#Grassy Hillsides

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Castle on the Hill

Thank you to the anon who sent in this request for Mae x fem!reader angst.

As it was an anon prompt, I do not know the person who requested this and/or how familiar they are with my writing.

So, I have taken anon by their word. The only thing I am not sure about is whether this will count as "x"...

Words: 1473

Characters: Maedhros x Female Elf reader

Prompt: Grassy Hillsides

Warnings: angst, unrequited love, the Doom of the Ñoldor

As you made your way into the fortress, shamefully bedraggled and unspeakably weary, you were terrified of what you'd find.

The grassy hillside you had clambered up reminded you of home and of better times you were hopeful to regain—despite the bold claim that it was summer here, you felt a sickly chill seep through your travelling garb and settle beneath your skin.

Never would you have been able to predict how heavy and miserable you'd feel in this strange land when you had set out—with high hopes and a joyous heart—to bring back the one you felt tethered to still despite his long absence from the shores of your home.

Before the so-called Flight of the Ñoldor, your family had led you to believe that a match with Nelyafinwë, firstborn of the firstborn, would be both possible and desirable.

From the moment you had first laid eyes upon him, you had never demurred again.

He had been named quite aptly for his blinding beauty, but it was his dignified demeanour and eloquent speech that had won your maiden heart.

You shivered violently as you were ushered into a draughty hall, awaiting the pleasure of the Lord of the castle. Through a narrow, charmless window, you could see the grey grass swaying sluggishly in the damp breeze—you turned away, overwhelmed with home-sickness and a devastating sensation of loneliness.

Would he even remember you?

You had been but another maiden at court, staring longingly at the gorgeous and exceedingly desirable descendants of Finwë behind coyly lowered lashes.

Steeling yourself against this onslaught of disastrous doubt, you tried to improve your appearance as much as possible without a looking glass or the proper tools.

It would not do to appear before this paragon of strength and nobility in so unapologetically dishevelled a fashion.

"Milady," a heavy, raucous voice said, and you whirled around to face a door you had not hitherto noticed. "How can I be of assistance?"

Pressing your lips together, you took in the apparition of doleful distinction approaching you with measured steps.

Nelyafinwë looked both much the same and completely different—the noble reticence you had once so admired had hardened into stern dispassion and his delicate features seemed sharper and more cutting in the flickering light of the sconces.

Evidently, he did not remember you—his smile was perfunctory at best and your courage flagged.

As you were frantically flipping through the catalogue of empty, pretty phrases one was supposed to use when in the presence of an Elda of his standing, your gaze brushed against his right wrist as against an open wound.

You flinched involuntarily—your host gave you an almost mocking smile.

Finally, he met your wide, shocked gaze and, by the way he retreated a wavering step, you could tell that he realised instantly whence you had come.

"I have come to take you home," you blurted out, understanding with sudden clarity that this world was nothing like the one you had grown up in.

This was not the time nor the place for polite conversation and pleasant platitudes—not when the unobtainable dream of your radiant youth stood there, swaddled in heavy furs, and stared at you in reluctant wonder.

"Home?" he barked; it sounded as if he had not laughed in a very long time. "And where would that be, pray tell?"

"To Valinor," you replied in a faltering voice.

This was not what you had imagined when you had planned your victorious quest to redeem the Dispossessed. In your visualisation of the scene, he had always been relieved and eager to follow you back to the Blessed Realm where peace and plenty were awaiting him after a period of humble atonement.

"What for?" he hissed and scanned the room quickly before localising the carafe of deep red wine standing on a bare, scratched-up counter.

Without heeding your attempts at redressing your impassionate, imprudent exclamation, he moved over and poured the liquid into two finely wrought crystal goblets.

"My Lord," you cried, "you are not beyond saving. If only you would come with me...there could be forgiveness and healing."

His piercingly cold eyes swung around to settle heavily upon your blanching face. A flicker of acknowledgement of your ever-youthful beauty passed through his gaze but it died as soon as it had flared up and was promptly replaced by the unyielding wall of patient distance.

"A wife," you added softly—renewed, unquenchable hope flared within your soul and voice once more as you extended your hand to him.

Handing you one of the goblets unceremoniously, Nelyafinwë cocked his head as if earnestly fascinated but not in the least otherwise affected by your words.

"A wife," he chuckled. "What would I do with a spouse of any denomination?"

He rubbed his brow with the same long, slender fingers you had watched write important notes in the margins of official texts an eternity ago.

They were now pale and bony, marred with scars and covered in callouses, but they were still the most beautiful digits you had ever beheld.

"Love her? Be happy?" you whispered, hating yourself for sounding so unsure of a scheme that had driven you across the sea and through countless perils.

"A wife, happy, love," he aped you, his own voice booming and bouncing off the unadorned walls of the chamber—an unbearable echo of his disbelief and derision.

"I have sworn an oath," he then added in a softer tone, "and it takes precedence over any other vow I might have made. I am bound to it and to those who share my ball and chain. There is nothing else. There is nobody else. There never will be."

The fire of resentment and resignation burning in his eyes did nothing to dispel the trembling that had drained your limbs of all strength.

"You've done enough," you protested vehemently, "you have lost so much already. Come back with me and be made whole."

He bristled at that, retreating even further from you as if he was positively disgusted by the tableau of pardon and peace you were conjuring up.

"I am what I am," he said coldly, "and there is nought you or anyone else could change about that. Go home, this is no place for...the innocent."

Though he did not speak the devastating verdict, you could hear it reverberating in his tone. There was no place in his castle, in his life, or in his heart for naïve maidens such as you.

Your hands started to shake so much that you had to hide them within your sleeves—you had prepared and rehearsed every single sentence you had wanted to say to him but, in the face of his unrelenting refusal to even listen to you, you were constantly finding yourself at fault and at a loss for words.

"Please," you begged brazenly, "this is folly. You'll die."

Another burst of mirthless laughter cut your pleading short.

"My grandfather is dead," he answered calmly, "so is my father. Ever since leaving Formenos, every step I've taken was steeped in destruction and death—I know what awaits me and I am unafraid."

Letting the goblet fall to the floor, wine spilling across the flagstones like the blood he had referenced a moment prior, you extended both your hands in a shameless display of supplication.

"Go home," he scoffed, "there is nought you can offer that I'd desire. I have chosen my lot and I have all I'll ever need in this accursed land we've paid so dearly to have and to hold."

The travesty of notions and phrases usually found in wedding vows cut you to the core and, finally, your desperate, violent burst of selfless petition abated.

"I wish you'd reconsider," you sighed.

"I wish you safe travels," he replied in the even, polite voice you remembered from his speeches at court. "May you find all the bliss you've tried to hawk so fervently."

Draining his cup and giving you a crisp, perfunctory bow, he strode out of the same door he had entered through.

A moment later, an armoured soldier appeared by your elbow to escort you either to your horse or to a room in case you wanted to rest before your departure.

"Will I see him again?" you asked dejectedly.

"No," the soldier informed you, his terrible, insulting empathy hurting you more than Nelyafinwë's polite dismissal, "he has left to confer with his kin."

"Then I shall take my leave as well," you said, mustering up every ounce of self-respect and dignity left within your shaken soul.

As you exited the keep, bitterness crept into your veins along with the pervasive cold that made your bones ache.

He did not remember you and he had not even deemed you worthy of an apology…or a goodbye.

Thank you anon for the request and I hope this was acceptable.

Writing this, I have found that I am unable to write a lovestory between Maedhros and a female character that would be anywhere near functional or successful. I am sorry.

Lots of love!

@fellowshipofthefics: On track for week 3 as well :D

[gina025]

Peaceful nature

[pellinni-photo]

sunny autumn day in mountains. wonderful views of carpathian rural landscape. trees in colorful foliage and grassy meadow on the hillside. ridge in the distance beneath a blue sky with clouds

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Mother Bear and Cub (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at a roadside pullout along Maligne Lake Road with a view looking to the southwest to a mother black bear and her cubs eating away. This is in Jasper National Park. In composing this image, I attempted to center the mother and one of her cubs, as they were eating grasses and wildflowers in this field.

[thorsenmark]

A Lone Robin on a Hillside and Grassy Meadow (Blue Ridge Parkway) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the northwest while taking in views across a grassy meadow with a lone robin. This was at the Mabry Mill location along the Blue Ridge Parkway. What I had wanted to capture with this image was the robin and have the grassy meadow seemingly stretch across the entirety of the image, putting the bird in the center. As the robin was moving around quite a bit, I had to make do with what I could and keep the robin more or less in the meadow center and have some trees as a distant backdrop.

[marzipanandminutiae]

I don't think I've realized until just now, with the P*rate Poll Discourse Explosion, how utterly pointless the C*ptain Sw*n vs. Sw*n Qu*en ship wars I engaged in- with wanton disregard for proper blacklist tagging -back during college were

or how obnoxious to people outside my fandom

please accept this belated apology, longtime followers

(though you didn't have to censor body text to avoid tags back then, so I won't apologize for not doing that)

[christinatravel]

Experience the serenity of nature as you wander along this grassy hillside, guided by a winding dirt road. Embrace the lush greenery and open skies, where every step unveils a new vista of tranquility. This photo was taken somewhere in Tetouan North of Morocco.

[freshthoughts2020]

[rhaenyratargeryen]

The Fellowship tumble out of the Great Eastern Gate on to a grassy sunlit hillside. Sam, Merry, and Pippin fall slowly to the ground, sobbing. // Frodo slowly turns, a look of numb shock on his devastated face. The Fellowship marches on.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING dir. Peter Jackson | 2001

[immediatebreakfast]

It's so tragic to read how Jonathan's writing changed so much to the point that it feels as if another person took his hands, and erased his literary identity. In an epistolary novel where all of the characters have such distinct writing styles, and quirks this writing change is the only reflection of the amount of trauma Jonathan has gone through.

From early may:

Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road. There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom—apple, plum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals. In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the “Mittel Land” ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame.

With the heart, and soul of a curious poet trying to capture the beauty of their surroundings.

To today in october:

We left Charing Cross on the morning of the 12th, got to Paris the same night, and took the places secured for us in the Orient Express. We travelled night and day, arriving here at about five o'clock. Lord Godalming went to the Consulate to see if any telegram had arrived for him, whilst the rest of us came on to this hotel—"the Odessus." The journey may have had incidents; I was, however, too eager to get on, to care for them. Until the Czarina Catherine comes into port there will be no interest for me in anything in the wide world.

It's simple, technical, to the point, and nothing at all like the Jonathan we knew. There are no more heavy descriptions of the landscapes, no more curious details to study later, nor recording the kind of people to meet, all is left is the focused hatred that Jonathan has for Dracula, and his eagerness to either kill him with his hands or see him dead with his two eyes.

It's a reflection of the kind of mental state Jonathan is in right now, and the kind of expression that Mina must have noticed by now.

[eelnoise]

anamnesis (nsfw!)

zoro x afab!reader has a sequel kinda now cw: masturbation, solo m, pining, piv sex, some fluff wc: 912 an: zoro jerking off to reader during the timeskip has me in a chokehold. VERY self indulgent btw. tagging: @bby-deerling @kaizokuniichan @willowbelle @strawheart-pirate @themushroomofdeath

The damn island is too dark for anyone’s own good on most days, far too easy to miss a turn on the path back to the castle and subsequently ending up lost for a few hours. Countless times has Zoro wandered about the grounds absent-mindedly, thinking neither here nor there about where his feet take him, and countless times more has someone - usually the ghost girl - come to fetch him should he be gone too long.

But tonight sees Mihawk away, leaving him alone to train by himself for several days. Though usually up to the task of working on technique, he finds himself instead somewhere about the grounds with his back flat against a grassy hillside, eyes glued shut with one hand sprawled out on his stomach while the other hastily fists at his cock.

There’s a bit of shame to it that still lingers. Not of the act in itself but because at the very forefront of his mind all Zoro can see is traces of his limbs entangled with yours with clothes long shed and tossed aside, tucked away in some private corner of the ship having your fill of one another.

A soft grunt escapes from his lips as he pictures you above him, thighs at either side of his own with your hands tangled into fistfuls of his hair. He imagines his fingertips dipping harshly into the soft flesh of your hips, thighs - just whatever he can get his hands on while you roll your hips up and down on his length. 

Zoro can all but taste your lips upon his - a recurring pattern of this already unusual behavior from him - locked in a loop of increasingly messy, breathless kisses. He craves his tongue entwined with yours, wanting to capture every sound you make, to swallow each one to sate a sweet tooth reserved for you and only you.

In a moment that now feels like an age gone by, the two of you had shared a very passionate moment - one he can scarcely remember the moments leading up to. The kiss you had given him that night on the open sea - his first - just days before your forced separation nearly two years ago replays in his head on repeat, muting the nuances prior but sends with it a barrage of emotion he continues to struggle to bear yet yearns to understand.

It’s why the reverie behind his lids dances with visions of you and sings in the tune of your voice. It’s why his toes curl in his boots at the thought of your skin upon his in the most intimate of ways. It’s why he craves the whole of you, why he wants to somehow find the words to tell you how he feels, why he thinks of you before he sleeps and why he hears your voice bid him good morning each time he wakes.

And now, it’s why he’s desperately stroking himself and wishing beyond hope that his hand was your pussy instead. 

With his free hand he bundles the collar of his shirt between his teeth in an attempt to hide his own breathlessness. His legs bend at the knee in focus, and the sheer need that overtakes him in these final moments elicits a muffled growl from deep within his gut with the thought of just how good it would feel to fill you from the inside out and let proof of the act slide from your core and down his cock. 

Zoro tightens his jaw and sweat beads trickle down his face as his pace quickens, and suddenly he’s biting at the bit to know just how you sound when you cum. In his mind’s eye you’re clawing down his back while he takes control, fucking up into you in a starry-eyed chase of clemency. Your fantasized voice pants his name like a prayer in his ear, finally forcing your lips apart to break into pieces atop him. 

He wants to take you there and back again, needs to see your face twisted in delirium from something only he can supply. His head spins with the image of you writhing in his arms, yours holding onto him tightly when you tip over the edge. You cry out for him to keep going, you leave sloppy open-mouthed kisses along his neck, you whine and mewl and dig your nails down his back,muttering into his flesh about how good it feels or how much you-

How much you love him.

Zoro cums the instant the fictional you says the words in his head, the fabric in his mouth doing little to stifle the groans of pleasure playing from his lips while he covers his hand and lower belly in thick white spend with your name on his tongue, face in his mind, and voice in his soul. 

He slides his shirt from his shoulders and quickly cleans himself up. Sitting up on the darkened hillside with his elbows resting on his knees, Zoro sighs and raises his now halfened gaze to the heavens. Are you staring up at the same sky, wherever you are? He scans the endless ocean of stars above, missing the times where you’d be next to him on the deck pointing out the various constellations and explaining their meanings - and even though he still doesn’t believe in astrology, Zoro has each of your favorite ones memorized.

He wants to tell you he has a favorite one, too.

[thethirdromana]

More travels with Jonathan Harker, in pictures

Here's the route that Jonathan travels by the public coach today:

I've tried to find copyright-free photos from the actual route, but I've not had much success. So this tour is going to be a lot more vibes-based than reflective of the actual sights out of the stagecoach window. Think of it like Jonathan's Transylvanian Pinterest board.

(Scenery photos are all of Transylvania, assuming I can trust the sites where I found them, but not necessarily the right time of year or the right bit of Transylvania. It's a big place.)

"Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road."

"There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom—apple, plum, pear, cherry; and as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals."

"In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the "Mittel Land" ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame."

"Beyond the green swelling hills of the Mittel Land rose mighty slopes of forest up to the lofty steeps of the Carpathians themselves. Right and left of us they towered, with the afternoon sun falling full upon them and bringing out all the glorious colours of this beautiful range, deep blue and purple in the shadows of the peaks, green and brown where grass and rock mingled, and an endless perspective of jagged rock and pointed crags, till these were themselves lost in the distance, where the snowy peaks rose grandly."

"As we wound on our endless way, and the sun sank lower and lower behind us, the shadows of the evening began to creep round us. This was emphasised by the fact that the snowy mountain-top still held the sunset, and seemed to glow out with a delicate cool pink."

"By the roadside were many crosses, and as we swept by, my companions all crossed themselves."

"Sometimes, as the road was cut through the pine woods that seemed in the darkness to be closing down upon us, great masses of greyness, which here and there bestrewed the trees, produced a peculiarly weird and solemn effect, which carried on the thoughts and grim fancies engendered earlier in the evening, when the falling sunset threw into strange relief the ghost-like clouds which amongst the Carpathians seem to wind ceaselessly through the valleys."

And a bonus: Bran Castle is marked as 'Dracula's Castle' despite being even further away from the locations in the book than most of my vibes-based photography choices. It also doesn't resemble Bram Stoker's descriptions of the castle.

But more importantly, it looks really cool. So here it is:

[sonder-paradise]

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 — 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭

◊ ft. xiao, venti, kazuha, wanderer, gn!reader

◊ genre. fluff, reader teasing anemo fools

— 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨

he watches you carefully from the cooling shade of the tree above. whatever you're currently off doing, it seems to be entertaining you much more than usual. but there's something entirely charming about the way you find such joy in the timid moments teyvat gives you.

the gentle breeze sways past the two of you bringing in the salty scents of the nearby port and the mountainous ranges just beyond. he closes his eyes just a moment, soaking in the sound of your bubbling laughter and the symphonic winds.

"xiao!"

his eyes flicker open and, in a moment, he's at your side. he seems rather alert for a second before he realizes there is a board smile dressed across your face.

"is something the matter?"

you shake your head; that odd, little grin neglects to fade from your features. he raises an eyebrow at your behavior.

"no, just wanted to see you. oh, here."

and suddenly your hand is reaching towards him and you're leaning in a little too close and his breath catches in the back of his throat and now he's debating whether or not he should lean in too and—

"you had a leaf in your hair."

xiao turns a brilliant shade of red as your hand pulls back and you reveal a little green leaf. he stumbles through a mismatched phrase before you stop him with that stupid grin.

"what? did you want something else instead?"

you can practically see the steam burst from his ears.

— 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢

another night, another set of drinks for the anemo archon and his beloved. venti belts out a brilliant set of notes for just the two of you as you plop down beside him on the grassy hillside. the moonlight streaks down on you both through the stony fingers of the statue of seven.

"do you think master diluc will notice?" he mumbles aloud.

"notice what?"

"the wine we stole!"

you laugh, waving him off. "i left some mora on the counter, i'm certain he can put two and two together."

venti joins your laughter. then he strums the strings of his favored lyre. venti feels the buzz of alcohol hit the back of his throat and he's grateful for this brief moment of mundanity the two of you have been given.

"oh, venti."

he turns as you call him and it's at that moment he realizes just how close you've gotten to his face. his eyes briefly flicker down to your lips and the buzzed gaze in your eyes.

then you pull back, having grasped the bottle of wine behind him with a grin.

"another round?" you pause, noting the pink dusting his pale cheeks and the way he looks absolutely hypnotized with you."

"oh? did you think i was going to kiss you?"

venti seems to snap out of his trance and gives you an apparent pout. "of course! why else would you get so close?!"

"to get the wine?" you shake the bottle a little, raising an eyebrow at him.

"wah! then just ask me! now kiss me properly!"

— 𝐊𝐚𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐡𝐚

kazuha's grown a little tired of your constant teasing for today. perhaps you woke up a little too mischievous this morning, but he's not sure how much longer he can tolerate your behavior.

once: this morning while attempting to wake him up, he was certain he caught you trying to kiss him. and yet, he was surprised to hear that you were just brushing hair out of his eyes.

twice: early in the afternoon when you grasped his waist and looked at him from over his shoulder. he even unconsciously leaned in towards you, but instead you moved in to your right in order to pass.

and now three times: after lunch, having just watched you walk away after cupping the side of his face and leaning in, only to be met with you wiping crumbs off his face.

"kazuha, is something the matter?"

he stares at you before flashing you a smile you're certain is bound to be trouble.

"not at all, but would you like to explain your actions today?"

"what actions?"

"are you playing coy with me now, y/n?"

"whatever are you talking about?"

kazuha leans in, reaching to grasp your chin and adjusting it to match your eyes to his. his eyes flicker down to your lips and the butterflies in your stomach swarm almost violently.

then, he stops, pulling back with an overly-sweet smile.

"still don't know what i'm talking about?"

you swallow thickly, taking in the peeved expression in his eyes. whoopsies.

— 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫 / 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞

he should be used to these types of long night chats. he wants to be used to the way your voice chimes about the challenges of the day or the pleasures of it. but he also finds it addicting all at the same time.

the light of the candles illuminate your face as he listens carefully to you. whatever you're talking about has to do with something he can no longer attempt to remember. but you haven't asked him any questions on his comprehension of the matter so he doesn't clarify anything.

instead he watches your lips. the way they look so kissable, so delectable, so... ah, what were you saying again?

scaramouche snaps out of his stupor upon hearing his name leave your tongue. but, even then he hopes his eyes weren't about to tell you what exactly he was paying attention to.

"what?" he spits out.

"nothing, you seem a little distracted."

"well, you're wrong. i'm just getting sleepy is all."

you chuckle, scooting just a couple inches over to him. "i think i understand what's going on."

your face grows nearer to his and he can feel his heart ready to beat out of his chest and his face turn redder by the second. his eyes flicker down to your lips once more and for just a moment, he has to snap those eyes down to prevent them from tattling on his intentions.

your lips just barely graze his own and by then his skin is bursting red. but, you stop and you grin at him.

"you want to kiss me, is that right?"

scaramouche's eyes light up in a strangling embarrassment, but instead of the words he's ought to say it comes out a sputtering mess of emotions and excuses.

"what!? no! of course not! you- i—" then he pauses, grasping onto your wrist, "stop saying stupid shit like that and just kiss me if you're gonna do it already, okay??"

Taglist: @xo-cuteplosion-xo @planetxiao @nonsense-corner @ireallylikehamsters @eccedentesiast-sapphic @rebeccka @the-lost-anime-dad @lettucecabbage-kun @irethepotato @kageyama-i-want-tobiors @ajaxstar @plinkuro @kiraisastay @lilia-sspouse @straymoon96 @coquettemaiden @leweird @ash-astrophel @uchihaeirin @lemontum @willburzone @rocambolescomargot @aestellia @fpyura @cerisearan @rosemary108233 @abvolat @thenightsflower @sammybeefangirls @wonpielle

Wanna join my taglist? Comment under this post!!

[pellinni-photo]

nature scenery with rolling alpine highlands of ukraine in summer. lush meadow on the slope. carpathian mountain landscape with huge boulders on the grassy hillside. remote place of transcarpathia

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

My Vote Is for Nature (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the southwest at a roadside pullout along the Maligne Lake Road in Jasper National Park. This was of a mother black bear and one of her three cubs.

[thorsenmark]

Plan Your Next Adventure Along the Blue Ridge Parkway by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: An image captured from a slight rise on a nearby pond with a view looking to the north-northwest to the watermill present at this location (Mabry Mill) along the Blue Ridge Parkway.