#totally broke a promise i made to beth | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fly-pow-bye · 3 years ago

Text

What’s Airing On Cartoon Network? (July 2021)

While we’re in a rather empty spot for the network, Cartoon Network decided to add another show that was made for HBO Max to its television lineup: Looney Tunes Cartoons! Also, The Fungies continue their airing on television, and there’s new episodes of Total Dramarama and DC Super Hero Girls. More after the break.

Craig of the Creek

For completion’s sake, I’ll list the Craig of the Creek episodes here too.

June 28th:

Capture the Flag Part 1: The Candy - When mysterious circumstances cause issues at the Trading Tree, Craig tries to save the day! (10:00 AM)

June 29th:

Capture the Flag Part 2: The King - The Creek gets help from an unlikely friend. (10:00 AM)

June 30th:

Capture the Flag Part 3: The Legend - Craig goes in search of answers, and finds a legend. (10:00 AM)

July 1st:

Capture the Flag Part 4: The Plan - Craig puts a plan into motion to save the Creek. (10:00 AM)

July 2nd:

Capture the Flag Part 5: The Game - It all comes down to this, the fate of the Creek is at stake! (10:00 AM)

DC Super Hero Girls

July 4th:

#AngerManagement - When Jess coerces Kara into addressing her anger management issues, Supergirl's superhero abilities become seriously compromised! (8:00 AM)

#HappyBirthdayZee - Zatanna makes a birthday wish that forces her to confront the dark side of her magic. (8:15 AM)

July 11th:

#TheGreenRoom - When Jessica is faced with a Green Lantern Corps disciplinary hearing, Hal appoints himself to be her Peer Advocate. (8:00 AM)

#EnterNightSting - Karen is given a mission to prevent the apocalypse by DeathSting, a super-cool future version of herself. (8:15 AM)

July 18th:

#WorldsFinest - When PR whiz Max Lord tells Batgirl and Supergirl he can improve their image by doing publicity stunts, the two friends forget what being a hero is really about. (8:00 AM)

#WorkingStiff - After Babs hooks Karen up with a job at the Burrito Bucket, the two heroes encounter a new villain, the scourge of the fast-food underworld, the Condiment King! (8:15 AM)

July 25th:

#MultipliciZee - Zee magically duplicates herself so she can shirk work and watch TV. Things get out of hand when her copies start to make copies of themselves! (8:00 AM)

#TheMinus - Diana receives her first ever A-minus and becomes convinced that she needs to work harder, however, in order to do so, she resorts to rather drastic measures. (8:15 AM)

The Fungies

July 9th:

Sir Tree's Boy - Seth agrees to take care of Sir Tree's wooden boy, Boy Joy, but quickly pawns him off on Mertha. When Seth discovers that Sir Tree needs his boy back in order to survive, he must stage a heist to steal Boy Joy back before it's too late! (8:00 AM)

Commander Beefy - Seth, eager to explore the stars and find a fellow explorer, sends a signal to space. But the explorer who receives the message, Commander Beefy, has his own shady plans for Earth... (8:15 AM)

July 16th:

The Fanciest Fungie - Seth, frustrated that the Fancies are too caught up in the Fanciest Fancy pageant to listen to his warning about a fungus-eating bacteria, enters the pageant to get his message out. But when he gets sucked into the pageant, he'll have to face the consequences of getting distracted. (8:00 AM)

Snake It to the Limit - When Seth agrees to let an athletic snake replace his arm so he can finally be good at volleyball, he learns he doesn't need a fancy snake arm to make his teammates happy; he just needs to try. (8:15 AM)

July 23th:

Nevin's Cocoon - After a beautiful statue makes Nevin self-conscious about his own looks, Seth helps seal Nevin in a cocoon so that he may turn into a beautiful butterfly. (8:00 AM)

Cool Kids - When Pascal becomes obsessed with a group of cool kids, Seth promises to use his science skills to help Pascal become cool. But is coolness as cool as it seems? (8:15 AM)

July 30th:

Mermove Out - Seth is having a hard time sharing a room with messy Pascal and needs a change. But instead of being honest about the situation, Seth makes Pascal a mermaid tail so that his brother can finally move out-into the ocean! (8:00 AM)

Happy Birthday Nancy - Seth wants his mom to have the best birthday ever, so he creates his own currency in order to buy her an expensive gift. But he learns a little too late that counterfeiting is a crime, putting Nancy's birthday at risk of being ruined. (8:15 AM)

Looney Tunes Cartoons

July 5th:

Curse of the Monkeybird/Marvin Flag Gag: Deflating Planet/Harm Wrestling - Daffy Duck and Porky Pig search for hidden treasure. No one messes with arm-wrestling champ Yosemite Sam - until Bugs Bunny comes along. (9:00 AM)

Big League Beast/Hole Gag: Mini Elmer/Firehouse Frenzy -When Bugs overstays his welcome, an evil scientist unleashes Gossamer to get rid of him. Daffy Duck and Porky Pig make lousy firefighters. (9:15 AM)

July 6th:

Boo! Appetweet/Hole Gag: Plunger/Bubble Dum - Sweet victory turns into a nightmare when Sylvester fears he's haunted by Tweety's ghost. Daffy Duck faces off with a pesky piece of gum. (9:00 AM)

Pain in the Ice/Tunnel Vision/Pool Bunny - A hungry Sylvester sets his sights on Tweety, the ice skater. On a scorching hot day, Bugs Bunny makes himself at home in Elmer Fudd's pool. (9:15 AM)

July 7th:

Pest Coaster/Rhino Ya Don't - Bugs tries to ride a roller coaster, but Yosemite Sam is determined to stop him. At the zoo, Sylvester's lunch plans are foiled by a rhino. (9:00 AM)

Buzzard School/Marvin Flag Gag: Giant Alien Mouth/Wet Cement - Bugs Bunny enrolls Beaky Buzzard in Rabbit Hunting 101. Daffy wreaks havoc on Porky's wet cement. (9:15 AM)

July 8th:

Siberian Sam/Hole Gag: Fishing Pole/Fleece and Desist/Marvin Flag Gag: Mirror/Split Screen Marvin - In need of a new hat, Siberian Sam feasts his eyes on Bugs Bunny. Sam Sheepdog protects his herd from a hungry Ralph Wolf. (9:00 AM)

Grilled Rabbit/Cactus if You Can/Shower Shuffle - Elmer Fudd interrogates Bugs about a theft. Wile E. Coyote's plan to catch the Road Runner gets prickly. Daffy and Porky have shower troubles. (9:15 AM)

July 9th:

Overdue Duck/Hole Gag: Bees/Vincent Van Fudd - At the library, Porky Pig tries to silence a troublemaking Daffy Duck. Bugs Bunny interrupts Elmer Fudd's attempt to be a great artist. (9:00 AM)

Hare Restoration/TNT Trouble/Plumbers Quack - A self-interested Bugs gives Elmer Fudd dating advice. Wile E. Coyote runs into some dynamite problems. Elmer's leaky sink is no match for Daffy. (9:15 AM)

July 12th:

Daffuccino/Hole Gag: Moving Hole/Kitty Livin - Before his new coffee shop goes from grand opening to grand closing, Porky must impress an influential customer. Sylvester may have swallowed more than he can chew when he manages to trap Tweety... inside his stomach! (9:00 AM)

Chain Gangster/Telephone Pole Gag: Sylvester Car Jack Lift/Falling for It - Two bank robbers need Bugs' help to break out of jail. Daffy convinces Porky to go skydiving but forgets one important little thing... (9:15 AM)

July 13th:

Taziator/Marvin Flag Gag: Little Martian/Climate Control - Bugs faces off against Taz in a Roman coliseum. Wile E. Coyote orders a weather control kit, but his chances of catching the Road Runner remain cloudy. (9:00 AM)

Lepre-conned/Flag Won't Stay Straight/Brave New Home - Bugs is looking for Hawaii but finds Ireland and an angry leprechaun instead. Porky's new home has all the modern amenities anyone could hope for, including a computerized assistant - but the voice recognition software could use an update. (9:15 AM)

July 14th:

The Case of Porky's Pants/Fully Vetted - Detective Daffy takes on the case of Porky's missing pants. Tweety's trip to the veterinarian's office gives Sylvester the perfect opportunity for a lunchtime treat. (9:00 AM)

E-Rabbitcator/ Planet Split in 2/The Sales Duck - Bugs must outsmart a new technological foe. Elmer is ready for bed, but persistent salesman Daffy stands in the way of a good night's rest. (9:15 AM)

July 15th:

Pitcher Porky/Cherry Picker/Duck Duck Boom - Benchwarmer Porky finally gets his chance to shine on the pitching mound. With the game on the line, he needs all the help he can get - even if it's from Daffy. Elmer sets his sights on Daffy, but who's hunting whom? (9:00 AM)

Postal Geist/Anvil/Fudds Bunny - Porky and Daffy deliver packages to a haunted manor. Elmer's plan to disguise himself as a bunny to lure Bugs out of his hole doesn't quite go as planned. (9:15 AM)

July 16th:

Shoe Shine-nanigans/Multiply and Conquer/Parky Pig - Elmer visits Daffy for a quick shoeshine. Porky is running late for movie night but finding a parking spot is easier said than done. (9:00 AM)

Shell Shocked/Daffy Dentist - Bugs races against Cecil Turtle for the "fastest thing in New York City" title. The only thing more painful than Porky's sore tooth is a visit to dentist Daffy. (9:15 AM)

Total Dramarama

July 5th:

Breaking Bite - Beth becomes the big dog on campus after she bites Duncan, but being the big dog is a dangerous thing, especially when you didn't actually bite anybody! (5:00 PM)

July 6th:

I Dream of Meanie - When Cody keeps screaming in his sleep Gwen and Duncan take a trip into Cody's dreams to see what is scaring him. (5:00 PM)

July 7th:

Squirrels Squirrels Squirrels - Courtney's attempt to make Chef a better teacher fails when a squirrel gets his hands on her mind-control device. (5:00 PM)

July 8th:

Say Hello to my Little Friends - After telling the kids he will not miss them over the long weekend Chef locks himself into the school and finds out he was very, very wrong. (5:00 PM)

July 12th:

WaterHose-Five - The hottest day of the year and a broke air conditioner leads to a water battle of epic proportions to determine who controls the garden hose. (5:00 PM)

July 13th:

Cody the Barbarian - Cody is set to inherit a video game empire from his long-lost uncle, but only if he and his friends have what it takes to conquer a fantastical live-action video game. (5:00 PM)

July 14th:

TP2: Judgement Bidet - When the city experiences a toilet paper shortage Beth and Harold investigate and discover it's their old rival Sewer Mike who is the mastermind behind it all. (5:00 PM)

July 15th:

Dial B for Birder - Harold uncovers a secret plot that Chef's new parrot is hatching and tries to save his teacher only to discover that Sugar figured it out before him. Or did she? (5:00 PM)

July 19th:

A Hole Lot of Trouble - When rain derails an outside game of catch someone suggests they play it inside. This prompts Izzy to lead the group through her wildly imaginative worst-case scenario. It's an adventure so scary that the kids many never play again. (5:00 PM)

July 20th:

A Tell Tale - After Owen's BBF, Noah, goes through a growth spurt, Owen fears losing his friend and takes drastic action. (5:00 PM)

July 21st:

Chews Wisely - When the floor ends up covered in gum on the day of a big bubble blowing contest, Sugar decides she might help herself win by helping her friends get stuck to the floor. (5:00 PM)

July 22nd:

A Dingo Ate My Duncan - When all their classmates are replaced with well-behaved Australian doppelgangers in a school exchange program, Lightning and Cody start getting suspicious. (5:00 PM)

#fpb news #dc super hero girls #the fungies #looney tunes #looney tunes cartoons #cartoon network #total dramarama

3 notes · View notes

twdmusicboxmystery · 4 years ago

Text

Insights From the Talk Dead to Me Podcast

Okay, I teased everyone over the weekend that I’d have a lot to talk about today, and here it is. There was SO much interesting information in this podcast.

New Mexico Symbolism

TD isn’t by far the only ones to connect the New Mexico symbolism. On the podcast, they talked extensively about that and about how it will probably play into the sequel. One theory they had (and I hope they’re wrong) is that they think Aaron will get Rick’s comic book death. They think it would mess with Daryl’s head so bad, it would “run him out of town.”

Personally, I don’t think Daryl would leave JUST because Aaron died. For all the reasons many of us have already talked about (him taking care of Judith and RJ, etc). If anything, I think it would make him want to stay more and look after Gracie as well. I really don’t want Aaron to die, though. Unfortunately, it would make sense for him to die, what with him being such a heavy Beth proxy so often, but I’d really like him and Beth to meet first. Just my head canon, but I can’t help it. And they may have a point about Rick’s CB death, given that Aaron has already lost his arm.

Why Extended Seasons Instead of Just Doing S12?

You know how I keep saying it’s weird that they’re doing this massively extended S11 rather than just breaking it into S11 and S12? Yeah, this podcast told me why, and it makes perfect sense. In a nutshell: many of the actors’ contracts expire after S11. AMC doesn’t want to renegotiate everyone’s contract for only one season.

And that’s something I’m positive has changed. If they were going to season 15, they would have just renegotiated the contracts, no problem. But since they’ve decided to end it now, it would have been WAY more inconvenient. And the people on the podcast made a good point, saying that if the actors’ agents find out the show REALLY NEEDS them for one final season, they’re gonna come back with astronomical demands. And given the state of the world, covid, etc., those kinds of monetary demands really could tank the final season. So, I’m glad to know that. It makes tons of sense.

Let’s Talk AMC’s Social Media Practices

So, several of these people who do the podcast correspond with AMC regularly for social media reasons. They talked about how they’ll often press the AMC representatives they talk to for more information. For the most part, they get the same, vague promises we all get from Gimple. “We’re working on a script.” Or the classic, “I don’t know any more than you,” crap. But these podcasters said things might have changed logistically with the Rick Grimes films as well. You know how back when Rick left, Gimple said they’d be doing a 3-film trilogy? Well, apparently, people have begun to notice that ever since then, and especially since CoVid, any time anyone close to the shows references the Rick Grimes films, they talk about them in the singular, not the plural. The Rick Grimes FILM, not the Rick Grimes films. And the podcasters think it’s because the show is playing it by ear. Due, again, to financial concerns, maybe they’ll just make one film and see how well it’s received before deciding to make another. Obviously, I disagree with that idea. I do think things might have changed, the same as them ending the series after S11, in that they might use something other than films to continue Rick’s story. But I think they have a specific story to tell and they’re going to tell it, one way or the other.

I also think they got a bigger backlash about the films than they were expecting. People really threw tantrums about the idea of having to pay money to see it in the theaters. People are just used to getting it free on TV, and I think the reaction took tptb by surprise. Anyway, now with CoVid, and theater attendance WAY down, and heaven only knows where we’ll be in a year, it wouldn’t surprise me if AMC and Gimple are rethinking that tactic. Maybe they’ll only do one film and then segue Rick into another series. Either his own, or the Daryl/Carol one. Kirkman ended the comics in the summer of 2019. That was AFTER Rick’s last episode. So I’m willing to bet that all the changes and shuffling started as soon as the comics ended. However it happens, it does show that more than one thing is being shuffled behind the scenes due to CoVid. But listening to this gave me a huge epiphany that I became illogically excited about, lol. It was nothing they said, but just me thinking through the implications of all of this. I’ve always believed Rick would return in some way. And even though I’d be totally cool with him having a reunion with his kids in one of the Rick Grimes films or whatever, I’ve always had a sense that he would return to the series, despite them telling us he wouldn’t. Well, as I said yesterday, the idea of him returning seems much less likely now that we know they’re ending after S11. But…something occurred to me. Gimple has adamantly said Rick won’t return to the TWD series. He’s never said anything about him not moving to any spinoffs. *mic drop*

Thoughts About the Daryl/Carol Spinoff

Nothing too groundbreaking here, but they did say that the Donnie shippers are super frustrated, which I’m sure is true. They said the Caryl shippers are happy, but not too over-the-top happy about it. (Their words. I really couldn’t say whether that’s true or not.)

They also said that, given how much the show has told us there won’t be romance between them, it will either be the ultimate reward for the Carylers (if they get together romantically) or the ultimate tease (if they don’t).

So, my point is that, outside the hardcore shippers at least, most of the fandom isn’t really thinking this is going to be a romance thing with Carol and Daryl. And because of that, they’re wondering where the show could possibly go with Daryl and Carol. Like, they’ve explored their relationship as far as they can and they’re questioning whether this series revolving around them will be worth watching.

Now, if we didn’t know what we know or hadn’t theorized what we have, I would agree whole-heartedly with that. There has to be more to this spinoff than just Daryl and Carol running around killing zombies together. Even the GA is a little confused about this and thinks there must be more to the story. And, you know, there will be.

Coda Replay (And We Didn’t Even Realize It!)

This came together for me from multiple sources. I have an Ask in my inbox that I haven’t answered yet. It’s from a Nonny who obviously wrote in when the big news broke. He/she says that AMC announced the end of the series and the spin off…and then deleted the post. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, because it doesn’t seem to me like anything’s been deleted. At least on Twitter, the post with the press release and the announcement is still pinned to the top of the account. And probably different click bait sites have reported on it. So they don’t seem to be trying to hide it. I didn’t really know what to make of that, except maybe one of the posts was deleted for logistical reasons (typo or something) and then reposted, and the Nonny just thought it was suspicious when really, it wasn’t. Then I listened to this podcast. And guess what? One of the clickbait sites that was slated to give the announcement, IGN, posted it like two hours early…and then deleted their post.

One of the women they talked to used to be a social media manager for AMC. She isn’t anymore, but she worked for AMC for several years. And they asked her about the “leak.” She said that she felt badly for the company that leaked it early. She said when there’s a big announcement like this, there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of moving pieces behind the scenes. Basically, AMC has a whole network that they coordinate to release the news all at the same time. So, it didn’t surprise her that someone, every so often, messes it up and releases it early. It’s just a lot people and moving parts to keep track of. So like maybe, if they were supposed to post the announcement at 8am central time, maybe they posted it at 8 their time, which was too early. That sort of thing. And okay, I guess that makes sense. But there’s just one problem with that explanation. The EXACT same thing happened with this announcement as happened with Beth’s fate in Coda. One of the companies released it too early.

(I’m sure this is the post Nonny means that was deleted: because it was released too early.)

That’s why, the day the news of the show ending broke, people were talking about “rumors” of TWD ending before the official announcement was made. Between that, and all the references we’ve seen (‘bringing characters back from the dead,’ and ‘the six episode coda,’) I just don’t think I can believe in good faith that this was a coincidence.

A little more about AMC social media accounts.

This just confirms what we’ve suspected for years. This woman said she was one of many social media managers. But all that means is that she “managed” several of AMC’s social media accounts. As in, she posted on them and interacts with fans and comments.

She in no way, shape, or form had any say about what was posted or when. She specifically said that such things were WAY above her paygrade. She suspects that such decisions went all the way up to Gimple and Kang. Like there’s someone who follows them around, and when one of them says something needs to be posted, that person texts all the social media managers and they post it. Boom. The writers 100% control what goes out on social media. What it is, what graphics to use, how it’s worded. Everything. #TDforthewin!

She also said that if someone leaks the news early, everything is reconfigured and they quickly shore up to protect the narrative and make sure everything is correct and appropriate. Very interesting.

He also asked her if she thought IGN did it intentionally or on accident. She was obviously being careful not to throw too much shade, but you could tell she definitely thought it might have been done intentionally. Oh, and also? The podcast guy said he knew about the leak because he had to wait until a certain time (I want to say 8:30 am, but I don’t know which time zone) before he posted about it. AMC told him what time and he made sure not to sleep in so he wouldn’t miss it, but he logged on and people already knew because of the leak.

So once again, even this podcast, who claims not to be directly affiliated with AMC (even though they totally are) is getting posts, directions, etc. from AMC. And that’s important with what I’m about to tell you, because the people on this podcast have definitely mentioned Beth in suspicious contexts more than once. And this podcast was the farthest thing from an exception.

Talking About Beth Randomly

That leads me to my final and the biggest thing that stuck out to me about this podcast. Let me first say that I generally like the podcasters and their attitudes toward the show. For one thing, none of them are pro-Caryl. Most of them like Carol all right, but don’t want her and Daryl together romantically. Obviously, I like that.

Unfortunately, they were kinda being punks about Beth in this episode. They went on a little TD-bashing session. As I said the other day, they didn’t mention TD by name or anything, but it was more of a “did you know there are people out there who think Beth is alive?�� kind of thing. And they were being really sarcastic about what they thought about that. But the entire discussion still felt SUPER suspicious to me. They were talking about the OTHER spinoff. Not the Daryl/Carol one, but the “Tales of the Walking Dead” one where they’ll tell the back story of deceased characters. One of them asked who the others would like to see back stories of. Out of nowhere, one of them yelled, “Beth!” Seriously. Out. Of. Freakin. Nowhere. And then they basically started making fun of TDers. They talked about how there really are people out there who think she’s still alive. Then one of them said “those people” think that Beth had a twin sister we never knew about and she’s the one who got shot and Beth is still secretly alive. I had to chuckle and shake my head at that. Maybe there’s someone, somewhere in the fandom who thinks that, but I’ve never even heard anyone argue that before. Have you? He then called people who believe that a great big pile of stupid. So yeah, obviously they were being punks. But the conversation about Beth went on and on. One of them said they hoped AMC did a Beth back story in that spin off series, just to mess with the heads of the people who think she’s still alive. And then someone else replied that she doesn’t have a back story to tell because we know it all already: farm, prison, Grady. (I’m sorry; who’s one big pile of stupid to NOT notice the missing 17 days in S5?) Even though they were basically laughing at us, it just felt really deliberate and contrived. And then, one of the women says, “I hope she shows up in The World Beyond.” Seriously? After that, they finally kind of went, “Anyway…” and moved on. But they didn’t even mention any other names in answer to the question about who else they wanted to see back stories for in that second spin off. They ONLY talked about Beth. I siriusly sat there with my jaw hanging open because again, it just came out of nowhere, and they mentioned her—extensively—in conjunction with BOTH spinoffs AND threw in TWB. Just saying.

You know how I said earlier that they claim not to be affiliated with AMC, though they totally are? Well, technically these people are part of Skybound. (Upper left corner of the picture below.) So in that way, they aren’t directly AMC. But we all know Skybound has posted MANY suspicious things about Beth over the years. And as I established above, they’re definitely being fed what to post by AMC.

So I feel like that applies here as well. It’s almost like AMC told them to mention Beth in some way, even if it was by way of making fun of people who think she’s alive. So they found a way to bring her up in conversation. And hey, maybe these podcasters really don’t know about Beth’s return. Maybe they think AMC wants them to make fun of or dismiss the idea of her return. But either way, they contrived a way to talk about her, and they would only have done that if AMC told them to. Okay, I’ll shut up, now. That podcast just totally rocked my world. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

16 notes · View notes

collecting-stories · 5 years ago

Text

Dreams - Daryl Dixon

Request: Ready for it, Taylor for Daryl please ? - anon requested.

A/N: Probably not exactly what you had in mind but I love this hook/chorus and wanted to make it the main focal point of the fic. Sorry, I took some poetic liberties.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams, you should see the things we do, baby, I know I’m gonna be with you - ...Ready For It, Taylor Swift

\\\

Your chin rested in your palms, elbows on knees as you took what was likely the most relaxed watch position in history. The thirty plus days without incident, as documented by the rummaged sign Beth proudly displayed in her cell, was making you lazy. So much so you considered, for a brief moment, wearing shorts to watch. It was hot out and the metal death trap twenty or so feet off the ground felt like it was roasting you alive most days and lately you’d been drawing the short straw - midday watch.

The only promising factor was that Daryl was back from the four-day run he and Michonne had embarked on. Which meant he was helping Rick plough. Which meant you could stare at him instead of the disgusting post-dead clinging to the fences. He was, naturally, unaware of your stalkerish staring but then oblivious, emotionally unavailable men were your type. He’d been even more checked out since Merle died, reserving any moments of camaraderie for Michonne or Rick or Carol. That wasn’t surprising. They’d found you somewhere between the farm that burned down (so the story goes) and this prison and they’d been good enough to take you in, just like they’d done for these folks from Woodbury, but you weren’t one of them. Still an outsider to the group the most they offered you was a scrap of conversation here and there. Glenn and Maggie, and Lori before she died, had been the kindest. Even bratty Beth with her moodiness and her self-revolving universe was nicer than most. Michonne was nice, but she had been an outsider too. An asset that lost the status pretty quickly, most of the time you missed each other. She was on watch at odd hours. And besides, it was Daryl you really wanted to talk to.

Like an itch you couldn’t scratch.

You’d been nothing special prior to this. And they’d found you after a rough patch, accosted by a group before theirs you’d been hiding in the back of a minivan and Daryl had opened the door on you, sending you both into a minor panic. Hershel had bandaged the sprained ankle you had and Lori had offered some of the Tylenol in her bag to ease the pain from the bruises on your face. Healed by now you only had occasional trouble from your ankle which was why Rick always put you on watch and never assigned you a run or asked you to fix the traps outside of the fences.

The complacency was making you go a little stir crazy. Or more than a little, judging by the entire hours that you spent daydreaming about Daryl.

“How are you killing anything if your gun is no where near you?” Glenn asked, nudging your side with the rifle you’d left inside the watchtower while you sat outside.

“Don’t remind me.” You sighed, taking the gun and laying it across your lap.

Glenn sat down beside you, just as relaxed. “What are they doing?”

“Building a fence for the pigs?” You shrugged. “I’m not sure, I’m just in it for the view.”

“Imagine if you spoke to him like a normal person.” Glenn teased. You had become quick friends with Glenn and he was privy to most of you new-world secrets, including your infatuation with Daryl.

“I talk to him all the time in my head.”

“That doesn’t make you sound crazy.”

“No crazier than the rest of us.” You shrugged.

“Hey, kid!” And wasn’t that the other problem? That of all the nicknames Daryl could have possibly chosen to bestow on you he had gone with ‘kid’ as if you were Carl or Beth’s age and not in fact, in your late twenties.

You leaned through an opening in the railing to gaze down at him. Tanner than usual from the sun, a hint of a burn forming on his shoulders and you were mentally running through the list of odd items collected in your cell to see if you had any aloe you could offer him before that started to peel. When you continued to stare Glenn cleared his throat and nudged you.

“Sorry, what’s up?” You asked.

“Ya wanna see how to check the traps?”

You’d been bugging for weeks to help in a capacity greater than sitting around in this tower everyday but you imagined the most you’d get was babysitting duty or helping Hershel should anyone feel a little under the weather. The only thing more surprising than being given an actual task was that Daryl was the one offering up his assistance.

“Yeah, totally.” Way to sound like an adult, you nearly cringed at the sound of your own overtly excited voice.

Being outside the fence again you were bombarded with the same feelings you’d been fending off before you met the group. That anxious bubble of dread was just under your skin and you could feel yourself zoning out. It didn’t help that Daryl was just a few steps ahead of you, leading the way further into the woods as scenarios of all the ways this could go bad ran through your mind.

That and how good Daryl made living in the middle of an apocalypse look. How could someone manage to look both gross and fuckable at the same time? Maybe it said less about him and more about your absolute devotion to this infatuation with him that you were thinking about how much you wanted him to shove you up against a tree right in the middle of the fucking forest.

“Ya paying attention?” Daryl’s voice broke your concentration and you looked up at him. He was already halfway through disarming one of the snares to check for anything inside. A rabbit.

“Uh, yeah.” You nodded and bit your lip.

“Here, put this in the bag.”

“That’s what this bag is for?” You asked, grimacing as you took the dead rabbit and laid it in the tote bag slung over your shoulder.

“What’d ya think it was fer?” He looked at you like you were the stupidest person on earth.

You could only shake your head and shrug. Honestly he could have stood there and told you exactly what the bag was for and you would still have no idea. You had a terrible habit of zoning out whenever Daryl was talking to you. The movement of his hands and his lips and the way he looked when he was trying to find the right words to explain something was one of your favorite things and your mind went more than a little haywire trying to take in all of it at once.

“Come on, we got three more to check.” He kept walking and you stood there for a minute, letting him get ahead of you before you finally caught up.

“How’d it go?” Glenn asked, leaning on the door frame of your cell.

You frowned, lifting your leg so he could see the bandage that Hershel had to wrap your ankle in. Distracted, as it were, you had taken a rather nasty fall that resulted in what Hershel determined was a sprained ankle. Naturally you had tripped up right in front of Daryl, embarrassing but not entirely unfortunate because he carried you back to the prison.

“I fell.”

“I heard.” He smiled, clearly trying not to laugh out loud at you.

“Who told you?” You were sure that everyone was talking about what an absolute waste of space you were, especially now, but you wouldn’t mind knowing exactly who was spreading news of your fall.

“Daryl told Rick about it.” Glenn said, “told him you’re too distracted out there. I said you never have a problem when we go on runs.”

“Why cause you hate me?” You grumbled, standing carefully, “I should apologize.”

“For the upteenth time?”

“Yes.” In actuality you’d been so embarrassed over the entire ordeal that you hadn’t apologized at all. You had just fumbled over your words until you decided it was probably better to just stay quiet. But you felt guilty that Daryl had agreed to take you out there and you had fucked the whole thing up by being your usual self and getting far too distracted by everything about him to pay attention to even the ground you were walking on.

Daryl wasn’t hard to find, sitting at the base of the stairs that led up to the second level of cells. He was whittling the end of a stick, probably making a new arrow. You’d watched him make them plenty of times before, though that made you sound like some stalker. He looked up as you lowered yourself on to the step beside him. Your heart was pounding against your chest and your hands felt clammy from being so nervous.

If you could be half as confident in front of him as you were in the millions of daydreams you had about him.

“I’m sorry, about earlier.” You confided, “I didn’t mean to be so lousy out there.”

“Ain’t yer fault, yer outta practice.” He shrugged. Nicer than he had to be.

The part of his conversation with Rick that Glenn had left out was how he lost any composure, resentful that Rick had even considered sending you out there in the woods. Even if it was just to check snares. When you’d fallen Daryl had been terrified that you were more seriously hurt than just a sprained ankle and you had laid there while he checked you for any other injuries. Then he’d carried you back to the prison as quickly as possible, aware that you were in a compromised position if any walkers showed up. He was pissed, to say the least, not that Rick had suggested taking you out to the woods but that Rick had thought you would be okay to check snares after you hadn’t been on the other side of the prison in months.

“I still feel guilty, I could’ve gotten us killed.” And now you were apologizing like the whole thing was your fault.

“Wouldn’t a let that happen.” Daryl replied, eyes still trained on his arrow. It was easier to talk to you when he had something to occupy himself, so that all his concentration wasn’t on you. Or the way you smiled. Being in the woods with you was hard enough.

“I know you wouldn’t have, I just mean...I totally compromised us.”

“Like I said, it ain’t yer fault.” Daryl was adamant that you understand that he was not mad at you. Himself, yes, but you. Never.

As many hours as you wasted sitting on that watchtower and keeping an eye on whatever he was doing, he was watching you as well. Sometimes he would come in the kitchen area and sit there fiddling with his crossbow just so he could be around you while you helped Carol. Or he would offer to help you anytime you were tasked with a job. He knew nothing would ever come of it, even in the world the way it was now there were social standings and he knew you would never be interested in someone like him.

“When yer healed up we’ll go out again. Just ta get used ta being out there. Ain’t gotta do anything.”

“A nice walk in the woods together?” You asked, smiling at him. You could think up a million scenerios in which the two of you were out there together, walking in the woods with the seasons changing. None of them involving snares or runs or walkers.

“So long as ya don’t trip over yerself again.”

“It was an accident! You said it wasn’t my fault.”

Daryl grinned, looking away from you so you couldn’t see the change in facial expression but you caught it just in time. Your own smile appeared, maybe it wasn’t so far fetched that he could like you.

taglist: @thinkingsofamadwoman @mixedwiththemoon @titty-teetee @queenmissfit @marvelismylifffe @iluvmesomemarvelndc @absentmindeduniverse @his-paradox @medievalfangirl @gigilame @sabertooth-potato @enrapturedbythemoon @cbarter @onemorebeautifulnightmare @born-in-19-96 @mainokutan @uh-i-think-its-frank @nikki082489 @qrangr @twdeadfanfic

#daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x reader #Daryl Dixon fanfic #twd fanfiction #twd au #twd imagine #twd fanfic #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead fanfic #collecting stories imagine #cs discography series

337 notes · View notes

fanfiction4thesoul · 5 years ago

Text

What I See Prologue

Pairing: Roger Taylor x Reader

Word Count: ~1.9

Warnings: None! (For this chapter at least)

Summary: You’re headed back home to London after a few years in America. You’ve got a new job at EMI, thanks to your best friend Freddie and you’re ready to start the next chapter of your life. But navigating life is far more interesting when you see far more than anyone else.

A/N: Heeeellllllooooo everybody! I am sick again, but I wanted to still get the prologue up. I’m kind of excited for this series. I’ve got a plan (kind of) for where I’m going with this story and I _know _you guys will like it, but I had to do some set up. So I promise you’ll get some Roger/Reader interaction in the first chapter. Thank you to everyone that likes/comments/reblogs!

You looked over your flat one last time, giving it a once over to make sure you didn’t forget anything. It had been your home for the last three years, and you were almost going to miss it. Maybe not the water stained ceiling or the loud pipes, but still. America had been fun; it gave you such a huge opportunity, but you were ready to head home.

There was a job waiting for you, working as an audio tech with EMI. And it was all thanks to your best friend, the one and only Freddie Mercury. Working in Hollywood on TV sets, mixing sounds and improving your skills was a dream come true. But you really wanted to work in the music industry. Freddie put in a good word for you at EMI. So when you sent in your application, on top of being more than qualified, you had an inside recommendation.

You were quickly hired and, surprisingly, told you would be working with Queen. Roy Baker, who was moving studios, apparently requested that you replace him as the head sound engineer. Despite the horrible things Fred told you about Norman Sheffield, he actually agreed. And he gave you enough time to sort yourself out to head back to England. So, all in all, things were going great. But you were still closing a chapter in your life.

“Oh, (Y/N). You’re still here. I was hoping to see you.”

You turned around to see Richie strolling out of your kitchen, long brown hair falling into his face and a mischievous grin on his face. “You only just caught me. I’m just about to leave. Gotta catch my flight,” you said, smiling wide.

“Yes, I heard you were heading back to jolly, old England.” He put on a posh, British accent making you chuckle at his ridiculousness.

“I told you this, like, two weeks ago when you last decided to show up. Don’t you listen when I talk to you?” You gave him a mocking frown.

“‘Course I do. I’m just saying, it’s worked its way through the grapevine. You’re leaving a lot of sad folks around here.”

You huffed a laugh, grabbing you bag. “Well, you can tell them all, just like I told them, that they can come visit me whenever they want.” You paused. “Within reason.”

Just as Richie was about to respond, the door opened up behind you and in walked your roommate. Well, ex-roommate.

“(Y/N)! Good, you’re still here!” She said, looking slightly out of breath. “I left work a little early hoping I could catch you. Then I couldn’t find a spot to park, and I ran up the stairs ‘cause the elevator was taking too long. And, well, here.”

She reached into her bag pulling out a little picture frame. Inside the frame was a picture of you and her, sunglasses on, arms wrapped around each other. It was from one of your many trips to the beach. “It’s not much. I know you said no presents and you’re flying light but… well, I just don’t want you to forget.”

“Oh, Beth,” you pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing your eyes shut to stop them from tearing up. Beth was your first friend in a new country and she was such a great support whenever you got homesick. Gosh, you were really gonna miss her.

“I know we said our mushy goodbyes last night, but I just wanted to see you one more time, yeah? Can I drive you to the airport?”

You nodded, wiping the wetness around your eyes away. “Yeah… yeah, let’s go.” Grabbing your suitcase, Beth led you out into the hall. You turned around to get the door, but it was already closing and you managed to see Richie giving you a wink before the door shut with a click.

~O~

The flight was long, even though it was a straight shot to London. You technically flew through the night, so you tried to get some sleep. The loud sound of the plane wasn’t very soothing though, and you didn’t get much rest.

It felt like you had been traveling for days when you finally touched down in Heathrow. Your joints cracked and you had to take a moment to stretch out while you waited for your luggage. Once you got it, you were out rushing, heading towards the exit.

When you rounded the corner, you broke out into a wide grin.

Freddie was there, waiting for you like he promised. He was dressed to the nines looking totally out of place and earning curious stares from those around him. On top of that, he was holding up a colorful sign, glittering in the light that said ‘Welcome home (Y/N).’

He shouted your name as soon as he saw you, giving you a big smile and a wave. You ran to him as fast as you could with your luggage weighing you down. But Freddie spared you, meeting you halfway and bringing you into a big hug.

“(Y/N), darling. Welcome home! Look at you!” Freddie grabbed your shoulder, holding you at arms length, eyes roaming all over you. “You’ve grown into a beautiful woman since I’ve last seen you!”

“Thank you, Freddie.” You felt your cheeks heating up a little. “And thank you for picking me. And for giving me a place to stay.”

“Nonsense! Where else would you stay?” He grabbed your luggage from you. Turning around, he started walking towards the exit. Your step faltered as you thought you saw someone you recognized in the crowd, but shrugged it off as you followed Freddie.

“My parents, maybe? They do live in London.”

“(Y/N), you’re a grown ass woman. I’m not letting you move back in with your parents, even for just a little bit. Besides, after three years of only phone calls, I want you to myself for a little bit.”

You laughed, “Fred, I’m going to be working with you. You’ll see me all the time.”

When you got to the van he was borrowing from one of his bandmates, he loaded your things into the back before hopping into the driver’s seat. “Oh, I know that. But then I’m going to have to share you. Can’t I just keep you to myself for a little bit?”

“‘Course you can, Fred.” You shared a smile.

He filled you in on everything you missed since your last phone call. EMI apparently has a trip planned for the band. Something about going to a farm that’s somehow also a recording studio.

“Roger’s throwing a fit about it. Says that it’s in the middle of nowhere and we’re gonna be bored out of our minds. Brian keeps telling him that’s the point, but he won’t listen.”

You never got to meet any of Freddie’s friends. You were off to technical school before he really even met them himself, and then you were in America right after. Sure, Freddie gave you numerous stories to fill in the gaps. In a way, you felt like you knew them, or at least knew enough about them to start a friendship.

Freddie told you all about how Brian was obsessed with space, that he’s the rational, calm one of the group; he told you that Roger was unfairly beautiful, but an intelligent spitfire to boot; he told you that John was quiet but so incredibly kind (except when you get on his nerves). So you felt like you already knew these boys.

You just hoped they like you well enough. It seems like you’ll be spending a lot of time together, after all.

When you arrived at Freddie’s flat he helped you unload, carrying your suitcase up the stairs. “Wow, Fred. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do so much work.”

“Oh, shut up, darling. It’s just this once.” Freddie prepared the guest room for you, depositing your luggage next to the few boxes of things you sent in the mail ahead of you. “I imagine you’re extremely tired, but you need to stay awake if you want to fight the jet lag. So you get settled and then I’m taking you out.”

“But-”

“No arguments,” he said with a wink, closing the door behind you.

You sighed, but smiled a little to yourself. It was only early morning in London but your body thought it was still time for sleep. Maybe going out with Freddie would do some good and keep your mind off of sleeping.

You unpacked some of your things. The first thing you pulled out was the picture Beth gave you, setting it on your nightstand. Even though you were staying with Freddie, you were still planning on finding a place of your own. Though it seemed like you might need to wait a little longer if you’ll be heading to this farm-studio-thing. Taking a shower loosened your still stiff muscles and made you feel so much better. So when Freddie came to get you, you felt ready to see London again.

Los Angeles became a home away from home, but it was no London. Now, London wasn’t beautiful, at least not all of it, but it was still familiar. Freddie took you to your favorite fish and chips place (you were slightly embarrassed when you accidentally called them french fries and Freddie just laughed at you). You walked around Kensington market and Freddie showed you where he had run a stall with Roger. He described all the types of things they sold, delving into stories about particularly memorable customers.

Throughout the day, you kept thinking that you saw someone familiar, but whenever you looked, no one was there. Almost like you were being followed. You shrugged it off as being tired as well as getting used to London again. By the time you both got back to the flat, you were beat.

Freddie insisted on stopping for take out though so you ate dinner together on the sofa. You felt your eyes drooping more and more as you started to pick at your food. You must have dozed for a moment because the next second you jolted awake, Freddie’s hand on your shoulder.

“Go to bed, darling. Really. I think you earned a good night’s rest after indulging me all day.” Freddie said quietly, giving you a small nod towards the hallway. “Go, I’ll clean up.”

“Alright,” you said through a yawn. “Thanks Freddie. Night.”

“Night, darling.”

You shuffled down the hallway to your room. Slowly, you pulled your pajamas on before pulling your toothbrush and toothpaste out of your pack. You brushed your teeth quickly, wanting to fall into bed. But as you opened the bathroom door, you let out a loud shriek, coming face to face with Richie.

“Richie! What the fuck!” you panted, trying to catch your breath.

“(Y/N)!” Freddie yelled, coming down the hall. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

You sighed, eyeing up the guilty look on Richie’s face. “Nothing, Fred. It’s just Richie. Coming out of nowhere.”

“Hey,” he said, hands up in mock defense, “you said I could visit anytime.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t mean right away. Or to scare the living daylights out of me.” Richie just shrugged, tossing his hair over his shoulder.

“Wait,” Freddie said, slowly. “Richie? As in, the ghost you met at the dive bar in L.A.? The one you caught criticizing some guy’s pick up line? That Richie?”

You glanced at Freddie, pursing your lips. “Yes, that Richie.”

Part 1

Taglist: @jennyggggrrr

#roger taylor #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x you #roger taylor x reader #roger taylor x Y/N #fanfiction #Queen #queen fanfiction

46 notes · View notes

love-fireflysong · 4 years ago

Text

Day 26: Birthday

Fandom: Until Dawn Character(s): Josh Washington, Chris Hartley Words: 1397 Rating: General Author’s Notes: Welp, like @queenofbaws said earlier, starting to run low on ideas in the ol’brain space over here, so i decided to unashamedly steal her idea of the dorks baking a cake. Except since mine involves them actually baking it (or at least trying to), it’s different enough right? That being said, I’ve realized that I don’t write enough about the original trash duo interacting without Ash there as a buffer, so I needed to fix that.

“Are you absolutely sure that we have everything we need?”

From where Josh was standing next to the counter and unloading their grocery bag, he rolled his eyes. Hard. Not that Chris could see him. “For the goddamn billionth time, YES. I am sure we have everything.”

“But—”

“I have been doing this for years. Sam and I have been making Hannah and Beth’s birthday cakes every year since I was 10. We have got this.”

“I know that. It’s just that, well...”

Josh rubbed irritably at the bridge of his nose, letting out a just as irritable sigh. “I get it, Chris. I really do. This is your first time really making something that isn’t instant noodles.”

He could hear Chris sputter indignantly behind him, as he brought out the package of triple chocolate cake mix. “I know how to cook, dude! And I’ve made like cookies and shit before.”

“Yeah, with your mom.”

Josh could hear the telltale sound of the fridge behind him being opened and closed, followed by the sharp hiss of the seal on a bottle of pop being broken. He stuck out a hand behind him, and after a short time and groan, felt Chris putting said bottle of pop in his hand before going back into the fridge.

“So what if it was with her?I don’t see what’s that got to do with anything.”

“It means that you’ve been given the easy jobs. Stuff like pouring the chocolate chips in, or taste-testing the cookies when they’re done. Baby shit. You’ve never truly baked until you’ve accidentally added a cup of salt instead of a cup of sugar.”

Chris sputtered again, though this time it was from choking on the bottle of pop he had been drinking. “Don’t tell me you’ve actually done something that stupid.”

Josh let the moment build, taking a sip from his bottle of coke and placing it on the counter nearby. “I plead the fifth.”

“Oh god, we’re gonna kill Ash aren’t we?”

“Once again, been doing this shit since I was ten. And my sisters are still alive.”

Chris gave a snort and as he walked over to finally help Josh empty their bag of cake supplies, holding up the jar of vanilla buttercream icing to his face. “Yeah, probably cause Sam’s been helping you. And I still don’t understand why we have to make the cake at your place.”

“Because,” Josh began, sighing simply because he had explained this to Chris before as he took the icing from him. Had explained it to him many, many times in fact. “If we do it at your place, then your mom will one hundred percent take over for us. I love your mom. She’s a fantastic lady. The only reason I’m still alive today is because she taught me how to cook, cause my parents sure as hell weren’t home enough to do that. But she can get super controlling in the kitchen. And once she realizes that we’re baking a cake, that’s it. It’s not us baking a cake anymore, it’s her.

“And need I remind you, you’re the one that was insistent that we make the cake ourselves.”

The face that Chris made at that was one that Josh recognized instantly. It was the face of his best friend knowing that Josh was right, but hating that he couldn’t argue against him anyway. It was one of Josh’s favourite faces. Right after the face he and Ash had made after biting into those cookies he had made specially for Truth or Dare one night. Oh, those had been glorious. He had pictures somewhere, planned on getting them professionally framed at some point. Neither of them had trusted anything he made for months afterward, but it had been worth it. So worth it.

“Alright, fine. Just, let me make sure that we got everything—”

“Jesus Christ on cracker, Chris! We have everything, I swear!”

The look on Chris’s face was so unimpressed that Josh could have sworn that it was Ash staring at him in the kitchen instead. “Dude, Ash and I trust you in a kitchen—supervised!" Chris felt the need to apparently clarify to Josh's amusement, "but there is no way in hell that either of us trust you with a grocery list. We sent you out to by a couple of packages of jello once, and you came back with boxes of pudding.”

Josh put up a finger in outrage. “Okay, so not my fault. I mean, why the hell does both pudding and jello say jello on it? How was I supposed to tell the difference?”

“By looking at the pictures on the box, dude! Ignoring the fact that jello looks totally different from pudding, we sent you specifically for lime jello, so you would have had to looked at the boxes to find the flavor. The fact that you came back with vanilla pudding instead means that you had literally just grabbed the first box you saw!”

“Yeah, well that was just the once—”

“Nope! I have more examples! Loads more! What about the time you came back with cocoa powder instead of hot chocolate mix, or when you came back with boxed oatmeal instead of oats? Or—”

“Fine, it get it Cochise. Just read your stupid shopping list already.”

Pleased to have won the argument at hand, Chris pulled up the shopping list he had written on his phone.

“Alright, so we needed to buy cake mix, icing, candles, and a different icing for the words.”

“Yeah, and we had to spend hours looking at the different colors because you were too picky and couldn’t decide.”

“It wasn’t hours—”

“Hours, Chris! Actual hours!”

“Twenty minutes, man! It was only twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes that felt like twenty hours until you finally agreed with me that we should do purple since it’s Ash’s favourite colour.” Josh grabbed the box of cake mix and ripped the top open. “Let’s just get this over with. Turn on the oven to 350° for me will you?”

Josh ignored Chris grumbling as he walked towards the oven behind them, and instead started to dig around one of the lower cupboards for a mixing bowl and grabbed a whisk from out of the drawer. He dumped the package of cake mix into a bowl and moved to grab a couple of cake pans and oil. “Oh, and get me the milk and three eggs from the fridge while you’re over there.”

“Oh, shit.”

Well, that certainly didn’t sound promising. Josh turned to look over his shoulder from where he was half crawling into a cupboard of pans. “What? Don’t tell me you broke my oven, man.”

“No! God, of course not. It’s just that, well, there’s no eggs in the fridge. Or milk.”

Josh narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “What do you mean there’s no eggs or milk? You haven’t even looked in the fridge yet!”

Chris raised his hand holding the bottle of coke. “I didn’t see any milk or eggs when I went in the fridge for the pop.”

“Well, then you just didn’t look hard enough. Hannah and Beth went grocery shopping with Sam just the other day. We should have full carton of milk and eggs still.”

“Dude, I swear to fucking god, there was no milk or eggs in there.”

Refusing to believe Chris, Josh walked over to the fridge and opened it, only to not see the carton of eggs or the jug of milk as he had been promised. What he did see though, was a large bowl of what looked like egg salad and another bowl of chocolate pudding. And a note attached to them that proclaimed them to be for when Beth’s swim meet ended in another hour and ‘don’t you dare touch them Josh, I will kill you if even one spoonful is missing’.

Slowly, Josh closed the fridge door and started to rhythmically smash his forehead lightly into the metal door. “Get your keys, Cochise. We’re going back to the grocery store.”

Behind him, Chris picked up the discarded box of cake mix and read the back of it. “I mean, we don’t have to use milk, we can use water instead.”

“No, just. Just no, dude. I will kick you out of my kitchen if you even try to use water in my cake.”

#pride month prompt challenge #until dawn #josh washington #chris hartley #just bros being bros #and baking a cake together #things i did not have going into this: headcanon that josh is the good cook of the 3 of them #headcanon i now have: that josh is the better cook of the 3 of them #huh #the discoveries i have made this evening #ash is absolutely the one who has to do all the grocery shopping #but its josh who cooks everything #chris does the dishes #when the fuck did this turn into ot3 headcanons?????#late because apparently my brain just did not want to write a fic about two dudes trying to bake a cake

9 notes · View notes

justjessame · 4 years ago

Text

The Deal Chapter 15

Carol’s return marked a turning point of sorts for our group. I will forever equate that moment to Dad coming at least partially out of his grief. Her return will be linked with the first time we met Michonne. Her return will be put on the same page as the day our safe place, a prison, was on a scale between “can we make this work” and “danger will forever follow us”.

Dad came out of the room he’d been talking to imaginary people on the phone, if I were to believe Hershel. And I did believe Hershel. Dad had plenty to get through. High among them was definitely Mom’s death before they could find peace between one another.

We were eating, OK, I wasn’t eating. I was holding Judith while everyone around me ate. Dad looked gaunt and tired, and honestly a little shitty. He took in the baby in my arms and came to me, holding out his arms. I smiled and handed him the tiny bundle. Watching as he cradled her to him after taking the time to lift her carefully so he could take in her small face. I gulped, and felt Daryl move from his spot on the steps to sit next to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Dad, it was simply that he wasn’t himself. And that did scare me.

I followed him as he walked outside, taking Judith from him when he tried to give her to Carl. I watched as he walked toward the fence, eyes on something that I couldn’t make out. Carl rushed along with him, and I finally see, another survivor fighting the walkers that mill around outside the fence. Together, Carl and Dad manage to rescue this new person, taking out the dead that are bearing down on them as they pass out.

Carrying her inside, because once he’s closer I can see that it’s obviously a woman, Dad and Hershel look over her wound. Carl, I notice, has a shopping basket full of formula, which makes my heart clutch with fear. Dad managed to get her awake, and asked her for her name. Silence. And so a locked cell is what she receives.

Dad had a moment with Carol, and of course Daryl, like a proud papa had to let him know what a badass she had been. I smiled, watching the three of them. I realized that Carol hadn’t met Judith yet, so I walked over to show her. Her eyes filling with pain made me wish I hadn’t for a moment, and my heart nearly broke all over again when she apologized to Dad, when she realized that Mom hadn’t made it.

While we’re reconnecting, I realized that we had an audience. The total badass katana woman was watching intently from her cell. I nudged Dad and he walked back to try again with her.

Her name, we finally learned, was Michonne. And she confirmed the churning fear building in my stomach. Glenn and Maggie had been taken. They were kidnapped by people from another group. A town of 75 that lived in a place called Woodbury, run by a man who fancied himself “The Governor” and who Michonne confirmed was more than a little like Jim Jones. She offered Dad a way in, to find and rescue our missing members, but I could tell she had more that she wanted to finish there as well.

And so, Dad, Oscar, and Daryl (of course) decide to take her up on the offer. Carl, along with me and Judith, accompany them outside as they load up a car with weapons and supplies. Dad, taking Carl and I away from the others, instructs us to keep our group safe (Carl’s job) and to keep the peace (falling on my shoulders once again). It’s easy to agree. It’s what we do, the Grimeses. Then Daryl takes a turn, Dad taking Judith from my arms, and leaving us a tad bit of privacy.

“I know you’re worried, Jessi.” His arms wrap around me and I let my head settle over his heart. “Don’t, please, I promise I will always find my way back to ya.” I feel his lips on the top of my head and tilt my head back, offering my lips instead. A long, slow good-bye kiss and I promise to try to keep my worry down.

“Come back to me, Daryl Dixon.” I plead, and his smile almost tears me in two. Everything we’ve experienced seems to be together, and only bad shit happens when we’re apart. “I love you.”

“Love ya, too, Jessi.” He hugs me tight and then he’s gone. Along with Dad and Oscar, and this new woman, who I pray isn’t leading them where they won’t return.

They’ve barely left out sight when I’m with Carol inside the prison discussing Judith and her sleeping arrangements. She’s taken a turn holding my little sister and I can see her perking up from just that tiny bit of contact. Her attention is redirected, behind me, Axel, the other prison survivor is ‘flirting’ with Beth. Beth, a child compared to this moron. Matching Carol’s steps, together we confront him. And then he bemoans the lack of available women.

“Maggie’s with Glenn, you’re with Daryl,” he jerks his head in my direction, “and you’re a lesbian.” Another jerk, this one at Carol.

I have to hold back my urge to laugh. Carol informs him, with a large dose of snark that she is NOT a lesbian, and then I can’t hold back my laughter, at him when he attempts to charm her. Watching Carol stalk away, Judith secure in her arms, I turn back to the poor man.

“Not the best way to get the tiny bit of available female attention there, asshat.” Shaking my head, I follow Carol back to the common area.

I should be shocked when my brother turns up with five new people. I should be, but somehow I’m not, even before Hershel and he explain that they heard screaming coming from the tombs and he chose to investigate ALONE. One woman, apparently the wife of one of the men, the mother of another, has been bitten. Carl and I insist that she must be taken care of, in the final and definitive sense. Their leader, a large man who may have intimidated me in the past insists that they take care of their own, so shrugging, we lock them in a room on their own. Fine, I think, then take care of it.

When it’s done, Hershel insists on taking care of the new widower’s wound. I stand by, leaving Judith in the care of Beth and Carol for a moment, and listen. The leader asks for permission to bury their dead, and Hershel gives them good warning. Telling them that not all of us are so trusting of newcomers, and that they shouldn’t get comfortable. As he leaves, I step forward to relock the door.

I watched, from a careful distance, with Judith in my arms, as much later I gave the go ahead for them to bury their dead. Realizing that I didn’t offer any implements to help their gravedigging, I tell Axel and Beth to take some shovels to them.

When Dad returns, I can hear the gates being pulled open and shut by Carol and Carl who took guard duty. I rush forward as he comes in, and takes Judith from me who begins to scream. Looking behind him, I see Glenn and Maggie, then the warrior woman, but not who I want to see. Where the hell is Daryl? And my heart, nearly the end of it’s fine tether, almost shreds when Dad tells us he didn’t come back with them. That his death isn’t confirmed. That he may be alive, but out there, makes my one shred of hope flay.

Dad won’t meet my eyes when he tells me. He won’t look at me when I take Judith from him, holding her to give and take what comfort I can. He won’t meet my eyes when he talks to Hershel about our new survivors. He won’t look in my direction, and it makes that same fear that was growing almost explode out of my chest.

#daryl dixon x ofc #eventual negan x ofc #mention of smut #mental illness #grief/mourning #angst #rick grimes daughter #The Walking Dead #alternative universe

5 notes · View notes

keeloves · 5 years ago

Text

Racism and Misogyny in Fandom

What is it with fandoms having an obsession with abusive white characters who they consider conventionally attractive? A big example would be Damon Salvatore fans. They swear up and down that Damon isn’t abusive and he gets coddled like no tomorrow. He actively has done heinous things to people, he raped Caroline, he molested Elena, has gone on a killing spree just because some woman hurt his feelings, he promised to ruin Stefan’s life and is ablest towards him. Yet people rip on Stefan for eating children and killing people even though Stefan is a ripper and has an addiction.The Damon fans rip on Stefan for becoming the ripper of Monterrey and completely blame Stefan. I am not saying we should absolve Stefan from his horrible crimes because we shouldn’t but who was there encouraging Stefan to feed on people, who didn’t respect Stefan’s choice not to feed on people oh that;s right DAMON! Yet people claim that it was because Damon was trying to teach Stefan moderation. Guys Stefan is an addict! Being an addict is a mental illness! As Stefan put “I am a ripper a ripper doesn’t stop” “The more I get the more I want”. That’s more compelling than just oh “I killed someone because some woman broke my heart”. Damon has actively hit on Elena while she was with Stefan, he entered in a relationship with Katherine knowing full well what she was doing to Stefan and yet girls worship and Damon’s altar and it’s disgusting. He killed Stefan’s oldest friend on Stefan’s birthday. I saw an article saying how Damon was a good brother. The titled alone made my head hurt. Then we have people writing how emotionally intelligent Kylo Ren/Ben Solo is even though he kidnapped Rey, he killed his dad and he has emotional issues. Yet, we have a whole fandom hating on a 13 year old girl and calling her a homewrecker for messing up an adult relationship even though she was just trying to find her father. Yes I am talking about April Nardini. She didn’t Luke keep her a secret, she didn’t make Luke lie to Lorelai. A child is not responsible for adult problems and yet we have people attacking her for ADULT PROBLEMS! She was just born found her father and its not her fault she was kept a secret. Then you have the This is Us portion of the fandom who made up murder theories around Deja a young dark skin girl because of what Beth and Randal said and because she smashed a car. This is the same girl who threw her hands up and backed away out of fear that Randal was going to hit her, this is the same girl who flinched when Randal grabbed her wrist by surprised and hid in a bathroom stall explaining to him why she can’t be randomly grabbed. Kid Kevin and teen Kevin can be a total dick to his adopted black brother and people will make excuses for him. Deja was angry because she felt her mom abandon her, she felt alone, and wanted her mom even though her mom was not was best for her and she can’t feel angry at her? Then the Flash fandom or more specially the Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost/Snowbarry fandom coddle Caitlin even though she is rude to almost every person of color she has contact with or that she meets, she is a human trafficker, she tried to kill her team several times and she is terribly written and the actress is mediocre. Yet people will say Iris is worse than that. If a woman especially a black woman shows any emotion, she is annoying, she is a whiny baby and it’s annoying. People really need to stop coddling abusive white characters just because you think they are attractive or at least be honest about how problematic your favs are. The lack of honesty and the amount of cognitive dissonance is what is ruins the fan of being part of fandoms!

#anti damon salvatore #anti caitlin snow #anti ben solo #anti racism

23 notes · View notes

lesbian-karolina · 5 years ago

Note

richie toizer or beth cassidy. karolina dean or cheryl blossom. deanoru or malec. beth x addy or richie x eddie. scotland or france. winter or summer. death by gunshot or drowning. telekinesis or teleportation. being rich but never fall in love or finding your soulmate but being broke forever. hoodies & jeans or skirts & sweaters. disney or pixar. be married to trump or musk. live without music or tv. red album or reputation. look like pennywise or joker. pizza or ice cream.

okay okay there’s a lot here so i’m going to like. separate them into little paragraphs i guess lmao. thank u for the message lol! i am well aware how much trouble this was to send (and probably to come up with haha)

Richie or Beth: literally impossible questions. for the most part the only two types of characters that end up becoming Favorites are Sad Backstory Class Clowns (ex: Richie Tozier, Stanley Barber) or Sad Backstory HBICs (ex: Beth Cassidy, Cheryl Blossom) so like. literally them. however richie has been one of my favorite characters of All Time since 2017 so i think i’ve gotta go with him. rip beth i love u

Karolina or Cheryl: hmmm gotta go with cheryl i think if only because i think runaways is a good show and i still haven’t watched half of season two but i’ve seen every episode of riverdale just because i love cheryl.... embarrassing for me

Deanoru or Malec: deanoru !!! literal soulmates !!! the sun and moon dynamic gets me every time !! height difference !! “promise me you’ll find me wherever we are” absolutely kills me every time without fail. they

Beth/Addy or Richie/Eddie: though i know you have made your guess already i don’t want to spoil this one since you already asked it for the gifset thing;)

Scotland or France: uhhh idk. i don’t think i know enough to make a good decision? i guess france because like. food and the eiffel tower.

winter or summer: winter!

death by gunshot or drowning: i guess if i had to choose i would go gunshot drowning seems like a particularly brutal way to go

telekinesis or teleportation: teleportation! i’d get so much more sleep if i could just teleport to class lmao.

being rich but never fall in love or finding your soulmate but being broke forever: definitely finding my soulmate but being broke forever. no competition

hoodies + jeans or skirts + sweaters: i can't go anywhere without a hoodie and when i go out jeans are my go-to

disney or pixar: whichever one made tangled! pretty sure that was disney. i don’t like having to pick disney because i don’t like that disney essentially has a monopoly on the movie industry but. that’s for another time!

be married to trump or musk: this is the worst thing ive ever been asked. whichever one is busier so we can spend the least amount of time together. or maybe musk since he’s like nine times richer. if i have to suffer at least i’d suffer with money

no music or no tv: no tv. honestly im terrible at keeping up with tv anyway lmao. you know that better than anyone

red album or reputation: reputation! it has been growing on me a lot recently. red makes me too nostalgic and i can’t listen to it for too long without feeling like... melancholy you know?

look like pennywise or joker: i know you would probably consider this cheating but pennywise can technically change its form and look like whatever it wants so..... i’d basically be shapeshifter which would be awesome.

pizza or ice cream: depends on the day? today i would say pizza. i would kill for a pizza

#tried to add a keep reading did this work?#tw gun mention #tw drowning #addysbeth

2 notes · View notes

ca1e70-deactivated · 5 years ago

Text

a list of my entirely way too niche headcanons ive actually implemented for everyones imagination:

name options ive used and refuse to retire: david elizabeth strider (sometimes i dont feel like being a douche to others and saying thats not his name), harley davidson strider, and david james strider for the sake of simplicity

im not gonna tell yall the like. oc exes ive given him bc thatll take eighteen years.

i dont rlly have an explanation on the ghost thing besides the fact he just can? ive occasionally pulled from family ghost stories and experiences bc i somehow got landed with family members who lived in a haunted house for a decade and enjoy scaring me with all the stories (including the time my cousin literally died on the kitchen floor from a bronchial spasm and one of the friends that was over asked my aunt later what was up with the old man she saw in the corner of the room that night - my cousin is fine btw shes just a huge bitch and a third grade teacher and i dont like her)

whether or not hes done drugs is based on absolutely nothing besides how im feeling in that moment. either hes the designated driver and sober friend forever or he got fired from his job after doing a line at work during graveyard with some random customers theres no inbetween (this absolutely happened @ waho. if dave works at waho hes a mess of a person and thats on the diner itself.)

ok look i hc dave w/schizophrenia besides when i was 14 i had a hyperfixation with learning about it and then at 16 was prescribed a medication and had side effects so wack my therapist genuinely thought 14 yr old me was onto something and its a weird way to cope with the idea that lady put in my head that i might “develop it in my twenties” which i turn 20 this year and i havent been able to stop obsessing and panicking over the prospect so PLEASE dont come in my inbox calling me ableist im not out here all harley quinn in suicide squad with the voices ok hes medicated, he goes to therapy, the hard fast delusion that lil cal was nearly sentient and informed bro of every single thing dave did no matter how asinine it was is no longer a debilitatingly affecting him ANYWAYS

i actually use the chicken/egg farming family pretty often just because its hilarious to me to give dave like. an actual mom and dad. hes literally an uncle to like three different kids he just never visits because they make fun of his skinny jeans and he hates one of his (incredibly bare-bones ocs all of them) brothers who threatened to bash his head in with a little league bat after dave broke his star wars lego set apart on accident (but not rlly) so their parents were like “why dont you stay with your brother in the big city for a lil while champ” and then they just never picked him back up? and thats on favoritism

the other one is that his name is actually david reed and hes the middle child of a family of three who literally live the standard golden retriever white middle class life only they went to disney land or something equally as dumb one year when dave was like 6 and he wandered off so bro literally just went “huh free game” because frankly he was an idiot who thought maybe i should take this kid home because its real dangerous in parking lots and then it was too late to NOT have it seem like a kidnapping and thats why daves never had a summer job, seen his birth certificate, or gone to school. but vaguely remembers what kindergarten was like and having a pet dog and calling someone mom as a kid.

im not making a bullet point about his sex life headcanons just use your imagination and acknowledge the fact bro essentially worked within the sex industry and i enjoy putting dave through trauma as a catharsis

i stopped doing this one usually but if he did go to school hes been in percussion since fifth grade and played the drums in his high schools jazz band as well as various edgy teenager garage bands he likes to pretend dont have a youtube presence and that hes absolutely never been shirtless in front of plenty of his classmates because he wore a hoodie to a show like an idiot. idk occasionally ill put him in an actual band he doesnt hate but keeps separate from his lil turntechGodhead internet persona (which i will ALSO touch upon in a sec) until they wind up getting looped into a tour with some bigger named band that has a show in *insert beta kid here*’s city and hes gotta come clean solely so he can visit his online friend. sorry derseasterous thats the one time weve ever run into each other and i made him have a crush on one of his bandmates i was in my anti-daverose phase where i made dave a hoe and also didnt want to admit i still loved the ship all these years later

i hate it so much but you know the whole vr loli trap voice shit that was popular a while ago? hes fucking baller at it for some reason. he did it as a joke while talking to bro and they both about shat their pants. if im feeling real ambitious, hes got a separate soundcloud solely dedicated to doing dumbass rap covers or making his own but in the voice under the pseudonym elizabeth “beth” davids that he will never admit is his. well, he will, but hes gonna be really fucking embarrassed about it. irony or not.

talking abt seperate soundclouds and stuff ive always had it where turntechGodhead was his like. essentially internet fucking persona facade shit he used because we all had that phase where we wanted memorable urls and stuff but also didnt want to totally ignore the nagging fear of people finding you in real life, until it turned into real life ppl finding you on the internet. so he also has basically an adjacent set of social media under the same name but its just a boring username i havent decided on so everyone he knows irl doesnt mix up with what hes made for himself as TG and the people he knows as TG dont know what highschool he goes to. (this occasionally comes with the territory of ppl on parp being pissed that daves “lying” or “hiding things” from his friends as if he was doing it out of spite instead of just keeping embarrassing tagged photos and videos from football games or when he ate shit at the skatepark from fucking with his “rap career”)

every once in a while i get on a kick where hes just german. like, i just replace houston texas with hamburg germany and have him apply to a university in whatever state is applicable for whoever im chatting with and it goes from there? sometimes he moved when he was little and went through the whole visa thing, sometimes he didnt go through the visa thing, sometimes hes a dual citizen because of family and shit, its all dependent on what suits the situation best.

one that ive been fucking with for a while but hardly break out (until recently with like 5 roses in the span of one day hell yeah) is that he has a neighbor at the end of the hall who is like a thousand year old witch lady that hes basically adopted as his mother figure in lieu of not having one and shes totally cool with it, especially bc when she kicks the bucket she fully plans on giving dave all her occult stuff so her figure-skating coach and realtor daughter doesnt sell it at a garage sale and lets it all go to waste. she also once brought rose up by name in a conversation without any prompting of her existence which dave didnt realize for days, and then one time cryptically stopped and stared at an empty space in the wall, went “she has potential, you know.” then looked at him sitting on her kitchen counter with a smile “lots of it” and hes thought about that weekly ever since. (it is important to note one of the occult items he leaves her is literally her own personal book of shadows shes been filling out for decades its like a 600 page leatherbound book dave has no idea what its used for but the sheer amount of homemade spells and etc in it is like. gonna murder rose the second this chick gets her hands on it i promise you.)

theres the standard strife shit? im not rlly gonna get into those theyre all basically cookie cutter bullshit. its just standard bro and dave abuse talk. i like to inclulde the whole 24hr live cam up in the apartment that definitely watches dave in every room besides his own and the bathroom, but that quickly delves into the prospect of middle-aged men stalking him online and basically sexually harassing him in his own god damn home by talking about how they can see him just trying to take his shoes off in the living room after getting home and frankly? its not one of my best takes! but once you throw it into the headcanon bin, its there forever.

he actually really does do something with his photography but not enough to warrant anything exciting, but he has his own branding for it and regularly takes pictures of his friends or anything else he thinks is moderately interesting enough to take pictures of, but those are just thrown into shoeboxes under his bed in favor of posting genuine shots because he wants to keep his image intact and blurry photos of jade smiling in the tree they climbed up together while bec paws at the base of it while whining isnt exactly something he wants the whole world to see.

i also pretty often but him into either paleontology OR i put him down as trying to become a mortician because he thinks handing roadkill once he graduated from museum giftshop specimens to doing his own taxidermy on the side has prepared him enough to perform an occasional autopsy and start embalming real human corpses. (sometimes i put my own desires in and make them his bc i have to project at some point and put him through the same EMT course i dropped out of bc it was one semester and he already has pretty decent first aid skills, but he definitely didnt expect it to be as fucking wild at times as it is, but whats he gonna do? get a job back at waffle house? the company hes working for just offered to pay like half his associates in paramedicine tuition and hes already got all his pre-recs done when he started for paleo. at least its a stable job and hes got the ability to be compassionate in the moment)

im running out of things that ive done to the poor kid. OH

hes not a virgin he had a girlfriend all four years of high school (shes also one of his optional and designated exes plz keep up) and their relationship ends in one of two ways: she dies in a car accident a week before their high school graduation, or she stops talking to him entirely a week after their high school graduation until a couple years later she gets into (guess what) a car accident with her current wife/girlfriend and dies which leaves behind their daughter. who just so happens to also be daves daughter. her name is hannah and i love her like my own but no one ever likes her and thats on the conditioning of dirk. does dave end up taking her in? yes. shes awesome and the first time he takes her to the park to like run off some fucking steam she disappears for two minutes and dave is moderately terrified until she comes back holding a dead baby squirrel and thats the moment he realizes huh maybe things really do be genetic.

ok at the bottom of the list im gonna add the couple of times hes been a camboy which usually coincides with the live apartment cam thing and the amount of people in his dms calling him hot or whatever, but typically its more of a started the day he turned 18 and basically dipped around 20 in favor of showing up randomly with no warning to complain about a video game dick in hand because it gives him an outlet that wont annoy his friends bc this is the fifteenth time hes had a lot to say this week about a certain boss battle and also the comments fuel his ego and daddy issues.

the last one wasnt the bottom but literally unless its explicitly proven otherwise every time anyone rps with me there is the underlying fact dave strider was a goalie on his high school lacrosse teams all four years and (shocker another one) definitely had the hots for one of his teammates like major hots like first gay experience hots. like it was painfully obvious that teammate also liked him back hots. like one night at a team sleepover one of the other guys was like can yall just makeout and get it over with were fucking tired and dave really had the balls to be offended and ask what the fuck they were talking about while literally sitting halfway in the mans lap bc for some reason they had to share the same chair.

he is also guilty until proven innocent of being the worlds biggest loner outside of that sports team and even though hes literally a jock he still opts to eat his lunch alone in the hallway or something like that and has a tendency to leave girls on read, but bc hes got an in with the rest of the jocks hes basically drug around to plenty of parties and since hes conventionally attractive enough and popular in the aloof way that he is, hes got plenty of tagged insta posts and twitter directs and snapchat streaks going.

THESE WERE ALL NO GAME AND DONT INVOLVE SHIPS BC I LIKE TO KEEP MY OPTIONS OPEN AND THEYRE LITERALLY ALL BASED OFF RPS IVE DONE I HOPE YALL JUDGE ME ACCORDINGLY

#theres probably so many more i mean #ive been on parp for at least 5-6 years now #ive been on cherubplay probably the same amount of time #and my memory is totally shot to fuck but these are just what i know ive done in the last YEAR #or thought were wild enough to remember #i put it under a read more bc frankly its really fucking long #and i dont want this to represent me entirely #these are also heavily situational based and not like. emotion or reaction based much?#some of them are #i guess i could rename this to like. things ive done on parp #but theyre technically still headcanons a lot of them can coincide with whatever #so theyre not very specific situations #anyways #this took me an hour

3 notes · View notes

doomedhowell · 6 years ago

Text

Her First Sleepover

Summary: Dan’s daughter is having a sleepover for the first time ever with her best friend Bethany, and Dan wants to make sure she that has the best night. However, things quickly take a turn when he realizes that her best friend’s father is his ex-boyfriend, someone he didn’t expect to see ever again.

Genre: AU, Fluff

Word Count: 1,466

Trigger Warnings: mpreg mentions, but it’s not apart of the main story

A/N: It’s been awhile since I’ve written parent!phan so I came up with this and I’m really happy with how it turned out so I hope that you guys enjoy it too. Also, if anyone has anymore parent!phan they’d like me to write, then please send prompts my way! :) Thanks once again to @waitforiiiiiiiiiiiit for betaing this fic for me!

Dan takes a step back and then smiles proudly at the snack table displayed in front of him. Of course, Dan absolutely didn’t have to go all out for just two girls. But, it’s his daughters first “sleepover”, and he wants to make sure that she has an amazing night with her best friend. There are plenty of snacks, and he’s made sure they’ll have plenty of movies and board games to choose from for when they start getting bored.

“Wow dad,” Alice says when she walks into the kitchen and sees what her dad’s done.

Dan looks over at his fifteen year old daughter and grins. “What do you think? Is it too much?”

“Absolutely not,” Alice says, walking over and stealing a Twizzler out of the candy bowl and taking a bite. “This is great, but you really didn’t have to do all of this.”

“Of course I did. It’s your first sleepover, so we have to go all out,” Dan says.

“Well, I’m sure Bethany will think it’s amazing. All of this food will be gone by the morning,” Alice says.

“Your stomach will not be happy with you in the morning too,” Dan adds.

“Worth it,” Alice grins as she looks up at her dad, and then she gasps when she hears the doorbell ring. “They’re here!” She drops the Twizzler on the table and rushes to the door. She opens the door and smiles when she sees her best friend standing outside with her dad. “Beth! You’re here!”

“Sorry it took so long. I could not find this stupid shirt I wanted to wear-” Bethany hugs Alice.

“Was it that one anime shirt you’re obsessed with?” Alice asks as she pulls away from the hug.

“How’d you guess?” Bethany grins, her cheeks turning slightly red.

“Like I said, you’re obsessed with it,” Alice giggles.

“Hey-”

Alice looks over and sees her dad walking over. “Oh, hey dad… this is Bethany,” she introduces.

“Wow. You’re the famous Bethany that I hear all about, it’s so nice to finally meet you” Dan chuckles, and leans forward to hug Bethany, and then looks up and his eyes widen when he sees who Bethany’s dad is. He instantly pulls away from the hug. “You have got to be freaking kidding me. You’re Bethany’s dad?”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Bethany asks as she looks up at her dad with confusion.

“Unfortunately,” he replies, crossing his arms against his chest. “We dated a while ago. It didn't end well.”

“Hm, and I wonder whose fault that was,” Dan snaps.

“Uh, yours. You’re the one who rejected my marriage proposal!”

“I wasn’t ready to get married yet! We dated for barely over a year when you asked me,” Dan says. “Then, you had to get all weird afterwards and broke everything off. I was perfectly content with just dating.”

“Well, it’s kind of weird to keep dating someone after they reject your marriage proposal,” Phil scoffs.

“Okay, knock it off you two!” Alice exclaims, clapping her hands loudly to get the two men’s attention. “Wow dad, I can’t believe you dated Mr. Lester. Wait, I’ve definitely mentioned a Mr. Lester to you before, how did you not realize that I was talking about your ex-boyfriend?” “I had my suspicions, I was just hoping that you were talking about another Mr. Lester. God dammit Alice, why did you have to choose my exes daughter to become best friends with?” Dan groans.

“Anyways, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way. See you tomorrow Mr. Lester?” Alice asks as she reaches over and pulls Bethany inside the house, taking her bag for her.

“Actually, um, dad was wondering if he could stay for a little bit? It’s my first sleepover, so…”

“Exactly, and I just want to look out for my little girl. But, I promise I won’t stay all night,” Phil says.

“Oh, well… that’s okay. Right, dad?” Alice asks, looking over at Dan.

Dan sighs out loud, clearly wanting to say no to the idea of his ex-boyfriend staying at his house. “Alright, fine! You can stay for a little bit. I just ordered pizza anyways,” he says. “Come inside.”

“This isn’t going to be awkward at all,” Alice whispers to Bethany before leading the way upstairs.

Dan shuts the front door, and awkward turns to face Phil, rubbing his arm nervously. “So,”

“How’ve you been?” Phil asks, biting his lip slightly.

“Fine,” Dan replies simply. “Being a parent has kept me busy all these years, but I wouldn’t change it.”

“So, you’ve definitely seen other people since we’ve been together?” Phil asks.

“Not really,” Dan chuckles awkwardly, shaking his head. “It was right after we broke up, and I needed to blow off some steam because I was so angry after our big fight, so I went to a gay bar and hooked up with some random guy. After that, I found out that I could have children. That’s a thing now. Then, enter Alice. She’s been the center of my world ever since then. I’m completely content with being single right now, but if someone did happen to show up in my life, I wouldn’t mind. What about you? You have Bethany now.”

“I adopted her a couple of years ago. Older kids have trouble getting adopted so I wanted to help her. Being single gets lonely, y’know?” Phil chuckles. “Wow. You can get pregnant? That’s crazy.”

“Yeah. Men can get pregnant. Crazy! It’s still being researched to this day. It’s very rare,” Dan explains. “You know, when people get lonely… they usually go and adopt a dog or something, not a human.”

“Yeah, dogs are nice and everything, but you can’t exactly have a conversation with them, can you?”

“You can have a conversation with them, people would just think that you were a little crazy,” Dan grins.

Phil laughs. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Dan asks, raising his eyebrows. “Are you thirsty? Want some water, or…?”

“Uh, do you have anything besides water?” Phil asks.

“My teenage daughter is having her first sleepover, of course we have more than just water,” Dan says, before leading the way into the kitchen. “Will Bethany like any of this?” He opens up a cooler.

Phil looks down, and then he smiles. “Wow, Dan. You really nailed it,” he says, looking up at Dan. “She’ll definitely be happy with this selection.” He reaches down and pulls out a can of Coke for himself.

Dan sighs in relief. “Thank God. I’ve been stressing out about this sleepover all week!”

“Yeah, I know. It’s all Bethany could talk about,” Phil says. “She really likes hanging with Alice lately.”

“I can’t believe our daughters are best friends,” Dan sighs and shakes his head.

“Look Dan, I know we ended pretty badly, but… our daughters are best friends, and they’re happy. So, maybe we can put aside our differences for the sake of them?” Phil suggests softly.

Dan slowly nods. “Alice has never had a best friend before, I wouldn’t want this to be ruined for her,”

Phil smiles at the younger boy. “I’m glad you’ve been doing well, Dan. I think about you from time to time, and wonder how you’re doing. In a totally non-creepy way, swear it!” He says, letting out a laugh.

Dan blushes. “It’s been fourteen years since we dated, Phil, you still think about me?”

“In a totally non-creepy way,” Phil repeats, grinning when Dan laughs loudly.

Phil’s glad they can be like this around each other, even after the way they ended. He’s missed Dan, and he’s glad they Dan will be in his life again now that their daughters are best friends.

“Girls, pizza is here!” Dan yells from the bottom of the stairs, chuckling when he instantly hears footsteps. Dan takes the pizza into the living room. “Thanks for getting the plates.”

“No problem,” Phil says, sitting down on the couch.

“So, do you still not like cheese?” Dan asks, setting the pizza down on the table.

“Whoa. Hold on a second, you don’t like cheese?” Alice asks as she and Bethany walk into the room.

“Seriously, I’ve known you for four years and I’ve never known that you don’t like cheese,” Bethany says. “This is impossible. How are you even my father?”

Phil laughs. “What? It’s not my fault that I don’t like cheese,” he quickly defends himself.

“He’s a weirdo,” Dan whispers to Bethany.

“Believe me, Mr. Howell, I know,” she grins as she looks up at Dan.

“I can’t believe I’m being attacked right now by my own daughter and b-” blushing at his little slip up. “Ex-Boyfriend.” But luckily, Dan doesn’t notice it, at least that’s what Phil thinks.

#phanfiction #phanfic #phan #parent!phan #au #fluff #100

108 notes · View notes

booksandtea · 6 years ago

Text

Browsing Bloggers Bookhselves | Browsing For Books

So you may remember that last month I did a similarly titled post with Sarah which I really enjoyed. This is the second time I’ve been able to do a post like this and I love it! Today I’m feauturing Cerys’ bookshelves! Don’t forget to stop by her blog to browse my books.

Do you want to know the creation of this collab? Shortly after I broke my wrist I put out a call to guest post with other bloggers more and one of the lovely people who reached out was Sarah @BookHookedNook. After a bit of talking we decided upon a collab kind of post, which is this creation.

We shared photographs of our (main) bookshelves with each other so the other person could “browse” them and pick out books they’d recommend, books they suggest to avoid, or books they’d love to read.

As I really enjoyed this process if anyone would like to partner up with me and do these posts together please contact me. I’m best replying via Twitter DMs or emails. I hadn’t anticipated having a queue of these posts ready but I do and I’m still thrilled to do more so this will become a somewhat regular feature.

Cerys’ Bookshelves

As I mentioned today I’ll be browsing Cerys’ bookshelves. First of all I want to say I love her lil decorations; plants, badges, funkos, and a coaster.

I’ll use these emoji’s as a code: 📚 – books to add to my tbr | 📖 – read and recommend | 💔 – do not recommend

📖Everless by Sara Holland [purchase] I really enjoyed this book as it was one of two that got me out of a reading slump. Also the fact its only part of a duology really makes it better imo. No more waiting for book #2349!

📚 The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo [purchase] & Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett [purchase] & Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl [purchase] Yes sorry I am the Trash Queen who owns all of Leigh’s work and still hasn’t read any, and I also have Onyx & Ivory from a past FL that I really should read. However, Neverworld Wake is a totally new to me book that I’ve seen the cover of and its so pretty I gotta give it a try, right?

💔The Fault in Our Stars by John Green I really tried with this book but it just kind of fell very flat for me. I had barely any interest in it and mostly wish it had followed suit of the book they were reading (that had no ending) as I think that would’ve been a much more interesting concept.

📖The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black [purchase] & Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan [purchase] I love these three books so gorram much! I even convinved LGBT+ Book Club to read GoPaF this month so I’m excited to hear what they think.

📚Nevernight by Jay Kristoff [purchase] & Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody [purchase] I finally got a copy of Nevernight so yes I know I need to read ASAP and I promise I’ll at the very least read it this year – yes I know you’re very surprised I haven’t read it. DotBC is also one that I’ve been looking at for a while and I’ll be getting a copy in two weeks!

📖The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater [purchase] & The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon [purchase] The Raven Cycle was the first read-along that I hosted with Books and Tea so it holds a special place in my heart, and The Raven King was the first book I ever tabbed! I loved it. Okay, its kind of cheating that I included Priory but what I have read I love.

💔So many books by Cassie Clare I think 2019 is the year that I’ve finally accepted I wont be reading Cassie’s books. I’ve never tried, its simply just theres so many and I do not have the room for them. Sorry love.

📚The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton [purchase] & This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada [purchase] & 📚Shadow of the Fox by Julia Kagawa [purchase] & The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff [purchase] *sweats in a great big panic* Look at all these fabulous books I really want to read, plus a whole lot more of these shelves but listing everything was getting embarressing. Which should I prioritise?

📖Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao [purchase] & Caraval by Stephanie Garber [purchase] Forest was another BnT readalong we did and I really enjoyed this, the whole experience was one I loved. Whilst I’m not a super fan of Caraval I did really enjoy it when I read it & its what made me meet and be friends with Amy & Beth!

📖Every single book by V.E Schwab [purchase] & Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer [purchase] I have my own Schwab shelf (though its not in the pictures Cerys has because I recently moved it). I love her work so much, it does everything I want amazing books to do. Then in contrast we have Twilight which is not great writing but I’m gonna recommend it because its the series that got me back into reading during high school.

📚📖📚📖📚📖📚

Gosh this post ended up much longer than my first, or it feels that way when I’m writing it at 1am ahha. I tried to keep it to the point as I realised there was a good handful of books that I wanted to include. The books that I’ve reviewed I placed the reviews as the book titles instead of the Goodreads page so you could further read my thoughts on why I liked them.

Did I skip over any of your favourite books?

Which of these books would you recommend?

If you enjoyed this post consider supporting Northern Plunder Ko-fi | Twitter | Book Club | Blogs & Tea | RedBubble

Browsing Bloggers Bookshelves | Cerys @ Browsing For Books @mcgonagalI #BooksandTeaBC Browsing Bloggers Bookhselves | Browsing For Books So you may remember that last month I did a similarly titled post with…

#Books #Bookshelf #Bookshelves #Browsing Bloggers Bookshelves #browsing for books #Recommendations

5 notes · View notes

jordan202 · 6 years ago

Text

My Boys Drabbles: Just a Feeling (Part 3)

Hey guys, like promised here goes part three. Owen is finally face to face to with ex again. Sorry about taking so long to post it!

Previous chapters are HERE.

My Boys Drabbles – Just a Feeling (Part Three)

“Beth. It’s really you.”

Owen took his time recovering from the shock of unexpectedly bumping into his ex-fiancé. Seeing her after all those years was already surprising enough, but to find out she now taught his youngest sons felt like his past had decided to suddenly play all kinds of tricky games with him.

Beth stood up with a dignified expression on her face that seemed much more neutral and contained than Owen could ever associate with her. And somewhere in between processing all those thoughts and impressions, his mind also registered that while he felt absolutely stunned to be facing her, the teacher on the other hand didn’t seem really that surprised to casually run into him after over a decade of not seeing each other.

When met by nothing other than a quick inspection, Owen felt compelled to break the uncomfortable silence. In the past, he’d usually had a hard time getting Beth to stop talking and not the other way around.

“I... I had no idea you were a teacher here,” he confessed looking into her eyes and trying to understand what her distant expression meant. From what he could remember, Beth had always been receptive and kind whenever they saw each other after months apart and even though everything was different now, her silence was still strange.

Owen couldn’t quite expect her to smile and excitedly greet him now, but her total lack of reaction confused him. He knew years had passed and people grew and changed, but the image he’d carried of Beth during all that time had been the one of an idealistic, excited, naive young woman who was perhaps too optimistic and too much of a dreamer for her own good. Nonetheless, despite her lack of maturity, Beth had always had a good, decent heart. So it felt odd for him to face her right now and be met with an indifferent expression rather than a smile.

“I worked in Medina Elementary. It wasn’t until very recently that I took a position here,” she explained with a more polite approach.

“That’s good,” Owen swallowed hard, unsure of what else to say. He’d never really imagined what it would be like seeing her after so many years but if he had, his mind probably would have come up with something a lot different from what he was experiencing. “I hope you like the new job.”

“I do,” Beth said matter-of-factly.

“This is a great school,” Owen added, hoping the awkwardness of their interaction wouldn’t last very long.

“Yes, it is.”

The surgeon nodded, suddenly met by the uncomfortable silence again.

“It might be just an impression, but...” his voice trailed off as he looked for the best way to phrase what was conflicting him. “I kind of have the feeling that I am completely surprised to see you but you don’t look at all that surprised to see me.”

Beth gently furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the twins standing next to them and then back at Owen.

“The first thing I got when I arrived at school was a list with all my students,” she looked at the man standing in front of her with a dumbstruck expression, as if what he was saying made no sense. “Hunt is not a rare name but it isn’t all that common either. And really, Owen? Just look at them,” Beth added, slightly shaking her head from side to side as if she couldn’t believe he was doubting that, “did you really think I wouldn’t recognize your sons the minute I first laid eyes on them?”

Owen opened up his mouth to refute her, but after realizing Beth was right, he decided not to say anything. Of all his children, Danny and Robbie were by far the ones who resembled him the most, not only in facial features but also in physical structure and maybe even in the way they spoke.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

“Ms. Whitman, do you know my Dad?” Robbie interrupted their conversation, just as curious as his twin brother about the interaction between both adults.

“As a matter of fact, I do, Robbie,” Beth turned her head to face the child and her expression softened immediately, going from neutral to warm and receptive. “We met a long time ago, before you were even born.”

“Really?” Danny’s eyes widened with curiosity as he entered the conversation.

“Yes, but today your Dad is here for our meeting and he wants to hear about the two of you,” the teacher sneakily changed the focus of the conversation, knowing that as the normal six-year-olds Danny and Robbie were, they would definitely want to talk about themselves if offered a chance. “Is their mother joining us or can we start?” she asked with her best professional tone as she turned her head from the boys to their father.

“Uh, she can’t make it,” Owen replied, still disconcerted by the way Beth’s expressions would quickly change depending on whether she was talking to the kids or facing him. “She is stuck at work, so...”

“It’s alright,” Beth assured him with practicality. “I just want to update you on Danny’s and Robbie’s progress over the last trimester. We’ve had a remarkable...”

As his ex-fiancé and current sons’ teacher went on to give him a full report on how the twins were adapting to the transition from kindergarten to first grade, a much more impartial topic, Owen slowly made himself more at ease. Since he’d been caught so off guard, it had been hard at first to process anything out of that surprising encounter.

It was true that in the past he and Beth hadn’t had the easiest breakup. In fact, now he thought about it, the trauma surgeon became well aware that he’d probably been a real jerk to her at the time they had parted ways.

Not only had he taken too long to let Beth know he didn’t reciprocate her feelings and wishes, Owen had also failed to inform her he’d been back from a war zone once he made it to Seattle, even though deep down he knew she was deeply worried about him, to the point of praying for his well-being every night. Owen knew that the reason why he’d done it was because back then, he’d been caught up with a lot more than he could handle, including a serious mental condition. It had been easier to simply sweep his dirt under the rug and pretend he could start over with a clean slate rather than having to deal with what had actually happened to him.

Life had put Cristina Yang on his way and coincidence or not, she was exactly what he wanted but didn’t need in a woman at the time. Unlike Beth, Cristina was very comfortable with not knowing details and not asking any questions. And his unwillingness to face what happened to him in Iraq had been one of the reasons Owen had avoided Beth upon his return.

Even though he knew he wasn’t in love with her anymore, after their breakup Owen was pretty sure that she would have done everything within her power to try and help him if she so much as thought he was that damaged from the war. She would probably want to salvage their relationship too. The only problem at the time was that Owen wasn’t open to receiving that kind of help.

Or perhaps deep down he had a feeling that Beth was never meant to be the one with whom he could share his pain and trust his heart. Owen supposed that was true because now that he was older, had lived through things and knew better, he was sure that back then he couldn’t have connected to anyone else in the way he connected to his wife now, regardless of what he’d lived or been through at the time. It wasn’t so much about the experiences but rather how comfortable he felt to share with a particular person or not.

As Owen’s mind drifted back and forth in thoughts about the past and present, Beth’s voice broke the silence.

“So... we are done here, I guess,” she wrapped the conversation with a smile, playfully giving Danny an affectionate squeeze on his belly that made the boy chuckle and look at her with adoration in his eyes. “Can you boys please go pick up your backpacks and get the crayons you used back in the proper box? We want to keep the room tidy for tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ms. Whitman,” Robbie and Danny replied in unison.

Owen waited until the kids were out of their hearing range after noticing how Beth remained still, watching from a distance as his sons strictly followed her instructions.

“So...” Owen put both his hands in his pant pockets, drawing her attention with his voice. “You’re still excellent with kids, I see,” he commented awkwardly, unsure of how she would react at his attempt at small talk. Even though it had been years, Owen still felt awful about the way he had treated her, mostly because he had never really apologized for it. “Not that it surprises me, of course,” Owen added. “How many do you have now? Five, six?” he asked with a lighthearted tone, knowing that just like him, Beth had always wanted a big family.

Owen could swear he identified a trace of sadness in her gaze as she turned her head at him to reply.

“Eighteen,” she shrugged, apparently trying to look like she was okay with the joke but Owen knew her well enough to see that the question – and mostly the answer – bothered her.

The trauma surgeon quickly understood that eighteen was the number of children in his sons’ first grade class. And if Beth had given that as a reply, apparently regarding her beloved students as her children, it could only mean she didn’t have any kids of her own.

The realization took Owen by surprise but he didn’t have the courage to ask why she had changed her plans – or maybe why they had failed to happen? It was probably not his place to ask, anyway.

“Danny and Robbie talk about their siblings all the time,” Beth commented as she crouched down to pick up a pencil from the floor, making Owen wonder how she’d even spotted the object underneath a student’s desk in the first place. “Just yesterday they were talking about how you were flying kites with them over the weekend… They are obviously happy kids,” Beth gazed at the boys from a distance with a lingering smile. Owen saw the contrast between that and the shadow of sadness he could swear she was trying hard to conceal. “You got the whole package, didn’t you?” the teacher asked as she got up with the pencil in hand at the same time a gloomy shadow darkened her usually lively eyes. “Not that I am surprised, it is what you always wanted, I guess… What we both did.”

“Beth...”

“No, Owen, don’t,” Beth interrupted him before the surgeon could even start. She could precisely predict what he was about to do, and after taking years to recover from their unilateral decision to end their engagement, she wasn’t interested in hearing what he had to say anymore.

“I know we have both moved on and it probably doesn’t matter anymore… What’s in the past is in the past,” Owen repeated the sentence he seemed to be telling himself quite a lot lately. “But I’d just like to apologize for the way things ended between us,” he added the most considerately and kindly he could.

A daunting silence followed and Owen noticed as the face of the woman standing in front of him went through many transformations.

First she seemed surprised. Then confused. And finally, really angry.

“That’s it?” Beth scoffed, suddenly neglecting every progress she’d made in her journey to be resolved about her past. For a long time, she had tried every method possible for moving on: therapy, sports, yoga. Many years before she had finally convinced herself that she was over the heartbreak and if faced with Owen once again in her life, she would be able to simply ignore him because he couldn’t affect her anymore. Well, how wrong had she been, apparently. “You break up with me through an email, come back from the war and don’t say anything, then you get a job, start a relationship with someone else… And as if that’s not enough, you tell me to my face that my dad has cancer and walk away…” Beth summoned up the events from her perspective. “Years later that’s what I get?” for the first time that day, Owen could see a reaction on her face that seemed spontaneous instead of rehearsed whenever she looked at him. “A simple, generic apology? Are you actually serious?”

“Beth...” Owen took a long breath, suddenly regretting having gone there. He should have kept his mouth shut but something about his uncontrollable urge to come to terms with the people he’d let down had prompted him to say it.

“No,” she backed out raising her voice, for a moment forgetting they were inside a classroom and that she was at her workplace, in the company of two of her students. “Do you have any idea the pain you put me through that day?” the trauma surgeon didn’t have to ask her to know she was talking about the last time they’d seen each other. “You made me lose my ground, Owen,” her voice broke down a little as Beth struggled to contain her tears. “My ground!” she insisted, thinking back about how at the same time she had lost the man she had considered to be the love of her life and her father, the only parent she had. “I didn’t get a chance to take care of my dad because he didn’t tell me about it and I couldn’t take care of you either because you walked away. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to lose the two of you in the same month?”

“I...” Owen struggled with his words. It was the first time he was being confronted with that part of his past and when she put it like that, he couldn’t help feeling guiltier. “I was going through some stuff at the time and I didn’t realize what I was doing. I am sorry,” Owen replied in a lower tone, trying to keep their voices down not to draw attention from the boys who were already frowning as they collected crayons across the room and noticed how worked up their teacher seemed to be. “I get it if you can’t understand it and I respect it,” Owen said with honesty, feeling even worse for how he’d failed her. “I know it must be really painful for you to come here and have to teach my children after everything I put you through, so I also want you to know that I really appreciate how good you are with them...” the surgeon said, once again taking a peek at the boys. “And how much of a bigger person you are not to let our past interfere in the way you treat them.”

The teacher took a deep breath and closed her eyes, taking her time to open them again. It became obvious she was struggling to keep herself together and Owen censored himself for bringing up the subject.

“Owen...” Beth’s voice sounded hoarse as she tilted her head and looked at him, looking almost offended. “Danny and Robbie are wonderful kids and they have nothing to do with what happened between us,” she enforced, looking at them as she swallowed hard. Those boys and their stunning resemblance with the man she had built her dreams with once were a daily reminder of her failed past and everything Beth had set to accomplish but never did. “As you said, what’s in the past is in the past. Let’s just leave it there.”

“I really didn’t mean to make your life such a nightmare...” Owen said with a guilty conscience. At the time, it hadn’t been so obvious because he had been too caught up with his own traumas. But now, it made him feel extremely remorseful to realize that not only he’d broken Beth’s heart by leaving her, but he’d also done it around the same time he’d given her the worst news of her life after bluntly letting her know her father had cancer. At the time, Owen had grown sick of everyone hiding everything from her and he’d thought that she would be better off with the truth, no matter how hard it was.

So he’d disclosed to his ex-fiancé in the hospital waiting area that unbeknownst to her, her father had been battling cancer for a while now. And then Owen had walked out to never see Beth again until today.

By the time the older man had died, Beth had lost not one, but the two most important people in her life: her father and her fiancé.

The teacher was just about to once again suggest they dropped the subject when the twins finally came from across the room carrying their backpacks, silencing the adults’ apologies and once for all putting an end to that unexpectedly raw conversation.

On the short drive home, even though they had stopped to pick up the other kids, Owen was worried he might have to deal with a series of questions from the twins as to how he knew their teacher, but to his luck, they were too distracted with their siblings to bring up the subject.

But hours later though, by the time his wife got home, Danny didn’t waste any time sharing with his mother the news he’d learned earlier that day.

“How was everything with the school meeting?” Amelia asked at the same time she dropped her handbag on the counter, took off her jacket and approached the kids, giving them each a kiss on the head. “Did you meet the popular Ms. Whitman?” she asked with good mood as she looked up to meet her husband’s eyes.

Before Owen could reply, Danny intervened.

“She and Dad already knew each other, Mom,” the boy repeated what he’d learned earlier that day with a proud smile to be breaking the news, succeeding in getting his mother’s attention. “Ms. Whitman said she knew my dad from before I was even born!” he added with widened eyes, as if his father having a life prior to his birth was already shocking enough.

Amelia took in the information and looked back at her husband, using a confused expression rather than words to ask him to elaborate Danny’s revelation.

“I was going to tell you but Dan obviously beat me to it,” Owen said with a playful eye roll, knowing he really meant it. “I was surprised to find out like this, but it turns out the twins’ substitute teacher is Beth,” he unconsciously raised his eyebrows, expecting her response apprehensively as he whispered in addition, “as in, Beth Whitman. The woman I was engaged to before moving back here for good.”

As anticipated, Amelia was also taken by surprise with the information.

“Your ex-fiancé is their teacher?” she asked, thinking about the woman she’d heard about only a few times but never really met. Amelia looked at her husband almost apologetically, thinking about the couple of occasions in which she’d joked about the teacher’s manners and she talked like one of her students. “Is it the one you were going to marry when you were serving in Iraq?” she asked whispering back, unwilling to be heard from the kids considering she had no idea how much they had indeed been told.

“That one,” Owen replied tensely as he watched the twins go back to the toys they had been playing with prior to their mother’s arrival.

Over the years, Owen had shared so many of the most intimate things about his life and his past with his wife that he liked to think there wasn’t anything they couldn’t talk about. Surely some things were more difficult to discuss than others, and some topics Owen would much rather avoid if it could be helped, for various reasons.

It so happened that he wasn’t the least bit proud of the way he’d treated Beth in the past and talking about her only made Owen feel exposed in the worst way possible to perhaps the only person whose good opinion of him really mattered. So it was probably for the best not to dwell on that subject.

“Are you okay?” Amelia asked, mistaking his reservation for discomfort. Owen had been acting a little quieter than usual lately and she was starting to wonder if something was indeed off with him. “Did something happen?”

“No, it was just weird, that’s all,” Owen shook his head in denial, unwilling to stay trapped in his thoughts. “It’s past eight thirty already, I’ll get the kids upstairs to start their bedtime,” he proposed, crossing the distance between himself and his wife and giving her a kiss on the forehead. He’d already had dinner with the kids but had been waiting with them so that they could see Amelia for a while before going to sleep since she was working late that day. “There is a plate for you in the oven if you’re hungry.”

“I am starved,” Amelia confessed, already making her way to the kitchen. “I will catch up with you guys soon.”

The neurosurgeon had dinner and a shower at the same time Owen got the kids ready to bed. She then tucked Megan in, which didn’t take five minutes, and later spent nearly half an hour with Thomas lying on his bed as they read together until he finally fell asleep.

After giving the boy a kiss goodnight, Amelia proceeded to Lucas’ room. She made him promise he would turn off the TV after the anime he was watching was over and also got a hug and a kiss before finally turning off the lights in that bedroom.

That only left the twins’ room to go check and Amelia expected to find both boys already asleep. Nonetheless, she would go in to give them the kiss goodnight she always gave all her children.

To her surprise, she found out the bedside lamp was on and Owen was sitting between the children’s beds on a tiny stool that made him look even bigger than he already was. Even though he had his back turned to her, Amelia could tell he was reading the boys a bedtime story and she couldn’t help but stand against the doorframe and watch the scene from a distance with a smile on her face.

“Dad,” Danny’s voice echoed in the room as he contained a yawn right when his father finished reading a chapter of the story. “Did you misbehave?” he asked very seriously, but at the same time Owen noticed his son was looking at him with an empathetic, forgiving glance.

“Did I what?” Owen tilted his head to the side as he gently spoke back, confused by what Danny really meant.

“He meant when Ms. Whitman was your teacher,” Robbie offered some explanation to what was going on in the twins’ minds. “Were you in timeout a lot?”

Amelia had to contain a chuckle from where she was standing.

“No, buddy, that’s not what happened,” Owen calmly explained, smiling at the boys’ logic. “She is not old enough to have been my teacher. I knew her from before because she used to be my friend.”

Since Danny had asked if he’d misbehaved, it didn’t go unnoticed to Owen that the boys had assumed their teacher for some reason disapproved of their father. The additional question about him being sent to timeout corroborated that. They had probably picked up the animosity in the air, despite the adults’ effort to tone it down as much as they could. It made sense that the six year olds had related Beth’s attitude with misbehavior, the likely most common cause for the kids in their class to get frowned upon by their teacher.

Well, they weren’t totally in the wrong, Owen had to admit. Except that his past with Beth was more complicated than talking during class or forgetting to hand in his homework. It was true that he was going through the worst moment of his life at the time everything had happened but it didn’t make Owen feel any less awful for realizing now the pain she’d had to endure, something that at the time he couldn’t see very clearly exactly because of his own traumas.

“She’s not your friend anymore?” Danny asked with confusion and a glimpse of disappointment.

“I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Owen replied evasively. The details were too difficult to try to explain to two kids. “But what makes you think Dad might have misbehaved?” he asked Danny with a patient smile, leaning over to pull the covers on his son.

Owen noticed how the twins looked at each other, as if communicating in their own secret language before Robbie opened his mouth to answer the question that had been directed at his brother.

“Ms. Whitman seemed upset,” Robbie confessed, confirming Owen’s theory. “It was like…” the six-year-old hesitated, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. “It was like Amanda when I told her that I can take care of Casper much better than she can,” the boy explained, referring to their class’s goldfish. “She can’t even reach the bottom of his tank, Dad,” he added, as if the argument absolutely proved his point.

“And Amanda was upset about what you said?” Owen raised his eyebrows with amusement, correctly supposing their sons were talking about a fellow first grader.

“She was! She didn’t want the strawberries mom put in my lunch box even though I said I would share them with her!” Robbie confided with outrage at what he apparently considered a big offense.

“I see,” Owen smiled at the dynamics of two six-year-olds innocently trying to socialize. “Maybe she just doesn’t like strawberries. How about you offer her some other kind of fruit next time?” he proposed with a playful smile. “Or even better, when grandma bakes a batch of chocolate brownies, maybe you can pack a big slice and take it to school for Amanda?”

“That’s a perfect idea, dad,” Robbie cheerfully agreed. “I bet she is going to love it!” he said with confidence. Everyone loved his grandma’s brownies.

“Maybe you can take some to Ms. Whitman too, Dad!” Danny promptly intervened, sharing his brother’s impression. “Maybe then she will like you again!”

Owen frowned, pensively. Apparently, he had reached the perfect conclusion by assuming the boys had picked up on some animosity in the air and figured that their teacher wasn’t all too pleased with their father.

“Ms. Whitman and I didn’t have a fight, Dan,” Owen said assuredly even though it wasn’t entirely true. “The only thing is that I hadn’t seen Ms. Whitman in many, many years,” he explained as he closed the book and placed it on the nightstand next to the lamp. “But it doesn’t change the fact she was a wonderful friend, and I know she is a wonderful teacher so I am glad you guys have her this year,” the surgeon added with a smile, knowing that his approval would mean a lot to the boys. Danny and Robbie liked the teacher very much and to have them so much as think their father might see her differently could conflict their heads. Owen was determined not to let that happen because his kids had nothing to do with his past and shouldn’t pay the price for his mistakes. “It’s late now, close your eyes, buddy,” he said, ruffling Robbie’s hair affectionately before pulling the covers to tighten them around his body.

Amelia chose that moment to make her presence noted and it was with smiles that she was welcomed in the room. After staying with the twins until they fell asleep, she was escorted by her husband back to the hallway.

“I am so tired I had to give my everything to resist calling it a night and just crashing on Danny’s bed with him,” Amelia confessed with a playful grin, putting both arms around herself and rubbing them to fight off the cold and exhaustion.

“Was your shift that bad? I thought you would come home after the surgery you paged me to,” Owen confessed with an understanding glance, pulling the covers on her side of the bed first so she could crawl in. After he got a positive nod in response and realized Amelia was too exhausted to elaborate an answer, he added, “I was kind of hoping we could start that show about the hostages trapped on an island on Netflix tonight,” he joined her in bed. Unlike his wife, Owen didn’t feel the least inclined to fall asleep. It had been happening quite often lately.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” Amelia agreed with a yawn. “I actually should start drafting the paper for my new research but, nope, not gonna happen.”

“If I put on the show, you’re going to fall asleep five minutes into it,” Owen shook his head with playful disapproval as he turned on the TV with the remote anyway. After returning the object to his nightstand, he used his arm to capture his wife by the waist and pull her closer.

Amelia didn’t protest but rather sought the warmth of his embrace. She’d had a really long day with back-to-back surgeries and a lot of unexpected bureaucracy to deal within her department. The following days promised to be just as busy as she once again planned a new and complicated research within her department but at least for now she could enjoy the comfort of her husband’s familiar embrace and relax while he gently stroked her hair as she lay against him with her eyes closed hearing the sound of the TV on the background.

The neurosurgeon was nearly asleep when something her husband had said earlier that night came to her memory and she suddenly couldn’t put her mind at ease again.

“What was weird?”

Owen seemed very confused by her blunt question and Amelia instantly figured out that she hadn’t explained herself very well.

“When I arrived from work today… You said that running into your ex and finding out she is teaching Robbie and Danny was weird,” Amelia reminded him, slightly rolling her head to the side and opening her eyes to meet his gaze. “Why would you think that? It’s not a word you use very often.”

Owen seemed to think for a while before he opened his mouth to reply.

“I meant to say I didn’t see it coming, I guess,” he said with a low, patient tone of voice while looking straight into his wife’s eyes. Amelia still felt his fingers gently caressing her hair and that combined with the sincerity in his gaze as he maintained eye contact with her made her sure that Owen was being honest. “It just took me by surprise… I hadn’t seen her or heard from her in years.”

Amelia took her time processing his answer. It made absolute sense that Owen would be surprised with the news. But somehow, there seemed to be more to it. As if he wasn’t only surprised, but also shocked and intrigued.

“You don’t talk much about her,” Amelia mentioned the most casually she could. Robbie and Danny had obviously gotten the impression that their teacher was upset with their father, even though he’d denied it. Amelia could only wonder what that meant. “I mean, you never really told me what happened between the two of you.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Owen said, hoping it wasn’t too obvious he was avoiding going deeper into that conversation or else it would only raise a flag for Amelia to ask further questions. He didn’t want to go into the subject because deep down, it ashamed him to admit to his wife how he’d treated his ex-fiancé in the past. Even though Owen supposed he had to cut himself some slack considering how unwell he’d been at the time, he still couldn’t come to terms with his realizations from that day. “We met when we really young and as we grew older, I got wiser and eventually I realized that she wasn’t the right woman for me, so we broke up,” he summed up, hoping Amelia’s tiredness would prevent her from asking further details.

Owen should suspect he wasn’t going to get away so easily, though.

“Why?” Amelia moved in his arms and gently turned her head up to maintain their eye contact. “I mean, how did you come to the conclusion she wasn’t the right one for you?”

Even though she was very serious about her question, Owen was determined to skip all those painful, unnecessary parts of his past that would probably only serve to disappoint Amelia nearly as much as he felt disappointed in himself for his past behavior.

“Because she wasn’t you,” Owen said with flattery as he possessively chucked her under the chin and stared into her eyes with a trace of playfulness before stealing a kiss from her lips.

Amelia saw right through him and his plot.

“Oh yeah?” she pretended to be on board with his game. “And are you so smart that you’ve reached that conclusion and broke up with her before you even met me?” she asked with a challenging smile.

“Exactly. I am glad you’re able to acknowledge how smart I am,” Owen brought his other hand to her face and caressed her, mesmerized by the way she looked at him and everything he saw in her eyes. “I was just killing time while waiting for you,” he added with a teasing voice.

Amelia laughed right through his exaggerated sentimentality and before she could grill him, her husband decided to share a little more.

“Okay, so… When I started dating Beth, I was this idealistic, fresh off college guy who saw the world much the same way she did,” he explained. Back then Owen hadn’t known many of the hard truths he later on had learned about life. “But then I went to war and it changed me. Beth stayed and she remained the same person. As you can see, it was only a matter of time before our perspectives collided,” he added, being as evasive as he could without being dishonest. “Especially when our relationship was already on the rocks because of the distance and everything... So that’s why it never had much of a future.”

When Owen took a deep breath and slowly let it out, Amelia wondered if she really should be pushing him to talk about that subject. She knew that even after all those years, talking about his deployments and what had happened during the time he’d been at war was still hard on her husband. If he had to relive all of those things to talk about his ex-fiancé, it was no wonder why he was avoiding the subject.

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up some hard memories. I know you don’t like talking about the war,” she considerately said.

Owen gave her a doubtful sideways glance, suspicious about the intention of her last statement considering how much in the past Amelia had used her power of persuasion to get him to talk about his time in service.

“Alright, I know I grill you about it, but only when it is for your own good!” she justified her manners, getting a playful glance in response.

“It wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” Owen commented lightheartedly, although deep down he hoped the conversation about Beth was over.

Owen didn’t have to think about it for much longer because sooner after, Amelia finally gave in to exhaustion, quickly falling asleep next to him.

Knowing he wouldn’t be as lucky as his wife to successful rest and put his mind at ease, Owen was once again confronted by memories of his past and his misdoings.

From everything he’d learned that day, he had to admit that finding out Beth apparently hadn’t gotten married or had kids was by far what had blown his mind. Her vague answer about her life at present time and indirect admission that she didn’t have any kids was still conflicting Owen. He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger either and didn’t fully understand why that got to him.

He and Beth had spent apart the majority of the time they were a couple, mostly because Owen had been deployed. But that didn’t mean Owen hadn’t gotten to truly know Beth and what moved her.

During his life, he’d met all kinds of women. Some dreamed of being doctors, some wanted to be business owners, a few had no idea what they really wanted. And Owen knew that people’s dreams and goals changed overtime. But ever since he’d known Beth, the only thing she had ever truly wanted was to be a mom. So to find out she had made it this far in life without fulfilling that dream made Owen feel strangely sad, and to some degree, even accountable.

During the time they had been together, all Beth ever talked about was getting married, having kids and being a stay at home mom. And Owen knew that dream wasn’t just something she considered for herself but rather something she felt like defined her. Kind of like an ideal she based her entire life on, according to the teacher’s own admissions. And even though Owen knew it could very well have changed over the years, based on what he’d seen earlier that day, he had a bad feeling Beth’s life aspirations hadn’t really changed at all.

But soon enough, the surgeon wondered if that perhaps he was being too arrogant and giving himself too much importance.

What did he know, really? Maybe Beth had indeed tried. For all he knew, she could have met half a dozen guys after him and moved on with her life as he honestly wished she had. Beth could have even gotten married. Just because apparently it hadn’t worked out, it didn’t mean she hadn’t tried, he told himself.

But before Owen could control it, his gut feeling told him that it probably had not been like that. Beth was very selective. She wouldn’t be jumping from guy to guy looking for a Prince Charming. And she definitely wouldn’t marry the first guy that came along considering how much of a romantic, idealistic girl she had always been.

Up until now, Owen had never really given any thought about how much he’d affected Beth’s life by breaking up with her and leaving her alone to deal with her dying father. Maybe he was overestimating the importance of the role he had in her life but judging by how dependent Beth had been on him at the time and the spoiled, naïve and sheltered way with which she had been raised, it was only fair to assume that he’d put her through so much heartbreak that perhaps he’d played a bigger role into turning the woman into a cynical than he’d initially assumed.

You made me lose my ground, Beth had said. That wasn’t something a person who’d experienced a common heartbreak confessed. Her suffering had probably gone beyond that. And Owen knew he had a big load of responsibility for putting her through it.

It was absolutely true that he couldn’t have forced himself to love Beth in the way she wanted him to love her. Owen was in peace with that. But there were a lot of things he could have done differently.

He could have broken up with her earlier on when he’d first realized they didn’t want the same things instead of postponing it and unknowingly doing it in the worst possible moment… Just before her father got sick.

He could have called to check in on her after she’d learned the truth.

Hell, he could have at least asked about her father and offered help if she needed any kind of medical assistance…

It stung to realize this only now, but maybe for Beth, being engaged to him and getting married to him meant more than it did for the surgeon. Owen had failed to realize just how important their relationship was to her at the time. Perhaps he might have ruined her life more than he imagined, more than he’d ever considered himself capable to.

While drowning in his own guilt, Owen failed to realize that he hadn’t really been herself back then.

If he shared some of the thoughts that were torturing him with his wife, she would have rightfully pointed out that he had just been through something huge by the time everything unfolded. After going through perhaps his worst army deployment, Owen had not been in a condition to make any good decisions. In addition to that, he had already accepted that by the time he’d put an end to his relationship with Beth, he didn’t love her in the way she deserved. And frankly, even back then her presence in his life and constant badgering had already started to annoy him. He knew Beth did it with the best of intentions, but Owen just wouldn’t have put up with being questioned constantly and forced to confront his experiences in the Army, much less talking about them.

If Owen had stayed with Beth, he would never have given her the opportunity to help him, no matter how much she would have wanted to. Her attempts would increasingly irritate him, perhaps to the point where everything would backfire, causing more pain and heartbreak. Owen could be quite difficult when he was pushing people away and it was likely he could have hurt Beth even more if he’d forced himself to be around her.

Years later, it was easy to look at his past and judge himself after assuming he could have done better or tried harder. But truth was, Owen couldn’t have seen any of that at the time because he was struggling with his own demons and focusing too much on the outcome of his decisions to really see the bigger picture.

Exactly in the same way he was functioning right now.

Owen took another deep breath, trying to process everything. He couldn’t change his past and the way he’d hurt other people, no matter how much he wanted to. The burden weighing on his chest felt especially heavy after the truths he’d learned recently. Sometimes it was just too hard for him to forgive himself.

One look at the woman sleeping peacefully by his side made Owen want to try and see the silver lining. All his misdoings and mistakes, even the worst ones, had led him exactly to the life he was living right now. That was something he couldn’t take for granted. As he lay awake in bed, forcing himself to clear his mind of all those thoughts, Owen realized that he was sorry for many things. Some of his choices had been absolutely dreadful and if he could go back on them, he would.

But if there was something he wasn’t sorry about it was definitely the person lying next to him and everything they had built together. His family was by far the most important thing he had and it was his responsibility to take care of them and make sure they were okay.

Owen had hurt a lot of people on the course of his life but he would never forgive himself if he did the same to Amelia and the kids. Just the thought of it made him cringe, and the surgeon immediately closed his eyes rejecting the idea, more determined than ever to protect them from anyone and anything.

Even if that included himself.

#omelia #myboys #myboysfanfiction #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #omeliafics #omeliafanfiction #omeliafanfics #omeliafic #owen x amelia #amelia x owen #amenff

38 notes · View notes