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#we're at four days folks

nettlestingsoup · 1 year

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spending time with family is always a fun little test of how long it takes me to go from

'my family!!! i love these people i should spend time with them more often!!!!'

'my family are going to be the reason i decide to fake my death and assume a new identity far, far away so that i never have to speak to them again.'

#we're at four days folks #and for two hours today i felt like running off into the woods and just screaming #i love them i do #but sometimes they make feel Not Good #it's not intentional #they're good people #i mean maybe from my sister it's intentional idk #i'll be fine i'll just hole up in my room #calling a friend tonight to get some proverbial fresh air #nettle's thoughts

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theheadlessgroom · 1 year

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https://beatingheart-bride.tumblr.com/post/710279581633019904/theheadlessgroom-beatingheart-bride

@beatingheart-bride

“I believe there is...” Randall murmured, brow knitting together in deep thought, a bony hand moving to his chin to briefly stroke it as he looked up to some of the higher shelves, trying to jog his memory before he moved to ascend one of the ladders, scrambling up it like some sort of scrawny, pale spider before pausing at the very top, eyes scanning the spines-where was it, where was it...?

“Ah-ha!” he laughed triumphantly as soon as he spotted his target, reaching out quickly to swipe it from its spot betwixt a few other thick-looking volumes, hanging onto it as he quickly hustled back down the ladder, saying as he returned to Emily’s side, “I-I knew I’d seen it before, I think I wanted to know the same thing, so I went looking, let’s see here...”

The book was a hefty tome, leather-bound and aged, and absolutely stuffed to the brim with notes and letters discussing the construction of the opera house, with plenty of accompanying pictures, showing its evolution from a barebones skeleton, to taking more of a familiar shape the more was added onto said skeleton, before finally graduating to the completed house, again, with plenty of photos showing that progression. Randall smiled when he saw them, but continued to flip through the pages until he landed on the page he was searching for. When his eyes landed on the list, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Well, I...think you’ll find it to be one you’re very familiar with,” he enthused, as he showed it to her-in particular the photos of the opera’s first company assembled on the stage, dressed in their most colorful (even in a sepia-toned photograph) regal finery, standing in the shadow of a very familiar-looking prop elephant.

Hannibal.

#((oh they could totally be convincing little connivers! they could put on a GREAT act; being all like 'ooooh we're so in love look at us'!))#((and their folks would fall for it hook line and sinker! they'd be eating it up; they are CONVINCED that they really are in love))#((and SO set to get married; they're so excited for their wedding! they're just gonna...step outside real quick...))#((take a quick little walk before the big day...totally not planning to run off ; no sir...))#((i could kinda see the four kinda sharing a little laugh about it in private; it sucks that they have to lie to their parents))#((they can't be honest about who they're really in love with...))#((...but at the same time their parents are SO GULLIBLE!))#((and at least emily would have someone to commiserate with about the whole thing in dorian; unlike when she's engaged to nicholas))#((she and dorian are-obviously-in the same boat so they can commiserate with one another about their parents pressures))#((and no doubt make one another feel better in doing so!))#((and yes to those true feelings coming to the surface; because randall totally would be so overcome with joy at emily's debut))#((that he'd unthinkingly scoop her up and spin her around; he's so proud of her! he's absolutely gonna cry when he watches her))#((and he's especially gonna cry when he HEARS her! he's gonna be THE proudest opera ghost in the house!))#outofhatboxes #beatingheart-bride #V:Phantasm of the Mansion

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heartfullofleeches · 3 months

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[+18]

V and fuckboy playboy/wingman male Darling-

Hear me out-

Darling is the son of some other loaded family that has close ties with V's. The two cross paths at a gathering and their parents urge them to make friends. Darling plays video games. V plays video games. They exchange numbers with some persuasion from their folks and set up a time to play something together although begrudgingly on V's end. V ends up having a better time than he expected, but right before he really starts to enjoy his time with Darling - he tells V he has to head out.

"Nice meeting you, dude. We gotta do this again. I got a girl coming over and I gotta bounce."

And just like that V's hopes are crushed. He's still learning about his attraction towards guys, but - Darling was sorta cute....

"oh....so you have a girlfriend."

Darling laughs.

"Nah, man. Haven't found the right girl...or guy to tie me down yet, plus I'm just enjoying the single life for now.... I can send pics after we're done if you want. She's totally chill and likes when I show her off."

Pictures?.... V agrees - thinking not much of it. He goes back to playing and eventually it slips from his mind. Hours later he receives photos of what looks to be a topless girl in a dimly lit room. She smiles big at the camera - eyes and upper face blocked from sight by the shaft of the bastard with her cheek pressed to his inner thigh. He still had on the same pair of sweats V had seen him in earlier that day. He only met this guy not even twenty-four hours ago and now he's seen his dick. Even worse - there's a pretty girl with her lipstick and spit all over it in the same picture. V's pissed - yet the image magically appears in one of his porn holders later on."

"what the hell...."

"My bad! I thought you might like it. You don't seem like a guy who gets a lot of action... If you ever want to meet someone, just give me a call. I know a lot of people who'd be interested in a rich brat like you."

This guy.... he acts like he's any different. V thinks Darling is a freak to put things lightly, but its not like he has other people to hang out with. As the two hang out V sees that Darling isn't as bad as he first seemed. He's still a horny, inconsiderate prick most days - but he's still the best thing V has to a friend and cares for V in his own way..... Still sends V dick pics he sweats were for someone els.

Darling is genuinely surprised that V has never been with someone. Sure, he doesn't seem like he gets that much attention, but he was sure V had at least kissed someone once. The topic comes up when Darling tries for the hundredth time to hook with up with one of his flings. He's always sending V evidence of the nights he spent with strangers. Oddly enough - V only ever complains about the videos and photos when they don't have darling in them as well.

"Damn.... I know you're a pain in the ass sometimes, but you're cute I thought somebody would've looked past that.....

V hates with Darling says shit like that. He's not used to people flirting with him and... and it gives him false hope. "Shut up....

"So, think she's cute? I can give her your number~"

"I don't want it."

This sucks.... By now, V's fully aware of his crush on Darling - and he fucking hates the bastard for what he's doing to him. If Darling is so concerned about him seeing people why doesn't he just take V out instead. He jerks off to everything Darling sends him wondering when he'll get his turn. V has some solace in the fact Darling rare sees any of his partners twice. V has been with him and always will be with him longer than any of them have. He just has to be patient.....and ruin any chances Darling has of being with anyone else.

V nearly jumps out of his skin reading one of Darling's numerous drunken texts.

"Hey, man. Totally speaking out my ass here, but would you ever be down to have a threesome sometime ;)"

#V my oc #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere imagines #yandere x you #yandere headcanons #yandere scenarios #yandere insert #yandere oc #yandere blurb #male yandere #yandere drabble #yandere smut #male reader

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wardenparker · 3 months

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For Valentine's Day

Joel Miller x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

Rating: E for Explicit Word Count: 12.2k Warnings: Cursing, mentions of food and alcohol, taking care of a baby in the post-apocalypse, Ellie being a big sister, established relationship, mentions of breastfeeding, fingering, unprotected sex, praise, talk of birth control methods. Summary: You, Joel, Ellie, and Caroline arrive in Jackson to find the town getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day. Notes: These darling dears were long overdo for a visit, so Happy Valentine's Day from the post-apocalypse! The rest of the 'For' series can be found on my Masterlist if you haven't read it yet!

Jackson is like another world. Joel is on edge, despite the friendly faces. Despite the relative safety of the town. He had been shocked to see Tommy here. Thriving, when Joel has lost so much to find him. To find that he isn’t needed. Although, he’s relieved to find a safe little spot for his baby girl and for you. Relieved that a comfortable house is available for you to rest in. It still baffles him to find an entire town getting ready for Valentine’s Day.

The trip was grueling, although all four of you made it in one piece. There were a hell of a lot of days that you weren’t sure if you would make it at all — but that wasn’t really an option. Not with Caroline sleeping on your chest in the homemade wrap carrier that Joel had helped you fashion out of ripped sheets you’d found and washed in an abandoned house along the way. You’ve been bonding with Ellie along the way, and she’s pretty good with Caroline, but your little girl is the reason you’ve been fighting so hard. Now that you’re in Jackson you don’t really know what’s going to happen with you and Joel. All you know is that you have four walls and a roof again, and Caroline is safe.

“Why are there so many hearts everywhere?” Ellie asks Joel, looking around as decorations are put up and the snow crunches under his new boots as he shoves his hands back in his pockets. “Holiday.” He grunts, sure that the kid is fucking with him. She seems to know all the old holidays anyway.

“Have you ever heard of Valentine’s Day?” Who knows what she learned in that FEDRA school back in Boston, or if anyone even thinks about Valentine’s Day anymore — outside of Jackson. You can't even believe that this town is decorating and getting ready for some mass celebration. It's surreal. And a little Hallmark. But in the post-apocalypse? It's amazing in a way you didn't even know you wanted.

“You mean that commercial holiday where men bought their ladies chocolate and flowers, took them on expensive dates?” Ellie asks with a smirk on her face. “You know, they said that soooooo many people proposed on Valentine’s Day. Or made babies.”

"That...is not wrong," you admit, ruffling her hair as you walk alongside the teen with little Caroline strapped to your front. "I guess the folks here are trying to keep as many older traditions alive as they can."

“So what are you going to do for Valentine’s Day?” Her voice takes on a sly, teasing tone and she cuts her eyes over to Joel, who’s shoulder seem inches higher than they just were. “Make a sibling for Caroline?”

"She already has a sibling." When the dubious teen wrinkles her nose at you in confusion, you knock her shoulder and offer her the warmest, softest smile. The real one — not one that teases or has expectations. "You, Ellie. You've been an amazing sister to her on this whole trip."

“Oh.” Her cheeks turn bright red and she ducks her head down slightly, but you don’t miss the proud look on her face. “She’s not so bad.” She huffs. “For a baby.”

"You're not so bad, either." A soft laugh escapes you, and you duck your own head to press a kiss to the top of Caroline's covered head. "For a teenager."

“The baby ready for a nap?” Joel asks. “It’s been a while.”

"We're almost home. I'll lay her down when we get in." The trip into town had been necessary, but Caroline had gotten fussy while Joel was talking to his brother and stepping outside had been practical. It's definitely naptime, no two ways about that. Especially not the way your little girl has been on the verge of tears for half the walk.

“Do you want me to hold her?” Joel asks. Knowing that it’s been a struggle keeping her calm and maybe you need a break.

"She might calm down a little for Daddy." Typically Caroline seems to find being held by Joel to be soothing or at least enough of a novelty to distract her from whatever was upsetting her, and you pause in your steps to carefully extract Caroline from her nest on your chest to hand over to Joel.

His hands are always gentle holding Caroline. As if he is scared to possibly hurt her or stain her with his blood-soaked hands. “Hey, baby girl.” He coos, smiling down at her tear-stained face. “Why so grumpy?”

His little girl — your little girl whimpers and moans a little but the tears stop flowing and you end up chuckling wryly under your breath. “I’m the one who brought her into the world and took care of her for months all alone and she’s still a Daddy’s girl. Go figure.” There’s no heat in it, no malice of any kind. After two months on the road together, you’re thrilled to see the pair of them still bonding so well.

"She's grumpy because she's yours." Ellie snorts, rolling her eyes and grinning when Joel cuts his eyes at her for a moment before looking back at Caroline. "See? Same grumpy looks."

“Like father, like daughter,” you tease, needling Joel’s arm with one finger.

He rolls his eyes and shuffles Caroline onto his shoulder, rubbing her back softly. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you out of the cold and into a clean diaper.” He murmurs. “Then we’ll see if you’ll get some sleep so you aren’t as grumpy as your old man.”

The house that was bestowed upon you is just a little further out from downtown and when the four of you get inside, Caroline’s trusty basket is right where you left it in the living room. “She’ll want to eat when she gets up, but I can manage that.” Managing to breastfeed here and there still works, but it’s good that there have been foods that Joel can feed her, too. “If you put her down, I can take care of her when she wakes up.”

“She had a rough night.” Joel argues softly. Caroline was a little under the weather, so she had been fussy. You had wanted to stay up with her, and now you look ready to drop. “Go take a nap and I’ll get her highness when she wakes up, okay?”

“Thank you, honey.” It’s an easy reflex to brush a kiss on Joel’s lips now, and you offer him a smile before pacing past him to fall into the bed that the two of you share upstairs.

Joel gently lays Caroline down, having a supply of cloth diapers and pins nearby. “Hey, baby girl. We’re gonna get you all clean and dry in just a minute.” He promises, finding it easier than he had imagined to fall back into a routine with taking care of a baby. It was decades ago, but he remembers soothing Sarah’s tears as he fought against diaper rash and colic with her.

“So.” Ellie smirks, leaning against the archway into the living room like the absolute picture of adolescence. “What’re you gonna do for her for Valentine’s Day?”

“Do for her?” Joel snorts, not looking up from his task since Caroline likes to pee on an unsuspecting victim when she’s being changed. “What do you mean?”

“The mother of your damn baby, Miller.” Ellie huffs, also as grumpy as her father figure. “There’s a whole holiday about love and romance and they celebrate it here.”

He frowns, realizing that you might have some kind of expectation given the atmosphere around town. “I’ve never been good at that kind of thing.” He admits.

“You can’t do nothing,” the teen argues, keeping her voice down so she won’t disturb the baby or be heard upstairs.

“Yeah.” He grunts, aware of that now. He has never really had to do Valentine’s Day. Unless you counted getting Sarah those boxed Valentine’s for her classes. “I’ll think of something.”

“What’s Tommy doing?” She might not know much about Joel’s brother, but she knows he has a wife and figures he must have a plan of some kind. “He might have an idea you can steal.”

“Haven’t asked.” Joel shrugs, carefully pinning the new diaper to Caroline with a slight frown.

“Probably should.” But Ellie shrugs. It’s no skin off her nose if the grumpiest old man in the world is bad at romance.

He pauses and looks up at Ellie suspiciously. “Has she said something to you?” He asks seriously.

“No.” If you had, she would have been kicking his ass about it a lot harder and a lot sooner. “But she deserves something nice. For like…putting up with us.”

You do put up with them. He snorts and lifts a brow. “Don’t you mean puts up with you?” He jokes. “She happens to like my grumpy ass just the way it is.”

“All the more reason to be nice.” As if he has proven her point completely, Ellie smirks. “Nice and romantic.”

“What do you know about romance, twerp?” He scoffs and shoots her a grin. “You’re too busy scaring off the girl that is interested in you.”

“S’not my fault your scary rubbed off on me,” she gripes in turn. “And you don’t know she likes me. Shut up.”

“You were scary before I met you, kid.” He chuckles, smirking slightly at the mortified expression on her face. “Maybe you’d find out if you didn’t run her off.” He suggests. “Talk to her.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t run off.” Ellie’s characteristic huff comes with a frown and a whole lot of blustering now that she’s the one being called out and she pushes away from the doorframe with a near-stamp of her feet. “Whatever, old man. I was trying to help you.”

“Yeah, you are.” He acknowledges with a grin. “Imma put her down and then run talk to Tommy. You good with listening out for her? She should sleep the entire time.”

“Fine.” Anything to end the torture, though Ellie does smirk that she might have given Joel a good kick in the ass.

He snorts to himself as he lifts a now sleepy Caroline to his shoulder. Patting her but as he moves over to her downstairs bassinet. It’s was odd, you had carried Caroline in a worn out sling and then luckily found a new one on the way, but supplies and space for them had been so limited, now his daughter has a downstairs sleeping area and one right in the room you share with Joel

******

“Well look what the cat dragged in.” Despite the cold, Tommy is out on his porch when he spots Joel walking up the road, and he leans over the banister with a dash of curiosity in his shit-eating grin. Any time his big brother comes to him for just about anything, he still considers it a win. “Back again so soon?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Joel shoots Tommy a half-hearted glare and shoves his hands in his pockets. “You got a minute?”

“Sure.” Tommy’s head bobs in agreement. “You wanna come in?”

“Maria home?” Joel asks, not quite sure if it’s a good idea. Tommy’s wife doesn’t seem to be his biggest fan and he can only assume it’s because his brother told his wife some of the things that Joel has done to protect the people he cares about over the years.

“Nah.” The younger Miller brother shakes his head and stands on creaky bones to open the door for them. ��She’s got meetings today. I don’t pretend to know everything she has to deal with, but she comes home to a warm house and dinner on the table, so I guess I’m doing something right.”

“Well, ain’t you a good little house husband?” Joel snorts, busting his brother’s balls a little. The man had been a pain in his ass hellraiser when he was younger. Before outbreak. It’s nice to see him get to enjoy domesticity once again.

“Hell yes I am.” But Tommy snorts too, knowing it’s a far cry from the kid he used to be. As it turns out, the end of the world and the love of a good woman can change a man. “You think I’m not gonna do everything I can to keep that wife of mine? ‘Course I am.”

Tommy was always the optimist, something that Joel had lost after Sarah’s mother had left. He had been too busy trying to raise her right, and then he lost her. Joel frowns for a second and then nods. “And how are you doing that with this Valentine’s thing?”

“Not as easily as I would have before,” Tommy admits, but that’s also a pretty obvious thing to say. Nothing is as easy as it was before. “That cache of movies they’ve got has plenty to pick from and they’re screening…” He thinks for a second, hard, and shrugs. “Some damn 90s chick flick. I dunno, but she’s excited. And since she’s been eating carrots like a bunny with this pregnancy, I’m makin’ her a whole meal centered around it for dinner.”

“Carrots.” He snorts and smirks at his younger brother. “Your kid is gonna come out and say “what’s up doc?”.” He sniggers, imitating the cartoon character from long ago.

“At this point I wouldn’t be surprised.” It makes Tommy laugh though, and he puts a glass of water in front of Joel before pouring one for himself. “Watcha need?” He asks, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“It’s about….” He looks down at the water and says your name. “The kid says I need to do something for her. For putting up with my shit.”

“Smart kid.” But still, Tommy frowns. “Are you…not together? Is that it? Or am I not gettin’ something here?”

“We were together one time.” Joel murmurs. “And we had a kid.” He shakes his head and looks back down at his hands. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the baby. Caroline is sweet and her momma-“ he sighs. “She’s too good for me really, but she wants to be with me.”

“Just one time?” An impressed and slightly disbelieving whistle escapes Tommy’s lips. “Do you…wanna tell me what happened? Or is that topic off limits?”

“You remember that supply run I made right after you left to go out west?” Even though he had been with the Fireflies, Joel had told Tommy his plans, hoping he would come along.

“Sure. You left the day after I did.” That had been the plan at the time, anyway. He can’t be sure that’s when Joel actually left.

“Came across her in an abandoned house.” He smirks slightly as remembers your surprise and his own reaction to your beauty. “Bunked down together for the night.”

“Ah.” The younger of the two men chuckles in acknowledgement. He can very easily see Joel trading sex the way he traded favors and sold drugs. “And she found you again? Afterward?” He guesses.

“She told me where she was from.” Joel explains. “After we got in trouble in the city and lost Bill’s truck, we headed there. Hoping that we could somehow find someone with a car.”

“And maybe hoping to run into her?” He doesn’t believe it happened by accident. That Joel hadn’t been thinking about you when he decided to go to wherever you were from. He knows his brother better than that.

“She had told me she was going west sometime.” He gives a half shrug, but that is why he had chosen to go so far out of his way.

"Cut the bullshit, Joel," Tommy smirks, knowing that his brother's ability to evade admitting to emotion is legendary. He's been like this for most of his life. Since his wife left. And that is what it is. But Tommy knows Joel well enough to know that he doesn't go out of the way for just anyone. "If you don't want to be with her that's one thing, but you protected her and that baby all the way from the east coast."

He could argue that he has an obligation to you because of the baby. Caroline is his daughter, but it’s just delaying the inevitable admittance of wanting to be with you. “So what the fuck do I do for her, Casanova?” He huffs, scowling at his brother and wondering why the fuck he came to him for advice. “She’s too fucking good for me and I know it. All the women in my life have been.”

“Well you’re taking her to the movie, right?” It’s not exactly a common thing to be able to do, and is therefore a pretty damn big special occasion in the world you all live in now. “Even if you didn’t do anything else, you gotta do that.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Joel likes movies, used to love them back in the days before the world burned. “She likes books, maybe I can try to find her favorite?”

“We made a library in town of all the books that were left in everybody’s houses,” Tommy tells him with a nod. “Same way we got all the movies we screen. If you’ve got a bookworm, I think a library card counts as romantic.”

“That night…” Joel looks down at his hands and smiles slightly at the memory. “She was reading a book to me that was sexy.” He huffs out a chuckle. “Guess she seduced me with her reading abilities.”

"Fell for brains, huh?" That makes his brother chuckle, and Tommy leans back in his seat with a grin. "Maybe you can talk to Jana — the woman who runs the library — and arrange a little date there? Rekindle a little romance?" He's trying to help as best he can, knowing that old chestnuts like taking you out for a fancy dinner or taking a little weekend trip away can't happen with the world the way it is. He could be patronizing and tell Joel to hurry up and make an honest woman of you, but that is also something that's changed in this world. Not everyone feels the need for the formality of a marriage anymore.

“That would be good.” Joel doesn’t sound completely convinced. “Although I’m sure jewelry would be better. Even now.”

With one eyebrow raised, Tommy cocks his head at his brother. “What kind of jewelry were you thinkin?”

“Somethin’ to celebrate Caroline. And give her something pretty.” Joel hadn’t quite thought it through but most women loved the thought of jewelry.

“Earrings? Necklace?” The way Tommy wants to pry is nearly a physical necessity at this point. “Whatever’s in the house you guys have moved into, wrap it up. Consider it our gift to you guys for being part of the town.”

“Was thinking about a necklace but I don’t know.” He frowns slightly. “Maybe a ring?” He looks up at his brother. “You didn’t remove the valuables from the house?”

“What’s jewelry worth in the apocalypse?” It’s something that only had to be worried about in the cities, it seems like. In the places where FEDRA still reigned. In the places where appearances still mattered. “We took the tools, the resources, split them all up evenly or kept them in reserve, depending on what they were. “Whatever water, food, warm clothing, shit like that? That’s what matters. Not jewelry.”

“True.” Joel shakes his head. “See why I’m not good at shit like this?” He huffs. “Too bad I can’t build her a stroller for the baby.”

“I mean I don’t think you would find very good suspension, but we can get you the stuff to build an old fashioned one.” Tommy snaps his fingers in quick succession, thinking hard. “What the fuck were they called? The one from black and white photos? Prambutrators?”

“Prams.” Why Joel knows that, he doesn’t have a clue. But like he was watching an old episode of Jeopardy, the answer falls from his lips easily.

“Strollers, but beds.” There’s a longer word for it, Tommy’s sure of that, but he shrugs it off. “You wanna do that for her? We can make it happen.”

“Might be a good idea.” Joel hums thoughtfully. “Especially since you’re about to have your own kid. “Need some way of transporting them when your back is aching.”

"It'll be a family heirloom," Tommy huffs, amusement makes his smile spread all over again.

Joel snorts and he taps the table. “I want to build it.” He decides. “I can find out about the library card and look for something pretty too. She did give birth to my daughter and took care of her alone until I saw her again.”

"So it'll be a big holiday." That seems to please the younger Miller, and he chuckles quietly. "She's a hell of a woman. And deserves it, if for nothing else than putting up with your ass."

Joel rolls his eyes and sighs softly. “I don’t know how much she puts up with me because of the kid and how much is because she’s insane for wanting me.”

"Oh, she's certifiable." Tommy can't help but laugh at that. "But it's obvious she loves you. For whatever that's worth. You can see it on her face."

He doesn’t see it, but he might still be in that stage of disbelief. “I better get back.” He pushes the chair back and stands with a groan. “Told her I’d get Caroline when she woke up. She had a long night with her last night so she’s taking a nap too.”

"Ellie's with the baby now?" It's obvious to everyone else in the world that Joel has taken in the teenager with the same ferocity that he's taken to his infant. It's who he is.

“Yeah.” He can’t help the soft smirk on his face as he thinks about the two of his three girls. “She’s taken on the role of big sister pretty well.”

"Sometimes you gotta get thrown in the deep end to figure out how to swim." Standing with his brother, Tommy claps Joel on the shoulder. "Go get back to 'em. We'll get your building supplies tomorrow."

“Thanks.” Joel’s shoulders relax slightly and he shakes his head. “Still can’t believe we’re gonna have kids that grow up together.”

“Musta done something right to deserve it,” Tommy laughs, the edge of disbelief in his voice obvious. “Can’t figure out what the fuck it was, but it must’ve been good.”

“I— I never actually congratulated you.” Joel murmurs after a moment. He had been a little raw when he realized Tommy had been living a charmed life here and he had lost so much, Tess, Bill and Frank, another piece of his soul, on his way to rescue him. Then Tommy’s disbelief about Caroline and his own budding joy about fatherhood had brought up the loss of Sarah. It hadn’t been pretty, but he had regretted his harshness. He reaches out a hand, hard from the man he had become and the work he had done, to shake Tommy’s. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.” The handshake, warm and firm and full of things the Miller brothers aren’t very good at saying out loud, makes Tommy falter and clear his throat a little to push away the emotion. “I, uh…I’m doing my best. And that’s all I can do. Because Maria and the baby deserve the world, but the world is pretty fucked up these days.”

“It’s always been fucked up.” Joel corrects. “Now it’s just more obvious.” He lets go of the hand and shuffles slightly.

“Fair enough, I guess.” Tommy chuckles, but he rubs his hand on the back of his neck. “Did you…need anything else?”

Joel shuffles again and feels like a teenager. “Do any - uh, is there birth control available?” He asks, not wanting to get you pregnant again. At least not now. Although that afterthought shocks him.

A sort of lopsided smirk forms on Tommy’s face, and he chuckles — the sentiment clear as day. “The ladies have developed some interesting but not full proof methods. It’s sort of frontier-style out here. In that regard and a lot of others.”

“Yeah.” Joel nods and sighs. “I’m fucking fifty-six years old, Tommy.” He huffs. “Don’t need to be knockin’ her up every time I’m feelin’ frisky.”

“For her sake way more than yours.” Tommy laughs again. “I’d go see the Doc,” he advises. “She was a general practitioner before the world went to shit, so now she’s our town doc.”

Joel nods, knowing that it needs to be done. Tess couldn’t have anymore kids, so it had never been a problem. You’ve only had sex a few times since being in Jackson, and every time, Joel had pulled out the second you had cum so he could jerk off.

“Sounds like you’re planning a damn good Valentine’s Day,” Tommy teases.

He snorts, shrugging slightly and the slight grin on his face is purely male. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this relaxed. And she’s a damn beautiful woman, who loves me.” He admits, proud of that fact.

“If you’re relaxed with a baby around, that’s proof she’s not your first.” Shaking his head once more, Tommy slaps Joel hard on the shoulder. “Go home to ‘em. I’ll see you tomorrow with the stuff you’ll need to build.”

“Thanks.” He sends Tommy a grateful look and quickly slips out the door. Eager to get back to you, Caroline and Ellie. Even though Jackson is safe, he feels better when you are close.

******

Ellie is sitting beside Caroline’s bassinet in the living room when Joel gets home. Her old, weathered joke book is in her hands and she glances up when the door opens to let Miller inside. “Shhh,” she puts one finger to her lips performatively and whispers. “She’s so fuckin cute when she sleeps.”

“Yes she is.” Joel can agree as he quietly walks over to the bassinet. “She slept the entire time?” He asks the other girl, proud of how easily she’s bonded with her. Despite not like diaper changes, Ellie loves Caroline and would often ask to hold her when you had stopped for the night.

"She fussed a little," Ellie admits, but she holds up her book. "I giggled her off to sleep."

“More like bored her to sleep.” Joel snorts. “You certain she’s still breathing?” He jokes, even though he can see that she is, it’s simply for the pleasure of watching Ellie scowl at him.

"Caroline thinks I'm funny." The teenager defends, though she knows making a baby laugh isn't too hard in the first place. "Even if you don't share our refined sense of humor."

“Yeah.” He huffs and rolls his eyes, resisting the urge to smirk. “Keep telling yourself that, cupcake.”

“Shouldn’t be surprised.” Though it comes with a huff, Ellie keeps her voice down. Caroline is sleeping, after all. “We’re cuter than you, too.”

He shoots Ellie a look that is half amused. “That’s not hard to do.” He admits. “But I’m smarter…..and meaner.”

“You wouldn’t be mean to us.” Ellie bats her eyelashes dramatically, knowing fully fucking well that Joel can be mean. That he has been mean. But never to the baby.

“No, I wouldn’t.” He might have been at one point to the older girl, but now he would die protecting her. “Did you know there’s a library in town?”

“There is?!” Her voice jumps up at that and she immediately ducks as though her volume were some kind of tangible weapon that she needs to get away from the baby immediately. “There is?” She hisses quietly instead.

“Yeah.” Joel chuckles at the way Ellie’s eyes light up. You aren’t the only one with an affinity for reading. “Planning on going over tomorrow to get a card. Wanna come?”

“Hell yes.” The teenager nods with enthusiasm. “Is it a big library?” He must have heard about it from Tommy, which means it’s worth bragging about. Tommy Miller loves to brag about Jackson.

“It’s filling up a store, so it has to be big.” Tommy had told him where to go. “They compiled all the books in town and any they brought in.”

"You're on, old man." Ellie hops up off the sofa, apparently having thought of something either extremely important or just imminently elsewhere that she needs to be. "I hope you're ready to carry books back, cause I'm getting out as many as they'll let me."

“Bring a bag, brat.” He reaches out to swipe her head with his hand, to mess up her ponytail, but she ducks. “Where are you going?” It’s a safety question, even though the town is safe. He still wants to know.

"Upstairs." She assures him. "I'm not leaving after dark."

“Good.” Joel lifts a brow. “Keep it that way. Even though it’s safe here, shit can happen.”

"I know." She agreed to follow Joel's rules, and she meant it. Even if he can be a complete nag sometimes, she knows by now that he is the one person to trust over anybody else in her life. Joel said not to go out after dark, so she doesn't. End of story.

“Thank you.” Joel relaxes slightly and rolls his shoulders back after Ellie agrees to stay close. “Don’t say anything to her about the library card.” He cautions her. “It’s gonna be a surprise.” He hopes you haven't heard about the library yet, but if you have, you haven't had time to get a card or you would have been raving about it.

“Got it.” The teen smirks and heads for the stairs.

Joel rolls his eyes again and looks down at Caroline softly before taking off his jacket and boots. He's comfortable here, and its a surprise to find out how quickly he could readjust back to fatherhood. He takes the soiled diaper from earlier and brings it over to the bucket that you keep them soaking in. Deciding that he will wash them so they can hang dry in the kitchen overnight. Having a baby in a post apocalyptic world is kind of like having one in frontier times, in his opinion. A lot more work, and those conveniences he had taken for granted with Sarah are a thing of the past.

******

It’s been a hell of a long time since you could feel safe enough to nap, but Jackson is unique in that it actually feels safe. When you wake up it’s after dark and the house is quiet — which really just means that Caroline is quiet. Joel and Ellie habitually keep their voices lower and their steps lighter because the instinct of having to stay hidden is so ingrained. The fact that there’s no sound from downstairs now is a good thing. Hopefully Caroline has managed to nap and Joel can do…whatever Joel is doing.

Joel stirs the pot on the stove, throwing together a stew to eat. The leftover vegetables from last year’s growing season were all canned, but he was grateful for them nonetheless. When he hears you on the stairs, he pokes his head out of the kitchen. “Got some tea ready.” He calls out softly.

"You're perfect," you hum with a grateful sigh, stretching languidly on the last step before you hit the bottom floor. The air of domesticity here is deep, in a way that could almost make you forget what the world outside is like. At least for a little while.

“You just love that I’ve learned how to make your tea.” He snorts and leans over to press a kiss to your forehead when you drift by him on the way to the counter for the cup he has set out.

"I'm appreciative." For so, so many things that Joel does. Not being the only person in charge of Caroline's survival and happiness as well as your own has lifted an enormous burden from your shoulders and you can only hope that you have helped him in even a fraction of the same way. "Thank you, honey."

“Of course.” He nods and turns back to the stew. “Figured I’d make some dinner, we still have half a loaf of that oat bread.” He shakes his head. “Amazing how we are actually eating bread….Considering.”

“We’re all eating like hippies,” you joke, leaning in to Joel’s side as he stands at the stove. It’s a comfort just to be close to him, and you’re much closer now than you were even weeks ago. “Anything but wheat flour.”

“That’s true.” He chuckles and reaches around you to snag your waist.

“Thank you for letting me nap.” A perfect rest is one you get to take together, but those were few and far between on the road. Now that you’re in Jackson, being able to sleep next to him every single night is an absolute luxury.

“You’re welcome.” Joel leans in and brushes his nose against your cheek. “You were up with her last night, you deserved to rest.” He reminds you. “I got the diapers washed. They are hanging up on the back porch.”

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” He’s been such a huge help, and even helped you get a better rhythm even in your one-on-one time with Caroline.

“Are you asking or lamenting?” He jokes and pats you on the butt gently. “So I talked to Tommy.” He murmurs. “There’s a doctor in town that we should go see.”

“Are you not feeling well?” Concern is written on your face instantly, eyebrows drawing up in worry.

“No, nothing like that.” He instantly replies, trying to ease your fears. “They have some….methods of birth control.” He feels his own cheeks heating up because of bringing this up. “If you— I mean, if we’re— you know— uh—”

"Oh." He's blushing, and that's just about the most adorable thing you've ever seen. "Then yes. We should definitely go see that doctor."

“I just— I don’t want you to— not if—” he’s never been great with words and he just shrugs after a moment. “I don’t think you should be havin’ another baby right now.” He murmurs. “I know back before everything, they told my….ex, that she should wait at least three years before another baby and fuck- by then I’ll be sixty fuckin’ years old.”

"Honey..." Turning into Joel's side completely, you tip your head back to offer him a smile and put your other arm around his waist to hold him close. "We'll do our best to keep up with effective birth control. We'll be as safe as we can be. Sometimes...sometimes things just happen. We know that. We have the result of that, sleeping in the other room. Family planning doesn't exactly work the way it used to."

“No, it doesn’t.” He leans in and presses his lips to yours. “But I want you to be healthy, not worn out because my pullout game isn’t the best.”

"If it happens again, we'll love them just as much as we love Caroline." You are absolutely certain of that, without hesitation. "And if it doesn't? She's already got one fantastic big sister around to help take care of her, and another big sister that she can hear stories about whenever Daddy is willing to tell them."

“I—” he bites his lip and shakes his head. “It’s been-“ air whooshes out of his lungs. “A long time since I’ve been called that.” Caroline being alive and healthy makes the last time he heard that particular phrase only bittersweet, the ache in his heart still there, but it doesn’t bleed this time. “I still can’t believe I have her some days.”

"We're lucky to have you, Joel." That is something you believe with all of your heart, even on the bad days and the hard days and the days when it all feels like too much. "All three of us."

“Everything changed.” Joel acknowledges. “But I’m glad I could keep the three of you safe. Get you here.” He tilts his head. “Do you know how far we are from your family land?”

"The last I heard from anybody, they were actually on the outskirts of Jackson." Having been too afraid to ask, you've kept it to yourself that you might actually have a family home out here with sentimental things that once belonged to your cousins. "I have the address, but...I assume that since the street isn't part of new Jackson, it must be either wrecked or overgrown."

“Do you want me to ask around?” He asks quietly, squeezing your hip gently. “See if I can get out there?”

"Honestly, if it's still around? I would want to go too. But I don't want to risk taking Caroline out to somewhere dangerous again." You shake your head at that idea, not liking it at all. "Not when she's finally safe again."

“No.” Joel is immediately shaking his head. “Our daughter stays behind the walls.” He insists, voice flat and final. Even though you don’t want to take her out, Joel wouldn’t allow it.

“Never a sentence that I thought I would find comforting, but here we are.” The two of you stand silently for a long moment before you sigh. “I know there’s probably nothing left of them,” you repeat, hating how final that is after everything. “But I’d rather know for sure. There might be a memory or two left in the house.”

“Then we will go.” Joel hates that you haven't found any of your people yet, although they may just not be around much. It’s a vain hope, but he has it for you.

“And we’ll go see the doctor.” That’s a more pressing trip, if you’re honest with yourself. Any birth control at all would be useful, even if it’s only by a little.

“I don’t have to be inside you.” Joel murmurs softly, knowing that as much as he loves your cunt around you, your health is more important.

“There are plenty of ways to be intimate.” With one hand on his chest, you rub small, soothing circles there for a second and kiss his jaw before his lips. “But we’re still going to go see that doctor. I like having sex with you too much to just give it up cold turkey.”

He huffs out a small laugh and he smirks at you. “Got addicted, huh? Even when you sometimes have to ride?”

“Don’t be so smug.” An attempt to frown or even look somewhat stern fails you, though, and you end up throwing a matching smirk back at him. “I…like that we don’t go our separate ways the next morning.”

“You and Caroline, Ellie…” he pulls you closer. “You’re all that matters to me. Keeping you safe.”

Cup of tea and simmer stew pot long forgotten, you turn in Joel’s arms to face him fully and put your arms around his neck. “We love you too, handsome. All of us. In very different ways.”

He grumbles slightly but he doesn’t argue. Knowing that it’s useless to argue with you. “Yeah, yeah.”

You hum, grinning that he doesn’t protest it anymore, and kiss the tip of his nose. “You’re cute when you blush.”

He rolls his eyes and his hands slide down to your ass. “Yeah? You’re cute when you’re naked underneath me and chanting my name over and over again.”

“Joel…” A knot in your belly forms instantly, making you squeeze your thighs together in turn.

He grins at you and winks. “Good thing you took that nap, huh?” He teases softly. “Now you need to eat a good meal to make sure you won’t pass out on me from hunger.”

“This,” you huff, laughing at the way the two of you have just clicked back together so easily over the last few months. “This is why we need that doctor. We’re too horny for our own good.”

“Kind of hard to fuck on the road.” He reminds you with a laugh of his own. “Now we have a bed, a door that locks.”

“And a real mattress and box spring for that old man back of yours.” Not that you don’t appreciate it too, of course. But of the two of you, Joel definitely has more aches and pains.

“Damn right. And the bed is comfortable.” He snorts, remembering that shitty, worn out mattress he had in Boston. “Did I mention that Ellie isn’t sleeping three feet from us?”

“And we don’t have to worry about Caroline rolling or crawling away, or any of a million other things.” The fingers of one of your hands thread into his hair and you hum as you press yourself against him right there in the kitchen. “Of course, there’s also the kitchen counter…”

The way his cock twitches in his pants is a good indication that he had been thinking along those lines too. “Kid’s upstairs, reading.” He grunts, pressing his lips under your ear just like he’s discovered makes you shiver. “Baby’s asleep. If we make it quick, we can do it.”

“I should just stop wearing pants around you,” you tease, already shifting both of you backward so that you’re the one pressed up against the counter. “So we can be as fast as we want.”

“We can always find you some skirts.” He hums, sliding his hands down to your jeans and around the front to unbutton them. “When you’re inside Jackson. I wouldn’t want you to wear them outside the walls.” He says seriously, frowning slightly at what could possibly happen. Clickers or humans.

The soft chuckle that escapes you is a little rougher than usual just because he's shoving your jeans down your hips, but you still shrug your shoulders. "We're horny, not stupid. Skirts are only for when it's safe."

Joel has become a little feral now that your relationship has progressed back to physical. There’s something about you being the mother of his child that seriously gets Joel going. He had never had that since his ex had disappeared out of his and Sarah’s life so early, but he was not upset with the discovery. Your body was softer, marked by motherhood and he found it incredibly sexy. “Then you need to see the doctor.” He growls. “Because I might just bend you over a table every time Caroline naps.”

He barely has your jeans pulled off in time for you to hop up on the counter, legs open for him to fill the space between even as you start to work open the belt he wears day in and day out. Frenzied kisses take up the space where there could be more words, but oxygen is precious when you're doing your damnedest to drown in each other while your baby girl sleeps.

Most intimate moments were rushed, quiet and out in the open. Using his fingers on you to give you pleasure while the girls slept. Because of that, he knows exactly how to touch you to make sure you are wet.

"Joel—" You have to bite back a whine the second his fingers find you, already wet and aching just from talking about sex and not even from him touching you. Hell, kissing him is still enough to make your cunt bottom out and you hope that never changes.

“That’s it, baby.” Joel growls against your neck softly. “Want that pretty pussy nice and wet. You want to cum before I fuck you? Or do you want to cum on my cock?” He swirls his fingers around your clit and then presses them into you to curl up and strike against that spongy spot deep inside near your cervix.

You could protest that there isn’t time for two, but you know Joel would make it happen. He’s learned your body fast, and how to wring pleasure out of you as fast or as slow as he wants to. “O—on you,” you manage to pant out two coherent words and try for a few more. “Want to cum on your cock, Joel. Please?”

“I love when you beg, baby.” He groans, having heard so many people beg him over the years. Often for their lives when there’s no saving them, but this is what he loves. You, begging for him to make you feel good. “You’ll cum on my cock, baby. All over it.”

“Always do.” The way you shift forward on the counter is proof of how eager you are, in case he wasn’t sure. Every time you shift or roll your hips, his fingers stroke that spot again and you have to bite back a moan.

“I know you do.” He grunts, unbuttoning his pants to pull his hard cock out. “Always so good for me.”

It goes back to the first time he called you his good girl, and you know it. That was the moment you called it quits on any resistance whatsoever. “Always. Fuck, always, baby.”

Joel smirks and pumps his cock, listening to make sure that the kid isn't coming downstairs. He doesn't want to scar her, but he doesn't want to wait to get you upstairs. He groans when he has to pull his fingers out of you and hums. "You ready?"

"I don't think there's ever a time when I'm not." You nod enthusiastically, glancing up at the closed door that leads from the kitchen to the living room, and when no sound can be heard from your sleeping daughter you look back to Joel. "Take what you want, baby. I'm just along for the ride."

It only takes a moment to notch himself at your entrance, his lips fused with yours as he starts to push inside you. Loving how tight you immediately squeeze his cock inside your walls.

Every sound you have gets poured into that kiss, muting your moans and whines so they don't echo through the house. In this position the best thing you can do is hang onto the counter and let Joel take what he wants — exactly as you said — and that kiss is another perfect way to stay connected to him as he starts to move.

There’s a perfect rhythmic pace he can keep that doesn’t hurt his back and still keeps your toes curling in their socks. He’s tested it, although he never told you and he uses that pace now. Holding onto your hips as he rocks into you again and again, swallowing your moans greedily as he basks in your utter want of him.

One hand has to move to his shoulder, clutching his shirt as he fucks into you hard enough that it feels like he's stealing your breath but not so hard that you'll end up walking funny and give away what you've been up to. No doubt Ellie has noticed by now, but there's no reason to rub it in. There's just nothing better than basking in Joel's full attention. In being his sole focus. lt's like coming home.

Once he’s broken away from your lips, there’s not a part of your exposed skin that Joel doesn’t kiss. Loving to nibble and kiss along your neck and chest. Inhaling the milky scent of your breasts, heavier since Caroline is due for a feeding when she wakes up. Though he doesn’t touch them, knowing they need to be left alone for his child. “Fuck.”

"So good." With his ear right by your mouth, you can just gasp and sigh right there for only him to hear. "Always fuck me so good."

“This little pussy was made for me.” Joel grunts, loving how you spasm around him when he pours filth into your ears. Sometimes his fingers and words get you off so quickly, he’s amazed you haven’t been worked up all day. “Squeezin’ me so tight.”

"Can't help it," you chuckle low in his ear and have to bite back a gasp when his hips hit yours sharply. "Your cock's just so fucking big.'

He snorts and twitches inside of you at the breathless praise. “You gonna cum for me, pretty girl?” He asks, moving one hand down so he can rub your clit as he thrusts into you.

"'M close, baby." The breathless promise comes on a whine and you have to work to not just let your mouth hang open and Joel's rhythm picks up and the broad pad of one of his thumbs skates over your slick, swollen clit. "So fucking close, oh god."

His teeth snap together, breathing heavily and his face is almost set in a determined frown. Watching you as his hips shuffle forward to fill you again and again. Loving how your body heaves and lurches every time he swipes his fingers over your clit, almost overstimulated - you’re so close. “Be my good girl, baby.” He growls. “Cum for me.”

Whether you’re responding to his praise or to the near overstimulation is anyone’s guess, but it’s only a moment later that your legs start to tense and shake around his waist and your mouth falls open in a silent sob as you come apart for him.

The heat, the pressure around his cock is exquisite as you start to cum. The rush of wetness helps him move when your walls squeeze tight and he loves the nearly non existent sound you make. Taking his hand off your hip, grabbing the back of your neck and dragging your lips back to his as he fucks you through your orgasm.

These are the times — mid orgasm with a foggy brain and no filter for your thoughts — that you wish Internally for another baby. Accident or planned, it doesn’t matter to you. It’s just that flash of a thought as your climax washes over you that you know will subside again but it makes you hold onto his kiss that much tighter. Grateful for what you do have. For him and for Caroline, above all.

He feels your body relax, going boneless as he continues to batter against your fluttering walls. He’s close but he can’t pull out just yet. “Fuck.” He groans. “So pretty when you cum.” The praise is whispered against your lips.

“Just for you,” you promise in a shaky breath, practically gulping down air as the intensity of your orgasm subsides.

“Fuck, I’m gonna cum.” He hisses, regret lacing his tone because he’s having to pull his hips back. Letting go of you and wrapping his hand around his cock as he starts to quickly jerk himself off, the other hand poised to catch the mess so there isn’t a huge cleanup of the counters.

If you could have gotten there quickly, you’d be on your knees to catch every last drop, but you definitely move a little bit slower after he’s just gotten done fucking you — mostly just because your legs are jelly. Instead you watch Joel with dark eyes, satisfied temporarily but always wanting. It’ll be another few hours before he can even think of going again, but that doesn’t mean you won’t daydream about him.

It’s not as satisfying as when he’s buried to the hilt inside, but he can’t risk it, can’t risk you. Clenching his jaw, he hisses slightly as he stops stroking his cock, panting as he looks up at you and leans in to kiss you once more.

“I love you.” Simple words, but loaded with so much emotion that you sigh a little after saying them. “So much, Joel.”

“I love you too.” He promises, pulling back to take his cum filled hand to the sink to wash before he gets a rag for you. “Don’t ever think I don’t.”

“Well it was a little touch and go there while we weren’t anywhere near each other,” you tease, flashing him a grin. “But I don’t anymore. I promise.”

Snorting, Joel rolls his eyes at you and after washing his hands, he soaps up a rag and comes back over to you to clean you up. “Hush.” He grumbles, biting his lip as he spreads your thighs again.

“Never.” Instead your grin widens and you steal another kiss while he cleans you up. Only after that do you carefully hop down from the kitchen counter to pull your clothes back on.

Right as you are buttoning your pants, he hears the first little squawk from Caroline and grins. “I’ll change her.” He tosses the rag into the diaper pail to soak. “Drink your lukewarm tea before you come feed her.” He orders, kissing your temple before he walks out of the kitchen, already buttoned and buckled back up.

“Yes, sir.” There’s not even any point to protesting. You just pick up your tea and admire his ass as he strides out of the room.

Caroline is definitely feeling better, waving her arms and squealing when she sees Joel. The bubbly, happy grin on her adorable face never fails to bolster his spirits, which are always pretty high after being intimate with you. “Just like your momma.” He teases as he picks her up with a grunt. “Always squealing.”

With the door open it isn’t really difficult, but you still lean out from the kitchen and huff just loudly enough for him to hear. “I heard that.” Not that he’s wrong. Not at all.

Joel chuckles, nudging his nose against his daughter’s cheek and listening to her gurgle. “You were supposed to, baby.” He tells you, grinning at Caroline when he pulls back. “You were supposed to.”

******

Joel spends a decent portion of the next few days out of the house, helping Tommy with some vague project that you don't think much of. He had taken Ellie with him once but she has been mainly at home with you. The town is enjoying their preparations for Valentine's Day at the end of the week, and from time to time you've found yourself daydreaming about Joel doing something spontaneously romantic but you aren't expecting anything. It's not as though he can pop into a jewelry store or go down to the sweet shop for chocolates. Even flowers aren't really on the docket these days. It doesn't matter. Not really. All that matters is that he comes home safe every night, and Joel definitely does that.

It had been a pain in the ass, but the pram is finished; even Tommy is impressed with the final product and Joel had used some stuffing from cushions to make a padded layer on the bottom to make it more comfortable for Caroline. It’s got a back that can be adjusted to tilt up for when she’s older and a cover for the sun or rain. Now, he’s just waiting on the varnish to dry and it will be ready.

It’s late morning when he comes back from Tommy’s today, looking as pleased with himself as Joel ever does, and your plan to go down to Jackson’s seamstress to inquire about a skirt or dress goes by the wayside immediately. “Hey handsome.” Out on the porch with Caroline against your chest, you wave to him when you see him approach.

“Hey.” He climbs the steps with only a slight protest from his knees and gives Caroline a quick kiss before letting his own linger on your lips for a moment. “So, they are having a movie tonight for the celebration.” He reminds you, as if that’s not been the topic of the town for days.

“Did you want to go?” He hasn’t mentioned it at all so you wondered if maybe he was ignoring Valentine’s altogether.

“Was thinking that if you wanted to go, we could.” He shrugs one shoulder and shuffles his feet as he reaches into his jacket pocket. “Unless you want to stay home and read.”

“Read what?” You’re looking at his face, not his hands, and it takes an enigmatic smile from Joel before you glance down and see a very official card sitting in his hand. It’s a business card for the old Jackson public library, printed and crisp, but when he flips it over you see your name scrawled there in beautiful cursive and gasp. “What is this?”

“There’s a town library.” Joel explains. “They collected all the books out of the houses and any they brought back from scouting missions.” He smiles. “Thought you might like to go browse and check some out.”

“Honey.” Instantly your arms are around him, squeezing him into your side so you can show him how grateful you are without crushing Caroline between you in the process. “This is incredible. A library? That’s — it’s so sweet of you.” The grin on your face is wide, spreading to overtake you by the second. It might not be just anyone’s perfect Valentine’s gesture, but it’s definitely yours. “Thank you, love.”

He huffs in relief that you aren’t upset at his gesture. “You’re welcome. I knew you would want to read some more.”

“I wonder if they gathered up all the kids' books, too?” More bedtime stories for Caroline would be amazing as she gets older. Right now lullabies still do it when she’s fussy, but you don’t expect that to last much longer.

“I’m sure they have. Which will be amazing for Caroline.” He had read to Sarah from the time she was a baby and wonders if they have some of the books he had read to her. It would be a little tradition to read them to his other daughter.

“Thank you,” you murmur again, leaning against him and pressing a kiss to his cheek before you look down at your daughter. “Can you say thank you Daddy? For being awesome and loving us so, so much?”

“You have to come with me to get the next present.” He snorts, enjoying the way that Caroline automatically coos and waves her arms.

“There’s a next present?” Your head tilts in curiosity and a smile cracks across your face again. “Mr. Miller, you’ve been busy.”

“Not like I can get you flowers or chocolates.” He’s embarrassed by the surprise in your voice and he shrugs.

“You didn’t have to do anything at all. I still know you love me.” The thing about Valentine’s Day is that it has been so surprising to see it revived. It isn’t necessarily as surprising that he is embracing it. Not when he’s working so hard to relieve the sins of his past and whatever happened with Sarah’s mother.

“I know.” He picks up the backpack you had started using as a diaper bag for the baby and glances at you. “You want to carry her? Or do you want me to get our little princess?”

“I’ve got her for now, she’s comfortable.” Sometimes the biggest thing really is her comfort, so you’re not going to disturb your little girl for right now. “Where are we going?”

“Tommy’s workshop.” He picks up her little blanket and throws it over his arm. “Hopefully you like it, it’s more of a practical gift.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.” If he thought of it? Put care and love into just thinking that you will appreciate it? Then whatever it is will be perfect.

Like all babies and families with babies, it takes a few minutes to get going. The pram should be completely dry, the fans blowing on it and he wonders if you will like to. Sure he could have tried to find one at an abandoned store, but for him, it was about making something. It had been a long time since he had done that and it had felt pretty good.

“Ellie seems like she’s adjusting okay to being back in school.” The walk over to Tommy’s doesn’t take long, and you’re curious to see what he’s been up to with his brother.

“She’s enjoying the school having zero to do with FEDRA.” Joel agrees. “I think she likes the days they take care of the livestock the best. She loves animals.”

"She loves them and she's great with them." Your free hand slips into Joel's while you walk, enjoying the sunny, clear day in spite of the cold. "That's a hell of a valuable skill set in this world. Keeping the livestock happy and healthy is vital."

“Yes it is.” Joel nods. “Tommy and John think they might have gotten that old grist mill working.” He tells you in passing. “The kids are going to have a class on that, come next week.”

"Everything but wheat flour," you joke with a shake of your head. "Although that oat bread was pretty good. John's got a good thing going in that bakery he set up."

“Exactly and there’s a sack of barley seeds they want to plant and make cornmeal.” He has been impressed with Jackson so far and wants to stay here. There’s no reason to go back to Boston and he would never put his daughter under FEDRA control.

Squeezing his hand, you smile up at Joel and cradle Caroline with your other hand. "It's nice here."

“It is.” There are moments where Joel doesn’t trust it, he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the ugliness to infect Jackson, but he wants this to be a haven, for you and Ellie and Caroline. Especially for Caroline. He wants her to be able to grow up without being exposed to the rawness of the outside world as much as possible. To give her a chance at normalcy. “You want to stay, sweetheart?” He asks quietly.

"I can't imagine any place being better for us." On your chest, Caroline is looking around her with the characteristic wonder of an infant, and you grin and place a kiss on her little tuft of hair. "Your brother is here, there's reliable shelter and food. Ellie is safe to the point where she's enjoying school. It's...I'm not going to call it perfect but it feels like spitting in the face of the universe if we just walk away."

“I feel like the other shoe is going to drop, but it’s also the most relaxed I’ve been in years.” Joel admits. “I’ve- there’s more to worry about than me. And I’ve worried a lot since Lake City.” He had tried to hide the panic attacks, but you had seen signs of them. “I think we should stay.”

"You're entitled to worry." It's just a quiet reminder, but it's important that Joel remember that he has permission to feel whatever way he feels about things. Having a family and being a protector in this environment is a stressful thing. "But you're also entitled to be happy."

“That’s the hard part of this to swallow.” Joel admits, squeezing your hand gently. “It’s alright, baby. I want to stay, if you do.”

"If not for us, then for the girls." That's really the key here, and you pick up his hand to press a kiss to the back of it. "I would follow you anywhere. But they deserve whatever childhood we can give them."

“Yes they do.” The door to Tommy’s shop is just up ahead and he smiles slightly. “Hopefully this next gift will help that. At least for one of them.”

"What did you do?" At this point you're too curious not to feel bubbly about it, and you desperately wish the younger Miller brother's workshop had good windows.

“You’ll see.” He chuckles at your curiosity and lets go of your hand so he can open the door. “After you.”

"Come on, baby," you murmur to Caroline, grinning as you duck into the workshop.

Sitting in the middle of the space is a beautifully put together and obviously handmade perambulator, with a padded cloth bottom and a sun visor that...seems to be moveable as well as handcrafted. "Oh my god..." you breathe, stepping into the room further and bending over the pram with tears in your eyes. "Baby...did you make this?"

“I know I could probably find one, somewhere…” Joel can’t tell if you love it or hate it, so he shuffles slightly. “But I wanted to build one that you could use for a long time.”

"Honey, it's beautiful!" The tears in your eyes are pure love and gratitude, and you backtrack immediately to give him a kiss before going to inspect the pram that he put together with his own two hands. "It—it's incredible. You...how long did this take you?"

“It’s what I’ve been working on this week.” Joel explains, walking over to it to show you the shade and how it can flip down to become a basket to put things in.

"I can't believe you did this." There is such a wonder in your voice. Awe and love, and shock that anyone would put this much work into such an enormous gesture.

“Figured she was going to get too busy and too fidgety to haul around on your chest all the time.” He tells you. “Plus it can sit up when she’s really moving.”

"Do you want to see what Daddy made you, honey?" Caroline keeps reaching for the pram like she knows it's hers, and you look to Joel hopefully. "Is it ready for her to try out?"

“Yeah.” He holds up her blanket. “Figured you want a cover on her since she’s not right up against you.”

"It's perfect," you murmur again. Unwrapping her from your chest is a careful process, but soon a squirming little girl is ready to be set down in her very first pram and she giggles with glee just as soon as you lay her blanket over her. "Daddy made you the perfect little pram so we can push you around and let you see town without having to be attached to my chest the whole time."

“Tommy helped too.” Joel admits, pleased that you seem thrilled with the pram. “He wants to make one for Maria now.”

"Brand new family heirlooms." It's a magical and unexpected gesture, that you reach down to tickle Caroline's belly and can't resist kissing Joel, as well. "This kind of puts my Valentine's surprise to shame, babe."

“No it doesn’t.” Joel immediately frowns and shakes his head. “You don’t have to do anything for me.”

"You didn't have to do anything for me, either." With a grin, you lean over and kiss his cheek again while Caroline looks around her pram in wonder. "I went to see the doc the other day." He's been busy — apparently building you a damn stroller with his own two hands — so you had taken it upon yourself to go in the meantime.

“Yeah?” Joel’s eyes widen slightly and he looks Caroline in her pram to you. “And?”

"And." He looks like he might jump up and down from excitement, and you can't help but laugh. "She had a diaphragm for me."

He frowns and tries to remember what the hell that is. It’s been a long time since he’s talked about birth control in depth. “That- that’s that thing that goes inside you before sex, right?”

“Right.” Another giggle escapes you, and you lean into his side. “It’s not full proof, but it’s something.”

“Yeah.” Joel knows that no birth control is perfect, but he feels better with that. “Do you still want to have me pull out?” He asks seriously.

“Is it irresponsible to say no?” You just want to feel him completely, but you’ll understand if he declines. You’ve already brought one baby into the world, the idea was to prevent two. “It’s your decision, love. All I care about is getting to be close to you.”

“I say we keep track of your cycle like you normally do.” Joel murmurs. “I’ll pull out when you’re ovulating.”

“In that case.” The grin on your face turns absolutely devilish. “No need to pull out tonight.”

Joel blows out a loud breath and reaches down to adjust himself. “That’s the best fuckin’ Valentine’s you could ever give me.”

“I thought you might like it.” Compared to what he’s done? It’s barely anything at all. But the chance to be as close to each other as possible is something you’ve both been craving as you’ve realized the depth of feelings you have.

“Love it.” Joel growls, reaching for you to pull you close and press his lips to yours for a quick and harsh kiss.

“Love it a lot. Got it.” You melt against him and bury your face in his chest, glad to be held in his arms for even a few moments at a time. “We’ll have some grown up time after the movie tonight?”

"Already asked Ellie if she would mind the bassinet being in her room." He tells you with a grin. "Bottles ready."

“Scheming!” You erupt into giggles, cheeks burning hot and desire starting to ache in your core. “You have been scheming.”— Today at 8:02 PM

"I have been scheming." He admits shamelessly. "And there's one more thing that I have to give you."Today at 8:07 PM

“Joel.” A pout comes with a tilt of your head and you shake it immediately. “Baby, no. You’ve already done so much.”Today at 8:12 PM

"This is something from me....for you." He promises softly. "I wanted to give you something that shows you how much I love you." He swallows. "Do you want it now, or do you want me to - you know, make it romantic?" Today at 8:25 PM

“I want you to do whatever will make you happiest.” Another soft kiss between you makes you melt that much more. “I’ll love it no matter what.”day at 8:33 PM

"I kind of want to give it to you now, before I lose the damn thing." Joel admits with a huff of amusement, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a faded velvet box.at 8:42 PM

“What…?” It may be a long while since the last time you walked into a jewelry store, but you still remember what a ring box looks like as your eyes flick between the box and Joel. “Honey?”day at 8:52

"It's- do you know how fucking hard it was to remember birthstones?" He snorts, shaking his head. "I wanted to get you something that had meaning. That's symbolic of how we came together."

He holds it out to you a little more surely and you realize your hands are shaking a little when you reach to open it. The ring inside has been cleaned, it's shining in the dim sunlight streaming into the workshop and the tears spill over immediately. "You—you figured out Caroline's birthstone?" It had never occurred to you to even try to think of what it would be, although you did figure out what her zodiac was while holding her one night right after she was born. y at 9:13 PM

"Yeah." He looks down at the ring and smiles. "There was a book in the library." He admits, not wanting you to think he was some kind of genius. "You told me when she was born, and I'm never gonna forget that." He bites his lip. "I was thinking you could wear it like an engagement ring or whatever, if you want."y at 9:18 PM

"Are you saying you want me to wear it like an engagement ring, or that I can think of it that way if I want to?" Slipping the ring out of the box, it's obvious immediately that it will fit you pretty perfectly and you wonder if Joel tried to do any sneaky measuring of your ring finger while you were sleeping or something like that.t 9:21 PM

He bites his lip and resists the urge to fold his arms over his chest. "I want- it's kind of up to you, baby." He reminds you. "I should ask you though, right?" He's talking to himself, rolling his eyes at how he is bungling it up. "Do you want to get married? If they do weddings here?"9:29 PM

If you were going to tease him, you would remind him that his brother and Maria got married. That there is something like marriage here in Jackson, even without the way weddings were in the past. And the end of the world, marriage is about a commitment between people. Not about a thousand dollar dress or haggling over the guest list. And honestly? That is the way you would have wanted it even back then. "Yes," you nod, that smile spreading back across your face as you hold your shaky hand out to him. "Yes, I absolutely do."35 PM

Joel takes the hint, carefully pulling the ring from the box and taking your hand gently to push the ring onto your finger. "It fits." He sighs out in relief. "Tying a string around your finger to measure it worked." He looks up into your eyes with a grin. "How do you like it?"t 9:41 PM

"It's perfect." Wrapping your arms around his neck, you press into his space and let yourself just breathe him in. Grateful for the coincidence that brought you together, for the accident that has sealed your connection, and for the love that has bound you. "I love you."

“I love you too, baby.” Joel vows softly, pressing his lips to yours. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @haylzcyon @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide @elegantduckturtle @becsworld @julesonrecord @its-nebuleuse @itsrubberbisquit @mikeyswifie @guelyury @lizzie-cakes @for-a-longlongtime @vabeachazn @purplerain04 @weho2kcmo @madnessofadaydreamer

For series: @lol-im-done @sezren @kyuupidwrites @spxctorsslxt @mythrielofsolitude @missmarmaladeth @midgetpottermills @spishsstuff @wrathofcats @rickysgrimes @that-friend-in-the-corner @123passwort @taygra5shaon @buckysmainhxe @mariwinns16 @superflymaterial @s1xthirty @gothicxbarbie @pedrettilov3r @flyingmushroomss @littleshadow17 @lovelyygirl8 @hairspeaks @zliteraturehoe @princessgriffin1998 @belahbelieve @leatherbride @ccomandercody @spacelatinos4life @gracie7209 @whorunstheworldgirls

My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfic #Joel Miller #Joel Miller x reader #Joel Miller x you #Joel Miller x female reader #The Last of Us #The Last of Us HBO #TLoU #baby mama reader #established relationship

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dr3c0mix · 8 months

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Can we get a zombie horde with a gn! Reader where their abusive family finds them again?

after years of inactivity im fucking back ! sorry for the long long wait but at least im able to put out a few more fics !

Zombie Horde!Reader's Abusive Family Finds Them Again

CW: verbal abuse, abusive family, (mentioned) being rejected food

💀 You haven't always been alone in your travels, in fact, you were with your family when the outbreak happened. But to be fair, you never liked your family..

💀 They would always bully you, boss you around, even put the blame on you whenever something bad happened, the torment didn't end even when there were zombies banging on your doors!

💀 In fact, because of the virus, they got even more cruel to you.

💀 They would take away your food rations for any small mistake you did, make you take the night watch for days on end, even send you out to get supplies just because 'you talked back that one time'!

💀 You couldn't take it anymore and left, knowing anywhere would be better than being stuck in a house of people who did nothing but torture you.

💀 You thought you were safe from them, cuddled up with Ribs in your bed as the others wandered around the abandoned mall, but it all came back when you heard a familiar voice shout out your name from the distance..

💀 "(Y/N)?! I know you're here you runt!"

💀 It was your dad...

💀 Ribs sat up as soon as he heard it and snarled, crawling out of bed and going out to see the commotion.

💀 Your heart raced as you followed him, but it was hard to walk with your body trembling at the thought of seeing him or any of your family again.

💀 "Jesus there's four of them!" "What are you waiting for you stupid bitch?! Shoot em!"

💀 It seems your mom was also there..

💀 You run the broken escalator and see the horde fighting with your family, gunshots ring throughout the mall as you see your beloveds blasted with bullets.

💀 You weren't scared though, they were dead after all, but it was still heartbreaking seeing them get hurt.

💀 You pick up a nearby rock and throw it at your dad to get his attention away from the boys. They all look at you, your family glaring at you while the horde coos at your presence.

💀 "(Y/N) you come here right this fucking second we're coming home!" Your mother shouts at you, walking over angrily and grabbing your arm strong enough to leave a red ring.

💀 Bo fumes and pulls her of you "You stay away from my mate ya hear me?!" he growls.

💀 "It talks?!" She yelps as your dad comes over as well. "Mate? Don't tell me you're hangin out with these monsters! Are you that much of a dumbass?!" he scolds you.

💀 You shrink, knowing whatever you say will make things worse..

💀 "Why you little whore.." Your dad growls, about to slap you, but Screw runs over and pushes your dad away, sending him back a few feet.

💀 Ribs and Soda smile and clap as Bo and Screw help you up.

💀 "You ok darlin?" Bo asks you in a sweet tone. "Is your arm ok? Does is hurt? Do you need a bandaid? I have a pink one with a cat on it.." Screw looks at the mark your mother gave you.

💀 You smile and assure them everything's ok.

💀 "Fucking freaks..(Y/N) do you hear me?! Get your ass up and let's go!" Your dad yells at you again as he stand up.

💀 "They're not going anywhere mean guy!" Ribs growls at him.

💀 Your mom is to the side next to Soda, she sneers at him and he looks back at her, giving her the middle finger, making her scoff and look away.

💀 In a shaky tone, you ask how they found you. You've cut off contact with them for months, there was no way they could find you..

💀 "Hah! Your dumbass thought you were just some person in the middle of nowhere? Half the state knows about your little talkin freak boyfriends!"

💀 You look down in shame as Bo and Screw comfort you "I think it's about time you folks leave..." Bo says, glaring at your parents.

💀 "Oh no you're not kicking us out! We came all this way to get this ungrateful little leech back! We gave them shelter and this is how they repay us?! You should've learned your place and stayed put!" he berates you. You finally snap and yell back at him, telling him all the things you've endured in their household, how you were treated like dirt every day, how you were much better off without them.

💀 Finally you firmly tell them to leave, pointing to the exit as you look at him with no fear left in your eyes. He scoffs "Fine..go get killed on your own then! Don't come to us for any fucking help!" he yells as he leaves, your mom in tow.

💀 Ribs laughs at them as they leave while Soda smiles at you.

💀 After the whole interaction, you were completely exhausted, the boys huddling up with you to calm you down.

💀 You give them all well-deserved kisses for protecting you, they all coo and chirp at the affection and kiss you back.

💀 "Do you still want that bandaid?" Screw asks you softly.

💀 You say yes.

this one was pretty short but expect more fics to be sent soon ! love you guys and remember that youre awesome and amazing !

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ace-disgrace-on-the-case · 3 months

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GUYS I THINK I FIGURED OUT THE FILING SYSTEM FOR THE STATEMENTS IN FR3-D1

Ok so. so. As I am rapidly beginning to figure out the ARG stuff might just be important to our understanding of the overall story of TMAGP. And so I started digging through all the wonderful detective work the folks who participated did (their data and thus a decent bit of the ARG are still preserved). I'd like to draw your attention to one file in particular (I might make more posts with more ramblings as I think about more stuff but for right now):

klaus.xls is an excel sheet that they were able to dig up in the ARG which seems to contain partially corrupted data regarding, to my best guess, incidents. I was particularly interested in this file because that name came up in episode 4's transcript as the name of the person Lena had a disagreement with/seemed to be threatening. I have thoughts about this as well but it will be a separate post.

This data might actually be internal to the OIAR, and if what I'm guessing is correct, then this data actually corresponds to FR3-D1 entries! Using this, I think I've been able to dissect the case names (for example, we're going to use episode 1's magnus institute case)

CAT23RAB2155-10042022-09012024

A lot of the information on the leftmost data cluster seems to correspond to what's in the table, so:

CAT23: Category 23. There were only a few categories in the Klaus data that weren't 1, 2, or 3 so I'm guessing inputting multiple numbers means this incident could either be category 2 or category 3 (or someone thought this case needed a very very high category shared by almost nothing else).

RAB: Rank A/B. This we know means the ranking is either A or ranking B. I have not, however, managed to determine what the difference between Category and Rank is, so if someone else has thoughts on that I'd love to hear them. Based on other case titles the R is not always part of this section, only in cases where multiple rankings are specified. This also places this case very high in the ranking system, as most cases in the Klaus data appear to be rank C or B (with only a single S and two As, one of which is a dual A/B).

2155: This section is always a four digit code. It corresponds to the TSHU column of the Klaus data, which is also always a four digit code. If I had to speculate, I believe this is the internal code for the case category (which are all laid out in that giant binder on Sam's desk). I wish I knew specifically what each one meant but I figure we'll have to watch the numbers and see.

10042022: It took me a minute on these number strings, I'll be honest. There's nothing approximating them in the Klaus data, but then I noticed that the second string contains "2024" at the very end in every statement thus far recorded. Then it dawned on me: these are dates. This first string corresponds to report submission date, I think: this report was submitted to the OIAR on the 10th of April 2022. This then means that:

09012024: Corresponds to the date of filing. Sam filed this case on the 9th of January, 2024. This also allows us to go through and see that the episodes seem to be following the time passing between episodes for us almost 1:1, with most cases being a few days before when we receive them.

#post #tmagp #tmagp theory #the magnus protocol #tmagp speculation #tmagp spoilers

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cipheramnesia · 4 months

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While I'm not one for generational conflict cuz there's no war but the class war so to speak, I can't help but think that a "perfect millennial comedy routine" probably oughta consist of a little bit more substance than repackaged "kids use weird slang these days," along with askin to be given some common decency in accounta introducing Facebook and Instagram, plus also bein the boss.

Now folks I may just be a simple country baked salted ham, but it seems ta me that listin off four o the worst things in the world today ain't exactly any generation's idea of empathetic. Ain't a doubt in my mind we're more like than not cross put near three or four decades, jest sayin don't trust too well someone askin you to smile along while they insult ya and tell ya how ta act and they think ya oughta be quiet n grateful for a handful o garbage cuz they invented takin a shit.

But I don't know, don't listen to an old coot like me.

#i think ive seen that routine too many times i cant take it anymore its just repackaged kids these days in a shiny coat of irony #yelling at clouds #no but seriously gen z et all someone going like ooky booky and saying your slang sounds made up and weird probably isn't your friend #they're just someone two steps removed from a blue hair and pronouns joke #it doesn't matter how old or young just knowing tiktok exists doesn't make someone trustworthy

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rallamajoop · 3 months

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A needlessly detailed analysis of Heisenberg's Conspiracy Board

One of the random details I was most eager to find in the RE8 game assets was Heisenberg's conspiracy board. (It's labeled 'strategy board' in the game files, but I think we all know what we're looking at here.)

The assets consisted of a base layer (below) with separate higher-res photos of Chris, Mia, Rose (with Ethan!) and the other three lords (clean versions of those last three, plus Heisenberg, can be found over here). The actual model is more 3-dimensional than you might think, with many of the photos displayed as separate 'flaps' that stick out from the base board (which does unfortunately make stitching together higher-res screencaps of the full board very difficult).

There are a few reasons why I wanted better pics of the board, but a real big one was catching an in-game glimpse of this one smaller photo on the upper right of some guy in sunglasses and going, wait, is that Wesker?

Having extracted the highest-res version of that photo possible... well, for that to be Wesker, he'd have to have come back to life and aged about 20 years. Which wouldn't entirely be out of character (he's come back from the dead at least once already, and even Chris is looking his age these days) but is really that who it's supposed to be? IDEK, and neither does this one Reddit thread I found discussing the same question.

There are a few other human-faces around the board ‒ mostly some mustachioed dude(s?) ‒ some of them entirely hidden under other photos on the finished board, but none I recognise. Presumably they're meant to be folks who are/were involved with Miranda or other bio-weapons research, past or present, and maybe they're characters set to appear in some future RE installment. But they may just be stock photos, thrown in to fill space.

But having finally posted this thing and come back to it again this morning, I'm looking at that one larger guy in one of those photos and going, wait, isn't that the Duke?

Goddamn, it is, isn't it? You can even see the lapels of his jacket and the curve of the wagon roof over his head. How did I miss that? XD No prizes for guessing why Heisenberg might think he's worth including on a conspiracy board!

Most of the rest of the board is covered with photos of various monstrous bio-weapons. Again, this is probably meant to represent a mix of Miranda's work and that of other bio-weapons manufacturers. Someone more familiar with extended Resi-canon than I am might even be able to identify some of these creatures, but none were immediately familiar to me.

Even the one zombie face below that looks almost exactly like a screencap from that first iconic zombie-reveal-scene from the very first Resident Evil turned out not to be (and yes, I checked both the original version and the remake), though it may still be meant to evoke that moment. The photo behind it, meanwhile, looks to be just a pair of soldats.

The other big 'notice me!' feature is, of course, the big map with 'BSAA Come!!' scribbled on it. The circled target location is the ceremony site, identifiable by the four huge statues, and the date at the bottom (February 10, 2020) is the date of Miranda's planned ceremony (tomorrow morning).

Presumably, this is supposed to be a map the BSAA themselves prepared for troop briefings, but no-one's going to get much out of trying to take this thing too literally. Realistically, the only reason "BSAA Come!!" is written in such big letters here is to let the player know at a glance that Heisenberg is clued in enough to be expecting a BSAA assault.

That's about it for really obvious features. There's not a lot else here that the casual viewer is likely to recognise or find particularly significant. But I'm way past 'casual' in over-analysing this damn game, and I can point out a dozen other features on this board that might (or might not) be awash with implications about all the juicy intel Heisenberg's got his hands on.

Basically, it's time to play my favourite game: Cheaply Reused Asset or Significant Callback?

See, much as I'd love for every last detail on this board to be dense with important lore, the reality is that the player gets barely a few seconds to look at this thing in-game, and so most of what's on it was probably thrown together in a hurry by some overworked member of the asset team without much thought. And nothing demonstrates this better than the fact that two different photo clusters (circled below) from the right edge of the board are duplicated wholesale as you move left across the board.

Someone's just copy-pasted these in their entirety, slightly reduced them in size, and assumed no-one would notice. The asset team is only human, and believes in working smarter not harder as much as anyone.

Then there's the fact that a number of other assets you can find on this board are actually posters advertising fishing equipment, which you can find around the reservoir, near where you pick up the boat key.

Why would Heisenberg include these on his conspiracy board? There's no good reason, they're just a convenient assets to fill in some space.

And then there's my all-time favourite random detail on this board ‒ a completely random photo of a bottle of Dulvey Beer, two bags of Half-Whole flour, and a carton of orange juice.

Now, maybe somewhere in these games, you can find these exact items arranged in this position next to never-before-found coded clue to the future of the series! But more likely, this is just the asset team making an inside-joke about asset recycling, using a picture of some of the most oft-reused assets in the game, on a board that's already covered in reused assets from elsewhere. (Look, I thought it was funny, even if no-one else looking at the board is going to get it.)

So, yeah, a lot of what's on this board means nothing, except that whoever made it had limited time and a lot of space to fill. And That's Okay.

But then we get to the stuff where I do really wanna believe its inclusion means something. For one, the board contains copies of both the mission briefing Chris' team is carrying when they abduct Ethan (the one you find by the overtuned truck), and Rose's BSAA-headered medical checkup report.

I already have this whole theory that that same medical report being leaked to Miranda might just be a major unsung catalyst for how she realised Rose's potential, and thus set all the events of the game in motion. So finding that the same report has made it's way onto Heisenberg's conspiracy board is a lovely bit of potential validation. Similarly, the implication that Heisenberg might have known about Chris' mission to Ethan's home before it even happened has some tantalising implications (or maybe he just found it out by the van where Ethan left it).

Rose's medical report isn't the only BSAA-headered document on the board either ‒ there's another on the top right (outlined in yellow) that doesn't correspond to any in-game asset I can find (presumably it wasn't actually needed for whatever it was created for). There's plenty elsewhere in this game to suggest Miranda has contacts in the BSAA feeding her all their secrets ‒ and whether Heisenberg got these reports from Miranda or independently, the fact he's got them at all suggests one hell of an info-leak.

Speaking of Miranda, you can find a couple of copies of some of her own research notes on Heisenberg's board ‒ this is the same asset used in her lab under the graveyard, where you can find notes about her experiments on 'Alcina D'. So that's another interesting file that it makes total sense Heisenberg might include on his board.

The board also includes a couple of extracts from that issue of The Dulvey Daily from Ethan's home, with the article about the closing of the Baker investigation. Realistically, this is likely to be another case of a random asset being used without much thought, but it does make sense that Heisenberg would have followed that investigation (and I can't help but loved that Heisenberg felt the Horn of Plenty article was worth including in his vast conspiracy-network ‒ I told you they were shady!)

You can find bits of a couple of Heisenberg's own Soldat-x-rays on the board too. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but they do look nicely sinister, so onto the board they go! (In multiple places again)

That's about it for assets I could identify. However, there are also a few photos from around the village itself on the board ‒ two of which were evidently screenshots taken from Ethan's own point of view, given that his gun is clearly visible in the bottom left of the screen in customary position. Objectively, this makes no sense, but it sure does add to that "someone's been watching you" atmosphere that any good conspiracy board should aspire to.

(I also feel like I should totally be recognising that doorway in the photo about the 'o' in 'mother', but can't place it.)

And for one final, bizarre detail, you may notice this weird photo of someone's feet appears in a few places on the board. And it's definitely the same photo ‒ the details line up perfectly, right down to the pin and that bit of string. But for some reason, someone's added a lace skirt to the feet in the example on the left.

You can't even see that skirt in the finished board (it's under Miranda's picture), but it amused me nonetheless.

Before we finish, have a few more close-ups on some of the other weird photos you can find on the board.

So, what conclusions can we draw here? There's a ton of detail on Heisenberg's conspiracy board to suggest he (or perhaps Miranda) has access to files from the BSAA and whoever Chris is now working with/for, that he's researched what happened at Dulvey and has certainly helped himself to Miranda's own files, if you'd like to read significance into what was included on the board. But there's also a ton of complete nonsense, so, you know, pretty much just RE lore operating as per usual.

I hope you've all enjoyed my little descent-into-madness while picking this thing apart.

#Karl Heisenberg #Resident Evil #Resident Evil Village #RE assets #The Duke

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morinuu · 5 months

Text

commoner trouble

kyouya x fem!reader (1k words)

black locks fell on kyouya's set of charcoal orbs, his monolids hidden behind his glasses from the angle you were sitting. the couch began to feel uncomfortable, as if something were calling you to stand up and gently take his glasses in your hands, caressing his hair and letting him rest his head on your chest.

his eyes would finally relax and his body would ease in your arms as he'd take deep breaths to finally let go of all the stress that managing a host club and his studies brought him.

he'd sigh and relieve his eyes for a couple of minutes while you caressed him, before inevitably having to end his break and return to work.

he would. in your fantasies.

you sat in the host club's purple couch, uncomfortably staring at your classmate who was writing something on his laptop on a desk not too far away from the rest of the hosts. this was your routine.

you'd go to the club after classes, sit there for some minutes, waiting and waiting for your turn to try and make an appointment, but there was always some type of shitty excuse from the man.

"our hosts have different price ranges, you wouldn't be able to afford an appointment with me, ms. y/n." you didn't ask how he knew of your financial matters.

"i'm afraid we're all booked the entire week." his voice echoed almost void of all emotion, before he turned to another girl who wanted to re-schedule with a smile on his face.

"our prices went up this week." they hadn't, but you wouldn't know since he never actually told you the prices at all.

one stupid excuse after another and another - and you finally stopped looking for a logical explanation for his hostility. 'it's fine, you'll get your turn one day.' you told yourself each time.

you didn't ask for much really, just an appointment with ootori kyouya like every other client of his. but you hadn't considered the difference between you and them - class.

in all honestly, at first, kyouya had been indifferent to the new honour student of ouran, until he found her staring at him shamelessly throughout their classes together. he figured she'd stop soon, probably just fascinated by his looks.

but it's been four months and you won't give up.

it's not like you're harassing him. you keep your distance in class as not to make others notice, you don't ask for his help in subjects where you could seriously use it - mainly german - and you don't approach him during lunch either.

just at the host club, where you were allowed to ask for his attention as long as you paid a fee. it wasn't unfair or a difficult request, just some tea and a conversation would quench your thirst to talk to the man, to actually engage in an intelligent conversation with him.

but alas, not only did your wallet have limitations, so did kyouya's patience.

he found you... unsophisticated. vulgar, maybe improper?

he didn't express his distaste for your clothes, which were trying to replicate a male ouran school dress code since you didn't even own a yellow dress. your black trousers and white dress shirt barely looked like they were of similiar material, because they weren't. your worn out sneakers hurt his eyes when they stood out against all the neat and polished pointy dress shoes of every other student.

to his elegant and privileged world respective, you were nothing but a pitiful woman, treated like charity by the school so the public can say 'the suoh family cares for the sad common folk!'

he didn't even stop to consider how similiar you could've been to haruhi, because haruhi - as much as he refused to admit it - was a dear friend. she was nothing like you, surely. she wasn't unkept, she was always groomed and wore the uniform that she'd been given.

no, your eyes from across the room looked nothing like haruhi's. yours expressed pure admiration for a man who never bothered to say hello unless he had to.

but he'd warmed up to the other commoner, so you two must live differently.

because your neighbourhood is much sketchier than the quiet area the fujioka's lived in. your clothes are much more worn out than haruhi's, much more washed too.

but it's not like you're apart of the club or their clientele (that one's because of him) so he can't check on your life much. it's not like he cares to check either, you're just unpleasant and he blames it on your wallet. surely that's what's ticking him off.

the minutes were passing and he knew he'd have to stand up and kick you out once more, like every day you came by the club. only this time, just as he raised his head to look at you and approach you again, you'd already started walking to the exit.

what? how come?

it didn't matter, you left on your own. maybe it was a sign that after four whole months you'd stop requesting him. he turned his attention back to his laptop, not wanting to go through the trouble to check if you were really gone.

until a couple minutes later he saw a hand slam down on his small table, with some 10,000 yen bills below the hand's fingers. his gorgeous, wide, gentle, doe-like perplexed eyes found yours in a matter of seconds and his breath hitched at your determined facial expression.

"i'd like to book an appointment for ootori kyouya this thursday." you muttered a bit nervously, as if you hadn't quoted the same line over and over since the beginning of the school year.

just as he want to reject you, you pointed to the money on the table. "it's enough. i know it is. and i know you're free." your tongue played in your mouth and you looked away, intimidated by the eye contact.

he didn't know how hard you'd worked just to save up barely enough money for an appointment. how hard you tried to keep up with your studies, your exploitative part time job and your housing bills. you were embarrassed at how desperate you were just for simple chat, but it didn't matter.

because kyouya ootori had finally accepted a 35 minute appointment with y/n l/n, and you couldn't be happier.

divider by @saradika

#ohshc #kyoya #kyouya #kyoya ootori #kyouya ootori #kyoya ootori x reader #kyoya x reader #ohshc x reader #ohshc fanfic

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daytaker · 4 months

Note

hii hellooo, may i request brothers with a clown core mc? their outfits most often being very colorful but their personality being the opposite? like somewhat cold and very blunt, not talking much and if talking then it’s about something mildly disturbing like murder investigations or an odd fascination with deadly diseases stuff like that

sorry that it’s extremely specific and thank you regardless _(┐「ε:)_

Clown Anon MCs - [ Clowncore MC | Death-Fixated Science Geek MC | LeVeyan Satanist MC ]

When you first arrived, no one was sure what to think. They looked you over. Your pink hair, your cyan shorts. A yellow T-shirt and rainbow suspenders. Gaudy makeup and adorable pink tennis shoes. Beaded bracelets and necklaces and colorful tights.

And a box of smokes in your back pocket.

"Welcome to the House of Lamentation," Lucifer says, gesturing grandly at the stately mansion ahead of you.

You say nothing. Instead, you pull out a cigarette and a lighter. Taking a drag, you lazily gaze at the house, then back at your host, who looks disgusted.

"Make sure you only do that outside," he says, nodding to the box of cigarettes in your hand.

You blow a puff of smoke in his face and start walking to the door, completely ignoring the sounds of Lucifer struggling to contain his rage.

"Why's it called that?" you finally ask as you stop at the front doors. "'House of Lamentation'?"

Lucifer, having composed himself by now, steps up beside you. "This is a replica of a house from the human world," he explains. "In it, an entire family was murdered; the parents, the servant, and six of their seven sons. The seventh--"

"Ohhh. This is the Sutton house," you say, nodding.

"Excuse me?"

"The Sutton house. Massachusetts, 1923. Elijah Sutton, oldest of seven sons, runs into the local tavern screaming that his servant killed the whole family and himself. Most folks today think it was Elijah who really did it. I know I do."

You take one more drag from your cigarette, then drop it on the ground and put it out with the heel of your shoe.

"So this is their house, huh? Sick."

---

It's breakfast on your second day in the Devildom. You took extra time to apply your godawful makeup this morning, and you're sure it shows, because the brothers keep glancing at you as if they're not quite sure what they should say.

"You talk to them, Mammon," mumbles Satan. "You're their babysitter."

"Ah... ahem." Mammon casts a glare at his brother, then looks at you. "So, uh... Human." You stare at him with a dead-eyed expression that seems to unnerve him even more. "...We're goin' to RAD today, and there's a couple a things you should know." You continue staring.

Mammon looks to his brothers for help, but they all avoid eye contact. "Uhhh... Just... try not to get eaten, 'kay? Lucifer'll be pissed if you die on my watch."

"Do demons eat people?" you ask. "Like, raw?"

"Sometimes! So don't mess around with 'em, got it?"

"That's gotta be messy as fuck."

"It is!"

"You got any photos?"

"....Eh?"

---

"So I get that you're the seven deadly sins," you say to Satan, sprawled out in an armchair in the library, "but like... is that all you guys got here?"

Satan, who had been minding his own business and innocently reading a book of curses, looks irritated. "Is that all of what?"

"I dunno. Bad shit shaped like people." You shrug. "Like, you got the Four Horsemen or somethin'?"

"Of course not," Satan snaps. "That would be ridiculous."

You shrug. "Embodiment of plague? Too ridiculous to believe. Embodiment of wrath? Well, obviously that's a thing."

---

"You have to make pacts with Lucifer and his brothers," Belphie urges you through the door. You stare at him, then take a drag from your cigarette. As long as Lucifer is occupied in the music room with that weird record, you're going to break every rule in this damn house.

"How am I supposed to do that? Am I gonna split up my soul Horcrux style? Give everybody a slice?"

Belphie stares at you for a few seconds. You don't realize how badly he wishes he could kill you in this moment. "Are you going to help me or not?"

You shrug. "What do I get out of it?"

He blinks at you in utter bewilderment. "You... make me happy?"

You stare at him. He stares at you. You stare at him. He continues to stare at you.

You head back down the stairs.

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sourwolf-sterek32 · 1 year

Text

Found You- Part 2

Summary: Nearly 10 years ago, you left home after a bad incident with your parents, Rick and Lori Grimes. In that time, you married a redneck down south and started a family. But it all came crashing down when the dead started to walk.

Pairings: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 10.8k

Warnings: language, blood, brief attempted SA (nothing happens)

PART 1

A/N- Back with a part 2!! Thank you to my lovely follower who commissioned this fanfic and wanted a part 2. I really hope she likes this, and I hope you all enjoy it as well. ❤️

*6 Months Later*

The prison had fallen. Your home, your safe haven, your everything was ripped away from you within an hour.

The Governor and his soldiers arrived thirsty for revenge with a tank, which ploughed through the fences and blasted holes into the walls of your home. The prison didn't stand a chance.

You managed to escape with Rick, Carl and your youngest son Dean. But you had no idea where the others were or more importantly were Daryl, Merle and Ricky were and it was killing you.

Michonne had showed up at some point joining the four of you in your journey to some community called Terminus. There were signs placed around the area everywhere with directions on how to get there, so you hoped that Daryl and Merle would be there, and you prayed to anyone who was listening that little Ricky was with them.

"We're close. Just got to make it through another day." Rick suddenly said, breaking the silence as you sat around the campfire on the side of the road.

Carl and Dean were asleep in the abandoned car you had come across on the road. It was a good place to camp for the night, the kids safe inside the vehicle where no walkers would be able to get to them.

"If folks there are taking people in, they have to be strong. They have to have a system." He continued to say.

"I wonder if the whole thing's legit." Michonne responded while you sat there silently and stared at the flames of the campfire.

Michonne and your father continued to talk about Terminus, but you were barely listening too busy thinking about the day the prison had fallen, the day that you last saw your husband and eldest son.

"On the bus. Go!" Maggie's voice shouted across the courtyard.

You looked up from where you were taking cover behind a turned over table, Daryl and Merle right beside you, breathing heavily and reloading their assault rifles.

Maggie and a few others were ushering some of the kids into the bus, getting ready to evacuate if it came down to it, but you could only see Ricky amongst the kids, no sign of Dean anywhere.

"Cover me. I'm going to make sure the kids are on the bus." You shouted above the gunfire.

Daryl and Merle both nodded before they stood up and started returning fire at the Governors men. You didn't waste any time before you took off sprinting across the courtyard, jumping over the bodies of the fallen and around the debris the tank had caused.

Maggie was rushing out the bus as you reached it, her eyes wide and panicked as she scanned the area behind you like she was looking for something.

"Have you seen Beth?"

You shook your head, "no. Is Dean in-"

You didn't get a chance to finish that sentence before she was sprinting off in the opposite direction shouting her sisters name desperately. You stepped into the bus, your eyes raking over the kids and elderly on the seats before you spotted Ricky standing on one of the seats and looking out the window anxiously.

"Ricky, baby." You sighed, rushing down the aisle before he turned around and threw himself into your arms. You hugged your boy back tightly before you pulled away and grabbed his shoulders, holding him in front of you. "Where's your brother? Where's Dean?"

Ricky’s face paled and he glanced over his shoulder at the brick walls of the prison and your stomach dropped. Dean was still inside?

"I-I didn't want to leave without him. But the adults told us to go, and I couldn't find Dean and-and. I'm sorry. I'm s-sorry." Ricky whimpered, his eyes now swimming with tears.

"No, no, it's okay. It's not your fault. Hey, look at me, baby, it's not your fault." You insisted, cupping his face with your hand as the tears started to fall and you wiped them away with your thumb. "I need you to be brave for me, okay? I need you to wait here and I will go and get your brother."

Ricky nodded, biting his trembling bottom lip in effort not to cry before you leant forward and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"I will be right back."

You spared one last glance at your son before you ran back out the bus and sprinted towards the main door of the prison.

"Dean!" You shouted, rushing inside and searching high and low for him. "Dean, where are you?!"

You checked the cafeteria first, then the shower block, but Dean was nowhere to be seen.

The cellblock was next. He wasn't in the cell that he shared with Ricky. He wasn’t in yours and Daryl's cell either and that was when you really started to panic. You began to check every single cell, throwing back all the blankets and sheets trying to find him.

"Dean! Where are you?" You shouted desperately.

"Mummy?"

You spun around so fast, nearly giving yourself whiplash in the process before you spotted your son peeking out from the door to the cell at the far end of the room. Merle's cell. Of course, he was hiding in there.

"Dean!" You rushed over and dropped to your knees in front of him, cupping his face with your hands and searching his body for any injuries, but he seemed to be fine. "Thank God. C'mon, we need to go."

You scooped Dean up in your arms and rushed back outside to put him in the bus with the other kids, but the bus was gone. It wasn't parked in the courtyard anymore. It was gone, which meant Ricky was also gone.

"No, no, no, no, no. No!" You screamed, shaking your head in denial.

This couldn't be happening. No. This couldn't be fucking happening. Your boys were gone.

"W-what's happenin'?" Dean whimpered, getting upset that you were upset.

"It-it's okay. Everything's okay." You reassured, despite the fact that your eyes were filled with tears, and it most definitely wasn't okay.

You frantically looked around taking in the carnage and destruction left over from the fight, but there was no more fighting. The gunshots had seized, and the army tank was quite literally on fire. You couldn't see any people, yours nor the Governor, but there were walkers. Lots of walkers.

The gunfire and explosions having drawn them in from the woods. Everyone must have already evacuated, there were too many walkers to fight, and the prison was destroyed. They had all left.

"Y/N!" Carls voice suddenly shouted.

You looked to your left to find him struggling to hold Rick who was leaning heavily against him.

Shit.

You sprinted over to them, shifting Dean onto your right hip before hooking your father’s other arm around your shoulder, helping take the weight from Carl. Ricks face was busted up, bloodied and bruised, the Governor having done serious damage. You hoped he had killed that son of a bitch, but you didn't ask, you had bigger things to worry about.

"Did you see where the bus went?" You quickly questioned, looking between them.

"No, was Judith on the bus?" Carl asked, grunting as the two of you helped Rick across the courtyard.

Shit. Judith wasn't on the bus, and you didn't see her in the prison either. Where the hell was she?

"I didn't see her. Where's Daryl and Merle?" You asked, but Carl shrugged his shoulders.

Maybe they had gotten on the bus before it left?

"We-we need to get out of here." Rick stuttered, his voice sounding as pained as he probably felt right now.

You nodded in agreement, the three of you picking up the pace and heading for the gap in the fence towards the woods, but out of nowhere, Rick suddenly stopped walking and was staring at something on the ground in the distance.

"What are..." Your voice died in your throat when you saw what it was.

Judith’s baby basket.

It was sitting on the ground in the middle of the courtyard, but it wasn't exactly empty. It was full of blood. Fresh blood. Oh, dear God.

You felt like you were going to be sick as tears burned in your eyes, but you couldn't look away from it no matter how badly you tried.

Judith was dead. Your baby sister was dead.

Your father and brother were both crying. Your arm tightened around Ricks waist as he leant more into your side while he sobbed. It was a different kind of pain hearing your fathers cry like that. He was always the strong one, the one that never broke, but seeing him like this broke your heart and you couldn't stop yourself from crying either.

"Hey, Y/N? Y/N?" Rick's voice called out, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You blinked, bringing yourself back to the present as you looked over at your father who was eyeing you worriedly.

"Sorry, what?" You asked.

"We're going to find the others. You know that, right? Ricky too. They're probably already at Terminus right now waiting for us."

You appreciated his words and knew he was only trying to reassure you, but you also knew that wasn't guaranteed. The others might not be at Terminus and if they weren't, then what? How were you ever meant to find Daryl? Or what if Daryl and Merle were at Terminus but Ricky wasn't with them?

"Hey." Rick said gently, leaning over and grabbing your shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

You took in a deep shaky breath and nodded while fighting back the tears you could feel starting to rise at your fathers' words. It was something so simple, the reassurance and kindness of a father, but it was something that you had spent years without. You had missed it. You had missed him so much.

"Dad... what if they're not there?" You asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't. Don't think like that."

"But-"

"If there is one thing I know about those Dixon brothers, it's that they always find a way to come back. They're kinda like a cockroach if you think about it. No matter how hard you try to kill them, they just keep coming back." Rick explained with a soft chuckle causing you to smile.

"Especially Merle. He's the slipperiest cockroach of them all. Getting shot by the Governor didn't stop him from coming back." Michonne added.

That was true. They always did find a way back. Even when Merle went after the Governor all those months ago and Daryl tracked him down by himself, they both came back. Merle was bleeding from a gunshot wound, but he still made it back. They both did.

"Oh, dearie me." A males voice suddenly said.

That voice was close. Really fucking close.

You jumped to your feet in an instant, pulling out your handgun and rushing to the car where Dean and Carl were, to protect them from whoever had snuck up on you guys. However, you only reached the hood of the car before a man suddenly stepped out from the shadows and blocked your path.

You quickly pointed your gun at him, but he didn't seem threatened in the slightest. Instead, he started to grin from ear to ear, showing off his crooked yellow teeth under the moonlight.

"You screwed up, asshole. You hear me? You screwed up." The same voice from earlier said.

You spared a quick glance over your shoulder and your stomach dropped when you realised how many of them there were. You were outnumbered, and out gunned.

A man wearing what looked to be a biker denim vest was leaning beside Rick. He had a handgun pressed to your father’s temple while one man stood behind Michonne, a gun to her head and two others stood across the campfire, some kind of assault rifles in their hands and aimed at the three of you.

You quickly turned back to the big man in front of you, his sickening grin still as wide and as disturbing as before.

"Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe." The man who you figured was the leader continued to say.

"Everyone drop your guns, or I shoot your buddy between the eyes." You threatened, finger resting on the trigger as you took a step to the side so you could see everyone else as well as keeping your sights on the big man.

The leader glanced over at you in clear amusement before he looked back down at your father.

"You might wanna tell your girl over there to lower her gun."

Rick didn't dare move his head, not when the tip of a barrel was still pressed against his temple, but his wide panicked eyes shifted over to you.

You yanked your hunting knife from the sheath on your belt and swapped hands with your gun. Within a blink of an eye, the blade of your knife was pressed to the big man’s neck and your handgun was in your non-dominant hand and aimed at their leader.

"You might wanna lower yours first." You shot back.

The man laughed, but it wasn't a normal laugh, it was forced, it was angry, and you didn't like it.

"We have you five to one."

You tilted your head, "I like those odds."

The man seemed taken back by your words, but before he could say or do anything, a voice you feared that you'd never hear again suddenly cut through the still night air.

"Joe!"

Daryl Dixon suddenly stepped out from the woods across the road, his crossbow hanging loosely in his hand by his side. He wasn't looking at this 'Joe' though, his eyes were glued to yours and yours only.

Those ocean blues were torn between relief and panic before he looked over at Rick, eyeing the gun to his head cautiously.

"Hold up. Just hold up." Daryl continued to say.

"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about." One of the guys across the campfire suddenly said.

"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time. Say your piece, Daryl." The leader -Joe- instructed.

"These people, you're gonna let 'em go. These are good people."

"Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that. I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friend here strangled him in a bathroom." Joe responded.

Oh, crap.

Rick had told you about that, but you didn't think the guy’s group would track you down.

"You want blood, I get it." Daryl said, dropping his crossbow before holding his arms out to the side. "Take it from me, man. Come on."

What the hell was he doing? Was he trying to get himself killed?

"This man killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie!"

Suddenly one of the men turned on Daryl and slammed the butt of his rifle into your husband’s stomach. Daryl doubled over with a grunt of pain before the other man joined in and they both started to punch him.

"Teach him, fellas. Teach him all the way." Joe encouraged.

"No!" You screamed, shifting the sights of your gun at the two men attacking Daryl.

You were so focused on those other men, you had momentarily forgotten about the big man beside you. The blade of your hunting knife had shifted away from his neck, and he used your distraction to his advantage.

Within a blink of an eye, the big man yanked the knife from your grasp before grabbing you by your wild hair and throwing you backwards. There was nothing you could do to stop yourself from hitting the bitumen, hard. The gun tumbled from your hand as you landed on your side, skidding across the road from the sheer force of the throw.

Road rash covered your left arm. Your skin broken and bleeding, but you couldn't feel it. You weren't sure if you could feel it even if you wanted to because you were zeroed in on one thing, and one thing only, the big man who was now opening the car door to get to Dean and Carl.

"No!" You screamed, springing to your feet and slamming the man into the car door, effectively shutting it in the process.

You could hear Dean crying from inside the vehicle and you spared a quick glance through the window to find Carl holding your son trying to comfort him.

"Fucking bitch." The man hissed, his head apparently heaving hit the roof of the car from your shove as he turned to face you, his nose now heavily bleeding.

Oh, he was angry.

There was nothing you could do to stop the hand that came your way. He grabbed you by the collar of your shirt and swung you around before pinning you against the hood of the car.

You grunted at the hard impact and tried to thrash out of his grip, but he had stepped up against you, his body pinning you down against the hood, making it impossible to move.

"You leave her be!" Rick furiously shouted in the background somewhere, but there was nothing he could do.

The other two men were still beating Daryl over the other side of the car. You couldn't see him from where you were, but you could hear the punches and grunts. They were going to beat him to death.

You tried to kick the man out from behind you, you tried to throw your elbow back to hit him, but he had you pinned down well. You weren't getting out of this.

"Listen, it was me. It was just me!" Rick continued to shout.

"See, that's right. That's not some damn lie." Joe responded. "Look, we can settle this. We're reasonable men. First, we're gonna beat Daryl to death. Then we'll have your two girls. Then the boys. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square."

Nope. That is not going to happen.

You thrashed against the hood of the car, trying again to get free and although it was pointless, you kept trying.

"Stop your squirming." He laughed from behind you, his hand reaching up and starting to lift your shirt.

"Get the fuck off me!" You yelled, but that only made the man laugh even more.

Suddenly, a gunshot fired nearby, halting the man's hand on your shirt instantly. Dread filled your stomach as you tilted your head to the side in fear, expecting the worst.

Joe took a stumbling step away from Rick, holding his bloodied nose, and it wasn't hard to figure out that your father must have headbutted him. Rick quickly got to his feet and punched Joe, but Joe punched him back just as hard, sending your father to the ground in one hit.

"I got him." Joe declared, reassuring his men before he kicked Rick in the stomach. "Oh, it's gonna be so much worse now. Come on, get up!"

The hood of the car suddenly shifted under you, and you looked up to find Daryl now being pinned against it on the other side, the men still punching him repeatedly.

"No! Stop!" You screamed, watching helplessly as he got beat.

"Get away from her before I-" Rick started to shout before Joe cut him off.

"What the hell are you gonna do now, sport?"

You yanked and thrashed in the man’s grip as you looked back over at your father to find Joe now practically hugging Rick to his chest, pinning him down. You, Daryl and Rick now all pinned down while Michonne sat with a gun trained to her head.

This was it.

This was how it ended.

Then, Rick suddenly bit down into Joe's throat causing the man to cry out in pain before Rick pulled his head back, taking out a chunk of flesh from Joe's neck. Blood sprayed everywhere from the literal hole in his neck before his body dropped to the ground.

Rick spat the mouthful out, blood dripping down his mouth, staining his beard and the once white woollen collar of his jacket a bright crimson red.

The man behind you had stopped, clearly having watched the whole thing happen too. Your father stood there for a moment, staring down at Joe's body, clearly shocked with what he had just done.

Michonne and Daryl were quick to use the bad guy’s distraction to their advantage, taking them down easily. The man holding you suddenly dug his fingers into the back of your dirty blonde hair and yanked you off the hood of the car before holding you in front of him, pressing the blade of your own hunting to knife to your throat.

Great, he was using your own knife against you.

Michonne quickly pointed her gun at him, but the guy was using you as a human shield. She was a good shot, but you did not trust her enough to take this kind of shot.

"Let her go." She ordered, glaring at the man behind you.

His grip only tightened on you, the knife digging into your neck a little harder causing you to wince.

"He's mine." Rick growled.

Your father suddenly marched straight past Michonne and the man behind you gasped in fear, his body now trembling as he stared at Ricks animalistic rageful eyes.

Suddenly, the man let go of you, pushing you back into the car as he took a few shaky steps backwards as if to surrender before Rick speared his knife straight into his neck.

You quickly stepped in front of the car door window, blocking Dean and Carl's view of your father. You found yourself unable to look away as Rick yanked the knife out before slicing it through his neck once again, blood gushing out the wounds like a waterfall.

"Y/N? Sweetheart, shit, are you okay? Sweetheart, are you okay?" Daryl's voice suddenly questioned before he appeared in front of you, snapping your attention away from your father.

Daryl's face was a mess with reddening bruises and blood, but he didn't seem phased by his own injuries. He was too busy scanning your body up and down, searching you for injuries. His eyes hovered over your left arm which you hadn't even looked yet, but you knew it wasn't bad.

You could still hear Rick stabbing the man behind Daryl. The sound of the blade slicing through flesh and blood irreplaceable in the now silent night. He just kept stabbing, and stabbing, and stabbing the man, but you didn't try to stop him. He needed to unleash his anger somehow, so you let him go.

Daryl's blue eyes met yours with a questioning look, and you realised that all this time, you hadn't said anything or answered his questions. You had been too caught up in your own head to notice.

"I-I'm okay." You stuttered, still a little shaken after everything that just happened. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, but you knew that was bullshit. By tomorrow morning his face was going to be covered in bruises, but you knew Daryl was no stranger to that.

Rick eventually stood up and dropped the blood laced knife to the ground before he glanced over at you, and you met your fathers gaze over Daryl's shoulder.

His eyes had a faraway look about them, like he wasn't entirely there after what he had just did, but there was a flash of concern amongst the rage brewing inside of him.

"I'm good. Dad, I swear. I'm okay." You reassured, knowing that was what he was worried about.

Rick hesitated for a second, like he wasn't sure if he should believe you or not before he glanced at Daryl and seemed to realise that you were in capable hands before he simply nodded and turned away, walking off into the woods.

"Wait-" You quickly said, side stepping around Daryl to go after him before Michonne grabbed your shoulder.

"Let him go. He needs to cool down. He'll be back."

You wanted to disagree with that. Not liking the thought of him being out there alone in the dark after all of this, but you knew Michonne was right, your father wouldn't have walked off if he didn't need the space, you had to respect that.

Michonne gave you a small reassuring smile before she walked over to the car and opened the door. Carl was quick to climb out, and instantly hugged the other woman. Michonne seemed taken back by the sudden display of affection, but she quickly hugged him nonetheless.

Little Dean fearfully stuck his head out the car door and you quickly dropped to your knees in front of him, taking in his tear-streaked face and terrified eyes.

God, you hoped he hadn't seen all of that.

"Holy shit, Dean!" Daryl gasped, shock and utter relief filling his voice.

Deans scared eyes suddenly lit up hearing his father's voice and his head snapped up in Daryl's direction, those little almond shaped hazel eyes widening into saucers.

"Daddy!"

Your heart melted watching Dean climb out the car and practically throw himself into Daryl's arms who had only just crouched down before having to catch the five-year-old.

"H-how? I... I thought he was on the bus?" Daryl whispered, tilting his head up to you in shock, his eyes shimmering with tears before he looked back down at the boy in his arms. "I thought you were on the bus. 'N when I checked the bus and ya weren't there, I thought..."

He thought Dean was dead.

Daryl thought his son was dead. These past two weeks he had thought little Merle Dean was dead, but he wasn't He was right here, and you felt yourself tearing up just watching him hold his son.

"Wait." You suddenly said, realisation hitting you like a truck. "You checked the bus? Was Ricky still-"

Daryl smiled through his tears before he stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, cutting your sentence off.

You frowned in confusion and opened your mouth to ask what the fuck that was, but then you heard it.

"Mummy! Mummy!"

Your heart just about stopped at the familiar voice before you spun around to find Ricky running out from behind a tree across the road.

"Oh my God." You gasped, sprinting the remaining distance to your son before you bent down and lifted him up into your arms, hugging him tightly.

"Daddy told me to hide in the trees and to not come out until he whistled. I did it." Ricky said proudly, his little arms wrapped tightly around your neck.

"You did, baby. You did so good." You sobbed, unable to hold your tears back as you held him. "I missed you. I missed you so much."

"Ricky!" Dean suddenly squealed.

Hearing his little brothers voice had Ricky snapping into action. He let go of your neck and began to wriggle in your arms, wanting to be put down. The last thing you wanted to do was let go of him, but you forced yourself to do it as you gently lowered your eldest son to the ground.

The second his shoes hit the ground, he took off sprinting to the car where Daryl was still crouched, holding Dean, but he quickly released the other boy, and you watched through silent tears as the brothers reunited and entangled themselves together in a big hug.

Daryl got to his feet and walked back over to you, not saying a word before he snaked his arm around your waist and pulled you into his side. His warm, gentle hands were comforting, they were safe, and you allowed yourself to be manhandled before you leant your head against his shoulder.

Silent tears were still trickling down your face, your eyes glued to your sons who were hugging one another before you wrapped your arms around Daryl's stomach and hugged him too.

"We're okay, sweetheart. We're all okay." Daryl whispered, kissing the top of your head. "I love ya."

You awoke the following morning inside the safety of the car. Carl and Michonne were both passed out in the front seats while Ricky and Dean were curled up on the backseat, their heads resting in your lap.

"We should save it to drink." You heard your father say from somewhere outside the car.

"You can't see yourself, Y/N and the kids can." Came Daryl's reply.

You glanced out through the window of the car to find Rick sitting down against the front wheel of the car, using Daryl's red rag to wipe the dried blood from his face before Daryl sat down beside him.

You turned your attention back to the two boys in your lap, drowning out Daryl and Ricks conversation about Beth, who, by the sound of it, didn't make it.

Ricky began to stir a little in his sleep before his bright blue eyes fluttered open and he smiled sleepily at you.

"Hi, baby." You whispered, resting your hand on the side of his face and brushing his cheek with your thumb gently. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when it's time to go."

Ricky nodded ever so slightly before his eyes slipped shut again and he rolled over, shifting closer to his brother who was still out like a log.

"I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough." Daryl continued to say quietly from outside.

"And you were alone." Rick reminded him.

Carefully, you shifted your sons heads out of your lap before quietly opening your car door, not wanting to wake them or Michonne and Carl who seemed to be making the most of this rare sleep-in opportunity.

"They said they were lookin' for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. I was hangin' back. I was gonna leave... but, I thought I heard Y/N shout. That's when I saw it was you guys. Right when ya saw me. I didn't know what they could do."

Daryl's voice was heavy with shame, the same way his guilt was weighing down upon his shoulders. He blamed himself for what happened. He felt responsible for it all.

"It's not on you, Daryl." Rick insisted, but Daryl refused to look at him. "Hey. It's not on you. You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother."

You quietly closed the car door behind yourself, successfully getting out without waking anyone before you walked around the vehicle to find the two of them still sitting against the front wheel and looking out at the woods ahead. Their poker faces were terrible, you could see the emotion washing over the two of them from that conversation, but neither of them wanted to show it.

"I think you mean, son-in-law." You piped up, trying to lighten the mood.

"Jesus." Rick exhaled with a chuckle as he tilted his head up towards you. "We were having a moment here."

"By sitting side-by-side and staring straight ahead? What a touching moment." You teased causing Daryl to snort softly in amusement. "You guys okay though?" You asked seriously.

They both gave you a small nod, although you suspected that neither of them would admit if they weren't okay, so it was a stupid question really.

You sat down beside Daryl, leaning your back against the frame of the car before reaching over and grabbing his hand, lacing your fingers together before shifting your hands into your lap.

Daryl didn't say anything, he simply let you hold his hand in silence as the three of you sat there together.

"Merle?" You asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

Daryl shrugged, "went to get Ricky out the bus. By the time I came back, he was gone. Haven't seen him since."

Shit.

Daryl's head quickly turned to you, and you could practically see the light bulb shining brightly above his head at the sudden thought or idea he had just gotten.

He glanced over at Rick almost cautiously, but your father was too busy staring down at his blood-stained hands to notice the look. Daryl quickly turned back to you before mouthing the words, 'Judith?' and your heart shattered.

You bit your lip and silently shook your head, willing the tears you could feel coming to stay back as Daryl’s expression dropped. His own heart shattering, but he didn't say anything. He didn't react loudly, seeming to realise that it would be bad to bring that topic up in front of Rick.

"Merle is probably at Terminus." You suddenly said, wanting to change the topic to something positive.

"He will be, and we should get a move on if we wanna make it before sundown." Rick pointed out, and the two of you nodded in agreement.

Later that day, the group of you were walking straight into Terminus after hiding a duffle bag of weapons in the woods for backup. You wandered straight through the back gate without being stopped and entered some kind of old building where a group of people were seated at tables and seemed to be drawing up maps.

"Hello." Rick called out, announcing your presence.

Everyone in the room froze at the unexpected voice before a man sighed and dropped his paint brush onto the table.

"Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch. You here to rob us?"

"No. We wanted to see you before you saw us."

"Usually we do this where the tracks meet." The man continued to say, stepping out from around the table to walk over to you. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth."

You stood back in silence letting your father do all the talking with Gareth and before you knew it, a man named Alex was giving you all a guided tour around the community.

It wasn't until you got outside to what seemed to be an outdoor cafeteria type area, where someone was cooking a barbeque that it all came crashing down.

Michonne, Alex and the woman behind the barbeque were talking while you scanned your surroundings and the people in the area before your eyes landed on a man wearing prison armour.

Where the hell did he get that from?

You kept looking around, noting all the fresh gardens and tables set up under large umbrellas where a few people were sitting and eating. But then you saw something that you'd never misplace.

Daryl's poncho.

A woman sitting at one of those tables was wearing his poncho. It was his. You knew it was his because it had that little hole by the bottom left where Ricky had burnt it while playing with Uncle Merle's lighter without permission.

How the fuck did this random person get Daryl’s poncho? How did that other guy have prison riot armour?

Alarm bells were starting to go off in your head. All of this was just one giant red flag, and you couldn't ignore it.

You adjusted your hold on Dean who was resting on your hip before you took a step forward until you were between Daryl and Rick, both of them looking around the area on high alert.

"Not to alarm anyone, but that guy is in prison armour and that chick is wearing your poncho. How?" You asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

Both Daryl and Rick suddenly turned tense in realisation, their heads snapping in those people’s direction.

Okay, good. So, you weren’t just being paranoid. It isn't just a coincidence.

Rick suddenly marched forward just as Alex went to hand Michonne a plate of grilled meat. Your father smacked the food out Alex's hand and grabbed the man, wrapping his arm around Alex's neck and holding his back against his chest with a gun to the side of his head.

In an instant, you drew your handgun from the holster on your hip, aiming at other people in the area who had already raised their own weapons at the group of you.

"Ricky, behind me. Now." You ordered, not taking your eyes off the armed people in front of you.

You felt Ricky grab onto the back of your pants, hiding behind your legs before you glanced over at Daryl to find him with his crossbow raised, Michonne and Carl also following suit with their guns.

"Where the hell did you get this watch?" Rick questioned, and you only just realised that he pulled out a silver pocket watch from Alex's pocket which you assumed belonged to someone at the prison.

"You want answers? You want anything else? You get them when you put down the gun." Alex responded.

"I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle. How good's his aim?"

You quickly glanced over at the roof to find that there was in fact a man on the roof with a scoped rifle. Shit. How did you not notice him earlier?

You quickly shifted your sights onto the man on the roof, trusting Daryl, Michonne and Carl to have the others under control. Your fingers rested against the trigger as you aimed at him with one hand, the other firmly holding Dean to your side.

"Where did you get the watch?" Rick repeated sternly.

Alex began yelling at the sniper to lower the weapon and not do anything. To your surprise the man listened and lowered the sniper, but you kept your handgun aimed in his direction not taking any chances.

"I got it off a dead one. I didn't think he'd need it." Alex tried to say, his shaky hands raised in surrender, but Rick didn't remove the gun from the side of his head.

"What about the riot gear? The poncho?" You questioned, not bothering to look at the man as you spoke, keeping your sights on the sniper.

"Got the riot gear off a dead cop." Gareth's voice suddenly answered. You quickly spun around with your gun raised to find the other man standing directly behind you. "Found the poncho on a clothesline."

"Bullshit. That is my husband's poncho. Try again."

Gareth eyed you cautiously, staring down the barrel of your gun before he glanced over at Rick, dismissing you completely.

"What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore." Gareth simply responded before turning his attention over to your father. "Rick, what do you want?"

You kept your gun trained on Gareth while Rick spoke with him before Gareth suddenly raised his hand to signal someone and Rick fired his gun without warning.

It all happened so quickly.

Dean and Ricky both screamed in fright, and you looked over at your father realising that he had just killed Alex. A second later, gunfire erupted, and you quickly turned around to shoot Gareth, but the man had vanished.

Shit.

You turned your body to the side, trying to shield Dean in your arms and Ricky hiding behind your body as you returned fire at the other people. Daryl suddenly picked up Ricky in his arms before you all took off running away from the gunfire.

Dean was whimpering in your arms, his body trembling as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. You wanted to comfort him, to reassure him that everything would be okay, but with the bullets raining down on you, now was not the time for that.

After a few seconds of running, it became apparent that those people weren't shooting to kill you, they were shooting by your feet. They were shooting at the ground trying to herd you in whatever direction they wanted you to go in.

Oh, that couldn't be good.

"They want us to go this way. They're shooting at our feet!" You shouted above the gunfire.

"We don't have a choice, keep running!" Rick shouted back.

As suspected, they herded you guys like damn sheep in a pen and before you knew it, you were trapped out in the open between a tall, barbed wire fence and a large warehouse building, nothing but an old train cart to your left.

"Drop your weapons! Now!" Gareth shouted.

You looked up to find him now standing on the roof of the warehouse, another man beside him with an assault rifle aimed at you all.

Damnit, how the hell is this guy everywhere?

"Now!" He repeated when none of you moved.

You glanced around trying to find a way out, but you were trapped between the fence and warehouse that was lined with men with guns aimed at you all. There was nowhere to go.

Daryl looked over at you, his bruised but fearful eyes locking with yours before he dropped his crossbow to the ground and lowered Ricky down beside him. Rick looked between you all, his mind working overtime trying to think of a way out of this, but you knew there wasn't one.

Slowly, you lowered your handgun to the ground before putting Dean down as well, wanting your hands to be free in case you had to fight.

The second Dean was on the ground, Ricky rushed over before Daryl could stop him and he quickly grabbed his brother protectively and pulled him behind you, both of them grabbing onto the back of your pants for safety.

Rick, Michonne and Carl all lowered their weapons as well, none of them looking happy about it.

"Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go." Gareth suddenly instructed.

There was a train cart on your left with the letter 'A' spray painted on the side. He wanted Rick to go inside there? Great, perfect. This was not going to end well.

"You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies, and you end up in there anyway." Gareth further explained, noticing your fathers hesitation.

Rick glanced over at you and Carl for a brief moment, giving you both a small nod before he began to walk towards the train cart.

"Now the archer."

Like Rick, Daryl hesitated. He didn't want to leave you and the boys out here when there were several men on roofs with guns aimed directly at you. You gave him a small nod of encouragement, despite not wanting him to leave you either. But you also knew that if you pissed off Gareth and didn't do as he said, it wouldn’t end well.

Daryl sighed, but started to follow Rick.

"Now the samurai." Gareth instructed a few seconds later. Michonne glared up at him but obeyed. "Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, in that order."

"My kids!" Rick shouted, not taking his eyes off you and Carl as Daryl and Michonne lined up behind him in front of the door to the train cart.

Gareth looked back down at you and although it was hard to see his face from all the way up on the roof of the warehouse, you could see that he was grinning.

"I am not going anywhere without these boys." You stated sternly, your hands behind your back, holding onto your sons as you glanced over at Carl who took a few steps closer to you, his brown eyes filled with terror.

"Relax, mama bear. You and the three boys can go."

Carl quickly grabbed Ricky’s hand while you picked up Dean and you hurriedly walked in the direction of the train cart.

"Ringleader, open the door and go in." Gareth shouted from the roof.

"I'll go in with them." Rick shouted back, not taking his eyes off you and Carl as you walked over to them.

"Don't make us kill the girl now."

Ricks face twisted in anger. He glanced at the door to the train cart before glancing back at you, not wanting to go inside when you and Carl weren't there yet, but seemed to realise he didn't have a choice.

You watched as Rick climbed up the steps before he pulled open the door to the train cart before stepping inside, Daryl and Michonne following before you and Carl reached the steps.

"Go." You said, nodding at Carl to go inside first.

He nodded, his hand still holding Ricky’s as he slowly walked up the steps with his nephew and stepped inside before you followed. Daryl instantly stepped in front of you, his hand cupping the side of your face before he looked down at Dean in your arms when suddenly the door behind you slammed shut.

It was dark inside. The only light was streaming in through the small gaps in the door barely lighting up the cart. You could see Daryl in front of you though, his eyes never leaving yours, like he had been afraid that he would never see you again after getting momentarily separated.

"It's okay." You whispered, grabbing his hand with your free one before glancing over at Ricky who was still clutching Carl’s hand tightly.

"Rick?" A voice suddenly questioned.

Wait. That voice... you knew that voice.

You turned around and had to do a double take when a couple figures stepped out from the shadows at the far end of the train cart and your jaw dropped when you realised who they were.

Glenn and Maggie.

Holy shit, they were alive.

"You're here." Rick responded, sounding as shocked as you were.

A few other people suddenly emerged from the darkness, two familiar faces, Sasha and Bob, but the other men and women were strangers, although Maggie and Glenn didn't seem worried about them.

"They're our friends. They helped save us." Maggie explained, like she could somehow read your mind.

"Yeah." Daryl nodded, his hand still holding yours. "Now they're friends of ours."

"For however long that'll be." The big redhaired man muttered, shaking his head before he turned away.

"No." Rick stated, shaking his head causing the man to turn back towards him. "They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out."

Your father walked over to the door, peaking through the small gap as the redhaired man stepped forward, "find out what?"

“They're screwing with the wrong people."

Nobody slept a wink that night, minus Ricky and Dean. Those little boys could sleep anywhere if they wanted to. The rest of you stayed up talking, Daryl telling Maggie about Beth, Glenn introducing you to Tara, Rosita, Abraham and Eugene.

They seemed like decent people, Eugene was a little strange, but was nice enough and Maggie and Glenn vouched for them, so that was all you cared about.

The group of you made weapons out of anything that you could. Gareth had apparently stripped the others of all their weapons, but you still had your hunting knife on your belt and pocketknife. The knives were used to carve wood out from the side of the cart, shaving off the tips and making them into weapons.

Carl helped as well, but also sat in the corner with Ricky and Dean, keeping your boy’s company and trying to distract them from how scary this whole thing must be for them.

"Alright, got four of 'em pricks comin' our way." Daryl announced from where he was keeping watch through the gap in the door.

"Ricky, Dean, you two stay right there, okay? Don't move." You instructed, looking over at your boys who were still sitting in the corner.

They both nodded, but Ricky must have sensed the urgency in your voice because he reached over and grabbed his little brother’s hand to make sure Dean didn't try and move.

You turned back to Daryl who had stepped away from the door, and you handed him your hunting knife. He took it with a nod of appreciation before you pulled out your pocketknife, flicking the blade out with your thumb.

"Y'all know what to do. Go for their eyes first. Then their throats." Rick instructed.

"Put your backs to the walls on either end of the car, now!" A male’s voice shouted from outside.

None of you listened. You all huddled around the door with your weapons raised ready to attack the second that door got pulled open. But then a hatch suddenly opened in the roof, daylight streaming down at you all.

You squinted at the bright light, unable to see what was up there before something suddenly fell through the hole and clanged onto the ground. You looked down in confusion and your stomach dropped when you saw the silver device by your feet.

Oh, fuck.

"Move!" Abraham's voice boomed through the cart.

Daryl grabbed your arm, yanking you away from the canister before shielding your body with his just as it exploded with a loud bang.

The force of the explosion sent you and Daryl to the ground. Your body crashed into the hard floor. In the back of your mind, you acknowledged that the explosive had been some kind of stun or gas grenade and nothing lethal, but that little piece of information was useless right now as you laid on the ground quite literally stunned and ears ringing loudly.

You blinked, trying to get your head straight as you glanced around, the entire cart filled with white smoke as you cough and spluttered. Your vision was blurry, but you could see Daryl lying on the ground beside you, not fairing much better.

Your body wouldn’t cooperate as you tried to move, your limps feeling numb as you tilted your head to the side and allowed yourself to relax slightly when you spotted your sons across the cart. Ricky was covering Deans body with his own, shielding his little brother from the explosion.

Suddenly, the door to the cart slid open, and you watched helplessly as a group of men marched inside and started to drag some of you out.

"Daddy!" Dean cried, peeking out from behind Ricky to see his father being hauled away by the men in riot armour.

"No!" You yelled, staggering up onto shaky feet and reaching for Daryl who seemed to be unconscious in the man’s arms. "Let him go!"

You rushed forward, your head spinning and ears still ringing from the explosion, but then something hard slammed into the side of your head and the last thing you heard was Rick screaming, "don't touch her!" before everything turned black.

"My dad's gonna be back. They all are."

That was the first thing you registered when you started to wake up. The second being what sounded like screams and gunfire in the distance.

What the hell was going on?

"They are. And we need to get ready to fight when they do." A different voice said. A voice you knew.

Maggie.

Slowly, you blinked your eyes open to find that you were laying on the floor of the train cart with two sets of familiar eyes looking down at you in worry.

"Mummy! You're awake!" Dean said happily, plonking himself down on top of you in a hug.

You grunted at the sudden impact before Ricky hugged you as well and you laid there for a moment and wrapped your arms around your sons holding them against your chest.

They were okay. Your boys were okay.

Maggie suddenly stepped into your line of sight, hovering above you almost worriedly.

"What happened?" You asked, your voice coming out weaker than you expected before you cleared your throat and tried again. "What happened?"

"They took Glenn, Rick, Daryl and Bob. But there was an explosion not long ago and now it sounds like a war outside. We're not sure what's going on. Can you stand?"

Ricky must have been listening because he suddenly let you go before he grabbed his brother and pulled him off you, giving you room to sit up as you looked around. The others were all sitting and standing around, everyone's eyes on you.

You could hear the sound of walkers above the rapid gunfire, their distinct growls and snarls coming from outside the train cart.

Maggie held her hand out and helped you to your feet before Carl walked over and handed your pocketknife back to you which he must have found on the ground.

"Thanks." You said, taking the knife before suddenly the door to the train cart opened and Rick stood in the doorway.

"Come on! Fight to the fence!" He shouted, briefly looking at you all before he turned and began shooting walkers with what appeared to be an AK-47 in his hands.

Where the hell did he get that from?

Everyone hurried out through the open door before you could even move, but Daryl pushed past them and stepped inside the cart, his wide panicked eyes frantically searching the small space before he saw you standing beside the kids.

"You good?" He quickly asked, rushing forward and grabbing the side of your face, gently tilting your head to the side to look at the bruise on your forehead from the hit that knocked you out.

You grabbed his hand and lowered it from your face, "I'm good. Let's get out of here."

Daryl nodded, before he picked up Dean in his arms and you grabbed Ricky’s hand with your free one and you rushed out the train cart where the others were fighting the herd of walkers.

Shit, there were a lot of them.

"Y/N!" Rick's voice suddenly shouted.

You looked up and only just had enough time to catch the assault rifle he tossed your way.

"You hold onto the back of my shirt, and you don't let go, understand?" You instructed, looking down at Ricky who frantically nodded, grabbing the bottom of your shirt in a vice like grip.

Daryl was taking out walkers with a metal pipe in one hand while holding Dean to his chest with the other and you quickly raised your rifle and began shooting at the walkers, taking them out one by one.

"This way! C'mon!" Your fathers voice shouted.

The group of you ploughed your way through the herd of the dead, clearing a path until you reached the tall, barred wire fence that lined the community. Abraham and Rosita found an old blanket and threw it over the top of the fence to cover the sharp barbs.

Everyone began throwing themselves over the tall fence with Abraham’s help.

"You keep shooting, I'll get Ricky over the fence." Michonne instructed.

You glanced over your shoulder and nodded at your son to go with Michonne who quickly picked him up and rushed over to the fence where Daryl was lifting Dean over to someone on the other side.

Satisfied that your boys were in safe hands, you turned around to find a group of men appearing up on the rooftops of the warehouse, giving you deja vu.

"Y/N!" Your father shouted for backup, raising his rifle towards the men.

"I see them." You responded, wedging the butt of the rifle into your shoulder before you looked through the scope.

The crosshairs were moving all over the place as you tried to hold the gun still, but your hands were shaking too much, so you just squeezed the trigger and shot in their general direction. It seemed to work though because after a few seconds, they were all dead.

You and Rick turned your sights onto the walkers that were getting closer and closer, their rotten bodies stumbling through the courtyard towards you all.

You began to shoot at them too, trying to buy the others time to get over the fence before your gun suddenly clicked, the bullets no longer firing.

"I'm out of ammo!" You called out, dropping the rifle and drawing your pocketknife back out.

"Get over the fence, I'll cover you!" Rick shouted, stepping in front of you protectively while he kept shooting at the walkers.

You hurried back over to the fence just as Abraham helped the last person over and you glanced over your shoulder, "Dad, c'mon!"

Abraham helped you over the fence, making quick work of it before you landed on the other side where the others were all waiting. Rick landed beside you a moment later, stumbling a little failing to get his footing before you grabbed the collar of his jacket and steadied him.

"Thanks." He sighed, breathlessly, resting his hand over yours just as Abraham hauled himself over the fence too.

You glanced over to find Daryl holding Dean while Ricky stood beside him, holding his free hand before you glanced around at the others, relieved that everyone was okay.

Daryl led you all through the woods, tracking your old footprints from yesterday before he found where Rick had buried the bag of weapons. While your father dug up the bag, he argued with Abraham and the others about what to do next, but their arguing came to a quick stop when footsteps approached you all from behind.

You turned around quickly and reached for your knife, but froze when you saw that it was Carol.

Holy shit, she was alive.

Daryl was the first to react, putting his son down before rushing over and hugging her. You let out a small chuckle of disbelief, unable to believe she was alive as you walked over to her.

"I'm so glad you're okay." You said.

"I'm glad you guys are okay." She replied, looking between you and Daryl with a big smile before she glanced at someone over your shoulder.

"Did you do that?"

You turned around at your father’s voice to find him motioning back in the direction of Terminus and suddenly it all made sense. The explosion that Maggie told you about, that was Carol.

Carol nodded before Rick pulled her into a hug and you smiled watching the two of them reunite.

"She had a little help!"

Merle Dixon suddenly emerged from the woods, and you found yourself paralysed to the spot in pure disbelief. He was alive. Holy shit, he was alive and him and Carol had just saved your lives.

"Uncle Merle!" Ricky and Dean both squealed.

Your kids seemed to process this information quicker than anyone else because within a flash, they were sprinting over to their uncle. Merle grinned, kneeling down with his arms out just as your sons threw themselves into his embrace causing Merle to chuckle.

"Have you two grown since I last saw ya? Look how big you are! You're gonna be out huntin' with me in no time." Merle exclaimed, hugging his nephews tightly before he tilted his head up towards you and Daryl, and a relieved smile spread across his face.

"Jesus, man. I thought you were dead." Daryl muttered, trying not to show how much he really cared, but you could hear the emotion in his voice.

Merle just grinned, letting go of his nephews before he stood up and took a few steps towards his brother. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Merle shook his head and pulled Daryl into a tight hug.

"Ain't nothin' can kill me, little brother." Merle reassured, patting Daryl's back before he glanced over at you. "Y/N, get your freckled face over here 'n give ya brother-in-law a hug."

You rolled your eyes at his choice of words, but walked over anyway just as Merle lifted one of his arms off Daryl and pulled you into the family hug. You closed your eyes and hugged the two of them, allowing yourself a moment to let your guard down as you stood in the safety of their arms.

"Dixon, is that you?" Abraham suddenly called out.

Wait, what?

You and Daryl pulled away from Merle in confusion to find Merle looking just as confused as he looked in the direction of the voice to find Abraham slowly walking towards him.

"Ford?" Merle questioned in shock.

A giant smile broke out across the redhead’s face, and if you weren't mistaken, that was the first time you had ever seen the man smile.

"Son of a dick, it's really you." Abraham exclaimed, holding his hand out.

Merle grinned, taking Abraham’s hand before they pulled each other into a quick hug-pat thing that guys seemed to always do.

"Wait, you two know each other?" You asked, looking between them in confusion.

The two of them pulled apart and Merle nodded, "we sure do. I know him from my army days."

"Bro, you got kicked out the army." Daryl pointed out causing Merle to glare at him, but there was no real heat behind it.

"We were in Basic together." Abraham supplied, still smiling brightly. "Man, remember all the shit we used to get up to?"

Merle grinned, "remember that night when we-"

"Whoa, is this story PG rated?" You quickly asked, glancing over at Ricky and Dean who were looking up at Abraham and Merle like they were the most fascinating people on this planet.

"None of Abrahams army stories are PG rated." Rosita spoke up, shooting the redhead a smirk. "We should probably get going. I don't wanna be near that place when those walkers get out."

Yeah, she had a fair point.

"You have to come with me." Carol quickly said, pointily looking at Rick as she spoke before she suddenly turned around and began walking off through the woods.

"She's right. C'mon, Officer Friendly, you're gonna love this." Merle announced, turning and following Carol.

You glanced over at your father in confusion who met your gaze with equal amounts of confusion, but you just shrugged your shoulders before the group of you all followed the two of them through the woods.

Eventually you reached a small dirt road which you then followed, neither Carol nor Merle elaborating any further about where you were going, until you spotted an old wooden cabin in the distance. The door to the cabin opened a moment later and your jaw dropped when Tyreese stepped out with baby Judith in his arms.

Rick made a sort of strangled gasping sound in the back of his throat beside you before he quickly pulled his rifle off his shoulders, holding it out in your general direction. He couldn't speak, but you didn't need him to as you took his gun before he sprinted down the dirt road.

Carl ran after your father and tears started to blur your vision as you watched Tyreese hand over your baby sister to them before Sasha jogged over engulfing her brother into a tight hug.

The rest of you all slowly walked over to them. Merle was holding both Dean and Ricky in his arms while he chatted away with Abraham. Your sons refusing to leave their uncles side, but Merle didn't seem to mind.

Daryl slung his arm over your shoulder, and you rested your head against his chest and wiped the tears from your eyes as Rick handed Judith to Carl.

"Thank you." Your father said, turning to Tyreese.

"Don't thank me, man. Dixon was the one that saved her back at the prison."

Everyone's head snapped in Merle’s direction who was too busy talking with Abraham to hear what was going on, but he noticed the sudden attention because he stopped whatever he was saying and looked around at everyone in confusion.

"What?"

"You saved Judith." Rick stated, like he couldn't quite believe it was true.

"Yeah, I did," Merle nodded seriously, glancing over at the baby girl in Carls arms before he chuckled. "And you lot doubted my baby-sitting ability."

You rolled your eyes, "that is because you keep teaching my sons bad language. We don't want Judith’s first word to be asshole."

"Well, someone's gotta be the fun uncle. It sure as shit ain't gonna be Mr. Goodie Two-shoes over there." Merle responded pointing at Glenn. "No offence, man."

Glenn laughed softly, "no, that's fair."

"I think I like Glenn better. He hasn't taught those boys anything bad." You pointed out, giving Glenn a small appreciative nod.

"Wait, wait, what about that day Glenn gave Ricky the lighter?" Maggie suddenly reminded.

"I swear, I didn't think he'd try and set that poncho on fire." Glenn said defensively.

"That was you?" You gasped, looking over at Glenn who had the decency to look guilty. "I've been blaming Merle for the past two months."

Daryl snorted softly from beside you, "to be fair, it is usually always Merle who does stupid shit."

"I am standing right here." Merle exclaimed, pretending to take offence to the whole conversation causing you all to start laughing.

"Hold on, I'm confused." Rosita suddenly said, looking between your family. "Rick is your father, but he is also Carl and that baby’s father, and Daryl is your husband, and those boys are you sons?"

You chuckled softly, "yeah, pretty much."

"Oh, okay. That makes total sense." Tara nodded sarcastically.

"It's okay, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it and I've known them for a while now." Michonne piped up causing you all to start laughing again.

"We need to go." Rick announced once the laughing had stopped.

You looked over at your father to find him staring at the smoke in the distance. The community of Terminus still burning from the explosion Carol and Merle had caused.

"Yeah, but where?" Daryl asked, his arm still over your shoulder.

"Somewhere far away from there."

Next Chapter

MASTERLIST pinned to profile

Commissions open! Link in bio & DM for enquiries ❤️

#daryl dixon #the walking dead #norman reedus #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfic #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead fanfic #rick grimes #twd #commissions #fanfic commission

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clanwarrior-tumbly · 1 year

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May I request a crossover of sorts? Arven and Nemona meeting a strange new student!Reader. The reader is quiet, always has their head down, and is never seen with any pokemon, despite having pokeballs on their belt. One day they're either provoked into a battle or just seen with their pokemon, which turn out to be the most horrifying pokemon pretty much anyone has ever seen. Their team consists of Freakachu, Missingno, Purin, and Disabled, which are loyal and friendly toward the Reader.

I LOVE this idea to the moon and back-

.............

"I'm telling you...[y/n] has some super cool Pokémon!! Maybe they're just shy about showing them off!"

"Or maybe they're not in the mood for battling, unlike you."

"Still, I really wanna see what their team looks like!"

"...so you can beat them up?" Arven just stared at Nemona with a deadpanned expression, unable to understand why she wanted to fight you so badly.

Recently the pair, alongside Penny, befriended you--a new student who transferred from Kanto and into the Naranja/Uva Academy.

But all three of them noticed some rather peculiar things about you..

For one, you're always so quiet--even moreso than Penny--and you had your head down during the lectures, never speaking unless called on. Some professors were led to believe you were dozing off. Yet you always got good marks on your tests, so it's clear you've been paying close attention.

Outside of school, you declined Nemona's invitations to battle whenever you saw her...which was pretty much every single day. And it wasn't just her. You didn't engage in Pokémon battles with anyone. Not even during battle studies class.

Some younger students have called you "chicken" when you refused to fight their Teddiursa or Chewtile, while older folks would say that you have "the potential" to be a great trainer...but you were never bothered by their remarks. You just carried on with your day.

But the strangest thing is that nobody in Paldea has seen your Pokémon team, despite your friends noticing the four pokeballs attached to your belt at all times. Not even during picnics did you bring them out to play or chat.

Arven didn't let it bother him too much, believing you shouldn't be pressured into revealing them if you weren't prepared to; although he was curious about what was holding you back. He wasn't an expert trainer, but he let his team out to get fresh air every once in a while.

Penny can understand you wanting to hide in your shell for a little while longer. You are a recent transfer student, after all. It took her ages to even admit that she has an Eeveelution team, so she sympathizes with you in that regard.

As for Nemona? She was gonna goad you into a battle even if it killed her. You just needed a little confidence boost!

When she tried calling you, Arven suddenly snatched her rotom phone, being extremely annoyed that she was trying to nose her way into your life without permission, and the pair began arguing.

Yet neither of them have realized they've stumbled upon the secluded spot where you did let your team roam free.

But when they noticed you approaching, Arven fell silent and ducked down behind some bushes, taking Nemona along with him despite her protests. "What are you doing?!" She whisper-yelled, seeing you setting up a picnic table. "It's [y/n]!"

"I-I know, just be quiet!" He whisper-yelled right back. "All we're gonna do is scare them."

"..why are you acting like they're some timid Starly?? That's our friend!"

"Yeah? Well maybe they won't be anymore if we jump out at them! Let's just...see what they're up to before we do anything. Maybe they're gonna bring out their Pokémon." He pointed as he saw you unclip the pokeballs from your belt.

Although irritated she couldn't greet you, Nemona kept quiet and stayed hidden with Arven, excited at that prospect. Both of them watched as you tossed the pokeballs high into the air, opening one by one to reveal....

Creatures that look like they crawled out of a horror movie or broken video game.

Neither of them could believe what they were seeing:

There was a white-furred Pikachu with bandages plastered all over its body, yet it still looked very much wounded as it was missing an arm and ear. One of its legs was stripped of any fur or muscle, exposing its bones. But that didn't seem to limit its mobility as it ran happily around the table.

Then their eyes gazed upon a Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff, both with greyed fur and red stains underneath their eyes. The Wigglytuff had a bandage wrapped around her mouth, along with a stitched ear, but she seemed content sitting in the grass, sharing berries with the Jigglypuff--who seemed to sport a thousand-yard stare.

The final Pokémon was something...quite incomprehensible. Arven and Nemona didn't know if they were hallucinating at first.

But it was just...a blob of glitches shaped like a backwards L. And it seemed to be spawning Pokémon eggs all around the picnic table. Though you somehow were able to talk to it, and they disappeared before it took the shape of an Aerodactyl's skeleton. It sat patiently as you used the Mareep sponge to scrub soap onto their skull, before washing it off with the handheld sprinkler.

After shaking the water off, it let out a distorted cry that rattled the nerves of the duo.

They tried taking a scan of that Pokémon to learn more about it, but their pokedexes showed a bugged entry. Though they were able to make out several things: its name was Missingno, its number was 000, and its type was apparently "Bird/Normal".

"Wha...bird?? Isn't that just the flying type?" Arven furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, staring at his phone. "That thing is no freaking bird, I can tell you that. What kind of name is "Missingno" anyway??"

"Dunno, but we can always ask [y/n]!" Nemona suggested with a hopeful smile.

"How do you suppose we show our faces without looking like stalkers-?"

"Pikaaaa..."

Tensing, they both looked down to suddenly see the zombified Pikachu staring up at them, tilting its head. Then it grinned from ear to ear, revealing rows of sharp teeth and red fleshy gums--a far cry from the cute little smiles they're used to seeing on normal Pikachus.

One of them would've freaked out for sure....had you not whistled.

"Hey Freakachu. Come back, please...sorry, guys." You muttered apologetically, looking up at your friends. "I promise he doesn't bite."

Although you were a tad bit irritated that you caught them spying on you, you knew you couldn't keep this a secret from them forever. This could revelation could either make or break your friendship with them...but you had to take that chance eventually.

Hearing your voice, Nemona jumped up and waved excitedly. "Hola, [y/n]!! We were just doing some field studies so it's fancy seeing you here!" She stepped out of the bushes as Arven stumbled after her. "How are your Pokémon? They..seem to be in rough shape."

"I know they don't look it, but...they're happy." You noticed the grey Jigglypuff waddling beside you, tugging on your pant leg. "Oh hey, Purin..need something?"

Shaking her head, she simply hugged your leg, and you smiled as you reached down to pet her ears. She genuinely felt safe with you, as her eyes closed and a smile formed on her own face.

"Oooooo, so that Jigglypuff's name is Purin? That's cute!" Nemona cooed, whereas Arven remained immensely concerned with their conditions.

"That's cool..I guess. But why are you calling him "Freakachu"?" He gestured to the white Pikachu. "That's not really a nice name, if you ask me.."

"It's the only one he responds to, so..he doesn't mind it at all." You shrugged.

"..you sure they're all okay, [y/n]? 'cause they look like-"

"Death?"

"Wha--n-no!! I wasn't gonna say that-!"

"It's okay. I get that a lot. The thing is..they weren't always like this." You explained calmly. "They were all hurt. Disabled and Purin were abandoned by their trainers and lost their Sing...and Freakachu was dying of frostbite on Mt. Silver. I tried healing their wounds the best I could..or at least the physical ones. But they trusted me to help them, and...they've become my best friends.."

"Awh, that's muy bueno!!" Nemona beamed, clapping her hands together. "Now I kinda feel bad I was begging you to battle me..." She chuckled awkwardly. "They probably don't wanna fight."

"They know some good moves, but I was worried about how you guys would rea-"

"AH!! I-Is that a real ghost?!!"

Blinking in confusion, you looked over your shoulder to see Missingno right there, having assumed its Ghost form. You just smiled and shook your head. "No, it's just Missingno being able to turn into several forms. I don't know much about this one's history, but...old Kantonian tales claim it's a collection of lost souls that can grant you infinite items if you pay your respects to it."

"..o-oh, so it's like..a Spiritomb-" Arven concluded, only to get a light elbow in the gut by Nemona, which made him grunt in pain.

"Y'know you're being quite rude, chico." She huffed. "Screaming at our friend's Pokémon is no muy bueno."

".....sorry."

"It's fine. I know looks can be deceiving but..these Pokémon follow my every command and are very loyal. They don't hurt people anymore, so there's no need to worry."

"Anymore? That's comforting.." Arven grumbled under his breath, only to tense as Nemona glared at him. "..b-but it's great that you've trained them!" His voice went up an octave. "Do they like sandwiches?? I brought some herba mystica! A pinch of it should help with their injuries no problem!!!"

Both of you watched in amusement as he rushed over to the table to help set up the condiments, before you sighed and followed him there. Nemona joined you, a skip in her step as she was eager to learn more about your Pokémon.

Purin, Disabled, Freakachu, and Missingno all gathered there as well, lying in wait.

This was sure to be an interesting picnic.

#this crossover was inevitable-#clanask #anonymous #pokemon x reader #pokemon scarlet x reader #pokemon violet x reader #pokepasta x reader #pokemon arven #pokemon nemona #missingno #freakachu #purin #pokemon disabled

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chaos0pikachu · 3 months

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Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition

So, if we're doing this we're doing this, so buckle in baby.

I'm gonna focus how the opening scene below, uses two narrative devices and one film technique to build out the scene as a whole: in media res, misdirection, and the long take.

youtube

Okay so to begin, we have to start at the beginning, or well, the middle lmao

In Media Res

I saw a post in the tag that said something to the effect of how The Sign starting with no context and providing no information at the beginning was strange, with the implication it was bad writing. I disagree, fundamentally, because The Sign is using a very common literary device called 'In Media Res'. And in my opinion, uses this device very well.

If you're familiar with basic storytelling terms I ain't telling you anything new, but for folks who may not know, in media res is a latin term that means "in the midst of things" and lots of stories - both prose, comics, and film - use this device.

The most famous is The Iliad by Homer, which if you've ever read - and you should it's glorious also it'll give some context to Song of Achilles - you know it drops you full-on no context into the middle of things. The beginning will differ in verbiage depending on the translation you pick up, this free version starts with:

THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON. In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighboring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles.

Right off the bat the story drops four character names and the setting with no real context. Who are all these people? Why is there a war? Well, keep reading to find out! It also starts the story with an action aka an argument - nay A CONTENTION!! Achilles and Agamemnon are such bratty bitches lol

Other (more mainstream) examples include:

The Dark Knight

Lost

28 Days Later

Mission Impossible (pick one)

Fight Club

Full Metal Alchemist (both)

MDZS

Inception

And, The Sign.

"In contrast to linear storytelling, which starts at the beginning and moves sequentially, in medias res is a nonlinear approach that can make stories more dynamic and immersive.

It's a technique that challenges the audience to make sense of the narrative puzzle, often revealing essential information about the characters and their motivations gradually." (source)

What's described above is exactly how The Sign, starts it's story, in the middle of things, specifically to create a puzzle for the audience to figure out gradually. If you watch the above scene, what's happening?

We get a (well done) overshot of an island (establishing setting), we see a group of soldiers (establishing the characters we'll be following) we see them doing military things (okay these are their skills, and they're on some sort of mission), their drone spots a group of people inside and a character says the dialogue "Listen up, you only have 15 minutes" (this establishes stakes, okay there's a time limit to this mission) "Team A will rescue the hostage" (okay now we know what the mission is and informs these characters are on a rescue mission).

Who is speaking here? We don't know yet, but a safe assertion would be this character, since they are the first character who speaks on screen, will be important.

And we'd be right because it's Phaya speaking, one of our main protagonists as well soon find out.

All this happens within the first minute; the show provides an interesting set-up. It deals out information in tidbits - setting, characters we'll be following, situation set-up, stakes - but not enough information for the audience not to ask questions.

I want to iterate that at this point, the goal isn't to "care" about the characters yet, so much as create an intriguing set-up based in action that will showcase various information about the tone, setting, and skills of the piece that will engage the audience. To make the audience ask questions, to engage with them.

When you open up on MDZS the protagonist, Wei Wuxian is dead and we have no context for this. Everyone is just in the middle of celebrating his death and we, the readers, do not care that he's dead or why he died. The story could have started in a more linear way, with him arriving at Cloud Recesses arguably the beginning of his journey, but would that have been as interesting? As engaging?

I like how this article breaks down the why of starting your story in media res is a powerful and often used device:

This is what The Sign is doing in this opening part. Starting the action of the series off with action and creating that immediate engagement. The scene also ends with a plot twist which connects to that final point about information control.

This isn't a technique I've seen often used in BL because BL is a sub-genre of romance and most romances are told in chronological order, rather than non-linearly - there are, of course non-linear romances, but most mainstream romances, and by extension most BL aren't told in this way - BL shows don't often have actual physical action. A majority, especially in Thailand, are grounded, closer to slice-of-life, coming-of-age, and comedy dramas - though we are starting to see a change in that trend.

So starting in the middle of things, like chepa the middle of what? Two dudes walking~ to Engineering class?

The goal of this opening scene is to pull in the audience, make them wonder and ask questions: "who are these characters? will they rescue the hostages? who are the bad guys? who is this character who's having visions?" and so on and so forth. It's a way to engage in the audience without having to slow down the narrative with a ton of exposition, or build up stakes slowly, rather it grabs the audience immediately and sets them in the middle of the tension asking them to engage with what's happening.

The Long Take

You've probably heard about "the long take" but to break it down, a long take is one continuous take without any edits/cuts. The film 1917 was famously filmed to "look" like one long take. One of the most cited and well known long takes is from Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón:

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Now if you watch this movie you can tell why there isn't a lot of BL long takes because, god damn, they built a new type of car just to get that one scene. [read here for more on long takes]

So, The Sign. It's long take starts at about 2:08, following Phaya - again, we the audience don't know this is Phaya BUT since the camera is spending specific time with him we assume he is An Important Character and he is! Set up and payoff! Funny how that works - and ends at around 4:27.

[Sidenote I love that the take ends, not with a cut but a transition. Which I'll cover in another post but in the land of Thai BLs which favor cuts so damn much transitions were so refreshing to see]

During this long take, we establish that these characters are competent at what they do. We understand that they're military trained, in both hand-to-hand combat and firearms. We also get these two mid-close ups, which signifies these will be Important Characters:

And they are, the first shot is of Phaya, Khem and Thongthai and the second is Tharn and Yai.

This also sets-up the character dynamics; Yai and Tharn are already close and know each other so they are drawn to each other while on the mission, while Khem and Thongthai have a pre-established relationship but are still supporting behind Phaya.

This type of shot also allows for the audience to better see and follow the fighting that's happening on screen. Filming fight scenes are their own beast, and while there's no one school of thought on how a film scene "should" be filmed, there are techniques that that place some fight scenes above others.

The first video showcases some techniques on how to film a fight scene, while the second one at the 8min mark talks about the long take in John Woo's classic action film Hard Boiled.

This long take in Hard Boiled really showcases why long takes are so powerful in filming a fight scene specifically. They pull the audience further into the action and create a palpable energy that just works better than a scene with lots of quick cuts.

There's a reason one of the biggest criticisms of Mortal Kombat (2021) was that all the fights were edited to pieces while John Wick (2014) was a refreshing jolt to the industry.

youtube

The Sign takes a page out of John Woo's book, and places the characters, and the physicality of the scene front and center, pulling the audience along with the camera in one long shot.

Long takes are hard, I can't really emphasize this enough, if you watched that video on Children of Men you can see all the intricate work that went into scenes that amounted to maybe 5mins of actual film time. Likewise this long take in The Sign is only about 2mins of actual time in the show BUT it's effective, it's engaging, its ambitious.

Which is why, I gotta give The Sign it's roses because of that ambition. Long takes are a lot of hard work, time, effort, blocking, rehearsals, on top of incorporating the fight chorography that's a lot and it looks good.

Now is this the best~~~ long take I've ever seen? lol no god but it's well done and ambitious especially for the sub-genre of BL.

Misdirection

Misdirection has more in common with in media res than the long take as it's a literary device and not a filming technique.

From Gotham Writers:

"In fiction misdirection can be either external or internal. That is, the author can be using the story as a frame to misdirect the reader, or a character in the story may be misdirecting one or more of the other characters. Or, of course, both." (source)

Misdirection is often used in thrillers or mystery narratives, Hitchcock used misdirection a lot in his films.

In Psycho the audience is lured to believe that Marion, the character the film opens with, builds up, and essentially sets up as our protagonist, is in fact our protagonist. She's not, she's murdered and her sister, Lila, is the actual protagonist of the movie. Sorry if this is a spoiler for an almost 70 year old film lmao

Misdirection is often used to set-up plot twists down the line. A good misdirection will leave clues for the audience when they watch back and go, "oh! I can't believe I missed that!"

In film The Sixth Sense is a good example of this, where the plot twist at the end doesn't weaken the film once you know it but rather, it enhances the film itself on a rewatch. Another good example of misdirection in film are both Knives Out and Glass Onion, where Rian Johnson will set up a non-linear story and then slowly unravel the information for the audience.

Take the scene where Marta, in Knives Out, finds Fran's body and hears Fran say "it was you" at least to audience ears. Then stands up looming above Fran's body. The scene cuts, and the audience is led to believe Marta has let Fran die to protect herself (since we the audience also have been led to believe Fran is dead) only to find out later that Marta didn't let Fran die, she is alive, and she knew Ransom was the killer.

The Sign uses misdirection in a much more simple way. It sets up an expectation: Phaya is going to die, upping the stakes from "must save hostages" to "must save a comrade" aka the character we, the audience, have been following for the last 11 minutes. It sets two characters, Chart and Phaya, as opposing against each other, for reasons we don't know - is Chart one of the villains? Why is he trying to kill Phaya? etc - and the audience is led to believe this is a life or death situation.

Then, plot twist. The reveal happens that this was all a training exercise, and there was never any "real" danger whilst also keeping the audience on their toes. And like in The Iliad, now we have context for the mission, and then the story is able to step back and explain.

It's not like, the best~~~ use of misdirection but there was a purpose to it. It sets up an expectation, and subverts that expectation of the audience - but in a good way not a Game of Thrones way. While also pulling the audience into the show by starting in the middle of the action rather than slowing down the story with exposition or giving their hand away to much that this was a training exercise.

If you knew it was a training exercise, suddenly the stakes feel less intense because none of the characters are in any real danger, but not knowing that, withholding that information until it's relevant, ups the stakes of the scene.

The opening scene of The Sign imparts a lot of information without using a lot of dialogue and I find that impressive. We learn which characters will be relevant to the story - Phaya, Tharn, Yai, Khem, Thongthai and now we know, Chart is also important - that they are skilled combat fighters, knowledgeable in firearms, there's a fantasy element to the story via Tharn's visions, they're on an island which the setting for right now, and the tone and aesthetic of the show itself.

It's actually a fun scene to rewatch again with more context because I appreciated it even more. Which is just good film making.

I didn't talk much about the camera work - needless to say it's notable and fun - but maybe I'll save that for the next post. What other shows or scenes would be fun to breakdown? Drop me a line but heads up I don't actually watch a ton of shows so idk if I've seen xyz show lmao

Later chepies ✌️✌️