#So decided to write about shane being tired but then it just turned into more

[neotomiccccc]

LONG POST INCOMING sorry

Anyway. Here's some assorted Shane headcanons of mine about his life after marrying and moving onto the farm, enjoy

🌄 Morning:

• It is difficult to get him out of bed. It probably always will be. That's okay, because getting out of bed can be really difficult.

• Usually the farmer leaves him to get up in his own time.

• On some difficult days he won't get out of bed at all except for necessities like the bathroom, and water.

• Otherwise, once he's up and awake he tends to put the TV on as background noise while he makes breakfast (if it's his turn to make food)

• He's not the best cook ever, he's just learning and it's difficult, but he can do eggs on toast and an omelette - failing those, cereal.

🏙️ Daytime:

• When the farmer is gone, which is often for long hours of the day, Shane has to find some ways of occupying himself.

• The most obvious is that he spends time with his chickens - he tends to them daily and always spends some time sitting with them.

• He also lounges around and watches TV a lot. Sometimes he brings Charlie in to watch with him.

• If he can't find anything interesting to watch, then he might practice his cooking skills for a while. He's trying to become good at it!

• He still likes his video games although he doesn't often buy new ones. He's pretty comfortable playing the same thing over and over to beat his own high score. The farmer likes to get him new games sometimes for his birthday or the winter star.

• If the weather's nice and he has the energy, he might go outside and do some woodworking - he'll help to clear trees and stump so that there's less for the farmer to do. He also likes repairing the fences and paths!

• He has tried to pick up knitting, but it didn't stick. He could not stop dropping his stitches even after Emily helped him a lot.

• He likes writing. Sometimes it's stories, sometimes it's poetry, sometimes it's something he just needs to get off of his chest. His therapist recommended he write down his feelings and since then he took it up. He's quite shy about his writings and doesn't like to show anyone.

• He snacks a lot through the day - sometimes it's boredom, sometimes it's stress, sometimes he just wants to. His husband can never keep the fridge stocked for very long lol

• Almost every day, at some point he is going to take a nap. Usually on the sofa, and he often leaves the TV on for background noise. Sometimes the farmer will pop in during the day and find Shane and Charlie fast asleep pm the couch.

🌅 Evening:

• In the evening, he's always happy when his husband comes home. He doesn't particularly love being alone and enjoys the company of his partner.

• He can be clingy and loves physical touch from his husband. He'd hate it from anyone else but when he's with someone that he deeply trusts, he loves to cuddle, hug, kiss, hold hands, or just brush against each other. Verbal affection is difficult for him unless he turns it into a lighthearted joke or pun, so this is his main way of showing love.

• Speaking of jokes. Neverending dad jokes.

• Depending on the sort of day he's having, he can get really emotional. Some days it's happy tears and other days not so much. He still struggles with self loathing and alcohol relapses are inevitable.

• He's trying his best and just having someone who loves him no matter what is enough to make him start getting all mushy..

• Absolutely wants to cuddle and watch TV, cuddle and take a nap, cuddle and eat pizza, you get it

🌌 Nighttime:

• This man never sleeps a full night know that much. He's always up a few times during the night

• Can be found eating leftovers out of the fridge, pacing back and forth, having a turbulent shit, or if the sun is coming up, sitting on the porch.

• Other times he wakes up and doesn't want to leave the bed because he feels like shit. He gets clingy to the farmer when this happens.

• He snores. Loudly and obnoxiously. (But his husband doesnt care because it means he's sleeping and that's all that matters)

• He likes to sleep on his back, unless he's cuddling with his hisband in which case he'll sleep on his side. He has a knack for finding the most fucked up sleeping positions known to man and insisting it's comfortable.

• His consistently disrupted sleep is a big contributing factor to his daytime naps.

• He does like to co-sleep with Charlie and his other hens but it's not something he does all the time.

#thanks for listening to an insane man ramble everyone #its 3:30am and my own insomnia is bad tonight and im so so tired but i cant sleep #So decided to write about shane being tired but then it just turned into more #god bless #headcanons #sdv #sdv shane #shaneposting #sdv headcanons #rambling

[heyiwrotesomethings]

Fresh Starts

Leah (Stardew) x Selectively Mute She/Her Reader

A/N: Thought I’d try something different with this one. Sorry if I didn’t detail the instances of sign language very well, or if they are a little off, I did try. Also Kel is an asshol in this when they show up so get ready for that. Robin is cool mom and Abigail is the friend who is always ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Also, time is so weird in Stardew? There are four season in a year but each season is like a month so a year is like four months. Time is scary. I hope you like it! Word Count: 8,943

~

“So, someone has finally taken up that old farmland,” Leah heard Gus say to Harvey as he fixed the good doctor a drink at the bar, “‘Heard Lewis and Robin talking about it outside of Pierre’s yesterday.”

“Is that so?” Harvey was tired from a long day at the clinic, but being ever polite, he humored Gus and rested fully against the bar stool.

“Mhmm, looks like the old man’s kin is finally gonna make something of it. A few years late though I must say, that place is well overgrown. It’s gonna take a lot more than a little elbow grease to spruce up that dump,” Gus chuckled good naturedly and handed Harvey his beer, “I wish them luck, whoever they are.”

“Bah!” Leah jumped in her seat tucked away in the corner. Pam must have been listening in too. “If they’re smart they’ll just sell the heap of trash to Joja. M’sure they’d get a pretty penny for it.” Pam spoke bitterly. Shane, who was also quite drunk at this point in the night, took the opportunity to add his two cents in and yell across the bar.

“Why would they get your daughter for selling out to Joja?”

“That’s not what I meant, dumbass!” Pam roared back, slamming her beer on the table with a loud thump.

Leah decided she’d call it a night then. Without Elliott to crack jokes with, the saloon could get real depressing real fast with Shane and Pam racing each other to see who would get alcohol poisoning first. Even Clint was just sad to watch. The poor man sitting hopefully, waiting for Emily to even just turn in his direction. Leah finished the rest of her beer and paid Gus, giving the man a sympathetic smile as he left to cut Shane off.

Leah shivered in the cool spring breeze as she walked along the river bank to her cottage and her thoughts wandered back to what Gus had been gossiping about.

“A new face around Stardew Valley, hm?” Leah mused, kicking a stray pebble in her path, watching it skip across the cobbled stone. “I guess I won’t be the town newbie anymore.” She smiled and turned to look in the direction of Marnie’s home, knowing that the farm was somewhere just beyond. As Leah turned the key to unlock the door of her small cottage, she wondered what changes this new resident might bring.

***

“Have you met our new resident farmer yet?” Leah heard Caroline ask Jodi as she walked across the town square.

“I suppose you could call it that,” Jodi laughed, “It was a very brief meeting to say the least.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one then,” Caroline sighed, putting a hand to her chest in relief, “I thought I had offended the girl somehow, she never said a word. She just walked into the shop and pointed to a few seeds she wanted to buy, then she handed Abigail, Pierre and I daffodils and went on her way. Not so much as a sound.” Caroline explained, still bewildered by the interaction.

“Sounds about right,” Jodi nodded, “She knocked on the front door and handed me a single clam. Which was nice I suppose, but so very odd. She gave Vincent a daffodil too,” Jodi smiled, “He was very pleased. I’m sure she would have given Sam something as well if he could wake up at a more reasonable time.”

“Oh, Leah! Good morning!” Caroline had caught her. Leah put on her most sociable smile and walked forward, greeting the two women.

“Good morning Caroline, Jodi.”

“Have you been visited by the farm fairy yet?” Jodi asked, chuckling along with Caroline.

“I’m afraid not.” Leah admitted. “Although Elliott says I am a bit difficult to track down at the best of times.” She laughed good naturedly.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll get you sooner or later. She seems to be on a mission to greet the whole town. If you can call it a greeting I suppose. I don’t even know her name.” Caroline realized.

“It’s (Y/n).”

The three women jumped and turned to a grinning Robin, walking up to them with her yoga mat swaddled under her arm.

“Her name is (Y/n). She’s quite the character, huh?”

“Robin, you helped Mayor Lewis move her in didn’t you? What can you tell us?” Jodi asked, looking for any crumb of information she could get on the mysterious girl.

“Not much to tell,” Robin shrugged, “Just a sweet kid wanting to get away from the pressures of the big city,” she sent a knowing look at Leah, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

Leah laughed politely, twisting a finger around the tail end of her braid as blush settled in her cheeks faintly.

“But why is she so... you know, quiet?” Caroline asked.

“Hm, well, she did give me her blessing to explain should it come up.” Robin took a moment to think of how to proceed, absently tapping her fingers against her mat. “(Y/n) is selectively mute. She has the ability to speak, but she’s just not comfortable enough to do so at this time. This move was a big decision for her, and she’s excited, but it’s just gonna take some time before she feels secure enough to communicate orally.”

“And how did you get all this information out of her?” Caroline wondered.

Robin secured her yoga mat between her thighs and presented both hands, pointing her index fingers outward and drew a couple large circles in the air with the tips of her extended fingers. “Sign language!” Robin grinned, before taking a hold of her mat once more.

“Oh how clever!” Jodi praised. “I wish I understood sign language.”

“I’d be happy to show you a few of the basics sometime. If you really need to ask (Y/n) something though she will have no problem writing out answers for you.” Robin informed. “Now, are we working out today or...”

“I completely forgot!” Caroline smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, “Yes, let’s go. Poor Marnie is probably wondering where we are. Are you going to join us Leah?”

“I’ll pass, thanks. I’m heading to the beach to do some painting,” Leah explained, motioning to her bag.

“Alright, see you around!” Caroline, Jodi and Robin bid Leah goodbye and hurried to the general store.

Leah sighed, as much as she liked the people in this town they were so chatty. She could have been at the beach forever ago! Once she arrived, she saw Haley sunbathing. Not unusual, but as she kept walking closer to shore she saw Elliott splayed out over the sand laying on his stomach.

Leah rolled her eyes and walked over, playfully kicking the man’s arm, causing him to squint up at her.

“Is there some kind of new writing exercise I should know about?” She asked, playfully.

“I wish, this is simply writer’s block at its finest.” Elliott groaned. “That, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with this,” he sat up and produced a wild horseradish from his jacket pocket.

“Why do you have a horseradish in your pocket?”

“A girl I’ve never seen before in my life gave it to me. Then she took off before I could refuse. Didn’t even say a word.”

“She’s totally weird, but she did give me a daffodil so I guess she’s not that bad.” Haley called from her own spot in the sand.

“Has everyone met the new girl except me?” Leah wondered aloud.

“She’s been making rounds. I’m sure she’ll find you eventually.” Elliott said, resting his chin over his arms.

“You make her sound so ominous.” Leah laughed, lowering herself to the sand and taking out a sketch pad.

“A silent specter. A harbinger of-“

“Oh can it, drama queen,” Leah smirked, “so she gave you a horseradish, it’s not the end of the world. She was just trying to be nice.”

Elliott pursed his lips, propping his head up with one hand he turned the horseradish in the other offering it to Leah. “Do you want it? You’re all about foraging.”

“I mean, if you’re not going to use it sure. Put it in my bag.” Leah relented easily. Her eyes only leaving her paper to study the horizon for a moment, then continue to sketch.

Leah stayed on the beach with Elliott for a couple of hours, talking  sketching, and painting. Finally she stood and stretched, patting the sand off the back of her jeans. “I should get going. See you around.”

“See you.” Elliott nodded, splitting off from Leah to head over to his shack.

Leah hummed to herself as she walked through town, making her way past Jodi’s house and entered the Cindersnap Forest. As she rounded the corner of her cottage, she paused in her tracks. Observing a young woman staring at her door with dandelions in one hand and her other poised to knock on the weathered wood.

Leah flinched slightly, she had stepped on a twig, snapping it and alerting her visitor of her presence.

Startled eyes met Leah’s own and the farmer straightened from her previous position, stepping back from Leah’s door.

She smiled shyly, giving Leah a short, jaunty wave before gesturing between Leah and the cottage a moment. Then she stood still. An expectant look on her face.

Leah simply stared back, blinking before she registered the silent question. “Oh! Yes, I live here. That’s my house. You’re (Y/n), right? Robin told me about you, I’m Leah.” She smiled kindly, coming forward to offer (Y/n) her hand to shake.

Instead of grasping Leah’s hand, (Y/n) cupped it with her gloved hands, turning Leah’s hand palm up and placing the dandelions inside.

“Ah, thank you.” Leah chuckled, “These will make a great salad.”

(Y/n) nodded vigorously, then moved to make her exit. Leah wasn’t sure what possessed her, but she called out to (Y/n) before she could get too far.

“Wait, I um, it’s not much but I did take an intro to ASL course my freshman year of college so, I’m a bit limited but if you ever want to talk, you know...” Leah wished she could stop talking right now. Why had no one told her that the farmer was cute!? “So, yeah, you know,” Leah fumbled with her free hand, her fingers sat just underneath her chin before she sent them forward, “Thanks again.” She smiled nervously.

(Y/n) stared at her, dumbfounded. Then she released a short, sharp exhalation of air that was reminiscent of stuttered laughter and turned back to stand before Leah. (Y/n) made a timid approach and gingerly took Leah’s wrist, still hovering midair, and guided the hand back to rest on Leah’s chin, just below her lip. Leah stood still as stone as (Y/n) held it there for a second then extended the hand forward. She repeated the motion twice more before backing away and releasing Leah from her gloved grasp. The smell of earth and grass still clung to Leah’s nose even after (Y/n) had stepped back.

“Oh, I did it wrong, didn’t I?” Leah blushed, “Is there a big difference between the two?”

(Y/n) blew out a large breath of air and nodded. One of her gloved hands came up to cover the amused smile fighting against her lips.

“What did I say? Was is embarrassing? Yoba, I need to know,” Leah carefully set the dandelions at her feet and rummaged through her bag. Taking out her sketch pad and a pencil, she flipped to a clean page and presented the materials into the rough fabric of (Y/n)’s gloved hands, “Please, tell me.”

(Y/n) shot Leah a sympathetic smile, then she looked down at the paper and wrote quickly and concisely. She looked over her work, nodded to herself, then she handed the sketch book and pencil back to Leah before jogging of in the direction of her farm.

“Eh- Hey! Wait a minute!” Leah took a few strides after the farmer but quickly gave up, electing to look at the paper in her hand instead. “Maybe I’ll tell you some other time. Nice meeting you Leah, smiley face.” Leah read aloud to herself. She scoffed, but couldn’t stop the smile that had conquered her lips. She couldn’t wait to see (Y/n) again.

***

“Hey, Maru-“

“I think I have a feeling about what this is about, but just in case, please proceed.”

The next morning, Leah had made her way to the clinic to visit Maru and perhaps get the answers she was looking for. She had made the trek to (Y/n)’s farm first, but she wasn’t there. A little note hastily taped to the farmer’s door revealed that she was spending the day fishing in the mountains and wouldn’t be back until late at night.

“Maru, you know sign language like your mom, right?” Leah asked.

“Sure do. Seb and dad do too.” Maru nodded, leaning over the clinic counter. “But I’ve got to tell you that if you’re looking for the meaning of what you accidentally signed to (Y/n) last night, we were sworn to silence earlier this morning before (Y/n) went fishing. Sorry.” Maru smiled.

“Ugh,” Leah sighed, leaning her forehead against the counter. “Can I at least have a hint?”

“Well, it’s really funny. Especially considering how chill you normally are and your kind disposition.”

“Yoba, I really need to know!” Leah groaned against the counter.

“Well my family can’t tell you. You’ll just have to wait to hear it from (Y/n),” Maru grinned and pushed away from the counter, “I have to prepare for Evelyn’s check up now so I’ll see you around Leah.”

“Yeah, bye.” Leah grumbled, watching Maru disappear into the back offices. “Well, there goes that plan.” She mumbled under her breath as she left the clinic.

Leah spent the rest of the day sculpting in her cottage. She spent hours getting lost in the chipping of the wood before finally going to bed.

***

It had been days since Leah last saw (Y/n) and if the farming life wasn’t so demanding, Leah would have been worried that she had deeply offended the farmer to the point that she was purposely avoiding her. Leah decided not to waste the time she had been presented with.

She approached Robin about sign language lessons, enough to get some basic phrases and words. She practiced the motions herself, perfecting them to allow for no mistakes. Although she knew (Y/n) could hear her just fine, she found it easier to retain the lessons this way. Not to mention that it was just a useful language to know.

“I’ve hardly seen you around. I was worried you stabbed yourself with your woodworking tools.” Elliott said as Leah came up to sit next to him in the saloon.

“And you didn’t think to come to check on me?” Leah looked at the writer incredulously.

“Nope.”

Leah punched Elliott’s arm and he laughed. Before long, Emily came by with their food and they ate comfortably.

“Would you look at that.” Elliot spoke, pointing in direction of the door as he swallowed another bite.

Leah turned to look, purple irises sparkling at the sight of (Y/n) lugging a large bag up to the bar. She watched Emily talk (Y/n)’s ear off, the poor farmer smiled uncomfortably while trying to divide her attention between her and Gus who had apparently requested a variety of fish.

“Wow, Robin said you were in trouble but you really are,” Elliott chuckled behind his beer, “You really lit up just now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leah scoffed, still watching (Y/n) hand Gus fish after fish. It was almost comical how such an objectively small bag could hold so much.

“You can’t keep your eyes off her. I realize the dating pool in Stardew is small, but the girl just got here.”

“Elliott, stop!” Leah blushed, looking back down at her plate to stab at her salad.

“I’m just saying, you’re already taking sign language lessons for her you might want to dial it back a little bit. You wouldn’t want to come off as the obsessive type.”

“Oh! She’s leaving, should I offer to walk her home? I’m going to offer to walk her home.” Leah dug in her pocket and pulled out some gold, pushing it over to Elliott.

“What did I just say?” Elliott called after Leah, as she eagerly jogged to the exit to catch (Y/n) walking in the direction of the Cindersaps, perfect!

“(Y/n), good evening!” Leah called jogging up to the farmer only to have the farmer gasp and take several steps away from Leah, holding her hands out as a warning to not come any closer. “I’m sorry, I’m didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!” Leah gasped, maybe Elliott was right.

(Y/n) shook her head, slowly taking a step back towards Leah, presenting her slightly soggy bag and waving her hand in front of her nose, scrunching her face as she did so.

Leah was sure the movement wasn’t an official ASL sign, but it did help get the point across and she giggled.

“What? Do you think you smell?”

Another nod and a look that seemed to say that she didn’t just think so, she knew so. She had been in the mines all morning and fishing at the beach all afternoon. She couldn’t wait to take a shower.

“It’s alright, I won’t judge you,” Leah smiled, “Are you heading home for the night? I’d be happy to walk with you since it’s so dark.”

(Y/n) took a moment to think about it before nodding shyly and motioning Leah closer. Leah happily obliged walking alongside the farmer into the Cindersap Forest. The walk was mostly silent, but that was to be expected nonetheless, Leah was having a great time. They had even found a couple of leeks along the way which (Y/n) had insisted Leah keep. All too soon, they reached the porch of the old farmhouse.

“You’re crops look great,” Leah complimented, looking for an excuse to stay even just a few minutes more, “really healthy. What all have you been growing? Are those potatoes and turnips?”

(Y/n) looked over her shoulder as she unlocked her door. Her eyes focused on where Leah was pointing and nodded affirmingly.

“Yeah, I’m no farmer but I love foraging. I’ve got a few really good books about wild foods and where to find them and when. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt.” Leah grinned.

“Mhmm.”

It was quiet, a little strained, but the small hum of agreement almost sent Leah into cardiac arrest. She sounded so sweet! Leah’s cheeks were starting to hurt from how widely she was smiling.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. So, I’ll see you around?”

(Y/n) looked like she wanted to say something, but settled for a simple nod, fiddling with the gardening gloves she had taken off. Leah smiled softly, watching how the farmer intently eyed the fabric twisting in her hands.

“Feel free to drop by the cottage whenever it suits you. I’ll leave the door open!” Leah added, waving over her shoulder as she turned to walk away. (Y/n) beamed, looking a bit more lively as she waved back.

Leah turned her back on the house and walked back to her cottage in the Cindersaps with a skip in her step and a painfully large smile on her face. Although it was already late, she prepared a new block of wood for sculpting. Her new muse had granted her a vision for a grand project and had the potential to be one of her greatest works yet.

***

“Kel, I told you to stop calling me. I’m not coming back to the city, we are through.” Leah frowned, her hand gripped the phone receiver so tightly that she could hear the plastic giving slightly under the pressure.

She was so focused on combating Kel’s useless bargains that she hadn’t noticed the timid farmer show herself in, looking at Leah’s tense shoulders and back with concern. (Y/n) flinched as Leah cut off Kel to speak again, her voice low and stern.

“There is nothing you could say, nothing you could offer me, that would make me come back. Move on, and please, for the last time, do not call me again.” Leah slammed the phone down on its perch. Pressing her palms into her eyes she let out a frustrated groan, slowly positioning her hands to rub at her temples to combat the headache she felt coming on.

Then she heard the door creak.

Leah quickly turned around just in time to see (Y/n) looking back at her with wide eyes and lips pursed thin as if she had been caught witnessing an event she had no business seeing. Which was partially true, but Leah had told her a week beforehand that she could drop by anytime.

“(Y/n), what a pleasant surprise!” Leah grimaced, watching (Y/n) flinch and look down sheepishly at her feet. One had managed to retreat back out the door before being caught and it was slowly joined by the intruding foot, so (Y/n) was fully outside again. Leah shook her head and calmly approached the farmer.

“Please don’t leave, I’m the one who told you to come let yourself in whenever. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.” Leah was worried, watching (Y/n) linger in the doorway. Her shoulders relaxed when (Y/n) cautiously came back inside and closed the door behind her.

(Y/n) stood in the entryway and looked over Leah, her eyes filled heavily with concern. She raised a hand, pointing to Leah before signing the letters ‘o’ and ‘k’.

“I’m okay. I’m just,” Leah fumbled for the right words, “mad, sad? Exhausted.”

(Y/n) made another gesture, shaping her fingers into a ‘hang loose’-esque sign. Her curled fingers meeting her chin. She lowered the hand momentarily to give it a controlled shake before bringing it back up into the starting position.

“What’s wrong?” Leah mumbled, making sure she understood. (Y/n) nodded. “I just got a phone call from someone I didn’t want to talk to is all,” Leah sighed, “They’re an ex of mine. The person who called.” Leah disclosed, rubbing the back of her neck, agitated.

(Y/n) signed again, but Leah didn’t quite catch it that time so she motioned (Y/n) over to her dining nook and sat her down with some paper and a pencil. The farmer seemed a bit unwilling to write it out, feeling like it was more insensitive somehow but with a little prodding from Leah, she gave in.

“Was it a bad break up...” Leah read aloud. She sat back in her chair and carefully chose her words. “Sometimes it feels like we’re still breaking up,” Leah chuckled wryly, “Kel, my ex, didn’t like me perusing art. They didn’t think I could make a living out of it and wanted me to waste away at some office job and well, I didn’t want that. They weren’t respectful or supportive of my dreams, so I left. They call me a lot though, to try to convince me to come back to the city... that I won’t make it as an artist. That I can’t be happy without them. It really is exhausting and the worst part is, I worry that they’re right.” Leah released a shuddering breath, “I haven’t sold a single piece. I don’t really even know how to start. I can sustain myself on what I have in my savings account for only so long.”

(Y/n) covered Leah’s hand with her own, squeezing it. Leah marveled at how soft it was in comparison to her own, especially since it was the hand of a farmer. Perhaps the gloves (Y/n) always wore had more practical uses rather than simply being worn for aesthetic’s sake. Leah chanced a look at (Y/n)’s face and was caught off guard by the determined fire blazing in her eyes. Then Leah’s attention was brought back to the table as (Y/n) furiously scratched the pencil against the paper and forcefully pushed her newly composed message in front of the sculptor, her other hand still rooted over Leah’s.

Leah read over the note and felt her heart ache with appreciative warmth. ‘You were brave enough to know what you wanted and even though it wasn’t easy, you went for it. That in itself is an amazing accomplishment that you should not take lightly. Your dream is not unfounded either, I’ve seen some of your sketches and paintings and I think you are very talented. Once you figure out how to put yourself out there you’ll have people begging you to take their money.’

Leah sniffed and smiled at (Y/n) appreciatively, turning her hand to reciprocate (Y/n)’s strong, yet gentle hold on her. “Thank you, (Y/n). I just wish I knew how to start.”

(Y/n) tapped her chin with the pencil as she thought. When she had an idea, she pulled the paper back to herself and wrote a suggestion.

“An art show? Oh, I don’t know (Y/n). It hardly seems possible.”

(Y/n) shook her head in disagreement and wrote more.

“You really think the town would want to help? Are you sure you want to help? You’ve got enough on your plate already with how busy the farm keeps you. I don’t want to impose.”

(Y/n) looked as if she had something to say, her throat bobbed and her lips twitched, but in the end she settled for the paper again, still too anxious to speak. After Leah had read the reply, she felt (Y/n)’s thumb rub against her knuckles and looked up. (Y/n) nodded, her expression serious. She wanted to help Leah with this.

“Thank you, (Y/n)!” Leah sniffled, holding back tears. She launched herself into (Y/n)’s arms and hugged the surprised farmer close. “Thank you so much!”

(Y/n) slowly returned the hug, smoothing one of her hands over Leah’s back in comforting motions. It was a bit of an awkward position with (Y/n) still sitting at the table and Leah hovering over her, but it felt nice.

“Sorry,” Leah chuckled after a moment, leaning back and wiping a stray tear from her eye, “I kind of caught you off guard with that didn’t I?”

(Y/n) shrugged and smiled good naturedly. A look came over her face as if she just remembered something and she stood up to grab her bag from the cottage entryway. She grinned when she found what she was looking for and made her way back to Leah, holding out a brown paper package to her.

“For me?” Leah asked. (Y/n) nodded and gestured for her to take it. Leah carefully unwrapped it and gasped. “(Y/n), is this goat cheese? I love this, how did you know?”

(Y/n) raised her hand, signing the letters ‘E’ ‘L’ ‘L’ ‘I’ ‘O’ ‘T’ ‘T’.

“Elliott hm?” Leah laughed, “I’m glad you two are getting along after the horseradish debacle.”

(Y/n) crossed her arms and stuck her nose up. She wasn’t looking back on the memory fondly.

“Hey, I’m with you on this one. He was being an ass. How could you have known he hated horseradish.”

(Y/n) nodded in agreement, one of her hands reaching out as if to say, ‘exactly’. She then noticed the time on Leah’s clock and signed that she had to go.

“I see.” Leah smiled sadly, trying not to let her disappointment shine through. “Good bye then, and (Y/n),” Leah signed ‘thank you’, very mindful of the position of her hands this time around, “seriously thank you for everything.”

(Y/n) beamed, giving Leah a thumbs up before heading out the door.

***

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Leah kept mumbling to herself while watching her fellow Pelican Townies set up her creations in the town square. There were already some tourists looking around and Leah felt her nerves fraying.

“Hang in there, kid. Everything looks great. Don’t worry so much.” Robin snuck up on Leah, making her jump. “It’s a beautiful summer day, don’t forget to enjoy it.”

“I’m trying, Robin. It’s just so much.” Leah said, nervously playing with her sleeve. Robin noticed Elliott walking up and motioned him to help deal with the artist while she went to help Demetrius move a heavy wooden sculpture.

“Come on now, Leah. Too late to back out now.” Elliott grinned, thumping her back. “(Y/n) seems especially excited by how things are progressing.”

Leah chanced a glance at (Y/n) and Maru putting up paintings between signing each other excitedly. The scene warmed her heart and her shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll try.”

“Great, now let’s go woo some tourists.” Elliott said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“What? Elliott, no!” Leah shook her head.

“Not like that,” Elliott laughed, “I know your heart belongs to someone else. I just meant,” he looks around before whispering in Leah’s ear, “woo them out of their money.”

Leah laughed and pushed Elliott away. “Alright, you focus on the wooing and I’ll focus on explaining my thought processes.”

“That doesn’t sound as fun, but okay, this is your day.”

As Elliot and Leah made their way across the square, an unwelcome guest watched them from afar. Their blood boiled as they saw Leah pause at the makeshift painting gallery to give the farmer’s hand an affectionate squeeze.

***

“I can’t believe we sold so many!” Leah spoke in ecstatic disbelief as she waved at the last car she and (Y/n) had just loaded a heavy wooden sculpture into before it drove away. “This is crazy!”

(Y/n) wore a smile that matched Leah’s, happy to watch the sculptor bouncing in place. When Leah finally stilled, still giddy, she took both of (Y/n)’s hands in hers. Once again free of the gloves, the hands were pleasantly soft against her own and she relished in the feeling.

“(Y/n) I know it’s kind of late, but I have something I want to give to you. I left it at my house so I’m going to go get it. I’ll meet you at the farm, is that alright?”

(Y/n) stared at Leah, her curiosity piqued. She nodded, easily giving Leah the answer she was hoping for.

“Great! I’ll be there soon!” With one last squeeze of the farmer’s hands, she was off. (Y/n) heard the crack of a twig, but when she turned to investigate, nothing stood out so she made her way back to her farm to wait for Leah.

When Leah came up to the porch, (Y/n) had to do a double take at the big wooden statue she was lugging along. With one last huff of air, Leah placed the statue at the base of the steps and grinned up at (Y/n), wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

“Thanks for waiting. It was a little more ah, heavy, than I expected.” Leah laughed sheepishly. “Come take a look.”

(Y/n) stepped off the porch and circled the piece, taking in every detail. Leah felt nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach while she watched the farmer scrutinize the work and cleared her throat.

“I started working on it in the spring. I also incorporated some of that driftwood you gave me a few weeks ago. Anyway, I made it with you in mind. It’s called, ‘How I Feel about (Y/n)’ and I’d be honored if you would accept it as a gift for everything you’ve done for me.” Leah stared at her feet as she spoke, too embarrassed to keep her eyes on (Y/n) while she spoke. Then a pair of boots joined, hands came up to clasp her own, pulling the conjoined grasp into her line of vision and coaxing her to look up into (Y/n)’s eyes.

“It’s wonderful.”

At that moment, Leah thought her heart must have been beating so hard that it was affecting her hearing.

“Hh... huh?” Leah asked, rather dumbly.

(Y/n) swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and whispered, “It’s wonderful, Leah. Thank you.”

Leah looked absolutely awestruck, purple irises shone with excitement and she laughed, pulling (Y/n) into a tight embrace.

“I’m glad you like it.” Leah sniffled, resting her face in (Y/n)’s shoulder.

“Leah?” (Y/n) wrapped her arms around the artist, it was only one word, her name, but Leah heard the concern in the farmer’s tone.

“I’m okay. I’m just happy,” Leah sniffled again, “I’m happy you felt comfortable enough with me to speak to me.”

“Me too.” (Y/n) whispered, holding Leah tighter.

The pair found it difficult when they had to part ways for the night, but they were equally excited over how their relationship was developing, looking forward to spending more time together over the summer.

***

“Come on, just a little further...” Leah coached herself. She was reaching for a piece of fruit hanging from a branch just out of her reach.

She had planned a picnic with (Y/n) for this afternoon. She had already set up under the big old tree near the pond and as she waited for (Y/n) to finish up with her crops and animals for the morning, when she spotted the unusual fruit. Now she was jumping and stretching for the fruit just out of reach.

“Almost— Ah!” Leah struggled to balance herself in the air, swiveling her head to peak over her shoulder, she saw (Y/n) looking up at her with a mischievous grin. Leah rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the side of her lips. She turned back to the task at hand and grabbed the fruit, motioning (Y/n) to put her back down.

“Show off.” Leah scoffed, lightly punching (Y/n)’s shoulder. “You wanna try a bite?”

“Yes, please.” (Y/n)’s cheeks heated when Leah pressed the fruit to her lips. She took a bite of the offering, savoring the taste. “It’s so sweet.” She said, amazed.

“Right?” Leah smiled, “It’s rare to get fruit from this tree. Usually all the animals snap it all up as soon as they’re ripe, but it seems they miss some from time to time. How is everything with the farm this morning?”

“All is well,” (Y/n) nodded as the pair made themselves comfortable on the blanket Leah had set up, “I would have been here sooner but the goats kept standing in front of my cheese and mayo machines, the chicken coup too. Made it a little difficult.” (Y/n) disclosed. “Which reminds me,” she rummaged through her bag, “goat cheese salads.”

“Mmm, this looks heavenly. Thank you for making these.” Leah said, eagerly stirring in some vinaigrette into the generous fresh salad.

“No problem. Selling my harvest is nice, but it feels so much more rewarding enjoying it like this.” (Y/n) informed, mixing her own salad.

“I can imagine,” Leah hummed and leaned her back fully against the trunk of the tree, “Ah, it’s such a lovely day for this.”

“Mhmm.”

They ate the rest of their meal in peaceful silence, listening to the birds sing and the fish leap, the breeze rustling the trees and grass around them. It was tranquil, it was perfect.

“Hey, Leah,” (Y/n) spoke, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” Leah asked, turning her gaze away from the sketch pad she had brought out.

“It’s almost Fall you know, we’ve known each other for nearly two whole seasons. Half a year, it’s crazy, right?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, doesn’t it?” Leah giggled, “What made you think of that?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you something. Don’t feel like you have to answer one way or the other, but...” (Y/n) paused, trying to gather her thoughts.

“Hey, it’s okay (Y/n). You can tell me anything. Sign it out if you want to.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just nervous,” (Y/n) turned to her bag and pulled out a lovely bouquet of flowers, “Leah, would you maybe consider being my girlfriend?“

“Yes!” Leah enveloped (Y/n) in a tackle like hug that sent them both to fully meet the ground, accidentally crushing the flowers between their bodies, “Oops, sorry,” Leah wiggled the flowers out from under her to look at them more closely, “these are lovely, (Y/n). I didn’t know Pierre had these in yet.”

“He didn’t, I planted them.” (Y/n) clarified, smiling up at Leah who still hovered over her, giggling.

“Of course you did, you’re so sweet.”

“I try.”

“Are you kidding me!”

Leah and (Y/n) quickly turned to face the disturbance, scrambling to sit up from their compromising position. Leah felt her stomach twist with discomfort seeing Kel of all people marching up to them, absolutely fuming.

“Seriously, what the hell, Leah?” Kel yelled, their hands clenched into tight fists as they closed in, making yard after yard disappear between them.

“No, more like what the hell, Kel? I broke up with you seasons ago. What are you even doing in Pelican Town?” Leah retorted angrily, as (Y/n) helped her to her feet. Kel watched the motion and ground their teeth.

They were already dangerously close to crossing the threshold of the blanket and that small display was enough to send them stomping over the edge.

“I came for you, obviously! I’ve been slumming it in that dusty old saloon since your art show, waiting to talk to you! Now I find you sucking face with some country bumpkin nobody!” They seethed, stepping even closer into Leah’s personal space until (Y/n) pulled Leah back behind her, making Kel even more incensed. “You stay out of this. I’m talking to Leah!”

(Y/n) held strong, stuck between the harsh obscenities attacking her from the front and the loving affirmations defending her from behind. She held her arm out, willing Kel to stay back as she slowly started to guide Leah back in the direction of town for help. Kel ignored the warning and followed after them.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? You think you’re being some kind of hero right now?” Kel seethed.

(Y/n) stayed silent, she had gone mute again and who would blame her in the face of such a tense situation? She was so very uncomfortable, scared even, but she continued on passed Marnie’s since she knew the woman wasn’t home at this time and she sure wasn’t going to expose Jas to this. Jodi’s house was their next best bet.

“Hey, you obviously want to start something here. You’ve got something to say to me?” Kel continued forward.

“Kel, leave us alone!” Leah commanded, “It’s over, it’s been over, go home!”

“You think you’re too good to talk to me?” Kel yelled, ignoring Leah. “She’s just a whore. She just latched onto the first warm body she could find after her little meltdown. You’re not special.”

(Y/n) froze stiffly in place, Leah felt the muscles on her shoulders tense so she tried to pull on her arm to keep her moving.

“Ignore them, (Y/n). Let’s focus on getting to town, okay?” Leah pleaded. But (Y/n) gently pushed off Leah’s hands and took a step towards Kel with a cold glare. Leah stepped to stand beside (Y/n)’s side, nervous that a more serious confrontation was about to unfold.

“Well?” Kel spat.

(Y/n) crossed her arms, turning her head to look at Leah. The look on her face was all the communication Leah needed to understand. It was definitely a, ‘they better back off or I’m going to knock them off their block’ face. Leah had never known (Y/n) to be particularly violent, but with all the time she spent in the mines, she had no doubt that she could take care of herself.

Leah gasped when Kel suddenly roared, lunging forward. Apparently they had not liked how (Y/n) and Leah had been paying attention to each other rather than themself. Kel had rocketed forward and aimed to punch (Y/n) hard over her cheek, however, at the last moment, Leah pushed her aside and took the blow for her.

(Y/n) inhaled sharply and caught Leah as she stumbled back, noticing how blood immediately began gushing from Leah’s now broken nose.

“Ow- AH!” Leah cried, her hands muffled her voice since she had covered her nose and mouth.

It only took a second for (Y/n) to return the favor to Kel’s stunned face. She punched them fast and hard over their cheek, but Kel was quick to fight back and now it was a full out brawl.

“What’s going on, we heard yelling— holy shit!”

Leah turned away from the fight to see Sam, Seb, and Abigail running up on the scene.

“(Y/n)’s throwing hands!” Abigail yelled, sounding way more excited than worried.

“Leah are you okay? What’s going on?” Sebastian asked, noting the concerning amount of blood running down Leah’s arms and the front of her shirt.

“Don’t worry about me, stop them!” Leah winced, taking one hand away from her face to motion to her ex and her new girlfriend still going at each other.

“Damn, Abi! Go get your dad and Harvey too by the looks of it!” Sam yelled, he seemed to be looking for an opening to push the fighters apart.

“Are you kidding? You get my dad, I’m getting in on this!” Abigail cheered and ran up to jump on Kel’s back like she was at a rodeo while (Y/n) landed a good hit on Kel’s stomach. “Nice punch, (Y/n)!”

“Oh Yoba, Sam, start running.” Seb suggested, trying to help Leah with her nose. He was no Maru, but even he knew how to set a broken nose. Especially within the first couple weeks of Sam taking up skateboarding.

“Right!” Sam ran off back into town screaming. A few tense minutes later and Pierre, Caroline, Robin, Elliott, Maru and Harvey came running behind Sam to break up the fight.

“Abigail, stop!” Pierre huffed, pulling off his daughter and passing her off to his wife, “I taught you what I did to defend yourself, not to lash out like a wild animal!” He grunted, pulling Kel into his grasp and trapping their arms behind their back with Elliott coming up to assist.

“Come on dad, I was helping a friend! What’s the big deal?” Abi groaned, while her mom fretted over her, looking for injuries.

“Easy there kid, it’s over.” Robin coaxed (Y/n), pulling her back. The farmer slumped over in the carpenter’s hold, breathing heavily.

“Is (Y/n) okay? Ah!” Leah hissed as Harvey touched up her nose, giving her a nasal spray before wedging a couple wads of tissue up her nostrils.

“Sorry, Leah.” Harvey sympathized, “Maru is going to check up on her now.”

“What about me?” Kel hissed. Pierre had them resting on their knees. They looked really roughed up. A black eye was already forming and scratches and bruises littered their skin, they were also holding their stomach rather tightly.

“You’ll just have to wait a minute.” Elliott frowned, staring down at the stranger with contempt.

“Don’t you have any police officers in this backwater town? I’ll sue every one of you for withholding care to someone who is obviously hurt!” Kel threatened, grinding their teeth.

“Oh, the police are coming alright!”  Caroline spoke indignantly. “You are in no position to be asking for anything right now, bringing violence to our community, you should be ashamed!”

“(Y/n) can you look up for me, please.” Maru asked, carefully tilting (Y/n)’s chin up. (Y/n) sucked in a breath when Maru touched her bruised jaw a tad to hard. “Sorry, Your jaw is bruised pretty badly. Your bottom lip split too. How is your vision?”

(Y/n) shook her head and winced, cradling her head in her hands.

“Okay, possible concussion. We’ll need to observe her at the clinic.” Maru said.

“Alright, come on bruiser,” Robin grunted, heaving (Y/n) to her feet, “Sebbie, help me walk her into town please.”

“Sure mom.” Seb took (Y/n)’s other side.

(Y/n) patted Robin’s arm, motioning her to wait. She slowly turned to Kel and leaned more heavily against Seb as she freed her other arm from Robin to snap her fingers aggressively, looking for Kel’s attention. Once Kel looked up at her, sneering from their spot in the dirt, (Y/n) turned briefly to make sure Leah was watching. When she saw that she was, she smiled as if to say, ‘watch this,’ and turned back to Kel. (Y/n) brought her flat, angled hand below her chin and sent it forward in the direction of Kel’s confused, but no less, pissed face.

“Oh ho! (Y/n) is such a badass!” Abigail laughed.

“Abi, since when do you know sign language?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

“I don’t, but I’ve spent enough time searching curses in different languages to know that was totally a ‘fuck you’. Personally I think a middle finger approach would have been an appropriate classic myself but whatever.” Abigail shrugged.

“Abigail, language!” Caroline scolded.

“Sorry mom.”

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. Clinic, now.” Robin tried to hold in a laugh as she repositioned (Y/n)’s arm over her shoulder. Then she and Seb began walking (Y/n) back into town.

Leah made to follow, but as they were leaving, the police from the the next town over had arrived and they needed her statements as a witness. Never mind that she was covered in her own blood and her girlfriend was being dragged away to the clinic with a concussion. Once the officers were satisfied, they took Kel away with promises to be back for (Y/n)’s statement and to see if any charges would be made. For now they were just going to take Kel back to a hospital in Zuzu City since they may have broken a rib or two in the fight. After that, they were going to be free to go.

Leah wasn’t too worried. She didn’t think Kel would come back after the beating (Y/n) and Abigail gave them. She watched the police car drive out of Cindersaps, taking her disgruntled ex away.

“Leah, I’m sure you want to get to the clinic but you should really clean up first.” Caroline had said patting the younger woman’s back. “(Y/n) will be fine.”

“Yeah, Harvey and Maru got her. Take some time to process.” Elliott smiled.

Leah could only nod tiredly. She trudged over to her cottage to shower and change. She still couldn’t believe how quickly things got out of hand. She looked at her bandaged nose in the mirror, hissing when she gingerly touched the bridge of it. She was wary of Seb setting it himself, but Harvey said he had gone a great job. Once she was physically put back together, Leah quickly made her way to the clinic.

“Where is she?” She asked immediately upon arriving. She sounded a little congested thanks to her clogged nose, but she was easily understood. Robin was still in the waiting room and filled her in.

“Harvey and Maru are talking her through concussion care. She’s okay, but I don’t think she’ll be allowed to work for awhile.”

“Oh no,” Leah sat down, resting her elbows on her knees and covered her eyes with her hands, “This is all my fault.”

“Aw, don’t say that sweetheart. You know that’s not true.” Robin frowned, taking a seat beside her, “(Y/n) would hate to hear you think like that.”

“(Y/n) loves her farm! If she can’t maintain the upkeep...” Leah continued, teary eyed, only to be silenced by Robin.

“I’m going to stop you right there. Nothing is going to happen to the farm. Abi, Sam, and even Seb already told (Y/n) in no uncertain terms that they were going to pitch in while she recovers. Everything is going to be taken care of.” Robin assured.

“Still none of this would have happened if-“

“If you hadn’t broken up with your ex? Moved to Pelican Town? Got a crush? Leah, you can’t punish yourself for moving on with your life. You’re allowed to be happy.” Robin chided gently. “It was hard for me and Sebastian’s father to see eye to eye at the best of times. Now I have Demetrius and although he can be a bit annoying sometimes with his tomato bullshit, not a day goes by that I’m not grateful I took that first step because I love him.” Robin smiled.

Leah’s nose hurt like hell as she tried to carefully wipe the tears from her eyes and Robin rubbed her back affectionately. Once Leah had calmed down, Robin stood and stretched.

“She’s been wondering where you are. The doc is keeping her for overnight observation, but your welcome to stay with her. I on the other hand, am apparently too old for this much excitement and need to go home.”

“Thank you Robin, for talking to me.”

“Anytime,” Robin grinned, “now go get her.”

Leah made her way into the back area of the clinic and nearly ran up to Harvey, Maru, and (Y/n). (Y/n) was signing to Maru while she relayed the information to Harvey as he examined (Y/n)’s well being.

(Y/n) was relieved to see Leah and eagerly motioned her to come sit on the edge of the bed she was sitting in which Leah did happily.

“Leah, how’s the nose?” Harvey asked while he finished up (Y/n)’s chart.

“It’s fine. Just, really sore and tingly.”

“So not fine.” Maru chuckled. “I’ll get you some pain meds.”

“Ah, thanks Maru.” Leah smiled sheepishly.

“Well, Ms. (Y/n),” Harvey sighed, turning his attention back to the farmer, “you and I are in for a long night. I’ll be waking you up every hour to check your pupils to see if your condition changes at all.” Harvey stood and stretched, “Ms. Leah, feel welcome to stay as long as you like. It can’t hurt to keep an extra pair of eyes on her.”

“I could stay overtime, Harvey.” Maru said as she came back with two pills and a glass of water for Leah.

“I seem to recall you talking about a time sensitive experiment this morning.” Harvey recalled, making Maru smack the side of her head. “You’re right! I got to go now! Good night everyone!” Maru called behind her as she rushed out to the waiting room then out of the building.

“I’m going to take the first of my many naps lined up for tonight. I’ll see you ladies in about an hour. Try to get some rest.” Harvey said before leaving to walk up the stairs to his apartment.

Finally Leah and (Y/n) were alone again. (Y/n) sunk down into the covers and sighed deeply. She turned to face Leah, concerning the sculptor by how small she looked.

“You’re not too upset with me, are you?” (Y/n) asked, surprising Leah.

“I’m not upset with you. Why would I be upset with you?”

“I just beat the crap out a person. Sure they are your ex, but you cared about them at some point so it must have been hard to watch. I can’t imagine what you must think of me now.” (Y/n) whispered, she was so quiet Leah had to lean closer and even then she was straining to hear.

“(Y/n), I like you. Nothing that happened today changed how much I like you. It certainly didn’t make me like you any less,” Leah rested her hand over (Y/n)’s cheek, “Kel made their choice when they decided to come to Pelican Town and confront us. I wish it hadn’t gone down the way it did, but that’s not our fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too. I was worried.”

“I wish we could start this day all over,” Leah moaned, “First day as official girlfriends and we get into a fist fight.”

(Y/n) laughed lightly, closing her eyes to combat the pain that came from her jostling. “Abigail thought it was a pretty great date activity.”

“She would think that.” Leah rolled her eyes, “she also eats rocks.”

“Well, think about it this way. Until I’m allowed to take up all my farming duties again, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Whatever I want, hmm?” Leah tapped her lips with her index finger, “would it be to forward if me to ask for a kiss?”

“You may, just be careful with my split lip. I won’t be able to explain what happened to Harvey if you make it worse.” (Y/n) said.

“One gentle kiss, coming right up.” Leah wiggled on the bed’s stiff hospital sheets until she laid face to face with (Y/n). Their lips met in a soft brushing that was almost ghost like, but rather than leaving them with a chill, warmth bloomed between them.

“Wow.” (Y/n) grinned.

“If you thought that was good, wait until I can get more involved with it.”

“So confident. I like it.” (Y/n) squinted, “could you turn the light off? It’s really starting to hurt my eyes.”

“Of course.” Leah got up and switched off the half the lights to keep their side of the room in darkness but allow Harvey to still be able to see when he came back.

“Now come cuddle, please.” (Y/n) asked sleepily reaching her arms out.

“Nothing would make me happier.”

Leah kicked off her boots and shimmied under the sheets to join (Y/n) and wrapped her arms around her. Leah let the exhaustion of the day roll over her and she had nearly let sleep claim her before her eyes shot open and she propped herself up on her elbow to lean over (Y/n).

“Did I really sign a ‘fuck you’ when we first met?!” She asked, appalled.

(Y/n)’s response was to laugh sleepily into Leah’s chest.

#stardew valley x reader #stardew valley oneshots #sv leah #stardew valley leah #leah x reader #sv leah x reader #stardew valley leah x reader #stardew valley

[maryannaugerbooks]

The Beginning of Something Good

Fandom: Stardew Valley

Word count: 1.9k

Warning: Makeout session

This piece is on AO3, Wattpad and Tumblr.

.

Océane is the new farmer in Pelican town. She quit her job at Joja Corporation and decided to follow her grandfather's footsteps and take care of Blue Coral, the farm he left her when he passed away.

After her initial shock of seeing the farm in a pitiful condition, she admired the wonderful beach surrounding the cabin she would call home. When she found out her grandfather was leaving her a farm, she didn’t expect it to be a beach farm!

Thankful for not being stuck in an office anymore, the long ash-colored-haired farmer got to work. She watered the crops, explored the mines and spent her afternoons fishing.

She settled into a routine, every day looking slightly different but also very much the same. That is, until that Tuesday evening.

Océane had realized she was out of seeds. She wanted to extend her garden and grow a bigger variety of vegetables but Pierre’s General Store would be closed the next day. Determined to get her seeds so that she could start planting them in the morning, she ran all the way to the store, swung the door open and greeted Pierre with a big wave.

“Hey Pierre. Sorry for coming in right before you close. Can I get some potato and green bean seeds please?”

Pierre handed over the seeds and Océane placed them in her bag. She wanted to get home quickly in order to cut down a couple trees to make more space to till more soil.

She swung her bag over her shoulder and started walking towards the exit. She half-turned around to wave goodbye to Pierre when the wind got knocked out of her.

Before she fell to the ground, a sturdy – and soft – hand grabbed her arm.

At first, she was too shaken to see who she ran into. Then, she regained her senses and saw a young man with long brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes.

Oceane was pretty sure her mouth was still open when the man said “Hi. I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Elliott. I live in the cabin on the beach.”

She slightly shook her head and said, “Oh. I live on a beach too! How fun.”

She internally cringed at herself. How fun she said mockingly in her head.

Elliott chuckled and it was the most beautiful chuckle she’d ever heard.

Get yourself together. She scolded herself.

“Thanks for... catching me. I’ll see you around.” Océane left the store quickly and walked home, her heart beating fast and her face flushed.

When she got home, the farmer got straight to work. She didn’t want to think about what happened. She was definitely embarrassed but there was something more underneath her bruised ego that she didn’t want to admit.

---

After a few days of mining and fighting monsters - trying to reach the bottom of the damn mines - Océane was tired. Her shoulders were aching. Scratch that, her whole body was aching.

Feeling like she deserved a break, she made her way to the Stardrop Saloon. It was Friday night after all. She was excited to speak to Emily. She hadn’t seen her all week as they were both too busy working.

They became friends soon after her arrival in Pelican Town. They had met when the farmer got to the Saloon on her second day in town, desperate for some food. She had been fishing all morning and afternoon and had forgotten to eat. Her grandfather’s old house didn’t have a kitchen so she had hungrily made her way to the bar for a bite to eat. After ordering, Océane had sat at the bar and Emily and her talked about clothes, the universe and everything in between.

The local bar was booming with the regulars. Océane sat down at her usual spot, the barstool in the middle. Not the one closest to the cash and not the one closest to Shane. She didn’t particularly feel like getting cold remarks from the disheveled young man.

Also, by sitting in that spot – although not the original intention behind sitting there- Océane’s main goal was trying to hide Emily from Clint’s view. He was notorious for sending furtive glances her way all night. Emily was friends with Clint, but the farmer didn’t like him.

“Hey Emily. How’s your night?”

The blue-haired girl who was facing away from the bar cleaning some glass turned around and flashed a bright smile to Océane.

‘’Hey girl. Tonight’s pretty busy but that’s usual for Friday. How was your week? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.’’

Océane brought her hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. ‘’I made a huge fool of myself on Tuesday. I’m still embarrassed.’’

Emily gave her that tell me more look so Océane continued, ‘’On Tuesday I went to Pierre’s to get some seeds and as I was walking towards the door, I turned around to say bye to Pierre and I ran into someone - hard. I think he said his name was Elliott. I had never seen him before.’’

Emily squealed which made Océane shush her. ‘’People are going to hear you!’’

Completely ignoring her friend, Emily subtly nodded in Elliott’s direction with her head. He was sitting at the table near the Jukebox with Leah.

After seeing the one who had made her heart race - from embarrassment, of course - Océane looked at Emily with wide eyes. ‘’Does he come here every Friday? How come I haven’t noticed him before?’’

Emily shrugged, ‘’He’s pretty quiet’’. After a pause she adds, ‘’you could buy him a drink. He likes a strong beer.’’

Appalled, Océane interjected ‘’Why would I do that? I don’t even know him!’’

‘’But he’s cute,’’ Emily said as if that was a good enough reason.

‘’I guess I have nothing to lose. If he rejects me, I’ll just dig a hole and bury myself in it.’’

Emily laughed, ‘’stop being so dramatic and hand him this beer. You’ll thank me later.’’

After staring at the beer for a couple of minutes, contemplating running away, Océane decided to get up and give Elliott the beer before it got warm. No one likes a warm beer.

She awkwardly walked towards his table, her feet feeling heavy. She was suddenly feeling self-conscious about the way she was walking.

When she got to the table, she realized that Leah had left. She was relieved. Océane set the beer on the table and said, ‘’I heard you like a strong beer.’’

He looked at her, surprised. ‘’This is for me? Marvelous!’’

‘’It’s for saving me from further embarrassment on Tuesday.’’ She said nonchalantly even though that’s not quite how she felt.

Elliott took a sip of the beer, licked his lips and motioned her to take a seat.

Her heart felt like it was about to explode in her chest, her face was warm but she kept it cool on the outside. ‘’How’s the beach life treating you?’’

‘’I like it. I moved here so I could get away from the big city and write.’’

‘’That’s why I moved here too. To get away from the big city, I mean. I couldn’t stand working at a desk all day,’’ Océane said, ‘’what do you write about?’’

“I typically write poems but I’m looking for inspiration to write my first novel.” Elliott took another drink. “What kind of books do you like to read?”

Océane’s cheeks got even warmer. “I like romance. It really helps me unwind and it gives me all the feels.”

The writer chuckled, “maybe my novel will be a romance in that case.”

Was he flirting with her?

“I would love to read it when you’re done.” She was genuine. She loved a good book, but she also wanted to see if Elliott was the kind of romantic she imagined him to be. She may or may not have been imagining scenarios between her and the writer as she was tilling the soil, planting her seeds and doing all her other farm work this week.

“It would be an honor to have you read my book,” Elliott responded with a smile.

Océane made to get up, gently pushing her chair away from the table with her hips. “I wish I could talk some more but I should get going, it’s getting late and I have a lot of work to do in the morning.”

“Let me accompany you home.”

Océane stared at the writer with wide eyes. Elliott quickly added, “only if you’d like me to, of course. It’s dark out and...” He hesitated before continuing, “it would be my pleasure to spend more time with you.”

The farmer’s heart started racing but she gave him a big smile before saying, “Sure, I’d love that.”

The cool spring air chilled her skin as they started walking towards the farm. Elliott noticed her rubbing her hands on her arms in an attempt to warm up. She watched as he removed his red jacket and handed it to her. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. His jacket smelled like old books.

They made small talk until they reached the front door of her cabin.

“Thank you for walking me home. I appreciate it,” Océane said. “Hold on a sec, I’ll give you your jacket so you don’t get cold on your way back to the beach.”

She removed the piece of clothing, already missing the warmth of it and the smell of books. Elliott’s gaze was on her as she handed him his jacket, their fingers brushing for longer than necessary.

Océane licked her lips and Elliott’s green eyes seemed mesmerized by the movement. She could tell he wanted to say something but he was hesitating.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this in case you don’t feel the same way, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that day at Pierre’s.”

“Me either,” she breathed. He took a hesitant step forward and gave her a searching look. He was waiting for her approval. She looked directly in his eyes and nodded.

Elliott closed the distance between them, lifted his hand to her hair and brushed his lips against hers. Océane felt like she was going to melt on the balcony of her cabin.

She deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Elliott brushed his tongue against her lips and she opened to give him access.

The wood door of her cabin was now pressing against her back. One of Elliott’s hands braced him against the wood of the cabin while his other hand settled on her waist.

Océane lowered her hands from his neck to his chest, feeling the muscle there before lowering them towards his lower belly. She fidgeted with the hem of his shirt before sliding her fingers underneath feeling the warmth of his skin. Elliott gasped at the touch and Océane smiled against his lips.

His hands explored her curves like he wanted to remember the shape of her forever. They couldn’t get enough of each other. Océane finally allowed her hands to linger dangerously low.

Elliott pulled back, out of breath. “Let me take you out on a date first. Then, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at 6 then,” She winked at him and kissed his cheek before entering her cabin, closing the door and leaning against it, heart racing.

She had a feeling this was the beginning of something good.

#stardew valley #stardew elliott #elliott stardew valley #sv elliott #fanfic #ao3 #wattpad #elliott and farmer #my writing #fanfiction writer

[aewhore]

Rhea Ripley x fem!reader.Where the reader is Shane’s adopted daughter.So the reader and Rhea are secretly engaged and Vince decides to put the reader in a storyline with Adam Cole.Of course the reader doesn’t like it, and after a few months it’s getting closer to the wedding and Vince decides to start setting up for an arranged marriage,which causes Rhea to confess to their engagement.And reader ends up setting Vince and the McMahons (Not Stephanie) straight with some colorful words.

Hello, my love @mrsbaszler I’m so sorry this took so damn long to write, Thank you so very much for being so patient with me so I hope you love this as much as I do!!!  

Word count: 2500 

WARNINGS: slight hints towards NSFW activity in beginning. Hinted at homophobia. 

  Fighting for my family ~ Rhea Ripley x fem! reader.  

The morning sun beamed in through the window and straight into your face. You rolled over into the chest of your fiancée, Rhea Ripley. Her arms tighten around you, tangling your arms with hers. “Good morning sunshine” Her morning voice was deeper and raspier than her normal voice. You groan as you bury your face deeper into her chest trying to avoid the reality that you will have to leave the safe haven that is your hotel room bed. Rhea laughs at your attempt to hide away from your responsibilities. She starts to move to leave the bed much to your protests. “Come on sleeping beauty, I have to go shower and I think we both know you’d like to join me” Rhea leaves the bed and walks into the bathroom leaving the door open behind her. “Damn it! Your good” You had no choice but to leave your fort of comfort to join your fiancée in the bathroom before you have to leave.  

Coming out of the bathroom after showering and drying your hair, you and Rhea jump slightly when your phone blasts out your ringtone. You rush over to check it and see it's your dad. You look back to see Rhea staring back at you with a raised eyebrow at the identification of the caller. ‘Dad’ you mouth before picking up. “Hey Pops” You try to sound as cheery as possible but you already know what he’s calling about. “Y/N! Where are you? Do you know what time it is?” You check your phone and see it’s 9:30, You’re half an hour late for the morning meeting at the WWE headquarters. “Ugh shit, I must have overslept, I’m on my way now.” You’re lying through your teeth but your dad seems happy enough with your excuse as he ends the calls after a quick “Get your butt her ASAP” after hanging up you realize you’re still naked and rush around to find your clothes to get dressed. “Overslept huh?” Rhea says interrupting your hunt for your pants. “Rhea” you warn, knowing what she’s going to say next. “I know I know, you can’t tell your family because they’d never accept it but Jesus Y/N, we’re engaged. We’re getting married like to each other in less than a year and-” You interrupt Rhea as your frustrations get the better of you. “Rhea! I love you and I love your family but you don’t understand my family wouldn’t accept us. Being Shane McMahon’s daughter means I have to fit a certain mould. If they found out about us… I don't know what they’d do.” You break eye contact with Rhea to locate your shirt after zipping up your jeans. “You told Steph and she was fine with it. All I’m saying is I’m tired of being your little secret.” You freeze at Rhea’s cold words. “Rhea-” You know you don’t have a good defence to her claims but still she interrupts you. “Don’t. Just don’t. I’ll see you later at the P.C.” and with that she turned on her heels and reentered the bathroom, leaving you in stunned defeated silence.  

You arrive at headquarters a half an hour later with a guilty pit in your stomach. Rhea’s words ringing in your head as you sit in the meeting room, hearing your family bicker around you about the product and the plans of this and that and the other. You worked on NXT with Uncle Paul and William Regal, that's how you met Rhea in the first place. Onscreen you were a commentator with Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett, you were damn good as well. You had been commentating for the last 5 years and you loved every minute of it. “Y/N!” You’re snapped out of your thoughts to the realization that the entire board meeting is staring at you. You straight up in your seat “pardon?” You try your best to at least sound polite despite the fact you hadn’t heard a damn thing that was said. Your Grandfather stared daggers into you as he began to speak again. “Well, had you been listening you would have heard that we are setting a storyline between yourself and adam cole into motion as soon as possible” Your face scrunches in confusion as you speak up. “Wait what? Why?” your voice comes out more frantic and high pitched than you had hoped. Triple H turned in his chair to address you “Well we want to put Adam in a program against Johnny again but Adam needs someone to balance out against Candice” Like Beetlejuice or the devil himself, there's a knock on the meeting room door, Vince breaks into a grin as he welcomes the interruption in and in walks Adam Cole with his infamous smirk already pasted onto his face. 

“Adam! So glad you could join us” Triple H warmly welcomes the UE leader as he sits as close as possible to you in the seat next to you. Why him? Of all people, it just had to be him. When you started your job as a commentator he made it his business to berate your work on Twitter until he came to NXT where he could belittle you in person. You can already tell this will be a horrible time for you. “I’m so glad to be here Paul, Vince thank you so much for this opportunity and Y/N, you actually look really good today, good job” Adam’s voice rang through your head as he made it his mission to get under your skin as soon as possible. Thankfully Vince intervenes in Adam's mission but that tankful feeling is short-lived “Well Adam we’re thankful you suggested this story and we truly feel that Y/N is a perfect fit.” You turn in shock back towards Adam only to come face to face with that sly smirk that you wished you could scrape off his face with your boot. “Wait, how can I have a storyline against Candice if I’ve never wrestled before?” You took a leap of faith, hoping that someone would see how insane this was and put an end to it but alas no luck. “Oh don't worry sweetheart you won’t be getting your pretty little hands dirty in an actual match or anything but if we need you for a brawl or something I’m sure I could teach you a thing or two.” Adam punctuates his sentence with a wink, he leaned in closer to whisper “or maybe you could ask your little friend Rhea for help, I’m sure she’d be more than happy to help ya out”  

The blood rushed away from your head. You felt like you had been sucker-punched, how dare he? Did he know? No surely not. How could he possibly know! Your father, Grandfather and Uncle had carried on the conversation so they had missed Adam’s potential bombshell but they brought the two of you back into the conversation when Shane said: “So what do you think Y/N?” You felt all eyes in the boardroom on you as the pit in your stomach grew and grew and you had hoped it would swallow you whole. “Sure, I’ll give it a shot for a week.” the second you agree the entire room erupts as scripting the rest of NXT begins. Once the meeting is dismissed you rush back to your car to call Rhea but you’re interrupted by your father as you near the exit. “Jeez, someone’s in a hurry, where’s the fire?” Shane laughs out as he stands between you and the exit. “Oh sorry dad, just wanted to go back to the hotel because I forgot my laptop” Your eyes were darting around to avoid your father’s gaze. “Is it important sweetie because I need you to run a few errands for me” your eyes snap to your father. You know you’ll look suspicious if you turn down your father but you need to talk to Rhea ASAP. “Will it take long?” you begrudgingly grumble. 

That's what put you in this situation now. You were running around the performance centre helping out with the writing and distribution of the scripts for the NXT tapings tonight. The hours before NXT were ticking away and your anxiety about your new “storyline” was only building and building. Before you knew it, it was showtime and you were rushing out to the commentary desk, nearly shaking with nerves. You almost physically facepalmed when you remembered that you haven't spoken to Rhea and your storyline was starting tonight. Your stomach sank as the show began, you had to put on your game face but inside you were dreading tonight's events. The show ticked by and you calmed as the storyline slipped to the back of your mind as you focused on the action happening in front of you. Before you could even truly settle in to enjoy the episode of NXT that you were commentating on, the main event came and the air was knocked out of your lungs when you realized what you had to do in less than 15 minutes.  

The main event of the show was going to build towards the men's war game, Pat Mcafee would approach the commentary desk and cut a promo on Vic and Wade, then he will turn his attention to you and start to insult you before Adam run down to be your knight in sweaty armour to save you from the big bad football man thus starting an on-screen relationship between you and Adam. The segment was going so far so good, Pat was doing his job and Adam came to your defence exactly on time. Just as you're about to sit back down at your desk Adam suddenly grabs your hand and kisses your knuckles before he struts back up the ramp to close out the show with Undisputed Era standing tall. If you didn't have to act like a blushing little schoolgirl then you might have thrown up at Cole’s horrible attempt at romance. The show finished and you gathered your things from the commentary desk to return backstage. You politely say good night to your coworkers as you pass by them on your way out to your car to return to your car. The drive back to the hotel was quicker than you expected. The exhaustion of a long filming day was settling into your bones as you entered the hotel and made your way up to your room.

 The loud beep of the key card being accepted rang through your ears as you pushed through the door. The door clicked behind you as you dropped your bags and coat on the floor with an unenthusiastic thud. You see Rhea is already on the sofa in the room and once your eyes fall on your fiancee, you quickly move towards her to fall into her arms. “So you and Cole huh?” it feels like your heart stops beating, shit… you never warned Rhea about your new storyline. “Baby, I’m sorry I-” you start to apologize but Rhea cuts you off “Don’t baby me Y/N, What the fuck was that? You can’t tell your family about your fiancee but you can give fuck me eyes to Adam cole on national TV?? I can’t believe you sometimes” you hang your head in shame as the severity of the situation settled in. “Rhea, I’m sorry. I meant to tell you beforehand but I didn't have a moment to myself at all today” You start to explain yourself but Rhea rolls her eyes at your excuse. “Enough Y/N… enough, I’m done with being your dirty little secret. I love you more than anything but I can't stand it as you allow your family to play pretend with you.” Rhea was standing now as you both stood eye to eye, you were only 3 feet apart but it felt like an ocean between you both. Your eyes brimming with tears as Rhea starts to walk past you. “Rhea, please.” She doesn’t stop and once you hear the door open and close behind, you break out in sobs. The future of your engagement lies in your ability to come clean to your family. 

The phrase hell hath no fury as a woman scorned never rang truer than you making your way into WWE HQ to meet with your family to reclaim your destiny. You realize you’ll have to get your father alone to tell him about your relationship with Rhea first before hopefully, you both go to your grandfather to scrap the Adam Cole storyline. So as you sit down to the morning meeting, you already feel yourself zoning out as you work out what you’ll say to your father later on. The meeting goes by faster than expected but sadly the meeting deviates towards the future of yours and Cole’s storyline. “You want to book a WHAT?!” your shock overtakes your body as you nearly yell at your grandfather. “Well Y/N. As you should have guessed by now the end goal of this storyline will be a wedding angle between the two of you, I think the fans will love it. it was trending last night.” Vine had his selling hat on but you weren't having it. You were ready to put your foot down and finally stand up to your family before the doors to the meeting room burst open. 

Rhea stood at the entrance of the room, a shocked silence fell over the meeting room. “Rhea, how can we help you?” Triple H breaks the silence. “Oh, you could help me out her trips, How bout you give me my fiancee back?” Your heart skipped a beat as your knight in shining armour came to rescue you. “Excuse me?” Vince's confusion echoes through the room as your breath catches in your throat as you stand from your seat. All eyes in the room dart to you as you finally catch the courage to speak. “It’s me, I’m her fiancee, I have been for months and they’ve been the happiest months of my life.” you and Rhea lock eyes and smile at each other. “Excuse me? I can't believe you Y/N, how could you not have told us this?” Your father stared up at you with a shocked expression on his face. “Jesus Christ Dad, how would I tell you? You never listen to me anyway. At every meeting, I’ve ever been at you’ve all ignored my input. Then you forced me into a dumb storyline with that idiot Cole and then you wanted me to marry HIM? I’m gay dad and I love her and I refuse to be ashamed of my love anymore” 

After your rant, you move towards Rhea to hold her hand and lead her out of the meeting room. “Let’s get out of her babe” you put on your best cool girl face as you lead your gorgeous fiancee away from HQ. Rhea suddenly stops your stride and you snap back towards her, “You wanna do something crazy?” you furrow your brows at your fiancee’s question. “Go on?” she’s piqued your interest now so you java to know. “Let’s just go to Vegas and get married now” The request takes you by surprise but the answer leaves you as if it's been sitting in your brain for years. “Yes, let’s go right now” You both break into giggles as you run towards your (hopefully long and happy) life together!

#Rhea Ripley #rhea ripley imagine #rhea ripley fanfic #rhea ripley fancfiction #WWE NXT #nxt imagine #nxt fanfiction #WWE #wwe fanfiction #wwe imagine #im v proud of this #love me?

[xpao-bearx]

Part 1 HERE

NOTE: OMG I really wasn't expecting for the previous first part of Heavenly Sins to blow up as it did, but I just wanted to give a huuuge THANK YOU to all of you amazing folks!! 🥰🥰🥰 Your support truly means so fooken much to trashy ol' meh and y'all are the reason I am writing this story series in the first place :')

I do have my ideas, but I still don't know much yet of what to do or even how long (or short) this story will get. So, if you would continue to give me your mindblowing support, it would seriously mean the W O R L D.

I do, however, very much enjoy writing Negan in particular so far. He's one of my absolute fave characters ever and JEFFREY DEAN FUCKIN' MORGAN NEED I SAY MOAR?!? 🥵💕💕

But this second part will be focusing a bit more on our beloved sheriff Ricky boi! Of course, Daryl will also get some much deserved love and attention tho I think he will appear in the story a lil later on.

Also, if you ever feel compelled, you are more than welcome to take some inspo from this story and make your own imagines and such! I'd love to see 'em, so please tag me 😁

P.S. There won't always be long ass notes like this, only if I wanna say something or bring up whatever is important. Also, if you wanna be tagged on any new/future story parts, then just tell moi and I will dedicate the latest one to the people who wanted to be tagged!

DEDICATED TO: The wonderful @buttercandy16 💖

"Heavenly Sins"

Part 2

After your little spiel, you haven't spoken to Negan since then. But on the way home after church, you passed by his house and found him tinkering away on his motorcycle (which you previously learned he interestingly named Lucille) in the garage. Not being able to help yourself, you paused in your tracks and just curiously watched him for a while.

His leather jacket was off, revealing a plain white t-shirt. The shirt was quite tight, and you noted how it perfectly hugged the taut muscles of his chest. Your eyes then slowly trailed to his toned arms, adorned by tattoos you wished you had a better look at. He stopped briefly, placing his tools down before grabbing the hem of his shirt and wiping the sweat on his forehead.

You didn't even think twice as your eyes dropped, hyperfocused on his abs. He wasn't the buffest guy out there, but he was lean and fit and--to put it bluntly--hot. A part of you screamed bloody murder to get a grip on yourself, to just turn your stiff body around and proceed on home. But another part completely squashed down those protests without even a fight; as if your pathetic excuse of a resolve wasn't even meant in the first place.

"Take a goddamn picture, darlin'. It'll last longer."

Your head snapped up, meeting the tantalizing hazel stare of Negan. His lips were curled in a smug smirk, and nevermore in your entire life have you wanted to both slap and kiss someone so badly.

But you only clicked your tongue, shooting him a sharp glare before (at last!) turning and walking away as you hid your blush. In the distance, his amused chuckle begrudgingly sounded like the sweetest fucking music to your ears.

♡♡♡

You woke up at 7:05 a.m. like you typically did the next morning, Monday. It was the dawn of a new week, and while most people dreaded it you actually didn't mind it so much. You had your job to thank for that.

Sure, it wasn't always easy, but it was worth it in the end. You loved teaching and spending time with the children, and you were even more ecstatic since you knew Judith was going to be at the daycare.

As you finished eating breakfast and preparing for the day, you grabbed your bag then went out the door. You opted to walk again today, the weather far too beautiful to miss plus the daycare really wasn't that far away.

Eventually arriving at your destination, you approached the daycare building's doors with a little spring in your step. Once inside, a young woman with her blonde hair high in a ponytail smiled and waved.

"Hi, Y/N! Goodmorning!" Beth Greene greeted energetically.

"Morning, Beth." You chuckled, the girl's radiant smile infectious. You've known Beth for some time now, especially since the Greenes were one of the oldest families in Alexandria and they were well respected. But you got along best with Beth, you thought she was the friendliest and she was also the latest hire of the daycare.

Stashing your bag away in your personal locker, you fixed yourself up a bit before getting your nametag and sticking it on your top. Looking up at the wall clock, you read that it was 7:50 a.m. Perfect, just in time for the kids' drop-offs.

You waited outside with Beth and the rest of the daycare workers, until finally the parents started rolling in. It was the usual; some of the children were wailing, snot snivelling down their nose as their embarrassed parents tried to tug them away from clinging onto their legs. You could only offer a sympathetic smile as you tried to help, while other children were much more relaxed and didn't even spare a second glance at their parents as they were dropped off.

"Well, that's about all of them." Beth piped up.

"Wait, we're still waiting for Judith." You said, searching for the toddler. "Rick said she'd be here."

Beth checked her watch, her brows creasing a little in worry. "That's odd. Sheriff Grimes is never late when he's dropping Judith off."

Just as she said that, there was a honk that disrupted the peace. You and Beth both spotted a crying Judith being held by Lori, the woman appearing utterly exhausted before her eyes locked with yours and didn't waste another second dashing towards you.

"Please don't run when you're holding Judith. Also, no honking is allowed on the premises." It was hard for you to keep the malice out of your voice, but you mentally gave yourself a pat on the back since you miraculously managed to not make it sound the worst it could get.

Lori raised a brow at you, but only handed Judith over to you. Judith immediately quieted down when she saw it was you, you cooing gently at her as she giggled and snuggled up comfortably against your chest.

"Rick will be picking her up later." Was all Lori said, pressing a quick peck on Judith's curly little head before parting ways. As Lori rushed back to the car, you saw Shane in the driver's seat shamelessly attack her neck with fervent kisses and you couldn't restrain an eyeroll.

"Fucking bitch..." You grumbled.

"Uh-oh. Bad!" Judith giggled again, clapping her hands gleefully.

"Right, right. Bad. Don't copy me, okay?" You laughed, completely forgetting about your aggravation as you rubbed your nose with Judith's and went inside.

♡♡♡

The rest of the day rolled along splendidly. No one threw a tantrum and for the most part, all the kids properly shared the wide assortment of toys and even did their activities orderly and on time. So, you decided to indulge them with a small yet much sought after reward.

Painting.

When it comes down to children, painting can be utter chaos. But you figured since they were being so good, you'd allow it. At the daycare you worked in, painting was quite a rare occurrence and that only solidified how much the kids adored it.

Once the materials were set out, it was a dizzying flurry of excited hands grabbing anything it could latch on to. As the kids went about doing their creative business, you found Judith all alone sitting in the corner playing around with some blocks.

"Whatcha doin' there, Judi?" You asked, sweetly calling out her nickname. "You don't wanna paint?"

"I wanna, but not with papers." She replied, shaking her head.

"Oh? Then where do you wanna paint?"

"I wanna paint on faces, but no one wants me to!"

"If that's the case, then I'd be more than happy to let you paint my face." You smiled.

"Really?!" Judith's whole face lit up, jumping up and wrapping her tiny arms around you as tightly as she could. "Thank youuu!"

You chuckled, ruffling her hair and watching as she happily gathered some paint and brushes.

♡♡♡

It was finally the end of a long day, and your face felt a bit itchy from the paint Judith put on you. But it didn't matter; as long as the little girl was happy, it was the best damn day ever.

You were holding Judith's hand as you waited outside for Rick to pick her up, and once he came up with his car Judith beamed.

"Daddy!"

"Hello, sweetheart. Did you have a nice day?" His face looked tired, his greying beard making him appear slightly older than he really was, but his smile was genuine as he carried Judith in his strong arms.

"The bestest! Y/N lemme paint her face!"

"She did, huh? What did you pai--oh my god."

You bursted into laughter at his reaction, flashing him a toothy grin. "In the words of Judi: You're a pretty tiger! Grr!"

"Now that you mention it, I can see it." Rick joined in your laughter, nodding his head. "Looks like we've got a talented lil artist in our hands!"

"Daddy, I wanna paint your face next! You can be daddy tiger and Y/N can be mommy!" Judith proclaimed.

You and Rick flushed pink at the same exact time, but Rick was quick to clear his throat and change the topic. "A-Anyways, Y/N, how 'bout me and the kids give you a ride? Thank you for today, by the way."

"No problem, and sure! Thanks so much."

As you settled in the passenger's seat, two hands covered your eyes from behind. "Guess who~?"

"Hmm..." You hummed, making a show of thinking. "Are you an elf?"

"No!" The hands were removed, Carl popping his head out from the backseat to look at you as he laughed. "It's me!"

"Oh, sorry! You're just so short, I thought you were an elf." You teased good naturedly.

Carl huffed, sticking his tongue out at you. "Y'know, in a few years, I'll be way taller than you!"

Once Rick was done buckling Judith into her carseat, he took his place in the driver's seat and drove out of the premises. You just talked about anything that came to mind: work, the weather, Alexandria's local shops, etc. To anyone else, maybe it seemed like regular boring conversation. But speaking with Rick was truly one of the highlights of any of your days. He was extremely easy to talk to, and he never failed to cheer you up. And it was obvious Rick was the same. He was allowed to simply be himself around you; to loosen up, momentarily forget about the stress and sometimes even the woes that came along with being the town's upstanding sheriff.

As you were nearing your home, Carl decided to cut in.

"Y/N, can we stay at your house? It's been a while since we had a sleepover." Carl asked, his baby blue eyes identical to Rick's alight with hope.

It wouldn't be the first time Rick and the kids would be staying over. You were very close to the Grimes family, sometimes even almost considering them as your own. You didn't mind it. Since you lived alone, it can get pretty lonely. And having people around surely brightened up the house and made you keep your sanity.

"I don't mind, but you gotta ask your dad." You chuckled.

Carl turned to Rick, pouting and giving his best puppy dog eyes. Rick rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress an inkling of a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. But let me drop you and Judith off with Y/N first. I'll be back, I just need to get some extra clothes and essentials."

"YAY!" Carl cheered, Judith following suit as they both raised their arms and hollered.

"You're so whipped for them." You laughed, shaking your head as you looked at Rick.

"I ain't denying that." He sighed dramatically, grinning.

#The Walking Dead #TWD #The Walking Dead AU #TWD AU #Alternate Universe #AU #Romance #Smut #Mature #Story Series #Reader #Female Reader #x Reader #Negan #Rick Grimes #Daryl Dixon #Jeffrey Dean Morgan #JDM #Andrew Lincoln #Norman Reedus #Incubus!Negan #Guardian Angel!Rick Grimes #Monster/Demon Hunter!Daryl Dixon #Negan x Reader #Rick Grimes x Reader #Daryl Dixon x Reader #Reader x Negan #Reader x Rick Grimes #Reader x Daryl Dixon

[artificialqueens]

Kids Have Terrible Timing (Biadore) - Sarcastacnt

Summary; One of Roy and Danny’s two daughters has a tendency to get over excited at the smallest things and at the worst possible time for her fathers.

“We can always return her right?”

“See, this is what happens when we trust your genes. Let’s take a second to notice how the spawn with my genes is basically a Saint compared to her sister.”

Danny pulled a face and whacked Roy with a pillow. “Not what you said when she ruin, how many of your gowns was it again? 9?”

“It was 15 and you know it.” Roy grumbled still puzzled at how the then five year old Sabrina had gotten a hold of the gowns, let alone figured out how to work his sewing machine. Something that still eluded Danny.

“Let’s just agree that they’re both evil in their own special ways.” Danny offered, trying desperately not to laugh at the pained expression on Roy’s face.

Roy snorted, “Not much longer until they go through puberty. That’s when we cash in all those offers to babysit from Shane.”

Danny groaned and flopped down dramatically against the bed. “Two teenage girls in one house. What the fuck were we thinking?”

Roy shrugged, “Probably that at least one of them would be a boy.”

Danny laughed, “At least then they wouldn’t bug to borrow our drag. Well, your drag.”

Roy laughed at the memory of the two dark haired girls gasping in disbelief at the room full of princess gowns and lumberjack clothing. “Still can’t believe how good that read was, fucking lumberjack.” He was still snickering when Danny decided he was no longer comfortable laying on the bed.

With a surge of power from his left leg he moved to straddle Roy’s hips. “You’re the one who married a lumberjack Haylock.”

Roy automatically dropped his hands to rest on Danny’s thighs. “You married a princess, least I’m still gay in this version of reality.”

Danny snorted, “Whatever, that makes you a princess, least I’m still a man.” He leaned forward and licked Roy’s neck before whispering in his ear. “Although every single time I’ve fucked you while you were dressed as a princess was hot as hell. You really should let me fuck you in drag more often.”

Roy let out a groan as Danny squirmed on his lap. “Why would I put a bunch of clothes on for sex? Doesn’t being naked make everyone’s lives easier?”

Danny began kissing Roy’s jaw, taking a familiar path down to the collar of Roy’s shirt. “I meant when we preform asshole.” He said as he started to work the buttons of Roy’s shirt open.

Roy rolled his eyes, “Because normally after we preform you’re so fucking horny that you beg to get fucked.” Roy brought both hands crashing down on Danny’s ass, “Remember?”

Danny started to kiss his way down Roy’s chest now that the button down was pushed open. “Fuck yeah I do.” He looked up at Roy, eyes gone a little glassy with arousal. “Speaking of which, it’s been quiet for almost an hour. We should probably take advantage while we can.”

Roy chuckled and began to tug at Danny’s shirt. “You’re absolutely right.” When Danny didn’t move to remove his shirt quick enough, Roy rolled them so he was on top. He quickly pulled off the light sleep pants Danny wore and began stroking the already half hard cock. “Doesn’t take much to get you going, does it?” he teased before taking Danny’s erection into his mouth.

“Never has.” Danny admitted before groaning at the very talented tongue that was quickly turning his brain to mush.

Roy held out his hand, without stopping the blow job and Danny reached blindly for the small bottle of lube on the nightstand. He pushed it into Roy’s hand before letting his head fall back against the pillows.

Wasting no time, Roy lubed up two fingers and pressed them into Danny. It only took a few thrusts before Danny was demanding that Roy ‘stop fucking around and put your dick in me!’. With such a sweet request, how could Roy refuse? He pushed his own sleep pants down and lubed up his erection before taking a second to tease Danny’s entrance.

“Fuck me Roy!” Danny demanded, his hips lifting off the bed in frustration.

“Fine, but next time we have time I’m gonna make you pay for being an Impatient bitch.” Roy said as he grabbed Danny’s hips and started to push himself inside-

“DADDY!!!”

*CRASH, SLAM, BANG*

Roy didn’t know how he did it but somehow he got both of them covered up under the blanket before 6 year old Stevie managed to scramble up on the bed.

“Stevie remember how we talked about knocking? And you’re not listening to me at all, are you?” Roy sighed as he swung his legs over the far side of the bed and pulled his pants up. Danny had no chance to pull anything on, Stevie was not only on the bed but sitting happily on Danny’s stomach.

“Daddy! I found something cool! You gotta come see this!” the little girl had a big grin on her face as she waved her hands in the air. Stevie’s grin was an exact match for Danny’s (pre lip injections, of course). In fact Stevie was the spitting image of Adore, especially on the odd occasion her fathers put her in make up. Not only was the physical resemblance strong but both Stevie and Danny were two of the loudest people Roy had ever met.

A quiet knock at the open door caught Roy’s attention. He looked up to see blue eyed eight year old Sabrina shaking her head in exasperation. “Sorry dad, I tried to remind her to knock but…” she trailed off with a shrug, gesturing to the excited noises coming from the bed as Stevie and Danny talked about something Roy couldn’t quite catch.

Roy chuckled, “It’s okay, I understand my love. What were you two doing anyways? I thought we said goodnight an hour ago.”

Sabrina walked around the bed, giving it a wide berth. She had walked too close to the bed once during a similar situation just in time for Stevie to launch herself off the bed (much to her fathers horror) and land on not only her feet but her sister’s as well. “I showed her a book.”

Roy ached an eyebrow, “Why is she so excited about a book.”

Sabrina made a huffing noise as she crawled up on the bed to sit next to Roy. “There were no pictures in it.”

“You’re telling me your sister is losing her mind over a book, without pictures?” Roy could feel his eye start twitching.

Sabrina nodded, “Are you sure she’s really my sister?” she eyed Roy suspiciously.

Roy sighed, they had this conversation every few weeks. “Yes Rini, you both have the same mother, remember?” Roy remembered the initial thrill when they discovered that the surrogate they had used for Sabrina was more then happy to take on another pregnancy for the pair when they decided to expand their family a year and a half later.

“Are you really sure? Did you check?” Sabrina grilled her father as she watched Stevie and Danny (who had managed to pull pants on while he was distracted with Sabrina) rush out of the room to get a look at this ‘amazing book’ that Stevie had discovered.

“Yes Rini I’m a hundred percent sure she’s your sister. Besides she acts just like Dad, doesn’t she? I promise she’s part of this family.”

Sabrina frowned, “Whatever. I’m gonna go make sure they don’t break my stuff.” She hopped off the bed, her long twin braids floating behind her as she stormed off after them.

Roy fell back into bed and began laughing uncontrollably. He had no idea which part of the last five minutes he found so funny. The interrupted sex, Stevie’s excitement over a book without pictures or Sabrina’s continued irritation that her sister was insane.

Tears were streaming down his face, high pitched giggles still escaping him and abdominal muscles cramping when Danny returned.

“She’s nuts.” Danny proclaimed as he flopped down next to Roy.

A minute later, Roy managed to get his laughter under control. “Was she really that excited over a book with no pictures?”

Danny nodded, eyes wide in disbelief. “War and Peace! I didn’t know books could get that big! That shit’s more complicated then anything I ever read!”

Roy nodded, “Katya was reading it last time her and Trixie were over with their hellspawns. She probably forgot it here.” They almost always used drag names when referring to Brian and Brian just to save themselves the confusion.

Danny snorted, “Least we had time to breathe between kids. I don’t know how they managed 3 at once! Like who even has triplets?”

“Trixie and Katya do, poor bastards. If two teenage girls seems like a nightmare waiting to happen, imagine three hormonal teenage boys. The structural damage alone may just bankrupt them! If those two weren’t bald already that’s what would finally do it. Trying to figure out how much to add to the budget for household repairs every week.” Roy mused, choosing to ignore the fact that while he and Danny did in fact have one less kid, one of said kids shared genetic material with Danny. Roy hoped, not for the first time that Stevie calmed down as she got older. Last thing he needed was one of his daughters proudly proclaiming to be a ‘messy slut’. The thought of the generally sweet (if loud) Stevie strutting around in a mini skirt and low cut shirt made Roy shiver in fear.

“We’re never gonna have sex again, are we?” Danny half heartedly complained, lacing his fingers with Roy’s as they looked at each other with tired smiles on their faces.

Roy released Danny’s hand and rolled so he was on top of his husband. “So dramatic.” Roy teased as he captured Danny’s lips in a breath taking kiss.

It wasn’t long before Danny was a moaning, begging mess under him. Roy sighed in relief as he entered Danny roughly, rather pleased with himself for the broken sound that tore itself from Danny’s lips.

“DADDY!!!!”

“I’m taking her back!” Danny proclaimed loudly as Roy pulled away from him and managed to get their pants back on before Stevie came flying into their room again. This time she was screaming something about the ‘coolest bug ever!

Wasn’t parenting fun?

A/N Thank you to the annon who requested a kid fic where Roy and Danny keep getting interrupted. Swore I’d never write one of these but hey, here we are! I’m also tempted to continue this but for the moment it stands alone.

The girls names; Stevie is named for Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame and Sabrina is name for an alternative name for a boat neck collar. I know nothing about fashion so that’s what a quick Google search pulled up.

As for the teasing each other about which kid has which genes, it doesn’t mean they love either kid less then the other. I think most parents like to harass their partner about who is responsible for which less desirable trait their off spring demonstrates. Like when Sarabi says to Mufasa in The Lion King “Before sunrise, he’s your son.”

#rpdr fanfiction #biadore #adore delano #bianca del rio #canon compliant #parenting au #kid fic #married #fluff #almost smut #request fic #sarcastacnt

[bisexualoftheblade-old]

how many wips do you have? like what are they all, and not the number of wips in a fandom? what are all the names?

okay. fuck you. fuck you so much. fuck you.

i’m putting this under a read more cut no one else deserves to see this shit. a lot of these are requests, and for those i will just write out the request itself

Shadowhunters:

domestic polycule fluff with tem, jessa, and will because im not a coward

Supernatural

- hehe hoho i request destiel hehehe

- request 61/? cai cai cai cai i need you to rewrite the destiel scene but yk. GOOD. not like i'm in the know about the spn fandom or anything, it's been years for me. but DO IT

Bright Sessions

- caleb/adam grisha AU

- mark bryant vs. united states aka sue the AM

- caleb/adam college fluff

Umbrella Acaademy

- request 31/? i want a ben and klaus drabble please spare me some brotherly bickering

- AND SO BEGINS NIGHT 4 with request 13/? oooh oooh can i get a raymond and allison playlist??? i think their vibes together would SLAP

- hi there night 2 is technically morning 3 but who's counting not me anyway request 5/? can i get a ben moodboard? gotta rep my tua bb

Percy Jackson

- request 9/? can i get a percabeth moodboard or quote edit?? like god they're the og couple goals take me back to high school cai

- For the 100 follower things :D Jercy getting caught in the rain

- request 29/? a drabble about literally anything to do with pjo. i’ll be happy with anyone and anything i��m love these children

- *somersaults in like I’m a real fancy acrobat* hello ello ello may I request some camp half blood chaos possible involving *does a flip* ✨side characters✨ <3

Penumbra Podcast 

- request 52/? drabble about the penumbra podcast. this is for ren bc ren likes it and i don't actually know anything about it. juno? i think? that's the one ren likes. write it for ren

- Tpp ghost hunting / buzzfeed unsolved au

- sad juno smut

- final resting place fic go brrrr

Marvel

- request 6/? i'm going to my roots y'all can i get a spider-man playlist? if not a playlist then i'd honestly be happy with literally anything involving spider-man

- request 15/? i'm going crazy this is recorded evidence of me actually losing it ANYWAY can i get a quote edit for something from iron man? literally anything that man says is gold so cai's choice :D he deserved better in endgame i'm still bitter

- request 42/? do another spidey thing that differs from the other spidey thing

- request 73/? you have Opinions. rant about infinity way and/or endgame. go.

- request 74/? quote edit for deadpool!!

- spideytorch relationship character study

- peter parker as a tired grad student monitoring the young avengers (send help)

Six of Crows

- okay listen i wasn't going to request anything bc i worry about you but also? if you want to/have the time hit me with a playlist for our girl nina zenik

- request 43/? fuckin give me the ending anya should have had. she is alive and with her new son and having a great time

- request 45/? inej moodboard?

- request 47/? will you make literally any meme of your choosing for six of crows?

- request 48/? write a drabble for kaz, my favorite bastard

- okay so i don't actually like nina or mattias that much but i still wanna hear about your thoughts (and also see if you'll change my mind)

- kaz brekker turning 18 fic. birthday party, everyone singing, whole shebang. i need it stat

- religious trauma fic aka i started shipping kaz/alina/inej and i can’t stop

- kaz trauma soup (he has D.I.D. and you can’t prove me wrong)

- my two redacted fics for @grishaversebigbang​

- wesper fake dating

- six of crows bright sessions crossover: everyone gets therapy

TMA

- uhh... s1 gang having a nice time? melanie getting to have some Pride���️? some "fun" horror thing?

- request 7/? spare steph and jason bonding? please sir? spare some for a humble child such as myself?

- okay so this was meant for night 3 but i had midterm shit SO this is honorary night 3 let's DO THIS request 8/? i want a moodboard of extremely out of context magnus archives shit like i mean confuse the FUCK out of me i don't go here i know Nothing about it

- request 11/? OKAY so i need tim stoker meeting tim drake now i need my timmy to meet your tim plus i want to see character differences no i'm not trying to create a tim stoker in my head so i can read a's fic while NOT thinking of tim drake whaaaaaat you're crazy

- request 18(i think)/? i need a quote edit of every time within the first like. 15 eps of tam where jon is like “sounds fake but go off” thank u bb

- request 40/? i challenge you to write a tma drabble based only on the episodes i've heard. i'm currently halfway through episode 23

- Jon being lovingly bullied into taking a break. I'm aware this has been written a million times but it is one of my favorite things.

- spiral!sasha AU

- extinction martin go brrrrr

- high school era timsasha. they've both been friends for years, and everyone always asks when they will be a couple. they decide to fake date, to prove everyone wrong and show what a bad couple they would be. turns out that's a bit trickier than they thought

- after sasha comes back, tim is broken. he can't let go, scared that if he looks away for even a minute he'll lose her again. sasha suggests shibari as a way for him to give up control

- sasha pov mag 19 au, sacrificing herself to save the others, knows that if she gives herself up to the not!them it will let the others live

- this is the "tim finds a polaroid of sasha" trope

- early archives days,, long nights in research,,, clothes sharing,, somft. late nights and falling asleep at their desks warm and safe in the other's presence

- two parts: timsasha as kids, each picking a constellation that is "theirs". just soft kid antics. tim at sasha's grave glancing up to see their constellations

- continuing your job’s a joke (you’re broke)

DC Comics

- TIMSTEPH HADESTOWN AU,,,

- my redacted fic for @batfam-big-bang​

- request for you to get a decent amount of sleep? serious answer, dickkori, SAL's Venus

- request 4/? timsteph morning after 👀 mayhaps?

- a concept: nonbinary stephanie brown

- teehee hi mom, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but can i request damian angst for your accomplishments 100 followers?

- hi you can ignore my first request if you want, or you can ignore this one. but bls possibly write some bikini ra’s? -the bikini bitch

- request 27/? jay is asking through me for a jondami playlist but tbh i also want it so win win yk?

- "I don't know how to help you but I can help you find someone who does" with bruce and jason? im just craving bruce being a good day to jason for once

- “I am putting you in time out because you need to understand the consequences of your actions.” with steph and jason as dumbass disaster bi best friends pretty please?

- request 32/? timsteph patrol date!!!

- request 33/? timsteph *gala* date? mayhaps??

- request 37/? tim drake drabble but make it Edgy cai

- request 39/? drabble of a prank war between tim and damian

- joyfire cuddly fluff please? or like just any outlaw fluff if joyfire isnt your thing (feel free to add every member of the outlaws, dont feel like u gotta stick with jason, kori, roy i love them all)

- barbara and robin! jason fluff? bonding over books or something?

- request 62/? i need a drabble about the chaotic trio jason, tim, and steph i'm love them ty

- request 63/? batfam x mcu crossover. batfam meets ironfam. give me ALL the cliches. ALL OF THEM

- request 64/? young justice x young avengers - jay cuz idk SHIT about the young avengers

- request 66/? jondami moodboard pls and ty

- request 67/? timsteph moodboard!!!!!!

- request 69/? HEHEHE kinky 😏 i would v much like a timsteph drabble of the almost first time. does that make sense? like i don't want you to go all the way NSFW cuz i know that's against the rules and i'm a rule follower. but like they *almost* go all the way. this could be fade to black or some shit i don't care just make it a lil steamy and have Fun

- i request damian angst! all of it

- hmm... maybe i request? jondami?

- mayhaps,,,,some batfam,,,,,committing crimes? ily be gay do crime <3 - lu

- How about a ficlet with Steph and Cass?

Found Family Bingo Prompts

- no powers au

- tunnel

- first day

- join the club

- hurt/comfort

- experiment

- playing favorites

- hold on

- possession

- 10 o’clock

- singing

- road

- snitch

- curfew

- timer

- fantasy au

- zombie au

- dreams

- campfire

- are you okay

- movie night

- games

- scared

Miscellaneous

- a request: Write A Drabble, Coward

- is it too late to request a moodboard for me?

- request 20/? i’m going off book because i’m in a Chaotic Mood™️ can you just absolutely vibe check me like go off cai demolish me

- request 21/? i formally request that you pick a favorite cai. i don’t care what that favorite pertains to, just pick a favorite something

- request 23/? roast me

- request 24/? can i have a buzzfeed unsolved spoopy playlist but spoiler alert it’s not spoopy bc shane doesn’t believe does this make sense it has been a Day™️

- request 25/50 i want a jake and amy fic make it Soft cai i’m love them b99 is so good

- request 28/? i know nothing about the lord of the rings so make something that will confuse the shit out of me

- request 34/? malvie and jaylos moodboards 😈

- request 35/? a moodboard for the bbb mods!! perceive all of us!!!

- request 36/? moodboard for the tua mods too???? mayhaps??

- request 41/? doctor WHO? idk but i want a drabble of him and the one character i know from doctor who which is rose

- request 46/? make an alignment meme with our group, have fun!!!

- request 49/? i want you to kin assign me a character from every fandom you can/want to. go feral

- request 50!!!!/? this is a special request. the most special request. can you make a bastards tbh playlist? i want our vibes encapsulated. i want us in music form. i want to hear those songs and be like "that's me and cai" and smile.

- requests 51/? i know jack shit about good omens. explain it to me in the most confusing way possible. make me know less by the end than i know now

- request 53/? can you write a mel aesthetic? i'm Curious

- request 54/? give me a list of book recs cai i want some good book recs pls

- request 56/? edit a picture of US together too

- request 58/? oooh can i have a disney edit? like. hm. i just really love disney and i want anything to do with disney. like a quote or an aesthetic or an aesthetic edit i just want disney.

- request 59/? i would v much like a recipe for carbonara. i've never had it but it sounds fucking delicious

- request 60/? ooh hey can i get a makeup tutorial? i know you like makeup, i'm shit at doing makeup. teach me

- request 65/? i need the most emo playlist you can make that vibes with dear evan hansen thank you

- request 68/? i want a superwholock moodboard. this can be serious, with the actual fandoms in mind, or literally what the era felt like. the insanity. the horror.

- request 70/? ooh ooh ooh do you have a good bread recipe?? i wanna get that bread

- request 71/? i want a playlist with the vibes of summoning a demon. please don't ask questions. i don't have answers. and if i do, no i don't.

- For the requests, how about writing something based on a friend?

- request 75/? MMMM i want literally anything to do with natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812

- request 76/? i want some healthy recipes. help a girl out

- a feral bbb quote or two?

- you perceive my plant but now I dare thee to perceive mine own visage

- okay this is a two for one request. 1. you did the bee movie script so now we need a shrek two script edit 2. sleep please

- Pansexual mb for my lil queer soul?

- my (probably) final request is just for you to ramble about something, i don't really care what

- HI ILY CONGRATS AS WELL CAUSE IM LATE BUT CONGRATS. could i request a pirates of the caribbean (or just pirates) or whatever you what to do, free range.

- mood board for the beluga whales who got brought to the animal sanctuary in Iceland please?

- 100 follower request: Moodboard for my stuffed cow Oaky?

#cai's 200 #asks #mininacl

[thewalkingdead-fan101]

In this hell Daryl Dixon X Reader part 9/??

Hey guys! 

Its finally time for part 9, I really hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! It turned out a little bit longer than I anticipated! I hope everyone is safe, and healthy and I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Seasons Greetings! Thank you for being patient and so lovely!

Warnings- Slow burn, General Walking Dead stuff, Blood, Gore, Swearing, Shane descending further into insanity, walkers, Sophia.

I looked to my left, spotting Dale looking at me worriedly.

I place a hand on my chest, wiping my fore head with my free hand.

“I-I uh, I heard most of it.. if not all of it.” “I’m sorry.” Dale shook his head. “No, Dont be.. I should thank you..”

“Thank me?” “For showing me that, that is who my brother is now.” “(Y/n), if I’d known you were there I wouldn’t have said anything.” “I heard him threaten you Dale. I’ve noticed the change in Shane since Atlanta, You don’t have to try to cushion this.”

“I didn’t mean for you to find out this way.”

I sighed, walking over to Dale, hugging the older man.

“It’s not your fault Dale… It’s his own.” I softly spoke.

Dale had started to relax, softly patting my shoulder.

We both pulled back from the hug and shared a soft smile.

“I’ve got to go, Sorry Dale.”

“No, you go on.” He nodded. 

I turned away and made my way to the house.

I searched for my brother on the way back to see the others, sighing with relief as I don’t see him anywhere.

A strong scent drifted throughout the house, the source coming from the kitchen.

The stairs softly creaked as I made my way up to the second floor, Carol smiling at me as she noticed me.

“Ill take that for you.” She rubbed my shoulder, taking the towel from my hands.

“Thank you.” “I need to keep myself occupied, im starting to go stir crazy.” She softly chuckled, retreating back towards the bathroom.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the door to the guest room open, Daryl emerging.

“Hey you.” I smiled as I turned around.

“Hey.” He nodded, his head motioning to follow him to the room.

I sat on the bed as I watched Daryl pull his vest on over his tank.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Spoke to Hershel.” “Oh… what did he say?” 

“He don’t like me in ‘ere. Said I can go back with ya.” “Oh, is that so?” I smirked, getting up making my way over to him.

His eyes were locked on me, as if he were a hawk zoning in on its prey.

I softly placed my hands onto the front of his vest, straightening it out. I glanced up to find his eyes already fixed onto me. “What?” “Nothing.” He shook his head. I smiled as I dropped my hands from his chest, only to have Daryl’s hands reach down to get a hold of mine. I looked down, watching as my fingers intertwined with his.

“Look at me.” Daryl muttered. I glanced up and smiled once again, watching his face intently.

“What are ya’ smiling at?” “You, Im just glad that you’re okay.” “It’ll take a lot more than a dumb horse to keep me down.” He mumbled. “You’re only human Daryl.” “Nothing gets by ya’ does it?” He joked lightly.

I chuckled and playfully shoved his chest, moving toward the door.

Daryl’s hands grabbed my waist, pulling me back into his embrace as he playfully ran his hands along my sides, a squeal leaving my throat as he took advantage of his surprise assault, setting me on the bed to continue his attack.

“Daryl, Da-“ I cut myself off with a string of laughter, his fingers digging further into my side.

“No, No stop-“ I continued to laugh. After a few moments, his hands stopped as he moved them both up to cradle my face, pressing a soft kiss against my lips. I pulled back, a smirk evident. “You sure got some nerve Dixon.” I shook my head, smile tugging on my lips. He tilted his head as he looked at me. “Thinking you can kiss a lady after putting your hands on her like that.” I smirked. “Lady? I ain’t seen no lady.” He smirked back. “Oh you shit!” I laughed as I lightly smacked his shoulder, causing him to laugh the slightest bit more.

My heart swelled as I watched him laugh, truly carefree in this moment. I can’t help but think about how beautiful he is, the way his eyes slightly sparkle, and how his nose scrunches up, accenting the way his skin slightly crinkles by his eyes, and with each rumble of laughter that emits from his chest his teeth become that little bit more visible. The more I stare at him, the deeper my love for him grows.

I reached my hand up and gently brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Dont be gettin’ all sappy on me now.” Daryl teased. “It’s hard not to sometimes.” I smiled.

He rolled his eyes as he leant in for another kiss. Before his lips connected with mine, there was a cough coming from the doorway. My attention moved to the door, where I saw Hershel standing, annoyance clear to read on his features. Daryl sighed, dropping his head to rest against my shoulder briefly, before pushing himself up. “Hershel, hi.” I softly smiled. “I think it’s for the best if the two of you left now.” He nodded towards Daryl and I. “Oh, Of co-“ “Don’t worry, we’re leaving old man.” Daryl cut me off before I had a chance to say anything else, grabbing the little amount of belongings that he’d had with him in the room, pushing past Hershel.

I looked over to Hershel and stood from the bed. “I’m sorry Hershel, he-“ “I have rules in this house. Rules of which I expect the people that live under this roof, ‘guests’ included to follow.” He stated, shaking his head head as he left. I glanced down, only to see one of Daryls discarded shirts on the floor at the end of the bed. I bent down, collecting the stray shirt and left the now vacant room.

The rest of the after noon had flown by, we were all seated by the small campfire, in the middle of our tents and vehicles, eating beans and rice, courtesy of Maggies gift basket to Glenn, who still seems to be feeling bad about whatever it was that the gift pack was given to him for.

I looked over to see Lori sitting with her little family, her eyes made short contact with my own as she did a small nod.

I subtly watched Rick, noticing that he kept stealing little glances at his wife abdomen, lifting her hand to press a soft kiss against the skin there, giving her a soft smile when she looked over to him.

Daryl was sitting on top of the RV, after deciding that we needed a watch while we had the fire lit, preferring a little bit of alone time too. Glenn was sitting with Dale and T-dog, all talking about the differences in the wiring and production of Dales RV compared to others. Andrea and Carol were quietly chatting, in between myself and Shane, the latter sat beside Andrea, the most sour look on his face. I followed his gaze, only to realise that it’s his ‘Best friend’ on the receiving end of his glare. I lightly sighed as I stood, picking up my plate, collecting everyone else’s that had finished and taking it to the tub. 

“You alright there baby sis?” Shane spoke up from behind me. I continued to wash the dishes, I turned to grab his, only for Shane to pull them out of my reach. “Yeah, im fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” “Just checking up on you is all.” He smiled. “We haven’t seen much of each other.” He finished. “What are you talking about? We went on a run together this morning.” “It doesn’t matter.” He laughed.

“Okay, can you give me your dishes now?” I asked as I rolled my eyes. “No I can’t, now just listen to me, you can do the dishes later.” He chuckled passing me the dish towel to dry my hands and placing his dishes in the sink. I took the dish towel from him and wiped my hands, hanging it back over the makeshift rail we have. “What do you want Shane? Im tired and I want to finish my job and goto bed.” I sighed.

“Right, well, I uh- I found this when Andrea and I went out earlier.” He mumbled, pulling a decently sized book from behind his back. I took a step towards Shane, eyeing him and the book suspiciously. “Shane, you didn’t-“ “Shut up, take the damn book.” he waved the book up and down in front of me.

I reached out and took the book from his hands, examining the book.

The book had a thin layer of dust covering it, other than the fingerprints where Shane had previously held it. The top right corner of the book was slightly bent, the edges lightly deteriorated, the pages now a slight cream colour instead of the pristine white they once would’ve been. I blew the dust off of the cover, softly wiping it. “Your pregnancy: Week by week.” I read aloud. “Yeah, I read a little bit of the about author section, the guy who wrote it is a baby doctor.” “An OB/GYN?” I asked. “Yeah that, seems to know his stuff.” He nodded as I turned the book over to have a skim through the blurb. “Thank you.” I smiled softly, giving him a small side hug. “Dont mention it.” He replied patting my back. I pulled back and looked at him, only for Shane to now look at my abdomen. “What?” “How far along are you now?” He asked.

I thought for a moment before looking back to Shane. “How long has it been since the CDC?” “Four weeks, three days.” He nodded, his gaze moving toward the campfire. “Then that makes me-“ I paused, calculating in my head.

“Nine weeks and three days.” I finished. “Give or take a few days.” I added. “Well shit.” He chuckled. “Yeah, little bean is growing quickly, still seems like it was only yesterday I was peeing on a stick at the quarry.” I joked. Shane said quiet for a second, deep in his mind. “It was a lot different back then, I wish it was like that again.” I watched as he shot daggers at Rick. “Do you mean back when Rick wasn’t in the picture?” I asked. I heard a sharp inhale and watched as Shane’s whole demeanour changed. “No. How could you even say that?” His eyes bore into me. “Im sorry, you’ve just been acting different.” I sighed, placing the book down on the chair, turning and moving towards the tub once more. His rough hand grabbed onto my upper arm, his grip harsh as he spun me to face him. “Shane-“ “You don’t know anything.” He cut me off. “Rick is my best friend.” He sneered, his grip on my arm tightening. “Shane, let me g-“ I tried to talk. “You have no business asking this.” He looked me up and down, disgusted. “Shane.” I warned, looking around us. “You think im not happy my best friend is alive?” his grip was now tighter than it was previously, I could feel my arm starting to throb under his hold. “Shane, you need to let me go.” I stated sternly. “I’ll let you go when you let go of this stupid idea you go stuck in your little head.” He pulled me closer, speaking down to me. “Let me go Shane.” “You’ve been spending too much time with Dale.” He paused. “He is filling your head with this Horse shit!” He sneered, throwing my arm away from his grip, storming off. I watched my brother storm off, kicking the ground as he neared his tent, barging through the material. I shook my head, glancing at the book before going back to finishing the dishes. As soon as I finished washing and drying the dishes, I wiped my hands once more and moved to pick up the book, making my way back over to the small group, absentmindedly rubbing my arm. “Hey guys, im going to head to bed.” I smiled softly. I heard a chorus of goodnights, and looked over to Lori, who had looked over to me and smiled. “Goodnight sweetie.” She looked over to my arm and sent me a questioning glare. I softly shook my head, causing her to sternly look at me. I turned and made my way towards the RV. Daryls attention instantly landed on me, brow raised.

“What do ya’ want?” “I was just coming to say night.” I smiled up at him. “Ok.” “Ill see you later?” I asked, in which he only responded with a short nod. I made my way back to my tent, as I entered it I placed the book down on my bed, turning to get dressed. “Oh Jesus Christ.” I gasped, my hand making its way to my chest as I saw Lori, sitting on the small chair near my back pack of clothes, a worried expression on her face. “What?” I asked, noticing her gaze looking me up and down, before fixating onto my arm. “What happened?” She asked, standing up and making her way over to me. “Nothing, im okay Lori.” “Did Daryl do this?” “Oh my god no!” I laughed, quickly changing my tone to serious when I notice she wasn’t messing around. “No, Lori, No. Daryl didn’t do this.” “Who did?” She asked, coming closer to examine my arm.

I followed her hands as they reached out and grabbed my arm, seeing the red print on my arm, a purple shade already developing on the irritated skin.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” “Shane happened, it doesn’t hurt though.” I smiled. She lightly pressed her index finger against the skin, causing me to flinch. “It doesn’t hurt though.” She mocked, a small smile evident on her face. “What happened (Y/n)?” “We were just roughhousing.” I lied, not wanting her to get involved, well anymore than what she already is. She nodded her head, a little suspicious, but not pressing the conversation further. I took a seat on the bed and picked up the book, looking up at Lori. “He got me this.” “Shane?”

“Yeah, said he found it on a run.” “Thats surprising.” “I’d say, considering he has the ‘If it’s not essential, it’s not worth bringing back.’ Rule.” I laughed. Lori laughed along with me. “Alright Honey, if you need anything, come get me.” She hugged me. “Night Lori.” I smiled hugging her back. Once she had left, I flipped the book open, flicking through the first few weeks which were neatly typed onto separate pages, in their own chapters. It didn’t take long to find Chapter/Week Nine.

At the top of the page it had a small chart with the baby’s information, and in big bold lettering I read: 9 Weeks Pregnant; Your baby is as big as a green olive.

I stayed up and continued to read.

This is the week that your baby develops out of their embryonic stage and officially enters the foetal period.

The baby’s liver, the spleen and the gallbladder are all under construction now, as well as the baby’s tiny muscles are forming.

I absentmindedly started to caress my abdomen as I continued to read. 

While it's too early to feel any kicks yet, it's not too early to hear something, your baby's heartbeat might be audible on a doppler machine! “Yeah as if id have access to that.” I scoffed.

The spinal cord "tail" at your baby-to-be's rump has all but disappeared! Your baby is looking more and more like a tiny human.

I continue reading the next few pages, taking in all of the information about Bean, not even noticing Daryls presence until I feel an arm slide over my stomach.

I put the book down, making sure to save the page im on.

“Hey.” He mumbled into my ear, as a turned to face him.

“Hey.” “I thought ya’ were going to bed..” “I did, but I got caught up reading.” “Oh yeah? What?” “Just some baby stuff.” He nodded. “Baby Dixon is the size of an Olive.” I yawned, Daryl yawning after me. “Ain’t that big.” He said, laying on his back, moving his arm behind his head, his other arm pulling me into him, closing his eyes. I looked up to respond but heard his light snores, signalling he fell into an instant sleep. I leant over his chest and turned the dim lantern off, snuggling back into Daryl.

The next morning I woke up, seeing Daryl in a deep sleep beside me. I carefully climbed over him, checking to see if he was disrupted once both feet were on the ground, watching as he grumbled and rolled over, facing my side. I quickly dressed, pulling on some shoes, exiting the tent. I made my way to the supply tent, running into Lori who had just walked out, a toilet roll in hands. “Morning.” She smiled. “Morning.” “You need to use this too?” She asked, lifting the Toilet paper. “You know I do.” I chuckled.

We both walked away, towards the second field near the stables, tucked away in an area with a little more privacy.

“I didn’t think you’d be awake this early.” She smirked, turning around as I squatted.

“Oh really? Why is that?” I asked, as she handed me the roll, taking what I needed. “Well, your first night back with Daryl.” She suggested. Even looking at the back of her head I could sense her grin. “Nothing like that happened.” I shook my head smiling at her antics, finishing my business, standing up. I walked over to where she stood, switching positions. “So, nothing happened?” She asked. “No, we just had a little bit of small talk, and fell asleep.” “So, did you end up reading any of that book last night?” “Yeah, I read the complete chapter covering the ninth week.” 

“Anything interesting?” She asked.

“Just some key developmental points, Bean is the size of an olive though.” “He won’t stay that size for long.” She chuckled. “Trust me, it won’t be long until he is the size of an orange, then the size of a coconut and then the size of a watermelon.” She spoke. “I don’t even want to think about how much bigger bean will get.” “You know you can’t keep calling the baby bean right?” She asked as she walked over. “You need to have a name for them.” She continued. “I know. But I feel as though im going to know his or her name when I look at them.” I paused. “So for now, it’s bean.” I smiled as we walked back to camp.

We made it back to the communal tent, using a few drops of the sanitiser that Glenn had brung back from a run before leaving. As we left the tent, a stick had snapped to the right, Lori and I both looked over to see Carol coming to us, a smile on her face. “Morning Carol.” I smiled. “Morning ladies.” She responded, her basket being transferred to her other hand. “Morning.” “How do eggs sound for breakfast?” She asked, a small smile on her face as she held up the basket containing a dozen or so eggs. “Sounds good.” Lori responded as I smiled. “Need any help?” I asked. Carol shook her head. “No honey, I will manage.” She smiled, lighting the fire, setting up the rack and pan, instantly cracking the eggs and scrambling them. The door to the RV opened, Dale stepping out, his favourite mug rested between both hands as he breathed in the morning air, a smile on his features. Andrea was next to exit the RV, stretching and making her way over. Andrea walked right past Lori and I, barley acknowledging us as she made her way to Shanes tent.

I shook my head and sat down on one of the seats. “Okay guys, breakfast is getting served.” Carol called out, serving some egg on the plates. “Thank you.”  Lori smiled, grabbing three plates, sitting them on her chair. “I’ll be back.” Lori stated, walking to her tent. I grabbed two plates and smiled at Carol. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome sweetie.” Daryl was the next person to emerge, looking around grumbling and walking over, sitting on the ground in front of the seat I was in, leaning his back against the front of my chair, positioning himself between my legs. “Here.” I handed him his plate and fork. Daryl nodded in response and took his plate from me, starting to devour his meal. Carl shot out of the tent, followed by Lori, and lastly Rick, who had all taken a seat, Carl yawned as he rested his elbows onto his knees, then propping his head up on his hands, softly tracing in the dirt with his shoes. “Carl, honey don’t do that.” Lori spoke sweetly, handing Carl his breakfast, then Rick his. “Leave him be Lori.” Rick sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. “Morning all.” Shane called out, walking toward us all, sporting his police cap, bending down to grab the last plate Andrea following, her face as hard as stone almost, grabbing a sharpening block and her knife, taking a seat on the small log by the fire, sharpening said knife. I looked over to my right and watched as Glenn took a seat at the base of one of the trees closer to the house, and T-dog was crouched down by the fire, warming his hands.

We all ate in silence, Carol walking around with the pan offering leftovers to whoever wanted any. “Daryl?” She asked. “Thanks.” He nodded and held his plate out. I looked over to Glenn once again and followed his gaze to Dale, who had nodded at him. I looked back to Glenn and watched as he walked toward us all, his hands in his front pockets. “Um, guys.” He started, rubbing his face with one hand, grabbing everyones attention. “So... the barn is full of walkers.” He finished. Simultaneously, everyone had stopped what they were doing. I had stopped running my fingers through Daryl’s hair, and Daryl had looked up from his food. Andrea had stopped sharpening her knife and Carols eggs started to slowly burn. I looked over to Lori who was worriedly looking at her husband, whose expression was unreadable. Rick then stood up, Shane stepped forward. “Lets check this out.” My brother spoke loud, as he headed for the barn in question. We all followed Shane, desperate to see if what Glenn was saying was the truth. Shane was the first to make it to the barn, slowly and cautiously walking to the doors. The group stopped a few metres back and waited as Shane looked through the gap of the wooden planks. After a moment he turned around, storming towards us, scoffing.

“You cannot tell me you're all right with this.” He pushed past Rick.

“No I'm not, but we're guests here. This Isn't our land.” Rick responded. “This is our lives man!” Shane snapped, turning back to face Rick.

“Lower your voice.” Glenn spoke up, trying to not draw attention to us.

“We can't just sweep this under the rug.” Andrea said to Rick.

“It ain't right. Not remotely.” Shane paused, pacing. “Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time.” He finished.

“We can't go.” Rick answered.

“Why, Rick? Why?” Shane asked.

“Because my daughter is still out there.” Carols answered. I stood forward and put my hand on her arm, squeezing gently as her hand rested on top of my own. “Okay.” Shane paused, scoffing, covering his mouth with his hands. “Okay, I think It's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility.” He nodded towards Carol. I pulled Carol closer to me, and holding her hand.

“We're not leaving Sophia behind.” Rick shook his head. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Daryl takes a step forward, annoyance written on his face.

“I’m close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago.” He pointed in the direction of the creek.

“You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll.” Shane spoke down to him.

“You don't know what the hell you're talking about.” Daryl walked forward, chest out.

“I’m just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours.” Shane started to yell.

“Shane, stop.” Rick tried to reason, matching his volume. I moved Carol behind me and took a step forward, softly grabbing Daryls arm,  instantly knowing that with whatever Shane is about to say a brawl will most likely be the end result. “Daryl, don’t.” I whispered to him to have him shake me off. “Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!” Shane yelled at Daryl.

Daryl started shouting and trying to get past Rick, as was Shane. “Daryl, he’s not worth it.” I tried, grabbing his arm and pulling him back, Glenn and Rick pushing Shane away.

“Back off!” Rick called out, pushing Shane back. Lori placed her hand on his arm and went to speak.

“Keep your hands off me.” He glared at her, walking away. Rick took a moment, regaining his breath.

“Now just let me talk to Hershel.” He paused. “Let me figure it out.”

“What are you gonna figure out?!” Shane screamed walking towards Rick. “Enough!” Lori was quick to defend her husband, placing her left hand on Shanes chest and pushing him back.

“If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land.” Rick spoke, his voice firm.

Dale took a step forward, looking at Rick. “Hershel sees those things in there as people.” He begins. “Sick people, his wife, his stepson.” He gestured to the barn.

“You knew?” Rick asked.

“Yesterday I talked to Hershel.” He nodded.

“And you waited the night?” Shane asked, Jaw tight. “I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one.” He defended himself.

“The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no-“ Shane started to raise his voice once more, but was cut off.

I slightly jumped back as the chained doors to the barn started swaying, Loud growls and snarls coming from behind it. Daryl was quick to push me behind him, making sure to keep one of his hands connected to me so he knows I was still there. Lori ran to Carl and held him, making sure that we was okay, as Shane and Rick stared at the Doors. “Screw this.” Shane mumbled. “What? What are you going to do now? I think you’ve done enough.” I spoke up “I’m dong a perimeter check on the barn. Some one has to make sure that WE are SAFE.” He emphasised, storming off to inspect the barn.

We all made our way back to the small camp, all of us except Shane. Daryl had made sure that he had eyes on me the entire walk back, stealing glances at the barn as well as making sure I was in front of him. “Daryl, im okay, im back at the camp.” “We need ta’ talk.” He nodded toward the tent. “We can talk here.”

He shook his head and I sighed, walking to our shared tent. Upon entering Daryl had pulled me into a hug.

“Daryl, what’s going on?” I asked as I softly ran my hands along his back. “Don’t go near that barn, ya’ hear me?” He grumbled. “What-“ “Ya’ hear me?” He repeated the question. “Yes Daryl, I hear you, But wh-“ “I’m going ta’ prove that son of a bitch wrong.” He drawled out. “I don’t want you going out there!” I tried to reason with him. “I have ta’ go out there.” “No you don’t, give yourself a lit-“ “The longer I stay ‘ere, the longer that girl is out there.”  “Daryl, you still aren’t healed properly.” “Im healed enough.” He argued.

“You’re a stubborn asshole Dixon.” I paused, shaking my head. “There’s no point in trying to talk you out of this. Just please, come back to me, come back to us.” I pleaded. “Ya’ know I will.” He responded, before roughly kissing me. He took a step back and left. 

I took my jacket off and placed it on the end of the bed, leaving the tent once more and looking around. Dale was on watch, and Lori was sitting at the bench table with Carl, home schooling him.

I spotted Glenn pacing by the now put out fire. “Hey Glenn.” I called out, making my way toward him. He looked up from his feet, a worried expression painted on his face as he looked at me. “Glenn, what’s happening?” I asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Maggie.” “What about Maggie?” I asked. “She most likely hates me now. I told you guys about the Barn, She asked me not to.” He continued to ramble.

I looked over towards the Greene’s home, to see Maggie walking toward the chicken coop. “Glenn.” I tried to stop his rambling. “She asked me to not say anything-“ “Glenn.” “And instead of doing what she asked me to do, I completely ignored her.” “Glenn.” I smiled. He finally stopped rambling and looked at me. “I have three things im going to tell you.” “What?” He asked. “One: Maggie likes you, she wouldn’t have reacted the way she did yesterday if she didn’t.” I smiled. “Two: You told us something that you felt we needed to know. You’re an honest guy Glenn and that is one of your best qualities, if she doesn’t like you, that’s her loss.”                                              “That was only two.” “Im getting there.” I chuckled. “Three: Go to Maggie Glenn, Talk to her.” I smiled. He slowly nodded his head and took a breath. “Okay.” He whispered, hyping himself up. “Im going to go and talk to her.” He nodded, walking toward the house. “Chicken coop!” I called out after him, watching as he turned and ran after Maggie. Glenn was out of sight in no time, eager to talk to Maggie. I looked to my left, watching as Shane did yet another walk around the barn, stopping every few seconds, looking around and occasionally rubbing his face. I don’t know who he is anymore. My brother is changing, not the man I once knew, not the kid I spent the first half of my childhood with. He looks like an addict, wanting his fix of his addiction, instead of drugs or alcohol, its Lori.

I softly shake my head and turn away, making my way to the RV, looking up at Dale. “Do you want me to take over for you?” I called out, blocking the harsh glare of the sun from my eyes. Dale looked down and smiled. “No, it’s alright, Glenn is meant to take shift next, just waiting on the boy.” He responded with a polite nod. “Okay, if I see him again, I’ll send him your way warden.” I joked, saluting him. “At ease.” He joked back, a small chuckle being heard.

I looked over to where Glenn was slowly making his way back to us, flicking his hands toward the ground, his cap carried in his left hand. “Hey, uh, she let me talk to her.” He stated as he came closer. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile, stifling a laugh, trying to regain my composure. “Oh, how did that go?” I asked, still trying hard to not laugh. “She cracked an egg in my cap..” He held his cap out, showing me the broken yolk and fragments of shell. “I see.” I nodded. “Does, does this smell bad to you?” He asked, handing me his cap. “I am not smelling that.” I chuckled. “I will wash it out for you while you go and get cleaned up though.” I smiled. “Thank you.” He breathed out. “You’re welcome, just know that Dale is looking for you.” I smiled as he made his way to get cleaned up, his eyes widened as he looked back at me. “Its my shift.” He ran to get cleaned up. Dale looked over to us and shook his head as Glenn rushed around. I took his cap to our washing area and got to work, rinsing it under the tap, and picking out the eggshells, putting a little drop of detergent and scrubbing it gently, hanging it up once I finished.

I looked over to see Dale throwing Glenn his hat, having a small conversation with the young man, then entering his RV. “Hey, (Y/n).” I looked over to where Lori was, now walking toward me. “Hey, what’s up?” I asked, placing my hands in my pockets, meeting her halfway. “I know.” She paused. “I know, that this is a big ask, but would you mind sitting with Carl for me? Just for a little bit? I’m trying to make life a little bit more normal for him, im going to go look for some books, maybe ask Patricia if she has one she could lend me.” “Yeah, of course I can.” I nodded. “Thank you, so much.” She smiled, patting my shoulder as she headed toward the house. Carl had his nose buried in his book, writing down what his mother had told him before hand. “Hey Bud.” I smiled, taking Lori’s seat. “Oh, hey.” He smiled halfheartedly, looking up from his book. “Whats wrong? You don’t look too happy to see me.” I frowned. “Its not that, I just don’t need a babysitter.” He looked down. “A babysitter? Who? Me?” I asked, pausing. “No, im not a babysitter.” I shook my head, as I pointed at myself. “I think your mom, asked me to come over here so you could watch me.” He looked at me, a small smile appearing on his face. “We all know that I can get into quite a bit of trouble, and she must’ve thought that I needed someone to make sure I was being good.” “Yeah, I won’t let you get into any trouble.” He responded, shaking his head. “Exactly! So how about you show me what it is you’re writing down?” “Mom is just doing basic maths, you know, multiplications.” “Which ones?” “Nines today.” “Oh, well did she tell you about this nifty little trick?” I began. I grabbed his hands and held them out in front of him. “Say we are looking for 9 x 6, put your sixth finger down and you’ll get your answer by counting your fingers on each hand.” “What do you mean?” He asked, looking down at his hands, his sixth finger now down. “So, how many fingers are up in front of your sixth finger?” “Five.” “Okay good, and how many are after it?” “Four.” “Now, the fingers that are up before your sixth finger is what represents the tens in units, and after your sixth finger is the single units.” “So fifty-four four?” He asked, adding it in his head.

“Yeah, My grandma taught me that little trick because I struggled with Math, she called it the FMM” “Do you miss her?” “Everyday little man, im jus glad that her time was before this happened.” I smiled and messed his hair up. “Hey!” He grumbled laughing. Carl had ended up using the method that I had taught him, occasionally sign for help with the higher problems. “Ive finished my multiplications.” He smiled. “Oh, okay good.” I smiled, checking the page where he had written it all down. “Where did mom go anyway?” He asked. “She went to find some more books.” I smiled. Carl groaned and dramatically dropped his head against the table. “This is boring.” He tilted his head to look at me. “Okay, what is something you liked at school?” I asked, scanning his work.

Carl looked up, thinking about his response, when his eyes lit up. “Yeah?” “When I could talk to my friends. You know, like I talked to Sophia.” He nodded. I looked over to him as he mentioned Sophia’s name, having to find my breath again. “Mom says Shane is scared of the walkers in the barn.” He started. “But he thinks that Sophia is dead, he wants to leave.” Carl looked down. I placed his book on the table, lifting his chin up so he could look me in the eyes. “Shane is wrong. We are not leaving okay, we will find Sophia.” I started, Carl looking away. “Hey, Carl look at me sweetie.” I called, moving his chin once again to be face to face with him. “We will find Sophia, okay, I can feel it, we’re close.” I nodded, wiping the tear from the corner of his eye, pulling him into a hug. “Okay, how about we do some division before your mom comes back?” I asked as I rubbed his back. He softly nodded against my shoulder.

Carl had flown through his divisions, proving that he was a really smart kid. “Hey you two, how are your math problems coming along baby?” Lori asked, kissing the top of Carls head. “Ew, mom stop.” He laughed trying to wriggle out of her hands.

“Did you do your nines?” She asked, taking a seat on the other side of Carl. “Yes mom, (Y/n) showed me this cool trick that her grandma showed her, its the FMM” “The what? I’m sorry.” “The Finger Multiplication Method, FMM is a better way to say it.” I answered. “I see.” She smiled, trying not to laugh. The door to the farm house had slammed shut, Rick making his way over to where Shane was leaning against the rusted tractor near the barn. The two men stood discussing, more like arguing over what our course of action would be. “Mom, can I go and help T-dog?” “Yeah honey, just don’t leave the camp.” She nodded, watching as he ran over to the RV. “What do you think they’re talking about?” Lori asked, gesturing to her husband and my brother. “Shane is probably trying to defend his wants.” “They need to agree on what to do, they need to make a decision already, it’s tearing the group apart.” She sighed. “What do you think we need to do?” I asked, now facing her. “I don’t think we should rush into anything. I don’t feel safe with those walkers in that barn.” “Lori, neither do I, but I am siding with Rick here.” I paused. “Shane wants to be right, and he is willing to get all of us kicked out of a safe place, a home.” I continued. Lori looked back towards the two men. “Lori, at the end of the day, you have to do what’s the best for you and your family.” “I know.” She nodded. I stood and went to walk away. “Wait, please.” She grabbed my hand. I looked at Lori confused, and sat back down, holding her hand with both of my own.

“Lori, what?” “I need to be honest with you.” “Whats going on?” “Before, at the quarry, before Rick-“ “I know.” I cut her off. “Shane and I-“ “I know.” I nodded my head, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “How did you know?” She asked. “You and Shane weren’t really discreet.” I smiled. She shook her head, embarrassment covering her face. “It’s okay, I don’t care.” I shook my head, comforting her. Lori took a deep breath. “This baby, is Ricks baby.” “Even if it is Shanes baby, it will never be his baby.” She finished. “And that baby, will be loved, no matter what.” “This baby, will still have an aunt in me either way, Carl does too. You know that.” Lori nodded her head, reaching a hand up and wiping her tears as she hugged me. “Thank you.” She whispered. Lori stood up, and wiped her hands on her jeans. “I uh, I better go and get some vegetables for dinner.” She nodded, leaving to get vegetables.

I walked over to the RV, searching for Dale and Glenn, both of which were missing. “That’s odd.” I whispered to myself, climbing the ladder of the RV, picking up the rifle, pacing around the roof. Rick and Andrea had met at the cars, discussing their route. “Hey, be careful up there!” Glenn called out, running with a cup of water. “I am being careful.” I rolled my eyes. “Just hang on a second! I’ll be up.” Glenn called out, entering the RV, coming right back out and climbing u the ladder, taking the rifle from me. “What were you doing?” He asked after catching his breath. “I was covering your ass.” I paused, looking for Shane. “What happened?” I asked. 

“Andrea said something to Dale. He said he needed a minute and asked me to get him some water and that he would keep watch.” “Do you know where he is?” He shook his head. “Do you need help back down?” “No, Glenn. I can manage, thank you.” I smiled, descending the ladder. I looked over to where Andrea and Rick were talking, looking at the maps on the hood of Shane’s Hyundai. “Also shows she could be moving this way south. If Sophia kept in that direction, she might have gotten out of the forest and into the farmland.” Rick Paused, gesturing to the roads. “So we take 74 up to Ivy road, then push down south on foot through the forest till we hit Christopher, go east a couple of miles and then double back.” He finished. I watched as Hershel walked closer to Rick, pulling his sleeves up.

“Rick.” He greeted.

“Hershel. We just have our guns out because we're gonna go look for Sophia.”

“Before you do that, I could use your help with something.”

“Count me in.” Andrea nodded.

“Thank you. But I just need Rick.” Rick looked at Andrea, nodding.

“I’ll be down at the barn keeping watch until you're ready.” She nodded, tucking her gun into the back of her jeans, Rolling the map up. “(Y/n), You wanna join me at the barn?” She asked. “Oh, no. Thank you. I need to talk to Dale.” I smiled. “Okay, Im going to head to the barn. Can you put the mag in the RV?” She asked, holding the map out. “Sure.” I nodded, taking it from her. I took the map and placed it on the table, looking through the books Dale had sitting on one of the benches with a note that said ‘throw away’. I looked through the pile and noticed ‘the wind in the willows’. I smiled and grabbed it, making a mental note to tell Dale I borrowed it, not that he’d mind anyway. I looked around, looking for Carl, who was sitting on the log by the cooking pot, a stick in hand, drawing in the dirt. “Carl!” I called out, getting the young brunettes attention. He smiled as he saw me, standing up, tossing the stick aside. “Yeah?” He asked looking up. “I found this, figured it might help get you through the boredom of camp.” “What is it?” He asked taking the book from my hand. “Just a book I loved when I was your age.” I smiled. “Oh cool, thanks.” He beamed, moving back to his seat, opening the book. I took a seat near the pit and checked our medical supplies, seeing what we need and writing it down. It wasn’t very long until Shane was storming past us.

“Hey, Shane, Can I talk to you for a sec?” Carl called out, making Shane stop and turn as I looked up.

“You okay?” He asked moving towards the boy.

“Yeah. I know you think Sophia's dead. And that we should stop looking for her.” Carl paused. “Bu-But that's bullshit.” He finished.

“Hey, man, watch your mouth.” Shane started getting annoyed. I sat the small box beside me and stood up, ready to intervene.

“We're gonna stay here until we find her.” Carl told him.

“You think that's what we should do?”

“It's what I know we should do.” He confirmed.

“Then we stay. That means we got to do whatever we got to do to make that happen. Hmm?” Shane asked, an idea forming. An idea that wouldn’t be good.

“Like help out with chores?” Carl asked innocently.

“Mmm. Like help out with the chores.” Shane nodded. “Carl. Come here for a minute.” Lori called out, clearly uncomfortable.

“Why don't you go see what your mom wants? Hmm? Go on.” “Hey, Carl. Don't let me hear you talk like that again.” He called out after Carl had left. “He is just a kid Shane.” I spoke. “Yeah well he is a kid that needs to learn his place.” “That makes two of you then.” I crossed my arms. He shook his head and headed for the RV. “Shane!” I followed him. “What?” “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing!” He brushed me off. The closer he got to the RV, the faster he walked. “Sup?” Glenn called down, surrendering his hands as Shane looked at him. Shane walked into the RV and started banging around. “What’s up with him?” Glenn asked. I shrugged and waited for him to come out.

“Son of a bitch!” I heard him mumble, practically running out. He looked up at Glenn.

“You see where he went?” Shane asked. “Who?” Glenn asked. “Don't even try to shit me, okay?” He snapped. “Shane!” “What?” “Dale. Glenn. Did you see where Dale went?” He asked. “Yeah, he asked me to run and get him some water.” “He said he'd cover me on watch.” Glenn finished. “And he was gone when you got back, huh?” “Yeah. You think he's okay?” Glenn asked. “Oh, he's fine.” Shane nodded. “Why'd he bail then?” “So you wouldn't tell me which way he went.” “I don't get it.” Glenn looked at me. I shrugged. “No, man, you don’t.” He stormed off once again.

Glenn looked down at me once more, a questioning look on his face. “I honestly, don’t know.” I sighed. “Something doesn’t feel right though.” I continued as I held my hand in front of my eyes, blocking out the sun. “Isn’t that Daryl and Carol?” Glenn asked, looking over toward the tree line, headed into the forest. “Must be.” I nodded as I watched the two of their silhouettes disappear. “You alright (Y/n)?” Glenn called out. “Yeah, im fine.. Im just tired.” I nodded, taking a seat on Dales camping chair. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Im positive Glenn, Fatigue is a symptom that coincides with pregnancy.” “Oh, right.” He chuckled. I closed my eyes, leaning my head back to rest against the RV, taking five minutes to just try to relax. The sound of Glenn calling out to Maggie, quickly deciding to climb down from the RV. “(Y/n), can you cover me for a minute.” “Of course, go.” “Just don’t climb up there!” He called back, trying to catch up with Maggie. “Im pregnant, not missing a limb.” I called back, starting to climb the ladder. I bent down to pick up the rifle. As I stood back up, my head started spinning, I looked down and my hand had grabbed onto the blue camp chair. I lowered myself down and looked around my as the burred motion of my vision, slowly became more clear. I looked down to my hands, knuckles turning white as I gripped the chair, trying to centre myself. Maybe I should have listened to Glenn. As I turned to look, Glenn had taken and placed the smaller basket to the ground, gesturing around the two of them with his hands. Glenn had finished talking, moving to come back when Maggie had called out to him, walking over and bringing him in for a kiss. I smiled, looking away so I didn’t come across as a creep. Andrea was pacing in front of the barn, occasionally stopping, searching around for Shane, im assuming. “Hey, Thank you.” Glenn smiled as he climbed the ladder, joining me atop the RV. “You’re welcome.” I smiled, handing him the rifle as he held his hands out. “So, Maggie and Patricia have invited us all to the house, I asked Lori, she said we should be fine without someone on watch for a bit.” He smiled, placing the rifle down. “Oh, no, I- I can’t just stay up here.” I shook my head. “Why?” “No reason, I can stay.”

Glenn looked at me, a worried expression on his face.

“(Y/N), what’s going on?”

“It’s fine, its nothing too big.” I sighed. “Im just feeling a little light-headed.” I finished. “What?! I told you to not climb up!” He scolded. “I was fine, until I wasn’t.” “Famous last words.” He shook his head. Glenn looked around, thinking to himself. “Ill go and get some help.” He started to descend the ladder. “Glenn! No! Look, I can get down.” I stated, getting up, moving to the ladder. Glenn was already down and looking up at me. I slowly turned and started to climb down. “See, I can do it. Just have to be slow.” I smiled as my left foot hit the ground. “No more climbing up there.” Glenn shook his head. “Glenn, if I need-“ “No, no more.” He stated, guiding me down to the house. “Okay, fine.” I surrendered. I smiled as I noticed Carl was sitting at the table, with Beth and Patricia. Lori came down and grabbed my hand, taking me a little bit further away from the others. “Rick told Shane.” “About-“ I looked down. “Yeah.” “He thinks Rick isn’t built for this world, doesn’t think that Rick will survive.” “Don’t worry yourself over Shane, Lori. He will get over it. Rick will survive, you know it, I know it, the group knows it.”

“Ill be back, Watch out for Carl?” “Of course.” I nodded, I looked over to see T-dog and Andrea walking over to the house. “Do you know what's going on?” T-dog asked hands by his sides.

“Where is everyone?” Andrea asked. I made my way back over to the group and stood on the step behind Maggie.

“You haven't seen Rick?” Glenn asked Andrea.

“He went off with Hershel.” “We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago.” She finished.

“Yeah you were. What the hell?” Daryl interrupted, joining us, Carol behind him.

“Rick told us he was going out.” Carol spoke out from behind Daryl.

“Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail.” Daryl stated annoyed, throwing his right arm towards the tree line.  “Oh, here we go.” He stated as Shane walked toward us. “What's all this?” He pointed at the bag.

“You with me, man?” Shane asked, bringing a pump action shotgun out of the bag.

“Yeah.” Daryl answered, grabbing it and pumping the shotgun, resting it up on his shoulder. “Shane, what do you think you’re doing?” I asked, taking a step down towards him. Shane looked at me, a scowl on his face, looking around at everyone else.

“Time to grow up.” He spoke. “You already got yours?” He looked to Andrea.

“Yeah. Where's Dale?.”

“He's on his way.”

“Thought we couldn't carry?” T-dog asked, taking the gun when Shane handed it to him.

“We can and we have to.” He started. “Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain’t.”

“Shane, enough.” “How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?” He held out a gun to Glenn. ”That's it. Can you shoot?” He looked to Maggie.

“Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight.” She tried to reason.

“We have to stay, Shane.” Carl stepped forward. Lori rounded the corner and saw Shane and all of the guns.

“What is this?” She asked.

“We ain't going anywhere, okay?” Shane looked to Carl. “Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He--well, he's gonna have to.” He stood forward. “Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Huh?” Shane knelt in fronton Carl. “Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the the gun and do it.” Shane nodded, holding the gun out for Carl.

I reached forward and grabbed the gun before Carl could and glared at Shane as Lori swooped in and pushed Carl behind her.

“Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make.” She spoke firm.

“Oh shit.” T-dog got our attention. I moved forward to take a closer look into what we were witnessing. Along the fence line we watched as Jimmy, Rick and Hershel were leading walkers to the barn. “What is that? What is that?” Shane growled as he pushed past everyone running for the three men by the barn.

“Shane!” Lori and I both yelled, protesting.

The closer he got to Rick and Hershel the more the shouting had escalated. “What the hell are you doing?” My brother shouted.

“Shane, just back off!” Rick tried to talk Shane down.

“Why do your people have guns?” Hershel had asked.

“Are you kidding me? You see? You see what they're holding onto?” Shane had started pointing at the walkers.

“I see who I'm holding onto.” Hershel corrected him.

“No, man, you don’t.” Shane shook his head. I watched as Daryl held the gun up, ready to shoot, Shane

“Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk.” Rick had once again tried to talk Shane out of his rage.

“What you want to talk about, Rick?” “These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us.” Shane yelled

“Shane, shut up!” Rick yelled.

“Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something.” Shane started. “Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?” He asked as he shot the female walker three times in the chest. “Shane stop!” I yelled moving forward.

Daryl stood infant of me and pushed me back with his body. “Stay outta this.” He growled. “Keep her here.” He looked at Carol, who had rested her hands on my shoulders, turning back and holding the gun to the walkers head. “No! Stop it!” Rick shouted once more.

“That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?” Shane asked Hershel, shooting it another two times. “That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?” He shouted, shooting it two more times. “Shane, enough!”

“Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough.” Shane agreed, walking up to it, shooting it in the head. Hershel dropped to his knees as the walker had fallen, just watching as it lied dead on the floor. “Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!” He shouted. Carol gasped as Shane mentioned her daughter, hand moving from my shoulders to her mouth. “Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now.” Shane yelled as he ran to the barn. “Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole. Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Take it now. Hershel! Take it!” Rick shouted, trying to get Hershel to take the snare. Shane grabbed a short handled hoe, bashing against the lock on the barns door. “No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Wait!” Rick tried to reason.

“Don't do it!” Glenn yelled. “Shane! Enough is enough! Stop it!” I screamed.

Shane had pried the lock off of the door, moving the plank securing it, leaving only the old chains. I looked around, Lori was moving Carl behind her, Maggie was on the ground with her father, her sister with jimmy. It was chaotic, everyone was shouting. The doors started opening, one by one walkers had started to pile out. Andrea and T-dog rushed forward to help Shane on the frontline, next was Daryl running to aide them. My heart ached for the Greene family, Maggie was crying and I watched as Glenn went to comfort her, she nodded and he moved forward joining in on the walker massacre, with regret on his face. Shane looked back, and shot the walker that Rick was still holding, Rick had turned around to check on Carl and his wife before looking back to the shit show in front of us. Gunshots continued to echo over the property as Daryl shot the last walker. Our group had lowered their weapons, looking over the damage they’d just done. The snarls of another walker could be heard and we all waited for it to emerge. My tears instantly fell as the little girl walked out of the barn, Carols cries, magnifying the shock. Carol had ran forward before I could do anything. “Sophia? Sophia! Sophia. Sophia. On no. Sophia. Sophia.” She tried running past Daryl, who had grabbed her and pulled her back, both of them dropping to their knees as she sobbed. “Sophia.” I moved my hand to cover my mouth, as I cried into it, watching as Rick walked forward, raising his gun. I closed my eyes as the last gun shot sounded. The sound of Carols sobs, being branded into my brain.

Series Masterlist Next Part

#daryl dixon #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x you #daryl x reader #daryl fanfiction #The Walking Dead #twd #x reader

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 17: Together Forever (originally posted on July 5, 2021)

AN: Welcome back my loyal readers! Sorry to keep you all waiting these past few months, but I know the wait will really be worth it. The final two parts of Alternate Future might be some of my greatest writings yet, and I'm more than excited to share it all with you starting today. Now without further ado….

Synopsis: Steven tries to become Connie's official boyfriend.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Charlyne Yi as Ruby

Erica Luttrell as Sapphire

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Grace Rolek as Connie

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Featuring Ray Chase as George Ikari

--

Pearl stood in line at the Buddwick Public Library alongside many other parents and parental figures like her, waiting as a bearded, glasses-wearing Japanese-American man signed books at a table.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to not be from around here, right?" a single dad standing behind Pearl asked her.

"Well, technically yes," Pearl informed the father. "I come from a planet of beings similar to myself who are all based around gemstones, which explains my appearance. Also, just last week I helped save your world from a sociopathic revolutionary, so you're welcome."

"You foreigners say the craziest things!" the father giggled in disbelief of Pearl, who just groaned flatly as the line began to pick up.

Eventually, Pearl was at the front of the line and now face to face with childcare author George Ikari, who had his fingers clasped together as he gazed at Pearl.

"Let me guess, you are here because of your own son, daughter, or whatever pronouns your child prefers to be dubbed?" George asked Pearl while he took out another copy of his book, titled "When Your Child Wants Time Apart", to sign for the Gem.

"Well, he's not really my son, but Steven is the closest thing my team, the Crystal Gems, have to one after his mother died giving birth to him." Pearl explained as George got to signing. "And that's not even getting into the fact that his mother was a former despotic alien conqueror who grew tired of her life and the constant neglect from her fellow despots, so she faked her death because of how much she valued your planet as part of a big war, then thousands of years later she met a rock star and fell in love with him before they consummated their relationship and she gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven."

George just stared in shock at Pearl's tale before she tried to continue. "And just last week, there was this other Gem with a vendetta against Steven's mother who tried to destroy the planet and kill us a-"

"Stop." George commanded Pearl with a raise of his hand before handing over the signed book. "Just take the book and leave. Your tales are holding up the line."

"What did I tell ya, foreigners say the craziest things!" the single father from before laughed.

"I'm deeply sorry Mr. Ikari, it's just that Steven has been going through some rough times lately." Pearl apologized to the author.

"I completely understand miss." George said while pulling out his phone to show Pearl a picture of his own son, a young man with scruffy brown hair, a white dress shirt, and a nervous expression on his face. "My son Shane has had his fair share of troubles ever since his mother died, troubles that he insisted on running away from rather than facing them maturely."

"Just like Steven." Pearl compared the two boys sympathetically. "I am deeply sorry for your loss sir."

"Thank you for your kindness." George smiled, putting away his phone. "The best thing I feel could work for a situation like this is to let things play out and discuss his problems when the time is right."

"Thank you very much George." Pearl thanked the author as she finally began to leave the library with her new book in hand. "Though I doubt that'll be of any use to Steven."

--

Not too far away from the library, Steven was sitting in his room talking to Connie on the phone while she was on her study break.

"Wow Connie, looks like you got all this college stuff figured out." Steven laughed with his dear human friend over his phone.

"I've got a whole plan figured out for early admission into the University of Jayhawk, but I'm still not sure about my major," Connie explained to Steven. "Maybe I should major in political science and minor in sociology, or perhaps the other way around."

"Did all our galactic adventures together get you interested in politics?" Steven asked.

"Maybe." Connie chuckled. "But I'm thinking more down to earth, as far as long-term careers go." As the two laughed at Connie's pun, the timer on her phone began to go off. "Wow, fifteen minutes went by pretty fast."

"Aw man, these study breaks are too short." Steven complained before he realized something. "Hey wait, you left a brochure at my place last time." He stated, pulling out a brochure for Connie's college of choice to show her. "You want it back?"

"It's alright Steven, I still have two more, and the Internet too." Connie answered smiling.

"Oh, right." Steven realized. "Well, call me when you still wanna hang out, okay?"

"You know I will, silly!" Connie beamed. "Okay, for real now, bye!"

After Connie ended the call, Steven turned over on his back and gazed at the brochure in his hands. "The University of Jayhawk, huh?" he muttered to himself. "And how far is that from here?" Steven then opened up the brochure to learn how far the distance between Beach City and the university's location in Kansas was. "Oh, that far."

Once again, Steven began to glow pink as he sadly sank into his bed, fretting over how little often he'd be able to see Connie regularly. Gazing at his rose-colored hand, he then started pondering on whether he should do something about this new condition, as he had been thinking about since the titanic battle with Black Rutile.

--

Soon, Steven had decided to get up off his bed and walk downstairs, to which he found Garnet standing in the living room dressed in a hat and kerchief. "Oh Garnet, you're still here?"

"Steven." Garnet greeted Steven tersely.

"I could really use your advice right now." Steven declared racing over to the fusion. "It's about-"

"Not right now Steven, I gotta split." Garnet cut Steven off before un-fusing into Ruby and Sapphire.

"I'm terribly sorry Steven, but I'm running late for my lecture on alternate timelines." Sapphire apologized while taking off the scoutmaster's hat and giving it to Ruby, along with a kiss on the cheek, before racing off to her lecture. "See you soon!"

"Sapphire might be going, but you still got good ol' Ruby to talk to." Ruby said to Steven as she went to fetch a backpack. "Let's walk and talk scout, I got things to do."

"Oh, okay." Steven agreed as he followed Ruby to the Warp Pad, and the two set off.

--

Later that day, Steven had joined Ruby's class, consisting of Onion, Zebra Jasper, and Little Larimar, as they strolled through the woods on a gorgeous afternoon. When the class got to a good stopping point near a stump, Ruby hopped up on the stump to speak. "Okay everyone, you remember what we learned last week, right?" she asked her students. "Well, today is the day! Brace yourselves, 'cause today we're sketching nature and the animals around us!"

Onion and his Gem classmates excitedly took out their notepads to draw on as Ruby continued. "Draw to your heart's content scouts!" Ruby declared. "Feel the beauty of everything around you, and you'll have the honor of receiving this Nature Sketching Badge!" She then presented a patch depicting a paint palette and brush in front of depictions of a wolf and a bird. "Got that? Now get to drawing!"

As soon as the three pupils left to go draw the beauty of nature around them, Ruby took it as her cue to jump down from the stump to talk with Steven. "So, what did you need Garnet for?"

"It's about Connie." Steven admitted to the small red Gem. "Every time I talk with her, I feel like she knows exactly what to do with her life, mostly thanks to her parents, and I don't. When we're together as Stevonnie, I feel so ready for anything, but on my own, I feel so lost. Just, what do I want with life?"

"That's tough Steven." Ruby declared sympathetically.

"Exactly!" Steven replied. "Connie is gonna go super far away for college, and I'm gonna be stuck here in Beach City where barely anything can go right for me nowadays and I don't know what to do about them! I want to be with Connie forever, like how you and Sapphire are basically together forever as Garnet!" That was when he came to a conclusion. "Wait, if I want to be together with Connie, then she's my future!"

Steven's revelation made Ruby super excited, and she began scuttling in place with stars in her eyes, her rapid footsteps creating a small fire beneath her feet. "STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN!" she cheered, but stopped short once she noticed the fire she created. "Oh my gosh, one sec!" Ruby quickly ran off and came back with a towel that she used to put it out. "Anyways, STEVEN, YOU GOTTA PROPOSE!"

"Wait, propose?!" Steven exclaimed in shock. "But, we're only teenagers, we can't get married yet! But then again…"

"Don't say you haven't thought of it!" Ruby added cheerfully. "Besides, aren't there couples in this country that get married at 18 or something?"

"Y-yeah, I thought of it." Steven began blushing, which he tried to hide within his jacket. "I mean, we just had this discussion."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Ruby yelled happily while jumping up and grabbing onto his head. "DO IT, DO IT, DO IT! DO IT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"

"Are you still really sure?" Steven asked the overly eager Gem. "As I said, Connie and I are still only teenagers."

"C'mon, we told you about how it worked for Sapphire and I." Ruby responded. "And if you're successful, you'll have the honor of receiving this!" She presented Steven with a badge depicting one figure popping the question to another. "The Proposal Badge! And if you're not so sure, well, seeing the future would be really helpful here."

Steven gasped, knowing just who Ruby was implying.

--

Far away from Ruby, Sapphire sat down with her class, made up of the Watermelon Tourmaline fusion, two of the Nephrites, Orange Spodumene, Cherry Quartz, and Angel Aura Quartz, while drawing lines in the sand with a stick.

"Okay class, let's begin our lesson." Sapphire announced to her students when she spotted Steven racing towards her with a big smile on his face. "Ah, Steven. I've been expecting you."

"Hi, Sapphire." Steven greeted Sapphire. "I'm sorry to interrupt your class, but I got big news! I've been thinking about my future with Connie lately, and a chat with Ruby convinced me that I should propose!"

"Wait, don't you have to wait until you're a grown-up to do that?" Cherry Quartz inquired with a raise of her hand.

"Let me guess, you're here because of my future vision?" Sapphire asked. "Let's run the numbers then." She then let Steven stand next to her before beginning to speak to her class. "Okay class, let's review what we've learned today." She began while drawing complex math equations in the sand. "Using the concepts we discussed so far, let us calculate the probability of Steven succeeding in asking Connie to marry him. Let's begin with the probability that she'll want to spend her life with someone, and then we'll multiply that by the differential factor in sociocultural marriage acceptance. Next, we multiply that by a possibly happy cohabitation, the factor of fear of engagement, the intensity of the love you share, and finally the robustness of your goals in life." As Sapphire finished her equation, she finally turned back to Steven. "Are you following so far, Steven?"

"Uh, maybe?" Steven answered as he stared at the equation Sapphire had jotted down for him in the sand, but it wasn't long before the ocean tides began to wash them away. "Oh no, your work!"

"And there we have it." Sapphire declared with a chuckle. "Don't you get it, Steven? My marriage to Ruby, our fusion as Garnet, it eluded my future vision for so long, defied the odds, and perhaps even changed the course of time itself!" she declared encouragingly. "We could just write equations in the sand all day, but then a wave of chance can come crashing in and wash everything away! Love is truly unquantifiable! Even with my gift of clairvoyance, I know far better than anyone that love can make the impossible possible! And that is why I say do it! Do it, Steven, just do it!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Steven began getting pumped up before turning to Sapphire's class. "Get one last good look at me, everyone, because after today you're gonna be calling me Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe-Maheswaran!"

The class began cheering vibrantly, bringing a big smile to Steven's face as he finally realized what his future now held.

--

As the afternoon slowly began to give way to evening, Ruby and Sapphire reunited by rushing towards each other on the sand, excited about the big proposal.

"Steven told me first, and I led him to you!" Ruby cheered, spinning her little blue wife around by the waist.

"I told him to go for it!" Sapphire laughed. "Oh, it's going to be so wonderful!"

As the two fused back into Garnet, she stood still for a few moments, contemplating her components' decisions before coming to one of her own. "I take full responsibility for their actions." Just then, Garnet heard footsteps and found Pearl walking behind her, her pointy nose stuck in a book. "Pearl, I'm guessing you want to see me about the book you're reading."

"I was just thinking about calling up you and Amethyst," Pearl announced as her gaze turned from the pages to her leader. "Where's Steven?"

"Oh, nothing much," Garnet answered. "Just going to make a rash decision that'll emotionally damage him in the long run."

"Oh, that's ni-" Pearl began before she did a double-take. "WAIT, WHAT?!"

--

As for Steven, he was too busy getting ready for an evening with Connie without a care in the world, picking up a cake from Spacetries that said 'Together forever!' on it, buying some flowers from Crazy Lace Agate, lighting up the glow bracelet that brought him & Connie together to begin with and dressing up in some nice clothes. If all goes well, he would soon become Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe-Maheswaran.

Meanwhile, at Connie's house, Connie kept on studying for the University of Jayhawk when she heard a roar coming from outside her window. Walking over to the window, she discovered Steven parked outside her home with Lion by his side.

"Evening Connie, how are you doing?" Steven asked his ladylove.

"Steven?" Connie replied. "What are you doing here, and why are you all dressed up like that?"

"You got a fifteen-minute study break in two minutes, right?" Steven inquired, gazing at his watch to check if his timing is correct.

"Whoa, spot-on!" Connie exclaimed, gazing at her phone to learn that he was indeed right. "So, what did you come here for?"

"You want to go for a walk with me?" Steven offered. "I'm sure you could use some fresh air."

"That's very sweet Steven." Connie smiled. "I'd really love to, but I-"

"Don't worry, we can take Lion, and then I'll bring you home in fifteen!" Steven declared with a thumbs up.

"Okay, let's do this!" Connie accepted the offer and left her room to meet Steven outside, taking a moment to tell her parents along the way. "Bye Mom and Dad, I'm spending my study break with Steven!"

Once Connie was out the door, she and Steven mounted on Lion's back and he ran away from the Maheswaran residence.

--

"Remember when we first met here?" Steven asked Connie as they dismounted from Lion and began walking down the beach.

"You mean when you tried riding a bike in the sand and then started running away screaming?" Connie replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I was trying to get your attention." Steven added.

"Last I remember, I was more focused on my book than your silly antics." Connie stated.

"Well, that all happened right here." Steven declared, gesturing to a picnic at the very spot where he and Connie first met all those years ago. "You like what I have here?"

"Steven!" Connie exclaimed in awe at the picnic set before them. "I don't know what to say! I also can't believe you still remember this exact spot!"

"I just remember it like it was yesterday!" Steven exclaimed just as eagerly before running over to a nearby rock to sit on.

"This is too cute." Connie squealed while blushing.

"And without further ado," Steven announced as he picked up a guitar to play while Connie sat down. "There's something very important that I'd like to tell you today." With that, he started strumming the guitar and began to sing. "I'd rather be tall, I'd rather be smart, I'd rather be sure you know I care." He sang for Connie. "Wherever you go, wherever you start, I'd rather be sure you know I'm there. I'd rather I always be a part of whatever you do. I'd rather be me, with you."

Although Connie was a little turned off by the deeper meaning of Steven's song, she chose to just keep those feelings hidden to not hurt Steven's while he continued singing. "Wherever we go, I already trust, I'd know what to do if it were us. I'd know what to say, I'd know how to be, I'd know your entire syllabus." Steven continued as the song reached its climax. "I can't think of any other thing in the world that I would rather do. If I could be, I'd rather be me with you."

"Oh Steven, that's so beautiful!" Connie applauded the love song. "If a little unsettling, but I'd rather not say it out loud because-" Steven then got down on one knee and presented him her old glow bracelet. "Huh?"

"Connie, will you marry me?" Steven popped the question at last.

"Come again?" Connie asked, completely taken off guard by such a proposal.

"Let's get married and live together as Stevonnie, just like Garnet!" Steven reiterated for his possible wife.

"Are you serious?" Connie chuckled at the marriage proposal. "I think we should talk about this first."

"You might think I'm being sentimental, but this makes sense!" Steven exclaimed. "I don't know what you'll be studying, but I'm sure Stevonnie will! We can go to Jayhawk together!"

"I really appreciate this little date, but come on! You're still young!" Connie said as she stood up. "And acting a little clingy, I might add." She added under her breath.

"What was that?" Steven asked Connie.

"Nothing!" Connie lied. "Like I said, we're still young. And even if some couples get married at like, eighteen, I don't think we're fit to be one of those."

"So, you don't want to be Stevonnie with me?" Steven asked despondently, but Connie was there to comfort him.

"Of course I'd want to be Stevonnie, but I'd like to be my own person too," Connie answered reassuringly. "You get that, right?"

"Yeah, but," Steven began while putting the bracelet away as Connie hugged him. "Is it a no?"

"I'd say it's not right now." Connie answered.

"But if we're going to spend our lives together, why didn't you say it now?" Steven kept on inquiring fretfully.

"We got plenty of time." Connie declared, moving on from hugging Steven to holding his hands. "Don't you worry."

"I'm not worried, honest." Steven tried correcting his best friend. "I'm just happy when I'm with you."

"I'm happy around you too." Connie replied. "It's just that-" Before Connie could finish, the alarm on her phone went off. "Oh snap, my alarm!" she yelped in realization while pulling her phone out. "Forget studying right now, I don't think it matters."

"But it does matter to you!" Steven yelled.

"And you're just as important!" Connie responded, beginning to notice Steven getting more stressed out.

"I'm fine, we can talk about it later." Steven began rapidly panting. "Look, Lion's still right there, you can go now."

"Are you sure Steven?" Connie wondered sympathetically. "You're looking a little on edge. Maybe I can hook you up with a good therapist. She's a good friend of my mom named Dr. Rebe-"

"I'm sure I'm fine." Steven cut Connie off. "Now go."

"Okay." Connie obliged before giving Steven a goodbye hug. "I'll call you again tomorrow at noon." She said before walking towards Lion to have him take her home.

"Have fun studying!" Steven continued putting up a happy front as he bid Connie farewell. But as soon as she was out of sight, that front completely fell. "Nobody I love ever wants to stay."

With that, Steven fell back-first to the sand and turned pink, the resulting impact ruining the nice picnic around him as he wallowed in a crater of his sadness, and stayed there for the rest of the day.

--

Many hours later, Steven kept on lying in the crater long into the night with tears in his eyes, and when he finally decided to get up, Garnet was there waiting for him with the picnic basket containing the cake still intact.

"I assume it didn't go well." Garnet theorized as she helped Steven up from the crater and began walking him home.

"I don't get it," Steven muttered cynically. "Ruby and Sapphire said I should go for it, and I did, but everything went wrong."

"I apologize on their behalf," Garnet stated. "You just can't trust love advice from hopeless romantics like those two."

"Then why didn't you stop me?" Steven asked the fusion.

"I couldn't see a future where you didn't try proposing to Connie," Garnet answered. "However, there were quite a few where after she said no, you forced her to fuse with you and subsequently went insane."

"Of course." Steven moaned. "Even in alternate timelines, nothing can ever go right for me."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Garnet comforted her half-human ward with a hug to the side. "Your soulmate should be your complement, not a missing piece. Ruby and Sapphire may deeply love each other, but they still have their own thoughts, feelings, and lives." The pair soon reached the beach house and sat down on the steps together. "Whatever hole you have in your life Steven, I want you to know that Connie or Stevonnie might not fill it."

"It's just that you guys make it so easy!" Steven revealed as he took the basket from Garnet. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but it's kinda your fault for being so dang perfect!"

"I know you're upset Steven, and I take responsibility for your plight," Garnet apologized to Steven. "but blaming others as much as you blame yourself won't help."

"Then maybe shoving this adorable cake in my face will!" Steven declared as he opened the picnic basket to reveal that the cake was in pieces.

"It probably won't." Garnet deadpanned, but Steven didn't listen and started eating the broken cake anyways.

"Well, I'm still gonna do it!" Steven exclaimed, his mouth now full of cake.

"I know," Garnet added as she gazed up at the sky. However, what she didn't catch was a fly buzzing around her and Steven, and its green eyes started blinking.

--

"Ah, romance. So utterly futile." Black Rutile grimaced as she watched the live footage of Steven drowning his sorrows in cake through a hard light welding mask. "Still, all that trauma could be useful in the future."

As Black Rutile was spectating on Steven's pain, she was hard at work on her plans for revenge, using a blowtorch to put together the final touches on a special wrist-mounted device. Once she was done, the villainous Rutile aimed the device at a rock carved into the exact shape of White Diamond's gem and fired. The resulting blast destroyed the rock and left a massive cloud of ash where it once was, but she wasn't satisfied with the smattering of pebbles that once made up the rock.

"Hm, need to work on the disintegration aspect a bit more." Black Rutile pondered while retracting the welding mask into her visor and began going back to the drawing board.

--

Guess who's back? Back again? Black Rutile's back, she's no friend! And on that rather sad turned ominous note, we conclude the first chapter of Part 3. Now that we have Steven's romance issues out of the way, expect to see the following in the coming chapters, in no particular order.

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl re-enact Ace Attorney while Steven becomes even more scarred for life.

Viva Los Diego! Lapis & Amethyst get involved with a James Bond parody, Garnet & Bismuth solve mysteries together with a police officer who's basically the Plumber from Ratchet and Clank, Pearl matches wits with a snooty film director who's like Michael Bay, David Cage, Neil Druckmann & Zack Snyder in one, and Peridot tries promoting her CPH reboot.

Steven hangs out with Spinel and plays basketball with Wolverine.

Peridot finally gets her own song.

Jasper finally gets her own song.

A certain Stevonnie-chasing jerk dares Steven to reform him.

And finally, Black Rutile plays a role in a certain event in Fragments, the final chapter of this part.

Have I gotten your interest yet? Good, cause strap in everyone, it's gonna be nuts.

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #connie maheswaran #garnet #ruby #sapphire #pearl #lion steven universe #black rutile

[acdeaky]

are you ready for love?

warning: fluff, alcohol consumption, strong language, slight angst?

note: congrats on 4k followers @writingfortoomanyfandoms​​ ! i began writing this and then fell out of love with it, but i (finally) figured out the ending and fell back in love! enjoy!

word count: 4.5k

black lives matter

“what I'm saying is - and this is not a come on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way!” dan spoke, a little too loudly for the restaurant the group was in, trying to voice his (very out-of-date) opinion above the rest of the group. he was met with a lot of voices arguing he was wrong, and a fry from shane’s plate. “what?” he practically whined. 

“just because you want to shag any girl you're friends with, and who doesn't have a boyfriend, doesn't mean that every guy is the same!” harry perked up, practically punching dan in the arm after his comment. 

“it so means every guy is the same,” dan argued, looking over at you. “you and ben are only close because he wants to get in your pants.”

“why did we let him join?” you asked everyone else, basically pretending that dan wasn't sat a few seats away from you. 

“because he's my brother and has no other friends.” erin replied from next to you, a hand resting on your thigh which was pressed against her’s.

“that is not true.”

“oh, dan, sweetie, it is.” erin just smiled sarcastically at her brother, her eyes showing faux sympathy. 

“you all know i’m right, but you don't want to say it,” another chorus of disagreement came from the group, as did another fry from shane’s plate. “mate, would you stop that?” shane just shook his head, wrapping his arm around the back of renee’s chair and lightly brushed his fingers against your shoulder. next to ben, you were definitely closest to shane with him being like a big brother to you. 

somehow, the rest of the meal went without a hitch. dan quieted down with the unpopular opinions and everyone else enjoyed each other’s company as they finished their meals and had a few drinks afterwards. shane and renee were the first ones to leave. both of them had had long days at work, but made it out for the meal, and were now more than ready to collapse into their bed. harry and erin were next. as they paid their part and begun to leave, they dragged dan out with them, keeping him from saying something inappropriate to you and/or lucy. 

after those three left, you and lucy stayed a little longer. it had been a while since the two of you had hung out together alone, and a catchup with definitely needed. 

“so what’s the real reason ben didn’t come tonight? he's definitely not ill else you would be there nursing him back to health.” she teased, giving you a light prod to your side. 

“he didn't want to have to deal with comments from dan,” you stated plainly. “and i’m glad ben didn’t come else he would have had to deal with exactly what he didn't want to deal with.”

“yeh, that's fair. maybe we should stop inviting dan to these things.”

“maybe,” you both giggled, thinking of how much more civilised somethings would be without him. “that's too mean, though. erin would not be happy.” 

“she most definitely wouldn't be, but dan’s a dickhead.”

“oh, yeh.” the two of you sat gigging for a little longer, the few drinks the both of you had had making their way completely into your system. after chatting for a little longer (and realising you should both definitely go home), you paid the rest of the bill and left, still chatting as you got into your car, travelling back to your same apartment building.

the ride home wasn't long. luckily, the group had mutually decided on a restaurant that was close to both of your apartments, meaning it only took about ten minutes to get home. the traffic was light and it seemed that every light turned green just in time for you. sooner than you knew, you were heading out of the garage of the apartment building, heading towards the lift and pressing the ninth floor button for lucy and the tenth floor button for you. as you reached her floor, you shared a slightly emotional goodbye with each other. it took exactly 23 seconds to get from the lift to your apartment (you had counted many times) and as you swung the door open, there was ben, sat idly on your sofa with his feet up and netflix playing on the TV. 

“hello, wanderer.” he teased as he heard you pull off your shoes and collapse onto the sofa next to him. “did you have fun? was dan a dick?”

“when is dan not a dick?” you only replied, pulling your knees closer to your chest as you turned your body into ben’s. one of his hands lifted off of his thigh for you to do so, landing back down on your knee. 

“that's true. what did he say this time?”

“that men and women can't be friends because the sex part gets in the way.”

“well that's not true, look at us!” ben said, his eyes quickly flitting to you and then straight back to the TV. 

“yeh, look at us.” 

“you are woman, i am man. we no sex.” he spoke in a deeper voice, making you giggle at his ridiculous impression of a caveman. 

“i’m just glad you weren't there; another comment from him would have sent your fist through his face.” 

“oh, yeh. but erin would not have been happy.”

“she most definitely wouldn't be.” you giggled again, thinking back to the conversation you had had with lucy. “i’m actually so tired, i think i’m just calling it a night. you stay as long as you like” as you got up, you pointed to ben, giving him a look which said ‘keep it down’ which he replied with a salute. you gave the other a quiet ‘night’ before placing a kiss on his cheek and dragging your feet to your bedroom. 

as you got ready for bed, you couldnt help but think back to what dan had said. if you told erin and lucy (or even ben) that you were contemplating his words, they would have told you to stop and say that ‘dan was just being dan. he didn't mean it’. you just couldn’t help thinking about whether it was true. of course, you were close to shane and harry, but they both had girlfriends, they definitely wouldn't want anything to do with what’s in your pants. but you were also close to ben, and he didn't have a girlfriend. the only explanation for you two being close was that he wanted what was in your pants, not in your head nor your heart. 

it pained you to think of that; ben being here only to try it on. of course, ben was attractive and had sex appeal, but he was also your best friend and you weren't about to jump in to bed with him at the first chance. you have never, and will never, go about relationships like that. to you, it was unbelievable how much you let dan’s comment cloud your mind, yet you almost hoped there was some truth to it. 

only a wall away, ben was sat thinking the exact same thing. the show he was binging was still playing in the background, but in the forefront of his mind was dan’s comment. ben knew men and women could be friends without sex getting involved; he had those relationships with all the girls in the group, except her. although he wouldn't openly admit it to anyone, he had developed feelings, but didn't want to ruin what the two had by trying it on with her. so ben sat back and tried to let his feelings settle. that instantly failed when he continued to hang out with her almost everyday and talk to her everyday. it didn't take him long to realise he was in love. 

ben didn't stay for much longer; his eyes were being to strain to properly see the TV and dan's comment was still lingering in his thoughts. he quietly turned off the TV and left the room, practically tiptoeing past your room as he entered the guest room (which was almost his considering how often he slept in it). all he did was slip out of his jeans, jumper and socks, leaving on his boxers and slid into bed. just like you, it didn't take him long to fall asleep, soon drifting off nestled within the comfy sheets and only imagining what it would be like to hold you in his arms. 

in the morning, ben woke up before you (like usual) and set himself the task of making breakfast. he knew you'd be hungry this morning and, as soon as he got out of bed and put on a pair of shorts, he made his way into the kitchen and began making his famous pancakes. it didn't take long for you to wake up nor did it take long for you to smell the pancakes. 

“morning, chef.” you smiled lazily as you walked into the kitchen. 

“morning to you, too.” like usual in a morning, ben was clad in some shorts and a plain t-shirt as he stood in front of the hob. the teapot had already been filled and there was a half empty cup stood on the side next to the hob. “sleep well?”

“yeh, i guess.” ‘don't tell him’ you thought to yourself. “i just couldn't stop thinking about dan's comment last night.” 

“love, i've told you before to take no notice of him-”

“no, ben, he said something else last night. not just the men and women and sex thing.”

“well, what else did he say?” he asked, less annoyed this time, switching off the ring and giving you his full attention.

“he said that you and i are only close because you want to get into my pants.” although he asked you to tell him (and you would have told him anyway), you couldn’t help but feel ashamed at telling ben. you knew he would be mad that you let something dan said cloud your judgement about him, but you also knew that he would deny it. you wished he wouldn’t.

“you know that’s not true, right?” there it was. “you know i would never do that to you, or anyone for that matter. don’t let him get into your head; he’s a dick.”

“yeh, course.” you mumbled as ben turned back to the pan, flipping out the pancake onto a plate. as both of you ate, you sat talking about anything and everything. you were content just being here with ben, and yet you still couldn’t get those thoughts out of your head.

to ben, all you would be is his best friend; he made that perfectly clear last night and this morning. to you, your feelings would always be there, making it unfair on anyone else you dated. your heart was wrapped around ben indefinitely.

after breakfast was finished and the kitchen was tidy, you said your goodbyes to ben (even though you don’t normally kick him out this early), making up a lie about finishing off some things for work. what you really wanted to do was talk to erin and lucy; you needed to empty your head to someone.

“hey, you guys are okay to chat, right?” you asked as soon as the facetime connected to the both of them.

“yeh, of course!” “i’ve got my wine, i’m ready.” they both replied, supportive smiles already on their faces.

“okay, i’m sorry i’m bringing this up again, but i’m still thinking about dan’s comment last night.”

“which one?” erin giggled, taking a sip of her wine.

“the one about ben only being close to me because he wants to get in my pants.”

“that’s not true.”

“it’s true.”

“what?” you and erin asked lucy, who sat with a slight smirk on her face.

“ben does want to get into your pants, but not as a one time fling or being friends with benefits, he really likes you.”

“he does?”

“yeh,” both you and erin looked at each other, pure shock coming over your face and slight shock on erin’s. “he got drunk with the lads one night and came to my place instead of yours-”

“makes sense,” erin perked up, taking another sip of her wine. “your apartment is literally a floor below Y/N’s.”

“exactly; he miscounted the floor numbers and came to my door. he kept on apologising so i let him in and he just ranted about dan saying stupid things again about the two of you. then he spilt his feelings and almost broke down asking me not to say anything. i told him he should go to your place and tell you himself. he said he would and i assumed he did, but obviously-”

“he didn’t. that night he came up to my apartment and basically passed out on the sofa. i pulled his shoes off and left him a glass of water and some painkillers for the morning. that was it; he didn't really say anything at all until the next morning.” you frowned, thinking at how literally minutes before ben stumbled into your apartment, he'd stumbled out of lucy’s. 

“wow, well i knew benny boy had feelings, but i didn’t know he did that.” erin said, turning and making sure harry hadn't heard any of that conversation. 

“no one knew, i kept ben’s drunk escapade a secret. he couldn’t even remember it happening.” after that, all three of you were slightly stunned into silence. it was a minute before anyone spoke. 

“what are you gonna do?” erin’s voice was small, something that isn't normal for her. her wine glass had been discarded (though half empty) and she and lucy were both looking at you. you knew your face hadn't change. even without looking at your screen, you knew the only look on your face was disbelief. 

“i-i don't know.”

“surely you're gonna do something?” lucy gasped. 

“and say what to him? ‘hey, ben. i've just been chatting to our good friend lucy and it turns out you drunkenly told her about your feelings for me’. i’m not good with confrontation!”

“and that's why you two will never be together!” erin chuckled, shaking her head at you. 

“what do you mean?

“i mean, you're scared of confrontation and ben will never admit his feelings for you because he's scared you’ll reject him.”

“but i wouldn’t-”

“he doesn’t know that.” she was right. ben doesn’t know what you're thinking, and you don't know what he's thinking. right now, the only way to get over the situation is if you say something. yet, you couldn't help but think that ben’s drunken confession was just that: drunken and stupid.

“i need some time to think, girls.”

“okay.” 

“just keep us in the loop, yeh?” lucy asked, pity absolutely drowning her face. 

“will do, bye.” you waved as did lucy and erin, saying their own goodbyes before you ended the call. 

this had changed everything. of course it had. you definitely didn't feel the same way you did before the call, and you definitely didn't feel the same way about ben as you did before the call. you couldn’t help but think if this had changed things, if this had given you the confidence to finally tell ben about how you feel. 

it was something to sleep on, something to cloud your thoughts for another night. 

but you didn’t get the chance to do that. before you had even managed to settle down for the night, there was a loud, and brash, knock at your door. the thought of ignoring them crossed your mind, hoping it would be a drunken fool who had stumbled across the wrong apartment.

yet, no matter how long you stayed laying on your back, staring at the blank canvas of your ceiling, the knocking did not cease. with a grumble, you made your way through your apartment and towards the front door, not bothering to switch on any of the lights on your way.

as soon as your door was open, whoever was on the other side flung themselves inside, stumbling as they attempted to pull off their shoes. you couldn’t even see who the person was, the low light of the hallway doing little to help you figure out who the intruder was.

and, just as you were about to speak up, the person spoke - though it was more of a grumble - and said, “luce, i’m sorry for doin’ this again.” ben. his voice was slurred and his actions were full of haste. the way he threw his shoes to the side and his jacket on to the floor made you realise he truly thought he was on the floor below; everywhere he was throwing things were where lucy had furniture.

then you realised something else; it was happening again. that night lucy had told you about, with ben drinking with the lads, had happened again. though, you weren’t sure if he was drinking alone or not, but whatever had happened to ben had made him feel the need to see lucy, before anything.

“i know it’s prob’ly late, but i can’t stop thinking about her and you’re the only person who knows how i feel.” came ben’s mumbling voice again. he sounded weak, vulnerable, something you’d never heard in any tone of his voice before. well, there were some exceptions, but this voice, this tone, was something else. and it scared you.

but you stayed quiet, waiting for ben to either say something again or... something else to happen, like a meteor hitting the earth, to save the both of you from this conversation.

“fuck, you moved things around in here?” he grumbled, walking around to find something to grip onto or sit on.

your head was screaming to say something, to reply and end whatever this was, yet your heart was screaming to save yourself the heartache (from what, you didn’t know).

it wasn’t until ben managed to find a lightswitch that your heart began to race even faster than before. you were met with his disheveled look, his boots haphazardly pulled off and scattered across your floor and his jacket thrown carelessly across the wood of your dining table mismatched his reddening eyes and mess of his hair.

and, as if time was frozen, ben stood against the wall of your apartment, his eyes as wide as ever and his heart thumping against the case of his chest. you were no better; at least you knew who had stumbled into your apartment, but ben was in shock. because it was you. of course it was you, who else could make ben’s heart beat as fast as you could?

which is why ben stood still, acting as if he stayed deadly still, the predator before him would ignore his very existence. but the elephant was in the room, and you could not ignore the existence of that.

“ben,” you whispered, your voice stretching out to fill the gap between your bodies. instead, it died upon it’s journey, failing to reach the only person who mattered to you at that minute. “ben, it’s okay: i know.”

that didn’t settle his nerves. the only things those two words did was set his heart racing faster and he felt like his world was collapsing in on himself.

“no,” he shook his head, finally pulling his eyes away from your glance, turning his back towards you as his hands made his hair even more of a mess. “no, it’s not okay.”

but it was. it was more than okay because somewhere between ben stumbling through your door and this moment right now, you had found the courage to tell him that you knew, that you felt the same, this it was okay.

taking advantage of his back facing you, you stepped over to him carefully. at first, you were unsure of your movements, letting your hands linger in the air just above ben’s back before you took the final step and pressed them against his t-shirt-covered skin. the muscles in his back tensed and tightened, but he quickly let the warmth and welcoming feeling of you relax him.

only then did you become more confident, letting your hands move lightly over his back, mapping every bump and dimple they found. you ventured down to ben’s hips, covering the skin of his sides before settling around his front on his stomach.

“it’s okay, ben.” you said once again, your voice falling into a quiet whisper next to the shell of his ear as your chin rested on his shoulder. both of hands met yours. they were warm and fit comfortably between yours, something you had always imagined.

“how do you know?” he tested the waters, only letting his voice be loud enough for you to hear, like this was your little secret. you weren’t sure if ben was asking how you knew how he felt or how things would be okay, but you chose the former.

“lucy told me,” you replied in an equal tone, moving your head from his shoulder to press against his back, just between his shoulder blades. “she told me about that night you went to her apartment after you had been out with the boys: she told me how you felt about me.”

“and?” he said soon after, not wanting to wait any longer for a response that could change his life.

“ben, you mean the world to me, and i was always afraid that if we began a relationship, it could ruin our friendship. but i’m not afraid of that anymore, and i just want what i want: you.”

ben had never felt so sober. he had begun the night alone and, somehow, ended it in your arms; one of the places he didn’t think he’d be for a while.

his thumb began tracing small circles on the back of your hand, letting himself know that this was real and this was happening. it also grounded you. it gave you something to focus on when you needed it. but you didn’t want it to be that; you wanted it to be something that happens regularly and often. now, that might happen.

reluctantly, you pulled your hands from his, taking your arms away from his body as you circled around him. once his face met yours, neither of you could hold in the tiny smile which threatened to appear at the corner of your lips. god, you could only imagine what his lips felt like, what they tasted like. and you imagined that they felt like silk.

your hands quickly found purchase on ben’s body once again. this time, you traced the outline of his face, allowing yourself to take your time as you moved along his jawline. as one hand did that, the other tangled it’s fingers into the hair on the nape of his neck - something that he was growing out for a role, but you enjoyed it regardless.

ben was so overwhelmed, the only place he could find to anchor himself to you were your hips. he squeezed and pressed the skin lightly, wanting to live in the moment as much as he could, just in case you slipped through his fingertips, like silk does.

you can’t help but notice that you’ve never seen him like this before, so vulnerable and open to you and your touch. of course, you had touched each other before, but not with the softness and meaning like now.

“i want you, too,” ben finally whispered, never letting his gaze falter from you. his hands seemed to grip your hips a little harder as your hands slid down from his head and onto his shoulders. “that’s all i’ve wanted since i met you.”

just then, you pushed yourself onto the balls of your feet, managing to slightly close the gap between you and ben as his head bowed lower, too. your lips met like a perfect melody, so soft and gentle and better than you could have ever imagined.

slowly, and once again, your hands traced their way up ben’s skin, circling around his neck before toying with those little hairs you had suddenly become so fond of. and, as a response, ben’s hands shifted from your hips to your lower back quicker than you could register, pushing and pulling your body flush with his own.

his hands were warm and big and better than you could have imagined. they were strong, keeping the two of you together in perfect harmony as you explored the other’s touch after so, so long.

but, then ben pulled away, keeping you pressed against his chest while looking down at you, your lips swollen and red and, god, so beautiful. he only smiled, pulling away to grab your hand a second later.

he was your personal guide through your home, taking you towards your bedroom (only after turning off the light he switched on earlier). as soon as you got in the room, ben let you go, turning to close the door as you stood waiting for him; you almost felt like a stranger, standing there in your own room with no feeling of anything but ben.

once the door clicked shut, he turned his attention back to you. while he walked forward, you stumbled backwards, only stopping when the back of your knees hit the side of your bed.

“get in,” he spoke gently, pressing a light kiss to your forehead. “i’ll be there in a second.” and so you did. since you were already about to settle down for the night when ben knocked on the door, you just sat underneath the covers again.

seeing the cast of ben’s shadow on your walls from the beaming moon was a sight you knew you would never tire of. the way he moved gracefully as he pulled off his shirt and jeans, leaving on only his boxers and turning back to you.

he was a ghost striding towards you. a vision as his body drifted towards you, so bright and beautiful under the moon, so quiet as he slipped under the covers to lay next to you; his arms open and welcoming.

so you accepted, letting yourself have this, this moment, with ben. you found yourself tucked into his side, one arm dragged across his torso with your head on his chest. his left arm wrapped itself around your shoulders, his right arm laying adjacent to yours, letting your fingertips touch and ghost along one another.

you stayed there, for a minute or two, just getting used to each other’s rise and fall of your chests and the dips and bumps of each other’s skin. neither of you had felt more at peace than in that moment.

and as you lay there in ben’s arms, the steady beating in his heart right below your ear and finally feeling content, you knew that you were ready for love.

-

TAGLIST: @shes-over-bored @i-barely-go-on-online​ @sohoneyspreadyourwings​ @brian-maybe-not​ @deakysbabybooty​ @1001-yellow-daffodils​ @retromusicsalad @hardcoredisneynerd​ @painkiller80​ @leatherjacketmazzello​ @scarecrowmax​ @mebeatlized @seesiderendezvous​ @alright-mrfahrenheit​ @someone-get-a-medic​ @miamideacon @chlobo6​ @teenagepeterpan​ @spacedustmazzello​ @deakysgurl​ @forever-rogue​ @xcdelilahxc​ @keepsdrawings​ @igotsuckedintothevoid​ @kill4hqueen​ @supersonicfreddie​ @laedymoon​ @inthedayswhenlandswerefew​ @warriorteam1924​ @painandpleasure86​ @boomerangbassist​ @mamaskillerqueen​ @bhxrdy​

#Courts4KWritingChallenge #ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy imagine #bohemian rhapsody #ben jones #x reader #acdeaky

[anna-hawk]

rules: list the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). see if there are any patterns. choose your favorite opening line. then tag some of your favorite authors!

Tagged by @myletternevercame 🤗🤗

It's late in the afternoon and you're coming home from work. (Workout)

You're spending a rare lazy weekend with Frank. (Fingers)

“Hey, Frank?” You call from the bed on which you’re sitting while you’re putting on your shoes. “Are you ready? We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry.” (Sweet Revenge)

You and Shane have decided to have some fun with ice cream in bed. You’d teased him mercilessly by implying that he would never be able to take the cold ice cream on his skin without being restrained. He’d scoffed loudly, saying that just a bit of cold wouldn’t bother him at all. (Ice cream)

Frank is sitting on the couch, leaning over the coffee table as he cleans various weapons with extreme care. You’ve been sitting against one of the armrests of the couch, your feet tucked under Frank’s thighs, while reading a new book. (Jawline)

You huff exasperatedly when you see who just came through the restaurant's doors. You'd spent the evening having a delicious dinner with one of your closest friends to blow off some steam and rant at them about your most recent fight with Braxton. The food had been great, the company even more so, letting you finally relax after having been on edge for the last couple of days. (Choose)

Frank sits in the diner where he usually has coffee or lunch with Karen. He’s already nursing a cup of coffee when Karen walks through the door, looking slightly out of breath and carrying three huge paper bags. She orders some coffee from the waitress standing at the counter, before hurrying to where Frank is waiting for her. Karen sits down in the booth facing him, aiming a large smile in his direction. (The Curse of the Suit)

Several months after the whole new debacle with Fisk, Matt stumbles upon Frank while they're going after the same target one night. Matt is surprised to see him and from how he feels Frank momentarily freeze, he understands that the feeling is mutual. They haven't run into each other in quite some time after all. (Nice Suit)

When Frank had come back after a witness protection job that lasted for five weeks, you hadn't expected him to come back to your apartment and immediately tell you he wanted to get out of the city for a few days. You had looked up at him from your perch on your armchair with a confused expression (that he'd come back with a huge beard and wild hair hadn't helped) but the grin came soon after. (Beard)

Insomnia is a bitch. Nights when you toss and turn without being able to find sleep. It doesn't matter if you're dead tired. You. Just. Can't. Fall. Asleep. (Insomnia)

The elevator finally reaches your floor and you stumble out of it, completely exhausted from your day. Work is frigging hectic at the moment. You don’t know where the amount of customers is coming from and you already have a rather big clientele as it is. (Bread rolls)

"You’re kiddin’, right?” Shane's voice is slightly incredulous from where he’s standing next to you in your kitchen. He arrived at your flat a couple minutes ago and seems to already regret his decision to come. (Whipped)

You’re in a good mood today. It’s Sunday, so no work and you can stay in bed longer. But that’s not really the best part about it being Sunday. No, the best part is that you have a long standing date with your TV, your couch and most importantly, with Frank on Sundays. (Wait, universes?)

"You have got to be fucking kidding me, Castle,” you exclaim harshly as said man half stumbles over your threshold. “What the fuck happened this time?” you question, barely letting him fully into your house before slamming your entrance door shut after him. (Blood isn't always thicker than water)

Shit, shit, shit. You’re late to work and speeding down the road to get there faster. You should have been there already ten minutes ago and are trying to keep the amount of minutes you'll be late for to a minimum by using your lead foot on the gas. You’re not far anymore, just a few more streets and you'll be there. (Deputy Jerk)

Imagine you just came out of the shower after a good night’s sleep with Frank by your side. You tried out a new coffee and coconut body scrub, your skin now glowing and smooth and smelling like heaven. Using beauty products with coffee inside them might be a bit over the top for someone who owns a Café, but that stuff is amazing and you don’t regret buying it at all. (Body scrub)

"Think you could cut my hair?" You turn around from where you are preparing lunch, to face Frank who looks at you inquiringly from over the counter that separates the kitchen from the living room. (Haircut)

You’re sitting at your desk in your living room when you hear more catcalls coming from outside your window. You grit your teeth and close your eyes as you pray for patience at the repeated noise and try to focus on your work again, knowing that getting angry isn’t going to help. (Under Construction)

After the last time you and Frank had parted ways, Frank had kept his promise of checking in with you whenever he could. His mission turned out to be more complicated than initially. anticipated and the two weeks he had told you about, turned into two months . The only thing you’d found out further is that it’s about a drug dealer ring on the outskirts of NYC. The mission is apparently slow coming but not dangerous from what Frank had said. You hadn’t been able to not add ‘Yet’ in your mind. (Sometimes love isn't enough)

Stiles is pissed. Really, really pissed. Never mind the fact that Derek has him nearly folded in half as he fucks him into the mattress relentlessly, legs braced with a knee on each side of Stiles’ hips. (Fourth time's the charm)

I already knew that most of my fics open on an introduction to the premises, or with dialogue. I can't really say which one I like best. It's all more description than anything else so. Maybe number 15 just because I remember laughing while writing this and what was to come after that paragraph.

Tagging : @darlingshane @kteague @roguesandsaviors @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @gamingaquarius @saintaleksander @isthatbloodonhisshirt @hoppnhorn and all my fellow writers should you wanna play.

#tag meme #my fics

[nelllraiser]

served shaken and stirred | lucky, connor, & nell

LOCATION: The Common, by the center fountain. PARTIES: @lvcky-charms​, @connorspiracy​, and @nelllraiser​. SUMMARY: lucky, connor, and nell gate crash a group of highschoolers’ fun, putting a real big damper on an otherwise thrilling Summoning attempt. CONTENTS: self-harm (sacrificial), death, homophobia (highschoolers being dumb).

 “Come onnn, how long is this gonna take?” Gary stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets and stood back as Drew and Megan lit the candles. “It’s getting late, and my parents don’t want me out past 10. What’s the point of this shit, anyways? You really think that dumb note you found is gonna do something?” Of course they did. Mom and dad always cautioned him not to read any weird writing he found, especially out loud, but his friends really had their hearts set on this. He really should’ve known better than to listen to Drew. Drew always got them into trouble. And ever since he and Megan started dating, Gary found himself consistently outvoted.

Megan sat on the edge of the fountain, kicking her legs in the air. “Your parents don’t want you to have a life, Gary. And aren’t you curious? He paid $50 for this sheet of paper. It has to do something.” She shrugged, her mop of curly hair bouncing. “Besides, I wouldn’t waste my Yankee Candles if I didn’t think this wasn’t going to work.”

“Okay,” Drew announced, stepping back from the last candle, “I think we’re ready.” He checked the paper, like it was a sheet of instructions for assembling an IKEA dresser instead of a dangerous incantation. “Oh, it says we need to put blood onto the surface. Megan? You’ve been PMSing all week.” 

She scowled at Drew. “Very funny. You know, I could’ve dated Shane instead. Maybe I made a mistake.” Megan hopped off the fountain’s edge and rummaged through her backpack, pulling out a dissection kit. “You’re just lucky I’m in AP Bio.” Drew still looked confused. She clicked open the small box and pulled out the scalpel as her answer, carefully handing it over to Drew. 

Gary’s nose wrinkled. “Did you use that on a frog or something? Is that sanitary?” Megan just rolled her eyes and tossed her hair back. Drew didn’t seem to care one way or the other, and held out his hand. But something made him freeze. Gary quickly understood why. “Do you guys hear something?”

It was a shitty habit, he knew, but Connor’s vape had ran out of battery, so he was left with the emergency cigarettes he kept in his inside jacket pocket. “Where the fuck did I put that lighter?” He patted himself down like it was magically going to appear, groaning to himself. “Fuck sake.” He glanced around, looking for someone else who might be able to lend him one, and across the common he caught sight of--was that candles? He scrunched up his nose, curious, heading towards what looked to be a bunch of high schoolers. “Didn’t the fire brigade ever come to your school and warn you about flames in a wooded area?” he teased, then held up the cigarette. “Which of you has a light?” He glanced around at their faces, looking like a bunch of deer in the headlights, then his eyes fell on the paper. “Oh, bloody hell, not a summoning circle. Hand it over.” 

Ever since Constance had decided to give Nell a deadly bath in the ocean, the ache of whatever the hell was wrong with her ribs had made it rather uncomfortable to breathe...or move- or do most of anything. But she’d run out of Takis at home, and desperate times called for desperate measures. If it hadn’t been for the faintest crackle of magic in the air, she would have walked on by whatever the hell was happening in the Commons, but the prickling of her skin turned Nell’s head towards the commotion, and a frown was quick to come over her as she slowly made her way over to the source of it, injury permitting. “What the hell are you all doing?” she asked unforgivingly the moment she saw the spread of the spell, obviously drawn with an inexperienced hand. Then she saw the scalpel, and realized they were only inches away from making a very big mistake. “Give me that,” she demanded in her next breath, holding her palm open for the tiny blade. “Or you’re probably about to get yourself and all your friends killed.” Summonings gone wrong were rarely forgiving.

“I had nothing to do with this,” Connor said, holding up his hands. “I just wanted a fag.” 

“Sorry, Mary Poppins,” one of the boys answered. “Try Flaming Mo’s.” 

Connor raised an eyebrow, looking over at Nell. He had to admit, it was nice to see her, even though they were clearly interrupting something stupid. Luckily, it wasn’t exactly unheard of for Connor to be involved in stupid shit. “That’s not what I meant.” 

Nell was reaching for the scalpel, and the girl was staring at her, holding onto it protectively. “No, it’s mine. Get your own, you old bat.” 

The other boy, the one who seemed to be her boyfriend, stepped forward protectively, grabbing the scalpel from her. Whether it was deliberate or whether it was an accident in the struggle, Connor couldn’t say, but in the scuffle, the scalpel went right through the palm of Nell’s hand, falling onto the scandals and fountain. “Jesus,” Connor exclaimed. “Bugger, that must’ve hurt. You alright?” 

The stiffness that had settled into Lucky’s joints kept him from getting any semblance of normal sleep. He figured maybe, just maybe, a walk would help loosen him up and tire him out to the point where he couldn’t not sleep. He maybe overestimated how familiar he was with White Crest, as now he was ambling around and definitely lost. The walk hadn’t even done anything to ease his aching joints as, now, they throbbed with every step. He was just about to find a place to sit and rest for a moment when something caught his eye. Was that people? And candles? That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen in a town like this, but still, he begrudgingly walked towards them, coming upon some kids, a stranger, and...Nell? Good, this definitely meant he should turn around and leave; she never seemed to not be getting into trouble from what Lucky could tell by their interactions thus far. Against his better judgement, he called out softly as he approached. “Uh, hey folks.”

The moment the blood fell from her hand into the fountain, Nell knew what it meant. A sacrifice had been given, and the spell would be complete. But it wasn’t enough. Already she could feel the spell demanding more blood, and now that the floodgates had been opened it would take all the energy it needed until it was satisfied. Drew, the boyfriend, fell to his knees almost instantly, his face shriveling in like a dried apple before their very eyes as the magic took the energy it needed. It had taken all of five seconds for the night to turn into mystery occult fun to deadly. His girlfriend was screaming somewhere, but Nell couldn’t focus on that now. “I’m fine!” she replied reflexively to Connor, ignoring the pulsing pain of her hand. “But it needs more blood or it’s gonna keep taking what it wants!” she yelled with a nod towards the husk of a teenage boy that lay unmoving on the grass. Hastily, she grabbed the scalpel from his hand to draw it along the length of her forearm before shoving the entirety of her arm into the fountain, trying to complete the sacrifice for the summoning. “Lucky, get out of here!” she yelled, not even sure where the selkie had come from.

Lucky’s mouth hung open as he stared at what was unfolding before him. “Are you okay?” he asked, rushing forward towards Nell and trying to look at her arm. “Why would you do that!?” He glanced away at the teenager on the ground and physically recoiled at the appearance of him. Tentatively, Lucky bent down and prodded at him, stomach lurching as he did. “Nell? What the fuck is going on right now?” he asked, standing back up and looking at her and then around at the faces of everyone gathered. “What is wrong with this town?”

"Holy fucking hell," Connor cursed, stumbling back a couple of steps as the entity appeared in the fountain. "Sh, sh, stop screaming!" He told the girl, which was probably difficult when her boyfriend was lying on the ground like a shrivelled prune. Cigarette long abandoned, he grabbed the paper the ritual was written on. His first thought was to destroy it. Maybe that would work, right? But then, they might need the words to find out how to reverse them. "Nell, shit! Stop that!" But in the short time he'd known her, Connor figured this girl knew plenty about summonings. She knew what she was doing. "Who the hell is Lucky?" Connor asked, turning towards the stranger who had decided to amble into this conversation at precisely the wrong time. "Mate, no offense, but she's right, you need to bugger off." 

“We were only trying to have a little fun!” Gary interjected, the look of immense shock and horror engrained on his features. “We didn’t mean to-- Oh, fuck… Drew…” 

Of course, in a situation like this Nell couldn’t have been fortunate enough to be blessed with two boys that knew their way around a summoning such as this one. Instead she had Connor and Lucky. Gone was any patience she had outside of non-life threatening situations as she tried her best to explain. “These dumbasses-” she began with a pointed finger towards the two remaining highschoolers. “Just summoned who fucking knows what! And now that it’s been started- it won’t stop until it has the sacrifice it needs! Which means it’s gonna come through whether we like it or not! I have to give it more of a sacrifice or it’s gonna start turning all of us into corn husk dolls like him!” What the hell had they summoned anyway? As her blood continued to spill into the fountain, staining the water red, all she knew was that the entity felt hungry. “What’s the paper say?!” she asked Connor, noticing he’d found some sort of instructions. 

Lucky was having a hard time reading lips by candlelight, but he made out enough to understand that whatever was currently in the fountain was certainly bad fucking news. “How do we make it go away? How do we stop it?” he asked, running his hands through his hair as the panic tightened in his chest. Why was he always at the wrong place at the wrong time? This was the second ghostly encounter he’d seen thus far and he was not prepared for how this one was going. He looked to Connor, opening and closing his mouth as he searched for words, before walking towards him and trying to get a glimpse of the paper and what it might say or be for that matter.

“Tryna figure that out, mate,” Connor answered. Didn’t seem like this Lucky guy was going to be very much help. Connor might still be figuring this exorcist shit out, but at least he had some experience, which he figured was more than could be said for Lucky. “It’s not good…” The fountain was bubbling as if it was made up of boiling blood, and the figure that had once appeared on the surface seemed as if it was trying like hell to manifest. It stared at Connor, pale face and tangled dark hair, as if it was staring into his very soul. Then it looked to Lucky, and then to Nell. He held up the paper for her and Lucky to see, guiding them back. The paper read; Bloody Mary Summoning Ritual.

As Nell made eye contact with the ghoulish face in the fountain, her eyes went wide, instantly getting the sense that this was no backyard bumpkin of a ghost or otherwise that had been summoned. Megan, apparently desiring revenge in the face of her boyfriend’s perceived killer rushed the fountain, yelling all the while. Her attempted attack didn’t get far before an arm darted out of the depths of the water, grabbing the highschooler by the throat- only to drag her face first into the bloodied fountain. It happened within the blink of an eye, faster than anyone could hope to react. In an instant the girl was gone, her body disappearing entirely into a fountain that couldn’t have been more than a couple of feet deep. 

“Fuck!” Nell cursed, the deaths of the highschoolers not yet fully sinking in when danger was still front and center. Then she turned to read the paper Connor was showing, and her blood ran cold. Bloody Mary. Even Nell who wasn’t all that versed in ghosts and the like had heard the whispers, though she’d never known whether or not to believe them. “You gotta go,” she urged once again, speaking both to Connor and Lucky this time. In the corner of her eye she saw the face, and only the face of Megan float to the surface of the water, the rest of her gone. “We can’t stop the summoning, and the circle isn’t good enough to hold her.” Nell could tell that simply by looking at the sad excuse for a spell. “She’s gonna be-” But before her sentence could finish, the boiling blood-water of the fountain exploded forth in a forceful wave, throwing her and anyone else in the radius back from the epicenter. A yelp of pain later, Nell was trying to right herself, ignoring the blood that was covering her in favor of trying to figure out a way to get this bitch bound in time.

Oh, shit. Sure, Lucky didn’t really think ghosts were real real, but this was definitely something real real. He’d heard of Bloody Mary before, but he thought that that was a story kids dared each other to try in a dark bathroom. This was definitely not what he would’ve expected by any means. Honestly, he didn’t need to be told again to leave, but would Nell and the others be safe if Lucky did leave? He opened his mouth to argue this with her, but before he could say anything or get a word in, he was being tossed onto his back by a wave from the fountain. The hard landing certainly didn’t make Lucky’s aching body feel any better and he groaned in pain, coughing as he rolled to his side. The water was warm, bordering on hot, and...viscous? Wiping it from his eyes so he could see, Lucky looked down to see that it wasn’t water but was, in fact, blood. His stomach did a flip again as he pushed himself into a sitting position and tried to wipe off his face. Looking around, he tried to see if Connor still had the paper and if it was intact or also blood soaked.

Connor frantically folded the paper, stuffing it into his pocket. He all but pulled Lucky and Nell back by their arms. “Don’t let her touch you! She can’t reach you.” She was confined to reflective surfaces, right? He’d remembered that correctly? That was the problem about stories like hers; it was tough to distinguish fact from fable. “The kids… she’s supposed to go after murderers. Why the hell is she going after kids?” Because they summoned her and she didn’t deem them worth her time? Or just for the sake of it? A killer with a code was one thing, but killing at random was something more terrifying entirely. His eyes widened as her bloody yet pale form emerged from the fountain, standing like Carrie at the Prom in the center of it, dripping blood.

Another gasp of pain left Nell as Connor dragged her and Lucky along, her ribs instantly protesting at the unexpected movement. “But I have to try and bind her!” she said as she struggled, trying to get back to the fountain. “She can’t just go free! Who knows what might happen?!” But it was too late. As she looked back to the fountain, Nell saw the outline of Bloody Mary standing in it, her shoulders shaking with what looked to be a joyful cackle. Then the ghost raised a single, skeletally thin arm to send a wave in their direction, as if bidding them a mocking thank you for their part in this. As quickly as it had begun, the ghost was gone, having sunk back into the fountain, the blood in the water receding along with her- leaving two highschoolers dead and one sufficiently traumatized. “We gotta find her,” Nell spoke with a steely determination in her voice, realizing the dire nature of the situation. “We gotta find her before she finds anyone else.” Otherwise, who knew what terrors awaited White Crest?

#chatzy #self harm tw #homophobia tw #wickedswriting #ch:connor #ch:lucky #served shaken and stirred

[sleepywriter84]

Insecure - Andrew Siwicki

AN: If anyone has requests feel free to send me one. Also if the vocabulary used in this one shot isn’t used correctly, I apologize. I have a vocab Quiz in English, and I decided to incorporate it into my story so I can study and write the oneshot at the same time.

Leaves. Brown and orange hues coat the ground of the line of pavement leading up to the Calabasas home. Though the season was ephemeral, it was still an opulent sight to behold.

Buzzing into the front entrance gate, the young girl of 26 adjusts the bag of bagels in one hand, and the supplement supply of coffee in the other. As the gate opens, she turns around and waves goodbye to her uber driver.

Making it to the door of the large house, she knocks on it with her foot, not being able to use her hands. In less than a minute the door is thrown open, demolishing the factious space between her and the inside of the house.

“Y/L! You’re here, I didn’t think you’d make it, you said you were busy editing yesterday, I honestly thought you would be too tired” a tall man calls out, as he swings the door back and forth before stepping aside to let the girl into the home.

“Y/N, hey do you got the goods?” calls out another male, this one shorter than the other, and sporting a short haircut.

“Yeah, I’ve got the bagels and coffees Ryland. Hey Garebear, can you help me set up all the stuff on this table, yeah?” she answers the short male, and asks the tall one who opened the door earlier for her.

“Yeah, of course” Garrett answers, shutting the door and tripping several times before he arrives at the table, opening the bag up and placing all the items down upon it.

Grabbing his coffee, he picks up one of the blueberry bagels and puts it in his mouth, before walking off towards the couch. Up next to the table was Ryland, grabbing a regular bagel, he spreads an abundance of cream cheese on top of it, before sending a fervent smile and grabbing his coffee.

“So, you decided to show up to the editing party. You know you could have stayed home, you didn’t have to come” the other male sighs, ruffling her hair.

“I know Shane, but I couldn’t leave you and Andrew in the dark. You guys been working your assess off, I can get over myself and come into my job” she explains, reaching over and handing Shane his coffee. “Plus, who else would make sure you two get a proper meal, I wouldn’t want you to become anymore enervated than you guys already are” she sighs, removing his hand from her head and handing him a bagel.

“What would I do without you?”

“Die, most likely from overworking yourself”

“True, when you’re done supplying everyone with energy, join Andrew and I on the couch, we’re going over the trailer we’ll be posting on Tuesday”

“Alright” she answers, turning around and grabbing Andrews coffee.

Just as she turns around, she is greeted by a red-haired boy, the smile on his face contagious.

“Perfect timing, Mr. Siwicki” she teases, handing him the piping hot drink.

“How are you today?” he asks, taking the cup gratefully. Looking around, making sure no one was near them, he puts his hand on her wrist and kisses her hand. After doing this, he looks down, deeming his actions ignoble, and letting his hold on her wrist to falter.

“Hey, I’m good, what about you?” she coos, lifting his chin up, and forcing him to look at her.

“I’m good, sorry if I was a boor” he sighs, his face turning red as he frantically looks for the gang.

“Hey, its fine, you don’t have to rectify anything, you weren’t a boor either”

“I know, sorry I’m so impotent in these situations”

“Hey, stop that, don’t be so altruistic. Like I said, you’ve done no wrong baby, and none of the crew saw, you’re fine” she whispers, connecting their foreheads. His breathing starts to strengthen, and he sighs.

“I suck at this. I’m so damn nervous, how the hell are we supposed to make this work?”

“What do you mean, this is working for us. We’re almost a month in, we’ve done well this far, why quit? Are you no longer happy? Its fine, just tell me, I don’t want to be an impediment in your life” she rambles, throwing her hands frantically in the air, almost slapping his coffee down to the ground.

Mumbling to himself, he yanks her wrist and starts to drag her off towards the bathroom. The whole gang being oblivious to the two stumbling into the room. Slamming the door shut, she jumps back in surprise, staring at the ginger.

Running one of his hands along his face, he lets out a frustrated yelp, before placing the coffee he had brought with him down onto the counter.

“I didn’t mean that, I… I…, I’m happy with our relationship, and I really want to tell the gang soon, but don’t you think you’ll be happier without being attached to me” he chokes out, looking down towards the ground.

“What do you mean, be happier without you? That’s a damn lie, and you know it, you ass. Do you still like me?” she whispers, placing her hands onto his shoulders and giving him a fervent smile.

“Yeah, I do, but you deserve someone better. I’m not an effete person, and you deserve that, so much, so damn much” he sobs, his shoulders now shaking.

Her heart starts to ache at the sight of his figure slowly crumbling. Tracing her hands down from his shoulders, she continues until she reaches his hands, and cautiously envelops them within hers. Steadily, she pulls him towards her, slowly putting her head onto his chest.

Sucking in his breath, he leans his head down, placing it on top of hers.

“I’m so sorry that you feel like this, but I can assure you I care for you. Hell, you’ve been the best boyfriend I’ve ever had. You’re so cute, and honest. You work your ass off and put so much effort into the projects you are in control of. I wouldn’t want anyone else” she gloats, kissing his shirt.

“Really? I’m not annoying or stupid. You don’t mind my anxiety, you don’t mind how much of a mess I can be?” he speaks out into the room, his words muffled by her hair.

“You’re annoying sometimes, but I’m annoying at times, so its only normal. You’re far from stupid, and your anxiety doesn’t make me think any less of you. I care about you, all of you, your imperfections, your good qualities’, your bad qualities’. And you must admit, your anxiety makes you laugh really cute at times; not that your laugh isn’t always cute”

“Promise?” he mumbles, closing his eyes tight.

“One hundred percent. You’re my aegis, and in no way do I have chagrin towards you. Please, you must believe me. I want you, hell I’d even says I’m erotic for you” she giggles, hearing him scoff after she finishes her sentence.

Kissing her head, they stay in place like that for a bit, just relishing in each other’s arms, until someone starts knocking on the bathroom door. Frighten, Andrew lets out a yelp, and falls backwards, catching himself on the edge of the bathroom sink before he falls onto the ground.

“Andrew are you okay?” she whispers towards the frighten male, watching him fix his footing and stand up straight.

“Yeah, I’m good” he replies dusting his black and white flannel off, “You?”

“Yeah, I’m good, I wasn’t the one that fell back” she giggles, biting her lips trying to not break out into a full-on fit of laughter.

“Andrew are you okay, you’ve been in the bathroom for twenty minutes, Shane’s worried. Also, do you know where Y/N went, I can’t find her” Ryland calls out, rapping the door a couple more times.

Composing himself, he answers the man on the other side of the room, “I’m good, and Y/N is in here with me, we’ll be out in a minute”

“Oh, okay. Ummmm, if you made a, a… mess. Can you clean it up please?” Ryland replies, stopping his rapping on the door, and slowly walking away from the room.

Diverting her attention from the door, she looks behind her to see Andrews red face, as he probably wished he kept her whereabouts to himself.

“So, still together?” she asks, trying to ignore the warm feeling spreading throughout her face.

“Yeah, together” he smiles, grabbing one of her hands, and using his other to pick up the coffee he had set down earlier, “Ready?”

“Yeah, you want one of those bland bagels, right?” she answers him, using her free hand to open the bathroom door, leading him out of the room.

“Yeah, one of the bland ones” he sighs, walking with her towards the kitchen where the bagels and coffee were placed.

As they grab their food, and she grabs her coffee, they make their way to the living room, and plop down onto the couch, cuddling into each other’s sides. Andrew doesn’t mind the pressure on his side as he presses play on the remote, or the 3 pairs of eyes trained on him, and begins the trailer that Shane, Y/N, and him had created for their upcoming series.  

All that mattered was that she was his, and he was hers.

#andrew siwicki #shane dawson #ryland adams #garrett watts #insecure #andrew siwicki x reader #cute

[thebarkingraccoon]

The Road

-Gif from Google image search-

Based on: Curative (Fanfiction.net - Quotev)

Summary: After the farm was overrun and the group is forced to survive on the run from a growing horde, Daryl catches himself thinking about Laura.

Request: @dren-whalen​  Cause you’re thinking about doing prompts, how about one about Daryl being on the road, of course being busy, but sometimes there are down times to think about Laura. 

Food was beyond scarce. Everything in the area had been scraped up long before they arrived. Whoever was here cleaned this town out like it was last food they'd ever see. Probably was, but that didn't make Daryl any less annoyed when he returned empty handed for the fifth time.

The town was called Tallulah, a little town that existed entirely on a handful of roads. The only thing that kept this town on the map was it's river with plenty of old worn out signs for river rafting, tubing, mountain trails, and waterfalls. It was beautiful here if they ignored the dead wandering around.

There was a police department they immediately rushed to for more ammo. Clearing out the cage there with whatever they could carry and, after securing it, took the department to rest in for the night. It wasn't much and the town was absolutely not secure. They had to be on guard.

A few split up. Glenn headed to a local grill just down the road and Daryl headed farther north to a trading post on the edge of the river. It was less likely to have any food, but there was always the chance for some granola bars or roast peanuts. Plenty of signs leading the way to make life easy.

It was quite the walk, but the road was beautiful. The forest was so overgrown some of the roads were covered in plant life. Other sections had been retaken by the mountain rocks, crushing the asphalt below. When the trees broke he could see out over the mountains, watching the shadows of clouds pass over.

Since this town was so far out of the way the amount of walkers in the area wasn't too bad. The time crunch came from when the horde started to reach the area. They had some time but never enough to rest fully.

Daryl felt that pressure rising when Lori started showing. He knew there was a time limit on how long they could go before she went into labor. Rick was already sweating since he had known since the farm. The clock was ticking and they did everything they could.

A big hand painted sign stood just to the side of the road. Some letters had since worn off, but there was still enough to make out broiled peanuts. The folks in these mountains sure loved them; sold them anywhere people could be found.

He hitched up his crossbow, pulling his poncho up over his shoulders to free up his hands. The trading post was bound to have walkers scattered about.

Sure enough, a few shambling corpses wandered aimlessly outside the store front. He brought his crossbow up, aimed, and took out the first one. When the body dropped the second walker turned around to see, spotting Daryl.

He rinsed and repeat, nothing really challenging out here. As he passed the bodies he retrieved his arrows and looked for a door.

A couple of cars with blown tires out front and a massive stair self of bird houses lined a wall. Enough wind chimes on the front awning to create a constant stream of metal twinkling music. There was hand made decorations all over, even the door rattled and chimed. The amount of noise this place made...

Inside a walker was alerted to the sound of the door chime. It hissed and growled, turning around to limp its way over. Barely able to move, but still doing its very best.

Daryl shot an arrow straight through its forehead then started checking the building for any others. As he searched he noticed a lot of clothing hanging up for sale, some hats, sunscreen, and handwoven bracelets on stands. No signs of those peanuts though.

He huffed his disappointment away, going to pick up the arrow from the dead walker. Hoping for something more, he started digging for anything worth bringing back.

Pushing aside racks full of junk, shifting through bags, and combing through the back counter. Still, nothing. He cursed under his breath; another waste of time.

As he came up to the racks in the middle of the building, he was faced again with the collection of handwoven necklaces, bracelets, and various charms. All small nonsensical trinkets not worth their weight anymore. But still he looked.

He saw a few peoples names. Andrea. Bethany. Was the closest to the youngest Greene girl. Carl was accurate. Caroline. Darryl. He frowned and scoffed at his own name, wondering who spells his name with two R's. Glen. Herschel...

Laura.

Daryl stared at it, the name, the bracelet with her name woven into it. He reached up tentatively and took it from the hook. It was rough, the material having sat there for so long had hardened it. Some cheap tourist crap to sell claimed to be handmade when it was mostly plastic.

His thumb rubbed over the lettering, clearing some old dust out of the way. The reflective pendant shining just a little brighter. The tag hanging off was folded over with writing inside it, so he decided to look.

The paper tag had Tallulah, GA written on it and a picture of rapids behind it. Inside the fold was printed;

"Latin, dating back to the 9th century, Saint Laura. Meaning: Bay Laurel. Represents: Victory and strength."

He chuffed, thinking about how silly it was he was sitting here an a trading post lamenting over a bracelet with her name on it. It was a generically made product to sell, nothing more.

But he had nothing of hers, nothing to remember her by. When they finally found a place to rest, what would he say goodbye to? The memories of her he kept close to his heart were tainted with vivid scenes of Shane attacking her, witnessing her fighting for her life against someone she should've been able to trust. How he wasn't able to help her... how she struggled against a virus none of them could do anything about.

She left, he had to force himself to remember that. She didn't die or get taken by the horde. Laura just... left.

It didn't matter if he went back to the farm to find her, she wouldn't be there. He didn't get to argue with her to stay or even get to say goodbye when she refused.

No more nights at the campfire skinning rabbits and sharing those bashful glances. That bright smile, her kind eyes. She was just... gone. As far as he could see she was gone forever.

And he had nothing to remember her by.

He swallowed hard as he felt his throat tighten, his eyes glossing over. He wanted to say goodbye so badly, because at least if she was dead he wouldn't have to worry about her so much.

Whenever they found a place to stop and settle, they would mark graves for the people they lost. As much as he wanted to mark that grave for Laura and bury his memories of her, all his feelings for her, he knew she wasn't dead.

Laura was out there somewhere wandering the world without them. How he pleaded in silence that she was okay out there. He just wanted her to be safe, with or without him. Wherever she was, if she's alive and well he could come to terms with her being out of his life.

Refusing to acknowledge the sting in his eyes or the swelling of his throat, he hooked the bracelet back on the rack and looked up. A small mirror hanging from the top of the rack for people to model the sunglasses and hats in.

He saw himself, his red eyes... and a sign behind him just peeking out from behind a fallen shirt rack that said "Broiled peanuts, this way." with an arrow pointing through the back door leading to the porch.

Daryl turned around, gingerly opened the back door on the look out for walkers, and spied a door at the end of the back deck. A white painted door that appeared remarkably untouched. Still, better safe than sorry. Daryl knocked on the door and waited for a sign something was inside.

When he was met with silence, Daryl opened the door to reveal tables full of packaged broiled peanuts. The place was stocked to the brim with them, all full.

Quickly, he grabbed as many bags as his pack could carry. Stuffing them in tight as possible before zipping up and heading back through the trading post.

On the way through, Daryl paused. He couldn't ignore his head telling him to stop.

He was fast about it when he swiped the bracelet off the rack. As if someone would spot him stealing a bracelet with her name on it.

Daryl stuffed it into his pocket and began the walk back to the others.

#walking dead fanfic #twd fanfiction #twd prompt #imagine prompt #daryl imagine #daryl dixon #twd daryl #daryl x oc #OC #Laura

[schaefrs-blog]

   hello   homeslices   i’m   alessandra   n   this   is   ur   resident   ghost   hunting   eboy   axel   schaefer  !  i’m   literally   not   the   best   at   writing   bio’s   or   anything   coherent   about   my   muses   ever   im   a   go   with   the   flow   chemistry   kind   of   person   so   i   apologize   for   this   being   so   short,   if   you   have   any   questions   about   more   things   don’t   ever   hesitate   to   ask   me   cuz   chances   are   i   probably   remembered   something   later   on    !   ok   anyway   his   bullet   points   and   wanted   connections   are   under   the   cut   heh   <3

before i get into his general biography : it’s important to note that in my main verse for axel he has a connection to the other side aka supernatural stuff  !  so what happens is like he sees people who are about to pass through to the other side and he draws them .. sometimes even connects with them through spirit boxes, ouija board etc .. so yh hehe

axel schaefer, twenty two, bisexual as fuck, saggitarius, the most annoying eboy you will ever fucking meet, THE BLOOD KNIGHT.

axel was born in eugene, oregon in what seemed to be a loving family but when he was around fifteen his parents split up all because his mother was having an affair. custody battles got ugly for a while and he actually kind of despised his mom and hated having to stay home aka the start of his teenage angst phase.

when his father was finally able to get dual custody of him and his little sister, jasmine, they spent every long break from school and like holidays with him in colorado. 

he’s been going to the resort since he was a teen, but it wasn’t until he was eighteen he decided to live full time with his father bc obviously now it’s his choice, and he literally just .. resents his mother and cannot stand to be around him. so now he works the winters as a bell hop cuz tips .. yk the fucking vibes just tryna secure the fucking bag

when he’s not hopping bells he’s either snowboarding or going around the hotel causing and absolute ruckus trying to find people crossing to the other side so he can connect with them and draw them ..

yeah u already know he’s a fucking art major his dream is to go fuckin famous as shit but he’s just vibing on tik tok and devianart ig :/ 

u can compare him to jess mariano from gilmore girls, shane from buzzfeed unsolved, kol mikaelson from the originals and any eboy tik toker MDFKSCMFDSKSD

aesthetics :

striped t-shirts, oversized hoodies, torn up checkered vans, the smell of mahogany teakwood, snowboarding when fresh snow hit the ground, punk rock, tired eyes, chains, using the hot tub in below zero weather, led lights in a dark room and painted fingernails

wanted connections :

here’s another general list cuz im not creative whatsoever plz dont @ me thank u so much ... 

unrequited love / skinny love i love these kinds of plots plz lets get fucking emo 0/1

exes 0/??

brotp .. think shane and ryan from buzzfeed unsolved plzplzplz 2/2 taken by leo n roman !

rival 0/1

fwb 0/??

internet friend turned crush or turned unrequited love turned IDFK i had an idea for this bc he’s an internet dweeb so he was prolly on some forum escaping from the drama and confided in ur muse heh 0/1

ANYTHING FROM THIS TAG  !

#bigbearintro #i never did an ooc tag sorry #this is so short it's repulsive i hate myself

[ask-the-guiding-light-cast]

Guiding Light turns two years old today!

It’s crazy to think this all began only a couple of years back... and also hilarious it falls on the same day as “International Mystery Dungeon Day” over on Twitter. More after the cut. This is gonna be a long one, so I appreciate anyone willing to read this. ^^

For a long time, I had been a casual consumer of fan fics. It started in the late 2000s when I was in a Spyro craze thanks to the more story-driven Legend of Spyro trilogy. I had an itch that I needed scratched and FFN fulfilled that to some extent. I also looked at some Mario fics, including Paper Mario: The Temple of the Sun, which I greatly enjoyed and thought did a good job adapting the formula that made Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door so beloved and putting a unique spin on things.

But it was until the early 2010s that I actually started getting back into Pokémon games with Gen V. After Emerald, I fell out of touch with Pokémon for a time. When Gen VI came around, I dipped my toe into the fandom through Twitch livestreams, but also through reading a few anime-based fics that are very long and still going, even now. 

At the same time, I ended up buying PMD: Explorers of Sky... and damaged my cartridge before I could properly finish the game with my Vulpix/Riolu team. So, I watched cutscenes for what I missed on YouTube, then got Gates to Infinity and, later, Super Mystery Dungeon and had fun with both of them... though more for the stories and characters than the actual gameplay. Truth be told, I don’t care much for roguelikes at all.

It was during the gap in time between Super’s release and the first official footage of Sun & Moon in mid-2016 that I found myself hit with a recurring thought: “What if someone made a PMD story where the hero and the partner are forced to fight one another with the fate of the world at stake?” I wound up (loosely) brainstorming an idea for a PMD story revolving around an antagonistic Hoopa character who would use its ring portals to collect entire communities, including the Pokémon living in them... all so that he would never be bored. This would lead him to “collect” the partner to add to his “toys,” so when the hero shows up, he’d sic the partner on them.

But that was as far as I got with the idea. I ended up graduating college and took a job with late evening hours. It left me pretty tired and exhausted and unmotivated to do much of anything. I withdrew from the parts of the Pokémon community I was involved in.

Then the Generation VII games came out and, while divisive in the fandom, I found myself really liking some of the concepts. There were so many times when I thought, “Gee, I wonder what this would be like if it were in a PMD game?” For example, one of the ideas I had was a sort of edgy rival rescue team akin to Gladion, which would have a Midnight Lycanroc, a Zoroark, and a Type: Null character in it.

So, toward the end of 2016 and early 2017, I started creating an idea for a Choose Your Own Adventure story with the intent of putting it on this really small forum I was a part of. It would be a Gen VII-themed PMD story, but because I didn’t think that sounded interesting enough, I decided that, not only would the human keep their memories, but they would be from the real world and be a major Pokémon nerd. The idea was that the choices the readers made would affect the relationship between the human and partner. I even came up with a point system. The more points the readers earned for their choices, the “closer” the relationship the hero and partner would have and the happier an ending the story would get. If the hero and partner couldn’t stand each other, one of them would likely end up working with the bad guy and winning. If they became steadfast friends, they’d work together to save the world.

Unfortunately, the forum shut down before I got too far into planning it, so I shelved the idea and continued focusing on my job. And things stayed that way for several months, until I ended up getting into med school and scrambling to move.

During the downtime I had when I wasn’t doing moving related stuff, I decided to look at FFN again and found Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Defenders of Warmth. I wound up reading through the entirety of the story quite quickly. I guess you could say it sparked something in my head. The fic itself focuses on what, at the time, was the newest Gen (Gen V). It also has multiple humans and is set on a continent separate from the canon locations (which were just the Air and Grass Continents, since Gates and Super didn’t exist when the fic was written). In short, it renewed my desire to pursue my idea of a Gen VII-flavored PMD story.

So, I set about creating my story outline. It is so... so much different from the actual story, though I’ve gone into that in previous posts (search for #amby answers). Originally, I used Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time as the framework for the fic: an alien invasion in a colorful, comedic world. I took more specific cues, too. Zero was meant to be a (mostly) silent antagonist a la Princess Shroob, for example.

The problem was, I really didn’t have much confidence in myself or my abilities. I’d like to say I was writing for myself, but I really did want validation, too. I think any author is lying to themselves if they say they don’t feel this way at some point. Because of this, I figured if I put the fic on FFN, it would get ignored. The site’s huge! There were, at the time, around 85k fics in the Pokémon section alone. (That number’s since gone up to over 90k!)

Given I had experience with forums, I decided to post it to Serebii, because the fic community seemed much smaller and more open to giving feedback to one another. In an effort to try and, y’know, establish some connections, I actually read other pieces and reviewed them before posting any stories. This also helped me build up a backlog of chapters and prove to myself I enjoyed writing this enough to keep going.

When I finally did post the fic, it was a bumpy start, for sure. I do think I made a lot of mistakes out of the gate, including uploading chapters way too quickly for readers on Serebii to (reasonably) try to keep pace. That probably cost me a few potential readers... or made them silent readers who I never ended up hearing from. Which is why I’m especially thankful to @girl-like-substance (who I can seem to tag, drat) for all of the well-thought-out feedback given throughout the fic’s run. I don’t think I would’ve made such significant strides in my writing otherwise... and there are plenty of long-running fics where the quality tends to stagnate.

In any case... it was thanks to a request from @deliriousabsol to put the fic somewhere more mobile-friendly that I chose to mirror Guiding Light on FFN starting in October 2017. I would’ve kept going on Serebii had she not asked so nicely, so she’s the one you can thank for it showing up there! (She’s a fellow author who does cyberpunk-themed fics and art and her characters have cameoed in the fic.)

And, honestly, I’m just... beyond shocked at what wound up happening to the fic once it hit FFN. Well, actually, for the first several months I was lucky if I even got a comment when I put up a chapter. I’m not sure any of the people who first commented on FFN still follow the fic anymore. I haven’t seen/heard from them at all, so I assumed they moved on with their lives.

In any case, around March of 2018, the word count on FFN passed 300k and... somehow, the fic starting getting more attention. Like, a lot more attention. This was... not really something I was even remotely prepared for.

(Yes, this means there’s gonna be a giveaway. More on that later.) I never would’ve thought I’d reach a number like this. I never imagined I’d meet another PMD author who’d be willing to do a fun collab (thanks @virgil134, Spiteful Murkrow, and Namohysip). I really did not imagine that I’d ever get fanart of characters that I wrote (huge thanks @thebreak-ofdawn, @ask-nicky-and-others, and @cresselia92). I mean, above everything, I not expect the fic or characters to resonate with anybody the way it wound up.

A part of me feels like I don’t really deserve it. I’ve made a lot of serious gaffes with writing this. When initial Serebii feedback had people intrigued by Shane’s jerkass attitude (when I didn’t actually intend for him to come off as a jerk), I dialed things up in the hopes I’d keep their attention. It probably cost me readers. Then there’s the slow pacing of the early episodes and the mistake of making Special Episode 3 as long as it was... which my speaks to my (bad) tendency to give into some of my strongest impulses even though I had an outline I was trying to stick to.

And, I mean, there’s also some of the “shamlessly shameful” stuff I’ve done with the fic. I’m not fooling myself. Guiding Light has grown progressively more furry and, uh, probably fanservicey, too. All the big furbait (and some scalebait) ‘mons are accounted for. There’s a lot more sexual humor when I initially promised myself I would stay away from romance and keep everything platonic. I practically turned Xerneas into waifu bait, if some of these asks are anything to go by. This blog certainly didn’t help in that regard. Maybe I’m just being my usual nervous self? 

I am worried that this fic’s performance has, somehow, affected my thoughts and behavior. There are very popular fic authors who let their popularity get to their head... or chose to open up Patreons (something that makes me uncomfortable) or start doing things like taking commissions for written pieces, which is understandable... though I think it’s an easy way to lose your passion for writing. I guess some of that worry stems from a debacle I learned about on a Discord server I’m in, but that’s not something I’m comfortable discussing publicly. 

And I haven’t even talked much about the blog itself. Like, it somehow passed 100 followers? Where? When? How? I don’t actually draw stuff like many other Pokéasks. And, like, for a lot of folks, I have no idea if they’ve actually read the fic or just check in on the blog. It’s the same with the fic, I suppose. If you’re a silent reader/follower, I would really love to hear from you! I promise... I don’t bite or anything. I’d love to know what (if anything) you’re thinking. And if you’re a blog that’s following this one and we haven’t interacted, please feel free to reach out! It’s honestly hard to tell if people like what I’m doing, so any feedback is always appreciated.

In any case, if I haven’t lost you by now, I guess all I can say is... thank you. Thank you all so much for all of the support... whether it’s on the fic, the blog, or both of them. I really do hope this final episode can meet your expectations. I’ll try my very best to make this an ending to remember. Nothing would make me happier than to hear you guys enjoy it and feel it does justice to the PMD series.

Sorry for all the rambling. The inbox is open again if you’d like to send any messages for the ficaversary. Again, thank you all so much! You’re the best!

#ooc #long post #fic anniversary