#not to mention shakespeare or jane austen

[holmesandwhatson]

the notes on that book poll are so wild. i had no idea there are so many people out there who hate my favourite books </3

[thatdeadaquarius]

About your language brainrot. I see your "Reader's writing can't match tyvat's long and flowery writing" and bring you "Tyvat isn't used to books over 50 pages long so a short story to the Reader is a whole dictionary to tyvat readers".

Seriously, have you seen how thin the books are? They don't wrote novels, they write short chapters formatted in the way really old stories are. As in, summarizing all the events down into one smooth story then adding a few quotes. Fanfiction writers are insane. They will willingly sit down and write hundreds of words at a time. To them, a proper modern day story of maybe, oh 10k words or so, would probably be like the Oddessy itself.

If we were to combine the two headcanons. It would end up as many historians being intimidated by this insanely long written scripture in the language of the forgotten.

I'm going to take this a step further and say that if the creator asked some people to proofread their things, it would establish a hiarchy of who is able to actually finish the book the creator read and who isn't.

NOW THIS, THIS IS MY FUCKING JAMMMM

I'm so sorry this is so old!! u probably all know this by this point that I've really slowed down as the year has gone on, but I graduated university and then got my first job so its been pretty crazy!

Sun: Reader (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: dash of all the book/nerds of Genshin, heavy on Sumeru?

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: Cussing, 16+ Mature Audiences, Spoliers for Sumeru Archon Quests/Scaramouche, & Trigger Warnings: mention of shipping/characters shipping themselves with you.

Comment if any missed, please.

☆

FULL STOP.

THE AKADEMIYA, FONTAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, HAVE BEEN WAITTTINNGGGG ON YOUR ASS LMAO

You fall from the fucking sky like a 5 star, or pop out of the Irminsul or whatever

and immediately are mobbed by scholars. LMAO jkjk (not really, bc that's what it’d feel like)

can you even imagine the dread older stories(”the classics” to them), that was instilled in the poor students around Teyvat??

id like to think ur works are the most preserved over the thousands of years of Teyvat archeologists excavating them, in comparison to other authors (teyvat just likes you more, suck it William Shakespeare)

also, bc I cant resist language differences/world building I'm sorryyyy 😭 😭

the vocab of Genshin lang vs. ours, has significantly less vocabulary like their actual dictionary is 1/3 the size of ours type of energy

(Omfg all ur fanfics being considered like insanely long realistic romantic classics or tragedies like Jane Austen-level, and only the richest and biggest play companies put on plays about ur stories bc the script goes on for hours)

(ur plays only get put on for rlly big events bc of this, like Lantern Rite or like a Summer/Winter festival/your birthday, which is, yes, an international holiday)

dude the sheer power move of anything you’ve written being essentially “Journey of the West” to them, like Damnnn.

endless like adaptations, plays, Teyvat-short stories condensing it, (THEIR OWN FANFICTION ABOUT UR STORIES)

the power is, in fact, going to your head every time another scholar both deflates at how long ur stuff is, but also lights up bc they get to read it

speaking of scholars… you know who snatched you up first. you know. you don’t even need to read the next line.

Alhaitham.

sneaky bastard he is, absolutely manipulated, mansplained (and manwhored bc he knows he’s handsome, cheeky little shit) his way into getting you to sit down with him and interview you about both translating other classics, your own, giving your own analysis of others works and ur own, and picking ur brain apart of how/why you wrote urs, etc. its fucking endless,

Kaveh had to come rescue you bc u were starving to death after getting stuck with the Haravatat scholar in his office for nearly 7 hours of interrogation discussion about literature

and Alhaitham wasn't even nearly done, he’d informed you as you left that he already had another appointment for later conversation scheduled (how?? you don't even know ur own schedule??? you have a schedule???) and was looking forward to more of your “creative and enlightening input” :)))

(you’re never going to escape him, not even Nahida herself can save you from his stubborn ass)

On another note, Xingqiu is quaking when you agree to autograph his copy of your stories (of which he has all hard covers of the first edition translations)

Zhongli/Rex Lapis is known for having a near-lifelong passion for searching for your works specifically, and learning how to translate them better into Teyvatian vernacular

like the same way he can absolutely speak on Rex Lapis facts/rocks/adepti info, is the same confidence he speaks about knowing ur work lol

(yes he did also ask for several autographs and another sit-down talk about the works, tho a lot more sneaky then Alhaitham bc he just casually gets u guys into it during dinner)

Barbatos/Venti has written some of the most famous songs based on your stuff, he has his favorites too,

but he always claims the best songs are any that have been written in the story, like either when a character sings something, or there are like quotes from songs ur fanfics are based on lol

(he also demanded to hear what they actually sound like from you, yes, you have to sing them for him lol)

Venti also can surprisingly drunkenly ramble the entirety of at least one of ur stories, like, word for word lmao

(Diluc gave in and did give him a drink on the house for that one, just once, Venti doesn’t remember it lol)

(I forgot to mention, u guys still speak the same language, just like, different versions of it)

ur works being one of the few things all the Archons can freely talk about with each other, like it’s neutral ground bc they’re all fangirling about it lmao

Furina and Neuvillette have had like,, fierce debates over the decades about character dynamics and the general drama of ur stories, they’ve gotten into it enough they’ve stopped talking to each other for a couple days a few times lol

Albedo, Sucrose, Kokomi, Yae Miko, Ei, Raiden, have read every single work they’re gotten their hands on in Teyvat (it took them like a literal year or longer)

Albedo drew you fanart for every single story, bc he’s hyperfixated on everything related to you ngl,

Kokomi had commissioned smaller pocket versions of ur works (which later got popular thanks to Yae Miko) both the OG and the Teyvat shortened versions

THE HARBINGERS ARE THE MOST DOWN BAD LMAO

Childe has literally tried to recreate battle scenes from ur works lmao

and gets especially riled up about fighting someone who resembles any characters from them (esp villains, what a cutie)

You cannot fathom the amount of research throughout Teyvat that has been secretly or indirectly funded by Pantalone/Tsaritsa

from the experts to analyze them, to funding play companies to act them out, to actually excavating places to get more of ur stuff unearthed

(the Harbingers absolutely are the first group of people that got to read several of ur stories first bc of this, like the world’s most exclusive secret book club lol)

Scaramouche used to clown on Childe all the time about how he was too impatient to even “sit down and read the King’s classics”, and he was downright insufferable when he found out about Tartaglia’s habit of recreating battle scenes/that being what motivated him to fight sometimes lol

that being said, Wanderer surprisingly never forgot ur stories.

Even when his memories were wiped for a bit, he found comfort in these fantastical epics still sticking around, even when his old names did not

(he mayyyy or mayyy nottt have secretly namedhimselfafteroneofthetragicprotagonistsherelatesto- )

oh btw, Nahida also found joy and comfort in ur stories when she was trapped, they also helped her literally grow as a person bc she had ur stories to help her sort of process the world/what life was like outside of her dreaming prison 🥺💔❤️‍🩹

◇

OMFG

ANYWAY FULL TONE SHIFT LMFAO-

the ABSOLUTE SPIRAL-RED-STRING-CONSPIRACY-THEORY-BOARD ENERGY IF THIS WAS A BLUNT LANGUAGE AU LMAOOOO

like specifically how Teyvatians like to give all the context ever thru their words, but older deities/beings like you just do simple phrases that can have deeper meanings (whereas teyvat just explains all the meanings behind their words)

STOP there’s like an official display at the Akademiya and Fontaine Institute of red string theory boards 😭😭 (look what you’ve done to themmm LMAO)

for like every story of urs, INCLUDING THE FANFICS STOP

IMAGINE THE SHIPPING WARS IF U EVER WROTE ONE THAT WASNT EXPLICIT OR LIKE ONE OF THE MAIN ROMANTIC INTERESTS HAD CHEMISTRY WITH OTHER CHARACTERS HAHAHAHAA

that's actually what Akademiya scholars argue about the most viciously, it’s like politics you can’t just bring up ships from ur stories casually in regular convos 💀

(poor Cyno has to deal with a shipping war once a year bc someone always makes the mistake of reading ur work for the first time (without being told to not talk to others abt ships lol) and it starts an all out brawl in the cafeteria every time LMAO)

Also yes.

Cyno is a fanboy.

(he has read Creator x Reader-insert fanfiction.)

(As have most of the characters mentioned, and those not lol)

…

(I'm gonna make a whole Creator x reader fanfic post one day i stg lmao)

☆

an iced coffee? for me?? :0

ok but real talk…

wtf do you guys wanna see for new years!!

i didn't do a inktober/october days thingy bc i felt too unprepared (and bc id wanted to post that 1000+ followers eldritch au for Halloween)

but now i kinda wanna, at least for a few days :o

ill post a poll in a minute, so check it out!! but still, please feel free to comment some ideas here! :)

Safe Travels Deafening Dreamer,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily

[millyhelp]

Back to you.

OKAY. I had this idea while I was washing dishes. Just tell me if I should write this or not! (Just a preread to see if at least one person will like this)

warnings: angst, fluff and a bit of stalk

Back to you masterlist.

Dating a Robin was magical. Him showing up at your window at night and running around the mansion to hide from an angry Alfred about having his cookies stolen was just incredible. But no one told you that you would lose your boyfriend one day.

The risk was always clear and you were aware of the danger that Jason was in, but you had never imagined that the Joker would kidnap and kill him.

When Bruce told you it was like losing a part of you. Half of your soul ripped out and killed prematurely.

You cried for weeks. You fainted when you saw his body in that coffin. The love of your life was dead.

You spent months in deep grief and depression. You thought about giving up and even killing the joker, but how could you? she was just another ordinary civilian.

Two, three years passed. You entered therapy and had asked Bruce for help. You wanted to set up an NGO, with the name Jason, of course. You wanted to help the children and teenagers who suffered on the streets of crime alley just like Jason suffered.

Bruce agreed and gave you all the financial support you needed.

Jason Peter Todd Association for children and teenagers in need. That was the name you said with pride and love.

Over time, this helped you try to get over Jason's death. Seeing the smiles on those children's faces made you smile again.

It was already the fourth year since Jason's death. You always visited Jason's grave to lay flowers. It was a tradition to go to his grave on weekends and sit down to read a Jane Austen or Shakespeare classic.

In the fifth year you had already expanded the NGO. It was already in other poor parts of the city.

And suddenly, more donations began to appear, and much higher than Bruce's. It scared you and made you curious. They were all always in Red Hood's name.

Some time later, crime decreased and the sale of drugs to children was no longer happening. In the news the name Red Hood was always mentioned.

He was the new Prince of Crime. For you, it doesn't matter, he's helping children and protecting them from crime.

But things were getting strange. Flowers appeared on the doorstep of you apartment, boxes with classic limited edition books and chocolates (your favorites), and all with the same signature. RedHood.

This was scaring you. Who is this guy? And why you?

[neptuneiris]

could you pretend to be in love? (05/10)

The Challenge

pairing: modern!aemond × fem!reader (fake dating)

summary: new sensations envelop you when you are with Aemond, especially when you learn more details about his relationship with Alys and an unexpected news fills you with nerves.

word count: 6.6k

previous part • series masterlist

new chapter finally!

probably won't be as exciting as the other chapters, however...there is something here going on and I want you guys to figure it out in the comments and we'll see if you are catching what I am👀

the next chapter will be full of drama, believe me, so expect it to come very soon as I'm focusing on finishing writing this story without making new ones and considering I have no more fics pending, just this one🤗

now yes beautiful people, enjoy!

warnings: cursing, language, mentions of cheating.

@melsunshine @at-a-rax-ia @jxdegodfrey @ttkttt @yentroucnagol @kate-to-the-ki @iamavailablesstuff @bluerskiees @urmomsgirlfriend1 @toodlesxcuddles @rosie-posie08 @iloveallmyboys @bellaisasleep @deliaseastar @cupcakesminicakescupcakes @dixie-elocin @lilostif16 @wickedfrsgrl @a-beaverhausen @a-beaverhausen

The sound of birds in the distance reaches your ears.

Today the sky is cloudy, with no chance of rain, the temperature is pleasant and you are thankful that there are no intense sun rays burning your skin when you are outdoors.

You find yourself immersed in your physics homework, sitting on the bleachers of the sports field, where you can only hear the sound of the birds and also faintly the sound of the soccer team training.

You sit in tranquility, undisturbed and unobserved by anyone, when suddenly the sound of footsteps stepping on the metal bleachers pulls you out of your concentration.

You look up and see Aemond approaching, a small smile on his face. You return his greeting with a shy smile and make a small space beside you for him to take a seat.

Aemond plops down nonchalantly next to you, letting out a sigh, then curiously observes what you're doing on your lap.

"What are you doing?"

You deliberately ignore his question and instead, take a loose leaf you had tucked away among your folder, pick it up and hold it out to him, with a gentle yet expectant look.

Aemond takes it and frowns, reading what you've written on it, only getting more confused.

'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen.

'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare.

"And what is this?"

"Have you already forgotten my conditions of the contract?" you tell him amused, "For every party I go with you to, you have to read one of my favorite books or watch one of my favorite movies or shows," you remind him, "So now, you have to pick one of these two of my favorite books."

Aemond rolls his eye with amusement.

"And why exactly do I have to pick one of these two? Don't they seem... repetitive and so usual?"

"That's what people always say, obviously they know these books by the title and their authors, but how many people actually read these books?" you look at him with your tone full of expectation, "I'm sure you haven't read either of them."

He shrugs indifferently, with his nonchalant air.

"So? There are movies," he says confused, "I haven't seen them either, but I know how they both end. In the end they both get married," he points to the title of 'Pride and Prejudice', "And here they both die together and their families stop being rivals," he points to 'Romeo and Juliet'.

You let out a small chuckle at his witty response, but you are not intimidated.

"Yes but there are a lot of things that in the movies they don't show, so... what will be your choice, Mr. Aemond?"

He lets out a laugh.

"Well, we'll see how this 'Romeo and Juliet' is," he decides.

"Perfect."

And when he least expects it, from your backpack you take the book, handing it to him with your clear satisfaction and he still confused but amused examines the book in his hands.

"Good, then give me the other one at once, because there's a new party on Saturday," he tells you, completely grabbing your attention.

You open your eyes wide and stare at him in disbelief and surprise.

"What? So soon?" you ask with clear irritation and disappointment in your look and tone.

"Why are you so disappointed? After all you come out on top too since I'm going to read two of your shitty boring books," he says as he raises them slightly in the air.

"My books aren't shitty and they aren't boring!" you exclaim indignantly giving him a gentle tap on the shoulder, "And it's okay, I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"We'll just go for a little while. Then we can both go get some dinner and I'll drop you off at your house early. Sound good?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

And as soon as you say that, you also hand him the second book with a good forced look, making Aemond laugh and take that book too.

"As much as I like seeing you with a wrinkled nose, take it off or it's going to stay that way," he says amused, crinkling it between his fingers briefly, making you laugh and you immediately move his hand away from your face.

Then he says goodbye to you, before getting up and heading off to his next class. And also not before telling you that he'll see you at lunch.

And as you watch him walk away, you tell yourself that these little interactions are part of pretending, since after all, the guys on the soccer team can see them clearly from this distance.

However, that slight fear returns to yourself that things may get more complicated than you expect.

Fortunately, the rest of the week goes smoothly, the teachers seem to be in a good mood and the homework is not heavy.

And you clearly continue to pretend along with Aemond.

Both he and you continue to act as usual, he is attentive and affectionate when you are together in full view of everyone at school. His gestures and looks full of complicity make you feel special, but at the same time remind you that it's all part of a game.

You also keep your word with Helaena, taking time to sit together for lunch at break time and occasionally Alysanne joins in as well, where you gradually start telling her about Cregan.

Until the day of the party arrives.

You tell your dad that you're going to a birthday celebration for a class friend, nothing big and everything quiet.

Then you opt for a pair of black pants, low-heeled ankle boots, a strappy blouse in a vibrant shade of cherry and a jacket to complement the outfit. And once you look in the mirror, you feel ready, although the nerves begin to settle in your stomach.

And of course, Aemond arrives promptly at your house.

His relaxed expression and smile greet you before you even get into the car. And driving to the party, the atmosphere is comfortable and calm.

And when you both arrive at the house where the party is, it's not a big, loud party like the previous one. But the atmosphere is full of energy, there is music, people dancing, drinks and cigarettes.

And you together with Aemond follow the same procedure to pretend to be a couple in love.

This time, you both decide to be more present with Aemond's friends. You sit between Trevor and Aemond, who immediately puts an arm around your shoulders, pulling you towards him, starting to make conversation with his friends.

And as always, he makes sure you're always included, just like during lunch in the cafeteria.

And while everyone is talking, the guys and Aemond make you laugh, feeling more and more comfortable with them. And as the night goes on, you realize how natural it feels to be next to Aemond, as if you fit perfectly into his world, at least for tonight.

When he at your side looks at you attentively and with some curiosity.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you nod nonchalantly, "Why?"

"Just asking," he shrugs, then lifts his hand and tucks a lock of your hair behind your ear, "Can I get you something to drink?"

You shake your head.

"I don't want to drink beer or anything like that."

"Then a soda? Or water?"

You let out a small laugh.

"Okay, soda's fine."

"Alright. I'll be back soon," he says then leaves a soft kiss on your forehead and gets up to head towards the kitchen.

He leaves for a moment and you are left talking to his friends, who are a lot of fun and in fact, because of them and Aemond, you begin to understand lacrosse as such, since that's all they talk about, besides their nonsense.

And also about some of the girls they like.

And also in that small moment that Aemond leaves, as you briefly observe the party around you, you see Alys with her group of friends in another corner.

You just casually watch them, you don't plan to give them any attention, but just as your eyes watch Alys, she watches you back.

And you are struck by how she says something to her friends with a smirk of superiority without taking her eyes off you and then everyone in her group watches you and laughs too.

You snort as you look away, as if you really care.

Aemond returns with your soda and only a glass of beer for himself, resuming conversation with both you and his friends, having a good time together.

Time passes and you feel the need to go to the bathroom, so you leave your now empty glass on the small table in the center.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," you announce, catching his attention, starting to stretch a bit to get up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asks you thoughtfully, "I mean, wait for you outside."

"No need, don't worry. I'll be back soon," you assure him, standing up.

"Okay," he nods at you with a small smile.

With a nod, you walk away towards the second floor bathroom, where you'll mostly take a moment to recharge your batteries before heading back to the party.

Luckily the bathroom is empty and you do everything you need to do without pressure.

Then you take a deep breath, allow yourself a brief moment of calm before returning to the party, wash your hands and mentally go over how you should behave around Aemond in front of everyone.

As you exit the bathroom, just down the hall, you notice Alys' presence in the area near the stairs.

You think about just ignoring her and walking past her, but when her eyes watch you, as if she is waiting for you, a mischievous smile curves her lips and she turns fully towards you, giving you her full attention.

"What do we have here," she mutters sarcastically, moving towards you while holding a red plastic cup in her hand.

You watch her completely unconcerned and walk past her, as you don't plan on dealing with her right now or ever.

"How does it feel to be Aemond's new pet?" she asks with a mocking laugh, planting herself in front of you, stopping your steps, "Or did you just think you could replace me so easily?"

Your heart begins to pound in your chest, but you stand your ground, reminding yourself that you will not let his words affect you, as his expression is filled with disdain.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you reply calmly, trying not to give her the pleasure of seeing you affected by her comments.

She glares at you, before a sly smile spreads across her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she says with false sympathy, "I really thought you knew."

You frown.

"He's always done this, ever since we started dating," she says, "When we'd break up, he'd date the first girl in front of him as a pathetic attempt to replace me and make me jealous, so you're not the first and won't be the last, sweetie," she tells you with a fake pout, feigning pity for you.

You fix your gaze on Alys, feeling a mixture of anger and frustration coursing through your body. Who does she think she is to talk to you like that?

"I don't need your false sympathy," you reply with determination, your voice resonating louder than you expected, "What Aemond and I have has nothing to do with you."

Alys rolls her eyes in exasperation, as if your words are irrelevant to her.

"Oh, please," she replies dismissively, "Don't lie to yourself. He's always been like that, he's just looking to distract himself and you're just the last in line," she points out to you irrelevantly, "When we broke up, he was crying like a baby for me, begging me to get back together."

Your heart clenches at her words, with a surge of emotions surging through your chest.

For a moment, doubt takes hold of you.

Did Aemond really do that? Was he so affected by their breakup?

You tell yourself that maybe if he hadn't, he would never have asked you to do this. But this was mostly so that Alys would stop making a fool of him at school by cheating on him, not to get his attention and make her jealous... right?

"I'm not surprised you don't know," she continues to tell you dismissively, "But do you really think he loves you? Please," she snorts derisively, "He'll dump you in a few weeks when I give him the slightest hope because he's still crazy about me," she says superiorly, "Look at you and look at me. I know what he's into and that's definitely not you, especially you."

You try to ignore the stinging pain and keep your composure, clenching your jaw.

"I don't care what happened between you," you reply bravely, even if your voice shakes a little, "Ours is different."

She lets out a mocking laugh.

"Oh you poor little thing, you're so naive."

"If that's all, thank you so much for that vital information for my life," you tell her just as mockingly, walking past her, determined to leave her behind.

But just as you pass by her side, Alys moves along with you and purposefully slams your shoulder and arm with brutality, causing the beer in her hand to spill in a dull motion onto your chest and clothes.

The cold, sticky liquid slides down your blouse and pants, leaving you drenched and shocked by the suddenness of the moment.

You feel the liquid soak through your clothes and a shiver runs down your back. And you look down, watching in disbelief as the drink spreads through your clothes.

Then you look back at Alys, who has a mocking, amused look on her face.

"Oh, gosh, how clumsy of me," Alys scoffs, her tone of voice full of fake concern, "I'm really sorry, it was an accident."

You take a deep breath to contain your frustration, but her words spark a small spark of anger inside you. How can she be so brazen?

"An accident?" you repeat, disbelief in your voice as you stare at her with a frown.

Alys just smiles mischievously, enjoying your discomfort and what she just did to you.

"Enjoy the party, honey. But first, maybe you should clean yourself up," she says before turning away, leaving you soaking wet and clearly feeling very proud.

You don't even know what to do, feeling this way leaves you paralyzed for a moment, until you finally make your way back to the bathroom.

At the sink you further wet your clothes with water, which looks worse, but at least you won't stink of beer.

Drops of beer also splashed into your hair, so you wipe that off as well, feeling the humiliation wash over you and you don't even know exactly why.

But you do.

You look down at your ruined booties too, soaked from the front with beer and water.

The skin on your chest and collarbone feels chuckling from the beer, so you wipe it off too, when suddenly, there's a knock on the door.

"One moment!" you exclaim grumpily, still cleaning yourself.

"Y/N?"

You hear Aemond's worried voice outside.

"Fuck," you curse in a whisper.

"Are you okay?"

You bite the inside of your cheek and let out a long breath, already having the idea that you won't be able to hide this from him.

You were only supposed to come to the bathroom and you've already been late, of course he must have sensed something was wrong and come looking for you.

You leave the wet towel in the sink and open the door, where Aemond instantly notices you and opens his eye wide, seeing your clothes and some of your soaked hair.

"What happened?" he asks worriedly, moving quickly towards you, examining you.

You struggle to keep your composure, but can't, a bad mood overcomes you and you make your displeasure clear.

"Alys threw her drink on me," you finally say, stepping aside to let him go into the bathroom with you, reaching back for the damp towel to clean your skin.

Surprise crosses your face before it morphs into an expression of restrained fury and disbelief.

"What?"

You hiss, looking in the mirror at yourself as you wipe your sticky skin.

"Did she say something to you?" he asks, his voice serious but full of concern.

You let out a gesture of disbelief.

"She said things many things," you say seriously, not watching him for a moment, trying to dry your hair with the towel.

Aemond frowns, clearly annoyed.

He walks over to you and takes the towel from your hands, stopping your attempt to dry your hair. His gaze meets yours through the mirror, searching for answers.

"What things did dhe say?"

You sigh, feeling the weight of the situation on your shoulders.

"It doesn't matter, she just said bullshit," you reply evasively, looking away.

Aemond watches your face, urgently wanting you to look him in the eye, but you don't, you avoid his gaze and are obviously annoyed with the situation, which he doesn't blame you for.

He's annoyed too, because he knew he should have been near you to protect you if Alys is in the same place as the two of you.

He sighs in frustration, feeling the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, watching your soaked clothes and how you continue to clean yourself.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs sincerely, his voice full of regret, "You shouldn't have gone through this. She's totally out of her mind."

You remain silent for a moment, fighting the emotions that threaten to overwhelm you. As he looks at you with anguish and regret for not protecting you from Alys' comments and actions.

"It's not your fault," you finally say in a serious voice, still not looking at him, then set the damp towel down on the sink and inhale softly, "Can you take me home?"

Aemond nods, feeling guilty.

"Sure," he murmurs, "But first... you can put on my jacket," he says as he starts to take it off, "I'll be waiting outside."

He takes it off and gently hands it to you, his hand brushing against yours with a gesture of tenderness.

"Thanks," you murmur.

He exits the bathroom, closes the door and you remove your blouse and soaked jacket, leaving your bra down and immediately wrap his jacket around you, zipping it up almost to your throat.

With your clothes in your hands, you walk out of the bathroom and Aemond watches you silently, attentive and concerned, with a sadness and frustration in his eye that he can't hide.

He hates your distance.

A few moments ago the two of you were having a good time and now that Alys has done this... he hates that you are apart from him.

You both return to the party and Aemond doesn't even say goodbye to his friends, thinking he'll text them later, grabbing your shoulder and walking out of the house with you.

Together, you walk to his car in silence, where he doesn't dare to say a single word to you and you don't really want to talk either.

And all the way to your house, that nagging feeling doesn't leave your system.

But is it specifically because Alys spilled her drink on you or is it the interesting information she shared with you about Aemond?

You don't.

But you do.

Aemond tried to talk to you about what happened but you wouldn't let him.

You feel it's something you shouldn't make a big deal about. After all, he and you are not really 'dating'. So before he dropped you off at your house, you just reassured him that everything was fine and nothing more.

Now it's your father who drops you off at school on this day and you head towards your locker, immersed for a moment in thought.

You carelessly take your backpack off your shoulders to open it at the same time you open your locker, but as you do so, a polaroid falls to the floor.

You frown and bend down to pick it up, confused, since it's not yours.

And as you look at it, your heart begins to beat too hard in your chest as you see a picture of Aemond and Alys as if at a school dance or a party, both of them hugging.

But that's not what catches your attention, what does is seeing how there's is a picture of your face overlaid over where Alys' face should be, indicating just that, her replacement, a second place or temporary substitute.

But the thing about you and Aemond is not real.

So... why are you so affected by something you know isn't real?

It's a question that haunts your mind as you struggle to maintain your composure, beginning to tremble and feel your breathing heavy.

You swallow hard and press your lips together, when just then, you hear it...the giggles.

You raise your gaze and in the distance, you see Alys with her friends watching in your direction and laughing, clearly mocking you.

Although your relationship with Aemond is fake, the pain you feel at this moment is real.

And before you can react, Aemond's voice is suddenly heard.

"Hey, I was—

You turn your head towards him instantly and your eyes meet his, but his words hang in the air the moment he sees what you hold in your hands.

His soft expression slowly transforms from confusion to fury as he sees the picture. His whole face hardens completely and he purses his lips.

And sure enough, it's a matter of him realizing what's happening, as he hears Alys and her friends' laughter and looks in their direction, hardening his gaze even more.

"Aemond—

You try to speak but he instantly walks over to where Alys is standing without saying a word to you, taking the picture from your hands.

Your heart beats harder, opening your eyes wide and you want to walk towards him, to stop him, but somehow, you are paralyzed and you don't know exactly why.

Tension begins to feel in the air and you feel like your heart will burst out of your chest at any moment.

Aemond arrives in front of Alys with a determined look, his jaw tense and his fists clenched at his side. Instead of shouting, however, his voice is firm and controlled.

"From now on, I don't ever want to see you keep bothering my girlfriend with your fucking little girl pranks again, do you understand me?" he says angrily to then throw the photo at her.

The photo hits her face lightly and Alys looks up at him, surprised by the sudden intensity of his voice and his movements.

Instead of showing fear, however, her face hardens with an expression of disdain and disbelief.

"Oh, look who thinks he's the hero," she replies with her cynical smile, trying to hide her discomfort behind her façade of superiority, "I didn't know you had to protect your little girlfriend, Aemond. And come on, we were just joking."

Aemond clenches his fists, his jaw tense with frustration. But he continues to maintain his composure, his eye fixed on hers with determination.

"Oh yeah? You were just joking?" he repeats, "And the party thing on Saturday was a fucking joke too?"

Her face tenses slightly at the mention of the party, her smile fading momentarily before her regains his composure.

"That was an accident—

"Yeah, right. Everything to you is an accident, something you didn't meant to do, something that got out of hand. How could I not know about that, right? It's always the same fucking story with you."

She purses her lips.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to talk to me like that—

"Leave me and my girlfriend alone," he tells her slowly and clearly, "I'm not going to tell you again and I don't want to know that you're doing your shitty jokes again," he warns her, making it clear with his tone that he's not willing to tolerate her childish games anymore.

Alys recoils slightly at the annoyance and determination in his voice, her confidence waning slightly.

And before she can say anything else, Aemond turns and walks back along with you.

The students around you are still fully attentive to the confrontation, shocked and delighted by the drama, while you watch Aemond in awe of the way he has defended you.

"Come on," he murmurs to you in a softer, gentler way, closing your locker door and taking your hand, leading you with him away from the watchful eyes.

After what happened, he takes you with him to a nearby empty classroom and once inside, he gently closes the door behind him and turns to look at you, his expression attentive and full of concern.

He doesn't say anything right away and you just bite the inside of your cheek and lower your gaze, not knowing exactly what to say or what to do.

Until he exhales deeply, releasing the tension built up in his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" he asks, his voice soft and comforting as he watches you intently.

You nod slightly, though your hands still tremble slightly.

"I'm fine," you reply, trying to sound unconcerned.

He sighs, tearing his gaze away from yours for a moment.

"I'm so sorry. I-I didn't... I didn't expect something like this to happen. And she..." he runs a hand across his forehead in frustration, "It's not fair for you to be dealing with this."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Aemond," you tell him softly and sincerely, "But thank you for standing up for me."

He sighs.

"And you don't have to thank me, Y/N. It was the least I could do. But I promise you this is the last time something like this happens."

"You can't control what Alys does or doesn't do."

He exhales again.

"I know, but we never agreed that you would go through these bad times in the contract."

"Hey," you take a step towards him, your gaze soft as you see the frustration and worry on his face, starting to get upset, "Aemond," you call his name in a calm manner, "It's okay. I'm fine. Yes, the party thing and today was difficult but..." you shrug, "I'm fine. It's nothing I can't handle."

Still the worry doesn't leave his face.

"Are you sure? At the party you were upset and I don't blame you, but I don't want this to affect between us. You were distant and now...

His words float in the air and you try to place a small, comforting smile in his direction, though it appears more of a grimace.

"We're fine," you assure him softly.

His gaze reflects a mixture of relief, watching you without another word, then briefly glancing around.

And then an idea seems to cross his mind and he watches you again, attentive.

"What do you say we skip this first class?"

"What?" you immediately inquire.

"I know you don't like skipping classes but just one missed class isn't going to hurt you."

You frown.

"And what do you want to do?"

He shrugs.

"Just talk."

You bite your lower lip, hesitant.

But it's only enough to see the look on Aemond's face and his posture, utterly determined and solely waiting for you, that you finally let out a resigned sigh and nod.

Soon the two of you are sitting in the bleachers, with almost no one around, just the cheerleading squad training in the corner of the huge soccer and lacrosse field.

The atmosphere is quiet and you like that, just like the last time you were here and he chose the book of 'Romeo and Juliet' to read.

And once both of you are silent, just looking around and feeling each other's presence, Aemond decides to speak.

"What did Alys say to you at that party?"

He dares in asking, his gaze searching yours with a mixture of curiosity and concern, while you remain silent for a moment, not expecting that he would try to bring up the subject again.

And inevitably Alys' words echo in your mind, leaving a bitter taste in your mouth.

And you don't understand why.

You don't understand why you feel this unpleasant sensation when you remember her words.

"Well, she wasn't very nice..." you're silent for a moment, "Actually she wasn't at all but..." you lick your lips and avert your gaze from him, focusing on the lacrosse field, "She called me... your new pet, a new pathetic attempt to replace her."

He frowns, his gaze hardening as he hears your words, incredulous and annoyed. And he doesn't need to say anything, his face speaks for itself.

"She said you did that all the time when you both broke up... you know," you clear your throat, "Going out with other girls to make her jealous so she'd come back to you. That I was just a distraction and that pretty soon you'd drop me the moment she gave you the slightest hope of getting back together."

His lips tighten into a line, closing his eye for a moment and shaking his head, still intent on your words. And you prepare to say the next thing more softly and tactfully.

"She also said that you cried to her and begged her to come back this last time you both broke up."

He snorts, more incredulous than ever.

"Of course she said that."

And before he can speak further, you feel the need to clarify your behavior a bit.

"I always acted with her as if we were a real couple," you clarify, "I wasn't bothered by what she said," what a fucking lie, "What bothered me was her talking to me that way and throwing her drink on me."

"No, no, it's okay, I understand that," he assures you instantly, in a soft voice, "But everything she said to you is not true."

You watch him with your parted lips, slightly surprised and beginning to feel your heart knot.

"It isn't?"

"No," he says more firmly, incredulous, "It's true that I begged her to get back together, but that was a while ago, practically in the beginning of our relationship when it was fun for her to break up and come back," he explains to you, serious and honest with his words, "I was crazy about her, I even grew to love her and gave her all of me. But I was just a fucking child experiencing his first love... and that wasn't enough for her."

His confession takes your breath away for a moment, revealing a vulnerability you didn't expect, watching his serious and frustrated face clearly from what happened at the party and an hour ago at your locker.

You have no idea what to say, not wanting to minimize his feelings from that time nor now by saying the wrong thing.

"It's also not true that I was dating other girls to make her jealous to get her to come back to me, I-I..." he shakes his head, "I've never been like that. And you're certainly no distraction or... my new pet," he says with distaste.

You let out a long breath.

"I'm sorry," you say softly, "She said it in a way that made me believe her. I don't know what I was thinking," you say sincerely, "And I'm also sorry she made you feel that way," you mumble, feeling a lump in your throat.

"Don't worry, it's okay," he says softly, with a bitter little smile and his gaze lowered.

He shakes his head regretfully, as if he's remembering a past he'd rather forget and you feel guilty.

"It's just..." he starts to say, "Why would I want to go back to her if she cheated on me?" he asks incredulously, "She was the one who cried and begged to get back together this last time. And you know why? Because I found her fucking that guy in her car after she told me she was feeling sick and didn't feel like seeing me or going out with me."

Fuck.

His words echo in your mind, bringing with them a wave of sadness and empathy, definitely not expecting to hear that.

You never knew how it was that Alys cheated on Aemond, it only began to be said that it was with a college guy, but it was never said under what circumstances exactly she cheated on him.

You feel a sharp pang in your chest and suddenly feel outraged at what he had to endure, that she betrayed his trust in that horrible way.

How could she do that to him?

You don't have a heart made of stone to put a person through that.

You feel grateful that he shared this with you. It just shows you the level of trust you both have built. And you take a moment before you speak, trying to find the right words.

And the first thing you do is raise your hand and place it on top of his.

"I'm so sorry," you say softly, sincerely, "I'm so sorry you went through that. You didn't deserve it."

"You don't have to apologize, Y/N," he replies gently, accepting your touch, "None of it was your fault."

Then he sighs and you realize there's a weight to his words, a pain he's carried with him for some time.

"It's just... "he continues speaking, his voice heavy with mixed emotions, "Even if this thing between the two of us was real, why do this? Why tell these lies and want to hurt you with her cruel words and actions? Why won't she let me move on?"

You press your lips together and your heart clenches as you listen to his anguish.

"Maybe she's still in love with you," you mutter, trying to find a reason, "In her own twisted way."

He shakes his head, incredulous.

"This isn't love. It wasn't before and it isn't now. She just wants to have me eating out of the palm of her hand, like always."

His words are blunt and make you feel even more helpless about the situation.

And there's really nothing you can do, you can only be here for him, listen to him, support him in whatever he needs and be... his friend, like you've really been all this time, putting aside your facade of a girlfriend in love.

Right?

He lets out another sigh, this time heavier than the previous ones, and then leans against the metal of the bleachers behind you, leaning back.

You think he will let go of your hand, but he pulls you along with him, both of you close, shoulder to shoulder, both of you suddenly falling silent, saying nothing more, just staring at the horizon.

Until he speaks again.

"I don't want to think about it anymore," he says as he watches you and you look back at him almost instantly, feeling his thumb gently caress the back of your hand, sending a kind of electricity through your body.

And you propose the first thing that comes to mind.

"Do you want to listen to music until the next class starts?" you say in a soft voice and he nods immediately.

You take your headphones from your backpack, your phone and settle back down next to him, handing him an earphone and then you play your Spotify playlist with the songs you keep listening to lately.

You don't even know if he also likes the same style of music as you, but he doesn't complain or say anything to you the moment you start playing The 1997, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Chase Atlantic, Cigarettes After Sex and Lana del Rey.

Until he closes his eyes and suddenly uses you as a pillow, dropping his head on your shoulder, immediately this catching your attention and feeling a strange sensation in your lower stomach.

Despite being surprised and feeling confused for a moment, you do absolutely nothing to push him away and after a moment of hesitation, you slowly drop your head on top of his as well.

He doesn't open his eye or say anything to you, he just settles in better and then you both get very still, continuing to listen to music.

And you can't help but wonder; are the two of you even pretending now?

You honestly don't know.

"We have a problem."

That's the first thing Aemond says to you on a Tuesday morning when he stops by to drive you to school.

Immediately this catches your attention and you look at him slightly concerned, closing the passenger seat door to the side of you and watch him completely attentively.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom knows about you."

Shit.

Your whole body tenses and you watch him with your eyes wide open in surprise.

"And of course, she wants to meet you."

Oh shit.

"B-but...

You try to speak, not finding the right words watching him confused, not understanding anything and Aemond helps you with that as soon as he sees your completely disbelieving and surprised face.

"Aegon told her," he lets you know, "The fucking cunt talked out of turn and before he knew it, I'd already told her everything."

Oh God.

"And what did she tell you?" you ask, feeling a knot in your stomach.

"She wants you to go to dinner Friday night."

He tells you in a soft voice and looking just as worried as you do, still trying to convey calm.

"I told her I'd talk to you about it, but..." he lets out a resigned sigh, "I know her. And she won't leave me alone until she meets you. She's really nice, I swear, she's the sweetest person and... I know we agreed not to involve families but I had nothing to do with this."

Your mind is spinning as you finish processing the information, feeling an unexpected uneasiness and anxiety.

The mere thought of meeting Aemond's mom already makes you feel nauseous from the same nerves. However, you empathize with him, as this wasn't something he planned and it was by third parties who think he and you are actually dating.

But still, you feel incredibly nervous and the day hasn't even come close.

"I get it," you mumble, trying to hide your nervousness, licking your lips, then looking at him hesitantly, "You want me to?"

Aemond averts his gaze from you, running a hand over his face, not knowing exactly what to say to you, as you wait for his thoughtful response.

Until he lets out a long breath and moves a little closer towards you, placing his hand on top of yours.

"I know this is a lot to ask, especially after we agreed not to do this," he tells you softly, "And my mother is insistent, I do want you to meet her, but... if you don't want to do it, it's totally fine with me," he assures you, "The least I want to do is pressure you into doing something you're not comfortable with."

His words comfort you a little, but you still feel the nervousness wash over you, as well as feel a slight pang of guilt.

You bite your lower lip, struggling with your own emotions and thoughts.

"It's just that I feel remorseful that I'm going to meet her and she's going to meet me when this isn't real," you say in a sad, worried tone.

"I know," he says with compression, holding his hand tighter with yours, "Me too but you won't have to do this again. I'll take care of it, I promise."

You let out a long breath you too, lowering your gaze to the clasped hands in your lap as you feel Aemond's attentive and concerned gaze on you.

"All right," you finally reply, "If it's important to you and your mother, I'll handle it."

"Are you sure? You can tell me no and I'll understand."

"No, don't worry," you assure him, "I will."

He smiles softly at you with gratitude, but also with a hint of concern in his eye.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it."

And despite your own misgivings, you return the small smile.

"It's okay, really. I just... need a little time to think."

Aemond nods, understanding.

"Sure."

general taglist:

[the-ineffable-dance]

Holy Palmers Kiss

Throughout their history together, the romance between Aziraphale and Crowley has mostly been expressed through incredibly subtle ways. It's been centuries (if not millennia) of nothing more obvious than a surreptitious brushing of hands or yearning looks when they think no one is watching. And of course, when they have plenty of deniability.

Good work, Aziraphale... hand on the chest of the Thin Dark Duke, and if anyone asked, you were just making sure that young lady didn't get bumped.

And this is for a very good reason. It quite literally isn't safe for them to be openly romantic with one another, even now. Demons like Hastur and Shax are constantly popping up... Michael and Uriel are always watching... eyes are everywhere.

They have certainly gotten closer to being open in the years that separate the two seasons. Crawley sprawls all over that bookshop like he has a personal vendetta against chairs - removes his glasses as soon as he steps foot inside (which is an incredibly coded action that I would love to take a more in depth look at in the future) - gives up the keys to the Bently... And Aziraphale himself has those longing looks - calls him up to talk enough that Crowley knows his "tones of voice" - and then, we get The Ball.

Technically, The Ball is for Nina and Maggie... or at least that's what Aziraphale says. We get the lovely little moment in the pub where he and Crowley try to come up with the best ways to get humans to fall in love with each other. But the moment Aziraphale mentions Jane Austen having characters dancing with each other and realizing how in love they were, I think at least for him the focus changes to this... THE BALL IS FOR CROWLEY. And once he starts giving away books to make sure the ball will be perfect, there can be no question. The entire idea is a way for him to be able to dance with Crowley.

That's why, for me, the most romantic moment in all of Good Omens, at least from Aziraphale's point of view, is this moment right here.

Vavoom! Sorted! Look at the way Crowley even curls his fingers around Aziraphale's hand! This is peak Aziraphale romance as a fan of Jane Austen.

But he's also a fan of Shakespeare. Even the gloomy ones. And every time I watch this scene, I'm reminded of a different ball from one of the gloomy plays that Crowley would hate and Aziraphale would swoon over. Romeo and Juliet. A fitting parallel to an angel and a demon being in love.

In Romeo and Juliet, at the end of the first act, is another ball. Romeo tries to get Juliet to kiss him, and she turns him down with this...

"For saints have hands that pilgrim's hands do touch/ And palm to palm is holy palmer's kiss"

There's quite the back and forth here between Juliet and her Romeo about hands and lips and such, (and eventually Romeo gets his way) but the parallel for Aziraphale in this exchange is unmistakable. He, as the angel, is the saint (and stand in for Juliet), Crowley his pilgrim. Snogging in public would be absolutely out of the question for our dear prim and proper Aziraphale... but this is a chaste kiss, and one that he is showing the world. A public declaration of his love for Crowley. A Holy Palmer's Kiss.

It's certainly debatable if Crowley would have picked up on it. Like a lot of their coded language there are times when one of them misses what the other is trying to say. But in my opinion, this was not only a public declaration, but his confession to Crowley. This is his "I love you" as much as "I forgive you" is.

Just for fun, here's how Romeo finally gets his kisses (but let's have Crowley stand in for Romeo and Aziraphale for Juliet, shall we?)

Cro. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged. (They kiss)

Azi. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.

Cro. Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged. Give me my sin again. (They kiss again)

[zeruby16]

extra credit- kim jiwoong

18+ MDNI

genre: smut, fluff, romance

summary: when you're in dire need of extra credit after butchering your classical literature paper, you ask your class ta, jiwoong, for help.

word count: 3.3 k

warnings: afab! reader, dom jiwoong; usage of pet names (sweetheart, angel, good girl); cursing; oral sex (giving); fingering; penetration; protected sex (always use protection); slightest degradation kink; slight sir kink; slight exhibitionism; please let me know if i missed any!

notes: um..hey y'all so i'm back. trust me when i say this took me like three months to write because being in school made me so uninspired😭 i had major writers block and still do, but my bestie motivated me to finish this. anyways, i have not grammer checked this at all, so please spare me. i hope you all enjoy and i'll try to write more if i can!

REMINDER: 18+ MDNI

you hated the word validation, yet it’s all you’ve ever wanted.

in school, at home, with your friends, you craved hearing people compliment your hard work. 

it made you feel like you were in ecstasy.

so you’d be damned if you got a b in classical literature. it would ruin your perfect gpa, your reputation with your experienced professors, and your sanity.

you needed an a. you were going to get that a.

your main obstacle was an analysis paper on pride and prejudice. 

pride and prejudice for god’s sake.

everything would’ve been fine if jane austen wrote in understandable sentences, but here you were struggling to comprehend how the hell elizabeth fell for mr. darcy. 

the paper was due today and you submitted whatever you could online, but you remembered your professor’s words.

“every project will be graded by me, every paper will be graded by your teacher’s assistant, kim jiwoong.”

kim jiwoong was well-known throughout your university. he was a graduate student who helped out all of his previous professors. it was very noble of him.

he was also the most beautiful man to exist. any girl dropped at his sight, including you.

you were already familiar with jiwoong.

since his previous professors were in the same major as yours, you already had him as a ta for another class.

the other class, the english renaissance, was the worst class you’ve taken. 

you had done perfectly well on every assignment, but then your final happened to be cumulative and you could not remember an ounce of anything pertaining to shakespeare. 

you caved and confided in jiwoong as you always struggled with cumulative finals. then, you scored a 96 on the final.

half of it was on shakespeare. you should’ve failed, but you always got an a.

you knocked on the door twice before waiting for his response.

“come in!”

once you opened the door, you were met with his focused eyes. 

jiwoong was one of the nicest people you knew. he helped anyone who struggled left and right. he even offered tutoring to the students who couldn’t comprehend what went on in lecture.

you had no doubt that he was probably reviewing someone’s paper right now, so they could submit a better product. 

“what can i do for you y/n?” you noticed the slight change in his posture, he had to have a clue as to what you were planning.

“i submitted my analysis paper, but i wanted to stop by and mention how i didn’t comprehend anything from the book,” your eyes contained a hint of dejection. 

“i can’t do anything about it, you already submitted it,” he sternly said, you could see his hand gripping the pen he was using harder.

“i know, but i wanted to apologize beforehand. austen’s works are complex and i read the book three times, but i couldn’t conjure anything in the paper,”

“i tried jiwoong, for weeks, but nothing.”

he sighed while leaning back on his chair. it was working.

“you never struggle with papers,” he mentioned suspiciously.

“sometimes i do, it’s rare though. i’ve only ever struggled once throughout college,” you emphasized. 

“what are you trying at y/n?”

“i was just wondering if there was an opportunity for extra credit,” you innocently asked. you wanted him to give in. you needed him to give in.

he pushes back his hair in distress, while staring you up and down. he may have only dealt with you once, but he knew your ruse.

“you know how wrong this is,”

“jiwoong, i am an adult, you’re an adult. there is absolutely nothing stopping us,” you moved closer to his desk, leaning on it while placing your arms down.

“my integrity will,” you chuckled.

you neared his face as you whispered in his ear, “it hasn’t stopped you before.”

“god the things you make me feel,” he muttered under his breath. you moved away from him, enjoying the teasing.

you walked backward toward the door silently begging for him to stand up. to come rush by your side and help you.

you were in dire need of his assistance.

“do you know how hard it is to see you in class?” he started, standing slowly from his chair.

“to see you laughing with those idiotic boys? to see them staring at you like they have a chance?”

jiwoong makes his way towards you, backing you into the door.

“i’m only having fun,” 

“they can’t handle you y/n. you’re the smartest one in your batch and your beauty is unmatched. they don’t stand a chance,”

“and you do?” you taunted, finding his eyes and then his lips.

his hands made their way to your waist, pinning it against the door. you couldn’t help but let out a small grin at your silent victory.

“of course i do sweetheart, i’m the only one who’s made you scream,” you felt your legs give up on you as his words went straight to your core.

“i’m the only one who’s heard your beautiful moans and small whimpers while you lose yourself on my cock,” his fingers graced your breasts under your shirt.

his touch was cool, but all it made you do was burn. 

you closed your eyes in delight. you forgot how deliberating jiwoong made you feel. it was why you longed for him so much after he helped you the first time.

“what happened? cat caught your tongue?” he smirked seeing you shiver under his touch.

“you act all high and mighty when we both know how easily i can change that.”

“prove it then,” you blurted, wanting to feel his everything and needing him desperately.

“i need you to say it louder sweetheart,” he caressed your face, pulling you closer to him.

“prove it,” you spoke and his lips took yours. he kissed you like you had been apart from years. 

his hands bunched up the skirt you were wearing and he slightly lifted, pausing the kiss to see the view before meeting your lips again.

“you got soaked at the thought of you taking me?” he teased, your face flushed red, avoiding his eyes.

“look at me princess,” his hand forced you to meet his eyes. he was anticipating your answer. 

“did you? did you fantasize about me?” 

you whimpered under his touch, feeling utterly embarrassed at his words, yet you wanted more.

“yes sir, i thought of you,”

“no wonder you couldn’t write your damn paper, you were too busy thinking about getting fucked.”

jiwoong tightened the hold on your waist and guided you towards his desk, stopping when you sat yourself on top of it. 

he pulled away from your lips as he quickly discarded your shirt somewhere in the office. you tossed your bra somewhere, signaling how you wanted his kiss everywhere.

he proceeded to ravish your chest, bruising you as much as he could. it was as if he wanted to prove to others how he was the only one who deserved you.

you started to feel his body under his shirt, while pulling on his hair every so often, earning grunts from him.

annoyed by his shirt, jiwoong lifts it off of himself and leans further towards you, deepening the kiss.

your hands started to reach for his cock, caressing it over his pants. you needed him more than ever.

his brows furrowed at your movements and you unzipped his pants, feeling him closer. he lets you do as you please as you pull down his pants, his boxers joining them.

seeing the hardened member, you immediately stroke it a few times before coating your hand in spit and proceeding to repeat your motions.

“god how are you so good at this?” jiwoong grunted while placing his forehead on yours.

you let go of his member and stood up, grabbing his arms in place and sitting him down on the desk instead. your knees met the carpet and you took him into mouth.

you stopped for a moment to respond to him, “i’m a hands-on learner.”

he lightly moans at your words, recalling how the last time you two were in this position he was guiding you.

in satisfaction, you continued bobbing your mouth up and down his hard-on. you took the time to tease his slit that was already coated with precum and use your hands, slightly squeezing his member. 

he grabbed your hair, somewhat forcing you to quicken your pace. drool had started to spill from your mouth and you looked up at jiwoong, seeing him in absolute bliss.

“my good girl, you’re doing so well,” he cooed.

his words went straight to your core and you felt the need to please him more.

once you felt his hold on your tighten, you knew he was close to cumming. you quickened your pace while his cock started to hit the back of your throat.

his grunts were more vocal and he moaned as his cum spilled into your mouth.

you took everything into your mouth and finished off with a ‘pop’ once you were finished, smiling at him afterwards.

“you’ll be the death of me,” he commented before lifting your body up and holding it as your legs felt like jelly.

“did i do good?” you asked expectantly, jiwoong released a sigh before taking your lips.

“you did amazing, sweetheart, but i think i need a little more for you to get an a,” he chuckled.

“i’m all yours jiwoong, take me.”

he smirked at your words and made his way back to his chair. once he sat, he patted his legs.

“come here sweetheart, we’re going to grade your paper together,” your eyes sparkled at the thought and you walked and sat yourself on his lap, facing the computer.

you shivered as you felt his warm member under you, but he stayed still. once he found your paper among many of the others, he clicked on it and placed his hands on your thighs.

the paper came up and you reread the words, remembering every line that you wrote. you were so focused on reanalysing your paper, that you failed to realize how jiwoong was starting to tease your bundle of nerves.

you let out a small gasp as his finger grazed your core, teasing you every now and then as you grabbed the desk for support.

“let’s see how you did angel,” he says into your ear as he inserts a finger inside of you. 

you placed your head on his shoulder for support and he fastens the pace, while reading your paper.

“eyes on the screen, i already found a mistake,” he forces you to look at your paper highlighting the mistakes. meanwhile, he plunges another finger inside of you.

“you contradicted yourself here, how can darcy be chivalrous once sentence and then an ass in the next,” 

you left his question unanswered, letting the ecstasy you were feeling sink in until his fingers stopped.

“i asked you a question,”

“uhm,” you swallowed, “i don’t know.”

jiwoong chuckled, “you don’t know? this is your paper sweetheart, minus two points.”

you quipped your heads towards him, realizing how he was genuinely grading your paper and begging for him to take it back.

“you want extra credit you have to deserve it, you’re going to explain each mistake you made for me,”

“but-”

“no buts, you asked for this. now, why did you contradict yourself?”

you sighed, silently admitting defeat.

“darcy did everything the way he was suppose to, making himself a perfect suitor in a way, but he completely disregarded elizabeth’s feelings the entire time and decided to act purely for his own interests,”

you could feel jiwoong’s smile as his fingers started to continuously pleasure you. you moaned in relief as jiwoong continued to read the paper.

he tsked, but his fingers maintained their pace.

“and here, you really think elizabeth revealed jane’s and bingley’s possible engagement out of jealousy?”

you shut your eyes slightly annoyed, but answered nonetheless wanting his fingers to fill you.

“not out of jealousy-” you whimpered as he fastened the pace of his fingers, teasing you endlessly.

“out of spite, she only mentioned the couple because she knew it would garner a reaction from darcy,” you somehow let out.

with a hum of satisfaction you assume, jiwoong places his eyes on your paper once again. you rejoice looking at the screen because the paper was nearly done being read.

jiwoong takes his time using his fingers to tease you mercilessly, all while forcing you to maintain your composure.

you begin to feel a haze as you feel a knot in your stomach.

“jiwoong-”

“not yet angel, i’m not done grading.”

your moans grew louder, feeling your climax closer and closer. your eyes looked at his concentrated face as he read and read.

it felt like a decade and you couldn’t handle it.

“jiwoong please,” you begged, not caring about your shame anymore.

you came here for him, the a was just an excuse.

“why do you think elizabeth accepted darcy’s proposal?” 

“are you serious?”

“why?”

“she was desperate for marriage,” you rushed out, starting to lose any complete thought.

“do you think she was as desperate as you are right now?” he said lowly, never wavering the pace of his fingers and reaching your spot.

“i don’t know,” you whimpered.

“what was that?”

“i don’t know!”

“but you know everything sweetheart don’t you? that’s why you think you deserve an a,”

“jiwoong, i’m so close,” you completely pressed your body towards his desk, trying to restrain yourself from touching him.

“i know, which is why i’m not allowing you to cum,” he announced.

you turned to him astonished as he took his fingers out of you and innocently licked your juices from them.

“the paper could’ve been better, i thought you read the book three times?”

“i did,” you nearly sobbed.

“well that didn’t reflect in the paper, so now you have to earn your grade and your right to cum,”

“how?” you immediately quipped, willing to do anything for the man.

“you can start by placing yourself on the desk, ass up,” your body immediately follows through and you stand up with your hands on the desk while facing the door.

you hear rustling of the cabinets behind you as jiwoong finds a condom and he grabs a hold of your waist.

“remember angel, try not to be too loud. everyone is grading,” you nodded understandingly, whimpering as you felt jiwoong slowly entering you.

“god princess, it was like you were waiting for me,” he groaned, waiting for your signal to go as your walls clenched around him.

when you placed your elbows on the desk, positioning yourself in a more pleasurable way, jiwoong took it as a sign to go on.

his pace started slowly, while you moaned under your breath feeling him everywhere. 

“jiwoong,” you moaned while he quickened his pace. although he tried to conceal them, his groans were slowly becoming louder.

“yes sweetheart?”

“more,” you begged, wanting more pleasure, more of his touch, and more of his everything.

“your wish is my command,” he said, bucking his hips towards yours rapidly while using one of the hands that was on your waist to tease your clit.

you let out a moan as he continuously hit your pleasure spot with a steady face. with his other free hand, he grabbed your hair loosely, pulling you closer towards him.

all you could let out was his name in whimpers. 

“you’re so good for me y/n,” the praise went straight to your core as he knew what you wanted to hear.

“such a good girl, you take my cock so well,”

“only for you,” you let out between the whimpers and moans, as jiwoong shows no signs of stopping.

“you wanted this didn’t you? you didn’t even need help, you just wanted to lose yourself on my cock,”

“not…true,” you lied.

you loathed pride and prejudice, but papers were your forte and if you really tried, you knew you could’ve done fine without help.

jiwoong was just amazing at validating you and fucking you beautifully, so you couldn’t help but beg for his assistance.

he slapped your ass in response, “don’t lie to me,” he warned.

“i promise sir,” you nearly yelled, forgetting any sense of being quiet. jiwoong placed a hand on your mouth, muffling any sound.

“you promised last time how this would never happen again didn’t you? look at you now,” he whispered in your ear.

you closed your eyes in ecstasy as you felt the knot in your stomach growing once again.

jiwoong kept on giving and giving, while you just took everything he gave.

“please, ” you begged into his palms, clenching around him while he hit your spot over and over again.

“just a little longer princess, i’m almost there,” jiwoong somehow got faster, ramming into you repeatedly all while you moaned into his hands.

“god, you’re perfect,” he mumbled.

suddenly, it all felt like too much. you closed your eyes in bliss while screaming out jiwoong’s name as you came. your head fell onto his shoulders as he lightly kissed your chin, chasing his release as well.

once his groans grew louder, you felt the warmth of the cum he spilled into the condom as his pace became sloppy.

he slowly pulled out of you as you stood breathlessly in between his arms, beads of sweat slowly falling down your face.

he disposed of the filled condom into the trash under the desk and turned you around to face him.

his goofy smile made you chuckle on the spot as you realized the other reason you wanted to visit jiwoong.

you genuinely enjoyed his presence. he made you feel safe and seen when everyone else had expectations for you. he looked at you as if you were the most important thing in the world at that moment.

desires aside, jiwoong was someone you could love and you were willing to give it a shot.

if he didn’t show how much he cared with words, he certainly did with actions as he showed when he started to clean you up with tissues.

you couldn’t help but laugh.

“what’s so funny?” he quizzically asked.

“you’re using tissues?” he rolled his eyes as he threw them in the trash and lifted your body to sit on the desk.

“well if someone didn’t need help so much, i could’ve prepared with time to bring something more premium,” he joked as you caressed the hairs behind his neck lightly.

“i’m sorry, the pent up stress from finals got to me. you don’t have to do anything with the grade,”

“nonsense y/n, your paper was exceptional either way. you didn’t need extra credit at all. you doubt yourself too much,” he complimented.

“does that mean i get an a?” you excitedly let out, not being able to contain yourself. jiwoong smiled at the gesture.

“yes, but you should probably stop relying on me for them because i am no help,”

“i guess it’s a good thing i graduate this semester then,” you mentioned and his eyebrows perked up.

“you graduate this semester? how come i didn’t know?”

“i wanted you to think i would taunt you for a long amount of time,” he slightly smirked at your confession.

“as if you didn’t have me wrapped around your fingers. speaking of, since you're graduating, when can i take you out on a date?”

“whenever you grow the balls to ask,” you joked as he looked down and up to meet your eyes again.

“maybe when we’re not naked?”

“probably.”

a/n: hope you all enjoyed whatever the hell this was😭 like i mentioned i'll try to write more but this writers block has stumped me. i appreciate you all and thank you for taking the time to read my works! :)

@zeruby16 on tumblr | est. 2023

[mt-oe]

heeey

if that’s okay with you can i request a shot of modern!mizu x reader, where reader is struggling with sh?

if this is too much for you, i understand no pressure 🫶🏻

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hey dear!

Sorry to hear that you've been struggling. I hope you're in a better place now, if not, I hope you're situation is slowly getting better. Dealing with self-harm is really difficult and healing takes so much time but I believe in you and I know you can do it <3

I know I won't be able to help much, but I hope my fic comforts you some how. I hope it comforts everyone feeling the same way. Hugs (with consent)!

Enjoy! Mwa mwa :*

trigger warning: self harm

warning: not proofread, mentions of self harm (cutting, bleeding, etc.), she/her for mizu

Nothing but the sound of the clock ticking filled the room as Mizu sat in front of you, crossing her arms and staring at you with her eyes narrowed. Beads of sweat formed at your temples, insides feeling jittery, and the urge to vomit forming in your throat.

It wasn't like you wanted to be this way. To feel this way.

And somehow, even her worry felt heavy to you. Like you had disappointed her the moment she caught you with the blade running down your skin. The way her body froze. The way her eyes widened ever so slightly. The way her breath audibly became shakier as she watched the red running down the skin she loves so much.

It felt so heavy.

It felt so fucking heavy.

"Why?" was all she could ask. Her voice sounded pained behind the stern front she always tried to put up. It wasn't like this was any easier for her, but she knew that it was more difficult for you.

It was definitely more difficult for you.

Your body remained unmoving at her question, staring at the fresh cuts on your skin that Mizu had bandaged. The memory of her freezing at the sight of white underneath the cuts you had made replayed over and over. Her voice repeating "You'll be fine, you'll be fine. I swear," as she held you tightly echoed in your brain. Even the amount of strength she had put in squeezing your forearm to reduce the bleeding was something you still felt. And it all felt so heavy. It felt so heavy to be comforted.

Her eyes narrowed at your lack of answer, desperation itching at her like a time bomb. "I said, why?" she repeated in a louder voice, making you flinch. You finally looked up at her, immediately regretting it as the gut-retching look of worry behind Mizu's blue eyes greeted you. "You wouldn't understand," you mumbled to her.

"You haven't even told me. How would I–"

"I know you won't."

"We won't know unless we try."

"No. I'll just be a bother."

"You won't. I promise."

"I really don't think you'll understa—"

"Then I'll try! I'll fucking try!" she said in a sudden firm voice, jaw clenching as she gritted her teeth. "Of course I won't get it but I'll try so just fucking tell me!"

Silence once again filled the room along with the sound of both your breaths, heavy and filled with tension. Her eyes glared at her trembling fists before her gaze slowly relaxed. Your clear reluctance to tell her made her feel utterly helpless.

It made her feel so pathetic, knowing that the love of her life was in despair and yet she couldn't do anything.

"Sorry...I didn't mean to," she apologized, rubbing her temples with her thumbs. In her mind, she knew she royally fucked up. Raising her voice at you was the last thing she wanted to do, yet here she was.

Mizu knew she might not get it. She knew she wasn't emotionally smart and she might not even be able to comfort you.

She was no Shakespeare, no Jane Austen, no whoever-the fuck-wrote-romance-novels to know which flower-y words or phrases to use. She was just a short-tempered adult who had a knack for solving things with her fists if it was getting nowhere. But she knew her fists wouldn't solve anything now.

The idea of losing you, the idea of not being able to understand you, killed her. And for that, she was willing to choke up any word, do anything that might comfort you even the slightest.

"Please," she breathed out, swallowing the lump forming in her throat. "Just...try. I want to know what's causing you so much pain." Her voice now soft, cracking ever so slightly.

Hesitance still filled you, the fear of becoming an even bigger burden than what you already fear you are still clutching your soul. But with how she softened up, how the tips of nose dusted pink from holding back the urge to tear up, and how her voice accidentally cracked an octave higher as she spoke, it was clear to you that Mizu truly did care.

Like a dam holding back a raging river, the words slipped out of your mouth until you were telling her everything.

Everything that burdened you.

Every emotion you felt.

Every little detail about how you were feeling.

Pouring them out like she was your only solace, her rough and calloused hands wiping your tears off as gently as she could. She held you tightly, pulling you closer to her chest until you could feel her heartbeat calming you like a lullaby.

Even when there were no more words left in your mouth, she continued to hold on to you. Her breathing was steady in contrast to your sniffling and shaky exhales. "Do you feel better?" she asked, glancing down at you.

Did you feel any better?

You didn't know.

"I'm sorry," you choked, eyebrows knitting together as another wave of tears threatened to fall from your eyes. "I'm bothering you, aren't I? I'm hurting you too. I'm making you worried."

Mizu sighed at your words and shook her head, planting a soft kiss on the top of your head. "You could never bother me," she mumbled. Like handling the thinnest piece of porcelain, she held your hands in hers, planting a kiss against the flesh of your palms.

Her lips trailed down until they reached the gauze covering your wounds. A sigh escaped her lips yet again as she ran her lips over the rough yet fuzzy covering. "I know that you probably won't stop, but..." She looked up at you again, her blue eyes staring deeply into yours. "Please...consider talking to me about your problems first or...or...we can do something about this. Something that won't hurt you."

Fingers traced the medical tape securing the bandages in place as her eyes turned to look at the blood that seeped through. "I...I love you too much to lose you damn it," she croaked out, lowering her head and burying her face against your palms. "I'm scared of losing you, okay?"

Slowly, your hands caressed her cheeks, the warmth slowly warming the tips of your fingers. "I'll try," you mumbled, voice still shaky. "But I can't promise anything."

Tears finally escaped Mizu's deep blue eyes at your words. She gently kissed the tips of your fingers before moving up to your face, kissing your puffy eyelids and swollen lips, resting her forehead on yours. "That's good enough," she sighed out. "Just you trying..is good enough, okay?"

Her words brought you a sort of comfort that you had not felt in a long while. A form of comfort free from the sting of a blade, or a burn from an eraser, or jitters from vomiting. A sort of comfort that made you feel normal.

You felt light.

You felt the lightest that you've ever been.

"I'll try. I promise," you choked out, looking at her through your tears. A soft smile crept up to her lips, tears streaming down the side of her face as her cheeks lifted up ever so slightly. "And I'll be here. And I'll try for you too."

[jojotichakorn]

Ok now I need to know, what are your favorite straight rom-coms. I'm always looking for more things for my neverending watchlist

hehe 😌 thanks for asking!

i'm gonna be using the term romcom loosely, but (in no particular order):

love & basketball (such a sweet little friends to lovers)

always be my maybe (i feel like this one isn't very well-known, but i adore it! it's about childhood friends who had crushes on each other meeting up years later as adults after losing contact. and the soundtrack is absolutely fire, including the songs by the fictional band 'hello peril')

clueless (literally my beloved! and it's a modern day adaptation of emma by jane austen, executed flawlessly btw)

10 things i hate about you (yet another flawless modern day adaption of a classic, this time shakespeare - everyone must certainly watch it in preparation for the heart killers)

kuch kuch hota hai (really stretching the definition of romcom here, cause i sobbed 2/3 of that movie when i first watched it, but i love it so much, so i must mention it)

legally blonde (this one isn't particularly focused on romance, but the whole plot is just iconic, and - for what it's worth - the love interest is absolutely lovely)

to all the boys i've loved before (i only really liked the first one, but that first one was a really great fake dating situation)

the princess bride (it is such an endearing classic, i adore it)

set it up (one of the best newer romcoms out there for sure)

the proposal (this one is a classic and for a good reason)

when harry met sally (ultimate friends to lovers, what can ya do)

flipped (a cute little story about kids falling in love)

love, rosie (once again, not really a comedy, but such a juicy plot)

the wedding singer (this one is very 90s but also 90s adam sandler is kinda hot?)

the duff (this one is kind of a guilty pleasure but idk, i enjoy rewatching it every once in a while regardless)

also, again, not romcoms, but when we speak of straight romance i cannot neglect to mention jane austen my beloved! in this case, the adaptations of her books. specifically, emma. (2020), pride & prejudice (both 1995 and 2005), northanger abbey (2007), and - with a slightly heavier heart, as it is my favourite novel and i am not entirely pleased with either of the adaptations, but they are still quite good - persuasion (both 1995 and 2007).

i have seen all of these at least five times throughout my life jfkdjfkdjkd so definitely recommend 🫡

[saintssaveme]

Bella Swan’s books 🕯️

Every book Bella reads/mentions liking in the Twilight series 🤍 I feel like we don’t appreciate enough that Bella is a literature girlie

“There was a bit of Jane Eyre in her, a portion of Scout Finch and Jo March, a measure of Elinor Dashwood, and Lucy Pevensie. I was sure I would find more connections as I learned more about her.” - Edward about Bella (Midnight Sun, chapter 13)

1. Books mentioned in Twilight (and the rest of the main series) 📚

Pride and Prejudice

Sense and Sensibility

Mansfield Park

Wuthering Heights

Romeo and Juliet

2. Books mentioned in midnight sun 💌

Little women (“That was the first big book I read. I still read it pretty much every year.”)

Jane Eyre (“I read that one pretty often, too. That’s my idea of a heroine.”)

To kill a Mockingbird

Fahrenheit 451

Tooth and Claw

The Princess Bride

Gone with the wind

3. Book series mentioned in Midnight sun 💌

The chronicles of Narnia (Bella’s favourite is The voyage of the dawn treader)

Anne of Green Gables

4. Authors Bella mentions liking in Midnight sun 💌

Douglas Adams

David Eddings

Orson Scott Card

Robin McKinley

The Brontë sisters

Jane Austen (note that Bella is not overly fond of Emma)

Shakespeare (“mostly the comedies.”)

Zane Grey (“My mom had a bunch of Zane Grey paperbacks. Some of them were pretty good.”)

Agatha Christie

Anne McCaffrey

If I missed a book, please lmk! 💗

[thefudge]

Drfudge, I remember you have some book recs posts but I can't find any, so I'd like to ask you what are your all time fave books, if it's okay. Thank you <3

you should check out my "books", and "book rec" tags on my blogs, but here is an updated list of some of my favorites (including essays and short stories):

what a carve up, by jonathan coe

excellent women, by barbara pym

restoration, by rose tremain

invitation to the waltz, by rosamond lehmann

journal d'hirondelle, by amelie nothomb

oblomov, by ivan goncharov

kiss me first, by lottie moggach

the idiot & demons, by dostoevsky

the idiot, by elif batuman

revolutionary road, by richard yates

the girl in the flammable skirt, by aimee bender

out of the woods, by chris offutt

hygiene de l'assassin, by amelie nothomb

memoirs of a dutiful daughter, by simone de beauvoir

chevengur, by andrei platonov

the master and margarita, by bulgakov

the corrections, by jonathan franzen

hamlet & king lear by shakespeare

richard iii & henry vi, part 1, by shakespeare

a midsummer night's dream, the taming of the shrew & as you like it by shakespeare

i capture the castle, by dodie smith

point counter point, by aldous huxley

arcadia, by tom stoppard

stoner, by john williams

eugene onegin, by pushkin

paradise lost & samson agonistes, by john milton

the age of innocence, by edith wharton

katherine mansfield's diaries & short stories

axel's castle, by edmund wilson

the dead, by james joyce

the heat of the day, by elizabeth bowen

pride and prejudice, by jane austen

franny and zooey, by salinger

the stranger, by albert camus

seduction and betrayal, by elizabeth hardwick

the beguiled, by cullinan thomas

girl with a pearl earring, by tracy chevalier

the wine of solitude, by irene nemirovsky

dark entries, by robert aickman

capitalist realism, by mark fisher

the blizzard, by vladimir sorokin

karate chop, dorothe nors

go, went, gone, by jenny erpenbeck

the blind firman, by ismail kadare

actress, by anne enright

genius and ink, by virginia woolf

real life, by brandon taylor

the world of yesterday, by stefan zweig

doce cuentos peregrinos, by gabriel garcia marquez

selected stories by anton chekhov

stories of your life, by ted chiang

ornament and silence, by kennedy fraser

the accompanist, by nina berberova

there are many others, including some romanian faves that i won't mention in this list, but this should give you a good overview!

[grandhotelabyss]

What are some of your favorite pieces of extensive criticism focused on a single author? For example, Frye on Blake or Steiner on Tolstoy/Dostoevsky

Good question! That's a hard genre to do well, because it can get repetitive and tedious. (That kind of book is positively discouraged in academia.) And some of the ones I'll list as my favorites I've consulted more as anthologies, turning to essays on particular works over the years rather than reading them straight through. The two you mention are definitely favorites, though, and don't succumb that pitfall. I would also put Milton's God by William Empson and Call Me Ishmael by Charles Olson in that category. Other favorites include Re: Joyce by Anthony Burgess, S/Z by Roland Barthes, The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction by Michael Wood, Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being by Ted Hughes, Jane Austen by Tony Tanner, My Emily Dickinson by Susan Howe, Greek Mind, Jewish Soul: The Conflicted Art of Cynthia Ozick by Victor Strandberg, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Harold Bloom, Becoming Faulkner by Philip Weinstein, Hemingway: So Far from Simple by Donald Bouchard, Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece by Michael Gorra...probably something obvious I'm forgetting.

[cannedpickledpeaches]

Sad Poems but I Choose to Interpret Them as Happy

Kamishiro Rui x Reader

“He loves history. He wanted to write a biography of John Quincy Adams. I, shamefully, knew almost nothing about John Quincy Adams, so I went online and bought every biography of him I could find. One day, he called me, claiming that we wouldn’t work out long term. He said he loved me but that we had different interests. “What does love mean to you?” I said. “That’s an impossible question,” he replied. I, however, find love to be quite simple. Love is the stack of biographies on my nightstand with a bookmark near the end.” -Julia Nicole Camp

Rui is curious by nature. Anything and everything will catch his fancy—there seems to be no limit to the scope of what he’s willing to learn about. The physiology of a platypus, the translated works of William Shakespeare, the Earth’s magnetic field and the aurora borealis . . . He’ll file it all away in his memory even if it’s impractical or completely useless.

So if you mention an interest as a passing comment, Rui’s search history becomes filled with questions pertaining to it within the hour. He pulls an all-nighter unwittingly just to devour whatever information he can get his hands on. He wants to know what you like, why you like it, how you came to like it. He wants to know you better, understand what pieces form the whole of your being. He wants to be able to have a conversation with you about the things you like and watch your eyes light up, your lips ramble, your hands gesture in excitement. His thirst for knowledge is only amplified by his love for you.

And if your interests change by the week? If you flit from gardening to crocheting to shark evolution to phylogenetic analysis of fungi to the history of Egypt to Jane Austen’s works to taking care of cats in your phone—

He’ll keep up without a sweat. Without question. He’ll visit libraries with you, send you videos and articles, he’ll join in as best as he can even if his crochet projects have holes or if his digital cats hate him. Because love is shared, and he wants to share the things that make you happy.

[runawaymun]

I wish there was more fantasy books with mroe feminine female main character

All the main characters who are female "don't like drsses" or "acts more like a boy" and the author tries to make them more reliable this way but I can't relate. Because I like pretty dresses and "acting" like a girl. Also theres nothing wrong with that either. A female main character can be girly while also being interesting.

Another note I wish to see more female character in fantasy books who don't fight. They can still be a strong character without needing to wield a sword. I want to relate to characters who are girly and can't fight because if I was in a fantasy world I would absolutely suck a wielding weopons lol.

There's nothing wrong with female main characters being traditionally girly and not being a fighter. Im tired of authors using the "not like other girls" trope for their female characters.

YES YES YES

The strong female character(tm) is rooted in misogyny. There's nothing wrong with female characters who present masc or pick up swords or engage in traditionally masculine activities, but it becomes a problem when it becomes a trend that in order for a woman to be strong, she must pick up a sword, fight, be outspoken/loud/brash/assertive etc. etc. etc. It becomes a problem when we pit these characters against other female characters with more traditionally feminine traits. (Favorite personal example is the way the fandom -- not necessarily GRRM but the fandom -- treats Sansa Stark vs Arya Stark and Danaerys Targaryen, and Alicent Hightower vs Rhaenyra Targaryen)

IDK you didn't ask for these but here are some recs of books & other fiction who present actually well-rounded and and awesome strong female MCs not all of these are fantasy novels but they're just personal favorites of mine.

Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine

Fairest - Gail Carson Levine

The entire everything ever that Brandon Sanderson has written. My personal favs include Navani and Shallan from Stormlight Archive.

Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (and just in general anything by Jane Austen ever)

Orlando - Virginia Woolf (and in general anything by Virginia ever)

Stardust - @neil-gaiman

A Discovery of Witches - the show, not the book. The book is kind of terrible.

Room - Emma Donoghue - both the book and the film are excellent!

Antigone - Sophocles

She Stoops to Conquer - short play by Oliver Goldsmith

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket

A Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare

Macbeth - " (strong female characters are allowed to be antagonists)

Emily's Runaway Imagination - Beverly Clearly

Ramona series of books - Beverly Clearly

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle

Uglies | Pretties | Specials - Scott Westerfield

Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George

The myth of Inanna

Naya Nuki, shoshone girl who ran - Kenneth Thomasma

A Little Princess - Frances Hodgeson Burnett

Secret Garden - Frances Hodgeson Burnett

Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery. I'm personally fond of both the old version & the new netflix show as well as the books.

Myst: Book of Ti'ana - Rand Miller

Island of the Blue Dolphins - Scott O'Dell

Coraline - also @neil-gaiman

dishonorable mention on the topic of feminist fiction: Handmaid's Tale. Fuck that.

[impishmisconception901]

Welcome To My Ramblings

Hi, I am ImpishMisconception.

I am 37 years old, just had my birthday on September 1st. I am single and I don't have any children. I live in Toronto Ontario Canada.

I don't work, I live on ODSP (disability) as my only source of income.

My pronouns are she/her and they/them. (These pronouns may change and I will update them if need be as I continue discovering myself.)

I am a Cis female and for now identify as Cis female (which may change or may not, I do not know right now.)

I am Asexual and Bi-romantic. (This is subject to change as I learn more about myself, I maybe Bisexual or Panromantic or Pansexual. I don't know right now.)

I have Autism, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Depression, Anxiety, and Vertigo.

I was homeschooled by Christian (Protestant) Conservative parents and indoctrinated into Christianity.

I am now an Atheist and have been for about four years now.

My hobbies are going for walks, reading, playing hidden object games, playing Mahjong, playing The Sims, listening to music, daydreaming, watching YouTube videos, watching movies, and watching reruns of the TV shows Granada's Sherlock Holmes starring Jeremy Brett, Mash, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, and Star Trek TNG.

As for what kind of books I like, well here is a list of my top ten favourite books.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Around The World In 80 Days by Jules Verne

Philosophy for Dummies by Tom Morris

A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I also love reading Shakespeare and the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Sir Author Conan Doyle.

(The above book list is subject to change as I read more books.)

As for what music I like, I am on Spotify so feel free to click and follow to see what music I listen to - https://open.spotify.com/user/1o69jk1m6k59cilaskhlziw19?si=7c4e116e5e274735

As for the movies I like, I love musicals, comedies and romance and romcoms are my addiction. I also am a huge fan of Disney/Pixar movies.

Here is a list of my top ten favourite movies.

The Phantom Of The Opera 1929, 1990, and 2004 versions. (Yes, I know the 1990 version is a miniseries but I am counting it as a movie for this list.)

Pride And Prejudice 2005 version.

The Princess Bride

Ever After

Gone With The Wind

The Lake House

A League Of Their Own

Monty Python's The Holy Grail and The Life Of Brian

Airplane

The Devil Wears Prada

List of my top ten favourite Disney. (All the Disney movies I list are the original versions, none of the live-action remakes.)

Dumbo

Sleeping Beauty

Beauty And The Beast

Aladdin

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Mary Poppins

The Sword In The Stone

The Jungle Book

The Emporer's New Groove

Mulan

Here are my top ten favourite movies that are honourable mentions.

The Sound Of Music

Dead Poet's Society

Good Morning Vietnam

You've Got Mail

Four Weddings And A Funeral

French Kiss

The Adventures Of Robin Hood

The Cutting Edge

Titanic

Mrs.Doubtfire

Here are my top ten favourite Disney movies that are honourable mentions. (Again originals, no live-action remakes.)

The Rescuers Down Under

The Little Mermaid

The Lion King

Robin Hood

Cinderella

Pocahontas

Alice In Wonderland

Pinnochio

Tangled

The Aristocats

I am also a fan of Disney/Pixar movies and here is a list of my top five favourite Disney/Pixar movies. (All originals no live-action remakes. Sorry there aren't ten, I haven't seen that many Disney/Pixar movies. )

Toy Story

Inside Out

Wall-E

Finding Nemo

Cars

Here are some other children's movies I enjoy that aren't Disney/Pixar

The Wizard Of Oz

Madeline Lost In Paris

Hook

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory

Shrek

Happy Feet

Jumanji

Here is a list of my top ten favourite Halloween movies.

Beetlejuice

Ghostbusters 1984 version

Hocus Pocus 1993 version

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Young Frankenstein

Dracula 1931 version

Dr.Jekyll And Mr.Hyde 1931 version

The Addams Family 1991 version

Hotel Transylvania movie series

I also enjoy the whole Halloweentown movie series and both Twitches movies.

Here is a list of my top ten favourite Christmas movies.

A Christmas Carol 1951 version

White Christmas

Miracle On 34th Street 1947 version

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Scrooged

The Santa Clause

Polar Express

Christmas With The Kranks

It's A Wonderful Life

Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas

(The above movie lists are subject to change as I watch more movies.)

So, that's about me, which is what this blog will be about.

I will just ramble on about whatever whenever. I make no promises about how often I will update the blog. I will just ramble on about whatever I am thinking or feeling or whatever whenever the mood hits me.

I am also on Reddit so feel free to follow me there if you want to - https://www.reddit.com/user/ImpishMisconception/

I am on YouTube but I don't make videos, I just watch stuff but feel free to follow me there as well if you want to - https://www.youtube.com/@impishmisconception7762/featured

If there's anything else you want to know about me, please ask.

[codename-adler]

what would you say are the 5 best books you’ve read?

although it is extremely difficult to separate my emotional attachment from this, i'll list the best but they are not necessarily my heart of hearts' favorite:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (holds a special place, and teh French translation is equally amazing, a rare thing)

Circe by Madeline Miller (this one is 100% a favorite also)

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (i can never say this enough, how thoroughly brilliant it is, and because i will never get over it, will love it eternally, i can rarely manage to talk about it... truly my Roman empire)

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (despite the controversy, it is beautifully written and has impacted me ever since i read it in my early teenage years. i'm excited to read Geisha, a Life by Mineko Iwasaki, one of the sources of Golden who suffered from his publishing.)

i'm trying to include a "classic" but i do believe Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen is one of the few classics i actually enjoyed a lot and believe its place is well-deserved in the Western literary canon

i'm skipping many, many options. i'm not even attemtpting honorary mentions, it would be too long and defeat the purpose. and not mentioning Shakespeare could be viewed as a crime, also. and you're asking an English major, so imagine my agony!!! maybe i'll provide a list of francophone books later on, because it is important.

[benoitblanc]

Okay sleepover questions.

Tell me about 5 of your tumblr crushes and why they’re so amazing to you.

Also, what kind of books do you like to read? Romance? Mystery? And do you have a book you love recommending to people?

to be completely honest i don't really understand the concept of a tumblr crush BUT if this is an opportunity to brag about how amazing my friends are i will happily oblige! i will endeavor to limit myself to only 5 people, and for those of you reading this whom i did NOT mention my sincere apologies and please know that i love you anyway. i am going to list them below a cut and put my book recs first just so this post isn't fifty miles long lol.

let's talk books! i will read just about anything i can get my hands on, but my favorite genres are urban fantasy, mystery, and historical. i don't read a lot of contemporary books that are only romance with nothing else, but i love jane austen and shakespeare. i also ADORE genre-melding, eg the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle by stuart turton, which is a sci-fi 1920s murder mystery.

my top 7 favorite books of all time- i originally was going to do five but realized i also would recommend 6 and 7 to literally everyone i know- which i would absolutely recommend to everyone, are:

the book thief by markus zusak (historical; coming-of-age of a german girl during wwii as her foster family hides a jewish man in their basement. this book should make you SOB)

the sweetness at the bottom of the pie by alan bradley (historical mystery; 11-year-old aspiring chemist solves murders in 1950s england)

murder on the orient express by agatha christie (historical mystery; a passenger is found dead on a snow-trapped train. basic premise but i am not exaggerating when i say that this book reinvented the murder mystery genre)

six of crows by leigh bardugo (high fantasy heist; six teenagers are recruited to break a chemist out of prison in order to stop- or maybe start- a magical war)

if we were villains by ml rio (mystery; a shakespeare student at a performing arts conservatory is found dead and his classmates try to decide if they want his killer to be caught)

code name verity by elizabeth wein (historical; a spy and a pilot during wwii are sent on a mission that only one returns from. holy SHIT this book is plot-twisty)

good omens by neil gaiman and terry pratchett (urban fantasy; an angel and a demon team up to stop the 11yo antichrist from starting armaggedon)

sleepover asks!!!

(read on for me gushing about my friends!)

@tellthemhowihope NINA MY SCIENCE SISTER MY RECENT OVERGRAD LIGHT OF MY LIFE!!! nina is one of the sweetest funniest and most brilliant people i know (she is a scientist!!!) and it always makes my day to exchange doctor who memes, cute animal pictures, and souffle recipes with her. throwback to the time she cut off a foot of her hair on impulse and one of our mutual mutuals thought she cut off her foot... the good old days...

@wespers aka tuser weepers... jamie is one of my oldest mutuals and i am so so grateful she's in my life! she has the market cornered on beautiful pale gifsets, is my go-to for book recs, has excellent opinions on just about everything, and actually gets around to consume all the content i bully her into consuming (see: knives out, hadestown, the book thief...). ily jamie you're not beating the theatre kid allegations any time soon. i am also planning to think of something else to bully you into reading/watching/listening to shortly. what about into the woods have you listened to into the woods before. or little shop of horrors. i think you'd vibe with both of them.

@gracelcdomas is another very old and dear friend and is my murdoch mysteries and knives out buddy for LIFE. milo is one of the most upbeat people i know, and i love chatting to them about just about anything. also am ETERNALLY grateful that they will always send me an ask if i rb an ask game. get yourself friends who will enable you to rant about yourself for fun online.

@jewish-mulder- hi anna! a relatively more recent mutual of mine but one who can always be counted on to have the most correct x-files opinions, and is also a very talented screenwriter! i hope my incoherent x-files liveblog as i watch the show for the first time brings them joy, because i always love reading their little replies to my comments.

and last but certainly not least @anakinskyiwalker, who might actually be my very first mutual? ashlyn has always been such a constant and kind presence in my fandom experience and i adore her to bits.

(other people i love and cherish who deserve shoutouts: @iloveuspiderman @eohwyyn @heroeddiemunson @laowen @faithinthefuturedeluxe @angela-bassetts @danielsousa @billhaders @elliewillaims @karmas @trashcora and @clayfaced SAM WHEN WILL YOU RETURN FROM THE WAR I MISS YOU)