#it's been an UPHILL BATTLE trying to put together his timeline | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ssadumba55 · 3 years ago

Text

Hotch, Morgan & Reid x Fem!Felon! Reader Headcanons

Request: If you're not too busy, can I please request headcanons for Hotch, Derek, and Reid falling in love with a female convicted felon who did time in prison and is fighting for prison/justice reform as well as trying to prevent people from going to prison to begin with?

A/N: Literally had so much fun writing these, I don't get to write for this comfort show enough. Hope they're close to what you wanted, also just forewarning, none of the opinions in this are specifically mine and I tried to keep it broad and focused on what the request wanted. Timeline for each set of headcanons; after season 12 for Spencer's, Hotch sometime before he leaves the BAU in season 12/13 and Morgan's I'd say could work any season. Enjoy!

Spencer Reid

Spencer falls hard and fast for you, which is a surprise to everyone even himself considering his past with women.

You don't tell him you're a convicted felon, it's not something you mention on a first date after all and after that, after finding out he was an FBI profiler... well, let's just say you weren't bending over backwards to offer the information

You didn't even commit the crime (arson), but you had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and whoever had committed the crime got away, leaving you to deal with the consequences.

After serving the time, you were released but there was nothing you could really do. You couldn't live on your own with no money and because nowhere really wanted to hire a convicted felon, you moved in with family and began research into making the prison system more fair (and based around reformation).

But you couldn't keep the secret from Spencer for very long. He is exceptionally good at his job of being a profiler, and he notices the way you discuss the rallies and work you do.

It's then that you learn he also spent time in prison for a crime he didn't commit, although the criminal who framed him has been since dealt with and his rights have been restored.

He offers to help you catch the person who framed you and get your life back and the two of you, having seen the horror prison really is from behind the bars, both work on speaking out about prison reform

And sure, change isn't immediate. But the two of you move in together, giving you slightly more freedom

When he's not working on cases for work, he's working on your case. He even stays up late nights, trying to piece together things the investigators missed.

Usually, this results in you prying him away and pulling him to bed, reminding him that he's no use to anyone if he's tired

It's a long uphill battle but at least you're not fighting it alone

Derek Morgan

Derek has a lot of opinions on prison. He feels that it's a necessary evil to keep the bad guys off the streets where they can't hurt anyone anymore, but he also understands that the world isn't black and white. He knows that people get wrongly accused and that the system doesn't allow for actual reform

He's a little surprised to find out he's dating a convicted felon, sure, he had suspicions that you weren't telling him everything but he assumed it was something small, like maybe you didn't get along with your parents or something.

However, the fact that you've committed a crime in the past (and served the time for it) does little to dissuade his love for you. He cares about you either way.

He watches you struggle and crumble trying to find a job and eventually, he helps you find one working for some friends of his. He knows a lot of people and has a lot of different connections, it's no surprise he's able to find someone willing to give you a chance and hire you.

Still, he knows even with a job you struggle with the stigma. Everyone around you knows and even though they don't think less of you for it, you can't help but think less of yourself. Sometimes, you even go as far as thinking you don't deserve Derek. After all, his job is to put away criminals not date them. But he loves you and he reminds you of this all the time.

It's his idea to begin fighting for prison reform and to start making a difference in the world. He sees how much you're hurting and he tells you that you should get involved, make your voice heard. At first, it's really scary. Getting up there and voicing your opinion, but he's always got your back 100% and knowing that inspires you to continue to push forward.

The change you do sometimes feels little but at the end of the day, when you're laying next to Derek and he's sound asleep, you feel so much better knowing you're at least fighting to make a difference for people like you.

Aaron Hotchner

Hotch is arguably one of the best at what he does. And he knows how to do background checks. Basically, he knows from almost the get go that you choose to keep your felony to yourself, and yet, he doesn't force it out of you.

It's your choice to tell him when you're ready on your own terms and he respects that. He doesn't see you as a dangerous person, how can you be when you're so kind and gentle with his son.

A lot of people, however, would beg to differ. Even though they've never met you, they would flip if they knew what you had done. But he dealt with dangerous people everyday, you were far from anything near them.

Before you met him, even before you'd ever been to prison, you'd been a stark believer in prison reform. Being in prison, however, made that belief stronger. How could they just throw people to the dogs basically and make them fend for themselves, especially those who committed crimes out of necessity? It made you sick to your stomach thinking about all the innocent people or people who wanted to change, stuck fending for their lives

You weren't expecting Hotch to really understand. He spent his whole career putting people in prison. He got paid to do it, he didn't care what happened to them after that.

But to your surprise, he took an interest in your activism. He wasn't super involved but he would often ask you questions and offer to help you work on research.

He spends a lot of time away at work, but even during those times he would call and talk things over with you during breaks in the cases.

He doesn't understand what it's like in prison, not first hand, but he listens to all your stories and he agrees that there are better ways to handle people who commit crimes. Hopefully, one day, because of you, the world will come to see that as well.

#criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x y/n #female reader #female imagine #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #derek morgan x reader #derek morgan imagine #criminal minds headcanons

221 notes · View notes

hopelikethemoon · 5 years ago

Text

the three of us (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: the three of us Rating: PG-13 Length: Warnings: discussions of pregnancy planning, angst, heartache Notes: this chapter made my heart hurt. Set in 1996. You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. Summary: Javier and Reader have not had the success they hoped for.

Maybe Josie had been a fluke.

Your doctor had given you a full bill of health — both times you visited the doctor. There was no reason for why nothing had taken hold. Five months. Four negative tests. Four periods. Even Javier had visited the doctor, just to make sure his swimmers were in working order. They were. Everything was right and yet…

You swallowed thickly as you pushed the bathroom door open, eyes lowered to the floor as you shook your head. Another unsuccessful month had slipped by.

“C’mere.” Javier murmured, holding his hand out and gesturing for you to join him at the foot of the bed. “It’ll happen.” He reassured you.

“Yeah.” You almost wished you hadn’t decided you were ready to try. To actually plan on having another kid.

Javier curled his arm around your waist, drawing you into his side. “It’s okay baby.” He whispered, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“I just thought that this time…” You shifted, laying back on the bed and bringing him down with you. You stared up at the ceiling, brows furrowed. “I was two days late and I was certain.”

“I know.” He slid his arm out from under you, rolling onto his side. You could feel his eyes on your face, “Hey.”

You glanced at him out of the corner of your eyes. “Hmm?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s neither of our faults.” You said a little quickly. You were both healthy, but you were the one that wasn’t pregnant. You had been so certain this time around. For a fleeting few days you had felt different. Maybe you had been, maybe it ended before it even began.

“We’ll just keep trying.” Javier draped his arm over your middle, giving your waist a reassuring squeeze. “If you want to.”

“I do.” You sighed heavily. “I just didn’t realize how hard it was going to be.” Your eyes drifted back up to the ceiling. Josie had been easy — one night was all it took to give life to a beautiful baby girl. Sure, it had been sheer hell, but she had been easy.

This time, you were actually trying and nothing was working.

“I’ll go back over the calendars the doctor gave us. Maybe we’re off by a day.” You scrubbed your hands over your face, before you looked at him. “I’m sorry.”

“Baby, you haven’t got a damn thing to apologize for.” He cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb over the rise of your cheekbone. “And as much as it pains me to leave you right now…”

“Get to work, Professor.” You teased, trying to put on the emotions you would rather be feeling. You were depressed. But you didn’t want to ruin his first day back in the job force.

“I am just a teacher.” Javier countered, “And it’s just orientation.”

You curled your fingers around his tie, pulling him in closer so you could kiss him. “But Professor sounds sexy.”

Javier bumped his nose against yours. “I love you.” He whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. “Are you going in today?”

You pursed your lips thoughtfully. “Probably. It would be a nice distraction.” You forced yourself to smile. You needed the distraction, otherwise you’d spend the day in sweatpants with a bottle of wine trying to forget your inadequacies.

“I’ll pick up dinner on the way home so you won’t have to worry.” Javier told you as he pulled back, straightening his tie. “Pizza?”

“Sounds nice.” You nodded, peeling yourself off the bed. “Good luck today, Javi.”

“Thanks baby.” He murmured and you could feel his eyes on you as you moved around the bed room to get ready for work. You knew he was hurting too — maybe not the same way as you were. But he wanted this baby as badly as you did. Each month that slipped by killed you. At one point in your life you had prayed for a negative test, but now it was all you saw.

——

Your 1 PM meeting took you by surprise. Not the meeting itself; but the person leaving the meeting ahead of yours.

“Lance Collier.” You remarked, stopping dead in your tracks. “What are you doing here.”

He held his hand out to shake yours, “Working with the local law enforcement on a case. How the hell have you been?”

“I actually have a meeting.” You glanced at your wristwatch. “It’ll be about forty five minutes.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Great.” Lance nodded. “Hope they don’t bore you to death.”

“Chances are slim.” You quipped, before you headed into the conference room. He certainly was a welcome distraction from the thoughts weighing on your mind. And one of the last people you expected to see from your time in Colombia. Second maybe only to Chris.

——

It was surreal to have Lance Collier standing in your little office with an obscured view of Dodge Island. The last time you had seen him was the night you broke up with him and promised to call him in a week or two. You hadn’t.

“Niece?” Lance questioned, nodding to a picture of Josie you had framed on your desk.

“Daughter.”

His brows shot upwards, “Wow. When did that happen?” You couldn’t exactly blame him for being surprised. He’d actually mentioned having kids with you when you dated and you had been pretty against the idea. You had a whole career you were building.

“She was born in ‘93.”

“And who’s the lucky father?”

You arched a brow, “Would you believe me if I told you I’m with Javier.” You turned one of the pictures on your desk towards him — a family shot Connie had taken for you in their backyard at Easter. Josie was clutching a stuffed rabbit, nestled in between you and Javier.

Lance’s jaw dropped. “Peña? What the hell did I miss after I left Colombia? I figured you must’ve moved on — you never called.”

You grimaced. “It didn’t feel fair to string you along, Lance. It’s not like I moved on to Javi right after we broke up. Far from it, actually. I just wasn’t—“

“There’s no hard feelings.” Lance cut you off. “I’m getting married next month.”

“Oh, wow! Congratulations.” You smiled at him. ”So what has the CIA poking around here?”

“Clearing up soon loose ends from Medellín. We received intel that La Oficina de Envigado was laundering money out of Miami. Due diligence, really.” He lowered his voice, pointing at Josie’s pictures. “Is she why you’re persona non grata with DEA? I was down at the embassy a year ago and—“ He whistled as he shook his head. “They’re not fond of you.”

You shrugged a shoulder. “Javi and I lied about our relationship for a year. I was already on thin ice for being pregnant and…” You made a face. “Straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“Jeeze, I’m sorry.” He gestured around the office. “But check this place out.”

You laughed. “Yeah, who knew Miami had the budget to give consultants offices with windows?”

Lance shook his head, staring at the family picture on your desk. “I can’t say I’m surprised, but… I just can’t picture Peña as a father.”

“He’s amazing.” You told him, your eyes drawn to the picture. “Josie is a complete daddy’s girl.” You glanced back at Lance then, “What do you mean you’re not surprised?”

He gave you a look. “Do you remember the first time you brought me along to drinks with him and Steve?” You nodded. “I realized pretty quickly that night that he was my competition.”

“Really?” Your brows furrowed together. “I just remember him being a dick that night.” Then again, he always got pissy whenever Lance turned up with you.

He was going to lose his shit knowing that Lance was in town.

“I’m glad you’re happy.” Lance told you with a genuine smile. “That’s all I wanted for you.”

“Thank you.” You sank back in your seat, “I mean, look at us. You’re getting married next month and I’ve got a family.”

“With Javier Peña no less.”

A laugh bubbled out of you, “Right? I’m still waiting for the pigs to fly.”

“Any wedding bells in your future?”

“Not our thing.” You shook your head, “But we’re good. He’s started teaching a criminal justice course at the university. I’ve got this.” You gestured to your office. “Life is good. Miami was the right move for us.”

Lance pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. “You deserve it.” He glanced towards your office door, “I should probably get going. I’ve got a deposition to sit in on later.”

“It was good to see you Lance.” You offered with a warm smile, watching him leave. Once upon a time you probably would’ve settled for him. But there was nothing about Lance that made your heart skip a beat — even back then. That would’ve been an easy path. Everything with Javier had been difficult. It still was difficult.

But all that difficulty made the quiet moments worth it. The uphill battle was justified every time Josie roped Javier into wearing a princess crown and attending tea at her make believe restaurant.

You couldn’t imagine a life where you didn’t have both of them. And maybe it was okay that you weren’t having any luck. Maybe it was meant to be just the three of you.

———

“I don’t know why we bother trying to expand her dietary options,” You remarked as you picked a piece of cut up pizza off her abandoned plate as you took it to the trash to throw away. “She’s always going to just want chicken nuggets.”

“In futile hope that she’ll kick her chicken addiction.” Javier remarked from the living room, where he was fastforwarding through the trailers on the VHS he’d rented. Four Weddings and a Funeral seemed like the right kind of movie to unwind to.

You grabbed two beers out of the fridge, gripping them in one hand as you snatched up the pizza box off the counter and headed into the living room to join him. “I wish it were that easy. I think she’s hooked, Javi. Our baby’s a chicken addict.”

Javier looked back at you over his shoulder, a grin spreading over his lips. “Guess there’s worse things she could be hooked on.” He settled down onto the sofa, loosening his tie. “I’ve got a full class. I guess everyone wants to meet the guy who helped bring down Pablo Escobar.” He swept his fingers through his hair, before taking a beer from you.

“They’re going to love you.” You said as you took a swig of beer before sitting it down on the coffee table. “You’ll never guess who I saw today.”

“Who?” His brows drew together.

“Lance.”

Javier huffed, “Really?”

You nodded, leaning back on the sofa. “He’s still chasing down money launders from Escobar’s predecessors.” You explained. “Still a CIA suit.”

Javier gave you a wary look, before he leaned forward to grab a slice of pizza. “That’s good.” He said before taking a bite.

You chewed on the inside of your bottom lip, heart pounding a little quicker as you stared at him. “Are you going to be an asshole about this?”

“No.”

“Our entire conversation basically revolved around you.” You told him, lips drawn into a faint smile. “It was a nice distraction from everything else.”

Javier grabbed the remote and paused the movie. “I’m not going to be an asshole about this, but I just never liked the guy.”

“I know.” You reached out and stroked his cheek, before sliding your fingers into his hair. “He wasn’t surprised that I was with you.”

His jaw rocked tensely before he relaxed under your touch. “What? Did he tell you about the time I pulled him aside and told him he better take care of you?” Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth.

You shook your head and tilted your face to look up at him. “When did you—“

“You had just started seeing him.”

“Well, that explains everything.”

Your heart was pounding in your chest. You could easily picture Javier pulling that shit. He had been in fine form that evening from the second that Lance sat down at the table. It was a miracle it hadn’t run the poor man off then and there. You had a sneaking suspicion that he had said a lot more than just ‘take care of her’. Everything had been so new back then — Colombia, Javier and Steve, your outlook on the future. Maybe things didn’t turn out how you had planned, but you wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Javier gave your shoulder three little squeezes, pulling you in close to his side. “Is he going to be around for awhile?” He questioned as he picked up the remote with his free hand, loosely holding onto it.

“I didn’t ask, but probably not.” You reached out and took the remote out of his hand, sitting it aside. “We should talk about this morning.

He exhaled heavily, pinching at the bridge of his nose. “I’d planned for us to talk about everything but that.”

A nervous laugh escaped you as you interlaced your fingers with his. “I know.” You swallowed thickly. “It’s not bad… it’s just—” You squeezed his hand tightly. “I think we should try for another month and then I think it’s time to accept that it’s just the three of us.”

Javier lifted your hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to it. “The three of us are perfect, baby.”

“Yeah.” You whispered, sinking into his side feeling defeated. You wished you could make it happen. That tomorrow you’d magically wake up pregnant. The thought of both of you being able to enjoy this from the start seemed like a vain wish now. “Are you excited to start teaching?”

He rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand, “I met a couple of the students this afternoon and they seem keen. We’ll see.” He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “They even gave me an office with a window.”

“We both ended up with windows,” You mused.

Javier chuckled. “I wanna bring you and Josie by later this week so you can see it.”

“That reminds me.” You squeezed his hand before you got up off the sofa. You headed down the hallway to the bedroom to get the gift you’d wrapped and hidden on your side of the closet. You returned, holding it out to him. “I meant to give this to you this morning, but…”

Javier took the parcel from you, unwrapping it slowly. “Baby, you shouldn’t have.”

You had taken the negatives of the photos from Colombia and had duplicates made to be framed. Four photos that captured so many memories from that era of your lives. Josie resting on Javier’s chest, both of them fast asleep a few days after you had brought her home; you and Javier kissing, a slightly blurry photo you’d relied on the timer for; Josie’s first bath; and a photo of the three of you when Josie was still so tiny.

“I thought you might like taking us to work with you.” You smiled at him as you settled down onto the sofa beside him.

“Maybe we should stop now.” Javier suggested as he looked up at you. “I hate how much this is stressing you out, baby.”

You chewed on your bottom lip, “Maybe we can just try to see if it’ll happen naturally.” You still weren’t ready to call it quits. Not entirely.

He nodded his head, staring down at the frame. “We’re good as three, aren’t we?”

“We are.” You leaned into his side. Part of you regretted that you had started this whole endeavor. You had thought it would be easy, free of heartache. But you had been wrong. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was the planning and the stress that was causing it to fail.

#javier pena #javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader

257 notes · View notes

antique-teacups · 6 years ago

Text

loving and leaving

word count: 3.1K

The thing about break ups isn’t getting over the heart ache. It’s about learning to put yourself back together later. Everyone can wallow in hurt for a bit, it’s human. You just must make sure it isn’t controlling you forever.

That’s the hard part. Forgiving that person who might have done you so wrong. Learning to love them in a new way. Understanding that they are who they are and nothing you can do will change that. Breaking up with David taught you a lot about yourself and worth.

When you were together, life seemed perfect. But not everything can work out just how you want it to. He never meant anything malicious, as far as you could tell. He just simply fell out of love with you. That was the part that scared you the most, those once endearing traits were now annoying and irritating. You still loved him. You weren’t sure you would ever stop.

But distance doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder, sometimes it takes the heart out of the equation.

You left LA because you needed something else in your life. You loved the friendships you had fostered with everyone, but it just didn’t feel like enough. You worked a job you hated in a field you didn’t care about. Data input. You wanted to write, open a coffee shop, publish a book. LA didn’t feel like it was a place for that dream.

Seattle did. It welcomed you with open arms and you instantly felt at home. You didn’t need to feign a smile and pretend you loved it. Seattle was everything you wanted.

When you first moved, David would come visit every open chance he had. Often times it was just to sit in your apartment and watch the rain come down. Ordering take out and cheesy romance movies became your perfect weekend. Till there were no more weekends with him.

As time stretched on, the distances between these visits increased. You wanted him next to you so badly some days it felt like an ache in your chest. Anytime you would reach out it felt like you were a burden. You were no longer part of that life. He was busy and had life of his own in LA, one you had voluntary left. You couldn’t blame him for not always making time for you. It still hurt like hell.

Eventually, it was like your LA life never existed. You never asked if things were over between you and David because you didn’t need clarification to understand it was. You resented him for this part, even if you were equally to blame. How easily he moved on. You struggled in LA and now that you were finally happy, and he didn’t want to be a part of your life anymore. You were truly happy, and it felt like he resented you for that. You wanted to be a part of his life, but LA wasn’t your home. You belonged here, in Seattle. But as the relationship crumbled you began doubting everything.

Illumination came quickly. Cropping up on social media were photos of the entire group. Each smiling and bright, nothing lack luster about it. Feeling the twinge of jealousy in your chest that you refused to indulge in, you closed it. He was allowed to be happy.

Truthfully, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to be together anymore. It wasn’t the fact that he closed you out of his life so easily. It wasn’t even that he was the most important thing in your life once and he didn’t give you the time of day anymore. What hurt was that you were so unhappy there. Never feeling at home, you stayed for them. You stayed because eventually you thought the feeling would go away.

The hopelessness of the situation would fade. You could finally embrace LA. That moment never came. He never saw how hard it was for you to be there. How it felt like an uphill battle you were destined to lose. Eventually, you faded out of his life totally. Leaving LA wasn’t the start, it just made you realize the truth.

Perhaps you were more committed to the relationship than he was. Would he have stayed for you? If he cared you two would still be together, right?

That was a year ago. Both of your lives had changed. You were nearly finished with your novel. Something you were extremely proud of. You loved your job, being a barista was the closest you could be to owning a coffee shop right now. You would take what you got.

You kept on his life through social media. Thinly veiled social interaction was the closest you two had gotten to actually speaking since then. When he stopped trying to keep you in his life, you let go. Letting go is easier than holding on. You loved him more than anyone else, but it couldn’t be a one-way relationship. You deserved more.

Heading back to LA came with guilt and uncertainty. Seeing those people who were once your closest confidant but now you hardly spoke to was going to be strange. Fear bloomed at the thought of seeing him. A closed book about any feelings towards each other you both were going into battle blind.

LA felt different when you finally got out of the airport. Less important, less intrusive, but just as chaotic. Seattle saw sunlight but there was something about the sun in LA that made it feel false. Fabricated. The sun was peaking, and the heat was sweltering. Hailing a cab, you pointed it in the direction of your hotel. You were in LA for a book convention. Hoping to make connections in the publishing world, you were hopeful for your writing career.

Watching as the world ran past the windows, the memories came flooding back. LA was a world of its own. A beast that will never be tamed. You remember all the nights hanging out with the group and just driving. In between the moments of unhappiness were times you were thankful for. You were thankful for all of them. But you were never meant to stay.

As the cab dropped you off in front of the hotel, you scanned the streets. Admittedly, part of you wanted to see him. Glance in his direction and see his eyes. The smile that caught you off guard again and again. The boyish grin that you fell in love with. The other part of you didn’t want to see him at all. Do not indulge in self destructive behavior you kept telling yourself.

Neither of you needed the distraction. Albeit, you still wanted it.

Lugging your bags into your room you thought about the beach. The ocean was something you could never get enough of. Even in Seattle you felt its pull, practically irresistible. So that’s where you were heading. A bit of sun and fresh air can do anyone good.

The walk was short, but the crowds were terrible. Bustlingly along like cattle waiting for slaughter, screaming and yelling, chaotic. Darting in and out to make your way around, you avoided the heaviest bits.

On a day as hot as this one, you weren’t surprised to find the beach packed. Eyeing up your favorite spot, luckily vacant, you silently thanked god for that. Stroke of luck. You brought along your journal, the book you were currently reading, “The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky”, and your phone. All tucked in your bag like a tool pouch. These few things were all you really needed to have a great day at the beach. Setting them out for a photo opportunity because what millennial would miss that? You snapped the photo and sent it off to Instagram. Plopping it onto your timeline and cracking your book open, you didn’t think much more about it.

You kept your LA trip to yourself. A short rendezvous purely for work purposes, you needed to stay in business mode. Going to the beach was warranted because you were in LA. But there wasn’t much room left for fun.

You sat in the shade of the palm tree and contently worked your way deeper into the book. Stopping to write down a note or two, you were totally engrossed in what you were doing. You hardly noticed the figure standing and watching. Walking closer, you felt the presence once they were towering over you.

“There’s plenty of beach for the both of us.” You scoffed out, barely glancing at the person eclipsing the sun. Waiting a couple of beats, they still hadn’t moved. Looking back up, it feels like the wind was knocked from your chest. Granted you wanted to see him, but you wanted it on your terms.

David stood quietly above you, watching the play of emotions run across your face. He looked older, but in “way more than a year” kind of way. His eyes were still soft but there was an intensity behind them you don’t remember being there. The set of his jaw told there were feelings lingering that weren’t exactly kind.

You wanted to say something, anything in that moment. Yet all of it felt meager and weak. Blame didn’t seem quite right, and an apology seemed like admitting you were wrong. Kindness felt fabricated and anger felt misplaced. You could hardly believe that he was right there in front of you. The same boy you loved but he seemed like a different person now.

“I don’t suppose a ‘Welcome Back’ is in order, now is it?” he asked. Sarcasm dripped from his tone. Unable to decipher whether it was meant to be a cut at your leaving, you remained silent. Arguing would fix nothing, not that there was much to fix.

“Cat got your tongue or is your voice still in Seattle?” tacking on a chuckle, he was trying to lighten the mood. Moving to sit next to you, he intently watched your face. You could still see the boy you fell in love with. The boy with a heart so big and a smile to match. His hair was longer than it had ever been, falling just barely into his eyes. Still clad in his black clothes, he had to be burning up. Yet, he kept his expression cool, unbothered.

Clearing your throat and looking at the water, “Yea, I am sorry. I wasn’t sure it was in either of our best interests to call. Out of sight out of mind seemed like the best option.” It was hard to look him in the eye. The feelings you tried so hard to crush down came rushing back to the surface. Blush was rushing to your cheeks, heart pounding, palms sweating. There was a nervousness about your persona that you don’t remember containing.

You could talk about book unashamed for over an hour, but this conversation made you feel like throwing up. His sweet smell came with the wind and you found yourself breathing deep. As much as you hated LA, you loved David.

“Avoidance was always your strong suit.” David joked, bumping your shoulders together. “I am sorry.” He stumbled out. That caught you off guard.

“Sorry?” Confusion laced your tone.

The wheels were turning behind his eyes. Trying to piece together where this was going, you hadn’t the vaguest idea.

“Can I take you somewhere?” He asked, holding his hand out to you. Placing your hand in his, you could feel the warmth radiating out of him. Pulling up till you were standing, he still didn’t let go of your hand, but you weren’t sure you wanted him to. The sun was still blazing, and the day seemed even hotter, but that had nothing to do with the sun.

He led to his Tesla, even opening the door like a gentleman. Plopping your bag on the floor and sliding in, you were taken back by the elegance of the car.

Jokingly you said, “You always had an eye for expensive things.” David laughed and caught your stare. He seemed stuck in a daze almost as if he wasn’t fully in the moment. As if he too were replaying the highlights of your relationship on loop right now.

Watching the world of LA whiz past the windows, there was a familiarity settling in your chest. Your mind knew better than to let it get it to comfortable, but your heart wanted it to stay.

Breaking out of your thoughts, “What brought you back to LA?” David inquires.

“My novel actually,” A proud smile spreads across your face, “I am finally almost done with it. I came back hoping to find some resources to continue my writing. I have a publisher for my current book, but it never hurts to keep looking for other options.” You explain.

“Options?”

“Yea, you know, make sure I find the best fit. The publishing world isn’t a one size fits all kind of thing.”

“Why did you come back to LA to look?” You could hear the hope in his tone. You already had an idea of the plan he was cooking up.

“Dave…” You mumble.

“Just a trip then. Noted.” He spoke curtly. The air in the Tesla felt denser, more difficult to breath. There were things hanging in the air between that neither of you were certain enough to speak. A million things strung together will unspoken goodbyes, apologies, and strands of love.

One thing you never knew when you left was how abandoned David felt. He thought maybe it was a phase, that you would find your way back to LA. Find your way back to him. Yet, as time drug on, it seemed like you were pulling away. You became more invested in the life you had in Seattle than holding onto him. He understood you wanted to pursue this passion, but he never expected to be left in the dust.

You both felt left behind, each forgotten from the other. It was simple miscommunication. The perfect cliché for your relationship.

You let the ‘I am sorry’ churn in your mind the rest of the silent ride. You were sorry too. He brought the car to stop at the Hollywood sign, one of your favorite places to go together. He opens his door and climbs out, waiting for you to join him.

“Now would be the time in the murder mystery where the murdering happens.” You joke. Earning a small chuckle, he motions you to walk with him. The silence between you has become almost unbearable. This was never the dynamic for you two. Each harboring feelings from the other.

Reaching the best point on the lookout, he glances over to you. Swimming in his eyes is pain. Whether it was because of you, or directed at you, was uncertain. There was a lot to be said between the both of you.

“When you first moved, I was so excited for you. Granted, I couldn’t understand why that dream couldn’t come to bloom here. But, I was trying so hard to be supportive. As time went on, it was like you didn’t care about anything but your new life. It was like you didn’t care about me anymore.” David lamented.

Not what you were expecting to hear.

“David.” You whined. This conversation was steering in a direction you couldn’t control. It would tumble out of your control at some point.

“No, Y/N, I kept waiting for you to come back. I understand you have a life there, but what about all of us? Am I not allowed to be angry with you?”

“It’s not like I left to get away from you! David, I wanted you there with me more than anything. It just didn’t seem like you wanted to be there.” Exasperated, you ring your hands together. “That life, is one I am finally happy in. Isn’t that enough?” You ask.

“Why couldn’t you be happy here with me?” David asks in a whisper. You probably weren’t supposed to hear it. LA will chew you up and spit you out. LA will leave a nicotine stain on your lungs if you aren’t careful. Leaning forward on the railing, you put your head in your hands. There were a million things on your mind for the book expo, but now part of you wished you could rewind back. This conversation wasn’t the one you wanted to have right now.

Both of you needed answers and explanations but that wasn’t going to happen today.

“Why did you apologize? Why the sudden “I am sorry” after so much radio silence?” you ask. They often say that ignorance is better, but curiosity got the best of you. “What’s there to be sorry about? We both were changing, and it didn’t work out. That’s life David. No one is to blame here.”

Desperation clouded his features. “We didn’t try to make it work. I let you leave without even trying to make you stay. I let you walk away. But you always let me leave, too.”

“Let you leave? David, I can’t just drop everything all the time. I wanted you there. I love Seattle. I hate LA. Does that come as a surprise? I never told you because you love it here. I can hardly breath here.” David sighs, long and slow. Relief flooded in your chest. “I didn’t want to leave but I had to. I thought maybe if you saw how happy I was there you would want to come with. Looking back, I understand that was a lot put on your shoulders without us even talking about. Clearly, both of us are harboring feelings the other didn’t even know about.”

“I am sorry.” He repeats. “I am sorry I couldn’t see those things. I am sorry I was blinded by my own happiness that I never took a moment to check up on yours. Please, can we try again? Even if its just as friends?” The question hangs in the air between, but you both know the answer.

“Are we still those people we were a year ago? Do you really want to try and navigate this again? We couldn’t make the distance work the first time.” You ask.

“If it means you are back in my, I would travel across the Milky Way.” Hope blossomed in your chest. Maybe you two loved each other just enough to make it work.

#david dobrik #david dobrik x reader #david dobrik imagine #david x reader #davids vlogs #vlog squad

102 notes · View notes

steves-on-a-plane · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter Four: Stayin’ Alive

Renowned and Illustrious Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Words: 1204 Crossover Fic: Grey’s Anatomy x Iron Man/MCU Timeline: Grey’s Anatomy Season 3 & Pre-Iron Man 1 Pairings: Meredith Grey x Derek Shepard & Tony Stark x Pepper Potts Other Relationships: Brother!Tony Stark & Sister!Meredith Grey Summary: Tony returns to the hospital to find that both Meredith and Elis have taken a turn for the worst while the hospital staff is pushed to their limits only one Grey will survive. Next Chapter will be posted: October 23, 2019

At first drinking with Christina had been...what was the word? Fun? No. Amusing? Not even close. Whatever the word, Tony had found it helpful to toss back a few drinks with someone who looked as awful as he felt. For awhile the pair lived in some sort of alternate reality. One silently convincing the other that their active alcohol consumption was in no way a cry for help. It was a good run while it lasted, and then Yang's boyfriend had to show up and ruin it.

"Some do, you know, come back from this." Dr. Burke, a fellow Cardiothoracic Surgeon, introduced himself to the Billionaire and informed him that there was still no change in Meredith's condition. Despite the lack of improvement he remained optimistic. Christina and Tony, who remained drunk from both alcohol and their own bitterness, did not share his view of the situation.

"You know what? I am not a civilian." Christina slurred. "I know the science here. It's drinking time."

"Not yet." Burke disagreed. "You have a responsibility to Meredith..."

"And that's my cue to leave!" Tony slid a wad of cash in Joe's direction before getting down from his bar stool. If he was going to get a lecture on responsibility, he might as well do it across the street. At least Pepper was easy on the eyes. So he wandered back to the hospital, completely unaware that he had accidentally stolen Yang's chair from the ninety-nine cent store. If Meredith wasn't unconscious at the moment she would be lecturing her brother herself.

This is a typical Stark move. He could hear her voice chiding him from inside her skull. The exact second responsibility comes up in conversation you bail! He rolled his eyes. It wasn't like Mer was the pinnacle of responsibility herself. Up until a very recent divorce, she had been having a very public affair with McSteamy or McDreamy whatever they called the brain guy. Speaking of the brain guy, wasn't that him crying in Elis Grey's room?

Tony stumbled in to his step-mother's room. Pepper had fallen asleep on the couch just inside. He sympathized. Being with Elis for more than a few minutes was enough to tire anyone into a comma. Though he suspected their unscheduled cross-country trip may also have something to do with his assistant's snoozing. The brain guy didn't seem to notice Tony as he wiped a tear from his eye. He got off the couch, glaring at Elis.

"You broke her." Derek mumbled. "You call her ordinary. You taught her time and time again that nothing she does, ever, is good enough. Every good thing that Meredith is happened despite you."

A cold chill ran through Tony's body. Dr. Shepherd was putting to words something that Meredith and her brother never spoke about. Especially not to each other. From the day their families had merged Ellis Grey had made it clear that she had expected great things from both of them. After all he was the son of a wealthy inventor and she was the daughter of a world renowned surgeon. Howard Stark of course expected the same impossibly high standards. It was an uphill battle that both siblings still fought to overcome well into their adult lives.

"She may not survive this and that's on you." Derek hissed. This statement pulled the young billionaire from his own thoughts. Sure Ellis and Howard could probably take the gold for the worst parents in the last century, but could they really be blamed for Meredith drowning?

"What are you talking about?" He snorted from the doorway. Derek spun around, he had though he was alone in the room with Pepper.

"Meredith knows how to swim." Derek said as if what he was implying was obvious.

"You think that she went into the water on purpose?" Some of the drunken fog was clearing from Tony's head as he started putting the pieces together.

"She knows how to swim. She is a good swimmer." The sentence hung in the air. Tony highly doubted that what Shepherd was implying could be true. He had known Meredith most of his life, sure they had fallen out of touch recently, but this seemed an extreme accusation even for a Grey. Yet there was a sliver in the back of his mind that reminded him just how dark his own thoughts could be. He remembered the Olympic sized swimming pool they had in the mansion growing up. She is a good swimmer.

There wasn't a lot of time to think after that. Elis' monitors began beeping. A nurse in the hall started calling for a code blue. Derek sprang into action. He was coordinating with the team of nurses to insert a breathing tube. Somewhere amongst the commotion, Pepper woke up. A male nurse had just begun CPR, when her hand brushed against Tony's elbow.

"Tony we should get out of their way." she said. He shrugged her hand away.

"No. I'm staying. I have to." Elis was gone in the blink of an eye. It had happened so quickly Tony was certain she'd been asleep. Then Pepper was dragging him down the hall towards an elevator. She said something about Meredith. They had to say goodbye to Meredith. Tony had never dealt with death well. His mother died before he was old enough to remember much about her. His father killed in a tragic car accident. Now it seemed he was going to lose the only family he had left all in a single day.

When they arrived in the ICU Yang and Burke were the only ones there. It seemed he had managed to coax her back to the hospital after all. Tony noticed, as his blood seemed to solidify in his body, that there were no other doctor's present. Only he and Pepper stood with Preston and Christina looking down at Meredith's already blue complexion. The monitors began to flatline just as they had upstairs for Ellis.

"Try again." Christina whispered. When she realized that Bailey and the Chief couldn't hear her she shouted at them in the hallway. "TRY AGAIN!" Miranda Bailey, who had never once taken orders from an intern during her entire medical career, shared and empathetic look with Richard Webber the Chief of Surgery. It was no secret that Webber had a soft spot for Grey either. Given that he and Elis were long time friends.

"Mr. Stark?" It took several seconds for Tony to realize Webber was asking for his permission as Meredith's next of kin. Despite every scientific molecule in his body telling him it would not work, he gave Webber the go ahead.

"One more round of ACLS drugs." Bailey said.

"One more." Webber agreed and they got to work. While it was obvious they were working hard, it was clear the medical team lacked the same ferocity that had been displayed upstairs. No one was expecting further treatments to work. The entire room had resigned Meredith to death.

There was a beep of hope.

"Sinus Brady. We got a heartbeat." Dr. Bailey observed. Burke produced his stethoscope and manually began checking for signs of life.

"We got it." He confirmed. Meredith Grey was alive.

#meredith grey #Meredith Grey Fan Fiction #Meredith Grey Fan fic #Meredith Grey FF #Tony Stark FF #Tony Stark Fan fiction #Tony Stark Fan Fic #Grey's Anatomy FF #Grey's Anatomy Fan Fiction #Crossover Fic #Crossover Fan Fiction

3 notes · View notes

kaitycole · 7 years ago

Text

A Royal Mess (Part Five)

Summary: Leo and Kate exchange some heated words before a familiar face comes in to bring comfort. But could Liam’s scandal be the only scandal to come to the surface?

Word Count: 1770

P.S. This took two very different twists than I was expecting but here we are, enjoy and if you like it, please reblog!

Tag List: @chiarace @grimalkjn @jyreusser85 @hopefulmoonobject

And a special thanks to @enmchoices for helping me through writer’s block and giving me great advice!

“Pay…her…off?” Liam tests each word on his tongue, still not seeming to be completely coherent.

Leo scrunches his eyebrows together but isn’t entirely opposed to the idea.

“Yes. We come up with some story about how she’s unfit, pay her to do this and poof, she’s gone.”

“The fact that she was formerly engaged to another brother may strengthen this. However, Madeline is power-hungry, not so much wanting money.” Leo stands and starts slightly pacing.

Drake and Leo go back and forth throwing possibilities out while Liam is still sitting completely still. After a few minutes, the two of them still talking amongst each other when Liam finally speaks up.

“There’s only one way to find out,” he says causing Drake and Leo to stop in their tracks. “We ask her.”

Leo is wide-eyed as Drake slowly nods, “So you plan to just straight up ask her?”

“Why not? I’m running out of options.” Liam stands up and starts walking to go back into the palace.

Leo steps in front of him, blocking his baby brother, “Don’t you think we should have a plan?”

“I actually agree with Leo on this.” Drake adds as Liam has pushed passed Leo and is now being blocked by Drake.

“I plan on raising my child with the woman I love,” he talks a couple paces before stopping and turning to face them. “Nothing will get in my way.”

Leo and Drake share a look, “This isn’t like him.”

Drake remains even faced, “This is because of you.” He walks off after Liam, leaving Leo alone in the maze.

Leo knows he isn’t wrong, that this could all be different if he’d been different. Even though Drake’s words held some truth, it didn’t hold the whole truth. Without him leaving the crown, Liam never would have had a “bachelor” party. Liam would’ve been betrothed to Olivia or some other stiff noble.

Leo sits down on the bench and for the first time in a while wonders about his mother. Maybe if she’d have stayed around she could’ve calmed his adventurous tendencies. No, she couldn’t because she had the same ones which was why she had left. It wasn’t often that he thought of her, but he knew when he did it was because he was wanting to leave everything and go as he had done so many times before.

“Leo?” A feminine voice calls out to him.

“Over here.” Looking up from the ground, he sees his much pregnant wife doing a slight waddle that has become a favorite sight of his.

“What’s going on? You’ve been out here for almost an hour and Liam just came in and said he needed to see your father, Madeline, and the two of us.” She knits her brow, reading her husband’s face before sitting down.

He remains silent, not sure what to tell her. That his brother is about to release a huge scandal that could completely destroy Cordonia. Or that all of this makes him want to leave all his responsibilities just like the day after their wedding or the day after the twins were born, hell he had even had that feeling when she told him they were expecting their third child.

“You have that look in your eye again,” she pauses as he gives her a puzzled look, “the one you get when you want to leave it all behind.”

“How’d you know that?” There’s a tinge of guilt in his tone, knowing that she’s picked up on these terrible thoughts.

“You can take an animal out of the wild, but not the wild out of the animal.” She leans over and kisses his cheek.

He sits there, hating the calm and judgement-free tone that Kate has. He knows she’s never had that feeling, she’s embraced everything he’s thrown at her but here he was, ready to bail after promising her the world.

“Leo? What’s bothering you right now?” She gently places her hand on his and strokes it with her thumb.

He shakes his head, his blonde hair falling slightly in his face. “Look at this mess I made because I was selfish.”

For the first time in years, Kate felt guilty. It wasn’t something that she showed anyone, especially Leo, especially while in Cordonia but she could feel herself letting it grow across her face. She knew Leo talked about abdicating before they had met, that it wasn’t her fault, but there were days she felt she only could blame herself.

She put on a brave face when Regina threw shots at her, trying to place the blame on someone but that even chipped away at her. She smiled at the press even when she knew what they had said about her causing imbalance within the Crown and even when she heard whispers about how Americans seemed to bring dismay to their nation. But seeing Leo completely broken, consumed with guilt, she finally broke.

“Leo, it’s my fault!” He quickly snaps his head up to protest but Kate keeps talking, “I should’ve talked you into becoming King, I could’ve used my sway to help Cordonia instead of for selfish reasons.”

He places his hand on her cheek, “How did I get so lucky? This is on me, my princess. I knew I wasn’t going to be king shortly after my sixteenth birthday.”

Kate knits her eyebrows together, “What? What do you mean?”

“My father had Liam and I sit in one of his meetings. For me it was to help get me prepared for the duties of the king, for Liam, he was there because I was there and he liked being with me. But shortly into it, Liam was actually engaged in it, he was only ten but he’s wise beyond his years. I couldn’t be bothered to even look up from my lap but Liam was actually giving input. But I don’t like to lose. I hated being shown up by my baby brother and so I really tried to play the part. To act as the Crown Prince, but I kept falling short. I wasn’t meant to have a whole country look to me for answers when I barely knew what to do myself.

“I thought maybe the social season would be more my pace, it was tradition but it also had fun party aspects that I craved. However, it didn’t work out and I left because my whole life I wanted to be seen as Leo, but all those women, they just wanted my title, the part of me that I tried so hard to hide away. I got on my motorcycle and I drove far from home and that’s when I met you and for the first time in my life I wasn’t Crown Prince Leo. To you I was Leo, the crazy European guy who was always disappearing for periods of time and then I told you the truth and you didn’t care about my title.”

“I know that Leo but what does that have to do with now?”

“Because I couldn’t accept my title, because I let my selfish wants get in the way of the bigger picture, of what I was born to do, Cordonia is going to suffer greatly. Riley seems to be pregnant with the next heir to the throne.”

Kate shakes her head in shock trying to map out the timeline as Leo catches her up to speed. “Leo, this isn’t your fault. This has nothing to do with you not being king.”

Before he can think, he lashes out, “Why aren’t you understanding!?! If I was king, Liam wouldn’t have met Riley, he wouldn’t have had to choose between Cordonia and his heart. His best friend wouldn’t hate me and I could be the one who didn’t try to marry for love but he could’ve instead of being in a meaningless marriage.”

“Didn’t try to marry for love? So, you didn’t marry for love? Sorry I didn’t get the memo that this marriage has been such an inconvenience!” Kate tries to get up and rush away but a huge baby bump prevents her from gaining much speed.

“Kate, please sit down.” Leo pleads but sees the anger on her face and knows she’s not going to listen to him.

“No! I have been nothing but patient with you, Leo! I stayed when I walked in only to find out that you had a fiancé, since you seem to forget that. I have held my breath every time you got that look in your eye hoping I didn’t cause something to push you over the edge. I’ve listened to you beat yourself up for years over Liam becoming king. But I’m done now especially since I’m standing here pregnant with your baby while our twins are in the palace, hearing you tell me that somehow after all that’s happened, there wasn’t any love.”

“Kate. I didn’t mean it like that.” Leo tries to reason.

“You and Madeline were clearly meant to be together.”

He reaches out for her as she pushes passed him but she brushes him off telling him not to follow her. Kate wonders back into the palace and into their suite before finally letting herself break.

She wasn’t sure if it was the pregnancy hormones or what that caused her to fall apart like she had. She couldn’t believe Leo, after everything that they’d been through, everything they overcame: Madeline, Nana’s ridiculous inheritance tasks, her ex boyfriend, and the uphill battle from the press, now it seemed like none of it was worth it.

There’s a small knock on the door, “Kate.”

“Not now Leo!” She shouts but the door still opens.

“I come in peace,” Damien says holding his hands up.

She can’t help but smile at his usual banter. Damien had come back into Leo’s life a couple years ago and the three of them had become fast friends and it was always nice having someone who knew Leo around for Kate.

“I didn’t mean to yell at you.” She apologizes.

“To be honest, I’m just glad I’m not Leo,” he laughs. “Anything you need to talk about?”

“Same ol’ same ol’ with Leo when we are here in Cordonia. I want to never come back but I think the twins deserve to know about their family here and how important it is. This place just brings stress and heartbreak.”

He reaches his hand out and gently rubs her swollen stomach, “Is Cordonia important for this little guy’s history too? Or could his be a little different?”

Kate places her hand on his and sighs.

#trr #trr prince #roe leo #roe mc #trr mc #trr drake #trr roe crossover #choices: stories you play #choices

55 notes · View notes

gdelgiproducer · 6 years ago

Text

DOTV AU: An Exercise in Alternate History (Part VIII)

Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and VII offer more detailed context. (To briefly sum up why these posts are happening: alt history – as in sci fi, not “alternative facts” – buff, one day got the idea that DOTV could have turned out hella different if Jim Steinman looked for a star lead in other places, decided to reason out how that might work.) This is still getting a good response, so I’m gonna keep the train rolling.

Parts of the AU timeline established so far:

Instead of stopping at recording two songs from Whistle Down the Wind on a greatest hits compilation, Meat Loaf wound up taking more of an interest in Steinman’s new theater work than he did in our timeline, and through a series of circumstances found himself volunteering to play Krolock in the impending DOTV when Jim poured out his woes to him about needing to find some sort of star to attract investors. At a loss for any better ideas, Jim accepted Meat’s impulsive proposal, but not without resistance from his manager, David Sonenberg, who proposed Michael Crawford as an alternate candidate. Through quick thinking on Meat’s part, and inspiration on Jim’s, Crawford left the room accepting an entirely different role than he walked in hoping to get, leaving Krolock still open for Meat.

There was a brief speed bump, when Meat disliked Jim’s English script for the show, but after meeting with the original German author Michael Kunze and convincing Jim to compromise, things were on the road to being back on track… at least until 9/11 occurred.

Following a brief hiatus, everyone involved met to re-assess their options. The current game-plan was to put the new script on paper, schmooze with potential investors or producers, and put together a new creative team. Preferably not all at the same time, but with the crunch on, they’d do whatever needed to be done.

Schmoozing went well, but everybody that Meat, Jim, and the crew wanted to be involved was tentative. The conclusion reached was that they needed to show them there was a working show, which resulted in a concert of selections from the score paid for by none other than Courtney Love (!) that received some in-depth press coverage.

Now we join our heroes as new wrinkles emerge in the path to Broadway.

A week after the concert of selections from Dance of the Vampires (and after Michael Riedel noting that Meat Loaf has yet to sign on the dotted line for the show), a brief story appears in Rolling Stone’s Random Notes section: “Rocker Meat Loaf announced this week that he has terminated the management services of Allen Kovac and is currently seeking new representation. Kovac, who is in the process of leaving Left Bank Management to form his own firm, issued the following statement which is believed to be a comment on the heavyset singer’s departure, though he is not mentioned by name: ‘I don’t tell artists what they want to hear, I tell them what I know to be true. When I first sign an artist I let them know that I’m not their friend. Too many artists don’t measure their manager on their performance; they measure them on how many times they’ve been invited to their house. That’s not my style. If an artist is going to be successful, you need to tell them how to run their business -- not ask them how to run their business. Does it work? Look it up: no artist has ever done better after leaving my company.’” Requests from the Vampires team to speak to Meat about what’s up are met with total radio silence.

Meanwhile, the business side of Vampires continues to shore up. Jim Steinman receives delighted reports from his manager, David Sonenberg, that Jerry Weintraub and the Weisslers are ready to commit, bumping the total number of producers thus far up to nine. “How’s it looking now?” Jim queries. “Well, remember we’re trying to raise 15 million,” says David. “I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but it will be an uphill battle.” “What else is new in the theater?” Steinman grumbles in response. “On the bright side, we can now tighten the list of how many producers we need to seven.”

The representatives from Concerts West, based in L.A., get back to them within the week. Reports Sonenberg to all parties by e-mail: “They’re interested, but only if it tours. Live touring events are what they do, and the theatrical market is something they haven’t explored; they’d be more comfortable with a national tour than a Broadway run, it’s more similar to what they do at a nuts-and-bolts level.” A decision is ultimately reached by quorum to make Concerts West’s involvement in a national tour contingent on investing in the Broadway run first, and the counter-offer is duly sent their way.

As the business side shores up, the creative side is beginning to percolate as well. Meetings are had with John Rando, the Urinetown director who attended the concert and spoke very enthusiastically about the show in Riedel’s column. He’s very excited about the chance to work on the show, both to work with David Ives again (having done numerous shows at Encores! together, he feels working with David will be really special and help focus the play) and especially to work with Meat. “I’d get to hear him sing every day,” Rando enthuses. “That’s a blessing. Can you imagine that? Every single day of your life you get to hear that voice.” He also ticks the right boxes when it comes to the commercial appeal of the piece and how it meshes with his vision for the show: “It’s such a different reality. It’s silly and fun and kind of glamorous, too. These vampires sort of pull you in and you find you’re turned on by them, too! It’s a wonderful, Gothic playground.” When asked for suggestions for a choreographer, and more specifically if they should ask his choreographer on Urinetown, John Carrafa, to be a part of the show, Rando is mildly hesitant but mostly enthusiastic. Jim is admittedly happiest when it comes to Rando’s assessment of how much creative control he should be allowed to have: “Look, Jim, what are you worried about? It’s your baby! You’ve been working on it forever! The quality, the tone, the ideas, the music... this play is all you! You’d be very much a part of it.”

More progress is made when a new set designer is engaged: David Gallo. Jim immediately likes him instinctively, when, upon meeting him for the first time, Gallo stops the interview process dead. “I have two things to tell you before we continue. Number one: I’m probably the only set designer in America who still subscribes to Heavy Metal Magazine. Number two: I bought Bat Out of Hell because I saw the album cover artwork and decided I had to have it before I even heard the music.” This is no idle compliment, considering the album cover was conceived by Steinman and executed by Richard Corben... and a sequence very similar to the events depicted on the cover forms the shape of one of Vampires’ opening scenes. His sample sketches of the sets are surprisingly atmospheric as well.

The more things shape up on the creative end, however, the more everyone on the business side of the table nervously eyes the chair where Meat Loaf should be. Since his firing of Kovac, who was more a hindrance than a help so is not really missed, he hasn’t said word one to anybody. Irving Azoff, widely proclaimed the biggest agent in the world, who attended the concert and may be interested in the show, is sending them queries about who is managing Meat now, hinting that he has his eye on Meat as a client. But nobody knows what’s going on with him. When he is finally able to get him on the phone, Jim pleads with Meat to see him, one on one if need be. Meat agrees.

The scene: Le Bar Bat, in Hell’s Kitchen on West 57th. Only 9 years prior, Steinman had conducted an interview for Bat Out of Hell II at this very establishment, celebrating his and Meat Loaf’s long-awaited reunion. Plastic bats still hang from the ceiling, and the bar is still sparsely attended. A deafening fusion group still plays a seemingly endless set. Steinman greets them, as per tradition, with a cheery “fuck off!” as they finish a tune. Meat sits alone in a booth, awaiting Jim’s arrival. He rummages through his CBS Records holdall, his shoulder juddering as if it were a pneumatic drill. His graying hair could do with a shampoo. Finally, he finds what he is seeking: a couple of throat lozenges, which he pops. “Jimmy, I don’t think I can do the show.” Immediately Jim’s heart is in his throat: “WHAT?!?” “What we’re about to do is insane! Lunatic. Totally insane. We’re just gonna go out there in front of everybody with our pants down!” Jim, searching for a way to respond, can only come out with “Think of it as a character-building experience! It’ll be amazing!”

“Have you read what your fans are saying about this on the Internet? They’re saying you should be sticking aside all the old, fat guys named after a dinner dish! ‘Get rid of Meat Loaf.’ They don’t want to see me do this!” “Now, Meat, come on. You know better than to buy into their bullshit. If I believed what I read on the Internet about anything I should do, I’d never get anything done. You’re going to be glad that you stuck with it.” “Well... we need to go out of town first. New York is the hardest when it comes to people being critical. We’re gonna be judged. A lot.” “Meat, you know we can’t afford to do that. Besides, every musical that you’ve done on Broadway has opened cold in New York. I like having the preview audience be the New York audience. There’s no BS -- they’re right there telling you what you need to fix. It’s great.”

Meat heaves a sigh: “Jimmy, I’ll be honest with you; I’m more tired now than I was when Amanda was two months old!” “Meat, listen to me. We have a lot of time. We’re gonna work very hard and very slowly. I know you’re not good at dealing with change, but you really have to stay focused and believe in the project.” “But Jimmy, it’s huge! It’s got to be one of the biggest shows on Broadway right now without even opening yet. And there’s still so much to work out.”

“What happened to Allen?” “He never believed in the show. You saw what happened when he kept the door open for Night of the Proms. After the concert, I called him to ask why he wasn’t there, and he said to me, ‘Y’know, an album and a tour are still possibilities, so why not do that instead? At least you know that will sell.’ We got into it pretty hard, and he called our show garbage. He said I did better off away from you, and that if I did this album and the tour, I could retire, or I could come back afterwards if you wanted to talk Bat III, but he was adamant that I was not doing this show. It became pretty clear to me that it was going to come down to either you or him.” Jim, touched, perhaps even a little misty-eyed: “And you chose me?” “As if I had a choice! Jim, you’re my brother. I love you... more than you’ll ever know.”

A beat of silence, awkward, emotional, and then... “Irving Azoff liked the concert.” “Yeah?” “He keeps calling us. I think he wants to sign you, and he wants to do the show too. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a manager who was on the same page?” “...will it get him to produce if I sign with him?” “I dunno. Maybe?” “I’ll give him a call. What else is going on?” Jim proceeds to update him on everything going on with the show, culminating in the reminder that they have a meeting with John Carrafa coming up to decide his suitability to the choreographic duties. “Can I count on you to be there?” “Jim, I’m signing the contract for a year, manager or no manager. If we’re fortunate enough to run, that’s how long I’ll be here. And then I’ll be in a nursing home, no doubt!” For the first time all night, both men laugh. A rosy future may well be in sight.

TO BE CONTINUED!

1 note · View note

livinginlandmarketing · 4 years ago

Link

In March 2020, as the nascent pandemic was gaining a foothold in the United States, a friend kept nudging Michelle Bernier to make masks.

A reluctant Bernier — owner of an apron-making business — finally gave in, making a few and showing her friend how to do it. She posted the results on social media, and within days demand skyrocketed.

For Bernier, and many who mobilized in those early days of unprecedented shut downs, it was a 9/11 moment. Unity. Together. A common enemy. It was a chance for American Baby Boomers, Generations X, Y, Z, to have their own “Greatest Generation” — just substitute World War II for a virus and Bernier for Rosie the Riveter.

Except it wasn’t.

“That’s not what it feels like this time,” Bernier said, reflecting on the year since California shut down orders began. “After 9/11, everybody was friendlier to each other,” said Bernier, who in those early days of March 2020 got the help of her family as her La Habra-based production of aprons turned to masks. “They were actually talking to each other. It’s not like that now … It’s really built a wedge between everybody.”

Michelle Bernier poses for a photograph, holding the masks she made, at La Habra City Hall on Friday, March 5, 2021. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

A year after Bernier started making her masks, Americans are as divided as ever – fractured over a love for liberty, which has become tangled in steps to assure the health of the larger community.

The very pieces of cloth that Bernier was making would soon become flashpoint symbols. They would both hobble the battle against the virus and fuel a poltical fight that made its way to a fatal riot at the Capitol.

You could see the fractures play out in real time over the last year in ways large, small, subtle and noisy.

In Orange County, in the pandemic’s early days of shutdown, the county’s top public health official Nichole Quick recommended mandatory face masks for all residents, only to be met with fierce public outcry and personal attacks. She would ultimately leave her role.

In Los Angeles County, Grace Community Church, in the San Fernando Valley, defied public health orders, standing steadfast on the right to worship indoors — a right bolstered after a string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

In Riverside County, back in October, with case rates threatening to regress, defiant supervisors voted in favor of a revised COVID-19 reopening plan to put the county on a faster track to reopening its economy than the state recommends.

Supporters of Riverside County defying state coronavirus guidelines and reopening businesses along a faster timeline wave signs during the Board of Supervisors’ Sept. 22 meeting (File photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG).

Anti-mask tirades erupted in grocery stores, an anti-vaccination rally briefly closed down Dodger Stadium’s massive vaccination site, massive gatherings stormed Orange County beaches.

And then, worst of all, there were the elevated hate incidents against Asian-Americans. A year later, such incidents continue. The pandemic didn’t unite the nation; it simply became a reflection of the politically divided nation, on a mammoth scale.

Liberty, Trump and mixed messages

Rex Parris has no regrets about the bash his city held for the Fourth of July 2020.

Parris — the mayor of Lancaster and an outspoken critic of the county’s public health response — was not going to let the city’s annual celebration just not happen.

L.A. County had required the cancellation of all displays — including the giant ones. And everyone from Gov. Gavin Newsom to the county’s public health chief Barbara Ferrer were urging local cities to refrain.

Parris remained defiant all the way to the moment he himself flipped the switch for the show at the city’s giant soccer facility, despite the state’s fire marshal telling him the show was being shut down.

“For more than 200 years, every Fourth of July we have celebrated our independence, and we have done this with fireworks,” Parris said at the time. “What the (expletive) is the matter with these people? If I thought that one more person was going to get sick because of us doing this, I wouldn’t do it.”

Others were even more blunt.

“I was being forced and told, and in America that’s not the way it’s supposed to be,” Councilman Darrell Dorris, a pastor, told the Southern California News Group at the time. “Anything that feels like tyranny, we have the right to rebel against it.”

A year later, Parris, who was the first local dignitary among a crowd of Republicans to meet then President Donald Trump on the LAX tarmac on his February 2020 trip to L.A., is very much for masks and physical distancing. But he defends his July 4 display.

“The Fourth of July was not in any way foregoing safety,” he said. “We weren’t bringing people into an assembly of any kind. They were in their cars. They were told to wear their masks.”

But even Parris took note of the politicalization of the pandemic.

Masks — or the lack of wearing them — became a “macho thing,” he said, bolstered by an American president who rarely wore one.

“He used it as a unifying symbol for his base,” Parris said.

The narrative became “they can’t take your freedom away. We have to fight these liberals on the coasts. Then that became a political symbol.”

But the fractured response from a polarized nation is not all on Trump, say leaders and officials who’ve been on the frontline of the response.

President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus, accompanied by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Thursday, April 16, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A series of mixed messages from leaders to an audience of Americans already skeptical didn’t help.

Even Dr. Paul Simon, L.A. County’s chief science officer, acknowledged that initial public messaging was not ideal.

“I remember back in February and March, I was not very receptive to face masks,” he said. “But over time, with more … and with evidence from other countries, and it became very quickly apparent that masks could be very effective.”

“We were learning as we were going, so some of the messaging had to be fine-tuned and altered over time, and then that fed some of the doubt among some segments of our soceity,” Simon said, adding that even under the best of circumstances, a fully unified response may not have even been possible.

But for a nation already divided, that doubt was a huge catalyst.

Frantic business owners’ livelihoods were on the line. Theme parks were closing. Sports: Done. Schools: Closing. The economy was cratering.

And by May, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors was fed up with state mandates. Eager for businesses to re-open, they voted to rescind a mandate for residents to cover their faces and practice social distancing while in public.

At the time, Supervisor Jeff Hewitt put an exclamation point on it: “We have a moral authority to save our dead and they’re dying out there … (Gov. Gavin Newsom) is destroying so many lives … There are times when people have to say enough is enough … I will not be complicit in following any of the governor’s orders.”

‘The sweet spot of controversy’

By the time the supervisors took their vote, COVID-19 had effectively “hit a sweet spot of controversy,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, a professor of epidemiology and community health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

“Had that number been 10 times less 0.1%, back down to like influenza, we would have been saying ‘oh, this is interesting. We have a new virus and we don’t have to close down society,” Kim-Farley said.

A number 10 times higher, closer to SARS, and people would have more fully embraced the public health measures, maybe even offered to do more, Kim-Farley surmised.

“However at this 1% level you have legitimately arising two different camps,” he said. “One saying yes it is 1% every life is precious but there are other things that are important too.”

Meanwhile, scientists were stuck trying to explain it all between the two bitterly divided sides.

“But it’s really hard to explain, when you’re dealing with shades of gray,” said Andrew Noymer, professor of public health at UC Irvine. “We’re stuck painting the shades of grey and it’s difficult to explain.”

Elected leaders tried, but in a now politically charged climate it was an uphill climb.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti appeared on CNN, lamenting the division that was hindering the response and fueling the spread.

“This virus preys on our division,” he said.

Not sold

Still, a year after local and state Safe-at-Home orders first took effect, Orange County Supervisor Donald Wagner isn’t sold on the World War II analogy.

“The war analogy, it doesn’t track,” he said. “During a war, you know who the enemy is. You know the capacity you have to go after it. In this case, we were inventing stuff on the fly. No. 2: The burdens didn’t seem to be all shared. You could go to a Target, buy you can’t go to the mom-and-pop down the street. It’s like if during World War II, you know where bad guys are and you’re attacking the bad guys three beaches over.”

FILE – In this June 30, 2020, file photo, Gov. Gavin Newsom removes his face mask before giving an update during a visit to Pittsburg, Calif. Newsom said in a statement Friday, Nov. 13, that he should not have attended a birthday dinner with a dozen people at the posh French Laundry restaurant last week, saying that he should have set a better example for a virus-fatigued state that is seeing steep increases in coronavirus cases. Newsom’s decision to attend was made as he’s been telling others to not mingle with others outside their households. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, Pool, File)

Wagner — roiled by inconsistences in the state response and still simmering over Newsom’s French Laundry dinner — is leading the push to recall the governor.

“I am one who does believe that the government has a responsibility for public heath,” he said. “When you get to the liberty question, I believe they have overstepped that authority.”

Newsom acknowledged mistakes in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but insists the recall effort against him has more to do with politics than the public health crisis.

“It’s about immigration. It’s about our health care policies. It’s about our criminal justice reform. It’s about the diversity of the state. It’s about our clean air, clean water programs, meeting our environmental strategies,” he told radio station KQED in San Francisco.

Recall organizers are Republicans and say they have collected nearly 2 million signatures, well above the 1.5 million needed by March 17 to force an election. The GOP has only 24% of registered California voters, but organizers say they are attracting Democrats and independents.

Newsom, meanwhile, said “of course” he regrets attending that infamous unmasked dinner.

“That’s those things you can never get back,” he said. “And, you know, I owned up to that. And no one hid from that. And that was a mistake. Crystal clear.”

‘I’m right. You’re evil’

Kambiz “Kamy” Akhavan, executive director at USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, said the nation is facing a waning of “centripedal” forces that bring us together, and a troubling jump in the “centrifugal” forces pulling us apart.

“People have always disagreed on issues. That’s not new. That’s not even bad,” Akhaven said. “We welcome it. What’s different, he said that now the tone is: ‘I’m right. You’re evil.”

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco says he knows that kind of demonization.

He says because he’s been branded a “denier” who believes the outbreak is make-believe. He countered: “It’s so far from the truth. I lost two employees in one day. And people are saying I don’t take this seriously?”

L.A. County Public Health Chief Ferrer can relate, herself the object of scorn — even death threats — via emails, letters and social media posts.

“It is deeply worrisome to imagine that our hard-working infectious-disease physicians, nurses, epidemiologists and environmental health specialists or any of our other team members would have to face this level of hatred,” she said in a statement in June.

“And it’s happening at a time when it’s harder to distinguish good information from bad information,” Akhavan said. “It’s harder to have honest, vulnerable conversions with people… they often break down and become nasty.”

Akhavan laments that the nation squandered the opportunity to embrace its own Greatest Generation moment. But he has hope.

He aspires to a future where education systems re-focus on civics, critical thinking, and media literacy and where political incentives shift to non-partisan forms of gerrymanding and social media algorythms that reward thoughtful points of view.

Debt collectors can seize the new stimulus checks. Lawmakers are trying to fix that

Few in Southern California prosecuted for refusing to comply with coronavirus laws

As COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expands, Riverside County reports no issues

Coronavirus tracker: California’s cases of virus down 90% from previous high as of Sunday

230 coronavirus deaths reported by San Bernardino County

Akhavan and others say it’s not about disagreeing less but “disagreeing bettter.”

Akhavan used a sports analogy: “You like the Angels, I like the Dodgers, we both like baseball; you like baseball, I like football, we both like sports; you like sports, I like politics, we both like competition.”

Meanwhile, Bernier moves on with what is now a mask-making business — her aprons set aside for now.

Some friends have unfriended her on Facebook because of her masks.

Her mom, Irene, died in January — from COVID-19. Her father recovered from the virus.

She believes we’ll learn to talk to one another with civility again.

“I think there’s more good people than we think,” she said.

Staff writer David Rosenfeld contributed to this report.

-on March 15, 2021 at 11:00PM by Ryan Carter

#riversidenews

0 notes

lokgifsandmusings · 8 years ago

Text

Definitive Ranking of Book 4 Episodes, #3/13

3. 4x10 Operation Beifong

Toph’s mothering skills wow everyone. Zhu Li is the world’s worst saboteur. All the tropes get busted. The spirits give no shits about anything.

Okay. If you’ve been following these definitive rankings, you know that I have one main issue with Book 4: while Kuvira worked very well as a foil for Korra, and a way to externalize Korra’s *internal* struggle, Kuvira in her own right is a little less successful, since everything is framed as being about the Beifongs for her, and that thread gets effectively drop-kicked.

For that reason, I objectively know that “Operation Beifong” is an issue with the whole of Book 4 considered. It’s essentially the culmination of the Kuvira/Suyin tension (which I’d argue is far more important and central than her relationship to Baatar), and the rationale for why she didn’t get her ass kicked by Toph at the end of the episode was more or less, “the script said not to.” I mean “leave it to the kids.”

See, it had to be reserved in its climax because Kuvira’s downfall had to be saved for Korra. Which is fine; protagonists should be considered first and foremost when writing antagonists. But it also meant that the high-high-high emotional and personal stakes of this episode for the characters were always set to fizzle. In fact, the only tension that paid-off here was Lin working through her fractured relationship with her mother, and even that just ended on the note of Toph saying “maybe if you don’t hate me it’s fine.” Sadly for our unsung hero, that’s the happiest resolution she’s ever going to get.

Oh wait, Bopal forgave each other too. And you can make the argument that this was the climax of Bolin’s maturation arc: we saw him rise to the occasion in 4x07 and take charge in a way he hadn’t before, but his decision to save Zhu Li at great self-risk fully demonstrated his moral fiber. I personally think that he already exhibited these traits, he’s just a bit easily led (giving people apples = helping them...just don’t look to the right or left or ask the deeper questions), but fine.

I guess my real frustration is for Suyin and Kuvira’s characters here, who you could easily view as the primary “actors” of this episode’s A-plot, especially given the number of scenes throughout the season we were given to set up this tension. Suyin gets practically no resolution of any sort from this episode, or frankly this season. She escapes imprisonment, sure, but what it boils down to is that she fights Kuvira and quasi-loses, then flees, only for her moments in the finale to be focused on forgiving Baatar and destroying the spirit gun. Sure, she played her part in taking down Mega Maid and was the one who led Kuvira off with that super-memorable-and-not-at-all-just-a-never-replaced-placeholder line, but I fundamentally don’t understand why so much emphasis was placed on her and her point-of-view in this conflict. And it’s one thing if it’s Suyin telling Korra a backstory to set-up the final conversation, sure. It’s just....consider how many scenes we have to explain away that have *nothing* to do with Korra’s arc, including the entirety of this episode.

I guess it kind of reminds me of the Winterhell plotline in GoT Season 5, where it’s an uphill battle to argue that Sansa was the protagonist because Ramsay had 5 or 6 scenes dedicated to his fraught relationship to his dad. In this case, it’s not that Korra ever stopped feeling like the protagonist. It’s just that if we’re going to have so many non-Korra (and frankly non-Krew) characters cannibalizing our screen-time, can we at least give them a complete story?

I know I’ve talked about how it’s a problem before given Kuvira’s arc, but yeah, it’s a problem for Suyin too. It’s honestly a problem for the entire Beifong clan, since other than Suyin and Baatar’s weird “we’ll get through it” scene, the strife that had consumed their family wasn’t really given any kind of space tp land. They’ll get through it. Nifty.

In my brain, I know that this is a shortcoming of Book 4. It’s one of the primary reasons I feel this season needed a draft #2 (I suspect Bryke would have preferred a longer time-line and a heads up about resources as well). And yet... I love this episode. I LOVE this episode.

No you don’t understand: every minute, every aspect of this episode, I love.

Well, I feel rather tepid about the B-plot actually, so let’s knock that off first. It’s just the planning for an inevitable Kuvira invasion in Republic City. Varrick introduces Asami’s hummingbird suit and I have to assume does all the talking because of the voice actors involved (you *use* John Michael Higgins when you have him, and I’m wondering if Gabriel was limited to a set number of episodes). I liked the instantly photoshoppable blueprints that were held up, but remember thinking how ridiculous this biomimicry was given how completely energy inefficient hummingbirds are. I try to at least make sense of it as a suitable countermeasure to Kuvira’s spirit cannon in my newest fic, though.

(x)

Wu suggests evacuating the entire city in case Kuvira attacks. I guess in fairness they didn’t know the two-week timeline of the planned invasion, so it’d seem feasible to be able to craft that strategy, but you’d think fortifying the borders (with the help of Izumi’s troops, like she promised) would have taken priority. Personally I’d be doing everything I could to keep the fight out of my country’s population center. But it was a simplistic idea to show that Wu was actually concerning himself with the safety of others, and that Mako is an easy-to-impress boyfriend.

Finally, Korra decides she’s going to enlist the help of the spirits to defend the city, and they tell her to fuck right off because even though Kuvira is using vines to her own ends, helping the other side would be just as bad, or something. In other words, the spirits continue to be butts, and the entire thing went a little like this:

At the time this aired, I actually thought this was going to set-up a moment like the trees arriving at Helm’s Deep, but no. The spirits really didn’t want to be involved. Sucks to be human.

Like, all of this was fine. I can nitpick military decisions and engineering details, but it was fine.

It just was heavily overshadowed by the most wonderful, complicated familial dynamics.

The shining star was Lin and Toph, as it should have been. For Lin to be in a place where she’s risking her job (again) to save Suyin and is going to these extreme lengths given where they had started a few years before is nothing but touching, especially given how Suyin is more or less living the idyllic life (her rich-ass mom bought her a city to run, she’s got a loving husband and a bunch of kids, etc.) and Lin is still, ya know...

But her relationship with Toph...just murder me.

Every dang conversation they have with each other is more painful than the last. It’s made so clear how much Lin truly loves and respects Toph, and is just desperate for her approval in some ways, but there’s been so much hurt in how Toph brushed off her feelings over the years and is unwilling to actually state her own (you know you’re an INTP when...), that Lin can’t help but be closed off and sardonic. Then you’ve got Bolin picking at the baby daddy wound, Toph just randomly volunteering the information, and...

Toph: Lin, I can feel your enraged breathing from here. Just say what you have to say and let's get it over with.

Lin: Just get it over with? Yeah, let's not linger on the fact that I grew up without a dad. No need to get all touchy-feely about it. Just one of those things, right?

I have to imagine this was Toph’s general approach to parenting, and gods, Mindy Sterling SELLS the hell out of how deeply Lin feels things but how unable she truly is to express herself. As a brief side-note, I do have to imagine that Lin the detective *did* figure out who her dad was, since she doesn’t react to that information itself, but more to why the fuck Toph is willing to talk to Bolin of all people when it was kept from her previously.

Toph: Hey, I forgave you for all your garbage a long time ago and Su and I worked things out. You're the only one who wants to hold on to this family drama nonsense for the rest of your life.

Lin: Forgave me for what?! And not knowing my dad is nonsense to you? It was pretty important to me. And until now, you would never even discuss it.

Seriously, forgive her for what? Toph, again, just wants to avoid and evade the whole “feelings” piece of this. But keeping in mind that it’s been like TWO DECADES since they’ve talked, for Lin to be able to spit this all out and call her mom out on her dismissiveness is huge. HUGE.

Lin: You know, after Su and I patched things up, I thought, "maybe I should try to reach out to mom." But now that we're together again, I remember why we stopped talking. You make me furious and you don't even know why. And when I tell you, you don't care. Once we save Su, you and I are finished.

Toph: If that's your decision and it makes you happy, then fine.

Treat yourself and listen to the voice acting, because the way Philece Sampler does this little inhale and the break in her voice when she says Toph’s line is tragic, simply tragic.

Toph. Just tell your daughter you fucking love her and you care. You obviously care; you’ve been creeping on her in the swamp for years. And Lin just putting it all these raw emotions out there.

I know I’m gushing, but this is so fractured and so beautiful and if they could just flippin’ COMMUNICATE we can *see* how they care about each other underneath. It’s not a witchy-Repunzelesque mother situation or anything about escaping toxicity, but more a mother and daughter with a Shakespearean flaw that prevents them from having a happy relationship, at great personal cost.

And yeah, somehow Lin finds it in herself to apologize for snapping, and Toph just ends on the whole “if you don’t fully hate me, I’ll take it” note. In one episode we watched 20 years of hurt acted out, and it never felt forced or even a little dumbed down for the Y7 audience as like, Asami saying that she “should” try to forgive the dude that wanted to murder her sort of did (frankly that Hiroshi dialogue was all a little wonky if I really want to nitpick).

The second most important relationship in this episode was, of course, Suyin vs. Kuvira. What’s interesting is that the decision to engage with Kuvira instead of sneak away wasn’t made until after Bolin and Opal decided to go after Zhu Li, so it was a little passive on Suyin’s part, but once that fight started, nothing else mattered. Not a single word was uttered and yet you could *feel* how charged and fraught it was. Which yeah, maybe it’s reading a little too much into subtext, but there is something THERE, damnit.

However, the way Suyin’s entire family operated was just delightful. I love that Huan and Baatar Sr. were never expected to fight, and never shamed for it, and Suyin’s shrug to Lin when Baatar Sr. clung to the side of their cage in terror was just perfect. Yeah, they don’t conform to traditional gender roles, and it goes with no more comment than that shrug. Then Wing's “We can’t let Opal be the coolest!” was hilarious, and just felt...real. The Beifongs feel real, and I think that’s one of the things I appreciate the most about them. Dysfunctional, led by a hypocrite, fractured at the moment, but real. Though full disclosure: I’ve been known to call them “aspirational” in the past, if that’s any indication on why such dynamics appeal to me.

It’s worth noting that Baatar Jr. cleared the lowest possible bar possible in not wanting to murder his sister with his cannon. But fuck Zhu Li; she doesn’t even get a re-education camp. I don’t get Baatar Jr. apology (and I *especially* don’t get Kuvira apology), though given where he ends up (regretting his actions) we could have stood to see just a bit more of his reaction to the ensuing fight between his ENTIRE FAMILY INCLUDING HIS GRANDMA and his fiancé.

I should say the Zhu Li saboteur thread didn’t work super well, mostly because you’d think such a cold, heartless war machine could have thought up a better way to actually make the thing malfunction. Or just not have kept the missing pin on her body. Maybe she want to the Galen Erso School of Engineering Sabotage. But the reveal that she was purposely messing things up (and Bolin’s happy face) was lovely. Her devotion to Varrick is certainly not free of problems, but knowing she wasn’t on-board with fascism and actually jumped at the opportunity to undermine the campaign in a big way? I’ll take it, happily.

I’ll also ignore the possible implication that she only did it to save Varrick from more of Kuvira’s wrath, knowing how he’d operate on his own. Anti-fascist Zhu Li is the only Zhu Li. That’s the 2017 hero we need.

That finally leaves us with the Bopal plotline. I cannot believe the amount of hate that Opal got as this season was airing, but I have to think that on rewatches, especially in this cultural context, her point-of-view seemed a lot more reasonable, as well as her frustrations with Bolin. Yeah, her anger towards Kuvira at the very, very start of the season could be framed as a bit OTT and likely the result of loyalty to her mother (who wasn’t exactly the model of reason then), but after that... like, no! We *know* she’s seen prison camps, we *know* she’s learned about dissenters being dragged off, and when her entire family was captured (and to her own admission quite possibly being tortured or already having been murdered), her boyfriend came back and said he was responsible for it (oh Bolin and your logorrhea), but just wanted to pick up exactly where they were right away. And this was after he outright ignored her in Zaofu when she clearly lay out what was happening. Who the hell wouldn’t be pissed?

Frankly, Bolin should have been suggesting how they could save her family, so when she suggested that he should come with her to fix things, it’s...reasonable, even if high-risk. It would demonstrate that at the end of the day, he does have her back. I really have a hard time finding a fault in that.

I do think her line “he’s been in the polar bear doghouse long enough” was overly reductive. We can tell that the moment he was willing to get himself killed to save Zhu Li is the moment that Opal forgave him. Because it showed that his heart is always in the right place. He just sometimes needs a little coaching, and doesn’t do nuance well. If the people *he’s* seeing are happy, it’s difficult for him to think the campaign is doing something bad.

So really, I have zero problems with it. They were two young adults growing apart in a long-distance relationship, and the fact that this mission placed them decidedly on the same side and Bolin took initiative with it...yeah, it works. Their long-term is uh, well, let’s just hope they don’t find themselves in morally ambiguous situations too much.

Also I don’t want to sound like Opal is the font of wisdom and truth either. She can be bad-tempered, impatient, she can let her emotions guide her (though it never pushes into the hysterical woman trope), she can be biting and bitter and cutting when she wants; she’s a fully realized and fully fallible character. I just don’t happen to think she mistreated Bolin in any way during Book 4’s run.

The Bopal take-away, too, is important: women can assert their frustrations and that doesn’t mean their relationships will blow up. Too often we see narratives where women must stuff it, where their emotional needs are always always on a back-burner to the men that they’re with. It’s frustrating and I’ve had enough of it (I’m in a mood thanks to Supergirl lately), so this is dang refreshing. Bust ALL the tropes, Opal.

Frankly, bust ALL the tropes, Beifongs. That’s truly what makes this episode amazing. The central fight is between two women, one of whom is middle-aged and has children, while her husband and elder son (that isn’t Baatar Jr.) are guarded by her mother. There is a mother/daughter “reconciliation” that still ends with them both shoving their feelings down as far as they can go, though they at least achieved a less hostile relationship. There was the Bopal resolution, there was Zhu Li, not Varrick, taking on the role of the saboteur, and there wasn’t instantly a neat redemption for Jr. because he had one moment of human decency.

Yes, this episode was a little contrived in its existence, and it gave us a bit of a false resolution. But it was packed, exciting, and utterly transgressive, while also delivering a wallop of feels.

#13: 4x08 “Remembrances”

#12: 4x11 “Kuvira’s Gambit”

#11: 4x09 “Beyond the Wilds”

#10: 4x07 “Reunion”

#9: 4x06 The “Battle of Zaofu”

#8. 4x12 “Day of Colossus”

#7 4x01 “After All These Years”

#6 4x03 “The Coronation”

#5 4x04 “The Calling”

#4 4x05 “Enemy at the Gates”

Book 2 ranking/essays found here

#lok meta #operation beifong #korra 4x10 #suyin beifong #lin beifong #book 4 ranking

26 notes · View notes

hopelikethemoon · 5 years ago

Text

Coffee (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Coffee Rating: PG-13 Length: 2700 Warnings: A brief discussion about abortions. Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. And release order here. Set early February 1998. My personal headcanon for Reader/Annie is Phoebe Tonkin and Elena is Camilla Mendes. They are supposed to look strikingly similar. And if you don’t know my backstory for Reader it’s alluded to in this chapter. Summary: Reader meets up with an old acquaintance.

Taglist: @grapemama @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @hiscyarika @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale @roxypeanut @just-add-butter @snivellusim @amarvelousmandalorian @lukesrighthand @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @exrebelshocktrooper @awesomefandomsunited @ah-callie @swhiskeys @lady-tano @beskar-droids @space-floozy @cable-kenobi @longitud-de-onda @cool-ultra-nerd @himbopoes @findhimfives @pedrosdoll @seeking-a-great--perhaps @frietiemeloen @arrowswithwifi @random066 @uncomicalhumour @heather-lynn @domino-oh-damn @cyarikaaa @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage @ksgeekgirl @yabby-girl @xqueenofthecraziesx @punkass-potato @coredrive @pascalesque @theduchessofkirkcaldy @queenquazar @sabinemorans @buckstaposition (if I forget to tag you, I’m sorry)

Elena greeted you with a warm hug, “It’s so good to see you again. It has been such a long time.”

“I know.” You squeezed her back, before you released her and sat down at the table. “You look good.”

“So do you.” Elena assured you as she sat down across from you. “I did not know you and Javier were here in Miami. What a small world.”

You laughed, “When Connie mentioned someone from Colombia who bore a resemblance to me…” You gestured between the two of you, “I was shocked.”

She nodded, “As was I. When Connie found me on Monday and told me about the connection, I was floored.” Elena rested her chin on her palm, propping her elbow on the table. “Of all the people I knew in Colombia.”

“I tried to get Javier to come, but…” You shrugged, chewing on your bottom lip. Javier couldn’t understand why you were so determined to meet with one of his informants — especially since that part of his life was well and truly in the past. But it wasn’t that. You had actually liked Elena. There were no hard feelings towards her.

She deserved better than the situation she was in in Colombia.

“The last time I saw him, you had just told him you were pregnant.” Elena mused with a slight smirk. “I had never seen Javier scared before. After everything he’d endured, it was the promise of fatherhood that brought him to his knees.”

You smiled wistfully. “It wasn’t the best situation.”

“No,” Elena shook her head slowly. “I told him years before he should’ve acted on his feelings. But he ignored me.”

“What?” Your brows furrowed.

Elena gestured between the two of you, “The first time I met him, I could’ve sworn he’d seen a ghost.”

A knot coiled in the pit of your belly. You weren’t a fool — you had known that your similarities with Elena were no coincidence. He hadn’t just sought her out for her the information. “I remember walking into that motel room and…” You frowned.

Years later, you still didn’t know how to explain your feelings on that situation. It wasn’t like you and Elena were identical, but it was close enough that if you squinted the similarities were all there. It had left you with a strange fire in your veins.

“He adored you.” Elena stated firmly. “I was almost jealous that there was a good man like him left to pine after someone who didn’t want him.”

You shook your head, “I wanted him, I just… You know how Javier was.”

“I do.” She agreed. “I’m glad things worked out for the two of you. Javier was one of the few good men who came through the doors of the brothel. He deserved a happy ending.”

“He’s the best father. Those girls are his everything.” You told her.

“Girls?”

You laughed and nodded, “We have two daughters now.”

“Connie didn’t mention that.” She laughed. “Javier is a father two times over?”

“Sofía will be one in June.”

“Congratulations.” Elena smiled at you. “What do you do now? I assume you are not with the DEA.”

“Javier teaches,” You explained. “And I’m contracted with the Miami PD to handle narcotics training.”

“Still kicking ass.” Elena brought her coffee cup to her lips and took a sip. “I’m impressed.”

You grabbed your purse off the back of the chair, pulling out your wallet. “This was our family photo for Christmas.” You said as you slid the picture across the table.

“Look at the four of you!” She grinned at you, “You have a beautiful family.”

You beamed, “They're pretty cool, I guess.” Elena passed the picture back to you and you stared down at it. “I can’t believe how big Josie is getting.”

The photographer had been so frustrated with you. He was determined to get the classic Christmas card picture with the tree in the background and one of the kids holding a present. But that wasn’t your style. You both wanted a picture that represented your family.

Javier had worn a pair of dark blue slacks with a white shirt. He’d rolled up his sleeves to his elbow and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt beneath a tie Josie had picked out. Neither of you were the Christmas sweater type. You had, however, gotten the girls matching dresses, navy blue with silver snowflakes. And your own silver maxi dress was meant to tie the four of you together.

You loved all the pictures from the shoot, but the one you carried around was your favorite. Josie was sitting in her father’s lap, cheesing for the camera, while you sat beside him with your cheek against his shoulder as you helped Sofía balance on her feet in front of you. It wasn’t a picture-perfect Christmas card family — but it was all yours.

“Are you living with your cousin?” You questioned, lifting your gaze back to her as you tucked the photo back into your wallet.

“You remembered! Santiago lives in Tampa. I lived with him while I went to school, but I’m on my own now.” Elena explained with a polite smile. “He visits when he can.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you have family nearby.”

“He helped a lot when I first arrived.” She shook her head slowly, “I just knew I couldn’t stay in Colombia.”

“I’m glad you got out when you did.” You assured her, “Things were heating up near the end.”

“I’m sure it was.” She nodded, “What prompted the two of you to leave?”

You tucked a lock of hair behind your ear, leaning your elbow against the table as you looked out the window to your right. “The DEA wasn’t exactly thrilled that I was pregnant,” You explained. “They did everything in their power to make me miserable and it worked. After Josie was born, Javier and I came clean about who the father was and I was let go.” You shrugged. “He quit and we left the country.”

Elena rolled her eyes, “I’m not surprised the rest of the DEA are swine.”

“They certainly were.” You laughed, “And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m actually working on exposing them.”

“Really?”

You nodded. “Javier requested all of the files my name was in. It’s a stack of them.” You sank back in your seat, glancing out the window again. “We’ve got a reporter covering it. The first article is supposed to drop in the Washington Post next month.”

“Holy shit.” She leaned against the table. “You’re really trying to take them down, aren’t you?”

You rubbed at the back of your neck as you looked back at her, “They omitted me entirely from the reports about Escobar. It’s just Steve and Javi.”

She frowned, “But you were right there.”

“Yeah.” Your brows furrowed and you shook your head. “They essentially redacted me from the history books, simply because I had Josie.”

“That’s bullshit.” She took another sip of her coffee, staring at you. “You were so dedicated to your job. Not only was that plain to see when we worked together, but Javier…” She pressed her lips together. “He was proud of you.”

“Did he really talk about me that much?”

Elena shrugged, “I did not expect to see him again after the first time you and I worked together. I don’t know if he realizes how much he said without really saying anything. But it was clear he cared about you more than as just a partner.”

You sat up a little straighter then. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about that period in our lives. It’s just nice to hear from an outside source that I wasn’t alone in my… feelings.”

Elena pushed her hair behind her shoulders, smiling a little at you. “I really thought he was an idiot for not saying something to you. I did try to get him to.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “Luckily we are better about talking things through. It’s an uphill battle sometimes, but we try.” You leaned against the table. “So, how’d you get into social work?”

“It felt natural. I wanted to do something to give back. Ideally, I would like to work with women who are in difficult situations, but the hospital is a stepping stone to that.” Elena took another sip of coffee. “I’ve been volunteering at a women’s shelter downtown, which has been really fulfilling.”

You smiled, “I wish I had more time to help the community. Javi’s got a full class schedule this semester and Monica is juggling a lot on her plate.”

“Monica?” Elena questioned with an arched brow.

“Oh.” You laughed softly as you grabbed your wallet again, shuffling through the pictures before you produced a picture that had been taken at Thanksgiving. “Monica is one of Javier’s students. We’ve essentially adopted her into our family.”

She gave you a look.

“Her parents are not… understanding. To put it lightly.” You explained, “She’s been helping us with the girls, but she just started dating a really sweet girl and I don’t want her missing out on that.”

Her eyes widened, “Ah.”

“Exactly,” You shrugged with a short laugh. “We tried to get her to join us for the family photo at Christmas, but the lure of Nadia was too strong. They have this arcade they go to all the time.” You rolled your eyes. “I don’t get the appeal.”

An incredulous sound escaped Elena as she stared at you, “You really did it, didn’t you?”

“Did what?”

“Domesticated Javier Peña.”

You laughed loudly, much to the annoyance of the older couple sitting at the table behind you. “Sorry.” You offered, before looking back at Elena. “He’s extremely domesticated.” You grinned. “The man has a favorite coffee mug.”

Elena chuckled, “That’s the sort of life both of you deserve.”

“I appreciate that.” You smiled at her. “Honestly, I thought I’d end up married to my work. Javier and Josie changed my life and I couldn’t be happier.”

“You’re a stronger woman than I am,” Elena said with a warm smile. “If I had been in your situation, I don’t know if I would’ve chosen the motherhood route.”

You took a sip of coffee, nodding your head slowly. “I didn’t even consider the alternative.” You admitted quietly, “I was ready and willing to do this alone if Javier didn’t want to be involved. It would’ve broken my heart, I think, but… she was the best accident.” You bit down on your bottom lip, thinking for a minute. “My own childhood wasn’t great.”

“Really?”

You rubbed your lips together, giving a slight nod. “I overcame it, I came out on top, but… I don’t want my girls to have to work that hard to be loved. No one should have to feel like love is conditional. Monica, Josie, Sofía deserve better than that.” You raked your fingers through your hair. “I think that’s why, with Josie… I didn’t even consider having an abortion. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be the mother I never had.”

Elena reached across the table and squeezed your hand, “And look at the life you’ve built from that decision.”

“We should have coffee again sometime,” You suggested. “There’s no reason to be strangers in a city that is clearly small.”

“I would like that,” She patted your hand, before reaching for her coffee cup once more. “And please send Javier my best. He was a good man and he finally has the life he deserves.”

“He’ll appreciate that.” You finished off the last of your coffee. Your eyes flickered to your wristwatch, “Shit. I need to pick up the kids.” You said as you got up, pulling your purse across your chest. “Thank you again, Elena.”

“I’m glad we reconnected,” Elena said as she stood up, “I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

You exchanged a brief hug with her, before you ducked out of the coffee shop and headed for your car. You were relieved that the meeting had gone well — though you had expected it to. You’d worked alongside Elena a handful of times back in Colombia, where it was necessary that you play a part to get intel and she’d always been gracious to you.

Outside of the first time you met her at the motel room, there was no lingering awkwardness there. Though you had a sneaking suspicion that more of his informants had known about you than just Elena. Considering how bad Javier was at keeping your second pregnancy secret, you figured he’d had a case of loose lips when it came to you.

This was definitely going to come up with Nancy. If not straight from you, from Javier’s sessions. You were certain, with each passing session, Nancy was finding the two of you more and more unusual. Especially given the fact that Nancy had devoted an entire session to try to work out whether you held resentment towards Javier for sleeping with informants — as if you hadn’t as well.

It was just never something that concerned you. It didn’t affect your relationship with Javier whatsoever. Sure, Elena bore a striking resemblance to you, but Steve had made you aware of the fact that you’d gone after men that even reminded him of Javier.

Gotta love a good proxy.

As you settled into your car your phone started ringing.

“Hey,” You said after you pulled it free from your purse. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Javier countered with a short chuckle. “I was thinking about you too, baby. You done with coffee?”

“Just got in the car to head over and pick up Josie.” You told him, shouldering the phone so you could buckle your seatbelt. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to see how it went.” He cleared his throat and you could practically feel his nerves through the phone. “How… How’d it go?”

“We spent the entire time gossiping about you.” You teased, trying to allay his worries. “We just caught up, Javi. It was nothing deeply profound.”

Javier grumbled, “But you did talk about me?”

You rolled your eyes, putting your keys into the ignition and starting the car off. The radio came on, blasting Los Del Rio’s hit, and you quickly turned the knob to turn it down. “Of course we talked about you, Javi. Did you think you wouldn’t be brought up?”

“I just…” Javier trailed off and for a second you thought the call had dropped. “I used to tell her a lot more than I should’ve.”

“I gathered this.” You laughed softly. “But I also recall you told another informant that I was pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“You were a terrible agent Javier.” You said lightly. “Loose lips sink ships.”

“I just couldn’t tell the right person.” He remarked, sighing heavily. “At least I’ve made up for it.”

“Have you?” You countered, chewing on your bottom lip. “Do you have any plans this weekend?”

“Working on next week’s slides. Why, baby?”

“We should go out.” You suggested. “We haven’t really had a date since Sof was born. We could give Le Mystere a try.”

Javier hummed, “The new Mediterranean place off Washington?”

“I know you’ve been dying to try it.” You smiled, “Come on, Javi. We deserve a kid-free night.”

“I’ll give Steve a call after we get off the phone.” Javier drawled out, “See if I can get us a reservation tomorrow.”

“I thought you’d jump on this opportunity.” It had been a long time since the two of you had actually had a real date. It was hard to balance two careers, two kids, and still manage to get a decent night of sleep.

“How could I say ‘no’, baby?” He chuckled. “What’s the occasion?”

“I love you. Do I need an occasion, Javi?”

“No, you don’t. But you’ve got me looking forward to the weekend now.” He chuckled, “Alright, lemme get off the phone and get us a reservation.”

“Perfect. I’m gonna go get the kids.”

“See you at home, baby.”

“See you soon.” You smiled as you hung up the phone, tossing it into the passenger seat beside you.

Sure, you both had been more than willing to try new things, but the old thing — just the two of you — was pretty good too. Dinner out, the house to yourselves… Hopefully this time you won’t accidentally fall asleep after dinner, because you were breaking in the newest lingerie set you’d bought.

#javier pena #javier pena x reader #pedro pascal x reader

138 notes · View notes