radio quickly, bringing it to his mouth. “Carlos, sweetheart, can you hear me?” he asks, his heart races as he waits for an answer.

“TK,” Carlos gets out, his voice rough from the pain. “It hurts.”

“I know, babe,” he sniffs, not being able to stop the tears now. “Paul and Mateo are coming; they’re going to help Judd get you out, just hold on.”

Carlos doesn’t answer right away, when he does, what he says strikes TK with fear. “Tired.”

“No, Carlos,” he growls. “Don’t go to sleep; stay awake.”

“T-tell me,” Carlos starts, it’s obviously a struggle for him to stay alert. “S-something.”

TK lets out a choked sob at his words; they remind him of when they first got together, of Carlos being there for him when he needed comfort and a distraction from his own pain.

“Tyler Kennedy,” he says into the radio, not caring that everyone is listening. “That’s what TK stands for.”

֍֍֍

Waiting at the hospital is a nightmare, waiting for the man you love to wake up while in a hospital bed is hell on earth.

Paul, Judd, and Mateo had carried out an unconscious Carlos straight to Michelle and her team. TK had watched frozen as they worked on Carlos enough to get him conscious before they were speeding away in the ambulance.

It took everything to keep from climbing in with him, but he knew they still had a job to finish.

Now at the hospital, everyone lingers around the waiting room while he sits with Carlos waiting for him to wake up.

“Your mom and sisters are here,” he says softly. “I finally met Lola, she’s intense, and has decided she and I are going to be best friends and annoy you together. Be ready for that.”

He reaches out, touching Carlos’ face softly, making sure not to touch the bandage on his head. The doctors had run down the list of injuries, concussion, cracked ribs, and a ruptured spleen. The fall Carlos had taken was a rough one; the debris falling on him didn’t make it any better.

“I’m here, baby,” he whispers, squeezing his hand. “We’re all here.”

TK closes his eyes when his words are met with silence. Carlos is the quieter one of the two, while TK is the one with restless energy. Usually, it’s a calming force for TK as Carlos will listen until he tires himself out, now the quietness was driving him crazy.

“I love you,” he continues. “I know you know that, but I don’t say it nearly enough. I love you so much. I’m grateful every day that Judd recommended you to us. You walked into the 126 and became my teammate, my best friend, and the love of my life.”

He runs his fingertips down Carlos’ cheek, over his neck, and then lets it rest lightly over his heart, letting out a breath as he feels the steady beat.

“Can you open your eyes now for me, baby?” he asks pleadingly. “I told you my name, it’s not Thacker Kale, but it’s still ridiculous. I’m sure you have thoughts. I’ll let you make all the fun you want if you open those pretty brown eyes of yours for me right now,” he continues hopefully.

He lets his head drop on the bed next to Carlos’ hip when his request is again met with silence. He’s taking deep breaths to keep from crying when he feels a hand move over his hair.

“I think Tyler Kennedy is beautiful.”

TK lifts his head quickly, taking hold of the hand that is touching him as he finds Carlos looking at him with tired eyes.

He opens his mouth to speak only for a choked sob to come out, pressing his mouth into a firm line, he breathes deeply again until he can talk without breaking down.

“It’s pretentious,” he says shakily, as Carlos gives him a loving look.

“It’s beautiful,” Carlos repeats softly. “Just like you.”

TK lets out a wet laugh; he can’t stop the tears now as he stands to hover over Carlos.

“Hi,” he whispers with a watery smile on his face. “You scared me.”

“Hi,” Carlos whispers back, looking up at him remorsefully. “I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” he assures him, leaning down he touches the tip of his nose against Carlos’. “Please try not to do it again though. It turns out that I love you more than anything in this world and don’t handle you getting hurt very well.”

Carlos closes his eyes as he smiles, a tear running down his face. “Okay, Tyler,” he whispers.

TK pulls back to look at him, pouting when Carlos grins. “I’m going to regret that.”

#911 lone star #tarlos #tarlos fic #30 days of tarlos #my writing #tk x carlos #firefighter Carlos! au #soooo this is now going to be a 4 part series #ending tomorrow cause i have no self-control

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 5 years ago

Text

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E8; Chapter Eight, The Mind Flayer - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

An unlikely hero steps forward when a deadly development puts the Hawkins Lab on lockdown, trapping Will and several others inside.

||3rd Person POV||

The once pristine and orderly lab had become a desolate wasteland in a matter of minutes. Blood painted the walls and bodies were scattered among the labyrinth of halls. Buckled down in the heart of Hawkins Lab, Owens scatters a map, pen in hand. The others quickly close in around him as he draws out their escape plan.

"Look, this is us," he circles a corner on the map. "and this is the nearest exit. But even if we somehow make it there, there's no way out."

Hopper's brow furrows, his grip on the flashlight grows subconsciously tighter. "What do you mean?"

"The locks are fail-secure."

"Fail secure?" Joyce asks.

"If there's a power outage," Owens says, looking around at the confused faces. "the building goes on lockdown."

"Can it be unlocked remotely?" Bob asks.

"With a computer, sure, but somebody's gotta reset the breakers."

Hopper inches closer, growing ever restless. "Where are the breakers?"

"Breakers are in the basement," Owens returns to the map. "three floors down."

Not wasting another moment, Hopper spins on his heel and stomps for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Bob calls after him.

Hopper gives him an incredulous look. "To reset the breakers."

Bob scoffs worriedly. "Okay, then what?"

"Then we get out of here."

"No, then the power comes back on. If you wanna unlock the doors you have to reboot the computer system, and then override the security codes with a manual input."

"Fine," Hopper sighs. "How do I do that?"

It's Bob's turn to look incredulous. "You can't. Not unless you know BASIC."

"I don't know what that means," Hopper asks shortly, growing increasingly stressed.

"It's a computer programming language," Mike replies, jumping in.

"Teach it to me,"

Bob scoffed shortly, dawning an uncharacteristic mocking tone. "Shall I teach you French, while I'm at it, Jim? How about a little German?"

Everyone listens, taken aback at his unusual behavior and the man turns to Owens.

"How about you, doc?" He asks, growing urgent. "You speak BASIC?"

Sheepishly, he shakes his head, suddenly finding the floor particularly interesting. "No."

Dreading the answer, Bob reluctantly accepts and scoffs nervously, nodding his head.

"Okay, I got this," he mutters nervously, turning to Hopper repeating the words more assured. "I've got this."

"No," Joyce's voice cracks, and she envelops Bob in a worried hug. "Bob."

"It's okay," Bob gratefully accepts the tender hug before looking into her eyes. "It's gonna be okay. Remember, Bob Newby, superhero."

||Reader's POV||

We carry on over another small hill through the trees and the pads of my feet, ironically enough, feel as if they are on fire. I keep glancing at my shoes for any sign of distress even though I know it's because I've been walking all day. And truthfully, I'm unsure how much more walking I can take.

I let out my umpteenth sigh, keeping my eyes trained on where Steve is stepping to avoid tripping on any more roots. Another side effect of walking all day, my reflexes have dulled considerably.

"How much longer?" I ask.

Steve huffs, using the bat to swipe away some low hanging branches in our path. "Jesus, if one more of you shits ask me that again,"

"Sorry, you're majesty!" I groan sarcastically, throwing my head back briefly in frustration no doubt earning a few surprised glances.

I'm able to see the clouds of branches above us sway in the wind, parting ever so to reveal the inky night sky and I calm significantly. My anger dissolves a bit, enough to feel a small pang of guilt for snapping at Steve. Especially since he was helping Dustin, and all of us, actually.

I look back down at the forest floor, a tad embarrassed.

"Sorry, really," I mumble, and I catch Steve's hardened glare soften a bit over his shoulder. "It's just,"

I pause, glancing back at the night sky once more, and I feel another soft gust of wind snake through the trees and hit my face and I feel soothed. The stars always had a way of calming me. It awes me, something about the vastness of it all, and just how complex and simple it all was, all at once.

Reassured, I continue. "My feet are killing, and the junkyard took a lot out of me. You've been super helpful, so it's not fair to you to-"

"Shut up," He hisses, suddenly.

"What?"

"I said, shut up," he repeats, voice lowered and eyes focused ahead.

I look to the others, Max merely shrugs with an odd look, Lucas readies the wrist rocket and Dustin seems to be the only one the honed in on the situation.

I fall silent, my ears straining and I'm able to make out a familiar voice over the rustling of the trees as Steve pulls away at more branches.

"Who's there?" It calls. "Who's there?!"

Steve is the first to break through the woods and we all pool out at his side. One of the first things I notice is a security booth and a familiar car parked beside. It takes me a moment to identify the two figures across the clearing, but the moment it registers, they speak, confirming my suspicions.

"Steve?" They ask in perfect unison.

"Nancy?" Steve asks.

Nancy and Jonathan stand across the small stretch of grass, and I can't help a confused smile.

"Jonathan?" I break out into a brisk walk, ignoring my aching feet and the duo makes their way towards us. "Nancy!"

"Y/n?"

"It's so good to see you!" I give Jonathan a quick side hug, relieved to see the familiar face of a Byers. "What are you guys doing here?"

I pull back, smiling at them both but it quickly deflates when I think of Will. I look to Jonathan worriedly.

"How's Will?"

I can hear the others making their way towards us, but I'm more focused on the unusual behavior. He begins shifting on his feet, his previous look of confusion towards me and my unfamiliar garb melted away into that of concern.

"We're looking for him, and Mike." He gestures to Nancy and glances at Dustin and Lucas. "Wait, they aren't with you guys?"

None of us have time to answer before a string of hideous screeching echoes out from the lab.

An all too familiar pit burrows in my stomach, I can feel it taking root at the new information. Will couldn't go missing again, he just couldn't. But if the Upside Down was involved, which I know for a fact it is, then it can't be good.

||3rd Person POV||

A golden yellow beam of light bounces down the stairwell in tune with Bob's ragged breathing and the squeak of his shoes against the polished stairs. His heart is racing wildly, and never once did he imagine he would ever find himself racing through Hawkins Lab, gun in hand, to escape an infestation of interdimensional monsters. Heck, he couldn't he even picture himself with a gun! Good thing Jim was able to give him at least somewhat of breakdown on how to use one, and for now that would have to do.

But he reminds himself of the danger, the danger Joyce and the others as well as himself. He reaches the basement and almost instantly he is enveloped in a blanket of steam from the heaters, and the poor lighting gives off the illusion he has been swallowed by a thick layer of smog. It does nothing to ease the sweat percolating on his skin no more than the distant beeps of the alarm echo in his mind serving as a harsh reminder.

He stalks carefully through the mist, checking his corners to the best of his ability for his first time and he can feel every nerve stand on edge. It's only proven by the shaky beam of light streaming through his flashlight.

A harsh and sudden hiss goes off above his head and he nearly jumps out of his skin. The gun and light come to aim shakily at the source of the noise and he feels the wave of relief crash over him as he sees it's merely a pipe, clouds of steam pooling from a small valve.

He takes a long deep breath, his aim returning to his path.

"Keep it together, Bob." He mumbles.

It's not much longer before he finds himself at the breaker room, and he is relieved when he hears the click of the door as it swings open unlocked. But it vanishes almost as soon and he jumps when his flashlight finds the bloodied remains of two bodies on the floor.

Bob does his best to collect his gasps, but he finds it a difficult ordeal. His grip on his flashlight, and his gun, tighten and he is sure to shut the door behind him before stepping further into the room. It's quiet and unnaturally still apart from the blood pumping in his ears, it only grows worse as he navigates around the fallen men. Finally, he turns the corner finding at long last what he had risked his life for. The breakers.

Labeled on a plastic tag, the words, MAIN POWER caught his eye and he knew for sure he was in the right place.

"Okay, here we go,"

Taking a deep breath, he flips the first switch and he is suddenly bathed in light. It's not long before it spreads throughout the entire lab. With every lever he pulls, the lab steadily comes to life, including the surveillance room.

The others perk up when the florescence flicker on above their heads. Mike is the first to step up to the monitors as each screen comes to life. At its center, the breakers in the basement where Bob Newby stands.

||Reader's POV||

"What do you mean? Haven't you-?"

"I haven't seen him, or Mike since Friday!" I plea.

Everything was a mess, everyone had begun talking over each other in a big huddle and no one could get a clear word in edgewise. That is until Nancy broke free from the circle.

"The power's back!"

My eyes fall past the gate and treeline to see that she's right, the building had lit up completely.

I quickly fall in line with the others and it's as if a small race broke out for who could get to the security booth first. Jonathan did, and he wasted no time hitting the button. I could hear the rapid clicking from where I stood at the front of the car, and I quickly looked to the gate expectantly.

Nothing happens.

The clicking continues and we all watched confused and increasingly worried as it remains perfectly still.

Another screech echoes in the distance and I can feel my anxiety blossom from the pit in my stomach. I begin subconsciously bouncing on the balls of my heels and I look around at the others for any ideas.

"Guys...?"

I meet eyes with Dustin and he looks as if he's grown ever more impatient, and my anxious state is his final sign. He kicks into gear, heading for the booth.

"Let me try--"

"Hang on--" Jonathan tries.

He's cut off by Dustin who weakly shoves him back with a frustrated whine. "Let me try, Jonathan!"

I watch deflated as my brother does nothing but wear out the button, and I roll my eyes with a deep breath. I feel a pair of eyes on me, and I look to find Max glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, concerned. She looks away when she knows she's been caught. I look down at my hands and realize not only am I rocking back and forth on my heels but I'm also desperately wringing my hands.

I note the silence in the air, I look back at Dustin who watches the gate expectantly, an exasperated Jonathan standing behind him. The silence lasts not a moment longer before Dustin begins shouting.

"Well, son of a bitch! You know what..." he grumbles, returning to the button with even more fervor.

I try to calm myself the best of my ability, taking slow deep breaths but it only helps so much. My eyes return to the sight of the lab, and I can't help but fear what lies ahead.

+++

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mistoelectra · 5 years ago

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Why Jack Harkness deserved better

I said I was going to write this so here it is

WHY JACK HARKNESS DESERVED BETTER (SPECIFICALLY FROM THE TENTH DOCTOR)

Okay, so this is something I’ve been meaning to write for a little while, because I’ve been rewatching New Who from the beginning, and Jack is probably one of my favourite characters, and seeing the way Ten acts towards him makes my heart hurt. It also makes me really wish they could have brought Jack back in to interact with other incarnations of the Doctor because I feel like seeing the different dynamics would have been really interesting (also let’s face it, John Barrowman would be hella up for it).

This is gonna primarily focus on Doctor Who events but draw on things from Torchwood because that obviously gave us a lot more info on Jack and his past. But also I’m not going to go too in depth with Torchwood stuff, because that’s a whole different essay with full in-depth vaguely shitty psychoanalysis (I have a degree but I am far from proficient).

Let’s start at the beginning with Jack’s first appearance in The Doctor Dances/The Empty Child, which are admittedly two of my favourite episodes of series 1. Admittedly, he does at first come off as cocky, brash, a little callous, and of course, a self-professed con-man and criminal. Except at the same time, we already get to see some of his heart. His cons are based selling space junk to (what seem to be) rather wealthy parties, then getting that junk destroyed before they find out what they’ve actually bought. He himself states that he believes the Chula ambulance was completely empty, so wouldn’t do any damage, and specifically programmed it so it wouldn’t hit anything living. While this doesn’t necessarily make things any more moral, it still says something about Jack. There are plenty who wouldn’t have even bothered to do that. There’s also the fact that he’s not doing it for money, but in an attempt to get back his stolen memories.

Continuing on, Jack rescues Rose and the Doctor from the hospital, proving further that he is not quite as callous as he might make out to be. Given he now knows they’re time agents, there’s technically nothing stopping him from just abandoning them and getting the hell out of this time period (except possibly his time agency training reminding him that he may have done fucked up and he needs to fix it). He almost immediately places his trust in the Doctor, jumps at the chance to help him, and when the time comes, he doesn’t even hesitate in getting the bomb (and don’t tell me he doesn’t know the risk to himself, because he totally does. He knows his chances of getting out of this are slim, but Jack Harkness is a self-sacrificing bastard if ever there was one).

(Brief sidetrack to Torchwood- Jack mentions in Countrycide (1x06) that he’s proficient in torture and once had a reputation as a go-to guy for getting answers, but it’s never really made clear when this occurred, or if it’s even truthful. Was it the Time Agency? Was it Victorian era Torchwood? Who knows?)

Next appearance. Boom Town. That interesting outfit choice. But that aside, this is where we get to see how smart Jack is. Sure, he’s from the future so he’s going to have knowledge that will sound impressive, but there’s also his plan to catch Margaret, which is pretty tactically sound. Again, Jack was a time agent, so he’s definitely not going to be just any old idiot, not to mention he was a soldier as well. We also see him working on the TARDIS, which is pretty much something we don’t really see other companions do much of in New Who, and certainly not in their third episode, which I think says a lot, both about Jack, and about the trust the Doctor now places in Jack.

The final two episodes. For one, and on a different tangent, Jack keeps a gun up his ass. Is this a common thing? Is this just so the Doctor can’t take it off him like he did before? How is this safe? For two, and on the same tangent, Jack stop groping the robots. Finally, can we appreciate how efficient Jack is? Sure, he’s a little confused at first, but he throws himself into the situation, lets them give him a few different outfits, then calmly takes them down, makes himself a gun and gets out of there without much hassle. His reaction to Rose’s ‘elimination’ absolutely breaks my heart just as much as the Doctor’s, because while the Doctor is just completely silent and lost looking, you can hear and see Jack absolutely going off in the background, lashing out. Similarly, his reaction upon realising that Rose is alive…just yes.

Second side track- how quickly did Jack get that TARDIS key? I mean, I know there were multiple adventures between episodes, but regardless, he had a key by Boom Town. That’s hella speedy.

And then there’s dealing with the daleks. Jack knows how big a deal this is, he was a time agent after all. One hit, that’s all it takes. The Doctor probably would have let him leave Satellite 5 if he’d asked, but he didn’t. He stepped up, almost certainly knowing he was going to die, but willing to do whatever he could to give the Doctor any little scrap of time he could. And he gets killed for it. And then he gets brought back to life, and he’s surrounded by dalek dust, and he gets to watch the TARDIS leave without him. And his expression is just so heartbroken, and it hurts so much. What is he thinking? Is he hoping they’ll come back for him? Does he think that they think he’s dead so they’ve left without him?

And this is the first of the Doctor’s assholery (albeit this is still 9 and not 10). He just abandons Jack, without any form of explanation as to what has just happened, on a satellite surrounded by dalek dust and corpses. While I appreciate all the Doctor was going through and the whole ‘Jack now makes me physically sick’ thing, like dude, c’mon, you owe him an explanation. He has literally just died for you, it’s the very least you can offer.

And then there’s all the shit Jack goes through before they reunite again. I could spend all day going into depth on this but let’s just summarise it: managing to get back to Earth, ending up in 19th century Cardiff, 150 years of waiting which include: dying a lot (like seriously, he has at least two separate times where people essentially kill him on repeat just because he can come back, don’t tell me that doesn’t have an effect on your psyche), being tortured, being more or less coerced into a job, two world wars, several lost loves, his boss killing the entire team and then himself, being forced into a leadership position that he does not want, recruiting his own team, Canary Wharf and Rose’s name on the list of the dead, Suzie, being shoved into the rift (Thanks Ianto), a cyberwoman in his own basement (Thanks Ianto), being blamed by his entire team for the faeries and Jasmine, watching another man out of his time kill himself and being unable to do anything but keep him company, watching one of his team more or less let a weevil attack him, being mutinied against and killed by a team member (Thanks Owen), and then getting his life energy devoured by a legitimate hell beast.

And then the Doctor shows up, and Jack runs for him, and the Doctor runs away. Nothing like a stinging sense of rejection and a jaunt to the end of the universe to help your self esteem. And pretty much the first thing the Doctor does is criticise him. And what’s worse is that the Doctor won’t even admit that he abandoned Jack. ‘Busy life. Moving on.’ It’s just such an incredibly callous statement that just completely ignores Jack’s feelings and just seems to treat him as a piece of trash to be discarded. And Jack would be wholly within his right to go off at the Doctor, but he doesn’t. Instead he asks about Rose, and there’s the hug, because he can just tell that the Doctor has something against him, but Rose is a somewhat neutral territory.

Cue the Doctor being blatantly rude to Jack for an entire scene about both his vortex manipulator and his abandonment, as well as making it more or less clear to Jack that he knew all along about Jack’s immortality. That him being left on the Game Station was no accident. And that’s just cold. And yet despite all this, the moment Jack’s with them again, the Doctor’s immediately controlling him. Dictating what he can and can’t do, and in all honesty, it feels very much like he’s still treating Jack as the brash playboy he knew in his last regeneration? Like he can’t see just how much Jack has changed since they last met, how he’s most certainly not the same man he was. He also willingly throws Jack into a situation which is dangerous and will probably cause him pain (don’t tell me that radiation chamber didn’t cause Jack pain. Just because it can’t kill me doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt) just because he knows Jack will do anything for him (and also Jack would probably volunteer anyway because he’s that sort of person). And he admits to Jack’s face that he’s known all along, that he ran away from him. He point blank tells Jack to his face that he’s wrong and that he can hardly bear to look at him, without so much as a thought to how that’s bound to feel. Asks Jack if he wants to die. The whole conversation just makes me feel on edge because it does not feel at all like a healthy friendship.

Then, when Jack tells him he’s with Torchwood, there’s the Doctor’s reaction, and it’s just so vehement. His lack of belief in Jack is just heartbreaking, because it’s such a switch from his relationship with the 9th Doctor. It’s like Jack isn’t a companion to him anymore, but more of a sort of tool. And in the Year That Never Was, we pretty much get implied that Jack gets repeatedly tortured and killed for at least the third time in his existence, over and over for an entire year. It seems pretty likely too that the Master probably executes the rest of the Torchwood team too, probably using them in an attempt to break Jack. Sure, it all gets reversed, but it clearly fucks with Jack (and we can see that in Torchwood series 2). But Jack holds up the brave front, destroys the paradox machine. And you can bet it probably hurt him like hell when the Doctor mentions keeping the Master in the TARDIS, because it kinda seems like he’d rather have the Master there than Jack. And sure, he offers to let Jack come with him, but I feel like it’s an empty offer. He knows that Jack has found something else in their time apart, knows he’s probably not going to accept. And then of course, he breaks Jack’s vortex manipulator. While I do understand this, it also makes me sad, because if he’d at least left the teleport function working, there’s a chance that Owen and Tosh could have been saved.

Jump to their next reunion after Jack has faced the following: dealing with the psychological trauma from all the shit that just happened to him, losing Owen, bringing him back, finding his long lost little brother and being stabbed by him then buried under Cardiff for nearly 2000 years, being frozen for like a century, having to stop his little brother, losing Tosh, losing Owen again. And when the world needs saving, Jack doesn’t hesitate to jump straight in, especially once they get through to the Doctor, even though he is quite clearly terrified of the daleks. He’s the only one to actually be somewhat calm and methodical when the Doctor is shot. In the dalek ship, he willingly sacrifices himself in order to be able to explore the ship more and find some way to help them. But the moment he starts making threats, there’s the Doctor’s disapproval back again. But they do it, they save the world, they go home.

And then Children of Earth happens. Jack’s entire world shatters. He loses Ianto. He has to sacrifice his own grandson to save the world. The Doctor is nowhere in sight. Jack leaves Earth, crushed. And the Doctor does his little journey through the companions to say goodbye. He saves Martha and Mickey. He gives the scratch card for Donna. He saves Luke for Sarah Jane. He visits Rose just to see her again.

And Jack?

He gives Jack Alonso. And maybe it’s just me, but I find it wholly uncomfortable. It’s a possibility the Doctor doesn’t know about the whole affair with the 456 and what Jack went through, or that he more specifically doesn’t know about Jack’s losses. But it’s also possible that he does. And he feels like the best thing he can do is to essentially offer him a shag. Even though he’s very clearly heavily grieving (No hate to Alonso, I love him) and has just lost someone he deeply loved. It feels like further confirmation of the fact that Ten still sees him as the playboy he was. Because let’s face it, Jack still flirts like a champ, but Torchwood very much paints him as that only extending to his flirting. Any further seems to fall exclusively within having relationships, which are considerably infrequent in the series (with Estelle, Angelo, Lucia and Ianto seeming to be the principal partners in his life over his 150 years). To be fair, this ‘gift’ to Jack doesn’t really seem so much an asshole move, as just Ten no longer understanding Jack, not in the way he used to.

But yeah, this got kinda longer than I initially expected and could probably do with severe editing but oh well, here it is in it’s entirety anyway.

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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years ago

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Grey's Anatomy: Give a Little Bit (16x18)

I knew Andrew was gonna be right... ugh... poor thing.

Cons:

I really cannot get a read on how I'm meant to feel about Teddy right now, but I basically think she's the worst. She's hurting Tom, she cheated on Owen, she seems completely selfish in all of her motivations. She thought Owen might have gotten another woman pregnant before they were even together, and because of that she slept with another man multiple times. Like... how am I supposed to feel sympathy? This whole plot thread is attempting to paint Owen as this super sweet, super good guy who is being hurt by those around him, but let's be real. Owen has the most terminal case of Nice Guy syndrome I've ever seen in my life, and he gets away with being emotionally unfaithful by giving puppy-dog eyes to everyone. I think he's boring and I think he's scummy.

The hospital is having a pro bono surgery day, and things are chaotic and way too busy, so Meredith extends the day, and says they're going to have pro bono surgeries once a month. This is after she finds out that the billionaire dude from last week's episode gave an insane amount of funding to the hospital, and she learns about Koracick's unethical practices to get that money. I agree that the American healthcare system is bonkers, and it's nice to see the show tackle that in a more meaningful way this season. But all of this just seems wacky to me. Can Meredith really make a promise like that? Wouldn't you think that doing something so ostentatious would draw attention to the hospital and make it more likely that Koracick's crime would be discovered?

Okay, so, the DeLuca situation is that he suspects a woman of human trafficking who comes in to the ER. He's been acting erratic, though, so people don't believe him until it escalates. Turns out, as we see when the woman and her victim leave, DeLuca was right, and they got away. I don't mind the idea of DeLuca having some issues and also being right, but the problem is in the way he couldn't get a single other person to take him seriously. Even Bailey only did a cursory once-over before deciding that DeLuca was delusional. If any other doctor had raised that concern, everyone would have taken it more seriously. I guess I just wish for a bit more balance on this kind of thing, and I hope Bailey feels like crap for doubting him when the truth comes out.

Pros:

Jackson had this cute little subplot where he goes around trying to find someone to go to a basketball game with him. Vic was supposed to go, but they've broken up. He asks Owen, who turns him down. He asks Jo, who is offended at being a backup choice. He asks Hayes, who says it's not really his thing. Jackson has been pissing me off this season, so I'm always on the lookout to be frustrated by the plot threads he's given. But I like how his loneliness and feelings post-breakup have led to him seeking companionship in this sweet way.

He and Maggie have a totally civil exchange as they talk about Richard and Catherine's divorce, and it turns out Jackson has been trying not to take sides, but of course Richard doesn't know that. With guidance from Maggie, Jackson asks Richard to go to the basketball game, and he gleefully accepts. I thought that was really cute! It's nice to see Maggie and Jackson acting like adults around each other for once, and Richard and Jackson finding ways to stay close is something I didn't know I wanted to see until I had seen it.

So... Levi and Nico have broken up. This has been the way the wind was blowing for a while. There's a part of me that feels frustrated that Nico didn't get a fair shake from the writers. We didn't get much time to actually learn about him as a person, separate from what he meant to Levi. But that said, if we take Nico's behavior at face value, Levi really needed to get out of that relationship. Just the fact that Levi wanted to talk, and Nico said "what now" is enough of a red flag for me on its own. What the hell, Nico. And I think Levi is in this strange position of feeling a special connection to Nico because he helped him realize who he is, and come to terms with his sexuality. And yet honestly, Nico has not treated him well recently. At all. And Levi is learning how to be in a relationship, learning how to ask for what he wants. It's not unreasonable to expect to be at least a consideration in Nico's mind as he contemplates taking a job that will keep him on the road half the time. The fact that Nico doesn't take Levi into account is proof that they're not on the same page.

Jo's struggle this week is about what people should call her. She's not Dr. Karev anymore, and she doesn't like Dr. Wilson either... so for now she'll be Dr. Jo. Obviously I'm going to be frustrated about the Alex thing for a very long time, but if this is what we have to work with, I'm glad Jo is doing alright in the aftermath. She's sleeping on her couch instead of her bed, but at least she's sleeping. She's grumpy about going into work, but at least she goes.

My favorite exchange in the whole episode goes to Jo and Levi, actually. As they both lament the ends of their relationships together, Jo offers to let Levi come stay with her for a while. He replies: "Jo, that time in my mom's basement was a one-time thing, I'm a gay man." Jo lets out a peel of her infectious, joyous laughter, and says: "That's why you're getting the invite, dummy!" I've always loved Jo's laugh, and it was really heartening to see her in a place where she could be cheerful like that. I'm all for Levi and Jo being weird roommates for a bit!

The ongoing saga of Owen/Teddy/Koracick/Amelia/Link drama will never fail to piss me off, but it does appear that one "branch" of the drama is officially over. Last week I hoped that Amelia would tell Owen right away that the baby's not his, so we could knock off at least one cause of stupid angst. And lo and behold - right at the start of the episode, Amelia marches into the room, and tells Owen and Teddy both: "the baby is Link's!" I was so happy about this, even as I continue to be pissed off at Teddy for trying to use the possible paternity of Amelia's baby as an excuse for her infidelity.

Tom Koracick really is a good man. He talks about how he's slept with a lot of women, but he has a code about it, and he's not going to sleep with Teddy if she's married. He basically lets her go, and tells her to go fix things with Owen. See, despite all of this stupid shit with him basically accepting a bribe, I still really like this character and I want him around more. Teddy doesn't deserve him, frankly. Maybe Owen does. Have I mentioned that I'm not a fan of Owen?

While there's something ridiculous about the whole "pro bono days every month" thing, and I wish we could get more into the ramifications, I will say that I love the way the broken healthcare system is being demonstrated, by showing all of these patients that the system has failed. Particularly, a black woman in extreme pain who has been turned away by several doctors, and a veteran who has severe PTSD and has been lashing out and having seizures. Both of these patients are having to advocate way, way too hard to get the help they need, and Meredith responds to this, vowing to do what she can to help. These stories really worked to highlight the situation. They were memorable and they made me want to see success!

I think that's where I'll stop. There are things about this show that will always frustrate me, but there are also always thing to enjoy. That's my mantra when it comes to Grey's Anatomy!

7.5/10

#review #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy review #greys anatomy #greys anatomy review #grey's abc #greys abc

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onechicago-onefamily · 5 years ago

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Buy it - part 4

Maggie had to drag Will home from the precinct. “Why Will so sad?” Maggie hoped Owen could be some kind of distraction to Will, but she highly doubted it. All the redhead had done since they had come home was sit on the couch, holding his head in his hands. The little boy didn’t understand anything from it. “That’s a very long story kiddo.” “Is it because of mommy?” The kid might be five years old, but he definitely wasn’t stupid. “Yes Owen,” Maggie replied. “Will doesn’t know where your mommy is right now and that makes him very sad.” In that moment, Owen did the most sweetest thing possible. He crawled on the couch, crawled on Will his lap and put his arms around him. Surprised by the boy his gesture for a second, Will hugged his steph-son back. “Will shouldn’t be sad.” “I know bud. I know.” They were interrupted by Will his phone. Maggie quickly took Owen from him, so Will could answer the call. A cry immediately escaped his lips. “Thank god. Thank god, sweet jesus.” Maggie sighed in relief. “Jay, thank you. Thank you, thank you. Don’t leave her side.” The redhead hung up the phone and had his coat on within seconds. “Jay’s with her. They’re heading to MED.” “Oh Will, that’s fantastic. But I’ll drive.”

Jay had been waiting for him in the ED. “Jay! Jay, where is she? Is she all right? I have to-” “Will- Will, stop. They’re still working on her, you can’t-” “I have to- Nat! NATALIE!” “Will, Will, calm down. You know you can’t go in there.” Will tried to get a look into the trauma room, but Jay pushed him back into the direction of the waiting room. “There are some things you need to know first. If I had to believe Choi, it’s not looking that pretty.” That made Will freeze. “Maggie, can we sit down somewhere?” “Take the consultation room over there.” Maggie let them into a room Will recognized as the room they always used to tell people bad news, but Jay forced him to sit down. “Jay, what are you not telling me?” “Will, she’s alive, let that be clear first. Before I continue, I’m gonna need you to take a breath. Can you do that for me?” He knew he had to shut his personal feelings off for a second. He needed to be here. He was the only one from whom his brother was supposed to hear this. “We immediately had the right location. In most of the house there was no one to be found, but when we went down into the basement, we found cages. We only found three women in there, but it were at least 15 cages. When we went further into the basement, we found Nat. She’d already given birth, but there was so much blood… I don’t know the exact details, I don’t speak doctor, but we searched the entire place. There were no children to be found Will, I’m so sorry. If it were up to me, I’d be tearing down the entire city of Chicago, you have to believe me on that, but Voight thought-” Jay quit talking because Will didn’t say anything. All he did was staring into point blank air. “Will? Will, you still with me?” “The last time we were at her OB, she was worried about her high blood pressure, which can lead to eclampsia or even worse. Do you remember if you saw her having seizures?” Jay nodded softly. Will produced a sound that mostly seemed to be a combination from a cry and a moan. “Will… Will, hey!” “Do you know into what Eclampsia can result?!” The ginger yelled. “Brain damage, organ failure. Her heart could even stop beating! Our child is somewhere being sold to rich ass people who don’t care about murder, and Nat… If I lose Nat…” He started to cry and to hyperventilate at the same time. “Will, look at me. Will, look at me! Deep breaths. Breath with me, okay?” Jay started to breath in and out loudly, so his brother would follow his example. When he had calmed down enough, Jay put his hands on Will his chin, forcing him to look back at him. “Look at me. I know how much you love Nat. Choi can be here any minute with news about her, but you got to keep it together, all right? It wasn’t pretty there. She’s gonna need you. I don’t want to leave you like this and Voight had the same thoughts as me, but you only have to say it Will. Tell me to break the entire city of Chicago down to find your kid, and I will. If you want me to stay… I will do that as well.” Tears welled up in his eyes again. Jay knew he couldn’t leave him like this. Not right now.

“I want everything we can find about this Liam Robinson. I want to know what he eats at night, which girl he has for what day. I want to know everything there is! We have the lives of multiple children on the line. Let’s go!” Back at the office, Hank put his people to work. He was surprised Jay hadn’t shown up at his doorstep yet, but that could still come. Any news? How’s your brother? An answer followed a few seconds later. “Nothing. He’s a wreck.” Hank genuinely hoped dr. Manning would turn out just fine. She was a good woman, who did not deserve this. He would do whatever it would take to find her child and the other children back. He would do whatever it would take. Maggie had helped Jay transfer Will to the waiting area. They were sitting beside him, while Will was sitting in the middle. He was doing something Jay hadn’t see him do in a very long time. Praying. He was praying to some god forsaken god, in the hope Natalie would turn out just fine. Jay didn’t really call himself the religious type, but he knew one thing this definitely meant. His brother was really desperate. When Choi came out into the waiting area, Will looked up from his thoughts. “We just transferred her up to the ICU. I’ve consulted with her own OB-GYN, because it was a though procedure. When we found her, stress and the situation probably had taken its tole on her body already. I can only guess to the exact details of what happend there, but we think the entire situation lead to Natalie having eclampsia. We’re still waiting on different test results. Who ever was holding her took probably off in a hurry with the child, because he didn’t give time for the placenta to be born. It didn’t come out by itself, which is why she had such severe blood loss. It explains all the blood you saw on scene,” Choi explained to Jay. “The combination of severe blood loss and the eclampsia did not improve her chances. She started to seize again, so we had to hook her up to a ventilator. Will…” “So… She is comatose,” Will said with a hoarse voice, looking at Choi. “I’m afraid so. I’m sorry.” “Can I see her?” Maggie and Jay exchanged a look. “Of course. I’ll take you up to her.” Will followed Ethan immediately. After exchanging a quick look with Maggie, Jay followed them up to the ICU.

From a short distance, he saw Will and Ethan walk into her room. He could hear Ethan explain something to him, after which he left him alone with her. While Will went into the room, Ethan came into Jay his direction. “How do you see her chances?” The dark haired doctor shrugged. “She has good chances at waking up, but how she’ll get out of it… We can only guess. You should definitely keep an eye on Will though. He looks like he could use it.” “Thanks Ethan.” Dr. Choi left the floor, while Jay walked into the direction of Natalie her room. Through the glass, he could see she was at least looking a bit better then when they had found her. She was cleaned up properly. If you ignored the tube in her throat, you could easily think she was asleep. Although she was his brother’s girl, Jay’s heart hurt seeing her like this. She’d become like a little sister to him, and all he wanted was for her to be okay. When he looked around the corner, he could see Will at her bedside, holding her hand in both his hands. By looking at his face, he knew he hadn’t let go of the praying. When Jay put a hand on the ginger his shoulder, only then Will noticed his presence. “Her chances are good, but according to Choi, her first 24 hours are crucial.” “Do you want me to stay?” Will looked at Natalie her face. “Maggie’ll make sure I won’t lose my mind, Jay. I’m with her now. She’s alive, and I’m here with her. I think we both know the place where you need to be.” Jay embraced his brother from the back. “I’ll bring her home. You have my word.”

Just the moment Jay walked into the precinct, the team had found an interesting lead. “Continue. Halstead, my office.” When Voight had closed the office door behind him, he pointed Jay to the couch against the wall. “Talk to me.” “She’s in a coma. She has a good chance of waking up, but they don’t know if it will be without any consequences.” “I’m sorry to hear that. How’s your brother holding up?” “He asked me to be here sarge. He asked me to bring this son of a bitch to justice and to bring their kid home. When you get asked something like that while he’s at her bedside…” “I get it. You can’t say no.” He sat down behind his desk. “You got in at just the right moment. We pinged phone numbers that have been active in Robinson his house. Turns out he’s a better doctor then a technician, we found the phone he uses to make deals with the paying families. He just made a call about a new born girl, born by natural delivery. Rings a bell?” “He said he would meet the family at their place, with the child tomorrow morning, around 1pm. We will be waiting, long before he gets there.”

This night would be one of the most difficult ones in Will his life. He spend it at Natalie her bedside, holding her hand and checking her vitals, but mostly, he was praying. It had been since his mom her death that he had prayed for something, but right now, it felt as the only logical thing to do. As a doctor, he knew she probably couldn’t hear him, so all he did was hold her hand, hoping she would feel his presence. “I know you rocked the single mom thing just fine, but I have no interest in playing the single dad, you know that right?” Sometimes Maggie came to check on him. Sometimes she sat with him. When he had fallen asleep from exhaustion with his hand strangled in hers and with his head on her bed, she had put a blanket around him.

They had their people everywhere. Having arrested the family early in the morning, human trafficking was illegal after all, Hailey, Ruzek and Antonio were waiting in the house until Robinson would show up. Hank was waiting in a van just some meters down the street with Jay. Burgess and Attwater were in another car, waiting for the right moment to play a passing couple. When a minivan stopped in front of the house, Kim and Kevin got out of the car, pretending to be a couple. When a familiar face got out of the van, with a baby carseat on his arm, Jay had to bite on his tongue not to jump out of the car. “Not yet Jay. Not yet.” The man rang the doorbell. Kim and Kevin pulled their weapons. The door opened. Hailey, Adam and Antonio had pulled their weapons as well. Hank and Voight jumped out of the van. “CHICAGO PD! PUT THAT BABY ON THE FLOOR NICE AND EASY! PUT THAT BABY DOWN AND SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!” Jay hoped they wouldn’t need to shoot him. If he died- He seemed wanting to pull something from his pocket. Antonio shot him in the shoulder. The carseat with the baby fell down on the ground. The infant started to cry. The first thing Jay did, was run down to bring the infant into safety. He dropped back to the van with the little one. As she was still crying, he took her out of her car seat. Her length definitely showed she could not have been born that long ago. Her eyes— She had their mother’s eyes. “Hey you… Shh, it’s okay. Shh.” The baby seemed to calm down a little. “Halstead, how’s the kid doing?” Voight asked. The others were rounding up at the house. “She seems fine to me sarge. She has my mom her eyes.” Jay could see a soft smile appear on Voight his face, one he had usually reserved for cases concerning his wife, his grandchild, or Erin. “Then go. You know what to do.” He threw him some car keys. “She’s in good hands with you.” At MED, the first person Jay ran into was Connor Rhodes. Knowing the situation, he immediately took the baby from Jay. “She seems perfectly fine to me, Jay. She’s in good health, most likely born one day ago.” Jay sighed in relief. This was a good start at first. “Could you-” “A DNA check, just to be sure-? Then I’m gonna need some blood from you as well. I assume you don’t want to ask your brother for it. I’ll ask April.” April came in and started to draw blood from Jay his arm. By only looking at the little girl, Jay just knew that this was his niece, but he couldn’t shake the feeling he just had to be sure. “The entire hospital knows about Will and Natalie their situation. Word travels around fast here. They’ll start on it immediately. When it’s busy, it usually takes a few hours, but they should be able to do it in one know.” “Thank you.” Jay knew that giving his brother false hope would definitely break his heart. “Oh April?” “Yes?” “I know how gossip works around here. It doesn’t differ that much from the precinct. I rather have that he hears it from me then from the gossip train.” April nodded with a smile. “I’ll take care of it.” After everything that had happend, an hour of extra waiting was something Jay could perfectly manage. The little girl had fallen asleep on the bed and he couldn’t stop watching her. He didn’t even notice it when April came in. “Your blood and the babies blood have a 23% DNA match, which means-” “Thank god.” “I’m happy she’s okay Jay.” Jay took the little girl in his arms and started to make is way to the elevator. “So am I. It’s about to be time she meets someone special.”

“There is something going on Maggie. I don’t like it.” Will had spend the entire night and morning at Natalie her bedside. Maggie had forced him to get coffee for the two of them, but when he had gotten back from the cafetaria, he had noticed there was something going on. All medical staff on the ICU floor kept looking into their direction. “It’s like something is coming, but I can’t put my finger on it.” “I told you, you should have gone home to get some sleep.” Will stepped foot outside Natalie her room, to look around the floor. Everyone suddenly seemed busy with doing something else. He went back into the room, only to see Maggie with a big smile on her face. “What?” “Just look.” Someone walked into their direction, with a big smile on his face. Now, everyone was looking at them again. An applause sounded through the entire floor. Will was frozen on his spot. “She’s perfectly fine. Rhodes wrote down her birth certificate downstairs. You wanna-” “Yes! I mean-” Jay gave the baby to his brother, who could only stare into the little girl her eyes. “She has mom her eyes.” “I know.” With the little girl in his arms, Will embraced his brother. “Thank you. Just-” “Don’t. It’s okay. I couldn’t let you be completely miserable.” They both looked at Nat, who’s condition was still unchanged. “You know,” Will started to Jay, walking back into the room, “there is this theory going around about mother’s and their just born children. Mags, you wanna lend me a hand?” Maggie, who obviously knew what Will was talking about, started to unbutton a part of Natalie her hospital top. “Skin to skin contact with their mom is said to make miracles happen. There you go…” Will put the baby girl next to her mom on the bed, making sure she would touch her moms chest with her bare skin. “It’s a long shot, but sometimes you just…” The fingers on Natalie her right hand started to move. Will was back at her side within a second. “Nat? Nat, can you hear me? Please, Natalie…” Then she opened her eyes.

Holy morning. This was supposed to be a two part fic, but we saw what happend. I loved writing this. A like and a comment for the Manstead happy ending?

~monicaaaaatje

#one chicago #manstead #jay halstead #Natalie Manning #Will Halstead

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deanky · 6 years ago

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Total - C. Martin Croker Q&A

Total TV: I know you were already an animator before you got involved with Space Ghost. But did you also know that you had this great talent for voices?

Clay Croker: I used to work out at the laser show way back when. Ten years ago. It's out at Stone Mountain Park, this giant granite mountain that sticks right up out of the ground, and they project laser shows up against the side of it. That was my first animation job. I created a character right when I started out there, they had this bear character and they wanted a sidekick for the bear. So I came up with a Possum character that they called CW, which stood for Civil War, argh. [mimes vomiting] I didn't come up with that part. But I also wound up doing the voice of that character too. So I was doing voices for laser show characters a decade ago. And I'd always done goofy voices on my answering machine and stuff, and I was always a fan of Zorak from the original Space Ghost.

Oh, really? So this was like a deep-seated desire?

Oh, yeah. They started rerunning Space Ghost in 1978, when I was in high school. And we'd all talk about it at the lunch table and stuff. And there would be friends of mine who'd be like, Brak's my favorite, he's the coolest, he's that Tiki cat kind of guy. And I was going, oh, man, Zorak blows 'em all away. You don't know what you're talking about. So I actually did like a Zorak answering machine message probably while I was still in high school.

God, it'd be great if you still had a copy of that.

I may. I may. I save everything. I have answering machines tapes going back to '80. So when Space Ghost was pitched to Design Effects, where I was working, I had to kind of horn my way in. 'Cause they were just gonna make it a designer job and not have any animators in on it. And I was like, wait a minute! What do you guys know about Space Ghost? You know about any of the villains? And they were like, well, maybe we should have him sit on this. So I wound up actually suggesting that Zorak be on the show, 'cause I was such a big Zorak fan. I was going like, we gotta have some villains on the show! Zorak would be perfect! And [Cartoon Network programming head] Mike Lazzo agreed. He said well, Zorak was always one of my favorites too.

But I was dismayed when I found out they weren't going to use the original voices. 'Cause I thought, Oh boy, we're gonna be working on shows with Gary Owens doing the voice of Space Ghost and Don Messick doing the voice of Zorak Then I find out no, no, no, we're just gonna go with local guys. And I was horrified. I was like, oh, man, here I thought I was giving Zorak a career boost. And there was a point in a meeting where they said, hmm, well we're gonna have so and so do Space Ghost, so that solves the Space Ghost dilemma. Who are we gonna have do Zorak's voice? There's this long silence, and I'm like, well, it's now or never. And I just said, Well I can do that voice. And they were like, do it. So I just spat out one of the old lines I remembered and they were like okay, you're Zorak, that solves that problem.

What about Moltar? Did you have any affinity for him?

No. Zorak I really wanted on the show. And then we started reviewing Space Ghost cartoons at Design Effects, and the first cartoon we looked at was "The Evidence of Moltor." They changed his name between first and second season, I think they probably just couldn't remember what he was called. Originally, they had Andy [Merrill], who does Brak's voice, come in and read for Moltar. He sort of did kind of what wound up being Brak, sort of the same crazy inflections. And they were like, I think that's a bit strong. And then right before the show went to final edit, they said we want you to come in and read for Moltar. Can you do like a Ted Cassidy kind of voice? And I went [switches to sonorous basso] well, sure, I think so. And they said, well, go on in there and do it. So I thought what the hey. But, you know, the rest is history.

Do you ever get confused going back and forth?

At rehearsal. That's the only time I get confused sometimes. LIke I'll have Zorak and Moltar arguing, and sometimes I'll wind up starting to do the other character's voice and inflection. I'll see the word and think, Oh, this is a Zorak line. And it'll wind up being the other way. Sometimes I have to go, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, okay. Start the clock again."

Do you ever get up in the morning and feel like it's a Moltar kind of day? Or a Zorak kind of day? Does the identification ever go that far?

Well, the cool thing about Zorak is the fact that I can pretty much say what I'm thinking if I say it with Zorak's voice. Like at conventions and stuff, when overbearing fans get in our face I'm like, [in dismissive Zorak voice] "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

People love to be insulted by Zorak.

Oh yeah. Well, it definitely makes it easier to deal with some of the fans. We get some pretty rabid fans for Space Ghost. To me it's like, you know, it's just Space Ghost. But we've had some people that are just absolutely, like, crazy for the show. And being able to deal with them as Zorak does make things easier, because you can be like, [in nasty Zorak voice ] "Yeah, well pipe down, sonny, I hear your mother calling you." And they're like [breaks into rabid-fan chortling].

Do people assault you with their version of Zorak's voice?

Usually not. I think, you know, they would be too self-conscious about it. But we always get the guys who come up like with buttons all over their shirts and stuff, and they'll be like, [switches into moronic stoner voice] "Let me be a character on the show, come on, I do good funny voices." OK, we'll get your card and we'll call you. But in answer to your question, the only time I really feel like [a character] . . . I actually feel more like my other alter ego, who's the cartoon series that I've got on the side burner, which is Mr. Angst.

Mr. Angst?

Yeah, and I very often feel like Mr. Angst, a lot of the time.

How does Mr. Angst speak?

Oh, I'm still working on that, but it's somewhere between like Lenny Bruce and someone that has screamed till they're hoarse.

That sounds a little bit like Brak.

Yeah.

At least the screaming end of the spectrum, not the Lenny Bruce end.

Actually the guy that does Bird Man's voice I'm thinking about using as a character. But I think I'm going to use him as Mr. Angst's pal Crude Dan. He was based on a real guy I knew called Crude Dan.

What's Mr. Angst look like?

Let's see, well he's sorta kinda like . . . I don't want to say Danny Kaye because that involves a lot more connotations, but a lot like Danny Kaye gone bad, sort of.

The vessel with the pestle has the pellet with the poison.

So he pretty much just looks like this. [starts to sketch] One of these days . . . I've got some pencil tests done of him already, but with all the animation realism shows that are being worked up now, like King of the Hill and all these more reality-based shows . . . I've been wanting to do that for like . . . I mean I've had this character on the back burner since like '91.

Wow. He looks like a bit of a hipster.

Yeah. Oh yeah. Well I mean he's about like 35 to 38, somewhere in there, and like really into barbecue and bowling and all kinds of stuff like that. Oh, and he's always got to have that un-PC butt hangin' out of his mouth. [sketches it in] So he would be like . .. oh, I forgot all the . . .

The angst lines.

Yeah. [sketches them in]

That's really cool. Mr. Angst. Can I keep that?

Certainly.

Maybe after this big push for the new Space Ghost Coast to Coast episodes you'll have some time.

Well, the thing that's cool is because there's been so much Space Ghost stuff going on I've been able to ramp up my production. I've been able to like get more desks and pencil test machines and all the other equipment that I need when I eventually start doing something other than Space Ghost. But I've also heard rumblings that there's already something besides Space Ghost waiting in the wings, so we shall see.

Beyond Cartoon Planet?

Yeah. Yeah.

I love Cartoon Planet.

Oh yeah, me too.

And Zorak's Horrorscopes.

Yeah, Pete Smith wrote all those, they were a blast. I think we've done like the entire zodiac.

Pete wrote a bunch of, like, wacky stuff, a lot of the songs the Cartoon Planet Band sings on the show. Are we still recording?

Yeah.

I just wanted to like get the process down from the start. We read through the script, we make notes, I come up with a thumbnail story board, I show that to [line producer] Jim Fortier and then I work up the actual first draft of the boards. Then we have a meeting and go through basically all the boards and say, well, we want to use this, we don't want to use that. Then I work up the final boards, they get approved and then they start being animated. So that's how the process gets rolling, as far as like where all the new art comes from.

And that's basically your domain, the new art?

I do all the new animation for the show. I run my own animation company, Big Deal Cartoons. I actually run it out of my house, I have a studio set up in the basement and have freelance animators, all of which have 95 jobs in this town, doing animation because there's been such an explosion of the art form in the last year or so I can just get them at night. Right now, we're mostly working on Space Ghost needs.

What exactly do you do here in the Flame Room, Clay?

Tear our hair out? [laughs] This is where we do digital ink and paint. And then composite those new cells into other scenes. Which in this case is all the scenes of Bird Man sitting at the desk, stuff that did not exist in the original Bird Man universe. We do new animation compositing, rotoscoping some of the existing animations from the '60s and take Bird Man and Space Ghost and other characters out of them. We cut 'em out of their original scenes, give ''em new backgrounds, put 'em into a set.

You actually cut them out digitally?

Frame by frame.

That sounds pretty time-consuming.

It is. The show's kind of like a waking hours thing. While I'm awake, I'm thinking about the show. Before, up to this point, we'd been on the air almost three years and put out 33 shows. About a dozen shows a year. This year, we're doing 26 new episodes so it's a big change. As is usual around here, I'm booked in more sessions than just one at once. Right now I'm doing the Fred Flintstone thing at the drive-in and the bowling alley, where I'm like running up and down the hall all day long monitoring what's going on in ink and paint and what's going on in the actual composite, which is in here. So all the cells are brought in, we bring them in under the camera over here and shoot them directly into the paint box room. They digitally ink and paint them, like you're seeing an example of right now. Sometimes we add special effects. Space Ghost blows up Zorak in another scene, we have to paint him to make him look likes he's charred and burned.

Do you use like a stock image of Zorak charred or do you actually create that for every episode? 'Cause Zorak gets zapped a lot.

They have pretty much a standard few scenes where he gets charred, and they just use that over and over. In fact, they just made a new one. But yeah, we try to keep it as standardized as possible. We try to keep all the colors standard.

What about Zorak's boinks? Are the boinks new animation?

Where he bounces?

Yeah.

No, actually that's something that they digitally did. The first time I saw that I went, wow, what was that? They said, "Oh, that's something we were just messing around with." And I was like, okay. I just wondered, you know, 'cause most of the time now if there's new artwork involved in the show, then [senior Flame artist] Butch [Seibert] and I--or whoever is working in here, like putting it together, but most of the time it's Butch--we like put together all the new scenes. But every once in a while they'll come up with something and just go, "Oh, well that's a Tom thing," and they'll have [online editor] Tom Roche come up with something in final edit.

You guys have all these great names: Croker! Roche!

Yeah. [laughs] So I'll see the show and like all of a sudden see something I had nothing to do with and go, "Wow, what was that?" Well, too late to change it now. Watching it on TV.

That must also be kind of fun in a way. You get a little surprise.

Yeah, well, it's like reaching into a bag and getting, like, eeyew, noodles!

#space ghost #sighs sadly #sgc2c #c martin croker #hy angst #still makes me sad....#but also really cool at the same time #but the sadness overcomes it once again

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bookaddict24-7 · 6 years ago

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Better late than never, right?

I’m really hoping that this month is the month that truly gets me out of my reading slump! I’m feeling that familiar itch and excitement to keep reading my current read and I haven’t felt that for anything other than my safety genre (romance) for a long time.

If you’ve been in a slump like mine, you’re not alone and it, too, will pass!

This week is a weird mix of genres and not as straightforward with my decisions as the past couple of weeks!

Also, it looks like Tumblr got rid of the line separator. Welp.

A gentle reminder: Just because I’ve unhauled the books in this post and in future posts, it doesn’t mean that they’re books not worth reading. They’re just not right for me. This is more of an incentive for me to free up space and give these books better homes than my basement.

Read my original post and how I’m going about this challenge here.

Have any of you practiced this challenge this past week?

Berserker by Emmy Laybourne

Decision: Unhauled

I don’t know why I kept this ARC for so long. This is a genre so far from what I normally read/like that I honestly don’t even know why I even put it on my shelves. I’ve heard good things about this book and I’ve liked one of the author’s past books, but I just don’t see myself reading this one.

Synopsis:

“Are Hanne's powers a gift from the old Norse gods, or a curse?

Her brother Stieg swears their powers are a gift from the old gods, but Hanne Hemstad knows she is truly cursed. It's not Stieg's fault that their father is dead, their mother has left, and their brother Knut has been accused of a crime he didn't commit.

No, the fault lies with Hanne and her inability to control her murderous "gift"--she is a Berserker. When someone she loves is threatened, she flies into a killing state. The siblings must leave Norway for the American frontier or risk being brought to justice.

Aided by a young cowboy who agrees to be their guide, Hanne and her siblings use their powers to survive the perilous trail, where blizzards, wild animals, and vicious bounty hunters await.

Will they be able to reach their uncle, the one man Hanne believes may be able to teach her how to control her drive to kill?”

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Decision: Save for Another Day

I know I will want to read this when I’m in the mood for a kickass fantasy. There’s not much to say--I knew I wanted this book the moment I saw the ARC and in wanting to be completely honest, I still shared this (random) pick from my mug. Back to the ARC shelves it goes.

Synopsis:

“I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Decision: Currently Reading

Ah, the second time this book has come through and it’s finally time to read it! I’m about a third of the way through and I’m really enjoying it. I knew I just needed to be in the mood for a cute contemporary to fully appreciate the book. I’m really glad I didn’t unhaul this one.

Synopsis:

“Shouldn't a girl get to star in her own love story?

Seventeen-year-old Megan Harper is about due for her next sweeping romance. It's inevitable—each of her relationships starts with the perfect guy and ends with him falling in love . . . with someone else. But instead of feeling sorry for herself, Megan focuses on pursuing her next fling, directing theater, and fulfilling her dream college's acting requirement in the smallest role possible.

So when she’s cast as Juliet (yes, that Juliet) in her high school’s production, it’s a complete nightmare. Megan’s not an actress, and she’s used to being upstaged—both in and out of the theater. In fact, with her mom off in Texas and her dad remarried and on to baby #2 with his new wife, Megan worries that, just like her exes, her family is moving on without her.

Then she meets Owen Okita, an aspiring playwright inspired by Rosaline from Shakespeare's R+J. A character who, like Megan, knows a thing or two about short-lived relationships. Megan agrees to help Owen with his play in exchange for help catching the eye of a sexy stagehand/potential new boyfriend. Yet Megan finds herself growing closer to Owen, and wonders if he could be the Romeo she never expected.”

Have you read any of these three books? What were your experiences with them?

I’ll be back next week with another three picks!

Happy reading!

#books #bookish #booklr #bookworm #book blog #book blogger #first chapter challenge #Features #read #reading #reader #yalit #young adult #unhaul #first chapter tag #first chapter #bibliophile #bookaholic #long text post

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randomwordprompts · 6 years ago

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If It’s Magic | Chapter 2

A/N: This is a bit longer than the first chapter, I’m not mad at it but I’m working towards something. No warnings...yet lol

Taglist: @great-neckpectations @wakandas-vibranium @bartierbakarimobisson @wakandan-flowerz @yaachtynoboat711 @oceanscorazon @babygirlofwakanda @storibambino @reaperdeldrunk Lucy huffed as she stood in line in the cafe, giving the barista a pleasant smile once she finally reached the front.

“Hi, I ordered a macchiato on the app under the name Lucille Owens. Is it ready?”

“I’m sorry but there’s no order here under that name,” the young man said with a bored expression on his face, signaling her to move over so he could help the person behind her. Lucy gaped at him and refused to leave the spot, much to the chagrin of the people behind her.

“Excuse me?! I’m gonna need you to check again because I know what I ordered!”

“I understand, but I don’t have your order here and there are others waiting. Either put in a new order or step aside, please.”

Lucy was about to rip into him before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Amira, who’d been quietly watching the two of them, and moved to make room for her in front of the barista.

“Listen, we have an Intro to Psych class to get to and it’s the first day. Could you put in two mocha macchiatos for me and my roommate, lease? She already paid and it’s only right.”

The male’s eyes seemed to glaze over a bit as Amira spoke, looking a bit dumbfounded. When she finished speaking he nodded and put the order in, letting the ladies know that they’d be called when they were ready. While waiting Lucy looked at Amira warily, unsure of what just happened.

Amira noticed and returned the look. “What?”

“You know damn well what. How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Lucy glared at her and huffed. “Mira...the thing with the barista!! What was that?!”

“Oh, that. It’s a long story that I’ll explain later, when we’re alone. Please ask me something else.”

Seeming satisfied for the moment, Lucy decided to ask something that had been on her mind since their first night together.

“Fine, fine. Tell me about that fine ass dude that came to our place the other night! He was all tall dark and handsome. You said he was your friend?”

Amira silently wished she’d just answered the first question, she thought with a chuckle.

“Xavier is a lot of things. My best friend, business partner, ex-boyfriend, almost fiance-”

“Almost what now?! You not gone just speed past that like you didn’t just say he was almost your fiance. Explain, Canadian.”

“He proposed, I said no.”

Lucy’s eyes nearly bugged out through her glasses at that.

“Why the hell would you say no to that? He fine as hell, probably smart cause he goes here, and he look like he got money! Did he hit you?”

“Girl, no! It just wasn’t the right time. After some talking, we agreed to wait until after graduation.”

Lucy sat back and ended her interrogation for now, just when their orders were ready. With a wink to the barista, they left the cafe and headed to class, speed walking a bit so they wouldn’t be late.

“So you telling me she said no...and y’all are still friends? You’re better than me, dawg.”

Xavier and his roommate Daniel were in the gym exercising between classes. Currently, the latter was spotting the former in a bench press as they spoke.

“We’ve been friends since middle school, dude. Besides, it’s more of a not yet than a no. We talked and decided together that it would be better to wait until after graduation.”

As they continued to speak, Xavier finished his set and got up to switch places with Daniel, spotting him through his own bench press.

“Okay, that’s fair. But why not still be together while in school? From what I’ve seen you two still have chemistry.”

“Man, stop worrying so much about my love life and focus on yours. What happened with that cutie you took out last night? I didn’t expect to see you again until this morning.”

Daniel huffed a bit and rolled his eyes as he paused to meet Xavier’s gaze, “Dude, her friend ended up calling her crying right when we got back to her place. I feel like it was a set up but either way we said goodnight early.”

Xavier barked out a laugh as they continued their workout before hitting the showers and grabbing some food.

Amira sat cross-legged on her bed surrounded by notes and her laptop, hair pulled up into a loose top bun with a pen behind her ear as she typed away. She barely registered the front door opening and closing before Lucy was at her room’s threshold with an excited look on her face and a flyer in her hand.

“Mira, you would not believe what happened today!”

Without looking away from her laptop, Amira raised a brow as she spoke.

“You finally asked that dude out from psych?”

“What? No! I was heading back from buying my brushes and there were these women on 20th Street talking about something called ‘reproductive justice’. You ever heard of it?”

“Yeah, we learned a little bit about it in high school. Women taking charge of what happens to their bodies and shit. Why?”

“Apparently there’s going to be an event next week where they go more into detail on what it is. Would my roommate care to join?”

Amira paused her work and gestured for Lucy to give her the paper so she could look it over, shrugging a bit before she finally answered, “I don’t see why not, I like learning sometimes. Speaking of, I almost got kicked out of my Culture & Society class today.”

“It’s the second week, how the hell did you manage that?”

“I might have told the professor that he didn’t have any culture because he’s white...unless you count inbreeding, theft, murder, and beastiality.”

Lucy damn near fell over she laughed so hard, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes as Amira shrugged once more with a laugh.

“I mean, you weren’t wrong. But you know you can’t say that to these professors! They already think they’re “aware” because they went backpacking in Denver on their parent’s dime, or decided to stop washing their hair.”

“White people wash their hair?”

“Ya know...probably not.”

They laughed once more until Amira’s phone rang, the contact name “Peachy Kins” over a picture of Jonathan popping up and not going unnoticed by Lucy.

“Wooooow. So you can talk about white people but you got one saved in your phone looking all yummy with a pet name?! Ma’am.”

“Eh, cut that shit out. That’s my brother, he’s basically off black.”

Lucy snorted as Amira answered the phone and ushered her out of the room. “Well introduce me to the black side cause he fine. Heyyyy big brother!”

“Who the fuck was that?” Jonathan’s voice hit her ear as she closed the door, shaking her head.

“My roommate. She thinks you’re cute, ignore her.”

“I mean...I like dick, so I will. Anywhore, are you by your laptop?”

“Yeah I am, why?”

“Oh, just got something you might wanna see. Call me on Skype.”

Amira made a face but hung up her phone as she pulled up Skype on her laptop, calling him right away. When he answered it was clear he was in the basement of their office building, his usual dress shirt’s sleeves rolled up before he turned the camera to face what he wanted her to see. It turned out to be one of her workers, tied to a chair and barely conscious as if he’d been drugged. She was prepared to ask what was going on but Jonathan spoke first as he walked towards the male.

“So it seems we have a mole in our midst. I had Kenneth here followed and apparently he’s been meeting with the Chief of Police when he’s not working. But apparently, he doesn’t work with you guys anymore?”

The man in question was slowly coming to, looking dazed and confused as to where he was currently. Amira leaned back slightly and shook her head, running a hand over her face.

“Oh, Kenny. Kenny, Kenny, Kenny. Nah, he doesn’t work for us anymore because he was stealing.”

“A snitch and a thief? Heavy stuff. How do you wanna handle this?”

“Given that he has nothing the cops can actually use...just put him in the hospital. I think that’s a fair punishment.”

“Alright, will do. Later babe.”

“Oh Jon, wait! Make sure he can’t have any kids? No one needs to have that burden in their lives.”

At those words, Kenneth came to slightly, struggling to get out of the chair he was tied to with increasing strength. Jonathan snorted at his attempts before looking back to his sister.

“I can see why you’d say that. On it though, I’ll keep you updated on the other shit.”

After exchanging ‘love yous’ and ending the call, Amira grabbed her phone and texted Xavier the situation to keep him in the loop. She was surprised when he opted to call instead of replying, but answered the phone regardless.

“You know I don’t like texting.”

“I know, but I figured you were busy. Actually, what is that sound?”

The sound in question was what slurping and gagging, but Amira thought she might be mistaken.

“It’s nothing important honestly,” Xavier began, prompting the girl sitting between his legs to pull her mouth from his semi-hard dick, irritation clear on her face as she inquired who the fuck he was talking to. He raised a brow at her and smirked before putting the phone on speaker and replying so that both women could hear him.

“I was talking to someone that actually knows how to suck a dick, you might wanna ask her for some pointers because your mouth is pretty sad.”

Amira’s voice floated from the phone laced with pure amusement.

“Damn, you called me while she sucked you off? That’s sad as hell. Do better, Mr. Rose.”

At this point the girl was fuming, standing and going on about how she didn’t need this shit and Xavier wasn’t that cute anyways before she let herself out. Xavier simply pulled his sweats back up as Amira cackled on the other end of the phone, no doubt wiping tears from her eyes.

“She was trying to be cute, who does that?”

“People that don’t know how to suck dick, but I digress. Did you read my text?”

“I did. Jon’s handling it right?”

“Of course. I just didn’t want to leave you out of the loop of information.”

“Mighty white of you, beautiful. Since I have you on the phone though, you got plans next week? Daniel and I are going to stage a sit-in on administration about having a BSU and it would mean a lot if you showed up. You can even bring your loud roommate.”

Amira chuckled and stood from her bed, stretching her legs and letting out a small groan.

“Lucy’s just passionate, give her a break. But let me see what my week is looking like and I’ll get back to you?”

“No problem. In the meantime, go eat.”

“How do you know I haven’t eaten?”

“Because you sound hungry. Now go eat or I’ll come over there and feed you.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time unless you plan to follow through. But fine, I’ll eat...you can still come to feed me though,” she said with a smirk as she left her room to head towards the kitchenette.

“The hell he can! I got an early class tomorrow...” Lucy interjected as Amira grabbed some ingredients for a quick stir fry.

Daniel tried not to laugh in Xavier’s face when he relayed how he was basically shut down by Amira’s roommate, but he quickly failed.

“I’m sorry dude, but it’s funny. Why don’t you do something cute, like ask her out?”

“Because she’s my girl and I don’t have to do that? She knows how I feel.”

“And? Nigga, the same shit you did for her to be your girl, you now have to do to keep her that way. Fuck around and be single by your sophmore year.”

Xavier looked at him for a moment before shaking his head, “Nah, it’s not like that with us. We’ve always been friends first since we were kids.”

“Key word there? Kids, my nigga. Y’all grown now, and she’s gonna want to know that you don’t see that same little girl anymore.”

“...you give a lot of advice for somebody that ain’t got nobody.”

“You don’t listen and you won’t have nobody either.”

Xavier thought about Daniel’s words but brushed them off, sure that Amira knew how he felt about her already. Besides that, they’re bonded. They can’t be in love with anyone else...right?

___________________________________

Daaamn, Daniel! Did he have a point though? Tell me what you think!

#if it's magic #random writing #random stories #Amira and Xavier #my writing #randomwordprompts #original work

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stinkfacestories · 7 years ago

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Stinkface Stories: Total KnockOut

Featuring: Kevin Owens, Big Show

The service elevator ran the length of the building; from the sub basement to the penthouse and everything in between. The staff used it because it was easier than taking the stairs and the talent used it because it ran directly from the gym to the suites. It wasn’t uncommon for a PA to be riding up with coffee and contracts to have one or two slick slabs of sweaty wrestler squeeze in headed to change or go run through a routine in the practice ring.

“You can’t,” Big show said. He pressed the button to summon the elevator. He was wearing dark blue sleeveless shirt. He wa quite the imposing sight: giant,bald, big bushy beard.

“Come on, I’m telling ya, I can do it. It will really give me boost you know?” Kevin Owens, though nearly a foot shorter than Big Show, stood next to him also waiting for the elevator, They had been working out together all week. He cut quite the figure too. A little pudgier, just as big a beard. His grey t-shirt emblazoned with the letters ‘K.O’ was near black with sweat.

The elevator opened and a thin looking PA looked up, wide eyed at the two. The other runners had always joked about who would be the worst pair to be forced to ride up with, and out of all the possible combinations, Big Show was always one of the pair. The elevator itself was not nearly as big as the ones in apartment buildings. Two normal sized people would have an uncomfortable ride, let alone a giant, his fat sweaty friend and a 9-5’er.

“Hey there,” Big Show said kindly as he stepped in. The box groaned in protest but the floor held. He turned his back and wedged himself into the opposite corner, though his massive frame still covered half the width. When Owens joined him taking up the other side the PA was pressed practically nose to back with the two. The doors closed as the fourth passenger made their presence known: the hot body odor wafting off the two of them. It filled the compartment like a thick fog. The two wrestlers either didn’t notice, or didn’t care. The PA was barely able to hold his breath.

“Maybe I could just do it once and see how it goes. Then we can make a decision” Owen spoke up, the first to break the silence.

“You can’t finish with a Stinkface, there’s a tradition with it. Unless you wanna quit and do house shows in high schools for the rest of your life, then you gotta follow the rules.”

“What rules? Its sticking your ass in some guys face for fun, what rules can there be?” Owens said.

The PA heard the word ‘ass’ and looked down at the two of them. Two big ones right in front of him. Each were covered in some dark shorts; The Big Show’s were a camo pattern, very tight, almost painted on. His ass was like two monster boulders crashed together. Owens were looser, solid black, athletic--slick and shiny. He was a bit rounder. The globes of his ass were bubbly, jiggling slightly every time the elevator would jostle just a little bit.

“We don’t have time for this man, when the time comes I’tall happen.” Big Show said.

“Time? We need time?” Owens looked at the panel in front of him. He opened a small door revealing a large red lever marked ‘Emergency Only’. He grabbed at it and turned it. Turned it so far and so hard that it broke off in his big thick hands. The elevator jerked and sputtered to a halt, somewhere between the floors.

“Hey man, what the hell did you do that for?” Big show said

“Are we stuck? What happened?” The PA said, trying to see between the two walls of flesh in front of him.

“I figure we have at least an hour before they send people to get us, maybe longer for them to get us out of here. So now we have time for you to tell me just what rules and qualifications I need to finish a match with a Stinkface,” Owens said. He thumped at Big Shows arm, punctuating his point.

“Stinkface?” The PA said.

“Yeah, Stinkface. I want to start using it in my routine. I think my crowds would love it.”

“You couldn't have left me get off before you got of stuck? Can this thing hold you two? Is there enough air?”

“Hey ho, quite up now,” Big Show said. “It’s done now so no use complaining. Having you here will work out fine. We can get some outside perspective on the matter.” He looked down at Owens “So tell me. Why do you think you deserve to do this Stinkface?”

Owens smiled. “Well, look at me man. I think the crowds would love it. I’m like a smaller version of you. Got the big beard, pretty thick. Wouldn't they think it was funny if I sat my big ass on some jobber?”

“Well, you stumbled in the first requirement. You gotta have an ass. I know you can be an ass, but that dont mean that you got one. The crowds don’t want to see just any flat-ass guy pinning someone in the corner. They want to see someone with some real powerful haunches smother a guys face; that’s why Me and ‘Kishi are so good at it. So… do you really have the ass?”

Owens reached back and punched his own ass, the big thing trembled before the smaller PA. “Hell yeah man. I got one. You see this thing? I avoid doing too much work on it because I want it to be big, but I don’t want it to be to hard. Know what I mean?” He peered behind him at the PA. “You got a good view, tell the guy about it.”

“What?”

“Tell Big Show how my ass looks like it would be great to give a stinkface”

“I don’t think Im really the best to ask--”

“Come on now play nice,” Big Show piped up “We might be here a while so just be helpful. Tell the guy if you think his ass is good enough to stinkface a guy.”

The PA looked back at Kevin Owens’ ass. It wasn't something he would want to tangle with.

“I’t looks..good I guess?”

“Come on guy,I need more than that get in there” Big Show said.

Owens obliged and reached back and grabbed the guys hand and put it on his ass. “See,” he said. “Feel how its just the right mix of soft and firm. Plenty of room for a face right?”

“Yeah sure, it’s like sweaty bread dough,” The PA said

“Amature. It’s not the Stinkhand Owens.” Big show shoved Kevin and he went stumbling backwards. Flailing to keep his balance, his ass slammed into the back of the elevator; the poor PA’s face between his cheeks. Owens blubbery cheeks engulfed his face, wrapping from ear to ear. One could only imagine the smell that he must have suffered. It may have only lasted a moment, but when the beefy wrestler leaned forward and looked behind him at what he had done, the PA’s face looked as if it had looked as if it had been wedged in there for an hour. He was in shock. His face was splattered with sweat; as was the wall behind him.

“Well shit,” Big show said. “I was wrong about you K.O. That right there is the sign of a good Stinkface. The look of horror, disbelief.”

“How was it?” Owens asked the PA.

“ Uhg…” He just wiped his face.

“Good? Bad? Come on we need words dude,” Big show said. He leaned down a little “Or do you need another, longer, go to form an opinion?” He raised his eye and gave a grin.

Wet, cold, but also hot. Silent”

“Awesome,” Owens said

“And the smell?”

“Didn't inhale, thank god” The PA said.

“You didn't smell? Your face was buried and you didn’t smell?” Big Show rolled his shoulders and slapped Owens on the shoulder. “He didn’t smell. How are we supposed to judge how good it was if at the end of the day he didn’t take a sniff.”

“Im sure its bad,” The PA said. “This is a pretty small space. You can’t smell it already? It reeks in here.”

Kevin sniffed at his pits. “I smell nothing.”

Big Show sniffed too “Me either. We were in that Gym for along time. Your noses is the only one that knows. So go on smell it and tell me how it is”

“Whoa, Show you sure that’s a good idea?” Owens pipped in. “Trust me when I say that’s a pretty dangerous area back there. Might not be safe to go in and sniffing around.”

“ Ill pass,” The PA said. “I can smell it from here. I give it a 9/10 on the bad scale.”

“Not good enough for me pal,” Big show said. “Who knows what your smelling. Could be me. Only way to go is to get up in there and take a big sniff. Owens assume the position.”

Kevin turned and put his hands against the wall, spreading his legs ever so slightly, like he was preparing to be frisked. His ass was begging for someones face at that point.

“No way. You can just take my word on it.”

Big show grumbled. “Your choice pal: You can either take a big sniff of Owens, or you can be sniffing my ass from now till the fire department gets here. And my ass don’t play nice.”

Kevin gave a short laugh, his ass jiggling with it “Aint that the truth; take the easy way out guy.”

The PA had no real option. Given the choice between the two asses, he opted for the less violent of the two.

“Where should I, you know.. Target?”

“Right where the back turns into the ass, if your a chicken-- right in the blast zone if your a real man.”

“Blast zone?” Owen looked over his shoulder at Big Show

“You know,” Big Show blew a raspberry “Blast zone”

Owens laughed “Oh man, I get it. I should get some underwear that says that”

The PA swallowed

“So what’s your choice?” Big Show asked

“What’s the current.. Blast danger I guess?”

“... rising with each passing second bro, so the quicker the better”

The PA leaned in, settling somewhere not quite as high as the back, but a fair share north of the blast zone. He was less than an inch away. He could feel the head radiating on his face.

“Keep that mouth closed,and give it a good 30 seconds. I don't want you cheating and holding your breath”

The rank odor of Owens ass was powerful. It filled the PAs nostrils. It burned. If he were lucky it may have destroyed his sense of smell right then and there and he would be done with it. But nevertheless it kept on stinking.

“When's the last time you took a shower K.O” he asked

“What day is it now?”

“Saturday,” Big Show said

“Easy: Late Friday Night”

The PA took another wiff

“...you mean yesterday?”

Owens counted on his fingers “.. no..I think it was three or so Fridays ago.

“And when did you wash these shorts last?”

“Wash them? These are workout shorts. You don’t wash them. I just shove them in my gym bag.”

Big Show laughed. “So that’s why they call you K.O, everyone who gets a wiff gets knocked out. So how is it dude?”

The PA pulled away “Bad. Salty. Hot. I wish I had been knocked out. My eyes were burning”

Owens gave a thumbs up “Thats two for two. So I can stinkface guys now?”

“Not yet. One final qualification: The gimmick.”

“The gimmick?” Owens said

“Gimmick?” the PA said. “I thought the stinkface was the gimmick.”

“Don’t we wise. Everyone who does the stinkface does their own little twist.”

“Oh yeah,” Owens said. “Like how ‘Kishi hikes up his thong, or does it bare ass?”

“What do you do then?” The Pa asked Big Show.

“I fart.”

The PA groaned and turned away

Owens laughed. “Thats real? I thought that was a joke. You really do that when you give a stinkface?”

“Yeah. Every time.”

“Who does that? Why would you even do that. It’s not like the crowd can tell. Your big but I don’t think you could.. Do that...loud enough for the cameras to pick up” The PA said.

Big Show loomed over the PA, forcing him to one of the corners. He pointed his big finger down at the guy. “First off, if you wanna find out how loud I can fart all you have to do is ask and I’ll be real happy to give you a demonstration. Second it’s not for them. Its for me, and for the tradition.”

The PA groaned again

“I could do that too!” Owens interrupted

“You could?”

“Yeah. I never ripped one in front of you? I swear I must have. Haven't I?”

“Think you could work one up now?”

Kevin scrunched up his big bearded face, grunting a little as he closed one eye. “Yup. There it is. All loaded. I was gonna drop it in my Uber on the ride home but I can drop it here.”

“But were in an Elevator. A tiny, tiny elevator” The PA said. Both Owens and Big Show looked at him like he was speaking some alien language. “So?” they both said

“That’s like the only elevator rule. You don’t do that in an elevator.”

“I do.” Big Show said.

“Same. A lot.” Owens said.

“In fact I dont think Ive ever ridden an elevator without farting in it.” Big Show said.

“Fine. Just.. let me get out of the way.” The PA slide as far in the corner as possible, leaving Kevin on the opposite side.

“This is a stinkface test though. K.Os bringin the stink, you gotta supply the face.”

“What? No way! Not this time” The PA said.

Big Show had enough. He reached out and grabbed the guy by the shoulder, effortlessly sliding him forward. Big Show leaned back against the wall, his arm pinning the smaller man in place.

“Hey let me go!” He said

“You’re free to try, but bigger men than you have failed.”

Owens turned around and began to back up slowly.

“Hey K.O. Why not try out both. Maybe that can be your thing”

“Both?” He said

“Yeah. Drop them draws.”

K.O slid his shorts down. Like the rising sun, his pale ass light up the room. It was glimmering from the sweat. The first thing everyone notices was how hairy it was.

“Damn K.O even your ass has a beard. You ever think about getting that thing waxed?” Big Show said.

“Tried it once, but they said they didn't have enough wax and wanted to charge me three times the regular price.”

Owens backed up even more. Soon the PAs chin was resting on the dark valley that was Owens ass. He backed up even more and he could feel the weight of the two fat globes pressing him into Big Shows gut.

“Come on guys. Show. Big. Big Show. Tell him to call it off. He doesn't want to do this. You can stop him”

“Let’s see: Hey K.O”

“Yeah Big?” Owens looked over his shoulder. Lining up his ass for the best stinkface possible.

“You sure you wanna rip one in this guys face?”

“Sure do Big,” Owens said.

“There, all settled. Go on blast away K.O. Hell I think I might give him one after.

“Come on you can’t do-mpf--”

Big Show pressed the PAs head down so that everything save his eyes were pressed into Kevin’s hairy crack. He was really tasting the musky, sweat soaked forest of hair. Kevin was braced like a centerlinemen, ready to snap the ball.

“Here,” He grunted out. Half of his face was scrunched up. “Comes. The knock Out..Ahh..” His ass erupted in a deep and vibrating blast. The bassy rip reverberated throughout the elevator, shaking even Big Show to the core. Owens went slack jawed. His mouth open almost drooling on the floor. “ Puuunnnch…...aw man now that Felt great.”

The PA’s eyes rolled back in his head as he was forced to breath in every once. He coughed, but that only forced him to breath in Owens Ass through his mouth. His senses were completely overwhelmed. He could see nothing but Owens hairy ass, smell nothing but his meaty fart, taste the salty hairs of his crack, feel the flapping and giggling of his cheeks on his face, and hear Big Show and Owens laugh.

And it wasn't even over

Owens hoisted up one leg and propped it on the wall behind him. He cocked to one side and let out another, less intense but longer sputtering fart. “It’s like a flood gate. Once you break the seal all the rest just wanna slip out”

The PAs eyes rolled back even further. The sloppy blast had done him in. With one final sniff his body went limp and he passed out.

“Damn K.O, you really earned that name.”

‘Hell yeah!” Owens pumped the air. “This means i’m in right. I can do the stinkface on my opponent's right?”

“Not quite.”

“What? Come on Show, I practically melted this guys face off. I can do it!”

“Oh you can do it all right. But you can't do it on stage till someone gives it to you.”

“Wait you mean I have to…”

“Thats right.”

Just then the elevator jerked back into motion. Big show reached over and pressed the button for the floor with the practice stage.

“I’ll see you in the ring, Owens”

#Stinkface #Fiction #BigShow #KevinOwens

268 notes · View notes

heff88 · 7 years ago

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20 albums and 1 EP: my 2017 in music.

Hello all and welcome to my favourite records of 2017!

2017 has been quite a year for many reasons and musically is no different, as this has been one of the strongest years for new music in some time (which may or may not have to do with the current president in the white house and for one of these at least, Brexit). It has been a particularly great year for female voices in music - just under half the acts here are, or include, women or at least are female fronted, with Björk surely to join them - and I'm not sure there has been a time where women have been so well promoted. It is a stupid thing to have to say of course, but it is at least encouraging that change is happening in a positive way. It is also encouraging given the latter half of the year socio-politically has largely been concerned with how much assault and sexism women have to put up with in a very public but important manner (although again, this doesn't seem to be deterring the president, yet anyway.)

This year, I have chosen 20 (and 1 EP because I like to cheat) albums to feature, something I don't think I've been able to do before. This probably has much to do with this being my first full year as a (semi)-professional journalist, something I feel I really marked properly this time last year when I was sent to Prague to interview The Lumineers, which was a fairly mad-yet-incredible experience. However, it's not like I wasn't paying attention before, and I have made a playlist including 50 different records from 2017 I have enjoyed in some capacity and a more concise one for this list.

Since that Lumineers interview, I've had the opportunity to cover from great events and records in 2017, as well as meet a whole load of very welcoming and great people to whom I must say thanks (especially as today is Thanksgiving). To Derek of Drowned in Sound, Tallah from The Skinny, Caitlin from Uproxx and many others, thank you for your continued support and friendship, I couldn't have done it without any of you. In 2017 I got to:

Cover the BBC6 Music Festival in Glasgow, which was a really rather special weekend in my spiritual home. Interview some really excellent people, including: Jeremy Bolm, Touche Amore Angus Andrew, Liars Barry Burns, Mogwai Alex Cameron And finally, Joe Casey of Protomartyr (twice) which was by far the most difficult one, but ended up being pretty great.

I also got to keep travelling in the name of music journalism (what a trip!) by covering Mikkeller and The National's inaugural HAVEN Festival in Copenhagen (a city long overdue a visit - I loved it!) and got to see Iggy Pop be the absolute boss-man, and drink SO. MUCH. GREAT. BEER.

And even more crazily, I got sent out to CALGARY, ALBERTA CANADA to cover Sled Island. There I got to see the likes of Low, Mono and Waxahatchee play in a church, Converge play in a weird British Union Vets centre, Wolves in the Throne Room and Daughters in a dive bar and I got to see The Rolling Stones' mobile studio (which my parents visited just before I was born.) It was an amazing week I will never forget, full of incredible music and new friends, and while I didn't find Bret Hart I did get to tour the city's rather amazing beer scene, which I'm still in disbelief about, to be honest.

I also got to see and have many special live experiences this year less further afield, such as The XX's triumphant show outside SWG3, Glasgow, getting to see City of Caterpillar (!) after all these years in Berlin, Julien Baker play one of my all-time favourite songs, St. Vincent transcend mere mortal status, Mogwai play in a famous Berlin gay club for TV and Thee Oh Sees play in a tiny, cramped basement this summer.

And finally, I RELEASED MY OWN ACTUAL, PHYSICAL ALBUM THIS YEAR!!! It was tough and stressful at times, but I am immensely proud of it and owe so much to my boys Kenni and Joe Campbell who make up FRAUEN, as well as the people around us who supported it, including Lewis Glass, Gary Taylor, Kyle Wood, Sean Campbell, Louise Grace Kenny (& Owen) my wonderful partner Ann-Christin Heinrich, and everyone who put on shows and came out to see us in our favourite haunts of Glasgow, Manchester, London, Brighton, Leeds and Newcastle (to name a few!) put us up for the night, drove us, bought a record, said a nice thing and generally were awesome.

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So, onto the list. As a result of my year, I've decided to order this in release order rather than ranking, although I will point out the top five. A quick glance at this suggests that September was an absolutely ridiculous month (it was) and no I didn't forget LCD Soundsystem, whereas I have nothing in May (Do Make Say Think and Slowdive were... fine but nothing special.) I am currently catching up on stuff I missed as I am writing this, so to Julie Byrne, Aldous Harding, Kelly Lee Owens, SZA, Big Thief, Idles, Sampha, Jlin, Jay Som, Lorde, Vince Staples and as mentioned, Björk you could all find yourself making up your own list in a month's time.

A glaring but now expected omission is Science Fiction by Brand New, which up until a couple weeks ago I ranked as one of my top three records of the year. While of course, everyone should be wary of what we read online, Jesse Lacey's frankly embarrassing and vague response to the matter has, quite likely, put a disastrous end to a previously remarkable and canonised career which was setting itself up for a glorious and perfect ending in 2018. Now, it's very difficult to separate the art from the idea that this is an unsavoury at best, psychopathic at worst, white male who took advantage of his status and the surrounding scene towards young girls and called it a "sex addiction" which is highly troubling. Even his movements towards a "perfect end" to the band now feels slightly chilling, and at the time of writing, it seems as though he will (rightfully) not be rewarded with that. What a horrible turn of events for an artist and a band who have meant so much to so many people for well over a decade, the one band many have kept with them since their adolescence only for it all to go up in flames in an instant. The one (pyrrhic) positive from all this is that the continued conversation is finally giving victims a voice, and that is the most important matter which should never be forgotten.

OK, that unpleasantness behind us, let's get on with the list:

Priests - Nothing Feels Natural (January) *4th

So, just to completely undermine my ordering here, I slept massively on this band and album until the summer, almost six months after release. Thankfully, I caught them just in time to see them play live in Hamburg this June shortly after moving to Germany (oh yeah that happened too, what a year eh?) after seeing they were playing that week at the legendary Hafenklang venue. I checked out 'Jj' and was immediately bowled over, something a completely new artist to me hadn't done for some time. There's a moment in that song, a couple minutes in, where the sensation of "lifting off" occurs both in the music and listening experience, it is a thrill, to say the least. The rest of the album thankfully stood up just as highly (especially it's title track) and I admonished myself for not checking out this band clearly designed for my exact tastes. Live they were a force of nature, each member bringing something exciting, while collectively they reminded me of a tougher version of ESG's "dance-punk". So while I may have missed the boat initially, this record has quietly grown and grown in my estimation, to one of the year's standouts, and will be excited to see what they do next.

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Thundercat - Drunk (February) *2nd

The absolute boy does it again. Anyone who knows me knows Thundercat is one of my all-time boys, he'd be in my wrestling stable without a shadow of a doubt. I've been largely obsessed with Stephen Bruner since his fantastic turn on Flying Lotus's Cosmogramma and he has just got better ever since. For the first half of the year, Drunk was comfortably my favourite album of the record, knowing it would take something special to knock it off its perch (it did, but we'll come to that later). This is, paradoxically, both his most cohesive and chaotic album yet, detailing the wide range of emotions a drunk night on the tiles can elicit while also being his most confident statement musically yet. On top of that, Kendrick Lamar returns the favour for that 2016 Grammy win Bruner played a part in winning for To Pimp a Butterfly, the legendary Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald show up on the lead single, and in the album's clear highlight, Bruner completes his Tron suite with an ode to his cat of the same name.

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Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - The French Press (March) - EP of the year, for whatever that's worth.

Australian music, from Melbourne especially, is in a pretty impressive state right now. Along with the above, Alex Cameron, Royal Headache, Julia Jacklin, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Total Control (to name a few) have in recent years created a formidable scene down under, making them a globally recognised force to be reckoned with in the music world. Despite the slightly annoying name, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever hit the BBC Radio 6 Playlists around March (though sadly not the Glasgow Music festival at the time) and with the song 'The French Press' turned many heads. The song gave 'Cause = Time' (a song somehow nearly 15 years old already) by Broken Social Scene a most welcome reboot while maintaining their own charming style. One would be forgiven for thinking this EP of the same name is just a vehicle for that one single, but no, to those who went out in search for more were rewarded with an excellent six tracks from top to bottom. This was only their second release after last year's Talk Tight so it will be very exciting to see what their first full-length LP brings us, hopefully, next year sometime.

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Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. (April)

What can I say, it's Kendrick. Like Priests, I took a strangely long time to get round to DAMN. and not even really for any particular reason other than... just listening to other stuff and quietly knowing this would be great when I did finally come around to it. Though DAMN. for me doesn't quite meet the insanely high mark of Lamar's previous two albums, it's still a very, very strong album from one of the best artists of the generation. While this may have the bombast of Good Kid or the sheer scale of Butterfly DAMN. still shows Lamar's incredible skill as a storyteller, dropping the listener into a fully realised world, largely because it's his reality. On top of this, he manages to write a song featuring U2 and it not be the worst thing ever! Outside of that, however, James Blake gets to return on his sparse roots on 'ELEMENT.' ahead of their co-headline tour next year, which singles 'HUMBLE.' and 'DNA.' prove Lamar's chops as an artist able to step back from his bigger concepts and make his point in three-minute bursts.

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Timber Timbre - Sincerely, Future Pollution (April)

One of the most perennially underrated bands out, Canadian creepers Timber Timbre had one of the most quietly solid records of the year with Sincerely, Future Pollution. I've never been sure why they haven't quite caught the wider imagination as some of their peers, such as Grizzly Bear for instance, who sonically have had a very similar trajectory from lo-fi "freak-folk" to a more electronic indebted sound. Whatever it is, in a year where everyone and their dog were (understandably) wanting to comment on the state of things in a post-Trump/Brexit world, Timber Timbre took a more subtle approach (a word that perfectly describes the band overall) as they brought up 80's, Reagan-era sleaze into a modern context, with a healthy dose of Lynchian nightmarish images and structures. Through 9 feverish trips to the classical image of the decaying (in this case, swamp-ridden) city, we see the toxic nature of contemporary Western society poisoning everyone who embraces it, all soundtrack to lounge-jazz samples. It is perhaps the darkest, most sinister record of the year, a prevailing sense of creepiness and uneasiness permeates every beat, every noise, every line of frontman Taylor Kirk's deadpan delivery in a completely different way to say, Alex Cameron's multi-coloured coke-ridden characters. As the album's alluring cover suggests, this is all your favourite black-and-white 70s paranoia films come to life.

Listen: Sewer Blues

Hey Colossus - The Guillotine (June)

Speaking of underrated, how the hell did everyone sleep on Hey Colossus this year? Perhaps they overshot themselves on their epic 2015 double albums In Black & Gold/Radio Static High, but this for me was the best British album of the year and one of the only to really address the mess the UK has got itself into. While the sludge/psyche rock act may not be quite as chaotic or as heavy as some of their earlier output, this is easily their sharpest to date, pinpointing the rage, anger, frustrating, sorrow and even humour in the current idea of being an "Englishman". This is a loose concept album, based on very similar themes and sounds as Timber Timbre's (albeit heavier) which skewers the current public conscious, but also provides genuinely breath-taking moments on songs like 'Calenture Boy'.

Englishman

Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up (June)

Robin Pecknold's triumphant return to music and to Fleet Foxes has been one of the major stories of the year, though he received mixed responses for it. In preparation for this album, Fleet Foxes' third and first in 6 years, Pecknold debuted a few of these songs, solo, supporting Joanna Newsom last year. At the time it was just good to know he was still writing songs, but the sheer ambition and kaleidoscopic scope of Crack-Up is incredible, for a band largely known for kicking off the folk resurgence in earnest. This record is rather like an intense, feverish, psychedelic vision in which Pecknold leads our hand, a singular voice in the void, while the music moves from madness to calm and back again across 11 beautifully composed tracks. The first time opener 'All That I Need' kicks in, it takes the listener completely off-guard, washing them away in the oceans and the incoming storm on the album's artwork sleeve, and the only hope is to try to ride it out and hope you survive. It is a genuinely impressive return to form, one I'm not sure many people thought Pecknold and Co still had in them.

Fool’s Errand

Sheer Mag - Need to Feel Your Love (July)

It's not often where a band, especially as politically fierce as Sheer Mag are, just consistently put a smile on your face and make you raise a fist and shout "YES!" But that's the Philadelphia punk-via-70s-radio-rock band do in spades. They manage to elicit a feeling in their music of so-called "simpler times" while simultaneously bludgeoning you in the face with the bullshit attitudes that were just as much of a problem in the 70s as they are today (in fact, an era partly responsible for them). Led by perhaps one of the best frontpeople in music today, Tina Halliday and guitarist co-writer Matt Palmer, Sheer Mag are the quintessential punk band in everything but their sound, one which the original punks would have openly mocked at the time. The irony, of course, is that those original "punk" acts, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash etc. took largely from 70s glam-rock, they just sped up the songs and make the themes and lyrics angrier. Sheer Mag in many ways remind me of Fucked Up, another punk-band obsessed with 70s revivalism. Both bands understand with loving care and passion that to create truly great punk music, one has to look outside the obvious influences, while keeping an ear open for a catchy hook to couple with prescient themes on oppression, race, sexism, homophobia, police brutality which still plague us today. We need acts like Sheer Mag in these troubling times to remind us, there is another way.

Suffer Me

Waxahatchee - Out in the Storm (July)

Processing a rough break-up is one of music's classic tropes (hell I did it on that album I put out this year - I promise to shut up about that now) but if the recent re-evaluation of the early-to-mid Emo/Pop-Punk scene has taught us anything, it's that even these so-called "sensitive" boys can be just as much of the patriarchal problem as more aggressively "macho" acts out there (and in some instances, actually worse). This is a round-about way of saying, traditionally, we rarely get to hear the female side of the story, and if we do, it is often met with patronising audiences of "poor little girl" syndrome. So what a breath of fresh air it has been to see Katie Crutchfield's Waxahatchee project break free of the shackles of a somewhat suffocating relationship that involved both her romantic and music life and create an album that deconstructs relationships and toxic masculinity in such brilliant fashion. Over the course of these 10 songs, Crutchfield proudly wears her battle-scars and reflects upon where she was and where she is now on Out in the Storm. I saw Crutchfield twice this year, first in the aforementioned church in Calgary, solo, essentially introducing this album to a new audience, and then later, all-female live band featuring her sister Alison (who also supported and is an excellent talent in her own right) and British guitarist Katie Harkin (Sky Larkin, Sleater-Kinney) who really helped make this album shine. Every song here is a stunner, but in 'Sliver' we have one of the best songs of the year, an anthem of defiance that neatly sums up this great, great album.

Silver

Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins (August) *5th

One of the big narratives of music in 2017 was the "comeback" of mid-to-late 2000s indie-rock having a resurgence. Along with the aforementioned Fleet Foxes, we also had return records from The National, Wolf Parade, LCD Soundsystem and Liars, for instance, most of whom will show up later in this list (because I'm a nostalgic mark apparently). Grizzly Bear have been one of the most consistent acts in that world and with their 5th album Painted Ruins only continued to prove that. While I'm not sure they'll ever top my personal favourite, Yellow House, in fairness, the band made a statement that they were moving away from the more lo-fi, freak-folk and more towards chamber pop on Veckatimest. Grizzly Bear remain an amazing and consistently surprising act who reveal themselves with every listen, a tactic they've still not lost in over a decade. They can do a big pop song 'Mourning Sound' and the more subtle 'Neighbors' but they still after all this time have the ability to pull the rug from underneath you 'Three Rings', 'Four Cypresses'. While this certainly was a great year for "indie" music (whatever that really means) but Grizzly Bear remain the torchbearers.

Neighbors

Liars - TFCF (August)

I'll admit it, this album may have eluded me if I hadn't been commissioned to interview Angus Andrew this summer. I've never been a huge fan of Liars, but I've always liked their style and ambition to always try something new with every record, even if with varying results. But man, I am glad I had that experience with Andrew, because TFCF, striking artwork and all, is a mini-career benchmark for him. Liars is now just a solo act, after Andrew's partner in crime Aaron Hemphill suddenly departed from the band when recording sessions for TFCF began initially in Los Angeles. Andrew's world was turned upside down by this revelation, so his reaction was to move back to his native Australia, and become a hermit in the bush in New South Wales, outside of Sydney. The result is an album where Andrew fully immerses himself in his surroundings, using field recordings of the natural world he is currently living in as the background sound for him to write songs over. It's an intriguing experience, especially as I don't believe Liars' music have ever really been described as "emotional" before leading TFCF to sound almost like The Moon & Antartica-era Modest Mouse in places. This isn't the only characteristic though, as Andrew jumps around from genre to genre, all unified by this... buzzing of the bush that sits underneath it all. While not quite Andrew's peak of records like Drum's Not Dead or the self-titled album, this is a small renaissance in his career, and it will be interesting to see where he goes next.

Cred Woes

Mogwai - Every Country's Sun (September)

Yeah, it's another Mogwai album, which at this stage feels like a warm cup of tea and a hug, but there's no denying they keep on keeping on. In recent years Mogwai have slowed down their studio album production, favouring soundtrack work for TV and Film in recent years - such as last year's Atomic and Before the Flood, but they remain a solid act and for my money the greatest Scottish and further, British, act outside of Radiohead. Every Country's Sun is a mere reminder of the band's consistent greatness in a year where similar acts Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Do Make Say Think also had strong entries. While there are some familiar tropes on Mogwai's latest, their 9th studio album, they did add one of their poppiest songs ever 'Party in the Dark' and a more subtle use of the Carpenter-esque electronics that characterised Rave Tapes on tracks like 'aka47'. The best is indeed saved for last, however, as the album's excellent title track that closes the album is perhaps one of the band's most epic yet, one I wouldn't be surprised if featured at Celtic or Scotland games in the future.

Party in the Dark

Alex Cameron - Forced Witness (September)

Well, this one came from left-field. Again, like Liars, I may well have missed this one had I not been sent to interview him, and even then, my enjoyment wasn't assured given Cameron's retroactive sound and questionable lyrical content. However, when it quickly became apparent that Cameron is playing a role lampooning the toxic masculinity his characters exude which is seemingly openly everywhere in 2017. While some fans were disappointed Cameron moved away from his singular, lo-fi sound of his debut Jumping the Shark, his move towards 80s sleaze-pop, like Timber Timbre, is an excellent vehicle in which his rather pathetic characters exist. It's an intriguing idea, as rarely do musicians or artists "play the loser", something that only tends to exist in the world of acting. In many ways, Cameron is a performance artist, although in seeing him live (in his semi-hometown Berlin where he recorded the album) he unmasks and speaks about his songs candidly. Whatever it is, Forced Witness is an excellent album full of excellent, catchy ditties, especially his duet with Angel Olsen, who plays her own interesting role in the background of this album, that explore some fairly dark themes with a sense of humour and irony that stay, just about, on the convincing side.

Stranger’s Kiss (duet with Angel Olsen)

The National - Sleep Well Beast (September)

Another year, another solid National album. The National will, it seems, always have a spot on my list, though Sleep Well Beast didn't crack the top 10 when I was voting in my respective publications. Sleep Well Beast, The National's seventh studio album, sees the band try and mix things up with the seemingly inevitable turn towards electronic music that basically every guitar-based band eventually dabble in. The results are mostly successful, though in many ways this isn't as much of a departure as first suggested, remaining very much a National album. The one disappointment, in fact, is that it _doesn't_ go further in it's "electronica" as tracks like 'Guilty Party' prove there are some legs there, but towards the end, they become a bit over-reliant on pretty much one style which gets a little trying. In fact, Sleep Well Beast is probably their most piano-based record as opposed to guitars or electronica, which leads to beautiful opener 'Nobody Else Will Be There'. Meanwhile, the band step back into their older territory on tracks like 'Day I Die' and the somewhat unfairly maligned 'Turtleneck'. It's nowhere near the band's best, but The National are like a familiar friend you can not see for years and dip in with and catch up like no time has passed and will always be welcome to visit. (Fun fact, Ann and I were present for the shooting of the ‘I’ll Still Destroy You’ video as it was at their HAVEN festival, however sadly we didn’t get in!)

I’ll Still Destroy You

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (September)

Chelsea Wolfe has slowly been getting better and darker throughout her career. Personally, I'm a little surprised Hiss Spun hasn't featured on more end of year lists, as it is a star turn from the still young LA-based goth, aided massively with Kurt Ballou's MASSIVE production and guitar chops from Queens of the Stone Age's Troy van Leeuwen. Perhaps its because she's fully embraced her "metal-side" that critics have been a little allergic to it, I'm sure there would have been a few raised eyebrows at Aaron Turner (ISIS/Old Man Gloom)'s roar at the end of the excellent 'Vex'. Either way, this is an album from an artist clearly in the ascendancy, and may well prove to be a stepping stone to a masterpiece in the future. Of all the artists currently out there, she's certainly got the most potential for it.

16 Psyche

Wolves in the Throne Room - Thrive Woven (September)

Continuing on with Metal, here is by far the heaviest entry on this list (though Converge, of course, run them close) from Olympia, Washington's Wolves in the Throne Room. I had the pleasure of getting to see the American Black Metal legends (I think we're good to give them that title now) this summer in Calgary and it was an overwhelming experience. To those who don't know, it may seem at odds to describe extreme, heavy metal as "beautiful" but that is Black Metal. Its atmosphere achieves a sensation that is transcendent when done right and WITTR are masters of it. From the second 'Born in the Serpent's Eye' begins, the listener is immediately fully submerged. From there on, this is yet another masterpiece in the band's already exemplary canon and it is good to have them back to winning ways after the disappointing left-turn 'Celestial'.

Born from the Serpent’s Eye

Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent (September) *1st place

Head and shoulders above, this is the best album of the year. Protomartyr have been quietly getting better and better with every record, and almost achieved a perfect record in 2015's The Agent Intellect, a record that has aged incredibly well since its slightly underrated release. Now, there's no avoiding it, the band's first album for Domino records is seeing a much bigger audience for the Detroit post-punk band who next year could well see themselves at the higher end of many festival slots. Simply put, Protomartyr are the most exciting punk act in the world right now. No one is doing anything as interesting, exciting, challenging as Protomartyr, their heavy, philosophical themes mixed with their highly original sounds. Just listen to the opener 'A Private Understanding' and see. Who else would dare open an album and a lead single with one of the weirdest drum-beats every committed, an off-key guitar line, frontman Joe Casey delivering the line "Not by my own hand/Automatic writing by phantom limb/Not with my own voice/Pleurisy made to stand on two legs". While Casey is pretty humble and coy about his band's success and journalists (myself included) who wanted to impose mad theories about "BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?" when really the answer is "truth is a slippery thing, just listen to it." Sage advice indeed, when the music is this good.

A Private Understanding

Wolf Parade - Cry, Cry, Cry (October)

Wolf Parade's triumphant return last year with an EP and Tour was one of the highlights of 2016. Their show at the Scala was one of the best of the year, a renewed vigour that was clearly waning by the end of the previous run was back and they looked fresh and happy to be here. It is perhaps no surprise then that they were able to translate that to the follow-up LP, 'Cry, Cry, Cry' (which came out on my birthday this year). Yes, it's a cleaner more polished sound, but goddamn they can still write a song. In 'You're Dreaming' and 'Valley Boy' we have great pop songs from Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug respectively, but it's when the album goes BIG that it really shines, on such epics as 'Flies on the Sun', 'Baby Blue' and 'Weaponized'. Of course, 'Cry, Cry, Cry' isn't close to their incredible debut, but that's an impossible standard to meet, so the band don't even try it, instead streamlining their later sound into something more confident and coherent (see: 'Am I an Alien Here') and it's a very welcome to have them back.

You’re Dreaming

St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION (October)

A bit like Alex Cameron's Forced Witness, MASSEDUCTION is very much a response to celebrity and paparazzi. Though Cameron doesn't really sing about that (it doesn't really fit with the character) the title and artwork certainly do allude to it, while one of the major themes of MASSEDUCTION is on this. Annie Clark had a very public break up with Cara Delevingne which also takes up much of the record, but you can't really pin this album on any one particular event or theme, other than Clark's re-evaluation and sexual freedom. MASSEDUCTION is an experience worth seeing live, which made the album work for me, which I was initially a little tentative about. I saw glowing reviews but didn't quite match them up to the music. Then, seeing Clark "live" (which has caused much controversy), everything made sense. After a first half set where she ran through her greatest hits in release date order, the second half saw her perform the album in full and it really was a performance. Then everything clicked, in what could be Clark's best record to date, which is an already very high benchmark to clear.

New York

Fever Ray - Plunge (October)

Speaking of sexual liberation, (what a segue!) a couple weeks after St. Vincent's album, Karin Dreijer Andersson, better known as Fever Ray, surprised fans with a new album which plays on similar themes to Clark's. While Dreijer's not quite in the public eye the way Clark has become, she instead crafts an album about sexual politics which is dangerous-yet-endearing and seems particularly pertinent in this current spate of highly public reportage of sexual assault incidents currently ongoing. As ever, Dreijer proves why she is such a force of nature in composing these tracks, which are challenging and danceable, poppy and angry etc. with 'To the Moon and Back' she has a defining statement, a manifesto and a rallying cry, carrying on the theme's from The Knife's possible final record Shaking the Habitual perfectly.

To the Moon and Back

Golden Teacher - No Luscious Life (November)

One of Glasgow's best bands, Golden Teacher's debut full length has been waited on for some time. Really, this sextet are best experienced live, as every show immediately becomes a party. It can be difficult sometimes for highly-energised acts to capture that on record, but thankfully Golden Teacher manage it with the help of Emily McLaren & Stuart Evans at Green Door Studios. Golden Teacher are for me the quintessential Glasgow band. They exist in a liminal zone that links the city's art-punk scene with the world-famous electronic scene, hence their inclusion on the legendary Optimo's label. The record mix funk, world and electronic music with a punk energy and are an absolute thrill to experience, it would be impossible to not put this record and not feel the groove.

Spiriton

Converge - The Dusk In Us (November) *3rd Place

And finally, rounding out this excellent year are one of my all-time favourite bands, Converge. While I don't really listen to much heavy music these days, Converge are the exception to the rule in many ways. They exist in their own space within music that is fiercely inventive and original. I recently had an argument with a few people about what genre to classify Converge as and simply put, it's an impossible and unnecessary task. Converge simply don't fit into any easy genre classification, they are just Converge. What is a surprise was that, though Converge have never really had a dip in quality, the fact they have been able to produce such a career highlight this late into their salad days is nothing short of remarkable but also typically them? The Dusk in Us is an incredible achievement by all involved. It is perhaps Ballou's best production job to date, Newton and Koller's most controlled performance and, crucially, Jacob Bannon's most assured vocals to date. It seems ridiculous that the 25-year-old band keep finding ways to better themselves, but here we are. Kudos to you Converge for remaining such an inspirational figure not just in the heavier genres, but music as a whole.

A Single Tear

Thank you for reading! Have a happy new year and great festive season.

#Best of 2017 #music #albums #Converge #priests #thundercat #protomartyr #Grizzly bear

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etc-greys · 7 years ago

Text

Season 14 Episode 2: Get Off on the Pain

Songs of the Episode:

Now I See by Claire Guerreso

My Rules by Jadagrace

Ready by Hael

Look After You by Aron Wright

Bad Behavior by Izzy Bizu

Synopsis:

Megan is out of surgery and is devastated it didn’t work. Mer broke all the mugs in the Attendings lounge and Webber and Maggie try to talk to her. Arizona finds out Carina is Deluca’s sister. Jo does the walk of shame and what accidently steps on Glasses’s glasses. Bailey is angry about having to wear heels on the job because of society’s perception of women of power having to dress with heels. Maggie and Alex try to cheer up Mer, but ultimately influence her to find a new innovative solution. She’s going to do an abdominal wall transplant, with the help of Teddy, Webber, and Bailey. April is avoiding Jackson. Jo needs to talk to someone about Glasses, but has no one. So she urges Ben to be her new Stephanie until she can find a new one and as she gets his approval, Glasses shows up with her ID badge, you know the one she left on his mother’s basement floor. Yeah just let that sink in... lol and to make it worse Alex is close behind and straight up laughs in her face. Ben tries not to laugh, but isn’t sure what Steph would do ahaha.

Mer presents her case to Megan and she wants it, even if the rest are skeptical. She finally puts aside her light and go with the flow attitude and reveals to her family how even though she’s scared she doesn’t want to be a hostage to her body and bed, like she was for years in Iraq. She wants her medical freedom and while she can’t control the outcome, she can make her own decision. Now Jackson is being weird to Maggie. Mer offers to the Sub I’s that the one to find a donor ab wall will get to scrub in on the surgery. Carina asks Bailey if she can do her not so pg research study at GSM. Her study focuses on how sexual stimulation can help with pain management and the possibility of a drug that helps with sexual enhancement for women. At first Bailey is skeptical, then she looks to her heels, and then she realizes it's important to support other women.

Amelia is prepping the teen for surgery and motivates the father to be strong. Meanwhile Jackson protests her plans to proceed with Bailey. Again Bailey looks to her heels and supports Amelia, I mean Amelia is the head of neuro and she is capable of making the decision on her own. And Bailey switches her heels to her comfy shoes, while Mer recruits Jackson for her surgery. Teddy, Owen, and Riggs all try to get Megan’s son to the U.S., but they can’t find a lawyer to represent them. The search for an ab wall is troubling as the Sub I’s suggest a woman who's been deceased for 3 days, a woman with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and a man. Bailey, Maggie, and Amelia check in on Carina’s research. Alex tells Mer that Jo slept with Glasses and she compares it to when she slept with George. Jo tells Ben why she slept with Glasses, and she opens up to him about how in the past she’s slept with guys who’ve hurt her. He then brings up her past of beating up some of the guys, and explains how it was self defense. But they are interrupted by none other than Glasses, who found the perfect donor. And she sharked him, like Mer did to Christina in the first ever episode of Grey’s. Jo defends herself to Glasses who is pretty upset that she stole his surgery, but then ALEX COMES IN AND DEFENDS HER!!! And then he laughs at her again for sleeping with him.

Teddy, his mom, and Megan all confront Owen on his marriage to Amelia. Deluca questions Amelia’s motives of helping the teen. She defends herself by saying that she doesn’t want the family or the boy to lose himself to an addiction to drugs from the constant pain he’s in.

Ben talks to Jo about her situation, as Bailey is in earshot. He tells her that Karev was only trying to protect her and that he’s not the type to hurt her. Then Bailey stepped in, told him never to tell a woman how she should feel, he accepted it and walked away. After Bailey chimes in a message of female empowerment/strength (yesssss Bailey!!) and then in essence repeated the same advice (she’s the best!).

The Owen intervention continues, and tension rises until Megan asks him to take her son if she dies. Meanwhile Arizona visits Carina in her research lab and they share a really sensual moment. Then RIGGS PROPOSES TO MEGAN....until they’re interrupted by Mer who found a match...talk about awkward...

Owen goes to confront Amelia. And says and does all of the wrong things. First he suggests, mind you this is out of the blue, that she go to therapy, or be put on medication because while she’s an amazing person no one else sees it and something's wrong. She then counters that Teddy is still in love with him, Megan doesn’t like her, and that's his motivation to have her evaluated. Then she goes on to let Owen go be with Teddy. Mer tells Jo not to apologize for being a shark. Webber and Maggie share a sweet moment where he tells her that when she does something spectacular, which is often, he likes to take some credit for it (over Ellis).

Ben finds Alex and tells him what Jo told him. Ben tells him that Jo is afraid of him, given what he’s capable of (beating up Deluca). Megan’s surgery is a success! Amelia calls Jackson in to fix the mess she made of his jaw and he’s infuriated. But his surgery ended up being a success. Jackson warns that if that happens again, she’ll report her to the medical boards and get her licensed revoked.

April and Jackson talk. She finally is truthful with him, she tells him the pain that she’s in. She can’t do the casual sexual relationship, she needs the whole thing and he can’t provide that. She’s in so much pain that she decides it's best for her to move out. OWEN AND TEDDY KISS... but Teddy tells him she won’t be with him while he’s married. Amelia takes part of Carina’s trial. Bailey throws away all her heels, while Ben tries to convince her to keep a few pairs ;).

WARNING ABOUT TO FREAK TF OUT.. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING...

ALEX TELLS JO THAT HE LOOKED UP AND FOUND HER HUSBAND..yes you read that right..he was honest with her. Then he apologizes for doing it without asking her.And he promises her that he would never physically hurt her, and that he grew up with an abusive father, he’s seen it first hand and he could never do that to her. (brb crying, omg I love him so much....) Shocked, she realizes that he saw Paul and didn’t kill him. And confirms that he didn’t do anything to him. THEN SHE WALKED AWAY.... BUT WAIT WHAT OMG.... SHE KISSED HIM....and the rest is history. And they’re back <3.

Mer finds out that MEGAN TURNED DOWN RIGGS PROPOSAL BECAUSE SHE THINKS HE’S STILL IN LOVE WITH HER! And Mer walks away as fast as she can.

Amelia comes out of the MRI machine and notices a scan on the screen and finds out that SHE HAS A HUGE BRAIN TUMOR. YUP. LET THAT SINK IN. AND FADE TO BLACK.

A Few Additional Thoughts:

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ve probably gotten to know who my favorites are. So it won’t surprise you when I tell you this 2 hour premiere was A. Fantastic, B. Riveting, C. A lot to talk about. So bear with me as I tell you some of the major things I found important, but also some of my favorite parts. This one's a long one, but I promise the going forward they’ll be shorter :). I’m going to combine episode 1 & 2 since they were presented together.

So major improvement so far is: Communication. Everyone was actually honest and open with each other, we which haven’t seen in a little while. Like Alex coming clean with Jo, Mer telling Megan the truth, and April telling Jackson how she feels. This to me seems like they are all coming into their own and realizing that what's best in the long run is to be honest with one another.

There has been some major comic relief so far this season. I mean even the opening scene with Megan, which was heartfelt, but it also could’ve been a real tearjerker. Instead they made it light and sweet. And even with Jo sleeping regretfully with Glasses, and Alex laughing at her instead of being defensive. Or one of my favorites, Arizona being schooled on the latest dating lingo... even if it’s not the fun kind. I’m loving this lighter sweeter air.

But don’t worry, it had it’s fair share of seriousness. For one it talked about the double standards of women in the workplace vs men. Bailey who’s the boss, fully embodied it’s meaning when she stood up for Amelia, approved Carina to do her controversial research study, defended Jo’s right (and all women’s right) to embrace their feelings/opinions unapologetically, backed Mer on her innovative surgery, and finally when she took off her symbolic heels and traded them in for her work clogs (going against societal pressure that a woman must do a “man’s” work in heels). Bravo, Bailey, bravo!

We also had a glimpse into the conversations that need to be had to improve and modify our immigration laws. These two episodes also exposed us to a bit of what is to come as we learn about Megan’s prisoner of war story. I think this will be an interesting story and provide us some needed perspective on the realities of some of the things that can happen to our veterans/soldiers overseas. Thank you to all of our service men and women for your time and commitment!

It touched briefly on the domestic violence and abuse story line. We see Jo as she begins to open up more freely about her past and I think this proves she’s slowly healing. Ben wonderfully and truthfully tells her never to blame herself for the way men treated her and that under no circumstances was it her fault. With this he tells Alex that Jo is afraid of him given her past, which pushes Alex to talk to her. Thanks to the help of Ben, Alex assures Jo that he would never hurt her. And when she found out that he didn’t do anything when he found her husband, it proves to her that he can be trusted. Honesty brought them back together (and Ben). But I truly believe her history with domestic abuse is an important one to tell and it’s one that’ll probably be further explored and broken down this season (allowing conversations to be started within our communities).

*A little side note. I just want to point out how crucial Ben has actually been in Jolex’s love story. I mean last season he was the one who told Deluca that Alex was going to take the plea to protect Jo, which ultimately lead to Deluca dropping the charges. And this season Ben tells Alex that Jo is afraid of him given her past and this pushes him to talk to her and the rest is history. So THANK YOU BEN!*

Then there was the shocking final moment in which we learn of Amelia’s brain tumor. I’m still in shock, as I’m sure you are too. But I think that the story is important because it reminds us that we must take care of ourselves. I hope this inspires people to stay on top of self care by getting regular check ups and taking time to do the little things for yourself as well. Praying for you Amelia!

Overall this was a great premiere and I can’t wait to see where this season takes us! Cheers!

#jolex #japril #jaggie #music #tv #tgit #grey's anatomy

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