#but they do put together a little group and—

[bizarrelovetriangel]

missing you.

mdni. 18+ only. not for the kids, pls look away. male masturbation. panty sniffing. pillow humping. pervy caleb. caleb and reader/mc are in a relationship.

hello i'm joining caleb-the-panty-sniffer club and this is my contribution. please enjoy.

inspired by these arts: x, x, x

You were out of town for hunters business, and Caleb volunteered to check up on your house. While he's at it, might as well do some cleaning too.

But he gets a little distracted.

Last week, during your video call, you mentioned to Caleb that your team has been requested to go to a certain city that's been having Wanderer problems. The mission is estimated to last for about five to seven days, and you expressed concern about your newest plants that require to be watered at least every two to three days, which might die without your care.

So of course, Caleb is there to take away your worries. He promised to go to Linkon City in the middle of the week to make sure your plants get the nutrients they need.

Now here he is, inside your apartment's living room, putting away the objects that you'd left scattered all over the place. He imagined you putting things in your luggage at the very last minute before leaving for your trip. You've always done that when you were younger, and it seems old habits die hard.

Back when you were little, once you finish shoving plushies in your bag, deeming them to be absolutely necessary, you'd come to him so he can help you close the zippers.

This time, you didn't forget to take your plushies either. The Sunny Apple that he won with you at the claw machine was gone, which means it's probably keeping you company right now. The thought of you cuddling with the grumpy-looking apple puts a smile on his face.

After watering your plants, Caleb moved on to cleaning the kitchen. Your place isn't really messy; there are just several objects that were out of place, so there's not much work for him.

The last area that he took care of was the bedroom, where he will be sleeping for the rest of the week. The moment he entered your room, he was consumed by the smell of your signature perfume. If he were to close his eyes, it would feel as if you were there.

The scent also made him feel lonely. It's been days since he last saw you, as both of your jobs robbed you of each other's physical presence. Fortunately, once you return from your hunting trip, you two get to spend a few days together, so he's looking forward to it.

Caleb studied the collage of personal pictures you have on the wall, not too far from your nightstand. A lot of them are you and him from various age, a couple are of you and Zayne, plus a recent one with Caleb between you and the doctor.

There are also photographs of you with your coworkers, including the silver-haired guy that you're often partnered with. In all the group pictures, he's always, always next to you.

He's the one that's seeing all the cute expressions you're making right now.

Caleb shakes the jealous thoughts out of his head and lies down on your bed. It's the afternoon, just around the time for the sun to set. He's not sleepy at all, but the warmth and softness of your bed, combined with your fragrant scent, is just so alluring, his body was obligated to sink into it.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Caleb's left hand got a hold of something that you'd forgotten to either put in your luggage or put in the dirty laundry.

Something soft.

Something red.

His fingers grasped the material and held it above his face so he could see what it is.

"Ah...."

His face instantly feels warm at the sight of your underwear. Red panties.

He had seen you wear this before. He also remembers, quite vividly, him sliding it off your legs before pressing his lips and tongue at your core like a starving predator.

He rememebered how you felt. How you tasted.

His mouth watered.

His cock hardened.

His fingers twitched as he lowered his hand towards his face. Caleb closed his eyes and pressed the panty against his nose.

"Fuck..."

His other hand rose to his chest as heat from his rushing blood spread across his body, down to his stomach, through his hips, and pooled between his thighs.

His mind replayed the memory of you resting your back against the bed's headboard, your fingers tangled through his hair while his face is buried between your thighs.

Caleb rubbed his cock over his gray sweatpants, thinking of the face you make as his tongue drives you on edge.

He took another whiff of the red underwear and stained his own boxers as he become even more aroused.

His hips thrusted up as he stroke himself faster, pretending it was your hand that was touching him.

He pictured your mouth around his cock, cheeks flushed, eyes filled with lust as they flicker back to his, making sure he was feeling good. Your eyes would get teary when he'd lose restraints and put himself deeper in your mouth.

A groan comes out between his lips. He pulled down his sweatpants and boxers, smearing his pre-cum all over his aching cock before running his hand up and down, slowly, just like how you like to start and finish.

He needed you, so bad. But you weren't there.

He was surrounded by your scent.

He was on your bed.

Licking his lips, Caleb turned over and buried his face on one of your pillows.

He grinds his cock on your bedsheet, imagining that you were underneath him, crying out his name with pleasure with your honeyed voice that he'll never get tired of hearing even in the after life.

"N- not enough.... it's not enough..." He was pumping his cock while humping your bed, yet he was only getting harder.

It feels like he was going to burst but couldn't.

Caleb threw off his shirt as the sweat from all his movement and body heat made his clothes uncomfortably stuck to his skin.

Despite his tensed body, his hold on your underwear was gentle, as if it was your actual body.

He sniffed the red panty once again before moving it down to his lips. His tongue ran over the crotch, and his cock throbbed. He could almost taste you, as if you were actually there.

He whispered your name with desperation, right hand grasping the bedsheet, needing to feel you against him.

Letting out a ragged breath, he took another pillow and placed it under his hips. Caleb closed his eyes and a moan escapes his lips at the friction.

He immediately set a brutal pace, rutting against your pillow while his closed eyes sees your figure, taking him in deep and tight. You're scratching his back and mewling against his ear as he pounds into you so hard that the world is shaking.

Sweat causes his body to glisten while your bed quakes from all of his movements.

He didn't - or rather, couldn't, silence his moans as the red fabric was wrapped around his cock. He ran it up and down before spreading it over the pillow and grinding against it.

It wasn't you, but it still felt heavenly.

"Fuck. fuck.... so good..."

He was close.

Faster. Harder.

Caleb increased his speed on humping your bed, feeling his body tightening up.

Ring ring ring.

"W- what?!"

He jumped at the sound of his own phone ringing. Someone was calling him. More importantly, it was the special ringtone for you.

Luckily, it wasn't a video call. He'd usually prefer a video call so he can see your lovely face, no matter the time of the day, but today.... might not be a good idea.

"F-fuck." He was absolutely not in the right state to talk to you clearly.

Decline?

No, he couldn't.

He could never.

"Heya, pip-squeak," he breathes out slowly, carefully, as if his heart isn't racing. "Missed me already?" he asks playfully, as if he wasn't the one that was fucking your panties right now.

"Yeah, I do. I have to hold my bags by myself because Caleb isn't around."

"So nice to hear that you're thinking about me." He grins, while his hips continued to move with caution so you wouldn't detect any of the lewd noises he was making.

"Well, yeah.... I do miss you, Caleb." you replied softly, setting the jokes aside. "I'm so far away from Linkon. It's so different here, and it just feels lonely. I guess I'm just feeling homesick..."

You're feeling homesick and you're thinking of him. It's just like when he goes to Skyhaven. He was always thinking of you. The one that he comes home to.

"Caleb..."

The way you said his name caused his stomach to flutter, and his cock to twitch.

Fuck.

Your voice.

"Caleb."

"Mhmmmm..."

With your panty wrapped around his cock, he thrusted deeply into the pillow as if was you. Over and over and over again.

"Caleb..."

He's so close.

Faster.

Deeper.

"Caleb?"

The bed was shaking and screeching from how hard he was going. He'd forgotten about everything.

"Hnnngg,,,"

"Caleb!"

Not a second after you called out his name, Caleb reached his climax. The panty was shoved in his mouth to muffle out the whimpers that fell from his drooling mouth.

He came hard, all over your pillow and spilled onto the bedsheet, some in his hips and stomach.

"Caleb?"

His eyes opened widely as if he'd just woken up from a trance. "Yes, honey?"

"Are you okay? Did you hear what I said? Are you busy?"

He gulped. "I'm good, pip-squeak. I'm already at your place, just... cleaning up, so that it's all nice and pretty when you get back in two days. You should hurry back or else your plants might die from missing you too much."

"Just my plants? You don't miss me?"

On, you have no idea.

"Hmph. I guess I won't give you any of the souvenirs I bought for you."

You are so cute and so precious.

He wants to kiss you so badly.

"Why don't you come home so you can see out how badly I need you..... next to me..." he adds the last part quickly.

Caleb could practically hear you smile at the other line, causing the ends of his own lips to curl up with joy, eyes brightening as he thinks of your face.

"I'm coming home soon. Wait for me, Caleb."

"I'll wait for as long as you need me."

Once the call ended, Caleb sighs loudly and slumps on the bed, wincing at the wet mess he made.

Now he has even more cleaning up to do.

///////

You paused as you entered your bedroom after enjoying the brunch that Caleb cooked for you upon your arrival at your sweet home.

"You changed my bedsheets?"

"It was starting to get a little dusty. You're welcome."

[halsteadlover]

𝐀𝐧 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞

*Pics not mine credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Jay Halstead x Fem!Reader.

• Requested by @hart-kinsella: Basically, the fan fic could be set at one of Jay's Intelligence colleagues' wedding and mc is one of the bride's closest friends; the bride wants to set her up with one hot cop (could also be one who works on patrol). It could either be that the 'chosen' guy is not Jay, but then mc and Jay naturally connect at the reception (maybe through her wanting to avoid the guy she's set up with) or Jay being the 'set up' guy from minute 1 and them just meeting there (with the usual embaressement that comes from friends insisting you should get together) and hitting it off immediately.

• Warnings: curse words/strong language, mention of alcohol consumption, lots of tension and physical contact, heavy making out, suggestive at the end.

• Word count: 8.8k

• A/N: PLEASE READ ONLY IF YOU’RE 18+ DUE TO SUGGESTIVE THEMES. The way I was so excited about this fic but I reread it and now I hate it why am I like this 😭 Let me know in the comments what do you think about this one, I love you all ❤️

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” you said to Kim as you watched her sip the champagne from her glass, her huge ring shining against the lights of the room.

She was radiant, a smile plastered on her lips as wide as you had ever seen her in all the time you were friends. She was happy and your heart exploded with joy seeing her finally have her happy ending with Adam, especially after everything they’ve been through.

She looked beautiful in her white wedding dress and you couldn’t hide the tears of happiness you shed when you saw her walk down the aisle, a radiant smile on her lips. Adam looked at her with eyes so bright and full of love it made you wonder if there’d ever be someone who’d look at you like that, as if you were the only person who mattered, as if without you he couldn’t even breathe.

“Of course it’s a good idea! There’s nothing better than a blind date with a hot cop,” she finished sipping her champagne and set it down on the tray as a waiter walked by, thanking him immediately after. “You don’t trust me? Have I ever let you down on the men front?”

You didn’t respond, just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay there might’ve been some unfortunate meetings but this won’t be the case. Please, please, please. I swear he’s a really cute and good guy!” She begged, putting on her cute puppy face that not even the devil could resist.

Little bitch.

You sighed and rolled your eyes and that was enough to make her clap her hands with joy. “Only because it’s your day.”

“You won’t regret it, I promise.”

The fact was you were already regretting it.

You had never been very good at blind dates, you hated not knowing who you were going to talk to and spend the evening with, you wanted to be able to decide first if you liked that person. What if you didn’t like him, or if he didn’t like you? It would’ve been very awkward.

Actually, it was. It was definitely awkward.

Kim had pointed out from afar a man who was talking to Adam—ignoring how the latter was watching Kim without ever taking his eyes off her even while talking to other people—and you took your time to observe him.

He was a tall man, from behind you noticed his ash blonde hair and a statuesque body that was embraced by a tuxedo. Without even saying anything, Kim grabbed your hand and dragged you towards them, ignoring your signs of protest.

You were so nervous and you hated it.

And it certainly didn’t help that Kim had made it her mission to pair you up with someone, since you were the only single girl in your group of friends.

But you were happy, you weren’t lonely, you were fine being alone and that was important, you didn’t need a man by your side to determine your happiness. You defined your own happiness.

“Hi babe,” Kim greeted her husband, who smiled before sliding his arm around her hips and kissing her. The two of them were so in love it was almost disgusting. “Sorry I was rude. Caleb, I wanted you to meet my friend.”

Your cheeks flushed red as you felt the man’s gaze on you. “Oh so you’re the famous Y/n right? I’ve heard so much about you.”

God please have mercy.

“I hope only good things,” you replied with a smile and offered him your hand, which he immediately shook. The way his eyes moved up and down your body made your skin crawl, and the smirk he had plastered across his lips as he looked at you didn’t suggest anything good.

You pulled your hand away, forcing a smile as he started to speak, and cursed both Kim and Adam when you saw them sneak away, both giggling as they left you alone with that guy.

As they say, a woman’s sixth sense is like a gift, it never fails.

And it didn’t even take half an hour of talking to Caleb to realize he was self-centered and you’d never see him again. He talked your ear off as if you’d known each other your whole life, focusing mostly on him, his work, the gym, his exploits. You nodded every now and then, just to give him the impression you were listening when in reality your mind had dissociated after the first ten minutes of conversation.

And by conversation you obviously meant monologue.

He didn’t ask you anything, and by nothing you really meant nothing, not how old you were, your job, your hobbies, in short the simple questions one asks when one is getting to know another.

You looked around bored, cursing Kim and yourself with every fiber of your being for letting yourself being dragged—for the million time— in a situation you didn’t want to be in.

You decided you’d never take a single piece of her advice about men ever again.

“Once, when I was still on patrol, there was a robbery a few blocks away. I was alone and when I got there the thief was already running. I’ll make this short but even the commander congratulated me…”

You were trying really hard to listen to him but every time you tried to pay attention, he was still talking about himself. It was hard to follow his conversation/monologue without being fascinated by some random spot in the room like the chandelier.

Caleb was a beautiful man, that was objective. He was tall, broad-shouldered, he had a sculpted physique, defined jaw, eyes as blue as the sky. But beauty wasn’t everything, not when his character was similar to a mollusk.

“Hey baby, here you are, I’ve been looking for you for a while,” a male voice reached your ears from behind and you almost had a heart attack when you felt an arm wrap around your shoulders. You snapped your head towards the man, finding yourself in front of one of the most beautiful man you’d ever see.

Forget Caleb, who the hell was this man?

You froze, having no idea what to say or do. Who the hell was he? What did he want?

“Sorry it took so long but the line for the bathroom was endless,” the stranger continued and you tried with every fiber of your being to remain impassive. Your body was tense as a violin string as you tried to subtly move away from his grasp.

Breathtaking or not, you didn’t know him.

“Baby? You have a boyfriend? Kim told me you were single,” Caleb exclaimed almost indignantly, alternating his gaze between you and the stranger. You thanked God he was a second-rate cop and had the detective skills of a hamster or he would’ve seen from a mile away this was the first time you’d seen that man around you.

“Oh, well this is pretty new not many people know about us, but we’ve been seeing each other for a while. Thanks for keeping my girlfriend company—”

“Caleb.”

“Carl. Thanks,” the stranger held out a hand and Caleb looked at it before looking back at you and walking away without a word, a furious expression on his face.

You didn’t even bother following him because damn, you were so relieved you got him out of the way.

The stranger’s gaze was on you even though he had removed his arm from around you.

“Well, I guess you need to work on your acting skills but it went well right?”

You widened your eyes, still confused about what the hell was going on. “Who are you?”

“Oh you’re welcome, I didn’t just save you from the most boring date of your life,” he smirked.

You continued to look at him, confused, embarrassed and unable to form a coherent sentence. Who the hell was this man? And why was he so breathtakingly handsome? And why did he just pretend to be your boyfriend?

He held out a hand towards you, a smirk plastered across his lips, acting like he hadn’t just pretended to be in a relationship with a stranger. “I’m Jay Halstead. You must be Y/n right? It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Jay? Why does this sound familiar?

You widened your eyes, not even trying to hide your expression of fear and shock. “How do you know my name?” You asked, taking a step back, ready to run away.

His gaze softened, understanding he must’ve really looked like a stalker. “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you, I work with Kim in Intelligence. She mentioned you a couple of times and I assumed it was you since you’re the only one of her friends I’ve never met.”

Then you realized why his name was familiar to you. Kim—when talking about her job—had sometimes mentioned a ‘Jay’ and it was nice to finally be able to associate the face with that name, especially if the face was that one.

God he’s so hot.

“Listen,” he continued, raising his hands in surrender, a drink in the left one, “I’m not a stalker I swear—I came off in the wrong way. I just saw you from afar while you were talking to Carl, and you seemed to be in trouble so I thought I’d help. Let’s start over, shall we?”

You tried not to chuckle at the way he got Caleb’s name wrong and stared at him for a moment. He maintained eye contact, his irises locked on yours with no sign of changing direction. You had only just noticed how green his eyes were and you didn’t know why, but something inside you made you no longer want to run away.

You nodded and he smiled triumphantly and, God, he had one of the most beautiful smiles you had ever seen. He held out a hand to you again. “I’m Jay, nice to meet you.”

You tried to suppress a smile of your own and you clasped his hand. “It’s Y/n, the pleasure is mine.”

That handshake sent a spark up your entire arm, not in the cliché kind of way, but in the way that made you feel your body suddenly enveloped in a wave of heat.

He didn’t let go of your hand right away, but you didn’t care. You liked it, you liked the way his grip was strong, firm, confident, but his touch soft at the same time. You liked how his palm felt rough against yours but his skin was warm, a stark contrast to yours.

His thumb skimmed against the back of your hand before he pulled it away, bringing the glass to his lips with his other hand and taking a sip of his drink. All without him ever breaking eye contact with you.

This single innocent gesture left you breathless.

Did I mention he’s so damn hot and sexy?

He looked at you with curiosity, as if he had already decided that from now on his attention would be solely on you.

“This is the part where I have to thank you for saving me from an embarrassing date, isn’t it?”

His eyes flickered for a second on your lips as you spoke and he subtly took a deep breath, taking another sip of his drink. You pretended it didn’t affect you in the slightest even though your stomach had just flipped.

“You not filing a complaint against me is a great thank you,” Jay replied making you laugh, “and besides, I should be the one thanking Kim.”

You tilted your head slightly to the side, looking at him with a questioning expression. “Kim? Why?”

“For setting you up with the wrong guy, might’ve missed my shot otherwise.”

You burst out laughing again and rolled your eyes. “C’mon Jay, is that the best you can do?”

“Ouch,” he put his hand to his chest as if he was in pain. “That really hurt, I may be rusty but I’m not that bad c’mon.”

You smirked. “You’ll survive officer.”

“Nuh, uh. It’s detective, please.”

“My bad, I apologize Detective,” it was your turn to raise your hands in surrender. “But seriously, thank you for saving me from whatever that was.”

He smiled softly at you. “It was a pleasure. You were a couple seconds away from pulling the fire alarm to escape, I couldn’t just stay there and do nothing.”

“Oh, so you make a habit of being a knight and saving damsels in distress?”

“Nah, only the ones that are worth saving,” he replied, and you laughed, feeling that anxious and nervous feeling fade away as you continued to converse—for real this time—with Jay.

“I could’ve gotten away with it, you know,” you crossed your arms and Jay’s eyes flickered, for a millisecond, to your chest, specifically the neckline of your dress.

“Please,” he raised an eyebrow, “if he had kept talking any longer you would’ve ripped your hair out.”

“Stop you’re so dramatic, that’s not true at all,” you rolled your eyes—even though it was the truest thing you had ever heard—making him chuckle. “What’s your poison?” You nodded to his drink as he brought it to his lips and took a sip.

A teasing smile caressed his lips and then it was your turn flicking your gaze to his mouth. You had tried to resist but damn it was so hard. “Bourbon, neat. Effective right?”

You raised an eyebrow, mirroring his playful energy. “Is efficient a new fancy way of saying banal and predictable?”

He let out a soft laugh, the sound so low and warm it made your insides squirm. “Probably,” he countered, “but it’s still a classic.” He slightly tilted his head to the side as his green eyes roamed along your body, lingering for a moment on your dress before meeting your gaze again. You felt every inch of your skin catch fire under his eyes and you couldn’t help but compare Jay’s gaze to Caleb’s, which only made your skin crawl instead. “But it’s not for you. I think you’re more of a champagne kind of woman.”

At that same moment, by pure coincidence, a waiter carrying a tray of champagne glasses passed not far from you. Jay stopped him and took it, before offering it to you. You blushed, before taking it, your fingers brushing against him. “Thank you.”

You lifted your glass towards him, a quiet smile playing on your lips. “To Kim and Adam,” you said.

“To Kim and Adam,” he repeated voice low and smooth. He raised his glass to meet you, the soft clink echoing between you. For a moment, neither of you spoke—his eyes holding yours with an intensity that made your breath catch. It was just a toast, simple and harmless, but the way he was looking at you? Nothing about it felt simple.

“So, you’re a champagne type of woman,” he smirked.

“Guilty,” you shrugged your shoulders. “But what can I say? I like little sparkle in my life.”

You took another sip of champagne and that time it was your gaze that roamed along his body, perfectly wrapped in the tux he was wearing—over the broad lines of his shoulders, the way his dress shirt stretched just right across his chest.

Man, he looked so good it had to be illegal.

When your eyes returned to his you noticed the way he clenched his jaw and the slightest twitch of his lips as he looked at you, as if he knew exactly what you were doing but didn’t mind a bit.

His fingers flexed around his glass and a sexy smirk appeared on his lips, his eyes shining like the moon in the night. He slightly tilted his head to the side, his index finger brushing along the rim of his glass in a slow, absent-minded motion—like he was thinking about something he probably shouldn’t say out loud. “A little spark huh? And here I thought I was bringing the spark.”

You giggled. Yep, actually giggled. “Oh yeah? So that’s what you’re doing?”

“If you’re asking me then I’m not doing a good job,” he retorted, with a fake sad expression acting like he just wiped a tear, “you’re hurting me so much tonight.”

“Oh, you poor thing, I’d hate to bruise that big ego of yours.” You placed a hand on his bicep and caressed it in mock comfort and, fuck, you had to use every fiber of your body to not squeeze and feel up his muscles.

He tensed under your touch, his breath hitching in his throat feeling of your hand on him.

His lips curved into a slow, lazy smile—the kind that sent a shiver down your spine. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he drew, his voice dropping just a notch lower. “I can take a hit. Besides…” His gaze swept over you again, slower this time—unapologetic. “Something tells me it’s worth it.”

You bit the inside of your cheek to stop the smile threatening to break free, but to no avail. He was too good at this—too smooth, too charming, but damn if it wasn’t working.

“Careful Detective Halstead someone might think you’re flirting with me,” you smirked, taking another sip of your champagne.

He shortened the distance between you, subtly and not too noticeably, but you felt his presence, his scent enveloping you fully, more than it had done so far. “Luckily I don’t care about anyone but the person I’m talking to right now,” he replied, “and they’d be right because that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

The air between you grew heavier—not uncomfortable but charged with something unspoken. For a moment, neither of you spoke, the noise of the wedding reception fading into a distant hum. You should’ve looked away, said something to break the tension, but you didn’t want to.

You’ve never felt anything like this, being so damn attracted to a man you were dying to kiss him, to touch him.

“So confident,” you murmured. You tried to keep your eyes on his, but you couldn’t, not when his mouth was not too far from yours. “And here I thought you were just being nice.”

He chuckled, his voice low and deep. “Trust me sweetheart, there’s nothing nice about what I’m thinking right now.”

You took another sip, hoping to steady the warmth curling low in your stomach. Why were your legs suddenly turning to jelly?

“So…” you started, arching a brow in an attempt to shift the focus back on him, “do you flirt like this with every girl you save, or am I just special?”

Jay’s smile widened and he took a slow sip of his bourbon before answering. “You tell me,” he said, his voice smooth as silk. “Do you feel special?”

Damn him.

You laughed softly, shaking your head and taking a deep breath at the same time. “You’re trouble, Halstead.”

He didn’t deny it. “And yet, you’re still talking to me,” he pointed out, eyes gleaming with mischief. “What does that say about you?”

“That I make questionable decisions?”

Jay let out another quiet laugh, but this one felt different—lower, warmer. “Or maybe,” he murmured, leaning in a bit towards you, “you’re exactly where you want to be.”

And the truth? You weren’t sure you could argue with that because he was right, you were where you wanted to be.

You finished the rest of your glass in a single sip because there were two possibilities, this or jump on him and you couldn’t already do that considering you had just met him.

He was throwing you off so much it left you speechless and it wasn’t like you. You didn’t know if you loved it or hated it.

He chuckled as he continued to look at you, as if he had just read your mind.

Your guardian angel, Kim—who you’d thank for the rest of your life from that moment on—appeared at that exact moment, interrupting the game of glances between you and Jay that was becoming too intense for your own good.

“Jay! Y/n? Where’s Caleb?” She asked, visibly excited and smiling.

“I have no idea, courtesy of my fake boyfriend here,” you nodded at Jay who chuckled sexily.

How could laughter be so sexy?

“We need to talk about your questionable taste in men Kim, what kind of rat did you want her to be paired with?” He joked one hand shoved into his pants pocket while the other held his almost empty glass.

“Hey, don’t talk to my wife like that, I’d say she made a good choice in men,” Adam suddenly intervened, wrapping his arm around Kim’s hips and pressing a kiss to her temple. The sight warmed your heart, making you smile like an idiot.

“So, you’ve already introduced yourselves,” Kim continued, alternating her gaze between you and Jay but with a sinister smirk on her lips.

You and Jay exchanged a quick knowing look. “Yeah, he saved me from the mess that was Caleb. And by the way, I’m never listening to you ever again Kim, don’t do that to me again.”

“You two look so good together,” Kim blurted out and giggled, visibly tipsy. “Don’t you think they look hot together honey?”

“Okay that’s enough, let’s get back to dancing,” Adam chimed in again, struggling to contain his laughter, before dragging his wife away.

Before she left though Kim came back to you and whispered, “I was watching you two from afar there’s so much sexual tension between you two that even I got turned on.”

Your cheeks turned on fire but before you could respond Adam finally dragged her away, leaving you alone with Jay again.

He let out a light laugh, and you turned your head towards him. “Do I want to ask you what she said?”

You shook your head, taking another sip of champagne as you still heard her words echoing in your head. “Nope.”

He looked at you for a moment, his eyebrow raised. “Kim really does have questionable matching skills, I take it this isn’t the first time with Carl,” he said, changing the subject.

“You have no idea,” you rolled your eyes, “my brain can’t comprehend how she managed to match me with these men and not one of them was normal.”

“Well, have you thought that maybe they weren’t the problem?”

You gasped in fake shock and elbowed him in the side, and he pretended to be in excruciating pain, making you laugh at the show he was putting on. “I could arrest you for assault on a police officer you know that right? You’d look really pretty in a prison uniform.”

“You think I’ll look cute in handcuffs too?”

What the fuck?! Where the hell did that come from?

Jay, who was taking his last sip of bourbon, chocked on it and started coughing after the liquor went down the wrong way and, although you were embarrassed by the stupidity of that statement, the scene was pretty hilarious.

“You good? Should I call a doctor? What happened?” You teased him, trying to hold back your laughter but failing miserably.

“You know damn well what happened,” he retorted with mock annoyance even as the smile on his lips belatedly came. “And pretty wouldn’t even come close to how good you’d look in handcuffs if you really wanted an answer, but that’s something we’ll talk about later.”

You blushed, once again, from head to toe and hated yourself for this reaction and how easily he could see it. “Later? Who says there’s gonna be a ‘later’?”

He smirked down at you, and it was so sexy it made your head spin. “Trust me there will be.”

“You’re so cocky detective.”

Jay leaned in just a fraction, enough that the faint scent of his cologne wrapped around you—something warm and woodsy, with a hint of spice. “Only when I’m sure about something,” he said, his voice softer now, but no less intense.

His words hung in the air, thick and heavy, and you felt heat creep up the back of your neck. You could've played it cool, thrown back a quip, but the way he was looking at you made your pulse skip in a way that was impossible to ignore.

His gaze dropped to your lips again—just for a second—but it was enough to send a fresh wave of heat curling through your body.

“C’mon,” he said suddenly, holding out a hand towards you. “You owe me a dance.”

You lifted a brow. “Do I?”

Jay shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Well, I did save you from Carl. Seems only fair.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t fight the smile that broke free as you slipped your hand into his. “Alright, Detective,” you quipped, “but only because you asked so nicely.”

His fingers curled around yours—firm, warm, just the right amount of possessive. And as he led you toward the dance floor, you realized something else: you didn’t want to let go.

The music shifted as you reached the edge of the dance floor—something slower, smoother, the kind of song that practically begged for two people to be just a little too close.

Exactly what you wanted.

Jay didn’t hesitate. His hand slid easily to your waist, fingers splayed warm and wide on the small of your back as he pulled you against him, close enough to send all your senses into a tizzy.

It had been hard until now, but this? Being so close to him that you could even count his eyelashes? It was devastating.

You couldn’t even recognize yourself, you’d never found yourself craving a man’s touch so badly, like you needed it to breathe, and in that moment you realized you’d only met the wrong people because, fuck, you were missing out.

“You good with this?” he murmured in your ear, his voice just for you. Low. Intimate. And there was something in the way he asked—like he cared, but also like he already knew your answer.

You nodded, hoping he didn’t feel the way your heart was beating against his chest. Your bodies began to sway in time to the slow music, like you’d done it a million times, like he wasn’t a stranger to you and you a stranger to him.

You didn’t know anything about the man, and he didn’t know anything about you, but you were so drawn to each other it almost drove you crazy.

As you engaged in small talk, you tried not to focus on how close he was—on how his thumb brushed against your back every time he shifted—but it was impossible. Especially when every slight movement seemed to make the space between you shrink.

He asked about you, what do you do for a job or in your free time, how old were you, how long have you known Kim, you asked about him and his life, and it was crazy how, even though you had known each other for literally a short time, you both felt comfortable talking to each other, joking and laughing when you both made terrible jokes.

“You’re really giving me a hard time,” he said, his fingers flexing on your hip.

You turned your head to meet his gaze, realizing how he was already looking at you. There wasn’t any trace of humor left, his eyes were staring at you, but they weren’t focused on yours exactly, they traveled along your face as if he was analyzing you, memorizing every feature and detail.

“Why?” You asked and his eyes flickered on your lips. He continued to caress your hip unconsciously, your bodies pressed against each other and with every slight movement you could feel the heat between you intensifying.

“Because I’m trying so hard to behave and be a gentleman but it’s getting really hard,” he answered softly, his voice raspy, his breath an inch from your lips. “And I hate not being in control.”

You stopped breathing for a second and a shiver ran down your spine. It would’ve been so easy to break that distance, it would’ve only taken a couple of inches and his mouth would’ve been on yours to finally satisfy that visceral attraction that was pulling you towards each other.

And you most likely would’ve let him do it if it hadn’t been for Kim who, with her usual perfect timing, had grabbed your arm, totally drunk and with a beaming smile.

“C’mon Y/n, we have to dance together!” she exclaimed loudly, jumping up and down with an enthusiasm you had never seen in her as she continued to pull on your arm without even leaving you room to protest.

Jay’s arm was still around your hip, though his grip wasn’t as firm as it had been before, and you hated to admit it, but you already missed that touch.

It seemed mutual because you felt him tense for a moment, his fingers reluctant to release their grip on you, as if he also hated the idea of letting you go. But eventually he did, slowly, the heat of his hand still burning through your dress and against your skin even after you’d pulled away.

“Don’t go too far,” he whispered in your ear, quiet enough to make it seem like a secret between the two of you.

And as Kim dragged you through the crowd to the beat of a more upbeat song, you turned to him and gave him one last look. Jay was still there, standing at the edge of the dance floor, his hands stuffed in his pockets, that intense gaze still fixed on you. He winked at you before you disappeared into the crowd and you almost tripped on your own feet.

Oh my fucking god.

Jay leaned against a wall, his hands still in his pockets, one foot placed in front of the other. In other moments he wouldn’t have waited to take another drink, but that night he wanted to be as sober as possible.

His gaze was fixed on the crowd of people dancing on the dance floor, but not on everyone, his eyes scanned the people only for one person in particular. He cursed those disco strobe lights because, in those dim lights, it was not easy to find you.

But when he finally did, his attention was focused only and solely on you, not on the music, not on the world around him.

You were laughing now, spinning with Kim on the dance floor, some strands of your hair coming out of your hairstyle as you moved to the music. He should’ve backed away. Hell, he’d spent years perfecting that skill, knowing when to pull back, where to avoid getting too close, perceive when there was danger. But with you? It wasn’t that easy.

It hadn’t been from the second he laid eyes on you, when he saw you enter the wedding venue with some of your friends.

He didn’t know what kind of witchcraft you had performed on him but he seemed to not be able to stop looking at you. His gaze tracked the curve of your smile and the movement of your lips as you sang along the song, the flush on your skin from the warmth of the room, and the way your dress hugged your figure just enough to make his thoughts stray somewhere they shouldn’t.

He told himself to get it together—to stop looking at you like a creepy stalker—but it was a losing battle, he seemed hypnotized.

And when you tipped your head back, laughing at something Kim said, Jay swore under his breath.

He was in trouble.

Because the truth was, it wasn’t just the way you looked—although you were one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen—it was the way you felt. Warm and soft against him when you danced, your hand fitting so easily in his. The way you leaned into his touch, like part of you wanted him closer, even when you were pretending otherwise.

It almost scared him how he found himself talking, laughing and joking so easily with a stranger he had just met.

But he wanted more of that. More of you.

And that realization hit him harder than it should’ve.

Jay exhaled slowly, willing the tension in his chest to ease. It didn’t work. Not when you turned your head as you kept dancing, scanning the room as if you were searching for something, or someone.

And when your eyes locked, his heart gave a sharp kick, one he didn’t truly expect. And the way you held his gaze? It did something to him.

Your lips curled into the faintest smile—small, almost shy—and damn if it didn’t make something twist low in his stomach. He should’ve been the one in control here, but with just one look, you had him pinned. And the worst part was that he didn’t mind.

Not even a little.

Your attention was caught again by one of your friends who pulled you towards her as you belted out the song in the background, breaking eye contact.

He tried to look away from you sometimes, focusing his attention on something else but it was as if his eyes were attracted to a magnet, you.

And maybe that was the problem.

He wasn’t supposed to feel this, wasn’t supposed to want someone he’d just met with this kind of heat and desire curling through his veins. But here he was, eyes on you, mind already running a dangerous path of wondering how you’d taste if he let himself get too close.

He was about to move—to do something, anything—but then Kim grabbed your hand again, spinning you around in a dizzy circle. Your laughter rang out, bright and carefree, while Jay just stood there against that wall.

He didn’t belong in this moment. Not really. A guy like him—weighted down by too much baggage, too many mistakes, a very dangerous job—had no business wanting you like this.

But God help him, he did.

When the song shifted to something louder and faster, you finally pulled back from Kim, breathless and glowing in a way that had no right to make his pulse pick up. Kim was already dragging Adam away, leaving you alone again, and for half a second, Jay thought this was his shot.

But then, just as quickly, you disappeared into the crowd.

And that shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did. More than it had any right to.

Jay exhaled, dragging a hand through his face. He told himself to play it cool, to just let it go, but the thing was, he didn’t want to let it go. Let you go.

And if he had anything to say about it, this night wasn’t ending until he found you again.

Jay pushed himself off the wall, his pulse thudding a little harder than he wanted to admit.

He wasn’t the type to chase after someone, not like this. But that night, he couldn’t seem to help himself. His eyes scanned the room, but the crowd was thicker now, people swaying to the music, bodies pressed too close.

You weren’t on the dance floor anymore. He knew that much. And the longer it took to find you, the harder it became to shake the restless feeling gnawing at the edges of his control.

Get a grip, Halstead.

He could’ve leave you alone. Should’ve, probably. But as he moved through the party he knew nothing would sit right until he saw you again.

And then, just when he started to think he’d lost you for good, he caught a sight of you through the open door leading to the balcony.

Jay hesitated, his hand curling into a fist at his side. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing, all he knew was that the moment he saw you again, his mind quieted. And maybe that was reason enough.

Without giving himself time to second-guess, he stepped outside.

You were leaning against the railing, your back to him, the cool night air brushing against your bare shoulders. He let himself take in the sight of you for just a second longer—how the city lights reflected off your skin, how you tilted your head back like you were finally catching your breath.

You were breathtaking. So fucking beautiful it hurt.

“Wasn’t sure if I’d get another chance to steal you away.”

You turned your head at the sound of his voice, and there it was again, that little smile. “Something tells me you love a good challenge Detective.”

He huffed a quiet laugh, nodding. “I feel like the reward will be worthy.”

He moved closer to you as he took off his jacket and placed it on your shoulders, leaving his hands there for a while as he let your scent engulf him. You then turned fully to face him and Jay didn’t miss the way your eyes roamed along his body, focusing for a moment on his chest, his arms, before looking back into his eyes.

“Oh so you really like me,” you joked, eyes still on him, slightly tilting your head but he couldn’t ignore the blush on your cheeks.

“Thought I made that pretty clear by now.”

And just like that, the tension stretched tight again, thicker this time but with the difference that nothing and no one would interrupt this time.

For a moment, neither of you spoke. The distant thump of music spilled through the open door, but out here? It felt like the rest of the world had faded away.

He closed the distance between you, never taking his eyes off yours. He tried to pull away, but it was as if he physically couldn’t, as if he needed it.

“And here I thought you’d even left the party.”

“You’re hurting me so much tonight, I’m not that bad at hitting on you c’mon.”

You giggled and bit your bottom lip. He found himself suppressing a groan because, damn, he had never wanted anything so badly as he wanted to bite your lip.

“Well,” you batted your lashes, “you’re definitely making it hard for me to leave now,” your eyes flicked to his lips before returning to his and he told himself to calm down but, God help him, if you did that again he’d lose every ounce of control he had left.

“I guess you found a good reason to stay then,” his tongue flicked across his bottom lip and he couldn’t miss the way your gaze landed on his lips, again. The light was dim, not very bright, but he could see so clearly how dilated your pupils were and it drove him crazy, knowing you felt the same.

“Is that so?” You murmured. He leaned closer to you and placed his hands on the railing at either side of you, trapping you in his arms but not touching you. Your breathing quickened at the closeness, your lips parted slightly as if you needed air, and that was enough to make his pulse quicken and the heat in his blood spike.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” he taunted

You let out a quiet laugh, warm and soft, and something about the sound made his fingers itch to touch you again, so much so that he tightened his fingers around the cold metal of the railing.

You took his tie—which had been dangling between you—into your hands, and Jay seriously thought he was going to collapse at your feet at any moment. You hadn’t done anything too dramatic, but he felt like he was going to have an aneurysm. Just seeing your fingers caress the fabric of your tie, how you played with it while you continued to look at him, drove him crazy.

“I’m exactly where I want to be,” you repeated under your breath the words he had said a few hours earlier. His hands were gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles were completely white from trying to vent the frustration he felt.

His fingers inched closer and closer to you, until the sides of his thumbs were brushing against your dress. God, how much he wanted to grab you, hold you and touch you, every inch of your body until the ground disappeared beneath you.

You didn’t pull away, if anything, you shifted closer, your warmth seeping into his skin.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked when he remained silent, staring at you while you continued to play with his tie.

“I think,” he murmured, his thumb sweeping slow circles against your pelvis’ side, “you’re gonna be a problem for me.”

The tension cracked, sharp and electric, and neither of you moved, like you were both waiting to see who’d break first.

“Maybe I want to be,” you admitted quietly.

That was all he needed.

Jay didn’t overthink it, he just moved, closing the last bit of space between you. His hand slid to your waist and made you stand upright, as he tilted his head down, giving you plenty of time to pull back.

But you didn’t.

You stayed right there, your breath warm against his skin as your fingers curled into the front of his shirt.

“You’re making this impossible,” he said, his voice rougher now, low enough that only you could hear. His fingers flexed against your waist, dragging you closer without meaning to. Or maybe he did. He wasn’t sure anymore. “I’m trying so hard to be good, but—fuck.”

“But what?” you interrupted, your tone softer, breathier than before. His eyes snapped to yours, and the challenge in your gaze nearly broke him. “What happens if you stop trying?”

His breath hitched. Jesus Christ.

Jay let out a low, bitter laugh, because you weren’t making this any easier. And the worst part? You knew it. You knew exactly what you were doing to him.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” he asked, as his fingers trailed up, just slightly, brushing the curve of your ribs. It wasn’t a question. Not really.

Your lips parted, and for a second—just a second—he thought maybe you’d call his bluff. But instead, you tilted your head, eyes fixed on his mouth like you were imagining the same damn thing he was.

“I really, really do,” you murmured. And that was it. That was the crack in the dam.

His other hand came up before he could stop himself, fingers grazing along your jaw, tilting your face toward his as his nose brushed against yours. “You have no idea how much I want you right now,” he admitted, no more games, no more teasing. Just raw, unfiltered truth. His fingers brushed a strand of hair from your face, tucking it behind your ear. “I don’t even know you but you’re driving me crazy. You have to stop me.”

You didn’t flinch. Didn’t pull away. Instead, your lips curled into the faintest smile, bold, knowing, and it only fueled the fire already burning through his veins.

“The thing is, I don’t want you to stop,” you whispered, leaning in just enough for your breath to brush against his lips, “I don’t want you to be good or patient.”

The words punched through his last shred of restraint like they were designed to. And for a beat, all he could do was look at you—at the flush on your skin, the way your chest rose and fell a little too fast.

“Don’t say that unless you mean it,” he warned, though it came out rougher than he intended, his thumb brushing the edge of your jaw, slower than necessary.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” you shot back, quiet but sure—so sure—and, fuck, he was done for.

He wanted to win that little silent race, to see you snap but the truth was that he had lost from the start, he had no chance of winning.

So, when he finally kissed you, it wasn’t an attempt.

It was slow, deliberate, like he wanted to memorize the way you tasted, in case it was the last time. The faintest hint of champagne lingered on your lips, but beneath it was something that made his heart slam harder against his ribs.

You kissed him back like you wanted this just as much as he did, your hands sliding up to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, deeper, making his jacket fall on the floor.

And Jay? He let himself fall into it. Into you.

Jay’s lips moved against yours, slow and thorough, but nothing about the way he touched you felt careful. His hands slid along your waist, fingers pressing into the curve of your hip, squeezing you like he was memorizing the shape of you. Every brush of his skin against yours sent sparks racing through your body, and the heat pooling low in your stomach only grew stronger with each passing second.

His palms flattened against your lower back, pulling you closer until there wasn’t a single inch of space left between your bodies, until you could feel how much he really wanted you. He was warm, solid—everywhere—and the way he held you made your breath hitch.

You tugged lightly on the back of his neck. The muscles beneath your fingers were tense, and a shudder ran through him as your nails scraped gently against his skin. His breath hitched in response, and something about knowing you could unravel him like this made the heat in your blood burn hotter.

“You’re killing me,” he muttered against your mouth, his voice rough and frayed at the edges. His lips brushed over yours again, lingering like he was savoring the taste of you. But his hands, God, his hands, were anything but patient.

His fingers traced a slow, deliberate path up your spine, skimming beneath the hem of your dress as he went. The warmth of his touch against your bare skin felt a sharp, delicious shiver curling through you, and when his hand settled at the small of your back again, his grip tightened, so possessive like he wanted to keep you exactly where you were.

And you wanted to stay there.

You wanted more.

Your body arched instinctively into his, and Jay swore softly under his breath, his hold on you turning rougher, like he was losing the battle to keep himself in check. His fingers flexed at your hip, sliding lower, almost touching your ass before skimming back up, as if he couldn’t decide where he wanted to touch you most.

And when your hand drifted from his neck to the front of his shirt, fingers curling into the soft fabric, you felt the sharp rise and fall of his chest beneath your palm. His heart was racing and the realization felt another jolt of heat spiraling through you.

“Jay,” you breathed against his mouth, in such an intense and desperate tone, as if you needed him and his distance hurt you, and his response was immediate. His lips crashed back onto yours with a hunger that stole your breath, and the slow, careful rhythm shattered beneath the weight of all that tension.

He kissed you harder now, deeper. His tongue swept along your lower lip, and when you opened up for him, he groaned softly, a low, desperate sound that made your knees go weak.

His hand slid higher, dragging up your side, fingers brushing the sensitive skin beneath your ribs. He didn’t stop there. He traced the outline of your body desperately, knuckles grazing the side of your breast before his palm flattened against your ribcage, holding you firmly against him.

“Is this okay?” He whispered against your lips.

“Yes, god, yes please Jay,” you whispered back and damn, if your breathy voice hadn’t completely destroyed him. He loved seeing you as desperate for him as he was for you.

He kissed you again. “You’re driving me insane,” he murmured against your lips, and there was no teasing left in his voice. Just raw need. “I can’t—If you want me to stop say it because I fucking can’t.”

The response to those words of his was the way you grabbed his face and crashed your lips onto his again. “I don't want you to stop.”

Whatever fragile restraint he’d been clinging to snapped completely.

Jay’s hands tightened on your waist as he backed you against the wall, pressing you there like he needed to feel every inch of you against him.

His lips left yours just long enough to trail down your jaw, his breath warm as it ghosted over your skin. He didn’t stop when he reached your neck. Instead, he tilted your head gently to the side, giving himself more access as he pressed open-mouthed kisses along the curve of your throat and making you sigh in pleasure.

And when his teeth graced that sensitive spot just below your ear, you couldn’t hold back the soft sound that escaped your lips.

Jay froze at the sound—just for a second to control himself before he’d come in his pants. He groaned low in his throat, his mouth returning to yours in a kiss that was rougher now, messier, hungrier. Like hearing you fall apart pushed him over the edge.

One arm was around your waist as he held you so tightly it was almost impossible to move, while the other hand slid down, fingers spreading wide across your thigh. His thumb brushed slow circles against the sensitive skin there, inching higher with every pass. “Tell me to stop, and I will, okay?” he repeated.

But the way he touched you, the way his mouth lingered on yours, made it painfully clear he didn’t want to stop.

And neither did you.

“If you stop now, I might actually lose my mind.”

He chuckled before kissing you again as you pulled him closer, tilting your head to deepen the kiss even further. Your hands cupped his face, his beard tickling your palms as he took your breath away completely.

He slid his hand up your thigh again, taking advantage of the slit of your dress to touch your skin, to squeeze it, to feel it, to press his fingers so deeply into it until they left their mark. He grabbed your leg and wrapped it around his waist, making his pelvis grind with yours and making you both moan into the kiss.

His lips trailed back down to your neck, licking and sucking every inch of skin he had access to. “I want you so fucking bad.” His breath was hot against your skin, and when he spoke again, his voice was nothing but a rough, desperate whisper.

“Oh my fucking god Jay,” you gasped, trying to keep your voice low as his hand slid on your ass, squeezing it until you almost moaned again. “I want you so much too… Please…”

His lips found yours again, a desperate, greedy kiss that only deepened the ache between you two. There was no hesitation, no slowing down. Every touch, every movement, felt like a need that couldn’t be contained. You could feel the heat rising between you, consuming both of you in a way that made everything else fade.

His hard dick pressed into you, and the pressure made your breath hitch, another moan escaping as you started to grind into him again. His mouth left yours only long enough to whisper your name, low, rough, like a command.

“God, I need to feel you,” he muttered against your skin, like he was about to break. His teeth grazed your ear before his lips closed around the sensitive spot just below it, and you couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped again. It only turned him on even more, his hands moving and exploring every inch of you, as though he couldn’t get enough.

Your fingers dug into his shoulders, his back, his chest, pulling him even closer, matching the urgency of his movements. You wanted to rip that shirt off of him, you wanted to feel his skin under your fingers, touch him everywhere.

His lips trailed down to the curve of your shoulder, sucking gently as the strap of your dress slid down. The sensation made you pulse race beyond imagination, and you found yourself tugging at his shirt, eager to feel more of him.

“Jay,” you breathed again, voice trembling, and you pulled his face back to yours, crashing your lips together with the kind of hunger that mirrored his own. The kiss was messy, full of heat and need, and you lost yourself in it. You bit his lower lip, sucking it and making him groan. And, fucking hell, the sound was so sexy you felt it directly in your lower regions.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck Y/n,” he muttered desperately. His fingers brushing over the lace of your underwear before slipping inside, feeling how wet you were. The contact was electric, and the sharp Moab you let out made his almost like in his pants. “Is this okay?” he murmured against your lips.

“Yes, shit… Oh… Oh god Jay you feel so good please don’t stop,” you moaned, your body moving on instinct, a desperate need for more, and the words only seemed to unravel him further.

There was no turning back now, and for once in your life, it felt like you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

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I Just Want Your Heart (Daryl x Half-Walker!Reader)

Warnings/Tags: Major Character Death, Angst, Cussing, Blood, Violence, and Normal TWD stuff. If anymore, please tell me and I'll add it!

Season: In the 30 days between season 3 and 4.

Words: 3K

Plot: Daryl finds a walker, but she can talk. She’s always chewing on gum, and her body is a bit rotten. It’s like she was half dead. He goes ok to help her and take care of her, not knowing why. Until one day, he does something he might regret.

A/N: Hope y'all enjoy;3

(OG BLOG: @idkbishsss)

Daryl Dixon was a man who did not fall in love with anyone. He was a rough around the edges, redneck, quiet, distant, guy. He did not fall in love. He loved only one person, his brother. Lost together somewhere in an apocalypse world and treated him like shit most of the time sure, but he did love him. As much as he wouldn’t admit it because Merle would just scoff and roll his eyes.

Daryl Dixon was not a man of groups. He was a part of one, only because he had to. Merle said it was because they needed him, but Daryl had a feeling that it was because Merle needed them. Daryl didn’t do groups, but he understands the importance of them. As long as they left him only he was okay.

Daryl Dixon was not a family man. He never wanted a family. His only brother was now dead. He didn’t need a family. Sure, he had a small care for the kids in the group, and didn’t want them to die. He would protect them, but it wasn’t his family.

Daryl Dixon was a lair. He was a family man, these people at the prison were his family. It was his group. He lied about it himself and others about those things for sure, but he never lied about not falling in love. Sure he’d love, in like, a family way. He’d never fall in love though, he’d never allow himself to.

.

Rick had ordered Daryl to go out and get more fuel for the cars. They were low and needed more for runs. 

Daryl got in a trunk and rode up to a few big ass rich people houses he’d seen a few weeks ago. They had a lot of cars and trucks in the neighborhood, meaning a lotta fuel if no one raided it already. In fact, a few houses were having parties, so there were more than usual for bug neighborhoods.

He pulled up to the first house and went to go get the fuel out of the cars and trucks. Using the classic suck on a hose until you feel like passing out method, he got nothing. Hence the sucking too long. He decided he’d check the houses later if he had time and moved on to the next set of cars and trucks. These ones look promising, and were very promising. Fuel came pouring out like the rain, he filled two gallons worth of gas from four cars and one truck. 

He put those gallons back in the back seat, and went to the truck bed to grab more fuel cans. However, something stopped him, a loud screaming noise. He grabbed his crossbow and looked around for the source. He heard giggling and saw the house it was coming from.

He slowly approached the home with extreme caution. He turned around the halls that lead him to a bedroom. He could hear the smacking of gum coming from the room. A girl was sitting there on the bed. A girl was graying skin, dead walker eyes, and a few broken limbs. You.

You casually popped the bones back into place. You looked over to him and smiled, he drew his crossbow up and pointed it to you.

“Woah! I’m not gonna bite you, I am not like the other ones.” You made a joke out of it while putting your hands up. He was confused, what the hell is happening? Why is a Walker, a dead woman, talking? And why isn’t he shooting it’s head off?

You got up and walked over to him, still with your hands up. Your smile faded and you looked a little nervous. “Look I was freaked out and confused when I woke up and was… somewhat alive. But I don’t hurt people, and it still hurts when you hurt me… so please just let me go…” You begged for your life as if you were human. Daryl didn’t understand, you aren’t human, you barely look human. Well, you didn’t look like a walker, you still had flesh, but still, you looked dead. It freaked him out.

You knew he was freaked out, it was all over his face after you said those words. But honestly? Daryl was more than just freaked out, a small part of him was intrigued. Which wasn’t like him. He wasn’t an intrigued guy, but he wanted to know you, know what happened to you.

“Why’d ya scream?” He asked gruffly. You didn’t expect his voice to be that deep, he must smoke something. 

You wave it off and shrug. “Walker grabbed my leg, forgot they don’t bite me anymore.” He was even more intrigued by this, you were immune? Or just half turned. He knew the group would shoot you as soon as you got close because of what you looked like. He’s had personal experience in that at the fram, but he wanted to know you. 

“Look… I’ll show you the best water and food and well anything you need! In this area and neighborhood… just let me live… please.” As you begged him again he put his crossbow down. He told himself not to, to put it back up, kill you, threaten you. But he didn’t. He just nodded and let you lead the way to show him things.

.

You were a talker, and walkers didn’t even look at you when you were being so loud. Daryl found it strangely interesting. He’d never been interested in anyone really, let alone a woman. Yet, there was something about you that made him wonder and think more than he ever let himself before. 

You were showing him a map of the area and places that hadn’t been raided already. “Now there’s a horde here, but when you go just tell me about a week before and I can steer them clear from your path!”

He looked up at you, an expression on his face that could only be described as a little confused. “Now why would ya’ help us..?” He asked, quietly, you guessed he wasn’t much of a talker. 

“Meh! If we are neighbors I have to help you right?” You said it like it was obvious. Like people just help one another in these conditions. “It’s what good neighbors do!” You exclaimed, Daryl just nodded. It wasn’t the old world normal people knew any more, but you act like it. Then again, Daryl didn’t know much of normal, so who was he to judge? Besides, the help would be nice.

You altered your smile, your big grin going away into a slight smile. For a dead girl, you seemed happier than most people. Maybe that was the secret, being dead. But Daryl had people, he wasn’t going to leave them. They needed him just as much as he needed them.

After it was all said and done Daryl went back to getting fuel. You stayed around just kind of watching him. It made him nervous, and he felt a strange new feeling he hadn’t felt before. He wished he could place it, but after years of controlling his emotions, they were all over the place. He didn’t know how to pen point the feeling he felt.

After he was all done with one car, he’d move onto the next one. You’d follow him, just standing around, watching. It almost creeped him out at some points, almost. He wasn’t used to people watching him so closely. Maybe this is how people felt about him. But earlier you were so talkative, and now you just watched, quietly.

He put the last two gallons of fuel in the truck and turned around after closing the door. He jumped a little when he saw you behind him. It wasn’t noticeable to you, just him. You just smiled and put a new piece of gum in your mouth.

“I have to… leave.” He mumbled walking over to the truck door. He glanced back at you, seeing that you were no longer smiling. You stood back, looking back at your house.

“I’ll be back…” He said. He thought he was stupid for saying it, but when he looked up and saw your smile, those thoughts faded into nothing. He pulled out of there immediately, why does he feel this way? Questions plagued his mind as he drove back to the prison.

.

He pulled back into the prison and didn’t say a word to anyone, not even to Rick, who’d asked him many questions about the area. He just helped unload his truck and stayed quiet with the small nod a few times. As the sun started to go down over the hills and people started to go inside, Daryl soon followed them. He then walked back into his cell and pulled the thin sheet as a door over the opening.

Daryl put his crossbow down with his stuff. He took his shoes off and threw them next to his boots. Beth found him “nice” sneakers to wear. He only wore them because it made her happy. He took off his vets and threw it on the top bunk

He laid down on the bottom bunk. He was on his back trying to sleep, but he just kept thinking about you. He knew it was a bad idea to think about you this much, but he couldn’t control himself anymore like he used to. You were talkative and almost happy, even though you were dead. 

He has so many questions. Why’d you look freshly dead? Why’d you chew gum? If you bite him, will he turn? Can he even get these answered? Probably not, he’d probably not even go back. A broken promise he gave you based on impulse.

He wasn’t like this. He didn’t let himself be like this, he wasn’t weak. Yet, he was thinking about you. He just wanted to see you, but he won’t let himself. He’s not going to let himself. But then again, what if you didn’t like him?

He switched onto his side and buried the side of his head into his pillow. He groaned, he wasn’t going to sleep with his thoughts racing like this. Why was he so obsessed with you? You weren’t anything other than another traveler he met, a very interesting undead traveler he met. He needed to let it go. 

If he just doesn’t go near the houses, he’d be fine!

.

Unfortunately, Rick wanted to go to the houses to raid them. They needed more food and supplies. He was planning everything out for a few days. He told Daryl to lead the car and truck on his motorcycle. 

He led them there but was far ahead. You were out killing walkers and humming. You turned and saw Daryl, you dropped your knife and ran up to his bike. “Hey! You’re back!” You said joyfully. Daryl looked worried.

“My group, they’re gonna be here soon. Ya gotta hide…” he said. You looked confused, as if you didn’t understand that his group could hurt you. He turned over to the car and truck coming in and shoved you in the pile. He killed a walker and put it on top of you. 

You started to breathe heavily. You started to get scared. It reminded you of your death, but Daryl put you here. And you trusted him. He’s the only thing or person that hasn’t tried to kill you.

Daryl said he’d raid your home, as he did half of it already. The rest of the group went into other houses. He waited till they were out of sight and he picked you up from the ground and walked into the house.

“I said hide, girl.” He shoved you on the couch. And sighed. He picked up a few things and shoved them into his bag. One of two lighters, a water bottle, a few canned foods, and a knife. He then sat down next to you. “Won’t take it all from here...” he mumbles looking anywhere but at you.

You just grabbed some gum and chewed on it. Not paying much mind to him. 

“So. Your group. How come I can’t meet them?” You asked like it was urgent, like somehow you needed to meet them right now. 

He mumbled a little to himself before answering, “I don’t know how they’ll react to ya,” he paused and looked at your eyes, yellow and bloodshot, “hell I still don’t really know what to think…” He said with a grunt. You giggled, giggled at him.

He looked confused by it. “I’m a walker, who would know what to think?” You explained. He smiled a little and nodded his head. He guessed he understood that, who would react well? 

You got up and walked up stairs, you came back down with a bag. “Here. My old bag of supplies before I turned, enjoy your raid of my neighborhood stranger.” She smiled and he noticed that you weren’t chewing gum anymore, why?

He looked down and opened the bag, it was full of food and maps. It had a few knives too. He looked up thank you but you were gone, just like that. He missed his chance to talk to you. He just sat there, what was he meant to do? Go look for you? He had a job, raid this place.

He got up and looked through the house a little more, he found some things others could use. He guessed you didn’t use soap or cleaning things, you were dead. He had your bag and another full one of needs and others of wants. Beth and Carl requested things since they are still too young for runs.

He walked back outside and put the stuff in the truck. Rick and Michonne got done with theirs and walked over, same with Maggie and Glenn. A few new guys as well, but Daryl didn’t care to know their names. He should really learn your name.

Also, you weren’t as talkative as last time… why?

.

The next time Daryl went on a hunt he stopped by that neighborhood, you were nowhere to be found. You just disappeared into thin air. At a blink of an eye you were gone when he saw you last and you never showed up again. What happened? Did you not like him? Lots of why’s with you.

He looked up and down the neighborhood, but it was no use. He didn’t want to give up. You were so; no. He needed to stop, he couldn’t let himself get this close to you. It almost felt like… love.

What if you were dead? 

That thought hit him when he sat on his bike. Dead. No? You? But it was completely reasonable. You were half walker, you almost blended right in. You could’ve easily been killed by someone. What if it was someone in his group? What if his family killed you? 

No. They aren’t his family and you are nothing to him. You talk together only a few times, yet it felt like he knew you longer. 

He got on his bike and headed back on the open road. He was going to the prison again, he got a few rabbits that would be fine for now. 

The breeze was cold, a nice contrast to the hot sun that beat his pale skin to a tan. He always loved taking these bike rides. They were peaceful, especially when he was stressing about stupid things. No more of that, but there was something he the road

He pressed the brakes, hard. You stood in the middle of the road, scared. He got off his bike and ran to you. The whole, not stressing about things always lasts him two seconds.!“Are you okay?” He said, you hugged him.

“Hey stranger..” You just sobbed into his neck. His beautiful, fleshy, biteable neck. You pushed him away. He was confused, why? Did you really not like him? Is what he feared right?

“I’m going to bite you… I want to bite you… I keep wanting to bite people… I’m freaking out! Gum doesn’t help anymore!”

Daryl grabbed your hand. “Then let’s find some asshole to cure that hunger.” You looked at him like he was crazy. Hell, he knew the plan was crazy, but losing you was crazier. He couldn’t lose you, he loved you. Goddamn it, he fell fast and hard, but he loved you. He really did.

You pulled your hand away from his. He wanted to run and hug you, make you stop running from this, he can handle a bite. “It doesn't work like that! I just got hungrier..” You mumble, you tried it already. It didn’t work. He grabbed your hand.

“I’ll find a way. I need you…” he mumbled that last part but it made your heart break. It happened in three swift moves. He kissed you, you bite his lip, you pull back. It was all so fast that you nor Daryl had time to realize what happened. What you both did. A kiss and a bite.

“Stranger-“ 

“Daryl.”

“Daryl… I, you’ll turn…” You mumble, you’d be crying if your tear ducts worked. Goddamn it, he had a family, you were going to kill him. He nodded and laid his head on yours. “And I’ll be yours…” he mumbles. He knows he’ll miss his family, it’s why he sheds a tear, but he wants to be with you. Maybe you’ll both be half dead. Maybe you’ll find a way to live. Maybe his family will accept you guys.

Daryl Dixon was a man of love. Fast, messy, sweet, heartbreaking love. He’d give the world, he’d give himself, for the one he loved. Over and over and over again. He was a lover, because he allowed himself to fall in love. He was all the things he thought he wasn’t, because he was a liar. But he would no longer be a liar, because he knew he was these things. He was just Daryl Dixon. A very half-dead and in love Daryl Dixon.

[astrolook]

North Node: The Universe’s Mandatory Life Upgrade - Your Soul’s To-Do List 🌟

The North Node in astrology represents the path you are meant to take in this lifetime—the lessons you need to learn, the challenges you must embrace, and the direction of your soul’s growth. It contrasts with the South Node, which represents past life habits and comfort zones.

🔮 Key Aspects of the North Node:

It shows what you need to develop and master.

It often feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable at first.

Following its path leads to fulfillment and personal evolution.

1st House – "Main Character Era"

Life’s telling you to stop being a side character in your own life and start owning your power. Confidence? Independence? Yes, please. You’re here to step up and put yourself first—so stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and start living for YOU.

2nd House – "Secure the Bag"

Your lesson? Self-worth and financial stability. No more impulse spending and no more waiting for someone else to take care of you. You’re here to build something solid—whether that’s money, self-esteem, or both. Learn to boss up.

3rd House – "Talk the Talk"

Your mission is to speak up and share your ideas—whether that’s through writing, public speaking, or just sending memes that actually make sense. Communication is your superpower, so start using it instead of overthinking every text.

4th House – "Healing the Family Group Chat"

You’re here to create emotional security and maybe even fix some generational trauma (no pressure). Home, family, and deep connections are your priority—so stop running from your feelings and start embracing them.

5th House – "Main Character in a Rom-Com"

This is a lifetime for fun, love, and creativity. You’re meant to express yourself, take risks, and stop playing it safe. Dance in the rain, fall in love, start a passion project—just don’t let life get boring.

6th House – "Get Your Life Together"

Routine, discipline, and actual self-care (not just face masks) are your key to success. Learn how to prioritize your health, stay organized, and be productive—because chaos isn’t cute forever.

7th House – "Where’s My Soulmate?"

Your mission? Relationships. Whether romantic or business, you’re here to learn partnership, compromise, and emotional maturity. Just don’t settle for red flags—this isn’t a scavenger hunt.

8th House – "Phoenix Rising"

Your life path is about transformation—aka, major glow-ups and deep emotional shifts. You’re here to master change, heal your inner wounds, and maybe even become slightly obsessed with astrology and spirituality.

9th House – "Eat, Pray, Travel"

You’re here to explore—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Whether that’s booking a one-way ticket or questioning the meaning of life, your mission is to learn, grow, and expand your mind. Go adventure.

10th House – "CEO Energy"

Your destiny? Success, legacy, and being known for something BIG. This isn’t a lifetime for playing small—boss up, build your career, and leave your mark on the world. Your LinkedIn/Instagram is about to pop off.

11th House – "World Changer"

You’re meant to shake things up, be a trendsetter, and build a community. Whether it’s through activism, social media, or just being the friend who brings people together, your life’s about making an impact.

12th House – "Spiritual Guru Mode"

Your path is about deep spiritual growth, intuition, and embracing the unknown. Meditation, solitude, and even a little mysticism are your thing. Trust the universe—it’s guiding you, even when life makes zero sense.

✨ Want a complete birth chart reading or a synastry compatibility breakdown to see if you and your crush / partner are actually meant to be? Message me for a personal astrology reading! 🔮💫

[linksfunroadtrip]

Link's Fun Commentary - Prologue!

+ sailor design commentary. link's fun extra

Twilight Field, War of Eras...

Sailor starting in Hyrule Warriors and being dropped immediately into Shepherd's era is actually the second pitch for the beginning of the comic, the very First pitch being the first two pages of chapter 1.

More than anything we just wanted to get it done, but we didn't really know what we were doing . We cobbled together a custom font and got right to it. My Fun Facts: All the grass is the same image reused over and over except for when it isn't . Literally all of the smoke was just repeated/moved around. We didn't even really know how to use gradients effectively...

... Which can be seen in these next two panels. LOL.

The work split on this batch set a precedent for sure. @islandlobster took up lining and flat colors, and had the Hard Job of harmonizing our styles, processes, and experiments. Do you see a lot of small, long-form comics with grainy, textured line-art? Maybe no? Well we found out why.

These panels also feature the Only Two Triforces we remembered to draw !!! Oh My God!!!

As much as we struggled, things moved pretty quick from the get-go. Since the prologue is only a handful of pages we didn't really run into the issues we would with chapter 1, especially regarding our complete and utter lack of script. This went straight from thumbnailing to the final result!! (NOT A SUSTAINABLE WAY TO DO A GROUP PROJECT...!)

I wanted to mention though that when I wrote the line above, I wasn't sure if this was how you would spell it for like . a Soldier Troop or a Performance Troupe. Which I just looked up now and found out I Absolutely got them mixed up. so umm. Sorry. Sailor is not in the circus yet.

Cia was just defeated in the main campaign! I felt like such a smart cookie for this one.

She doesn't even know she wont be going home yet‼️ laughing and pointing ‼️

It was an Early idea that Sailor would conveniently miss the time portal transporting the field (with her in it!) back to its era. This was supposed to be a reoccurring bit, but we didn't commit to it too hard going forward, so who's to say if that'll be realized.

The pirate charm plays a big role in the prologue. A little funny because we were absolutely sick to death of drawing it by the end, as well as the fact that it is there in lieu of her red-gem necklace that we forgot to draw. it is Welcome and Unfortunate that it doesn't work anymore, especially because having the chance to name drop like this was very indulgent.

The era of twilight ! Including the locations and times was in the original sketches, but when we found out that our inexperience with backgrounds wasn't lending itself to establishing Where we were, it came in handy. We Agonized over placing the castle and argued* for like a week about how forested the area should be. Luckily we use noclip now, so things have improved as we've moved into chapter 2 :]

Either way, hopefully it wasn't too confusing, and as we introduce new characters the picture will be clearer. We've talked a little bit about returning to the prologue to spiff it up a bit, but we feel we aren't far enough into the comic to make it worthwhile.

and now over to Pea with the weather:

my name is pea islandlobster and you can't tell that it's me because we are writing on the same post but trust okay 🤞 I am here to talk about SAILOR!!!

Sailor has been my baby brainchild before LFRT was even a blip in our minds eye (my proof) and it has been a beautiful indulgence for me to both put her in AND have her be the first Link we meet. YAY!

I have two designs for her, for which I have helpfully made a diagram just for you..! Labeled and everything..!

A: pheww my big one that I have been sitting on forever. Sailor's necklace was constructed over the course of her adventure, initially only having her red gem (given to her by King Daphnes, from his own crown). Four pearls were later added, parting gifts from Oshus and the three spirits. Also intended to mirror the three Goddess pearls from Wind Waker..! and an extra yellow one i guess. triforce? idk

B: Sailor's chipped tooth is a funny one that I will have to make a small comic about at some point. It's not even anything from her adventure. A couple years before WW, Aryll was pretty upset about losing her first tooth, and in typical Link fashion she thought the best way of comforting her was to ALSO lose a tooth. Grandma was not happy.

C: Most Links have a triforce mark, and each one we are giving a reason towards ^.^ Sailor's mark is entirely scar tissue, specifically it is hypertrophic. She held her triforce for only a few days and got it (maybe quite literally) ripped from her by Ganondorf, so take that as you will. Tetra and her are matching yayyy..!

D: Giving her hero outfit it's own section so I can tuck it out of the way lol. A modified version of her original hero outfit, courtesy of shipmate Nudge (guy in the top left). She was a little upset over having to alter Grandma's hard work, but she preserved it where she could. Like her seashell belt! ^_^

E: SIDEBURNS! Not present in the prologue because it has been a recent development but I figured it was worth bringing up. During WoE, as she grows her hair, her sideburns resemble little lobster claws. Cute! In LFRT as grown out as it is, I thought making them swirly as a reference to pretty much every cloud/wind effect used in WW lol.

From a combination of outgrowing stuff and missing home, Sailor was christened with Lobster Shirt 2.0 as we know and love today. Who made it for her? I dunnooo..... let's sit and think about this one.

Phewww. This was a long one - and no doubt the next will be longer - but this is all for now! Feel free to send any questions you might have ^.^ Thank you for all the support! Chapter 2 part 2 soon!

[e-dubbc11]

You Don’t Know Me

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: Angst, Mentions of Billy’s abandonment, fluff, smooches

Word Count: 2.5K-ish

Summary: You and Billy are childhood friends, grew up together in the group home until he joined the Marines. After you lost touch, you see him years later but he didn’t see you…or so you thought.

A/N: I found the prompts from @prompts-in-a-barrel “You don’t know me. I’m not the same person anymore.” “That’s ok. I’ll get to know you again.”

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

There he was, right in front of you getting coffee.

Dressed in a designer suit and no longer wearing those old second hand t-shirts and sneakers with holes in them, you recognized his onyx colored eyes and that million-dollar smile anywhere.

It had been so long since you had seen him last, the cutest boy in the group home or more accurately the cutest boy you had ever seen had finally returned home safely from his deployments with the Marines and from the look of things, he looked like he was doing well.

It brought back the memory of when you first met.

**********

Your first night in the Ray of Hope group home was absolutely terrifying. Not only were you trying to physically recover from the car accident, you also were still trying to wrap your head around your parents being gone.

All of six years old, you were alone in a strange place with a broken arm when a cute older boy approached you as you sat on your bed, tightly clutching the stuffed frog your mother had given you. He flashed you a kind smile, looked down at the frog in your arms and asked “Can I sign your cast…Lily Pad?” Wiping the tears out of your eyes, you nodded, and he wrote his name in black marker across the top…Billy Russo.

Billy Russo was two years older than you and the first friend you made when you arrived. He showed you around, pointed out the drawer in the kitchen where the cook kept her candy stash, and asked if you wanted to sit with him at breakfast the next morning which made you smile.

You accepted his invitation and became fast friends. Billy let you follow him around whenever you wanted. You only did it when you were feeling extra lonely or extra sad and that’s when he would take the time to play board games with you or teach you how to play cards to distract you. He was like the big brother you never had but always wanted.

As long as Billy was nearby, your days were just a little bit easier.

As you got older, he protected you from bullies and from the girls who wanted Billy to be their boyfriend but he had no interest in. They were always harassing and teasing you but if Billy found out about it, no matter who it was, they would get a serious talking to.

If he looked at you with his jaw clenched and hell burning behind those doll-like eyes, your best option would be to run like hell. Billy fiercely protected you from anyone he deemed a threat and when he was 11 and you were 9, your only wish was that you could have protected him from his bully the same way he protected you from yours.

Seeing that cast on his arm reminded you of how kind he was to you when your arm was broken and you were the only one who he wanted to sign his cast.

Billy stayed in his room a lot after that happened. He read books, took naps, and sometimes you would catch him just staring at the ceiling. He was angry, ashamed, and said he never wanted to feel that way again so he was going to join the Marines as soon as he was old enough.

You would get little rewards for doing chores around the group home, every kid did, like a small cheap toy or a super bouncy ball…stuff like that. After Billy’s “accident,” you were putting dishes away and after you were done, it was time to pick your prize.

Digging through the large bucket of small toys, you found the only green toy soldier in the entire bucket. Holding it in between your fingers, you looked down at it and your lips curled into a wide smile because you knew who you wanted to give it to.

As he slept, you tiptoed into Billy’s room and left the toy soldier on the edge of his desk, on top of his books. He definitely couldn’t miss it.

Later on at dinner, Billy sat down next to you.

“Did you leave this for me, y/n?” Asked Billy, as he unfolded his hand, revealing the little green soldier inside.

With a mouthful of meatloaf, you nodded and gave him a closed mouth smile.

“Mmmm hmmm.” You replied.

After you swallowed your food, you added, “It’s not much but I thought you might like it. Maybe you can bring it with you when you go to the Marines.”

The only other person that had been allowed this close to Billy was his mother and she had only thought of what was best for herself. She never put him first or thought of him at all, really. You had the chance to pick out a little toy for yourself and instead chose to get a gift for someone else. A completely selfless act and all because you thought Billy might like it.

And he did. No one had ever done anything like that for him before.

“Thank you, Lily Pad.” He said with a warm smile and a quick hug.

You loved Billy’s nickname for you. And ever since that first night, you were “Lily Pad” to him and no one else was allowed to call you that either which made you feel special.

The two of you were hardly ever apart after that day…until the day he left.

As soon as he turned 18, Billy enlisted just like he said he would and you had to come to the realization that you were going to be alone at Ray of Hope until it was your turn to leave.

The thought of waking up every day and Billy not being there, shattered your heart and it felt like there was no way you would ever feel whole until you could see him again.

The cutest, sweetest boy you had ever met was leaving for who knows how long and it may be the last time you ever see him.

Watching Billy pack the few possessions he had, you felt a growing tightness in your chest like your heart was in a vice, being squeezed until you couldn’t breathe anymore. But you didn’t want him to see you cry like he had when you met. You couldn’t let the last time he would lay eyes on you be exactly like the first time so you tried your hardest to not let those tears fall.

He tried to make the situation a little less tense.

“You gonna miss me, Lily Pad?” He asked with that million-dollar smile and a wink.

With your arms folded protectively across your chest and leaning against the doorframe, you replied, shaking your head, “No…eh, well maybe a little.”

You cracked a smile.

Billy stopped packing and slowly walked over to you. He was wearing an old gray t-shirt and jeans and not until now, had you realized how incredibly handsome Billy was growing up to be. He had always been just the cute, nice big brother you had grown up with and now he was leaving and you didn’t want him to.

“Just a little?” Asked Billy. His voice was nothing short of mesmerizing.

Choking on your words, you replied, “Well…maybe more than a little.”

Billy propped himself up on his elbow, against the doorway as he gazed down at you. His eyes, like two pools of dark chocolate, were also smiling. You were trying to take in as much of him as possible, the way he looked, the way he smelled, and the way his voice sounded. You didn’t want to forget anything about him.

“I thought that might be the answer.” Said Billy with a slight chuckle. “I gotta go soon soooo gimme a hug, ok?”

As you wrapped your arms around his slender torso, you could hear his heart beating rapidly against his chest. It thumped loudly against your ear while you shut your eyes and remembered all the good times you had with him, making the best of both of your situations, and being the one person you could count on for anything you needed inside this awful place.

Your body started to shake uncontrollably because not only is he leaving but he’s leaving to go to war and he could get hurt or even be killed. You decided you wanted one last thing from him before he left, possibly for good.

With your head resting against his chest, you asked, “Billy? Will you do one last thing for me before you go?”

His long fingers danced up and down your spine as he replied, “Sure, y/n. What do ya need?”

Nervously, you asked him, “I-I’ve never b-been kissed before so I-I was w-wondering i-if you would…be m-my first?”

Billy was taken aback at first.

The two of you were best friends, never anything more and he always looked at you the same way you looked at him, like a sibling, like family, but in that moment the look in his eyes showed you something different like he knew this could be the last time you would ever see each other.

Unsteady on your feet, you felt your knees shaking, your heart racing and a rush of warmth across your face as Billy tilted your chin up so you were looking up into his endless brown eyes that were the color of freshly turned soil.

He inched closer to your face until you both were sharing the same air. He smelled clean like soap and sweet like candy as he cupped your cheeks and delicately pressed his lips to yours.

It was even better than you thought it would be as his mouth slanted over yours and your fingers slid through his raven colored hair. His tongue slipped into your mouth to tangle with yours as butterflies danced inside your stomach.

Clearly, he had done this before but that didn’t matter. He was kissing you now and you were loving every second of it.

As you gasped against his mouth, he asked, “Is this what you had in mind, y/n?” Before kissing you again.

“Y-yes, Billy.” You replied, breathlessly.

“You gonna miss me, NOW?” Asked Billy as a slight smirk stretched across his lips.

You pulled away slightly so you could look into his eyes again and nodded. Your eyes shined with unshed tears as you snaked your arms around Billy’s neck, pulled him in close and gently touched your forehead to his.

In barely more than a whisper, you replied, “So much. You’re my best friend, Billy.”

Billy reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and then opened his hand. It was the little toy soldier that you had given him when you were children.

“And you’re mine, my little Lily Pad.” He said. “I’ll write to you and I will be back, I promise.”

Before you could answer, a voice shouted from down the hallway, “Time to go, Russo!”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Billy.” You said, as your tears started to streak down your cheeks.

He tossed his bag over his shoulder, put the toy soldier back in his pocket, and retorted, “Who says I ain’t keepin’ ‘em?”

Billy winked, kissed you on the forehead, and started to walk down the hallway. He turned around to look at you one last time, you waved, and that was the last time you saw him…until today.

He wrote letters which you had saved. You saved them all but after he was deployed overseas, the letters came less frequent and eventually they stopped coming at all. You told yourself it was war time and he must have had way more important things to worry about than sending letters to you but it didn’t make you miss him any less.

After the barista handed him his coffee, Billy turned and headed for the door. You tried to speak and talk over the heads in front of you but your voice got caught in your throat and there was no sound.

He was gone and out of your life once again.

After grabbing your coffee, you walked out of the busy coffee shop, took a sip, and spaced out a little as you started to walk down the street.

A familiar silvery voice stopped you dead in your tracks and in the middle of a crowded city sidewalk.

“Lily Pad?” Asked Billy.

You didn’t imagine it. It was actually him.

He was still the cutest boy you had ever seen, except now he was more mature, handsome, and grown up.

The crowd outside the coffee shop seemed to disperse all at once, allowing you and Billy to walk toward one another without walking into a sea of people.

“Billy?” You answered.

He just smiled and pulled you in close for a hug.

You sat outside of that coffee shop for hours, telling each other all about your lives after the Ray of Hope group home.

Not wanting it to end, you hung on his every word as he relayed stories about his trips overseas, his fellow Marines, and what he was doing now.

Billy was the CEO of his company, Anvil and you couldn’t be prouder of him. He finally had everything he had ever wanted.

“Well, you must be VERY late for work, y/n. I’m sorry.” Said Billy.

You shrugged and replied, “I texted my boss a little while ago and told him I wasn’t gonna make it today.”

“You little sneak.” Billy said with a chuckle.

With a hitch in your voice, you finally worked up the courage to ask him, “So, what happened, Billy? One minute I’m getting letters every week, then it’s every other week, and then once a month. Finally, I just gave up hope and stopped waiting. I knew you weren’t dead because I would have been contacted. Was it something I said in one of my letters? Am I a bad kisser? I deserve to know.”

Billy looked down at the two coffee cups that were now empty and replied, “No, it’s nothing like that. It has nothing to do with you. And actually, you’re a great kisser.”

You weren’t sure if you believed him and had no doubt in your mind that Billy had been through and seen a lot from his time in the service.

“Then tell me, Billy, please.” You pleaded. “Who understands you better than I do?”

Billy’s eyes darkened, his nostrils flared, and through clenched teeth, he replied, “You don’t know me. I’m not the same person anymore.”

He was different but not necessarily different in a bad way. Of course you knew that war changed people. How could it not? But deep down, you knew the man in front of you was still the same young boy from all those years ago.

The sweet boy who befriended you right after you lost your parents, the boy who taught you how to play cards, who let you tag along when you felt extra lonely, who made it his mission to fiercely protect you from bullies, old and young, and the only boy…you have ever been in love with.

You knew he was still in there, he was still your best friend, and you didn’t want to give up on him.

Very softly, you just smiled, gently touched his hand and replied, “That’s ok. I’ll get to know you again.”

Tag List: @wheresthesunshinesblog @idaoftheburningmind @rafaelakelley @snowkestrel @music-indie-tv @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @gijos @fictional-hooman @k-marzolf @nutmeg17 @vaguekayla @danzer8705 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @aoi-targaryen @mysteriouslydeafeningwerewolf @rachlovesactors @qu1etwolf @sweetserendipity65

Others that might enjoy: @itwasthereaminuteago @fluffyprettykitty @jvanilly @ittybxttykxttytxtty @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @mrsbillyrusso @colereads @jediwizardelf @thejanecampaign @milea @folkloreofyennefer @mysweetlittledesire @mrsalwayswrite @madelynneb

If you’d like to be added to (or removed from) my tag list for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕 If I tagged you but didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again

[gyodragon]

POST GRIFFITH TORTURE RENASSIANCE!!! i keep staring at your art of griffith's broken stare with the bandages wrapped across his face and his emaciated little corpse beside guts...

I read this ao3 fic about his struggle with recovery in an aftermath where he doesn't go apeshit. *offers it to you gently* https://archiveofourown.org/works/609721

it made me think, as a certified griffith expert, what do you think his recovery may have looked like? could anything possibly have still made him happy after all of that... or at least minorly not-miserable? what kinds of things do you think he'd enjoy in such a state?

would he even try to grow out his hair?

The Renaissance that really constricts our hearts!! I remember when first learning Berserk, it was the transformation Griffith has after the torture that got its hooks into me and compelled me to read the series. The rest is history. Thank you so much btw! I've only drawn him a few times but it feels like more in my heart. Thank you for sending that fic my way! (I'm super into gen fic and that is a good one) *Certified Griffith Expert* AHH! That's sweet! I'd like a badge or something after this long LOL. First off, this ask has given me SUCH AN ITCH to pick 'Iron Hawk' back up (my fan project about Griffith being rescued from the Tower early and the aftermath of that. It's my baby) I'm thinking about maybe using a different, more sustainable format by writing multi-chapter fanfiction with accompanying illustrations. But I assume you mean a scenario about his recovery after the canon full year of torture. Interesting. I actually haven't put a ton of thought into that because, morbidly, I have a hard time imagining any outcome after that amount of trauma where he isn't doomed. So assuming this is a world in which he is able to make some progress in his recovery that allows him to regain some mobility and use of his hands, I could see a return of the bandit era. I could see Judeau with his ingenuity and the help of other Hawks working together to fashion him a kind of wheelchair. A Merlin chair wouldn't fit with the time period but you get the idea! Maybe he eventually uses a cane and back brace. He grows his hair out but it never comes back as thick or as long. He shows his face again but rotates a collection of partial porcelain masks to cover the worst of his scars. If his hands heal enough, he learns sign language, writes with the tip of his finger in people's palms and writes with a large pen or quill. (edit: I've recently been totally swayed by your post about him relearning to speak and whispering to his trusted inner circle. I'm SOLD) I think his band would continue to whittle down until only the most loyal remained. The core members who would inevitably transform back into his friends. He used to protect himself from 'friends' with compartmentalization when they were among the thousands of Hawks under his command. I think that Griffith's life during recovery would be hell but he could find happiness in his inner circle reducing to a small group. Like when he was a kid. I think with the deterioration of his body, it could be possible that his mind goes into overdrive. The frail, mute, mysterious general who is even more of a political/military genius. No more White Hawk. He is just 'Griffith' or 'General' or 'The prisoner'. After enough banditry and roaming, the group reclaims a comfortable position in a land away from political enemies. Griffith gives up on his dream and focuses on fulfilling the promise of his vision to just these few people. He is even able to preform Robin Hood-like feats in the countryside. Outlaw goodness, that sort of thing. He doesn't retire himself though. I have a dark outlook. I think he probably satisfies himself with this twilight campaign, sees his remaining friends in positions of security and wealth and when all is said and done he eventually claims his own life. I think Guts is the last one with him when he is finally finished.

[wannabanauthor]

Now I don’t know if I’m trying to manipulate myself, but the more time has passed since the BuckTommy breakup, the more I’m excited for potential messiness if Tommy comes back.

Note: this only applies to the potential of Tim and the writers getting them back together. If Tommy never comes back, fuck everyone and their momma.

Buck is one of the main characters and Tommy isn’t, so the relationship looking one-sided could be practical or intentional. We don’t know at this point.

But I feel like Tommy maybe fell in love with Buck and didn’t realize it until it was too late, and the best thing he could do for himself was to walk away.

Because as much as Tommy tries to be honest and realistic with Buck, he’s the one who charmed the pants off Buck. Tommy made the first official move, and then the second, and gave things another try with Buck, and was consistently acting like a perfect boyfriend.

My thought process is “why not husband if husband-shaped?” Tommy was putting forth this persona of a good partner, and then pulled away once Buck felt comfortable moving things forward.

And that’s what gets me angry. Tommy intentionally sought Buck out after the basketball game, kissed him, asked him out, then gave Buck a second try, dated him for 6+ months, then ended things.

My point is Tommy was going beyond what he needed to be a good boyfriend, and yet he was surprised that Buck held him to that and wanted to be more serious.

It’s probably just the writing, but it irritates me that they went from talking about deep personal stuff in Season 7 to not even knowing each other’s sexuality, exes, or that Buck dislikes basketball in Season 8.

And as always I completely forget what the point of this post is. Oh, yeah, potential messiness.

Because what if post-breakup, Buck and Tommy start hooking up with no strings attached. Buck thinks it’s a good idea because he can at least be with Tommy in some way, and what if Tommy feels the exact same way. They could both be pining for each other while also piping each other.

Hell, we could even throw in an old cliche trope of “no kissing” because kissing could be a sign of intimacy, and they’re not ready for that.

And maybe it makes for some comedic scenes in the show. Maybe Buck and Tommy are trying to avoid anyone else finding out, but the FireFam are suspicious that Buck has stopped talking about Tommy altogether after pining for weeks.

Even better, what if Buck and Tommy run into each other at Eddie’s farewell house party? And everyone assumes it’s going to be awkward because they don’t know that Buck and Tommy are still fucking.

And once Buck and Tommy barely interact with each other at the gathering, the FireFam now have some circumstantial evidence about the two of them. Their suspicions grow when they see Buck and Tommy actively avoiding each other, and it’s not the usual type of avoiding the ex scenario.

So maybe a day or two later in a non-Buck group chat, Eddie is happy that Buck and Tommy can be together in the same room with no drama. Only for Hen and Chimney to rain on his parade with the texts saying something like “they’ve been secretly seeing each other since the breakup”, but they don’t know the details.

So one day, Eddie tries to bring it up by inviting Tommy and Buck to a Zoom call. Eddie says “hey, the rest of the gang thinks you’re dating again, so you might want to set that straight for them before it spirals into a thing”

And Buck and Tommy are dead silent, and Eddie realizes. “No way, you couldn’t have told me?!”

“Well, we’re not dating,” Tommy says.

Buck is a little hurt but it’s the truth.

So Eddie says “if you’re hooking up, you might as well date again. Same perks plus cuddles and spending time with each other.”

Tommy abruptly leaves the Zoom, and Buck looks like he might cry. Eddie tries to cheer him up, but Buck starts crying.

Then Buck hears someone knocking on his door. It’s Tommy. Eddie’s still on Zoom, so he gets to watch and record them deciding to get back together. Win-win for everyone.

[toasttt11]

new goodbyes

August 3, 2023

Mary was sitting on the couch in their basement on her phone texting James, Cole and Huston in their group chat as Will had gotten up when Ryan got here and to grab snacks.

Ryan and Will were heading to Boston College tomorrow so they were spending their last night at home with Mary.

Ryan and Will walked down the stairs holding a couple bowls and drinks and set them on the coffee table.

Ryan softly tugged the bottom of her hair as he sat down next to Mary and Mary let Ryan get under her purple throw blanket as Will sat down on the other side of her cuddling in his own blanket and munching on his own bowl of popcorn.

Mary perked up Ryan set a little bowl on her lap and she saw it was carmel popcorn her favorite and she smiled to herself before looking at Ryan and he just smirked softly shrugging making her shake her head.

Will clicked on a movie they all like and tossed the remote on the couch next thing. This was the perfect way to spend his last night with his two favorite people and watching movies like the three always do together.

Ryan shifted more into the couch and ended up laying his head slowly on Mary’s lower arm near her elbow and glanced up at her to make sure it’s okay and saw her already looking down at him and her lips quirked up and she nodded softly making his smile grow and he looked back at the screen.

Ryan munched on his own snack and halfway through the first half of the first movie felt Mary shift slight forward and put her bowl on the table and wipe her hand off before shifting back.

The first movie was almost over when Ryaj felt a hesitant hand softly touch his hair and he let out a small happy sigh that he knew Mary would hear and he felt her hand slowly relax and slowly she started playing with the ends of his hair.

Will yawned as he put the second movie on and he shifted around on the couch tossing a pillow next to Mary’s lap laying his head next to her.

Ryan’s entire body was relaxed in the couch laying against Mary as Mary played with his hair, he did not know how much he loved his hair being played with and of course he figured it out the night before him and Mary will be far apart for most of the next school year.

Mary slowly got up at the end of the second movie laughing quietly at Ryan’s small pout and she headed to the bathroom quickly and when she came back in Will and Ryan had picked the third movie.

She plugged her phone in and grabbed two of the extra pillows and tossed one it where she was laying and the other she set on Ryan softly.

Ryan hair set the pillow next to her and pulled the hammett more as she laid back on the couch next to her and he gently tossed the blanket back over her and he rested his head this time on her hip and felt her other arm gently rested on his back and he smiled happily to himself especially when her hand softly went to his hand again.

Will was the first asleep his body sprawled out on the couch next to Mary and eventually his hand rested behind his back finding Mary’s hand holding her free hand in his sleep.
Ryan was second happily cuddling Mary and fell asleep to her playing with his hair.

Mary turned the TV off and looked down at Ryan sleeping peacefully on her and hoped maybe one day they could sleep like this more.

Mary closed her eyes and fell asleep last.

August 4, 2023

Mary was in Will’s room with Ryan sitting on Will’s suitcase as Will and Ryan tried to shut it.

“Will!” Mary groaned as Will shook the suitcase and she almost fell off of it was not for Ryan’s hand going to her back catching her.

Will sheepishly smiled but managed to close up his last suitcase.

Ryan held out his hand for Mary and she took it letting Ryan help her up off the suitcase and he squeezed her hand softly before letting her hand.

Mary frowned looking at her two boys, she wasn’t gonna be with them anymore, “I’m gonna miss you both.”

Will and Ryan shared a sad look and both pulled Mary into a group hug.

“I’ll miss you too.” Ryan whispered into Mary’s good ear.

Will squeezed his little sister tightly.

Mary softly pulled away from the hug and helped grabbed Will’s bags and take them downstairs with Ryan and Will where Colleen, Bill and Grace were loading up Grace’s car with Grace’s things.

Will walked over to Grace’s car leaving Ryan and Mary.

“Will you be okay alone?” Ryan asked worriedly, he hated that Mary wouldn’t be with them.

“I have to be.” Mary smiled tightly before giving him a reassuring smile, “I won’t be alone, not completely.” She still had her friends.

“Still. Call me everyday if you want to but i at least expect texts everyday.” Ryan teased but was serious.

Mary laughed slightly but nodded, “I’ll text and call so much you’ll be annoyed.”

“You could never annoy me.” Ryan just seriously said back making her blink at him as her cheeks warmed.

Ryan smiled slightly and stepped forward pulling her into a hug and cupping the back of her head as his chin rested right on top of her head.

Mary closed her eyes breathing in and trying to enjoy the last hug she will get from Ryan for at least a couple months.

Mary and Ryan pulled back and shared small smile before Ryan saw his parents pulled up in front of the Smith house with the car with his things so he squeezed Mary’s shoulder once more and walked over to them and Mary watched him before heading over to her family.

Mary and Grace shared a hug, their goodbyes are always easier now because they have gotten use to being apart for the hockey season.

Grace and Colleen drove off with Ryan and her parents following and Bill got into the car with Will’s things leaving alone Will and Mary to say their byes.

“You have to tell me about everything okay, even the small things i want to know everything that’s going to go on in your life, i don’t want to miss anything because we’re apart.” Will rambled out his voice cracking with emotion, he hated they were gonna he apart now.

Mary sniffled and nodded with a watery smile, “Promise and i better hear just as much back okay.”

Will smiled laughing watery, “Come here.” Will opened up his arms pulling her into a hug squeezing her tight as Mary squeezed him just as tightly back.

“I love you little sister.” Will whispered closing his eyes.

“I love you too Willy.” Mary whispered back her voice shaking.

Will sniffled and squeezed her once more, they both wiped their cheeks and Mary nodded giving him a little smile and he let out sigh and nodded back and headed to the car.

Mary watched as Will get in the car and look over at her and she waved bye and Will waved back.

Mary watched as the car drove away until she could no longer see Will.

Mary wasn’t use to saying goodbye to Will but she guessed she better get use to it now.

[zeloinator]

OC Boss Fight Music!

tagged by the wonderful @shroudkeeper!! Thank you so so much for the tag this has been such a fun little playlist to put together! I figured Zee would be at least an end tier raid boss so she would have 2 phase songs~

Phase 1 - The Healer - High C's ; Two Steps From Hell

Phase 2 - The Blood Lily Mage - Delibes: Lakme - Due des fleurs (Flower Duet)

(Or my other pick for phase 2's song is Black Song White Scales from Drakengard 3, but that felt wrong to pick a boss fight for my own boss fight)

I'm tagging @maeljade @tsupertsundere @golmorehotgirl @zylphiacrowley @cindernet-exploded @selnyam @elizabethrobertajones @sylaurin @catboy-cursi @thefreelanceangel and everyone who sees this and wants to do it!! This was really fun !!!!

under the cut is me talking about how I think Zee's fight would go *mechanically* as if she were a Savage boss of her own raid tier! WHy? well... I love to savage raid so much it makes me weird like this... enjoy!

I spent so long thinking how exactly her fight would go, and what sort of mechanics she would have!

Phase 1 - The Healer - At first I feel she would be a very 'predictable' boss at first, her patterns wouldn't include a lot of similar looking body postures or weapon holds. Zee would focus on dealing slow continuous damage with larger bursts when she gets her 'blood lily'. After 3 'blood lilies' are cast on the group she will go into Phase 2 - The Blood Lily Mage.

Her standard attack would sprout a small circle poisons lilies at the feet of the Main Tank (MT) as well as the feet of the person next on aggro list (hopefully Off Tank (OT)), these would only damage the MT and next in aggro list (MT would get hit with 100% damage and OT would get hit with 40% of the damage). Her raid wides would be the vanilla animation for Assize but it turn the arena into a small patch of garden (kinda like Titania fight) with a sea of blood lilies signifying the 'rainbow' border (aka insta death or the proggers bff and worst nightmare all in one). While in this "Lily Arena' Zee will pull cards from the air around her to add a different buff or debuff to each player AND herself. Players with Lord of Crowns stack middle for a large soak of damage (This will always be 2 support (tank/healer) 2 DPS) from a 'Gravity' Spell while players marked with Lady of Crowns stack in inter-cardinals to soak large tethered bombs shaped like butterflies, this will give them a 30 second debuff cured by the next mechanic. Zee will buff herself with 4 cards (2 new ones; The Star and The Moon) before casting 'Glare 8', the group will need to go to clock spots with those who just got hit with the Lord of Crowns positioning inside to get hit with Zee's spell focusing on the inner part of the arena, and those getting hit with the Lady of Crowns going to their spot on the very edge of the arena so they are hit with Zee's spell focusing on the outside of the arena. Using 3 lilies on herself in quick succession, Zee casts 'afflatus misery' which is a very heavy hitting raid wide which causes the arena to return normal and Zee to change weapons.

Zee swaps to her Star Globe, swapping to majority Astro spells with some White Mage abilities, and changing her standard auto attack to a small moon over her shoulder shooting a laser at the top 2 in the aggro list. Starting with 'Divination' Zee rebuffs herself with 4 cards, and lays down 'Earthly Star'. When that pops anything outside the arena will fall as the arena transforms into a small circle that appears to be Etheirys. Zee goes into a quick casting phase, all of her spells instant now, doing heavy hits of damage to the tanks while raid wide AoEs hit the team as well. Finishing this with a cast of 'afflatus misery' and returning the arena to normal once again. Zee will then cast 'Neutral Sect', marking a DPS with a timed bomb, she will then cast 'Diurnial Sect' marking a healer with a timed heavy hitting DoT lasting 15 seconds, and 'Nocturnal Sect' marking the second in aggro with a debuff which brings their health down to 1,000 HP for 5 seconds. After casting these 3 sects Zee will then teleport middle entering a phase where she deals no damage, but with 4 mechanics going out. 4 flowers spawn at the cardinals slowly growing towards the middle, 4 people will get a green debuff marker and need to be ensnared by these vines, this also gives you a small poison debuff, (a regen would cancel its effects out) that should be cleansed off of players. The floor of the arena will also have 4 layers of colored rings, red, yellow, green, blue. Red, the farthest from middle ring, will explode and 1 shot anyone inside it. Yellow will grant a small speed buff but increase magic damage. Green will grant you the ability to move inside the vines but only if ensnared and without the poison DoT. Blue does a life steal to anyone within it, Zee absorbing their health into hers for 5 seconds before instantly killing anyone silly enough to be standing in it. Players without a green debuff dodge mechanics and vines normally, those with the green debuff needing to stand in the vines and get cleansed to soak towers that the flowers will spawn in the red ring after it has exploded. Ending with the last 'afflatus misery' Zee will cast before giant flowers sprout below her and cocoon her in their petals. Zee will emerge by casting 'Blood Lily' which will finish the remaining 30% of her health bar, she will appear to be falling, defeated, but when she catches herself from falling all the way to the ground her second health bar appears and Phase 2 begins.

Phase 2 - The Blood Lily Mage - Zee becomes a flurry of spells and quick dashes around the arena. She will mark the healers with the multistack marker every minute. Her health bar is smaller now, and goes down fast, but her attacks hit harder and harder as you damage her. Her Star Globe and Cane have fused into a one weapon, her cards orbiting around her person. Sparks and odd twitching can be seen from her left arm and right leg.

The phase begins with Zee rising from the floor, screaming as blood pools around her, a small puddle at the beginning but it grows as you damage her more, if you step into the puddle it applies 'bleed'. Each Healer will get a multistack marker with 6 hits, they will leave a puddle of 'black blood' behind marking anyone with a 'doom' if they stay in for longer than 2 seconds. On the 6th hit each healer will get a debuff 'Mark of Blood' which the healers need to cleanse by standing in the 'black blood' puddles (Mark of Blood makes it so doom will only take you down to 1 health, not insta die). AS Zee winds up her next attack the group must soak towers at clocks before moving inside to avoid the outer arena filling with blood. Zee will repeat this 3 times before entering her enrage 'Healer No Longer'.

[lost-locket-antiques]

Finally had the want to redraw my characters from Blood of the Halfbreed (my very first story from this universe and the reason I started creating original works to begin with) and really got around do putting them all together, as they’re supposed to be a team, so I’d think they should look good together. This is their civilian forms (as I haven’t made their “magical girl” uniforms quite yet), and from left to right we have Malakei Wenreidr (mahl-ah-keye vehn-reye-der), Jazchuhan “Jazch” Falin (yahsh-oo-hahn fah-leen), Kari Erikzün (kah-ree ehr-eek-zuhn), and Zera Wenreidr (zeh-rah).

These 4 all go to the same college, and are part of the same band “Blood of the Halfbreed”, started by Malakei, Jazch, and Zera, as the vocals, guitar, and drums respectively. Kari later joined the group after Zera tried to befriend and convince her to join, becoming the 4th and final member, playing the cello.

Malakei is what I would call a “Christian hippie”, or more correctly, an “Inani hippie”, as those moth earrings and necklace have the same meaning as the cross does in our world. He’s an Orcish-Hume halfbreed, meaning his bio-dad was an Orc, and his mother is a Hume. He’s a goofy guy, how tries his best to make everyone smile, and while he may seem like he would be a slacker when it came to school, he’s actually extremely studious. He want’s to become a broadway composer, and is going to school for music theory.

Jazch is a Gnomish-Elf halfbreed, with his father being a Gnome and his mother an Elf. This man **hates** how feminine his body and face is, so he turned into a bit of a gym rat when he started going to college, and his temper is about as short as he is. He, Malakei, and technically Zera have been friends since they were little, and really only went to college because they wanted to. That’s okay, though, since that means he can specifically study cooking. While he never had any interest in going to school for it, ha had always wanted to own his own restaurant. Good thing he has the same personality of s certain Scottish chief, eh?

Kari is an alchemist, through and through. To the point that before meeting the gang, she was the type of person to say that “feeling were just chemicals in your brain, nothing more”. Unlike Mal, Jazch, and Zera, Kari is a pretty stanch atheist, that felt like life would improve if they had just gotten rid of the idea of gods and religion all together. Not quite a reddit atheist, but on the very cusp, and it wasn’t until she met the gang, and how happy they were, that she started to question that certain theory of hers. And especially started questioning when she started to fall for Malakei. She’s a hard worker, with a bit of a stutter, and is willing to stand for what she believes in, but is also willing to be proven wrong. Especially when it comes to the ways of the heart.

Zera is the popular girl of the group, and Jazch’s girlfriend. It’s not the first thing I would tell you about her, but it’s the first thing she’d want to be said, as she loves that man more than anything in the would. To the point, that if he’s in the room, she’ll go straight for him and tackle him with love and affection (he doesn’t mind it really, as he loves her dearly, but he will mutter about how she’s being too lovey in public… it does make him feel like a strong man tho, which is nice). The second thing that she’d want you to know is that she’s a gunsmith, specifically for the creation, and decoration of firearms for women, by women. She has always been a gun nut, but the problem was she had always felt as if women see the firearm scene as a boys club, and she plans on fixing that. By making firearms that are appealing to the feminine gaze. She also happens to be half blind. That doesn’t stop her though, as she’s willing to do some crazy stuff just so that she can reach her dream.

This is literally just the basic explanation of these characters, I haven’t even gotten to the magical girl stuff yet, or what I want the story to be, so, ah, enjoy this at least lol

[hulloitsdani]

Fighting for your life with heroes against brand new ones that sweep your team. Henrietta lore? That power she must keep in check? Summoner just won't die. Only in some timelines. and badly. Sharena. Ragnorok?!?! Loki's shenanigans.

Thank you stranger! In no particular order, let’s go through these

First off, OH I LOVEEEEEE BEING IMMEDIATELY PROVEN WRONG ABOUT LOKI. FINALLY. THANK FUCK. The validation I felt when the question of her motives was IMMEDIATELY brought up this book. I don’t care that my read was wrong— what I truly wanted more than anything was something of more substance to read into. As for actual predictions, my bets are that her aims are on bringing about Ragnorok and the end of the gods. For fun. As a treat. For the silly.

As for the actual state of the game, idk man, I play this game weird. I’m both free to play and entirely causal, so it’s entirely up to luck if I ever have any relevant units. In my many years of playing this game, I have never managed to +10 merge a unit that wasn’t a grail unit. So I don’t tend to play game modes where that matters much, with the exception of aether raids sometimes. I like clearing the challenge maps and making the story mode levels really difficult by using strictly Askr trio.

For events outside of that, I have a lot of fun using about one team per six months and trying to creatively use them and their base skills to solve whatever new bullshit is added. The game is clearly not built for you to do that, but I like the challenge it poses. I got really lucky on the CYL7 banner and got all four of the guys from that event. Brave Robin, Corrin, Soren and Gullvieg was my go to team for wayyyy longer than it should have, especially with zero changes to their kits and no merges. Hell I didn’t even have dragon flowers on half of them because Askr Trio building has long stolen most of flower supply. But god was it fun. I know how that group of units play off each other like the back of my hand. And considering how most people tend to just be frustrated with this game’s gameplay, it feels like I must be doing something right. I am constantly broke tho, so rip.

On the lore side, Henriette and Gustav are such a fascinating two for one package for me. Marketable plushies often bought together please don’t separate. The :) to his >:(. They’re both are great rulers and loving partners, but fumbled a bit in their parenting in ways that make total sense. For you see, I am a firm believer that everyone walks out of their childhood at least a little fucked up. Even the best parents are still human. And I adore Askr’s royal family unit, because it digs into that idea! Henriette and Gustav weren’t abusive or harboring malicious intent, but they were neglectful and lacking in ways that cannot be denied. Which is extremely cool! More of this please and thank you.

Looping back to the quote in question, to be perfectly honest, I would be pleasantly surprised if we ever got answers for her day of devotion alt voice lines. However, Gustav having a wife with the power to kill him easily would be so fucking funny. Like father, like son. If your romantically coded life partner can’t theoretically ensure your body is never found, what’s even the point. She doesn’t even need to be secretly divine or anything— I would be satisfied with her being something as simple as an abnormally strong mage. She can accidentally fold people like an omelet if she’s not being careful. Which, now that I’m putting that into writing, might contribute to her relationship with her kids.

Speaking of, Sharena!!! My best friend Sharena!!! I’ve got a multitude of thoughts cooking for her, but currently the one at the forefront is making home girl jacked as hell. Not joking. Dead ass. We all know the role she plays on a personality level— she’s the heart. The emotional glue that keeps these loner trickster types together and in check. But considering that this is the theater of war and everyone else has a role to play, I think it could be interesting if she was the beefiest fighter in the Askr trio. She’s able to dedicate the time fully to that craft, you know? She’s not balancing the responsibilities that arise from being the Order’s commander, tactician, or right hand man/history buff. Not to mention she was trained to fight by Bruno, who presumably played the role of group muscle before her. Therefore, when it comes to feats of physical strength, Sharena should be the Order’s go-to lady! I think it would be neat! She deserves the ability to easily carry her commanding officer and beat Alfonse’s nerdy ass in an arm wrestle.

Last but certainly not least, summoner bad ends! What could possibly go wrong? A lot, apparently. And it happens much more often than you’d expect.

See, I don’t think it’s that the summoner cannot die. Polar opposite, if anything. Each success is built upon the littered corpses of millions of failures. This idea loops back to the alternate version of Askr the group finds in book 3. In order to defeat Hel, they must loot the corpse of a dead world. By its very nature, not every summoner has an alternate corpse to loot. At least half of all realities where the summoner exists results in death and ruin by book 3 ALONE. This is saying nothing of all the dangerous odds they must beat from then to book 9. Just pulling one example off the dome, in order to defeat Gullveig, they had to die a truly eldritch and inconceivable amount of times. But we the audience don’t bear witness to that. We get to see the one world with the one summoner who is hitting those fraction of a fraction odds. The universe’s luckiest bastard. Others are not so lucky.

[luca-street-chris-deacon-rp]

He wanted Sarah to be as comfortable talking about her feelings to him, and regardless of what he had going on. He gently squeezed her hand, lifting it to her lips as he pressed a gentle but sincere kiss to her hand. "They say in therapy that a problem shared is a problem halved, but i want you to be honest with me, even if it's gonna hurt my feelings. We're in this together, forever." Leaning into her warm touch, a gentle caress, and it felt.....uplifting, freeing. "You've no idea how much I love you, and I fall in love with you more each day. But I need you to know that I'm okay if you need space cause this is a lot and I dont want you burning yourself out."

He was worried about her as much as she was worried about him, and that's how relationships worked. They looked out for one another, they stayed together through the tough times and the wonderful times, especially the ones that were ahead.

"As soon as we're home, I'm gonna take a shower and shave, then we can both get some sleep." Scratching his cheek, feeling the thick layer of hair that he had surprisingly allowed to grow during his crisis. That's what they called it, a mental health crisis. "I can't and won't.....make excuses for how I've been acting, and I'm sorry that I put you through it. But you're right. It doesn't define me or us. Annie said it'll make us stronger."

A nurse knocked on the door and came in with an entire bag of medication and some in a little paper cup to take. "Officer Luca, here is your dose of antidepressants and anti anxiety medication that the doctor prescribed. There's also an antipsychotic drug on a low dose to take alongside the sleeping pills. There is also enough for a month's supply, and a psychiatrist will be in touch to book some counselling appointments." She was quite a chirpy woman, quite plump, and looked to be in her fifties. "And i can remove your IV, and you're ready to go home." Then she started expertly removing the IV and handing over the list of crisis numbers, support groups, and everything else in between. "Your team is eager to see you and check in with you both. Police families are like caring families, crazy and intense, but always there. I do need to ask a few personal questions, but how often are you both intimate with each other? Unfortunately, these drugs and these combinations can have side effects."

"Uh....we've been.....kinda....you know, less of late." He admitted with a tinge to his cheeks as they burned red. "What kinda side effects?"

"Some people report lack of sex drive and have issues getting.......their penis to rise to the occasion. Other patients have reported that they have.....unplanned erections." She explained discreetly. "And sometimes they need some stimulation to take care of it."

Open Thread (female only) Angst and drama

Open to Everyone (Mutuals and Non Mutuals)

Connection - Colleague, friend, best friend, girlfriend, wife, ex wife, ex girlfriend, lover, partner.

Plot - After an entire family is murdered by a killer who was set free due to lack of evidence, Luca had to try and pick up the pieces and prove the killer's guilt but he can't live with the fact he could have stopped it if he had been allowed. He's on the edge and he is spiralling fast.

*****

It had been six months since Antonio Martinez had been released from the county jail due to lack of evidence in a string of homicides and while Luca and the team were trying to collect the evidence, Martinez slaughtered an entirely family in a robbery gone wrong.

Luca knew it all could have been prevented. Protocol and doubt from the district attorney and the People making the decisions had released a killer back out onto the streets and despite SWAT's best efforts, he had killed an entire family. Luca had been suspended from duty due to turning up intoxicated and hungover every day shift since the incident and mentally, he was destroying himself as he paced back and forth along Angels Point, a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and a gun in the other.

"It could have been stopped, don't you see that? It could have been stopped and that family would have been alive." Luca vented, his face thick with a beard and his eyes bloodshot, his hair a mess and hooked like he had lost his soul. "If they hadn't played God then that family would have been alive. A mom, a dad and three kids, the oldest being nine and the youngest being two years old!"

[angeart]

omg grian ban au … actually obsessed with the concept, plus scar wasn’t even online during when it happened and so he comes online and grians not?? there anymore. and mumbo maybe kind of knows that it’s Not Good. or pearl, would she have a concept that something bad is happening? obsessed with this idea and how it resolves

see i didn't know who was online and who wasn't but the fact that scar wasn't online makes this so much better. to just come back and find that grian's gone? and gem tries to reassure him that he's probably just sulking or off doing his own things, even though her words ring hollow even to herself, and scar looks at her like, "what things?"

grian never goes off to do his things. not unless he's actively preparing a server for them to play on, and that's always planned in advance.

i think scar doesn't really know what's wrong and what exactly grian's been running from this whole time, but he knows enough to flag this as Not Good. it scares him, actually, even if he isn't sure what the danger is. every minute that grian isn't showing up makes him feel more and more worried.

but nobody else really wants to panic. right? they don't want to think it could be anything like that.

(they actually all worry that scar is right, they just don't know what they can do about it—finding a player Out There is near impossible. he could be on a private server, on a protected one, on someone else's server, so many options they'd be blind to. just like hermitcraft is protected so that nobody can reach them when they're there.)

(anyway grian's in none of those places anyway <3)

[misstrashchan]

*rubs hands together* okie dokie:

1) okay okay I have a slight variation on the dance reprise prediction where they're sparring again but in a more serious, dance-fight manner than their previous sparring which is kind of clumsy and fumbling. this is in contrast with all the other main cast couples (bb, wk and rn) dancing at some party. just because both ruby and oscar wouldn't feel like they have the luxury of dancing still but still end up having fun in their own way. especially if oscar has changed the Long Memory in some way and by fighting Ruby with it they're showing themselves to each other.

2) ruby helps/suggests to oscar to forge his own weapon to add as extension to the Long Memory. something something "I'll be who you are and I'll be even more". would like to see the reprise of ruby being a weapons nerd and using that to reassure Oscar about his sense of identity. unlocking his semblance might not be something ruby can help with or that oscar can control when it happens, but weapons are also a part of the self too, and that is something oscar can put more of himself into showing/expressing, and that ruby can help with. (give him spear priveliges!!!!)

3) oscar unlocks a time related semblance to save ruby, and maybe uses it to support her in using her silver eyes so he can slow down time for her (complimentary to her speedy semblance) to feel what she needs to feel. in a more general prediction I guess oscar unlocks his semblance to save/support ruby in some way

4) going off the weapons stuff again just like. them complimenting each others weapons but the clear subtext is it's them complimenting each other indirectly. just because ruby's relationship with her sense of self and Crescent Rose was so strongly intertwined throughout v9, and the Long Memory is always linked to Oscar's sense of self interwined with Oz/the Merge.

5) forgive me but this is a bit of a long one: the headmasters all have a pattern with oscar in that he always ends up fighting/confronting them in some manner, but it's always after they've hurt/betrayed ruby in some manner. v5 we have him smacking Lionheart in a fit of anger after seeing Ruby hurt. he fights against Oz's control for his body to stop him from taking the relic from Ruby, and to entrust her with the relic's password. he confronts in v7 Ironwood after he's betrayed Ruby (technically yeah it was the whole group, but Ruby is the leader at that point soooo I'm still counting it). Then we have Theodore, who actually seems decent (a low bar for our headmasters but still) BUT he is very gung ho about fighting, and welcomes any to challenge him to a fight, even students, and if they win they can take his position as headmaster of Shade. literally all the other kingdoms have come together at Vacuo, and it's emphasized in the books that the only real authority in Vacuo is Shade Academy and its headmaster. (there's also the Crown and bringing up Right to Rule via reinstating the monarchy and lost kings and queens, and the set up to explore the Little Prince allusion which is. hmmm. idk I'm getting sidetracked now but there's smth there maybe). So like, basic prediction is Oscar fights Theodore for Ruby's sake, or they both fight him and end up as the two defacto leaders of the last resistance in Remnant. idk this one's a bit more far fetched but I am expecting an Oscar/Theodore fight, the subsequent overthrowing of the old headmaster and for it to somehow involve Ruby.

6) Ruby getting overwhelmed by her new fans and all the attention she's getting as this Messiah like figure and Oscar stepping in to help her get away from it all ("I'm sorry everyone but Ruby has an extremely important meeting she HAS to attend to right now so she can't stay"). I actually want her team to do this for her to show they have her back when she's feeling overwhelmed, but I would be happy if it was a RG moment too.

7) Oscar giving Ruby sand goggles to protect her eyes

8) Ruby blushing hard at something Oscar says and being a bit oblivious/in denial insists the Sun in Vacuo must be getting to her (gotta love that Oscar/sun symbolism) and Oscar immediately tries to get her to some water/shade

9) the moon and sun both being in the sky in the backgrounds when Ruby and Oscar reunite/interact.

10) Ruby takes Oscar to the Ever After to try and break the merge curse which I've talked about as a theory more in this reblog about semblance predictions here so I won't repeat myself.

send me your RG predictions. i wanna make a bingo card

[stardestroyer81]

I've noticed some of my Pizza Tower posts as well as my Star Tower overview post have been getting some attention as of late, and I simply couldn't be happier on the matter, especially seeing how much people like Star Tower in particular!

And seeing as I've had art of the lot sitting around for some time, I've decided to whip up six individual icons for each of the five Fruitins as well as the Super Key as it's been quite a while since the Fruitins have all been seen together on this blog! 🍒🍊🍈🥨🍌🔑