#ok like first of all I wrote this on my phone in the middle of my long car trip typing super fast like a person possessed

[daisywords]

I don't know what this is, but it's somehow correct:

That night he dreamed he was tied to a table in a derelict banquet hall, lying flat on his back amid scattered plates and rusting goblets. At the head of the table, elbows framing his head, sat Lya.

He watched her upside down through wary eyes. Askew on her head sat a heavy copper crown. She smiled at him and brushed the hair from his forehead with lingering fingers.

He smiled back at her. She picked up a golden spoon and traced its tip gently along his cheekbone, over the arch of his eyebrow. Then, still smiling, she placed it against his lower eyelid and dragged it down, wedging the blunt metal between the skin and his eyeball.

He struggled and begged and she spoke gentle, teasing words, slowly and methodically extracting his eyeball. She got it all in one piece, in the end, perfect and shining in the bowl of her spoon.

He could only watch with his remaining eye, paralyzed, as she lifted the spoon to her lips.

[leaderwonim]

SEASONS

⤻ pairing. popular!sunghoon x shy!reader (ft nishimura riki and hanni from nwjns)

⤻ genre. fluff, hints of angst, brother’s best friend to lovers trope (reader is heeseung’s sister) forbidden love kinda

⤻ synopsis. park sunghoon, the notorious playboy who just so happens to be your brother’s best friend, was off limits. heeseung had made it clear to you during your freshman year of high school, and the rule still hasn’t changed even when entering your senior year. but what lee heeseung doesn’t know won’t hurt him right?

author’s note: wrote this out of boredom after listening to seasons by wave to earth 🥹 i love that song with all my heart. riki is so unserious lmao i love him. COMMENTS & REBLOGS are always appreciated 🤞

“he’s off limits,” heeseung says as he swings by your desk, watching as you scrolled through your Instagram feed, a post of sunghoon’s passing by. “i saw you stalk him, you know.”

“i wasn’t stalking him.” you say, shooing your older brother away. “geez, have you gotten crazier since you’ve left for stanford?”

“first of all, i’m not crazy.” he flicks your forehead, deciding to be the annoying older brother he was and rummage through your things. “and i’d like to see you get into stanford yn, i really would. instead of being boy crazy with your psychotic friends.”

you roll your eyes at this, placing your phone down to look at your brother. “my friends are not psychotic. plus, your stupid rule about sunghoon started in freshman year of high school, can’t you let it go?”

“never.” heeseung steps off your bed. “i know him, yn. you don’t, you don’t know what he’s capable of.”

you blow the threat from your brother. if there’s one thing you’ve learned from living with lee heeseung your entire life was that ignoring him was easier than trying to pick a fight with him. he was stubborn as a bull.

heeseung and sunghoon became friends in the fifth grade after your family had moved, and he ignored your presence up until junior year of high school, where he ruffled your hair when you congratulated him on his graduation.

“thanks little lee,” he says, and it’s all park sunghoon has spoke to you, which hurt knowing that you’ve practically tried everything since middle school for him to acknowledge your existence.

“YN!” your mother calls from the kitchen. “oh gosh, i forgot to pack heeseung his lunch! can you drive to the university?”

your cheeks puff out, which makes riki who was currently on your phone screen, laugh.

“yah, listen to your mother lee yn,” riki snickers. “i’ll come with. i need to get out of my house anyway.”

you roll your eyes at his self invitation, hanging up as you quickly run down to grab heeseung’s lunch from your mom and your keys.

yn on top☝️

be ready in 5 nishimura, im omw

nishishi

ok.

yn on top ☝️

dry ass

“get in loser!” you call out. nishimura riki pulls his black shades down, eyebrows furrowed.

“the hell you call me?” he jokes, opening your passenger car door.

he starts to buckle his seatbelt as you drive, taking a sip from your stanley. “so why are you so excited? wait—i know why. you get to see park sunghoon in action!”

“yah!” you slap his shoulder with your free hand, turning the music a bit louder so you couldn’t hear him.

“oh don’t turn up the music because you can’t handle the truth. you just wanna see your brother’s hot best friend.”

“can you blame a girl?” you say, lips out in a pout. “maybe now that i’m 18, they’ll take me seriously.”

“nobody takes you seriously, y/n.”

“nishimura riki, you have 5 minutes to get out my car.”

turns out, nishimura riki did not get outside of your car. for a boy who was on the varsity track and swim team of your high school, he refused to walk the 3 miles that was left to go to the university.

“you almost forgot his lunch idiot,” riki laughs, handing heeseung’s lunch to you. “imagine you approach sunghoon thinking you’re all cool and then he asks why you’re here and you don’t even have your brothers lunch to defend you.”

“do you always wish death upon me?” you give him the stink eye, pulling him by his hands.

“little lee, did not expect to see you here.”

you knew that voice from anywhere, and you were almost afraid to turn around to face the owner of it.

“yah little lee, i’m talking to you.” it was park sunghoon in all his glory, his hair sitting all nice and pretty as he waits for your response.

“oh! uh—where’s heeseung?”

“ouch,” sunghoon places a hand over his chest. “i greet you and the first thing you ask is where’s your brother.”

riki cackles loudly, so loud that you want to slam his mouth shut and pretend you don’t know him.

“hi park sunghoon,” he greets, extending his hand.

although sunghoon finds the tall boy a bit of a cutie by his baby face, the way he was holding onto your hand made him already seem like a threat, so sunghoon’s expression is pursed into a poker face.

“heeseung is down at the corridor,” sunghoon says, turning back to you. “do you want me to give him that?”

you nod shyly, handing the lunch to sunghoon who smiles. “aish, the kid got into stanford and he’s still making his mom make his lunch?”

you could feel riki’s hand loosen from yours, his attention caught on two students who were currently dancing on the other side of campus.

“be right back!” he exclaims, running off to watch them.

“this jerk,” you whisper underneath your breath, smiling when you make eye contact with sunghoon again.

“he’s quite the character, isn’t he?” sunghoon questions. “who is he?”

he says that in such a bitter taste that makes your stomach flip, wondering why he was suddenly upset.

“nishimura riki, he transferred to hybe high from japan just this year. he’s really sweet but very chaotic.”

“ah,” sunghoon clicks his tongue. “is he your boyfriend?”

your words almost get caught in your throat, obviously shocked by sunghoon’s straightforward question. “what?! no!”

“oh,” he smiles. “that’s good little lee.”

“you should just call me y/n,” you groan. “little lee sounds so stupid.”

“it’s not stupid,” sunghoon says, flicking his hand. “it’s cute.”

“really?”

“like you.”

before you could even process it, riki’s already running back to the two of you, excitedly telling you about the amazing dance program stanford has to offer.

“let’s go! i have to go home and submit an application to stanford!”

sunghoon raises an eyebrow at the excited tall boy who was currently grabbing you, sending you a small wave and smirk when your eyes plead for him to rescue you.

“see you soon little lee.”

“YAH! ARE YOU AN IDIOT?”

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU IT WAS AN ACCIDENT?!”

you were currently scolding the japanese boy for ruining your chances with sunghoon earlier.

“it is not my fault lee yn!” he says, puffing out his chest. “plus, the dancers say there’s a party this weekend at stanford and they’ll sneak us in. we have to go, you can see sunghoon hyung again and i can see them!”

you pursed your mouth into a thin line, riki awaiting anxiously for your answer.

“let’s say i do wanna go, heeseung would never let me go to a college party, especially not with a boy like you!”

riki clasps his hand over his chest and pretends to fall over in pain on your bed. “how could you say that?! i’m a great guy. cmon yn, you can’t let your older brother dictate your entire life, you’re 18 now!”

although riki has said a million of stupid things, he was right about this. you were eighteen, and you didn’t need your older brother ruining your chances of getting a boyfriend.

“okay,” you say, watching as riki’s eyes lit up. “let’s go. who are your dancer friends?”

the weekend had came by quicker than you thought, and you waited until heeseung said his goodbyes to you so you could get dressed and do your makeup.

although you didn’t want to go overboard with the whole thing, you still wanted to impress sunghoon, because after all, there would be a bunch of prettier college girls at the party that were smarter than you in everything.

“wow.” nishimura riki’s mouth drops as he sees your dress and face. “you clean up nice lee yn!”

“thanks ri,” you ruffle his hair, which he swats away in annoyance. “let’s go, heeseung’s already there.”

“great, so are my dancer friends!”

the two of you blended in easily, riki’s height doing both of you a favor as you held hands and made your way through the crowd of dancing and drinking college students.

“little lee?” your face bumps into sunghoon’s chest, and you almost gulp when you look up at his height. “what the hell are you doing here?”

“well that’s my queue to leave!” riki chuckles nervously, throwing you a lazy thumbs up as he runs to the drink cooler.

“never will understand that kid.” sunghoon mutters under his breath. “but seriously y/n, it can be dangerous, why are you here?”

it’s the first time in forever that he’s addressed you by your first name, and you can’t help but feel giddy.

overconfident by the drinks you had pregamed with riki previously, you find yourself leaning closer to park sunghoon. “i came here for you.”

he blinks.

“here..” he states, glancing around the party. “for me?”

the confidence wore off in a second. you were now starting to get embarrassed, cursing yourself for saying such things in front of sunghoon who probably didn’t even like you.

“that’s sweet little lee,” he says, eyes crinkling. “but you could get into a lot of trouble if your brother finds you, you know? he already freaks about you enough, finding you at a party at his college at night will kill him at the spot.”

park sunghoon was right, your brother would absolutely rage if he had found out you snuck out to go to a party. in some ways, he was even more strict than your mom.

“hoonie!” the voice of a girl interrupts the both of you as she makes her way over, placing a sloppy kiss against sunghoon’s cheek. she hasn’t said anything to you and you were already starting to see red.

“oh hi! i didn’t see you there!” she extends her hand, grinning from ear to ear. “i’m hanni, president of the pi beta thi sorority!”

you notice sunghoon’s hands finding themselves around her waist. although he’s probably only doing that to stabilize her, you find yourself too jealous to speak.

“hanni, this is lee y/n, heeseung’s sister.”

“oh!” the girl gasps. “oh my gosh, i’ve heard just so much about you! you’re prettier in real life! what are you doing at a college party?”

now you can’t really keep being mad at her because she seems so genuine when she’s complimenting you.

“oh, my friend riki has dancer friends who invited us.” you say awkwardly, watching as sunghoon whispers something in hanni’s ear.

“well that’s awesome, i hope i’m gonna see you here next year!” hanni then waves her hands, parting away from sunghoon. “i’m gonna go say hi to your brother, toodles!”

you watch as she makes her way towards the outside, most likely to the pool. at least you knew where your brother was so you know how to avoid him.

“hanni is really sweet,” sunghoon says as you turn back to face him. “met her a few months ago.”

“oh really,” you say, biting the inside of your cheek. “is she your girlfriend?”

sunghoon laughs as if it’s the funniest thing in the world. “what? no—of course not. she’s just touchy when she’s drunk. she’s dating one of my frat friends, his name is yang jungwon.”

you let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, happy that sunghoon was still single. after all, hanni was a pretty and nice girl, you wouldn’t be surprised if she was able to pull him.

the two of you stand in silence for a bit, sunghoon staring into your eyes with his dazed eyes. you almost want to pull him in, close the gaps between yours and his lips.

“am i stupid?” he suddenly asks, eyes still in contact with yours.

“no, why would you say that sunghoon?”

“i still like you after all this time. even when i got to college and promised myself i’d find a girlfriend and move on, you’re always still at the back of my mind.”

his confession makes you wonder if you were hallucinating, not believing that the park sunghoon who you’ve been inlove with since childhood was currently telling you he liked you.

“i..” he doesn’t let you say anything else, choosing to lean in and kiss you instead.

it’s all great and feels magical until you’re pulled back harshly, the sound of your brother’s yelling filling your ears.

“LEE Y/N? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING AT A COLLEGE PARTY, AT NIGHT? KISSING SUNGHOON OF ALL PEOPLE? WE’RE GOING HOME!”

you want to cry in embarrassment when you realize everyone has turned their eyes to look at you, and sunghoon throws you a look of guilt and pity when he sees heeseung dragging you away.

“stop it, you’re embarrassing me.” you cry as you’re outside the party.

“me, embarrassing you?” heeseung scoffs, looking up into the sky before looking down at you. “do you know how much you’ve disappointed me tonight? first, you dress up in barely any clothes, then you sneak into a party with some japanese male exchange student, and then you KISSED MY BEST FRIEND?” you close your eyes at heeseung’s yelling, wishing for the earth to swallow you whole.

“what will i do with you?” he grumbles as he drives the two of you home. “you’re lucky mom is out of town for two days. if i drove you home like this, she would kill you. and is that fucking alcohol i smell on you lee y/n?”

you gulp, knowing full well that you probably reeked of alcohol and sunghoon’s cologne at that moment.

“i told you he was a bad influence.” heeseung says as a red light comes up, turning to you as his hands were still on the steering wheel. “he’s going to break your heart and crush it beneath his feet, and who are you gonna come crying to? me. i’ve seen it so many times before y/n, my own girl friends at college have got with sunghoon and all he’s done is crush their souls and spirits. you think you’re any different because he said a few sweet things and kissed you?”

“stop it.” you say, wiping your tears away. “you’re being mean, heeseung.”

“men like him don’t change, y/n. sure, he’s my best friend, but he’s not a good boyfriend. he’ll drop you the second he feels like you’re inconvenient.”

you let out your first sob at night as your brother pulls into your driveway. although he’s still fuming mad at you for going against all his rules, he pulls you into his chest, letting you cry it out as he rubs your back comfortingly.

“are you okay?” is the first thing nishimura riki says when he sees you at school, frowning at your bloodshot eyes. “i saw you get dragged away by heeseung hyung yesterday night. it was really loud.”

“gee, thanks.” you scowl at him, making him raise his hands in surrender.

“if it makes you feel better, sunghoon wanted to speak to you.”

your head suddenly peeks up at this, and riki almost laughs by how easily he could change your mood.

“really? even after last night?”

“mhm.” riki stabs a fork into his mashed potatoes. “but he didn’t look so happy, so if you end up crying after, i have ice cream at my house.”

you let out a laugh at the boy’s words, silently thanking the world for giving you such an unserious best friend.

and just like riki had said earlier, park sunghoon was waiting in front of your house by the time you got home.

“hey.” he says, hands in pocket.

“hey.”

“about last night,” he seems to be looking everywhere but you. “i’m really sorry about your brother.”

“it’s fine.” you say, shrugging. “he was just being overprotective as usual.”

“yeah.” sunghoon steps closer cautiously. “i meant what i said, you know. about me liking you.”

“sunghoon, i like you too.”

he nods slowly, expression still glum. “that’s the problem though. we cant be together, y/n, you know that, right?”

“why?” you breathe out. “because you want to keep playing girls at your college?”

his eyebrows furrow deeply. “what? no? i’m just—i can’t be with you!” he steps backwards. “i’ll ruin your life, you said it yourself, i play girls at stanford. what’s to say i wont do the same to you?”

“i have known you since you were 10 sunghoon!” you say, throwing up your hands exasperated. “i know you can change for the better. i won’t let you go away this easily, not when i’ve spent my entire life loving you.”

“really?” sunghoon whispers, eyes teary. “you’ve spent your entire life loving me?”

“i have.” you walk up to sunghoon, cupping his face into your hands. “and i’ll love you for my next life if i have to.”

he laughs quietly, head tilting as he admired your face.

“little lee,” he says softly. “you really are a gem, aren’t you?”

park sunghoon being park sunghoon doesn’t let you reply to his words, instead shutting you up with a long kiss on the lips.

“wow.” you say as you pull away, making the older boy giggle. “lee heeseung is so gonna kill the both of us after the life lecture he gave me last night.”

“can’t kill me if i move away to antarctica.” sunghoon smirks, watching as your expression changes in a millisecond.

“YAH PARK SUNGHOON! YOU ARE NOT MOVING ANTARCTICA AFTER JUST CONFESSING TO ME!”

[crguang]

Okay sat, I might’ve forgotten to my anon mark at the end of my last message aand I’ve reread part 4 like 5 times, but still, 

what the fuck, literally was thinking abt it in all my classes. And I will be yapping, as I guessed.

First of all, fuck Kafka really wish I was tbh she is so annoying, like just assuming r isn’t that upset, like they’re just having a little argument when r is grappling w the fact that they fell for a criminal, and literally killed their coworkers and a ton of other people, she is pissing me off. Also the stuff abt Kafka and her nihilism…giving me some thoughts. Btw have himeko and Kafka encountered each other in this, or has Himeko just heard abt her? And shes so nice, calling r everyday and being so understanding…

I can’t imagine what Kafka did when she found out she got blocked. Her going to text u and then realizing she’s blocked…kafka pausing when she sees that r blocked her. Kafka waiting to get unblocked as she orders gifts for u, who keeps checking her phone for messages from u as she sends more gifts, reminiscing abt when your first met in the store, silver wolf and blade noticing how Kafka seems to be waiting for smth, Kafka who decides to text you on an encrypted number to see how you’re doing, Kafka who sees that she isn’t forgiven and orders so many fucking flowers bc she didn’t know ur favorite. Ugh I can imagine her bringing all of them into r’s house, god she’s pathetic, I need to kiss her so bad so she shuts the fuck up.

anyway I may or may not have started writing a Kafka fic 👀 tbh I don’t rlly read romance novels so idk how the typical academic rivals thing usually works, trope wise. For some reason I keep fixating on her fucking nails. Like to me, she has them manicured all fancy, but Im fairly certain shorter not manicured nails are better for fingering. On her violin ofc, obviously. I played cello middle and high school, and I kept them long, bc I liked scratching people don’t ask I was a strange kid, but I feel like she’d keep them short bc she’s rlly serious abt it. Also Kafka is so dislikable, her ego is so big, and she’s always calm, like if she didn’t look like she was trying and still top of the class it’d piss me off too 😭

Also in the wardence event rn, I haven’t played it bc I’ve been sleeping or smth like that, but silver wolf shows up 😭 like ik it makes the most sense, since she has holograms but Kafka showed up as a hologram once ok 😭 but what silver said is like “i heard u we’re joining the wardence, and two whose names I won’t mention insisted I go check on you. Why couldn’t they do it themselves.” Ugh Kafka is so obvious it’s actually gonna kill me. And yes wtf couldn’t Kafka have showed up, she’s worth like 11 billion, so ik she can’t show up all the but cmon. 

-🌠

hehfjfjgjfjfj posting a new chapter and having ppl go “man fuck kafka” is funny as hell because honestly, yeah, fuck her😭 i think it was important for me to portray how her personality can be irritating in certain contexts and how being with her really wouldn’t be bliss all the time cause she doesn’t deal with emotions much, and that includes others’. she’s not totally detached from them which is why she does try but it’s very clumsy. it’ll be elaborated on in the next part but in her mind she really has picked the best outcome here and even if she was acting in her own interest, she was protecting R, she’s just an information hoarder. being on the opposite side means you dont know wtf is going on in her head and cant explain her behavior as anything else but “she doesn’t give a shit about me”. it’s an interesting situation to write that’s for sure but im glad that her efforts, though genuine, make yall feel irritated bc thats the point hehe

what i wrote about kafka’s nihilism was not entirely true, and i did it on purpose because R doesn’t know her. i do think that nihilism/finality creates a certain distance between her and accountability. when you tell yourself that this outcome was always a possibility, that it could have happened anyway, the choice you make is no longer fully yours which means that the consequences aren’t fully on your shoulders as well. i think that makes it easier for the stellaron hunters to do what they do, that and the goal they’re working towards that is supposedly the best outcome for humanity. but kafka is anything but passive. she is not “subjected” to things, she has an active role in her future and the ones of the millions of people that it touches within the constraints of destiny. i think with nihilism it’s easy to fall into a state of learned helplessness, where you suffer through the things happening to you because “nothing matters” and “it was going to happen anyway”, but kafka is not like that at all. “if destiny doesn’t propel me forward, i’ll be the one to push destiny”— this is what she does, so describing her as a drop in the ocean isnt entirely accurate because she’s making waves. R will learn that

himeko and kafka have crossed paths canonically before the trailblazer so it’s the same in this. i like that himeko has an opinion of kafka that has been cemented through their brief meetings over the time. in that one “keeping up with star rail” where kafka’s kit is presented, hime has a lot of shit to say about her 😭 all bad. she’s also aware that kafka plays mind games in it so really for her to hear “kafka manipulated me” was like “fork found in kitchen” there’s no surprise there. one of my favorite qualities in hime is her understanding and ability to understand multiple perspectives at once, it develops her already deep empathy and its just very admirable. shes a very soft character, i love her

AND YESSSSS SHE DEFINITELY REACTED LIKE THAT TO BEING BLOCKED HDJFJFKKG she stared at her phone like “oh. they’re really mad” and decided to give them a few days to cool off which is why she sent the first gift and after that she’d be wondering whether to text you or not for like a week; would open her phone, type in your number, pause for ten seconds then go “they’re probably still upset” and send another gift. silver wolf would be like “damn youre on your phone as often as i am. whats wrong with you” and firefly’s eventually the one telling her to go there herself to apologize and not wtv tf shes doing which is why kafka finally texts 😭 shes funny asf. the sheer ridiculousness of ordering hundreds of flowers and taking over half an hour to place them inside your apartment (that she technically broke into) to surprise you is so patheticcccc i would have swooned a bit im sorry. like omg youre pathetic get out of my house but also kiss me before you go… “forget it i’ll just get all of them” can she die 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

aaaaa im glad you have time to write the academic rivals au!! typically people have the rivals work together in some sort of assigned group project to force them to interact together but you can go about it differently, like one of them’s practicing for a big piece and the other gets to the practice room too late but but the others are taken and they have to practice the same thing anyway so might as well. or the mc is struggling and kafka happens to pass by and give her some (snarky) pointers which turns into her showing her how its done and the mc actually learning from her (which would make me homicidal). they could also just happen to meet outside of the school context and start developing a new relationship that way. do what feels right!! and yeah, kafka’s nonchalance makes it seem like shes effortlessly good when in reality she takes that shit seriously and practices often😭 it’d still piss me off tho idc

silver wolf showed up in the other event and its just so ridiculous how they always have her everywhere man😭 like fine she’s always keeping up with new games coming out and shit but would it kill them to show kafka once im gonna tear my hair out, we even got to text firefly during the wardance like im gonna screammmm. but kafka and her sending SW to check ip on the tb is so stupid they care so bad😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 typical of kafka not to show or text herself i need to strangle her. the lufou hates her tho so it’s WHATEVER.

[deliciouskeys]

Cozy Corner Domaystic prompt #6: Laundry

Butchlander, 1k. (Ok, at least I wrote one! phew)

"It's really not that funny."

"Agree to disagree." Butcher can barely get the words out before he cracks up again.

"This is entirely your fault, you know, beginning to end."

"Oh yeah, how do you figure that?"

"If you didn't fucking--" Homelander sighs and presses his lips together in frustration, looking pained to even say it. "... fucking use my cape as a rag and get it dirty in the first place..."

"Did I insist you keep your top on the whole time? Did you really need your security blanket with you while getting shagged?"

"I had the cape out of the way. It wasn't going to get dirty until you decided to clean up with it."

"You were leaking all over the place! Easier to wash your cape than all of the bedding." Butcher tries to keep a straight face, but a smile is hard to suppress when he can see the supe get more irate with each word, shaking his head.

"Don't even--! Your entire bed smells like cigarettes most days of the week! Maybe you should have just washed your sheets instead of throwing my cape into your godforsaken basement washing machine!"

"I'm sorry, love. I'm sure Vought will provide ya with a new one."

"It's not about that." Homelander rolls his eyes. "It's not something you can just throw in the trash."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not allowed to throw an American flag in the trash, idiot. Even if it's been desecrated by some British barbarian."

"Desecrated, huh? Pretty sure you're not supposed to wear an American flag either."

"I'm not some nobody. I honor it by wearing it."

"Then stop bitching and keep wearing it! Maybe you'll start a new trend."

Homelander looks like he's contemplating lasering Butcher in half, but his eyes don't go red.

"It might look better like this, you know. Make you look taller."

"You didn't just shrink it."

"Didn't see a tag that said 'cold wash only'." Butcher shrugs. "And I was always told that 'these colors don't run'."

"You are so fucking disrespectful and so fucking proud of it too," Homelander says, shaking his head. "Insulting every vet who ever died defending this country and what this flag stands for."

"Oh please, there's only one person I'm disrespecting." Butcher checks something on his phone. "Well, you're right. You're not supposed to throw the flag in with rubbish. You're supposed to burn it. Funny that, always thought that was more of a 'Death to America' kind of spectacle."

"Fine by me," Homelander says and before Butcher can protest sets the shrunken, red-and-pink striped cape he's holding at arm's length on fire, right in the middle of the living room. Charred, black pieces of it float down to the wooden floor.

"Oi! You tryin'a burn my flat down just for ruining one of your stupid capes?!"

Homelander's eyes fade back to their cool unnerving blue. "William. I can burn your dingy little apartment down in much more efficient ways if you give me cause."

"Cause?" Butcher asks as he sweeps up the ash into a dustpan. "Like what? Tryin' to kill ya?"

"Like not giving me an I'm-sorry blowjob right fucking now," Homelander says, seating himself on the couch, leaning back and spreading his thighs.

Butcher looks him over, smirks at the supe's brazen eagerness despite getting so worked up about a piece of his uniform getting ruined. "Only if you actually undress this time."

Homelander hesitates, evidently much more comfortable taking off his pants than anything above the waist, but relents. Butcher can't help but snigger when he sees the supe fold his stiff padded suit up carefully and drape it over the back of one of the chairs near the kitchen, making sure it's out of easy reach of where he reseats himself.

Butcher knows when to humor the cunt, and slides down to his knees between Homelander's legs. But he can't help himself, hooks his hands on the insides of Homeland's knees, and pulls them over his shoulders, tilting the pelvis in front of him. Homelander doesn't fight it and instantly, magically looks thrown off his game-- that annoying look of sitting on a throne awaiting service is nowhere to be seen anymore.

"You sure you don't want me to run the rest of it through the wash?"

"Shut up and get on with it already," Homelander hisses, not trying to hide his irritation in the slightest, but still throwing a nervous look over to where his clothes are, out of harm's way, at least for now.

"You don't look half bad with your top off, you know," Butcher says, working Homelander's erection with one hand while sneaking his hand up and tweaking one of the newly uncovered nipples. "And I don’t think you ever really fooled anyone with those pushup padded tits."

Homelander doesn't even deign to respond, turns away with a huff. His face is red... is this shameless son of a bitch blushing because he's actually embarrassed? By this of all things? There's no way Butcher won't take advantage of it.

"You scared to be seen shirtless? Scared to have your nips out? Scared someone might do... this?" Butcher pushes upwards, pulls the supe's knees up right along with him, still hooked over his shoulders, and breathes softly against Homelander's chest and watches his small nipples pull up even tighter. Homelander lets out a delicious, pained sound when Butcher runs his tongue against one of them, still panting as he wraps his arms protectively around his chest.

"My cock's down there," he mumbles, motioning down with his gaze, trying so hard to sound mean.

"Yeah, think I saw it on the way up here."

"William, I've been nothing but patient and never once pulled you or pushed you."

"That's very kind of you."

"Don't make this the first time I have to shove your head down."

"Your cock will get its turn, don't you worry. Soon as I get my fill of being up here, watchin' ya squirm."

Homelander's arms only pull in more tightly, refusing access. Butcher kisses one of his forearms.

"I'm gonna put your whole clownsuit through the wash if you keep acting coy," Butcher threatens the other man, but deep down he wonders why this supe seems so uncomfortable showing his upper body to anyone.

"And I'm gonna laser you in the face," Homelander mutters, but relents and opens his arms.

"Fair trade," Butcher says before running his tongue across the other nipple, enjoying Homelander’s feeble attempt to suppress a moan.

(AO3 link)

A/N: I find these rules amusing and, yes, somewhat crazy:

(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery... (j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform [...] The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. (k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

[harley-sunday]

Feels Like Home [05]

Summary: When an unexpected three-week break between Monza and Singapore finds Daniel back on his farm in Perth he’s desperate to use this time to clear his mind, figure out his future in Formula One, and find his way back. He didn’t expect a new neighbour, a sassy two-year old, and three alpacas would make him realise that sometimes, what you’re looking for is right in front of you.

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader (unnamed OFC)

Warnings: Language

Word count: 6.2k (I regret nothing)

AN: First of all, thank you for all the love on the last four chapters, it warms my cold dead heart to see your comments and reblogs and just- Thank you ♥ This next chapter is a little special to me because this is ultimately where the story started. I wrote this first (which is so unlike me because I never write out of order) and only started working on the rest of the story after. I really hope you like it as much as I do :)

Masterlist

“I’m setting the timer for fifteen minutes, ok?” 

It’s a rhetorical question from Michael and so Daniel doesn’t answer but instead closes his eyes, drops his shoulders, and straightens his back. His wrists are resting on top of his knees as he sits in a cobbler’s pose on a yoga mat in the middle of his home gym. He tries to clear his head, tries to focus on his breathing and the meditation exercise Michael wants him to do but he’s too distracted by the late winter storm that’s raging outside and he ends up counting the seconds between the thunderclaps instead. Who knows, he thinks, maybe that counts as meditation too.

It must, at some point, because when his phone starts ringing he startles, eyes flying open and his heart somewhere high in his throat. He lets out a high-pitched, “Jeepers,” he isn’t necessarily proud of before he blindly reaches behind him in search of his phone.

“Dan,” Michael says beratingly, still in his cobbler’s pose, eyes closed, back ramrod straight, as poised as ever. “You have a ‘do not disturb’ option on there, mate. Use it next time, will you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel replies absentmindedly, finally getting a hold of his phone. He can’t help but smile when he sees who’s calling and so he answers with an eager, “Hey,”

“Daniel, hi-”

For a moment he thinks she’s calling him to talk about what happened last night because God knows he would like a do-over so he could have kissed her but she sounds- Upset and so he’s on edge immediately, stretching out his legs so he can get up quickly if he has to. He has a feeling he might. 

“I’m sorry to bother you but I didn’t know who else to call and-”

“Hey, no,” he interrupts her, his voice more soothing now because he wants her to know he’s there for her no matter how bad it is, all the while hoping that whatever it is has nothing to do with Ellie. Or Oscar. “What’s going on?”

She lets out a heavy sigh and he can just about see her bite her lip the way he’s noticed she does whenever she’s upset, “A tree fell down over at Eagle’s Nest and it wrecked a good five metres of fence.” She lets out a shaky breath and it’s then he can hear the wind and the rain on her end of the line, “I’m trying to keep the girls inside the paddock but with the storm-”

“They’re scared,” he offers, knowing how nervous the herd is on any given calm day so he can only imagine how stressed they must be now. He hears Homer bark on the other end of the line then and he’s never been more relieved to know she’s at least got the dog with her.

“Yeah,” she says, her voice a little shaky and he hates how desperate she sounds. “I need to get the fence fixed but I can’t get them inside the shed and-”

“Say no more.” Daniel gets up and taps Michael's shoulder to get him to join him, “We’re on our way.” 

Michael eyes him suspiciously but does as he’s told when Daniel shakes his head to let him know now’s not the time to ask questions.

“Where are you?”

“You know that little creek that passes through Eagle’s Nest on the south border?”

Not even a week ago he would have had no idea what she’s talking about, would probably have gotten lost trying to find her, but now he knows exactly where she is, “Near that old gum tree?”

“Yeah.” 

“Ok. Just-” He hesitates, not in the least because Michael is staring at him like he’s suddenly grown three heads and so he turns his back to his best friend and lowers his voice, “You got this, ok? Stay with the girls, they trust you, right?” He waits until she hums in reply before he continues, “I know it’s scary but we’ll be there soon, ok? I’m not letting anything happen to you or the girls.” 

“Ok,” she whispers and his heart, oh his heart.

“Ok.” He motions for Michael to follow him downstairs. “I’m on my way.” He’s about to hang up when he hears her call his name and so he puts the phone back to his ear, “Yeah?”

“You should-” She clears her throat, “Can you check on Granddad and Ellie first? I’ve been here for a long time already and-”

“Yep. I’ll stop there on the way over, ok?”

“Ok.”

“Babe-” the term of endearment slips out almost effortlessly and he hopes he’s allowed to use it- “you got this. Homer’s with you. You got this.” It’s then he walks into the kitchen and sees Blake look up at him from where he’s working on his laptop at the kitchen table. Daniel shakes his head to the question he knows Blake was going to ask and he can see Blake shift his focus to Michael, looking at him for answers but Michael just shrugs and Daniel knows he has some explaining to do. Not now though. Now, he tells her, “I’m going to hang up now, ok? We’re on our way.” 

“Ok.” 

“Ok, I’ll see you soon.” He ends the call and pockets his phone and before Michael or Blake have the chance to say anything he rattles off a list of things they need, “B, I’m gonna need you to put on some of my boots and a rain jacket, get the truck and see if the chainsaw’s still in the back. If not, it should be in the garage. Make sure to grab a can of diesel as well and then meet us back here.” He turns towards Michael next, “Mikey, I need you to gather some dry clothes, sweats, jumpers, take whatever you need from the merch samples in my office and then get dressed as well. We’re going to be outside for a while and it’s shit weather, so both of you dress warm, ok?”

Blake and Michael look at him as if they’re still trying to process what is happening but then Daniel spurs them on by clapping his hands a few times and watches them do as they’re told without asking any questions and Daniel’s not sure he’s ever loved his best friends more than right at this exact moment. 

It takes them no more than five minutes to get everything they need and then they’re off, Daniel quietly cursing because the bad weather makes him drive slower than he’d like but he knows it’s better to be safe than sorry right now. 

“Where-” Blake starts from the backseat but then lets the question die down, as if he knows he won’t get a straight answer anyway. 

Daniel looks at him through the rearview mirror, “I’ll explain everything later, ok? I just-” He looks at Michael then, “It’s a long story.” 

Michael nods and pats his knee, “It’s ok, mate. Just tell us what to do when we get there.”

Daniel nods and tries to at least explain where they’re going but the words seem stuck in his throat and so he focuses on the road instead, the rain hitting the car and the frantic squeaking of the windshield wipers the only sound until he puts his blinker on and turns into his neighbour’s driveway. 

Next to him he hears Michael let out a quiet, “Ah. Ok.” 

Daniel doesn’t say anything because all of a sudden he feels nervous, something tightening in his stomach as he pulls up to the house. “I’m gonna check up on Oscar real quick, ok? Stay here.” 

“We’re not helping Oscar?” Michael asks, a little surprised.

Daniel shakes his head but doesn’t say anything and he can feel both Michael and Blake stare at him as he unbuckles his seatbelt, puts on his hood, and steps outside, but once again he decides not to waste any time. He’ll explain later. They’ll understand. 

The rain is relentless, pelting down on him and making his face tingle and so he jogs towards the front porch, letting out a relieved breath when he’s out of the rain. He tries to shake off as much water as he can before he pushes his hood down and kicks his boots off. He knocks three times, hoping Oscar can hear him over the howling wind so he doesn’t scare the old man, and then opens the door and steps inside, shrugging off his raincoat and leaving it on one of the hooks on the wall. 

He finds Oscar where he expected him to, in the living room, except there are no old reruns of the Price Is Right playing in the background this time, and Daniel tries to smile so as to not upset the old man, “Hi mate, how’s it going?”

Oscar looks up at the sound of his voice and Daniel can see his eyes light up, “Danny, thank God.”

“Did she call you too?”

Oscar nods.

“Ok. Good. I got two of my mates in the car and we’re heading over there right now, but she wanted me to check up on you and Ellie first though, so here I am.” 

“Ellie’s been awake for a while,” Oscar says, sounding incredibly guilty. “I think she only slept for thirty minutes before the thunder woke her up. I’ve been trying to get up to get her but-”

“Hey,” Daniel puts his hand on the old man’s arm, “it’s ok. Ellie will be fine. I’ll go get her, ok?”

Oscar nods again, “Thanks, Danny.”

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” Daniel says as he stands up. He hurries up the stairs and all but runs to Ellie’s room, relief washing over him when he finds the little girl sitting upright in her cot, quietly babbling to herself as she hugs a stuffed koala close to her chest. Daniel moves slowly so as not to startle her, “Hi Ellie.” 

The moment Ellie sees him she starts to smile, holding out her arms to him, her voice still a little raspy, “Danny.” 

Something tugs on his heart then, not only because she remembers him but also because she seems genuinely happy to see him, and he’s not sure if it’s love just yet but it comes awfully close. “Hi sweetheart,” he says as he reaches into her cot and picks her up. “Hey sleepyhead.” 

She looks at him intently, little brows furrowed in an adorable way, and then looks past him as if she’s searching for something. He guesses she is when she says, “Where momma?”

“Momma’s outside,” he tells her with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. He can see her bottom lip start to tremble and so he quickly adds, “She asked me to come check up on you and Pop-Pop before I go to see her. A tree fell down so she needs some help.” It feels important to add, “But as soon as we’re done we’ll come right back, ok? I know momma misses you too.”  

Ellie seems to think about that for a second but then she settles into him without hesitation, head resting on his shoulder as she lets out a content sigh and he swears he feels his heart grow at least three sizes. 

“Let’s get you downstairs, huh? Go see Pop-Pop,” he whispers before he presses a kiss to the top of her head. When he turns around he sees the changing table and he knows from when his sister’s kids were smaller that he should probably check if her diaper is full but he’s not sure he’s allowed yet and so instead he grabs what he thinks is the diaper bag and takes it downstairs with him. 

“She was very much awake,” Daniel says as he makes his way back into the living room and drops the bag next to where Oscar is sitting. He bows down so he can hand Ellie over but the little girl clings to him even more and shakes her head, “With you.” 

“You gotta stay here for a little while, sweetheart,” Daniel explains but Ellie doesn’t seem to want to let go and looks away. Daniel looks at Oscar for help but knows there’s not much he can do either and so he stands back up and tries again, “I have to go help momma, bub.” 

“No.”

Daniel has to suppress a smile, admiring the little girl’s stubbornness that she’s definitely gotten from her mom. 

“Come with,” Ellie whispers.

He knows he doesn’t really have time to try and convince the girl to stay here, plus he’s got Blake and Michael with him so surely one of them could watch Ellie while they fix the fence. Daniel looks at Oscar and shrugs apologetically, “Is it ok if I take her? Might be easier that way.” 

Oscar nods and leans over so he can grab what seems to be Ellie’s clothes from the couch next to him, understanding the urgency, “Put these on. Take the bag. Her rain suit is in the mudroom. Boots too.”

“Mint,” Daniel says with a smile as he takes the clothes from him. “Come on, bub. Let’s get you dressed.”

Somehow he remembers to warm up a bottle of milk for her before he stuffs a banana in his pocket and hauls ass to his car. He doesn’t have a car seat and so, when he opens the passenger’s door a few minutes later, he hands Ellie to a very bewildered looking Michael instead, “Say hi to your uncle Michael, El.” 

“Mate, what?” 

Daniel doesn’t answer, gives the little girl her bottle and closes the door because he knows they’ve been here far too long already and he really, really wants to make sure she’s ok. When he slides into his own seat he takes his hood off and grins at Michael, who's still looking confused as fuck but now with a toddler in his lap, “Not mine. Promise.”

“Ok,” Michael draws out, pulling the zipper of Ellie’s rain suit down a little so it doesn’t dig into her skin. “Whatever you say, mate.” 

From the backseat Blake lets out a cackle, “You’ve got some serious explaining to do, mate. This is all confusing as f-”

“Oi!” Daniel reaches back and flicks Blake’s forehead, “Watch your language, will ya.”

This time it’s Michael who laughs, “I don’t even know what is happening right now but-”

“Just-” Daniel starts the car and heads past the sheds and onto Coopers Lane, knowing it will get them to Eagle’s Nest quickest. “Later, ok? I promise.” He pulls the banana out of his pocket and puts it on the dashboard, “Give her this once she’s finished her bottle, will ya?”

“Uhu,” Michael says as he tightens his grip on Ellie who is quietly singing her made up ‘Danny Banana’ song to herself and seems to be perfectly happy to be here. He doesn’t say anything else and Daniel is thankful that both Michael and Blake seem to understand the urgency of him wanting to get wherever it is they’re going, instead of wasting time answering their questions.

It takes them about ten minutes to reach the creek and he spots her red ute easily enough, parked haphazardly in front of the fallen tree. He pulls up behind it and tells Michael and Blake to stay put while he checks out what’s going on before he looks at Ellie and says, “I’m going to go find momma, ok. You stay here with uncle Michael and uncle Blake?”

The girl nods enthusiastically and above her Michael absolutely beams, “She likes me.” 

“Yeah, she does.” Daniel smiles and gently squeezes Ellie’s cheek, “I’ll be right back, ok?” He doesn’t wait for an answer and jumps out of the car, trying to see if he can see where she’s at. It’s still raining and so he holds his hand over his eyes, squinting as he lets his eyes roam along the fence line until he sees something bright yellow a little further down. He wants to rush towards her but he knows it’ll scare the animals and so instead he starts quietly talking so they know there’s someone coming. 

When he’s only a few metres away from where they’re standing he stops because for now the situation seems under control and he’s not sure it’ll stay that way if he comes any closer. He raises his voice so they can hear him, “Hello ladies.” The dog lets out a whine and so he quickly adds, “And Homer.”   

“Oh, thank God,” she whispers and he can see the relief wash over her. The three alpacas she’s trying to keep from escaping are absolutely drenched but are at least staying in their spot and don’t seem to be planning going anywhere else just yet. 

He gives her a small smile, “Sorry it took us so long, we-”

“Us?” 

“Yeah, uh-” he scrunches his nose, “Michael and Blake were over at my place so- They’re here to help.”

She nods but doesn’t say anything else and he figures she’s probably exhausted and cold and he wants nothing more than to tell her to take Ellie and head back to the house, that he’ll take care of it with Michael and Blake but he knows they’re nothing without her knowledge and so he offers the next best thing, “What do you need us to do?” 

She takes a deep breath and nods towards the pack, “If we can get them into the shed? That way we don’t have to worry about them escaping.” When he nods she continues, “There’s rope in my car, take that, and also- Grab a bucket and put two or three scoops of the grain pellets in there, it’s all in the trunk. Might be easier to lure them that way.” 

“Ok.” 

“I only need you here, Daniel,” she adds then with a hesitant smile. “The girls know and trust you but if we bring two other people in-”

“They might get spooked.” Daniel nods, trying to act cool even though the way she just told him she only needs him makes him feel all sorts of things, and so he does what he does best and acts goofy, pointing his fingers at her and clicking his tongue, “Gotcha.” It makes him feel like an idiot.

If she feels the same way she at least is graceful enough not to cringe at his antics. “They can help after,” she says and he knows it’s because she feels guilty. “With the fence?”

“Don’t worry about them,” he’s quick to reassure her as he waves to where his car is. “They’re watching Ellie, so I’m sure they’re on their third rendition of ‘The Wheels of the Bus’ anyway.” 

“Ellie?” She narrows her eyes at him and for a moment he’s worried he’s fucked up but then she nods, “I guess it’s probably better you didn’t leave her with granddad. Who knows how long this is gonna take.” 

“I’ll go get everything we need,” he says. He throws her a wink then, “‘I’ll be right back.” 

***

The feed proves to be a lifesaver and you’re able to lure the pack to the shed within seconds. 

“It’s ok,” you tell the girls, who are huddled together in the far corner. “You just stay here for a while, ok? We’ll go fix the fence and then I’ll be back to check up on you later.” You tell Dan to step outside before you follow after him and quietly close the door. You can’t help the relieved sigh that escapes you once you let yourself lean against the shed, shielded from the rain by the overhanging roof, “Holy shit, I’m glad that’s over.”

“Come here,” Daniel says and holds out his arms to you, pulling you close when you step into his embrace, and presses a long hard kiss to your temple. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

You shrug but wrap your arms around him a little tighter anyway. It's the first time he's holding you like this and it feels- Nice. Part of you wants to stay here, wrapped up in his arms with his chin resting on the top of your head and your cheek against his chest, but, “We should probably go fix that fence, huh?”

Daniel smiles then, “Wanna go say hi to Ellie first?” 

You nod and Daniel lets go of you, taking your hand instead, and leads you back to his car. You can hear Ellie’s high pitched giggle coming from inside and can’t help but smile when you see one of Daniel’s friends, Blake he tells you, make silly faces at your daughter who’s sitting in what then must be Michael’s lap. 

Daniel knocks on the hood to let his friends know you’re back and seconds later two grown men and a toddler tumble out of his truck and you make a conscious effort to remember this moment forever because it’s too precious not too.

Ellie wriggles in Michael’s arms and when he puts her down she rushes over, “Momma!”

“Hi baby,” you pick up your little girl and pepper her face with kisses. “Momma’s missed you.” You look at Daniel’s friends then, “Thank you, guys.”

“No worries,” Michael tells you. “That’s easily the happiest, most easy-going kid I’ve ever seen.” Next to him Blake nods in agreement.

“Just like her mom,” Daniel adds with a wink before he introduces you to his friends.

Blake and Michael share a look but don’t say anything and you doubt Daniel has even seen it, too busy blowing a raspberry at Ellie, but before you have a chance to ask if they even knew of your existence Michael looks at you and nods towards the paddock, “What can we do to help?”

“I think we need to start by cutting down that tree,” you tell them as you point over your shoulder. “It looks like only a few branches hit the fence so if we take those now I can do the rest later this week.” Daniel starts to protest but you shake your head, “That’s for another day, Daniel. I can always ask George Yanos to come help out. I just really want to get that fence back up as soon as possible so we can all go home and warm up.” You look at Blake and Michael then, “You two are staying for dinner, by the way.”

“We haven’t even done anything yet,” Blake protests.

“Oh,” you reply with a wicked grin, “just you wait.” You turn to Daniel, “Can you head back to the farm and get the chainsaw? It’s in the shed next to the chicken coop.”

Daniel grins wickedly and nods towards his truck, “I already brought mine.”

“Ok. Perfect.” You look back at Michael and Blake, “Blake, could you help Daniel with the tree? If you cut the branches off first you should be able to cut down the trunk a lot easier after. It doesn’t have to be pretty and you can just leave it where it is, as long as the fence is cleared.”

Daniel nods and Blake salutes you with a grin, “Yes ma’am.”

“Michael? Would you mind taking care of Ellie? I’ll get started on the fence but I can’t really watch her at the same time and-”

“Of course,” Michael says with a wide smile. He squats and holds out his hands to Ellie who walks over to him without hesitating.

You look up at the sky then, a little relieved to see some lighter patches in between the clouds, “The rain should die down a little over the next hour or so, but I don’t really want to wait on that so I think we might as well get going now.”

Without having to say anything else the guys spur into action and you press a quick kiss to Ellie’s cheek, “Let’s get to work, huh bub?”

***

It takes them almost thirty minutes to cut all the branches off but at least by then the rain has changed to a light drizzle and the wind has dropped considerably. 

“So,” Blake starts all of a sudden, after he’s picked up a piece of the branch they’ve cut up earlier so he can drag it away from the fence, “how long has this been going on, mate?”

“Blake,” Daniel warns him, not wanting her to overhear his dumbass best friend making smart remarks. 

“What?” Blake feigns surprise but grins, “Seriously mate, what is going here? Is this why you wanted me to clear your schedule? So you could hook up with your neighbour?” 

Daniel picks up a branch as well and joins Blake to where they’ve started a pile of sorts, a little further into the paddock, “I’m-” he starts, not sure what he’s going to say because he doesn’t even know. He glances over his shoulder to where she’s repairing the fence then, Michael standing next to her with Ellie on his shoulders, and when she looks up and catches his gaze, and his entire body heats up because she smiles at him, he knows he’s officially done for and so he tells Blake the truth, “I really like her, mate.”  

“Dan-”

“I know,” Daniel says, holding up his hands in defence, knowing exactly what it is his best friend is implying. “I know, ok?”

Blake lets out a sigh as he pushes his glasses up and pinches the bridge of his nose, “It’s just- We can make this work after the season, ok? Not now.”

Daniel scoffs, “I said I like her, mate. Not that I’m thinking of proposing to her next week.”

“No, I know but-” Blake shrugs, pushing his glasses back down. “If this comes out before we’ve finalised the Red Bull deal we’ll have a hard time telling everyone they had nothing to do with each other.”

Daniel doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at his best friend and for the briefest of moments he hates that Blake is also his manager and always has to think five steps ahead and can never just be happy for him. 

He knows the PR-game is always a tricky one, even more so whenever he dates someone he actually likes, but it’s not like they run a risk here. There’s no paparazzi around, no Kym Illman to try and sneak pictures of drivers’ wives and girlfriends without asking, and, except for dinner on Friday, they haven’t been anywhere public yet. Besides, he doesn’t even know if what they have qualifies as a relationship. Yes he likes her, very much, and yes, he wants to spend more time with her, but he’s known her for a grand total of ten days. In the end that’s what he tells Blake, “I’ve only just met her, B. Let’s take it easy, ok?”

“Ok,” Blake agrees with a curt nod that Daniel feels is more to please him than it is because Blake agrees with him. “Let me know if anything changes, ok?”

“Yep.”

Blake looks over to where Michael is standing then, a mischievous grin on his face, “Is there any way you’ll let me mess with Talzo a little longer? Tell him she’s your cousin or something? Make him freak out a little?”

Daniel lets out a honking laugh and pushes Blake back towards the fallen tree, “You’re the worst.” 

“Yeah, but will you let me?”

“No.” Daniel shakes his head, “Not this time, mate.”

“Oh God,” Blake mutters then, flicking Daniel’s forehead, “you really like her.” 

“I really do,” Daniel agrees easily enough.

It takes another hour but then the tree is cut up into what seem to be at least a hundred pieces and the fence is repaired and looking as good as new and so Daniel beams at his best friends, “Thanks guys. That was-”

“Don’t worry about it, mate,” both Blake and Michael say at the same time with an almost identical shrug.

Daniel throws his arm around her shoulders then and presses a kiss to her temple, “Ready to head back? Oscar must be getting worried what’s taking us so long.”

“Yeah,” she says as she leans into him. “I think we all deserve a warm shower and a cold beer.” 

“Come on,” he says as he nods towards her truck, “I’ll drive.”

She takes Ellie from Michael and walks to the passenger’s seat, where he’s holding the door open for her. Once she’s seated, Ellie in her lap because it’s too much hassle to put her in the car seat, he closes the door and rounds the car to the driver’s side. 

It’s a bumpy ride back to the farm, lots of fallen branches he hadn't noticed before littering Coopers Lane and so it takes them a good ten minutes to reach the house, both of them letting out a sigh of relief when he turns the engine off. Daniel turns in his seat and teases Ellie’s hair, “You’re a superstar, Miss Ellie.” He looks up at her then, “Just like your momma.” 

“Thank you,” she says with a warm smile.

***

The warm water runs out when Blake is taking his shower and you can hear him curse all the way in the kitchen, drawing laughs from you and Michael, both of you already showered and changed into warm clothes already, working on putting some dinner together. Daniel’s in the living room, chatting to Granddad while he waits his turn for the shower, even though you’re afraid he’s going to have to wait a little longer now that the boiler has to fill itself up again first. Ellie’s in the kitchen with you, sitting in her high chair and watching your every move intently as she munches on a breadstick. 

“So,” you start, drawing out the word as you turn towards Michael who’s on your left, cutting up some toast to go with the vegetable soup that’s almost ready, “Daniel tells me you guys work out every day from nine to twelve. Is that true?”

Michael nods, “Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“I know it sounds like a lot but we also include yoga and meditation and-”

‘Oh, ok.”

Michael throws you a cheeky smile then, “If you want to you could join us tomo-”

“Hahaha,” you reply with a fake laugh. “No.” 

“No?”

“No.” 

“Bummer,” he shoots back with a grin. “Might have been nice for Dan to have someone to show off to. It would definitely help with the whining.” 

You can’t help but laugh but before you can say anything a rather bewildered looking Blake walks into the kitchen, his hair sticking up in every direction and a red colour on his cheeks that you know isn’t because he’s nice and toasty. “Here,” you tell him as you hand him a cup of coffee, “this should warm you up.” 

He lets out a ragged breath, “Turns out cold water is really cold. Jeepers.” 

“I’m so sorry,” you say, putting your hand on his arm. “I could make you a hot water bottle if you want? Help you warm up a little?”

“Nah, that’s ok. I’ll just sit here for a while,” he replies, nodding to a chair next to the wood stove that’s been burning ever since you got back. 

“I’ll go see what Daniel and Granddad are up to,” you tell Blake and Michael, “I think the soup’s almost ready and the lasagne should be done soon too, so-”

“I’ll set the table,” Michael offers. He points at the kitchen cabinets, “Is it ok if I just open them and see what I can find?”

“I’m not hiding any secrets in my kitchen cabinets, Michael,” you shoot back with a laugh. “Have at it.” You find Granddad and Daniel gossiping about Mrs Mackenzie's supposed date with Mr Maxwell last week and so you gently flick Daniel’s shoulder, “Oi, you two. It sounds like Soap Opera’s Digest in here.” 

“This is important information, ok,” Daniel shoots back with a grin as he looks up at you. “The last I heard Mrs Mackenzie was still dating Kevin Holmes from down the road, so-”

“That ended months ago,” Granddad adds, leaning closer to Daniel. “Apparently he ran off with Mrs Clement.”

“The dentist’s wife?” Daniel seems shocked, “Did their divorce go through already? That’s quick.” 

Granddad shakes his head, looking awfully pleased with himself, “It didn’t.”

Daniel gasps, clutching his chain necklace for full effect, “No!”

“Yes,” Granddad nods. “I think old Kevin will have to find himself another dentist.”

“While this has all been very entertaining,” you interrupt with a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, to keep him from saying anything else, “I came to tell you that dinner’s almost ready.” You look at Daniel, “We can wait if you want to take a shower first, I think the boiler should be full in another fifteen minutes or so.”

“Nah,” Daniel shakes his head, “I’ll shower after. It’s fine. I’m not that cold anymore anyway.”

“Alright, let’s go eat then.” 

Dinner is- It’s fun. Granddad’s sitting at the head of the table, with you, Ellie and Daniel on one side and Blake and Michael on the other. Blake and Granddad are discussing the Manchester United game from last week while Michael keeps making faces at Ellie, who’s giggles fill the kitchen at steady intervals, while Daniel keeps feeding her pieces of his lasagne. 

By the time everyone’s plates are empty, Ellie’s giggles have turned to yawns and so you get up and pick her up out of her high chair, “I’ll go put this one to bed, it’s been a long day for her.”

Ellie’s not too tired to insist on saying goodnight to everyone and so she gets passed from Granddad to Blake to Michael to Daniel for a goodnight hug before she’s returned into your arms and Michael tells you they’ll take care of the dishes in the meantime.

“Come on, bub,” you tell her as you head upstairs. “Let’s go see if Mr Koala’s waiting for you.”

Ellie’s asleep before you even make it to her bedroom and you figure there’s no harm done in skipping brushing her teeth for once, instead gently lying her down in her cot, pressing a kiss to her forehead before you quietly whisper, “Goodnight my sweet girl. Momma loves you very much.” 

When you get back downstairs the kitchen is spotless and you can see Blake drying the last of the dishes while Michael wipes the counter clean and then Daniel steps into view, “We’ll check up on the girls before we head home, ok?”

You start to protest, “Daniel-” 

“Nope,” he counters with a smile “You stay here. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

You smile at him, “Yep.” 

Daniel waits until Blake and Michael have said their goodbyes and made it past him to the mud room before he takes a step forward and presses a soft kiss to your cheek, "I'll text you the address when I get home, ok?"

"You do that," you tell him, your voice barely above a whisper because God, you really want to kiss him.

***

“Watch out for that brown one,” Daniel tells Michael with a nod towards Betsy, “she bites.”

“Good to know, mate.” 

Daniel chuckles, “The white one is alright, you can pet her if you want.”

“Yeah, nah, I’m good,” Michael shoots back with a grin, focusing instead of filling the feeder with the bucket of grains Daniel handed him earlier. He clears his throat then, “So tell me again how we ended up here? Offering to check up on some spooked Alpacas? You playing house with Oscar’s granddaughter wasn’t exactly on my bingo card for this year, mate.”

Daniel laughs, “Wasn’t on mine either to be honest, but-”

“But?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel offers with a shrug. “I like it.” He corrects himself then, “I like her. A lot. So-”

“Daniel,” Michael starts, hesitating a little then, which tells Daniel his best friend is going to say something serious and maybe important. “You know I’ve always got your best interest at heart, right?” Michael waits for Daniel to nod before he takes a deep breath and continues, “You’ve got a lot going on right now and I don’t know if this is-” He holds up his hand when Daniel wants to interrupt, “I’m worried it’s going to cloud your judgement, ok? I can tell you like her very much and I haven’t seen you this settled-” he air-quotes the word, “-in a long time but you’ve only known her for what? A week-and-a-half? You’ve been in this sport for much longer than that, don’t-”

“I won’t,” Daniel says, trying his hardest to keep his voice neutral and not make it sound like he’s defending himself. He knows Michael’s right, of course he does. After all, he came to the same conclusion earlier today. Yes, he likes her, and yes, he would like to see where this goes, but he also knows it wouldn’t be fair to her or himself to take that into consideration when it comes to his future in Formula One. He looks up at Michael then, “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, right? 

“Maybe you should talk to her before you leave,” Michael offers with a kind smile. “Just to see where you both stand and to make sure you go into this with the same expectations, you know?”

“Yeah,” Daniel rubs his face. “Yeah, I should.” 

Blake walks into the shed then, soaking wet and looking as miserable as ever, “So I checked the fence-.”

“Uhu,”

“-and it’s still standing.” Blake deadpans with a blank stare.

Daniel chuckles, “Thanks, mate. Let’s go home, eh?”

[dark-elf-writes]

Ok so Hojo half sibling au what happens when cloud tells mama Strife about his new brother?

Cloud didn’t call often.

It was a sad truth that Claudia had learned to live with. Long distance calls were expensive, and a trooper’s salary only went so far. She certainly couldn’t afford to call as often as she liked even as the closest thing to a medical professional in Nibelheim (the others in the village only came to her as a last resort, like she was something tainted. A witch of old waiting to swoop down and steal their souls. It didn’t matter she had been seventeen when she got pregnant with her son. Didn’t matter that she had been an intern and scared of losing her job. Didn’t matter that she had lost her job anyway and become the village pariah all at once.) Still they wrote often enough that it dulled the worst of the ache in her chest when she looked to her son’s empty bed, still waiting for him should he come home.

So it was a surprise when her rarely used landline rang with no mention in Cloud’s most recent letter that he was calling.

First came the dread. The terror that those monsters she had let her son go to wouldn’t even grace her with a face to face discussion to tell her the worst had happened. But Claudia Strife had always been stubborn.

“Mama?” Cloud’s voice was strained when she picked up the phone, like it always sounded when he was trying to pretend everything was okay. “How are you?”

“I’ll be better when my son tells me what is going on. You never call out of the blue, Stormcloud. Are you okay? Were you hurt? Did those basta—“

“Ma. Mama! I’m fine!” Cloud huffed a quiet laugh. “It’s good news, really it’s just. A lot, ma. I don’t know where to start.”

“If you got some girl pregnant, Cloud.”

There was a laugh on the other end of the line, too deep to be her son’s. Oh. Oh.

(Suddenly Cloud’s childhood fixation on the shining stars of Shinra’s SOLDIER program made a lot of sense… and why her sweet boy wouldn’t act on those feelings until he had left their home far behind. Nibelheim was anything but open minded.)

“Cloud, are you—“

“I have a brother!”

A paragon of tact, her son was not.

Claudia pulled the towel from her shoulder and dropped it to the counter as she leaned back on it for support. How many other bright eyed girls had been ruined like she had? How many experiments ran on the most vulnerable? How many—

“Ma? Ma are you there?! Ma!”

“Here, baby. I’m here. In that who’s with you? Your brother?”

Cloud sighed. “Yeah and he promised to be quiet.” The last word was hissed in a tone so familiar that Claudia couldn’t help but laugh. She could almost see the narrow eyed look of annoyance her baby was shooting his half-brother.

“It’s a bit hard for us to meet if he’s quiet, Stormcloud.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not all.”

“Oh?”

“We… allegedly and completely unable to be proven... might have committed some slight arson.”

“Cloud Strife.”

“It was allegedly against our… fuck, I don’t know what to call him. No way it’s going to be ‘father.’”

“Donor perhaps?” That voice offered again. Familiar in a way she couldn’t place.

“… Good boys.”

That deeper voice from before choked. Claudia could hear the smug satisfaction in Cloud’s voice when he spoke again. “There’s more still.”

Claudia laughed almost hysterically. “If you’ve allegedly committed mur—“

“Sephiroth is my brother!”

Everything in Claudia froze.

Sephiroth.

Shinra’s Silver General.

The boy who had been dropped into the middle of a war and come out a blooded hero. A child made into a killer too young.

The perfect experiment.

She wanted to throw up. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry.

Instead she forced a smile with no kindness. No gentleness. A mother wolf baring her teeth. “I’m coming to Midgar.”

“Ma!”

“I have enough saved up for this, Stormcloud. I need to see my sons.”

“Sons?” Sephiroth’s voice was carefully neutral. A brilliant mask that would have fooled the world. A mask that did nothing against a mother’s intuition. (Under that careful calm Claudia could hear the tremble of a child, alone and scared even now that he had grown larger than life. A little boy who desperately wanted to be loved. It only made her more certain of her choice.)

“Sons,” She confirmed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Cloud sputtered. “At least let me buy your ticket ma! I’m a SOLDIER now! They gave me a sign on bonus.”

“I know Shinra bonuses as well as you do, young man. Save it for yourself.”

“Then let me pay,” Sephiroth offered. “Firsts make far more than new recruits and I can hardly allow my… allow you to be put in a difficult position, Ms. Strife.”

“Claudia or mom, or ‘ma’ I suppose if you’re impatient like our little stormcloud.” Claudia was rewarded with a flustered squawk of ‘Ma’ from her son… her youngest son. She smiled even through the ache in her chest. “And no, Sephiroth dear, you don’t need to spend money on me. It’s your money to use for yourself, sweetheart. Now I need to pack, boys! I’ll call when I have a set date of arrival!”

“Ma!”

“M— Claudia, I must insist—“

Claudia hung up the phone before they could try to push further about paying. This had to be her choice. Had to be her money. Had to be her doing. After all, they had confirmed it. Hojo was in Midgar, and Claudia was allegedly going to greet him as she should have all those years ago. With her boot knife to his throat and the assurance of exactly what she would do to him if he touched her boys.

Maybe she should take a look at some of those old files in the Manor before she left. Hojo was always a squirrelly bastard. It would be just like him to stash away some of his previous findings in the labs deep underground and she would bet her life that the information on Sephiroth’s past would be down there too along with gods only knew what other demons lurked in Hojo’s past.

[bullet-prooflove]

The Comeback - Michael 'Riz' Ariza x Reader (feat: EZ Reyes)

Tagging: @anime-weeb-4-life @danzer8705 @mysoulisasunflower @msjava1972 @adaydreamaway08 @im-just-a-mississippi-girl @wakeama @librarian1002 @briefpersonenemy @creativitybeware @mortal--soul @buddinglinguist @purrrrfect @crazy4chickennuggets @kmc1989 @withakindheartx

You don’t sing for a couple of months, at least not publicly. You’re burned out after the tour, run down and tired. Riz sees it in you, he understands the fatigue that comes with what you’ve been through, that it can take a little while to recover. You end up bartending in Jo and EZ’s place a couple of nights per week, it’s been getting busier since they’ve changed things up a little. They do a weekly open mic night and there’s usually a band on the weekends.

Things change when ‘The Freedom Fighters’ cancel at the last minute, because their van ran into a ditch on the way over to the venue and their equipment is submerged in a few feet of water. You overhear the conversation as you put away some of the clean glasses behind the bar. When EZ puts down the phone he gives you a questioning look.

“No pressure.” He says holding up his hands. “I know you’re just getting back on your feet.”

The thing is you kind of want to. You like playing in intimate settings, connecting with a crowd, seeing the moment your music touches them. One of the things you hated the most about being on tour was losing that. The bond between you and the audience just isn’t the same when you’re playing in arenas.

Nobody’s watching when you pick up the guitar, nobody except Riz. He’s been sitting at the bar most of the night chatting you up, the same way he always does when your shifts are a little quiet. You sit down on the stool under the spotlight, your fingers playing over the strings and the attention shifts to the stage.

“I haven’t done this in a while so forgive me if I’m a little rusty.” You speak into the microphone before clearing your throat. “This one’s called Pretty Boy.”

A dark haired lover with amber eyes to kiss me through the night.

He’s got patches on his skin that tell a story, of a thousand lifetimes lived.

I run my fingers over them, and I hope he knows I’m his.

His heart thunders against my chest, my hands in his hair

As he whispers I love you against my lips.

It’s Riz’s song, the one you wrote for him in the middle of the night. You keep your eyes on him as you play and he smiles, that wonderful, captivating grin of his, the one you fall in love with every single time.

You don’t realise how much you’ve missed performing until after your set is finished. There’s an exhilaration in your veins, an excitement you haven’t felt for a longest time.

That night someone in the crowd makes a video, uploading it to a fan page and tagging the bar. You have no knowledge of this because you don’t do social media. During the tour there was a marketing team managing your platforms, you’d never had the log ons. You haven’t seen the messages from fans asking if you’ll be performing again, hoping that you’re ok because you dropped off the face of the earth.

The first you hear of it is when EZ turns up at your place at some god forsaken time in the morning. You’ve barely been awake five minutes and he’s telling you about all of the phone calls he’s getting at the bar asking when you’re doing a repeat performance.

“I don’t understand.” You tell him as Riz sets the big French press between you and EZ, the one you use for guests.

EZ removes his phone from his back pocket before bringing up the bar’s social media pages. All of them are inundated with messages about you.

“You had a huge following when you cancelled the tour.” EZ explains when he shows you the fanpage dedicated to you. It’s full of pictures from your tour, playing the guitar on stage, singing into a microphone, there’s videos of previous performances, snippets of your lyrics made into graphics. “The label never explained what happened, only that they weren’t representing you anymore.”

“That probably adds to the whole thing.” Riz says, his voice still rough from sleep as he rubs his palm across his jaw. “The mystery of why you disappeared from the music scene.”

“It doesn’t hurt.” EZ says, shrugging his shoulders before giving you his full attention. “People want to know of you’re making a comeback. The question is are you?”

Love Riz? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[sweetsmollthings]

Ok so with my post about external shrinking triggers I did keep thinking on it more and wrote something……

Contains: shrinking in spurts, triggered by keywords; shrinking to about 5’3”; shrinking to about 3’6”; shrinking to 3”; an almost-kidnapping; a rescue; fear and angst; probably inaccurate grocery store things (because the author has never worked in customer service jobs)

“Ah—!”

Paige jolted, then looked towards the neighboring cashier. “Val? Are you—?”

“Don’t talk to me,” Val snapped, yanking out her earbuds much too fast (which she clearly regretted, judging from how she winced) and fumbling with her phone. Paige faintly heard a snippet of whatever she was listening to (something about miniatures?) before she finally managed to turn it off.

Paige frowned. The brusque attitude wasn’t unexpected—in all the time they had worked together, Val had always avoided talking to coworkers and customers alike, pointedly keeping her earbuds on to drown out everybody else. She probably took the late night shift to interact with as few people as possible (which, fair); even so, Paige would have liked some appreciation. She considered leaving her alone as requested.

…But the way that Val curled up, clutching her phone tight, breathing much too fast, was too concerning to ignore.

“Hey,” Paige said softly, moving closer. “Deep breaths, alright? Let’s calm down—wait, why are you so short??”

Maybe that was a strange thing to focus on for what was clearly a panic attack, but when someone was a whole head shorter than they should be, how could you not comment on it?

And, when someone got even shorter right before your eyes, could you blame a person for getting derailed? “Wha— huh??? What??? You—“

“Shut up,” Val hissed, shooting out a hand to presumably cover Paige’s mouth, but clearly misjudging the distance because she ended up bopping Paige on the chin instead. Her short sleeves billowed with the movement. Her other hand held a now too-big shirt to her chest. “Just—go away! I’m taking a break—“ Val suddenly grabbed her pants in the middle of turning around, stopping them from falling. Paige saw her ears go red.

“I, um,” Paige stuttered, then wordlessly retreated to her cash register and tried to be normal about this. Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare…

It was impossible. Paige snuck a glance and startled, at first thinking that Val had gotten even smaller, but no. She was just crouching down. Hiding, probably.

Paige hesitated, then reached over to turn off Val’s checkstand light.

After a very quiet half hour, Val stood up again. Full height, this time. She glared at Paige. “Don’t say a word. To anyone.”

Paige nodded. (Not like anybody would believe her.) “So…about all that…”

But Val was already plugging in her earbuds, back to tuning out the world.

…Well. Probably best not to pry.

-

After that incident, Val seemed to put extra effort into avoiding Paige at all costs. Which wasn’t difficult, especially since Paige decided to not pursue the many questions she had. Whatever happened, it wasn’t any of her business. Maybe it never happened in the first place. Maybe she had been dreaming or delirious—never mind that she had felt totally awake—after all, shrinking was obviously impossible.

The unspoken arrangement worked out well. At least until one day, passing by the bathroom door, someone grabbed Paige’s arm.

Screeching, she swung a fist towards the offender and only hit the door (ow). As she nursed her hand, she actually looked at the door and saw Val peeking from behind it. At a much lower angle than she should be. Like, way lower. “Change the song,” she begged, which was…sorta creepy, actually.

“Huh?” Paige said, still trying to reconcile Val’s current impossible height and shift in demeanor.

“On the PA, stupid!” she hissed. (Ah, there we go.) But it turned into a whimper as, all of a sudden, she shot down a few inches. Above them, the speakers cheerfully sang, “a little bit of Monica in my life, a little bit of Erica by my side…”

“R-right! Hang on,” Paige said, running to the office. Somehow, she managed to make it before the chorus ended.

When she ran back, the bathroom door was closed again. She knocked. “It’s me. Are you…okay?”

The only answer was a clumsy click as the door opened again. Val peeked out, definitely much shorter. Child-sized, even. She clearly had to reach up for the door handle and looked miserable about that fact. “Thanks,” she mumbled. Then, “I need you to help me home.”

Glancing around to make sure nobody was watching, Paige crouched down. “Can’t you just grow back? You did last time.”

“It’s past midnight,” Val explained bitterly. “I’m stuck like this for now. Just get me home. You have a car, don’t you? It’s just a…quick drive.”

“But my shift isn’t over,” Paige said, then realized how ridiculous that was in this context. “Um. Okay. Just…follow me, I guess.”

Val opened the door a little wider and waddled out, hefting a bundle of what seemed to be almost all her clothes—thankfully, she still had a dress on. That is, her shirt, which was long enough to be a dress. Or rather, she was small enough for it to be a dress. The bundle looked like it would explode out of her arms and Paige briefly considered offering to hold it for her, but then decided that would be too weird.

“I’m gonna just quickly check the carts,” Paige told the manager, who just waved her off, not even looking up from his phone. Val padded behind her on bare feet, ducking her head even though she really didn’t need to. She couldn’t be seen over the register even if she stood up straight.

It was as quick a drive as Val said, just across the street and around the corner. Completely walkable, under normal circumstances. But under abnormal circumstances, Val needed to be helped in and out of the car and escorted to the steps. She couldn’t even unlock the door on her own. Val didn’t say a word the whole time, not even a thank you before shutting the door in Paige’s face.

-

So clearly, for whatever reason, Val shrunk any time she heard any word that meant “small” and grew back at midnight, like some sort of bizarre Cinderella. Her general demeanor made a lot more sense now. Why be friendly with people if conversations were a landmine for triggering a…curse? Probably a curse. This seemed pretty curse-like.

Being privy to this secret didn’t afford Paige any exemption to Val’s antipathy, though. It did afford her a lot more requests for help, and while she did understand that she was probably the only one who could help (since the cat was out of the bag anyways), it was sort of getting stressful, considering that most of the requests involved sneaking her out of work. Sometimes when she wasn’t even that small.

“Can’t you get noise-cancelling headphones or something?” Paige asked tersely on one of their secret drives.

Val looked at her, surprised. Even after their arrangement began, they never really exchanged words during the drives. It was just a given that they should be done in silence. After a long pause, she tugged at her shirt (which wasn’t even that baggy this time) and replied, “They hurt after a while. And it’s not like they work perfectly.”

“It’s better than nothing. I can’t keep doing this for you, I’ll lose my job.”

Val glared hard at the glovebox. “Okay. Got it,” she said coldly, sending a twinge of guilt through Paige. But really, it was unreasonable to ask her to do this. She wasn’t in the wrong here. Val should be figuring out how to handle this herself.

-

“Who’s that?”

Paige blinked, coming out of her automatic check-out mode, and looked at where the shopper pointed. “Huh? Val?”

The shopper nodded. “Thanks. I don’t need a receipt.”

“Alright,” Paige said slowly. That…was a little weird, right? Should she tell Val? But it’s been pretty awkward ever since their last conversation. And she could handle herself. She should handle herself, really. Paige wasn’t her keeper.

When their shift ended, Paige got into her car and headed home—her home, not Val’s. Which, of course, was how it should be. It was late. She needed some sleep before class. They weren’t friends.

…

Sighing heavily, Paige turned around and drove back to the road she had grown so familiar with, peering ahead for any sign of a person on the empty sidewalks. As she approached Val’s house, her headlights caught a lone figure, crouching close to the ground, over a pile of clothes—

Paige quickly parked, launched herself out of her car, and punched the shopper from before in the solar plexus. In one fluid motion, she scooped up the clothes and retreated, jumping back in (and knocking her head on the top of her car, ow), and slamming the door behind her—wait, was Val even in the clothes? She couldn’t feel her weight, did she drop her? Paige tore at the bundle of clothes in her lap and yes, she could see a small form squirming around, thank god—

The shopper suddenly slammed a hand on her window and she screamed, dropping Val in the cupholder and slamming on the gas. She didn’t stop until fifteen minutes later, when it was pretty clear there was no car following her. She pulled to the side of the road. “Okay, pretty sure we’re good,” she announced. “Let’s get you out of—“

The tiny hand that slapped at her fingers when she reached into the cupholder barely registered, but Paige flinched back anyways. As the adrenaline wore off, she became aware of soft crying.

And with that came the extra awareness of how…small Val was at the moment, the smallest she’d ever seen her. So small that she fit in a cupholder. So small, she could easily be whisked away.

“I-I’ve never—it’s never been th-this bad before,” Val managed between sobs, tripping over her self-censorship. “Wh-what if I don’t grow back this time?”

“I mean, you always grow back, right? No reason that’ll change. You’ll be normal again in…” …twenty-two hours.

Paige flinched as the wailing just grew louder. Not by much. Being just a few inches tall affected your volume, as it turns out.

“…Want to go to my place?” Paige offered meekly. Neither of them brought up the obvious fact that Val couldn’t stay at her own place. Possibly couldn’t ever go back, considering that her would-be kidnapper knew where she lived.

The cupholder gave no answer other than more weeping. So Paige just quietly drove home.

[simpformoonkight]

Cat problem

Fandom : supernatural

Characters : sam whinchester x sister!reader, Dean whinchester x sister!reader , castiel x reader (Plotonic), Jack x reader (Plotonic)

Warnings : few swear words, use of the word y/n, just crack and fluff :)

Summary : the the 2 times where you almost got caught and the one time you did

A/n : I know it's been months since I wrote but for some reason i got tired of writing and then school came and my exams started and just on Sunday I finished and I wanted to write something about supernatural. It might be not accurate English is not my first language and this might be rusted because it's been a long time since I watched supernatural so I wrote this based on what I remember

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

You were sitting in your room teaching jack about hunting and how to do research—(or as Dean calles it homework) you were in the middle of explaining on how to spot a wraith and how to kill it when castiel suddenly appeared in your room “Cass?? Hey- what's up?” jack asked him using the new expression you taught him “the roof of the room that's what is up” he answered jack with a slightly furrowed eyebrows, you began to explain “I didn't mean it like that- it's an expression when you—” before you could finish you heard a sound— maybe a meow?? “cas what do you have in your coat???” you asked him “something” he said while hugging the bump in his coat tighter "I was wondering if you would know what dean or Sam would do if they found there was an animal in here??” he asked “dean hates animals because of what they could do to baby and Sam doesn't mind dogs but I don't know about cats tho- cas do you have a cat in there??” you asked interrupting yourself "I may or may have not saved a cat that was in the rain” castiel says looking at his trench coat where the cat is “can i see it?” jack asks while getting up walking towards castiel. He gets the cat out if his coat and showed to him. It is an orange big fluffy cat “it's fur is so soft" jack says while rubbing behind its ears “can we keep it?” jack asks you “if you wanna keep it then don't show it to Dean otherwise he will kick us out and also sam” you say with a shrug trying to resist petting it so you won't get attached— "let's call him garfield! After the cat character from that cartoon” says Jack with an adorable smile “you two are gonna be the death of me one day, I swear” you mumble, sighing.

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

First time :

It has been three months and somehow you didn't get caught, so today the boys left you and jack alone. You were sick somehow and they couldn't take you and jack wanted to stay for you and garfield.

You were sitting watching scooby do (as demanded quested by dean) with Jack while you were having soup, garfield was laying in Jack's lap. After a while Sam called, you picked up and put it on speaker “hey Sam!"you and jack said together “hey-how are you two doing? How are you feeling??” he asked “I'm fine and we are watching scooby do, you have dean to blame for that one” you mumbled the last bit under you breath and then coughed “well don't stay up stay up too lo—” *meow*....... "what was—" "OK BYE!” you hung up the phone and then to turn to jack with wide eyes "maybe he won't ask about it later???" jack tried to save the situation "jack.. I love you but if he tells dean we will be dead" you said to in a serious tone.. "Hey, everything alright?” dean asked Sam "yea yea, everything is fine" Sam answered "then why the hell were you staring at your phone for the past 20 minutes???" "no reason i was just thinking about something in the case"

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

Second time :

This time it was Dean who almost caught you three. You were out with Sam, so cas and jack were with Dean. Great. The oblivious angel of the lord and their his son who might me just as uuuh- gullible? you were hoping that they won't fuck this over.

"Hey Jack, where the hell is Cas?? I haven't seen him all day" dean asked the boy "I think he is at the store" jack answered absent-minded "really? I didn't see him leave with them" "Oh- well he went to—" jack stopped after he realized what was he about to say "—to buy you pie because y/n called him and said they couldn't find any pies?” jack tried to come up with an excuse "really?" dean said with that famous grin of his "yes!" jack said with a bright smile then—*meowww* "is there a cat in here?? How the hell did it get on here?!" dean said with an angry but surprised voice "its—uhhh- my phone! Yes it's my phone" jack said while jumped in front dean "your phone??" dean asked skeptically "yes! I asked y/n to change the ringtone to cat noises" and luckily enough a you called him and saved him

Later on you asked castiel to buy the pie instead of Sam

————————————

Third and last time :

Sam and Dean had their suspicions about the three of you. Why are you all sneaking around?? Do you all have some sort of inside jokes about them?? And it's weird especially from Cas since he tells Dean almost everything. And now... Cas and jack disappeared into your room. Maybe has disappeared and you and— "what do you think is happening, dean??" Sam said interrupting the dean's train of thought "I don't know man, it's just so weird. Not to mention the way they were acting.” the dean told sam" and the meowing. I think y/n said it was because they—” “wait wait wait- meowing noises??” dean interrupts "yea?— oh oh” "you figured it out?” “Cas like cats, Jack like cats and y/n is neutral about animals which means...” sam says waiting for Dean “they have a cat without us knowing," then dean says with a look that says 'I'm done with everything' "I swear to chuck if they got that hairy monster in my car I will personally murder them" "sure whatever you say let's go" they get up and go to your room and just opened the door "really?" Sam says after seeing Jack and Cas playing a ginger cat and you filming it "I can't believe you three!! You hid this and didn't say anything about it. And YOU!-” he points at you" I EXPECTED BETTER THAN YOU ESPECIALLY AFTER—!” you interrupted Dean "I did not let the cat into your car and if you let us keep him in my room I will buy you pies with MY money and Sam.. His name is Garfield”....... You five are quiet for a few seconds "deal" dean said, Sam looked at him inridiculously and left... "can I play with him?“ “yea.. Sure " Sam came over and Garfield kept rubbing on Sam's hand. I guess cats love big giants

[agirlwithbigdreamsforher]

MATERNITY

THE NANNY: ONE SHOT

MATERNITY

Pairing: Andy Barber x Annie Johnson (OFC)

Summary: Having a baby and take care of a house is never easy.

Warnings: none I think, just being a momma is hard. If you are dealing with something similar I want you to know you are doing amazing!

A/N: English is not my first language and I was tired when I wrote this, so I’m sorry for any mistake this may have. Enjoy!

Word count: 2232

Disclaimer: I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied, used, translated nor reposted anywhere else but here on this blog. Do not steal what you didn’t work for. Minors and ageless blank blogs don’t interact with me or my works. Reblogs and likes are always welcome. Thank you for reading this work of fiction.

GIFS not mine, you can find the credits in each gif :)

                                     ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Everyone said having a baby was one of the greatest things ones would experience. It was 3:45 when the crying of Lily woke Annie up. Annie got up, walked to her nursery, and took Lily back with her. As Annie sat down, Andy stirred awake.

“What is it?” Andy asked in a groggy voice.

“She is just hungry.” Annie yawned as she lifted her top and placed Lily near her nipple. Andy groaned, turned to his side and went back to sleep. Meanwhile Lily was eating and Annie was drifting off, her eyes were heavy with sleep, she put her back against the headboard and waited until Lily finished. Once lily was done she burped her and took her back to her crib. And this had been her routine lately.

Andy had noticed how tired her wife was, how she cried whenever she thought no one was watching her.

“Honey?” Andy approached her one evening, “You know you can tell me anything, right? We’ve talked about this before I hate it when you hide things from me.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, ok?” She gave him a kiss on the lips, “I’m just tired.” She smiled but that smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Any took her hand and squeezed it, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She walked passed by Andy and took the hamper of dirty clothes.

“Honey, is 9 p.m.”

“I know, I know, but I didn’t have time to wash these today, so…I won’t be long.” And she left.

It was a Saturday, Lily had woken up 3 times. First because she was hungry, the second because she was wet and the third apparently just because she was ready for the day to begin at 5 a.m. Annie was sitting on one of the stools by the counter when a very cheerful Andy walked in.

“Good morning!” Making Annie jumped, “Sorry I scared you.”

“S’fine.” She yawned and drank from the glass of juice she had.

“How you slept?” he got closer and kissed the back of her head.

“I didn’t, but hey she is sleeping now.” She looked at her phone, it was close to 8:30 “I need to wake her up in a couples of minutes.”

“Maybe you should let her rest.”

“Nu-uh, if she sleeps during the day she won’t sleep during the night.”

“SO, I was thinking last night, and I think it would be good for you if we have a night off. I texted Sharon and told her the 4 of us should go out for dinner tonight. I just need to get a babysitter but I don’t think that would be a problem.”

“Are you insane?”

“Hey!”

“I can’t go out Andy! The house is dirty!” She stood up, “I have so many things to do to go out for dinner.”

“Honey…”

“You better cancel because I am not in the mood to see anybody!”

The day went by and after lunch Andy went to his office to read some files to get ahead on a case he needed to see on Monday, while Annie was cleaning the kitchen. The whole house was a mess lately, no matter how much she cleaned, the house never seemed to stay clean for more than a couple of hours. Her body ached and she felt exhausted. It was nearly 4 p.m. when she put the last dish away, she was ready to sit down for a while to wait for the cycle of laundry to be over. She walked to the living room only to find out Jake had scattered his toy box all over the floor with him in the middle.

“No!” Jake jumped when she heard her scream.

“Hi, mum!”

“No! What is wrong with you?! I just cleaned!!!”

“But I wanna play!”

“I don’t care! I just cleaned! And you…argh!!!!!!”

She felt so frustrated, sat down on the couch and looked at the mess Jake did.

“I just cleaned…” She whispered and then she cried.

“Mum?” Annie was sobbing, big tears running down her face, “I sorry! Dad!!!!”

Jake stood up and ran to his dad’s office.

“Dad!” Jake opened the door.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

“I made mum cry!”

“What?”

Andy got out of this office and found Annie fully crying, her face was red at this point.

“What did you do?” Andy asked Jake.

“I was playing.”

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

“I just cleaned,” she took a deep breath, “and then this!” Annie pointed to the toys on the floor. “I’ve just cleaned the living room! And Jake did this! And I just,” she cleaned her nose with the back of her hand, “I can’t do this.”

“Ok, ok, take a deep breath.”

“No! I cleaned here and Jake in less than a fucking minute put the place upside down again!”

Once Andy heard her cursing she knew she was pissed. She never cursed in front of Jake.

“Ok, honey. I’m sure Jake didn’t mean to make you upset. Right, buddy?”

“Yes, I sorry, mum! I clean now!” The small boy took the box and began to gather all his toys and put them away.

“No! Leave it! You are grounded!!”

“What?” Jake asked.

“Honey.”

“Go to your room! Now!”

Jake dropped what he had on his hands and ran to his room.

“FUCK!!!!!!!” Andy tried to touch her but she pushed him away. “I just cleaned.” She said one more time. Softer this time.

“I know. Take a deep breath.” Annie followed his breathing when all of the sudden the cries of Lily filled their ears.

“No, please, no more cries.” Annie was so frustrated.

“I got her.” Andy walked to the kitchen where the cries came from, “Come here princess.” He took her out of the baby carrier and began bouncing her as he walked back to the living room. It took only minutes for Lily to stop crying.

“She hates me.” Annie said.

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“She does! She just stops crying whenever you hold her! I feed her! My nipples are sore from feeding her! And she cries and cries! And I can’t make her stop!”

“You are just tired, honey.”

Andy saw her wife blink her tiredness away. The bags under her eyes were deep and dark. Her eyes were still red from crying. Her hair was all over the place and her t-shirt had milk stains on it.

“How about if you go to sleep? I can clean and take care of the kids.”

“No, I…” She stood up and began picking up Jake’s toys, “Can do it.” She threw some of them into the box, “I need to finish, so I can go to the supermarket and buy everything for tonight’s dinner.”

“Honey, no one is coming. The plan was to go out for you not to do anything. And you said you didn’t want to see anyone. I cancel.”

“Very well,” She took a deep breath and clean her tears. “I still have to take out the laundry.” She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

 “No.”

“’m sorry, what?”

“I said no. Go to our room. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“But…” Andy clenched his jaw and stared at her. Annie put the toys in the box and walked away.

Meanwhile Andy was still holding Lily how was wide awake.

“Your mommy is exhausted. You are giving her a hard time little lady.” Lily just coo.

5 minutes later Andy walked in with Lily in her arms. Annie was sitting on the bed looking out the window. When Andy got closer she saw Annie was sleeping while sited.

“Honey?”

“I’m awake!” she turned to see him, “Is she hungry?” she lifted her arms to take Lily in her arms.

“Amm no, but how about a shower?”

“Yeah, I can bathe her.”

“Not for Lily. For you.” Annie just looked at him still waiting for him to pass the baby to her, “Tell you what, you can have Lily while I’ll prepare you the bathroom, that ok?” She nodded, “Good! Be right back.” She handed Lily to her mom and off he went.

When Andy came back Annie was humming a lullaby and Lily was holding her finger with her chubby hand, a toothless smile across her face.

“You are so cute.” Andy heard her whispered to their child.

“That’s because her momma is cute too.” She turned and smiled tiring to him. “Come on, time for a shower.”

Annie put Lily on the basinet, walked to the bathroom and stripped. When her body touched the warm water she sighed.

Meanwhile Andy checked on Lily who was very busy sucking on her whole hand.  He walked out of the room and towards Jake’s.

“Buddy?” Jake was on his bed looking at the ceiling.

“I still grounded?”

“Ammm. Well since your mom grounded you she is the one to decide.” Andy sat near his feet.

“I only wanna play.”

“I know, but you mom made a great effort to clean the house and well you know… It’s just been hard for her now with Lily here. So I need you to go downstairs, pick all of your toys and made a bag, you staying with Luis tonight.”

Jake nodded and ran to follow Andy’s instructions. Andy came back to their room, and took Lily with him.

“Mommy need some time alone, so you are coming with me.”

When Annie finished her shower, she felt a lot more relaxed. She walked to the closet and grabbed some clean clothes. She was about to sit on the bed when she notice Lily was no longer in the basinet. She rapidly walked to the entrance of the room.

“Andy! Do you have Lily?”

“YES! SHE IS WITH ME!” Andy shouted from the kitchen.

Annie took her time to dress, brush her hair and moisturized her body. The TV was on giving her some company with the sound of a show she didn’t know.

Andy was folding the laundry when he notice the time, it was nearly an hour after he heard the water of the shower stopped.

“Let’s check on your mom.” Andy took Lily with him and once he got to the door he opened it slowly. Annie was sleeping peacefully on her side, holding one of the pillows and with the throw blanket covering her legs. Andy smiled and closed the door.

Annie woke up by the sound of the doorbell, the room was completely dark.

“Oh, god” She turned to see the clock on Andy’s side. “7:30, Fuck!  Have to make dinner!” She jumped out of the bed and ran downstairs to find Andy putting food on the table.

“Honey! I was about to go and wake you up.” Andy got closer and kiss her forehead, “I didn’t know what you wanted to eat, so I bought, pizza, Chinese, sushi and Italian. I thought it was better to have options.” Annie didn’t say a word, “You ok?”

“I...” She scanned the kitchen, “Where’s Lily?”

“Sleeping in her baby carrier on her play mat in the living room, turns out Bluey is better than me.” He laughed.

“Where is Jake?”

“He’s staying with Luis tonight. He is very sorry by the way, and before he left he picked up his toys.”

“Ok…I…the laundry I need to take out the laundry and…”

“It’s done and I folded it. Although I put the clothes in the living room because I didn’t want to wake you. But I promise I’ll put everything in the right place after we finish our dinner.” Annie’s eyes began to water and Andy hugged her. “Shhhhh, I’m right here.” He rubbed his hand on her back, “Did you rest.” She nodded against his chest, “Are you hungry?”

“Very.” She muffled against him.

“Alright,” Andy smiled to her and reached for her chair, “My lady.” Annie sat down. “What are you craving tonight?”

“I’ll have a slice of pizza and ammm chow main, please?

“Excellent choice! For drinks we have apple and orange juice, tap water, coke or if you’re feeling a little rebel, wine.”

“Water with ice is fine.”

“Coming right up!”

For the rest of the night Andy didn’t let her lift a finger. He washed and put the dished away, he put all the remained food in containers in the fridge and cleaned the kitchen.

By the time he made it to the room Annie was drifting off. When Andy sat Annie opened her eyes.

“Sorry.”

“It’s ok, no need to apologize.” He lean towards her and kissed her, “I love you, and I want you to know you are not alone in this.”

“It’s just too much some times.”

“Yes, but you don’t have to deal with everything at once.”

“I feel like such a failure.” She sniffed.

“Honey, you are not a failure. You are amazing! Everything you do. You are a great mom and an amazing wife. Don’t you ever forget that,” He kissed her again, “I’m here for you; for everything you need.”

“Thank you.”

“Wanna watch a movie?”

“I don’t think I can’t make it to the end.”

“That’s ok. I only wanna spend time with you. Come here.” He laid down and opened his arms and Annie snuggled against his chest. Andy sighed when the cries of Lily reached their ears.

“I got her.” Andy said, leaving Annie who fell asleep right after that.

[running-tweezers]

@phantasmechanical has been pestering me (affectionately) for months to post part of an AU I wrote with our beloved ocs.

Guess you won, Merry Christmas, ilu

Have this first part I wrote well over a year ago. Looking back, I think it shows the progress I’ve made in writing since then. Still feel like I’m baring my entire soul by posting it but ya know.

~~~

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….”

Zephyr cursed under their breath, trying to remain calm and quiet. They flipped on the light of their headlamp to try and assess the damage. Bracing themself against a tree, they unzipped the side of their boot and rolled up their jeans, revealing the rapidly swelling ankle underneath.

They prodded at it with a finger, only to recoil in pain at the contact. The light illuminated the scrapes and scratches on their hands that they failed to notice before. The attempt to brace their fall only resulted in injured hands as well as a twisted ankle. This was bad. This was really bad

They slid their hand into their pocket, wincing at the friction between the fabric and their scraped palm, and pulled out their phone.

No service. Of course. Who would they call anyway? The park rangers? They had already told them not to wander around off the trails at night too many times. They were starting to gain a negative reputation, and they couldn’t let that get in the way of cryptozoological research.

They gave up on calling for help and zipped their boot back up. If they could just get back to their car, they could deal with this. They weren’t too far. Hopefully.

They tentatively put a bit of weight on their ankle, only to feel the white hot pain shoot up their leg. Shit. This was going to suck.

They took a deep breath, preparing to fight through the pain, when a beam of bright light hit them from the woods on their left.

“How’s it going tonight, Zephyr?”

They squinted into the light, unable to see the face behind the flashlight, but they already knew who it was. On a normal night, hearing him would’ve meant a night of hunting disappointingly cut short. But tonight they were actually glad to see him.

“You know you’re not supposed to be out he— Hold on, are you alright?” His patient voice turned to one of concern as he pushed his way through the trees to them.

“I’ve been better,” they hissed through gritted teeth as they tried to take a step forward.

“Don’t, let me help you.” He rushed to their side, offering an arm to help them steady themself. “What’s wrong, what’s hurt?”

“My ankle…” They reluctantly answered, grabbing onto his arm. “I just twisted it a little, I just need to get back to my car.”

“And what do you plan to do once you get to your car?”

“I don’t know? Go home? Sleep it off?”

He let out a quiet chuckle. “Come on, I can give you a lift to the station and I’ll help you actually take care of this.”

“No, it’s fine, you don’t have to—”

“I insist.” He guided their arm up over his shoulders and shifted to hold them up. “I want to make sure you’re not seriously hurt. We’re not too far from the road anyway, and then it’s just a few minutes to the station. No trouble.”

“Fine. If you must.” As much as they didn’t want the extra help, leaning on his shoulders did feel nice. They were able to take all the weight off their now throbbing ankle, at least.

“I must.” He flashed them a smile that seemed to brighten up the darkness more than any of their artificial lights. “Let’s get going. We’ll take it slow, ok? Don’t want you hurting the other leg.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you gonna call the cops?”

Nate’s newfound patient sat in a folding chair, their leg elevated onto another chair positioned in front of them. Another night dealing with this not so sneaky cryptid enthusiast. It seemed like everyone there had been through it with them at least once or twice. So much so that “dealing with Zephyr” had become the go to stakes for losing a bet amongst the other rangers. But seeing them like this was a first. Not as some freak in the middle of the woods, shrouded in darkness, or washed out in the beam of a flashlight. He could see them just as they were, sitting under the fluorescent lights of the ranger station.

Shaggy black hair poked out in all directions under their headlamp. Their outfit was wildly impractical for spending time outdoors. Just a black, tight fitting band tee and a pair of skinny jeans, all covered with a long black coat that seemed way too warm for the summer night. Their arms folded over the gear strapped to their chest, closing themself off, and their smudgy black rimmed eyes stared back at him with anxiety, thinly veiled as malice.

He hadn't realized how surprisingly hot they were.

“Why would I call the cops?” He dug through some drawers in the station's tiny kitchenette for the first aid kit.

“Because some of the other rangers threatened they would the last time they caught me.”

“Did they really?” He laughed as he knelt beside them. “Seems a little dramatic.”

“That’s what I said.”

“They’re all talk, trust me.” He smiled at them, hoping to diffuse some of their standoffish energy. “Now let’s take a look at that ankle.”

Zephyr leaned forward to pull off their boot. No wonder they hurt themself. The boots they were wearing in the middle of the forest had at least a two inch platform, covered in metal and rivets. How they even managed to walk the uneven ground at all was a mystery.

When the boot was removed, it revealed a black sock, covered in tiny mothmen, printed all over. He started to chuckle, but was met with a sharp glare.

“Don’t.”

He bit his lip to keep from smiling as they quickly snatched off the sock and avoided eye contact. No matter how much poison they tried to spit, they just came across more and more adorable.

Less adorable though, was their ankle. It had swollen quite a bit, turning red and bruising in places. God knows how bad it would’ve gotten if they had tried to limp back to their car by themself.

“Yeah, that looks like a pretty nasty sprain to me.” He pulled out a roll of ace bandages from the kit. “What exactly happened?”

They shrugged, still avoiding his gaze. “I fell. Tripped on something. Tried to catch myself, but all that did was fuck up my hands too.” They uncrossed their arms to show their red and raw hands.

“Yikes,” he winced at the torn up palms. “No worries though, I can take care of that too.”

Their arms went immediately back into the closed off position. “You really don’t need to do anything for me.”

“Well too bad, because I am,” he teased. He began wrapping the bandage around, being careful not to hurt them any further. “You know, I hate to say it, but this might not have happened if you were wearing the right kind of shoes.”

They just scoffed, not giving him an answer.

“Don’t get me wrong, the shoes look great on you,” he continued. “Just maybe not for this.”

“Don’t patronize me,” they muttered, before flinching in pain and inhaling sharply as he touched their ankle. “Shit…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I promise it’s gonna feel better when it’s done. Just a little bit more.” He continued wrapping the bandage tight around their ankle. “And I’m not patronizing you. I really do like the boots, they look really cool.”

“Thanks…” They shrunk back, returning to staring at the floor. He caught what looked like the tiny beginnings of a smile, before they forced it back down.

Suddenly, their head tilted back up in realization. “Oh shit.” They reached down to their chest to check the go pro strapped there. “I never stopped this.”

“Has that really been recording the whole time?”

“Well apparently the battery died at some point,” they sighed, frustrated, and reattached it to the straps. “So who knows?”

“Do you record everything out there?” he asked, trying to get their mind off the last remaining painful bits of wrapping.

“Of course I do,” they answered. “You know how many people claim to have seen Bigfoot with no proof to back it up? If I keep this running, it sees everything I see. Plus all the things I didn’t catch.”

“Smart.”

“Also if I’m attacked, they’ll find this on my body and be able to see proof of what did it,” they said, calmly. “I can get proof even if I don’t survive.”

“A little morbid, but I get it.” He smirked up at them, catching their eyes this time. “Do you think it caught what tripped you?”

They rolled their eyes. “Funny.”

“I’m sorry, I had to.” He laughed, securing the end of the bandage. “And now you’re done.”

“Oh…” They looked down at their wrapped ankle, obviously not realizing how fast he’d been working while they explained. “Thanks.”

“I told you, no problem. Now let me see your hands and you can go—”

A beeping followed by a shrill staticky voice interrupted him. “Calling for Nate.”

“Hold on just one second.” He stood back up and grabbed the radio from his belt to respond. “Right here, go ahead.”

“Did you take care of that Code: Z?”

He glanced back at Zephyr, who was staring up at him, eyebrows raised.

Without looking away, he responded again. “Uh, yeah. False alarm. No one was out there that I could find.”

Their face turned to shock and confusion, and he just beamed back at them.

“Well good. Maybe we can get a night of peace and quiet for once.”

“Maybe so.”

“Thanks for checking, though. Over and out.”

He returned the radio to his belt. “Sorry about that.”

“I have my own fucking code?” Their face twisted into a smile. The first smile he had ever seen from them.

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “You’re something of a cryptid out here yourself.”

Their smile only grew, delighted by this turn of events. That genuine smile after seeing nothing but scowls nearly took him out.

“Don’t worry,” he continued, shooting them another sly smirk. “I won’t let them find you that easy.”

That was enough to elicit a tiny laugh from them that made his heart swell.

“Now—“ He knelt back down, holding out his hand. “Let’s get those palms fixed up.”

They offered their scraped hands without any reluctance this time. He turned them palm up to examine, gently holding them up with his own. Holding those hands in his, with their finger tattoos and chipped black nails, he couldn’t deny the electricity.

A few stinging sprays of Bactine and two wrapped up hands later, they were all patched up.

“That should do it,” he said, closing up the first aid kit and standing back up. “No infections today.”

“Thanks.” Their standoffish persona had slowly faded, leaving behind someone who was genuinely grateful, if not a little embarrassed at the whole situation. “For everything.”

“Of course. There’s one more thing I need to do before I take you back to your car though.”

“Hm?”

Nate grabbed a sharpie from behind the check in desk, and lifted one of their hands, turning it over to scribble some digits on the bandages.

“Text me when you get home, ok?” He popped the cap back on the marker. “And let me know how that ankle’s faring.”

They studied the phone number on the back of their hand for a minute, trying to comprehend. “I, uh— sure. I can do that.”

“Good.” Nate helped them to their feet and grabbed the keys from his pocket. “And if you want to come back out here a little more prepared next time, let me know that too.”

They narrowed their eyes at him. “And you’re not gonna snitch?”

“I promise. I just want to prevent any future accidents.”

“Fine,” they conceded, voluntarily putting an arm around his shoulders to steady themself this time. “I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you,” He held them up and started leading them out the door. “I think Bigfoot would also want you to be safe.”

[muiyuuu]

As the snow falls

(gif not mine pls credit)

⤿ bad grammar/english (lowercase intended☆)

⤿kunikuzushi x gn!reader

⤿ modern au!, darkfic!, angst!

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ includes - gun mentioning

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ inspired by a poem i wrote!

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ hope you enjoy♥︎

i remember the first snow we had together, i recall the night you called me and asked if we could meet up in the small park next to the city. how i was so excited to see you, i got ready 30 minutes early.

wearing a puffed cream coloured jacket with pink gloves, a white scarf, looking myself in the mirror and feeling proud of my outfit. i turned around and grabbes my phone ontop of the nightstand and checked the time.

“im still so early” i whispered and flopped on the bed facing the ceiling. i stayed in that position for what felt like hours. i look at my phone that i was holding, and saw the numbers in the middle of the screen.

i get up lazily and walk down the stairs to the front door and get into my snowboots. then i shout at my mom “im going to the park!” which i heard a muffled “ok!”. i head out the door and walked the whole way to the city.

once i arrived i looked to my rights and lefts to see if i can spot the indigo haired guy. as i saw him in the distance, waving hos hand to grab my attention i ran to him and smiled. he smiled back at me and gave me a hug. a long hug.

like he hasn’t seem me in years. he pecked my cheek and asked me if i wanted to make a snowman with him. i quickly nodded my head with excitement and ran to a big pile of snow and started to form a ball.

i heard crunching noises beside me and turned my head to face the sound only to be greeted by my lover. he crouched down next to me and helped my with the snowman.

“you know that i’m gone right?” he said with a cold tone. i hummed and casually responded “i know, you died last year from homicide”. “then why are you still hanging on to me, i cant revive from the dead you know” he scoffed

after some time we finished the snowman. i looked at it with a grin, and put my hands on my hips. “we did it!” “mission accomplished “

“now i wanna make snow angels with you!”

i turned towards him and spread my arms and fell on the soft snow. he sighed and slowly bent down next to me. i rapidly waved my legs and arms and stuck out my tongue to catch snowflakes.

i tilted my head so i could see my boyfriend and said “you know, you make me the happiest person when your with me” only to realize i was imaginating him. i looked towards where all the city lights were. the noise of cars, trains and another familiar sound.

“hands up in the air where i can see them” a police officer said pointing a gun at me

“(name) you’re under arrest for the murder of kunikuzushi, you have the right to remain silent”

“It was the first snow, oh how i wanted to make snowmans and snowangels with you. How we would lie on the ground and stick our tongues out to catch snowflakes. I wish that came true, for i will be the happiest person with you”

(do u even call this a poem…)

© 2023 muiyuuu || if reposting pls credit me, DO NOT repost without permission on any platform, translate or copy ||

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 6 of 21 questions

better interface on wattpad

Matt was currently smiling at his phone. To be honest, Matt had been smiling at his phone a lot these past few days. The only reason why: a girl called Lily whom he had been texting for almost two months. Their game of 21 questions started by the girl in early March had quickly become random conversations about their days, hobbies and thoughts. Although it had been nice several weeks, Matt was still careful not to say too much to the girl as he was afraid that she might discover his identity. He felt like he was safe for now, but that didn't mean he would start lowering his guard – she was still a stranger after all. However, at this moment, he was just happy to see that she had texted him.

Lily

Heyy

I have no idea what time your plane is but you said in the morning so

Have a safe flight :)

He noticed that she had sent it a couple of hours ago, meaning that she was either a very early bird, or simply living on the East Coast – the latter made more sense. He quickly texted back to thank her and put his phone in his pocket before joining his brothers that were arguing as always.

As the three were going to Hawaii for their friend's birthday, they decided to vlog their trip and so they were filming themselves on the way to, as well as at the airport.

~~~

Matt, his brothers Nick and Chris, plus his friends Nate and Madi – the birthday girl – had finally arrived in Hawaii. The first thing they wanted to do was explore the surroundings and they obviously had to record the beautiful place.

As Matt was now holding the camera after Nick had filmed for a bit, he tried to tease him when they were nearing a market where birds were. See, Nick had a fear of birds and this felt really funny to Matt when he pointed out the parrots to the group:

"Nick, loot at that. Oh my god, there's millions of them!" Matt was trying to sound dramatic as he then called his other brother. "Chris, there's hundreds of them."

"I'm not as scared of big birds like this," Nick said as he was explaining that only tiny birds were scaring him – ok, weird much but it's valid.

~~~

A couple of days later, the group was still enjoying Hawaii as they were now playing baseball near the hotel. Although the trip was supposed to be in honour of Madi, she was just chilling and sitting on the grass while watching them.

It was now Matt's turn to throw the ball at Nick while Nate was holding the camera. After several successful hits from Nick to Chris – who was trying to catch the ball dozens of metres behind Matt, Nick failed at hitting the ball Matt threw to him. This led to the middle triplet bending down in front of Nate, who couldn't resist a comment:

"Ooh, got a nice angle of your ass Matt".

Nate was definitely Matt's hype man as he kept cheering on him.

~~~

Even though Matt's focus had completely been on his brothers and friends since the beginning of their Hawaii trip, his thoughts went to a certain someone. He realised that with the timezones being twice as far away, he barely spoke to Lily as they had a six hour difference. They had only exchanged a couple of texts regarding Pokemon and Gravity Falls as it was their main common points.

However, when he saw the gorgeous landscape they were in front of, he couldn't help but take a picture to send to Lily. He knew she loved taking pictures of whatever she would see, but she had made it clear a couple of times that she especially favoured the beach and the sky. Those two gifts from Mother Nature had always looked breathtaking to the girl and she had even sent some of her favourite photos to Matt, who had to admit that the way the moon or the sea could be depicted by Lily was something people wrote poems about.

This is the reason why Matt kept comparing his texting companion to his older triplet, as he could only find similarities between them the more Matt talked with Lily. And what he appreciated the most about her was how she looked at the world with such admiration: to Lily, Earth was a museum waiting for people to come and discover the art hidden all around.

As Matt was quickly skimming through his gallery to select a nice picture of the sea, his brother Nick couldn't help but look at him and how focused he was on his phone. The older triplet being the most observant of the three had noticed that Matt had been spending more time on it lately, but he knew not to say anything about it – Matt would talk about it on his own terms if it really mattered and if he wanted to share this with his brothers. For now, Nick would leave Matt alone and pretend like nothing was happening – close to how Chris was acting although he actually had no clue.

Lily

THE BEACH

THE SKY 

THE SUNSET

EVERYTHING IS PERFECT

THANK YOU JIUZGIHDEZVBIH

Wow you seem to really like it

Ig you’re growing on me bc the landscape made me think of you

Bro i’m gonna cry, that’s so thoughtful

It makes the picture even more special

Thanks again 🫶

You're welcome :)

How's the vacation going btw?  

Honestly it’s going incredibly well 

I’m spending most of my time exploring with my brothers and our friends

So yeah it’s going pretty great

Good to know :))

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip and don’t hesitate to send more pics bc it looks GORGEOUS

Thanks, and will do!

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[quintinh43]

Hi love! So I have a question… what helps you and writing your fics. I’ve been wanting to post something’s I’ve wrote, but to me they aren’t really that good, so I’m just wondering what are like your inspirations when writing because yours is so so beautiful

Hi loveee, thank you for the compliment it really warms my heart 🫶🏼🫶🏼

Ok, so the first thing I have to say is, honestly, I write for myself most of the time! For me, writing is stress relief cause I get to escape into my own little world of my creation.

That being said, I started sharing my writing because I felt it would help me improve. I can't even tell you how stressed/embarrassed I was with the first Quinn fic I posted on tumblr, even though I have been writing and posting fan fiction for yearsssss. It's pretty daunting to try something new and sometimes you just gotta close your eyes and jump.

My main thing was, it's ok if I think it's bad, I know I'll get more comfortable eventually.

With all of that in mind, here are some things I do to help me get into the flow of writing or help when I'm stuck on a scene etc. And just help me in general!

1. I need background noise!! This is different for everyone, but for me, I like background noise. If you haven't tried it, I would definitely recommend trying it, again it is different for everyone. I usually listen to instrumentals, or I'm watching Brooklyn 99 in the background. Idk why, but for some reason, Brooklyn 99 really turns my writing brain on! Maybe try a show/movie that is familiar to you!

2. I write on my phone! Everything gets written in my notes app, and when I'm done or close to done, I will copy past everything into an actual doc and then edit it on my laptop. I find that writing on my phone is less stressful. Maybe I'm traumatized from uni, but writing on my laptop just feels like a chore. Plus, if you write on your phone as soon as inspiration hits, you can write! You don't have to wait for an opportunity to get out your laptop and yadda yadda.

3. When I'm frustrated with my writing, I leave it for a little while and then come back later. In between, I'll try to look at writing prompts/scenarios on pinterest/tumblr and just think about how I would write them.

4. Write how you are comfortable! I'm big on metaphors, similes, and like flowery figurative language, so that's usually how I try to write. Another big thing for me is I want to feel when I'm reading, so I try to write in a way that mimics feeling. For example, if you're writing a scene where you wanna portray anxiety I find that in real life. When I'm anxious, my thoughts feel rapid and stunted. So I'll write short, choppy sentences. Or when I'm trying to portray the feeling of love, I'll write longer, softer, sentences, cause to me the feeling of love is something that you want to keep around.

5. Another thing I like to do, is I try not to mention something if it isn't gonna be useful/have a purpose. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I love throwing in those useless spare details cause I think they elevate the story. But when I used to write, I used to be super detailed about everything, and I found that it was a drag to read.

6. I'm not a big planner, I feel like planning limits me. Sometimes, I'll jot down a few bullet points of what I know I want to see, but other than that, I don't really plan. I also don't really write in a liner fashion. Sometimes, I'll start writing in the middle of a scene because that's what I'm most inspired to write, and then I'll go back and connect the beginning and such.

7. Don't delete your writing!! If you've written a scene and you don't like it anymore and think it doesn't fit, or it doesn't flow, font delete it! Copy paste it into an empty note/doc and then you can delete it from your main piece. I find that keeping my "bad writing" helps me grow. Plus sometimes I'll come back and use the scene later, or I'm a different fic! You never know.

8. Don't be afraid to take inspiration from your favorite writers! If you like the way someone writes descriptions, feelings, or something, try to reflect that in your own writing! Doing that really helped me to develop and flourish my own writing style!

All of that said, you know yourself best, and at the end of the day do what works for you. I hope this helped a least a little, and if you ever wanna hop in my messages and talk more I would be so so so honored 🫶🏼

And last but not least, I had to save my best writing tip for the end!

Write on the toilet - idk, but as soon as I'm on the toilet, all the ideas come flooding to my brain, and I literally can't stop writing. Judge me if you will, but hey, it works.

[lifeonawhim]

I'll look after you.(Tasm! Peter parker)

Pairing: tasm! Peter Parker× oc/reader? (You have a name- Vivienne)

Warnings: none, this is fluff.

Word count: 3-4k? (Idfk how to see the word limit) This one's long is all I can tell you. I hope you stick around.

Y/f/m- your favourite movie

Summary: After a really bad day at school, all you wanted was to throw away your books and never come out of your bed but spiderman is always there to save the day.

An: I wrote this for my bestfriend and it's the first time I'm publishing my work. I'm sick and i haven't proofread this and i profusely apologise for any errors you may find.

You were pretty sure your eyes were puffy and red and your makeup was smudged from all the crying you did in the school washroom. Today was just not your day, you thought as you sluggishly walked your way up to your apartment. Your stupid, middle aged English teacher had given you shit for no apparent reason other than taking out her own frustrations, you had a ton of homework from all the AP classes you had decided to take, which you were soon realising were a really, REALLY bad idea and you had to prepare for your first day at your internship at Oscorp, an internship you had fought way too hard for. And on top of all this, you had forgotten to bring lunch and Peter wasn't at school either to make it all better.

You had called him a couple of times but his phone went straight to voicemail and the texts you sent him were also unanswered. You had started to overthink and felt like one of those typical clingy girlfriends, which you knew wasn't the case, your boyfriend loved you to pieces but God, you couldn't seem to help it.

To really top it all off, it had started to rain really bad and you had forgotten to get an umbrella with you.

So here you were, walking with water all inside your boots, sniffling and suppressing your tears until you reached home.

Ofcourse, you thought.

As you stumbled inside your home, you barely got to your room before you burst into tears, again.

"Vi?" You heard a soft voice say from behind you, as you flinched and dropped your books. Peter was trying to get inside your house, through the window, all bruised and battered.

You immediately rushed towards him and wiped away your tears, helping him inside.

"Peter, what the hell? Where were you? Are you ok? I mean no, that's stupid. You're obviously NOT okay" you fumbled as you spoke. You started to rush towards your washroom, to get him a first aid kit when he grabbed you by the arm and pulled you towards him.

"No, no, no ,not that fast. You aren't going anywhere." Peter said in a stern voice. His gaze washed over your face and his frown soon turned into what could only be called a look of heartbreak. For some reason, this just made more tears pool into your eyes.

"Vivi, baby. What's wrong?" His own voice broke as he asked you in a voice so soft that you. just.couldnt.help.it.

You burst into tears. Yep. This is it, you thought as you quickly tried to turn away and put your palms on your eyes, as if you could will yourself to just hold it together, if only for your sweet boyfriend's sake.

Peter wrapped his arms around you, successfully trapping you and kissed the crown of your head softly. " I'm so, so, so sorry about whatever happened that made you feel this way, Vi." He whispered against your hair.

You sniffled and quickly wiped your face over the sleeves of your sweater. Hold it in, Vivienne. He doesn't need this right now, you thought to yourself. With as much life as you could muster up, you turned around. " Hey, hey. I'm fine. Ok? I'm fine. I just had a rough day at school, nothing I can't handle myself. Now let's get all cleaned up, Parker", you said as you once again started your way towards the first aid. Peter frowned and for a split second you almost thought he believed it. Almost.

He rushed infront of you and cradled your face gently with both of his hands. "Don't. Please don't pretend like you're fine when you so clearly aren't, Vivienne." He kissed your nose and rested his forehead against yours. "Please don't shut me out, baby." He whispered as he leaned down to capture your lips in a kiss so tender that once fucking again, you teared up.

You couldn't help it. He was so.fucking.sweet.

A choked sob made it's way up your throat as you sagged against him. " I just had a really bad day, ok? I have so much to get done and then I have to prepare for my internship too and Pete, I really don't think I can do this, hell I don't even know how I got the internship. It's just so.. hard." Your voice broke to an almost inaudible whimper as you said the last word.

Peter's arms tightened around you as he kissed the top of your head repeatedly. "Baby, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you out today but let me take care of you now" Peter said as he intertwined your fingers together and took you towards your bedroom. He gently sat you down on your bed and disappeared for a moment in your bathroom.

He came out and gently started removing your soaked clothes. Once you were out of your clothes, he took you by the hand once again and guided you towards your bathtub. You saw now that he had started a bath for you and your heart ached.

He gently guided you towards the bathtub and got your loofah as he slowly started washing you down. "You're the strongest, smartest and the most charming person I know, Vivienne. There's no way that Oscorp would've chosen you if they didn't think you were the best and you know it." Peter said as he moved on to your hair, softly untangling it. You just looked at him.

Peter Benjamin Parker, your beautiful, kind and loving boyfriend.

Wordlessly you grabbed his hand and urged him to join you in the bathtub. Peter kissed your hand and was quick to strip down. He let you guide him to the tub and you wrapped you legs around his waist. You reached up to kiss his collarbone and neck as his fingers traced comforting patterns over your shoulder. You brought your hands up to trace the bruises he's gotten from whatever monster he was out there, fighting. You knew he'd tell you about it, just not right now.

This close to him, you could see his face littered with previous scars that were yet to heal. You sighed shakily. Every one of those scars was yet another time when he could've been easily snatched from your arms. You fretted over him alot each time he'd stumble to you, tired from the violence he had to deal with earlier. You hated it, hated how everytime he was away, in yet another fight, you'd pray to any god listening to ensure his safety. He hated worrying you too, you knew that so you tried to hide each time your lip quivered when you saw him flinch as you bandaged the evidence of his fights.

You remembered a particularly nasty scar once. You'd screamed at him for getting himself hurt so much . You knew it was selfish of you, to beg him to not go out there again and you also knew it was pointless. He desperately clung to you and told you that part of why he was so hellbent on protecting the city was also to ensure that you never had to come across anything he did. He'd pick up the suit to make sure you could sleep away, knowing you were safe as long as he was out there.

Some of the scars on his body were there so that others didn't have them and you loved and hated him for it.

You were drawn out of your reverie as Peter wrapped his hands around your torso and carried you out to your bedroom.

He dressed you in one of the many sweatshirts he'd left at your place earlier and fluffy socks. He gently laid you down on the bed and brushed your hair as he tried his best to braid it softly, he wasn't good at it but he'd try for your sake since he knew how much you hated getting hair all over your face in your sleep.

"I'll be right back, baby." Peter whispered as he exited the room before you had a chance to protest.

He came in the room with some food and water for you and turned on your television.

"You wanna watch a movie before bed?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. You hesitated a bit, not sure if you were up for it. "Come on sweetheart, I'll let you pick. We can have the hundredth rerun of y/f/m" he said with a soft smile.

Your face broke into a brilliant smile as you nodded. He put on the movie and climbed into bed. Once he was satisfied that you were fed and hydrated, he switched off the tv and cuddled close to you.

You put your head on Peter's chest and he leaned down to capture your lips in a tender kiss.

You were almost asleep, listening to the rhythmic sound of Peter's steady heartbeat when you heard a whisper.

"You're the absolute light of my life, Vivienne Black. You're the only thing that helps me keep fighting when every single bone in my body is shouting otherwise. I love you, you're my best friend." Peter said in a voice so low you would've missed it, had it not been for your closeness.

He'd assumed you had fallen asleep.

He often had a habit of expressing his love for you at the end of everyday when you were in his arms and he thought you were asleep. You never replied, just thanked all the gods for your wonderful boy.

"I love you too, spidershit" you whispered with your eyes closed.

As long as you had your Peter with you, you knew you'd be alright.

[theshatteredrose]

How do you get these wonderful stories out of your head? When I play RPGs like Disgaea and Eterian Odyssey, I have stories I wanna write but when I turn the game off they're gone! Do you have any wisdom on how to weave daydreams into reality?

Oooh boy~ Ok, let’s see…

The first thing, the absolute first thing you must do when you get an idea for a story is to write it down. I cannot stress this enough. Please, write it down somewhere. Do not fall into the trap of “I’ll remember this, I won’t need to write it down.” We authors always fall into this trap. You will forget. We always forget.

Write it down in a notepad. Write it down somewhere on your phone. Write it down in an email or text. Write your ideas, big and small, down somewhere.

Start that habit first. Keep the ideas brief and to the point. Write them as a synopsis. Write them as a summary.

Alright. So, you have all these ideas. Now what? Taking the next step can seem daunting. So, let’s keep it simple. Look over your ideas. Any that catch your immediate attention? Any that seem fun or exciting to do? Let’s start with that one.

Take the idea that you like. And then expand on it. Add characters. Add a setting. Who is the protagonist? What are their motives? What drives them? What is the plot of the story? What is driving the plot forward? What is the goal? Who or what is the Antagonist? What are their motives and motivations?

Don’t get bogged down with the details. Keep things simple and to the point. We’re still in the planning stages.

Next, it’s time to figure out the timeline of events. How does the story begin? What are the objectives that the Main Characters need to reach throughout the story? What are the key plot scenes you want the story to entail? What is the end goal? What would you like the ending to be? Again, keep things simple and to the point. This is what happens and then this is what happens next. We’re still in the planning stages.

Please note that your story has the possibility to change during these planning stages. What you had in mind at the beginning can change. And that’s perfectly fine. It’s about the flow. Sometimes your story and characters will lead you in a new direction. One you hadn’t considered before. Happened with me more times than I can count. And it’s always for the better.

Ok, so you have your story figured out. Now comes the next big hurdle – writing details.

This step is where a lot of people fall short. Writing fleshed out characters, writing them in scenes, writing dialogue, writing their thoughts and actions. It can feel overwhelming. So, let’s just take it slowly. The first draft is always abysmal. No one ever, ever finishes a pristine novel on their first draft. If they claim otherwise, they’re lying. The first draft is just getting a feel of the story and of the characters. Does this scene fit here? Does this event help or hinder the story? Do I need to explain more of the lore?

The first draft is never, ever perfect, so go into it with this mindset. Fumble your way through it. Add dialogue here. Add a fight scene there. Oh, this scene needs a new character? Well, in you go!

And you don’t have to start from the beginning. Start working on a scene from the middle of the story. Start working on that exciting battle scene. Start working on that amazing plot twist that no one saw coming. I wrote one of my stories by first working on that final battle scene and then worked around it. You don’t have to work from the beginning.

There is one other thing you must do in order to get your story done. You must write. You must work on it every day. It can be for five minutes. It can be for only a hundred words. But you must find the time in your day to work on your project. Little by little, a sentence here and a sentence there, your project will get done.

We writers a such fickle little creatures. We can get disheartened easily or get distracted with other shiny new projects. So, remember, each day you choose to write, no matter the form, be it a new idea or the working of a new project, is a day you should be proud of yourself.

Everything I’ve written above is my personal method of writing. It’s not perfect and it may not be for everyone. It’s merely advice I offer from the heart, guidance to help you find your own way as a writer. To find your own method. Seek guidance from others, but ultimately find a path that is suited for your own needs and interests. Test the waters and experiment, fumble your way through exploration and soon your will find your own rhythm.

I hope I was able to answer your question ^^