#i did not reread this so you get what you get

[bandgie]

just reread ur freeuse reader and skz drabble but now all i can think of is skz who is freeuse imagine just being in public and just eating them out / sucking them off while they whine :33

did you ask for a MTL on who I think likes to be free-use? did I hear a yes? !!free use society ahead!!

most!

han!

lovely slut! he's sooo endearing and wants to be used anytime anywhere! you want him to finger you in the theaters? done! giving you head during a night out? yes please! but he gets so embarrassed when you do it to him. stroking him while he's trying to work on a song or when you're on double date? he's blushing so hard and he'd prolly beg you to wait until you get home. he secretly likes it tho. the way you keep a conversation with your fingers playing with his tip makes him leak so much

seungmin!

okay, please don't be shocked. I had to put him up this high. USE HIM. USE HIM. USE HIM. I'm tired of seungmin being a hard dom when irl I know he loves being rough-handled and used. he's a huge munch idk why that's such a strong belief I have. he'll do anything for you anywhere. ask him to fuck you while the members are over and he's putting you on the dinner table and drilling your shit unbearably good. the only limit I'd say is when he's working ? like practicing his vocals he just really need to focus and he can't do that when you're pretty legs are open just asking to be spread

hyunjin!

he worships you idk what you want me to say. he doesn't even view it as sex or something gross, he just wants to be close to you in the most intimate way possible (I think ive said this before). constantly rubbing your clit because he knows you looveeee that and kissing the curve of your neck because that also drives you insane. you honestly don't even have to ask hyunjin, he just knows when you need it because he knows you so well. that being said, he also would like his partner to be free-use too. he wants the passion to be equal

changbin!

I feel wrong putting him lower, but I think it's true. he's shy and he likes to keep things between you two, BUT he feels super prideful (as a Leo should) when you ask him for a favor. he's most comfortable with oral, but he underestimated how much you enjoy giving it to him. you wanna do it public??? he'll give in but he hides his blushing face in his hoodies and tries to keep him hips from bucking so much. if he gets super into it, he'll thread his hand in your hair and try pushing you deeper. I can only imagine how much his members coo like ugh I just know Felix watches almost enviously lmaooo

felix!

he actually really likes it! the reason he's lower is because he just feels uncomfortable sometimes. like, I don't think Felix enjoys that many people watching. especially if they're strangers. but if it's his members or friends? then yessssss use him! pull his panties to the side and do what you want! lol, but he just needs to be warmed up with the people around him. he would also love it if some members joined in on you using him. like maybe he's fucking you and someone's pinching his nipples or guiding his hips to fuck you harder. he really really likes feeling completely surrounded, so he's down for a whole orgy so long as he knows and trusts everyone.

jeongin

okay I was gonna put him last but then I was thinking and? he really likes fingering you. feeling your plush walls and if you're jerking him off too?? pure bliss. the members get tired of trying to talk to him when you're there cuz you end up whispering in his ear to play with your clit and it always ends with you two moaning into each other's mouth. or if someone's trying to talk to him and you get on your knees to suck him off, jeongin is so persistent like "Nono, keep talking im listening" and his fingers curl into your hair and he's trying to stay still because HE'S the free-use but holy shit your mouth is so warm and soft, he cums straight down your throat. but like I said, HE'S free-use, so you overstimulate him pretty often until the person he's talking to can't stand jeongin's high pitched whining and rolling eyes like - I need to stop

chan!

bandgie...did you really put him this low? yes and im sorry. but listen! he's shy okay??? he's a lady in the streets but a freak in the sheets! some things are for you and him and THATS IT. maybe a very small handful of people who he trusts can see but he's just really possessive. if YOU were free-use? that'd be different. like he gets to use you and everyone knows who you belong to, but him? what if people think you want another free-use bf? what if they think he isn't already owned? he worries too much BUT I do think he's similar to minho in that he'd eat you out and finger you, but sexsexsex? I mmeeaannnn if you ask nicely and bat your pretty eyelashes he would, but he would also give anyone the death stare that so much as glances your way.

minho!

he likes it, but like idk. he's down to finger you anytime, getting all your juices gushing down his wrist because he's genuinely the best finger-blaster on the planet, but full on sex?? he has boundaries. you want a quickie in the bathroom? okay yes he's absolutely okay with that, but even if it is a free-use society and it's accepted he just? he just likes keeping it low-key. BUT he likes people knowing he's yours. maybe an earrings or necklace with your initial. a hickey that never seems to go away. something to mark him as yours. but anything more than his hands or mouth publically is a limit

least!

[323cutie]

Ok not to give tonal whiplash from the sweetness of Woo and Jongho to absolute freak nasty thoughts buuuuuut… I was rereading the sextape with Wooyoung post you did a while back and it got me thinking… say it is a video call with Sannie… how the hell does he even react to that? And how likely is to end with you in bed with both of them one night because he can’t fucking get the images out of his head? And how encouraging would Wooyoung be about it? And how sweet and hard and comforting and also mean would they be together? -🐍

so uh. Um. yeah. splitting this up into 2 parts i couldnt help myself. nonnie ur killing me.

cw ୨୧ erm. sex tape? phone sex? threesome? kind of dubious consent on san's end so tread with caution but he gets into it, blowjobs, one line abt face slapping, a teeny bit of hair pulling, wooyo is an instigator and a brat, finger sucking, masturbation (male, referenced), dirty talk

18+ mdni!!

"Say hi, baby."

Wooyoung's voice is hazy and disconnected, whiny behind the flash of his phone. It takes a little too long for you to even register what he said, prompting a light slap to your cheek from him, and you pull yourself off of his cock to look at where you're pretty sure the camera actually is.

"H-Hi, Sannie," you say, breathless, swallowing what spit collected in your mouth from sucking Wooyoung off. You don't really know what to say, so you let Wooyoung push your hair out of your face and blink wetly up into the light. There's a muffled sound and then you hear San for the first time since he picked up the phone.

"Fuck," he curses, voice obviously strained even through the speakers. From behind the flash you catch a glimpse of Wooyoung's savage smile. "What is -- Wooyoungie, what are you --"

You guide your mouth back onto Wooyoung's cock and sigh at the weight of it on your tongue. He groans and uses his free hand to hold your hair back, speaking, but not to you: "Thought we'd -- ah, fuck -- put on a little show for you, Sannie," he says. You look past the phone at him and his breath hitches. "Wanted to treat you."

"Treat me?" San breathes, and you take Wooyoung's cock just a little deeper to see what both of them will do. The reaction is immediate, a sharp tug on your hair and a moan from Wooyoung simultaneous with the whimper you hear San let out. "This is..."

You pull back and Wooyoung lets you. "Wanna look good for you, Sannie," you say. Your voice is hoarse but you don't think they care.

Wooyoung jumps in immediately. "Looks so pretty, huh?" He eggs San on, hand squishing your cheeks together then pushing two fingers into your mouth. "Perfect for sucking cock, right?"

The noise San lets out is obscene, something crossed between a bitten back whimper and a gasp. Addicting, and you want to hear it over and over again. After half a second, he says, "fuck, yeah, so pretty. So beautiful."

The praise warms you. "You touchin' yourself, Sannie?" You ask, the first few syllables crowded by Wooyoung's fingers in your mouth until he takes them out. There's panting, then another glimpse of Wooyoung's grin, and San must have nodded. You wish you could see him. Probably looks just as pretty as he says you are, red faced and wrecked, eager to feel.

"Go on, then," Wooyoung says, tapping the tip of his cock against your lips -- a prompt, a reminder. "We said we'd give him a show."

[thewertsearch]

@necrowyrm asked: happy new year!!! enjoy the last little bit of homestuck before act 6! Anonymous asked: You have NO IDEA how much I was looking forward to your reaction to this flash :D @teddy-bearer-of-bad-news asked: a very late congratulations from me for making it this far! i gotta say, saving CASCADE for new year's is probably the smartest thing i've heard all week. may your experience be nothing short of righteous, comrade Anonymous asked: Cascade … Even years latter knowing it almost by heart, every once in a while I will take a little quarter of an hour to rewatch it, Say what you want about Hussie but there is a good reason Homestuck became so iconic. @adeptarcanist asked: The leadup to Cascade was honestly my favorite sequence in Homestuck, and maybe one of my favorites in any media ever? The way the narrative splits apart into all of the different scenes swirling in towards the critical moment, both advancing main plots and finding time to spend a moment of melancholy with characters who’d been left behind (The Jaspers and Nepeta scene :( )… it’s such a strong narrative device, and the tone it generates is impeccable. @calamitascalliope asked: I literally watched the flash again, and it still gives me chills every single time. Welcome to your post-Cascade life. You won't be able to think about anything the same ever again @iris-in-the-dark-world asked: "she looks so cool… but she’s so tragic… but she looks so cool…" has become a brainworm for me. i too love the handmaid's design btw, cascade time has been i think the most anticipated non-personal event of the entire year for me. i'm so excited @publicuniversalworstie asked: I want you to know that I also opened Cascade and started watching with you right after I saw your "oh my god it has chapters" ask, and I finished just as you posted "I will never be the same" !! And I bet lots of other people did too <3 so it's like we all watched it together!!!! Happy New Year and thank you for liveblogging!!!! It's been a pleasure！(and will continue to be) @krixwell asked: I would like you to know that your "Right, we're good to go!" and "oh my god it has chapters" posts were posted right as I was outside watching midnight fireworks ring in 2025 for the Central European timezone. Happy new year! @captorations asked:

hey remember when rose just up and fucking said that. anyway congrats on reaching cascade! it absolutely wrecked me back in the day, i think i stared at those flaming curtains for a solid ten minutes as my brain permanently reconfigured. the first few notes of the track alone still give shivers. getting your reaction to cascade was a wonderful birthday present. (speaking of getting older: aradia 🤝 dulcinea also got that "distressingly short lifespan only to die early anyway" story thread going on. the parallels are paralleling.) anyway happy new year and congrats you are… slightly less than halfway done with homestuck. have fun!

Hey, guys. Cascade was so fucking good.

Like, there's really no competition; this is the best Flash page in the comic thus far. Peak music, peak animation, and absolutely a peak narrative. It tied up mountains of plot threads, providing complete answer to questions we're been asking for literally thousands of pages. It completed over a dozen arcs, both big and small. It made me gasp three times in fourteen minutes. It let Jade become a furry.

11/10, and I'm glad people had as much fun here as I did on New Year's Eve. Happy 2025, and happy Act 6!

@morganwick asked: Sally, predicting Cascade: "I have approximate knowledge of many things." @morganwick asked: "You literally have the whole world in the palm of your hands." -Sally to Jadesprite, December 16, 2024 (You might also want to reread post/770701212350857216 in light of recent developments.)

Hah!

I mean, based on her powerset, it made sense that Jadesprite would do something like this eventually, but it's pretty funny that she did it more or less immediately.

And in the end, CD really was a tricky little bastard. We'll definitely need to keep a closer eye on him, next time around.

Anonymous asked: Take a moment to consider that if anyone were to use the Homestuck website as it stands now instead of the Collection program, Cascade would have been presented in the YouTube player in Standard Definition, artifacted to hell, with a clear boundary showing the dimensions of the video from the very start. Preservation is so important.

Jeez, you're not kidding. The 1080p is fine, I guess, but it certainly doesn't hit like the Flash version does, especially with its lack of moving panels.

I know something had to change when Flash kicked the bucket, but surely there was a better way to preserve the video's soul.

Anonymous asked: to give you some of an idea of what homestuck fandom looked like during this time period, im cribbing from a very popular homestuck post: “first, this upd8 was something that we had been waiting for for WEEKS. A literally unprecedented wait period at the time. We were used to suckling at the teat of daily updates, a constant stream of conversation and plot twists and buildup, and as EOA5, we were finally going to figure out what all these countdowns and plot threads and disconnected elements were building up for. And when the progress bar reached 100%, and when the page FINALLY loaded on 10/25/11, it was chaos. This was 2011, a primetime peak point and growth period of Homestuck fan density.” (…) “MSPA crashed, as it had started to during the last few big [S] updates. Hussie had already bought new servers in advance, but even when allegedly thousands of dollars were spent it couldn't handle the accidental DDOS attack of Homestuck fans. People were up all night waiting for this upd8, the curiosity was killing me. I know at some point he was receiving at least 1 million unique visitors per day to his site [correction: according to Hussie’s tumblr, upwards of 2 million during this time], and even though Hussie had foreseen such traffic and thusly hosted [S] Cascade on Newgrounds, a dedicated video streaming site, Newgrounds was similarly unprepared for the sheer amount of people frantically mashing the play and refresh buttons, and also crashed. Immediately. MSPA and Newgrounds crashed definitively for at least two nights in a row” (…) “Andrew Hussie has gone on record to say this was one of the few times he thought Homestuck wasn’t worth it, because the sheer unbelievable cost (was it $10,000?) [correction: according to Hussie’s tumblr, it looked like it was going to cost $100,000 to keep [S] Cascade up for several days] of servers and the chaos of no one able to see the upd8 and crashing nearly every site after. He was tweeting during the whole debacle, stating he was reluctant to put it up on Youtube because of all the moving elements of the flash, and style, and how youtube degraded the quality of the file size, and how he tried to scratch out buffer time and pauses by putting periods of silence between each section of the 14 minute upd8, the longest upd8 yet” “So after Newgrounds patooted, he didn’t put it on youtube and instead put up the entire flash file on Megaupload, where it could be downloaded in it’s entirety to be watched. UNFORTUNATELY, Megaupload also crashed very quickly, which Hussie felt much headache over. But before that happened I managed to get the file, since I happened to be up very early that night! Next it was on dropbox, which didn’t crash but had “link unavailable” on and off. ”Spoilers were flying everywhere, people didn’t understand everything that had happened, and by the time the timeline of events in and out of [S] Cascade was all straightened out, people became even MORE hype. Like this whole thing lasted at least four days, and on top of that, the upd8 was good. Fandom exploded.” it is impossible to quantify the experience. The fact hussie was going to have to fork over A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS to host it is crazy. I am never going to be over it.

Cascade's complete obliteration of the Flash-hosting internet says a lot about huge Homestuck truly was - but I think an even bigger indicator of the comic's success is the fact that Hussie dropped literally thousands of dollars on server upgrades to host the thing. That's not an investment you make unless you're expecting some serious returns.

[rivalsispunk]

Beneath The Surface (Chapter 2 of ongoing series When We’re Alone)

Best friend’s dad!Declan O’Hara, boss!Declan O’Hara x AFAB reader

Series summary: Journalist Declan O’Hara is in need of a personal assistant as his Corinium career skyrockets, and his daughter Taggie has the perfect candidate: her best friend. What seemingly starts as a professional relationship soon snowballs into something both Declan and reader were never expecting and are no longer able to deny.

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, (eventual) smut, cursing, age gap romance (reader is a few years older than Taggie), mention of male appendages (IYKYK), more warnings added per chapter

Word count: 3.6k

Chapter summary: Declan grapples with the risk of hiring you while you grapple with whether or not you're good enough. Once the verdict is in, you both realise you may have jumped in feet first a little too hastily.

A/N: Things are heating up in more ways than one and I am soooo ready for you guys to meet the silently unhinged Declan... Oh, and in this universe, Declan did end up interviewing Margaret Thatcher. Also not entirely proofread so may be some mistakes. Happy reading!

Chapter Two: Beneath The Surface

“A promise of secrecy was of course very dutifully given, but it could not be kept without difficulty; for the curiosity excited by his long absence burst forth in such very direct questions on his return as required some ingenuity to evade, and he was at the same time exercising great self-denial, for he was longing to publish his prosperous love.”

You’ve spent the last half hour reading, then rereading, the same page of Pride and Prejudice, your creature-comfort book since you were a young teenager. Normally, you’d be able to recite the passage from memory by now, but your mind has been elsewhere than focussed on the words in front of you. It’s been over a week since your interview with Declan and you’ve heard nothing. Zilch. Nada. For days, your brain has been stuck in a constant loop of questions you’ve no answers for.

Why hasn’t he called? 

Why haven’t you heard anything? 

Did he find someone better?

That last one has been the most burning question of them all, coupled with the memory of Declan’s gravelly voice telling you, I’d be lucky to have ya.

So, why hasn’t he called?

It’s not lost on you that you sound more like a needy girl hanging out for a guy after a date than someone waiting to hear back about a job you weren’t even sure you wanted until the moment you were sat in his office. But you do want it.

The job, that is.

Taggie was none the wiser, too. She’d told you her father had barely given her an inkling of where his head was at, and that he remained suspiciously mum on the outcome of the interviews he’d had in the days succeeding yours. “I think he’s just been busy,” she countered, mentioning that Declan had been on edge in the lead up and preparation for his televised interview with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. You were well aware, and knew how much the opportunity meant to him, so you’d made a conscious effort to stay away from The Priory, as not to overwhelm Declan or put any additional pressure on him to make a decision about the assistant position. Instead, you’d met Taggie in town for afternoon tea on the days she wasn’t preparing for an event, or a meal at Bar Sinister when time called for a catch up. But the Thatcher interview was days ago now — a roaring success with both viewers and ratings — and you were getting restless for news.

Slamming your worn out copy of Pride and Prejudice shut, you reach for the phone by your bedside and dial your best friend for what feels like the fiftieth time this week. You’ve called The Priory so often in recent days that she doesn’t even say hello when she answers.

“Still no word yet,” she sighs down the line. “He’s in an awful mood tonight, though. Went straight up to his office when he got home, refused dinner. I think Mummy being away is getting to him.”

You hum in agreement, not that you have any real insight on the matter. “I’m sure he’s fine, Tag. Probably tired of putting up with that Tony Baddingam’s shit. I told you what a right arse he was to your dad when I was there, didn’t you?”

“You did. Honestly, I didn’t think about anyone else at Corinium when I suggested you work for Daddy. It’s one thing for you to be under him, but to be at the beck and call of Lord Baddingham, too?” You practically hear Tag shudder down the line. “Makes me feel ill the way he treats the women who work for him.”

You push aside any runaway thoughts elicited by Taggie’s mention of you under Declan and shrug. “It’s fine, Tag. I’ve dealt with enough Baddinghams in my time to know to tread carefully.” You pull the phone cable taut and pluck it with your finger. “Besides, I don’t think I’ve got the job anyway. I should have heard by now.”

In the room above Taggie, Declan stubs out his cigarette, reclining in his office chair as he listens to his daughter’s voice reverberate through the house. One final plume of smoke emerges from the pile of ashes and butts that have accumulated in the tray over the last twenty-four hours. He ought to be prepping for his next TV interview, a fairly benign chat with a local farmer who has grand plans for the land on the outskirts of the Cotswolds. A piece of cake, he’d told Tony earlier today when he was asked how his preparation was coming. However, he’d flicked through his notes and research God knows how many times this evening, yet couldn’t recall one lick of fact about his upcoming subject. Instead, he’d spent hours — no, days — agonising over whether he should hire you. His producer, Cameron Cook, was breathing down his neck for him to hire someone so he was spread less thin, but it’s not an easy task. On paper, you’re the perfect choice. Hell, in reality, you’re the perfect choice. Still, he prayed that one of the interviewees after you would prove better candidates (and notably male), but no one measured up to you. Sure, they were intelligent. Passionate, somewhat. But then there was you; intelligent and passionate, and looking far too delectable in that bloody skirt that belongs to his fucking wife. Yes, his wife — that’s if she still even wants to be called that — who’s been gone for weeks without as much as a phone call or letter to the house. Their son, Patrick, had mentioned that she’d phoned a couple of weeks ago to inform him she was back in the city, but spared their university-bound child the details of her whereabouts. Declan loves Maud, despite her shortcomings — of which there are many — but he couldn’t help but resent his wife for her absence, and moreover, for the constant dull ache that had been burdening his cock since seeing her skirt on you. He rationalised that if Maud was here, he wouldn’t be up at night thinking obscene thoughts about his daughter’s best friend who had showed up to his office all smiles and curves in his wife’s long-forgotten hand-me-downs. Every time Declan closes his eyes he sees the shallow dimple that adorns your left cheek. He gets random flashbacks of that black lace bra he imagines holds perfect breasts, if he just allows his mind to wander.

He flexes his hand in an attempt to rid it of the itch that’s been daring him to relieve himself ever since you left his Corinium office. There have been countless instances over the last week where he wondered if he just gave in — just a little, just a stroke, something, anything — that the ache will go away. But there’s a bigger part of him that’s afraid that once he starts, he won’t be able to stop, and then how will he ever be able to face you again? Face Taggie again, knowing the pure filth that’s taken him over in the moments when he’s alone?

Cameron had demanded that afternoon that he chooses someone to pick up his slack by the weekend so help her God or she’ll stick him with an intern with more boobs for brains, and he knows — he knows — he can’t be stuck with someone with the same level IQ as a stale loaf of bread. He’d combust. So, against his better judgement, he decides as he lights yet another cigarette, that he’ll offer you the job as his assistant.

So help him God.

The phone rang just after half seven as you took your first bite of marmite toast. “Do you want the good news or the best news first?” You wince at Taggie’s chirpiness so early in the morning.

“Umm, best ‘til last,” you option. “Good news first.”

“Well, I’m making shepherd’s pie for dinner and you’re coming over.”

“Alright,” you giggle. “And the other news?”

“We’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating you making shepherd’s pie?”

“No, you nitwit! We’re celebrating you! You got the job! Daddy just told me on his way out this morning.”

Your chair whines against the floorboards of your flat as you shoot to your feet. “I got the job?”

“You got the job!” Taggie shrieks down the line. “Daddy said he was going to phone you when he gets to the office but I couldn’t wait to tell you myself. I know you’ve been anxious waiting to hear back.”

“Oh, Tag, I can’t believe it! I really thought he’d found someone more suited,” you express, cheeks pinching with a grin.

“He said he was very impressed with you,” your friend continues, voice laced with pride. “He also suggested we go shopping for some new officewear.”

“So, he hated my outfit, is what you’re saying.” Him and everybody else at that bloody station.

“No, it’s not that. I think him seeing you in Mummy’s clothes freaked him out a little, is all,” Taggie confesses. “He’s been a bit all over the shop since she’s been gone and I suppose when it comes to her, out of sight, out of mind is best.”

You think back to Declan spluttering his tea everywhere during your interview, and his little explosion afterwards. It makes sense that he doesn’t wanted be reminded of the woman who stepped out on him. You were just glad his reaction wasn’t to something you had done.

You and Taggie chat for a few minutes more about potential shopping destinations and your plans for the day before she rushes through a goodbye, eager to get to the market to pick up groceries for your celebratory meal. An hour later, Declan calls.

“Morning, it’s Declan,” he says, words stifled by the cigarette between his lips. “Declan O’Hara.”

You bite down a smile at the unnecessary clarification. You do the same to thwart your enthusiasm at finally receiving his call. “Hiya. It’s nice to hear from you. How’re you this morning, Declan?”

“Yeah, good, good. Tony’s riding my arse as per usual but other than that, good.” Silence reigns as you wait for Declan to relay the good news. After a moment, he clears his throat like he just remembered you’re on the other end of the line. “Look, I don’t have long, but I wanted to give you a bell to let you know the assistant job is yours. If you want it.”

Although you were already aware of the job offer, you do a happy jig in your kitchen. “Yes, thank you! Of course, I accept.”

“Great. Does Monday work as a start date?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be there. Thank you, Declan.”

“Welcome. Chat soon.”

The line goes dead not second later, and while you’re still overcome with excitement about the new job, your chat with your new boss seemed off. Declan seemed off. Far removed from the chatty, friendly man you sat across from at Corinium just days ago. But like he said, Tony was on his back. He’s probably just… tense.

It becomes clear to Declan as he watches you and Taggie move seamlessly around the kitchen while clearing up after dinner that you’re effervescent. Far more than he’s ever noticed, in all the times you’ve visited his daughter over the recent months, and it bothers him. He hated how his pulse quickened at the sight of you on his doorstep two hours earlier, David Bowie T-shirt peeking out from beneath your checkered coat. If you were at least the tiniest bit irksome or slow-witted or just plain dull, he’d be able to reckon with the fact that his reaction to you was purely chemical. Just another man taken by a young woman’s good looks. But then again, if he found you any of those things, he wouldn’t dare allow you anywhere near his work, near his research. Nor would he be impressed with his daughter adopting a friend as such, either. 

Your laughter trills, egged on by the celebratory champagne Taggie had provided, and Declan catches the tailend of his daughter flinging a handful of dishsoap suds in your direction. You were a good girl, a good friend, being there for Taggie in the last few months. Always willing to lend a hand, or an ear, certainly a shoulder to cry on more than Declan liked to think about or admit. But you were just that: a girl. A girl who was now his assistant. He’ll be damned if he were to become another man at Corinium taking advantage of that power imbalance, which is why he replaces his glass of bubbles with a whiskey and retires to his office after supper, pressing a kiss to his daughter’s forehead as he goes.

You decide to sleepover at The Priory after consuming a few too many glasses of champagne for it be considered safe to drive home. Although, sleepover may be too generous of a word because you’ve barely slept a wink since sinking into bed beside Taggie over an hour ago. Your friend, however, had no trouble drifting off, only to start snoring so loudly the whole bed vibrates. You’ve already tried covering your head with a pillow and the counting backwards from one hundred trick to coax yourself to sleep, but it’s no use. You slide out from under the poppy-printed covers and tip-toe downstairs in a sweater hanging on the back of Taggie’s bedroom door. You’re swimming in the woollen brown garment. It falls to mid-thigh and is sleeves are at least half an arm-length too long, but it keeps the chill at bay when you swing open The Priory’s back door. You slide on a pair of Wellington boots that sit on the doormat and step out into the biting air. In it, the inches of skin between the hem of the sweater and your long socks prickle with goosebumps, and your breath forms a fog under the soft glow of fairy lights leftover from a garden party the O’Hara’s hosted in the summer. Somewhere in the distance, a owl twoos and foxes rustle through shrubbery. When you lived in the city, the nights were overrun with sirens and drunken hooligans singing football chants down the alleyways and other racket that made it very difficult to hear yourself think. Meanwhile, out here, in the countryside, you could just be.

“Nice sweater.”

“Fuck!” The sudden verbiage shocks your shoulders to your ears. There’s no mistaking that voice, yet you have to scan the area to see where the Irish lilt is stemming from. It’s not until you hear the swish of water that you realise he’s in the hot tub that’s tucked away from the courtyard, his silhouette barely visible against the night. “Declan. You gave me a fright.”

“Sorry,” he croaks. “Can’t sleep?”

You shake your head. “Taggie’s snoring like a freight train.”

As your eyes adjust to the dark, you just catch Declan’s moustache quirk with a lazy smile. “Just like her mother.”

The comment coaxes you closer to the tub, waiting for Declan to elaborate, but whatever story he might’ve spieled evaporates with the steam from the water. The heated pool was just another of Maud’s extravagant buys, and Declan hated the addition when it showed up in a delivery van, during summer, of all seasons, because he knew it would be forgotten about in a matter of days once she’d found something new to obsess over. There was always something with Maud. If it wasn’t an extravagant purchase to distract herself with, it was a lover, and if it wasn’t a lover, it was a trip far, far away from the Cotswolds. Her recent truancy being case in point.

There’s hardly any light in this corner of the yard, aside from a small golden glimmer beneath the hot tub surface, but it’s enough for you to take in Declan’s form. He’s lax, whiskey in hand, with his head reclined against the lip of the pool. You notice the thick smattering of chest hair across the breadth of his torso, dark and unruly. The few men you’ve ever been with have been around your age, either trimmed or unable to grow body hair where its desired. But then again, they were just boys in the scheme of things. Declan has always been so fucking manly. His already dark hair black with water, pushed away from his face like he’s slicked it back with his hands. It hasn’t stopped miniscule curls frizzing to fruition at his temples. Declan takes a sip of the amber liquid in his glass.

“If I’m being honest, I thought you’d be a tad more excited when I spoke to you this morning.” The subject change surprises you.

“Oh, trust me, I was! But–“

“But Taggie had already broken the news to you by then, hadn’t she?”

You look down at your feet, not wanting to give your friend away, but Declan knows his daughter has a hard time keeping a lid on her excitement. “It’s alright,” he chuckles. “She means well.”

“She’s a good friend. They’re hard to come by.”

You’re telling me, Declan thinks, taking a one-handed inventory of his own close companions.

The frosty air hugs you and your toes seize under its bite, even through your socks and boots. “Do you mind?” You point to the hot tub. It takes a moment for it to click in Declan’s brain that you’re asking if you can join him. It would be rude for him to say no. Stupid for him to say yes. Instead, he gives a non-commital shrug and whispers Lord, help me into his glass. Over its rim, he watches you perch on the edge of the tub to while you toe off your wellies. They land with a thud on the pavement and you giggle to yourself, oops, when one ricochets into a nearby shrub. Muscles zip up the back of your leg when you peel off your socks, and Declan has to force himself to look away when the hem of your sweater — no, his sweater, one of many Taggie had stolen away — rides dangerously high on your thighs as you swing your legs over the lip of the heated pool. He’s thankful that only one of the lights below the surface is in working order because his prick rouses when a satisfied hum seeps from you as your feet kiss the warm surface. Declan’s jaw ticks. The devil on his shoulder probes that you’re purposely torturing him and his conscious bites back that he’s a sleazy bastard for thinking as much. You’re not doing anything. You’re just here.

Get a grip on yourself, O’Hara, he scolds, and chases it with a swig of whiskey he only hopes will burn away the filthy thoughts you manage to conjure for him.

“You got another one of them?” When he faces you again, you’re pointing at the glass that’s fogged up in his sweaty palm.

“The champagne not enough for ya?”

You roll your eyes. “If you don’t want to share, just say so.”

“You can’t handle this.”

“Are you really going to sit there and tell a girl what she can and can’t handle?” you press, eyes locked in on his. “You’d be surprised what I can handle, Declan.” You don’t mean for it to sound so provocative, but challenging him has set your whole body ablaze. For good measure, you quirk an eyebrow at Declan, and the subtle move has his cock doing the same in the confines of his striped swim shorts. Without another word, Declan floats across the hot tub to where you’re seated and presses his glass into your hand. You offer a thank you in the form of a gentle smile before pressing your full, blush lips to the rim. Tilting the glass to the sky, you can feel Declan’s heavy gaze on you, watching. Waiting. You allow your eyes to fall shut as the bitter prickle of the whiskey waves over your tongue, so you don’t see him slide a hand to the back of his neck. His nails dig crecsents into the skin there, both as punishment for and distraction from the fact his mind is trekking to dark places where your lips are pressed somewhere far more sinister. He can’t keep his eyes off you while you drain what’s left of the whiskey, your eyes fluttering open when you realise there’s nothing left.

“I told you I could handle it,” you tell Declan, ignoring the slight burn that stings at the back of your throat. You both reach your hand into the small space between you, fingers grazing as you pass the glass back to Declan. 

The air between the two of you is charged. You wouldn’t be surprised if someone lit a match and the whole world went up in flames taking the pair of you with it. That same pained look that took Declan’s expression over during your interview rears its head again. Before you get the opportunity to put a name to it, a door creaks in the distance and your name echoes into the night.

“Are you out there?”

Taggie.

Taggie.

There’s a flurry of movement as Declan slides to the opposite side of the hot tub again and you all but catapult yourself onto the pavement as if you’d been caught redhanded. Doing what, you weren’t entirely sure, but you were certain it wasn’t a good look. You yank your socks over your damp feet, followed by the wellies and make a start for where the kitchen light illuminates your friend in the doorway.

“There you are!” she sighs, almost relieved, when you meet her at the step. “You alright? I thought you might’ve driven home after all.” “God, no. I’m fine! Just…” you glance over your shoulder to where the blaze of a cigarette burns in the darkness. “Just getting some air.”

Loved writing this chapter, and things are just getting started!! Reblog, share, comment: it all means the world to me!! <3

Previous chapters: Chapter 1: The Interview

[docholligay]

@thoughtfulfuri sorry this took me so long! A revised list of books you should look into reading this year. I could have added more ahaha, but this will keep you plenty busy.

Deeply informed by your list and the brief of:  “Books that have deeply influenced the thrust of the genre and media broadly” 

I also went for breadth over depth--you had some authors with a TON of books on your list, and if you’re looking for understanding of media influence I’m not sure that’s the best use of your time. THis isn’t a perfect list but I think it’ll provide a better net than your original. I do not know what you have an haven’t read. Spots where I think you might have read my recommendation I supplied a second. An incomplete list, because no list is ever complete, and always has huge gaps in judgment. WE can always make a new list next year! 

Agatha Christie -- And Then There Were None This was already on your list and it’s perfect. I prefer Murder On the Orient Express, but in fairness, those are the only two Christie novels I’ve ever read. And I’d keep it to one from each author. 

The Art of War — Sun Tzu  From your list, I have no issue with it

Kurt Vonnegut -- Slaughterhouse Five  This is his best and most enduring work. IF you’re looking for incredible influence, this is the one. 

Octavia Butler -- Kindred  I winnowed down your multiple Butler works to this big hitter. 

Isaac Asimov -- I, Robot From your list, make total sense

Daphne DuMaurier -- Rebecca You had My Cousin Rachel, which is great fun, but Rebecca is THE DuMaurier book. 

Leo Tolstoy -- War and Peace I replaced Crime and Pnishment with this not because I don’t like Crime and Punishment, but because if you’re going to commit to a russian novel, you may as well make it the most influential one ever written. This is routinely hailed as the best fucking novel ever written. It is in fact great. I will reread it with you this year! 

Frank Herbert -- Dune. This is from your original list and it’s fine I guess. I think reading Dune is a waste of time unless you’re super into sci-fi, but I won’t fight it. 

JRR Tolkien-- The Fellowship of the Ring From your original list and yeah absolutely. Cannot hope to ujnderstand fantasy as a genre without reading this. If you like it I recommend the whole series, but Tolkien can be hard for people. 

Harper Lee -- To Kill A Mockingbird From your list. Yes, this is an incredibly important American piece. 

Jane Austen -- Pride and Predjudice. There is no more influential Austen novel. You gotta. If you’ve read P&P read Sense and Sensibility, which has the added benefit of being at least four times better (according to people named Doc, who are me, who do not like P&P) 

Ray Bradbury -- Fahrenheit 451. I actually prefer Something Wicked from your list, but F451 is much more influential. If you’ve read Farenheit, read 1984 by George Orwell. IF you’ve read that, read Brave New World by Huxley. If you’re read that, scrap totally, your list is very sci-fi weighted anyhow. 

Oscar Wilde -- The Picture of Dorian Gray. Replaced A Woman of No Importance, which most people haven’t even heard of, with Picture, a deeply and widely referenced novel. If you’ve read picture, read “The Importance of Being Earnest” or better, watch a proshot of a play. 

Gregory McGuire--- Wicked. I dunno that I think this deserves a spot on your list, but I get that everyone’s talking about it right now. And I like the book! But it’s just not very genre influential, it’s more deeply influenced BY the genre. I left it, because I get wanting to engage with everyone talking about it, but those are my reservations.

WE ARE OFF YOUR LIST TOTALLY NOW. So I took a bunch of repeats off your list. I admire wanting to track influential books, and broaden your understanding of media generally, but I think you were sorta getting into the weeds. So I added a few others that have huge media impact. 

Charles Dickens -- David Copperfield    Boy did this suck for me to try and pick. I fucking love Charles Dickens. He was a dick in a lot of ways, revolutionary in others, and the man could write his ass off. He knew how to write a serial style that also keeps track of itself, and there is stuff that blows my mind as a modern reader even now. (If I hadn’t unintentionally made last years book clubs essentially Brit Lit 2: Brit harder i would be doing a Dickens novel for book club. I do have an idea of theming this year as “The American Answer” so like, we did Brideshead last year and the, well, an, American answer to that book is the Secret History. Here On Earth for Wuthering Heights. I don’t know. Actually, there’s an AMerican restyling of David Copperfield in my to-reads for this year) BUT ANYWAY, I ended up picking David Copperfield. It was Dickens’ own favorite, it’s one of his only first person novels, and it is the clearest example of Dickens’ tendency to impress himself upon a character. It has its flaws, of course, but I think centering yourself on David, a nostalgic, emotional writer trying to make his way in the world up from poverty, gives you a great understanding of both Dickens’ incredible influence and his own understanding of HIMSELF. Wow that was a lot of words. I have feelings about Charles Dickens. Sorry. 

Toni Morrison -- Beloved I didn’t like this book, when I read it. But it is good, it won the fucking Pulitzer Prize. I think Song of Solomon is better for me though. Anyway, you have to read Toni Morrison. The way she weaves in the Black American experience with undertones of magical realism impacts the way stories of what I’m going to call “difficult narratives” are allowed to be told today, influencing even people outside of the Black community. 

Salman Rushdie -- The Satanic Verses A masterwork of parallel storytelling, people keep trying to kill Rushdie over this book, a fantastic story about the immigrant experience in Great Britian. 

And some genre stuff for flavor: 

Spy Novels:

Ian Fleming -- Casino Royale  You know who james fucking Bond is. He was a book character first! 

John LeCarre -- The Spy who Came in From the Cold Okay, I am gonna level with you that this and fleming are two opposite poles, but I think they are two opposite poles that give you a really good look at what the spy novel can be and has been. I really enjoy John LeCarre despite not being huge into the genre

Horror: 

Shirley Jackson -- The Haunting of Hill House  This is the novel that launched Stephen King of all people, among others. Jackson is a fucking genius. 

Stephen King -- The Shining Horror is hard, because I read and love a lot of it. But The Shining had a huge influence on both horror and the American consciousness broadly. 

Fantasy:

TH White-- The Once and Future King. Were you at the book club for this? I cannot fucking remember to save my own life. Anyway, if you weren’t, this and LoTR changed fantasy forever. Same time period, even. How we understand fantwasy broadly today comes out of how Tolkien and White were thinking of it. If you read this, read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis. 

Grr Martin-- A Game of Thrones Oh, I’m gonna get letters. But genuinely this book changed the game in fantasy, and had a huge cultural impact on America and many other Western countries.

[jesncin]

Hi.

I recently reread your post on the racebending in CC. And while you didn't talk about Harley in that post you mentioned her case was complicated. I was just wondering why is it complicated?

If you'd rather save that answer for your analysis I completely get it, I'm just a bit curious.

Hello there! Thank you for reading my Caped Crusader mega essay on racebending, haha! I've been meaning to get to the Harley one, I'm just reading some of her comics to be more informed. I don't mind sharing my opinion so far here though since I'm sure people are curious:

While it's conceptually cool that CC gave us an Asian!Harley, it ultimately contributes to the continued erasure of Harley's Jewish identity, but this time through "diversity paint". When it comes to Harley, her entire personhood and characterization comes from Jewish culture. Not only is she full cloth inspired by her og voice actress, Arleen Sorkin (a Jewish woman), but Arleen injected Jewish and Yiddish expressions along with a played up Brooklyn accent when playing Harley, and Harley's character is based on a Jewish stock character (loud wannabe matchmaker).

I'm simplifying for brevity and will go into more detail in the essay but my takeaway here is that unlike, say, Superman who is an allegorically Jewish character- Harley is textually and canonically Jewish. If she wasn't, the character as we know her just wouldn't exist. It's not a detail for Harley to mention Hanukkah every now and then, Harley just is Jewish culture and identity.

At the end of the day, what did CC do with Asian Harley really. I'm all for changes, if you have a story to tell, but. If CC's Harley was white would it really change the story? Harley went from being this white Jewish woman informed by her culture to being an Asian woman informed by no culture. It's why I can't celebrate it as representation, it's erasing another culture all the while giving nothing to Asian representation. We could always have both an Asian and Jewish woman, but this really was the erasure of both. That's why it's complicated, from afar it looks like a Diversity Win! But up close it's erasure via respectability.

[marauder-misprint]

Hi! I have no idea how to request correctly butI really liked how you write fred and I was wondering if I can maybe request you doing qn insecure!fred x reader where they are dating and molly wants reader to come over but fred knowing they are poor doesnt want the reader to see. When he tells her and she agrees to come over and meets his familyi(the ones she hasnt met yet) she slips up on something stupid like saying a twosided comment about their house and molly takes it the bad way, disliking reader and pressuring fred into breaking up with her but reader gets defensive and they fight, the weasley siblings on readers side and in the end molly starts to tolerate you. You absolutely don't have to but thx anyways!!

Thank you for the request! Although, I think you are referring to a Fred fic I reblogged so I can’t take credit for that 😅 ANYWAYS, I hope you like this - my first Hogwarts Era (Trio Era? Golden Era? Lightning Era?) 

Peculiar

insecure!Fred x reader

3.4k words

cw: angst, fluff, y/n

One thing Fred liked about Hogwarts was his family’s financial situation didn’t matter. Everyone wore the same uniform, even if his were hand-me-downs from Percy, and his family always managed to pull through to get the supplies they needed, which meant his broom wasn’t the newest but it did the job. He knew he couldn’t pretend his family had galleons upon galleons in their vault like other families. He knew he couldn’t spoil his new girlfriend in all the ways he wanted to, and by goodness, did he wish he could spoil you.

Still, things were going good. You didn’t discuss your family’s financial situation much, just enough for him to know you were from a more well-off family. You were only teenagers after all. You enjoyed spending time with each other and all of the other things that came with teenage romances, including the moments where you both that maybe it could be more than just a teenage romance. 

Things were good. Until a letter from Molly arrived. 

Errol near crashed into the Gryffindor table at breakfast in his typical fashion.

“INCOMING!” Lee hollered as the aging bird landed among the plate and globals, sending food and drink everywhere. 

“Oh, Errol,” George groaned as he untied the letter at his foot. “Oi, Freddie, it’s for you.”

Fred took the letter and quickly read it, a frown appearing on his face the further down he got in the letter. George picked it up right away, despite barely being able to see it in his peripheral vision as he tended to the owl. 

“What’s it?” he asked. 

“Mum wants me to invite Y/N to the Burrow over the summer.” His frown was paired with bunched brows and a pale face. 

Katie clapped Fred on his back enthusiastically. 

“That’s good, yeah? She’ll get to experience that Weasley hospitality Molly’s known for!”

Fred just shook his head, rereading the letter. It was bad enough that he couldn’t spoil you at school, but what would you think if you saw his home, how they lived. It wasn’t as bad as some people teased, but it certainly was no Malfoy Manor or Diggory Estate. 

“Mate, am I getting the invite this year?” Lee asked George, throwing an arm around his shoulder and shaking him. 

“Can’t. Mum’s already planning for Harry and Hermione. Plus Bill, Charlie and Percy will be home too. I think Perce is having Penelope over too? It’s going to be a full house.”

Lee swore. “Losing to your girlfriend, Fred. It hurts,” he said teasingly. 

Fred crumpled the letter and shoved it into his pocket. He didn’t say anything for the rest of breakfast. 

“Okay, why the long face? Don’t you want Y/N to come?” George asked Fred as they made their way to their first lesson of the day. 

“I… It’s the Burrow. What if she expects more? Better?”

George just shrugged and then gave his twin a knowing look. “So we don’t wipe our arses with galleons. It don’t matter that much. You know Mum just wants to meet her.”

“Mum really wants to meet her.” Fred stopped walking. “Do you know who told ‘er? I hadn’t mentioned Y/N in any of my letters yet.”

“Probably Ginny,” George laughed. 

“What’d my favorite Weasley do?” you asked as you caught up with the boys, a grin on your face. 

“Aw, I thought I was your favorite,” George whined with a faux-pout. 

“Ginerva is telling Mum all my secrets,” Fred said before planting a kiss on the side of your forehead. You didn’t need to know that you were one of those secrets. 

The boys stopped discussing the letter for the time being. George at least had the tact to talk to Fred about his worries about you at a later time. 

You weren’t oblivious to Fred’s palpable worry during the day. He wasn’t normally this quiet or fidgety. Maybe there were days when he was more restless than usual, but today, he kept checking the clock, nervously cracking his knuckles and crumpling something in his pocket. 

One glance at George told him that you were picking up that something was off.

“Don’t worry ‘bout, love. I’ll get ‘im sorted out for you,” George whispered to you after classes before hurrying to catch up with his brother who had already started making his way to Gryffindor Tower.

You watched them both with a concerned frown, but eventually decided not to think about it too much. Did you wish Fred would talk to you about whatever was eating his mind? Yes. But if George was convinced he could get his brother out of the funk, it couldn’t be too bad. 

“Do you think she’ll dump your sorry arse when she sees home?” George asked once they were far enough away. 

Fred didn’t answer. His brain said ‘maybe’ but he couldn’t bring himself to voice it.

George laughed in disbelief. “She wouldn’t! Bloody hell, why’d you think that?”

“You know she comes from… more,” Fred said quietly, the words feeling uncomfortable in his mouth. You weren’t rich rich, but still, it was more than the Weasleys. 

“Hate to break it to you, but I don’t think she’s a gold digger.” George clamped a hand on Fred’s shoulder as they stood outside the Fat Lady’s portrait. “If she was, don’t you think she’d be with Flint or Pinch-Smedley, or Oggspire? Don’t be dense.” His voice had taken a firmer tone.

Don’t be dense, Fred repeated in his mind as he sat in the common room waiting for dinner. Don’t be dense. It’d be fine. It had to be. Was it a tad embarrassing? Sometimes, but at least they didn’t all sleep in one room like Malfoy had once said. 

Fred called you over to sit with him at dinner and by the way he smiled at you as you sat down next to him, you knew George had worked some magic. Fred was back to being Fred. He leaned in as you filled up your plate.

“So, I was wondering if you’d like to visit the Burrow this summer. Mum’s given permission. She’d love to meet you,” he said in a hushed voice. 

You had heard stories about summers at the Burrow. You knew it was home to more than the Weasleys when school was out; Harry, Hermione, Lee, Angelina, Katie, among others, had all been. There were legends of 3-on-3 quidditch matches and Molly’s delectable meals. And you had just been invited. Your face lit up with the brightest smile Fred had seen since the day he asked you out. 

“Yeah, Fred, I’d love to!” You leaned forward so you could see George on Fred’s other side. “Hear that, George? I’m going to see the Burrow!” 

---

Your mother dropped you off at the nearest muggle village to the Burrow. She waited with you until Fred came to meet you. 

“Your parents will be there the whole time?” she asked him when he arrived.

“Yes, ma’am. Mum is dying to meet her,” he said politely.

You, however, rolled your eyes. You bid your mother goodbye and went with Fred.

“I assured her that your parents would be around. Told her you guys have friends over every summer,” you ranted to him as you walked. “That your mum loves to host and meet all your friends. I mean, how else would she get to meet everyone that Ginny talks about in her letters home?”

Fred laughed. Of course you knew it was Ginny who wrote home the most.

He cautiously watched your expression as the Burrow came into view. They had passed the barn and chicken coop, along with several animals. You were speechless as you looked the house up and down. His worry about what you would think melted away when he saw the pure awe on your face. 

“What a peculiar home!” you exclaimed as you reached the sign that said ‘The Burrow’. “The magic-”

“Peculiar?” Molly gasped from the kitchen. 

You hadn’t noticed her yet, still taking in everything that was the Burrow. It’s many stories with rooms jutting out every which way that gave it a very crooked and semi-lopsided appearance. Just from the outside, it was very different from any house you had ever seen, wizarding or muggle. 

You gave Fred a concerned sideways glance. His mother did not sound happy with your comment. He gave you a soft yet reassuring smile. This was his home after all and you had agreed to come stay and meet his family, and so far, you were taking it well.

“You’re here!” Ginny squealed as she burst out the front door and pulled you into a hug. “I can’t wait to show you around!” 

“I can show Y/N around just fine, Ginny,” Fred said, an easier smile coming to his face. 

You just laughed, taking Ginny’s hand once she released you. The three of you entered into the house and walked right into the surprisingly harsh gaze of Molly. 

“Mum,” Fred said warily. “This is Y/N.” 

“Pleasure to meet you,” you said kindly. “You have a-”

“Peculiar home, as you said outside,” Molly cut you off. 

You took a step backwards, stepping on Fred’s foot. He sucked a breath in, loud enough for you to hear. 

“Dinner’s at seven. Keep doors open,” she added shortly before turning back into the kitchen. 

You tried to give Fred a questioning look but he was staring after his mother.

“Come with me. I’ll show you my room! It’s where you, me and ‘Mione will be sleeping. Like one big slumber party!” Ginny said, grabbing your arm again and pulling you toward the twisting stairs. 

Once you and Ginny were gone, Fred followed his mother into the kitchen.

“Mum?” he asked cautiously. 

In his mind, he wanted to ask ‘what the bloody hell was that? You gave me, George and Ron an easier time when we stole Dad’s car to rescue Harry.’ He didn’t, but he wanted to. And he was glad he didn’t when Molly spun around, glaring and pointing a wooden spoon at him.

“Do. Not.” Her voice was sharp. “That girl… The gall… Insulting us before she even…” She turned back to the pot she was stirring and was more muttering to herself than talking to Fred. “Expects us to feed and care for her… Peculiar… I’ll show her peculiar…” 

The rest of the day and the next two were filled with never-ending fun, except for meals when Molly sat down and glared at you from across the table. You spent most of your time with Fred and George, as you had expected to, but you helped with chores around the house and chatted with just about everyone. Percy and Penelope were more quiet than the rest, often opting to read or discuss their jobs quietly when they returned from them. You tried not to take it personally that Molly seemed to like her much more than you. 

Then you got the delight to meet Bill and be properly introduced to Charlie. The latter had been at Hogwarts when you started but it wasn’t like you ever really interacted. The eldest of the Weasley children were incredible story-tellers and just as hilarious as the rest of them. The way Charlie talked about his work with dragons almost made you wish you had taken Care of Magical Creatures and Bill’s stories about Egypt and Gringotts were overall impressive. 

The fourth day of your stay is when you heard how unwelcome you apparently were at the Burrow. Or, at least, according to Molly. 

The living room was alive with various games being played by the siblings and guests. Exploding snap, wizards’ chess, gobstones, you name it. It was loud and warm and fun. Fred noticed your glass was empty and went to the kitchen to refill it for you. 

“Ever the gentleman,” you laughed as he disappeared through the door.

“Fred, how dare you bring a girl like that into this house!” Molly’s voice could be heard through the walls, sending a sudden hush through the room. 

You blinked, looking from George to Ron to Hermione. 

“I thought your family didn’t care about status?” you asked, confusion obvious on your face. 

The Weasley were purebloods. You were a halfblood but Hermione was fully muggleborn and Molly didn’t seem to have a problem with her. Maybe her issue was with wizards and muggles mating? Certainly a new take on blood status… 

You could hear Fred and Molly arguing although significantly quieter than her first outburst. When he returned, his face was beet red and he had forgotten the glasses of water. 

“So, what was that?” Ron asked, breaking the tension.

Fred shook his head before forcing a smile. “Nothing. Just a miscommunication.” 

You knew it wasn’t nothing. For a prankster, Fred could be terrible at lying if something wasn’t sitting right with him. You and George tried to get more out of him to no avail. He wouldn’t discuss what he and their mum had argued about. You two knew it was about you, but Fred gave no details.

When Fred worried about bringing you to his home, he didn’t know that he was worrying about the wrong person. You loved the Burrow and he felt that that much was plain as day to see. But it wasn’t to Molly and Fred ended up telling George as much when he asked him again when they were alone in their room. 

“She wants me to break up with Y/N,” Fred whispered, his voice shaking from anger. “Said she’s too proud for the family. Too stuck up. That she’s rude.”

“But she’s not!”

“I know she’s not. I tried to tell her that. Explain what Y/N meant by ‘peculiar’ and that it’s a good thing. Mum wasn’t having it.”

And the next day, things got worse. Molly stopped trying to hide her distaste for you. She didn’t mutter her comments anymore, rather saying them with full conviction. You tried to stay out of her way and genuinely tried to keep your expression pleasant, but the constant bombardment of hurtful words was getting too much. You hit your breaking point at dinner.

“Can you pass the salt?” you asked no one in particular. It didn’t matter who passed it to you as long as someone did. 

“In this peculiar home, we use manners,” Molly snapped. “Fred, I told you, you need a girl with manners. She certainly doesn’t have any.”

Your expression twisted. 

“Would you rather I just reach over the entire table? Sorry I forgot ‘please,’” you replied, sounding harsher than you would normally speak to any adult, let alone your boyfriend’s mother. 

Molly scoffed. “You are no good for my Fred. You are lucky I don’t toss you out now. He can do so much better.” 

You stood up with so much force your chair scraped the floor, hitting the wall. 

“If that’s how you feel about me…” Your voice cracked. You could feel the heat rising to your face and your hands beginning to shake. Tears began to well behind your eyes, but you weren’t going to let Molly see you cry. “No need to toss me out. I’ll just leave now.” 

You turned and left the room before chaos broke out. You could hear Fred and George yelling. You could hear Arthur and Molly yelling. Ron, Hermione and Ginny joined in before you made it to the front door. 

When Fred had invited you to spend time with his family over the summer, you didn’t expect to be in their garden sobbing as you launched garden gnomes over the hedge. You could still hear the yelling inside the Burrow. You weren’t exactly sure what you did wrong, what you did to make Molly dislike you so much so quickly. Your wand laid on the ground off the side with a soft glow from the Lumos you had cast so you could sort of see what you were doing.

“Are you… de-gnoming our garden?” George asked, trying to hide the amusement in his voice as you launched another gnome. The yelling had quieted now, but you could still hear that heated words were being exchanged.

“One bit me…” you mumbled before sniffling again. 

One had bit you, but that wasn’t why you were crying and you knew that George knew that. Being bit, however, made you feel slightly better about the tears streaming down your face. 

“You know he’s not going to break up with you.”

You nodded. “What did I do?” You launched another gnome.

“You, erm, called the Burrow peculiar? I guess Mum didn’t like that…” He chuckled awkwardly.

When you gave a loud sniffle instead of laughing with him, he pulled you into a hug. You dropped the gnome you had in your hand.

“She’ll come ‘round. Fred’s in there. Ron’s there. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Percy even. They are all trying to explain to Mum that you didn’t mean it like that. I mean, come on, you got golden boy Percy defending you.”

You gave him a weak smile as you pulled out of his hug. You picked up your wand and pointed it at the Burrow, although it didn’t do much to illuminate the building. 

“It is peculiar though! It’s amazing! Ne’er seen anything like it before. It’s so… distinctly Weasley in the best way possible!” 

George let out a loud laugh and soon enough you were giggling with him. He kept you company outside and kept you laughing until there were no more sniffles coming from you. Eventually, Fred came to collect you both. He led you upstairs to his and George’s room, but George stayed in the living room with the rest of the family. You could hear Molly grumbling to herself in the kitchen as you passed the door, but everyone else seemed to be far more cheerful gathered by the fire. 

You felt your heart jump to your throat when Fred closed the door behind him. You stood in the middle of room, trying to not feel awkward.

“Is this where you break up with me for accidentally insulting your mum?” you asked softly, looking at the ground. You knew George said he wouldn’t but the idea lingered in your mind.

“What are you talking about?” Fred breathed as he quickly moved to you and wrapped his arms around you tighter than George had. 

You couldn’t help it. You started crying again.

“Y/N, no. Not unless…” He pulled back to look you in the eyes. “Unless you want to?” There was so much hesitation and uncertainty in his voice. It broke your heart to hear him like that.

“No, I don’t want to. But your mum-”

“My mum still doesn’t know you meant it as a compliment.”

You rested your forehead on his shoulder. You took a deep breath to breathe in his scent. 

“She just needs to be ‘round you more, get to know you. Then she’ll love you like I do.”

Your eyes went wide against his shoulder. ‘Love you like I do.’ Had Fred just indirectly said he loved you? 

The way Fred stopped talking and stood more frigidly told you that he realized what he said after the words left his mouth. He was waiting for you to give him some kind of reaction. Was it too soon? 

After a moment, you lifted your head and you kissed him. You felt him relax underneath you. Of all your kisses, this was one of the most mild ones yet it was charged with so much emotion.

“I love you too,” you whispered as you broke the kiss.

He smiled at you before kissing you again. 

“You know, I was actually so nervous to bring you here.”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Well, because it is a bit peculiar,” he teased. “No, really, I don’t talk about it much but we’re not… rolling in galleons per se. We make do. We get by. It’s just-”

“I don’t care about that, Fred,” you said, cutting him off before gently kissing his cheek. “It’s your home and your family and it’s all amazing. I’d rather be in a home filled with love and laughter than anything else.” 

“Once Mum comes to her senses, you won’t know what to do with all the love she can give,” Fred warned. 

“I can’t wait for that.”

Because I'm a petty bitch who hold grudges, I really see Molly not coming around until like Bill & Fleur's wedding or beyond, and Reader knows this so she just doesn't really visit the Burrow as much and Ginny is v upset that Reader isn't staying at the Burrow for the wedding and Reader is just like 'I'm not going to impose where I know I'm not wanted.'

[sovhs]

HARVEY

: masterlist.

O22. need you (half written) lol sorry for this

yn looked back at her friend, sleeping peacefully on the other bed, as she slowly got up and got ready—a simple jacket and some pants to help with the cold weather.

she did her best to be quiet, not wanting to wake julie up and have to explain why she was getting ready at 4 in the fucking morning.

“OH YEAH, SOYEON UNNIE IS DRUNK AS HELL RIGHT NOW AND SHE ASKED ME TO COME OVER— I KNOW IT’S 4AM BUT SHE SAID SHE NEEDED ME, SO!” that would be a guaranteed smack on the back of yn’s head.

once out the door, yn let out a sigh of relief before calling for a cab to go to the older girl’s house.

─

as the cab pulled up, yn glanced at her phone again, rereading the conversation for what felt like the hundredth time.

“so, what are you doing going out so late?”

the cab driver asked, trying to make small talk.

“.. a friend asked me to come over,” she replied, her fingers tightening slightly around the phone. her voice sounded calm, but her stomach churned.

arriving at soyeon’s house after about 15 minutes, yn paid the driver, hesitating for a moment before stepping out. her fingers hovered over the call button before finally pressing it.

“i’m outside,” yn said, hearing the sounds of shuffling before the door’s lock clicked open.

“what did you ne—” the younger girl couldn’t even finish her sentence as she felt herself getting pulled inside. the sound of the door locking behind her echoed in her ears as her back pressed against its solid surface.

“un-unnie—”

“i missed you,” soyeon uttered, burying her face into the crook of yn’s neck. her arms wrapped around her tightly, as if afraid to let go—as if yn would disappear the second her grip loosened.

“we didn’t— you stopped talking to me and i— i don’t know..”

the younger girl swallowed nervously, the sharp scent of alcohol wafting from the older girl. her cheeks tinted red as she listened to the starlet’s rambling.

then, there it was. soyeon pulled back to look at yn properly, her eyes searching.

“do you not like me?”

yn’s eyes widened at the sudden question, her mind scrambling for a reply. she liked her, of course she did—she was her idol, her role model, and, to some extent, her friend.

but something told yn that none of those were what soyeon meant.

“be honest with me, please.”

yn’s breath hitched as soyeon leaned in closer, her hands trembling slightly as they found the older girl’s waist.

“unnie, you’re— you’re drunk. i don’t think we should be talking about this.”

“i know what i’m talking about,” soyeon huffed, her eyes glistening. “do you really not like me?” she repeated, her voice softer, almost vulnerable.

yn averted her gaze.

“.. because i think i really like you.”

despite her slurred words, there was no mistaking what she’d said.

like.

she likes.

she likes me.

before yn could react, a soft pair of lips pressed against hers, tentative but intimate. her grip on the older girl’s waist tightened slightly as her body froze for a moment.

her breath grew heavier as she fought between enjoying the moment or stopping it.

“unnie—” yn muttered between slow, fervent kisses. she felt soyeon’s hand move to the back of her neck, then to her hair, tugging slightly to tilt her head and deepen the connection.

after what felt like an eternity, the older girl pulled away with a hazy look.

“.. yn,” soyeon uttered softly, her name rolling off soyeon’s tongue like a melody.

the starlet leaned against her more, sighing softly, trying to ignore the fact that her legs felt like they might give out.

“.. let’s get you to bed, okay? it’s already late,” yn whispered, her voice gentle but firm.

it seemed like soyeon wanted to protest, but drowsiness was overtaking her. she managed only a small nod, her eyes already heavy.

the younger girl helped her to the bedroom, her eyes wandering the room. she couldn’t believe she was there, inside her idol’s most personal space.

just as ju was about to leave, she felt a tug on her hand. her eyes met soyeon’s tired ones.

“stay..”

yn swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

“unnie, i can’t—”

“please?”

soyeon’s voice was barely audible, almost pleading.

“.. i’ll stay until you fall asleep, okay?” yn murmured, sitting back down at the edge of the bed.

soyeon didn’t seem entirely satisfied, but she nodded, too tired to argue.

─

yn stayed near, watching as soyeon’s breathing evened out and her hold on her arm loosened.

the older girl looked so peaceful, her body wrapped in the covers. a small smile tugged at the corner of yn’s lips—though it faded as the events from earlier played in her mind.

it had all happened so fast. she wasn’t sure what would come next, but she hadn’t expected that.

“pull yourself together, ju,” she whispered, brushing a few strands of soyeon’s hair away from her face before retracting her hand.

she left a glass of water on the bedside table before quietly leaving the house. leaning against the closed door, she opened her phone to find multiple missed calls and unread messages from her friends.

─

yn arrived at the shared apartment to concerned and irritated looks from the others.

they were worried about where she’d gone so late and irritated she hadn’t told them beforehand.

“we called you so many tim—”

“i know,” yn cut natty off, her voice flat.

haneul exchanged a glance with belle before speaking. “ju.. are you okay? did something happen?”

"i’m fine." yn said, quickly shutting down her friend’s concerns. “just tired.” she murmured before heading to her and julie’s room.

“let’s just let her be for now. she’ll tell us when she’s ready,” belle suggested.

the others nodded, though haneul’s words lingered.

“and what if she doesn’t? you know how secretive she can get when something’s wrong,”

“she will,” julie replied firmly. “she has to. we’re friends, after all.”

─

yn pulled the covers over her head, her eyes heavy but her mind racing.

her friends' concerned voices echoed faintly through the walls, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

her fingers brushed over her lips, the memory of soyeon's kiss still fresh, still electric. she shut her eyes tightly, trying to block it out, but the warmth of soyeon's touch lingered like a ghost.

the lingering thoughts only made her want to shrink and disappear even more.

a shaky breath left her lips as she reached for her phone, her hand trembling slightly as her eyes flickered everywhere on the screen.

“i’m doing the both of us a favor,” despite her words, it sounded like not even she believed what she said. ju put her phone away before finally laying down for some well needed rest.

[forevfangirlwrites]

Hey!!! I just wanted to start out by saying how much I love your work!! I look forward to everything you put out!! I was rereading the original how to handle fame, and there was one part where Jason said that Annabeth said she didn’t hate it when she told him about her interaction with Percy. I’m just curious to know how that conversation went between Annabeth and Jason. I can only imagine how Jason responded 😂

“Annabeth, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Jason says as soon as he picks up the call. She shakes her head at his antics, leaning back into her couch.

“Are you busy?” she asks, ignoring his statement.

“I’ve got some time before the next scene and I’d prefer not to engage in a conversation with the producer walking this way, so please,” he replies, fervently.

Annabeth smiles. “I guess I’ll save you.”

“Appreciated,” Jason jokes back. “So what’s up?”

What is up…honestly, she’s not sure why she’s calling about it. It could have been a text and there’s not really too much to say other than the fact the barista from Cali’s Café has not left her mind all day. (And she isn’t going to say that because she’s aware it sounds a little insane.)

“I checked out the café you told me about,” she starts slowly.

“Oh, awesome! Did you like it? The coffee is good and the place is lowkey, right?”

“Yeah, the coffee was good.” She pauses, unsure of what to say next. Does she ask about Percy? What could Jason even tell her?

“Why am I sensing a but? Was the service not good? I always have the guy, Percy, and he’s super chill. Not sure how the other employees are.”

“I met Percy,” she says. The picture of his face and sea-green eyes comes clearly to her mind the moment his name is spoken.

“What happened?” Jason asks, clearly sensing that something had, in fact, happened.

But really, nothing had happened. Sure he’d been awkward, endearingly so, but very sweet and had made great coffee.

No, he hadn’t done anything wrong. She is the problem.

“Nothing,” she replies. “He was awkward but it was cute. He forgot to charge me and said my coffee was on the house when I brought it up.” A smile surfaces as she remembers his cheeks getting red.

“Really? My order has never been on the house.” She suspects Jason might be frowning.

Chuckling, she replies. “Guess he like me more.”

“Are we in competition over a barista?” Jason asks and she imagines him raising an eyebrow at her.

She pulls the blanket closer to her chest and re-settles herself.

“No,” she replies easily. “I’ve already won.”

“Rude,” he jokes, before his tone turns serious. “I’m sorry if you were uncomfortable though. Honestly, he handled Thalia very well so I thought it would be alright.”

“Not at all!” She rushes to explain. “I was not uncomfortable, it was good and I’ll be going back.”

No Percy had not made her feel uncomfortable, just…intrigued. In the way that she wants to go back and see him again.

“Okay good, I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be going tomorrow morning anyway—oh, they’re calling me, gotta go.”

“Yep, talk to you later,” she says, as she hangs up the phone. She stares at the black tv screen she has yet to turn on.

So Jason is going tomorrow? Maybe she should tag along…just to see how Percy is with Jason. It’s for science really, nothing more than that.

READ MORE ON how to handle fame and headcanons

A/N: Thank you so much for the prompt! I decided to add it to how to handle fame and headcanons as a little drabble, hope you enjoyed! I appreciate your support for the series! Thanks again!

[minervadashwood]

Wait For It: The Art of Living (part 3)

daryl dixon x fem!reader

Catch up here.

Dividers: @firefly-graphics Here and here. Word Count: 4.2 K Warnings: outdoor, intimate shenanigans Notes: I became inspired to write a third part to this story. If it's been a while since you read the first 2 chapters, you might want to reread them. Hope you enjoy!

Part 3: The Art of Living

“Mr. Schafer, there’s a guy out in the parking lot…just sitting on the back of his truck and staring at us,” Andrea, the new intern said.

You didn’t bother to look up; you were scrambling to finish everything before the Labor Day weekend began. 

Your boss, Bill Schafer, Jr., got up from his desk to join Andrea at the front office window. 

He sighed. “It’s one of those Dixon boys. What in the devil is he doing here?” 

You stood up so fast that your office chair rolled out behind you and hit the wall with a loud clatter. “He’s here for me!” you announced, perhaps a little too loudly.

Both Andrea and Junior glanced at you, out the window, and back at you.

Junior said, “If he’s giving you trouble, I’ll talk to him.”

“No!” you blurted, face growing hot. “He’s here to take me home. Because…because…”

Just then, Thelma, the senior paralegal, came out of the kitchenette, drying her hands on a dishtowel. “Oh, look at your face, honey. You finally making an honest man out of William’s youngest?”

“I-I-well, you see--”

At the window, Junior laughed. “What I wouldn’t give to have seen your momma’s face when she found out!”

You glared at your boss, the class clown who graduated high school a few years ahead of you. “If you must know, she and Daddy are fine with it.”

Frowning, Andrea said,“That’s your boyfriend? But he’s so…and you’re so…”

Thelma squeezed your elbow. “He’s a good boy when his brother isn’t around. You get on out of here. I’ll finish up.”

“I couldn’t do that to you, “ you protested.

“Nonsense,” Thelma replied, scooping the work off your desk and taking it to her own. “You’re only young once, after all!”

You looked to Junior.

He shrugged, “We all know Thelma runs this office, not me.”

You tried to hold back your smile as you quickly grabbed your things from your bottom desk drawer.

Outside, Daryl’s tailgate was down, and he was sitting on it, eyes narrowed at you. The weather was still warm, so he was wearing a tanktop and work pants. He was putting in extra hours at the plant nursery before colder weather set in and he couldn’t make as much money.

“Hi,” you said, grinning.

He hopped off the tailgate and swaggered up to you until he was less than an inch away.

“Ya ready to get outta ‘ere?”

“Yeah, but where? You can’t go to Cleo’s.”

Daryl stared at the ground and kicked a pebble with his boot. “Thought I could take ya out near the deep end of Willow Creek. I mean, if ya want.”

You looked behind him to see the bed of the truck half full of camping equipment.  “How long are you plannin’ to keep me out there, Dixon?”

He shrugged, a bashful smile gracing his lips. “As long as you’ll let me.”

You stood on your tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Take me home to pack, please.”

Daryl slid one hand around your waist, his touch so light that you barely felt it. “Ya sure, sweetheart? If this is too much, we can just go to the park or somethin’.”

“I’m sure, Dare.” You paused, “I mean, if you’re sure.”

He nodded, his face turning red. 

“Okay, then. Let’s go.”

You hadn’t been off-roading since you were a kid, and boy howdy did it feel different as an adult. Your body bounced in the seat of Daryl’s truck as he drove it through the wilderness of the state forest. Calling the dried up path a “road” would be generous. It was full of pot holes and had downed branches the truck had to dodge. But Daryl seemed to take no notice of the rough terrain as he plowed on.

The path--and the truck--ambled on until the trees and foliage increased around it. This late in the summer, the trees and vines were thick and green. The hot sun dappled everything in a kaleidoscopic array of light. You caught the way the light and shadows danced over Daryl’s features, his sharp jaw and kissable mouth looking determined as he wove the old pickup deeper into the woods. 

It’d been a couple of months since you’d kissed him for the first time, and every time you were with him, you had to pinch yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming. 

The truck stopped, and the sudden stillness made your bones feel like jelly. You let out a long breath and released your death grip from the Jesus handle on the passenger side door.

Daryl shifted the truck into neutral and pulled up the parking break. His arms were magnificent. Strong from the manual labor he did at work, fluid from the familiarity he had with this beat up vehicle. Warmth swirled in your belly. More than once had you been wrapped up in those arms as Daryl kissed your mouth or hugged you close. You couldn’t help but imagine how they’d feel holding you other ways, too.

“Ya alright?” Daryl asked, peering at you with concern.

Feeling flushed, you nodded. “That was a rougher ride than I expected.”

Daryl nodded and turned off the engine. He stuck the keys in the sun visor and said, “Com’on. Wanna show you somethin’.”

Once you were out of the car, Daryl started walking ahead of you, weaving through the woods like it was his second home. You hurried to catch up with him and grabbed his hand.

“Not so fast, Dare. Let a girl catch her breath.”

Daryl chewed on the thumbnail of his free hand. 

Normally he wasn’t this wound up when it was just the two of you. In fact, over the past couple of months you’d seen Daryl ease into this relationship like a newly adopted puppy. Cautious at first then feeling right at home.  You weren’t much better. Every moment with him made you giddy, and it seemed like you could only stop smiling when he kissed you. Of course, after that, you smiled even more.

“Come on,” he said again, tugging you along by your hand. This time he went a bit slower, taking you to what you assumed was Willow Creek. You heard what Daryl had to show you before you saw it, but then the woods opened to a small pool with a waterfall feeding into it. The pool gave way to a little stream going in the opposite way of the falls.

The waterfall was loud, but not deafening, and you grinned, soaking up the sensory smorgasbord of sound and beauty before you. After a few minutes, you looked over at Daryl to see his reaction. Instead of taking in the view, he was staring at you, chewing the inside of his lip.

You smiled at him. “It’s beautiful.”

“What?” he shouted.

“It’s beautiful!”

Daryl ducked his head and put his lips to your ear. “So’re you.”

Before you could react, Daryl straightened up and walked toward the pool, still holding your hand.

The last of the summer wildflowers grew in patches near the pool of water, and hasty insects buzzed and flew around, collecting their last bit of seasonal pollen and summer food. You wouldn’t say no to a dip in the water if you’d brought your swimsuit. You were about to say as much to Daryl when he started walking straight for the waterfall, with you in tow.

When you got close enough, Daryl toed off his work boots, and you did likewise, taking off your practically new hiking boots (that you’d bought soon after the two of you’d started dating).

That done, Daryl paused, raised his eyebrows in question. You nodded and he took your hand.

He got under the water first, and you tiptoed your way along the smoothed rocky surface until the water pounded over your entire body. Cool, refreshing, and with the strength of twenty-some showerheads, the falls soaked you instantly. You could barely keep your eyes open through the downpour.

But with Daryl, it didn’t seem to matter. He wrapped his arms around you, pressing  his hands solidly at your waist and holding you close. Then, as the  sound and strength of the waterfall clouded your senses, Daryl kissed you.

After that, you kept your eyes closed. Sight and sound cut off, you could only feel him holding you close and claiming you with his mouth. Whatever shyness Daryl had during conversations vanished when he kissed you, especially like this.

You pressed yourself into him, craving the safety and strength only his body could provide. As the cold waterfall began to chill your skin, Daryl warmed you right back up. Your own hands roamed his back, sliding over his water-soaked tank top as your fingernails sought purchase. Your body slotted against his like it was meant to be there, and you wished you’d taken off more than your shoes before kissing him like this.

Daryl must have felt it, too, because he suddenly stopped kissing you and pulled you out from under the water. One look at him, and you knew what was on his mind. Forgetting your shoes, you pulled him away from the waterfall and to a patch of grass where the insects were less dense. Your hands grabbed his shirt and pulled it off him before Daryl could even think to stop you. In fact, he did the same to you, taking your soaked t-shirt and getting it out of his way. You kissed again, this time skin to skin. Daryl growled and moaned into your mouth. Your hand snaked its way down his front until you cupped the hard outline in his pants.  He gasped against your lips, but didn’t stop you.

Until today, there’d been nothing below the belt between you, barely below the neck. Now, for whatever reason, this was happening. And fast. 

His pants were undone quickly, and you grasped him in your palm. He was full, thick, and rigid in your hand. Mouth watering, you squeezed and stroked him. Daryl buried his head in your neck, kissing you there and gasping as you worked him. It wasn’t long before he started to tremble and tried to pull away. But it was too late; he exploded in your hand with a hoarse groan.

Daryl grabbed at his pants, trying to pull away without looking at you. Touching his hands gently, you stopped him and said in his ear. “Dixon, that was the hottest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Daryl stopped panicking and finally looked into your eyes. You kissed him softly and rested your forehead on his until you were both taking deep breaths together.

You gave him some time, and after a while, Daryl started kissing you again, holding you tenderly, his damp hands roaming the equally damp skin of your back.

You didn’t want to push him, but the ache between your own legs had only increased since you’d stepped out of the waterfall. Just when you were about to ease the ache yourself, Daryl wedged his knee between your legs. Without thinking you moved your hips, pressing your bundle of nerves to the denim on his thigh.

Daryl, with a tentative hand, pressed against you just where your apex met his thigh, and though it felt good, it wasn’t exactly right.

You felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Using both hands you cupped Daryl’s jaw and said, “Have you not been with anyone before?”

“No,” he whispered. It was silent compared the roar of the waterfall, but you understood him well enough.

Letting go of him, you undid your pants and guided his hand where you wanted it.

“Gentle, Dare,” you said in his ear, but you hardly needed to ask for it.  He’d only ever been gentle with you. Gasping you held onto his shoulders, and you started moaning when he figured out how to touch you just right.

“That’s it, Dare. Please,” you begged.

“Do…does it feel as good as it did when ya touched me?”

“Yes,” you moaned, holding onto his shoulders for dear life. “Better.”

“Ain’t possible,” he said, reacting to each of your breathy moans to perfect his rhythm. In no time at all you climaxed with his hand between your legs and his head buried against you.

“So warm,” he said. “Fuck, honey, I just wanna feel ya and touch ya all over. This just ain’t enough.”

It wasn’t enough for you either, but you weren’t about to lay down in the grass, no matter how much you wanted him.

By the time you walked back to the pickup truck your belly was growling. You told Daryl as much, and he left you to change your clothes while he “rustled up some grub,” as he put it. He came back with two fattened rabbits and in no time had them stewed up on his propane stove with a couple of cans of vegetables tossed in. 

“A girl could get used to all this pamperin’,” you said, earning a squinty-eyed glare from Daryl as he put the stew into bowls.

“I wasn’t bein’ sarcastic, promise,” you told him.

“I could pitch the tent,” he mumbled. “But the stars’re gonna be out an’ I thought we could watch ‘em.”

You took your bowl from him, warmth in your chest. “I’d like that.”

“‘S not a fancy hotel or nuthin’.”

You pressed your hand to his chest. “You’re what makes this special. I don’t need anything else. Promise.”

Daryl nodded and cleared his throat. “Best eat up ‘fore it gets cold.”

You sat on the tail gate beside him and after eating a few spoonfuls of the stew, you said, “I take that back. I might you need to make this stew again. It’s amazing.”

Daryl didn’t reply as he slurped up his portion like a man starved.  He always ate like that, as far back as you could remember. Of course, sometimes he was half starved when he showed up on your family’s doorstep asking to spend the night.

It made you proud to see him now, a strong, dependable man. Able to take care of himself and nothing like his father. 

You pinched your arm just to make sure. Yep, still real.

After supper, the sun started to set, and the night was full of promise. Daryl made up the truck bed into an actual bed with padding and blankets and pillows. When he was done, you sat side by side on the tailgate, drinking a couple of beers and waiting for the sun to go down all the way. Daryl didn’t talk much, but you were full of nervous--or more accurately, sexually repressed--energy, and talked about work, an upcoming bake sale for your parents’ church, and a concert in Atlanta you wanted to go to.

Then, finally, you worked your way up to talking about something else.

You scooched closer to Daryl, leaning against him until he put his arm around you. 

“I’ve been savin’ up to get a place of my own,” you said.

“Mm,” Daryl replied.

“In town, maybe closer to the bus stop,” you rambled. “I thought about rentin’, but that’s like throwin’ money away basically, and I figured between you and John if I needed any repairs, it’d be okay. Thing is, I don’t know how many bedrooms I should get or if someday I might need a a garage to park a motorcycle in, or a place to work on cars. Not that I want to assume I’ll need all those things. After all, my life’s had a lot of change recently, and I could always sell the first house--I guess--and get another one. And I don’t wanna get somethin’ too big ‘cause then it’d feel lonely--”

“I dun want kids,” Daryl said softly.

“You don’t? I just assumed.” Up until now you thought you’d have kids if Daryl wanted them. But a suddenly a huge weight felt like it’d been lifted. 

“I don’t really want kids, either. I’m supposed to want them, right? But it’s never really mattered to me either way.“

“You sure?”

You snuggled closer to him, “I have all I need already.” 

“Me too,” he said.

Daryl already had his arm around you, and he slipped his hand under your shirt, and soon enough your clothes were coming off again. Daryl stood up and shuffled out of his damp jeans, then he rejoined you on the bed of the truck, grabbing your waist and kissing you at the same time you scooted back onto the padded bedding. You laid down and Daryl followed you, kissing you and pressing his body against yours.

The encroaching night was full of sounds, from the rustling leaves to the crickets and cicadas, to the hoot owls and whippoorwills. But the only sounds you noticed were Daryl and your ragged breathing. Your lips parted , and Daryl framed your face with his hands. He held your gaze as the last of the sunlight dipped below the horizon.

“Dare,” you whispered, in the safety of night. “I love you. Always have, but it’s different now. Bigger. Fuller. Do you feel it, too?”

“Yes,” he replied, a slight crack in his voice.

You leaned up off the pillows and kissed his forehead and wrapped your arms around his shoulders. 

Then all hell broke loose. 

He fumbled a little, getting your pants off your legs, but by the time you were both lying there in just your underwear, you were grabbing for each other: your hands and mouths were just as starved for the other as you had been for the stew. Your bra disappeared, your panties, his boxers. He palmed and suckled your breasts, you left love bites along his neck and shoulders. His hand found its way between your thighs, but more confident now, fingers caressing and stroking, dipping inside of you and making you squirm and mewl with pleasure. You stroked him only a few times before he stilled your hand and bit your bottom lip in warning.

“Wanna put myself inside ya. Wanna feel ya come on my cock, honey.”

“Yes, please,” you whimpered. 

He arranged himself between your legs and eased into you carefully. Something caught in you throat as he bottomed out inside of you and whimpered in your ear.

“‘You okay, baby?” he asked, smoothing hair away from your face.

“I’m okay,” you eked out, feeling so full and stretched around him. “Are you?”

“Feels so good, so fuckin’ good.”  Holding himself  on his elbows, Daryl buried his head against you as he started moving slowly, his hips gently thrusting.

“Yes, Dare, that’s it. Feels so good,” you encouraged, meaning every word. 

He moaned; sweat from his body dripped onto yours. “Touch yourself, baby. Wanna feel ya come.”

One of your hands gripping his hair, the other touching your clit, you moaned as Daryl moved inside you, picking up his rhythm. He kissed your jaw and the nape of your neck. You wrapped your legs around him, pulling him in closer with each thrust. You came, moaning his name and riding out an orgasm so strong that it made your whole body convulse.  Daryl thrusted a few more times and he came too, groaning in your ear and finally kissing your lips as he came to lay down beside you.

Dripping in sweat, he pulled you against him, entangling your legs to get even closer.

You pressed your palm to his chest as your breath evened out and you came back to yourself. For the first time this evening you were silent as Daryl held you in his arms.

After a while, Daryl said. “No one’s said that to me before.”

“Said what?” you mumbled, deep in afterglow.

“That they love me.”

Tears stung your eyes, and you held onto him even tighter.  It was fully dark now, so you couldn’t see him. Perhaps that’s why he’d been strong enough for that confession. You could never replace the love he should’ve had from his family, but laying with him in the dark you wanted to give him the world. He deserved it.

Daryl found your hand in the darkness and held tight. “I love you, too.”

The stars twinkled overhead, the night clear and moonless. You made love again, once you both had rested some. Then you cleaned off your bodies as best you could with baby wipes from your purse.

The air grew chilly, so you got under the covers with Daryl, both of you still naked and holding onto each other.  

After a time, Daryl said. “We won’t need a real big garage if there’s a driveway.”

“Two bedrooms or three?” you grinned.

“Two oughta be enough ‘less you need one of them craft rooms.”

“As if,” you muttered. You never met a crafting project you didn’t wreck in less than an hour.

“There’s gonna be talk,” you sighed. “Livin’ in sin.”

Daryl didn’t say anything to that. He just found your lips in the dark and kissed you for a while.

“I’ve been savin’ up too,” Daryl said when he was done. “Won’t be much. It’s small. But I can add to it later. Guy said the setting would hold more.”

“Setting? Do you mean a ring setting? You wanna get me an engagement ring?”

“Wouldya wear if I did?”

“Dare,” you whispered. “Are you sure?”

“Does that mean yes?”

You kissed him and said, “It does.”

Epilogue

John had more than enough grandchildren to keep your mother happy. And as your parents got older, everyone else in your family moved to Florida. You and Daryl stayed in the same small town you grew up in. In the same house you bought as newlyweds.

You had the occasional houseguest when Merle stopped by, and after his third time in the slammer, you sent him to rehab with your Christmas bonus from work.  Took him three stays over the next few years before it stuck. But it finally did.

Daryl became co-owner for the plant nursery he worked at when the owner died and his kids wanted to sell the business. By the time you and Daryl were in your forties, you were happy and more in love than ever. 

Then the virus hit. First the cities, then everywhere.

You lost Merle early on. The dire circumstances caused him to relapse, and he sealed his own fate after losing his temper on a rooftop.

It took nearly five years of surviving, of struggle, of loss and grief. But you finally found a new home. Once a year, you and Daryl mourn everyone you’ve lost by drinking moonshine and going over old memories. Even the night Daryl found you crying on a bathroom floor with blood pouring from your nose.

You have graying hair; Daryl doesn’t. You live with him in the basement of your best friends’ house. Date night usually means dinner with Carol and Tobin or Aaron and Eric. You find time for yourselves when you can. Every moment is precious. You never miss the chance to tell Daryl you love him. 

However, these days, you’re not the only one.

Glenn and Rick both give Daryl side hugs after fighting off walkers or returning from runs. “Love ya, man,” is commonly uttered as a matter of principle.

Judith is wiley with her “I love you, Uncle Daryl,” because she has learned that’s all she has to say to get her way. Your husband knows this. Yes, it still works.

Carol is quick with a joke, a barb, with an insightful but unnerving observation. She gets Dary frazzled with her teasing and finishes it off with, “Love you, pookie,”once Daryl is good and worked up.

Every time you leave Aaron and Eric’s house, they hug you both and say, “We love you guys. Come back soon.”

It took over a decade for you and Daryl to finally admit your feelings for each other, it took even longer for him to find a family--and for you to find a new one. Despite the losses along the way, your lives are filled with love, both for each other and the all the people around you.

The End

Thanks for reading!

[jariten]

2024 Year roundup! (Part 4)

ヒロイン失格 (No Longer Heroine), Momoko Koda [Trans. Alexandra McCullough-Garcia]

吉祥寺だけが住みたい街ですか？ (Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live?), Hirochi Maki

ダンス・ダンス・ダンスール (Dance Dance Danseur), George Asakura

ダブル (Double), Ayako Noda [Trans. Massiel Gutierrez]

BABY BLUE HEAVEN, Nao Tsutsumitani

天然コケッコー (Tennen Kokekko), Fusako Kuramochi

Dance Dance Danseur is kinda the japanese manga thats been in my possession the longest without being read. I finally got started about 2 years ago (not knowing the anime started airing at the exact same moment), got overwhelmed with other things, stopped at 5/16 volumes, started again a couple months ago and had to ask myself ??? why did you stop? A lot of what I like about sports manga aside from the exciting matches is the frustrating but rewarding journey of polishing a skill, and series like Blue Period and Akane-banashi like captures that but its not sports so like, craft manga? We are polishing and getting to know a craft with deep history and tradition. The narrative structure of the series is just really engaging to me and the artistic depiction of ballet is so effective. I really need to catch up all the way.

Double is sort of the inverse of Sanmon Shousetsushuu because oooohhh these people need each other they need it each other so bad its left them twisted, I want to read more I need to see where it all ends up.

2024 I finally read a lot of series and check authorships I had been wanting to check for a while, made a lot of progress on my backlog and become more convinced by the virtues of a reread. So my aims for 2025 as most of my "discovery" itches have become satisfied (for now) my goal is to focus less on acquiring things to read be it in the physical sense or the abstract "another one for my list" way, but to go back to works and creators I know I love and find new ways to enjoy their work. But basically, I just want to clear my backlog once and for all so I can go into 2026 with an empty list LOL. Also want to report that the scheduled Tokimeki Tonight reread has begun... and I will have so much to say in the January roundup. Truly a one of a kind series. Here's to another year of new manga and exciting reading experiences!!!

[aishangotome]

[Nokto] Love's Cleaning Time - Part 3

Part 2

Emma: Could that man perhaps––

Emma: Resemble the person I love?

The shopkeeper blinked in surprise, then burst into laughter.

Bookstore owner: So that's how you're going to play it. I see, there's no gag order on that question.

Bookstore owner: I'll just say they resemble each other.

(Just as I thought... All those books were sent by Nokto.)

*flashback over*

(After that, I actually tried to press Nokto for answers, but...)

(I reconsidered and stopped, thinking he might have a reason for wanting to keep it a secret.)

(But now... I wonder if I can subtly ask him about it.)

Keeping my eyes on the books I was holding, I voiced the question that came to mind.

Emma: Even so, every single book that arrived was interesting.

Emma: They were all full of love amidst the sadness, and I reread them many times.

Emma: It must have taken a long time to choose them, Nokto, right?

(...I wonder if this kind of rudimentary, leading question is no good...)

While my heart pounded, I tried to maintain a calm facade...

Nokto: Well, yeah. But it wasn't such a bad way to spend my time, surprisingly.

Emma: Eh...?

I hurriedly looked up at his unexpectedly straightforward answer, but Nokto was looking at me with his usual relaxed smile.

Nokto: The person who sent them probably thinks it wasn't such a bad way to spend their time.

Emma: I asked that question to Nokto just now, right?

Nokto: That's right. So I just answered on behalf of the person who sent them.

Emma: That doesn't seem to make sense...

Nokto: So, let's say you've figured out that I'm the one who sent the books. What are you going to do about it?

Nokto: It was so long ago, and now there's no evidence.

(It's true there's no evidence, but I did hear that story at the bookstore.)

(Nokto's reply just now, maybe this is the final push...!)

My heart races with the premonition that this time, I might be able to hear the truth from his own mouth.

Emma: But whoever the sender is, I'm very grateful.

Emma: Back then, my life had changed completely, and I was so busy learning that I couldn't even go to the bookstore to carefully choose books.

Emma: Rio, Sariel, Leon, and the others were worried about me. It was really a good way for me to take a break.

Emma: Around the time I started to get used to palace life, I went around to bookstores in town to make up for lost time.

Nokto: You know, there was that day when you went out to browse bookstores on your day off and didn't come back until evening.

Emma: Was there...?

Nokto: Oh, you don't remember? I was waiting for you to come home, crying sadly.

Emma: ...Were you really crying?

Nokto: Now, who knows?

Emma: Honestly...

A smile naturally spreads across my face at Nokto's teasing reply, which hasn't changed since those days.

Emma: But it's true that I might have been going around bookstores from morning till night. The bookstores in town have slightly different selections, you know.

Emma: Oh, speaking of which, the owner of the bookstore near the fountain praised Nokto's taste in alcohol.

Emma: He was impressed that you even knew about rare alcohol. How did you learn about his taste in alcohol?

Nokto: How, you ask? Well, that's...

Nokto: ......

After a moment of silence, Nokto gave a small smile as if admitting defeat.

Nokto: Hmm, it seems difficult to recover from this.

(...!)

Nokto: You've become quite the negotiator, haven't you?

Emma: So then, could it be...?

Nokto: You win this time. Trying to trick me like that, you're pretty good, aren't you?

Finally arriving at the answer, I smiled, suppressing the urge to jump for joy on the spot.

Emma: I'm growing thanks to you, Nokto. I was pretty natural, wasn't I?

Nokto: Just a little. Well, I admit you did your best, but...

Nokto: I've got a bone to pick with that bookstore owner. I bribed him, and yet he still gave you information.

Emma: He didn't tell me it was Nokto.

Emma: I just asked, "Doesn't he resemble the person I love?"

Nokto: Ah, so that's how it is.

Nokto: When you first came to the palace, you were a stiff, serious girl. When did you become so cunning?

As Nokto chuckled and sighed, I asked him what I had always wanted to know.

Emma: Why didn't you tell me back then that you were the one sending the gifts?

Nokto: Why, indeed? Just a whim, I suppose?

Not satisfied with that answer, I stared up at Nokto.

Nokto: So, would it sound more plausible if I said that giving books as gifts isn't really my style?

Nokto's evasiveness triggered an intuition, a gut feeling.

Emma: It sounds plausible, but that's not the real reason, is it?

Emma: The me from back then might have believed that, but it won't work on me now, the one who knows Nokto inside and out.

Nokto: Oh? That's a nice thing to say.

Emma: Could it be that you were too embarrassed to say so, Nokto?

I thought I was getting close, but Nokto's expression didn't change.

Nokto: No way. I said it was just on a whim, didn't I?

Emma: But to give me that many books on a whim...

Nokto: If it makes you happy, it's a small price to pay, right?

Emma: ! Nokto...

Nokto: Right now, I'd rather focus on getting back at you for tricking me than dwell on the past.

Emma: Eh... Ah!

Nokto placed the books he had received on a nearby table.

Then, he smoothly pulled my arm and pushed me onto the bed.

Emma: Getting back at me? But I told you just now that I'm still cleaning!

Nokto: Of course I'm interrupting you. Getting back at you is my top priority.

Emma: Wait... Nn, ah!

Nokto's hand entered my skirt without hesitation, and my body trembled with a shiver at the sensation of his fingers caressing my inner thigh.

(No, if this continues, I'll be swept away again. At least...)

Before our lips could touch, I lightly grasped Nokto's shoulder as if to stop him.

Emma: I... have one thing I want to confirm.

.

.

.

Part 4

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[kiyomitakada]

FUCK i mixed up the order i thought misa’s parents’ killer was killed after the stalking but it’s the other way around. god damn it. okay just pretend it happened like this for my sake alright.

[last time on soulmate AU so you don’t have to reread: light met L at the student representative speech and Pointedly Did Not shake his hand, and also misa told her manager she was going to move to tokyo]

-

Light manages to avoid touching L for an impressive two days.

Even after tennis — when L extends his hand to him, in the traditional good-game handshake, Light pretends he doesn’t see it as he wipes his palms on his shorts and puts his racket back into the bag. L cocks his head for a second, then lowers his arm back to his side.

Will he think I’m Kira based on my standoffish behavior? No, Kira is dedicated to justice and cares about the people, there’s no way he’d be standoffish… But would Light Yagami be…? I’ll just act friendly to make up for it.

“I think we’re both thirsty, and there’s something I want to ask you, so — do you want to get a drink somewhere?” he asks, straightening and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Well, you beat me, so you can ask me anything you want,” L says. “But I ought to tell you something first.”

“What’s that?”

“I suspect you may in fact be Kira,” L says, as easy as anything. “If you still want to ask me questions after that, go ahead.”

Light swallows. Damn it. He can’t reasonably ask for proof that L is who he says he is, then, not until his suspicion is cleared. He got him again. How does L always keep one step in front of him?

“Haha,” he says, “me, Kira?”

“Well, when I say ‘suspect,’ I only mean by a factor of one percent,” L says. “Is your wrist alright, Yagami-kun?”

Light glances down. Oh. He lets go.

“Yeah, of course,” he says. “Just strained it a little.”

-

“Misa!” Akako’s tinny voice blares from the speakers. “Good news!”

“Huh?” Misa sits up, still holding her phone to her ear. “Akako-chan, it’s six in the morning…”

“I know! I’ll go to bed soon, just, listen, Misa! Remember the hexing circle I set up for you, for, uh, you-know-who?”

“The one with the voodoo doll I stabbed in the heart?”

“Yeah, that one! Check the detention center website, Misa! Do it right now!”

“Okay, okay,” Misa says, fumbling for her laptop. She has the website bookmarked by now. It loads slowly. There’s the usual banner of Kira victims running slowly on the top of the page—

Oh.

“Oh my god,” Misa whispers.

“He’s dead, Misa! He’s dead! You don’t have to go anymore!”

Kira… avenged her parents. Kira saved her.

A strangled sob escapes her throat.

“Misa? Are you okay?”

“This is the best day of my life,” Misa says.

“I know! Now you don’t even need to move to Tokyo—”

Misa hangs up. She wraps her hand around her neck and squeezes, just once.

She has to meet him. She has to say thank-you. Her life’s purpose has narrowed now; she’s one step closer to being free of it all.

There’s an odd thump.

Misa jolts, dropping the phone. She looks around. Everything’s in place, even the skull decoration that keeps falling off its hook. Huh. Wait, it sounded more like it came from the balcony…

She peers through the window, then frowns.

A notebook?

-

“Here, Ryuzaki, I got your t—”

“…”

“…”

“…Yagami-kun?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s nothing. My bad for bumping into you.”

“You did? I didn’t feel anything.”

“………Right. I didn’t feel anything, either.”

“So, what was it you wanted to ask me?”

“That can wait until you’re positive I’m not Kira. You go ahead and start, Ryuga.”

-

“Do Shinigamis have soulmates?”

“Is that what you humans call the ones who share the marks on your skin?”

“What else would you call it?”

“Scars. And no, we don’t.”

“Oh. …That’s a romantic way to think about it. But it must be lonely for you.”

“I’ve never wanted one before.”

“I could draw one on you! I’m pretty good at drawing, you know.”

“Would that not be even lonelier? To have a mark without anyone to share it with?”

“Ahahaha! You’re smart, Rem.”

-

It is a good thing that Ryuga isn’t his soulmate. It would have been dangerous, not to mention societally inappropriate. Light is happy about this.

He wishes he could talk to Ryuk in public, if only to yell at him to stop laughing.

-

“If I got the Shinigami Eyes, could I tell who my soulmate was?”

“No. It wouldn’t be helpful for us Shinigami, so we never evolved the function.”

“Darn,” Misa pouts. “Oh well. I want them anyway.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Yeah? Duh?”

Later in the afternoon, she’s very careful with her gloves as she slides the tapes into Akako’s envelopes. She can’t think of anything worse than someone who isn’t Kira getting their hands over her fingerprints.

-

L/Ryuga/Ryuzaki/whoever keeps brushing past him whenever Light goes to headquarters. Physically, that is. Leaving little sparks of contact in his wake.

It’s on purpose. It has to be, at this point.

What is his game? Does he think he can — seduce Kira, or something? Even if Kira was gay, surely L wouldn’t expect him to be attracted to the man hunting him down. Besides, physical proximity doesn’t fluster Light. He’s very used to it. His friends from high school slung their arms over his shoulders, elbowed him, high-fived him all the time.

“Here,” L says, dangling a piece of paper in front of him. “For you to compose your message to the fake Kira.”

He says fake with such conviction. “Thanks,” Light says. He doesn’t snatch it fast enough to stop L’s thumb from grazing his wrist.

Nothing happens. Nothing happened the past few hundred times, either.

“Did you need something else?” Light asks, when L doesn’t move.

“No,” L says. “I’ll leave you to it.”

-

Rem is very careful to never touch Misa. It’s honestly a little cute. She hovers over Misa like a shield as they walk down the streets of Aoyama, sharp-sharp-sharp claws turned away from Misa’s skin.

Misa has a phone wedged between her wig and her shoulder so it doesn’t look like she’s talking to air, but she still turns her face upward to grin at Rem when she says, “Are you excited for the show?”

“Not really,” Rem says. “Trying to find the other Kira is risky, Misa.”

“I know, you’ve only told me a thousand times!”

“I suppose I still don’t understand,” Rem sighs. “I gave you the notebook so you could protect yourself. I didn’t want Gelus’s sacrifice to be in vain.”

“I am protecting myself,” Misa says, tapping the wig. “Haven’t I been careful?”

“You’re putting your life in danger for someone you don’t even know.”

“Are you going to stop me, then?” Misa challenges. “Gonna kill me?”

“No!” Rem sounds legitimately horrified. Misa feels a little guilty for that, though she brightens when they walk past the Note Blue — the cafe should be close now. “I would never hurt you. But… if you hadn’t moved here, you could still be working—”

“I got a new manager, it’s fine—”

“—and you could fend yourself off from any more stalkers with the notebook. You could lead a happy life… away from all of this.”

“Oh, Rem,” Misa says, reaching up to boop the Shinigami’s nose. “You just don’t get it.”

“You’re so selfless,” Rem murmurs, drawing slowly, languidly away from Misa’s touch.

“I’m really not.” But she’s never gotten this point across to Rem no matter how she explains it. For one thing, if she had done what Rem suggests, she would probably have jumped out a window three months in. “Oh look, there’s the cafe!”

-

“Liiiiight!”

Light isn’t usually jumpy, but he flinches when Sayu shouts his name up the stairs. The TV broadcast is still going just as L had written: We can offer you clemency and police protection if you work with us to capture the First Kira…

He’s fucked. He’s so, so fucked. How did the fake Kira find him? Nothing happened in Aoyama! Nothing even happened in the Note Blue — Light just stood around with Matsuda for thirty painfully awkward minutes! He wasn’t old enough to get the margaritas!

I need a plan, he thinks, while he automatically rises to follow his sister’s voice. She’s probably doing her math homework again. He’s going to sell me out, he’s going to kill me, I need a plan—

“Your friend brought over your notebook!”

Light freezes in the doorway.

Notebook?

“Coming,” he says a second too late, hurrying down the stairs.

“I can’t believe you of all people forgot your notebook at school, onii-chan,” Sayu says, elbowing him a little as he goes by. “You’re losing your touch!”

Light manages to smile at her before he rounds the corner, too distracted to notice the way Sayu’s face slides into a frown. He yanks the door open.

………………

The fake Kira is a girl.

The fake Kira is… very blonde.

“N-nice to meet you,” says the only human alive who knows Light’s worst-best secret. “I’m Misa Amane.”

-

( @kiyomitakada )

proof of concept for the yagamane soulmate au (doesn't actually contain any yagamane yet) dont mind me

The only reason Sachiko isn’t running is because there are children swarming around her, laughing and giggling while she shoves her way through the hall. Where had the nurse’s office been on the map — she rounds a corner, tries to catch her bearings, then notices it: the sounds of someone crying.

Light.

Sachiko yanks the door open, heart pounding in her ribs. Light never cries — he used to as a toddler, of course, but after Sayu was born Sachiko can count on one hand the number of times he’s had a tantrum. Her baby is so mature. When the school had called and told her Light was having some sort of nervous breakdown, I think? she’d dropped everything without a second thought and taken a taxi here.

“There, there,” the nurse is saying, rubbing her son’s back. “It’s okay.”

“Don’t touch me,” Light hiccups, broken and high-pitched, and Sachiko would shout at the nurse to get away from him if not for the fact that Light’s little fingers have the nurse’s wrist in a vice grip as though afraid she'll go.

“Light,” Sachiko says, “I’m here, Light.” She drops her bag on the floor and drops to the floor, cradling his face in her hands; Light doesn’t resist. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“It doesn’t work,” Light sobs. His eyes are puffy with tears. From the nurse’s expression Sachiko surmises this has been going on for a while. “Mama — Mama, where’s Dad?”

Sachiko’s heart twists. “Your dad’s at work,” she says, brushing a soaked strand of hair out of Light’s face. The nurse, free of Light’s grasp, has moved a few paces away to give them space. Light collapses. His head flops on Sachiko’s shoulder; she has to shift her weight to hold him. “Honey, talk to me. What happened?”

“I t-tried everyone,” Light says, voice a little muffled in Sachiko’s sweater. “Even the o-older girls, and the boys, and — nothing happened.”

Well, that’s probably good, Sachiko manages to not say aloud. What business does Light have with the upper-grade kids? “Did you want something to happen?” she asks instead.

Light nods miserably. “Noriko-sensei s-says you’ll know when it does. You’ll see it.”

“When wh—?”

Sachiko stops. She thinks. Light’s hand has clamped around her wrist, like he did with the nurse’s, and for the first time she realizes. He’s covering her soulmate tattoo.

“Light,” she says slowly, “what did you do?”

She doesn’t mean for it to sound accusatory, but Light bursts into a new round of tears against her shoulder. Sachiko, shocked, wraps her arms around him, runs a hand through his hair. “It’s okay, Light,” she tries. “It’s okay!”

Light keeps sobbing.

Sachiko looks up at the nurse. “What class was he in just now?”

“Arts and crafts,” the nurse says. “They were making bracelets.”

The red camellias are printed in a woven pattern encircling Sachiko’s wrist. They are silent.

“It was my idea!” Light gasps out between hiccups.

Sachiko takes a moment before she speaks.

“Light, were you trying to find your soulmate?”

“I-it doesn’t make any sense,” Light says. His free hand is clenched in a fist. “You — you and Dad said — you’ll always meet —”

Sachiko swallows her horror. This is her fault. This is all her fault.

“Nurse,” she says, “could you please leave us alone?”

The nurse nods and withdraws through the door.

Sachiko sighs. She knew she’d have to give her kids the talk one day, but Light is only six, and she’d thought she had more time…

“Light,” she says, “soulmates aren’t real.”

-

The soulmate phenomenon is one of the greatest medical mysteries of all time. Not for a lack of literature: the abundance of evidence regarding soulmatehood stretches into Mesopotamian records. But it makes no sense. There are seven billion people alive. The chance of finding your soulmate, even without considering age and gender and all that, is almost nothing.

But it does happen. Misa knows, because her parents are soulmates.

To be honest, she’d had her doubts before. They screamed at each other, sometimes threw things, kept alternating being kicked out to cheap motels. But they always made up, in the end. Made up… passionately. Misa learned to put on music to drown it out.

“What does it mean?” she asked curiously one day, pointing at the bloodred ruby embedded in the hollow of her mom’s throat.

“It means he’s strangling me,” her mom said. “What do you want for breakfast?”

After her dad had gotten back from the motel she’d asked him instead.

“Well, Misa,” he said. “Your mother’s the worst bitch alive, and I’m the only one who can handle her right.” He touched his thumb to the ruby printed on his throat, fondness tugging at his smile. “We’re the same person. That’s what it means.”

Misa hadn’t really gotten it, back then. Why would two of the same people fight? If she could make another Misa she’d do it in a heartbeat. That way Other-Misa could do the chores for her.

…On second thought, maybe she did get it.

But anyway. Somewhere, subconsciously, she’d always doubted. Misa was very up-to-date on the latest celebrity scandals, and she knew how easy matching tattoos were to fake.

But now she is staring through the crack in the closet. There is blood pooling on the floor, a dull red compared to the bright, shining light glowing from her dad’s throat. She stares and stares and stares until it fades to the white color of a scar.

“Miss,” says the officer on the phone, “Miss! Stay calm, we’re almost there—”

“Don’t fucking bother,” Misa says, and hangs up.

Her mom had stumbled like she’d been stabbed when her ruby went white. Snapped at Misa to hide and call the police, then picked up a kitchen knife. Misa isn’t sure when the burglar whoever-it-was dragged her dad’s dead body to rest in her line of view, but she knows his throat had still been glowing until it wasn’t.

She’ll never doubt soulmates are real again.

-

Light is seventeen years old and the world is falling apart.

Soulmates, he scoffs to himself, whenever the topic comes up in discussion. Akasato is rambling about his girlfriend again and how they’re fated to be. Light isn’t jealous. Getting attached is the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.

“I swear, man, the way you talk about her I think your tattoo should’ve been a ball and chain,” Yamamoto says.

Akasato groans. “She’s not that bad! She sent me chocolates!”

“The same ones she gave that basketball guy?” Light laughs.

“Don’t remind me, I’ll kill him, I swear,” Akasato says. Grinning. Murder is so out of the realm of possibility it’s funny. “And anyway, she’s coming over for Christmas.”

“Oh, whoa,” Yamamoto says. “Happy for you.”

“Yeah, congrats,” Light adds.

His mom wasn’t lying, exactly. The chances of stumbling across your soulmate are effectively zero. There’s studies suggesting that it’s higher than random chance, that most found soulmates live in or around the same timezone as you, but he’s pretty sure they’re cherry-picking.

It’s much easier to fall in love with someone and make them your soulmate instead, his mom had explained to him softly, rubbing her wrist. Much easier to get a tattoo with them, rather than hoping it’ll show up on your skin at first touch. Maybe even more romantic. Your dad and I love each other, Light. Who cares if he’s not perfect? He’s good enough for me.

The last time a teacher called Light’s work good enough was in fifth grade. Light had sabotaged his swivel chair afterwards and he’d had to take a week off.

“Thanks, guys,” Akasato says. “Hey, Yamamoto, who’re you having over for Christmas?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.”

“Sending cards to girls again?” Light puts in.

Yamamoto snorts. “Not all of us are lucky enough to be like Aka-chan here—”

“You take that back—”

“—and find their soulmate in middle school,” Yamamoto finishes. “I’m going to keep trying.”

“You know you actually have to make contact with them for it to happen, right?” Light asks.

“Obviously!”

“Yagami’s right,” Akasato says, pleased he’s not the topic of conversation anymore. “Are you sure you’ve got enough game for that, Yamamoto? I think you’d faint if a girl held your hand.”

“I’ve had girlfriends!”

“Sure, sure,” Light says. They all laugh. It’s nice having friends. “Oh, here’s my stop.”

“See ya!”

Light enters the house. Gives his mother his test grades, lets her coo, then slips into his room and heads for the drawer.

There it is. Untouched.

Who needs soulmates, he thinks, when you can be the god of the new world?

-

Misa sits cross-legged on a repurposed picnic blanket spread awkwardly over the wet dirt. She sticks one rose each into the soil in front of her parents’ graves.

“Hey, mom, dad,” she starts. “I’m not gonna come back for a while.”

The graves are silent. They have been for almost a year now. One rose almost falls over; Misa hurriedly reaches to fix it.

“I’m going to move to Kanto,” she declares. “I’ll catch him no matter what I do. I know which jail he’s in already. The prosecutor told me.”

She sticks the rose back in with some violence. It droops. All the other ones she’s brought have wilted — obviously, because their stems were cut ages ago. She can’t plant seeds, though. That would require someone watering them.

“I’ll ask for a visit and get him to attack me,” she continues. “And then I’ll stab him, and I’ll scream, and I’ll tell everyone it was self-defense. What do you think, Mom?” She’d always been better at lying than Dad.

“Good idea? I knew it.” Misa hops up, brushing the dirt off the picnic blanket. “I’ll start getting ready soon. Next month, I think. Definitely.”

-

“Ah,” says the voice from the television screen. “I had to test this, just in case, but I-I never thought it would actually happen… Kira. It seems you can kill people without having to be there in person.”

Light freezes.

He was wrong, he realizes, for possibly the first time in his life. He was wrong. Someone’s out there.

“Try to kill me,” L’s saying, and Light can hear the smirk even through unknowable kilometers of distance. “What’s wrong? Go ahead! Can’t you do it?”

“You bastard,” Light hisses through his teeth, feeling so alive he could cry.

He shouts I am justice at the same time L does, grinning, half-manic, and doesn’t even realize he’s clutching his wrist.

-

“Please,” says the stalker in the shadows, “please, Misa-Misa, I just need to — I just need to touch —”

Misa backs away. This is a dead end alleyway. She should never have gone to the convenience store at night. Her and her empty refrigerator and her stupid hungry stomach. There’s a fire escape, maybe if she jumps—

“Can you even fucking hear me?” The stalker shouts.

Misa nods, automatic, and wonders if she should scream. No one’s around at this time of day. Who would even miss her?

“Just one touch,” the stalker says. “Come on!”

And then in a flash he’s running for her. Misa turns and sprints and leaps for the fire escape — and misses it. She collapses in a heap.

Her stalker has his hand on her cheek. She jerks away. Of all the fucking days she could have forgotten her pepper spray.

“It’s not you,” the stalker says, abruptly sounding like he’s about to cry. “How could it not be you?”

“Get away from me,” Misa says, stumbling to her feet.

“All the interviews I watched,” the stalker says. “I have all your magazines, Misa-Misa!”

“I haven’t been in that many issues,” says whoever is operating Misa’s vocal cords as she calculates her chances. She has to catch him by surprise, it’s the only opportunity she’s got, shove him and run—

Oh. He has a knife. Never mind that, then.

“At least we can die together,” the stalker says — or — tries to say. Misa watches in shock as his mouth clicks shut and he… turns away?

And then he clutches his chest, and he falls.

Misa stays there, sucks in a few more breaths of cold air, then runs.

-

@kiyomitakada (so i can reblog)

[feralsteddie]

blame @grandwretch for telling me to listen to bad idea right?

Steve cringed at himself, contemplated bashing his own head in on his steering wheel, and got out of the car.

He was still slightly covered in glitter, some of it his, some of it Robin and Chrissy’s.

The two of them were still at the club. Where Steve left them. After getting a literal ‘u up?’ text like Eddie hadn’t watched Chrissy get ready to go out with them in their shared apartment and knew he'd be awake and out until 2 AM at the earliest.

God, when had Steve fallen so low?

He’d blocked Eddie’s number months ago, had even gone on a couple of dates! The last one had been with Levi. Steve liked Levi. Even if he kept making Dead Kennedy’s jokes that Steve didn’t get and kept insisting that Steve would just love The Front Bottoms if he gave them a try.

But he was nice.

A real gentleman.

Didn’t seem to have a whole subscription of issues that meant he was too afraid to use the L Word, or talk about the future, or even really answer any questions about what he wanted out of the relationship besides sex, all while being a completely possessive asshole like Steve already had his last name and a ring on his finger.

… Not that that was pointed or anything.

Anyways.

Point was, Steve had been doing good.

And then Dustin had given him a long speech about how they were all adults (Steve refused to believe the kids were adults, they would be kids until he was in the ground and half-rotted) and the weird tension between Steve and Eddie was making it very difficult to plan events if they were always having to take into consideration Robin’s Steve’s no contact rule.

So, Steve had unblocked him. Hadn’t made any move to text him though, just had a couple of stilted phone calls while coordinating who was giving who a ride to Nancy, Jon, and Argyle’s anniversary party.

But apparently Steve’s luck had run out. Some time between getting to the club, Chrissy posting a bunch of half-blurry videos of them dancing, and Steve getting very up close and personal with some guy who had tattoos up to his neck and biceps bigger than his, the universe had decided to tempt Steve.

He’d only seen the text when he’d broken off for a bathroom break, and despite the chorus of drunk girls he knew he would have had if he’d opened his mouth and said the magical words ‘Should I call my ex?’ his fingers had already made the decision for him.

Five minutes later he was telling the girls he had a headache, and that they should keep enjoying themselves.

Robin was going to kill him.

But that was a Tomorrow Steve issue.

He was already climbing the stairs- taking them two at a time even like the desperate bastard he was- and knocking before common sense could kick in and tell him to actually go home and sleep.

He was barely pulling his fist away when the door swung open, and god.

Eddie leaned against the doorframe, stretching his arm up as he smirked at Steve. Fucking shirtless and in sweatpants like the fuckboy he swore he wasn’t, and Steve’s thoughts were just static.

Did Eddie have to be so fucking hot?

It was truly annoying, like Steve was pretty sure he’d have been able to get over the asshole if he didn’t look like that. It was a travesty about his personality though.

“Damn, baby. You get dolled up all for me?” He was looking at Steve like he was a piece of meat he couldn’t wait to dig his teeth into.

Steve rolled his eyes and shoved his way into the apartment, “Actually it was for whoever I was going to bring home from the club, but you knew that already.” He snarked, looking around the living room like he hadn’t been there to help Chrissy and Eddie move in.

The door slammed behind him, making him jump a little, and jump again when he felt hands slip under his fuzzy blue sweater.

Eddie was a line of heat against his back, his long, thick fingers trailing up his sides and over his stomach, stopping to dig into the thick of his hips.

“But you’re not with any of those guys, are you?” He was halfway growling, like he had any say in what Steve did anymore. Possessive bastard.

Steve tilted his head back, resting it against Eddie’s shoulder while he placed little kisses up and down the offered skin.

No, I’m not. He wanted to say. Or maybe I don’t want them. Or even I wouldn’t have to settle for them if you had just loved me.

He didn’t say any of those, because they were too real for what was happening and Eddie would get spooked again and Steve was already there and thinking about Eddie’s dick, so.

“There’s time for that to change.” He settled on instead, curling his lip with all the bitchiness he could muster.

He felt teeth latch onto the side of his neck briefly, Eddie biting down hard enough in those couple seconds he knew it’d be a pretty bruise come morning, “Don’t be like that,” He sounded almost pained when he said it, and Steve had to clench his jaw, “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be.”

“God, do you ever shut up.” Steve turned in his arms and grabbed either side of Eddie’s face, pulling him into a kiss. Fuck, Steve missed kissing Eddie. Missed how soft his lips were, the curl of them like he couldn’t help the smile, the way he gentled it, slowed Steve down even when he wanted the frantic and messy, so he didn’t let himself think of it as romantic.

Steve pulled away slightly, “Bed. I gotta be in my own before Robin gets home.”

Eddie reattached their mouths, walking Steve backwards, down the hall and to his bedroom that still smelled like weed and the patchouli incense he always swore were fooling his landlord. “Don’t worry about them.” Steve felt his knees hit the side of the bed, and Eddie pulled his sweater and shirt off as he fell back onto the mattress.

“Yeah, you say that until Chris and Rob string us both up-”

“No, I mean her and Chris are heading over to Vickie and Eden’s.”

Steve paused, thumbs hooked into the waistband of his shorts, “… Did you plan this?” He kind of wanted to kick the stupid grin off of his face, and the urge only increased when he snorted.

“She texted me just before you got here, they ran into each other after you left.” Steve ignored the brief bout of disappointment in his stomach, covered it with an eye roll as he finished shoving the rest of his clothes off.

Obviously, it hadn’t been planned. He was booty called with the most obvious line in the history of texting, and he was probably just the first person desperate enough to take him up-

His thoughts were cut off by a hand grabbing his face, fingers and thumb pressing into his cheeks and pulling him into another kiss, “But I’m gunna count myself lucky I get to take my time with you now, sweetheart.”

Steve felt his chest crack a little, and he was so fucking stupid, it was such a bad idea, a colossal bad idea, he was going to make Dustin invent a time machine so he could go back and break his phone and tell him it wasn’t worth his stupid heart again.

Then Eddie was kissing him again, slow and deep and enough to scramble Steve’s thoughts because rule of thumb was Steve and Eddie were never not kissing when they were together and it was still his favorite thing in the world.

His face was released so Eddie could keep touching him, the calluses on the tips of his fingers scraping down his neck, over his chest and waist and hips until Eddie could grab a handful of his thigh and-

Fuck it, it’s fine.

[dandelion-roots]

[ID: a series of drawings featuring Riz Gukgak from D20 Fantasy High. In the first, Pok holds Riz's shoulders in heaven as says, smiling, when you work until the dead of night, your friends know you do it because you love them. In the second, Riz is having a group hug with his party and the text reads, but is it really love that drives you, Riz Gukgak... In the next, a desperate, pleading Riz clutches the shoulder of an indifferent, faceless person and the text continues, ...or is it fear? In the fourth, Riz is younger and digging through crystals with bleeding hands; the text reads, what use are you when you can no longer dig. In the fifth, Kalina, shrouded in darkness with only her eyes glowing, reaches towards the camera with a smile; the text reads, when you're too scared to think. Sixth, Riz is filling out Fig and Kristen's papers under the light of a lamp, serious and tired; the text reads, when you're too tired to work. Seventh, Riz is lying in bed, eyes hidden behind hair, hand on his father's picture; the text reads, too sad to keep the mood up. Eighth, Baron stares into the camera; the text reads, too lonely, too insecure, too weird. Ninth, Baron is holding a defeated Riz by the throat; the text reads, to keep moving? Tenth, Riz is standing in the distance, holding his briefcase, and behind him is a football/soccer ball; the text reads, what use is a ball that can no longer roll? The last drawing just says none in brackets on a dark background. End ID]

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Lackadaisy Enrichment