Tumgik
#i forget when i wrote this but this is an ''old'' scene
fuckinart · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media
you ever become obsessed with your own sentences
He could tell the truth. But he was frozen. Somehow he knew that if he did talk, they would just have found that fascinating, and probably would have started with his throat instead.
46 notes · View notes
blended-ice · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
the russian punk 🤘🩸⛓️
307 notes · View notes
quatregats · 1 day
Text
Finals are nigh I am thinking about the Solomon a Gaenor fic again time is a circle
5 notes · View notes
thebibliosphere · 8 months
Text
Hm. I'm rereading something I wrote, and I can't decide if it's going to be infuriating for some readers, or if there will be more going "OH, same!"
Given that my readership is largely in the Autistic 🤝ADHD vampire fan club (Vlad), I'm hoping it'll be the latter, but it's still making me hesitate because it's not how people expect sex scenes to read.
Everything's usually boiled down to a laser-focused precision of sensations and evocative, heated language -- and that does eventually happen with this. You just have to get past Vlad's brain wandering around for a bit because while Nathan's doing a good job of getting his attention in the moment, he's not being consistent, and it's giving Vlad's brain time to wander. Like noticing that Nathan squints a bit when he reads. ("(Hyperopia, Vlad’s brain supplied helpfully before he could smother it.)") Or just generally having full-on conversations in his head in the downtimes between stimulation -- and by downtime, I mean the split second it takes for Nathan to grab something from the nightstand.
Another part of me worries people will think I'm playing to stereotypes or I'm hamming it up to be "quirky," but given my brain is the epitome of the "hyper 8-year-old boy who can't sit still shiny disorder" despite being a 36yo cis woman, I've pretty much resigned myself to some people calling Vlad a stereotype anyway.
A larger part of me just... kind of really wants to see this kind of thing in a sex scene. I want to see my own thought patterns and acknowledge that even when you're getting hot and heavy with someone -- arguably an act that should consume all of your attention -- you'll still find your mind wandering. You'll notice something out the corner of your eye and go, "fucking shit, laundry, do not forget, do not forget" (and then you'll forget), or you'll be about to go down on someone, and the dick joke your friend told you three months ago will pop into your head and suddenly you're snickering with no tactful way to explain it.
(This is another thing that I always think is sorely lacking in sex scenes. No one's messy. No one's laughing like an idiot because they just thumped their head into the headboard, or a joke just popped into their head. Or someone's body made a fart sound because there's lube in places and things are thrusting. Like, maybe it's me, maybe I'm weird, but I think those are the moments you can build real romance out of. Not necessarily erotica, because those things (supposedly) aren't sexy, but there's so much emotion you can show with partners who are able to laugh with each other in those moments. You can show so much love and reverence through the mundane it hurts.)
It'd just be nice, for once, to have the character be absolved of the guilt that often happens in those moments because you're supposed to be focusing on what is happening, and your idiot brain just won't shut up.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter too much. It's a short story I'm hoping to fling out at some point (as soon as my idiot brain shuts up and lets me finish it). But it feels more important than it actually is because it feels like I'm exposing a major part of my psyche. Like pinning down all the ugly parts of my brain that can't ever actually be pinned down, no matter how much I try.
idk. Words. Things. Stuff. I'm going to try and finish this and then see what I want to do with it.
2K notes · View notes
allbark-no-bite · 5 months
Text
marriage and honor.
Tumblr media
jake seresin x reader (wc: 6.5k)
summary: the Navy has already taken two people from your life, and you don’t intend to let there be a third. that is until Jake Seresin walks into your life
warnings: severe plot holes, mentions of character death, swearing
authors note: based off of the movie Purple Hearts. it’s a great movie and i highly suggest watching it! please bear with me in the beginning of this, the plot holes fix themselves, i promise lol. i literally threw this together because i wrote one scene for shits and giggles and had to commit to it
(read parts two and three here: december and devotion, cats and christmas)
————————————————————————
No one ever expects to have to bury their brother at fifteen. Kinda just like no one expects to have to bury their other brother at eighteen. But you do it the first time and then you do it again three years later. It's a bit like deja vu the second time, like you're reliving the actual nightmare all over again. Except this time there's no one to hold your hand and tell you it's all going to be alright because he's dead and buried too.
They both die honorable deaths in service to their country. At least that's what they say at the memorials. You're not so sure there's anything comforting about dying honorably. They're both still dead, honored or not.
Raised by your grandparents, you'd grown up the youngest of three on a military base smack dab in the middle of San Diego, better yet known as Fightertown USA. True military brats, your old brothers enlisted straight out of high school, one after the other. As their young and impressionable kid sister, you worshiped the ground they walked on and had your heart set on following in their footsteps. That was of course, until they both went and died.
'Sometime these things just happen', is what you were told. And you know, freak accidents do happen. Engines fail, training exercises go awry, safety precautions are ignored. But that doesn't make up for the fact that lightning has, against all odds, stuck the same place twice.
So after the Navy takes away not one but two people from your life, you swear off all things to do with military life. The moment you graduate high school you pay out of pocket just to move off of the base into a shitty the-bedroom-and-bathroom-are-in-the-same-place apartment. You go to college and get the kind of degree that looks good on paper but you can't really get a job with. But it's fine because it helped you to put the past behind you and move on. So much that when your grandmother passes away unexpectedly, leaving your grandfather widowed, you're able to stomach moving back closer to home to take care of him.
At least, you'd thought that you had moved on.
Now, standing in the middle of the courthouse wearing what had been your college graduation dress (the only white dress you could find on such short notice) and watching the man before you slip a ring on your finger, you're not so sure. As a matter of a fact, you actually feel sick, queasy like you might have to bend over the nearest trashcan to get the blood rushing to your head again. That might would be a good idea because what the hell were you thinking.
Jake must take notice of the expression on your face because he offers you a weak smile, his pink lips pressed together. The same thought must be running through his mind too because he also looks like he might be sick at any moment.
What the hell were either of you thinking?
"I now pronounce you husband and wife." Thankfully the minister is too bored looking with his own job to notice that both of you are looking worse for wear. He also completely forgets to say 'you may now kiss the bride', which is another thing to be thankful for. That might have been the straw that broke the camel's back and sent both you and Jake running for the hills. Instead he mumbles a unenthusiastic congratulations and departs from the room, leaving you and Jake standing numbly side by side.
In the following seconds after the minister leaves the room, silence settles between the two of you, partially due to shock and partially because you don't even know what to say. It's a sight, Jake in his pristine navy dress whites and you in your too short college graduation dress.
Finally, Jake clears his throat, swallowing. "Well, there's no turning back now."
*queue rewind noise* 
You may be wondering how we got here.
*six days ago*
"C'mon baby, you didn't think that was funny? Girls usually love that line."
He'd been after you all night, smiling, cracking jokes, buying you beers. You had to admit, he was nothing if not persistant.
"Unfortunately for you, I don't date funny guys." Despite your tone, you're actually genuinely amused by the situation. He's trying so hard, and it's getting him absolutely nowhere.
He's handsome, without a doubt the most attractive man at the bar, but he could be the most attractive man in the world and you still wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Not with that smile and defiantly not with that uniform on.
"And why is that?" he laughs, undeterred by your blatant disinterest. His friends are watching, have been watching the two of you do this dance all night, and he's not about to back down now.
You watch the smile lines that appear on his tanned face, the way his eyes crinkle in amusement as he awaits on your answer. He's probably a few years your senior, early thirties if that's anything to go by.
"Funny guys are dangerous. They make you laugh and laugh and then boom you're naked."
His smile twitches and yeah, you can be funny too, wise guy.
"Is that where you think this is going?" he asks.
"Where else would it be going?"
And that's how it all started. The beginning of the end.
"You know navy spouses get a monthly stipend and are allowed to live on base?"
You remain facing the bar, peeling at the label on your bottle, not bothering to glance to your side. "You know, I really fucking wish Natasha would keep her mouth shut."
"(Y/n)—"
"It's no one else's fucking business what—"
He grabs the seat of your stool, nearly jerking it out from under you as he pulls it closer to his own. "Listen to me," he growls, a stark change from his usual demeanor.
Stubbornly leaning away so that you're not so close, you regard him with suspicious and narrowed eyes. You raise an eyebrow as if to say he's got your attention, however unwillingly.
"Right now, we're both in a tight spot, okay?"
You knew about his dad. Heard the whole spiel from Natasha— who you're learning that while, your best friend, cannot be trusted to keep her mouth shut— about how they weren't on good terms, hadn't talked since Jake got into the academy, and suddenly he calls out of the blue to tell Jake that he'd had enough of his son's playing around and that it was time for him to start thinking about getting married. That if he didn't within the next few months, he'd arrange the whole thing himself.
"You need a place to live—" You shush him, eyes darting to the people around you. You don't need anyone knowing that you can't exactly afford to pay your rent. Jake rolls his eyes because he doubts anyone could hear him even if he was yelling with how loud it is in the bar, but he lowers his voice regardless. "You need a place to live, and I need to get my old man off of my back..." He trails off, as if you should know where he's going with this.
You don't. You're just staring at him with an increasingly annoyed expression on your face, wondering how soon you can get out of this conversation.
He takes a deep breath and sighs. 
"Hear me out, okay? What if we get married?"
You had actually laughed in his face at first, and Jake was so dead serious about it that he didn't even dwell on the fact that it was the first time you had laughed at something that he'd said.
"Not a chance in hell, Seresin,"  had been your second response. But that's the thing with pretty guys, they can be awfully convincing.
It all happens so fast that you have metaphorical whiplash. Next thing you know, you're wearing a brand new diamond on your finger and going out to the bar with his entire squad the night before their deployment.
Of course, they're all a bit shocked at first. You would be too. You and Jake hadn't exactly been even remotely civil with each other just a few days prior. But if any of them are suspicious of your's and Jake's sudden union, they don't let on, all too happy to have something to celebrate before they ship out. Fanboy and Payback have each brought their wives and Natasha her girlfriend as well. You suppose you're expected to mingle with them, maybe shed a tear or two over the shared bond that your partners are going across the country, but you can't really find a way to connect with them so you kind of just avoid them altogether. You do feel bad, sitting there without a care in the world while they all try to offer comfort and reassurance to each other. But you don't really know what else to do because it's not like you're exactly sad.
Thankfully Javy, or as he's known, Coyote, stands up and raises his near empty bottle of beer in the air and saves you from anymore uncomfortable sitting. "I'd like to make a toast! To the newlyweds!" You spoke too soon. The table cheers and raises their bottles in response, all of the attention turning to where you and Jake are sitting. Cheeks immediately flushing, you have to refrain from sinking down in your seat. Jake is grinning, accepting the few rough pats on the back that he receives from Rooster beside him.
And just when you think that's the worst it's going to get, it gets worse.
"Kiss!"
You're not sure who starts it, but like teenage boys, the entire squad parrots in unison.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
At first Jake just laughs and shakes his head good naturedly, shrugging off the insistent urging of his friends, and you think that's going to be the end of it. But the chanting doesn't stop and finally Jake turns towards you. Your face is probably red hot and undeniably panicked. Heart racing, you try to read him in the half second that you're given as he leans and wraps his arm around you. Is he going to kiss you? Are you supposed to kiss him?
Neither option happens. Jake's arm wraps around your shoulders, pulling you close into his side and at the last moment, he turns to press a kiss to your cheek. A series of disappointed boos follow but they are drowned out by clapping for the most part. He's uncomfortably close, closer than you ever would have liked to be to Jake Seresin, but you have to remind yourself that it's all for show. When Jake does turn away, you can still feel the warmth of his lips smeared against your cheek. Even so, he hasn't let go of you pressed into his side. 
Your heart still racing, you reason with yourself that if Jake can play the part, you might as well too, and under that pretense, allow yourself to hide your face into his shoulder to conceal it's redness. The smell of his cologne washes over you, and oddly enough, you don't hate it. It's subtle, with a hit of what might be amber, and nothing like the overwhelmingly masculine scent that you would have pegged him for. 
If Jake finds your sudden willingness to touch him strange, he doesn't comment on it, likely assuming that you're just trying to make this thing between the two of you seem real. You somewhat reluctantly pull away when Coyote's voice raises again.
"And here's to shooting down some fucking MiGs!"
Again, the table erupts into a chorus of cheering and hollering. You still, allowing Jake to fully pull away from your side while the proclamation rings out in your head. It's a very grounding moment, and suddenly you feel very alone sitting at the table. No one seems to have noticed your shift in mood. Maybe you're the only one put off by Javy's statement because this is their reality. There are people who are not coming home from this mission; everyone just likes to assume it won't be them. You know better.
You can't help it, the words just come out of your mouth. "That's a fucked up thing to say."
It's the first time you've really spoken up the entire night and all heads turn towards you. Based on the look in Jake's eyes, which is a bit apprehensive, as if he knows this is headed nowhere good, you realize you probably should have just kept your mouth shut.
Payback shifts uncomfortably in his chair while the rest of the crew glances around the table wearing varying states of confusion. Their gazes shift from you to Jake, as if waiting for some sort of explanation. 
Coyote is the first to break the silence. "Look, sweetheart, that's just the way things are. Here in the Navy, that's a badge of honor. Your boy Hangman here is the only one of us with a confirmed air-to-air kill."
"(Y/n)—", Jake attempts to interject, but you're not about to let him explain himself to you in front of all these people.
You set your jaw and swallow back the anger threatening to rise up in your throat. "Yeah, because killing people is so honorable."
Coyote scoffs. "We're just doing our jobs. And if that means taking down a few planes while we're at it, so be it."
"Your job is to protect people," you snap. "There are people out there who have families—"
"Alright, that's enough—" Jake begins to interject for the second time, but this time it's Coyote who interrupts him.
"Come on, man. You're really going to let her say that kinda shit—"
You stand up. "I don't need his permission to—"
"I SAID ENOUGH." This time it's startling enough to cut both of you off. "(Y/n), what is your fucking problem?" Jake snaps.
You flinch at the harshness of his question.
Your eyes travel around the quiet table, where everyone is holding their breath, and then back to Jake. His green eyes reflect a type of pissed off what would be terrifying if you weren't so angry yourself.
A small, logical part of you knows that he has a right to be angry. You've picked a fight for no apparent reason in front of his friends and he hasn't the slightest clue why. It's not his fault your brothers are dead and you blame the Navy for it.
Regardless, that doesn't make up for the fact that you're pissed off by his defense of what Coyote has said. Even though you probably owe him an explanation, you're not about to answer him when he's just yelled at you. You also know that if you don't say something, he's going to and you'd rather die before letting him tell you off in front of all these people. You abruptly push away from the table and storm off for the bar top. You can hear Jake chasing after you.
"(Y/n)."
You ignore him in favor of heading towards the back door of the Hard Deck, pushing past people regardless of whether they're in your way or not. Being slightly more considerate, you can hear Jake moving much slower as he excuses himself through the crowd.
"(Y/n)—"
You come to a stop once you reach the door, spinning on your heels with a fire in your eyes.
"What's my problem?!"
Behind you, you can hear the loud jesting and jeering of his friends back at the table. They're still ruffled with excitement from your outburst, and Coyote's voice follows your retreating back. "Jesus man, get your girl under control."
I'm not his girl, you want to snap. He doesn't own me.
Jake has stopped a few feet away from you. 
"What's my fucking problem?! My problem is that your friends are sitting over there calling murder honor."
Jake sighs harshly though his nose. Shaking his head, green eyes looking up, he begins, "He didn't mean—"
"No. I know what he meant, Jake. You're all a bunch of cowards. You're all too goddamn scared to admit that maybe you're not doing as much good as you thought over there, and so you just justify it by saying all killing is good killing, right?" you spit.
His vibrant green eyes harden but he doesn't respond. "That's some real goddamn honor, right, Jake?" you repeat, angrier this time, wanting more than just some watered down reaction from him. If there's one thing that pisses you off about Jake, it's that you've never gotten anything more than what he's conditioned himself to respond with. It's like he's locked up in this stupid box of his and the most you can ever get out of him is a glance. You want him to be angry with you.
"That's enough." His jaw is tight, and you can tell that even despite his lowered voice and rather subdued demeanor, you've hit a nerve.
"Admit it. Admit that you—“
"(Y/n)." His voice adopts a seriousness that you've never heard from him before. It sounds almost dangerous.
Jake steps towards you and for a moment you think you've won. And then in the moment following that, you actually think that he's going to get physically angry with you. Your heart stalls. Jake's a big guy, a naval aviator, and no matter how good he sells himself to be, he could hurt you if he wanted too. You would never have pegged him as someone who would put his hands on a girl, even after only knowing him for a week, but a man is a man, perfectly ironed uniform or not.
Only he doesn't. Instead he steps into your space and leans in closer than you've  ever been before. His hand presses into your back, firmly pulling you into his chest so that you have no choice but to shift closer to him, your bodies molding together. "I said that's enough. They can see us arguing."
The press of his mouth to your ear conceals the exchange of your conversation from the listening table. You can smell his cologne on the starched collar of his uniform.
"I don't care if they see us—" Pushing your palm into his chest, you try to reestablish the distance between you, but like a brick wall, Jake doesn't budge.
"You realize that we have to make this look real?" he hisses. "From here on out, they're watching everything we do. The government is watching everything we do. Do you understood that?" His voice is tense, and it sounds more urgent than angry now.
Standing there, you realize his heart is thumping heavily beneath your palm. His body is uncomfortably rigid, like a scared dog waiting for its owner to show up and see the mess he's made. Behind you, the table has gone relatively quite. Rooster murmurs something along the lines of, "It's a little early for there to be trouble in paradise already."
Someone—Coyote—responds, "I don't think he thought this through, man. They won't last two weeks."
Jake's eyes meet yours, and you know he can hear them too. You swallow, trying to relax a little in his grasp. He's right, you have to make this look real, and fighting right off the bat doesn't exactly look good.
"Are they still looking at us?" You finally ask, leery now to even speak too loud.
Jake breathes a sigh of relief beside your ear, taking your sudden quiet as cooperation. "Yeah, just keep talking, okay? Act like we're working it out."
Despite trying to appear more comfortable than you are, you don't move your hand from his chest. The coarse material of his dress whites rises and falls steadily beneath your palm. It's calming in a sense, and you try to focus on its rhythm rather than the fact that you're so close that you can feel the heat of his mouth beside your ear.
"Still looking?" You ask after a few moments pass.
He hums. "Yep."
"Well then what do we do? We can't just stand like this forever." The longer you stand together, the more details you become aware of. Like the fact that his face is freshly shaven against your cheek and that he must have brushed his teeth before this because his breath smells like Listerine.
"Look at me."
"What?" You ask, your brow furrowing as he pulls away. His hand that had been holding your waist firmly in place lifts to grip your jaw.
"You're going to have to kiss me," he explains, glancing briefly over your shoulder.
"What?" Before you can even protest, he's leaning in and pressing his mouth to yours. Without the time to process what exactly is happening given your state of alarm, all you can do is go along with it. His lips mold against yours in what might be the most borderline tame kiss you've ever had. Despite this, you are reluctantly surprised to note how good of a kisser he is. It's just forceful enough to let you know he's in control but not so much that it's unpleasant. His lips are full and taste vaguely of his mouth wash.
You don't kiss him back.
It makes no difference to the group behind you whether you actually kiss or not; they can't tell from this distance and all they have to do is believe it happened. It's more for your own self preservation than anything. It's one thing to play the part, it's another thing to get caught up in it and catch feelings. And with Jake Seresin, that was a dangerous game to play. You'd already felt it, him prying his way under your skin when he'd held you at the table and the smell of his cologne filled your sense. It would be that easy.
To his credit, Jake lingers just long enough to make the kiss believable before pulling away. Even si, it still feels uncomfortably long. He leans back and you don't miss the fact that he wipes his hand across his mouth. "Sorry," he mutters under his breath, looking away.
"Jake..." you begin, immediately feeling bad, but he stops you.
"Whatever, (Y/n). It's fine." He won't look you in the eyes now. You turn to look over your shoulder, desperate to get yourself out of this increasingly bad situation .
"They're not looking," you say, finding the table now amicably chatting with each other rather than focused on the two of you. The sudden PDA must have finally diverted their attention. "...you can step away now."
"Right," he says, clearing his throat awkwardly. Jake drops his hand from your waist and steps back like he's glad to finally put some distance between the two of you. So much for making this look natural.
You return to the table shortly after, in hand to make it appear as if you've made up and smiling tightly when Bob cheerily welcomes you back to break the awkward silence. Once seated, you drop each other's hand beneath the table immediately. The rest of the evening is spent avoiding contributing to conversations that involve the other. If anyone notices, they don't comment on the fact that the two of you hardly look at each other for the rest of the evening, and somehow you manage to put up an otherwise happily married front.
When a few of the guys finally get a little bit too drunk, specifically Rooster, you're all too happy when Natasha calls it a night. Because they ship out the next day, Jake drives you back to the hotel where all of the married couples have rented out a room for the night. Apparently it's a tradition or something. You make the drive in silence. You let him check into the room and carry both of your bags up, disappearing into the small bathroom to splash cool water onto your face. It helps to ease some of the tension from this evening. Leaning over the sink, you watch the water swirl down the drain.
Is this crazy? This is crazy, right?
Jake is sitting on the edge of the bed, head in his hands when you step out. He's taken off his hat and suddenly he seems a lot more fragile than he was a few minutes ago. There's a softness to him, something having been previously concealed by the precise styling of his hair and tense pull of his set jaw. Before you can break the silence, he sucks in an uneasy breath.
"Hey, we need to talk about something. Um, you know... in case I..."
In case he doesn't come back.
You swallow, looking down at the ground. After tonight, after he's kissed you, all of this is starting to feel a little bit to real. What the hell happened to pretending? This was all supposed to be pretend. "Jake, please don't do that—"
He stands up from the end of the bed, and you notice the folded paper in his hands. "This is all of my personal information, you know, bank accounts, passwords, phone numbers... Anything you might need if something happens to me." He says it all as if it's so normal, but you can hear the apprehension in the thinness of his voice.
Already, you're shaking your head as he hands you the letter. "Jake, please. I don't want that." Your heart is pounding and all you want to do in the moment is go back in time and never have agreed to do this in the first place. This was insane. What were you thinking? Like you were going to put yourself through this again? 
"(Y/n)—“ Jake tries, interrupting your spiral of thoughts.
"I said NO, Jake," you snap, stepping back from him and the letter. There are tears burning at the backs of your eyes, like you might burst into a hit of hysteria at any moment. "I change my mind. I can't do this..."
Jake's eyes glance from you to the paper in his hand and then back to you, and then he drops his outstretched arm with what sounds like a laugh. "Right. Not like we're fuckin' married or anything." He releases a puff of air from his cheeks and runs his hand through his hair like he's contemplating pulling it out. "Do you know how screwed we are if anyone finds out about this? Do you, (Y/n)??" he asks, his voice rising to a concerning level. "We're done!" 
"Jake, I—"
He tosses the letter onto the bed and sits back down with a heavy sigh, looking down at his feet. When he finally speaks again, his voice had lowered to a more acceptable volume. "It's a bit too late for you to back out now. If the Navy finds out about this— if anyone one finds out about this, I could lose my job. We could both go to jail."
Silence settles over the two of you as Jake sits on the bed, staring at his feet, and you stand there in the middle of the room, willing your heart to stop pounding in your chest. You need to get out of here before your heart implodes. You turn and grab your coat from by the door.
"Where are you going?"  Jake asks, his voice tired and annoyed.
"I need some air," you say, shrugging on your coat and opening the door. He doesn't try to stop you on the way out. 
You regret the decision the second that you walk out the door. Now that the sun is gone, it's freezing outside. Your original plan had been to go for a walk to clear your head but you doubt now you'd make it very far. Walking down the stairs and out into the nearly empty parking lot, you look around, considering whether or not you would survive the trek to a gas station. When you realize you've left your phone back in the room, you decide against it. You aren't dumb enough to walk in the dark alone. Instead you head towards Jake's truck, which is parked out by itself at the end of the lot. To your surprise, you find it's unlocked and the door swings open when you tug on the handle. You climb in and the switch to lock the door behind you. Even the inside of the car is cold but at least it's out of the wind. You hug your knees into your check and tuck your chin into them, curling up in the driver's seat to keep warm.
And then you just sob.
It's the kind of sobbing that starts long and drawn out and then escalates into the rapid breathing that happens when you can't get enough air into your lungs and it feels as though there's an entire golf ball stuck in your throat. You haven't cried this hard since you were a kid—since your first brother died. You didn't cry the second time, didn't allow yourself to feel anything the second time because you knew there wasn't going to be anyone to pull you back together if you did. 
At least being away from all of this had allowed you some time to forget, even if for just a moment, that they were gone without having to be constantly reminded. You had moved to put as much distance between yourself and the Navy as possible. Because that way life wouldn't get the chance to take another person from you in the same way. Looking at the ring on your finger now, that's exactly the opposite of what you had just done. This was just supposed to be until you could get back on your feet, and if it helped Jake out in the process then great. Now that you think about it, it was stupid of you to think that you would be able to make it through this with out catching feelings for him. 
Now you're going to lose him too.
You cry until you almost make yourself sick and then some more. Your sobbing is interrupted every few minutes when you choke on your own air and have to swallow the golf ball that is lodged in your throat so that you can breathe. You're not sure how long you sit there just crying. Surely at least an hour has passed. By the time your sobbing has slowed, your head hurts and your chest aches enough to be sore.
Knock knock knock
You jump at the noise, head shooting up from between the bracket of your knees. It's dark outside, the parking lot just barley lit in a wash of grey by the moon. Even so, you can make out Jake's broad figure in the darkness.
"Open the damn door." His order comes out in a puff of frosty condensation that warms a spot on the window, his voice only partially muffled by the barrier. His shoulders are hunched against the cold, the upturned collar of his coat doing little to protect him from the brutal conditions.
For a while you just stare at him through the window, swallowing back the spit in your throat.
"Open the door," he repeats, knowing better than to think that you can't hear him. If only locking yourself in his car was the solution of all of your problems. Reluctantly, you reach over and click the lock, slowly rolling down the window.
After it stops, you stare at each other through the open car window, separated only by the frame of door that he could now easily reach out and open. His soft brown hair is mushed and in disarray, nose and cheeks tinted pink form the chill. The pleasant green of his eyes is mostly hidden as he squints against the wind.
Finally, you suck in a breathe, your chest shuddering. "I cannot do this," you stress, all of the fear that you've been shoving down now presenting itself in a singular sentence.
Jake sighs, his face softening to reflect a look of sympathy. "Look, I promise you, it's not that bad. You'll come with me to the carrier when I ship out tomorrow, we'll hug each other goodbye, and then you won't even have to see me for a couple of months. It'll be like none of this ever happened. And when I come back... we'll figure it out. Okay?" His voice is soft and understanding, like he's talking to a child.
You stare at the dashboard, your stomach still churning anxiously. "That's not what I'm... It's not you, Jake." Quite the opposite. "I lost my brothers to the Navy. Both of them. And I don't think I can take losing anyone else."
Immediately Jake's face falls as he puts everything into place. Your initial distaste for him, your furious outburst at Hard Deck, your reluctance to have have anything to do with the Navy... "I—God, I'm so sorry, (Y/n). I had no idea."
You shrug, calming down now that you've finally let go over everything that you've been holding in. "I asked Natasha not to tell you. I just thought that I could get over it so what was the point in even telling you?"
The wind blowing into through the open window is bone chilling and so you can only imagine how cold Jake is standing outside the car. For a while there's only the sound of his quiet breathing.
"Nothing's going to happen to me, (Y/n)," he says into the darkness.
"How can you be so sure?"
Hands shoved into his pockets, body braced against the wind, he shrugs. "I'm not. But if I didn't tell myself that every morning, I'd never get out of bed."
Sighing, you pull the handle on the inside of the door. "C'mon, it's fucking cold out there."
Jake huffs as if to say, you're telling me, and grabs the handle to pull open the door. Only instead of climbing in, he steps further inside the door and grabs your head in his cold hands so that your faces are mere inches apart. "I mean it, kid. I'm not going to leave you, alright? You just gotta trust me."
Looking into his eyes, you know he means it. For the second time since you've known Jake, you really see him. Standing before you is the same man that you saw in both of your brothers. Granted, they were much younger than he is now, but you get it. You'd been trying to see him as anyone else other than the brothers you lost, praying that it would hurt less, but you can't make someone into something they're not. 
"Okay," you whisper. "I trust you, Jake."
You're awake hours earlier than what you're used to in the morning, but that's only because you had glanced at the alarm clock at half past three and realized that you only had few hours left with Jake. The both of you had returned to the hotel room and changed in comfortable silence, slipping into the single bed together without a word. Jake had reached over and pulled you into him without so much as a second thought. Now his body is draped heavily on top of yours, his nose tucked into your hair as your fingers trace along the bare skin of his exposed back. 
You switch between staring at the ceiling and watching the numbers change on the alarm clock, trying to think about anything other than the fact that Jake would wake up in about an hour, you'd drop him off at the carrier at six, and that would be it. You'd only just gotten him and now you were going to have to let him go.
When Jake's alarm does go off, you're more emotional than you thought you would be, but Jake seems to be fine, dutifully putting on his uniform and carefully packing all of his bags, so you try to put on a brave face. You move slowly, dragging out the process of getting dressed as long as possible just so that there's no excuse to leave for the dock any sooner than you have too. After you're done getting ready, you watch him shave once and then again for good measure before he ultimately decides that you've both wasted enough time putting off the inevitable.
The drive there is silent as well and would have been unbearable had Jake not reached over the consol to reassuringly squeeze your hand. He doesn't let go of it until you pull into the crowded port. Between people trying to get their things on board and a bunch of teary goodbyes, it's beyond you how you manage to find the Dagger Squad in the midst of the chaos. Fanboy and Payback are saying goodbye to their families while Rooster and Natasha chatter excitedly with an older man also dressed in naval attire, the name plate on his uniform identify him as 'Maverick'. It's all so overwhelming that only when Jake squeezes your hand again do you realize that it's time for you to say goodbye.
Reluctantly, you turn towards him, interlocked hands swinging between the two of you. He does his best to smile, and to his credit, it's not entirely fake. "Well," he sighs. "This it it."
"For now," you add, returning his soft smile as you look up at him.
"For now," Jake agrees, his smile brightening now that you seem to be okay also. He pauses, just staring down at you for a moment before he adds, "Are you going to let me kiss you?"
You smile, answering him this time without hesitation. "Only if you keep your promise."
Jake's large hand comes up to cup your cheek, cradling your chin in his palm as he leans down to you. "I promise," he murmurs before pressing his mouth to yours, perhaps even more tender than he did the first time at Hard Deck. Only this time you reciprocate it, chasing his mouth as you lift up on your toes and run your fingers through the back of his hair. Groaning, Jake sighs into the kiss. It's dizzying and you don't know how it's possible to put all of the passion that you've been holding back into one kiss, but somehow you do. His lips are soft and you have to shove down the urge to grip his hair and demand him for more, because it by some miracle occurs to you that you're on a ship in front of hundreds people. 
Jake's the one to pull away, his eyes shining and pink lips slightly more swollen than they were a minute ago. You can't help but laugh, wiping away some of your lipgloss from his mouth with your thumb. "Goodbye, Jake."
"Goodbye, (Y/n). And don't forget, I'll see you soon."
567 notes · View notes
daydreaming-nerd · 1 month
Text
Young Love and Old Money (Cassian x Female! Reader) Part 4
Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 5 , Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
AN: I wrote this hungover so you can just call me The Little Engine That Could
Summary: She was the most beautiful woman in Prythian, sister to the High Lord of Night, and now she is the soon-to-be wife of Eris Vanserra. Despite her many titles and her aura of unattainability, Cassian can't help but fall deeply in love with the princess of the Night Court. But will it be enough to stop her impending wedding to a man who is sure to destroy her from the inside out?
Warnings: Sexisim, trauma from under the mountain, alcohol, SA, blood
Word Count: 3,121
Tumblr media
If Eris could see me right now he would surely detest my un-princess like behavior and call off our courtship promptly. In fact I might put ‘standing on a pile of books to reach the top of a bookshelf’ in my Eris repellent arsenal. 
Normally I would ask The House of Wind for assistance but I suppose that today it wanted to use me as entertainment. The large stack below me wobbled causing my stomach to flip as my fingertips brushed the edge of the leatherbound book I was just dying to read. I almost had it in my hand when my book stack teetered again causing me to gasp. 
“Woah there princess!” boomed a voice from the hall. “Get down, you're going to hurt yourself.” 
I turned my head to find Cassian clad in casual clothes, most likely about to turn in for the night. Seeing him in fighting leathers was deadly, but seeing him so domestic? It made my cheeks heat. My makeshift step stool wobbled again and I would’ve toppled over if it wasn’t for the general's hands grasping my hips and placing me on the ground. 
“Thanks,” I smile as my feet firmly hit the plush carpet. I can’t help but feel a little foolish.
“Which one did you want?” Cassian asked, scanning the shelf I was close to climbing. 
“Uh the red one, with the rose on the spine,” I reply pointing to it. 
He reached his arm up and plucked the book from the shelf with ease. Gods now I really did feel foolish. 
“Here you go,” he smiles, handing me the book. I take it from his grasp and for a moment his hand brushes mine sending shivers down my spine. In the 5 seconds I feel his skin I try to soak up all the warmth that it holds. Try to remember the sensation so I can replay it over and over again in my head when I go to bed. 
“Thank you,” I smile trying to avoid those hazel eyes.
“See now you’ve taught me to fetch too,” he jokes. 
I roll my eyes, “You’re never going to let me live that dog comment down are you?” I laugh. 
Cassian flashes me a smile that threatens to make my knees buckle before perusing the bookshelf himself. I take it as my queue to relax on the couch next to the roaring fire. Ever since that drunken night when I ran into him coming back from Rita’s I couldn’t shake the words he had said to me… I’d do anything for you y/n. I tried to forget the feeling of his hands on my hips, the warmth seeping through the silk of my nightgown. But no matter how hard I tried, the scene continued to replay in my head over and over again. 
Even now it was hard to read with him in the room. I tried to keep my eyes on the book I was reading, but even just watching him scan all the shelves was erotic. I watched as his fingers grazed over a few titles until he finally plucked one from its spot. He began to walk towards the door and before I could even think my words betray me. 
“Wait!” I call out and he stops in his tracks. I mentally curse myself. Now what’s your plan dipshit? 
“Do you need another book?” Cassian asks and I realize I’ve let him sit in silence for longer than I ought to. 
“Could you stay and read here? I know reading is typically an independent activity but…” My voice trails off and I try to decide whether or not to voice my next words. “I find it hard being alone as of late.”  
It was true. Whenever I had a moment alone my mind would wander to that interaction in the hallway… don’t marry him…and then it would wander to thoughts of Eris, that damned dream I kept having. 
“Of course I’ll stay,” he says, turning from the door. 
As long as you’ll let me, I’ll do anything for you princess…
Cassian walks over to where I sit on the couch, picks up my outstretched legs and places them on his lap so that he can sit down. His forearms rest on my shins as he flips open his book and I nearly gawk at how natural the movement is for him. 
“You don’t have to sit next to me, you know?” I laugh. “You can sit in one of the chairs over there if you want to.” I say nodding to a set of armchairs in the corner. 
“Yeah but this is the only seat close to the fire,” he replies. “Besides, those chairs aren’t very wing friendly.” 
My eyes look back to the chairs and realize that he’s right so I shrug my shoulders and turn my eyes to my book. It was hard to concentrate on reading with the feeling of my legs in his lap but as my eyes scan the page I can’t help but get lost in the story…
“So you have me alone, in your bedroom.” Sofie says. “Now what happens?” 
Alexander stalks towards her, looking her up and down. “Now I kiss you, and touch you, and make you mine in every way I possibly can.”
I feel my blood heat up and I avidly try not to let my toes curl knowing they are currently in Cassian’s lap. The scene progresses and I try not to look like I’m reading something so filthy in the presence of my general, which is near impossible. 
Cassian clears his throat and I yank my gaze up expecting to find him looking at me like a scorned parent. Instead I find him quietly reading his own book. His own very large, very heavy book. 
“That book is huge,” I point out and his gaze snaps to me. “What is it about?”
“It’s about war strategies,” he replies cooly. “I’ve read it before, but I like to brush up on it every now and then.” 
“That’s what you read in your spare time? War strategies?” I scoff. 
“Knowledge is power princess,” he smiles flipping through the pages of the abnormally large book. “I’m your general, don’t you want me reading this kind of thing?” 
“I want you to read what makes you happy, especially when it’s for pleasure.” I laugh, shaking my head.  
“Well then you’ll be glad to know that reading war books makes me happy,” he muses at me. 
I shake my head and return to my own book, getting caught up in the heat of the scene once more. 
“What are you reading princess?” Cassian chides knowingly. 
“Oh nothing,” I say, pulling the book closer to my chest in a way that definitely could’ve been more subtle.
“Really because it looked like you were riveted a few moments ago,” he smirks, leaning over to try and see the title. 
“Well it’s a good book!” I squeak, pulling the book back further so he can’t see it.
“Why are you hiding?” Cassian laughs. “Afraid I’ll judge your literary tastes?”
“Yes actually I am,” I laugh pulling the book away from his hand as he tries to pluck it from my fingers. 
“Oh c’mon princess I showed you mine now show me yours,” he teases. One of his hands clamps down on my ankle so I can’t shift away anymore while the other snatches the book from my hands. 
“Cassian!” I protest as he moves the novel to his other hand that’s hanging off the arm of the couch. 
“As he kissed her feverishly his hands ran down her bare breasts, leaving goosebumps over the skin they touched.” Cassian read from the book. “This isn’t very lady like reading material princess!” he teases me. 
In a panic I climb over his lap to try and get the book back but he pulls it even further away. 
“Alexander's fingers traveled lower to her awaiting-” Cassian laughed before I finally grabbed the book from his hands. 
“I’ll take that!” I said snapping the book closed. 
It wasn’t until the book was safely in my possession once more that I realized the compromising position I was in… I was on his lap. I was sitting on my general's lap. I quickly scooted over to the side to sit next to him once more trying to hide the blush in my cheeks. 
“Who knew you had a secret romantic side?” Cassian teases with a sly smirk. 
“Yeah yeah, you found me out! Now go back to reading your book about stabbing people!” I brush him off with a laugh.
We spend the rest of the evening reading our respective books, this time without any interruptions. At first it’s nearly impossible to read while he’s right next to me, especially given the content of said book. But after a while I fall into a comfortable silence with the general, stealing glances at him whenever I can. At some point in the night, though I can’t pinpoint when, my eyes grow heavy and I fall asleep, one of the most peaceful rests I’d had in a while.  
Tumblr media
Cassian: 
I’d be lying if I didn’t say the content of the princess’ book didn’t both shock and intrigue me. So much so that I couldn’t help but glance her way every once in a while just to see her little hands gripping the pages like her life depended on it. 
Even though she was just sitting there reading, she was so undeniably gorgeous. No wonder her beauty had been built up to the point where she was practically a character from mythology.  I almost cursed myself for admiring her too much, clearly just becoming another wide eyed male desperately seeking the princess’ attention. I recalled how Helion practically begged Rhysand for her hand, not to mention the other lords. Gods I really was just one of many when, and even more depressing, the least worthy of her affections.
At one point I glanced over to find her fast asleep with her book resting on her chest. I thought about leaving to go to my room or carrying her to bed. But she was so peaceful. More peaceful in this moment than I had seen in the past few weeks. I would kill anyone who dared pull her from that peace, and that meant myself as well. So I set down my book and let myself sink further into the couch. 
I had never slept in the library before, but there’s a first time for everything.  
Tumblr media
Cassian:
“You’re even slower today than you were yesterday brother,” Azriel barked, swinging his sword towards me. I blocked with my own, the sound of metal on metal reverberating throughout the air. “Let me guess, another bad night of sleep?” 
“I slept fine!” I grumble going in for the attack, he blocks me with ease. 
“Are you sure? When I saw you asleep on the couch with the princess this morning you didn’t look too comfortable.” he smirked. The words caught me so off guard I missed my block and his sword sliced the back of my shoulder. 
“Ahh,” I hissed at the cut. 
“Sorry I thought you were gonna block that,” Azriel laughs. 
“I’m fine,” I say, shrugging off the small cut. “Let’s go again.” 
“Actually let’s call it, Rhys needs me on the border to check on things with Hybern,” Az replies, putting his sword over with the others. 
I do the same and go to take off the wraps around my hands. I can’t help but notice the scars and calluses all over them from years of battle and war. Clearly hands unfit to be anywhere near the princess. 
“How does the autumn court fare?” Azriel asks, pulling me from my thoughts. 
“Still full of the most pompous asses in Prythian,” I roll my eyes. 
“Good to see things haven’t changed,” Az laughs. “Does y/n seem to be warming up to Eris?” 
My head immediately goes to that dark hallway. How she screamed for him to get off her. I’ll never unsee the fear in her eyes. 
“No, she can’t stand him. But he seems to be warming up to her just fine,” I say trying not to sound as bristled as I am. 
“Uh oh,” Azriel said, catching my tone. 
“He was going to rape her the other day, I had to intervine.” I huff tossing away what’s left of my wraps a little harsher than I normally would.
“Are you serious? Why haven’t you told Rhys?” Azriel asks, his tone changing. 
“She won’t let me, she's determined to see this thing through, for us, for her people.” I explain trying to stay calm. 
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming,” Azriel says. “When she became this almost mythical being I knew that she would be a conquest. Especially for males like Eris. If he chooses to marry her it won’t be because he loves her. He just wants to say that he owns The Jewel.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I scoff at my brother. 
“She deserves someone who loves her for her. Someone who sees her as more than The Jewel. Someone who has a big heart. Someone who makes her laugh. Someone that teaches her how to play drinking games,” Azriel went on and I knew exactly what he was getting at. 
“Nice try Az, but it’s never going to happen,” I huff walking towards the door 
“You wouldn’t know, you haven’t asked her!” he shouts at me. 
I shake my head at my brother's persistence as I make my way inside the House of Wind. For what it’s worth, I should be flattered that he think’s the princess could ever love someone like me. But I don’t feel flattered, I feel like a joke. The kind that might be passed around by other men at taverns for years to come. 
“Have you ever heard the story of the bastard general and the beautiful princess?”
“The poor fool fell in love with her and she turned him down flat!”
Gods I could hear the crowds of drunken fools laughing at the tale right now. 
The kitchen in the House of Wind always seemed like the most alive part of the house and the part of the house I had always ventured to least. Meals always seemed to appear whenever they were required, leaving no reason to darken the kitchen's doorstep. However, while the cut on the back of my shoulder didn’t hurt, the last thing I needed was an infection. Which is how I found myself rummaging through doors and cabinets for the first aid kit.
“You’re bleeding.” said that beautiful voice cutting through the air like a siren's song. I swore then and there I’d follow it to whatever end. 
I turned to find the princess, standing in the doorway clutching that red leather book from last night. I don’t miss her eyes glancing over my half naked body and it takes everything in me not to bear a self satisfied smirk.
“It’s just a scratch from sparring with Az,” I reply, trying to look over my shoulder to see the state of the cut. 
“Here, let me help you,” she said, turning to the drawer nearest to her and pulling out the first aid kit. 
“Don’t worry I can do it,” I assure her, the idea of her dirtying her hands by touching me makes me cringe. 
“It’s on your back you won’t be able to reach it,” she answers, laying out the things from the kit. 
“Princess you really don’t have-” 
“Shh, think of it as me repaying you for fetching that book for me last night,” she says with a playful glint in her eye. 
I smile remembering everything from me teasing her about the dog comment to the sight of her reading that dirty book. I turn around so she can see the small cut. 
“Do you think you could sit down? It’ll be easier for me to reach.” she asked me. 
“Yes sorry,” I replied sitting down. 
My skin practically buzzes from anticipation, knowing I’ll feel the gentleness of her hands at any  moment.  I suddenly feel like an adolescent male again, excited at the idea of having a female hug me. The second the warm washcloth is pulled away from the cut it’s replaced by her hands smoothing a healing balm over it. I flinch at the chill of her fingers on my bare skin. 
“Sorry my hands are cold,” she apologizes. I almost laugh, her hands are nothing but perfect. All of her is. 
“No it’s okay,” I say back trying to keep my voice even. I feel her smooth a bandage over the cut and the second she removes her hands from my skin I contemplate begging her to touch me once more. 
“All patched up!” she cheers, already beginning to pick up the supplies. 
“Thank gods I thought they were going to have to amputate,” I laugh standing up and flexing my shoulder back and forth to get used to the feeling of the wrapping.
“We can’t have that. How would you dance at the Vanserra’s ball tomorrow night?” she jokes putting the kit back in the drawer. 
“Ah yes, I forgot that’s tomorrow,” I say. In truth I had been counting down the days leading up to the dreaded event.
“You are coming right?” she asks and I can sense a bit of worry behind her words.
“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it,” I assure her. 
“Good, it’ll be nice to have a familiar face there,” she smiles. “Who knows, maybe they’ll bring out that wine they had at dinner.”
“They better, there’s no way I can stand being in a room full of pompous assholes that long sober!” I laugh.  
“Tell me about it, I’ll have to dance with Eris all night,” she says, rolling her eyes. The image of her in his arms is enough to make my blood boil. 
“Who knows princess, maybe you’ll be surprised at your surplus of dance partners,” I smirk knowingly. 
“I’m sure Eris will beat them all off with a stick,” she huffs leaning against the table, picking at her nails. 
“Then he should talk to Rhys first and get a few pointers,”  I laughed leaning against the table next to her. 
"Or better yet, maybe I'll bring a stick to fend them off myself," she quips, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
With a shared laugh, we lingered in the moment, finding solace in each other's company before the looming specter of tomorrow's ball cast its shadow over us once more.
Part 5
Taglist: @crystalferret202 , @nickishadow139 ,  @graceshifts , @writeroutoftime , @heyyitsnat21,  @stinkinstuffie , @lilah-asteria , @12358 , @fxckmiup
163 notes · View notes
strangesickness · 3 months
Text
so i just rewatched IT chapter 2 for the first time in five years and. i have some Thoughts
there are A LOT more flashing lights in this movie than i remembered and i apparently do not deal with those as well as i did half a decade ago (as i'm writing this i have a headache and i kept having to shut my eyes during scenes because it hurt my eyes so bad)
the "let's take our shirts off and kiss!" line does not have any context??? i didn't forget that line but i was under the impression it must have had SOME sort of context. but nope? eddie will try so hard to pretend to be heterosexual and then he will see richie for an hour and start telling him to kiss him. like okay buddy
this shits so fucking cheesy. i know in my heart stan was being a bit of a sarcastic asshole when he wrote "be you be proud" there's no way he wrote that without the intention of taking the piss out of richie. like COME ON that is WAY TOO ON THE NOSE
EVIL that they keep showing richie mourning eddie and then immediately switching to a scene of bev and ben kissing. we get it gay people die alone and the hot straight people get to own a yacht or something (mostly kidding i love bev and ben but i do feel kind of weird about the gay stuff in this movie idk...)
the fact that eddie has canonically seen enough of richie's stand up routine to have an opinion on it (that he doesn't write it himself) is very important to me. bro probably like hatewatches his actual comedy shows but loves his interviews i believe this
we were ROBBED of the miniseries mike and bill biking around on silver montage and they replaced it with fucking. BILLVERLY. be for real.
everyone else getting their tokens: almost dies. richie getting his token: the clown said he knows i'm gay :(
richie being like "jeez we're not afraid of spiders" and then eddie immediately taking off his shower cap is SILLY <3
almost cried when eddie was like "i wonder what stan would be like all grown up" and richie was like "probably how he was as a kid. the best." LIKE BE REAL YOU ARE MAKING ME CRY
bev and ben trying to have a moment and richie and eddie yelling "I FUCKED YOUR MOM!" "NO YOU DIDNT!" "I FUCKED YOUR MOM" back and forth in the background is payback for all of their romantic scenes after eddie's death while i'm sitting here crying
mike drugging bill is very funny. i love their dynamic BILL: did you drug me???? MIKE: a little... maybe... BILL: it's okay <3
that reminds me. WHEN THEY SAID I LOVE YOU TO EACH OTHER???? <33333 also mike's MAN at the end is so real he gets me.
really sunk in while watching this movie that i, an adult, dress like thirteen year old richie tozier. that's evil.
253 notes · View notes
kentopedia · 2 months
Note
Can you drop some long series recs (any fandom!)?! I haven't had any come across my dash >.< Would love to read some!
omg of course!! I HAVE SO SO MANY RECS! a lot of the ones i've seen recently are ongoing, but i hope you give them a go & keep watching for updates <3 i have read quite a variety, so hopefully there's something for you tehe. some of them i haven't read yet, but have been on my list bc i enjoy their other works :) so i recommend them to since i know the writers are amazing!!
across the universe by @lovedazai (dazai, complete) - mai actually just posted the last part yesterday, so this is a great one to start with tehe. everything she writes is so lovely & she knows dazai sooo well. i'm so excited to see finish it!
to have and to hold by @fedyenkas (chuuya, ongoing) - i just started this one today & it's so so amazing so far !! chuuyas characterization in it is sooo yummy. i haven't read a hybrid series before, so it's super unique to see how that fits into the bsd universe.
noble blood by @forest-hashira (satoru & suguru, ongoing) - i haven't read this one yet, but both of fallon's entries for my collab were incredible, so i can only imagine this is too! plus, the premise is SO insane, it's about dragon riders, and there's an entire sheet with all lore that they've created !! i can see how much love and care was put into this one, so i can't wait to check it out !!
oh, baby! by @tetsuskei (kuroo, ongoing) - i have yet to read the first part (everyone throw tomatoes at me) but risu posted some parts on her old blog & i read it there! it's so so sweet!! i looove all her writing, and dad!kuroo is just the cutest thing EVER.
waterloo by @fyorina (dazai, ongoing) - i haven't read this one yet either but i am SO SO incredibly excited to get to it. this one is going to be long, so it might be what you're looking for !! the first two parts are out already, and there's a posting schedule if you want to know when they're coming out :)
bulletproof love by @staryukis (gojo, ongoing) - i've really enjoyed this one so far and logan's writing is so captivating <3 it feels just like missing scenes from in between the canon jjk storyline. logan also has a mini zombie apocalypse series i've been excited to read after reading the other series !! it's dying (for your love).
regrets by @/kingkonoha (levi, complete) is so good !! i still need to finish it, but the concept is super cool & the reader is the antagonist so it's a really interesting spin on levi's actions in the canon universe.
tidal temptations by @fyodorloveclub (fyodor, ongoing) - i have also yet to read this one (cries myself to sleep my tbr is never ending), but everything flora writes is incredible, so i have no doubt this one is too. it's a merman fyodor fic, which is such a cool concept i'm so excited to see where it goes !!!
hell within reach by @/ddarker-dreams (chrollo, complete) - omg. ok i read this one like 2 years ago LOL, but it's finished and its about 80k long, and it's so good <3 i used to be an insane chrollo girlie & this is one of my favorite fics about him.
lover's delight by @lovelyluc (diluc, ongoing) - i don't even play genshin or know anything about it HSHFSDFH but this one is so sweet <3 you can really see how much awea loves diluc in this series, which is my favorite thing about reading fics, and it has so many of my favorite tropes !!
geheinisse by @honeybleed (jean & reiner, ongoing) - only the first part of this is out but it's SO INCREDIBLE. there's so much drama already, and nara does such a great job of setting the scene while getting you hooked immediately. nara also has a two part reiner fic (the first part is decades) that's completed and over 10k words that i'll never forget! her characterization of reiner is so yummy.
if it wasn't for him (would you have me) by @gojoath (yuuta, ongoing) - cella's the ceo of yandere yuuta, so if you're into him, i can't think of anyone else to recommend !!! cella wrote another yuuta series that i think is completed, so there are lots of amazing things to read on her blog <3
@osaemu has a streamer!gojo series that are all in the same universe & connect! they're so funny & everything sabs writes is amazing, so i encourage you to check out her work if you haven't
the lakehouse by @tetzoro (kuroo, ongoing) - rahhh i'm the worst bc i still haven't read this but aims is one of my favorite writers on here, so trust me it's amazing. this was written for october, so if you're missing autumn rn def read this one! aims also has another kuroo series coming soon <3
i know i left some people out, so if you're ever in need of any other recs, pls lmk tehe. and if you're a mootie of mine but have a series i didn't include, send it my way <3 but hopefully all these amazing ones will get you started!
165 notes · View notes
sarah-sandwich-writes · 2 months
Text
Call for Beta Readers!! Please boost this post!
Tumblr media
💕 Queer contemporary romance 💕
I have a novel (where the romance happens) and a prequel novella (where they're kids and the romance doesn't quite happen) and I'm seeking beta readers for both. I'm planning to publish the novel first, but wrote them with the intent that they could be read in either order so it's up to the beta which order they'd like to read them in, or if they only want to beta one.
Red, like my bleeding heart in your hand - 25k - Nash has enough to worry about with an abusive father at home and a little sister to keep out of harm's way, but when a boy his age, Teddy, moves in next door he finds it impossible to stay away even though he really, really should.
Warning for child abuse - mostly referenced
Blue, like don't forget about me - 60k - Twenty years later, Nash reconnects with Teddy at a funeral of all places. With grief, hurt feelings, and broken promises on both sides--they've got no business trying this thing again... and yet...
Warnings for: references to past child abuse, one (1) sexy scene, several references and innuendoes to sex that happens between scenes, and funerals (there are like,,,,an improbable number of funerals for this fluffy little romance idk man)
INTERESTING STUFF:
Ambulatory cane user, undiagnosed autistic MC
Jewish, POC, asthmatic, dietary nightmare love interest
Small town Appalachian setting
Aro/Ace side character
MC works at a nursing home and is besties with all the old folks
I'm thinking two months turnaround if you're reading both, but am super flexible on timing. Mostly I'm looking for reactions to what you're reading: what hits right, what doesn't, what's missing. I'm especially interested in perspectives from anyone who can relate to one or more of the traits listed above!
If you're interested, let me know how you'd like to connect and share files (email, discord, etc.) and thanks for reading this far!
134 notes · View notes
two-sibyls-tall · 5 months
Text
two-sibyls-tall official (dc) fic rec list:
OFFICIAL WARNING: FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD, READ THE TAGS BEFORE YOU READ THE FIC
these fics are all ones I have reread many times- therefore each fic rec has a short summary afterwards that I wrote based on which scenes I randomly remember and want to reread so future me can find it easier.
miss me? - Jason came back to Gotham and attempted to torment his old family with his presence. Three of them have been mourning him so much that they don't even realize he's not a hallucination.
successor - Tim finds out who the Red Hood is early, and accidentally solves the whole problem.
Obedience - When captured by the Mad Hatter, Tim is chipped and forced to comply with any order that he's given. The batfamily doesn't notice for over a month.
The Waynes, Damsels in Distress - Oh no. The Waynes keep getting kidnapped. Hopefully the Justice League will help, since Batman is an urban myth and all.
problem solver - Tim's been stuck in a time loop that resets at 1 am, so he's not particularly worried when he kills Damian at 12:59. Then the clock hits 1:01.
one step forward - Jason has slowly been reintegrating himself with the Bats. Unfortunately, Dick doesn't seem eager to forgive OR forget. Dick thinks that maybe his hallucinations of Jason are getting out of control.
In This or Any Other Universe - Dick Grayson travels to the Batman (2022) universe with just enough time to pull Bruce's reputation out of the dirt and catch a circus performance.
Baby Birds and Bat Caves - Tim Drake has found a way to the Batcave! The other tunnels that he passes with lazarus pits, forgotten gods, and concerning mushrooms are a fantastic backdrop for his new haunted radio show.
Call and Response - The Bird Call is a series of identifying whistles used by the Batfamily to check in without needing comms. The Bird Call is later used to bring a wayward Robin home.
Asimov’s Integral - Robot!Tim is NOT family- he’s only allowed in the Manor for as long as he helps fix Robot!Jason. Bruce keeps forgetting to tell him that’s no longer the case.
The Second Son - All the Waynes have been kidnapped in civvies. Oracle contacts the only vigilante in the city, Red Hood, to help them.
!! Shameless Self-Promotion Time !!
i've watched you so long, screamed your name - Timothy Jackson Drake was shot and killed at 8 years old. Six years later, he becomes Robin.
^^ This fic is one I wrote! From this fic you can go down two roads: The series 'my mind turns your life into folklore' focuses on Young Justice (yj98 from the comics, to be clear) and how they find family with a few supernatural perks. The series 'can't turn back now, i'm haunted' focuses on the Batfamily and their path to discovering that Tim is a ghost.
164 notes · View notes
inklessletter · 10 months
Text
Steve should have known better.
He felt exhibited, exposed. Seen. He hasn't felt that way since he was nineteen. Now he was almost thirty, just in a few weeks, standing in the kitchen, preparing his toddler's meal, and everything should feel normal, definitely not like if the world took an upside down turn on him as soon as he recognized Eddie's voice coming from the TV in the living room. Alone there, forgotten. Like white noise.
They have not been in touch for more than teen years.
He almost didn't pay attention to it. Almost.
Eddie didn't sound like Eddie, that was not his scene, that was not his music, nor his usual angry lyrics. He definitely was not smooth, sad piano, not a raspy, sentimental voice.
It was strange and unfamiliar that man in the screen wielding his voice. That was not him.
Yet it took Steve three seconds to stop dead and go to the living room and stare, cooking forgotten.
Black and white, great illumination, sad expression, and Steve's life in Eddie's lips.
That Eddie, that unknown person sang what Steve told him that many years ago, hidden under a starry night, no Moon there to lit the unshed tears, or the blush in his cheeks. Eddie was singing his secrets.
Like a confession, Eddie sang about his fear of becoming unloved and forgotten, about how his father told him he would be nothing but lonely if he didn't get a wife and kids when Steve was barely eleven. Eddie sang, like it was his own experience, about him becoming his own authority, about how that lingering fear of meaning nothing, be nothing but a sad waste of space because he was definitely unlovable. Eddie sang about Steve's desire of having kids and make himself the greatest dad in the world so he could find that love when he was nothing but wrinkles and memories.
Eddie didn't sing about that love letter that he wrote to Steve, telling him that he was already loved and cherished, and that he would do anything in his hand to make Steve feel unbearably loved every day.
Eddie didn't sing about Steve shaking, reading over and over again that later, terrified of yet losing someone he loved so much because he was flying too close to the sun. Again.
Eddie didn't sing about Steve rejecting him the day before he set off Hawkins to become a famous musician. He didn't sing about Steve's trembling smile, about broken hearts that day. He didn't sing about their mouths becoming that day a graveyard of kisses. He didn't sing about the tight hug, Steve's plea in his hear "please, forget about me and be huge" and Eddie's choking reply "that's not an option, because I will always love you."
He didn't sing about those ten years of silence between them.
Instead, Eddie sang about his wish of becoming loved by the children he hadn't had yet, wondering if they will still love him when he was old or if they would let him behind. Eddie sang about a letter that changed a man and made him happy once.
What Eddie didn't put it in the lyrics, but all Steve could hear, standing there, sobbing, barely able to breath, aching and broken, was that Eddie kept his promise.
He still loved him.
309 notes · View notes
bowbowcherry · 7 months
Text
NSFW MDNI.
Tumblr media
tojixfem!reader
Toji making you squirt in your panties at a picnic.
Uh idk I had to write it down. Testing stuff out ig alot of my writeing is inspiredby my favorite fanfic writers n such anyways I wrote half on coffee n half not so probly a lil Wonkie. But make sure to like n reblog! Ty!!
Warning: smoking, sexual public stuff, squirting ofc, pantie kink?, tojis 30, overstim?, degradation, praise, fingering
1,517 words
Enjoy:
Sitting between toji thighs, him leaning on his hands, legs stretched out as you eat your perfectly cut diagonal sandwich. Your little woven basket and red and white picnic blanket on perfectly trimmed grass and we can't forget the clear sunny skies with a nice flow of wind. Some other people ways away doing the same picnic things. Pretty little white sun dress ridden up your thighs were toji been eyeing.
Last night you were cuddled up with toji. Him spooning you from Behind on his mattress floor bed. Watching old romance movies and when you saw the picnic, eyes sparkling and wide, clenching the blanket more hard. as the actor sitting there her long dress around her. Picking out the food from the basket. While her suited lover looked at her with heavy love eyes. You could almost see hearts.
Toji already passed out behind, snoring. Your to caught up in the pretty romantic scene to notice. After that day you could not get it out of your head so you made up your mind and begged and whined to toji about it. He said no immediately the first time. But after a week of whining to him about the "corny" picnic he finally gives in.
So here you are all happy and shining eating away at your sandwich you take your 3rd big glub of juice. Toji swats a fly away from him, grumbling"Fucking bugs." The sun beaming down on him making him sweat. "God it's fucking hot!" He airs out the front of his shirt." Toji stop complaining, it's not even that hot out." He rolls his eyes, swatting more flies away.
He goes to reach for his stress reliever pulling the lung killers out but of course you grab onto his big hand. "Toji! This is supposed to be a picnic! No smoking allowed!" You scold him. He breathes in, clenching a little too hard on the smokes. He can just alomost feel a vain starting form on his head. He puts them away, grumbling.
You lean over getting a new one, turning around between his thighs being careful with the sandwich in your hand. You hold it up to his cracked lips. "Open up~" you coo with a smile on your face. He can't say he doesn't love that smile and will do anything to see it. The little crinkles in your eyes your glossed lips stretched upwards. your beautiful teeth, too the light makeup you wear. He can't help himself for it to go straight to his dick.
It starts to twitch alive, as he stares you down deep with his intense eyes as he takes a deep sinful bite into the made slice, breaking the perfect and untouch. In the corner of his vision he can see your thighs clench. "Toji.. " You breathlessly. A redness coming to your face. He chews and swallows the food. "Pretty good sandwich." He says to the corny interaction.
You turn over fast, almost falling with nerves. Starring to eat the rest of the slice. His big hands finds your fluffy soft thighs. You squeeze them together, your squirming as he leans down into your ear. "Wearing this little dress on purpose huh?~"He squeezes the skin then slides his hand up fingers fighting to get between those soft squishy thighs. Sandwich in your hand long forgotten, squeezing it. Your other hand on his thigh, clenching the thick muscle.
Warmth and nerves run up your legs and spine, You shiver squirming into his chest, Feeling your legs start to go jelly they mindlessly start to open for his fingers. "Good girl…" His fingers slowly trace up your thigh. "Doing this all in public, so nasty and gross huh? You wanna get caught with me playing with sloppy pussy?.absolutely shameful." He pulls your dress up more flashing your pretty panties. "T…toji. J-just touch my pussy already!" You whine your hip thrusts upwards you drop your sandwich grabbing onto his biceps.
That whine and begging going straight to hiscock it throbs trying to bob in his pants, his balls clenching up feeling a little heavier. He's fucking acheing to feel your tight warm gooy walls wrappedaround him. He slides a finger through your tight cover panties pussy. He leans down a little to see the wet spot he is spreading. He can see the fat outline of your lips, your clit starting to show as he circles the hardening clit. "She's getting all fat and swollen with need huh baby?" He circles it slowly around the chub. He dips his finger down rubbing your hole through the panties, making his way back up to the main attraction. Nipples hard and poking through your thin bra.
Your squirming and moaning softy to his slow torture of your oh so poor clit. The need and ache becoming so strong you need that pain pill. That finger to just rub that pain away. Your hips thrust mindless up against his finger trying to get some relief.
He taps your clit with his finger, your hips reacting to it by bucking up. "P- please j-just fucking rub my clit!"stuttering, out of breath from the aching torture. Blood rushing places, acheing driving you crazy your pussy clenching and pusleing for need. Getting all ready, wet and slick and swollen pussy feeling heavy. Your whole body slug against him.
"All out in public you know…what if someone walks by~.Your such a little freak huh." He reminds you. Leaning down to kiss your cheek moving to your ear and biteing softy. Your eyes roll in your head being in public adding to everything.
He starts to rub faster on your fat swollen chub. "You gonn' mess these panties up for me? Make it all nice and messy for me?" His pupils wide, eyes lidded. Everytime you flash him your panties being a little tease in public especially when you know he can't do anything like the brat you are. Fats lips outline by the pretty underwear you wear for him. He loves when you let him rub his cock between the coverd folds.
He rubs faster on your hard clit. Now using two fingers your moans getting louder your legs quivering. "Ah! Hah! Daddy!" Oh you're getting so close for him. His fat cock constantly throbbing and pulsating for that relief. "Baby reach around and squeeze my cock for daddy.." the arm on his biceps, wobbling and clumsy squeezing between you guys body to squeeze at his cloth dick.
He sighs in relief going faster on your chub"daddy! I-im gonna pee!!" His eyes roll back, fuck your gonna kill him. "Yeah? Wet these fucking panties. Hah.. fuck baby yeah you gonna squirt and make it all messy?" Your pussy clenching endlessly, his other hand coming to push down on your bladder. It's all to much your high peaking, on the edge. Then it all floods, letting out a loud moan your whole body going stiff. "Oooh!!! Tojiiii!!!" Nails dipping into thigh like claws. On cloud nine as he rubs really fast on your hard clit the squirt watering your thighs, panties ruined with wet juices. Your legs quivering and shaking. The wet warmth adding to the pleasure.
He stops pulling his hand away from your over sensitive pussy when the juices stop flowing from your pussy.
Your arm back on his other thigh for more grip. You hazly bring your eyes down from where your head was resting to the mess you made everywhere still on cloud nine. Cunt pulsing and clenching with the aftershock, legs shaking and jelly. Dark stains of your sin at the bottom of your dress and the blanket. Your whole panties soaked. All warm and sticky.
You can hear toji breathing heavily "so hot baby.. your so hot baby. Good job…" He mindlessly says starting at the mess.. he bites onto your neck his wet hand moving back down for another attack. He moves your now getting cold panties. You squeek when he dips his finger into, rubbing on your now sensitive shocked gummy walls. He sticks another in.
"O-ooh..t-toji..hah" you hazly breathe deeply. Your walls clench and grab at his fingers, sucking them in. His eyes rolls back. Slick slick slick comes from the slow deep fingering. He pushes a spot that makes you go crazy. Your eyes roll,your head throws back against his shoulder.
The slick gets louder and faster as he drives that spot, sending crazy pleasure through your body. " I know you have some more…" He's breathless. Watching, waiting for more juice. Then it comes faster this time from the over sensitive pussy. He spreads your legs wider, hitting that spot hard as he can, your pussy pushing and clenching around them. Your body shaking and flexing. You spray straight out that clear liquid. Wetting the blanket in a line, droplets getting places. He moves his other hand over your mouth as you scream. "Holy fuck.." He can't keep his eyes off it.
You in your own world as he takes his fingers from your clenching pussy. "Did such a good job little freak."
324 notes · View notes
streets-in-paradise · 8 months
Text
Third Fate - Achilles x Fiancee!Reader
Tumblr media
Requested by Anon
" Hey, I found your tumblr and I'm loving what you do here, mostly troy. I don't know if you're getting requests, but if you are, you can make one for Achilles based on that scene where he's told he can go and win glory in battle and have his name spoken for centuries or he can stay and be loved, have children, wife? I would love to see Achilles receive more love, with a wife and children. Feel free to make any changes you want, thank you very much in advance."
Hi, anon! I got this way sooner than what i expected because I was really in the mood to write it. The bittersweet mix of angst and fluff was exactly what I wanted to get into this week. Hope you will enjoy it :)
For a lenght concern i kept it in a pre war, pre marriage discussion of the prophecy. If once you read it you happen to like what i wrote here let me know and I can post a continuation showing what happens next ( i originally planned to do so, but it became too long so i prefer to save that for a second part)
Word Count 3.200
Warnings: Standard Achilles sexyness ( no smut, but if you watched the film you understand what I mean with this.) Some aspects of both, the canon of the film and the source material it is based on, were changed to fit the request in my envision of the story.
Summary: Terrible news disrupt the eve of your engagement to Achilles. He is called to fight in Troy and the spectacular war that the gossip foretells seems to be the destiny of greatness he had always dreamed with, but the price he has to pay for it is his happiness with you. The three days ultimatum Odysseus gave him is his moment to decide, but he won't do it without you.
Note: Inspired by two prompts by @creativepromptsforwriting
Prompt 1014 - " Well, the prophecy was a bit unclear about this part."
Prompt 1010 - " Let's not worry about the future. Let's just take this one kiss at a time."
"I like how that sounds."
Tags: @mysticaldeanvoidhorse @helie-brain
There was no easy way for him to explain to you what he had just found out. After Odysseus arrived bringing the news of the war in Asia you were already sad thinking of the distance that would keep your fiancé far away from you for an uncertain amount of time, but the real hardships surpassed your expectations. The whispers of fame claimed the conflict escalated enough to become the greatest war your world had ever seen, but you still imagined it as one war like many others he fought before. No matter the challenges found in battle, Achilles would always return to you. 
Except that he wouldn’t,not from Troy. His mother told him of an old prophecy announced before his birth assuring that war would be the peak of his consecration as a hero, but the price for this glorification was his death. From this fact fate allowed him only two options of choice. He could either stay in Greece and be loved during his lifetime knowing history would forget him, or go to Troy to make his name immortal facing his doom. 
To the end of his tale all you could do was cry, convinced that you were losing him forever. All your plans faded in just one instant, the life you dreamed together was gone. 
“ I’m not dead yet, look at me.” He sweetly mocked you. “ How can you be so sure already that I’m here to tell you I’m abandoning you to get myself killed?” 
You could tell he was trying, but that wasn’t making it any better. 
“ If you don’t go, you will regret it. “ Was your dry comeback. “I know you, Achilles. You live to fight, staying away from the battlefield feels to you like a punishment. I can never keep you for long, not even when war calls you to fight other greeks. Why would it be different this time? You were born for this war, not to labrate the fields and raise goats. If Troy is the fate of greatness that you deserve, I can’t ask you to abandon this life purpose for the sake of our wedding.” 
Despite how much he loved to see people worshiping as a hero, he was very aware to be a man in your eyes. Your approach was realistic and showed how well you knew him, much better than some of the men bleeding with him in war. If you fell for him, you did it knowing what to expect. Begging him to change his nature to fit the requirements of peaceful domesticity was never in your plans and you wouldn’t try it even if you were desperate. 
That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to surprise you on occasions, exactly as he did when he proposed to you freshly arrived from the victory against King Triopas and his giant Boagrius. 
“ Do you think I wouldn’t give it all away for you? Then I guess you don’t know me as well as you claim. “ He teased you with insistence. “ I can do well raising horses, I have some magnificent ones already. Do you know that horses are one of the most remarkable exportations of the trojans? If their city gets sacked by greeks and I manage to buy a few of theirs to mix with mine we would get an excellent rare breed. “ 
You cleaned your face and warned him against the mockery. 
“ Don’t play with me! With the memories of your proposal still fresh, fate demands me to let you go. Being your wife is my dream, but I can’t have you knowing I would be destroying everything you worked so hard for. The immortality of your name is a cause bigger than me, the happy marriage we could have had or the children I could have given you. It can’t be a coincidence that this war gets unleashed precisely now, just as we are taking the first step to formalize our union.” 
“ They are pressuring me to choose, it’s true, but the load of this decision lies in the fact that I want both more than anything.” 
Achilles interrupted himself to take your hand, inviting you to abandon the distance you were forcing ever since he began to explain the situation. 
“ I need you by my side, it’s the only vulnerability I have ever allowed myself. A glorifying death doesn’t scare me, but surviving far enough without you would be torture.” 
Your lips parted in sincere amazement for that confession, so unusual of him. 
“ A slow agony. If the war doesn’t kill me first, lovesickness will.” He continued. “ The comfort of lonely men fighting in foreign lands is dreaming with their distant wives at night, the hope of returning to them makes life bearable. I would not have this, from the moment I would board my ship I will be aware you are lost to me. All I would have is the wound of my pierced heart still bleeding love for you and plenty of time to wonder how wonderful it would have been to make you mine… Sooner or later I would lose my mind. Knowing glorious death would be the only comfort already promised to me, I would roam the battlefield searching for it. It’s most likely I would perform incredible acts worthy of being remembered, but I would do it as the insane man who is desperately looking for the warrior meant to kill him. The poets would write for centuries about the madness of Achilles.” 
“ Aren’t they singing that already? Many people have described you as a madman.” You teased him, unsure of how to comfort him. “ Not that I mind, but that is a fact.” 
“ They have no idea, unfulfilled passion would consume me in such an incredible way that Paris would feel a reasonable man hearing about me.” 
He dragged you even closer so he could hold you in his arms and you fell for his touch chuckling sweetly. 
“ Would you be competing against both princes at once while fighting the trojans?” 
“ The warrior prince and the lover boy wish they could compare to me, I win in each one of their expertise areas. “ He followed your provocation, then whispered at you. “ I fight as fiercely as I love. “ 
You bit your bottom lip to avoid an audible response, but your flustered face was speaking for you. For an instant you felt as if nothing had changed between you and you have never heard the terrible omens. 
“... Maybe that’s why no woman is meant to have you, the great goddesses would be jealous. “ You theorized out loud while caressing his cheek. “ It’s too much, like Icharus flying too close to the sun… Although I would be lying if I deny I would gladly burn and fall for you.” 
Achilles stopped the flow of words taking your breath away with kisses that numb your senses, but not your mind. He had the habit of expressing important things in short, ambiguous phrases or not saying anything at all. When the hungry kissing began to escalate and you felt his hands roaming the sides of your body you understood that was his answer. If he would be saying goodbye, he would at least try to keep himself distant to make it easier for both of you. Given that his involvement on the war would ruin your chances to formalize, he would be encouraging you to find someone else. 
 He was pulling up your skirt slowly, evidently searching for the heat underneath. The opposite of what you would need from him if he would be about to leave you, so you stopped him right away because you realized what that meant. 
" This isn't the time to act impulsively. I know you love me as strongly as i love you, but you have to choose what truly matters the most to you. If you decide to stay, others will be making history and maybe the pleasures of the thalamus will not be enough to cure the resentment for what you will be missing. Think carefully, hearts can change and the future wife you adore now can one day become the load that brought you down. " 
Although a sensical objection, that didn't seem to preoccupy him much. 
" Never, you were made for me. The omens were very clear, staying grants me a blissful life with you for the price of letting my name fade. I have only two options: be loved and forgotten or waste my life following the fool's orders until death will reward me with immortal glory. Between spending the rest of my life with you or with Agamemnon, I think it's clear where I would rather be. "
The sacrifice was too great, ultimate proof of his love for you. Behind that relaxed phrasing Achilles attempted to de-dramatize giving up his biggest personal dream for the one you shared, what you still considered wasn’t fair. 
Responding with an equal offer was not only what your heart began to crave, but an alternative solution neither of you had considered. 
“ There has to be another way, your mother never said what I must do in all of this.” 
He wasn’t sure of where you wanted to point, but began to suspect it. 
“ Well, the prophecy was a bit unclear about this part.” 
The mischievous happiness renewed in your eyes let him know you had just found hope in the most insane of places. 
“ Don’t give me that look, this is what happens for leaving you a while alone with Odysseus! Now you think you can outsmart destiny and find me a third end.” 
You smirked with pride before presenting your idea. 
“ I can’t interfere with yours, only my own. If no part is clearly stated for me in this sacred command sent to you, then nothing stops me from choosing one. Instead of having you abandon your dream to stay with me, I’ll follow it with you.” 
His eyes were wide open staring at you, disbelief making him feel you were then playing with him. 
“ Are you telling me we could just get married and board the ship to Troy the morning after our wedding night? What kind of honorable nuptials would that be? When all the wives of the country would be giving their farewell to their husbands, would you follow me like slaves are meant to? War holds no virtuous position for a woman to occupy, it would be a stain to your reputation your parents would curse me for. “ 
“ If your baby cousin can go, so can I.” You justified yourself.” To stop me you will have to stop Patroclus and we know that is not going to happen.” 
The exactitude of your threat made him feel frustrated. Not because he wouldn’t love having you with him, but since he was refusing to publicly humiliate you like that. All Greece would know you were going to be the only wife following her husband to Troy for unexplainable reasons and they could judge your morals. Decent wives were meant to wait for their husbands and take care of their homes, not let passion distract them from their social duties. War camps were masculine places meant to be despised by the women, since their only female presence was typically in a state of degradation. Besides, Helen had already caused a moral breach shaming the greek concept of marriage and that was the reason pushing the fight. People would be judgemental of your relationship, they would question you for immorality and him for lacking authority to make you stay like a normal wife should. 
He wasn’t thinking about him anymore, of protecting his name and the weight of his masculine prestige. He was extremely worried about you and the consequences it could bring when he wouldn’t be there to protect you. 
“ Do you sincerely want to go to Troy and watch me die?” 
“ It’s still better than watching you sail knowing you will never come back.” You terminated in response . “ I have heard the city is built to withstand a ten year siege, enough time for us to have a life together before destiny will reclaim you.” 
Arguing with you was hard, even if the idea was insane you would find ways to make it sound logical. 
“ A camp on the trojan beach is no place to start a family. “ He replicated softly, just letting you know he was trying to make you understand you couldn’t ask that. “ What are we going to do when the children come? Because they will, eventually. If you become my wife no omen of death is going to stop me from making love to you.” 
You smirked innocently, ready to deliver a justification. 
“ I'm not naive, Achilles! Do you think I don’t know what happens in those camps? Captives get pregnant all the time, so it's not impossible to go through it there. It may not be ideal, but I can make it. If you would leave me here and break our relationship to protect me from your fate, you could still put a baby inside your finest war trophy girl.” 
“ And who said I’m leaving?” He questioned you. “ I’m not doing it and I am not breaking up with you. Now stop with this nonsense, my wife can’t be giving birth surrounded by death.” 
“ But trojan women can? Because births aren’t going to stop there. “ You insisted, sitting near and acting as if you were two civil parts on a trial. “ Hector has a baby boy, if he can be a father in this mess so can you.” 
The provocation made him hold a groan, but he turned back and kicked the nearest surface as a frustration release outlet. 
“ It’s different for him, his wife is a princess and they have a city to defend. “ He tried to articulate in fast speaking, doing all he could to not show signs of anger growing because of your stubbornness. “ I don’t want you to have the life of a war captive, to denigrate yourself for me.” 
It was very sweet, you were feeling his pain but he had to understand yours too. 
“ As long as you are still breathing I will not accept a life without you. When the time comes I will embrace grief, but I’ll cry for you as your widow. In the meantime I don't want no one else, I’ll have the ground of your tent as thalamus and I’ll have your children.” 
He gave a few steps towards you, presenting one more solid concern. 
“ What will be of all of you when I'm gone?” 
That should have been a strong preoccupation making you desist, but it didn’t. 
“ We will be alright. They will inherit your share of the sacking, we know your death is linked to the fall of Troy so I can assume we will win something. Given that the House of Aeacus would possess fresh new heirs to renew the bloodline, I may even be able to bargain with Agamemnon the throne of Phthia for one of them. He hates you, but he would not be politically capable to refuse if you become the maximum fallen hero of the war he just won.” 
At that point he felt true powerlessness because he just couldn’t convince you out of it for your own good. 
“ They can’t grow in a warzone, think of the ruthless people they will become.  Those kids would not know any better until it would be too late for them. I don’t want a soulless soldier as heir, people saying Achilles’ son has surpassed the brutality of the father.” 
“ Let our little monsters run free through the camp, they will turn out fine if we guide them right. “ You imagined out loud, not scared at all by the dark warning. “ I can’t wait to see them messing around, you will be in tears the first time one of them will grab a wooden sword trying to copy their father.” 
Illusion was starting to make his negative stance harder to maintain, he loved what you were saying. It sounded so wonderful that he couldn’t help find some sensical feeling in it. There was only one detail you haven’t solved for his resistance to fall completely. 
“ How would I fight the enemy worried for you? You will be the only married woman around thousands of men and although I'm terrifying to most of them, I can’t keep control at all times. Some of those men will not be myrmidons, they will not know who you are.” 
“ That’s the best part: I’ll keep Patroclus bussy.” You announced with excitement, knowing well he wouldn’t resist it. “ I know you don’t trust him in an open battleground yet, but he would not accept being left behind so you have to take him or he would never forgive you. With me on board you have a safe mission to give him that would keep him away from combat but still make him feel a hero. By the time you will judge him ready to charge into battle my presence will be naturalized and his vigilant eye won’t be needed anymore.” 
Hope was truly hitting him because he started to feel as if the crazy plan could work if you all would make it work out. Most of the persons he loved the most could be with him for the rest of his lifetime, making the surviving gap before the consecration worth living. His little cousin, his best friend and his wife along with his future children all gathered like some warrior family. 
A taste of happiness before the end, walk the two roads simultaneously into a third fate. 
“ Blessed be your stubbornness, you wonderful woman! “ He praised you, surprise making his attitude switch as he rushed towards you. “ How can you be in every detail? You are insane, but I love you. I don’t deserve you, I can’t believe this.” 
He made you smile and by that point you knew you were about to win. 
“What exactly? My incredible ingeniousness, my gorgeous looks?” 
“ That you love me so much, '' He admitted, then picked you up bridal style. “ That you will be my wife and I will brag about having you to both greeks and trojans. I will not rest until you will be the most honored person in that camp alongside me, your sacrifice will be part of my legend and maybe that will be my start to repay you. “ 
His immense gratitude was making you chuckle due to the unusual intensity, but he wouldn’t stop. 
“ I’ll love you to my last breath, I promise you that.” 
You were all smiles while caressing the strands of hair falling at the sides of his face. 
“That’s all I want. No other payment you can offer matters to me because my will for sacrifice comes from love, just like yours.” You purred blissfully. “ Let’s not worry about the future, let’s just take this one kiss at a time.” 
Mesmerized as he was, he replied against your lips. 
“ I like how that sounds.” 
241 notes · View notes
lady-charinette · 1 year
Text
Rei is significantly more relaxed over the years, but the saying "once a hitman, always a hitman" rings true for him.
And Kazuki.
There were instances where they got robbed, or there were attempts made anyway, where Rei's sole working arm was preoccupied, or he found himself in an otherwise vulnerable position.
And yet, no harm had ever come to him, and that was not because of Rei's doing at all.
It was Kazuki.
That man had stored more weapons in the crevices of the diner than Rei had back at their old place, which was an incredible feat to surpass. All weapons were well out of reach and knowledge of Miri (unbeknownst to them, Miri knows all the hiding places) and if Rei were ever in a position to be distracted or incapable of disarming an intruder, he could always count on Kazuki.
The first time happened when Rei was carrying a heavy box and carefully positioning it on his shoulder to heave it on a high shelf. He had heard the intruder, his senses still sharp as ever, but had no time to grab any of the weapons from the kitchen.
But Rei knew, he didn't need to.
The second the intruder whipped out what Rei assumed was a pistol, the same second a gut twisting scream tore from the man's throat and a loud thud followed it.
The would-be robber was sweating (and probably soiling) himself. Kazuki Kurusu stood with one arm filled with groceries and the other holding a loaded gun aimed at the guy's head, a menacing, almost sadistic smile twisting his usually kind features.
Rei smirked and finished heaving up the box on the shelf, very much unbothered by the sight before him. "Ah, did you forget to buy the lemons, again?"
Kazuki's sadistic killer smile vanished and he glanced at Rei with a twitch in his eye. "Did I forget- I'll have you know, Miri wrote down everything we needed! So no, I didn't forget to buy the lemons."
Rei rested his hand on his hip. "Outside?"
Kazuki nodded, gun never once leaving its position aimed at the intruder's head. "Yep, but she can barely wait for dinner so lets wrap this up qui-"
The intruder thought Kazuki was sufficiently distracted to attempt to tackle Rei and at least flee the scene, but as soon as he moved, Kazuki and Rei moved as well.
Rei swiped his feet out and tripped the guy, while Kazuki brutally slammed his foot on top of the guy's head. An audible thud rang through the air when the man's skull made contact with the floor, the cold steel of the gun pressed into his head. "Oi, it's rude to interrupt people while they're talking, dickhead."
Rei was already calling the police, silently lamenting the fact that they couldn't bury him in their backyard. Perhaps his plants would grow faster too that way.
Oh well.
"You didn't buy the lemons." Rei stared blankly at Kazuki while the police escorted the beat up robber outside.
Kazuki's eye twitched again. "MIRI!"
Miri huffed. "I swear I wrote it down, Kazu Papa!"
449 notes · View notes
what-eats-owls · 2 months
Text
Show vs Tell, Or: Please Stop Making Things Difficult for Yourself
I said a while ago that I'd write a brief essay about the most misused craft advice in writing once I wrote 10k words, and for once I actually held myself to that! So now, I'm here to tell you about Show vs Tell, or why people make it more complicated than it needs to be.
First, a basic primer for anyone who hasn't heard this term before: "Show vs Tell"/"Showing vs Telling" refers to "showing" the audience information instead of "telling" it to them. You may be thinking, gosh, that sounds unspecific to the point of being readily misapplied, and you would certainly be right! Lots of folks throw it around without fully grasping what it means, how to use it, or when it doesn't actually apply. And I'd really like everyone to stop making it harder on themselves when there's a very straightforward way to conceptualize it.
So for starters, Chuck Palahniuk has an old but good essay about eliminating "thought" verbs from prose that holds the hell up. But I'm going to tell you an even simpler way to conceptualize the difference between showing and telling:
Eliminate the inner thoughts entirely.
Ask yourself, if my narrator's interior monologue was inaccessible to the audience, how would I convey the same information—literally showing it?
Forget for a moment that your medium is the word, and imagine you only have dialogue and visuals. If this was taking place on the screen or in a graphic novel, how would you convey that this character has a crush on someone in their class? That they're hotheaded? That they're struggling with a decision?
Here's a perfect example of this from the opening scene of Howl's Moving Castle.
Tumblr media
Devoid of context, we have a girl trying on a hat in a mirror, and also trying on a fake smile. Then her expression sours and she pulls the hat down over her face until we can only see her frown. She's wearing a plain dress and the hat is simple, despite the elaborate hats and ornaments on display around her.
You don't have to know anything about this character to understand what's being conveyed in this moment: This girl is deeply uncomfortable with trying to be pretty and flirty, but in the safety of privacy she wants that, even though she feels inept and self-conscious about it. She's in this world, but she's not part of it. Even brushing up against it for a moment makes her shut down and reject it with hostility.
More importantly, it's all communicated with a simple gesture and design choices. Not by Sophie thinking to herself, I wish someone would take me dancing—no I don't! I work too hard to have time for dancing!
That's showing. And it's more resonant, because we've all felt silly trying something on in a mirror! Or, say, if you want to show a character has a crush, having them get flustered and laughing too loud. Or showing that they're a hothead by having them snap at a simple disagreement, etc. etc.
This also extends to worldbuilding, dialogue, and stakes.
Worldbuilding: If your story is set in a town run by a crooked sheriff, you could have the narrator say "everyone knows Sheriff Smith is squeezing the shops for bribes." Or the sheriff can stop the narrator for "smelling like weed" while the sheriff's drunken son speeds by, about to total his third BMW.
Dialogue: If your character is angry, they can say "I'm furious." Or they can slam dishes in the sink and insist "I'm not angry" while openly crying. They can snap "I'm not discussing this again." They can demand "What is he doing here?"
Stakes: You can have an all-seeing oracle say "If you do not return the Mystic Orb to the Sunlight Altar by the solstice, the world will plunge forever into darkness." (And as we'll get into it below, sometimes you actually need that.) You can also have intermittent but increasing periods of total darkness occurring as the party travels to the Sunlight Altar. You can have the Mystic Orb start cracking the longer it takes, and the sun getting a little dimmer with every fracture. You can have people's shadows growing bigger and bigger and acting autonomously.
But showing isn't the end-all-be-all; telling absolutely has a place. Sometimes it's better to quickly and plainly state information and move on, such as a little earlier in the scene, when the other hat shop girls have spotted Howl's castle:
"Look, it's Howl's castle!"
"I've never seen it so close!"
“Do you think Howl will go into town?”
“He’s gone!”
“No, he’s just hiding in the fog from those planes.”
“Did you hear what happened to that girl, Martha, in South Haven? They say Howl has torn her heart out.”
“Now I’m too scared to go out!”
“Don’t worry. He only preys on pretty girls.”
This tells us some stuff directly: Who owns the castle we see in the first few seconds, that he's hiding from soldiers, that he has a reputation for preying on beautiful girls. We can infer also that he's a bit of a coward, he stays away from civilization, and that his reputation for cruelty has spread over multiple regions.
This happens so quickly, and it's couched in enough character between the teasing and the gossip, that it doesn't stand out as capital-t-Telling. That's exactly what expository dialogue should do. "Showing" us all that information would take a lot of screen time that can be saved in ten seconds of dialogue.
It's also not just about saving time; it's setting up an image that Howl initially fulfills when he helps Sophie escape the soldiers... only to be punctured when she actually goes to his castle and sees the real Howl. Telling is good for setting expectations that you know will be subverted later.
So yeah, tl;dr: If you're tied up in knots about "am I showing?? am I telling??" just ask yourself how you'd convey the same information in a movie or graphic novel, without access to interior monologue, and evaluate if that'd be better. Most of the time the answer is yes, but not always!
143 notes · View notes
city-of-ladies · 2 months
Text
Tumblr media
Kōgyoku/Saimei (594-661) was Japan’s second empress regnant according to the traditional chronology, with the notable particularity of having reigned twice.
Her first reign ends in blood
Though stable during Empress Suiko’s reign, the court reverted to a state of unrest after her death. Emperor Jomei, died without designating a successor. To put an end to the power struggles, his widow, Princess Takara, was chosen in 642. She was 49 years old and would thus be known as Kōgyoku Tennō.
As the region was hit by a severe drought, Kōgyoku prayed and the rain fell. She thus won her subject's respect.
In 645, her son, Prince Naka no Ōe , killed minister Soga no Iruka in front of her in the throne room. Kōgyoku knew nothing of the plot. As she confronted him, her son explained that Iruka was guilty of treason. 
The empress left the scene and abdicated two days later in favor of her brother Kōtoku, with Naka no Ōe becoming heir apparent. 
In 654, Kōtoku died of an illness and his sister took the throne again as the 37th Tennō, called Saimei. 
A mediator and a builder 
Saimei fostered international relations by sending envoys to Tang China and opening exchanges with the three kingdoms of Korea. She undertook many building projects to show the prosperity of her realm and receive foreign envoys.
Many of those buildings were made of stone. However, not all her projects were met with approval. Such was the case of a facility with an imposing stone wall and necessitating the manual digging of a canal. It nonetheless seems that this canal had two purposes: irrigate the fields and form a moat that would deter enemy invasions. 
At the end of her life, Saimei planned a military to help the kingdom Korean kingdom of Baekje against Silla and China. She was at Tsukushi, readying her troops, when she died at age 68. Before passing away, she told her son Naka not to waste a great amount of labor in building her tomb.
The navy suffered a terrible defeat after her passing. Her son Naka no Ōe would later rule as emperor Tenji.
A loving grandmother
Saimei played an important role in politics by achieving peace between rival factions. She also raised her granddaughter Jitō, who would become a powerful empress in her own right. Extremely saddened by the death of her grandson prince Takeru in 658, she asked to be buried beside him and wrote two poems:
Above the hill 
At Imaki 
If even a cloud
Would only appear, 
Then why should I grieve? 
I did not think of him 
As being a mere child, young
Like the young grass 
By the river bank, where they track
The wounded deer. 
Like the foaming waters 
Of the Asuka river, 
Moving on ceaselessly:
Without pause
Does my mind dwell on him
And:
Though I cross the mountains 
And sail over the seas, 
I shall not forget
The happy 
Times in Imaki. 
 The salt current 
At the river mouth 
Flows back into the sea:
With darkness at my back,
 Must I go, leaving him behind? 
Must I go, 
Leaving behind
My beloved young child?
Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi if you want to support me!
Further reading:
Toshio Akima,  "The Songs of the Dead: Poetry, Drama, and Ancient Death Rituals of Japan"
"The story of Empress Saimei"
Aoki Michiko Y., “Jitō Tennō, the female sovereign”, in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (ed.), Heroic with grace legendary women of Japan
97 notes · View notes