#i always have to wait for sarah to get on 😂

[yelena-bellova]

Twenty Years Later: Joel Miller x F!Reader - Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Road Trip

Plot: Joel, Y/n and Ellie continue to make their way cross country, and Joel and Y/n’s truce is heavily tested.

Warnings: tlou ep.4 spoilers, language, insinuation of killing, mention of a p*rn magazine, guns, (16+)

Word Count: 7.1k

A/N: This chapter feels like filler, but there’s still lil’ nuggets that will come into play later. Thanks to HBO for throwing that curveball of a Friday episode, now I gotta hustle to get the next chapter out within two days 😂

As always, this series is 16+ and I will not be tagging anyone who does not have their age in their bio. Gotta look out for younger eyes 👀

I hope you all enjoy this one and prepare for the next one because….anyway, enjoy!

———————

June 2nd, 2002. Austin, Texas.

——————

Joel and Y/n had gone out for three weeks, equaling a total five dates. Between their respective work schedules and Joel being a parent, they had to get creative if they wanted to see each other. They’d meet on their lunch breaks or, if they were too busy, Joel would stop by the hardware store in dire need of help finding something and only Y/n could possibly help him. It gave them a good twenty minutes or so to wander the aisles together.

On a particularly slow Tuesday afternoon, Y/n was doing inventory. Joel and her had made plans to grab coffee on his way home and she was counting down the hours till he came through the door.

A small voice broke her out of her daydreams, “Excuse me?”

Y/n turned and met the face of a girl, no older than maybe thirteen. She had dark skin and a head full of curls pulled back with a scrunchie. She looked slightly out of breath, but determined.

“How can I help you?” Y/n asked curiously.

“Are you Y/n?”

She confusedly furrowed her brows, “Yeah…”

The girl huffed with a grin, “Okay, good. I asked, like, three other people where you were and they had no idea.”

Y/n awkwardly smiled along with her, “C-can I ask how you know my name?”

“Oh,” the girl snapped back to the current conversation, “I’m Sarah.”

“Sarah…” Y/n repeated, wracking her mental index of high school friend’s kids, before it hit her. Her eyes widened, “Wait…Sarah…Miller?”

She nodded, “Yeah.”

Y/n’s body locked up, to say she was surprised was an understatement. Joel had told her that he wanted to wait a while before introducing her to Sarah. He hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since Sarah’s mom and was trying to figure out the best way for them to meet. Y/n hadn’t taken any offense, she’d supported it, actually. She’d never dated anyone with a kid and she wanted to do everything as close to perfect as she could.

“D-does your-“ Y/n braced herself against her inventory cart, “Does your dad know you’re here?”

Sarah’s mouth twisted, “Not exactly.”

“Uh-huh,” Y/n replied, suspicious, “And not exactly means…?”

“Not at all,” Sarah nervously smiled.

Y/n gathered the little oxygen left in her body and laughed. “How did you get down here if you’re by yourself?”

Sarah shrugged, “I took the bus.”

“Ah,” Y/n nodded, “And you ride the bus alone without your dad’s permission a lot?”

The girl gave a guilty smile and balanced on the heels of her Converse. It was all the answer Y/n needed.

“So, why are you here?” Y/n asked, feeling like she was doing something wrong.

Sarah sighed, “I got tired of waiting for my dad to introduce me to you. I’ve asked him, like, ten times and he keeps saying no. I knew you worked here so…I figured this was the only way I could meet you.”

Y/n couldn’t help but be a little touched, and also terrified. She was more nervous about impressing Sarah than she had been Joel.

“I mean,” Y/n rubbed her forehead, “Yeah, I knew your dad was waiting to introduce us but…I didn’t realize his daughter was a secret mastermind.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Sarah smiled, resting a hand on Y/n’s cart, “So…you’re dating my dad.”

Y/n nodded, “Seems that way, yeah.”

“Well, he really likes you,” Sarah replied, “Like, really likes you. He’s in a way better mood than usual.”

“Is he now?” Y/n inquired.

“He’s smiling all the time, he’s cooking,” Sarah’s face turned serious, “Which never happens ‘cause he kinda sucks at it. He’s even singing.”

Y/n raised an eyebrow, “Singing?”

Sarah nodded, “Uh-huh. Just under his breath, but still…”

Y/n was trying hard to restrain her grin, but Sarah was making it difficult. It was nice to know Joel was as uplifted by their short time together as she was. She’d practically been floating down the aisles.

“He’s just never this happy and…” Sarah shrugged one arm, “I really wanted to meet whoever was responsible.”

“Well,” Y/n smiled, “Your dad’s pretty great. And he loves you, never stops talking about how well you’re doing in school and in soccer…”

Sarah’s posture visibly improved upon hearing the compliments.

“Look, my dad’s never going to work up the nerve to let us all hang out together,” Sarah began to explain, “But the county fair’s on Friday night, me, him and Uncle Tommy are gonna go and it would be really fun if you came.”

Y/n inhaled deeply, a family outing. Was she ready for that? Were her and Joel at that point?

“I don’t know, Sarah,” she hesitate, “I should really talk to your dad first.”

“No,” Sarah urged, taking hold of one of Y/n’s hands, “He’ll just get all squirmy and frown and say that it’s not time yet.”

Y/n thought for a second, “He does frown a lot.”

“A lot,” Sarah chortled, Y/n joining in soon after, “Just think about it. Please?”

Y/n was between a rock and a hard place, or rather, the guy she was dating and his crafty daughter. She wanted Sarah to like her and they were already a step in the right direction. She didn’t want to blow it.

“Okay,” she relented, “I’ll think about it.”

“Yes,” Sarah cheered under her breath, still holding onto Y/n’s hand. “I gotta go, the bus is gonna be back any minute.”

As she moved to go, Y/n took a step forward. “I-I really don’t like the thought of you on the bus by yourself,” she objected, “Why don’t I drive you?”

“But you’re working,” Sarah replied.

Y/n gestured to the empty space around them. “I think they’ll survive without me for twenty minutes.”

Sarah gave a small smile, she was getting to spend more time with the woman she had a million questions about. Sneaking around had paid off substantially.

“Come on,” Y/n removed her apron, draped it across her cart and pulled her keys from her pocket, “You can tell me what your dad’s been singing on the way.”

The two girls headed out of the store, giggling to themselves as Sarah did an impression of her father humming old country tunes to himself while washing dishes.

—————————

Later that afternoon, Joel arrived to pick Y/n up for their quick coffee. When he arrived, she was nowhere to be found. After asking around, and finding out she had stepped out momentarily, he decided to wait at the empty checkout line for her.

Y/n walked back into the store with a new spring in her step. Sarah had not only spilled a lot of dirt on Joel, but she had talked about herself a lot. Y/n felt like she’d already been able to make a connection.

Joel spotted her before she did him, waving a little to catch her eye.

“Hey,” Y/n greeted, apprehension taking over.

“Hey,” Joel replied, his smiling fading the closer he got, “What’s that look?”

“What look?” Y/n asked, unaware of how nervous she appeared.

“You look like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar,” Joel smirked, taking her hand lightly into his, “What’s going on?”

Y/n sighed, she’d been trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Sarah all the way back to the store. Joel’s gentle touch was only heightening her nerves. “Why don’t I drive us to coffee?”

Joel squinted in confusion, “Okay…”

The two of them drove off in Y/n’s old Toyota, but she waited until they had their drinks in hand and were walking down the main street to start talking.

“So Sarah came by today,” she blurted out.

Joel nearly choked on the sip he’d been taking, “My Sarah?”

“Uh-huh,” Y/n nodded, anxiously holding the cup close to her chest.

“H-how’d she get down the-“ Joel began to ask before pressing his lips together and shutting his eyes, “She took the bus, didn’t she?”

“Yep,” Y/n answered.

Joel sighed, he was already starting to find grey hairs across his head. Sarah was going to turn the whole thing silver before she was 16.

“She said she was tired of waiting for you to introduce us so she was going to do it herself,” Y/n retold the story.

“Yeah, sounds like her…” Joel replied with a loud sigh, “Look, I know you wanted to meet her-“

“Yeah, but I was perfectly fine with waiting,” Y/n was quick to say, “You said you wanted to do this the right way.”

“Yeah, well, the right way was decided for us,” Joel sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “So what’d you two talk about?”

Y/n smirked over her coffee cup, details of the conversation still fresh in her mind. “Girl stuff,” she answered, quickly taking a drink.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Joel asked with an eyebrow cocked.

“She, uh, she invited me to the fair this weekend,” Y/n changed topics, “With you guys.”

“Ah,” Joel nodded, he didn’t know whether or not to thank Sarah for speeding his relationship up. Lord knows, he was too nervous to do it.

Y/n held a hand up to Joel, “But I didn’t give her an answer. I wanted to talk to you first.”

With the obstacle of Sarah’s approval out of the way, there was nothing to stop him from saying yes. And he didn’t want there to be, he was just used to using excessive caution around his family that anything else felt unnatural. 

“You should come,” Joel answered, turning to Y/n with a shy smile.

Y/n inched back a little, placing her hand on Joel’s arm, “Are you sure? Joel, I don’t want to insert myself anywhere.”

“How can you insert yourself somewhere you were invited?” Joel replied, settling his hand over Y/n’s, “Come.”

Taking a deep breath, Y/n knew that this was a big step for them. Joel’s daughter was his world, and Y/n was being given the privilege of being a part of it.

She blew out her cheeks, “Okay.”

Joel’s smile was earnest, rubbing his thumb over the back of Y/n’s hand. 

“If all goes well, I won’t have to hide you so much,” he said.

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re doing that great a job,” Y/n chuckled at Joel’s confusion, “Johnny Cash?”

Joel’s face turned sour, “Can’t believe she told you ‘bout that.”

“Hey, I thought it was a cute story,” Y/n held her hands up in surrender, “Your daughter thought it was a laugh riot.”

Joel lightly rolled his eyes, letting them rest afterwards on Y/n’s face. A stray bit of hair had fallen in her face, thanks to the breeze, and Joel brushed it away, cupping her cheek.

Joel and Y/n had made the decision that they wouldn’t take their relationship any further without having Sarah’s approval. They had yet to even kiss.

“If this works out,” Y/n started, “You’re not gonna be able to get rid of me.”

“Who says I want to?” Joel muttered, their close proximity allowed him to lower his voice.

They both knew if they stayed in the moment a second longer, their wills could cave. Y/n shoved her coffee cup between their mouths, allowing them both a breathy laugh.

“Come on,” Joel reached down and clasped Y/n’s hand, “I gotcha for a little while longer.”

The two of them walked off into the Austin evening, savoring every short second they got together.

—————

2023. Somewhere in rural America.

Joel, Ellie and Y/n had been driving for one day and no one had yet to end up in a body bag. A win if ever there were one.

That wasn’t to say they hadn’t come close. Joel and Y/n’s truce was an uneasy one and with the promise made to Ellie that they’d get along, their arguments had phased to thin lipped smiles barely concealing their disdain for one another. Still, their guns had stayed in the holsters. That was progress.

Joel pulled over at an abandoned gas station somewhere, needing to refuel. Ellie headed off to the bathrooms while Y/n and Joel went about setting up the siphon.

As Y/n handed Joel a rag, she noticed the state of his hand. It was still healing, and after using it so much in one day, it was beginning to shake.

48 hours ago, she would have let him suffer, but in the interest of a truce…

“Here,” she scooted closer, taking the siphon into her hand.

“I got it,” Joel protested.

“I know you do,” she placated him, gently prying his hand off the device, “Now move.”

She inched him out of the way and took over attaching the device. Joel crouched next to her in the dust, he felt useless if he wasn’t working.

Footsteps signaled that Ellie was coming back. She glanced over the abandoned car at Y/n and Joel.

“We have to do this every hour?”  

“Gas breaks down over time,” Joel answered, “This stuff’s almost water. Back in the day, we’d drive 10, 12 hours on one tank. You could go anywhere.”

“So where’d you go?” Ellie asked.

Y/n continued working, bouncing the memories off that threatened to stick in her mind. 

“Pretty much nowhere,” Joel answered, it was technically the truth, but so there was unclaimed life resting in his ‘pretty much.’

Y/n huffed a large breath into the siphon, the gasoline dripping into their canister.

“Nice,” Ellie complimented, “How does that work?”

“It’s a siphon,” Joel explained as Y/n monitored their levels, “It’s when liquid…travels against gravity because pressure-“

Ellie nodded smugly, “You don’t know.”

“I know it works,” Joel quickly replied.

Y/n smirked and looked over her shoulder, “Please teach us more about physics, professor.”

Joel frowned at his ex before turning his attention back to a walking Ellie, “No wandering.”

Ellie thought a moment, “Okay,” she went into her backpack, “This is your fault then.”

She whipped out a small paperback that made Y/n shut her eyes in exhaustion. “Oh, sweet Moses, not that book…” she muttered.

Joel started to speak, “Wha-“

“‘It doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope,’” Ellie recited, “‘It’ll still be stationary.’”

Joel blinked, Y/n let her forehead rest against the car.

“‘No Pun Intended: Volume Too’ by Will Livingston,” Ellie held up the book to Joel, “Volume Too. Look, you get it? Too? Like t-o-o?”

Joel mumbled something under his breath and got up.

“‘What did the mermaid wear to her math class?’” Ellie asked her captive audience, building tension in the silence, “‘An algae bra,” she laughed, “Like algae bra. ‘I stayed up all night-“

“No,” Joel shook his head, like that word carried an ounce of power with Ellie.

“‘Wondering where the sun went,” the girl continued, “‘And then it dawned on me.”

“Feel free to wait in the truck,” Joel suggested, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Well, Y/n thought it was funny,” Ellie retorted, she’d tested the jokes our on her watcher back in the QZ.

“I laughed at one out of, like, fifteen, Ellie,” Y/n grunted as she got to her feet, “That’s not the win you think it is.”

“Okay, but just know,” Ellie held up the book again, “You can’t escape Will Livingston. He’ll be back. There’s nothing you can do to stop him.”

Ellie took her backpack and her jokes and walked back to the Chevy, leaving Joel and Y/n by themselves.

“You get that book,” Joel started, trying to break the silence, “I’ll roll down the window.”

“Oh, that’s not even the worst of ‘em,” Y/n replied, wiggling the toe of her boot into the ground, “But they make her smile. Like I’m in any position to put a stop to that.”

Joel glanced over at Y/n, taking a temperature reading of her once again. It was hard to see so much of the person you’d once loved with your whole heart mixed with who they’d become. Every once in a while, he got flashes of his ex-girlfriend in the light she used to radiate. But something inevitably came through and blew out her flame. More than often, all it took was his mere presence.

“We should be good,” he said, changing his train of thought and kneeling down to pack up the siphon.

Y/n took the gas they’d collected and carried it back to the truck. Heavy as it was, she wasn’t about to ask Joel to help her. She’d lived through twenty years of their dystopian hell-space, a gas can wasn’t about to best her.

Once the truck was filled up, Joel and Y/n hopped in the front seats with Ellie sitting in the back.

“Must’ve been some truck,” Ellie commented, staring out the back window at the fleet deserted vehicles.

“Yeah, they used to stick big-ass plows on them and clear the roads for their tanks and such,” Joel said.

Ellie spun around in her seat, “I wanna see a tank!”

“You will,” Joel replied, “Tanks, choppers, all that stuff. But they’ll fight the wrong enemy. Just scattered around now.”

By now, Joel was background noise to Ellie as she dug around the back of Bill’s truck.

“I got somethin’,” she announced proudly, waving another cassette tape in between Y/n and Joel. “Here, does this make you all nostalgic?”

Joel took the tape from her, it was Hank Williams. Y/n and him shared a sideways glance, if Ellie had any musical knowledge, they’d have been insulted. 

“This is actually before our time,” Joel handled the cassette.

“Great,” Ellie settled back in her seat, unamused.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not good,” Y/n stated, watching Joel pop the tape into the player and adjust the volume.

The speakers flooded with the warm sounds of the country legend. Something about it made both Joel and Y/n relax into their seats a little more.

“Oh, man,” Joel mumbled to himself, briefly closing his eyes and letting the music wash over him.

“Yeah,” Y/n absentmindedly replied, staring out her window.

“Got somethin’ else,” Ellie announced, the sounds of magazine pages flipping behind Joel and Y/n, “It’s, uh, light on the reading, but it has some interesting pictures.”

Y/n and Joel peered into the dashboard mirror, catching a graphic cover. Their protests overlapped.

“Oh, no, no, no, put that back.”

“Ellie, don’t read that.”

“That’s not for kids, Ellie.”

“There’s nothing you need to see-“

Ellie opened up the centerfold of the x-rated magazine, her jaw dropping at the sight, “How would he even walk around with that thing?”

“Ellie,” Y/n unbuckled her seat belt, flipping around in her chair and stretching into the backseat, “Put it back.”

The girl slid to Joel’s side of the truck, too far away for Y/n to reach. “Hold you horses,” she argued, “I wanna see what all the fuss is about.”

While Joel watched nervously through the mirror, Y/n was not so easily defeated. She kept clawing at the air, trying to rip the magazine out of Ellie’s hands. Ellie turned away just enough so Y/n’s fingertips barely touched the paper.

“Why are all the pages stuck together?” Ellie asked.

“Uh,” Joel elongated, unsure of what to do, “The-“

“I’m just fuckin’ with you,” Ellie burst into laughter, reaching past Y/n and slapping Joel’s shoulder with the magazine.

Y/n slid back into her seat, moving as far away as she could from Joel’s shoulder.

Ellie unrolled the back window, the whipping winds blowing through the truck. She tossed the magazine out with a grin, “Bye-bye, dude!”

Y/n sighed and put her hand to her temple, nearly laughing at the absurdity of the moment.

They drove for most of the day, answering Ellie’s occasional question, but mostly sitting in silence. Somberness would fall over the truck whenever they passed by some piece of the old world, ruined and rusted by time. They drove by an abandoned amusement park, a rickety coaster still standing. A sign for what used to be a Love’s truck stop. A bridge that had collapsed at some point in the last two decades. To Ellie, it was a lost future. To Joel and Y/n, it was the world they didn’t know if they’d ever see again.

When the skies grew began to grow dark, there wasn’t much driving left for them to do.

“All right,” Joel announced to the truck, “That’s enough for the day.”

One part of their agreement was that Y/n would trust Joel’s ability to get them to Wyoming. Her rebellion against his every word made her want to argue that they could go a little longer, but she was trying to keep up her end of the deal.

Joel pulled off the main road and drove them into the nearby forest. They set up camp deep enough that they were hidden, but close enough to the road to escape quickly, should the need arise. Joel and Y/n took care of preparing dinner, using a portable stove and cutlery they’d taken from Bill’s house.

Eventually, they all sat down to a lukewarm meal of ravioli. Ellie practically inhaled it while Joel and Y/n tried to make it last.

“Slow down,” Joel cautioned.

“This is slow,” Ellie replied with a full mouth, “What am I even eating?”

“That is 20-year-old Chef Boyardee ravioli,” Joel answered.

“That guy was good,” Ellie complimented, stuffing another piece in her mouth.

Joel stared down at his meal, “I actually agree.”

Y/n swirled a piece around her plate, “It’s technically food.”

“How long are we staying out here?” Ellie inquired.

“I figure I sleep tonight,” Joel answered, “And drive tomorrow, all day, all night, and get us to Wyoming by next mornin’.”

“You know I can take a shift, right?” Y/n asked, Joel’s stony silence served as his reply, “Ah, so you do know and you’re choosing to ignore it.”

“In the interest of gettin’ us there the quickest, it’s better I drive,” he stated.

“Yes, navigating a highway,” Y/n retorted, taking a sarcastic tone, “That’s men’s work.”

“What happened to getting along?” Ellie smirked as she watched the exchange.

Joel and Y/n glanced over at her and backed down. They had to watch themselves.

“So can we start a fire?” Ellie changed the subject, “I’m freezing.”

“Now, why am I gonna tell you no?” Joel replied shortly.

Ellie shrugged in defeat, “Because Infected will see the smoke.”

“No, fungus isn’t that smart,” Joel said, “This is too remote for Infected, anyway.”

“People?” Ellie came back with.

Joel nodded.

“So what are they gonna do? Rob us?”

“Oh, they’ll have way more in mind than that,” Joel answered, never once looking up from his plate.

Y/n had lived a vastly different life than Joel had, post apocalypse, but she knew the horrors people willingly committed against each other. Being cold for a night was the ideal.

Once the sun set, the three of them rolled out their sleeping bags, another courtesy of Bill and Frank, and set up for the night. Y/n laid her head next to Ellie’s, while Joel stayed on the complete opposite side of them.

Ellie took a whiff of the inside of her bag, “Actually smells kinda good.”

“Well, that would be Frank’s then,” Joel quipped.

“If mine smells like gunpowder,” Y/n held her sleeping bag up, “I’m gonna assume-“

“Bill,” Joel took no time in answering.

Y/n nodded, “Copy that.”

Before they could lay down for the night, Joel and Y/n made a point of each checking their shotguns and laying them at their sides.

Ellie and Y/n nestled into their accommodations beside one another, Ellie pulling something out of her backpack before switching the lantern off and turning on her flashlight. Y/n’s back was turned, or else she would have put a stop to what was about to happen

“Joel?” Ellie eventually called out, “Y/n? Joel?”

“What?” Joel jumped to attention, he still moved with the urgency of a father. 

Y/n turned over, “What is it?”

“Can I ask you a serious question?”

“Yeah,” Joel said for both of them.

Ellie sighed deeply, “‘Why did the scarecrow get an award?’”

Y/n and Joel both looked over at the same time to shoot Ellie a glare. She kept a straight face as if she really needed the answer.

“Because he was outstanding in his field,” Joel answered.

Y/n groaned, “Oh, God, there’s two of you.”

“You dick,” Ellie laughed, “Did you read this?”

“No,” Joel turned over, smirking only to himself, “Now go to sleep.”

Ellie victoriously smiled, having successfully chipped away at a little bit of the ice man’s exterior.

“Admit it,” Ellie whispered to Y/n, “You like them.”

“I will smother you in your sleep,” Y/n mumbled into her pillow. She’d never admit to cracking a smile.

They had just settled back into the sleepy silence when Ellie spoke up again, this time truly serious.

“Those people you said…there’s no way anyone knows we’re here, right? No one’s gonna find us.”

Joel and Y/n both stiffened, they could only guarantee so much. Where they were was as close to safe as they could get. But that wasn’t something you told a scared kid who wouldn’t admit to being scared. You gave them hope, confidence.

“No one’s gonna find us,” Joel confirmed.

“Okay,” Ellie accepted the answer and flipped over. 

Y/n lay on her back, staring up at the stars. Her paranoia had softened the longer she survived, but laying in the middle of the open woods with a big flashing red sign above that read ‘FREE KILL HERE’ was resuscitating it.

A few feet away, Joel was feeling the same thing. He couldn’t pretend like he was fearless leaving himself completely vulnerable. And now that he knew Ellie was nervous, it only woke him up further. He eyed the shotgun, calculating in his head how little sleep he could make the drive on. If he counted on Y/n to take one of the shifts, they could still make good time…

They both unzipped their sleeping bags at the same time, turning to one another in the dark. No matter how hard they tried, they were on the same wavelength.

Y/n sighed, “You take the first shift?”

Joel’s nod had a heaviness to it, “Yeah.”

Y/n settled back onto her side, this time facing where Joel was heading to take up his post. She fell into an uneasy sleep, only after keeping watch over Joel until her exhaustion forced her to stop.

——————

It was a few hours later, Joel eyelids were beginning to droop. His ears were beginning to ring. He needed sleep.

After doing one last scan of the area, he walked back to their campsite. He came over to Y/n’s sleeping bag, ready to wake her, but stopped.

He stared down at her, her lips slightly parted, her hair framing her face and her lashes fanned across her cheeks. The frown she carried throughout the day faded in sleep, softening to a content expression as if she was between the bliss of unconsciousness and the evil of the waking world. It was the most at peace Joel had seen her in the last few days.

He couldn’t bring himself to wake her up.

She’d be mad at him in the morning, he knew it. She’d berate him for thinking he didn’t need her and probably make a crack about him falling asleep at the wheel. That was fine, he thought as he went back to his post, he’d take it. Anger and nostalgia were waging a battle within him, and right now, he was allowing his wistful memories to win.

——————

Y/n woke up to the smell of coffee brewing and the rustling of something in their truck. Seeing that Joel wasn’t in his sleeping bag, she grabbed her shotgun and bolted upright. The barrel of the weapon found Joel, packing up the truck, cocking a brow at her.

Y/n exhaled and set down her gun, running a relieved hand over her face. “You didn’t wake me up,” she said when she came to fully.

“I had it covered,” Joel said softly, not wanting to wake Ellie yet.

“I didn’t ask that,” Y/n replied as she stretched, already annoyed with him. She rolled out of her sleeping bag and got to her feet. “Well, I’m driving this morning. I’m not ending up dead just because you’re stubborn.”

Joel didn’t look up as he tied his sleeping bag up. Right on cue.

“Coffee’s on,” he changed the subject.

Y/n felt like Joel knew that would distract her enough to move on. He wasn’t wrong. She reached over to grab her backpack, feeling around for her travel mug. Her hand graced the plastic butterfly she’d taken from Joel’s apartment, freezing as she did.

Grief, much like heartbreak, had to be danced around. If you got too close, self destruction would swallow you whole. Y/n collected her thoughts and led them back to where she was, quickly finding her mug and zipping the pack up again.

Ellie rolled over, awake finally, and sniffed the air. She scooted over to where Joel had the coffee boiling and carefully opened the lid. 

“Ugh,” she gagged, “What the fuck is that?”

Joel turned to her, “You don’t like coffee?”

Ellie grimaced, watching the bubbling brew a second longer before throwing the lid back down and rolling back onto her pillow.

“Uh-uh,” Y/n shook her head, nudging Ellie with her boot, “Up and at ‘em, come on.”

Ellie stuck her middle finger out, “Fuck you, man.”

“Up,” Y/n repeated, tugging on the bottom of Ellie’s sleeping bag.

The girl moaned and sat up, glaring at Y/n, who went to pour her mug of coffee. Whether it was the first sip of caffeine shifting her mood or she simply was making an effort, she wasn’t sure, but when Joel walked over with his mug, Y/n poured it for him.

“Thanks,” Joel mumbled, “Why don’t I drive for three hours, you take over after?”

“Two,” Y/n countered, “Those bags under your eyes make you look like you’re in a fucking Tim Burton movie.”

Joel sighed, remembering the truce. “Fine.”

Y/n and Joel finished packing up their supplies and the three of them were back on the road in minutes.

“Is that what the Starbucks in the QZ used to sell?” Ellie asked, eyeing Joel’s mug.

“Well, there’s was a lot fresher than what Bill saved up, but yeah,” Joel answered, “This is what they sold.”

“The world used to run on this stuff,” Y/n added.

“Smells like burnt shit,” Ellie mused, smirking over at Joel.

Joel, straight faced as could be, raised his mug and took a big slurping sip. Y/n bit down on her lip to keep from rewarding him a laugh. 

“Eyes on the map,” Joel ordered.

“76 west and then 70 west for, like, ever…” Ellie read, Y/n had taught her how to navigate directions and she was still getting the hang of it.

“Where in Wyoming did you say your brother was?” Ellie asked Joel.

“Last contact came through a radio tower close to Cody,” Joel answered.

Ellie scanned the map, “Cody. Cody…Cody…ah, man. That is deep up in there.”

Y/n peekd over Ellie’s shoulder to take a look, “Do you know where he would have gone other than there?”

“Odds are he’ll be near a settlement,” Joel answered, “Probably close to another city out there. Ain’t too many of ‘em in Wyoming.”

The second part of his reply was meant more for Ellie. She was getting a crash course in geography.

“Chee-Yen,” she read off.

“Cheyenne,” Joel corrected, he’d studied that map so intensively that he could have found his way around the state blindfolded.

“Chey- really?” Ellie double checked before reading again, “Cheyenne…Laramie…Casper? What’s his name?”

“Whose name?” Joel asked, avoiding the question another five seconds.

“Your brother,” Ellie replied.

Joel paused, “Tommy.”

A wave of nostalgia crashed around Y/n, hearing his name made her think of cheap beer and belly laughter.

“Younger or older?” Ellie continued to question Joel.

“Younger.”

“Why isn’t he with you?”

Joel sighed, stretching his neck out slightly, “A long story.”

“Is it longer than 25 hours? ‘Cause I think that’s what we got,” Ellie asked, turning around to Y/n, “Do you know?”

“No, I don’t,” Y/n clocked Joel in the dashboard mirror, “And if I’m risking my life to find him, I think I deserve to know.”

Joel met her eyes in a fleeting glance, she was backing him up against a wall.

“Tommy’s what we used to call a “joiner,” he began to explain, “Dreams of becomin’ a hero. So he enlisted in the Army right outta high school. A few months later, they ship him off to Desert Storm,” he allowed for Ellie’s confused gaze, “That’s what they called that war, it doesn’t matter. Point is, bein’ in the Army didn’t make him feel much like a hero. Cut to twelve years late, outbreak happens. He convinces me to join a group makin’ their way up to Boston, which I did…mostly to keep an eye on him, keep him alive.”

Y/n’s stomach turned, she wasn’t just hearing about what had become of Tommy…she was hearing about what had happened to Joel after they broke up. Gaps she’d wanted filled for twenty years.

“It���s where we met Tess,” Joel continued, breaking for a sip of coffee, “And that whole crew, we, uh…well, for what it was, it worked. And then Tommy meets Marlene. She talks him into joinin’ the Fireflies. Same mistake he made when he was eighteen,” Joel’s tone turned bitter, his voice quivering an almost undetectable amount, “Wants to save the world. Pipe dream. Him. Fireflies, all of ‘em…” he didn’t dare meet Y/n’s eyes, “Delusional.”

Y/n lifted her feet up and hugged her knees, she knew the remark was meant for both her and Tommy. And while her anger with Joel hadn’t lost its momentum, she let him continue. He needed to get it all out.

“‘Course last I heard, he quit the Fireflies too,” Joel went on, “So now he’s on his own out there, and…I gotta go get him.”

The car was washed in a somber silence. Only one of them was brave enough to break it.

“If you don’t think there’s hope for the world,” Ellie said, “Why bother going on? I mean, you gotta try, right?”

“You haven’t seen the world,” Joel said, a little wistful, “So you don’t know. You keep goin’ for family. That’s about it.”

The five words pierced through Y/n’s heart, the wooden arrow splintering inside the chambers. Each syllable was like taking a knife to the carefully placed stitches around her soul.

“I’m not family,” Ellie said, blissfully unaware of the situation surrounding her.

“No,” Joel agreed, “You’re cargo. And I made a promise to Tess. And she was like family.”

Numbness set in and Y/n rested her head against the window, focusing on the rolling fields of rural America. If Ellie wasn’t in the car, she would have let herself go off on Joel, but it wasn’t the time.

“What if you don’t find him?” Ellie asked the man.

“I will,” Joel replied,

“How do you know?” 

“I’m persistent,” Joel stated before switching gears, “You got up pretty early, if you wanna grab more sleep.”

Ellie scoffed, “I’m not even tired.”

Within a few minutes, Ellie was beginning to doze off. Y/n gently tapped her shoulder, gesturing for her to climb into the backseat. She helped pull her through and Ellie settled against the opposite window.

Joel drove them for an hour in silence before Y/n couldn’t stand being still anymore.

“Pull over,” she told him, “Let’s switch.”

Joel was tired enough to listen to her, stopping the car in the middle of the road. They unbuckled and got out, meeting at the front. 

“You’re wrong, you know,” Y/n said once they were face to face, “About Tommy, about the Fireflies…all of it.”

“You wanna prove me wrong, have at it,” Joel replied, disgruntled by the whole idea.

“Tommy wanting to be a hero is him wanting to help people,” Y/n kept going, “To fight. To do the right thing. When has that ever been a bad thing?”

Joel nearly scoffed, “Maybe when it gets him killed.”

“If he’s still here after all these years, maybe you need to stop looking at him like he’s some idiot kid. You don’t get to judge the people who are trying to get some of this,” Y/n spread her arms out to the wide open space around them, “Any of this back. It’s a hell of a lot more than you seem to be doing.”

Joel rested a hand on the truck’s hood, “Maybe I don’t feel the need to waste my time on a pointless cause. Last time I checked, that was all the Fireflies ever accomplished.”

“At least I’m doing something,” Y/n fought back, “I’d rather spend the rest of my life on a pointless cause and go to sleep with what’s left of my soul than sell it to the devil and not recognize my own damn reflection.”

Joel felt the last part of her sentence push into his gut like the tip of a spear. She was hitting too close to home without knowing it.

“‘Keep going for family,’” Y/n repeated, practically spitting the last words, “When was the last time you fought for anything?”

Joel reached out, grabbing Y/n’s arm roughly as she turned away and spun her around. If she hadn’t dug her boots into the asphalt, she would have fallen right into him.

“You don’t know what I’ve fought for,” he growled, his eyes boring into hers.

Y/n’s chest rose and fell rapidly with rage, inching her face closer to his to show him she wasn’t afraid of him. “Neither do you,” she seethed.

Their breaths mingled in the few inches left separating their mouths. Neither one of them were making any real threats, there was simply too much tension between them to ensure a safe car ride. They needed to let it out.

Joel realized his fingers were digging into Y/n’s arm, it had happened when she had moved closer to him. Habits were tricky to break, but the body didn’t hold grudges like the mind.

The close proximity wasn’t lost on Y/n, but she was able to free herself from it before muscle memory took over. She yanked her arm out of Joel’s grip and took the keys from his other hand, stomping around to the driver’s seat and getting in. Joel unhappily followed, and their wordless journey continued…

—————————

Joel caught maybe thirty consecutive minutes of sleep while Y/n drove them. It wasn’t that she was a bad driver, he just wasn’t used to not being in control of a situation. He gripped the map tightly as they drove into downtown Kansas City.

Surrounding them were rusted abandoned vehicles, but the tunnel in which they needed to go through was blocked entirely by a semi. Y/n brought the car to a halt, glancing over at Joel knowingly.

“Wait here,” she told Ellie, who had just woken up.

Joel and Y/n got out, Joel grabbing their shotguns from the backseat. He handed hers over and the team took calculated steps towards the tunnel. Joel crouched down to get a peek at the open road waiting on the other side of the mess. The semi was parked that way deliberately.

Joel walked back to the truck, Y/n only a step behind him. They got back in their seats seat, Ellie squeezing over the glove compartment. 

“Where are we?”

“Kansas City,” Joel answered quickly, taking the map from her. The three of them studied it.

“How far back do we have to go to get around this?” Ellie asked.

Joel traced their route with his fingertip, Y/n tugged the map closer so she could study it too. There weren’t a lot of options if they had a prayer of getting to Wyoming within their time frame. They could either go back, costing them a few more hours, or take their chances passing through the city.

Y/n sighed, everything she was about to say went against what she wanted to say….

“It’s your call.”

Joel was honestly surprised that she had relented so quick. “Screw it,” he muttered, “Head back ‘round the tunnel, get on the next ramp. We’ll be back on the road, minute tops.”

Y/n put the truck in reverse and backed them up, swinging around a shoulder of road that would take them into the city.

“You guys are my eyes,” Y/n said as she navigated the first set of streets, 

“Tell me where to go.”

“Look for any signs,” Joel instructed while Ellie read the map.

They drove for about five minutes, having gotten no closer to finding the open road.

“Where the fuck is the highway?” Joel complained.

“I can’t tell from this,” Ellie let her hand fall against the map, “I’m all turned around.”

Joel was trying to help Ellie navigate while also keeping an eye peeled for potential threats. “Well, don’t look at the state map, look at the inset,” he directed.

Ellie groaned, “Well, I don’t know where we are in that either! This is my second day in a fucking car, man. I mean, I think we’re heading north?”

“I don’t even see any fucking signs,” Y/n mentioned.

“It’s gotta be the right,” Joel said, shaking his head, ”What the fuck?”

“Y/n stop,” Ellie exclaimed.

Y/n threw on the brake, bringing them to a halt in the middle of the street.

“Is that the QZ?” Ellie asked, her eyes wide as she peered over Y/n, “Where the fuck is FEDRA?”

Joel and Y/n got a look at where the Quarantine Zone should have been, zero military presence. That was unfathomable.

“Hey,” a voice called, their attention was drawn to a man limping towards their truck, “Please help.”

Y/n and Joel’s blood ran cold, they knew exactly what was about to go down.

“Put your seatbelt on,” Joel told Ellie, throwing his on as well.

“Aren’t we gonna help him?” Ellie asked innocently.

Y/n said a silent prayer to anyone who was listening for survival.

“No,” Joel answered, looking to his ex, “Drive. Now.”

Y/n pressed her foot down on the gas pedal, the “injured” leaping out of the way. The man cried something out she couldn’t hear over the blood pounding in her ears.

“Y/N!” Ellie screamed.

Y/n was too busy driving to see what Ellie and Joel were watching, but the message was received when a large object got dropped on their windshield. Y/n swerved, Joel reached over to steady the wheel as she regained control. In their mad dash effort, they didn’t notice the strip of nails ahead of them. The truck shook as its tires began to deflate. 

“Fuck!” Y/n yelled, “What do we do?”

“Hard right into that building,” Joel shouted, there was another guy in their path, “Now!”

Instincts ignored, Y/n pulled to the right, holding her breath as they smashed through the glass windows of the nearest building.

——————

TYL Taglist: @bachiracore @stolenxkissess @kayleezra @the-wistful-reader @allthesesonsofbitches @goth-detectives365 @trippovert @rh1nestonecowg1rl @emiliaserpe @khaleesihavilliard @frietiemeloen @gracie7209 @dorck26 @thegirlnextdoorssister @alanis-altair @mariwinns16 @whosscruffylooking @endofthexline @alexiaricciardo @eonnyx @pedrosmexicangf @scarlettequinn @ao-sleepy @toinfinityandbeyonce2 @deanlovescassie @turmoil-ash @sorrowjunky @kpopslur @xxlilyxx90 @midgetpottermills @presidential-facts @scoopsnini @tubble-wubble @jamesdeerest @burninggracesandbridges @star-wars-lover @lucyhotchner @cococola-cocaine @witheringhqarts @fall-writes @alwaysdjarin @xxmoonn @emilia-the-artist @wand-erer5 @boneyarrd @lizard-zombie @itwasallinmyhead1 @cassidylea123 @paleepeaches @mxltifxnd0m @kettlekatie @ultimate-cinephile @gloryekaterina @caramelkatsukis-bitch @whovianayesha @memeorydotcom @deadunicorn159 @get0ut0fmyr00m @siriuslymooned @emmyeed @superbreadsoul @hellu-people1 @ourautumn86 @inas-thing @noraapple05 @givemylovetoall @luvwanda

[daisyblog]

Congratulations

Our Story Masterlist Summary: Harry and YN share their news with close friends.

Niall:

YN: PHOTO Hello Uncle Niall🤍

YN sent Niall the text and waited because she knew once he had read it, she was going to receive a call. 

And within a few minutes, YN’s phone began to ring with Niall’s name displayed. YN was quick to answer the FaceTime, eager to see his reaction.

“Hi Niall!”. YN and Harry answered together, a big grin on their face. 

“Are you two having me on?” Niall got straight to the point. 

“No…we’re having a baby!” YN explained.

“I can’t believe this…I think I’m gonna cry!” Niall had been there from the beginning of their relationship, so to see his two best friends happy and expecting a little one was emotional. “Congratulations guys…I’m so happy for you.”.

“Thanks Ni…well get ready for Uncle duties!”.

“I can’t wait!”. Niall couldn’t hide his excitement. “I’m gonna be their favourite uncle”.

“I think you’re going to have to fight for that spot with Louis!” Harry joked. 

“Tell him to give up now!” Niall teased. 

---

Mitch and Sarah: 

Harry: PHOTO Hi Uncle Mitch and Auntie Sarah❤️

Harry could see that Mitch was typing a reply, so he and YN waited for the response.

Mitch:  Little one is having a nap or I would be shouting down the phone right now!! CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!! Welcome to parenthood, we can’t wait for you to join us!! 

---

Jeff: 

Harry: PHOTO

Harry had sent his manager and friend a photo of the scan and purposely not saying anything more. So when Harry’s phone rang, he wasn’t shocked. 

“Harry!” Jeff didn’t allow Harry to answer. “What’s going on?”.

“I don’t know what you mean Jeffery.” Harry played dumb, a smirk covering his face. 

“You can’t just send me a baby scan and say nothing else.” 

Harry laughed but decided to put Jeff to ease. “YN’s pregnant!”.

“Fuck off!”. 

“I’m serious…she’s like fifteen weeks now.” Harry explained. 

“FIFTEEN WEEKS!” Jeff had a similar reaction to others when the couple announced how far along YN was. 

“We only found out this week.” Harry defended himself.

“Well all I can say is…Congratulations H, you really deserve this and I’m behind you and YN every step of the way!”. 

“Thanks Uncle Jeff.” Harry teased. 

---

The Love Family:

Harry: PHOTO Our new addition to the love family🫶🏼❤️

Elin: Aww you guys🥹Congratulations Harry and YN🤍

Ariza: Congratulations to you both! So happy for you, amazing news!

Niji: Congratulations! You both deserve so much happiness❤️

Pauli: YESSS!! Saucy saucy😂A big congrats my man!

Yaffra: Wow! Congratulations!! 

Lloyd: 👀…THIS IS THE BEST NEWS! Congratulations Boss x 

Brad: WOOOOO! I KNEW IT! Congratulations H and YN x

---

Zayn: 

Despite some distance being created when Zayn left the band, YN had always tried to stay in contact with him. They didn’t talk all the time but they would occasionally catch up over a few messages or now and again a FaceTime call, especially when Zayn had Khai.

YN: PHOTO Hello Uncle Zayn 👋🏼

Zayn: What a message to wake up to. I wasn’t expecting this news. A massive congratulations to you and H, you’re going to be amazing parents❤️

---

Liam: 

YN: PHOTO Hello Uncle Liam 👋🏼

Liam: 😱😱😱

Liam: OH MY

Liam: I’m speechless 

Liam: A huge congratulations to you guys! You deserve so much happiness and I wish you all the love x 

---

James Cordon:

Harry: PHOTO Hello Uncle James!!

James: Thank you very much for making me cry on a Monday morning!! WAW!! A big congratulations to you both!! H…welcome to fatherhood, it’s incredible. Big love x

---

Lou Teasdale: 

YN: PHOTO Hi Auntie Lou👋🏼🩷

Lou T: OMFG!! You kept this quiet! Congrats my darlings🩷Love ya both xx

---

Nick Grimshaw:

Harry: PHOTO Hi Grimmy x

Grimmy: This better not be a joke! Congrats both! Catch up soon? Orange juice for you YN x 

Tag List: @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @harrys-flower @platinumbarbie143 @frickin-bats @harrysbbyh0ney @chronicallybubbly @goldensunflowe-r  @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @kaverichauhan @peterholland04 @panicattheuc @or-was-it-just-a-dream @hittiesontour @bunnyharold @fanfictioncafe @lilfreakjez @iamahallucinationnn @theekyliepage @indierockgirrl @buckybarnessimpp @ashleighsss @jerseygirlinca @fake-coolbeans @itsmytimetoodream @treehouse-mouse

[harrywavycurly]

I can just imagine bff Harry and reader always sharing gossip over wine or coffee😂

Hiii lovey!!! Oh yes you know those two always have gossip to share with each other!! So I hope you enjoy these little conversations between them when one of them has something to tell the other😂💖

-find everything Where We Started here✨

“Harry? Are you decent?…Harry?” “Hmmm?” “Are you asleep? Get up I have something to tell you.” “S’not even seven in the morning….it can wait.” “It absolutely cannot wait now get up and I’ll have coffee waiting for you in the kitchen.” “Wait you’re…in my house? This isn’t…a dream?” “Do you dream about me often?” “Don’t be mean it’s too early to be mean.” “Oh stop whining and get up.” “Just tell me what it is and then I’ll decide if it’s worth getting up for.” “Niall has a girlfriend.” “Niall? Niall Horan? Niall James Horan of One Direction…that Niall Horan?” “Yes! Now get up!” “When the bloody fuck did this happen?” “While he was in London now please get up we have to go meet her.” “Meet her? When?” “For breakfast now I’ll pick your outfit if you’ll please start getting out of bed and go brush your hair and your teeth.” “Wait wait wait…Niall has a girlfriend and he didn’t tell us till we are headed to meet her? That’s a bit uncool don’t you think?” “Well uhm…I might have…known about her-” “and you didn’t tell me?” “He asked me not to until he knew it was serious.” “How long?” “How long what?” “Have you known about her?” “Uhm…since their first date…uh…two months…ago.” “Jesus! How did you manage to keep that to yourself for so long?” “It was hard now…get up.” “Sorry I’m getting up…but you’re not picking my outfit.”

“Did you drag me to a library to tell me this so I couldn’t scream?” “Possibly…yes…yes that’s exactly why I brought you here.” “Harry you can’t just drop this on me and not expect me to want to squeal and jump up and down this is huge news you asshole!” “Shhhhh you’re going to get us kicked out…it’s not that big of a deal it’s just a movie.” “Just a movie? It’s not just a movie…it’s a movie that you have one of the main roles in and you’ll be acting alongside Florence Pugh.” “And Chris Pine.” “I’m so excited!” “You are so loud…let’s get out of here before you get us put on some sort of list for people who are banned from public libraries.”

“Did you steal that bag from my closet?” “No I bought it off your website…you have these in your closet? And didn’t give me one?” “I figured you’d ask if you wanted one? You asked for the Pleasing sweatshirt when it dropped.” “So…why did you call this emergency picnic?” “I have some…news.” “News? About you or someone we know?” “Someone we know…” “ohh please enlighten me…who’s it about?” “Mitch…and Sarah…” “oh my god did they break up? Don’t make me cry Harry it’s not even noon.” “They are having a baby.” “Oh my god! I just said don’t make me cry!” “Ouch don’t go hitting the messenger! I just found out like an hour ago.” “That’s so exciting oh I love this for them.” “Yeah it’s gonna be cool to have another baby to be the god father of.” “Bold of you to assume you’re going to be this baby’s god parent.” “I’m the one who introduced them so uh yeah…I’m gonna be a god father.” “More like the weird uncle.” “Weird? I’m not…I mean…I’m not too weird like creepy weird or anything I’m just…me.” “Yes you’re just you and that’s why everyone loves you so much…you’re weird and it’s great.”

[romanarose]

To the Rescue

Pre-Outbreak!Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Summary: Sarah gets her period, and Joel is a bit lost.

Warnings: So much period talk. so much. Thats about it.

EDIT Gotdamn two requests for part two already and it’s been up a few hours 😂 part two it is! Maybe with smut 👀

Let’s see. Comment if you’d like to be tagged!

************

You didn’t wanna assume anything… maybe he knew what he was doing. Maybe he was just trying to find a particular kind. 

Or maybe the 30-something-year-old man was wandering lost around the feminine hygiene aisle overwhelmed because his wife, daughter, or sister sent him to buy some, and he had no idea what he was doing.

“Excuse me, sir?” You gently approach the nervous man. When he turns to you, wide-eyed and red faced, you can’t help but notice how handsome he is, soft brown curls framing a strong jaw and curved nose.

“Oh, ‘scuse me, ma’am.” He nods his head to you, and steps back, presumably to get out of your way.

You smile softly at him, trying to put him at ease. “No, no, you’re alright, I was just gonna ask if you needed any help?”

The man blushes harder at that, dodging your attempts to catch his eyes. He looks like he’s about to refuse, but reconsiders. Looking at the floor and shoving his hands in his pockets, he answers. “My daughter, she started… um… yeah. For the first time today… the nice cashier boy is an older brother of her friend so he let her in the employee bathroom, since apparently, they don’t have a public one.” The annoyance laced his voice, and it’s obvious it had taken a moment to get the poor young girl to privacy. He finally looks at you, not so much embarrassed, but more ashamed. “I should’a been prepared for this, but I thought… I thought I had more time, you know? She’s still a little girl to me, I guess I didn’t see it coming. So. Here we are.”

You nod, listening. “Are you able to contact her mom?”

Shaking his head, he looks away again. “She left when Sarah- uh, my daughter- when Sarah was two, I gave up tryna involve her in Sarah's life by Kindergarden- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping all this shit-I Mean, crap- on you.”

He was a southern gentleman, it seemed, not keen on swearing around women. You felt for him, you did. A single dad in this position wasn’t ease. 

“I see, well, I’m happy to help, if that’s alright.”

An audible sigh of relief escapes him. “That would be great, thank you. I don’t wanna… well she’s already very embarrassed. The cashier was nice, but he definitely saw the blood on her shorts, and she’s pretty humiliated. You know, teenage boy she knows and all that… I don’t wanna make it worse.” He shuffles his feet. “I don’t wanna make her feel like this is something to be ashamed of, or that I’m grossed out. I’m not.” He glances at you before sighing again but keeping eye contact. “I just feel out of my depth that’s all.”

“I understand. This sort of thing can be confusing for adult women do. We learn new things all the time, what works better and what doesn’t. I don’t think anyone expects you to be an expert.”

With a shy smile, the young man extends his hand. “Joel Miller, pleasure to meet yuh, miss.”

You tell him your name, and get to work, not wanting to leave that poor girl waiting. “Any known allergies, Mr. Miller?”

“Please, you can call me Joel. And yeah, she’s allergic to latex.”

Nodding again, you move to a particular section. “Okay, good think I asked because some have latex. Here.” You give him a box of basic Kotex pads and a box of tampons. “This brand is latex free, and they are a good brand. Just make sure you check any new products if you get 'em. She probably won’t want to use tampons for a few years yet, but let’s get 'em just in case” You grab a box of larger ones. “And these are overnight pads, but the first day or two are always the heaviest each month, and if I’m being honest, I just use these the first day, even with a tampon.” Your face suddenly matches Joel’s blush. “Sorry, that’s probably TMI”

“No!” He reassures, wide-eyed. “I don’t mind, any information is helpful- uh- if you’re comfortable, of course.”

You can’t seem to stop smiling at him. “Yeah. I’m pretty open. Well, for me, my first two days are insanely heavy, and the tampons bleed through really quick, so if I’m at work it's better just to have a big pad on to prevent leaks. I think it’s safe to say she’s gonna like these while she is figuring things out.”

Joel nods, and you can tell he’s trying very hard to take in this information. He grabs another box of the over night pads, then looks at you. “Just in case”

“Okay, now, you said she bleed through her clothes right?”

Joel scrubbed his face. “Oh god, yeah, and they don’t sell clothes here, huh.” He sighs, before coming up with a plan. “That's okay” I’ll just wrap my jacket around her.”

“Here.” You toss him some baby wipes. “You go check out, I got some sweats in my car, I’ll grab them and meet you at the employee bathroom.”

His eyes go wide at that. “Oh! Oh no, miss, thank you but you don't have to-”

But you hold out a hand to quiet the handsome single dad. “I want to. And they are just shitty sweats, don’t worry for one minute.” Before he could argue, you leave him, and soon you return to the front where Joel is trying to get his daughter to open the door… but she’s refusing.

“Sarah, honey, it’s okay, it’s okay I’m just gonna hand you what you need-”

“No!” You can hear her yell from the bathroom, and you can’t imagine she’s older than 10.

You step up to the door. “Hey, Sarah? I’m a friend of your dads. I got some clean clothes for you, if you crack open the door I have a towel you can cover yourself with, and I can help you, or if they you think got it-”

The door unlocked, and Joel looked visibly relieved as you handed her the beach towel through the cracked door. 

“Is this alright? I’ll keep the door unlocked and be in and out.” You assure him, and he agrees.

“I really appreciate all your help; I can’t say thank you enough.” 

Sarah calls that you can come in, and with a towel covering her you show her the products and explain how to use them. You slip out again and lean against the wall looking at an anxious Joel.

“She okay? She good?” He asks you, the worry evident on his face.

You were quick to reassure him. “She’s alright, just embarrassed, but I managed to slip in that you were absolutely not weirded out and not nervous at all.”

“Already lying for me, huh darl’n?”  He chuckles a bit, finally seeming to relax. “You really came to my rescue.”

You could stare at his soft brown eyes all day… “It’s alright. No one really prepares you for this as a dad.”

The smile on his face falls. “But I should’ve prepared myself, you know?” his large hand goes to rub the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t try, really. When her mom left I really tried to… you know… learn how to do both, the mom stuff and dad stuff.” Joel chuckled a bit. “I can throw a mean tea party.”

Smiling softly, you hope your face doesn’t show one of judgment. "I bet you can."

“But then she just got older so fast… ”

“How old is she?”

“10”

“Well, in your defense, that is a little earlier than expected.” You can see his eyes widen, so you’re quick to assure him. “Not too early! Any time between 9 and 16 I think is normal and healthy. 12-13 is the average though.”

He wouldn’t stop beating himself up about it. “I should’ve been prepared, but my ma died before Sarah was born and I work with all men so I just… didn’t have anyone to ask, and then I know I could probably look it up but I didn’t even know what I’m looking for, plus it’s the internet so I wasn’t really sure what I’d see-”

“Joel!” You stop him, laughing and putting a hand on him, hoping to cool his anxious over-explaining… he relaxes into your touch. “I have been getting mine for ages, and I still find myself getting caught off guard without products. You’re a good dad, okay? You’re trying your best, and from what I’ve seen, you’ve raised a lovely, polite young lady. You’re not gonna traumatize her because you didn’t have pads.”

When he smiles at you, you can’t help but fall into those puppy-dog eyes just a little bit more.

Sarah emerges from the bathroom, looking at the floor but trying to put on a brave face. You decide to leave them be, let them go home so the poor girl could rest and Joel could calm down.

“I’m going to finish my shopping, any more questions before I go, sweetie?”

She gives a light smile. “No ma’am, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. Joel?” You ask the girls dad, and he laughs as he shakes his head.

“Got about a thousand, but I’ll figure it out.”

“Dad” Sarah urges him to stop talking, so Joel does. 

“Thank you, miss. I appreciate it.”

You say goodbye to both, and go to retrieve your shopping cart. 

Meanwhile, Joel watches you leave, before Sarah speaks up.

“Who was that? She said she was a friend of yours, but you don’t have friends other than Uncle Tommy.”

“Hey now, little lady.” Joel looks down at her, but Sarah just gives him a look. “Fine, you got me. Just a nice lady helping a hopeless old man.”

“Well, she was nice. Can we go home? I think I deserve some of that candy you keep hidden away.”

“How do you know about that?”

“You fall asleep watching TV with your mouth full of chocolate.” Sarah then flops her head back, mouth open, imitating a loud snore. 

Joel gently bonks her head, making the pre-teen giggle. “Alright I get your point, fine. Let’s go home.” Joel put his arm around his daughter, walking her outside as he carried the back of products and her dirty shorts.

When Sarah stuffed her hands into your large sweatpants, she felt something in the pocket. “Oh I hope he doesn’t need this.”

“What is it?” Joel hoped it was important so he had an excuse to find you and talk to you again. 

Sarah handed him a business card. It had your name, and business and cellphone number printed on it, but it was the back that caught his attention. Written in blue ink, it said: “Call me, cowboy <3”

******************

First Joel with no smut XD

I was debating writing this or a dark!joel one shot, but christ, my dark joel series is *dark* so i needed to lighten myself up a bit.

@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction

IDK who else is reading none smutty joel so i guess im just tagging fen bc they read all my nonsense XD

[acourtofquestions]

Sarah J. Maas really does a good job as a writer when it comes to guiding the reader into the opinion you want them to have for the best emotional investment in the story. … It’s never going to be 100% unanimous (often it’s fun in a way because everyone has their own interpretation, favorites, etc.) however I think her fandoms have more generally conclusive agreements & that’s a pretty impressive feat saying how often her characters & their relationships change; they are built, destroyed, & rebuilt again. The ability to twist the story (even starting with the Beauty and the Beast comparison within A Court of Thorns and Roses is impressive). And I say this as a fan who tends to be PRETTY loyal to my favorites, her books have been an exception.

Tamlin (the beast) is at first a VERY hesitation drawing character, by the time one finally starts to like him; it still feels off (& confusing because isn’t he “supposed to be” the main love interest? “Shouldn’t you” like the MAIN LOVE INTEREST?) then when you finally start to think you love him, your all in on the ship, it starts BREAKING YOUR HEART, until one page changes everything & you now LOATHE HIM FOREVER. 1 book, 7 chapters, & the reader goes through it WITH Feyre.

Rhysand (the beauty😂😊😘) goes from a “who is this tall dark “beautiful” stranger”, to holy**** he’s the one decapitating people😅 & now everyone is terrified of him (for & with Feyre), so the hatred officially starts, until it presses pause because it’s just straight up confusing (“what am I supposed to feel?”) and start getting confused by all the feelings for him; one second he’s annoying, then hilarious, then everyone is drawn to him, until you can’t tell if you like or hate (or love to hate) him. AND THEN SOMETHING IS DEF UP AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT RIGHT NOW so you spend all this time guessing & waiting & brooding & pining—until you think you understand him & “even if it’s fucked up you love him” & then you REALLY do LOVE him and your just WAITING for Feyre to realize it too… And then EVERY shoe drops; you never knew anything, now you know EVERYTHING, & they are officially ENDGAME… until that gets too literal & now your crying CAUSE IT CANT END & thankfully it doesn’t! It just begins 80 times over for Fae Infinity (depending on how that whole death bet bargain goes😅).

Sam we fall for him (even knowing from DAY 1) how it ends; we fall for him because she did; and he did love her. Truly, steadily, from the beginning—to the end. They had something real, a beautiful promise (to be kept… & betrayed, not by them but by the very universe) born among sorrow but not out of it. Something good, built by them. We fall for the assassin, the boy, the best friend; the one that should’ve gotten to be the one or at least gotten more time… the first love, always love, & un-ended one because it’s ending came without a goodbye & before it even had a chance to begin…

Dorian the beautiful & forbidden prince — the good boy, to one day make a good king & a good man; the dreamer you fall for because he wants to make the world better & just might be a better benevolent ruler; ever-looking for his equal to rule by his side. The forbidden affair, yet always almost promised to be — the Daughter of Terrasen & the Son of Adarlan — enemies to friends to lovers (& friends again) burdened with glorious purpose & dark powerful pasts. The might have been; two sides, same coin… seen by all… seemed fit to be…

Chaol the opposites attract; magnets always in orbit always moving toward this; them. The love that brings life, back to-well-life. The guard & The Assassin; the killer & the protector; the prophesied end to evil rule, a woman scorned & hell-bent to burn the crown to the ground — the one who gave everything for an ideal, a good man, given to protect it at the cost of his very life & all he knew; the daughter of ruin & the fallen — the son of ruiners who destroyed to survive, yet survived nonetheless. A truly good man in a world of evil, a goodness that makes her believe again. A resilient sun, she blazes among deaths darkness, he watches her like Icarus. They are the goodness that came out of the ashes. Opposites yet the ones that understood (even to a fault). It was always meant to be… right?! — Their story. You see & fall for yet ANOTHER future, their “brood of children” & running away together. Until…

Rowan I have yet to meet him but from the little (trying to stay spoiler free) he is her match. Though I was strongly team Chaol… and Dorian… and Sam… I am sure I will fall once again…

There is something genius in that

[undercoverpena]

okay but I have brain rot for…

assassin!joel miller x f!reader 👉👈

like think assassins creed II — I blame Florence for this, @ghostaholics and @thetriumphantpanda for not telling me this is a bad idea 😂

below is just imagine style bullet points of my brain rot. they may not make sense but look, if this is something we want, the rot is there. warnings; assassin behaviour, hints at smut, Jo making people fall in love as usual.

• imagine joel discovering that his family have been executed: sarah, tommy, tess—all gone. fleeing when he realises his face is on posters, going to a distant cousin's house only to find out his heritage of being an assassin. and he wants retribution, wants blood, wants the people who made the call to pay. so he trains (think of the arms 💪🏼)

• it’s some years later, when he returns to the city to enact revenge, when he first meets you. some woman of high standing, living in your uncle’s house—learning to paint. Joel hears a disturbance and sees some guards shoving you around, your fist connecting with one before it gets nasty, and he swoops in, saving you. you leave behind some brushes in your dash to get home.

• he finds you some days later, your eye-catching sight of him as you continue to paint. “I know you’re there, assassin.” and he eventually shows himself, handing you the brushes back. you’re eyeing him, waiting until he steps back into the shade, thanking him as he makes his exit. there’s more back and forth, accidental run-ins, him spotting you in places you shouldn’t be, until one day, when his grunts and silence don’t seem to work, he asks if you have a death wish. “you’re blade is blunt.” the tip of your brush pointing at the one on his wrist, “I can help you with that, for the death wish.” you kiss him, soft, chaste—enough to render him silent and still, but not an invitation for him to do more. he declines the offer of your help with his blade, but takes your handwritten note with your address.

• joel checks in on you, tells himself its just to be sur. but he does it more and more frequently. once finding you reading at your balcony. another time painting, and he’s pretty sure you clock him again. another you’re crying, something that pulls at him but he ignores.

• it isn’t until his wrist blade snaps that he comes to your room later that night, entering via the balcony. you tell him your uncle knows a maker, someone who can help him. and he protests, that this is dangerous, but you argue back that you want to help. but he needs you to know, so he continues and continues about what he does to people, what he does to those who have killed his family—how he does it, that vengeance won’t end when the last head rolls—watching tears fill your eyes. that there is always more, more injustice, more poison to rid, and then you grab his arms, pulling him from his speech. “then rid it, Joel. remove it. make the city something to be proud of.” he’s taken back, but you kiss him. something he deepens this time. whispering you don’t care, pressing it to his lips. more words whispered between kisses, between you removing his layers: I don’t care, I understand, I get it, I’m yours. and the latter spark something, a possessiveness rising in him, as you strip the last thing from him that makes him the thing that perches on rooftops.

• secret kisses where his hood remains up, and your hands slide around the inside of his cape. tucked away in alcoves of the city, you making threats that he best show up tonight, and he never makes promises—because his line of work doesn’t allow for them—but he kisses you like he wishes too.

• pulling you into an abandoned house when you’re on the way to an event—you having ditched your chaperone, knowing he is always watching. the skirt of your dress lifted, his hand between your thighs as you ask if he’ll be “keeping a look out for me tonight?” and his ministrations increase, his mouth ghosting over your whimpers and the way you say his name, before he tells you, “best believe it.”

• it’s a lot for Joel to trust people. and while he usually doesn’t come to you when he’s hurt (just appears with new bruises and fresh scars) one night he doesn’t think of anywhere else to go. the wound is bad, landing awkwardly on your balcony—unaware you’ve been scurrying away medical supplies from the market for weeks, just in case. you stitch him, apply ointment and bandage him. eventually curling up to his sleeping frame. he wakes with a warmth on his good side, pain pulsating on the other, opening his eyes to a sleeping you—a version he doesn’t get to see, doesn’t get to experience. a stolen, perfect moment that solidifies how much he feels for you, and also how dangerous all of this is. but when you open your eyes, he forgets, pressing gratefulness to your lips. then he spots how your nightdress is stained, ruined, realising that he’s done that—poisoned it in the same way he has your life.

• one time, he’s a little late to save you from a handsy, out of control “suitor” throwing the man out the window into a hay bale so he can tend to you, not wanting you to see his violence—even if you hear about it, the entire city speaking on him. he begins to blames himself, that he’s old. that you deserve better. but you just let him ramble until he’s out of words, and then you kiss him, “because I choose you, Joel.” he doesn’t say what those words mean to him, but he shows you later. he does worry what he’s doing to you by letting you keep getting closer, knowing full well he’s doomed you, in a different way than you’ve doomed him.

• when a kid breaks into his HQs, he takes one look at their frizzy hair and dirty feet, and asks why they’re here. the girl, Ellie introduces herself, said Marlene sent her to him, that she was told he’d look after her—know what to do. that there’s still ties between the fireflies and the assassins. he tells her to bathe, while he sends a pigeon to you to bring clothes for her. you meeting Ellie, and her enamoured with you and your kindness, something Joel knows all too well himself.

• time goes on, him and your relationship never delving out of a situationship. your uncle pushing more for you to marry, Joel stealing moments here and there with you. behind statues and marble pillars, down quiet streets and in your bedroom—hand over your mouth so no one in the house knows you’re not alone as he fucks you, his praise whispered in plenty. “because you’re so good for me, always taking me so well”—you leaving half-moon marks in his side as he does so, leaving a bit of you on him, the same way he leaves bruises on your hips.

• when Joel discovers your Uncle is someone involved in the demise of his family he experiences a conflicting array of feelings rising in him. so much so, he interrupts you during an art class—pulling you outside to tell you, to ask you if you knew. but he can tell instantly from the way your eyes widen and shimmer, that you don’t. and so, the two of you begin to work closely together, to unravel the mysteries that is your uncle.

• until one night when you learn it all, what your uncle did to his brother—your own father—Joel in the wings, hearing it all: from the confession to the way your heart shatters. that your uncle sent your mother away so he could find you a suitor of his choosing, and it isn’t until the house goes into lockdown, do you find yourself separated, trying to find Joel, running and running until your uncle’s hand is coated in his blood and Joel is on the floor. and you don’t think, don’t even question, taking one of the blades from Joel’s belt and holding it to your uncle’s neck, a choice there, but there’s no shake in your hand. feeling, slowly, Joel’s hands come around your waist, giving you the strength.

[older-men-are-sexy-okay]

Soft Spot

CH 1

Pairing: Joel Miller x female reader

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 2k

Summary: You have just graduated with your Bachelor’s degree and decide to stay at home with your dad to save some money before graduate school. The thing is, he is moving from California to Texas to live next to his best friend/college roommate, Joel, along with his daughter, Sarah. Growing up, you heard so much about him from your dad. It’s almost like you know Joel, but you don’t. You’ve never actually met him. This Summer will be interesting…

Warnings/Tags: Dbf! Joel, slow burn, eventual smut, kinda mean Joel, explicit language, references to death, struggles with depression, reader is younger than Joel (22/43).

Note: I am a very inexperienced writer, but wanted to have some fun. Go easy on me! Chapters will probably be short and come out fast because I have ADHD lol. And yes, Obie is named after Oberyn Martell from GOT 😂.

CHAPTER 1

“Obie!” You yell out your back door. “Come, boy.” Your golden retriever comes running in the house. You always referred to Obie as ‘the only man you need in your life’. Although, that is definitely not true because you couldn’t live without your dad, it sums up your attachment to your dog. You close the backdoor and turn to look around the empty house with a leash in your hand. It’ll be weird to live somewhere not in this house, you have lived here since you were born. It saddens you when you realize that this was the last house your mother stepped foot in. Any houses after this one will be void of her presence. You take a deep breath and walk up to Obie, clasping his leash to his collar. You open the front door to meet your dad who is waiting in the U-Haul with all of your belongings combined. You usher Obie up into the front seat of the truck and have him sit between you and your dad. You close the door and let out a sigh. Your dad turns to you and puts his hand on your shoulder. “You okay, hun?” You look over to him. “Yeah, just ready to get this drive over with”. You reply. It was partly true, you were dreading the 20 hour drive. But you purposefully didn’t mention your true feelings. “Well let’s get going then”. Your dad pulls out from your childhood home and begins to drive to his new one. 

The drive wasn’t horrible. One motel stay, multiple potty breaks for Obie, listening to podcasts and eating a bunch of junk food. You finally reach the neighborhood the new house is in. Your dad pulls into a cul-de-sac and points to a green two-story house on the left side. “This is her,” he says, pulling into the driveway. “Looks pretty nice, I think she’ll do” You respond “Which house is Joels?” You didn’t really care much, but the whole reason your dad wanted to move here in the first place was to be next to his so-called best friend Joel Miller. You’ve never met the guy, but you don’t really care to particularly. Your dad always talked about him so much growing up, you feel like he’s your long-lost uncle or something. You supposedly met him once when you were 3 years old at your mother’s funeral. You obviously don’t remember, you know, being 3 and having better things to worry about like your mom being dead. Your dad always told you the story of how he and Joel met: it was their freshman year at college at the University of Texas, Austin, and they were random roommates. They became best friends and were inseparable until your dad met your mom and moved to Los Angeles. Since you were looking at schools in the Texas area and were accepted to UT for your graduate program, your dad thought it would be a good idea to move with you so you can stay at home. Also, so your dad could have someone he cares about, other than you, close. He's been lonely since your mom died but he won’t admit it. You agreed, because worst case scenario, you save money by living at home with your dad. 

“His is the one right across the street”. Your dad points behind you both, behind the U-Haul. You look over your shoulder and see a white house with no cars in the driveway. It looked like no one was home. “Joel’s at work, but should be off around 6 in time for the barbeque.” Your dad continues. You look at him puzzled, “what barbeque?” “The cul-de-sac is throwing us a welcome barbeque tonight”. He looks at you smiling. “Ugh, now after driving half the day I have to go put on makeup to meet some people I don’t know”. You were exhausted, you wished you could just go in and go to sleep. But there wasn’t even a bed inside, lots of unloading to do. Obie begins to whine, signaling he wants to be let out. “Oh come on, you’ll be fine” Your dad exclaims. You open the door to the U-Haul to let Obie out and head towards your new home.

4 ½ hours and lots of sweating later, you’re finally done getting ready for the barbeque and moving your stuff. Your room is hardly set up, with just a bed in the middle. But you don’t care, it can wait until tomorrow. You’re wearing blue jean shorts, a black tank top and flip flops. Not trying to impress anyone too bad here. Besides, it’s May in Texas, so it’s pretty hot. But you have your hair down and makeup on so you look like you at least tried. You look at your phone, it’s 6:30 PM. Your dad left to help set up the barbecue an hour ago and said he would be back. He must’ve ran into Joel and begun reminiscing or something. You take it upon yourself to make an appearance just to make your dad happy. “Obie, come on” You walk down the stairs and usher Obie outside the front door with you. 

You close the front door and look around the cul-de-sac. The first thing you notice being the loud country music and the smell of hotdogs. There’s two tables set up with a red patterned tablecloth in the middle of the cul-de-sac. They have hotdogs, burgers and condiments on them. There’s multiple ice chests and chairs everywhere. You think everyone in the cul-de-sac must be here, because they are blocking off the road. There are quite a few people here, obviously no one you recognize. You decide to take a walk around and explore more. “Let’s go, Bubba”. Obie follows you as you walk down the sidewalk deeper into the party. You see a blue ice chest labeled ‘water’ and open it up to take a cold water bottle. Right as you’re done taking a swig, you hear someone ask “what’s his name?” You look over to see a girl, motioning toward your dog. Though you could tell she is younger, a teen maybe, she is almost your height. You smile and say “oh, this is Obie”. “Can I pet him?” The girl asks. “Of course, he’s a sweet boy”. You say. She leans down and rubs him on the head, “Hi, Obie” she says to him. She stands back up and introduces herself to you “I’m Sarah. You’re John’s daughter, right?” You look at her puzzled. “Yeah, how do you know my dad?” You reply. “Because Joel’s my dad”. She says. “Ohhh, duh. Sorry”. You feel a little stupid due to the fact that you forgot Joel had a daughter. You introduce yourself back to Sarah. “I guess we’re basically like, cousins, or something” She says laughing. “I guess so”, you give a small chuckle back. She looks over your shoulder, “he’s super cute, huh?” Pointing behind you. You look over to see a blondish boy with his friend, throwing a football back and forth to each other. You look back to Sarah. “Sure, but they look a bit old for you. How old are you, Sarah?” You ask. “I’m 12, he’s 21. His name is Scotty”. She replies. You widen your eyes at the response, thinking the girl was around 15. “It’s just a crush, he doesn’t even know I exist. But still, please don’t tell my dad” Sarah says. “Of course,” You say smiling. “Does Obie need some water?” Sarah asks. You look down at Obie, who is panting severely. “It is a bit hot, maybe I should get him some”. You exclaim. “Don’t worry, we’re closer to my house, we can just get it there. Let me just double check with my dad that it’s okay”. Her house is equal distance to your house, but you write it off as Sarah being excited to show you her house. Sarah motions for you to follow her, so you do. 

You walk a few steps to the table with the food sprawled across it. You notice your dad on the end getting a hotdog with a man beside him, both of them laughing. Sarah walks up to the man, who is scooping relish onto his hotdog. You and Obie stand beside her. “Dad?”  She tries to get his attention, but he keeps his back turned to her. “Yeah?” The man says. “Can we go inside the house for a second?” She asks. “Who is we?” He asks as he turns toward her with the hotdog in his hand. He looks at her, then his eyes cross over to yours. It is only then you notice how handsome the man is. He looks rugged, but has soft eyes. His patchy beard and wavy, salt and pepper hair tell you this man is somewhere in his forties. He’s wearing a green button up flannel with the sleeves rolled up. Your breath catches as he looks at you blankly and puts the plastic spoon he was using to scoop relish with in his mouth to suck off the excess. Sarah introduces you to the man, all the while he doesn’t break eye contact. “We were just going to get her dog some water real quick”. Sarah says. The man then looks down at Obie and back up to you. He then takes the spoon out of his mouth. Your dad then appears, he puts his hand on the man’s shoulder and says “Joel, this is my daughter.” You knew Sarah’s dad was Joel, but for some reason it did not connect that this man in front of you was Joel. You give Joel a pathetic little “Hi”. He responds back, “Hi.” Then turns his attention back toward Sarah. “Go ahead” he gives Sarah permission. Sarah starts to walk excitedly toward her house. You and Obie follow her, still eyeing the man as he turns back toward your dad to say something. He seems a bit rude, you think to yourself. He didn’t say ‘nice to meet you’ or introduce himself. And his eye contact was very strong, it made you feel a bit uncomfortable. Not the warm welcome you expected, but you try to brush it off. 

You, Sarah and Obie go inside the house. She grabs a bowl from the cabinet and fills it up with water. She lays it on the floor. While Obie drinks the water sloppily, you ask “hey, is your dad always like that? You know…” You struggle to find the words to describe his presence. “Cold?” Sarah takes the word right out of your mouth. “Yes! Cold. Is he always so cold to everyone?” You specify. It leaves you surprised that Joel is coming off this way, because your dad is so nice and outgoing. You ask yourself how they could be best friends with such different personalities. She replies, “Yeah, basically everyone. Except me, my uncle Tommy, and your dad”. “Everyone else he is pretty cold to, but some people he just has a soft spot for”. Sarah continues. It begins to make sense in your mind, how Joel could be laughing with your dad one second then giving you a death stare the next. “Oh, okay”. You say as you try to drop the subject. 

You don’t know why, but you begin to wonder what it would take for Joel to have a soft spot for you, or how different he might act towards you. You think back to him laughing with your dad, how his dimple appeared out of nowhere. How unguarded he looked. You began to wish that it was you he was laughing with, not your dad. From this point on, you make it your goal to be one of Joel’s soft spots. 

[nikethestatue]

is insansE gwynriel are still celebrating the BC and talking how there is no waay to denied now the next book is gwynriel. Is scary to hear someone talk about being 100% sure about something.. I feel we should all leave room just in case we are wrong. The way they speak specially about that bc that just leak is just mind blowing. Sometimes gwyriel content will show up in my FYP and all of them are just talking about how all the have to do is wait to make fun of “ewriel”. I am elriel and i am open to the possibility of being wrong and you will think since they are the ship with (let’s be honest) the least of evidence ( even elucien has more evidence)they would just shut up and wait. I understand that everyone interpreted the books in their on way but there is always a possibility that you didn’t catch what the author really meant.

Truth teller scene means power sharing for some and that elain is evil for others😂but maybe sarah has something totally different in mind . They just need to take a chill pill

Yep

I don't ever use words like 'sure' or 'sure bet'...And I particularly wouldn't be doing it if I were them, with 7 lines total of text that they position their whole ship on. It's not much.

I, for example, don't think that we'll ever get an announcement stating 'Elain's and Azriel's book' because that would negate Lucien and I think SJM wants to keep that as an option.

But what if tomorrow, when she is on the Today show, she says, 'and now i am working on the next ACOTAR book, it's about the 3rd sister, Elain'. Is that outside the realm of possibility? No. No, she could very well say that.

So then what? What happens to all that extreme confidence that they have?

I think there is a difference between interpretation and head canons. Certain things are plain, and aren't meant to be interpreted. They are just meant to be read.

Also, why so much 'interpretation' when it comes to Elain and Azriel? Where was all this brain power when it came to Feysand and to Nessian?

[firstkanaphans]

Hiii Sarah!! I just read Stardust's last chapter and I needed to let you know (as u probably already do tbh, I've been gushing about this fic nonstop lmao) that I loved it so very much🧡😭

That was the perfect ending, knowing that Akk and Ayan finally get to have the happy family they were always supposed to, makes me wanna cry tears of joy! I did cry a little ngl.

Dao will hold a special place in my heart forever, their adorable baby made of stardust!! ✨✨✨ I loved that you made him part of Akk's proposal:')

It's sad to say goodbye to this perfect family of four (yes Cosmo, we won't forget that you're included), I'm going to miss them.

Thank u so much for always blessing us with your fics🧡🧡

I was sobbing writing the last chapter. I don't even know why. This precious little family just has my whole entire heart. I still have half a mind to go adopt a black cat and name it Cosmo. I'm trying to wait a few weeks to see if the impulse goes away, but...I might end up with a cat 😂

I'm so happy you enjoyed the fic! Thank you so much for reading 💛

[chenfordspiral]

Fanfic asks: multiples of 6!

6. Do you prefer writing shorter, standalone fics or longer, multi-chapter stories? Oh, uh.. mh. Currently? Multi chapter. I'm actually having a lot of fun plotting and outlining, and then replanning and repotting things right now. Although finding a right ending is super difficult and I know I won't be able to stop writing Little bit of Love because no ending will ever feel right. I know exactly what the very las- no, I'm not gonna say it. Anyway, standalone fics require much less thought (I overthink everything anyway) and I kind of want to go back to that but right now I really do enjoy the challenge of multi chapters.

12. Are there any clichés or tropes that you actively avoid in your fics? I always thought I'd say MCD but that one went out the window within a month.. generally, I'm not a big fan of jealousy for whatever character. Also, I know I used the tag "insecure Lucy" once but I honest to God HATE that story now because neither her nor Tim are insecure about anything to do with their relationship or their bodies. Guess that's my second thing then. Wow, insecure and jealousy... two big words these days in the Chenford/Rookie fandom..

18. Are there any fics or authors that have been particularly influential or inspiring to you? Are you fishing for compliments?? 😂 I'm sorry, that was terrible omg. Jokes aside, I'm actually serious. From the very beginning when I started reading Rookie (*cough* Chenford *cough*) fanfic, you were one of my fave authors, and still are. Wait- it actually started with Castle fanfic years ago! Also, we all know I love Sarah's fics as well, and I can only hope that one day I might be able to string words together on a page the way you two can. Oh! And there's a fic written for Caskett and another one for Densi (don't remember the authors rn) that are just so.. woah, and they actually inspired the fic I've been trying to write since May. I hope I can spin that particular idea for Chenford and do it justice whenever I finally do write it.

24. What advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing fanfiction? Honestly? Just do it. Just start and get whatever you want to write on a page. I know how absolutely terrifying it is to actually post something for the first time and it took me days to finally hit that button. But I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions I made last year because it's so much fun and I feel like I just keep learning? It's weird to say that about a hobby like this, but it's true.

30. How do you handle writing multiple storylines or subplots? Damn, these questions are tough. I should really read through them before reblogging.. I'm not sure how to answer this actually because I never thought about this before. Do I even have more than one storyline in my stories?? Like I'm legitimately asking cause I don't know. Actually, mh. Now that I think about it, I guess keeping subplots integrated into the bigger picture somehow is important. I don't want to add a subplot at one point and then drop it and never talk about it again. Am I even answering this question properly??

Thanks for sending in some questions!

[acourtofthought]

I think Elain’s book is going to be much more plot heavy than Nesta’s book. We have:

- Elain’s powers. She’s clearly not *just* a seer, so we have a lot to explore. I love your theory about her being a shifter and a healer. I think the reason the Cauldron reacts so positively to her is because she reminds it of the Morher - not violent, kind, nurturing, etc. I know a lot of people see her as weak and as much as I love my sword girls, we need some variety.

- Vassa and Koschei. Elain will be involved, I’m 100% sure. I doubt killing such a powerful death god will be that easy. With the loss of most of Nesta’s powers (which I hated), she probably won’t be able to help much.

- If Lucien is endgame, he has powers to discover, too. Plus all the family drama. Sarah didn’t set up all that to ignore it.

- The bond. Eventually she has to decide what to do. It’s been years and while she doesn’t owe him attention or a relationship, it’s starting to get cruel. I don’t think she has any negative feelings about him otherwise she would have told Feyre to stop inviting him.

I really hope their book is next. I like the NC, but again, we need some variety. All books taking place in 1 court is starting to get boring. Not to mention we don’t even get to see any beautiful, secret places. River house, house of wind, Illyrian camps and the CoN. That’s it…

I agree and I do think the Cauldron, on some level, may have sensed that same nurturing vibe from Elain that the Mother had when used the Cauldron so long ago. It might sound cheesy but there has to be some reason it liked her enough to gift her with something.

Nesta has a possible direct link to the Mother so it's not all the crazy to consider Elain has her own connection (the scene from Moana always pops into my head when I think of Elain, where Te Fiti is throwing flowers everywhere 😂). She has a Mother Earth vibe about her.

The biggest part of Nesta's journey was Nesta learning to let go of the anger she had in her heart that prevented her from making connections with others and from being happy.

Even after trauma and drastic changes to her life, Elain has been able to bounce back and still connect with others, even people she's never met before. Do I think she's 100% fulfilled right now? No, but I don't think she's struggling to have human connections in the same ways Nesta did so her story won't need to focus on the same things.

I would be surprised if Elain were only a Seer which basically keeps her delegated to the background waiting to have visions. How can she defeat Koschei being just a Seer?

Feyre is Rhys's mate, his equal and she not only inherited his powers but the powers of all the other High Lords as well. He might be the most powerful High Lord in all of history but she's unlike anyone else.

Cassian has a raw killing power that is on a whole other level than a normal Illyrian and Nesta, his mate (and equal) was given the power of death that even trumped Cassian's own. We don't know exactly what remains after giving back what she took but her ability to wield the Trove items makes her power limitless in battle.

Lucien is set up to be a High Lord of Day with a beast form AND also has a strong affinity for fire from his mothers line. I'm sure Seers are uniquely powerful in their own way but does it make sense that when SJM prefers the females to shine and partake in the action, Lucien gets to be a High Lord with the ability to winnow, with the ability to shift into a beast form, with the ability to wield fire, with the ability to not only fight as he trained as a warrior throughout his life but also with a clever and cunning inteligence, with the burning light of the sun, with the ability to work with spells and such, and Elain, his supposed equal, is only a Seer? Something about that does feel unbalanced to me. No, I don't think Elain will ever be a warrior but again, Lucien having the ability to do all that while Elain sits around calling on visions seems anticlimactic and a bit boring for a main character in a fantasy novel.

But Elain as a healer of which there may actually be hints for? That's a big deal considering it would give her the ability to do something for others when they are hurt which canonically bothers her. Elain as a healer with the ability to defeat Koschei as Yrene was able to defeat the Valg and the Valg infections? That's a big deal. Elain being able to shift into an owl and fly which is a match for Lucien being able to winnow and having a flying beast form (like Helion's which I think is supposed to be an eagle type of creature?) Again, that makes her a match for Lucien. If I'm remembering correctly, Rhys also mentions that others outside the NC would have expected him to gift Feyre powers as his High Lady which means Lucien, if he were to become High Lord could grant Elain powers too.

And just as you said, there is SO much plot that is hinted at in SF for them. Is it a guarantee these things will happen? Definitely not, we won't know until their book.

But there are things in the book that we can connect to them.

Freeing Vassa from her curse and defeating Koschei.

Elain and Lucien in Spring, either helping Tamlin get back on his feet and the people trusting him again or THEY could be responsible for leading Spring in some way especially as Vassa and Jurian are currently "ruling" over the land that borders Spring and we know it's important that human / fae relationships are strong at this time in their history.

Lucien discovering his full powers and finding out about Helion.

Elain discovering her full powers.

Lucien is connected to the Prison through Helion and the Pegasus which means Elain could have a connection through Lucien and the plants (I'm guessing?) that the Pegasus used to feed on have disappeared, something she could possibly fix. There's also a chance that Koschei's soul is hidden somewhere within the walls of the Prison.

Lucien could reconnect with his mother in his book, finding his way back to Autumn. He could end up having to kill Beron which would finally bring him peace for getting justice for Jesminda.

They both need to let go of their pasts for good (Jesminda and Graysen).

They can connect over Lucien having spent time with Papa Archeron.

Lucien and Elain have a lot of possible ground to cover in their book. Spring, Day, the Prison, possibly Autumn, the Continent. It would be so different from any other ACOTAR novel and SJM might have set things up for a really epic adventure.

[vampcubus]

Your fabolousness Queen Ashi, it is I, poll nonnie or a nonnie named desire.~ just kidding you can call me whatever. Anyways I thank you ever so kindly for giving me the chance to share my tragic story and unburden myself. Oh and that phrase you like is a spanish saying. One of my favorites that i try to live by. I believe you could use it in this time of need, because though I haven't expressed it you have my support. As I said previously fuck dem kids. Best thing you can do sometimes is not acknowledge the squealing, don’t give foolishness a platform. There's enough of that already.

Now, I will try to make it brief, but I tend to ramble, so I may require two parts. But I'll try to get to the point. So, without further ado, hit it with the sad violin music or Sarah McClellan.

I must begin by saying that I do not receive much male validation... like ever. Which is strange because I have an ample bosom and a winning personality, but alas men will fuck a mcchicken sandwich but they won't fuck me. I have found however that they do fuck with me quite often. See, ever since I was a girl, I've been the object of cruel pranks where I would be asked out as a joke. Boys had no qualms using me as a sort of penalty of a low bar of attractiveness if you will and that remained through grade school. Thing is everyone said you will thrive in college and that happened to some of my friends, but not me. Even in college nothing ever really happened, and I was always more invested in the interactions than the men were. So I've learned to pick up cues and behavioral patterns to know when I'm being led on, or when they're waiting for me to put out.

This all leads to a couple days ago. You read that right. Mere days ago I reconnected with someone from early college through Facebook, a den of foolishness and evil. Being graced with male validation I was gleefully happy for the first couple interactions. I returned to my youthful girlish days of squealing when I got a message.

My grave sin, is I caught myself simping. *Simping* for a human male when I swore to myself and vowed by the queens Ruby and Teresa that I would *never* be caught simping for a man unless that happened to be Leon Sexy Kennedy in the fucking flesh. Needless to say, the man I was tragically simping for is far from a Leon. I wouldn't even consider him an Ethan Winters (less beloved but perhaps equally devoted lover). I decided to stage an intervention and request assistance in this endeavor from some bad bitches because that could not stand. No it would not stand. Homeboy was leaving me on read. Taking hours to reply. Sending single sentences responses? I knew the signs. I knew them well, I had not put out. Or perhaps he had realized that he'd drunk messaged me. Regardless it would not stand that interaction though only days brief would end by my terms dammit. I just needed some reassurance that I was doing the right thing, because a softer. Weaker part of myself kept making excuses for this fool. So thank you again your fabolousness, and if you've made it this far you are a real gem. I sincerely thank you for helping me remember my worth because Queen Ruby didn't get her face burned so that I would simp for a common peasant who can't be bothered to send a timely reply.

“alas men will fuck a mcchicken sandwich but won’t fuck me” TOOK ME OUTTTTT 😭😂

PLEASE I JUST GOT HOME FROM A HARD DAY AT WORK AND YOU GOT ME DYINGGGG /POS. “i wouldn’t even consider him an Ethan winters” DRAG HIMMM 👹

i could listen to you ramble about your life all day i am so entertained. your storytelling skills >>> i’m glad metaphorically kicked that guy the the curb cus you deserve better queen 😤 especially with a personality and sense of humor like yours.

[harrywavycurly]

Sarah my sweet sweet babe can you do a story where Eddie is a single dad of twins who are maybe in like 5th grade and Reader is Steve’s sister who works at the library and that’s where he meets her? Their names can be whatever you want!❤️❤️❤️

Hiii lovey!! So I am just now noticing you said 5th grade and not them being 5 so I am very sorry about that😂🙈 I went with them being 5 and this is very short but it’s to give you an idea of how a story like this could go? To test the waters if you will? I hope you enjoy💖

*The girl’s names are super random and can change if you have something you like better! It will 10000% not hurt my feelings if you hate the names lol*

*Eddie just wants to take his girls to get some new books but as always they have other ideas*

“Daddy is not going to let you get all those.” You place your hand over your mouth to cover your giggle as you see two little girls walk past you, both with their arms full of books.

“He will too they are his favorite.” You slowly follow behind them with your cart full of books to place back in their correct spot on the shelves. You can’t help but notice the section of the library they wondered out of, science fiction, which wouldn’t be an issue if they didn’t seem to be no older than maybe five or six.

“How do you know? You can’t even read.” The blonde one stops in her tracks and turns so she’s glaring at her brunette haired sister.

“Now that’s just rude.” You’re about to ask the little girls if they need help finding their dad when all of a sudden someone rounds the corner and lets out a dramatic sigh when he sees them.

“It’s about time.” He says as he reaches down and fixes the bow in the blonde girl’s hair that’s keeping half of it up while the rest flows freely past her shoulders. “I was about the send out a search party.” The girls laugh as he kneels down so he’s eye level with them. “Let’s see what we’ve got here….Rachel first since she’s the one who asked oh so nicely to visit the library in the first place.” The brunette little girl grins as she hands the man her pile of books.

You lean against your cart as you watch the interaction between the three of them. Rachel is all smiles as the man who you can only assume based on how all three of them have the same curly hair and big brown eyes is their dad, looks over her selection of books putting one in a stack next to his converse covered foot. The other little girl is patently waiting her turn but also smiling as her dad puts another book on the stack next to his foot.

“Excellent choices sweetheart but I say let’s maybe stick with the Harry Potter series for now and let’s save the Hunger Games for another time?” You feel your eyes go wide as he mentions two book series that are usually read by much older kids. Rachel just nods her head and picks up the two books next to his feet, both being Harry Potter books. “Now let’s see what you’ve got going on over here little miss Lydia.” You smile as she proudly hands over her stack of books and the man instantly smiles and nods as he picks up the first book on the stack. “Really? Again? We’ve read it six times already princess.” You see that the book in his hand is the Hobbit and you’re not surprised based on the other little girl’s selections.

“I like Bilbo.” Lydia explains and the man just smiles and puts it on the floor next to his foot, creating another keep pile like he did for Rachel.

“Honey…this is the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy…don’t you want something you haven’t heard before?” Lydia just shakes her head and he just lets out a sigh of defeat as he places the three books on top of the Hobbit. “Okay well let’s help Rachel put her books back that she’s not getting.” With that Lydia grabs one of the books that Rachel picked that didn’t make it to the keep stack as the man picks up the lord of the rings series.

“Told you he’d let me get them all.” Lydia smirks as Rachel just playfully rolls her eyes, you quickly try to act busy so it’s not painfully obvious you just spent the last five minutes watching a man and his little girls pick their next library books.

“Excuse me ma’am,” You turn your head and all of a sudden you’re face too face with the dad and you have to admit he is extremely handsome up close and personal. “Can they give these to you? I’d normally take them back myself but we are running late for someone’s music lessons.” He smiles down as Rachel before looking back up at you with hopeful eyes.

“Oh of course.” Rachel and Lydia each hand you a book and give you kind smiles before they turn and take off towards the front of the library so they can check out their books. “They have great taste.” You joke as you place the first two volumes of the hunger games on your cart full of go backs.

“They do don’t they? At least for two kids who can’t read yet and just make their dad do it all for them.” You laugh making Eddie smile as he moves the books in his arms to one side so he can reach his hand out towards you. “I’m Eddie…Munson.” You make a mental note of his name in your head because you swear you’ve heard it before as you reach your hand out to shake his.

“Nice to meet you Eddie.” You say after you introduce yourself. “I think you’re being summoned.” Eddie raises an eyebrow as he looks over his shoulder and low and behold there’s his two girls waving him down and pointing at their wrists letting him know he needs to hurry because they’re already late, not that they are old enough to tell time but they just are impatient and want to leave the library.

“Ah yes my little timekeepers.” You laugh as he looks back at you and smiles. “Nice meeting you…maybe I’ll see you next time?” You’re not sure if he meant to ask it like a question but you just nod making him grin before he turns and heads off into the directions of his girls who are now visibly showing their annoyance of having to wait for him.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2022: #26

26. Cyprus

Andromache - “Ela” 27th place

Decade Rank: #52/79 [Above Blind Channel, below The Black Mamba]

Happy holidays! It’s time to emerge from off-season mode and power through the remainder of these updates, as we get excited for more niche faves that are destined to fall flat and be terrible (my prayers are with you, Megara and Tokimeki and Chérine). 

Funnily enough I HAD prepared an larger, sharper update for Andromache earlier but my PC crashed so here’s a more unabridged and ranty version: CYPRUS HAD THAT NQ COMING!!!!!! For the past four years they were riding Eleni’s coattails and attempting to placate the Fa...ns Of This Show in increasedly soulless knock-offs, so it was only a matter that came flying back into their faces like a fanged boomerang.

I wasn’t necessarily rooting for the failure of this *particular* Cyprus entry, though. “Ela” at least made an attempt at sounding genuinely Cypriotic. It also somehow took ten people, (one of them being one of Stefania’s Invisible Men), to write this basic ethnic tune. To top it of, an anemic female lead whose name can affectionately (and accurately) be bastardized into “AndroidMachine”. The bones of a quirky random fave were there!

Sadly, the live. I don’t think the voice was as bad as I’ve seen others proclaim it to have been, but it was Very Not Good. AndroidMachine always the problem of sounding both very nasal and very bored, like a Sarah McTiernan on perdolan,  but even with taking that into account, it’s surprising she did so poorly. She failed to hit many notes of this - again- really basic tune while virtually standing still? Did you not rehearse, Andro? Do you have an Ikea membership I’m unaware of?

Worse vocals have qualified before though, so good visuals COULD have brought solace (in the form of shoving Azer out of the finals), but alas. 

Cramming Andro into a polystyreme scallop and having her emit a mermaid call like was a promising premise. I WAS hoping for a Batista-like staging, as with shirtless adonises to distract as much as possible from Andromache being... wel... herself.  

However, the act Cyprus went with was just some inane flailing + colours projections that cast shadows ON THE FUCKING SHELL. 

But don’t worry about the lack of dynamism, after the blue, we’re going repeat the same thing with yellow and magenta. 🙃 It’s easy to see why Cyprus NQ’d but also see that it very easily could have been avoided. Just... give us some life? Some movement? Like a performance befitting an AndroidMachine, "Ela” was run entirely on Airplane Mode. 

But hey at least the Basics got to live their life out of this one, I guess, evidenced by that one Spanish guy getting the shell tattoo’d on his wrist. 😂 (was he Spanish? idk. Getting an “Ela” tattoo requires a specific combination of feral impulsivity and insanity that I’m only willing to attribute to certain Spanish fans). Each to their own, I guess, and I have other faves to stan!

I cannot wait to see which lessons Cyprus have learned from this journey 🙂 (none, because they chose Andrew Limpbrou for 2023 lmfaooooo)

BUT WAIT because it’s been so long and it’s almost New Year here’s a bonus update where I boot some additional rando I don’t really care for. Let’s hear it for:

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

25. ARMENIA 

Rosa Linn - “Snap” 20th place

Decade rank: 50/79 [above The Black Mamba, below James Newman]

"Snap” is cute. It was a fairly unremarkable Eurovision entry though. 🙂

THE RANKING

25. ARMENIA - Rosa Linn - “Snap” 26. CYPRUS - Andromache - “Ela” 27. LATVIA - Citi Zeni - “Eat your salad” 28. DENMARK - ReDDI - “The show” 29. BULGARIA - Intelligent Music Project - “Intention” 30. GREECE - Amanda Tenjford - “Die together” 31. POLAND - Ochman - “River” 32. MONTENEGRO - Vladana - “Breathe” 33. FINLAND - The Rasmus - "Jezebel" 34. BELGIUM - Jérémie Makiese - “Miss you” 35. NORWAY - Subwoolfer - “Give that wolf a banana” 36. AUSTRALIA - Sheldon Riley - “Not the same” 37. SWITZERLAND - Marius Bear - “Boys do cry” 38. AZERBAIJAN - Nadir Rustamli - “Fade to black” 39. ITALY - Mahmood & Blanco - “Brividi” 40. ISRAEL - Michael Ben David - “I.M” (yes, that is the canonical Rosa Linn write-up ^_^)

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Hey B! First things first, TTAL update got me all giddy and excited esp the ending🥰😍🥰 I can't show you my craziness and don't have words to describe it. ❤❤😍😍

I love this update so much. Their car ride was awkward but in a cute way. Only thing I'd disagree with, was her agreeing that she was being ungrateful. Nope! She wasn't ungrateful at all to me. A normal person would have the same reaction to what Steve did. And she couldn't know his intentions unless he explains it her. Steve should've spoken to her first, make his intentions clear to her, just like he's letting her know how he truly feels now. I'm so glad that he's learned from his mistake and trying to make things clear. We all make mistakes, that's how we grow. I absolutely love how you're steering their relationship in a realistic way. They'll grow together from here once they sought out their differences. I love love love your approach towards them.

Sarah and her bonding was the highlight of this chapter❤❤💖 she needed that motherly connection with her and i hope they both grow closer after this. Loved it when Sarah told Steve to take care of her🥺🥺 got me in tears.

Tony!! Really!! Please don't be an asshole!! I'm sensing something alarming when he said he won't be the one ruining the Christmas.🤔🤨 what does that even mean? Why do I feel like this chapter was the calm before the storm?? And Tony is the storm here😏

Ending!!! 🥰🥰😍😍❤❤ really?!?! Would you stop playing with my innocent emotions😂 I'm sucker for romance as simple as waking up all tangled in Steve’s arms. That's not fair that you ended it just there. 😂 it was simple in the most intimate way. I wasn't expecting this from her but I can see them moving in a right direction❤

I'm unable to contain my excitement after this update. Can't wait to see what happens next.

<<Tony be nice to them>>

Sorry for this long ass rant. Just know that you're loved and appreciated ❤❤ and I'm so glad that I've found you on here😘😘

Hello sweetheart!!!!! I was so excited to see such a long ask with your reactions!

I do agree that I should have put it differently for when she was thinking about what he did and seeming ungrateful. I was just trying to get across that she started thinking that maybe he meant well and that she should have had him better explain himself. She hasn't fully forgiven him yet though.

I wanted to have Sarah and the reader have a connection and for Sarah to instantly take over as a mother figure.

Don't worry, no one's gonna ruin Christmas. Though, Tony's definitely going to ruin something else.... Gotta have one last big piece of drama before they make up for real and such.

I am a sucker for simple romantic gestures as well!

I can't wait to show you the rest of the story!!

Thank you so much for always being supportive! It means so much to me!

[badassxbirdy]

June Activity Update (Pinned Post)

Happy Pride Month to all fellow members of the alphabet mafia! 🥳 🏳️‍🌈

Before we get into it: there was apparently a following glitch recently. If I unfollowed, refollowed, or you softblocked, my apologies and please see this post.

With that out of the way, it’s time once again for an activity update! If you’re new here: these monthly posts help me to keep track of what the frick I’ve been doing, particularly when tumblr breaks or the brainfog strikes. This update includes things posted or in drafts for the month of May. Everything else can be found in previous monthly updates under this tag. There’s also the thread tracker here.

The full activity update (along with OOC house keeping) is below the cut. Bold text = links.

If you want to see all IC interactions without the other stuff, click here. If you’d like to start something new, there are opens, memes, and the wishlist, or you can just hit up the DM’s. You can also add Ty on Wire for IC texting.

Now onto the update!

OOC Housekeeping:

For folks waiting on AU replies: please see the note beside your tag! ❤️

I’ll be at my parents house for another month, but have the Firefox workaround for trimming threads on mobile. The extensions sometimes play up a bit when using that, so please let me know if there are any issues with my replies, and I shall sort it out.

I want to start doing more story arc development on Ty’s blog again, so expect a few posts about that to come soon.

Threads, replies, memes, and other IC interactions:

(In alphabetical order by username. Not including memes still in the inbox!)

At the motel (link) - @demcnsinmymind

Ty is both offended and a scared by Azzy. (drafted) - @demcnsinmymind

Random encounters meme: drunk Ty! (link) - @demcnsinmymind

Taking Lance on a hunt! (drafted) - @demcnsinmymind

Car trouble (drafted! So sorry for the wait, Ty is refusing to cooperate with her other verses rn.) - @demcnsinmymind

GDI Kage. 😂 (link) - @demonstigma

Birthday mischief: crossbow excitement! (link) - @derschwarzeengel

Damon meets dark!Ty (drafted) - @derschwarzeengel

Finding Vampire!Damon (link) - @derschwarzeengel

Traumatised for life. 😂 (link) - @derschwarzeengel

Making their getaway. (link) - @derschwarzeengel

Damon shields Ty, Ty is ANGY. (link) - @derschwarzeengel

Werewolf problems. (drafted) - @derschwarzeengel

Roasting 50 shades (drafted) - @derschwarzeengel

Universe differences (drafted) - @derschwarzeengel

Tyler learns about Darklighters and it all gets very sad. (end of thread) - @derschwarzeengel

Starter from @first-born-to-his-name! Thank you, I’ve got it in my drafts. ❤️

Birthday cuteness! (drafted) - @heavenguided

Meeting Hook (link) - @hvbris

Tyler being massively confused by Wednesday (drafted! Sorry for the wait!) - @hvbris

Birthday mischief: extremely normal headwear. (link) - @imprvdente

Human!Ty and FBI!Fish (drafted! So sorry for the wait, Ty is refusing to cooperate with her other verses rn.) - @imprvdente

At the fair (drafted) - @indyflanery

Attempting to babysit the doctor. (link) - @innerwar

Bad jokes with Charm. (drafted) - @innerwar

Demon problems (link) - @magaprima

Leaving the compound (drafted! So sorry for the wait, Ty is refusing to cooperate with her other verses rn.) - @razorfst

“Are you sayin’ I look like a blogger?” (link) - @tobeblamed

No 👏 dead 👏 Sarah’s 👏 allowed!👏 (link) - @unbearablyindifferent

Drafts: 14

Memes/Asks: 9

Headcanon, dash games, and assorted silliness:

No new headcanons or dash games this month! However I am boosting this post from my dear Rookito, so please take a look.

I think that’s everything! As always: please let me know if I’ve missed something. I never intentionally drop threads without notifying, rest assured that if it’s not here I simply have not seen it. Remember to be kind to yourselves, stay safe, and happy pride! ❤️ — Em