A misdelivered package. An embarrassing little secret. And a very surprising invitation.
Daryl never could've guessed he'd be getting this acquainted with his neighbor down the hall.
[written for the Cupid's Crossbow prompt: "oops"]
“Well it definitely ain’t no kid’s toy, I can tell ya that much!” Merle guffawed. Then he placed the white box down and picked the Amazon box back up, closing the flaps and squinting down at the shipping label that had been split in half during opening (he desperately needed reading glasses, but was still adamantly refusing to accept that his vision was deteriorating with age just like the rest of his body). His eyes suddenly went wide and he snorted, pursing his lips like he was holding back maniacal laughter.
“You gonna lemme in on the joke or what?” Daryl asked impatiently, still holding the silicone rosebud between his fingertips as he watched his brother from across the couch.
Merle raised his head and met his gaze. “Oops.”
“Oops what?”
“Well, the Amazon driver fucked up. Look’t this.”
He tossed the box to Daryl, who dropped the silicone thing onto the couch cushion. Daryl grabbed up the Amazon box and looked at the shipping label—sure enough, it was meant for apartment 224. He and Merle lived in apartment 214.
And, God help him, Merle’s stupid ass never bothered to read the labels on packages before ripping them open like a fuckin’ kid on Christmas morning. The name of the recipient was plain as day on the shipping label: Beth Greene.
The pieces were clicking together. Slowly but surely, Daryl put it together in his head. He looked up to find his brother grinning at him, downright gleeful.
“No,” Daryl said.
Merle nodded, holding up the little white box. “It’s a goddamn sex toy!”
teaching a dog to paint // a merle & frankie origin story in the ifap universe
teaching a dog to paint
a merle/frankie origin story in the in for a penny, in for a pound universe
rated: M
5 chapters // 36k~ words
ALL CHAPTERS POSTED !
Part 5: finding a forever home
Today, though… today was the day it really and truly started. They were gonna unpack as much as they could, arrange furniture, designate rooms for specific purposes. And then they’d probably take a shower together. Order a pizza and split a bottle of wine. Fuck until they collapsed into a sweaty heap atop the king-sized bed that was now their bed.
God, he couldn’t wait to wake up next to her every day from here on out.
He backed out of the long driveway that led up to the Greenes’ farmhouse and began driving down the road, slow at first before he could reach the highway and really pick up speed. He was already reaching over to switch on the radio when he spotted a curious sight at the edge of the large front yard, near the road: a girl.
Oh, shit—a Greene girl. Not the older, bitchy one. The baby. All blonde hair and suntanned skin, sitting with her back against a tree and her knees pulled up to her chest, dressed in shorts and a tanktop. And was she… crying?
Merle slowed the truck and pulled up close, stopping to roll down his window all the way. He placed his arm on the edge of the window and craned his head out.
“Hey, blondie!”
She sniffled, raising her puffy, red-rimmed eyes to look at him.
“Y’alright?”
She hurriedly wiped at her face, embarrassed. Then she nodded. “Y-yeah. I’m fine.”
She probably expected him to keep driving—and he expected it, too—but there was somethin’ pitiful about the way she looked that made him stop and linger. She was still babyfaced, skinny as all get out, and he couldn’t really tell whether she was 14 or 24. He reckoned it was closer to the former since he knew her older sister had just barely become legal within the last five years or so. How far apart in age were they, anyway?
Oh, hell. Not like it mattered. She was jailbait regardless, as far as he was concerned.
teaching a dog to paint: part 2 // a merle/frankie origin story
teaching a dog to paint
a merle & frankie origin story set in the in for a penny, in for a pound universe
rated: E
5 chapters // 36k+ words total
written for @mistressheroine
Part Two: responsible breeding
His voice was too hoarse, too rough, too loud. The total opposite of her. She was real pretty, real nice, real fragile under the tough exterior. He was all sharp edges. She was all soft corners.
He was all dirt and trailer park and the scrape of coins. She was all grass and white picket fences and the brush of dollar bills.
What the hell kinda business did he have thinkin’ he could fool around with her…?
Alexa, play "House Tour" by Sabrina Carpenter.
teaching a dog to paint // the merle/frankie origin story
teaching a dog to paint
a merle dixon & frankie origin story set in the in for a penny, in for a pound universe
rated: E
5 parts // 36k+ words total
written for @mistressheroine
Part One: crate training
He chewed on his lower lip, biting down on a piece of dead skin until it peeled away to settle on the tip of his tongue. He thought about Daryl, stuck in Senoia with nowhere to go, nowhere to sleep, not a dime to his name. Damn boy didn’t even know how to sling drugs to get by, didn’t have the contacts or anything—he’d have to get down and dirty, do some kinda under-the-table work to make enough cash for a motel room or something. And he was just a kid, still in his 20s and as bright-eyed as a Dixon could be. No skills, no resumé, not even a high school diploma or a GED. Even more aimless and inexperienced than Merle was at that age. Would some kind soul take pity on him? Or would he be scorned and outcast everywhere he went, just like his big brother? The Dixon name didn’t do shit for them, and it surely wouldn’t do anything for Daryl. He was sweet. Always had been. But how far would bein’ sweet actually get him without Merle around to stand up for him, to advocate for him?
Well, Merle thought, he sure as hell survived without me while I was in the service and locked up after that. But just barely. He got beat so bad, it’s a miracle he survived. Those damn scars on his back… he couldn’t even fight off Pa. How’s he gonna fend for himself in a whole world full of men like Pa?
He needs me. He’s the only person who’s ever needed me.
How am I ever gonna come back after letting him down like this? How am I gonna get him to trust me again?
Goddammit, Merle. Why’d you ever leave in the first place, you stupid fuck? Pa coulda killed him. You knew it. An’ ya still left. You stupid, cocky son of a bitch. Who the hell did you think you were, goin’ off to enlist and actin’ like it’d make things any different? Why’d you have to go an’ fuck it all up for the both of ya?
Can’t you do anything right?
His eyes settled on the paperwork. That highlighted line that Deanna had been pointing to.
Three years wouldn’t be so bad. Right? It was better than five. A helluva lot better than ten, or twenty.
Maybe I can do one thing right. For the first time in my godforsaken life.
Finally, Merle sat up and leaned forward. Uncrossed his arms and rested his elbows on the table. He met Deanna’s patient eyes.
She was kind. A lot kinder than any other public defender he’d ever had. He really should be grateful. Should give her a genuine thanks after all this, if it worked out the way she swore it would. Hell, he’d name his firstborn after her if it really did work out the way she was promising. Reckoned that was the least he could do. He was even regretting being such a crude asshole to her the first dozen times they’d convened.
With a deep sigh, he opened his mouth to speak. Rethought it. Closed his mouth again. Pulled the paper toward him and read back over it. He felt tears pushing up from the back of his throat. He fought them back forcefully. Cleared his throat.
“Alright,” he said plainly. “I’ll do it. I’ll take the deal.”
unwrap you with my kiss // (a bethyl christmas smut oneshot)
unwrap you with my kiss
beth greene/daryl dixon smut
rated E // 10k+ words
It's Christmas time, which means Beth is visiting the mall with her family for their yearly photos with Santa Claus.
Little does she know, the guy in the fake beard and the big red suit has a little more in mind than just a brief sit on his lap.
But maybe she does, too…
as I lick upon his peppermint
I'm gentle with his ornaments
icing on my lips
now it's time to open my present
--"Rated X-Mas" by Millionaires
He took a long drag off his cigarette before dropping it to the floor and snuffing it out with his boot, and as he exhaled the gray cloud up towards the ceiling, he rasped out in a gravelly voice, “Ho ho ho.”
“If that’s what you want me to be,” she quipped, stopping just in front of him and looking up at him. “You did say I could be on the naughty list.”
Daryl grunted. “Seems y’already are.”
Beth shrugged, feigning a coy innocence as she batted her eyelashes at him. “Does that mean ya won’t be comin’ down my chimney this year?”
A knot formed in Daryl’s throat, his cock growing fully hard. He managed to respond, “‘M tryna make a point of visiting the naughty girls first.”
She could feel the heat coiling in her belly, blood rushing, a tiny pool of wetness already forming in her panties. She bit down on her lower lip teasingly, glancing him up and down before meeting his icy blue eyes again. “Guess it’s a good thing I saved you a cookie, then.”
thank you so much for the tag @galadrieljones ! (seriously such an honor from a writer i admire so much)
tagging: @mistressheroine @pipergirl17 @piper1016 @littlelindentree @weapon13whitefang @not-so-austen @lemortehomme @raginglittlehurricane @spield @rckyfrk @deerdens @xx-cherryballerina (and anyone else who feels like doing this, pls tag me so i can read and like your post, i love you all)
—Words posted: 327,634
—Additional Words Written: unknown, but probably close to 450,000
—Grand total of words: girl idk. let's call it 500k just to be safe, especially if we're including all the words i deleted lmao
—Fandoms: The Walking Dead
—Works: another installation of Let us always find each other, To Love is To Be Alive, and Small Miracles
—Highest Kudos: Small Miracles
—Highest Hit One-shot: To Love is To Be Alive
—New Things I Tried: writing an almost-cross-over with Beth/Daryl and Detroit: Become Human. that was a fun venture into a different universe that was not of my own creation, fitting in two characters who definitely didn't belong and somehow making them belong. writing not one, but two OC's that people actually care about in Small Miracles. i genuinely didn't think anyone would care much for Gale or Mae, but now they've become nearly as beloved to the readers as they are to me and honestly, i cannot describe how good that makes me feel! particularly for my little sentient zombie boy <3
—Fic I Spent the Most Time On: Small Miracles ... and i am still spending time on it. y'all have no idea. i made playlists, i listened to songs on repeat, i added and extracted and added again to the outline, i brainstormed during downtime at work, i got new ideas while watching movies and shows. i am still doing all those things, i'm just not quite capable of putting thoughts and ideas into words like i was throughout the majority of 2024.
—Fic I Spent the Least Time On: To Love is To Be Alive -- it came to me fast and hard, i wrote it in about 2-3 weeks because it was so rapidly coming into my head and i just had to get it out.
—Favourite Thing I Wrote: Small Miracles ... duh. i fucking love this fic and still do. i can't wait to finish it.
—Favorite Thing I Read: as far as books go (pls message me if you want to add me on Goodreads), my favorite reads this year were:
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
The Nanny by Lana Ferguson
Last Light by Claire Kent (this one is for all my Bethyl girlies--it's extremely Daryl/Beth-coded, so if you love Bethyl and you love post-apocalypse fiction with a healthy dash of smut, you should definitely give it a try)
and for fanfiction, i'm gonna narrow it down and say it's a tie between:
afterglow by galadrieljones
Love in the Wilderness by LeighJ
Sweet Willow by CherryParfait
Revenant by devils_might_heed_us
La Dame Blanche by MistressHeroine
genealogy by wandering_gypsy_feet
qué será, será by moonshineshacks
—Something I Finished: ummm let's be so real... the only thing i actually finished this year was To Love is To Be Alive ... sorry about that for my readers. i swear to GOD i'm doing my best to finish at least ONE more thing omg
—Miscellaneous Highlights: i played a lot more video games and read a lot more books this year than i think i have in the last five years, so that's a highlight for me (hello, i actually discovered, played, and rapidly became obsessed with the entire Life is Strange series and its universe, as well as all of the Supermassive games, from Until Dawn to The Quarry and through the entire Dark Pictures Anthology!) because i love taking inspiration from other fiction in every form. i'm very proud of myself. also, i started converting my fic Lunacy Fringe into an original novel, and it's about 3/4th of the way finished, so i am actually excited to finish that and put it out into the world just to say i did it, just to say that i actually wrote my own original novel and contributed it to the millions upon millions of self-published novels available online lol (i guess i wanna contribute to The Zeitgeist ?? idk if i'm even using that correctly??). i also pushed myself and delved into writing OC's into one of my fics and found that it was well-received, which gave me a bit of a confidence boost! not to mention, i reread Wild Love by LeighJ and commented (because for some reason i didn't comment the first time i read it?? what the hell was wrong with me?) and it ended up sparking her to add some deleted scenes and create a series that i now ADORE, and there is nothing i love more than encouraging other writers and seeing what they can come up with when they're reminded of how much their writing is appreciated. i am also incredibly proud and appreciative of @mistressheroine for everything she's written this year and all the help she's given me in my own writing, and for being such an amazing friend and just an overall great person to talk to and fangirl with. also mad kudos to @raginglittlehurricane for our shared obsession with Kyle Gallner and the Dinner in America movie, and all those countless tiktok edits we send to each other (girl, i am impatiently awaiting the release of that DiA fic... just saying).
—Writing Goals for 2025:
finish Small Miracles.
finish hot girl summer (playing by the rules).
start posting and continue writing cuffing season (part 6 of in for a penny, in for a pound).
add some chapters/possibly complete who we gotta be and Redire A Morte.
finally finish and publish Lunacy Fringe as an original novel.
somehow make time to finish and post the final chapters of Don't Make Me Haunt You.
make some more headway on my original zombie apocalypse novel, even if it's just a fully-fleshed outline.
—Final Thoughts: i have a lot of shit on my plate, especially for a sleepy bitch who works full-time and also enjoys other endeavors like movies, shows, and video games. (ps: give me a follow on twitch @im1mmortal to see me livestream like two or three times a month lol) but all in all, i feel like i am continuing to learn and grow as a writer and at the end of the day, that's all that really matters to me. i want to read as many books as i can, consume as much well-written media as possible, and learn as much as possible when it comes to making my own dreams come true. i know i have a lot of WIPs sitting around just waiting to be finished, and believe me, i see all the comments urging me to continue and finish, and i desperately want to, but i have to go off of vibes. it sounds lame, but it's true. i refuse to write unless i feel like i am writing from my heart. i erase anything that feels forced or soulless. quality over quantity all day, every day. but i also recognize that i'm kind of an idiot who has a strength in starting things and reaching the point of climax, and my greatest weakness is actually writing the climax and reaching the conclusion. i'm working on that all the time, and i strive to change it. but what really keeps me going is the feedback and the random comments and messages, even if they're months or years later, letting me know that something i wrote resonated with someone far away who i will never meet or actually know. it gives me all the motivation i need. i just have to find that last little passage past the mental block to continue writing and actually finish something. oh... and the energy LOL. seriously tho, i love this fandom, i adore all of the various fics i've been blessed enough to read because they offer such different perspectives on characters and settings and they open up my mind to entirely new possibilities. not to mention, i've made some of the absolute best friends through fandom and fanfic. i wouldn't trade it for the world. all i ask for is a little patience and understanding. and i really hope to keep you all in my heart and see y'all on the other side of whatever this is as we traverse life and fiction and discover how the two overlap in ways we never could have imagined <3
as we all get older, in the best of ways, let's fuck 2025 right in the mouth
a beth greene/daryl dixon au
Detroit: Become Human fusion
7/7 chapters // 39,900 words // rated T
She came to the very sudden realization that she was in love with an android.
No…
She was in love with Daryl.
And whether he was made of flesh and blood or plastic and thirium, he was just as alive as she was.
Beth is just a lonely daddy's girl, having already accepted her place on the farm and as the sole inheritor of all her father has built and worked for over the course of his life. She's fine with that. Happy with it, in fact.
Then Daryl comes along. He's no more than an android—a machine. He is designed to work, to keep things in line, to follow his programming and do no more.
But as they edge towards something greater in the year 2038, Beth and Daryl find themselves at a crossroads.
What does it really mean to be alive?
What does it really mean to fight for something greater?
And most of all... what does it really mean to love?
