#THE FANFIC ISN'T DEAD

[wheredidalltheusersgo]

The Stranded and The Scaly.

Chapter 13: The Wolves.

Day 8

Chapter warning: Gore descriptions, violence, Body horror?

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The gopher had finished eating, but now Geoff needed to find something to munch on before he got hangry. He wasn't a nice guy when he was hangry.

He turned and began his walk to the shore; fishing would be an easy way to get the food he needed. After his mutation, it almost felt like an instinct.

However, his thoughts drifted to Ezekiel. He had been gone for most of the day, and the sun was starting to set now, painting the sky with gorgeous hues of pink, orange, and yellow. If only Zeke was here to see it! Geoff hoped his little buddy wasn't too upset about his disappearance-- all he wanted to do was explore the cave! He didn't know he'd get caught up in a crazy cave-in!

As he walked, he thought it was weirdly quiet.... and lonely. He'd been walking for a little less than 10 minutes now, maybe he could take a break to snuggle with his little gopher? Geoff stopped and looked around, the gopher was nowhere to be seen. The gopher was gone. A spike of fear shot up his spine, and stress began to creep through his mind. That little guy was alone in this forest of mutant freaks, and it was peak prey.

Weak and defenseless.

Geoff turned and took off the running through the forest. He kept his eyes peeled for any sight of that chubby, pink beast.

He couldn't believe he just left it behind, what was he thinking?! God, he was so fucking stupid sometimes! Of course the gopher wouldn't follow him when he walked away. It was blind, for crying out loud!

Geoff ran as fast as his long legs could take him, taking note of any tree, shrub, or rock the gopher could be hiding behind.

He'd never forgive himself if that ugly little cutie was dead because of HIM.

A raspy howl could be heard echoing throughout the forest. Geoff ran faster.

As he crashed through a clearing, he was met with a sight that turned the blood in his veins to ice.

There was a pack of grotesque, mutant wolves.

And they were feasting on a mutant gopher carcass.

The freezing feeling he had previously felt in his veins was gone. All gone.

Blazing heat traveled up his spine from the tip of his tail directly into his brain.

He was seeing red.

His heart was pounding out of his scaly chest.

He couldn't keep a single coherent thought in his head.

The vicious predator within him had broken loose, and now it was taking over.

Geoff was still hungry, after all.

There was nothing he could do to stop the growl that tumbled from his throat, or the ear-splitting roar that followed.

Those mangy mutts messed with his little buddy, and they were gonna PAY.

With no control over his body, he charged forwards and lunged at the nearest wolf. Razor-sharp teeth pierced the canine's furry skin, blood sprayed. He just couldn't stop himself as he tore the wolf apart, ripping off chunks of it's flesh and scarfing them down.

From the corner of his eye, Geoff saw the rest of the pack retreating. If they thought they could just run away, they were dead wrong.

Geoff quickly abandoned the mutilated wolf corpse and bolted towards the others. They may have been fast, but they were no match for his far superior speed.

With a quick flick of his tail, he sent half the pack flying, wounding them enough to keep them from running in the process.

With half of the pack wounded, Geoff began to blindly swipe at the other half with his claws and tail, breaking their bones from the sheer force of the attacks.

The second all the wolves were downed, Geoff went into a frenzy.

He tore into each wolf, barely caring about the mess he was making.

The pungent scent of blood pierced the air, and the metallic taste filled his mouth.

It was nearly euphoric.

-----

Geoff snapped back to reality, his head now clear of the predator instinct. He was shaking. He stared down at his clawed hands.

Blood. His hands were dripping with blood.

As he took a moment to survey the area, that was all he saw. There was blood soaked into the grass and splattered on trees, bits of fur and flesh strewn about, it was a massacre.

Geoff felt weak, he wanted to vomit, but he knew what would come out. He was scared. Scared of himself, scared of what he had become.

Geoff stumbled backwards and collapsed under what he hoped was a blood-free tree. He dug his claws into the ground and threw his head back as he gasped for air. This couldn't be happening.

He felt like he could pass out at any second, he dug his claws deeper into the earth.

He could only hear the rustle of trees, his ragged breathing, and his pounding heart.

But just then, he felt something soft and warm nuzzle against his arm.

Geoff's eyes shot open and he stared in the direction of the sensation.

The little gopher had somehow found it's way back to him. His gopher..

It climbed into his lap and he immediately grabbed it, holding it close against his chest. He curled around the gopher protectively as his chest heaved.

Tears began to spill out of his eyes and pour down his face. He was so relieved. The carcass belonged to a different gopher, his little buddy was alive.

Little buddy.... Oh, God.

Ezekiel.

He needed to find Ezekiel.

Using the tree as support, Geoff got to his feet with the baby gopher curled up in his arms. He gave it a gentle, affectionate squeeze and began his journey back to the cave.

Ezekiel paced around the cave, clutching Geoff's lucky hat close to his chest. Geoff had been gone for hours. He had looked everywhere for him, but he'd lost Geoff's scent AND his tracks.

He'd lost Geoff, the love of his life, the only person who trusted him. He could hardly believe it.

Suddenly, footsteps. Slow and heavy footprints.

There were only two of them, so they couldn't belong to any animal.

But... he KNEW those footprints, he'd heard them before. He knew that rhythm.

It had to be Geoff.

Ezekiel whipped his head around, but the sight his eyes fell upon made his heart sink.

Geoff stumbled into the cave, dripping in blood and looking miserable. The blonde boy let out a pathetic whine and fell to his knees, letting his eyes meet Ezekiel's.

Ezekiel wrinkled his nose at the scent Geoff brought in and rushed over.

"Zeke, buddy... I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry..."

Zeke quickly hushed him and helped to maneuver him into a position where he was laying on his back, but Geoff refused to let the gopher go.

"You look sick, I take care. Just like before."

Ezekiel gently brushed Geoff's messy bangs away from his eyes and recieved a look of pure trust and vulnerability in return.

Ezekiel knew exactly what he needed to do now.

------

[casuallyanidiot]

Author author!! More of deer yandere please😞🙏🙏

Yandere deer hybrid who's so eager to start breeding you. It doesn't matter if you can even get pregnant or not because by god he's going to try his hardest.

Continuation to this

Tw. Noncon, dead dove do not eat, kidnapping, yandere, captivity, breeding kink, overstimulation, bone breaking (mentioned), gn pronouns used for reader, MDNI

Ciervus waits until your leg heals to start the whole ordeal. Never mind the fact that he was the one who broke it, he lavishes you with praise and sympathy. He strokes your hair and whispers about how good you're being by staying nice and pliant in the cave he's prepared for you. You're his good little doe, all snuggled and sweet in his nest.

It almost gives him a sort of rush knowing that you were this big bad thing prowling around the woods with death at their heels. Who would guess that you were so fragile and so fuckable? He chuckles to himself as he pushes your face down into a soft bundle of fur and grabs your ankle. He rolls it gently, and he listens with a contemplative hum as you squeak in slight protest and pain.

"Well, it doesn't seem like it hurts much as before," He comments and lets your foot go limp. Despite the progress, he knows that you're never going to be able to walk the same ever again. He hopes you'll heal enough eventually, but it won't get to the point where you can outrun him. That's all he really cares about anyways.

His antlers have grown a fair amount since he last shed them and presented them to you like a prize. He feels them idly while smoothing his other hand down your nude back. He likes the feeling of your shuddering spine beneath his fingers, and he marvels at how quickly the time has passed. Already a couple months spent cuddling with his little doe... it's honestly impressive how he hasn't lost his composure yet.

But there's no more putting it off, little doe.

He hums and wordlessly grabs your thighs before spreading them apart. Your breath hitches, and his grin widens as he sees your twitching little ass and your leaking privates. His chest rises and fall more rapidly, and he'd forgive you if you mistook him for a snarling, drooling predator in that moment.

"Oh look at you..." He breathes out, kneading the sensitive flesh. You try and drag yourself away, but he gently tsks at the pathetic effort. "Now now, no need to be all shy," He teases lightly, and he positions himself right between your shaking legs. He's not totally oblivious despite the fact that he's never been with anyone before. The right of mating is deeply ingrained in his brain: a gift from generations before to ensure that whatever doe he was trying to pump full of babies would be pliant and sweet with pleasure.

His hands find his cock (impossibly long for a human, even impressive by hybrid standards), and his spits in his palm before he begins to pump and tug on the sensitive skin. He smacks your ass, enjoying the way the flesh jiggles, and he hisses in pleasure. You're everything he's ever wanted. Not these insipid little things that run about the woods and waste his time. You're the real thing. He snakes his hand around and coats it in your tears, shuddering at how you sob despite your pride.

Heat coils in his belly with each movement of his wrist, and he throws his head back with a hearty groan. His release is unceremonious, but he knows the main event is yet to begin. Ropes of his cum coat your lower back and entrance, and he relished the sight, the smell of him on you.

" There, hah, now we can get you all nice and ready," He huffs out and doubled over you so his forehead is pressed between your shoulder blades. His antlers graze against your skin, and if you move too much you'd surely be pricked by them. His shuddering, quiet laughs ghost over your skin. His fingers scoop his cum off your warm skin and dips them down to your twitching, dry entrance. He presses kisses to your neck, and he shushes you when he feels you tense.

"No no no, you're fine, you're fine shhhh. Just give me a moment to make you feel good," He murmurs and leans forward to nibble on your earlobe. Fuck, you're clamping down on his fingers. He hears you hiss out a bit in discomfort, and he coos. He gets knuckle deep, his cum acting like a lubricant to help the process as he stretches you out. You whimper and whine, but eventually he curls his digits in just the right spot to get you all loose and gaping.

He teases you with a little bite to your shoulder, and he rears back enough to line himself up and sink his length in inch by agonizing inch.

You were so tight, the fear making you clamp around him in all the right, delicious ways. All these months of watching, waiting salivating over you, and now he's where he's wanted to be. You twitched, rolling your hips underneath him. He wasn't sure about if it was because you were enjoying this or if it was just another pathetic, stupid attempt to leave him. He grips you by the back of your neck, his other hand gripping your hip as he thrusts roughly into you.

The cave was filled with his grunting, your squeals and moans, and the sounds of your bodies slapping together. He pressed kisses all over you, grabbing your face to turn you into an awkward, arched position where he could bully his cock further into your spongy walls and give you sloppy, smiling kisses.

Soon, he groans and dumps a hot load in you, and he feels you relax. You pant and tremble from your own forced orgasm, and he grins through the darkness. He pets your head, and he feels his cock soften in you. There's a sense of relief from the both of you, you for it being over and Ciervus for it happening at all.

He does feel a bit bad, though, as he member twitches back to life. Your eyes widen, and he pins you down before you can struggle. He's far from done with you, little doe.

[dixons-sunshine]

Yielding Isn’t My Middle Name—Chapter Six | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: Daryl’s worry for you only grew as the rain fell down heavier and heavier. He would not stop fighting until he got you out of that well, no matter what stood in his way—not even a set of chains.

Warnings: Angst all around. Swearing, allusions to death and torture, blood, near death experiences. Just read with care.

Word count: 3k

A/N: Only one more chapter to go, and then the epilogue. Thank you all for sticking with this series for so long! You all are amazing.

Taglist: @dixons-girl89 @jupiter1700 @enlightndone @shadowcitrine @angelwings-crossbowstrings @holdmytesseract @secretsicanthideanymore @remuslittlesister @daryls-wife @crazyunsexycool

Crash!

Rumble!

Boom!

Whether those deafening sounds came from the harsh thunder or the gun shots of the intruders that had managed to push past Liam Davis��� defenses, Daryl did not know. What he did know, however, was that the rain had not let up even the slightest bit. If anything, it had gotten worse, immensely so, and the crossbow-wielding archer had no idea if the doors to the well you were being held captive in had been closed after his involuntary departure. And when Daryl had asked Lucas about it, he had not gotten the response he had hoped for.

“My wife. S’she gon’ be okay? S’someone gon’ close those doors? Answer me, goddammit!”

“Shut the fuck up! Can’t you see there are more pressing matters at hand than that little whore of yours? Now sit down and be fucking cooperative!”

That had been over an hour ago, and Daryl was nowhere closer to getting himself out of the shackles that bound him to the wall than he was all those weeks ago. He pulled, yanked, leaned all of his body weight forward in the hopes of pulling the chains from the wall, but to no avail. The chances of him getting free was slim, if not nonexistent.

Daryl was extremely worried, and on the verge of a panic attack. He knew for a fact that with the war that was raging on outside in the storm, nobody would care enough about you to ensure your safety. Hell, if they cared about you at all—which they had made abundantly clear they did not—they would not have thrown you down into that well in the first place. These people had proven themselves to be cold, heartless monsters, and if the opportunity presented itself, Daryl would love to watch them, as well as this godforsaken supposed safe zone, burn to the ground.

Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he gritted his teeth together and leaned all of his body weight forward once more. “C’mon, Dixon,” he muttered to himself, his voice gruff and strained due to the harsh pressure he was using against his shackles. “C’mon, goddammit! Fuckin’ break! Break!”

The chains, ignorant to the archer’s command, did not break. All they did was make a ‘clink’ sound as Daryl leaned back against the wall, his expression one of defeat. Unwillingly, a lone tear trickled down Daryl’s cheek, his heart shattering at the knowledge that he was failing you. You were in danger and he could not save you. He was breaking the one promise he had sworn to himself he would never dare break; he would always protect you.

“So much for that,” Daryl grumbled to himself with a broken scoff, swallowing hardly to prevent himself from full-on sobbing. “Yer fuckin’ useless. Can’t even protect yer wife, not to mention yer unborn baby. Yer a goddamn failure.”

And Daryl truly believed that. He felt like an absolute failure at that moment. He failed his family, he failed his unborn child, and most of all, he failed you. You could be dead in that well and he would not be able to do anything. He was supposed to protect you! To ensure your safety! How could he fail at that? You were the most precious thing in his life, and he was failing you.

He was failing you. He was failing you. He was failing you.

The sound of keys jiggling caught his attention and prevented him from succumbing to the abyss that was his self deprecating thoughts. He looked up and attempted to see who was on the other side of his cell, but he could not. Despite only being midday, the harsh storm outside made his cell appear pitch black, so all he could see was a silhouette. And then another. And another. And then…

“Daryl!”

Daryl’s heart both sped up and stopped simultaneously. He had never once thought that he would be as happy to hear that voice like he was at that moment. The gruffness of the voice, mixed with the southern twang of the accent was one Daryl was all too familiar with.

“Rick.”

The door to Daryl’s prison flew open with a loud bang as soon as that name left his lips, soon accompanied by the sound of footsteps rushing into his cell. The beams of multiple flashlights fell upon his face, and the light made it possible for Daryl to make out the faces of his rescuers: Rick, Michonne, and Glenn.

“Daryl, oh my god,” Michonne gasped, her eyes trailing over the multiple injuries on her friend’s face.

“M’fine.” Daryl was not fine, not even in the slightest, but it was neither the time or place to fill them in on what ached and what did not. “Jus’ get me the hell outta these fuckin’ chains. I gotta get Y/N!”

Daryl did not even have to say that, because whilst he was still talking, Rick had already dove down and began breaking the shackles with the bolt cutters he had with him. However, he had gone in expecting to find two people he would need to unchain, but other than Daryl, the cell was otherwise empty. And Daryl’s words, the urgency in his voice when he said he needed to find you only further increased the brave leader’s worry.

Where were you?

“Daryl, where’s Y/N?” Rick inquired, helping his found brother up onto his feet.

Daryl looked at Rick, terror in his eyes. “Hopefully not where I think she is.” He wiped his hands on his tattered shirt. “Get a long rope and meet me at the wells. M’gon’ be at the one with the wooden doors.”

Before anyone could make any inquiries as to what he meant, Daryl pushed past them, taking off in a dead sprint out of the cell. He ran up the stairs of the basement, up into the living room—the location where it all went wrong—and out the front door. The rain fell down on him heavily as his bare feet made contact with the muddy ground below him, but he did not care. He only had one destination in mind, one goal in mind; he had to find you. He just prayed to whatever higher entity was listening that he was not too late.

The seemingly endless amount of wells soon came into the archer’s view. He sped up his pace, if that was even humanly possible, and begun heading straight for the one that stood out from the others—the one with the open doors. His suspicions had been right. The bastards had not even bothered to seal you away from the increasingly worsening weather.

The icy water droplets fell onto his body in a cold shower as he skidded to a halt in front of the well. He braced himself on the edge of the well and peered down, his ocean-coloured eyes zoning in on the sight below. At first, he could not see a thing, his vision obscured by the droplets that fell into his eyes due to the wind that blew them in his direction, but then he saw it. He saw you, floating at the bottom, the well already filled with water.

“Y/N!” Daryl called down. At first, he had feared his voice was drowned out by the storm, but when you looked up at him, he felt relieved.

“Daryl!” you called up to him, your voice tinged with absolute terror, making Daryl’s blood run impossibly cold. “Help me! Please! I can’t get out!”

Daryl heard his name being called, and he looked over his shoulder. He saw Carol in the distance, accompanied by Abraham and Rosita. He did not wait for them to catch up to him. He needed to help you.

Hoisting himself up onto the edge, he jumped down into deep hole, completely disregarding his own safety. His body soon collided with the chilling water below, and when he only narrowly grazed the bottom with his feet, he realized that the water was deeper than he had initially thought.

He resurfaced and took a deep breath, wiping his wet hair out of his face and looking around for you. When he spotted you, he swam over hurriedly, his heart pounding against his chest.

“Sweetheart, oh my god,” he panted breathlessly. He took your face in one of his hands, his thumb gently rubbing over your cold as ice cheek. “Yer okay. I gotcha. We’re gon’ get out, alright? Rick’s here and he’s gon’ bring a rope and we’re gettin’ out.”

“Daryl,” you began with a broken sob, “I can’t get out.”

The archer frowned at that. “What? Whatcha mean? ‘Course yer gon’—”

“I can’t,” you insisted through your tears. “I can’t free my legs.”

Daryl’s heart stopped at that. He removed his hand from your cheek and ducked down beneath the water. Although the water made it hard to see, he could make out the faint, unmistakable glint of chains that were similar to the ones that had kept him shackled in his cell. That knowledge made the archer’s heart drop to his stomach.

When he resurfaced again, Daryl looked at you, and he could see the terror on your face. He wanted nothing more than to pull you into his arms and reassure you that everything would be okay, but he could not do that. You needed to stay afloat, and Daryl needed to come up with a plan—fast.

“Daryl,” your broken whisper reached his ears, and it shattered his heart into pieces. “I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.”

If there was one thing about you that Daryl had initially been drawn to, it was your fearlessness. The reality of the world you were forced to live in had toughened you up from that scared, meek woman he had met at the quarry. You did not scare so easily, so hearing those words come from you made his body fill with dread.

“I know ya are, Sweetheart. But I’ll figure it out. I won’t leave ya here.”

Where the hell was Rick? He needed those goddamn bolt cutters! However, Daryl supposed he could not be mad at his found brother for taking so long. The discharge of multiple weapons had started again a few minutes ago, so it was clear that he was not taking his time just to be spiteful.

The water had risen immensely in the mere five minutes that the archer had been down there with you. The water surrounded your body almost entirely, save for your neck and face, although those too would soon be emerged under water if Daryl did not think fast.

You would drown if he did not do something.

Reemerging beneath the icy depths of the steadily rising water, Daryl swam over to the shackles that bounded your feet to the concrete below. Perhaps the water would played to his advantage and would have weakened the metal. Or maybe it would serve as some kind of lubricant that would help you slip free. He had to hope for the best.

Daryl began tugging at the chains, and similarly to his own ones he had sported earlier, they would not budge. Despite every pull, yank, and kick, the metal did not budge. That was a problem. That was a major problem.

His lungs burning and in desperate need for air, he swam up and resurfaced, taking a big breath. However, his breathing got choked off when he noticed just how quickly the well was filling up. The water was now up to your mouth, and you had to tilt your head back to prevent the water from entering your mouth.

“Shit!” Daryl cursed loudly. “Just hold on, sweet girl. Hold on. Yer gon’ be okay.”

Daryl knew his words were futile. The reassurance that he was throwing your way did not mean a thing. The chains would not budge, despite his best efforts. The water would soon engulf your entire being, and Daryl was powerless to stop it.

He was failing you. He was failing you. He was failing you.

You sent him a strained smile as the water begun filling up around your face. “I love you,” you told him softly. If you truly were about to die, you wanted the man in front of you to know that you loved him. That was what you wanted your last words to be. Not your admission of fear, not begging for Daryl to save you. You wanted to leave this world having let your amazing husband know that you loved him. That was how you wanted to go out.

Your mouth got submerged under water, soon followed by your nose, and all Daryl could do was watch. Watch as your entire body got submerged beneath the water. Watch as you closed your eyes as you begrudgingly accepted your harsh, undeserved fate. Watch as your life slipped away, and he was powerless to stop it.

Refusing to accept what was happening, Daryl ducked down beneath the water and once again attempted to free you from your chains. He tugged, he pulled, he kicked and bashed, but it did not work. He could not save you. You were drowning, and Daryl was forced to watch. There was nothing he could do at that moment.

Daryl could see the moment you lost consciousness. Despite being underwater, Daryl saw when your body went limp. In a last ditch effort, the archer swam over to you, grabbed your body and begun tugging you backwards with all the might he had. However, it was not enough. Nothing he did was enough. You were dying, and he could not prevent that from happening.

The need for air soon made itself known to Daryl, and it forced him to let go of your body and swim up to the surface. When he did, however, he heard his name being called. He looked up and strained his eyes, and he could see Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Abraham, Rosita, and Carol standing there.

There was still hope. “Rick, throw the bolt cutters, and prepare the rope!” he yelled up at the group as loudly as he could. Thankfully, it was loud enough, because the object soon came hurling down at him, splashing into the water.

Daryl wasted no time. He dove back down into the water and grabbed the sinking bolt cutters. He quickly swam over to the shackles and proceeded to try and cut them loose. It took a couple of tries, but thankfully, he managed to do it. Your body—now free from its confinement—drifted to the top, right where it needed to be.

Releasing the bolt cutters, Daryl hurriedly swam up and grabbed your body. He resurfaced with you in his arms, tugging your body up so that your head was above the water. Luckily, the rope that Daryl had requested was already thrown down and ready to be used, much to his great relief.

“Jus’ hold on a bit longer, Sweetheart. We’re almost there,” he mumbled to your unconscious body. With great effort, he swam you both over to the rope. He quickly tied the rope around both of your bodies and held you tightly in his embrace, trusting that there had to be enough manpower up there for them to be able to pull you both up in one go.

“Alright, pull us up!” he called up at the group.

The next few moments passed in a blur. Slowly, but surely, you and Daryl got pulled up from the well. Daryl kept whispering words of reassurance to your limp, possibly dead body, praying that you would be okay. He hoped that he was not too late.

You and Daryl got helped over the edge of the well by multiple people. Daryl looked up momentarily and could make out that there were a lot of people there, even some people in the community he did not know that well. However, his attention soon turned back to you.

Quickly removing the rope from your bodies, Daryl laid you down on the ground. He situated himself over you and pressed his hands against your chest, before beginning a steady rhythm of CPR. He could feel droplets trickle down his cheeks, and whether they were from the rain or from his tears, he did not know, nor did he care.

Ah, ah, ah, ah. Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive, and repeat. That was the stupid motto you had drilled into his mind back when you were being taught to do those types of medical procedures by Hershel. He had offered to be your test dummy, and you had kept singing that particular line of that song over and over again. He had thought it was stupid back then, but now it was coming in handy. He just hoped it would work.

Daryl could vaguely hear panicked voices around him, followed by people darting towards the approaching threats and ridding them of their weapons and forcing them to the ground, but he paid them no mind. His only concern was saving you. However, it did not appear to be working. You were not spitting up any water and gasping for precious breath. You simply laid motionless, possibly dead.

“C’mon, Y/N. Wake up!” he muttered desperately. “Wake up, please!”

As a last resort, Daryl did the one thing he never in his life wanted to do to you; he began hitting you, against your chest, hard. He repeated it once, twice, three times, when it finally happened. It finally happened, much to Daryl’s immense relief.

You woke up abruptly, coughing up water. Daryl helped you lean forward and patted your back, helping you rid your lungs of the liquid in them. You inhaled shuddering breaths, falling back against Daryl’s chest and closing your eyes as your husband wrapped his arms around you.

“Daryl,” you whimpered out brokenly, seeking the comfort of the man you loved more than life itself.

Daryl pressed a tender kiss to the top of your head, closing his eyes as tears trickled down his face. There were so many people around the both of you, but he did not care. He was just so glad that you were okay. Nothing else mattered.

“M’here, sweet girl. M’here,” he muttered into your hair that was drenched in water. “Yer okay. I gotcha. I promise I ain’t lettin’ nothin’ else happen to ya.”

And for the first time since setting foot onto the cursed grounds of the Sunny Meadows community, you truly felt safe, at home, in Daryl’s arms.

[tumblerislovetumblerislife]

will i ever be over the concept of long-haired charles? no. no i won't <3

[notbecauseofvictories]

sometimes I think they put some sort of...aural drug in mediocre movies. If I played all these thoroughly middling movies in reverse, would I hear a satanic message telling me, YOU WILL BE TEMPTED BEYOND ALL REASON TO WRITE FANFIC ABOUT---YES, THE MOVIE YOU HALF-WATCHED WHILE COOKING AND ANSWERING EMAILS. YES. YES, I---YES, I'M SERIOUS. YES, THIS MOVIE. THE CHARACTERIZATION OR LACK THEREOF MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. UH HUH. MHM. YEP. LOOK, I DON'T MAKE THE RULES, I JUST WORK HERE OKAY?

[fishyvamp]

I wonder which one of the killers would be a monsterfucker

I bet the Knight. He sees some fucked up, ancient horror and he's just "damn, that's beautiful. I need to build an altar."

"Tarhos I think that's a monster."

"This is my beautiful spouse who fell from the very stars. Fuck you."

"Hell... hell of... the void."

Personally I think we have a few monster fuckers in the line up, but out of the human like killers there's Ghostface, Knight (which I firmly agree with), Frank and Julie with Susie as a possibly (The Legion), Doctor, Nurse, Trickster, Clown, Skull merchant, Mastermind, and Pig. Which gets me thinking—

Imagine an Eldritch!reader who's power is on par of the Entity, feeds on the same thing, emotions. You who looks both ethereal and unnerving, who feeds on the emotions thrown your way. You who wanders the Entity's realm freely and without fear. You who finds a knight, a knight who watches as you slaughter hoards hidden in deep in the realm without even a breaking a sweat.

Eldritch!Reader who finds The knight at your feet. Mesmerized by the carnage you wrought wherever you go. Tarhos who has always been seduced by dangerous things. Who has always craved something dangerous to call his own. To own him and force him to submit. You are absolutely stunning even if you feel wrong. A voice in the back of his head screaming to run, but he can't help but reach out wanting to touch you even if might burn him from the inside out.

He who begs you bend him to your will, to use your otherworldly powers to bring the Knight to his knees so he may taste the sheer strength behind your very existence. He wants you to feast on him. To claw a hole in his chest so you can crawl inside and make him your home.

He begs you to stay with him, to hide in his realm. He can't bare the thought of you ever leaving him even if it meant death. The others stare and why wouldn't they? Your presence and power is enough to send anyone fleeing for the hills because you feel wrong and they can not explain why.

He touches you with reverence, as if he's worshipping you, he mouth only where you ask it to be and he will not remove it once you have placed it there. His head resting on your thigh he licks your sex moaning loudly just so you know he's enjoying himself. His body shaking as he humps your shoe groaning as you press the toe of it against his groin. He needs you to know how completely devoted he is to you.

Eyes rolling back as the Knight feels your hands carding through his hair. Your finger tangling up in the long hair as you coo praises to him. "'m not worthy," he whines as you tell him what you want from him. Your shadowy tendrils holding his "mortal" body in place. You are his deity and he is your ever faithful follower.

[writinganon1]

@cokoweee

Ya’ll ever have a dream so lifelike it feels aggressively real until one thing goes a little too wrong and then you start to realize that maybe you’re in a dream but it’s also too real to convince yourself it’s not real that you can’t wake yourself up? 

TW: panic attack, I say gun, uhhh blood ig? Bishop says a kinda weird thing but that's just him bein him

can I say blood? last time I did it marked me as mature...

-

Her heart thumped against her chest, lactic acid building in her legs as she ran. She tapped furiously at her phone, fingers slipping over the screen as she tried to deploy Sheldon. 

Donnie says “no no no” chimed a pixilated picture of Othello, his finger waving back and forth. 

“What the-” She slammed against a wall, her shoulder crunching against the brick. 

His stupid programming on the poor thing to keep Sheldon at his house. Maybe she could override it? 

No, not enough time. She was just going to have to run and hope for the best. 

Her shoulder screamed in protest as she climbed the ladder in the alley. Scrambling over the side of the building to catch her breath, she tapped at the screen again. 

There had to be something she could do to foil his programming. She wiped at her nose, the cold still not quite gone even after days of bed rest. Bullets flew over the edge of the building, seemingly locking on to her body heat. Throwing herself at the ledge at the last second to force the bullets to crash into the wall she coughed violently, phlegm coating her throat.

Stupid sickness. 

Stupid Othello leaving her with the stupid rabbit farmer.

She pushed herself off the ground, arms struggling under the weight of herself. It was as if every muscle in her body was on fire, each fiber screaming at her to stop. She gulped raising her head over the ledge. Agent Bishop was standing on the adjacent rooftop, his face curled into a sneer, eyes unblinking despite the sun in his eyes. 

He waved at her, fingers waggling in the air as he pulled a small gun from his pocket. Aiming it directly at her chest he grinned, his eyes flickering with something distinctly unhuman. 

She stumbled backward, her feet skidding over the concrete as he seemed to lock onto her. Loose rock dug into her knees as she clambered over the rooftop. 

Away.

All she needed to do was get away. 

She placed a hand over her stomach, feeling the raised bump of the scar, as she moved.

This was…

This was wrong? 

It didn’t happen this way. 

No. She didn’t need to get away, she needed to get out. 

The bullet ripped into her skin, tearing away at muscle, and shattering the bone in her rib.

She screamed, blood pouring from the gaping hole in her chest, as Bishop moved closer. He walked to her side, footsteps clanking against the concrete. 

Clawing at the ground she dragged her body along the roof, rocks digging under her nails. Bishop laughed, his foot trampling her hand, digging it into the ground. She gasped, breathing shallowly as she fought to get loose. 

He grabbed her hair, wrapping it between his fingers and tightening his grip as he pulled her from the floor. 

“Oh, this is wonderful.” He smiled, voice dripping with venom. “Such a pretty little thing I caught this evening. I’ve been dying to chat with you.” He pulled her hair up, forcing her to rise. “I wonder if she’ll do any tricks?” 

She spat in his face, her ears filled with an all-consuming ringing. 

Away. 

She needed to get away. 

It didn’t matter how. She needed to get away. 

He said something else, flaunting some sort of mechanism he had hidden in his shirt. She tried to focus on his words, but her breathing was too shallow, her limbs too shaky, the ringing too loud for her to hear a word. 

She clamped a hand over her chest, a sorry attempt to staunch the flow of blood from the gaping hole in her body. Cursing softly she watched as the red seeped into a slithering pink fleshy mass. 

She stifled a scream as the pink turned an orange maroon, her own blood fueling some sort of monster. 

“Shhhhhhh.” Bishop whispered against her ear, “It’ll be done soon. Just one quick slash and you’ll be out of my hair for good.” 

The mass jumped forward, faster than she could comprehend, her body spasming in pain as she scrambled back.

Was this the Krang she’d heard so much about after she’d left the jail? Weren’t they supposed to be mindless or something? 

It lunged forward again, tentacles lashing toward her face. Bishop shook her in front of him, like a toy for a dog. 

“Kendra?”  

She screamed as he tightened his grip on her, shaking her around like a bag of flour. The world around her turned hazy, her vision blurring in and out. 

She wasn’t going to go out without a fight. 

Throwing her head back she jammed her skull into his chin, breaking the grip he had on her hair. 

She clawed at the ground, a strange silky feeling coating her fingers. Pushing away the softness of what was sure to be Krang, she kicked at the mass as it wiggled unnaturally. 

“KENDRA!” A familiar voice shouted at her, a gentle three-fingered nubby touch against her arm. 

Her eyes flew open, arms flailing to the sides to swat at what was left of the Krang matter, as hands held her back. She gasped, her chest heaving as a sinking feeling hit her gut. Dread splashed over her head like a wave, drowning her, leaving nothing but fear.

Eyes widening she looked next to her for Tello, horrified as darkness encroached on her vision, leaving her staring through a pin hole. Nausea rolled through her stomach as she gasped for air, her chest shuddering to keep up with her breathing. 

It hurt. It hurt so bad. 

“Hey, hey, hey.” He whispered, hand placed against her back. “It’s ok you’re home. You’re with me.” 

She jerked backward. He was loud. So so loud. Even with the ringing in her ears, he was too loud. 

Breaths were punched from her lungs faster than she could finish taking them in. Tears streamed down her face as her eyes blew wide. Her chest tightened, lungs twisting as she shook. 

She’s dying. She has to be dying. There’s no other explanation. 

Dead in her room from a nightmare-induced heart attack,  

Her eyes flickered back and forth over the room, not focusing on anything, just wildly scanning for danger she knew wasn’t there. Willing her arm to move, she let out a chocked warble. 

The room seemed to melt around her. Things blurred together, a fuzzy abstract painting of almost-real-life. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she tightened her muscles. 

Her whole body shook as she tried to take steadying breaths. 

“Did you know softshell turtles only have half a plastron?” 

She was in the middle of dying. 

She most definitely did not need turtle facts right now. 

“Technically a full one, but it’s covered by skin, rendering it effectively useless for plastron purposes.” He shrugs. “Same deal as the shell.” 

She looked at him, confusion breaking through the panic. 

“Makes us really flexible though. Wanna see?” 

He got off the bed, walked to the middle of the room, and bent backward. He smiled upside down at her from the floor and smoothly brought himself back up. 

“Pretty neat huh?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Bet no other turtle you meet could do that.” 

Amusement rippled through her as she watched him demonstrate his stretches and various yoga poses.

“I’ve never met another turtle like you.” She breathed, some of the panic melting away. 

“Precisely! No one can do it like me!” He said, pointing his finger at her triumphantly before his face softened. “ We starting to feel a bit better?” 

She brought her thumb and pointer finger close together. A little 

He nodded. “Am I good to come back up or do you need some space?” 

She patted the bed next to her, inviting him closer. She waited until he was seated comfortably before slumping against his shoulder, exhausted. 

He shifted slightly, reaching for his phone with one hand, the other wrapped around her. He let them sit for a moment, reminding her to breathe every few seconds before Sheldon zipped into the room. 

He whispered something to Othello before zooming out of the room. She watched passively as it happened, her body still not quite connected to her soul. 

Sheldon returned moments later, a bag of ice, a bottle of water, a cookie, and tub of lavender lotion in his little propeller arms. 

Othello took them from him, patted his head, and shooed him away. Taking one of the ice cubes he flattened out her hand and placed it in her palm. 

She jerked slightly at the sensation of cold in her hand, surprised when he placed another in her palm. 

“Focus on the melting.” He said, voice low and gentle. 

The ice filled the lines of her hand and dripped over the sides and down her arm. She shivered as the water pooled in her hand. Othello grabbed the cookie from the pile he had created and broke off half to give to her. 

“Thanks?”

He watched her carefully. “What does it taste like?” 

“A cookie?” She said through a mouthful, her hands still full of TV static. 

“I need details.” He pressed. 

She paused, taking a moment to consider the flavors in her mouth. “Vanilla, chocolate chips.” She took another bite. “ Like I left it in the oven a minute or two too long and overcooked them just slightly.” 

She’d have to make another batch, this time keeping an eye on the time. 

He pressed an uncapped water bottle into her hand. “Drink.” 

She pressed the bottle to her lips, feeling the way the cold blossomed against her skin as she held it there. Quietly observing the way she could feel it go down her throat and into her stomach. 

“Are we feeling more alive?” 

She nodded, running her hand along her thigh to feel the fabric of her pajama pants as she pressed her head against his side. 

“Good.” He murmured, sleep creeping into his voice. “You had a panic attack I’m pretty sure.” 

“...Sorry it was for something stupid.” 

“I get worked up over stupid stuff too.” He mumbled, eyes half closed. 

“Your stuff isn’t stupid.” She countered. 

“Then neither is yours.” 

She stopped, lifting her head to look up at him.

He grabbed her hand, flexing the fingers for her. “You feel ok?” 

“I don’t know.” She answered honestly. 

He nodded and guided her to a lying position. “Tell me five of your favorite things.” 

She paused, looking around the room. “Hmmmmm. You.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Mhm. Uhhh, lavender. The color purple. Satin jackets. Baking. Messing around in the lab. Oh, I guess that’s more than five.” 

He tapped her shoulders rhythmically, “You can keep going if you need to.” 

She took in a deep breath. “I think I’m ok now.” 

“Positive?” 

Nodding she pulled the blankets over herself. What she really needed was rest. She was so exhausted from the whole ordeal that the idea of doing anything else felt impossible. 

He got off the bed again, searching beneath the bedframe for something before he pulled a large purple blanket from under the bed. She blinked in surprise as he placed it over her, a weight holding her down to the bed. 

“I should’ve mentioned it was weighted.” 

She pulled her hand out to give a quick thumbs up as he climbed back into bed. She shifted to hold out her arm for a hug. He smiled and pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her waist. 

“You smell like you’ve been using my soap.” She grumbled against his plastron. 

He shrugged. “ I like the way you smell.” 

Rolling her eyes she tugged the blanket higher over her shoulders smiling as soft chirping filled the room, the sound he always made right as he fell asleep. 

“Good night Tello.” She whispered.

His plastron vibrated as he churred back, gently running circles through her hair. 

She was home. And she was safe.

~

squad don't write stuff at four AM I'm pretty sure this only makes sense to me at this point. Anyway I was listening to my pretty princess playlist while writing this 💁‍♀️

the reason why this was written is in the tags btw

[rookinthecrownest]

all i seem to be posting are WIP's these days lmfao but here's one more. working on Night 6 of Bedtime Stories For a Demon (can read the story here) while I try and plan out the rest of the Fade jail fic.

[lamoureg]

oh by the way! in my fic jayce's brain convinces him that viktor is really just asleep after the explosion. silly him. asleep under some rubble. jayce needs to get him to the lab so he isn't uncomfortable when he wakes up! silly him! falling asleep under some rubble!

[recurring-polynya]

the worst part of tybw is how much of it is about killing off women for Man Pain (tm)

[the-blackened-pearl]

i finally cracked the code on my person interpretation of jack-elizabeth. allow alder to indulge in a midnight ramble.

for me, it's the metaphor. how elizabeth is constrained by societal rules and regulations, and the INSTANT jack shows up BOOM- she's playing the pirate game now. she's offered a tantalizing glimpse of the thing jack himself embodies- freedom.

we even see that after CotPB, she does not hesitate in using pirate tactics to get what she wants- such as letters of marque for will (aka, freedom-).

which makes elizabeth leave jack to the kraken interesting. she allows freedom embodied to be locked up, and almost instantly joins the team in getting him back.

not to mention that jack is the one who voted her in as King. elizabeth swann has been longing for freedom, and freedom himself grants her power- even over himself, if you will, but that's the thing-

jack's not one to let anybody control him. just like how elizabeth uses the power he gave her against him, he's not going to just accept that he technically answers to someone now.

also that scene in the locker where jack freezes as soon as he sees elizabeth. and immediately scampers over to gibbs, who confirms that yes, this is all real. elizabeth- the one who left him for dead- is real. there's something to be said there about freedom something something i am not able to articulate it atm rip

i'm not into the romantic interpretation of their relationship myself, but i get why people are. me tho i wanna study this weird, wacky, fucked-up friendship under a microscope. for science. it's an aro thing, i suspect.

[butnottxday]

i think i'm going to post my anderperry on ao3 today! i'm nervous, it's my second time posting there. i'mma need y'all to be gentle w me! 😭🙏🏻

[dixons-sunshine]

Yielding Isn't My Middle Name—Chapter Three | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Chapter Summary: Your suspicions regarding the community you were trapped in only heightened with each passing second. Daryl was mad at you, and you had confirmation that you were pregnant. Things couldn't get worse, could it?

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of pregnancy, blood and injuries.

Word count: 2.7k.

A/n: I feel like this is all over the place, plot-wise. However, another chapter was highly requested (by a few anons asking about it), so I stuck it out and this was born. I also feel like it ends on an awkward note, but I wanted to end it on a cliffhanger. I don't know if I did it right lol. Anyways, I hope you like this!

Taglist: @dixons-girl89 @jupiter1700 @enlightndone @shadowcitrine @ddamm @caseylicious @celtic-crossbow

“Alright, then.” Doctor Owen Miller tightly secured the bandage around Daryl's wrist. “The bandages should be able to come off in two to three days. The rope burns weren't that severe. You can feel really lucky about that.”

The doctor's suspiciously friendly voice barely reached the archer's ears. His ocean coloured eyes stared off at nothing in particular, his mind desperately attempting to wrap around that one pivotal fact the doctor had accidentally exposed to the unsuspecting father. Due to that fact, about a million thoughts were flooding through his brain—pregnant. You're pregnant. Baby. Father. He was going to be a father. He needed to get you out of there. He needed to keep you safe.

“Liam should be made aware that I expect to see the lady again tomorrow,” Doctor Owen told Mariah, subtly motioning over to you. “With the beating Peter gave her, I want to monitor the baby. I want to ensure that these two don't lose their child due to that asshole's—” The doctor cut himself off and took a deep breath before continuing. “Peter's recklessness. Please bring that to his attention.” With that, the doctor walked towards the door and opened it, momentarily stopping to add one last thing. “I'm off for the rest of day. Don't forget to lock up once your done.”

Mariah nodded as she helped you from the bed, careful not to disturb your injuries. “Of course.” She turned towards you and gave you a hesitant smile. “Ma'am, how are you feeling?”

How were you feeling? There were at least a million answers to that question: Slightly happy. Angry. Sad. Frustrated. But above all else? Overwhelmed. You were truly and undeniably extremely overwhelmed. You now had concrete evidence that you had a life growing within you, and although you were ecstatic at the news, you knew there were far more pressing matters at hand. For one, you were a thousand percent sure that your husband was pissed at you for keeping your pregnancy a secret and insisting on going with him beyond the safety the walls of Alexandria provided. On another note, you were even more certain that the supposed safe zone the two of you found yourselves trapped in wasn't all what Liam was making it out to be. That almost definitely meant that blood would be shed when you and Daryl attempted your escapes.

“Ma'am?” Mariah prompted, snapping her fingers in your face to grab your attention. “How are you feeling?” she repeated the question in a softer tone.

You shrugged and cast your eyes down towards your feet. “Okay, I guess,” you mumbled out weakly, your voice unknowingly snapping Daryl out of his trance and redirecting his fiery gaze to you. “I've had it way worse than this before.”

Mariah chuckled before she took a step back. “I bet,” she began, picking up the tray with the various tools and ointments that were used to clean and fix up your wounds. “You look like a real tough gal. You wouldn't have survived if you didn't get roughed up a couple of times, right?”

“Right,” you agreed in a mutter, your eyes hesitantly moving to meet those of your husband. You flinched a bit when you were met with a glare, but you didn't blame him. You knew he'd be pissed, and rightfully so. You just didn't expect him to be so open about his anger. Well, open by your standards. To the regular eye, his anger would be mistaken for the signature Daryl scowl, but you knew better. This was different. He was angry. And he was angry at you, which made it so much worse.

Mariah placed the tray on one of the tables before turning back to face you and Daryl. However, before she could speak up, a voice could be heard through the room; a voice that you had grown to know and hate, all within a few... Minutes? Hours? You didn't even know at this point.

“Mariah, love,” the voice of your captor, Liam, rung through the air from the walkie talkie that was sat on one of the shelves. “It was just brought to my attention that Doctor Miller is done with the new recruits. Please bring them up to the house for me.”

Mariah sighed, her steadily relaxing demeanour being replaced by that earlier nervous, mouse-like stature she had when you had originally met her. She walked towards the door and opened it. “Please follow me,” she squeaked out nervously, her eyes darting around.

You slowly walked towards her, not sparing Daryl a glance because you didn't want to see the anger behind those beautiful blue eyes of his. Besides, as mad as the archer was at you, he would never let you face that man alone. He would much rather die, that much you knew.

Daryl grumbled to himself and followed behind you, proving your point. Together, in silence, the two of you followed the woman out of the makeshift medical building and up to the big farmhouse you vaguely remembered spotting earlier—the farmhouse Liam had mentioned you and Daryl would be staying in with him. In no time at all, the three of you were walking up the steps of the majestic, white home, and in through the front door.

The inside of the home looked even more beautiful than the outside. It seemed as if though the horrors of the outside world were never heard of for this house. The floors were shining, the walls were decorated with all sorts of artwork, and there was even a television resting in the living room. However, you doubted the object even worked, because you hadn't spotted solar panels or anything that could generate power, so the thing was more of a decoration than anything else.

You were snapped out of your rather unnecessary train of thought by the feeling of someone's hand resting on your shoulder. The touch was all too familiar—it was your husband who was resting his hand on your shoulder. A subtle glance to your left proved your suspicions correct. So your husband didn't hate you. You considered that a win. However, you were confused as to why he felt the need to do that. He rarely did that in public, unless he was trying to comfort you, or to refrain himself from launching a punch in someone's direction. So why would he—

Your thoughts were cut off by the obnoxious sound of an all too familiar British accented voice. “Ah, well would you look at you?” Liam began as he descended down the stairs, his green eyes alight with invitation. However, whether or not it was genuine, you were yet to find out. “You're looking better, Y/N. Doctor Miller did a good job. A shower and a set of fresh clothes will certainly make you look rather ravishing.” Daryl's hand tightened on your shoulder, and you brought your hand to rest over his, a subtle way of trying to calm him down. Liam noticed, however, and sent Daryl a reassuring smile with a raise of his hands. “Woah, there, champ. No need to get all feisty. I already have a lady of my own. I was just making an observation.”

“Observation, my ass. Shouldn't even be lookin' at her, ya stupid fuck,” you heard Daryl mumble under his breath, and you had to refrain from giggling. Daryl wasn't a jealous guy perse, and he certainly wouldn't stop you from befriending other guys, but he definitely had his moments. Although he had other reasons to want to knock this guy out, it was rather cute to know that he didn't want Liam to look at you that way.

Liam, thankfully, was blissfully unaware of the archer's hateful words, instead turning to regard Mariah, who had been quiet during the whole exchange. “Hey, my beautiful girl,” he greeted her, opening his arms as an invitation for a hug.

Mariah hesitantly walked into his arms, tensing slightly when he pressed a soft kiss to the side of her head. You were sure to make a mental note about that. You didn't know why exactly Mariah was so scared of her husband, but you knew it wasn't good. If his own wife was terrified of him for god knows what reason, you didn't even want to know what he could do to complete strangers.

After he was satisfied with the hug, Liam pulled back and turned back to you and Daryl. He was about to say something until an unknown man barged into the room, breathless and sweating. Liam scowled angrily at the man, swiftly pushing Mariah aside. “Reggie, this better be really fucking important. You know how I feel about being interrupted when interviewing new recruits.”

The man—Reggie—quickly nodded. “I know, I know.” He panted breathlessly and leaned against the wall in an attempt to recapture his breath. “There was a man who demanded to speak to you. He refuses to speak to anyone but the leader.”

Liam stared at Reggie for a few seconds, his face giving absolutely nothing away, until he nodded and turned back to you and Daryl. “Please make yourselves comfortable. I promise I won't be long. Mariah,” he began, turning to his wife and lazily waving towards the door that lead to another room. “Please make our guests something to eat. I'm sure they must be absolutely famished. Oh, and get them something to drink as well.” Liam sent the two of you a smile. “I hope wine is alright. I'd offer up some scotch, but that's really hard to come by and I don't fancy wine that much, you see.”

“Liam!” Reggie exclaimed impatiently. “We got to go!”

“For fuck's sake, alright!” Liam roared loudly, his eyes alight with a fiery glare. He roughly pushed past the man and stormed out of the door, Reggie having to jog behind him to keep up. The door closed behind them with a slam, and just like that, you and Daryl were left alone with Mariah for the second time that day.

Mariah let out a small sigh, and you could see her visibly relax without Liam's presence. It was odd to you that the woman felt more at ease with two complete strangers who could turn around and end up hurting—or killing—her, and it only fueled your reluctance to trust Liam. There was something very off about that man, and you were determined to find out what.

Mariah turned to look at you, her eyes darting between your face and your stomach. “Um, are you sure you want wine? I mean, I don't want to force you to do anything, but—”

“It's okay,” you cut her off, sending her a small, tight-lipped smile. “Water is fine, thank you.”

Mariah nodded and motioned towards the couches. “Please, feel free to make yourselves comfortable. I won't be long.” With that, she scurried off into the kitchen, leaving you and Daryl alone in the living room.

Without the company of others, the air surrounding the two of you got tense very quickly. Neither of you made a move to sit down, but Daryl did move away from you, his warm, comforting touch leaving your shoulder. He refused to make eye contact with you, and it broke your heart. You knew he was mad at you, and he had every right to be, but it certainly didn't mean that it didn't hurt. You were certain it would be up to you to clear the air, and that's what you'd do—whether Mariah heard it or not.

“Daryl—” you began hesitantly, but you were instantly shut down.

“Don't,” he muttered bitterly, his back still turned to you. His shoulders were visibly tensed and even though you couldn't see it, you knew his jaw was as well. He was trying hard not to lash out at you, and you had to give him credit for his self-control.

However, you weren't having any of it. You were nothing if not extremely persistent, so you'd stop at nothing until you'd had a chance to explain yourself. “No, I'm not gonna stop until you've let me speak my mind.”

Daryl whipped around to face you, his eyes finally meeting yours. His eyes were set in a steely glare, but you didn't back down. “Where could ya possibly start explainin' yerself to me?” he spat bitterly. “Yer pregnant and ya kept tha' from me? Ya begged and pleaded to come with me on the run today and put yerself and our baby in danger! Now 'cause'a tha', yer in fuckin' danger. If ya had jus' told me tha' ya were pregnant, maybe things would'a been different. Maybe we would'a been safe back home. Maybe I never would'a suggested the run. Maybe I would'a let Rick come with instead'a ya. Maybe—”

You cut Daryl off by pulling him into a hug, nuzzling your face into his chest. He froze for a few seconds, hesitating to return the hug, but ultimately wrapped his arms around you. He rested his chin on top of your head, closing his eyes as he felt the anger drain from his body. He never could stay mad at you. However, it didn't mean that he wasn't still upset that you were in danger.

“I'm sorry,” you whispered against his chest. “I should've told you I was pregnant, I know that. I just didn't want to say anything until I was a hundred percent sure. That's why I wanted to go on that run with you. I wanted to find a few pregnancy test. I guess I could've just asked you to do that, but I didn't want you to freak out. I was... Scared. I was scared that if you knew that I thought I was pregnant, something would go wrong. I don't know what I expected to go wrong, but I just... I promise I was gonna tell you after I knew for sure. You have to believe me. I—”

“Hey, s'okay,” Daryl reassured you, pulling back to look into your eyes. Daryl was feeling all kinds of bad at that moment. You didn't deserve to be treated like that for any reason, especially not by him. You had your reasons for keeping it a secret from him, and he couldn't blame you for it. He was upset, but the two of you could figure that out later. For now, all he wanted to do was get you the hell out of that place, and to do that, he needed a clear mind. “M'sorry fer reactin' like tha'. M'upset ya didn't tell me, but there ain't nothin' we can do 'bout it now. We jus' have to figure out a way to get the fuck outta here. We can figure the rest out later, alrigh'?”

You nodded. “Okay.”

The two of you practically sprung apart when the door flung open again. However, instead of being met by Liam, you were met by somebody completely different. The man came strutting in like he owned the place. The man stopped and regarded the two of you with an indifferent look. “And you two are?” he questioned, plopping himself down on one of the couches.

You shared a look with Daryl, neither of you making any attempts to answer the question. However, you didn't need to, because Liam soon entered the home as well, sending you and Daryl a suspiciously friendly smile. “Sorry for disappearing, champs,” he began. “He was the one causing an uproar by the gates. This guy can make quite the spectacle when he wants to, don't you, brother?” The two men shared a laugh, before Liam calmed down and regarded the two of you. A look of realization dawned on his face, and he hit his forehead with his palm. “Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce him. This is Lucas Davis, my brother and right-hand man.”

The man—Lucas—sent you a small smirk, his eyes trailing you up and down. And for some reason, you knew that the arrival of this man would only mean trouble.

©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.

[terresdebrume]

"You can put your things here if you want."

Niko, who was trying and failing to find a free spot on the bench that lines up the dance studio, turns to the newcomer with a grateful sigh.

"Thank you," she says, "I didn't want to put my things on a stranger's bag and make them think I'm rude."

The man who approached her smiles. He has nice, dark eyes and dark skin, a long curved nose, and the sort of smile that never fails to put Niko at ease. She doesn't how to ask what his name is, so she sets her eyes on the golden hoop dangling from his left ear and waits. It only takes him a beat to say:

"Oh, I'm Charles, by the way."

"I'm Niko. And now we're no longer strangers."

She turns and puts her bright blue bag over Charles' well worn black one, then turns back around and makes her way to where the rest of the participants have already gathered in a circle. At first, Niko can't see Ashley, but it's only takes a few seconds to find her on the opposite side of the room, happily chatting with one of the older men.

Niko hesitates. Ashley is the only reason she's even here: there are too many people here for her to ever spontaneously join, and she knows nothing about dancing. Even when she listens to her favorite music at home and there's no one to see her dance, she rarely dares to do more than shake her hands a little. She looks around, discomfited, as the teacher asks everyone to form a circle around the studio and Ashley stays next to the older man, but before she has the time to worry about being on her own, Charles appears by her side with a smile.

"Hi again," he says, and Niko doesn't know him, but right now his face is the most familiar after Ashley's, and she is grateful for her presence. She nods at him, although she can't make herself smile, and he asks: "Is this your first time?"

"Yes," Niko says. Then, the words tumbling out of her: "I'm nervous because I followed my friend here but now she's making new friends and I have no idea what to do."

"Oh, I think we'll start with Road Map," Charles says with a nod towards the painter's tape on the floor that divides the studio into quarters. "The Boss will ask us a question, then assign an answer to each section, and you'll move to the one that applies to you."

Niko nods. This is a simple game, with simple rules, and no one is asking her to dance yet, which is just ast well. She can handle this first activity without too much trouble, she's sure. That is: she's sure of it, until something occurs to her.

"What happens if none of the answers fit you?" She asks, trying to keep her voice low as the teacher explains the rules of the game to the rest of the group.

"Then you either pick the closest answer or you stay in the middle," Charles says.

Niko nods again. Charles is wearing dance sneakers, she notices then. Someone drew tiny ghosts and skulls in white lines on the black fabric, and Niko almost smiles. Somehow, the sight of those quirky little faces makes her feel a little less like the odd one out with her sparkly blue shoes. She keeps looking at Charles' shoes while the teacher asks people to pick between ice cream flavors. Niko moves into the vanilla square with one of the three elderly women, a boy who can't be older than seventeen, and a person who went out of her way to look neither male nor female. When Niko looks up to confirm Ashley joined the strawberry square, she finds Charles standing in the middle of the studio on his own.

"Mr. Rowland," the teacher says with the tone of someone rolling their eyes a little bit, "may I ask why you didn't join the caramel and butter square?"

"You didn't say if it was salted or not," Charles says with a shrug and a grin that makes Niko chuckle. "That's an important point to specify, Boss."

A few people smile or even laugh at Charles' answer, and Niko thinks the room feels a little less tense after that. The next questions are about favorite animals (Niko goes to the 'cats' square, opposite Charles' 'dogs'), favorite color (Niko's is pink, Charles stays in the middle again for turquoise) and how spicy people like their food (Niko goes to the 'mildly' suare, and Charles goes to the 'very spicy' square with three other people). Then the teacher asks how many country everyone lived in, and Niko is alone in the 'three' square, with Charles next to her in the 'two' square.

"Can I asked where you lived?" Charles asks when they go back to the outskirts of the dancefloor to wait for the next activity.

"Japan, the US, and here," Niko says.

Charles looks like he's going to say something but then the teacher, a red-haired woman with a strong scottish accent and impeccable posture, announces the next activity. This time, they are supposed to find as many movements to do as there are syllables in their full names. Niko is grateful that she has no middle name and terrified by the exercise all at once. Well, there are other steps in the middle, but once they've gone through A-nu-mi-ta Mar-lowe, A-shley Wil-son and Charles Row-land, it's Niko's turn. She feels like she might explode every time she claps her hands as she introduces herself as Ni-ko Sa-sa-ki, and then there are only two other people after her before they are all instructed to turn away from the circle and start practicing their moves.

Niko's name is five syllables, and she has no idea how she's going to come up with five whole moves! A glance to her left shows E-ri-ca Ngo-si has a similar issue, which is a little reassuring. To the right, however, Charles is stretching his arms over his head, seemingly unconcerned. Niko can't help staring.

"Are you not going to do the exercise?"

"I already did," Charles says with a wink. "It's my third session here, and we always do that game. I've got it down pat by now."

"Oh, you're lucky," Niko says with a sigh. "I have no idea what to do. I don't know how to dance yet!"

"It's okay," Charles tells her with another one of his smiles. "We're going to play the game again, you know. If you don't like your movements very much, you can always change them."

"I really don't want to get it wrong," Niko says, frowning.

"I promise you can't. There's no wrong answer there."

Niko nods, because she understands that. The issue is that if there is no wrong answer, then there is also no correct answer, which is more stressful to deal with. Still, she wants to follow the instructions correctly, and that means coming up with something. It takes her a few minutes of thinking to figure out the impression she wants to give, but in the end she decides to start by fingerspelling Niko with a small bounce, then three sparkle hands for the syllables of 'Sasaki'. It's a good thing she's doing this exercise in England, she thinks. In Japan, she would have had to start with the sparkle hands and end with the more muted gestures, as if she started out bubbly and calmed down over time, which is the oposite of truth.

Eventually, they go around the circle. Ashley does the robot for her gestures, and everyone learns her movement and her name in no time. When Charles' turn comes, with his bold Indian dance moves, it takes Niko a couple of tries to get it right, but she doesn't give up, and in the end she is the one who replicates his gestures the best. Then she shares her name and her dance movement, expecting her turn to go like everyone else's. Instead, before anyone can repeat her name, Charles asks:

"Was that fingerspelling?"

"Yes," Niko says, wondering if she's meant to apologize for not picking an actual dance move, but before she can do that, Charles exclaims:

"Aces! Show me again?"

Niko does, a smile overtaking her face beyond her control. She likes Charles, she decides. Likes that he went out of his way to help her, likes the easy way with which he accepted her questions, likes his enthusiasm in the face of something that doesn't technicaly quite fit the assignment they were given. She likes him even more during the next activity, when they have to consider a whole list of things about dancing and he explains a bunch of them to Niko, with demonstrations when needed. And by the time the teacher shows them their first, very simple dance step and Charles makes silly faces to make her laugh, Niko is decided to attend the next class, whether Ashley enjoyed herself or not.

This snippet takes place in the I'm down on my knees universe and will eventually be cleaned up and posted on AO3 x)

[hankwritten]

boots n bombs, cw: domestic violence

Only once had Jane ever struck him in anger.

If Tavish were to be blindly optimistic, he’d say those were pretty good numbers when considering all the times Jane had woken from a violent nightmare and hadn’t hit him across the face. Factually true, but it didn’t bring him comfort deep down, deep down where it mattered.

The funny part was it hadn’t even hurt. It was too sudden, too shocking, and he wasn’t really afraid of the Soldier in anything more than the abstract. Maybe he should be afraid. Jane wasn’t beyond killing someone on accident, killing someone in a fit of paranoia, even someone he loved; but Tavish had been a RED for so long that damn machine had quashed most of his self-preservation instinct. He was not sensible when it came to Jane. He never had been.

What had hurt was the hatred in Jane’s eyes, that grotesque, unimpedible hatred. Because it was on the coattails of a nightmare, he’d defend the blooming shiner to friends and family as confusion, impulse, instinct. It was clear Jane didn’t know what was going on or where they were.

But that hatred… when Jane had looked at him like that Tavish feared Jane recognized exactly who he was.

Of course there were the apologies later, the regret and the guilt and them falling back asleep together in each other’s arms. All this kept Tavish too busy to grab an icepack for his eye.

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I have a minor grievance with the depiction of Hyacinthus' death in many fanfics.

People tend to make Hyacinthus as someone who accepts his death/fate quickly or anticipates it because he knows "it's the price for falling in love with a god" or something like that. And, sometimes, Hyacinthus is composed enough to comfort Apollo before or after his death (in spirit form).

Not that it's wrong to write Hyacinthus like that, but I find it unrealistic to make him so chill with his death. Remember, Hyacinthus died as a young man at the peak of his youth. He has a bright future ahead. He has a family and a lover whom he loved so dearly. And yet his life is suddenly ruined by one mistake, and he has to part from everything so soon.

I get that there is no record of how Hyacinthus reacts to his death (most dead people don't get it either), but it's a missed opportunity for double angst. Hyacinthus isn't an old man who embraces his death right away. Yes, he understands that his demise is inevitable, but when it strikes him when he is at his best, he can still crumble as any mortal would because he is still a mortal himself. He can never hold Apollo with the veil of life and death between them. That tears him into pieces.

I used to read a Hyapollo fanfic (When The Sun's So Far Away) and absolutely loved its shared description of Hyacinthus' emotional storm with mine.