#and being fascinated by rick so yeah

[dust-n-roses]

ok I finished watching that interview and I’m kinda emotional bc besides growing up with Pink Floyd, one of the first prog songs I remember hearing is my dad playing Roundabout on yt and I remember watching Rick more than the rest of them bc something about this wizard dude surrounded by keyboards was fascinating to me, and I had the feeling like I get sometimes that if I were to get into that kinda thing, it would become my Thing and lo and behold, I’ve ended up a big prog fan! he’s just such a brilliant and iconic keyboardist and I’ve come to love bombastic 70s prog keyboards and idk man, I’m just glad I found this genre bc it connected with me so much <3 gonna blast some old-school Yes now

[lambilegs]

thinking of: lee being such a creative child with her hobbies of photography and drawing; lee being innately curious about her cases + taking different routes of research with them (using religion, cultural studies, which I think also indicates her inclination to learn about these things in general)

thinking of: lee putting on a facade in front of carter by allowing herself to be exposed to things she's clearly tense and nervous about; how maika said lee surpasses a lot of what's inside her, like her trauma; lee being unable to choose between her love and fear for her mother, which leads to her behaving in confrontational or reckless ways depending on the situation (like @allofyourthings pointed out, her putting her gun down despite seeing ruth shoot her coworker); clearly doesn't feel an inclination to confide in people about her anxieties over the cases (probably out of the natural tendency to remain private + wanting to prove herself capable of the job); absorbs the emotional undertones of situations and others' experiences (gets angry with kobble over the injustices done to the families, cries at the mention of her mother, intensely shaken up by carrie-anne's threats and words, almost seems sympathetic/sad at her mother's revelation of prayers not doing "a goddamn thing")

thinking of: oz saying he originally intended for lee to be listening to the news on her drive home (current events connection), as well as be watching seinfeld at home (show about human nature and realistic people) (also thank you for telling this stuff to me rick ily); lee observing ruby's bedroom carefully, and really any new location she enters; how lee memorizes kobble's code in a singular night; how her entire job is about finding answers (the truth) and seeking out justice, as well as making the world a better, more moral place; how she doesn't rush to agree with any proposition carter sets forth when she's at the start of the case ("you think longlegs has help?" "mm."); she doesn't rush with the case and is thorough; but, then, as soon as she is certain of the accomplice-theory, she's stubborn about it and doesn't let herself get even slightly dissuaded by carter or browning; maika saying lee feels like an outsider and can make sense of the world through cases (connection to being comfortable with being able to make predictions); how shaken up she becomes upon realizing her mom is involved -- how shaken she becomes at a lot of new information (carrie-anne, the discovery of the doll, her mom calling the police on someone -- she becomes intensely impacted by new information)

[rapha-reads]

No but I gotta talk about Medusa for a minute actually.

It's been. A very long time since I read the PJO books so I don't exactly remember how Uncle Rick presents Medusa in the book. But the way the show introduces her myth? Fascinating. For me as a Greek mythology enthusiast, that is.

The show makes Medusa a victim of Athena. Of course, the show is mainly for kids, so they can't exactly say that, hey, kids, Medusa was Athena's priestess and she was raped by Poseidon, YEP, or protagonist's father, IN Athena's temple, nah, that's neither kid-friendly nor does it endears us to Poseidon. Not that Poseidon is very dear to us viewers/readers at this point, our narrator/protagonist can't stand his own dad.

But still what fascinates me is that even though they twisted the myth to ft the narrative they still managed to evoke Athena's curse as being actually a gift, and Medusa not feeling wretched over her condition but blessed.

Which is not a modern reading of the myth, actually. Saying that Athena couldn't punish Poseidon for his transgression and could only punish Medusa, but did so in a way that would give Medusa weapons to defend herself against whoever and whatever would try to harm her again, is a narrative that exists since Antiquity.

My point is that the re-framing of Medusa's myth, departing from the traditional, non-kid-friendly version while still incorporating both classic and modern elements, is a good frame of reference for the series (book and show)' entire approach to mythology. And I guess I'm saying that mostly for the non-book readers who are discovering this world, many of whom might be Greek mythology fans and might have gone "wait, why is Hades AGAIN presented as the bad guy when he's the chillest, most normal, most stable god in this entire pantheon", because that's a conversation the book fandom has been having (over and over again) for more than a decade.

Anyway, yeah. As a long time book fan and a show appreciative, here's my advice to anyone who knows WAY too much about Greek myths and still want to enjoy the ride without going every five minutes "wait, that's not correct": reframe. Contemporary rewritings, modern audiences and Fantasy genre.

[carlsdarling]

Homewrecker

Y/N being jealous and stealing Carl away from Enid. Bit more of a plot, then sex. Everyone is 18 or over.

WARNINGS: smut, nsfw, oral, cheating

You've had a crush on Carl for a long time, almost six months to be exact, when Rick found you alone in a vacant building, took you to Alexandria and you met his son. You were immediately fascinated by Carl and felt attracted to him - by his beautiful blue eye, his swift movements, his badass attitude and the lovable character that stood in sharp contrast to it. Over and over you dreamed of seducing him, at night caressing and fingering yourself, moaning his name and burying your head in your pillow so Glenn and Maggie, who had taken you in, wouldn't notice.

You lost your virginity a while ago, and there really wouldn't have been anything wrong with just approaching Carl and checking out if he felt anything for you, too, but there was Enid. His girlfriend. You were so jealous of Enid that you could have screamed with rage whenever you saw the two of them together. When you caught them making out in the paddock, you wanted to snap Enid's neck.

At that moment, you decided that it was not possible to go on like this and that you would fight for what you so desperately wanted, Carl.

One night, when you knew Enid was on guard duty and Carl wasn't, you went to find him at his house. Rick opened the door. "Um, is Carl around?" you asked. In your hand you had a couple of comic books as an alibi.

"Yeah," Rick replied. "He's in his room."

You walked up the stairs and knocked until Carl called, "Come in." He was sitting on the bed, hastily adjusting his bandage when he caught sight of you. You didn't care about his scar, you thought he was gorgeous, sexy and charming even with it. Carl simply had a great charisma, and you were all the more envious of Enid. But now she wasn't here, and this was your chance. "Hi, Y/N," Carl greeted you in surprise.

"Hi," you said in a soft, seductive voice and approached him, letting one spaghetti strap of your white top slip off your shoulder as accidentally.

Carl blushed slightly. "What... what are you doing here?" he asked uncertainly as you sat down close to him so he could smell your perfume and feel your body heat.

"I was feeling lonely," you purred, making big bedroom eyes. "And I thought maybe you could help me." You licked your lips lasciviously.

"Help? With what?" Carl was obviously a bit dumbfounded in this regard, so you gently grasped his chin, turned his head toward you, and kissed him on the lips. They felt soft and a little rough at the same time.

Carl took a startled breath. "What are you going to do?" He seemed embarrassed, but at least he didn't push you away right now. That gave you encouragement.

"I like you, Carl," you confessed, "I like you a lot, actually, and I want to show you."

"But I'm with Enid," he protested demurely. His expression was difficult to interpret.

"And has Enid ever suck you off?"

He turned bright red and shook his head.

"There you go," you would breathe a series of kisses on his neck, making him groan softly. You'd show him you were better than Enid. "I want to do this for you. That and more. You'll like it, I promise. I want to feel you, Carl. I need you. I need you badly, every night I think about you." Again you kissed him, and this time he returned the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth before hesitantly pulling away from you again.

He obviously had qualms about cheating on Enid, but Carl also couldn't deny that he was already aroused; he was building a visible tent in his jeans, and his breathing was rapid and frantic as his cheeks reddened. He was so cute. "It... it has to stay between you and me, though," he murmured. "You must not tell Enid about this."

"You have my word of honor," you promised, and immediately you were starting to make out and caress each other, until finally your hands slid under Carl's shirt and you stroked his back demanding. He smelled nice, clean and a little bit of fresh sweat.

He slipped the shirt off and tossed it to the floor, and for the first time you saw his lean, lightly muscled torso, the fair skin, the small tufts of underarm hair, and the strip of soft dark hair that ran from his belly button down and disappeared into his boxers. The sight nearly drove you crazy; so you grabbed Carl by the shoulders and made him lie on his back, then undid his belt and also undid the buttons of his jeans to pull them down to his knees. Carl let it happen, his eyes half-closed, and there was a damp stain at his light grey boxers. His cock was at full erection and was clearly visible under the fabric.

You scattered wet kisses around his belly button until Carl began to moan softly, then you grabbed the edges of his boxers and pulled them down as well. His erection really sprang out, his tip glistened with moisture, and your eyes grew wide: Carl was definitely on the bigger side. His pubic hair was dark and slightly curly.

"Wait," he said hoarsely, sitting up and stripping off his jeans and boxers. Carl was now completely naked, whereas you were still clothed. "I want to see you naked too, Y/N," he sighed, fumbling with your top and bra. Without further ado, you took both off, exposing your breasts.

Carl looked at them ravishedly. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered and began to fondle them, making your nipples hard.

"Lick them, please, Carl," you begged, and he gently began to kiss your right nipple, encircling it with his tongue and sucking on it. You cried out in pleasure and were now finally ready for him, wet as sin, but wanted to give him head first.

Tenderly you kissed his length and then took his cock in your mouth. He didn't quite fit, but Carl moaned heavily and curled his fingers in the pillow, lifting his hips as you sucked gently, letting go of him briefly every now and then to kiss the insides of his thighs and his belly. "Please, keep on sucking," he murmured, stroking your head and supporting your movements with his hand until you suddenly let go of him. His cock was wet with your saliva, veins protruding.

Carl was already in a state of complete euphoria, writhing on the bed whimpering softly and begging you to continue. You took off your shorts and panties. "No, I want you to fuck me now, Carl," you whispered in his ear, leaning over him. He grinded his cock against your belly.

"I've never done this before," he confessed, embarrassed.

"Well, I have," you replied plainly. You were only a year older than him, but unlike him, you had already had some experience. "Do you have any condoms?" He nodded over to his nightstand, and you pulled an as-yet-unopened pack out of the drawer. Jealousy flashed through your mind, because surely Carl had made these preparations for his first time with Enid. Well, screw Enid, you thought. Carl took one of the condoms, tore open the wrapper, and placed it precariously on his cock. "Oh, let me do it," you said impatiently, pushing his hand away and putting the condom on him yourself.

He awkwardly tried to lie on top of you, but you beckoned him to stay on his back. "I want to ride you," you said breathless with desire before guiding his cock to your willing pussy. "Be careful at the beginning," you whispered into Carl's ear. "Very gently."

Inches by inches he penetrated you, his whole body tense with excitement. It was wonderful to finally feel him inside of you. Instinctively, he began to make soft thrusts, and you moved your hips synchronously with him. You immediately found a rhythm together, and both of your moans and sighs filled the room. "It's so good," Carl moaned. "You're so tight and hot." His thrusts were getting faster and faster, and he was going into ecstasy, forgetting everything around him. "Y/N, I'm... I'm cumming, I'm..."

"Me too," you said, leaning forward so he could pull you close as he now reared up and shot his load into the condom, moaning heavily. A loud scream escaped you as you also climaxed. You looked lovingly into each other's eyes and shared a long kiss before you dismounted from him.

Carl removed the condom, knotted it, and wrapped it in a Kleenex before dropping it beside the bed, then hugging you tightly. "That was wonderful," he murmured exhaustedly, pressing little kisses to your lips.

"Yes," you replied, "I have patrol in a minute. I have to go," you said regretfully a moment later.

"I don't want you to go," Carl pouted.

You gave him a kiss on the forehead and got ready to leave. "I have to though," you said, gathering up your clothes.

"Um, Y/N..." said Carl shyly. "Can we maybe do this again?"

You jammed your hands into your sides. "Depends," you informed him. "If you pick me and dump Enid, we can do it every day," you offered with a seductive glance in your siren eyes.

The next night, just as you were about to go to bed, Glenn called you to come downstairs. "You got a guest," he said, perplexed. "Carl's out on the veranda."

Carl looked toward you with a smile on his lips as you closed the door behind you. "I just broke up with Enid," he said, embracing you and immediately kissing you passionately. "I want to be with you."

You won.

[anotherpjofan]

It always bugs me how Percy is so dependent on Annabeth for plans in HOO, I mean this is the boy that orchestrated a lot of the defense during the Battle for Manhattan! Like he was leading that battle! And it worked - it kept the monsters out of Manhattan/the Empire State Building long enough for reinforcements to show up (Party Ponies) and with the addition of Party Ponies, able to force Kronos to shift his barrier to a far smaller area! Like that is incredible! Percy is a brilliant strategist and it's a pity that RR reduced him down to powerful/comedic in the series, especially when Annabeth is present.

I know the Doylian reason for this is because for some reason RR overpowered the 5 new characters to the series and needed Annabeth to be equal to them in some way, so she became the only leader, the only strategist and the only one capable of it. And like there was no reason for them to be as powerful as they were? Like Jason, Hazel. Fine. They're Big Three Kids. Frank? He's powerful yes, but his abilities are greatly hampered by the fact that he literally holds his life in his hands, or rather in his pocket. But Leo and Piper? There should be no reason for them to be nearly as powerful as they are in the books. But if RR wanted all 5 kids to have powers, then he could have at least tried to balance Annabeth out. Like instead of giving Hazel Mist powers, when she has her own earth powers which would have been fascinating to see in the final battle of HOH, give it to Annabeth. Have her learn the Mist instead and use it to help her against Arachne. Like I understand the desire to have Annabeth to defeat Arachne using wisdom and logic, but having the Mist to help would definitely make it interesting.

This would be such a good premise for an AU????? hello???? cause we know that Thalia actually learned to manipulate the mist so she could have thought Annabeth and Annabeth being Annabeth obviously wouldn’t be satisfied with the basics and would have learned all that she could -

but yeah rick for sure fumbled and realised he overpowered percy (hence removal of the achilles curse) and needed some way to make sure the others were on the same level and something I noticed early on is that Percy and Annabeth are equals as in for every strategy that Annabeth comes up with Percy comes up with one that saves all of their assesses too. the only difference is that percy’s opinion is biased and he dumbs it down cause he doesn’t think highly of himself but from an outsiders perspective it’s clearly calculated yknow. like we see it as early as in book with where he bribes charon and manipulates crusty into his own torture device again this isn’t taking anything away from annabeth but I just need to let it be known that annabeth would never be with someone who she thinks is stupid like cmon girl would go crazy in a day like she genuinely respects percy and trusts his crazy plans

that being said firm believer of annabeth chase having powers. like yes she’s smart and all but ngl we really don’t see her explicitly showcasing it?? like other characters also have the same ability/planning abilities so where is her athena knowledge coming from?? (correct me if i’m wrong btw) but yeah rick fr did the others dirty

[linskywords]

Yeah, I also love a “rejecting bigoted parents” story, but Mack being consigned to the Bay Area for good opens up to me the fascinating tension of “oh I don’t get to escape, actually…I have to deal with my dad being 40 minutes away…” No break from being observed. And I’m also personally always fascinated by the way some bigotries are more subtle (Rick: “I know what’s best for you not just because I’m a sports medicine expert but also because you’re a sub. I’m simply trying to help you. If you want to succeed you need me. Get out of my way.” BRUTAL??) and no less painful for it. Subbing for real because it’s good, not just medically necessary: a revelation!

I feel like this could turn it more into internalized prejudice, which is fun! He's not rejecting his dad outright if he enjoys subbing; he would just be doing something Wrong. His dad probably doesn't even realize that that's the message he's imparted to his son. He wouldn't have any objection to Mack enjoying his sex life! It's just...that's not actually the message that came across to Mack.

Ooh, maybe this is a story from Will's perspective. He's a dom and he's super into Mack from the beginning. They get along super well, they're joined at the hip right away, and Will is head over heels and cautiously hopeful that Mack might be interested back. He makes some overtures, but Mack doesn't really take him up on them. And Will might think that's because Mack doesn't want to actively sub while making a go at the NHL -- there still aren't any out subs in the league -- but Mack, like, subs for a bunch of their teammates! Maybe even for doms he picks up in bars! He must just not be into Will.

Except then one day they're roughhousing a little and Mack goes all hazy and lists into it and then pulls back and shakes himself out and is like, "Yeah, sorry, you're just really..." and Will, in his head, is like, "really WHAT I'm really WHAT oh my god is he into me," but Mack doesn't seem to want to go back to it. And keeps pulling away whenever things start to slide in that direction again. Will obviously isn't going to push it, that would be deeply uncool, but he keeps getting the sense that Mack is into it and he doesn't get why Mack wouldn't go for it when he's visibly hooking up with lots of other people.

The difference, of course, is that Mack isn't into those people, so he can sub for them safely. The way he feels about Will isn't safe at all.

[pastanest]

A/N: you’re wondering why I’m having to repost this, or why you were perhaps previously following me but no longer are, please refer to this post. I was able to retrieve this thanks to @bakedcrispss - thanks so much!! ♡

a gif of Daryl looking down at us to set the mood ⤵️

Daryl x Short!Reader

- let’s start with how you met

- so Daryl was out on a hunt when he heard some commotion, something was moving fast towards him and just as he realised which direction the sound was coming from, you quite literally ran into him

- and when you ran into him, you bounced back and fell right on your ass, while Daryl just scowled down at you

- so there you were, staring up at him

- and then you stood up, and there you were, still staring up at him

“Sum’ followin’ you?” Daryl asked, glancing off in the direction you’d ran from.

“Only dead ones, but my knife broke so I had to run to get them off my trail. Sorry about running into you.” The apology was awkward, but Daryl just nodded.

- he considered correcting you, sarcastically saying he should be the one apologising since he was apparently in your way and knocked you over, but he thought it was too soon for a dig at your height

- Daryl waited a few seconds to see if he could hear any walkers coming after you, and when he couldnt, he skulked off

- much to his surprise, you followed him, and he found that he could barely hear you creeping up behind him because of your lack of height and therefore heavy steps

“So, what’s your name?” You asked, definitely taking Daryl by surprise, but he hid it well.

“Daryl.” He answered shortly. haha y’all see what I did there

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Daryl! Im (Y/N). Do you have a group or a place to stay? ‘Cause if not, there’s logically a better chance of us surviving if we stick together.”

- he didnt want anyone following him, much less someone who didnt even see a man directly in front of them that they then ran into. he didnt even know if you could handle yourself. Daryl assumed that what you really meant was you were more likely to survive sticking with him because he’d save your ass

“Got a group an’ a place.” He said, hoping to throw you off, but he quickly realised his own mistake.

“Oh, that’s great! Do you, uh...maybe have room for one more?”

- have room? Daryl had to hold back a laugh, you could live comfortably in the average sized closet and you were asking if his group had room for you?? he, again, refrained from making such comments, and decided to stay professional

“How many walkers you killed?”

“Havent kept count, but some. I can usually sneak away from them, Im pretty good at getting into small hiding places.”

- Daryl looked down at you, struggling to tell whether you were insecure about your height and whether making jokes would be okay, or whether you would get insulted and sad and think your height a weakness

- in response, you rolled your eyes

“Daryl, do you really think I’ve gone my entire life blissfully unaware of being a short-ass? It’s not something I can change, so I work with what I’ve got, but sometimes I run into dudes and knock myself on my ass.”

- and much to Daryl’s absolute shock, that last part made him laugh

“That a regular hobby o’ yers?” He teased.

“Oh yeah, try to squeeze a collision in at least once a month.” You replied with a grin.

- and so your friendship was established

- when the two of you got back to the prison, you saw the people at the gate and in the guard tower and sighed because you knew from a distance they’d think Daryl had brought back a kid

- still, the small group that greeted you were welcoming enough. Maggie and Glenn were both very sweet, and as was Rick, but you’re certain you werent the only one to notice that his teenage son Carl was almost the same height as you

- you fit into the prison nicely, offering to help out wherever you could and getting to know as many people as possible. Daryl was fascinated by how easily you seemed to make friends, especially since you made friends with him in a matter of seconds

- Daryl was your favourite person to hang out with, you loved asking him questions and finding out things about him. he was far from the most open person when it came to talking about himself, but when you’d stroll over and sit on his bike, kicking your legs in the air because you couldnt reach the ground and giving him that damn smile, Daryl found it increasingly difficult to resist giving you anything and everything you wanted

- he definitely had a soft spot for you, and at first he hated that

- you’d wave at him when he was up in the guard tower and before he could even consider his own response, he would be waving back at you with a stupid smile on his face like some friendly dumbass

- one time Rick was coming up behind you and caught sight of the way Daryl waved at you, so Rick waved up at him to tease him and Daryl flipped him off

- once you’d earned the group’s trust, it was difficult for them not to notice how useful your lack of height could be in certain situations

- whenever one of the kids got a toy stuck in an inconveniently tight space, you would be the adult they summoned

- but equally, when the group found a decently large herd of walkers that they wanted to lead away from the prison, they looked to you as the first person to run by them and get to the other side of the herd, because you were the least likely to be spotted

“Naw, ‘s not happenin’.” Daryl shook his head, and Rick sighed.

“It’s the smartest play, you know it is.”

You nodded. “Yeah, and I’ve got no problem with it. At the start if this thing, all I did was run and hide, it’s what Im good at.”

- Daryl scoffed and stormed off, not even slightly onboard with you being the one in the most dangerous position of that whole thing. he knew it was the best option, but he would rather anybody else took that job and you stayed home. Daryl couldnt understand why he was so angry at the thought of you being in danger, but worst of all...when had he started referring to the prison as ‘home’?

- obviously, you ran after the big bad angry crossbowman, and soon enough you were walking at his side

“Why have you always gotta walk so fast?! Takes a lot for these little legs to keep up, y’know!”

- a small smile curled at the corner of Daryl’s mouth, and you nudged him playfully

“That’s better. Now, you wanna tell me what that was all about?”

- Daryl shrugged, having never been one to put his feelings into words without Merle calling him a pussy before he’d even opened his mouth, but you wouldnt do that to him, Daryl knew that, so he tried

“Jus’ don’...don’ want you t’ be in danger.” He managed, and your eyes softened as they stared up at him.

“Daryl, you’ll be on the other side of the street-“

He cut you off by shaking his head. “Ain’ enough. Sum’ could still happen.”

You rolled your eyes. “I can handle myself.”

Daryl was quiet for a moment, choosing his next words carefully, and he decided to test the water.

“Ain’ much t’ handle.”

- you were silent, and Daryl immediately regretted what he’d said. you stopped walking, and he turned to look at you, trying to piece together your reaction from how wide your eyes were

“Was that...a short joke?”

- Daryl could only nod, very quickly realising that this was neither the time nor the place to make a joke, the mood was completely off and he couldnt explain why he decided to do it if he tried

- but then, you burst out laughing

- once you’d calmed down, you explained to Daryl that you heard every short joke in existence throughout school, but once you became an adult the jokes died out, in the workplace it wasnt professional or whatever. but you missed the jokes even then, and when the world changed, there were even less of them. it had been years since anyone had made an actual joke about your height

- so, Daryl made it his mission to make playful jokes about it whenever he could after that

“Anyone seen (Y/N)?” He’d ask when you were standing right in front of him, he’d look over your head and pretend to look around for you until he couldnt resist glancing down at you and laughing.

“Rain’s eased up, gonna go out on a hunt, it’s hot out there now. But how’s the weather down there?” Of course, Daryl Dixon found a way to incorporate the classics.

“Best stay behin’ me, cant promise I wont think yer a mouse out there an’ shoot ya by mistake.” He teased whenever you walked next to him on a hunt.

“Daryl, I swear, I will spin your jaw if you dont shut up.” You’d say, and Daryl would smirk.

“If ya can reach.”

And you’d sigh. “Fine, I’ll just bite your ankles.”

“Sure ya can reach those?” Daryl would answer effortlessly, knowing he could continue forever.

“Daryl I SWEAR-“ You’d yell, and he’d burst out laughing.

- anytime anyone around you used the words “little”, “small”, “shorter”, Daryl found a way to spin it on you

“We should take this road, it’d be shorter-“ Rick began, and then he closed his eyes in a pained blink, waiting for what he knew was coming.

Daryl smirked, diverting his gaze from the map on the hood of the car and glancing down at you beside him.

“Shorter, huh. Remin’s me o’ someone.”

- anytime anyone asked anyone “what’s up” you could guarantee that from somewhere else in the prison, you would hear Daryl Dixon yell out “NOT (Y/N)!”

- secretly he found your lack of height to be very endearing, the way you looked up at him was adorable, the ease with which you could jump on his back at anytime for a piggyback ride without fatally wounding him, the fact that the cliché short-problem of having to ask someone else to reach stuff for you and Daryl usually being the closest person for you to ask. he loved it, and he made sure to remind you with a series of cute height-related petnames

“‘ey, mouse, c’mon, aint got all day.”

“Been lookin’ all over for you, li’l one, where ya been?”

“Listen, small person, ya better ease up on that tone with me.”

- later on when your relationship progressed, Daryl introduced the petname of “doll” cuz thinks you’re small and cute like a doll, but he only uses that petname in softer moments between you, like if you’re upset or he’s tired

- and he didnt see your height as a weakness either. once you’d joined him for a few hunts, Daryl could see that you really could handle yourself, you were a strong fighter, he had no doubts there. but he couldnt help worrying that you were just a little more fragile because of how small you were, it was a natural worry to have, all things considered, and you loved his protectiveness of you, so you definitely werent complaining

- the only problem with Daryl’s protectiveness was that it extended to him wanting to beat the shit out of anyone else who joked about your height

- Rick, Maggie, Beth, Hershel, Glenn, Carol, Michonne- the entire core group as well as Tyereese because he’s a fkin unit, they were all allowed to make fun of your height, but anyone else who tried had a death wish

- sometimes new arrivals would be stupid enough to voice their opinions on you being inferior and incapable because of your height when Daryl was nearby. they’d joke about wondering how you made it this far, assuming you’d been living safely since the start otherwise you wouldnt have made it, assuming everyone around you needed to protect you because you were a liability

- and Daryl would be there in an instant

“The hell’d you just say?!” He’d growl from your side.

“Anyone built like that cant even reach the top shelf, let alone survive in a world like this! It’s survival of the fittest, plain and simple!” The idiot would be stupid enough to say, laughing through his own explanation.

And then Daryl would knock him to the ground a lot less playfully than he knocked you to the ground on the day you met, he’d be on top of the idiot and punching him until someone (usually Rick) pulled him off.

You’d be there right away, standing on your tiptoes to hold Daryl’s face in your hands and calm him down. He’d rest his forehead against yours and ask if you were alright, if the idiot had hurt your feelings ‘cause “if he did I’ll go right back over there an-“ and you’d say no. You’d take him back to your cell and clean up his split knuckles while Daryl just watched you, utterly mesmerised.

And then you’d sit on his lap, his arms wrapping around you without him having to think about it.

“What would I do without you?” The question would pass your lips quietly, as though truly bewildered by wondering what life would be like without Daryl in it.

“Hear a lot less jokes.” He’d reply, his voice rumbling in his chest, you’d feel it through his shirt, against your palm.

You’d laugh, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “And be a lot leas happy.”

[the-name-is-z]

SKELETONS | ch. 2

daryl dixon x f!oc

masterlist

a03 link

Summary: After the apocalypse took everything Iris held dear, a new opportunity presents itself in the form of a bag of guns. Little does she know, that bag of guns starts something much bigger than she ever could have anticipated. Warnings/Information: AMC's The Walking Dead OC Insert | 18+ Advised | strangers to lovers; the slowest of slow burns; gore; angst; horror; humour; m/f; gun violence, gang violence, offensive terminology for gang members and daryl, salty language

Chapter 2 - The Deal

The kid led them to a warehouse further into the city, and Iris was fidgeting with her knives. They waited at a wall further outside the building, a broken window between them and their friend. The bandana was back over her face, the bag of guns slung over T-Dog's shoulder. Rick rattled a shotgun shell next to his ear before loading it into the gun.

The group of warehouses was old enough to be made of brick and mortar, broken windows and doorframes unaccompanied by a roof. All except for the main building at the back, where the rest of the gang was presumably waiting. The kid wasn't smart enough to set them up, hopefully.

"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-Dog.

"Yeah." He assured. Daryl gripped his crossbow tightly, keeping an eye on the kid as Iris peered through the broken barred window to the gate on the other side. Wasn't anything to write home about, but looks could be deceiving. 

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl grunted.

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The kid retorted.

"G?" Rick asked.

"Guillermo. He's the man here."

"Okay then." Rick continued, cocking the gun. "Let's go see Guillermo." He gestured for Iris to go first and she scoffed, ducking through the bars and wire fence. T-Dog took up a sniper position on the wall to give them an edge. Rick pushed the kid forward and they followed him to the gate.

They slid open with a loud creak, a group of guards standing in the doorway. One man stepped forward, a cross chain hanging from his neck. He was shorter than the kid, and young. Didn't look like much of a threat, but there were more Iris couldn't see. She gripped the handle of her knife tighter.

"You okay, little man?" Guillermo asked, his hands in his pockets as he regarded them carefully.

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." The kid replied, twitching. Clearly he'd never been a hostage before. That being said, most days consisted of things Iris had never done before.

"Cops do that?" Guillermo asked, his scrunched brow directed at Rick.

"Not him. This redneck puto, here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me." The kid whined. Iris glanced between Daryl and the kid.

"Shut up." Daryl snapped.

"Hey, that's that vato right there, homes." One of the men from before stepped, or limped, forward, one hand pointing at Daryl with a very small revolver, the other firmly pressing a rag to his ass. "He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?"

"Chill, ese, chill. Chill." Guillermo said, holding out his arms to keep him back. He levelled his gaze back at them. "This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man."

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Rick countered, shotgun still pointing at Miguel. 

"That hillbilly jumps on Felipe's cousin. Beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet. Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion?" Guillermo recounted, frowning. He licked his lips. "You fascinate me."

"Heat of the moment." Rick explained. "Mistakes were made. On both sides."

"Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related." He asked, nodding to Daryl.

"He's one of our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like him."

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked abruptly. 

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys." Guillermo replied, equally as fast. "But I got Asian. You interested?"

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine." Rick said evenly. "Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me." Guillermo grunted.

"G..." Miguel protested. "Come on, man."

"My people got attacked." Guillermo continued, unfazed. "Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?" Rick asked.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken." Rick replied.

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours." He continued. "It's my bag of guns." Guillermo shrugged, leaning back with a frown.

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word?" He asked. "What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" Felipe cocked his tiny gun once more, Jorge flanking Guillermo from the other side. Daryl raised his crossbow, clicking echoes coming from inside as more guns found their targets, men raised pipes and crowbars.

"You could do that." Rick shrugged, turning to where T-Dog had a rifle levelled at Guillermo's face. "Or not."

"Oye!" Guillermo called, looking up to the roof of the warehouse. Two guys walked to the edge, a third wrestling between them, a soiled bag tucked over his head. They ripped the bag off, Glenn whimpering with a piece of duct tape over his mouth. "I see two options." Guillermo continued. "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood."

Guillermo shrugged again, raising an eyebrow at them before turning and retreating into the warehouse. Jorge and Felipe followed, the doors sliding shut. Rick put the shotgun down, sighing as Glenn and the two guards disappeared back onto the roof. Iris blew out a breath.

- "Them guns are worth more than gold." Daryl said pointedly. "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table."

He was pacing back and forth in front of the desk Rick stood at, the bag of guns set atop it in consideration. Rick was checking them one by one under Iris' watchful eye. They'd come back to their cleared building, T-Dog watching over Miguel as they decided what to do. Guillermo was right, there were two ways this could go, and neither of them were ideal.

"You willing to give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked. Iris raised an eyebrow at him. The whole reason they were here was for their friend. Though, it seemed all he cared about was finding his hand-less brother. He still didn't trust her, that much was obvious, especially by the looks he gave her every few minutes. 

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-Dog asked.

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel asked.

"Are you a part of this?" Daryl snapped, slapping the kid across the face. "You want to hold onto your teeth?"

"You willing to risk it on Guillermo's word?" Iris asked, turning back to the sheriff. Rick sighed in exasperation.

"Could be risking more than them guns. Could be your life." Daryl added, making a face at Rick. "Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have I owe to him." Rick answered firmly. "I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over." Daryl concluded.

"I didn't say that." Rick reasoned. "Look, there's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog asked, rubbing his temple.

"I'm not going anywhere without my guns." Iris replied, shaking her head. Rick looked to the three of them, nodding conclusively. T-Dog stepped forward, him and Daryl taking a shotgun each.

"Oh, come on. This is nuts!" Miguel protested, siting right back down as Daryl pointed a stern finger at him. "Just do like G says." They loaded them up, each taking an additional hand gun. Iris loaded up her 22, slinging a rifle over her back. 

With a towel tied into his mouth and hands bound, Miguel was escorted by the four of them back to the warehouse and the makeshift courtyard. Iris was trying to ignore the anxiety pulsing in her stomach.

Daryl had his gun pressing into Miguel's spine as they walked, armed and dangerous, through the gate and into the warehouse. Iris carried the bag of guns over her shoulder as they passed through the hoard of guards. Guillermo met them halfway through the warehouse, guns pointed in all directions.

"I see my guns," He mused, "but they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick replied simply.

"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese." Filipe urged. Daryl pressed the muzzle of the gun into the back of Miguel's head. "Alright? Unload on their asses, ese."

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo said sharply.

"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick assured. He nodded to Iris, who cut the duct tape binding Miguel's wrists and shoved him forward. "You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs." Guillermo murmured. "They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." He stated, cocking the shotgun. It echoed as everyone around took aim, Guillermo staring down the barrel. "Okay then, we're here."

There was a pregnant pause of baited silence as they all waited for someone to make a move, to say something. They stared down one another, waiting for the triggers to be pulled. The silence was filled with a small shuffling, and a woman's voice carrying through the warehouse.

"Felipe! Felipe!" She called, tone wavering with age. Iris watched as an old woman walked through the warehouse of gangbangers with no fear.

"Abuela, go back with the others-- now." Felipe urged, keeping his gaze and gun pointed on them, though fear laced his words.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl chastised. Guillermo huffed, turning to her.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay?" He instructed softly. "This is not the place for you right now."

"Mr Gilbert is having trouble breathing." She pleaded, looking to her grandson and tugging on his shirt. "He needs his asthma stuff. Carlito didn't find it. He needs his medicine." Guillermo glanced nervously between them and the old woman.

"Felipe, go take care of it, okay?" He snapped. "And take your grandmother with you." Felipe took her gently, pleading with her to walk with him, but she brushed past him toward Guillermo, frowning at Rick.

"Who are those men?" She asked. "Don't you take him--"

"Ma'am--"

"Felipe is a good boy." She assured. "He has his trouble but he'll pull himself together. We need him here."

"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick replied calmly, putting the gun down.

"Then what do you want him for?" She asked.

"He's... helping us find a missing person. A fella named Glenn." Rick answered.

"The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come, come." She urged, waving him along. "I show you. He needs his medicine."

Iris hid her small smile behind her bandana as she followed Rick, Felipe and the old woman through the warehouse. Daryl and T-Dog stayed on their tail, watching the others carefully, even though Guillermo ordered to let them pass. 

The old woman held Rick's hand as she led them out of the warehouse and through a neat garden, and through the doors to another building. It was a hospice center, or a retirement home of some sort. Felipe asked his grandmother to take him to Mr. Gilbert, while the others glanced around.

There were doctor's offices and hospital beds, everything occupied by elderly people. Iris was quick to sheath her knives, following Rick into an old auditorium, tables and chairs set up for a common area. A man in a wheelchair at the back was coughing and wheezing, deeply inhaling as Felipe helped him with his inhaler. Glenn stood beside the, watching to make sure he'd be okay.

"What the hell is this?" Rick said softly.

"An asthma attack." Glenn replied worriedly. "Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog hissed. A small bark sounded from the corner, a trio of chihuahuas sitting in a leopard print bed. 

"Could I have a word with you?" Rick asked, taking Guillermo to the side. "You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met..." He hissed, Iris' attention taken away by Felipe's grandma approaching her.

"Young lady, why do you hide your face? Do you have a scar?" She asked, gesturing to her own face.

"No." Iris replied with a small smile, pulling the bandana down to show her face.

"Oh, que linda eres." She cooed, patting Iris' face. "I should introduce you to my grandson. There are no more pretty young girls around here." Iris laughed nervously as she toddled over to Felipe, prodding him in her direction. He flushed, swatting her hand away as he continued to help Mr. Gilbert.

"So you're the girl with the guns." Glenn said, folding his arms as he walked over. Iris turned to him, nodding.

"Iris." She said, holding out her hand.

"Glenn." He replied with a slight frown, shaking it politely. Rick and Guillermo finished their little chat, the former beckoning them into a small room where Guillermo could speak to them quietly.

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked, gesturing to Iris. She handed him the bag of guns, eyeing the interaction closely.

"The vatos trickle in, to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay." Guillermo explained. "It's a good thing, too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart? The worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." Rick assured.

"How was I to know?" He defended. "My people got attacked, and you show up with Miguel hostage-- appearances."

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog mused.

"No." Guillermo disagreed. "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathrooms by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here? They all look to me now. I don't even know why."

"Because they can." Rick replied honestly. He handed the shotgun to Guillermo, and began to sort the guns from the bag. 

Iris turned from the room, walking back out into the auditorium. The vatos kept an eye on her, but she walked over to the closest.

"Hey, Felipe?" She asked. He turned from the table of elderly people, frowning at her sudden appearance. Iris took a map from her coat pocket and a pencil from an abandoned crossword puzzle, circling a place on the map. "I don't know who's in charge of the runs, but just outside the city here, there's an auto shop. If you can make it, there's a van out back full of parts, more cars in the shop. Take whatever you need. No one's gonna come back for it."

"Why?" He asked, taking the map and frowning. Iris shrugged, trying to offer him a comforting smile.

"Gesture of good faith?"

[the-unspeakable-tsar]

Kidnapping The Grunk

In 2018, I was 17. I wrote a Gravity Falls/Rick and Morty crossover fic called "Kiddnapping The Grunk". I'm 23 now, and I was looking at my ao3 account, and I saw it. So, I decided to rewrite the fic. The original person who wanted me to write the fic no longer exists on Tumblr. But here's the new version in its entirety.

Stan’s eyes opened up into complete darkness. He started to move but found his limbs stiff and wrapped in something. He was stuck and started thrashing around. He’d gotten it into his head that he was twisted up in his bedsheets again and started screaming.

“Oh god! Soos! Get the jaws of life! Get some snips or somethin’! I’m stuck!” he shouted.

“Nobody’s gonna help you out here, ole man,” said a strange voice from the dark.

“Who’s that?” said Stan. His tone was not so much panicked but annoyed. “Robbie Valentino, this better not be some stupid prank. I’m not playing around with you and Wendy’s games anymore!”

A new voice chimed in, making robotic tutting, “Nah, you don’t get it do ya?” We’re holding your ass for ransom.”

“Ransom?” said Stan. He considered the thought for a moment. “If you cut me in on this, I can get my brother to fork over some more cash. I know he’s good for it.”

“Shut the fuck up!” shouted the first voice. “If your scrawny boy toy doesn’t deliver the Smidgens we want, we’re going to slit your Cromdamned throat!”

“Boy toy? What the heck are you talking about?” he asked and received a smack across the face for it.

Everyone who surrounded him began to laugh as Stan’s head spun.

“Don’t play dumb,” he said. “You were rolling heavy with Rick Sanchez in this part of the galaxy for ten years. Suppose your spastic lust pet doesn’t show up; we’re going to cut your head off and bury you somewhere like a vampire.”

“Who?” asked Stan.

---

A large green portal opened up into a land covered in prone grease grease-slicked grandmothers. Two aged scientists stepped out and into the town. The residents of the town looked at them with fascination. Stanford Pines looked down at his tracker pad, which pinged with a map of this area and the little tracker.

“I cannot believe that my brother has gotten wrapped up in your nonsense, Sanchez,” he said. 

“Better believe it,” said Rick Sanchez, punctuating his brief statement with a burp. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill you myself. What are they? Flansians? Predators? The Tall Whites?” asked Stanford, rapidly firing his questions at Rick.

“Beats the hell out of me,” said Rick. “If they’re after me through, Stan I’ll take care of them. Don’t worry your prissy little head about it.” 

Rick reached over and started tussling Stanford’s hair drunkenly, only for Ford to take his hand away. “None of that!”

“You can’t still be angry because I didn’t call you after our night of passion in the Hamburger Fields,” he said. Dismissing him.

“I can be, and I am!” he shouted.

“Oh blah, blah, blah! BLIGHITY BLAH!” shouted Rick. “Stan’s a better man than you anyways. He knows how to make a man feel appreciated. Y’know?” 

Rick then feigned ecstatic moans, “Ohh Stanley, yeah, yeah, yeah, right therreee!” 

“That’s lewd,” growled Stanford. His face flushed a deep red.

“You would know,” said Rick. “I recall you getting very into me sucking on your fingers.” 

“Nope,” Stanford walked forward. Stomping as he went. “Not listening. Just help me find my brother.”

Rick made a dismissive noise. “Bleh…fine….So, does he ever talk about me?” 

“Hmm?” began Stanford. “No, never.” 

“C’mon, i’m being serious right now. He must, right?’ asked Rick.

“Nope. Up until we got the note, I didn’t even know you two were acquainted,” said Stanford.

“What? We spent nearly a decade together, fucking and savaging around the country,” said Rick. “He must remember me.” 

“Well,” said Ford apprehensively. “There’s a chance that he genuinely doesn’t remember.” 

“Oh god, has he been hit with Alzheimer's?” said Rick, feeling his age.

“The truth is more…odd,” Said Ford. “Do you remember when i talked about Weirdmageddon?” 

“Dumb name, yes.”

“Ignoring that…To destroy Bill, Stanley allowed him to invade his mind…Then we erased it,” said Ford.

“You sick son of a bitch!” growled Rick.

“Oh, grow the hell up, Sanchez. I heard about how you regularly erase your grandson’s memories over minor mistakes on your end,” said Ford.

“How did you hear about that?” asked Rick.

“Summer and Wendy are friends on Tumblr,” said Ford.

“Goddamn, Summer,” whispered Rick under his breath. But then Rick smiled, “Hot Damn, Fordy baby, you’ve just given me a chance at this bullshit thing called love!” 

Rick pushed Ford over, and the old man fell on his ass. They opened up a portal that entered them into a dimension filled with bright blue slime bags, and they bounced off of them, weaving between each other as they fell. Rick blessed another portal into the wall of the dimension and it led into the back room of a bar.

Surrounding Stan’s tied-up form were impossibly tall robots and short dwarven aliens with big fly eyes. They all pulled their guns and started firing at the pair. They ducked behind pillars and exchanged looks. Ford looked ready to kill Rick.

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!” he shouted.

“Relax,” Rick stepped in front of the scene.

His body was quickly riddled with plasma fire. The bolts of liquid energy passed through his scrawny form like butter, but he kept stepping forward. The aliens screamed at him in their native tongues—horrid insect chirping. Rick’s left arm unfolded, forming a kind of gun made of green semi-metal and flesh. The flesh gun sprayed the aliens with a horrible mist that caused their skin to erupt in horrible sizzling boils and caused the metal skin of the robots to erode rapidly.

“Come to me, everybody!” he shouted. “Look at me go! Your gods might not be real, but I’m sending you to him all the same!”

Ford stood behind the pillar, picking off stragglers with his pistol and resenting every word that fell out of Rick Sanchez’ stupid head. He didn’t have to do all of this. They could have just killed them; they didn’t have to cook alive inside their bodies.

Once this mad violence was over, Stanford dashed over to Stanley and tore the bag off his head; his brother winced at the light.

“It’s okay, Stanley, you’re going to be alright,” said Ford as he began to undo the binds.

Rick turned and flashed Stanley a look. He thought it was sexy, with is hip cocked to the side and the bulge in his pants prominently displayed. 

“Hey, hot stuff,” said Rick. “I’m Rick Sanchez, and I’m the rescue committee.”  

“Yeah,” said Stan. “I know who you are.”

Suddenly, Rick froze. Shit, he remembers all the scumbag shit I did.

Once up, Stan strode across the room and pushed Rick up against the wall, forcing his tongue into his mouth and dry-humping him against the wall. Ford stood by, irritated that it built up to this. He turned his head so he didn’t have to see the image of the two.

“You scrawny son of a bitch,” said Stan. “You made me remember that I missed you.”

[ruegarding]

Hi! How are you doing? Honestly, I had a bit of an obsession with Will after The Blood of Olympus mostly because he was a blank slate which meant that he could be anyone and anything especially since Apollo is the god of so many things, so I'd look for Will Centric content. And they were so infuriating because Will would constantly hate Percy for "being better than everyone else," "Killing Michael Yew," "Not trusting Nico." Like Percy did trust Nico, and he trusted him with his plan to defeat Kronos (which worked!) Sure there was some miscommunication but Nico came through for Percy. And Michael's death was not Percy's fault. Percy had to destroy the bridge to stop the monsters. Like to me, it feels like Will centric fics use the justification of Will to hate on Percy without anything being resolved, particularly towards Michael's death without addressing the fact that it was war and no matter how tragic it was, Percy couldn't save everyone. Anyways, HOO is fascinating. I've read somewhere on Tumblr that due to the fact that RR overpowered the five new heroes, that he had to leave the smarts to Annabeth. Which is very true and has detriments to literally every other character but especially Jason and Percy, who were essentially military leaders at 15 and 16! And like would it killed for Piper, Leo and Frank to not have superpowers? And did Hazel really need the Mist? I think it would have been fascinating if Annabeth was the one to learn it, because maybe it would have balanced out the whole power spectrum at the very least because RR insisted on giving everyone superpowers. And it's sad how neither Percy nor Annabeth have a perspective in the final book because they had just returned from Tartarus and because they're the characters we've known for years. RR just shunted them after Tartarus and Percy during the Final Battle. He is the son of the Stormbringer, he can literally summon hurricanes, plus if he really puts his mind to it, he can cause earthquakes. Like the Final Battle is where he couls have shined and yet, he did not. HOO was interesting but so much of it was a disappointment.

hi! yeah, i agree. w the way hoo (hoh and boo especially) are written there's a lot of percy bashing for things he didn't even do or things that are completely removed of nuance (thank u rick for that). like i've said before, percy has plenty of flaws, but instead of using any of them well rick made him completely ooc, and there is a definite bandwagon of hate from ppl for it. unfortunately it makes will's character a bit unapproachable in fandom.

annabeth w mist powers is interesting. i don't think i've seen that before. it could extend past being just another power and be a window into how annabeth imagines her perfect world. but yeah, there's a definite power-scaling issue w hoo, not just w the demigods, but w the antagonists, as well.

i think one of the biggest failures of hoo is that it sets up that there needs to be seven main characters—the seven of prophecy, even—and then fails to deliver these seven consistent main characters. like, the whole reason nico, reyna, and hedge end up delivering the statue is bc the seven (as in, all seven of them) have to finish the quest, but then we don't have perspectives from these characters rick just established as necessary, and rick keeps writing them out of the narrative, and characters who weren't even part of the seven come across as more important. it's a mess.

honestly, it would've been better if the seven did split up to bring the statue to chb, bc then, at least, they would all feel narratively important. instead, it's difficult to tell if we have seven main characters, nine main characters, or three main characters w some side povs. this makes it near impossible to have consistent, well-done arcs and leaves us w. whatever boo is.

[asirensrage]

Another request please

Another Set of Yandere Prompts: 5. Anything you’re willing to give me, I’ll take!

Various Prompts: "We shouldn't...we shouldn't do this."

"Why not? What's so bad about enjoying this?"

Rick Walking Dead

Alright, this one took a bit, lol. It's not very long but it's filled with...potential, I guess. Also, it's still been a long time since I've seen this show.

Warnings: mentions of stalking, basically. Obsession. Darker!Rick.

He’s watching her again. 

She tries to ignore it, to continue past the feeling of his stare until someone distracts him and pulls his attention away. She doesn’t understand his fascination. She doesn’t know what draws his attention but ever since they met, ever since he came to this compound looking for safety, he’s watched her. 

She ignores it as much as she can. For as much chaos as his group has brought, Rick is a good man. He tries hard to help and protect them. She can handle some staring in return. 

“We shouldn’t…we shouldn’t do this.”  His mouth is on her neck, sucking marks into it and ignoring the way she trembles in his hold. 

“Why not?” he asks, his voice rough. “What’s so bad about enjoying this?” 

“It’s just–” 

He pulls back and looks at her. “Just what?” 

She swallows tightly. He finally got past the staring, moving on to engage her in conversation, offer her help and now…now they’re tucked away into a dark corner, closer to where she’s been living than his. She wonders if it’s because he’s protecting his children. Trying to keep this part of him from them. Was he like this before? Or had the end of the world twisted him like it had changed so many? 

“I don’t know what you want,” she admits slowly. He’s a provider here and if she’s not careful, well she didn’t think he’d send her on a suicide run but she never knows. Anything can happen. She prefers to be in control as much as she can and Rick? He isn’t a bad choice. She just wasn’t planning on choosing anyone. 

“What I want?”

“Yeah. It’s not like I have a lot to offer.”

He looks at her, his stare strangely intense and making her feel like she’s being stripped bare before him. “Anything you’re willing to give me. I’ll take.” 

That was…a lot. She knows he’s been interested, but at this level? Still, she nods. She can work with that. “Okay,” she says softly. “Okay.”

She lets him kiss her and it takes a moment before she can allow herself to fully relax into it. It’ll be fine. It’s the end of the world and people die every day. It’s not like this will last forever. 

[crimsonblackrose]

.

Robby's fake job is at Tech Town whose tagline is Sales| Service| Repair and the guy who he impersonated is named Edwardo who he winks at.

Like I get Carmen's: I don't want you around my son ever. But he was already being bothered by these kids even without Johnny around. So that seems like it'd just make it worse?

Banana-rama chocolate chip pancakes. What I've realized with this watch through is that Daniel has given a nick-name to almost every dish he makes. It's adorable.

Anthony immediately turns it into a 'pancake taco' which feels like maybe he takes after his dad in nicknaming food and coming up with his own spin despite Daniel's disappointment in the whole idea.

Amanda trying like 12 different ways to calm Daniel down about the billboard and I love her first response is to make a joke. She'd already done the pr spin and I love that for her.

So no deadpool art anywhere in his room but Miguel is wearing a rick and morty t-shirt.

Miguel calls his mom Mama, which I feel like I need to remember. I remember Ma for Daniel all the time, but I forget Miguel's Mama.

The comedic timing of Miguel defending Johnny only to show Johnny passed out on his floor with the spray can and a beer is still hilarious to me.

I was wondering what his keychains are. Seems to be a bird, which maybe should've been a clue. But it also might just be a 'firebird' or phoenix for his car. Honestly with how much of a mess he is I'm surprised he doesn't lose his keys more.

According to the phone call with Ms. Jenkins it's been a couple of months, which it being after Halloween makes sense.

Colorado canoe trip. 😂The fact she heard how Robby spoke to Johnny and was like maybe I'll call his mom instead and then was like ah yeah this kid going on a canoe trip with his dad makes total logical sense...like ma'am no wonder Robby's giving you trouble. She grew up on the Mississippi delta. Which is a fun little fact and makes me wonder if she's mentioned it multiple times before and if that's why Robby told her he and his dad were going to canoe the Colorado. Which is just...smart.

That is not what I'd expect to be in Aisha's locker. Let alone how little is actually in it. It's so...empty. I'd expect like science jokes and pictures of her and Sam from when they hung out more. Not one random red blob and what looks like a card with a fairy on it.

What are these schools new colors? The outside is very bland with some red, a lot of the posters are red and white but one of the kids is wearing a shirt and it's blue.

It's a Sony production so why am I not surprised Daniel's phone is Sony? Also what teen has their phone size for calls and texts so big. Also Daniel, Sam's at school, do you really want her to be texting and calling you back while at school?

oh right the 100 sausages from Cole.

I love that Amanda is like oh hey free lunch. Which is funny for Cole to have done.

Robby seeing his dad: angry. Robby's friends trying to trash talk his dad: fail and then feeling self conscious when he strikes back. Which is fascinating because I always kind of thing of Robby's friends like Kyler and his group, but Kyler and his group will fight Johnny while Robby's friends are just like ah man don't diss my mustache.

The decor choices for the Keene household are interesting. It's got a bit of a hippie vibe with wall tapestries but also art that looks like something Johnny would pick out but I guess more tasteful and a whole lot of wine. Which, Robby doesn't have food at one point so is the wine gifts from someone else that isn't consumed that frequently? Or does their money get spent on wine rather than food?

It's interesting that they make it seem like Johnny's had absolutely nothing to do with Robby most of his life. But Robby knows who Daniel is.

Oof Robby does get his wish, the whole I'm not going to school I'm done. Bud, you do want to go to school. I also do not believe Shannon is okay with it.

Both Kyler and Miguel ended up with bruises on the same side of their face. Both the left eye. Kyler's from his fight with Johnny and Miguel from his fight with Kyler and his friends.

Brucks being an english and grammar nerd surprises me a little.

Miguel speaks up to Kyler and Demetri's whole body language of like bro what did we just talk about. Even though the person they're being mean to is Eli Demetri's bff.

Demetri, how much yogurt did you throw in the trash can? Also how did you manage to throw so much in there that it got all over your back pack? It's generally in a cup. Like logically that amount of backpack coverage doesn't make sense.

The library has a 2 chalkboards in it?

Carmen taking Miguel to see the new spiderman is cute. Miguel apparently likes m&m's in his popcorn.

The marketing team they use and that tom cole uses is called VP productions. Tom Cole has locations in Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, Encino Oaks, North Ridge, and Arleta. Which is interesting because on the Van Nuys location has been mentioned so far.

The guy who did the ad for Tom is named Bobby Lamont and it's called Yankee doodle which...was originally created to make fun of the USA so it's kind of a funny choice. Kinda shows how he wanted to hit at Daniel but then also didn't do any research.

The drought-resistant cactus 😂

The marketing lady realizing the mistake she'd made as soon as the ad ends.

Shannon not-so subtly hinting that she needs another drink.

Shannon's date is (I assume an accountant) named PJ. And Shannon actually in front of the guy is being very friendly to Johnny which is fascinating.

The bartender's name is Terry and he's so ready to give Shannon an application to work there. Though it shows she lied about it.

Robby's had mono.

He tried to build his own half-pipe and broke his wrist.

I get that Shannon's mad and has every right to be, but you'd think if you can't get Robby to do anything at all including go to school and you're at bars trying to scrounge a meal for yourself you'd take Johnny up on the offer to take Robby in. Because a. someone else can give it a try and you make sure Robby knows he cane come back to you if Johnny screws up. B. Johnny will not let those other kids in his home. c. you don't have to worry about Robby getting food/feeding Robby for a bit. Like you'd think that Johnny looks relatively good and sober and less of a wreck and you might be like well maybe but if you break Robby's heart it's over.

I guess I just think Johnny should've gotten that chance and things would've been so different.

Oh hey Shannon did get her drink refilled.

Tom Cole calls Daniel "Dan" and despite making a very targeted ad is selling and drinking boba. Tom cole has a blonde staff member named Angela.

Angela disapears into the back on the left with a customer for boba and then somehow pops out from the right to get Daniel a boba. Girl is fast at making boba and in those heels. Sorta just teleports wherever Tom Cole points ready to bring people boba.

Is Tom Cole shorter than Daniel?

Looks like it. Wow Daniel actually taller than one of his rivals? Who would've ever known?

I'm surprised no one made a joke about the boba.

The fake movie they made for Sam and Kyler's date is hilarious. Dying teenage romance drama "Let me give you one of my lungs" like I don't know if you can medically do that. It sounds like a great B movie.

Sam not just telling Kyler to stop but literally flawlessly and very subtly kicking his ass is amazing. Where's Daniel and his JERSEY TOUGH or THAT'S MY GIRL.

We will put a little note for times Johnny was right and no one listened. Ah I should've made a counter for that at the beginning. Oh well.

Kyler sitting there looking terrified and in shock is delightful.

Johnny sees a guy and his son, gets turned down on son #1 on both fronts (by son and mother) so goes tries to be parent to son #2 knowing son is excited and mom is the no.

I love Carmen's bored tired look at Johnny here

She is so not impressed.

And it's interesting how Johnny does in fact listen. Because he got the "there's no do-overs with your son" from Shannon. and is like well okay, if I don't have a chance here, which he did in fact try, he went to Miguel.

I won't fail him again...says this guy. Though I will say Kyler is not Johnny's fault.

I love that Rosa is on team Johnny since day 1. Even before she knows him. Like heck yeah Miguel found something he likes, love that for him he just needs to keep his hands up for his next fight. and then Johnny comes by and Rosa's like yup I like that random weirdo who lives next door.

Which I get Carmen being concerned makes sense and protective, but Rosa also knows everything and is protective of Miggy too.

What do you think that top room gets used for? It's like a little watch tower.

Even on low-energy not up for making breakfast Daniel still sets the table with english muffins.

Sam totally knows she's got her dad wrapped around her finger with that what no banana-rama pancakes.

Quick talking Daniel back for the win in response to don't look so excited dad.

6 trophies, a bunch of tiny ones on his desk. Clearly Johnny won more than just the all-valley. It would've been fun to have had the kids in smaller tournaments or just...other tournaments.

The graffiti on the billboard is such a...prank. The fact Louie takes it to an 11 and it ruins Daniel's day to find out who did it is just...oof.

Like Anoush clearly was like debating even telling Daniel and Louie is ready to fight and taking it personally. My dude there's graffiti everywhere.

Honestly the better choice would've been to call up Johnny and be like hey, you graffiti'd my billboard, you know that's an actual legal no no, how about you graffiti Tom Cole's and we'll call it even?

But nooo Louie's gotta get a biker gang involved. This is such a soap opera.

Louie I thought this was cute until I realized who did it which is Johnny and now it's not cute. Which fair, all he knows about Johnny is that he gave Daniel's life hell and then Daniel fixed Johnny's car for free. Not that Johnny's car got wrecked by Sam's friends or that Sam's now ex-boyfriend is the reason Johnny got arrested and his only student got beaten up so badly.

The main component of this show is that no one ever has all the facts and/or actually investigates and discusses the facts making it very pride and prejudice and soap opera-y

[riddlerosehearts]

🐍 same, there were many things i did not enjoy about HoO but leo is one of the highlights i will always treasure from it. in fact I made my OC just so I could make them be friends with him bc it's like an old childhood dream of mine 😭 it's several years late but i will do it anyway. have u ever made any pjo ocs?

I read your post and i agree with you so much!! EN did jamil so dirty and just the few changes they made to his lines flipped the entire dynamic between him and kalim and basically completely erased how tragic and difficult their situation is, and portrayed jamil as basically just someone throwing a fit over something easily changeable when it isn't. I play on JP so I was so surprised to see the changes EN made, it sucked seeing so many ppl hate my fav

oh nooo yeah if both riddle and jamil are in the athena cabin i have no clue who'd become the head counselor... this is so hard, if only we could have more than one :(. Kalim'd def be in a different cabin at least, but just him being around camp would make it so much harder for jamil to be himself, it hurts my heart. there are so many ways you can write this and it all has so much angst potential. on the other hand you're so right abt the missed leo nico friendship bc i always intuitively felt they could've be good friends without knowing why, but your analysis puts everything into words and makes me even sadder we had such a missed opportunity... like cmon rick....

idia labwear groovy but nico is actually so funny - nico ominously approaching cats with his hands out like the grabbing emoji when nobody is looking and completely unaware how scared the cats feel, meanwhile all he wants is to spend some time with kitty before the chain sneezing sets in

I love your ideas abt the outfits I think they fit super well!! if i get around to doodling the characters in a twst au i'd like to reference your ideas if that's okay with you! They'd both probably attempt to wear the uniforms as a full set in the beginning then decide it's way too much of a hassle/feels too stiff (totally not an excuse to want to draw them in the full outfit), then begin modifying things so it felt more like themselves, though at least I think they both would like the ignihyde uniforms better than the other dorms, igni's seems more casual and practical than the other ones imo. for some reason i feel like the savanaclaw colours would look good on leo, i just picture yellow being a nice colour on him - but leo in savanaclaw would just be like him stuck with a ton of jocks feeling confused why he's even there lool

also imagine leo meeting ortho, he'd be so fascinated that something like ortho was possible and be inspired to make a robot of his own (twst festus origin story?) idk if there's a robotics club but i could see that being leo's club of choice, nico maybe board games... which means he'd meet idia and azul omg, what do you think?

sorry it took me a bit a longer to answer this time. i haven't!! i don't make OCs super often in general, i don't even really have one for twst haha, but i love seeing all the creativity other people put into their OCs.

yeah exactly!! i do keep up with the JP main story updates and have read most of the JP events through fan translations, but i started by playing on EN. and i feel really lucky that i recognized the words for master and servant and could tell they were mistranslating some things, because i can imagine that otherwise i would've come out of it hating jamil for "betraying" kalim too. instead i loved him and was a little annoyed with kalim until book 5 showed more of his growth. i don't ship jamil and kalim but i do love both of them and it's sad that the complexity of their dynamic got watered down so much... i will note, though, that the app is rated E10+ on the google play store and 4+ on the iOS app store, so my guess is that higher-ups at disney thought the actual story wasn't kid-friendly enough.

something else to keep in mind with athena kids that i actually sort of forgot about until recently, is that they're all claimed from birth and therefore are pursued by monsters from birth :( and then also the fact that athena is a virgin goddess who just sort of gives babies to people who might not have been prepared to have one... i bet that would make things so much rougher for riddle and jamil. some other ideas i had are that if jamil's parent was a minor god, it could be nemesis (goddess of revenge) or terpsichore (muse of dance). and for kalim, if his parent was an olympian it would be either dionysus or apollo and if it was a minor god it'd be tyche (goddess of luck and fortune). like you said, there's so many different ways i could see their story going in an AU like this and they'd all be so angsty.

if you wanna see more analysis on how nico and leo fit together there's some stuff i've reblogged from others in my valdangelo tag! not all of it is necessarily romantic, i just basically use that for anything about the two of them--and a lot of the reasons why people like the ship are reasons why they'd work platonically as well. but yeah one of my biggest criticisms of HoO is how even though i like all the new characters for the most part, i feel like their relationships to each other were largely defined by romance (and i don't just mean the actual couples, but also the frank-hazel-leo love triangle for example) and a lot of potential was missed because of that!

oh yeah go for it!! feel free to use pretty much any of these ideas we've been brainstorming as basis for your own headcanons and stuff, i don't mind at all. and like i've been saying, if you did draw anything for this AU i'd love to see it. i can definitely see that about leo and nico both trying on the full uniform and then quickly deciding not to bother with it anymore lol. i imagined them both not wearing the tie because i just think nico wouldn't really want to and that leo might not even know how to tie one AFSKJGHDF. do you think leo would add any other accessories or personalization to his school uniform? also, i was thinking, i totally agree that they'd both like the ignihyde uniform, especially nico because it resembles the bulky jackets he normally likes to wear! but i wonder what nico would wear for a dorm uniform if he transferred to ramshackle... according to one of silver's voice lines at least, they canonically don't have one, so maybe he'd just wear, like, a my chemical romance shirt and call that a uniform lol. or keep his ignihyde uniform and confuse everyone.

omg, i love the thought of leo meeting ortho and being inspired to make festus because of him. he'd definitely be so fascinated by everything ortho could do. as for the clubs, i saved this excellent post about NRC's clubs for reference a while back, and since no other existing clubs were mentioned in either of the camp vargas events, i assume that that's all of them. but afaik there's nothing that says leo couldn't start a robotics club, and i'm sure there'd be people willing to join! out of the existing clubs i can totally see nico being in the board game club, i think that'd be a lot of fun for him.

[deputygonebye]

@luposcainus

there were probably more halfbies out there. who knows? caspian can only tilt his head. “ if there are more like me , we are living a life of good fortune, we do not have to worry about dead breaking in because we smell like it.” he said. the halfbie’s accent was strong. he stands up . he remains calm in all of this. his expression remain blank while putting his hands out. controlling his urge to feed off others was getting easier, but it does not mean it will happen. eating dinner, made that thought of him shiver. he rather eat things that are outside, hunt, like an undead would do. “ do you want to see my half rotten form?” he asked in a sarcastic tone. caspian raised a brow. the walkers were not a bother to him. it was the humans. they changed . they all did. caspian only offered to stay because he saved a life from being eaten.“ dinner it is a thing that i fear the most. any pulsing vein is sure to leave me hungry. ”

Blanketed in the bodies of the dead that they carved, into both chunks and pieces, of blood and flesh alike, when it came to shielding oneself from Walkers, it was the Halfbies who had the advantage. A natural defense against the undead, a scent that smelled of a rotted graveyard to they. It was a sense of peace that none in the camp had come to know since the Outbreak. Neither Shane nor anyone else, always did the Geeks find them, hunted them down through redolence alone. Sweat and whatever else that decided to gather along their skins; a luck that had been blessed onto Caspian. His soul damned or not, for Shane still debated the very idea, it was clear that he was favored, nonetheless. Caspian was within good graces. By the powerful hands of the Lord, by Rick, who stood and listened with such honest fascination, who seemed just about ready to offer the English man a permanent position within the group. Great talents coupled with an even more wonderful gift - Shane could see the gears turning inside of Rick's head.

"Hey! You best keep that to yourself. The kids don't need to see that. Nobody does." Shane recoiled, disgusted at the very thought of a decayed Caspian before his eyes, disgusted by the sarcasm.

"Yeah, well, you think about eatin' any pulsin' vein in this camp instead of the fried fish and canned green bean dinner that these folks have prepared for you, and you'll be lookin' down the barrel of my Mossberg 590. I ain't kiddin', Caspian. One wrong move against any of these people, and you're done for. Now, why don't I fetch y'all a seat."

Roughly handling the nearest lawn chair that he could find, placing it just so near the small fire that the camp had used for cooking, Shane picked Caspian's spot for him. His makeshift dinner table for the night, an easy-to-see seating arrangement, least for the ex-deputy who still refused to fully lay down his weapon. Guard for the meal - an overseer to the feastings - a still curious questioner.

Shane announced, proudly, "here you go. Carol already fixed your plate for you. It's on the paper plate. But I ain't finished with you. I need answers. These things, the Halfbies, where the hell did they come from? Where did you come from? Accent ain't like anything I've ever heard in King County. What is it? Irish? English?"

[callioclops]

Woah, a pinned post

Figured I may as well start using Tumblr as an actual blog rather than a promotional tool for streaming that I no longer do and letting it just sit here and occasionally reblog something funny from my friends, so I'm making a introduction post.

Hi, I'm Calliope or Callie for short. I'm an autistic trans woman and I use she/her. My primary interests include structural analysis of TV and anime, and getting way too deep into the mechanics of various video games inevitably resulting in an attempt to flawlessly optimise whatever it is I'm meant to be doing. As you can imagine this draws me to roguelikes a lot, but also fighting games, RPGs, etc.

If you fall under any of these groups kindly fuck off: Homophobes, TERFs and other transphobes, and honestly just as a general catch-all if you harbour a hatred for any group of people for no reason besides their appearance or the way they refer to themselves.

Quick pre-emptive Q&A:

Why do you have anon asks turned off? - Simple answer is that I don't want anon hate. I think if you want to be mean to someone online you can at least have the courage to stand by what you said without hiding behind a circle with sunglasses. If you want to send an ask but don't want it to be public that it's you, put "[/p]" somewhere in the ask. If you aren't being hateful I'll respect your want to be anonymous. Obviously I'll still know but that's the best I can give.

What TV shows/anime do you usually talk about? - That's very dependant on what I'm watching at any given time. I'll try to keep this up to date (no promises) with what I'm currently interested in. At the time of writing (23/12/23) the two main ones are Rick & Morty and My Hero Academia. These two specifically I have heard are a turn off for a lot of people due to the fandoms, personally I don't really interact in that space.

What posts can I expect? - Probably not that many in all honesty. I'm writing this at 11pm and it's entirely possible that I'll just forget about this for weeks on end. But if I am to post it will likely be short rants about any of the above mentioned media. Either talks about specific episodes of a show or mechanical intricacies of video games. I like to imagine that it will be educational in a way that is completely incomprehensible in an academic capacity.

Why a cyclops? - Initially, I was attempting to 'transition' my online persona at the same time as I was transitioning in real life and wanted a pun or portmanteau based on my new name. Callioclops was the only one I could think of and I stuck with it. Over time though it really grew on me, I had design ideas for an icon (Thanks to @caeruluspirit for the profile image), I really just became engrossed in cyclopes and monocular creatures in general. I think part of this fascination also stems from an irl friend who has depth perception issues and once tried to explain it to me by saying "The sky is in front of the trees." I've been thining about that every so often ever since.

So yeah, I'm going to try and be a bit more active on here. Share a piece of my autism with a wider audience. If that interests you stick around, if not then by all means keep on moving.

[vhvrs]

How does Wilbur interact with the rest of the family? Are they on good terms? Friendly?

VERY FRIENDLY wilbur's a pretty polite houseguest when they visit plus their curiousity with humans means they ask a lot of questions n try to actively engage with summer and morty especially (tiny humans! fascinating!) torn between them renting some hotel they stay at or crashing in a mini pocket dimension nearby but either way they dont overstay their welcome (aside from like. not knowing when to go home unless told to)

everyone definitely was thrown for a loop at first bc wilbur has a "30s at oldest" vibe (the beths were >:/) but it cleared up after finding out ow old they PROBABLY are

im not gonna place them on any specific point in the canon timeline so i cant say "theyre a positive influence on rick the family likes!" but thats a factor lol. space beth is the only one who doesnt really vibe w them due to actually knowing what they are on probably the same level as rick but can't pretend they arent also the child of a space villian. i wanna say jerry also is squeamish bc of the rick proximity n how much time morty n summer like to spend w them but he'd be too flattered by someone showing interest in his boring life . normie beth probably has them help with groceries. morty starts out very distrusting n nervous n comes around the longer they stick.

(i also toyed w wilbur having permission to fool around w jerry but hes got two wives now.) (wilbur being exclusive to only multiverse versions of the person they r dating is also cute to me)

but yeah. mostly they like doing stuff w the kids. they like taking summer shopping n trying food court food. they like playing video games w morty n going on errand adventures w him (or more like he asks them to help him make errands easier). they love doing boring mundane things :3

the smiths also do not know much direct information abt them n they dont usually provide any unless asked very specifically so theres nothing seedy to be bothered by as far as theyre aware (except for morty but again everything is meh after a while. they got him a switch from the dimension where everyones cats :3)