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queenvidal · 8 months

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The Queen For A King

Negan x Reader (Rick’s Daughter)

Chapter 3: Aye For An Eye

Chapter Summary: Negan brings Carl back home - save and sound. He's thinking about how to punish Rick for what his boy did, when a new opportunity arises. While Rick's gone, Spencer is shooting his shot. Things quickly escalate with you sitting on the fence. Alexandria is done living in fear - this means war.

Wordcount: 7698

Era: Season 7

- Part 4 of the The One And Only Series -

Chapter Index:

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Next Part / Masterlist / Negan x Rick's Daughter Series

It’s late afternoon when Alexandria is set on high alert. For the second time today the guards on the wall announced the arrival of the Saviors. The people in the town are concerned and are getting nervous, some coming outside to take a look while some stay inside, locking their doors.

You’re already making your way from your house to the gate. Something must be wrong, they would not have come back otherwise. People around you seem on edge, rightfully so you muse. You yourself are feeling uneasy. Your father is out of town, on a trip with Aaron. Daryl and Michonne are out hunting, leaving the town pretty defenseless, should shit hit the fan. Hopefully it won’t come this far.

The street is swarmed with worried Alexandrians. With quick steps you make your way down the street towards the parking lot, feeling the uneasiness making your stomach churn. Between the gathering Saviors you spot their boss and suddenly you stop in your tracks. Carl is jumping out of one of the trucks. Immediately is Negan grabbing him, pushing the boy forcefully up the street. At once you start sprinting towards them.

Negan releases his hand from the back of Carl's neck when seeing you running. Carl has only a moment to brace for the impact before you knock the wind out of him. You cling on him so tight he struggles to breathe. “For fuck sake, Carl!” You greet him, “I’ve been sick with worry!” After a few moments you release your brother from the constricting hug, glaring at him. “Where the hell have you been?”

Negan’s voice sounds behind you. “I’ll tell you in a minute.” He nods towards your house. You understand the silent command and get moving without another word, Carl trailing behind you. Thousands of questions are swirling around your head. Did Negan have something to do with Carl's disappearance? What did Carl do and where the hell are his bandages?

Once at your home, Negan opens the front door and swagers inside with you and your brother following. You quickly move over into the living room where Olivia is frozen in place. She looks between you and Negan. Ever so slightly do you shake your head no at her before gathering the documents and clipboards that are scattered all around the floor.

“What have you ladies been up to?” Negan asks with a raised eyebrow.

With the inventory of the sewers in your hand you say “Going over stock of the pantry,” you explain, looking at Olivia. “Wanna take a look?” You press your lip into a thin line while Oliva’s staring at you with wide blown eyes.

“Nah, bore me with that crap next week.” Negan waves you off, sauntering into the kitchen. “My visit isn’t business related.” After a quick sigh of relief you hand Olivia the documents, she’s about to pack up and go when Negan appears behind you two. “Where’s Rick?”

You’re about to answer but when you turn around, you see him looking at Olivia. Her eyes land on you for a brief moment, before moving on to Negan. “I… I was just-”

“Don’t care.” Negan cuts her stammering off. “Where’s Rick?”

“Um, he’s…” Her eyes still travel between you and the man in front of her. You know how scared she is of the Saviors and you feel sorry for her. “Rick’s out… scavenging for you.”

“Cool.” Negan grins at her. “I’ll wait.”

He’s about to turn around again, when Oliva says. “He went pretty far. They might not be back today.” You know what she’s doing and admire that she dares trying to get rid of Negan. But Oliva quickly crumbles under Negan's stare. “We… we’re running pretty low. On everything." Her hands start to tremble. “We’re practically starving.”

That’s a bit over dramatic and Negan catches on immediately. “Starving?” He asks, his eyebrows raised. With a step further towards Olivia, he has to crack a smile, pointing at her. “You?”

Tears instantly well in Olivia's eyes and you look at Negan in utter disbelief, your mouth wide open. Oliva turns around, wiping her tears away while you fix Negan with your eyes, glowering at him. He just shrugs his shoulders, mouthing a quiet “Really?”

He rolls his eyes before apologizing. “Jeez, I’m sorry…” He looks back at you and you mouth him her name. “Olivia? Olivia, look. I’ll be waiting for Rick, which means I’ll be here for a while. Why don’t you be a lamb and make us a little limonade? I for a fact know you guys still have some of that powdered stuff.”

The woman wipes the last tear away before saying. “Well, I was supposed to-”

“Make it.” The apologetic and gentle tone in Negan’s voice is completely gone and his expression slowly turns stern.Olivia just nods, before taking the clipboards and going for the door.

Once the door closes behind her, you turn back towards Negan “Was that really necessary?”

“Oh, c’mon, sweet thing.” Negan sighs, “I had a long day, cut me some slack here.”

With a shake of your head you decide to let it go and turn towards your brother who hasn’t moved the whole time. ”So, what’s going on, what happened?”

Negan leans against the kitchen table. “Well. Your brother dear went on a mission today.” You are tilting your head, your eyes moving from Negan towards your brother. “He, all by himself, sneaked onto one of my trucks and shot two of my men down in an attempt to assassinate me.”

Worry quickly takes over, hastily you take Carl’s face in your hands, scanning him for injuries “Oh my god, are you okay? Wait- are you okay?” You ask, snapping your head back at Negan.

The man just huffs a laugh. “I am unharmed and that little shit-head is unharmed.” He pushes himself from the table, aimlessly wandering through the kitchen. “When did you say your father would be back?” He asks before turning around to face you.

You just shrug your shoulders. “Most likely today but I can’t tell for certain.”

“Well, guess I’ll be puttin’ up my feet up and wait for your father.” Negan walks back towards you and Carl. “Where can I find the bathroom?”

You point up behind you, “Upstairs the first door to your left.“

"Thanks.” Negan rounds you two to go for the stairs. “In the meantime, your little assassin can tell you all about his big plan, huh, Carl?”

With slow steps you move towards the kitchen table before taking a seat. “Actually, I’d really love to hear what the hell you were doing.” The boy reluctantly gets moving, your demanding stare forcing him to take a seat opposite from you. “And?” you ask, still waiting for him to speak up.

“I…” Carl starts, troubling to talk. “He- I…” After a deep breath, Carl tries again. “I wanted to help-”

“By getting yourself killed?” Your voice raises on its own accord. “By killing Negan? Are you insane?!” Carl doesn’t meet your eyes, looking down on the ground, biting his cheek. After you take a deep breath, you tone your voice down again. “Christ, Carl. Can you please tell me what happened?”

The change in your voice makes him look back at you again. After a moment he finally talks, explaining the whole situation, about the attempted murder, about the factory, about his punishment.

“Fuck…” you whisper to yourself, your head in your hands, still taking all of that it. All you can think about are the possible consequences for your family and Alexandria. People are going to die. Eventually you look up at your brother again. “Goddamn, Carl. Did you take only one moment to consider what would happen afterwards?”

Your brother shrugs his shoulders, looking back at the ground, “In that moment, that didn't matter to me.”

Now your anger is flaring back to life. “You’re so much like dad, it’s infuriating! How can you be so goddamn careless?”

Carl's head snaps up, “Because you’re always trying to protect everyone but no one is protecting you!”

You’re taking aback by this statement. It warms your heart to no end, to know your baby brother would go far and beyond for you. Still, what he did was unreasonable. “Carl… I don’t need protection-”

“Of course you do!” Carl states, “No one was helping you, when Negan came into our house-”

“Carl!” You yell, to cut him off. “I am your biggest sister. Protecting you is my job and I do it with all my heart. I appreciate you standing up for me but I wished you had talked to me beforehand. Then you’d have known I don’t need protection, not from Negan.” The boy’s eyebrows furrow. “I am with him because I want to.”

Carl's looking at you with a wide open eye, “But… Dad and Daryl, I heard them say he forces you to-”

You stop him right there, “He’s never forced me to do anything, Carl.”

But Carl is shaking his head, he can’t believe what he is hearing. After a moment he asks, “Is…Do you love him?”

You quickly look up the stairs, making sure you can’t be heard before looking back to your brother. “I… I wouldn’t call it love, but I’d be lying if I said I’d feel nothing.”

“I… I just don't understand.” Carl whispers, visibly struggling with the information. “He is a monster, Y/N. Do you know what he did to one of his workers? He burned off his face with an iron!”

Your eyebrows shoot up at that. “So that’s what happened to Dwight's face.” What could he have done to be punished like that?

Carl’s frown only deepens at your response, “Who cares about Dwight? Have you forgotten about Abraham, about Glenn?”

You almost roll your eyes, “I certainly did not and I am tired of people acting like I’m suffering from amnesia.” You fold your arms over your chest. “There is not one single day I don’t think about them, Carl. Still, the thing with me and Negan just… happened. I know what he did, I saw it, but I also saw that he cared. About me..”

The boy just looks down at the table, thinking about that for a moment. After a deep breath you tell him. “I’ll answer you any question you have.”

Carl’s eye moves up to you again, “So you two are together? It's like with you and Raul?”

You cringe at that name. It’s been a very long time since you’ve thought about your ex. Well, technically you two never broke up, but when the dead started walking and Atlanta got bombed, you assumed he’d died. It just made it easier for you.

You shake your head at Carl. “No, it’s nothing like what I had with Raul, it’s-”, you stop.What exactly is that between you two, just sex? You can’t say that to your brother. And if you’re honest with yourself, it stopped being just sex a while ago, didn't it? “It’s different.” You finally tell him. “But still… nice.”

Carl’s biting his cheek again, “You’re… happy?”

You lean onto the kitchen table, thinking over it for a second. “When we two are together, yeah. I am.”

Silence scratches. Carl just keeps looking at the table, taking it all in and you keep looking at him, unsure what else to say. After a long while, Carl looks up at you again. “What’s going to happen now?”

You shrug your shoulders, “Honestly, I have no idea. We’ll see once Dad’s back.” With a tired sigh, you let yourself fall back into the chair, one arm over your eyes. “First Spencer, now you, I need a damn break.”

"Spencer?" Carl asks, “What’s up with him?”

You shake your head at him, “That’s something I’ll discuss with Dad ‘n Daryl, Carl.”

“You guys can stop trying to shield me”, the boy pouts, “ I am old enough for serious topics, you know?”

“Oh, obviously.” The sarcastic tone is impossible to miss as you wave vaguely at the stairs.

Carl sights before turning silent again, seemingly pouting. After a tired sigh, you decide to tell him. “Okay, Spencer reached out to me today, told me he wants to get rid of Dad, so he can become the leader and not only that, he requested an alliance, so he and I would both be in charge.”

Carl's eyebrows raise up at that. “What? He can’t just do that? And with you together, doesn't he know you can’t stand him?”

“He did not ask me to do it because of sympathy, Carl.” You explain. “He just wants to use me. He needs our group and therefore someone able to keep them from acting out at him, should he become the new leader while simultaneously using me for my connections with Negan.”

“We have to do something about him.” Carl urges.

You just nod your head. “Once Dad’s back. Don’t worry, Carl.” You lean back against your chair. “At the moment we have bigger problems ahead.”

Your little brother looks outside the kitchen window before he beams at you. “We still got one good thing out of it!” You raise a questioning eyebrow at him. “Now I know where their base is. I can show Dad!”

The urge to roll your eyes almost wins when you tell him, “Carl, come on. Do you really think I have been scouting out the whole era for over a year now and don't know where their damn base was?”

To be fair, it took you quite some time to find The Sanctuary. It’s been a few trips out of D.C, scouting out the suburbs and nearby warehouses until you stumbled around blocked off streets. Once you came across the trapped pathways you knew someone was keen to keep the riff-raff out of their territory. It was intimidating and at first you stayed away from that particular suburb. Up until your talk with Negan. When he looked at your map and pointed out the blue pin that was sticking out of that place, you knew what you’d find there. Still you’d not be able to pinpoint the exact location of his home, but that’s fine. You’d just have to follow the trapped streets to find them.

The excitement left Carl’s face as quickly as it came to light. “Really? Why didn’t you tell us then?”

“You really need an answer to this?” You look at him with raised eyebrows. “I told nobody for a reason, no one in this community could handle the responsibility that comes with that information. Can you imagine what would happen if people knew? War, Carl. And you can bet I’ll do everything I can to prevent that from happening. I won’t tell anyone where they are and neither will you.”

Another pout. Carl’s voice can’t hide how hurt he is, “You… you don’t even trust me?”

You sigh again.“Its not like that, It’s-WHAT THE FUCK?”

Negan is walking down the stairs, grinning from ear to ear. “That noticeable?” His beard is gone, he must have shaved it in the bathroom.

“What the fuck?” You repeat, shooting out of your chair and moving towards him. Negan looks so different without his beard, it’s insane. “Why?”

“It started to get on my nerves. Why, you don't like it?” He asks, grinning.

You shrug your shoulders, “I dunno. You just look… different.”

“Ouch.” He places a hand over his heart. “Don’t worry, sweet thing.” He reaches around your waist, pulling you closer to him. “I’ll grow it back if you like it that much.” He leans down to whisper in your ear. “I do know you liked the it scratching your thighs when I-”

“Negan!” You hit him on the chest. “Not in front of my brother.”

Negan just chuckles. “Alright, fine.” He lets go of you and heads for the kitchen. “Sunshine, I am starving. You guys still having anything good?”

You look at your brother and ask him if he was also hungry. He only nods. After some thinking you want to suggest something, when Negan can be heard happily squealing from the kitchen. “Spaghetti! Sweet.” He turns from the cabinet towards you, “Sweet thing, gonna give me a hand?”

You move over to the kitchen after ordering Carl to get Judith out of her bed, who just woke up and called for them. Carl does as he’s been told, getting his little sister and bringing her to the living room. He plays with her, while his bigger sister and Negan prepare dinner. He watches them ever so often. For the first time in a long time he sees her sister happy. Actually happy. She is all smiles while she’s cooking dinner with the man.

It’s not the first time Carl ever saw her smiling or laughing, she’d do that frequently at their BBQs at the end of pick up days, at stupid jokes from Eric, at Daryl's grumpy nature. But this right now? This seems different. Carl looks back at his little sister who is playing with a doll. His biggest sister most likely lied without even knowing it. As much as Carl hates to admit it, she and Negan seem to be more like what their Dad and his mom were. This kind of happy.

"Carl, Judith, come sit down." You call them over. "Dinner's ready."

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

It's still beautiful outside with the sun still shining high up in the sky. But the air in Alexandria is still thick with tension.

“This feels odd.” You whisper to Negan, your arm folded around his. It’s not the close proximity that's making you uneasy, it’s the staring of everyone around you, although that's the whole point.

After dinner, he suggested you two should take a walk around Alexandria. He argued showing you two together would downplay your situation, making Alexandria care less. You already had your doubts but eventually decided to go along with it.

“It will get better, sweet thing.” He tries to assure you. “Eventually this won’t be a big deal anymore."

“I doubt that Negan.” You really do. It's going to be so awkward at the BBQ tonight, when the Saviors are gone. If they're gone. Negan is still waiting for your father.

"Negan?” You ask, quietly, “Can we please address the elephant in the room?”

You two have not discussed what's going to happen once your father is back. Even though you can already imagine that at least one person has to die for what your brother did, you still want to know for certain.

“Sweet thing, you have nothing to worry about.” Negan assures you. “Neither does your brother, promised.”

Nervously you bite your cheek. It should calm you down knowing that he won't hurt Carl but it doesn't. “What about my father?”

Negan sighs, “Well, your father-”

“Hey, Y/N!”

Your shoulders immediately tense up at the sound of Spencer's voice. Both you and Negan stop in your tracks, looking over at the man that is approaching you.

Once at your side, Spencer ignores you completely. His attention is only on the head of the Saviors. “Hello. We haven't officially met.” He smiles nicely at Negan. “I am Spencer Monroe.”

He raises his hand for a headshake but Negan points at Spencer's other hand that is holding onto a bottle of liquor. “Oh, is that for me by any chance?”

“Yes”, he confirms, still smiling. “Actually I wanted to invite you to a few drinks and might get the chance to talk to you.”

Nausea instantly makes your guts turn and you clench your teeth to keep your mouth shut. This damn asshole is trying something. You’re glaring at Spencer with as much disgust as you can muster, when Negan suddenly lifts your hand that was holding onto his arm to his lips for a quick kiss. “Excuse me, Sunshine. I’ll catch you later, ‘aight?”

Your eyes switch between the two men before you reluctantly let go. With one final warning stare at Spencer, the two men move on to Spencer's porch. He’s going to pander to Negan, trying to get into his good grace, you’re sure of it. Anger is flooding your system. If your father doesn't return today, you have to find a solution. Hopefully he'll be home soon.

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

Negan’s leaning back into the chair as the whisky slowly burns down his throat. That sure is damn good. It would be even better if that little bootlicker would shut the hell up.

When that man approached, Negan had half the mind of telling him off until he felt his Sunshine tensing up beside him. He takes her for a ‘no bullshit’ person, so her sudden reaction seemed off. Something was on with this guy and her reaction only piqued his interest. It’s still gonna be a while until Rick’s back, so Negan figured why not play along for a while, just for the heck of it.

It is so obvious what Spancer is trying to do. All his nice smiles and complimenting words are hollow. He’s just as an slimy asshole as Gregory back in Hilltop, only difference is, Gregory is open about it and also fun to scare and manipulate. Spencer on the other hand is trying his best to come off as sincere and the head of the Saviors is eager to find out why.

Negan grabs the bottle and pours himself a second glass when he gets an idea. “This really is good stuff, Spencer. Know what, the only thing missing right now is a pool table. Nothing better than some booze and a game of 8 ball.”

Spencer's face immediately lights up. “Actually there is a pool table.” He points at the garage on the other side of the street. “Right there.”

Negan has to huff a laugh, as if he wouldn't know that. “Oh, really? My, Spencer. You may just be my new best friend in Alexandria.” The other man chuckles, but Negan’s not finished yet. “But it’s such a nice day. Too nice to be cooped up in a dusty garage don't you think? Huh, I might have an idea.”

With a sharp whistle, Negan gets the attention of two close guarding Saviors. He orders them to get the pool table out onto the street. The boss looks at them working with a smile on his face. After another sip from his glass he looks back at Spencer. This is gonna be fun, dragging this slimy dick in front of everyone's eyes.

You step outside right after Olivia. She told you Negan and Spencer were about to play pool in the middle of the street and you just had to take a look for yourself. Carl sneaks out behind you as well. It seems like all of Alexandria is watching whatever is going on there.

The saviors are placing down the balls and handing out the cues to Negan and the other men. The Saviors seem to be unbothered but the Alexandrians seem on edge. Rosita and you lock eyes for a second before she turns around again, crossing her arms over her chest. You and your family stay at the porch while watching the two men at the pool table.

Negan’s eyes quickly scan the forming crowd around them as he takes a long drag from his cigar. When his men are done preparing the table, he says. “Know what, Spancer? I could never do this with Rick. He’d just stand there, scowling. Giving me that annoying side-eye he gives me.”

Spencer himself looks around, seemingly quite uncomfortable. “Well. That's actually what I came to see you about. I want to talk to you about Rick.”

Ah, there it is. Negan knew that guy was on about something. He just chuckles to himself as he prepares his cue with chalk. Once done, Negan leans down to prepare his first shot. “All right. Talk to me Spencer, talk to me about Rick.” The white ball moves over the green, hitting the others. With two balls pocketed, Negan changes positions for his next move.

Spencer is leaning on his cue. “I get what you’re trying to do here, what you’re trying to build. I am not saying I agree with your methods, but I get it.” Negan keeps playing, while listening to this bullcrap, waiting for Spencer to get to the point. ”You’re building a network, making people contribute for the greater good - it makes sense. But you should know that Rick Grimes has a history of not working well with others.”

“Hm,” is all Negan answers to that. He already has a feeling of where this conversation is leading to. “Is that so, Spencer?”

Spencer moves up to the table, now that it’s his turn. “Rick wasn’t the original leader here, my mom was.” Mom. Negan has to fight to keep his face unreadable. A little mommy’s boy. “She was doing a really good job of it. And then, after we allowed Rick and his people in, she died. Same with my brother, same with my dad.”

Negan takes another sip from his glass. “So, everything was peachy here for, what, years?” The mocking tone in Negan’s voice is subtle, but it takes away a little bit of your anger - he is catching on to Spencer's pathetic attempt to dethrone Rick. “And then Rick shows up and suddenly you’re an orphan? That’s the saddest shit I’ve ever heard. Good thing for you he’s not in charge anymore.”

Spencer shakes his head. “Not quite. His word still goes in this community. His ego is out of control. He’ll find a way to screw things up for us, to try and do things his way to take over. That’s what he did to my mom and he’ll do it again.”

The boss takes another sip. This man is unbelievable. Tired of beating around the bush, Negan finally asks. “And what exactly are you proposing to be done about that?”

Spencer smiles slightly. “I am my mother’s son. I can be the leader she was. That’s what Alexandria needs, that’s what you need.”

Negan’s smile grows in return. “So I should put you in charge, huh? That’s what you’re saying?”

The other man nods. “Yes, we all would be much better off.”

“I'm gonna kill him”, you whisper more to yourself than anyone else but Carl heard you. He takes your hand that was already resting on one of your knives and holds it, trying to calm you down. Spencer is such a backstabbing waste of oxygen. Once your father is back home, you’ll have him exiled, if Daryl and Rick won’t do worse.

The boss downs the last bit of whisky in his glass and starts moving around the pool table, seemingly in thought. Spencer looks around the crowd, actively avoiding the people standing on Rick’s porch.

“You got a point, Spencer.” Negan agrees. “The countless times Rick threatened to kill me, his pure hatred whenever he looked at me. The trembling of his balled fists when I'm talking to him. But there's one thing. Right now, he's out there, gathering shit for me, making sure I'm happy and won't harm a hair on anyones head here. He's swallowing up his hate and getting shit done. Now that's taking guts.”

Spencer also moves to stand across from him. “I understand how you might have gotten that impression but what you don’t know is that we’re doing the dirty work. Always living in fear of him eventually fucking this up.”

Negan takes another shot, again pocketing two balls. “Is that really the case, Spencer? You see, managing a community, feeding them, protecting them, keeping them alive - that’s a huge task. You really think you’re capable of that?”

Spencer stands his ground. “I know I am.”

Alright, up until now Negan was just playing with him. Time to finish this game. With his cigar in his hand, Negan once again faces Spencer. “That’s good. Question is, would they really accept you as their new leader, you know, Rick’s people, his friends… his family?”

Negan’s eyes move to Rick's house, to you. Spencer follows his gaze. After a quiet moment, he says “She’ll understand.”

"Try me, Spencer!” You shout, with your free hand again over one of your knives.

Negan's face splits into a smile. His sweet thing’s reaction was all he needed to see. After another drag from his cigar, Negan moves back to the pool table. “See, Spencer. Rick is an annoyance, a fucking pain in my ass. But he knows what he’s doing, keeping this place alive and getting me tons of shit he’s been collecting, either by himself or by coordinating his people and at the end of the day, that’s all I care about.”

Slowly he walks up to the other man. “And then there is you, Spencer. You on the other hand waited for clear air to sneak your way up to me, and try to talk me into doing your dirty work. So you can take his place as a leader, did I understand correctly?”

Spencer is visibly getting nervous but he is trying his best to conceal it. “No, Negan. I-”

“Gets me curious”, Negan interrupts him, “When you wanna take over, why not kill Rick yourself and. Just. Take. Over?”

His nerves are visibly getting the better of him as Spencer tries to speak himself out of this. “See, that's… I mean-”

Negan raises his hand, making him shut up. “Know, what I’m thinking? ‘Cause I have guess. Unlike Rick you have no guts.”

Before even Spencer can react a big and loud gasp can be heard from the people all around. Spencer looks down at Negan's hand that has a hunting knife deeply burrowed into his body. With a sadistic smile on his face, Negan makes a swift motion, slicing Spencer's abdomen wide open. His organs start to pour out and he desperately tries to push them back in as he falls to the ground.

“Oh, my bad.” Negan mocks the dying man. “Looks like you have some. Embarrassing, really. I've never been so wrong my whole life!“

“Back inside!” You usher your brother back into the house. Carl is about to argue but you shut his protest down immediately. “Don’t argue with me, I’ll take care of Spencer, he's gonna turn-.” You move your head back at the scene just in time to see Rosita aiming a gun. “NO!”

BANG!

Time stops. No one is moving a muscle or dares to breathe. It is absolutely silent in Alexandria, until-

“Shit!” Negan screams in shock, in rage. “What the shit?!”

Saviors ram Rosita to the ground, disarming her. Arat holds a knife to her throat, keeping her from moving.

“Shit! You just tried to kill me?!” Negan screams at her. “You shot Lucille!”

“She got in the way.” Rosita sneers.

Your heart is beating violently against your chest. Until now you’ve never seen Negan so enraged. While relieved he’s unharmed you dread what will happen next.

“What is this?” Negan asks, picking up the shell from the ground. “This little bad boy made from scratch? Look at those crimps, this was home made.” His head moves from the woman on the ground over to you. “Sweet thing, I thought I made myself clear about this kinda stuff, wanna tell me who made this?” Rosita swears up and down it was her but his eyes stay on you.

“I had no idea we had something!” You tell him.

He believes you and tries again, moving closer to Rosita, who still insists it was her. Only her. “You may be stupid darlin’ but you showed some great ingenuity here. Arat, move that knife up onto her face.” He leans down to her. “Lucille’s beautiful smooth surface will never be the same, so why should yours?” Rosita just keeps staring up at him. “One last chance. Who. Made. This?”

Rosita leans right into the blade, cutting her face open. “I did!”

Negan has to chuckle at that. “Oh, you’re such a badass! But know what? I think you’re lying, and you lying to me now?!” After a few breaths, Negan calms down a bit. Eventually he says, “Fine. Have it your way. Arat?” The woman holding the knife looks up at her boss. “Kill somebody.”

Immediately you drag Carl behind you, shielding him, when Arat takes her gun out. She doesn’t even aim properly when she shoots up onto your porch. After another bang, Olivia falls to the ground. You look at her lifeless body before turning your head back to the street.

Negan looks at the body as well and recognizes the fat woman as one of his Sunshines friends. Unfortunate. He looks up from the corpse to you and expects you to glare at him but against his expectations are your eyes neither on him nor Arath. They are glowering at the woman who was stupid enough to shoot at him. He can't help but to feel somewhat proud of that. His sweet thing really does understand that she ultimately killed her friend, not him. She gets it.

“We had an agreement!”

Rick’s voice makes everyone look up. Relieve washes over you as you see him making his way towards Negan, pushing through the crowd.

“Rick!” Negan greets him with a wide smile. “Look everybody, it’s Rick! Your people are making me lose my voice with all that yelling.”

Your father looks around him, at the crowd and at Spencer who is lying on the ground in a big red puddle. He is trying to take the chaos in, when Negan starts talking again.

“Hey, Rick. How about a thank you?” Your father looks up in confusion. “Look, I know we started this relationship with me beating the holy shit out of your friends and because of that we might never be braiding our hair, but how about a little credit? I just bet over backwards to show you how reasonable I am.”

Negan points up at Carl, who is still standing behind you. “Your son? He hid in one of my trucks and machine-gunned a bunch of my men down, trying to kill me. And what did I do? I brought him home, safe and sound - even made him spaghetti."

Your father looks up at the two of you with a deep frown, confused and angry.

“And then there was this guy.” Negan continues, pointing at Spencer’s body. “Well, this asshole wanted me to kill you and put him in charge instead.” He moves closer to Rick. “I took him out, Rick. For you.”

Then Negan turns him and Rick around, facing Rosita, who is still being held down by Arat, “And this one? She shot Lucille trying to kill me just now so I gave you one last mouth to feed and by looking at her-” He points at Olivia with his bat, “that mouth did some major damage.”

Rick finally has enough, he turns to Negan, who is smiling at him, “Your shit’s waiting at the gate. Just go.”

Negan huffs a laugh. “Sure thing, Prick. I’ll be gone right after I find the guy or gal that made this bullet. Arat?”

The Savior takes aim at Eric, when suddenly everyone around them claims to be the bullet maker. Negan doesn’t believe any of them until Eugene raises his hand. The man has tears streaming down his face, confessing how he made the bullet, even going into detail. Eventually Negan shuts his stuttering up and orders his men to take Eugene and everything that is waiting for them at the gate.

Rick is about to move away to get to his family, before Negan steps into his way for one last word with him. “Rick, I’m gonna relieve you of that whiny mess and the shit at the gate, but I want you to realize that however much you scavenged, it’s not good enough, because after today, you are in serious, serious debt.” Negan faces the crowd. “Let’s move out!”

The Saviors start moving down the street with Negan following them. Rick stays where he is, watching them go. Eventually you appear next to him, holding a bloody knife. He looks behind him, seeing Spencer with a clean wound on his head. Your voice brings your attention back to you. “I'm so glad you’re back.”

Without a second thought Rick opens up his arm, encircling you in a hug.

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

Is awfully quiet around the fire. Out of respect for two people that died today, the weekly get together was held in Aaron’s and Eric's garden.

You’re curled up in your camping chair, listening to the cracking of the fire while your mind wanders around. There are some whispered conversations here and there but overall the people around the fire remain mostly silent. Most seem to be lost in thought as you are. All but one.

“This makes me sick.”

You don’t listen at first until Carl, who is sitting next to you, asks, “What?”

“How she’s sitting there so unbothered,” Rosita speaks up.

“Leave her alone.” Carl’s trying to tell her off but to no avail.

“Why should I?” Rosita is standing up from her chair. “Know what? No. Y/N, you could have done something but decided to stay quiet when the Saviors-”

“You are in no place to tell me shit.” You finally address her.

“Rosita, stop.” Rick intervenes. “A lot happened today but Y/N is at no fault.”

But the woman is not having it. “Of course you’d defend her, I won’t even hold that against you, Rick. But she absolutely could have done-”

“What did you want me to do, Rosita?” You yell over the place. “Spencer had it coming and Olivia and Eugene are all on you.”

“I’m not talking about Spencer!” She clarifies walking up towards you. “But you at least could have helped me, when Negan-”

You stand up from your chair, aggravated by her rant, “I sure as hell won't jump between you and Lucille because of your own stupidity.”

“Enough!” Rick shouts. “Enough. What’s done is done. All we can do now is move forward from today.”

“And how so, Rick?” Rosita asks. “More people will die and obviously no one wants to do anything about it.” She’s looking at you, making your blood boil.

“Fuck off!” You almost bark at her. “Olivia died because of you. I buried her today even though it should have been you in that hole.”

Rosita is about to push you for that but Carl steps between you two.

“Carl?” Rick calls him. “Can you please bring Y/N home?”

The two of you go without another word but not before you stare the other woman down on your way out.

“Rosita, please go sit down again.” Rick orders and although the woman is still angry, she does as she’s been told.

Once sure, his kids are out of earshot, Rick stands up from his chair. “After today, I think everyone around here has come to realize that we can’t keep on going like this anymore. The Saviors will not stop degrading us, hurting us, killing us. No matter what we do, no matter how much work we put in, it will never be enough.”

Some people nod, as they listen to Rick. “Today we lost two more people. And more will follow eventually. We all know that. Many of you are tired of it, many are afraid and many are angry. And so am I.”

Rick starts walking around the fire, “I’m gonna purpose something and I want everyone of you on board. Daryl and Michonne are not out hunting, they are negotiating. On one of our scavenging trips, when we were looking for guns, we found a new community. One that is also living under Negan's regime. They are ready to fight back - if we agree on doing the same. The Hilltop already affirmed us that they'd also fight back if Alexandria decided to strike.”

Rick comes to stand, looking around the crowd. “Again, I want all of you on board. Everyone. We can’t do this, if we are divided. We have the gun power, there is more than enough hidden in the forest. And now we’d also have enough men to actually fight back. There will be no turning back, once we’ve started, I want you to know that.”

Rick raises his hand up. “Those who want to fight the Saviors back, raise their hands and say ‘Aye’.”

Chapter Index:

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Next Part / Masterlist / Negan x Rick's Daughter Series

Taglist: @starry-night-20 / @joceymoo / @srhxpci / @ladykxxx08 / @sunneeflower / @frombloodandflesh / @aleeeesa /@lanamiller / @fanfic-n-tabulous / @noirfan12 / @abbiesxox / @elinafresk / @obsessiveformiyatwins / @kokushibosgirl

#ao3 #fanfic #fanfiction #the walking dead #negan / reader #negan smith #negan x reader #twd #negan #rick grimes #Carl Grimes #michonne #rosita espinosa #judith grimes #jdm #jeffrey dean morgan

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the-forest-library · 10 months

Text

May 2023 Reads

Thief! - Megan Whalen Turner

The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner

A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner

Thick As Thieves - Megan Whalen Turner

Painted Devils - Margaret Owen

The Other Merlin - Robyn Schneider

The Future King - Robyn Schneider

Happy Place - Emily Henry

The Fiancee Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur

Emma of 83rd Street - Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding

To Swoon and to Spar - Martha Waters

Evvie Drake Starts Over - Linda Holmes

Summer Reading - Jenn McKinlay

The Boyfriend Candidate - Ashley Winstead

Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli

Lying in the Deep - Diana Urban

This Book is My Best Friend - Robin Robinson

Quietly Hostile - Samantha Irby

Broken Horses - Brandi Carlile

Honey, Baby, Mine - Laura Darn & Diane Ladd

Live Wire - Kelly Ripa

Beautiful Trauma - Rebecca Fogg

Monsters - Claire Dederer

Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott

Raw Dog - Jamie Loftus

Bootstrapped - Alissa Quart

How to Date Men When You Hate Men - Blythe Roberson

Excellent Advice for Living - Kevin Kelly

Hot and Bothered - Jancee Dunn

You Will Find Your People - Lane Moore

Betting on You - Laurie Ruettimann

I Saw You... - Julia Wertz

How to Die Alone - Mo Welch

CraftFail - Heather Mann

Random Illustrated Facts - Mike Lowery

This Book is For You - Worry Lines

Around the World Vegan Cookbook - Niki Webster

Bake, Make, and Learn to Cook - David Atherton

Bake, Make, and Learn to Cook Vegetarian - David Atherton

Bold = Highly Recommend Italics = Worth It Crossed out = Nope

Thoughts:

This month continued my Queen’s Thief obsession. Highly recommend this series - each book goes in a new and exciting direction.

Also, Happy Place broke me and then built me up again. Painted Devils did not disappoint, and the Emry Merlin series was a nice surprise.

Goodreads Goal: 174/400

2022 Reads | 2023 Reads

#2023 reads #book reviews #book recommendations #books #booklr #bookish #reading #bibliophile

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a-world-of-whimsy-5 · 2 years

Text

ʚ Pairing: Prince Nuada x Female Reader (First person POV)

ʚ Themes: Soft | Fluff | Supernatural | Slow Burn

ʚ Warnings: Kissing | Mention of creature death / euthanasia

ʚ Disclaimer: I don’t own the original image in this edit.

ʚ Author’s notes: Elven year Elven thousand and fifty three (Our year 2020. I just made this up for the story.)

In the elven year of eleven thousand and fifty-three, a great war raged between mortals and the children of the earth. This war was terrible, for it brought with it the awakening of the Golden Army. Seventy times seventy strong, these mechanical warriors hacked and slashed through the armies of men until King Balor, thinking there had been enough bloodshed, called for a truce before unarmed civilians fell under the blade of his army.

The agreement, mediated by members of BPRD, went like this: Humans would stick to their cities, and the forests would be allowed to flourish for the children of the earth. This was later extended to include abandoned tracks and parks. Only the threat of the Golden Army kept the humans from breaking the truce, and lasting peace was finally achieved. Part of this agreement also included an exchange of hostages to live with hosts on the other side.

I, y/n, was part of the exchange, and I had been sent to live with Crown Prince Nuada. The prince balked at my presence, begrudging even the food I ate, muttering barbs just loud enough for me to hear and avoiding me as much as he could. It hurt, but there was nothing I could do but wait out the allotted five years, and you had barely been with him for two months. Not knowing what else to do, I stayed out of his way, only leaving my rooms when I had to eat or go to work. Mister Wink, bless him, accompanied me to and from the office. Truth be told, I found him to be better company than his more eloquent friend. Mister Wink was fascinated by everything above ground, from hawks dipping and diving between buildings to the phone I was holding. While I was reading on the subway, I noticed him peering over my shoulder. I brought books to teach him to read after stopping at a nearby bookstore.

That’s when I noticed the first change in Nuada, after I bought those books. I’d feel his eyes on me whenever I taught Mister Wink how to read, but he said nothing, preferring to stick to the shadows while the two of us carried on.

A second change came not long after that. The prince would now have a greeting for me if I ran into him in the corridors. He even joined me and Mister Wink at the kitchen table for meals, but I kept my head down every time. That second shift gave way to a third, and that was something I didn’t notice until I was in his library one evening.

"Y/n."

The prince had been behind me, watching me while I was studying a stone table in its very own glass case. I mumbled an apology and moved to the side, hoping he wasn’t provoked by my being here. After seeing all the artefacts, books, and paintings in this room, I was starting to understand why he didn’t want anyone in here.

There were no scoldings. No reprimands, just a simple: "There is no reason for you to apologize." Nuada tilted my chin, his grip surprisingly warm and gentle. He then gestured for me to go back to the tablet. "This was from the library of Alexandria." He pointed to a seal at the bottom left of the tablet. "It is one of the last edicts of Cleopatra. The Cleopatra."

Woah. The Cleopatra he said. "Did you meet her?" He nodded. "What was she like?"

"Ordinary looking. Place her here, in modern clothes, on a busy street in New York, and you would not be able to make her out from the crowd. But," Nuada paused for effect. "She more than made up for it with her wit and intelligence."

I go back to the stone table and think. Nuada was over eight thousand years old. How much would he have seen in his long life? "But she backed Mark Anthony," I said, "and not Caesar’s rightful heir. That's not very smart."

He simply shrugged. "She was a mother looking out for the interests of her child. The dearest friend of Caesar was her best bet. Octavian had to kill Caesarion to protect his own claim. That was how it was back then."

"If you ask me, it seems like a very violent time," I shuddered.

Nuada thought otherwise, he had seen enough to do so. "Has much changed since then? Look at your news." Nuada gestured to the door and, beyond that, the little room Mister Wink used to watch TV. "Violence and bloodshed, pain and suffering, sometimes caused by people simply for the sheer joy of it all."

That gave me pause. "We haven't changed much, have we?"

"No," Nuada said. "Neither have we." He looked back out, to the little TV room. He grinned when he heard Mister Wink laugh at something. "He speaks very highly of you, our Mister Wink. He says you are very nice to him."

"Not many people are nice to trolls?" I’d heard all the stories, about how trolls were treated as just hired muscle with very little to commend them, and how the prince was one of the few to treat them with any decency. He and his twin, of course.

Nuada shook his head. "Many see his kind as the, what was that mortal word?" He stopped to think before his eyes lit up. "Oh yes. Knuckle-draggers of our races. As simple-minded savages, remnants of a primitive time, and nothing more than that."

That was indeed a horrible way of thinking, but then I remembered how he behaved towards me. "But you're no different from them," I said quietly. "Remember, the things you called me during my first few days here?"

Nuada bit his tongue and nodded. He had been cruel, as his sister made it clear when he called on her to ask her advice on an important matter. She said that nothing was going to happen in his little quest unless he changed. "And I have no excuses for it. Only a sincere apology. You were frightened and dependent on me, and I was just a boor to you. Y/n," when I backed away, he reached for me like I was a skittish horse, contenting himself with holding my hands. "I am so sorry, for everything. Could this be a new start for us? I promise to do everything within my power to make amends."

There was strength in those hands and a great deal of gentleness too. Strange that these hands, hands that have spilt a great deal of blood over the centuries, could be so... so... soft and tender, as if they only moved to protect, not to hurt. And that apology. It was simple and may not have meant much to others, but coming from someone as proud and cold as him, it mattered a great deal. He wanted another chance. Should I give him another chance? Or should I walk away, and fight for reassignment elsewhere? Surely the BPRD would consider it.

Fingers brushing hair off my eyes sent a jolt down my spine, made my skin tingle and my mouth go dry. Then there were his eyes. They were looking at me in a way they had never done before. There was something there, something I couldn't put a finger on, but it drew me in all the same. When I moved, he moved on instinct. "Please, y/n." Nuada was just a hair's breadth away from me. If he moved any closer, his lips would be pressing against mine.

Would that be so bad? Him kisisng me? "Yes?" I felt a little light-headed and dizzy, and I didn’t know what to make of it, until my eyes moved to his. The way he was looking at me, my mouth. "One chance." He didn’t move any further than that, but he bit his lip, as if lost in thought. "Please."

I think, and think and think. I wanted to say no, but something was stopping me from saying so. I wanted to shake his hands off and walk away, but my feet were rooted to the spot. My gut was practically screaming at me, to give him a chance. That I won’t regret it.

Oh, to hell with it. I nodded and said yes, and he smiled, really smiled, his face radiant like the sun.

✨✨✨

Things grew easier after that. He’d ask me about everything, listening to what I had to say. He wanted to know about my work, my friends, the boss who was obsessed with mythology, and my favourite coffee shop down the road.

He’d talk about his family in turn, his sister especially, and his father. King Balon was busy, but he always found time for his children. Even the simple notes he sent held so much love in each word, and Nuada had saved everything.

He joined in on the English lessons, helping me and calming Mister Wink when he complained and called it a language from the bowels of hell. He’d take me to the troll market, buying little trinkets for me, rare books. He took to reading a chapter to me every night after dinner, and I looked forward to that, listening to him. I realised I could listen to him for hours. Sometimes my mind would drift to the day he apologized and how close he was to me. What if he had actually kissed me? Simply pressed his lips to mine and pulled the breath right out of me. Nuada would see the wistful looks in my eyes, put the book away with a grin, and I’d blush before groaning and curling into my chair. Nuada said nothing, but he’d escort me to my rooms and kiss my hands before vanishing. I’d be left standing there, my skin still warm where his lips touched and a sigh escaping my lips.

My dread of him gave way to something else, something gentler and sweeter. It was there when he greeted me in the morning and again in the evening, when he searched for me after coming home. It was there when he read to me at night or when he took my hand in his. This feeling grew and grew, like a wave that threatened to drown me.

One night, when I went to call him for a late-night coffee, I found Nuada in the sparring yard, training. He moved lightning quick, so fast I could barely see him in the flickering light. A spear glinted menacingly in his hands. One strike and ropes as thick as arms were severed like thin strings. A second, and a puddle was struck. A third, and some of the water droplets that were flung into the air were sliced clean through the center. Nuada was lithe and deadly, like poetry in motion. I thought he looked magnificent.

"Y/n," he paused before tossing his spear onto a nearby rack, a shy grin tugging at his lips. This was the first time I had seen him train. "This is a pleasant distraction."

“I just came to say coffee is ready." My eyes lingered on the scars that were all too visible on his chest. Nuada’s life had been one of war and violence, and I was seeing the evidence of it for the first time. Beyond that, he was incredibly handsome, the sort of handsome I’d only hear of in poetry and song. My cheeks grew hot when I realised I had been staring. "Sorry."

My chin was tilted so my eyes would be level with his. "There is nothing for you to say sorry for."

He looked at me, a finger of his tracing a line across my cheek. There’s something different in the air, something different in me, pulling me to him, making me stand on the tips of his toes. I heard a soft outtake of breath, and then he leaned in, his lips brushing against me like soft feathers. When my mouth opened to his, the sweetness of him poured down my throat, threatening to drown me and sweep me away with the tide. It brought out a fire that frightened me, but when he held me, all my fears melted away in the strength of his embrace. My name came out like a whisper and something took root, something I couldn't explain. When he pulled away, he left me stunned and breathless. That’s when I heard coughing. Someone had walked in on us both. "Mister Wink," Nuada said, his arm still around my waist, his face half buried in my hair. If he didn't care about being found out, then I wouldn’t let it bother me either. "Are we late?"

There was a series of grunts and snarls, something to do with a tooth fairy trying to turn the kitchen into its personal hotel. "Have I lived here too long?" I listened to what the troll was saying. There were more complaints about said tooth fairy trying to force open the deep freezer so it could get at the spare ribs Mister Wink had been saving for a midnight snack. "Because he’s starting to make sense."

His chest rumbled when he chuckled in my hair. "Mister Wink makes perfect sense." Nuada grinned. "But only if you care enough to listen. Wait here. I will not be long."

When it comes down to it, anywhere away from the direct range of a tooth fairy was perfect for me. "I’ll stay right here."

One more kiss, and he was gone.

And within a few minutes there was an epic commotion, lots of yelling and swearing, of pots falling and plates shattering. When it finally grew quiet, too quiet for my liking, I gulped and made my way back inside, to the kitchen.

It looked like a hurricane had gone off. The entire kitchen was a disaster. Bowls were upturned, fruits were scattered all over, and there was Mister Wink, holding onto a trap cage for dear life. The cage rattled violently while its occupant fought hard to escape. "Here." Nuada came over with a thick towel that smelled of something strange. "Wrap this around the cage."

The rattling stopped as soon as the towel went around the cage, and they breathed a sigh of relief. "Such a tiny thing and such a mess," I murmured as I surveyed the damage. The tooth fairy may have been tiny, but the destruction it caused was something else. If one of them could destroy so much, what could hundreds do? "Is it dead?"

Nuada peaked inside. "Just knocked out. Mister Wink will take it to the BPRD. They will handle it."

Tooth fairies were too dangerous to be released. The wars resulted in them developing a taste for human flesh and bone, and all captured fairies were sent to the BPRD to be euthanized. "Of course," I said as I knelt to peer into the cage. I had never seen a tooth fairy befor, all I had were horror stories from survivors. "Not too close." Nuada held out a hand, holding me back. "The smell of you might wake it up."

I stayed where I was and looked in. Sure enough, the tooth fairy was knocked out, a piece of meat still in its hands. "Better in there than out here." I shuddered as I stood up. "And they can just get in?"

"If there is a way in, yes." Nuada took the cage, with the towel still around it. "Take this to Abe." He told Mister Wink. "Check the vents for any holes when you get back. And leave this mess." He gestured to the disaster zone that was the kitchen. "We will clean it in the morning. Let the others sleep."

"Is Mister Wink alright?" I kept a safe distance from the cage. "Are you alright?"

Nuada brushed off paint chips that had fallen onto my hair. "More than all right. Come with me." He took my hand and led me out of the kitchen. "There is something I would like to show you."

✨✨✨

On and on we walked, through winding passages and corridors, through one doorway and onto the next. There were torches everywhere, but the rooms and hallways grew barer and rockier and darker the further we went. It felt like we were going deeper underground, but to what?

"And here we are." Nuada stopped in front of a pair of thick teak doors, twice the height of even Mister Wink.

There was a loud creak when the doors were pushed open. "Where are we?"

He lit a torch and led the way in. "You will see."

It was too dark to walk around. I followed the light, watching Nuada as he lit tapers and little torches built into thick rock walls. There was moonlight seeping in through cracks I couldn’t see, but their light wasn’t enough. Then I turned around, my breath nearly dying in my throat.

It was a large indoor garden, the likes of which I had never seen before. Flowers. There were flowers everywhere, all rare and unknown. The floor was covered in soft grass and moss, and there was an actual rose tree in the center of the cavernous room. "What is that?"

"That is the crown rose tree." Nuada led me to it, let me walk around it. "The emblem of my clan. There are only three of these trees in existence."

His was the youngest, he said. The second oldest was at his father’s court, and the oldest, the mother tree, grew wild, deep within the caves of Bethmoora. Even the presence of the Golden Army did not affect it. The elves saw it as a good omen, he said, and that it meant their kind would endure no matter what befell them. "Vows made beneath this tree must never be broken."

"All vows?" I was too busy admiring the tree to notice the way he was looking at me. The flowers looked like crowns from certain angles, all gold with delicate veins of red. The tree and leaves themselves were a rich bluish black, making the roses stand out even more.

"Yes." Nuada was right behind me now. I could feel his breath in my hair. "Especially vows of love."

Especially vows of love. It is an interesting choice of words coming from him.

There was that feeling again, strong and persistent now. "When you mean vows of love," I said nervously, wondering if Nuada was saying what I thought he was saying. It can’t be. My flights of fancy had run riot again. Nuada was an elf, and the Crown Prince of his kind. His father would have expectations, standards, and a human being would fall well short of all of them. He might even be disinherited if he got involved with someone his father deemed unworthy. "Do you mean vows in general, or vo--"

Nuada leaned in, whispering something in the language of his people before moving in front of me. I had been around him long enough to pick up bits and pieces, but what he just said, admitted to me-- No. It can’t be. "I’m not sure I understand what that means--"

"Yes you do." Nuada inched closer, his broad shoulders blocking out the tree behind him. "Do you--" He was pained by the thought of my rejecting him. "Do you object to me? Was it because of how I behaved in the beginning?"

"Yes! No! It’s not about how you behaved at the start! You don’t understand!" How could I make him see, the price he would be paying for my sake? "You’re an elf, I’m-- I’m me," Didn’t he understand the gravity of the choice he was making? Of all the trouble he could bring down on his head by choosing me? "I’m human, Nuada. Human. Your father would never agree to it and--"

He kissed me again, this time hard and frantic, his hands all bunched up in my hair. I was trembling too, my body melding with his as my lips parted for his tongue. "My father approves of you," he whispered into his kiss. "He has already given me his blessings. As for you being mortal--"

Here I stop, panting, my heart racing like I have been running for miles. "Yes?"

"It makes no difference to me." Nuada’s lips captured mine again, his breath mingling with my own. "So long as I can call you mine."

This time it was he who stopped, and waited, for my answer. I didn’t need to think long and hard this time. The prince loved me, and I? I had fallen in love with him. When I kissed him this time, he knew what my answer was going to be. There was that smile again, all radiant and glorious. Mine, he whispered.

#nuada #nuada silverlance #prince nuada #nuada x reader #hellboy #reader insert #reader included #fanfiction #creative writing #writing #am writing #writeblr #a world of whimsy writes

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chl-owo-e · 1 year

Note

hey! i love your writing! i’m not sure if you’re taking requests for daryl dixon if not feel free to ignore!

but if you are, would you be able to write a fic about when after the line up with negan and daryl’s taken he gets back and the reader and him have a few fluffy moments while she patches him up? and maybe he’s a bit hesitant to being touched after everything he went through but he lets her look after him anyway.

thank you ❤️

Omg! Thanks 😻🫶

Sorry it took so long to respond to this, I had to catch up on the series.

-{Aiding him}-

(Daryl Dixon X Reader)

Summary; Thanks to Jesus, Daryl was brought back safely. But nothing was the same, it was like Negan took every bit of life from him as well.

Warnings; Fluff, small angst, Negan (hes a whole warning by himself), set in the kingdom,

———————————————————————

—Terror could only describe your feelings about Negan. The horrors he committed in-front of you and the whole group was something unimaginable. Nightmares would fill your head of the squelches of Glenns and Abrahams brains. And only when it’s quiet its like you can still hear their voices.

Daryl was the last straw you had, watching him get taken away in that truck while his shoulder profusely bleeds. You couldn’t do anything being held at gun point, you yelled his name and begged but nothing came out of it.

Now you were here, in the Kingdom next to Ezekiel as one of his ‘guards’. Even if it had been a week or so since everything happened and since you left Alexandria in hopes to finding Negans hideout. You never stopped thinking about Daryl. Currently your eyes were fixated on the walls of the theater trying to pass time as you tune out Jerry humming some long lost Disney song.

Not even 5 minutes later Shiva growls in a low tone as she stands up next to Ezekiel. You turn your head to the tiger and watch where she was looking at. Then you look in the open red carpeted hall. First you saw Jesus then the rest of your group came in, your eyes widened in shock as you dropped your sword on the stage. There he was standing there and awkwardly moving side to side on each foot.

It was like everything around you was spinning, and the whole world went silent. Your legs slowly moves by themselves and walk you off the wooden stage. They slowly bring you to a jog towards Daryl, your brain didn’t want to believe it. It didn’t want you to feel relief only for you to wake up back in your bed with everything gone again. You came to a stop three feet in front of Daryl. The 5’10 man looks towards you with a sad smile as tears brink the edges of his eyes.

A happy sob leaves your mouth and you finally close the gap between the two of you. His big arms wrap around your waist hugging you like you would disappear any minute. After some time both of you let up. You look at his face closely as your hand shakily goes up to cup it. You brush his messy hair out of his face and get a clear view of how Negan took care of him.

It wasn’t long till King Ezekiel had cleared his throat and started talking to Rick and Jesus about Negan. It didn’t end well, only with Ezekiel saying he needs time to think over everything while Rick needs the answer now. You understood why Ezekiel didn’t want to go to war with Negan and his massive group. But it was only a matter time till Negans group will go inside the kingdom and disobey all of the rules that was put together.

The king had dismissed the group and they left. Leaving you, Jerry and Ezekiel alone as well Shiva. “I will be in my chambers, come on Shiva lets go take a nap.” The king says before leaving shortly after. You watch as the door closes, you make sure Ezekiel is gone fully before you grabbed your sword that was laying on the floor. “Jerry cover my shift and close up for me please.” You say then run off to the back door hoping that Daryl was still here.

The sun was still glaring through the blue cloudy sky, you ran through the streets as you sheathed your weapon in your belt. Thats when you see him again, his brown hair was shiny in the sun as he watches the gate close in front of him. “Daryl!” You yell his name as you slow your pace to a stop when you reached him. He turns to your voice and his face lights up slightly.

“Daryl, why didn’t you go with the group?” You sweetly mumbled as you stared at him with shiny eyes. “Rick didn’ wan’ me to go, tha’s why.” His voice was grumbling to you as it sounded like his throat was dry. “If you’re staying here for a bit then you can stay with me.” You said before getting closer to him, you reach towards his rough calloused hands. You held them for a second before he pulls away. Your face scrunches up in confusion and you look closely at his face. “Dar’ your face…its bleeding.”

You move your left hand to his face as you tried to wipe the red blood that was starting to dribble down his chin. Daryl flinches and moves away, then he wipes it himself with the back of his hand. “Daryl…” you frown at him, he was building walls against you again. The same walls that you forced down at the Farm, the same walls that you forced down at the church.

“Stop. Stop looking at me like that.” His voice surprises you again after being silent for awhile. “Like what?” You ask with confusion lacing in your voice as it dances across your face. “Like how you always do! Like, Like Im something that needs to be fixed!” He yells this time, bringing some people in the kingdom to notice y’all’s presence in the courtyard.

Your eyebrows crease as you give him a hurt face. You walk closer to his body as he backs away, your hands grip his shirt that lays against his stomach. “Daryl let me patch you up, we can have a conversation about this later.” You try to have your voice calm him down in hopes you could bring him to your bunk and fix him up. He lets out a exasperated breath and finally agrees to you.

Once you gotten to your room, you force Daryl to sit down on your bed. He looks around and takes note on the small pictures that were on the walls, some looked like children drawings and the rest looks like it came from a museum. The art pieces decorated the walls and gave the room a sense of home. Soon you walked back in the room with a small wooden box that labeled first aid. Then you sat next to him on the knitted blanket that laid on your bed.

“Look at me.” You say to him in a whisper as you gently move his face towards you. You focused on his lip and started cleaning it, mentioning to him that it will sting. “You’ll have to get stitches, but by the looks of it, it wont be much.” You tell him as you still focus on his cut lip. “And lucky you I can do it now if you would like.” You happily say to him with a small smile as you finally look at him in the eyes.

Daryl hums in agreement just wanting to get everything over and done with so he can get some sleep. With his confirmation you continue with what you were doing, grabbing the right supplies you start to close the wound. “You know I don’t think you need fixing.” You say lowly as your bottom lip quivers. “I was worried about you Dar’ and hell I’m still worried about you now!” You tell him once you finish things up. You throw everything in the box and grab whatever trash that there was and threw it away leaving the first aid on the dresser next to the door.

“Daryl, when I saw you get thrown onto that vehicle I thought you were done with, I thought you were going to end up like Glenn and Abraham. But when I saw you in that theater this morning, I had thought I was just hallucinating.” Your eyes started to water more and more as you poured all your emotions into Daryls arms. “And when I hugged you, I felt like myself again, Like everything felt right. Daryl, tell me you wont do something like that again. Tell me you wont leave me. Tell me. please…” you were finally crying, all the nights that you wouldn’t dare to let out a single tear were finally coming out to say hello.

His face softened when he saw the pain he had caused you. “‘M sorry darlin’, didn’t mean to make you sad.” He says as he gets up and walks towards you where you stood. He wraps his arms around you again, leaving his hands at your waist and head holding you closer than ever. It tore him up inside whenever he was in that cell with the savoirs. Eating dog food, hearing the same song over and over again, and not to mention the threats he would get everyday about you.

He was scared, not only for you but for whatever the future holds for the both of you. Negans voice would echo throughout Daryls head, stating the same threats that Negan would repeat over and over. ‘Don’t make me get your pretty lady friend, I bet she’ll make a perfect wife.’ Or ‘If you try to escape again Ill get Y/n and kill her right in front of you, or maybe ill have you do it for me.’ Daryl moves his face into the curve of your shoulder and takes a big breath of you, before he spoke again.

“‘M so so sorry Angel.”

———————————————————————

A/N; SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG- LIKE I SAID I WASNT AT THAT PART YET RHGJSKDJ

#daryl dixion imagine #daryl dixon fluff #daryl x you #daryl x reader #daryl dixion x reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon 🏹🐇#daryl dixon angst #twd daryl #the walking dead daryl

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iampresent · 1 year

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Hey. Hey you. C’mere! I have something wonderful to tell you about the language of Latin, and specifically how it was taught in the Cambridge Elevate Latin textbook.

Ready?

Ok so in Latin, the diminutive of any word ends in -ulus. Basically it just adds the word “little” behind the noun. Best example of this? “homo” means “man/person” (the species, not the gender, that’s “vir”) in Latin. “homunculus” means “little man” in Latin. Which is just a wonderful fact in and of itself. Like c’mon that’s so fun to say. You’re a homunculus. no YOU’RE a homunculus. everyone here is a homunculus. homunculus homunculus homunculus.

But that’s not the best part. Not by a long shot.

So, it’s kinda hard to teach a dead language. You can’t do a lot of conversational skills and learning, because there aren’t a ton of sources to explain how the language was spoken casually. Now, you could just make them read all the super famous Latin texts we have, but those do have a pretty high level of advancement and also happen to be about as exciting to your average high schooler as “explain your answer” math problems.

So, what is a classics course that wants to make absolutely stupendous amounts of money to do??

Well, if you’re the Cambridge Elevate Latin Course, you create one long storyline over the course of four books which goes from “astonishingly heart wrenching familial tragedy” to “surprisingly xenophobic narrative of life on the streets of Alexandria” to “extremely out-of-pocket political intrigue” to “telenovela” faster than you can say “Sed Caecilius non respondit”. None of these stories are particularly well written, but they are much more intense than you would expect of a language textbook for middle and high schoolers.

anyway, cut to my 10th grade Latin class, right as we were beginning the “political intrigue but everyone is a complete dumbass” section of the course. And one of the grammar concepts for that stage was diminutives. As I hope I’ve already established, the storyline was completely fucking batshit insane. We were used to it. We could handle absurdity, my class could. We reveled in it. So there we were, reading about the British chieftain A who crashed the king’s dinner party with a *partially* tamed bear, in order to kill/maim/severely embarrass British chieftain B, because B had had the audacity to beat A in a boat race. In my opinion, we were taking it with relatively straight faces, all things considered.

But when British Chieftain B called A “homunculus”?

We lost it. We completely, absolutely LOST. IT. It was one of the best moments of my life.

Anyway, my teacher is switching her freshmen onto a different textbook next year, for SOME REASON, which I frankly think is pretty swagless of her.

#also there is this historically documented dude named Gaius Salvius Liberalis #who they just turned into like. the devil incarnate.#FOR NO REASON #we don't know anything about this dude #but not a day in the textbook goes by without him trying to kill somebody it's insane #anyway #this has been #"Unnecessarily Long Tangents With iampresent #tune in next time for #Myropnous #the short king #clc #cambridge latin course

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lya-dustin · 9 months

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All is bliss

Chapter 37

Gif by @dailyhotdgifs

Taglist: @mercedesdecorazon @darylandbethfanforever9 @watercolorskyy @alexandria-millie @ewanmitchellcrumbs @sweethoneyblossom1

“The queen said none would be given a burial.” Criston says as he comes to escort her back inside.

Aemma managed to get him to take the route through the gardens because she was supposed to get her daily walk done anyways.

Orwyle had been very stern with her about taking care of her health. The Grand Maester was getting on her nerves, but then again, one of his assistants kept suggesting leeching to remove the excess black and yellow bile in her blood saying the old method was better than this.

“That’s rather odd, I never said that.” Aemma retorts reminding him Alicent no longer is in charge here.

Alicent had only just left and yet her loyal shadow believed she still held any power anymore.

The Green Queen will find the Court as black as night.

“Besides, why would she tell Aegon to be so careless as to deny them a respectful burial?

Had this been done by my faction, you and my darling goodmother would be amongst the first to condemn it.” Aemma added driving her point home.

It was all about optics.

Daemon was painted as a demon when Criston Cole was lauded for doing the same to nearly four noble families.

Alicent worshiped for usurping the throne to protect her children while mother hated for doing the same.

Of course, if you went to their side, you would find the opposite of this.

And the truth is, everyone was both.

People were not all bad, not all good. People were just people.

Yes, Daemon had done his fair share of atrocities in this war and the previous one, but he was a decent man at his core.

He had treated her just as he would treat his daughter, he had her back when mother in her paranoia would confine her to the keep and, from what she had seen growing up, he was a good husband to her mother.

Yes, Criston Cole was a great knight and yet once you looked past the shiny armor and white cloak, you saw he was awful.

He had the audacity to call her mother a whore to all and sunder when he had been able to leave her room instead of deflowering her, he killed people after they had surrendered, he had joined the queen in her incessant emotional abuse all those years when she was a child.

“You are not wrong---,” the knight admitted before treating her like a child under his care, “---but the next time you wish to act on your sense of justice, let us know before someone betrays you to get a leg up in court.”

“I know it wasn’t the Septon, who ratted me out to you?” the young queen asked him and wondered what it would take for him to toss Alicent over.

“The guards, one was demoted and sought a restoration of his position.” The Lord Hand who fettered her like a dangerous criminal relaxes and Aemma is amazed to know he could be pleasant company.

“Once you would have jumped at the chance to make an example out of me, I am surprised you have not brought it to my husband’s attention.” Aemma comments wondering if he’s over his bouts of irrational hatred.

“The king would not like his time wasted on these matters, and seeing as you were doing a good deed, it would be wrong to demand you be punished for it.” The knight approves of her actions, how extraordinary!

If only he hadn’t been so cunt struck by Alicent, the realm wouldn’t be in such a sorry state.

“Speaking of good deeds, have you dealt with the problems in the city, those very specific ones the merchant guild and the representative of the street of silk brought forward?” she asked hoping he had gotten to it.

He had been horrified to know his perfect queen had ignored suffering and sin like that.

From Otto Hightower, it would be uncharacteristic of him to care for anyone beside himself.

Alicent, however, had her entire reputation built on being good, chaste, and charitable.

It was far too easy to destroy her image given how much she did to satisfy her, thankfully, dead father’s ambitions.

“I have begun inquiries, but it goes far deeper than that. Lord Wylde and I have decided that we need to use guards that have not been bribed yet.” He answered as they found common ground: fixing this fucking shithole.

If there wasn’t so much awfulness in their shared past, Aemma would have thought she had found an ally in him.

Mother has been gone for a moon and already the rumors of her being a wicked witch who eats baby’s hearts are utterly forgotten.

He was right on one thing, the outcome of the Riverlands battles would be all they would speak about.

The Battle by the Lakeshore proved to be a failure.

The Lannisters had already suffered defeats and under Lord Lefford’s command suffered another one.

Even without Daemon, the Riverlords had decimated the Westerners with the help of a battalion of old northerners calling themselves the Winter Wolves.

The Fishfeed they called it.

The survivors had managed to hole up in the blackened ruins of Harrenhal and now Aemond was needed to go and save them.

And not like gain them ground or anything glorious, no, Aemond and Vhagar were needed to carve out a path for a retreat.

Unfortunately, because Aemond is as green as their mother’s faction ---something Aegon loves to bring up as he shows off his newly healed burn scars---, Criston has to go too leaving the city very unprotected and without a hand.

It is a twenty-day march, and it will take an added week to finish the preparations and draft battle plans.

In the meantime, Aegon needs a Hand.

“You could name grandfather your Hand and get the Velaryon Fleet at your feet,” Aemma said rhyming on purpose as they go over plans for the nursery as he pretends their agreement has been forgotten.

The truth was, he had not been able to get his little king up no matter what Alys or Jena tried and if she knew now that his prick no longer works, Aemma would go running to his dullard of a brother.

Or worse, find a way to escape and go to her brothers and uncle in Dragonstone now that they’ve retaken it.

Instead, he tries to be a good husband and friend so that when she comes to know of his impotence, she will feel a little bad about it and maybe not leave the second she has a chance.

After all, she caused it by rebelling instead of taking her dragon and returning to her husband like a normal wife would have done.

“As great of an idea as that is, my grandfather would rise from the dead and strangle me with the chain of office.” He said pretending he was for it.

If he gave her everything she wanted, she would take it from him and have him put down like an old horse.

This had been Criston’s new advice.

Tyland Lannister would be acting as hand because the hand of the king chooses his replacement, or so he said after dealing with the issue about the children in Flea Bottom.

The Guilds who brought their petition to Aemma had been so thankful for that and gave him the head of the one-armed poor fellow who was preaching against him and his family.

Tyland was a good man, good for the job and would make sure things run smoothly. He may be less likely to give into Aemma’s whims, especially the more dangerous ones.

Even Jaehaerys made sure his wife knew her place, Criston had said.

Aemond had pushed for Ironrod to keep the west from taking it the wrong way, but Aegon agreed to Criston’s suggestion because Tyland would absolutely interpret it as a sign to bring his infernal niece to court.

Tyland would bring her to pressure a match between Tyshara and Aemond or the other ones with Daeron and get a dragon to deal with the Ironborn.

Once his brother proves his worth, he will be sent the Casterly Rock and be out of his life. If Lady Johanna Westerling had a daughter or a disappointment, he could make Aemond Lord Paramount of the West and get him away from his wife’s bed and heart.

“Tyland is perfectly adequate for the job.” Aegon says and his wife struggles to keep being the devoted little wife.

The moment something doesn’t go her way, Aemma fights with herself as if being nice and loving towards him costs too much.

Like now.

Love takes time, far too much, the king thinks as Aemma’s smile grows tight as she agrees with him.

“Lady Tyshara would make a good bride. Her mother is like to have another daughter and you would be Lord of Casterly Rock.” Cole said as they went over what the Lannisters did wrong in their foray into the Riverlands.

The last thing they have heard was that the Blacks had retaken Dragonstone and everything past Duskendale.

Daemon had left the Riverlands and brought Jacaerys, Lucerys and Addam Waters together with sellsails the bastard had bought with the stolen treasury.

According to Larys, they were assembling an army of dragon riders amongst the Dragonseeds scattered about in the crownlands.

An orphaned shepherdess in Driftmark had claimed the ugly brown dragon, a smith called Hugh had claimed Vermithor and a household guard named Ulf had claimed a wild one.

Some had died trying to claim Syrax, the Cannibal and Aemma’s dragoness.

They were plotting to take Kingslanding soon, going to do so the moment they arrived at Harrenhal.

Only an idiot would not see the trap. Unfortunately, that idiot was their king.

But his idiot brother wanted him out of his hair and wedded to the bitchy blonde who called Helaena names when they were last in court.

“I cannot risk having a wife who would question the paternity of Aemma’s children.” Aemond reminds him.

Knowing the precarious situation they were in gave him time and opportunity to turn down eager ladies.

Eager ladies who wrote him sonnets and sent them with their uncle. Fuck, Tyshara even sent him a warhorse as pale as his hair.

“She does not need to know.” The Kingsguard countered. “Besides if the queen has a son, you wouldn’t need to continue the affair.”

“Mother may tell Aegon he needs a spare, or a daughter to wed his son.” And I don’t wish to stop it, Aemond could add that part, but bites his tongue. “In mother’s desperation to please her father, she damned me to live Harwin’s life.”

Sometimes he has nightmares where Driftmark happens all over again, but instead of losing his eye again it is Aenys taking his trueborn son’s eye for being called a bastard.

It is a gruesome thing, to see two little boys look almost like twins except one bloody and maimed as he was and the other whole.

Aenys clings to his mother who was round with child once more while his wife shouted and cried for justice.

Aemma does not call for the child to be questioned like her mother did, but Aegon and mother do this time.

It doesn’t matter that Aenys apologizes and claims it was an accident, his wife demands an eye for an eye as the boy bites his tongue just as Aemond did when asked where he heard the word bastard.

He tries to stop them, feeling helpless as his nameless and faceless wife charged at Aemma because once again his lover has taken everything from her.

The dream always ends with his dagger trespassing Aemma’s heart as she stands between his wife and their child.

He cannot let it become true.

“Your highness!” his page runs into the war room covered in sweat and preceding Vhagar’s roars in the distance. “Your Highness! Vhagar, she has begun laying eggs!”

#aemma velaryon #aemond targaryen x velaryon!oc #aemond the kinslayer #aegon ii x oc x aemond #ewan mitchell #all is bliss(in the court of aemma the great) fic #all is bliss fic

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msclaritea · 1 month

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Five Guys was founded in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell. Jerry and the couple's sons Jim, Matt, Chad, and Ben were the original "Five Guys". The Murrells had a fifth son, Tyler, two years later. Today, all five sons, the current "Five Guys", are involved in the business: Matt and Jim travel the United States visiting stores, Chad oversees training, Ben selects the franchisees, and Tyler runs the bakery.

The first Five Guys was in Arlington's Westmont Shopping Center. Buns were baked in the same center by Brenner's Bakery. This location closed, in favor of another in Alexandria, Virginia, at the intersection of King and North Beauregard Streets, which closed on September 21, 2013.

More followed in Old Town Alexandria and Springfield, Virginia, making five locations open by 2001. Their success encouraged the Murrells to franchise their concept the following year, engaging Fransmart, a franchise sales organization. Former American football player Mark Moseley, who had gone to work for Fransmart after his football career, played a key role in Five Guys' expansion and went on to become the company's director of franchise development after it ended its business relationship with Fransmart. In early 2003, the chain began franchising, opening the doors to rapid expansion which caught the attention of national restaurant trade organizations and the national press. The expansion started in Virginia and Maryland, and by the end of 2004, over 300 units were in development through the Northeast. Over the next few years, the chain rapidly expanded across the entire United States and into Canada, reaching over 1,000 locations by 2012.[needs update][citation needed]

The first location outside North America opened in the United Kingdom in July 2013, in London on Long Acre in Covent Garden. The chain now has more than 150 restaurants in the UK. Five Guys also has locations in the Middle East and has continued to expand in Europe. In late 2017, Five Guys opened its first restaurants in Germany, with a branch in Frankfurt and another in Essen.

Five Guys, one of the top three burgers in the U.S., opened its first Korean store in Gangnam, Seoul, at 11 a.m. on June 26, 2023 with a countdown shout. As of 2024, there are a total of four branches in Seoul.

Five Guys Enterprises has several affiliated companies that are not part of a consolidated group, but are under common ownership. Five Guys Operations was founded in 2012, Five Guys Holdings was founded in 2007. Five Guys Foods UK Limited was incorporated on March 12, 2013. FGE International, FGO International BV, and FG Coöperatief U.A. are based in Amsterdam. FGH International C.V. is located in Bermuda.

Five Guys had a 39,900 square feet (3,710 m2) headquarters in Lorton, Virginia, overlooking the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers, that was specially designed to convey the corporate brand. According to the architect, "The lobby mimics the typical Five Guys restaurant with red and white tile, tall tables, Freestyle Coke machine and signature peanut boxes." In 2023, they moved their headquarters to a new location in Alexandria, Virginia.

On September 24, 2020, the first Five Guys location with a drive-through window opened in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. The franchisee retained it from the former business in the building in light of COVID-19 pandemic safe practices.

In September 2021, Five Guys opened their first location in Australia. The chain also has plans to expand into New Zealand. In November 2022, Five Guys announced the relocation of their headquarters to the Carlyle neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.

Five Guys has received numerous awards in D.C. area publications, including "Number 1 Burger" by Washingtonian Magazine for seven years.[citation needed] The former US President Barack Obama is reportedly a fan, buying lunch for himself and his colleagues at the Washington Five Guys branch in 2011.

#Pedro Pascal #Five Guys Burger #Arlington Virginia #Barack Obama

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twdmusicboxmystery · 9 months

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Dead City, Ep 4: Everyone Gets a Prize - Analysis

@wdway

I'm hoping that this is a way that they would set up Maggie having a flashback. Maybe a scene of Beth on the other side of the doorway talking to her Maggie from s4. A new scene build on what we did see that would be great.

The other thing that stood out to me and I'm not giving anything away on the storyline but the showrunners comments at the end of episode, it really caught my attention because he compared something that happened in the episode a scene in Les Miserables. I never read the book, but the broadway musical play is my all-time favorite, so I really caught that remark. I thought what a strange connection he's making to a very famous book and musical plat about the French Revolution.

@galadrieljones

I never really watch the commentary after the show unless you guys say I should (I know I know I should lol) so I’d be interested to know the comparison to Les Mis!!!! I love Les Mis. There is I guess kind of a Fantine/Cosette thing going with Maggie and Ginny and ofc Negan could be compared to Jean Valjean, the ex-con who is still being pursued by moral purist Javert (re: Armstrong). Great catch with the French comparison

Also I have similar hopes re: flashbacks but more so with Daryl’s spin-off. Idk how they will skirt the Beth issue if they do flashbacks. I think a lot of ppl would notice if they did.

@wdway

He compared the scene between Negan and Armstrong with Jean Valjean saving Javert. The comparison was that the hunted saved the hunter.

@galadrieljones

I never thought of Negan as a Jean Valjean character, but I love it.

@wdway

Neither had I, but I still think that the comparison to Les Miserables is a bit pushing it. I think it was more about just putting that in the minds of the viewers.

@galadrieljones

Okay so it's not a spoiler so I will just share my google results. It was really kind of weird like it made me blink multiple times rapidly and lean so close to the computer I almost bumped it with my nose lol. This is what I saw:

NAFC, the way it's stylized, looks like it's some sort of fighting guild.

I was fully prepared for NAFC to not be real btw, and it's not. But I wasn't prepared for the first and only real hit for what NAFC means irl

It's not so much what it is, but WHERE

It's literally located AT King Street Station, on the DC Metrorail, which begins in Alexandria, VA

Idk if you guys remember my insane rant about the DC Metrorail, which was actually the rant that got @twdmusicboxmystery to invite me into your group chat

I surmised after Acheron 1, due to Negan's subway directions, that they probably ed the DC metrorail subway at the King Street Station in Alexandria. Negan's subway directions took them toward the Shady Grove stop, which is a terminus: “Yellow Line North. Switch to Blue at Reagan National, then hop the Red toward Bethesda.” Anyway, this is a wild callback to Acheron Pt. 1 and 2, which largely take place in the DC underground. With Maggie and her group now ing the NYC subway, I can't help but think this is on purpose.

Anyway, this isn't a Bethyl thing. But it's just like, for me, confirmation that they are ABSOLUTELY hiding clues in the real world.

They are counting on certain types of fans to google stuff and find these clues, like the coordinates, which lead to the Canary Islands

This is also taking me way back to Acheron 1. One of the subway stops they pass, and Daryl shines his light conspicuously on the sign, is the "Pyron" Station:

The Shady Grove underneath means that it is the terminus for that particular line.

When I initially googled "Pyron Shady Grove" a million years ago, idk what I was expecting. Essentially, it lead me to the Shady Grove stop on the DC metro (which is real), but that word, "pyron," was bizarre. It means literally nothing. I was kind of thrown for a loop as to why they included that nothing word.

Note that if you search these keywords now, you'll first get a hit for this fictional subway station, but when I initially googled "Pyron Shady Grove," that page hadn't been created yet, so at the time, when searched together, these keywords showed very few hits. There was one, however, that I could make heads or tails of. It was a hit for a cemetery, called the "Northcutt Pyron Cemetery," which is in Acworth, Georgia.

Not three miles from this cemetery is another cemetery, called the Shady Grove Cemetery. Acworth is in Cobb County, GA. Cobb County is where the filming location was for the CDC in season 1. Further, the Shady Grove Cemetery has a church. It's called the Shady Grove Baptist Church. It looks SO familiar, but I don't think it's ever been filmed at. It's not exactly a "white church," but it has a white steeple:

ANYWAY, Idk if you remember @twdmusicboxmystery, but I spammed you with this 84 years ago in your DMs, and that's the day you invited me to this group chat. I remember it as "my audition" to be a TD theorist LOL.

At the time ultimately I was like, no I am being a conspiracy theorist, BUT, this NFCA thing has made me wonder if the writers do think about and test-run the google algorithm before they make these choices. For example, there is like a net zero change that they chose "NFCA" not knowing that the search results would turn up a certain hit.

Just like "Biomedicine." There's a net zero chance they chose "Biomedicine DMII" for the WB coda not knowing that "France Biomedicine" would turn up the Pasteur Institute.

Now, per the word "pyron." I remember talking to my husband about how the google algo works. He told me that the algo can be spammed in certain ways to promote search hits, but that this would never really work now UNLESS the search term in question is super unique, ie: "pyron," which is REALLY unique. Can it be a coincidence that there's a cemetery in Cobb County, GA with the extremely unique word "pyron" in its name? And that that said cemetery would be located so close to another cemetery with the words "Shady Grove" in its name? And that the Shady Grove Cemetery has a church with a white steeple? And that Cobb County contains multiple filming locations for TWD, including the filming location for the CDC? I mean ofc it can be a coincidence! But after Acheron, Pt. 1, I mostly stopped thinking about the cemetery coincidence because it just never came up again, UNTIL NOW, when I'm taken BACK to Acheron 1 via another real world clue related to the DC metrorail, and now I'm really starting to wonder. Are these...actual clues?

(Oh also I feel it's important to mention that the Pyron Shady Grove search can STILL be replicated to this day. Even though there is now a bunch of hits pertaining to it as a fictional location in TWDU, you can still find the hit for the cemetery on page 1 of Google)

Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that this clue is directing us back to this moment to rewatch, ie: the DC metrorail, the subway scene in Acheron 1. Maybe to google the Pyron Shady Grove sign, if we haven't already, on like a wild goose chase. Ofc I am a conspiracy theorist so...

@wdway

What struck me when I was reading is how you were talking about (Washington) DC metro rail in s11 and now you're talking about the DC subway in Dead City spin-off. Try and convince me that wasn't on purpose. Try. No, really I don't think you can convince me.

@galadrieljones

Not to mention that Acheron 1 and 2 are basically 100% Maggie/Negan tension and here we are…

@wdway

Okay, Miss Research Queen of TWDU. Here's your assignment. I've only watched the episode once, I only took one shot, I know it must mean something because Maggie all but come to a complete stop when she saw it. Let's see what magic you can do.

I have to tell you my mind went straight to some possible chapter and verse in the Bible. I have no idea what it could be. That's as far as I got.

@galadrieljones

I have not had time to look into that one yet tho it is 100% in my notes. My only initial observation was that Pennsylvania could be a reference to Rick and the CRM. I had not thought of the Bible but that is genius !

Okay I found out that LIRR Access means Long Island Railroad Access so we’re really cookin lol

Maggie really stares at this sign for a long time. I noticed that. She had a lot of interesting internal moments in this episode.

So literally it means 31st street-38th street. You can access the LIRR from Penn Station which is on 31st. I think I recall them talking about ing via “the thirties” when they were trying to decide how to get into the Croat’s sanctuary

Per your idea I also searched for Bible passages at 31:8. Everything comes up Deuteronomy 31:8 - “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

@twdmusicboxmystery

While you were both mentioning Acheron and how it was all Maggie/Negan tension, I had a thought. If those episodes foreshadowed the current Maggie/Negan story in DC (and they totally do) the that might be a hint to where Daryl is while DC is happening. In Acheron and the following episodes, he was with Leah and the Reapers. So, while Maggie and Negan are in NY, is he with Beth? The CRM? Is that why Maggie didn’t ask him along? Probably. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@galadrieljones

Yeah, I was trying to think along those same lines but I never got quite that far. Like, if this is showing us that Acheron was foreshadowing, what else from season 11 is foreshadowing? In 11a, it’s a bit inverted, as it’s Maggie being hunted, and now it’s Negan. Their relationship is also growing. It’s feeling healthier, or like there’s hope they can live side by side. Like that they no longer constantly want to kill each other.

These are inversions. In Acheron, Daryl runs off after Dog and “goes down the rabbit hole” alone. It’s worth noting that Carol isn’t even along. She’s back home, but she’s looking for someone—Connie. Daryl ends up looking a Beth imposter in the eye and then he’s abducted. He infiltrates an enemy faction and helps bring them down from the inside. Looks like in the spin-off, he may also find himself face to face with a Beth lookalike and fighting against an enemy faction.

Didn’t we hear in some leaked footage or something that the nun refers to Daryl as “the one,” or something like that? In Rendition, Pope refers to Daryl as a Chosen One. There’s a lot of parallel. Idk but it also seems weird that in both season 11 and the spin-off there’s a Beth lookalike. One is a nun, one works for a “Pope.” Will Beth actual be in some way entangled with Catholic imagery? I keep coming back to the DaVinci Code and the Louvre but it’s all to far and wide yet to find a template.

@wdway

I just want to throw out some thoughts I had while reading comments above. Acheron 1,2 is Maggie's mission that Daryl is helping her with. In RIP Maggie gives Daryl a mission to go explore for new communities.

At the end of Acheron 1, Daryl leaves Maggie and the group but tells Maggie that he'll meet up with her at the other end. Daryl leaves the group to go look for Dog (Dog=Beth?) because he heard Dog heard dog barking in the distance. He goes through an unknown space searching for Dog. I want to point out that it is at the other side of the tunnel where Daryl miraculously finds the Morningstar (Sirius/Beth?) that we hadn't seen for a long time.

Daryl and Dog fight walkers and sees a mural of how the rich uses their power over the poor but the poor rebel and bring down the rich (Commonwealth?). In this parallel tunnel/world to Maggie and group he comes across belongings of a brother and sister whose family has left them and that they go looking for (possibly the orphanage with the religious order of nuns).

Daryl and dog eventually makes their way back to Maggie and group just in time to join the fight and help save them. They all then meets the Reapers. This sequence of events are not exactly in the order that we saw them in the show, it's out of sequence, kind of like how the last scenes of RIP were.

On a fun note I've been watching the old TV series Medium. I always loved watching it back when it was airing. Guess who I saw today in an episode, a very young Kary Payton/Ezekiel.

@twdmusicboxmystery

Lol. He’s a baby!

Love your thoughts on the Acheron symbolism. Totally agree! I hadn’t gone through and figured out details, but it’s exactly the kind of thing I was thinking.

I was curious about the song that played in the background during the entire arena sequence. The lyrics are in another language, but the subtitles kept popping up with the name of the song, which made it seem important. So, I just googled it. The translation may be rough, but even so, there are definitely some fun Beth references here.

It almost has a "Struggling Man" vibe to it.

@wdway

You had me with the title, Dawn Will Cry.

@galadrieljones

Okay, also, guys I'm going to just share my general notes on "Everybody Wins a Prize" now, since I've got a bit of time! There were some interesting callbacks here, mainly, I thought, to season 4/5 and also to Glenn.

There were two death fake-outs in the episode. The first one was Hershel. The scene where they find the young boy in the chair, with Negan picking up his head, revealing it to be somebody else, and a live walker, really reminded me of the scene in Try when Daryl and Aaron find the blond walker, Daryl picks up her head, and she is NOT Beth.

Tommaso also has a death fake-out, when he's taken away by walkers and then reemerges. A lot of ppl on social media are worried that Tommaso has been bitten and that they're hiding it from us, and while I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case, I'm not so sure. It reminded me more of Tyreese in the end of "Isolation," when the car headed to the Veterinary College gets overwhelmed by walkers. The group escapes, but Tyreese stays behind, seemingly consumed by the horde. He ends up escaping unscathed, however. Ofc, he does die later on. So I'm not sure what this indicates.

Maggie's harmonica story was really interesting to me. It's a music reference and reminded me of Beth.

There is a crumbled, broken clock in this episode, which is another reference to seasons 4/5, particularly "Still" and "WHAWGO"

There are major cop references in this episode. They are in a massive parking garage, and Maggie shown near multiple cop cars

There is also a Winnebago in the parking garage. It's shown two times.

It's a Winnebago "Warrior," which is a real type of Winnebago and also a song by the Dead Kennedys

Bird cage sighting

There's a major visual Glenn reference with the CD as well, which the young woman with the short hair inserts into the AV system before turning it on and leaving.

It's the same exact shot

Reference to things "going sideways." I can't remember if this is common in TWD, but it's definitely mentioned in Coda, I think by Daryl.

And we've already discussed this, but the Subway is playing a big role here, which feels like a redirect back to Acheron 1 and 2.

Also, back to the harmonica, that whole part was a bit odd. It seems to come out of nowhere, and we never get to see who's playing it. It's almost like the wolf howling in "Diverged," ie: a clear audio cue and signal toward something. Maggie has her story and clearly she's thinking of Hershel, but both times it plays, she looks very inward and a bit confused. She has a lot of these "looks" in this episode, like she's remembering or realizing something.

Speaking of Hershel, we never saw him or any reference to him in this episode. There was also no reference to him in the preview for next week's. Based on his type of arc, it seems like he is going to be forced to survive in some way. It pulls reminders of both Andrea and Beth, who at one point have death wishes, or seem unwilling to survive. But when push comes to shove, they learn they want to live. I wonder if that will happen to Hershel.

There's also another shoe/boot reference in this episode. Negan and Armstrong end up in a shoe repair shop.

There is another Kennedy reference (re: Winnebago Warrior) via the Taxi with a flat rate service to JFK airport

I think this is it for my notes.

(aside from the crazy NAFC thing)

@wdway

I have some things to add to your episode list. First I want to say there is a reference to young Herschel, it's when Maggie is remembering when Herschel was pulled away and taken.

I think all the meat is ham.

A total call back to Andrea with the governor. The girl actually reminded me of the Tales episode with the one armed girl in The Preserve. More instruments for harm or for good depending on the person using them and their intentions. For me a bright Spotlight is always a call back to the lights around Beth at Grady especially Slabtown

I red fire extinguisher.

What looks like a single candle in the dark, a reference from Daryl about Beth. But it's over on the left side that's really intriguing, because there's what appears to be a red fire pull alarm and above it we only see two lines of a sign, I think the first word is in red, AND RETURN.

You mentioned the shoe repair store did you notice this.

@galadrieljones

The candle was memorable to me too and also reminded me of Beth and the last supper. It was used as a delayed fuse for the explosive bins which ignite the methane and blow the barricades, letting the walkers into the arena. I was trying to think of other instances of this, aside from the hwatcha.

@wdway

It reminded me of the scene in RIP where they rigged the record player and the bombs and when they blew them up wasn't the record playing mentioned jfk?

@galadrieljones

Turtle?

@wdway

It definitely looks like a turtle to me. I should say a paperweight turtle, haha.

@galadrieljones

I did but I didn’t write it down!! I was overwhelmed with imagery and forgot till just now

@wdway

Not sure exactly what this says other than we can make out the year so it was purposely done this is when they were walking through the garage. Of course I obviously enlarged it.

I feel the vase near the paperweight Turtle to be interesting, it looks familiar

I was also going to say all the things that relate to jfk. The president that was shot in the head on the 22nd of November.

@wdway replied to themself

The vase looks Greek to me.

@galadrieljones

That’s what I was trying to think of! Thank you. And yes the song is “Cult of Personality” by Living Color. There’s a Kennedy ref in the song (among many references) and I think a sound clip of one of his speeches?

Also, I like your comparison of the urn to a Grecian Urn. That really stands out in a shoe repair shop. Idk if it could be a reference to the famous Keats poem Ode in a Grecian Urn which is all about the silence and yet actually shares a lot of themes with FG’s sermon in WHAWGO, ie: what lives and what is seen is temporary, but that which cannot be seen, and which exists only hypothetically or in the realm of belief (in this case, art), is eternal. I remember Keats well from college. This is his most famous Ode and contains the famous line “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”

I may be reading too much into this but there’s already apparently been a Les Miserables reference in DC and like I said earlier a shoe repair shop is an odd setting for a Grecian Urn

Also sorry for all the typos above lol. I got excited about the possibility of a Keats reference Would fit nicely with all the Frost references. Is Gimple a poetry fan?

There’s a stanza in Ode on a Grecian Urn that that references basically the eternal truth of unrealized love: Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on[…] Really reminds me of FG’s sermon. This stanza reminds me of Daryl and Beth, in how they never kiss and so their love is sort of suspended between life and death. It is initiated but never realized and in this lives forever. What never lived can never die. Seems romantic, but we see how this lack of closure has ruined Daryl: Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

This stanza is specifically about love and how a lover who is never kissed or with whom love is never realized will remain forever young, and the love will never die. Once again, that which never lives, never dies. It could be about the bittersweet of a short life. Keats had tuberculosis and died very young.

(I’ll stop with the poetry now LOL. Nuns and poetry; a big day for me )

@wdway

Seriously, if TWD can drop hints using Frost references than why not Keats! It is not like they're leaving this for the general audience. And that's not a slam on them, it's just that they leave these types of things for a very few. Probably more than we realized, but still in the scheme of things a very small amount of people. I would have never thought of the poem by Keats, but together I helped to spark the thought for you and I think it's very valid. The poems beautiful and it fits Daryl memory of Beth. For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

About the strict order of the nuns. Did that not remind you of the very zealous monk dressed man on a mission from the church in the book/ movie, The DaVinci code? Certainly feels that way to me.

@galadrieljones

Good call, yeah I think his name was Silas

@wdway

Silas A tie in to TWB?

@galadrieljones

Probably on purpose! Lol. The names in WB are really on the nose in some ways: “Hope,” “Iris,” “Leo,” “Lyla” (Lie-la)

@wdway

Definitely. Iris is not only a flower but could always be the iris of the eye.

Negan's been talking an awful lot about Hope lately

@galadrieljones

Yes that’s how I see it, ie: Iris “sees.”

Good point. Remember the French doctor too in the coda. She says the phrase “hope beyond hope” twice

@wdway

Yes, and remember how I went through and compared it to the Beth's monologue and Inmates. Her speaking of hope. And those episodes were written by the same person.

@galadrieljones

Hope was staying with Dr. Ellis to continue their research. He seems to be affiliated with the French teams, somehow. Eugene references him in connection to the Human Genome Project. At the Pasteur Institude, they specifically are known for DNA sequencing new viruses and pathogens. Hope is near?

@galadrieljones

Wait which writer?

@wdway

Matthew Negrete.

@wdway

He was also the showrunner for tbw

@wdway

He and Canning Powell wrote, Inmates, Slabtown and others. He was the showrunner for TWB she the showrunner for Tales, I believe.

@galadrieljones

Right! Ty. Also wrote Indifference, Slabtown, and Consumed

Yep Powell was showrunner for Tales!

She also wrote Davon specifically

@wdway

Yes. Remember I did that long list of all of his episodes. It's been a couple of months but Liesel used it on her post so you could probably go back and find the whole thing.

It does same as if these writers communicate with each other. That there is an ultimate storyline that ties this all together. Don't tell the carylers they would never believe it, haha. I couldn't help myself.

@galadrieljones

Yeah i did a similar thing some time ago, trying to see whether there was a “cabal” of writers who know or have insight into Gimple’s “Grand Scheme.” It was like Kang, Negrete, Powell, and Cory Reid.

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

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