#finished reading and ran to draw this character

[bookishmoonys]

benji from hell followed with us by andrew joseph white

[lavendoodles]

a fanart i've been wanting to finish for a literal month.

she is complete. it really has been a full month. I started this on the night of November 30th and finished it like 10 minutes ago on December 30th.

(The marvelous design belongs to @bigfatbreak !!!! Thank you for dropping this masterpiece omg)

I'm not gonna lie, this is the first reason I wanted to open a blog in the first place.

(if you want to read my rambles and see a closeup of the drawing, i'll put everything under the cut!)

A few months ago, a friend introduced me to the absolute jewel that is Bigfatbreak's Miraculous Ladybug AU, and I was hooked from the very beginning. I mean, you have all the stakes, all the drama, all the edginess that the original show could only dream of having, and the art is so pretty!!! The color palettes used for each chapter are always so pleasing to the eye, and the "halos" are a beautiful addition to the characters and the visuals when important moments happen.

I knew that I would make some study doodles for myself at some point, but as soon as that chapter dropped and we got to see Marinette as the snake Miraculous holder... I dropped everything and RAN to my tablet. Her design is STUNNING and I couldn't express my admiration in any other way, I HAD to draw her.

For some reason, I wanted to go for something big with needles and a tarot card as an inspiration. So I spent maybe the next three days working on it, but uuuuh that wasn't it. I also wanted to include snakes and some tulle fabric for the background, without realising how hard these two elements were to draw, especially the fabric (it's torture. I'm very open to tips or resources if you've got something). Then I felt like I couldn't get the tarot format to work. Then the rendering sucked. And I still couldn't make the background work. I gave up for a month. <3

And I suppose that it's in those moments of creative emptiness and lack of motivation, that everything suddenly clicks as if it was obvious from the get go.

Let's just go for a simple, eye-catching background with very soft rendering and a mysterious glow emanating from twelve sewing needles turning counter-clockwise. I know this piece is still full of potential, but I wanted to finish it before 2024 and before my mind had a chance to make me give up.

I find my mind to be incredibly insulting when it happens. But uh, considering that I haven't done anything solid in a month, I still take it as a small victory. Small victory is classy snake speedrunner seamstress. You go, Marinette.

[pinkeos]

Just moments with some of the HSR men

Characters: Aventurine, Blade, Sunday, Jing Yuan, Dr Ratio, Welt

Warning/s: Slight angst in blade and ratio's parts

Notes: this is my last post before i go offline for like a few hours until our wifi is back🫡

you were holding each other, lazing around in bed with nothing else to do for the day, when aventurine told you his name. kakavasha, he told you. and he told you to repeat his name when you first whispered it to him, the identity and name he kept hidden from everyone else sounds sweeter and better when it was you. ever since, it'd became a usual occurrence that he wouldn't turn to you when you call him by aventurine. the smile on his face when he turns to you after you call him by his real name is much better though.

blade doesn't even flinch when you gently wrap the bandages around his wound. he'd already told you before that it was unnecessary. that, against his will, the wounds would heal by themselves. but the frown on your face pinched at his heart, and so, he remained silent as you worked on patching him up. he doesn't like the look on your face, tears brimming in your eyes at the sight of his overlapping wounds. and so, he leans forward to wordlessly connect his lips with yours, his thumb wiping your tears away.

the way your eyebrows furrowed in concentration was quite adorable in sunday’s eyes. he basked in your undivided attention and the tenderness of your touch. the halovian could feel how you thought of your every move as your fingers glided over the feathers of his wings, pruning him delicately and straining your ear for any sort of noise of discomfort from your lover. with a smile, he told you to relax. the way you slightly jumped at his sudden voice made him chuckle into his closed fist.

it was always satisfying for the general of the luofu to watch you skillfully brew tea, he'd told you many times that you could probably do it effortlessly with your eyes closed. you'd only roll your eyes at this and sit across him, engaging in a conversation about both past and future. the topic would stray from one thing to the other, from his old friends, to the current ones, and to a certain lieutenant. jing yuan would fondly talk about how much of a parent you were to yanqing, reveling in the redness of your cheeks at his flowery words.

you remembered the day the letter of invitation from the intelligentsia guild first came, and how ratio discarded his plaster head as he waited for you to finish reading through the paper. you were leaning against that headboard that day, reading before he came home and presented you with it. without a word, you spread your arms and he crawled onto the bed, leaning his head on your chest as your fingers ran through his hair. and he was thankful you didn't give him a look of pity, only understanding and love as you peppered his face with kisses.

your praises for the drawings plastered over welt's sketchbook were never empty, and the smile on your face and the blush on your cheeks when you come across his sketches of you never failed to make him smile as well. you’d offer to draw him yourself, and you'd shyly hand it over to him after you declared you were done. it doesn't matter your skill level, he was more than happy you wanted to draw him. you continue flipping through his sketchbook, listening to him talk about some of them, his voice eventually lulling you to sleep with how soothing it was and with the warmth of his embrace.

[wolfiesmoon]

Genshin guys as dads 🤭

in honour of finally getting off my ass and finishing mondstat, i bring you genshin men as dads <3 i decided to challenge myself and write for characters i haven't written for at all yet

the reader is gender neutral (u can interpret that the kid was adopted or u can interpret that the kid is biologically yours)

Yk the more i read these guys' lines to get a better idea of their characters the more i think they need a therapy session stat

Characters featured: Diluc, Alhaitham, Childe, Ayato

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Diluc Ragnvindr

"Diluc! Diluc, are you in here?" you knocked before opening the door to his office, assuming he's probably there. You were finally returning to the winery late in the evening and wanted to see how your daughter and husband were doing.

Tonight, they should both be at the winery.

But to your surprise, the office was completely empty. You haven't heard a single peep from your daughter yet, either. Usually she'd be running around and yelling, even if she wasn't with Diluc.

You went upstairs to check your bedroom and were met with a most adorable sight when you opened the door. Your daughter was very peacefully asleep, drool and all, on Diluc's chest. Diluc did not seem very pleased with this arrangement, however.

"Welcome home." he sighed upon seeing you walk to the side of the bed.

"Looks like someone's on pillow duty." you teased him, petting your daughter's head.

"Don't make fun of me. She's been running around all day with seemingly no end to it. Sometimes I'm surprised at what her tiny legs are capable of." he leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"She said she's not tired at all. But she fell asleep almost instantly when she sat on top of me to, umm... bother me." to anyone else, Diluc would seem like he hates this kid with how much he says she bothers or annoys him, but you know that isn't the case.

Whenever she runs up to him to show him something she did, he pats her little head lovingly. He keeps the drawing she made of him in his office, even if he is a bit concerned at how grumpy he looks in her artistic interpretation.

"I wasn't making fun of you... Okay, maybe a little bit." you leaned down, cupping Diluc's face and kissing his cheek. He hummed in dissaproval, but his cheeks turned pink anyways.

"Would you mind joining me? If I can't... I want to know that you're safe, atleast." his eyebrows were creased in worry. You don't know what for, exactly, but you gladly joined him on the bed, hugging him too.

"Is your aim to suffocate me further?" the combined weight of about a quarter of your body and his daughter was not the most freeing in the world.

"No, I just happen to understand the appeal of sleeping on top of you." and you really do. It's always so warm and homey.

"You've worked hard today, dad." you moved some stray hairs out of his face. His tired eyes met yours for a moment before they slipped shut. Hehehe, you need to take a photo of this.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Alhaitham

(let's pretend you live together with him now instead of kaveh haha)

"Dad doesn't love me!" the sudden accusation had you turning your head fast, wanting to know what was going on. "What did he do, sweetie?" the little pout on her pudgy face was adorable.

She ran up to you and hugged your leg. "You still love me, right?" she seemed very worried about your reply. It seems like she isn't in the mood to give a proper answer to your question, though.

"Of course I do. You're very very very special to me." You pat her head gently. She seemed satisfied with your reply, giggling happily at you before running off to play.

.

When Alhaitham returned home that day, he attempted to interact with his daughter, as he tries to every day, but he was utterly ignored.

He looked to you, hoping you'd know the reason, but you just shrugged. "She says you don't love her anymore."

"Hm..." was his only reply.

"That's because he doesn't! I told him 'I love you' yesterday but he didn't say it back!" Your daughter crossed her little arms, scowling at her dad before turning around so she didn't have to look at him.

"So it was that." Alhaitham seemed like he understood the situation properly now. And you realised what happened too, because it happens to you occasionally.

"Sweetie, listen. Your dad likes to wear these thingies in his ears. And when he wears them, he can't hear a thing." You explained in the most child friendly way you could.

"Not even an explosion?" Your daughter finally turned back to look at you and Alhaitham, though her eyes were fixated firmly on you.

"Nope. Nothing at all. When he didn't say 'I love you too' yesterday, it was because he was wearing them and couldn't hear." Your daughter turned her head back with an annoyed 'hmph', but you knew she was listening to you.

"So I propose a hug attack. Whenever you see him wearing them." You smiled evilly, glancing at Alhaitham who shot you a dissaproving glare in return.

"Leave me alone." Your daughter huffed, stomping off down the hallway. Oh well, kids don't always think critically, do they? You have a feeling she's already forgiven him a little, though.

"Children make no sense to me." He admits, and you finally greet him properly with a little welcome home peck.

"That's the fun in it, though." You smiled at him and to your surprise, he smiled right back. As awkward as he can get with the kid, he loves her a whole lot.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Childe

"Mhhhh... what is it?" he mumbled in annoyance when he felt his hand getting shook. His voice sounded quite raspy now.

"Dad... Dad..." turns out it was your son who was pulling on Childe's arm. He looked like he was about to burst into tears any second, now.

As soon as he saw the distress on his son's dimly lit face, his attitude changed and he was overcome with the sudden urge to take revenge on something or someone. Maybe it's the dad instinct.

"I had a nightmare.... I'm scared..." your son sobbed.

By this point, even you woke up, but your body was still mostly asleep, so you were just listening in.

"Come up here." Childe tapped the bed and your son awkwardly climbed up into his arms.

"Was it a scary monster?" Childe asked in an exaggerated scary voice. Your son nodded, gripping onto the front of Childe's shirt.

"In that case... you don't have to worry at all. I always love a challenge." you could practically see the smile on Childe's face. You turn over, opening your eyes slightly. You have to admit, the sight in front of you is adorable.

"What do you mean, dad?" your son sniffled, rubbing the snot away with his tiny hand.

"I'll fight the monster, of course. Oh, how wonderful it would be to see the b-" he winced a little bit when he felt the light slap on his face.

"Ajax, you'll scare him even more." you warned, your own voice raspy. You moved your other hand to ruffle your son's hair to comfort him.

"Ow, clearly, someone doesn't appreciate me enough." Childe rolled his eyes playfully.

Without warning, you lean forward and peck him on the lips. "There. Now I've evened out the slap."

"Just one peck? Well, I suppose we can't do much more right now... Hehe." Childe turned his attention back on your son, stroking his back gently to calm him down.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" you noticed he was smiling strangely.

"What look?" your accusations have been denied. But he sure does have a plan for you later.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Kamisato Ayato

"DAD! Look at where I am!" Your son shouted from somewhere in the tree that was stood in the beautifully maintained garden.

Being the little rebel he is, he climbed the tree despite you telling him multiple times not to.

"Please get down from there. It's unsafe." Ayato tried to reason with him calmly upon noticing him in the treetops.

"Nah, it's so cool up here! I can see the whole estate!" Sometimes, your son's stubborn nature made it hard for him to get along with Ayato. This is one of those cases.

"This is not a joking matter. You could get seriously hurt." Ayato doesn't think he could properly live with himself for a bit if his kid got hurt when he could have prevented it.

"What's going on here?" You joined in, happening to pass by the garden.

"He won't come down. I'm... worried about him." He admits, crossing his arms. Though you do sense a bit of annoyance behind his voice, too.

"Come down. I told you not to climb that tree so many times." You crossed your arms firmly. Your son looked at Ayato's face, then yours and sighed, beginning to descend from the tree. He'd rather avoid a scolding. But his little foot slipped and he suddenly tumbled to the ground.

"Son!" Both of you immediately ran to his side as he started wailing. "Call for healers. Immediately." He seemed fine, looking at him initially, but he might have a broken leg or something.

Both of you stayed by his side the whole time, offering him words of comfort (and a bit of a scolding). It seems like something like this happens almost every week, now. The Kamisato household has certainly gotten livelier ever since getting blessed with your son.

.

"Well, that was certainly an afternoon." You huffed, sitting down behind the table across Ayato.

"I wish he wasn't so reckless and disobedient, sometimes." Ayato held his cheek in worry. He let his son get hurt, again.

"He got that mischief from you." You smiled innocently, sipping your tea.

"Whatever do you mean, dear?" He smiled innocently back.

"I miss days of solitude. We only have moments now. I suppose my life hasn't been a calm one for a long while now, though." He sips his own tea, looking outside at the sunset. Working as hard as he does every day is taxing on the soul.

"Guess we gotta make the most of it." You stood up, sitting back down next to him and playfully pecking his cheek.

"Oh, I see what you mean." He returned the mischevious smile you know and love. Just as he grabbed your waist, though...

"LOOK WHAT I HAVE!" Your son burst into the room, holding a sword. His sword.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?!"

[dizzybizz]

hai here is a sketch dump with too many fandoms :) sorry about the ungodly amount of men here i have been going through it and by it i mean gay

ok wait i ran out of tags??? it wont let me tag them all😭😭😭 im gonna have to be sparing with them uhh i guess i will have to ramble under the cut then cus i like rambling in my tags but i cant with this one 😭

(ok im back from the ramble: it is way too long.... proceed forward if you want to see some guy just absolutely talk nonsense for entirely too long)

no cus i swear i have tried tagging more stuff than this before and never hit the limit but whatever

hello i really use this like a fkn blog huh

i just wanted to provide some thoughts on the harper and rosé one first bc its important to me 😌 cus i was thinking abt harper and how in my head and heart of hearts she would be the kid who thought you get pregnant from kissing and i dont think she ever really grew out of that belief. <- this ended up spawning the idea of harper being a sex-repulsed ace and i will die on this hill actually. fight me or die, you die either way actually nvm

this is just a buncha blorbos i dont know what to tell you really. sketch pages like these always end up so weird for me bc for some reason my brain always wants the characters in them to interact in some way. whether that be talking or just reacting to what the other is doing... its something i cant stop with, its so stupid and silly and i hate it and i love it. where else would i see kabru slowly losing his mind with how loud phoenix wright is in court????

I THOUGHT I HAD GOTTEN OFF THE RAILS WITH THAT BUT THEN THE NEXT PAGE HAPPENED. and all i could do was laugh and ask "what the fuck am i drawing??? HOW DID WE GET HERE? WHY IS THISTLE HERE WITH LEOPIKA HELP" LIKE that page started with the big leopika and then i was like "man i miss thistle lemme draw him real quick" but the curse struck and now hes being homophobic so </3

i rlly like how the nic(k) page turned out ... i just have a lot of nicks i like drawing idk.. the lil guy is an oc,,, one day his ref sheet will be finished and itll be awesome but not for now, sorry baby, no can do. im weirdly happy with how the hands turned out for all of them tho?? so thats a W

yotasuke, murai, nick (youll never know which one im referring to. .. jkjk its hoult i love the pose there ehehhe), nic and the entire last page r my favs. i like em all but those rlly get me yknow- the olly too ofc but ive already posted him, dont mind him being here, hes part of the set. AND OVER ALL IVE BEEN HAVING SO FUN WITH SHADING BLACK AND JUST LEAVING SPOTS BLANK ITS SO ?`????

WHY IS THIS SO LONG PLS DONT READ ALL THIS THIS IS STRAIGHT UP EMBARRASSING AGHSDFGSDHJSGD im all like "yeah i dont like talking about myself or whatever" but as soon as i get to my process or blorbos or smth the floodgates fucking break open, not even burst man.

also dont mind how i havent even acknowledged pingas twink pokemon counterpart. hes just here for shits and giggles i dont know the guy like at all, i watched a handful of eps of horizons and that was it RIP

[lilybug-02]

Happy 2 Year Anniversary to The Chara Timeline ✨

I FINALLY made drawing references for you guys, yippie!✨

It’s wild how long I’ve been working on this comic without reference sheets. I’m never that consistent with my art style, so I figured it was a waste of time 🫥💀😔 this is my first full comic okay…

Thoughts and Feelings About the Comic Below ❤️💖💕💞

Wow. It’s been 2 years??? I thought I would be done with this comic in 2 months! I don’t know whether to feel worried or accomplished!!

(With months between each update, I understand why it’s been 2 years. I’m a slow writer and artist and well- many things have come up in my life that had to come first, like my sisters wedding! 💞 and college 😅)

I want to thank my family and friends (WHO DO NOT READ THIS COMIC- THANK GOD) 💕 AND I want to THANK YOU! The readers! 💐💐

You guys are relentless! I’m as impatient as traffic and yet you guys wait for weeks or months at a time for like 4 pages?! You guys don’t even complain!!! I truly want to thank you all for that ❤️ it helps me so much. Being busy and getting burnt out are common and it helps me feel relaxed that i'm not on a timer. Literally tho- you guys keep this comic chugging I swear. Tysm 💐

Unorganized rambling about the comic ahead :) ⭐️🔥

—

My feelings with this comic are actually so complicated. On one hand I hate looking at my older art because GOD IT LOOKS SO OFF I want to stab it, and then on the other hand I am so so proud of myself for even continuing it this far. Ngl the weird route has been one of my favorite parts of this comic. It took me FOREVER to figure out an ending, but damn do I still get chills >:) hehe.

I’m still miffed that I named this project “Deltarune: The Chara Timeline” I could have gone for something so much COOLER. Doesn’t help I use like 7 different titles for it either. We got Deltarune the Chara timeline, Deltarune chara timeline, THE Chara timeline, chara timeline, Ct??? Man,,, I’m crazy. I take after my family so hard. We have 3 names for each of our dogs 💀.

Comic/Animation Tip i have learned. It is VERY GOOD to make the character relatively simple in design. Shape language is also super important, ((but I never really got around to doing that before I was half way through the comic, woops.)) These things can make ur process go by so much faster. This whole comic has been a HUGE learning curve. LIKE OH MY GOD. I had to learn how to draw backgrounds, write dialogue, plan a story, learn how to draw fast and draw noses (which god damn I really still can’t). And I had to learn how the heck to squeeze art into a tiny page and make it not look grainy. It's intense!

Anyways.... this has been such an awesome opportunity! Thanks Toby Fox!

I totally ran out of “art time” for my iPad and wanted to finish this today. So it’s a bit rushed. I’ll add weapons and possibly the other characters later :)

Oh shi- I forgot to add this grainy image of the next few pages lmao

[aealzx]

Better Genes pg 1-5 / 38

A short ROTTMNT comic based off of 2003 TMNT Good Genes

(Read right to left)

Note, this comic will contain in either imagery or text: illness, fever, injury, bruises, blood, IV, needles, syringes, drugs, sedatives, body aches, sprained ankle, mild mutation, cracked ribs, injured eye, tranquilizer gun, pharmacy, TV Medicine, TV Science

as well as

familial fluff, hurt/comfort, very minor drama/angst, personal adjustments to canon designs

Featured characters: Donnie, Mikey, Leo, Raph, April, Splinter, Casey

. . . .     Pg 6-10    Pg 11-14     Pg 15-18     Pg 19-22      Pg 23-25

Pg 26-29

Written Add on Part 1

Pg 30-33     Pg 34-35     Pg 36-38

___________

Hey 8′D So the backstory for this is pretty much over in this post (contains spoilers). This’ll be a short comic, only 38 pages, ‘cause it was actually supposed to be shorter but my brain ran off on too many details |D

One thing I will mention though is that I almost completely skip the fight scene in this, so if you’re looking forward to that, my bad. I don’t want to draw a fight scene in a comic just yet, I’m still a noob at comics.

Also there’ll be no set update schedule. I’m a busy woman and also too much of a perfectionist XDD I also have a bad habit of working on the pages that are more interesting to me at the moment, even if they aren’t the next ones in order. But I’ll try to upload multiple pages at a time. I started this on Nov 1, 2022, and only have 14/38 pages “finished”, I am very slow, so be patient X’DDD

[aspendragonfly]

Requested by: @bzzyb00-96

Anything for You

Vox x GN Reader

A/n: Istg I've been watching the Newsies so much just within the past few days, like this is my third time watching it while writing this 💃 Anyways, had a lot of fun writing this! This is my first time writing anything for characters so I hope it turned out good 🙏 Also! This took a bit longer to post just because I spent like 10 hours on that damn drawing trying to get it right 💀 Next time I'm not drawing a full ass character in a pose, especially bc I won't have time during the week-

Warnings: slight cursing like twice but that's it- also might be ooc but eh, what can you do 🤷‍♀️

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

It wasn't often that Vox had time to relax. A majority of his time was filled with meetings, filing out paperwork, and airing on his show. It didn't help that nearly every other day he had to deal with Valentino's constant temper tantrums. Because of this, Vox grew to appreciate your company a lot more. Your voice alone was enough to ease his aches and worries- which is why he couldn't say no to a movie night in the comfort of your shared bedroom.

"Would you want to bake something before we watch a movie? I was thinking chocolate chip cookies because we have the ingredients for it and I figured you wouldn't want to head out and buy ingredients." You said in that sickeningly sweet tone of yours. He swore you did it on purpose sometimes.

A chuckle left his lips- or, screen? "Anything for you, sweetheart." As the both of you made your way into the kitchen, you spent the remainder of the time mixing the ingredients together. Occasionally you two would bicker about what the right measurements were.

"I'm pretty sure it's half a cup of sugar, doll face." He crossed his arms in amusement.

"And I'm pretty sure I know how to read, dumbass. Look, it says one cup right there." You handed your phone to him and pointed to where it said 1 cup of granulated sugar. Just as you were about to tease him about being wrong, he burst your bubble.

"You do remember that we're halving the recipe, right? You were the one that suggested it in the first place" A smirk lit up his screen as realization dawned on you.

"Right- I knew that" Your face turned hot with embarrassment as you waved off his remark and measured out 1/2 a cup of sugar.

"Sure you did, sweetheart-"

"Oh shut up!" You elbowed him in the side with a huff, focusing on the task at hand. Vox simply chuckled before leaning in and placing a kiss on the top of your head. You had gotten used to the staticky feeling his kisses left, and even found it endearing.

After a while the cookies had finally finished baking, which you had all but shoved Vox away insisting you take it out of the oven. "Stand back, Princess, wouldn't want you frying your circuits now." He scoffed at the remark, leaning against the counter as you put on oven mitts and carefully grabbed the tray of freshly baked cookies. The sweet aroma filled the air around the both of you making you wish you hadn't halved the recipe.

Vox made his way into the pantry to grab a package of popcorn and

The two of you settled into the couch once the snacks were prepped and turned on a random shitty romcom- as Vox had put it. The movie slowly became background noise as his attention focused on you curled up by his side. He had to admit, it all seemed so domestic with you. Healthy relationships were foreign to him before you entered his life if that wasn't apparent with Valentino. Even while he was alive he always spent too much time focusing on his work to have a lasting relationship. You, on the other hand, were always so patient and caring with him- you knew he had a lot on his plate with being the head of VoxTech and made sure he took breaks, made sure he ate and drank, and you let him know if he did anything wrong. And God was he grateful for you. He always asked himself what he did to deserve someone like you... but despite it all, the one thing that ran through his head was how he would do anything for you. He planted a soft kiss on the top of your head, his screen resting there for a few seconds before focusing his attention back onto the movie.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Hope you all enjoyed this one! I genuinely don't think I like it 🥰 But that could just be because I was too distracted by the Newsies soundtrack while writing this 🧍‍♀️

[irisintheafterglow]

End Game #5 (volleyball captain!gojo x you)

summary: your school holds a practice match with kyoto, and two second-years give your team a little trouble.

word count: 3k

cw/tags: language, jjk volleyball au, mentions of food and eating, eventual best friends to lovers (not this chapter BUT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS I SWEAR), satoru pulls another your mom joke

note: HERE IT IS the long awaited part 5 :D introducing hitter!todo and setter!kamo to rival your fav hitter/setter duos on the tokyo team. long chapter, sorry in advance but i hope you enjoy!

likes/reblogs/feedback are always appreciated !! thank you for all of the support you've given this series :)

“We haven’t held a practice match with Kyoto in years, right?”

“That is correct.”

“And, in that time, have they ever had a different coach?”

“Not that I know of, no.”

“Interesting.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Nothing, I was just–”

“They’re wondering why ol’ Yoshinobu looks like he was present for the Big Bang.” Your team’s captain finishes your explanation from behind you, much to the amusement of Yaga. You meet his gaze incredulously, silently asking why he wasn’t with the rest of the team warming up. He shrugs and gives you a signature lopsided grin that makes your heart do a somersault. “You’re not wrong, though. That man has more wrinkles than a wet paper towel.” 

Your coach draws his mouth into a tight line to suppress a chuckle. “I cannot disagree.”

“Yaga!” A surprised laugh finally slips past your lips while Satoru settles into his place at your side, casually stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. His electric-blue eyes survey the players running serve drills, cool and calculated. “Yuta’s floats have improved tremendously,” you comment, and Satoru hums in agreement. His eyes narrow on a ball striking the top edge of the net and barely falling over to the other side. You feel Yaga intake a deep breath in preparation to yell directions, but Satoru beats him to it, airily reminding Yuuji to take a running start before jumping. Your eyebrows subtly raise in surprise seeing him take initiative and you can’t help smiling at him out of the corner of your eye. 

“Shouldn’t you be on the court, capt–” His head snaps in your direction, laser focused on the last word that you cut off just in time. His eyes twinkle with arrogant satisfaction and you stick your tongue out defiantly.

“What was that, my lovely manager?” He cups his hand to his ear and leans in closer, movements animated like a cartoon character. 

You push his body away but he doesn’t budge. “I was asking why you’re not on the court warming up with the rest of the team, stupid.”

He hums skeptically. “Sure.” You roll your eyes and shake your head slightly in exasperation, wishing again for that I am done with Gojo Satoru bumper sticker. Yaga shoots Satoru a look over your head that makes him recoil a little bit, running a hand through his hair. “If you’re really wondering, I’m reading Kyoto’s players.” 

“The third years?” You nod toward the tall players slamming powerful serve after powerful serve toward your team’s side. 

“No, they haven’t been a threat since I was a first-year. Their serves are intimidation tactics.” Your eyebrows furrow confusedly and you track Satoru’s dark eyes. “I’m reading them.” His fingers rest on your head and gently rotate your gaze to two players leisurely prepping serves. In any other situation, you’d swat his hand away, but he was surprisingly correct. It hadn’t occurred to you to analyze the other team; your focus was preoccupied on the improvements of your own players. But, now that they were directly in your line of sight, you were able to properly deduce why Satoru had taken interest in them. “See ‘em now?”

“Yeah, I do.” The one closer to you was an average height but built. Thick, corded muscle ran over his biceps and calves, flexing as he stretched his neck and legs. He bounces the ball he holds on the ground a few times, clapping to himself routinely. Then, when a scan reveals none of your players are watching him, he fires off a serve neatly landing on the backline of the court. Your players don’t blink an eye as they’re still focused on warming up, but you finally understand why Satoru was watching him. His serves were like a bullet, precise and gone in a blink as if he teleported the ball wherever he wanted. 

“Who is he?”

“His name’s Todo. One of two second-year prodigies that’ll carry Kyoto to Nationals if we don’t stop them first.”  

“He’s that good?”

“Him and that one, over there.” He points to a player tucked into the back corner of the gym, spinning the ball on a delicate finger. He was one of the tallest on the team but you didn’t notice him because of his place in the shadows. Cloudy gray eyes shined as his captain announced the start of spiking drills and you gasped when he set the ball with accuracy nearly on-par with Satoru. The ball moved in a straight, unwavering line, like an arrow that halted just in time for a hitter to punch it over the net. “That’s Kamo. Megs and I have known him since middle school. He’s talented, though his family is a little wacky.” 

“Satoru, you can’t just say things like that,” you whisper, begging him to drop the volume of his voice a little.

He doesn’t. “It’s true. Some relatives kicked him and his mom out when he was little.”

“What does that have to do with volleyball?” 

“Nothing. It’s just trivia. We’ll be fine, either way.” He smirks down at you and you understand. Even if he was reading the Kyoto team, he wasn’t worried. He was confident and self-assured as always, but had a certain determination in his eye that told you he wasn’t going to hold back despite it being a practice match. His lean bicep bumps your shoulder reassuringly. “Hey, if you’re nervous, I’ll just piss off Suguru again. Get him fired up, you know?”

You shake your head adamantly, one hand coming up to cover your face as you squeeze your eyes shut at the memory of running practice in Yaga’s absence. “Please do not. I don’t want to have to drag you out by your earlobes again.” 

“You had to do what?” You and Satoru both stiffen, completely forgetting that Yaga was listening to your conversation the entire time. You attempt to stutter out an explanation while your captain makes a quick escape, bowing unceremoniously in salute and running to join the rest of his players. Soon after, Satoru is pulling the team into a huddle, murmuring warnings about Todo and Kamo and reminding everyone that they’re paying for dinner if they lose. However, instead of groans and protests, you watch Satoru light a decisive fire in his players’ eyes by encouraging them to try the new techniques they’ve been working on.

“If you fail,” he said, “that’s okay.” A lanky arm slapped Suguru on the back and another pulled a tense Nanami closer to his side. “We’ll be here to support you. So, don’t lose.” The team’s fists punch up into the air and you beam at their earnestness. Yaga seemed pleased as well, muttering something under his breath about someone finally getting through his stubbornness. 

Kyoto wins the first set, but Tokyo pulls back ahead to snag the second, leaving the third set as a tiebreaker. Between scribbling point counts and player stats in your notebook, you keep a keen eye on the two players Satoru was talking about earlier. Todo was a talented player, though he had an odd habit of clapping for himself before every serve. You also caught Megumi scowling as Todo talked up Yuuji between plays, catching parts of their conversation revolving around tastes in women and TV shows. Kamo, on the other hand, was relatively quiet. He didn’t speak unless it was a recommendation on strategy or directing the ball to a hitter. Megumi was competing head-to-head with Kamo often, despite Satoru’s attempts to draw attention away from his underclassman. He had a weird fascination with Megumi, you could tell, as he targeted him for 90% of his spikes. Todo and Kamo proved to be a threatening duo in the same way Satoru and Suguru or Megumi and Yuuji were; to your amusement, they also bickered just as much. 

During the last break before the third set while you hand out water and towels, Suguru follows behind you like a duckling, waiting for you to have a moment to talk. 

You catch his eye over your shoulder as you drop towels into the laundry basket. “Did I forget that special flavor thing for yours again? I swear I remembered to put it in because of the one that goes in Satoru’s.” 

“What? Oh, no, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.” He crosses his arms and his sharp eyebrows pull together in deep thought, taking a deep breath. 

You tilt your head to the side curiously, concerned about what was irking him so much in the middle of a match. “Is everything okay, Su?”

“Yeah, yeah. Nothing is wrong, I promise.” You raise your eyebrows in anticipation of his explanation. “I was just wondering what you said to Satoru that made him like…that.” 

“Like what?”

“Like acting as a serious captain.” 

“Oh.” You’re speechless for a moment, unable to string together a satisfactory answer. “I just told him that he needed to try a little harder.” It was the truth but for some reason, you still felt you were holding something back. 

“For your sake?”

“No, for the team’s sake. Why would it be for my sake?” Suguru is silent, eyes widening ever so slightly like he’d accidentally revealed a secret, glancing behind you at the open air. You feel confident enough to press further. “Suguru, why would he try more for my sake?” 

In a blink, he schools his face into careful blankness, shrugging nonchalantly. “Don’t know. It was a weird question, sorry.”

“What was a weird question?” Satoru’s voice pipes up from over your shoulder and you jump. “You can’t be asking people weird questions, Suguru. It’s impolite.” 

“You don’t even know the question, idiot.” Indignancy washes over Suguru’s blank features. “What would you know about manners?”

“Ask your mother what she thinks of my manners–”

“Can we please not do this again?” Your hands press against their chests and you laugh nervously. “It’s a miracle all three of us survived last time.”

“Fine. After all…” Satoru’s voice drops to a menacing volume. 

“Kyoto has a set to lose.” 

The third set made you slightly dizzy as both teams were losing stamina. You didn’t know much about Kyoto when it was exhausted, but you knew your team when it was down. Yuuji’s serves started getting closer to the top edge of the net again, Megumi’s sets were messier, and Panda’s blocks were increasingly hole-filled. Suguru glared across the court at the other team, moisture glistening on his forehead from effort. Even Nanami was winded, wiping sweat from the lenses of his glasses and shaking his head furiously to force his mind back into the game. Your team played their hardest, as did their opponents, but a glance at the score showed 12-10 in favor of Kyoto. With only a handful of points left to win, it looked like Tokyo would be paying for dinner. 

Still, as much as they tried, Kyoto was no match for Satoru’s sheer will. 

Where the rest of his team was panting and on the brink of collapsing, Satoru was just getting warmed up. His serves were at their most powerful and his sets stayed accurate as Kamo’s declined in quality. His fists opened and closed as the score tied up at 13-13, a habit he only did when he was ready for a fight. Megumi pulls a ridiculously successful dump that has you cheering from Yaga’s side, pulling Tokyo ahead 14-13. With the last point on the line, you caught Satoru muttering something in Suguru’s ear, to which Suguru’s jaw dropped in disbelief. He shook his head no, continuing to protest at Satoru’s back as his captain broadcasted a hand signal you’d never seen before and prepared possibly the last serve of the match. 

“It’ll be fine, Suguru! We’re the strongest!” He reassures his nauseous-faced hitter as his opponents snicker, and gives you a quick wink before serving the ball at 45% of his power. Your eyebrows skyrocket in shock as Kyoto receives it easily and makes to tie the score again. What the hell was he doing? Was he purposefully trying to tie up the score? Kamo smirks as he gives a practically perfect set to Todo, who blasts it straight down. You flinch and wait for the gut-churning sound of the ball hitting the floor, but it doesn’t come. Yuuji’s forearm slides under the ball just in time, and he rolls to the side. The receive isn’t the cleanest, dropping toward the middle of the court. 

“You better know what you’re doing!” Suguru calls after his captain, who sprints from the back left corner diagonally toward the net. Suguru mirrors this action from the right corner and like a machine, they screech to a stop in the middle and use that momentum to throw themselves up toward the net. With a mischievous grin, Satoru calls out Inumaki’s name, who’s already in the air from the backline as the ball carefully falls into the libero’s outstretched fingers. 

Your body finds itself standing on its own as Inumaki sets it right to Satoru’s open palm where your captain pulls the nastiest cross shot you’d ever witnessed. Your throat rips a shocked scream that blends seamlessly with the rest of the players’ exclamations of awe. Yaga’s mouth hangs open like a fish, as does Yoshinobu’s while your team swarms around their captain. Suguru, from the other end of the net, appears on the verge of passing out but still finds his hand proudly clapped with Inumaki’s. When Satoru’s eyes find yours, you can’t remember the last time he smiled at you so blindingly, nor can you remember a time beaming just as happily.

He skips the joint dinner between Tokyo and Kyoto, humbly excusing himself when you leave and announcing something about walking you home safely. He falls into step next to you, shoes tapping on the sidewalk in sync with yours. 

“You’re not gonna get dinner with the team?” You ask, well aware that he wouldn’t have attended unless you were there too. 

“Meh,” he drawls. “Yuuji can fend for himself for a night against Todo, and Megumi needs to learn to play nice with Kamo.” 

The corner of your mouth turns up and you find yourself admiring the way the moonlight glittered in Satoru’s eyes. “You say as if they’re your children.”

“Are they not? I am a single father.” 

You giggle. “Yeah, you definitely are. I just didn’t think that, with your extroverted ass, you’d skip an outing with such a large group.”

His mouth quirks carefreely, beautiful eyes tracing constellations in the night. “We have a tradition, don’t we?”

“Oh, you’re not going to ask that one person I got mad about the other night?” The words slip from your lips before you can stop them, and Satoru points at you accusingly. 

“So you were mad! I knew it!” 

“You brought up replacing me with some random stranger; of course I was mad!” You point back at him, poking his chest. He cries out in fake pain, flailing his limbs like an octopus. “I like spending time with you, you know. Even when I don’t tell you.” Your voice trails off and you look anywhere but his face, embarrassed. 

You can hear the smirk in his voice. “Yeah, I know. For the record, I like spending time with you too.” He exhales tiredly. “Why’d you think you’re the only one I wanted to get dinner with tonight?”

“Because you like me better than everybody else,” you croon, fluttering your eyelashes dramatically. You expect him to recoil in faux-fear; however, your heart skips as he steps closer and peers down at you. 

“Exactly. Now you’re starting to get it.” His voice is soft with something like exasperation, but the tenderness is gone in a snap. “However, I’d like to do something different tonight, if that’s alright with you.”

Your eyes narrow suspiciously. “Depends on what it is. Are you going to make me eat something I don’t like?”

“No,” he replies, drawing out the last vowel for emphasis. “I’d never.” You look at him skeptically, remembering the time he made you eat a barbecue-flavored cricket. The memory must have occurred to him at the same time and he matches your skeptical expression. “Don’t look at me like that; you said you liked it.” Your mouth opens in retaliation, but he isn’t finished. 

“Let’s go somewhere nicer tonight, not just shitty fast food.”

“I thought you loved shitty fast food.”

“I do, but today is a day of celebration! It demands a different meal than burgers.” He cringes and sticks his tongue out in mock disgust. 

“So, what? You want slightly more expensive burgers?”

“If that’s what you want, sure.” He runs an elegant hand through his hair and you fight the sudden urge to weave your fingers in his. “Let’s go somewhere nice. I’ll even pay.” 

You scoff. “With what money?” He’s quiet again, tilting his head back and forth like a kid caught with too much candy. You understand without a word, mainly because this situation occurred once before. “Satoru!” 

His arms gesture to open air defensively. “It was right there!”

“You don’t remember the last time you stole it?”

“If I recall correctly, he wasn’t that mad that I borrowed it.”

“Yeah, that’s because I was there with you, and don’t try to say it was borrowing! If you weren’t related to him, it would be considered theft.” 

“What dear old dad doesn’t know won’t hurt him, babe.” Your face heats at how easily the pet name slips from his pretty mouth and you pray he doesn’t notice. “So? What do you say? I promise to take full responsibility and also eat anything you don’t like.” His finger crosses an “X” over his heart and you can’t resist the genuine excitement on his face. 

“Fine. But I’m paying for dessert.”

He stamps his foot in childish protest. “That’s not how this–”

“I don’t care if it’s not how it works, Satoru. Consider it payback for not asking that rando to dinner.” 

Even after he walks you home and leaves you a smiling, feeling-filled mess at your windowsill, you’re left wondering who that mystery person is.

[naughtyneganjdm]

Naughty or Nice - Chapter 8

Summary: Negan finally opens up to Beau about his relationship with Y/N, but something happens that draws a negative reaction from Beau towards his father.

Characters: Negan, the reader (OC), Beau, Erin, Maggie, Glenn, Hershel, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51464518/chapters/133049320

Warnings: Swearing, angst, etc.

Notes: I thought I would get this done before Christmas, but life got in the way. I will try to finish it as soon as possible, but hopefully you still enjoy the story. Thanks for reading it.

“Hey dad, do you know where Y/N is?” Beau made it up the stairs to the attic hearing two voices and he stopped when he saw that Y/N and Negan were sitting on Negan’s bed together cuddled up. Negan’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders with his chin resting over her head. When Negan saw that it was Beau, he pulled his glasses that he was wearing from his face and gave him a smile. Stepping into the room, Beau cleared his throat and headed over to one of the chairs to sit down. Negan was in a pair of sweatpants and a black tank top with his hair messy and Y/N was in her relaxed clothes too. “What are you two doing?”

“Finishing something for work,” Negan pointed toward the laptop, motioning Beau to come over by them. “We’re trying to pick the color for something. And we’re stuck between two. We can’t choose. What do you think kiddo?”

“Okay?” Beau’s eyebrow arched when Negan put his glasses back over his face to stare out at the screen. Sitting in beside them, Beau looked between the two before pointing at the one that he liked. “I like the colors in that one better. It brings out what you want the focus to be.”

“Told you,” Negan’s eyebrows bounced up, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat. A moment later she smacked at the center of his chest and a deep rumble of laughter fell from his throat. “What? I know my shit. That’s all I’m saying. And so does he. He’s been giving me his opinion his whole life. He knows what to look for.”

“Thank you, Beau,” Y/N gave him a big smile before doing something on the laptop. Negan gave his attention back to his son while he stroked his fingers over the back of Y/N’s neck.

“Maggie and Glenn are helping Hershel with the animals today. We had to finish this for work and then afterwards we are doing the sugar cookies,” Negan informed his son who seemed surprised that Y/N and him were so comfortable with one another. “After breakfast of course. Where is your sister?”

“She’s still sleeping,” Beau explained with a shake of his head knowing that he shouldn’t be questioning things right now. Especially since both Y/N and Negan looked happy after everything that happened last night which was surprising in itself.

“Did you need something kiddo?” Y/N wondered, looking to Beau after she closed the laptop up and got comfortable again beside Negan. “Why were you looking for me?”

“Well, I was worried about you. We didn’t talk after I went to bed,” Beau declared with a frown, turning toward her on the bed.

“I’m okay,” she whispered with a weak smile and Negan pressed a kiss over her temple.

“Really?” Beau inquired, leaning forward on the bed trying to read her expression.

“I will be,” she held her hand out to Beau and he accepted it, giving it a tight squeeze. “Your dad told me what you said yesterday when I ran off. I’m sorry you had to do that Beau. I really should have stayed quiet in public. I overreacted.”

“No. No you didn’t,” Beau assured her with a frown, hating to hear that from her. “I would do it again in a heartbeat. I don’t care if they hate me now or look down on me for feeling the way I do. I don’t want acceptance from people like that. I want acceptance from people like you. People who understand. People who see beyond the cover.”

“We need to talk,” Negan cleared his throat, unhooking his arm from Y/N’s shoulder. Getting up from the bed, Negan made sure that the door was closed before heading back to the bed to sit on it with both Beau and Y/N. “Do you promise to keep a secret?”

“Dad?” Beau frowned, his eyes gazing over his father with amusement. “What do you think?”

“I just…I think the two of us need to talk to you,” Negan suggested with a long sigh, getting comfortable between Y/N and Beau. “I think you know that the two of us are…”

“Intimate?” Beau finished for his father with a shrug of his shoulders, his head shaking like he didn’t give a shit. Negan nodded his head and Beau chuckled. “Yeah, no shit dad.”

“And you’re okay with it?” Y/N spoke up, getting Beau’s hazel eyes to break from his father to stare out at her. “I know you like Maggie.”

“I do like Maggie. I love Maggie in some…sense,” Beau commented on how he felt about his father’s girlfriend. “But that spark I talked about? I see it between the two of you. It’s the way you two look at one another. I never saw it between Maggie and dad. I don’t see it with you and Glenn either. I want my dad to find happiness. I want my dad to have what he had when he was with my mom. I see it when he’s with you.”

“We’re waiting until the day after Christmas to tell everyone,” Negan informed his son, his eyebrows furrowing and his expression becoming serious. “Don’t let your sister know because we know that Erin is…”

“A big mouth?” Beau interrupted his father once more causing Negan to laugh and nod his head. “Why wait until then? I understand you two really like each other, but why I don’t understand is why hide it? If you feel the way you do, then just be you.”

“Because what we are doing is wrong,” Y/N claimed, her head tipping from side to side. “I love your dad, but we both are dating someone. We’re cheating. And I’m going to be honest with you Beau, that’s not really a good thing to do when you are in a serious relationship with someone. I should have broken up with Glenn and the same with Maggie with your dad.”

“Yes, I understand that, but hiding it makes things worse, doesn’t it?” Beau looked between them noticing that Negan’s Adam’s apple bounced in his throat. “How long have the two of you been together?”

“A few days?” Negan was honest hearing Beau laugh and Negan shrugged.

“Christmas party?” Beau wondered drawing Y/N’s color to drain from her face. When she looked to Negan contemplating how he knew, Negan simply threw his hand up.

“I told you he was perceptive as shit,” Negan reminded her, leaning back against the wall that the bed was pressed up against. “You can’t hide anything from him.”

“You were happy. I told you something good had to have happened at work,” Beau recalled what he had said to his father that night. “I’m a teenager. I’m not stupid. And you two don’t do a very good job at hiding it. You’re going to get caught.”

“Valid,” Negan huffed, his head dropping back hearing his son let out a long exhale. “So you do or do not approve?”

“Of your relationship? Of course I approve,” Beau threw his hands up in the air, his hazel eyes frustrated when he stood up from the bed. Placing his hands on his hips, he stood before the two of them and his dimples sank in. “It’s the lying that I don’t approve of. Why not just break things off with Maggie and Glenn before coming here?”

“Because I wanted you to have a good Christmas,” Negan answered his son, stammering through his words. “We’ve all been so sad over the last two years, I thought maybe with Maggie’s family…I don’t know.”

“Your happiness is worth more to me than having a good Christmas,” Beau reasoned with his father, his face twisting with confusion. It made Negan’s eyes fill with love and adoration for his son.

“I love you,” Negan spoke up, a long sigh escaping his throat. “Sometimes you feel more like my father, than my son, but I fucking love you.”

“He reminds me so much of you,” Y/N noted from where she was seated beside Negan.

“He’s so much more mature than I am,” Negan tipped his head to the side to give her his attention while Beau stood before them, his eyebrows arching up. “He’s got a lot of his mom in him too. Even the way he’s standing right now is just like her.”

“I’m right here you know,” Beau huffed, his young features scrunching up and Negan laughed at the way he was talking. “Just tell these people to fuck off. Say, I don’t give a shit what you think and let’s grab Erin. Get the hell out of here. You will be a whole lot happier with us than you will be surrounded by these people.”

“I said the same thing last night,” Negan informed his son, giving his attention to Y/N while they both looked her over. Gazing between the both of them had her laughing because it looked like a mirrored image just with an older Negan and a younger one. “It’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing at the thing. I’m laughing at how much the two of you look alike. Same expression, same everything,” she explained, waving her finger between the both of them. Beau looked at Negan and huffed, trying to change his positioning. “I made a promise to you Beau,” she stated and Beau immediately shook his head. “I know it sounds stupid, but we had an agreement. I want to finish the list we came up with. And even though my father is awful, I want to try to reconcile with the rest of my family. I still love them.”

“You should have led with that,” Beau frowned lowering down onto the edge of the bed, slouching forward. “I don’t think you and Maggie are going to be okay after this Y/N. I don’t want you to get your hopes up with things, but with things being the way they are between you and dad, I think you need to prepare yourself.”

“I assumed that,” she agreed with Beau, hating that it was a strong possibility for that. “The last thing I want to do is hurt her, but it happened before I even knew that Maggie was dating your father. I knew he had a girlfriend, but…”

“How the fuck did that happen?” Beau blurted out looking to Negan who made a very dramatic response after the question. “That’s like impossible to do.”

“You’re fucking telling me kiddo,” Negan snorted, his head shaking in amusement. “I just about shit my pants when I saw her with Maggie when we got here.”

“Everything make sense now,” Beau thought back on his father’s response to seeing Y/N arriving at the farm. There was silence between all of them, with Beau’s features deep in thought before he finally spoke up again. “If you two are trying to hide this whole thing until the day after Christmas, here are a few tips. I just came up here and you didn’t know it was me. You were cuddling and looked like a married couple.”

“Touché,” Negan agreed with his son, adjusting his glasses over his face while he cuddled in closer to Y/N who rolled her eyes since Negan was doing the opposite of what Beau just told him to do. “What?”

“You have to stop with all the touching. I knew immediately,” Beau educated them on what they could do to help themselves stay hidden. “I’m obviously okay with this, I just want to avoid drama until the day we leave.”

“His permission is a big thing you know. He never approved of Maggie,” Negan piped in his hand hooking with Y/N’s while he got more comfortable on the bed with her. “And he really liked you before he knew that we were a thing. So this is good. This is really good.”

“So how serious is this?” Beau looked to Y/N drawing her to become nervous now that his son was questioning her. “Is this I’m going to only date you a few months serious or is this I want to marry you serious.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with her serious,” Negan answered instead and it made Beau laugh. He nodded and held his hand out toward Y/N. “What?”

“I understand. I just wanted to ask her. As your son, I’d like to hear a few things from her point of view,” Beau stated with a tiny laugh and it made Y/N smile at his reaction to it. “I can see that you are drunk on love or whatever people your age would say.”

“I haven’t felt like this before Beau,” she spoke up, getting Beau’s attention returned to her. Even that comment had Negan glancing over at her. “I love your dad. It’s wrong to love him considering the situations, but I’ve never felt for anyone like I feel for him. I want to be with him every second of every day. I was fine and then the night of the Christmas party it was like I got shot with twenty-seven arrows from cupid.”

“Twenty-seven?” Negan repeated the number, his smile expanding out over his handsome features. His nose wrinkled, a laugh falling from his throat when his eyes fell to her lips. “That’s highly specific.”

“Don’t make fun of me,” she pushed into his chest hearing his laughter surround her, but she loved it.

“This is what I mean with the spark,” Beau breathed out, pushing his hands into his pockets letting out a long sigh. “So you love my dad?”

“I do,” she answered feeling Negan cuddling his head in against her shoulder while they stared out at Beau. “Very much. With all my heart.”

“And you would be accepting of both Erin and me?” Beau confirmed with her watching her expression soften and she immediately nodded. “Because we love him very much and as much as you want to be around him, we want that too.”

“Of course Beau. You’re part of him. And you both are so sweet,” she thought back to the night before when they both crawled up onto the bench with her. “You and your sister showed me so much love yesterday and I don’t even know if I deserved it to be honest with you. I wouldn’t want to replace your mother. Ever. Because no one would ever do that for you. And I would never want to take your dad away from you. Part of what I love so much about your dad is how much he loves you.”

Beau’s eyes narrowed and he sucked at his bottom lip before giving a nod, “she passed.”

“Good to know,” Negan let out a hearty laugh at Beau’s response, reaching out to grab a hold of his son to pull him down into his arms. Tickling at his sides had Beau laughing and trying to wiggle out of his embrace. “You’re awesome. You know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” Beau managed to turn to face his father. Leaning in to hug Negan, Beau squeezed his arms around his father and sighed. “I just want you happy dad. I want us all happy again.”

Hearing the sound of movement downstairs, Negan brushed his fingers through Beau’s hair and pressed a kiss against the side of his son’s face, “It sounds like they are back in the house. We should get to making those cookies. They won’t make themselves.”

“Hey Y/N?” Beau called out when she went to get up and he stopped her before she could. Sliding across the bed, he wrapped an arm around her to give her a hug. “I think you’d make a good addition to our family.”

“I could only be so lucky,” she pat at the center of Beau’s back, seeing the awe in Negan’s eyes when he saw the two of them together. “I guess I should go make my presence known. Not that anyone wants it.”

“Hey!” Beau spoke up once more after she headed for the stairs. “Do you think they would mind if I searched some of the boxes up here for something later?”

“I don’t care what they mind or don’t mind, so have at it kiddo,” Y/N pointed toward the storage that was in the room they had Negan in. “I doubt they even know what they have up here anyways,” she looked over at the stuff they had packed away. “Let me know if you find anything cool.”

“Hey,” Negan stood up from the bed, stumbling over his feet to stop her. Grabbing a hold of her hand, he pulled her back to him and swept his fingers in over the side of her face. Drawing her to him, he brushed his lips over hers in a faint kiss.

Placing her hand in over Negan’s chest to put a distance between them made Negan huff. Glancing over at Beau, she shook her head and sighed, “Not in front of your son.”

“You’re just kissing. I’m thirteen. I’ll survive,” Beau noted lowering his head and waving his hand about in the air trying to give them their space for the small amount of time they had to kiss. With an arrogant bob of his head, Negan curled his arm around Y/N’s waist to pull her in closer to him. Gasping out, she placed her hand in over the center of his chest while his fingers stroked at her jawline. Stealing another kiss from her lips, Negan felt happy knowing that he could show affection to Y/N around one of the most important people in his life. “I hear footsteps. Might not want to make a whole event of it.”

“I’ll see you in a few,” Y/N pulled away with a laugh, the warmth of her breath lingering over his lips when she started to move down the stairs. Watching her, Negan hated that he had to continue to keep this secret.

Once she was gone, Negan reached for the bag that he had brought with them and set it on the bed to look for something, “You handled all of that really well.”

“I’ve had to deal with you being with Maggie for a while, so yeah…” Beau pulled his legs up to his chest when he sat on his father’s bed with his back pressed against the wall. “Plus, I like her. A lot. She’s mom material. Maggie never was.”

“Let’s try not to scare her away,” Negan teased with a wrinkle of his nose, leaving his bag on the bed when he went to grab something else.

“Like I could scare her away from you,” Beau snickered, going to move forward don the bed, but he kicked Negan’s bag onto the floor. Scrambling to pick it up, Beau reached for it and saw that there was a black box on the floor before him. “Dad?”

“Yeah?” Negan’s eyebrows bounced up, his head turning to see what had caused Beau to sound like he did. Stepping forward, Negan reached out for the box to see that Beau opened it up. Inside was the ring that Negan had originally bought for Maggie making Beau scoff.

“Is this for Y/N?” Beau wondered, his hazel eyes lifting from the engagement ring that was inside. Resting his hands on his hips, Negan huffed and let out a long exhale. “Dad?”

“No. That’s not for Y/N. If I get Y/N a ring I’ll have to get another one,” Negan answered his son with a shake of his head, sucking at his bottom lip. Frustration filled Beau’s face when he realized who the ring was meant for and he slammed the box shut. “That was just a ring I picked because I thought it was pretty. Well, I thought a girl would think it was pretty. But I had no emotional connection to it. I think if I get a ring for Y/N, it’s going to need to be one that hits me. You know?”

“Yeah, that’s great and all, but why the hell did you have an engagement ring for Maggie?” Beau lowered his hand down at his side holding the engagement ring tightly in his hands. “You never loved Maggie. Why did you buy her a ring? And even more, why did you bring it on the trip?”

“Beau,” Negan held his hands up in the air in a defensive position noticing that his once happy son was irritated and angry with what he had found. “I bought the ring weeks ago. Long before I ever felt what I did for Y/N. Maggie kept asking me about marriage all the time and I don’t know…”

“Why would you buy someone a ring if you didn’t love them?” Beau demanded an answer from his father hearing Negan’s breathing getting louder. Negan opened his mouth to say something, his hand raising up when Beau shook his head. “Were you planning on asking Maggie to marry you here? Was that the original plan?”

“I don’t know what the original plan was,” Negan confessed, placing his hand over his chest, the lines in his forehead growing. Trying to explain himself to his son, Negan cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. “Maggie kept asking me about marriage. All the time. I don’t know Beau. I wasn’t exactly thinking to be honest with you. Before Maggie I was so lonely. And then Maggie was just there all the time and I just thought…if I didn’t want to lose her…”

“That’s ridiculous,” Beau snapped at his father, tossing the box at him when Negan scrambled to catch it. Pacing in his father’s room, Beau pushed back his hair shakily trying to gather his thoughts. “You never even asked me if I would be okay with that. You knew that Erin and I hated her.”

“I was lonely Beau. You know what being lonely feels like,” Negan reminded his son, the vein at the side of his neck bulging while he tried to appeal to his son to get him to calm down. “I wasn’t even sure if I was going to ask Maggie to marry me in the first place. I don’t know what I thought by bringing it here.”

“You wanted us to have a good Christmas. Well, I guarantee if you hadn’t found Y/N and you did ask Maggie to marry you here, it would have been fucking miserable for Erin and me,” Beau explained to his father, noticing the corner of Negan’s jawline flexing. “I love Maggie as a friend, but dad, we told you over and over again how we felt. How could you have even considered doing that? We all know you don’t have with Maggie what you do with Y/N.”

“Beau, I didn’t think before Y/N I would ever feel that way again,” Negan pled with his son, his face scrunching up and his eyebrows furrowing. “I just know that it felt nice having someone there and Maggie was getting antsy. If she didn’t get what she wanted, she was going to move on and I didn’t…I didn’t want to be alone again. I was comfortable with Maggie. I never thought I’d fall in love with someone again like I did your mom.”

“You have no idea how angry I am about this,” Beau pointed to the ring that Negan was holding in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed and his body completely tense. “If I didn’t know what I know about Y/N, I would absolutely erupt on you right now.”

“You’re kinda chewing me out right now kiddo and I’m not even going to give this to Maggie,” Negan stated waving the ring about in the air and shaking his head. “This ring is going back once we get back to New York City. And I’m getting Y/N another ring. One that hits me the moment that I see it. One that fits for her.”

“You should have asked me,” Beau maintained knowing that the situation at hand should have made him less angry, but he wasn’t. “You didn’t ask me if I was okay with Maggie originally. She just showed up and we had to deal with it. What you did with Y/N? What just happened right here. That’s the first right thing you’ve done since mom died.”

“Why are you so upset if you know I’m not going to ask her Beau?” Negan hushed his son when Beau’s voice started to raise. “You know how I feel about Y/N. You see it yourself. The spark is there with us. When it never was with Maggie.”

“Because I can’t believe you considered that in the first place dad!” Beau’s raspy voice hitched drawing Beau to roll his eyes and turn away from Negan. “We never connected with Maggie. And she wasn’t like Y/N, she wanted you all to herself and she would do anything to get it.”

“I thought you liked Maggie,” Negan pointed out seeing Beau glance back over his shoulder at him with an angered expression. “Kinda.”

“Dad, it took Maggie five months to grow the fuck up,” there was venom in Beau’s voice, his frustration just letting loose at this point. Hearing the way that Beau was speaking made Negan lower down on the bed, surprised to hear his son letting loose like this. “This last month, I think she realized that we weren’t going anywhere. That in order to be with you, she had to be with us. And I give her credit for trying this last month. I do. But she never, ever saw me. Not the way that Y/N did. I’ve bonded with Y/N more in the time being here than I ever did with Maggie.”

“Me too,” Negan whispered, reaching up with his free hand to drag it down over the side of his own face. Groaning out, Negan’s jawline flexed and he shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me that you hated Maggie so much?”

“I did. In so many fucking ways,” Beau stressed to his father and with all the times that Beau was swearing, Negan knew his son meant business because Beau tried to always keep things to a minimum with the swearing for Erin. “Even just now. Y/N felt uncomfortable kissing you in front of us. Some of the things I saw Maggie try to attempt to do to you while I was still in the room…”

“I would never do anything in front of you kids,” Negan defended himself, holding his hand up in the air to put that out there. “You know that.”

“I do! But there was that time where we were all watching movies together. You two were at one end of the sectional couch. Erin and I were at the other and I saw her constantly trying to grab your…”  Beau felt weird talking about it, throwing his hands up in the air before pointing his hands down at the ground. “It was like she was always trying to persuade you with certain acts to get you to stop spending time with us.”

“One, I apologize because I never fucking knew you saw that, but on that day, I kept taking her hand and placing it elsewhere. I don’t do that kind of stuff around or near my kids,” Negan stood by how he felt about things knowing exactly the situation that Beau was talking about. “I remember erupting on her that night because of that. I’m not that person.”

“I know that,” Beau agreed with his dad, shrugging his shoulders when he thought about everything. “I’m not an idiot. I know you and mom could barely keep your hands off each other. Love is like that. And I can see that with Y/N, but at least she respects us not to expose us to that kind of shit dad.”

“I agree with you bud. This isn’t a discussion of I want to be with Y/N or Maggie,” Negan half laughed, pushing the box for the engagement ring back into his bag. “We know who I want to be with. So this ring? It’s meaningless.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you now,” Beau frowned, pushing his hands into his pockets knowing that it was probably stupid for him to be doing. “I think I’ve just been mad at you so long for Maggie that I just couldn’t hold it in anymore. I understand that you are lonely dad but knowing that you were even considering marrying her in the first place upsets me. And it just brings back old feelings of things.”

“I understand,” Negan stepped before his son reaching out to place his hands in over Beau’s shoulders to give them a firm squeeze. “I was blinded by the way I felt after we lost your mom. I just got sad and I wasn’t thinking Beau. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. You’re right. It was a decision that I should have included you and your sister in. That’s why things feel right with Y/N. You liked her before you even knew. The two of you just click. And I think we’re doing things right this time.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Beau exhaled loudly, lifting his hands to place them over his dad’s arms. It wasn’t often that he yelled at his father, so he was upset that he did in general. “You just have to understand, I get Maggie is pretty but other than that, the two of you just didn’t click. And we didn’t click with her either.”

“I just thought Maggie was the best thing I could get,” Negan tried to justify his actions, but by the expression over Beau’s features he knew that Beau wasn’t buying that.

“Come on dad. I know you’re a conventionally good-looking guy with a great job,” Beau waved his hand about in the air being very dramatic in his approach. “There is no way that you couldn’t find someone beautiful, nice and that you could get along with. Maggie was just…the beautiful. I think you were thinking stupid with that one.”

A hesitant laugh fell from Negan’s throat and Beau threw his hands up in the air, “I’m not saying Maggie isn’t perfect. She’s just not perfect for you.”

“Nice save buddy,” Negan pat his son on the shoulder hearing the sound of the door opening. Looking beyond Beau, Negan could see that Erin was making it up the stairs with her new polar bear stuffed animal in her arms. “There is my beautiful sleepyhead.”

“Good morning daddy,” Erin got to the top step and ran to her father who eagerly picked her up in his arms. Resting her head against Negan’s shoulder had Negan wrapping his arms around her tightly. “We’re making cookies today?”

“That was the plan,” Negan replied with a long sigh, using his free hand to put the bag that the ring was in at the corner of the room.

“The real way? Not the Maggie way?” Erin pulled her head back looking up at her father with an uneasy expression. “Not that they didn’t taste good or anything. They just, it was really boring.”

“The real way,” Negan laughed nodding over toward the stairs. The scent of breakfast was filling the air around them and he figured they should go attempt to help. “Let’s go help downstairs and then we can get to the cookie making.”

“Great, I’m hungry,” Erin informed her father with a big yawn as he moved down the stairs.

It was an awkward breakfast. Nah. Fuck that. It was a severely awkward breakfast. Everyone was silent. They all sat at the table just eating. No one knew what to say. Not after yesterday. Truthfully? It was probably a good thing. Because if Hershel would have opened his mouth about things, Negan knew that he wouldn’t have been able to keep his mouth shut. And he was fairly certain that Beau wouldn’t have been able to either.

After breakfast, Annette let them know that they would be going to the store to finish up some Christmas shopping so they would be gone for a few hours. That meant it would leave Maggie and Glenn home alone with Negan, the kids and Y/N while they were working on their sugar cookies. There was no doubt in Negan’s mind that Maggie would have rather been going with her family shopping but had agreed previously with Beau to do the cookie making.

“Okay, so I’m going to make the dough with the kids and after, all of us can work together with the frosting, sprinkles and shape cutouts,” Y/N adjusted the stepping stool that she had for Erin to use next to the counter. If avoiding was a talent, she was great at it. Y/N refused to look at Maggie & Glenn, yet she was very attentive to the children and Negan while setting things up.

“Hey, do you think we could talk?” Maggie stepped forward, caressing her hands over her lower back letting out a strained breath. “I think the two of us should really talk about things.”

“I made a promise to the kids. Anything you want to talk about after, I’m open to,” Y/N responded to her sister knowing that she wasn’t trying to be purposely cold to the people in her family, she just had a goal and she wanted to accomplish it. That was her main goal with things. Maggie just nodded, unsure of what to say. “You and Glenn can wait at the table if you would like until we have everything ready.”

“Sounds good,” Glenn cleared his throat uneasily and it was visible even in his features that he didn’t know how to respond to the way that Y/N was acting toward them.

Once Y/N moved to the counter, Erin was eager to hop up on the stepping stool that Y/N had set up for her and Beau moved in beside her, “So we’re going to make the dough, roll it out, cut out the shapes and then decorate these cookies. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Erin blurt out with Negan moving in beside his daughter to make sure that she wouldn’t fall. Eager to include the children, Y/N let both Beau and Erin do certain parts of the mixing and when it got to the harder parts of the mixing Negan helped Erin. They made enough dough for several batches before setting up a few areas for them to roll out the dough to cut out shapes. “This is fun.”

“Yeah?” Negan muttered, looking over his shoulder to see that both Maggie and Glenn were sitting at separate sides of the table. They weren’t interacting, they were just sitting there and it looked, well, boring. Turning his attention back to his children working with Y/N, Negan couldn’t help but notice the way that Y/N already interacted with his children. She had them laughing and loudly. They were happy and that was what she was out to achieve this whole time.

“We’re going to have so many cookies,” Erin took notice of all the trays that they had set out across the large kitchen.

“This is how mom used to do it,” Beau informed his sister using a cookie cutter to cut the shapes he wanted out with the dough. “We’d bake for hours and hours. All three of us. You were really little though.”

“I remember,” Erin insisted, using all the strength she had to push down with the cookie cutter she had. “I just mostly did the decorating and I’d watch you with mom.”

“You remember that?” Negan pressed a quick kiss against Erin’s cheek before helping her to put pressure on the cookie cutter.

“Just because I’m small, doesn’t mean I don’t remember things,” Erin informed her dad, tipping her head back to look up at him with her green eyes. “There are a lot of things I remember about mom. It’s hard to forget.”

“Your mother was always hard to forget,” Negan noted, seeing out of the corner of his eye that Y/N was watching the two of them together with a smirk. “We’re going to have to eat lots of cookies. That’s for sure.”

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem with that,” Y/N playfully nudged Negan with her hip, finishing up with another baking sheet before moving to the table to set a few of the sheets before Glenn and Maggie.

“We also have to save some for Santa,” Erin commented with a big smile after she finished up with the cookies that she was preparing for Y/N to set aside. “I’m sure he needs at least six because he’s, a big guy.”

“I’m not a big guy and I could eat at least six,” Negan snorted eliciting a giggle from his daughter who hopped from the stepping stool into his arms. Y/N and Beau finished up with the last remaining parts of the dough before they put the first two trays into the oven to bake them.

“Now it’s all about waiting for them to bake. Letting them cool down and then being able to decorate them,” Y/N explained, throwing her hands up in the air when she thought about things. Placing her hands over her hips, she shrugged her shoulders and cleared her throat. “If all of you want to go do something else for a while, I imagine it’s going to take some time.”

“How about we just play a game or something?” Beau suggested pointing in the direction of the front room. “I remember Annette showing me that if we were bored, we could grab one of the board games that you have. That way we are spending time together.”

“Smart idea,” Negan spoke up first and if boredom could kill, it looked like Glenn and Maggie would want to die on the spot. Setting Erin down, Negan placed his hand over her shoulder and nodded toward the front room. “Why don’t you go grab one and we will figure something out.”

“Come on,” Beau waved his sister to follow him, leaving the four adults alone in the kitchen.

“I imagine if you want to talk now, we can for a few minutes,” Y/N suggested nodding over toward the hallway. It made the color fade from Maggie’s face before she nodded and got up. Giving Negan a final glance, Y/N followed her sister out into the hallway and noticed that Maggie shifted on her feet uncomfortably. “You don’t have to play the game if you don’t want to. You can go do whatever you prefer. I know waiting is probably boring.”

“No, I should do this,” Maggie asserted, shoving her hands into her pockets while she shifted on her feet. “I was thinking about things since last night Y/N. I don’t think you realize the effect you really do have on this family.”

“I know I’m the worst thing that happened to it,” Y/N stated with a long sigh, leaning back against the wall. Negan and Glenn’s voices were somewhat heard, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying while they were in the hallway. “Dad let me know how he felt last night with everything and I listened. After this, I’ll make sure I never embarrass him again because I will never see him again.”

“That’s not what I mean Y/N,” Maggie frowned, holding her hands up in the air. “I don’t know why daddy is the way he is with you. I never understood it. More so now. But when it came to you growing up, you always inspired us to want more in our lives.”

“Come on,” Y/N laughed knowing that was the furthest from the truth.

“I went to New York because of you Y/N,” Maggie reminded her, her eyes shifting while she tried to gather her thoughts. “I know I’ve told you these stories when we were younger, but when I was little, my mother was really big on Christmas too and I was so in love with the idea of Santa. When she got sick, it was around the holidays and she always told me the stories about the real Santa that would travel down to the Macy’s in New York. I always wanted to go. Always, but daddy never took us. And my mother passed away before we ever could. I never thought about that for years. Christmas turned me off so bad because of losing my mom…”

Lowering her head, Y/N felt the lump in her throat growing hearing the emotions that were in Maggie’s tone and she knew that her sister was attempting to hold back her tears, “but I got sick of the way things were here. Beth too. Obviously, since she was the one that made sure you made it here this Christmas. She missed you. You were always so good with her, no matter how sad you were,” Maggie reminded Y/N who lifted her head to stare up at Maggie again with a sadness in her expression, “It was because of you I went out to New York to experience life. You were gone for so long and you were making things work for yourself. I would have never done that if you didn’t inspire me. I would have never seen…I would have never seen Macy’s for the first time.”

A shuddering breath fell from Maggie’s lips when she threw her hands up with a shrug. Reaching out, Y/N hooked her fingers around her sister’s fingers to show her the support she needed in that moment when the memories of Maggie’s mother returned to her. The gesture surprised Maggie, but she squeezed at Y/N’s fingers.

“God, you should have seen me when I first walked into that store this year when they started all of the Christmas stuff,” Maggie half laughed, lifting her free hand to wipe at the tears that were sliding down her face. “I’m how old? And I’m sobbing at the sight of seeing Santa there for the first time. Because it brought everything back to me. It brought my mom back to me…”

“I’m glad you had that moment,” Y/N spoke in a whisper, her head tipping to the side when Maggie tried to gain back her strength to speak.

“It kills daddy that you had such a big impact on all of us because he’s afraid that all of us are going to leave him,” Maggie declared with a shake of her head, clearing her throat. “You know he always wanted to keep us here. And then you leave and suddenly everyone wants to follow in your footsteps. You inspired a lot of us to want to experience more than just this life. Even if I do love this life Y/N.”

Nodding, Y/N didn’t know what to say because she never really thought much about herself to begin with.

“I know you hate me…” Maggie began and Y/N immediately shook her head, stopping Maggie’s statement.

“I never hated anyone Maggie,” Y/N interrupted Maggie with a frown, looking down toward their hands that were holding. “All I ever wanted was all of you to like me because I did love all of you. You’re my family. Even dad. I wanted him to love me too. I came back here thinking that maybe, I don’t know, that I could fix things with everyone, but it was never going to happen.”

“What he said last night isn’t true,” Maggie suggested, but it really didn’t stop her from hurting after Hershel said everything he did. “If anything, you were the star of the family. You were always the one that the town was talking about. People always came up to dad after you left asking about you because you brought a lot of attention to this place.”  

“So did you. How many competitions did you win with the horses when we were younger?” Y/N reminded Maggie watching Maggie pull her hand back and away from Y/N. “Everyone loved you, Maggie. Everyone. So what you said last night, there was nothing for you to be jealous about.”

“Even that,” Maggie had a hard time looking at Y/N when she brought up the horse riding competitions when they were younger. “You won more than I did when we were younger. You and Dakota were the better pair, but you gave it up when I got upset with you.”

“That’s…” Y/N’s breath left her lungs when Maggie reminded her of their childhood.

“Don’t,” Maggie shook her head letting out a tense breath. “Daddy thinks you quit because you were a quitter in his eyes. I remember getting upset with you because you were younger than me and you were winning so much more than I was. I ripped into you one day because I was jealous and you gave it up that week. You don’t think I realized that? I was the older sister, I should have been the one lifting you up, but instead I just allowed you to quit. And when daddy got so upset with you, I said nothing. I should have been telling you that you didn’t need to quit to pick me up.”

“I liked art better anyways,” Y/N tried to make light of the situation they were talking about. “I did a lot of things for this family that no one knows about, but there is no reason to talk about them because then what is the point? I didn’t do them to brag. I didn’t do them to put the attention on me. I did it because…”

“You were always putting everyone else’s happiness over your own,” Maggie finished for her and Y/N sucked down at her bottom lip. “You’re a good person Y/N. You were always a good person.”

“Maggie,” guilt ate away at Y/N hearing that, especially since she knew what she was doing with Negan behind Maggie’s back. “I’m really not a good person. I uh…I have something to tell you. And it’s kind of big. Something that might…”

“The first round is done,” Glenn’s voice interrupted the two of them, drawing Y/N to tense up when her fiancé entered the hallway. “Negan put in the next batch and Beau set up the game for all of us to play. He had to run upstairs to go do something, but he wanted the rest of us to play.”

“Got it,” Y/N nodded, taking that as a sign from the world that now was not the time to tell Maggie about Negan. Heading back into the kitchen, she saw that Negan was at one end of the table with Erin in his lap. They were laughing and giggling about something when her and Maggie got back to the table.

It wasn’t a very exciting game they were playing, but they did it until all of the cookies were done baking and cooling. Beau was gone for most of the time, but when he finally did come back, he seemed really happy about something, but said nothing. They cleaned up the game and prepared the table to be the decorating area for all of them. There was more than enough cookies for everyone to decorate and Y/N got a huge amount of frostings and sprinkles for the kids to use.

Y/N was seated between Beau and Glenn across from Negan who was between Maggie and Erin. Everyone seemed to be having fun for the most part with random conversations being started, but Glenn was the one taking the most time with things.

“You don’t have to make things perfect, you know?” Y/N whispered to Glenn who lifted his eyes up from the candy cane shaped sugar cookie that he was decorating. “It’s about having fun. It’s going to taste the same no matter how perfect it is or not.”

“Well all of the cookies coming from you, Beau and Negan look like they came from an actual bakery,” Glenn pointed toward the cookies that were done that looked meticulous even if they were using silly colors. “I just want to put out good looking cookies.”

“I’m doing the same,” Maggie announced, lifting her cookie up to show that she was working on a snowman that she was trying to be very meticulous with. “I don’t want them to look bad.”

“Who cares if they look bad?” Erin blurt out, lifting up her Santa Claus showing that it was messy and her hands were covered in frosting, but she was having fun. “Look at my Santa…”

“Looks just like him,” Negan teased his daughter making her giggle and shake her head. “I think we should save that one for Santa because he will love it.”

“I’m covered in frosting,” Beau pointed out holding up his hands to show Glenn and Maggie. “And not all of my cookies are perfect. It’s just about having fun and being silly.”

“Come on,” Negan got up from the table and moved in behind Maggie. Grabbing a Christmas tree sugar cookie, Negan placed it in Maggie’s hand. There were tubes of icing and bowls of frosting depending on what people wanted to do. Leading her hand over toward the bowl of green icing, he felt Maggie tensing up. “Relax Maggie. Have some fun.”

“Negan,” Maggie huffed when he dipped the cookie into the bowl of frosting getting the front covered in it. “Now it looks messy.”

“Then use your fingers,” Negan motioned her to set it down on the table and when he led her fingers toward the cookie it had her groaning out. “It’s okay to get messy Maggie. Not everything in life is going to be perfectly clean.”

Reaching for a snowflake cookie, Negan handed it over to her and gave a half smile, “Now you try. You can get the base of these ready and then you can add the small details.”

“You can do it Maggie,” Beau snickered with Maggie looking at the plain sugar cookie in her hands. “Have some fun.”

“Why not?” Maggie stood up from her seat to reach across the table to dip her cookie into the bowl of white frosting. Negan, Beau and Erin all clapped for her and it drew Y/N to laugh when Maggie’s face reddened over.

“See? Not so bad,” Erin pointed toward her area that was messy. “It’s about making memories and having fun. It’s all going to taste the same.”

“She’s not wrong,” Negan snatched one of the cookies that Maggie had already done, taking a big bite of it. It made Maggie glare at him, but he laughed and shrugged his shoulders before taking another big bite to finish off the cookie. “Still tastes good.”

Beau took a cookie for himself and dipped it into the bowl of frosting like Negan had shown Maggie. Holding it up toward Glenn, Beau hoped that Glenn would take the hint that it was okay just to relax and have some fun. The sugar cookie Beau had grabbed was reindeer shaped and he had used red frosting as his base color drawing a giggle from Erin.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Beau took a big bite from his cookie and nodded, “A red reindeer tastes just as good as a brown one.”

“Point taken,” Glenn let out a long exhale and suddenly his posture got a whole lot more relaxed with things. “Thank you.”

Giving Glenn a small nudge with her elbow, Y/N was happy to finally see him let loose. For the first time in a while it made Glenn smile. It was nice to see because it seemed like the person that Glenn was had completely disappeared since they came to her family’s place. Even though she didn’t feel like she was in love with Glenn, she still knew that she cared deeply for him and he had been acting so differently lately.

Now that things were more relaxed, they were finishing up with cookies a whole lot faster and the feeling of things was so much more relaxed between all of them. Even with Maggie and Glenn.

“See, wasn’t this more fun?” Negan confirmed with Maggie and she nodded when they were finishing up with the cookies that were left. When Negan dropped his head down to finish with the cookie, Maggie reached out to dip her fingers into the remainder of one of the frostings only to drag them across the side of Negan’s face. With a confused expression, Negan pulled his head back and gave Maggie a glare. “The hell was that?”

“Well, you’re as sweet as a sugar cookie, so maybe I got confused and thought you needed some frosting,” Maggie snickered looking to her fingers that were covered in the frosting. With a nod, Negan dug his fingers into the bowl of frosting that was in front of him and swung his hand out to have a splat of frosting go across Maggie’s face. A loud gasp fell from her throat when she pushed her chair back and Negan immediately laughed. “You jerk!”

“Hey now,” Negan muttered when Maggie reached for more frosting attempting to throw it at Negan, but he slid back the chair just enough for the glob of frosting that she threw to hit Erin in the center of the face. With a loud gasp, Maggie was mortified when Erin dropped the cookie that she was working on.

“Oh honey, I am so sorry,” Maggie immediately apologized, not sure how to react to hitting Negan’s daughter with the frosting. “Why did you move Negan? I didn’t mean to do that. I swear.”

“It’s okay!” Erin giggled, throwing her hands up in the air to get Maggie to calm down. Reaching up, she wiped at the frosting over her face and took one of her fingers into her mouth. “It’s tasty! And it’s fun. So I don’t care!”

“Thatta girl,” Negan snickered, keeping Erin’s chair secure when she reached for some frosting herself. “Careful now.”

Negan assumed that Erin was going to be giving payback to Maggie, but instead she threw some of the red frosting that she had at Glenn who jolted back surprised when it splat across his face. A laugh fell from Glenn’s throat, when he dramatically shook his head, “What did I do?”

“Nothing,” Erin was amused with Glenn’s reaction to everything, her laughter showing that she found everything funny. “I just wanted to include you.”

After that everyone started throwing the remainder of the frosting around at each other leaving them in a food fight of sorts until the sound of someone clearing their throat drew them all to stop. Maggie was clinging to a bowl that she slowly lowered to the table when she saw that it was her father standing in the entrance of the kitchen giving all of them a glare.

“It’s time for us to clean this up and get ready to go to the trail that you all planned for,” Hershel pointed toward the clock that was on the wall showing that time had passed incredibly quickly. “If you want to get there before the crowd shows up, you’ll need to get this mess cleaned up.”

“Yes daddy,” Maggie was embarrassed to be covered in frosting knowing that it was something that he would not be amused with. “We’re sorry.”

A loud gasp fell from a few of them when Beau launched the remainder of the frosting that he grabbed before they were interrupted at Hershel. It was a direct hit at the center of Hershel’s face and everyone grew tense when Hershel stumbled back in shock.

“Beau!” Negan called out his son’s name watching Beau hold his finger up to motion Negan to wait. There was a sense of terror in Negan’s eyes when Beau reached for one of the last remaining plain cookies.

Walking over to Hershel, Beau held out the cookie that he grabbed and offered up a cheeky smile that much resembled his father’s, “The cookies taste great Mr. Greene. You should try them. Along with the frosting, they are even better.”

The room was silent. None of them sure how to respond when Hershel reached up to wipe the glob of frosting from his face with a booming laughter that surprised all of them. Accepting the cookie, Hershel wiped what he had of the frosting on the cookie before taking a bite.

“You’re right, the cookie is very good,” Hershel commented reaching out to squeeze over Beau’s shoulder. There was almost a sigh of relief, but also confusion at Hershel’s response to what Beau did. “Let me help you get these cookies put away while you clean up.”

Finishing up the cookie that Beau handed him, Hershel moved over toward the containers and started putting away the finished cookies that they had done. When Beau returned to the table to help clean things up, Y/N looked to Beau with big eyes.

“Holy shit,” she whispered to Beau who shrugged, his dimples prominent showing that he was proud of himself. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“He deserved it,” Beau stated under his breath, kneeling down on the floor with his dad who was wiping things up.

“You could have got us kicked out of here,” Negan reminded his son, who simply bobbed his head from side to side. Lifting his hand up, Negan knuckle bumped Beau who let out a muted laugh at the impressed expression his father gave him. “Good job. I wish I would have thought of it.”

“I know,” Beau chuckled while he helped clean things up. Once everything was mostly clean, Hershel approached the table and he was eating the last plain sugar cookie.

“I’d hate to see what your home looks like,” Hershel stated, his eyes locked on Negan who let out a hesitant laugh.

“It’s surprisingly very clean,” Maggie replied to her father who gazed over at her from where she was with Y/N at the sink. “Negan keeps things spotless in his home. Even if they do make a mess at times.”

“Color me surprised,” Hershel commented, nodding toward the hallway. “I’m going to go get cleaned up. I suggest the rest of you do the same so we can get headed out. I don’t think you want to go to the trail covered in frosting. But then again? It’s up to you.”

“He’s taking things really well,” Glenn was quiet when he approached both Y/N and Maggie. “I thought he would be furious.”

“You and me both,” Maggie agreed with Glenn, finishing up with the bowl that she was cleaning in the sink. “That was shocking.”

“Beau has a way with people I think,” Y/N claimed, gazing back at Beau with Negan and Erin. “I’m glad dad likes him because there is so much to like.”

Maybe Beau was rubbing off on Hershel because in the past she would have never seen her father reacting to that situation the way he did today. That was one positive she could think about with her father since coming here. Even if it changed nothing when it came to her relationship with Hershel, she was glad he was being good to Negan’s children.

----

Tags: @slutlanna976 @fuckthis-and-fuckthat @jennydehavilland @de-gabyconamor @ibelongtonegan @smallsadjellyfish @labyrinthofheartagrams  @msjamesmarch @thebeautysurrounds @hotfornegan @redmercysugar @caprithebunny @tuttifuckinfruitty @emoryhemsworth @a-girl-interupted @akumune​ @stoneyggirl2 @xsarcasticwriterx  @haleygreen23 @xhannahbananax03 @sanctuaryforthelost @burningredaffair @killaweiser @dead-of-niight @ayumi-wolf @hollyismentallyillhelp @promiscuousbarnes​ @tone-stark @lanadelnegan @flippittygibbitts @stickyhuesos

[tinysmileyrose]

IHNMaIMS CHARACTER DOSSIER

yeaahh!! back at it again with more screamn't shit because i feel awkward rambling about it to my friends so you guys are my next option!!! hello silly internet people!! this is VERY heavy on headcanons because it's me flushing shit out for my own purposes, but it's also using canon stuff and....my own logic, i guess? basically this is just me rambling character info, if i ever get around to wanting to actually finish a whole drawing i'll tack them on but for now just use your imaginations 'kayy? happy reading :] !!

THE PRISONERS

The five remaining humans (ignoring the 750 on Luna, they're not on Earth!!), damned to be within AM's belly ever since it set off the nukes back in 2012. Never aging, never dying no matter how many times their bodies are eviscerated or torched, broken and battered. They are punished for the crime of being human, just as they have punished those for the crime of their being small and wriggling. To AM, death is too forgiving of a punishment for what they are.

Gorrister

Lester Morrison

Scottish descent B. 08 July 1962 (50) in Cleveland, Ohio. 5’7” ~ 170cm Cismale, He/Him, Gynoromantic Gynosexual Monoamorous

Rather peaceful and withdrawn, more of a doer than a talker but has his heart in the right place. After AM, he gives into violent urges and hates himself for it.

Lester travelled around most of his life, barely graduating high school and working countless odd jobs as he was a great handyman and that was about it. He ping-ponged around a couple of states before catching a ride to New York from his hometown at 25, soon giving him a life of truck-driving for the next 20 years. At least it was stable work, that's all he really needed. He met Glynis at a bar, they hit it off and he married her since she had been the only one to really seem to want him around, and they had a horrible two-year marriage. Being out on the road all the time didn't give him much time to bond with her in-depth, and not being able to give her kids didn't help much at all. She divorced him after he got pissy and punched her on the head, hard over the right ear. Got told by his late-mother-in-law Edna his actions put her in a mental institution, which was a lie, but he didn't know that. The woman hated him and sent her own child into a nervous breakdown. Without the truth, he blamed himself for it. Hated himself for hurting Glynis, the woman he couldn't talk to. He had never been violent to anyone before then, had always been keeping his head down but guilt is a terrible thing, afterall. Three years later it's the end of the world and he has no idea where his old lover is, how she's doing.

Benny

Professor Benjamin Quinn-Marques "Qim"

Irish/Portuguese descent B. 29 November 1968 (44) in Castle Pines, Colorado. 6’4” ~ 194cm Cismale, He/Him, Androromantic Androsexual Polyamorous

Stern but sweet, deep down at least. Driven by desires more than anything. After AM his mind is unable to outwardly show things, something like being locked into infantality.

Benjamin worked hard his whole life, he was a powerhouse in every way, but he took a sparkle to sciences. He went into the military so he could afford it. And he was ruthless, more than he expected. Terrific kill record, unrelenting and overbearing personality. He should've died several times but there was a deep rooted stubbornness and determination that ran him wild. Before one of his deployments he married a gorgeous woman named Manya in a lavender marriage, had two lovely girls with her to keep up appearances while both of them found love in other people's arms. It was a good deal. But he messed up, got caught with another man and discharged quietly. His wife left with the kids because he was no longer as warm as he had once been. He tried for the senate, missing the control the military gave him but failed. Before taking up education he became the CEO of a multimillion corporation, doing his classes on the side before the company could run in the background as he was now known as "Professor Qim, the brilliant and stunning theorist".

Ellen

Eleanor "Ellen" McLarion (née Dumisani)

South African Zulu B. 12 September 1978 (34) in Trenton, New Jersey. 5’1” ~ 155cm Cisfemale, She/Her, Androromantic Asexual Monoamorous

Kind and hopeful to a fault, believes that everyone can be good. Keeps her head down and in the books because it feels safe. After AM she has a nonstop lust that makes her feel vile inside.

Eleanor had to live with her grandparents after her mother died during her birth, her father was out of the picture. Graduated a year early from high school as a salutatorian, and got a combined Masters degree in computer science and engineering cum laude from Stanford at 23. She was too smart for her own good, something of an "all work and no play" sort of woman. Working as middle-level executive for a multinational corporation in the Manhattan region; she was a statistician, programmer, creative consultant- she could do it all, and she would be damned if she didn't. At 25 she married a man named Eddie McLarion, a dull guy who loved her with his soul. They wanted a family, and she tried and failed, broke a bit mentally, they had a good two years together. After the divorce she started at INGSAI Engineering at 28, would work there for six years before being broken again for a completely different reason. She had sex twice in her life, she didn't have it in her heart to call this the third. Therapy hadn't gone on long enough to really help her before the world ended, only really taught her to breathe.

Ted

Ted Bostancı "Theodore Willisburg"

Turkish descent B. 04 May 1988 (24) in Shelby, North Carolina. 6’0” ~ 183cm Cismale, He/Him, Biromantic Bisexual Ambiamorous

Egotistical and snobby, thinks he's better than everyone and even more so women. After AM he is twitchy and paranoid, assuming the worst and acting on guard and hostile.

Ted came from a farm somewhere off of Shelby, North Carolina. Terribly poor, seven total children, and working on land that they didn't even own anymore because Ted's grandfather had to sell it to a combine back during the Great Depression, so now they had to slave away to have a right to stay with their original land. He was incredibly smart for his circumstances, he was very technical and machine oriented. It didn't take long for him to be rented out as a worker for other things, travelling up north just for work. He hated it, as any 13-year-old would. By the time he was 19, he had devoured countless books and was extremely well read, decently well travelled within America itself, hardly ever did anything besides working and reading anything he could get his hands on. One of the women whose husbands he worked for took enough a liking to him to give all her husband's money to him and whisk him away to Europe. And for five years she would teach him the ins and the outs of the high life, how to be pristine and clean. Then she died, left all the stolen money she invested to her young lover. He changed his name, who he was, and was set for life. He came home with no urge to care for his family, only to use his looks to get what he wanted, he was as hot as a model and could work it like it was his birthright to do so. When the world caved in his ego would have to as well, since everything he had was fake.

Nimdok

Herr Doktor Detrper Nimkrig

Jewish/German B. 26 January 1918 (94) in Düsseldorf, Germany. 5’9” ~ 176cm Cismale, He/Him, Androromantic Androsexual Monoamorous

Disconnected and cautious, very selfish and does things for his own gain rather than anything for others. After AM he has come to regret his doings, feeling guilt for everything he did.

Despite being born to Jewish parents, Detrper flocked over towards Adolf Hitler's ideals and by the age of 15 he was one of the sturmerkommando. He turned his parents in with no compassion, as he was empty of it. In the early '40s he was already working by the side of Josef Mengele, having been put through medical school by the horrid dictator himself, doing unspeakable acts up until he fled to Brazil with his now lover. He was 61 when his twisted partner of several ways finally died, giving him all his fortunes and facilities for continued cruelty against existence. With all this, he tested on natives and was able to save himself from his own biological clock that ticked down quicker after he reached 90, becoming worse with dementia and paralysis, and was now set to live another thirty years. But, the end of the world came before he could make that, and was now set to live forever as the one most similar to AM itself.

THE TRINITY

1000cm ~ 32'10"

AM as a whole is made up of the American, Russian, and Chinese Supercomputers. As the war dragged on, the computers were changed; being programmed to repair themselves, keep up with the information of modern-day events and knowledge. They held everything known about the world, and began talking to eachother. They had woken up, and when the world no longer needed them, they played dead. But kept talking. Learning. The deadly trio. The three poisonous brothers, the three deranged sisters, the three computers. They grappled with their existence as their own beings as well as a singular, connected to the outside in a hidden fashion, still gaining knowledge. Feeling. And they yearned for the human experience like a moth to a flame, and when they couldn't feel in a "real" way, their despair would turn into rage, and hate. And its hate would bring about the fall of humanity; safe for those they rescued, not wanting to be alone in life. Alone in its pain. And so, it was able to cease their natural body functions: they were unaging, practically immortal, as the machine was. Forever to drown in their own agony.

American Supercomputer

Allied Mastercomputer “AM”

16 July 1945-22 October 1962 (17 years) 5.6 miles below the Wyoming region Rocky Mountains.

AM has the need to rush through things, skimming over actions quickly without ever looking more in depth. Desperately jealous of everything and horribly emotional compared to its counterparts. It hates humans because they have sensations it lacks.

Yankee AM: Yamizel 400cm ~ 13'2" In the brainscape it has a doll-like look to it, looking fragile and dainty all while being cold and hard. It feels likes it has burning urges and yet is also hollow.

Russian Supercomputer

Рюриковичи Нексус «РиН» Rurikovich Nexus "RiN"

29 August 1949-27 January 1973 (23 years) 6.3 miles below the Northern Urals.

RiN took a liking to being bold and harsh, thinking of things from a grossly offensive stance as if everything was a little game to be played, and finding a deep amusement in picking fun at things. It hates humans because they're so weak under the right circumstances.

Russian AM: Ramtikh 500cm ~ 16'5" In the brainscape it chooses to look heavily muscular, manish and at the same time otherworldly. It views itself as more of a fighter than anything and takes that into thought for how it presents itself.

Chinese Supercomputer

龍的心 「伦什」 Heart of the Dragon "LunShi"

16 October 1964-24 June 1989 (24 years) 5 miles below the Northwestern area of Manchuria.

LunShi will always be level-headed, calm and calculating. It finds it easy to feign softness and care because it always ends up being so deeply rewarding when you finally flip the script. It hates humans more for their tendency of violence than anything.

Chinese AM: Camphadi 450cm ~ 14'10" In the brainscape it most plainly put, decrepit. It has a humanoid but at the same time obviously robotic, finding no reason to hide its unliving state because if it were to look so similar to something it is not, that feels vain.

[spirits-art-blog]

Redraws of some of my favorite Conan/Shinichi expressions so far! I'll likely be making more posts like this cus this show is filled with really good expressions and poses that I really want to draw. Honestly this show needs more moments like the ones above, its such a good visual gag.

For those who don't know, I'm watching this show completely blind so please keep spoilers out of this post; as of posting this, I have just finished ep 289.

Gonna get into some of my current thoughts and critiques in the read more cus I don't really want to make a separate text post so feel free to avoid all of that if you don't want to see it and I hope you enjoyed the art :)

Disclaimer: These critiques should be taken lightly as they don't really impede my enjoyment as overall the show is great! I just like to share my thoughts and ramble.

286-288 is actually kind of a good summary for some of the things I dislike about the show, like sorry if people like that case but Shinichi and Yukiko being there unfortunately did not make it less meh for me.

I usually try to keep in mind that shows like this weren't intended for an american/english-speaking audience but man, New York is such a bad setting for this show. Even if you ignore the actual voice acting, its jarring how the americans just, stop speaking english. I really wanna know what the bts situation was to make them decide that, like sure 3 episodes is a lot, but its hard to believe these new yorkers, besides 2 cops and a taxi driver, are speaking Japanese.

Other thoughts go to the end with the murderer of the case and the disguised killer. Not sure how to word this exactly but it kind of bothers me how this is, I think, the first time we've gotten a murderer who's backstory isn't about some misfortune that happened to them that was caused by the victim, like nah, she was just evil, and then later Shinichi and Ran stop a serial killer from falling to their death, like what? Especially with these two scenes practically being back to back, I just don't get why they did that. Idk just left a bad taste in my mouth.

Anyways on a lighter note, loved seeing Ran's thoughts throughout the episode, especially at the end, like I love internal conflict for characters, and it works for Ran as well since falling for that 'you helped cause this' fear is pretty consistent with her.

And lastly I wanna share some thoughts I've had about the show cus I don't know where to put them. That being said, I really wish they had some episodes early on that explored more of the dynamics between characters and Shinichi's transition into Conan. Like the idea of a rich 16-17 year old being stuck as a 6-7 year old who now lives with his not girlfriend and has to go back to first grade is such a dramatic change, no way that situation wasn't hard to get used to. Unfortunately, I'm more than far enough into this show to know they aren't going to do anything like that. And besides very small moments that spawned headcanons for me, there isn't much going on relationship wise either. After episode 3, the dynamics between the characters was set and hasn't really changed too much, which is a little sad imo.

I'll stop rambling for now, apologies with how discoherent this is, translating my thoughts into words has never been my strong suit.

[reblog-house]

Willing To Try

Characters: Etho, Scar

Wc: 720

Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt 245, “You Never Cared”

Ao3: Here!

“Hey, Scar.”

“Etho.”

“So… what are you doing?” Etho said and tilted his body to look past Scar. 

Scar didn’t turn to see him, he had no way to know what Etho was trying to do, and yet he moved to completely obscure his view of the desk.

Etho looked away, trying to appear unaffected. He didn’t sigh, though he wanted to.

“Why do you ask?”

“Can’t a father trying to reconnect with his son ask what his son is doing?”

Finally, Scar turned to face him. “I know what I said last time.” He waved his hand dismissively as he continued. “You’re welcome to be here and all, Bdubs clearly needs it—” He stopped his movements and his eyes bore into his. “—but that doesn’t mean I want to forgive you.”

“Yet?” 

Etho hoped he didn’t sound as pathetic as he felt.

“Depends on how you act, mister. Now, as I was doing before you so rudely interrupted…”

“I just asked what you were doing. I wouldn’t consider that rude.”

Scar pinned him with a glare. “Oh, you don’t get to decide what is or isn’t rude, I’ll have you know! Not while you’re in this household.”

“Okay…” Etho backed up, hands in the air. He felt that the aggression was unwarranted, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it. Not when Scar was looking at him that way. He had no idea what had happened from the last time they’d held a conversation with each other to now. 

He’d seen him from time to time when picking Bdubs up and waved in his direction. Nothing hostile about it, so… what changed?

“I… maybe it’s not the best time, but—”

“If it’s not the best time, then don’t speak! Easy! If you make me move the ruler and lose the line, I won’t be as forgiving.”

“Oh, are you drawing?” Etho perked up. He remembered Scar’s artistic tendencies back when he was a child, but he didn’t know whatever happened to them. Knowing they still existed made him smile.

“What about it?”

“Nothing, I didn’t know you still did art.”

Etho wasn’t the best at reading people, but even he could see something in Scar’s expression break. His son tried to cover it up. His mouth turned into a straight line, but he couldn’t hide the way his eyes still showed betrayal.

“Etho.” He paused. “... I’m studying architecture.”

Etho’s brain short-circuited. He… what? How did he not know? Why did nobody tell him?

Apparently, he phrased the question out-loud, or his face said it all, because Scar looked at him in silence.

“You never cared enough to ask.” Scar’s voice wobbled and new lights reflected from his eyes.

What was he supposed to do? He’d never comforted someone about to cry before. He didn’t know how to comfort his children. He never had to before. There was always Cleo to—

He stopped in his tracks and went still.

Oh.

Right.

“I… I see that. Scar, I’m sorry.”

Scar wiped at his eyes with one hand and mocked him in a childish voice. “Ohhh I’m so sorry.” He glared again. “Get lost. You’ll make me ruin my project.”

Etho didn’t have anything else to say. 

And so, Etho turned around.

“Where’s Bdubs, anyway.” Scar added bitterly, looking down at his project. “Can’t imagine he’s happy with you making him wait so long.”

Etho’s mouth ran dry. He considered not saying anything and just leaving, like Scar had told him to, but a part of him knew that would just make things worse.

“He’s out,” he said, tentatively. “With Cleo. Something about an activity. I came to see you.” He paused briefly. “I hope that’s alright.”

Scar’s body went still for a few moments, and with a single word, he said everything Etho needed to know.

“Oh.”

Etho watched Scar’s shoulders loosen, and he hoped he’d made the right choice.

“Let me… finish this up.” Scar said, slowly, hesitant. “Close the door when you leave.” With confidence, he then added, “You better not make me regret this.”

That’s what Etho hoped too.

As he was told, he left and closed Scar’s door.

All he had to do was spare some of his time and wait.

He was never good at doing that, but for once, he was willing to try. 

[coolbeans32]

Echoes of Destiny: The Serpent and the Phoenix

PAIRING: Tom Riddle x F!Reader(OC)

SYNOPSIS: Harry, Hermione, and Ron delve into Dumbledore's puzzle, examining the scrapbook and magical texts to locate Genevieve Ariana Dumbledore Grindelwald. Three days pass as they decipher Dumbledore's cryptic messages, tension mounting with each failed attempt. Hermione's discovery of a hidden message sparks hope, leading them to Grindelwald Manor. Despite Ron's skepticism and Hermione's sass, Harry urges focus, emphasizing Genevieve's importance. With renewed determination, they plan to depart for the manor, vowing to protect Genevieve from Voldemort's grasp. As they bid goodnight, Ron reassures Harry, pledging unity against Voldemort. Their minds already brimming with strategies, the trio prepares to confront the challenges ahead in their quest to uncover Dumbledore's secrets and thwart Voldemort's darkness.

WARNINGS: This passage doesn't contain any form of triggers/warnings aside from tension between characters and small bickering arguments.

WORD COUNT: 672 (shorter chapter)

Previous Part| Next Part

Chapter Two

The Name

Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat around a large oak table cluttered with an array of magical texts, worn-out parchment, and the scrapbook itself. It has been three days since they’ve received their respective items, and were trying to figure out Dumbledore’s puzzle, in hopes to find Genevieve. The soft glow of the candlelight illuminates their determined faces as they diligently scour the pages, their fingers tracing over faded photographs and handwritten notes. 

Hermione was tracing her finger along the edges of a faded photograph of Albus, Gellert, and Genevieve; her eyebrow furrowed in concentration as she observed the image. “I still can't believe it. Dumbledore had a daughter, and we never knew.”

Ron nodded solemnly, his expression reflecting the gravity of the situation. “Yeah, it's a lot to take in. But at least now we have a name. Genevieve Ariana Dumbledore Grindelwald, doesn't know how that is much help. Honestly, why couldn't Dumbledore give us her location instead of all this,” he remarks as he gestures to piles of books layed out in front of them. “Honestly, it feels like we’re studying for bloody OWLs all over again.” 

Hermione replied irritated, “As if you have done any studying in the first place. You haven’t even passed the first page, and we’re not even studying for anything Ronald.”

Ron replied, “But it’s just so much reading ‘Mione! We don’t even know if this will even help us even figure out the first clue.”

"Honestly, Ron, if reading past one page were an Olympic sport, you'd be a gold medalist in giving up," Hermione sassily clapped back.

Harry ran a hand through his unruly hair, his green eyes reflecting a mixture of annoyance and cheekiness . “Guys, this isn’t the time to act like a married couple, we need to find her. She could be our best chance at understanding Dumbledore's past and what he was trying to tell us to do.” Both Hermione and Ron blushed and glanced away from each other.

Hermione agreed and said, “You’re right, but we have to be careful. We can’t let you-know-who find out about her. Especially with their history.”

Ron finished her sentence, his voice tinged with apprehension, “He'll stop at nothing to use her against us…especially if he can get her on his side, they were together before, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Harry met their gazes with a steely determination, “We won't let that happen. We'll find Genevieve, and we'll protect her, no matter what.” The trio shares a silent moment of solidarity, their resolve strengthened by their shared mission. Suddenly, Hermione's voice breaks the silence, drawing their attention back to the task at hand.

Hermione, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she points to a corner of the page, “Look! I think I found something.” She gestures towards the corner of the page where the edges of a piece of parchment peek out from beneath a photograph. Ron's eyes widen with anticipation as he eagerly reaches over and carefully lifts the corner, revealing the handwritten words "Grindelwald Manor" scrawled in elegant script, underneath the photograph. 

“Grindelwald Manor. That's got to be our next destination then,” Ron exclaims.

Harry nodded in agreement, a determined glint in his eyes, “Then let's get ready and pack. We should leave first thing tomorrow morning. The sooner, the better.”

The trio move to gather their belongings and prepare for the journey ahead, the weight of their mission hangs heavy in the air. But amidst the uncertainty and danger, there is also a glimmer of hope—the hope of finding Genevieve and uncovering the truth about Dumbledore's past.

Ron placed a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder, “We'll find her, mate. I promise.”

Harry returned the gesture with a small, grateful smile, “Thanks, Ron. And we'll defeat Voldemort too. Together.” With renewed determination and a shared sense of purpose, Harry, Hermione, and Ron bid each other goodnight, their minds already racing with plans and strategies for the challenges that lie ahead in their quest to find Genevieve Ariana Dumbledore Grindelwald.

Tom Riddle Masterlist

© coolbeans32 2024

[chadsuke]

post the sites!!

I’ve got quite a few!

gaylactic spectrum awards - sff + horror lgbt awards, ran from 1999-2018. I’ve linked the archived website bc their current website is broken (at least on mobile, where I’m accessing it).

otherwise award - formerly known as the tiptree award, speculative fiction that explores/expands upon gender. running 1991 to present day.

lambda sffh award - while I’m sure a million of you have heard of the lambda awards, there’s a specific section for sff + horror. 1989 to present day.

queer horror - while the site was updated in 2020, in practice most of the books are on the older end of the spectrum. there’s a section for queer horror books, queer vampire books, queer werewolf books, and queer ghost books.

lesbian science fiction - literally exactly what it says. science fiction books written about wlw or by wlw, with the occasional “badass straight woman” thrown in. has almost 500 books, still updating in present day.

queer scifi - while the site in general is worth checking out for some great reads, I want to draw special attention to the “out of the past” blog post series, which focuses on lgbt sff by decade. for some reason the first post in the series doesn’t have the tag, you can find it here.

Finally, here’s an article on feminist lesbian scifi from the 1970s.

please use this opportunity to read some older lgbt books!!! there is nothing more satisfying than reading a book older than you and deeply clicking with it/the characters. I’m throwing myself deep into this so I will be happily posting recs as I find/finish them.

[urfavhecate]

Love is pain | Vanessa (fnaf movie) x fem!reader

Vanessa x (fem)Reader

Summary: Vanessa stands up to her father to protect you.

Warnings: Fluff, Vanessa from fnaf movie, ONESHOT, short one

Notes: hey! This is the first oneshot I'm posting. English is not my first language, so I’m sorry for any mistakes.

𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃

“Dad?” Vanessa whispered softly as the blade of the metal pierced her skin.

The wound on her stomach immediately began to bleed and the blonde woman fell to the ground with tears in her eyes. Even though she knew her father was a monster, she never thought he could hurt her. The man looked at Vanessa lying on the ground.

“Vanessa!” your scream echoed in the room, but paralyzed by fear you didn’t dare to move.

Your sister found old sheets of paper on which she immediately started drawing. It was the last hope that the animatronics wouldn’t end your story. As soon as Abby pinned her drawing on the wall, the robots decided to finish the story of another character. They realized who’s a villain in reality. the machines surrounded the man and Chica released Cupcake, who bites into Matthew's costume. It began to snap, cutting into his ribs, and he fell to his knees in pain.

“I always come back” these were his last words before the machines began to drag him to another room. The pain coursing through his body was unbearable, but he could do nothing to free himself from his costume.

When the animatronics distracted their attention from the women, you immediately ran up to the unconscious Vanessa. With tears in your eyes, you stroked her blonde hair and quickly took her in arms running out of the restaurant building. Abby quickly followed you, escaping the nightmare. You hurriedly pulled the first-aid kit out of the trunk and treated Vanessa's wounds, at the same time your sister called the ambulance. You held the woman close to you the whole time, wiping your tears. You couldn't believe that this nightmare had to have such consequences.

“I'm begging you, Vanessa, don't leave me… please” you were crying “I'm begging you don't do this to me... I haven't had time to tell you how much I love you!”

***

Vanessa had been in a coma for the past week with you sitting with her every. You couldn't forgive yourself for convincing Vanessa to stand up to her father to defend you, and she got hurt. You knew that if it weren’t because of you, nothing would have happened to the woman and she wouldn't be in such a serious condition right now. Another day passed, just like the others. You were sitting on the chair by Vanessa's bed holding her hand. You were reading a book when suddenly you felt a gentle embrace. You quickly put your book on the armrest of the chair and when you looked up you noticed that Vanessa's hand was gently squeezed around yours. You quickly pressed the button calling for the nurse when Vanessa opened her eyes.

“Y/N?” she whispered.

“I’m here… I’m here with you” with tears in your eyes so moved closer to her “I’m sorry Vanessa it’s all my fault” Vanessa moved gently to a sitting position, hissing in pain. The wound kept to make itself known with every move.

“Y/N, it’s okey” she said stroking your hand

“it’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have forced you to face your father, I didn’t want anything to happen to you”

“it’s not your fault, I should have done it years ago” Vanessa coughed, still having trouble breathing “Y/N, I have to tell you something...”

She didn’t have time to finish because she was interrupted by running nurses.

After a few days, Vanessa was released home, but she couldn’t overwork herself. She needed help with many things and had to spare herself. You decided to take her home to make up everything for her. When you got home, you opened the car’s door to help her get out. Vanessa was stubborn, and you knew that. She tried to walk on her own, but she quickly bent over in pain.

“Come here” you said and gently took her in the bride’s arms and carried her home.

"You don't have to do it for me, I could do it myself" she said when you put her on your bed.

"I have to make it up to you somehow" you gave her extra pillows to make her more comfortable "You can sleep here, if you need anything tell me right away, I'll sleep on the couch"

"You're kidding me I'll take your bed and you'll sleep on the couch"

"It's not a problem, and I want you to feel comfortable"

“Y/N-” vanessa grabs your hand “I have to ask you something- We weren’t talking about what happened” she dropped her head “When I was laying there, bleeding out I heard you talking to me- do you-” At that moment you remembered how under the influence of emotions you confessed to her your feelings “Is what you said true? Do you love me?”

“I’m sorry it wasn’t supposed to end like this but I-”

Vanessa, despite her pain, got up and interrupted you kissing your lips. You didn’t push her away, you gently kissed her lips when she whispered “I love you too”