#downton future fic

[discount-shades]

Contract Spouse Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Letter

A/N: Not so much this chapter but this fic is going to get dark at times, it's not going to be as fluffy like Sleepy Baby.

Pairing: Jake Seresin/Reader (nicknamed Pip)

Warning:  Angst,  

Length: 2000ish

Summary: Jake tells the Dagger Squad about Pip.

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You roll your shoulders and send off the final few texts and emails of the day, checking the time you sign off at 5:00PM. Being a virtual assistant had its perks. You got to wear yoga pants all day and there was no commute, but the biggest perk was the fact you were able to work two jobs. 

One was a fairly involved executive assistant position at a growing company that took up most of your time. The other was as a glorified Google Calendar, keeping your extremely ADHD boss from missing deadlines, meetings, and anything else important. 

The downside was a large L-shaped desk with three monitors set up in your bedroom. You had a business degree but when the opportunity evolved out of your part time administrative assistant job, you had taken it. When you had found yourself with a couple hours of down time during your work day you had subtly asked around and had gotten a second job managing your other bosses emails and calendar.

You walked into the kitchen you would be sharing with Sami until the end of the month. After over five years of it being the two of you she had finally decided to move in with her boyfriend of two years. You were happy for her but unsure of your own future. Should you renew your lease? Find a smaller, cheaper, single bedroom place? Get a roommate? You didn’t know what you wanted to do and time was running out.

That was a lie, you know what you wanted to do but it was impossible. You wanted to move in with your husband, drop everything and move across the country to be with him. But it’s not that kind of marriage, you tell yourself for what feels like the millionth time. It has never been.

Jake had been your teenage crush. Your best friend's handsome big brother, nothing would ever come of it. But when you needed him, he had married you, he had even called you almost daily to keep up the pretense that your marriage was real. 

With every phone call you had fallen further and further in love with your husband. He was sweet, funny, caring, and supportive. You’ve never told anyone of your feelings but sometimes you think Sami suspects it. 

You knew Jake went on dates and hooked up with women. You have tried going on dates, and one night stands, but could never get over the guilt. The feeling that you were cheating on Jake. 

You again consider divorcing him. It would be easier. You could date and start a real relationship. You knew how this train of thought would end. You would have yourself convinced you were going to call it quits and then Jake would call and say ‘hello’ in a tone of voice that told you he was smiling and you would be sucked right back in.

He would sign the divorce papers the minute you asked but you kept torturing your heart. You knew you couldn’t keep waiting forever, knew that eventually you would have to move on but you couldn’t. Not yet, anyway.

– – –

You hear keys in the lock and the door open and glance at the time, it’s 12:30 AM, “You're past curfew.” You can hear Sami chuckle as she walks in and drops two envelopes on your head. 

“I get your mail for you and all I get is sass.” She flops down on the couch beside you. “Are you watching Downton Abbey again?” she groans as you just shrug. 

“I want your final month here to be exactly the same as the past five years of us living together.” You grin at her rolling eyes. “You going out and having fun, and me staying in, watching a period drama.” 

“Goodnight, Dork.” You can hear the fondness in her voice as she gets up and heads to bed. You look at the envelopes, one is a reminder to renew your car insurance, the other has the NCIS emblem. Frowning you open it and your jaw drops as you read the letter inside. It has come to our attention… marriage under contract… opening an investigation…. 

“Shit.”

You scramble and grab your phone, quickly calling Jake, when he doesn't answer you try him again. You are taken aback by a woman's voice answering and feel a twinge of jealousy and guilt. You had always told yourself that you would never negatively impact Jake's life while married to him and you hope you didn’t ruin something by calling him like this.

After rambling at the woman on the phone you hang up and stare at your reflection on the black screen. You are so lost in thought that you jump when Jake's face pops up with an incoming call.

“Pip? What's wrong? Are you hurt?” His sounds worried and, despite this, you immediately relax at the sound of his voice. 

“I’m ok, I’m sorry!” You are talking in a rush. “I didn't mean to ruin your date.” 

“I’m not on a date.” You sag in relief at his response. Happy you didn’t ruin his date or happy he is not on a date, you’re not sure.

“I got a letter,” You stare at the paper in your hand. “Jake, someone reported our marriage.”

“Shit.”

“That's what I said.” You reread bits of the letter to him, giving Jake a moment to process. “It says they are going to be interviewing people who know us,” you pause, ”Jake, I haven't told anyone about us.” Running your hand through your hair, you bite your lip in nerves. “I don’t have a lot of friends or share personal details.”

“I’ll tell the squad.” You can hear it in his voice when he shifts into protector mode. “Rooster owes me his life so he’ll lie for us.” His voice is tense when he says that, bitter in the way he always gets when he talks about the things he never speaks of. “And don't forget the fake marriage plans. No one can say we don’t have a relationship.”

“Yeah,” you agree. “I’ll scan the letter and email it to you.” 

“Thanks, I’m going to head home. I’ll call you when I get there.” You agree and go to hang up but Jake stops you. “It’s going to be alright, you planned for this.” You agree softly. “I love you, Pip. We got this.”

“I love you too,” your reply is quiet and automatic as you hang up the phone, rising to go scan the letter. Jake always said he loved you. It had started as a cover when the two of you were together at a military event, that as his wife, you couldn’t avoid. He had urged you to do the same jokingly.

“I love you, Pip.” His cheeky grin melted and hardened your heart.  “Now tell me you love me too, and make sure I believe it.” 

 After years of saying it you were sure he meant it, in his own way, Just not in the same way you meant it every time the words crossed your lips.

– – – 

Jake rubs his head as he stares at his teammates, he had been up late last night talking to Pip. He had asked them to meet him in the parking lot after training where they could not be overheard. “I need to tell you guys something that if anyone asks you’ve always known.”  

The faces around him show a variety of emotions. Coyote is resigned, but then again, he already knows. Rooster and Fanboy look giddy with excitement, like little kids about to be told a secret. Phoenix’s eyes are narrowed in suspicion. Only Payback and Bob have mastered a look of polite interest. 

“Pip, the woman on the phone, she’s my wife.” 

Jake registers the feeling of his head jerking to the side a millisecond before the pain of the slap hits him and causes his left cheek to bloom red. “Jesus Christ Phoenix!” Jake raises his hand to his cheek, shock on his face. “What the fuck was that?”

Phoenix is subtly flexing her hand to shake out the pain from the slap. “You go home with a different woman every night you can!” Rage is clouding her eyes. “You’re telling me you have been cheating on some poor woman all this time?” Rooster moves forward and places himself between Jake and Phoenix.

“Ow! No!” Jake’s cheek feels hot. “It’s a fucking marriage of convenience!” He runs his tongue on the inside of his cheek, searching for the telltale metallic taste of blood, but it's not there. “She was sick and needed health care so I married her when I was still in flight school.”

“Is she better?” Trust Bob to do the decent thing and be concerned with the health of a stranger.

“You know, Phoenix, you should listen to your Wizzo more.” Jake says, gingerly feeling the warmth of his cheek. “Ask questions first, instead of slapping.”

“You’ve had it coming on some level,” Phoenix says without remorse before repeating Bob's question. “Is she better Hangman?”

“She's fine, it's been over five years.” 

“Why’d you stay married?” Payback asks. He’s the only other married member of the squad.

Jake shrugs, “the money, and the spousal benefits helped her.” He knows that's not the truth. At least not the whole truth but he doesn’t want to get into the hollow little feeling in his chest every time he thinks about ending the charade. 

“How’d you meet?” Roster asks. 

“She’s my baby sister's best friend.” Jake waits for Rooster to do the math. Rooster and Sami had crossed paths before and Jake had warned Rooster to stay away from his younger sister.

“Jesus, Hangman, was she a child bride?” 

“No!” Jake rubs his face in defeat. “She was eighteen, and it's not that type of marriage, it's just a piece of paper.”

“So why are you telling us this now?” Phoenix crosses her arms and looks at Jake expectantly. 

“Pip got a letter.” Jake sighs. “Someone reported our marriage as fake and now we are being investigated.”

“Shit,” Fanboy muses, “do they have a case?” Jake looks at him in exasperation. Fanboy was brilliant at his job, but some days Jake suspected all other available mental real estate was taken up with nerd trivia leaving no space for common sense.

“Yes Fanboy, they do have a case.” Jake rolls his eyes before continuing. “We talk on the phone and have a joint bank account but we’ve never lived together, most of it can be explained away through health, deployments, and her university.”

“So what do you need us to do?” Payback asks.

“Just pretend you have always known I was married.” Jake looks around at everyone nodding. “Pip hasn’t told anyone so you will have to prove that it wasn’t a secret. Coyote was a witness so he has legal proof of knowing.”

“Don’t worry man.” Rooster claps him on the shoulder. “We've got your back.”

“Thank you.” Jake says sincerely. “I’m diving to Austin at the end of the month. Pip’s lease with my sister is up and she’s going to move in with me to make it look real.”

Coyote nods. “That makes sense, this is the first long term posting you’ve had since she finished University.”

“Sooo, yeah,” Jake spreads his arms out helplessly. “In conclusion, I’ve been married to Pip for six years and you have always known. Any questions?”

“Why do you call her Pip?” Fanboy asks, “What's her real name?”

Jake tells them your name. “She always looked so short next to my sister so I called her Pipsqueak. Pip for short.”

After a few more questions everyone walks to their cars and leaves. Phoenix hangs back until it is just her and Jake. “You did the right thing marrying her.” She motions to the red that has not faded from his cheek. “I feel a little bad that I hit you so hard.”

“You could have not hit me at all.”

“Don’t push your luck Hangman.” She walks to her car before turning around. “Rooster’s right though, we’ve got your back.”

[merinsedai]

Dreamling Abbey

My fic for the @the-centennial-husbands-bigbang !!

No lie, guys: I decided to do this after coming out of a heart scan at the hospital on the sign up deadline. The thinking being: I could have a dicky ticker here, why not try something new? And this was perfect because if there's one thing I know about myself, it's that I need a deadline.

And so here we are.

I am MOST affronted by how hard this was?! And how bloody long it took me (mostly because I spent a lot of time staring into space or relentlessly googling 'did they have xyz in Edwardian England) All you wonderful, talented writers have made it look so easy that all that effort came as somewhat of a shock. Honestly, I am deeply saddened that the copious amount of Dreamling fic I have voraciously consumed in the past 18 months has not magically made a fantastic author out of me. Why does osmosis not work for writing?

If you read, I hope you enjoy!

(The ticker's fine, by the way. Not dicky at all.)

Art by the fabulous @lalaithquetzallicaresi Thanks for squeezing me in there, lovely! ❤

Pairing: Dream/Hob

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 50k

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con elements

Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Downton Abbey Fusion, look it's Downton Abbey but Dreamling omegaverse. Sorta. If you squint, I'm not sure Julian Fellowes would approve, If you haven't seen Downton it definitely won't matter, because I've unashamedly just stolen bits and pieces and thrown the rest to the wind, Attempted Sexual Assault, Rape/Non-con Elements, Non-Consensual Kissing, Pining, period typical attitudes to gender. If you reframe gender to include alpha beta omega dynamics, omega rights paralleling the suffragette movement in England, Minor Violence, lots of vague references to classic cars, mention of unethical medical procedures, Time and Night are bad parents, Omega Dream of the Endless, Alpha Hob Gadling, Hob Gadling Loves Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Dream of the Endless│Morpheus Needs a Hug, Unbeta'd

Read chapter 1 on ao3

Fic Summary: Lord Morpheus is the eldest child of the Earl and Countess of Endless, an ancient family hiding huge debts behind a fine name. As an omega, Morpheus cannot inherit his father's title or the family's ancestral home. His function is simple: secure a match that is both socially advantageous and financially viable, thus securing the future of the estate and the title of Earl of Endless for his offspring. The family believe that their troubles are solved when Morpheus dutifully (if reluctantly) becomes engaged to his wealthy cousin, Patrick. However, all their carefully laid plans are thrown into chaos when Patrick drowns on the ill-fated Titianic.

Now Morpheus is navigating treacherous waters of his own and discovering how tight the ties of family loyalty bind him. Will the charming and handsome Duke of Crowborough prove his saviour? Or will the wealthy yet odious Sir Roderick Burgess ensnare Morpheus in plans of his own?

Meanwhile, the family’s new chauffeur, one Robert Gadling, is muddying the waters of Morpheus’s existence even further- where is the line between a servant and a friend? Can Hob help Morpheus see that life exists beyond the confines of family and function?

Chapters below the cuts and in subsequent reblogs, should you wish to read it here on tumblr.

Chapter 1: Complications with the Great Matter.

April 1912.

The papers had been late this morning. Not that Morpheus notices their tardiness. Serious daily newspapers are the preserve of his father and since Morpheus has little interest in the society gossip that proliferated on the pages of The Daily Sketch, the only periodical he is allowed in his room, he rarely bothers to glance at it. However, the large photograph blazing across the front page is so arresting that he finds his eyes drawn to it immediately, ignoring all else on his vanity to take the paper and read.  It is bad news of course, the papers rarely print anything but.  ‘DISASTER TO TITANIC ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE’ boldly proclaims the headline, beneath which is black and white image of the doomed liner, adjoined by one of her seemingly also doomed captain, John Smith. Morpheus’s eyebrows draw down as he reads the brief article: so many presumed dead, so few saved.  They would know people, of course. His mother knew the Astors, and they had dined with Lady Rothes only last month. Still, the privilege of first class likely meant they would be amongst the survivors. Those below decks… on their way to a better life, well they would not have been so fortunate. What a tragedy, Morpheus sighs and closes the paper. This news rather put his own woes into perspective-

The door bangs open and Desire flounces in without so much as a by your leave, as is their way. 

“Dream!” they shout without preamble, then glance at the newspaper in his hands with a slight moue of disappointment. Being the bearer of bad news is something Desire takes a measure of delight in, “Oh, you’ve seen already, Huh,” They shake their head, before bending over Morpheus to look more closely at his paper, hand gripping his shoulder. This close, the smell of the perfume Desire favours- a rich and spicy aroma deliberately chosen to overwhelm their natural omega scent- makes him wrinkle his nose and move his head away. Desire’s fingers tighten on his shoulder and they huff in amusement. They are not strictly allowed to wear perfumes but Desire goes their own way with everything.  “When Jessamy told me, I thought she must have dreamt it!” Desire continues in a low tone, meeting Morpheus’s eyes in the mirror.  “To think, we were just talking about that ship the other week. Remember how excited old Lucy Rothes was? Supposed to be unsinkable- ha!”

“Every mountain is unclimbable until they climb, so every ship is unsinkable until it sinks,” Morpheus responds neutrally, putting the paper down and shrugging Desire’s hand off to stand. Desire moves with him, smoothing their hands over the non-existent wrinkles on the shoulder of his jacket before adjusting his already meticulously placed tie pin. Morpheus endures the attention for a moment before once again moving away. He does not enjoy this close scrutiny and Desire knows it, but it is always a delight of theirs to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Hm” Desire hums then shrugs, “Come on, now you’re all sorted, lets go to breakfast. Aponoia said she saw the telegram boy come by. I want to find out if there’s any more news. Won’t it be something if someone truly important drowned? Gossip for weeks.”

***

The papers always print bad news. Of course they do. But that news is viewed through a detached lens. Shocking, of course, but not too close to home. Telegrams though- that’s different. They take that news and make it personal. 

Breakfast had proven to be a fraught affair. Their father had been away from the room when they first arrived, speaking with their mother so they were to learn, but he had soon been back and imparted the news of their family’s misfortune to his children with unusual brevity. Then he had left without saying anything further, leaving the three of them to process the news alone: the news that Patrick Endless, their wealthy cousin and Morpheus’s fiance, had been aboard the Titanic with his father, James and neither were listed among the names of the survivors. Morpheus had not felt like eating further and had removed himself back to his rooms with his siblings following uninvited (though not strictly unwanted). He had wanted to think but he also knew the danger of getting lost so deeply in his mind, so Desire’s sniping and Aponoia’s quiet presence would be… grounding. 

The stupid thing was that Patrick was not even meant to be on that cursed ship; he and his father weren’t expected in New York until May. Why? He thought Why did they go? And without saying anything? Perhaps Patrick had planned to telegram from New York- a boast and a surprise. 

“Turns out that the lure of the Titanic’s maiden voyage was too strong.” Desire says as if reading his mind, and with a hint of mischief in their golden eyes. They lounge dramatically against the doorframe whilst Morpheus stands and stares out of his window, gazing at the grounds below. It all looks so quiet, so normal. Why doesn’t he feel sad?  Desire continues, “They wanted to be part of history and now they are history.”

“Desire,” Morpheus chides half heartedly. It is a crass statement but he can’t find it in himself to react more strongly. Maybe they are looking for a reaction from him, or maybe this is now how his sibling processes strong emotions. It certainly seems in character. Aponoia has not yet spoken. She just sits unmoving, staring vacantly ahead, toying with the ring on her finger, turning it over and over. He himself feels oddly disconnected from the news. How is one meant to react upon learning that their intended had been so suddenly and shockingly killed- drowned in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, their frozen corpse not even recovered, just left to sink and rot in the sea. Dream blinks slowly, probably not like this, he thinks vaguely. He feels there should be some weeping and wailing involved at the very least. 

But there is only numbness.

***

“Uh, I detest black,” Desire flounces into the room the next morning whilst Morpheus is busy writing in his journal. He enjoys writing, it helps to order his often scattered and rebellious thoughts. 

Jessamy, the maid he shares with his siblings, has just finished fixing his hair and is busily setting his bed to rights, plumping the pillows and smoothing the coverlets.  Desire regards themself critically in Morpheus’ tall mirror, turning this way and that. Aponoia trails after them silently. She is also dressed in black and it makes her look even more wan and washed out than usual. As for Desire, their outfit may have been the requisite black, but it still looked to Morpheus to be sufficiently rakish as to raise their parents’ blood pressure. Hardly proper mourning material. “At least going into mourning won’t ruin your aesthetic, Dream dear,” Desire stretches languidly and collapses back on the just-made bed, smiling thinly. “Always a silver lining somewhere.”

“Full mourning still seems a lot for a cousin,” Morpheus replies vaguely. He tries to pay little attention to his siblings, bent over his journal and writing quickly. The habit of diary writing was born of necessity: a strategy to help quiet his mind, he’d been told, but now it is a pleasure. 

“But not for a fiance,” Aponoia’s voice is quiet. There is no accusation in her tone, only the retelling of fact.

Morpheus huffs slightly. “He was not really a fiance.”

“No? I thought that was what you call a man you’re going to marry?”

“I was only going to marry him if nothing better turned up,” he turns the page and continues writing.

“Morpheus! What a dreadful thing to say!” Desire looks simply delighted. “Poor dear Patrick was absolutely besotted with you. It was quite pathetic to witness really- your indifference and his lovelorn obsessiveness,” they shudder theatrically. “Perhaps it’s a good thing he drowned; saved him from a miserable life with you as husband.”

“You dare suggest I would have been a poor husband to him?” Morpheus demands, slamming his diary closed and rounding on his sibling. Desire shrugs insouciantly, fiddling with a diamond earring.

‘“Well you didn’t love him. Barely liked him. And he wasn’t the cleverest where you were concerned, but he would have seen it sooner or later, and hated you for it. Of course, I could wish an unhappy marriage upon you, dearest brother. But Patrick? He deserved better.”

‘Better?’ Morpheus raises his eyebrows. Desire’s words were often full of spite towards him but this was such a quick switch around from mocking Patrick to defending him. Was there something here he had never seen? Never bothered to look for, in truth. “You would have considered yourself a better prospect, my sibling? Taken what I would have discarded?” He raises his eyebrows in challenge and they glare at each other for a moment, then Desire drops their gaze.

‘Yes,’ they say softly, vulnerability etching their features momentarily. “Would that I were eldest and not… as I am. Then I would have taken him like a shot.”

They stand, shields quickly  going back up. “Well,” they sniff pointedly, looking away from Morpheus and towards the door,  “It’s not so bad I suppose. Mama says we can go into half mourning next month, then full colour by September. A shame we have to spend the summer so drab- and miss the season down in London!- but at least we’ll be ready for shooting parties in the autumn.  Come on Appy, let’s leave his lordship alone. He clearly craves solitude. To think,” they sneer, “and write in his stupid diary.” They flow out the room without a backwards glance, Aponoia dutifully trailing in their wake.

Morpheus sighs and turns back to his journal, opening it and staring at the blank page but not picking his pen back up. Desire and Patrick… not that he thought Patrick had returned any sort of affection to his younger sibling but still, had he really been so blind?

“I was so terribly sorry to hear the news, my lord,” Jessamy offers quietly into the silence of the room as she finishes adjusting his bed again. “You say these things but I know you are sad. Whatever you say.” “You are a dear,” Morpheus murmurs. “But I do not feel as badly as I should. I do not really know… what I feel.”  That is probably a bad reflection upon me, he thinks. The truth was that beyond the normal amount of grief that came with the sudden and untimely passing of an acquaintance, Dream felt nothing.  Patrick had hardly been a grand passion. They had known each other since childhood but had been thrown together through circumstance rather than any actual attraction and they had barely anything in common.  So no, he was not as sad as he should be and that was what was really making him sad.  This marriage would have been a thing of duty. Their family was old, old enough indeed to have had plenty of time to rack up considerable debts. A lack of money hidden behind a fine name. Morpheus’ marriage to Patrick would have secured the estate’s future, shored up its ailing finances and kept the title very much in the family. As an omega, Morpheus would never have been able to inherit his father’s title but his children could, if they were alphas. And now, there was no marriage, no money and a very uncertain future ahead of them. Morpheus’s one duty, his one function in society, was to secure a good match and that duty lay so heavily upon his shoulders. If only Olly had stayed- but no, there was no use in dealing in ‘if onlies’. Practicalities only, and practicalities meant marriage. And soon.

[toms-cherry-trees]

Don't Hold My Hand (I'll Break Your Heart) || Tommy Shelby x Fem OC ~ Prologue

Summary: How can one recover from having their life swept out from under theit feet? When a promising future becomes lost, shattered by a past that should have remained long forgotten? Is care and love enough to undo the damage, or will it just be a sweet balm to give a brief respite of the pain before the unavoidable end?

Word Count: 3.7k

Warnings: Vague description of war injuries

Author's note: This fic is loosely based on Me Before You, keyword loosely. I don't have many information on what voluntary nurses did after the war nor how did they treat those with long term injuries, but I am working as best as I can with what I know so do not expect this to be entirely historically accurate. There also may be some ableism akin to the period but it will be kept minimal

This is also my first time writing Tommy with an OC! Say hello to Charlotte Florence Tindall everyone! She is an OC I've had for 3 years based in Lady Sybill Crawley from Downton Abbey

Next part 》

The gates to Arrow House stood tall and imponent amidst a thick grove in the depths of Warwickshire. The estate’s name had been forged in sturdy steel and perched high above the iron and brick archways, kept in pristine condition despite the long exposure to the elements, with the family’s proud surname hanging just below in equal condition. Charlotte could easily imagine an unfortunate servant sent there on the daily with a ladder and some polisher, his only duty being to keep the family’s name spotless, literally.

The journey towards the manor was brief and silent, the bumps in the road barely noticeable in the luxurious car that had picked her up from the train station, with leather seats and a smoothly purring engine. She knew little about the brands and commodities money could afford, but the vehicle, driven by a smartly dressed man in a crisp suit, surely cost more than all the money she had ever owned or would ever own in her life as a former VAD nurse.

The Great War had taken many opportunities, but in its wake, it had unexpectedly given some. Hordes of girls and women turned to their nearest recruitment offices or hospitals to receive express courses in nursing and home care, to serve their country side by side with the men, restoring to health those who had been wounded in combat and caring for those who had given it all until they had no more left. Field hospitals, Red Cross stations, local hospitals, and convalescence homes; all packed to the gunnels with soldiers who had been wounded, scarred, maimed, and traumatised beyond repair.

But the war had come to an end. The volunteers, the ones who had risen to the task, scattered and went back to their lives. And so did Charlotte. Only to realise the long battle had just begun. The men would not recover only because the conflict had concluded. Many remained who would need lifetime care and attention that not many families were trained or willing to provide. The nurses returned, offering their skills in little advertisements printed in newspapers or glued to shop windows.

She had it easy, in a way. Early in 1919, a man she cared for harnessed her in to be his private nurse, but that lasted until he came forward with less honourable propositions. Then came an elderly colonel, whom she watched over up until his last breath. And most recently, a strapping young sergeant, whose fiance, who didn’t take kindly to having a young woman dress and wash him, nearly chased Charlotte off.

She quickly grew disenchanted with the job, having found mostly trouble and no small amount of tears in it. Perhaps she was not made for this as she originally thought. Maybe she would do better as a cashier or cook; she could seek a post as a secretary or a board girl in the telephone company. She had learned enough to defend herself as a seamstress. Anything to keep her clothed and fed while sparing her the suffering.

But one day, a letter arrived at her door. A letter sent by the treasurer of Shelby Company Limited. The infamous Polly Gray. A shiver ran down her spine when she read the name in elegant calligraphy over expensive paper, and a part of her feared the envelope would burst in her hands like a hand grenade.

Who in Birmingham didn’t know about the Shelbys? In the slums and the rookeries, people didn’t pray to God; they prayed to the Peaky Blinders. They owned the factories, the distilleries, the pubs, and the institutions. They owned the police. They owned the very streets the people walked every day, their houses, their money, and their lives if they so wished.

And now, it seemed they wished to own Charlotte.

Mrs. Gray convened her for an interview at their estate since they requested her services as a nurse to care for a war veteran. The letter provided little more information other that they offered generous pay, accommodations, and a day off of her choosing. A preset date and time had been included, next to a train ticket to get her to the station closest to them.

Charlotte could not tell exactly what drove her to actually assist. Perhaps she wished to know how and why they found her. Maybe the lure of a salary twice the average had lured her in. Or the morbid curiosity of meeting this soldier; as far as she knew, the Shelby brothers didn’t need anything from anyone.

When she arrived at the manor, a stern-faced woman took her coat and bag. She barely had time to admire her surroundings before the maid led her towards a drawing room. Dark wood in panels and furniture, crimson wallpaper, two walls entirely lined with bookshelves filled with books of all sorts, some in pristine condition and others worn and falling apart.

Amidst all, in a settee of black velvet, sat Polly Gray. Pearls hugged her neck, hung from her ears, and adorned the front of her silver frock. Bracelets and rings decorated her fingers. Masses of papers covered the tea table before her, which she methodically separated into neat piles. By her side were a glass of whiskey and a cigarette with crimson stains, the ashtray filled to the brim. The face powder could not conceal entirely the dark circles underneath her eyes, and some fine streaks of grey contrasted against her golden chocolate curls. A woman not quite old in age but worn out tremendously by troubles and tribulations Charlotte didn’t know.

She cleared her throat, since she appeared so immersed in her paperwork she didn’t notice her.

“Mrs Gray”

“Sit” The harshness of the command contrasted with the undeniable softness of her voice, edged with barely contained nervousness, as if she stood ready to collapse. Hurriedly, she collected the scattered papers and dropped them in a pile at her side, just in time for the stern maid to place before them a tea tray, all polished silverware and hand-painted porcelain. Mrs. Gray and her spent several minutes in fraught silence, stirring a cup of fragrant tea with two sugars, while Mrs. Gray added the last of her whiskey glass into her cup. Charlotte waited for her to speak first, but the woman seemed to be in no rush, which only added to her own anxiousness.

“Mrs. Gray. You called me here. You sent me a train ticket and a driver to pick me up. Why?”

She stirred her beverage methodically, making five perfect clockwise rounds with the spoon and gently tapping it on the rim twice. Staring into the steaming liquid while she pondered her words.

“You are a nurse, aren’t you? You have field experience, and have also have cared for disabled soldiers." Not an interrogation, merely a statement. She didn’t question her about how she knew that. If she so desired, she could track down her school teacher and ask her how well she did in maths when she was nine. But that still didn’t provide her with answers.

“I am. I have worked with several patients, and if you wish, I can provide referen-”

She cut Charlotte off with a wave of her hand. “I already have your references. I spoke with your previous employers myself.”

A cold shiver spread down her legs. What could she possibly require from her that she take such an effort to map out her past? If she had that information, it meant they had checked her background and that of her family and close friends. And she assumed she had passed whatever unspoken test they carried on her; otherwise, they wouldn’t have brought her straight into their den.

But again, why?

Mrs. Gray put down the teacup and finally looked at the other woman’s face for the first time since her arrival. Her eyes were large, deep in colour, and full of wisdom and caution.

“Do you have any experience with men with reduced mobility? That is, men who are wheelchair-bound?”

That treaded closer to her area of expertise. For a brief moment, she feared she would be taken to a dimly lit basement where she’d be asked to save the life of a grievously wounded man with a gun pressed to her temple. Or maybe she just read far too many crime novels.

“I do. I worked with many men who had lost their ability to walk, either by spinal injury or loss of  limb."Before the following pause prolonged for too long, Charlotte pressed the matter further. “Is that why you called me? You have a veteran who can’t  walk."She spoke the words carefully, since she had learned through trial and error that not all people reacted well when she spoke too harshly about the state of the patient, so she tiptoed around the subject with carefully chosen words.

Suddenly she stood, setting the cup aside with such carelessness that the tea splattered everywhere, staining the lace covering the side table.

“Come with me." She headed towards the hallway, not even looking to see if Charlotte followed. She barely had time to steal one more sip before rushing behind her, straining her legs to keep up with her pace. She led her through a back door and out of the house, towards a stone and gravel backyard, smelling of horses and petrol. Other than a few hounds and a lone gardener trimming some bushes, no one else was around. No one listening but Lottie.

“My three nephews enlisted around the same time in 1914. And I will forever be grateful that the three of them made it home alive." She walked with her hands behind her back like a man. With that ramrod straight posture and her puffed chest, she could put a general to shame. It certainly worked to intimidate her, and she walked a step behind her, feeling unworthy of keeping up her pace.

“John and Arthur came back okay. Or as okay as men could after the things they saw and did” John and Arthur. Both names rang a bell, but she hadn’t seen them personally. They acted as henchmen more than businessmen, terrorising the factories and the foremen in their factories. Legend has it that a foreman in a Sparkbrook steelworks bought a house with bribes for tossing bodies in the furnace.

“But Tommy” She continued, bringing her attention back to the present. “He was a tunneller. There was a collapse near the end of everything. I don’t know the entire story, but the tunnel caved in on them. Out of fifteen boys, only five were dug  out."She fell silent for a moment and made the sign of the cross. Pain wrung Charlotte’s heart, but she didn’t allow it to settle. She had quickly learned to push pain into the back of her mind during the war. If she allowed herself to feel it, she’d collapse like wet clay.

“They brought him back on a stretcher. I never thought a person could be more blue than white and have more broken bones than whole ones. He spent the rest of the war in a hospital room and remained there for a good part of the next year. Every doctor expected him to just die in his sleep, but he refused to give up. He made a full recovery and came home as if nothing happened.”

The tone of her words and Lottie’s very presence there indicated that not all had gone well.

“He took over his duties in the business and married a girl he fancied. They even had a son. No indicator that something could be wrong". Her pace had slowed, allowing her to catch up, now walking by her side, not wanting to miss a word. She had left the backyard behind and now moved into bare grass; from the entrance, she hadn’t quite grasped how far the estate stretched. It could easily and comfortably house two manors equal in size with their own stables and gardens.

“He suddenly started complaining of pain in his legs. Stiffness, soreness, especially in the mornings” She recognised the symptoms immediately but chose to remain silent while she spoke. “Soon he had trouble walking; sometimes his knees gave out and he just fell. He resisted the cane as much as he could, but in time he could not remain upright without it for  long.

“We sought a doctor in London. He said a disc in his back had cracked in the accident. The fracture had been stable, but as time passed, it worsened and began to collapse and compress his  spine."She waved her hand dismissively. “I didn’t understand any of the technical words, but the doctor said the injury would progress. The spine would be compressed more and more until he lost all use of his  legs.

Even though Charlotte didn’t see her expression, she noticed in her words the sorrow she felt for her nephew. And she didn’t blame her. To have him delivered home in pieces, seeing him go through a miraculous recovery only for this to happen. His life robbed from him, one sliver at a time, seeing his own body fail him day by day.

Mrs. Gray exhaled slowly, as if regaining her composure. “Ever since he got the diagnosis, he changed. He became irritable and wrathful. He refused to be seen with the cane; whenever he met people in the office, he leant into something or sat down. Then he refused to be seen altogether and handled business locked in his office." She pulled out a cigar case from her dress pocket and offered her one, which Lottie kindly refused.

“When he no longer could manage stairs easily, he started working from home. He seldom saw people; only his brothers and I could visit him” The smoke left her mouth with each word, since she consumed the cigarette so desperately she barely had time to breathe out. She thought that she didn’t need all that information to do her job, but she didn’t interrupt her. She sounded like she needed someone to listen to her at least once.

She finished the first cigarette and quickly lit a second with the leftover stub. Her crimson coated lips parted, as if she wanted to say something else but chose not to at the last second. Instead her features contorted in a snarl briefly, lips pursed like she tasted something bitter, and then shook her head and regained her composure.

“He bought this manor to be away from everyone. He wanted to live alone, with only the staff to help him, but I couldn’t leave him alone in that state, even if he refused to be helped. He may be an arse, but he is still my nephew” Lottie snickered at her last statement, disguising the inappropriate sound as a cough.

“I realise I could not handle it alone. There is just so much to be done, and many things he would never let me do for him” Another lit cigarette, consumed as frantically as the first two. “I tried to hire him a personal maid but she had the talent of a doornail”

“That’s why you sought me?” It made sense now. A common maid couldn’t handle his injuries and his needs like she could.

A bitter laugh fell from her lips “I sought a nurse, yes. And another one. And another one” She didn’t pay heed to her concerned expression “He never got along with any of them. Despised them, I dare say. Tommy cannot stomach being stared at or treated with pity” She made a mental note of that for her future work, that is, if she survived the day “Not all the pay raises and benefits in the world convinced them to stay long. I offered to pay the last one’s bank loans if she reconsidered her resignation, but that only held her in for another three weeks”

Charlotte’s resolution to take the job faltered by the minute. Why would she want to care for a man who seemed hellbent in making his caretakers miserable? Sure, his situation was nothing short of horrible, but did that really give him the right to spread his venom to those who tried to do good by him? And most importantly, did she really want to put herself through that? The pay was the best she had ever been offered, but would the money be worth it?

Suddenly Mrs. Gray gripped the younger woman’s hand, so tightly her fingers ached. She should have shaken her off, but the desperation in her eyes deterred her from it. She looked like a woman standing on the edge of the abyss, hanging only from her grasp.

“I personally collected your reference letters. All of your previous employers spoke of your patience and your affection. Of how your softness and cheerfulness helped them. I think you are what Tommy needs. I think you are the one who can help my nephew” Her grip tightened and an involuntary mewl of pain came from her throat. She released Lottie’s hand, and instead placed a pleading touch on her bicep.

“Please give it a try. At least for a month. I know he won’t live to be an old man. And whatever life he has left, whether it is 4 years or 4 decades, I want him to find peace. Happiness, even. I want him to have a reason to wake up in the morning” She could tell she wished to say more, but had cut off her words.

With all she laid out before her, Charlotte barely resisted the temptation to grab her purse and run for her life. But something in her words, in the story she narrated for her, it pulled at her heartstrings. She had a thing for lost causes and broken things. In the worst scenario, she would walk out depressed but with enough money to start anew.

She only had one request

“Can I meet your nephew before I make my decision?” 

Mrs Gray dropped her arm and pressed her lips into a thin line, eyebrows knit together in a scowl. She wanted to say no, that much she could tell. Maybe she thought she shouldn’t see Thomas until she had her signed up so she couldn’t back out. But Charlotte wouldn’t agree on anything until she spoke to him

“Of course”

Back into the house, she took her to the second floor. Lottie quickly noticed the house had been retrofitted in ways most couldn’t afford to offer Thomas a semblance of comfort. Large paintings hung in the stairway, most of them displaying a man with blue eyes and a dominant posture, always standing with his hands behind his back.

A set of double doors stood ajar towards the back of the floor. The room behind stretched almost all the length of the house, and Lottie noticed in the wall the dents where walls had been taken down to create such a large space. The furniture stood well spaced between each other to allow wide passages, enough to comfortably fit a wheelchair. Sunlight filled the alcove, coming from the many windows with the drapes drawn back. A set of glass doors led to a magnificent veranda that overlooked the estate.

Just outside, close to the balustrade, sat a black-haired man, his back turned to them. The wheelchair he sat upon was far more complex and luxurious than the ones she had in the ward. He wore a robe and slippers, as if he had just risen from bed despite being well into the afternoon.

Mrs. Gray walked out first, while she waited just under the lintel. She stood next to the man, one hand on his shoulder.

“Tommy, there is someone I want you to meet”

“No” His voice cut through the air, deep and curt. It sounded manly, and would have been pleasing to hear in other situation

“Tommy, please give her a chance, I promise-” He cut her pleading short with a smack of his fist on the wooden armrest.

“I said no! I don’t want her here. Put her in a cab and send her away” Mrs. Gray seemed to be at her wits’ end. She crouched next to him, like when one speaks to a child. She couldn’t make out the words she hissed at him through clenched teeth, but whatever she said, he didn’t like. With surprising skill he turned the wheelchair around and nearly ran Charlotte over, having barely managed to stop the chair with a heel on the floor.

The paintings did little justice to the blueness in his eyes. A vibrant blue not often seen, but filled with ice the moment they laid on her. The smart haircut had been replaced by an overgrown mane, jet black strands curling behind the ears and waving around the top. A five o clock shadow obscured the clenched jaw down to the neck. But even unkempt like that she felt the aura of haughtiness and pride bordering on arrogance emanating from him. He held her gaze for endless seconds, and not once she shied away from his cold eyes.

“Whatever it is you think you can do for me, save it for someone else. And now, get out of my home”

He wheeled past her, moving towards the main double doors. He couldn’t really go anywhere, but she figured he planned to hide somewhere until she left.

Lottie stood there, a bit dumbfounded, while Mrs. Gray returned to her side, despair plastered in her features, mixed with barely contained anger

“He is like that sometimes, but I promise you, some days are better. I will talk to him and get him to behave, and if you-”

“I can start tomorrow” She cut her off. Her jaw hung open, eyes widened as she struggled to wrap her mind around her words. Words that shocked Charlotte as much as Mrs. Gray, for she hadn’t actually allowed them out of her mouth. They just left in a blurt. But she meant them, even if she couldn’t quite tell herself why. It went beyond the money; she wanted this job. As if something invisible pushed her to stay there; as if there she’d truly find a purpose. It made no sense, but hunches and feelings rarely did

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gray. I think I can help your nephew.”

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

hello its been a long time l havent seen any long fic l am on a holiday and l’d like to know longest M rated klaine fics preferably on fanfiction.net its really nice to read on the app but searching is very hard thank you so much! and happy holidays!

Ok, longest M rated Klaine stories on fanfic (in English!) ~ Jen

Kurt and Blaine, A love story by sweetgirlgml

This is how I picture canon Kurt and Blaine s relationship since the first day. There are few characters of my own creation thrown in the mix for fun purposes. Lots of romance, some laughter and a few tears. Basically a shameless ode to Klaine fluff. You ve been warned so I won t be held responsible for dentists bills, just saying. Chapters: 72 - Words: 465,199 -

~~~~~

Crowded House by kellyb321

All of your favorite Warblers and a few new faces, too. Follow our boys as they start their lives in NYC, each couple facing their own challenges, heartbreak, self-discovery and redemption. Stick around as they realize support, acceptance and most importantly, true love can all be found in one big Crowded House. Heavy on the Klaine and Niff. Chapters: 117 - Words: 924,400

~~~~~

Another Tomorrow by  xCaellachx

How many times will it take for Blaine to get it right, when he doesn't even know what to fix? Supernatural elements. Chapters: 47 - Words: 167,708

_____

Ambassadors Abroad by jcrissrid

Klaine, The Warblers and New Directions find themselves getting a trip to Europe to sing for 2 weeks this summer. Perfect summer romance for Klaine. Some smut, but M for possible later chapters Chapters: 75 - Words: 243,903

~~~~~

Westerville Abbey by@hkvoyage

Blaine, the spare heir of Westerville, sets out to fulfill his duty of finding a wife. He soon realizes he is more attracted to the new footman, Kurt, who has just arrived to work alongside his father, Westerville Abbey's butler. Will Blaine and Kurt overcome 1910s England's class differences? Will their forbidden love survive WW1? A Downton Abbey inspired historical Klaine Chapters: 64 - Words: 249,587

and sequel Life in the Big Apple By @hkvoyage

Sequel to Westerville Abbey. Kurt and Blaine are reunited, but their happily ever after comes with a whole new set of challenges: relationship hiccups, jealousy, sabotage, war memories, and family troubles. Yet with love and perseverance, they can make it through. A Klaine historical AU set in the 1920s. Chapters: 50 - Words: 201,545

~~~~~

Distance makes the heart grow fonder by Grace Ryan

Kurt is back at McKinley. Klaine are trying to make things work despite the distance. Rated M for fluffiness and future physical contact. ; Not really great at summaries. Chapters: 87 - Words: 223,369

[mercurygray]

Merc, what kind of Historical Military Man gets the wheels turning for you? What are the markers of 'Oh, that one, that one is now mine'?

Nat, I'm going to be honest, this question provoked something of an existential crisis. so I went back through, like, 20 years of fandom favorites to see if there's a pattern.

Spoiler: there isn't, apart from a perennial need to be different. This is kind of long .

2001 (ish) - Lord of the Rings is coming out, and you are either a Legolas or Aragorn girl. I am deep in my 'not like the other girls' phase and decide Boromir is actually the superior choice here. (This leads me to watch A LOT of period dramas that are probably not appropriate for for me at this age, including Clarissa and Lady Chatterley's Lover.) It also leads me to the Sharpe books, which are great and awesome. Richard Sharpe doesn't necessarily do anything for me as a character, but that gets me into Hornblower, which gets me into the Aubreyad, which leads me to read a lot about the Napoleonic Wars in high school. Cliff-diving into a different historical period is now something I do every single summer.

I also spend about 5 years (2008-2013) writing a 225,000 word fanfic in which Boromir doesn't die.

2010-2015

Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) is really only in the army a brief while but who can say no to the blue eyes and the absolute vibe he has going with Mary?

During the Downton phase I decide to raid the library for other period dramas, again, and watch The Forsyte Saga. Soames Forsyte is not a man you love, but Damian Lewis has A Face and I know he was on Band of Brothers, which the library perennially never has a copy of.

2011

I finally watch Band of Brothers in its entirety my senior year of college and am a little disappointed I appear to be missing large parts of the story. (Future rewatches will explain that this is actually a feature of the show, not a bug.) My recollections of this are hazy, but I'm fairly certain my favorite character the first time I watched this was Lewis Nixon (Ron Livingston). He's dark-haired, he's funny, he's an absolute mess with a trust fund. Dick Winters (Damian Lewis) also has one hell of a face. He's a red-head, he's in charge of everyone else, he doesn't say much, and he is tall. I know there must be fic for this show but am also very, very sure it is shippy in a direction I do not want to read, so I do not go looking for it.

TURN - 2014-2017

Ben Tallmadge (Seth Numrich) is the guy to watch on TURN: he's a lieutenant, he's tall, he struggles with rules, but the entire fandom is also crazy about him and the leading queen bee in the OC end of that fandom is a real pain about it, so I decide I will not be writing for him no matter what it costs me to hold off admitting I want to. However, in the next episode we meet his best friend, Caleb Brewster (Daniel Henshall) who is short, bearded, dark-haired and chaotic. The moment he comes onscreen I love him. Sadly, no one is reading fic for him and this project is abandoned.

In Season 3, we meet the Marquis de Lafayette. Historical Lafayette is a tall, awkward redhead in need of a father figure who makes up for war experience with boundless enthusiasm. His letters home are adorable. Show Lafayette (Ben Wiles) is tall and enthusiastic. I love him anyway and I make it everyone's problem for, like, a year.

2016-2017 - Mercy Street

Henry Hopkins (Luke Macfarlane) is a military chaplain in a hotel-turned Union hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. He's tall, he's a little tortured, and he has a knack for putting others first. Wrestling with some past choices, his romance with Emma Green, the privileged daughter of the family who owned the hotel, is sweet and full of pining. I write so much fix-it fic for them it's not even funny. (I love this show because the female characters I love come pre-installed. Please watch this.)

2016 - Dunkirk

I see this movie three times in theaters and love it more each time. Collins (Jack Lowden) is a blonde RAF flyboy with a very adorable face. (Tom Glynn Carney is also a face I like but he's on a backburner for a bit.) I write a lot of fic about it and affectionately refer to this as my first Planes Go Zoom phase.

2020

Two weeks into the pandemic I decide rewatching Band of Brothers is a good idea and buy the book and the DVD set from my local secondhand bookshop like I am doing a drug deal in a parking lot. Two weeks after that I am writing a fanfic for Dick Winters (Damian Lewis) because I am a loon who likes men in charge and painfully slow burns.

2021

Still in the middle of a pandemic I decide to watch The Pacific, because I make good decisions, apparently. Hoosier Smith (Jacob Pitts) is a taciturn, wise-cracking friend of Leckie's who is joked about as being the pretty one. He is. Andrew Haldane (Scott Gibson) is quiet, unassuming, and in charge, and played college football for Bowdoin. Very dad energy. Extremely charming. Dead in three episodes as history intended. Fix-it fic incoming.

2022 Top Gun Maverick comes out. Jake "Hangman" Seresin (played by Glen Powell, who I loved in Hidden Figures and The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society) has a jawline you could cut something with and an attitude. My friends think I am mental. Second Planes Go Zoom phase coupled with Devotion, which comes out shortly after.

SAS Rogue Heroes comes out. I have been really looking forward to seeing Tom Glynn Carney in something else and he delivers. Mike Sadler is blond, extremely good at his job, not capable of suffering fools, and far too attractive for the desert.

2024

We do not even make it out of trailer season before I realize I still have a Thing (TM) for Callum Turner's face, which I have known since he was Theseus Scamander in Fantastic Beasts. Watching The Boys in the Boat before this all starts doesn't help - he has regrettably blond hair but thighs for days and shoulders you could hang the universe on. John "Bucky" Egan, is tall, dark-haired, incredibly generous spirited and nominally in charge. I want all of it. The rest of the fandom does too. I try to make peace with that and write anyway. Third Planes Go Zoom phase.

[moonlessmondays]

Sailing Close to the Wind|| One: Chasing Rainbows and Spinning Dreams

*takes a deep breath* *opens laptop* *blows ever so softly*

*coughs*

Hello everyone, I bet you didn't think I would ever come back to write more Downton stuff. Maybe an update from me isn't in your 2024 bingo card. Not gonna lie, I'm just as surprised as you are. I've been gone for far longer than I ever was here, but I guess, prodigal children always find their way home.

YES. This is an update. I know.

In light of the new movie announcement, I made a trip down memory lane, and was inspired by one of my old fics. Not that my writing from five years ago was ever inspiring, really. Anyway, it was supposed to be a one shot, and so I felt like I was in under no obligation to add more, but add more, I shall do.

*steadfastly ignores the 300 other cobert fanfics I am supposed to update*

To my surprise as well as yours, this one had an interesting and very polite demand for more, and honestly, if I wasn't so neck deep in law school, I would have given this a go earlier. Of course, I chose the most inopportune time -- when I'm in over my head, drowning, in bar review and prep -- to finish this piece. But whatever. It was therapeutic. I do suggest you read the prologue first, again -- here or here-- because I doubt any of you still remember this. This one's a long one that I just had to get out of my system, because studying about my country's system is the equivalent of pouring bleach all over my brain.

I would like to say as early as now however, that as I have already mentioned earlier, I am in the middle of bar prep, so the updates are probably going to be few and far in between, if at all, towards the middle of this year. Not that it's anything new where I'm concerned. But I shall endeavor to finish before the end of year or the end of the world, at least, whichever comes first.

.::.

One

Chasing rainbows and Spinning Dreams

"Can it possibly beThe future for me is you…Wait until I can tell you all my schemesChasing rainbows spinning dreamsTell me please your name”  - Tell me your name, Jose Mari Chan

The silence in the room was so loud that one could hear a pin drop – as the old adage went, anyway, – and for one brief second, Cora found herself questioning if her boss was all right in the head. Maybe she had lost her mind after all the stress and was now clinically insane. 

That, after all, was the only logical explanation to her even remotely suggesting this.

Cora looked away from her boss, wondering what she should do or say next, when her gaze met the eyes of the man on the other side of the room. Robert, that’s what Rosamund said, but Cora already knew that. There was nary a soul in this entire company who didn’t. He rarely made any appearance, but he’s never missed one company party and his name was always on everybody’s lips. 

Cora could still – though she would never say it out loud or admit it – remember the first time she had seen the esteemed Mr. Robert Crawley. It had been during her first company Christmas party. She was new, a new hire fresh from her internship, and she’d been so young and so infatuated by the piercing blue eyes that barely looked her way even once in the party. He’d been caught up, talking to the big wigs, to his sister, and their other colleagues and didn’t have time for the little Miss Americana that was Cora. Not that Cora had minded very much, she was content with sipping her wine and admiring Mr. Crawley from afar. 

He was handsome and his laugh was loud and boisterous, although hardly offensive. He spoke to Mr. Carson and his wife, Mrs. Elsie Hughes-Carson, who both worked with them at the company, like they were old friends – with respect and authority, but with clear affection. Cora could have only hoped, at that time, to be treated the same.

Now, here she was, sitting in the office of her boss, having been just told that she should marry the CEO of the company she’s working for so she can stay in London. She felt like she needed more ruminating about the “brilliant idea” of the boss in question, but she figured there wasn’t really even enough time to ruminate that. It was insane. That, in her mind, should count as a red flag right? That her boss was insane?

“Well?” Rosamund started to speak, though she looked just a little bit nervous, or anxious, or maybe it was self-realization – Cora could only hope for the last. “It’s such an unmusical way of putting things, brother.” She cleared her throat and nodded anyway. Clearly, any hopes of sanity were dashed at this point. “I was suggesting a convenient marriage with a deadline…if you’re amenable, of course.”

More here or here.

[hlficlibrary]

Hello ...hope you are fine

Any good historical enemies to lovers recs ?

Hi, anon! Hope you're well, too! Here are some historical enemies to lovers fics for you!

A Stór Mo Chroí by kiwikero / @icanhazzalou

It was a gloomy, grey day in the highlands. The sun, try as it might, couldn’t manage to break through the clouds, painting land and sea alike in muted colours. Perhaps it wasn’t so desolate as all that, though it certainly seemed that way to Louis. Of course, his perception might have been coloured by his own foul mood. Everything seemed to have gone from bad to worse recently, and if his own problems weren’t enough now he had to pretend he didn’t want to throttle the chieftain of Clan Gunn, the one currently traipsing around the village and greeting clansmen as if he wasn’t just a glorified intruder. Louis narrowed his eyes as he watched Harry interact with Agnes and her young son, Harry stooping down to talk directly to the little boy. The Clan Gunn tartan, simple blocks of green and black, marked Harry as someone who clearly didn’t belong amongst them, and yet the people of Clan Sutherland always seemed delighted to see the man.

Traitors.

Louis is a young laird from Clan Sutherland and Harry the chieftain of Clan Gunn, and an alliance between their clans isn't enough to convince the two of them to get along.

now i think that i could love you back by maroonmoonlouis

“I do not care if she banishes me to my chambers for a month or the rest of the year, you two must see reason,” Louis protests, feeling a minor fit coming on. “He is nothing but an insufferable, cocky, cloddish, pitiful excuse for an Alpha, and he deserves to live the rest of his days in solitary, not me.” “My, my, what an array of abuse. I surely would loath to be this inadequate excuse of an Alpha you speak of, but alas I cannot relate to possessing such deficiency,” a honey-glazed voice drips out from behind Louis, and the omega can feel the steam pouring over, ready to burst out of his already flushed ears.

- Or, the one where Omega Prince Louis is thrown a Courting Ceremony. A weekend full of competition ensues for his hand in marriage. As if he’s not already stressed about choosing his future Mate in three days, it’s just his luck that his enemy, Alpha Prince Harry has decided to partake as well.

Ace of Spades by @allwaswell16

Living as a sheltered omega in a farming village has not prepared Harry for life aboard the most notorious pirate ship to sail the Atlantic.

Or Louis is a pirate, Harry is his captive, and no one is who they say they are.

Just You Wait by grapenight 

When Harry eavesdrops on a conversation between Louis and his mother, he hears Louis insulting his family. He doesn't have the heart to tell his family, who believes Louis and Gemma will get married, so Harry makes a plan to expose Louis for the person he really is.

Very loosely based on Downton Abbey. Harry is the son of nobility, and Louis is expected to marry his sister.

[adamsvanrhijn]

(At the time of writing I intend for this to be my final post on the matter — asks on this topic are welcome if anyone needs to vent, but I do not expect to post them.)

It does make me sad how few people are willing to entertain the idea of canon compliant happy futures for Thomas, Richard, and Guy as Characters, irrespective of shipping.

I remember leaving the movie like "I don't think I'll even feel the need to write fanfic about this" — it was clear to me that there had been a conscious effort among the production team to give fairy tale endings to as many characters as possible, and I was mostly satisfied with that as a conclusion. Some of it was cliche—but the cliche helped clarify authorial intent for me as, this film is meant to be a Downton Abbey happily ever after.

Combined with The Gilded Age, I was confident that JF was trying to explore a broad range of historical gay experiences across his works, and the decisions made in ANE enhanced my interpretation of TGA and vice versa. I don't necessarily care deeply about authorial intent on the whole, but to me, it was just super clear that anything I was personally disappointed by was a good faith artistic decision toward that cliche happy closure element of the film, and it was so special to me that Thomas was finally included in an unambiguously happy Downton Abbey ending.

Given how cliche it was for every character, I assumed anyone who was disappointed like me would also see that.

Then as soon as I woke up the next morning I wrote and published fanfic. Like fewer than 11 hours had passed!! And it was fanfic about Richard Ellis!!! Because I was disappointed, and so I wanted to explore his side of the story Immediately, but I was also so so so excited to reorient my interpretation of him based on new canon and create new fan content, both canon compliant and not—I saw absolutely no reason not to because clearly Thomas was going to be happy without him soon and there were so many possibilities.

Like, oh my God, Thomas's type really was actors all along, and how is Richard, guy who speaks with imagery and does impressions and likes mischief and is clearly in my mind an 1890s theatre kid, now his former lover who is married or about to be, going to react to seeing Thomas in a movie with a movie star he probably knows everything about already????? And I was so eager to play with that, and I also knew I'd probably be writing some crying-with-ice-cream style canon divergent fanfiction so I could get my emotions out about my ship not being canon anymore and people who were disappointed could have what they would perceive as fix it fic, and obviously I had tons of old stuff to finish that just was never going to be compliant, and obviously the new AU potential was through the roof because I had a brand new Guy 😌 who fit in perfectly, and I was pretty confident that at some point I would get around to writing post-canon, canon compliant stuff in a brand new all American playground, too. But baby steps.

And then what actually happened was a bizarre schism where there appeared to be little if any tolerance for still caring about that guy (general noun) while also liking new guy (proper noun), & this lack of tolerance manifested in frankly very shocking and upsetting ways, so instead of even trying to do what I wanted, I blacklisted everything and intentionally stayed out of it until it became personal, at which point it turned into what literally might be the most bad faith fandom experience I have ever had in my life.

We could have had it all, etc!

[barris-events]

Under the cut you will find a list of prompts to inspire your works for this fest. You're free to use whatever you want, to combine two or more of them, whatever you like. When you post your work, just let us know which one(s) inspired you in your notes and don't forget to tag us. If you need a reminder on the guidelines, you can find them here. Otherwise, happy writing/drawing/giffing 🌙💙🌕

Quotes, Poetry & Lyrics

🔵 The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections. - Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me 

🟦 Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars. - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

📘 Place, park, scene, dark / Silvery moon is shining through the trees / Cast, two, me, you / Summer kisses floating on the breeze - By the Light of the Silvery Moon 

🦋 It's me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me / At tea time, everybody agrees / I'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror / It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero -Taylor Swift, Anti-hero 

💙 Your hands, like no-one else's / the ring around the blue of your eyes / lift all the sighs out of me / like the memory of something beautiful: / the moon, how close you are, how far. - Blue Moon, Linda France 

🔷 I heard somebody whisper "Please adore me" / And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold - Blue Moon, Hart & Rogers 

🔵 The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled. - Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

🟦 So much for summer love and saying "us" / 'Cause you weren't mine to lose - Taylor Swift, August 

🦋 I really wanna stop, but I just got the taste for it / I feel like I could fly with the boy on the moon / So honey, hold my hand, you like making me wait for it / I feel like I could die walking up to the room - Carly Rae Jepson, I Really Like You

Scenarios

🔵 Scenario: summer thunder storm traps them inside. they play board games to pass the time.

📘 Scenario, choose your own adventure: a trip to the beach goes awry. Do they a) discover a body, b) encounter someone from Thomas's past, or c) get caught up in a smuggling adventure.

🔷 Scenario: AU in which Thomas is an exasperated teacher at a private school and Richard is PA to one of the school wealthiest benefactors. Richard has been charged with dealing with the appalling behaviour of the benefactor's trouble-making child.

💙 Scenario: future fic. Richard and Thomas move into a cottage on the estate. It’s perfect, except for being haunted by Carson.

🟦 Scenario: there's an interlinking door between Thomas's room and the one where Richard stays at Downton Abbey.

🌀Scenario: Richard time travels to the past and encounters a younger Thomas. Whether he’s there to fix something or some other reason is up to you.

🔷 Scenario: AU based on the Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story subplot with the King's valet and the Queen's footman (spoilers for plot). Thomas is newly assigned to Queen Charlotte as her personal footman. He lives for knowing what's going on in society and reporting useful gossip to her. Richard is King George's valet and the only person who knows about his mental health situation and what's really going on with him and keeps it secret from all the other staff and Charlotte, using various machinations and making excuses for why the King is doing certain erratic things. When they start hooking up, Thomas quickly sees through Richard's web of lies. Richard has a choice about whether to trust the footman (known gossip and schemer) with the King's secret and bring him into his schemes or part ways with him to protect the king.

💙 Scenario: AU where Thomas owns a plant shop and Richard is a frequent customer.

📘 Scenario: Thomas is surprised/confused when Richard shows concern for his well-being, he's used to it only happening when his partner wants sex/intimacy.

Misc

🔵 Moon tarot meaning: Hidden enemies, danger, calumny, darkness, terror, deception, occult forces, error. Reversed: Instability, inconstancy, silence, lesser degrees of deception and error.

🔷 Blue colour meaning: Blue is the colour of trust and loyalty. It has a calming and soothing effect and you can always count on its support.

Images

If you'd rather some visual inspiration, take a look at these picture prompts. You can use all the images from any set, mix and match, or just pick a single image to use.

🟦 Image set 1

🦋 Image set 2

🔵 Image set 3

[sir-griswold-of-macelwain]

OK so.

There are multiple actors in Downton Abbey whose first name was later given to a character. Barring very common first names like Jim or Charles or Thomas, here's a short, non-exhaustive list:

Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith): Laura Edmunds

Phyllis Logan (Mrs Hughes): Phyllis Baxter

Rose Leslie (Gwen): Lady Rose MacClare

Hugh Bonneville (Lord Grantham): Hugh MacClare

Raquel Cassidy (Baxter): Rachel Aldridge, Lady Sinderby

(also, Hugh Dancy and Laura Haddock came later on to play in the movies)

Also shout-out to Brendan Coyle and Kevin Doyle (Mr Bates and Mr Molesley) whose last names might have been inspirational for Peter Coyle, the never-seen crook from Baxter's past. And also to Zoe Boyle (Lavinia Swire). And Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs Bates). Wait. How many different "Consonnant-Oyle" people do we have on this show.

Back to the purpose of this post:

If you are ever looking for a name for a character in a downton abbey fic, the closest method is to just go to the list of characters and pick and mash from two actors. I, personally, intend to use Tuppence and Penelope in a near future. (Tuppence Middleton: Lucy Branson. Penelope Wilton: Isobel Crawley)

[kehlana-wolhamonao3]

Story: The Bet

I couldn't stay away from Matthew and Mary for too long so here is the promised update of The Bet :) Since my fic for TBC challenge is ready, I expect to update 2 more DA fics within the next week.

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

Emoji asks! 💖 🏅📝🧠✨️ & 🍰

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I guess the ability to create a world in the reader's head, you know?! That I can write in a way that people can see it, it's realistic and imagable.

🏅 What is something you recently felt proud of in regard to your writing (finished a fic, actually planned for once, etc).

That, after a very long break, I picked writing up. And slowly and steadily establishing a writing routine again. Also overcoming some very, very heavy writer's block and imposter syndrome.

Also keeping that energy and interest for Showman. This is going to be a looong fic but I have so many ideas for future chapters and I really want to read that last one. Maybe in some years but I want to achieve that.

Also I practice to be more proud of my writing in general. The fact that so many people were happy when I started to write and post again, meant the world to me and moved me to tears. After such a long break and in general, I didn't expect people to still care about my work or be happy when they see I uploaded something. So, yeah. That was really moving.

📝 What is one growth area you have for your writing?

A more diverse language.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

Another part for the "Beautiful"-series. Of course, it will be smut again and I have a general idea what kind of smut this time but it hasn't turned into words yet. It also depends if I follow a second, to that first one belonging, idea. Because if I do, it would chance the first idea a lot.

✨ Choose three adjectives to complement your own writing

detailed, multifaceted, flowing

🍰 Name one of your fave comfort fics (doesn’t have to be your all time fave).

I can't link it unfortunately, because it's no longer available (I have it as an download): it was one from the Downton Abbey fandom about Thomas/Jimmy.

[merinsedai]

or the @dreamlingbingo

Square/Prompt: B4: Future

Title: Dreamling Abbey (epilogue)

Rating: G (Dreamling Abbey itself is M)

Ship(s): Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling

Warnings: n/a

Additional Tags: Downton Abbey au, omegaverse, omega Dream, alpha hob

This is a second short addendum to my CHBB fic, Dreamling Abbey, which you can read on ao3 (mind tags)

“I want to see everything,” Dream had declared, that stormy morning in 1915, atop the cliffs of Scotland where the waters of the North Sea had roiled and roared below them.

Well, Hob had taken him at his word. While the war had somewhat impacted their activities in the first few years of their relationship, the beginning of the 1920s saw them take flight. Not that they had wasted their time confined to Britain, on the contrary, they had made good use of the years.

For one, Dream had married the love of his life in an intimate ceremony in Hob’s home village. Hob’s sister, Jenny, had walked Dream down the aisle, whilst both Hob’s parents had cried tears of joy. If Dream had been nervous about meeting his lover’s family, then their warmth and kindness had instantly put him at ease. Hob’s mother, a redoubtable woman named Elizabeth, (“Or mum, if you prefer!”) had taken over the task of teaching Dream to cook from Mrs Patmore. It was thanks to her that  he became quite a proficient chef (of country fare, at least. His own parents would’ve sneered at it, but Dream could not have cared less) and it was a hobby he grew to greatly enjoy-and his husband definitely appreciated.

For another, he gained a profession. Hob’s suggestion of joining the auxiliary nurses was now no longer just a dream but a reality. And Dream excelled: he loved his job and the purpose it gave him. Even after the war, when many omegas returned to their lives at home, Dream kept up his job. ‘You are a thoroughly modern omega,’ he was told, and that pleased him greatly.

And while he worked, first facing the difficulties of the soldiers injured in the war, and then the crisis of the Spanish flu, his Hob was changing too. “You want to travel, Dream?” he had said. “Then I’d best find a career that’s going to let us do that.” So he’d talked his way into newspapers and apprenticed himself at a local paper to learn the trade of reporting.

A move to London was necessitated by Hob’s advancing career, and Dream-moving to work at St Thomas’s learned a new side to the city while Hob worked his way up Fleet Street, through local events, national news and then, finally, the holy grail for them- foreign correspondence, reporting for The Times.

With a heavy heart but also with much excitement,  Dream left St Thomas’ and followed Hob on his tour through Europe, tracking the rebuilding of countries following the privations of the war.  Then it was on to Egypt, where in 1922 Hob was there to report on Howard Carter’s magnificent rediscovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. 

Egypt would always hold a special place in their hearts, for it was here that they welcomed their children- first a boy with Dream’s eyes and Hob’s joie de vivre, quickly followed by a second son, and finally a daughter. Upon discovering Dream’s pregnancy, they had briefly discussed a return to Britain but neither were ready to call it quits on their adventures yet, and so their children grew in health and happiness under the sun of a foreign sky, raised by a village and surrounded by the wonders of the ancient world. 

And on starlight nights, while his children slept and the campfires burned, Dream would sit with his view of the pyramids, his head resting on his husband’s shoulder, and know that his was a life well lived.

[sweetcarrotsandroses97]

Kingdom Of Truths | KTH | Moodboard + Summay

Pairing: Lord! Kim Taehyung x disabled! Lady! reader (ft. Ot6)

~non idol! an, strangers to lovers! au, downton abbey! au, edwardian era! au

Warnings: fluff, angst, character death, strangers to lovers, depression, unrequited love, oc is in a wheelchair, period typical classism and misogyny, talks of marriage, MISCOMMUNICATION, (more will be added in the future)

Summary: You were Lady (y/n), beautifully caged to a life in a wheelchair since you were a child. It appeared that fate had it against you as tragedies filled your life since the moment you had been born. After inheriting two large fortunes after a horrible accident that left you completely alone in a world full of luxury, you lost all hope at any chance of happiness. It wasn't until a handsome young man entered your life and despite the distance you wish you put between the both of you, he seemed determined to fight for your love and live in a kingdom of truths by your side. Once is fortuity. Twice is coincidence. And three times is fate. "There is nothing more than I want in this life but you, it is you who gives me this will to live, this passion in my soul, this burning in my skin. You have bewitched me with your charms, you have claimed my heart as yours. You are the sun and I am the moon because I am nothing without you while you are everything without me."

A/N Hello everyone! I'm currently on +8k of this fic but there's so much I want to write that I fear it will take me a bit longer to publish. it fully. This is highly inspired on "Downton Abbey" if you haven't seen the series, I highly recommend it!

I just love the Edwardian Era, I'm an old soul and as you might have already noticed, this is a Tae fic also inspired by his portfolio photoshoot. I just love how he looks like a prince or -in this case- a Lord of high society.

I will publish a snippet of the fic a day or two before publishing the whole story, I hope you will like it as I am working so hard on this. If you had gotten up till this part, you are darling. Take care and thanks for reading my rambling!

~Masterlist

[specialagentlokitty]

Hi, have you had any look with those Downton abbey fics? I saw that someone mentioned that tumblr was being problematic, and the recent ones aren’t available to me. I can send my one again if you’d like, the Thomas Barrow one.

I’m not sure who sent the Tom Branson one, but that sounded cool, and I cannot find that one either. I may send a request for him in future, maybe Mathew aswell, as there aren’t many fics about them.

Tumblr needs to sort itself out 😭

No worries if not! Was looking forward to reading it is all 😁 Xx

Honestly I’m not sure what’s going on with it, I’ve noticed other fics are missing too, like some older work that’s I’ve been trying to find

I have no clue what’s going on with it, they’re not in the flagged posts bit, they’re just missing 😭

[thank-god-and-you]

Thanks for the tag, @lovelikewildness! <3

So, wanted to get some hiatus rec lists going and encourage some self promo in my friends so how about sharing your top fics no matter how big or small - give us the links to your wonderful words with the Most hits/Most kudos/Most comments/Most bookmarks /Most words/Least words

AO3

Most Everything: Sed Me Domum et Aedificabo a Throno | Game of Thrones | Daenerys x Jorah | Rated T. [Showverse] Jorah Mormont had been there at the start of Daenerys Targaryen’s new journey. He’d be by her side until its end.

It comes top in all categories apart from bookmarks, but that's kind of boring. xD So I'll put the runners-up here too.

Second Most Hits: Vivat Crescat Floreat | Game of Thrones | Daenerys x Jorah | Rated M. [Showverse] She tells him that she has been grappling with things she can no longer ignore. Things that were as dormant as those three petrified dragon eggs once were. Things that came alive inside her not from fire, but in the icy, barren snows of Winterfell.

Second Most Kudos: Tokens of Deep Affection | Wreck-It Ralph | Felix x Calhoun | Rated T. Tammy. She has never been more ill-equipped for a nickname.

Second Most Comments: A Meeting of Fates | Downton Abbey | Anna x Bates | Rated M. Anna is a maid travelling with the Earl of Grantham and his family to Newport, visiting Lady Grantham's family. John is seeking a new life in America, away from his past sins. Sparks fly on the ship of dreams and startling revelations promise to change both of their lives for good, but when the ship hits the ice they are not guaranteed a happy end.

Most Bookmarks: Magic in Mundanity | The Incredibles | Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr x Elastigirl/Helen Parr | Rated T. So when Winston tells them that some more media positivity would be great for the cause, Bob rubs his hands together in glee and Helen’s smile is more like a grimace.

(Third)Most Subscriptions (SMDeAaT and VCF are first and second here, this is a three-way tie):

Sic Infit | Game of Thrones | Daenerys x Jorah | Rated T. [Showverse] There are a thousand things Daenerys must face in the wake of the Long Night.

Joy is not in Things | The Incredibles | Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr x Elastigirl/Helen Parr | Rated T. The changes come fast, and they come with the ferocity of a hurricane, with a hatred that Helen doesn't think any of them were expecting..

And Beauty There Echoes the Speck of Our Souls| EastEnders | Suki x Eve | Rated T. A collection of oneshots inspired by text message prompts.

Most words: Technically it's an Anna/Bates fic that I've never published publicly, but other than that it's A Meeting of Fates.

Least words: Privacy | Downton Abbey | Robert x Cora | Rated T. Robert and Cora discuss the importance of privacy.

FFN

Most Comments: Yesterday's Musings | Downton Abbey | Robert x Cora | Rated T. A marriage that has spanned three decades. Three beautiful daughters. The rise and fall of everything they've ever known. And still they love each other. Drabbles based on Robert and Cora's relationship, pre-series one through Christmas Special 2011.

Most Favourites: Seeing is Believing | Pokémon | Jessie x James | Rated M. Jessie, James, and Meowth decide to steal future-seeing Pokémon for profit, but when Jessie gets separated from her friends in the confusion of trying to capture one, it reveals things about her future that she didn't even think were possible...

(Third) Most Follows (top was AMoF): The Shadow Proves the Sunshine | Downton Abbey | Anna x Bates | Rated T. S4 spec-fic. Anna and John's life together is pushed to the limit by the arrival of the charming Mr Green, who turns out to be anything but. When the unthinkable happens and they are left to deal with the consequences, can they ever be happy again?

I tag @fandomsbyladymelodrama, @salzrand, @clarasimone, @gettingovergreta, @rileypotter17, @wizfrog, @markcampbells if you want to do it. :)