#time to convince someone to write glenn :knife:

[oneknot]

going through the doc of notes i took last time i started rewatching twd and this from s1........ lowkey had a lil bit of a crush on glenn.  andrea is the only one that ever knew,  and she threatened death if she ever told anyone.

[the-daily-multi-fandom-post]

Part two to this request (—here—)

“Can you write a story where the reader had a one night stand with Merle and got pregnant at the Atlanta camp, she didn't tell anyone because even though Merle wasn't a dick when it came to her, she was scared of the others' reactions. When you're at the farm with the group Shane notices your stomach showing and he calls you out on your secret. Daryl takes you under his wing and treats you like a sister. And Merle's reaction at prison b4 he dies. Maybe Y/n falls in love with Tara later on? Love u”

This is part two for this request. Link here

👉______👈 For the first part.

Request: anom.

Tags: @thanossexual

Y/an heart broke seeing the love of her life as one of those monsters. The little baby she had with Merle was in her arms when she and Dayrl found Merle eating someone it broke both of their hearts. Y/n was sobbing catching the attention of walker Merle. Dayrl was sobbing too, watching as his undead brother started limping towards them.

Dayrl pushed Merle backwards away from Y/n and her baby. Merle kept coming back until Dayrl stabbed Merle making him fall onto the grass. Dayrl continuously stabbed Merle over and over and over again. Sobbing he fell backwards. Y/n ran over to Dayrl pulling him into his arms. Her baby still on her side, sleeping soundly as she hugged the man she thought as a brother.

“He’s gone.” Dayrl sobbed into her shoulder. Y/n nodded, kissing his forehead.

“I know,” she whispered. Looking over Dayrls shaking body to where the love of her life laid dead.

“I know.” She shakily spoke as tears silently slid down her Y/s/t face.

—Months later—

The morning after the storm , all is peaceful. Maggie wakes up to see Daryl still awake. She sits by his side and talks with him, telling him he should get some sleep, and that it's okay to rest now.

Y/n sat with her back against a bail of hay, she rocking her Y/e/c eyed son, trying to keep him asleep. She softly hummed rocking Mason in one arm. Her other arm was draped over Carl protectively like a mother. Judith was asleep soundly in a blanket filled box. Just beside Y/n so she could take care of the small child, while Carl could get some sleep.

Maggie and Dayrl looked over at Sasha across the room asleep. "He was tough," Daryl remarks, referring to Tyreese. Maggie nodded in agreement, looking over at the sleeping woman. "So was she," Daryl adds, talking about Beth. "She didn't know it... but she was." Daryl hands Maggie the music box Carl gave to her. “I fixed it.” He spoke gruffly. Maggie smile as she took it. “Thank you.”

She then wakes Sasha and the two leave the barn. Looking around the barn they see the storm had killed most of the walkers or decapitated them, impaled or crushed by the trees

“I’m surprise the barn hadn’t fell down. It looks like a tornado has been through here.” Sasha says as she and Maggie made their way through the fallen trees to an open field.

Maggie and Sasha then sit down on a downed tree and watch the sunrise together. As they sit, Sasha tells Maggie what Noah said about himself, that he doesn't know if he can make it. Sasha admits that she feels the same way too. Maggie reassures her that she will survive. Maggie tries to play the music box, but finds that the box is still broken.

The two laugh, but their conversation was cut short by a young man, cautiously walking up to the two.

“My names Aaron, I came to speak to your leader Rick.” The man

The women are confused as they draw their guns and ask how he knows about Rick.

“I have good news!” He starts holding his hands up, showing the two women they could trust him.

Maggie and Sasha brought Aaron to the barn where the rest of the group was resting. Rick and the others appear to be wary over Aaron's arrival.

Maggie gives Rick Aaron's gun, which Rick keeps as he asks Aaron what his intentions are.

“How did you know we were here?” Rick looks at the young man. “I’ve been watching you all for a while. I needed to make sure you guys weren’t gonna kill me as soon as you saw me. But I was the one to give you guys the supplies yesterday.” Aaron informs the group.

Rick chooses not to believe him, and convinces the group that Aaron has another agenda. Aaron, knowing that he would believe so, asks Sasha to give Rick his backpack, directing him to a small set of photographs of his community which he had taken as evidence of its existence. As Aaron explains what his community is about and emphasizes on its security, Rick punches him in the face, knocking him out. Y/n shook her head looking at the unconscious man.

“He could be dangerous.” Rick said looking at Y/n with kind eyes. Y/n nodded as she hugged her young son close to her chest. “I trust you.” She whispered giving him an nod. He nodded pulling her into a brotherly hug, careful not to hurt the baby in her arms.

Tara look over at Y/n giving her a soft smile. Y/n smiled back as she pulled away from Rick. “You should get to know Tara, I see it in y’alls eyes. You have some type of connection.” Rick whispered into her ear. Y/n shook her head as she looked at Rick.

Before she could say anything Rick stopped her. “I know it’s been only a few months since Merle passed, but you should be happy. And before you say anything. I know your happy with little mason here, but still you should have someone there for you.” Y/n huffed knowing Rick was correct.

“I hate it when your right.” She said looking down at her Y/e/c baby. “I know, that’s why you don’t like me. ‘Cause I’m always right.” Y/n snorted a laugh looking up at Rick. “That’s funny.”

“Alright, you three,” Rick starts pointing at a few of people of the group. “Go out keep watch. Make sure nobody’s watching us.” A few of them nodded but Michonne shook her head.

“I don’t think Aaron’s a threat. I mean look at him.” Michonne tries to convince Rick.

“I don’t care, we still aren’t trusting him. Rick insisted.

“There aren’t many places for anyone to hide.” Glenn informs Rick, causing more panic within the group. As Aaron regains consciousness, he maintains a positive attitude, jokingly complimenting Rick's strength. Rick shoots back saying that they cannot trust someone who is still laughing after being beaten.

“How many people are in you group?” Rock asked bearing his flare gun as evidence of company.

“It don’t matter how many, it won’t affect whether or not you’ll trust me.”

Rick insists he confesses anyway, and Aaron informs him that there is only one. Aaron also reveals that he and his accomplice have vehicles that they had attempted to bring closer to the barn, but had been blocked by the surrounding trees.

Michonne tells Rick that she wants to know the truth by checking it out. Rick turns down the task saying that it is a bad idea, but after Maggie and Glenn speak up in favor, Rick decides to let everyone except him, baby Judith Y/n and her baby to go scout ahead, ordering Abraham and Rosita to go with Glenn, Maggie, and Michonne and the rest of the group to search the surrounding area.

As the groups leave, Aaron tells Rick that he used to be pointed at with guns before the apocalypse, due to his job as an NGO worker, and that he believes he and his people are good. Rick instead warns Aaron that if his people do not return in one hour, he would put a knife in the base of his skull.

Michonne, Maggie, Glenn, Rosita and Abraham are still walking towards their destination. Glenn warns the others to shoot whoever comes out from the woods, should the time come.

Michonne, horrified by Glenn's orders, voices her opinion. Glenn replies saying that people should not come to the people who have guns like them. Disagreeing, Michonne says that Aaron's community are not bad people, reminding him of how they rescued Gabriel, of how they saved Tara after her involvement with The Governor, and of how they saved a crazy woman with a sword, implying herself.

Glenn reluctantly agrees. They reach the specified location, finding a car and an RV, and realize that Aaron was telling the truth. A pair of walkers come out from the woods, one almost biting Abraham before Rosita intervenes. Abraham thanks her but is ignored.

In the barn, baby Judith starts crying, while Rick crushes acorns for her to eat.

“Why don’t you just let me feed her?” Y/n asks, talking about breast feeding Judith as she helps crush the acorns.

“You need that for Mason, it’s okay.” Rick says quietly.

“Her crying’s going to attract walkers.” Aaron reminds the two from his spot. tied to the barn's support.

“Look, just take the applesauce from my bag. I promise it’s safe to eat.” . Aaron insists.

Still cautious of Aaron's intentions, Rick extracts a spoonful of the apple sauce from the supplied jar and offers it to Aaron, telling him to eat it first as a precaution.

Aaron, realizing what he is doing and taking offense from it, refuses, saying that poisoning his baby would be the last thing he would have ever done.

Rick, however, insists, even after Aaron informs him that he dislikes apple sauce. Against his wishes, he consumes it. After realizing it is safe, Rick rushes back and shares the sauce with Judith. Rick reminds Aaron that he has 43 minutes left.

“Thank you.” Y/n mouthed to the man tied to the barn support. He nodded softly with a smile while Y/n walked over to the corner of the room. A soft little whine caught his attention. Looking over he seen Y/n picking up a baby, who seemed to be around 5 maybe six months old. He noticed Y/n was about to feed her baby and redirected his eyes elsewhere.

“How did you know he needed to be fed before he cried?” Aaron asked Y/n as she covered herself so she wasn’t exposed.

“A mother’s instinct I guess.” She answered honestly. “Are you the mom to them both?” Aaron asked, looking at the Y/h/c haired woman.

“No, just him.” She answered nodding down to her son she was breast feeding.

Aaron nodded noticing Rick wasn’t looking very happy at the mention of his daughter not having a mom.

“But I like to think I’m a momma to the both of them.” Y/n says softly. “I may not be biologically, but I take care of these kids like they are mine.” She says talking about Carl and Judith not just her and merles son, Mason.

Months after being in Alexandria:

Y/n stood in front of the gray crib. Watching as her son slept soundly. It had became such a habit of watching her son sleep. She could barely leave him in the crib for five minutes. She always had to be near him, no matter what.

Y/n heard a knock on the door and hummed softly as she left her sleeping sons room and went to answer the door.

Opening the door she seen Tara who seemed to be a little nervous.

“Tara, why are you knocking? You leave here too.” Tara nodded nervously as she looked into Y/ns beautiful y/e/c eyes.

“I know, but I was just trying to see if you were home, and I didn’t want to rush in their and wake the baby.” She answered, almost too quickly.

“Oh, well, did you need anything?” Y/n asked opening the door wider for Tara to come in. Tara smile walking into the door and to the kitchen where she had smelt the warm black coffee.

“I never would’ve thought I would have coffee ever again.” Tara rambled, not getting to the point of her being in the house instead of being on a run like Y/n had thought.

“Well, Thank God for the people here. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have the hot running water, clean clothes, shelter and food.”

Tara nodded as she took a sip of the coffee.

“I didn’t come in here for coffee though. I Umm... I came in here to tell you something.” She started, grabbing Y/ns hands into her own.

“I like you Y/n. Like, like you, like you. I think I’m in love with you. Seeing you with Mason, makes me feel like I want that, but with you. I see you and I see the person I want a future with. The woman I have grown to love. The woman who is strong and powerful. The woman who protects her children.” Tara confessed her love for Y/n.

Y/n smiled looking at Tara. “I love you too. I have for a whole now, but I just thought it was too soon from Merles death. But I talk to Dayrl and Rick about it. I think I’m ready. I want to be with you.” Y/n said looking into Taras soft brown eyes and then to her soft plump pink lips.

Tara leaned in slowly placing a soft kiss on Y/ns lips. And that was the beginning of their story.

[collecting-stories]

Just Pretend | Enid

Hey, I'm not sure if you would want to write this imagine. So I'm just gonna ask. So Enid x reader were reader is dating Enid in season 9 and is with Carol and D when they find them?? And just like how she copes with it. Like super angesty. If you don't feel like it I completely understand. Love you 🖤🖤🖤

\\\

And I hate to make this all about me,                                                           Who am I supposed to talk to, if there’s no you? - Soon You’ll Get Better, Taylor Swift

It was gift-wrapped, left on the table inside your trailer with old newspaper secured around it. You already had a good idea what it was that Maggie had left for you but you didn’t open it, letting the package sit neglected while you pulled the covers further over your head and sunk down in the darkness of the room. The trailer walls were thinner than you would’ve liked and you could hear people outside milling about. Soon someone would be knocking on your door, the same routine as always. Asking if you were okay. You would pretend they weren’t there.

The first time you met Enid she was following Maggie into the safety of Hilltop, convinced by some subconscious force that she had to stay close to the young woman who’d become both her mother and her older sister in the relatively short time they’d known each other. You’d been a resident of Hilltop since the outbreak. When they evacuated your neighbourhood it was there that the army truck had sent you and your little brother.  

Enid, like most in this new version of the world, was managing her way through the muck of loss. Her parents, most of Alexandria, Ron (even if she didn’t like him), Glenn. Her family felt like it was getting smaller and she clung to the only people she really had left, Maggie and Carl. No one in this new world was without loss, a notion you were too familiar with. Only a year into living together the Hilltop had been hit with a virus.  

“We had one too, not at Alexandria, but down in Georgia.” Carl had commented when you told him about the virus that took your younger brother. The truck had separated you from your parents and the virus had left you all alone.  

“That shit was horrible.” You replied, “as crazy as it sounds, getting attacked by a walker is expected but getting sick like that...still seems like it shouldn’t happen.”  

“I know, it feels surreal.” Carl agreed. It was later in the evening than most people were awake and a lantern between the two of you kept enough light that you could see each other.  

Maybe it was because you didn’t know Enid well enough yet or maybe it was just Carl but there was never any ill-feeling toward him. When you thought about it now you knew it was Carl, he was as enigmatic as his dad. Rick Grimes was some sort of post-apocalyptic celebrity and his son had managed to take some of that limelight for himself as well. He didn’t just live in his dad’s shadow, he was as skilled at survival as the best of them. But the fanfare wasn’t all there was to him.  

The first time you met Carl he had come to Hilltop with Enid. She introduced him as her boyfriend and a faint blush ran over her face, an uncharacteristic embarrassment or maybe the word just felt so silly to use these days. At the time Enid was nothing more than a friend, the only other person in Hilltop around your age. Carl was a welcome addition to your limited group. While you and Enid had a lot in common as far as circumstance was concerned it was Carl who you seemed to mesh with the most.  

And maybe that was why it never occurred to either of you.

Enid was with Carl and you were happy for both of them. Happy to be a friend and happy to misinterpret your own feelings as those of someone convinced there are a limited number of people your age left on the earth. You weren’t confused, per say. You knew pretty much in third grade when you sat behind Holly Carlisle in chorus that you definitely had a thing for girls. The thing was not defunct since the world ended either, in fact the moment you saw Enid you couldn’t help thinking that she pretty. More than pretty maybe but there was already a lot on your plate and dealing with a post-apocalyptic unrequited crush on a straight girl wasn’t exactly in your cards. So pretty it was. The same thing Carl thought when he saw her, though he’d clearly had a better shot at the time. One he took. You couldn’t fault him for that.  

“Did you like Georgia better?” You asked, passing the bottle of bourbon you’d found in Gregory’s closet to Carl. It had been because you liked Enid so much that you first tried to get along with Carl. But he was nice and easy to talk to and you had a lot in common (not including that you both liked his girlfriend). Now spending time with Carl when he came to Hilltop was second nature, a change from the ordinary and sometimes mundane that you readily looked forward to. Enid had already gone to sleep because of an early shift in the gardens but you had stayed up with Carl at the advice of Jesus who suggested the two of you ‘act a little more like teenagers’. Sneaking alcohol and staying up till the morning constituted that request in your opinion.  

“I guess. It’s hard to fit in anywhere. It was hard at the prison and at Alexandria, doesn’t matter what state we’re in.” Carl was more travelled than you. It was only in recent months that you’d been trained to go further outside of the compound.  

“Guess so,” you agreed. You had little authority to argue.  

While you liked Carl and the visits he managed to Hilltop you were always a little gleeful when he left. A fact that brought on an unmatched level of guilt when he died. How many times had you wished he was gone just so Enid would pay a little more attention to you? And what a cruel thing to think about such a good friend. The bourbon bottle from that night still sat in your trailer, on the table with a collection of wildflowers in it.  

When word came down that he’d died you had sat in the darkness of your trailer with the bottle in your lap and cried. It felt like hours but it was nearly two days of mourning the loss of such a good friend, someone you just thought would always be there, someone far too skilled to die the way he did. You didn’t get the opportunity to say goodbye but you kept the bottle so you would never forget him. His memory would always be close to you.  

After his death you pulled away from Enid the slightest bit. You knew it was cruel but as she leaned on you for comfort you couldn’t help worrying that she was mistaking her grief with the vulnerability of new feelings and you didn’t want her to change her mind once she was okay with Carl’s absence. It was a fight worth having you supposed.

“I don’t want to talk about this here.” Though possibly the setting could have been better.  

You were wading through muddy forest floors trying to remember exactly where Daryl and Jesus had told you all the traps were set. You should have listened better, something you definitely heard in Daryl’s voice somewhere in the back of your mind. Enid had followed you passed the gates and decided that out here in the woods where walkers had the uncanny ability of popping up frequently was the best place to talk.  

“You’re avoiding me and don’t say you aren’t! I know you are!” Enid was never overly emotional. Usually her emotional response was to get defensive and right now she was definitely on the defense.  

“It’s just been,” You shrugged, how cliche could you sound? “Complicated.”  

Not the word you wanted to use but still the one that came out of your mouth. It summed up much of what you wanted to say. Your feelings were, the situation was, her feelings were. However stupid it sounded coming out of your mouth.  

“Complicated? Are you kidding me? Carl died and the only person that I wanted to talk to about it is acting like I don’t exist all of the sudden!” She wasn’t quiet in her anger.

You were sure you heard the ominous beginnings of a moan from somewhere in the distance but you ignored the sound, focusing on the dead rabbit in the trap. “Look Enid, I’m trying to do this,” you waved the rabbit for her to see, “so could we talk later?”

“Every time you say that we don’t talk later. You just use it as an excuse to ignore me.” Enid took the bowie knife out of her belt, holding it as the groans of the distant walker grew closer.  

“Great. Now we have to deal with that.” You muttered, standing up and pulling your own machete free.  

“I know you lost a friend too but I feel like I lost both of you.” Enid commented, moving in closer to you and holding a defensive stance. Even with a couple walkers on the prowl she wasn’t giving up this damned conversation.  

“It’s not that.” You would never be over Carl’s death but that wasn’t the thing that was keeping you from letting your friend in. You loved Enid, more than anything. More than a friend and not like a sister. But your best friend had just died and she was his girlfriend and you felt like you were taking advantage of a bad situation because you were selfish and you didn’t want to be selfish. You wanted her but not at the expense of a guilty conscience. Not at the expense of betraying your friend’s memory.  

“Then what is it?” The first one came and Enid drove her knife through it’s skull with more force than necessary. Both because she was pissed at you and because how close must this have been to what happened to Carl? Why did he have to help anyone, why did he always have to be the good person?  

You caught the next one. Not so angry. “I don’t know what to do.” You explained. Was your voice really so tired sounding?  

“What?” Enid turned your way as you finished off the last of the dead threesome. At least it was only three. There was annoyance in her voice, she was pissed and she had every right to be. Her boyfriend was dead, her best friend was acting like an absolute bitch to her, and they were in this fucking forest with walkers. You tried to walk away but she grabbed the bag slung across your body. The strap caught and tugged you back.  

“Get off!”  

“Tell me! I’m not letting go until you tell me!” She insisted, her grip on the bag tightening. You yanked anyway, trying to pull away from her. You’d been successfully dodging her for weeks since Carl died.  

“Let go of me!”  

“No.”

“I don’t want to talk about this Enid, not here! So just let go.” You gave a final and forceful tug, yanking the bag from her hand hard enough to cause a friction burn. She clenched her fist and then pressed her palm to her stomach to put pressure on the burn as you instantly looked remorseful. “Enid I-”

“Forget it.” She snapped, turning and heading back to the Hilltop.  

You walked back, trailing behind her in silence. You felt guilty now, she sounded so upset and you knew you’d pushed her there. She was already dealing with so much, trying to be there for Maggie, Carl dying, trying to fit into the Hilltop and pull her own weight here. Jesus let the both of you back through the gate and you walked to your trailer alone, laying down in your bed and looking over to the empty bottle on the table. Damn Carl for dying. It wasn’t his fault that you couldn’t explain to Enid why you were afraid to talk to her but you really wanted it to be. Because you were selfish and without a boyfriend you thought maybe you could take that place for her. If there weren’t too many people left in the world maybe you could be that person for her.  

It was three more weeks before you finally decided that the silence was killing you too. In the short time that you had known Enid she had become your favorite person to talk to and you were torturing yourself just as much as you were hurting her by staying away. All you wanted was to be there with her, be there for her when she was sad or happy or angry. You didn’t want to be the one who made her angry. So you swallowed your pride and you walked yourself to her trailer to talk.  

“You have to let me say this and you can’t interrupt until I'm done.” You explained immediately when the door opened. Behind Enid, Maggie stood up and declared that she was going to see if anyone needed help.  

“What?” Her voice was sharp and angry, even after three weeks apart the anger hadn’t cooled.  

“I didn’t want to talk to you because I like you. Not as a friend, like like the way you and Carl like each other. I want that with you and I can’t talk to you because I feel so guilty over it. Carl was my best friend and here I am some desperate girl pinning after his girlfriend and then he dies? And what I can’t talk to you. I can’t tell you that. I can’t comfort you without wanting more from this relationship.” You explained, “I don’t know if you’ll ever feel that way about me. Maybe we’ll always be friends and I want to try to be friends if that’s all you want but I just...I’m sorry, I want more than that.”

Enid took a deep breath, still standing there in the doorway. In all honesty she’d never even thought about it. She knew that sounded dumb and childish and not very progressive but she hadn’t even thought that you were anything but straight. And always just a friend.  

“I don’t-” Enid started to say, unable to wrap her mind around what you were saying.  

“It’s fine, I just...you wanted to know and I felt like I should be honest with you. You’re my best friend first and I’ve been a terrible friend and I’m sorry for that.” You apologized.  

And that time you walked away. Less time passed between you. It only took Enid three days before she showed up on your doorstep, prepared to talk it out with you. In the three days that had passed she let herself think about what you had said. She was still grieving Carl and could barely fathom a day when she might not be any longer. But if that day did come she though, you had always been such a good friend and maybe it could be more than that. She didn’t want to think too much about what it meant all she knew was that you were her best friend and she missed you and loved you and she wanted to keep you in her life.  

She knocked on the door of your trailer and started out the same way you had, diving into a speech without giving the other person the chance to say anything. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in a week or a month or whatever, I just know that you’re my friend and I care about you. I want to talk to you and I don’t know if someday when it doesn’t hurt to think about Carl, something could happen between us. I wouldn’t be opposed to that. But please, don’t shut me out.”

You opened the door wider and stepped to the side, letting her into your trailer and sitting down on your bed with her. There was a lot to talk about.  

It was on that bed, in the exact same position, two months later, that she kissed you. What you’d said to her was always there in the back of her mind, whenever she spent time with you. The words played over and over and she during those two months of mourning and rebuilding a friendship she had begun to think that wouldn’t it be nice to be loved by you. She would always have a connection to Carl but he wasn’t here anymore and she didn’t want to fill that void with just anyone. She didn’t want meaningless connections in this new world and she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that it would be so nice to be with you.  

So after dinner, two months after the two of you had mended your friendship, sitting in the trailer talking, she leaned over and kissed you. It was innocent and loving and a little unsure. She didn’t know if your feelings were the same as they had been when you confessed to her two months prior but she was willing to take a chance on them.  

“Sorry,” she apologized when she pulled away, tucking a piece of her long hair behind her ear and smiling at you in a way that suggested she wasn’t sorry at all.  

“No worries,” you replied, your own dazed look assuring her that you were unbothered by her actions. You leaned forward, tilting your head just slightly and kissing her again. You hadn’t kissed anyone since before the dead started walking but you didn’t spend too much time thinking about technique as you shuffled closer to her on the bed.  

-

“I’m not staying back.” You protested, following after Enid and trying to pull on your hiking boots at the same time. Up ahead you could see Tara.  

“Please, it’ll be okay.” Enid insisted though you both knew that there was no guarantee of okay these days.  

The conversation played back in your head as you laid there in the dark of the trailer, overthinking every single moment in your mind. If you had just urged her to stay behind and not be so strong willed for once in her life. Or if you had just gone with her. You would have rather died than been here, alone in your stupid trailer with a bottle that wouldn’t bring back your best friend and a painting from Maggie that you couldn’t even stand to look at. You rolled over to face the wall as you heard the familiar knocking begin.  

“I love you.” You held her face in your hands and kissed her, foreheads leaning against each other as if you were back in the privacy of your trailer and not in the open of Hilltop.  

“I love you too,” she replied, another kiss, “I’ll be back.”

What could you throw at the door to make them go away? There might be some books scattered in the small space but getting up from this bed was like pulling yourself to the surface of a lake when there was cement weighing down your feet. You couldn’t imagine getting up. What would you even say if you did. That you were fine? That you weren’t? That you just wanted peace and quiet and nothingness?

You climbed the hill after Carol and the sound of her crying reached your ears as if it was a distant whisper, some white noise playing in the background as you stood there on the hill, wind whipping at your body. Pushing you off your balance. Of all the last images to remember a person by. You’d been lucky with Carl, you could always remember him the way he was in your trailer drinking late at night. You didn’t have to remember the way he looked as he died. But now, as you closed your eyes and tried to think of the way it felt to lay there with Enid for the last time all you could see was her head on a stake, mouth still moving and hair blowing in the wind. You couldn’t keep the image from creeping into your mind no matter how many times you tried to think of all the good things.  

Rolling onto your back you reached for the ground and found a book just beneath the bed, the one Enid had been reading. You threw it at the door as the knock sounded once more. Daryl holding Carol back as you stood there in shock, unmoving, drinking in the sight of your dead girlfriend, played in your mind and you crawled off the bed, dragging your feet to pick up the book. Another knock and you opened the door, light flooding into the trailer and forcing your eyes shut. Standing there against the backdrop of the bright morning sun was Jesus, looking sad but trying not to.  

“Please go away.” You begged, clutching the book to your chest. Even with your eyes open you could see her.

“I just wanted to see if you needed someone to talk to.”  

“Enid.” You concluded and let the door swing shut on him.  

-

A/N: I don’t even know if this is what you asked for and I totally hijacked it for my own purposes which I apologize for. Anyway, hope this is good?

taglist: @gigilame @sabertooth-potato @enrapturedbythemoon @thinkingsofamadwoman @mixedwiththemoon @titty-teetee  @queenmissfit @marvelismylifffe @iluvmesomemarvelndc @absentmindeduniverse @his-paradox @medievalfangirl 

[ncfan-1]

Once Fictober is over and I’ve finished the multi-chapter I’m working on now, something I want to write is the “Dimitri turns into a Demonic Beast during the timeskip and can’t change back until he learns to let go of his rage and his hate enough that it isn’t consuming him anymore” AU (or something to that effect, eheh). Here’s an excerpt, something that will hopefully be stronger when it’s got an actual fic around it, but oh, well:

[CN/TW: self harm]

“We leave for Ailell on the morrow.” The air around her mouth glittered silver as she adjusted her scarf for what must have been the fifth time since she had appeared at the doorway. “Early.” Melusine’s jaw tightened. “Likely, I won’t be able to come here again before then.”

Dimitri watched her from his spot backed up against the far wall from the door, burrowed in his nest of dead leaves and blankets Annette and Mercedes had insisted upon and kept insisting upon even as he’d snapped and growled low in his throat at their approach. He did not feel the cold, he wished to say. It was a wasted effort, he wished to say. If he could not leave this place, he wished for them to not—

That wouldn’t have borne saying, even if he could say anything at all. He had no voice with which to tell any of them any of what he wanted to say. He could snap and growl and roar, and not speak. Never speak. They knew he couldn’t speak; it had been well over a month since they were all reunited, and they all still insisted on speaking to him as though he was a man, why—

He could not tell her to go away. He turned his head away from her instead, letting her see the blind side of his face and willing that to do the talking for him.

It didn’t. Of course it didn’t. Would that he could close his ears the way he turned his face away.

Not only could he not close his ears, his hearing was sharper now than it had ever been when he was still a man, so that he could hear all the faint tremors in her voice and pitches in her inflection that he’d never noticed before she’d vanished into the abyss. Or maybe she had changed, as he had changed, but somehow, he doubted it. She was as fixed and as ageless as the tower to which he was now confined.

“I remember Ailell from the time that merchant tried to kidnap Ingrid.” Melusine sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t look forward to returning now, but we have no choice. If we want to avoid an ambush and get back to the monastery quickly with reinforcements, it’s the best location to rendezvous with Lord Rodrigue.”

Dimitri had heard Ingrid detail this plan nearly a week ago. The mention of Rodrigue’s name still made him flinch.

If Melusine noticed it, she gave no sign. “I—“ Her voice turned faint suddenly, and Dimitri wasn’t certain if the quaver dominated her voice, or if it was just his own hearing amplifying the effect beyond what a man would have ever noticed. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell him. We’ve told him you’re alive, but no more—this isn’t something we could risk putting to paper. I’m sure he’ll want to know why you’re not with us. Felix says he told him what happened to Miklan all those years ago, but still…” She laughed, a sound like the wind blowing through a hollowed-out gourd. He thought it was the first time he’d ever heard her laugh. “He’d be forgiven for thinking me a liar, or else, mad.”

Her footsteps carried to the ceiling of the Goddess Tower with an echo just as hollow as her laugh. “We’re all going,” she murmured. “The knights will stay, and hold the monastery against any further attempt at invasion.” Her voice grew harder as she went on, “You must not attempt to leave this tower again. I cannot guarantee your safety if you do. No one can.”

He didn’t look at her. He remembered the last time he had left; it was not in him ever to forget. No words to express his shame (she was still noticeably ginger with her left arm), no words to express his fury at confinement, no words to express the cold wave that had washed over him when he was reminded again, his flesh was still mortal flesh, for all that he was a thing of rage and claws and teeth, stronger than any man, he could be cut down like a man all the same.

He did not look at her, and she did not attempt to force herself into his sight. “We will return,” she said simply, “as soon as our fortune allows us. Wait for us, Dimitri.”

And still, he did not turn to watch her leave. If they did not wish him to fight, they ought to have let him go. If a beast was all he could be, now, he ought to at least be allowed to live like one. (He deserved no better.)

-0-0-0-

Six times the sun rose and fell over the horizon of the mountains, and not a single sign came to Dimitri that the party that set out for Ailell had returned. The guards talked, of course; he could smell their fear as thickly as the smoke that had burned at the close of the Guardian Moon, but this could not, by itself, stay their tongues. If the party that had left this place had returned, he would have heard tell of it.

On the seventh day, bright white clouds cut fickle paths across the sky, unable to decide whether or not they wished to hide the face of the sun. Dimitri’s side ached with new wounds, the pain a balm to an itching agony that dwelled too deep for claws to reach. He had turned his head to the window, that sliver of a world that could not, for now, be his, watching the sky.

New voices drifted to his ears, and he sat up a little, listening.

“—kept him confined.”

Melusine. So they had returned, at last.

“Professor—“ A second voice, taut with agitation. A man’s. “I don’t understand.” It sounded like… “Why—“

No.

No no no no no

Dimitri tried to back away from the light into the dark of the far side of the tower (not him not him please not him), but the wounds that had been a balm just a moment prior served to hinder him now, and he fell heavily on his side, the force of the impact sending dust floating down from the ceiling in a flurry like new snowfall. (Not him I can’t please I can’t) Claws scrabbled uselessly at the unyielding stone of the floor beneath him, tail lashed wildly at a wall that would not give to such force, Dimitri left excruciatingly slow to regain his bearings as the footsteps on the stairs drew ever nearer, the voices now gone.

Two figures appeared at the top of the stairs, and all Dimitri could do was stare at them as they drew closer, and then stopped just outside of the light.

“Please,” Melusine said, in the tone of someone trying to convince of something she knew anyone would believe utterly fantastical (but look what a world they lived in, now; look what had happened to him), “I know it much to ask that you believe me, but I swear to you—“

“No,” Rodrigue replied to her, so shakily that for a moment his voice was almost unrecognizable, and Dimitri could almost convince himself that it was not really him who stood there, but no, he was not that fortunate, never that fortunate. “I believe you.” He took a step forward, into the light. His eyes were riveted on Dimitri’s face. He appeared utterly stricken. “It’s him.”

For a moment, the world froze, holding its breath. Dimitri drank in the sight of he who stood before him with the sort of longing he hadn’t known he could still feel for anything but the feeling of Edelgard’s bones crushed betwixt his jaws—he was helpless to do anything else.

Rodrigue was older, now, his dark hair touched with frost at the temples, the lines that had already been etched on his face five years ago etched now so deep that they looked like someone had taken a blunt knife to his face and carved. But more than that, Dimitri looked at him out of the eye of something larger than any man, and oh, when he was a boy, even after he’d shot past him in height, Rodrigue had always seemed to Dimitri so tall and so steadfast, but now, oh, now, how small he seemed.

Then, the world moved again, and Rodrigue stepped towards him, and Dimitri found his legs again and scrambled back.

Five years ago, if Rodrigue had found him out in the wilds after he escaped Fhirdiad, Dimitri would have fallen sobbing into his arms. He had wanted him as desperately as he’d wanted his father, his stepmother, Glenn, Dedue, all of them. Even a year and a half ago, he suspected he would have, long after his rage had calcified into a shell around his heart. Now, that heart beat a harsh, staccato tattoo against his ribs as Dimitri backed further away from him.

Don’t come near me, he wanted to say. Don’t touch me, he wanted to plead. Don’t touch me, I’ll hurt you, don’t touch me, don’t look at me.

All that would come out of his misshapen mouth was a high-pitched whine.

Dimitri’s back struck the far wall, and still Rodrigue came nearer and nearer, his harsh, gasping breaths filling the air. Dimitri shrank back and down, pressing as tight against the wall as he could force himself to, claws scrabbling again against the floor. He flinched away from Rodrigue’s outstretched hands, and Rodrigue simply fell to his knees in front of him. His cradled Dimitri’s face in his shaking hands, so gently that all he could do was shake.

“My boy,” Rodrigue choked out. “My poor boy.”

And then, he just repeated those words, over and over, each iteration more broken than the last.

Dimitri only became aware of Melusine’s having drawn near when he heard her suck in a sharp breath, and realized that she was looking at his side. “Those are fresh,” she muttered, dropping to one knee, her hand (still just her right; would she ever be healed from what he had done to her?) glowing with magic as she turned her attention to his rent, bloodless flesh.

Rodrigue tore his gaze away from Dimitri’s face long enough to look to where Melusine was even now starting to ply healing magic. He made a garbled noise in the back of his throat that Dimitri hadn’t heard him make since he was nine years old, and Felix had hit his head falling out of a tree. Dimitri and his father had been visiting in Fraldarius territory, and the two men had been somewhere behind the house when it had happened. Felix wouldn’t wake, and Glenn had carried him back inside, screaming for a healer. That screaming had sent their fathers running back towards the house, and when Rodrigue had appeared in the doorway, and his eyes had lit on Felix, pale and bloody and unmoving in his brother’s arms, the noise that had escaped his mouth had not been a cry, not been loud enough even to qualify as a whimper, but Dimitri had never heard a more terrible noise, and he had never heard something so terrible again. Until now.

[deckerstar2917]

Here is part 2 of that story.

Calm Before

As they go to Hilltop, Lily have baby Siberian Husky in her knapsack, it felt really sad, because it just lose it mother to those stupid morons half demons, and half zombies. She can’t help herself, but she feels this connection toward it. Rick walked toward her, and told her, “It’s been a long time since we hung out last time before”. She told him, “Yeah, it is, and this puppy feels really sad, what can I do, obviously, I can’t just left it alone out in this world”. Rick told her, “You see this man over there, his name is Daryl Dixon, and he lost his brother, Merle, he was the one who lost his hand, and he died, but reanimation, and Daryl have to kill him”.

Far away from Rick, and Lily is this someone who loses everything to half demons, and half zombies apocalypse long time ago. He shut everyone out, expect those people who he trusts. He usually uses a vest with wings on it, but one of those is gone, and he usually rides his motorcycle, which used to be his brother’s. His name is Daryl Dixon, and he looks back to find his best friend, Rick talk to tough, strong young woman. He can’t help himself, but he stared at her, and he kept walking.

Dennis, and Mac were very excited to be rescued, so they can plot a revenge on those people, because in secret, they’re actually the whisperers. They’re the sons of the leader, and second-in-command. Mac is the son of the leader of his group, Whisperer, Alpha, and he also has a younger sister, and last time he actually remember is that someone accident take him away from their family. His best friend, Dennis also is the son of his group, Whisperer, but this time, he’s the son of Beta.

Taylor was walking with Dean’s younger brother, Sam Winchester. She told him, “thanks for coming by, and saving me”. He told her, “it’s weird, I know, but I have this obsession whatever Dean mentions everything about you, I can’t help myself, but loves you”. She just stood there, looking at him, and told him, “I try to let my older sister know, but she told me that we’re not ready for a relationship yet”. Sam told Taylor, “maybe she’s afraid to trust anyone, expect my older brother, and his best friend, because they’re trio”! She told him, “so true yet, but any people that I placed her with for her date, she hates them from the moment they come in”. He told her, “just give her time, don’t let her pull you down”. She nods, as they walk toward Hilltop, as Dean drive his baby car.

Lily slowly walk toward Hilltop, as she realized that she needs to let her baby puppy run around when they’ll arrive there. She was very upset when she has to watch it mother being eaten, but her body has not been found yet. As they arrive there at Hilltop, Lily pick baby Siberian Husky up from her knapsack, and put it down on the ground, and it kept stay by her side. Her heart has gone so soft for this baby puppy, as she makes eye contact with the man who rescues her, Daryl. She knew that he refused to talk to anyone, so she needs to figure out how to get him out of his shell.

Each person who lead three different communities, and we already know that Rick Grimes is the one who lead Alexandria, but what about two other people who lead two different communities, and that communities is called Hilltop, and Kingdom.

This someone who lead Hilltop community is the daughter of a farmer, who is her father, and she used to have a younger sister, but unfortunately, she lost her, and her father also. She lost her father to brutal villain named Governor, who cut his head off with a woman named Michonne’s Katana. She was married to a man named Glenn Rhee, but she also lost him to brutal villain named Negan, but she has a son, and she named him Hershel Jr. Her name was Maggie Greene, now Maggie Rhee. She was best friend to Rick Grimes.

This someone who lead Kingdom community is the “king” of that community. They’re not have any appearance to Negan, and his group of people called “Saviors”, until Rick Grimes convince him to join him in the fight against Negan for the sake of their communities. He used to have tough tiger named Shiva, but he lost her to herd of half demons, and half zombies. He have a second-in-command man named Jerry, and he loves food. Jerry is very funny, and friendly man, who admit him as their king. This someone’s name is King Ezekiel, and he has fallen in love with a woman named Carol Peletier. He is a good ally to Rick Grimes.

As they’re at Hilltop, Dean gets out of his baby car, and he walked toward his best friend, and start their conversion…

Dean: Hey Rick, do you trust Lily’s group to stay here at Hilltop?

Rick: Some of those yeah, but two people,

I have a funny feeling about that.

I have a feeling that they’re up to something really terrible.

Dean: isn't they’re Mac, and Dennis? I have the same feeling about this, Rick.

Rick: Yeah, they’re, and I can trust you to look after your brother, because he’s new to this half demons, and half zombies world. He has to take things slowly with Lily’s younger sister, Taylor, and he can’t just rush out of that.

Dean: and I can trust you to look after Lily, because she just have to watch puppy’s mother being eaten, and she might be broken after that happened.

Rick: Yeah, and her heart has gone very soft for puppy, because it doesn't want to walk around this area.

They’re hug each other out, just like brothers, because the first time they’re met, Dean put his holy water on Rick’s face by accident. He gets really angry, and almost kill him with his colt. After that, they’re just hang out, until Lily shows up. When she did show up, she doesn’t trust them yet, until she dare Dean to show her that he’s human, and not demons. He used his knife to cut his hand to show her prove that he’s human, and not one of demons.

Lily tried to encourage her puppy to walk around this area, because she wants it to get used to this new area. But it still stay by her side, and she doesn't understand why, just as Daryl take a walk toward her, and she pulls her notepad, and pencil out of her knapsack, and start to write. It said this: “any ideas why this puppy would stay by my side?” She shows it to him, and he just read it, and he makes a sound, just to call someone or something. She could not believe her eyes out, and there is this four-legged adult-size male white Alaskan Malamute mixed with Husky come, streak toward them. She just stood there, staring at it, just as baby Siberian Husky mixed with German Shepherd approached it, and Alaskan Malamute quickly accept it right away. It melt her heart right away…

Daryl point to Lily’s notepad, and she gives it to him. He started to write on it, and it said:

Daryl: I found this dog two years ago, as it was approaching me, injured, and I assume right away that it was from half demon, and half zombie’s bit, but I was wrong. I treat it’s injured right away, and decided to adopt it.

Lily: Wow, you actually save its life, and you just give it a second chance at surviving. I don't know about this puppy, and I was afraid that it will die...I was author just before this apocalypse happened.

Daryl: Don’t worry, for that my dog will protect yours. I was a best friend to your best friend, Rick Grimes. He almost killed me with his colt, because I was angry, because a man was bit...after that, I was his “brother”.

Lily: I know, because Rick told me, post to the Apocalypse…

Taylor was so amazed by how this community work together to survive. Meanwhile, Dennis, and Mac pull their phones out, to text someone, or two….

Dennis and Mac: We’re at Hilltop, and we suspected that they’re have your daughter, Lydia…

Alpha and Beta: Good job, our sons. We’ll raid there, and take you two, and Lydia back to us!

Dennis and Mac: But people of Hilltop doesn’t suspected that we’re plotting this!

Alpha and Beta: Alright, when this FAIR take over at Kingdom somehow later this week, we’ll have to kidnap around 12 people from each community….

Later this week….

Kingdom

This weird group show up at FAIR, because of Carol suggestion a movies, and they’ve never seen any of those. So King Ezekiel decided to show a movie later tonight, and that movie is called: Star Wars: A New Hope. Their group are named: Highwaymen. Lydia, daughter of Alpha, and brother of Mac was see Carl Grimes, son of Rick Grimes. King Ezekiel, and Carol adopted a son, who name is Henry, and he’s younger brother of Benjamin, who was already dead. Another group also show up just a few days before the Fair, and they are: Yumiko, girlfriend of Magna, Musician Luke, and sibling, Kelly, and Connie. Yumiko was former guard for this old city name is Coalport, which they’ve been survived all this time. It’s not matter who lead who, but it seems that Magna is their leader.

Kelly was in high school, doing her final exam, post to the Apocalypse happened. Connie was an older, protective sister to Kelly, she was an Deaf journalist, who revealed every politician’s bad things, and put them in jail. Magna was do her criminal sentences post to the Apocalypse, and when that happened, she escape, and later on, she found Yumiko, and they development their romance relationship. Luke was in high school, along with Kelly, and he was a Music teacher, and she take his class. When Lily first met Connie, they both thought that each of them were only deaf person who survived this Apocalypse. They’re both toughness, strong, smart, and both are sympathetic.

When they did meet, Lily was practicing her bow and arrow talents, Magna, and her group show up. They’re given a tour of Hilltop, and Kelly ask Daryl: “who is this woman do with her bow and arrow”? He told her “that, oh, that is Lily Archer, older sister of Taylor Archer, who date Sam Winchester”. Kelly told her sister Connie about her, and she was very surprised, so she decided to approach her. They hit it off right away, so they did communication in their language, sign language.

As the night was about to come, Alpha show up at Kingdom, unnoticed, and she created sound that caused around 12 people to be captured. Daryl was sit beside Lily, as they, and everyone was enjoying Star Wars: A New Hope. Lily’s puppy was sleeping on Daryl’s dog. She decided to name it Shadow, and Daryl’s dog name is Ryder.

As the movie is over, people left, expect them, Sam Winchester, Rick Grimes, and Dean Winchester. They have their own conversion. They left, just as some people come to them, and told them where are some people. Lily come to her realization that her sister, Taylor is missing. Daughter who name is Jaklyn of the woman who name Frankie is also missing, along with Tammy Rose, Siddiq, Ozzy, Alek, Goose, Enid, Carl, Luke, Yumiko, and Henry.

Daryl, Michonne, Carol, and Magna go outside, to check and see if Whisperers had bother them, while Lily, and her puppy, Shadow who was in her knapsack, went out, look for those missing people, and that included her sister, Taylor. Ryder was stay behind at Kingdom, along with Connie.

As Daryl, Michonne, Magna, and Carol come up on this big hill, and they spotted 3 empty pike sticks on the ground, and they have this bad feeling about this. They returned to Kingdom, until the morning, where Rick, and Michonne have to let people know that they’ll have to honor them who’s not dead yet, but they’ll anyway. He felt really heartbroken, because he could not find his son, Carl.

As the dark come, Lily come across a barn, and she found whisperers hold 12 people captured. Will she rescue them, included her sister Taylor or not?.....

[darkmystress00]

In Living Color - Ch 12

A/N: Trigger warning...character death. Not directly mentioned, but alluded to.

Pairing: Bethyl

Catch up: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10 | Ch 11 | Ch 12

or read on AO3 or FFN

“What do you mean I need to hang back and protect home base?” Beth screeched from the middle of the corridor of their cell block.

“You gotta stay here and protect this area. If something happens and walkers get back here, we’re counting on you to keep Lori and Carl safe.” Maggie reasoned. Beth was seeing red (metaphorically).

“That’s just bullshit.” She spat.

“Language Beth!” Maggie scolded.

“You want me to stay back here because you know no walkers will get this far back. You don’t think I can handle it.” Maggie crossed her arms in front of her and gave Beth a stern look.

“I want you safe. That’s all.” Maggie looked at the very pregnant Lori sitting on the steps at the end of the cell block. “Between the three of you, you are the most capable. If something does get back here...we need someone besides Lori and Carl to protect this area.”

“But…” Beth’s eyes jumped to the haggard group behind her sister and she tried to make eye contact with someone, but so far everyone was steadfastly refusing. “Daddy, please…” She moved around Maggie. “I can help. I can do this.”

“Bethy, sweetheart. Look at Lori,” he replied beseechingly, “eight months pregnant, almost full term,  and if something gets back here she’s got to rely on her son to protect her. It’s a rock and a hard place of a situation…”

“I can do this.” Beth reaffirmed.

“Beth, do not make me lock you inside a cell. This is a prison, and I can do it.” Maggie growled behind her. Beth rounded on her ready to lay into her when she felt two hands settle on her shoulders. Beth turned again, her eyes landing on the grimey faded brown shirt of Rick’s sheriff uniform.

“Beth…” He started, his green eyes boring into hers. “I need you. I need you to protect my wife and unborn child. I need you to protect my son. I need you to do this for me. I won’t be able to go out there and do what I need to do safely if I’m worrying about them back here. Please, can you do this for me?” She wanted to argue, but knew, as she felt her stomach drop, that she couldn’t do it.

“I...I need a weapon at least.” She offered weakly. She was startled when Daryl walked up and handed her a knife in its sheath.

“Keep this.” He mumbled as she clasped the knife in her hands. She tucked it into the waistband of her pants and watched silently as the rest of the group turned and walked out. She huffed a sigh and moved to sit next to Lori on the stairs. Lori watched her with careful eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Lori said softly.

“It’s not-”

“I know. I also know you feel like you gotta prove yourself, and no one gives you the chance.” She smiled sadly. “It’s a special kind of helpless when no one will look at you twice.” Beth remained silent, listening. “I know it seems hopeless, like it’ll never come, but you will get your chance to prove yourself. Maybe not to everyone, but you’ll show them you are tough and can do what needs to be done.” Beth smiled softly and glanced up to Lori.

“Maybe.” She started but froze when Lori let out a gasp. Lori grabbed Beth’s hand and placed it to her swollen belly. Beth marveled at the rolling and movement coming from underneath. “It still amazes me, every time.” She sighed a little. “I can’t wait to meet this little one.”

“Won’t be long.” Lori said absently. “The more active he gets the more convinced I am he’s going to come early.”

“He?”

“Carl was just as active.” She supplied. “Of course I’m only guessing. Won’t really know until they come out.” Beth giggled and nodded before drawing her hand back into her lap.

“How was your first birth?” Beth asked.

“It was tough. I couldn’t deliver naturally. I started hemorrhaging and they had to rush me into emergency surgery. Carl was born twenty minutes later.” She smiled, “He was healthy and happy. That was all I could have asked for.”

Beth sat troubled. Lori had a difficult birth the first time. If she went into labor they’d need her daddy to help with a second c-section. Beth would be completely unprepared and might lose not just the baby, but Lori as well. She sent up a silent prayer asking for Lori to wait until the group came back. It was her best chance.

~~~

Daryl gripped the edge of the crossbow as he walked through the quiet corridor. They weren’t to the dangerous section yet, but it never hurt to be too careful. His eyes scanned over their little group. Hershel, Rick, Maggie, Glenn, Carol and him. Everyone had been decided to go. Everyone except Beth that was. She’d been forced to stay behind and guard Lori.

Daryl still marveled at the anger she’d been filled with when Maggie had told her she had to stay behind. No one had been able to calm her, except for Rick. Rick had been able to move in their and smooth talk the situation like she wasn’t being targeted for being one of the weakest links in their group. No one said it (well, Maggie said it all the damn time but for some reason she didn’t count) but everyone knew that Beth was in a dire need of training but would most likely hurt herself before learning anything.

Daryl tended to disagree. He knew she could learn, but he’d be damned if he’d be the one to sully her light with the training and danger of it all. She didn’t need all that on her. So, Daryl had stood by, silent, while she’d begged, and pleaded, and begged some more to be trained. Daryl had stood by silent as she’d thundered and raged (you couldn’t really call it that, to be honest) every time someone went out to clear the perimeter and told her not to leave her cell. He’d stood by silently as it seemed like her little spirit was being broken and she was accepting her fate. It ate at him, chewed him raw, to see, and he couldn’t stomach when they’d all stood there and she’d seemed so desperate to prove herself and protect Lori (after she’d accepted the fact that she was going to be left behind regardless of if she wanted to or not.) She was right. She needed a weapon if she was going to be successful at all in her ‘mission.’ He’d gotten some of the darkest glares from Maggie when he’d pressed that knife into Beth’s hands, but he hadn’t cared.

It was a funny thing; to understand why your soulmate was a certain way, but to disagree with it. It was just his luck to spend so much damn time around his soulmate only to watch her spend more time with someone else (she and Glenn were getting awfully close). It was just his luck to spend so much time around his soulmate only to find he really disagreed with a lot of what she did or thought. Hell, he was a Dixon afterall. Honestly, it was just Dixon luck for all of that.

Knowing Dixon luck, his colors would arrive and he wouldn’t really have a soulmate at all. The longer he spent around their little farm family additions, that was exactly what he thought was going on. Had to be. His Dixon luck had caused him to be broken; with colors and without a soulmate to share them with. It was a special kind of hell. All the colors that your mind can’t even imagine and no one to talk about or understand them with. The only positive was now he didn’t have to worry about keeping anyone alive because of sentimental reasons. He didn’t have to get attached.

He could focus on keeping everyone alive, no matter how angry they were at getting left behind.

“Alright,” Rick said softly, trying to keep his voice down. Just beyond the barred door in front of them was the hall to the kitchens. They needed to be tactical about this. Nice and quiet until they were in position. “I’m gonna unbar the door, and fire off a round. That’ll draw them over this way, but they’ll be funneled through this door. Hopefully we can take the majority of them out in smaller numbers before we have to move past this point to the kitchens.” His eyes scanned their group. “Any questions?” Daryl gripped his crossbow and shook his head in the negative. Rick gave a nod. “Alright, everyone take your positions.”

~~~

Beth was sitting in her cell writing in her little notebook when she heard Lori begin pacing the cellblock. She closed her notebook and stood to lean against her open door and watch. “You gettin’ restless?” She asked and watched Lori stroke her belly as she moved.

“Yeah...must be it.” Lori agreed distractedly. Beth frowned.

“You alright?” She walked to Lori’s side as Lori gripped the hand railing and began breathing.

“Yeah. Just weak...think I need to eat something…” Beth could tell she was lying.

“Lori…” Lori’s eyes landed on Beth and the fear was palpable.

“Beth…” She breathed, “I think the baby is coming.”

~~~

Daryl wiped the grime from his hands. Killing the walkers as they’d funneled through the door had been a good idea, but difficult to execute. Getting into the kitchen had been even harder, but they’d managed. There was a stock of cans they could use to help tide everyone over until their garden was up and functioning. He pulled the backpack and bag from around his neck and flung them over to Maggie as she started shoving the cans in. “Looks like we got some peaches, corn, beans, cans of chicken, and a large bag of rice down here.” Maggie said as she shoved things into the bag. “We won’t be able to take it all right now. We’ll have to come back in a few trips to get everything. Trying to secure this section would mean cleaning another cell block. Right now, it just ain’t worth it.” They all nodded.

“We can plan another smaller run after we get back. Just grab what you can carry and we’ll make our way back.” Rick supplied as she stuffed another bag full of cans. Daryl gave a grunt as he kept an eye out down the hallway for more walkers coming. So far, so clear.

“That’s all I can carry,” Glenn offered. Maggie made an agreeing noise. Grunts were heard through area before Rick made the signal for everyone to head back. Daryl tried his best to bar the door once everyone was out so that no walkers would get in, but there wasn’t much he could do to really secure the room.

He barred the door once everyone back through the safe zone and continued down the hallway back towards their cell block. When everyone entered it was deathly quiet, with an air that put everyone on edge.

“Beth? Lori?” Rick called out as he walked to the center of the cell block.

“Dad!” Carl cried out from inside his locked cell. Rick rushed over. “It’s mom...the baby is coming.” Rick’s eyes widened and he stood rushing to the end of cell block but stopped halfway down the hall and froze. He heard footsteps behind him but just watched.

The fear in Rick’s voice pushed Daryl into action, moving before he knew what was happening. He froze next to Rick as the sound hit his ears before the picture met his eyes.

Beth stumbled down the hallway, tears blurring her eyes as she walked. She cradled a bloodied sweatshirt to her, not caring of the blood spattered across her front and dripping down her arms. Her eyes landed on everyone’s faces as she rounded the corner and she froze just staring at everyone. A choked sob escaped her throat before she collapsed to her knees, clutching the bundle closer to her as it started wailing.

Her blue eyes darted up as she heard someone step close to her and she locked eyes with Daryl. It was half a breathe that she could hold his gaze before she broke and the baby’s wails were joined by her own.

Taglist: @imamotherfuckingstar-lord @fangirl1802 @blueicevalkyrie @deathtonormalcy56 @walkerfairytales @redrosalie1

If you would like to be added to my taglist please let me know in a message. I would be glad to add you!

[rpmatchmaker]

Partner search!

Name:Rhys Age:20 Timezone:Central Email:dotiscat@gmail.com Hey there! I'm looking for long term, descriptive roleplay partners. I do m/m, m/f, f/f. I am also very wary of being approached with "I only do this gender" because I am very flexible, and just want many different characters on both of our ends. I do not appreciate stereotypical 'top/bottom' and 'seme/uke' tropes (please don't call it yaoi/yuri and/or give anime-esque face claims) and would like for relationships to remain as realistic as possible, meaning switching. I do smut. (Note: I rdon't roleplay with minors. Please be 18+. If you aren't a legal adult, I will not respond.) Fandoms ----- •Life is Strange (Max/Chloe, Max/literally anyone, Chloe/Rachel, Warren/Nathan) •Game of Thrones (Gendry/Arya, Jon/Ygritte, Robb/Theon, Robb/Talisa, Sansa/Margaery [video game>>] Mira/Sera, Asher/Gwyn, Rodrik/Arthur, Elaena/Gryff) •The Wolf Among Us (Bigby/Snow, Bigby/Woodsman, Bigby/Bloody Mary) •Steven Universe (Ruby/Sapphire, [aged up] Connie/Steven, Pearl/Rose/Greg, Pearl/Amethyst) •The Mortal Instruments (Alec/Magnus, Simon/Raphael, Isabelle/Simon, Isabelle/Lydia, Jace/Clary, Clary/Isabelle, Jace/Simon) •The Walking Dead (Rick/Daryl, Rick/Negan, Negan/Dwight, Daryl/Carol, Rick/Shane, Rick/Michonne, Michonne/Andrea, Glenn/Maggie [video game>>] Luke/Nick, Lee/Carley, Lee/Kenny, Eddie/Wyatt, Nate/Russel) •The Last of Us (Joel/OC, Joel/Tess, Ellie/Riley) •Infamous; Second Son (Eugene/Delsin, Reggie/Delsin, Fetch/Delsin) •Marvel (Tony/Steve, Tony/Bruce, Bucky/Steve, Clint/Pietro, Clint/Phil, Natasha/Wanda, Peter/Wade, Peter/Harry, Peter/Gwen, Peter/Harry/Gwen, Wade/Vanessa, Wade/Peter/Vanessa) •Until Dawn (Chris/Josh, Chris/Mike, Ashley/Sam, Sam/Beth, Emily/Jess/Matt, Ashley/Chris) •Borderlands (Jack/Rhys, Jack/Rhys/Timothy, Fiona/Athena, Athena/Janey, Fiona/Yvette, Rhys/Vaughn, Jack/Nisha, Axton/Rhys, Axton/Maya, Maya/Lilith, Lilith/Roland, Timothy/Wilhem, Jack/Nisha/Rhys) •Underland Chronicles (Gregor/Luxa, [aged up] Gregor/Howard) •Uncharted (Nathan/Sam, Nathan/Harry, Nathan/Elaena, Elaena/Chloe, Sully/Chloe) •Miraculous Ladybug (Adrien/Marinette, Nino/Alya, Marinette/Lila, Marinette/Nathaniel) •Suicide Squad/Batman (Bruce/Dick, Harley/Ivy, platonic Harley & Floyd, limited Harley/Joker [i advise being very careful, as this pairing is extremely toxic and abusive], Floyd/El Diablo) •Brokeback Mountain (Ennis Del Mar/Jack Twist) •Shutter Island (Teddy Daniels;Andrew Laeddis/Chuck Aule) •Hamilton: An American Musical (Alexander Hamilton/John Laurens, Alexander Hamiton/Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton/Angelica Schuyler, Elizabeth Schuyler/Maria Reynolds, Aaron Burr/Theodosia Prevost, Philip Hamilton/Theodosia Burr, Lafayette/John Laurens, Alexander Hamilton/George Washington, Lafayette/Hercules Mulligan) Eyewitness (US): (Philip/Lucas) --- I don't do canon/oc, but can be convinced for some, I am all for it! If you don't see a certain pairing you're looking for, approach me with it! I may have forgotten or whatnot and could easily be swayed for that pairing! ---- I would love to chat OOC. Being friends is what really makes this work! I want to hear about what's going on in your life. I want to be someone that you can lean on! If I do not reply to an email within the span of a few days, it may be because it got lost in my inbox. Just send it again if this occurs! I write in third person, past/present tense, and in paragraph form. I'm going to be honest, if you show disinterest with one liners and very limited two-paragraphed responses to my six, then I will most likely not respond. I want to be friends, and get along, but if someone doesn't want to put in the effort, I understand. I know life is busy, and you don't always have time, but if it's a constant one-two paragraphs and not at least giving me a heads up that you'll be gone, I'm not going to accept it when I specified that I just want something over three. :( I feel bad for doing this, but it just gets tiring to try awfully hard and get a disinterested response in return. Original plot ideas ------ •Anthropomorphic medieval nobles that have to tame the beasts within themselves in the midst of a war. ((This is an extremely descriptive, multiple character plot that I have pre-planned.)) •Super duo/team coming together to defeat a mass villain/conflict •Pandemic survivor must take an immune survivor across the US in order to extract the cure (credit to The Last of Us) •Future where androids/robots are used as helpers for just about anything, for example: Keeping disabled and elderly people company in their homes, doing odd jobs to assist humanity, etc. among this, most people who don't need them as companions are very prejudice against the AI. It is up to our characters to stop the impending war between AI and human. (Credit to I, Robot. Two of our main characters can be a human and an AI! :V) •Assassin roleplay (can be assassin/target, assassin/assassin. historical or modern) •Explorers looking for a treasure on the coast of a tropical island(credit to the Uncharted series! Can be romantic or platonic) •Time traveller gets stuck in time, and another person has to help them get back to the reality they came from. • Oceanologists go to a secluded island to study the plants and sea life in the water, and on a scuba dive, discover creatures unlike anything they've ever seen. People with tails and scales! (Merpeople! :D Can be romantic, like all the others) •Person goes to live in a very wealthy relatives home after they pass away, and learns how secluded the neighborhood really is, with a small village of less than 30 people, and nothing more. Supernatural occurrences ensue, and characters must stop the thing/creature as it starts taking people in the night. •Detective duo goes to a secluded mental penitentiary together in order to solve the case of a patient that went missing out of nowhere. Throughout their journey, detective 1 is separated from their partner, and is put through a series of trials in order to find their missing patient. What they think is going on isn't what it appears to be. (credit to the movie Shutter Island. Heavily influenced on the plot, and will contain many, many triggers. Such as murder, mental illness, and deception.) ------------ Limits: I cannot do pedophilia, mpreg, beastiality and/or furries, gun/knife kink, bathroom stuff, a/b/o, or gruesomely detailed rape/forced sexual interactions. Other than that, anything is fair game. Please don't contact me with a "hey, wanna rp?" I appreciate you adding things about yourself, and things pertaining to the RP like your limits and what interests you most! :) thank you! I apologize if I seem straight forward or offend anyone over some specifics I want, but I promise I am much, much more friendly and relaxed when we talk OOC.

[just-whelmed]

A Long, Rambly, Incoherent Rant Regarding TWD

!WARNING!: a lot of complaints, a lot of tangents, specific shipping of specific pairings, wishful thinking and weird ideas, probably unpopular opinions -- all up ahead.

[i just needed to get my thoughts out there; i’m not looking to fight anyone over things i think/believe/like or don’t like about the show. i’m aware my opinions are not fact, nor are they the end all, be all for the walking dead. i’m just a fan who has no one to talk to about all this junk. nothing more. ignore if you want.]

I love The Walking Dead. It’s been a huge part of my life, my family’s life, for going on 5 years now. I’ve sat down every Sunday (when the show is airing) since the season 4 premiere to watch live, I’ve argued with family members after episodes, I’ve analyzed and defended characters, spent time making stupid edits and writing fluffy fanfics and just generally thinking about this show for an admittedly unhealthy amount of time.

I’ve never liked zombie entertainment. I didn’t even want to watch this show initially, but I’d been convinced by my sister one day and so we sat down in my room and watched season 1, which we rented from a video store before it went out of business. Right away, during 1x01, I realized that this wasn’t a zombie show—it was a show about survivors. It was a show about one man waking up to a dead world and wanting nothing more than to find his family. It was about seeing all these characters with all their complexities, whether you liked them or not, trying to keep themselves afloat while anyone could die at any moment. But that was never the point. The point was to follow these characters we meet right alongside Rick and root for them to conquer the threat of the world, no matter the cost. Because amongst all the loss and sadness, there was survival and hope. That’s how I convinced my grandparents to watch, too. 

And so it makes me sad, mad, frustrated, that I can barely recognize the show anymore. That I can rarely even enjoy it. Where’s the fun in watching characters you’ve cared about for years get killed off without any payoff (especially when it’s falsely promised that it’s for some type of “reason”)? Where’s the fun the show either being so predictable that it becomes stupid, or so outlandish that you have to laugh at the ridiculousness of it?

I know the common arguments, just as I know my opinions are purely my own. This is a show that’s created by a team who can do whatever they want with it. They don’t have to take the fan’s wants and desires into account (they rarely do, anyhow). They don’t have to cater to anyone. However, why should they then expect the fans to keep watching when they (Gimple) consistently flush everything we love about what made TWD what it is right now down the drain? Actions have consequences, and while yes, this is a show and what happens shouldn’t revolve around whether or not people are going to get mad, I do think TWD deserves a little more care and common sense.

And I’m in no way saying that this show should not evolve every season, that it should only be about 5 people and no one else, that threats can’t be bigger and greater or that main characters can’t eventually die. I know all these things, I accept all these things, I even like some of these things. But there’s a time, a place, and a way to do all of this, and the way it’s been done recently… it’s just frustrating.

Of course, no matter what happens on the show, someone will always complain. There’s too much plot, not enough character moments; too many character moments, not enough action; too much action, not enough plot. Etc, etc. Nothing can please everyone 100% of the time and that’s fine, but where’s the balance? Where’s the forethought? It seems like Gimple plans a season without thinking about the future of the show, and now said future is far too bleak—in terms of TWD itself and the state of how long AMC can keep this train running before it completely wrecks.

And everyone has an idea on when this started happening. For reference, my favorite seasons OVERALL are 1, 2, and 6. S3 had a lot of great episodes, but too much focus on Woodbury too suddenly. S4 had some stand out episodes, but was slow a lot of the time and had weird plot moments intertwined. S5 might be my least favorite, really, though it contains a couple of my favorite episodes in the series. The first half with all that hospital shit? No thanks, but the second half was pretty good. A lot of people disliked s6 and cite this as the season that things started to fall apart, but aside from the completely random obsession Rick had over Jessie and the fakeout dumpster with Glenn (also, Denise’s too-soon death), I think the season was strong. It had a lot of little character moments where most everyone got to shine and essentially helped change the course of the show in new and interesting ways.

Unfortunately, s7 took those changes and ran in the wrong direction. The pacing was off, half the focus was about Negan when we had three communities (two of which were extremely new) to learn about, and practically all the deaths were for shock value. (Also, the whole “blame Daryl” bullshit really blew up here in full force, stopping Negan from taking accountability for anything because he’s so ~charming~.) Now, I have a lot of individual episodes in this season that I actually really like, for various reasons (7x02, 7x03, 7x05, 7x08, 7x13, 7x14, 7x15, 7x16; obviously, 7B was better than 7A in my eyes). And there were a lot of things in the other episodes I enjoyed, too, but overall? S7 was kind of a big mess.

Why did Glenn need to die, honestly? What was the point of the dumpster bullshit if he was going to get his comic death anyways, only this time as an afterthought and therefore the exact opposite of the huge show-changing event they’d claimed it would be? Abraham dying, alongside maybe a surprise someone else, would’ve done the same damn thing that s7 showed us, except Maggie wouldn’t have lost yet another person she cares the most about, Daryl wouldn’t be persecuted for something Negan did on solely his own will, and we’d still have some fucking hope for a little bit. TWD immediately started feeling less like TWD when Glenn was killed off. 

Why is Negan’s characterization so flip-floppy? He was, to me, a threat in 6x16 and 7x01, as well as 7x03, and then for the rest of the season (as well as 8a) he’s just a joke-cracking, lame ass leaning cartoon who likes to pretend he’s not coercing his “wives” into being with him and who seems so obsessed with Rick’s dick that I’m not sure how he thinks about anything else. His relationship with Carl also falls flat. Yeah, I can see maybe if he had some kind of fatherly feelings towards him, but he just seems like a sociopath. He makes fun of Carl and then apologizes when he starts to cry, only doing so to gain control. He carts Carl around to show him the workers he treats as slaves, the “wives” that are only with him because they want to avoid a worse fate, and tries to emasculate his father by propping himself up as some kind of God to his “Saviors,” as if Carl will think that’s cool. He used Carl to break Rick in 7x01 and then was ready to bash his head in during 7x16, but it’s okay because he feels bad, right? Negan is a villain who has no empathy, who makes excuses for his actions the same way his fans do; there’s nothing to make the audience connect with him in a way that even the Governor, as whiny and dumb as he was, had. His s8 tragic backstory? Cheated on his dying wife. Okay. But it’s alright because he’s funny sometimes, yeah? In my opinion, Negan is a weak villain who’s plot armor is so obvious that so much of the show has become stupid. He controls so many people and yet you’re telling me that only Dwight hates him? That no one can just freaking shoot the guy who strolls around without a care? You’re telling me that Rosita is suddenly a shit shot and hits the small surface of baseball bat instead of Negan’s forehead? You’re telling me Sasha couldn’t take the knife from the rapist in the cell and stab Negan? She was going to die anyways, so why not just do it? You’re telling me they had Daryl on the B-Team in 8x01 because… why? He had a bike to lead walkers to Sanctuary? No, it’s because he would’ve popped Negan between the eyes if he’d been in that crowd, instead of shooting out windows too many stories up to even matter. Like… not to shit on Rick’s plan, because it’s pretty clever when you take the whole thing into account, but really? They could’ve killed Negan in 8x01 and the show would have been more interesting with Simon as the new main villain.

Also, what’s the deal with introducing characters (Heath, Sherry) that suddenly just disappear? I get actors have other things going on, but then there’s literally no mention of them again. Tara finds a sheet of paper, which we have no clue what would even have to do with anything, and hopes Heath is okay. Dwight gets Sanctuary’s doctor killed so he can lie about Sherry being dead. That’s it. And then what’s the deal WITH BRINGING BACK A CHARACTER FROM SEASON 1, SOMEONE THAT COULD HAVE HAD POTENTIAL TO SHOW MORE TENSION WITHIN NEGAN’S RANK, SOMEONE WHO COULD’VE HELPED DWIGHT TURN ON THE SAVIORS AFTER RECONNECTING WITH RICK, SOMEONE WHO COULD’VE AT LEAST FILLED THE EMPTY SPACE MORGAN WILL BE LEAVING ONCE HE HOPS SHOWS, ONLY TO KILL HIM AT THE START OF THE VERY NEXT EPISODE??? The most random shit you have ever seen, right up there with scavenger freaks that talk like robots even though the apocalypse has only been around for like 2-3 years.

It really pains me to complain about a show I love so much, but maybe it’s because I have such strong feelings for it that I have to air my grievances.

But wait, there’s more!

So, sure, season 7 had a nice finale, with Sasha at least going out on her own terms and Glenn finally really being acknowledged by newly appointed leader Maggie, plus the cool visual of seeing Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie give rousing speeches to their followers, but we then get s8.

It had a strong start. Rick’s plan is confusing and, for some reason, not fully explained when it’s the ONE thing that should be talked about. But, essentially: Rick teams up with other communities to trap Negan inside until they can no longer survive, with the threat of walkers looming, rather than outright killing anyone because he wants them to surrender. Then, with Dwight’s information, they go to every outpost to clear them of outside Saviors and to arm themselves with more weapons. His back up plan, in case something goes wrong, is to call upon the group that already betrayed them. Then, they just need to wait it out.

Except a lot of things go wrong, as they usually do, and this makes up a lot of the plot. Great! I enjoy the fact that many of our favorite characters are disagreeing. Daryl, Tara, and Morgan want revenge at all costs; Rick and Maggie are struggling with morality; Ezekiel loses nearly all of the Kingdom and needs Carol to get him steady; Jesus, the new moral compass, has taken prisoners because he’s thinking not just about the present, but also the future and what the cost of winning will do to everyone; Rosita’s learned her lesson, Michonne is on neutral ground, Carl once again won’t stay in the house, Eugene’s become an asshole as well as a coward, and Aaron is dealing with the loss of Eric (which was unnecessary, but whatever).

But within these neat little things are several problems. For one thing, Tara in s7 seemed to care about the innocent workers, even after she learned about Denise, Glenn, and Abraham. Now, she wants them all dead and is kind of manipulating the fragile state of mind that Morgan and Daryl are in. Like don’t get me wrong, crashing a truck into Sanctuary was Daryl’s big idea (and it was NOT a bad one, entirely, just morally incorrect, which he even knew and seemed to struggle with at times), but after Michonne tried to talk some sense into him and we saw that he’s once again suicidal, Tara is right there to make sure he goes through with it, just like she said Morgan was right after he had a breakdown and nearly killed Jesus. As for Eric, I get that we need casualties in war, and considering that they never developed the background characters (Tobin, Francine, etc) like they should have, Eric is the only one people would have cared enough about. It’s all about impact. (Note: If it wasn’t clear, I do not ship Aaron and Jesus on the show. I don’t read the comics, I don’t like the comics, and I don’t care if they’re a thing in them. On the show, they’ve not spoken ONE WORD to each other on screen. They’ve never interacted, which is a shitty setup if the plan is to then try and convince us later that a relationship can form there, especially if they killed Eric just for that. Why does Aaron need to be with Jesus when he was already in a perfectly loving relationship? Tom Payne said it best: it would be lazy plotting. Aaron is grieving. Give him the random baby, since Ross mentioned that he’d clung to that bit of life in the wake of losing Eric, and leave him alone.)

Now. Daryl. Obviously, he’s my favorite character, so no matter what I say it’s going to seem like I’m defending him just because. But what you don’t know about me is that I actually like to see both sides to a situation. I don’t think one character is always right or wrong, I’ll admit to anyone if something happens that I don’t agree with, and then I try to see the other side if I can. So… Daryl’s been a popular character since his first appearance. Like him or not, he’s a mainstay and a huge part of the show. Daryl has always been hot-headed, violent, and emotional. He’s also always been caring, loyal, and an outsider. In 6x16, he goes out to find and kill Dwight, despite the fact that it would probably get him killed in return. Why is he doing this? Dwight, who he’d helped in the woods, betrayed him and stole his stuff. Then, he killed Denise for no reason and showed zero remorse. Rick, Michonne, and Rosita followed him out because they cared about him and thought what he was doing was stupid. People act like Daryl is the only character who does stupid shit. Yeah, he’s not, but anyway. Instead of realizing Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita have their own minds and make their own decisions, people want to blame Daryl for them getting captured instead of blaming Dwight and the Saviors for acting on Negan’s orders. In 7x01, when everyone is in the lineup, after Abraham is murdered, Negan taunts Rosita. He’s looking for an excuse to kill someone else. He’s purposefully going around, trying to see who he can rile up. When he starts shouting at Rosita, Daryl snaps and punches him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. BUT look what happens after. The punch, which Daryl no doubt thought would get himself killed, backfires and makes Negan like him because he’s not a “bitch” like Rick. Immediately, Negan turns to Glenn, who’d already spoken out of line, and beats him to death. Aside from the fact that the writers wanted Glenn to die, if we’re looking at it in the scope of canon, do you really think it was random? Do you really think Abraham was random? Abraham, who’d straightened up as a challenge to Negan when he first went down the line? He was a threat and Eeenie Meenie Minie Mo was a farce. He picked Abraham for a reason, just as he picked Glenn—because he saw how Glenn reacted to Negan suggesting he would kill Maggie, and then with Daryl’s outburst on Rosita’s behalf he realized how much pain it would cause everyone if he killed someone else (someone who already showed strong ties to another in the ine) instead of the one who punched him. This is behavior he carries out constantly: choosing someone at random to hurt when someone else acts out because it’s cruel, because the person who defies him is doing so thinking they’re going to die, which means they’re ready to die, and killing someone else leaves that person living with pain and guilt. He tries to make Rick cut Carl’s arm off to get him to break. He was going to kill Dwight for when he, Sherry, and Tina escaped, leaving Sherry alive to ive with it. He burned Mark’s face for seeing Amber. He killed Spencer when he sucked up to him about hating Rick. He told Arat to kill someone random after Rosita shot at him. On and on. This is a pattern. Would people be less pissed if it had been Glenn who punched Negan and if someone else died in his place? Is it only Daryl (who has always been portrayed as impulsive and angry in hard situations) that elicits this reaction? It continues into season 8. Daryl goes against Rick’s plan, just like pretty much everyone else has been going against his plan, and he’s actually got sound reasoning. He wants to blow a hole into Sanctuary to let Walkers inside, furthering the threat and shortening the timeline of their surrender AFTER they’ve lost many of their Kingdom fighters. Rick cites the innocent workers and Daryl tries to make himself feel better about the plan by saying the workers could possibly escape (showing he cares, but not enough in his mindset to back down). Rick pretty much tells Daryl he cannot do it, which is a bad idea, and Daryl decides to disobey. But honestly, Rick’s plan is to recruit the trash people that betrayed them and have shown not to care about anything other than themselves, so how is Daryl’s plan, as ruthless as it is, any worse? Then, when he carries it out, with the help of Tara and Morgan, it succeeds in what he wanted it to. BUT THEN PEOPLE WANT TO BLAME THE WALKERS ROAMING OFF ON DARYL, WHEN HIS PLAN DID THE EXACT OPPOSITE. AND EVEN AFTER IT WAS STATED TWICE IN ONE EPISODE THAT EUGENE WAS AT FAULT, I STILL SAW PEOPLE BLAMING DARYL. It makes no sense. But neither does the show half the time, so whatever.

Sorry. I needed to get all that Daryl stuff off my chest.

Let me talk about Jesus for a minute.

Jesus had one of the best introductions on the show in 6x10 (which is my all-time favorite episode ever). Tom Payne is strong in the role, which, from what I understand, is quite different than the one from the comics… and that’s okay. And no matter what people say, I actually think Jesus has been characterized consistently since he’s been introduced, we’ve just seen it expanded on in unexpected ways. The issue comes with the fact that we haven’t seen enough. Gimple has underutilized him constantly, for no reason. After a good start at the end of s6, he was a background piece for a lot of s7, which is a shame since he shined whenever he was on screen. We established that Jesus is pretty much the only real fighter at Hilltop, the only scout, the only person who’s out more than he is in. But when we see him in s7, he’s just hanging around Hilltop like no big deal. If the point was for him to be there for Maggie and Sasha, then maybe more than a couple of little scenes was necessary to show that. And in 7x16? They took away his big Negan moment without giving a single fuck. That moment would’ve solidified him immediately as a member of Team Family instead of being just on the edge of it, but nope, give it to the cgi tiger (i love her, but let’s be real). And in 8a? We’ve seen his morality, his philosophy, and some of his many capabilities as a fighter, but there’s so much more to explore and I have little hope that they will in 8b, especially in the right ways. I so hope I’m wrong because I love his character and there are countless possibilities for him (one of which is a relationship with Daryl, but maybe I shouldn’t get into that. Yet).

I’ve liked a lot of little moments in 8a. I like the action, the conflict, the spotlight on multiple characters in an episode, the dynamics. But Negan’s plot armor is still around, the trash people are still around for no reason, shocking deaths are still around, and it’s exhausting. For as good as the pacing has generally been, the little details of the overall plot are convoluted.

The show that’s been about survival and hope no longer has either.

As bad as Glenn’s death was, even with the way he’d been slowly phased out before that point, Carl’s impending death is somehow worse. Carl, who was Rick’s reason for living since the start; Carl, who we’ve watched go through so much, who’s grown up so fast, who was just a kid who kept losing himself and is now a man who is capable of so much compassion; Carl, who is the future of the show, literally and figuratively. It’s all gone. For nothing.

For all the talk about “anyone can die at any moment,” no one ever really thought that Carl would be an option, and it’s precisely this reason they did it. I don’t care what excuses Gimple and Kirkman give. I really don’t. There will be no payoff for this, just acceptance from those who haven’t yet already quit. There are people who might think this is overdramatic or who don’t care or who are happy because oh how shocking or because maybe they didn’t like Carl, but this is legitimately a huge blow to the show. Not even simply because TWD is losing Carl himself, but because it’s losing everything he represents to the show and to the other characters. This is a big impact and it’s entirely negative. The trailer for 8b has Carl mentioning Lori telling him he would beat this world, which is sad and poignant, but why does it have to be? Why couldn’t she be proven right? Why does Gimple have to ruin the very foundation of the show with dumb stunts like this?

Deaths are no longer shocking or a good idea. Killing off main characters when you have so few remaining is no longer a good idea. Focusing on the horrors of their world with so few moments of happiness and love to counteract it is no longer a good idea. (How many couples on the show are there at this point?) Watching the characters we actually care about get kicked down over and over again, without getting to see them stand all the way back up, is no longer a good idea.

We have 8 episodes of the season left. A lot of things can happen, good or bad, we can only speculate right now, but based on the course season 8 has taken so far? I’m not too hopeful. We’re going to lose Carl, we’ll lose Morgan in some way since he’s crossing over to the other show, and I would be majorly surprised if Negan dies. It’s hard to be excited for whatever else might happen when most of the possibilities are disappointing. Even with Angela Kang ready to run s9, right now I feel kind of apathetic. Will she have as much control as Gimple had? Can she mend whatever else s8 breaks and create a new, interesting story with our remaining characters for s9? Or will it just be more of the same—maybe even worse—because AMC can’t get it together?

I complained about Gimple sticking far too closely to the comics during 7, which forced the show in awkward directions that it hadn’t been on track for (Spencer becoming a random douchebag for the guts death, for example), but instead of finding a middle ground between adapting and tweaking storylines from the comic for the screen and creating original ideas in s8, Gimple’s now strayed so far from not only the “source material,” but also from what the show has been and what it should.

How can it get back to its roots while becoming fresh in a way that’s actually logical and interesting? Maybe one day we’ll see. Cross your fingers.

You guys probably don’t care about my undeniably optimistic desires for the future of the show, but maybe I can list them anyway, since I’ve rambled enough as it is. 

One: Get rid of Negan. As much as I love JDM and think he’s a fantastic actor, Negan’s run his course. I vote for Rick not sparing Negan, but instead sparing the workers and those like Siddiq who he would have otherwise ignored, if not for his son’s interference. If Carl wants Rick to be merciful, it should be a side effect of Negan’s death, maybe make him feel guilt about how he went about the whole thing, but don’t keep him alive. Heck, Gimple recycles plotlines so much, why not have Rick take the workers into Alexandria like he had with the Woodbury citizens? It’d make more sense than the mustache-twirly villain living while Rick’s own child dies. At least the Governor had some humanity.

Two: Slow down on the character deaths. Seriously. How many nameless Alexandrians are left? How many nonfighters at the Kingdom? Oceanside has already been touched by Negan and Rick, and while the Hilltop is currently intact, I doubt they won’t suffer some damage by the end of this season. No more main or side characters should die this season; no more mains in s9, either. There’s barely anyone left. The characters we’ve already established are what make this show worth anything.

Three: Time jump for season 9? I think the show needs it, at least a couple of years. We’ve got a new showrunner, now we need a fresh slate. If a few years pass between 8 and 9, more options for what to do with the plot will open up. (Will they do the Whisperers? Will it be some big remix, like turning Lydia into a boy for Enid, having Lydia develop a mother/daughter relationship with Carol, having no kid at all? Will Jadis live to become Alpha by finally shaving off that horrible haircut? Maybe we’ll get an original villain? Who knows.) But people will be healed up, rebuilding can be under way, and we can explore storylines for characters that could have started during the jump, making things feel natural.

How about some little things I’d love to see, but that we probably won’t? Buckle up for some major wishful thinking and maybe exit the vehicle if you aren’t on the same page as me for certain things... like desus, carzekiel, etc.

Maybe we can recycle Rick not knowing if he should lead or not, still struggling with the loss of his son and trying to live on for him and Judith. Maybe Michonne is more driven after the initial mourning of another son and takes a more active role in getting Alexandria back on its feet, since she didn’t want to leave it for the Saviors in 8x08. She and Rick are stronger together and can focus on raising Judith to know her roots, like Lori’s sacrifice and how much Carl loved her, keeping his spirit alive. Maybe they recreate the council from the prison and any new characters (Siddiq, perhaps the introduction of Magna and her crew) can be part of it, alongside the oldies like Rosita, Aaron, and Gabriel (if he survives).

Maybe Daryl has decided to stick around at Hilltop. Not only did he never fit in at Alexandria, but perhaps he feels an obligation to look after Maggie and the baby. Maybe Enid’s come into her own (with the help of Maggie and Jesus?) and can have a critical role within the group, maybe as kind of a runner like Glenn had been at the start?

Maybe Jesus is more secure in his position in the community(ies), more secure in himself, and gets a personal story… like, say, developing a relationship with Daryl. And maybe this, too, can be a new start/story for Daryl; a departure from all the self-sacrificing and depression he’s been getting these last few years. Daryl’s sexuality has been ambiguous since the beginning, basically, as we usually know or see who a character is interested in fairly quickly (Rick with Lori and then Jessie and then Michonne, Glenn and Maggie, Tara and Alisha(?) then Denise, Sasha and Bob, Abraham with Rosita and the Sasha, Eugene’s interest in Tara and Rosita, Aaron and Eric, Carl with Beth and then Enid, Jesus coming out to Maggie...). And the fact that it has continued to be ambiguous, and to be covered as some kind of mystery as of late, leads directly into a chance for one final, organic reveal. Daryl has always been a character that’s formed unique and important bonds with others. He was integral to Jesus being introduced into the show and they’ve shared some very important scenes since; plus, it’s easy to pick up on signs that Jesus might have a bit of a crush on, or is at least attracted to, Daryl. (There are so many desus scenes, shots, parallels, etc. that have already been talked about, so I won’t here, but you know. you know you know.) Showing a bond between Daryl and Jesus that turns into romance would be an interesting story, a new one for both characters, it would make sense in a myriad of ways, and it would also be groundbreaking. (Also, Daryl deserves some freaking happiness and dialogue for once, just as Jesus deserves to be pushed to the forefront, and something like this could do just that.)

Maybe Tara can make the move to Oceanside. She needs a break, some time to get herself together, and she’s closely tied to that community already… which is full of women. Give Tara a girlfriend that isn’t murdered. (Cyndie? How even old is she, I don’t know.)

Maybe Rosita can find happiness again, now that she’s more chill and humble. Her bond with Tara can be further explored. If they want to throw her into a romance like in the comic, it sure as hell isn’t going to be with Eugene (either kill in in redemption or do something other than this back and forth confliction), so how about Tara or Siddiq? Dwight seems likely, given their interactions thus far, and while I’m still salty about him I see that he’s trying to redeem himself and Rosita would be someone who would understand that. There’s also Gabriel, but I would rather see him continue to sort of mentor her.

Maybe Ezekiel can rebuild Kingdom and maintain his more active role as a King, letting his people know the drill instead of feeding them an image. Maybe Carol can be his queen, his second in command, and they can be themselves together as they know exactly who the other is. A romance between them already seems perfectly set up; we’ve seen that they clearly care for each other and have a deep connection. 

I could go on, but I’m just spitballing here (and probably also revealing some things i’ve planned for my fic’s sequel so oops). There are tons of things this show could do in place of constant tragedy. Yes, deaths can still happen. People can still be shitty, walkers can still bite and eat people, that’s how it’s always been. Conflict and angst have to there. But after a war this big, with so many losses from s7 and s8, we need something else. We need to bring back that feeling of survival in the face of certain death, those little rays of hope than shine after dark times. The show needs this if it wants to be good again and not just become another thing on TV that’s wasting away. 

The characters deserve better, the actors deserve better, and we deserve better.

I’m so close to quitting before we even get to what Angela might be able to do, and you don’t know how sad that makes me. It doesn’t matter that all of this is fiction; it’s such a big part of who I am at this point, and to have it screwed around with by someone who clearly doesn’t give a shit is something I still don’t understand, and I’m not even as critical about TWD as some people are! I can overlook a lot, find enjoyment in certain things that might otherwise be bad or annoying, and like… I don’t even know if I have an episode that I hate. I’m just done with wondering about what we could’ve gotten if things had gone differently. I still really wish they will, but it’s up in the air at this point.

So… Please, 8b, don’t burn that final straw. I want to tune in for s9 with real interest and investment and excitement again, not just because I’m loyal to the characters that are still standing.

Sorry.

[oosteven-universe]

The Love She Offered #1

The Love She Offered #1 Source Point Press/Comics Experience 2019 Written by Glenn Møane Illustrated by Tirso Llaneta Coloured by Monte Thompson Letters & Logo Design by Sean Rinehart     Six weeks ago, Brian Thompson's daughter Julia was murdered, stabbed several times with a knife and left for dead right outside her home. The police questioned her ex-boyfriend Sean, but he was never charged. Brian, however, is convinced that Sean is the killer. He knows it. And he wants justice for his daughter. Together with his brother Earl and his best friend Ross, Brian comes up with a plan. They kidnap Sean and bring him to a remote cabin. Their goal: To make Sean confess his crime. Everything goes to hell from there...     Geez, Louise, Mary and Josephine. Either I know how to pick em or the quality of books that are out there from these smaller press companies have raised the bar and standards in comics right now. This book was automatically on my radar because it's from Source Point Press and I love their books, their people and the way they treat their readers, plus their reviewers. I wasn't prepared for this one though and sweet baby J I gotta say this blew the eff away. Concept is simple and I have seen films try to do this but they never felt as convincing as this one does right now.     The way that Glenn structures this book and how he utilises the pacing to take the story & plot development and the character development and then ties them together and lets them be pulled apart throughout the book always moving the story forward is sensationally well done. The opening here is well done and with very little fanfare, for me that's explanation as to what's happening of why, the reader is drawn into this and will find themselves engaged almost immediately. I'll be damned too because it's so well done and the visuals play such a huge part in that.     The character development and characterisation here is bloody brilliant stuff to watch unfold. Once we get going and we meet the men their personalities start to emerge. Three very different gentlemen and that we get to see how anger, loss and blind belief can destroy someone's mind. One is a simple psychopath and the other a sensible one who is nervous about what is happening but the bonds of friendship is too strong for him not to be there. Plus he seems to be the only voice of reason and that may play a larger role later.     If the writing took me there the interior artwork could've knocked me over with a feather. The linework shows a strong, steady hand and how the varying weights are utilised and manipulated to create this attention to detail is simply stupendous. The grain in the wood of cabin, the emotions that flicker across faces, the folds in the clothing and the movement of that stupid mullet it just reaches into your soul. Also Brian is sexy as hell, well page 8 where he's looking at Sean it's like damn yeah. The composition inside the panels and how we see the backgrounds utilised to enhance the moments and bring a size and scope to the story is magnificent. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show this absolutely stunning eye for storytelling. The way that foregrounds are done to balance out the backgrounds and create depth or even the way movement is done yeah just yeah. The colour work here is just as impressive. How light sources are utilised to create shading and shadows is beautifully done. How we see highlights and those soft and subtle shift in hues bring this to life with aplomb. ​     The way that this issue ends is the kind of surprise you don't expect to see at this point. Is it worth showing us this, time will tell but for now it's something that sets the tone for what's to come that's for damn sure. People you really need this company on your radar, they are at cons galore, have representatives all over so find them, go to their website, ask your store to get them in, do what you have to but read this and tell me if you didn't enjoy it, I bet you will!

[izthecannibal]

Bloodline - Carl Grimes & Negan Imagine

Part 2

Part 3

request: Hey, I know you're probably really busy with other fanfics and stuff, but if you could, would you write a fic were the reader is dating Carl in Alexandria and Negan is her father/step-father but they got separated in the beginning of the apocalypse and she highkey hates him? This would probably take place after the lineup. Thanks loads!

pairings: father negan x reader, carl x reader

a/n: not exactly what you asked for but i’m thinking about continuing this :-)

word count: 1,199

tagged users: @deeindarkwonderland @namelesslosers

The mere thought of Negan sharing the same blood as you made you shake with anger. He brought you nothing but sadness, and you had yourself convinced that you could never consider him your father again. Not after all he did to you and your family.

For you, family wasn't your blood. You had no genetic connection to any of the people who were always there for you, whether you needed them or not. Abraham was your family. Glenn was your family. Daryl was your family. Because of Negan, your family was torn from you. 

You and your father were as close as you could have imagined. It was just the two of you against the world. When your mother passed, you clung to your father for support. He clung to the new world, finding comfort in violence. He wasn’t always that way, though. 

Your dad sat you down on the countertop of an abandoned convenient store as he scavenged through the remains of the shop. The shelves had been rummaged through, but he was able to stock up on some non-perishable food and drinks. 

“Here, kid,” he said, handing you a packet of jerky. You handed him a strip, and he happily took it. He smiled at you, then rubbed your hair teasingly. You giggled, pushing his hand off you, but he pulled you in for a hug. “I’m so happy I have you.” 

You didn’t know it at the time, but your father was slowly morphing into a villain; someone who you would grow to hate. You were only a kid, so it took you a while to realize why he was so upset all the time. You didn’t have as much to miss from the old world as he did. 

There was one event in particular that made your father a completely different person. It didn’t mean much to you at the time... You had no concept of what was right or wrong. You had been taught to kill the dead, but your father was always against harming the living. 

You stood close behind your dad, your knife firmly grasped in your hand. He taught you how to defend yourself early on, once he realized that he couldn’t protect you forever. You were good with your hands and even better with a knife. Although, your skills with a gun were unbelievable in your father’s eyes. 

He used a rusted crowbar to force open the door to an old gas station. There was a small market attached to the inside which seemed untouched. The shelves were relatively full, and they were all stocked up fairly well. Your father smiled at you when the door popped open, swinging out towards him. 

“Stay close,” he whispered. You nodded, sticking to his backside. Your eyes darted around the room, which was seemingly empty. Your father went one way, and you went another. Before you knew it, a hand was cupped tightly around your mouth, and you were being dragged towards the back of the store. 

Your breathing was heavy, and you couldn’t remember much after that. When you woke up, the room was silent. Your father was covered in blood, as were the four bodies that surrounded him. The only difference was that your father was breathing. 

Your mind was blank, numbed by the wave of shock that took over you. His eyes held yours for what seemed like hours. Neither of you dared to make a sound. You weren’t scared. You knew your father would never hurt you. You were confused, though. He always told you to be kind to the living. 

That was when everything changed. He was able to remain himself after Lucille died, but when those men tried to hurt you, he snapped. His will to be kind left the same night you did. You never planned on running from him, but his violent tendencies only grew more and more gruesome as time went by. 

You left when he was sleeping, an old bat he had found in a house you raided tucked by his side. You didn’t leave a note or anything for him to remember you by in hopes that he would move on. You weren’t sure how old you were when you left, but you couldn’t have been much older than fourteen. 

After being on your own for a while, you found a group. They took you in and cared for you to the best of their ability, but they were weak. They were discovered by a group called the Saviors, who claimed to be led by a man by the name of Negan. 

You told yourself that you left because of their willingness to give up half of their supplies, but you knew the true reason. Negan was an uncommon name, and there was no way in hell you were willing to figure out if it was the same man you had grown to hate. 

You fled that community just like you fled from your father. You left in the middle of the night and found shelter wherever you could until you stumbled upon a small community. You were out scavenging for food when you came upon a man by the name of Jesus. 

He took you back to the Hilltop, where you were taken care of like never before. All was well until the Saviors established their dominance once again over a group you had joined. You did what you did best, and left to restart your life again. 

Alexandria welcomed you with open arms. You met Carl, who quickly became your best friend, and eventually became more than that. Your bond was unbreakable, and you didn’t see yourself running away from him any time in the near future. 

You were on the run. For once, it was towards people, not away from them. Maggie was pregnant, and something was going wrong. You didn’t know if she was going into labor, if she had had a miscarriage, or maybe if there were any unknown complications. 

You and Carl were leading the way through the woods as the other members of your group carried Maggie behind you. Your dim flashlight flickered as its battery began to run low, but you still managed to weave your way through the complicated maze formed by the tree roots. 

You were across Carl, on your knees. You really tried your hardest to be scared, but you weren’t. You didn’t have the willpower to be scared at that point. Your body shook unknowingly, and your head seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each breath you took. 

“Let’s meet the man,” a man clothed in gray from head to toe said. Your eyes remained focused on the gravel beneath your knees, and the RV door was busted open. The voice you heard made you release a sob you didn’t know you were holding in. 

Your dad had grown a beard the colors of salt and pepper, and he sported a fine leather jacket with gloves to match. He scanned the row of your friends before his eyes met yours. You saw him quickly come towards you, and that’s when your eyelids became too heavy to hold open. 

[izthecannibal]

Take Over for Me (Part 2) - G-Eazy x TWD Imagine

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

requests: Okay so Ive had this in the back of my head for the longest time and I just wanted to share it with you BC I love you: so imagine if Negan had a son (like Geazy the rapper BC THEY TOTALLY LOOK A LIKE) and like you and him fell in love but can’t be together BC you both are on opposite sides.. I’m so conflicted and convinced that Geazy is Megan’s son or Neagn is old geazy LOLOLOL

You need to do a part two of take over for me!!

pairing: g-eazy x reader

a/n: i wasn’t expecting anyone to like the first part of this let alone request a part 2 so that was kinda shocking but ya know i had fun writing this and i hope you like it :-)

word count: 1,391

tagged users: @deeindarkwonderland @namelesslosers 

You had never cried as hard as you did when your suspicions were confirmed: Glenn was dead. Maggie was gone, and so was Daryl. Rosita and Sasha were messes--each in different ways. They all had a way of taking out their frustration; some more pleasant than others. 

Maggie and Sasha never came back to Alexandria. You hadn’t seen them since the line up, and you weren’t prepared to face them. You feared a mere glimpse of you from their perspective would make their blood boil in memory of what happened the night you were taken from them. 

Rosita was there when you couldn’t sleep alone. She told you she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since Abraham left her, and that she’d much rather have someone there to keep her company. You never admitted it, but Rosita felt more and more like a mother to you as each day passed. 

You had no idea Daryl was at the Sanctuary the same time you were. If you had known, you wouldn’t have left until he was by your side. According to Gerald, Negan was going easy on you. If that was him being lenient, the thought of him being angry made your stomach ache. 

Gerald told you he would visit sometime. A week had gone by, and you still hadn’t heard of him. He was probably joking when he told you he was going to stop by again, but there was something inside of you desperately hoping he was being serious. 

You didn’t go on walks anymore. You and Glenn used to do that while Maggie napped. He would ramble on and on about how excited he was to be a father, but you also knew that he was terrified. There was no way you could really prepare for having a kid, and the situation you were all in didn’t ease his nerves a single bit. 

Instead of strolling around Alexandria, Aaron took you on supply runs. You were never as helpful as you were after coming home from the Sanctuary. The death of two of your dearest friends and the capture of another was enough to light a fire beneath you, though. 

You always knew every move you made was a risk. Before Alexandria, you were more prone to taking risks that endangered you more than most of the adults in your group were comfortable with. You were young, though, and someone was always linked at your hip to defend you if necessary. 

As you grew older and became more experienced, you became harder and harder to scare. The things that once scared the life out of you were no longer seen as threats in your eyes. 

As you became acclimated to Alexandria, your invincibility began to wear off. The things that you were once willing to risk your life for no longer seemed worth it. Before, you had nothing to lose. In Alexandria, you had it all made for you. 

Being helpless in the face of danger woke you up. You were no longer willing to stand back and let others do your work for you. You had nothing to lose, and you were going to fight to defend your family, no matter what was at risk. 

It was late out, and Aaron was able to get the two of you inside a little shopping center. You were pleasantly surprised at how lifeless the place seemed. There were no walkers within sight of either of you. You both came to the conclusion that it was probably cleared out by a group early on, and nobody ever came back for anything. 

“The place seems empty to me,” Aaron stated, sweeping his eyes over the center one last time. You nodded, taking in the high ceilings and scratched floors. “I’m gonna go this way. Check out that area over there. Okay?” You nodded again, pulling out your knife, just to be cautious. “Yell if you need anything, and I’ll come running.”

“Same goes for you, big guy,” you joked. Aaron smiled at you and shook his head at the ground, the ran off in the other direction. You tried to read the letters hanging over the different stores and restaurants, but they were all coated in such a thick layer of dust. 

A sign across the way from you was so close to falling off the wall that you were hesitant to go near it. Ralph’s was written in cursive with what seemed to be red neon lights. The color was barely there, but you took notice of the plastic around the faded light and tried to imagine what it looked like before. 

Something about the way the sign hung so dangerously drew you in towards it, almost as if it was luring you into a trap. You grew up believing that if something was too good to be true, it was probably a lie. Nobody ever warned you about the things that look so terrible, but they draw you in anyways. 

You entered Ralph’s and were immediately overcome with the smell of booze. The floor was sticky beneath your feet, and your sneakers created a smacking sound each time they rose and fell from the ground. Aside from that, the place was in pretty good shape. 

From what you could tell, it was previously a bar. The back wall was decorated with shelves of beautifully crafted bottles of all kinds of alcohol. You were tempted to take one off the shelf, just to feel the glossiness of the glass. As you neared the bar, you heard voices coming nearer. 

In a state of panic, you ducked behind the bar, squatting so you were on your feet and ready to fight anyone who came at you, but low enough so you wouldn’t draw any attention into the bar. You were able to make out two voices; one which you recognized instantly. 

“Have you ever seen a shrine like this?”

“Yeah. Your dad’s.”

“No, man. These are so nice. Look at those bottles! They’re all engraved and shit.”

“Don’t let the companies draw you in with fancy bottles. Most of that external stuff is all a shit show just so they can get you to buy their shitty product.”

“Well, I don’t know where you’ve been the past few years, but I’m proud to let you know I haven’t paid a single dollar for anything; shams and real deals alike.”

The conversation between Gerald and another man was so innocent. They really sounded like teenagers, which was probably all they were when their lives were stolen from them. You began to think of what it must have been like to have Negan as a father, and for it to be normal. 

One of the men came around the bar, and it wasn’t Gerald. You tucked yourself behind a counter so you were out of his sight, trying your hardest to keep your breathing quiet. The man scanned over the rows of liquor bottles, stopping every now and then to pick one up and read the label. 

“Will you do me a favor?” Gerald asked. His friend nodded, turning to face him. “Grab me one of those apple ciders over there.” The man who you didn’t recognize walked closer towards you, picking up a bottle and handing it over the counter. “I got a cute girl to give it to.” You quietly sighed to yourself at his mention of another girl. You should have expected it, to be honest. 

“Did you hear that?” Gerald asked. You closed your eyes and mentally swore to yourself for letting your guard down so carelessly. The room was silent for a moment, but his friend shrugged. 

“I don’t know, man.” 

You could hear footsteps coming around the counter, and all you could think to do was draw your knife. Before you knew it, Gerald was in front of you, looking you in the eye over the barrel of his gun. 

“Jesus, (Y/N)!” he sighed, lowering the weapon. “I could’ve shot you!”

You smiled a little, admiring his concern. “Sorry. I’ll try not to get shot next time.”

Gerald smirked at your remark and set down his gun. He popped open the bottle of apple cider and rose it up to you.

“Cheers,” he whispered, “to the cute girl who seems to love making people want to kill her.”