#his and Megan’s kid gets the flu so Megan is called | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crisscolferfanforever · 5 years

Text

Milwaukee Law after Shock

We see the wapuan correctional facility we see a man named Larry Edwards who was found guilty 2 years ago of a murder of a boy that he raped in

Milwaukee country a case that peters and Megan prosecutor and ray and his detectives investigate we see him eating his breakfast she has a

conversation with another rapist

MR. Scott

“Heard you did okay last night”.

Larry Edwards looks at Scott

Larry

“Meatloaf and mash”.

Scott

“A couple of Dr Peppers”.

Another man name Jeff who is serving a 25years to life for a murder in

Merrill Wisconsin

Jeff

“I would've gone with a pizza, sausage and pepper”.

Larry looks at the guys

Larry

“I am not on death row “

Jeff

“Maybe I should start over”.

Scott

“I bet you get a real kick out of that.

Now's not a good time to go crybaby, Mickey.

Yeah, right.”

Larry leaves to go back to his cell

Larry

“In your dreams”.

He goes to his cell which he is approach by a guard

Jason

“You sure about the priest?”

Mr. Edwards goes to Church every Sunday trying to find his faith

Larry

“I’m sure”.

Jason

“How about the curtain? “

Larry

“What about it?”

Jason

“It's your choice, Mr.

Edwards. Open or closed?”

Larry

“What would you like?”

Jason

“Closed.”

Larry

“Then close the sucker “

Jason

“Fine.”

Jason leaves as Larry meets in his cell with a priest as they began his

service

Larry

“Like a damn fish in a barrel”.

Eric

“Want to say anything?”

Larry who is dying of aids drops his pants in front of the priest and he

snaps Larry

“Do it.”

We approach Ray’s office Ray is talking to Jerry and char on a case that

end when the phone rings

Ray

“Curtis here”

Ray looks at Char and jerry

Ray (counties)

“Thank you, MR. Stone, “

He hangs up the phone

Ray

“that was Mr. Stone at appoxirity 8:00 am guards at the Green Bay Prison

Larry Edwards was found dead in his cell they believe he killed himself

after he forced himself on a persist “

Jerry

“ok after that I need a bit to eat “

He leaves

We see Megan and Peter driving on Water street in a traffic jam

Peter

“They should ban cars in Milwaukee “.

Megan looks at him

Megan

“What”

Peter drinks

Peter

“no pithy response”

Megan

“You leave me speechless”.

Peter

“Nobody forced you to watch it”.

Megan gets stop on Wisconsin Ave

Megan

“I can't imagine what it must be like, staring at a clock, knowing the

exact moment”.

Peter

“Adele Saunders thought she was going to work.

She ended up dead.”

Megan “Your pity's misplaced.

I'm tired of arguing, peter “.

Peter

“Good.”

Megan

“You know, I'm not feeling too well.

Must be the flu.”

Peter

“Yeah, The flu.”

Peter

“Want to take the day? No, I've got Silverman”.

Megan

“I'll cover”.

Peter

“What? You sure? Okay, fine”.

Peter gets out of car

Megan

“I'll drop you off at the office”.

Peter

“No problem”.

Megan

“And you've got Schwinger”.

Peter

“She'll wait. I’ll take a cab.”

Megan

“Maybe you'll feel better”.

Peter

“I'll call you later.”

We go back to Ray’s Office we see char and ray Char

“Hell, of a way to spend your day off.”

Ray sits down

Ray

“He just twitched”.

Jerry

“his eyes were wide open, case closed.”

Char

“What did you expect, a dozen archangels strumming their harps?”

Ray

Well, Larry Edwards going to have nothing to do with angels.

Who knows? Maybe somebody somewhere will learn something from this.

Yeah, the 30 friends and neighbors that cheered when he ripped off Greg

Boyce pants and raped him.”

Jerry

“You want to get some Chinese, char? I guess death make me hungry.”

Char

“Actually, I've got some files I've got to finish up.”

Jerry

“Hey, watch out, Lieutenant.

This kid's gunning for your job”.

Ray

“Yeah, well, it doesn't get her any overtime.”

They go outside to their office where the clapping begins

Steve

“So, where you are going, to Disneyland?”

Jerry

“Knock it off, Profaci.”

Mike

“What's up with him?”

Char sits down

Char

“He lost the lotto.” Ray

“Takes it personal.”

Steve

“Beginning of a new era, huh, Ray?”

Jerry

“We're just lucky that Edwards kept his lawyers out of it until the

bitter end.”

We go into Peter’s office where they are discussing a plea deal and

talking about today

Kim

“So, what's it like, man? What? was the guy green when you saw him? Does he lose control of his bodily functions or what? That would be cruel and

unusual.”

Peter

“Yeah.”

Johnny gets his brief cases out

Johnny

“For the poor SOB who had to clean up the vomit when they found him.”

Peter gets to business

Kim

“Man, two peters? Three-to-nine?”

Peter

“Not a chance Man one. Five-to-15.”

Johnny

“Is that the best you can do? A bird in the hand, David.

Right.”

Peter

“My mistake.”

They look at Peter

Kim

“you guys give us a moment “

They leave

Kim looks at her friend from Law school

Kim

“what’s going on”

Peter

“I don’t think I should have came to work “

Kim

“is it because of your father “

Peter

“just a little bit “

Kim

“I forgot how easy this job is for you when you don't have any choices.

Marissa and Kevin Mandalay.”

The come back in

Peter

“Nothing to talk about, Man one all around.”

Kim

“Come on, peter.”

Johnny

“Marissa's an honors student, a member of the math club.

Who likes to hold up bodegas?”

Peter

“Oh, that was Kevin.”

Johnny

“Marissa just thought they were going in for Ding Dongs.

With an Uzi?”

Kim

“She's a good kid, peter.”

Johnny

“Give her aiding and abetting.”

Kim

“Kevin, he goes the distance.”

Peter

“Sorry.”

Kim then calls Peter out of the office

Kim

“I love as a Friend and as college friend and co-worker please what’s

going on “

Peter

“I am just not in the mood “

Kim

“did you call Stacy”

Peter

“she won’t help”

Kim

“I get it you hate losing and I know she needs take reasonability for

her actions so let’s talk about it on Monday “

Peter nods

Kim

“when is Megan going to be in the office “

Peter

“she’s thinking of quitting “

Kim

“so that’s what’s bothering you “

Peter

“yes”

They walk into peter’s office

Peter

“I will make you an offer on one condition”

Johnny

“were open ears peter “

Peter

“we wait until Monday morning “

Johnny looks at Kim

Johnny

“deal”

We see Jerry eating lunch without char with a bunch of guys

Buddy

“So, me and Jerry are still in uniform.”

Jerry eats his Chinese

Jerry

“yeah and in 25 years on force in Milwaukee I have never seen a dumb

crime “

Buddy

“tell them about the case that happen 3 years ago “

Jerry

“oh, so we had a simple assault case and the mother came to bail him out

and “

Buddy

“the bail was 650 and she paid all of it “

Jerry

“in Nickels “

They all laugh

The waiter comes in

Glen

“so, do you guys want any more “

Jerry

“I am leaving I got go see my son”

Glen

“that will be 12.50”

Jerry

“here’s a 20 and keep the change handsome “

They all laugh

We approach the 2-9 where Ray and Char are working on the Larry Edwards

case for paper work

Char

“I can’t do this anymore”

Ray

“what’s the problem “

Char

“why are we still working on this “

Ray

“unknown victims “

Char

“I can’t take this right now”

Steve comes in

Steve

“what’s the matter “

Ray

“let’s go home for the day and come back later I think this whole day is

getting us where we are now “

Steve

“ok”

They leave

we approach the DA office Ryan comes into peter office

Ryan

“I got to do a news conference to do and I don’t want to do it “

Peter

“It will be fine “

Ryan

“it’s not New York city where it’s a death sentence “

Peter

“I know my Father was the DA there for 25 years “

Ryan

“ok, where is Megan”

Peter

“she’s got the Flu “

Ryan

“alright what are you doing “

Peter

“I am going have lunch with J.K and Liz “

Ryan

“ok”

They leave the office

We approach Peter who is at a lunch with the two

Olivet

“so, they found him hanging “

Peter

“yes “

J.k comes in sits at the table

J.k

“well how is the family of Greg Boyce and John Kohler doing “

Peter

“I spoke to Linda and James and they don’t want to talk about it “

Olivet

“well I can see that after 3 years you think they got the courage to

talk “

Peter drinking his water

Peter

“no “

J.k

“how many killings was he suspected of “

Peter

“30 Killing , 60 rapes , then these are all boys “

Olivet

“well I got a patient at four about this “

Peter

“what’s good here “

J.K

“the pasta is “

Peter

“good I’ll have that “

Olivet

“oh speaking that , I got the Kimberly Neweman file for you “

J.K

“that is brutal “

Olivet

“she kills her husband simple because she didn’t get what she got in the

Divorce “

Peter

“sounds Like Diane Brochardt “

J.K

“copy cat “

Peter

“can we just eat”

They look at peter

Olivet

“you saw a man dead and you were supposed to do nothing “

We approach Jerry eating Lunch with his son at Beans and Barley where they talk about life in general starting with the Whitehouse

Jerry

“Can you believe Richie? “

His son James looks at him

James

“I am voting for Bartlett “

Jerry

“I am too”

James

“well my basketball season went well “

Jerry

“tell me about it “

James

“well We lost in the Sectional Finals to Pewaukee finished 20-6 “

Jerry

“they should add two more games “

James

“ha-ha, I miss when Division 1 Had three days at Madison “

Jerry

“same “

Jerry keeps on eating

James

“what’s going dad “

Jerry looks at his son

Jerry

“this morning I was called to Dodge County and I saw a body of an inmate that I arrested, and I wasn’t supposing Invest age my Job is to see dead people daily and then fine the son of a bitch who did it and today I

didn’t “

James

“dad don’t feel bad “

Jerry

“thank you “

We see Peter at a bar on Milwaukee’s Brady Street where he is still waiting to hear from Megan he talks with the Bartender

Peter

“it’s a Bitch? who the wife the husband, the kids, and then he’s like

yeah all of those things”

Mike

“you Ben Stone’s son “

Peter

“yeah “

Mike

“I have never seen you before here but only on tv “

Peter

“My old man was a DA in New York for 30 years he has worked notable cases like the case involving Frankie Boy Jordan “

Mike

“the Mob of New York”

Peter

“yes, and his down fall was the mob”

Mike

“tell me about it “

Peter takes a drink and starts talking

Peter

“he was trying a case that had a wittiness that was in fear for her life and when he return after the not guilty verdict came in the men that were on trial went after her and shot her so I was about 16 my mother was home and she heard the door slam my father was down stairs drinking he did not come up my mother was worried it was 11 pm she found him dead

“

(the Music gets tense)

We approach the 2-9 where we see ray on the phone with Steve wife

Ray

“hey how are you doing I am good, he left but I will check and get back

to you “

Ray walks out and see Jason

Ray

“hey Soderberg where did Steve go off too “

Jason

“I think he went get away “ Ray

“well his wife is calling “

Jason

“I will call him “

Ray

“Thank you “

We see Steve out in Bayshore Mail just reading a book and eating a

pretzel where he gets a call on his cell

Steve

“hello”

It’s his wife

Steve

“hey what’s, I am in Whitefish Bay right now you want to come up,

alright see you in bit “

He keeps on reading

We approach Jerry and his son walking in Walker’s point

Jerry

“so, who are you playing for non-conference “

Ken

“we play two games in New York then we play Tosa West , Tosa east ,

Wisco , and Milwaukee Washington”

Jerry

“you trying to get a one Seed “

Ken “yeah”

Jerry

“do you know who your playing in New York “

Ken

“We are playing Buffalo East and La Luleuime “

Jerry

“wow “

Ken

“I get back to work if you need anything just let me know “

Jerry

“thank you “

We approach Marquette Law School where Megan’s Brother Max is teaching

she enters as

Max

“how is it possible that DOMA and Prop 8 where struck down in the courts, while other cases had the react opposite holding? Miss Johnson?”

Johnson

“the 14th Amendment “

Max

“you are partly correct “

Johnson just looks dumbfounded

Max

“remember class what did the people that were fighting case want, Miss

Johnson try again “

Johnson

“Equal protection “

Max

“that is correct, class the people wanted to be treated just like everyone eles it wasn’t about a social event that they were going to

remember that now “

Class is dismissed

Megan waits for her brother

Max

“you here for a re do “

Megan

“some things never change, you pulled equal rights stuff on me “

Max

“no, we are talking about the 14th Ademenht, what do you want to talk

about “

Megan

“Larry Edwards “

Max

“I heard he committed suicide”

Megan

“I still wish Wisconsin had the death plenty “

Max

“I can tell you why I am not for it and why I am here instead of the

court room in Chicago “

Megan

“why are you against it “

Max

“let’s go up to my office “

We approach the Bar where Jerry comes in

Jerry looks at the bar as peter is on the phone probably to Adam

Jerry

“is this seat taken “

Hank

“yes, my friend “

Jerry

“who is your friend “

Hank points

Jerry turns around

Jerry

“oh great, this guy is trouble you do know that “

Peter

“Jerry how’s it going “

Jerry

“I need a Club Soda “

Hank

“long day”

Jerry

“no depression “

Peter

“hank Cheer him up “

We go back to Max’s office where he and Megan are discussing Larry

Edwards

Max

“so, he died “

Megan

“yes “

Max

“why do you care “

Megan

“because my Boss and I had a fight”

Max

“your fighting with Stone “

Megan

“yeah “

Max

“remember what Penn taught you, and you will be fine “

Megan

“yeah, “

Max

“your mother and father want you to come and visit “

Megan just looks and leaves

We approach Ray and Megan at the 2-9

Ray

“man, I order way too much “

Jake

“well what do you want to do “

Megan comes in

Ray

“hey you what’s up “

Megan

“not much “

Ray

“I order the orange Chicken and general Tso with Pancakes do you want

any of it “

Megan

“sure, Death makes me hungry “

Ray

“what do you want you pick “

Megan

“give me that general “

They start eating

Ray

“so, how’s the office “

Megan

“I am good “

Ray

“it’s a mess trying to get Larry Edwards confession in writing for the

court it’s so brutal”

Megan

“Ryan did a Press conference “

Ray

“I saw that “

Steve comes in

Steve

“hey sorry to bother you but Kate is doing a press conference “

They turn it on

Ray and Megan watch the confessions

Ray

“ok change the channel “

Megan

“it’s so brutal “

Megan eats a pancake

Megan

“how’s Jess doing “

Ray

“busy with the kids they so adorable “

Megan

“I had a reunion today”

Ray

“with who “

Megan

“my Brother Max he teaches at Marquette “

Ray

“how did that go “

Megan

“very Painful “

Ray

“I am sorry to hear that “

Megan

“I went to Law school at Penn and he went to Law school at Marquette “

Ray

“I went to Uw-Milwaukee with a background in ASL,what is the difference

”

Megan

“he always thinks I am better “

Ray

“I know give it time “

Megan

“my mother was always struck towards him”

Ray

“why”

Megan

“cause he’s Hard of hearing “

Ray

“well maybe I can sign back and forth to him “

Megan

“you have deaf family members “

Ray

“my Mother and my mother In-law”

Megan

“he tried taking ASL and tried being in the deaf community but everyone

rejected him”

Ray

“yeah it can be a tough journey “

Megan phones ring

Megan

“I got take this “

Ray

“you know Jerry needs a driver “

We approach Ray and his wife Jess ray is just tired after a long day and

writing a letter

Jess

“hey Darling “

Ray

“hey”

Jess

“what are you doing it’s almost midnight “

Ray

“writing a letter to my mother “

Jess

“read it for me “

Ray

“Hey mom it’s almost midnight and I don’t know why I am up it was a day like not many happen expect the state of Wisconsin got it’s wish when an inmate killed himself he deserved what happen to him , a 16 year old boy walking down the street he raped and murdered him I suppose I should feel great about the man’s death or bad or guilty I don’t know “

Jess

“don’t lie to Dorthey “

Ray

“I am not trying to lie “

Jess

“darling “

Ray just looks at his wife

We returned to the bar where Jerry and hank are playing pool Megan walks

Hank

“man, you guys should quit your job and join the pool team here “

Jerry

“I like my job “

Hank

“you do “

They laugh

Megan walks in

Hank

“hey you know her “

Jerry

“let me see “

Megan

“you know me don’t play me”

Jerry

“oh yes consular what’s up

Megan

“Peter called me.”

Jerry

“Peter? peter turned into a basketball.”

He sits his drinks down

Jerry

“Can I buy you a drink, Counselor?”

Megan

“No, thanks”.

Jerry

“Okay

I got one for you.

Jerry

“How come California has the most lawyers, and New Jersey has the most

toxic dumps? Because New Jersey got first pick.

You don't get it.”

Megan gives him the look

Megan

“Look, why don't you get your coat, and I'll drive you home?”

Jerry

“Home”

The drunk jerry keeps going

Jerry

“Where in the car Where to? I used to know”.

Jerry and Megan in the car jerry is still talking

Jerry

“So, this morning really bummed you out.”

Do I look bummed out to you? You know, it wouldn't be so terrible.”

Megan looks over at jerry

Megan

“What's that?”

Jerry

“If you were my kid.”

Megan sort laughs it off

Megan

“I guess I should take that as a compliment.”

Jerry keeps rambling

Jerry

“Hey, you're smart, you're pretty, you got a good job, and you don't

hate my guts.”

Megan looks at her passenger

Megan

“Jerry, I doubt your son hates you.”

Jerry sighs

Jerry

“No, you don't know. You don't know him.

I don't even know him. I never will”.

A car droved by drunk driver slams into Megan’s Car as it honks at her

Ray (voice over)

"A crowd of people stood and cheered when he raped him.

"They were supposedly good people, "and they didn’t do anything.

"Then he beat him to death with a baseball bat.

"And today the state of Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee got its

revenge. "It's not enough, and it's not too much”

Jerry just watched as he injured and a dead body lays in the car

End of 1.8

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vocalfriespod · 5 years

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Episode 14: They, Them, Theirs Transcript

Megan Figueroa: Hi and welcome to the Vocal Fries podcast. The podcast about linguistic discrimination.

Carrie Gillon: I'm Carrie Gillon.

Megan Figueroa: And I'm Megan Figueroa. Carrie you just tweeted something amazing from our Vocal Fries Twitter.

Carrie Gillon: Might be one of my favorite tweets of all time. So I don't know who this is but someone tweeted about how they're in this all day meeting and someone just didn't want to say quote Get your shit together. And so he said Get your poop in a group.

Megan Figueroa: Oh my God. And now. I'm like. And now I'm like imagining if this were like a teleconference or something. If you have like a little chat window or something. He would have like used the emote the poop emoji or something like it's all I'm imagining.

Carrie Gillon: My God it is just such a disgusting image.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. Oh my God.

Carrie Gillon: So yeah it's just evidence that sometimes avoiding swearing is the wrong tactic.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. And I can't even see. I mean get your shit together. Could be offensive but it can be said where it's like kind of funny or kind of like whimsical you go or you're like OK we need to get like Get your shit together let's work on this right. So it's not like it would have been you know I don't know.

Carrie Gillon: I can see how it might be inappropriate for some people just because they're maybe very religious. But maybe you need a different turn of phrase then that does not invoke feces.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I guess like get your poop in a group. It's just like being a kid when you say H.E. double hockey sticks. Like I remember like saying that as a kid get your poop in a group is almost like childlike. For me

Carrie Gillon: It's actually very kidlike yeah. Which is also weird.

Megan Figueroa: It is weird but kids talk about poop all the time.

Carrie Gillon: And now apparently so do we.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I know. Sorry.

Carrie Gillon: to those who find this disgusting.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I I used to not use the poop emoji at all and now I do. So I really it's really growth in the area of feces for me so

Carrie Gillon: Nice. Well on that disturbing note. I had a dream a couple nights ago that the world was completely ending, that there were nuclear bombs just killing us all. And I woke up terrified.

Megan Figueroa: Well and then I woke up terrified today thinking that I'm going to die from the flu now. So.

Carrie Gillon: It is a bad one this year.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. So nuclear war the flu everything is a pile of shit.

Carrie Gillon: A pile of poop in a group.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah exactly. So yeah I mean either we'll die from like a nuclear blast or maybe from the flu. That's something to look forward to.

Carrie Gillon: I mean you have to die some way.

Megan Figueroa: It's true it's true.

Carrie Gillon: Might as well be in a conflagration I guess.

Megan Figueroa: Well I don't know. Let's hope that the flu shot helps me a little bit.

Carrie Gillon: Well it does. I mean okay I am not an immunologist but do say that the experts do say that if you get the flu shot even if it's not that well targeted to the flu of this particular year, it still confers some protection. So it is still a good idea, even if you don't think you need it as an adult. Just think about if you're around any children or older people. Apparently like 30 babies have died from this flu in the United States.

Megan Figueroa: Now I mean I work I work with kids so I definitely get it for them as well but also those little shits are the ones that are giving me like everything.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah I have to say that one of the things I definitely do not miss about being in the classroom is I haven't gotten the flu in the last two winters. And I think it's because I just I'm not around students anymore and they're you know adults. But.

Megan Figueroa: I mean it's a cesspool. Universities are

Carrie Gillon: Yes.

Megan Figueroa: So we have a couple of housekeeping things.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. So a reminder that we have a Patreon now and if you subscribe at the 5 dollar level you're going to get access to our bonus episodes and we're recording our first real bonus episode after this. So should be up fairly soon before the end of January and I'm not sure when this episode is gonna be coming out. But yeah.

Megan Figueroa: February probably so it's gonna be.

Carrie Gillon: So probably yes. The episode will be the first a bonus I think it it'll be out sometime in January. yeah. You want access to the bonus episodes. That would be your option.

Megan Figueroa: Yes.

Carrie Gillon: And if you don't want that and you just want to support us you can support us at the one dollar level or if you want a sticker the three dollar. And then you also get the sticker at the five dollar.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah the stickers very cute. is the. The fries. It's I mean which is the best logo ever. And I always get compliments for that at least. And.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah me too.

Megan Figueroa: And then they'll. And then they'll say they actually like the podcast too.

Carrie Gillon: It's okay if you like the design better than the podcast.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah it's really good. So.

Carrie Gillon: It's very it's very cute. And thanks Chris for doing that for us.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. Thank you. So we have another interview today and I just want to say that we have met so many amazing cool people through our interviews. So I'm just really excited about this one. I think everyone is going to really learn a lot. And like it.

Carrie Gillon: Me too. Yeah So yeah I want to say also that I find it very it's really fun to talk to people some of the people I already knew in real life like my friend Nicole, my friend Peter. Many I didn't know, including Kirby, who we are interviewing today. So yeah. So it's exciting. Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: So here we go.

Megan Figueroa: All right. So today we're excited to welcome our guest Kirby Conrod. Kirby is a fourth year doctoral student focusing on syntax, in particular pronouns. They have a secondary interest in of gender especially as it relates to gender and LGBTQ plus identities. Kirby uses they/them pronouns. Welcome Kirby.

Kirby Conrod: Hi. Thanks so much for having me.

Carrie Gillon: Hi Kirby. Thank you for coming on.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. And I realize this now Carrie that we've never said on the air.

Carrie Gillon: That's true.

Kirby Conrod: That'd be great.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. So she I think we've referred to each other as that. But it's definitely a good practice tell people.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. And also she. She

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. Yeah. Right. So that's awesome. OK. So I want to start off with asking you Kirby a little bit about your research because I think it's cool that you're kind of like a syn socio person. That doesn't go together a lot and I love it.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. So I'm very interdisciplinary. I had get two advisors because it's true that most socio don't do syntax and most syntacticians don't do socio. So I am looking at sort of complicating the way that we do formal syntax. You know I was trained as a formal in undergrad and most of my early grad education. And what kept coming up for me is this stuff where you know formal syntax will sort of make assumptions about the world that aren't necessarily true. So this is the sort of thing where constantly you know in the intro text you'll see something marked as ungrammatical where it says you know John loves herself and there's a lot of social assumptions going into calling something like that ungrammatical. So one of the things that I'm interested in doing is sort of taking apart some of those assumptions and reworking the syntax in a way that reflects the way people are actually using things like pronouns to reflect their social realities. So so I am hoping to you know get a good syntax explanation for what's going on in the social world.

Carrie Gillon: Cool, that sounds really interesting.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah it's obviously relevant to a lot of people. It's always been relevant to a lot of people. But I think that mainstream like pop like science stuff is actually really interested in that right now as well. There seems to be a movement to be interested in that. So could we start with let's pretend that I forgot everything about syntax. Oh sure yeah. I mean we might we might have listeners that don't know anything about syntax in fact we do. So let's start off with. Will you tell us a little bit about English person pronouns.

Kirby Conrod: Sure. So English third person pronouns the singular ones are she, he, and for some people they. And then it things that aren't people. So third person means that you're not talking about yourself and you're not talking about the person that you're talking to. So it's somebody that's outside of the conversation and they may be standing right there or they may not even be in the room. And the way that third person pronouns get meaning is from an antecedent. So that means that either they get meaning from something that you said earlier in the conversation like a name or they get meaning from the the world knowledge that people have where they know who you're talking about because they understand what's going on. If you know me and my friend who are huge Lady Gaga fans are talking to each other and I suddenly you know see a thing on my phone and I say "Oh my God she dropped a new album" that's something where the word she would be ambiguous to anybody else but to my friend who shows this interest with me they know who I'm talking about. This is a hypothetical example.

Megan Figueroa: Perfect.

Kirby Conrod: So so pronouns are the ideas that they're kind of place holders for not having to say names over and over again and they get their meaning from names or from others sort of referring expressions.

Megan Figueroa: Oh yeah. And with. So with English third person singular pronouns there's grammatical gender involved.

Kirby Conrod: So it's not grammatical gender.

Megan Figueroa: Sorry. Sorry.

Kirby Conrod: This is one of those things- no I mean, I'm happy to talk about the different here, because it's important. Grammatical gender is for languages like Spanish or French or Italian or German, where all the nouns have certain endings that you have to match your demonstratives and adjectives with, where it's essentially a noun class. And the reason it gets called gender is because it tends to roughly line up with genders like male and female. But imagine you know giving male and female genders to everything in the world, like tables and chairs and books and such. So grammatical gender is the gender of tables and chairs and books and stuff, where we're not really saying that books are female. What we're saying is that books have certain morphological properties that want a certain kind of agreement. That's not exactly the same as sort of real world gender and there's a bunch of different names for real world gender. So so one of the things is that we want to be able to account for this kind of tables and chairs need certain flavors of adjectives to go with them in the syntax when we're describing how words go together and what parts of words need to go together. But the fact that the same thing happens for reflecting real world people and real world genders sort of complicates it because when you get into real world genders it's not just a noun class. It's this whole social relationship. It's it's sensitive to context and it can change from place to place and time to time. So it gets much more complicated when we're talking about the gender of actual human beings.

Carrie Gillon: Should we start talking about like trans issues or.

Kirby Conrod: Oh sure yeah.

Megan Figueroa: Oh I wonder if I could if I could say this because you said something on Twitter and I just want to say it as a question. I thought it was really important.

Kirby Conrod: Sure OK.

Megan Figueroa: So why is it important that trans linguists are the ones doing the work on trans language.

Kirby Conrod: So yeah this is an interesting question. On the one hand, I don't necessarily want to tell people not to research trans language because it's so so interesting. But on the other hand, for me and other trans linguists, what's at stake in the research is really personal and really urgent. And there are certain sort of concerns that I don't see cis linguists respecting and it's not a matter of necessarily doing unethical research but not doing research in a way that really treats the trans subjects as real human people instead of guinea pigs. And the other important thing that I think distinguishes research from trans researchers is that frankly our research questions are more interesting. You know when I see when I see research on for example trans women's phonetics and sociophonetics from cis gender men it's almost always the research question is how well does this trans woman pass.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: And to trans people, that question is a) not very interesting and b) kind of insulting.

Carrie Gillon: Right.

Kirby Conrod: You know where that's the only thing that people are asking over and over is what do cis think of trans women's voices. And like is it you know sort of interesting how a trans women don't really sound like women. Like that's not something that we want to see on paper over and over. We want to see trans women studied in comparison to trans women. We want to see trans women leading the research on trans women because it's, for one thing, it's just not happening. You know there are, as far as I know, no trans women in socio And this is a real problem, because socio is sort of the place where people are trying to sort out what is sex and what is gender, when it comes to the voice. You know we've been conflating those things for a really long time, where we assumed that you know certain things are due to this sort of amalgam of sex and gender, where some things are just sort of biologically due to being a woman, whatever that means. And the more we look into it the more it looks like that's just not true. And the other thing is that some things that are sort of biologically determined by you know the length of your vocal folds, doesn't necessarily tell people socially that you're a woman and there are other qualities that tell people socially that you're a woman. And so looking at how people negotiate that when they are assigned male at birth and have longer vocal folds and have a lower sort of basic pitch, but can still convey that they are women through their voice that's very interesting to look at as in its own right without comparing them to cis women.

Carrie Gillon: Right.

Megan Figueroa: And can you real quickly define this for our listeners. Just in case. Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: So cis C I S. I have seen the sort of folk etymology that it's an acronym. It's not. It just means on the same side of. It's the opposite of trans. So when I use this cis abbreviation I'm using it in the same way that I use trans as an abbreviation. So cis gender just means that your gender identity aligns with your assigned at birth.

Megan Figueroa: Perfect. Thank you. OK. So speaking of all of this like misgendering also something called dea and you can talk more about it or tell us what it is. I don't want to define it. In case I get it wrong, but I want to remind everyone that it's possible for linguists to be linguistic assholes and that actually happened recently on language log, which is a blog about linguistics where a very established linguist Geoff Pullum the cardinal rule and was a complete asshole.

Kirby Conrod: This is this is not unprecedented for him, as many many linguists are excited to tell me every time it comes up.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah he's he's he's kind of known for being an asshole actually like yeah that is being curmudgeonly at least the very very least.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. So not only did he mi someone but he also dead a former student. So can you tell us a little bit about what is and why this is so fucked up.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah so is a very visceral name and it's using the name for somebody that they no longer use. And for trans people this is very sensitive. In some ways, it's a safety issue of you know if I no longer use my name that my parents gave me at work and somebody uses that name for me in front of my colleagues. You're potentially outing me as trans a way that you know. No it's not legal in Washington state for people to fire me for being trans but that is not going to stop them. You know this is something that happens all the time. And so using a dead or a name that somebody is not using anymore can potentially put them in in material danger. And the other thing is that it's psychologically very damaging for trans people who choose new names. Your new name is an important part of building an identity that's under your control that doesn't feel like it fits wrong. When trans people choose their new names something you know I know a lot of them go through a couple names before they sort of settle on one. And it's something very very personal. Your name is so personal and being called the one that you don't want to be called is basically saying to you you know I don't care what you think you are. I know what you are. And it's the most disrespectful way to refer to somebody and doing it in front of someone is awful. It has a huge psychological effect. Doing it behind their back is immensely disrespectful, because now what you're doing is you're telling other people with whom this person is acquainted, "I don't care what that person thinks they are. I know what they are."

Carrie Gillon: You know what this reminds me of a little bit is when people use slurs. It's like very disrespectful and actually it just means that you're the asshole.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. I don't know that I want to exactly compare these, because I think these are similar in effect but names are so personal. You know they are the same name is not going to affect everybody the same way but.

Carrie Gillon: That's true.

Kirby Conrod: One person's dead name may be another person's chosen name. So it's not like the name itself is what carries the meaning. It's knowing that you're using the wrong one.

Carrie Gillon: Right. Well I guess I guess in some other way a slur is not always bad if you're in the in-group. It's okay. So it's not the word itself. It's who's using it. So that's the comparison to me. But anyway.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. And the same can be said about misgendering. Is that fair.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. So I am hesitant to say that misgendering is exactly like a slur, because on the one hand it definitely can be used that way. You know one of my sort of early Twitter studies was about the way that people were tweeting about- I wanted to use sort of a famous trans person and this was almost exactly a year ago. So it was right when Chelsea Manning got her sentence commuted. And so a lot of people were talking about her on Twitter. And so what I was curious about is something that I was seeing is that you know people who really really violently hated her you know, tweeting death threats at her. sometimes still called her Chelsea but were using he. So this was really interesting to me. So dead naming and misgendering are a little bit different linguistically. And that's because names and pronouns are a little bit different linguistically. So you can use deadnaming or misgendering to accomplish the same effect, which is you know threatening a trans woman's life. But the sort of the grammatical constraints on pronouns are a little bit stricter. So I pulled a whole bunch of tweets talking about Chelsea Manning and using her name and her you know and different pronouns about her, and I compared you know who is using her chosen name versus who is using her deadname and who is using he versus who is using she. There was also some people using it. I didn't include that data because it made me sick to my stomach.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: So that you know that's a separate project that I need a lot more therapy before I can do.

Megan Figueroa: Right.

Kirby Conrod: But what I found was more people were using her her chosen name even when they were still misgendering her.

Carrie Gillon: It's really interesting.

So people were calling her Chelsea and he. So one of the conclusions I kind of drew from that is that the difference between a name and a pronoun is that a name is a lexical item, it's sort of a real contentful word with real semantic sort of weight to it. A pronoun is a grammatical word. So changing grammatical words happens a little bit slower and people report more difficulty with it. This is something that Geoff Pullum reported when he was busy misgendering this poor person in a news article where he you know reported, "I find it really ungrammatical to use this person's chosen pronoun, which is singular 'they' with their name." People don't report using the wrong name is feeling ungrammatical only the pronouns. So the difference between names and pronouns is that pronouns are more deeply embedded in the structure of how our language works. They're more one of those sort of fundamental building blocks of syntax, whereas names are you know there are hundreds thousands of names that we have to learn every day and we're always encountering new ones and they have unique meanings and they are not sort of structurally sensitive in the way pronouns are. But it's true that using a deadname and using the wrong pronoun can accomplish the same effect, which is that you can be really really transphobia on Twitter.

Megan Figueroa: Thank you for sharing some of your research. I wanted to bring up Chelsea Manning stuff, so I'm glad it got in there.

Kirby Conrod: Oh yeah absolutely.

Megan Figueroa: Perfect. Yeah. So along with that in response to Geoff, you shared an article on Medium. And you said something that is so perfect and beautiful. You said quote "I am absolutely being prescriptive here the same way it is technically prescriptive to tell you not to use racial slurs. I am prescribing basic respect." I really really appreciate that you said that and I think it goes along with what we're trying to do with the Vocal Fries. So yeah that was awesome. And since misgendering causes real harm, I notice that you have another article on medium that is basically a quick primer on how to respect someone's pronouns. Will you shared steps with us here and we'll also link to it.

Kirby Conrod: Oh yeah. So this is I would love more people to know about this. I want this you know handed out on little index cards to everybody. When people are having a hard time switching pronouns, they report you know sort of grammatical problems and they'll use this like "oh it's ungrammatical for me" or "it feels grammatically wrong" as a way of sort of excusing misgendering you know their friends and loved ones. And so I basically wrote this guide as like a subtweet at my parents, who are now trying a little harder. So the first thing I said is you know slow down. This is the easiest one. And it's also the one that people get the maddest about. People get really really mad when you tell them to slow down. But I think it's not unreasonable to say you know think before you speak. It's not that big an ask you know and so slow down plan your speech. Think about what you were going to say and what this may mean is that you talk a little slower for a while and it may be frustrating to you. And I'm going to tell you tough shit.

Megan Figueroa: Yes yes.

Kirby Conrod: If you know misgendering is so deeply embedded in your language that you seriously can't get rid of it without really slowing down, then what you need to do is really slow down and just get over it. The next thing that I tell people and this is one that is something that people think they do but they super don't. So if somebody corrects you on their pronouns you have to stop talking and listen to the correction. So this happens to me constantly. And I think it's something to do with how people negotiate turntaking in conversation, where if somebody is in the middle of a long sentence and they misgender me, I will just quickly sort of blurt out "they". It's like an instinct for me. I kind of can't stop myself and I'll do it like when I was sort of first testing out these pronouns especially in professional contexts, I was sort of timid and quiet and I didn't do it all the time. I'm much more rude and loud now and it's helping. So trans people out there I suggest being rude. I can't tell you how many times I've done this where somebody is talking and I very loudly say as they're talking "they" and they keep talking as if they have not heard me. And in fact sometimes when they stop talking I say "you used 'she'. Did you mean 'she'?" And they said "oh I had no idea." Like they really don't hear me when they're talking. So this is something that people cis people need to work on is if somebody is trying to correct you, you need to let them correct you. And if you are actually trying to do a better job this shouldn't be something that you are you know stamping your feet about is. You know if you're corrected you have to actually let people interrupt you. And it means stepping down and being a little bit more humble and careful. But it's important. And then the other thing is that I have a lot of people who say "you know I'll try, but you know correct me if I get it wrong." And then when I correct them they don't acknowledge it at all. So if you ask for corrections you should be trying even harder to listen to them. The third thing I say is one that I think you know Geoff Pullum in particular needs to listen to and it's don't make excuses. So if you are friends colleagues family with a trans person, even if their pronouns are hard for you, you telling me how hard my pronouns are for me doesn't help me in any way. You know I hear it from everybody all the time and it sounds like you're trying to get out of it. It sounds like you're trying to weasel your way out of a homework assignment that you don't. And I'm a T.A. I don't like hearing this. So but like trying to make excuses for yourself to make up for mistakes that you're going to make in the future. On the one hand I can understand why you're trying to do this. You're trying to convey like oh I'm not transphobic. It's just that I have this problem, but the effect is the same.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. People are really obsessed with intentions like intentions matter more than anything. And I don't want to say they don't matter at all. But you can't say they matter more than anything else. That's completely unfair.

Kirby Conrod: Somebody just telling me "I'm not transphobic, therefore I'm going to refuse to use your correct pronouns" is like "Oh so you're just going to talk exactly like transphobes do".

Carrie Gillon: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: But you're not transphobic so I'm not allowed to be mad at you. Yeah. And so the thing about don't make excuses is that what I'm hearing is don't be mad at me for sucking really bad. And I don't think that's fair. I think I'm allowed to be mad at you. And you know that anger is not coming out of like I'm offended or you're being politically incorrect. That anger is coming out of like you're hurting me you're hurting my feelings. This is personal.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. And you should know that you're hurting someone's feelings like it. Yeah you've told them.

Megan Figueroa: Right. And if you don't care you're you're being an asshole or a sociopath.

Kirby Conrod: So. So if you don't care you don't get to claim that you do care and you care you have to try harder.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: Right. Yes.

Kirby Conrod: And then my last tip is that if you hear yourself mess up correct yourself briefly and don't make a big deal out of it. So I cannot stand when I'm trying to have a normal conversation someone slips out "she" and then stops everything that we're doing to be like "Oh my God I'm so sorry I've been trying so hard but it's so hard for me you know it's just so weird and wrong and I'm having you know and I just need to." And it's like. And now the conversation is about you sucking at pronouns rather than the normal conversation that we were having before. If you mess up correct yourself briefly and move on.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. Instead of someone to do emotional labor for you basically.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah So this is something that just I can't I can't stand it when people make a huge deal out of it to the point where I have to comfort them you do have to correct yourself if you hear yourself mess up and just keep going without doing anything and then you know you come up to me like an hour later and say oh I messed up I'm so sorry. It's like a little late then because everybody else in the room heard you say the wrong thing and that's you know reinforcing to them that that's the thing to say.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: And so this is something that it really frustrates me when when especially faculty do this, because there's this power imbalance right. You know I'm a grad student and they're professors so I don't I don't get to tell them what to do, but on the other hand people are following their examples so if a professor mis me in front of some undergrads in a class that I'm teaching that is teaching the undergrads that it's OK to call me the wrong thing. And not acknowledging it in the moment is telling everybody in the room that it's not that big a deal. And it drives me crazy. So you know correct yourself in the moment, but don't derail the conversation to do so.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah, I think that's an excellent point.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I really love those tips and so I'm glad that we can help get them out on the way that we can help get them out through the Vocal Fries. But we will link to it obviously, we'll tweet about it. And so thank you for sharing that with us.

Kirby Conrod: Oh yeah absolutely. Thank you for bringing it up.

Carrie Gillon: So I'd actually like to talk about "they" little bit more in detail because I think it is kind of interesting. So you have this abstract that you sent to us about changes in singular "they" and just the difference in ages. So people in their 20s are using "they" way more than people in any of the other age groups according to this.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. And impressionistically, if you think about it, if you think about who you know and who's doing it, it's true right. You know this to be true. Like you know that it's people under 30 right now who are doing this thing and are not finding And so what we socio to call that is a change in progress. And it's a very steep one. You know there's a huge difference between people under 30 and people over 30. And so part of that might be you know the number of subjects I have and stuff like this and you know I have to do more math but it really looks like there's this like sudden cut off around you know whatever birth year it is nineteen eighty eight I guess. Like you know where people under that age are fine with it and people over that age struggle with it. And part of the interesting thing about this data that I'm talking about is that this is not me asking people to tell me if it's grammatical. I'm not asking them to think about it. This is data about people using it naturally in a normal conversation. only is it grammatical for them but it is an organic and ordinary part of their language you know. And I think that's really important to drive home is that this is not a big deal for the people who have this part of the grammar for the people who are leading this language change. It's not a big deal. It's not something that they're thinking about. It's not something that they're doing on purpose. It's not something that they've decided to be politically correct about. It's just a part of their ordinary unconscious language use. And that's the future that's going to be that's going to be normal in 10 years 20 years. It's it's on its way to normal now. And so I think that's something that for me it makes me feel really hopeful that there's going to be serious change and that the generations that come after this are not going to have to have this fight.

Carrie Gillon: I hope so.

Kirby Conrod: Because the language is on its way to changing.

Carrie Gillon: I mean for me "they" is totally acceptable. I've always used it and I'm in my 40s but I think of the people in their 20s are using it probably a lot more and a lot more contexts than I am I'm guessing.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. So one of the things that probably is affecting this is how many non people do you personally know.

Carrie Gillon: Right.

So this is something that Lauren Ackerman's work is looking at is you know how many non people you personally know does affect how you feel about this variable. This this this use of a pronoun and one of the other things about the sort of stark difference between people in their 20s and the rest of my subjects is that the people in their 20s probably know a lot more non people and knowing non people gives you occasion to talk about them. You know in these conversations that we were having in my soc interview. We're talking about you know what mutual friends do you have. I'm interviewing people in Paris so I'm a conversation with two people at once and I'm asking you know tell me about your mutual friends. Tell me a fun story of like a time you shared together and this is something where they're using "they" because they as a normal part of their social landscape. They're using "they" because they need it to reflect the identities of the people they know and hang out with and like and want to talk about and this is one of the ways that I think that you know s who don't go out and listen to real social language aren't going to pick up on because they're not hearing the way that language changes to adapt to its environment. And so in this case the environment is having a lot of non friends. And the way that language will adapt is like I guess this is fine now and whatever grammatical changes have to happen in my brain to make it find they will just happen.

Carrie Gillon: Right. And also also you you point out that the that gender identity also affects the use of this. So obviously people are going to use they more often but women seem to use it a lot more than men do.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. So there are a couple of reasons that this might be the case. The first reason is that so women using sort of innovative form of language more than men is not uncommon and socio have a lot of different theories about why this may be having to do with sort of social capital and using new language to show that you have sort of social worth. So that's you know one theory about why women are further ahead in a language change than men. But I think the fact that non people are even further ahead shows a couple of things. One people are aware of this change. This is not happening unconsciously and non people have a lot of a lot at stake in this change. So it makes a lot of sense that they would be further along in just using it. people probably have more non friends and so they're just using it because all their friends. You know I. I personally have at least six, which is a lot more than most people you know. Can you. Do you personally know and are you personally close with more than two non people?

Megan Figueroa: Being personally close? I guess not.

Carrie Gillon: Not no.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah it's it's not that common right now. So obviously non people like to hang out with other non people because they get us and they are not dicks to us all the time.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. Which is completely understandable. Yeah

Kirby Conrod: So you know it's the sort of thing where you know social network is definitely going to be a factor here but it may also be the case that soci have to start making room for other genders in our studies and not only that I think sociolinguists to start actively recruiting other genders because as far as I know no published journal article has an other category with more than one or two participants and that to me is saying that we just don't know or care about these populations. And I think that that doesn't make any sense. I think that this this sort of the membership of non people is going to only grow over time. And I think that having space in our research for talking about what our non binary people doing compared to other people is going to be interesting and fruitful.

Megan Figueroa: Definitely.

One last point to be made about singular" I think is it's actually kind of old. Maybe not so much in all of the uses of it but for example like everyone loves their mother instead of everyone loves his or her mother like that's what most people use. And so people do have singular "they" even if most people have singular "they" even if they think they don't.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: And that's why it's also if you know I agree that that's the case. That's why I also agree it's if you're arguing against this change you're just being a fucking asshole.

Carrie Gillon: Agreed.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: So arguing against this change I think - I don't want to have a whole podcast about how Geoff Pullum is an asshole but here's the thing.

Carrie Gillon: Neither do I. But it is what it is.

Kirby Conrod: You know he and others like him. So you know I hesitate to like bring up examples in my personal life but I know he is not the first old man I've met who has had this exact argument with me. He's this is just the most public argument that I've had to this effect but arguing against the change is different than saying I'm not a member of the leading force of this change. And that's okay. You know it's okay to say "I am a speaker of a more conservative dialect. It really sounds weird to me." It's not OK to say "therefore it's fine for me to misgender people in print." Having grammatical difficulties is a different thing than misgendering someone in print.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. Yeah. If you have time to think about it and to fix it.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah you have time to think about it and to fix it. And and you know my Medium post about how to how to be better is if you have time to a) give yourself time to think about it and b) fix it if you can. And that's that's where these people are messing up. It's not that they're having difficulties it's that they're not putting even the minimal effort into being respectful despite their difficulties.

Megan Figueroa: Exactly. And that's I think a good point because we don't want to scare our listeners and say like "you are going to fuck up and you're terrible." It's more like "you're going to fuck up but please like you know be respectful and you know follow the tips that that you shared you know like don't make a big deal about it."

Carrie Gillon: Yeah I definitely have fucked up on this score. I misgendered somebody once and you know I apologized and used the correct pronoun. It's really not that hard.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah right.

Kirby Conrod: And I think I think the most important thing is that people need to not get defensive and that defensiveness comes out of this place of insecurity of like you know "if I mess up and you call me out on it you're you know saying that I'm unhip or I can't possibly be friends with you" or something like that that sort of social fear of like you're gonna stop being friends with me because I messed up once. That's not the case. But if you're messing up over and over again and clearly not trying to fix it then it's like well all right you know what are you doing here. So. So you know messing up and fixing it is is infinitely preferable to arguing with me about why you should be excused.

Megan Figueroa: Yes.

Carrie Gillon: Good. Good point. Yes exactly.

Megan Figueroa: It's like everything in life really. Right. Come on do. Was there anything else Carrie that you can think of or Kirby that you want to say that we've missed that we kind of glossed over or didn't bring up before we wrap.

Carrie Gillon: I don't have anything more so.

Megan Figueroa: I think this was really good. PS.

Kirby Conrod: Oh thank you.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah yeah yeah.

Carrie Gillon: Okay awesome.

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. Can I give some shout outs to some other research that I think is important?

Carrie Gillon: Yes.

Kirby Conrod: So Lauren Akerman Lauren Akerman was just featured today this morning in a article in The Economist for her work on singular "they". She's working on more of said of the processing side. So she's looking at how people deal with singular "they" when it's used to them. And this is important work in sort of figuring out you know who is it grammatical for Who is it not grammatical for. Because the way that we process sentences shows what's going on in our brain and what we're okay with. And that's really important. And then the other linguist that I want to do a shout out to is Lex Connolly who is not only looking at sort of the naturalistic use of singular "they" but also other non-binary uses of language in other languages. I think that their work is also really important to look at. They're also a good student so they're sort of in the same spot of me as me of like there's stuff forthcoming very soon. But yeah. So those those are the researchers that I really want people to know about with pronouns. I want people to pay attention to the research on this before making declarations about what's going on a) and b) I want people to support non-binary researchers who are researching this because you know we've - what's the idiom - we've got skin in the game.

Carrie Gillon: Exactly.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Kirby Conrod: You know this matters for us this matters this matters for me personally. This is I'm researching this because I spent my whole first year at grad school wondering you know why are some professors really really good at gendering me correctly and some professors have never gotten it right even once. And and this is a really personal question for me. And you know there's clearly something going on. So. So looking at the language science of what's going on is going to be really important in the next few years. And I want people to prioritize trans linguists who are doing that.

Megan Figueroa: And of course the Vocal Fries will be happy to tweet any of your tweets that tell us about your new research that's coming out.

Kirby Conrod: Thank you.

Megan Figueroa: We'll be we'll be looking for that.

Megan Figueroa: Will also add all that information that you just gave on our Tumblr.

Kirby Conrod: Oh thank you.

Megan Figueroa: We were so happy to have you Kirby.

Carrie Gillon: Yes. Thank you so much. And for our listeners you can find them on Twitter and on Medium. So again we will link to all of that.

Kirby Conrod: Thanks so much and thanks so much for having me. This was really fun.

Carrie Gillon: It was. Thank you. All right. Don't be an asshole.

Megan Figueroa: Do not be an asshole. Kirby would you like to say that?

Kirby Conrod: Yeah. Don't be an asshole.

Carrie Gillon: Bye.

Megan Figueroa: Alright, bye.

Carrie Gillon: The Vocal Fries Podcast is produced by Chris Ayers for Halftone Audio. Theme music by Nick Granam. You can find us on Tumblr Twitter Facebook and Instagram @vocalfriespod. You can email us at [email protected]

#transcript #linguistic discrimination #non-binary language #non-binary pronouns #non-binary #trans language #trans linguistics #singular they

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tabloidtoc · 5 years

Text

National Enquirer, January 7

Cover: Brave Olivia Newton-John Faces the End

Page 2: Bill Cosby getting paranoid and going bonkers in prison

Page 4: Ex-husband calls Mel B a lying, cheating bully who made teen nanny her sex toy

Page 5: Sea pirates loot Halle Berry’s coastline mansion, newly married Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk have no plans to move in together

Page 6: Model who inspired Manhattan claims Woody Allen seduced her when she was just 16

Page 7: Penny Marshall’s dying regrets -- abortion and feud with Cindy Williams

Page 8: Clint Eastwood’s lost love child found

Page 9: Chevy Chase spotted in a wheelchair in Australia after filming scenes for the Crocodile Dundee sequel since no one in America will work with him anymore

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Jonah Hill, Tracy Morgan and wife Megan Wollover, Al Roker

Page 11: Shaken Rihanna puts Hollywood Hills home on the market after a break-in

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Publicity hog Miley Cyrus arrives for an interview in one outfit and leaves in another so she doubles her chances of getting press, Andy Cohen introduced Cardi B at the Jingle Ball concert but didn’t stick around to watch her perform, Simon Cowell, Jennifer Lopez has turned Alex Rodriguez into a trained seal, John Krasinski missed Emily Blunt’s big premiere of Mary Poppins Returns in London sparking rumors of trouble in paradise

Page 13: Eliza Dushku was paid $9.5M after being sexually harassed by Bull star Michael Weatherly but Pauley Perrette and Sasha Alexander come to his defense

Page 14: True Crime

Page 16: Trade Center bomber gets specially made halal dinner in prison

Page 17: Creepy John Mark Karr, who once confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey, holds seances at his mansion to try to contact JonBenet and lure children into his house

Page 18: Meteorologist Jessica Starr took her own life due to hopeless agony after Lasik surgery

Page 20: Enquirer salutes heroes who made a difference

Page 21: Princess Diana’s longtime butler warns Meghan Markle that spending holidays with the British royals is like walking into a snake pit

Page 22: Merry Christmas from the royals

Page 23: Inside Meghan Markle’s private world

Page 24: Cover Story -- Olivia Newton-John hanging on to see daughter wed

Page 26: Ellen DeGeneres caving under pressure from Portia de Rossi to quit TV so they can have some much-deserved quality time as a couple, Matthew Perry says no to Friends reunion to save his life, Jennifer Lawrence lashes out against claim she slept with Harvey Weinstein

Page 30: Enquirer stories of the year

Page 32: Katy Perry hits Orlando Bloom with mega prenup because she wants to wed fast but guard her $300M fortune, Hollywood Hookups -- Jon Gosselin plans to invite all his kids to his wedding to Colleen Conrad to rub his happiness in ex Kate Gosselin’s face, Katie Cassidy wed Matthew Rodgers to help fill the emotional void left by the death of her dad David Cassidy who snubbed her in his will, Theresa and Larry Caputo divorce finalized

Page 34: How to steer clear of the flu

Page 36: Red Carpet Stars & Stumbles -- Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lopez, Spike Lee, Jenna Dewan

Page 38: Health Watch

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Debbie Matenopoulos and Lance Bass

#tabloids #olivia newton-john

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thatbipolargirl · 2 years

Text

01-08-2022

I'm sick with some kind of cold virus that I caught from Jeremy. Several of the kitties are sick too and keep sneezing. Jeremy went to Urgent Care the other day, and they tested him for both coronavirus and the flu. Both came back negative, thank goodness. However, whatever this is isn't any fun. I have a headache and a stuffy/runny nose. I also keep sneezing, and I am very fatigued. I've been taking Zicam like candy, but I don't know if it is helping. We shall see. Jeremy has had to be off work all week. He's not driving me crazy yet, but we shall also see about that. Ha!

I spoke with David the other day. I told him I'm staying with Jeremy. I definitely think that is the right and true decision. I'm too old and set in my ways to have to learn how to live differently with someone else, even if it is David. I am just leaving it up to the universe to decide our fates in future and/or parallel lives. All I know is I don't want to be with him in this one.

Sam called the other day asking about the house in Brookfield. He and Misty are splitting up. I feel so bad for him, and I really hope he comes through this okay. I didn't even know they were having problems, but he said Misty told him she doesn't have feelings for him any longer. I told him if he paid electric, water and propane, he could live in our house for $50.00 per month, which will cover the taxes. We still have insurance on the dwelling, but I also told him that he would have to get renter's insurance to cover his belongings. That house is in such bad shape, that it really needs remodeled and many things fixed. I've been putting off selling it just because it is way too overwhelming to even think about. In fact, I don't even want to think about it now.

We were supposed to go to lunch with Sebastian, Addie and the kids tomorrow, but since we are sick, we cancelled. Since Addie is pregnant, I don't want to be responsible for getting her sick. She is due in April, on Easter, and they are naming the baby boy "Ashton Luke." It is so nice to have a friend like her. She's bipolar too, and we are similar in many other ways as well. We share the same views on religion, politics and most social issues. My only wish is that they didn't live over an hour away so I could see her more often. Sebastian starts a new job in Maryville on Monday. Addie just got fired from her job this past week. She was working from home for Farmer's Insurance, but missed too many days due to her many doctors' appointments. I think that's bullshit, but it probably is for the best considering she's due in three months. That job caused her a lot of stress, and with three kids already, she needs the least amount of stress as possible so both she and Ashton are healthy. She had an alarming ultrasound a few weeks ago, so we've all been worried about that. Her first child only lived several hours because his brain stem wasn't attached to his spinal cord (or something like that). Very sad whatever it was.

I'm so worn out right now from this cold. I would love to get out of the house, or at least do some things around here, but I just don't have the energy. I really hope it passes fast. Megan was supposed to come clean yesterday, but I cancelled because I didn't want her getting sick. So we postponed until next week.

Oh! The Chiefs play their last game of the season today against the Broncos. I think if they win and the Titans lose, we will be the number one seed. I'm not sure though. We still may have to play before the AFC Championship. The Super Bowl is on February 13th, which is the Sunday after we get back from Las Vegas. I hope the Chiefs are in it!

I'm going to close for now and lay down for a little while. Until then...

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misssophiachase · 7 years

Text

Into the Woods

I am so excited by the latest Klaroline news! So, I couldn't help but write another post TVD drabble. This is dedicated to the amazeballs Steph @klarolinedrabbles - and so too the wonderful birthday girl Angie - @thetourguidebarbie - for the most beautiful comments on their tumblr blogs. Also big thanks to Ravyn - @cupcakemolotov - and Megan - @megansarah11 - for their assistance on twitter, much appreciated ladies!

The Magic School hosts a Father-Daughter campout in Mystic Falls. After Alaric comes down with the flu at the last minute, Caroline has to step in and take the twins instead, unexpectedly running into a certain Mikaelson. (Points of view will vary between locations, hope you like it!)

5 years 1 month post TVD finale...

Meeting Point

Even though it was still light, the temperature had dropped a few degrees while they'd been driving. Caroline pulled her jacket around her body to ward off the chill as she stepped out of the jeep. The twins were in the backseat, excitedly taking in the flurry of activity around them. If only she was as excited about sleeping outside in a tent with giggling tweens and their fathers.

This was supposed to be a father-daughter campout but Alaric had come down with the flu, probably of the male kind which she decided was entirely too convenient. Caroline had camped out numerous times and wouldn't have minded except for the fact that she had to cancel her pampering spa weekend with Bonnie and Elena. It was difficult not to think about them indulging in sun tanning, facials, massages and copious amounts of red wine while she had to endure incessant talk about Justin Bieber, Kylie Kardashian and whoever else.

Josie and Lizzie jumped out of the car, running towards their friends who were milling around with their fathers in tow. By the looks on some of their faces, they felt the same way as Caroline.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, girls," Caroline called after them sarcastically as she unloaded the bags from the trunk.

"Ms Forbes," a familiar voice said by way of a greeting. "You look as excited as I feel." Caroline turned to face Hope dressed in dark jeans, a black sweater and a grey woollen jacket, her freckles sprinkled over her nose and those auburn locks tied back in a loose ponytail.

She would be lying if she didn't see Klaus in the young girl's face every time they spoke. It had taken a while to get used to not reacting from the familiar expressions she'd wear (especially that deep set frown when she was concentrating) but after four years at her magic school Caroline was an expert at pretending she wasn't effected by her father's resemblance. Plus, it didn't hurt that she'd grown closer to the youngest Mikaelson. Hope was extremely studious, talented and a complete over achiever, a tag she herself had worn back in the day at Mystic Falls High.

"Are you kidding, this is going to be fun!" She embellished, a big grin plastered on her face. "And what did I tell you about calling me Ms Forbes?"

"Not to do it," she murmured, her face slightly downcast. She was always so surprised that a Mikaelson could be shy at times, especially with such colourful and demanding relatives. "Sorry, force of habit."

"I think you've been around your uncle too long with all that unnecessary decorum, Hope. Speaking of your Uncle, where is he?"

To say she'd been surprised that Elijah was accompanying Hope on a camping trip of all things was an understatement. Not only because she assumed Klaus would want to spend quality time with his daughter but also if Elijah would be correctly attired for the outdoors given all he seemed to own was expensive suits.

"He's not coming," she admitted. "Something, uh, came up." Caroline resisted the urge to roll her eyes, first her father and now her uncle. Caroline only hoped that missing out on such an important occasion was worth whatever drama they were whipping up in New Orleans.

When Hope had come to the Magic School all those years ago, Caroline assumed Klaus would be appearing frequently on their doorstep, offering his unwanted suggestions on her teaching methods and checking that Hope was receiving ample opportunities and tuition. But he wasn't, only making selective appearances over the years. In fact she'd been quite frustrated by that very fact. Bonnie had questioned her ire a few months back, suggesting that maybe it wasn't Hope she was only worried about. She hadn't bothered to respond just sent a dirty look her best friend's way. She might have been a witch but she was way off track Caroline had told herself.

"I'm sorry," she empathised, suddenly angry they couldn't even muster one male Mikaelson to chaperone Hope. Caroline would even take bossy Rebekah at this point, not that the Original Princess would be the camping type. "Alaric is sick, so you can just hang with us, sweetie."

"Oh, I didn't mean no one was coming," she shared. "Uncle Kol should be here any minute." Caroline raised her eyebrows thinking that maybe she shouldn't have questioned Elijah's credentials given his substitute. This should be an interesting campout to say the least, she was already imagining his incessant whining as they trekked to the camp site. At least with those childish tendencies he'd fit in well with the other kids.

"Well, that's great," she uttered, trying to sound convincing.

"Can I help you with those bags, Caroline?" She offered, holding out her hand to take Lizzie's backpack. Caroline's face softened, thinking just how much she adored the young Mikaelson, she was always so generous, kind and well mannered. Maybe she should be thanking Elijah for that decorum after all.

"No, let me," a familiar voice interrupted, taking the bag from her hand and causing every hair to stand up on that particular arm. He was here and Caroline wasn't quite sure what to do and given the dry feeling in her mouth she was beginning to realise that forming words was going to be equally as difficult.

"Dad!" Hope exclaimed excitedly as he placed the backpack on the ground so he could embrace his daughter. Caroline would be lying if their impromptu show of affection didn't cause her to melt slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going on the father-daughter campout," he baulked, incredulously. "Last time I checked I possessed the proper credentials. Not too sure about you though, love." Caroline was still trying to come to terms with his unexpected presence, let alone the fact that his tight, navy henley hugged his toned chest and she could see those necklaces she knew so well poking out teasingly underneath.

"But you said you couldn't come."

"It was supposed to be a surprise," he conceded. "Did you really think I'd send either of your uncles in my place?"

"That's a shame, we could really have used some of Elijah's..."

"Dress sense," Klaus intervened. Bastard.

"No just sense in general," she drawled, resisting the urge to childishly poke out her tongue. What could she say? The Original Mikaelson brought it out in her.

"So, where is Alaric? I thought when the brief was father-daughter that meant..."

"I don't have to explain myself to you," she hissed, trying not to gain Hope's attention that had been briefly averted by a school friend. "I run this school so it's only right that I supervise." His eyes never left hers, those sinful, crimson lips curving into a knowing smirk and flashing a few stray dimples her way for added effect.

"But yet you felt the need to explain anyway," he grinned cheekily, boldly moving a step closer. Obviously he was trying to keep their conversation private too or was it just his excuse to flout his spicy aftershave in the vicinity of her poor, unsuspecting nostrils? When it came to Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline was always going to think the worst. That defence mechanism had worked well for her this long at least.

"We really should get going," she excused herself, pretending that the shivers she felt were due to the falling temperature and not Klaus and his close proximity. She looked back briefly noticing Hope's overjoyed expression, suddenly feeling bad for begrudging his presence. All Caroline needed to do was get through the next day and she'd be okay. "Easier said than done", she mumbled under her breath as she watched him teasing Hope playfully.

Camp Site

"Once you all get your tents up, then we can start dinner," Caroline announced, looking around the campsite. Klaus busied himself with the job at hand, determined to assemble his tent in record time for Hope's sake and possibly that of a certain beautiful and bossy blonde.

When he'd secretly made his way to the meeting point, Klaus hadn't expected to encounter a surprise of his own. She'd looked just as beautiful as the last time they'd discussed Hope at the parent-teacher conference six months back. Her golden waves were cascading over her shoulders onto the white sweater and tan coat and Klaus couldn't miss just how exceptional her figure looked in those fitted, denim jeans. Klaus resisted the urge to lick his lips she looked that delectable, even just for a camping excursion. He was immensely glad that, for whatever reason, she was playing pseudo father to the twins tonight.

In fact, he was so mesmerised that Klaus didn't notice Hope tugging at his sleeve impatiently breaking him from that self-imposed trance. "We need to get the tent up before dark." Klaus rallied, determined to put this thing together and hopefully make a lasting impression on one Caroline Forbes.

"So, what do we do first?" Hope asked, expectantly, observing the parts spread out on the grass. "Maybe..."

"No, this isn't up to you, sweetie, let me." Klaus smiled at his gorgeous daughter before taking in the scene and trying to remember the YouTube tutorial he'd studied before the trip. If people could learn to play instruments that way, he sure as hell could erect a bloody tent. Klaus consulted the parts thinking that he didn't quite remember them looking like this. "So, uh, if we just do this..." he suggested feebly, attempting to attach one of the pegs but failing miserably. She look at him unconvinced. Klaus had never felt so inadequate and given he was the most powerful creature on earth that was saying a lot.

"Hope honey, do you want to go and get some wood for the fire with the twins?" Caroline interrupted. The little girl nodded obediently and walked away. Klaus closed his eyes momentarily wishing she hadn't come over right at that ego crushing moment. "Do you need some help with that?"

"I'm perfectly capable of putting together a tent," he baulked. "Anyway shouldn't you be pitching your own, love?"

"I did that five minutes ago," she drawled lazily, gesturing to the finish product behind him.

"Showoff," he murmured, taking in her perfectly erected tent. He really should have known, was there anything she couldn't do?

"I was a Girl Scout," she offered by way of explanation. "You should see all the patches I earned, in fact I was one of the most decorated Girl Scouts in Mystic Falls' history."

"And I don't doubt you sold the most cookies too, love," he smirked, suddenly forgetting the pathetic status of his tent because she looked so damn adorable when she was boasting.

"Held the record for most boxes sold for a solid nine years."

"That's hardly surprising," he grinned. "It's pretty difficult to say no to you, love." It was as if time stood still, much like when they held each other's gaze over that map at the university all those years ago.

"Uh, I actually came over here to lend you a much needed hand," she explained, finally speaking and attempting to hide the blush that had crept up her neck and onto those usually creamy cheeks. "Can't have the big, bad King of New Orleans' reputation being ruined all over one measley tent."

"How generous of you, sweetheart. Although, I hardly think one tent would constitute an overthrow of the current regime. You know if I couldn't put up this tent, which is nothing but a ludicrous notion."

"Fine, go ahead," she said, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms over her chest. Klaus was struggling to concentrate under her gaze and it wasn't just because he had no bloody idea what he was doing. His enormous ego wouldn't let him admit that of course. He looked around madly trying to work out which pieces fitted where but nothing was making sense. Klaus had a mind to write a scathing comment on that particular YouTube video when he returned to New Orleans.

"Let's see..." he murmured, attempting to buy some much needed time. "I just put this on here."

"Not if you want to actually pitch it this century," she scoffed. "As amusing as this is to watch, and trust me I could do this all night but I think it's time you drop the whole male, macho act and ask for help."

"That's not in my programming," he admitted.

"Well, the way I see it is that you have two options. In a few minutes Hope will be back expecting a successfully erected tent and you either tell her the truth about your inabilities or you let me help and we keep your short fall between the two of us." Klaus wanted to argue back but he couldn't deny she had a point, there was no way he wanted Hope thinking he was an inept camper.

"Okay," he mumbled.

"Okay what?"

"You can help me," he bit out, his eyes downcast as he uttered it.

"I'm sorry what?" She baulked, hands on hips. "That's not the way most people ask for help, although I keep forgetting you're not most people."

"I'm not used to doing that," he conceded, sheepishly. "How can I acquit myself, Caroline?"

"Just say the magic word," Klaus paused momentarily trying to work out exactly what she meant. "Oh my god, you're like a thousand years old. It's please, Klaus. Obviously not something you use very often or not at all by the sounds of it."

"I knew that," he shot back. "I just don't have much use of it especially when it comes to my siblings as I'm sure you'd understand." Caroline didn't seem at all pleased with his reaction, spinning on her heel and walking away from him toward the makeshift fire. "Please Caroline. I could really use your help," Klaus called out, hoping that his request hadn't come too late.

"Fine," she murmured turning around and moving towards him. "Now, that wasn't so difficult, was it?" Klaus smiled, thinking it really wasn't where she was concerned. He'd never wanted to please anyone as much as her and Hope and if they could pitch this tent he'd be on his way to doing it.

Camp Site - 2 hours later

"So, Lady Charlotte climbs the stairs of the old mansion slowly, the sound of whimpers only increasing as she makes it onto the landing, the old, wooden floorboards creaking under foot," Caroline narrated, the torch's light shining onto her face ominously.

"Oh no, don't tell me it's the ghost of Benjamin and Harriet's child that died in mysterious circumstances in that very room she's approaching," Klaus mumbled, sarcastically by her side as Josie and Lizzie giggled. He'd been doing that incessant know-it-all act all night, the twins only encouraging said behaviour. Just because he didn't love a good ghost story didn't mean everyone else around the fire felt the same way. She rolled her eyes in his direction and then continued the story, even if he had almost spoiled the ending.

"Come to ruin my night even more?" Caroline muttered sarcastically as he sat down on the log beside her when the kids had retired to their tents, his hands shoved into his coat pockets. The last thing she felt like was his opinions and all Caroline wanted to do was enjoy her toasted marshmallow in peace. She watched it cooking within the flames, she always did like them extra gooey but crispy at the same time.

"Ghost stories are stupid, Caroline."

"Glad to see that thousand year-old vocabulary could come up with such an intelligent adjective," she scowled, turning to face him. Even in her frustration, Caroline was finding it difficult not to find him attractive in the firelight. Although Caroline was beginning to realise he looked good in any environment. "Anyway they are not stupid to young kids at a campout. I certainly enjoyed many in my time."

"When you were a mere mortal and ghosts seemed like the scariest thing ever," he explained. "You seem to forget that most of these kids could probably obliterate the ghost of Benjamin and Harriet's child in a nano second, let alone be scared of them."

"That's not the point," she spluttered. "They all deserve some semblance of a childhood."

"Maybe so," he murmured. "But they aren't ordinary children, love."

"I realise that but it doesn't mean they deserve any less," she growled. "Tell me, is that how you treat Hope?"

"Excuse me?" He baulked, his eyes suddenly blazing with something resembling frustration. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"That just because she possesses supernatural powers she doesn't deserve to be treated like a normal kid every now and again," Caroline pressed. She could tell Klaus was sensitive but she'd never been one to hide her true feelings with him and wasn't going to start now. She could tell his body had grown incredibly tense beside her, his gaze focused solely on the orange flames crackling before them.

Klaus remained still and Caroline wasn't too sure whether he was going to bite back or brood in prolonged silence. She'd witnessed both in the past and wouldn't have put either past him. After his unexpected arrival and that childish tent building exercise, Caroline wasn't too sure what to expect from the temperamental hybrid. Maybe she'd gone too far by making some parental suggestions but everything she'd said was true. As talented as she was, Hope deserved to experience some normal traditions.

"She always liked fairytales when I read them," he admitted. "And making beignets at the compound, especially when Rebekah ended up covered in icing sugar." Caroline hadn't expected that response but for some reason it caused extra warmth to spread throughout her body and she knew it wasn't just due to the fire.

"Oh no," she exclaimed, watching as her neglected marshmallow threatened to slip off the stick and into the fire. Caroline pulled it back just in time, attempting to grab the charcoal blob before it was dropped. If there was one thing she hated, it was wasting a perfectly good snack. In her haste and a certain Klaus- induced daze she'd forgotten just how hot said snack would be. "Ow," she shrieked, her fingers feeling like they were on fire. Being a vampire she knew any injury would heal quickly but that didn't mean it didn't surprise her.

Klaus wasted no time pulling it from her grasp and throwing it away, his hands covering hers protectively. Their eyes met, dark blue on light in the firelight and Caroline instantly forgot the burning sensation. His fingers found hers, massaging them slowly like he was trying to ease any pain. Caroline was struggling not to give into every urge that was coursing through her body. Why did he have to blow back into town unexpectedly and cause all of these feelings to rush back? "I promise I won't teach her this particular technique."

"Good to know, love," he smiled, his hands still fastened over hers. She wanted to respond to his admission but the moment seemed to have passed and before Caroline knew it, Klaus had politely excused himself. Sitting by the fire Caroline wasn't quite sure what had happened but she couldn't quite forget just how comforting his hand had felt on hers. She shook her head, attempting to remove the barrage of feelings. She was just glad they'd both be with staying with kids so she wouldn't be tempted to make a late night visit to his tent during the night.

Campsite - 5 hours later

Klaus awoke suddenly in the night, it was definitely a down side to having such exceptional vampire hearing. He could hear the faint sound of splashing, knowing it was coming from the nearby lake. Every protective, paternal instinct was telling Klaus to investigate as he watched over his peacefully sleeping daughter. He unzipped the tent and walked into the night air, suddenly wishing he'd put on an extra layer to ward off the chill.

It was dark and still for the most part but Klaus could still hear the splashing as he made his way to the lake. What he hadn't expected as he rounded the corner past the large trees was a silhouette crouching by the bank in the distance. He didn't even need to question that shape because he knew her almost as well as himself. What Klaus wasn't expecting was her to be here at this time of night.

His initial instinct was to scoop her into his arms greedily but Klaus knew just what Caroline would think about that particular move. He watched intently from the shadows as she dunked her hands in the water and placed them on her blonde locks purposefully.

"I never took you for the midnight swim kind of person," he uttered. She turned around quickly, almost losing her balance in the process.

"Well, I never took you for the stalking type, oh actually I did..." she snapped. "Do you always skulk around in the dark like that?"

"You woke me up, so its hardly my fault," he drawled, moving from the shadows and into the silvery moonlight. "You could have been one of the children drowning for all I knew."

"Well, it's okay, you can go back to your tent now," she said dismissively and walking purposefully towards him.

"So, you're not even going to tell me what you're doing?" She stopped still, mere inches from his face before speaking.

"If you must know, I managed to get some marshmallow in my hair. The last thing I need is some sticky, white goo stuck on me." Without thinking Klaus, leaned over and ran his hand through her damp, golden waves.

"It seems like you managed to get rid of it," he murmured, his hand still lodged in her hair. Her eyes searched his madly almost like she was trying to read his thoughts. Suddenly she stepped aside, the moment gone.

"You can't just do this Klaus."

"Do what, love?"

"Just show up here and expect to pick up where we left off," she stammered.

"I'm not trying to pressure you, Caroline," he soothed. "I did say however long it takes and I fully intend on keeping that promise."

"I wasn't sure..."

"Trust me, there's nothing I've ever been more sure about," he implored. "I thought that would have been obvious by now."

"In all the time Hope has been at my school, I've barely seen you, Klaus. I wasn't sure whether things had changed..."

"I didn't want to interfere," he explained, moving closer. "I trust you implicitly to teach my daughter, in fact there isn't anyone I trust more than you."

"But.."

"That's why I knew she was safe with you and when you mentioned also doing normal things with Hope earlier, I knew my instincts had been correct."

"You mean..."

"Yes," he interrupted again.

"Are you going to let me talk?"

"I was merely returning the favour, love," Klaus smirked. What Caroline did next he wasn't expecting. Her arms snaking their way around his waist and those pink lips he dreamed about constantly finding his.

Klaus pulled her flush against him, his tongue tracing its way along her lips and dipping into her warmth, relishing in the taste of marshmallows and also the feelings she was evoking within him. Klaus hadn't been expecting her to kiss him but he certainly wasn't going to waste his opportunity.

After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled apart, albeit reluctantly. Klaus knew her smile exactly mirrored the goofy one plastered on his face at that very moment.

"I think you need to come back to the school with me tomorrow, Mikaelson."

"Oh really," he grinned, cocking his left eyebrow. Although given their past in the woods, Klaus knew now certainly wasn't the time or the place with their children sleeping nearby.

"There's a certain cheque that has been burning a hole in my desk drawer that I need to give back, you know however long it takes and all."

You can read and review this drabble HERE

#into the woods #the beginning of another story #klaroline drabbles #misssophiachase #sophia chase #loving klaroline #klaroline is endgame

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greysfanpage388 · 7 years

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‘ What were you both doing, Auntie Amy?’

This is based on a prompt sent by @cizavilation to @omeliafics

Thank you @jia911 for helping to proofread this fic- you’re the best! <3

Prompt : With the girls from the Omelia group chat we were talking about the 12x21 scene where Maggie and Meredith caught Owen and Amelia at the couch naked, and given that we also know that Zola took a glimpse of them lying naked together there… the prompt is: Can someone write something related with Zola asking Amelia what they were doing there? xD

Amelia Shepherd had just returned home from a tiring day at work after having back to back consults and surgeries. As she entered her sister- in-law Meredith Grey’s house, all she could think about was a warm shower and her comfortable bed. And Owen Hunt.

She smiled to herself as she recalled the events from two nights ago.

After Owen’s heartfelt confession to her in his office about his sister Megan and how he felt responsible for her disappearance, she felt a deeper connection to him. The fact that he decided to open up to her and tell her his innermost feelings and regrets meant a lot to her. It signified that he was ready to move on to the next phase of their relationship, which involved trust and mutual understanding. After she hugged him from behind and comforted him- he relished in her comforting touch and they remained in that position for a few long minutes before he finally stood up and turned around to hug her back. The warm hug eventually escalated into a kiss. The kiss then got heated until they had to pull away from each other before someone entered the room and caught them in their intimate moment. Still in a bliss from the kiss, Amelia had casually invited Owen to grab some dinner together as she was starving. They went to a cozy Italian restaurant within walking distance of the hospital and chatted throughout dinner. Owen spoke fondly of his sister Megan, telling Amelia about wonderful childhood memories he shared with her, how she fell in love with Riggs and how his heart broke for her when she cried in his arms after discovering that Riggs cheated on her. He told Amelia that he could never forgive himself for suggesting that she get on the plane. His sister’s disappearance had affected him more than he would have liked to admit and every single day he wished for her to return safely to him.

Amelia had listened sympathetically to Owen’s story- holding his hands as a gesture of support, not interrupting him even once, which was rather uncharacteristic of her. After their scumptious dessert of icecream with chocolate pudding- Owen had invited Amelia to spend the night in his trailer. As tempting at it was for her, Amelia declined as she needed a long hot bath and a fresh pair of clothes to sleep in. Seeing Owen’s disappointed look- Amelia had the brilliant idea of inviting Owen to sleep over with her at Meredith’s house, stating the reason that both Meredith and Maggie were on call and the children and nanny were probably asleep upstairs.

They barely made it to the front door of the house, when they started kissing passionately again. By the time they entered the house, they could only make it as far as the living room before the sparks ignited between them and they were lost in each other’s bodies. After that, they had collapsed beside each other in postcoital bliss and gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes before dozing off in each other’s warm embrace.

They were both not prepared for the following morning when Meredith, Maggie and the Shepherd kids found them both lying naked on the living room floor. They both felt like deers caught in the headlights. How embarrassing it was for them!

After Meredith and Maggie left with the kids, Owen had hastily put on his clothes and rushed out of the door, muttering that he was running late for work. He seemed to avoid her the entire day at work. It made Amelia anxious as she thought he decided to call their relationship quits. However, when she decided to walk over to Owen’s trailer after some encouragement from Meredith- she was pleasantly surprised to discover that he genuinely wanted to pursue a stable relationship with her. It was a blissful night in the trailer, as they had sex the entire night, without any interruptions.

Amelia was so glad that they both had finally agreed to go stable in their relationship and there were no more uncertainties about the status of their relationship.

_______________________________________________________________

Currently, Amelia smiled to herself as she received a text from Owen. How timely considering she was thinking about him.

‘ Hey- where r u now? I’m just about to sign off from work. So my place or your place tonight? Xoxo Owen’ it read.

She was about to reply to the text when the front door barged open and in entered a flustered looking Meredith with her 3 kids in tow.

‘ Amelia- I’m sorry but could you watch over my kids for the night? I’m not on call but they needed another extra general surgeon in the hospital tonight due to the patient load. And Maggie is on call. The nanny is ill with a bad flu…’Meredith rambled in her usual manner, bouncing Ellis on her hip.

Even though she and Meredith had a complicated relationship and weren’t always on good terms- Amelia had a soft spot for her nieces and nephew. They were Derek’s kids after all and were the only reminder she had left of the brother she never got the chance to say goodbye to.

‘ It’s ok Meredith.’ Amelia interrupted politely. ‘I can look after them I promise. This isn’t the first time I’m babysitting them remember? They’re my nieces and nephew after all.’she said sincerely.

‘ Well, ok then, thank you so much.’ Meredith said hurriedly. ‘ The kids have had a late afternoon snack so they’re still full. But there is some frozen pizza and pasta in the fridge for dinner later. And I’ve prepared Ellis’s milk bottle and food already- you just need to warm it up.’

‘ Ok- ok…just go and save some lives’ said Amelia gesturing towards the door with her hands.‘ Seriously, we’ll be fine.’

‘ Right Zola?’ she crouched to eye level with her niece to look at the little girl in the eye.

‘ Yes auntie Amy.’ Zola replied, flashing her aunt an adorable smile.

Meredith handed Ellis over to Amelia, who bounced the baby on her hip.

‘ Bye Zozo, bye Bailey, bye Ellie! Love you! Be good for auntie Amelia ok?’ said Meredith, giving each of her children a kiss on the cheek before running out of the door.

‘ Ok mommy.’Zola replied grinning. She adored her auntie Amy and loved to spend time with her. Auntie Amy would take her and her siblings to the park for a walk, treat them to icecream and let them buy their favorite toys. Besides, she knew how to make delicious waffles for breakfast.

______________________________________________________________

As soon as the door closed behind Meredith, Zola tugged on Amelia’s arm.

‘ Auntie Amy, I’m hungry, I want some icecream.’ the girl looked up at her with those pleading eyes she couldn’t say no to.

Bailey stood beside his sister with pleading eyes. ‘ Want ice cream.’he added.

Meanwhile, baby Ellis fussed in her arms.

Amelia sighed internally. She knew that if she gave the kids ice cream at this hour, they would become hyper from all the sugar intake and this would ensure a sleepness night for her.

‘‘ No Zozo.’ she answered firmly but gently. ‘ No icecream for now- it’s too late in the day for that. How about I make you all some dinner instead?’

‘ But I want icecream.’ Zola pouted.

‘ Want ice cream.’ Bailey parroted his sister.

They knew that when they pleaded with auntie Amy like that, she would cave in to their demands. Which was why they loved auntie Amy. Their mom would never let them eat ice cream at this hour of the day, and they seldom get to spend quality time with her.

Sure enough, auntie Amy gave in to their demands.

‘ Well fine - I believe there’s icecream in the fridge. I’ll scoop some out for you.’Amelia relented. ‘ But just one scoop, ok? And then I’m going to prepare dinner and you’re gonna eat your dinner, you hear me?’she said as she walked into the kitchen with Ellis on her hips and Zola and Bailey trailing behind her.

‘ Yay! Ok auntie Amy.’ the little girl exclaimed as she did a happy twirl, her pigtails flying. She gave Bailey a high five, and little boy returned it enthusiastically.

Amelia smiled at Zola as she placed Ellis on the baby chair in the kitchen. The baby cooed happily and clapped her hands upon seeing her siblings’ excitement.

A few minutes later, Zola and Bailey were both happily picking at their vanilla icecream, and Amelia was warming up Ellis’ bottle and baby food.

She then remembered that she had to inform Owen that there was a last minute change of plans.

Maybe she could invite him to come over to Meredith’s and help her take care of the children.

She smiled dreamily as she texted him, inviting him to come over to Meredith’s.

‘ Who is it?’ Zola’s voice brought her back to reality.

‘ Who is what?!’ Amelia looked up from her phone, puzzled.

‘ The person you’re texting, auntie Amy.’ Zola replied as if the answer was obvious.

‘ Oh- it’s some one from work.’ Amelia replied hastily. ‘What do you want for dinner, Zozo?’she asked, hoping to divert the conversation to another topic.

Just then, her phone notified her that there was a new message from Owen.

‘ Ok babe- will be there in a bit. Xoxo’

Zola’s face suddenly lit up the way it always did when she made a new discovery or had an epiphany.

‘ Is it uncle Owen?!’ she asked excitedly, as her brother, sitting beside her, looked up questioningly at their aunt.

‘ Huh? What makes you think it’s uncle Owen?! ’Amelia asked, a little harsher than she intended.

‘ Because…..I saw you both together on the sitting room floor that day.’ Zola pointed out.

Before a dumbstruck Amelia could reply, she added,‘ Only people who love each other do that. Like my daddy and mommy used to lie together on the couch or on their bed when daddy was still around.’ her voice trailed off at the mention of her father and a sad look overtook her face.

‘ Oh Zola’ Amelia looked at her niece sympathetically. ‘ I miss your daddy too, you know. He was my only brother.’

‘ Daddy.’ Bailey echoed, a sad expression on his face.

‘ Daddy and mommy loved each other very much.’said Zola. ‘ Do you and uncle Owen love each other very much too?’

Amelia hesitated for a moment before replying with a smile on her face. ‘ Yes we do.’

‘Auntie Amy?’ asked Zola, her face now smudged with the icecream.

‘ Yes dear?’ Amelia replied as she wiped the icecream off Zola and Bailey’s faces.

‘ What were you and uncle Owen doing on the living room floor that day?’ Zola asked innocently, looking earnestly at her aunt for answers.

Again, Amelia struggled to find a suitable reply for her niece. Sometimes she felt that Zola was too smart for her age.

‘ Well….we were, just lying down there talking.’Amelia answered, hoping that her answer would be good enough to satisfy her ever curious niece.

Zola seemed satisfied with the answer, and it was quiet in the kitchen as Zola and Bailey continued enjoying their icecreams.

Ellis’s food had been warmed up and Amelia placed the bowl next to her niece, intending to feed the baby before preparing dinner for her, Zola and Bailey.

‘ Auntie Amy.’ Zola called for the hundreth time.

‘ Yes Zozo?’ Amelia asked, ever so patient with her niece.

‘ Were you and uncle Owen having S-E-X? Because you both love each other.’

‘ What?! Where did you learn that word from?!’ Amelia asked, aghast. ‘Kids nowadays,’she thought.’ Learning these words at such a young age.’

‘ From my mommy.’ Zola shrugged. ‘ One time I heard her saying the word to auntie Maggie. Then she remembered that I was in the room. When I asked her what the word meant, she said that it was when two adults love each other so much.’

Amelia made a mental note to have a heart to heart talk with Meredith later about how her eldest daughter was picking up things fast and to watch her words around her.

‘ Well, yes- it’s true that two people who love each other so much have S-E-X.’Amelia said, going along with Meredith’s answer.

Zola was about to open her mouth to ask her poor aunt another question when the doorbell rang.

‘ Saved by the bell.’’Amelia thought to herself in relief.

She opened the door and smiled, her dimples showing, as she saw Owen standing at the other side of the door.

‘I’m so glad that you’re here.’she whispered to him as they shared a quick kiss.

‘Oh really?’ Owen teased, winking at her. He was wearing his favorite plaid shirt, and Amelia thought he always looked damn handsome in that outfit.

‘ Zola was asking me about sex. Damn Meredith and her inability to filter in front of her children. I don’t know how to answer her.’she muttered. ‘ She was asking me whether we were having sex that day on the living room floor. Can you imagine that? A 6 year old asking about sex?’

‘ Well children nowadays pick up things really fast.’ Owen chuckled. ‘ I don’t know whether it’s due to the formula they’re taking.’

‘ Maybe.’Amelia agreed as she led him towards the kitchen. ‘ I was about to fed Ellis while answering Zola’s umpteenth question. And I haven’t even started preparing dinner yet. You came at the right time.’

‘ You mean I came to save you.’ Owen pointed out. ‘ Admit it.’

‘ Alright yes, you’re my savior, my knight in shining armor.’ Amelia admitted, rolling her eyes at him playfully.

‘ Uncle Owen!’ Zola exclaimed excitedly as she ran towards him, almost toppling her chair over in the process.

‘ Uncle Owen!’ Bailey trailed behind his sister.

Meanwhile, Ellis cooed happily from her baby chair.

‘ Oh - hello there kiddos! How are you all doing?’ Owen asked as he lifted Zola up and twirled her around as she giggled happily.

As he gently placed her down, Bailey lifted up his arms to him.

‘ My turn.’ he demanded.

Owen lifted the little boy up and twirled him around as he laughed heartily.

Watching from the corner of the kitchen, Amelia found herself imagining for a moment Owen twirling their children around as laughter filled the house. She shook the thought off her mind. They had only just decided to go steady, it was too soon to be thinking about this. But deep in her heart, she knew that this was what she wanted, a family with the right person.

‘ Hey little one- I see you’re about to have your dinner?’ Owen asked in a voice he reserved only for babies as he approached Ellis’ chair and kissed the little girl on the top of her head.

The baby cooed in reply.

‘ I tell you what- you can feed Ellis- while I start preparing dinner.’ Owen suggested to Amelia.

‘ I like that idea.’ she winked at him. ‘ I was about to prepare some pasta. There aren’t many choices left in the fridge.’

______________________________________________________________

A few hours later- Owen and Amelia stood in Ellis’s nursery, watching the baby sleep peacefully in her crib.

All three Shepherd children have been fed, showered and put to bed. Zola miraculously forgot all about her question as uncle Owen kept her and her siblings entertained for the whole night.

‘ Thank you so much for coming over and helping out with them.’ Amelia whispered, looking up at Owen as their eyes met. ‘ I couldn’t have done it without you. Sometimes I wonder how Meredith does it. But then again, she has help from Maggie and I.’she smirked.

‘ It’s no problem at all- you know how much I adore your nieces and nephew.’ Owen answered, smiling at her.

‘ You saw the look on their faces when the pizza arrived?’ Amelia chuckled. ‘They were so overjoyed. And when you sat down in the living room to play legos with Zola and Bailey, they seemed the happiest I’ve seen them in a long time. You’re so good with kids.’

‘ Well, I do love kids. I would love to have my own someday.’ Owen said, staring at the baby. ‘ Look- she’s so adorable, don’t you think?’

‘ Yes, I may be biased but she is.’ Amelia agreed, smiling as she looked at her niece.

‘ Well- I would love to have my own someday.’ Owen repeated. ‘ With you.’ he added in a whisper. He could already picture both of them standing in their own daughter’s nursery in the future, staring at her peacefully sleeping.

Amelia felt a tingling sensation going down her spine as she blushed. The truth was, she would love children of her own too. And she couldn’t imagine having kids with anyone else. But she had to get over her fear of having another anencephalic baby- something which Owen was still in the dark about.

‘ Same here.’ she whispered back.

Owen pulled her close for a hug, and she leaned her head against his chest, seeking comfort in feeling his heart beat.

They both remained silent- lost in their thoughts about the future. The future was uncertain, but they both felt that they were ready to embark on the unknown together. Little did they know then that a few years later- they would both be staring at their own eldest daughter, Charlotte as she lay sleeping peacefully in her crib. They also wouldn’t have guessed at that moment that in the subsequent years- they would be doing the same thing to Charlotte’s siblings- Noah and Olivia. They couldn’t have predicted the wonderful future which lay ahead of them.

Comments, reviews, reblogs and messages are very much appreciated. I would love to know what you guys think! :)

p.s I couldn’t come up with a more original title for this, sorry :P

#omelia #omeliafics #omelia fanfiction #omelia fanfics #ailing's fics #greys anatomy #owen hunt #amelia shepherd #zola shepherd #bailey shepherd #ellis shepherd

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creativeashproductions · 7 years

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Travelin’ Soldier Part 3

Summary: Reader is currently deployed in the army to an undisclosed combat area. She has been deployed for nearly two years. Anxiously awaiting her return is her husband and brother as they film for Supernatural. Letter comes informing the family that she may not be heard from for awhile and soon devastating news comes.

Characters: husband!Jensen x Reader, Jared x Reader (Twins), Gen, Shepherd and Thomas.

Words: 2927

Disclaimer: I do not own the title of the song Travelin’ Soldier by the Dixie Chicks at all. I simply thought it could be a little fighting. Not hate towards Danneel either, as this is simply fiction and not real. I do not own any songs in this either.

Warnings: possible swearing, war and A LOT of angst. Death.

Author: Caitsy

Tagging a few at the end. Send an ask to be tagged, or request something.

A/N: I want to thank you so much for the support you have sent to Ash and I! I apologize in advance at what is in this.

Part One Part Two

Masterlist

The day had come to the sheer agony of Jensen. It was the day that the door would be barricaded both the front door and hi-their bedroom door. Thankfully with a little help from prescribed sleeping medicine, courtesy of a doctor his parents dragged him to, he had slept most of the day away. His eyes fluttered instinctively looking to the other side of the bed, her side. Knowing she wouldn’t be there he still felt a sharp pain of disappointment and depression.

The last anniversary Y/N and him shared it had been a rather off day outside. The weather changed more than a few times until they were forced to take shelter under a gazebo in a park. They had laughed watching children running towards their parents into a mass of vehicles. It was the first time they brought up children.

Jensen had known the minute he met her that he would marry that girl and have a family. It was amusing how they had met, it was just after he auditioned for Supernatural that he bumped into her in a coffee shop. It was like they were destined to meet and fall in love. He hated to think about it but they maybe they were destined to lose each other also.

Nervous energy had sent Jensen to the cafe. He was agitated waiting if he had gotten the role in this crazy, intriguing television show. The concept had enthralled him and he knew he had to try out for the part of Sam Winchester. He remembered seeing a pretty tall guy in the building when he had finished his audition, he felt like he had seen the guy before.

Sitting at a table in the very back a female hummed reading a book. She would admit the civilian clothing she was she saw made her a tad bit uncomfortable. She was killing time waiting for her plane back to her hometown, there had been a malfunction causing an emergency landing. That was last night.

She shifted uncomfortable at how loud the room was. She wasn’t used to such loud chatter, in fact when a cup shattered she flinched scanning the area looking for enemies. Y/N was having a very hard time switching from combat to civilian. She quickly noticed a male looking around the shop. There was no open seats but the one in front of her.

Next thing she knew the man in awkwardly standing in front of her holding a bagel and coffee. Jensen wasn’t sure if it was entirely because she sat at the only table with an open chair or that she intrigued him.

“Excuse me, is there anyone sitting there?” The dirty blonde, green eyes man questioned.

“Um. No.” Y/N cleared her through shifting in her army fatigues. She hadn’t had time to change, “You can sit.”

“Are you a…” Jensen trailed off noticing her military uniform.

“Private Y/N Padalecki of the United States.” Y/N smiled as the man sat down, “What’s your name?”

“Jensen Ackles.” Jensen grinned sitting down, “Did you just get back?”

“I did. I’m waiting for a plane to go home. I’m returning from a deployment.”

“How long were you gone?” Jensen asked leaning towards her.

“I was gone for nine months.” Y/N smiled.

They talked a lot, having a break when Jensen got the role of Dean in the the show, before continuing on with their conversation. It was the first time in a very long time that Y/N relaxed and Jensen forgot he about the role. All that mattered was her.

The bagel and coffee were forgotten in the time they talked.

〰️〰️〰️

Y/N’s Sergeant Elias Michaels had made it his personal mission to turn over every rock and leaf to find one of his best soldiers. In the last six months his unit had been assignment to find her; evidence leading to this was from Sgt. Michaels personal time. The evidence showed that Y/N Ackles was still alive and the unit was under strict orders they were to keep it under wraps. They were closing in on the supposed location of the soldier.

“Sir! We have eyes on the location!” Private Johnson called out.

“Get ears. I want ears on the location!” Sgt. Michaels ordered before moving towards his office to call his superior.

“Sgt. Michaels I would like some good news.” The female said picking the phone up, “I’m getting annoyed at the lack of news coming from you.”

“Ma’am we have eyes on the location.”

“Well it’s about time.”

〰️〰️〰️

Dear Y/N,

Time flies when you have three kids! I still can’t believe it in a way, it feels like just yesterday we were sneaking out of the house. You remember how wasted we got that night? I think I had a hangover for three days. I went to your place a couple days ago to clean it. Jensen doesn’t care anymore. He’s having a hard time coping, he won’t write letter like I suggested and he won’t see a therapist either. I think if he does the situation will be come entirely real.

His parents managed to drag him to a doctor to get sleeping pills. Got I miss you so much. This is going to hurt you as much as me. The boys don’t bring you up anymore. I found our matching shirts from freshman year for halloween. The amount of laughs we got was something special. I remember protecting you and you protecting me. Sometimes I swear we were more than twins. We were best friends and we will always be twins and best friends.

Oh I watched Gen show my little angel a picture of you. It brought tears to my face when she grinned at the picture and babbled away. I know it sounds stupid but I feel like you’re there. We’re making sure you talk about you a lot more. Gen and I had a fight out that.

It was loud and horrible but when she said, ‘just because she’s gone doesn’t mean her memory has to die too!’. It was the first night in a VERY long time I spent the night on the couch. It cleared my mind though. I’m introducing my little girl to you, just not the way I want to.

Tom and Shep want to go to the park. I better get ready. I’ll write you soon.

With Eternal Love,

Your twin, best friend and protector.

Jared placed the pen down before putting a small picture of his little darling into the envelope along with the envelope before he began to leave for his parents.

〰️〰️〰️

They hadn’t had any news on a funeral. The parents of Y/N were stonewalled when they asked why their child wasn’t given a funeral yet. Months had passed since her death announcement and there was no funeral. It gave Sharon and Gerald false hope that their daughter was coming home. In fact Sharon stood in Y/N childhood room holding a sweater up to her face. No longer did it smell like her but it was the sweater she wore the Christmas before Jensen and her engagement.

“Honey.” Sharon’s husband softly said from the door way, “The therapist said we should pack this stuff-“

“NO!” Sharon yelled turning to see him in a suit.

Gerald’s heart broke more at the agony his wife was in. She was still gorgeous in the dark dress that was both modest and perfect on her. She was barefoot with her heels carelessly on the ground. Slowly he pulled her into his arms as the tears fell from her makeup free face.

“Sh.” Gerald whispered.

“I to-told her not to-“ Sharon’s voice broke, “I begged her to come back and stay. I didn’t want to go in the first place!”

“I know.”

“Mom?” Jared’s concerned voice asked. The image entirely shattered his heart as he pulled his parents close. His parents looked much older than they were given the circumstances causing the emotional suffering.

Drawing in a deep breath Jared pulled back viewing his mom with the tears stained on her cheeks. In that moment he found strength inside of him to go through the day. They were waiting for Jensen to arrive before they set off. Jared didn’t trust Jensen to drive himself all the way.

“Hello?” Jensen called from downstairs confused as to why it was empty.

“We’re up here J!” Jared called already hearing the stairs creak as his best friend made his way up. Jensen visibly shook before tensing at the open door.

“We should go.” Jensen’s emotionally void voice said turning to head back down the stairs.

Sharing a look with his parents he followed his friend outside the house where he pulled him into a hug. He had never seen Jensen so broken in their friendship. They had lost so much so quick.

The short ride was pregnant with sadness. Jared and Jensen in one car while his parents and Megan were in the other. Jensen’s parents were meeting there with his siblings also. Gen wasn’t able to come because Tom was sick with the flu and Shep was recovering from it.

They walked into a large room where they were stunned to see Sergeant Michaels in front of them. He smiled sadly coming towards them.

“Can we have a word?” He questioned. Getting a small nod from Gerald they wall walked to a room with a long table.

“I’m Sergeant Elias Michaels. I was Y/N’s Sergeant if you weren’t aware with it.” The man stated a taking a seat at the head of the table.

“We know.” Jensen said tiredly, “Can we please get to the funeral.”

“That’s what I want to talk about.” Sgt Michaels sighed folding his hands. The room grew tense from the sheer amount of confusion.

“Excuse me?” Jared questioned confused.

“Roughly seven months ago we received intel that Private Y/N Ackles was still alive. Before you interrupt I would like to explain. It became personal for me to find her, the girl had a spark.”

“W-What?” Sharon said.

Every member of Y/Ns face paled at the news in complete shock and fury. Seven months still believing she was dead and they didn’t know? Jensen’s hands grasped the table with enough force to cause his knuckles to go bone white.

“Last month we found her location. She’s alive but currently at this moment it’s too sensitive to bring her to America.”

“SHE’S ALIVE!?” Jensen roared in complete rage. His breathing deepened to the point that he made his character look like a pussy.

“Sir. Sit down and we can talk about this further.”

“No. You had seven months to tell me. Do you know how much AGONY I’ve been in? I thought my wife was DEAD!” Jensen exclaimed feeling tears well up even more.

The room exploded with Jared dragging a fighting Jensen outside of the building. It didn’t matter how much rage everyone felt but he couldn’t take the chance of Jensen assaulting someone in the military

“Are you insane?!” Jared screamed shoving him in the large grounds.

“Are you not upset that your sister has been alive this entire time?!” Jensen retorted, “I CHEATED on her.”

“It was a date. You didn’t take her to bed and you didn’t kiss her.” Jared screamed back, “You didn’t cheat! We all thought she was dead.”

“BUT SHE WASN’T!” Jensen screamed at the top of his lungs as Jared pulled him into his arms, “How could they not tell us?”

“I don’t know.” Jared sighed.

〰️〰️〰️

She gasped opening her eyes from the dream again. She dreamt of the the day she was kidnapped. She had tried to grab a child before the little boy was shot in front of her despite her attempts. The shock had kept her from returning fire. She didn’t know why it affected her so bad but she had thought about how it would be if that child was hers.

She suffered from dreams about the child blaming her and shooting her repeatedly, she had been here months maybe longer. She wasn’t the only one here either, the captors had come into the room holding on of their own. Each of the man dragging another one pleading for his life. He had turned on them and his fate was a new torture method to the American soldier.

She had caused two children to die. The one the day she was taken as a POW and now the blonde little girl in her arms no longer clutching her shirt. She had been been like that since last night definitely. The flashback hit harder than she expected.

“Kill him.” The taller of the captors said in a heavy accented voice.

“No.”

“Kill him or I kill them.” The man growled pointing the gun towards the corner where a mother and her children sat.

“W-what?”

“Mat’!” The young exclaimed. Y/N recognized it as Russian, how had these men gotten their hands on Russians?

“Shut up!” The taller man stalked over and slapped the young man in the face,” Fucking disgrace.”

“Kill him now or I make you kill them.” The tall one roughly said pointing towards the family.

Gulping you felt a small knife placed in your hand. You grasped it thinking you could get out but your attention was brought to see one of the men training their gun on you while the other pointed it at the four year old little girl crying heavily.

She sobbed as she raised the knife above the man and plunged it deep inside his neck hearing the gurgling. Praying the man to have a quick death she severed the jugular feeling the blood both physically and figuratively stain her body.

“Ah yes!” The men grinned before quickly releasing the trigger into the children, the mother rushed to the man but dropped with a scream. Her blank eyes being painted by the bleeding hole in her forehead.

“NO!” Y/N screamed sobbing deeply as she shook crawling to the children.

“Did you really think we’d leave them?” The man spat at her before stabbing a knife deep into her thigh.

A gut wrenching scream was forced from her throat at she felt the lacerations form on her body. The pain so intense she wished for death. She wished to switch places with the poor souls in the room with her.

“Papa! Mat’!” The older boy whispered as he took his last breath. His sister, bleeding from her stomach watched everything around her.

“Sweetie.” Y/N dragged herself across the dirty floor coughing from the recent torture, “Do you know english?”

“Mama’s teaching me.” The innocent girl said.

“Whats you’re name?” Y/N asked bringing the girl into her lap, “My name is Y/N. My Dad calls me dragonfly.”

“Nina.” The girl coughed leaving blood on her lips as the red spread on her already dirty dress, “Papa calls me Angel. He’s talks like you.”

“Can I call you Angel?” Y/N said brushing the blonde hair from the little girls head.

“Uh huh.” Nina replied shakily putting her hand against Y/N cheek, “You’re pretty.”

“Oh? Well you’re beyond beautiful.” Y/N sniffled watching as the girl lost more blood.

“Am I d-dying?”

“No. No. You’ll be fine! You’ll see your Papa and I’ll see my family.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Y/N sobbed holding the girl tighter.

“Can you sing me a song?” Nina choked crying on the blood in her mouth, “I like the one about the little light. Papa sings it to me every night.”

“Of course.”

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

Y/N stopped breathing heavily before continuing.

Gonna let my little light shine. Light that shines is the light of love, Hides the darkness from above, Shines on me and it shines on you,

Eyes tightly shut her lips quivered as she listened to Nina’s breaking and weak voice join her.

Shows you what the power of love can do. Shine my light both bright and clear, Shine my light both far and near, In every dark corner that I find, Let my little light shine.

Little Nina took her last breath in Y/N arms. In that cold, musty and dirty room Y/N rocked the blood soaked little girl as she finished the song with great heartache. She didn’t care about herself, all she cared was the little girl that took her last breath in her arms who wasn’t even her daughter.

Part Four

@trustnobodyshootfirst @iamnotsaneatall @winchesterfanfiction @yesterday-was-tuesday @nyx-universe @soobi89 @writer-picks-the-music @trashling101 @deanwinchesterisamazing @tas898 @essie1876 @lovemesomepie85 @cityofsobbingfangirls @ourkittyus @barbidollash @oh-my-hecky-padalecki

#supernatural imagines #jensen ackles imagines #jared padalecki imagines #soldier imagines #angst #Travelin' Soldier Series

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bachelorbro-blog1 · 7 years

Text

Season 21 -- Week 5

Alright, I have a headache. Let’s do this.

We open with Corinne and Taylor sitting in front of a fire and having a very emotionally mature conversation, by which I mean they’re calling each other names and sticking their tongues out because why wouldn't they? I won't bore you with the sordid details because I don't want to.

Corinne tattles on Taylor and then we cut to the rose ceremony where everyone who has never seen a single episode of a reality television show ever is convinced that Taylor will not be receiving a rose.

The ladies are legitimately shivering in a barn during the rose ceremony, and (from what I can tell) Sarah is the only person who isn't wearing a coat. Way to give yourself the flu, Sarah. How will you teach the classroom full of children that you left to be on TV now?

“Nick should send them both home,” says Kristina, who is slowly becoming one of my favorite contestants. She already has a rose. There are blessings all around us.

Nick gets rid of Sarah, who is cold, and Astrid, who I have once again forgotten was even competing. Sarah cries about some stuff. I didn't expect her to go home just yet, but I did expect her to go home, so whatever. Sorry, girl.

Taylor and Corinne get roses because they still need to fight to the death like the wild gators they are.

Everyone (except Sarah and Astrid) (again, sorry!) is going to New Orleans, which is actually a fun and cool place to go. Good job, ABC!

Rachel gets the one-on-one date. She is READY (to be the next Bachelorette).

Corinne continues to pop up in talking head interviews to drunkenly ramble about why she doesn't like Taylor. I mean, I don't like Taylor either, but it’s not like I have to tell a camera about it every time I drink too many glasses of rosé.

Rachel and Nick start their one-on-one date at a fun flea market. “I want to eat you,” says Nick to Rachel, who is now wondering whether or not she wants to be here.

They eat oysters. For some reason everyone thinks that oysters are aphrodisiacs. I happen to think that they look like gray ears. Then they eat beignets. The amount of powdered sugar on Nick’s beignet is equal to the amount of powder that you see on Scarface’s desk so there’s that, I guess. Nick is a messy eater, which is the least surprising thing I have ever noticed.

A second line parade appears and they join. “I didn't know Nick had that kind of swag,” says Rachel. “Ugh, he doesn't,” weeps Liz, the forgotten doula, from her kitchen floor.

This date has a lot of parts. They go to a concert being performed by someone named Lolo. She tweeted about this episode, but that didn't help me figure out who she is. Whatever. Thanks for being here, Lolo.

The date finally ends at Mardi Gras World, which is a terrible warehouse filled with frightening Mardi Gras parade floats. Rachel squeals out of excitement. I scream out of fear. Nick puts a string of beads around Rachel’s neck without asking her to take off her top, which is a nice surprise.

Rachel talks about her dad, a terrifying federal judge who will surely grill Nick when he meets him at the hometown stage.

The remainder of the ladies (who aren't Taylor and Corinne) are going on a group date to a straight up haunted house. Josephine calls it romantic. I would be inclined to agree, but my first crush was Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice.

Raven will rebuke ghosts in the name of Jesus (because she is from a small town in Arkansas and has read the Bible approximately 865 times). Alexis will rebuke them in the name of Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino for similar reasons.

The caretaker appears and tells them that his name is Boo, which...fine. There is a ghost named May living in the house. She is eight years old and has been searching for her doll for approximately 200 years. Jasmine G. does not believe that she exists so obviously I’m hoping that she’s carted away by this child specter.

They enter May’s room and Jasmine G. moves some shit around because she likes to test her fate. They leave the room and play with a Ouija board, which is something I have always been a little too scared to do. Alexis is confused. She gets another free pass because I love her.

The camera cuts away to a shady portrait of May as they play with the board and then the lights turn out and everyone shrieks. This is the most staged thing I have ever seen in my entire life but I am LIVING FOR IT.

Nick suggests that they go exploring so Raven and another brunette tag along. May’s doll is missing from her room. It is more than likely that Boo is playing with the doll in his bedroom (anyone else getting AHS season three flashbacks?)

Jasmine G. upsets the spirt world once again and a chandelier falls (very Phantom of the Opera!) She does not believe in Molly or Megan the ghost, but the jury is still out on May.

Jasmine G. is finally afraid and makes peace with May the eight year old ghost. She asks for forgiveness and some books fall. Boo has rigged this house very well. She and Raven run away.

Corinne and Taylor will be going on a two-on-one date the next day (and Taylor will be going home). Corinne orders a lot of food, calls Taylor “Queen of the house,” and then drinks champagne in a bubble bath.

Danielle M. finally gets some more quality time with Nick. She is longer my top choice to win because she is simply too good for Nick and I don't ever want her to be sad.

The next day Taylor and Corinne board a small boat with Nick and a swamp man. They are going to have their date in the bayou. A very big part of me is hoping that Shrek will be there. “Make America Corinne again,” says Corinne, who is a professional sociopath.

They meet a voodoo priestess because apparently it’s very easy to find those. She is a white lady with multi-colored hair and a straw fedora. They have their tarot cards read. Taylor goes first. Corinne tattles on her again and calls her “a big mean swamp monster,” which, same.

The reader tells Taylor that someone on the date is very emotionally intuitive, which is a huge lie. Taylor tattles on Corinne while Corinne asks how to make a voodoo doll that is specific to a person (that person may or may not be Raquel) (Kidding! It’s Taylor! Can you imagine?)

More stuff happens and then Nick sends Taylor packing. Now she can go back home to a place where she has no friends because she is a mean person who brags about having a Masters degree. Ashley I. schooled her on Twitter so be sure to check that out when you get a chance.

After Taylor is sent home and left stranded in the middle of the swamps to be eaten by the gators and ABC executives, she has a voodoo ceremony performed on her and leaves to find Nick and Corinne on their date. She is going to reveal Corinne, but we have to wait until next week to see that happen. Taylor walks through the woods in this season’s Chad Bear moment.

After the credits Nick dons a Nicolas Cage mask and makes Alexis kiss him. It’s ok, Alexis. You will find the perfect man for you on Bachelor in Paradise. I promise.

My Top 5:

Vanessa

Rachel

Danielle M.

Raven

May the Ghost

#the bachelor #bachelor recap #recap #nick viall #corinne

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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[MS] Vacation

"Welcome aboard sir" a ship officer says with a friendly voice when I step off the ramp onto the stunningly white deck of the Queen of the Ocean. Smiling faces everywhere I look. Happiness, the anticipation of living in paradise for the next six weeks, the desperate desire of getting away from the maddening crowd of the cities, of angry, demanding bosses, of tight schedules and, in some cases, of the prying eyes of their own spouse.

"May I help you with your luggage sir?" asks a melodic voice pulling me back to reality. A bellman. "Yes. Please do." and he accompanies me to my cabin carrying my suitcase. "Here we are Mr...." "Swanson. Dennis Swanson" "Oh yes, Mr. Swanson, cabin 305." He unlocks the door and puts my suitcase beside my bed. I thank him, pull a 10 Dollar bill from my wallet and when I turn to him, he's gone as if he vanished into thin air. After recovering from the initial shock, I attribute this occurrence to the fact that I can be so absentminded at times that I wouldn't notice a rogue wave hitting the Queen of the Ocean and sending her to the depths of the seas.

A few minutes later I hear a knock on the door. I peer outside and am greeted by an attractive blonde woman in her mid twenties who. judging by her uniform, must be a stewardess. I let her in and she shows me the amenities and instructs me how to wear a life jacket and what to do in case of emergency. I pity her. How many times does she have to repeat the same damn thing to snobbish fools who take her words for granted and want nothing more than for her to leave, only for them to panic in an emergency when they have no clue how to put a life jacket on. I thank her and she leaves.

My eyes slowly open as I wake up from a short nap, and decide to take a stroll on the uppermost deck to enjoy the view. I've never been on a cruise ship before and it is exhilarating. It's like a floating hotel. The top deck is packed with travelers enjoying the mid afternoon sun. The harbor from which we set off is now but a thin line on the horizon. I stroll to the bar by the pool and order a Bacardi on the rocks. Sipping my drink, I silently observe the people on the deck. Quite a few young people in their mid to late twenties frolick by the pool, elderly couples sunbathing in deck chairs, others leaning on the railing chatting with their friends. No one's on their phone or their computer. Now that's a change from everyday life. I wonder how many passengers this behemoth carries.

The sun is setting and the deck lights slowly increased in brightness. I finish my drink, thank the barman and make my way back to my cabin. Someone knocks on the door about half an hour later. I open it and peer through the gap. A stewardess greets me outside with a friendly smile and hands me a note. It is the same woman from earlier. "Megan" reads her name tag. Just now did I notice the tiny mole on her left cheek right above her dimple.

"Good evening sir, you're invited for captain's dinner tonight at 7:00."

"Oh, thank you. I'll be there"

"See you sir. Have a nice evening".

I am beginning to like her. If there is a tragedy, I don't want her to be hurt. She still has her life ahead of her.

After taking a shower and dressing to the occasion, I go on my way to look for the ship's restaurant. "Excuse me sir but you are not authorized to be here" someone says behind me. I turn around and no one is there. Wait. This cannot be the way to the restaurant though. It's noisy and the heat is unbearable. My clothes adhere to my body that's how much I'm sweating. Wait. Why am I wearing black overalls? Didn't I dress formally with a suit and tie? Absentmindedness. What am I doing here? I turn around and walk back finally managing to find the exit. I need therapy once I'm back home.

I pass by some security personnel talking and hide behind a corner, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Have you seen John?"

"No"

"He hasn't reported to the reception desk since we departed this afternoon. He isn't answering calls either" "Did he leave the ship before departure?"

"No. I saw him helping a passenger carry a suitcase after departure"

"Alright let's inform the captain about the situation. Make sure not to tell the passengers. We don't need mass hysteria"

The group dissolves and I feel a bit apprehensive. They are right. No one deserves to have their fun spoiled. I walk briskly to my cabin, take another shower and this time I'll put the right attire on.

I realize for the first time that captain's dinner is not just a formal dinner evening with the ship's captain where you can throw nautical questions at him and beg him for stories of his seafaring adventures. Well, at least that's what I thought of it as a kid. Instead of the captain, an attractive young woman dressed to the nines. Jewelry glistening on her ears, neck and hands, joins me. Expensive. Must be the daughter of a mega rich business tycoon. Her name is Rebecca. I engage in small talk with her feeling empty like a chatbot while my thoughts are wandering to Megan, her sweet dimpled smile and green eyes that can illuminate even the deepest corner of your soul. And the mole on her cheek makes her look even prettier.

"Are you listening?"

"Sorry but their performance is really mesmerizing. I think I should look at you more often"

She laughs in a controlled formal way. Personally I'm not much into uber rich stuck up princesses but I keep that to myself. As we get progressively more intoxicated, she makes a move on me. I find myself back in my cabin with her on top of me. I wake up and let my hand wander to her side of the bed and not feel her there. Oh man, she probably realized her blunder when she was drunk and left. I'm sure she wouldn't say a thing to me when we bump into each other again. I just hope I won't get into trouble with her dad. Disappointed, I close my eyes to sleep away my drunken stupor.

A knock on the door. Megan? It's 10 in the morning and I have a terrible headache. I stumble to the door and open it. No, not Megan but a security detail.

"Sorry for the disturbance sir but we advise you to stay in your cabin until this afternoon at 3. Lunch and anything else you need will be served to your cabin. A passenger has contracted the flu and we are trying to contain it and need your cooperation."

"Who?"

"A young lady. I apologize, sir, but we can't tell you more for privacy reasons. "

"I understand"

"Ship's hosting a pool party this evening on the uppermost deck sir complete with buffet and games. It's best to take your mind off of the situation."

"Thanks. I'll be there"

"Thank you sir. Have a nice day"

After sleeping throughout most of the day, I get up at dusk, shower and proceed to the top deck to observe the festivities. When the sun finally disappears from the horizon, a dinner buffet formally commences the event and it seems every passenger on the ship is in attendance. Suddenly I hear a loud bang followed shortly by a sudden jolt that made me and everyone else lose their balance. Screaming everywhere. Megan? No! Megan! I have to find her. I sprint past the panicking crowd down the hallway between cabins. I can't find her. I grab two life jackets from a shelf while the rest of the passengers are fighting for them. I make my way to a lifeboat when I hear a second explosion. The ship begins to tilt. More screaming. I can't let Megan die here. I hear someone shout something unintelligible behind me and spin around. A deafening crack causes my ears to ring and I feel something striking my chest. I have been kicked by a horse before and it feels awfully similar. It's the same security guy who knocked on my door earlier this morning. He is letting Megan die and is probably responsible for this disaster, too. I feel a surge of rage boiling up like lava and screaming like a banshee lunge at him before a second bullet plunges everything into darkness.

January 12, 2175. Neurovision Research Laboratories.

Subject No. 24

Name: Dennis Swanson

Report: Subject stable since awakening from stasis. Brain activity stable until end of memory. Wild fluctuations at the end. Increased heart rate and blood pressure. Increased motor activity.

"He's having a seizure. Disconnect the computer now!"

"Heart rate stabilizing. Prepare to move him back to stasis"

"Who's this one?"

"Some eco terrorist. Son of a bitch almost sank a cruise ship in 2019. Set off two charges, got shot in the head by a security guard while trying to set off a third and survived. Killed three people before that."

"Jesus Christ"

"I cut out the memories where he committed a crime but he isn't stable enough for reintegration into society."

" May I take a look?"

"Sure"

"May I help you with your luggage sir?" "Yes, please do" His name tag read "John" (fast forward} His eyes widened when the suitcase opens and my equipment fell out. That damn lock! He went for the door but I was quicker. With a swift movement, I pulled my garrote around his neck and twisted it shut. He laid on the ground jerking like a fish out of the water. After a few minutes he stopped moving. If someone came in I'd be screwed. I grabbed him under his armpits and shoved him into my closet. Good they didn't have security cameras in here.(fast forward}

"Excuse me sir, but you are not authorized to be here."

Security. Last thing I need.

"I'm sorry but I'm lost. Could you show me to the restaurant?"

" Yeah, go along this corridor and..."

When he turned to point in the direction I drew my 45 caliber pistol and pumped two rounds into his chest. He slid down the wall and was dead even before he reached the floor. The silencer and the engine's noise made sure no one heard a thing. I tore off the guards' shirt, grabbed him under the armpits and dragged him to a large box containing life jackets. I emptied the box, stuffed his body inside and covered it with the life jackets. With his shirt I wiped down the blood and stuffed the soaked garment into the same box with his body. Proceeding deeper into the bowels of the ship, I attached three C4 charges along the starboard side of the hull. Thankfully no one saw me due to my dark overalls.(fast forward} Sex with Rebecca was awesome. She really knew what she's doing.

"Would you mind lending me one of your shirts?"

"No! Don't open that!"

"Whatcha got in there honey, your wife?"

"Just don't open it"

Rolling her eyes Rebecca pulled the closet door open and stumbled back covering her mouth. My hands were around her neck before she could let out a scream. I threw her onto the bed and knelt on her chest while squeezing her throat as hard as I could. She probably worked out everyday and fought back vehemently. "Shhh. Be quiet. Shhh" I tried to soothe her. I didn't want to kill her but she left me no choice. Her resistance slowly faded until she stopped moving. I kept my hands on her throat for another minute before letting go. I looked at her dead body, her dead eyes still reflecting the shock. I just wanted to blow my head off at that moment. (fast forward}

"Drop your weapon!:"

"You're gonna drown like everyone else."

What a nuisance. Holding two life jackets in my hand for me and my partner Jason who is waiting for me at the extraction point, i froze. With a grin on my face, I spun around aiming my pistol at him. BANG! I looked down on my chest and saw a perfect red dot that was dripping blood. I drop my weapon, life jackets and cellphone in shock. A surge of rage boiled up in me like lava and I lunged at him. BANG!

"How's he doing?" A blonde woman in a lab coat strode into the ward.

"Pretty badly. We'll move him back to stasis. He's been conscious most of the time but unaware of his situation."

"Yeah, his gaze has been following me whenever I check on him. I guess he likes me." the woman joked. "By the way this is Dr. Julian Green, the new guy on the team. Dr. Green, this is Dr. Megan Cole, our team leader." Dr. Green shook the hand stretched out to him looking into Dr. Cole's face. Those green eyes illuminating the deepest corner of your soul. And her dimpled smile made even prettier by the mole on her left cheek.

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#Blogger #Story

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