#i love deer mice so much

[blenselche]

Say hi to the new neener.

[pinkrangerv]

Brown is the color of land that grows. It brings food to eat; trees to shade us; grass to walk on. It is the color of the growing earth, the land that gives us life.

Brown is the color of a land stripped bare of water, burning under the sun, where one wrong turn will let the sun kill you.

Brown is the color of the buck and the rabbit and the bear. Brown is the fur of the animals we share the world with--the animals we kill, the animals we save, the cycle of life and death that all of us eventually return to.

Brown is the color of the mouse with Black Plague, that only wants to share your food and doesn't know that it carries your death.

Brown is the color of my father, and my father's father, and my great-grandmother, and her people in Mexico. Brown is the color of almost every person in the world. Brown is the undertone of even my mother's people from Europe; all our skins began brown and carry it even with a thousand mutations.

Brown is the color of the dried blood the morning after someone forgets their skin is brown, too.

There is no right answer to this. People who say there is a right answer are wrong-adjacent (it is Complicated and it depends on what they mean, but saying one is above all other answers is, imo, wrong).

What color is brown?

Brown is a shade of orange, imo!

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Prompt 109

Geralt is a witcher. Cats tend to distance themselves from witchers. Sometimes Geralt wonders what cats are like. So one day he asks. "Cats are lovely. Beautiful little sweethearts." The old woman who owns the inn says to him. "Cats are annoying varmints, always yowling in the middle of the night when they're in heat, they SCREAM their little heads off, can't catch a wink of sleep with them around!" A man passing by him in the market complains, with the anger of someone who has clearly thought about this a lot. "My cat isn't the biggest fan of being touched, but she's a good girl. Catches the mice." "They're evil little hellions, nothing compared to dogs. Don't even like their owners." "I'd like 'em a whole lot more if my way of living wasn't being a fisherman. They climb in at night and steal my best catches." "They're adorable!" "My cat is the cuddliest sweetest snuggliest little kitty to ever live, I think. Nobody will ever love me as much as he loves me." "My friend has a kitten! She already knows to chase the feathers we wave in front of her! I hope she still plays when she grows up." Opinions are varied in the town, but the majority seem to love them. He wants to know what they're like, not if they are liked. He sits down with a friendlier townie one afternoon and asks in detail what cats are like. What's great about them, what's bad about them, what do they like, what do they hate, what can they do, what have they done? The more she describes cats, however, the more Geralt can't help but be reminded of Jaskier. "They're playful. They love making noise and chasing things."

"Geralt, please, can't I play my lute? It's been fourteen whole minutes of SILENCE! Let me play a song!" "Why do you stay?" "Maybe I just like following you, Geralt. It's nice only having to pay for half of everything, after all."

"They're moody little things. Cats will want to cuddle you one second, and be left alone the next, and if you can't read their mind, they'll give you an annoyed little pouty face, as if you were meant to know better!"

"Geralt, do you mind if I...?" "If you what?" "Sit here?" "...My lap?" "That is where I'm sitting, yes. May I?" "...Mm." "Great thanks!~" "Geralt, you pissing idiot! I can't believe you! Don't touch me! Don't even look at me! How could you do something so so so SO stupid!?" "This is my job, Jaskier." "And apparently sewing up your arm is mine!" "I can take care of it." "Oh, I'm meant to just trust the man who went off and got mauled by a werewolf, then?"

"They enjoy a good sleep. Cats nap more than my old man, if you can believe it. They love comfort and luxury."

"Geralt, can't we stay at an inn? It's been so long." "Can we rest? Just for a bit? Pleaaaase? I want a nap. Don't I deserve it?" "Geralt, not to be ungrateful, but I think sleeping on the dirt would be better than this inn. Don't tell me you're making us sleep here. There's probably snakes nesting in the pillows."

"But at the same time, they love the grittiest bits of the outdoors. Chasing rabbits through tunnels, climbing trees after a songbird- My childhood cat used to dive in the swamp to catch frogs."

"Geralt, taking a shortcut through the bog is the easiest way to get to the competition in time! Now hurry along! Either I cross the bog alone, or you come with me!" "Geralt, I went looking for potion ingredients while you were skinning the deer!" "Geralt, are you going to cut the damn thing's head off or what? Wait, darling, are you alright? Are you hurt? Let me do it-"

"They sometimes bring you dead critters because they want to feed you. It's oddly very endearing."

"Geralt, I bought you some honey buns!" "I found some lovely cakes, do you want one, Geralt? You haven't eaten at all today." "I- I killed it. It was coming straight for you and I panicked. Am I bleeding? I can't quite tell because of the adrenaline, so am I bleeding or not, Gerelt? Can you tell me? Are YOU bleeding? Did I get it in time?" "I got so many tips last time I played, Geralt, you can get a bigger meal."

"They get themselves into trouble a lot, though. Places they shouldn't be, things they shouldn't touch, things they shouldn't eat."

"Geralt, I didn't mean to cause all of this. I'm sorry." "It's nothing, Jaskier. I'm just glad you're unharmed." "...Um... Geralt? Can you let go of my wrists now?" "Don't. Touch. Anything. The plant's spines are poisonous." "Jaskier, spit it out! SPIT IT OUT! I told you to stop fucking eating things in Yennefer's place" "Then why was it colored like a nice candy?"

"When they're scared or angry, they can make a right mess out of you. Don't let their cuteness fool you, they can do some damage."

"What else was I supposed to do, Geralt?" "Not punch him!" "He said you were a monster!" "I am!" "Do you want me to punch YOU?" "Geralt, I lost my dagger. It was in one of the bandits we chased away." "Geralt, will you teach me how to use a sword? Nothing fancy, just how to kill something."

"But above all, they're loyal, and loving. Ever so lovely. They'd die for you, if you treated them nice enough." "Thank you for telling me. I.. Have to go." Geralt stammers out, racing away to the inn he left Jaskier in. "Oh, hello, Geralt. Did you find a contact?" And Geralt yanks him close, and hugs him. He should try kissing him one of these days. Either way, Geralt won't mourn for the cat he can never have, for he has a Jaskier, and it's close enough.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Ok, now I'm really concerned that how to prevent rats isn't common knowledge like I thought it was. So, to anyone whose parents/guardians/adults didn't teach you, here's the basics of prevention*:

Rats, like you, need three things: food, water, and shelter. If they don't get these things, they don't bother sticking around. Access to food is probably the biggest draw, and the one you can do the most about.

Rats eat the same foods you do, and the same food that most pets eat. You don't want them to have access to this food, so:

Don't leave dirty dishes laying around, the smell will attract rats. Don't put leave dirty dishes in your bed room, or under the couch, or in your car, or whatever. Dishwashers are great, but if you don't have a functional one, and you're low on energy/executive function, at a minimum cover your dirty dishes with soapy water instead of leaving them out. Rats can't eat soapy food.

Work to minimize food waste, because the smell of tasty food in your compost or garbage will attract rats.

Don't put food scraps in your indoor garbage unless your garbage can is rat proof. Take it outside asap, to a rat-proof bin.

When composting, if you're composting food that would be attractive to rats (grains, fats/oils, dairy, meat) it's best to: bury the food down in the center of the pile, try out bokashi composting, or have a rat-proof composter. Generally people do tell you not to compost dairy and meat, but I do know that some people do it anyway.

Keep your grains & legumes in rodent proof-containers. Glass jars, metal trash cans, etc.

If you have dogs, put their food away at night. If you have birds or other animals that eat a seed-based diet, then it pays to make their food/enclosures inaccessible to rats as well. Cats are rat deterrents so leaving dry food out for them is probably the one exception.

Clean up spilled foods immediately.

If you have fruit trees (like those apple trees everyone has that were planted 3 or more decades ago) and notice that something besides a deer is eating them, it's really best to pick all the fruit. You probably can't eat it all, so giving it away is a good option. Compost the rotten/icky ones fallowing the advice above, or dig a hole and do some trench composting.

Rats also need water, which is another reason to make sure you don't have any leaks anywhere, and to not leave beverages out in open containers.

Beyond that, thoroughly looking around your house, inside and out, to make sure there's no access points. Vents can be covered with wire mesh, holes the size of a dime need to be patched (because mice exist, too). Keep vegetation clear from around the base of your house, and make sure there's no trees or shrubs growing close enough to your house that a rat could make the leap to your roof. Keep an eye out for tunnels near your house's foundation, because they will tunnel underneath.

Also, while I'm at it, for the love of your house's structural integrity, DO NOT store wood piles against your house. Termites people!!!

And yes, there's a reason why cats are such a common pet. Not only do they hunt rats, the very smell of a cat is enough to deter rats. Do not just get a cat for rat prevention though, only get a cat if you're going to provide it a good home and are able to take on the additional care tasks without over extending yourself. Getting a housemate that comes with a cat is a great alternative to getting your own cat (and I'm only halfway joking).

*because prevention is much easier and much less terrible than dealing with an infestation. Prevention is so, so, so much easier than getting rid of them, particularly because once they're there, they'll start eating other things that wouldn't have been enough by themselves to draw them in.

[1427]

i love you (always forever) pt.1

Daryl Dixon x sister!OFC

Summary: In the winter of ‘95 Daddy died. Leaving Lady to finish up her senior year in high school, and Daryl to brood over when to sell the house. The summer of ‘96 is the first time Lady feels alive. Daryl wants to give her one last summer before she has to grow up for real.

He gave her anything she asked for that summer.

Setting: Doublewide on some lone property in the middle of the woods, Georgia. Summer 1996

Warnings: INCEST (like it's the whole thing), virgin!oc, drug use (a joint), underage drinking, TENSION, poorly written SMUT, masturbation (f), lite!somno, oral (m receiving), some leering (??); most of the smut will be in part two. 

Word Count: 6.1k

A/n: INCEST I'll say it again. if it's not your thing, or can’t ever be your thing, DON’T READ IT. 

I didn't write it. I simply lived it in my head and documented (I wrote it but it felt like I didn't have a choice). 

Lady, Daryl calls her Lay, Bug

She calls him Bub, Bubba

// part 2 //

MDNI 18+ 

Wind chimes. Soft like the breeze. The heat of the Georgia in June. Daddy died this past winter, and Lady’d never had a summer feel so much like a hug. Finally able to really breathe again. Like a little kid. Magic around every corner. She swore sometimes, when she looked out the window in the dead of night, that she could see the faeries dancing out back in the woods. For a few years they'd gone, but this year they were back again.

Just her and Daryl (and the deer, and the squirrels, and the mice, and obviously the mosquitos, and sometimes the faeries); Like it shoulda always been. Like it always kinda was. After Merle left and all. Got older, moved out. Daryl stayed, though. Past his 18th birthday, and a few more after that. Didn’t wanna leave Lady all by herself with their old man. Couldn’t. 

Now he couldn’t really leave her alone in the house, even though she’d turned 18 last fall. Doesn’t even cross his mind. 

Lady’s finally done with school for good unless she decides she wants to go to college. First one in the whole damn family and no one but Daryl was there to see it.  Daryl quit his job as soon as Daddy died. Even if Daddy didn't have a few dollars in his bank account he didn’t know about, Lady figures he would have anyway. 

Daryl thought about selling the house but… not yet. 

He knew he was putting a pause on his life for this summer with Lady, but his whole life had been on pause til now anyway. Knows that when it’s over, it’s all over. Her whole childhood, their whole upbringing. Their dad dyin’ was just the bow ontop to seal the deal. They’d both think of it as the end. For the rest of her life, Lay���ll know this is when she had to grow up for real. So Daryl wouldn’t sell the house until Lady had her last summer as a kid with nothin’ to worry about. 

The heat was starting to get unbearable. 

“Lay!” Daryl yells, standing above a bed she'd made up in the living room. Dad had always kept the one lone air conditioner in his room, in front of the tv, in front of the recliner, in front of the bed. Lady had the idea to hang sheets on the doors to the living room and make a bed on the floor big enough for both of them to sleep in. She forgot the pillows, though, and now she was nowhere to be found. 

Daryl put down the tools he’d been using to fix the a/c to the window, pushing past the pink floral sheet between the living room and the hall toward the bedrooms, “Lay!” He quickly paces the double wide but she’s no where. 

Left a towel on her bed though, so Daryl’s got a good guess where she went. Swimmin’. 

It’s about a half miles walk, so it’s pretty far to just up and leave like that without saying anything, but Lady did it all the time. Like the creek was her own personal bathtub. Daryl’s not annoyed, not really. But he walks the half mile like he is anyway. Why couldn’t she just let him know? Because then he wouldn’t have to make sure this is where she went. And he wouldn’t have to bring her the towel she forgot. 

Daryl walks down and sure enough Lady’s shoulder deep in the muddy creek water, her clothes and shoes all bundled up on the dirt a few feet in front of him. She’s faced away, and at first doesn’t hear him come up. 

Lady tried to sneak away without being noticed to have a private moment. Like momma taught her. You’re allowed to touch yourself like that, but you can’t do it around other people. Momma said as long as you can be in private, it’s alright. 

Lady didn’t mean to forget her towel, but she almost assumed Daryl would find her anyway. She’d been fast though, always was. Was easy with the hormones. 18 and learning all new kinds of feelings. Merle always called her a late bloomer. Not being interested in boys until recently. She thought about the boys at school, and their plush lips on the soft skin of her shoulder, the protection in their arm wrapped around her waist, the butterfly light kiss of their eyelashes on her stomach. 

It didn’t take much for Lady to feel somethin’. Not in this heat, not with the breeze of freedom prickling every inch of her skin. 

Daryl can’t tell what she’s doing. All he sees is her shoulders barely moving in the lake, her head above the water and facing away from him. “Lay!” 

Daryl’s voice cascades through the air a few seconds after Lady, with a barely there mew, has her orgasm. Lady’s kisses with pleasure are soft, new, wanting. Like a light peck instead of a deep kiss. A soft mist instead of a thunderstorm. Lady only knew sweetness, even in her private moments. 

She’s beaming from ear to ear as she turns around to face him, making sure to keep her body covered by the water, “Bubba, what? I’m just swimmin’.” She already knew he was ready to be annoyed with her by his tone. 

“Yeah, uh-huh,” he nods, and smirks. Despite being annoyed he’s casual, “Thinkin’ maybe ya forgot som’n?” He throws the towel down ontop of her clothes and goes to stand behind a tree while she gets out of the water. 

Lady was always doing this. And Daryl was always following her with whatever thing she’d forgotten, or didn’t know she was gonna need. Daryl was always there. 

Full name Lady-Rae Cheryl Dixon. See momma wanted the name to rhyme with the boys but always said if she had a girl she was gonna name her Lady. Really liked that movie when she was a kid, didn’t matter it wasn’t a girls name. Didn’t matter to her what anyone thought. She thought it was sweet. And Lady was sweet. Could get away with probably anything if she wanted to, but she never even tried. Besides running around the woods naked, she didn’t find herself in much trouble. Sweet as honey. 

Daryl wasn’t sure how that was gonna work out in the real world. If she would get eaten up, or if she’d outshine everyone around her. He didn’t like to think about it. She didn’t belong out there. Not yet. Right now she’s naked in the woods, covering herself up just to be polite; right where she’s meant to be. Who she’s supposed to be. 

They make the walk back, Lady’s teeth chattering but she never complains. Barefoot like she grew the forest herself. She knew every inch. Daryl shuffled behind her, knowing the trail just as well, but letting her be the force she was. Skipping and stopping and stepping on her favorite parts as she went. He watched. 

Her towel small, and frayed on the ends. See through in spots. He tries to look away. He knows he should. But he can’t manage to stop himself. the way her tiny ass bounced as she walked, it was too lewd for him to avert his eyes. Like maybe if it wasn’t jiggling so much he’d have been able to stare at his feet or off into the woods, or at her bare shoulder or something, anything, else. 

But it was, just… her tight skin moving the fat of her ass back into place over and over, snapping against the sheer fabric of the towel, moving that too. Daryl keeps himself from leaning back to see more, to peak through and see the light between her legs. Wouldn’t do that. He’s not trying to sexualize her. What her ass is doing is right there in front of him? He tells himself it’s not his fault he’s looking. He’s seen her naked anyway, it’s not even a big deal. 

Getting caught up in shit that doesn’t matter, that’s what Daryl was good at. Getting stuck up in his own head and hung up on looking just barely a little too long at his sister. Merle would say it was no big deal, Daryl just needed to relax. He was making it weird by thinkin’ about it. 

He manages to look away, and to forget all about it.

💕 

Lady always assumes Daryls looking. Why wouldn't he look? Didn't mean nothin’. Boys always looked, wasn't a big deal unless they made it one. Unless someone made private thoughts public, with a purpose. Who cares who's lookin’? Lady doesn't. Never did. Why would she? How could she?

With Daryl for a brother, Lady never even got the chance to know what a bad touch might be. Never even heard of it. Maybe that's why she was such a late bloomer. Never even knew what she had down there until last summer when she met a boy who had a truck and talked like her brothers and he touched her through her pants and she ignited. 

Never saw the guy again. 

Never wanted to. Never needed to. She was alive and on fire and everything around her burned brighter for it. 

She was finding it hard to get comfortable in the bed she’d made. Still too hot even with the air conditioner on full blast. Daryl was about 3 feet away, a whole heap of comforter between them. “Get up” Lady’s voice a playful smirk. 

Daryl had been trying to fall asleep but got stuck staring at the ceiling fan. Trying to watch a single blade in its rotation. He stands up like she’d asked and watches as Lady lays the comforter out on top of the rest of the blankets she’d piled up, “if we’re not gonna use it.” She explains. 

Lady’s still got her light blue baby blanket that goes almost everywhere with her. Just as tattered and falling apart as the towel. Daryl never sleeps with a blanket anyway. Usually just passes out in his clothes, on his bed. Now he’d do the same thing here, in the living room. Hum of the a/c, chatter of the TV, the heat from Lady’s body - Daryl didn’t think he’d be able to fall asleep anyway. 

Well maybe. He did have a joint stashed in with his cigarettes that he’d been saving for sometime this week. So when lady gets up to grab herself an ice cream cone from the fridge, Daryl yells, “Lay, grab ma pack’a smokes.” 

Lady’s halfway to the living room but she turns back and grabs them from the kitchen counter for him. “You’re really gonna smoke in the fort?” 

“Fort, huh?” He grunts then smiles at her as she tosses the pack at him. 

“Yeah?” She looks around, elbowing the sheet hung behind her, “What else would you call it?” 

“Th’ livin’ room.” He’s not looking at her when he answers. Eyes and fingers fixed on the pack, fidgeting with the hinged top for a bit before pulling the joint out and putting it in his mouth. 

Lady stops complaining when she sees it’s not a cigarette, and takes her seat back down on the pallet. Laying on her stomach, up on her elbows, facing Daryl. Her ice cream cone had already started melting, her tongue now on a race with the liquid dripping down her hand. 

Daryl just watches her struggle, until she finally gets a hold on it. “Y’good, there, Bug?” 

“Shut up.” And she shoves him a little. She’s got strawberry icecream all over her cheeks and chin and Daryl wishes he took pictures because at this moment he needed one. He needed her to remember forever who she is right now. 

“Y’wanna hit?” He asks her like he asks her every time he smokes a joint in front of her. Which is often. And every time she says no, because it’s always no. Never wanted to, never really saw the point. Things were beautiful enough. And it reminded her of Merle, and the bad things he got up to. 

Her mind slowly has been changing about it, with Merle gone for so long now. And Daryl being so chill about it when he was about it. A lot of the kids in high school had been doing worse and Lady found herself wanting to say yes when Daryl asked her. 

But when she does, Daryl doesn’t believe her, “No fuckin’ way, Bug. Yer buggin’.” 

“Bubba, no I’m not. I been thinkin’ about it.” 

“Oh, ya have? What’chya been thinkin’ ‘bout it?” 

“Just that I kinda wanna try.” She sways on her elbows, licking at her ice cream, “I’m gonna eventually, right? Why not now?” 

She’s trying to keep herself calm, but she was more relaxed than she’d usually be when she thought about sayin’ yes. Maybe that’s why she’d finally said it. She was finally able to. Lady thinks that means she must be ready, if she’s not afraid to say she wants to try it. 

She remembers this moment for the rest of her life. 

Makes her feel brave, like she’ll always know if she’s ready for some new scary experience or not. If she can ask, she’s ready. 

He thinks about it for a second, but he doesn’t see where she’s wrong. She probably was gonna try it eventually, why not now? She was safe here, he knew it. She knew it. So he says, “Alrigh’, fine. But yer prolly gon’ jus’ get tired,” and passes the joint to her. Thinking she'd take a tiny hit, probably not even inhale, and wimp out.

Lady takes it delicately in her fingertips and brings it to her lips. She’d tried cigarettes before (and didn’t like them), so the motion wasn’t completely foreign. But everything about it felt new and different. It burned. She almost didn’t feel it until she exhaled. A cloud of smoke billowing out and surrounding the both of them. 

Daryl laughs and mutters, “Shit, Bug,” while Lady’s face falls. That was way more than she thought was supposed to come out. Way more than her little lungs were expecting or could take. Her hand shoots out to Daryl for him to take her half eaten ice cream cone as she turns into a rabid dog. 

A wild beast on all fours hacking up half her lung and Daryl’s laughing so hard he’s crying, taking the ice cream and the joint back from her as she seizes. 

She’ll be okay. He knows she will. And she’ll sleep amazing and she’ll be safe like she always is. Somethin’ in the air felt different there now. With everyone else gone. Like nothing could touch them. 

So even though Lady’s about to be as high as a girl could ever be, neither of them are worried it won’t be a good time. 

Just them in their fort. Way too old to be playing little kid games and way too young to be playing house. 

💕

Lady’s vision was fuzzy. Glittering and dancing and hazy, rainbow bursts of fizzy glowing sparkles. 

Lady was secretly afraid she was on fire. She stared at the TV but wondered to herself if it was possible that her lungs were embers that were slowly consuming her chest cavity. She could breathe now, it had been nearly an hour since she hit that joint, but she was sure that she was literally burning alive from the inside out. 

“Dar, do you think you can be burning inside your lungs? Like on fire? Is that how people spontaneously combust?” 

Daryl’s eyebrows shoot up, she’d been quiet for a while and he had been pretty sure that she’d fallen asleep. He had to think about her question. If he wasn’t also stoned he probably would have been able to tell her the answer was obviously no. Instead he says, “Don’t think so.” Which doesn’t really make her feel better. “I ain’t ever hearda it.” That does. Daryl’s hearda everything. 

Their voices are soft, the tv’s the only light in the room. Daryl looks over at Lady. Her bare legs disappearing under an old pair of pajama shorts, she’s definitely not on fire. Not the way she means. 

“Think yer good, Bug.” He reassured her before asking, “Need som’thin’?” 

Lady, sweet as ever, asks, “Tuck me in?” 

Daryl rolls his eyes but sits up anyway. Crawling the two steps toward her. He takes what he can of the stretchy old fabric and wraps it around her body. It’s not big enough, it was never gonna be. Daryl cracks a smile, Lady’s been laughing at his attempt. He pushes his fingers with the fabric around her, she’s laying straight as an arrow, blanket stretched to its limit tight against her body. 

Daryl isn’t paying attention to his fingers as they tuck the fabric under her thighs, or how tight it’s pulling against Lady’s breasts. Lady does. She took one look at him after she hit that joint and she hasn’t been able to sit right since. 

It’s the air, it’s the heat. It’s the sun, maybe something in the water at the creek? Its the pot. It’s gotta be the pot. It’s somethin’ that Lady doesn’t understand. That sometimes just being in proximity is enough. 

She felt brave. She wanted to skirt that line. The line itself moving, and blurry, and hard to make-out. She wanted to be touched. And she wanted Daryl to touch her. Not too much, just a little. Just enough to make her heart race. Just enough to kiss her sleep with something that felt like magic. 

Her pulse is pounding in her ears and down her throat as she looks at him up above her. She feels her blood burn in her palms, slowly falling away from her sides as the tight fabric comes loose from around her. 

Daryl’s lost in the same moment, just caught staring down at her, in a haze himself. Stuck in his head, romanticizing every moment of Lady’s last summer.  

“Kiss goodnight?” 

The words come from between them. Lady’s voice had spoken them but she’s certain it didn’t come from her mouth. 

Doesn’t matter. They’re in the air and Lady and Daryl both pretend that she doesn’t mean it in any way other than what a sister might say to a brother. 

Daryl leans down and just barely brushes his lips over hers. Soft and sweet, like he was leaning down and smelling a flower. It’s so brief, and it’s so feather light it almost wasn’t there. Lady and Daryl both pretend it wasn’t. 

She closes her eyes and snuggles into her blanket, all bunched up in her arms. And Daryl moves back to his spot, trying not to think about what just happened. How it’s all different now. In two seconds everything was different. 

She initiated something new and Daryl already knew he was gonna do what he always did with Lady. Whatever she wanted. 

💕

The sun is just barely peaking through the windows when Lady opens her eyes. The tv still playing, she sits up and leans herself forward to turn it off. Turning around to observe Daryl. But she wasn’t expecting… this. 

He must have gotten up in the middle of the night and ripped his clothes off because he’s just laying there in his boxers and his wife beater. Head leaning back off the pillow, arms laying on either side of his body. The part that catches Lady completely off guard was between his legs. Hard and trying to push its way out of his boxers. Lady can see a hint of pink between the fabric. The hole in the front tenting out around his bulge. 

Lady tries not to look. Knows she shouldn’t. But it’s too lewd to look anywhere else. He moves briefly in his sleep, which only makes their situation worse. His erect member pushing its way completely out of the hole. Lady gawks, feeling something akin to a squeel in her throat. She’d never seen something so… she needed to touch it. 

She shuffles closer to him, her knees padding on the layers of blankets underneath them. Her small hand moving out in front of her, she can’t look away. 

Her fingertips meet the skin of his bare cock with something Lady is sure is electricity. It’s warmer than she’d imagined, and as she moves, her nails grazing on the skin as she lightly traces up and down, she realizes that his skin here is softer than she’d imagined too. 

After a while, she can’t help herself, and wraps her fingers around him. Slowly working her hand up and down, her fingers just barely putting any pressure against him. She wants to squeeze it, to feel how hard it really is, she wants to roll it between both her hands and put it in her mouth and she wants to get to know it better than she knows any part of herself - but she doesn’t wanna wake Daryl up. 

It wasn’t even her fingers that woke Daryl up. It was the pressure. Below his stomach, twisting deep inside and throbbing.

He keeps his eyes closed, tries to keep his breathing steady. Tries to get himself to speak up, say something, tell her to stop. At least let her know you're awake. But he can't move. 

With his eyes closed he can feel every light touch of Lady’s hand. The way she pushes her palm down when she gets to the base and pulls it off as she gets to the tip, the way she's moving in soft semi-circles, but not while she's going up and down. She's exploring. 

Daryl didn't want to stop her. 

He's so hard it hurts. He almost winces when she grips him tighter. She was only moving herself in a different position, Daryl realizes, because he feels her other hand on his cock now too. 

Lady holds him in one hand, bringing the other up she grazes her index and middle finger over the tip of his length. Gliding his pre-cum all over his head. Trying to see how far it would go, she's surprised it's as slick as it is. She wants to taste it. 

Daryl feels her fingers leave him, and hears the slick pop of her tongue as she moves her fingers between her lips. He has to stop himself from rutting his hips up into her hand, stop himself from pushing her head down onto him to feel her wet mouth. 

He doesn't have to make her do anything, though.

Daryl feels a soft veil of hair tickle his skin above the waistband of his boxers, and he realizes she's about to put her mouth on him. Her pretty pink lips were about to wrap around his cock head. Her tongue, that he'd watched lick up melting icecream only a few hours ago, was gonna be flat against the underneath of his dick. Lady. With all the sweetness inside of her, was about to suck him off. 

Lady can't help herself, doesn't want to. Never learned how. She’s not quite sure how to start what she wants to do but decided to put her lips together and kiss right underneath the tip. She doesn't pull away. Parting her lips and flicking her tongue out from between her teeth to taste more of whatever was coming out of him. 

She feels it twitch under her tongue, so she licks him again. Longer, this time, with more certainty. Moving her fingers out of the way, she licks him once all the way from the bottom to the top. 

Daryl didn't think about what was gonna happen when he came. What he should do. It happens so fast that he doesn't have time to warn her. The first shot goes right on her face. 

Daryl sits up in time for the second and third to be lost somewhere on the blankets or his boxers. 

“Shit, Lady. M’so. M’fuckin’ sorry.” 

“It's my fault.” She explains in a flat tone. She sits still while Daryl uses his shirt he was wearing last night to wipe off her face. He’s a mess. Red-eared and scared as a dog but Lady's smiling bigger than she has in her whole life. 

She ignores his apology, his frantic attitude. She was serene. Like she always was. “When did you wake up?” 

“I’unno.” Right at the beginning, really, but he can’t tell her that. Can’t tell himself that. 

She ignores him, she didn't really care. “So that’s what happens then? When a guy…” she mouthes the word ‘comes’ in an exaggerated way, looking in Daryl’s eyes the whole time. 

He lays back into the pillow, grabbing another one to pull over his face. He can’t believe she just asked him that. She can’t believe this just happened at she was being so casual about it.

Lady pulls the pillow out of his hands just as fast. “No, come on. Ya can’t just not tell me. Not now.” 

Daryl puts his arm over his face, only his mouth and his nose peeking out behind the crook of his elbow. She had a point, “Whad’ya wanna know?” 

“Everything. All of it.” 

“Whad’ya wanna know righ’now.” 

Lady tells herself that if she’s ready to know, she’ll be able to ask. “When I have an orgasm nothing comes out. But when guys do it, that’s what happens?” 

She bites on her lip and looks down at him, his eyes and most of his face still hidden behind his arm, laying back on the bed. He’d stay like this and answer her questions. Wouldn’t be able to do it if he was looking at her, “uh-huh”. It's more of a grunt than a word.  

Lady tries to figure out which question to ask next. She knows a lot of stuff. Boys like it when girls suck on it. Boys like it when girls let them put it inside them. Lady isn’t sure exactly how that works, but she knows what she has. And what they have, and she doesn’t need to ask where it would go. 

“Did you like it?” 

A long pause. A half sigh, a grunted response, “uh-huh.” 

“Do you want me to do it again? Can I.. can I do it again?”

“Na’righ’ now.” 

Those words hang there even after Lady gets up and Daryl gets up and they both go about their day. This promise of ‘maybe later’. Daryl has errands to run in town and Lady says she’s got laundry to do, but hes pretty sure she just likes staying at the house. 

“Need somethin’, Lay? Goin’ ta town!” He shouts inside the house from out of it, he’d been outside most of the day, mowin’ the lawn, finally cleaning up the old trampoline. Trying to tell himself that even if he'd tried to stop her, she wouldn't have let him. 

Lady appears in the doorway in a breath, “Where ya goin’ in town?” 

“Store.” He leans against the wood frame lining the area around the steps and lights a smoke. 

Lady leans back, swaying her body with both hands on either side of the door by the handles, “Hmmm, maybe we could get stuff for grillin’. And we’re out of ice cream.” 

Daryl nods, taking a drag, his eyes squinting against the sun, “Somethin’ else?” 

“More pot?” She squints back at him. 

He breathes out an almost laugh against the cigarette between his lips, “Yeah, alrigh’. Tha’s it?”

“Wine coolers?” 

Daryl actually laughs at that one, “What’re ya tryna prove, Bug?”

She stops swinging on the door, “Not provin’ nothin’. Daddy's dead. Let's live a little.” 

💕

So Daryl gets some girly somethin’ - what he assumes are wine coolers. They're in the refrigerated case at the distributor, and there's strawberries and an island on the cardboard carrier. And the bottle’s shaped stupid. Daryl’s sure he's gotten the right thing, or at least something she'd probably like. 

Daryl doesn't feel bad indulging her. Never did, and anyway he's surprised it's taken her this long to ask. As far as growin’ up in the sticks, Lady was a good girl. And so she wanted to smoke some pot and drink some wine coolers with her brother? 

So what she had all the curious burning of an explorer on their first expedition with every new thing that she tried, and so what if that new thing was Daryl's body and how it reacted to hers? 

Daryl doesn't feel bad indulging her. He reasons with himself his whole drive that it can't be that bad. Not if Lady wanted it. Lady never wanted anything bad ever. She never gossiped, or tattled, or cheated at board games. Lady never even tried to sneak sweets. She told Daryl once it was cuz she didn't want anyone else to get in trouble if someone noticed it was missin’. Nah, Daryl figures if Lady wants it, if she asks for it, it can't be somethin’ ugly. 

💕

Daryl's on his third beer before he's able to say it, “Lay. Wha’ we did this mornin’ -“ he’s tried to figure out how he feels about it, he’s still not sure he’s making the right choice, but he needs to decide something before she decides for them. “Ya didn’t do nothin’ wrong but - can’t go tellin’ people we did that.” 

Lady laughs, she’s on her second wine cooler of her whole life, and all of a sudden Daryl thinks she’s new to the planet earth. She was backwoods but she wasn’t that backwoods. She was, after all, a high school graduate. “You mean I can't tell Auntie Norma I made you…” She mouthes the word ‘come’ again in the same exaggerated way she had earlier before losing herself in a fit of giggles. 

Lady and Daryl had folded up their temporary bed and shoved it in the corner. She was currently leaned back on the far edge of the coach, head thrown in laughter. Her shoulders shaking, her hands gripping the bottle between her thighs. 

Daryl bites at his thumb, sitting in the armchair across the room from her, he was trying to be serious for a damn second and she was laughing at him. “Jus’ don’ really know whatya think yer doin’. If yer in your right mind ‘n all. An’ y’know we ain't supposed ta.”

He just needed to hear her say it, if she could say it - if she could ask for it, it couldn’t be bad. 

“Wasn't thinkin’, Dar. Was just doin’.” She doesn’t really have an answer for him. She's in her right mind, she knows people aren't supposed to do that kind of stuff with their family. But nothin’ ever felt wrong between her and Daryl.

Daryl downs the rest of the beer he's holding in one gulp. He puts his finger in the hole at the top and spins it absentmindedly on his knee, “Jus’ need ya t’know what yer doin’.. it ain't somethin’ people usually do, Bug.” 

Lady’s starting to get frustrated. She knew what he was getting at, but why'd he have to say it? “I know I'm not supposed to, Dar. It's like those times you and Merle let me watch scary movies when I was little and I had to tell Momma and Daddy we were watching lions on PBS instead.” 

Daryl reaches down and grabs another beer from the case next to the armchair. He just shakes his head. She's gotta know it ain't that simple. 

“Bubba, look at me.” 

Daryl looks over, curious what she needed the eye contact for, “W’sup, Lay?”

“It’s just you and me out here and as far as I can tell we didn’t hurt anyone.“ She finishes the rest of her drink in one gulp just like he had, “The woods are good at keepin’ secrets, Bub. You know that.” And she smiles, looking down before looking directly at him.

If they didn't know before they both knew now. It wasn't just going to be that one thing that happened between them. The stagnant ‘maybe later' coming back and sitting on their shoulders, in their laps, in every empty space of the room. 

‘Maybe’ turns to definitely. To obviously.

Daryl grunts, trying not to let a smile on the corners of his lips. He opens the bottle in his hand and takes a sip before bringing it back down to look at it. Pondering her words like they're written on the label. All he thought he'd needed to hear was that she knew it had to be a secret. That she knew she was committing a crime against god here with him. But now what?  

Lady almost can't take it, the cicadas buzzing from outside are so loud it's infesting her brain. She’d been sitting there for an hour trying to figure out how to ask him if she could touch him again. And now that he's brought it up, she can't think of anything else but the way he tasted, the way his thing pulsated and twitched underneath of her tongue. She wants to make him cum again. 

Daryl's drinking his beer, lost in thought, while Lady decides she should probably have another one too. She gets up and walks past him to the kitchen. 

“Where ya goin’?” He half shouts behind him, a little worried he'd hurt her feelings. Read something wrong. Said something wrong. 

Lady smiles to herself, Daryl worried all the time about everything and it always ended up being for nothing. “Just gettin’ another one. That okay with you, pop?” She teases. 

She reappears from behind the sheet holding another wine cooler. As she takes her seat back on the couch Daryl leans forward, elbows on his thighs, taking another sip of his drink, “Might wanna slow down on those, Bug.” He's smiling into the bottle. 

Lady sticks her tongue out at him, her eyebrows drawn down in mock anger, “What, afraid I'm gonna blow chunks instead of blow you?” She's been on the edge of it for so long it spills out of her mouth.

Daryl has no idea what the fuck to say to that but he laughs out loud. He genuinely guffaws. If it wasn't his little sister he'd be frozen in his fuckin’ chair. Churning a little at this realization - Cuz when she said it he wasn't uncomfortable. Wasn't afraid, or worried that he was gonna have to do something he might mess up. 

“Nah.” He answers her before his mind takes off on a tangent about how it's his sister and the proposition of her sucking his cock should make him uncomfortable. But it didn't. 

Cuz if she wants it, it can't be wrong. 

“Just keep drinkin’, Lay. If ya blow chunks yer the one stuck cleanin’ it up though.” 

“Let's smoke that pot.” 

“No.”

“Aw, c’mon. Why not, bub?”

“Cross-faded.”

“What's that?” 

“Pots different after y’drink. Jus’.. trus’me on this one.” He sips his beer, “‘nless yer really set on blowin’ chunks. Tha’s definitely a sure fire way.” 

Lady shakes her head, taking her drink from between her thighs again and sipping it before putting it back. 

She's gotta figure out how to ask soon or she was gonna drink herself to sleep. 

Daryl can see her workin’ something out in her head, “S’goin’ on, Lay?.” 

She’s staring at a spot on the ground and she doesn’t look up, “Thinkin’.” 

“‘bout wha’?”

“Your cock in my mouth.” 

Daryl chokes on the spit he was swallowing, “Christ.” He says as he coughs. He doesn't think he's ever heard her say that word. “Yer really serious, huh?” He asks again, this time because he truly can’t believe it. Why would she, the sweetest piece of Georgia pie, wanna put her pretty mouth on him? Even if he was her brother. Especially because he was her brother. 

She smiles and looks down at her fingers around the top of her bottle. Blushing beet red and nodding her head so aggressively her hair moves. 

He wants to let her but somethin’ about it doesn't feel right. Not because of who she was or who he was, or cuz it was wrong. “Shouldn't jus’ blow guys, Lay.” 

“Whaddya mean?” She picks at the label on her drink, not looking up at him. Nervous and excited and hanging on his every word. 

“People, uh - usually… do other stuff first.” He explains, not wanting to make her feel bad for what she'd already done, but wanting her to understand she can't just do that to other guys. 

Lady laughs, a sigh of relief escaping her as she brings the brim up to take another swig. There's a million things sitting between her teeth and her lips just waiting to be said. Instead, she just asks, “Do you wanna watch a movie?”

💕

pt. 2

A/n: This is coming out a whole lot sweeter than I thought it was going to be and I know in the end it's going to break my little heart. 

Anyway sorry, most of the smut will be in part 2 where I imagine going into detail about their first time (for a few different things) as well as how they are once they get more comfortable as they get deeper into the summer. 

Broken up into two parts because I can't fathom proofreading these 6,000 words one more time. 

(Next part will be up as fast as I can write it.)

[watercoloraru]

Batfamily putting up an ofrenda. Idk why they'd do this but I put my ofrenda yesterday and I thought it would be fun.

Bruce: Of course, he puts Martha and Thomas. He selected the picture from an album Alfred kept. It's of Martha and Thomas together in a party, smiling at the camera, and it was taken when Bruce was young. He buys the flowers, and it's A LOT of flowers. He also makes sure everyone in the altar has their own stuff. Alfred knows better than him what his parents' favorite foods were, but he knows to put a glass of whisky for Martha and a cigar for Thomas (they're dead, those won't harm them).

Dick: he puts John and Mary Grayson. A lot of years have passed but he remembers a dish he and his parents loved to eat together. He helps Alfred with the cooking and brings the fruit. He used an old, wrinkled photo of the three of them together and just covered his own face with a post-it. He loves the scent of incense (copal).

Jason: He puts Catherine and Willis. Even if they hadn't been the best parents for him, he had memories with them that he treasured. He was able to fish his father's mugshot from the GCPD archive, which wasn't really flattering but it would have to do. He didn't know if printed photos of Catherine existed, and digital instances were unlikely. Even with Barbara's help, he wasn't able to track any, so he spent a whole evening with Damian doing a spoken portrait of how he remembered her, just omitting the sickness and thinness of drug dependency from his description. He brings the bread, he bought it in a bakery from around Park Row owned by an old woman called Mamá Lupita and her son.

Tim: He puts Janet and Jack. Despite the pain and misunderstandings, he thought they deserved to be remembered. He really wasn't sure what their favorite meals were but he does remember their favorite type and brand of wine, so he brings that and papel picado.

Cass: She puts it up in honor of the forgotten dead. She thinks is a nice tradition to remember all the people who are no longer in this world. All her life had been about death, and this was another demonstration of the fact that has changed. She's no longer a killer. She brought the candy and the sugar skulls.

Damian: He puts it up in honor of all the stray and mistreated animals that died unfairly. He learned to make the traditional candy and made dozens of cats, dogs, mice, deers, birds, cows, etc. He also made the Xoloitzcuintle statue.

Duke: He joins Cass in the sentiment for the forgotten. He helps Alfred with the flower arrangements because he thinks nobody else does it right. (Sorry, I don't know much about Duke. I'm still in the process of reading comics).

Alfred: he does the most. He cooks the food (with Dick's help), he decorates (with Csss and Jason's help), he buys everything (along with Duke and Damian). He lights up all the candles and pours every glass of water, whisky glass or wine glass and he decides the display so everything is aesthetically pleasing. He also does it in a way that nothing would be accidentally set on fire.

They all do the trail of petals from the back door to the family's cemetery and from the door to the street. It's a bonding moment. At 2 a.m., the dead have a party in the manor that nobody can see. Jason can sense the magic and spirits around him but he's not gonna try to see the dead. Everybody wonders what their people think of them. Are they good sons? Are they good people? Are they deserving of peace? Are they worthy of being the next generation?

They all clean up on Nov 3rd.

[ratlordsarah]

more word girl HCs bc this blog is going dry 💀

miss question, lady redundant woman, and Leslie have girls nights out, but they always end up where they wake up crawling out of a dumpster, wake up in a Forrest completely barefoot in 60 degree F weather swarmed by deer, makes it back to one of the three’s places, all of them drunk-crying about how much they love a dog they saw earlier, wake up with a new stray dog as a pet, or some other form of ominous nuanced way to end the night out. (You will have the time of your life)

Two brains def goes on long car rides during the summer as the sun sets, blasting 80s songs down the highway, and makes it back some time in the middle of the night (bro absolutely lives for that, he sings along with more passion than a passion fruit or something)

the girlie trio mentioned earlier, all 3 of them are abba girlies, no one can change my mind.

sometimes, the girl trio and two brains will do a mix of their activities, and they ride around and two brains is doing drifts all over the city while all 4 of them are singing whatta man by salt n pepa, at the top of their lungs

Charlie and meatloaf love doing anything involved with a disco party (they are 70s babies for life)

the show starts in august of 1999 and ends in February 2002

Toby sings along to all the Eminem songs, but can’t rap so it sounds more like a mumble

(Partly canon) miss question and Brent later get married and has a kid who is a very curious sandwich

chuck has the pack man maze burnt into his screen from playing it so much

Seymour and granny may are either half siblings, or cousins. (I gotta make them related, their chemistry would be absolutely legendary)

Seymour is OLDDD (at least in his 60s)

two brains knows how to speak mouse and because of this, he basically has the basement of his warehouse (or attic) dedicated to the rats and mice of fair city. (A majority of his friends are mice, he will hang out with some of them and genuinely forget they aren’t human)

due to the amount of trials two brains goes through each time he’s arrested, and sally botsford being the district attorney, two brains and sally actually become really good friends

two brains is actually really good at becoming genuine friends with people’s moms, it’s insane.

Timmy Tim Bo later makes a band where he’s a backup singer/ guitarist, and can do a little drums too.

Hal hardbargain and big left hand guy are both functional alcoholics

beau handsome’s parents are French, and is a victim of child acting.

lady redundant woman becomes a crazy cat lady, and adopts like 30 cats

(A lot of people I’ve seen has this hc, no idea where it originated from, but here we go) amazo guy’s name is Adam, and he definitely had a pet golden retriever

on the topic of that, I like to think he also is from lexicon, and he’s wordgirl’s biological father or uncle, and Steven’s original friendship with word girl was asked from amazo guy to try and get closer to his daughter/neice, but they all basically became the bestest of friends (and wordgirl looked up to both amazo and Steven very much)

I also feel like amazo (or Adam ) genuinely loves fighting crime, and basically is like Superman in fair city

fair city is either located in New Jersey or California

Steven’s sister is named Marcy, and his niece is named Maggie (called mags tho)

squeaky was genetically modified and his brain was basically originally fused with a psycho’s brain where it’s basically a human thinking mouse with mouse like tendencies, before Steven bought him, which is why he was on sale (for negative 200$)

The butcher would be girl dad of the year

when Steven is really angry (once in a life time) he does the Italian 🤌 thing, and he grew up in Brooklyn NY

due to him growing up in New York, two brains was certainly most pissed when 9/11 happened out of the villains

chuck grew up in Boston before his family moved to fair city about 7 years prior to the show

idk if I have previously said any of these in an earlier post, so sorry if I have lmao 💀

[bonefall]

I have my own clan project and I need some quick advice. I calculated the feral cat population I chose to base the setting on, and I got back that the feral cat population is usually one tenth of the human population in the area. Instead of throwing that 15-30k cat estimate away ("THATS A LOT OF DAMAGE") I wanted to at least massively increase the amount of cats in each clan and let the cats in the city soak up the mass majority of that number. So, anywhere from 100-150 cats in a clan I decided, a HUGE leap from the 30 something in the normal clans.

The cats DO have access to large prey- one clan hunts goats by using gravity for example, but I'd love to know how I can wring out every calorie and nutrient to make this massive population viable eating-wise. I'm thinking that the massive size would encourage hunting larger and larger prey (no sweet fat of the hog in the area, but deer and caribou are here), but do you think the small prey population would still be able to support the large clans?

YOWZA you're going to start having some troubles there, but I do think it's doable if you start giving them some serious advances. I don't think this is sustainable if you're doing a canon-compliant Clan; but you can squeak by if you're using fire, traps, and domestication.

So, even above the technological level of BB, but you're dealing with a BIG number here. So anyway, here's how to REALLY maximize the amount of meat you have in an area;

Domestication You seem to be somewhere cold, but I could imagine this being HUGE for Clans that are set up in South America. Natural home of the guinea pig, a living, breathing sausage. Even without guinea pigs, you might be able to have them domesticate pigeons, goldfish, mealworms, mice, maybe even chickens if you're REALLY advanced with making your fencing. What you can't make up in livestock, you can supplement with hunting. Check out CGPGrey's video on domestication, and think about how to adjust the information for a species of cats which is very small.

Fire You need fire. That 20% to 50% increase is HUGE when you're cutting back on prey.

Traps, spears, other hunting tools, for catching larger prey You can use gravity to chase a goat or a sheep off the side of a cliff, but you don't want to rely on this too much if those are human-owned. A few going missing once in a while? That's expected. If they go missing with regularity? Those humans are going to check in. Another thing to be careful of; It's a LOT easier to do this trick with an entire herd than one individual. In fact, the deadliest wolf attacks are accidental, like this one time two accidentally fenton'd 143 sheep to their deaths. OOPS!!! Plus, it straightup doesn't work on boars. They will turn around and kill you to death. You're going to want some cats who can figure out how to set traps and handle weapons. Forget about killing boars if you don't have spears like BB!ThunderClan does.

Spread Out You might even benefit from having the Clans all be interconnected, honestly, regularly trading resources. You mentioned having your city Clan, so you could be having them plus one of the further-out Clans (maybe even have one be nomadic) be the ones who are known for food production, with some Clans supplementing their diets with imports.

There IS a group kind of like this in BB, actually; The Tribe. This is actually why they have those three "Wards" I mention-- the Cave Ward, which is the "canon" Tribe, doesn't actually produce a lot of its own food and has a lower population than the Mountain and River Wards. But, put together, they significantly outnumber the Clans of the Lake.

[k-marzolf]

Our blood is burning.

Acquaintances to lovers, kissing, fluff & angst, fem!reader.

I talked to @idaofinfinity about my fic involving reader being taught darts. I remember her encouraging response, so I finally finished it.

1,124 words.

&&&&

You’d never felt seen, growing up in a house of ten children. But every night, Billy would come into the bar, bringing in the cold with him, and slide into the booth next to you, despite there being room next to Maria.

His knee would knock yours, and you’d shyly push back, a comfort feeling his leg against yours, that you were real, tangible.

They’d all talk about things you had no knowledge of, but you were just happy to be included.

And then he touched your knee as Maria and Frank moved to the pool tables, “Wanna split some onion rings with me?” Billy hummed in your ear, trying to be heard over the noise.

Your cheeks warmed, “Okay.”

“You likin’ New York, mouse?” He asked, dipping his onion rings in the sauce.

“Mouse?” You squeaked, turning to mush when your fingers bumped his as you grabbed an onion ring.

He smiled indulgently. “You’re like a timid little mouse, sweet.”

You swallowed, cheeks hot, “New York is loud. I miss the quiet life in the countryside, the stars in the sky at night. You can’t see the stars in the city.” You said softly, heart racing when you realized he paid more attention to you than you realized.

“Sweet country mouse, huh?” He teased you, nudging you with his knee playfully.

“Destructive city cat, you’ll claw my furniture up, and then bite me,” you shot back.

Billy laughed richly. “Only if you ask nicely. But be careful, cats eat mice.” He said, licking his finger, getting the sauce off. He smiled slyly at you, as though knowing where your mind was.

You pressed your thighs together, understanding the double entendre.

You wanted a taste of him, too.

An hour later, Billy had you in stitches over pranks he’d pulled in the Marines.

“I put scorpions in Frankie’s bed one time. His ass got stung, and my commanding officer was not amused. I’d never run so many laps.” Billy recalled, his finger dipped in the sauce, before he stuck it in his mouth, enjoying your laughter, admitting inwardly it was nice.

“Did he get you back?” You asked, elbow bumping his elbow, and your skin tingled where he’d touched you.

Billy huffed, leaning just a little closer to you, and you could smell his cologne, a musk, “Motherfucker got me back, put beetles in my bed. ‘Course, everyone thought Curt was the responsible one.” He said, sipping his beer.

“Isn’t he, though?” You teased sweetly.

Billy snorted; “Yeah. Goody two shoes.”

You giggled as Billy grinned; “Man, we did so much shit to each other. We lost count of who was ahead in our prank war. Curt thought we were being childish.”

“You must be close,” you murmured, you’d never been close to anyone, maybe Maria, but you’d always struggled socially. You had been largely ignored in your family, forgotten child number five. The middle child, never truly wanted.

But it felt as easy as breathing with Billy.

“To Frankie? Yeah, he’s my brother.” Billy smiled fondly.

“I used to skateboard down this hill where I lived. It was really steep. I always got bloodied up, but it didn’t stop me.” You said, remembering your mother’s house, and the bad memories that followed. But it didn’t stop you from loving the countryside, being free of societal expectations and pressures. You could just lay in the grass and dream, and think, and write in your journal while your cat, Molly caught mice, bringing them to you for head scratches.

Billy smirked; “Daredevil, huh?” He teased you.

You smiled, inwardly hoping you could do this with Billy again, tired of feeling lonely.

“More like dumb,” you said, tone self deprecating.

Billy tucked a stray hair behind your ear, and you were sure you looked like a deer caught in the headlights, “You felt free though, flying down that hill, didn’t you?” You were disappointed when he pulled his hand away.

You grabbed his hand, pulling it back. “Don’t stop.” You said, softly.

Billy hummed, thumb stroking your bottom lip, a frown creasing his brow, “You make me want more.” He said, looking frustrated.

“Is that a bad thing?” You asked softly, leaning closer to him, making him mirror your action.

“Yeah.” He husked, kissing your cheek anyway, attachments be damned, but he wanted you.

Your heart dropped, and you lowered your eyes. He tilted your chin up, “My ma safe havened me at a fire station in Albany. I learned at a young age that nothin’ lasts.”

You felt your throat constricting at the image of little Billy being left. “But doesn’t it make it sweeter?” You asked, lips quivering.

His thumb caught your tears. “Yeah, mouse. It does.” He agreed.

Billy was trying to teach you darts. You were entirely too focused on Billy and his forearms, however. His sweater pulled up to his elbows, making you want. He threw one with a thunk and it hit the bullseye, staying there.

“Your turn, mouse.”

You took the dart from him, fingers tingling as they brushed his.

You threw it like he showed you, it slapped the target and fell to the floor pathetically.

He booped your nose, laughing. “You’re terrible at this.” He teased you.

He threw another one. It hit the target and stayed.

You glared, when the next one you threw clung pathetically to the edge of the board.

Billy smirked and stepped behind you, holding your arm, and helping you aim. His hands drifted to your hips. “Throw it with some force, mouse.”

You tried, a little too focused on his hands on your hips, the warmth of his touch. It knocked the other one off the board, before falling to the floor itself.

Billy chuckled; “Goddamn, you’re bad. But it’s funny.” He said, pinching your sides.

You glared, “I may not be able to throw a dart, but I can count stitches and crotchet my ass off, Mr. Marine.”

Billy smirked; “Yes ma’am.”

“You should buy me a drink for being so mean.” You teased him, lightly.

“Sure, mouse.” He said amused, kissing your cheek, making your face heat up.

You looked away, feeling suddenly very shy, and Billy grabbed your chin, making you look at him. “You’re pretty cute Miss Crochet-My-Ass-Off.”

You bit your lip, and his eyes were drawn to the action. “Stop that,” he said roughly, pulling your lip from your teeth, before he kissed your mouth.

He tasted the onion rings on your tongue, his kisses were between soft and sweet, and hard. He pulled back smiling as you chased his mouth. “How about that drink?” He husked.

“Yes, please.” You said, heart thudding in your chest.

He grabbed your hand, pulling you along.

You followed, happily.

[drabblesandimagines]

Kitty (part 5)

Parts 1-4 can be found at my masterlist. Pairings: Rei Suwa x reader Lotsa fluff (as usual)

Your alarm goes off just before seven but you’ve been awake a while, staring at the ceiling and blaming an internal body clock. Before you’d gone up to bed last night, Kazuki had said he’d take Miri to daycare in the morning but you’d assured him you could do it. You’d at least slept a bit before they’d come home and it’s not the first time you’ll get by on less than a full night’s sleep. You get up and dressed – a denim dungaree dress, black t-shirt and leggings – and head through to Miri’s bedroom, coaxing her out of bed and downstairs with the promise of her beloved chocolate cereal for breakfast if she plays what you’ve dubbed the whisper game, saying you both had to be as sneaky and quiet as mice. You’re hoping to keep the noise down to allow Kazuki and Rei some more sleep. Miri settles down with cartoons on mute as she eats and you eat something from Kazuki’s large amount of food prep from the other day. It’s then back up to the bedroom to get her dressed, do the temperature record and sentence or two about the late night for her book, and packing up her essentials for the day.

All packed and ready, you’re heading to the front door when the bathroom door slides open and a bed-headed – tub-headed? - Rei emerges, yawning.

“Morning,” he mumbles.

“Papa Rei!” Miri collides into his legs, still whispering - thankfully. “Are you coming too? Please, please!”

“Er… Sure,” he runs a hand through his hair in an attempt to flatten it and shuffles over to the door, Miri holding onto his leg the whole way. “Why are we whispering?”

“Me and Kitty are mice - squeak-squeak!” She squeals, shoving her shoes onto her feet. “You try, Papa Rei.”

“Er…” He looks at Miri and then you – you give what you hope is an encouraging smile.

“Squeak.”

--

Picking up Miri yesterday was odd – you’d ignore the mothers’ stares and hushed comments of, “Is she the mistress?” And “No, she’s got to be the nanny”, when they’d seen you waiting for Miri to pack her belongings, chatting politely with Ms Anna. You hadn’t quite made it through stutter-free, but the daycare teacher’s kind eyes and smile hadn’t put you so on edge, at least.

It’s even weirder being here with Rei. Miri is holding both yours and Rei’s hands as you approach the daycare and the chatter appears to cease entirely as soon as you step foot into the playground. Seeing Rei at morning drop-off must be a rare occurrence as the mothers soon descend, swarming the three of you, saying how nice it was to see him, but where’s Kazuki?

“Uh…” Rei trailed off, looking a little like a deer caught in headlights at the women’s questioning.

“Z-Z-Zuki’s f-fine.” The eyes all turn to you and you regret opening your mouth, but you can see they’re after more detail. “H-he’s j-just h-h-hav-having a l-lie-in.” You can deal with Kazuki, Rei and Miri looking at you, but the gaggle of women is a little too much and your stutter got progressively worse the more you tried to get through the sentence. You want the floor to swallow you up.

There are some raised eyebrows and side glances, but suddenly – thankfully - Rei’s arm is around your shoulders and he navigates the three of you a way out through the crowd. “Excuse us.” He grunts. They all share a glance before they’re staring down at their phones, texting furiously. Rei drops his arm as soon as you’re clear and you immediately miss its reassuring presence. Miri tugs at your arm, speedwalking over to Ms Anna. Rei falls behind for a second and a mother jumps at the opportunity, grabbing hold of him by his arm.

“Rei, it’s so lovely to see you here. Kazuki tells us how busy you are. I’m Asahi’s mother, I’m sure Miri’s told you all about her!” She giggles. The name vaguely rings a bell in Rei’s head – something about Asahi being quite bossy.

“Uh-huh,” Rei tries to politely shrug his arm out of her grip to follow you and Miri but she holds firm. “And I take that sweet girl is your nanny! I hope you don’t mind me saying this – and I’m sure she’s nice - but I couldn’t help but notice that nasty stutter. You do need to be careful around this age, exposing Miri to something like that could hamper her educational development, you know? And she could replicate the behaviour around my Asahi, they’re just so easily influenced at this age…”

Rei is done with being polite and shakes his arm free with force. “Shut up.”

“Excuse me?” Her face screams disbelief.

Rei is ready to repeat himself, but doubt swirls in his mind. Kazuki probably would agree, but he could also be mad if he finds out Rei’s made an enemy with one of the daycare moms… He bites his tongue and rephrases.

“I said, she’s not the nanny. And her stutter is fine.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. As I said, she seems very sweet. I just thought…”

“I know.” Rei grits his teeth. “Thank you.” And then he strides over to where you and Miri are chatting to Ms Anna at the door, waiting for you.

“E-everything okay?” You ask.

“Mm.”

After Miri is signed in and waves you both goodbye, Rei’s arm is back around your shoulders and speed walks the both of you through the crowd with a scowl across his face – warning everyone to steer clear. You’re thankful – there’s probably not a job in public speaking for you in the future.

“You okay?” He checks in as you head up the street, back towards the apartment.

“Y-yeah. I f-feel a little s-silly that I pa-panicked.”

“They kind of scare me too, to be honest.”

You laugh a little at that. You can’t imagine much scaring Rei.

His arm is still around your shoulders and it feels comforting as you walk. You think about returning the gesture, slipping your own arm around his waist when suddenly a ringtone blares out and his arm leaves your shoulders to retrieve his phone from his pocket. Too late. “It’s Kazuki.”

He answers without a word.

“Where are you?” You can hear Kazuki’s tired voice echo through the speaker. You don’t want to eavesdrop but the volume makes it impossible.

“I’m with Kitty – Miri wanted us both to take her to daycare.”

“Oh, did she?” A pause. “Ohhhh, you sly dog.” What on earth does that mean?

“Huh?” Rei seems as clueless as you.

“Hey, buddy, why don’t you both swing by and see Kyu? You can pick up the payment for yesterday and have a drink.”

“Er…” He pulls the phone away from his face. “Do you mind if we pop in to see Kyu?”

“No.” You shake your head. “S-sounds nice.” You haven’t met the man who’s apparently researching your past yet. Kazuki had taken photos of you on his phone to show him previously for his research.

“Okay. We’ll go.”

“Great! And, er, no need to rush back, if you get what I mean. Bye!”

The phone beeps, signaling the end of the call and Rei pulls it back from his face, looking bemused. He doesn’t get what Kazuki means.

“Is Z-Zuki okay?”

“He’s being weird.” He sticks his hands back in his pocket. “We’ll head this way, then. You’ll like the walk along the river bank.”

You reach the café Yadorigi and Rei holds the door open for you. There’s a tall gentleman dressed in black behind the counter, drying off a cup as you enter. He has brown hair and glasses and a mildly surprised look as you enter with Rei. Looking around briefly, it seems you’re currently his only customers at this early hour.

“Well, it’s rare I see you out of the apartment, Rei. And this must be the famous Kitty.” He smiles warmly at you, gesturing for you both to take a seat at the counter.

“H-hi.” You smile back, sitting down on a stool. “It’s nice t-to meet y-you.”

“You too. I do hope Kazuki and Rei are treating you well.”

“V-very well, thank y-you.” There’s something about Kyu that’s calming - almost.

“Good.” He turns to Rei. “Good work yesterday. Here for your payment?”

Rei nods and Kyu pulls open a drawer. He removes two brown envelopes and slides them over and Rei tucks them into his jacket pocket. You don’t know what the job exactly entailed of – of course you’d heard some of the preparations but you’d tried not to eavesdrop. It could’ve been surveillance, blackmail, reconnaissance… It could’ve been assassination. If you hadn’t seen them in action for yourself, would you really think the two men who had taken you in were hitmen of all things? They were so patient and kind with you from the get-go. They don’t match the stereotype of people you’d been with living with in the shady underworld the past few years – you couldn’t imagine any of his men returning home to cook, clean, do laundry and lovingly tuck a child into bed. Come to think of it, you weren’t sure any of the men even had homes. The house began to seem more and more a compound towards the end as his gang grew until, that is, he was deemed too greedy and had to be eliminated from the competition.

Kazuki and Rei are in a bad business, but they saved you from a miserable, silenced existence. And, from your limited knowledge of their past hits – you’d heard the story of how they came to meet Miri last Christmas – the people they kill are not angels themselves… Kazuki has let you in a little on his past, unprompted, abandoned by his parents, getting by on the streets with cons and grifts. You hadn’t asked Rei. It doesn’t seem proper to ask when you can’t relay anything. You’re aware of the Suwa empire from dinner discussions at the house, he had started to speak his plans to transcend the Organization, rumours of the Suwa heir leaving the nest, exposing a vulnerability…  All whilst you had your head bowed down, hands clasped, awaiting his instructions.

“Kitty?” Rei’s hand is on your arm and you realise you’ve done it again – got tied up in your thoughts and ignored a question.

“S-sorry, I was m-m-miles away.”

“That’s okay.” It’s Kyu this time. “I just asked if there was something you’d like to drink.”

“Oh. Erm…” There’s no menu that you can see, but there’s a familiar scent, sparking something in your brain at the fact you have choice. “Any t-type of c-coffee, really.”

Rei’s eyes widen at that – besides the cocoa, you’d never really partaken in hot drinks back at the apartment, always going for water.

“I didn’t know you liked coffee.”

You smile, sheepishly. “I’m s-still trying t-to work out w-w-what I like too.”

Kyu begins to grind some coffee beans. “So, you really remember nothing of your life before Aktomi?”

Your stomach flips at the name you refuse to use - you squeeze your nails into your palms before you shake your head. “S-sometimes t-there’s a flash of s-something, b-b-but nothing con-concrete. I j-just remember the h-house and him.”

“It could be your brain protecting itself from trauma.” Rei states and Kyu gives him a quizzical look. “Or that’s what I read online.”

That makes you feel uneasy. If your brain was keeping things locked away from before the house – the house in which you were beaten, starved, forced to live in servitude to a mafia boss – what on earth were you not wanting to remember from your home life?

“Could be amnesia from a head injury too.” Kyu comments as he takes the freshly ground coffee over to an espresso machine. “Kazuki said you stopped talking so Aktomi would stop hitting you in the face?”

Rei tenses at that besides you.

You wished Kyu would stop saying his name, but you don’t feel confident enough to voice your discomfort. “I w-was a little st-stubborn, until I-I wasn’t.” Beaten into the good, submissive maid you became.

Kyu notes the deepening scowl on Rei’s face and thinks perhaps he should move the conversation on. “Without sounding too big-headed, my contacts and research are usually spot-on, but I’ve reached a dead end at the moment. I’m still surprised you didn’t show up on anything when the hit was organized. If you remember anything, please get in touch. I’m sure you must be eager to return to your old life after so long away.”  

You don’t miss the trace of suspicion in his tone, but you try not to take offence. He must have to be naturally suspicious in his line of work, you reason. You wouldn’t describe yourself as eager at all - you quite like the life you’ve found yourself in at the moment. Being with Rei, Kazuki and Miri makes you feel safe, relaxed, content – all feelings you haven’t had in a long while. Though, you have to admit, when Kyu mentions your old life, you can’t help but wonder if the three of them miss their old life, without you, your lack of history, your stutter and your taking up Rei’s bedroom.  

“I w-will.” You smile politely, as he begins to froth some milk.

“Can we sit in a booth?” Rei asks, abruptly.

“Why, tired of me already?” Kyu teases. “Go for it. I’ll bring these over.”

Rei nods and gets up from his seat, heading towards the booth in the back right-hand corner of the establishment. You slide into the seat and he sits opposite, forcing a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. You can tell he wants to say something but he’s holding back and you’re not one to talk, so you settle into a companiable silence as Kyu finishes making your drinks. He comes over with a fruity orange concoction for Rei and a coffee for you.

“Flat white.” Kyu serves with a smile.

“T-thanks.”

“How much do we owe you?” Rei asks, sullenly.

“For the young lady’s first visit – on the house.” He waves off, returning to behind the bar.

Rei takes a long sip through a straw, looks over his shoulder to see Kyu cleaning the counter and then leans forward to you, shoulders sagging with the release of tension. ”I didn’t like his tone.”

“H-he’s just d-doing his job.” You try to shrug it off. Kazuki’s told you before that he and Rei have worked with Kyu for years and you don’t want to cause a fuss. You take a sip of the flat white. “Mm. I d-do like c-coffee!”

Rei can’t help but smile at that.

As you enjoy your drinks, the dark-haired man pulls his phone out of his pocket and shows you a game he downloaded to pass the time on the car ride yesterday. The bell jingles to signal the arrival of another customer and a tall, a receding black hairline man enters and looks around. He’s dressed in all black and is bulky – he wouldn’t have looked out of place at the house. His eyes seem unnaturally wide and protrude out of his skull almost, his face expressionless. It’s unnerving. You cast your eyes back down to the table and the phone screen, but the hairs standing up on the back of your neck suggest he’s staring at you. There’s a hushed conversation between the mysterious man and Kyu, before you hear a pen click twice and he vacates.

Weird.

 --

After you finish your drinks and say goodbye to Kyu, you walk back along the riverbank. It’s peaceful and you’re content in Rei’s company. You like talking to him, of course, but silence seems different with him. With Miri, conversation is constant and you don’t blame her, she’s an inquisitive child who says everything and anything that comes to mind. With Kazuki, well, he’s just being sweet and trying to improve your confidence, especially after the grocery store incident. You can tell he worries you might regress, so he tries to keep the conversation flowing at all times. But with Rei, it all just feels different. He goes at your pace, he doesn’t speak just to fill the void, but everything he seems to say is considered. And those fleeting touches the two of you have had lately…

You don’t know what it is – it could be the warmth of the sun on your skin, the relaxing sound of the water, the gentle breeze, the buzz of the caffeine, the man himself - but whatever it is, it gives you a surge of courage and without a second thought you grab his hand.

As soon as you touch his fingers, the panic springs up. You’ve misread the situation, you’ve overstepped the mark… but, before you can pull away, his fingers deftly intertwine with yours and the panic quells instantaneously, as if it was never there in the first place.

Looking at your laced hands, you glance up at Rei, feeling your cheeks flush. There’s a dreamy smile on his face as you continue the walk back to the apartment in silence.

----

Please like and follow me if you've enjoyed - they really help me write the next part :)

I *think* I know how I'll conclude this series but I think there's a little while to go yet...

EDIT: Part 6 is here, my lovelies! <3

[howlingday]

Ruby J. West

Ruby: We can definitely escape, Penny! All you have to do is pull the cover off that steam pipe!

Penny: Good idea, Ruby!

Penny: (Pulls cover, Steam pours in)

Ruby: OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! IT'S NO GOOD! IT'S FULL OF STEAM!

--------------------------------------------------

Ruby: Hm... Now that you mention it, I do have trouble breathing underwater sometimes. I'll take the gills!

Roman: Yeah, gills... That means you won't need those pesky lungs anymore, right?

Ruby: I don't see why I would.

--------------------------------------------------

Ruby: I may not know anything about deer, but I know a lot about doing anything for just one Lien!

Ruby: (Reaches for Lien bill on electric wire, Can't reach)

Ruby: (Sighs, Climbs down)

Ruby: (Climbs up, Reaches with metal pole) Let me tell you something; if you think bad luck can defeat me, then you don't know my name is Ruby J. Ro- OOOOOOOAGH! Ugh... Phew!

Ruby: (Struck by lightning, Falls)

--------------------------------------------------

Jacques: You little shit! You think you can ruin me?! How much do you want?

Ruby: Put that checkbook away, Mr. Schnee, because I found something more important. My friends. And they're not worth a penny to me!

Penny: (Confused look)

Jaune: (Disappointed look)

Ruby: That's why these little guys are going on a pizza, so I can share the food I love with the people I like.

Jacques: Holy hell, you're going to eat them?! Well, make sure you eat them all. You're a growing girl. Toodle-Oo~! (Mutters) Dumb bitch...

Ruby: What a nice, old man.

--------------------------------------------------

Ruby: (Thinking) I really can read minds! I have a superpower! There must be something I can use it for...

Ruby: (Gasps)

Ruby: (Sneaks into boy's locker room) Hello, gentlemen. I can read your thoughts~!

Ruby: Hey- OW! OOF! ACK! OWIE! OUCH! OWOWOW! (Kicked out) Oogh... Oh, wait. That's invisibility.

--------------------------------------------------

Ruby: I propose a competition. If I win, Remnant is safe. If I lose, you kill us!

Penny: !!!

Salem: Fine, whatever.

Salem: FOR THE FATE OF REMNANT, I SHALL ASK BUT ONE QUESTION! WHAT NUMBER AM I THINKING OF?!

Ruby: Uh...

Salem: It's between 1 and 3.

Ruby: FOUR!

Penny: ???

Salem: Between 1 and 3, not including 1 or 3.

Ruby: M!

Penny: ...Is it M?

Salem: ...Yes. The number I was thinking of is the letter M.

--------------------------------------------------

Jaune: Don't you ever think ahead?

Ruby: Hell no! If I thought ahead, I wouldn't be Queen of the Mice! And I wouldn't even be at Beacon! It reminds me of the story of the Grasshopper and the Octopus. All year long, the Grasshopper kept burying acorns for winter, while the Octopus watched TV all day and mooched off her boyfriend. Then the winter came and the Grasshopper died, and the Octopus ate all the Grasshopper's acorns and also she got a racecar!

Ruby: Is any of this getting through to you?

--------------------------------------------------

Cinder: What do you do for a living?

Ruby: Um... Can I phone a friend?

Cinder: WITTY BANTER ACHIEVED!

Cinder: Are you ready to play?

Ruby: I didn't come to play. I CAME TO WIN! Now let's play!

Cinder: For one lien, what tool is used to hammer a nail?

Cinder: A, a hammer. B, a nail. C-

Ruby: B! NAIL! FINAL ANSWER!

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

[balkanradfem]

I started reading the book 'Pests' by Bethany Brookshire. I thought it would be a book filled with information on how to protect your garden without causing any harm to animals. I could not have been more wrong, but soon it didn't matter, because I was drawn in immediately. This book is written by a brilliant scientist, who presents to you, the history, the data, the results and the cultural context of pests all around the world. It starts with squirrels, but then goes on to talk about pythons, pigeons, cats, rats, mice, frogs, coyotes, wolves, elephants, dogs, raccoons, deer, bears – and how they've been seen as a pest, most often for no fault of their own.

I learned about the numerous ways people in the past have created a 'pest' problem for themselves, and how they went on resolving it, and honestly I was shocked  at the most of it. I did not know that human scientists developed specific plagues for animals in order to get rid of them. I also had no idea how quickly humans turned the perception of a certain animal from 'useful' to 'pest', without even realizing they're responsible for the behaviour of the animal in the first place. Also the number of times humans have attempted to introduce a predator in order to get rid of an invasive species – only to immediately cause a new invasive species, absolutely incredible.

I was surprised to find out that some specific animals could be pests at all, for example, elephants. Absorbing the information presented to me thus far, I thought elephants were nothing short of wonderful and welcome in anyone's life – but, the story describes them eating the entire fields worth of grain, in only one night. And due to their size, they're unstoppable. They've destroyed houses, and even killed people, as a result of trying to get to the food. The elephants are a protected species, so the locals have been forced to develop different way of co-existing, namely, to stop growing grain and try to find different ways of survival and sustenance. There have been numerous other attempts to protect the fields from them, but how would you protect anything from an elephant? The only thing they're scared of, are bees. And if there's food to be gained, they'll overcome the fear of the bees too.

Did you know that if mice multiply too much, they'll have a mice plague that will wipe them out, without human interference?  Mice and rats are described as the animals closest to us – because they live where we live, eat what we eat, and learn whatever it takes to find their way in the land of humans. And it seems, we have the same problems as well.

One of my favourite little piece of knowledge in this book: the scientists studying the snakes in a lab name the snakes after Slytherins – so they have Snape, Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, and Bellatrix. It was amazing to listen about Snape the snake.

The author of this book is incredibly unbiased, and shows her love for every animal mentioned, but also understanding and compassion for people who have felt wronged, violated, helpless and cornered by the animal, and how awful it feels to not be able to protect their homes and livelihoods from an animal invading their territory. In author's mind, the animals are not at fault, because all they've been trying to do is survive, get to the source of food, for them this is foraging. For us, it's nature taking from us what we intended for ourselves.

The problem of seeing animals as pests, comes often from the perception of us being the dominating species, and having the right to remove or introduce or change animals, by how convenient and pleasing we find them. She sourced the problems from negative experiences, loss, violation and danger, but also from culture, colonialism, religion, behaviours of the people around us. Most children have no concept of danger or pests – babies in a study would reach out curiously seeing a picture of snake. Perception of which animal is good and which one is bad, comes with culture, experience and the behaviour of everyone else around it. And our collective perception comes from whether the animal is rare, whether it lives close to us, if we have to adjust our lives because of it or not, if we have had negative experiences or not, whether it can hurt us, whether we have something the animal wants (food) and tries to get from us.

I recommend this book to anyone who'd like to know more about the history of humans trying to live alongside – or refusing to live alongside certain animals. And anyone dealing with any kind of pest, or just not understanding why animals act the way they do around humans.

I come out from reading this, feeling no more wise on how to keep the pests out – except for, don't leave the food outside the house where animals can get to it, that's the #1 reason for most scenarios – but feeling way more understanding and at ease about animals that are perceived as pests. I know solutions  that have been tried to deal with them, I know what didn't work, and I know how badly some collective solutions can become. I understand we need to find a way to live with them as our neighbours, not enemies, not violators of our property. And most often, just being responsible about where you leave your food, how much animals you tempt to come close to you, how you reward them for interacting with you, is more than a half of the solution.

[lunarloafofbread]

guys i love animals so much

i love you rats i love you deer i love you snakes i love you toads i love you ankle biter hearts i love you wolves i love you cats i love you mice i love you birds i love you foxes i love you frogs i love you fish i love you sharks i lo-

[yaspup9000]

What's your favorite LPS? What about your favorite Sylvanian families/calico critters? If you can, provide pics!

oh god.. these are hard…

when it comes to calico critters I just love the mice families, mainly like these guys

Norwood family

and the marshmallow mouse family

When it comes to other non mice related families, I also like the fox families, reindeer families, penguins and rabbit families. I genuinely had fell in love with the seadog/tan dog family ever since I found tan/seadog mother Jane at a thrift store a few years ago.

now for littlest pet shop, that really depends because my favorite littlest pet shop when it comes to vibes was most definitely the sticker eye pets mainly this dog here

When I was younger I genuinely thought this dog was doing the awsome face. (who remembers awsome face btw)

now when it comes to pet molds I genuinely have a lot of mold I genuinely like. Mainly the canines like dogs, foxes and even wolf molds. For rabbits I love the lop eared rabbits (btw basic fun should really bring back that mold btw) mice and hamsters are pretty good. Love the deer so much. I also genuinely love some of the newborn lps tho, mainly these bunny triplets from the rescue tails playset

Between awsome face dog and these baby bunnies I most definitely want to have them again. I’m not gonna get too much into stuff but some of my other collection of lps and other stuff was thrown out without my consent nor me knowing which is.. kinda screwed up and I’ve been trying to make peace with it.

anyways I just have a long mental list of pets I generally like that it might be its own post when it comes to lps tier lists

[kiwwles]

Liira

Liira! The Necromancer Vampire OC! She has a little skeleton fox friend and likes to host elaborate dance parties with the skeletons in her possession. AKA Superman

BACKSTORY*

Vampire attacked her family, she was the one and only survivor. Instead of joining the coven, she killed them (because they killed her family, duh.) Keeps the skulls of all the vampires as trophies.

(Talked about after the idea of Lira gaining the castle by just squatting there)

She killed the elder vampires as a fledgling through sheer rage, but then had nowhere to go.

She was lost in the woods and a servant found her. Having pity on what they though was a child, the servant took her in as an employee in the castle to provide shelter to the poor thing. Then as people started dying out she rose through the ranks by the simple quality of Not-Dying and when everyone else died she simply became the owner of the castle because she was all that was left.

Servant: *finds this small probably 16yr old in the forest covered in blood*

Servant: you poor thing :( come with me and j can get you a stable job and bed

Unfortunately, liira is just one person, and as more and more people die, it's harder die her to keep up with making the castle lion nice. So it's pretty run down by the time she meets northwind. Theres no electricity, just oil lamps and candles

Or the castle belonged to the vampires and she won it through right of conquest if you prefer, but I think it’d be funny if there’s just a random ass vampire teen who lives in the castle. She doesn’t do dishes or laundry cause ow, running water, but she’s good at dusting high places and can make a bed really well. She doesn’t eat anybody, fledglings her age are only supposed do drink their sire’s blood and she got PLENTY of that so she’s just kind of around. People get old, start to die. Didn’t repopulate fast enough to keep the castle employed. The young lord doesn’t have children after the passing of his parents. Once he grows ill and dies, that’s essentially it. Servants leave in hopes of finding other civilization or lay down and die in their homes. And Liira… watches. She is unchanged in the past two generations. People realized what she is long ago but do not care. They give her well wishes for eternity before passing on. And so Liira is left with her castle. A bit lonely though.

I love that

That's so much better then just "she killed the last vampires and got it "

It's just

Lonely. Watching everyone you know die

**REANIMATING LORE STUFF and the woods she lives*

Okay here's a random idea

All the animals near liiras castle are dead

You walk through the forest and see a squirrel run by missing fur There's a rotting badger corps digging a hole. The closer you get the more animated dead animals you see

Because she loves icolayed in a forest. She needs to drink some blood to survive, so she goes for the animals. But then she feels bad, so she reanimates their corpses, dispelling more energy, so she needs to eat more - and it's just a cycle

The villagers nearby all died out. The other vampires are gone. It's just her and the animals she feeds on

I think the animals probably intuitively avoid her when their alive. It's how they evolved. The ones who hang out with her are all dead and brainwashed

We established that her undead skeletons don’t actually have the souls of the person they once were, just her memory of how it once was, so the squirrels run around trees and bury nuts, chew on wood chips and flick their tails. But what else do squirrels do? She doesn’t know, so they just do that. On loop. Over and over. The badger roams around and digs holes, fights other animals, and generally sneaks around. Because that’s all badgers do, right? The deer roam, eat grass, follow rivers, and the males fight with their antlers. Birds sing songs but she’s not familiar with the intricacies of different birdsongs so they’re all singing the same song. Fish swim in circles. Mice stockpile vegetation with no real use. Foxes sleep in burrows and ‘hunt’ the mice. None of them exist outside of Liira’s understanding of their ‘roles’

It's so uncanny, and even if you can't tell their dead you can definitely tell there's something Off

Each animals varies, but if you follow one around,, it'll probably cover the same trail over and over. Walking in circles, repeating all the actions they were told to. Every 30 minutes to 5 hours, depending on the animal, they'll pass by that same tree

Her understanding of the animal changes how long the loop is. Squirrels are common, easier to see and learn their behaviors. Those have the longest loop. But more elusive animals? Or seasonal ones? The turkey just gobbles and scratches the ground, walking in the same half mile circle to the east of the river. The rabbits spend two hours idle, sitting still like statues in their warrens without moving because she can’t observe their behavior down there so they have no task in the burrow but she knows they’re there a lot so they go down there for hours on end.

Do you think that's why northwinds tribe left? They were traveling and saw how off the animals were. And it freaked them out so they left too soon for her to get back? I don't remember her lore that well

Imagine you're like, a traveler And you're hungry. So you follow this deer around for 20 minutes. And. It's just doing the same thing, over, and over, and over again. Do you still try and kill/ eat it?

Most hunters would keep a distance anyways, as to not scare the prey off, so they might not notice a slashed throat or blood on its snout. Even if they do, the animal is just weak now so it should be even easier to kill… but you shoot it in the heart and it got back up. Maybe you just missed. Liver shot, same thing. Lung, again. It has three arrows sticking out of it and has yet to stop doing what it was doing. Fine, headshot, let’s get this over with. Clean shot right in the eye! The deer falls. You stand up to run over. The deer stands up as well. You freeze, shaking. The deer’s head sits crooked now, leaning heavily towards the side with the arrow as it casually steps forward in the dry grass field, grazing on nothing as its face does not reach the ground but it mimes it anyways. You run. You run as fast as your legs can take you. You don’t make it out of the forest. No living thing was around to hear your scream.

Omg yes yes YESSSSS

You kill it and it just keeps getting back up. A horrid imitation of life

And as you run you swear your being followed. A twig snap there. A shadow there. Something grazes your shoulder and when you finally get a glimpse of the creature you're paralyzed by the glowing red eyes. You can't look away.

Just a dead forest of dead creatures

In a way you got what you wanted. You were hungry… and the dead have no need for food.

And now you get to dance

Forever.

[gayundertaletrash]

Nightmare headcannons ✨

These are just headcannons I have for my favorite goopy boy. Some are from other people but a lot are from me.

(Trigger warnings- mentions of abuse, maybe body horror, animal death and eating, cannibalism, trauma, eating and sleeping disorders, self h@rm)

- Nightmare is FtM and uses he/it/king pronouns (I image he loves the idea of neos and xenopronouns to). He is a gay man, and is aro-specrum. To be more specific he is aro-specrum and cupioromantic, along with queer platonic. He is also ambiamorus.

- He is married to Cross, is dating Killer, and is in a QPR with all the Bad Guys+ Error, Lust, and Blue.

- Nightmare is generally very quiet and doesn't engage in conversion unless invited. He prefers to listen to others. His main love languages are quality time, physical touch, and giving gifts and acts of service. With the last two though, he doesn't like it when others give him gifts or do things for him. He likes to be the provider.

- Before his corruption he was pretty short (5'2) and is still short in his Passive form. After his corruption he grew to 7'6. He can change his height but prefers the height his goop makes him naturally. He has gotten very used to others being scared of how tall he is and doesn't care very much anymore.

- Because of his corruption, he is kinda uncanny. Certain features about him aren't normal looking. He has really long fingers that end in extremely sharp claws. His bones kinda clash together, an example is his ribs, which are melted together kinda, so he doesn't actually have individual ribs. His eye is also slanted and looks exactly animal-like. He has sharp teeth, and has rows and rows of smaller sharp teeth that go down his throat. He also purrs and growls like an animal. In all he looks less skeleton-like the longer you look at him.

- Nightmare use to be very abusive to the Bad Guys. After years of being a complete ass, he began to recognize his behavior and turned it around. He is now past his abuse and has made up to them all. He still has a lot of guilt from it, but knows he is better now. He started changing his behavior before Cross joined, so Cross beaver really got the bad part of Nightmare's behavior.

- Nightmare is made of two beings. There is the host body/soul which is Nightmare. And then the goop. The goop is an older creature that had followed Nim when she first came to the Undertale Multiverse. The goop and Nightmare live together as one, and can't separate without both dying. The goop can retreat back inside Nightmare though which makes him become passive. Nightmare has named the good Corrupt. Corrupt is a hive mind though, and is just the whole 'hive' acting together. Each of Nightmare's tentacles are part of this 'hive'. Each tentacle is named. They are named Jupiter, Venus, Orion, and Reginald.

- Nightmare is kinda animalistic. Thai is mostly because of Corrupt though. Nightmare purrs and growls, along with other noises like squeaks and chirps. He also makes nests sometimes. Nightmare also can ( and craves) meat. Usually he gets this from small animals like mice, rats, and bird which he can eat in one bite. But he has been know to eat just about anything fleshy. This includes dead deer, dogs, rotten meat, and sometimes human or other monsters. He still acts very proper though even as he eats a half rotten deer.

- The only reason he has eaten human or monster is to help Horror. Horror, like the rest of his au, had become addicted to the taste of humans and monsters. He hates the fact he craves is and Nightmare is trying to get him off it. But because it is such a strong addiction, he has to do it slowly. Sometimes, to help the process along, he will tell Horror he is feeding him human, while feeding his something like pork. The actual human meat Nightmare has eaten himself.

- Nightmare sucks at understand most social norms. After Dreamtale and Dream being trapped in stone, Nightmare pretty much locked himself away for over 20 years. During those 20 years he forgot how to be a normal person. It isn't uncommon to find Nightmare walking around the castle in little to no clothes, or have him walk in while one of the others are changing and just sit down and start talking. He doesn't care about norms very much either, so as long as the others are comfortable, he will do just about anything he wants.

- Nightmare has a lot of mental health and physical health problems. He has insomnia and hates sleeping also because of past trauma. He has a purging disorder, which is not binging but still forcing yourself to throw up. Nightmare is trying to get better about both of these things and is slowly making progress. He also has seasonal depression, C-PTSD, anger issues, and self harm tendencies. He is slowly getting better though.

- Nightmare loves gardening, and has a giant garden filled with flowers. He loves his roses though, which he takes great care of. He has an area of flowers dedicated to certain events, and will plant a flower if something good happens. He also plays the piano and has an old one in his study. His study is what he calls his library, which takes up an entire tower in the castle.

- Nightmare is very protective of the Bad Guys and considers them first before anything else. If he had to choose between them and the whole multiverse, he would let the multiverse die and teleport them all to a different Multiverse. He loves them dearly.

Ok, that's all I have for now, hope you enjoyed. :))