#why are you doing this to me @mikel | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

papipedroo · 2 years ago

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Traitor (Joel Miller x Reader)

Part Four of Whiskey Tears

Summary: You, Joel, and Ellie have been a trio from the start. You were a family, but you find your relationship with Joel withering when he starts to pull away. Now a new comer makes her way into Jackson and into Joel’s heart…

You found yourself sitting at Maria and Tommy’s kitchen table the next morning. Your shirt pulled up as Maria looked at the bruise forming on your side. You were grateful to them letting you stay in their guest room last night and most certainly for the next couple of days.

“So explain to me again how you got a giant sized bruise on your side.” Maria asked as she assessed the damage that had been done.

Your gaze fluttered to your hands as if I was being asked by my own mom, “I tried to kill Heather.” I mumbled.

Maria looked up from the wound, “You tried to kill Heather.” She repeated, “But why?”

“She threatened Ellie and so I tried to kill her.” You didn’t think it was that bad.

Maria sighed, “Sweetheart. That’s not how we deal with issues here.”

“I’m sorry…” You frowned apologetically, “Not for trying to kill her, but not being civilized about it.”

“Well that’s a start I guess.” Maria placed an ice pack on your bruise, “Thankfully nothing is broken. Did she do this to you?”

“No.” Your throat tightened as you answered, “Joel did.”

“He what?” Maria’s eyes widened, “He did this to you?”

“Joel did what?” Tommy stepped in the kitchen. He made his way to the fruit bowl, grabbing an apple.

“He… He pulled me off of her. I don’t think he meant to hurt me. I just…” Your sigh felt like a heaviness settling on your chest, “He didn’t realized his strength when he shoved me.” At least you hoped he didn’t…

“I’m going to kill him.” Maria seethed as he hand tightened into a fist.

You raised an eyebrow at her, “I’m sorry you can kill Joel, but I can’t kill Heather? Where is the democracy in that?”

“Oh hush.” Maria wanted to nudge you like she usually did, but held back given your current state, “I just don’t understand why he’s being this way.”

The two of you were both talking that you didn’t see Tommy leave, only when you heard the door slam did the both of you go silent.

“You don’t think he’s going over there do you?” Your voice trailed off as your mind ran through all of the possibilities that could happen between the two brothers.

Maria shook her head, “They’re Millers. A punch, a couple of words, and then they’re good. It’s what they do. Maybe Tommy can knock some sense into his brother.”

“She said something to him… Don’t abandon me.” You muttered as you mulled over the events of last night, “It looked like those words really got to him and I just have this unwarranted feeling that she’s manipulating him. Like she’s tightening her grip around what he cares about most which is saving the people he can save.”

“But why would she manipulate him?” Maria’s brows furrowed, “For what reason?”

“I don’t know.” You shook your head before looking at her, “But I refuse to let her tear apart my family. You should have seen her last night Maria. She knew what to say to get under my skin and it worked. Joel took her side.” You looked out the window to see the sun rising slowly, “Again…”

“I’m telling Mikel that you can’t go on patrol today.” Maria muttered as she cleaned up the table.

You gave her a stubborn look, “But it’s my turn to go on patrol, I’m not going to let this keep me from my job. I need to protect this place too.”

“What? You can’t go like this.” Maria countered with a look that only a mother could give.

You gave her a smile as you placed the wrapped ice on the table.

“I’ve traveled the road far worse than this. I can do it, trust me.” You stood up, ignoring the dull ache.

You were grateful that it didn’t hurt as much as you thought it would. You were also grateful for the chance to be out of Joel’s sight today.

“See you! Oh and tell Ellie for me that we are having a snowball fight as soon as I get back.” I waved at her goodbye before greeting the chilled morning weather.

It was warmer than yesterday, that was for sure… You thought as you made your way to the stables to meet Mikel.

“I wonder if Ellie is going to wear her jacket today.” You muttered with a motherly tone, “She better be.”

The morning light greeted the home, but it felt anything but comforting. Not with one person of the family missing.

“Miller.” Ellie greeted her dad as she sipped on her orange juice.

It was the orange juice that her mom spent the other day making. It made all the more reason for Ellie to glare at the old man who looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night.

“You callin me Miller now?” Joel huffed as he grabbed himself a coffee mug.

“Yep. Because until my mom comes back, you Miller are nothing, but a stranger to me.” Ellie huffed.

Joel gave her his famous unimpressed look before pouring himself a cup of coffee.

He tried to think of the best way to explain what happened last night. How he reached the top of the stairs and found his firefly trying to kill someone in their home. How he just didn’t want anyone else to die. How he couldn’t understand why she hated Heather so much… Before he could say anything to Ellie, there was a banging at his door.

“Joel!” His brother’s voice carried through the wooden door, “You better get your ass out here right now before I kick this door in!”

“Jesus.” Joel shook and set his coffee down.

Of course he couldn’t have a quiet morning to think about how he would apologize to his firefly and talk about what happened.

His boots thudded against the floor as he made his way to the front door. Another bang from Tommy made his jaw clench.

“What is so important—” He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence before Tommy was swinging at him. Joel’s eyes widened as he leaned out of the way and grabbed onto his brother’s wrist.

“Jesus Tommy, what the fuck?” Joel grumbled in disbelief.

“You’re an idiot Joel.” Tommy huffed as he yanked his arm to free his wrist, but to no avail.

“I conquer.” Ellie spoke from the kitchen entrance, her orange juice in hand. M

Joel rolled his eyes as he let go of Tommy’s wrist before he turned his attention towards Ellie. He nodded his head towards the direction of the stairs, “Go get ready.”

She groaned, but listened to him nonetheless as she clambered up the stairs.

“You hurt her.” Tommy stated, his tone was more even after his short burst of anger.

Joel gave him a look that soon turned into defeat as he ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

“I know I shouldn’t have kicked her out, but they were going to kill each other Tom. I wasn’t exactly thinkin clearly at that moment.” Joel explained.

“No.” Tommy shook his head as he shoved his brother’s shoulder, “You. Hurt. Her.”

“What do you mean?” Joel pressed.

Tommy continued as the weight of his words settled in to Joel’s heart, “I walked down the stairs this morning to find my wife tending to your girl with a massive bruise on her side.”

Now it was Joel’s turn to look guilty as he finally realized what he had done. Accident or not he hurt her… Joel looked at Tommy with worry, “A bruise?”

“She said you shoved her.” Tommy elaborated.

His words held a darker tone, one that Joel rarely saw in his brother except for the time back in the day when Tommy would call wasted from a jail cell. This was different though because it wasn’t Tommy bashing someone’s head against a bar… No… This was Joel’s fault and Joel would get eaten by a clicker before he would deny that.

The pieces came back together quickly. Joel vaguely remembered last night, but he knew that he pulled her off of Heather to try to break up their fight. He just didn’t realize how much strength he had used.

“Shit.” Joel seethed.

“Yeah.” Tommy agreed, “Just you wait until you see Maria. She’s pissed at you.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her Tommy. I would never… I didn’t mean to.” Joel ran a hand through his hair again, this time with anxiety and guilt rushing through him, “Is she okay?”

“It’s a big bruise.” Tommy’s gaze softened at his brother’s distraught state, “But there’s nothing broken. She’ll be fine in a few days.”

Joel nodded before immediately reaching for his winter jacket and shrugged it on, “I need to talk to her.”

“Can’t.” Tommy stated simply.

Joel turned to his brother with furrowed brows, “What do ya mean I can’t?” He muttered.

“It’s her route today and knowing that girl she convinced Maria that she could go.” Tommy looked up at the where the sun was, “You can try, but I’m not sure they’ll be there.” Tommy explained, his arms crossed as he watched the way his brother’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I’ll take my chances.” Joel grabbed his coat and rushed out the door.

“If she ain’t there then can grovel to her when she gets back.” Tommy proposed, “Hopefully then she’ll be less likely to stab you.” Tommy joked as he turned and walked down the steps.

Joel carried on walking when he heard his brother call out to him.

“Word of advice brother. Get your shit together and kick Heather out before you loose your firefly for good. There’s no use in protecting someone else when you end up loosing someone you care more about.”

“Where is he going?” Heather made her way out of the door.

“To get his girl back.” Tommy looked to Heather, “Look I don’t know the full extent of what’s going on, but I heard enough to know that you should stay out of their business.”

“He is my business.” She said defiantly.

Tommy’s eyes narrowed, “No. He’s her business. They’ve been together a lot longer than you’ve been stayin here.”

“Tell me.” She looked Tommy in the eyes, her voice still as sweet as ever, but her gaze held something different, “Right now. If he were to choose between her and me. Who would it be?”

“I suggest taking that offer Tris gave you and move out…” Tommy said all that she needed to hear, “If you’re as nice as you seem then you can provide this act of kindness.”

“Today preferably.” Ellie muttered as she pushed passed Heather and walked towards Tommy.

“Yeah.” Heather muttered before she walked back inside and slammed the door shut.

“I am not spending the day with her.” Ellie began to walk, “Come on, I’m hungry and if you’re here then I know that Maria is the one making breakfast.”

Tommy chuckled before following after the girl.

You were trudging through the snow, seeing the barn on a few steps from you. Mikel stood by two saddled horses, his dirty blonde hair was covered by a tan cowboy hat, weathered by age and sun.

“Morning.” Mikel waved at you, his accent thick.

You remember asking him the first time you both went out on patrol together. He told you his parents were from Romania before they settled here in America.

“You look rough. You doing okay?” Mikel watched how my stride was slower than normal.

“Yeah. Everything’s good.” I nodded my head not wanting to get into your private business with Mikel. He was a friend of course, but you like sharing your problems with anyone outside of your family. Thankfully he didn’t push the topic.

“You found a new hat.” I commented as I reached for one of the horses’s reins, “Hope you didn’t wait too long.”

“John gave this to me. Pretty cool don’t you think?” He tipped his hat before getting on his horse, “And no. Not long. I just came out when you showed up.” Mikel handed you a rifle.

“Thanks.” You said and went to check the barrel to make sure it was loaded.

“You don’t have to. John said he loaded it.” Mikel said.

You smiled at him, “Sorry, it’s a force of habit from Joel. I can’t help it.” You looked back down again to check the gun until you heard his voice.

Speak his name and he shall appear.

“Firefly.” He called out to you.

It made you look up, forgetting about the gun as Joel engulfed you in his strong arms.

“Joel—”

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Jesus. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I promised I would never hurt you and I did last night.” Joel curled his fingers into your hair as he breathed in your scent, “Don’t go today sweetheart, I’ll go. Just please stay with Ellie.”

You pushed back the tears that threatened to spill from your eyes, “No.” You stated firmly as you carefully pushed him away even if you were ripping your heart out of your chest, “I need time away from you right now and waiting worriedly for you to come home safe won’t help that.”

“You’re the one who hurt her? I should’ve know it was you.” Mikel stepped up beside you, “Why don’t you leave her alone old man.”

Joel’s fist clench as he clocked in on the young man with a hard glare, “What did you just say?” The word barely got out, sounding more like a muffled growl.

“You heard me.” Mikel pushed Joel’s shoulder, “She deserves better than you. Someone who can protect her.”

Joel didn’t try to fight back, of course he didn’t. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten you by pummeling the young guys face in. No he stood like a force that couldn’t be moved and let Mikel shove him as if he were some tough guy when in reality, Mikel’s shove didn’t even make Joel stumble.

Joel’s glare hardened, “I know she does, but I don’t think you’re the one to decide what she wants.”

“Mikel stop.” You placed a hand on his arm and pulled him back, but he slipped from your grasp heading straight to Joel.

“Oh, but I think she’ll let me with the cute little obedient thing that she is. After all she lets you run all over her does she not?” Mikel whispered so lowly in Joel’s face that you couldn’t hear what he was saying, “It will be easy to get her to behave once she’s mine.”

He took back everything he just said. He could pummel this guys face in. Joel’s fist connected with Mikel’s jaw within the two seconds it took for Mikel to smirk. That smirk however was wiped clean off his face as he fell harshly into the snow.

“Fuck!” Mikel cried out as he clutched his jaw from the seething pain.

“Joel!” You gasped at the sight, unsure of whether to be angry or appalled. You decided that both reactions would do.

“I’m sorry.” Joel apologized to you and only you for having to see that. He didn’t apologize to Mikel who clutched his jaw in pain. He hoped that he would feel that punch for weeks, maybe even have a fracture in his jaw… But Joel could only hope.

“I can’t believe you right now!” You cried out absolutely frustrated over the entire morning. Joel’s eyes widened as you stepped towards him and shoved him back. He couldn’t be angry with you though. You didn’t know what Mikel said. He just let you try to push him, “You’re the one who did all of this. You have no right to be angry!” You yelled at him before turning around.

You reached down to help Mikel up, “Are you good to go on patrol?” You asked him as you looked at the bruise already forming on his jaw. Mikel muttered a yes, a glare directed towards Joel.

“Go get on your horse and we’ll head out.” You told Mikel who walked over to his horse without complaint, being sure to hide the smirk growing on his face.

“Don’t go.” Joel’s focus was solely on you, his hand reaching out as if he wanted to take your hand, but held back, “He—”

“I don’t care what he said or what you just did Joel. Go home.” You glared at him.

“I don’t like him around you.” He pressed, his glare zoning in on Mikel.

“Well tough luck Joel. You don’t get to go around being jealous over the fact that Mikel’s my friend after all the shit you’ve done to me with Heather.” I spat out her name like it was venom, “Go home Joel. I don’t want to see you for a while.”

His face fell, “You don’t mean that.”

“I don’t know what I mean right now.” Your gaze flickered to the ground, “Please.”

Joel sighed, his shoulders tense and angry at himself for being unable to convince you to stay, “Fine.” He agreed gruffly, “As long as I know you’re coming back tonight.”

“Why should I come back?” You muttered.

“For Ellie.” He knew it was a low blow, but he didn’t want you to leave them.

“You’ve pushed me away for months Joel. What do you want me to do?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest to hide the anxiousness that you felt.

“I know.” Joel nodded numbly, “I just… Fuck.” He sighed, “I don’t want anyone else dying on my hands.”

“People die Joel.” You explained as you stepped back, “It’s choosing who you love more. Her or me. And to be honest… I don’t think I’ll like the answer you give me.” You turned away from him and mounted your horse.

“You.” He said when the only thing left of you was your horses hoof prints in the snow, “Always.”

It was an awkward first thirty minute ride for you and Mikel. The two of you kept to yourselves and welcomed the timid silence.

“Is he always like that?” Mikel muttered.

“Not always… It’s been…” You sighed as you adjusted the gun on your shoulder, “Is your jaw okay? He’s got a pretty strong right hook. I’m surprised you’re still conscious.”

He shook his head with a breathy laugh, “I’m tougher than I look. What do you even see in someone as broken as him?” He wondered as he looked at you.

That question caught you off guard and it took you a moment to answer, but you knew the truth. It lied deeply in your bones, an echo of your heart.

“Everything.” You looked up to the sky, “The good, the bad, the broken, I see everything…”

“I could treat you better you know.” Mikel fixed his hat, “If you gave me a chance. I think we would be good together.”

You breathed out a laugh, “Oh really now?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

He dipped his head towards you and put on his best Texan accent, “You bet darlin.”

The two of you broke into laughter.

“We’ve gotten along well for months have we not? If you give me a chance I can show you how you should be loved.” He continued, a hopeful look in his blue eyes.

“Thanks.” Your tone was a lot more calm than from earlier, “But I have my Joel waiting for me back home even if we are fighting.” You gave him a soft smile, “I’m glad that we are beginning to become friends though. I hope we can keep this friendship.”

“Me too…” He replied and you felt that was enough.

Maybe if you paid closer attention you would see something was off. The shadows in the trees or the hand tightening around a rifle.

“Let’s head out a bit further today.” Mikel suggested and you nodded your head.

“Alright.” You answered.

You should have paid more attention.

Joel entered the house with a heavy sigh and a deep ache in his chest. That did not go as he planned… He fucked up. He really fucked up and now he wasn’t sure if you would come back. It was like you were slipping through his fingers and he could do nothing to hold onto you.

“What did you do?” Ellie spoke up.

Surprised at the voice, Joel turned around to face Ellie who sat on the staircase behind him. Her boots were still untied, but it looked like she had been sitting there for a while.

“How long have you been sitting there?” Joel asked.

“Since I heard you groveling up the steps.” Ellie crossed her arms, “What did you do?”

Joel cringed at her words, “I… I fucked up.” Joel took a few steps towards her.

“I can see that, but how bad?” She pressed, “She is coming home isn’t she? She is right Miller?”

He grabbed onto the staircase railing to help him sit on the step, but it didn’t make crouching down any easier, “I don’t know…”

Ellie snorted, “You really are old.”

“Shut up.” Joel spat as he finally sat down beside her.

“What did you do?” Ellie asked again, “Why are you so worried she isn’t coming home?”

It was quiet for a few moments before Joel finally answered Ellie’s question, “I punched Mikel.”

“No!” Ellie gasped, “You didn’t!”

Joel nodded, “I did.”

Ellie knew that Joel didn’t act without reason, “What did he do?” She asked this time.

“He isn’t good for her.” Joel answered, not wanting to relay the words Mikel had said to him to Ellie. She would go chasing after the two and pummel Mikel to the ground.

Ellie wanted to lighten the mood and so she smirked, “Bet you were jealous.”

Joel glared at her from the corner of his eyes, “Was not.”

She started to laugh. She couldn’t help it. It must have been hilarious, “Oh you definitely were!”

Joel only grunted at her in response not wanting to continue this conversation anymore. He wondered if maybe Tommy would have a job for him today… He could sure use the distraction.

Ellie wiped at her tears, “You know I really don’t know what she sees in you. I mean I do, but I don’t.” She explained in the nicest way she possibly could which for Ellie was being very blunt. Something that her and Joel had in common.

Ellie and her honest words have always made Joel irritated, but he knew deep down that she was right. At least about this.

It was a while before Ellie looked towards him again. She saw the sullen look on his face and watched the way his scowl seemed to deepen even more. Carefully, Ellie rested a hand on his shoulder, as delicately as she could as if she was about to startle a bear.

“You saved who you needed to save. Now it’s time to let Heather live her own life and bring mom home.” She said.

Joel sighed deeply, knowing the kid was right, “I don’t know what she sees in me either.” Joel answered her honestly. He couldn’t tell her that she would come home and why should she? He treated her horribly and now it’s hitting him in the chest. Making it tighten as if he couldn’t breathe. It was the same feeling he felt when they first arrived here. When he thought that he couldn’t protect his girls and now… Now he feels like he’s loosing the one woman he’s grown to love, “I’m going to go see Tommy about some work. I’ll be back later.”

He feels like he’s lost her for good and that truly terrifies him…

It’s been more than a couple of hours since you first es headed out on your patrol.

“How long have we been out here?” You asked as you looked up at the darkening sky.

“Not too long though we should probably head back soon…” Mikel’s voice trailed off, “Let’s just head down this bend and we’ll turn around.”

You agreed to his suggestion and the two of you continued down the snowy bend. It was a few more minutes of riding before you saw that Mikel was squinting at something.

“What is it?” You asked.

“I don’t know…” Mikel stated and the two of you rode a little closer to see what it was.

You both looked at the abandoned building that was down the hill.

“What is a cabin doing out here?” You asked.

“Don’t know. No one has ever been out this far…” He muttered, “Let’s go check it out.”

Mikel’s words only prompted you to move forward as you both traveled down the snowy hill and towards the small cabin.

It looked to be old, and most likely unused as there was no smoke billowing out the chimney from this chilled weather. The two of you cleared the area first before circling the home. Mikel went around back as you entered the cabin. The opened door provided some light, but not enough to see the inside of the cabin in its entirety. It wasn’t until you pulled back the tattered curtain to the windows that you realized the place fully furnished.

You thought there wouldn’t be much to it, scraped barren from the world that had been pushed upon it, but you were wrong… And you didn’t like that you were.

You looked around carefully, not finding anything else out of the ordinary until you ventured further towards the fireplace. Even though there was no flame or smoke to the coals, they were still hot. An unwelcome chill feel over you as you quickly stood up, much more alert than you were previously.

You remained silent as you crept to the front of the house, gun now raised as you went to find Mikel. You hoped that he was still walking about outside and that whoever was here previously was long gone. You slowly stepped outside, eyes immediately locking onto the figure in front of you. You expected to see raiders, a clicker, hell a bloater would have made more sense then Mikel standing there with his own rifle directed towards you.

You didn’t lower your weapon as you asked him, “What are you doing Mikel?”

“I need you to listen to me. Please.” His request was a near plee, something that you found irking.

“I’m listening.” Your eyes darkened at him.

“I fell for you the first time I saw you all those months ago. You were like a breath of fresh air and rain. I did everything to get near you, even fixing us to go on routes together when Joel left. She said I could have anything I liked if I did what she asked. She promised me this.”

“She? What you mean she?” I muttered as I wracked my brain for an answer that could explain all of this.

“She said I could keep you.” Mikel’s grip tightened around his gun as a crazed look fell over his eyes, “I followed orders. I did everything for this moment and now. Now it’s my turn to have what I want.”

“You led me here.” You realized, “This is your cabin.” You didn’t want to listen any more to his words. The only thing on your mind was getting back to your family. Your eyes narrowed as you squeezed the trigger without hesitation, but you didn’t get the recoil that you were expecting. You tried again… Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Your anxiety picked up when you began to realize this.

“You can shoot all you like. There’s no bullets.” He stated and that was all the answer you need. That’s why he handed you the gun earlier. That’s why he was assuring you it was loaded. You should have checked. You shouldn’t have forgotten about the damn gun. You should have checked. Joel would have…

Joel.

You wished for everything in your soul that he was here with you right now. Fuck. Quickly you threw the gun to the snow and ran as fast as your legs could carry you.

Mikel sighed as he aimed his gun at you, “I was really hoping that you would see it my way.” He fired without hesitation, shooting you in the leg, “I did this all for you. For us.”

You gave a blood curling scream as you fell, staining the cold white snow in the warmth of your blood. You heard more footsteps and the sound of horses from behind you and you knew then that your home was about to be destroyed.

“Everything is prepared for your arrival.” Mikel stated, “Don’t keep Heather waiting.”

“Another successful raid.” One of the guys chuckled out, “She’s too cunning. I knew that was why John kept her around. And that girl? You gonna share?”

“This one is mine.” Mikel answered and you could hear his footsteps head towards you.

“Joel!” You screamed his name even if he couldn’t hear you, “Joel!”

Mikel straddled your waist, digging the bit of his gun into your wounded leg, “You’re still screaming his name even after everything he’s done to you? I am better than him!” He yelled as you cried out in pain, “Why can’t you see that?!”

You turned and watched over half the town population of raiders heading towards Jackson. It left a horrid feeling inside your gut as you could do nothing lie in the snow.

Your only thoughts were of Ellie and Joel.

“I’ll make you see that I’m the one for you.” He whispered in your ear.

Please survive. You must survive.

Silence fell over Joel and Ellie as Heather served them dinner. They were both lost in their own thoughts as they waited for her to come home.

“It’s getting late… Do you think something happened to her?” Ellie asked as she peered out the window the darkening sky.

“I’m not sure dear. Maybe they had to find shelter from the weather picking up?” Heather placated as she served them.

“I’ll go check with Tommy, see if she’s there.” Joel began to stand.

“But your food.” Heather pointed to his untouched plate, “You should at least eat something before you go. Don’t you think?”

“I’ll be back.” Joel reassured, “You two can eat without me.”

“I’m coming with you.” Ellie stated as she pushed her plate aside, ready to join him on his search.

Joel immediately shook his head while he was putting on his coat, “I don’t want you catching a cold out there. I’ll go find her.”

“Promise?” Ellie’s eyes showed her worry as she looked up at Joel.

“Promise.”

“Stay safe then. I’ll look after Ellie until you get back.” Heather nodded towards Joel. He returned the gesture.

“And Heather?” Joel called out.

“Yes?” Her gaze looked hopeful.

“We’ll discuss more about your move with Tris. I think your well acquainted with the lifestyle here to start building your new life on your own.” He said before heading out.

“I hope you like meatloaf.” Heather ground her teeth as she tried to remain calm from Joel’s biting words.

But she would make him see…

Not at all… Ellie thought as she looked at her plate. She cut into the meatloaf as she watch Heather serve herself. It looked off, but she warily took a bite and swallowed the unknown substance.

“Why are aren’t you eating yours?” Ellie asked as she slowly chewed her food.

“Not that hungry I suppose, but that just means more for you.” It was the way Heather’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes that made Ellie feel uneasy.

Slowly she put down her fork, feeling nauseous, “I’m not that hungry either.” She said, but she had already eaten some of the dinner, “I think im going to go lie down.” She tried to stand, but the room spun and she ended up crashing to the ground.

“Sweet dreams dear.” Was the last thing Ellie heard before falling asleep.

She would make him see that they are meant to be together.

Joel checked the barn first before heading to his brother’s house. He quickly noted that two horses were still missing from there stables. That only let Joel’s worst fear come true at realizing she wasn’t over at Tommy and Maria’s house. It made his swift walk into almost a jog as he raced over to Tommy’s.

“What do you mean she hasn’t come back yet?” Tommy asked the moment Joel barged in, letting them know what has happened.

“I don’t know. I was hoping she would be here, but her horse is still missing. I think something has happened to her.” Joel ran a hand through his hair.

“Well round up some folks and head out there on a search.” Maria insisted as she stood up.

“That sounds like a plan. I’ll get—“ Before Tommy could finish his sentence multiple gunshots could be heard through the town.

“What’s that?” Maria’s eyes widened at the loud noise.

“Whatever it is. It doesn’t sound good.” Tommy murmured as he quickly put his boots on.

Joel’s heart was racing as he tried to keep a level head, “Tommy, Ellie—“

Tommy nodded his head, “Go get her and bring her here. Maria you stay and keep an eye out for them okay? I’ll go find out what’s going on.”

“It sounds like a raid.” Maria sounded worried as the gunshots continued, now paired with yells and screams.

“That’s why I need you to stay here, arm yourself, and hide. Wait for Joel to come back with Ellie and I’ll be right behind them okay?” Tommy pressed a tender kiss to Maria’s forehead before he and Joel were out the door, armed and ready for a fight.

“I’ll head with you for a couple blocks and then break off okay?” Tommy whispered to Joel.

Joel grunted with a nod as the two blended in with the night.

It wasn’t long before Joel was silently hurrying up the steps and threw his front door. The house was dark and it seemed oddly quiet as he searched the place for any sign of Ellie. He quietly made his way upstairs and to her room where he was pushing the door open. He expected her to be awake, packing her backpack, but instead she found her unconscious and tied with duck tape on her bed. His footsteps were quick as he rushed over to her, but froze when he heard the clock of a gun.

His piercing eyes flitted over to the corner of the room where the moon shined on Heather’s face. There she stood with a gun pointedly in Ellie’s direction. She knew what she was doing. His life meant nothing to him, but Ellie… Well she was his world.

“You know I really thought you were smarter than this Joel.” Heather tsked with a sigh, “I thought this would go a lot smoother too, but you just couldn’t choose me could you?”

“What did you do to her?” Joel’s gun was facing her with no hesitance to kill if he got the wrong answer.

“Don’t worry, I only drugged little Ellie that’s all.” She tilted her head, “She’ll be fine as long as you are cooperative so why don’t you be a good boy and put down the gun.”

Joel slowly lowered to the floor as he placed his rifle down, “Why are you doing this?” Joel’s voice dropped lower as he quickly assessed the situation.

“Didn’t you hear? This town is in need of a little remodeling and I know just the group to get that done.” She smirked.

“You don’t mean…” Joel’s fist clenched at the feeling of betrayal seeping through him.

“Oh yes. Surprise! You should be happy. All of this couldn’t have happened without you.” Heather smiled.

“I didn’t.” Joel huffed defiantly.

“But you did. You helped me dethrone John. Took him out so I could be on top and it’s quite nice up here, but I don’t want to be alone. You’ve shown me just what love could feel like and I know that we could rule this town together now that your precious firefly is out of the way.”

“What did you do to her?” He growled and Heather rolled her eyes.

“You’ll never see her again, I can promise you that.” She laughed, “And you dug yourself too deep to gain her forgiveness Joel. Something you’re never going to get from her again.” She stepped towards him, “Why don’t we just have a glass of whiskey and forget about her hm?”

“What. Did. You. Do.” His tone was as harsh as the gun fire outside.

“Why do the tiny details matter? She’s gone. You’ve made it perfectly clear when you casted her aside. I saw it in your eyes Joel. You feel something for me!” She urged, “All you need to do is just give us a chance.” Heather pleaded, “You, me, and Ellie would be good together. We will be the perfect family.”

“No.” Joel’s tone held no room for consideration, “You’re not her. You’ll never be her. I don’t know what kind of delusion you have where we end up together, but it will never happen.”

“Oh fuck you.” She glared at him, “Is this really because of her?” Her hands shook with rage as she held the gun.

“She means more to me than you will ever know and if she is dead. I promise you, the infected will be the least of your worries.” He threatened.

“Really now?” She scoffed as she tried to subdue her anger, “Why don’t you worry about the girl you still have left hm? You really want me to be the villain here then fine…”

Her gaze narrowed as her gun clocked, “Dawn is coming your way and it’s about to bleed red.”

#joel miller #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x you #joel tlou #pedro pascal #pedro x reader #joel the last of us #joel x reader #pedro is daddy #pedrostories #joel miller angst #joel and ellie #whiskeytearsseries #whiskeytears

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theprinceoftheswamplands · 1 month ago

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DELTARUNE CHAPTER 4 SECRET SPOILERS

I dunno how to properly do read more stuff as I am a newbie, casual blogger so imma just say a lotta stuff to act as a buffer. This has been a lotta stuff, if you are seeing this and don’t wanna see spoilers then GET OUT!!! Shoo, scram, scramble, scrambled eggs, breakfast, break away fast, whatever! Deny the temptation and cease reading!

anyway for those who havent ran I’ll be talking about Motormouth Mike(s). Now Ive seen a lotta folks taking this secret in bad faith. “Toby is spitting in the eyes of his fans.” “Mike was a massive troll all along.” “Tricky Tony strikes again, he is such a massive troll!”

BAAAMP! WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG! ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF FALSEHOOD!

This ain’t a boss made outta malice, it’s just some light hearted fun. A nod to the community and how much we’ve focused on Mike. Each Mike is a reflection of the three most popular Mikes. An object head Mike with only a mouth and a suspiciously familiar suit. IMAGE_FRIEND Mike. Friend Inside Me Mike. Sure it ends with a jab at how we hyper focused on Mike and how most theories ended up swinging Mike way, but it’s also a homage to all of that. A fun boss acknowledging our collective deltarot as a community with a banger theme and a fun gimmick (even if my poor laptop had a microphone which peaked with any noise and lagged out my already outdated system LOL). Furthermore in a chapter defined by being unusual it serves as a brief reprieve into classic shenanigans with the vibes that the first two chapters had before the story started to peel back the facade of each dark world being purely an adventure for the characters to revel in without worry.

Also why yall acting like this disproves Mike being significant? Toby knows his audience, dya really think he’d call attention to the character so much in the first place for nothing? Sure, name choice is a big shot soda reference but that doesn’t change the fact that attention was drawn to it followed by a direct connection to the next main boss. Added to being brought up in the sweepstakes, in my mind I can’t see Mike just being a throwaway character… it’s just not a character we should have focused on even half as much as we did though.

It’s as the trio of Mikelings said, the idea of Mike had to come from somewhere and sometimes when things are asked of Mike it just sorta happens. If Mike was truly unimportant, Toby woulda probably just added a boss with no greater importance that serving as someone Spamton and Tenna considered a friend but instead he technically just made the character MORE mysterious

Maybe Im just coping but I bet ya this ain’t the last we hear of Mike. I just don’t think it is currently worth theorizing over because that’ll get folks back into the cycle or relating everything to Mike instead of letting theories flourish outside of this mysterious figure. I mean seriously anytime something showed up it just became Mike including Toby Fox making a cursed Toy Story Remix

Until a time in which we either get more Mike hints or Mike is fully reconfirmed, why not enjoy the playful jab playing homage to our insanity. I mean, Mike or not we got three whole character designs outta this with their own dynamics and everything! I expect fake Mike(s) fan content to consume now! Im talking shitposts, fan art, the inevitable MIKE THROUPLE FANS! Even if you believe Tricky Tony is just purely messing with us with the idea of Mike, doesn’t that give ya the motivation to take the insult and EMBRACE IT? YOU GONNA LET EM WIN NOW?!?!? IF SO YOU NEVER DESERVED MIKE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!

MIKE ALL DAY

MIKE ALL NIGHT

ONLY MORE MIKE CONTENT WILL FEED MY DELIGHT

#deltarune #deltarune spoilers #deltarune chapter 4 spoilers #mike deltarune #Mike(s) Deltarune #IF NO ONE ELSE WILL CONTINUE BEING INSANE #I WILL #A MAN’S COPE NEVER DIES

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beauty-and-passion · 3 months ago

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TMA - Chapters 141-150: Hungry? Grab a statement

Welcome back, everyone. Are you ready for Jon and Basira’s travel to save the world from The Dark?

I am not, but we’re already there, so let’s start.

<< Main Masterlist <- Previous post

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MAG 141 - Doomed Voyage

Luckily for Jon, the title didn’t refer to his voyage to save the world, but to the last voyage of Mikele Salesa. And, well, I felt a bit sad for him: he was tired of this job, he wanted to get out of the business of delivering supernatural stuff.

But then there was this… camera with a broken lens? And something/someone betrayed him and his crew and he died? I’m sure we will find out what happened in future statements.

Jon got all these info, because he Knew the guy on the ship worked with Salesa in the past and wanted to Know from him. And Basira, apparently, wants to Know too! Is she getting influenced by The Eye as well? I wouldn’t be surprised: she’s in the temple of The Eye and works closely to its avatars.

Wait… WHAT?!

Are you telling me that all the people who told Jon their stories kept reliving said story in their dreams and seeing Jon? And you tell me that now in season 4?!

Sheeesh, off to a great start.

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MAG 142 - Scrutiny

A woman is getting harassed by someone in the Institute. And Martin immediately has an idea about who could be:

Wonderful, so now Jon goes around doing creepy avatar things, not disturbing and worrying at all.

But hey, that’s another excuse for me to point out the details of another avatar’s business plan:

Searching around someone with a supernatural story

Creepily staring at them until they speak

Collect their story

Thank them because you might be the servant of a horror god, but politeness is still a must

Profit!

Congrats Jon, you’re officially part of the gang of avatars who make questionable business plans. Please, take a sit along The Web, master of questionable business plans.

This statement also confirms Basira’s words regarding Jon appearing in other people’s dreams. And that after talking about them, people are still haunted by the horrors they came in contact with.

We also get the wonderfully-not creepy-at-all image of a Jon who is “all eyes”. It screams “Watcher’s Crown” so. Much.

And it also explains some fanarts I saw years ago, of a guy covered in eyes.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

I KNOW, MARTIN. I KNOW.

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MAG 143 - Heart of Darkness

I love that the tape recorder is a character. It’s always there (whether the other characters like it or not) and it knows when shit is about to go down, thus efficiently warning them. It’s a good guy… uhm… I mean, a good tape?

Thank god, Manuela Dominguez FINALLY gives us a clarification of what the heck happened with The Dark:

They were this close to completing their ritual. And it had some elements we already saw, like the human sacrifices, the feast and the chanting.

Manuela’s description of the world given by the Dark Sun is very fascinating: “A world of still and quiet darkness, where no heat touches and death cannot find you. You might wander beneath that empty sky of void forever and never see a light to guide your way.”. That’s such an interesting image! And it answers a doubt I had that, even in darkness, death can still find you. Apparently not: if a ritual is complete, I suppose the other Powers cannot interfere anymore? Is that why they never worked together?

Robert Montauk was tormented by The Dark cult. This explains the missing wife and it kinda explains the weird hearts-in-the-shed ritual thingy. It was bizarre, but at least it helped in keeping out the darkness.

Gertrude stopped the ritual, somehow. And not just by killing the people from Hither Green.

Speaking of that, that’s the second time Gertrude did something that “robbed” other Powers’ servants of something. The Desolation’s gang also lost something, when Gertrude went on Hill Top Road.

I mean, I know her plan is “throw shit in the ritual to stop it”, but maybe… who knows, maybe she also took something? Or made something incredibly specific? In both cases:

The avatar didn’t get any chance to do the ritual

The other servants started to argue and the group split

Could this be part of the dividi et impera strategy I theorized some posts ago? Not just to put Powers against each other, but servants too?

Also, we FINALLY get the confirmation regarding Maxwell Rayner: he’s dead. Now we can be sure he’s dead, he won’t pop out anymore, he’s dead dead. Thank god, this man was starting to become Schrödinger’s avatar: dead and not dead at the same time.

Okay, the Black Sun is still there. And looking at you can destroy you.

So, what’s Jon’s brilliant plan? To look at it.

I know, you expect me to say this is a stupid plan… but it actually makes sense. As I said in the previous post, The Eye’s power is to look at things, know and (metaphorically) shed light on them. And what happens when you shed light on something dark?

So yes, Jon’s plan was good and it worked great. He looked at it, he Knew it and destroyed it.

I also find it very relatable that, once Jon looked at this cosmic horrible thing, he found it beautiful.

Think about it: the universe is immensely dark and cold and it can kill us instantly and yet, we find it beautiful. The abyss of the sea is just as deadly and we can’t fight with the huge marine predators and yet, we still find the sea beautiful. The radiation is terrifying and can lead to a very painful death and yet, we are fascinated by it. Even goddamn black holes are one of the most terrifying things ever and we still consider them immensely beautiful.

That’s human’s nature: we are mesmerized by the danger and by things that has the potential to kill us, but still, we find beauty in them.

Helen is back! And she helped again! Helen, you’re officially a Good Gurl. Michael was a Good Boyo, you are a Good Gurl. I know you’re still part of the same sexless entity, but you need an affectionate nickname, so Good Gurl it is.

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MAG 144 - Decrypted

A statement about number stations. From a guy who lives in the middle of nowhere, during a hot August - you know, that kind of hot that pushes everything down and drowns all sounds out.

I know this feeling, I pictured the statement too well in my mind… and yes, I immediately realized it was all about The Extinction.

Maybe it’s a bit too early, but I am incredibly fascinated by it. The setting of this statement was so simple and so effective, mostly made of heat, sun, long walks, music in the ears. And then, these ominous numbers, the pylon’s rusted corpse, that sense of dread. The rain, the destruction of the house and the annihilation of its inhabitants.

The characters are just a guy with a very old father. There’s nothing transcendental about them, just a guy dealing with an elderly person. It’s down to earth, it’s relatable. And it makes The Extinction stand out even more.

I really like this statement for the feelings, the sensations and the vivid images. There have been only a few statements that stuck with me in the past and I’ll gladly add this one to the list of my personal favourites.

So, right after making me happy with this statement, Mr. Sims decides to make me even more happy, with some bonding time between Martin and Peter:

The shade, Martin. The shade.

Martin trusts Peter regarding The Extinction. For now, at least.

But that’s enough, because his soon-to-be-new-father (unless he does something bad, which will lead to his death by my hands) is very happy and wants to give a gift to his favourite son:

Awww, he will pick someone to give some answers! Thank you, Peter, we need them.

Now I wonder: who will this new informer be? Robert Smirke? A revived Jonah Magnus? Elias, forced to do something in his life?

Poor Martin, always surrounded by shady bitches who want to keep their secrets for themselves.

Oh my gosh, he’s too precious. Now he’s even asking Martin’s advice on how to be a better boss (and person in general).

I still have very conflicted feelings about him, but when he does this kind of thing… he just melts my cold heart, okay? That’s wholesome.

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MAG 145 - Infectious Doubts

Oookay, so we get more details regarding the Lightless Flame, Gertrude, Agnes and all that happened between them:

It turns out the weird magic circle in the woods mentioned in season 1 (that one with Gertrude’s photo and hair) was made by Gertrude to contrast the Lightless Flame

In turn, the circle helped The Web to tie her and Agnes together on a metaphysical level

That’s what forced the Fire gang to not attempt the ritual and wait, all while Agnes was “tied” to mortality - long enough to start to develop feelings for Mr. Barnabas

Arthur Nolan ended up losing his leadership position - and became the landlord of future Jane Prentiss

Well, that explains why Eugene talked about “a scar in reality” and interference of other Powers. And somehow, I’m correct: Gertrude threw a Power in the mix and that stopped the ritual.

Throwing shit in truly helps solve everything. Even if in this case, Gertrude accidentally threw herself via The Web. Still counts.

That aside, we don’t exactly know what the fuck did Gertrude do to Eugene. And Jon’s further research doesn’t really help: I mean, he found out Eugene left “a life-sized statue of himself, crafted from candle wax and sawdust, missing its head”? So… Gertrude turned him into a wax statue? How? And kept his head? For what, to expose it in her office? I think I’m missing something here.

Arthur’s words regarding the gods are very interesting too. It looks like Gertrude never truly talked to The Eye or questioned it. While feelings, wants and needs constantly washed over the Fire gang, without any further instruction rather than “just do it”.

Judging by what he said, we can assume some gods are more “collected” and less “emotional” compared to others. Maybe some gods are more needy and pushy, while others are more focused.

But assuming that, would mean the Powers are able to think. And Gertrude seems pretty sure they can't do it.

So… what’s the truth? Are these gods unable to think at all? Or are they just unable to understand the limits of human nature and the rules of our universe? Are there collected Powers and emotional Powers?

Only time will tell, I suppose.

Great, it looks like I asked myself more questions than Gertrude ever did. She never had “that stupid urge to try and understand and classify things that use logic and reality like weapons”, as Arthur said.

Could this be one of the reasons why she got killed, in the end? Was her voluntary attempt to not know that led her astray to The Eye? Or maybe she was just too practical and down-to-earth, to become the favorite avatar of a godly know-it-all?

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MAG 146 - Threshold

Somehow, in this Babel of names, I remembered McKenzie. It was from MAG 27, so an eternity ago. And this time, we got the son, who played a years-long game of hide and seek with The Distortion: it even starred Micheal and Helen!

And when Jon went to the latter to get some explanations, all he got was “Well, that’s what we do when we have to eat”, which is… honestly, don’t know what else Jon expected. Maybe that she offered him a Snickers?

What I find very interesting is how Jon’s reply is not an indignant noise or some moral reprimand: he replies “yes”. Just yes.

It’s been so long, since Jon was a normal human being.

Still, he tries to find an explanation, to not let himself lose to the “avatar instinct” or whatever. He even asks himself if it’s The Web’s fault, because maybe they’re strong enough to control another avatar and make him do things he doesn’t want to, like eating.

His supposition is so unfounded, Helen literally laughs in his face.

I am sorry for Jon, but Helen is right. Jon was hungry, wanted to eat, didn't have any Snickers so he got someone. It wasn’t The Web. I know it makes weird business plans, but I doubt “Let’s force the avatar of The Eye to eat” is one of them.

However, this apparently nonsensical theory works for Jon’s colleagues, who kindly and peacefully treat him like a monster, call him a monster, shut him up and decide to investigate Hill Top Road because yes.

I hope Basira won’t get killed, in her attempt to be Gertrude 2.0 and the most practical person around.

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MAG 147 - Weaver

Please, allow me to recap this hilarious, unnecessarily complicated plan The Web made:

Lure Jon on Hill Top Road.

Once Jon (and his gang) are in, lure them into the room where some stolen records are conveniently piled.

Leave a statement for Jon.

Give me a wonderful reminder of how funny Nikola was with her “Elias, can I call you Elias?”, by opening the statement with: “Free will is a funny old thing, isn’t it, Jon? Can I call you Jon?”.

Tell a story about your supposed childhood and how you left your home to find a woman with a wooden loom and threads into her skin and spiders weaving them.

Season the story with 200 doubts and maybes and “What if this is what the Mother wanted?”, by making Jon question every single line he just read.

Suggest you may have lied about everything because what if this is what the Mother wanted?

Tell Jon to not go back to Hill Top Road.

???

Profit!

I liked Annabelle Cane before, I love her after this. She could’ve left a note in Jon’s office, telling him to not visit Hill Top Road. But no, let’s make a batshit plan to lure him to Hill Top Road, only to tell him to not come back to Hill Top Road. Pure genius.

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MAG 148 - Extended Surveillance

Have I already said I love this man? His voice, the inflection, everything he says… he’s hilarious every time, even when he’s punched by an angry Basira.

So, Elias knew about Jon’s victims but, unlike his colleagues who blamed him for two entire MAGs, he doesn’t give a damn. Of course he doesn’t: giving a damn would mean doing something and we all know Elias loves doing nothing. My favorite lazy bastard <3

Ahahahahah, this man is incredible. Just like I gave stupid nicknames to everyone because they're funny, so he gives Basira a nickname just because he likes how it sounds.

Elias is truly the best character ever and I love him.

Oh, I missed him being a smug bastard. Elias, never change <3

What do you mean by “we still don’t really know what Elias actually is”? He’s the embodiment of The Eye. Or its favorite avatar. Same thing. I suppose?

Fine, I’m not sure either, but I thought it was obvious that he was extremely close to The Eye and had a special relationship with it. And maybe that’s why he can spend a lot of time without eating - unlike Jon. Because he has been an avatar for a long time. A… very long time, I suppose?

Okay, that’s actually interesting. If he’s an avatar, how long has he been an avatar? Before Gertrude became the Archivist? When he was still a stoner? Before that? Then why didn’t he become the Archivist? And why is he so good at controlling the “hunger instinct”? Does he have a hidden cabinet full of Snickers statements?

Greeeeeat, Jon is still pushed by this avatar hunger and cannot find a way to stop it. Maybe he could find a solution in some of Gertrude’s statements? I mean, if she was an avatar of The Eye too, maybe she also experienced the same hunger? And maybe she found a way to satiate it, without using innocents?

Or maybe she found out about Elias's secret stash of snacks and ate all of them, why not?

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MAG 149 - Concrete Jungle

So, human trash human-shaped hunting humans in the jungle still counts as an expression of The Extinction? I suppose it makes sense. I find it just weird that it attacked Dr. Anastos: I thought The Extinction was more like The End, just wiping out everything and feeding on the survivors’ desperation.

But nope, instead some Stranger vibes. And maybe this makes sense too? If The Extinction is a new Power, it could be learning from the older ones how to express itself.

Oh no, a conversation between Martin and Georgie! As I imagined, he doesn’t like her the slightest and I’m pretty sure her being Jon’s ex is part of the reason why. But he also doesn’t really like how she judges the Archives and what they do from the outside, which is… well, understandable but also unfair.

I mean, she is right when she said the place is bad and they’re doing bad things. I said it since the beginning, when I still begged everyone to run away as fast as they could.

But it’s also unfair to condemn them all. Jon is doing questionable things, but he’s still fighting against them. Martin is working alongside an evil avatar, but he’s also trying his best to keep everyone safe.

Moral of the story: at least Martin didn’t unleash some evil Power after her, as I feared. On the contrary, it looks like The Lonely gave him the power of invisibility and being forgotten.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

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MAG 150 - Cul-de-Sac

If the previous statement was about The Extinction but with some Stranger vibes, this statement is about The Lonely, but with some Spiral vibes. Maybe it’s just due to the endless repetition of houses and roads and doors but still.

Oh, great. And here I thought Martin was going to be seduced by The Web because of his love for the spiders. I was wrong: The Lonely IS Martin. Trying not to be a burden? Like, you know, getting everything on your shoulder so you can deal with everything and the others will be safe? And why tell yourself “I’m fucked”, when you can tell “I am doing it for everyone”?

Martin isn’t going to become an avatar of The Lonely: he’s already The Lonely. He’s probably just going to join it back.

Melanie’s plan is… questionable. And I have no idea if it can actually work. If it does, good for her: at least her conscience will be clean.

That’s a very clever point: what if everything is all part of a plan? The Eye’s plan? What if learning more about the rituals, the Powers, the avatars, watching them and stopping them and talking to them, gathering all this heavy, supernatural, “dense” knowledge is exactly what The Eye needs to ascend?

What if Jon doesn’t know anything about The Watcher’s Crown, because he’s already doing the ritual without realizing it?

If that’s the truth, I’m going to explode.

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In conclusion

I am terrified and hyped. Jon saved the world from the Black Sun and he saved the world from The Unknowing, but will he save the world from The Watcher’s Crown too? And what about The Extinction? And Martin? Will my boyo come back from the war or look at The Lonely in its non-existent eyes and tell it “Sup”?

There are too many stakes and only ten chapters left. And you all told me they are the most insane.

I’ll brace myself, so brace yourself as well: the next reaction post is probably going to be extremely long and delirious.

Well, longer and more delirious than usual.

30 image limit, we will meet again very soon.

-> Next post

(How about a coffee? ☕)

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📌TAGLIST: @mudpuddlenl @allmycrushesaredead @aquatedia @whatishappeningrightnow @effortiswhatmatters @bella-in-a-bag @doydoune @forever-third-wheeling @payte @hypnossanders @idontreallyknow24 @imcrushedbyarainbowoffical @patton-cake-and-crofters @hereissananxiousmess @purplebronzeandblue @cynicalandsarcastic @lost-in-thought-20 @andtheyreonfire @riseofthewerewolf @rosesandlove44 @arya-skywalker @csi-baker-street-babes @reesiereads @dracayd-universe @starlightnyx @stubbornness-and-spite @averykedavra @joyrose-fandomer @mihaela-tbg @thatoneloudowl @grayson-22 @softangryfuckingdepressed @theotherella @nevenastark @coldbookworm @boopypastaissalty @varthandiveturinn @roses-bubbles @cuter-on-the-inside @snixxxsmythe @analogical-mess @emphasis-on-the-oopsie @selfdestructivecat @yangwalkerao3 @the3rddenialist @hehimejoshi

#the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #magnus archives #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #basira hussain #daisy tonner #melanie king #peter lukas #annabelle cane #elias bouchard

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lacilashea · 3 months ago

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I love Jesus more than all & all my posts belong to Jesus & he is my Lord and savior, the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus is my King and should be your's too instead of people &made up governments & Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews, the rest on the earth & that much being God's son. I love Jesus as my Lord & savior & this is not about me but about Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the truth, Jesus King of the jews- https://www.tumblr.com lacilashea/780937809260396544/i-love-jesus-more-than-all-and-all-my-posts-belong?source=share https://www.tumblr.com/lacilashea/780831150589493248/i-love-jesus-more-than-all-and-all-my-posts-belong?source=share & the rest on the earth & that much being God's son with Mary. Jesus my bestest fucking friend, God my bestest fucking friend, & the Holy Ghost my bestest fucking friend too have feelings like you, I, & others do to that also exist such as Mikel an angel of the lord who is my husband & I-laci cannot describe what he means to me he takes my breath away if I think about us & I get a feeling like no other that comes over me when he speaks to me & I would do that much for him(that is true so you know if you are actually in love or not based on the first feeling when you meet someone)-this not about him & I regardless of what you read this is about Jesus Christ the Messiah God's begotten son with Mary-Luke 1:26-38. Mikael the angel of the Lord w/ the heavenly host & we are intimate & he held me & wiped the tears from my eyes & when we were that close I briefly put his penis in my mouth-literally & I-(laci are not promiscuous or a virgin either & I-laci are never leaving him and he is still a virgin & could have other marriages etc like Jacob, David, Solomon & others & the other angels and sons of God mentioned below could also w/ you or friendships with you & God, Jesus, & the Holy Ghost too & that is documented-see comments, a part of Legion my bester politest friends, Gabriel Angel of the Lord my close friend, Death-also been done bad my close friend & he said die & dying is not the same as Death-Jesus-God-the Holy Ghost-& Death said, Raphael Angel of the Lord my close friend, Belial my close friend, Mammon my closest friend, Satan my best friend, Beelzebub my close friend, & you can talk to Jesus, God, & the Holy Ghost literally all the time & they do talk back to you(God, Jesus, &the Holy Ghost want your friendship not your servitude-as that belongs to Jesus as well-Jesus is my bestest friend, God my bestest friend, the Holy Spirit my friend, a part of Legion my bester politest friends, Gabriel Angel of the Lord my close friend, Death my close friend, Raphael Angel of the Lord my close friend, Belial my close friend, Mammon closest friend, Satan my best friend, Beelzebub my close friend, Baphomet my close friend, Abaddon Angel of the Lord my closest-closest friend-love them all, & you can talk to them if you love Jesus as Messiah & all mentioned above exist like you do & they are real & you do not treat Jesus, God, and the Holy Ghost and all mentioned like magic 8 balls you stuff in a closet or for your personal gain & when this is all God-Jesus-&Holy Ghost's when this is all Jesus-God-Holy Ghost's earth & all on it-Jesus-God-the Holy Ghost, &your lives will improve. Also they are not going to stop in what is the area Israel(named after Jacob-Israel a real family) because they have made plans to kill your people & take the land from you and your people they are going to keep on going when they are done with you, & it is people here & other places that have told them with their(made up in Israel) fake government there to do it that many years ago, Why because people wanting into Jerusalem for more people to come & the land you & your people were suppose to take care of given to others-Jesus, God, the Holy Ghost, Legion, Gabriel, Death, Raphael, Belial, Mammon, Satan, Beezlebub, Baphomet, Abaddon said & others agree with. I are warning you in each post below your life experiences-Jesus, God & Holy Ghost Legion said.

#help gaza #help canaan #save sick and disabled people #talk to Jesus about everything and your life improves #help others #Holy Spirit #tagar duar reges moshe see translations in these tags #Jesus is King and GOD IS KING instead of governments and kings etc of people-Samuel 8:6-9 John 18 & 19 #Jesus Lord of Lords #jesus my lord and savior #Jesus Christ #Jesus the Messiah #No more price tags on lives #Stop Muders/killing Euthanasia abortions death penalties bombs dynamite or killing etc and more exodus 20 #this is not about me but about Jesus #ban psychiatry and psychiatric medication though goes against ones self and wants when forced to take psychiatric medications or treatments #News #breaking news #world news #cease fire now #protect jews #protect christians #protect muslims #God #Not worshipping them but protect Michael his name the angel genesis 19 #Not worshipping them but protect angels and others genesis 19 #The holy spirit the comforter in acts one and two and that many others in day to day lives that love Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.#Do not take Jesus God and the Holy Ghost out anything and all is theirs including you protect them #Help those in Jerusalem and Canaan #gaza

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odegoob · 8 months ago

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do you honestly think wirtz is coming to Arsenal?? Why?

I know they're interested in him (along with. well. every top team. madrid BACK OFF) and there are a few things which I think would make arsenal in particular appealing to him. notably - xabi and mikel have a pre established relationship, to the point that these teams played each other in pre season (which has happened before but not frequently or recently). I think if wirtz were looking for a manager with a similar style to xabi, under whom he has had so much success, arteta would be a good choice, as well as a stable one. the bundesliga doesn't go through managers the way the prem does, and I don't think he would enjoy going somewhere with the kind of uncertainty that comes with a manager being sacked at least once a season (chelsea BACK OFF). flo has also spent the past seasons working with granit xhaka, who I hope has been playing a long game for mikel and talking up arsenal. also, in terms of the narrative - hes a young player for leverkusen the whole world is taking notice of. if he wanted to go to the prem I hope he'd listen to the advice of another player who was That Guy who pretty famously hates chelsea and loves arsenal, aka his german national teammate kai havertz.

reasons why I think he would leave leverkusen (despite them being so successful lately): I don't think tah or xabi will necessarily be there much longer, and without them there I don't think wirtz would necessarily want to stay. he's also one of the most exciting young talents in the world, he will want to prove himself on every possible stage.

I also think leverkusen and arsenal have similar playing styles, and ALSO the idea of martin and flo in the same team makes me froth at the mouth and black out. can you imagine?

all this to say: I have seen it in a vision and therefore it is true and will be happening

#arsenal #florian wirtz #b04 #im also hoping for some liverpool floppage so they dont become a good prospect for him. BACK OFF

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myfamilyllashea · 2 months ago

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brightshaw-shipper · 4 months ago

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Headcanon time

1. Simon and Elias would rate Star Trek a 6.5/10 AT BEST but they only watch it because Jack loves it and they have started liking it too recently

2. Jack likes Star Trek because Adam and Mikell were horrible to him growing up and he had to take care of everything around the house and take care of Thomas too, so his only decent memories from his childhood are Star Trek and Thomas

3. I don't know if Elias has a canon backstory or no, so I kinda headcanon that he came from wealth and was raised nicely. So, he's the least traumatized when it comes to family

4. Simon's parents were hella conservative and they disowned and kicked him out at 17 [the same year he got into university/college] when they found out he was queer bc someone ratted him out.

5. Jack develops an unhealthy attachment to everyone and everything around him and doesn't want to lose anyone or anything around him. Elias isn't used to losing anyone or anything around him because of his background of wealth. Simon is used to losing anyone or anything around him because of his background of his parents abandoning him.

6. Simon tried to teach Jack and Elias how to do origami, he failed miserably. He has also tried to teach them several "calm" stuff like baking, decorating, etc. but it always ends in disaster.

7. Jack was able to get custody of Thomas and get him out of his cell and into his apartment, but he is STILL classified as an SCP and Thomas live in the same Foundation apartment and their apartment is close to Simon's apartment and Elias's apartment, a literal 5 minute walk between each one. So Thomas sometimes makes paintings and leaves them at Simon's and Elias's doors as small gifts from him because he also genuinely respects and loves them as his brothers-in-law

8. Jack and Elias have prepared themselves mentally for the day that a bunch of Foundation agents come knocking at their doors with serious faces, telling them "We're sorry..." and informing them that Simon has passed away. They are genuinely horrified of the day that Simon dies.

9. Jack's parents were the first ever examples of modern minimalism and now Jack is a hoarder because of that. His and Thomas's apartment is a mess, because you got all sorts of Foundation gizmos and stuff on the ground, you got chemicals and all sorts of random stuff in one room, you got like 50 paintings made by Thomas hung up on the wall, etc.

10. Simon has some nervous ticks, such as breaking his nails using his other nails, pulling some strands of his hair, pulling on his lip if it's injured, etc.

11. Some side effects of SCP-963 on Elias include him shaking a lot, stuttering and mixing his speech more than a normal person, getting dizzy more than an average person and having more headaches than an average person. Such stuff never happened to Jack and it is unclear why that is.

12. Jack is starting to enjoy the pain of dying and kinda feels numb whenever he dies because he's so used to it.

13. Thomas and Simon sometimes draw together and Thomas has made Simon a better artist.

Can you tell me your headcanons?? Please, I love these 3 sm. And also, have you read Portraits of Your Father and SCP-3999? I have some headcanons for James and Draven but I don't wanna give you spoilers if you haven't read them yet

-August

oh. my. gosh.

When I said "headcanons," I wasn't expecting an entire militia of them! (get it because head cannon)

I love these!

(and also 3999 is one of my favorite SCPs and Portraits of Your Father nearly ripped my heart out of my chest) (also I share a birthday with Draven Kondraki)

-Thaumiel

#scp foundation #scp #dr bright #dr shaw #brightshaw #scp 963 #dr jack bright #anon ask #dr glass #brightshawglass #august au #headcanons #scp headcanons #scp 3999 #portraits of your father #draven kondraki #thaumiel speaks

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canirove · 3 months ago

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Lady Madrid | Chapter 16

Author's note: I hope you've enjoyed Ben and Julieta's love story, and as always, thank you very much for reading! 💜

Previous chapter

Masterlist

“I'm sorry you had to witness… that.”

“I've seen worse, don't worry.”

“But it was your first time experiencing Boxing Day, Julieta. You should have watched something good, not your boyfriend being ass.”

“You've always been ass, pretty face.”

“What?”

“Because you have the nicest one” I say, pinching his butt.

“Julieta!”

“Couldn't help myself. Sorry” I shrug.

“That was very naughty, you know? The Three Wise Men still are watching” Ben says with a teasing smile.

“You don't complain like this when I grab it while we are fu…”

“Julieta!” he says again. “Anyone could hear you!”

“Oh, well” I shrug again.

We are outside the changing room at Stamford Bridge, waiting for Reece to be done so we can go have dinner together. Since he is the captain, he has had to give some interviews, and those aren't easy after a defeat like the one Chelsea suffered today. Arsenal played with them as if they were a bunch of kids, and by half time they were already losing 0-3, the final score being 0-5.

“You are the worst” Ben says, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer towards him.

“And that's why you love me” I smile.

“Chilly! Julieta!” a familiar voice says, stopping us when we are about to kiss.

“Hello, Declan” Ben says. “What are you doing here?”

“Heard Julieta was around, and came to wish her Merry Christmas even if it is a bit late. Though in Spain they still are going on, aren't they?”

“Yep. We celebrate Christmas until January 6.”

“Then felis navidas” Declan says before hugging me.

“Feliz navidad, Declan.”

“I didn't sound like that, did I?” he laughs.

“Almost. You need to keep practicing.”

“I'll ask Merino to help me” he smiles. “And I better go before the other Mikel, aka the gaffer, leaves me here. I'm sorry about today, bro” he says, resting his hand on Ben's shoulder and giving it an encouraging squeeze. “You played really well, you know?”

“Thank you. And it's fine, don't worry” Ben says.

“Is it true what they are saying, tho? That Maresca is out?” Declan asks, lowering down his voice.

“I don't know, bro. The changing room was so quiet… And he didn't come in to tell us anything.”

“Shit. That's… Anyway, I better go. It was lovely to see you again, Julieta.”

“You too, Declan” I smile before he leaves, giving first Ben and then me one last hug.

“I'm gonna go check what Reece is doing and what is taking him so long. Do you mind waiting here?” Ben tells me.

“Yes, sure. But…”

“But?”

“What Declan said... Do you think this was Maresca’s last game?”

“I don't know, Julieta. I don't know” he sighs.

“I'm here, I'm here” Reece says, finally leaving the changing room. “Sorry it took me so long, I… Why that face, Chilly? What happened?”

“That we are starving, that's what happened” I say, quickly changing the topic of conversation. I don't like Ben's face either. “Can we please go?”

“Yes, of course. You are gonna love this new Italian restaurant, Julieta. You'll see” Reece says, putting his arm around my shoulders as we start walking.

“We'll see.”

“You will. Won't she, Chilly?”

“Uh?”

“The Italian restaurant.”

“Oh, yes. It's really good” he says.

“Ben, are you ok?” I ask him.

“Yes, yes. Just thinking about the game, nothing else.”

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure, Julieta. C'mon” he smiles.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Well… it happened. Maresca has been sacked” Ben says, letting himself fall on the sofa after leaving to talk on the phone with someone from the club.

“A todo cerdo le llega su San Martín.”

“Julieta, did you just call him pig?” he laughs.

“Yes… but no. It's a Spanish saying that basically means karma is a bitch.”

“And why is karma being a bitch to him?”

“Because he had you looking pretty on the stands for six months without giving you a chance to play, and could have ruined your career. Luckily, we, as in Real Madrid, came to the rescue.”

“Yeah…” he sighs.

“There it is that face again!”

“What?”

“That face, Ben!” I say, pointing at him. “It's the same one you made yesterday at Stamford Bridge when I asked you about Maresca and Reece interrupted us.”

“It is my face, Julieta” he shrugs.

“Yes. Your I'm worried about something face.”

“I'm not…”

“Benjamin” I cut him before he can give me an excuse.

“God, you just sounded like my mum” he chuckles.

“Then if you don't want me to do like her and ground you by making you sleep on the sofa, tell me what is going on inside that pretty head of yours.”

“It's just… I… I'm worried about what will happen now.”

“Now? What do you mean?”

“Earning Maresca's trust was really tough, Julieta. You know it better than anyone. And now someone new is coming, and I feel like I'm going back to square one. Like all the work and effort I've put in for the past year, has gone to hell. What if the new manager doesn't like me? What if he wants me to go? What if I… if I end up training with the academy boys? I can't go through that again, Julieta. I can't. I…”

“Ben. Ben, hey. Look at me” I say, cupping his face and forcing him to do it. “That isn't going to happen.”

“You don't know that, Julieta.”

“Yes, I do. Because this season you've been one of the best players on the team, and only someone stupid would not want you on their team.”

“But what if I don't fit in with the idea they have? That's what happened with Maresca. He played differently and…”

“And you still managed to get your spot back in the team and start on most games, didn't you? You proved to him and everyone that you can adapt to a new system and keep playing good football.”

“Yes, but…”

“No, Ben. No more buts or doubts. Whoever is coming will see what a valuable player you are and keep you in the team.”

“Or not.”

“Benjamin!” I say, raising my voice.

“I'm sorry, Julieta. I… I… I'm sorry” he says, moving my hands from his face and getting up from the sofa.

“Where are you going?”

“For a walk. I need some fresh air.”

“It is freezing cold outside, Ben.”

“I'll wear my thick coat and a beanie, don't worry.”

“Can I go with you?”

“No. I need to be alone and think.”

“Think about what?”

“Just… think” he shrugs.

“Ben” I say, also getting up from the sofa.

“It's gonna be ok, Julieta” he says, caressing my cheek. “I'm not going to give up if that's what you are thinking.”

“Aren't you? Because things have been going so well for the past six months… Like, there have been some bumps on the road, but we've made it through it all. Through all those moments when we've missed each other or when we were feeling down because of a bad game. We did it then, and we can do it now. Together.”

“You mean when I was feeling down because of a bad game” he chuckles. “Your season is going way better than ours.”

“Yes, but…”

“I just need some fresh air and to clear my head, Julieta” Ben says, now both his hands on my face. “To try and put some order to all the thoughts I currently have inside it.”

“Just that?”

“Just that” he says. “So don't worry, ok? I'll be back before lunch time.”

“You better. Because if you don't, I'll go find you myself and drag you back. And I won't be gentle about it.”

“Ok” he chuckles.

“And wear a scarf too besides the beanie. And gloves. And thick socks. Your feet always get cold first and then you complain about it for hours.”

“Yes, mum” he sighs, trying to hide a smile.

“Idiot” I reply, hitting his arm.

“I'm gonna be fine, Julieta. We are gonna be fine.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. May I go put on all those layers you want me to wear?”

“Yes. Go” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I love you” Ben says, kissing my cheek.

“And I love you too” I say as I watch him walk away, hoping he is right and that everything is going to be ok.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Ben, finally!” I say, running towards him as I hear the door opening.

“See how you jump at me when you haven't seen me for a while?” he laughs, catching me as I wrap my arms and legs around his body.

“Oh, shush!” I reply.

“May I finish taking all these clothes off? You can go back to hugging me like a koala once I'm done” he says with a teasing smile.

“Fine” I say, letting go of him. “Did you do your thinking?”

“I did.”

“And it worked, didn't it? You managed to put all those thoughts inside your head in order.”

“I did” he says again. “How do you know?”

“Your smile.”

“What?” he chuckles.

“I don't know how to explain it, but… It was different from the ones you have been giving me since yesterday after the game.”

“I didn't know my smiles said all that.”

“Yeah, well. You don't spend as much time looking at your face as I do.”

“At my pretty face?” he smirks, grabbing me by the waist.

“The very same” I say, resting my hands on his chest. “Is everything good, then? Can I stop worrying?”

“You can. I did some thinking, had a chat with some friends and my agent, and all is good now” Ben smiles.

“No more doubts about the new manager and how it will affect you?”

“Nope.”

“But you still aren't telling me something.”

“What?”

“You are hiding something from me. I can feel it.”

“I am not, Julieta.”

“I'm being serious, Ben.”

“I… ok, fine” he sighs. “I forgot to put on my thick socks like you told me, and my feet are freezing cold. Fancy a warm bath?” he smirks again.

“That's not it.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Ben!” I say when he lifts me in the air, making me go back to my koala hug position. “What are you doing?”

“Carrying you upstairs.”

“What? Why?”

“I need a warm bath to bring my feet back to life, and I want to share it with you. With the woman I love” he smiles as he starts walking.

“Going all cute and implying that we are going to have sex isn't gonna make me forget that you are hiding something from me, Benjamin.”

“I'm not hiding anything from you.”

“Liar.”

“Julieta…” he sighs.

“Ok, ok. If you don't want to tell me what it is, then don't. But you have to at least tell me one thing.”

“Fine” he sighs again.

“Do I have to worry about whatever it is you are hiding from me? Like, is it something bad?”

“It isn't.”

“So you are hiding something from me! I knew it!”

“Dear God, Julieta” he says, putting me down since we've made it to the bathroom. “It's your other Christmas present, ok?”

“Other present?” I ask.

“Yes. One to give you on Three Wise Men day. While I was on my walk I was told some good news about it. Happy now?”

“No.”

“What?”

“Now I won't be able to sleep because I will be thinking about what it may be.”

“Urgh” Ben groans.

“I was just teasing you, pretty face.”

“You… you…”

“Me?”

“Come here.”

“Ben!” I laugh when he grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to my room.”

“What? And your bath?”

“You don't deserve a warm and relaxing bath, Julieta.”

“Why not?” I say when we make it to his room.

“Because you've been very naughty” he says before basically throwing me into the bed.

“Then what do I deserve? Because we aren't in your bed to take a nap, are we?”

“When we are done with what I have in mind, you will definitely need a nap” he says as he starts taking off his clothes.

“So confident, Chilwell” I say with a teasing smile.

“You don't think I'm capable of it?”

“Well…” I shrug.

“Wrong answer” he says, grabbing me by the ankles and dragging me to the end of the bed while I just laugh.

“Ben, what…” I say as he takes off my joggers and underwear, leaving me naked from the waist down.

“You've been so naughty, Julieta” he says, kneeling in front of me and kissing my inner thigh, the feeling making me gasp. “So so naughty… What am I going to do with you?” he says before leaving another kiss.

“Eat me out?”

“Ummm… maybe” he says, kissing my other thigh.

“Those kisses are really nice, Ben. But can you… you know. Go to the fun part?” I ask him after a couple of minutes where all he does is kiss my thighs, teasing me by moving to where I want him to but never actually doing it. “You said I was going to take a nap after we were done, not during.”

“Ok, then” he says, grabbing both my legs and putting them over his shoulders.

“Ben, what… fuck” I moan when he finally kisses me (and other things) where I wanted him to.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Chatting with Romeo?”

“Bloody hell, Alba!” I say, my hand instinctively moving to my chest.

“Chatting with Romeo or not?” she says, sitting down next to me.

“Yes, I am talking with Ben.”

“And what is he telling you that has you so focused? Something naughty?” she smirks.

“No” I say, looking down at my phone so she can't see me blushing. Hearing the word naughty brings back memories from last week in London and… well. Let's just say that the nap did happen, and that it was very needed. “I sent him a photo of the Bernabéu, and told him that I missed watching him play here.”

“Is it wise to tell him that when he has a new manager and things are a bit in the air at Chelsea?”

“What was wise to tell?”

“My God, Olga” I jump again. “You too?”

“Me what?” she says, sitting next to Alba.

“Nothing.”

“And the wise thing? What was that about?” she asks.

“Julieta sent Romeo a photo of the Bernabéu telling him that she misses watching him play here.”

“What? Julieta!”

“I'm sorry, ok? I… I… I just miss him so much” I say, covering my face with my hands and starting to cry. “And I know it's been just a week, but getting to spend Christmas with him and his family, and then basically experiencing how it would be to live together felt so good and so right, that I… I…”

“Aww, Julieta” Olga says, getting up from her seat and hugging me. “It's ok.”

“It's like those days in London showed me how our life together could be, and now it is all I want, you know? To be together, not kilometres away from each other.”

“Looks like you also are a bit clingy, uh?” Alba chuckles, squeezing my knee to let me know that she is just teasing me, trying to cheer me up.

“Yep” I reply, letting go of Olga.

“And that's why you are together and so in love as you are” she says, wiping away some of my tears. “Because you both are clingy, stubborn, and stupidly handsome.”

“Ummm… what?” I laugh.

“It's the conclusion I got after constantly seeing videos of you two together on my for you page on Tiktok” she shrugs. “You make such a handsome couple…”

“And hot” Alba adds. “You more than Romeo, tho.”

“Thank you” I chuckle. “Shit!”

“We are jumpy today, aren't we?” Alba chuckles when my phone pings.

“It's Ben. He's replied” I say, my eyes fixed on the screen.

“What does he say?” Olga asks.

“He… He says he misses the roof.”

“What?” she says with a confused look.

“He says he misses playing under the roof, that it is too cold in London.”

“That's… umm…”

“Not what we expected him to reply” Alba says.

“He's writing again” I say when I see the little bubble. Here comes the I miss you and I wish I was there. God, why did I send him that message? What if he starts feeling down again after what happened on Boxing Day? What if… “What the…”

“What did he say now?”

“He’s asking me if I've left a refreshment for the Three Wise Men and the camels next to my tree.”

“What?” Olga says.

“Fun fact. They actually weren't traveling on camels if we believe all the paintings of them. The ones with just one hump are the dromedaries” Alba says.

“That's… He's writing again” I say, looking back at my phone. “Now he's asking me to eat some roscón while thinking about him?”

“Didn't know you were into those things, Julieta” Alba laughs.

“What? No! I… And now he's asking me about the game, if it hasn't started yet.”

“Looks like you mentioning that you miss him didn't bother him too much” Olga says, moving back to her seat.

“I… I don't know… There is something going on here.”

“Something like what?”

“I'm not sure. He's been weird since I left London. Like… I don't know. Though maybe he is just excited about me seeing this super gift he has gotten me, the one I'm not allowed to ask about.”

“Oh my God, Julieta” Alba gasps. “What if the super gift is that he is going to propose?”

“What?”

“Yes! And he's acting weird, saying random things and not letting you ask about it, because he is nervous and doesn't want to ruin the surprise!”

“Alba, that doesn't make any sense. He's told her he's gotten her another Christmas present, nothing else.”

“But that may be a lie to distract her! Imagine that he shows up here tomorrow and asks you to marry him!”

“He has training tomorrow” I say.

“Then maybe he's asked for a free day” she shrugs.

“Again, that doesn't make any sense” Olga says. “And the game is about to start, so let's focus on that and the boys winning and not on proposals and missing English men.”

“Handsome English men?” Alba says with a teasing smile.

“She's not gonna let go of that now, is she?” Olga asks me.

“Nope” I chuckle.

“Great” she sighs as the la décima anthem starts blasting through the speakers, silencing my worries about Ben's behaviour even if it's just for 90 minutes.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Thank you so much for coming, Julieta.”

“Of course, Judy” I smile.

A couple of days ago Denise invited me to have tea with her and Jude with the excuse of giving me my Christmas present and celebrating the Three Wise Men day. Since they had chosen to celebrate the holidays in Madrid and I was in London, we hadn't seen each other until now.

“Let me help you with your coat and the roscón.”

“Oh, thank you. And that pronunciation was on point, you know?”

“Thank you” Jude smiles.

“But since when are you such a gentleman?”

“I've always been one, Julieta.”

“Sure.”

“I have. Also thank you for buying this. My mum has been dreaming about it since last Christmas” he chuckles.

“You're welcome.”

“Now come. Your present is waiting for you” he says, leading the way.

“Jude!” Denise calls from the kitchen. “Jude, can you please come? I need your help!”

“I should probably go see what she needs. You can wait in the living room, your present is the only one under the tree. You can open it already if you want to.”

“Oh, no, don't worry. I'll wait for you.”

“Ok” he says before running towards the kitchen.

“What the…” I say when I make it to the living room. There is someone standing next to the Christmas tree checking one of the ornaments. Someone I'm pretty familiar with. But it can't be. I must be imagining it all, I… “Ben?”

“Hello, Julieta” he smiles, turning to look at me.

“What… What are you doing here? Are you real?”

“I am very real, yes” he chuckles. “You can come closer to be sure of it.”

“I… I don't understand” I say as I walk towards him. “Didn't you have training today?”

“Nope.”

“Then why did you tell me…”

“Had to keep the secret somehow” he says, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. He is real. He is here. He…

Imagine that he shows up here tomorrow and asks you to marry him!

“Ben, are you going to ask me to marry you?” I blurt out.

“What?” he laughs.

“Yes. I don't know. I… Why else would you be here?”

“Because of this” he says, picking the only present under the tree and giving it to me.

“I… I don't understand. Is this Jude and Denise’s present for me?”

“Open it and I'll explain everything later.”

“Ok” I say, doing as he says. “This… This is your Real Madrid shirt.”

“It is.”

“Why are you gifting me your shirt?”

“Look at it properly, Julieta.”

“Properly? What do you mean?”

“Is this last season's shirt?”

“Umm… no. It is the one from this season. Why… Ben, can you please explain to me what the hell is going on? Because I am extremely confused.”

“Ok, sorry” he chuckles. “I'm back, Julieta.”

“What?”

“This shirt is my new shirt. And not just for six months like last year. Real Madrid is actually signing me and offering me a three year contract.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I'm coming back and I'm staying, Julieta. I'm staying in Madrid with you.”

“You… This… I…” I mumble, looking from Ben to the shirt on my hands and back at him. “You are back.”

“Yes.”

“You are signing a proper contract. It isn't a loan.”

“Nope.”

“You are staying.”

“I am, Julieta.”

“Oh my God, Ben. Oh my God!” I say before letting the box and the shirt fall to the floor and jumping at him. And yes, you guessed it. I'm giving him one of my koala hugs. “You are staying!”

“I am” he laughs, hugging me back while trying to keep his balance.

“But why? How? When?”

“It is a bit of a long story, but remember after Boxing Day when I felt so down?”

“How to forget it.”

“Well, I called my agent, shared all my fears and doubts about my future with him, and he told me that before the holidays he had gotten a call from Real Madrid asking about me because of Carvajal’s setback on his recovery.”

“What?”

“He didn't tell me anything when they called him because he wanted me to enjoy the holidays and wait to see what was going to happen with Maresca, so once it all passed…”

“Oh my God, Ben. Oh my God!”

“You already said that, Julieta” someone chuckles.

“Jude?” I say, letting go of Ben. Kind of. Because I am still hugging him, just not in a koala way. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course I did” he says. “Do you like my Christmas present?”

“I love it. I love him” I say, looking at Ben.

“Should I bring the champagne so we can celebrate Ben's comeback?” Denise says, showing up next to Jude.

“And the tea?”

“Oh, there never was any tea, Julieta” she laughs. “It was all just an excuse to drag you here and meet with Ben.”

“That's… I… Thank you. Both of you” I say, looking at Denise and Jude.

“You're very welcome” she smiles. “Do I bring the champagne, then?”

“Please” I say.

“Great” she says before leaving.

“So you are staying” I say, looking at Ben again.

“I am.”

“And for good.”

“For good. Madrid is my new home, and moving here is the beginning of chapter three on our love story” he smiles, reminding me of the photo album he got me for Christmas and that has probably become one of my most precious possessions. “Though if I'm being honest, I could say the same about any place in the world where I am with you. Because you, Julieta… You are my home.”

“Aww, Chilly” Jude says. “That's so romantic! And I should… umm… I should probably go see if my mum needs help with the champagne.”

“Yes, Judy. You should” I tell him.

“Ok. Ummm… sorry” he says with an apologetic smile before leaving us alone.

“So, where were we?” I say, back to focusing just on Ben. “Oh, yes. You were saying that Madrid was your home or something like that.”

“Something like that, yes” he chuckles.

“But then you said something about me. Can you repeat it, please?”

“You are my home, Julieta. I love you.”

“I love you too, pretty face” I say before kissing him.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Oh, I must answer this call. You can have another look around the house on your own if you want.”

“Thank you” I smile.

“So…” Ben says once the real estate agent has left. “What do you think?”

“I quite like it. The neighbourhood is a good one, it has a lot of light, the garden is amazing…”

“The garden is great, isn't it? Maybe perfect for a couple of dogs to run around?” he says with a teasing smile.

“You are so funny, Chilwell” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Sorry” he chuckles. “But it also is a good garden for some kids to run around. Would you prefer that?”

“Are you trying to tell me something, Benjamin James Chilwell?”

“That's a new one” he laughs.

“What?”

“The way you just called me. I think you hadn't used it yet.”

“Maybe. I don't know. But what were you…”

“Oh, this has reminded me that I think I've finally found my perfect nickname for you” he interrupts me.

“What?”

“Lady Madrid” he smiles.

“Lady… Wait. Isn't that the title of a song?”

“Yep. I heard it the other day during the basketball game I attended with some of the boys. At first I didn't understand a thing the singer was saying, but when he sang Lady Madrid I instantly thought of you and I haven't been able to stop singing that bit in my head since then. When I got home I googled the lyrics and they don't fit you that much, but that bit… That bit I think it's perfect. It's half English half Spanish, like us” Ben smiles. “So what do you think?” he says, grabbing me by the waist. “Am I allowed to call you Lady Madrid? My Lady Madrid?”

“I need to sleep on it before giving my final verdict, but…”

“But?”

“But I think it may be the one.”

“Really?”

“Really” I smile.

“Finally!” he says, making us both laugh. “And what about the house? Do you think it also is the one?”

“You are the one who is gonna move here, Ben. Not me. So you tell me.”

“Yes, but… I don't know. I am doing all this house hunting with the idea of finding a place where… you know” he shrugs.

“No, I don't know.”

“A place where we could start a life together, Julieta” he says. “A house where one day we will live together, and start our own family, and…”

“Is that why you mentioned the children earlier? Because you were thinking about our future?”

“Yes” he says with a shy smile. “I know it still is too soon for that, for the kids, I mean.”

“I have to win the Champions League first. You know I've always said that.”

“I know” he chuckles. “But… yeah. Sorry if it sounds stupid to think so far ahead.”

“Ben…” I say, cupping his face and making him look at me. “It isn't stupid. Maybe a bit… Anxiety inducing because moving together and starting a family are two really big steps in a relationship and we've been officially dating for less than a year… But it isn't stupid.”

“Isn't it?”

“No” I say. “Because I would be lying if I said that I hadn't imagined how a life with you would be. From waking up together every morning, to doing mundane things like food shopping or choosing what colour we should paint our room, to argue about you leaving your clothes scattered around the room.”

“I don't do that.”

“Yet” I say, making him roll his eyes. “So… yeah. It isn't stupid. And even though this house needs some retouching here and there… I can see myself living here with you one day. And there is a perfect spot in the living room to put that shirt I gifted you the day we met. I can't believe you still have done nothing with it and just have it in a box.”

“It isn't just a box, Julieta. It's a memory box.”

“With just my shirt.”

“Yeah” he shrugs. “I didn't want it to get ruined. Besides, it smells a bit” he says with a teasing smile.

“Idiot” I reply, hitting his arm and making him laugh.

“Anyway, back to the house. Are you… are you sure about it?”

“I am. I think this is the one, Ben” I smile.

“Should we tell her, then?” he says, gesturing towards where the real estate agent is talking on the phone.

“Yes” I nod. “I mean, you should. You are the one paying for it.”

“I am” he chuckles. “But first…” he says, pulling me a bit closer towards him and making me giggle. “Let's seal the deal with a kiss.”

“But a chaste one. We can't get carried away, we aren't alone.”

“Fine. I'll try” Ben sighs, making me laugh.

“Can I tell you a secret first, tho?” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Always.”

“I love you, pretty face.”

“And I love you… Lady Madrid” he says before kissing me.

━━━━❃━━━━ FIN ━━━━❃━━━━

Author's note: In case you are interested on the song Ben mentions at the end of this chapter, this is the one 😁

youtube

#ben chilwell #ben chilwell x reader #ben chilwell fanfic #ben chilwell imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

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toffolola · 5 months ago

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Ranking Arsenals Red Cards, 24/25

William Saliba vs Bournemouth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A deserved red but absolutely hilarious. My guy played 30 mins and decided to go insane. Iconic behaviour. He should do it again, for a laugh.

Mikel Merino vs Liverpool ⭐⭐⭐ A red from two yellows was inevitable with how the team was playing. Would argue that one of Mikels yellows was soft. A different player was more aggressive and significantly more deserving of a red.

Myles Lewis-Skelly vs West Ham ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Forced to prevent a goal when David Raya massively cocked up. A clear red but prevented a second goal that would make a come-back impossible. Unfortunate but a worthy risk.

Myles Lewis-Skelly vs Wolves ⭐⭐⭐ A wild move in the Wolves box, rather unnecessary but very funny. Not a red, definitely a yellow. Did look a little bad in slow motion replay, can see why people think it's a red.

Leandro Trossard vs Man City ⭐⭐ Did kick the ball after the whistle was blown but he is so small and old, you can't blame the young man for being hard of hearing. He's got greys, what does Doku have? Weak.

Declan Rice vs Brighton ⭐ Something about getting a red because someone else kicked you in the leg is very funny to me. The bitchy glance he threw beforehand only makes it more iconic. You can't send someone off for stunting.

#arsenal fc #saved for later #< tagging so I can find and edit when arsenal get more reds probably

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papipedroo · 1 year ago

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Rupture (Joel Miller x Reader)

Part Five of Whiskey Tears

Joel was drowning. Not in the metaphorical sense that he has experienced from time to time, feeling as if the weight of the world was pressing down on his lungs… No. Actual drowning.

“Again.” Heather had four men shove him backdown into the river.

There was barely any time to gasp for breath with each shove back under the icy frost. It was as if he grew numb to the freezing temperatures each time his head went under water. He was going to start getting hyperthermia soon.

“Bring him back up.” Heather ordered and once again he was brought up to the surface from the icy depth.

Joel coughed up water, finally able to catch his breathe. His clothes were soaked to his skin and the rim of his eyes were rimmed red.

Heather crouched in front of Joel. A long sigh left her lips as she spoke, “We’ve been at this for a while… Are we going to talk now or do I have to bring Ellie out here? Tell me Joel, have you taught her how to swim yet?”

It was a known fact by anyone that Joel’s looks could kill any threat in his path. There was a promise looming in his gaze, one that only told of impending murder. Two of the men had tightened their grip on his arm and shoulder from the way Joel tensed.

“What.” He stated as if he wasn’t trying to catch his breath moments ago.

She crouched in front of him. Three steps and his shotgun was the only thing between them.

“It took three days and now this town and everyone in it, is mine.” She stated.

“Good for you.” Joel gruffed out, the least bit interested.

“You know what I want, Joel.” Heather was becoming irritated now, “I want your allegiance. I want your loyalty. I want you.”

He didn’t dignify her with a response, his glare the only thing keeping her from feeling empowered.

She sighed, “You know that your brother and his wife refuse to cooperate… For days now, my friends have talked about shooting them… They make a good point that it would put your family out of their misery from living in the way that the world is now. Especially with a new life that will be coming soon.” Her gaze flickered to the gun as Joel began to struggle against the four men in an attempt to ring her neck.

“I decided against that though. I knew it wouldn’t make you happy so I locked your family away instead. I promise you that they are safe…” Her hazel eyes looked past his glare and into his broken soul, “If you cooperate that is.”

Joel didn’t like the way her mouth curled into a condescending smile. She knew that she got him.

The warmth of the fire did little to create a comforting warmth in your body as you cried out into a soiled cloth from the overwhelming pain. Mikel’s hands worked to clean out and stitch the wound he caused to your leg as you faded in and out of consciousness.

“Just a little more, love.” His tender words did nothing, they were nothing, and he would never be anything to you.

You wanted Joel… You wanted your little Ellie… You wanted to go home… You missed your family and you regret that the last words spoken to Joel were of anger. You regret that you couldn’t see Ellie’s face that morning. You regret not having tea with Maria. You regret not helping Tommy surprise Maria with a baby crib.

“Why won’t the bleeding stop?” Mikel’s voice held panic, “I need to cauterize your wound.”

I shook my head faintly at that, but it meant no difference as he left and returned with a blade scorching hot from the fire.

There were so many regrets that you couldn’t amend and now… Now you might die without seeing what could have been.

“This is going to hurt.” Mikel said as he gently place a cloth in your mouth.

You screamed as soon as the blade touched your skin. It hurt more than the pain of the gunshot as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. Your body shook before slacking against the bed.

Your vision blurred as your mind went dark.

It took two days before you were able to gain your bearings. The pain in your leg was dull as long as you didn’t move it around too much. Your eyes tracked the motion of Mikel’s shadow pacing just outside of the cabin door. His words were set in a hush whisper as he spoke to someone else. Someone you didn’t recognize. You strained your ears to listen to what they were discussing.

“So… Jackson has been overtaken.” Mikel asked, “Are the townspeople alright?”

“Yes.” It was the voice of another man, “Heather did what she said she would and it…” You strained your ears to hear, but missed part of what he said. You did however hear him say the word, “Success.”

“That’s good.” You could hear Mikel’s sigh of relief, “I hope that with time my love and I can return. I want us to be able to live peacefully…”

“We are glad to have you apart of our group. I will see you and your girl soon brother. Let the red dawn rise.”

“Let the red dawn rise.” Mikel repeated and a pair of footsteps traveled away from the house.

You quickly lied back down and pretended that you weren’t eavesdropping on their conversation. Mikel stepped inside the hut, snow falling off his coat as he removed the cowboy hat from his head.

“I know that you’re awake little pisi.” He said. The sound of his boots traveled across the room as he walked closer.

You weren't sure if the last word was an endearment or not, but it made your stomach twist in knots. You felt nauseated at how quickly he tell into the role of a lover with the high expectation of you doing the same. You wondered if that could be your safest way out of here.

Maybe playing along with his delusion will help let his guard down before making your escape. It was the only option you had being as you were wounded and he had the antibiotics to help you and if you just shot him that would do you any good.

Yes, you would have control over yourself and medicine, but how long would you need antibiotics for your leg to heal and with Jackson being overrun… How were you supposed to get more? No... This was the safest option. You just had to play your cards right… For now at least.

"Who was that?" You spoke with a scratchiness to your voice from being in and out of consciousness these last few days.

Mikel's quick observations had him getting you a glass of water before you even had the chance to ask for some. It seemed he was a little too observant. Something that you had to be wary of.

"A new friend from town." His answer was vague, something that you had already expected. Of course he didn't trust you enough to divulge any information from the que that was staged.

"They've taken everything haven't they?" You asked another question or more of a statement.

He looked away from you and towards the fireplace, "It's better this way."

"For who? For you?" You scoffed before taking a sip of water. You didn't realize how thirsty you were until the cup was empty in less than a second. You continued, “Clearly you have gotten everything that you desired.”

"I did this for us." He snapped back, a glare held in his blue eyes as he got up from his stood as stormed to the fireplace to place some more logs in, “This is better for us. This place will be our home until you have settled in to our new life. Everything that we have and will receive soon is a happiness more than we can ever imagine.”

"How?" You muttered, "Everything was fine before. The townspeople were happy… I was happy. We were all comfortable and at peace in our own way. There was no reason for any of this. You took my choice away from me."

"But there was a reason." You could see the way his fingers gripped around one of the logs. You could tell that you were pushing his temper, “He was not good for you. Everyone could see that. He hurt you, discarded you, betrayed you. He did everything that I will never do to you…” Mikel gently traced his fingers over the bandage on your leg, “Again. I promise.”

You kept your mouth shut, afraid to set him off. He was clearly trapped in his own delusions of what could be and saying anything towards the two of us would clearly make him angry. Instead you focused on talking about the people who took him in. Who he once considered friends.

"How could you betray everyone?" You spoke quietly, "The people who took you in and gave you a home? You took their trust and ripped it to shreds Mikel."

"I didn't!" He threw the log across the room. The wood crashed against the wall before knocking over a crooked picture frame, the two crashing to the ground.

At least that was better than him crushing your leg.

"Tell that to the ones whose corpses litter the streets.” You replied, your voice still soft, but making its point across.

The room filled in a deafening silence.

Light flickered in through the cracks of the jail, creating enough light for Ellie, Tommy, and Maria to see. The raiders didn't care enough to turn any of the lights on for their prisoners, but at least they remembered to bring food and water.

"Bitch." Ellie exasperated as she pulled against the old bars of the jail.

"Language Ellie." Maria sighed as she rested against the back wall.

"I think this predicament calls for a little language sweetheart." Tommy murmured as he check the strength of the cell bars on the other side.

"Those bars were made to hold, you know this." Maria explained.

“I know sweets. I just want to make sure we’re not missing anything.” Tommy explained gently.

Maria nodded, "I know dear, it’s just… You both need to save your strength. We need a solid plan to get out of here."

Tommy thought for a long moment as he concocted a plan to safely get out of here.

"We'll wait till one of em lets their guard down." Tommy spoke quietly once a plan formulated in his mind

He stepped back from the bars, his military training kicking in as he spoke, "I've been watching their movements. They only care about how much damage they can inflict with the biggest weapon. They don't seem trained or vigilant. Their shift changes are every twelve hours. Group B is more docile, they’re tired from the day and are easily deceived. We can make our move towards midnight when they are exhausted.”

He looked at Maria, “This is where you come in dear. I need you to pretend that you are going into labor. Scream as loud as you can. Ellie, I need you by her side at this point and I need you to be loud and panicked. Once they opened the cell, I can get one of their guns. Then it'll be easy to get out of here. We have four hours left until shift change so we just have to be patient and don’t set off group A." He looked towards Ellie.

She raised her hands up in surrender, "What?"

"Ellie." He pressed.

"Okay okay." She sighed, "No setting them off. Got it."

And there it was. It was small and had barely a percentage of working, but it was a plan that could just as save their lives. As long as they played their cards right that is… Tommy sat next to his wife, wrapping her in his warmth to keep her from the cold. At least these raiders kept the blankets in here. He watched as Ellie curled into one to try and get as much rest as she possibly could. Tommy made a silent promise to himself that no matter what happens, he would keep his family safe.

He could only hope that his brother had everything under control on his end... If he was alive for that matter.

"My family." Joel huffed as he was shoved with the tip of a rifle.

"Follow me." Heather walked through the streets.

The snow was gently falling now making it easy to see, "You'll see them when I can trust you again."

“You’re the one who broke that trust.” He pointed out.

Heather of course didn’t like that as she huffed, “I did what I had too.”

No. You really didn’t.

Joel didn't reply as he quietly assessed the four men that were guarding him. He knew that Heather could handle a gun, but he can take her easily. The two to his left looked to be brothers with the way they mirrored each other, they were both to upbeat as if they enjoyed this kind of work. They would be easy to take down. The one on his left was skinny with a shaky hand and a frightened look in his eyes. Joel knew that if he took the two out on his left first then that one would go off runnin. Now the one behind him with the crooked nose and a nasty snarl... He was going to be a problem.

"You will be kept under guard here.” She said.

“My. Family.” Joel repeated. His was a man of few words, but he was persistent.

“They will be able to live here with you once I know that you can be trusted. Wouldn’t want you to get the band back together and ruin my entire plan, would we?” Heather gave him a look, “No more talk of this. Now get inside and change. I have plans for you and I don’t want you dying from hyperthermia.”

With that, Heather left and the four guards remained. One of the upbeat brothers shoved him inside the home. The three young men headed inside with Joel while the tough looking one kept guard just outside the door.

“I reckon don’t need to show ya where the shower is.” Link laughed as he took off his coat.

Joel didn’t give him an answer and began to make his way upstairs.

“Oh! And we found all yer weapons so don’t even think about looking old man.” Link’s brother Preston said as he pulled off his beanie, his short dirty blonde hair tussled.

Joel had an urge to punch that kid in the face. But he resisted as he reached the top of the steps and out of their sight.

“Don’t even think he’d be able to reload the damn gun even if we gave him one.” Preston laughed.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that Link.” The younger, scrawny looking one spoke.

“What?” Link wrapped his hand around the back of his neck that was covered by his shoulder length brown hair, “You scared of an old man Mathias?”

“All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t get too comfortable.” He said quickly moving himself away. Joel could hear the three of the shuffling to the living room.

“Yeah right.” Link rolled his eyes, “I could kill that old man with one hand tied around my back.”

The sunlight was beginning to drown in the dusk and Joel knew that if he wanted to get to his family alive then he would need to be smart in his next moves.

Joel carried himself up the steps, worn out and tired, but a plan formulating in his mind. He walked past each room, all of them open and ransacked. The bedroom to his door was wide open, the same chaotic mess dawning his floor.

A floor that hadn’t been tampered with. Maybe the heavens were on his side. He hoped that this same luck would stay on his side.

Joel only halfway shut his door. He didn’t want to make any noise for what he would do, but he also needed them to hear the creak of his door. He made his way to the bathroom, his boots hitting the floor rougher than usual to have them think that he was an old man, one that made noise wherever he went.

He turned on the water to his shower before silently walking back to his room. With the stealth of someone even a clicker wouldn’t hear, he retrieved a 9mm pistol and a tactical knife from under the floor board. It was the weapons that he got for his firefly and he silently thanked her for keeping them hidden here. He checked to make sure it was loaded before heading back to the bathroom to take a much needed shower.

He needed the cover of night to exact his plan.

“How did an old man like that even pull someone like her?” Preston wondered as he took a sip of the whiskey he swiped from Joel’s cupboard.

“I don’t know man, but I went by Mikel’s cabin the other day.” Link said.

“Mikel has a cabin?” Mathias wondered, “He’s a new member like me right? Does this mean we all have the choice to leave if we want to?”

“Mikel’s barely apart of this group and I ain’t tellin you where that cabin is.” Link shook his head, “You get any ideas of leaving, you know where your body is gonna be.”

“Dude, he has the life out there. I got a peak of her before he closed the door and let me tell ya, even half dead she’s a peach. I swear either he railed her so hard that she couldn’t move or that gunshot wound is really getting the best of her.” Link laughed with his brother chuckling along with him.

“Romanians man, they sure know what they’re doing.” Preston replied as he and his brother clinked their glasses.

Joel wondered if his favorite color was red with how much he has been seeing it lately. He silently creeped along the hallway and down the staircase, not one creek in the floorboards as he drew closer to the laughing hyenas in his living room. He wanted to kill them.

“You shouldn’t talk about women like that.” Mathias interjected, “That girl could be seriously hurt you know.”

“What would you know, you virgin?” Preston scoffed as he poured another glass of whiskey, “I bet you haven’t even seen a woman naked before.”

Mathias continued over stuttering words, “Just because I haven’t seen a woman naked before doesn’t mean I don’t know right from wrong. It’s not right to disrespect them.”

Joel briefly thought about sparing the kid. It seemed to him that he had no idea what he was doing with a group of blood thirsty raiders. If Mathias played his cards right then maybe he could survive.

“Sometimes… You really show your age kid.” Link shook his head.

“How about you come talk to us like real many when you’ve got your cherry popped alright?” Preston’s voice boomed in laughter, “I’m going to go take a leak.”

The other two though… There was no mercy left in Joel. He wanted to tear them apart until their guts painted his carpet his favorite color… But he thought against that because his firefly picked out that carpet and she would hate it if it got ruined.

Preston was easy as Joel waited in the hallway by the stairs. He was covered by the shadows that Preston didn’t even have a chance to scream as Joel dragged his into the darkness, a hand around his mouth and a knife imbedded deep into his neck.

And then he waited as patiently as he watched his next victim fall right into his trap.

“Yo Press! You get lost or somethin?” Joel heard Link yell.

When Link didn’t receive an answer from his brother, Joel knew he got him. He heard Link stand up as fear rippled down the raider’s spine. Link’s hands quickly grabbed his rifle as he called out again, “Preston!” And he listened intently for the response of his brother.

“You don’t think…” Mathias’s voice trailed off as he gulped.

“No. We would have heard that old man walk down the stairs if he were up.” Link shook his head, “He probably just can’t hear me, the drunk bastard. Go take a look.”

“What?” Mathias’s eyes widened in fear, “Why do I have too? He’s your brother. You should go see if he’s alright.”

“Because I’m the one with the gun and what I say goes.” Link pointed it towards the kid, “You want me to remind you of the last time you disobeyed me?”

Mathias shook his head in fear.

“Good. Now go take a look.” Link motioned to the hallway.

Joel listened as he heard Mathias trudge slowly to the hallway. Joel noted the kid didn’t have a gun, leaving him to believe that his was most likely by the front door.

“Preston?” Mathias stuttered out as he ventured further into the hallway. He was terrified, his hands shaking because he knew that something had happened and here he was being sentenced to death by a mad man.

“Please—” Mathias thought it would be best to try and plead for his life, but before he could finish, Joel’s hand was wrapped around his mouth.

“You don’t want to die right?” Joel spoke low, barely above a whisper.

Mathias struggled to shake his head no from the tight grip that Joel had, but he got his point across.

“Then go out there and distract him. Keep him from looking towards the hallway.” Joel commanded, “Do as I say and you live to see another day kid.”

Mathias gulped as he nodded. Joel let him go and watched as the kid tried to get his footing. Mathias straighted out as he tried his best to look normal.

“Anything?” Link asked as soon as Mathias appeared.

Mathias walked around him and waited till Link’s back was facing the hallway before he explained.

“I found your brother passed out in one of the guest rooms.” He lied. From the corner of his eyes he could see Joel creeping out from the shadows so he continued, “He probably thought that you and I could handle the rest of the night on look out.”

“Like hell I’m going to stay up. You and that big oaf out there is going to keep watch. I’m heading to—“ Before Link could finish speaking, Joel hit him across the head with the blunt end of his gun.

Mathias blubbered his words as he looked between Link and Joel.

“The man outside. He loyal to your cause?” Joel asked.

“Yes.” Mathias answered truthfully and he knew that he just condemned another one of his squad members to death.

“You gonna run?” Joel asked.

“No sir and…” Mathias spoke quickly, “I’m not loyal to them. I just want to survive, I swear. I barely know this group.”

“I know.” Joel took his knife out of his belt loop, “Tie him up in the kitchen. Ropes in the closet.”

With those orders, Joel left out the back door with one mission in mind. Embed his knife as deep as he can into the skull of the raider outside.

That left Mathias alone and he listened to Joel’s orders. He found the rope where Joel said it was and dragged Link to the kitchen where he heaved him up on one of the dining chairs and tied him to it.

“You know you deserve this.” Mathias muttered whether to convince Link or himself, he didn’t know, “I’ve sat by long enough as I watched you and your brother pillage, rape, and torture to get your way. You deserve this.” He made sure to tighten the ropes.

Joel rounded the corner of his house, his eyes focused on the man who stared straight ahead. He was alert as he sat in his chair, gun held securely in his hand. Joel prepared himself for an altercation as he veered closer.

With his knife raised, Joel took one more step just as the man clocked in on his position. The large man popped up from his seat as soon as Joel embedded the knife into his shoulder. With a grunt the man charged, trying to lift his rifle to aim, but the gun was too long and Joel was too close. Joel quickly grabbed the gun as they tussled on the front porch. Thankfully the tall muscular man didn’t try to yell or scream for help. I guess he figured he could take care of Joel himself.

Oh how wrong he was…

Mathias could vaguely hear the sounds of Joel and Kent fighting outside until suddenly it was quiet. He wondered with a racing heart who had won and if he should run? If Kent had won then maybe he could play victim? Say that Joel was the one who tied Link up. Should he hurt himself too? Try to make it seem more convincing? Before he could make a decision, the front door opened and in walked Joel who dragged Kent in behind him.

“He awake yet?” Joel asked calmly as if he didn’t just kill another man.

Mathias shook his head, “No.”

Joel set the lifeless body by the other one, both in sight of where Link was knocked out. Joel didn’t have time however, to wait for Mathias to wake up. He needed to find out just where this cabin was. He had enough, lying low now that he had all the information he needed about his family.

Joel stuffed a dish towel in Link’s mouth before shoving the knife deep into his leg. That was the quickest way to wake him up.

Link woke up with a scream as he felt pain rippling from his leg and throughout his body. His head was pounding and the world seemed fuzzy, but he could make out Joel leaning over him like a monster you would tell your children about.

“You’re going to tell me how to find my girl or you’re going to end up just like your brother over there.” He pointed towards the lifeless body, Preston’s shoes barely peaking of the hallway. He took the gag from Link’s mouth.

Link raged as he struggled against his ties, now he was fully awake, “You fucker! I’ll kill you!”

“Answer.” Joel twisted the knife.

“I ain’t tellin you nothin.” Link spat with venom.

Joel glanced over to Mathias, “Get me a bucket of water and another towel.”

Link’s gaze followed Joel to Mathias who was standing in the archway, “You’re with him? After I took you in? You dirty fucking little traitor. After all I’ve done for you, I should have skinned your ass when I had the chance!”

Mathias ignored him as he went on to collect the things that Joel asked for.

“Don’t look at him. Look at me.” Joel drew his attention back to him with the twist of this knife causing Link to groan out in pain. Joel spoke slow so that every word could sink in, “I am going to drown you. It’ll be slow and it’ll be painful. Or you can tell me where my girl is. The choice is yours.”

Link glared at him as anxiety and fear rippled through his body. He could see it in his eyes that Joel’s words rang true, “I don’t know.” He stated quickly as Mathias returned.

“Well now we both know that is a lie.” Joel placed a towel over his face, “Lean the chair back.” He ordered Mathias.

“You should tell him.” Mathias suggested.

“Fuck you.” Link spat back at him.

Mathias leaned down close to his ear, “You already did that, remember? Against my will.” Link shuttered from fear at Mathias’s next words, “You deserve this.”

Mathias leaned back up and nodded towards Joel, “Do it.”

The night was long with each pour of water, with each gasp for breath. Joel felt no remorse drowning a man with no morals and no regret.

“I don’t remember!” Link gasped as soon as he was allowed breathe.

“Try again.” Joel stated before dumping water on him as he struggled for breath against the soaked towel.

“Okay!” Link gasped, “Just please. Please stop! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!” Joel held out a map and a pen, “You’re going to point to where it is on the map.”

Mathias set the chair back on the ground. Link’s breath was ragged as he took the pen between his teeth and marked a spot a few hours away from Jackson. Once Joel was satisfied with that answer he glanced towards Mathias.

“He’s all yours.” Joel took a step back and motioned to the knife.

Link looked between them with wide eyes before settling on Mathias, “No. No. No. No. No. Wait. Please! Wait. I’m sorry! No! Please! Don’t!” The last words that fell from his mouth were blubbering pleas as Mathias shoved the blade deep into Link’s heart.

“Now you can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Mathias whispered as he watched the light fade from his eyes.

Mathias stood still for a moment as he tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. He felt numb, but he also felt free. He had a choice now as he turned to Joel.

“How old are you kid?” Joel asked as he grabbed the whiskey bottle from the table. He took a long sip as he waited for Mathias to answer.

“Nineteen.” Mathias answered as he looked away from his once abuser.

“I…” Joel’s words felt empty as he struggled to say them, “I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

Mathias didn’t give him an answer and Joel understood why, “Where are we going next?” Mathias asked instead.

Joel’s eyes widened slightly from Mathias’s question. He didn’t really understand why the kid wanted to tag along with him, but he didn’t refuse. Joel set the empty bottle down before handing over Kent’s rifle, “We’re going to get my family back.”

“Okay.” Mathias nodded as he took the gun. His green eyes shined bright with determination. It was as if he finally had a true purpose now and it felt exhilarating.

#joel miller x y/n #pedro x reader #joel miller #joel miller x you #joel the last of us #joel tlou #pedro pascal #joel x reader #pedro is daddy #pedrostories #whiskeytearsseries #whiskeytears #joel miller angst #joel and ellie

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psychiclounge · 4 months ago

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leverage + caves of qud

i keep seeing "leverage but they have superpowers" posts recently and it made me want to do a cleaner version of something i went crazy about over several posts last year- the team but if they had mutations from one of my all time favorite games, caves of qud. very self indulgent

hardison

he's for sure an esper & a very powerful one at that. crazy high ego- and therefore high psychic glimmer. absolutely has esper hunters after him

i think most of this is pretty self explanatory. most of these are easy to link to what he does, like clairvoyance being akin to hacking into camera systems, that sort of thing

also esper hardison is perfect imo but i think it would be really funny if he had mostly mental mutations & then, like... flaming/freezing ray. all of that and he can also do beam attacks because of course he can

i don't feel like remaking these, but if i were to switch one out from any of these, it might be swapping sunder mind here for space-time vortex, or maybe temporal fugue. i bring up sunder mind for a couple other characters, both in a more lethal context, and it makes it feel less accurate here. the original intent was less "exploding heads" and more meant to represent something like chaos & hardison's back and forth in the two live crew job- two espers sparring

parker

again i think a pretty self explanatory one, but i wanted to make it clear that giving her the defect nerve poppy is also meant to represent alexithymia

two-hearted for heightened toughness due to the way she manages to almost never get seriously injured. originally i gave her regeneration but i didn't like how that implied she does get injured and just heals quickly- i wanted it more to feel like... the way a cat manages to always land on its feet, if that makes sense. she's just walking away from falls she should not be able to walk away from

eliot

on the other hand, eliot does actually have regeneration. still doesn't stop him from pushing himself when he should be resting & healing, even if he does heal faster than normal

multiple arms is deeply selfish, i just think it would be cool. imagine how crazy all his fight scenes would be if he had an extra pair of arms...

the scene in two live crew where eliot & mikel aren't actually fighting, but just staring each other down and visualizing how the fight would go? both of them were using precog

there doesn't need to be an analog for eliot not using guns because guns just already exist in qud, but i was still very tempted to give him high level sunder mind or another similarly lethal mental mutation that he intentionally never uses. also because i like the idea of moreau having especially appreciated said mutation & it being tied to that period in his life

... dystechnia is a biiiiiit over the top but it's here almost entirely because the severe failure = explosion bit made me laugh

nate

this is where it gets really clear that i was primarily focused on the ot3. a lot of nate's are just based on vibes

the exceptions are confusion & socially repugnant, both of which feel pretty solid for the characters he tends to play when grifting: slimy assholes that piss you off and get you so worked up you don't notice what's actually going on

i think sunder mind isn't a mutation he starts the series with, it develops somewhere in season 4 (maybe around cross my heart) building up to the climax of the last dam job

sophie

i gave her beguiling & especially domination because i wanted her to be genuinely scary <3

another pretty straightforward set. mostly mutations that are helpful with grifting, but with a few that get her out of direct danger if something goes wrong. also i just think she could do really fun things with temporal fugue

i think she could also have the evil twin defect. i was fully going to give her this but i don't remember why i didn't add it to the picture

#leverage #eliot spencer #alec hardison #parker leverage #nathan ford #sophie devereaux #again... very very self indulgent post. i've had a really weird day i'm allowed this

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hornithology · 1 year ago

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Grayson (2014) live read

join me as I re-read Grayson for research for an essay on it's treatment of eroticism.

love the use of bold pink for issue #1's cover. very much referencing 60's 70's James Bond posters and pop art. I saw a picture of a second printing where the pink was red instead, which could have been an aim at making it more marketable (less queer-seeming, which... lol) or could have been about the print quality on the color? the red with black title is way less striking.

the left variant cover is horrendous. why did you make his face look like that. why are you trying to sell some gritty version of Dick who doesn't know how to properly handle a gun, for a comic in which Midnighter is going to flirt fight with him? deception in advertising!

the right is really great. I wish I could find a better quality image. matches the energy of Nightwing #30 which lead to all of this.

on to the story!

there's something about dead, tortured, martyred Dick...

Looks like we've got a hot one. YES YOU DO, M!!!

"I can read the electrical activity inside your pretty head." "you fight like jazz." stellar dialogue. you can't tell me this is not a little bit of flirting. and Midnighter is a known, canonically gay character, so we are meant to read into his lines. I think it's also pretty established at this point in Dick's character consensus that he's very attractive.

I think this room is referencing Modesty Blaise (1966), a spy parody featuring Dirk Bogarde. I haven't seen it yet. when I first read Grayson I was like... the colorful visuals and patterns in a spy context make me think of Austin Powers—a 90's parody of the 60's/70's parodies of spy films. inspiration multiply removed! I'm fairly confident that the artists looked at some spy movies/posters for their design choices.

although this room could also be inspired by the red room in Twin Peaks. either/and.

the bold colors and patterns in Grayson are fairly important decisions, because they're the artistic decision that is most successful. iirc, we'll see how I feel on this re-read.

I WILL SCREAM AND I WILL CRY. Tim Seely and Tom King... I have questions and demands!!!!

more colors! but it's not actually hypnos because it's not vibrant enough and doesn't contain the concentric circles... or is it???

this is also weird because I'm not sure if like. we're not supposed to think that Helena and Dick were together romantically in the past (Nightwing / Huntress (1998)). that's pre new-52 so... shrug. but do they even know each other here? are they pretending that they have met recently? is Helena's vigilante identity a secret from Spiral? these questions are not relevant to my essay so I shall not be doing that investigation myself :)

ok actually that's Huntress middle row third from left, yes??? edit: no, it's Batwoman. anyway.

that's Grayson #1!

it's a pretty good issue opener, with some unfortunate fatphobia that is completely expected. we get some titilation with Helena, the start of a nebulous power dance that is perfect for the spy genre.

I wish that I liked the art better, since we have these artists for the majority of the run. the combination of Mikel Janín's drawings (not enough gesture) and Jeromy Cox's soft coloring of the figures makes it look like everyone is drawn from a 3D model. there's nothing wrong with using models and references in comics and is pretty much necessary for all DC comic turn around time, but it's really not my preference because you lose the "hand" of the drawing. the drawings in this issue look stiff. I'm not actually positive that Janín is using models.

I like the color choices for the hypnos and action sequences, the panel composition is good, and I like some of the inking. I think they are making smart decisions with the visuals, it's really just the type of drawing that is not my favorite. to each their own!

#Grayson (2014) live read #batman live reads #grayson (2014)#Grayson 1 (2014)#midnighter #dick grayson

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lacilashea · 2 months ago

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#help gaza #help canaan #save sick and disabled people #talk to Jesus about everything and your life improves #help others #Holy Spirit #tagar duar reges moshe see translations in these tags #Jesus is King and GOD IS KING instead of governments and kings etc of people-Samuel 8:6-9 John 18 & 19 #Jesus Lord of Lords #jesus my lord and savior #Jesus Christ #Jesus the Messiah #No more price tags on lives #Stop Muders/killing Euthanasia abortions death penalties bombs dynamite or killing etc and more exodus 20 #this is not about me but about Jesus #ban psychiatry and psychiatric medication though goes against ones self and wants when forced to take psychiatric medications or treatments #News #breaking news #world news #cease fire now #protect jews #protect christians #protect muslims #God #Not worshipping them but protect Mikael his name the angel genesis 19 #Not worshipping them but protect angels and former angels genesis 6 & 19 #The holy spirit the comforter in acts one and two and that many others in day to day lives that love Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.#Do not take Jesus God and the Holy Ghost out anything and all is theirs including you protect them #Help those in Jerusalem and Canaan #gaza

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charlie-lec-stories · 2 years ago

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Dirty Little Secret - Part 5.2: The whole truth // CL16

Pairing: Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character

Series Summary: Charles' wife went to The Other Side and came back, but her past did too.

Chapter Summary: Y/N finally finds what happened with Maud. Max has to risk everything for a friend and Charles does the one thing he never wanted to have to do again.

Series Warnings: Death, descriptions of CPR and a car crash, sexual comments and implied sexual acts, mentions of blood, mentions of suicide and depression.

Author’s Note: This is a special I decided to write inspired by Halloween and the Qatar GP, it's five parts long. It's the first time I write something for this page instead of editing thing I have written before, I hope you guys like it. Rate: +16 (descriptions of medical procedures).

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"En in dit laatste geval, zijn er de afgelopen twee jaar zes mensen vermist in het bosnd". Y/N heard Mikel Horton say on the news.

"Six people, that's crazy, Max". She told him and he just grunted.

"I don't understand why people think the woods are the problem". Maud added while applying her makeup. "I know it's a maze there, but if something happens that's literally the best place to hide, no one can find you there. If people are stupid enough to get lost, that's not on the woods".

"Well, I kind of agree with that". Y/N said, Max finally looked up from his phone. "I hid there the other day, to skip Math and that horrible test".

"You hid in the woods to skip that test?". Max asked incredulously. Maud just laughed out loud.

"Mate, my mom would literally kill me if I don't pass that test".

"She's gonna kill you for skipping anyways". And to that, Y/N had nothing to say. They heard a car park in front of the house.

"It must be him!". Maud said, excited. It was 7:55 PM. With Max and Y/N's help, Maud climbed out the window.

"Have fun". Y/N said and she smiled.

"I owe you guys!". She jumped down the remaining height and ran off to the car.

She felt chills with the anticipation of finally getting to go out with Connor. The warm Spring breeze moved her dress around and gave her hair a little messy touch that actually complimented her. She jumped a little when the car window rolled down and inside, she didn't find Connor. The guy in the car was a little older, maybe in his early twenties and he gave Maud the feeling that she should go back inside. His black hair covered his eyes a little, he kind of reminded her of the emo bands Max loved so much, but when he looked at her he didn't look that threatening. He told her that he was Connor’s cousin, Martin, and that Connor got out of practice late and asked him to pick her up and take her to Connor’s house. He smiled at her and she saw the happiness get to his eyes, blue like Connor's. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and when she pulled it out she saw her date had sent her a direct message on Facebook. "Did Martin pick you up yet? He's my cousin". She answered with a simple "yes" and got in the car with Martin. They talked for a few minutes, she told him about racing and he said that he knew nothing about that, but that he gladly hear all about it some other time they meet. She smiled at that, maybe Connor really liked her, he sent his cousin to pick her up and take her to his house after all, that must meant that he wanted her to meet his family at some point. Martin started telling her about his life in Amsterdam, but then Maud noticed that they were going in the wrong direction.

"This is not the way to Connor's house, you should have turned right, not left". He looked at her and, for a fraction of a second, Maud could see him frowning.

"I just need to do a 'quickie pit-stop'". Maud felt her heart skip a beat. 'Quickie pit-stop' was something that she told Connor, one of those times they talked about races. How did Martin know that term if he knew nothing about racing? She tried to unlock the door, but for some reason, the lock wouldn't lift.

"What are you doing?" Martin asked her in harsh tone.

"I want to get out". She started pulling at the lock, desperately, but it wouldn't budge.

"What? Why?". He grabbed one of her arms while still driving.

"Stop the car, I want to get out!". With as much force as she could, she loosened his grip on her arm and tried to pull out her phone. He tried to snatch it from her and the argument turned into a fight. She did what she could to keep her phone and he tried to drive while moving his arm around, looking for it. He stoped the car in front of the woods and she took the chance to try and break the window. Martin, not having to drive anymore, finally took her phone away and threw it to the backseat. Then, he tried to keep her still, but she was fighting him with everything she had.

"Just stop it!". He yelled at her and followed that with a smack to her left cheek. Understanding that things could only get worse, Maud did what she could to jump on top of him and scratched his face as much as she could. She just tried to move fast, not giving him time to respond to her attack. Martin, on the other hand, was surprised by her fighting back. On top of him, and still attacking him with one hand, she opened his door and threw herself out of the car, falling harshly to the dirt road. Instinctively, she ran to the woods, looking for a place to hide. She could hear Martin calling for her and running not too far behind, but that only made her run faster.

The woods were dark and the little moonlight that filtered through the trees made the flowers shine. She tried to remember the type of flowers she saw, to make sure that she'll remember her path back home. The warm breeze she loved earlier became a humid atmosphere that made her sweat even more and between that and the fear she felt, her whole body was shaking. She found something that looked like a small cave and hid there, waiting for Martin to go away. She waited for what felt like an eternity, thinking about why she had to say yes to this date and how she could be so stupid to fall for all of that. All she wanted was to get back home, to turn back time and never jump out of that window. But she couldn't, and now she felt the humid air of the woods hit her skin like a thousand knives.

The minutes passed by and she thought that she was safe to get out and run back to the town. She barely made it out of the cave when a pair of hands grabbed her and threw her to the ground. She looked up, finding Martin on top of her, a pocket knife on his right hand. He never said a word and she wanted to know why. Why do this to her? Why? But she never got to ask, a sharp pain paralyzing her instantly. Maud wanted to look down, to actually see what he did to her. Looking down made it real and she wanted to forget. So she went back home, back to Max and Y/N, to her parents, to school. She went back to that morning and her mom making breakfast, the smell of the butter hitting the pan and instantly melting filled her nose. She went back to school and how excited Y/N and her were that Max was coming back from his karting race in Spain. Then to that afternoon and all the planning they made for the fake sleepover, how her best friends promised to help her choose an outfit, without even thinking that it would be the last thing she ever wore. She remembered the last hug she gave her parents before getting out of the house. She was so deep into the memory that she never felt the second stab, or the third, she didn't feel anything, just her mother's arms tightly around her frame as she breathed in her perfume. Lastly, she went to one special memory, the day she met Max. She knew that he was the one the moment she saw him, but she was so scared to ruin their friendship. She looked at the flowers, shining in the dim moonlight, all orange, yellow and purple. Closing her eyes, she let Max's blue orbs be the last picture she brought up.

Martin felt like he couldn't stop, maybe he didn't want to, he didn't know, but he had already done it. He got up and looked at the kid one more time. The mess he made was terrible for the business, but the merchandising was useless dead, so he didn't care much about that. But it was a shame, she was prettier than most. Still, there were a lot of 14 years-olds naive enough to pick up. By the corner of his eye, he saw some movement, like a shadow, and before the predators could smell the blood he decided to leave. Those woods were a lot more terrifying that he expected and now he felt more like the pry. He saw the shadow again but this time, he didn't feel threatened by it, in fact, he felt like the shadow was glad of what he did. He looked back, discreetly, and saw the shadow cover the body of his victim. A sense of safety fueled his body and gave him the strength to run back to his car, he wasn't that deep into the woods anyways. He heard some rustling behind him and stopped in his tracks to watch the body be dragged into the small cave. Assured that the evidence of his crime was erased, he finished his run to the car. He never expected to encounter the supernatural, and for sure he never expected it to help him cover up a homicide, but he was glad that he did. Back at the car, he picked up the girl's phone from the backseat and texted her friends, letting them know that she was having the time of her life with Connor and hinting that she wanted it to never end. Around 10 PM he told them to go to sleep and they told him, or their friend actually, that they were going to bed and that she should call them when she was going back to the house so they could help her through the window. He sent a smiley face and after 5 minutes turned the phone off. He drove back to Amsterdam, broke the phone and threw it away. He expertly covered his tracks and started working on the next clueless girl he could find on Facebook.

The tears in her eyes made the adjustment to the darkness of the cave a lot harder and her shallow breaths weren't enough to let the oxygen into her lungs. There was this suffocating hurt inside her chest as she felt what Maud felt that spring night, over a decade ago. She hugged the jean jacket close to her chest wishing for it to be full of life, full of Maud. The silence around the cave was deafening, like she was unable to feel anything. But then, she felt the faint touch of hand on her shoulder. Not letting go of the jacket, Y/N turned around ready to face her destiny in the hands of the shadow, but instead, she found her little friend, still 14. She looked exactly as she remembered her, her bright blue eyes and shiny blond hair, the beautiful half smile that always adorned her face was still plastered on her features, like it never left. Y/N extended her hand, slowly, afraid that the smallest of touches could make her disappear. She noticed her hand was a lot smaller, her wedding ring baggy on her finger and it caught Maud's attention.

"Your wedding was so beautiful". Maud said in a whisper and Y/N felt herself shred more tears at the sound of her voice. She missed her voice so much. "I remember how we used to talk about getting married and our weddings when we were younger. I'm so happy that you got to live that. You deserved it".

"You deserved it too". Maud smiled at that. Y/N recognized her own voice a lot higher in pitch. She understood then, they were back to were they left off.

"Max looked great. I couldn't help but think about how good he would of looked at our own wedding". They shared a bittersweet giggle.

"He still loves you, so much". Y/N could see the pain in her friend's eyes.

"I know and I will always love him, but he needs to move on. He needs to be happy. You should have never came back here. You should've stopped looking for me long ago". That confused Y/N.

"What do you mean? You came to me after the crash, you asked us to come back". Maud shook her head quickly, frowning.

"I can see you, but I could never contact you out of the veil. It was her, the shadow, she was the one that lured you here". Maud looked around, making sure they were still alone. "She's... death. The Death, or, I guess, one of them. She feeds on us, the living, every time one of us dies. She lives in the woods and, at night, she gets people and eats them. Like she ate me".

"She's been trying to eat us, all this time". Maud nodded.

"I've heard her for years, complaining that you and Max never got out of the tent. She loves it when people give into her, she doesn't like to take you, she likes to break you. She likes to get healthy people and make them... I can't even say it. She says that it tastes better". Y/N shut her eyes tight, disgusted.

"But how did she make me see you like that? She was never able to do that before". Sha had never hallucinated before, not matter how hard the trip to the woods was.

"When you died, in Qatar, you crossed the veil. She saw that and you bonded, she bonds with everyone that crosses. That bond probably went back with you when Charles and the doctors brought you back". Y/N remembered her crash, and for the first time, she was able to remember the short time she was dead. She saw Charles, trying to bring her back, desperately doing CPR, begging her to stay with him. Then, in front of her, there was the shadow. It got closer and closer, until it touched her face. She felt like everything got colder and Charles' voice was further away. Looking down, she saw how she was flowing into the shadow. But when she thought she was gone for good, she barely heard someone yell "clear" and a burst of energy went though her. The next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital, Charles by her side and Maud's rotten figure at the foot of her bed.

"She just wanted me to come back to the woods so she could take me. She knew I would bring Max too". Maud looked at her, sad.

"The only way for you to get rid of her is destroying her".

"We have to go to the camp, we need to tell Charles and Max to leave. She's gonna try and get them too". Y/N tried to get up, but Maud placed her hand on her shoulder again and stopped her movements.

"We can't". She saw the confusion that tinted her features and the realization hit her. "Oh no". Y/N just looked at her, impatient. "Y/N, love, you're almost dead. That's the only reason you can see me, you're at the veil again". Maud took Y/N to the entrance of the cave and showed her something outside. "That's you, holding onto the little life you have left. She hasn't took you yet, once she does, she'll bring your body here, to her collection. Like she did with me. For now, she can't take you. You haven't given up. Charles and Max have to find you and bring you back. But you have to destroy the shadow first, or she'll haunt you until she can take you".

Max and Charles ran to the cave as soon as they understood that Y/N was taken by the shadow. At the entrance of the cave, Charles faced a sight he saw before but he never wanted to see again: his wife dead. Max, who had took a bag from the camp before sprinting off, kneeled next to her and took her pulse. Sighing, he opened the bag and took out some needles. Charles looked at him puzzled.

"You have no idea how much illegal stuff you can buy on the internet if you have enough money". Max told him, sensing Charles' confusion. "Now I'm sure. The shadow, I know what it is".

"What is it?". Charles wasn't actually sure if he wanted to know the answer to his own question.

"It's a Reaper. A Death. I suspected it with the amount of people that went missing here in the last 15 years". The Dutchman moved Y/N's body to make her lay face up and with her arms and legs extended. He then turned around, towards Charles. "Listen. This needles have two cocktails. One to stop the heart, one to restart it. You are the best one doing CPR, Charles. You brought her back once. I need you to bring us back again".

"Us? Max, what the fuck do you thing you're doing?"

"Do you really think that the Reaper will let her go again so easily? Someone has to give her a hand, I'm not good at CPR, not as good as you. You can bring us back". Charles knew that arguing was pointless. "Start doing CPR to Y/N, I'll inject myself. Give me 90 seconds. She she'll be back by then, and you inject me the other other cocktail. There's a hand defibrillator on the bag. If I don't come back in two minutes, use it on me. I promise you, Charles, I'll bring her back to you". And with that, Max laid next to his best friend and stuck the needle in his arm, while Charles started CPR on his wife... again.

"She's back". Maud informed Y/N while they hid in a corner of the cave. They had spent a minute trying to think how to defeat the shadow.

"We have to attack it now. I've been dead for three and half minutes, I have to go back before seven or I'll have brain damage". Y/N told her. They had no plan and no weapons to attack this being that they didn't even know how to kill. But if Y/N had to go, she'd go swinging. They were about to jump on her when Max suddenly appeared next to them. He looked young again and for a second, everything felt fine, they were all together again.

"Maud". Max said, perplexed. She smiled at him, without thinking, they both jumped to each other, melting on the hug they waited so long for. "I love you. I have loved you my whole life".

"I know. I love you too and I always will". He squeezed her tight, but she knew they couldn't waste time. "Listen, the shadow is-"

"A Reaper". Max finished, proudly. "I figured it out".

"We have to destroy her or she'll never leave Y/N alone. But we don't know how". Max tried to explain everything quickly.

"I know. Before the trip I did a little research. You need to grab her so I can force my hand inside its chest and touch her heart, or something like that, it was an old book, it'd free the energy she ate and kill her.". Maud's eyes grew bigger at his explanation.

"Its core, you have to touch its core". She sad excitedly. "I know where it is, it's where my life went when I died".

"We don't have much time, Y/N's been dead for four and a half minutes".

The three of them ran to it, Y/N and Maud grabbed it by what seemed like its arms but when Max tried to make his hand go through the shadow, it hit her chest like it was a hard surface. The Reaper angrily pushed them away and jumped on top of Y/N, starting to eat her life. Maud and Max were desperate, he looked at the entrance of the cave and saw Charles doing CPR on Y/N's body, giving it his all. He couldn't fail Charles, he promised him to bring his wife back to him, he couldn't let him down. Maud understood immediately what she had to do.

"You're not fully dead, not yet. But I can go through her. I can destroy her". Maud turned Max's head around and quickly pecked his lips. "I love you. Please go back and live the life we both deserved, live it fully".

With that, Maud ran to the shadow and forced her hand through its back, getting to her core. The shadow pushed her off and Max ran to Y/N to keep her safe. He looked back at Maud, their eyes meeting for a brief moment, then she didn't simply forced her hand, she forced her whole being into the shadows core, both of the exploding in a bright white light. Max felt different, he felt like he wasn't caged anymore, he felt light. Picking Y/N up, he dragged them both to the outside. Charles was there, stopping CPR to inject Max. The blond felt the shot of adrenaline through his body and in what felt like a blink, his eyes opened and he was looking at the sky, back in his body and back his age. He saw Charles going back to CPR, Max sat up as fast as he could and went to grab the defibrillator, he knew that Y/N was weak after what the shadow did to her, she needed a hand coming back. Charles cut her shirt open. Max placed the pads of the machine on her chest and followed the instructions it said out loud. The machine said "clear" and they both moved away from Y/N. Her body went stiff and then relaxed, then the machine informed that there was pulse again.

They went back to the town and straight to the hospital to have both Y/N and Max checked out. When they were given the green light, they told the Chief of Police about the cave, that was a lot bigger when they went back. The power of illusion the of the shadow made people believe that it was a small cave when it was actually a bigger one. Thirty-six bodies were found, Maud included. Her family did a little service for her and Max and Y/N got to say good-bye again. Y/N went back to visit her parents and then the three of them went back to Monaco. On the plain, Charles and Y/N talked.

"I'm sorry I lied, the truth is I was so ashamed of what happened, felt so guilty that I thought you'll never love me if you knew". She sighed and looked at him, trying not to cry. "I understand if you want a divorce. I know that everything I did, the lying, the hiding, it was all wrong". Charles took her hand and brought it to his lips, giving it a soft kiss.

"Do you remember that night at the bar, where you told me a secret so I could tell you one of mine?". She smiled at the memory, of course she remembered. It was the first time he finally let go and kissed her like he meant it. He kissed her with the love she wanted him to give her.

"Yeah, I could never forget". Charles sent her one of his signature smiles.

"'Today I was rooting for you, and even though you DNFd, I still feel like a winner when you look at me'. That was the truest and more honest thing you've ever said to me, I know that. So believe me when I tell you this: I've been feeling like a winner since the first time I laid my eyes on you, 20 years ago, on that karting race". She finally let her tears fall and he kissed them all before they could reach her jaw.

They had a lot to work on, a lot to overcome, but just like they overcame this madness, they would fix this too. Because they shared a little secret:

They were winners together.

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Okay! This was not my plan at all, I wanted to publish this TWO WEEKS AGO but shit happened and I couldn't. I'm really sorry for the cliff hanger.

So... the end! I cried my eyes out writing this one. I hope you guys liked this, I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you felt scared and happy and sad and had fun, that's the whole point of this.

I'll be active again, now that I think I will have more free time.

See you all on the next story!

#charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc imagines

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