Lunch with one-shot: Jane Hearts Maura
Lunch with culture, which today is Jane Hearts Maura - A Mixture Tape Fic by kabensi. In a convulsion of life manifesting as art (or vice versa) the tape is actually real, and so is @kbs-was-here/kabensi. They can both be found here.
I’m holding on to the music mix theme from yesterday. This is a story that makes lots of sense to us fossils who remember mixtapes. Depending on your age and persons involved, mixtapes were Serious Business last century.
In-story we have brave detective Jane Rizzoli chickening out like a fourteen year old boy and deciding to express her love through the mixtape medium instead of saying “I love you” like an actual grownup.
Not that I’m belittling her for it (if that is in fact a word). I’d be intimidated too if I tried to impress Maura Isles. I think Jane is doing the exact right thing: In my AU view of the rizzles universe, Maura can go out and buy whatever she wants so she would appreciate the personal effort. The complication with personal is that everyone butts in with music suggestions. Some of them are horrifying.
Does it work? The beginnings are auspicious:
"You were up all night making me this mixture tape?" It was practically reverent, the way Maura lifted it out of Jane's hand.
(see, author and I agree about Maura) ...but there are second thoughts about the music selection and there are the Rizzoli Nerves acting up.
The moment I saw the artist of the last track mentioned I knew what it was. I may not be a gamer but I have played a lot of HALOs. I would not have had the nerves to pick that particular song, but then I probably wouldn’t have shot myself in the guts either.
Anyway, Jane is putting her feelings out there on tape in the hope that Maura is socially ept (that’s not a word, right?) enough to get her point. Even post-delivery people butt in with song suggestions.
"Which Sinatra songs did you put on it?"
"None."
There was a glare of disapproval. "You better make another one."
"As much as I'd love to stand here and take requests, I need to go do my job where I'm a respected detective.”
There are 91 minutes of nervous waiting, and then there is the dreaded response.
What response? Read it and find out! :-)
