#keith and karen

[solo-ojo-jojo]

Excerpt from an upcoming OTH fic

Author's note: I've been working on a multi-chapter fic about Keith and Karen (as it stands, spanning a decade or two) partially inspired by this exchange between Karen and Whitey in season 3:

"You had Camilla for a lifetime. I had Keith for a few weeks." "Whose fault was that?"

I had a lot of thoughts about what their relationship was like in the years before the start of the show, including what opportunities there had been for the two of them to try something more than friendship, because you know there had to be at least one instance where they had considered it. I had no idea where it would lead me, but the muses have been kind, and I have been excited to share part of what I've been working on.

Coming back to watch OTH as an adult has been interesting, and I've found myself more invested in the storylines of the adults' lives/relationships than the kids' (at least so far). I've also really enjoyed the episodes of the Drama Queens podcast that I've listened to and the insights I've gained into many of the characters and their motivations.

The following excerpt is a few years into their friendship, set in the fall of 1986, and will likely end up being the fourth or fifth chapter.

The working title is Is Almost Enough?

(don't mind my rudimentary photo editing skills of Keith & Karen circa 1986. I'm basically only happy with the insertion of the "TH" onto the sweater) Original photos (at the end of the post) are promo stills from Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) and The Cutting Edge (1992), respectively.

One Tree Hill Fanfiction | Keith Scott/Karen Roe | Rated T

Alternate Universe - Pre canon | Inspired by canon | Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies | Friends to Lovers | The Slowest of Burns

Story summary: A look at Keith and Karen throughout the years, starting with when they met in middle school. They have their ups and downs, but with a few tweaks to the events in this universe, they eventually find a happily ever after—together.

Chapter summary: Who am I kidding? Keith told himself. Left to his own devices, he would never have worked up the nerve to ask her out. But now that the opportunity was here, he wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.

* *** *

Despite the brisk chill in the October air, Karen found herself sitting across from Keith at their usual study spot in the quad. Having finished her chemistry homework, she pulled out the novel she had started reading the prior day. The modern gothic authors were a new favorite of hers after recently being introduced to them in her English class, but that afternoon, the copy of Flowers in the Attic that sat in front of her was seemingly no longer enough to hold her attention.

Instead, she found herself peeking up from the pages to look at Keith, admiring the way the breeze swept through his hair and secretly wishing that her fingers could do the same. She loved the look of concentration on his face and the last thing she wanted to do was break his focus when she was so proud of him for deciding to apply to a couple of four-year universities in addition to the local community college. There was a fleeting thought of how much she would miss him next year when he was off at college, but she brushed it aside. There was something she needed to tell him, and Karen didn’t want to wait a moment longer.

“Dan and I broke up,” she said abruptly.

Keith’s head jerked back, but he kept his eyes on the application he had been filling out. “I…” He steeled himself and looked up at her expectant face. “I’m sorry to hear that, Karen.” He tapped his pen on the table as he thought about what to say next. “How are you, uh–how are you doing with that?”

“Well, first I was pissed. But that was before we broke up. And then I was relieved. Because I didn’t have to put up with his crap anymore. And now… Well, now I’m…” she looked into Keith’s eyes, her expression growing hopeful as she came closer to the words she had been holding onto for far too long. “I’m happy. Because there’s this other guy who I really like.”

She watched as Keith’s face dropped, suddenly becoming stoic.

“And I’m hoping that… Well, if he likes me too, he might ask me out.”

“Oh,” he said quietly, not picking up on her hints. “Well, I hope that works out for you.” He looked down at the application once more, and found that her news left him unable to make sense of the words on the page in front of him.

“Keith…” Karen waited for his gaze to return to hers. She gave him a look, willing him to understand. She smiled shyly.

“Oh!” A slow smile grew on his face as the realization hit him. Flustered by being put on the spot and Karen’s nervous smile as she hoped for reciprocation, Keith hardly had time to process it all. For all the time they had spent together over the years and the almost unlimited array of topics they discussed, one thing he had never come close to telling her was that he carried feelings for her of something more than friendship. He liked to think that, eventually—when enough time had passed after her break-up—he might have come up with the idea to ask her out on his own. After testing the waters to find out if she was even interested, of course.

Who am I kidding? He told himself. Left to his own devices, he would never have worked up the nerve. But now that the opportunity was here, he wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.

“I… Karen…” his chest puffed out with confidence and his chin lifted as he asked her a question he thought he would never say. “Do you want to go out on a date with me?”

Karen’s face lit up, and Keith felt his heart soar.  

“Yes,” she answered. “I do.”

“You’re sure it’s not too soon?”

“It’s not soon enough.”

----------------------------------------------------------

That's all, folks!

I hope there's at least one person out there who enjoyed this, because there's a lot more where this came from.

If you did enjoy it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Lastly, here are the originals that I edited for my version above.

[tvshowscouples]

If you love Karen&Keith (OTH) and you want reblog or like,this is the link of my reblog couples :)

thank you!

[solo-ojo-jojo]

This is me. I have so much unfinished fanfic for Chenford right now, but the OTH rewatch I'm currently on (which I will blame on my sister) has completely derailed my brain for Keith & Karen. I need them to be together and to have a HEA. So what does that mean, friends? Fix it with fan fiction! I'm not sure anyone else will even be interested in reading it one day, but I'm having fun writing it, so that's what matters. I'm enjoying creating the changes that happen in their lives that lead to them together sooner so they can be happy and together like they deserved.

By the way... Do they have a ship name?

I never thought I’d be a One Tree Hill shipper, but my god, these two…I have rewatched their season one moments like 40 or 50 times in the last week. Even for me, that’s kind of insane. What can I say…I just love how much he loves her and helps her and deserves her. Even here, he’s still so adorably shocked that she chose him. It’s the vulnerability principle at its very best. 

[onetreehilldaily]

1.22 / 5.13

[nostalgia-eh52]

You Missed A Drummer ⬇️

[selfieignite]

Happy Halloween from Selfie (2014)!

Karen Gillan, John Cho, and Keith L. Williams dancing to Bar Bar Bar by Crayon Pop

[userotp]

You know, if the rest of my days are like this,…I’m gonna die a happy man.

ONE TREE HILL - 3.14 | "All Tomorrow's Parties"

[grest7]

[kryptonbabe]

The absence of the superego psychological structure in JSA bronze age comics, an observation

One thing that makes reading the JSA revival run from 1976 such an interesting experience is just how much of their inner thoughts they are willing to share with each other. The members of this team will express the most intense feelings of despair, anger and every other emotion without thinking twice, it makes for a very intense reading experience. These people are on the edge and they will let you know about their intrusive thoughts, deep feelings and desires, the drama is always through the roof, and I didn't even include Power Girl's exchanges with Superman and Wildcat (I'm saving these for another post)

In Freudian psychology we have:

(...) the id is the impulsive part of your personality that is driven by pleasure and repulsed by pain, the superego is the judgmental and morally correct part of your personality, and the ego is the conscious part of your personality that mediates between the id and the superego and makes decisions.

And I can only think of the challenge the JSA team of this time would present for these definitions, because they seem unburdened by the superego aspect of their mind, just saying what their id demands, particularly when it comes to sharing their feelings. And that is not to say these characters don't have interesting inner lives, it's just that they're very transparent about their feelings and it's absolutely appealing to witness such a dynamic

This particular style of writing reminds me of what Chris Claremont was also doing with the Uncanny X-Men at Marvel (All-Star Comics revival and Claremont's X-Men were published only 6 months apart), which might just be an example of how the writing trends of superhero comic books were changing with the times. The difference is: the X-men heroes were younger and less experienced while the JSA characters are jaded, they share a common history of decades with each other and their foes, this leaves a lot of room for drama and conflict (not to put these books against each other they're just different and I love both). Honestly I'm a melodrama fan, I have an appreciation for this soap opera style of comic book narrative and I'm glad there's so much good material to get into. There's a reason why the JSA characters are still popular to this day

From All-Star Comics (1976 revival), collected in Only legends live forever TPB (2019). Written by: Gerry Conway & Paul Levitz. Art by Keith Giffen & Wally Wood

[womeninfictionandirl]

Power Girl by Keith Byrne

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Watching [Tuesday in May Edition]

HEARTBREAK HOTEL Chris Columbus USA, 1988

[evilhorse]

Justice League Europe house ad (circa March 1989)

[tvshowscouples]

If you love Karen&Keith (OTH) and you want reblog or like,this is the link of my reblog couples :)

thank you!

[twokinds-es]

Feliz cumpleaños Tom fisback!

Happy birthday Tom Fischback

[othsource]

one tree hill challenge 🏀 favorite villain

               ↳ dan scott

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

1x02 ➡️ 9x13

There are layers to this parallel tho!! 💖😁

1. The way that Karen comes in and tells Keith that she’s not going to her son Lucas’ Basketball game and then in the second gif Haley comes in and we see that she is going to her son Jamie’s Basketball game. One of the reasons for Karen not going being her fraught relationship with the father of her child...Dan. Haley is going to Jamie’s game with one of Dan’s sons... Nathan who is the love of her life/husband/father of her child. That parallel really underlines the difference between Nathan and his father. Dan abandoned his child and was physically and/or verbally abusive to both of his sons. But Nathan is there for his children and loves his wife. He truly broke that cycle of abuse and we see that beautifully shown in this parallel. If Nathan had been a lesser guy or if a few different choices had been made, you can see how it could very well have been Lucas going to the game with Haley in season 9. That would have been a more one to one or on the nose parallel. Instead the OTH writers decided to show a narrative that is more compelling and interesting. To see a woman get the dream... you know a career, a fulfilling romantic relationship, and two wonderful children. To see a man choose to be a better person than his father and to give his children the fatherly relationship that he never had. 

2. The way that Haley subtly references Nathan in the first gif almost as a reason that Karen isn’t going to the game and then in the second she’s married and in love with Nathan and going to watch their son’s Basketball game with each other and their daughter Lydia.