#just watched the two new episodes with my husband and he had to take the remote away because I kept pausing it and theorizing and then

[notimminent]

My reaction whenever anything slightly Doctor Who is mentioned in my general vicinity

[xoxo-sarah]

If the Roles Were Reversed

My Wife part 2

Part 1

↝a/n: I have been given so much love for the first part and I can't express how grateful I am for it. It fills me with so much joy when people express how much they like my work. I have been asked to make a part two and who am I to say no?

↝pairing: season 1!Daryl Dixon x wife!reader

↝warning: season 1 episodes 3 & 4, angst, death, arguing, gore, zombies, typical twd stuff, not proofread, Ed

|| Disclaimer: I do not own Daryl Dixon, or any character from The Walking Dead. I only own y/n and any characters I create with my own brain. ||

↝⎙ 1.25.25

Daryl Dixon masterlist

“You can't go, Daryl. Listen to me-” You threw your hands around, watching Daryl pace in front of you. The peaceful expression he once had, when he had reunited with you, was wiped clean off of his face.

He was told the news about Merle and instantly became furious. No matter how much you tried to calm him, it was no use.

His brother was out there. Daryl argued that Merle would be out there looking for him if the roles were reversed.

“Listen, there are too many.” You stepped closer, trying to make him understand, “After the racket everyone made trying to leave, I bet there’s even more now.”

“They left my brother on a roof.” You could tell he was trying his hardest not to yell at you. He was never one to take his anger out on the one person he loves more than anything in the world. He was always gentle with you, just like you deserved.

Sighing, you didn’t know how to counter that. As much as everyone who was waiting on the other side of the R.V wanted you to talk some sense into your husband, Daryl had a point. After all, he had gone out to find you, even against Merle telling him not to.

If it had been Daryl who they had left behind, you would’ve already been in the city, searching. Even if you had to go by yourself, it wouldn’t matter.

None of that changed the fact that it’s dangerous. You couldn’t let him go.

You just got him back.

“He was out of control, you know how he can get. I don’t think they had a choice.” You whispered, trying to convince yourself just as much as him.

Daryl’s nostrils flared, as he tried to calm himself. He didn’t want to lash out on you, he never did. But he was about to break. “Merle is a prick, but he’s my brother.”

With that, Daryl walked around the R.V, shoulder checking Shane, who looked disappointed that you hadn’t helped de-escalate the situation. Daryl was stubborn, there wasn’t much you could do.

Carol quickly went back to what she was doing, not wanting to seem like she was being nosey. Which didn’t do much considering everyone in the camp was waiting. After the brawl that had happened when Daryl was told about Merle, everyone was interested in how this whole situation would turn out. Everyone else tried hiding their obvious interest as Daryl came into view. You walked behind him, head hung low, defeated and slightly scared.

Daryl walked toward the box truck, ready to leave.

Rick walked over to you, “So?”

“You shook your head, “He’s not gonna change his mind. I tried.”

He nodded in understanding. Lori looked on at the interaction. She had been the one to offer Rick showing Daryl the way to Merle. She was adamant on it, but at the same time mad at him for leaving. It was almost like she was testing him, seeing if he would actually leave his family to be the heroic cop from before. She wanted him to choose her and Carl over ‘the right thing to do’.

Rick cleared his throat, “It’ll be alright,” he nodded fiddling with the gun holster before turning back around.

Glenn backed the box truck closer, Daryl impatiently standing in the back. You walked toward him when the vehicle stopped. He squinted down at you against the beating sun, watching as you climbed into the truck.

“What’re you doin’?”

“Going with you.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Four’s enough.”

You didn’t care if Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog were also going. You had stayed in the city for a while, you knew your way around. Plus, you would be going for a different reason than the rest. They were going for Merle, you were going for Daryl.

“Stay here.” His voice was softer now. Truthfully, he didn’t want anything to happen to you. You were safer at the camp, with people you had grown comfortable with in such a short amount of time. “They’ll need somebody who knows how to hunt for somethin’ to eat. Fish is gonna get old fast.” You cracked a smile at his slight humor at the situation. Still, you didn’t want him to leave.

Daryl stepped closer, bringing you into his arms, his head resting on yours. The stench of sweat, dirt, and god knows what else didn’t bother either of you. He didn’t care that you didn’t smell like the sweet shampoo he loved, and you didn’t care that he didn’t smell like the body wash that you had bought him the last time you had gone to the store, or the cologne you loved.

“Keep an eye on everybody,” He kissed your forehead, mumbling against the skin, as he stayed close. “Don’t let anyone mess with ya.”

“When do I ever?” A smile threatened to make an appearance. But it wasn’t the time. He was worried about his brother.

Rick walked by, casting a glance back at the two of you, nodding. Inhaling deeply, you moved away from Daryl, jumping down from the truck. He sent you one more look before pulling the roll-up doors down. You stood there, listening to the box truck’s engine start. You continued to stand there even after the truck faded into the distance.

-

Dale watched as you fiddled with the rag he had given you to wipe the sweat off your brow. You kept fidgeting; ever since Daryl left.

He was quick to offer you to help him keep watch, but you were elsewhere ever since you climbed onto the roof of the R.V. You were trying, Dale could tell. But he saw the gears turning in your head, greased with the terrible thought of what could happen to your husband. The thought of Daryl always overpowered any other thought.

His greyed eyebrows raised as you shot up from your seat.

“Think i’m gonna go help with the laundry. To keep myself busy.” Dale didn’t say anything, only moving out of your way so you could climb down.

Making your way to the quarry, you focused on the voices in the distance and the sharp rocks under your feet. You walked past Ed, who sat comfortably in the back of the car, smoking while keeping an eye on Carol. He glanced up, taking a drag of his cigarette. Ignoring him, you carefully navigate your way down the rocks toward where Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, and Amy sat.

“Can somebody explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?” Jacqui grumbled, watching Shane and Carl fail at catching frogs, their laughter echoing.

“The world ended. Didn’t you get the memo?” Amy wrung the water out of a shirt, flicking hair out of her face. Carol glanced back, looking at Ed. She saw you walking toward them. Sending you a small smile. “It’s just the way it is.” Her eyes fell back to her husband.

“Care for some help?” You squinted at the group through the sun beating down into your eyes. Jacqui motioned to a turned over bucket, “Please.” Giving a tightlipped smile, you sat down ,grabbing a scrub brush and a piece of clothing.

The way the women conversated put you at ease. It was familiar. People at the office that you worked at, were exactly like them.

“I do miss my Maytag.” Carol said, scrubbing clothes against the old washboard.

“I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav.” Andrea added.

“I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey.” Jacqui smiled.

Amy pouted, “My computer…and texting.”

“I miss my t.v. And wine. Especially after a long day.” You groaned, remembering the days after work; where you would come home, take your shoes off and get wine and a movie ready. Daryl would come home a little later and join you.

Your reminiscing was cut short by Andrea, “I miss my vibrator.”

Stopping your scrubbing, you looked up at her, a surprised chuckle leaving your lips.

“Ohhhhh.” “Oh my God!”

Carol glanced back at Ed, “Me too.”

You laughed harder, along with the others.

“What’s so funny?”

Just like that, the atmosphere was ruined. Ed walked down, instantly taking the joy out of the air.

“Just swapping war stories, Ed,” Andrea looked back at him, before looking over at Carol. “Yeah.”

Ed walked closer. From your spot beside Carol, you could feel Ed looming behind. Carol instinctively folded in on herself, head sinking into her shoulders.

“Problem, Ed?” Andrea glared at him.

“None that concerns you,” He took another puff of his cigarette, “and you ought to focus on your work. This ain’t no comedy club.”

Andrea huffed, plopping the brush in the tin bucket.

“Just trying to make the best out of a bad situation.” You looked at him, face blank. He stared down at you. You waited for him to say something else. Surprisingly he only blew the smoke out, throwing the butt away. He stepped back, lighting another. Rolling your eyes, you turned back to the laundry. Andrea stood, walking toward him.

“Ed, tell you what, you don’t like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here,” She threw the soaking wet piece of clothing in her hands at him.

He threw it back. Andrea gasped. “Ain't my job, missy.”

Amy stood, wanting to de-escalate the situation. She touched Andrea’s arm, “Andrea, don’t.”

“What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass, smoking cigarettes?”

You glanced at Carol, who sat quietly, still working.

“Well, it sure as hell ain’t listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what,” He motioned for Carol, who was out of her seat in a second. You grabbed her arm before she could fully stand up. You could see the fear and timidness in her eyes.

“C’mon, let’s go.” He continued to beckon her.

You stood, keeping a soft but comforting grip on her arm.

“I don’t think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed.” Andrea continued.

Carol glanced up from the ground for a split second, meeting your eyes. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble. She would be dragged back to camp by Ed if that meant nothing else would happen. She knew Ed, what he was capable of.

“And I say that’s none of your business.” Ed beckoned for Carol again. “Come on, now. You heard me.”

Carol moved away from your grip. Andrea turned to her, “Carol,”

“Andrea, please. It doesn’t matter.”

Ed glared at the interaction, “Hey, don’t think I won't knock you on your ass, just ‘cause you some college-educated cooze, alright?”

Andrea scoffed at the audacity of the male in front of her. You stepped forward, grabbing Carol by the shoulder. You weren’t about to let her go with him when he was clearly becoming hostile.

“Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later.”

You softly said her name, ignoring her husband’s glare, and stepped closer to her in a protective manner.

“So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?” Jacqui piped up for the first time since Ed walked over. “Yeah, we’ve seen them.”

Ed chuckled, “Stay out of this,” his harsh gaze pierced through his wife. “Now come on! You know what, this is none of y’all’s business. You don’t want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talkin’. Come on!”

You cringed at his words, moving in front of Carol as he walked closer. He ignored you, reaching around to grab at her arm with a harsh grip. The embarrassment was clear on her face. He pulled, knocking your balance slightly off as he yanked Carol from behind you. Her shoulder crashed into yours, feet moving in a jumble over your own.

“No. No, Carol. You don’t have-”

Carol muttered something under her breath, ignoring Andrea.

Ed swung around, spitting in Carol’s face. “You don’t tell me what! I tell you what!” His grip tightened, jagged nails biting into the soft skin of her upper arm. She whimpered quietly at the force. He raised his hand, striking her against the face. Gasping, you caught her as she fell back, grabbing her reddening cheek.

Everyone clamoured; Andrea hitting and pushing him away, you cursing him as Carol started crying. She fell further into you, as you held her protectively, hauling her away from him.

Ed was pulled back and thrown to the ground, before being dragged by the back of his shirt. Shane threw him further into to the ground, before throwing a punch, and another straight after.

“No!” Carol cried, trying to get away. Shane kept throwing punches, more skin breaking every time his fist hit Ed’s face. Carol covered her mouth, body swaying.

“Shane, stop!” “Enough! Enough!” “Just stop!”

Shane stopped, pointing a finger in Ed’s swollen and bloodied face. “You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?” He grabbed Ed’s face, squishing it in the process. “Do you hear me?!”

Ed slurred, “Yes.”

Shane let go, pointing again. “I’ll beat you to death, Ed.” With one final punch, he stood, kicking the man on the ground and walking away.

“God!” Carol cried, using strength you had never seen from her before, to break from you, running over to her husband.

-

The tension in the camp was suffocating after that. There was a tiny victory after Andrea and Amy went fishing and brought back dinner, but it was short lived. Jim had been found digging graves, which disturbed a lot of you.

Night fell and everyone began eating the fish-fry.

You smiled at Sophia as she passed the pan of fish. She was well-mannered; all thanks to Carol. She was a shy girl, but became a seemingly different kid when she was around other kids. She found friends in a world that would probably take them away before you could blink. She, along with the other kids, didn’t understand what was out there, all of the bad. They held an innocence that would be demolished in front of your eyes.

“I gotta ask you, man. It’s been driving me crazy.” One of the men that you met in the city, Morales, spoke up, directing it at Dale.

“What?”

“That watch,” he pointed at the watch on Dale’s wrist.

Dale smiled, “What’s wrong with my watch?”

Morales continued, “I see you everyday, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass.”

“I’ve wondered this myself.” Jacqui smiled.

Dale threw his hands up playfully, “I’m missing the point.”

You looked between him and his watch, the fire casting a warm gleam over it, brightening the brown leather.

“Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while.” Jacqui shrugged her shoulders.

“But there’s you, everyday, winding that stupid watch.” Morales raised his eyebrows at the old man.

“Time- it’s important to keep track, isn’t it? The days, at least. Don’t you think, Andrea? Back me up here.”

They shared a knowing look, their faces glowing in the fire from where you sat. She sent him a seemingly warning glare, but his smile didn’t falter.

“I like- I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said “I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father’s before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, not that you may forget it for a moment now and then, and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.””

Huh,” Morales nodded at the answer, not really expecting it.

Everyone sat in silence around the fire, before Amy broke it, “You are so weird.”

Laughter echoed as you took a swig of beer. It wasn’t wine, but it wasn’t pure water so it would do.

“It’s not me. It’s Faulkner, William Faulkner.”

Amy rolled her eyes at Dale.

The older man chuckled, “Maybe my bad paraphrasing.”

Amy stood, walking away from the fire. Andrea stopped her, “Where are you going?”

“I have to pee.” The younger sister raised her brows, “Jeez, you try to be discreet around here.” She quickly walked off, toward the R.V.

Dale turned to you, “What about you? You fiddle with that on your wrist.” You looked down at the bulky thing around your wrist. “Was my dog’s collar.” Dale’s smile turned sad. While rushing out of your house, you had grabbed the collar from the leash you would walk her around the block with. Her name was embroidered; a gift from Daryl when he first surprised you with a puppy.

You tightened it into a bracelet, holding her memory close. Truthfully, you had forgotten about it being on your wrist. You didn’t notice how much you fidgeted with it. Dale did, when you were on watch with him.

You didn’t think about the dog for long.

The R.V door opened, and Amy stepped out. “We’re out of toilet paper?” She yelled. Before she could get an answer, a hand grabbed her forearm from behind the other side of the door. She stood in shock as a walker moved closer to her. She screamed, feeling the walker bite down.

Your head instantly snapped up, eyes growing wide at the sight. More walkers came from each direction, limping forward. Everyone screamed, jumping up. Parents grabbed their kids, others grabbed weapons. Gunshots echoed, making your ears ring. You were quick to instinctively reach for your gun. Unfortunately, that gun was still in Glenn’s bag with no bullets.

A hand on your shoulder had you swiveling around, pushing the walker that simply snarled at you. Pushing with all your strength, you didn’t wait for it to hit the ground before you were running.

Another walker stumbled toward you from behind, dirty nails digging into your skin. This walker was closer, a stench wafting into your nose before you could push it away. You tried, but from the angle in which the walker had grabbed you, you could only push its head away, fingers avoiding its snipping teeth.

You screamed, still hearing Shane unload his gun in the distance.

Andrea wailed, watching another walker bite a gash out of Amy’s shoulder, right where her neck meets it.

The grip tightened on you, making you hiss. Their nails were long and had the bite to prove it. One final hit had the walker staggering back, grip falling off. You turned, running toward the R.V, where Shane, Lori, Carol, Morales, and their families were. More gunfire rang out.

Making it to the vehicle, you turned back, seeing Daryl and the others coming out of the woods. He was the first out, head snapping in ebery direction. The other were soon to follow.

Daryl spotted you. He looked around, making sure no more walkers were around, before running toward you. Your bodies collided, knocking the breath out of your lungs.

He pulled back, “You hurt?”

“No, i don’t think- I don’t know.”

You were in shock, your jumbled words and wide eyes proving it. You couldn’t think. You rubbed where you were scratched.

In your time since the world ended, you had hidden in the top floor of a building. If you were ever met with danger, you always had a gun or knife handy.

Tonight, you were completely unprepared.

In the dark, you couldn't tell if the skin of your arm was broken. Clinging back to Daryl, you turned your head to where Andrea laid beside Amy. Blood pooled around them. Amy’s body went limp, sending Andrea to sobs. Closing your eyes tightly, you turned back to Daryl, pushing your face into his neck. He held you close, hiding the shake in his hands.

He had heard your scream.

That’s what had him running through the woods with only you in mind, leaving the other behind.

Part 3

•2021-2025 by xoxo-sarah on Tumblr•

•My work is not to be translated, copied, modified, and/or reposted on any other site without my permission. [I don't give permission!]

Tags from the last chapter who wanted part 2: @notmirnda @vomiting-blood @i93jjk @multifandomfan @gaudesstuff @cymbalta-slut

[firstkanaphans]

Ik nothing about inn I haven't watched any shows (I'm emfkjd mains) but I am fascinated by the lore in your inn posts who is this man what is his life I need to know more gimme a primer pls and shows to watch I'm mesmerized by the energy

Oh, Anon, I would love to! Full disclaimer: I only became a fan of Inn after he joined GMMTV so everything that happened before then, I've had to piece together through sketchy Twitter posts that may or may not be accurate and an obscene amount of Instagram stalking. But these are things as I understand them:

In 2022, Inn starred in a BL called "The Miracle of Teddy Bear" where he played a teddy bear that comes to life and falls in love with its owner. It's a fantastic BL and I do recommend it (more on that below), but it's ridiculously long. 16 episodes, an hour and a half each, and surprisingly heavy subject matter for what sounds like it should be a light-hearted drama. Inn did a fantastic job—so much so that it's still hard for me to see him as anything other than an anthropomorphic teddy bear—but while the show was airing, rumors started to surface that Inn had a boyfriend (which he did).

I don't know the specifics, but the general fan perception seems to be that Channel 3 was not happy with these rumors and blamed Inn for them, which led to a rift with his management. Because of that, he left Channel 3 and moved over to GMMTV instead where he knew upon signing that he would be paired with Great, who he was friends with during university. You can listen to Great tell the whole story of how they came to be paired here (with some amusing asides from Inn).

And now for the juicy stuff...

This, my friends, is Inn's boyfriend/husband/business partner, Tie Kuhapremkit. If you couldn't tell, he's a model by trade.

Are you starting to see why I'm obsessed with them now?

I have no clue when Inn and Tie started dating—they were liking each others photos on Instagram all the way back in 2016—but what I do know is that they opened Holiday Pastry together in 2022 and started wearing matching $13k Cartier Love rings that same year. Here's some photos of them wearing the rings at their new bakery launch earlier this month.

I have not yet found a single picture of them alone together. Even in group photos, they are careful to have at least one person between them, and that lack of photos is, in itself, conspicuous. They own three businesses together. The fact that there are no photos of them is honestly impressive. (I did find a Twitter user who documents all their Lovestagrams if you want to do a deep dive.)

Inn obviously has ample motivation to keep his relationship private, but I think the reason I've become so obsessed with him and Tie is because it's such a great representation of what this industry could become if fans weren't so toxic. Not only does Inn get an IRL boyfriend, but he also gets an on-screen boyfriend who he gets paid to flirt with. And his two boyfriends get along!

Here's a picture of Great at Tie's birthday dinner (please also note how far away from Tie Inn moved to take this picture).

And here's a video of Tie accidentally walking out of the kitchen at their bakery just as Inn was hugging Great in front of their fans.

It’s all just so perfect. But unfortunately, fans are toxic and one of the most often cited reasons for GreatInn’s lack of popularity is that fact that since Inn has a boyfriend and people are aware of it, they can’t delude themselves into thinking he's with Great, which takes some of their fun away. To those people, I just say: Where is your imagination? Because GreatInn do more fanservice than every other GMMTV CP combined. Here is Inn telling everyone that he and Great practiced their NC scenes on his kitchen counter. And here is Great making sure you know that Inn has a big penis too.

As for the kids, you can watch this video of Inn explaining it himself. The kids are the biological children of his housekeeper but she was going to send them away, so Inn offered to take them in instead. Obviously, I don't know their exact arrangement, but Inn does refer to the kids as his. Like just look at these pictures. I’m melting. 

Sorry for the machine translation on the second one. It's mostly accurate except his son's names is Saifah, which means "thunder." So he's saying Saifah doesn't cry. (And also, yes. Poon has liked every single one of Inn's pictures as far back as I've scrolled—which is far. Do with that information what you will.)

Saifah and Fahsai's mom also recently had a third child that seems to be living at Inn's house as well.

In addition to all of that, Inn is also just a character in his own right. He’s sassy and spoiled and I watch every single variety show or interview he appears in because it’s always a great time. From pole dancing on Live House to being bitter it's "GreatInn" instead of "InnGreat" to complaining that Great gave him the wrong number of roses on Valentine's Day. He's just an amazing human and I am obsessed with him.

As for which shows you should watch, definitely check out WandeeGoodday. It's a GMMTV show and highlights his chemistry with Great really well. I would also recommend The Miracle of Teddy Bear—especially if you're a fan of The Eclipse because the original stories were written by the same author. However, Miracle of Teddy Bear deals with some heavy topics including child abuse so please make sure you're in the right headspace for that.

Inn and Great are currently halfway through filming their second show together, Memoir of Rati, and they're making quick time so I imagine it'll probably be on air within the next three months.

I hope this was helpful? And I hope it makes you want to watch more of his shows because he deserves all the love and support in the world.

[greensagephase]

"Made by Spider-Man himself"

Pairings: Spider-Man!Miguel O'Hara x Female!Reader Summary: After failing to find spider webs for Halloween decorations at the store, your husband surprises you. Word Count: 2.4k Warnings: fluff; established relationship, marriage; Spanish spoken, but translations are provided within text; suggestive comments, so MDNI; terms of endearment; I think that's all; this was just an idea I had the other day and needed to write it🥺 Masterlist

You sigh heavily next to Miguel, your eyes scanning every single spot on the shelves in front of you, hoping to find at least one box.

Next to you, Miguel glances at you. “Why the heavy sigh, mi vida [my life]? What are we looking for?” he asks, turning to the shelves again.

“Some spider webs for Halloween decoration to put on our front windows, but I’m too late.”

“Too late? Baby, it’s still about two weeks before Halloween.”

“I know, but people start buying as soon as the stores put things out, and the norm now is that stores start putting a holiday’s decorations like two months in advance.”

“Which is insane, by the way,” Miguel murmurs, eyes scanning for spider webs. “Are they normal spider-webs, or…?”

You sigh again and pull out your phone to show him a screenshot from some short video that seems to have come up on your feed. The video displays the LED spider webs, attached to the creator’s windows. He nods, realizing there’s nothing like that on the shelves.

“Maybe we can go to another location?” your husband offers.

You smile softly at him but shake your head. “No, mi corazón [my heart]. It would be pointless. I’m certain we won’t find them anywhere. It’s too late at this point. The video popped up last night on my feed, and again, most stores put everything out two months before the holiday, so… I’m sure every single box has been sold at this point.” You shrug and put your phone away. “Maybe next year I’ll have better luck. Do you want to go somewhere else?” you ask, already deciding that next year will be your best bet.

“No, I don’t need to go anywhere else, mi vida [my life]. I just wanted to come with you,” Miguel says as you both begin to head out of the store. He frowns, not failing to notice your little pout. “Are you sure, preciosa [precious]? We can make the drive to another location. It’s no problem.”

You smile again and take your husband’s hand, which has been brushing against yours this entire time, as you head to your car. “I’m sure, mi corazón [my heart]. Let’s just go home, okay? I’m going to make some delicious, cozy, and warm food for us.”

With a smile, Miguel pulls you closer to his side, still walking. “Alright, preciosa [precious]. Let’s go home,” he says, pressing a quick kiss to the top of your head before he opens the car door for you, always the gentleman.

A few hours later, you’re on the couch with a blanket over you while re-watching one of your favorite autumn shows in the living room. You glance towards Miguel’s workroom, wondering what he’s working on. Earlier, after having dinner and cleaning the kitchen together, Miguel told you he needed to work on something regarding the Spider Society, so you decided to settle in the living room by yourself.

Fixing your position on the couch while the intro of a new episode starts playing, you hear Miguel’s footsteps, signaling that he’s left his workroom.

“Mi vida [my life]?” Miguel says, his footsteps growing closer.

You lift yourself up, smiling just at the sound of your husband’s voice, thinking that maybe he’ll join you now and you can cuddle.

“Baby,” you start, your eyes landing on him, but freezing when you see what’s on his hands. You stare in awe. “Wait…”

Miguel grins as he walks closer to show you, displaying the item in front of you for a better view. “Are these okay, preciosa [precious]?” Miguel asks, still wondering if the amazing and sweet gesture he’s made for you is ‘okay.’

“Miggy, you made spider webs out of your own for me?” you ask softly, in awe. You look up at him as he gently hands the spider net over to you, your heart filled with so much love for Miguel, your sweet husband.

“Cualquier cosa para ti, preciosa [anything for you, precious]. I know it’s not the sam -” Miguel starts while you accept the spider web and carefully place it on the couch before lunging yourself at him, catching him by complete surprise.

“I love you!” you say, throwing your arms around him. “You’re the sweetest! What did I do to deserve you?” you ask, hugging him tightly.

Despite being caught off guard, Miguel’s arms instantly wrap around your body, pulling you closer. He smiles and lifts you up easily, he’s Spider-Man after all. Smiling, he presses his forehead to yours. “I couldn’t stand seeing mi hermosa esposa being disappointed [my gorgeous wife]. That little pout pulled at my heart strings. It always does,” he whispers, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against yours. “When we were having dinner, I remembered I’m Spider-Man and I build things. So, I figured, why not build some spider webs out of my own for my lovely wife?”

Slipping your fingers into Miguel’s dark locks, you nuzzle your own nose against him. “Eres el esposo mas dulce [you’re the sweetest husband]. So kind and loving to me — so much that you entertain my silly shenanigans,” you whisper.

Miguel hums and lift his face just to press a gentle kiss on your forehead. “It’s not silly shenanigans. You have no idea how much I love seeing you getting excited about decorating our home for the holidays.” Miguel pulls you closer before settling on the couch with you attached to him. He smiles and positions you so you’re sitting on his lap comfortably before cupping your face with his large hand. “For so many years, I went on without celebrating anything. It brings me so much joy to see you excited over the decorations and being able to decorate with you. It was a great joy to make these for you, too,” Miguel gently states, brushing his thumb over your cheek.

“You made more than one?” you whisper.

“I made you a few so we can place them all over the front of the house,” Miguel whispers back with a grin. “And the best part? We don’t need any extension cords or batteries.”

You chuckle and give Miguel a kiss on the lips, gentle and sweet. “Thank you, mi corazón [my heart]. You’re truly the sweetest.”

More than content with your reaction, Miguel grins. “Want to go ahead and put them out? I’ll get the ladder and hang them for you. I’d do it without the ladder, but…”

“We don’t need our neighbors to know they live next to Spider-Man,” you finish with a smile.

“Right. It’s our little secret,” Miguel responds, leaning forward to press another gentle kiss to your lips before the two of you collect all the spider webs Miguel made and head outside.

It doesn’t take long for Miguel to place them around the front of your shared home with your assistance, and by the end, your home looks amazing with the spider webs and the other decorations you have out. You’re so happy that you take a few pictures just for memory keeping, something you always do, while Miguel watches you fondly.

After finishing taking pictures, the two of you head back inside to warm up by cuddling on the couch, just like you were hoping. The show you were playing earlier is still going, but you don’t even care much about it at this point since you’ve re-watched like a million times anyway, so you focused on caressing Miguel’s face, who looks more than happy with the attention. He leans into your touch, his crimson eyes fluttering in delight due to your soft hands.

“I bet everyone is going to say how wonderful the spider webs look when we host the little party on Halloween,” you whisper, remembering that you both decided to host a small Halloween party for the neighbors. “I’m going to have to pay you back.”

“Mmm, yeah? What do you have in mind?” Miguel asks, his hand moving to your hip, caressing it lightly.

“Hmm, I’ll think about it,” you reply. “I have an idea,” you add, earning yourself a gentle squeeze at your hip and the sweetest, laziest smile from your husband, who you know doesn’t care if you reciprocate the kind gesture in any way since he did it out of love.

Halloween Party

Dressed in matching costumes with Miguel, your Halloween party is a success. You set up age appropriate games for the kids and made sure to have plenty of delicious food and candy, on top of what the neighbors brought over. At the end of the party, Miguel and you stand outside on the front of your home to see the last couple out for the night.

“You two have a great night. Thank you for the good time,” Mrs. García says with a smile. “It was lovely!”

Miguel and you smile, standing next to each other. You feel your husband’s arm around your waist from the back, his warmth seeping into your own body.

“It was a pleasure, Mrs. García. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” you reply, pleased with yourself since the small group of people you invited seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, but those spider webs! They’re so wonderful. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where did you buy them?” the older woman asks, her husband looking at the spider webs with interest, too.

You grin, recalling that the very next day after Miguel and you hanged them, the spider webs were a point of discussion around the neighborhood. You can only guess why.

“My mom bought them for us, but I’m not sure where she got them from since they don’t have a company logo or something like that,” you lie, finding it easy to do so because it’s not the first time that you’ve been asked where you got them from. Of course, you had to fabricate some lie because you can’t tell them your husband made them.

“That’s a shame. They’re so wonderful. I was thinking,” Mrs. García starts, staring at one of the spider webs. “They look so much like our superhero’s. It’s as if they were made by Spider-Man himself.”

You grin at that, feeling Miguel’s hand squeeze your side. “They do, don’t they?” Miguel says quietly. “But my mother-in-law got them for us. Where from? Solo Dios sabe [only God knows].”

After cleaning up and completing your night routines, you lay next to Miguel on your shared bed. You can’t help but stare at him with full admiration and love. You find yourself doing that often, wondering how everything led to this beautiful life with this beautiful and gentle man. Smiling, your eyes move over that beautiful chiseled face, loving how cute your husband looks with his reading glasses. You watch him flip the page on his current read, seemingly unaware of his wife’s eyes.

You can’t help yourself — he looks so handsome laying on his side of the bed, shirtless with grey sweatpants as bottoms.

“¿No te han dicho que es de mala educación cuando te le quedas mirando a alguien [Haven’t they told you it’s rude to stare?]?” Miguel asks, smirking softly and looking at you.

And God, no matter how long you’ve been together, that smirk and voice does things to you. Your cheeks feel hot and suddenly you turn shy under your husband’s gaze. “I was just admiring the view,” you confess softly. “Can’t help it.”

Still smirking, Migue places his book on the nightstand and removes his reading glasses. In seconds, he has you straddling his lap with ease. He wraps his arms around your waist, his hands caressing your sides. “Mm, I find myself doing that too often with my lovely wife,” Miguel whispers.

You smile and cup Miguel’s face. “Is that so?”

“Mhm, so much. I’d be a trillionaire if I was paid for looking at you,” he replies, making you chuckle.

“Thank you,” you whisper. “For making the lovely spider webs. I love them so much!” You press a soft kiss to his lips. “You have no idea how many compliments they got and how many times I had to lie about my mom buying them for me, so they wouldn’t get any ideas about where they came from.”

Squeezing your sides, Miguel grins. “Anything for you, preciosa [precious]. And it seems our little white lie worked. Hopefully no one thinks too hard about them, like Mrs. García.”

“’Made by Spider-Man himself’ — she got it right on the head,” you whisper, amused before leaning forward again and pecking Miguel’s lips. “I’m gonna have to thank Spider-Man himself for lending me a hand.”

“Hmm, yeah? I’ve heard he loves cookies and sweet tamales [I think everyone knows these; Latin dish],” Miguel replies in a whisper, brushing his lips against yours, still holding you close. “Perhaps you can thank him like that, with something sweet.”

“Ah, ah,” you tease. “I did have a feeling he has a sweet tooth.”

“The worst,” Miguel answers, grinning. “He loves sweet things… Like his sweet wife, who has the sweetest lips, voice, and….” Miguel trails off and begins to pepper your face with gentle kisses.

“Hmm, what were you going to say there, arañita [little spider]?” you ask, amused, while Miguel continues showering you with kisses.

Pulling back, Miguel smiles. “The sweetest soul I know,” he whispers.

“I don’t think that’s what you were going to say.”

Miguel chuckles. “No, but it’s the truth all the same. You’re the sweetest and I’m so thankful to be yours,” he adds, his hands moving to your ass, squeezing gently, before leaning forward to kiss you slowly, tenderly, and lovingly on the lips.

You kiss him back, still cupping his face. “I love you,” you whisper against his lips when you pause the kiss just to tell him that.

“Y yo a ti, mi vida [and I you, my life],” Miguel replies in a whisper. “Te amo [I love you].”

You kiss again before you pull back, feeling something poking you. You grin. “Spider-Man really does love sweet things, hm?”

“Mhm, he has a craving for something sweet right now,” Miguel answers.

���Did you know Spider-Man's wife loves it when her husband wears grey sweatpants?”

“I may or may not know that,” Miguel murmurs, using a hand to caress your cheek with a mischievous grin.

“Something tells me you do know,” you only manage to say before your husband rolls over on top of you to get his sweet tooth satisfied.

A/N: Thank you for reading!!

Alondra❤️

[dixons-sunshine]

Together | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: You and Daryl were thousands of miles away from your home. In an unknown country filled with new threats, you knew that you had to fight for your life—and hour unborn child’s. And you knew that you eventually had to tell Daryl about it, too.

Genre: Angst? Fluff? I don’t even know.

Era: France

Warnings: Swearing, canon typical violence, pregnancy, probably inaccuracies in this regarding the episode.

Word count: 1k

A/N: Requested by @holdmytesseract. This is the request you sent my way a long time ago lol. I hope you like this! Also, I’m sorry if this might be inaccurate regarding the episode. I haven’t watched it in a hot minute and did not have the time to watch it again, so I had to improvise on what I remembered.

Everything was happening so fast. One moment, you and Daryl were walking away from the monastery, your respective bags slung over your shoulders and well on your way to… you did not know, but you knew you were going away from the community of nuns. The next moment, you and Daryl were rushing back towards the very same community, weapons raised and helping to fight off the onslaught of bad people that had infiltrated their defences.

Admittedly, although you were focused on helping the nuns defend the only home they had left in the world run by the undead, your mind kept wandering back to the fact that you needed to take as little damage as possible. You could not get hurt. Not now, and not anytime in the near future. You could not risk it—your baby’s safety depended on it.

Your baby. Those words still felt so surreal for you to say. Under normal circumstances, you would have been over the moon with joy at the prospect of starting a family, but the realization had come at the worst of times. You were in a different country, thousands of miles away from your home and your family with seemingly no way of getting back, so the news did not exactly serve to make anyone feel better, and it would only ensure that more stress get placed on not only your shoulders, but Daryl’s as well.

It was your worry that had prohibited you from telling the crossbow-wielding archer of his impending fatherhood, and now you were in yet another life-threatening situation with no guarantees of survival. You promised yourself that if you lived through this, the first thing you would tell Daryl was that you were pregnant.

With your gun raised in front of you, sister Isabelle followed closely behind you as you rushed further into the garden. Your eyes momentarily found your husband’s figure fighting off one of the guys, and although your every instinct told you to go help him, you knew you couldn’t. Isabelle had asked you to help her ensure that Laurent stayed safe, and you were not one to unnecessarily endanger a child’s life.

“Where did you say you put him?!” you yelled to sister Isabelle over the deafening sounds of gun shots being fired, shooting an approaching walker in the head.

Isabelle pulled you aside to hide behind one of the walls when a bullet flew dangerously close to the two of you, her heart practically beating out of her chest. “Towards that building with that secret room where you and Daryl saw our weapons.”

“That’s on the other side of this place!” you exclaimed, your eyes widening as your mind scrambled to think of any sort of plan to get there.

However, your thoughts got cut off by the feeling of someone harshly gripping your shoulder and pulling you back. Unwillingly, a scream left your throat, one that got silenced when a blade got pushed against your neck.

The man’s breath fanned over your cheek, but his attention shifted away from you and towards Isabelle. “Try anything, and the bitch gets it,” he voiced in a thick French accent, deliberately speaking English so that you could understand him as well.

As quickly as the man got his grip on you, it fell away just as quickly. The knife fell from his hand and to the floor with a dull clink, and the man fell down to the floor, nearly taking you with him but you jumped forward just in time. You turned around and saw Daryl standing there, his cerulean eyes filled to the brim with both worry and rage.

You quickly turned around to look at Isabelle. However, you did not even have to say anything. She simply nodded at you, an understanding look in her eyes.

“I’ll go.” With that, she turned around and hurried away, leaving you alone with Daryl.

Daryl’s eyes locked with yours when you spun back around to gaze at him. He gently pulled you behind the wall to relative safety. “Are you—”

“I’m pregnant,” you blurted out, taking both you and Daryl by surprise. You, because you had not intended to say that at that moment, and Daryl because he had not even known you were with child.

“What?” he asked, bewildered and taken off guard.

“I’m pregnant,” you repeated, tears welling up in your eyes. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I was so scared of how you’d react. I just wanted to let you know in case something happened.”

Despite the shock still lingering, and the slight anger at the fact that you had kept it from him, he knew there were far more pressing matters at hand. And despite the situation you both were in, he could not help the small feeling of happiness at the news. However, there would be time to discuss everything later. Right now, his only concern was keeping you safe. His mind went into overdrive, and he was in full protective mode.

“Ain’t nothin’ gon’ happen to ya,” he spoke gruffly. He reloaded his gun and sent you a pointed look. “Stay close to me at all times, okay? We’re gettin’ outta this. You’re gonna be alright. M’gonna make sure of it.”

Despite the tenseness of your predicament, you managed to give him a small, genuine smile. You nodded and made sure to cock your own gun, preparing yourself for what was to come.

“Okay,” you replied softly.

Together, both you and Daryl braced yourselves to keep fighting back against the bad people. You both pushed through and rushed towards where you saw Laurent and Isabelle, and despite the fact that you were battling for your own survival, you felt oddly at peace.

This, you could do. Fighting for your life was not something new to you. You had done so against many forces, from the Governor, to the Terminus people, to Negan, the Whisperers and so many more. You would not go down easily.

And although you and Daryl had a lot to talk about, you knew that everything would work out in the end. It always did. Your love for Daryl was strong, and his love for you might even be stronger. The two of you would get through this, and you would do it together.

[curseofbunny]

things on my miraculous rewatch that i am noticing that are just. funny and help make things make sense in my brain

chloe and alya are both reaaaaally big into superheroes, alya with majestia as we all know and chloe not seeming to have had a favorite until ladybug/replacing her previous favorite entirely with ladybug if she had one, and chloe and sabrina being cosplayers.

it also seems like chloe is really good at making props and pretty passable at video editing, given malediktator and her 'lair' up on the roof/balcony. all of that background props for her little documentary (which is as endearing to me as it is lightly cringe-worthy, i love chloe so so much) were handmade and honestly looked really good, they must have taken aaaaages to make. me and my friend were also noticing that max looked upset during the 'making fun of chloe' scene in malediktator after chloe got hurt by sabrina laughing at her, and we were joking that he was disappointed it got turned off because the editing was good

kim really liked the alec cataldi's show 'alternative truth' in kwamibuster. him liking and looking up to alec cataldi makes so much sense for why his character is the way it is, why he does the dares and the teasing. it's really interesting seeing how the childhood bullying/harassment alec went through shaped his life, and then he in turn continued the cycle on a massive scale to the point where it could be said that he influenced more people to act just like him. i am not even coming into this from a salt perspective, it's entirely just fascinating that in that little bit from a s3 episode we can see part of why he is the way he is

chloe watching the news is such a common experience she's a news girliieeee i love that for herrr

accidentally got a fixation on how the tv studio in universe works. alec cataldi is a catty gay guy who runs a bunch of random slot-filler garbage tv. nadja chamack is a (seemingly single) mother, friend of sabine's, who is the primary news anchor. clara contard is her primary correspondent, who according to the wiki has an unnamed boyfriend/husband (i'm going to go with boyfriend) and unnamed son. obsessed with these three they're so good i love the ~vibes~ of the station crew

all problems in the later few seasons of the show would be lessened greatly if we let Luka Murder Bob Roth!!!

psychomedian should have been a season 2 episode. the plot, the vibes, the marinette characterization. everything besides the flashbacks in the beginning scream earlier actions. also they used flashbacks from the puppeteer 2 in that episode. which makes me confused. so the end lesson for mari in that ep was that adrien isn't good with jokes, and kind of wants to try being more serious because the girl he liked wasn't into funny guys. by using a clip from that episode, and specifically the clip where they're talking from the end of it from that same conversation where he says he doesn't get jokes very well, mari in psychomedian then extrapolates from a single video mention that nino showed adrien that clearly adrien is a huge huge superfan of harry's, and proceeded to hype herself up to try and do a comedy routine that is so specific and embarrassing that i physically couldn't watch that. girl do you even listen to the words from his mouthhh. i would have had less issues with this if that flashback didn't make me go "huh whats that from i've never seen that episode" and paused in the first minute of psychomedian to go watch the puppeter 2, then circled back to psychomedian, and only one of those episodes felt like they deserved to take place in the latter half of the show. on god.

back to the news crew tee em but this retroactively gives a lot of insight to me on how chloe and kim could have been friends and how their friend group was structured before a combination of marinette/ladybug and rampant akumatizations and teenage hormones destroyed the friend group over the course of season one and beginning of season two, but like. chloe and sabrina long term friends with their own particular dynamic and sabrina's crush on chloe. chloe is a news girlie and a superhero fan but keeps her cosplays on the low, only sharing that part of her life with sabrina. kim likes watching tv, specifically the more gossipy/gameshow type things. max is glued to kim's side and is his very close friend, and probably also liked working on nerd stuff with sabrina. alix was probably lumped in because she's athletic and friends with kim, and even if she isn't chloe's biggest fan they can still commiserate about being rich girls together. i know i'm extrapolating and halfway just wishing this was how it was, but it really did feel like that was the it group until they started slowly breaking off and chlobrina got isolated and then chloe got further isolated. in a perfect world this friend group would have stuck together and lila just joined the fold as a baby it girl trying to show off.

i'll shush for now but those are some babbles thank you for letting me refuse to shut the fuck up *bows* *bows*

[rafedarling]

𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

pairing: actor!rafe cameron x actress!reader

summary: after a few months of marriage, actors rafe and you decide to give your fans an intimate glimpse into your lives through a podcast. during the episode, you both share details about your relationship, clear up rumors, and reflect on how their lives have changed since getting married. as you and rafe casually chat about your future, subtle hints about starting a family emerge, creating anticipation about an exciting new chapter in your lives. your love, chemistry, and heartfelt moments shine through, making their bond unmistakable.

warning(s): english is not my native language. fluff, sweet moments, hints of pregnancy(?), intimate and emotional conversation.

au: like, reblog, comment and feedback are much appreciated. taglist | tagging: @rubixgsworld @rafeyslamb @bisexualcvnt @tracymbcm @maybankslover @stuffyownswrld @mileyraes @enjoymyloves @akobx @noobmazter69 @xoxohoneymoongirl @wearemadeofstardust0 @saviorcomplexrry @littlelamy

The camera’s red recording light blinked on, signaling the start of something you and Rafe had talked about for weeks. It was your first podcast together—an idea that had sprung up during a quiet evening at home, when both of you had been reflecting on how much your fans adored seeing you two together off-screen. You were both actors, co-stars in several hit films, but it was your real-life relationship that captivated audiences the most. Everyone wanted to know what married life was like for two of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

“Alright, we’re live,” Rafe said, his voice warm and easy as he leaned back in his chair, one arm resting behind you. He always had this effortless charm, and being in front of the camera—whether for work or something personal like this—seemed second nature to him.

You smiled at the camera, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “Hey, guys! Welcome to the first episode of In the Limelight with me and my amazing husband, Rafe.” You threw him a playful look, and he grinned in return.

“Yep, we’re finally doing this,” Rafe added, his tone light and casual. “We’ve been talking about starting this podcast for a while now, and after a few months of marriage—and a ton of fan questions—we thought, why not let you all in on what’s really going on with us?”

You both exchanged a glance, silently acknowledging the curiosity that had been swirling around your relationship since the moment your engagement was announced, followed by your wedding and now, of course, the inevitable rumors that always followed celebrity couples.

“So,” you began, pulling out your phone where you had saved some of the fan-submitted questions. “Let’s jump right in. First question is a classic: ‘How’s married life treating you two?’”

Rafe chuckled, reaching over to take your hand. “I’ll take this one,” he said, squeezing your fingers gently. “Honestly? It’s been amazing. I mean, I know everyone says the first year is the hardest, but for us, it’s been pretty smooth. I think it helps that we were friends for so long before we got married.”

You nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. “Yeah, I think the fact that we already knew each other so well made the transition easier. We already knew what it was like to work together, to spend crazy hours on set, and to deal with the ups and downs of Hollywood life. But marriage… it’s brought a whole new level of closeness.”

Rafe smiled at you, that sweet, loving look that always made your heart skip a beat. “It’s the little things, you know?” he continued, his voice softening. “Like coming home after a long day of filming and just… being together. We don’t need to do anything fancy. It’s those quiet moments—cooking dinner, binge-watching movies on the couch—that make everything feel right.”

You laughed softly, resting your head on his shoulder for a moment. “Yeah, we’ve definitely embraced the whole ‘stay-at-home’ vibe. It’s funny because people probably think our lives are all red carpets and glamorous events, but the reality is… we love just being home.”

Rafe kissed the top of your head, his arm wrapping around you a bit tighter. “Exactly. It’s about finding peace in the chaos.”

You looked back at the camera, your smile widening. “So, to answer that question—married life has been pretty perfect so far.”

Rafe leaned in toward the mic, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret with the audience. “Well, except for the fact that Y/N snores.”

Your eyes widened in playful shock as you turned to him, smacking his arm lightly. “I do not snore!”

He laughed, raising his hands in defense. “Okay, maybe not ‘snore,’ but you definitely make these cute little noises when you sleep.”

“Nice save,” you teased, rolling your eyes at him. But there was no denying the warmth that filled you when Rafe brought up these intimate, everyday moments. It reminded you of how special your bond truly was.

The questions kept coming in, most of them light and fun. You and Rafe shared stories about working on set together, how you navigated hectic filming schedules, and how you always made time for each other no matter how busy life got.

But then came the question that made both of you pause, even though you’d expected it.

“Alright, here’s one we’ve seen floating around a lot lately,” you said, glancing at Rafe before reading it aloud. “‘There’s been a lot of talk on social media lately about Y/N being pregnant. Can you guys confirm or deny?’”

Rafe let out a small chuckle, running a hand through his hair. “Ah, the baby question. We knew it was coming.”

You smiled softly, feeling the weight of the question settle between you. It wasn’t a complete surprise—rumors had been swirling for weeks now, especially after a few public appearances where you’d been wearing looser outfits. It seemed like everyone was waiting for the announcement, but you and Rafe hadn’t decided if you were ready to share that part of your lives just yet.

“For now,” you began, choosing your words carefully, “we’re just enjoying being married and taking things one step at a time. But…”

Rafe interjected, his voice gentle but firm. “But, yeah, we’ve definitely talked about the future. And when the time is right, we’ll be more than ready for that next chapter.”

You turned to him, catching the way his eyes softened when he talked about the future. It wasn’t the first time you’d had this conversation—late-night talks in bed, lying side by side, imagining what it would be like to have a family. It was something you both wanted deeply, and while you weren’t officially sharing any news, you both knew it was only a matter of time before that dream became a reality.

The fans were sharp—they’d probably pick up on the subtle hints you were dropping. And honestly, you were okay with that. There was a certain excitement in knowing that your fans were part of this journey with you, even if they didn’t know all the details yet.

Rafe glanced at you, his thumb gently brushing over your knuckles. “We’ve got some pretty big plans for the future,” he said, his voice taking on that playful, teasing tone again. “But we’ll let you guys know when the time comes.”

You laughed softly, leaning against his shoulder with a smile, savoring the moment. The warmth between you two was palpable, even through the screen, and you knew that your fans would feel it, too.

“Yeah,” you added, “we’ll keep you guys posted. But for now, we’re just really happy with where we are.”

Rafe’s hand never left yours, and the way he looked at you, with so much love and tenderness, made your heart flutter. There was no rush—you both knew that when the time was right, everything would fall into place. For now, though, the peace and joy of simply being together were enough.

“And,” Rafe chimed in, a mischievous glint in his eye, “in the meantime, we’ve got plenty of other exciting things going on to keep us busy.”

You gave him a playful nudge. “Oh, you mean like actually doing the dishes? Because that would be pretty exciting.”

Rafe laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, fine, I’ll step up my dishwashing game. But I was talking more about the new projects we’re working on.”

You nodded, turning back to the camera. “Right! So, we do have some big news on the professional front. Rafe just signed on to do this incredible action film, and I’m working on a drama that’s been in the works for a while now.”

Rafe leaned in, clearly proud. “Yeah, Y/N’s got a lead role in a movie that’s going to blow people away. Trust me, I’ve read the script—it’s phenomenal. I’m already jealous of her co-star.”

You laughed at his fake pout, knowing exactly what he meant. “It’s just work, babe,” you teased, raising an eyebrow.

“I know, I know,” he said, his voice softening. “But it’s hard not to be a little protective, you know? I’m lucky enough to have you as my wife, so I can’t help it.”

Your heart swelled at his words, and you couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss his cheek. “You’re the sweetest. But I promise, no one compares to you.”

He smiled, that signature Rafe grin that made your knees weak even after all this time. “I’m holding you to that.”

As the conversation flowed, you both eased into talking about your careers and the delicate balance of being in the same industry while maintaining a strong, healthy relationship.

“Honestly,” Rafe said, his voice thoughtful, “the biggest challenge has been time. We’re both so busy, and sometimes it’s hard to line up our schedules. But we’ve learned to prioritize our time together. Like, when we’re both home, it’s our time. No work, no distractions—just us.”

You nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s been the key. It’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of our careers, but at the end of the day, we’re each other’s biggest supporters. We make it work because we want to.”

Rafe’s hand slid from yours to rest on your knee, a gesture that felt grounding, reassuring. “And we’ve also learned how to compromise. Sometimes that means I’m on set a little longer, and other times, she’s off filming for weeks at a time. But we always find a way to make it work.”

You smiled, thinking about how true that was. There were days when the distance felt hard—especially during long shoots in different countries—but no matter where you were, you always found time to talk, to check in, and to remind each other of what really mattered.

“That’s another question we got a lot,” you said, glancing at your phone. “How do we handle being apart for so long during filming?”

Rafe leaned forward, his eyes serious but soft. “It’s not easy, but it helps that we trust each other completely. I know that no matter where she is or what she’s doing, we’re solid. And we make the most of the time we do have together.”

“Exactly,” you added. “We also try to visit each other on set whenever possible. Even if it’s just for a weekend, those little moments make a huge difference.”

Rafe’s expression turned playful again. “And FaceTime helps. A lot.”

You laughed, nodding in agreement. “Definitely. Technology is a lifesaver.”

The two of you continued to chat about the nuances of your life together—how you balanced fame with privacy, how you navigated the ups and downs of being in the public eye, and how, at the end of the day, your relationship was built on love, trust, and a shared sense of humor.

“So,” Rafe said, glancing at the clock on the wall, “before we wrap up, we have time for one more question.”

You scanned through the remaining questions, your eyes landing on one that made your heart skip a beat. You could feel the weight of it as you read aloud, “‘What’s next for the Camerons? Any big plans for the future?’”

There was a beat of silence between you, a kind of unspoken understanding that hung in the air. You knew what the fans were really asking. They wanted to know about the next chapter in your lives—the one that, while not confirmed, was slowly taking shape in your hearts and minds.

Rafe looked at you, his gaze soft and filled with something deeper, something that made you feel completely seen. He cleared his throat, his hand still resting on your knee. “Well… without giving too much away… we’ve definitely been thinking about the future. And we’re really excited about what’s coming next.”

You smiled, feeling a warmth spread through you as you nodded. “Yeah, we have some big things planned. But we’re taking our time and making sure that when the moment’s right, we’re ready.”

Rafe’s eyes flickered with a knowing look, one that only you could interpret. “Let’s just say… the next chapter might be a little more family-oriented.”

Your heart fluttered at his words, and you couldn’t help but smile wider. The hints were subtle, but you knew your fans would pick up on them. And maybe that was okay. You and Rafe were on the verge of something new, something exciting. And while you weren’t ready to make any big announcements just yet, the thought of it—of starting a family together—was something that filled you both with a sense of joy and anticipation.

As the podcast came to a close, you both thanked your fans for tuning in and promised there would be more episodes to come. Rafe leaned over to turn off the camera, and when the red light finally dimmed, he looked at you with that same loving expression he always had.

“You ready for that next chapter?” he asked, his voice soft, but full of warmth.

You smiled, leaning into him, feeling completely at peace. “With you? Always.”

Rafe kissed your forehead, his arms wrapping around you as you sat there in the quiet of your home studio. The future was bright, and whatever came next, you knew you’d face it together—hand in hand, just like always.

[thanksbutno98]

A Little Sweetness

John Price x fem!reader

Authors note: This was tough to write because of how close to home it hits for me. I highly suggest reading the warning as I never intend my work to trigger anyone or cause an ED episode.

Summary: After Paul moves into his new flat, you and your husband, John Price, are left to discuss what truly happened to his sister in their childhood.

Warning: EATING DISORDER, body shaming, eating disorder talked about in depth, bulimia, favoritism, sexism, abusive mother, neglect, child abuse, not edited.

——————

Saturdays evenings use to be filled with parties and a night out with friends. Loud music persuading you to dance in provocative ways and the flow of alcohol to loosen you up. It was all leading to a heavy sleep when your head hit your pillow.

Now a-days loud music was the bluey theme song and milk was chugged in your home and lead to a blissful nap. With three children you were happy to be in bed by ten and asleep by eleven. Tonight was the first night that Paul, John’s father had not been here.

That morning Paul had moved into his new flat, a divorced man. He left behind happy grand children and his son who was torn up inside. The promise of new beginnings were muttered hopefully by all his children. His youngest daughter sobbed in relief over the split and asked if she’d finally have the father he always promised to be.

You and John thought you would need to occupy your children since their grandad wasn’t there to entertain them but that was not the case. Jj was playing fifa online with his friends in the living room while Evelyn had her room back after almost three weeks. Lily was fast asleep in her room leaving you and John to your own devices tonight.

John was sitting on his side of the bed with his back resting against the cushioned head board. His legs were under the covers and you had interrupted him from picking out a movie for you two to watch. He was in his pajamas already which consisted of plaid grey pants, a black t-shirt that sat forgotten on the end of the bed leaving his chest bare.

You had just slipped into it and were complimented in your choice of attire. John thought you looked breath taking in his shirt and those pink pajama pants you found on sale last week. With your hair damp from your shower and little skin patches under your eyes, you were still the most divine woman to have ever walked this earth.

“Do you think we could talk about something that might upset you?” Your words had John mindlessly putting the remote down on his nightstand and giving you his full attention.

The movie the cursor stayed on began to play lightly in the background; the two of you being subjected to the begining of ‘The Departed.’ John didn’t mind, it was the movie he was going to ask if you were okay with watching with him.

“How upset?” John asked, head tilting to the side and a tug of a smile gracing the corners of his lips.

“Your dad said something that had me a little worried. I’m not sure if it’s a sore subject, please tell me if it’s too much. I don’t want to upset you.” John’s shoulders sagged along with the mattress as you sat at the foot of the bed in front of him. You were sitting criss cross and just peeling the little gold patches from under your eyes off. Your skin looked silky soft and John attributed how young you always looked to how well you took care of yourself.

“It’s the comment he made about Sarah isn’t it.” John knew this was coming, he wasn’t a fool.

“It is. I mean do I need to ask the question? Or?” You gave John an awkward opened mouth smile. He could see you didn’t want to stick your nose where it didn’t belong but the safety of your youngest daughter had been brought up and of course you would have questions.

One of the last serious conversations Paul left on was apologizing to John about being a father who had failed him at times. In the mix of it all you were both advised to not leave Lily in Mary’s care. Through this John was told that it might end up like how things with Sarah did and you didn’t understand what that meant. The comment seemed to hit John to a point that he clammed up and was unable to give more than a few word answers.

“I don’t think it’s my place to go into detail.” John paused and grabbed the remote to mute the television.

“I don’t need you to tell me anything that’s none of my business. I respect you and especially Sarah’s privacy.” You quickly added but John already knew that about you. John knew you well enough that if something wasn’t your business you left it all alone, drama wasn’t your style.

“I know, darling. But you have a right to know some of it. You just have to promise you won’t utter a word to Sarah. It’s something to personal to her I don’t think I could look her in the eyes knowing I spilled her secret.” John’s soft expression turned into his stoic face where he wasn’t going to allow you to see how his words actually made him feel.

Shit. This was going to be bad and you knew that based off of how serious John was taking this.

“I promise. And if you need to get anything or everything off your chest I promise it’ll all be safe with me. I’d never ever say a word.” You babbled this out, knowing how sacred John’s secrets were. You would never betray his trust, but having been backstabbed and double crossed as part of his profession you understood why he could be weary at times.

“You’re the definition of a vault, my love. One of the reasons I married you.” John smiled weakly at you as a way to tell you he had no doubt in you. It was just a needed precaution. Then his face dropped, like it did the day he told you he needed to leave for a week right before Lily was born.

“My mum had a different way of punishing Sarah versus the way me, Harrison, and Grey got it. Dad would whoop us or they would have us run a mile as punishment.” John spoke nonchalantly as he recounted his childhood and how punishments were fulfilled in their home. You already knew these things but it still pained you to hear them. Knowing John was running a mile by the time he was seven when he acted up and a beating wasn’t enough to knock some sense into him.

“With Sarah. . . Well mum limited her food because she was a girl and girls should never be hit. At least that was her reasoning. She’d send Sarah to bed without dinner whenever she acted up and when mum was particularly cross she’d call Sarah fat and that clearly skipping a meal wasn’t enough to get her to not be so. . .” John looked like he was going to be sick as he tried to get himself to say the word. Clearly ‘fat’ wasn’t the taboo word but the one he was gearing up to say was the truly hurtful insult that was hurled at Sarah.

“Chubby.” John was pained to say that aloud and he hated that his sister name and that words were used so close together.

You sat there playing with the hem of John’s shirt and feeling a sickness invade your body. As a woman yourself you felt sympathetic to the topic at hand. You’d been subjected to the impossible body standards and compared yourself to them endlessly like most young girls do. It had been your own battle and journey to find what it meant to be comfortable in your skin.

The fact Sarah was your closest friend here in the UK only made it hurt worse because you truly loved her. She’d been your closest friend through every pregnancy, every deployment, each time you thought you weren’t good enough. And now here you were learning a truth about her she had and would never share with anymore.

“So when my dad said to never leave Lily in my mums care, he was telling us she’d leave her hungry.” John’s tongue poked his cheek as his eyes shifted to look down at his hands.

He was only scratching the surface of the true problem but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to tell you the whole truth. He knew you could handle it and Sarah would never know, but he wasn’t sure he was able to talk about it. John also knew deep down if anyone was to know this about her she’d want it to be you. She’d said it to John before that she wished she could tell you but the fact you disliked Mary so much would only burn the bridge fully.

“She’d really send Sarah to her room with no dinner? I thought that was something that only happened in movies.” You couldn’t help the pained and disgusted look that washed over your face. It would never occur to you to do that to your children.

Thinking back to your own childhood, food was a way you and your father had connected. Your father was a horrible cook so you learned with his guiding hand and wanted that to be your chore in the house. It took years but you liked to think you were a pretty good home cook now.

Your dad also took you out wherever you wanted to go on your birthday, the last day of school, an extremely good day, a bad day, the few times you had gotten your heart broken, and sometimes just because it made you happy.

Food had been one of his ways of showing you how special you were and you adopted it as your way of loving people. Cooking for them and spending that time to make things just right, or go out of your way to make an authentic dish from someone’s home country.

John was such a foodie it was one of the reasons he was drawn to you because you truly appreciated good food and learned the ones he loved and made them at home. Although when you first met you were still figuring things out; only being mediocre until Jj was about two. Then you were knocking recipe after recipe out of the park.

To think that your father could have sent you to bed with no dinner had never occurred to you. Yeah your dad was more of a yeller and would tell you he raised you to be better or smarter than whatever the issue was. It just for some reason never occurred to you until now how detrimental punishments like that would be on a child. It started to explain little things you always wondered about Sarah.

The memory of one of the first times you two hung out together flashing in your mind. You chose an Italian restaurant and got straight carbs for dinner and she had a salad. It ended with her ditching the salad and ordering what you had gotten because ‘fuck it, that looks good.’ And you persuaded her into getting a pizza to split and you’d take the rest home to John. She told you how perfect you were for her and you felt successful in winning her over all those years ago.

It was like Sarah needed to give herself permission to eat things. You noticed it with baked goods but especially pasta. That woman loved pasta it was hands down her favorite thing to eat but she hardly ever let herself have it. So you made her favorite pasta dish, with fresh homemade pasta, every year for her birthday and the two of you ate garlic bread, drank wine, and watched trashy tv together as her way of celebrating.

It was tradition at this point that every year that Friday or Saturday of her birthday week you’d do this. John usually joined and so did Collin Sarah’s husband. Instead of a cake Sarah wanted French toast (which you introduced her to) and you’d sing her happy birthday and she’d get the whole dessert to herself while you three had some sweet treats from the local bakery. You always just thought it was a quirk of hers.

“Yeah, mum used food as a punishment a lot with her. Thats what my dad was referencing. Never occurred to me she’d still be doing that or would think about doing it to Lily.” John spoke at his hands.

“John? Do you think that maybe she’s done it to Evie?” You asked a bit scared of your husbands answer.

“I couldn’t say.” John looked up at you and there was something in his eyes that told you he was scared too.

You nodded and got up from your spot and walked over to John. Wrapping your arms around his neck he circled his burly arms around your waist and hugged you from where he sat in bed. With a kiss to the top of his head, then cheek, chin, nose, both eyes, and then lips he was smiling again. Ruffling his hair he nodded after as you walked over to your bedroom door and opened it.

You were both on the same page without a word, it was something that couples who’d been together as long as you possessed. Sometimes words didn’t need to be used because you both knew you had the same outcome in mind.

“Evie, can you come here for a moment.” You called down the hall.

Evelyn’s door was next to yours and you could see it was open. Her sparkly purple radio was playing Taylor Swift at a reasonable level and the star projector you got her, whirling. The neon blue and pink colors reflect out into the hallway and you smiled as you caught a glimpse of your daughter darting out of her room.

She was dressed in John’s green hoodie that almost swallowed her whole and red pajamas pants. She normally had her hair up in a high ponytail because that’s how she liked it but right now her long brown hair was down, silky soft hair bouncing along with her movements. She may look just like you but she had John’s hair and eye color.

Evelyn zoomed out of her room and into yours. Running right past you and diving over John, only to tuck and roll into your bed. You and John both snickered as the little girl wiggled under the covers and got comfy, back leaning against your pillow and a giant grin on her face. Her eyes were locked on you but her right hand was pulling open your nightstand drawer and digging through it. You knew she was looking for the chocolates you stashed in there but you didn’t mind her having one or two.

“If we’re having a movie night can we watch the first Narnia movie please. And Jj needs to sit next to daddy this time cuz last time he got to cuddle with you and it’s my turn.” You had to bite your lip to not laugh at how cute and sweet Evelyn was.

You and John loved to watch movies, you always had. It had become tradition that at least once sometimes twice a week you would all sit down on the couch and watch a new movie as a family. The rarer times you’d all pile into your king sized bed and watch something as a family after Lily went to bed since the toddler could be quite fearful. It was cute that your daughter thought this was what you wanted.

“We aren’t watching a movie.” John laughed only for Evelyn’s eyebrows to knit together and a pout form on her lips. The sour look faded fast as she pulled out a circular chocolate and unwrapped it quickly, then popped it into her mouth.

“Then why’d I get called in here. I swear I didn’t do whatever you think I did.” Evelyn covered her mouth as she spoke around the sweet treat.

It had John letting out a pitiful chuckle and glancing at you that her next thought was that she was in trouble. With no hesitation John grabbed Evelyn by her waist, lifted her over his head and tossed her to the foot of the bed. A joyous squeal echoed in your room as Evelyn bounced against the mattress and sat up criss cross now. She tossed the empty wrapper at John, who crumpled it up after he read the little inspirational message on the inside.

‘Life’s better with a little sweetness.’

John was going to take that for what it was and decided that being sweet in this moment might benefit you all greatly. It would be for you and his daughter but honestly it felt natural to be sweet and light around the two of you. After all you and Evelyn were so much alike and had that same disarming quality.

“You’re not in trouble, I think your mums just got a quick question.” John chuckled and gave his oldest daughter a wink. Evelyn blinked both her eyes at John and then tried to practice winking, only to give up.

“Okay.” Evelyn looked at you with a bright smile so you came and sat on the foot of the bed next to her and brushed her unruly hair behind her ear.

“Ya’know you’re so beautiful and smart.” You told your little girl. Finding her to be one of the most captivating people you had the pleasure of knowing let alone raising.

“And funny too!” She added.

“And funny.” John agreed with a chuckle, arms crossed over his bare chest.

“I was just wondering, when you went over to Nans and got in trouble did she ever not tell me or your dad?” You asked not wanting to put any words into your daughter’s mouth.

“Oh yeah! She never told you guys cuz she didn’t want us to get in trouble twice.” Evelyn held up two fingers to emphasize her point.

Glancing over at John you both shared a skeptical look. You were hoping Mary wasn’t conniving enough to do that but your gut told you otherwise. You worried it was her way of tricking your daughter into not telling you whatever she’d did and the punishment that followed.

“What did you get in trouble for?” You asked softly, continuing to play with Evelyn’s hair.

“Hmm, mainly not listening. It’s a lot easier to get in trouble with Nan than you or daddy.” With wide eyes Evelyn’s look glazed over for a split second as if she was lost in a memory.

“Why’s that?” John asked doing his best to hide the worry that was wracking in his chest. You both were doing a great job of staying calm and sweet so your daughter didn’t feel like she was doing anything wrong.

“Well, I would get in trouble because I wanted to rough house with Jj outside but Nan said ‘that’s not very lady like’” Evelyn mimicked her grandmothers voice and fake gagged before she continued.

“Then one time she got mad mad with me because she said I would end up with prince charming because I’m so pretty.” You and John both shared confused looks not quite sure what that meant. It wasn’t an inappropriate comment in fact you’d heard Mary say it in front of you before. You always just scoffed and moved on. Taking it as Mary’s way of telling Evie she was pretty.

“Why would she get mad? Did you say something fresh back?” John asked and you had this sinking feeling in your stomach.

“No, all I said is I won’t have time for Prince Charming because I’ll be an astronaut! She was so mad she didn’t let me have lunch. Said I was just like Auntie Sarah but I don’t know what that means.” Evelyn threw her arms in the air but settled back down quickly as she recounted being compared to John’s sister.

“Was that the first time she didn’t let you have lunch?” You asked, resolve beginning to slip. Showing a glimpse of the horror that was taking over your mind. You felt sick to your stomach that what John had mentioned had made it way into your daughter’s life.

“No, that’s how we got in trouble. Well, me Eli and Elaine.” Evelyn shrugged. She had just listed her other two female cousins that would go over to their Nans along with your children and their other cousins.

“Well, that wasn’t very nice of her. Did Jj ever-“

“Never! The boys hardly get a talking to and when they do that’s about it.” Evelyn cut you off only to have your skin go cold.

“So the boys never got their food taken away? They’d just got an ear full?” You said trying to gather yourself back together but feeling lost on what to say. Evelyn shook her head confirming your suspicion.

You had never noticed any changes in the way Evelyn ate so you hoped it hadn’t affected her. You also never saw Jj acting like he was better than your daughter and part of you felt thankful you stopped letting them go over two years ago but hated yourself for ever allowing them to be there. In fact you were slowly starting to feel shame trickle down your throat, that you hadn’t trusted your better judgment and let John persuade you into leaving your children with his mother.

“Evelyn, I need you to look at me and listen carefully.” John had scooted down the bed and was sitting with his left leg hanging off while the other was tucked under him.

The cover was bunched around his waist and your mind was flooded with worry so consuming you were having trouble getting your head straight. Taking one of Evelyn’s hands John lowered his head slightly and looked at her through his eyebrows. You held your breath not sure if your husband, a man, was equipped to talk about proper eating with your little girl.

“You’re very smart and beautiful to boot-“

“Don’t forget funny.” Evelyn interjected but for the first time tonight John’s seriousness didn’t falter. His voice dropped to a lower octave as he continued on.

Thats when Evenly realized her daddy was being serious and she really did need to listen to him carefully. Her blue eyes locked on to John’s and she nodded, silently telling him she was ready to listen.

“Yes, funny too. I want you to know that it’s not okay for you to be skipping meals like that even if it’s a punishment for not listening. I need you to tell us things like that because if you’re not eating properly you won’t grow the way your body needs to.” John said seriously with a ribbon of love and care echoing in his words. You lightly gasped out the breath you were holding and just wanted to cheer at the top of your lungs as how beautifully John had just handled this. God, you loved him so much.

“So I’ll be short like mummy!” Evelyn gasped. Your head snapped and looked at your daughter who still had her eyes locked onto John.

“Hey, I’m not short.” You were taken aback by the comment.

“Compared to daddy you are and I wanna be super tall like him.” Evelyn cast you a raised eyebrow look before going back to paying attention to John.

“Well then you gotta eat when you’re hungry and not skip meals.” John smiled and ruffled Evelyn long brown hair. To him he knew Evelyn was okay and those punishments hadn’t taken a toll on her mind the way they had on his little sister. It was a huge relief but then John realized you may not know that

“Okay, I’m not hungry now but can we go out for breakfast in the morning, please.” Like usual Evelyn was being cunning and like always she wanted to go out for breakfast since it was the one meal you wouldn’t go all out on.

“Yes, I don’t see why not.” John beat you to it and pulled Evelyn by the back of the head and planted a firm kiss to the top of her head. He was smiling ear to ear which confused you since you were still so worried and upset about his mother’s actions.

“Okay! I’m gonna go back to coloring. And if you change your minds about the movie, you know where to find me.” Evelyn stood from her spot and jump to the hardwood floor.

Before her feet met the floor John had grabbed her and tossed her to the other side of the bed. She squealed, giggled, screamed ‘daddy’ and then tried to fake John out, to get by him only for him to swat her with his pillow. She flopped onto her back and then rolled off the edge on your side and ran around the bed out of John’s reach and toward the door.

“Shut the door please.” You called and Evelyn did as you asked. Her giggles floating past the thick wooden door and fading into her bedroom.

“How has she only gotten cuter?” John asked you with a melancholic look. You could see he wanted to deflect because now he had to face that his mothers poor parenting with his sister had reared it head in your daughters life.

“John.” You whispered. Reaching out and combing your fingers through his hair. The touch had his former silliness crumbling in a moment. You watched the flood gates open and John was no longer able to hold it anymore. Your face dropped and you felt shocked and worried, watching his stoic demeanor turn to dust in an instant.

“Fuck, I’ve been such a shitty father never telling you this. I really thought my mum learned after everything with Sarah.” John placed his face in his hands and breathed heavily.

John had never spoken to another soul about this and told himself he’d die before these words left his lips. The pain and the guilt was too great all of a sudden and John felt like he may just burst. Never had these feelings felt so volatile since the first day he was damned with them; but with your loving eyes on him he was about to empty himself of this burden even if you weren’t prepared. He felt like an ice cube melting against a burning hot skillet, known as his wife’s warm and unwavering love.

The memories of Sarah’s chubby face when they were little becoming gaunt by the time they were teens. How when she was in trouble she’d be sent to bed with no dinner often.

By the time she was eight and John was almost ten Sarah would refuse a meal or snack when Mary wasn’t home and say she didn’t deserve it; that she’d been naughty. John would then try and convince her to eat the snack and when she wouldn’t he’d eat it but feel guilty about it; too young and confused by why he felt that way.

Then when he was a teenager he’d come home after going out with friends to her refusing to eat the food he brought her back. She’d be sitting in her favorite spot in the living room and read while John flicked the television on and ate the food next to her. She always cracked after the first bite when their mother wasn’t home and devoured the food.

Then after she ate the greasy food she’d tell John she was too fat and was watching her weight although she was skinnier than he thought normal. The amount of time he heard her go get sick after was countless.

Then the memory of how they use to go on runs together as John geared up for boot camp came to his mind. How Sarah would push herself to her limit every time and sometimes just break down and cry on the front lawn when they got back. John would sit there confused but deep down knowing what was happening without the words or knowledge to put a name to it.

One of the first nights he spent away from home he had gotten a phone call from Sarah who was crying to him because Mary had shamed her at the dinner table for having seconds. She cried how she missed John and it was hell being the only one left in the house with their parents. Cussing at him and claiming he abandoned her like she meant nothing to him.

By the time John had gotten home from boot camp Sarah had lost so much weight he asked if she was sick instead of saying hello. Sarah claimed to be fine until John got the car keys from his dad and told her they were going for a drive. John stayed quiet and took them to their destination and Sarah broke down and yelled at him for taking them there. Smacking his shoulder and claiming he was a fool who didn’t understand anything.

That night they sat in their fathers car and ate their hearts out together as Sarah cried into her food. John decided they’d go for a drive every evening and he would tell his mother he missed his little sister and wanted to spend time with her, which was true.

John barely had any money at the time and the money he earned went to filling up the tank and taking his sister out to eat. As Sarah gained weight so she was healthy and no longer skin and bone Mary would make cruel comments until John lost it one evening; saying he’d never come back if Mary didn’t stop. He was still a boy, the age of 16, but he told his parents Sarah wouldn’t have a chance of outliving him if this didn’t stop.

Mary was so shocked by John yelling and standing against her, for the first time she gave him the silent treatment until it was time for him to go back to the military. John begged his brothers to keep an eye on Sarah and to make sure she was okay but, as young people are in their twenties they said ‘yes’ and got preoccupied with their own lives. By the time John was home again he had found out Sarah was in the hospital.

Sarah was so ashamed of the fact she was diagnosed with bulimia and made John promise to never tell anyone. To keep their mother’s cruelty private and her struggles between him and her. She told him she felt like a ‘freak’ and she’d never forgive him if he told anyone.

Grayson and Harrison had no clue of the diagnosis. Mary had told them Sarah was sick with something else to save her own ass. When Sarah had been admitted to the hospital Paul had slept in his car most nights so he could be there for all visiting hours and promised to protect her from now on; but the damage had been done. In typical Paul fashion the problem had gotten so far out of hand there was no way for him to solve it.

Sarah had found herself on treacherous path and would be carrying this baggage the rest of her life. But through her hospital stay was where Sarah found her passion and decided she wanted to be a nurse. That she wouldn’t let any little girl feel like she had before and she would protect others and help them in their times of need.

“Please, don’t hate me when I tell you this.” Bringing his face from his hands John had tears in his eyes.

The turn of events and how John tried to gather himself for what was ten seconds to you was him reliving these horrific memories. It was a flash in his mind that took up minimal time for you but broke him down and consumed him.

You were about to hug John until he started to tell you Sarah’s story. He had trouble getting the words out and at moments just had to cry for a second or two and then pull himself back together. You gave him the room to say it all and cried along side him as he told these horrors.

Finally as he finished telling you these things his eyes had started to turn slightly puffy and red. John was sniffling and you could see just how deep this wound was for him. It was the same way John cried and looked when he spoke of how ashamed he was of himself for missing Lily’s birth. It was a wound that would never close and he’d hurt from it just at the slightest mention of the topic.

“I’m so ashamed I couldn’t protect her. I’ll never forgive myself.” John’s hoarse voice cracked as he leaned forward and clung to you. His strong bulky arms wrapping around your waist and hands splayed on your back to hold you close to him.

“Your parents were suppose to take care of her not you John.” You whispered into his ear and you both cried in each other’s arms.

You couldn’t hide how horrified you were by the truth and how disgusting you found Mary. You didn’t think she could be worse than you thought of her but her secrets had been buried by a family cursed with undying loyalty. With Paul’s departure it seemed as if the heavy weight of protecting her had been lifted.

John unburdening himself was not something easy and it left him feeling like a traitor. Not because you knew how horrible his mother truly was but because Sarah’s secret was not safe with him anymore. He’d betrayed his little sister in all of this and he hated himself for that. As annoying and frustrating as Sarah was to John she needed him and he had spent more than half his life protecting these facts. Protecting her like he couldn’t back them.

These were the reasons Sarah had driven over to your home when you were pregnant with Jj the night John accidentally called you ‘huge.’ She was so up in arms and pissed off at her brother for such deeper reasons than you ever understood. She feared you were like her and that a mistake like that could lead to a detrimental outcome. She’d already claimed you as her best friend and there was no way she could let that fly after John stood by her side.

Your mind swirled with memories of Sarah asking if you actually ate carbs like that all the time. How she told you she felt so good grabbing food with you and you were meant to be her best friend to get late night milkshakes with. She told you one evening that you tended to cook for people as a way of taking care of them and she’d never felt that kind of love before.

It was all making sense now and part of you just wanted to grab your phone and call her so you two could grab ice cream together. With your husband in your arms and feeling the guilt that wracked his body you knew he needed you at this moment. That the guilt he felt for not being able to help his sister when they were young and being blind to the signs were no longer his to hold.

“It’s not your fault.” You whispered and you swore your ears deceived you as John spoke.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to love my mum anymore. I don’t think I have for a very long time. I’ve just been scared of what would happen when I admitted it.”

~~~~~tag list~~~~~

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[babyangelsky]

My Favorite Expressions in Love Sea Ep. 6

Every week I think I cannot possibly be having a better time with this show than I already am and every week I'm proven wrong. I LOVE IT HERE AND I'M HAVING A GREAT TIME!

Well Mut, I suffer from this condition as well. It's called Permanent Heart Eyes and it's incurable.

This is such a universal expression. Anyone who has ever watched someone they love eat something they cooked for them and enjoy it has made this face. Food is the greatest love language of them all.

Also, very pleasantly surprised to learn that Tongrak is a leftovers girly. I didn't expect him to be and now I love him even more.

Peat really has mastered the shift from 🥺 to 🥰. He does it a lot this episode and it barely takes him a full second each time, I love it.

When I tell you I COULD. NOT. LOVE. THIS. MAN. MORE. We only see him in profile when he delivers the last part of this line but this is a delightfully murderous expression. If I don't get a scene of Mahasamut cussing Prin out I'm going to be so disappointed.

The utter shock at hearing that Mut wants to hear about Tongrak from him. The quiet disbelief. The relief. I can't show it in a screenshot but Tongrak breathes out when Mut says this and his shoulders relax. No one has ever given this man the courtesy of asking directly if they want to know something about him and allowing him to decide if he wants to share things and Mut does it so easily.

The way he marvels at Mahasamut as it sinks in that he gets a choice, that he gets to decide if and how much to tell is just... it's lovely and completely fucking heartbreaking at the same time.

And because he was actually given a choice, he had no choice but to open up. Mut has made him feel so safe and respected that opening up becomes easy.

"Even though they have a complete, loving family with a loving father."

Stab me, it would hurt less.

No expression but the vibe is "I didn't say you could hug me but also I'm going to cling to you for dear life and try to burrow inside of your chest".

This is another one of those scenes that could have its own dedicated post and for which I would hit the picture limit immediately because the expressions were phenomenal and numerous so I'm cutting myself off.

Would you look at that. Tongrak opened up and now we're cuddling and taking a nap inside of the bedroom no one has ever been allowed to enter. Phenomenal. I'm so proud of this sleepy kitten.

Quick, someone google "how to tell your buddy that you're his husband's best friend's new sugar baby" for Mut he's asking for a friend it's him he's the friend.

THE CUTE AGGRESSION IS ETERNAL AND RELENTLESS.

Fort does the scolded puppy face so well.

Well aren't WE a jealous little jellyfish, Khun Tongrak? He's so bitchy I love him so much.

Not pictured: him refusing to speak first when he talks to Connor even though he's the one who called and the 30 different emotions he goes through during that call.

I spy with my little eye TWO jealous lil jellyfish. What's a group of jellyfish called?

*looks*

A bloom. There's a bloom of pouty jealous jellyfish in this house. I do love when "fights" are for silly reasons and everyone involved knows they're being ridiculous.

Side note: I covet this wallpaper. I need it on one of my bedroom walls immediately.

Also, I would like to do my clown check in for the week and point out that Vivi has solid-colored textured pillows and patterned pillows on her couch but Tongrak chose to cuddle the patterned ones.

We finally got to meet Tongrak's niece Meena and oh but she's a darling, precocious little thing. I also look at Mahasamut like this but you have no business doing it, miss thing, you're a baby! Same goes for reading your uncle's novels I say as someone who started reading romance novels when I was about her age.

2.7 seconds apart. I timed it. I'm saying it every week at this point but Peat, I love everything you do with your face.

And I am very quickly growing to love everything Nina does with that cute little face, too. It's good for Meena to see her beloved uncle being so loved by the beautiful man living in his house.

I have so much more to say about Meena but that definitely will get its own post because it's not limited to her facial expressions. There's a lot to unpack in this scene and in the cafe scene with her and Mut.

I mean--do I even need to say anything? I can't wait to reblog every single gif I can find of this scene because it had me screaming into a pillow like Tongrak.

I'm reaaaaally starting to hate the 30 image photo limit because it truly is not enough to capture everything I love in this feast of a show. Prepare to be so sick of me because there WILL be more posts about this episode.

Also, if you'd like to be tagged in my weekly ramblings about micro-expressions, let me know! 💖

[1-800-roflmao]

Finally finished watching Cassandra on Netflix! And I LOVED IT. Overall, I loved it, especially the ending.

Ramblings under cut.

It took me two days to watch the admittedly short entire series due to David, Samira's husband, absolutely driving me up the wall with his dismissive attitude, gaslighting, and just- from episode 1, I was grumbling at my TV to Sam that he's not worth a lick and take the kids and run. By the last episode, he's STILL not worth a lick, but I made it to episode four and had to go for walk cause I could feel my blood pressure rising.

Is David the worst husband in the series? Cause Horst is... David is a coward, but Horst is a monster. I don't like either of them. Horst cheated on his wife, moved his mistress into the house, used dangerous experimental tech on his wife and unborn child, proceeded to demonize said child, hide them, neglect them, and abandon them, neglected and bullied his own son, and-

The husbands in this show are shit. Absolute shit shows, both of them.

ANYWAY, to the main characters! Cassandra and Samira, the mothers. Love them both! I even like AI Cassandra by the end, so I'm not just talking the original human.

Human!Cassandra was an absolute badass of a mother and woman. Her life was filled with strife she didn't choose or invite, but she made do and did what she felt was best. She made mistakes and some morally questionable choices, but she got shit done. Took no shit either. Loved her calling her husband out on his cheating and the fact they both know what gave her cancer, what hurt HER daughter (since we all know Horst didn't claim Margarete).

She made an irrational choice becoming an AI, but it was out of love and the desperation to never abandon her children. She had no faith in Horst, despite pretending and getting her hopes up that one last time that he might do right. He didn't.

A little detail that caught me was when she first saw herself as the AI and her comment about why she was smiling when she feels "so tired and worn out." Horst just explains she looks so much better smiling, so much prettier. He took away part of her autonomy, her choice, her ability to express herself properly, honestly. A piece of her humanity chipped away immediately upon waking.

Made me appreciate she took some control back before all of this by making the switch a dummy switch. She made sure she'd keep some semblence of choice in this defiance of death she chose.

I'm not here to exam and pick apart the show, just gushing, rambling. That last episode really puts all the pieces together nicely and makes it clear Cassandra was a mother first above all, and the AI simply took that to extremes.

Yet, in the end, the AI was able to see reason and figure out where her priorities should lie. Rather than focusing on trying to make and keep a new family, to rejoin her own kids who she abandoned unintentionally through her extreme actions to protect them.

I SOBBED when human Cassandra joined her daughter and she apologized for anbandoning her. SOBBED.

[tortibomb]

Dramas that consumed me in 2024

Out of the many dramas I consumed this year, here are the ones that consumed me the most. They still haunt me in some sort of way. I think about them often. My brain literally still rots. Spoilers may be included under each gif.

I also wanted to work on gif skills so I made some new gifs and added ones I've made in the past.

The Spirealm - 2024

None of these are in any particular order but if I had one series that I thought about the most and felt the most grief over, it was The Spirealm. I will never be over the huge twist with Ruan Lan Zhu and the giant time skip they threw at us. If I let myself think about it, I cry. I still haven't finished the novel but I plan to eventually.

The On1y One - 2024

The loneliness from both of these boys was heartbreaking. They started off at odds, to brothers, to friends, to each others home. I still think about the stolen glances, little touches, their growth and healing. The unresolved feelings in the end hurts me and I pray we get a season two.

Peaceful Property - 2024

Of course Peaceful Property is still relatively fresh but I still think about this found family often.. The added stories of the ghosts were a special touch, I still think and cry about the mysteries that were going on at some of the properties. I thought I was coming into a silly little show but these goobers had me crying almost every episode. Home's english slang will live as react gifs to send to my husband for years to come.

Love in the Big City - 2024

I wish I could have watched LITBC weekly as half of the viewers here did just to have it last longer on my screen but I simply have no self control. It was a bittersweet ending and I find myself thinking about Yeong's relationships quite often. I am still completely heart broken that he pushed Gyu Ho out of his life because he didn't want to hold him back. I do hope that some day they see each other again and resume their life together.

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo - 2024

This was a heartbreaking drama but with a happy ending. It gave me young boys with traumatic stories who find solace in each other, it gave me a small little snippet of what could be happiness, and it took it away for 12 years. I knew the time skip was coming but it was still devastating.

Jack and Joker - 2024

Jack and Joker is still fresh as well but I ate it up every week. I couldn't hate most of these, what I thought were, complex characters. Everyone did bad things to protect their loved ones. Joke did it for Jack, Tattoo did it for his mom, Save did it for Hope and vice versa. Obviously that doesn't mean I liked their choices. The weeks went by so slow waiting for the next episode.

Mr. Plankton - 2024

I don't like stories like this but I watched it for Woo Do Hwan. It didn't disappoint but i cried for days after finishing it. I cried when I made the gif! This damn beautiful smile! 😭 Hae Jo and Jae Mi had a second chance at love together. I often wonder how they would have lived together if Hae Jo didn't pass on. I wonder about the ways they could have started a family with fertility help or adoption. It hit me hard as well because I struggled with infertility.

Love Sea - 2024

Love Sea was the hottest thing I have ever watched on my tv screen ok. Not only that, I was infatuated with Mahasamut. If nothing else I think about Mahasamut quite often. I think about him protecting Meena. I think about him taking off his collar, so to speak, to knock out Jak.

My Stand In - 2024

Toxic Ming and Cinnamon Roll Joe. I was blind to the color red while watching this to be honest but I won't say I felt bad for Ming until maybe the last few episodes. Joe never got back to his body, and I didn't think he would, but I held onto a little hope that he may. I loved both of these characters, flaws and all. I cannot wait to see Up & Poom in their future project together.

2023 & Beyond

Bloodhounds - 2023

Bloodhounds is where I fell in love with Woo Do Hwan. Episode one where Gun Woo kicked all those bodyguards asses to save his mom is all it took for me to be hooked. This one kept me highly entertained as each episode kept me on the edge of my seat. The bromance was and is probably still my favorite. After I finished this series I started several dramas that couldn't hook me and I had to take a small drama watching break. I CANNOT WAIT for season two.

The Devil Judge - 2021

I need a detailed list of any and all similar series. I'll be honest, it took me a couple episodes to get into this but when I did... well I was done for. In the end, Yo Han leaves and Ga On is left alone. He literally has no one significant in his life now. No parents, No Su Hyeon, No Jeong Ho, No Yo Han, No Elijah. AND I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT!

Beyond Evil - 2021

This drama has the most satisfying conclusion. Yes, the Dong Sik and Joo Won go onto their separate paths and yes I was sad, but I felt like it had to happen so everyone could move on. The things these two said to or about each other still drive me insane.

A Tale of Thousand Stars - 2021

1000 Stars took me on a journey that broke my heart and by the end healed me. I really need to rewatch this soon so I may be a little fuzzy on it. I didn't feel like the romance was a central part of the plot so I wasn't upset they had only kissed once at end. It was more about Tian and and his journey of self discovery. I remember being floored by the plot twist and I remember sobbing like a bitch.

Guardian - 2018

I put Guardian off for a long time even after I decided to watch it but I ended up loving this drama so much I read the novel series shortly after finishing. For a censored bl, I think the actors did fantastic portraying their feelings for each other. The way they looked at each other, spoke to each other, touched each other. I yearned for more. The drama made it a bromance but it is quite obvious they care for each other.

Currently watching that is consuming me: The Heart Killers, Our Youth, Spare Me Your Mercy. Would these make the list after they were finished airing? I don't know. I also finished Flower of Evil last night and I almost added it to this list but since it hasn't had time to marinate I decided against it.

[escapingrealtiylovinginsanity]

Will Halstead (Ft Platonic! Jay Halstead): I'll Call Will 

This was supposed to be short! Why can’t I ever just write a page or two? Oh well- I like how it turned out. I have no medical knowledge and I made shit up.

This is like my People We Love story reversed regarding it being more Platonic Jay x reader than Will x reader.  

You shift and feel Jay’s eyes shoot to you. He had been eyeing you like a bomb that was about to explode since he got to your and Will’s apartment two hours ago. You were trying to ignore him and his detective's gaze, but it was starting to get irritating. “You know if you keep it up, I’m going to take your fun uncle shirt and replace it with a worry wart one.” 

“You’ve been having cramps off and on since I got here, and you don’t look like you feel good.” You roll your eyes at your brother-in-law affectionately. Shooting him an amused look from across the couch and resting your hand on your prominent baby bump. 

“It must be that glow everyone talks about. I'm almost seven months pregnant, Jay. Braxton Hicks is normal.” What you don’t want to tell him as they had been becoming increasingly more uncomfortable. You hadn’t gotten off the couch since he got here because you felt lightheaded with a side of vertigo. “I went to the OB last week for an appointment. They said everything was just fine. No problems, no restrictions.” You tell him and remind yourself.  

You were trying to take the pregnancy in stride. People had babies in fields for years but it didn’t mean you didn’t get nervous sometimes. You had never been pregnant before and didn’t know what to expect and you had learned the hard way that Will was not the one to ask. He was a wealth of information. Too much information. It often made your anxiety worse after talking to him rather than better. He had too many horror stories from the ED.  

Jay looked unconvinced but dropped the subject and went back to watching the trashy TV show you had turned on. The two of you watched another episode and a half with rounds of minor cramping on your part. The commercial was just ending when a cramp so painful jolted through your belly that it made you grab at it and whimper. When you blink Jay is in front of you. He looks angry but you have known him long enough to know it was actually worry clouding his features. “Okay that’s it we are going to the hospital.” 

“Jay, I don’t think-” He doesn’t even let you finish your thought. 

“You either let me take you to the hospital right now or I’ll call Will.” You search Jay’s eyes. “Your choice.” He is clearly over it and reaches for his cell. You can just imagine your husband after a call like that. He would leave work and speed home in a mad dash to get to you. You would feel so bad if he did all that for a few Braxton Hick contractions.   

“Okay! Okay, fine, let’s go.” Jay wastes no getting you to your feet and out of the apartment steering you to his car. “Just what the world needed another Doctor Halstead, Will will be so proud.” You tell him before Jay rolls his eyes and closes the car door. 

You sit in the hospital bed waiting for the OB to come back.  Your doctor was out today and the woman that came in was all warm smiles and a reassuring tone. She must have been new because you didn’t recognize her or her name. “It looks like the cramping is just Braxton Hicks. It’s completely normal and nothing to worry about.” You looked over at Jay who had been lurking near the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“What? It was better to get you checked out just in case.” Jay’s tone is defensive, and you roll your eyes lovingly at your brother-in-law. The OB smiled at him and patted him comfortingly on the arm. 

“It is a good thing that he brought you in.” You look at the woman in surprise because her tone goes serious. “Your blood pressure is much higher than I would like. Have you been under more stress than normal lately?” You sigh as you begrudgingly tell her about your increased workload. “Have you been feeling more fatigued than normal? Lightheaded, dizzy, or any vertigo?”  

“I’m almost seven months pregnant, isn’t feeling off kind of normal?” You put your hand on your rounded stomach protectively. 

“It can be but with your blood pressure being so high it’s concerning. I’m going to order a blood panel just to be on the safe side. Now, let’s take a peek at this baby.” The ultrasound is all normal. the OB points out your baby's face and hand. You look over at Jay who is watching the screen in awe. He had seen the pictures, but this was a new experience. He breathed a quiet wow as the quick heartbeat of the baby filled the room. “It all looks good. It shouldn’t take long for that panel then you will be good to go.” 

A familiar nurse that you can’t name comes in and draws your blood. “Maybe I should message Will and let him know we are here.” Jay pulls his phone out of his pocket and begins typing. 

“Why so he can wait with us? He is working- leave him alone. Besides that was our deal, wasn’t it? There isn’t an emergency.” Jay holds his hands up in surrender. “And will you sit down please- your pacing is driving me crazy.” Jay flops into the chair giving you a ‘happy now’ look. “Geez, it’s like having a real brother.” 

“Yeah, and you're stuck with me. You and that bean, you got growing.” 

You smile caressing your stomach, “I’m good with that.” As much as you had fought him on it, it was nice to know that he cared enough to drag you to the hospital. Jay was protective and you knew he was going to be a lot more than just the fun uncle who only stopped by when he felt like treating your kid to a good time. “Can I ask you something?” At his nod, you continued, “Why were you at my apartment at 2 in the afternoon on a day you knew Will worked a double? Did Will ask you to check up on me?” 

“No,” You gave him a look of disbelief, “No, really, he didn’t. He didn’t ask me to come over or anything like that. He just mentioned that he thought you may not have been feeling good the last few days. So, I just wanted to make sure that you were- Are you crying?”  

You were.  

You had big crocodile tears running down your cheeks, “It’s the hormones. And honestly, that is just the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” More tears streamed down your face and Jay looked uncertain of what to do. When he saw a strategically placed tissue box, he grabbed it and held it out to you. You grabbed a few and started dabbing at your eyes. Your own family hadn’t been part of your life much since you had moved to Chicago. Not that they had been very good to you throughout your childhood into your twenties. You felt like you looked out for them more than they ever would for you. “I hope you know that I appreciate you and I’m so glad you are going to be in this baby's life. I love you, Jay.” He looked a little miffed but flattered as he rubbed your back soothingly.  

“Of course, I love you too.” 

You had gathered your raging emotions by the time the OB had returned. “Alright, everything looks good. I’m not going to put you on bed rest, but I highly encourage you to take it easy for the next few days.” You thank her and swing your legs over the bed to start the process of getting up, which is much harder now with a protruding belly. The woman paused in the doorway before turning and taking another step back into the room. You and Jay both look at her. “You know, another good natural way to get your blood pressure down is by having sex. I don’t see any problems with you having sexual activity right now. And with the looker you got- I would take every opportunity you get before the baby is the one keeping you up at night.” The doctor gives you a knowing wink before exiting the room. 

You look over to see a mortified Jay. His eyes were closed tightly, and he brought his hand to scrub down the bottom half of his face. The woman had barely made it out the door when you started laughing uncontrollably. When Will walked into the room less than a minute later and looked at you in bemusement as you tried to catch your breath. “Everything okay?” 

You immediately sober, “I told you not to bother him!” Will walked over to your bedside and helped you shuffle off the bed. His hand came to rest in its now familiar place on your stomach.  

“He didn’t, Maggie saw your name on some bloodwork. Are you okay? Everything okay with the baby?” Will’s face was furrowed with concern. You put your hand over his stroking your thumb across his knuckles.  

“Everything is fine. I had some cramping and Jay took me in to be on the safe side. It was just Braxton Hicks.” Some of the tension left Will but you can tell he is still on alert. “My blood pressure is a little high. But don’t worry, the doc thinks it is just from stress. She told me I should take it easy for a few days and gave me a few...natural ways to bring it down.” Will furrowed his brow trying to think of what you could be referring to. Then he turned when he heard Jay cough and mutter something under his breath. Will looked between the two of you knowing he had missed something.  

You give him a soft smile, “I’ll explain later. But really, don't worry, okay. I’m just going to spend the day on the couch watching Love is Blind. Taking it easy and relaxing, just like she said.” You push up on your toes and oblige you by leaning down for a kiss. “Now, I really have to go to the bathroom.” You say as you make a beeline for the public bathroom down the hall.  

“Is she really, okay? It must have been pretty bad for her to feel like she needed to call you.” Will looked even more worried after you left the room. Jay rested his hand on his shoulder to comfort his older brother. He knew that Will had been trying his hardest to keep all of his own worry as a doctor from bleeding into you. He had been trying hard to do everything at your pace and not overstep the line of future dad to doctor. It hadn’t always been a struggle he won. It didn’t help that you hated hospitals and felt like less was more when it came to OB appointments. You had a tendency to cancel and never reschedule them much to his frustration.  

“She’s okay. I was actually already over there. She started getting some cramping and I kind of forced her to come here to get checked out.” A guilty look crossed Jay's face. 

“Forced her?” Will found that hard to believe. It was like pulling teeth to force you into doing anything. You had a stubborn streak to match the Halstead clan. 

“Well, more of an ultimatum really. I told her she could either agree to come in or I'd call you.”  

Will hummed in understanding, that sounded way more plausible. “You were already over there? I thought I told you I was working a double.” 

“You did.” Jay agreed, “You also told me she had been feeling well.”  

The gratitude that Will felt for his brother at that moment was overwhelming. “Thanks, man. I’m glad you were there. It means a lot.” 

“You would have done the same for me,” Jay stated simply, “Besides that what you do for family.” He sighed heavily, “That’s why after I buy her the pizza she has been talking about for the last hour, I’m going to sit down on the couch with her and watch that trash she calls TV. I’ll make sure she is all good until you get home.” 

[ambernotember]

a little meddling could go a long way

a very silly episode coda for 9-1-1 8x11 and Doctor Odyssey 1x11

read on ao3

“Sergeant Grant,” Tommy grinned at her as he hopped down from the helicopter. “We have got to stop meeting like this.” “Firefighter Pilot Kinard, thanks for the assist,” Athena said. “If I never see another boat it will be too damn soon.”

or read below the cut

“Sergeant Grant,” Tommy grinned at her as he hopped down from the helicopter. “We have got to stop meeting like this.”

“Firefighter Pilot Kinard, thanks for the assist,” Athena said. “If I never see another boat it will be too damn soon.”

Tommy laughed. “Let’s get you all loaded up and out of here then. I assume you’re Daphne, our VIP?” She nodded and he guided her over to the helicopter. “You’ll be in the back with our aeromedic, and you’re our first stop.” He helped her up, and his partner got her situated. “And next to our FBI guides, we’ll have you two.” Between the two FBI guys, they quickly got Bonnie and Clyde seated as well.

“Sergeant, can I offer you the front seat?” He gave her a jaunty little bow as she climbed in, before he slid in after her. Once Daphne and Athena had been given headsets, and the criminals had ear protection on, they took off.

“Welcome to Kinard Air,” Tommy said over the headsets. “Our first stop is the hospital in approximately two hours. We don’t have in flight entertainment, but you’re welcome to watch the ocean waves out the windows.”

Daphne laughed, audible even though she hadn’t turned on her microphone, loud and bright.

“So Daphne, what are your plans once you’re healed up and out of the hospital?” Athena asked over the headsets. The aeromedic showed Daphne how to use hers to respond.

“Oh Sergeant Grant, I have no idea,” Daphne laughed again. “Dance all night, drive through the wilderness, swim in the ocean. Just celebrate, you know? Do the things I've been putting off, or thought I couldn't do anymore.”

“That sounds lovely,” Athena said. “But if I can make a suggestion? No more cruises. They’re not worth the trouble.”

Tommy privately thought Athena Grant might be the only person who could out deadpan him. He let the conversation fade into the background as he focused on flying, keeping an eye on the time and his nav system.

“Have you seen the new photos of it? Tommy?”

Tommy realized Athena was talking to him. “Sorry?”

“Has Buck shown you the new photos of the house? The kitchen counters just got installed.”

Tommy realized abruptly that Athena thought he and Evan were still together. “Uh, no, I haven't seen them,” he said. They still had an hour to go, and other people were on the comms, so it seemed like the easiest answer.

“Hmm,” Athena said. “Maybe Bobby forgot to send them.”

“Are you renovating?” Daphne asked.

“Building, actually. Rebuilding, I guess,” Athena mused.

“Rebuilding?”

“There was a fire,” Athena said. Tommy knew she was leaving out a lot of details about how and why the fire had started - Evan had told him about it. “We looked for a new place but nothing felt right. So we decided to build something new where the old house had been.”

“Wow. Did you get to design it?” Daphne asked.

“Actually my ex-husband did. He’s an architect.”

“And you’re still close? Wait, sorry, is that prying?”

“Nothing else to do,” Athena said. “We are close. We’ll always be family, and we have two kids together. He and his husband live in Florida now. We got divorced about, 7 years ago now? Almost 8. Then I met Bobby, my husband. Well, we had met before that, on the job — he's a firefighter. That's how I know Tommy here, actually, they used to work together.” Athena smiled at him then continued her story. “We were together a little less than a year when we got married. Part of what I love about him is how much he loves my family. He never tried to take over the dad role but he’s always been there for my kids. And he and Michael — that’s my ex — are close.”

She paused. “Sorry, that was probably a lot information that you were expecting.”

“I mean, like you said, not much else to do,” Daphne said.

“Do you have anyone at home Daphne?” Athena asked.

Daphne laughed again, but it was sad this time. “No. When I got sick — well, I didn’t want to put anyone else through that. It seemed easier to be alone.”

“It can be,” Athena agreed. “The thing I’ve learned as a first responder though, is that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. If there’s something that makes you happy, someone you love, it’s worth the risk.”

Tommy glanced at her out of his peripheral, but she seemed focused on the view out the windshield.

“And that’s how you feel about Bobby?”

“It is.”

“That’s so romantic,” Daphne sighed.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a lot of hard work too. We almost broke up twice,” Athena confided. “I didn’t want to be seen dating after the divorce and he thought I was embarrassed of him. And then I asked him to move in with me before he was ready.”

“Really?” Tommy surprised himself by asking. “You two have always seemed so solid.”

“Now, yes. But it took us a while to get there.” Athena turned around slightly to see Daphne. “The new romance shine is easy to find. It’s what comes after that that people don’t talk about. It’s a lot of hard work to learn to communicate with each other and trust each other. And it doesn’t stop.”

“It doesn’t?” Daphne asked.

“No, it does not. Bobby and I actually fought about the house design — I wanted to rebuild exactly as it had been, but Bobby pointed out that really, that had been mine and Michael's home. If we were building something, it should be mine and his, even if it was on the same piece of land as the old house.”

“You two sound like a romcom come to life,” Daphne said.

It was Athena’s turn to laugh. “Only because I’ve left out a lot of details. Sometimes it’s a horror show. But I can get through it because I know he’s there for me.”

Tommy swallowed around a surprisingly large lump in his throat.

Athena pulled out her phone to read a text message. “Slight change of plans, folks,” she said over the comms. “Pick up for Bonnie and Clyde will be at the hospital as well, no need for a second stop.”

“Copy that,” Tommy said, relaying the information to Harbour.

“I’m just going to let Bobby know,” Athena murmured as she typed out a text. “Do you want him to pass the message along to Buck as well?”

“Oh, I have to go back to Harbour anyways,” Tommy deflected. “No worries.”

Athena and the FBI agents spent the last part of the flight coordinating with their team on the ground, and Tommy and his aeromedic kept the hospital apprised of their progress.

Daphne was the first person off the helicopter, the medical team whisking her away to surgery for her transplant. Tommy hopped out for a quick stretch while the LAPD and FBI dealt with Bonnie and Clyde. He was surprised when Athena rounded the helicopter and pulled him down into a hug.

“Thank you for getting me home safe again,” she said. “Housewarming as soon as the tools are cleaned up - we’ll see you there.”

“Uh, I’ll see how my schedule works out.”

“We’ll see you there,” she repeated. “And hopefully never again on a boat.”

Tommy laughed despite himself. “I’ll do my best to avoid it,” he said. He waited until everyone had cleared the helipad, then got back into the helicopter to head back to Harbour, trying to put Athena’s comments out of his mind.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Athena said as she got into the truck. “I could have just had one of the uniforms get me.”

Bobby held out his hand for hers and threaded their fingers together. “And miss out on another second of seeing you? Absolutely not.” He lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of her hand, squeezing tightly. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t with you.”

“It had to be a boat,” Athena said. “You’ll never believe who my ride back was.”

Bobby looked at her in askance.

“Tommy Kinard.”

“That must have been an awkward flight,” Bobby said flatly.

“Actually there was a lovely patient named Daphne on the flight, we had a great time. And don’t talk about Tommy like that,” she chided her husband. “Have you seen him since the breakup?”

“No.”

“Well, that is not a happy man. Regardless of Buck saying Tommy broke up with him,” and he had, many times, and it was the reason Athena’s kitchen was overflowing with baked goods, “he’s clearly hurting.”

“What did you do?”

“Let’s just say there’s an aeromedic and two FBI agents that know a lot about our relationship now.”

“You meddled? You?” Bobby raised an eyebrow at her. “You hate getting involved in other people’s relationships.”

“It was the happiest I’d seen either of them,” Athena shrugged. “Sometimes people just need a little nudge. If it works, maybe they talk and we finally have an end to the baked goods. Or he doesn’t do anything about it and we have to buy a chest freezer for the new house for Buck’s baking.”

Tommy landed at Harbour, refuelling his bird and finishing his paperwork before the exhaustion of the day could overtake him.

When it was done, he took out his phone and sent a text message.

Can we talk? Maybe on Saturday?

tag list: @chimneyz @bucktommyyendgame @desert--moonchild @swagmaster9k @geekwarrior107 @racerchix21 @fan-of-a-lot @bybobbysbeard @adhd-dean @styxhuntress @owlgirl495

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[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel Of Time without reading the books:  Season 2, episode 4

Hello again, everyone.  After an incredibly lengthy delay, I am back on my Wheel of Time hyperfixation.  Since I can’t watch the new episodes until Husband returns, I will instead recap the past few episodes I never got around to for the same reason (I couldn’t bear to watch them when they first aired without him present).  All the "guesses" are authentic, and from my notes I took my first watch-through.

Episode 4 starts with Nancy Reagan, leader of the Forsaken who for some reason thinks he’s the good guy.  He casts a spell that summons a naked woman covered in blood, proving once again that Rafe Judkins knows his target audience.  

Moiraine goes to visit her little sister, who is the same noble that gave Rand some unsolicited advice last week.  At least she got a head start on being a good aunt.  Her sister keeps trying to make social overtures, but Moiraine doesn’t want to build a snowman.  She seems like she’s acting all cold and aloof, but then she gets to her room and nearly cries.  She’s constantly watching her sister and trying to psych herself up to talk to her, and chickening out.  Instead, she goes to confront the Lizard.  He gives some misandry “women ruined my whole life” speech about how he was a poor, innocent man who did nothing wrong.  It would have a lot more validity if he wasn’t delivering it to someone whose friends he murdered.  Also if he hadn’t tried to overthrow the kingdom.  Moiraine offers him a deal: train Rand to be a manneler, and she will give him the means to violently kill himself.  He considered this a fair trade. 

Moiraine chickens out of building a snowman once again, and sneaks back to her room, but her sister is waiting for her.  She basically says that Moiraine broke all their hearts, abandoned her family, and left her baby sister to deal with the nobility equivalent of working customer service.  She did a great job, because her son is now engaged to the Queen.  Elayne’s mom?  Is her dad dead?  Oh, wait!  Is her dad that guy that joined the Lizard and got murdered?  He seemed way too young, but maybe I’m misremembering.  Or maybe he was just another in a long line of husbands.  Maybe she exclusively marries boytoys.  Anyways, Sister tells Moiraine she better not mess up the life she worked so hard to rebuild.  

Rand deals with the aftermath of maybe/maybe not setting Selene’s inn on fire.  He’s trying to diligently rebuild it for her, but there’s only one kind of help Selene wants from him.  She convinces him to go on a little adventure with her instead.  They sneak away to the cabin where she used to hook up with her ex, and she talks about how great he was.  Rand gets a little insecure about it, but he’s clearly grown in his time as a rent boy.  Instead of a jealous fit, he talks about how much he misses home.  Then they bang in the middle of the woods, even though there’s a perfectly nice cabin nearby.  They fall asleep, and wake up to a fade attacking them!  Rand does his best with his sword, but in the end he has to mannel to kill it.  Selene freaks out.  Mannelers are crazy scary evil blah blah.  She realizes that he might have been the one who set the inn on fire.  She doesn’t want to touch him.  He says he will go as far away as he can, because he knows mannelers kill the ones they love first.  She gets all weepy about “You love me???” and she’s laying it on thick enough by this point that I realized immediately she was nefarious.  Yeah, obviously the barely legal runaway who’s been paying rent with his big white tower fell in love with the sexy middle aged woman he’s been banging on the regular.  That’s kind of how that works.  Also, he’s Rand.  Boundless love is his whole thing.  If Two Rivers school had a home ec class where they had to take care of a bag of flour for a week and pretend it was their baby, Rand would name his and keep it forever and cry real tears if anyone tried to use it to make bread.  What I’m saying is that this was obviously such a low bar to clear, that her surprise at hearing it rings incredibly false.  

But anyways, they go bang some more about it.  She ties him to a bed, then says she’s a monster too.  Rand’s self-preservation finally starts to overcome his libido, but Moiraine’s already on it.  She impales Selene at the same time Rand does, but in extremely different contexts.  She could not have picked a worse time to show up.  That boy is going to relive that moment forever.  At least it might help prevent any little dragon babies from cropping up.  Selene falls to the ground, and Rand, covered in her blood and…other fluids, Mannels at Moiraine.  She finally uses her words to explain things, and he believes her.  She saved his best friend, she walked with him into what she thought would be certain death, she let him run after.  He knows that if she killed his lover/landlord/employer she had a very good reason.  He runs with her, and after they leave, Selene/Lanfear blinks.  She was totally faking it for Rand’s sake.  

Mat and Min are in a bar, gambling away.  Mat can’t believe he’s losing so badly.  Min reminds him she’s a psychic.  He hits on her, she rebuffs him, but offers to pay for his room.  Already a better traveling companion than Rand.  Or maybe not, since she goes to the innkeeper and bribes him to get Mat totally wasted so she can hand him off to some unknown associate who will be arriving later.  Who could it be????

Just kidding.  It’s obviously Nancy.  He gives Min a horrific nightmare/memory of being forced to tell futures for people who have horrific lives ahead of them.  The worst was a little boy who wanted to know what he would be when he grew up.  The answer was “super murderful.”  Nancy promises to take away the visions if Min takes him to Cahrien, where Rand is staying. The main takeaway here is that JK Rowling is for sure, definitely, one hundred percent a darkfriend.

Polly has brought Lan home to meet the family.  They all assume she’s brought home another boyfriend, and are welcoming and supportive.  They really are trying to recruit him into their warrior polycule, though.  Or, failing that, to at least get him bonded to Nynaeve or another Aes Sedai.  He’s throwing himself a pity party, though.  Polly lets us know that Moiraine used to be more in touch with her feelings before some secret trauma.  Maksim gives Lan hope that he and Moiraine can reunite, by telling Lan that Polly keeps their bond masked at all times except when they’re fighting or fucking.  Lan finds this shocking.  I love how, even in this world where polyamory and homosexuality are par for the course, there are still ways to have subversive and unconventional relationship dynamics.  

The guys all meditate until Maksim gets bored and wanders off.  Then Ivhan and Lan actually converse.  Something Ivhan said really hit me in the face.  “Us quiet ones are quiet because the conversation’s always playing out in our own heads.”Lan finally opens up about Moiraine telling him he’s not her equal.  Ivhan laughs.  He never considered himself equal to Polly.  He says their job as warders is to help their aes sedai remember they are human people with human needs.  Kind of like why the Doctor needs companions.  

Maksim wasn’t wandering aimlessly, though.  He specifically wandered to Polly, to let her know he found the darkfriend poem in Lan’s bag.  The polycule converge to discuss what it means.  I’m pretty sure they suspect Lan of being a darkfriend, now.  Guess he’s getting his polycule invitation revoked.  

Perrin has joined Discount Heimdel and the wolves, but he’s not thrilled about it.  He wants to find his friends, and Discount Heimdel doesn’t.  Instead, he wants to show Perrin how to be a wolfbrother.  He invited Perrin to the devouring of a deer, but Perrin prefers his meat cooked.  Perrin adjusts easily to the concept of “wolves are equal sentient people to me” but is having more trouble with the “don’t trust humans” part of the pack code of ethics.  He likes his humans.  

Meanwhile, in the white tower, Nynaeve is having her long-awaited panic attack.  Like all of us, she has no idea if her daughter she raised for years is currently being devoured by monsters.  Or, alternatively, if she survived, but is now having to face Nynaeve’s own biggest childhood trauma: watching her parents die to save her life, and then be stuck carrying on alone, knowing she was too weak to help.  Or if she was always imaginary and there was never any child and it was just a strange dream.

Egwene tries her best to return the comfort Nynaeve has always shown to her.  She starts out cautiously approaching Nynaeve, and speaking gently to her, being very respectful of her shields-up frame of mind.  That, obviously, has the opposite effect.  Nynaeve has built her entire identity around being able to help the people who need her.  Being reminded that she’s currently the one in need only makes her feel like even more of a failure, and spend even more of her energy on self-hatred instead of healing.  In the end, though, Egwene can’t help but throw Nynaeve into a hug.  And this moment, okay, wow.  The acting chops on Zoe for this scene.  Totally vacant expression, frozen stiff body language.  And then she slowly lets her hands wrap around Egwene.  She realizes that she is still needed, and she can comfort Egwene by working on getting better so Egwene can feel like she helped.  This is the most Parent thing she’s ever done.  Her mental health matters because good mental health makes her a better caretaker.  She’s like two thirds of the way to realizing she matters as her own person.  

This is huge progress, but Egwene doesn’t realize it because her perfectionism is blinding her to the fact that recovery happens in stages, not one giant leap into “I’m all better now and it’s because Egwene said the right sequence of words paired with the right sequence of actions.”  She later berates herself for not doing enough to be there for Nynaeve.  Elayne, who continues to show high social aptitude when she’s not personally involved in things, tells her she can’t fix other people’s feelings, only be present for them while they go through them.  

Nynaeve goes to look for Polly’s boyfriends, but they’re busy trying to steal her man.  Instead, she finds a sweaty, shirtless, fanservice warder in training.  He shoots his shot, but clearly he needs the help of the warder bond to read emotional context.  Honey, if someone is staring with vacant eyes and speaking in a clipped tone, it’s probably not the best time to let them know you want them carnally.  

JK Rowling is doing catty bullshit things with Suian’s secretary.  They have a “who can make the bitchiest veiled threat” contest, and the Secretary wins.  So JK resorts to an unveiled threat, and goes off to find Nynaeve, who is wallowing in the arches room.  JK Rowling believes this is finally her moment to be Nynaeve’s best friend ever, by comforting her in her time of need.  She is less than zero help.  She tries her best to give a little pep talk, but her world view is so inherently selfish that the only thing she can imagine being helpful is the concept of picking some part of the world and owning it entirely.  She’s talking about her son, btw.  The living, flesh and blood human being that she was unwittingly torturing for the past few weeks because she refused to share him with anyone.  I wonder if he even got to leave that room, ever.  Did he go to school?  Did he have friends?  Or did he just stay hidden in a dark room, waiting for his mom to come back whenever she was feeling bummed out about life?  I think she would have been more temperamentally suited to a pet rock.  She and Ianthe would be best friends and make each other friendship bracelets.  

Anyways, she “accidentally” lets slip to Nynaeve that she heard a rumor that Perrin and Loial were taken prisoner in Falme.  She asks Nynaeve to promise she won’t run off to rescue them, but she and all of us know that is the exact next thing Nynaeve does.  She at least asks Egwene to come along, which shows how much progress she’s made in her recovery.  She also kicks a crowned princess out of her own room.  She and Jason Asano would either be best friends or sworn enemies.  There would be no middle ground with them.  

Egwene obviously goes with her immediately.  Nynaeve is surprised, at first.  She thoguht Egwene was dedicated to becoming an Aes Sedai just to prove she could.  Which, yeah, but also, Egwene has been so steeped in self-pity and shame lately because she thinks she failed Rand.  She just wants to be strong enough that no one can ever come for her friends again.  Can you tell she grew up with Nynaeve as a role model?  Nynaeve can.  Nicely done, Egwene.  She just healed a little bit more. 

They run off into the night.  Aforementioned princess who was definitely not listening right outside the door goes to remind them that they’ll be in big trouble if they sneak out, but joins in anyways.  You go, girl!  Make your gay fantasies a reality!  BTW is this just going to be a thing in this series?  All redheads fall madly in love with Egwene, and from then on think exclusively with their libido?  I’m not complaining, I just want to know.  

Oh, but tough break, because this was all an obvious trap all along!  JK emerges from the shadows and knocks out all three girls.  Who could have seen that coming?!  Everyone?  Yeah, probably everyone. 

More reviews

[capitanooos]

death. // fyodor dostoevsky (bsd)

-`♡´- pairing : fyodor dostoevsky x reader

-`♡´- summary : spoilers for last anime ep. fyodors death. (written when the helicopter crash episode came out. obviously we all know where he is now)

-`♡´- warnings : death.

-`♡´- notes : my husband :3

dont translate, modify or repost my work. you do not have permission

[Name] was reading a book in her living room when she felt it. A cold chill ran over her entire body. The book in her hands fell to the ground as she sat up. Only once before in her life she had felt this feeling this strong, that’s how she knew it was bad. 

She rushed to the front door for her shoes and jacket, and with a fast twirl she was at her destination. What she saw couldn’t be real. Fyodor had a metal pipe run through his body? A pipe? A sword? Something. And he was bleeding a lot.

At first glance [Name] did not realize where she was, but when she looked around it clicked, they were right outside of Mervault. Fyodor had escaped, but was now bleeding. 

“Fedya!” she rushed towards the helicopter in a rush. If she were fast enough she could reverse what happened. A hand found itself at the back of her coat, pulling her backwards. “No!” She looked up, only to meet eyes with Dazai Osamu. “Let me go!” Dazai pulled her backwards again as she tried moving out of his grasp. She couldn’t teleport now, it would just take Dazai with her or he’d just cancel her ability.

“Let me go to my husband!” she screamed and trashed, “Please!” her hands were reaching behind her back at the strong hand gripping her jacket. That was it! He was just holding her jacket! [Name] quickly opened the zipper of her jacket and ran. 

She reached the helicopter, scambling, almost falling over as her hands fell onto Fyodor’s wounds.

She heard him sigh. “I specifically told you to never cry over me, didn’t I?” 

Somewhere in the background Dazai was talking. Something about uncertain cards, Fyodor’s weakness, allies. [Name] didn’t care what he was talking about, her husband was dying in front of her.

“Look at me.” he said, drowning out Dazai’s annoying voice. “What is your job?”

Her breath got caught in her throat, “Plan it out, make it work.” 

“And for how many situations did we make plans to make it work?” Fyodor's purple eyes were staring deep into her own eyes.

“All.”

A new voice entered the conversation, this one [Name] knew. Chuuya.

“Do not shed tears over those who won’t be dead for long,” Fyodor spoke as he cupped her cheek with a shaking, bloody hand. “Go to your brother now, myshka. It’s not our end.” 

Fyodor bent down a little to give one last kiss on his wife's forehead before ushering her away.

With shaky legs and tears streaming down her face she walked over to Nikolai who was standing besides Dazai. 

“Don’t look so down! At least now I will be free from affection, dear sister!” Nikolai twirled his sister around, who was still silently crying as she watched her husband talk to Dazai. 

They had predicted this. They knew there was a possibility of this happening. They had plans, it would be alright, but it still hurt seeing him die.

Eventually the helicopter took off and crashed, and [Name] let out a blood curling wail as she felt Fyodor’s sign of life disappear from her own body. Dazai gave her a pitiful look while Chuuya a look of disgust. 

“Why now, beautiful, don’t cry. At least you’re rid of him now.” Dazai said as he knelt before her a few minutes later. Her mascara was smeared across her cheeks, together with tears and Fyodor's blood as her hands shook, also stained with her beloved's blood, her legs had given out not too long ago and her knees hurt from the fall. 

“You killed the man I loved with my entire being.” [Name] sobbed, oh how she wished she could just rip this heart out and break it in two, make him feel what she was feeling right now. But that wasn’t the plan Fyodor and her made. She had to stick to the plan. 

Dazai shrugged and stood up, bending back down to grab the crying woman from the floor. “Yeah well, from my perspective he deserved it. But I'll see to it that his remains get sent your way so you can give him a proper resting place, since you’re his wife. I give you my condolences, and since you are not responsible nor did you participate in your husband's actions, the Agency will give you whatever you may need to get back on your feet.”

-`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´--`♡´-

dont forget to like and reblog <3

[all-pacas]

house live-ish blogging: maternity

i love how the writers of this show only know like. 3 names. the baby is almost named amber. instead she is named max. max is also the name of the liver donating girlfriend in sleeping dogs lie. this show also has about six roberts, two chis, 5 rachels…

honestly love this episode. i wish the series had more "everyone pulling a 3 day shift, the only thing that matters is solving the Mystery" episodes, they're so good

i just looked up who wrote this episode to see if it was the same writer who wrote sleeping dogs lie re: the max thing. it isn't. instead it's peter blake, aka the chase whisperer: he also wrote the mistake, cursed, the itch, the tyrant, lockdown, and chase. (a couple shared credits but. damn. apparently this dude just wrote all the greatest hits for our useless nepobaby and his divorce. coincidentally, chase is great in this episode too. god now i want to do a tangent because the same writer wrote cursed/the mistake/lockdown/chase makes perfect fucking sense to me, because in each - when i say chase gets angry and resentful and shuts down when he's upset. when i say it's consistent. him lashing out at rowan isn't that different from him accusing cameron of never loving him, of accusing house of changing him. there's a throughline of these episodes: chase vulnerable, chase angry and upset, chase refusing to open up no matter who begs. and throw in the tyrant, his bonding with dibala and the way the murder is framed as chase lashing out in betrayal rather than moral imperative - man!!! ANYWAY)

i've always loved wilson's little "i can get you a key to the oncology lounge… we're getting TiVo" line. because when i was a kid, my dad got tivo. and when i say he bragged about it. when i say he would bring visitors into our house and show them the tivo and demonstrate the wonders of dvr in those olden days (of the early 2000s) (even if i was watching cartoons). so you know what wilson. i appreciate the flex. it is cool you're getting tivo.

in the script, it notes that chase is taking a nap while foreman studies and cameron reads houses mail. in the episode, chase is still taking his nap, but the other two are just standing around. i mention this just because it's interesting to see what character details are written and which are acting choices. to me.

the script also notes that the gays who lose their son are "comp lit grad students." not sure why we need to know this but i'm glad we do

foreman stepping up and lecturing cameron on bedside manner is. very funny. not that she doesn't need the lecturing in this episode (it's a Theme), but… considering how as time goes by, one of foreman's defining traits is terrible bedside manner… it's very main character of him lol. he truly is the best of the group in these early episodes. no weaknesses, only strengths.

cameron's "it's easier to die than to watch someone die" is so fascinating. it's so loaded with implication. what was her husband like? how much emotional labor was she doing for him? was he in denial of his prognosis until the end, meaning that cameron was stuck both taking care of him and pretending everything was okay? or is cameron, unwittingly, exposing her own selfishness here: does she actually kind of believe her pain is worse because she has to live with it?

that said i do like how even in this scene: cameron freezes up and is awkward at telling the patients bad news, but she's quick to (and good at) reassuring them a moment later. "kim is right," she says, using the patient's name. she's good at bonding with patients and comfort, just not when it's bad news. which, unfortunately, in her job…

i find the differential portions of this episode really interesting because it sets up as foreman has an idea, cameron has an idea, they argue their ideas, they want different treatments, house referees. they each get "assigned" a family and baby. neither are treated as more wrong or more right (although i guess cameron technically is — "her" baby is the one that dies because her treatment is wrong, but medically she did nothing wrong, it's more a larger theme about cameron struggling this episode). and meanwhile chase exists. this has been the case every episode so far lmao: foreman is the main ideas and treatment guy, cameron sometimes chimes in to back him up, chase offers no useful input or contributions. the difference is, this episode chase actually very much pulls his weight with the treatment and his work in NICU; he really is the Procedure Guy, not the Ideas Guy. which makes him a really interesting hire on house's part tbh - chase is almost useless in differentials (so far), he was hired just for his practical skills.

again, it is so weird to see foreman, champion of talking to patients. i mean, i do buy he knows how and is perfectly script accurate. but it was dropped as a trait so quickly

speaking of early installment weirdness: wilson calling cameron allison will never not be weird.

and likewise cameron's angry insistence that the women would rather have hope than truth is. very telling. like yes, we know she deals terribly with loss, but this is… what was her husband like? when did she find out he had cancer? does she wish she had been able to be ignorant longer? it's very clear – to the viewers and everyone in universe – that cameron is seeing this all through her perspective, that she's talking about herself at all times, but… (also imagine this perspective mixed with s6 and dibala. you think part of the reason chase didn't tell her for so long was because he really did think she'd prefer to be ignorant? how wrong or right was he in that?)

in the script, when the baby dies and chase is trying to revive it, there's a note that house puts his hand on chase's arm to get him to stop. not in the episode :( but i like their little interaction here: it's not much, but chase is clearly upset and house lets him go, doesn't scold him. house can in fact be pretty understanding about this stuff! he doesn't like wallowing but he has moments of being a good boss. and then he turns around and has zero sympathy for cameron lol.

cameron trying to foist the "inform the parents" thing on chase is very. hahaha. i always think of chase in forever trying to foist baby duties on her. it's not a great moment for cameron (it's not meant to be), but it… hm. i wouldn't say it's out of character; she never really gets better at dealing directly with death, but trying to weasel out of telling the parents by saying chase (or whoever) should do it seems… off, you know? her freezing up and wilson stepping in feels more on brand. but she's not supposed to be right this episode. she's lowkey supposed to suck.

(and from house's perspective: chase is sad about the dead baby. so is cameron. chase is still doing his job, he can be sad, it's not getting in the way. cameron is sad, and actively avoiding her job/trying to get others to do it for her. that is getting in the way.)

fascinating, too, that cameron is therefore stated in this episode to be bad at talking to patients (compared to foreman being good, and chase being a little awkward but fine).

"chase, you're the intensivist" -- love when the show tells us people's specialties. no one has called cameron an immunologist yet, but we have the guys now. and flash forward a few years, i don't think we technically ever learn thirteen or kutner's specialties (on screen).

in the lab end of the episode, cameron and chase are sitting way too close together. it is very funny how often this happens. i know it's because the actors were dating were not paying attention to body language but still. this is why everyone thought you were dating in s3, cameron

another good moment for cameron at the end of the episode, calling in the surviving baby's parents to hold her for a bit. (love that chase then reported this to house: it's not clear if house asked him how cameron was doing — he asks foreman, so it makes sense he'd check with chase too — or if chase reported it on his own, which also makes sense because chase telling house every bit of gossip he hears is a very consistent character trait lol)

speaking of foreman, his insisting that cameron has everything handled just fine is a) a blatant lie and b) very funny from foreman. which makes him sound like a douche but. he really did gain his ruthlessness later, didn't he?

actually, if house asked both the boys how cameron held up, and foreman lied and chase told a story of cameron having a Good Idea, that's kind of sweet. they're both covering for her/sticking up for her…

i haven't mentioned it but the clinic patient this episode always makes me laugh. shoutout to the actress, she just keeps saying this stupid stuff "oh man! wow!" but with this sincere, no brain cell enthusiasm that is so funny to me.

"do you think you could — " "no." "do the prenatal?" "no." "or deliver the baby?" "that would be no." "oh - kay!"

even though it's probably just a pillow they stuck under her shirt or something, i actually appreciate wardrobe remembered to have the woman who gave birth two days ago have a very noticeable stomach while sitting around in street clothes. realism!

house is oddly gentle with cameron in this scene at the end. "you look tired… you had a hard time this week." i know you can read it as oh, he's in love with her, but i don't think we're supposed to; i'm pretty sure it's a fragment of his nicer s1 personality. because we really don't see it again after s1, even with people or in situations where he's trying to be gentle. ("oh, it's because he's in love with cameron" i'm really not convinced that was the direction of this episode.) it also make's cameron's angry reaction a little odd - not that she wouldn't be defensive, but… house is being so nice, lol. he's not being a bastard at all! just wait until he really starts meddling in your life, cam!

i find it very unlikely that cuddy, tearing apart the hospital for days, didn't notice the old lady loitering around the maternity ward coughing constantly. i find it unlikely no one mentioned her. i get that we're not supposed to worry about these facts

house's soap opera doctor has exactly the same hairstyle as chase lmao