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auburnaudry · 4 years ago

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Fractured Family - Matthew Tkachuk

Chapter 1:

A/N: So this is the first time I have ever written literally anything. If you have any suggestions or feedback just let me know! I kinda want to make this a series, so if you are interested or have any suggestion on where to take this story I’m all ears!

Next Chapter —>

Summary: You and Matthew had a long history, dating for two years, until you guys “mutually” decided to split. It was civil and seemed liked the best option at the time. But shortly after splitting, you found out you were pregnant with Reign and everything in your life, including your relationship with Matt, became more complicated. (Flashbacks are in italics.)

Word count: 3293 words

It was really late at night and you just wanted to get your son to sleep. Him being only 3 months old, it was hard to get a consistent sleep schedule going, especially when you were sharing custody with someone who lives a completely different lifestyle than you.

After spending two nights with his father, your sons usual 10 minute bedtime routine turned into a long, drawn out, difficult ordeal, that you would be trying to correct for the next week. And once he was finally adjusted back to your routine, he was off to stay with his father again to continue the never ending cycle.

You rocked Reign in his chair for almost 40 minutes and finally settled him down enough to lay him back in his crib. You reached over to the changing table and turned the sound machine on, hoping that it would put him to sleep for even just a little while. You needed a break from the loud crying.

Walking over to the dresser sitting by the door, you grab the baby monitor and walked out towards the kitchen.

You mindlessly stared at your phone as you made your way down the hall. Distracted by your new notifications, you hadn’t noticed the handsome young man still sitting at your island waiting for you to return.

“Y/n/n”

“Oh my god, Matthew you scared me” you shouted, dropping your phone as your body jumped slightly from the shock of seeing someone unexpected in your apartment.

“I thought you left already, what are you still doing here” you continued as you picked your phone up off the ground, checking to make sure the screen wasn’t cracked.

You were caught off guard and slightly confused because Matt always left right after dropping your son off. You two had an arrangement that worked, minimal interaction that only revolved around your son. So when Matt was still lingering around your apartment almost and hour after dropping your son off, you couldn’t help but let your mind travel to the worst case scenario.

“Did something happen today with Reign?” You asked before he had a chance to respond to your first question.

You and Matt had a long history, dating for two years, until you guys “mutually” decided to split. It was civil-ish and seemed liked the best option at the time. But shortly after splitting, you found out you were pregnant with Reign and everything in your life, including your relationship with Matt, became more complicated.

“You should have been honest with me from the start then” you screamed at your boyfriend. You had been arguing for what felt like forever with no end in sight.

“I didn’t know what I wanted at the time y/n” he calmly responded “Fuck, I still don’t even know what I want, but I know its not fair to you, to keep going the way we are”. You two had been talking about where you see your relationship going in the future and this was the first time Matthew was really opening up to you.

As much as you begged Matt to express his emotions more over the course of your relationship, this time you wished he had kept them to himself.

“Y/n, you want to take the next step in this relationship and I’m not ready. I don’t know why I’m not ready but you are and I can’t hold you back.” Matthew sounded so sincere that you almost believed this was what you wanted too. “You need someone who is gonna take that step with you” key word was almost.

The past couple of weeks you had been hinting that you wanted to move in with Matt. You loved him and were sure you wanted to start the next chapter of your life with him. You never thought in a million years this would be his reaction but maybe you pushed him too much? Or maybe this was inevitable and he wasn’t looking at you as a long term investment. Whatever the reason, you now regretted even bringing it up.

“Okay, so two years down the drain I guess” you said as you rolled your tear filled eyes. His face fell at your words, he truly did love you and just wanted you to be happy. You were looking for forever and he admitted to not being ready for that kind of commitment. Instead of continuing a relationship that seemed to be at a stand still, the only option at this point was to end it. You weren’t going to sit there and beg him, you had too much pride to do that.

“I’ll just pack my shit and go” you walked past him to his bedroom to collect all the things that no longer belonged in his space. You almost expected him to follow after you, to fight for your relationship, but he didn’t, which hurt your heart even more. So you continued to pack up the things that had migrated from your apartment to his over the two years of being together. Your thoughts were now consumed with figuring out how you were going to move on and find someone to spend the rest of your life with, while he continued to live the bachelor lifestyle he was all so famous for.

Even though you rarely voiced it in your two years of being together, you were madly in love with him and broken hearted that he wasn’t willing to put in the effort to make your relationship work. You left his bedroom and made your way down the hallway, past the living room where Matthew was still sat, and out the front door with your bags in tow. You didn’t bother glancing back at him, out of fear you might do or say something you would regret.

2 weeks later…

You woke up and still hadn’t gotten your period. Your period had never been even a day late since you got it back in the 7th grade, so waking up for a 4th day in a row with no period, was worrisome. You didn’t think there was even a chance you were pregnant since you were on birth control, so you made an appointment with your gyno to ensure everything was okay. You were convinced it was just the stress of your recent breakup that was causing this irregularity in your cycle, but you couldn’t be sure without getting checked out first.

...

You pulled up to your doctors office for your appointment feeling extremely anxious. You just wanted to get it over with so you could stop stressing and go back to feeling sorry for yourself for getting broken up with.

You sat in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity. You scrolled through Instagram and somehow found yourself on Matthew’s page. It was definitely an unhealthy habit you had picked up since splitting. You couldn’t help it though, he was following new ig models everyday and in a sick way, you liked to compare yourself to them. It was a reminder that you weren’t what Matt wanted and Matt couldn’t be what you wanted anymore.

“y/n y/l/n” you looked up from your phone as your name was called “We’re ready for you”

You followed the nurse back to a bathroom located right next door to the exam room you usually got checked out in. The nurse handed you a cup to pee in, as you usually did at these types of appointments, and instructed you to change into a gown in exam room #2 once you finished up in the bathroom.

After you changed into the gown, the nurse came back to collect your sample and left you sitting on the exam table as you scrolled on your phone again, waiting for Dr. Cooper to come in.

“Y/n, congratulation you’re pregnant” Dr. Cooper walked in holding your charts. You had been going to Dr. Cooper since you were 16 and you had built a nice relationship through the years, talking about your personal lives and future plans during appointments. He was aware of your long term relationship with Matthew and by his enthusiastic tone and happy energy, it was clear that he was unaware of your recent breakup. You obviously didn’t expect him to know, the breakup was new and you only see him a couple times out of the year.

You couldn’t even process the news or anything else Dr. C had to say after that. Everything went fuzzy and it felt like you were in some crazy nightmare that you couldn’t wake up from. The only thing you did hear him say was that he expected you to be 8 weeks along from the information you told him and the ultrasound he performed.

You were a traditional person and always imagined you would be married or at least in a committed relationship before getting pregnant, so this entire situation had you in shock.

You were so numb from the news that you continued on throughout your day as normal, unsure of what else to do. But as you pulled into the parking lot of your apartment building, you rushed to get inside so you could finally breakdown and feel everything you had pushed aside for the past few hours.

You were silently praying your roommate wasn’t home when you walked through the door of your shared apartment so you didn’t have to face anyone. To your dismay, she was sitting in the living room calling for you when you walked through the door.

You hadn’t told her that you and Matthew broke up because you were so ashamed that the man you thought you’d spend the rest of you life with , didn’t feel the same way for you. The past 3 weeks you had been pretending Matt was away on a road trip or too busy with hockey to hang out whenever she asked about him. At this point you needed to get this off you chest so you walked right into the living room, sat down next to her, and unloaded the entire story before she even had the chance to say hello. As you spoke, her face turned from confusion to concern.

“Kay idk what to do, I don’t even want to tell him because I don’t need his help, but i feel icky when I think about having his baby and keeping it a secret.” You guys were talking through what you were gonna do about the situation.

Kaylee was the perfect person to ask because she also knew Matthew really well! Kaylee was the one who introduced you to Matt in the first place almost 3 years ago. They continually ran into each other while out at bars and talked so often they eventually became good friends. Being Kaylees best friend, you were later introduced to Matthew at a bar and you guys hit it off right away. You became really close friends and later started dating after a typical drunk love confession.

“And you’re definitely sure it’s Matt’s? Like there’s no chance it’s someone else’s right?”

“Yes of course I haven’t talk to anyone since the breakup, let alone slept with anyone!”

“I just want to make sure cause you didn’t even tell me you guys broke up, I wasn’t sure if I was missing any other important parts of the story” she paused for a second giving you a sympathetic look. The father was indisputable since you had only been with one man in the last two years.

“he’s a good guy y/n/n, I think he will be really understanding and a good father, it’s important you tell him, him and his family would want to know” She was right, she always is.

Before your talk with Kaylee, you fully prepared yourself to raise the baby on your own and expected nothing from Matthew. But when you thought about his family, a family that you had become a part of in the two years you were together, you couldn’t help but think of how disappointed they would be if they ever found out that you kept a part of them a secret. You had become extremely close with Brady and Taryn and their parents treated you like one of their own. They loved you and would unconditionally love your child, it wasn’t fair to them and more importantly, it wasn’t fair to your baby to keep them apart.

...

After a week of thoroughly thinking through all your options, you finally took Kaylees advice and reached out to Matt. You almost hoped he wouldn’t see your message or he would see it and just ignore it since you two hadn’t communicated since the breakup.

Y/n:

Hey Matty, it’s y/n, I’m not sure if you have free time in the near future but I kinda need to talk to you!

To your surprised he responded within minutes of your text.

Matty:

I’m happy you reached out, lets meet up! Can you do lunch tomorrow? Our usual lunch spot?

This all seemed too familiar, why was he texting you like you had never broken up and why did he respond at all? He could have easily said he was busy or trying to move on and didn’t want to talk, but he didn’t.

Y/n:

I was actually thinking we could do takeout or something and eat at my apartment?

You figure a private setting would be better for the news you were about to spring on him since you weren’t sure of the reaction you were going to get.

Matty:

Anything works babe

He had practice the next morning and a free afternoon so it was the perfect opportunity to tell him, giving him time to process since he had nothing going on for the rest of the day.

Matthew walked up to your apartment door the next day giving it his signature knock. You slowly walked to the door, opening it to find him standing there, carrying the to-go bags, filled with your favorite meal and wearing his perfect smile that almost made you forget why you called him over in the first place.

As you went to greet him, you caught a slight whiff of the food and the nausea that washed over you was so sudden and instantaneous, you almost didn’t make it to the bathroom.

On your run to the bathroom, you heard Matt’s footsteps following closely behind, but luckily you had enough time to lock the bathroom door before emptying the contents of you stomach in the toilet.

Matthew sat outside the bathroom knocking lightly “y/n are you okay” he waited patiently for your response.

When you felt the wave of nausea had completely passed, you stood up, flushing the toilet and making your way to the sink to rid your mouth of the taste that plagued it.

As you opened the door to the bathroom you were met with Matt’s concern filled face. If throughout your lunch date you wanted to change your mind about telling him, that option was completely off the table now. You had no choice but to explain what was going on and you just wanted to get it over with.

Matthew stood there staring, waiting for a response. “I’m pregnant” was all you could come up with.

He stared at you in complete disbelief but then realization washed over his face. “Who’s the father” was all he could manage, as if you would invite him over to tell him you were pregnant with someone else’s kid.

You wanted to roll your eye but they were so full of tears, you were scared that if you moved them, the tears would start running and you would fall apart in front of him.

“Yours” you whispered with a cold tone trying your best to keep your emotions at bay.

Matthew had alway wanted to be a dad and was great with his teammates kids, so you weren’t entirely surprised when he told you he wanted to be a part of your kids life.

You two spent countless hours and had countless lunch dates over the course of your pregnancy, talking about how you were going to co-parent and make everything work. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t secretly wish that you and Matt would end up back together, raising the family you always dream of having, but it seemed that ship had sailed for Matthew. His only concern was making sure his kid lived a happy and healthy life.

You were now waiting for a response from your ex on why he was still sitting in your kitchen so late at night.

“No no, Reign is fine everything is fine, I just need to talk to you about something” he said, not making eye contact with you. You were even more nervous now because you had no guess as to what he could possibly want to talk about.

“I’m talking to this girl” your entire world stopped spinning and your ears started to ring a little. You still weren’t use to Matthew talking to other women, you probably wouldn’t be for a long time, and now he wanted to talk to you about one of his hoes?

“Ummm okay” you said, unsure how you were even suppose to respond. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Things between us are getting a little more serious” you could literally feel you heart aching in your chest, but you continued to act unfazed by Matt’s admission. “I was just wondering what the appropriate time would be to introduce her to Reign”

You were almost stunned that he was even asking you such a stupid question. If it were up to you, Reign was never going to meet some trashy whore his father would bang every once in a while. Your son was only 3 months old, so to think that introducing him to a random, clout chaser was even an option for Matthew, made you extremely angry. Or maybe you were just jealous he had been seeing someone and it had gotten so serious that he was willing to introduce her to his newborn son.

You can’t even describe the feeling of the love of your life breaking up with you because ‘he wasn’t ready for commitment’, and then not even a year later he is in a serious relationship again but with someone else. You couldn’t help but think everything Matthew had told you was a lie, that he wasn’t afraid of committing, he was just afraid of committing to you.

“Y/n/n, did you hear my question?”

“Obviously” you spat “I just have to think, I wasn’t exactly prepared for this kind of question tonight or honestly at any point in the near future so I need time to think about it” you were bitter but you tried your hardest to not make it seem that way as you spoke.

“Take all the time you need, no rush, we’re obviously new to this whole parenting and co-parenting thing so we don’t have all the answers yet, but I don’t want to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.” He finally made eye contact with you for the first time all night. You forgot how pretty his eyes were.

“Thanks for checking in with me, ill let you know when I figure it out” and with that he got up and made his way out of your apartment.

“Goodnight y/n” he said as he opened the front door and pulled his car keys out of his pocket.

“Night” you responded as you close the door behind him. Just as the door closed, Reign’s screams came over the baby monitor, distracting you before you had too much time to think about how alone you actually were.

#Matthew Tkachuk #Matthew Tkachuk x reader #Matthew Tkachuk fic #nhl imagine #nhl x reader #nhl fanfiction #calgary flames

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91percentpynch · 4 years ago

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the raven cycle x all for the games crossover part one - ronan and the ravens

i dedicate this to leni, as she sent me fanart of ronan lynch in a raven uniform and we started to talk about this. you probably won‘t see this, but this is for you. trigger warning: mention of abuse, mention of scars, mention/ hinting of rape, description of physical abuse at the end!! if i should add any warnings let me know!!

ronan joined the ravens because niall fucked up the moriymas and it was giving them one of their sons or dying

well we all know niall is a narcist so obviously he chose a son of his instead of his own death

declan figured that out pretty fast and immediatly volunteered so that niall would let ronan and matthew live in peace

but niall had other plans - he chose ronan: attitude problem and dreamer? he would surive the cruelties of the nest

declan told ronan, promised him to keep him safe, to not let niall take him away

declan tried to save him, really did try, but in the end he was just a teenage boy and their father? well he was their father, powerful dreamer, narcistic asshole, stubborn without limits

one night when declan and ronan go to bed, declan in ronan‘s room like every night since they heard from the deal, their father came in their room and got ronan

declan didn‘t notice, he slept too deeply - one of niall‘s dreams, so he would get ronan without declan noticing

when declan noticed however he screamed and cried and woke the entire house up

matthew didn‘t understand why his older brother cried in the room of the middle child every single day since the day ronan mysterically disappeared

riko tries to break him, because investments don‘t have feelings, they aren‘t human

little does he know that ronan doesn‘t have feelings, he doesn‘t have a heart you can break

besides that he lived with niall lynch long enough to know what pain feels like - after all their father gave them boxing/ fighting lessons and taught them how to handle pain

ronan is a backliner, he is jean‘s partner

jean and ronan grow really close

ronan promised to keep jean safe and unless declan ronan masters and sticks to his plans

he does everything to get riko‘s attention - disrespecting him, not showing up to practise, not doing as he was told

riko tried to use jean against ronan only ONCE - one of the only regrets the king of exy had in his sorry life

when riko tries to use that against him, ronan protects jean by fighting riko

this ends in riko torturing him

ronan doesn‘t mind

ronan is a dreamer in this universe

only jean knows about him

ronan dreams jean and himself things against the pain

ronan is actually super good at exy

almost as good as kevin

kevin has a crush on ronan

ronan doesn‘t care, because kevin is not his type

his type is adam parrish - starting dealer from the palmetto foxes

when they marked him, he tried to get a feeling of what the color is like, so when he went to bed he got himself a tattoo of his own

on his back, a maejestic raven, two boys kissing, surrounded by the forrest in his dreams

he hides it as good as he can from riko - for jean‘s sake because yes he fought him once and he might have left him in peace but you never know with that psychopath, do you?

and so he goes through the days, pain blurring them all together, jean always waiting for him in their room

„you don‘t have to do that, you don‘t have to take all the pain for my mistakes“, jean whispers in french once again.

„jean, moi soleil, i promised you to keep you safe. i‘m not my fucking brother. i never lie. i keep my promise, i will keep you safe. and if that means that i have to entertain our favourite dickhead, i will gladly do that“, ronan replied softly.

„i don‘t want you to be in pain“, jean admitted quietly.

„jean, you idiot, i am always in pain. either in my dreams or in this hellhole. but at least seeing riko furious is fun, unless my dreams“, ronan‘s eyes slowly wandered to his scars on his wrist.

jean just takes ronan‘s hands and holds them - their secret promise to never leave each other‘s side

eventually they fall asleep, jean‘s head on ronan‘s shoulder, ronan‘s head on top of jean‘s dark brown curles

they get woken up by a furious riko

ronan wasn‘t able to hide his tattoo fast enough, riko already saw it

„how dare you? how dare you disrespecting your master you piece of shit?“, riko yelled.

„which master? all i see is a little dickhead with a napoleon complex“, ronan replied calmly, looking riko right in the cold, dead dark brown eyes.

riko didn‘t take these words well and went straight for jean

„i would think about touching him twice if i were you. i don‘t know how you see it but i‘m roughly a foot taller and i know how to box. I wouldn‘t take my chances there. one more step towards him, one funny look and we‘ll find out“, ronan said calmly, „whatever you want to do to him, do it to me. i‘m a lot of fun. don‘t like my tattoo because you‘re an homophobic brat? well try burn it off me. take a knife and cut it off me. i don‘t care, i‘m a big guy, i can take it. however we don‘t want the other dickhead to know i might not show up to practice because my back hurts and oh, how my exy will suffer under that. probably gonna send someone to me in the shower again, oh how creative“

riko however didn‘t listen and took another furious step towards jean, hatred and madness in his eyes, which only meant once: brutality, torture, no limits of his anger

ronan out stepped riko and put himself in front of jean „go as far back as you can. sit down on your bed, face to the wall“, ronan said to jean in french, the other boy did as he was told, not knowing what else he should do

it was one of these times where ronan asked himself what that boy did before he arrived three years ago. how he surrived so long. obviously he saw his scars and ronan blamed himself for every single one of them. technically they weren‘t his fault, he wasn‘t here. but his brain stopped working properly when it came to the people he loved, he cared about.

he took his chance, the moment of suprise on his side and punched him right in his face. when riko tripped over his own feet ronan didn‘t hestiate and kicked him in the stomach. riko was never used to abuse, he was never beaten, never kicked, so he fell to the floor, holding his stomach, trying to catch his breathe

again ronan didn‘t hestiate, he took jean and ran for it

ran without any goal, without any orientation, he didn‘t plan this through, he just knew they didn‘t have time

„run, if you can make it without me, you run! do you hear me jean? run!“, he whisper-shouted at the other boy as they made their way through an dark corridor

„i won‘t leave you behind. i‘ll go with you, or not at all. he will kill you if we don‘t make it“, jean replied, anxiety making his accent thicker

they were just about to run around the corner when kevin came into their way

„what are you guys doing?“, he asked innocently.

„oh we‘re on a romantic fucking walk, watching the sunset asshole. we‘re fleeing. from your nice little cult. we‘re going. and if i find out you tell someone what we do i will come back and murder you princess. now either move out of the fucking way or join us for all i care. but if mr dickhead king of exy finds me, he will murder you, so i would really appreciate you making your decision fucking fast shithead“, ronan whispered fastly and furiously.

„i‘ll go with you, i‘ll bring you out“, kevin says in french.

ronan knew he didn‘t have the time to question day so he followed him, jean always close, ready to fight anyone who would be a danger for him

kevin navigates them through the labyrinth of the nest fast, always in the shadows, carefully that they won‘t be seen

somehow they managed to get out of the nest, but they didn‘t stop, they couldn‘t, not if they wanted to live

„did any of you actually plan this through?“, jean asks nervously

„of course i planned that riko would walk in on us sleeping together in one bed, where my back with my secret tattoo is exposed, where i then beat and kick him, take your hand and run like my life depends on it. and while i was at it i texted day ‚hey dickhead wanna go on an adventure;)‘ with my non-existent mobile“, ronan replied annoyed

„i actually did plan that sometimes, for fun. thought i might wanna visit my dad, thought i might wanna change teams. you know, riko gets harder and harder to stan with his perfect team bullshit and bla bla bla ronan and jean are not worthy your attentin bla bla bla stop talking about jeremy knox bla bla bla i will show you how that feels like bla bla bla being forced to sleep with riko bla bla bla“, kevin said quietly, they almost didn‘t make the words out.

„i thought he wouldn‘t do that to you, asshole“, ronan replied softly, „as much as we love a good talk about shared trauma, how did you plan to get away from here“

„actually no“, kevin said.

„how long do you think we have until mr dickhead is coming out here with his shithead uncle to kill us all?“, ronan asked calmly.

„i‘d say not long? five minutes the longest“, kevin replied.

ronan could physically feel jean‘s anxiety

„jean, it‘s gonna be okay, give me two seconds“, ronan replied. „i‘m gonna lay down now. if they come, jean you run. run as fast as you can. take them down. don‘t let them catch you. day? help him, i swear to god if i hear you didn‘t i will come visit you and i will not be as nice as riko“, ronan sadi to kevin, with a cold smile on his lips

over the years ronan learned how to control his sleep, how to fall asleep fast and dream something fast, this would work

ronan carefully lays down, closes his eyes and takes a deep breathe. he repeats this a few times. quickly he falls asleep and thinks of the car his father owned. a black bmw. the memories might not be nice ones, but they need a car and this was the only one he knows by heart. carefully he touches it, checks if everything is alright and when he is sure it is, he wakes up, holding on to it like his life depens on it - which in this case it literally does

just in time to furious shouts he wakes up

the car next to him and he quickly gets in

„i recommend getting in if you don‘t want to you know get murdered by the japanese mafia shitheads“, he says calmly.

„you- you“, kevin tries to say.

jean just gets in the car and forcefully pulls kevin with him

„we have time to talk once we have some miles between these psychopaths and us day, so shut your pretty mouth and get the fuck in“, ronan says.

when the doors are closed ronan goes for it

he obviously does not know how to drive, but this was one of his dreams and his dreams never failed to suprise him

the car goes the moment he puts his foot down on one of the pedals, it doesn‘t have multiply gears, just one and it works

„to make this short: i am a dreamer. that means i can take shit out of my dreams. that‘s why jean and i could play. well, i don‘t know how you two losers surrived so long without me, but i will keep you safe. i don‘t lie. i‘m gay. you are not my type, so don‘t even try to hit on me. if you hurt jean i willl murder you, i don‘t who you are, i don‘t care what you are, hurt my family and die“

„i‘m your family?“, jean said, his voice barley more than a breathe.

ronan doesn‘t have to turn his face around to see the silent tears running down the face of the french boy

once again ronan wonders how jean deserved this life, this beautiful, sarcastic, yet kind soul

„of fucking course asshole, you‘re the only motherfucker who can handle me“, ronan replies.

„okay enough sentimental bullshit and emotions, day where are we going? have we planned that as well?“

„palmetto state, to my father. well he doesn’t know he‘s my father, but i guess he‘ll love two backlliners and a kevin day - second best striker in the united states“

„palmetto state it is. hope they‘re ready for the mafia to come visit to get us“, ronan replied, a small smile on his lips as he thinks about all the new possibilities and hopes he now dared to dream for

#all for the game #the foxhole court #the raven king #the king’s men #jean moreau #ronan lynch #kevin day #the ravens #the nest #the foxes #the raven cycle #the raven boys #the dream thieves #blue lily lily blue #crossover #headcanon

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boundinshallows · 4 years ago

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Peaky Rare Pair Bingo Mid-Fest Round-Up

We started the Peaky Blinders Rare Pair Bingo Challenge back in July and still have a few weeks left. However, I thought it would be a great time to do a mid-fest round-up to catch folks up on what’s been written so far.

Rare Pairs are tricky things. They’re rare because they don’t get a lot of fanworks produced about them. And in turn, sometimes the authors don’t get a lot of love on their fics because the audiences are limited. It becomes a vicious cycle, and in the end, fandom suffers because there's an overrepresentation of just a few pairings, but many amazing characters to love and explore.

I would like to invite you all to take a look at some truly incredible pieces of fic for some much undervalued pairings in Peaky Blinders. If you have a moment, please leave the authors a comment to keep fueling their creativity, even if it’s brief, especially if you like the ship. Kudos are wonderful too, but comments really help writers know there’s an audience out there looking for rare pair content.

Cheers!

++++++++++

Chester Campbell / Tommy Shelby

Shameless by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Tommy has his usual meeting with Campbell in a café but decides to spice it a bit up.

Tatiana Petrovna / Alfie Solomons

Solnishko by Valkrist || [ E ] There was something lovely about all the movements, about kneading the dough, while listening to some radio shows, shaking one’s hand and laughing about the people and music the whole time. As stupid as it could be, Alfie didn’t like to be interrupted during this process. There was only one exception, only one person that could call him or come in without having to deal with his grumpiness.

Vivid by Strawberriez8800 || [ E ] In which Alfie dreams about getting fucked by Tatiana, and asks Tommy a question.

Dazzle Me Blind by Strawberriez8800 || [ T ] Tatiana glances back at Alfie over her shoulder. “Have you ever been fucked by a princess?” “Can’t say I have, no.” “Good,” she says, voice like molten gold. “I like to be the first at everything I do.”

Singular by Strawberriez8800 || [ E ] Alfie tugs on Tatiana's silver chain, pulls her down towards him. “Something you should know, princess,” he says, mouth brushing against the shell of her ear, “I’m not in the habit of sharing, am I now.” She grins a feral grin. “Not even with Tommy Shelby?”

Barney Thompson / Tommy Shelby

Play Pretend by Valkrist || [ T ] It shouldn’t feel this way, should it? He shouldn’t be that afraid, feel more comfortable. Enjoy all the moments, blossom and feel all this happiness, but he didn’t. Why was he sad? Why didn’t he experience the same things others were talking about?

Peaches, Roses, Sandalwood by Valkrist || [ E ] There was something fascinating about all the oils, vials and equipment standing on the table. Small glasses, various colors, paste, scrapers, everything one could imagine. Different scents filled the room - and in the middle of it all there was one filled, slightly violet flacon.

Always Landing on Their Feet by Valkrist || [ G ] Tommy had always been torn between doing business properly and giving Charlie enough love and attention. Never really knew how to do it well enough, how to make his childhood fulfilled enough, but he had thought that it was okay, that he did his best giving Charlie good education and lovely father-son evenings. Had even dared to think that his boy didn’t have any secrets and behaved nice when he had to go to London for some days. Well, this was until he got one particular fateful e-mail.

Indulge a Desire by Valkrist || [ E ] There were many things that helped Barney forget about all his duties for a while, but the low lighting was the best one, after all.

Been Reading Books of Old, the Legends and the Myths by Valkrist || [M] Remember the last time we wrote each other letters? I don’t, but well, maybe it’s a good idea. Kinda funny to send all this words, knowing that you won’t read them immediately. But I won’t write them too often, still gotta pay for my living, you know.

Tu as tué la peur qui là dans mes bras by Valkrist || [ T ] Tommy chuckled. It was always funny to listen to Barney, even if he couldn’t understand how the latter managed to stay that calm. It seemed as if Ollie made nothing but mistakes, but Barney was patient, so terribly patient. Repeated the words again and again, encouraged Ollie to go on and not to send it all to hell.

Thoughts of You Consume by Valkrist || [ E ] Barney had already known what was about to come at the races. Going there hadn’t really been his preferable option for the day, but there was no harm in doing it - just being on Tommy’s side, looking at the majestic horses and seeing the other man’s lips curling into a smile when everything went the way it should. Barney didn’t understand much of this sort of business, but it was alright as long as Tommy knew what he was doing.

May Carleton / Tommy Shelby

When You Walk in Smelling Like Her Perfume by Valkrist || [ T ] May had never thought this necklace would mean so much to her one day. It hadn’t been much more than a lovely gesture back then, a little present, a joke. Something that looked lovely and united them. Even the telepathy coming with it didn’t seem intimate back then, being a lovely side effect. Oh, how easy it had been back then…

Between This Heartbeat and the Next by Strawberriez8800 || [ G ] Tommy is looking at her like he’s finally living their moments rather than stealing them. What a sight it makes.

Off the Beaten Path by Strawberriez8800 || [ G ] Thomas is waiting for someone; May is not so conceited as to assume it is her, yet when she takes the seat beside him and orders herself a drink, with the way he looks at her, it would be asinine to conclude the case is anything else.

The One Who Got Away by Boundinshallows || [ M ] Tommy and May go on an overnight trip to purchase a horse.

James / Tommy Shelby

This was Nothing by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Tommy is frustrated after another meeting with Alfie and he needs an outlet. Luckily it finds him first.

Salt and Mint by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Tommy was forced to remain for dinner at Ada's, in fear of James revealing their little secret, and makes a deal with the boy for his good behavior... things escalate very quickly.

Like Thunder, Like Lightning by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Tommy feels torn after his hasty departure from Ada's, and a surprising phone call might, or might not help him move forward...

R U Mine? by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Tommy goes back to James, but it also comes with more consequences than he imagined... (Direct sequel to Like Thunder, Like Lightning!)

Jessie Eden / Ada Shelby

Dress by Keine_angst || [ G ] Now that she's made peace with her feelings towards Jessie Eden, there was only one obstacle left. The dress.

Hungry for (Your) Love by Keine_angst || [ G ] “Tommy, sweetheart, how can you expect me to agree to do something for you if you don’t explain what do you need from me?” she pointed out the obvious, because really, it wouldn’t be safe to just say yes and take the pot luck, not when Thomas Shelby was in charge. Ada agrees to help her brother out, but things get out of hand.

Billy Grade / Finn Shelby

Beyond Redemption (Just a Pawn) by Valkrist || [ M ] Finn was angry, fucking angry. Should’ve probably known that it all would come this way. Done something against it. Then again, what could he have done? Tommy hadn’t told him that much, trying to keep him away from this bad kind of business. Football bets were alright, but nothing more. Didn’t need to ship cocaine or opium or whatever this was about. Bets like in the good old times, having Billy to write everything down.

Gina Gray / Oswald Mosley

White Swan by Valkrist || [ M ] It was funny how they all hadn’t noticed it at all, Mosley thought. Such blind people. Didn’t see it, maybe simply didn’t want to, who was to say that. He hadn’t been truly interested in joining this dance - an evening with a bunch of fucking Gypsies wasn’t exactly his idea of a well spent time - but apparently there were some good things about occasions of that kind. Well, as long as he ignored the opium, cocaine and brandy. Really didn’t seem to know the rules, this silly people.

Lizzie Stark / Tommy Shelby

Again by Emjen_Enla || [ T ] Tommy rolled over. Again. Or Tommy and Lizzie mostly fail at this sharing a bed thing.

Bonnie Gold / Goliath

Raise the Boxing Gloves by Valkrist || [ M ] Poor boy didn’t know what dreamless nights were anymore. Always had something to think about, adventures happening, a combination of all the things he had experienced. Sometimes bad, sometimes good, sometimes it was simply unclear. But Goliath could beat it all out of him if he wasn’t careful enough. Made him forget with ease, his senses focussing on some little, often rather unimportant details. An impressive and talented young man.

Ollie / Alfie Solomons

Our Bones May Turn to Stone but Hearts like Ours Don’t Rust by Valkrist || [ T ] The dunes, the water, the sand, it was all calming. Ollie simply couldn’t get used to it after having spend so much time in London, knowing all the dirt of Camden. Muddy shoes, blood, he had seen it all, even though it was way better than Birmingham, if Alfie was to be believed.

Luca Changretta / Tommy Shelby

Now and Forever by AbusiveLittleBun || [ E ] Luca is enchanted with the beautiful blue-eyed boy that attends the school he helps his mother at, little does he know Tommy Shelby feels the same way towards him...

Boysenberry Tie, with Periwinkle Eyes by WTSL_Writer_of_Things || [ G ] The bow was strange and new, the colour hard to come by and find. It wasn't often people managed to dye a bow that colour, so he snatched it up and bright it home to his blue eyes doll. Years go by and he finds that colour again, this time as a tie, and he gets the tie for his new Periwinkle eyed lover, who he practically drops to the floor for. So he gets a boysenberry tie, for the Periwinkle eyes of his strange lover.

Oswald Mosley / Tommy Shelby

Coat Wrapped Around His Shoulders by Valkrist || [ M ] It was a miracle, a fucking miracle.Tommy still didn’t know how Barney had stayed alive, but he had. Could have shot Mosley marvelously if it weren’t for this horrible interruption. A life for a life, except both people had stayed alive this time. And this was the other side of the coin. Mosley was still alive. A wonderful plan, all for nothing. So much effort put into it, all for nothing. But at least they hadn’t caught them, so Tommy could still keep his cover. Could enter the hospital without people suspecting him, ready to figure it all out.

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #tommy shelby #alfie solomons #ada thorne #lizzie stark #jessie eden #tatiana petrovna #may carleton #oswald mosley #gina gray #finn shelby #barney thompson #chester campbell #luca changretta #long post

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randomlifeunit · 4 years ago

Text

“Paralyzed”

Part: 25

Rated: Teen and up

Sean paced within the confines of the downstairs bathroom at Rebecca's house, his hands in his hair.

Racing thoughts tripped over one another as his feet picked up their pace---back, and forth. Back, and forth.

What am I going to do about my dad? he thought. The new house? I don't know if I can do this. I don't know why it's such a big deal. He squeezed his eyes shut, his body finally slowing as the panic turned to silent tears. After a moment's pause to pull himself together, he leaned against the edge of the countertop, hands braced on either side of the sink. Looking into his reflection in the mirror, he evaluated what he saw. Dark circles under his eyes. Lashes damp with tears. Hair disheveled. He blew out a breath and frowned, determination balling his hands into fists. One way or another, he was going to do something.

*****************************

Stepping into the hot shower, he scrubbed determinedly, as if to dislodge his doubts by sheer force of will.

After drying off and dressing, he stepped softly further down the hall to the laundry room, and put his clothes in the washer. He really needed to get his things from his dad's place soon. Five days of cycling between two changes of clothes was getting old, fast.

He tiptoed back through the hallway and into the kitchen, bypassing Rebecca's room. She had still been asleep when he'd gotten up, and he didn't want to wake her.

Sean quietly started the coffee machine as the early morning light filtered through the windows. Grabbing a bagel out of the fridge, he popped it into the toaster. The house was still; he loved this part of the day, when no one was around and he could relax and just be. Rebecca and her family were so kind to him, but he was actually missing the quiet of his home. Swallowing hard, he felt a deep ache at knowing that place no longer existed for him. He'd seen the new house, but he just couldn't seem to imagine feeling comfortable there. It was a nice place with a well-kept lawn and a detached garage. A big fenced-in backyard, situated on a quiet cul-de-sac. But...it wasn't home.

Pouring the steaming coffee into his mug, he inhaled the scent as he stirred in sugar and cream. Buttering the bagel, he carried the plate to the table and chewed slowly, deep in thought.

Dennis had already bought a sturdy, used vehicle for Sean to use to be able to visit Rebecca or his friends. It wasn't here now, so he'd have to ask Rebecca or her family for a ride to the new place. But he assumed the little car would be there when he arrived, so he'd be able to come back here frequently. A thought popped into his head. Maybe Rebecca could come spend the night at the new place with him, to help him get settled in.

Savoring the aroma while sipping from his mug, he contemplated facing his father. He couldn't help but feel embarrassed about his behavior; there was no one else to blame but himself. Even so, talking it over at length with Rebecca had eased his conscience a bit. He wanted to talk to his dad, but he hadn't spoken to him since that fateful night. A pang of guilt throbbed in his chest at how many days had gone by. He couldn't ignore his dad forever. But he wasn't sure he could face the disappointment he imagined he might hear in Dennis's voice.

Still, he felt determined to set things right, so after finishing his breakfast, he slipped on his jacket and stepped out into the yard, enjoying the feel of the morning sun on his face. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he hesitated a moment before dialing his dad's number. Closing his eyes, his heart thudded in his chest while it rang a few times.

"Sean!" Dennis's relieved voice reverberated out of the speaker. Sean silently blew out a breath and answered.

"Hi, Dad."

Rebecca was in the driver's seat as they rolled down the freeway towards Sean's new house. He gazed out the window, feeling some apprehension as the miles brought them closer to their destination. Needing a distraction, he reached over to finger the ends of Rebecca's hair, making a smile play at the corners of her mouth. "Thanks for coming with me," he voiced, lightly touching the side of her face and tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I'm happy to," she answered, laying one hand on his thigh and giving it a squeeze. He took her hand in his and squeezed it back. Sighing, he went back to looking out the window.

"How did the talk with your dad go?" she asked, glancing at him briefly. "Good," he answered, looking pensive. "I shouldn't have waited so long to talk to him. He's excited that I'm coming."

"What about you? Is this what you want?" she pressed, pinning him with a pointed look before returning her attention to traffic.

"I think so. I guess this is the best option. I'd rather be closer to you, but I don't want to live in your house long-term. So this is the next best option, I think. At some point, if I start working again, I might like to get my own place. But for now...for now, this is okay." He gave her a half-smile. She nodded. "That makes sense."

Sean consulted his phone. "Looks like this is the exit coming up."

Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca pulled into the driveway of their destination. Sean let out a quiet breath, grabbed his bag and stood from the car. It was go time. He found himself staring at the blue siding of the house for a moment before blinking twice and making his feet move forward. He joined Rebecca, who stood at the front of the vehicle waiting quietly for him.

At the front door, he had barely knocked before Dennis was pulling him inside. He was vaguely aware of Rebecca moving past them and heading into the next room, as his father wrapped him in a crushing hug.

The breath Sean had been holding left him in a rush. His voice cracked a little as he whispered, "I'm sorry, Dad." Dennis replied in a low voice, "You don't have to be sorry. I'm just glad you're here." Sean hugged him back and sniffed, struggling to hold back all the emotions he felt under the surface.

Clearing his throat, he finally pulled away from his father's embrace. Dennis gave Sean a misty-eye smile, then took Sean on a quick tour of the new place. The living area stood straight ahead, with the kitchen to the right, where Rebecca was heating some water for tea. To the left, a small bathroom, next to the staircase to the upstairs. Dennis showed Sean his room, the first on the left at the top.

"I tried to put your furniture the way you had it at the old place, but there's still a lot of unpacking that needs done," he told Sean, gesturing to the boxes stacked against the wall and on the desk. Sean nodded. "Thanks, Dad." Dennis pointed out the laundry room, the bathroom, and the other two bedrooms. "Is Rebecca staying over tonight?" he asked Sean. "Yeah, I think so," he answered. "We have a spare bedroom, if she wants her own space," Dennis replied, gesturing down the hall. "Well, uh...I was kind of thinking she would stay in my room, if that's okay," Sean countered, heat rising in his face. Dennis chuckled. "Right, I should have expected that. No worries, Son. I won't come between you two." Winking, he clapped Sean on the back and headed back downstairs.

Sean exhaled in relief and shook his head with a grin. Stepping into the room, he poked around in the boxes he had packed himself back at the old place. Seeing his old things brought a warm feeling to his chest.

Stepping downstairs, he joined Dennis and Rebecca in the kitchen. Her smile came easily as she blew on her cup of herbal tea and sipped it lightly. "Want some?" she asked him. He shook his head and came close to take her free hand.

Dennis poked around in the fridge, and announced that they'd be having tacos for an early dinner in a few hours.

Sean felt that this was just right, and he and Rebecca got settled on the couch to watch a little TV. He took the opportunity to cuddle up close to her, and she curled into him and laid her head on his shoulder, sighing in contentment.

#paralyzed #sean & rebecca #my oc story #my ocs #panic #determination #fears #comfort #moving #moving day #changes #angst

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joon-ipersgirl · 4 years ago

Text

O4 - “serendipity”

genre: strangers to lovers!au, angst, fluff

pairing: jimin x reader (f)

summary: they say home is where the heart is. you’re convinced yours was taken the day your father died. until you meet jimin.

you believe in love but after watching men cycle through your mother’s arms, rocky relations with ex-boyfriends, and broken friendships, you no longer see it in your future. so much so, you never settle in one place long enough to create ties and call it home, choosing a job where you’re always on the go and on your own.

on a chance encounter on a flight from new york city to bali, indonesia, you meet. flustered by jimin’s flirty advances but understanding and good-natured tendencies, you start to fall. what starts off as a work-trip soon blossoms into a budding romance, but will jimin’s secret destroy the relationship before it’s had the chance to truly begin?

word count: 5.5k

warnings: cursing, lots of fluff lol

a/n: part 4 wow! this is my favorite part i’ve written so far. it was a little difficult to edit but we made it. i hope you guys enjoy it. it might be a while before the next part is posted because i have to finish writing and i’ve had major writer’s block lmao, but i’ll try and update my updates page as often as i can. thank you guys for your comments and likes. as always, they are very much so appreciated. thank you to vi for listening to me rant about my stories. enjoy everyone!

full masterlist // series masterlist // previous // next

Jimin looked drained by the time his conversation was over. His hair was out of place from the numerous times he had run his fingers through it out of frustration. Even his eyes looked like they had lost their usual glimmer, instead clouded with anger and exasperation. Though you hadn’t known him for long - in fact, you’re sure it had really only been 40 hours - you knew something was wrong from the downturn of his lips.

“Ready to go?” Jimin asked as he shoved his phone into his pocket.

“Is everything okay?” you asked as you stood and pocketed your own phone, your own happiness taking a backseat to check on him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He ran his fingers through his hair again and looked away from you. “Just some stuff back home.”

“Work stuff?” you suggested with a wry smile. He returned it.

“Yeah, work stuff,” he said with a laugh.

As you headed back in the direction of the hostel, your thoughts drifted back to Milo. Seeing his photo made your heart pound in your chest in the best and worst way possible. He still looked like your little brother, but you knew time had brought changes you weren’t around for. Though Adele said she had given him your number, it was quite possible that he wouldn’t want to speak to you, not after you left him at the worst possible time. It would be a miracle if you could fix what was broken. What you broke.

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?” You blinked up at Jimin.

“I asked if you were hungry?”

“Oh, yeah. Sure. Food sounds good right now,” you replied.

“Great, because I owe you a meal anyway,” he grinned.

“Oh, you mean for not finding me breakfast at 2:30 in the morning?” you teased. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

“Yeah, that,” he mumbled and slipped his hand in your as he tugged you through the streets of Hong Kong.

Jimin maneuvered through the bustling crowd with ease, their chatter filling the spaces between you. The evening was still as hot as the daytime and your hair started clinging to the side of your face. You knew there was a fine sheen of sweat present on your skin; you could feel it. You passed by numerous food places, but none of them were up to Jimin’s standard. All the while, his hand never left yours. You were actually starting to like it even if you didn’t want to admit it to yourself.

“Yeah, this looks like the spot,” Jimin commented as you stopped abruptly in front of the establishment.

Mingsu’s was a quaint little restaurant nestled between some larger chains. Four sets of plastic tables and chairs sat on the sidewalk under a clear awning. The smell of food wafted from the open front door and your stomach grumbled. Yeah, this was definitely the spot.

“Your seat m’lady.” Jimin pulled out your chair and you sat carefully in it; these were the kind that would lay you on your ass and not think twice about it.

“Why thank you, kind Sir.” You bowed your head as a lady would curtsy. He sat across from you looking like he really could be the son of a mighty Lord during the Anglo-Saxon time period come home from the hunt, his hair sticking to his forehead.

It didn’t take long for your waitress, a middle-aged woman who looked to be just as hot as you were, to come and take your order. You listened in awe again as Jimin translated your orders. To think that it would be just your luck to be stranded in a foreign country with a man who also happened to speak the native tongue. God really looked out for you here and you couldn’t be more indebted.

“So how exactly did you learn to speak Cantonese?” you asked, swirling your straw between the ice cubes in your glass full of water, the condensation sliding down the sides. Your curiosity had finally gotten the best of you.

“My dad, actually. He taught me Korean and Cantonese simultaneously,” he replied, sipping on his Coke. “It wasn’t that fun in the moment, but I guess it comes in handy every now and then.”

“Like when you’re stranded in a foreign country because your plane got fucked up?”

“More like when you want to impress a pretty girl.” He grinned as he rested his chin on his palm while he stared at you. You blushed under his gaze.

“I can only imagine how flirty Mr. Park senior is,” you said with a laugh.

“Actually, he’s not. All the traits of me you find quite insufferable -” he added air quotes around the word “- are from my mom. Dad always thought we were ganging up on him when I was a kid, but Mom and I just have the same sense of humor,” he said with a shrug.

“Your mom and you are closer then I assume?” You couldn’t fathom being close with Adele, not after all of her shit, but it was nice to hear that someone enjoyed their mother’s company.

“As close as you can be when she lives 4,242 miles away,” he chuckled. You gasped. Before you could continue your conversation, your waitress returned with your roasted pork buns, stir-fried beef and flat noodles, steamed sticky rice, and an array of side dishes. Your mouth watered at the sight and you and Jimin wasted no time tucking in.

“Wait, I thought you were a vegetarian?” you asked after swallowing. Jimin glanced up at you with a mouth full roasted pork bun like a deer in headlights.

“Not really. Well, I guess that isn’t correct. I do my part to reduce my meat intake when I’m at home, but when I’m traveling, I like to indulge a little in the local delicacies of the world,” he answered.

“And that doesn’t fuck your stomach up?” You grimaced at the thought.

“Why? Are you worried about me?”

“No, I’m worried about that cramped bathroom we have back at the hostel.” Jimin laughed. “Especially if you decide you need to -”

“I promise you Y/N, I’ll be okay. Trust me.” you continued to eye him warily as you chewed some noodles. You hoped he was right.

“Does your mom really live 4,000 miles from you?” Jimin nodded but told you to hold that thought as he called your waitress over. Throughout their brief conversation, you thought you heard the word ‘sake’ being mentioned and you panicked slightly at the thought of drinking with Jimin. You didn’t know how you would act. Hell, you weren’t sure how he would act if drunk words were sober thoughts.

“To answer your question, yes. She does. She lives in the United Kingdom. Has done for the past 11 years. We text a lot and talk on the phone whenever the time difference permits.”

“Wow, your parents must love it there!” you exclaimed, picturing the London Eye, the double-decker red buses, and Buckingham Palace. London had been on my list of places to travel for a long time, but it had never worked out.

“Mom does, Dad didn’t. He’s back home now, home being Korea. No, they aren’t divorced or separated,” Jimin said, answering your unasked question after noticing your wide eyes. “They have a long-distance relationship and fly out to see one another every couple of weeks.”

“Sounds expensive,” you muttered.

Jimin graciously accepted the teapot and two porcelain white cups your waitress brought over, somehow finding space for them in between the various plates. He poured you a full cup and pushed it in front of you, waiting for me to accept his challenge as he raised his own glass, his usual mischievous glimmer back in his eyes. You carefully picked it up and watched the wispy tendrils of steam evaporate in the air.

“Sip, don’t toss it back,” Jimin guided you. “A toast! To friendship. And to love,” he tacked on playfully. You smiled as you clinked glasses and sipped the clear rice wine. Though it looked like water, it definitely didn’t taste like it.

“And it is expensive,” Jimin continued. “But they do it because they love each other. I guess you could call it an unconventional marriage. They realized they work a lot better apart than being in the same space. They tried to do it the traditional way, Dad convincing Mom to move back to Korea with him while she was pregnant with me and the two of them getting married. She did it for a while too until she just physically couldn’t. She loved my Dad, but she loved herself enough to be honest with him when things weren’t working and they figured it out together. Now, they’re extremely happy,” he ended with a laugh and finished the remainder of his drink.

“So you were born in Korea?”

“Yes.”

“But you live in the United States?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I just -”

“Is it because I don’t speak in accented English?”

“No!” you cried out in embarrassment. “That’s not what I meant at all!” Jimin’s unrestrained laugh rang out and it was only then that you realized he was teasing. Again. You tossed back the rest of my drink, unsure of whether your face was burning because of the alcohol or him.

“Relax, Shutterfly. I’m not offended. Dad took me to the U.S. after Mom moved back to the U.K. I lost my accent when I got to high school because you know, teenagers suck and they like to bully you when you’re different.” You nodded in complete understanding. The harsh whispers of girls older than you and with the memories of them shoving you onto the ground because you were smaller and looked like you were easy to pick on trickled down from the deep recesses of your mind. “Enough about me though,” Jimin said as he refilled your cup, “How about you? What’s your family like?”

You paused as he waited for you to answer. You toyed with how much you would say to him, how much he really deserved to know. Jimin could afford to be open with you; his family sounded normal, cool even. Your family was a little bit more fucked up than his. you sighed and pushed your fingers through your hair.

“You know, the usual. Dad’s dead, mom’s a bitch, brother hates me,” you replied, your words blending into one another as you waved off the subject with a hand. Jimin stared at you evenly as he processed what you had just said. He cleared his throat before asking if you wanted to elaborate.

“Not really, but it’s okay,” you answered.

“No, Y/N,” he placed his hand on top of mine. “If you really don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”

“Seriously, it’s cool. It’ll probably do me a lot of good to finally let it all out,” you said with a sigh. “My parents’ love story isn’t like yours. I mean, it kind of started off the same, but it definitely didn’t end that way.” Jimin nodded as he chewed in silence. Your own plate was now left untouched.

“So my dad named me. I was his little girl, his princess. He wasn’t from the best side of town and often got into it with a lot of the local gang members. He saw a lot of shitty stuff and so he left as soon as he turned 18. He landed in California and that’s where he met Adele. Her family had just moved there and she decided to be rebellious and hook up with my dad, acting out because she didn’t want to leave her old life behind. She ended up pregnant with me 2 years later at 18 after they ‘fell in love’,” you said, adding the air quotes around the phrase.

“Being the honorable man that he was, he decided to marry my mother and moved her to New York where he thought he could take better care of her. More job opportunities as and what not. Two years later, my brother came along and things were going pretty good, except when Adele started demanding more and more shit. Dad tried to provide, working longer hours, but it was never enough. Eventually, it was too much. He died of a heart attack when I was in high school. I was sixteen,” you finished. You didn’t look at Jimin as you drained your sake.

“Thank you for sharing that with me even though you didn’t really want to. I appreciate it,” he said solemnly. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“No, it’s fine. Only fair.”

“I don’t think fair is in this equation,” he chuckled and you laughed along with him. “Why do you think your brother hates you?” he asked after a beat.

“Because I left him,” you responded. “I left him alone and ran away from all my problems as soon as I turned 18.” Regret bubbled in your chest as you remembered purposefully ignoring the wave of text messages he sent you and carried on with your new life, focusing on your new man.

“I don’t think he hates you, Y/N.” you laughed bitterly. “Where’d you run away to?”

“California.”

“You sound a lot like your dad,” he replied with a smile. “Viva la revolución right?”

You groaned and covered your face in your hands. “Please don’t tell me you speak Spanish too.” you muttered a string of curses in the language before clamping your hands over your mouth in case he could hear and understand you.

“I don’t, but I see you do. You never told me you could speak Spanish,” he commented as he sipped more sake.

“You never asked,” you teased, your smile humorous as you stared at him from over your own cup.

Jimin’s cheeks had a pretty pink hue from the alcohol. In addition, the alcohol seemed to amplify the gleam in his eyes further as he teased you throughout your conversation. Under the low lighting of Mingsu’s, his skin glowed, a thin sheen of sweat present that you found oddly attractive on him. You closed your eyes gently as you willed the troublesome thoughts away. This was not the time nor the place for them to pop up, not with more than a few ounces of sake under your belt.

You finished the rest of your food, Jimin eating much more than you, and chatted more. You found out he was a freelance museum curator that was under contract for a few different small museums in New York City. A huge downplay on his part, but it explained how he knew so much about art and had all these artsy friends. He was well-educated with a Masters in Fine Arts, a concentration in Art History, and you felt intimidated as you’d barely managed to scrape together an Associates degree.

“Hey look!” Jimin turned his phone screen to you after it chimed. “Looks like we really are leaving tomorrow. Joy even got us seats next to each other like she promised,” he said.

“Of course she did,” you mumbled, remembering Joy’s enthusiasm over Jimin.

“What was that?” he asked as he cupped his ear with his hand.

“I said ‘Yay! Joy managed to get us to sit together. How fantastic. Now we can sit together again’,” you lied with fake zeal.

“Hmm. That’s what I thought you said. Though for a minute there I thought you were jealous of the attention I was getting from other women.” You could tell the nonchalance in his voice was just as fake as the enthusiasm in your own.

“Me? Jealous over you?” You snorted at the thought. Jimin held his chest, his face falling in a look of fake disappointment.

“Damn Y/N, all you had to do was say you didn’t like me -”

“I never said that!”

“Ah, so you do like me then?” He wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned across the table.

“I never said that either!” you giggled and pointed your finger at him. He pretended to bite it and you pulled it away squealing. Jimin laughed at your reaction as the waitress came over. He pulled out his wallet and you scrambled to take out your own until you realized you’d left your own wallet back at the hostel. You blanched.

“Jimin I can’t let you pay for all this!” The mountain of empty plates a reminder of just how much you had eaten.

“Of course you can,” he said as he handed over his card. You scrambled for something to say, to make him return his card, but it was already too late. You shook your head furiously.

“I can pay you back, seriously. This was a lot of food. And then the drinks!” you squeaked. Alcohol was expensive and you had consumed two full teapots of sake. “Please, Jimin,” you begged.

He held his ground as he signed the check and the waitress began removing the dirty dishes. “Absolutely not, Shutterfly. I still owe you an actual breakfast and think of this as me showing you what it’s like to be wined and dined. Mr. Park senior taught me never to let a woman pay for a meal, and I won’t start now, especially not with you.” He stood up and came to stand in front of you, holding his hands out as if he knew you could potentially wobble from the alcohol flowing through your system. “Let someone take care of you for once, yeah? Let me take care of you.”

You stared up at him, surprised at his words. It had been a long time since you’d heard anything like that. It had been a long time since you had let anyone come close to caring for you, determined that you would do it for yourself. Jimin was truly worming his way under your skin and you didn’t like it. You closed your eyes at the thought of Jimin really being there for you and it shook you to your core. Letting out a shaky breath, you placed your hands gently in his as he helped you to your feet, accepting his offer. On one condition.

“Only for tonight,” you whispered into his chest, not daring to look up into his deep brown eyes, but he forced you to as he dragged his lips tenderly against the back of your knuckles.

“Okay,” he agreed. His eyes never left yours and you started to squirm under his intense gaze. He pulled you into his side, tucking you under his arm. “Come on, I want to show you something,” he whispered into your hair as if the words were a secret only meant for the two of you. A shiver ran down your spine as his lips brushed against your temple though you were hotter than before from the alcohol in the humid night.

Jimin took you down the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui, pressing you close to him as you walked along leisurely. Little street vendors lined the sidewalk selling sweet treats that made you wish you hadn’t eaten as much so you could try one. You inhaled the scent and tried to commit the smell to memory, wanting to always remember how untroubled you felt though so many things had gone wrong, wanting to really remember how many things had gone.

“We’re here,” Jimin said excitedly and removed his arm from around your shoulder, settling for just holding your hand. You immediately missed the warmth of being against his side.

Here was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and lounge called Switch!. Its outer brick walls contrasted with the smooth window panes of the establishments next to it. A heavy wooden door rattled as the thumping bass echoed off it. There were a few stragglers standing outside smoking cigarettes as they laughed and joked with one another. Jimin turned to you and grinned, excitement etched across his features.

“Jimin,” you said with uncertainty. “It’s getting kind of late,” you trailed off.

“It’s only a little after ten, Y/N. Come on. This place is really cool,” he insisted. You chewed your lip, not sure whether you could make it a minute longer. Between the alcohol in your bloodstream and the cigarette smoke starting to swirl in your lungs, you were feeling a little out of your element. “Please, Shutterfly,” he pouted. “I promise to have you back home by midnight and before your carriage turns back into a pumpkin.” You rolled your eyes but remembered Michael’s words about enjoying the moment.

“Fine,” you huffed and pulled open the hefty door. Jimin followed closely after.

Switch! resembled your favorite grunge dive bar. It was extremely dark, the only source of lighting being a few strips of LED lights lining the floor and ceilings, and some weak yellow light bulbs. The bar itself was long and made with beautiful redwood that somehow managed to shine in the dim lighting. An extensive alcohol collection sat on the numerous shelves behind the bar. Next to it was a corkboard that was nearly filled with little polaroid pictures of previous patrons. A live band was the source of the thumping bass you had heard outside and you let it wash over me, vibrating the very core of your bones. It seemed like Jimin had a knack for choosing great places.

The two of you headed over to sit in one of the small booths, a waiter appearing immediately to take your order. Jimin asked for two sake bombs to start you off, something about keeping the trend of the night, and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the rickety wooden table. You watched him start to lose himself in the music as he kept time with the beat, his head swaying slowly. His posture exaggerated the broad expanse of his back and you stewed silently behind him, almost cursing his parents for creating a man as attractive as this. You crossed your legs at the knee.

Your waiter returned with your drinks and Jimin yelled a thank you over the loud music. Internally, you were grateful that it was too loud for you to continue your conversation as you were sure Jimin would continue his fervent flirting and you weren’t sure how much more you could take. Not after accepting his offer of letting him take care of you for the night. You took a large sip of the alcoholic mixture. Jimin leaned back and turned his head to you, his hand resting on your bare thigh.

“Do you like it? Are you having fun?” he asked loudly. You winced as his voice pierced through your eardrum.

“Yeah! This is cool. The band is really good!” you yelled back and he grinned, his smile a little lopsided no doubt from the alcohol. His eyes continued to sparkle as he stared down at you. With his hand on your thigh and his face seeming to move closer, all the air felt like it was sucked out of the room. Your heart pounded in your chest as his eyes drifted down to your lips -

“Excuse me?!” Your head snapped around to the individual yelling at you just as Jimin had closed the distance between you, his lips brushing the corner of yours. You could feel his lips stretch into a smile against your cheek as his nose pressed into your skin. You were quite positive he could feel the burn radiating off your cheeks. “Would you guys like to take a picture for our polaroid wall?” the man yelled again. In his hands was a teal polaroid camera.

“Is it free?” you yelled and tried to create some distance between you and Jimin. The photographer laughed and nodded his head.

“Can we get a copy of them to keep?” Jimin asked.

“Sure! I can take a few extra for you guys,” he replied with a shrug. “You guys ready?” Jimin nodded and slipped his arm around your waist, his hand resting on your hip with the other still resting on your knee. He smushed your faces together as the first picture was taken. The photographer took an additional three more after determining your smile wasn’t wide enough in the first one.

“I’ll leave these with you to develop. When you choose the one you guys want us to hang up, just drop it off at the bar. Thanks again!” He disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

“I’m going to go use the bathroom!” You didn’t wait for Jimin to respond as you eased your way out of the booth and scurried off.

Locking yourself into the single-stall restroom, you tried to catch your breath. You and Jimin had nearly kissed. It wasn’t something you’d dreamed about in an alcohol-induced haze. He had really leaned in like he wanted to kiss you. You pressed your hands to your face to stop the smile from bursting across your cheeks. You covered your face with your hands as you recognized the familiar tick in your chest. A crush. You giggled to yourself as you pushed your hands through your hair. You had a fucking crush on Park Jimin and you were a teensy bit okay with it. A knock at the door burst your bubble of revelation and you quickly washed your hands, apologizing to the other woman as you slipped by her.

“So I think we should give this one to them,” Jimin suggested, pushing the four photos over to you as you sat beside him again. He was pointing to the second one of you where we were both grinning like mad men as he had pressed his face against your own. “The other ones are too cute.”

He was right. The third was Jimin kissing your cheek and you covering your mouth in shock at his actions. The final one was him smiling into your cheek, caressing the other side as he pulled you against him and you smiled with your eyes closed and rested your hand against his arm. This one was your favorite.

“Yeah, you’re right. These came out a lot better than I thought they would,” you said, the bar much quieter as another band got prepared for their set.

“Why wouldn’t they turn out great?” he asked confused.

“You know, the lighting and stuff. Plus my hair and we’ve been drinking so I know my face is all -”

“Stop. You look amazing. Look!” Jimin held the pictures up for you though you were already looking at them; it seemed he was a little more drunk than you were. “Absolutely beautiful,” he added. You smiled softly at him as he placed your favorites into his wallet. “Okay, I’m going to go give them this one. Do you want another drink?” You shook my head no, still nursing your first, and watched him meander his way through the crowd gathered to hear the band. They started up a moment later, a smooth rhythm of R’n’B playing out through the speakers. The beat was infectious and you closed your eyes, dancing in your seat. It felt good to not be concerned with anything, though work still plagued the back of your mind.

“I didn’t know you could dance!” Jimin yelled over the music. You hadn’t noticed his return and his voice startled you.

“I don’t dance!” You said with a laugh.

“But you just were!”

“I really wouldn’t call that dancing, Jimin.”

“Well, show me what is then.” He held his hand out to you. More people had started to dance as well, the change in the atmosphere quite apparent. “Don’t you want to see what dance moves we have stored in the Park family?” You laughed and nearly fell out of the booth trying to imagine Mr. Park senior getting down at the family parties. You were quite intrigued.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

You grabbed his hand after taking another generous mouthful of beer and led him onto the makeshift dance floor. Jimin spun you around to face him and guided your hands around his neck while his hands rested on your lower back, the two of you swaying in time to the song. It was gentle and sweet and you hid your face in his chest as he spun you around. Jimin looked happy as you danced hand in hand, laughing when you stumbled from being inebriated. You hoped that his phone call was as far back in his mind as you physically were from the United States.

You danced for God knows how long until your feet started to hurt and the two of you were almost wet with sweat, lost in the music and the soft touches of one another. Jimin made good on his promise and had you back at the hostel before midnight. If anyone had been downstairs, you would have looked like any lovesick teenagers sneaking home in the dead of night. You were grateful that William and Sonia hadn’t decided to wait up for you as you giggled your way to your room, you hushing Jimin as he unlocked your door.

“Thank you for taking me there, Jimin. I had a really good time tonight,” you said as you kicked off your sneakers and grabbed your sleep shirt and toothbrush.

“It was no trouble at all. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I had a really good time too,” he replied as he tugged his shirt over his head. Your eyes widened as you took in his smooth torso, the sprinkle of hair starting at his belly button and disappearing into his shorts that he was currently removing -

“Okay! I’m gonna go wait outside while you change! Let me know when you’re done,” you squeaked out and winced at the force at which you closed the door. You could hear Jimin chuckle from the other side. It was becoming quite tiring being flustered around him.

After receiving the all-clear from Jimin to re-enter, you slipped into the bathroom to change and brush your teeth. It was stupid at how happy you were to see your toothbrushes sitting next to each other in the little holder. Tugging the shirt down as far as it would go over your hips, you poked your head around the door to see Jimin already under the covers, one hand holding his book and the other tucked behind his head. So much for getting into bed without being seen. You folded your shorts and shirt, placing them on top of your backpack as you mentally prepared to face Jimin.

“I hope you don’t mind me not taking a shower. I didn’t think it was a good idea with the amount that I had to drink and I definitely don’t think you’re strong enough to pull me out of the shower if I fell,” he said, still not looking at you.

“Hey! I could probably manage!” you yelled, slightly offended that he thought you were weak.

“A naked me? Y/N, you can barely look at me with clothes on,” he snorted and set his book down on the nightstand and looked at you. You blushed as your eyes fell on the gold chain around his neck; he had decided not to wear a shirt to bed tonight. You watched him take in your figure, his eyes roaming over on your bare thighs for a few seconds longer than necessary. “But, if you think you can, I can go -” he started pulling the covers back but you cut him off.

“Nope!” you yelled and held your arms out as if you could magically force him not to move. “It’s fine, really. We can just go to sleep. Wouldn’t want you to get concussed or anything before our flight,” you mumbled. Double-checking the door was locked, you flicked off the light. You stubbed your toe just as you were about to climb in and Jimin laughed.

“Not as fun when it happens to you, right?” You punched his shoulder as you settled under the covers facing away from him, pretending to be mad. “Ah Y/N, come on.” Jimin shifted so he was cuddled up behind you, his hand thrown over your waist. “You’re not really mad at me, are you Shutterfly?” He pressed a chaste kiss to the back of your neck and you shivered. You could feel his grin against your skin again. Truly the bane of your existence.

“No, I’m not mad at you,” you mumbled.

“Good,” he replied and gave you a squeeze. “Thank you for telling me part of your story, for trusting me with that. Thank you for also letting me take care of you tonight. I hope you let me do it again,” he said as he pulled you closer against him and you sighed.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He punctuated his sentence with a kiss against your cheek, his lips lingering once again.

“Goodnight, Jimin,” you whispered back as he buried his face into your shoulder.

That night, you dreamed of museums, Mingsu’s, and live music.

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#jimin fanfic #jimin x reader #jimin fluff #BTS jimin #bts fanfic #bts fanfction #fic: bitter and beloved

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ayma-nidiot · 4 years ago

Text

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fanfic Epilogue

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Epilogue - The Evergreen Greenhouse

~29 December 2007~

Even throughout his almost-over undergrad career - which involved a lot of trips to archaeological sites with Spinos - Rex still found the time to duel. As a matter of fact, he proudly approached the front door of his off-campus apartment with a trophy he just won from a local tournament - and against his father, no less.

“Weeves!” Rex called out. “I just won the tournament! Since we both just turned 21, why don’t we go celebrate with drinks?”

The first one to answer him was not his husband, but rather his 2-year-old daughter. “Papa!”

“Amber!” Rex picked Amber up and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “How ya’ doing, big girl?”

Indeed, Amber was a big girl; though she just turned two years old, she already showed signs of being gifted. She could already speak in complete sentences, count to 100, and recite the alphabet pretty well. Still, she loved many of the same things that typical toddlers did - not the least of which was her mother. “I’m feeling awesome! But… But…”

“You okay?”

“Someone’s not feeling so awesome… It’s Daddy.”

“Why, what’s wrong with him?” Rex put Amber down, and allowed her to lead him to the loo. He was not at all pleased to see Weevil there, praying to the porcelain goddess. “Gods, Weevil! What’s wrong?”

“Ugh…” Weevil gave Rex a pained look before throwing up into the loo again.

“Daddy’s been like this aaaaall morning.” Amber sounded like she was about to cry. “What should we do, Papa?”

It was then that Rex had just remembered Weevil drizzling a ton of chocolate syrup over his fried bee larvae a few weeks ago. At first, he thought that Weevil was just being a buttmunch as usual. But then Rex recalled the cravings he had during his pregnancy - and the speech his college doctor gave him, the one that all male shapeshifters were capable of getting pregnant. “It… It can’t be…”

“Papa?” Amber looked at her mother quizzically.

“Amber, get my phone. I’m gonna call the doctor and get Daddy there right away.”

After his wave of nausea finally abated, and Rex had made that call, Weevil put the toilet cover back on and pouted at his husband. “Rex, honey, come on. You don’t have to go that far. Just give me some Pepto-Bismol, and I’ll be fine.”

“Throwing up for an entire morning is totally not fine.” Rex picked Weevil up princess-style and put him in the middle of the 2006 Mazda 5 with Amber. “And you’re about to see that.”

________

~A quick drive and 30 minutes later~

“So… So, what did you find, Doctor?” Weevil asked Dr. Balls.

“After performing the ultrasound, we’ve discovered that you’re pregnant, Mr. Raptor. Eleven weeks, to be exact.”

“Aww, how sweet…” Rex smiled as he stroked Weevil’s belly.

“Anyway, I do not anticipate that you will need hospitalization, just some light bed rest for now. I’ll prescribe some antiemetics, though. You are more than welcome to visit should you feel the need to do so.”

“I… I see. Thank you, Doctor.” After Dr. Balls left, Weevil turned to glare at his husband. “Why didn’t you tell me that I’m capable of getting pregnant, dino brain?”

“Yeah, about that…” Rex scratched his nose. “When I first visited this doctor, he told me that all male shapeshifters are intersex. But they each have their own unique heat cycles, depending on what they can change into. Yours just aren’t as frequent as mine.”

“...Humph.”

“I’m sorry, Weeves, are you mad? You still want to keep the baby, don’t you?”

“Oh, I’ll keep the baby, all right. But you better treat me to bee larvae whenever I ask for it.”

“Yay!” Amber gave her father a happy hug. “I’m going to be a big sister!”

“Indeed you are,” spoke a middle-aged woman in scrubs, who had just entered the room.

“What? Mother?” Weevil didn’t expect to see Camellia come out of nowhere. “What are you doing here?”

“Grandma!” Amber ran to Camellia to give her a hug too.

“I’m just getting some shadowing hours, that’s all,” Camellia spoke as she hugged her granddaughter back. “After seeing what Rex went through during his pregnancy, I’ve decided that I want to become an obstetrician.”

“That’s great! Congratulations!”

Rex’s smile turned upside down when Camellia turned on the T.V., and the first thing that came on was a replay of Weevil’s now-infamous regionals victory.

“It’s hard to believe that Rex Raptor used to lose so much back in the day,” one of the Duel Monster Channel’s announcers spoke over a still of Rex’s face in defeat. “But now that he’s won a championship against Spinos Saurus, I think he’ll reach his former fame once again.”

“Oooh!” Amber had never seen this duel of her parents in their teen years. “Is that you, Papa?”

Rex facepalmed. “Yeah, yeah, that’s your Papa, all right.”

“So have you learned to use strategy since then, dino brain?”

“Nah. Strategies are for dweebs and bug boys.” Rex held tightly onto Weevil’s hand. “And I’m so proud to be married to a man who’s both of them.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

The doctor interrupted this conversation, coming in with a few papers. “Okay, Mr. Raptor, here are your antiemetic prescriptions. I’m also going to schedule your 20-week ultrasound. As you know, not only will we be able to search for abnormalities, but we can also determine the sex of your baby.”

Weevil had just recalled what Phuckdis said right when future Amber was “supposed” to kill the bug duelist. “Oh, there won’t be a need for that second one. I already know that I’m carrying a boy.”

“You… You sure?” Camellia asked.

“I’m willing to bet my deck on it.”

“Then how are you supposed to beat me, bug boy?” spoke a voice from the adjacent hospital bed.

“Whoa!” Rex turned around to see Mai laying on that bed, with Joey by her side. “Again with the coincidental meetings, Joey?”

“Great, just the person I wanted to see…” Weevil felt another wave of nausea about to hit him, and clutched his gut tighter.

“Hey!” Amber ran over to Joey. “Now look what you did to Daddy!”

“Ehehehe…” Joey waved a nervous hand. “Hey.”

“...I know you! You’re that big meanie who took Papa’s Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Daddy’s Insect Queen, aren’t you?”

“Amber!”

Amber ignored her mother. “Someday, I’m going to beat you and get them back! You’ll see!” She stuck her tongue out at Joey. “You big buttmunch!”

“Okay, Amber, that’s enough,” Rex laughed as he picked up his daughter.

“I suppose our rivalry never really will die, will it?” Joey laughed back, then turned to talk to Amber. “Amber, you’re a very smart kid. I’d love to duel you someday.”

“...” Amber only pouted in response. “Okay, but you’re going to be bug juice.”

Weevil smiled, as he always did when his daughter used catch phrases from both of her parents. “So what brings you here, Joey?”

“Well…” Mai sat upright. “I’m almost done with my degree, and I moved to this university for the upper-level courses. I started feeling sick on my way to class today, so Joey escorted me to the clinic. And… it turns out I’m pregnant. With triplets, if I might add.”

“And if you couldn’t tell, I’m the dad!” Joey proclaimed proudly.

“Of course, this idiot got the whole ‘marry first, have kids later’ thing backwards.” Mai rolled her eyes. “He only got the courage to propose to me yesterday.”

“Touché,” replied Weevil.

“Soooo.” Rex waggled his eyebrows at Joey. “Looks like Weeves and I weren’t the only ones busy making babies on my wedding night.”

“Hehehehe...” Joey chuckled nervously. “And what a coincidence that Mai and Weevil will probably give birth on the same day.”

“Then maybe you should be the ‘godparents’ of our son.” Weevil was only half-joking.

“You know what I think would be cool?” Rex stepped forward and started making grand gestures. “If we had one bed over here and another one over here. Weeves and Mai can be in the same delivery room. That way, we can all witness each other’s kids’ births.”

“I’m down for that!” Mai appeared to agree with Joey.

“I dunno…” Weevil’s eyebrow twitched when he looked at Joey. “Not sure I want to be anywhere near this sasquatch when I experience the most awful pain of my life.”

“Actually, that can be arranged,” Dr. Balls cut in. “It’s more common than you think for friends or their spouses to give birth together.”

“Good to know.” Weevil groaned slightly as he got out of bed. “Well, I’ve got a final paper to write for biochemistry, so if you’ll excuse me.”

“Weeves, take it easy!” Rex helped Weevil out of the bed until he was confident he could walk on his own. “It would suck if you threw up all over your expensive laptop - or all over this floor - now wouldn’t it?”

“So I’ll see you again in nine weeks?” Dr. Balls patted Weevil on the shoulder, giving him the ultrasound pictures on his way out.

“You bet.”

“Fantastic. Now, no dueling or other strenuous activities until your second trimester, understood?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Weevil bowed on his way to the nearby pharmacy, giving a congratulations nod to Joey and Mai. He didn’t feel nauseated at the moment, but still felt muscle soreness from his morning sickness bout. While waiting for his antiemetic medications to be made, he rubbed his belly, speaking to the unborn child in there. “So help me Ra, if I ruin my entire semester’s work because of you, you’ll be sorry.”

“That’s not very nice!” Rex used a much more caring tone with their future child, patting Weevil’s belly at the same time. “Don’t listen to your mom; he’s just cranky. Final exams and all that.”

“It’s weird how I’m the mom this time around… So, we can get each other pregnant.” Even with his antiemetics now in hand, Weevil didn’t yet feel like getting up from the pharmacy’s small sofa.

“Hey, Weevil?”

“Yeah, Rex?”

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we could, like, get each other pregnant at the same time?”

“Hahaha!” Weevil refrained from laughing too loudly, out of fear of exacerbating his morning sickness again. But now he felt like getting up, and held Amber by the hand. “Yeah, right. The stars would have to align perfectly for us to be in heat at the exact same time. Oh, and Rex?”

“Yeah, Weevil?”

“You owe me ¥2000 if the child I’m carrying is a boy.”

“Naw, that’s no good. You’ll owe me ¥3000 if it’s a girl.”

“Then it’s on!”

___________

~02 March 2007, 11:00~

“Hmm!” Dr. Balls looked closer at the 2D. “Well, Mr. Raptor, I’ll be. You guessed right; you are carrying your first son. And he’s a perfectly healthy lad, he is.”

“Ha!” Weevil turned to smirk at Rex. “What’d I tell you? Now pay up.”

“Grr, whatever…” Rex forked over three ¥1000 bills. “Seeing as how we’re married and share most of our finances, this is kind of pointless.”

“Wait a second…” Dr. Balls probed around a bit more after he switched the ultrasound to 4D mode. “Hmm, very interesting!”

“Wh-What, is there something wrong with my baby?” Weevil stammered.

“No, no, it’s just… I’ve had many male shapeshifter patients, some of them insect shifters. But… none of them had a cocoon around their baby.”

“Are you serious?” Weevil looked at the ultrasound, and sure enough, his unborn son had not only tiny moth antennae and wings, but a thin moth cocoon keeping him warm. “It’s like… my body literally is the Cocoon of Evolution. I’m totally digging it.”

“Aww!” Amber kissed Weevil’s growing baby bump. “Hi there, baby brother. I can’t wait to meet you!”

“And I’m totally not. ” Even in his married life, Rex had not quite gotten used to insects.

“Since the two of you will complete your doctorate work at the university, you’re more than welcome to give birth here,” Dr. Balls informed his patient while rummaging through files on his tablet. “Especially if you and Rex plan to teach at this university someday. Now, let’s see… Your due date is July 20th. A day before your own birthday, if memory serves.”

“Yeah, well, you know that whole thing about most people not giving birth on their due dates? I get the vibe I won’t. And with any luck, Mai won’t either.”

“The important thing is that the both of you have healthy pregnancies, yeah?” Dr. Balls began to pack a few items for Weevil. “By chance, Rex, do you still have the fetal doppler from your pregnancy?”

“Of course. I couldn’t just part with the damn thing.”

“Splendid! And, as always, feel free to call if and when you need something. Good day now!”

“Good day.” With that, Weevil blocked the incoming sun from his eyes, and without looking, he knew a bee had just landed on his finger. “Say, Rex? Can we stop by somewhere really quick before lunch? I just got an idea.”

“Sure! Where, exactly?” Rex spoke with Amber sitting upon his shoulders.

“I want to visit my old home. You know, the one I haven’t set foot into in nearly four years.”

“Whatever for?” Rex couldn’t believe that Weevil would ever want to go to the home he was mercilessly abused in.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

“Argh, I’m not that patient, you know!”

“Careful.” Weevil pointed to Amber as the small family crossed the street. “You’ve got a toddler on your shoulders.”

Before Rex could think of a comeback to that, he heard a middle-aged man’s voice suddenly call out from underneath him. “Change? You got spare change, young man?”

“Huh?” Rex looked down to see a raggedy man in a group of other homeless people. “Sorry, but I don’t carry cash on me.”

“Is it…?” The homeless man got up to get a better look at Weevil. “Could you be…?”

“Hey!” Rex put Amber down and instantly got defensive of Weevil. “Leave my husband alone, you freak!”

“No, hun, it’s okay.” Weevil stopped Rex from throwing any punches. “I know this man.”

“Weeves?” Rex couldn’t understand why Weevil, of all people, would want to take time out of his busy day to talk to a group of homeless people.

“So what happened?” Weevil asked.

“It turns out that I couldn’t keep The Underwood Company afloat. Not only were we about to file for bankruptcy, but all my employees revolted. Now I’m stuck here, depending on the goodwill of others just to have something to eat.”

“And they revolted because of how horribly you treated them, didn’t they? You know that maid Adelaide you abused, just because she was being kind to me? She’s working on her business degree now and wants to take over the company - under a new name, of course. In fact, my family and I were just on our way to visit the old Underwood house. Oh, and just so you know, your ex-wife is going to be an obstetrician soon. Not even your horrific abuse of her could stop her from achieving her dreams.” Weevil held his baby bump protectively. “Or mine.”

“Adelaide and Camellia are…” The homeless man knelt and cried. “And you…?”

“I can’t believe I’ve wasted my time talking to you. I have better things to do with my time. I hope that you suffer for the remainder of your days, and that karma is an utter bitch to you.” Weevil got one last look at the homeless man. “Goodbye, Roach Underwood.”

“Daddy, who is this creepy guy?” Amber looked at the homeless man curiously, still unaware of just who he was or what he had done.

“That’s just it - a creepy guy.” Weevil gestured for Amber to grab his hand. “Come along, Amber, there’s something I want you to see.”

“Weeves… That man we met, is he…?” Rex tried to say as Weevil rang the doorbell to the Underwood mansion; surprisingly, the exterior was rather well-kept.

“Yes. He is.”

Rex didn’t need to hear anything more, and didn’t want to dwell on what he knew was a prickly subject. So instead he commented on how nice Weevil’s childhood home looked like on the inside.

“Is that…?” One of Weevil’s old butlers noticed his former master’s presence.

“You can let him in!” Adelaide called from a far-off room. “It’s Master Weevil!”

“Master Weevil, you have returned!” Several maids and butlers flocked the entrance of the home, giving Weevil lots of hugs.

“Oh, I never thought I’d see the day!” a maid cried. “You look just like Madame Camellia!”

“Guys, guys, take it easy!” Weevil showed off his baby bump after everyone had stopped. “I’m not a little kid anymore; I have my own family now.”

“‘Sup!” Rex waved. “I’m Weevil’s husband, Rex Raptor. And this is our daughter, Ambrosia Camellia Ptera Raptor.”

“How do you do?” Amber curtsied with her sun dress.

“Oh-ho!” Adelaide chuckled. “You’ve raised a fine young lady already. Not to mention you’ve given her a pretty middle name. Well, now that you’re here, what can I do for you? Some lunch, perhaps?”

“Before we get to that, I want to show Amber a little something. By chance, is my childhood greenhouse still here?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. It’s the only room in the mansion that has remained untouched by the renovations.”

“R-Really?” Weevil didn’t expect that response from Adelaide.

“Yes, really! Feel free to check it out for as long as you like before lunch.”

“Thank you! Come on, guys, come see!” Weevil sounded far more excited than either Rex or Amber. He cried tears of joy upon arrival, and stopped to smell a hibiscus flower. “It… looks just like I remember!”

“What’s so exciting about a bunch of plants?” Rex didn’t want to admit it, but he wasn’t all too interested in looking at a bunch of plants.

“Yes, we’ve got the best plants ever, but there’s something even better. Something that’s made me into the duelist I am today.” Weevil allowed a moth caterpillar from the hibiscus flower to crawl on his finger, and showed it to Amber. “Amber, this is a baby Acherontia lachesis , or the greater death’s head hawkmoth.”

“It looks just like your Petit Moth, Daddy!” Amber let the caterpillar crawl on her finger too. “It’s sooooo cute! Ooh!” A pink butterfly landed on Amber’s nose, causing the toddler to sneeze.

“You just sneezed off Greta oto, or the glasswing butterfly.”

“It’s so pretty!” Amber laughed, wanting to play with every little insect that touched her. “Can I stay here forever? Pretty please, Daddy? I wanna learn more about your beautiful bugs!”

“Wish we could, but Auntie Adelaide is gonna have lunch ready soon. But you can play here until then.”

“Hooray!” And with that, Amber ran off with the hawkmoth caterpillar still in her hand.

“Should you really be letting our toddler play with a creepy crawler called ‘death’s head hawkmoth?’” Rex raised an eyebrow.

“Spoken like a dino brain who doesn’t know jack diddly squat about insects.”

“Well, at least it’s good to know how you became an insect duelist.” Rex hugged his husband from behind as he watched their daughter play in the greenhouse. He let his hand drop to Weevil’s baby bump.

“She looks just like me when I was little. If it wasn’t for this greenhouse, I… I don’t know where I’d be today.” Weevil placed his hand on top of Rex’s. “I wonder if I can get our son to love insects, too.”

“So…” Rex laced his fingers with Weevil’s. “Speaking of our little boy, what do you think we should name him?”

Thinking about his adventures in San Francisco with Rex seven years ago, and how they deepened their bond there, it didn’t take Weevil long to think of an answer. “I want our son to be named Francis Bakura Raptor.”

#yugioh #ygo #shrimpshipping #mpreg #fanfiction #HOLY SHIT I'M DONE

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writerman · 4 years ago

Note

Can... can I formally request this with Aro and Garrett pls thanks yes. muse a is muse b’s nanny and has been taking care of their children.

Oh Anon, I am sorry you had to wait for this one aha.

I toyed with the idea of making this a full multi chapter fic then I realised I already have too many stories waiting in the wings for me to finish.

Anways, enjoy!

----

He was in no way qualified for this.

Never had been qualified and never would be.

But he couldn’t deny he had been desperate for a job since he had been dishonourably discharged from the army.

Carlisle had gotten him an interview as a favour and he’d only gotten the job because he’d flirted like Hell with the family’s assistant who had been asking the questions. They’d ended up banging over the desk, not his proudest moment, but it had sealed the deal and it had been a while since someone had seemed interested in him.

Regardless of his actions in the interview, Garrett still considered himself a good person and an all-round decent guy… if he blocked out the reason for the dishonourable discharge. Though, if he was being truthful he saw no issue in his conduct that led him to be discharged. Everyone had their own ideas of what right and wrong were his just seemed to align with being an enemy of the state even if he hadn’t hurt anyone.

Getting a job had been hard, what with background checks and Garrett being so wildly honest when people outright asked him why he had left the army. It left him with very few choices and he didn’t think he could honestly hack flipping burgers somewhere.

Not that it wasn’t a decent job he just knew it wasn’t really for him.

However, being a nanny wasn’t exactly something he was cut out to be. His experience with kids was slim, he didn’t hang out with anyone who had kids young enough to need a nanny. Though, Carlisle’s kids needed a cowpoke to wrangle them in sometimes.

There were, of course, strict instructions on how Garrett must dress and behave around the parents of the child he was nannying for. He had a dress code too, thankfully, Carlisle was good enough to loan him money for some nicer clothes and good enough to loan Alice out to help him find the nicer clothes in the right stores.

By the end of the trip, Garrett was exhausted but he cut a fine and nonthreatening figure in the threads Alice has sourced for him. Even if he did feel like he had exchanged his entire personality for clothes that looked like they belonged to Carlisle.

Either way, he was thankful and he drove Alice home so he could catch up with Carlisle and get his approval on the clothes.

His first day working for the Volturi household was uneventful. He briefly met Caius the kid he was nannying but the first day was more about learning the layout of the house and working out schedules.

He was following a different assistant down the hallway when he finally decided to ask them about the family.

“So, honestly, what are the family like?” He didn’t expect an answer which was fine and at this point, it was more to make conversation than anything else. This assistant seemed to be for the whole house, whereas the one Garrett had… been intimate with may have only worked for the parents of the child.

It would make sense.

The assistant, her name was Bianca, shrugged as she led him to what looked like a home office but the equipment looked like it cost more than his entire life. She moved across the room and took a seat at the desk and set down the files she had been holding.

“They’re fine, it is just Caius’ father and uncle that live here with the boy. Marcus, your employer’s brother in law will be around often, he isn’t fond of leaving the house much but he keeps himself to himself.

Mr Volturi, Aro, he is a busy man and does not like to be interrupted when working. Incredibly private but a good father to Caius. It is likely you may not see him much as he will already have left for work by the time you arrive in the morning.” Garrett could tell that Bianca wanted to say more he could feel that she was desperate to drop the formalities.

Idly he wondered if she withheld because there were cameras in the office. He restrained himself from looking around to prove himself correct.

“Cool, so when do I properly get to meet the kid?” He asks wandering over to the large window that looked out over a perfectly manicured lawn bordered by pretty purple flowers. It was simple but nice and he could tell that the family didn’t spend a lot of time out there.

The road he had driven in on to the house was completely obscured by large trees. Bianca wasn’t kidding when she said his new boss liked his privacy, but the trees were a talking point with the kid he knew that much.

“Tomorrow morning, I expect,” Bianca gestured for Garrett to take a seat, once he was comfortable she gently rested her hands, fingers laced loosely together, on the desk and gave Garrett a long and searching look. “You’ve never taken care of a child in your life, have you, Mr Denali?” Upon hearing himself being addressed like that, Garrett had to force himself to stop his lip from curling into a sneer. It was a force of habit after years of being mocked for taking his ex-wife’s surname.

While he had no qualms about taking her name, it was a nice one, others seemed to think it was an indication that his manhood was not what it should be. But, fuck that, Kate was a wonderful woman and he was still proud to have her name.

They had grown apart and separated, technically, they were still married but Garrett hadn’t seen Kate for 2 years and she was seeing someone else now. He knew that when the time came she would seek him out for divorce if she needed it but for now, it was fine and they merely lived as strangers only occasionally contacting one another for specific dates and information.

“No, but you knew that the second you saw me. Did the other assistant tell you how I got the job?” He wasn’t beating around the bush for this, if she was going to tell his boss and have him fired she had better do it now so he could head out and look for another job elsewhere.

Bianca flipped through her notes and shook her head but she smirked and said nothing for a while.

“Why don’t I show you around some more before we do the rest of the paperwork. You’ll need to see the kitchen and Caius’ room. There is a small study room for Caius too but getting in there will be your hardest task.” They exited the room and Bianca grabbed Garrett’s arm and dragged him down a hallway and through some patio doors to a yard at the other side of the house.

It looked like some kind of staff entrance and he gathered it was when Bianca lit up a cigarette and sighed contentedly. With no one around but the two of them, she relaxed and Garrett considered that perhaps there were cameras posted around the house.

“You banged Aro’s personal assistant after Carlisle recommended you for the job. You are far too cocky to be working here and I can see you getting into a lot of trouble with the boss, but,” Bianca stopped as she took another long drag of her cigarette less for dramatic effect and more because they couldn’t just stand in the yard all day gossiping. “I think it will work in your favour. While Caius will love you, Aro will want to kill you on sight but he won’t. Not if his precious child makes you his favourite.” She grinned as she let her words sink in and watching Garrett for a reaction.

“You really think that’s how it’ll go down?” The query was met with a laugh and a nod.

“Oh yeah, seeing him stuck in the middle is going to be so much fun.”

She refused to reveal much more after that and instead she finished the tour of the house and finished up any paperwork Garrett needed to fill out before he left for the day.

Bianca had been right about one thing, Caius loved him. They spent so much time outside while Garrett told him the names of plants and animals. They studied the life cycle of frogs and he explained how and why it rained.

When it came to math and English Lit Garrett struggled somewhat, he wasn’t qualified to teach the kid, and thankfully he wasn’t asked to but when Caius had homework he had to help. Math was easy, it was simple addition and subtraction and the books he was asked to read had large letters and illustrations but teaching it to him in a way he’d understand just wasn’t in his skill set.

It was only those moments he wondered if this job wouldn’t be better for a teacher looking for something outside of a classroom?

His first encounter with Aro was nothing to write home about. Caius ran into the house after Garrett had picked him up from school and tossed his coat to the floor. Garrett shook his head and called Caius back to pick it up and hang it up properly.

When Caius refused Garrett gently asked again, and the boy refused. A shadow fell over the boy as Aro appeared at the door of the kitchen holding a mug of tea. He looked down at his son with little to no expression and Caius without another word shuffled toward his coat and picked it up.

He didn’t stick around and was gone in almost a second, though his gaze did fall to Garrett for a moment and they shared a quick nod.

Up in the study room, Caius seemed unaffected by the encounter and was chattering happily about Legos as he upended a bin of the brightly coloured bricks onto the floor.

“Hey, hey, we can’t play with this until you’ve done your homework, and your dad is here to have dinner with you today so, let’s put this back. After this, you need to wash your hands, ok?” Caius grumbled for a few moments but put the Legos back into the bin before running off to wash his hands.

He heard the familiar click of heels and Bianca appeared at the door with a smile as she beckoned him to her.

“Mr Volturi wants an update on how things are with Caius.”

“Right now?”

“Uh-huh, get your butt down to his office, I will entertain the kiddo while you’re busy.” She gestured for Garrett to get moving as she stepped into the study room taking a seat at Caius’ desk.

Doing as he was told Garrett strode down the hall taking the stairs down to the ground floor where Aro’s home office was situated. He had to admit he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be taking notes on Caius, after all, it was just a glorified babysitting job…

But, if he was being honest, and he was being totally honest, the kid had calmed down a lot since Garrett had started taking care of him. Getting him outside running around and learning about plants and animals seemed to interest him greatly and his concentration at school had improved a lot because he wasn’t cooped up inside at home all the time.

When Garrett reached the door to Aro’s office it was already open and Aro was squinting sat his computer screen looking decidedly unimpressed at whatever was on said screen but his attention was soon taken up by Garrett and he waved him into the office.

“Take a seat, Mr Denali.” Aro didn’t much sound like how Garrett had expected, his voice was softer than he had imagined and the accent definitely wasn’t that of someone from the US.

Not that it mattered.

He did, however, wince at being addressed so formally and Aro arched a brow at the expression but did not question him on it. Instead, he sat back in his seat and arched his fingers lightly as he surveyed Garrett with unfathomably dark eyes.

“How have you settled in with us here, Garrett?” Ah, he had understood the wince, well, at least he was perceptive and that as more than some employers.

But he wasn’t sure how to answer him. Everything was fine but how did he make it sound professional?

He couldn’t, he didn’t have the background for that.

“Well, you can probably tell me that better than I can.” For a brief moment, he wondered if he should have added sir to the end of his sentence but the honorific didn’t seem like it would fit with his boss… Garrett felt like he was being stared down by a lord or… a wolf.

Aro merely nodded but said nothing more.

“Personally, I think I’ve settled in fine. Caius is a great kid, he’s smart and energetic. We get on well even if he has a little bit of an issue with respect for his elders and teachers at times but his teachers tell me that he’s always been that way and he will probably grow out it.” Aro seemed satisfied with this and again gave Garrett a nod to show he had heard and understood him.

“I agree, and yes, his attitude is my fault. Caius is still too young to understand the difference between home and work-life and, for me, those lines blur when I work from home. He will see how I am at work and will not understand that in business you must fight and your words must bite to be taken seriously.” Aro, for a second, looked tired as though just getting his words out was a battle and Garrett considered that there must have been something about Aro that left him at a disadvantage in business.

Whatever it was he wasn’t going to ask or pry but he couldn’t say he wasn’t a bit curious about the man he so rarely saw but was raising a child for.

There wasn’t much to the rest of their meeting, Garrett talked about signing Caius up to some sports to help him use his energy and Aro agreed to foot whatever the bill was and that was that.

Garrett returned to Caius’ playroom and ensured the boy had washed his hands and done his homework before sending him downstairs to his dad.

With his job done for the day, Garrett collected Bianca from her own office she shared with the other house assistants and drove her home.

“How long do you think you’ll be able to get away with this?” It wasn’t accusatory, but Garrett could tell Bianca was worried about him and there was no getting out of this discussion, not when they were stuck in traffic.

He sighed because the same damn thought crossed his mind every day as he drove up the ridiculous drive up to the Volturi household to the job he was in no way qualified for.

“I don’t know, Bianca. Every day I think ‘this is it, this is the day he’ll find out’ but nothing happens and I do my job and continue the cycle. At this point, I’m thinking of cutting my losses and just quitting.” He could feel Bianca watching him as he kept his eyes on the snaking traffic that had them at a dead stop trying to get into the city centre. He didn’t want to look at her and see pity in her eyes. Because there would be pity.

“You might be fine. Carlisle is a close and personal friend of Aro’s. He has no reason not to trust him so maybe he won’t ask his assistant to look into it?”

She had a point and in all honesty, it was the kind of comfort he needed. The words that made everything alright because they could possibly be the truth even if deep down he was still worried about being found out.

“I really like the job, I’ve bonded with Caius and I just feel that if I suddenly up and left all that progress we made would be for nothing.”

“You’re talking as if he was a problem child.” Bianca laughed but at the serious expression on Garrett’s face, she stopped and merely shook her head at him. “You really do love it the job, that much is obvious. I think everything will be ok.”

But it wasn’t.

It wasn’t even a month after their conversation in the car that Garrett pulled up to the Volturi household only to be directed straight to Aro’s office.

He barely knocked when Aro snapped for him to hurry up and close the door, and Garrett felt the ice in the pit of his stomach. This was it, this was the end.

“You know what this is about, sit down, and try to explain to me why you think it is appropriate to lie on your application and then have sex with my assistant to get this job?!” Aro was seething his words were spat out with edges so sharp Garrett winced as though they had physically bitten into his skin.

“I… I’m sorry, Aro.” There was no reason to prolong the conversation with lies or excuses. He had been caught red-handed and there was nothing he could do or say to help him keep his job. “Should I go?” Garrett made move to stand up from his seat but Aro raised a hand to halt him in his tracks.

“How many people did you kill?” Oh, he had… he had looked into his military career. How had he gotten that information?

“Do you really want to know, and for that matter do you care? I saved my men that night and I won’t ever regret what I did.” Garrett’s voice rose in volume as he battled with the need to defend himself and remain calm enough that this discussion would not end in disaster.

“I don’t suppose it does matter, but the fact you left the army with a dishonourable discharge concerns me greatly. You are classed as a criminal, did you serve time?” Of course, he would be concerned and Garrett understood that but he didn’t want to talk about this, he would talk about anything but this.

“Yes, about 6 months. They pardoned me for saving the squad but I’m not allowed to go into law enforcement or go back to the army.” Garrett had no wish to do either, even if he hadn’t been discharged he would have left of his own accord after his second tour in the Middle East.

Running a hand through his hair, Aro huffed an unhappy sigh through his nose before looking at Garrett with light disdain.

“As much as I would love to never see you again, you’ve had a positive impact on Caius and I don’t want to upset his routine. You work well with him despite having no formal training to teach or take care of a child.

You are allowed to continue your employment here, but I assure you that if you step out of line even once I will be glad to see the back of you.”

It was apparent that the decision wasn’t one Aro took lightly and it seemed to go against everything he believed in. There would be push back from many people in his life he was sure. If anyone found out that Garrett had killed people against his squad leader’s orders that would put Aro’s reputation in jeopardy.

To say he felt relief would be an understatement even with the underlying guilt he felt for Aro hiding his secret for him. Not wishing to endanger his employment further Garrett nodded at Aro’s warning as he got to his feet and he left the room quickly. He gifted Aro with a grateful smile as he left.

Once Aro had cooled off a bit Garrett would thank him for giving him a second chance.

“Bianca has paperwork for you to look over.” Garrett was halfway down the hall and heading towards the stairs when he heard Aro speak again, he turned to see him stood at the door of his office watching him an unreadable expression on his face.

Something in his eyes confused Garrett because if he looked close enough he was sure he could see something like fondness in the man’s eyes.

It was ridiculous to think such a thing and he allowed his mind to brush it aside, he went to respond to Aro but the man had already returned to his office.

Caius was still asleep, it was Saturday and the kid was allowed to sleep later seeing as all they were doing that was heading out to the park and maybe taking a boat out onto the lake, which Caius was wildly excited for.

Instead of checking in on the kid, Garrett headed straight to the assistant office on the same floor and stepped inside to find only Bianca sat at her desk applying her make-up in a small compact.

“Good morning, handsome. Aro has some paperwork for you to look over, it’s pretty big. You might wanna go grab a coffee and take a seat because it is some reading.” She didn’t look away from her compact and instead made a motion with her head to a stack of papers on the desk reserved for Garrett whenever he needed it.

“Urgh, that’s a lot of words for so early in the morning and I already got chewed out by Aro as soon as I stepped through the door.” Garrett rubbed his face to wake himself up, as he did he heard Bianca’s compact click shut.

“What happened?”

“He found out.”

“No?! And… you’re still here?”

“Apparently. I think he likes me.” Garrett quipped sarcastically as he crossed the room to the coffee machine. Black coffee, and lots of it.

“You joke but I think he really does. Whenever he talks about you he always looks pleased.” Well, that was news to him but it was better than the alternative and if he was honest, Aro hadn’t ever reprimanded him or had an issue with the way he took care of his kid.

So, he was doing something right it seemed.

“Well, alright then.” Garrett sat at his desk, the stack of papers looked ominous at 7:30 am and while he was loath to start reading he knew he needed to review the information before Caius woke up.

Three pages in he stopped and had to set the papers down. Garrett stared at the back of Bianca for a long time, he knew she was aware of him staring, she had been sat quietly staring at her computer screen for 20 minutes clearly awaiting a reaction from him.

“This is a contract for me to be a live-in nanny here at the house. Did you already know about this?”

Bianca swung her chair around to face him and he was greeted with a grin from her.

“Might’ve.”

“Should I accept this?”

“It’s a good deal, double the pay, and it’s permanent to a degree anyway.”

He looked down at the paperwork again and scratched his chin as though trying to stimulate thought into a decision. It didn’t seem too bad and it meant that Aro was definitely not as angry at him as he came across in their meeting.

This had to have something to do with Carlisle, he was sure of it and he’d found out later when he gave him a call.

Being a live-in nanny was never going to be something Garrett could honestly say he’d end up doing forever, but it was the start of his new life, a fresh start that some days he didn’t think he actually deserved.

“So, will you stay here?”

“Yeah, I think I will. I’m here all the time already and it’s less travel time,” Simple reasons and Garrett tried to play down how much it actually meant to him to be offered something like it even after what he’d done in the past.

If Aro was able to overlook it maybe one day Garrett could fully put it behind him and not live with the regret hanging over him like a grey cloud weighing him down with the rain of the memories soaking into his skin.

Bianca leaned over and handed him a pen.

“Why do you think he did this?”

“I dunno,” Her response was short but her grin from earlier returned as she spoke again, “Maybe he likes you.”

#Aro Volturi #Garrett Twilight #Twilight #Writing Prompt #Anonymous

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savannahsdrabbles · 5 years ago

Text

The Dinner Party (Encounters-verse)

rating: G summary: Splinter invites April over to the lair for dinner, and April learns that there are secrets yet to be revealed.

notes: This was a lot of fun to right, if not just because I got to talk about sleepy turts. <3 4k words, Ao3 link here

April pressed the buttons on the side of her watch and squinted as a soft blue light illuminated the small screen: 2:27 A.M. When Splinter said no one would know that she was gone, he wasn’t kidding. Her street seemed to be asleep, despite the fact that she could still hear sirens and cars moving in the distance. New York City was never totally silent, but at this hour it was the quietest it was ever going to get. Her mom’s heavy snoring from the other room was the loudest noise around, and didn’t show any signs of stopping even as April had pushed open her bedroom window and crawled out onto the fire escape.

She’d snuck back into her school clothes once her mom had gone to bed, tucking her pajamas and a few stuffed animals under the covers to give the illusion that someone was still beneath them. April didn’t think her mom would even come to check, but doing so still made her giggle – this all felt like a dramatic scene from a movie. The young protagonist, sneaking out of her house and meeting a stranger in the night to go to a party – April was sure she’d seen at least three Disney Channel movies with a similar storyline.

The girl’s stomach growled slightly, serving as a reminder that she hadn’t eaten much for dinner. She briefly considered pulling a granola bar from the box in her backpack, but then decided against it. They were supposed to be eating at the lair tonight, and it would seem rude for her to show up full and having eaten part of her gift for them. Still, considering the fact that the family had been dumpster diving for food only weeks ago, April couldn’t help but wonder what their meal could even consist of. It was very possible that the food would be a hodgepodge of things pulled from dumpsters or stolen from open window sills.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to eat a little bit of something beforehand -

“Are you ready?”

April bit back a shriek at the sudden voice hovering over her head and stumbled back across the metal grating, her fist swinging wildly in the direction of the source. Before it could land, however, a slightly larger and softer hand caught the fist and gently held on to keep her from tripping over her own feet.

“Splinter, oh my gosh,” April caught her balance and then pulled her fist back to place the palm over her pounding heart. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. I didn’t even hear you climbing up the ladder – you’re like a ninja or something!”

Splinter’s whiskers twitched in amusement. He was perched on the edge of the fire escape, squatting in such a way that he looked like he were about to leap frog onto the platform where April was sitting. A dark brown robe was tied around his body, and a hoodie was pulled over that to further cover his rodent features. “Or something like that,” he mused. “But I am sorry to have scared you. Are you ready?”

April nodded, shouldering her backpack. “Yup! So how do we get there?”

The rat leapt nimbly from the bars, landing silently on his claws and then pulling himself to his feet. “I know that we spoke about this last night, but I wanted to give you one more warning before we go. Our home is intentionally a bit difficult for the average person to find, but that is for the safety of myself and my sons. It is of the utmost importance to me that you do not reveal its location, even to your mother. I am trusting you with a secret that, if shared, could spell danger for my family. You do understand this, right?”

April bobbed her head hard in affirmation, then gasped as her glasses slid down her nose and nearly tumbled to the ground below. “Yes sir!”

“Heh, alright then.” Splinter’s serious expression changed to a paternal smile. “Let us hurry now– I left the oven on.”

***

Splinter was not exaggerating about their home being difficult to find. After leaping from the fire escape with April hanging onto his neck, the rat had ricocheted off of the surrounding brick walls until he landed safely on the ground below. There he had led her to a nearby manhole cover, which he removed with ease and then pointed out the metal bars connected to the sides of the cement tube. The two then descended together into the depths, April grimacing slightly at the smell and general dampness in the air until they reached a bigger tunnel below. The air felt at least slightly drier there, even if the smell persisted. Once they had dropped onto the underground sidewalk, Splinter began to follow a seemingly nonsensical path through the sewers – two rights, a left, straight for several minutes, three lefts, a right – April tried to memorize the course, but eventually gave up and instead focused on not stepping in anything weird.

Eventually the sewer area ended, and the two emerged onto what appeared to be cement platforms that ran alongside old railroad tracks.

“From what I understand, these tunnels were originally going to be part of the New York subway system,” Splinter explained as he jumped down onto the tracks and then held a hand up for April to take. She took it gratefully and jumped, the CLANG from her feet landing on the metal sending echoes through the tunnels. “However, after several tunnel collapses and general flooding issues, these tracks were abandoned and left vacant. So for now, the boys and I have decided to make use of what was left behind. Someday soon we will likely out grow our home and be forced to relocate to an area that better suits our needs, but until then,”

Splinter gestured down the line, and April gasped. A lone subway train car was positioned a short distance down the tracks, definitely older and more rusted than any of the cars April had seen actively moving in the subway station. The car also appeared slightly smaller – more like a sleeper car than one of the long, steel tubes that normally carried dozens of human passengers across the city. Several tubes and wires were suspended from the ceiling above the car and hummed softly – April guessed that this was how they had access to water and electricity. “Oh wow – you guys live in there?”

Before Splinter could reply, a door on the side of the car slammed open and a shriek of delight rang through the tunnel. “They’re here!”

Within seconds, a small green and orange form crashed headlong into April, bowling her over and knocking the breath from her lungs. She stumbled backwards, gasping, and eventually fell flat on her butt on the tracks.

“Michelangelo, calm yourself!” Splinter warned, but there was a smile in his voice as the small turtle wormed his way into April’s lap and wrapped his short arms around her waist.

Once April could breathe regularly again, she looked down into her arms and locked caramel colored eyes with the chocolate brown ones of Michelangelo. The hoodie-clad box turtle rested his chin on her chest and gave her a gap-toothed grin, showing no signs of the fear that had been so prominent on their first meeting. His sleeveless hoodie also seemed to have been thoroughly cleaned since then, since the turtle smelled more like a normal, sweaty little boy rather than the filthy garbage he had been hiding in. “I’m so excited you’re here – Dad told us you were coming over and so we’ve been getting the lair ready for you all day! And he said that since it’s a special occasion, we get spaghetti AND meatballs – that’s one of my favorite foods beside pizza!”

April opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as three other turtles of varying shapes and sizes tumbled out of the train car. “Mikey, you were supposed to wait inside until Dad brought her in!”

Michelangelo shifted into a sitting position, still perched atop April’s stomach, and stuck his tongue out at his brothers. “Well, they’re hear now, and it’s polite to greet guests - right Dad?”

Splinter’s ears flicked as he pushed down the hood that had been covering his head. “I suppose so. But it’s also equally as polite to not crush your guests.”

“Oh, sorry – ” the turtle quickly rolled off of his newfound friend and allowed her to stand, but didn’t show any signs of joining his brothers. “I’m just super happy to see you!”

“I’m happy to see you, too, Mikey!” April grinned. “How’s the foot doing?”

“Better now! I got really sick from it before, and Dad had to take out the stitches to fix it,” Mikey stuck the specified foot into the air, allowing April to see the row of bandages looped around it. His beak wrinkled up as he remembered the incident. “It really hurt, but I didn’t even cry, hardly. But now it’s healing up, and I just have to walk like this for a while – ” He took a few steps away from April, balancing on the heel of his injured foot with each step to avoid putting pressure on the wound. The process looked painful, but Mikey ended the walk cycle with a proud grin. “Plus Raph has been giving me piggy back rides, which has been cool.”

April looked towards the other turtles, suddenly remembering that they had an audience. She smiled warmly at the largest one, who she was fairly certain was Raph. The snapping turtle shuffled his feet under her gaze and blushed shyly. A red football jersey fit snuggly over his shell, but April could already see where several spines were protruding through the fabric. He was about the same height as she was, a fact that would have made her nervous had she not seen how he behaved before. Despite his gruff looking exterior, April still remembered the way he had cradled Mikey after Splinter pulled them out of the dumpster, and the small flowers he had drawn on their correspondences. “That’s nice of him.”

“I don’t mind.” Raph rubbed one arm and smiled. “I don’t want him to hurt his foot any more.”

The other two turtles were slightly more reserved in their greetings, hovering close to their father as they observed April. She didn’t blame them – she and Mikey had formed a bit of a closer bond through their initial meeting and eventual note passing. The other three she only really knew by name and what Splinter and Mikey had included in their messages.

“Why don’t we head inside now,” Splinter motioned with his tail towards the car. “It’s brighter in there, and April still has school tomorrow, so we shouldn’t keep her too long.”

“You go to school?” one of the boys piped up, his eyes suddenly sparking with interest. A more middle-sized turtle with a purple hoodie tied around his waist peered out from behind his brothers. He wore what appeared to be a large army style backpack over his shell, and a pair of thick black glasses was perched on his snout, making April briefly wondered how Splinter had managed to get his claws on prescription lenses. “What grade are you in?”

“I’m in sixth grade,” April smiled as the group shuffled down the remaining line and into the train car. Splinter ducked in first, muttering to himself that ‘the meatballs had better be done by now’. Mikey clung to her hand, skipping beside April and pulling her up the metal steps. “But I’m only eleven. My birthday falls late in the year, so I’m one of the younger kids in my grade – most of my classmates are twelve.”

The turtle – Donatello, she decided – listened with interest, his head bobbing as she spoke. “Cool. We’re all eight and are homeschooled, so that would make us…” he squinted thoughtfully. “Third grade, I think? Right Dad?”

“Something like that,” Splinter nodded absently as he hurried around the stove and adjusted the burner. “School was a bit different for me when I was your age, and the levels can vary from country to country.”

“Dad’s from Japan.” The turtle in the sleeveless blue tank top piped up, speaking his first words since April had arrived. She turned to face him, and was surprised to see the twin streaks of red running down either side of his face. They looked almost like crescent moons, running vertically from the tip of his head to right above his chin and passing over both eyes. Similar shaped yellow stripes ran up and down his arms and legs, marking him as a red eared slider – a term April had discovered during the frantic turtle research she had been doing over the past few weeks. She hadn’t had a chance to see his markings in the dark that first night, but now in the light of the car April could see that most of the turtles bore unique markings. Donatello’s shoulders boasted purple rectangles below his backpack straps, and bright yellow circles crept up and down Mikey’s legs. A few smaller dots were smattered across the bridge of his nose, almost as if flicked from an artist’s paintbrush. Several stickers had also been slapped to Mikey’s plastron, further diversifying his color scheme. They were all quite a sight to behold, really – a brilliant splash of color and life amongst the darkness of the sewers.

Mikey suddenly tugged at her arm, pulling her out of her thoughts. “C’mon – let me show you around.”

Now that she was looking at her surroundings, April couldn’t help but gape. The inside of the train car was nothing like the cold, intimidating exterior. The whole thing primarily consisted of one long room, with a curtain hung along the back right wall. The front of the car had been completely remade, and was now outfitted with the stove that Splinter was cooking on, a small sink, and a tiny cabinet from which he pulled a variety of mismatched silverware. Behind the rat was a small card table, currently covered with a variety of knickknacks, VHS tapes, stacks of used notepads, and books that April assumed had been collected over the years. Her eyes glanced across the spines – science and engineering textbooks, a few nature magazines, and then several books labeled with symbols that she could only assume were Japanese. She recognized a few of the VHS covers as being Lou Jitsu movies, and the rest were a collection of old cartoons she vaguely remembered having heard of. A large wooden tub sat underneath the table, which Raphael pointed out and clarified that it was for baths.

The four turtles elbowed past each other as they continued towards the back of the car, where twinkling lights had been strung along the ceiling and posters bearing characters from various action movies were plastered over the windows. Donatello explained that this area had originally been the conductors’ sleeping quarters, and two bunk beds had been built into the walls for layovers or when conductors took shifts driving through the night. Nowadays, this served as the boys’ bedroom. Leonardo seemed to be warming up to April as they guided her around, and he whipped open the curtain proudly to reveal the bottom bunk.

A large amount of the twinkling lights were gathered here, woven through the bars beneath the top bunk so as to dangle above their heads like stars in the night sky. The whole bunk was outfitted with a handful of t-shirt pillows and several small blankets with frayed edges. A large quilt lay on top of these, stretching from one end of the bunk to the other in a brilliant gradient of red, blue, purple and orange fabric. April noted a few holes poked through the red portion of the blanket – a clear sign that that was wear Raphael often slept.

The top bunk was much less decorated – two pillows and a thin blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed. This was clearly Splinter’s domain, but Leo loudly announced that he had thrown up on the bed during their bout with the flu the week before.

“I had to clean it up,” Raph grumbled. “Since everyone else was sick.”

Mikey patted his arm solemnly. “You’re our hero, bro.”

On the opposite side of the bunks sat a small, portable television – April remembered having seen a similar one in her grandparent’s house back in Northampton. She had vague memories of watching cartoons in her grandpa’s workshop while he worked on cars, and having to lean in close in order to hear the sound that could never seem to get loud enough. In this small area, though, April could imagine snuggling into one of the bunk beds and allowing the speakers to echo through the car.

The last area of the car, immediately to the left of the door, featured a small table that folded out of the wall. A few books had been stacked here – easy readers and a handful of well worn comic books that April guessed were part of their homeschool curriculum. A row of spiral notebooks bearing each boy’s name sat in the window sill, and Donatello pointed his out proudly.

“I’ve got a list of inventions in there- stuff I’m going to make one day when I’m a world famous scientist!”

April grinned. “Cool! I’ve never been great at science myself – I’m more of a math person.”

“Ooh – I like math, too!” the turtle flapped his hands in front of him excitedly, causing Leonardo to giggle. “I can show you what I’m working on, if you want!”

“You can show April your work later, Purple,” Splinter suddenly announced as he sat a stack of plates and silverware on the school table. “For now, let’s go ahead and eat.”

He didn’t need to speak twice – the boys’ calm demeanor quickly dissolved into pushing and shoving as they all grabbed for plates and scooped out heaping portions of spaghetti and meatballs. April was a bit startled at the sudden commotion, but Splinter saw her expression and rolled his eyes tiredly as if to say ‘this happens everyday’.

Once everyone had settled down, forks in their hands and steaming plates before them, Splinter raised his cup. “I want to take this time again to honor Ms. April O’Neil, and the kindness that she has shown our family. From helping Michelangelo in his time of need, to helping us with groceries, she has proven herself to be our hogosha. April, thank you again.”

“To the hogosha!” the boys chorused as they lifted their cups.

April shrunk down in her seat a little, ears burning as she blushed. Thankfully they didn’t seem to need her to say anything in response, as the whole family immediately lowered their cups and dove hungrily into their meals.

***

“Ugh,” April placed a hand over her stomach and sat back in her seat. “That was so good.”

“Yeah,” Mikey nodded in agreement, having already flopped his head into her lap. The other boys sat in various stages of food comas, Donatello’s eyes drooping occasionally and Leo leaning heavily against the wall. Only Raphael seemed to fully awake as he happily bit into another forkful of pasta. Having enough food was clearly a rarity in this household, and being totally satisfied was even rarer. “My tummy is happy.”

April grinned down at the turtle in her lap and patted his shell. He made a purring sound in response and scooched closer, silently urging her to continue. As she did so, the girl looked up at where Splinter was quietly washing dishes. “I can help out with that, if you’d like.”

Splinter’s flicked in her direction, but he continued his job calmly. “That is alright – I’m almost finished, and then we need to get you home.”

April glanced at her watch. Sure enough, it was almost four a.m. She wondered briefly if she could convince her mom that she was sick in order to skip school, since she could already tell that she would not be getting any work done.

“Speaking of home, Leo mentioned that you were originally from Japan? That’s so cool – I’ve never been out of the country before.”

The rat nodded, though April could almost feel a silent guard go up as he spoke. “Yes, I was born and raised in Japan, but I came to America when I was still young. It was a good life, but…” he turned and looked over his boys. “My life wasn’t complete until I adopted these four.”

The girl considered his words for a moment, pondering if her next question would be rude to ask before she finally blurted it out. “How did you get to America? I mean, I’d imagine it’s hard to fly or something when you have to be in disguise the whole time.”

Splinter paused, and April immediately bit her tongue. That was clearly a sore topic. “I’m sorry- you don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to.”

“No, it is alright,” the creature gave a light shrug of his shoulders, and then turned back to the dishes in his hands. “Life was not always like this for me. Let us just leave it like that.”

April yearned to dig deeper and ask more questions, but she swallowed them down and nodded. Whether he noticed it or not, she could see the way that his shoulders had tensed beneath his robe at her words, and how his ears had flattened slightly. Whatever had happened to him in the past, Splinter was clearly not ready to speak openly about it – or at least, not to her.

Her thoughts were cut short when sleep apparently overtook Leonardo, and the boy’s head dropped to the table with a small ‘thwack’. Mikey and Raph immediately burst into quiet laughter, only barely managing to muffle the noise behind their hands. Donnie watched the incident through half-hooded eyes, a look of confusion on his face as if he couldn’t tell what had just happened, and then slowly nudged Leo’s plate out of the way before his brother could end up covered in marinara.

“I think someone’s ready for bed,” April laughed, but she couldn’t blame him. Her own eyes were drooping heavily, and she was already dreading the long walk back to her apartment.

“I’ve got him,” Raph finally said as he got over his giggle fit and hopped out of his chair. April watched the turtle gently lift his brother from the table and carry him towards the open end of the sink, where he coaxed the half-conscious turtle into brushing his teeth. Even though she knew that all of the turtles were the same age, it was hard not to see Raphael as the big brother of the bunch – a role he clearly took with pride. The thought almost made her feel jealous – she’d always thought that it would be nice to have a younger sibling.

As if reading her mind, Mikey yawned pitifully from her lap and stretched his arms into the air. “M’legs are tired – carry me?”

April smiled down at the sleepy bundle and grinned. “Where to?”

“Gotta brush my teeth.”

“Alright, then,” the girl opened her arms and allowed Mikey to cling to her side like a baby koala bear. Donnie followed close behind, his steps heavy as he reached out to grab Mikey’s ankle for guidance. Together the trio shuffled towards the sink and traded places with Raph and Leo. The younger two both pulled their toothbrushes out of a cabinet and set to work as Splinter dried off the last dish and set it to the side. He nodded gratefully at April, and then cleared his throat.

“I should probably take April home now, boys,” The air filled with a chorus of sleepy moans. “So everyone say your goodbyes, and off to bed.”

“Can we read a story tonight?” Raph asked hopefully as he pulled his jersey over his head and climbed into bed. Leo was already snoring quietly at his side, but shifted obediently when Raph nudged him.

“If there is anyone still awake when I return home, yes.”

Donnie let out a small, exhausted ‘woo’ as he spit into the sink and then wiped his mouth on his arm. “G’night, April. See you next time.”

“Yeah, goodnight!”

“Goodnight!”

“zzzzz… ood ni….zzzz.”

After giving each of the boys that asked a last hug, April shouldered her backpack and followed Splinter out the door- but not forgetting to leave the box of granola bars on the table. Her eyes drooped heavily as she walked, but her heart soared with warmth as she reminisced on the evening. Granted it had only been an hour and a half, but she couldn’t help but feel the sensation that this was a landmark occasion in her life. Each of the boys had won her heart in a different way, and she was already excited to come back during the daytime in order to hang out and ask more questions. Like where did they go the bathroom? Why did Donnie wear that big backpack the whole time she was there? Was he really going to me a ton of inventions like he said? And what about the future lair that Splinter had mentioned?

April smiled to herself as Splinter began to hum a walking song under his breath. She still had questions about the rat as well. There were somethings that he wasn’t telling her, and that he didn’t seem to want the boys to know either. But what?

When they finally reached the ladder that led to the surface, Splinter allowed April to wrap her arms around his neck as he carried her up and out of the sewer, then up to the fire escape before she even realized what was happening. The rat waited patiently as she climbed back through her window, bidding her farewell with a promise that she could come over again whenever she wanted, and then he vanished.

And as April climbed into bed, not even bothering to put her pjs back on, she rested in that promise – that she would see the boys again, and learn more about their world.

#rottmnt #tmnt 2018 #nickelodeon #savannah drabbles #tmnt #tmnt fanfic

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the-rebel-archivist · 5 years ago

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Breaking the Cycle

Have a little Dad!Anders this morning!

Prompt: Legacy: The LI’s thoughts as they watch Hawke discover and learn about their father wishing their child would not be a mage.

“Look, Varric, he’s so clever already!” Hawke said excitedly as she magicked a small tongue of flame just out of reach of her son, who was trying to reach it with his tiny, chubby fingers.

“He’s got your self-preservation instincts, I’ll give you that.” The dwarf grimaced as he gingerly handed the baby to her as though it was a ticking bomb, then wiped his hands discreetly on his pants. Hawke didn’t seem to notice, or maybe she just didn’t care; she generally refused to hold any babies who weren’t Liam as well. Varric hadn’t had much of a choice when she had thrust him into his arms and looked glad to be rid of him.

She smiled at the infant, who smiled back with a wide, toothless grin. “You’re a charmer just like your daddy, aren’t you?” she said with a laugh and a tilt of her head towards Anders. “Who’s the best little tainted fade baby in the whole wide world? You are!”

He hated when she called him that. It was a reminder that Liam should by rights never have existed, between his Grey Warden taint and her inadvertently carrying him physically through the Fade. The descriptor also brought to mind memories of the Wardens at Weisshaupt trying to ‘convince’ them to stay so that they could study the miracle child. It was not fair, not to him, not to Hawke, and especially not to Liam. And so they had run, perhaps unwisely, straight to Kirkwall and entered Varric’s new viscount residence under cover of darkness.

“Hello, Thedas to Blondie? She’s asking you if you can take the fledgling for a bit. I could use her help down at the docks to clean up some of the mess you made.” Varric’s words roused him from his thoughts and he locked eyes with his partner, who stared back with more seriousness and concern than she usually did.

“You can, can’t you, Anders?” There was hesitation, maybe even some fear in her voice. He didn’t like that he had put it there.

“Of course he can, Hawke, it’s his kid too,” Varric said as he moved to collect his crossbow, already presuming his answer.

Anders understood Hawke’s reticence. It had been two months and he still hadn’t bonded with the baby. Sure, he held him and took his fair share of turns caring for him so that she could sleep, even changed diapers, but he didn’t play with him the way she did. In truth, he was afraid to.

He nodded and told her to be careful.

“Haven’t found a scrape I couldn’t get out of yet,” she said with a wink as she placed their son in the crook of his arm. The child began to cry as soon as she wasn’t holding him; her mouth turned down briefly and she looked as though she wanted to snatch him back.

“We’re going to be fine, love,” he told her. Kissing the boy’s forehead, she told him to be good - whether she meant him or the baby was anyone’s guess - and then walked out with Varric quickly before she could lose her resolve.

The sitting room was small and richly furnished, albeit for someone with exceedingly poor taste; either Varric had done it as a joke or had retained the gaudy furnishings from the estate’s previous owners and never bothered to redecorate. Without Hawke in the room, confined as it was, it seemed somehow massive and empty. He sat down on a couch covered in a pattern with colours that he thought clashed horribly, but someone must have imagined looked nice. Liam began to cry again and Anders held out his hand to try to distract him. When the boy took his finger in his surprisingly strong little hand, he turned his head down to him and studied the boy.

“He looks so much like you,” Hawke had said when he was born. He could see it now; Liam had fine, downy blond hair and a nose that, while currently tiny and straight, looked as though it might curve like his with time. They had wondered if he would have magic. It seemed likely, but the Maker so often laughed at the plans of mortals that there could be no certainty. It was such an odd turn of events - both of them hoped that he would be a mage. Hoped. He could never have imagined such a thing when he had been in the Circle. But if they were to live as two apostates on the run, why not make it three?

The words of Malcolm Hawke to Hawke’s mother in the Grey Warden prison in the Vimmark Mountains rang in his ears. “I hope it takes after you, love. I would wish this magic on no one.” She hadn’t. He remembered the way her face had fallen when she heard his hope for her. There had always been some reverence in the way that she referred to her father before that, a degree of hero worship, even. He had kept her and her sister hidden and had taught them all he could about how to master their abilities. But he hadn’t wanted any of it. When her father came up in conversation after that her words about him were always carefully neutral, skirting around anything that could remind her of how she now knew he had felt. She had refused to speak of that part of the adventure for weeks until one evening when they had lain down to sleep and everything was quiet. He had almost drifted off to sleep when he heard her voice.

“Do you think he even wanted me at all, Anders?” she asked him. “Having me forced them to run. And then I was the opposite of what he wanted.”

“Your father? Don’t be ridiculous, of course he did.” He had pulled her against him, breathing in the slight scent of lilacs that seemed to follow her and running his fingers down the softness of her bare back as he let her tell him what she had bottled up for so long.

“He wanted me to be normal. Not like I am. Not like him. I didn’t piece it together until now. We realized I was a mage when I boiled some water without a fire because I was impatient and it took too long. He left on a weeklong trip for the city the day after and made it seem like it had been planned. I don’t think it was anymore.

“My magic… it’s wonderful. It’s who I am. It’s woven into the fabric of my existence. I can’t imagine wishing to deprive me of it. I know Bethy didn’t always like it, but I wonder sometimes if she would have been happy with it if it hadn’t needed to be so secret, if it was more accepted.

“I’m glad that we won’t have children. But if by some miracle we did, I would want it to have what I have. What we have. Maybe it’s selfish. But hang consequences.”

He hadn’t agreed then. The concept was nice, a family sharing magic, understanding each other, but in practice was it right to hope for someone to live in constant fear? There seemed to be no certainty for anyone, mage or not, now though. It hadn’t seemed to matter at the time anyway.

Liam was falling asleep, his blinks growing longer and longer. He still gripped Anders’ finger tightly. They hoped that he would be a mage, but what if he weren’t? Some feeling deep within him told him that setting an expectation of what he would be in order for them to be happy was unjust. Whatever he was, whether he was magical or not, it would be enough. They would love him just the same. He would love him.

He paused in his thoughts and stared unseeingly at the wall. He loved him. But he had done such a poor job of showing it. When Hawke had been upset by her father’s words, he had felt only envy for her. At least she hadn’t lost Malcolm’s love. She hadn’t been turned in by her own father, shackled by Templars in front of her mother and hauled away, because of an unchangeable, innate part of her being.

The way he didn’t seem able to talk to or play with his son - it was how his father had treated him. It was unjust. It was wrong. He was only a child, he hadn’t chosen to be born with magic. Liam was just as innocent.

He held the baby closer and quietly sang a lullaby his mother had sung to him when he was small. He would do better. Justice demanded it. As long as he drew breath Liam would never feel as alone as he and Hawke had.

#anders #dragon age fanfiction #anders x hawke #dad anders #da2 #i'll get back to writing cullen again soon i promise #dragon age anders

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years ago

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10/07/2020 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 8:8-9:26, Colossians 3:1-17, Psalms 78:32-55, Proverbs 24:27

Today is the 7th day of October welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today, hump day, another center of the week that we move through…well…once a week, but here we are in the middle of the first full week of this month. And yeah, the Bible is speaking to us. And, so, let's move into that. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Jeremiah chapter 8 verse 8 through 9:26.

Commentary:

Okay. Let's think about cooking. Let’s think about recipe books. Like some of you are like extravagant cooks. My wife would be one in that category. I would be much less in that category, but above just making Ramen noodles. But we’re all over the map. But the thing that we usually need until we become extremely advanced cooking is a recipe. How much of this, how much of that makes this particular dish that I'm going to eat. And, so, just think about some dishes that we might cook up. Let’s say we grab a leaf of sexual immorality and throw it in the pot and then stir in a couple of impurity and then a handful of lust and then a generous dash of greed and idolatry, and then a cup of anger and a half a cup of rage and three quarters of a cup of malicious behavior and then a dash of slander and some dirty language for taste and then a cup of lying and bake that 350 after we whip it up and pour it into some sort of container. How yummy does that sound? And why do we keep eating that dish when there's another recipe found in Colossians today? And the recipe…well…I…I…I mean I made up the amounts, but Paul told us the ingredients. But what if…what if we made need a different dish? What is we took a cup of tenderhearted mercy and poured that over a nice base of kindness with several leafs of humility, a cup of gentleness, a cup of patience, two cups of forgiveness, right, some sprigs of peace and a garnish of love. That sounds delicious. Which dish would you rather have for dinner tonight? Like, they are completely different dishes that will have a completely different taste and outcome, which is basically what Paul’s talking about in Colossians. Paul was saying essentially that Jesus transforms us into a completely different person with completely different tastes and the old stuff that we used to munch on that were…were leading us down the pathway of destruction should be basically abhorrent to us now because it's the food of the dead. Let that roll around in your mind for a minute. But it does bring us to a point where we can think about what it is we’re munching on. I mean, I know that's a metaphor but it's a metaphor the stands. We all understand what we’re talking about here. What are we consuming? What are we putting in ourselves? Because that's what's coming out of us. That's the aroma of our lives. Like, that’s what we look like. That's how it is with us. We could say in this spiritual analogy “we are what we eat”. Ironically what we’re mostly trying to do is have like maybe a cup of impurity, with a pinch of humility, several tablespoons of greed with several tablespoons of patience. Anger mixed with forgiveness. Like these things do not go together. When I was a kid…I can’t remember if it was like Sesame Street or one of the children's programs back then, like, I can still remember all these years later this little, you know, little children's songs - one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong. Can you guess which things not like the other be…I don’t know…before we get to the end of this song. Something like that. Things that don't go together don't go together and the things of this world do not go with the kingdom of God. And if we just do some self-examination, especially about the…the points inside of us that have so much unrest, if we look at how that got made it might make sense at why it's turned out the way that it is. Maybe we’re trying to make something that can't work. It’s never gonna taste good ever no matter how we try to keep modifying it. Paul’s saying like, “you got a whole new pallet brothers and sisters, a much more refined one, a much better one. You don't have to eat garbage anymore. You are a son and a daughter of the most-high. Come and feast on the goodness of the Lord. And as we concluded our reading today, Paul's like, “whatever you do or say”...in other words…“whatever you're mixing up, whatever the recipe’s gonna be, whatever you do or say, do it representing Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. That is a great little garnish on the top of the dish but it's actually saying a lot because it gives us a barometer and gives us the opportunity to say can I…can I do this? Could I put this in my recipe for the day in the name of Jesus? Right? I mean we've discussed this before at a different point in the Scriptures, but we look at these things and say okay, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry…idolatry, anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, dirty language and lying, which of those can we do in the name of Jesus as a representative of the most-high? So, we just have to ask ourselves, can I do this in the name of Jesus? Maybe I'm free to do whatever I want as Paul has told us so many times, but not everything is good. Can I do this in the name of Jesus or is this going to ruin my whole dish?

Prayer:

Father we invite You into that. We have ruined plenty of dishes, plenty of days, plenty of encounters, plenty of meetings, plenty of circumstances. We’ve ruined plenty of stuff by trying to mix ingredients that do not and will not ever go together. And yet You are calling us higher, You are inviting us forward, You are ever patient and You don't hate us because we've made bad dishes, because we’ve made masses of things. You’re just calling us forward. You’re just saying You can do better than that because You are better than that in me. May we recognize that. May we recognize what we are making of our lives we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family this Shelby from Pittsburgh and Brian just want to congratulate you and your family on China’s announcement for this spring occasion of the brand-new life. Your excitement and…and happiness really came through and it just brightened up my day and I think all of us at this time could use some more really happy joyful news. And it really touched my heart. I feel like, you know, I’m going to be another auntie. It’s awesome. Really happy for you guys. God bless you God bless the process and everything. God bless the baby and, yeah, it’s a wonderful thing. Thank you for sharing that with us Brian and I’m very happy to be a part of this Daily Audio Bible family. It is a welcome reprieve from the days, whatever, and I like it because it also helps keep me on track and…and staying in the word of God. So, thank you very much and God bless you and again, congratulations. Goodbye.

Hello, everyone this is Rebecca’s heart from Michigan I’m a first-time caller and been listening to the DAB with my husband Skye since January and we love you guys and appreciate you all. Just wanted to ask for prayers today. I fell a few weeks ago and hit my jaw on a piece of hard metal and whiplashed my neck and spine and that’s…that was right before we went on a 9 ½ hour mission trip road trip to deliver a hand cycle that we fundraised for a new paraplegic friend up in Copper Harbor Michigan. We were able to witness God’s love and care towards Eric and need prayers for his spirit to be opened to be receiving the gift of Jesus love and salvation. We also shared our testimony of our trip with a young couple at a remote campsite named Scarlet and Dave and another young man on a hike named John and we’d like to ask prayers for them that they will come to know Jesus and maybe even read the Bible’s we gave them or listen in to the DAB with us. So, hopefully we’ll hear from them. Besides my own need for prayer and physical healing, Skye and I need prayer for our marriage to be covered by the blood of Jesus and to pray against any attacks the enemy would come at us with. We’ve had three years similar to Job’s story in the Bible with incredible losses but we’re trusting Jesus and need prayers to find us new means of income since Covid and to lead us to where He wants us to be this winter as our landlord is selling our house. We’re asking that when we travel again also in our funky van that God provided He would open the door for us to share Jesus to those we meet along the way.

Hello this is Wonderfully Made Amber from Albuquerque this is my first time calling in a been a listener for a few months now and Daily Audio Bible has been such a blessing in my life and today is the 2nd of October and I’m specifically calling to pray for Lacey from Massachusetts who asked for prayer for her sick dog. That prayer request really resonated with me because I…I have a dog and he is my buddy and companion and I…I couldn’t imagine being isolated and alone without such a companion. And, so, first I want to pray. Heavenly Father thank You for the blessing of this dog in Lacey’s life and Lord You created this little…this little dog and…and…and You…everything is possible with You. So, I asked that You’ll show mercy Lord and favor on this woman and that You’ll extend this dog’s life. He’ll her precious dog in Jesus’ name. And I also pray Father that You will bring more friends, companionship into her life beyond what she has with her dog Lord. This is a hard time of people being isolated and lonely yet there’s still a way for people to reach out to others. And, so, I pray that in Jesus’ name You’ll stir somebody’s heart to reach out to this…to Lacey and to be a friend to her. And lastly Lord I want to pray for healing over her health as well, that You will heal whatever successes, diseases she has and that You’ll comfort her, comfort her and thank You Lord. Thank You for Your mercy and Your grace and Your love and that You never leave us and that You give us good things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello this is the Anthony I’m calling from __ I just did hear my fellow New Englander and she called in from Cape Cod, Lacey I believe she said her name was, who’s calling about her sick dog whose her only companion. Just wanted to pray Lord for…for healing for Lacey’s companion…for Lacey’s dog and more importantly Lord that You use this as an opportunity to just help people, help friends, help the community reach out to her so that she’s assured that she’s not alone Lord because no one…no one needs to be alone especially in these…in these times. We just pray Lord for that community and that she through this, finds companionship in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Good day Duncan the Piano Man it’s October 22nd and I’m remembering you because this is the anniversary of your wife’s death. And I know what it is to go through loss. You know, as I’m in right now mourning the loss of my mom, so I understand and I want you to know that I’m thinking about you, I’m praying for you and I pray that you would have a good day with the friends that you are taking out to that special place to eat and those memories that you will encounter in your mind, instead of bringing you sadness will bring you joy. And here is something I want to read to you it says, “do not weep long. You will weep today for sure I know but don’t weep long. Lift your eyes to heaven and see her in the Father’s arms. She will always be a part of you and remember that where there is love death is never the conqueror because God’s love makes it triumphant.” So, be triumphant today in the midst of your memories. And this is Soaring On Eagles Wings from Canada. I love you and I’m praying for you today. Bye now.

Hello this is Howard from Northern California sitting in the parking lot at Kaiser here just dropped by wife off going in for a biopsy. Need some prayers for the women in my life. Obviously, my wife got lucky getting this biopsy because of the great help from the lady that worked the desk yesterday when she went in for a simple mammogram. And then I also need prayers for my mom, she’s 83. She’s had some stroke issues and she’s struggling and Covid thing isn’t helping, no interactions with friends, she feels alone, scared. I try to get up to see her as much as I can. Her sisters are helping her. It’s a burden on them. So, probably prayers for them for patience prayers, for my three daughters. They all struggle from…a few of them struggle from some serious health issues and my oldest struggles with just trying to make it now that Covid took her job and she’s got two kids and her boyfriend, who he’s not the greatest guy that you want for your daughter but hopefully he’ll step up. So, probably prayers for him too. Thank you. God bless

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avatar-of-the-green · 5 years ago

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Swamp Thing 1x06/1x07 Thoughts

My goodness, the last two episodes have definitely been something else. Other posters have already offered their excellent perspectives, I just have so many thoughts that I needed to express. As such, this is very long because brevity is not my strong suit. As always, cutting due to spoilers for the current episode and possible future episodes.

Matt:

I love how this show explores its characters. One of my previous complaints was that Matt had very little depth beyond being a seemingly-nice police officer with a torch for Abby. But with the last two episodes, we were given a deeper look into his actions and frustrations and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Him being the one to kill Alec disappointed me-mostly because I didn’t want him to be a “bad” guy-but the reasoning for him doing so was at least understandable. Not excusable, of course, but basically continuing the appalling cycle of corruption that was started by his mother and Avery.

When it comes to the people we love, for some people, what’s “right” takes a backseat. I have no doubt that the only way Avery was able to force Matt’s hand was due to his blackmail material, in a direct contrast to him pulling Lucilia’s strings without much effort. Him being willing to murder Avery in episode seven basically showed how unwilling he was to remain someone for Avery to manipulate, but even that was completely turned on its head when Avery dropped the paternity bomb.

I wasn’t really shocked about Avery being his father, it was something that I had wondered about as we never really received any information pertaining to Lucilia’s husband and given her rather messy behavior, it certainly made sense. But poor Matt, I feel that the next episodes are going to have him spiraling really badly.

He “killed” an innocent person who later came back as a plant monster that might decide some revenge is in order once his memory returns. The man who manipulated him and his mother is actually his father…whom he also helped to murder. His whole identity is now in question, his relationship with his mother is in shambles and one of the people he cares about just up and left just like he was told she would.

I hope that we have more scenes with him and Liz. Marais has felt very tiny in the most recent episodes and it’s nice to another friendship depicted.

Lucilia:

Oh, Lucilia. I’d feel badly for her if most of the disasters in her life weren’t due to her own bad decisions. The fact that she never expected Avery to have blackmail fodder going back for years was unrealistic to me until I gave it a bit more thought. She isn’t a good person and neither is Avery, but she somehow assumed that his feelings for her made her immune to his perpetual need to control and manipulate everyone in his life.

It reminded me a lot of a scene from the end of Kill Bill: Volume 2 between Bill and Beatrix when she mentions how shocked she was at what he did. She was well aware of-and even comfortable with-the terrible things he was capable of, but the possibility that he would do any of those terrible things to her never entered her mind. Lucilia was exactly the same and it seems like an incredibly naive mindset until you consider how some people are.

She did awful things for Avery for money while deluding herself that it was to protect Matt. I’d bet that if Matt had expressed interest in transferring to other locations prior to episode six, she probably guilt tripped him about leaving her and all she did for him until he dropped it. Her keeping his paternity to herself may have been about “protecting” him from Avery’s influence, but it was also about keeping him to herself-as is sole influence-as well. It’s not that she doesn’t love her son, but she’s so possessive of him to an unhealthy level. I wasn’t all of the nefarious things she did for Avery that pushed her to kill him, but the fact that he involved Matt in a murder and completely shattered his perception of her as his mother. And as Avery said, she doesn’t forgive or forget.

Maria:

She was definitely one of the highlights of episode seven for me. Seeing her in control and getting things done was wonderful and while I’m assuming helping with the Avery murder plot is going to come back to bite her, I’m glad that she was able to deal with Lucilia despite their obvious issues in order to achieve her goals.

While I still believe “Shawna” is inside her somewhere, I’d also like to think the experience in the swamp and finally receiving medication might have snapped her out of her fog of despair. There is nothing wrong with receiving help when you need it and while Maria is terrible to Abby, I genuinely believe she would feel badly about possibly putting Susie in danger with her shenanigans.

Thankfully Avery won’t be around for a little while with his patented “Abby is stirring up all these bad feelings,” gaslighting speeches.

Avery:

He is really going all out to win the title as the most monstrous person in the series. The scene with him and Abby in episode six made me so tense and uncomfortable because it was such classic emotionally abusive behavior. How dare she accuse him of things he (most likely) did! She had nothing before him, she owes him! As though he isn’t a murderous scumbag. As though he doesn’t talk out both sides of his mouth playing on Maria’s grief and Abby’s affections.

It’s mostly my headcanon, but I think he was probably closer to Abby than Shawna growing up, as they had the deaths of their parents to bond over. Shawna was born into money and Abby wasn’t, so anything he did for her she was immensely appreciative of. She was also probably so afraid of being abandoned that she did everything possible to be the “good” daughter, in contrast to Shawna’s more rebellious personality.

She loved and respected Avery until Shawna’s death, which is probably when his mask briefly slipped and she saw the rotten person he truly was. But because she was just a teenager, she rationalized it as being the effects of Shawna’s death and all her fault. But after returning to Marais, Abby is able to see more and more of the despicable person Avery truly is and that infuriated him. He has nothing to hold over her aside from Shawna’s death, nothing to control her with and while I’d like to think he wouldn’t hurt her…his behavior towards Lucilia in the swamp-a woman’s he’s been with for thirty odd years-shows that doesn’t really value anyone.

Everyone is disposable in his eyes.

I wonder what led him to become such an atrocious person. We constantly hear about the “swamp taking his father,” but the flashback we were shown doesn’t really depict a sadistic child that would become a villain. It could simply be the typical story of a man desperate to rise about his station became consumed by his greed and corrupted by his ambitions, but I hope there is a little more to it than that.

I’m both curious and afraid of what’s going to happen next with him. I enjoyed how his rise from the swamp was a mirror of Alec’s, but with more violence. If he is an Avatar of the Rot, it’s going to make things very interesting in the remaining episodes.

Woodrue:

I’ll just state the obvious that what he did to Cassidy was beyond unethical and potentially remarkably insipid. Alec faked scientific results, and he’s a scientist by loose definition in his eyes, yet he engages in unsanctioned human testing and that’s completely acceptable. Avery really does poison all the people he touches, though his own ambition and his desire to help Caroline probably would have led him down the same road.

I loved that Caroline called him out on his behavior and just how amoral his actions were and how her quick thinking kept Cassidy from being shot. It was painful to witness the change in her towards the end of this episode and sadly I’m sure her situation is only going to get worse. Either Woodrue will inject her with the formula to prevent her Alzheimers from progressing or he’ll inject himself as another test subject and things will fall apart from there.

Abby:

As I stated in one of my notes, I love her but her lack of self-preservation is crazy. She has this incredible need to fix situations and yet makes choices that are incredibly impetuous and could make them worse. I truly wish that we knew more of her background, but one could assume her mother dying and then Shawna dying both contributed to her unhealthy fixation with trying to save everyone and control the situation. She couldn’t help her mother, she caused Shawna to die-but in actuality was just unable to save her from an unseen force-and now she has Alec to focus on and feels as though she’s failing him as well.

With some people, I would say it’s based on a desire for praise or to be a martyr, but with her I think it’s just an effect of having so many unresolved issues and so much guilt. As though saving as many people possible will somehow help her “atone” for those she couldn’t. She wants to save Alec because she cares about him, but also because the situation he’s in could be incredibly dangerous. Two hunters came for him, the next time it could be a team to capture him for study or dissection.

It’s thoughtful of her, but then she has this remarkable reckless streak that almost got her killed several times. Lucilia could have shot her, she could have died from the darkness, she could have died from the Rot. She was incredibly lucky in the first instance and fortunate that Alec was present in the last two. While the end of episode seven was heartbreaking, it was completely reasonable for Alec to tell her to leave. While her intentions have been good, her behavior has been irrational and eventually her luck will run out.

I’m curious as to whether or not the show is involving Abby’s New 52 origin and if the tendril from the Rot will awaken something within her. We’ve already seen (the person I assume) is Anton Arcane, so it might not be such a far stretch.

Abby’s scenes with Alec were just so perfect and it made me so happy as a shipper. All of the touches and her kissing him were lovely. But her crying as she drove away from him in her boat broke my heart. Hopefully her time in Atlanta will give her some time to reflect on things. And with luck we’ll see Harlan again and find out what-if any-consequences have arisen due to her absence.

Alec:

Although I’m almost one hundred percent certain that they’re going with Alan Moore’s interpretation of Swamp Thing, I’ll still refer to him as Alec for now.

Episode six was a particularly painful one for him, as he got to experience the joys of being trapped, shot and hunted like an animal. His anger was justified and while his response was a bit much-I winced at the bark spikes to the face-he doesn’t quite have full control or knowledge of his capabilities yet. He was also completely aware of the danger that people poking around the swamp would pose for him. He is a scientific find of the century and there would be no shortage of people wanting a piece of him. There was also the Matt aspect later in the episode as well. What he did to him was inexcusable, but I really hope Alec doesn’t kill him in recompense.

The near-end of the episode was lovely and definitely understandable. It’s frightening, but sometimes you need to move away from the person you were in order to grow and gain a better comprehension of yourself.

Then the last scene occurred and I may have freaked out a tiny bit.

It was wonderful having Andy Bean back as Alec Holland for episode seven. I love the way that Derek Mears portrays Swamp Thing, he’s so incredible emotive despite the costume and the makeup, but I also love how Andy Bean portrays Alec as well. They have distinct personalities, Alec being affable and charming, while Swamp Thing is more solemn and otherworldly-for obvious reasons. Having Human!Alec back was bittersweet and it was nice that they were able to find a plot-relevant reason to do so. I still really hope we get some more flashbacks to his life prior to Marais, but that may sadly be just a pipe dream.

This episode was definitely a turning point for Alec and his growing acceptance for his role as Avatar of the Green. As wonderful as it was to be the “charming man” he used to be, without his abilities, Abby would have died. Technically, he should have stopped her from getting too close to the Rot, but that might have broken the immersion of the hallucination. But the scene before they encountered the Rot was so beautiful and I’m glad the lighting wasn’t terrible for once. While parts of his new life are undoubtedly strange and a bit traumatizing, it was good to see Alec extolling the wonderous aspects as well.

The way the Green is portrayed is also interesting. We’ve seen the darker aspects with it lashing out in the first episode and it briefly forcing Alec to see those who perished in episode five, but it consciously trying to help him connect with Abby and to save her life was wonderful as well. It was also teaching him something of a lesson. If he even could go back to being human, he would be unable to do anything against the Rot or help anyone except in the traditional sense. Perhaps Abby is able to synthesize a formula to combat the Rot, but then it would have to be tested, approved, mass produced, distributed and analyzed.

Which would be remarkably useful, but would take valuable time that they don’t have. What Abby viewed as him giving up hope was more him coming to terms with his destiny and what that entails. Him asking Abby to leave was so painful to watch, but with something so powerful and ancient intent upon destroying everything, allowing her to remain in harm’s way would have been selfish on his part.

But all the longing looks and the touches throughout the episode nearly killed me. As Swamp Thing he’s been so reluctant to be close to Abby unless it was necessary and the fact that she kissed him-while seeing his human form-may have inadvertently made things a little worse. He can’t be that person again, despite Abby’s belief that he can be cured and despite his talk of accepting his destiny, he doesn’t view a relationship with her as a part of that.

He’s referred to himself as a “monster” and a “thing.” Despite the beauty in his existence and the knowledge of having a special purpose, he still is obviously bothered by his “transformation.” While Abby mentions a cure as something that will help him, which she undoubtedly believes, he probably interprets it as her being bothered by “what” he is and feels insecure about it. In terms of a future, he also can’t offer her much in way of traditional things. Which begs the question of Abby wanting a more normal relationship and him feeling as though she would be settling.

It’s such a delightful tangle of emotions that we’ll have only three episodes to figure out.

#swamp thing spoilers #swamp thing #abby arcane #alec holland #alec x abby #avery sunderland #maria sunderland #matthew cable #lucilia cable #liz tremayne #jason woodrue #caroline woodrue #dctv #dc #episode thoughts #1x06 #1x07

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mrlnsfrt · 5 years ago

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Plot Twists and Surprise Endings

The story so far.

Joseph’s brothers had returned to their father, Jacob, bringing grain and bad news. Simeon had stayed as a prisoner in Egypt, and when they went back to buy more grain they would need to bring their youngest brother, Benjamin. Jacob told his sons that they had bereaved him. Genesis 42:36

The Famine Was Severe

As much as Jacob wanted to keep Benjamin from going to Egypt he did not have any option in the matter. Jacob could either let Benjamin go or starve along with his household. This was not only about him but about his sons and grandchildren, and servants, and animals who were all under his care. At this points the need to survive superseded Jacob’s preferences and his fears. Though in his heart wanted Benjamin to stay, in his mind he understood he must let Benjamin go down to Egypt.

Judah spoke up and offered himself as surety for his brother Benjamin. Genesis 43:9

Place yourself in Jacob’s shoes for a moment. His whole life he loved one woman, Rachel. He was tricked by his uncle and married Leah. But Jacob never loved Leah, though Leah gave him one daughter and six sons. Jacob loved Rachel, who was barren for many years. Finally, Rachel gives birth to a son, Joseph, who Jacob now believes to have been killed. Rachel also gave birth to another boy, Benjamin, and sadly she died (Genesis 35:16-20). How would you have felt if the love of your life had died, and then you lost your favorite son, her firstborn? Now all you have from her, her only living son, must leave for a dangerous trip to a foreign country with a ruler who seems to not like your family. If I was Jacob I would be having a very difficult time. I would be wondering where God was. It was God who called Jacob to return to the land of Canaan. Genesis 31:13 more details on my blog post “Mighty to Save”. Why would God allow all this to happen? Where was God? What about all of God’s promises to protect, provide and be with him? Was this not the land that God was giving him and to his descendants (Genesis 35:9-12)?

Do you ever find yourself facing severe famine and feeling like you are slowly losing all that you love and hold dear? Does your faith hold strong when you feel cursed and abandoned by God?

Facing Your Past

Broken relationships have a way of coming back to hurt you repeatedly. Joseph and his brothers were experiencing this. They suffered while apart and now continued to cause one another to suffer. The Bible tells us that Joseph’s heart yearned for his brother Benjamin (Genesis 43:30) yet he is not ready to allow himself to love and embrace. Joseph longs for reconciliation but he is not ready for it, not yet, he had been through too much. How should he deal with his brothers? I imagine Joseph had given this much thought. It is unclear how much time had elapsed since his brothers had last seen him. We don’t know how long Simeon had been in an Egyptian prison. The brothers meet again. Joseph has the power to punish, torture, enslave, imprison, or even kill his brothers for what they did to him. But would that undo the past? Is that what God was calling him to do? Was that God’s will for his life? What about God’s plans for the lives of his brothers?

Joseph had been extremely mistreated and abused in his lifetime. It would be understandable for him to be bitter, angry, to want revenge, for him to be scarred and have trust issues. But God had been with him. He was alive, he was successful, he had been blessed after all. Would Joseph use his blessings to bless those around him or would he hoard the blessings and use them to make himself more powerful?

With your permission, I would like to imagine a scenario and I invite you to join me in this exercise of our imagination. Imagine Joseph uses his current power and influence to destroy all who had hurt him. He could enslave his brothers. Joseph could throw Potiphar in prison, and have Potiphar’s wife executed. Joseph could send Pharaoh’s cupbearer to prison for a couple of years since he forgot about Joseph in prison for two years (Genesis 40:23-41:1,9-13). Since Joseph had interpreted the dreams and married the daughter of a priest, I imagine it would not have taken much for him to convince the people that God was on his side and that he should be Pharaoh. Joseph could have made a power play and even taken advantage of his food storage to wage economic warfare and essentially dominate the portion of the ancient world that was being affected by the famine.

I know we just imagined this scenario, but I believe this to have been a possible outcome, perhaps even a temptation for Joseph. When you have power and wealth, you can afford to be your true self. You don’t have to be nice, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. When you have all the power and wealth, you only have to forgive and be kind if you want to. At least temporarily speaking (disregarding eternal consequences). Do we continue to behave like Christians when we have the power to be selfish and get away with it? Do we forgive and seek to make peace with those who have wronged us when we could punish those who have hurt us?

Joseph longed for a mended, loving relationship with his brothers, at least with Benjamin for sure. But earlier in his life, his brothers had made that all but impossible. Now, would he give them a second chance?

Had Joseph’s brothers changed? Were they still selfish and jealous? The way Joseph treats them in Genesis 43-44 seems to indicate that he was testing them. Perhaps Joseph was still trying to decide what he would do to them, whether or not he would forgive them.

As the story unfolds we learn that Joseph’s brothers have changed, they honestly want to protect and care for Benjamin. In Genesis 44:16 Judah even confesses that God had found out their iniquity, which is odd since they had not stolen Joseph’s cup unless Judah is talking about their iniquity regarding something else, perhaps regarding the well-being of their missing brother.

Judah’s Speech

Judah then delivers a speech, but not just any speech.

This speech has appropriately been called one of the masterpieces of Hebrew literary composition, one of the finest specimens of natural eloquence in the world. - The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 1

—the speech of Judah in behalf of his young brother Benjamin has been fittingly characterised as “one of the masterpieces of Hebrew composition” (Kalisch), “one of the grandest and fairest to be found in the Old Testament” (Lange), “a more moving oration than ever orator pronounced” (Lawson), “one of the finest specimens of natural eloquence in the world” (Inglis). Without being distinguished by either brilliant imagination or highly poetic diction, “its inimitable charm and excellence consist in the power of psychological truth, easy simplicity, and affecting pathos” (Kalisch)— - The Pulpit Commentary: Genesis

The encounter between Joseph and his brothers has now reached its climactic moment. A personal appeal to the great man is Judah’s last desperate resort. He pours out his heart in what is the longest speech in the Book of Genesis, although it could not have lasted more than five minutes. - The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis

Judah’s speech moves Joseph so deeply that Joseph could no longer hold back his emotions. Sending everyone else out of the room and reveals himself to his brothers. Joseph wept so loud the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it (Genesis 45:2).

The Final Outcome

Ultimately Joseph chooses to forgive his brothers and to mend their broken relationship. He chooses the path of reconciliation. He realizes his brothers had also been suffering, and he decides to put an end to that cycle. Joseph interprets all these events as being used by God in order to ultimately bring about the salvation of many. However, this does not mean that what his brothers did was acceptable in any way. I believe that God could have brought about the same outcome without the lies and betrayal. But God was able to use even the sinful actions of Joseph’s brothers to bring about salvation because Joseph was willing to remain faithful to God and to continue to trust Him even when suffering incredible abuse and unfairness.

There is so much in these last few chapters of Genesis that we could explore, but the year is coming to a close and we have been studying the Book of Genesis for almost 3 years so I will leave a deeper study of these passages for another time. I feel like we must stop and I would like to conclude with the words spoken by Joseph recorded in Genesis 50:20.

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. - The New King James Version

Takeaway

Joseph recognized that his own brothers wished to do him harm. You must also likewise recognize that people may wish to do you harm. They may persecute and abuse you. But God can take you and still use you to bless others. No one can keep you from being used by God except you. When you choose God, even your worst moments can become a source of strength and blessing for someone else. Your scars and your pain may be what God uses to touch a life that no one else could reach.

Reading Genesis we have learned that God loves plot twists and surprising endings. As I mentioned earlier, it is December, a time when we talk about the birth of Jesus. The earthly life and ministry of Jesus is the clearest and most extreme example of how all the wickedness of this planet and even supernatural beings are unable to thwart God’s plans. As the Apostle Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 1:27

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; The New King James Version

When you feel weak, when you feel beat down, when you feel betrayed, and alone, and abandoned, just remember that God can take you, if you are willing, and use you to save many people alive. People may mean evil against you, but God can turn it around and use it for good.

#Family #Joseph #Egypt #JAcob #Genesis #Reconciliation #Narrative

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mittensmorgul · 6 years ago

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1.11 picks up right where 1.10 left off-- literally with Sam on the phone with John for the first time in who even knows how long, possibly since the night Sam left for Stanford four years earlier. (We know Dean has had occasional contact with Sam over that time, but since John’s “if you walk out that door, don’t you ever come back” was something we don’t even know about concretely for a while yet.)

John had called Dean’s phone, though. Dean’s still the obedient son John expects to follow orders, and he needs them safely out of the way again so sends them to hunt a specific and very out-of-the-way entity who kills two victims every year like clockwork. And isn’t that fascinating, another annual event thing that John has “allowed” to continue happening for who knows how long, only to have this conveniently tucked away as a case to send Sam and Dean on now... How many couples died since John learned of this happening, and yet only NOW it becomes vital to stop it? Yeah, fascinating.

Something different happens on this phone call, though. WE see John on the other end of the line. This order does come directly from him this time, but we don’t know what HE knows about how far his investigation into the thing that killed Mary has come, and what danger provoked him into giving this assignment at this particular time. Almost as if we now know that he’s being manipulated as much as Sam and Dean are by the larger narrative, with the introduction of Meg.

Because as much as taking this case kept Sam and Dean safe (in John’s mind, they were out of the way of whatever he was doing on his end that he believed he was closing in on the demon that killed Mary), it also put Sam in the exact right position to rebel against the order exactly as he did, and threw him directly into Meg’s path.

John: Listen, Sammy, that’s why I’m calling. You and your brother, you gotta stop looking for me. Alright, now, I need you to write down these names. Sam: Names? What names, Dad—talk to me, tell me what’s going on. John: Look, we don’t have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they’re everywhere. Even us talking right now, it’s not safe. Sam: No. Alright? No way. Dean: Give me the phone. John: I have given you an order. Now, you stop following me, and you do your job. You understand me? Now, take down these names.

and

Dean: Dad said it wasn’t safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don’t, so if he says to stay away, we stay away. Sam: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him. Dean: Yeah, it’s called being a good son! You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don’t care what anybody thinks. Sam: That’s what you really think? Dean: Yes, it is.

And within the context of this particular case, in this particular town, the elders were all aware of what was going on all along, had deliberately engineered this annual sacrifice to the god who made their town prosperous. It’s only their niece from the younger generation who doesn’t know the horrific secret of the town’s success-- and the fact that her parents were likely sacrificed to the god years ago.

EMILY: I came here when I was thirteen. I lost my parents. Car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in.

“““““Car accident.”““““ Like all the other couples sacrificed to the god whose cars broke down on the road out of town. It might never be stated outright, but it’s so heavily implied as to be obvious.

Rather than sacrifice themselves, the older generation hides their secret and goes on in desperation to sacrifice the next generation instead.

It’s also fascinating how Dean attempts to deal with the reality of the supernatural when talking to the “general public.”

GIRL: We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives. DEAN: Is that right? MAN: Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He was fixing it for us. DEAN: (concerned) Nice people. MAN: Yeah. DEAN: So, how long till you’re up and runnin’? MAN: Sundown. DEAN: Really. (He thinks about it for a minute.) To fix a brake line? (The man nods.) I mean, you know, I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you up and running in about an hour. I wouldn’t charge you anything. GIRL: You know, thanks a lot, but I think we’d rather have a mechanic do it. DEAN: Sure. I know. (He pauses.) You know, it’s just that these roads. They’re not real safe at night. (The couple exchange a look.) GIRL: I’m sorry? DEAN: I know it sounds strange, but, uh—you might be in danger. MAN: (annoyed) Look, we’re trying to eat. Okay? DEAN: Yeah. (He looks disappointed. The couple seems worried by DEAN.) You know, my brother could give you this puppy dog look, and you’d just buy right into it.

In a situation where Scotty knows the full truth, and is involved in the manipulation of these people into becoming sacrifices to their god, luring them to what they believe is safety but is a trap... Dean couldn’t just tell these people the whole truth. So instead of just talking them into saving their own lives, or trying to help them directly, he had to sit and wait for them to be in direct danger from the scarecrow before being able to save them. Interesting in context of all the times they’ve had to confront this exact topic in s14 (and the way they’ve slowly evolved to that point over the entire series). Basically all of 14.16 was about this-- about why they just can’t tell the truth. It’s been addressed so much in recent seasons from all sorts of directions, too, in 13.01 how Dean reveals everything to the sheriff with a dead-eyed stare, to how Jack must learn to manage truth vs lies in 13.04, right the way through Jack’s “Stop lying!” in 14.20. It’s been an interesting evolution.

And here we have Chuck’s pet themes, too:

Stacy: Sweetheart, that’s what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good. The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one.

And the townspeople know what they’re doing is horrific:

SCOTTY: You don’t understand, Harley. All of us here—It’s our responsibility to protect the town. HARLEY: I understand. Better than all of you. I’m the one that gives ‘em directions. I’m the one that sends ‘em down to the orchard. SHERIFF: Harley, please. HARLEY: We all close our doors. Look the other way. Pretend we can’t hear the screams. But this is different, this—this is murder. STACY: It’s angry with us. Already the trees are beginning to die. Tonight’s the seventh night of the cycle. Our last chance. HARLEY: If the boy has to die, the boy has to die. But why does it have to be her?

Meanwhile, Meg learns plenty about Sam, but still she can’t stop Sam from turning around and going back to save Dean when he’s in danger:

MEG: I love my parents. And they wanted what’s best for me. They just didn’t care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart. But not smart enough to scare away a husband. (SAM smiles.) It’s just…because my family said so, I was supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead. (SAM stares at her.) I’m sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know. SAM: No, no, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before, that I was road-tripping with? (MEG nods.) It’s, uh, it’s kind of the same deal. MEG: And that’s why you’re not riding with him anymore? (SAM shakes his head. MEG raises her beer bottle.) Here’s to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard. But at least we’re living our own lives. And nobody else’s.

and

DEAN: Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life. SAM: Are you serious? DEAN: You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I—anyway….I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy. SAM: I don’t even know what to say. DEAN: Say you’ll take care of yourself. SAM: I will. DEAN: Call me when you find Dad.

But while Sam had left on foot, made it to a bus station only to be told he’d have to wait anyway, and given the alternative of “you could buy a car” if he wanted to get there faster... he’d resigned himself to waiting it out for the bus until he suspected that Dean was in trouble. When he felt the urgency of finding Dean as opposed to the vague latent urgency of finding John, well... he was willing to steal a car to find Dean. And a big deal is made of Sam’s discomfort over this fact.

Emily manages to end the cycle of sacrifices to this god, burning the source of the town’s connection to it and effectively leaving the entire town to die, but poor Sam and Dean are still stuck in the larger sacrificial cycle of the bigger story.

And we also learn that Meg is also trapped following the orders of a mysterious “Father” she only has contact with through the creepiest telephone ever. She literally sacrifices a human being to use his blood to make the call. Her side of the conversation that we hear, though? Makes it clear in the larger context (and knowing what happens over the next 14 years in the story) that Meg is just as in the dark as Sam and Dean are about the Bigger Plans in store for everyone:

MEG: It’s not that kind of call. (She pulls out a knife and slits the van driver’s throat. She holds the bowl under his neck and lets his blood pour into it.) Thanks for the ride. (She begins stirring the blood in the bowl with her finger.) Tire quiero patem me a di. (The blood swirls around and a silver orb appears in the middle of the liquid.) It makes no sense. I could’ve stopped Sam. Hell, I could’ve taken them both. Why let them go? (She pauses, seemingly listening to someone the audience cannot hear.) Yes. (She pauses again.) Yes. (She pauses one more time.) Yes, Father. (The screen fades to black.)

I could’ve stopped Sam. Hell, I could’ve taken them both. Why let them go?

She doesn’t, as far as we know, get a direct answer. Just more orders. And for us, from way out in the future at this point, who know how little Azazel (her father) himself knew about the larger plans beyond his own role in messing with Sam and Dean Winchester, the apocalypse, and now Chuck’s hand in all of it? Heck, it’s spirals all the way down. Sacrifice, manipulation, and following orders, all part of the Grand Plan of the entire universe.

#spn 1.11 #spn 14.20 #spn 13.01 #spn 13.04 #spn 14.16 #spn 12.18 #because these themes happened then too in another variation of the microcosm of the whole #winchester family dynamics #lies and damn lies #it's spirals all the way down #s14 hellatus rewatch #spiders georg of the tnt loop #that's what free will is #since they literally do not even have a concept of how badly they're all being manipulated yet D:#this is all so far above their current paygrade but they're learning fast... at least it seems like it in s1 #if only they knew then what they know now...#what a freaking epic journey to enlightenment they'e yet to live :')

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sophygurl · 6 years ago

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300 Fox Way - let’s unpack the household a bit

One thing I want to take a closer look at regarding 300 Fox Way in The Raven Cycle is what the composition of the household actually is, and what their history and relationship dynamics are because it’s not all that clear. And I just love them all so much, and love the idea of the house and household so much, so I just wanna know everything we can possibly know about them!

Here are some things we know, or can assume or guess, about the makeup and personal dynamics of 300 Fox Way:

Maura, Calla, and Persephone came together from separate points and formed the 300 Fox Way household when they were fairly young (or at least when Maura and Calla were young - Persephone’s age, like everything else about her, is pretty vague and there are hints that no one really knows how old she is which makes me think she might be older than the rest)

At some point in time Jimi joined the household, and was either already with Orla then, or Orla was born there, or possibly Orla at some point lived elsewhere and joined her mom and the others later in life. All we know for sure is that Orla had been there are least since her teen years as per BLLB chapter 30: “Orla had gone through a period in her teens of telling everyone what their auras said about them. She had told Blue that her aura had meant she was short. She had been a pretty awful teenager.”

Also, Orla is at least 21 years old, as that’s the reason given for Gansey asking her along on the boat trip. I’m guessing she can’t be much older than that since she is continuously flirting with teenage boys and this isn’t seen as particularly creepy, and she also still has a pulse on the high school social scene.

Side note: in BLLB chapter 13, Blue says that Orla “was still friends or ex-girlfriends with her entire class” - paying attention to word choice here, it doesn’t say friends or ex-friends, nor friends or ex’s. Is Orla bi? Did she date girls in high school? Food for thought.

Blue was born into the household, and we get the sense that all of the above mentioned women were around since she was a small child and helped in the raising of her. I would guess the same would be true of Orla, and that these two were raised more or less as siblings, hence their sibling-like rivalry with one another. What cracks me up is the sibling-like relationship Maura and Orla seem to have! Maura is often snotty towards Orla, which may or may not be due in part to her motherly protectiveness of Blue. But it also seems their personalities clash a bit - Maura liking to be in charge and Orla liking to go rogue.

Neeve comes to stay with them at the start of The Raven Boys, and after she’s gone and they find Gwenllian she joins the household.

Artemus is the only male we ever hear about living at Fox Way

Although The Gray Man does seem to stay overnight sometimes

It also seems that Orla often entertains men

There are possibly other women who live at Fox Way, or who have at one point in time lived there, or who stay there sometimes, or who just come and go a lot during the day.

These possible people are maybe related to Maura and Jimi, or maybe to others of the household, or maybe are just referred to as family due to emotional closeness.

Jimi is Maura’s sister - most likely full sister as Blue makes a point of referring to Neeve always as a half-aunt and Jimi as just an aunt

Blue also never refers to Calla or Persephone as aunts in the way you might call a close family friend an aunt, so I think Blue is very precise about what she calls her family members. So Jimi is a full aunt, Neeve is a half-aunt, Orla is a cousin, and there may or may not be other aunts and half-aunts and cousins around.

The reason I say maybe about other family members/household members is that while Blue is precise about what she calls her family members, she also definitely does exaggerate when it comes to counting the people who live in or hang out in her house. Hence, it’s difficult to tell exactly who all might live there or be there a lot.

Some of the things Blue says about the makeup of her family/household:

TRB chapter 1: “In Blue’s intensely clairvoyant family, she was a fluke, an outsider to the vibrant conversation her mother and aunts and cousins held with a world hidden to most people.” - this seems to imply that she has multiple cousins, in addition to multiple aunts, although Orla is the only cousin she ever names.

TRB chapter 3: “There was school for Blue and work for some of the more productive (or less intuitive) aunts...” - again the implication of multiple aunts, unless Blue is referring to all of the adult women in the house as aunts in this instance.

Side note about jobs in the household: We know that Calla has a job outside the house working some kind of office job at Aglionby Academy. Orla seems to be in charge of the psychic hotline she put in, Neeve had her books and TV show, Persephone had her PhD work, and Jimi apparently has a job that requires her to sometimes have a night shift but I don’t believe we’re told what that is. It’s not clear what, if anything, Maura might have done beyond the readings or if any of the other possible inhabitants of the house had outside jobs.

TRB chapter 19: “Inside, every room was occupied with cousins and aunts and mothers.” - an example of Blue presumably exaggerating the number of people in the house.

Then again in chapter 20: “There are three hundred and forty-two people who live in this house and they all want to be in this room.” - A clear exaggeration this time lol

In TRB chapter 22, Blue refers to Neeve as “one of” her half-aunts, and since she only ever refers to Jimi as an aunt, we’re meant to think she has other half-aunt’s out there too. This makes me wonder - from the same side of the family as Neeve or from the other parent? How many?

TDT chapter 26: “She stepped over two small girls (she wasn’t certain who they belonged to) playing with tanks in the middle of the hall and snuck past a sort of possible second cousin carrying two lit candles.” - none of this is described as being out of the ordinary and implies a few things -

small girls can often be found playing in the house - relatives? relatives of other household members? friend’s kids? client’s kids? did the girls bring the tanks or does Fox Way keep tanks around for little girls who come over to play with?

a possible second cousin means there are, in fact, other relatives hanging about. Assuming it is a second cousin, that would be Maura’s cousin? On Neeve’s side or the other side? How many second cousins does she have? Blue is always so casual about all of this - just gobs of female relatives and family friends so she doesn’t even bother finding out exactly who they are or how she’s related to them like?! Come on - help me out here Blue!

BLLB chapter 17: “Plus, Trinity - Jimi’s sister or cousin or friend - had brought over about one thousand little cousins or something to make soap.” - Blue, being vague as always, also exaggerating again. But aha! Another named family member of some kind.

If Trinity is possibly Jimi’s sister or cousin, but not Maura’s, would that make her a half-sister or half-cousin and my hypothesis that Jimi is Maura’s full sister is wrong? My guess is that Trinity is a close friend of Jimi’s who is like family the way Calla and Persephone are like family. But who knows!

Gansey also says, in BLLB chapter 43, “He found Calla and Jimi and Orla and two other young women he didn’t recognize in the kitchen.” Again, the implication that there are multiple women who are a part or semi-part of this household who are not named/generally talked about. Relatives? Family friends? Neighbors? Clients?

We’re not sure about where any male relatives (other than Artemus eventually) might be, but Blue quips in TDT chapter 13 that “It’s like boot camp. They can’t hack it. Poor things.” Presumably none of the women of Fox Way who have had children have had sons, but what about the fathers or uncles or male cousins, etc,? Not even any close male friends (at least until the Gangsey enter Blue’s life)?

We’re also not sure what happened to Blue’s grandmothers, but in the same chapter as the above quote about the men in the family, Blue tells Gansey they both died and that her mom always said they’d died of meddling. This is clearly not a serious answer, so that leaves more questions.

300 Fox Way and things related to it are often referred to in terms of belonging to Maura or to “the Sargent’s” - this could be due to Blue’s own perspective, or perhaps because Maura is the unofficial head of the household, or because there are more Sargent’s than non-Sargent’s in the household (Maura and Blue for sure, and presumably Orla and Jimi share the same last name although this is never specified). Examples:

The car:

TRB chapter 6: “His watch looked as if it cost more than her mother’s car...” - not the family car, or the household car as it is sometimes described. Does Maura own the car and everyone gets to use it, or is this just a nice shorthand?

TRB chapter 43 - Calla says that Neeve “scuttled the car” - this time it’s more generically referred to as just the car.

TDT chapter 48 - “Calla removed the keys to the Fox Way car from her pocket.” - from Blue’s pov, it is now the Fox Way car and not her mother’s, but could this be because her mother is currently missing and/or because Calla was the one driving it at the time?

TDT chapter 54 - described as “the shared Fox Way vehicle.”

The house:

TDT chapter 6 “Sitting on the floor of her mother’s kitchen, Blue glared up at her older cousin.” - her mother’s kitchen might imply that Maura owns the house, or, as with the car example, might just show that Blue thinks of household things as belonging to her mom.

None of the women at Fox Way were born in town or on the corpse road - so they’re all imports to the community. We know Maura (so presumably Jimi and possibly Neeve although it seems she did not grow up with Neeve) hails from West Virginia, but I don’t think we get any clues about where the other ladies come from originally. Jimi and Orla go to stay with friends in WV towards the end of TRK, which is further implication that they’re from the same area as Maura, and likely Maura and Jimi grew up together as siblings.

The Bedroom situation:

Persephone has her own room -

TRB chapter 11 “Persephone was a poor but energetic sleeper; her midnight shouting and nocturnal leg paddling ensure she never had to share a room.”

Blue has her own room - her room is described many times as only hers, never a mention that she shares it or has ever shared it with anyone. She has privacy there and autonomy to decorate it as she wishes.

Maura has her own room

TDT chapter 57 “The Gray Man checked out of Pleasant Valley Bed and breakfast and placed his suitcase just inside the door of Maura’s bedroom.”

Also the prologue of BLLB has Blue and Calla going through the things in Maura’s room.

Orla - does she have her own room? If not, who does she share with?

Neeve, and then Gwenllian, lived in the attic by themselves. Artemus lived in the kitchen closet by himself (ha!).

Calla and Jimi share a room - this is at first posed as owing to there not being a lot of rooms in the house, but it seems as if everyone else has their own room. You’d think that if anyone was going to be forced to share, it would be the children - Orla and Blue. So why Calla and Jimi? Why doesn’t one of them live in the attic if it’s habitable? Couldn’t one of them taken over the phone/sewing/cat room? We know there is some story about Jimi having had once punched Calla. We know Jimi is normally very sweet and compassionate. We know that Calla is a fighter and generally a gruffer person. There are perhaps some hints that Calla is gay? So? Are Calla and Jimi lovers? WHY IS THIS NEVER TALKED ABOUT! I need this, Maggie!

Some other random tidbits:

From the Christmas short story, we see that they celebrate the holiday in their usual hodgepodge way of accommodating all of their various personality and cultural background differences. There is of course a lot of pagan-influenced stuff. From Persephone’s Estonian background we have the hay under the Christmas tree. There are lots of sort of traditional Christmas things such as lights around the windows outside and fruitcake. But there are also mentions of some Kwanzaa traditions such as the black, red, and green flag pointing east. This leads me to believe that all of the headcanons about at least one person in the household being black is not just a headcanon. I think there is enough evidence that Calla is black for this just to be canon at this point. I personally think of both Jimi and Orla as being described in ways that lead to them very plausibly being black, as well. Whether this makes Maura and Blue black as well depends somewhat on if you agree with my hypothesis that Jimi and Maura are full siblings. As a white lady, take anything I say on this matter with a hefty grain of salt, but I definitely read Calla as black and the Sargents as quite possibly not-white. Persephone, otoh, is pasty as shit.

I’ve got a whole thing about the physical descriptions of the house to make at some point, as well as a Maura/Calla/Persephone friendship analysis, some fun Orla/Blue sibling meta, some Blue and her mom’s stuff, and there will be more about FW whenever I get around to making my “questions I still have/mysteries yet unsolved” post. Any requests??

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