Can I even do this if I've never written a story in my life
Side Note -- I just need to reiterate or iterate what I reiterate later -- my titles are shit they're ridiculous y3ni like if you actually like a concept in here, you don't even need to ask...
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-AND-
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Lauren Ridloff as Yanelys Tizol
Her father had been there since the start. Actually, suspiciously right before it. He didn't have a choice staying down in Colombia or raising Shaymaa there after her mother died while she was still a baby. He tried to keep her removed from everything, having her stay out in Mocoa, but after his murder, his "employers" took her in. And with her U.S. citizenship and everything now she's the asset, but for somebody else. There's nothing to complain about with this life, least nothing she can put into words. She lives comfortably, even more than when she was a baby. Every time she thinks about her childhood memories with her father, she misses that life so bad it hurts. Emptiness and darkness don't eat away at her, they're just there in the back of her mind waiting whenever she's not distracting herself with work.
They decide to really use Shaymaa and send her to the U.S. right when she's realizing she might be a monster. She's not invincible though. That's where Nely comes in. Some shady lawyers came to her letting her know she now has protection, somebody she can trust, all she has to do is pick her up from a detention center and absolutely not ask any questions about the deal that resulted in Yanelys getting released. She finds the contrast between the woman's scary reputation and her innocent demeanor instantly endearing and with how few people in her life she actually trusts in her life, she has no problem keeping her secrets. Also seeing her get all flustered around her boy El Oso, or as she calls him Gús, makes her day every time.
Shaymaa always acted like she loved herself but with the opportunity of a new life away from everybody who raised and trained her, she might be able to. So, filled with hope she's never felt before and the vague idea of growing and becoming somebody she might not hate, she steps off that tin can onto the abandoned tarmac -- shining that same smile that hasn't left her face since she got her orders. It's been over a year now liaising and going back and forth. She treasures those hints of normality in California; they show her what she's been missing and what a home really is.
A LITTLE EXTRA : s/o @abcnetwork on Giphy for the GIF of Laura and Userachel on Tenor for the Lauren one!!
ok (if you read all that) that was long as shit so imma try to kep it short
Shaymaa reads other people well but she might be a little slow when analyzing herself -- she's a little complex, she feels kinda sociopathic b/c of her adolescence or she's worried she is but at the same time she's a romantic and straight guileless when it comes to her personal life -- meaning she wants love even though she doesn't know the feeling to love and be loved (not counting her family) preferably with somebody innocent, full of sunshine, simple, fun, sweet, optimistic, loving, etc which she does not see in Franklin, he just seems too much like herself
Denee Benton or Britanny Marie-Batchelder could be a back-up FC for Shaymaa and Reagan Gomez-Preston could be Leesy too it was just real hard to upload a GIF for her
If you want to give Shaymaa a side job, whether it's waiting tables with Cissy or something else entirely, feel free -- Shaymaa's just real attached to her life in Los Angeles and enjoying every moment of it
Also yes this used to be a Franklin fic where Shaymaa was his love interest -- and she still can be but I just had to insert somebody for my baby Gustavo and let there be a adorable romance in here!
