#lucdarling

[wantonlywindswept]

@lucdarling replied to your post “so all of the fic where the GAR and Coruscant...”:

pls give me your fic recs, friend. this sounds very relevant to my interests.

​oh heckie yes i got u boo @lucdarling

Fics Being Mean to the Coruscant Guard:

Two Strikes / Crowning Glory A variety of steps Cody takes to ensure the Guard doesn't get abused as horribly -- Fox and his men might not be on the front lines, but they're still Vod'e -- and their consequences.

linking to the first fic in the series, the story starts out mostly with Cody being a slut (affectionate) but then goes on to get into the Tragedy of Darth Plageius the Coruscant Guard and Fixing It and tbh if you read nothing else read this series it is So Good. make sure to follow the links, things are slightly confusing and non-sequential if you don't

it also actually addresses post-trauma stuff too which is AMAZING, yes def read this but be sure to put some time aside for it the series is like 500k and you Will want to read it all in one sitting and then you might get yelled at by your wife for not sleeping for three days or that might just be me, 100/10

Galaxy-Saving Memes You can only access the page if you're GAR. The Coruscant Guard decides to infiltrate it because they are tired of being ignored, and honestly? Their memes are way better. Or, the Guard saves millions of lives through stupid internet posts.

second on the 'if nothing else read this' list, unless you dislike epistolary stories, in which case you can skip. but it is short and it is fucking HILARIOUS which you would think wouldn't be possible given the subject matter but no, it is great, 100/10

The Adoption Wars The only thing stronger than the dark side is Rex's ability to get adopted. Or: the one where Rex would really like everyone to know that he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Oh, and Fox finally gets to kill a sith.

only somewhat about Being Mean to the Guard but by god it is cute and adorable but also makes you Feel Emotions, excellent story 10/10

Their Days Are Darker After the death of ARC Trooper Fives, an altercation at 79's leads Wolffe to spend his leave snooping around the Coruscant Guard. Fox assumes he'll drop it and leave the Corries to their fate; it's what everyone else has done. He is very, very wrong.

so this is heartbreaking in the whole 'doesn't understand that what is happening is wrong' kind of way and tbh Cody is a little bit more of a dick than i usually imagine him but it is still Quite Excellent 10/10

exploitation, hesitation The Coruscant Guard makes a mistake while working with the 212th Attack Battalion. Fox prepares to take the heat.

EXCELLENT writing with the whole 'pov character thinks one thing is happening while outside characters Definitely Do Not', fox is so self-sacrificing which is why and how we love him 10/10

learning solitude It's a gradual, insidious thing, Fox's absorption into the Chancellor's office. The Chancellor wants a clone commander of his own, so he gets one. All Fox gets is a position far away from his brothers, a lesson in how to work around natborns who detest his very existence, and a seemingly endless list of monotonous jobs to keep him occupied through all his waking hours and beyond. Fox misses Kamino.

less Guard more Fox, but man what a way to emotionally stab you in the face! lots of gaslighting and manipulation and it is part of a series but the series also gets Extremely Dark at the end before having a recovery/happy ending, so ymmv 10/10

Blood Iron Fox has seen many things seized during raids. Illegal weapons, Spice and other assorted of banned drugs, slaves, carnivorous beasts trained for the fighting rings, the list goes on. Nothing prepared him for finding beskar among the crates of contraband and bad life choices.

so much worldbuilding fuck yeah! semi-the mandalorian crossover, the Guards have it Real Fucking Rough but then they run into some traditional mandos with hearts of gold beskar, v excellent 10/10

i'm sure there are others! well i know there are others, but these are the ones i remember standing out/have read so far. all of these have happy endings, i wouldn't do that to you (and tbh don't really read stuff w/o happy endings myself)

go forth and read whump!

[dastardlydandelion]

💌

luc! my darling (platonic)! oh friend, so much to say. i am so lucky we were serendipitous-ly able to connect across the magic box. guess that's where i'll start. so! a heap of credit goes to you when it comes to me even writing fanfic for i show i didn't watch for the following 3 years, because your comments were so insightful and diligent that they got me *thinking* and had those gears turning in my brain! i commend you for that-- every author loves to get comments and it's awesome that you give the kind of commentary that really engages with the work, thus giving aforementioned authors things to chew on!

i think that you're a very diplomatic person and i respect it. like, i noticed that you tend to save your f-bombs for when they really count and you rarely use crass language in our convos. it's actually inspired me to limit my own cursing (online and off). i also think your diplomacy comes through in your creative writing because you have the ability to tackle very heavy and complex subject matter with the grace that it warrants. so more about your creative writing, oh, i love how you can depict varied dynamics between characters so vividly and believable. the character relationships themselves hold a presence in your work, they feel very real and robust, and human! i love how multilayered your stories are and your aptitude for exploring characters (notably but not exclusively a certain freckled firebrand) and ideas that may be a tad, ah, overlooked by fandom at large.

lalala, uh, oh i appreciate that you often take time out of your day to share neat stuff with me, like rare moose spotted or video essays or kitty cat antics! i enjoy chatting it up with you so much, no matter if we're talking about silly things like demogorgonzola or serious things like the importance of helping people.

i also really admire how much nonfiction reading you do, always expanding your information bank and recognizing the importance of knowing our history.

whew, yeah, this is getting long, huh? i am rambling! it's the caffeine i tell you, i had espresso today! i am bouncing off the walls and the brain is running a mile a minute.

i will wrap this up before it gets creepy! so one more thing i love about you...is...wait for it, this one is supremely profound...that you watched scream: resurrection with me and didn't hate it!!!

[foxgirlontherun]

so I take it from your gifset reblog of Lenore & Verna, you have now watched "The Fall of the House of Usher" !! What did you think? Which Usher did you like best and least? Give me all your thoughts on Verna because she's spectacular. :)

Yes!!! I've finally watched it and I loved it! I've always loved Poe's work and I think the way Mike Flanagan and the team worked with the materials, how they mixed the stories, presented them and spiced them up worked beautifully. It was really captivating for me! I think even the poem-reciting parts fit right in.

I think the most interesting Usher was Madeline, she felt much more like a "main character" for me than Roderick (the younger versions of him felt like puppets for Madeline?). For this reason my least favorite was Roderick, he was too much of an everyman in antagonist form if it makes sense (he didn't really have a personality? he was just annoying, I might be wrong of course, maybe I was just too focused on Verna :D). I couldn't really chose a favorite and a least favorite out of Roderick's kids, most of them had an interesting and sick story. (I think the most brutal death belongs to Prospero though, and most interesting to Vic with the murder of her girlfriend.)

Verna has my heart right now. 🖤 I'm always down for Death/Satan/trickster type of characters, and to mix that with the raven (as symbol, character), it's just chef's kiss… gosh! And Carla Gugino is insanely gorgeous. The Lenore & Verna scene is the most memorable and darkly beautiful I think, but every scene where she was present was great. My favorite visually stunning part is where she is standing on the remains of the Usher house with the glowing eyes.

What are your thoughts and feelings about the show?

[biillys]

🔥ask game🔥 for Stranger Things

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

hello ily thanku 🥺🥺

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

well every time something's happening it's always the bylers or the steddies making noise. the harringrove gang can def be annoying too but something about the way the others think theyre like. morally correct for their ship etc is just like. give me a fucking break. ur litereally on tumblr dot com. wait actually not a ship technically but the people that are obsessed with the fruity four. literally shut uppppppp

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

feel like most of my opinons aren't common enough to weigh in here so idk? billy would never settle for steve fucking harrington? HEATHER would never settle for robin!!!!!! billy and max's relationship is COMPLICATED and the duffers did not get to/try to examine and show that in their limited screentime. so all the idiots that are obsessed with saying max hated billy/was happy he died, read the fucking room!!!!

11. number of fandom related words you have blocked?

lol

usually i don't blacklist things cos usually i'm chill but my dash had so much of them and i found myself like. getting actively annoyed everytime they were on my screen. so i started with blocking steve and was like wow. it's so nice here now that he's gone. lets see if i can make it even better.

unfortunate side effect of this is that i barely see any billy content now cos he's unfortunately linked hand in hand with the others. i miss him so much. it's okay tho cos i can cry into ur inbox about him and send my friend 25 minute audios about him and i made another billy sideblog thats locked that i can post headcanons and fic-ish things on so!!! it's fun still!!!! i may post on this blog like once in a blue moon but he's literally on my mind 24 hours a day. has been for almost five years now.

18. it's absolutely criminal that this fandom has been sleeping on...

six feet under crew. billy, heather, chrissy, and eddie all died. max i'm pretty sure technically died so she's an honourary member. yeah i know others died too but anyway. ANYWAY i think they deserve to have fun and start shit together yknow!!!! i think they'd all fuck each others lives up but also be there to help pick up the pieces!!!! stopping myself here becos otherwise i will not shut up. wait also just max, chrissy, and heather...... el too if we're feeling giving. i just think they'd have fun together!!!!!

WAIT ALSO tommy and carol. BRING 'EM BACK. the trio of billy, eddie, and tommy? but also ALSO the nightmare that would be max, heather, chrissy, and carol.

the idea of billy and max living at the trailer park and neil and susan fucking off? maybe susan stays? idk but just the idea of everyone coming to chill at their trailer or going between theirs and eddies, even though their trailers can absolutely not fit that many people??? friday nights getting fucked up and faded. making terrible life decisions. making permanent life decisions. no i need to shut up now....... fuck.... spending the hours between 11pm and 2am trying to nail down a tattoo design before struggling through work for the weekend, complaining about their bosses, making fucking disasters in the kitchen, carol and tommy surprisingly being the only decent cooks, max having a knack for baking. trying to plan concert trips, talking about how differnt their lives would be if they had went to go to college instead. bingewatching terrrible television. semi decent box-dye jobs. terrible at-home haircut jobs. high school spitting them out and them trying to find their feet in the real world, them all getting full time jobs and trying to like. fucking survive. find a reason to get through the fucking weeks. SHUTTING UP NOW i swear.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

idk if i would say i'm ashamed or horrified or anything?? but idk i like dark fic/dead dove fic so like. that one w billy and the demodog? a fav. also i fucking love age gap so i would easily read billy/karen if it was out there. it is not. i've checked. wait forgot max/billy is usually frowned upon. read that easily too.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped?

i dont know a single person hyping up stranger things or it's plot lines/story arc's? fruity four i guess cos after season four that amount of ppl that made that a Thing? crazy.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing?

'how does billy have fans he literally deserved to die becos [usual list of reasons here]' banging my head against a wall. move on with ur life. everyone else has.

'[insert harringrove hate here]' when ppl post rancid takes on them and then i have to defend it even when i don't care for it like. please. did u not see the shower scene? the basketball scene? the fight scene??? open ur eyes. i may be a hater but i'm not stupid. they fucked for real i'll admit that. the worse the take is the more i'm like damn maybe i do ship them maybe they ARE gay as shit for each other and married right now.

[hotdadlicense]

Billy Hargrove - ❤️🩵🖤🌷🌻

❤️ how did you discover them/get into them?

okay i was bored and scrolling fic and sick of all the fic i had been reading, so i opened stranger things ao3 and sorted by kudos, and a billy/steve fic was the top one, and i was like. let's go. and then i literally LITERALLY never looked back and was like damn i should rewatch s2 cos i straight up do not remember any of these characters kljsefhksa

🩵 what's a popular headcanon for them you just can't get behind?

that he would settle for steve fucking harrington skjfhdjskahdfkj and therefore all the headcanons that branch from that

🖤 if they weren't from their source, what fandom universe do you think they would make the most sense in?

i honestly do not even know. like in my head i have him in a twd au and a 911 au and a supernatural au but like. i'm not picky. he can fit anywhere!!!! put that guy in every situation i say!!!

🌷 What are your favorite crossover ship(s) for them, if any?

i love u so much. u know this. billy x daryl hell YEAH also i've been talking about billy x mickey milkovich and technically they're just besites but bro. that line is VERY blurred and they ARE in love with each other. i'm havin a ball over here.

🌻 what song(s) do you associate with them?

the way there are so many and my mind is completely blanking? lemme look at my recently played playlist

flowers on the grave - the maine, born with horns - mgk, simmer - hayley williams, i think i'm okay - mgk, living in my head - kesha, high times for low lives - the griswolds, i wanna be here - e^st, blowjob - e^st, heaven wasn't built to hold me - four year strong, all i want - s day to remember, 24 floors - the maine

🌼 do you think they'd survive an apocalypse scenario?

u sent this ask seperately and it made me burst out laughing. AS A MATTER OF FACT. I HAVE LIKE 30K OF this. and u know what. he fuckin dies. but u know what. it's a time travel fix it au so he ends up living in round 2. LOVE that for him.

[elysiumwaits]

hope your work is stable and you are happy 💜

Work is beautifully stable and honestly, I love it. I also love you! 💜

[xjustlikeyou]

Make Me Write!

Tagged by @unlifeira -- thanks for the tag!

Rules: Send me an emoji corresponding to the WIP — as many as you want! — and I'll write 3 sentences for each emoji and share it.

Unless stated otherwise, these are 9-1-1/Buddie

Secret Santa Fic 🎄 (christmas tree)

ABO Fic ✨ (sparkles)

Stalker Fic 👀 (eyes)

Intimacy Fic 💋 (kiss)

Celebrity AU 📷 (camera)

Plane Crash Fic ✈️ (plane)

Tagging (no pressure!): @i-put-the-star-in-bastard, @snprblu72, @lucdarling

[themculibrary]

Bruce/Betty Masterlist

[don't count the miles] (ao3) - Feather (lalaietha) G, 2k

Summary: She ends up talking about it to Natasha Romanoff one evening, over very Italian coffee in the shell of what will eventually be Natasha's floor.

[not my ugly side] (ao3) - Feather (lalaietha) G, 4k

Summary: The fight technically starts over coffee - specifically, over who needs to get up and refill the coffee cups - and then it sort of mushrooms from there. Or maybe branches out is a better way of describing it, because it gets way the hell and gone off topic pretty quick, rapidly covering the ground of "but I always get the coffee" and moving onto "maybe we should ask Tony for one of those Nespresso machines" and from there escalating happily up into every single one of Betty's instincts screaming that there has got to be a catch to that, even if her logic has basically accepted there isn't, mixing uncomfortably with all of the irrational discomfort with asking for more stuff that she'll never be rid of, jumping track over to whether or not they're being wasteful, and finally the volume dials itself up until Bruce stands up from the table with his hands on his hips and half-shouts, "And this isn't even about the coffee, is it?"

accidentally family (ao3) - Katsuko T, 2k

Summary: As odd as the statement may be, it was a simple series of accidents that had made their little family what it was. Or, how the Banners accidentally became the Banners.

After the End (ao3) - copperbadge T, 3k

Summary: "You looking for someone?" "A friend. My friend Bruce. I came here to find him."

An Unforgettable Day (fanfiction.net) - Aboodash56 T, 1k

Summary: One-shot story. After the defeat of Thanos and the death of Thunderbolt Ross, Bruce and Betty decide to start anew with their lives together.

background (ao3) - seekingsquake past bruce/betty G, 1k

Summary: Bruce's life revolved around her, even after she had gone.

breadcrumbs (ao3) - irnan G, 2k

Summary: Betty is aware that this is not going to work unless she can come up with a better plan than calling up the Pentagon and asking if they can direct her to a scientist who occasionally turns into a giant green monster, a specific one, she didn't just wake up this morning with a craving, she's actually his girlfriend, so would they mind very kindly putting her through... ?

Tempting, just to hear the reaction on the other end, but Bad Plan. For one thing, she's not sure the Pentagon knows jack squat about... well, anything. It seems expedient to take a different approach.

cracks (ao3) - seekingsquake G, 6k

Summary: Bruce has never been able to take a breather. The team reminds him that he’s not on the run anymore.

Feel Like Home (ao3) - Trumpeteer34 G, 22k

Summary: Six months after the Invasion of New York, Betty receives a phone call.

Forces of Nature (ao3) - seekingsquake T, 5k

Summary: Twenty five years is a long time to be at opposite ends, but the earth and the ocean never did play well together.

I'm With Stupid (ao3) - intangible_girl T, 2k

Summary: He never thought he'd miss kissing this much. He'd enjoy it more if he didn't have a big, green backseat passenger to worry about.

Bruce comes home to Betty after the events of the Avengers.

Missed Connections (ao3) - Chaibelle bruce/betty, pepper/tony G, 2k

Summary: Bruce wonders where Betty was during the attack on New York. Meanwhile, Betty is looking for a doctor in Calcutta...

Shifting Gears (ao3) - seriousfic clint/natasha, bruce/betty T, 7k

Summary: Okay, I didn't hate AoU like a lot of people and I'm not an ardent shipper of Clintasha, but I thought it'd be fun to experiment with a Clintasha/Bruce&Betty rewrite of AoU, just as a writing exercise, sticking largely with the established storyline.

Small Acts of Defiance (ao3) - icarus_chained bruce/betty, pepper/tony T, 4k

Summary: So, Tony might have kidnapped the love of Bruce's life. In his defense, she was totally cool with that.

Small Comforts (ao3) - lucdarling G, 1k

Summary: Sometimes it's heroes who need a hug most of all.

Sticky Notes (ao3) - blacKatDP G, 2k

Summary: It's been months since Bruce Banner gave up his humanity to save her, but he keeps coming back to her in little, green pieces.

The Letter (ao3) - copperbadge M, 2k

Summary: Bruce is a great scientist, a hell of a letter-writer, and kind of an idiot in certain other respects.

the love lab (ao3) - anthropologicalhands pepper/tony, jane/thor, bruce/betty T, 3k

Summary: His teammates are getting a little too frisky in the lab. Tony tries to set boundaries.

these walls are paper thin (ao3) - IamShadow21 T, 13k

Summary: When most people think of Bruce Banner and The Hulk, they think of it as an either/or situation and assume that it’s easy to tell who they’re face to face with.

Most people are wrong.

Thirteen Years Later (ao3) - Blizzard_Fire M, 4k

Summary: Tony slung an arm over Bruce's shoulders. ‘Green bean here just got his first date in thirteen years.’

‘Ah!’ Thor clapped his hands in delight. ‘Who is the fortunate one?’

‘It’s Betty,’ Bruce said reluctantly.

Natasha's eyebrows shot up. ‘Betty as in the Betty?’

[writerwhowritesao3]

First Lines of 10 Fics Game

rules: share the first lines of 10 of your most recent fanfics and then tag 10 people. If you have written less than 10 fics, don’t be shy and share anyways :)

Thank you for the tag, @sunwarmed-ash !!!!! Tagging: @dastardlydandelion, @mourntheantagonist, @lucdarling, @keziahrainalso, @weird-an, @ihni, @lilies-in-a-vase, @harringroveheart, @memes-saved-me, @bentnotbroken1fanfiction

Jump In The Fire

Chapter 1: “Hey look, there’s another cow.”

"Okay, what are we listening to?" Billy held up two cassettes. "Scorpions or Metallica?"

"Blondie."

"No."

"Come on," Max pleaded. "You always choose the music."

"Yeah, 'cause it's my car," Billy laughed. "When you start driving, you can choose the music. But until then..."

He took the Scorpions tape out of its case, jammed it into the player, and put the Camaro into reverse to back out of the driveway. Through the windshield, he watched Susan step out of the front door to wave goodbye.

"Have a good day, guys!" she called out, her voice muffled through the glass. He and Max waved back and then they were on their way.

Night Shift 

One-shot

That past November, after setting the tunnels on fire and exorcising a monster out of Will, Nancy had poured them a shot of vodka and toasted to saving the world and to the hope that they would never have to do it again.

Really, they should have known that things would never resolve that neatly. Maybe they did on some level.

Talk To A Green Tree

Chapter 1: November, 1980

Susan got a call from Billy's school at around one in the afternoon.

She had been married to Neil for about seven months at that point and at the start of the school year, they had updated Max and Billy's school forms to reflect their newly formed family. Updated Billy's "in case of emergency" contact to list her first, since she was more easily able to leave her job at the bank in the middle of the day than Neil was at his job at the security desk of an office building a few blocks away.

The call was from the school nurse, Thelma Stevens, who politely and professionally informed her that Billy had thrown up and was running a slight fever, and asked that Susan take him home for the rest of the day.

Is There Something I Should Know?

One-shot

Max took another swig of her Coke as Dustin illustrated his points about time travel by drawing a scattered series of lines and circles and spirals on a page in his notebook. They had gone to her house after school that day to study for a test they had in their shared history class, with the agreement that Dustin would be gone by the time her mom and stepdad got home from work. Well, really by the time Neil got home. It wasn't like Max wasn't allowed to have friends over; she was. It was just that none of her friends here had met Neil before and Max kind of wanted to delay that inevitability for as long as she could. Neil, and Neil's moods, were unpredictable. When the time came that he met any of her friends, whether they were boys or girls (and Max had been becoming more friendly with some of the girls in her class), Neil might be friendly, welcoming, and normal.

Or he might come home in a rage and start yelling at Billy for something stupid, like parking his car two inches away from where he should have. He had never hit Billy in front of non-family members. But there was no guarantee that he never would. Max really didn't want to be known as the Girl With The Crazy Stepdad.

Take It As It Comes

One-shot

Steve wasn't freaking out, okay? He wasn't freaking out. He was just very upset. Because when he pressed Billy up against the wall of Steve's bedroom as their kisses became more heated, Billy let out this short pained hiss when his back made contact with the surface behind him.

"You okay?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Billy said. He connected their lips again, teasing Steve with the tip of his tongue. Billy kept himself upright, about an inch away from the wall.

Steve ran his palms over Billy's shoulders, lightly squeezing. Billy didn't make another sound, but his shoulder twitched, just a little, almost imperceptibly. Steve pulled away from him.

"What's wrong with your back?" Steve asked directly.

"Nothing," Billy said. "I'm fine."

Burning From The Inside

One-shot

It's not like Billy couldn't have sex.

Sure, after That Party, after That Asshole and those frantic hookups afterwards with Nate and those two randos at the park, Billy might have felt a little gun-shy. A bit skittish. So disinterested in sex that he didn't even jack off for months. He had honestly thought that there was a chance that he would never want to have sex ever again. Never want to take his clothes off and let someone touch his bare skin again, especially below the waist.

Even when he had that crush on Chris Phelps, his thoughts never ventured beyond kissing. And after Billy had kissed him that one time, it's not like he fantasized about doing anything further.

Billy had sort of resigned himself to the idea that sex would never be a part of his life ever again. And if it ever did re-enter his life, he wouldn't enjoy it. He would enjoy getting attention from other men, but sex itself would be one of those "close your eyes and think of England" type of deals.

Until he moved to Hawkins and met Steve. And then it was like the hormonal flood gates had burst.

Fire Burns Below

One-shot

"Remember, we're staying at the Rosebud Hotel," his mom said as she double checked the contents of her briefcase. "I'm leaving the phone number and address for you on the fridge."

"Got it," Steve said around a mouthful of Cheerios.

"And we're leaving right from the office tomorrow," she said. She pulled a file out of her briefcase, opened it, scanned the first three pages inside, and neatly tucked it back in. "But we'll be back by Sunday evening, so you'll only be home alone Friday night and all of Saturday, and just Sunday morning and afternoon. Okay?"

"Uh huh."

Steve's mom closed her briefcase and took a sip of her coffee, keeping her eyes on him. Steve watched his mother watching him.

"Are you going to be okay?" she finally asked.

"Yeah...?" Steve said. "It's just one weekend."

His mom was quiet for a moment, then took a seat at the table in the seat next to him. Steve braced himself for whatever his mother was going to say next.

"Honey, your dad and I noticed you've been checking the locks again," she said gently.

What Is And What Should Never Be

Chapter 1: January 1985

On January 1st, 1985, Billy Hargrove showed up at Jim's door with a bruise across his cheekbone.

At the time, Jim didn't think anything of it. Kids, especially teenage boys, got all kinds of bruises in all kinds of ways. Especially teenage boys who played sports and got into fights with their classmates.

Billy wasn't there long; he had just come to pick up his kid step-sister Max (not "Maxine") Mayfield (not "Hargrove"). He wasn't there long enough to have any sort of conversation, especially not one about a bruised cheekbone that could have been the result of anything.

So. On January 1st, 1985 Jim let Billy walk off his porch, get in his car, and drive home without any questions, because at the time, Jim didn't think that he needed to ask Billy any questions about the bruise on his face. The fact that he had seen it slipped out of his mind not even five minutes later.

Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

One-shot

Neil got a call from Susan towards the end of his shift on Friday.

He was at the front security desk of the office building he worked in. McKinley was seated next to him, rambling about his wife who didn't put out, his adult children who never called, his grandchildren who he never saw...Neil was only paying enough attention to nod and give an mmhm periodically. He had no sympathy for McKinley. The man was a career drunk who was only able to keep his job because their boss, Stan Hinton, was his wife's cousin. And there was no way that Hinton had never seen McKinley take a swig from his flask on the job; the man barely even bothered to hide it.

Neil's father, Jack, hadn't hid his alcoholism either. "I have a shit life. Can you blame me?" he would snap if anyone dared say anything to him about his drinking. He would go into a tirade about it. How his family had lost their farm during the Depression and how he and his parents and his five siblings had to make the drive from Oklahoma to California. How the entire family had gotten typhus when they were passing through Arizona and how it killed both of his parents and his two youngest sisters. He would rant about how he and his three remaining siblings (a sister, a younger brother, and his own identical twin brother) could only get the worst, most back-breaking labor jobs because no one wanted to hire Okies

On With The Show

Chapter 1: Dustin and Steve

Not even two years ago, Dustin had thought that Steve Harrington was a total douchebag.

Maybe it wasn't entirely fair. Dustin didn't know Steve back then. He had only heard things from Mike. Things like how Nancy would spend all night talking about him with Barb (may she rest in peace) on the phone and how right after Will went missing, Mike had caught Steve sneaking into Nancy's bedroom window and when he and Mike made eye contact, Steve had tried to play it off like he wasn't doing anything sketchy, like Mike was some kind of moron.

Mike thought Steve was a douchebag and so he had told his friends that Steve was a douchebag.

The thing was...Steve really wasn't. At least not to Dustin.

[dastardlydandelion]

When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy! then, send to ten people anonymously or not so much ;) because you never know who might benefit from spreading positivity <3

i was saving this for a day i would need it and today is that day!

1) old people! they're so funny and many of them tell great stories. there's the stereotype old people are all evil stabby crabbys but most of the ones i know are sweet and even the ones who are stab crabs typically don't mean to be.

2) pictures of cats. you know this, lol. cats are the best.

3) the cake my fam got for my birthday. it was jack skellington's head. 💀

4) my grandma's laugh. recently i ran into a lake with all my clothes on, came home and grabbed her in a very wet hug. she scream-laughed so loud it made my ear ring and i would do it again 100%.

5) puns!!! gosh puns are fun.

these are the five things i am going to think about today instead of the unproductive circular cockroach devil thoughts my mind keeps trying to fixate on. cute old people, thoughtfully personalized cake, feline faces, grandma's deafening scream-laugh, and silly wordplay. ❤

[foxgirlontherun]

🧡 what's something that made you laugh out loud this past week?

I didn't mean to answer this so late, I didn't get the notification about it. I'm sorry! 🧡 I took my siblings out to dinner to celebrate birthdays and name days (it's a thing in Hungary). My brother (16) was the clown of the bunch that night, and made all of us laugh, even the waitresses who worked that night. For example, I was wearing sword-shaped earrings and we had a mini-sword-fight with them. <3

[biillys]

snippet, summary, something for these please! and I added my own commentary.

summer but brba summer but WHAT now?

nooo one is haunted? loves me? this feels like a fill-in-the-blank :)

hwbthm what does this mean?

happiest sad girl okay okay you're speaking my language

worlds worst employee pls be about Billy in a cat cafe or something

fire and grace great title, I am curious!

summer ***** is this the naughty version of "summer"?

kdjfhkjsdahk luc i Love you. thankyou 🥺 this is atrociously long because i love to ramble and can not just simply post a simple paragraph at a time, instead posting entire scenes. i am SORRY.

also i apparently write a lot about characters dying and getting killed and murder also there's mentions of abortion and miscarriage also there's child abuse and child sexual absue. so trigger warnings for all that. starting to realise i really do not write fluff

summer but brba:

okay before i can be like. summer but breaking bad! i first need to explain Summer. which is my twd au aka my lil baby my actual heartbeat the Love of my life etc. and then the brba part is like. not actual very breaking bad at all. it's just me borrowing one character from it because i feel like todd makes a Good and Interesting villain who i could like. mold into the character i wanted for certain purposes becos i'm not creative enough to make oc's. and it was easier to differentiate between the different summer fics by key words, hence = but brba.

anyway! it's bascially a fucked up version where instead of just having a shitty childhood with neil as a father and a phantom dream of a mother, he also has todd as an uncle. he's technically not related and more a guy his dad knew from a friend of a friend in the army, but somehow todd starts coming over for dinner, hanging out on friday nights, and before billy knows it, he's staying at todd's shitty ranch on the weekends, when neil's gotta work the late shift and doesn't trust billy to be home alone unsupervised for an extra 2 hours. so, todd's a fucking creep, and billy learns that the hard way, and he tries to tell neil once, and that goes over as well as expected, so he just grins and bears it, and he thinks maybe susan will pick up on shit when she enters the picture, except she looks the other way at most things, so billy's like. just super fucked up and ready for the end of the world when it hits, because why wouldn't the world end when he's already at rock bottom.

then, instead of just billy, max, and neil surviving into the end of the world, good old uncle todd tags along, too. they head to the quarry together, survive on the road together, outlive the prison together, then everyone gets separated. billy, neil, and todd end up with the claimers, and shit really hits rock bottom for billy. long story short–rick rips a guys throat out with his teeth, daryl and michonne take a few men down in a blood bath, and billy slits his dad's throat and stabs his uncle to death.

“hey, what you did last night, what billy did,” daryl brings up, “anybody would’ve done that.”

“no, not that,” rick shoots down.

“something happened,” daryl bites his lip, “that ain’t you, ain’t either of you.”

“daryl, you saw what i did to tyreese,” rick points out. “it ain’t all that, but that’s me. that’s why i’m here now, that’s why carl is. i gotta keep him safe. that’s all that matters.” rick nods calmly, accepting himself in ways he never thought he’d be able to. “i don’t know what went down with billy and his dad, or his uncle, but whatever did, i’m choosing to believe that what happened last night, was what was needed.”

“it was,” daryl replies, no hesitation. “neil, we knew about, but todd...” daryl trails off, staring unseeingly at the trees in front of him. 

“if billy didn’t, i would’ve,” daryl finishes.

rick nods. “that’s what matters. that’s all that matters, now.”

michonne joins them eventually, then carl, billy remaining passed out in the backseat. daryl feels like he should be out hunting, should be providing something, anything, for these people, but can’t bring himself to leave again. it was different that morning, ducking away to find some water, the sun barely peaking over the horizon, but now in the broad daylight, looking at the bodies and the blood littered all over the pavement, he feels rooted to the spot. 

he couldn’t save beth, but billy’s alive, and carl’s alive, and rick’s here. michonne’s here. they’re still alive, they’re still here. he’s gotta find a way to make that count.

nooo one:

I MEAN. u are not wrong ahfkdshkfja it's a supernatural inspired au because i rewatched s1-3 recently (and am still psyching myself up to continue but i need to emotionally prepare for cas lmao) and was like. i'll incorporate that into my blorbo. hell yeah.

thinks, when it's all about to be over–she should've fucking left.

it's a djinn that gets her in the end. it doesn't kill her, barely even harms her. just shows her a world where everything's right. a world where it's just her and billy, living happily and peacefully, no hunting, no pain, and no neil. a world where they take their daily walks to the beach, and billy's smile is brighter than the sun, his laugh contagious, and she's happy. happier than she ever realised she could be.

so when neil rescues her, untying her hands and brushing the hair out of her eyes, all she can do is look for billy. she finds him straight away, her eyes zeroing in on him standing just behind his father, silver knife dripping with more than just animal blood, and he's clutching it in his shaking hands, looking up at her with wide, terrified eyes.

she exhales out then collapses forward, choking on a sob and shoving neil out of the way to grab at him, and billy lets the knife clutter to the ground to rush to her, running straight into her open arms.

"it's okay. it's okay, baby," she murmurs into his ear, one hand shakily running down his back, the other buried in his hair. "we're okay. i'm okay. you're gonna be okay, i promise, baby."

billy buries his face into her neck and cries, and she holds him tighter, keeping up the stream of reassurances as she does.

+

neil waits around billy's door on the fourth night, hiding just out of sight, and listens to their bedtime routine. hears his wife read a story, then a second one, the cave and read a third, before she sings him her favourite song. he listens as billy finally settles, and thinks, she'll be out any minute, and he'll make her talk. get to the bottom of why she hasn't looked him in the eye since he saved her.

she doesn't come out, instead she starts talking again, so softly neil can barely hear, but he takes a step closer, then another step, until he's as close as he can be without being found, and if he holds his breath, he can just make out what shes saying.

"i'm gonna get us out of here, okay, sweetheart, i promise you. it's just gonna be me and you."

"just you and me?" billy murmurs back just as softly.

"just me and you. and we're gonna be so so happy, baby. no more monsters, no more blood, or knives, or hunting. just us, and the beach, and the sun, and so much ice-cream."

neil hears the way her voice goes fake serious at the end, the way billy giggles and she laughs, before the bed creaks and they settle again.

"no dad?" billy questions quietly after a minute.

neil listens to the silence that hangs in the air at the question, waiting for her response, but whatever she says gets lost in the space between them, because he never hears the answer.

he hears billy, though.

"just me and you," he says, sounding like he's repeating what he's hearing, almost completely asleep.

"yeah, baby. just me and you."

neil stands in the hallway for a minute longer, then quietly slips away, grabbing himself a drink from the bottle in the cupboard and making himself at home in his chair, drinking himself to sleep. he'll deal with this mess tomorrow.

anddddddd then neil murders her the next night in the kitchen and makes billy deal with the body becos apparently i love to make billy suffer? uh billy stealing her necklace and keeping it on his person for the rest of time, her being stuck haunting him but never being able to reach him, billy figuring out young that if he gets high–if the hospital gives him the Good Stuff–he can still see her. neil dragging billy all over the country to kill monsters, meeting susan and max on a hunt, and moving to hawkins when the kids are in their teens becos some hunters are making some noise about kids going missing, kids with superpowers, and fucking magnets? also, billy befriending demodogs.

hwbthm:

heaven wasn't built to hold me aka a banger song by four year strong! uh basically susan grows a spine au kind of? neil loses his job and starts hitting the bottle and susan finally reaches her limit.

“that’s enough,” she says, her voice only cracking slightly.

billy’s on the floor, glass cuts on his arms and hands from where he’s scrambled himself back against the kitchen cabinets, blood flowing from his nose and from a cut on his forehead, watching on with wide eyes. he never thought she’d have it in her.

“that’s enough!” she repeats, louder and stronger this time, finally getting neil’s full attention. 

neil turns to her and there’s absolutely no sign of neil, her loving husband, the man she married. this version of neil is all sharp edges, hard words, scornful looks. there’s no mercy in his eyes, and no softness to plead with.

“what was that, susan?” neil asks slowly, calmly. billy wants to yell at her, tell her it’s a trap, that it’s the calm before the storm, to tread carefully. but, in the end, he knows speaking up now would escalate things, probably for the worse, so he keeps silent and hopes that she could read his face for that one moment she spared him a glance.

“get out,” she says.

not exactly the careful treading billy was hoping for, but still enough of a surprise to buy them all a few moments of peace. billy’ll take it.

“get out?” neil repeats, incredulously.

“get. out.” susan says back, looking stronger with every word.

neil goes to respond, starting to take a step towards her, when she cuts him off.

“i’m done,” she starts, “i want you out. out of this house, out of our life, just- out. i need you to leave, right now. get out.”

billy swings an arm up to the edge of the counter and tries to pull himself up, terrified of this spiralling out of control even more but like, if susan can grow a fucking spine, then he can stand on his own two damn feet.

“now, susan, let’s just talk first,” neil responds slowly, edging closer and closer towards her.

susan moves to stand between max and neil, right in front of the kitchen table, before pulling out her phone. “you take one more step closer, and i’m calling the chief.”

she doesn’t pull up the call app or even unlock the phone, and billy thinks she’s bluffing, but then neil let’s out a humourless laugh and takes another step forward, and susan seems to have the chief’s number up and ready, finger posed over the dial button, before billy could even blink.  

max is up and edging around the table, trying to be at the ready, waiting for shit to hit the fan again at any minute.

susan holds a hand out behind her to keep max back, and focuses her attention back on neil.

“get out,” she says, “now.”

“susan-” neil tries, but she’s not having any of it.

“take your shit, and leave, now, neil. i mean it,” the hand she was using to stop max in her tracks is now flung out and pointed at the front door, and billy’s gotta hand it to her, she’s got guts. billy never saw this coming. he honestly thought that if she ever stood up to neil and came through for them, it would because max finally copped it. never realised susan gave that much of a shit about him.

neil licks his lip and rubs his jaw, eyes flicking back to billy, then the phone in susan's hand, before settling back on his wife.

“get your shit, we’re leaving,” he says, eyes and voice emotionless.

it takes a second for billy to realise he’s talking to him, and less than a second to realise what it means. billy stays exactly where he is though, leaning on the counter and clutching his side, waiting for susan to jump in again.

susan won’t look at him.

“billy,” neil repeats, “now.” 

susan still doesn’t say anything, and max breaks the silence with a ‘mom- you can’t actually-’ before susan silences her with a hand held up, the universal gesture of stop.

“billy!” neil yells, and billy finally gets his feet steady underneath him, ready to move.

“mom, are you serious?! billy’ll-” max tries again, but susan cuts her off.

“max, not now, please.”

“pack your shit, billy, we’re going,” neil states, not taking his eyes off susan for the entire exchange.

neil eventually walks off into the direction of his and susan’s bedroom, leaving just the mayfield’s and billy in the kitchen.

susan’s got her eyes closed and a hand over her chest like she’s trying to calm her racing heart. billy waits to see if she’s gonna say anything, even acknowledge him, but the longer the minute drags out, the heavier it sits that susan finally kicked neil to the curb, and in doing that, he’s getting kicked out too. 

holy fuck, looks like she can follow in his mothers foot steps. smaller, slightly different steps, but same end destination. billy and neil, alone again. 

uhhh then billy and neil ending up at the trailer park, susan and max getting some small shitty apartment, and billy too Emotional to reach out to max, and max not even knowing how to reach out to billy, so they don't, until billy drives past max walking home from school one day, no skateboard in sight, so he slows down and pulls up beside her, and she barely ackowleges him, except she still gets in the car, and he drops her home. and then it becomes a thing, and it takes them three trips to even speak to each other outside of giving directions, and then idk. this is already too long but like. more stuff happens kjshdskjhad

happiest sad girl:

feel like this title is very misleading becos it was just a lyric from the song i had on repeat at the time of coming up with this au. shout out to lights lmao but. this is a good ol' susan and neil have a baby au! which i have not seen around anywhere else but i think it'd be actually terrible in a fun to think about kind of way.

By the time Billy makes it out to the kitchen the next morning, Max and Neil have already left, leaving just him and Susan. He doesn’t know whether he’s meant to have found like, peace or whatever, during the night, and should be congratulating her, or if he’s allowed to make a quick escape, but she seems just as off balance as he is, so instead of splitting straight away, he opens the fridge and looks around.

Billy spent a truly fucking absurd amount of time googling baby shit last night once he was in his room. Probably not actually that much time, if you compared the amount with a new expectant mother, but for an almost 18 year old? It’s gonna fuck up his targeted ads for sure. Him and Max also texted well into the morning, sometimes links, sometimes questions, but mostly just ‘what the Fuck’s, and Billy’s came back to the same conclusion as he originally had, that none of this makes any fucking sense. He thinks that maybe if he could just talk to Susan, without his dad there, then maybe something might actually fucking click.

He closes the fridge eventually after it starts to beep and he’s let basically all the cold air out, deciding to just grab a granola bar from the cupboard, then he turns to lean against the counter. Susan still hasn’t looked at him, and he knows she hates it when he leaves the fridge door open for so long only to not get anything out, so he waits for her to take the bait, but she says nothing, just continues pottering around.

“You like, feelin’ okay?” he asks awkwardly, once it looks like she’s truly not gonna start the conversation herself. “Morning sickness is a thing for you right now, right?” He scratches the back of his neck.

Hollywood movies are dramatised, he knows, but surely they don’t put girls throwing up and announcing pregnancies together in every movie for it to be complete horseshit.

Susan stops scrubbing at the stove top to look at him, finally, but she just gives him a tight smile and goes back to scrubbing.

“Right, okay, I’ll just go-” he starts, still awkward, and grabs the granola wrapper whilst pushing off the bench, “I’ll just go fuck myself, then,” he finishes lamely, mainly to himself.

“The morning sickness hasn’t been too bad,” Susan starts, finally taking the olive branch for what it was, “It was worse with Max, I think.”

Billy stops in the doorway and turns around and nods, because he doesn’t actually have a reply for that. He doesn’t know, like, fucking baby small talk. Susan turns to put some bread in the toaster, and then they’re both just standing there, so far out of their fucking depth, that Billy wants to laugh, but he’s genuinely terrified it might actually make her cry, so. He keeps his shit together.

Susan’s toast comes up quick, because she’s a freak who likes it barely cooked, just warmed, and then she’s sitting at the table where this entire mess started, and then Billy realises that this isn’t where it started for her, which, fuck. Okay. He can do this.

“So,” he starts, aiming for casual, making himself comfortable leaning against the doorframe, “you want another kid,” and it comes out more of a statement than a question, but Susan still nods all the same.

“Like, you genuinely wanna do the baby thing again?” He checks again, because, that just doesn’t make any fucking sense to him. She actually says ‘yes�� this time, a verbal confirmation, but her face is nervous, and she’s trying so hard to look okay, like she’s living the dream, but Billy just can’t let it go. “But why?”

“Don’t you want a little brother or sister, a little Mini You or Mini Max?” she asks, and fuck no.

“Fuck no,” Billy dismisses quickly, “I barely like myself most days and god knows we don’t need another fucking Max.” 

Susan looks at him sadly, like she cares, and Billy’s stomachs doing that thing where it keeps twisting in on itself, making him feel like he’s gonna be sick.

“So you want another kid, why not get a dog or some shit?” Billy quickly gets the subject back on track, away from himself, and waits while Susan catches up.

She looks speechless for a moment, before finding her voice. 

“That’s hardly the same thing, Billy, please tell me you know that,” she says, and she’s looking at him like she genuinely thinks he believes those things are interchangeable.

“Okay, then, why now?” he cuts to, because outside of the entire ‘what the fuck’ of it all, that’s the only other burning question both him and Max have. Why now, when Billy’s got one foot out the door, and Max is close on his heels. Why now, when they’re still shit broke from the move from the west coast to Fucking Nowhere, Indiana. Why now?

Susan won’t look at him, just starts fiddling with her toast and gathering up crumbs. 

“It just happened, and it seemed right,” she says softly, and Billy knows his dad’s a fucking piece of shit, but the longer Susan won’t even meet his eye, can’t even string a believable lie together to take cover in, the more Billy starts to worry that maybe his dad’s like, a cut the head off, bury the body, never speak about it again, kind of fucking piece of shit.

“Did- did my dad, like,” Billy starts, then quickly sits in the seat beside her, “if he forced you, or-” he tries again, but Susan’s finally looking at him, and-

“No! No, nothing like that,” she says, and it's the strongest her voice has sounded in the past 24 hours. “It genuinely was just…” she stops, then starts again after a breath, “an accident. A happy accident,” she repeats, sounding firm.

Billy leans back in his chair and rubs at his eyes, ‘cause while he’s glad his dad’s not a complete fucking monster, it still leaves the question of why. Susan’s doing a pretty bang up job of playing the part of wanting to expand the family, except for how she totally fucking sucks at it.

“Do you want this?” he asks after they’ve sat there for another few moments, because he may have asked it in a few different ways already, but he feels like he needs to ask again. “If you genuinely want this, I promise I'll crawl off your dick about it, try keep Max in line, too. But like, do you actually want this, Susan?”

Susan swallows, and can’t meet his eyes.

“There’s a clinic,” he broaches gently, trying not to spook her, “they’re open in an hour. I can take the morning off work, drive you out there. Accidents happen all the time, especially with advanced maternal age pregnancies,” he raises his eyebrows at her when she looks at him with surprise. “Yeah, I google shit.”

Susan's still playing with the toast, ripping the crusts to shreds, and Billy feels like this nightmare could be over so soon, if he could just get her to agree.

“Neil won’t have to know. It’ll just be a tragic accident, another baby lost to the first trimester. You’ll be okay,” he keeps going, “it doesn’t even hurt, I don’t think. They’re like, professional and shit.” Billy thinks maybe he should've done a little more research for this part, outside of the opening hours and availabilities for today, but he’s hoping if she has any questions, he can just offer to book the appointment and ask then.

Susan’s not saying anything, but she’s also not reacting the way Billy thought she would. He honestly was expecting instant refusal, possibly even shock. Maybe a slap across the face, or surprise, even. Instead, she just looks sad, and a little resigned.

They sit there for another few moments, and Billy’s glad he switched with Heather and isn’t on open today, because this entire mornings taking a hell of a lot longer than Billy planned.

“Susan?” he asks quietly, waiting.

That seems to snap her out of it, and she gathers her plate and stands, then walks to the bin to throw the leftovers out. Billy stands too, and leans against the table, watching her wash her plate and leaving it in the rack to air dry.

“Neil got home early,” she says eventually, and Billy’s got no fucking idea where this is going.

He shrugs, makes a ‘go on’ gesture, even though Susans not even looking his way, and Susan just repeats the same thing.

“Neil got home early.”

“Yeah, I got that,” he says, because he’s not fucking following.

“I suspected, so I took the test, and by the time I realised he was home, he was standing in the doorway, and then the timer went off,” she’s facing him now, and she doesn’t look nervous or scared, just frustrated. “It was positive. And Neil was beside me, and he said that maybe this could be a good thing. Good for us.”

“Neil says a lot of things,” Billy says slowly, “they’re mostly all shit, though.”

Susan breathes out a laugh, then goes back to looking frustrated and slightly miserable.

“I don’t get it,” Billy says, because he doesn’t. “Neil said it was gonna be a great time, so you said ‘sure, let’s have a fucking baby!’, simple as that?”

“He came home early,” she repeats, looking at Billy like she’s begging him to understand.

“Yeah,” Billy says hotly, “he’s annoying like that. He’s done it to me, too.”

She sighs, and Billy wishes she would just fucking spit it out already, because it feels big, and he just wants to fucking understand.

“He came home early, and I didn’t have time to deal with it,” she expands, and now the pictures coming together for Billy, finally. 

Billy makes a wordless noise, and probably looks like he does when he tries to do math, ‘cause that shit’s confusing, but he’s trying to understand. “He came home early, and you didn’t have time to deal with it,” he repeats, “because, you have dealt with it, before.”

Susan nods, looking relieved, although still miserable.

“You-” he starts, pointing at her, then gestures vaguely to her stomach, “you’ve done this before?”

“Well, I’m not dealing with it this time, but…” she trails off.

“But, you have,” he states, then “once, before?” he asks, fully expecting to get shut down.

“Twice,” she corrects

Billy lets that sit for a second, because, holy fuck, okay.

“Okay, well. Then you know what to do, right?” It's been a wild 12 hours, but Billy’s starting to think it’s gonna get back on track.

Susan looks at him sadly again, like he’s still not getting it, but Billy got it, okay, Billy fully fucking understood it. Neil interrupted her before she could fix it quickly and quietly, but with a bit of figuring out, she should still be able to sort it.

“I’m keeping the baby, Billy,” she says, and Billy wants to bang his head against a wall.

“Okay, but why!” He doesn’t even give a shit anymore about sounding like a fucking child, just wants to understand.

She’s got tears in her eyes again, and Billy’s pretty sure he started this morning with trying to not make her cry, but now he really doesn’t give a damn. She sniffles, and tries to smile at him. 

“Because Neil said it could be a good thing, that we could be a family, and-” she cuts herself off and crosses her arms, hugging herself, “and I believe him.”

“‘The fuck are me and Max then?” Billy throws back, “not a good thing? Not your fucking family?” he questions, getting heated.

Susan’s shaking her head, but Billy’s finished with this conversation.

“I have to go to work, have fun being sick, or whatever.” He doesn’t slam the door on the way out, because he’s not Max, but it’s a near thing.

anyway basiacally the summary here is neil and susan have a baby. somehow that's billy's problem. ft him and max literally getting their lives together for reasons they never even considered before

worlds worst employee:

akjdhkjas i am sorry to disappoint but it is Not billy in a cat cafe although that idea sounds amazing please write it! uh it is literally something i have had in my drafts since literally september 2020 and is basically just billy and max going back to california, max for college and billy just because he Needs to. then billy finding the job market is Shit and he has no credentials to his name, no certificates or real experience anywhere aside from lifeguarding, only just scraped through and graduated high school, and fuck him—he is not doing college. so. he goes into hospitality and retail, and builds himself up to be employee of the fucking month despite his foul language and his general bad mood because he's annoyingly good at pretty much anything, and then when he can't be fucked with that job anymore he gets himself fired in usually a very public and spectacular way, then rinse and repeat at the next job. the only job he keeps and puts real effort into is the bar job he managed to score, because it's actually decent, and the tips are killer. also mandy milkovich is there becos i think they should be besties and i think i was watching the ep where she works at that fast food place with the shitty uniform and hat etc and was like. her and billy would raise absolutel hell together. i need them terrorising customers stat.

fire and grace:

title from the hilltop hoods ft ruel song of the same name because she Fits and i lover her

anyway! billy and hopper body swap! pretty sure i already posted a snippet literally again back in like 2020 and have barely touched it since, but! still fun!

"is max safe?" maybe if hop tried a different angle. 

billy laughs humorlessly, spinning the glass in his hand, "max is the golden child."

"yeah? heard she didn't even get grounded after that night at the byers."

billy flinches, looking up at hopper, then lowering his eyes again.

"covered for her. big brother of the fucking year," he makes a half hearted cheering motion with one arm before letting it fall back on to his knee.

"that was kind of you,” hopper keeps fishing, knows billy’s gonna clam up for good any minute now, “looking out for her like that." he sits back in his chair.

"yeah, well. she wouldn't last a fucking day in my shoes," billy stands abruptly and starts to pace the small cell before stopping in front of him.

"so, am i in here all night, chief, or are you gonna drop me home now," billy starts drumming his hands on the bars. "not that this heart to heart hasn't been everything school mandated therapy promised me, but you’ve got a kid to go home to, i’ve got a bed to go home to," billy gestures between them, then starts drumming again. "so, what's it gonna be, sir?"

hopper sighs, knows his window of getting anything from billy is more or less closed, and reaches to get the keys.

billy tracks the movement then grins at him. "good choice, old man."

hopper stops to give him a dry look, then unlocks the door, letting billy swing it open. billy swaggers out like he runs the place, finishes the coke still sitting on hop’s desk, and grabs his phone, wallet, and keys. "shotgun," he calls over his shoulder, heading towards the door.

"so,” hopper starts, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye, “max wouldn't last a day in your shoes, huh?" they're two streets away from billy’s house, but hop'll be damned if he doesn't give it one last go.

billy hmm’s, staring out the window, giving hopper a quick glance back and a one shouldered shrug.

"so, what? when you leave town and i'm just meant to keep an extra eye out? let her stay in the drunk tank every now and again like i let you. cover for her when she sneaks out with sinclair?" hop's got one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand gesturing around as he talks.

"told her to break it off with sinclair, that’s on her if it blows up in her face. besides," billy says tiredly, before turning to grin at him, his eyes turning ugly, "you wouldn't last a day in my shoes either, chief.”

they're on cherry lane now, and hop knows the second billy walks out, it’s all over. billy will pretend that everything said tonight was never spoken. 

“so, you walking me to the front door? no lights on in the house, i could probably sneak in,” billy's leaning down and casing the house, talking more to himself than hop by then end of the sentence.

hop looks at him and looks at the hand clenching on the door handle, the other hand tapping away on his leg, having not stopped once this entire drive.

“your shoes gonna be easier to walk in tomorrow if i let you sneak in?”

“yes, sir,” billy’s face still looks hard, but at the prospect of being able to sneak in, it eases up a little.

hopper sits there for a minute before nodding, unlocking the car with the button on his side.

AND THEN they wake up the next morning having switched bodies. they last a few days before max finally corners billy (hopper) and makes him fess up, because hop didnt realise how fucking terrifying 13 yr old girls could be. el's a fucking saint compared to this hellraiser. max believes them instantly because hop's a terrible actor and after watching chief hopper aka billy stroll into benny's and use his badge and his flirting skills to get free drinks, she's like, yeah thats absolutely some bullshit billy would pull, you don't even need to convince me. also have some vague lil snippets of a bodyswap au between billy & max and also billy & karen because i think they could be literally so fucking. SATISFYING and interesting to like. pick apart and think about askfjhkajds

summer *****:

SAHDFLASHFLKDAHSLKHSAL like. no. maybe? no. it's summer mpreg aka my twd au but ya boi gets knocked up because i AM a simple girl for mpreg and i was TRYING to write twd au as something that i could like. post and publish publicly without being a freak about it but i got like 20k in and was like. actually i'm writing this for myself and EYE wanna see mpreg because it would make ME happy. so i started again and summer ***** is a lot longer than it's orignial self and i haven't touched that version since i started this one oops kjwsafhkasjk

tbf technicallyyyyyyy billy dies like. one day after he figures out he's knocked up. so it's like. is it really mpreg? but then the time travel fix it part comes into effect and it's like yeahhhhh it fuckin is.

uhhh billy max and neil make it to the quarry, billy and daryl are barely on each others rader until the claimers, but they get close after that. get even closer after rick dies, and billy refuses to let daryl move out to his little camp of loneliness alone. don't get together till like 11 yrs into the apocolypse aka reaper era baby!

Billy’s still in bed when Daryl gets in from watch.

“You good?” he asks, unbuttoning his shirt and roughhousing with Dog, who's bouncing around now that there's someone to play with.

“Yo, you good?” he asks again when Billy doesn't reply, throwing his shirt at him.

He still doesn't answer, so Daryl makes his way over to Billy’s unofficial side of the bed, scratching Dog’s ears from where he’s jumped up to lay with him, his head resting on Billy’s hip, and squats down on the ground a bit.

“‘Sup?” he says, ‘cause he’s never gonna be good at this relationship shit, and it’s still so fucking new–barely weeks old–but he knows he wants to fucking try.

Billy huffs a laugh, then his face closes off again, and he tells him to fuck off. 

“Fuckin’ burnin’ daylight, man,” he says, not really knowing what else to say. For as lazy as Billy claims to be, he’s never really been the type to lay around all day, even when they had the luxury of it. 

Somethin’ ain’t right. Daryl can feel it.

“Feel sick,” Billy finally mumbles out.

Daryl’s seen Billy fight in wars, covered in blood and bruises and guts, then try and build a dollhouse the next day, all because Holly, Judith, and Gracie asked. Seen him throw up from concussions, walk miles and miles and miles on a sprained ankle, carry multiple backpacks with broken ribs, and do it all with barely a flicker of pain crossing his face.

He feels his heart drop, because if Billy's sick, and sick enough to stay in bed and admit to it, then he’s probably fuckin’ already dead.

“You bit?” Daryl rushes, ripping the quilt cover off him, only for Billy to grip it tight and pull it back up.

“Not fucking bit, jesus christ,” he yells, lifting his head off the pillow finally. “‘The fuck would I be laying here for, if I was fuckin’ bit?”

“Hell would I know! You're the one in bed whingin’ ‘bout bein’ sick,” Daryl throws back, leaning back against the wall, still squating.

Billy doesn't bother replying again, just pulls the quilt up higher then sniffles hard.

“You like, regular sick? Or bad sick?” Daryl questions after they've both been silent for a while. Doesn't even expect Billy to reply, but for once, Daryl can't take the quiet.

“Depends,” Billy says thickly, then swallows like he’s trying not to cry.

Daryl waits him out, but Billy seems to not give a fuck that he’s currently keeping him on the verge of a heart attack, and doesn't elaborate.

“Give me somethin’ to work with here, man,” Daryl basically begs.

Billy brings a hand up to his face and rubs roughly at his eyes, Dog jumping off to sit in between Daryl’s legs, before he sits up slowly. He bends his knees slightly and leans forward to rest his arms on them, then lets his head drop forward but turns his face to look at Daryl. Dog rests his head on the edge of the bed, looking up at him.

“Threw up most the night, which, whatever, fine. Super chill. Except for the fact I threw up most the night before, too. And the night before that, and the night fucking before that, and basically all last week, and everytime I eat, I feel sick, and fucking everything’s making me nauseous, and right now the smell of Dog might actually kill me, and I swear to fucking god, Daryl, if you knocked me the fuck up–” he chokes, swiping at his eyes and breathing heavily, “you’ll be hearing from my fucking laywers,” Billy ends with, looking suddenly fucking exhausted.

Daryl’s brain short circuits, and he finally slides down the wall to sit properly on the floor, stroking Dog’s back absentmindedly.

“Who the fuck are your lawyers?” he starts with, before shaking his head. Magna, probably. Kelly, too. “That ain’t fuckin’ possible. We’re guys. Don’t got the equipment for that shit.”

Except, there’s been rumours and stories for months now, maybe even years. Of guys getting pregnant. Most dying before reaching full term, body not quite adapting to it the way it should. He’s only heard one story of it being successful and the baby and dad surviving. Two, if you count the one where only the baby made it. Feels lightheaded at the possibility of it, and can feel the heat and sweat prickle his skin.

“Yeah, well. Welcome to the apocalypse. Evolution’s a bitch,” Billy states plainly, throwing his hand out loosely before hanging his head between his arms.

Dog jumps up then, nudging his head forward to lick Billy’s face, and Billy dry heaves on the spot. Daryl quickly grabs Dog and pulls him down, and watches Billy pull himself back together, mask back on.

Billy looks up at Daryl, eyes wet but face emotionless, and shrugs. “So. That’s where we’re at right now.”

Daryl doesn't reply this time. Doesn't have a fucking clue what to say. Can count on one hand how many times him and Billy have even had sex, because this shit’s new, and so so fucking fragile, and now–

Now, Billy could be staring down the barrel of a gun for the next nine months, and no one's gonna be able to pull him out of the line of fire.

“Can we just like–get rid of it?” Daryl asks, ‘cause surely thats fuckin’ safer than whatever this could turn into.

“Jerry said that the couple that stopped by the Kingdom tried that. Still died,” Billy sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Body doesn't know what the fuck it’s doing. Just gotta–” he stumbles, taking in a deep breath before continuing, “just gotta let it run it's course. See what fucking happens,” he finishes, voice cracking and eyes glassy.

They sit there, then, the only sound being Dog panting from his spot lying beside Daryl on the floor. Billy eventually lays back down and pulls the covers up, facing the ceiling. Daryl sits there a moment longer, then pushes himself up. Can't really deal with the possibility of Billy dying–of being the reason he’s gonna die. Grabs his shirt from where it’s fallen to the ground and shrugs it back on.

“The hell are you going?” Billy asks, watching Daryl pour some dog food in Dog’s bowl before heading towards the stairs.

“I need a fuckin’ minute,” he throws over his shoulder, then walks out.

If he had known that that was gonna be one of the last times he’d ever see Billy alive, he never would've left. Would've gotten into bed with him instead, told him some shit about how it was gonna be okay, that they’d work it out. It wouldn't even be bullshit, ‘cause Daryl would've done anything for it to be true.

Instead, he walks out onto the street, finds himself getting dragged into the plan to deal with the Reapers, and by the time he sees Billy next, it’s too late.

He watches Billy die a night later.

+

They’re running.

Daryl can feel the trees flying past, his lungs on fire, and the Reapers gaining ground. Thinks, he can’t fucking die yet. Billy’ll fucking kill him. He’s still got shit to do. He focuses forward and sees Maggie a ways ahead, Negan somewhere off to his side, and knows it’s gonna be close.

Can hear Billy’s voice in his head, yelling about how this was a stupid fucking plan.

As far as he’s concerned, it’s the only fucking plan.

They slow down eventually, after they’ve put some distance between them and the ones chasing them, and stop in a clearing. Maggie’s already there and waiting, bent over and trying to catch her breath.

“Think we’re clear?”

Daryl takes a second to look behind him, having not heard anything for at least the last few miles, and shoots her a grim look. He can’t be sure. The Reapers were always good at coming out of fucking nowhere.

Negan stumbles in a moment later, and they all take a minute to get themselves sorted and figure out the next best course of action.

“Probably should’ve gone with the kid’s plan, ‘cause this shit? This shit is not fucking working,” Negan complains, leaning against a tree. “I don’t run for my Iife, okay, people run from me.”

“Shut the fuck up, man,” Daryl says, barely sparing him a glance, before taking in where they are. “We’re still too close, gotta move. Let’s go.”

They barely make it a foot out of the clearing before the Reapers are surrounding them from all sides. One comes up behind Maggie and drags her into the middle, another herding Negan in close, and two more close in on Daryl.

“Found this one by himself,” they hear from behind, and Daryl feels dread settle in his veins. They all struggle to turn, trying to shake off the hands holding them in place, and once turned, Daryl feels his entire body stop. Looks at the struggling body being held captive by Pope–taking in the hood over their head, the rings on their fingers, the shitty tattoo on their wrist, and the way they refuse to stay fucking still, even when completely in the shit–and he knows. “One of yours, I presume?”

He hears Maggie let out a sob from beside him, and Negan let out a quiet ‘well, shit.’

“What was the plan, may I ask, because you have to know we’re smarter than this.” Pope questions.

This wasn’t the fucking plan, Daryl wants to yell. They vetoed this plan. Billy pitched it, tried to bang on about how he could bait the Reapers out and buy them all some time, and him and Maggie fucking benched him for it. 

He should be back at Alexandria and in bed, because he’s sick. 

Not here, in the middle of the fucking woods–in the middle of fucking Reaper territory–with some old fuck gripping him around the throat and some other freak holding an honest to god grim reaper axe behind his back.

Billy shouldn’t be here right now, is all his mind can think.

Daryl looks at him and suddenly feels the weight of their unfinished conversation from yesterday sit heavy on his chest. Billy said he was basically already dead, and Daryl fucking walked. Had to, ‘cause he knew he wasn't thinking clearly. His mind going ‘round in circles trying to figure out how to salvage this mess. Knows that the only thing walking out did was piss Billy off, but fuck. It felt like the smartest choice at the time. What did Billy expect? Daryl to handle that shit rationality? Like him dropping the fact that he was pregnant–a fucking death sentence in this world–and that he was going to lose him, was something he could just roll with. 

He needed a fucking minute.

Shit, he still needs a fucking minute. 

Looking at him now, Daryl realises there's a chance he’s gonna lose him anyway. 

“Just–please…” Maggie starts, knowing damn well they have no bargaining power.

Pope casts a look at the guy holding the axe beside him, and Daryl barely has a second to prepare himself before the axe is sticking out of Billy’s chest, his muffled screams bouncing off the trees.

“No!” Maggie yells, and Daryl feels like this has to be a nightmare. Like if he could just wake up, it would be yesterday, and he could do the day right. 

He just needs to go back to yesterday, and wake the fuck up.

Pope takes that moment to rip the hood off Billy’s head, then yank the improvised mouth gag off as well. Billy stumbles forward a bit, adjusting to the small amount of light, before Pope pulls him back roughly and he has to scramble to get his feet under himself.

Daryl sees the moment he realises how fucked he is. Watches his eyes widen when he sees them all lined up in front of him, his eyes scanning the clearing and finding all the Reapers scattered around. He looks down at his chest then, taking in the axe that’s poking out, and looks back up.

“Think both our plans were shit, to be fair,” he chokes out, and Daryl’s actually gonna kill him, when they all survive this. 

If they all survive this.

“We’re not here to make a deal with you, or to come to an agreement. You killed some of ours, now we’ll kill one of yours. Not the fairest of trades, but it’ll do for tonight.” Pope narrates, and Daryl barely has time to blink before another Reaper is stepping out of the dark, pulling out a sword. He hears more than sees what happens next, and is lunging forward to get to Billy before he can stop himself.

Negan yanks him back at the last second, somehow breaking free from his own hostage holder, and Daryl can only watch on as the sword now buried straight through Billy’s gut drips fresh blood, piercing him from behind. Billy screams, loud and unforgiving and shaking the whole damn forest, his legs giving out. Pope’s grip holds strong, though, and Billy doesn’t even have a chance to fall. He lets out another yell as he gets his feet under him, the weapons in his chest and torso pulling, and stares at the growing blood stain over his stomach, his shoulders jerking like he’s doing everything he can to free his arms.

Daryl can’t fucking breath.

The entire forest is silent except for Billy’s cries of pain, and his own and Maggie’s crying. Didn’t even know he was crying, until now.

Slowly, Billy looks up at him, his face fucking shattered.

Daryl knows then and there that this is it. Can see the grief in his eyes, like he’s already begging for forgiveness, and suddenly Daryl’s fucking furious.

He wasn’t even supposed to be here tonight. Maggie already told him exactly what she thought of his plan, and Daryl went off at him the second she finished. 

It was a shitty fucking plan.

And if he had just fucking listened, he would be safe right now. 

He would be home.

Billy coughs up some blood then, and all the anger drains right back out of him.

“It’s okay,” Billy chokes out, tears streaming down his face and trying to smile around the blood pooling in his mouth and dripping down his chin. “I’m okay.”

He coughs again, and Daryl wants to tell him to stop talking, to save his breath, but can’t make his mouth move. Negan’s still holding him back, and Daryl knows if he let go, he’d fucking sink. He swallows roughly, feeling himself leaning into Negan more heavily, refusing to break eye contact with Billy.

“I’ll be right behind you, promise,” Billy says, or tries to, more blood than voice, and Daryl only knows he said it ‘cause he knows him.

Daryl finally feels his mouth move.

Manages to push Billy’s name past his lips before Pope pulls him back up tall and clears his throat. 

“Any last words?” He asks, dragging a hook like weapon up to Billy’s throat, and Billy’s on his tippy-toes now, trying to escape the pressure of it, eyes fucking terrified.

The Reapers that were holding them in place seem to step back in sync, and Daryl rolls out his now free shoulder, Maggie falling to her knees.

“I’m sorry, kid,” Negan breathes out, sounding genuinely fucked up. He pulls Daryl back, though, and reaches a hand out to pull at Maggie, too.

Billy’s eyes flick to him, and Daryl sees him give Negan a ghost of a nod, his face finally finding some peace.

Pope smiles at them, then starts dragging Billy away by the hook, Billy stumbling to keep his neck up and his feet moving, the blade ready to slit his throat at the slightest misstep. Daryl watches until he can’t see them anymore, dread filling his stomach at the knowledge that Billy’s gonna die alone; with no one there to hold his hand, no one to comfort him in his last moments. Knows it was one of the only fears he had left–dying alone.

He tries to push down the ugly part of him, born out of years of watching his loved ones die, that's relieved that he doesn't have to see it this time. 

Negan pulls at him once the last of the Reapers have disappeared, Maggie already up and waiting with an outstretched hand. 

They run.

Billy’s screams start back up a minute later, and after putting enough distance between them and the enemy, they stop and duck behind a fat as fuck tree, and listen to his final moments. It’s the closest they can get to being there for him, he thinks. Billy’s screams go on for what feels like eternity, before cutting off abruptly, like someone turned the lights out. Maggie’s gripping his hand, and he thinks he lets out a sob. Can feel her bury her head in his shoulder, her small frame shaking, and he realises he’s shaking just as much.

“We gotta move,” Negan says, breaking the silence after a minute, sounding like he actually regrets it.

Daryl casts one last look over his shoulder, before letting Maggie pull him forward.

They’ll come back in the morning to find his body, and make sure he gets put to rest. Daryl won’t let him become another Rick.

Daryl splits back to Alexandria, even though Maggie tries to convince him to come back to Hilltop, telling him she doesn't want him to be alone, then changing tactics and saying it isn't safe to split up yet. Daryl shrugs her off, and by the time he makes it home, he feels completely numb. He takes one look at the empty and cold bed, with its sheets and quilt cover half falling off–exactly the way Billy left it, and turns right back around. Dog spends the first five minutes jumping all over him, excited to see him, before picking up that something’s wrong, and by then Daryl can't really keep his shit together. He makes himself at home on the front porch, legs stretched out long in front of him and Dog resting his head on his leg, running a calming hand up and down his back, and then–he fucking breaks.

Wishes with everything he has in him that he could go back to yesterday, to do everything all over again, or maybe back to a few weeks ago, so they never get themselves into that situation in the first place.

Thinks, if he could just do everything again, he’d save everyone.

Wakes up the next morning to Dog licking his face and Negan standing above him, a bottle of water outstretched towards him.

“Time to go,” he says, looking like hell. “Let’s go find the kid.”

Daryl accepts the drink and pushes himself up.

Time to bring Billy home.

THANKS FOR LISTENING IF U MADE IT THIS FAR i have had FUN sorry for literally all of this i love you

[hotdadlicense]

#42 on wrapped (hotdadlicense's version)

luc ily 🥺

only love can save us now - kesha

[dastardlydandelion]

@lucdarling

autumn kitties to greet the -ber months 🎃

[wantonlywindswept]

well, I see you know what I like 👀‼️🥺

there are many benefits to having the same whumper brain

[dastardlydandelion]

xoxo hope your studies are going well, that work isn't too boring and that you have a delightful day!

greetings, sweet friend! thank you for the kind messages, they came at the right time. 💜 i hope you're having a good weekend and that life is treating you well!