#was supposed to have a fic finished for the anniversary and not sure if it still will be

[maroonmused]

happy 1 year anniversary to marvel’s spider-man 2, these games mean a lot to me and the insomniac spider-men have a permanent place in my brain and heart. this npc gets me on a personal level.

[penkura]

PENKURAAAAA

I love your writing, especially for Law and Zoro. I'm also a sucker for the parent fics you do. What if reader and Law/Zoris kids were to surprise reader on their birthday? What would they do? How would they do it? Maybe reader thinks everyone forgot their birthday but the crew is actually just in on the surprise? Thanks for reading friend, I would love to see what you think ^^♡

HIII THANK YOUUUU I'm so glad you like the parent fics, they're some of favorite to write. 😊

I didn't think I'd finish this in time to post on my birthday but I did!! I wasn't sure where to go at first so I just started typing and this is what I've got!! I'm pretty happy with it myself, so I hope you like it too!! 😄

Law

Law has never forgotten a birthday or anniversary ever since you first got together. His ability to remember every date leaves you impresses every time, especially after your son and daughter were born, he kept every important date in the front of his mind so her never forgot. He intended to celebrate every important, special day so you and your kids knew how much he loved you. You make sure to do the same for Law, even if he’d rather you not celebrate his birthday, the grins he gets from your children every year make it worth remembering the day.

That’s why it’s very strange to wake up on your birthday without Law in your bed with you, or even your son Rosinante yelling ‘happy birthday’ to wake you. Your daughter Cora is still learning to talk, but even she would already be in your bed and giggling to help get you up for the day. It’s odd, you’re not sure what to think as you start getting ready for the day, still no sign of your family or the other Heart Pirates around. Once you leave your room, it’s oddly quiet but you pass by a few of your crewmates on your way to Law’s office, expecting him to be there at least. None of them say anything about your birthday, Bepo and Ikkaku seem a little antsy when you greet them, though you don’t think anything of it, even when they try to guide you to the kitchen instead.

You don’t go with them, saying you’d like to see your family first, opening the door to Law’s office and being surprised at what you see. Law at his desk is normal, even with your daughter sitting in his lap, but what’s different is the amount of streamers across the walls and floor, wrapping paper pieces mixed in, your children busy scribbling away on paper likely making cards for you.

It's so early you can’t believe the two are awake, especially seeing how Law appears to he asleep, his hat over this face and leaning back in his chair, but still holding little Cora so she can sit up and continue coloring.

Of course he wouldn’t forget, he was probably trying to surprise you, keeping things a secret and bringing your children to his office so you could sleep in while he got things together. That would also explain why most of your crewmates seemed anxious around you, they didn’t want you to figure it out too soon.

“Mama!”

When Rosi sees you, he’s torn between excited and upset, you weren’t supposed to see anything yet and the five-year-old was doing his best to keep everything secret after Law brought up your birthday and making cards for you. He pouts a little, but still jumps up to hug you, which you return.

“You weren’t s’pposed to see yet…”

Quietly laughing, to not wake Law even though Cora is starting to whine when she sees you, you hug Rosi a bit tighter before kissing the top of his head.

“You’re so sweet! I’m sorry I saw everything, sweetie!”

Rosi whines this time, telling you that you’re hugging him too tight, before you let him go and move to pick up Cora, who squeals when you do so and kiss her cheeks. Law doesn’t even wake at that, you wonder if he actually slept last night or not.

“You’re all so wonderful, I’m so blessed to have you guys.”

Rosi makes you promise not to tell anyone that you know, and you’re still surprised later that day at how big the party is. Law tells you later that your son thought it up, he just helped put it all together with the rest of your crew. No one finds out that you knew, Rosi keeps it a secret too and even when your daughter nearly drops her piece of cake on your shirt, it’s still the best birthday you’ve had in a while.

Zoro

While Zoro isn’t the best at remembering dates, your birthday is one he never forgets, no matter how long you’ve been together or how many other important days come and go. You know your captain and crew well enough that anything worth celebrating gets a huge party, birthdays are no exception, especially so after your daughter’s birth a few years ago. Every first for little Kuina was celebrated as only the Straw Hats could, food and drinks galore, even though she’d be confused by what was happening.

When she’s four-years-old and your birthday comes around again, Kuina is adamant on you having a big surprise party, even when Zoro tells her you aren’t the biggest fan of surprises (your unexpected pregnancy with her being an exception). She’ll pout and fuss until Zoro finally agrees, enlisting Nami and Sanji to get everything planned but not tell him the details. He trusts them to get everything planned, Kuina being their biggest help, but Zoro doesn’t want to know anything, so he doesn’t potentially spoil you on the surprise.

Kuina is better at keeping the secret than anyone else. If you ask her what she’s doing, when she grabs all her paper and coloring supplies, she just tell you she’s going to make a map with aunt Nami. That’s not unusual so you don’t question it, she does bring you her own map later that day anyway.

When your birthday finally comes around, neither Zoro nor Kuina says anything, they aren’t even around when you wake up that morning. Not uncommon though, everyone normally lets you sleep in on your birthday, but usually Zoro is there and Kuina comes running in after a few minutes to wake you both.

Once you’ve dressed and gotten ready for the day, you head for the kitchen, but you’re confused when no one you pass says anything to you apart from a good morning. Usopp just grins and says it, Franky does the same. Luffy is barely audible as he runs off to wherever, dragging Jinbei along with him. It really makes you wonder if they’ve all forgotten what today is. You don’t see anyone else until you get to the kitchen, only to have streamers from party poppers hit you in the face, hearing Kuina say ‘oops’.

“You weren’t supposed to do it in her face, Kuina!”

“Sorry, daddy!” Kuina gives you an apologetic look before she smiles, “Sorry, mommy! Happy birthday!!”

Once you’re able to see the kitchen better, there’s streamers and balloons round the room, your favorite breakfast all made and ready, a cake in the middle of the table, and every member of your crew there, you figure Luffy and Jinbei had slipped in behind you. They all give you their birthday wishes, and it nearly makes you cry which makes Zoro smirk at you.

“Now don’t cry about it. It was all your daughter’s idea.”

“Shut up, Zoro.” You may be near tears but the smile you have tells everyone you’re happy, as Kuina comes out and hugs you with a pout.

“Mommy, don’t cry! I made you a picture!!”

It’s childish work of course, she’s only four, but it’s still an adorable picture she’s drawn of the two of you, making you hug her back and lift her off the ground.

“Thank you so much, Kuina. I love it!”

You never question if any of them have forgotten your birthday again, expecting it to be due to Kuina having her own little plans for your special day. You’ll have to do the same for her next year now.

[argetcross]

Happy 4th anniversary to wasting beats of this heart of mine, my Zagreus becomes mortal AU! Another year, some more adventures undertaken.

This year, I've unearthed more concepts and half-finished paintings all the way from 2021. I've included notes under the cut about each piece, as well as more reflections.

If you told me in October 2020 that you'll write a fic over 100k words long, spanning multiple cities, with multiple POVs, I would have said, "Are you sure?". I think I never really imagined I could keep a story running, much less one that demands so much of its author. At the same time, this work has been my deepest and most fulfilling pleasure. It lives in my dreams, haunts my waking moments, and demands I regularly carve my heart out and poke through the viscera. I suppose such is the nature of art.

We've been approaching the end of Part III, and readers up-to-date know I've mentioned planning for five parts in total. Five acts, five biomes: it only feels fitting. Many things I had looked forward to (the chariot race! Kyane and Persephone! The return of Thymoetes!) have come to life on the page, but there's still so much of the yarn left to spin. I never expected needing years to complete this story, but I also feel strongly I am beholden to it now. To Zagreus, to Demeter's children, to the mortals and gods, above and below. I will continue to try my best.

Thank you to jules, val, nan, robin, and spleen for having beta'd for me during these years. This story wouldn't be what it is without you. Thank you to mag, for having crawled through the trenches of creating an enormous fanwork and countless hours of spreadsheeting, with me. To every artist that has ever drawn me anything, it is truly humbling to be able to inspire your work. To the House Party, whose friendship I am grateful for every day.

And to anyone who has ever read part of the story, left a comment, and stepped along on this journey with me, I cannot overstate how grateful I am. I remain baffled and pleasantly surprised that this world of mine can touch your heart. It's a story that I hope, when it completes, you will pick up again from time to time, and take pleasure in its telling once more.

With all my love,

Arget

--

Notes about each image:

Thanatos and Zagreus by the sacred olive trees of Athena. This painting was based on a photo I took in Athens. The quality of the sunlight astounded me and, in turn, made me think about life and death.

Thanatos anointing the body of the god Zagreus with nectar. This is related to the scene in Chapter 23, when he and Nyx converse by Zagreus' bedside.

Eleusis concepts. For such a powerhouse of a cult, Eleusis itself has a provincial feeling to it. I was captivated by the idea of the sea, and the fact that Zagreus had never spent any time on the coast. This would have been his first experience with it.

Athens. What can I say about Athens that hasn't been said? The trip I took late 2022 provided a lot of the inspiration for the citadel aspect of the acropolis. This is not the Athens of Classical Greece, the polis of democracy, but a fictionalized city-kingdom, under the rule of its royal family. The idea that Callisto had a student living in Athens was both a nod to the extensive trade happening during the Bronze Age and a deconstruction of the Amazon myth that the Greeks told themselves.

Clymene, the Oracle of Delphi. This was originally meant to be a Hades game-like portrait, but I scrapped the idea. She is dressed in the fashion closer to the Minoans, to give her a more Bronze Age feeling. As the head priestess, I wanted to show her age.

Apheidas and Thymoetes sketches. The two brothers are supposed to look night and day from each other. I tried to give Apheidas a pleasant sort of face, in comparison to Thymoetes' haughtiness.

The tapestry sketch. This was one of the first drawings I ever made about wasting beats, in an attempt to understand the type of story I was about to write. Key elements had already been decided, such as the chariot race and the way Demeter and Hades would play the role of the absent gods, for above as well as below. I had not written Apollo at this time, so you see him here with short hair.

Zagreus, reaching for a bloodstone. The chlamys, a gift from his foster-father's wife, has been the simple denotation of mortal Zagreus. Something bright and red, simple for it was woven by a farmer's wife, and barely able to protect his weaker mortal body.

Megaera, hurt and angry, and Than, stricken and alarmed, amidst a storm of paper. This is a scene from Chapter 18, Primordial Winter, that I had always wanted to illustrate.

[analbedo]

📔 that boy’s a liar ft asshole virgin killer jock bf childe

ngl im having Bad Childe Thoughts™️ sorry he’s such nonconner bait like skskfkkdks. also this was not supposed to be this long sadly i just got too silly wit it >_> also it’s been so long since i wrote i had to keep looking words up to make sure i used them right asksjdjsk i was staring at my phone for like 10 minutes bc there’s no way sinisterly is a word 🤨 anyway.

i could easily imagine him being, like, an asshole jock, probably plays some rich boy sport like lacrosse 😭 and every time the school year starts he’s always looking for another cute freshman to fuck. he had a thing for virgins, and no one was more virginal than a fresh out of high school girl, eager to find her first boyfriend, completely oblivious to the nature of men. (well, really, men like him.)

𐐪 warning: this fic contains dark content, please read my dark content disclaimer before continuing. minors dni.

🦢cw: virginity kink, dubcon/sexual coercion, noncon/rape (both implied and explicit, the word rape is also used), misogyny (i’m sorry women🥺), emotional manipulation, unhealthy relationships, unconsensual nude sharing, degradation, unconsensual creampie-ing (is there a better word for this?), hair pulling, mouth spitting, contraception mention⁉️

° 𐐪 ♡ 𐑂 nsfw below the cut! 𐐪 ♡ 𐑂 °

and that’s what led ajax to you, the bright eyed, overly naive barely legal cheerleader. most cheerleaders were too slutty for his tastes, but he could tell from the innocent way you swung your hips and nervousness around guys that you’d probably never had a boyfriend, let alone sex.

bagging you was too easy, he almost felt bad for you. he’d barely finished inviting you to one of his games when you’d excitedly accepted. afterward, him convincing you to go to a frat party later that night was child’s play (no pun intended). from there on, you were putty in his hands. ajax had no real intentions of dating you, you were a bit too innocent for his tastes. but, when you offhandedly mentioned you were saving yourself for “the one” (seriously?), he realized he had no other choice.

nothing really changed after you made it official, you still went to his games and parties with him, and sent him nudes that he was definitely sending to his friends’ groupchat. ajax, the notorious virgin killer, and his new victim. the general consensus was that you were the hottest one he found, which was an accomplishment, but his friends teased him for how long it was taking for him to smash— “you’re losing your touch there, casanova” kaeya texted him after he updated the chat on his latest date with you.

ajax rolled his eyes, but it was true. you were really not trying to give it up, even if you were blackout drunk, slurring your words at parties, even when he lit candles and set out rose petals for your one month anniversary, even when he said he’d never tell anyone. nothing was working, and he was starting to get annoyed. nutting on you face, tits, and ass wasn’t cutting it; if anything he was starting to get more and more sexually frustrated. he wouldn’t force you, he wasn’t that type of guy, but damn it if he wasn’t running out of ways to try to convince you to let him actually put his dick inside you; he’d even settle for just head at this point.

ajax reached his breaking point one night after a game. his team won the championship finals for their division, or something, which meant they had a solid chance at playing to win the state title. surely, he deserved something for that. so, when you invited him over to celebrate after, he was expecting more than you just surprising him with a homemade dinner after his shower.

“that’s it?” ajax asked, looking in disbelief at the table, his voice gradually growing louder and meaner as he spoke. “you fucking cook for me all the time, why the fuck would you think this is a surprise?”

you felt your heart sink a little bit; you’d put way more effort into it than your usual dishes, and you thought he’d might like a nice, fulfilling dinner after working so hard. ajax had little outbursts like this all the time, but he assured you that’s just how relationships are, and who would give up a tall, handsome, perfectly sculpted redhead athlete just because he’s a little temperamental.

you remained quiet; usually, this is where he’d apologize and say he had a bad day, or was tired. but, his tirade kept going.

“we’ve been together three fucking months and you’re still acting like the same boring virgin bitch as when we started dating. i thought for once you’d stop fucking neglecting me and finally fucking put out.” ajax reached up to run a hand through his damp auburn hair, his towel slipping down ever so slightly as he did so. you felt your face grow warm in embarrassment and desire. you wanted to wait, but him borderline flashing you sent butterflies down your stomach to between your legs.

“i’m sorry,” you said meekly, genuinely meaning it. you tried explaining how scared you were to do it for the first time; stds, pregnancy, or having your cherry popped, which you imagined would be more painful than it sounds. ajax always gave you the same responses, that he was clean, he’d pull out, he’d be gentle. you had no reason to deny him, really, you saw a future with him; and, if he’d dated you this long without having sex, you imagined he’d want to be with you forever once you said yes.

but still, something in your body was telling you to stop, leave, run. as many butterflies as he gave you, there were still cold claws of dread and fear dragging in your chest at the thought of sleeping with him. “i’m just not ready yet, baby. i’m sorry.” you replied, unable to meet his eye.

that was probably a good thing, because the look of disgust he casted would’ve been enough to make you break down in tears. “not… ready?” ajax asked in an angry low timbre. “you’re a fucking adult, for christ’s sake, what the fuck do you mean you’re not ready? it’s fucking sex, not a marriage proposal.” he huffed incredulously, running both hands through his hair now while throwing his head back. he turned away from you, finally allowing you to lift your gaze from the floor. staring at his back, you realized just how muscular your boyfriend was— and tall too.

if he really wanted it, he could easily take it. you wouldn’t stand a chance.

the thought alone made your throat swell and eyes prick. you never thought he could be that kind of guy; and if he is, wouldn’t it be better to just let him do what he wants? maybe he’d go easy on you if you said yes now.

“everyone else on the team is probably getting ass at that after party, and i’m fucking stuck here playing house with a childish ass bitch,” ajax groaned. his words felt like punches straight to the gut; you instinctively held your abdomen in response. he turned around to you, his face now free of anger, but full of… something. you didn’t know what, but it was sending shivers down your spine. “you know, this is the longest i’ve ever gone without having sex,” he said in a neutral tone, slowly walking around the table to approach you. you winced as he lifted your chin up, bringing his face uncomfortably close to yours.

“look at me,” ajax said softly, but sinisterly. you forced your tear filled eyes to meet his, but not without trembling in fear. “you’re neglecting me, you know. isn’t it a little unfair to deprive me of intimacy, when i’ve been doing everything i can to make you comfortable? why are you so scared of me, hm? why don’t you trust me?” you merely blinked in response; if you talked you knew you wouldn’t be able to hold back sobbing. “i don’t neglect you, do i? is there anything you want that i don’t for do?” you pondered the question; though he was rarely ever nice or this soft spoken, he had a point— physically, he’d given you all the cuddles and forehead kisses you could want.

still, that wasn’t the same thing as having sex? or, was it? who’s to say he finds cuddling as intimate as lovemaking? maybe sex was to him what cuddling was to you— maybe you were neglecting him. you shook your head softly in reply.

“good girl, you’re right. i’ve done everything i can to prove you can trust me, does that not matter to you? will i never be good enough for you?” ajax’s voice sounded sincere, but the cold, perverse look in his eyes still made you doubt. “i’ve been so patient, baby. i could’ve taken it any time i wanted, but i waited for you. you gonna keep me waiting forever?”

something about his logic wasn’t quite adding up to you— but, it didn’t matter. your brain was too clogged with fear to compute anything. plus, he confirmed what you tried so hard to not acknowledge all along: if he wanted you, he could have you, whether you wanted it or not. your heart thudded in your chest.

you felt guilty for depriving your boyfriend for so long, but that was overshadowed by your fear of what he’d do to you if you kept kept saying no. “ok,” you whispered meekly, so soft you were surprised he even heard it.

or, maybe he didn’t. it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

ajax smiled, though this time his grin of approval filled you with cold terror instead of giddy excitement. “i knew you’d do the right thing.”

***

“shouldn’t we use condoms?” you asked. you were sitting on your bed, wrapping your naked body with your fuzzy pink blanket. maybe you were as childish as he said. the more you thought about it, the less you wanted to do it, but, it was too late mow.

“they’re too small for me, but, don’t worry, i’m clean. can’t let an std fuck up my lacrosse career, you know?” ajax said casually, walking towards the bed.

“no, not for that. i meant for- i mean, like, i’m not on, like, birth control or anything—” you stammered.

“oh that’s fine, i was gonna pull out anyway. can’t let a baby fuck up my career, either,” he replied, chuckling at his own joke before giving you a light peck. “plus, you’re too hot to knock up right now, it’d ruin your body. i’d save that for after you’ve already hit the wall. anyway,” he said sliding back on the bed and leaning against the wall. “come here princess, i’ll show you what to do.”

you turned around and crawled toward him, sitting back on your heels. his comment about your body momentarily snapped you out of your fearful haze; were you really about to give it up to such an asshole?

ajax twirled his finger, motioning you. “face that way, towards the door. and get on your hands and knees”

“like this?”

“perfect. now—” instead of giving instructions, ajax put his hand between your shoulder blades and pushed you down roughly. “you’re gonna stay like that.”

it was kind of humiliating being in such a lewd pose; you’d always imagined your first time would be passionate missionary sex, not getting your back blown out. ajax shuffled behind you on the bed; he was taking his boxers off.

“okay, you ready? i’m gonna be honest, it’s pretty big, and it’s gonna hurt a lot before it starts to feel good, alright?” ajax said as he positioned himself behind you, his hands on your hips as he slowly dragged the tip of his dick against your vulva. “just keep taking it, though,” he said, lowering his voice for the rest of his sentence: “i didn’t wait all this time just to get blue balled.”

ajax lined himself up with your hole, and you sucked in a breath as you felt the slight pressure of his tip on the outer rim. you winced, scrunching your face as you prepared for him to actually go in.

sadly, nothing could’ve prepared you for that type of pain.

“fuck— ajax stop, no, it hurts— it hurts too much—” you cried out, practically screaming.

“tch. stop being so dramatic, i’m not even halfway in,” ajax paused his speech as he pushed into you further, eliciting a yelp. the searing pain was almost enough to render you unconscious, and, god, how you wish it actually did. “it’ll hurt less once you’re used to it. relax, for fucks sake. the more you panic the more it hurts.”

you wished you could heed his advice— but, then again, what does he know? he’d only ever inflicted the pain, never received it. there’s no way he could comprehend how horrific it felt being split open, your body resisting every inch but still being made to take it. the pain came from between your legs and in your head, too, the few fleeting thoughts you had besides how much it hurt questioning how he could put you through this, if he really loved you, he knew you weren’t ready.

you abandoned speech altogether, merely sobbing as ajax continued to push his thick cock inside you.

ajax paused again. “crying’s only hot if i can see it. shut the fuck up, you’re killing the mood.” when you didn’t stop sobbing, he grabbed you by the ponytail, jerking your towards him so he could mutter in your ear; the shock was enough to shut you up, at least momentarily. “i swear i get soft ‘cause you keep whining like a bitch, you’re gonna suck it til it’s hard again, and i’ll make sure it hurts a whole lot fucking worse.” he let go of your hair, your body flopping limply back onto your bed.

you took a deep breath, biting down on your arm to silence yourself, and prepared for the worst.

ajax was angry now, and, being the cause of his agitation, he happily took it out you. you bit down so hard you could’ve sworn you drew blood as he continued to shove his cock inside you; his thrusts were rough, it felt as he was tearing you open. just as your brain grew delirious with pain, you felt one final shove before the warmth of his body was against your ass.

“there, that wasn’t so bad, was it, baby? i don’t even think you’re bleeding,” ajax cooed. you were so beat down you couldn’t even speak, but he didn’t really need a reply; he didn’t care how bad it was for you, because it was perfect for him. “but i know you’re still a virgin, or, were a virgin, ‘cause you’re so fucking tight.” he moaned as he held your hips and pushed into further, somehow managing to get even deeper. this caused a new type of discomfort; less of the searing torture of him going in, but a nonetheless dull, aching pain in your lower abdomen.

“fuck, you feel so good, pussy’s gripping me so tight like it’s made for me. think i just hit your cervix, too.” ajax’s hands traveled from your hips to your ass, massaging the soft flesh on either side. “you’re so fucking hot, i could probably cum just from this.”

panic became the new sensation that took you over. “but you said you’d pull out,” you cried, trying a last ditch attempt to crawl away from him.

ajax easily held you against him again, and sighed in annoyance. “i said i could, not that i would, stupid slut. you’re the last girl alive i’d knock up; who’d wanna spend 18 years with your annoying ass?”

tears returned to your eyes; is this really how he viewed you? was this entire relationship just a ruse to get in your pants?

well, it didn’t matter, at this point. he was already there, and wasn’t leaving until he finished. you had no choice but to take it.

ajax clicked his tongue before gently sliding out of you, barely an inch. he showed no mercy thrusting back into you, though, making that dull ache resonate again. he slowly pulled out again, leaving only the tip inside.

“damn, you’re pretty wet for a bitch that says she doesn’t want it,” he sneered. ajax slammed his dick back inside you; strangely, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the first time, minus him hitting your cervix. “but virgins are all the same,”ajax continued, picking up the pace at which he rutted into you. “you pretend you don’t want it to ‘cause of your purity bullshit, but the second i’ve got you bent over you start creamin’ on me like a porn star, can’t help yourself.”

the pain of him sliding into you was gone at this point; you could only feel the drag of his cock against your walls, rubbing against a spot that made ecstasy shoot through you. even the ache from him going too deep started to feel pleasurable. you couldn’t help but moan as waves of euphoria washed over you.

“yeah, you like that, baby?” ajax purred, before sending a sharp smack to your ass. he chuckled hearing you moan at that, too. “damn, you’re a masochist, too? didn’t think a pure little princess would be such a whore in bed.” he slapped your ass again, before reaching around to grab your neck and pull you towards him and titling your head back so he could look into your face. “bet you’re sorry for making me wait, huh? fucking tease,” he snapped, before spitting into your mouth. “swallow it.”

you did as you were told, disgusted by the feeling of the warm, foamy liquid landing in your mouth and sliding down your esophagus. he let you go, and you fell again back onto the bed. ajax placed a large hand on your back, pushing you down into the right position.

“keep your back fucking arched,” ajax scolded. with one hand pressing you into the sheets, and one firmly grasping the softness of your hip, he rutted into you, harder, and faster, each thrust sending shots of pleasure and pain throughout your whole body.

“ah- ajax- slow- fuck- slow down, ‘ts too much- too fast-i can’t—” you moaned, drooling onto the sheets. it felt so wrong, letting him do this to you, with all the awful things he’s said and done— but, you couldn’t help how good it felt taking his dick, every movement adding to the euphoric build up that made your body limo and head dizzy.

the intensity of pain and pleasure increased as he leaned over to hiss in your ear: “you’re gonna take what i fucking give you., slut.” ajax pried open your jaw, and shoved two long fingers into your mouth. “i’m tired of listening to you moaning, i wanna hear you gag for me, princess.” you choked around him, his digits pressing the back of your throat. “yeah, just like that, baby.”

the feeling of his fingers being pushed down your throat as he panted in your ear, while still not letting up on his rapid thrusts was all too stimulating; you felt your body tremble as you came, tranquillizing euphoria spreading your body like electricity. you could vaguely feel your pussy flutter around ajax’s dick, involuntarily clenching around him.

“fuck, you just got so much tighter— ah, wetter, too,” ajax moaned in your ear, burying his head in the crook of your neck and shoulder. “fuck, baby, i’m so close, feels so fucking good—” he cut himself off with his own panting, desperately chasing his own release.

it took you a moment to register his words in your post orgasm haze, but you quickly snapped to attention once you did. you jerked your head to the side so his fingers were no longer massaging the back of your tongue.

“wait- ajax, you said you’d pull out—”

“god, i know, i will, now shut the fuck up before you ruin it,” he groaned. his hands moved to yours, pinning your wrists down while as rhythm grew sloppy.

“ajax, please- you said you wouldn’t, cum inside me— please— please don’t don’t—“ you plead desperately.

“shut up, bitch,” ajax spat. “i know what im fucking doing,”. “i’m not gonna nut inside you— fuck— just need a little more—ah”

“please don’t,” you whispered softly; you were almost certain ajax wouldn’t risk cumming inside you— his reasoning was sound, but there again was that feeling of chilling dread as he kept messily rutting into you.

“fuck, ‘ts so good, so fucking wet— ah” ajax panted, indifferent to your reminders. his speed slowed, now more pronounced pounding. “fuck, fuck, i’m sorry baby, it just feels too fucking good, i can’t— ahh”

you screamed for him to stop, but it was too late; you could feel after his final thrust a warmth inside you, spreading deeper into your core as he wrapped his arms around you. “ajax, stop it— get off— let me go!” you screeched, desperately trying to break free from his grasp.

“sorry, princess, ‘ts too late now. shit, there’s so fucking much, too,” ajax sighed, pushing into you even harder. “fuck.”

nothing could describe the disgust you felt, trapped under your boyfriend’s sweaty, toned body as he forced you to take every last drop of his cum, shamelessly draining his balls inside your limp body. you knew you had to worry about pregnancy or an sti, but those were far from your mind.

the only thing you could think about is how bad you wanted to die.

ajax finally released you, getting off the bed and searching for his clothes. once free, you immediately crawled into a fetal position, tears pooling from your eyes as his cum drooled down your thighs.

epilogue

“sorry about that, by the way,” ajax said nonchalantly, as if he didn’t basically ruin your life. “it’s been so long since i last had sex, i guess i forgot how to pull out in time, so it’s kind of on you for making me wait.”

you said nothing; as humiliated as you were, you couldn’t risk more embarrassment by actually responding to him.

“hey, so, there’s still an after party going on, so i think i’m gonna check that out. you don’t have to worry about coming though— shit, sorry— attending, i know you probably have some shit you wanna work through right now. soooo,” you heard his footsteps head toward your bedroom door. he paused, as if he was waiting for a response, but eventually you heard him leave your room, head out the front door, and drive off. you laid on your bed, curled up in shame, for what felt like an eternity, until the loud text alert from your phone jolted you out of your catatonic state. it was a text— from ajax, surprisingly.

hey. left you a apology gift on your table. hope it helps.

you threw on a bathrobe and shuffled miserably back to your dining room. the elaborate feast you made was embarrassing to look at; all that effort just to get borderline raped by your boyfriend for his special night. you saw the gift he must have been referring to: a wad of bills, that, when you counted them it amounted to $65. you read the messy scrawl on the accompanying note:

enough for a plan b ♡

[elvisabutler]

purest of them all

fandom: austin butler rating: m pairing: biker austin butler x female reader word count: 3425 warnings: possessive behavior. p in v sex ( unprotected ). biker austin. sex in front of a mirror. virginity sex. implied past oral ( m and f receiving ). implied depression-ish on austin's part. stomach bulges caused by cocks. me mildly fudging what a first time feels like though truthfully they come in all shapes and sizes. author’s note: welcome to day 12 of ally’s wet hot smut summer, virginity kink/innocence kink with austin butler. so i went biker austin with this because uh i was really struggling with this prompt and that's where the writing flowed. consider this kind of a precursor to the day two fic of show 'em. beyond that, i do hope y'all enjoy and if you uh saw the naked version of this fic. no you didn't. i also am mildly unsure i stuck to this prompt. but i think i have mentioned austin is a little harder for me to write nowadays for a number of reasons so it kind of was me going with what i could write versus deleting ten more drafts. also this is one of two fics getting posted today, because hey, cold had me down for the count for a while so why not feed y'all twice in one day.

You're not the type Austin usually goes for and he figures maybe that's a part of your charm. Figures that if you were like every other woman who's wanted to crawl onto his bike, he'd have taken you to bed and been done with you. Sure, he'd have treated you right but Austin— wouldn't have stayed the night. He wouldn't have allowed himself to fall so head over heels for you that he'd give you everything you could even think to ask him for.

You are a light in the tunnel that is his life, a goal to strive for and a promise of perhaps making it on the straight and narrow. You were also perhaps one of the most innocent people he had ever met, one of the purest people he had ever met. An angel wrapped in sweaters and comfortable clothes to suit your mood. An angel who for some reason likes to spend almost all of your free time with him, brightening his days as much as you can. Tonight is no exception though for once he's not doing anything club related and can just focus on you.

The two of you rarely go on public dates, something about how he doesn't want people to use you against him and doesn't want you to be hurt until you've decided you truly want to be a part of his life as it is now. Until you realize just what being with him in this period of his life truly entails. Part of your charm may be that innocence and pure light that emanates from you but it's also something he couldn't bare to ruin in any way that was less than pleasurable.

Still, he makes exceptions for important dates and what was more important than your anniversary. Those sort of things deserved a proper date with you curled against him inhaling his natural musk and cologne. He could move his head and smell your shampoo and just this once he could allow the both of you to enjoy a simple date. Nothing could have prepared him for the present you were going to give him tonight.

The thing about you that you've told Austin before is that you're a virgin. At the time he had laughed a little and made a joke about that's why you were so sweet and innocent only to earn a subtle slap to his arm and a warming of your skin that had him kissing any embarrassment you had away. It's not that you hadn't wanted to lose it, but when one grows up religious you either are promiscuous in spite of your parents' desires or you aren't. In college you had thought it was going to happen eventually, that you'd meet someone that maybe you'd fall in love with and they'd take your virginity or perhaps you'd lose it at a party or just some way that wasn't too heinous.

Life happens though and you were always too busy, even through law school you found yourself so busy and with nary a moment to yourself. You suppose it's funny how you met Austin so soon after finishing law school and finding a job. If you were the type to believe in fate you'd have said that you were destined to meet Austin then and only then. You're not, though and it's merely a coincidence— a happy one, mind— but a coincidence nonetheless. Whatever the case was, over the past year you've realized that you and Austin need each other— not in a sort of codependent way but one where you bring out the best in each other.

He's never pressed for you to have sex with him, sure the two of you have fooled around, with him between your legs his tongue on your clit and you between his legs, tongue tracing the veins of his cock and inhaling the unique musk from between his legs. But going all the way hasn't been something you've ever felt he needed you to do— were required to do to keep him in your bed. Perhaps that's why you found yourself finally read to actually go all the way with him. Perhaps that's why you felt the need for everything to be special. It's not that you needed to be. But after the amount of waiting Austin has gone through and after the patience he had shown you, it only seemed prudent to make sure both of you could take your time. It seemed like a good idea to allow him to show you the pleasure you had only been given hints of before.

It's for all those reasons that you found yourself opening your door in a new dress with a simple pair of matching white underwear underneath. Austin would enjoy the laugh, you think, his virginal girlfriend all dolled up in white panties. Probably make a joke about how he didn't think you could still wear them after all the times he had tasted your release on his tongue.

Austin's gaze has your heart fluttering inside your chest. The man who always looks so tough and tries to keep himself shuttered is looking at you as if you've hung the moon, the stars and everything in between. If you look hard enough there's even a hint of hunger for you but it's gone in a flash as he smiles. "You look nice."

A shrug is your only response as you step outside and pull him into a hug as you shut your door. "It's date night, why wouldn't I?" You smile back and bite at your lip. "Aus?"

His eyes for a moment stop flitting around the area, checking for anything that could cause you harm before he stares you down. "Hm?"

"After dinner, do you mind staying the night? I— I have a surprise I think you might enjoy." A surprise you hope he'll enjoy. A surprise you hope both of you can enjoy against your sheets or against the wall. A shudder passes through you at the image as Austin frowns, moving to take off his jacket.

"Here take—" his mouth opens to speak only to have you swatting his hands away. "Got it, you don't want the jacket. I— Of course I'll stay the night. Especially if you have a surprise for me. You know you didn't have—"

You cut him off with a short kiss, shaking your head. "It's our anniversary, I wanted to get you something. Besides, I think— You'll really like this surprise."

Without missing a beat, Austin wraps his arm around your shoulder and kisses the top of your head, pulling you close to his chest as you both start to walk to his bike. "Can I get a hint?"

What happens for most of the dinner is Austin trying and failing to guess just what surprise you had in store through mouthfuls of food and through causal brushes of his hand against your body. The brushes shouldn't have you on edge and yet they do, igniting embers low in your abdomen as you see Austin pout like he's just a normal man.

That— That more than anything confirms that you're making the right choice by giving this to him. He may be a biker and may be the sort of man you could have never seen yourself with before but at his heart he's still just the guy who treats you better than anyone else has before. If one earned another's virginity he would have earned yours in spades.

Normally when you ride back, Austin has you behind him, always wanting to feel your arms around his waist squeezing tight when he takes a tight turn or when he goes just that little too fast. Tonight though, tonight he chooses to behind you, his arms and body enveloping yours in a way that you've felt when he hugs you. This though? This is something else entirely, the vibration of the motorcycle earning a gasp or two from you as you press against Austin's front. You swear you feel him getting harder against you and you nearly groan from the knowledge. Instead you try and focus on Austin's body heat and what you plan on doing with him the second you get home.

The ride feels longer than it ever has before and yet when it ends you both leisurely slide off his motorcycle as if you're both not so keyed up that you're practically vibrating despite the lack of a motor between your legs. Speaking isn't something you want to do, not until you're inside and Austin doesn't appear to be much better. When the door finally shuts you watch as he leans against it, resisting the urge to touch you.

"So, what exactly is this surprise?" Your answer won't change anything from the look in Austin's eyes and yet you can't help the way you cast your eyes down, mildly embarrassed. It's best to rip the band-aid off, isn't it?

"I— I want to have sex with you. Like— full penetrative—"

Austin cuts you off with a kiss that you gasp into, the way he crossed the distance between the two of you startling you. His tongue caresses yours, soft and gentle almost as if he figures you might break if he goes any harder before he pulls away. "You want my cock in that—"

"In my— uh what do you call it? Gorgeous pussy?" The words leave your mouth casually as if you had told Austin the weather outside and the look on his face has you giggling lightly. His mouth is open just ever so slightly allowing you to see that pink tongue of his and practically see the way he's salivating for you. "That's what you call her, right?"

There's an innocence in the question that has Austin pulling you in for another kiss and pressing the full front of his body against you. It is what he calls her and yet you're asking him to make sure. You're asking him as if you haven't had your hands in his hair yanking and crying out when he mutters sweet nothings against it. A whine leaves your lips when you try to grind up against him only to have his hand on your hip stop you. "You're sure? Babe— If you're not— I can't stop myself if I start."

Your hand moves down between the two of you and Austin has nary a minute before he feels your hand cupping him through his jeans. A groan leaves his parted lips and you are powerful. Maybe it's just the rush from hearing Austin's groan but maybe that's what losing your virginity is supposed to be, realizing you have the power to bring someone to their knees just because they love one body part of yours so intensely it could burn them. His cock feels so heavy in your hand and your chest heaves not once, not twice but three times as you mouth at his jaw, his stubble tickling you just a tad.

"This is your surprise. I— I want to feel you inside of me. Feel how it is to take your cock inside more than just my mouth." If there's more words inside your head or in your mouth, they're completely eviscerated by Austin's simple action of picking you up with a grunt, shifting your body weight so that you can try to wrap your thighs around his waist. All you hear is Austin mumbling something against your neck that sounds like "all mine."

Austin's low and almost choked off moan when he starts to pull up your dress after he's gotten you on the bed. Your whites panties are exposed bit by bit until Austin sees them fully and freezes. You had had planned this down to the point of making yourself seem as virginal as possible. You made yourself seem like the purest of them all just for tonight. He hates to ruin the panties but he can't— he can't wait to drag them off your body and instead just slides them off to the side, marveling in the way you shiver at the motion.

"I gotcha," Austin pants as he starts to slide with painstaking slowness into you, watching your face for any minute changes to tell him he's hurting you. "You're— Can't believe you're letting me do this for you." To you, he means but he knows you'll understand the sentiment.

"Why— wouldn't I?" Your breath catches as he thrusts completely in, earning a moan as your body takes in the burn and stretch of his cock. "You're— You'd never hurt me."

Intentionally or unintentionally, if you're being honest with yourself. It's one of so many reasons you knew you could trust him with this. The reason you could trust him to show you the unique pleasure that comes from your first time being fucked by another person. He could coax you through any pain and discomfort you feel.

A low growl leaves his lips that he tries to muffle against your neck. Hearing these words come from you feels like praise and it spurs him to do even better, to make sure even if you leave him you'll never forget this night. His hand moves down to play ever so lightly with your clit even as his cock brushes against it with every thrust.

"I wouldn't. I'd never hurt someone who looks as gorgeous on my cock as you do," Austin murmurs, watching as your eyes roll back into your head for a moment. "I dreamed about this. Woke up with my hand on my cock, wishing it was you. You're taking me so well, babe. Natural. You're— fuck— you're a natural at this."

You don't try to speak, instead letting the way your pussy clenches at the praise tell Austin just what his words are doing to you. He smiles even has he grunts, delighting in the reaction. "You like hearing that? Like hearing how you feel like you're made for my cock? How I'm so fucking thankful you waited to give this to me? How I'm honored?"

His fingers brush against your puffy clit softly and yet it feels as if he's pressed a live wire down against it, your thighs clenching on either side of his legs. It's too much and yet too little all at once. You try to move away, try and tell him that this is too much and yet Austin's a little bit ahead of you. "Let go, I'll— I've got you, remember? You're giving me this on our anniversary. I'll— Let go. Let me see you come on my cock like I've only ever dreamed of."

Somehow those are the magic words for you, somehow like a command you find yourself leaning back, head thumping against the pillow behind you as Austin fucks you slowly through your orgasm, watching as pleasure he's seen before on your face take on a new form in this one instant. If he wasn't already almost irrevocably in love with you— he would be now. This would have had him on his knees worshipping you until you fell into his arms. Instead he watches you come with a silent cry with him following not too far behind as your pretty pussy clenches around him. He looks at you nearly fucked out and the mirror hanging on the wall and gets an idea.

His hand presses against the bulge he can see in your stomach and he marvels in how you practically keen at the sensation, your head flopping back against his chest. You've always been responsive but this is another thing entirely. It's another thing entirely to see your face in the mirror, pleasure covering every inch of your face.

"Babe, I want you to look at us. See what you look like with my cock inside you," Austin murmurs against your neck, lips pressing wet kisses all around it. He watches as you move your head back down and try to focus on the mirror, gasping as you see the outline of his cock pressing against your lower stomach. "You see it? See how full of me you are? See what I'm doing to you."

Words are supposed to be your strong suit but you can't help but stutter out your response. "I— That's— Aus— You're right there. I can—" Your words stop for a moment only to be replaced with a low whine as he presses down. "You're— God, Aus, just, I can feel you. Why does this feel good?"

Because it shouldn't, you think. It shouldn't feel good and yet somehow it heightens every sensation you feel and somehow helps to overcome the occasional tightness you feel from this being your first time.

"I told you. You— It's like it was made for my cock." His answer is almost breathless, as he watches and feels the bulge as he thrusts. "Want— You need to see how much you're mine, how I'm making— No one is going to fuck you like this."

You shake your head almost violently in agreement. "I don't— oh— want anyone to. Just you. I want—" A whine leaves your lips after one particularly sharp thrust. "Old lady. Wanna be her."

Somewhere in the back of your head, you realize you sound incoherent with those words, but from the way one of Austin's hands tightens on your hip you figure he understands exactly what you mean. A shaky exhale leaves his mouth before he tries to nuzzle at your ear, hand petting your stomach. "Say that again."

"I wanna be your old lady." Except it still sounds half slurred as your pussy tries to clench around him, the feeling of his hands setting fire to every inch of your skin it touches. "Yours."

Austin ought to say something, ought to tell you that's the words he's wanted to hear for ages from your lips but he doesn't. Instead he nips at your earlobe and forces you to look up at the vision of the two of you in the mirror. "All mine? Never gonna be anyone else's?"

"No." You utter, watching your tits bounce with each thrust of his cock. You watch the sweat drip down your skin and slide against his body. You don't want to be anyone else's and this confirmed it and settled it. You're Austin's until he's through with you or one of you dies. Maybe it makes you silly and stupid but in this moment you're so in love with Austin Butler that the idea of not being by his side isn't one you ever want to contemplate.

Austin's hand that's been settled where his cock could be seen moves up to your chest, grabbing ahold of your breasts and forcing your body to stay upright and looking straight on into the mirror. He can see how you're panting, how your lips are spit slick and how your hair is a wild untamed mane that he caused. He did this to you, you've allowed him to have you look so debauched that he doubts he'll ever forget this moment of seeing you laid bare for him in front of the mirror with a white dress and white panties on the bed behind you. His eyes drift to from your almost forgotten about dress to you and back again before he feels you clench around him, whimpering something about how it's too much.

"Shh, I— I'm almost there. You've been so good to me, babe. So good to me." He praises you, his thrusts getting a little sloppier until you feel the warmth of his release inside you. Both of your legs are a little wobbly but somehow he manages to get you both to the bed. A groan of discomfort leaves your mouth as he starts to pull out, the sensation feeling as if you're being left empty even as you know the brush of his cock against any part of your swollen pussy or clit or labia is too much right now. You reach out when he stands up, trying to get him to come back to bed only for him to return with a warm washcloth that he uses to gently clean you both up before flopping down next to you.

Without missing a beat you move to snuggle against his chest, his heartbeat a steady drum in your ears before he speaks. "I'm not letting you go."

You place a kiss to his chest, right where his heart is. "I don't want you to."

taglist: @ab4eva, @blurredcolour, @butlersxbirdy, @precious-little-scoundrel, @eliseinmemphis, @prompted-wordsmith, @lookingforrainbows, @araxw, @thatbanditqueen, @ellie-24, @austinbutlersgirl67, @heartbrake-hotel, @ccab, @18lkpeters, @slutforsomegoodlettuce, @dkayfixates, @kendralavon7, @chasingwildflowers, @slowsweetlove, @kxnnxy, @meetmeatyourworst, @purejasmine, @stylespresleyhearted, @powerofelvis, @amydarcimarie, @thegettingbyp2, @austinswhitewolf, @richardslady121 if i have not included you know it’s not meant to be a slight, it’s literally i don’t know if you want to be tagged as far as austin fics or elvis fics, drop me a comment or a message and i’ll add away tbh.

[sidekick-hero]

The road to hell

(steddie | teen | wc: 2.8k | tags: demon!steve, exes, reconcilation, accidental demon summoning | AO3)

I have no idea what happened, but this prompt wouldn't leave me alone so have a short, self-indulgent demon!Steve crack fic.

Eddie was not wallowing. He was not.

He’s simply spending his Saturday evening home alone, sitting on his couch and drinking expensive whiskey straight from the bottle with The Cranberries crooning in the background. No biggie.

Steve hated it when he drank hard liquor from the bottle. He always insisted on using the crystal tumblers he'd owned even before he and Eddie had gotten together. Most of their stuff had been Steve’s because Eddie had been living in a one-bedroom apartment the size of a shoebox before they moved in together, while Steve owned an honest-to-god mansion.

Eddie should’ve known they’d never make it.

Their differences had been thrilling at first, sure, but it was never meant to last. He knows that now.

If he’d only known five years ago when the officiator had asked, “And do you want to take Steven Baron Harrington to be your lawfully wedded husband?” he could’ve said no if he’d known that only three years later, Steve would smash his heart into pieces.

The worst part though? Eddie knows that even knowing what would come, he wouldn’t want to give up the three years of blissful happiness before that.

Because Steve and he? They had been happy. He knows they had been. Eddie had been the happiest man on earth until the day Steve said they needed to talk. They hadn’t really talked, after all, because there hadn’t been much for Eddie to say.

What do you say when the man you believe is the love of your life tells you that he can’t do this anymore, that he thought he could be happy with Eddie but it wasn’t working? Apparently, it wasn’t Eddie’s fault, but Steve’s.

Yeah, right.

It’s definitely Steve’s fault Eddie is drinking himself stupid on what is supposed to be his fifth wedding anniversary, if not for the divorce papers he got this morning with his mail. Ready to be signed by him, Steve’s flourished signature taunting him.

What kind of asshole sends his soon-to-be ex-spouse divorce papers on their wedding anniversary?

Eddie’s not wallowing in self-pity because Eddie is livid. He’s so goddamn pissed that Steve would do that to him after promising to cherish him, to love him. How could he have been so stupid and believed all the promises Steve had made? Promises of forever, of growing old and wrinkly together, of sharing the good and the bad times with each other.

Apparently, that has all been bullshit because Eddie’s in the middle of some horrible times and Steve’s nowhere to be seen.

Taking another big swig from the rapidly emptying bottle, Eddie stares at the photo album in his lap. It’s the album with their wedding photos and one of the very few things he had taken from their shared home before he left.

He sets the album aside and reaches for another item, something he'd grabbed by accident during the chaos of moving out. It’s a book with an ornate, leather-bound cover that had always been on Steve's bookshelf, untouched and gathering dust.

Eddie flips it open, curiosity piqued by the strange symbols and archaic script. The words look like nothing he’s ever seen, some ancient language or elaborate code. He squints at the pages, the whiskey making the characters dance.

"What the hell did you collect, Steve?" he mumbles, running his finger along the odd script. He starts murmuring the strange words aloud, half in jest, half in drunken curiosity.

As he clumsily flips through the pages, one of them gives him a paper cut. "Shit," he curses, watching a drop of blood swell on his fingertip and drip onto the book. The blood seeps into the page, the crimson drop spreading and absorbing into the parchment.

The room suddenly grows colder, the air thick with an oppressive energy. Eddie looks around, a chill running down his spine. “What the…”

Before he can finish the thought, the book begins to glow, the symbols pulsing with a dark, eerie light. The room vibrates with a low hum, and Eddie stumbles back, eyes wide with horror and disbelief.

The light intensifies, and with a sudden burst, a figure emerges from the book, surrounded by a swirling vortex of shadows. Eddie’s heart pounds in his chest as the figure materializes, taking on a familiar shape.

“Steve?” Eddie gasps, his voice a mix of shock and terror.

The figure steps forward, solidifying into a very real, very present Steve. Except… not quite. His eyes glow with an unearthly light, and dark, swirling tattoos snake up his arms and neck.

“Hello, Eddie,” Steve—or the demon that looks like him—says, a smirk playing on his lips. “Miss me?”

Eddie’s bottle slips from his hand, shattering on the floor as he scrambles away, fear etched on his face. Seeing Eddie’s reaction, Steve’s smirk fades, replaced by a look of hurt and sadness.

“What the heck is going on, Steve?” Eddie demands, his voice shaking, eyes wide with a mix of anger and confusion. “If this is some kind of…of prank then it’s not funny at all.”

Steve looks apologetic. “It’s not a prank, Eddie. God, I wish it were. This,” he says as he stretches out his arm, the palm of his hand facing upwards, “is real.”

A flame appears atop Steve’s hand, casting shadows over his not-quite-human face.

Most of Eddie was fucking terrified, but he would be lying if he said there wasn’t also a part that thought Steve looked even more beautiful like that.

“So you’re saying… What? That you’re -” He can’t bring himself to say it. It sounds insane, even in his head. Speaking it out loud would mean risking his sanity, he knows it.

“A demon? A spawn of hell? A monster? An abomination? You can choose one of these, I’ve been called worse.”

Steve says it nonchalant, giving Eddie a shrug of his shoulder and a wary twist of his mouth, but Eddie knows him. Knows his tells. His heart twinges in his chest at the sight, fingers itching to reach out and pull Steve in his arms and sooth his self-doubt and insecurities.

But then he remembers that he’s a demon, a fact he conveniently forget to tell Eddie because… Because what? Because Eddie was just a mere human, vulnerable, weak, helpless? Did Steve think he couldn’t handle the truth? Or was he embarrassed what all the other demons would think if they’d knew he was married to a mortal?

“And you kept this from me because I'm just a weak, pathetic human? Is that it? Were you embarrassed of stupid little Eddie, who has to use a lighter to get some fire?”

Steve laughs brokenly, the sound raw and bitter and Eddie’s heart tightens as Steve's laughter echoes hollowly in the room. He waits for Steve's response, his eyes searching for some semblance of truth in the demon's gaze.

"No, Eddie, it’s not that," Steve finally replies, his voice carrying a weight of regret. "I ended things because I’m a demon. We don’t belong here. I’m only allowed on Earth for as long as a deal I have with a mortal lasts. My last one was a ten-year deal, and it ended a few days after I broke things off with you."

Eddie’s eyes widen, hurt mingling with confusion. "So, you broke up with me because your deal ended?"

"Yes," Steve admits, his voice softening, his eyes filled with a mix of regret and longing. "It was stupid to fall for a human in the first place. I didn’t plan on it, I swear, but I couldn’t help myself. Your clumsy ass was just too irresistible."

"Shut up, you love my ass," Eddie retorts without thinking, falling back into their old banter as easy as breathing.

Steve doesn’t laugh, just looks at Eddie with liquid hazel eyes that shine with a red hue if Eddie tilts his head just so. “I do. That’s why I ended things in the worst possible way. I loved you too much to drag you into my mess so I had to let you go. I hoped that it would be easier if you could just hate me.”

Eddie’s breath catches, tears welling up. “But why didn’t you just tell me?” he whispers, the pain in his voice palpable.

"I couldn’t," Steve says, stepping closer, his eyes pleading, glistening with unshed tears. “I didn’t want to hurt you more than necessary. So, I went back to Hell.”

Eddie shakes his head, trying to process everything. “Let me get this straight. You loved me… but you left. You didn’t want to hurt me… but you decided to just tell me it’s over one day, no explanation, letting me think it was my fault. That I wasn’t good enough.”

“I had to,” Steve insists, his voice breaking. “I thought it was the only way to protect you.”

Eddie looks at him, a mixture of anger and longing in his eyes. “So, what now?”

Steve sighs, looking more human than ever despite the demonic aura. “I don’t know, Eddie. I don’t know.”

Eddie’s chest tightens, too many conflicting emotions swirling inside him. “Why, Steve? Why let me fall in love with you if this was how it was going to end?”

Steve steps closer, reaching out but stopping short of touching Eddie. “Because I’m a demon, Eddie. I’m selfish, and cruel. Loving you, having you love me back, it was the best part of my existence. Even if it had to end, those years with you were worth everything. Even if I knew it would hurt in the end, I couldn’t stop myself.”

Eddie’s tears finally spill over, and he chokes out, “You left me broken, Steve. You made me love you and then you discarded me like a broken toy, leaving me wondering what it was that I did wrong, why you stopped loving me. I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that.”

Steve’s own eyes glisten with unshed tears. “I know. I’m so sorry, Eddie. I thought I was doing the right thing not telling you. I thought… I thought it would be better for you. That you could hate me and move on.”

“Have you?” Eddie scoffs, wiping at his tears angrily.

“Have I what?”

“Moved on,” Eddie clarifies, chastising himself for the tentative hope blooming in his chest.

Steve looks down, his expression one of deep regret. “No,” he admits, “I haven’t. Not sure I’ll ever will but that was supposed to be my problem. At least before you managed to summon me with a grimoire you apparently stole from me. How did you even do that?”

“I just… took it?” Eddie has the good grace to look a bit sheepish.

With a fond chuckle, Steve’s usual reaction when Eddie was saying something silly, Steve shakes his head. “No, dummy. How the hell - pun totally intended - did you summon me from hell? That’s some serious blood magic.”

Steve looks impressed and Eddie wants to preen under it, but he also knows that it hadn’t been his magical proficiency exactly that had summoned Steve.

“It was an accident,” he mumbles, avoiding Steve’s gaze. It figured that the one time Eddie did something truly impressive, apparently, it was a drunken accident. And of course Steve couldn’t let it go, either.

“Come again? This almost sounded like…”

Burying his face in his hands, Eddie groans deep in his chest. Then he raises his arms in an exasperated gesture. “It was an accident, okay? I cut my finger on the paper. Happy now?” He adds petulantly.

Steve laughs at that. “Only you, Eddie, only you…” The way Steve looks at him with so much fondness, face soft and almost yearning, tugs at Eddie’s heart. “Actually, yeah, I’m happy your drunken ass managed something most people who tried failed at, because it means I got to see you again. I… I really missed you, Bambi.”

Eddie takes a shaky breath, trying to steady himself. “So, what happens now, Steve? Do you go back to Hell?”

Steve looks up, his eyes filled with sorrow. “Not if I can help it. I want to find a way to be with you, Eddie. For real, this time. But I don’t know how.”

Eddie’s heart aches at the sincerity in Steve’s voice, but the hurt and betrayal still linger. “I don’t know if I can trust you again, Steve. Not after everything.”

Steve nods, understanding. “I know it won’t be easy. But I’m willing to do whatever it takes to earn your trust back. To prove that I love you, no matter what.”

Eddie looks at Steve, the love and pain in his heart warring with each other. “We’ll see, Steve. We’ll see.”

With his head in his hands, Eddie’s sat on the couch, still processing the whirlwind of revelations and emotions. Steve was back, a demon, but still the man he loved. And now, Steve wants to find a way to be with him for real. The absurdity of the situation makes Eddie’s head spin. He reaches for the whiskey bottle again, but Steve gently takes it from his hand before he can take another sip.

“Hey, I think you’ve had enough of that,” Steve says, a hint of humor in his voice. “Besides, we need you sober if we’re going to figure this out.”

Eddie blinks at him, then bursts into a half-sob, half-laugh. “This is so messed up, Steve. My ex-husband is a demon, and I summoned him by accident, and now he won’t even let me drink to deal with it because he wants me to help him find a way to stay topside. What is my life?”

Steve chuckles softly, the sound carrying a mixture of amusement and affection. “It’s certainly not what you expected, I bet.”

Eddie lets out a shaky breath, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips despite the chaos of emotions swirling within him. “No, definitely not what I expected.”

As the tension begins to ease between them, Eddie gestures towards the broken whiskey bottle on the floor. “Guess you owe me a drink for cleaning up your mess,” he quips, attempting to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

Steve’s chuckle grows into a genuine laugh, the sound echoing warmly through the room. “You can hold me to that. But first, let’s figure out how to fix this.”

Eddie sighs, rubbing his temples. “Alright, demon ex-husband. What’s the plan?”

Steve looks thoughtful for a moment, then grins. "First, we need some coffee. Strong coffee. And then maybe I'll give you a crash course in demonology? See if that magical brain of yours can come up with an idea. You've always been good at thinking outside the box, and that's exactly what we're going to need."

Eddie groans, but can't help the small smile on his lips. "Fine. But if you think I'm going to let you stay here without doing the dishes, you've got another thing coming."

Steve laughs, a genuine, joyful sound that makes Eddie's heart ache with nostalgia. "Deal. Any other terms, oh, husband of mine?"

"Ex-husband. Someone decided to send divorce papers on our anniversary. I should have known you were a demon with a move like that."

All the color drains from Steve's face, his eyes widen comically. He looks so completely human now, if not for the tattoos still swirling on his skin. "Oh fuck. It's the first of May? Shit, shit, shit, Eddie, I'm so sorry! I told Vince to get the papers to you as soon as possible before I went back to hell, I had no idea he'd wait until today."

The thing is, Steve really looks devastated at the thought, his eyes begging Eddie to believe him. He knows Steve - at least he thought he did - and the man he knew wouldn't hurt him like that. Not knowingly. But he also thought that the man he knew wouldn't lie to him for years and break his heart, so what does Eddie really know? He shouldn't be trusted with life decisions, not even his own.

Suddenly he is tired of being angry at Steve. Part of him thinks this is all a dream anyway, and tomorrow when he wakes up he can go back to being angry at him and blaming him for the massive hangover he's got.

Tonight he wants to live in a world where Steve had to leave him because he's a demon and now he accidentally summoned him and is trying to help him stay here for good.

"It's okay, Steve. How about that coffee and demonology crash curse? By the way, I can't believe you never wanted to play DnD with us. You would have crushed it."

Steve gives him a grateful smile and follows Eddie into the kitchen.

"We can treat this like one of your adventures. But don't use your DM voice or whatever on me or we won't get anything done tonight."

The heat in Steve's eyes is probably hellfire, Eddie thinks as he audibly swallows. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Or, in Eddie's case, with drunken accidental summonings.

[grandeoatmilklatte]

Undying Love 💍 (Part 1 - The Plan)

My first long fic! I finally had an idea that I could fit into multiple parts, and I'm super happy this idea was for Ominis because he's the best boy and he deserves all the love in the world! This fic will be 3 4 parts (i think). Enjoy!

Undying Love - Part 1: The Plan - Ominis Gaunt x Female MC

Summary: Ominis and MC have become fed up with keeping their relationship and their marriage hidden from Ominis's family. They come up with a plan to rid themselves of his family once and for all - by faking Ominis's death.

1.9k words

Smut/NSFW/18+!! Part 1 contains smut! Characters are aged up and out of school. Do not read if you're under 18!!

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5!

-------

MC stared at the rings that adorned her left ring finger, rotating them around, a nervous habit she had picked up in the recent days. 

The first ring was her engagement ring. A silver band with a small emerald stone in the middle, and two smaller diamonds on either side. The second was her wedding ring, a small, thin, plain silver band that matched Ominis’s ring. He would have given her a more extravagant engagement ring, but MC was never one for dramatics, opting for something simple instead. 

Ominis had proposed to MC during Christmas of their 7th year, that day being their one year anniversary. After the event of their 5th year, the pair had become extremely close, developing a friendship that shortly after grew into more. On Christmas Day of their 6th year, Ominis confessed his love for MC and asked her to be his girlfriend. She confessed that she felt the same, and a year later they were engaged. They were married immediately after graduation, having an extremely small ceremony in Feldcroft, Sebastian being the one to pronounce them husband and wife. 

Their engagement and marriage were kept secret for fear of Ominis’s family finding out. MC was a half blood, her mother’s side being the magical half, but that wasn’t enough for Ominis’s family. The Gaunts only wanted their son with a pure blood in order to preserve the pure blood status of their family. They considered Ominis’s courtship with MC “disgusting”, “an embarrassment” and  “tainting the blood line”. Ominis had convinced his parents that they had broken up, but once he heard there had been talks of marrying Ominis off to a cousin once he finished his 7th year, they had to do something. It had been about 6 months since Ominis had finished school and had gotten married, and he could no longer keep delaying his arranged marriage, lest his family become suspicious. They knew their marriage wouldn’t be enough to stop his parents, knowing that they’d likely just kill her and then proceed to marry him off. So after a long discussion they had decided on a plan. They were going to fake Ominis’s death. 

It had taken a long time to convince Ominis of the plan, but he begrudgingly agreed. It had been a collective effort between MC, Sebastian, and Garreth, your other closest friend next to them two. For weeks now, you and Garreth had been working on a sleeping draught that was supposed to slow the drinker’s heart rate enough that they seemed like they were dead. They had tested it out on multiple mice and it was successful, the mice all “dead” but awakening just fine hours later.  Ominis was going to drink this potion, play dead for a bit, then Sebastian and MC would retrieve him, and him and MC would leave. His family cared very little about him, so the hope was that this would be an easy enough feat to pull off, as they would likely turn a blind eye to any minor mistakes the group made, relieved to just be rid of him. 

In order to ensure this went according to plan, Sebastian and MC would be spending a few weeks at the Gaunt house, making sure there was enough time in between their arrival and the start of the plan in order to avoid suspicion. MC was going to play the role of Sebastian’s girlfriend. The Gaunts had only heard of MC, but they never saw her face, nor did they know her name. All they knew or cared about was that she was “dirty-blooded” and thus a bad fit for their son. Since they liked Sebastian, who was pure blooded, it was likely they wouldn’t ask questions about MC, so long as she stayed quiet, played it cool, and pretended to be Sebastian’s. Their arrival wouldn’t seem suspicious either, as Ominis had been splitting his time since graduation between his family home and “Sebastian’s” (he had actually been staying with MC).

This plan had been decided on a few days ago. But it was the night before the three of them were set to leave for the Gaunt’s, and MC’s confidence in the plan had turned to nervousness. Which is how she found herself standing in front of the window of her small home’s kitchen, twiddling with her rings, the symbols of her undying love for Ominis, and her willingness to do anything for him. Anything…even this. 

The sound of the front door opening broke her out of her deep thought. Ominis was home from running errands. He called her name as he walked through the door and she responded, letting him know of her location by the kitchen window. Using the sound of her voice and his wand he found her. Realizing that she was facing away from him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. 

“Hello dear. I missed you.” He greeted her as he lovingly placed kisses on her cheek and neck. “I missed you too sweetheart!” She allowed a smile to creep on to her face, unable to deny how happy Ominis made her. She bent her neck to allow him more access to her neck. He showed appreciation for this by continuing his assault on her neck, kissing, sucking, and biting her. Ominis could sense MC was off. Once he had unlatched his mouth from her neck, he turned her around in the hopes of getting her to face him and asked her what was wrong. “Just nervous…” she said softly. She didn’t want to be nervous for fear that Ominis would call the whole thing off, but she also didn’t want to lie to her husband. 

“I am too. I’m still not sure this is a great idea. But we need to try. I won’t let them come between us.” MC could hear the nervousness in Ominis’s voice, but only slightly. His voice was mostly stern and determined. 

“They’ll never come between us, sweetheart. Never.” MC said as she stroked Ominis’s cheek lovingly. Ominis took hold of the hand that was stroking his face, bringing her hand to his lips to plant kisses on it, his lips landing on her rings. “Come darling” He took her hand and using his wand, he led her to their bedroom. Ominis crashed his lips into MC’s, their tongues dancing together. Without breaking the kiss, MC pulled Ominis onto the bed. Within minutes, the two of them were undressed, Ominis’s body on top of MC’s. 

He began to kiss down her body, starting at her neck and working his way down. His lips latched on to one of her nipples. She let out a gasp as he sucked, his tongue swirling around the hardened tip. He showed the same affection to her other nipple before his mouth went down her stomach. He loved doing this to her. It was one of his ways of “seeing” her, tasting every inch of her beautiful body. 

His mouth reached its final destination, between her legs. He spread her legs wide and began planting kisses on her inner thighs. After each kiss he placed, he would follow it up with a bite and a suck of her skin. He could never see the marks he left on her, but she always described them to him. He loved knowing that he had left marks on her. She always described them as little dark patches against her skin that symbolized that she was his. Finally, his lips met her center. He planted a kiss on her before he spread her folds with his fingers and licked a long stripe from her entrance all the way up. She let out a scream. 

His lips focused on her sensitive clit, kissing and sucking on it, which drew out the most sinful noises from her as she gripped the bedsheets for dear life. At the same time, he had two fingers inside her, pumping them in and out of her. Between the sounds of her moans and the sounds of her wet hole, Ominis was in a state of pure ecstasy. He felt her back begin to arch, her hips lifting off the bed, and her walls tightening around his fingers. He was extremely familiar with these actions and what they meant, so he pumped his fingers harder and sucked her harder. MC’s orgasm hit a moment later, her whole body shaking as she screamed his name. He sat up, reveling in the sounds of her panting heavily trying to catch her breath. 

He ran his hands up her body to realign himself with her as she positioned her legs on either side of him, confirming that he was in the right place. He took himself into his hand, his tip already dripping with arousal, and slid easily into her. His pace was rough due to the stress he was feeling about their plan. He was taking out his frustration on her, and she more than welcomed it, letting out loud moans that filled their bedroom. He joined her as his panting turned into deep groans, continuing to thrust into her hard. “Darling, you feel so good. You’re mine, forever. Your body is mine. No one will ever change that. No one is taking you from me.” His voice was low and deep. MC loved when he talked like this. For as long as she knew him, there was always a darkness to him. He hid it well, choosing to stray away from it. He was a good person and she knew it, even if he didn’t think he was at times. But there were rare occasions where his darkness would peek through, and she loved it. “Cum for me darling.” He growled. It was not a request, but a demand, a demand that she met immediately as she fell over the edge for the second time that night. 

He was still thrusting into her, albeit sloppily when she regained her composure after her release. She took a second to gaze up at the man she loved, his pale skin flushed red, his blond hair disheveled, his milky blue eyes rolling back. Even in this state, moments away from release, he was beautiful, and in that moment, she realized that whatever happened these next few days would all be worth it for him. “It’s your turn now, baby. Cum for me.” MC whispered. He let out a whimper as he spilled into her. She could feel him pulsating as he filled her. He rolled off of her and the two of them laid on the bed for several moments in silence, the only sound in the room being the sound of their breaths.

After a moment, MC turned to face him. Ominis, hearing her movements, turned to face her as well. She brought her palm to his cheek, her thumb gently rubbing his face. He closed his eyes, melting into the warmth of her hand. “It’s going to be okay, right?” Her voice was soft. “Yes.” He replied, “Because it has to be. There is no other option.” 

They repositioned themselves so that MC could lay on Ominis’s chest, their arms wrapped around each other. Ominis was the first to fall asleep, his soft snores filling the room. But MC took longer to fall asleep. Her mind focused on one thing only. The plan seemed fool proof. The potion had been tested, the metaphorical seeds of their fabricated story had been planted, but Merlin forbid they actually did mess up. Being caught would mean trouble for the boys, but certain death for MC. 

————end of part 1————

[loversj0y]

loves me (like im brand new)

TW: this fic deals with sensitive topics, specifically referencing sexual assault, as well as the recovery process, including mentions of flashbacks and references to dissociation. read at your own discretion

hey so this is entirely self-indulgent. ive been having a rough week (and im sure based on the content you could probably understand why) so yeah, it's not much. but take this as i try to cope (and finish the ttds au)

title is taken from call it what you want by taylor swift

wilbur soot x gn! reader

word count: 1.9k

The floor of the bathtub seemed to become your best friend during trying times. There was something about it that just became comforting when you felt like reaching out to anyone wouldn’t help. And it would help to reach out, but you couldn’t help preferring to spill your secrets to the bathroom floor.

It was too late at night for most people to be taking a shower, and you knew that. You’d been in here god knows how long, your phone left forgotten in your bedroom. The water was turned as hot as it would go, your skin left a blazing red in response. You didn’t know what triggered the episode, maybe the date was a little too close to the anniversary, or maybe you’d thought for a second that you saw the guy who assaulted you a few years back. In reality, it was a combination, you were always much more aware of your trauma this time of year, when memories of abuse and unmeaningful “i love yous” went rampant in your brain. There wasn’t much you felt you could do at times like this. The water helped, though. It hurt slightly,  but the burn of the water was stronger than the memory of his hands on you. Everytime you did this, you hoped the water would allow you to scrub the hands off of you, but each time you could never feel clean. Your body wouldn’t feel like yours fully. You tried to stave off flashbacks and memories, forcing yourself to be grounded by focusing on tiny details in your apartment’s bathroom, the grout of the tile, the stains at the bottom of the shower curtain, the way the lightbulb would occasionally flicker. That lightbulb usually annoyed you, but now, you felt thankful for it as it’s random flicker would pull you out of your thoughts when you slipped into them.

You wanted to leave the shower, part of you wanting to go curl up in bed and put on so many layers until you felt like your body didn’t exist. But any attempts at moving made your brain yell at you once more, leaving you stuck in place.

A knock on the door startled you, your heart rate spiking, you didn’t have roommates, who-.

You question was cut off before you could even finish it.

“Darling?! Are you in there?” Wilbur, your boyfriend, sounded alarmed. He wasn’t supposed to stop by tonight, he was supposed to go hang out with Tommy, so why was he here?

“Wilbur?”

He seemed to let out a relieved sigh. “Are you alright? Can I come in?”

“I- yeah, you can come in,” you spoke, just loud enough for him to hear. He opened the door, quickly moving over to where you were, kneeling down next to the shower. 

“What are you doing here, Wilbur?” I asked softly.

“You weren’t answering, I got scared.”

“I told you I was going to take a shower, didn’t I?”

“Darling, that was almost four hours ago,” He frowned, reaching a hand into the water to fix your hair, but pulling back once he felt the temperature. He looked at you, getting a better look now that some of the steam had left the bathroom. “Love, your skin is burning red, that cannot feel good. Come on, let’s get you out of there.”

You groaned lightly, leaning your head against the side of the tub, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean, love?”

“I just- I can’t, I feel…” trapped, haunted, exhausted, stuck, “frozen.”

He nodded, even though he didn’t fully understand. “Are you okay with me touching you?”

You thought about it for a moment. Anyone else and it would’ve been a no, anyone else and it would’ve set your brain into overdrive, but Wilbur never made you feel anything but safe and loved. You nodded after a moment.

He stood, leaning forward and turning off the shower. He got into the tub behind you, carefully lifting you and helping you stand. 

“You’re gonna get wet,” you complained softly.

He just shrugged, “I don’t mind. I’m sure I’ve left enough clothes here that I can find something if it bothers me.” 

You sniffled a bit and nodded. He carefully got you out of the tub, grabbing your towel and wrapping it around you gently. He pressed a gentle kiss to your head. 

“Let me grab your pajamas, okay?” He went to grab them, but you reached a hand out and stopped him.

“Wait, I-” you paused, looking down a bit shyly, “I don’t want to be alone right now.”

He gave you an encouraging smile, nodding, “That’s alright. I’ll stay with you until you’re dry, and then we’ll go together. Sounds good?” 

You nodded softly at him, taking a seat on top of the closed toilet seat cover. You looked down at his jumper, “Sorry again about your jumper.”

He shrugged, pulling the jumper off and tossing it out of the bathroom, wearing a simple white shirt underneath, “Doesn’t matter. Not as much as you do.” 

You looked at the ground after he spoke. You didn’t feel like you mattered right now. It had nothing to do with your boyfriend, he was being so incredibly kind, and you couldn’t ask for anything better. But your head fought back and forth between feeling Wilbur’s love and feeling like you were back in that room from so many years ago. You pulled the towel tighter around yourself, and it was like you could feel Wilbur’s frown. He knew you too well, knowing your tells whenever you retreated into your own head. 

“Darling, look at me,” He spoke softly, kneeling down in front of you. 

You slowly looked up at him, met with nothing but kindness in his gaze. 

“There you are,” he smiled softly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

You shook your head violently, “No- I… not now.” 

He nodded, rubbing your back gently, “That’s alright. Are you ready to get dressed?”

You nodded, and he carefully leaned down to pick you up, walking to your closet. He set you down once you were there, keeping his hand at your back. He looked around for a moment before grabbing one of his sweaters and a pair of old sweatpants, “Here.”

You took them, and he helped you get dressed, the both of you taking your time. Once you were dressed, he took your hand, walking you to bed. 

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” He asked softly as you sat down on the bed. 

“Could you hand me my water bottle?” You asked softly, pointing at the bottle sitting on your desk. He did so quickly, and you drank from it quickly before setting it on your nightstand. 

You didn’t quite know how to get the words out to ask him the next part, so you just patted the bed. He understood, sitting against the headboard. You came over, laying down against him gently, and his arms were quick to fall around you, holding you close. 

He kissed the top of your head, humming a soft tune. Once you’d relaxed enough, you spoke quietly. 

“I thought you were going to Tommy’s tonight?”

He shrugged, “You weren’t responding, so I got worried. His girlfriend is there anyways, so he wouldn’t notice if I was there or not anyway.”

“Still, you didn’t have to come here,” you spoke softly, and he scoffed. 

“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”

You nodded, burying your face against him lightly. You wanted to tell him what happened, it just took a few minutes to actually get the words out. “Today sucked.” You spoke quietly, taking a deep breath before continuing, “I just… it’s around this time a few years ago that I was- I,” it hurt to say, and Wilbur knew, piping up softly, “I know.”

You nodded once more, continuing, “it’s just… it feels so much more real around now, and so I just feel so much more sensitive to everything. The tiniest thing sets me off into a flashback, and it’s like I can still feel those hands on me sometimes, and it’s just- it’s overwhelming.” You sniffled softly, “The hot water helps, I can feel it more than the stupid fucking hands, but I just- I’ve rubbed my skin raw so many times, and I can still feel it. I’ve never felt clean since then, but it gets so much worse around this time, and I just can’t help but feel gross,” you sobbed softly, burying your face further against his chest. 

Wilbur held you close, rubbing your back gently, “I don’t think you’re gross.” He spoke, “I know that it might not mean much coming from me, but I don’t think you’re gross, or unclean, or anything like that. I think you went through something shitty, and that you survived. And I also know that I adore you, and I adore learning more about you. Everything about you is new to me. Each piece makes you up, and I feel honored to learn about all of it, even if it feels like a curse, because I know that it all brought you to me, the same way I know the stuff I went through brought me to you.”

You sniffled, wiping at your eyes, “Thank you,” You whispered. It meant more than he’d probably ever know to hear him describe you as new. 

He pressed a kiss to your forehead gently. “Of course, love. Your past is not you, it’s like a piece of clay, you know? You can’t change it fundamentally, but you can change how it looks and how you use it. It doesn’t define you, it just makes up part of you.”

You sighed softly, “I wish it didn’t, though. I’d rather it have never happened.”

He frowned, “I understand. If I could change the past, I would, just for you. But since I can’t, I’ll do anything you need me to because I want to make sure you are okay. It’s what I’m here for.” 

You nodded, and he carefully wiped at your eyes. After a moment of trying to calm your tears, you, strangely enough, started laughing.

Wilbur smiled, giving you an incredulous look. “What is it?”

You chuckled, shaking your head, “Just feel a bit stupid.”

“Why?”

“For not telling you earlier. I’ve felt like shit since like 2P.M., I just didn’t want you to worry”

He smiled, brushing a bit of your hair back, “Darling, I’m constantly worrying about you. I mean this lovingly when I say you stress me out every day, especially when you text me in the middle of the night to show me the bugs you see when you walk around town at night.”

“It’s always fun doing that, though. Plus, you know I’m always heading to see you.”

He flushed a bit, chuckling softly, “I know. But it does make me worry.” 

You smiled, gently taking his hand in yours. “Thank you for showing up.” 

He squeezed your hand gently, “Of course. I’ll always show up for you, darling.” 

You closed your eyes, curling into his side and yawning out slowly. The dark feeling in your chest was still there, but it felt smaller with Wilbur around. It was much more bearable with him there. 

“Goodnight, love,” He gently pecked your lips, holding you lightly. 

“Goodnight, Wilbur.” With him by your side, everything felt lighter. You could breathe, with him by your side, and you were able to fall into a quiet slumber.

[snowblossomreads]

All Because of A Hat

Summary: [Y/n] attempts to sew a hat for her husband Elliott and finds that it isn't as simple as she would hope

A/N: LOLOL AND IN A FIC THAT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE HERE WE ARE. This is dedicated to my bestie the lovely and wonderful @smilingformoney and is based on the happy ending AU for The Eternal Summer (right here!) I hope this will make you feel better :) and I hope you know how much I love you to have banged out a fic this quickly (A day and a half innit?)

It had been almost a year since Elliott had first laid eyes on [Y/n] before he made plans to marry her and whisk her back to Australia with him. Only if she would have him course! She had already been forced to do so many things in her life unfit for such a sweet woman, and he for one, would make sure she would only do what she wanted from now on. 

Luckily for him, she was more than willing to go along with the crazy idea as she had fallen head over heels for the gun slinging pastoralist. Funnily enough, he had only come to make sure that she wouldn't end up homeless after her husband, his cousin, William passed away. 

To say getting acclimated to the weather in Australia was difficult was an understatement, but she had managed, and managed well. Learning how to sew more lighter dresses and skirts so that she could keep the sand away, but also ward against sun poisoning. Something she had gotten familiar with once, and did not fancy experiencing again. 

Bonnets were also a must in that department, and she had become quite skilled in making those as she would also make some of the ladies that would come to the station. But there was one thing she hadn't tried yet surprisingly enough, and with their anniversary on the horizon, she wanted to try her hand at it. 

"Excuse me sir?" [Y/n] called out as she went up to the shop keeper of the local tanning store. 

Elliott and she had made a trip into town with the others for more provisions, and she had asked to come within the guise of getting more things for her sewing project. It wasn't really a lie, as this was for a sewing project, but she didn't want to let him know what she was up to. 

He had a keen sense for when she was up to something, because not only was he a sharp shooter, but he had a sharp mind as well, and sneaking anything under his nose was almost impossible. Thankfully though, he didn't ask too much, only saying that he was coming with just in case he needed to protect her from wild dingoes or the stray kangaroo. 

"Would you happen to have material suitable for hat making? I was wanting to try my hand making some and thought this a good place to start for some materials."

The shop keeper, an old plump and friendly looking man with a large mustache, beamed brightly at her before starting,"Well hello there if it isn't Mrs.Marston!" His voice booming, but kind as he addressed her. "Why I think we just had a batch of leather finish tanning. Though you know, the shops over here sell some fine hats as well, why don't you also check on them?"

"Oh well thank you for the suggestion, but you see, this one is to be a gift for my husband. And I wanted to make it special," she smiled, already thinking about Elliott's reaction when she gave it to him.   

"Of course of course, any particular color you looking for?" 

Taking a moment, she thought about the dark blonde of his hair, and the hazel eyes of her Elliott along with what color would probably keep him cool before coming to an answer.

"Would you happen to have something in maybe a brown? Maybe a lighter shade?"

"I can certainly take a look! Give me one moment!"

Hobbling off to the back of the shop and leaving her to wait for him, it only took a few minutes before the man returned with three beautiful pieces of leather. Each no doubt could make a fine hat for her husband, but if she bought too much, he be on to her and probably figure out what she was doing. And that would absolutely ruin the surprise.

"Now this tan one right here, we just got in from Sydney and it's been quite popular for some of the hat makers out there I've heard," the man explained. "This natural sand looking one is a little different but if different is what you're looking for I think it go a long way! But," pushing the others aside and placing the third one in front he continued, "this one I think has a nice balance of color. It's a bit costly now but it'll make for a great hat! It will also go with just about anything I think!"

Eyes jumping from each of the samples he showed her, she quickly thought about how each color would look on Elliott and what other color hats he had. He didn't really have many others truth be told, and they were all a shade of black or gray. A little color wouldn't hurt, would it? Making her mind up she pointed to the last one.

"I think the hazelnut one will be just lovely! Could I get about one yard of it if you have that much to spare?" She asked as she began to rummage in her purse for payment. 

"Of course! I'll get that for you right away."

Cleaning off the counter of the samples, the owner cut the fabric for [Y/n] who promptly paid for it and thanked him as he wished her the best in her hat making adventure.

Hiding the fabric was a bit harder than acquiring it, as it was difficult to try and shove it somewhere where it wouldn't be seen, considering how bulky it was. So while making sure no one was looking, she quickly scrambled to the wagon, and hid it under some crates that were full of supplies they had been bought. Once she was sure no one would snoop under it, she rejoined Elliott who was at the general goods store.

"Elliott!" She called enthusiastically once she spotted him. 

Her voice had him turning to meet her bright smile as she approached, and he couldn't help the smile that grew on his face as she found herself beside him. 

"There's my little kola bear," he teased giving her a brief kiss on the lips before he hugged her close. "Find everything you needed?" 

"I did!" She beamed, looking up at him with eyes of adoration that made him mush. "There was a wonderful sale on some of the fabrics that I use to patch the boys' clothes up," she explained, as Elliott wrapped his arm around her waist and led them around to the other side of the aisle. "You know with how many of them there are, I might need to teach them how to sew one day."

That got a healthy chuckle out of him.

"Teach them how to sew? Ha! You may be a natural with a gun sweetheart, but I don't think any of my boys will be any good with a needle. Hardly any good with a gun sometimes!"

"Even if they aren't, that's okay, you don't have to be the best sharpshooter in Australia to be any good at sewing," she teased, garnering a smirk from him. "Patience is all you need, and I think I have plenty of that. Wouldn't you say so?"

"To deal with me? I say you have the patience of a saint."

Well, that wasn't very true now as she felt the sharp point of the needle prick her finger for the tenth time. This time it drawing blood from the poor abused digit, and drawing a sharp painful cry of,

"Ouch!!" From her lips, as she dropped the brim of the hat, causing the crown to fall right off of it as the whole thing tumbled on the ground. 

To say she had been struggling all day to get the brim attached to the crown was an understatement. She had first started by making little holes in the brim and crown so that they would line up and she could sew the thread into them to connect the two pieces. 

With how thick the material was, she had to use a bigger needle to pierce the fabric, and even still, it was a nightmare to get the string in because she didn't want the guiding holes to be too large. That had taken up multiple hours, and ended up with her poking herself a couple of times, as her thimble decided to fall off at the worst times. 

"Bloody stupid hat!" She hissed, in an attempt to calm the raging amount of emotions that swirled in her chest. Most of them being disappointment, as she swiped at her face to keep from crying. "Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Of course the first one is bound to turn out terrible but my lord this is ridiculous! I-."

The sound of heavy footsteps caused her to stop mid rant as she waited for them to pass by, not wanting anyone to know about her secret project, lest they tell Elliott. It came closer, and closer, until it stopped right in front of the door, and a puzzled look found its way onto her face.

"[Y/n]? Are you alright in there?" The unmistakable worried voice of her husband drifted into the room from behind the door, and her heart leaped in her chest at the sound. "Heard you shouting and I came hurrying to make sure you were alright. Can I come in?"

Scrambling to hide the hat in making, even though it looked nothing like a hat at the moment, she had just shoved the bits beneath some fabric scraps she had been using to patch up some clothes before the door cracked open, and Elliott peeked his head inside. 

"Yes, I'm okay! Come in!" She panted, as she dabbed her forehead, which had become damp with sweat from her rushed movements. "My thimble fell loose when I was trying to finish something and it pricked me a bit. Gave me a bit of a surprise," she explained as the door opened fully to reveal Elliott, who strode in with a look of concern etched on his features. 

The little crease between his forehead deepened when she had said that she hurt herself, and she could have sworn he quickened his pace across the room to her.

"Here let me take a look at that," he said, as he took her hand to examine the wound with great care. "Now I told you I would shoot anyone who ever tried to hurt you but." Taking the hurt digit to his lips, Elliott kissed the wounded finger, his mustache brushing against her, and making her laugh at how he tickled her.

"What is a man supposed to do when you go and hurt yourself?" 

A delighted giggle left her lips again as he kissed the injured digit once more, before he made his way to her lips to give it a quick peck.

"Maybe you could help me find some gauze or something to wrap it up," she suggested playfully. "And probably some cream for it as well?"

"I think that's a mighty fine idea. Now you stay right here, I have something just for that little scratch," he said, before he let her hand go and hurried out of the room.

It only took a few short moments for him to return. A triumphant smirk on his face as he strode towards her, chest puffed out looking mighty pleased with himself. Quite the stance for someone just looking for some fabric and cream.

"Here it is!" He announced proudly as he showed her the little jar and gauze he had procured.

The latter she recognized, of course, the first, not so much. It looked like some face cream the ladies at the general store would sell or some sun cream. However, this didn't seem to be any of that at all. Or well she hoped not as it wouldn't do much for her cut.

"What is it?" She asked curiously as she watched him place the fabric on the table before he opened the jar.

"Oh nothing special, just something I made for myself. Noticed a while back that all this heat and working with the livestock had my hands blistering something fierce," he explained as he scooped a bit of the substance out of the jar. "And decided to whip something up, here let me see that darling." 

Allowing him to take her hand back in his again, he gently blotted her injury with the cream causing her to sigh at the nice cooling sensation of it.

"Feels a lot better doesn't it?" He asked, as he continued to massage the substance into her skin causing her to sigh in relief. Not only from the ebbing of the pain but how nice it felt to have his fingers massaging her hand that she hadn't realized had been aching. "Heard from the doctors that it's good to keep the wounds moist while they heal. Keep the dirt out and makes 'em mend faster."

"Mmm and you made this all by yourself?" She asked dreamily, enjoying watching his larger hand engulf her smaller ones as he worked the cream into her skin.

"I sure did, some honey, a bit of water, and some oils and that's really all," he said as he let go of her hand, causing her to let out a disappointed sigh. "Here let's get this gauze wrapped around it as well." 

Closing the jar up and setting it aside, he grabbed the fabric he had sat on the table and wrapped her finger with the soft cotton. He made sure to wrap it just so that it wasn't too tight and that she could continue to work without any hindrance. A tailor's tool was their hands of course.

"Wow! Not only is my husband the greatest sharpshooter in all of Australia, but he can make jellies and creams as well," she praised as she took a look at the bandaged finger and wiggled it to make sure it wasn't too tight. "What other secrets are you hiding under that hat of yours, Mr.Marston?"

"What other than those two?" He started with a tip of his hat and a grin. "Well other than those two, I guess it would be how if I had to choose between being the best sharpshooter in Australia and being your husband. I would pick you every single time." 

Her cheeks flushed at his comment, and her head fell to hide her bashfulness at his statement and Elliott couldn't help but chuckle at how cute she was.

"I said secrets, not something everyone in Australia knows," she laughed as she gently swatted his chest causing him to join in on the laughter. "For the record, I would choose you every time as well," she admitted as she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him as a warm smile greeted her. "Thank you very much for taking care of my finger darling. You did very well and I'm sure it will heal up just nicely with that secret cream of yours."

"Of course, it's my responsibility to make sure my sweet kola is safe. Furthermore." A roguish smirk appeared on his lips as he leaned down and bumped her nose with his. "I wouldn't want any other man to put his cream on you, that's solely my job." 

Pulling away quickly from him, he chuckled seeing her slack jaw, and wide eyes at the little innuendo he had let slip.

"Elliott!" She shouted, about to reprimand him but was shut down completely as he took the chance to pepper her face and neck with playful kisses. 

Her shoulders shook with laughter at how his mustache tickled her, and she wiggled in his hold, only for him to hold her tighter as he rubbed his mustache over her face as he kissed her. By the time he had finished, they were both a laughing mess, and she had somehow knocked his hat over during the whole ordeal.

Untangling their arms from one another, [Y/n] picked up the hat, dusting off invisible dirt from it before offering back up to her husband. Who graciously accepted it with a thank you.

"Now as much as I enjoyed that, don't you have some work to be doing out there? If you're not careful, the boys will come looking for you."

"Let them come looking, all they'll see is a man loving his on his wife," he announced proudly causing her to once again feel a bit flushed. "I would say that they could handle things fine without me, but lord knows that would be a lie."

"Oh they aren't that bad El. Coogan's really quite brilliant with the sheep you know. They follow him around like he's their pa! It's really quite a sight actually," she giggled to herself as she remembered how the fuzzy animal would immediately gather around the tall man when he went to tend to them.

"Even so, they have a lot to learn those boys and it is my job to teach them. Even if some of them need a more heavy handed approach." 

"Still, do not be too hard on them, some of them are only still boys," she spoke gently as she went to straighten his vest and smile at him causing him to soften. "I'll be here if you need me my love, working away as usual."

Not one to argue with [Y/n], he acquiesced with a nod. 

"Hopefully with no more injuries? Though I don't mind coming back in to rub some cream on you and bandage you up." 

"I will endeavor to make sure I stay injury free as long as possible." She laughed, shaking her head at his antics.

Grinning at her, he leaned down to give her one last kiss. This one, more passionate than the others as he let out a little groan when he felt her hands reach for the nape of his neck. Sighing against his lips when he pulled away, [Y/n] leaned up and gave him one more kiss before he was back off to tend to his men and whatever else he had been up to.

Watching him retreat, she cupped her cheeks with both hands, before scrunching her shoulders together and wiggling. God did she love him. He was everything to her, and she be remiss to let something as small as being pricked by needles stop her from finishing his hat. 

She had been pricked a many of times as an apprentice and many times afterward! But never did she stop, even if it was out of necessity at times. Still though, she was going to get this hat finished one way or another. And it was going to be brilliant just like her husband who deserved it!   

With a renewed spirit and a bandaged finger, she went back and unearthed the pieces of the hat she had been working on. Determined to finish it as soon as possible.

"Elliott are you busy at the moment," [Y/n] asked as she peeked her head into his office where he was sitting at the desk.

A pipe in one hand and his head lowered as he reviewed some ledgers that were spread out across the surface, he seemed deep in thought. Though at the sound of her voice, his head popped up and when he saw her, a smile grew on his face.

"Never too busy for you my little kola," he responded, going to put out his pipe, as she had once pointed out how the smell of tobacco made her feel unwell. "What do I owe this lovely surprise from my equally lovely wife to?"

"Oh stop it," she giggled as walked in, her hands behind her back as she hid the wrapped gift from sight. "I think I'm more of a distraction than anything."

His burrows furrowed together at that, and a little frown appeared on his lips. "Of course you're not! And even if you were a distraction, you're an absolutely beautiful one, I be an absolute idiot to complain," he huffed as he stood up from behind the desk and stretched his limbs that had begun to ache just before she had come. 

Watching how the white button up he donned lifted and showed a bit of his stomach, and the sparse hair around his tummy, [Y/n] couldn't help but bite her bottom lip. God just the slight show of his skin had her warm in more places than one and it drove her crazy. But no no! She had a mission, and she wasn't going to get distracted because of how handsome he was. Granted that truly wasn't up to her.

"Now tell me sweetheart what do I owe the pleasure of you gracing me with your wondrous presence," he teased coming out from around his desk to stand in front of her. Though not without first giving her an affectionate kiss on the forehead that she accepted happily.

"And what's that you got hiding behind your back?" He inquired as he peered around her, trying to see what she was holding, only for her to turn in the opposite direction so he couldn't see it.

"Oh well it's just…" Her words trailed off as she averted her eyes from his gaze feigning interest in the dust on the wooden floorboards. 

His gaze was so intense yet so gentle as it stayed on her, making her feel safe and loved which was all she had ever wanted in life. It warmed her heart, yet made her even more nervous about the gift which wasn't quite perfect, but she hoped he would love it still, as she had put all her love into it. 

"[Y/n]?"

"I don't know if you recall, but it was around this time when you came to London and swept me away from that place that only held memories of hurt and misery," she started, meeting his soft gaze that was squarely focused on her as he listened. "And being with you, being married to you, it's been absolutely wonderful! You've shown me so many things. Things I never thought I would be able to see in my life. A-and I just wanted to make you something so that I could show you how much I love you because you always show me how much you do. It's something you could use every day so that even if you're away in town or something a bit of me will be with you."

Pausing, in her little speech, as her fingers played nervously with the item, still unsure about it, she took a deep breath to steel her nerves. 

"So I made you this," she finished as she presented the carefully wrapped hat to Elliott whose eyes lit up with surprise at the sudden gift. "It's not much, and by no means is it perfect but I still hope you'll find some use for it."

Eyes flicking up from the sudden gift to her face and back down again, Elliott took the package from her with such care, that you would have thought he had never received a gift before with the way he held it. Still in shock from the surprise, he looked at [Y/n] with a dumbfounded expression.

"For me?" He asked.

She had to keep the laughter that was bubbling in her throat at the disbelief on his face. It wasn't as if this was the first time she had given him something. On the contrary, she had made him some handkerchiefs before with his initials embroidered in them. A bit of a nightmare those things were but they didn't compare to the sweat and literal blood she put into the hat. 

"Of course for you my love! Who else would it be for? Go on open it or I think the anticipation may kill me before then."

Still a bit unsure about it, he did as she asked him, as his curiosity was already getting ahead of him. With  

"Well I'll be," he murmured once he undid the wrapping. Admiring the hat with awe and looking at the fine detail of it as she continued her little rambles.

"I wanted to make you something useful." She replied shyly as she watched him stroke the brim of the hat, before turning it down to look at the inside of it. Oh how she loved the way he would always take interest in the things she made, another reason she wanted it to be perfect for him."I noticed that you only have black or gray hats, and I think they are all lovely, but I wanted you to have something different. Light colors help keep a person cooler and you're always working so hard outside."

"My god [Y/n] this is beautiful! Don't tell me this is the first one you've ever made because it's damn near perfect!"

Blushing at the unexpected praise, knowing this was not her best work she nodded her head yes, "it is, and it's not really that great, I think the crown may be a bit out of line if you look real close. I-I can make you another one to it's just-."

Whatever else she was going to say was swiftly cut off when she felt his arms wrap around her before he picked her up and kissed her. Her arms found their way around his neck to steady herself, and she could only moan in delight as he devoured her lips with a passion that she hadn't expected. All because of a hat. 

But it was more than that of course.

"El," [Y/n] sighed breathlessly as he kissed her over and over as she stroked his cheek before tangling her fingers into his hair.

"You drive me wild do you know that," he groaned out as he pulled away from her, his cheeks flushed and his eyes alight. 

"As if the Outback hasn't driven you that way already," she teased kissing his nose and shyly smiling as his sonorous chuckle tickled her ears pleasantly.

Letting her go, Elliott placed the hat on his head and secured it with the cord that hung from it while she straightened her dress as it was all ruffled up.

"How do I look?" He asked, which caused her to look up, and be captivated at the sight of him wearing something she had painstakingly put so much effort into.

"Devilishly handsome," she announced, once she was able to get over her awe. But not before she clapped her hands and pressed them against her lips, admiring how the color of his hair and eyes paired well with the hazelnut color of the hat. "Maybe you could model hats for me if I decided to make more?"

"A gentleman would never say no to a request like that from his wife," he said tipping the hat towards her and causing her to laugh. "But only on one condition."

"And what's that?" 

"That I get a new hat every once in a while from you of course."

Even though she knew she would never say no to him, she placed her finger on her chin as if she was thinking. Only a moment passed before she snapped her digits together and held her hand out to him, signaling him that she would shake on it.

"You have yourself a deal Mr.Cowboy!"

A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest as he took her hand and shook on the deal. But once done he didn't let go, only to have [Y/n] squeal in delight as he once again pulled her close to him and laid his chin atop her head. 

Slowly they rocked side to side, enjoying each other's company, while the sounds of the Outback began to increase in volume as dusk began to set itself up in the sky. 

"Lovely you know," he muttered, burying his face into her hair, inhaling the scent that was distinctly hers which comforted him in a way nothing else could.

"Hmm? The hat?" She guessed, not really thinking about anything else as she basked in his arms and his presence.

"Yes the hat is very lovely. But," he paused, as he pulled away from her just to be able to look at her. "I mean you sweetheart. There's nothing else on this earth that could compare to how sweet and lovely you are [Y/n]. Nothing that could shine as bright as you either, you know that."

"Oh El stop it," she said going to swat his chest with a sheepish look. "It's not nice to tease a lady you know."

It was infuriating how shy he could make her feel. Even with them having been husband and wife for a year already, she was still not acclimated to how freely he complimented her. All of it was full of sincerity and love that had been so scarce in her life. And now that she had so much of it, she didn't know what to do with it other than be overwhelmed with happiness.

"But it's the truth, you're absolutely lovely my little kola, special in every way."

Lifting her head up, she started at Elliott. A smile on his thin lips as he looked at her, and even though something inside her wanted to protest about how sweet he was. She tampered it down, as she could never doubt his words. So instead she went and cupped his cheek with her hand, and lifted herself up just a little so that she could give him a little kiss on the nose, before going to peck his lips.

"I do so love you Elliott." She sighed against his lips.

"And I love you as well."

"Mmm, more than you love your guns?"

"Don't joke darling of course I love you more," he laughed as he placed his hand back around her waist.

"I only wanted to make sure," she said before joining in his laughter.

Their shoulders shook as they carried on laughing with one another, and it felt so good. It went on for a little while longer before their voice lowered as they gathered themselves. But before letting her go, a thought appeared in Elliott's brain that caused a smirk to appear on his features.

"That reminds me," he purred as he leaned near her ear causing a familiar shiver to run down her spine. 

Oh?

"You've given me a gift yet I'm leaving you empty handed. Now that innit husbandly like of me is it?"

"Well, truthfully I wasn't going to say anything considering you give me all I could ever want," she said sincerely as she saw the shine in his eyes. The one he would get when he was feeling particularly mischievous. "But who am I to deny my husband wanting to gift me something."

The smirk on his face grew even wider as he grabbed her hand, pulled her close, and gave her a rather passionate kiss. His tongue traced her bottom lip and she barely had a chance to give him entrance before he was eagerly exploring her waiting mouth.

Squealing in pleasure she let him lead the kiss and then let out an equally delighted laugh as he pulled away from her. Both of them were breathless but excited as he grabbed her wrist and pulled them in the direction of their bedroom. She knew she was in for a long night with her Elliott. All of it because of a hat. 

Maybe she would make them more often if the gift she received back was this.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

For your newest make me write. Im in a huge complete supernatural/fantasy like AU mood here recently so my requests are going to be towards that this week. Also both of them are supposed to be 15 emojis apiece so can we pretend they are if they are not? (Kinda sorry about all the zombies…but feel free to sub everything to vampires or another WIP if you want)

🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟🧟(Im so ready for the Maddie/Buck reunion and ensuing shenanigans. I think by the time you get to to this that the new chapter *may* be out that goes over that. But im also enjoying other aspects of the story as well. I very rarely read bathena start fics so their relationship developing is exciting for me to see as well).

🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸 🩸(Spoilery for those not caught up BUT OMG BUCK WHAT DID YOU DO?!?! I was not ready for that!)

Woohoo 90 total sentences for monster fics!

45 for 🧟 (THANK YOU!!!):

---

 “Just… Be careful.”

Chim thinks he probably should listen to her. But he also knows he likely won’t. 

▪️▪️▪️

If anything, Chim gets worse. And that might be problematic if his feelings were one-sided, but after dinner, it becomes more or less obvious that they are not.

They do dishes together. A chore Chim usually finds tiresome, but now is somehow fun. Christopher and Denny have already begged Maddie, Hen, and Karen to have a sleepover together. Something Chim finds somewhat redundant, seeing as every day forever is a sleepover here. But Chris wants to sleep in Denny’s room. 

“Please,” Karen had insisted when Maddie had asked if they were sure it was okay. “He finally gets to have friends his own age. Chris can have as many sleepovers as he wants.”

So Maddie is off kid duty tonight. 

“Other than movie night,” she asks as they’re finishing up with dishes. “What is there to do around here in the evenings?”

“You got something against movie night?” Chim teases.

“No!” Maddie insists. “Just exploring my options.”

“Well, there are games,” Chim says. But then he has another thought. “Or the roof.”

“The roof?” Maddie asks. 

“Yeah. We’ve got chairs up there. We can steal your brother’s stereo. It’s great for looking at the stars. Now that the light pollution is gone.” 

Chim wonders if this is too weird. Too forward. Too intimate. Too much like a date, if the world was normal enough to afford dates. Actually, scratch that. He knows Hen has set up a date for Karen up there, under the stars. On their wedding anniversary. God, what is he doing?

“That sounds really nice,” Maddie says. “Would you… Would you want to do that with me?”

God, obviously.

“I’d like that, yeah.”

---

45 for 🩸 (Buck's gonna Buck!)

---

“Neither am I,” Eddie says. “Okay?”

Buck nods, still a little weepy. 

“Okay.”

💧💧💧

As tired as he is, Buck can’t really sleep for very long periods. A wound to his front and a wound to his back means nothing is comfortable. Eddie helps set him up on an assortment of pillows to prop him in just the right position, but it’s still a more or less futile effort. He manages to get a little bit of rest when his pain medication sets in, but otherwise, he’s awake and uncomfortable. 

Brought down to reality by his conversation, Buck really gets a chance to think through what he’d nearly done. Not the killing part - which he’d been more focused on before - but the dying part. And the more he thinks about it, the more he thinks about just how right Eddie was. He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want their life together to be over just as it finally started.

He really let that compulsive need to fix everything almost get him killed. Maddie was right. He needs to deal with this properly. This pit of dread that lives in his chest that says he is going to lose everything horribly. That says life will never be safe again. He needs to address that head on, and not by trying to be one step ahead of every possible danger. He needs to go back to therapy. He will, he decides. The minute he’s physically up to it.

“I’m sorry,” Buck says again, later that night, when everyone is sleeping and Buck is laying awake beside Eddie. He knows he’s probably going to be saying it for a long time. 

Eddie blinks awake. “Hmm?”

“I’m sorry,” Buck repeats. 

“For waking me up?” 

“No, for everything.”

Eddie sighs. “I forgive you. I’ve already forgiven you.”

“But I’m still sorry.” 

“Buck,” Eddie complains. “Don’t do this. This doesn’t help. Believe me, I know.”

“I’m going to go to therapy,” Buck says. 

“That’s a good idea,” Eddie says. “We could both use therapy. Do you think there are vampire therapists?”

“If there’s not, there should be,” Buck replies. “They’d have the corner on the market right now.”

“Exactly,” Eddie says. “And surely some shrink out there got bit?”

[astral-express-family]

Wedding fic! the drawing is still in progress but i do have this <3 as usual, fic will be utc

Dividers came from here

Taglist, since i actually remembered this time: @violetsareblue-selfships, @silver-heller, and @aego-philautia

Aslia hasn't gotten much sleep. When she finally gets to sleep, it's nearly two in the morning. And of course, she wakes up at six-thirty am. Lynette's still cuddled against rose, her arms wrapped snugly around Aslia's torso. Aslia just laughs softly trying to let roseself relax. It's hard, though, considering the date. August 17th. Her and Lynette's first anniversary, and also their wedding date.

“Mmm… already awake, firefly?”

The sound of Lynette's voice, admittedly, makes Aslia jump. She replies with a laugh and a warm, “How am I supposed to sleep, knowing today's the day we finally get married?”

Lynette just laughs, warm and affectionate. She says, “Well, the ceremony’s not until three this afternoon. Let's try to get a little more sleep, hm?”

And it works. When she next wakes up, it's to Lynette climbing out of the bed at almost ten o'clock. “What's for breakfast, love?” ro asks as she climbs out of bed herself.

Aslia, unable to argue with this point, just nestled herself back into Lynette's embrace and tries to fall back asleep. 

“Knowing my brother, he probably has made us a full breakfast spread just so we didn't have to do it ourselves on our wedding day,” Lynette replies casually. Aslia laughs, and shakes her head fondly. She replies, “Yeah, sounds like something Lyney would do.”

When they leave the bedroom, hand in hand, they find that's exactly what had happened. Lyney is standing in the kitchen, surrounded by fresh pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and eggs. When he sees them he greets them with an excited, “Ah, there are the lovebirds! Good morning, and perfect timing! I just finished making you guys breakfast!”

Aslia and Lynette sit down - Aslia’s plate loaded up and Lynette’s plate with a smaller but still substantial amount of food. The two of them sit in the breakfast nook, cuddling up against each other. Lyney cleans up the kitchen then takes his leave, saying, “Well, I’ll see you at the wedding.”

After breakfast, it’s time for them to go. Aslia has to go meet up with Chiori, who had designed rose wedding dress and is in charge of rose makeup.

“About time you showed up, Aslia.” Chiori greets.

Aslia just smiles. Chiori just huffs affectionately, and tuts, “Well, let’s get you in your dress.”

The dress isn’t anything too elaborate, fancy but not overly so. It still takes a few minutes to get into the dress, but it’s so worth it. That’s what Aslia thinks, at least. She thinks it looks beautiful. Chiori did a great job with the design, Lynette will love it, she thinks. Once Aslia’s in the dress Chiori pushes her gently into a chair, and starts or rose makeup. It’s a known fact that Aslia isn’t super fond of makeup, so Chiori keeps it light. A little bit of eye shadow to bring out the color in Aslia’s eyes, some lipstick to highlight her lips, and a little bit of blush to add some color to her cheeks.

“There we go. Your mother should be here soon, to walk you down the aisle.”

Aslia nods, standing up. She gives Chiori a tight hug and says, “Thank you, Chiori. I appreciate you putting in all this work for me.”

Both too soon and not soon enough, it’s time to walk down the aisle.

Chiori again just huffs affectionately, but hugs back.

A few minutes before, she meets up with her mother figure, Ningguang. Ningguang is wearing a nice dress, formal yet simple. Aslia gives her a tight hug, and lightheartedly says, “Mama Beidou’s here, right? And let me guess, she’s still grumbling about feeling old?”

Ningguang laughs. “Right you are, Aslia,” she says fondly, “Beidou is indeed lamenting how your wedding makes her feel old.” Aslia's laughing at that, a smile on her face, “I'm sure Kaz is sick of hearing about it.”

“Indeed. Now, your love and her ‘father’ have probably reached the altar, so let's be off.”

So Aslia, dressed in rose wedding attire, links her arm with Ningguang's. The music swells as Aslia walks through the crowd full of Aslia and Lynette’s closest friends and family. Ro is to avoid scanning the crowd, looking forward instead. Lynette is standing next to her brother, dressed in a fancy suit. Aslia can feel her face getting red.

Because he's her best man, Bennett is also waiting there. When she and Ningguang get to the front, she drops Ningguang’s arm and takes her place at the altar.

The flower girls, Aslia’s adopted daughters, are standing at the front of the crowd in their matching dresses. Diona looks somewhat comfortable and relaxed for once, which makes Aslia smile. Sayu, meanwhile, appears to be falling asleep. Diona nudges her, causing the younger girl to startle awake.

The ceremony passes quickly. The best part, in Aslia’s opinion, is when they finally share their first kiss as a married couple. Bennett and Lyney are cheering from their places next to the happy couple, and most of the audience cheers and claps.

After Aslia takes rose place, the ring bearer comes down the aisle. The ring is being carried by Aslia’s adopted son, Chouji. His suit matches Diona and Sayu’s dresses, and he mostly just looks happy to be included.

Then, it's time for the reception. The catering comes from one of the finest kitchens in Fontaine. Dinner is a fairly simple affair, the guests chattering amongst themselves. Lynette and Aslia, meanwhile, sit at the head table and talk. Aslia takes Lynette’s hand in rose own, holding it tightly.

Then the first dance.

The finest live band possible starts playing, and Aslia walks with Lynette to the dance floor. Neither of the two women are great at dancing, but neither of them mind. They're giggling as they dance, and Aslia feels her heart swell with love. This is her wife now. Her wife!

After the dance floor opens to all guests, the happy couple begin to mill about.

“So, what's it like being married?” Aslia startles at the sound of her older brother’s voice. But then she just casually smiles, saying, “Feels good, Kae. I did marry the love of my life, after all.”

Kaeya laughs fondly, picking Aslia up and spinning rose around. Diluc, Jean, and Barbara are all standing nearby, all smiling. Aslia hugs the other three as well, squeezing them tightly. Then she says to Jean, “Hey, who's in charge of the Knights right now? Given that most of the authorities are here right now, I mean.”

Jean chuckles, and Kaeya outright snickers. “I have a couple of the more trustworthy knights in charge, I'm sure the Knights can survive for a few days without Kaeya, Lisa, Amber, Eula, Albedo, and I.”

“Yeah, they’ll be fine,” Aslia laughs. Her attention is then drawn by the sound of wind. The wind races towards her, before Aslia finds herself with an armful of her youngest child. She holds Sayu tightly and fondly, spinning her daughter slightly. Diona and Chouji are close behind. She greets them, “How are you doing, kids?”

“Lynette had better treat you right, or she’s gonna pay!” Diona proclaims, her hands on her hips as she huffs.

“I promise, I’ll make sure to treat your mother with the utmost care.”

They continue milling about, spending the evening and into the night talking to their loved ones and dancing and eating cake.

Diona jumps when Lynette speaks, and Lynette chuckles fondly. Aslia shifts the way she holds Sayu in her arms, to kiss her wife on the lips.

“I love you, Nettie.”

“I love you too, Little Light.”

[therulerofallpotatos]

So I found this in my drafts and welp...oops.

This was going to be what I posted last October when I wrote that day's whumptober fic. You know, before I wrote myself into being physically sick and then had a year long writer's block w v few moments of reprieve where I could write anything (and nothing I was supposed to be working on). (it did not help that I was spending most of my time doing oil changes at work and all of my energy). I plan on finishing the last week of that series this year. I currently have 153 fanfictions posted on AO3. I'm pretty sure They All Live, an Until Dawn fanfiction taking place one year after the events of the original game, was my 150th fanfiction. I Bit Him so He's Mine is officially my 50th Wednesday fanfiction. anyways lets all laugh at fate fucking with my plans under the cut.

I've officially posted 150 fics for AO3

Posted. Not written. I've written more than that, but they're in my files unfinished. And I've written original stuff too, but those aren't for fandom blogs and accounts. 74 of those fics were for teen wolf and 49 of those were for steter while in thestetervault discord server. It's actually really crazy that I spent years in the steter fandom writing and got to 74 and I'm hitting 50 before the year anniversary of Wednesday (2022). That said...

[link to day 24 here]

This is officially my 50th Wednesday fic and 150th fic total on my ao3

It's part 12 of Tyler's Bad Year, my big whumptober 2023 series (@ailesswhumptober) and part 16 of my whumptober 2023 series overall. This really snuck up on me, and I would've planned something special if I'd realized sooner, but this is also a part in the series I've been looking forward to the entire time so it's still exciting. To anyone who has read all the way through, I love you so much. This has been a helluva ride, and I might have actually written myself into a literal fever a week ago (that I'm still lowkey sick from but I'm fine), but no regrets. We're in the last fortnight of the series, and it's getting close to the end of Tyler's Bad Year!

Since I didn't really get to plan something special posted on number 50 for Wednesday, I'm thinking I might make post 200 my Her Monster sequel. I haven't started it yet, but I've got plenty of time to get writing. It was technically my second Wednesday fic, but it was the beginning of an era and it established a lot of what I'm known for in this fandom and the way I most enjoy writing within this fandom. And writing in general.

I have a lot of ideas in my files and works in progress (the two biggest being the novel-length projects All Roads Lead to Rome and I Bit Him so He's Mine) so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Some will be scheduled with special events. One in particular is a But I'm a Cheerleader! bi4bi wyler au that was originally planned for this year's international bisexuality day, but that was before I started whumptober and the kink bingo and wyler week. There wasn't time to put in the work that au deserved.

It has been suggested that I do something here for this occasion. @suchaladyy thought of a poll bracket or maybe a masterlist of fics that meant something to me. I suppose let me know your thoughts on what you think I should do.

[rayslittlekitten]

Brownie Points

“Dad Will” Masterlist

A/N: So I was going through my WIP and I have SO many unfinished Dad!Will fics and revisited some. This one is a fun one that I'm happy I got to finish. Not beta'd.

Rating: G

Word Count: 915

Pairing: Dad!Will "Ironhead" Miller & Teenage Daughter OC (Lucy) & Wife F!reader

Plot: Will tries to bribe Lucy to fix his chocolate craving.

Contains: banter, humor, mentions of health issues

"Moooooom! Dad's doing it again!"

"Really? This is how you do me? After all the times I've covered for you?"

"It's called tough love, dad,” Lucy tells him. “I don’t want you to die!”

“Whoa, whoa, who said I’m gonna die? Did your mom tell you that— hey! Did you tell Lucy I’m gonna die if I have a brownie?” Will shifts his attention to you when you walk into the kitchen.

“No! Even if that was true, I wouldn’t tell her you're dying,” you reply before grabbing the tray of freshly baked brownies to hide. “These are for her school fundraiser. Stop stealing them! You’re not supposed to have sugar anyways,” you remind him.

"You are baking another tray in the oven right now. They're not gonna know one piece is missing!" Will retorts.

“Mom, you wouldn’t tell me if you knew dad was dying?!” Lucy asks, incredulously.

“Well, maybe not right away,” you shrug.

“I’m NOT dying!” Will declares. “Just an acute blood pressure issue, okay? And this whole conversation isn't helping either.”

“WebMD says so right here that death is a possibility from hypertension if you don’t take care of yourself.” Lucy turns her phone around to show Will.

“Everything results in death on WebMD. Don’t rely on that. Take all of that with a grain of salt,” Will says, then goes to the fridge to see what he can snack on.

“Speaking of salt, you can’t have any of that either,” Lucy reminds him.

“If I don’t eat, I’ll die of starvation anyways,” he shoots back.

"Have an apple, Crankypants," you suggest after hiding the brownies.

"I had one already," he mumbles.

After you leave the kitchen, Will lets out a heavy sigh and shuts the refrigerator door, not finding anything appealing to him. He looks over to Lucy who is on her phone. He suspiciously makes his way towards her.

"Whatcha doin', Moosey?" Will asks, pulling out the dining chair next to her and plopping down. "Not still on WebMD, are you?"

"Nah, I'm texting Liz," she replies, her eyes still glued to her phone.

"You know where we haven't been in a while? Astrid's," he says to her.

Lucy glances up from her phone to glare at him.

"Dad--"

"Look kid, I'll give you twenty bucks." He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. "You can get yourself a couple of cookies if you get me a brownie."

"Daddy," Lucy huffs, putting her phone down. "You know you're not supposed to--"

"Okay fine, I'll settle for anything with chocolate in it," he cuts in, handing her the twenty dollar bill.

"I'm telling mom--"

"Here's another twenty for your troubles," he pulls another twenty dollar bill from his wallet and offers it to her.

"You think you can bribe me?" Lucy scoffs. "I'm insulted."

"If I promise you that car you've been annoying the crap out of me about, would that be worth it?" Will asks.

Lucy stares at him for a moment, wondering if he's bluffing.

"You don't have that kind of money, dad, but nice try." She rolls her eyes and goes back to her phone.

Will leans in closer to her.

"What if I told you I already put the down payment on it and plan on giving it to you as a graduation present?"

Lucy looks back at him with the widest he's ever seen her eyes grow. Not since the last time she believed in Santa Claus and was so excited for him to drop off gifts for her.

"No way!"

"Shh," Will shushes her as he looks around to make sure you're nowhere in sight.

"Wait, if you got it for me already, what do I gain if I get your stupid brownie?" Lucy asks as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I can still return the car," Will replies. "Or give it to your mom instead. Our anniversary's coming up," he shrugs.

"What if I tell mom you're trying to bribe me with a car?" Lucy narrows her eyes at him.

“Come on, you’re killing me, Luce!”

"No, your lifestyle is," she corrects him.

"$50. Last chance," Will digs through his wallet to pull out a ten dollar bill.

Lucy looks Will down for a few moments, considering his offer until the kitchen timer interrupts their staring contest.

"Okay, fine." Lucy snatches the cash from his hand.

Just as you walk into the kitchen, Lucy gets up from her seat.

"I'm going out, mom!"

"Where are you going?" you ask as you pull the fresh tray of brownies out of the oven.

"Going to hang out with Liz and Katie. Don't wait for me for dinner," she answers.

"Do you need money?" you ask.

"Nope, I'm good. Dad got me," she smiles.

"What time are you going to be home?" Will asks quickly.

"I don't know," she shrugs. "Liz is outside. Bye, mom!"

Lucy gives you a kiss and hug then turns to Will.

"Bye, dad," she gives him a hug and kiss as well. "Enjoy the brownies!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Will asks, pretending to be clueless.

"I knew it wasn't going to be fair to you so I made a small tray of sugar-less brownies for you," you tell Will.

"And they're fresh out of the oven," Lucy adds.

Will opens his mouth to say something, but he's speechless.

"You-" he starts.

"I'll try not to be too late. I'll keep you posted. Bye!" Lucy says, throwing a sly smirk at Will before taking off.

[solitaireships]

baby you know i'm guilty

Today's my anniversary with Selina! In honor of that, I wanted to write a fic about her, so here's a fun little one of her and Alex at an auction together. The title comes from the song "Guilty" by Claudia Brücken and the Real Tuesday Weld, that's a very Alley Cat song to me

Rating: Teen

Genre: Fluff

Words: 1102 words

Divider by racingairplanes

The hum of live orchestral music fills the Gotham Museum of the Arts, just loud enough to be heard over the chorus of people in attendance at this year’s annual auction. Alex tries to focus on the music instead of the people— it’s easier for her to process that than to try to filter through all the noise to listen to just one conversation. 

Alex isn’t here because she likes parties. Especially not the ones frequented by Gotham’s elite. They’re always vapid, full of gossip and petty small talk that's part of a never ending social game, and it’s hard to feel like she actually belongs with any of these people. And yet she technically speaking does belong here, her status as a defense attorney earning her the acclaim to be invited to these kinds of things. 

Alex never buys anything at these auctions. But she feels like she has to at least make an appearance, and she can admit it’s fun to get to dress up. She’s not the most fashionable person, but she likes the way the dress she’s wearing fits her, the dark red material flaring out a bit around the skirt and showing a bit of her cleavage. Her wedding ring shines on one finger while she has a couple of other decorative rings along with it, pairing them with a necklace with a silver chain. 

Being here with Selina also is nice, though the two of them came here separately. Alex was caught up with finishing her work, so Selina ended up getting the auction before her. Unlike Alex, she always seems to thrive at these kinds of things, charming everyone she speaks to and enjoying being the center of attention. 

Not that Alex can blame anyone entranced by Selina. She supposes that she’s been too, and she can definitely see why people would be drawn to her tonight as her eyes land on her wife making her way down a set of marble stairs. 

Selina looks like a vision in her black evening gown. It shows off her chest, a bit of her cleavage visible over its sweetheart neckline, and the skirt of it is slit down the sides to give a glimpse of the black pantyhose and dark purple heels she’s wearing. A diamond necklace glitters around her neck, matching a pair of dangling earrings, and Alex is always glad to see Selina’s wedding ring on her finger. 

The sleeveless look of her dress also shows off the muscles of her arms. She’s by no means bulky, having a short, lithe frame, but it’s clear from looking at her that she’s strong. What’s not as clear are the scars that Alex knows trail along her arms and shoulders, different nicks and scrapes she’s gotten over the years from close calls that are now hidden under with makeup. Alex thinks she’d look prettier with them— they're a part of her just like anything else— but she truly is stunning regardless. 

And, if Alex knows Selina like she knows she does, odds are she’s going to try to steal something tonight. Her look for the evening may not be the flashiest, but she has a taste for expensive and shiny things, plenty of which are on display for the auction tonight. 

“Hey there, gorgeous,” Selina greets as she makes it over to Alex, her dark red lips quirking upwards in a playful smile. 

“Hi,” Alex replies. She gives Selina a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look lovely.”

“Flatterer.”

“I think I’m just being honest.”

“Well, like I said, you look beautiful yourself,” Selina says. She offers a hand to Alex. “Any chance I can convince a pretty woman like yourself to join me on the dance floor?”

Alex takes Selina’s hand in hers. “I’m sure you could.”

Selina grins as she guides Alex onto the dance floor. A soft, lilting orchestral song is playing, and Alex takes the lead, one hand resting on Selina’s hip. Selina puts her hand on Alex’s shoulder, gazing at her with a soft, affectionate expression. 

Alex likes getting to hold Selina like this. She wishes that she could for this whole party. 

But she also knows that Selina’s going to want to sneak off towards the auction hall. She’ll want to get her hands on something pretty— or something valuable to sell off. 

Alex is at least glad that a lot of the money from things Selina steals go to charities. She’s always had a soft spot for animal shelters, but Alex knows she’s given money to women’s shelters too. Selina has a good heart, and that’s something that Alex has always seen in her. 

As they move across the dance floor, though, Alex needs to make sure that Selina doesn’t take anything tonight.

“Remember to behave yourself,” she says.

Selina grins, a twinkle in her mismatched green and brown eyes. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“You know exactly what I’m implying,” Alex replies. She leans closer to whisper, “Keep your hands to yourself.”

“Am I supposed to completely?” She trails one hand down Alex’s side, the other massaging between her shoulder blades. 

“Selina.”

“I know,” she says, pulling back to look at Alex again to be sure she can see her roll her eyes. “No stealing. But come on, Alley. I think both of us know we like the fun that comes from me getting into a little trouble.”

Selina’s not wrong. As much as Alex can play the always moral, always righteous attorney and vigilante, it’s exciting to get to leap into action as Solitaire, to give chase to Selina as she gets into something she really shouldn’t. Being with Selina under any circumstances is fun in a way that few other things are.

If there’s one thing that Alex is completely sure of, it’s that Selina has made her life better. So, she tells herself, she can be a little more flexible with the rules.

“If you do, at least be careful,” Alex says. She spins Selina around, with Selina coming to a stop in front of Alex again, pressing her back against her chest. This is definitely closer than the two of them should be for this dance, but Alex can’t find it in her to point that out when this lets her hold Selina so close.

“I will,” Selina promises. She looks back over her shoulder to Alex. “And I’m sure we’ll find plenty of ways to entertain ourselves here either way.”

Alex gives her a quick kiss on the cheek, savoring the feeling of Selina in her arms. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure we will.”

[itwoodbeprefect]

fic asks! 2, 12, 16 (i know i'm being mean. feel free to tell me i'm being mean), 23

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

hmmmm i keep thinking about ghosts. that was true anyway (thai media is great at thoughtful ghost stories) and then peaceful property started eating my brain every wednesday (note: just an expression. this is still about ghosts, not zombies) and now it's even true-er. but i also don't particularly want to kill any of my blorbos so i don't know, i don't know. maybe i need to start seriously thinking about original fiction again, so i'm not really killing anyone because the person has been dead the whole time on some level.

or, alternately. this could be a sign i just need to write some due south fic. built-in ghosts! in hindsight, maybe my newfound love for ghost stories with a kind view of the world was way more predictable than i thought.

-

12. Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

i mean, i think i HAVE to answer h50 s07e08 Hana Komo Pae (Rite of Passage). i can't NOT say h50 s07e08 Hana Komo Pae (Rite of Passage) after writing three different fics about it.

-

16. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

you are being a little mean, but only a little, because while i do sort of want to say starsky & hutch, i think the only real and true answer has to be steve & danny. even if it's purely because they're incredibly easy to write and come with a lot more easily accessible nuances in their canon relationship because. we get 10 seasons (which is more than 4. math.), and modern episodic media still allows ever so slightly more change and growth than 70s episodic media.

-

23. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

i actually did almost do something like this last year! somewhere in my drafts there's a half-written version of a sort of. counterpart/rewrite of my very first h50 fic ever, Wanted: parter (in crime), which i was going to post on the 30th of august 2023, exactly five years after i posted that fic, which was also the five year anniversary (minus a few days) of when i started watching the show. the reason it didn't happen is that i didn't remotely make my self-imposed deadline, and now i may need to wait for the ten year anniversary of Wanted.

and for a sillier answer: i'd rewrite Tell me the sky is falling now but i'd keep everything the same and not really rewrite it at all but take out/change one (1) line i didn't like much when i posted it and that now continues to bother me every time i reread it but also doesn't bother me ENOUGH that i've actually sat down to change it after the fact, which i generally don't do with posted works unless there's something actually wrong with them.

(the line is "Hutch takes a single glass down from the cupboard – he prefers it when he’s not trying to be cool and streetwise, but Starsky doesn’t mind drinking straight from the can – and opens the fridge without looking over his shoulder even once." and it's not actively terrible but i think i just needed something there from hutch to break up starsky's bits of dialogue and i ended up with a really clunky random fact that i suppose implies something about hutch's character but i'm not even sure i agree with it and i think there are a million ways this could have been smoother or more streamlined or just replaced by some other little sidenote. but also. it doesn't really matter. and it's not that bad. i just know i felt unsure about it, which makes me dread getting to that part, which makes me like it even less. these poor words never stood a chance.)

[myheartalivewrites]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for tagging me @bitbybitwrites @kiwiana-writes @cha-melodius I continue to be emotionally withholding from my WIPs so this was a fun little distraction.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

15 and I realised tomorrow is the anniversary of the first fic I ever posted! Might do a little celebration post about it.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

259,263!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Red, White & Royal Blue ❤️🤍💙

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Confirming the mad recency bias in RWRB fics, they are all my most recent fics, all published from August onwards with the exception of the last one, hospital cupboard hook-up fic my beloved:

Deep Blue

In His Wildest Dreams

Just Like That.

Oxford Days

Tumbled Down and Tangled Up

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Comments are the best thing about ao3 and pretty much the only reason to post my stuff online! I feel boring sometimes, like I'm replying the same thing over and over, but it is SO true that every single comment means so much to me and I hope commenters know that

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't do unhappy endings. The closest I've come to not a HEA is Don't Wanna Be A Fool For You which is still a happy ending lol, but I didn't go into the future and left them only JUST beginning to recover from all the angst

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh, tricky to decide this. I'm gonna go with Down By The Water, simply because I go deep, DEEP into their happily ever after in the epilogue (it is 12k of a 63k fic which should give you an idea of just HOW deep), even though it’s still quite… yearn-y.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, though I did get some intense emotional responses to a few chapters of Deep Blue, which... well, they were supposed to hurt, but it was A LOT. Never have I used the 😬 emoji that much.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hah, yes. A lot of it. All but one of my fics are E and even that one has got a smutty end scene I didn't publish and might post around the holidays. A Christmas treat for a Christmas fic! I'm not sure what 'what kind' is really supposed to mean here, so: very explicit but always emotionally relevant to the story, and particular in long fics I like to use the, ahem, smut progression to show how their feelings and the relationship is deepening.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know 😬 Only tumblr posts 🙄

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Oooh, someone asked me if they could translate Deep Blue to Spanish, so I'm excited to see that (but it is 76k so it might be a while)! That would be my first though.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Oh, firstprince, no doubt. Alex and Henry have my heart.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I absolutely REFUSE to say I won't finish something. I plan to finish all my WIPs.

16. What are your writing strengths?

This is hard to answer, but I think I'm good at building tension, both in the overall story developments, but also within paragraphs and scenes, playing with sentence length etc. At the very least I like how I do that!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Yikes, pulling no punches. Sometimes I get bored of writing all the 'getting to know you' dialogue, and get fed up of writing banter. It’s the kind of thing that tends to get me blocked on a WIP. I find it quite hard, possibly because Alex and Henry banter so much it feels like it's all been done before. Oh, here’s Star Wars! Oh, your dog’s name is stupid! Etc etc.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Love it. I have one WIP currently which has some French dialogue, and my French is middling at best, so I'm going to have to ask for help with it, but I'm not there yet.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

RWRB ❤️

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

IMPOSSIBLE QUESTION. I reserve the right to change this answer, but right now it's Down By The Water, I literally fell asleep last night wishing I had time to go reread it.

Phew, that was a lot! No pressure tagging a few friends who might want to play: @indomitable-love @historicallysam @14carrotghoul @cultofsappho @celaestis1 @suseagull04 @heybuddy-drabbles but open tag if you too wan to join!