#everything just feels like we're all in a pot about to boil

[dreastmilk]

Where is my fucking BABY

[ssvnriseya]

IN TOO DEEP (D.D.)

summary - he wants more of you day by day as if he was being seduced by the forbidden fruit.

warnings - MDNI 18+ mentions of attempted rape, violence, language, dark!daryl, unprotected p in v (wrap it up), age gap ( reader is 18, daryl is 30. he has no weird feelings before she was 18 ), breeding kink, panty sniffing, intended lowercase (let me know if i missed anything)

request - keep a secret was amazing! i have a request for you, can you do a dark daryl fic set in prison era. where he keeps tabs on the reader, stalker stuff (steals her undies) and fucks her in prison showers. please include age gap (reader is 18, daryl is 30) and a breeding kink, please! - 🎀

note - okay, the characters deserve a happy ending at the prison, no one can change my mind!

masterlist

it was a hard year for you, you've lost too many people you cared about and gained more to care about.

your mother, lori, she died after giving birth to your baby sister. your little sister and brother were your angels.

they were the reason you still kept going, along with your dad, and the memories of your mom.

you had grown to care about the people of woodbury that now resided at your home, the prison.

whether it be the children, elders, teen, and adults. you absolutely love sasha, tyreese, and mika.

"hey, honey." carol smiled at you as she continued stirring the pot where all the people and your meals is being cooked.

"hey, carol. you didn't wake me up." you groaned at her as you walked to stand by her side.

"you were tired from the run yesterday, rick would kill me if i exhaust you too much." she smiled at you as she cut onions.

"i'll cut them." you smiled at her as you took the knife and chopping board.

"thank you. and i didn't wake you up because everything here is handled." she assured you.

it was early morning and no one was up yet, it gave you both the time to cook and chat freely.

"but, i woke up anyway." you teased her and nudged her as she stirred the pot and you chopped the onions.

"what are we having today?" you asked as you peered inside the bowl.

"just soup again with deer meat." she told you and you nodded, giggling.

"watery soup because we're lacking ingredients." you told her with a groan as you pour the onions in the soup.

"please, carol, remind me when i go on runs to pick up spices." you added.

"alright, young lady." she teased and you smiled, you both had been close ever since lori died.

she had been the mother figure, but not romantically to rick, she also stood as a mother to rick, if that was possible.

"who caught the deer? daryl again?" you asked as you frowned at the chopped meat.

"who else? he's our only hunter." she smiled at you, knowing that you utterly despised the man.

"okay, maybe i won't eat." you joked with a huff as you crossed your arms.

"then don'." someone told you from behind making you gasp in shock.

"daryl! don't sneak up on people like that!" you told him as you looked at him with disapproval.

"if ye' don't like m' deers, don't eat!" he sneered at you making you let out a small smile.

"okay, i won't." you told him and leaned in to carol, to gossip with her. daryl is in a fair distance.

you took over stirring and whispered something to her, "i'm fucking missing one again."

you groaned as you frowned, it was very hard to loose a pair of panties.

it was very hard to find one on runs and you will suddenly loose some?

"if one of the women are stealing them, it's very unhygienic." you shook your head.

"it would disappear only to appear two days or a day after, you'll get it back." she reassured you.

"what the fuck are they doing with my knickers?" you told aloud making daryl look at you.

you rolled your eyes at him and stared into the pot, it was boiling and the delicious smell of it was making you hungry.

your pride was high so you went right back into your cell block once the woodbury people came out into the courtyard.

it hadn't only been half an hour before daryl came knocking at your cell.

"ye' can eat, was jus' jokin'." he told you in a quiet voice, you smiled.

"okay!" you stood up from your bed and placed your book to the side.

you were never the first to apologize, if you knew you weren't in the biggest wrong.

"carol told you to apologize?" you smiled as you stood in front of him, he was a lot taller than you.

"nah." he responded and you nodded, smiling. you stepped out of the cell, brushing past him.

"i'll follow ye' back, 'm jus' gon' do somethin'." he told you with a nod.

you gave him a thumbs up before going down the stairs and out the cell block.

daryl waited for a few minutes before going into your cell, he went to your basket full of clothes.

he quickly placed the panty, that you were missing, back into the basket. he grabbed another one and stuffed it into his pocket.

he wasn't usually like this but you made him crazy, with you scent and the way you acted around him.

you despised him sometimes, yet you could tolerate him enough to flirt with him.

he hated how you made him feel, he wanted to stop what crazy shit he was even doing.

but the thing is, he can't, he's in too deep in the situation. he's fucking addicted to your natural smell.

he fucked your underwear every night, imagining that it was you. he absolutely loved those moments.

call him a creep and whatsoever but he's obsessed with you. so fucking obsessed.

he loved the smell and heat in the shower when he got in right after you finished bathing.

he loved your hair, the way it flows smoothly whenever you ran your fingers in them when frustrated.

don't get him started in your smile, he can fucking kill an entire herd if that means he gets to see you smile.

he loved your skin, your soft milky skin and how they easily turn red when being gripped to tight.

he wondered if he gripped your wrists to tight when he was fucking deep balls into you, would they leave a fucking bruise? he loved that idea, meaning everyone would see that someone fucked you that night.

he loved your body, every curve, every form of you from head to toe.

he went crazy on every teenagers from woodbury who even tried to go near you.

he did it in private, just to not have him scare you off. he almost killed for you, he would do anything just to protect you.

it was when you were on the road, right after the farm fell. you, maggie, glenn and daryl encountered a group of men when you were on the run for the group.

the men was obviously stuffed full, having the weapons and foods that you all were desperately trying to find.

they were obviously a whole lot bigger, not starved during the months that the whole apocalypse started.

glenn and daryl tried to talk to the men, in hopes of escaping the men.

they failed and two of them went to beat up glenn and daryl, making you pull out a gun.

it was a very ugly fight, glenn received a broken nose and multiple bruises in the face and stomach.

daryl was worse, he tried to punch back just to get to you, but to no avail it only made things worse.

that left two other men that was onto you and maggie, you fucking tried to fight him off, he was too big.

he tried to rape the both of you, and that made daryl see red, he was on full adrenaline that he fucking killed the four men single-handedly.

it ended with glenn almost passed out cold, you and maggie shaken up and lastly daryl who was still gritting his teeth in anger.

he fucking swore to himself not to let any other dirty men touch you for their own pleasure.

"daryl!" he was cut-off in his trance by a small voice calling out to him.

he stood up immediately from his crouched position and turned to face the door.

carl stood there with a smile on his face as he nodded at daryl.

"what are you doing here? anyways where is she?" carl asked, looking for you as he inspected the room-cell.

"out in the courtyard... ye' eat already?" daryl asked the little boy as he stepped out from your cell, closing the gate behind him.

"no, i was just going to call her so we could eat together." carl said in a small voice, he wanted to spend more time with you, he felt as if everything that's been happening has been pulling you away from him.

"let's go 'ere together." he put a hand on the little boy's shoulder, giving him a thin smile.

"she's probably eatin' with andrea and carol." he said referring to the older women you hung out with.

"yeah, i'll run so i can see sophia." carl told daryl as the little boy beamed.

"ya..." daryl nodded at carl, and the latter took it as a sign to ran out to the court yard.

when he arrived at the courtyard it was busy with people and their own conversations.

he looked for you and didn't see you, he was worried that maybe you were off with some boys.

he would definitely fucking beat the shit out of the boy who ever tried to take you from him.

his thoughts were proven wrong when a small bunch of people were by gate.

he immediately spotted your hair that made him crazy but not as much as you made him crazy.

he walked towards you with a frown, his frown falling and replaced with a small smile as he heard you laugh.

michonne was there, looking proud and almost eye-teary. you hugged her as you also sobbed with joy.

he was confused why but his smile also grew bigger once he saw what was inside the box that michonne brought back.

the head of the governor was sitting there, eyes in shock and lifeless.

they had spent months hunting for the governor and now they found him, they can finally breath in peace.

the governor looked dirty, his beard and moustache was grown, wildly. like he doesn't have a place to stay and clean himself up.

"we're free, daryl." you whispered to him and you also hugged him, cheeks stained in tears.

he pulled away and wiped your tears away, just like he's always wanted to do.

he looked behind michonne to find a small group of people. they looked relieved to see a sanctuary ahead of them.

"oh, this is the family i found with philip. they didn't know who he truly was, so i explained it all." michonne pointed to the three people standing at the corner.

you gave them a slight wave as you smiled at the little girl, "this is tara, lilly and her daughter, meghan." michonne added.

they smiled awkwardly and gave a little wave back, glancing at daryl, rick, michonne, carol and you.

"and this is eugene, he pretended to be a scientist who knows the cure to all but all is well, rosita, and abraham." michonne pointed to the other three standing at a fair distance from tara's family.

"hi!" you gave rosita, eugene and abraham a small smile and a wave.

you walked to stand beside your dad, wrapping your hand around his arms as he inspected the strangers.

"you sure they could be trusted?" rick looked at michonne, she nodded and glanced back at the six.

"alright." rick said with a smile at michonne, he trusted her and would listen to every thing she said.

"welcome to the group!" you greeted them cheerily, you went near meghan and took her small hands into yours.

"i'll take her to meet the kids." you told lilly and she nodded, she can't believe that there's a sanctuary for them to live in, for her daughter and sister to live in peacefully.

you walked with meghan, hand in hand as you took her to the field where the kids played.

"join them, okay? if anyone bullies you, tell me. i'll kick their ass." you smiled at the young girl.

you instantly warmed up to her innocent eyes and warm heart, listening to whatever she was told.

you turned around and jumped back, looking at daryl in shock as you held your hand to your chest to calm your breathing.

"you scared me, dixon!" you told him with a shark glare as you walked past him.

"ye' makin' threats to lil' kids now?" he joke half heartedly, you giggled.

"i like her, she's sweet." you told him with a small sigh as you walked side by side with him.

"wha' s'wrong?" he asked with furrowed eyebrows as he scanned your face.

"nothing, i just really wanted a baby before all this. they're cute and really sweet." you ranted as you puffed your cheeks.

"ye? baby?" he asked like he couldn't believe it, you pouted at him and rolled your eyes.

"sorry, was kiddin'." he told you with a small smile, you only frowned in response.

"yes... but it's hard, and i don't think i'm ready again as i was before. there's an apocalypse now and there's hardly anyone my age around here, and if there is... t—they just avoid me like plague!" you said with an unreadable emotion.

"who told ye' anything about boys yer' age?" he asked as he walked with you into the cell block.

"i don't get it..." you told him as you walked up the stairs and stopping right outside your cell.

you walked inside and he followed in suit, you smiled and gestured for him to sit on the bed.

"maybe ye' can try wit' someone younger or older." he said with a grunt.

"what are you suggesting, dixon?!" you teased him as you stopped pacing.

you wiggled your eyebrows at him when he started stuttering and turn a bit red.

"nothin' forget it." he told you and he stood up but you immediately were in front of him and held his shoulders to get him back to sitting.

"i was just teasing you, daryl. but, no kidding, i really should try with someone older?" you asked with pure innocence that daryl couldn't face.

"y—ya..." he stuttered and scratched the back of his neck as he looked at his lap.

"well, there's johnny, he's five years older." you told him as you sat beside him.

"nah... he's been wit' almost everyone 'ere." he told you as he shook his head.

"okay... i really need to take a bath, do you mind if we talk later?" you asked him as you stood up from the bed.

he shook his head and also stood up, "also got somethin' else t'do."

"okay, bye!" you waved at him and ushered him out of your cell.

you groaned and went to your clean basket, in search of clothes to wear in the sunny day.

you picked out your clothes and took a glance at the dirty pile.

your underwear, was already there. you picked it up carefully and examined it.

you dropped it with a groan, you had to get used to someone stealing your panties just to bring them back.

but it's creepy as fuck and totally unhygienic if they're wearing it or what ever.

you stood up from your crouched position, your towel and clothes in hand.

you walked out of your cell and closed it behind you, it was quiet inside as almost all of the people living in the cell block was outside.

it was a good time to shower, considering there's a population of a hundred in the prison.

it really was hard to shower with that many people, there were many showers but it looks like the time people wants to shower is whenever you wanted to.

you entered the room where a dozen of shower was, you and your original group shared this shower.

you didn't have to worry about peeping tom's or creepy men spying you.

you placed the towel on the hanging bar and your clothes on the table outside.

you stepped in, undressing yourself as you placed your dirty clothes on another rack.

the fucking cold water was refreshing, you really needed it, considering that it was a hot day in the prison.

you showered very quickly so your group can still have cold water, you felt bad because they've been spending all day in the sun ever since summer.

you pulled on your towel and wrapped it around your body, stepping out on the shower.

you went to the table and grabbed your clothes, going back inside the shower to change.

the clothes you wore were just a jeans short and a camisole, perfect wear for a sunny day.

besides you will be working on the fence today, so you still had to shower later.

work on the fence was exhausting, imagine that you will be standing outside for a few hours just killing walkers with the sun glaring down at you.

but it's worth it because by the end of the day there weren't walkers anymore by the fence.

and when you wake up the next morning there is walkers, and you kill them again.

that was your routine but sometimes you're on babysitting duty with beth, a girl just your age.

she was the sister of maggie, innocent just like you, just more shy and she's not as open-mouthed as you.

you stepped out of the shower again, dressed in clean clothes. you went to the rack that you found on a run a month ago and placed your towel there along with a few others.

an old lady was kind enough to stitch your name on the towel so it doesn't get mixed with the others.

it was a very sweet thing to do, she also was one of the elders you absolutely adore.

you went back to your cell and brushed your hair, it has grown longly, it wasn't the same mid-hair length when the apocalypse started.

instead it reached just above your butt, you smiled as you braided your hair and put little clips on it.

you shuffled on your make-shift drawer and looked for the sunscreen that thankfully michonne found on a run a week ago.

she found a full box of sunscreen and gave it to those who were on fence duty which was twenty people or so.

you don't get bored as much in fence duty when you had karen to gossip with.

she's always telling you how romantic tyreese is, how their dates always end with a sweet kiss.

it makes your heart flutter that your friend found love amidst all this.

you applied sunscreen on your exposed skin, you even went about thinking that you should just wear long-sleeves and pants.

karen would kill you, ranting about how you might faint again like you did once on fence duty.

it worried the hell out of everyone and you were on cooking and babysitting duty for a month after that.

you kind of don't want that to happen so you decided against it.

you placed the sunscreen back on your drawer and went out the cell, after slipping on your cowboy boots.

you walked past cell's when you heard grunts and moans in a particular cell you know too well.

you walked near it with cautious step, "daryl?" you asked him, you can't see anything because of the white sheet that covered the gate.

you opened the cell and found daryl flustered, "you okay, old man? are you having back pain?"

asking him was kind of you, considering you were starting to warm up to him.

"i can massage you if you want, i'll just skip fence duty." you offered to him as you walked by his bed.

your brows were furrowed in worry, he felt bad for making you worry when he was just jerking himself onto your underwear, smelling it like a creep.

"i do it all the time with dad, when he's having back problems." you explained as you sat beside him.

this was one of the reasons he fell for you, your kindness and no hesitation to help.

he didn't know why he started liking you when you all found the prison.

he hated himself at first, for falling for you who's almost half his age and you're most importantly, the daughter of a man he considered his best friend.

he felt sick but he can't do anything with it, his feelings for you grew deeper especially when the woodbury people arrived.

he didn't know what to tell rick. “hey man, i like your daughter.” was that what he's supposed to say?

"nah... 'm fine. ye' should go before yer' late f'fence duty." he told you.

you shrugged but nodded, "okay..." you st oppd up from his bed.

"if you feel sick, tell me." you smiled at him and went out of his cell, continuing your walk down the stairs.

it took a good minute before you were out of the cell block, you walked in the hallways before you managed to exit the prison.

"hi, karen..." you waved at the said woman and walked to approach her.

you also greeted tyreese who kissed his girlfriend good bye and waved back at you.

"that was a sweet kiss, i'm jealous." you teased her and then pouted, you wanted to experience loving someone.

beth have zack and she's your age, carl have sophia and they're younger than you! how was it fair?

you even asked rick if he would allow you to have a boyfriend over dinner the other night.

the rest of the group laughed while carol, michonne and andrea teased you.

you didn't notice how daryl's mood was down the whole night after that.

he wanted you to notice him, he tried to argue with you every chance he got just to have you notice him.

"you'll find them someday." karen knew what you were thinking and you gave her a small nod.

she handed you a sharp spear and you both walked to the fence where the other's are working now.

you worked for hours along side karen and by the time you were done, the sun was almost setting.

it made every sweat worth it because there's not a single walker in sight.

it was really a good setting, with the council and how they handled every thing.

you all were working to make the prison a home, the crops had grown and are ready to harvest every three weeks.

it was all because of the fertilizers you all try to find every run, and the pigs and chicken had more babies.

it was a good life and it would stay like that forever. you said goodbye to karen and placed the spear on the basket just outside the prison doors.

you went to your cell and picked out a set of sleepwear for a quick shower before dinner.

"hey, daryl... you going to shower too?" you asked when you met him down the stairs.

it's been a weird day, you've been seeing more of him ever since today.

you felt like you've seen him a lot more today that you ever did before the prison.

"mhm." was all he responded, you nodded and walked with him towards the bathroom.

"daryl, have you been talking to dad?" you asked him as you synced your footsteps with his.

"ya, why?" he asked as he glanced at your face, he quickly looked away.

"has he been doing better? maybe he wants to step-up again soon, the governor's gone now." you said lowly.

"he's yer' dad. why're ye' askin' me?" he groaned as he tried to not respond.

"we've all been busy, i don't even have time for them anymore." you said sadly, referring to your dad, carl, and judith.

"he's been better, improvin' since lori." he nodded, his southern accent thick.

"do you miss the people we've lost? like jacqui, mom, jim, and dale?" you asked him.

he shook his head, "they were never important t'me." he shrugged and you nodded.

"you must felt absolutely relieved when you found out merle's alive." you nudged him with your elbow.

you were happy for him that he's doing good with his brother, who was a jerk at first.

merle was starting to adjust to the prison and found a woman he love, he's in the council along with a few others.

"what about shane, ye' miss him?" daryl teased you, nodding to your words about merle.

"ew, no! he's a fucker." you groaned in disgust as you imagined the things he did to your family.

"did a number on ye' didn't he?" daryl smirked and you can feel your cheeks heat up just by his smirk.

"but i can't say that he shouldn't have done the things he did, 'cause jude wouldn't be here." you smiled sadly.

"ye' little ass-kicker is growin' fast." he shook his head with a smile.

"i heard that maggie is pregnant." you beamed at daryl, your eyes glinting with happiness at a new baby in the prison.

"ye', glenn told me earlier." daryl nodded, also happy for the couple since the farm.

you both stopped at the entrance of the bathroom, the sound of water droplets is the only thing that could be heard.

you looked at him as you bit your lip, analyzing his brows, his lashes, eye color, and his lips.

you gulped when he leaned in closer, you couldn't deny that sometimes there's that attraction for him deep down.

the attraction you kept hidden down in fear. he was a very closed off man, you were just scared of rejection.

how can you resist him? now that he's leaning in to place his lips onto yours.

you also can't deny that he's a very attractive man, with a shoulder that could make you swoon, and his arms that you wished to hold.

he has tattoos and you found them pretty and meaningful, he had a tattoo on his collar bone.

you didn't know what it meant but it's just a letter, a simple letter placed there.

it was an x.

you closed your eyes when you felt his lips touch yours gently, as if they were just tasting.

he tasted like cigarettes and booze. you can feel yourself getting drunk on his mouth.

you let out a small whimper when he squeezed your ass, he pulled away and took of his shirt.

he placed it on the laundry basket and kissed you again. you took a step back and he pulled the curtains out of the way to enter the bathroom.

"we shouldn't be doing this." you told him, pulling away as you shrugged of your own shirt.

"ya." he agreed and started attacking your neck, making you release small moans.

the clothes and towels you both had were left scattered on the table when you have thrown it.

he gently guided you, taking a step forward as you took a step back.

he guided you to the nearest room to shower, pressing your back against the wall.

he fumbled with your bra as you grabbed onto his hair, keeping your moans at bay.

you helped him slip it off, and he immediately attacked your breasts with kisses.

he turned on the shower and it made you smile at him as you got wet by the water.

you brushed your fingers through his hair, fixing it and moving it out of his face.

placing your hands on his neck, you leaned in and kissed him once again.

you can feel his erection on your stomach and that made you groan.

he held you by the waist and leaned down to meet your kisses as he was taller and bigger than you.

you slid off your panties slowly and you can feel the wetness on your thighs, not by the water but because of him.

he groaned as he rubbed your clit when his hands found it's way there.

you burried your face on his shoulder as you stopped yourself from moaning.

you heard the water stop running on the other stall and a few shuffle here and there.

and finally the moment you were waiting for, the shuffle of the curtains, indicating the person has left.

he lined the tip of his cock onto your entrance and you gripped his shoulders, you weren't sure if it would fit.

he pushed in with one deep thrust making you cry out in pain, you didn't expect him to be that rough.

he started thrusting in and out as you bit your lip you can taste the metallic taste in your tongue.

you moaned, as your hips met his desperately. all the pain was gone now and was replaced by bliss and pleasure.

"s'fuckin' tight, princess." he went deeper and faster with each thrust making you moan loudly.

you were scared to get caught but you couldn't stop the sinful moans that were leaving your mouth.

everyone was probably at dinner already.

you would be disgusted when someone told you that you'd be having sex with your dad's best friend a year ago.

it was so sinful, he was much older and also your dad's best friend, you want to stop but he felt so fucking good.

"daryl, mhm..." you moaned as he kept his thrusting, you can feel the tingling on your lower stomach.

a sense of sign that you were about to cum, it was quick but you can't help yourself.

he felt so good and it was too long ago that you've done this and felt pleasure, the only good thing was that this was better.

"i—i'm about to... c—cum." you moaned as you met his lips for a passionate kiss.

"cum 'round daddy's cock, baby." he groaned into your ear once you pulled away from the kiss.

he can feel your velvety walls clench around him, if he kept going on like this he would also cum.

"yer' so warm." he praised you making you whine, you were so turned on by the sound of your skin slapping together.

"i—I'm cumming." you informed him as you closed your eyes in pleasure.

stopping your hips from meeting his as you came. you moaned from the high feeling.

he kept thrusting into you with force, into your wet, tight and sensitive cunt.

"i'm gonna cum inside you." he looked into your eyes with a dark look.

you shook your head, "i—i'm not on birth control..." you whined as you shook from another orgasm.

"don't care." he shut you up by kissing you with much domination and force, he bit your lip and you pulled away.

"daryl... i—i'm not ready." you whimpered as you pushed on his shoulders.

he ignored you, "i'm gonna fill you up with my babies." he said once again, ignoring your total protests.

"you'd look so pretty carrying my babies." he kissed your jaw and sucked on your sweet spot.

you felt his cock twitch before he finished up inside you, you moaned.

"y-you came inside me!" you looked at him with anger as you unlatch yourself from him.

your legs giving out from intense orgasm, he held you to support you up.

"i love ye', we can have a happy family, you'll have a baby like you've always wanted." he assured you.

you shook your head as you wiped your tears, "w-what would dad say." you whisper to him as you pout.

"i'll worry about him, just be a good girl for me." he grabbed the shampoo as he put some on your hair, washing it for you.

"ye' feel good, so fuckin' good. better than yer' panties." he said with a smirk

you gasped and looked at him, there were a million questions running around your head.

"you're the one who's been stealing them?!" you asked in anger and embarrassment.

"hm, ye' smell so fuckin' good, baby." he praised you, making your cheeks hot again.

"that's embarrassing." you said in a small voice, looking away from him.

"i'll take care of ye' and in just a few months you'll have a baby bump." he kissed you once again.

you shivered and couldn't help but look at your stomach, caressing it.

you can feel his warm cum inside you, it was probably getting to work now.

it was too late for you to take pills, you felt like crying. you weren't ready for a baby, you were before, but you weren't sure now.

he promised to take care of you, he should. what if your dad gets angry if you tell him?

you can't bear the thought of your dad or carl ever being mad at you.

it would ruin you and you can't even think about the people at the prison, the people you love hating you because of your relationship with daryl.

"ye'll look good with m'babies, trust m'." daryl whispered to you, sucking on your neck.

what have you gotten yourself into?

[httpuckdrop]

ashes – day 122

series masterlist

falling back into a routine with jack was easier than you had expected.

you'd spend the nights at his place, or he would spend them at yours, without feeling like much had changed. if you couldn't fall asleep in each other's arms, then at least you could facetime until sleep took over. and now that you have heard from him every day, you can't fathom how you could have ever ignored him.

it wasn't completely as if nothing had happened; you were a bit more on edge, and your mind had a habit of flickering back to your argument those weeks ago. but instead of letting it consume you, you tried your best to move past it, to accept the fact that it happened, but also understand the fact that it didn't have to mean too much. that you can both grow stronger from it, instead of let it break you down.

it was difficult at first, though. jack's concussion was still present in the room whenever you met with him, despite the fact that he assured you that he was feeling much better. he wasn't allowed to get back on the ice just yet – that's how severe it had been – but he was definitely improving. you knew he still had headaches, even though he tried to tell you that they were completely gone, plus he was a little bit slower and had a harder time multitasking than usual.

this, combined with the fact that he already couldn't cook before his injury, was not exactly a recipe for success for your date tonight.

you were supposed to cook the same dish as the first time he made dinner for you, but this time, he would not allow you to interfere. he had invited you over on the premise that you'd do it together, so how did this make sense? whenever you even came close to the stove, he shooed you away, insisting that he could do it himself.

he definitely couldn't.

when you had sat on his couch for far too long – after eventually being exiled from the kitchen – you began to smell something… that definitely wasn't part of the pasta dish he was making. it smelled burnt, and you no longer could stay away.

but when you made it into the kitchen, jack was moving all over the place, not even noticing your presence. he was trying to handle one pot of spaghetti (currently boiling over) and one pan of bacon (which seemed like it was done frying about five minutes ago) – but you stopped yourself from interfering when you realized that his focus was shared with yet another thing.

"sorry, mom," he groaned into the phone he was balancing between his shoulder and ear. "i'm a bit distracted- trying to cook some dinner."

he grabbed a spatula and flipped some of the bacon onto a plate. yup, definitely burnt.

"ha ha, the whole my son can't cook deal is getting boring. i can cook if i want to." a pause. "well, maybe i want to because i want to do a nice thing for a girl. is that too much to ask?"

your breath hitched in your throat.

"yes, we're back together again. kind of, i guess." he was talking to his mother about you? so casually? "she's good, i'm good, we're good. can i call you back later? yes, my head is okay- no, i'm going back to practice on monday. yes, i'll be careful. i love you but i have to focus on cooking, okay? okay, bye."

he let out a loud groan the second he hung up the phone, clearly dissatisfied with the chaos in front of him. it wasn't until your stifled laughter met his ears that he turned around and acknowledged your presence. "dinner coming along nicely?" you asked, feeling guilty when you spotted the disappointed and frankly shameful look in his eyes.

"i'm sorry," he mumbled as he turned the stove off, hand reaching out for your side when you stepped closer. "i really thought i would do better this time…"

"it's alright," you hummed, one hand reaching for the back of his neck. "you can't be the best at everything. it's sweet of you to leave something for the rest of us."

your lips met in a sweet kiss, one you never wanted to part from. one that made you question how you could ever go weeks without feeling his lips against yours. one that made your heart swell in a clearly uncomfortable, yet warming way.

"i'll order some pizza?" you asked, to which he pouted ever so cutely yet nodded.

every second you spent with him, you were forced to remind yourself of how you couldn't allow yourself to fall too deep.

and yet, with everything he did, he made you want it so badly.

[devoutekuna]

Cooking with him.

Includes- Toji, Sukuna, Nanami, Gojo, Geto

Sukuna-

He can cook but chooses not to, why would he cook if he has a personal chef to himself. Stood in the kitchen as he searched for some fruit, daughter tracing the markings he had on his legs. "Daddy lets cook for mama" the thought of spending time with her father was the only reason she wanted to cook. "No" a straight no, she knew that he'd need some convincing though.

"But, I've seen mummy and Uraume cook, I can do it!" Grabbing onto his leg as he tried to walk off, acting as if she was too heavy to kick off. "No you can't! Your incapable of cooking" Looking down at the pink haired girl staring so profusely up at him, doing her puppy eyes which would win anyone over.

Cutting up a few onions from the dish, sat ontop of the counter as she placed the onion in her lap, knife inches away from her thigh. "Don't do that, it's stupid" putting the onion and knife on the table so that he could place her on the stool. "Don't be stupid" stood right beside her as she cut it up, it was going so painfully slow,he was starting to get tired especially since she had two more to go. Having the dismantle technique, of course he's gonna use it to his advantage, throwing the onion up in the air as it sliced, leaving diced cubes along the counter top. "Awe, you got it all over the counter daddy" trying to brush the vegetable into a pile. "Shut up, you were going to slow."

Nanami-

An expert as he cooks most nights, especially when your too tired to prepare meals for the week, it was a simple task to him. "Lemme help you papa!" Hands making it onto the counter as he kneaded the dough, eyes sticking up from behind the counter. Glancing down and the blonde realising she was on a stool, no wonder she got so tall, already got her hair tied back into a ponytail and apron on. "I'm almost done darling" he felt a bit bad but he was so busy so he wanted to finish this quickly.

"Please!" Her crys, only convincing him that she should help him, all he had to do was cook the rice after washing it and cook the chicken. "I mean, you can do the rice?" He didn't trust her much with food since he knew that she was just a toddler and would make a mess.

"Uh oh" seeing the rice poured down the drain, all of it in the sink rather than the bowl. Atleast half of it going through the drain pipe already. "What happened here?" It was bound to happen, he tried not to act annoyed but he definitely was.

Gojo-

He doesn't know anything about cooking since he rarely cooked for himself, if he did it would just be a precooked meal.

"Right, how small am I cutting this?" Glancing at you for some guidance here, a look of distraught and confusion on his face as she saw what he would be cutting up next. He was tasked with all the vegetables since you thought it would be easier for him rather than the meat which you tasked your son with. "Dice it Satoru" looking over his shoulder as you inspected how small it should be.

"Hurry up! Mum says the vegetables go in before the chicken!" He clearly took his father's personality when it came to patience. "I'm trying my best here!" Though he says that he's good at everything, he was horrible when it came to food. Grabbing another knife from the drawer as you helped him out, you were hungry and wanted food already.

Geto-

He was smart about it, giving her an easy task like stirring the pot, somehow she messed that up, hearing the clutter of a pot hitting the floor, body in the fetal position as she looked at the mess. "Uh oh" the sound of his daughter's voice made him respond quickly, hands on his hips as he scanned the mess on the ground, food spilled all over the floor, boiling water all over his new tiles too. "Sorry papa" feeling a bit bad for the mess. "It's fine" it clearly wasn't as that was one of the main dishes. "As long as you aren't hurt then we're good" nodding her head in response.

Toji-

"Your lucky I can't find my wallet" stuck cutting up some potatoes into long rectangular shapes. His daughter clearly was enjoying this, pouring a bottle full of oil into the pan. "No! That's too much baby" taking the bottle from her hands as she giggled, watching as the oil started to splatter up into his face, throwing a lid onto the pan.

"Turn it down!" Shouting at him, she had seen you do this multiple times, so she acted like the boss when it came to cooking. "It's on the lowest heat!" Going back to the cutting of the potatoes. "Hurry up daddy!" Slapping his leg as she jumped up and down, it was her first time being allowed in the kitchen whilst someone was cooking, let alone helping them.

It was a few minutes after he poured the potatoes into the pan, he didn't know anything about making chips so it was a new experience for him. "You took too long! Mummy woke up" she wanted to surprise you with her cooking skills, making you a plate of chips before you woke up.

[soarelesiluna-ao3]

Hi,

I liked the fic about Danya and Valya sharing a partner!

Maybe you could write the beginning of their relationship?

Hello everyone!

I'm trying to accustom myself back to writing. Today has been a nicer day for my anxiety and I've been able to go through my day without feeling like I'm going to die as much as I have felt these past days. Small progress is still progress, right?

As such, I'm picking requests from my askbox and typing them. Probably this will be my only post today, or if I have time I'll drop another, who knows. But I didn't want to leave you high and dry!

I was a bit scared of going into a semi-hiatus because I thought I'd lose followers, but it's been the opposite - we're at 92! Everyone, thank you so much. You're a great audience and I love reading your comments. 💙

Okay, I've yapped enough. Let's get to what's really important!

Content under the cut!

Today was the day. You were going to have that date with Valya and Danya, even when they didn't know it was one. You hadn't yet disclosed details about the nature of this meeting, but you knew this was the day where you made up your mind. Who would your heart choose? The dreamer Daniil, always on the clouds, or the sensitive Valentyn, down to earth but kind?

This was going to be a tough decision. Ever since you met the twins, your heart had started beating in a different frequency, everytime you spent time with them. Danya's hand on yours, Valya's head on your shoulder, the laughter, the trips to go window-shopping, the songwriting sessions, and late night conversations that lasted until dawn... It all felt precious. You treasured it with all you had.

And something told you those feelings were very well returned. Maybe it was something in the way they looked at you, or in a simple slip of the tongue in a phrase, or a hug that lasted a second longer than the acceptable hug for a friend, but you knew that somewhere there was a chance your feelings wouldn't go to waste. Now, to choose who would it be... That would be a hard task.

"Oh, there they are!" Danya's voice snapped you out of your thoughts, as he grabbed your hand. Valya was quick to grab the other.

"Looking great", he smiled. "We prepared a picnic for the evening, we hope you don't mind."

"It was a little bit of a last minute idea but we hope you have a great time."

"Yeah, absolutely. Let's go!"

Just then you see the picnic basket Valya has on his other arm. You enter the park where the date was supposed to happen, and set up your picnic underneath a tree. You notice dandelions growing nearby, as the twins set everything up - drinks, charcuterie, fresh fruit, snacks, all that you like. They even brought fancy glasses to have a drink out of.

The afternoon goes on between laughter, conversation and music. In the meantime, you notice their gestures towards you - how they hold your hand, or put dandelions on your hair, and the way they smile at you. You can't help but wonder if one twin is trying to one-up the other or if they're working in tandem. This is making the decision so difficult...

After a while of silence in a particular conversation about relationships, you realize that this is the moment where you have to make your move. But if you make a move on one of them, you will leave the other. And you don't really want that. This makes you feel so conflicted you stay silent for a moment too long.

"Hey, are you okay?" Danya looks at you, and Valya follows suit.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

You look at the both of them and end up sighing as words start exiting your mouth - you have to say this, risking to lose them in the process. You talk about your feelings, and how they have done nothing but rise and rise, like a boiling pot of water. And now, you were at this point where you had to make a choice, but... You didn't want to. You wanted them both. You wanted the twins to love you, and love them the same, because they are too special, and you can't let them go. And you know this is all wrong, and greedy, but... The heart wants what it wants.

After a moment, Valya hugs you with an arm, and his twin does the same.

"Hey, no, come on..." The guitarist starts speaking. "Listen, we're not going anywhere. Not without you."

"Yeah, come on, you think we didn't know what was going on?" Danya's half smile looks so charming now. "We were fully aware of this. And this was all our plan."

"Yeah. We wanted you to get a glimpse of what your new life was going to look like..."

"... If you want it to be like that, of course."

You stare at them dumbfounded for a minute. So, they had already made agreements? They had talked about this possibility before? Your heart races as you feel their lips on your hands at the same time, in the same spot on your knuckles.

"Say... Do you think there's enough space for the both of us in your heart?"

"We are twins. We are so used to sharing, it doesn't bother us anymore. So please..."

Valya is the first one to go for a short kiss of your lips, and then Danya does the same, before the two of them say the same phrase in unison.

"Do you want to be ours?"

[cassyapper]

Jotaro scowls as Kakyoin hands him tinfoil, and Kakyoin has to bite back a snort. "What?" He asks instead.

"We're seriously going to try and make leftovers out of this?" He seethes, gesturing to the remains of the canned beans that none of them, not even Iggy, wanted to touch.

Kakyoin raises a brow. "We're not exactly rife with a ton of options," he says, gesturing to the wide expanse of desert around them, the dunes purple in the icy dusk. Jotaro's expression stays dark.

"I'm so sick of this shit," he spits, even as he takes the tinfoil and wraps it around the top of the can, securing it with a rubber band.

Kakyoin hums, watching him for a moment. The beans dealt with, Jotaro moves to the pickled green beans, his nose wrinkling as he wraps them, too. His shoulders are tight, up near his ears.

"Hey," Kakyoin says, coming over to gently bump Jotaro's hip with his own. Jotaro twitches, turning his sour expression toward him. "When we make it back to Japan, what are you most excited to eat?"

Jotaro scowls. "You mean if we make it make to Japan."

Kakyoin avoids the urge to roll his eyes and instead stares at Jotaro dead-on. "I said when, I mean when."

Jotaro pauses. Kakyoin takes the opportunity and grabs the cans in his hands, offering them to Hierophant to take back to the jeep.

"Me," Kakyoin says as he move to their utensils, wrinkling his nose at the bits of food left on the forks, "I'm excited for some tonkatsu. Pork is pretty universal on this side of the world, but I miss the way we make it at home, you know?"

Jotaro doesn't respond for several moments, which is fine by Kakyoin. He instead pours a water bottle into their sole pot, placing it on top of the still-smouldering coals of the fire they used to heat up their dinner.

"But, you know," Kakyoin continues, "I'm excited to try some Egyptian falafel. It originated from Egypt, did you know?" Kakyoin hums, glancing down at the pot before taking a paper towel and wiping the forks clean, then tossing them into the slowly boiling water to sterilize. "I didn't get to try any the..." Kakyoin clears his throat, pushing back dark memories, "the first time I was here."

He looks over his shoulder then, and Jotaro's still standing stiffly. Something in Kakyoin aches, and he wishes he understood what it was about Jotaro that made everything inside him hurt, why he never wanted it to stop hurting.

Finally, Jotaro tugs his hat down, before he moves next to Kakyoin, kneeling down besides the remains of their fire with him.

"... Just some miso," Jotaro finally answers, volume quiet even if his voice is gravelly, and Kakyoin can't help but think that must be because of the cigarettes. "My mom made really good miso. She makes her own broth."

Kakyoin's brows raise -- he was not expecting Jotaro to be so honest -- but he only hums. "Your house was pretty traditional, does that mean you'd have something like miso for breakfast a lot?"

Jotaro shrugs as he wraps tinfoil and a rubber band around a can of chicken breast, which Kakyoin honest wasn't sure was chicken at all, let alone a breast, but per Joseph's words, protein was protein. "... Used to," Jotaro admits, and Kakyoin hums. He's so curious, but...

Instead, he brushes their shoulders together, adding deniability as he continues the movement by leaning forward to glance at the pot, then his watch. "Well," Kakyoin says, "I'll have to try it some time."

Jotaro doesn't respond to that, simply falling into the rhythm of wrapping what remains of their cans, crumpling up and bagging what was empty. It's a nice sound, Jotaro crunching sand beneath him as he moves about, and Kakyoin feels a strange sort of peace settle over him as he glances at his watch again to check if it's been long enough yet.

"You should... sleep over, then," Jotaro says, voice so strained in its attempt to be casual that Kakyoin is surprised it didn't crack. He whips his head up to stare at Jotaro, lips parted, but Jotaro isn't looking at him, his head bowed, the brim of his had low over his face. "'s a breakfast food," Jotaro elaborates, shrugging stiffly. "So you should be there for breakfast if you want it. It would be easy to just spend the night than get there in the morning. So."

Kakyoin tries, he swears he does, but he cannot stop the heat in his chest that outranks the one coming from the fire, spreading throughout his body, making his arms warm. He cannot stop himself from smiling, his lips pulling apart to show off his teeth, his tongue, his insides, and he feels vulnerable, and he feels thrilled about it. "Oh?"

He can't keep the smile out of his voice, and Jotaro can tell, because he ducks even further underneath his hat. "Just saying. You were the one who said you wanted to try it," he mumbles.

"And you'd really invite me over just so I can do that?" Kakyoin can't help but tease, his voice a purr, and Jotaro shudders. Kakyoin's fingers twitch, his stomach smouldering.

"Kakyoin," Jotaro snaps crossly, and Kakyoin shakes his head, grinning, as he turns and moves a little closer. Jotaro hears him -- there's no way he wouldn't be able to, with the way the sand crunches underneath his uniform slacks obnoxiously -- but he doesn't move away.

When Kakyoin's in front of him, Kakyoin gently reaches and tugs Jotaro's hand away from his brim. Jotaro keeps his head ducked, which Kakyoin allows, but he can't stop smiling. In the remaining light, he can see Jotaro's flushed. His stomach hurts with how warm he is.

"That's very kind of you, Jotaro," Kakyoin says, and Jotaro twitches. "I'd be happy to sleep over." He squeezes Jotaro's hand then, and Jotaro trembles, letting out a sharp breath.

"Okay," he says gravely, "then- okay." He nods, jerkily, and Kakyoin has to squeeze his eyes shut, smiling so wide, gritting his teeth against a nameless yellow, warm beam of something that wants to drip from his throat, out of his mouth.

When Kakyoin regains control of himself, he echoes Jotaro's nod despite the fact he can't see him. he squeezes his hand again. "Okay," Kakyoin agrees.

Jotaro's shoulders twitch, and Kakyoin finally decides to give him a break then, gently sliding his hand out of Jotaro's grip and moving back to the pot, glancing at his watch. "Silverware's ready to be taken out," he commentates, and Jotaro nods.

Kakyoin turns back then, grabbing the handles of the pot and pouring as much water out as he can without dumping the utensils out with it, before putting it upright again and leaving it out to dry in the dry cold.

He turns, and is surprised to see Jotaro's moved closer without him noticing. Jotaro doesn't acknowledge this; he just slumps down next to Kakyoin, leaning against him, and Kakyoin grins to himself, leaning back just as much.

They don't say anything more, but that's okay. Staring at the few rays of sun that give way to the stars and moon, Kakyoin doesn't even feel cold, not at all.

[dandyghest]

aaand recipe 2 in my "poor and fatigued" recipe series is going to be: Gyeran Bap with Sigeumchi Namul (a Korean dish! sesame oil on egg + rice with a spinach side)

I used these two recipes as a guide/base to jump off of, and you can too if u don't care to read mine (fair enough!) LOL: egg rice and spinach

I make everything single-serving so adjust my directions as needed! My servings also tend to be a bit smaller than average because my stomach is still recovering from my ED O7 [salute emoji]

time needed: these recipes say that they both only take ten mins each but it takes me usually 20-30 mins total but I move slow and am often quite scattered LOL so times may vary I suppose. prep work will take some time as you'll need cooked rice for this, as well as toasted sesame seeds and toasted sesame oil. you can toast the seeds and oil while you're cooking this, though, but just be aware it'll add to the time it takes so it may be good to make a bunch at once and then use it over a few days of having this dish as a meal each day :]

ingredients: cooked rice (fresh is best but microwaved leftover is totally fine too!), sesame oil and sesame seeds (best if toasted beforehand but you can do that during cooking as well), salt, soy sauce, egg, butter (unsalted or salted), white sugar (technically optional), garlic (fresh is best but storebought minced jar is probably okay), spinach (i also use spring mix salad greens and it works just fine!) optional: green onion, anything else you think would go well :]

other supplies: pot, pan, hotplate or stove, colander or strainer, knife and cutting board, spatula.

directions:

First and foremost, cook your rice and have that ready to go before you start anything else.

I like to do the spinach/greens first, so let's do that here. First, make the sauce so that it's ready before the greens. Mince your garlic (1/2 to 1tsp or so), transfer to a plate or bowl. Mix together sesame oil and soy sauce in the bowl with the garlic and with a small bit of sugar (sugar is optional but it balances out all the salt flavours well!). If you want amounts, check the recipes above, but generally I do about 2tsp of soy sauce and 1tsp of sesame oil (which is opposite to the recipe but whatever), and then like 1/4 or 1/8 tsp of sugar.

Wash your greens if needed. Chop 2-3 handfuls of them into roughly 2-inch sized pieces just so they aren't huge lol. Bring a pot of water to a boil with a bit of salt in it - we're going to be blanching the greens. Have either ice water ready in a bowl or your tap water ready to run cold.

Once the water is boiling, add your greens to the pot and boil for no longer than 20-30 seconds.

Quickly drain the pot into your colander/strainer and cool your greens immediately with either the ice water or the cold tap water until they're cold. We want to do this quickly so that it stops the cooking process before your greens start falling apart and turning to mush.

(Make sure your hands are clean for this!) Squeeze the greens in a ball with your hands to remove as much water as possible. You're going to smush them and it might feel weird but don't worry about it LOL. Transfer them to a plate or bowl and mix with the sauce (you can use your hands for mixing if you'd like but I usually just pull the ball of greens apart with my hands and then stir it all around with a fork). Set your sauced greens aside.

Onto the rice dish! Mix your rice (fresh or microwaved, just make sure it's hot!) in your eating bowl with a bit of butter (amount is up to your personal taste) until the butter is melted and mixed well with the rice.

Toast your sesame seeds (stir constantly in pan on low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes until browned and fragrant) and add to your rice. Toast your sesame oil (stir constantly in pan on low-medium heat for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and maybe a bit darker in colour) (I use ... a sploop of it. so maybe a teaspoon or two) and add to your rice. Mix well.

Cook your egg in the pan in whatever way you'd like. I have a weird food sensitivity to egg if it's not cooked enough so I personally crack the egg into the hot pan, wait a few seconds, and then break the yolk a little bit with my spatula and stir it all around into medium sized chunks on the pan. But I think usually people eat this with sunny side up egg with a runny yolk, so do whatever your heart desires.

Add egg to eating bowl, along with the sauced greens. Add a little more soy sauce if you want, and you're done! Congrats!

[soymikki]

Depressing just how useless the penny is now. Used to be you could probably scrounge up enough loose change to buy a cheap dollar burger or candy or Something. Everything costs near a dollar or over a dollar if you're lucky now.

The penny is discarded, left in the dust on the floor or on the street or in the gutter. 100 pennies to make a dollar but no one wants to carry around that much heavy change.

People say you could buy a whole sack of candy for 5 cents back in "The Old Days". How did we go from 5 cents to 5 dollars for the same amount? For more than that even. I feel like I'm being gaslit by the prices, like I know these prices are more than they should be, but I'm forgetting just how much they were before.

They keep slowly increasing the prices like a flame under a pot of water, and we're all the frogs sitting in it. They covered the top so you can't see outside. It's getting hotter and hotter and the cost of living goes up and up but there's no end in sight.

Do they think if they keep raising the prices that the money will magically appear? Do they want us to just die? Will they search our corpses for the gold they expect to find? Killing the Golden Goose will not provide you infinite golden eggs. Just a dead bird.

A rich man probably doesn't even consider the penny. Why would he? Money might as well flow like water for the rich and powerful. That guy's not gonna give a shit about money wasted making a currency that's barely usable in this economy. I doubt those guys carry any money, let alone change or small bills. They don't know what it's like to be on your last 3 bucks trying to find some extra change so you can get gas. Or something to eat. Or medication. Makes my blood boil.

Anyways if I could beat the shit out of Joe Biden and every billionaire on this planet with the heaviest sack of pennies I could find I would. Put that loose change to some good use.

[apolloendymion]

listen to me. i am talking directly in your ear now.

save your kitchen scraps. I'm talking carrot tops, peels, and greens. the tops & skins of onion and garlic. celery leaves. squash rinds. citrus peels. apple cores. tomatoes and lettuce that are just a little too wilted/mushy to be palatable. eggshells. cheese rinds. chicken skin. potato skins if you washed the dirt off. the water/oil from canned foods. BONES!! skins, peels, stems, leaves, anything that isn't poisonous but you wouldn't normally eat. we're going to make some fucking Broth.

(note: cruciferous veggies like brussels sprouts are ok in small quantities, but keep in mind that they're bitter and may bitter-ize your broth in larger amounts.)

put those scraps in a bag in the freezer. I'd recommend storing the liquids in a separate bag from the solids. add scraps whenever you've got em, until you've accrued about half a gallon ziplock of solids. now, you're Ready.

put a little oil at the bottom of a soup pot. just enough to sauté your solids. add some minced garlic and herbs/spices, if you have them (dried is fine, but i don't recommend powdered spices unless they're all you've got.) i like warming spices like star anise and cardamom pods; they make it taste like pho, sooo cozy. and of course, bay leaves!! if you have them, put at least 3 in there. minimum. trust me.

(if you don't have/want animal parts, add a little more oil than necessary for sauteing. you're gonna want the extra, believe me. I'd also sauté for longer, and pick an oil with a little flavor if you can, like olive. canola/vegetable is perfectly fine though.)

add the solids and sauté. i usually just thaw them in the oil, but if you're better at planning than me, you can put them in the fridge the night before. ideally you should sauté until the veggies start to brown. I'm not always that patient. it's fine. just make sure everything fully thaws and separates from one another. get a thin coat of oil over everything.

next, add the liquid ingredients and fill the rest of the pot with water (taking care to leave some space in case it boils over.) bring the pot to a boil, then turn it as low as your stove allows and leave it to simmer for as long as possible. this is KEY. let that shit MARINATE. let it STEW, no pun intended. i usually try to start this project in the morning, so i can leave it for the rest of the day. i have left it on overnight before but i can't recommend that in good conscience. do not burn your house down for broth. 2 hours would probably be my absolute minimum. stay close by, and stir it every so often so it doesn't boil over. chill on the couch. watch tv. enjoy the smell that permeates your house and makes it feel like a home. it's cozy time.

add salt, tasting as you go. you don't want to overdo it. some folks say to add the salt at the sauteing stage, but i feel this gives me too little control over the final product. i need control. I've got anxiety. but you do you. live your life. I'm not your boss.

once it tastes how you want it, strain out the solids. if I'm going to make soup right away, then I'll strain the liquid directly into another pot, throw in the soup ingredients, and simmer till everything's soft. otherwise, put it in a container you can freeze for later.

rejoice. broth be upon ye.

sip it when you're sick, make it into soup, use it in a casserole, cook rice with it. give a jar to your neighbors. you are the broth god. you are unstoppable. you will never waste a vegetable piece ever again.

go forth and Experience The Broth.

[crazybojoe]

"Tired" (Part 2 connecting to the Geras and Liu Kang au)

(I'mma set this up for y'all, all of these, will be in the perspective of Geras. In case y'all didn't know while I was writing)

Just in time to start such a sociable call as this, Liu Kang and shown me how lively it was to sit inside the teahouse that Madam Bo had upheld. Intricate furnitures of hospitality were accompanied with the comfortable cushions that would made a mortal wish to stay here a little longer. "It is a prospering business to what Madam Bo upholds, ever since the time we all battled Shang Tsung to restore time itself has greatly brought forth peace to both realms." Liu Kang speaks as he poured a cup of tea. "I can see it myself, but what is it that made you willingly show me around this creation we mode secured?" I ask politely, not wanting to disrespect his statement. "I wanted to show that life, itself, can make itself worth living if you look through the verdant economy that had build over eons. Not everything is all of staying beside the hourglass and to work tirelessly."

It took me a little bit of time to think about it as we both sat in silence, he was looking over to the beauty he had created. Each and one of the design he had constructed had been balanced. Only then when Madam Bo called was when she had brought a small boiling stove with assorted and steamed dimsum, meat and vegetables mixed together in the flavorful broth. "Here's your hotpot, the meat came from cow and pig. With vegetables and your seasonings to your liking." Madam Bo smiled as she looked at both of us, with Liu Kang smiling as he bowed in gratitude. "An excellent dish as always Madam Bo. We will enjoy ourselves for tonight." He was rather pleased of the sight of the food as to was I. Colorful pieces of the mixed greens and red meat showed me a delicious sight, the bubblies merely at a medium boil to only pop and make the food glisten with tasty ingredients as I gently pick up the chopsticks and the small bowl. "You can give it a try, I'd like to see how you like the dish for yourself." Liu Kang looked at me as I nod, taking the small ladle bit by bit as I had cupped myself a bowl of hot pot noodles, crabsticks, lettuce and pork. Slowly had I gave the product a taste, taking in the warm hotpot food as I seem to have grown quite fond to its addicting flavor. "This is... Amazing." I feel myself smile as I continue to eat, enjoying the dish as Liu Kang joined me after a moment of eating together.

"How had I not stop by for... This?" I look at the bowl I ha din my hand as I felt warm to eat a dish such as this for a lifetime. "Duty, can be a longing call, but nothing beats the hotpot when we're both restless to the things we must keep for this timeline to stay safe." Liu Kang yawned as he adjusted his headband. "Now I had come to realization of how tiring it had been... We both needed it anyway." I smile as we finish the hot pot in a share. Had I never had been ever once in a timeline, felt as if I had a father figure of my own. Guiding me to the proper way to becoming an educated pupil, it was nice.

[lisutarid-a]

[Gakuen K] Totsuka Tatara Route Translation

Hotpot boss

LIST OF CHAPTERS

[Translation under the cut]

Kusanagi: Yaaah, only a few hours left in this year, huh? Yata-chan, last spurt of cleaning. I'm counting on you.

Yata: Yup! Kamamoto, how are you doing?

Kamamoto: Everything is going well! Oh, Totsuka-san and the others are walking towards us from the other side of the street.

Yata: Ah, what's he carrying? Oi, no way!

Saya: Hello, everyone.

Totsuka: Yaaah, looks like you're busy cleaning up.

Kusanagi: The two of you are shopping together, huh? I'm glad you guys get along so well.

Totsuka: Right? I've got "that stuff". The rehersal was also perfect, so stay tuned.

Kusanagi: As for me, I'd like to ask you to go easy on me…. Well, sit wherever you don't get in the way of the cleaning.

Saya: What do you mean by "that stuff"?

Totsuka: It's a hot-pot set. Didn't we buy the ingredients earlier?

Saya: …But Kusanagi-san looked displeased about it.

Totsuka: Is that so? It looked like a big smile to me.

Totsuka: He told to sit, but there's still time before night. Maybe I'll also help with cleaning.

Saya: Me too then. I'll go sweep the entrance.

Saya: Ah, Yata-kun and Kamamoto-kun.

Kamamoto: Yata-san, tonight we're gonna have hotpot, hotpot! I'm looking forward to it.

Yata: Is that so? I'm not really.

Kamamoto: Eh, you don't like hotpot?

Yata: That's not the case, I eat it just fine. …But, it's New year's Eve hotpot, right?

Kamamoto: It is?

Yata: That's why it's complicated. Aaah-uuh…

Saya: (Complicated. What does it mean…?)

Totsuka: Attention! The 52nd National High School HotPot Championship is going to be held now!

Saya: Hotpot Championship…?

Kusanagi: It's finally started…

Totsuka: New year's Eve Hotpot…This is the perfect meal to end the year. The heart, culture and art of Japan…

Totsuka: This pot is filled with all kinds of blessings. It is no exaggeration to call it a microcosm!

Kusanagi: That's a huge exaggeration. If you're going to praise it that much, the pot would feel uncomfortable too.

Mikoto: Let's eat.

Totsuka: We can't, King. It's not boiled yet.

Totsuka: I'll manage this microcosm myself even though I'm not very good at it. I'll bring you the best taste, so just follow my instructions properly.

Yata: Here it comes, The Hotpot Boss….!

Saya: Hotpot boss…you mean, Totsuka-senpai?

Kamamoto: That's right. Totsuka-san has a terrible obsession with pots.

Kusanagi: I'm not going anywhere near it…Oh, Mikoto was about to attack.

Totsuka: King, it's not ready yet.

Mikoto: I'm hungry.

Totsuka: If you're starving, eat a salad.

Mikoto: …I think it's ready to eat now.

Totsuka: One minute left. I'm not giving up on this one.

Mikoto: …

Saya: (He talked down Suoh-senpai…!)

Yata: The Invincible Hotpot Boss…

Kusanagi: I think it's about time, Totsuka.

Totsuka: I guess so. Everyone, give me the plates.

Mikoto: What a pain.

Totsuka: King! I'll get it for you, wait!

Mikoto: If I leave it to you, idiot, it'll be full of vegetables.

Totsuka: If I let King do what he wants, he just gonna take only the meat.

Totsuka: Meat is a public property. Since it's required by antitrust law, I have to divide it fairly.

Totsuka: So just wait quietly, King.

Mikoto: …Tsk. I can't helped it.

Saya: (So the reason why everyone seemed to hate it, was because of this…)

Totsuka: Okay, this is for Yata.

Yata: What the hell if this! There is only chinese cabbage here!

Totsuka: It's not true. There is also a little peace of meat too.

Yata: Oh, for real! It's so small! Smaller than an eraser!

Totsuka: First, warm up your stomach with vegetables. The main course will be afterwards.

Totsuka: Fufu. Enjoy your last dinner of the year, everyone!

[Prev chapter][Next chapter]

[truly-quirkless]

Twenty Day Challenge - Day Seven

Oh, we're just gonna talk about eating habits. This's...this's gonna be a mess.

As mentioned in the past- soft bars. So. Many. Soft bars. This man's desk, his office, his home- everything is overflowing with soft bars from every brand he could get his hands on.

His favorite is Nutrigrain but it's more difficult to eat those so he's on the fence with them. Saves them for special occasions.

When he cooks for himself, it's always (or almost always) some type of soup. Very rarely, it'll be a soft food.

Absolute Smoothie King™ fan. Has a membership and everything- drops by just about every other day for a drink, and it lasts him four to six hours (it's a thirty-two ounce every time- takes small sips every few minutes).

His favorite soup is probably a lightly spicy egg drop soup.

He almost never invites others to eat with him simply because he either: takes super long to finish the same serving size, or has a very small (think 'child's size' if not smaller) serving size.

It's actually very rare for restaurants in Japan to let people take food home,- too many worries about improper storage and the like- so Yagi almost always gets a small serving when he has to eat with others.

When he could eat whatever, he wasn't a picky eater- he'd spent enough time on his own to just accept any food he could get his hands on.

It internally hurts him to admit he can't have anywhere near as much food, anymore.

Has to be so careful what he eats/how much he eats or else he will be in agony until it finishes passing through his system.

Has a soda every once in a great while, even though it hurts a bit. He just-- misses the feel/taste...of the soda, not the pain.

The fucking pickiest eater- they're a very texture-sensitive person.

To them, all fruit tastes 'like biting into a mass of cobwebs' so they're also a big fan of Smoothie King- smoothies erase the cursed 'cobweb' texture.

There are some foods where the texture-reaction is so severe Fin refuses to eat it no matter what (example: apples- the texture of those make Fin insanely nauseas every time).

They're not in America, so there's not really a lot of 'kid's menus' (hardly any restaurants have them, most of those are in Tokyo where foreigners majorly visit).- But they eat a bit under a kid's serving per meal, usually.

They feel awkward not tipping, but it's seen as rude in Japan, so...they don't.

Favorite meal is a grilled cheese with fries and chocolate milk. It's a bit of a comfort meal from their childhood- and very painful to come by, since dairy products are more expensive there.

Doesn't invite others to eat out with them often because they get nervous/afraid of being told 'no'.

Downs Red Bull like it's water.

Their favorite soup is tonkotsu ramen with half an avocado.

Mostly makes microwaveable/oven-ready meals because they burn nearly everything they try to cook (including their favorite meal).

The few exceptions to this are: tuna melts, boiled eggs, and cheese quesadillas.

Gets easily distracted.

"I remember how long these went in for," annnnd forgets. Two seconds later.

As for both of them...

Mostly have soup together, in the winter/when the two have a lot of time or want to do an all-night marathon, they'll make a yosenabe- or a freestyle hot pot.

Fin carries a few extra soft bars on hand just in case Yagi drops by/forgets his own snacks.

Yagi (every now and again) will cook some dish with extra cheese because he knows if it has cheese, Fin's highly likely to love it.

Fin gets lessons from Yagi every now and again for certain meals/how to keep them from burning.

Has to keep an eye on Fin or else they'll forget they were cooking anything.

Probably the silliest meal he ever got was going to Fin's apartment to see a black sludge in a pot, and Fin handing him a cup of instant ramen with the quietest '...sorry'. He helped them clean up the mess while he ate his ramen.

The two love showing each other strange eateries??? Like- anything weird. Yes, that includes the toilet-restaurant. Went in...once. Fin got incredibly nauseas (they couldn't stop picturing the actual thing clear in their head), they never went again- but the two do laugh about the experience every now and again.

They dropped by KFC about two weeks after Christmas, for the pure sake of it.

When Yagi found out Fin loved mac n' cheese?..he made them a pot of it. Fin has begged him multiple times to teach them the recipe-- but each time, they somehow destroy it.

[inseparabiles]

We're huge enthusiasts of dark Internet rabbit holes, but one of the most boring kind out there that evidently creeps out everyone regular so much are the threads where people discuss "the worst fates they can imagine", and it's just 300 people talking about dementia and Alzheimer's. And not because at the end, you forget how to swallow and breathe, but because of the forgetting of everything else that comes first.

I don't want to minimise the suffering of people who develop these disorders. They're terrifying. But like, I wake up every day expecting that I don't remember just about fucking anything. Everything is news to me all of the time. I'm going through life blind like, wow did that really happen? Yeah booger it happened to you, and I'm like, oh, did it? Ok, I can't remember.

I've been on a million vacations that I have one flash like a shaky polaroid photograph of in my mind, others I don't remember anything of, but have dates or factual awareness of that thing having happened based on what other people say and chronological evidence. It has been this way since I was a young child.

I leave behind me a trail of forgotten people, friendships I had for years, up to five years, who I just don't fucking remember. You might think it's normal to forget what exactly your friendship with your kindergarten best friend entailed, but think about a friendship you started at 19 and had at least until turning 25, and the only things you have remaining are a name you have to struggle to remember, no other associations, maybe a vague ghost of a face? That's years in your adulthood, and it's just gone.

Waking up at 5pm wondering why you're so fucking tired, only to start tracing your day back and finding out that you've been awake since at least 4am when you've left your first messages online that day, but have no idea what happened between then and now when you became aware of yourself.

Sometimes it's nicer; wishing you had coffee and finding out that there's already a pot behind your back because? There's nobody else in the house, so you probably did that yourself.

Sometimes it's less nice; "fuck, I was boiling potatoes", and it was 40 minutes ago. I have timers for everything and they're running all of the time but if my browser decides to snooze or my phone figures it's not that important to actually sound the alarm, I'll find out when the pot has turned red and started melting at the edges. Most of the time, it's "fuck, I meant to bake some bread", and the oven's been on for four hours.

The feeling of everything you ever go through being the first time. Sure, you can rewatch a movie and more often than most people, you can't remember what happens in it. Unfortunately, I tend to remember the end twists every time, so it's a pointless benefit to me. I'll forget everything else, though. Like literally everything else will be gone except for the conclusion. Thanks, brain.

But also, you're having symptoms, or you're feeling some kind of a way that is awful, and you can't figure out what's happening or why. And then your partner comes in and tells you, this is the fifth time this year this has happened. Trust me, I've been there every time you've had this crisis in the past eight months, and it's always new to you, and you've always survived it.

Passing through life feels so often like a half-remembered dream.

And it's just not scary to imagine more of that. Okay, one day I won't fucking remember who that person is in my house anymore, cool. That sucks but it's not novel or terrifying, it's just, oh my fucking god okay another thing gone then. Amnesia is fucking boring, is what it is. You just forget everything and everything goes away and you blink and you're dead.

When I was 13, I was so afraid of this that I didn't go anywhere without my camera. I literally carried an instant camera or another type of film camera everywhere, and then when things got digital, I never let go of that either. I don't know at what point I stopped but now it'll take a miracle for me to bother to dig out my phone for it. What's the point, there's a better picture online somewhere. Mine won't be any good and it won't mean anything to me in a week anyway. Everything just goes away.

And people talk about "childhood amnesia", which made me think I was normal, until I realised they're talking about something that ends sometime after you turn 5 or so. I can remember as much about being 15 as I can about being 25 or 5, which is to say, absolutely fuck nothing, unless something specific rattles loose a memory someplace. It won't be chronological, though. What was I doing when I was 14? I don't know. What was I doing when I was 18? I had the swine flu when I turned 18. Other than that, I have no recollection of anything else that happened that year. At 19, I evidently didn't exist at all. 27? I think I was playing Overwatch. No idea.

I've edited this a thousand times by now which is funny but one more addition: the most amazing part of this all is that other people don't notice this. You're so used to not remembering that it just never really comes up, and because it's so pervasive and ever-present but you're not freaking out, people around you come to think about it as a quirk. Like oh yeah, this guy? They're just totally clueless and absent-minded. It's funny!

Because it is funny. Because you're so easily put into stupid situations, like where your friend is recounting this amazing story to you that they've read, and halfway through they have to stop and be like, I'm talking about the story you wrote. You wrote this thing. Do you not remember?

No, I do not.

Your mum starting every story about you with, "you probably don't remember this", and getting immensely peeved at you for not remembering the other 100 things either, but it's just because you're so aloof, you just can't keep it together. Nothing to see here.

seeing people my age talk about how scared they are of memory loss, which they only associate with old age, is so surreal to see as a 24 year old who has actively experienced memory loss for a long time now

there are causes for memory loss besides dementia and alzheimer’s, i hope y’all know that. dissociative disorders, trauma, brain injuries, thyroid problems, even just stress and lack of sleep can fuck up your ability to store, process, and access memory. and that’s just a few of the many causes i can think of off the top of my head right now.

please stop treating disabled people like some scary “other” that you might become only in the distant, decades-away future. we are your age, too. you may become one of us sooner than you know. stop acting like memory loss marks the end of a life, when so many of us have so much living left to do!

[snarkformysanity]

House of Earth and Blood Chapters 17-18

Bryce had just succeeded in nudging Hunt into oncoming traffic when he asked, “Do I get an explanation for why I’ve had to trail you like a dog all night?”

Ohhh, so close, Bryce. So close.

Also, what the actual fuck is that question? You know why you're trailing her, Hunt. Your boss told you to. Why are you asking her like it's her fault you have to do it? Have you considered just not fucking stalking her, maybe?

Anyway, turns out Bryce has already made the list of suspects. She didn't give it to Hunt right away because she wanted to drag him all over town first and piss him off. But that's not all. She also did some digging on Maximus, found his profile on not!Tinder, then found his girlfriend.

“Aren’t there people at the 33rd who should be doing this shit?”

Damn straight, Bryce. Much as I'd have preferred to see her sleuthing on-page, I am enjoying her tormenting Hunt with this.

When he refused to answer, she grinned. “Guess where Tertian’s girlfriend works.” Hunt’s eyes simmered. He said through his teeth, “At the nail salon on Samson.” “And guess who did my nails and got to chatting about the terrible loss of her rich-ass boyfriend?”

Okay, yeah, I am enjoying this. Mostly because Hunt's whinging (and judgemental tirade) about how Bryce was doing nothing before was just so utterly relentless. Nice to see him so thoroughly told.

Anyway, through the lady at the nail salon, Bryce learned that Danika and Tertian did not, in fact, know each other, but were only vaguely connected by a third party - the Viper Queen she was asking Ruhn about last chapter. Bryce suspects the Viper Queen is up to no good, and suggests they feel her out.

Hunt shook his head. “All right. I can buy the possibility. But we need to go through the right channels to contact her. It could be days or weeks before she deigns to meet with us. Longer, if she gets a whiff that we’re onto her.”

Please don't tell me we're going to pad out every one of those weeks.

Hunt berates her for dragging Ruhn into it, and Bryce says he's sure to go running to the Autumn King over Bryce being commandeered by the angels. And seems to imply he might know something? Doesn't seem like she thinks he did it, though.

Hunt snapped his wings. “Don’t play games again. If you know something, tell me.” “I was going to tell you everything when I finished up at the nail salon this morning.” She put her hands on her hips. “But then you bit my head off.”

Is it a bit petty? Sure. Do I care? No, not really. Literally all Hunt had to do was not be an asshole, and he failed miserably.

Anyway, they part ways (well, kinda, Hunt goes to creep on her from the roof), and Bryce muses on faerie history.

The Autumn King was a courtesy title in addition to her father’s role as a City Head—as for all the seven Fae Kings. No kingdom was truly their own. Even Avallen, the green isle ruled by the Stag King, still bowed to the Republic.

You know, I thought "Avallen" sounded familiar. Turns out I was thinking of the island of Avalon, from Arthurian legend. I suppose I should be glad the book changed the spelling a bit this time, instead of ripping them off wholesale like with Illyria and Scythia in ACOTAR. Anyway, the faeries are badass and scary, but not as badass and scary as the angels, because of course. Hunt might not be the baddest of all asses otherwise.

Bryce waits for a while, then arms herself and sneaks out of her apartment. She has a scooter, which she rides through the city to the Meat Market.

Bryce pulled down a cramped street where a few dented delivery trucks were in the process of unloading boxes of spiky green fruit and crates of crustacean-looking creatures that seemed far too aware of their captivity and oncoming demise via boiling pots of water in one of the food stalls. Bryce tried not to meet their googly black eyes pleading with her through the wooden bars as she parked a few feet away from a nondescript warehouse, removed her helmet, and waited.

Given what the book has established about "Lower" creatures and their sentience, this is... unsettling, to say the least. Alas, Bryce doesn't care.

And then Hunt makes a dramatic entrance, complete with people cowering, because of course. His alleged scariness has transcended meme and is heading into literary masturbation territory, honestly. Ugh. Also, I do wish the book would stop referring to him as "the Umbra Mortis" as if I'm meant to be impressed. I'm not. Do something Umbra Mortis-y.

Anyway, Hunt POV for the next chapter. Apparently Bryce was waiting for him.

Bryce had the nerve to push back the sleeve of her leather jacket, frown at her bare wrist as if she were reading a gods-damned watch, and say, “You’re two minutes late.”

[...]

Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. Hunt growled, “There’s no way that scooter is there when we get back.”

Do I need to say it? Do I need to make the reference? Yes, we do indeed have another love interest threatening to break the girl's vehicle because he doesn't like that she uses it without his permission.

Oh wait, apparently he was actually implying it was going to be stolen while he and Bryce were gone? Does Hunt know why she came here, then? Because I sure don't. I assumed he was going to drag her straight back.

Anyway, apparently Bryce is here to contact the Viper Queen. Hunt assures us that the Viper Queen is Very Scary, so scary that all the (other) angels stay away from her actually, and then growls at Bryce for... idk, continuing the investigation? Weren't you bitching just before about how she wasn't doing enough?

She bared her teeth. “I’m sorry,” she seethed, “if your fragile ego can’t handle that I know what I’m fucking doing.”

Again, damn straight. Please keep this up, Bryce. I may forgive you for the failed anti-capitalist stuff.

Hunt gets a bit butthurt in his narration, then follows Bryce into the market itself.

Whatever fear he’d instilled in people on the streets was of no consequence inside the market

I've yet to see anyone except random bit characters actually be afraid of this guy.

Hunt describes the market to us, and it looks like a market, except it has an enormous mosaic of Death in it. We learn that the Republic's most ancient language is Latin, because of course it is. There are not one, but two meaningful phrases here - one on the mosaic and one on Bryce's jacket.

Memento Mori [Remember you must die] Through love, all is possible.

Hmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder what this could be alluding to. Mystery.

We get some rather interesting insight on Hunt as he muses on the Memento Mori phrase.

Remember that you will die, and enjoy each pleasure the world has to offer. Remember that you will die, and none of this illegal shit will matter anyway. Remember that you will die, so who cares how many people suffer from your actions?

Make of that what you will. If this is setting Hunt up as a villain, I'd be all for it - I strongly suspect it isn't, though, and is instead just supposed to make him Deep. And Tortured. *sighs*

It was an effort not to haul her out of this shithole. Even though he wanted this case solved, having only ten beautiful kills standing between him and freedom, coming here was a colossal risk. What was the use of his freedom if he was left in a dumpster behind one of these warehouses?

Do you seriously expect me to believe that the Baddest of Asses over here is actually legitimately in danger? Is he that afraid of random bit characters at the Meat Market? Come on, book, don't insult me. You even made sure to point out that the fucking shadows here were still scared of him just before, despite assuring us that people totally wouldn't be scared of him here before they came in.

It turns out Bryce knows a few of the vendors, and knows her way around. But it's so uberdangerous, how can this be?????? She leads Hunt to a green door.

Bryce stalked down the cramped hallway to the open, rotting sitting room beyond. Scowling, he shut the door and followed, wings tucked in to keep from brushing the oily, crumbling walls. If Quinlan died, Micah’s offer would be off the table.

And what part of what you've seen so far makes you think she's going to die? She obviously knows the person! Ass.

The house seems to belong to a... salt-hoarder? There's a bunch of different kinds of salt in there, apparently.

“Just keep your snarling and eye rolling to yourself,” [Bryce] snapped at [Hunt],

How I wish I could say this to every other Maas love interest.

A little satyr emerges from the darkness to answer Bryce's call. Hunt looks into his goat eyes.

Fear—and not at Hunt’s presence, he realized with a jolt.

Nah, he's not a nameless bit character. Please get over yourself.

Bryce asks the satyr for obsidian salt, which he insists he doesn't have, on account of it being illegal, but Bryce doesn't believe him. Hunt rattles off the uses of various colours of salt for us. Apparently the black salt is for demon summoning, and obsidian salt is even blacker than black salt.

He then goes off on a tangent about hell, and how you can access it through the north and south pole, or by using salts to summon demons.

The benefit of using salts, at least, was that only one demon could be summoned at a time. Though if things went badly, the summoner could wind up dead. And a demon could wind up stuck in Midgard, hungry.

Well, this answers a question I had earlier - what happens to demons after they're summoned? It seems they stick around, unless dismissed maybe. So how can they rule out Briggs, when he may simply have never dismissed his demon after killing Danika?

Hunt then goes on another tangent about daemonaki, who it seems are this world's half-demon/tiefling types, and then concludes that this satyr must be a Big Deal if he's got obsidian salt. Cool. I could have worked that out myself several paragraphs ago, but I suppose we've got to pretend Hunt is useful somehow.

Anyway, Hunt decides that Bryce is an idiot who just blatantly showed him she knows how to summon demons, which makes her more suspicious. But, it turns out Bryce has a plan.

“No,” Bryce said, “I don’t. But I bet if I go down to the main floor and start screaming for the Viper Queen, she’ll drag herself out of that fighting pit to see what the fuss is about.” Burning Solas, she was serious, wasn’t she?

Yes, very serious, Hunt. Why does it always surprise you so much that she'd rather deal with the plot than sit around and brood about her Tragic Past? Why are you even here?

Bryce and the satyr haggle and exchange threats for a while, while Hunt reels at the prospect of the plot advancing. Bryce tells the satyr that Jesiba is expecting the salts, and will send someone to get him if she doesn't have them in five minutes.

The satyr eventually caves, and agrees to Bryce's demands. She and Hunt start to leave (after Hunt goes on an aside to tell us that the number seven is a Really Big Deal. No, I don't know why that's relevant to anything), but find the Viper Queen waiting for them outside.

Well. That was easy.

[rumpocky]

Also guys, if we're gonna make it out of this, it's time to start minding your own shit.

Just because the GOP is the most irredeemable core in a self-boiling pot doesn't mean our side does not have similar invasive fascist tendancies.

If you want to pitch a bitch about that, scroll back to January, when I had this goddamn psych break about my abusive stalker ex. A whole motherfucking pile of motherfuckers decided to come by (-Q)Anon to try to harass me into silence, because it was making their favorite scam artist look bad, and if they spammed me hard enough, they might spam or control me into silence, instead of any of them controlling themselves to stay the fuck off my blog if they don't like it; no they wanted to control my personal feelings statements and comments on my personal blog they kept personally fucking showing up to.

That is still the problem.

Y'all dumb fuckers climbing over yourselves to literally try to tell satan to shut up because you can't mind your shit, holy fuck. Kronos is literally motherfucking rupturing time and the entire collective because this bitch refuses to hop off in any aeon or timeline, and then you prove how fucking deep it is by also refusing to fucking hop the fuck off.

This is literally why the world is falling apart guys, everybody's trying to forcefully control everyone else, rather than respect basic boundaries and personal space and choice, speech and liberty; not like hate speech MAGA speech, but some of the shitheads in our own lane intentionally extort and distort important talking points PURELY to silence and control anything inconvenient to them. Like revealing my ex as a giant fraud scam artist stalker abuser. Her friends didn't like that.

So instead of acknowledging the base reality that:

I left 3 years ago

she stalked so hard she spent six months in a furry porn server trying to find a friend of a friend to destroy a relationship with a 20 year friend and business investor years later for NO goddamn reason

Stole her branding, story, origin to copypaste my life to replace me, and no amount of rebranding in embarrassment of being caught can get the rot out she's built her entire life on.

These stories were the very foundation of spiritual guidance she actively misled and groomed everyone on, without my consent, permission, and without any semblence of her understanding the actual point, by which she built a business she charged in my name and history; and then a cult, and relationship of lies, upon it.

But no. No somehow it had to be flipped to be my fucking fault if they did enough cartwheels.

Let me put on my fucking. Yaldaboath voice. This is why man is fucking doomed.

Wear the grudge like a crown of negativity Calculate what we will or will not tolerate Desperate to control all and everything Unable to forgive your scarlet lettermen

Clutch it like a cornerstone, otherwise it all comes down Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end Clutch it like a cornerstone, otherwise it all comes down Terrified of being wrong, ultimatum prison cell

Clutch it like a cornerstone, otherwise it all comes down Justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end Saturn ascends, comes round again Saturn ascends, the one, the ten Ignorant to the damage done

Wear the grudge like a crown Desperate to control Unable to forgive and sinking deeper

Defining Confining And sinking deeper Controlling Defining And we're sinking deeper

Saturn comes back around to show you everything Let's you choose what you will and will not see and then Drags you down like a stone or lifts you up again Spits you out like a child, light and innocent

Saturn comes back around Lifts you up like a child or drags you down like a stone To consume you till you choose to let this go Choose to let this go

Give away the stone Let the oceans take and trans mutate this cold and fated anchor Give away the stone Let the waters kiss and trans mutate these leaden grudges into gold

Let go

[kelyon]

if you don't mind me asking what is next for you in your writing? I'm a big fan of yours.

What's next? Isn't that the question of the year.

I feel like I've been boiling a dry pot for a while now. My writing mojo is really depleted. I look at the WIPs I have or projects I want to start and it all feels like an obligation. And I don't want to write because I have to. I want to write because I can't not write.

So my first step is to just not write for a while. I'm trying to even keep myself from thinking about the next project, but that doesn't really work. I'm not going to publicly commit to anything except the Rumbelle Secret Santa. (That's what I consider the good kind of obligation, where I'm writing for one specific person and not the amorphous collective of "my readers.") Plus I usually come up with good stuff for RSS, stuff I might not do otherwise.

Finding "stuff I might not do otherwise" is kind of my goal right now. Towards the end of Courtship, I found myself hating the process of writing itself. Not necessarily the plot or the characters or anything in the scene. Just... I hated every word in the English language. I think I need a new perspective on that.

I'm a shameless re-reader of my old fics. On this latest round, I noticed myself re-using phrases and words between fics. And not even in a poetic way or an "invisible said" way, but in a way that made me worry that I had run out of ways to put words in order.

I know every author has their quirks. (Read The Wheel of Time and take a shot every time someone "throws up their hands.") But for me it felt like more of a rut than a groove. Like I was taking the easiest, fastest way to get a chapter done--which, yeah, a lot of times I am. I think there is value in a deadline. I think "finish it and make the next one better" is a good rule to write by. The worry is that I'm not making the next one better. I worry that I'm repeating myself, making phrases by rote instead of thinking up something that is new to me.

I've been writing fics and posting them consistently for five years now. I think I've become workmanlike--and so everything feels like work. It's not play anymore. I'm not finding new things. I'm not pushing my own limits. I'm not making myself better.

So that's my next goal, to fall back in love with the process, with the language. I'm not sure how that's going to happen. I want to challenge myself, but still stay within the framework of a fanfic.

(Like, I tried to think of 'what's the opposite of what I usually write?' and all I could think of were, like, fics about sports where there's no sex or relationship building at all. Or like xenofiction? Writing from the perspective of an alien or an animal? Is that Rumbelle-able? Would that be too weird, even for me? How can I find something I haven't done that is still something I find interesting?)

I might end up writing a totally normal angsty-kinky-love-story that just doesn't include the letter 'e.' Challenge myself that way.

Because the beauty of fanfic is telling the same story in different ways. It is about seeing two people fall in love in every universe. I just need to find a way to make that fresh again, so I'm not frustrating and disappointing myself.

As I said way back at the beginning of this post, the first step is to take a break. Rest, recuperate, think about other things. Inspiration comes when we're not looking at it.

My second step is to start reading again. Reading things that aren't just my own work, and not even fanfic. I've been meaning to get back into physical books for a while now. I think it'll be good for me in all kinds of ways. Right now I'm revisting a childhood favorite, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place. The great thing about kid's books is they're short, they're direct, and they can have a lot of fun with language.

I think I need more of that.