#the 3 times Ian didn’t explain + the 1 time he did | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thevibraniumveterans · 2 years ago

Text

《The Mandalorian》『SEASON 3 : Episode 7 - Chapter 23』 - 「THE SPIES」 // Finale Part 1 of 2

SPOILERS!

Thoughts on rewatch…

Kane being an insider is not surprising. She was always suspicious.

The mention of Grand Admiral Thrawn is by no means a mistake, in light of the Ahsoka trailer at Star Wars Celebration. He’s mentioned quite a few times in this conversation between the Imperials in the room via Hologram. And he is currently somewhere out there, wherever Ezra Bridger might be; which will perfectly lead up to the Ahsoka series.

The mention of Commandant Brendol Hux is no surprise either; he’s gotta be General Hux’s dad, which partially explains how Hux came to be in the First Order in the Sequel Trilogy.

Project Necromancer - no secret code name, it’s for bringing Palpatine back to life. Ian McDiarmid pointed out at Star Wars Celebration 2023 that Palpatine does not like to lose; he will do anything possible to win, even if that means coming back from the dead once again. The mention that Thrawn is “missing” and the Imperials needing “new leadership”obviously points to the inevitable reanimation of Palpatine. “Somehow, Palpatine returned”. Yes, somehow, because the rebels and the New Republic did not know. That was how secretive it was, but we know now how that’s coming along. It’s all falling into place.

The Watch’s light cruiser having the Mythosaur’s logo on the underside of their ship reminds me of how Thrawn also had/has the logo of a Chimaera on his ship. Because what else do you do with a ship that big and when you claim it as your own? You draw a big-ass symbol on the underside of it, that’s what.

It’s also a tad funnier that the Anzellan feels more like a puppet because of the way it looks and moves, as opposed to Grogu, who feels more realistic. But hey, puppets, so.

Grogu repeatedly hitting the yes and no buttons is hilarious! And the fact that he’s hitting it NONSTOP as they walk through the town center is extra funny. Also, Grogu picking up a Meiloorun fruit is by no means an accident; this is foreshadowing the Ahsoka series, since the fruit was first seen in Rebels and also the last time it was seen before this episode.

Bo-Katan speaks up and makes a plan. And it’s not surprising that at first nobody speaks up; but it isn’t until Din “I didn’t want to be here but here I am so I might as well” Djarin offers to join her, that Koska Reeves says she will go too. Only after she has spoken, Axe agrees to go, and so does Paz Vizsla. It’s something that reunites them. The music as they head off-planet is beautifully haunting and confident.

The drop hatch in Bo’s ship opens, and the volunteers look down on the planet they once called home. They shake their head in horror and dismay at what’s left. It’s… really something, to feel secondhand dread and sorrow.

Din spots something in the distance; Bo realizes it’s the Nite Owls, the group she once used to be a part of. But how did she know, and why? They have nothing but a weathered and worn ground transport.

The captain of the Nite Owls recognize Bo and refer to her full title as Lady Bo-Katan Kryze. They do not forget that she was and remains Mandalorian royalty.

During the dinner on the ground transport boat, the captain spoke of the refusal to give up, but Bo drops a verbal and historical bombshell on the entire party: she had to surrender under the choices given to her, in that if she did, her people would be spared. She surrendered, but as the Empire is wont to do, they didn’t care and bombed her world anyway. She did what she thought was the right thing to do, she did what she thought she had to do to save her people, but it still didn’t end right. Bo isn’t usually one for diplomacy and talks for peace - that was her sister Satine’s specialty. However, because Bo did what she thought was right, it still wasn’t right. And she knew this, even if if it was “the only chance” to save her people, according to her. It was her mistake and she owes up to it. She screwed over big time in trying to do what she thought best for her people. What would have happened had she not surrendered? Would she have died earlier?

The captain brings up Death Watch - the very same terrorist splinter group who opposed the peacekeepings of Duchess Satine Kryze. The Armorer notes how “Death Watch exists no longer.”

Bo states, “Our people have suffered time and time again. From division and squabbling factions.” I feel like she is in part referring to how differences between her and her sister Satine - war vs peace - have driven them apart, and now that Satine has long been murdered and gone, it’s caused Bo nothing but pain and loneliness. It’s driven the Mandalorians nowhere but apart. “It is always our own division that destroys us” is a very powerful and deeply regretful statement that Bo makes.

Bo admits her mistake. She is by no means perfect; she’s lost everything, and part of it by her own hubris. “I was selfish. And this is what it wrought,” she laments. When Din speaks to her, she admits to not knowing if she is able to keep the Mandalorians from splintering like they always did. It’s a very heavy duty, weighed down with much sorrow and regret.

Din speaks of the Darksaber: “I only know of this weapon what you taught me. To be honest, it means nothing to me or my people. Nor does station or bloodline. What means more to me is honor. And loyalty. And character. These are the reasons I serve you, Lady Kryze. Your song is not yet written. I will serve you until it is.” The thing about the Darksaber is that what we know of it from the Clone Wars and Rebels is that whosoever wields the blade gets to rule Mandalore, via bloodline and station. Seems like only the Mandalorian royals have held this blade for ages. However, Bo is a princess with a ravaged planet, unsure of leading a fractured people who have never once known peace. Din respects her not because she is a princess, but because of who she is as a person. He sees a loyal warrior who does not want to give up despite all signs pointing to how and why she should. She’s lost everything and deserves nothing yet here she stands on her own two feet, against the world and many more to come. Her story we know but little of, and the fact that Din knows her story is really only just beginning says a lot about her as a Mandalorian herself. Mandalorians do not quit, that much we know.

It feels bright and upbeat and deceptively confident when the series theme music plays as the crew set of in search of the Great Forge.

The fight between Paz and Axe is a foreshadow. And it’s funny that Grogu stops the fight before it gets worse, as he’s technically not a Mandalorian so he’s from “neither” side and so, he could step in. Hilarious how a child can stop two grown men from punching each other’s daylights out.

The Mythosaur emerges! And I like how it serves as an incentive for the Mandalorians to go further into their former civilization.

When the Imperials come in with their jetpacks, the first thing I thought of was that little mini-arc in Rebels where Sabine was revealed to have created some tech for the Empire that had something to do with the Mandalorian beskar armor, whereupon she was like “yeah I did that but I must destroy that tech because it’s bad even though I did it when was in the Academy”

I thought it was cool when the theme song played as Din brought up the back of the war party, and advanced to the front of it, charging headfirst into battle, with Paz and Bo right behind him.

Din is captured and disarmed, and Moff Gideon states, “Thanks to your planet’s rich resources, I have created the next-generation Dark Trooper suit forged from Beskar alloy.” The fact that he says “next-generation” implies that there was a previous generation to begin with. Aka, Sabine’s technology for the Empire that had something to do with Beskar. I don’t know if this is true or false.

Gideon also says, “By aggregating the best of each [cloners, Jedi], I will create an army that will bring order to the galaxy”. That is part of the groundwork for the beginnings of the First Order.

Bo creates a diversion, an escape route, and Paz leads the way out, firing his gatling gun-type blaster cannon like a man with nothing else to lose. He fires repeatedly, and ignores Bo’s orders. His final sacrifice is noble and is no less what is expected of a Mandalorian like him.

The appearance of the Praetorian Guards are no surprise. We last saw them in TLJ, very efficient warriors and guardsmen. Makes sense that they be brought out to bring down the last Mandalorian standing in the room. They waste little energy and leave as quickly as they enter.

========

Finishing thoughts:

I like how this episode went. With the multiple mentions of Thrawn and Hux, the intentional integration of a Meiloorun fruit, and the mention of “next-gen” beskar armor, I really would not be surprised if Thrawn and/or Ezra and/or Ahsoka and/or Sabine make an appearance toward the end of next week’s finale, given the trailer for Ahsoka from Celebration weekend.

Also not surprising that Pedro Pascal and Katie Sackhoff are top-billed this episode. The rest get “co-starring” credits.

One interesting feature is a concept art in the credits showing all the Mandalorians by the fire, and Din and Bo are speaking to each other, his hand on her shoulder. This scene was never in the show. But the overall concept art is amazing in terms of scale, lighting, and detail.

We still have one more episode to go. Emily Swallow, who portrays The Armorer, spoke with Collider during the Lucasfilm panel at Celebration. When asked what she thought fans would think of next week’s finale, she had this to say: “Well, I think there are gonna be some people who are like 'Woohoo! Yeah!'' and some people were like 'I hate this!' this because there always are.” I can’t wait until next week to find out what that is.

36 notes · View notes

dynamic-power · 1 year ago

Text

The Happiness We Deserve

Chapter 3

Read it here on ao3

Rating: E

Words: 1.7k (4.4k total)

CW: referenced past canon sexual abuse

Mickey finally comes clean about who Ian really is

Part 1 | Part 2

Mon. 11:54 PM What news did Lip have?

The message glared up at Mickey, demanding an answer. He’d typed out half a dozen different responses, ranging from insisting it was nothing to an entire novel explaining every little sordid detail of his past with Ian.

Tue. 7:33 AM can we tlk bout it wen u get home? not bad, promise

That had to be good enough, Mickey decided. It didn’t undermine the importance of the conversation they needed to have, but it shouldn’t stress Jay out too much either. He pressed send, locked his phone, and tossed it onto the empty side of the bed. He dragged his hands over his face and tried to relax back into the comfort of his sleep-warm blankets.

It was going to be fine. It had to be fine. Jay would understand; that was just the sort of guy he was. Ian would come back, they would meet each other’s current partner, they would talk about everything that they had missed in each other’s lives like they had been friends and Ian wasn’t the only man Mickey has ever loved.

His phone chimed, startling him. He sat up and scrambled for it. It took him two tries to unlock it.

Tue. 7:39 AM Kay. I miss you, I’ll try to call tonight.

Mickey typed out a quick reply.

Tue. 7:40 AM miss u to

Part of him really wanted that to be true. But part of him also knew that the only thing that was really going to be on his mind between today and Sunday was Ian.

-----

Friday night, Mickey found himself pacing in Jay’s living room, waiting for his boyfriend to finally get home. Carl had let Mickey take the night off so that he could welcome Jay home, but Mickey was going to use the time to talk to Jay about Ian.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous. He couldn’t slow his heart down and his palms were sweating and this reaction was stupid because it was going to be fine.

He heard a key in the lock of the front door and stopped pacing. Jay shoved the door open, his two bags in one hand and his phone in the other.

“I understand that,” he was saying, obviously annoyed at whoever was on the other end. His eyes landed on Mickey and his whole demeanor softened. He mouthed out an apology, shutting the door behind him and abandoning his bags. “Rachel, I understand. But I’ve just arrived home, and I haven’t seen my boyfriend in almost a week, so-” His mouth snapped shut for a moment. “Perfect. I will handle that first thing on Monday. Yes. Yes, that sounds good. Thank you, Rachel, enjoy your weekend.”

He hung up and sighed heavily, sagging against Mickey. Mickey hugged him close, taking in his familiar scent and warmth. He realized that despite his anxiety and tumultuous feelings about Ian, he had missed Jay. He’d missed having someone to come home to, to wake up beside, to hug when he wanted to.

“Hi, querido.”

“Welcome home.”

Jay swooped down and kissed him softly. “I thought we’d agreed to meet tomorrow?”

“I know,” Mickey said, “but I wanted to tell you about the news Lip told us.”

“Does it have to happen now? I’m thrilled to see you, but I just got home and-”

“Yes,” Mickey interrupted. “It has to happen now so I don’t fuckin’ chicken out or some shit.”

Jay must have realized just how tense Mickey was because he stepped away from him with a nod. “Okay. We can talk. Let me change first, yeah?”

Mickey watched as he disappeared up the stairs. While Jay was changing, Mickey picked up his bags from where he’d left them in front of the door and moved them to the foot of the stairs. He’d help Jay unpack later, but for right now, he needed to sit and get his nerves to settle.

He dropped onto one end of Jay’s impossibly comfortable couch and chewed absently at one of his nails. When he felt Jay sit across from him, he looked up to see Jay had changed into sweats. He had tied his long hair back into a bun and Mickey really wanted to bite the column of his neck that had been revealed.

“The news?” Jay asked, sounding amused, as though he knew exactly what Mickey had been thinking.

“Right. Uh, there’s no good way to say what I gotta say, so I’mma just say it. Ian’s comin’ to visit.”

A few emotions passed over Jay’s face. First confusion, then recognition. He finally seemed to settle on curiosity. “By Ian, do you mean Ian Gallagher?” he asked calmly, reaching out and poking at Mickey’s chest lightly, right over the tattoo that Jay knew more intimately than its namesake.

“Yeah,” Mickey said as Jay’s hand dropped into Mickey’s lap and took one of his own, twining their fingers together.

“Okay,” Jay said. “Are we gonna meet him, or-”

“There’s more, Jay,” Mickey pressed, and Jay fell silent. “I mean, there’s more to the story. To Ian and the tattoo and all that.” Jay didn’t say anything, so Mickey continued, getting out as much as he could before losing his nerve. “This wasn’t a mistake, or a drunken decision or any bullshit like that,” he said, pressing his palm to his chest. “Ian fuckin’ meant something to me. A lot, actually. He was my… Fuck. My first everything. My first boyfriend, my first love. He’s the reason I came out when I did. He’s - I don’t think there’s a good fuckin’ way to explain just who he is or how much he meant to me back in the day.”

Jay didn’t say anything for a long moment after Mickey had finished. His hand still held Mickey’s, but Mickey could sense that he needed a minute to really consider everything Mickey had just told him.

Finally, after two long, painfully silent minutes, Jay asked, “Was he the one? Your dad, when he… was Ian the one?”

“Yeah,” Mickey said. He found himself choking up, so he swallowed and squeezed Jay’s hand. Jay squeezed back and Mickey found that he could breathe just a little better. “Yeah, my dad caught me and Ian. Shit, I tried to kill Sammi for something she did to him.”

“He’s the guy you went to prison for?”

“He and I - fuck. We’ve got a lot of history. Not all of it’s good.”

Jay finally pulled away, leaning back against the arm rest behind him and putting space between him and Mickey. To Mickey, that space suddenly felt like a canyon.

“Jay,” he said, wanting nothing more than to reach out, but the way Jay crossed his arms over his chest made it clear that he would not be welcome. “It’s all ancient history. I’m with you, okay? I want to be here with you. I haven’t seen him in, fuck, probably thirteen years. I haven’t thought of him in ages.” Lie. “Those feelings are long gone.” Lie. “This, what I have with you, is what I want, what makes me happy.” Is that a lie, too?

“When does he get here?”

“Sunday.”

“Okay,” Jay said, but he wasn’t looking at Mickey. He had completely closed himself off, arms over his chest and legs folded in front of him, curling into himself against the back of the couch. He seemed pretty far from okay. “I - I need some time. To think.”

“You don’t have to meet him if you don’t want to-”

“It’s not that,” Jay snapped. Mickey flinched. Jay never spoke harshly, not like this. “Mick, I couldn’t give less of a shit about your ex-boyfriend being in town.”

“Then what-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jay demanded, eyes finally snapping up and meeting Mickey’s. “We’ve been together for months. This didn’t feel like something you needed to bring up? You have a lot of fuckin’ trauma in your past, and it sounds to me like a lot of it revolves around Ian.”

“It wasn’t like that, he never-”

“That doesn’t matter!” Jay raised his voice and jolted up from the couch. “Even if he never laid a finger on you, which I hope to god he didn’t, he’s the reason your dad nearly killed you, the reason for that bitch Svetlana, the reason you went to jail-”

Mickey jumped up at that, standing as tall as he could and taking the two steps forward to get into Jay’s space. Jay had a few inches on him, but his eyes still flickered with fear. Mickey found a sick sort of satisfaction as Jay took half a step back. “Don’t you dare,” Mickey snarled, jabbing his finger into Jay’s chest, “talk about him like that. He wasn’t the reason for any of that. I got beat and raped because my dad was a fuckin’ homophobic piece of shit and I went to jail because I have a short fuckin’ fuse when asswipes screw with people I care about.” Taking a deep breath, Mickey took a step away from Jay and tried his best to lower his voice again. “Look, Jay, I didn’t tell you because- because it’s a lot. And I’m a coward about some shit. I suck at emotional crap and my relationship with Ian was- it was a lot of that emotional crap. I just never knew how to fuckin’ bring it up.”

The anger and fear vanished from Jay, replaced with a softness that Mickey was afraid was pity. That was the last thing he needed right now, so with another few deep breaths, Mickey started heading for the front door.

“Mick?”

“I need-” Mickey paused, because if he was being honest with himself, he had no clue what he needed. So, he settled on, “You’re right, we need space to think. Just for tonight.”

“Okay.” Jay’s voice was so quiet that Mickey almost didn’t hear him. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Call, and we can talk.”

“Good night, querido.”

Mickey didn’t say anything more as he slipped out of the house.

-----

Part 4

#gallavich #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #fanfiction ao3 #dyno writes #the happiness we deserve

5 notes · View notes

adamwatchesmovies · 2 years ago

Text

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

As the Harry Potter films became instant favorites, it was only logical that someone would capitalize on the craze. Step 1: Take a semi-popular series of fantasy books and adapt them for the silver screen. Step 2: Release them between the Hogwarts movies when the fans are hungriest. Step 3: Profit. You'll get some of that box office magic too... right? Not when you make a movie this bad. It shows how oblivious Hollywood can be that anyone working on The Seeker: the Dark is Rising believed they had the beginning of a franchise on their hand.

Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig, wholly devoid of charisma), has just moved to England with his family. There, Miss Greythorne (Frances Conroy), Merriman (Ian McShane), Dawson (James Cosmo), and Old George (Jim Piddock) approach the boy and explain to him his magical heritage: he is “The Seeker”, the one destined to help our world battle against “The Darkness” (Christopher Eccleston). To do this, he must track down six signs hidden through time.

This magical child story is as generic as it gets. You can easily rob your world of any distinguishing features by cramming in too much mythology and leaving no room for your own ideas. The problem with The Seeker is the opposite. It has so little magic and mythology you’re instantly bored. What the name of the hero who seeks mystical objects? The Seeker. What’s the name of the dark villain who wants to destroy the world? The Darkness. Wow. Really wore out your thesaurus thinking up those ones, didn’t ya?

Not helping are the characters, most of which are ineffectual and uninteresting. The adults helping Will never seem to accomplish anything. They are easily overcome by the villain and when they first appear, botch their introduction so badly they threaten to drive the poor, stupid boy right into the dark rider’s hands. Or they would, if he had even a hint of subtlety to him. One look at the guy and you scream “guilty!” Not in a million years would he convince Will to give him the signs he’s found (in such riveting and wonderful environments as a modern-day shopping mall).

I doubt the picture’s feeble twist during the third act would fool even the youngest audience members. There’s a betrayal you'll see coming from so far away it makes you restless and angry waiting for the reveal. It’s one thing for you to be stupid, movie. It’s another for you to assume I am too.

The Seeker is a bubbling cauldron of noxious ingredients. I cannot imagine anyone watching it and having a good time. Even fans of the book will be disappointed, as it deviates significantly from the source material - it’s based on the second book rather than the first, which is yet another baffling decision. The Seeker is so bland and forgettable I can already feel my memories of it fading away like a puddle in the hot sun. This is going to be my only opportunity to address the supremely dumb and weirdly quirky topic of Will’s twin brother, Tom (Alexander Ludwig). He was stolen as a baby by the Darkness. I can understand there being no pictures of him in the house. What I don’t believe - not for one second - is Will being unaware of this. Even if his parents didn’t want the truth divulged… he’s got 5 siblings! None of them ever said anything? Anyway, by the end of the film, Will saves his twin. The storm that’s been threatening humanity dissipates and then we get our happily ever after. The complete absence of imagination and energy made me hate watching The Seeker but I would love to see what happened next. Tom was kidnapped before he learned to talk. He's been trapped in a snow globe for 14 years. I doubt the Nazgul wannabe taught him anything so firstly, he’s not toilet-trained. I wonder how the parents will explain the extra mouth they have to feed to their neighbours…

Among all the Harry Potter knockoffs, The Seeker: Dark is Rising isn’t the worst. That title undoubtedly goes to The Mystical Adventures of Billy Owens, which (funnily enough) got a sequel. In another way, that film is better. By being worse, at least it stands out. This is a whole lot of hot air audiences will forget instantly - something Ian McShane and the rest of the cast must be grateful for. (On DVD, July 12, 2019)

#The Seeker #The Seeker: The Dark is Rising #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #David L. Cunningham #John Hodge #The Dark is Rising #Susan Cooper #Alexander Ludwig #Christopher Eccleston #Frances Conroy #Ian McShane #2007 movies #2007 films

1 note · View note

idw-sonic-fan-blog · 2 years ago

Text

Where would Sonic Frontiers fit in IDW Sonic?

I know Ian said don’t think about it, but oh well. He created Starline and that permits me to think about his work anyway I want. And it’s easier to think about than Sonic Prime.

I think the prerequisite for this is to find a place in the comic where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy aren’t too involved in anything and Eggman isn’t doing anything significant. With the Tailstube ep. 3 being the real catalyst of Frontiers. I’m betting on it being between #40-50.

Luckily, Eggman has not been too active in the comics. In fact, he has been reactive to either Starline or Surge. Since Test Run(#37-40), Eggman doesn’t get too involved until #50 or Imposter Syndrome #4. And I guess the Bad Guys mini. Most of it is Starline’s scheming. So we have 10 issues where Eggman could have been on Starfall Island. Most of the time in Bad Guys, Eggman seems to be preoccupied with something else or building something only to be alerted when Starline and company draw his attention. So it’s plausible that Eggman attempted scheme during the ruckus Starline was causing until Starline eventually attacked him.

Sonic, Tails, and Amy are a bit trickier. After Zeti Hunt, Sonic and Tails went on a mini break with Belle hanging around in Tails Workshop after Trial By Fire. So we are talking 3 issues. Not even 3 issues really because Sonic and Tails go and investigate what’s going on with Eggman in #49. Amy is free after Trial by Fire to join Sonic and Tails.

So issue #48 seems to be the only plausible time where Sonic Frontiers happened as all necessary parties aren’t doing anything that would take them out of play for a couple of weeks at most. Why not at any other time? Eggman was either inactive for all of the Neo-Metal Sonic arc or very much too involved in the Metal Virus arc. Sonic unsurprisingly has only taken two breaks in this comic: after the battle for Angel Island with Neo and after Zeti Hunt. And Sonic Frontiers taking place before Angel Island battle contradicts with the fact that Knuckles was not on the island until after said battle and Eggman clearly wasn’t on Starfall Islands when spreading the Metal virus. So issues #1-32 are out. Sonic and Tails are too busy to do anything in Starfall Islands as they are helping finding repairs for Omega and Emerl and are actively hunting the Zeti.

Why 48 given what happened in Sonic Frontiers? It explains how Starline got the jump on Eggman for one or anyone. While yes, Starline made mistakes of revealing himself to his enemies and putting himself on notice, Sonic wasn’t too involved in hunting him down. Neither was Eggman. And he had an ample amount of time in creating Surge and Kit. The thing about Starline is that for all of his bluster about planning and his meticulous posturing, he really did not investigate his enemies too much. Also why Tails not being home during Imposter Syndrome when Starline tried to break into it kind of makes sense. And also, I can see how Eggman was so woefully unprepared if Sonic Frontiers just happened. He lost a “daughter” after a couple week term in a cyber prison. He comes back and tries to collect his bearings and bam, a weird Tenrec and Fox are attacking his base of operations and suddenly Starline took over one of his mechs and is waiting outside his throne room.

Why didn’t Eggman implement Sage yet? He didn’t have a reason until Starline, using Eggman’s own network, hijacked his entire amada. Starline even stole an entire base without Eggman noticing. I can see that after the Overpowered arc, he needs another set of eyes on his network.

Then there is the final characterization of Tails in Sonic Frontiers which I admit contradicts with IDW. But I’d point to how he handles Kit and how he seems to be more independent from Sonic instead of his sidekick. Yes, I get that Sonic and Tails had the same conversation all the way back in issue 3 that they had in Frontiers but I’d say that one in Frontiers is more in-depth. Tails, after essentially defeating the Zeti and saving Sonic’s hide, seems to be operating independently of Sonic and only seems to be called upon or just hanging out with his brother. Tails is independently working with the Restoration on his own accord and between Sonic and Tails, Miles is the only one who has a day job, homes, and a few workshops. The resolution of what Tails will become is best handled in a game and not a comic but we can see the effort of him growing up and becoming hero we all knew he was kind of takes place during Imposter Syndrome. He faces the personification of what he fears he has become to Sonic in Kit and the Fox isn’t shaken at all. He is making a turn into whatever the goal is for Tails and think the argument that Sonic Frontiers took place during 48 supports it.

Then why haven’t they mentioned it yet? Not every adventure that Sonic and company goes on is so remarkable that it constantly needs to be brought up unless it’s related to whatever it’s happening. The reason why Sonic Frontiers isn’t mentioned is because it’s really a contained situation that happens on 4(yes 4, Chaos Island is attached to Ouranos) islands between 5 characters. It wasn’t a world breaking global news awareness kind of thing like SA1 or SA2 because I don’t think Sonic is throwing out press releases of every time they stopped Eggman. In fact, you can argue that is what Tailstube is. It’s Tails telling his world about Sonic and their adventures and his friends while answering questions like it’s the Just Chatting section on Twitch. Unless someone noticed Starfall Islands which they shouldn’t have since it’s four secluded islands, then yeah, no one cares. And the same can be said as to why Sonic not Eggman mention Metal Virus in Sonic Frontiers. It’s not related to what’s happening in the game so why remark upon it. Is Metal Virus arc so out of left field that it needs to be referenced compared to what happened in Sonic CD or Generations or the Advance Series? Or Sonic Rush Adventure? Those games weren’t referenced in Frontiers either but we don’t assume they didn’t happen either since Amy came from CD, Cream was mentioned in Frontiers and she debuted in the Advance Series, and Generations clearly happened as some of the Cyberstages are based off them.

But I digress. If Sonic Frontiers is to fit within IDW somewhere, I’d put it near #48 ish.

1 note · View note

mickey-millagher · 4 years ago

Text

At long last she’d found aunt Ginger’s body, just the latest of Frank’s many mistakes that she’d had to take care of over the years. Least with the body located she could finally have a moment of peace before the next disaster hit, Fiona thought as she made her way up to steps to the kitchen.

She opened the door.

Mickey Milkovich was bleeding out of his ass onto her countertop.

So much for a moment of peace.

“Ian what the fuck?” She yelled over the yelps coming from the teenage thug being operated on by... Jimmy’s dad.

“I can explain this.” Came Ian’s earnest reply.

Yeah he better have a fucking good explanation to boot, Fiona thought before noticing the woman standing in her living room.

After that in the chaos of having the kids yet again taken away from her, their home and each other. Finding out why Mickey Milkovich was bleeding out in her kitchen didn’t seem very important.

The house was quiet at last, Debbie, Carl and Liam finally being convinced to get some sleep after hours of celebrating their win at count. Jimmy had turned in hours before hand but Fiona couldn’t make herself stick to the kids bedtimes tonight. She knew it probably wasn’t the best start to her guardianship but she’d missed her kids so much and it wasn’t a school night, one late night wouldn’t hurt.

She smiled over at Ian as he crashed back down onto the sofa, handing her one of the beers he’d gone to get from the kitchen, leaving the second on the coffee table for Lip once he returned from the toilet, and opening the third himself.

“Good to be home?”

“Yeah, definitely beats the group home.”

That wasn’t a surprise, she’d spent time in group homes herself, back when she was still considered a kid. They’d been horrible enough but had nothing on what she’d heard about Gunderson House.

“So you still owe me an explanation.”

Ian blinked at her, clearly confused.

“Huh?”

“Why the hell was Mickey Milkovich of all people basically being operated on in my kitchen?”

In the weeks since her kids had been taken, there had been a lot more pressing issues on Fiona’s mind than the shot up Milkovich kid. But now that things were settled she wanted answers. Answers it seemed her little brother was reluctant to give if the look on his face was anything to go by.

Ian looked away from her, shrugging.

“It’s kinda a long story.”

“You said you could explain.” Fiona said, reaching over to nudge him slightly. “Well I want that explanation.”

Ian looked up at her then, thats when she realised he’d looked away to hide the tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

“I’m kinda tired, can we talk about this another time?” It was a question but his voice cracked slightly at the end and he was moving to get up before he’d even finished the sentence.

Fiona wasn’t an idiot, she knew her brothers hid things from her. Honestly there was a whole lot of things she was glad they didn’t talk to her about. Teenage boy stuff she really didn’t need to know. Ian especially, for a kid who’d always worn his heart on his sleeve, had always been good at keeping his cards close to his chest. Fiona had hoped that after he’d felt comfortable to come out to her, that he’d start to let her in, just a little bit more, talk to her about the important things he’d kept hidden away. That hadn’t happened, if anything he was pulling further away. She worried that soon he’d be lost to her completely.

“Hey.” She reached out grabbing his arm. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing, just tired, it’s been a long day.” He attempted to smile but it seemed off, fake instead of his usual big dopey grin. Thinking about it, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen it.

“Ian I changed your shitty diapers, you honestly think I can’t tell when you’re lying?”

Ian let out a breath and dropped back down onto the sofa. She could see Lip, standing in the shadows of the kitchen, concerned, ready to jump in to help their brother, same as always. If even Lip didn’t know what was going on with Ian, it had to be bad. She shook her head slightly at Lip, telling him to stay put, the more people the less likely it was that Ian would open up, and she was really starting to get a bad feeling.

“Come on Sweetface, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, I’m handling it okay?”

“Can’t be nothing if there’s something to handle. You know you can talk to me.”

Ian looked at her for a second. “Yeah I know.” He paused for a second, maybe debating finally opening up to his sister. “I’m gonna turn in, night.”

“Ian wait a second.”

Ian didn’t reply, his back already disappearing up the stairs.

Fiona turned towards Lip who’d slowly made his way into the room while Ian had ran upstairs.

“You know what’s going on with him?”

“No, he seemed fine, well about a week ago he came back with bruises and seemed a little shaken up, wouldn’t talk about it but he seemed okay the next day so.”

Fiona frowned, turning to look once again to the stairs, up which where her little brother had just gone. Something was definitely going on with him, it was only a question of if he’d ever let her know what.

It was the sixth day in a row that she’s visited Ian at the Milkovich house. Six days since she got an early release, only to get home to find her brother practically comatose in Mickey’s bed. She still didn’t quite understand what was going on between the two teenagers, just that when Ian came home, Mickey came with him. And now that Ian was sick, the Milkovich was saying Ian was his family and refusing to let him leave. Not that there was much of a chance of moving Ian, getting him to the bathroom was hard enough, let along the few blocks to the Gallagher house. Still she didn’t trust Mickey to be able to take care of him, family or not. So everyday she came over, brought him food, spent hours sitting with him, trying to get him to talk. All the things she’d long since given up doing for Monica. All the things she couldn’t imagine giving up on for Ian.

She eased the door open, no one without a death wish would dare steal from the Milkoviches so the front door was almost always unlocked. She could see a few Milkovich siblings or cousins, she was never sure which, while on her way to Mickey’s bedroom but didn’t pay them much mind, they weren’t who she was here for.

The door to Mickey’s room was slightly ajar, letting Fiona see into the room without making her presence known.

“Come on man you gotta eat something.” Mickey was crouched down on the far side of the bed, a bowl and spoon clutched in his hands.

“Not hungry.”

It was crazy how those two words made Fiona’s heart soar. They weren’t positive but Ian had made such few acknowledgments of them over the past week that it still felt like improvement.

“Couple of spoonfuls and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Ayy Mickey get out here, need your opinion on something.” Came a yell from the living room.

Mickey looked up from the redhead, locking eyes with his boyfriend’s sister from across the room, but seemingly unsurprised to find her there.

“Can I try?” She asked tentatively, not wanting to cause Mickey to have another outburst, not with Ian so vulnerable in the room

Mickey shrugged. “Sure.” He replied, leaving the bowl and spoon on the side table before leaving to settle whatever his family had going on.

“Hey Ian, how’re you feeling today?” She asked taking Mickeys spot on the floor.

Ian just blinked back at her before slowly closing his eyes completely

“Things seem kinda crazy around here, guess crazy just goes with the Milkoviches. Follows them around or something. You know crazy, like that time Mickey was bleeding out in the kitchen. Seems almost like it could be a normal occurrence here, that why I never got an explanation?” Fiona forced a little laugh at the end, she was trying to keep all her interactions with Ian upbeat in the hope in might help him. It hadn’t so far.

“M tired Fi.”

“That’s what you said last time I ask you know.”

Ian made no move to acknowledge she’d spoken that time, a reaction she was slowly getting used to.

“Okay you don’t wanna talk. Can you eat something for me?”

She didn’t get a response that time either.

It was hard to believe this was going to be the last time she sat around this table, in this kitchen, having dinner with her family like she had so many times before. She may have moved out two years ago but the time she’d spent here, growing up and raising her siblings alongside her, was never something she would fully leave behind. Even if now they were selling the house, all of them moving on with their lives like she’d chosen herself when she’d left.

“The amount of shit this kitchen has seen, hope the new owners have bleach.” Lip said with a laugh.

“I feel like I’ve got to ask, but do you mean actual shit?”

“What no, well probably not.”

“Cousin Patrick did leave that toilet in the middle of the living room.” Debbie pointed out.

“Okay maybe actual shit.”

Mickey wrinkled his nose. “You said my house was bad.”

“Like you haven’t left you’re mark on the kitchen, I came home to you bleeding out on the countertops once.”

“Oh fuck yeah, still got the scars from that shit. If I’d been allowed to take my guns.” He paused to glare at his husband. “Then none of that would have happened.”

“How was I suppose to know the drunk old lady had a shotgun?”

“It was your fucking heist, you’re meant to find this shit out!”

“Wait so that’s what happened, you were breaking in somewhere and he got shot?”

Ian shrugged. “Ned asked me to steal some stuff from his wife’s house. Didn’t think anyone would get hurt.”

“Well you thought wrong.” Mickey huffed.

“Aww poor baby.” Ian cooed, putting a hand around Mickey to pull him over and kiss the side of his head. Mickey seemed to be trying to keep glaring throughout but a slight smile broke through. The stability the two of them seemed to have these days was a welcome surprise for Fiona when she’d arrived the day before, she hadn’t been fully sure what to expect from the renewed relationship between the two of them but it looked like this time for the most part the two of them had their act together.

“Wait who’s Ned?” Liam asked.

Ian opened his mouth to speak but Lip beat him to it.

“Ned was this old dude that Ian was banging back in the day to make Mickey jealous. He was also the dad of Fiona’s boyfriend at the time.”

“Thanks for that Lip.”

“I wasn’t fucking jealous.”

“I regret asking.”

The three replies came at the same time, sparking more voices to keep talking over each other and several conversations spiralling at once.

Fiona leaned back, not quite wanting to participate right now, just wanting to bask in the warmth of the chaos of her family home one last time. And processing that finally she got that long ago promised explanation, maybe not quite worth the wait, it was still nice to finally know.

#the 3 times Ian didn’t explain + the 1 time he did #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich #shameless #lip gallagher #fiona gallagher #liam gallagher #shameless fanfiction #shameless fanfic #I’ve had this in my drafts for like two weeks but I wanted to get it out now before the last episode debunks the last part #also formatting on tumblr is hard might start using ao3 again #Freya’s fics

62 notes · View notes

pigeonplays · 3 years ago

Text

Watson Gen 1 Recap

i want to post my sims legacy a bit but I’ve played a whole gen and there’s drama and chaos that nobody knows so I’m here to explain! i randomly roll traits and a lot of this drama is either the game or generated via mods!

Generation One

meet Everly Watson! she is my founder! moved to Oasis Springs with her only child in hopes of supporting her child as a single mom. she had a brief stint as a detective before quitting her jobs in pursuit of a future in the culinary arts due to her natural talents in cooking. she is adventurous, family oriented, and loves dogs. She met Ian Sauer, and they fell in love and eloped in no time! They started having a family together, and ian stayed at home, to caretake for the kids and the home, this worked out due to him being kind of a freegan. he is also a bit jealous, though.

Alongside, Clementine, Everly’s first born child, they had 3 more daughters, Hawthorne, Aspen, and Elm. They lived as a big happy family until Everly found out she was pregnant with another kid; one she didn’t want but ian did. Ultimately, she decided to keep the baby, Clover, but in disagreements with Ian about raising Clover, the two separated and divorced.

It wasn’t until all the four oldest daughters were adults and clover were a preteen that Everly and Ian started talking again and decided to get remarried. Since the eloped the first time, in their old age they had the wedding of their dreams in Tartosa, where she found the Bakery location of her dreams and opened Watson Bakery.

Clementine Watson or Clem is the first-born child of Everly. Growing up, Clem felt like she belonged amongst her step sisters and really got along with Ian. Clem earned all A’s in school, and was a good mannered, responsible child who mediated fights between her siblings. She is outgoing, and romantic, and a dog lover. She went to college during her parents separation, getting a degree in physics and then moving back home after getting a job in Mechanical Engineering, as an Artisian of Apparatuses. Clem is single handedly working on keeping the family together despite sibling rivalries and interpersonal drama.

Hawthorne had a rebellious streak that has yet to end! She is self-absorbed, glutton, and a snob she ended up dropping out of high school. She moved out as soon as she could, but discovered that her irresponsibility, bad manners, and uncontrolled emotions made it hard for her to keep any jobs. she ended up losing her job and moving into a renovated trailer on an old lot that Everly originally bought for a future Watson bakery. Being talented in programming and logic, Hawthorne then attempted to hold a position as a secret agent, which quickly failed. While in a bit of a pinch for money to pay bills, Hawthorne got a call from a distant relative offering inheritance that could only go to a married sim. Hawthorne ended up proposing to her casual girlfriend, Kalyn Newton, who agreed mistaking the commitment to be much more serious than it was.

Clover Watson��was the unwanted fifth and final daughter Ian and Everly had. Being much younger than Clem, Hawthorne, Aspen, or Elm, Clover had a lonely childhood. Her relationship with her mom was pretty rocky, and she was the only kid in her family who had to deal with being a child of divorce. Due to this, Clover isn’t really close with any one in her family, except Clem, who made an effort to keep all of the family together. Clover is a Foodie, but has a mildly unrefined palate, and has dreams of being a famous pastry chef. However, she usually isn’t allowed in the bakery due to her lack of cooking skills, so the job usually goes to Hawthorne. She also has hobbies watching movies with a club of friends, Yuki Behr and Darling Walsh in the backyard movie hang out they made together.

#The Watson Legacy #The Watson Legacy Gen 1 #The Watson Legact Gen 2 #Clover Watson #Hawthorne Watson #everly watson #ian sauer #clementine watson #I'll be real the other two sisters are bg characters and moved out rn for college and the military so i figured they didnt need paragraphs #elm joined the military #and aspen went to college #if ur curious!#idk who heir is they are all good picks #maybe eventually there will be a vote after clover is a YA ???#ii would also like someone to become a werewolf but we shall see when that happens lol #UPDATED THIS POST TO BE BETTER AND MORE DETAILED #their portriats are a little bit ahead of the screenshots in this but ALAS

24 notes · View notes

awkwardgtace · 3 years ago

Text

Secret Brother Pt1

New OCs let's go. Trying out something idk if I'll write more with these guys. Realizing some bit of traumatic past seems required in my ocs so far.

TW: mentions of abandonment. Later parts will have mentions of a borrower being treated like a pet this is entirely painted in how fuckin wrong it is and how it added to the trauma.

Part 2 Part 3 (Final)

Secret Brother Part 1

Everything started when Mikhail’s students were talking about some weird happenings in their dorm. Things were going missing and a voice was heard commonly late at night. They started to say they thought it was haunted. He offered to host a study session to disprove anything, making sure to bring his shoulder bag. It was easy enough to leave open on the ground and should be tempting enough for the ‘ghost’ to climb in. He kept a close eye out and sat near a wall he thought he saw a crack in. He was starting to worry that this wouldn’t work, until he saw a small form climbing up the edge of his bag. He didn’t like doing this, but he knew the students in this dorm were more likely to share their discovery. They were being too obvious here, probably someone who just struck out on their own. Now the dorm ‘ghost’ would be somewhere much safer and could learn the skills they needed.

Mikhail was anxious for the remainder of the session. He couldn’t be obvious for the sake of the one in his bag, and the others around him. He carefully placed his bag on his shoulder, opting to carry the books he’d used out as he continued speaking with the students. He rushed to his car, placing the bag safely on the floor of the passenger seat. He took the drive slower than normal, eyes constantly drifting to his bag. He parked and rushed straight to his door. Once inside he placed his bag on the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out a random book. He quickly walked off, settling down in a chair pretending to read. He was keeping an eye out for when his passenger left the bag. After an hour he decided to just leave the bag on the floor for a few days, give the little one time to get out.

It took a few days, but he finally heard the ‘ghost’ acting. It started with a clatter sound from his kitchen late at night. He held his breath, waiting for another sign. A voice that sounded somewhat young started mumbling. He wanted to get involved and help, but it’s never gone well in the past. He would just stay as an oblivious human and they could figure this all out. At least that was his promise to himself, but the little one was far from subtle. He could hear them talking to themselves on a daily basis, they were leaving messes, and worst of all they left trails back to their entrances. Mikhail had promised himself he wouldn’t get involved anymore, but he couldn’t leave this. He sighed, gathering what he needed to help out the inexperienced borrower.

He faked a phone call claiming he’d be gone for a few days then left shutting the door loudly. He went around to the back of his house, pulling out a fishing hook with a line attached and hanging it on the windowsill of the kitchen window. He’d left it open just enough someone the size of his guest could squeeze through. He focused on the feeling he’d grown used to over the years and watched the world slowly grow around him. In only a few seconds the world towered around him. He started climbing quickly, a little out of practice since he’d gotten his size under control.

He squeezed through the open window, reminding himself to open it just a bit more next time. Once inside he froze, he never once considered the borrower might recognize him. He considered squeezing out the window again, but was stopped before taking a step. He heard a small clatter, and saw a poorly made paper clip hook fail to catch. He heard a groan from below as the paper clip fell from the counter. He just had to hope they wouldn’t notice the similarities between the human they were living with and the new borrower in the house. He took a steadying breath then marched to the edge of the counter. The borrower was already murmuring to themselves, it was clearly a problem.

“You know you’ll get caught talking to yourself like that right?” he called down. The source of the failed hook screamed, clearly not expecting anyone to be here. Mikhail hadn’t been wrong, this was definitely a kid. They were probably a teenager, and honestly didn’t look like they’d had an easy time. He took his own hook, placing it down and throwing the string off the edge. “Climb up and we can talk. Don’t want to be too loud in case the human is around.”

The kid had no hesitation climbing up, that much trust could be dangerous. Although most people this size trusted each other almost blindly. They were worn out and panting once they were at the top of the counter, clearly new to borrowing. Had he accidentally kidnapped a young curious kid? He’d find out if anyone else was there once he’d trained the kid a bit. He gave them another minute before finally starting with his plan.

“Kid, why were you making so much noise? Half of being a borrower is being quiet especially when out in the open.” he said. The kid opened their eyes and Mikhail realized he’d made a mistake. Their eyes were watery, they must have been terrified. The kid sniffled a bit as they finally got their breath back.

“I-I didn’t mean to,” they said, “my parents didn’t really teach me how to borrow yet. W-we were on our way to a new home when a storm hit and I got separated. I wound up here by accident. I climbed in the human’s bag, I thought I saw loose threads I could use, along with some food. Th-they closed the bag on me and I wound up in this house.”

“Where were you before?” Mikhail asked. He wondered if there was a chance he could find the kid’s parents at the school.

“I’m not sure, I was dragged by water for a long time. When I got out of it I-I ran to the first building I found. I’m pretty sure they got dragged away too...” the kid’s voice was quiet. They seemed to know they weren’t going to find their parents. It sounded like there may be more to the story the kid didn’t want to mention yet. Mikhail would do everything he could to make sure they could survive on their own. He was getting attached already and he hated it.

“Well I was planning to stay here for a few days before moving on again,” he started. “I can teach you the basics. I happen to know you picked a pretty good human to live with. This one doesn’t tend to investigate small noises, but he has gotten curious from times I took too much.”

“Wait wait, you'll teach me? W-why? Isn’t it better to just move on and leave me to whatever happens?”

“Who told you that?” Mikhail’s voice went icy. The kid lost their family and just needed some guidance.

“Well, I uh, I met other borrowers who always said that. Then my parents too...sometimes.”

Mikhail was ready to scream hearing that. He’d dealt with people like that a lot since he lost his parents. He wrapped his arm around the kid’s shoulders and pulled him into a half hug. They froze but soon melted into the contact, he started rubbing his arm on their arm to calm them. The kid started to cry and Mikhail just let them. He knew they were safe and later, he’d say they should be careful. He let them go as long as they wanted, he knew sometimes you just needed times like this. The kid was the first one to pull away, looking a bit ashamed as they did so.

“I’m sorry about that,” they said. “We were lucky the human didn’t come back, I could have gotten us both caught. I-if this is where you usually live I can leave. I don’t want to put you at risk.”

“I offered to teach you, didn't I? No one has to leave, besides I tend to be a bit more nomadic. My name is Mik, he and him,” he said.

“I-I,” the kid shook his head, “My name is Ian, he and him too, I think. Are you really all right to teach me?”

“Don’t worry about the he and him thing too much, if something else feels right just tell me, ok Ian?”

Ian nodded his head. Mikhail took the time to really assess him now that he didn’t have to worry about being an accidental kidnapper. He didn’t look like he’d had much to eat recently, although that wasn’t uncommon for borrowers. His clothes were a bit baggy, and needed some patching. Mikhail may try to pull some tricks with his shifting to get him some better clothes. Ian seemed to be at least a full inch shorter than Mikhail, which wasn’t reassuring if they ever met when he was human.

“Ian, how old are you?” he finally asked. He needed an idea before deciding the next steps.

“I-I’m seventeen, or well I’m almost seventeen.”

Mikhail nodded, a little surprised he was that old. Ian was just a teenager after all. He knew what to do then. First they’d make a better hook, then practice having it catch on tables and counters. Then how to grab supplies without leaving a trace. He’d leave him with the fish hook once the few days he gave himself were up. The fish hook and line is sturdier, and would last with fewer replacements longer. Perfect for someone still just learning, plus he could just start a collection of random hooks to leave out.

“All right, here's the plan,” Mikhail explained. It didn’t take more than that for Ian to get excited. He trailed behind Mikhail hanging on every word, mouthing the important things. Mikhail felt like he had a little brother with how this was going. He couldn’t deny that he was enjoying being with Ian like this. It’s been a while since he really spent time with people outside of work. By the time the weekend ended and ‘Mik’ had to move on, neither was happy with it. Mikhail knew Ian would get better without trouble, but he didn’t want to leave him alone.

They were sitting in Ian’s home, set up a lot better with the supplies they grabbed safely over two days. Ian had gotten into a habit of staying almost on top of Mikhail while in the home, like he thought he’d disappear. It left Mikhail with a sour feeling, knowing he had to leave the kid at least for the week. He jumped a little as that thought crossed his mind. He could, probably, keep this up on the weekends. Eventually Ian would see the human’s face and he may put two and two together, until then he could keep this up. He’d only come back until he was positive Ian wasn’t being reckless, if he went a week without seeing him then ‘Mik’ would come to say goodbye. It would work fine and then Ian wouldn’t have to deal with everything that’s happened alone.

“Can I go with you?” Ian asked, it knocked Mikhail from his thoughts. Mikhail looked at him with a sad smile shaking his head. “Why not? You said I was doing well. I can get used to being an outdoors borrower. Or, or just a traveling one or whatever. Please?”

“It’s too dangerous. Maybe when you’ve improved more. I don’t want you taking risks you don’t have to. I was told the same thing by the person who taught me everything,” Mikhail explained, he knew he couldn’t just abandon him. “I can try to come back though. I help keep some others connected, but I’ll come back, I promise.”

Ian grabbed him tight into a hug, the promise barely keeping him together. Mikhail knew it was a dumb idea, but he couldn’t do it. He’d promised himself not to get involved with borrowers again after the last time, but he never expected to find a kid who had no one. Once Ian could take care of himself he’d tell him the truth and then deal with the consequences. For now he’d help him stay safe. Ian fell asleep holding Mikhail in a tight hug. He knew he shouldn’t stay like this, but it was nice to be with someone else. After a few hours he knew he had to leave. It was Monday so he had to be a human again and go to work.

He slipped out of Ian’s grasp, careful not to wake him. Quietly he grabbed the hook that they’d fashioned out of some threads and a paper clip, leaving Ian the one that he’d brought. He snuck through the walls until reaching an entrance that he’d leave open just enough to come in through again. Once out of the walls he focused on shifting back to his human size, the world slowly matching him again. He quickly made his way to the front door, keeping an eye out for anyone awake right now. He snuck in quietly, trying to avoid being loud enough to wake Ian up. He collapsed on his bed, turning his phone on with an alarm set for the class that started in a few hours.

#gt writing #gt #giant/tiny #gianttiny #g/t #g/t writing #OC:Ian #OC:Mikhail/Mik #OC:Mik/Mikhail

63 notes · View notes

royallyprincesslilly · 4 years ago

Text

Title: Partners {7}*

OA Zidan/Zeeko Zaki x Reader

Warning: Cursing, Angst, Drama, Action, Multiple POV changes, Talk and Mild depiction of Sex Trafficking, Racism Implied, Possibly Triggering Content, Character Drugging, Violence, Groping, Implied Blood, Plot, Mild NSFW, PLENTY OF WORDS

Words: 9k

Summary: You’re a damn good FBI agent in your own right. It is definitely partly to do with how well you’ve been trained and partly to do with you not letting anything or anyone distract you. You have a six-year plan that you’re fast-tracking for four. After being transferred from your office in Tampa, you’ve been sent to New York, which you’ve labeled the “big leagues.” Your first day there, after being introduced to your new partner OA Zidan you realized you’ve moved out of the frying pan right into the pot of distraction. A year later and your growing attraction for your partner still hasn’t been snuffed out.

Note: This is a first for me writing about a TV show and interjecting into it. Let’s see how this goes. I hope you guys enjoy this. As always, thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

~~~~~~~~~~~

The slinkiness of the dress was not missed by you. Your fingers noticed it once you pulled it from the shopping bag. It was a pretty dress. You checked yourself in the mirror of the bathroom again, turning in every direction so you could see how you looked in a dress you probably would have chosen for yourself in Miami. The black sequins looked good against your skin, and the accent gold chains around your neck that draped down your body between your breasts made them look even more inviting than usual. You wondered who’d picked this dress. While you looked good, if you had to run, it would probably be a matter of time before you had a nip slip or a full-on boob pop out.

You took a deep breath, released it, and leaned closer to the mirror to peer deeper into your eyes. Your nerves were beginning to get the better of you.

“You can do this, Y/N. You’ve done this before. It’s not a big deal. You know the drill. You. Got. This!”

Taking a final breath, you stepped back, rearranged the neck of the dress, checked your make up then nodded to yourself, pleased at the final product. As you walked out of the bathroom and down the hall of the JOC, you tried to mentally psych yourself up. It had been a year since you’d done any undercover work and the nerves never really went away. Once you stepped into the common area where all your coworkers centered, one by one, the eyes drifted to you.

From the right, you heard a whistle. When you turned, it was Scola.

“Agent Y/L/N.”

You rolled your eyes then scoffed.

“Watch it, Scola.”

He lifted his hands in defeat as you walked up to Jubal, Kristen, OA, and Isobel. OA’s eyes slowly raked along your body, taking in every detail.

“This is as good as it’s gonna get,” you joked.

“You look incredible,” Isobel complimented.

“Eh, it’s just a dress. By the way, who picked this out?”

“That would be Kristen’s handiwork,” Jubal said with a smile as he bumped his shoulder into Kristen’s. You picked up on the way she smiled back at him before she focused on you.

“I see I picked right. I knew you had what was needed to carry it.”

“All right, all right,” you pushed out, trying to change the subject. “Are we ready to move?”

“Yes. We’re meeting our informant at a pickup spot near the heights. Let’s move people,” Jubal drilled.

Everyone went into motion, preparing to leave. The elevator ride was chatter filled as Jubal, Kristen, and Isobel listed things off from the file you had to remember. While your brain was functioning and focused on them, your body was also functioning and focused on OA, who was beside you with his hands clutched one over the other in front of him while he stared at the dial. Though he wasn’t looking at you, your body could feel the energy coming off of his body, and it was responding.

Once you piled into the van, you situated as Lim began explaining the intricacies of the few gadgets you wore, including mics in your diamond earrings, surveillance cameras embedded into the golden chains of the dress, and two chip trackers inside the ring, and an emergency explosive. You were impressed, and you let him know it. Lim was adorable. He always looked surprised to hear a compliment on how well he did his job or that someone noticed. You always made it a point to tell Lim how good of a job he was doing. You believed it was necessary to praise people when they deserved it, especially if you saw it.

You tried to retain the information you read in the files, along with the faces you saw. You knew the key to undercover work was memorizing as much as you could. Your success in Miami was because you were good with retaining information, thinking quickly on your feet, and solving things with small details that others would not have thought of. Your nerves were beginning to pick up, and you knew it was because while you’d been in a similar undercover situation before, this was a different monster. Whereas the sex club was a dangerous environment, it was a closed environment. With this operation, many variables would be left up to chance, and that were ever-changing. That meant more risk.

You tried not to look at OA. You didn’t want to give him any indication that you knew he was right and that this was too dangerous. Your father’s words echoed in your head.

“In this world, because of the color of your skin and your sex, you have to be twice as good and work twice as hard to get to where others would easily get to. You have to never show weakness. They will look for it because you’re a woman.”

Clenching your jaw, you straightened your posture and did your best to clear your mind. This assignment wouldn’t break you, thought to yourself over and over.

Fifteen minutes later, the van pulled up at the meet location that Jubal’s informant would come to get you to add to the shipment of women. After Lim checked that you were good with how the gadgets worked and were comfortable operating them, he gave you a comforting pat on the shoulder, a gentle squeeze, and a soft smile that spoke of his confidence in you. As he made a move to get out of the van, he stopped and came back to you.

“Can I say something I’ve always wanted to tell you?”

You nodded.

“Since you came to join us here, I’ve admired you. I think you’re smart, smarter than a lot of people I’ve worked with. You’ve impressed me more times than I can count, and I’m not in the least worried about you knocking this out of the park. Remember how badass you are.” He added a wink that made you smile.

“Thank you, Ian.”

“Anytime, Y/N. You’re—you’re great—you’ll be great.”

With that, he walked out and closed the doors behind him, leaving you and OA. You couldn’t help but smile. He was sweet.

“I think Ian’s got a crush,” OA uttered slightly under his breath.

“Oh, stop it.”

He approached you with his arms held out to you. Once he was close enough, his hands latched onto your waist.

“Should I be worried?”

You snorted then rose to meet his eyes. “You tell me. Should you?”

OA studied you for a few moments before he answered.

“I don’t know. Maybe I should.”

The warmth from his hands was working to calm some of your nerves. You sighed out, placed your hands on his forearms, and then traced patterns into his exposed skin.

“Don’t be jealous.”

“Ya know something; I didn’t think I was a jealous man—before now,” he replied.

You stared at each other, neither of you speaking. After several long moments, you looked down. OA tipped your chin up, so you looked at him.

“I feel I have to say something right now,” OA began.

You quirked your eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

“You look—incredibly gorgeous.”

Slowly your lips spread into a wide smile that got wider and wider.

“I can’t believe the first time I see you like this is for a sting operation rather than our first date.”

The butterflies began fluttering in your gut, making your knees go weak. You slouched back on the cold table that lined the side of the van. OA’s hands slid down to your hips and squeezed. The action did nothing for the fluttering in your belly, but it helped to stabilize you.

“Well—maybe you’ll actually get that first date if you get the balls to finally ask for it,” you teased.

OA’s smile began small until you were staring at his perfect teeth. With no hesitation, he lowered his lips to yours for a sweet kiss that he took control of. His lips trailed down your jaw and back to your ear where be nibbled and licked along its shell. With every lick, the butterflies in your gut fluttered more rapidly, and with every nibble, your sex throbbed. You couldn’t believe you were getting turned on at a time like this.

“Are you okay?”

His whisper against your ear made you sigh. It was the question you were dreading. Mustering as much gusto as you could, you put on a tough exterior.

“I’m fine. As I said, it’s no big deal and nothing I haven’t done before.”

The more you spoke, the less you believed your own words. When you looked at OA, he didn’t even look to believe your words.

“You don’t have to play tough with me. I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re lying and when something isn’t as it seems.”

OA moved his hands from their place on your hips to buckle behind you at the small of your back. His long fingers splayed across your bare skin, making any cold shell you were trying to wear melt away. You sighed again.

“Okay, I am nervous, but it’s jitters. Everyone gets em’.”

OA kissed your forehead and kept his lips there for a few seconds. “I know you can do this. It’s never been a question of if you could. It was always, should you? I know you’ve got this because you are the most incredible agent that I’ve known in a long time. You’re smart, quick on your feet, charismatic, and don’t even get me started on what an amazing profiler you are. Plus, your right hook and roundhouse is a thing of beauty.”

You giggled, then lowered your head to his collar. Even in heels, he was still slightly taller than you. His chuckle vibrated against your forehead, and the tension in the van automatically decreased. When your laughs subsided, you bit your bottom lip and thought about your next words carefully.

“If this goes south,” you began before OA pulled you back so he could look at you.

“It won’t.”

“If it does,” you tried again.

OA cupped your jaw and slid his thumb along your lips until it was in the center, silencing you.

“It won’t. You got this, and I have your back. We all do.”

For some reason, that touched you more now than it ever had before. He always had your back, and so did the team. That was what a team was. You tried to keep your emotions in check, but the longer you saw the compassion in his eyes that felt more and more like something more intimate than compassion, the more your emotions went haywire. You crushed your body to his for a hug. Resting your cheek against his chest, you listened to the drum of his heart, hoping it would soothe you as it had less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Let me get this out, Omar,” you whispered, feeling your heart race.

“If things go south, I want you to know I have loved every single minute that I’ve been your partner. Thank you for making me a better agent, and thank you for helping me see sometimes following your heart can lead to great things,” you said, somehow able the keep your voice from shaking.

Before you could slow your racing heart, OA pulled you back again and crashed his lips to yours, making it race even more. You happen to open your eyes at the same moment he did, and while your lips danced together, your eyes spoke words that had been left unspoken in your heart.

It took just seconds for OA’s hands to drop to your hips again and yours to begin to quickly fight with the belt he wore. As OA squeezed your hips and moaned against your lips, you managed to free him of his belt and undo the buttons of his pants. When OA’s hands slipped to your backside, he gripped it with such a roughness you knew his need and how closely it mirrored yours. His hands quickly pulled at the fabric of the dress, inching it up over your hips to reveal your thonged ass to the cold surface of the table.

Finally free of his pants, he turned you, so you now faced the wall of the van. You bent forward, bracing your hands on the table as OA freed his member. When you felt him rub himself against your slit, you shuddered and anxiously anticipated the feel of his intrusion. As he slowly slid into you, connecting your bodies inch by inch, one hand gripped your hip, and the other covered your mouth in time to muffle the deep moan you let out.

OA sucked in a shuddered breath, then groaned. Once he was buried to the hilt, he circled his hips, making goosebumps erupt all over your skin. OA lowered his lips to your shoulder, bit down on your flesh then began thrusting in and out of you. While his movements were slow, the force with which he rocked into you was intense. Within seconds he’d sped his movements and the force that he flicked his hips. With every move forward, it was powerful enough to have your entire body jerk from it. In no time, you’d begun rocking along with him. When he retreaded, you did too, only to slam back onto him, taking all of him.

You could tell your movements were driving OA crazy because of the tightness of his grip on your body. He hovered over your back and went to your ear.

“Habibi,” he whispered. “Aikhtar,” he groaned. “Eshq,” he panted.

It took those three words to bring you to the horizon of your orgasm, and he must have known it because he sped up, slamming into you, filling you completely. It only took a few thrust and the cup of his large hand against your sex for you to whimper. As his fingers strummed your pearl, heightening your arousal making you more desperate for your release. It wasn’t long before OA was marking you as his from the inside out.

Slowly both of you came down from your euphoric cloud. Your breathing evened out, the tremble of your body slowed, but your heart still pounded, and you knew it was just for him. Within a few minutes, OA had you dressed and presentable again, and when he was the self-controlled and professional Agent Zidan again, he pulled you against him.

“I’m going to do everything and anything needed to make sure we get to have that date,” he said while gazing into your eyes with such intensity you knew he meant the words he spoke. “Anything,” he repeated for emphasis.

Before you could speak, there was a knock on the van, signaling that the informant had arrived and it was showtime. OA pressed his forehead to yours for a few seconds, then kissed your nose before he backed off. You turned to the table, looking into the purse you had, and reapplied your lipstick. When you were sure you were good, you and OA hopped out of the van to join the team with them none the wiser.

“I really wish we could put a wire on you, but I think you know what we can’t,” Isobel said.

“I get it. I’ll probably go through a strip-search,” you filled in. Once you said it, you heard OA grumble.

“We have the jewelry surveillance, so you’re not alone in there. We can’t talk to you, but we can hear and see what you do,” Jubal assured.

You nodded as you went over the file one last time. Over your quiet surroundings, you all heard the signal. You gave them a nod being careful not to look at OA before you walked away from them. You didn’t think you could handle that. After taking a few steps, though, you looked back at him. He stood there with his arms crossed across his broad chest with the deepest scowl on his face that accompanied his tightly clenched jaw. Deciding to test the tech, you said the one thing you knew you could that only he would get.

“My back, your back, we got that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

-OA-

He hated this more than he hated the stares he got his first few weeks at Quantico. Those weeks were a different hell. It was a hell that tested everything he knew about himself and how who he was would connect to his work—if it could connect. Because of his culture and heritage, he got a lot of flack. He’d had to work twice as hard to prove himself even though he’d done two tours in Iraq and had earned his dues and proven himself as an asset. This hell, though, it gripped his heart tighter than anything else. He wondered if it was because what he had to lose was just way in life. If he failed, he would have to live with the shame. Now, if this failed, he’d have to live with much more. Regret. Heartbreak. They were two things he didn’t want any part of. It was your fault.

He’d fallen in love with his partner. It was the first rule in the book. The first rule that was drilled in his head in every line he went into. In the Rangers, it was don’t get involved with your peers or form any personal or intimate connections with informants or those in the field. In the DEA, it was, go by the book and don’t get involved with anyone on any level. He’d learned how challenging and intricate undercover work was there. Here he was after all these years and all his life experiences throwing the book away, setting ablaze first, though.

He listened to the informant drill you on everything you needed to know as he walked you to the truck you’d be in. In the back of the van with Isobel, Kristen, Jubal, and the rest of the team, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, but he couldn’t show any of it. He knew if he showed too much concern, it would raise curiosity about your relationship's true nature. He had to remain calm and neutral enough for a partner and not venture into the realm of the concerned lover.

You were so good that as the truck drove with you in the back, you sang a song in French. It wasn’t just any song, though. You fed them intel of everything that was around you, how many other girls were in the back, their descriptions, scents, and any other piece of information that would help with the case. Everyone around him looked pleased, and he knew Isobel was relieved. You were showing in less than an hour why you were the right person for the job.

“She’s got this,” Jubal said aloud while nodding his head and snapping the rubber band against his wrist, a nervous tick he’d noticed when Kristen was injured in the hospital.

At the thought of Kirsten, he looked across to her. she was sitting with Ian, and the two were talking closely, most likely about the case, but it made him look back to Jubal for his reaction. The look on Jubal’s face didn’t give much away, but being a good profiler, he picked up on a few things. Jubal didn’t look to like how close they were. He wondered then if you and he weren’t the only ones who were fraternizing.

The puzzle gave him something to occupy his mind instead of him worrying and thinking of worst case scenarios, and he was glad for it. After almost forty minutes, your reporting notified that the truck had stopped and everyone was being led out.

“Here we go, people,” Isobel notified.

The tension in the van returned tenfold as everyone’s attention went to the screens. He tagged the route the truck had taken thanks to the tracking devices you wore and calculated the quickest route to you in case things went south. He watched the feed you expertly gave. You made sure to turn in every possible direction so you could give them a quick lay of the land. Every angle Ian and Kirsten tagged, they let out an audible “yes.” You were making everyone’s job easier.

You were led into a large house. The interior was decorated richly. The techs worked to make connections with everything in the feed, artwork, photos, and even furniture. Any of it could lead to a break. You stopped for a second, then bent forward, bringing a clear photo of four men into the frame.

“Get that picture scrubbed. I want to know everything about all of them, even their childhood pet’s name. Come on, people. Let’s get Y/N out of there in under twenty-four hours,” Jubal drilled.

The van came alive with chatter and activity, and he focused more intently on the feed. With his fingers steepled underneath his bearded chin, he tried to stay present.

“File in here, ladies. You know the drill. Inspection.”

He clenched his jaw, hating what that sounded like. He continued watching the feed. He took in the details of the room and guessed they were holding the women in a basement. The women around the room were all dressed in their best. He’d clocked bruises on some and small injuries on others. Having worked an undercover case like this one, he knew the ones with small injuries were probably the older ones that had been acquired over a year ago while the ones with bruises were newer. In situations like these, the older ones, because of their wear and tear, were abused more. They were usually kept on reserve for those with particular tastes. They were deemed the expendable ones.

When the men approached you, they brought you into another room where two men were waiting. Once they laid eyes on you, they whistled and made catcalls at you.

“Wow. We have an exotic one.”

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Dulce,” you replied.

“Ah, you were brought in with Snake, part of the special shipment from Florida. He said very good things about the women in that shipment.”

The man approached you and slowly walked around you before he stopped in front again.

“Where you from, honey?”

“I can be from anywhere you like.”

“she’s good,” Isobel voiced. “She knows giving men like that control means appeasement.”

“So you’re a people pleaser, huh.”

“Absolutely sugar. I please people,” you replied.

The men laughed together before exchanging glances.

“Well, Dulce, we gotta search you, so be a good girl as I—sample the goods.”

He watched the man approach you. He didn’t know if he could stomach watching, but he didn’t look away.

“Ah, very nice.” He sounded like the sleaziest of perverts, and his anger flared.

The air in the vibe went from tense to uncomfortable. They all knew what was happening. He was glad he couldn’t see your face. As soon as he thought it, you were moved, and you now stood in front of a mirror, and your reflection was now what he saw. The man in a burgundy button-down and black slacks was before you—on you. He walked behind you then brought his hands around to cup your breasts.

“Son of a--.”

Clenching his jaw, he continued watching. The sleazeball's hands slid down your abdomen.

“Everyone look away,” Isobel ordered.

He did not. When he saw the asshole’s hand creep to your crotch, he was ready to end this whole thing. The look on your face was a detached one. You didn’t look as if it phased you.

“Hey! What’re you doing? She’s for the boss. No one is to touch her.”

The informant came into the frame just in time before the perv groped you any further.

“I’m sure Boss would want us to make sure she’s clean.”

“You’re just trying to get your rocks off. You know how he feels about the first touch. Should I tell him that you dirtied his entertainment for the night?”

The two men faced off, but the informant didn’t back down.

“You’re lucky you’re so high up, Snake.”

“Shut the fuck up. Know your place. You, out.”

You walked to the door with Snake behind you. While everyone else in the room released a relieved sigh, he didn’t. This was but a tiny victory. There would be many more tests and close calls before the night was done.

“I’ll get you to the bathroom upstairs. It is next door to the office. You have three minutes. Use them wisely. I’ll be back to bring you to them.”

A little while later, you walked into the bathroom and released a breath. He could tell you forgot about the camera on you as you allowed your nerves to show—just a little. He wished he could be there to help in any way you’d let him, but he wasn’t. He even wished you could hear him. After a fifteen or twenty second reprieve, you were sneaking out the bathroom door to the office next door. Once inside, you began rummaging through cabinets, drawers, folders, and even the trash, giving them a glance at anything you came across. You moved so quickly that each analyst worked on each piece of data your lens came across.

“I think I found something,” you said, opening a folder with the letters “NDB” tapped across its cover. You flipped through the pages giving them two or three seconds each page to capture it in a screenshot.

“Yes, Y/N, that’s it,” Jubal cheered on.

“That has to be a record with getting in,” Isobel said more to herself than anyone else.

“It looks like these are future plans. I have names, dates, locations, pictures even.”

“That’s all we need, right,” Kristen inquired.

“I mean,” Jubal began.

“No. while this is good, we need a clear shot of them all in the room and to hear talk about any attack as well as get them in some sort of incriminating situation. With that, we got 'em dead to rights,” Isobel clarified.

“Fuck!”

It was an outburst he hadn’t expected. He’d been trying to hold it together, but the thought of you being there any longer really was not sitting right with him. the eyes in the van trailed to him. No doubt they were shocked to see him lose his cool. No one said anything about it, though. He watched as you snuck out of the office after putting everything back to make it in the bathroom. Once the bathroom door clicked shut, Snake was there to retrieve you.

“Change of plans. You girls are meant to be eye candy. Sort of like a look but don’t touch event. He likes to use this as his foreplay. Keep a cool head, and remember you’re not trying this on for the day. You live this. Act accordingly.”

~~~~~~~~~~

-Y/N-

Snake led you into another part of the house that was filled with girls and about ten men that were being entertained by the chosen girls. You looked around, clocking your exits and the possible escape routes first, then took inventory of the girls and finally the men. Snake left your side but not before giving you a stern look as if to remind you that your life was not the only one at stake here. You didn’t need a reminder.

Your encounter in the room was a quick reintroduction that woke your ass up to the real dangers that you’d now found yourself in. Back in Miami, you’d found yourself in a similar situation, and the only way you were able to get through it was to detach from it. You mentally put yourself in the frame of mind of a different person and became them. It made it easier. You knew it was what you would have to do now.

“Dulce, Dulce, Dulce, Dulce,” you whispered to yourself before you took a deep breath and slowly released it. When you did, you decided to fake it until you had it. Your first move was to take a lap around the room. You still had to locate the SVU agent on no intel. The department was reluctant to share any information for fear of a leak because of the case's sensitive nature and how long their agent had been undercover. So you were running on nothing but the assurance that if possible, they would make contact.

One lap turned to two, but before you could do a third, one of the men approached you, cornering you.

“Why hello. I haven’t seen you before.”

You pasted on a sugary sweet smile and leaned against the wall. “Oh, no? I’m new.”

The man smiled, giving you a chill.

“I like new. I like to break in the new thoroughbreds.”

He grabbed your wrist and began dragging you through the room. His grip was tight, but you didn’t make a sound. You could see he was dragging you toward a couch. From the corner of your eye, you saw one of the girls watching you. Her long brunette hair framed her face, and her plum-colored lipstick gave her a youthful glow. Before you could take in any more details, the man dropped onto the couch and released your wrist.

“Dance.”

You hesitated, caught off guard by his actions and the command.

“All right, darlin, no need to get rough.”

You swayed from side to side in front of him in slow movements using the time to formulate a plan. Slowly you turned your back to him as you began winding your waist. It was then you noticed a dangerous looking man across the room also watching your every move. Snake approached him, whispered, and nodded in your direction. Bingo, you thought. Adding to the show you were putting on, you trailed your hands along your body and beginning at the outer parts of your thighs, up along your hips. When you reached your stomach, you brought them up to cup your breasts, all the while staring at the man across the room. Turning from him and back to the younger gentleman on the couch, you smiled, bit your bottom lip, and winked.

“You’re a naughty girl, aren’t you?”

You nodded.

“Do you know what naughty girls get?”

You shook your head.

“This.”

The man gripped his appendage and shook it for emphasis.

“Come get this cock, slut.”

As he lunged for you, you saw Snake approach. He whispered to the man before he made contact, and the look on his face went from lust riddled to fearful. He straightened his clothes, then walked away.

“he says get a glass of champagne and sit.”

You took the glass of champagne that Snake offered you and sat on the now empty couch. You knew that you had him on the hook. You’d expected it to be more work than that. For the next few hours, on the couch was where you remained. You watched every immoral thing the men did to the women and sat through it all. The first hour was difficult because every injustice you saw you wanted to remedy, but by hour two and three, you’d found a way to tune it out.

A few hours later, you were brought over to the boss. You recognized him from the pictures in the files. His eyes roamed your body, taking in every detail. It was a full two minutes before he spoke.

“You name.”

“Dulce.”

He chuckled. “Ha, the Spanish word for sweet. Are you sweet?”

“That’s for you to find out, I guess.”

No words followed. The way he looked at you made your skin crawl. It was the look of a true psychopath. He was the worst kind, though, a hypocritical one, one that sought to subjugate that which he hated. He preached up and down how whites were the superior race, and any others were inferior and seen as dirty, but here he was eying you like he planned to give you a thorough cavity search knowing damn well your skin was not white.

You took in the details and learned his ticks. From the way his jaw flinched every few minutes to the way he held on to the arm of the chair, you knew he was trying to hold tightly to something inside of him. Men like this often had a secret side to them.

“Sit.”

Doing as you were told, you sat. He continued his conversation. Again the girl with brunette hair caught your eye. She was watching every move you made, and that fact alone told you she was the SVU agent. It was a hunch, an unproven one. The mention of an attack had your attention going back to the man seated beside you. His hand came out to clasp your upper thigh. His fingers between your crossed legs holding on as if he owned you. Men like him always thought people were property to own, use, then trade.

“Just make sure everything goes off without a hitch. We’ve worked too long for his, and too many lives have been lost for it all to be for naught.”

“Don’t worry. As we speak here, they are setting up the event location. By this time tomorrow, we’ll have our victory. That is why we’re here tonight—to celebrate.”

You hoped those in the van got that.

“Maybe it’s time to take your turn,” one of the men suggested.

The Boss’s eyes landed on you before he brought them to his hand on your thigh. “Soon. You go sit there,” he ordered.

You stood and walked over to the brunette who’d been watching you for the last few hours and sat beside her. You didn’t want to give yourself away, so you said nothing. In undercover work, you never knew who had flipped. Pretending to be someone else twenty-four-seven took its toll, and many blurred the lines forgetting who they really were. You didn’t know if she was one of them. If she were, she’d give you up in a heartbeat.

Instead of giving yourself up, you decided to play it cool and observe. One way or another, she would show who she really was. The scene before you quickly got old. No one touched you or the Burnett you sat beside. It was like they all knew their place and didn’t even dare question it. They didn’t touch you, but they sure watched. You’d caught so many of them eye-fucking you it was seriously making you sick. For a second, your mind ran on OA and if he’d seen the scene in the backroom. As quickly as your mind dashed to him, you forced it away. Clear head, you reminded yourself. The easiest way to end up dead was to lose focus.

A middle-aged man in grey suit pants and a matching grey button-down that was unbuttoned one too many buttons stopped in front of the two of you. He smiled and eyeballed the brunette first, then you.

She kissed her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Keep walking, Pete. Even you’re not dumb enough to touch one of Lowball’s treats. You know he likes them clean, and you also know what he’ll do to ya if he sees one print.”

This so-called Pete rolled his eyes, sighed, then walked away mumbling something underneath his breath.

“Loser,” she finished.

That was when your eyes met.

“You’re new.”

“What of it?”

She smiled, then continued chewing her gum.

“What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Dulce.”

“Ah, I like sweet things.”

She trailed her pointer up over your exposed knee until it made it’s way to the hem of your short dress. Once there, it lingered, seductively tracing the hem.

“Your print doesn’t count?”

She smiled, then leaned to your ear. Her lips were close enough for you to feel them.

“Nope. He likes to watch. Take a look.”

You slyly glanced to the one she’d called Lowball, and sure enough, he was watching the two of you like a hawk on his perch.

“See. He gets off on it, especially if the new treat has to be broken in. Do you?”

You turned to look at her, your lips were centimeters apart, but you didn’t back down.

“Do I what?”

She smiled, bit her bottom lip then spoke. “Need to be broken in.”

You slowly smirked then bit your own bottom lip. Two can play this game.

“Depends on who’s doing the breaking,” you replied.

The brunette smiled, then closed the gap between you, pressing her lips to yours. Before you knew it, she was taking charge of a sultry kiss. She rolled her tongue around yours then sucked. As she did, you felt her hand cup your breast. Your first instinct was to pull away, but you also knew that was the wrong instinct. This was a test. You allowed her to kiss you, then battled her for control. After a minute, the kiss was still going, but once you thought of it, she pulled away, sucking her bottom lip.

“Was I your first?”

You gave her a faux shy smile. “No”

She smiled wider.

“Hey, lowball. This stallion is a certified good time.”

She looked away from you for a few seconds and looked to Lowball before she smiled wider.

“Let’s go.”

You allowed her to lead you by the hand through the room filled with sex and drugs until you were in a hall. Neither of you spoke, and when you looked behind you, there was Lowball with his eyes on you.

“I’m Tommi, by the way,” the brunette said with a smile.

Soon you walked inside of a bedroom that was made of luxury but built for a sleaze. The room was filled with glass and leather. It even smelled like leather. The more you walked into the room, the more detail you took in. The linen on the bed was black silk, and there was even a mirror above the bed.

“Go get ready, Tommi. Let me have five minutes with this beauty.”

Your gut tensed, and Tommi hesitated, looking at Lowball.

“Aww, you’re going to have fun without me, daddy?”

Her whine was loud. Lowball smiled.

“Don’t worry, angel, I promise you’ll be here for the fun stuff.”

Tommi glanced at you, then back to Lowball, then shrugged as she walked to another door inside the bedroom. Before she closed the door behind her, you noticed her hand making fists in a staggered pulse pattern. Instantly you recognized it as a common sign you’d learned at Quantico. It meant you’re not alone or among friends. Tommi was the undercover agent with SVU. You looked to Lowball who stared at you as if he were trying to figure you out and unnerve you. You wouldn’t let it work.

“Dulce, cute name. how are you going to prove it?”

“The easiest way to find out if something is sweet is to taste it,” you teased, uncrossing and crossing your legs again.

His eyes dropped to them, and that was where they remained. After too long, he stood and walked over to the bar. You heard the clinking of glass and crystal and anxiously waited for either him or Tommi to come back in. when he turned to you again, he held two glasses filled with a brown liquid. When he sat again, you watched him dig into his pant pocket and come back out with a small clear packet with white powder inside of it.

Fuck, you thought. Many perps who operated sex trafficking rings liked to string their girls out before spending time with a perp. The gossip was the drugs always made the girls more compliant and easier to take advantage of. You watched him pour the contents into one of the glasses. Your stomach fell.

“Oooh, daddy, now we’re really starting this party,” Tommi interjected as she crossed the room dressed in a sexy burgundy lingerie set.

“Mmm, you look, wonderful angel,” Lowball complimented.

He held out the glass that was substance-free to Tommi and held the one that he’d just laced to you. You hesitated. You knew precisely what the plan was after you drank that, and depending on what it was, you had thirty minutes before your choices would no longer be your own.

“There are two ways out of this room, Dulce. Covered in, or filled with my superior cum or dead. Your choice,” Lowball informed.

Tommi caught your eye. She sat on Lowball’s knee, rubbing his arm, but her eyes were dark.

“Take a ride with me, Dulce,” she chimed.

Sighing, you took the glass and swirled the liquid around, examining how undetectable whatever it was he’d poured in was. You downed the drink in one rise and tried to keep from vomiting. Shit was about to get real, you thought.

Lowball smiled then stood, making Tommi stand as well.

“Good job Dulce. I knew you’d see it my way,” he said before he walked away to the door.

“I’ll be back in as much time as it takes that to kick in. You girls have some fun.

The door closed behind him, and you gasped. Tommi was beside you in seconds. She dipped a little lower to come face to face with your earrings.

“She’s just ingested Rolong. It’s a nastier version of Rohypnol these assholes craft themselves. You have thirty maybe forty minutes to figure out a way to grab control of this sting, or else your girl will find herself in a situation she won’t be able to avoid.”

She looked at you, and though she looked relatively calm, you could still see some sort of panic in her eyes.

“I have this.”

She dug in her cleavage and pulled out a syringe. You had no idea how she’d concealed it for its size.

“What—what is this?”

“It’s adrenaline. It’s not much, and it won’t have a big of an impact as I’d like, but it will help with the effects. It’ll buy us maybe fifteen minutes,” Tommi explained.

“Fine.”

You held out your arm, giving her permission to inject you.

“It’ll work better to your thigh.”

Tommi pulled up your dress to find the right spot, then lowered the needle. Before she inserted the tip into your skin, she looked back at you. You gave her a nod to proceed. The injection's sting was sharp, and it felt as if it continued to go for so long.

“Here we go,” Tommie whispered before she administered the medical cocktail.

The burn in your thigh began almost immediately. It was a burn that increased, a burn that intensified until it felt like a terrible muscle spasm without the pain. Once the burn subsided, you could have sworn you felt the drug course through your body. It could have been your imagination or the effects of the other drug you’d ingested. You didn’t know.

“In a minute or two, you’ll feel like you’ve stuck your finger in a socket. Try to remain calm. Remember, when he returns, he will be expecting you to be disoriented and pliable. You have to play along, or he will know something is not right. Do you understand me?”

You nodded though your head felt heavy, and you felt as if you were about to topple over any minute. The woman in front of you was no longer clear or alone. There looked to be three or four of her. You tried to snap yourself out of it, and that was when you felt your heart begin to race. It began beating ten times faster than it had before. The only other time you recalled it beating like this was with OA. You heard Tommie speak again, but you didn’t quite understand what she said. It sounded muffled and distorted as if her voice was from a static transmission.

“Come, you have to be ready by the time he gets back,” Tommie said.

She walked over to the bench in the bedroom and returned with a black two-piece lingerie set along with a pink robe. This was not new to you. Men like these liked to see their prize displayed in as little clothes as possible. You dressed with Tommi’s help. With each passing minute, you felt the effects of both the adrenaline and the drug. Also, with each passing minute, your movements became slower and slower.

Once you were changed, you looked at yourself in the mirror, and you looked ready to seduce any man. You staggered to the bed and then dropped onto it, unable to even carry the weight of your own body anymore. Tommi sat beside you and opened her mouth to say something but the door suddenly opened. Tommi laid on top of you and whispered for you to play along. She nuzzled your neck while caressing your thigh.

“Don’t let me interrupt. I think I’ll watch for a moment,” Lowball said.

Tommi looked at him and smiled. “I have a better idea. Let me entertain you while the Rolong takes full effect.”

She stood and walked to Lowball, who was seated a few feet from the bed. The sound of loud pop-rock filled the room, and Tommi’s hips moved along with it. You laid there feeling as if there was a war going on inside of you. Two impulses were fighting for control. One impulse wanted to lay there, do nothing and stare at the ceiling that had begun spiraling as if it were a kaleidoscope. The other impulse wanted to get up and dance as if this were the last night you would be alive. Your limbs didn’t know which to listen to. Every time your muscles twitched to stand, your upper body refused to obey.

Your brain found it next to impossible to think of one thing. It continued to jump from topic to topic, making you dizzy in the process. You tried to fight against the effects of the roofie you’d been given. You tried to aid the adrenalin pumping through your body, trying to work as a diluting agent. Several times time felt as if it lagged. It felt as if even your blinking was slowed, taking forever to close your eyes and open them again.

When you felt the bed dip, you didn’t know how much time had passed. It felt like an eternity. Looking to your right, you saw Tommi. She came to your ear and whispered.

“We have ten minutes,” she whispered before she climbed on top of you then pulled Lowball into her embrace. You laid there watching, becoming more and more unsure of what was happening.

“I think she’s ripe for the plucking.”

Tommi giggled, then looked down at you.

“I think we’d have a better time making her watch first. She needs to know what you like, daddy.”

He looked to be contemplating things, and as he did, his eyes roamed over your body, taking in every detail. You felt a hand slide down your body, beginning at your neck and down the center of your body until it reached your navel.

“I like that idea.”

With that, he pulled Tommi to him, leaving you there to watch and listen. Your being must have felt how precarious your situation was because a strong will to fight overcame you, giving you renewed energy.

“I’ve changed my mind.”

Lowball pushed Tommi aside and climbed on top of you, burying his face in your neck.

“The best way to learn is to do. She will catch on quick if she wants to live.”

Almost as soon as his hands began roaming your body more vigorously, screams could be heard, but Lowball didn’t budge. When he heard the sound of a gunshot and glass shattering, he rolled off of you, dropping to the floor beside the bed. The room began to fill with smoke.

“Stay here,” Tommi shouted.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion, but real-time at the same time. You desperately tried to keep up.

“Snap out of it, Y/N. Get up. Get up!”

Though you were trying, your limbs were not obeying you. The sound of gunshots became louder and more persistent. Coughing, you tried to focus on making yourself get up. You tried to will your body to cooperate. Clenching your jaw, you screamed.

“Get up!”

With much effort, you rose then bent forward until you were able to sit up straight. Instead of celebrating this small feat, you willed yourself to stand. You stood then tried to steady yourself. Before you could take a step, someone barreled into you, taking you to the ground. That was when your muscle instinct took over. You swung a punch that connected with someone’s jaw. Not waiting for them to retaliate, you began fighting back, not knowing who you punched. When you felt knuckles connect with your face, it had a strangely sobering effect like a second injection of adrenaline.

You rolled onto them and proceeded to punch, not stopping. You felt a gun to your back. Before pausing, you punched the person underneath you once more. When you did that, the person behind you tried to grab you but got your robe instead, pulling it clear off you. As they did that, it gave you reprieve enough to do one of the tricky moves you’d learned at Quantico, which allowed you to flip the perp over your shoulder to land on the ground. You scurried around for the gun, praying you found it in time, especially with the fog in the room. When you grabbed it, you used the butt of the gun to slam down into the face of whoever was unlucky enough to find themselves your adversary.

You stood and staggered to the door, then leaned on it trying to catch your breath. You checked the magazine in the Glock you held. Satisfied, you took a few more breaths trying to overcome your debilitation.

“Let’s go, Y/N. You’ve got this.”

You pushed yourself off the door then proceeded to go through the hall, fighting every step of the way. Every few moments, you leaned against a wall to catch your breath. A few gunshots sounded behind you, making you crouch and aim backward to clip the kneecap of one of the despicable men who worked for Lowball. When they reached for their weapon, you shot again, seeing the bullet puncture their chest. While they pushed out their last breath, you continued on.

Getting to the stairs that led downstairs, you found bodies littered along the way.

“Stop right there!”

In front of you, the same man from the inspection stood there, pointing his pistol right at you.

“Ha, of course, it was you. I knew there was something off about you.”

“Guess you should have trusted your gut. Lower your weapon, and we’ll offer you a good deal,” you countered.

“Not a chance.”

“Listen dickhead. Do you hear that? That silence says your side has lost, and mine has won.”

He lunged for you, and his shoulder knocked the wind out of you as he took you down, making both of you tumble down the stairs. You felt each step the entire way down. When you’d finished tumbling, you laid there, unable to move.

“You bitch!”

He climbed on you and wrapped his hands around your throat, and began squeezing. You gagged and coughed. It was then that the roofie took the strongest hold of you. Your entire body felt heavy, and even the thought of clawing his eyes out was too much. Every time you lifted your hands to do the job, they only plopped back down. You knew you were seconds from blacking out and seconds from death.

He pulled one hand away, reached into his shirt pocket, and uncapped a needle with his mouth.

“Let’s see you survive this!”

He stabbed the needle into the side of your neck that he held with one impossibly strong hand. You screamed as he injected the substance into your bloodstream and, in the same breath, managed to reach the gun that was a few feet away from you and mustered enough energy to aim at his gut. A gunshot sounded, and the man’s movements above you paused for a moment before he tried to begin again. It was enough of a pause for you to take better aim with the gun, this time releasing another bullet in the center of his chest. He slumped forward enough for you to overpower him, but still, he fought. You rolled onto them and released one more bullet right in the center of his head.

It was then you shouted out before you dropped onto him, then flopped to your back to stare at the ceiling. The sounds of gunshots around you slowed to only a few every so often. You didn’t know how long you laid there. It could have been five, ten, or more minutes. When you felt able, you sat up and stood, using the wall to hold your weight.

With the gun in hand, you walked through the large home. You felt half-dead, and you knew it was whatever he’d injected you with. Your steps became slower and slower. Your movements more and more lagging. Still, you continued pushing through door after door, trying your best to fight. You slowly pushed through yet another door and found bright scope lights and red laser dots on your lingerie-clad body.

“Freeze!”

You tried to raise your hands but only made it halfway.

“Y/N!”

Hearing OA’s voice, your body finally gave out. Before you touched the floor, OA was there, engulfing you in his arms.

“I got you, baby. I got you,” he whispered.

You felt him tapping your cheeks, making you look at him blearily.

“Are you hurt?”

“Help me up.”

OA used his strength to stand you up. Kristen was to your side in seconds, and in a few more seconds, OA had draped his FBI jacket around your shoulders before he scooped you in his arms. Unable to fight the drugs in your system any longer, you passed out sure of your safety in OA’s arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***If you want to be tagged/untagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TagList:

@titty-teetee @bamakakechick @bellaamor88 @theblulife @caplover22@toniilaney @lo-cheu @chaneajoyyy @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @ajspencer1892 @dangerouslovefanfic @alyxkbrl @chillavesss @drsunshine97 @melaninhawtie @simplyyamberr @ashanti-notthesinger @afraiddreamingandloving @wakanda-inspired @cleothegoldfish @builtalongthewayside @theunsweetenedtruth @geeksareunique @aykanna

@hanasamara @profilia @ollieveracity @autumn242 @missyperle @sup3rn0va13 @forbeautyandlife @kreolemami @designerwriterchic @theskullgoddess @maxcullen @disaster-rose @bugngiz @winchwm @kikimiyazaki @90sinspiredgirl @evemej @areubeingserved @caramara3 @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @surmya1907 @minton131 @detectiveinchicago @momobaby227 @thevelvetseries @rawesome10105

@queenreignssupreme @behindthesehazeleyes27 @browngirldominion @asiaaisa77 @melanicia @jovanaprime @jasminedayz @mauvecherie-writes @i-just-like-fanfics @msblkfire84

#partners fic #oa zidan #oa zidan fanfiction #zeeko zaki #zeeko zaki fanfiction #oa zidan x reader #oa zidan x you #oa zidan x black reader #fbi fanfiction #black fanfiction #angst fanfic

231 notes · View notes

the-acid-pear · 3 years ago

Text

I did my homework and i did my chores, time to tackle on the third book of this series, Son of Ogre

Chapter 1

Okay but the fuck is Baki planning to do if he stops fighting? That's literally all he has, he's not smart

WOOH THATS A BIT REALISTIC

PREHISTORIC ELEPHANT?!

King just went to have a snack. Also FUCK does that meat look tasty FUCKKK

This baby so cute 🥺

I'm so glad Yuji is doing stupid hilarious shit again it had been a while

Congrats on Baki for that mantis

Chapter 2

Who tf is this kid?

Poor kid lmao, i assume he will meet Baki

Look at my boyyy

HSTSRFAYDF DON'T CALL HIM A MANLET

Imagine Baki actually kills this kid HSJDYSSHCBT

Third comment with a ton of likes is "we do not condone child violence. We do, however, find it hilarious"

Chapter 3

AH SHUT UPPP KIDDO

But i like Baki memeing a round a lil

Chapter 4

🥺🥺 that's so sweet...

HELLOOOO STRYDUM MY GOD YOUR TITS GOT FATTER SIR 😳😳

Yujiro is such a fucking threat to society lmao

I love seeing Baki with his eyes open, he's looking more like his old self

Oh, shadow boxing incoming, alright

Chapter 5

Yuri? 🥺 /j

THE RETURN OF IRON MICHAEL?!

Chapter 6

I love how there's our silly little mains after every cover LUV em <33

Baki just dissociating his ass out and using it on his favor, the king

Why is Baki eating sour prunes aren't those meant to be sweet?

We all salivating

Chapter 7

Love to see there are even more swears there now

I can put my face next to my foot too tho

FAGDRJSEHARD YUJIRO CAN BEAT THE CANCER HOW ICONIC 😍

Also i would LOVE to see Yuji fight an Orca

WHAT?!

I love how everyone in the comments is calling out Rumina for not seeing issue going down to a dark hidden basement with a shirtless man older than him

Chapter 8

"piggy back me" USHSYFLFUDSY

This fight is going to be good

Chapter 9

Imagine Baki dies right here right know against an imaginary mantis lmao

Okay Baki getting damaged makes sense but the WALL?

Baki's dead (GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT)

Ffs it's true Baki COULD create himself a stand 😰

Chapter 10

OH FUCK IT'S TRUE

Chapter 11

This fight is so boring i had to take a 6 hour break

Baki just can't win against nature eh

This reminds me of Garland pulling a suplex on that Anaconda

Chapter 12

I can't wait for the main cast to ACTUALLY appear, instead of just, you know, them in the covers

This fight is slow but cool but slow

To fight a mantis you must think like a mantis 😎

Though it's true in this manga you will most likely win if you steal your opponent techniques so

Chapter 13

I MISS IGARI FUCKKK

This is so dumb i luv it

That mantis be swearing lmao

Love it when Baki goes full Yujiro

Chapter 14

TOBA...

Holy fuck do mantis fly?

Secret Chapter?

Is this how Yujiro got born?

Idk girl i would have killed him if i was you

WHAT.

I KNOW THOSE FROGS THEY ARE FROM PUERTO RICO I THINK

I might just be sleepy but this is so confusing

AKSHSKGSKSGSJSG JUST KILL THE BABY IT AINT THAT HARD

Chapter 15

GAIA...

Why is he like this?

Is "he" with us right now?

...gotta admit that IS true...

I love Strydum sksgwhwg

Yujiro really went XD

I don't think my man Arun in the comments is aware how gay what he said is, though maybe I'm wrong

Chapter 16

GOD THESE FUCKING COVERS MAKING ME SO NOSTALGIC, LOOK AT SPEC!

ANIME KENNEDY?!

I can't believe Bush is dead

AN ASIAN BOY HAS JUST KIDNAPPED THE PRESIDENT...

8 of January? My god he's a Capricorn

I'm sorry, what?

LAHQIGWKQFWKSFWIWG 😭😭

I love Baki so much, THIS IS THE KID THAT I MISSED SO MUCH

This explains why Baki was in prison clothes in the anime teaser

Chapter 17

BIG NUMBER

That one mf like 😐

Glad Baki is 18 now at least 😌

Love to see Oliva back

Chapter 18

This page not even bothering to charge the pages anymore

I'm sure there were better ways to go to jail, well, actually, no, but still

Toba used to just chew that off

Baki did that mantis hit you in the head too hard?

I. I watched way too many prison movies and shows. I don't like seeing someone as young and pretty as Baki in such a place. I rlly don't.

Chapter 19

Yanagi baby i miss you...

IRON MICHAEL?!

Mfkhsjsys 😳🥴

Eh got my hopes too high

CHE BAKI PIBE... LA PUTA MADRE NI ACA ME ESCAPO DE MIS COMPATRIOTAS

I hope he swears too i want to see a boludo o pelotudo PLEASE

I mean para pelotudos lo veo a Yujiro todo el tiempo pero igual JSGWKEGWG me pone bien argento ver al Che carajo

Chapter 20

HE SAID BOLUDO SUAHWKWGAKSGSKSGSKGD

I can't take this omfg new fav I'm sorry Doppo but he just said boludo 😭

Pendejo is more used as pibe here but i will let it pass bc idk the lingo in Cuba and he spent some time there so

Why don't i speak like this too ffs? All i do is say eh and call it a day

He's cocky enough to call anybody any age pibe so I'll let that pass too

Por favor no lo hagas che sksgwj

Chapter 21

Che, pibe, it's a good day to die...

Chapter 22

GSHAGSTSG he should have said "no boludo"

I'm falling in love with this boludo myself

That's talented and brutal

OH RIGHT YOU LOSE YOUR BALANCE WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THAT

Chapter 23

Hm that's, cringe

YESSS HE SAID PELOTUDO

OAHWLGWKQFSKSGSJS SIII ROMPELO TODO CHE, ROMPELO TODO POR DECIRTE YANKEE KSGSSJGS

Honestly i too get pissed off when called American or European, though i won't throw shit to Baki, he's some random 18 yo japanese boy, no way he would recognize latinoamerican lingo lmao

King shit Baki boy

Chapter 24

Oh that's why he's called Jun Guevara, that's fair

I like how they are mixing a bit of truth and a bit of lie it's fun at least

Chapter 25

I like how they are drawing nipples now, occasionally

I can't wait for Viêt to complain about propaganda in the comments

OH SHIT

😳 :Y

He's sooo nice 😍

Chapter 26

Only three? You mean the third is... 👁️👁️

HAHA YEAH YUJI-CHAN <3

I can't believe he works for the USA I'm crying and shaking rn

What a progressive manga, the three strongest and most dangerous men and none of them are white 😍

GET HIS ASS BAKI

Chapter 27

Why is this guy sweating sm?

LDYDYSUGFUDT BAKI PLS

I like how the only time Baki was willing to kill a person was when he thought Sikorsky had hurt his girl

Chapter 28

I feel like Ian will die

Man i love how Baki is drawn in this book

Ffs i called it, i have watched way too many prison things to know how shit goes down

I have seen these three before in fanart but I'm curious to see what they can do

Chapter 29

Their faces remind me of Doyle

OH I CANT WAIT TO SEE EM IN THE ANIME

ASSHOLE DON'T CALL ME STUPID 😢💔

I'm gonna struggle to tell em apart but i think I'll manage

Okay I'm not the only one who thinks they look like Doyle, fair

Chapter 30

The mouth vs Yujiro when?

Someone mentioned the have the same vibe as the dudes that worked with Gaia and like 👁️👁️

Chapter 31

Lmao someone in the comments recommended the same thing

These three must be great at sex (sorry)

KSHALDHDKD NEW FAV COMMENT: "go to Japan and look for the word "defeat". That way you won't feel cocky anymore"

Chapter 32

Hehe hello Junnn~

KSHAKDHKWGS

La luna

Chapter 33

LOS TRES...

Okay that's funny, hocico instead of mouth (hocico is used for animal mouths)

I'm so glad i know Spanish

The two things that drive me insane and make me ramble are Doppo's beauty and this stupid argentinian

OSHSKWGSKSG

Chapter 34

Imagine he's doing that illusion thing Dorian did

With his own blood, that's so cool...

Hoho...!

I did that once when i had a terrible nose bleed, didn't go well

Chapter 35

This book is fucking boring NGL

"now that you got no more urine left in you"

AH.

GAHDYR LMAO

Chapter 36

HO THAT TITLE, PLEEEASE I NEED SOMETHING, ANYTHING, TO HAPPEN

HHH he kinda cute...

Oww :(

JDJSJFRGAJ

God piantao is an old word i had never heard it before

AND he took a piss.

LOCO NO SEAS HOMOFÓBICO NINGUNA MINA ACA ES MEJOR QUE ESTE PIBITO TE LO ASEGURO SKSGSKGSJAAGS

Se me cayó un ídolo y yo que le quería dar 😔

ÑSHWQLSGOSGDKW

Let's see if he lied to Baki about just liking eh /j

Chapter 37

I luv Oliva lol

AJSGSKSLAGHS BAKI SNAPPED

I too wonder where the fuck Kozue is

Chapter 38

LSHSLDGSLSGSIEG

He is jealous of what you two have, it's normal, el Che just rejected his love after all ;/

Oliva is a king

OH A HANKERCHIEF I THOUGHT THAT WAS UNDERWEAR SHSGS-

Oh shit Oliva is like 45?! He looked so young

Te fuiste a la mierda, Che, el chabón estaba siendo re bueno con vos

Baki is just dead

Chapter 39

I love how realistic Che's fear is, he's rather smart, though not this time

POOR GUY AJSGSWJW

I didn't realize Che said "what more, it may be a woman!" but to be fair they ARE in jail so

Chapter 40

I'm feeling kinda bad for him ngl

I feel happy for him tho 🥺

Bruh they added one page after the ending of some naked anime girl tf 😐

Chapter 41

These prisoners having fun is kinda sweet

YO INSANE

Bitches be complaining about Maria's looks are just jealous 🥰

Chapter 42

Damn she lorge

He loves fighting naked eh

Only valid person is the one saying Oliva deserves better treatment which tbh true

Chapter 43

Fun fact i wear my jacket like El Che too, unless it's too cold

El che with the hair lose is so cute bro,,,

Something something fingering joke

Sikorski could fold a coin too

I bet the bandana will break

Chapter 44

I would have just fallen on top of him, how is he gonna counter that, eh?

Oh that super fun to know!

Oh the good ol dirty technique, i have seen this one before!

Chapter 45

NOOO MARIA DON'T DO THIS TO HIM

This fight is super cool tho i love these two characters

Chapter 46

They just keep changing the rules i think Itagaki is just flexing at this point

LAAOSFKAGSKAGSKAF???

Baki wants his protagonism back

I'm getting pissed off they keep putting semi naked underaged girls at the end of every chapter 😐

Chapter 47

Bruh just realized, the mouth got so hyped as this new cool villain and they died in their first appearance 😭

His damn bandana...

#luly talks #i hit character limit already waaa :(#but I'm too into this to stop reading lol #btg #this saga is a bit boring but el che is funny :)#baki liveblog

17 notes · View notes

dramaticviolincrescendo · 4 years ago

Note

Rewatching Shameless and i just watched 6x1 jail scene. Can I request a meta if its not too much trouble? I feel like reading a really good meta about that scene and you're one of the best we've got so.....

It’s never any trouble at all! That’s so sweet to say—thank you so much! <3 Kind of coming to terms with the idea that anyone cares about my opinion over here. You guys are too much!

This scene is actually extremely important to me because it and the response to it were what made me start writing Shameless fanfiction, specifically when I saw that my views regarding Ian’s behavior and how Mickey received it were so vastly different from what I initially read. (Insert shameless plug for “That Milkovich Reputation” here.) Now, I know you’ve told me not to do this before, but based on the controversial position in which this scene resides, I feel the need to present a couple of disclaimers for our audience at large.

I first fell in love with Shameless last March, a couple weeks before quarantine began. I didn’t know what it was prior to that and therefore was not present when Noel left the show, so I didn’t experience the disappointment of a beloved character leaving in a potentially permanent way and didn’t engage in the fandom or see how deeply upset people were by that until after I finished the series. I also don’t subscribe to the theory that there was something going on behind the scenes or any animosity between Noel and the creators, as I have not seen any relevant evidence from reliable sources to support that what happened was anything other than decisions made in pursuit of career goals on both sides. As such, my analysis of this scene has only ever taken the content and context of the story and characters into account. I have no interest in speculating on the motives of people I do not know in writing it or portraying it this way, and even if I did, this scene made perfect sense to me as it was written and performed.

I understand and appreciate that this is not a popular position to take and urge everyone to pass this post by if my position on that matter is offensive or upsetting to you. I do not mean to tell anyone what to think or believe, only to explain how I view this scene and the context in which I do so.

That said, let’s begin.

When Last Seen: Mickey

As in all things, context is important. Prior to the prison scene, the last time we saw Mickey was when Ian broke up with him and Sammi interrupted their heartfelt moment, which basically sums up her character in a nutshell. That was a rough couple of days for Mickey. He saw how devastated Ian was to hear his family talk about him as though he were just like Monica; was distressed in his own right to return for him and discover that he’d left the base with Monica; buried his frustration and sadness by sleeping around with other people, which seemed to exacerbate those emotions because those people weren’t Ian, nor had he and Ian broken up when he did it; and came running when Ian called him, only for Ian to end their relationship.

Mickey is a very sharp man—we know this. He can read people like books and manipulate or intimidate them accordingly. He knew Ian had feelings for him in s1 when he showed up on his doorstep seeking comfort rather than going to any number of other people he trusted. He was well aware that Ian loved him in s3, and that made what he felt he had no choice in doing that much more painful. He heard what Ian said and knew what he was doing in 5x12. Of that, I have never had any doubt. It wasn’t like Ian tried to hide that he didn’t want to break up but thought that that was what would be best. In fact, the way he initially framed it always made me think that one of his highest priorities was not dragging Mickey down with him, especially in the aftermath of being called “destructive” and similar to someone who “put them through hell.” That’s why Mickey’s response wasn’t to call him an asshole or get angry or beg. It was to reassure Ian that he was there for the long haul, that he loved him and wanted to take care of him no matter what that meant—and that they could make that work. All the sentiments Ian had tried to communicate before he got married, Mickey was reciprocating in his own way. Had they not needed to temporarily write Mickey out of the story and Sammi hadn’t shown up right that second, I believe that he wouldn’t have given up so easily. We do have confirmation of that being the case in the prison scene, but we’ll get to that shortly.

When Last Seen: Ian

Ian isn’t a selfish character. We know this, too. However, Ian needed to be selfish by the end of s5. What he had to come to terms with wasn’t something that anyone could fully help him with, much as Mickey desperately wanted to. To Ian, the enemy was within. It was inside him, in his brain, telling him what to do even if that destroyed himself and everything he loved. It’s terrifying. I’m not bipolar, nor do I suffer from any other diagnosed mental illnesses, but I admire and respect everyone who wakes up every morning and tackles these things. They’re heroes every single day. But by the end of s5, Ian doesn’t feel much like a hero. Instead, he feels like the villain, and he’s lost touch with who he even is anymore.

That’s not a healthy mindset to have in a relationship. Relationships require a level of give and take, and that used to be something that Ian and Mickey already struggled with. Ian gave more in s1-3 because he was able to, while Mickey had a limit on what he could openly give because of the environment in which he lived and the manner in which he was raised. In s4-5, those roles were reversed: Mickey was able to give so much more, but Ian was gradually falling apart. Neither of them are at fault for any of those situations. It is what it is, and they have a stronger relationship for it. Ian is a giver, though. He’s always been a giver. To be in a position where he doesn’t feel like he can give anything to Mickey because he doesn’t even know who he is was truly heartbreaking for him, and objectively, he needed to take a step back so that he could focus on himself. He knew it. Based on Mickey’s understanding of Ian’s reasons after watching him deny that he had a problem for so long, I think Mickey knew it too. This hurt both of them—Ian to say it and Mickey to hear it—but they’re not fools and they’re not naïve. In some ways, they know each other better than anyone.

Jimmy said that when you’re on a plane, they tell you to put on your mask before you help anyone else with theirs. Ian needed to put on his mask. His heart can’t keep beating if his lungs don’t work.

Starting Season 6: Mickey

Unsurprisingly, Mickey has settled into prison life just fine. We’ll focus on his interactions with Ian in a bit as that’s the meat of the scene, but there are major implications inherent in his discussion with Svetlana beforehand.

1. Mickey has accepted that this will be his reality for the foreseeable future. What else is he supposed to do? Besides, he’s known for a long time that the likelihood of ending up in prison was pretty high for him, as he alluded to in s2. He was a street thug. He stole from local stores, sold drugs, ran guns, operated a rub ‘n’ tug, created scam companies, and was a generally violent presence in the neighborhood for years. He was in juvie twice during the show, perhaps more beforehand. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that it would have been more surprising if Mickey didn’t get locked up at some point than that he did.

2. Ian has visited Mickey before. We won’t get too deeply into this yet, but he thanks Ian for “coming back.” The other times, he wasn’t even paid to do it. So, as far as Mickey can tell, nothing has changed. Ian is focusing on himself right now, but his love for Mickey hasn’t dulled at all. That’s an encouraging thought, and it certainly puts a smile on Mickey’s face.

3. Ever the opportunist and entrepreneur, Mickey really is doing just fine in prison. He runs a business, if you will, that appears to be quite lucrative already. This isn’t surprising either. Sadly, it’s a bad move. He’s already going to be in prison for somewhere around a decade, give or take a couple of years depending on his behavior. But his behavior isn’t good. He’s hurting people for money, and if he gets caught and brought up on more charges, not only will he serve the full fifteen years, but he could get more time added onto that.

4. Ian is aware of this arrangement. He has to be if he’s been going there with Svetlana, and they weren’t exactly hiding what they were talking about. Ian has been very consistent throughout the series: he’s not as concerned with the moral implications of Mickey’s behavior, just how it could potentially impact their ability to be together. He still cares about Mickey at the start of s6, and Mickey can see it on his face when he won’t say it out loud. (More on that shortly.) Once he’s in a better spot mentally, maybe they would have gotten back together had Mickey been on the outside. I’m of the opinion that they would have based on the context of the situation. It isn’t an option, however. This is Mickey’s reality, and he’s not doing everything he can to get out earlier. If anything, he’s tempting fate on not being released at all. (This, in hindsight, sounds rather similar to the issues they’re dealing with right now in s11.)

So, this is where Mickey stands at the start of the season: a prison hitman who is quite pleased that the man he loves has come to see him again, even if the latter is visibly not in a very healthy mental state.

Starting Season 6: Ian

Ian isn’t in most of 6x01. What we do see of him is typically sad or colored by his frustration, outside Carl’s welcome home party at the end of the episode. Even then, there’s an aura of discomfort that accompanies the family’s knowledge that things have changed. Carl came out of juvie a different person—they’re all different people after s5, and they’re not sure how to handle walking on eggshells around each other.

From the very start of the episode, we see that Ian is still struggling even though he’s had enough time to at least partially adjust to his medication, especially if he’s been on and off of it. It’s so sweet how Fiona gently wakes him up—it’s also a bit different. What happened to banging on the bunk bed and yelling for them to come down for breakfast? After behaving pretty normally with Debbie at the bathroom door, she’s almost handling him with kid gloves, and the punches keep coming when she reminds him that he (1) has to get up for work at a place he despises and (2) needs to remember to take his meds.

The kitchen scene is extremely telling of where Ian is at this point, and it partially shows why he’s somewhat standoffish by the time we reach the prison scene. Most of the family is gone or different. Fiona is repeatedly on him about meds and getting to work on time—Ian, Mister Responsible himself who was out of the house before anybody woke up to get to work on time as a kid. Lip is at college. Debbie is absorbed in her unconfirmed but likely pregnancy. Carl is in juvie, and Liam is playing with the switchblade he found under Carl’s pillow before they take him to pre-K. His entire support system is either gone or treating him like he’s broken. All he has is Fiona “going Fiona” on everyone. It’s clear that this is impacting him because he actually derails the conversation to say that they should go visit Carl the following weekend, which was the position Debbie used to be in when Fiona was in jail. Just like Lip shut her down, Debbie shuts Ian down, and he doesn’t say another word as he drinks his coffee—which he can’t finish because Fiona is once again on him about work, so he trudges out the door to another day of being a busboy with no dreams instead of a soldier who has a future.

Work isn’t much better. Svetlana wants him to go see Mickey when he’s determined to stay away. (We don’t have confirmation, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that he wants to distance himself if Mickey is doing something that will potentially get him into even more trouble, especially given some of his reactions at the prison.) Sean is sending Fiona to nag him about not moving fast enough when the diner isn’t even busy. When Otis is chased down by the cops and slammed against the front window, Sean rather condescendingly tells him to, “take your rag and wipe the blood and snot off the window.” Ian—West Point-aspiring, ambitious, courageous, caring, intelligent, hardworking Ian has been reduced to wiping up someone’s snot by a boss who’s living in his house with a sister that’s treating him like he’s shattered glass and a family that is growing further and further apart these days.

That is the day Ian has had before he even arrives at the prison. Odds are that that is how most of his days have gone for quite some time, minus the blood and snot. …Maybe.

The Prison Scene

Now we come to it: what you actually asked about! It’s taken this long to get here because we can’t possibly interpret this scene effectively without incorporating all of what came before it. Mickey’s position is regrettable, but he knows that Ian still loves him and is at least handling his situation with all the grace and competence that we can expect from him. Ian is a bit of a mess who’s had a bad day and is now faced with the man he loves, who he is telling himself he can’t be with, sitting behind glass—where he’ll be for a good long while.

I’m going to divide this analysis into two sections. For a scene that many prefer to forget, to me, it’s a masterpiece of storytelling.

Physicality

The body language in this scene is remarkable—phenomenally blocked, phenomenally directed, and phenomenally portrayed.

When Mickey first appears, he’s visibly chomping at the bit to get to the visitation area. He’s peering out there while he’s still behind a locked door, and he only diverts his gaze to the guard because he’s waiting for him to unlock it. He’s cool about the whole thing—he’s very cool—but he’s obviously also here for one reason and one reason only. That reason is where his eyes go the moment he sits down at his stall and spots Ian’s coat where the latter is pacing behind Svetlana. Throughout their entire conversation, we see his eyes darting to Ian as he attempts to get the business out of the way so that he can indulge purely in the pleasure. It doesn’t matter to him that Ian is visibly tired and reluctant to be there or that he plays with Yevgeny instead of actively joining their conversation. It’s Ian, and all Mickey has to look at in here is a bunch of fellow thugs he hasn’t loved since he was too young to know what that meant. Damn right, he’s going to shamelessly watch him.

In Ian’s pacing, where we can’t see his face, I find it interesting that he keeps himself angled away from the glass. We see more of his back even though he’s moving side to side rather than away. He doesn’t want to see this. He doesn’t want to be there. In s7, he told Mickey how hard it was to see him behind glass—that wasn’t an excuse. He wasn’t falsely trying to make it sound like he was suffering at their separation just as much as Mickey was. We can see that that’s the case right here in 6x01. Ian has never had a problem sitting still through difficult moments, not even when a potential court martial that would further ruin his life was on the table. But this? He can’t sit down. He can’t face that.

The first time he turns directly towards Mickey’s location is so that Svetlana can hand Yevgeny off to him, and Mickey is visibly loving the view. His expression gets a bit softer, and he ducks his head a little so that he can catch a glimpse of Ian’s face. He follows Ian with his eyes even though Svetlana tries to get his attention. What a blast from the past, right? Ian there with his son, taking care of him while he and Svetlana figure out their business? And just like before, he offers Svetlana all of the attention and input that he deems her worth—next to nothing. Ian’s over there. Ian’s keeping the kid entertained, playing with him and rocking a bit in their seat and leaning over his little shoulder to make sure he’s doing okay—but forget that, Mickey’s eyes are examining him from red hair to beat-up shoes. He only glances back to Svetlana because he has to in order to get the information for their next paycheck. Even then, he’s still back and forth, up and down.

And Ian? He can’t keep pacing. He can’t stay turned away, but he won’t look. He occupies himself more than Yevgeny because now he’s low enough that he won’t just see an orange jumpsuit—he’ll see Mickey, and he’s had a bad enough day with his family making him feel more alone than ever without adding that pain on top of it. (This is the third time Mickey’s been locked up for something directly or indirectly related to Ian. I’m sure it’s not unreasonable to suspect that he also feels somewhat guilty about that, especially when it happened right after he broke it off.)

When Mickey asks if Ian is going to sit back there the whole time and not interact with him, Svetlana turns around and presumably says something to get his attention. Their eyes meet, and Mickey gives him a look that clearly says, “What the fuck, man?” This isn’t the behavior of a man who is heartbroken at their relationship ending or questioning Ian’s love for him. This is the behavior of a man who wants the love of his life to get his shit together enough to come say hi to him—or at least look at him—because he can’t pretend that he doesn’t want to see Mickey as much as Mickey wants to see him. It’s impossible to hide that when Ian has let Mickey see so much of his heart over the years.

Ian’s response is so fascinating because he does meet Mickey’s eyes, and he holds that connection for a moment. Then, reading what Mickey is trying to tell him, he actually turns further away again so that Mickey gets his shoulder. This sets the stage for the rest of Ian’s development from now through s9. He’s doing what Ian does: he’s compartmentalizing. He’s taking the emotions he can’t deal with right now, wrapping them in tissue paper, and neatly stacking them in a box that he’ll put up in the attic where he can pretend they don’t exist. But they do. They really do.

If they didn’t, he wouldn’t have spent their entire conversation trying so hard to focus on literally anything but Mickey, because as we saw in the Hall of Shame flashbacks and as has been obvious since their first fight-turned-fuck, once they look, the battle is lost.

Dialogue

I’m going to be real with you guys: I adore this scene. I’ve watched it more times than I can count even though I haven’t rewatched much of the season in its entirety. There was so much said with so few words, and while I was sad at the end, I was also hopeful. This was an impossible position to be put in on both sides, and I truly believe that this was the best resolution they could get at the time. And yes, it hurt. It was painful. But why was it painful?

Because they’re so visibly, obviously, irrevocably in love.

Mickey’s tone when he tells Svetlana to leave because he wants to talk to Ian isn’t as harsh as it’s been for the rest of their visit. There’s such a disconnect between his words and tone: roughly telling her to scram while actually sounding a bit younger at the idea of speaking directly with Ian. Svetlana could tell. It’s so clear, and her smirk is super knowing. In that moment, we’re seeing the woman who stood in the doorway of what was supposed to be her bedroom and watched him make eyes at this unconscious boy she didn’t really even remember. Not in the tears and realizing she was in big, big trouble if he left her, but in the understanding that his heart isn’t in the body on the other side of the glass—it’s sitting behind her. There are a lot of things I don’t like about Svetlana as a person (as a character, she’s amazing), but since they reached their agreement in s4, she’s never had a derogatory thing to say about the love those two share, and I respect that. It’s actually a bit cute how she takes her time and is almost teasing in giving him what he wants. A bit.

As I have this scene running on repeat so that I don’t miss anything in writing this, I paused to type and ended up on such a meaningful glance at Ian’s face. Svetlana just took Yevgeny from him, and he hasn’t gotten up yet. He’s staring straight at Mickey, and he looks hesitant. Scared, almost. Then he looks up at Svetlana, nods a bit, and reluctantly moves into her spot.

Is it overkill to take this one exchange at a time? Probably. Am I going to do it anyway? Hell to the yes.

1. “Thanks for coming back.”/”Yeah… Svetlana paid me.” – I know that people hate this line and think this is painful. I know that it objectively is painful. I still laugh every time. Not because Ian agreed to come if he was paid. (He’s got medication to afford and no insurance. I can’t begrudge him wanting to make a few extra bucks any way he can.) Not because of the words, but because of what accompanies them. Ian will not look at Mickey—he’s lost so many battles lately, and he can’t lose this one too. Not when he started this one himself. He’s hemming and hawing, not looking up from the countertop and then twisting around to see if Svetlana is still there or anyone else is listening. It’s so stupid, because literally no one cares, but it gives you this sensation that Ian sees himself as being under a microscope the whole time. That’s his life anymore, at home and at work and now here. And Mickey? He doesn’t look terribly broken up about Ian accepting payment in exchange for coming. He gets this expression that I interpreted as, “Seriously? You’re playing it like that?” Then it settles into disappointment that Ian won’t open up or look at him like he normally would—that the glass interferes with the magnetic pull between them. But don’t worry, children. Uncle Mickey has just the thing to fix that: himself.

2. “You look good.”/*awkward silence* – I mean…what do you say to that? I actually felt so bad for Ian there because what must he have looked like these last visits if Mickey is telling him that he looks good now? What kind of mess was he then when he’s still sort of a mess today? And he can’t even return the sentiment because how can he? Mickey is in prison. He’s in a jumpsuit looking at being here so long that he’ll probably have a few grey hairs starting to grow in when he gets out. I don’t know how to respond when people tell me I look good on an average day, so I can only imagine how that must have felt in his position. And still, he won’t do more than glance in Mickey’s direction. Well, if that didn’t work…

3. Mickey chuckles and says he got a new tattoo. Ian’s eyes immediately shoot upwards, and Mickey slouches a little so that he’s in their direct line of sight—to hold them there, because once they look, the battle is lost. And Ian does lose. For a while there, he can’t look away again. First, because Mickey is courting some pretty nasty illnesses with his improper use of needles. Seriously, Mickey, a beautiful gesture but holy crap. Second, Mickey has his name (or a very close approximation to it) tattooed forever right over his heart. Ian had asked if Mickey was going to marry him, and Mickey told him to fuck off, but everything he’s doing points in the opposite direction. He promised sickness and health; now he’s made a permanent mark on his body for everyone to see. Mickey, who wouldn’t be seen in public with him once upon a time, has plastered Ian’s name onto his body. Ian tries so hard not to let that impact him, but it’s over. He’s lost the battle already, and he falls further and further. He’s smiling when he tells Mickey it looks infected, he teases him about the misspelling (which I think says more about how much that tattoo must have hurt than any inability to spell on Mickey’s part—I’d have a typo too), and he laughs at Mickey’s irritation that he messed it up. And it’s this sweet little laugh, not cruel or hurtful or mean. The wonderful thing about humor is that it can be used to cope with difficult emotions. We’ve seen a lot of people on the show start laughing when they’re in a bad place. Ian has been trying so hard to accept his life as it is even during the shitty day he was having. He tried so hard not to let himself fall into the trap of letting his love for Mickey rule his actions in the scene so far. That’s a lot. That’s denying himself to the point where I’m sure it hurts. And so he laughs, because Mickey did this crazy, absurd thing for him and yeah, it came out wrong, but he did it. This was all Ian wanted once upon a time (minus the felony), and now he has it—but he can’t have it. So he laughs. He immediately moves to hide it, but he laughs. He smiles more and has to bend away to pretend that he’s not—and Mickey lights up like a goddamn Christmas tree. This is the moment that keeps me from seeing this scene or Ian’s actions as being cruel. They’re both hurting, and this is an awful position to be in. But Ian loves him so much, and Mickey was doing everything he could to make him show it. Not exactly how he saw that going, I’m sure, but he’ll take it.

4. “Been thinking about you.” – Knowing that he lost that one, Ian looks away again. While the end of this scene will hurt for both of them, especially Mickey, think about the pain he must be feeling in that moment simply because he’s not. He’s not hurting. For the first time that day, he feels good. This can’t last. Mickey isn’t coming home with him when time is up. This wonderful emotion that filled him up enough for him to laugh and smile after such a bad day will be gone the second he hangs up that phone. Then he’s going to go home and have Fiona breathing down his neck with nobody else for support. And Mickey will be here—behind glass. He can’t handle that, and he pulls that box out again and starts tearing off the tissue paper. He has to get rid of this feeling. He has to be the one to put it away before it kicks him to the curb. He’s stubborn, and Mickey can see him shutting down but also knows that he’s knocked enough bricks out of Ian’s walls to say something softer, something emotional and closer to the heart. Something he is willing to say where the other inmates can hear, which I don’t think is lost on Ian since he immediately looks up again. He doesn’t look away either, not even when Mickey asks if Ian thinks about him. He glances to the side and opens his mouth a bit, but nothing comes out. Mickey knows the answer.

5. “Gonna wait for me?”/”You’re here for fifteen years.” – There’s this thing Mickey does after he first says that. He chuckles, because he knows that that’s pretty unreasonable to ask and has already predicted Ian’s response. His comment about being out in eight is lighthearted, a serious matter spoken as a joke because…this isn’t juvie anymore. They’re not going to see each other in a few months. This is Mickey’s version of what Ian was just doing, only where Ian tried to withdraw and escape within himself, Mickey is making it more humorous. He’s always done that, make light of pretty serious things to avoid looking at just how messed up it is. But I didn’t get the feeling he was really asking for Ian to wait that long. Instead, I got the feeling that he was testing the waters, seeing if Ian would shut him down—which he didn’t. He offered the bullshit excuse that Mickey tried to kill a member of his family, and Mickey saw through that immediately. I think he knows that he can’t ask Ian to seriously wait and never be with anyone else for fifteen years, or even for eight. I think he knows what he’s saying is a touch absurd. He also knows that Ian’s excuse is extremely absurd, and he doesn’t buy it for a second. It gives him a little courage to do something…well, a bit absurd.

6. “Will you? Wait? Fucking lie if you have to, man. Eight years is a long time.” – I think the important part of this isn’t that Ian says he’ll wait when he doesn’t mean it, which is the popular take. For one thing, I don’t think we can ascribe that level of calculated behavior to Ian in this instance. There are a few things about this part of the scene that mean a lot to me: (1) Ian doesn’t get up and go. He doesn’t even move in that direction. He sits there with the phone after the buzzer sounds and before Mickey tells him to lie. His mouth opens and closes like he’s not sure what to say. Because what can he say? If Mickey serves the maximum, Ian will be in his mid-thirties by the time they can be together. At that point, he was either nearing eighteen or just turned. I still can’t fathom what I’ll be doing in my mid-thirties, and I’m a whole lot older than that. Ian looks just a little terrified here, and that’s because he knows he loves Mickey but has no clue what he’s supposed to do with that in the impossible circumstances they’re operating under. (2) Ian can’t even see himself moving on yet. He’s still trying to figure himself out, not think about a relationship. He has a job he hates, and his family is a different brand of chaos these days. He feels alone, yes, but not in a way that has him openly desperate for a relationship. Based on what he says to Mandy about Caleb, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that he doesn’t think he’ll ever be in a serious relationship at this point or even in a position for more than casual sex anytime in the near future. How can he say that he’ll wait when he doesn’t know where he’ll be whenever Mickey does get out? Maybe he’ll feel better. Maybe he’ll be out of his mind, roaming all over the place like Monica. Maybe he won’t just be standing on that bridge. It’s a huge question, one that has a lot of ramifications no matter what his answer is, and Ian clearly has none. He’s blindsided by that, which Mickey sees. That’s when he gets serious about those eight years, about how absurd their situation really is. That’s perhaps the first and only time in this scene where we can see that, for as successful as he is at navigating prison, his freedom means something to him. His freedom means he wouldn’t have to coax a glance out of Ian—he could kiss his dumb ass and make him stop being stubborn about how much he loves Mickey. But he can’t. He won’t be able to for a long time. And I think that is what really breaks his heart in this scene, not…

7. “Yeah. Yeah, Mick, I’ll wait.” – Did anyone else notice how Ian swallowed hard before he answered? How his voice gets hoarse when he first speaks? I paused again to type, and the video is sitting on his face staring at the counter before the second part of what he says. He looks like he might cry. He looks like his heart is breaking just as much as Mickey’s is, because he can do what he’s asking this time—reassure him with a lie. Not because he doesn’t intend to wait, but because he is buried so far under what life has piled on top of him that he can’t see the light these days, and he doesn’t see waiting or moving on. He just sees the daily struggle of being this shell of a person. Of being without Mickey even if they’re not technically together. (Admittedly, I think he knew they would be if Mickey weren’t in prison at that moment. Ian has no real self-control where he’s concerned. Lip told him as much, and he’s self-aware enough to realize it, hence his behavior in this whole scene.)

When Ian hangs up the phone, he doesn’t get up immediately. He looks at Mickey—really looks at him—and each of them watches the other’s heart shatter. I don’t see it the way a lot of people do, though. On Mickey’s side, I don’t see it as being because Ian lied. I think it’s so much bigger than that.

Ian looks at him when they can’t hear each other anymore, and if he didn’t seem ready to cry before, he looks it now. Why? Because there’s nothing he can do for Mickey besides that. Ian, ever the giver, can’t give him anything. At that point, he couldn’t even help himself. He can’t be what Mickey needs in that moment, just like he couldn’t be what Mickey needed while he was sick, and it kills him. It kills him to know that by the time Mickey does get out, he’ll be older than he can fathom being and has no idea if he’ll even be around that long. It kills him to feel like even if he is, he’ll still have nothing to offer because, in his own words, this is where he lands. And it kills him to have to walk away and leave what he loves most behind glass.

Mickey is watching this. He knows Ian, and as painful as it was to get exactly what he asked for, it’s even more painful for him to see what him being here does to Ian. Where Ian is a giver, Mickey is a fixer. He makes things better. When stuff is broken, he puts it back together. When there’s a problem, he resolves it. Ian was going to leave because he couldn’t be an unacknowledged number three in Mickey’s life anymore? He jumped to solve the problem by coming out. Ian was acting strangely and wouldn’t get out of bed for so long that Mickey realized something was wrong? He immediately went to hunt down Lip, who he knows is closer to Ian than anyone else in his family. Fiona tells him that Ian is sick and needs to be cared for? He jumps in to do it, even to the point where it did more harm than good. Sammi caused a problem that Mickey couldn’t solve? He fixed the problem of her being there at all. But here he sits, behind glass, watching Ian that whole time and knowing that he was trying to maintain some emotional distance—and, because it’s Mickey, knowing why. There’s nothing he can do about this. He can’t fix it. For the first time since s3, Mickey is absolutely helpless to fix a problem. He takes a breath as Ian walks away as though he’s about to say something, but what can he say? What can he do? Nothing. He can do nothing but hang up the phone and weather the storm.

In the end, the heartbreak in this scene isn’t about them hurting each other, from my perspective. It’s not about Ian being callous and cruel or purposely trying to hurt Mickey. They know each other too well for that. They’ve been through too much. To me, this is about two people who love each other more than anything not being able to be what the other needed when they needed them—and that’s a whole lot more painful.

#shameless meta #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich

111 notes · View notes