#wait i forgot i made edits and for some reason didn't fix it here lmao anyways okay there

[jacobseed]

valentines in hope county

pairing: jacob seed x deputy (theo ward) summary: no cult au. theo and jacob have their own version of valentines day? unconventional, but something they both like to do; get drunk and shoot guns. warnings: drinking and smoking and being stupid lol

it's literally been 500 years since i've written about them oh my god yall. pls be nice idk what im doing anymore. also no editing bc im tired

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“Where are you going?” 

Theo stops in the middle of the living room- so close and yet still so far from the front door and the question was loud enough that there was no way to pretend it wasn’t heard. It was as if she were fifteen and sneaking out of the house to go party and got caught by her overprotective parental figure. She turns towards her uncle who stands in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee, despite it being a few hours from midnight. He watches her carefully, examining not only her outfit- black overalls with a tight cropped shirt and her fur lined jacket, but the bag hanging off her shoulder. 

The tv plays behind her- a rerun of an old wheel of fortune episode. The spinning of the wheel drones on in her ears as she tries to think of a plausible excuse to be sneaking out of her own house late at night. Really, she didn’t have to, but this was new to her - having someone who cares. 

She clears her throat, putting a hand to her hip. “I’m just going out to the bar- my usual Friday night activity.” The wheels are turning in her head and she bites her lower lip. “I promised to spend today with Sharky and Hurk, since they don’t have dates tonight.” 

Nathaniel hums in disbelief and takes a sip of his black coffee. “So, you’re going to be their date?” When she nods and shrugs he can’t stop the laugh that escaped him. She was always their date. “And this date won’t be accompanied by a certain military man?”

“I don’t recall any military men being involved.” Theo taps her lips and shakes her head. She knows that he can see right through the ruse, but she also knows her uncle won’t stop her from making bad decisions. “It’s just the boys, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m thirty years old, Nate. Can’t keep worrying about me forever.”

They skip over the part where he scolds her for seeing a man nearly twenty years older than her and that he was definitely a bad influence on her. He always thought there was something strange about the Seed family, but he also knew there was something strange about his niece. There was no stopping her, but that wouldn’t stop him from worrying. Nathaniel puts his mug down and steps into the living room, making a motion towards the bag. 

“And what are you taking to ‘the bar’?” 

There’s a moment of silence that settles over them, besides the cheering of the crowd through the old and tiny speaks of the tv. Theo reaches into the bag and pulls out a bottle of whiskey, although neither miss the sound of glass and metal clinking together. 

A sigh leaves him but he waves her off. “Just don’t get yourself killed. If I find out he-” He stops himself and she notices his jaw tighten. “I say this too often. Don’t get yourself killed.” 

She puts the bottle back in the bag and there’s a moment of hesitation between them both before she steps towards him and wraps her arms around his neck. Nathaniel doesn’t miss a beat as he hugs her tightly and presses a quick kiss to the top of her head. 

Theo promises to see him tomorrow and leaves in a hurry, jumping into her truck and speeding off towards the Whitetail Mountains. The truck speeds through the empty winding roads, getting her to her destination shortly- deep into the woods and outside an isolated cabin. 

The trees creak and sway from the cool wind and she tugs her jacket closer as she trudges through the brush and to the cabin door. It opens to reveal a familiar tall redhead with scars on his face and his usual attire. 

Jacob Seed leans in the doorway and smirks as he takes a look at her. “Heard you coming all the way up the mountain. Want everyone to know where you are?” 

“I’ve got nothing to hide.” Theo grins, refusing to step inside. “Besides, you wanted me to meet you as far from town as possible- don’t want people to see us together?” 

He grabs his jacket, a duffle bag, and a pack of cigarettes, closing the door behind him and placing his hand against her back. “Sure, being seen with the sheriff's deputy might give people more ideas about me.” Jacob jokes as leads her to her truck again and takes the keys from her. 

The music is turned down as they drive only a few minutes away from the cabin. They arrive at the edge of the woods and into a clearing, revealing open sky, a dark lake, and mountains surrounding them. He parks the truck and gets out while leaving it running, walking to the back and opening the bed door. He takes the blankets bundled up in the back and lays them out as if they would soften the metal underneath. Two battery operated lanterns are removed from his duffle bag and set up on the corners.

Theo watches him with a gentle smile and hands him her bag when he reaches over the edge of the bed for it. “Careful, dangerous things in there.” 

Jacob grins as he sets it down carefully and then reaches for her hand. “Only danger here is you, deputy.” 

She’s pulled into the truck and she doesn’t miss the way his hand slips under the back of her jacket and around her hips to steady her. “Well, aren’t you a romantic, Jacob Seed?” 

His breathy laugh is warm against her cheek and she isn’t bothered by the cold February air anymore. “Not usually. This wasn’t my idea- it was my brothers.” 

She can only imagine which one. Her bet was on the youngest that was always trying to get in her pants. “Well, you didn’t have to do this much just to get me to sleep with you.” Theo laughs, stepping away from him and pulling the whiskey from her bag. “I’m very easy, as some like to say.” 

Blue eyes don’t leave her as she twists the cap off. “Who said that’s what I’m trying to do?” 

She takes a big drink and then passes the bottle to him. “Why did you want us to come out here then, if not to have crazy sex in the back of my old and uncomfortable pickup?” 

Jacob takes a quick drink and then sets the bottle down as he climbs out of the bed and pulls out a rifle from the duffle bag. Theo nearly jumps off the truck as she follows him down, inspecting the red sniper as he tinkers with it. She’s dreamed of holding it in her hands, wanting to feel the force against her as it’s fired. He smiles as he takes a look at her. 

“I knew you’d be more excited about this than sleeping under the stars. John’s an idiot.” 

Theo bites her lower lip and unintentionally presses close to him, watching every motion and the way he loads the bullet. He hands the rifle to her and she can’t contain her giddiness as she pushes the stock against her shoulder and peers through the scope. 

Jacob laughs and grabs her arm, moving her in front of him, her back flush against his chest. He quietly adjusts the position and her posture and her breath is caught in her throat. His hand holds her hip as he turns her and she feels the heat rise to her cheeks. This type of physical contact was normal to her, but with him? She felt she was experiencing everything all over again. He made her weak and flustered, heart racing just from the thought of him. 

He steps back and gives her the signal to pull the trigger. As she does, the boom of the rifle echoes around them and her excitement has her screaming happily. Jacob smiles and grabs the whiskey again, taking a drink. 

They continue like this through the night, drinking and shooting at nothing. The more they drink the quicker the gun is forgotten about and the soft sound of music and the gentle ripples of the lake is all that surrounds them. Jacob lays on his back, cigarette between his lips as he watches the stars above. Theo watches out past the moonlit lake and into the trees, joking about seeing a bear in the distance. Their fingers are entwined, held together as she talks about nothing and he listens to every word. 

Theo turns and falls on top of him, removing his cigarette and taking a long drag. She turns her head to blow the smoke away and then she puts it back in his mouth. He also takes a deep drag and then flicks it over the side of the bed. 

“You know, I think this is the best night I’ve had in a while.” Theo chuckles, her hand running over his chest. “At least, the best Valentines I’ve ever had.” 

He hums and slips his fingers through her hair, pulling her down and kissing her jaw. “Yeah? No one has topped getting drunk and shooting snipers in the middle of the night?”

She laughs and readjusts herself, slipping cold hands under his shirt. “Usually just a booty call or a dinner then sex. But this is different. This is… nice.” 

Jacob stills her traveling hand. “How do you know this wasn’t an elaborate plan to get you to bed?” 

“Well, like I said before, you don’t have to go through all that trouble.” She smiles, pushing herself up and straddling his waist. “I like you, Jacob.” 

He grows silent as he watches her with the moonlight behind her, dancing off her hair as it falls over her shoulders. Jacob sits up and pulls her against him, kissing her deeply, tasting the mixture of whiskey and cigarettes on her tongue. She moans into his mouth and tugs his jacket toward her. Another gust of wind blows past and Theo pushes up into him for warmth, shuddering from the cold. 

“Let’s go back to the cabin- we can finish this somewhere more comfortable.” 

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[bigsoggyboots]

Pre-Engine Fix!Karlach x Human!Tav

Acquiescence

pt 2 here

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Acquiescence: A readiness or willingness to yield to the wishes of others.

summ: Karlach wants you. You want her. You both make each other wait.

wc: 1k

an: @calamitykills on AO3.

this was admittedly a passion project i decided to give 2 parts, so stay tuned for pt. 2 lmao. this is probably the most suggestive fic I've wrote to date but I'm a fluff account. sorry to disappoint lol <3.

edit: PT. 2 IS OUT. I FORGOT TO UPDATE THIS WAY SOONER AND I APOLOGIZE.

The sigh you let out was unlike you. Deep, calm, and almost subconscious. Which was especially unlike you considering the past few days, where all your waking hours were spent completely focused and conscious.

Lately, there's so much to do with not any time left to spare. That's why now, where it's far past midnight, you spent time soaking in a river hoping to wash away your worries. It wasn't working, but a girl can dream.

That's why you nearly suffocated yourself washing your hair. To feel something. And as much as you didn't want to admit it, the only person who did make you feel something was Karlach.

Even now as you stared at your long jagged nails, you thought of her. You could only recreate the image. That'd feel nice across your skin. She'd drag her nails across your skin, gentle, the same way she tugs at your heart.

Karlach can't touch you now as much as you both desperately want; her stupid engine gets in the ways of things. That makes your face grimace, turning to stare at the woods. What you hadn't expected was to actually see Karlach.

She stood, as frozen as you, jaw agape and her engine roaring. She looked absolutely starstruck. The pure want in her face was enough to have color flush in your cheeks. How'd she even find you?

She only moved an inch towards you, her brain now functioning properly as she raked her hands through her hair. She cursed up and down, the largest smile you've seen on her face. Well, besides the day you said ‘I love you.’

For some reason, you didn't cover yourself. Almost like you wanted her to see you like this. You both yearn for it like no other.

“Karlach?”

Breathless, she made her way to you. “You're more beautiful bare than I imagined.”

That was such a sappy statement, one that made you blush further. Karlach pushed forward, only stopping when she was a hair away from the water.

Then you could see it. More than the want; pure raw desperation. Her flames grew hotter, ends of it flickering blue as she swallowed dryly at the sight of you.

She wanted so badly to close the distance. You could tell she was imagining it, the tadpole didn't have to show you, of her frolicking through the river to you and holding you in your arms.

And without thinking, you went towards her. As much as her engine allowed, and as much as you two needed. Karlach stared at you, you stared at her. She saw the want painted on your face as well, lifting her hand in hopes of doing something about it. You had to stop her.

She frowned at you stopping her, but she knew it was for the better. “I want to hold you so bad. You look too good to just.. stare at.” The embers on her body grew more blue, momentarily having you in awe.

“Karlach, we have time,” You almost marveled at your kind tone, the first in a few days. “You can hold me all you like once your engine’s fixed. I won't stop you then.” Karlach clenched her fists. The deep sigh she let out made steam leave her.

You knew how tired she was of waiting. How tired she was of living under the limitations of her engine. How tired she was of her engine getting in the way of her relationship with you. You were furious along with her, but you had to be patient.

Better days would come, where you'll both laugh at the times where you couldn't touch while sharing loving kisses with one another. You just hoped it'd be soon.

“I hope you won't.” She responded back, that tantalizing stare of hers matching her smirk. You could only scoff. Where was that anger from a few seconds ago? “You'll have to pry your hands from me soldier if I get to see you like this again.”

You trusted that. It made you smile, followed by a tingle of pleasure that rang through your body. It seemed like it wasn't just your brain that was entertained with the thought.

You let Karlach accompany you for the rest of your bath, letting her presence adore you.

She made you feel calmer than any soothing tune and washed your worries away better than the water. Shit, she even silenced your unrelenting dreams for the night.

All because she gave you something to hope for.

☆

Morning light trickled into your line of sight, stirring you awake. You rose slowly, easing into your morning routine and soaking in the moments of silence to yourself. Thoughts of your night made you chuckle.

It could be how sweet Karlach was or the little sleep you got catching up to you.

You didn't care to discern it and just made your way to a favorite spot of yours in camp.

“Oh, well look at you~” Shadowheart teased, seeing you and your bedhead make her way onto her stool. “You must've had a good night. Go on, tell me everything Karlach did.”

You and Shadowheart loved the gossip corner you had going on, but today you leave her empty handed.

You only rolled your eyes at her. “If you must know, me and Karlach spent our time at the river.”

Astarion, seemingly coming from nowhere, chimed in. “And?”

A shrug comes from you. “We had a nice talk,” Astarion raised his eyes expectedly. Shadowheart raises a brow. “About our plans for the future and all.”

“And?” The elves asked.

You managed a sheepish smile. “It made me feel giddy, I don't know.” You thanked Wyll as he passed by and handed you a cup of tea.

Shadowheart and Astarion looked at you heavily disappointed. You didn't mind.

Next time, they'll get a continuation of this. Then they'll know of the details of your hesitation from before. After all, they may be the ones hearing your sighs of relief when Karlach is pleasuring you.

[unluckyxse7en]

Tell me about that book you read as a kid that made a strange and specific impression on your psyche?

(Sorry I didn't answer this sooner!! I was Stuck on it and then forgot 😭 )

(Edit: FUCKER GOT HIDDEN IN MY DRAFTS BASED ON WHEN I GOT THE ASK, NOT WHEN I SAVED IT SO I THOUGHT I LOST IT, SORRY IT'S EVEN LATER...)

I came up with a few books that might've qualified for this - "Freedom" by Angela Dorsey (one of many horse girl books, of the ghost horse variety) or "The Fire Within" by Chris D'Lacey (one of many dragon books - and I think my selection alone speaks volumes about me lmao)...

I think I've decided to talk about "House of Stairs" instead, by William Sleator. It might be an easy answer because it WAS strange and specific as books go, but it's one that's always consciously stuck with me whereas the other two books I think informed me on a creative subconscious level more than anything.

Full disclaimer - everything written from here on is based on dim recollection. I read it just once in middle school, a time I barely recall at all, and some elements are probably distorted/wrong based on how I envisioned things. But I'm writing it as is because it is SUCH a strong memory even if it's off in places, and I think that more precisely answers the heart of this question than if I pulled up a summary online and described it from that.

I'm also hoping to find a physical copy to own at some point, so part of this is because I'll be interested to come back to this and see how much I described poorly or entirely wrongly.

So that said. House of Stairs.

"House of Stairs" is, in essence, a story about sociological experimentation - the focus of the book is on several teens who get trapped in a labyrinthine space that lives up to the book's title, a reference to the M.C. Escher painting of the same name:

You can already see how this is the "easy" answer for a strange, specific impression.

The building they're trapped in is all white, stairs going up and down no matter how far you look - or go. They're trapped with no discernable exits and no resources, for unknown reasons and an indeterminable amount of time.

So then comes the actual experiments.

Aside from stairs, stairs, and more stairs, there ARE landings, here and there - and some of those landings have little stations with buttons on them. As the kids discover, if you push the button, you get food.

...Until suddenly, you don't.

Then the kids have to sort out, is it broken? Can they wait until it gets fixed? Should they try to fix it themselves or go elsewhere in search of the exit?

This leads to many things - heightened emotions, thoughts and theories, tension, arguments - until suddenly they're rewarded with food again.

Well. No one pushed the button, what happened this time?

And so it goes on, until it becomes clear - the stations are conditioning them, training them with rewards to silent tasks fulfilled. And as the book goes, the kids divide into camps - those who want to listen implicitly to the station, and those who don't. The station starts rewarding harmful behaviors to boot, to see just how far they're willing to go, so the focus of the book narrows to the protagonists who search for a way out.

The book is a YA novel so it ends with them finding the way out of course, being recognized for staying strong and finding a way out, and of course the innate reward of getting out despite the adversity. But the premise of this book itself stuck the strongest with me.

It raises questions like, what if that were to happen to me? What would it take? It's easy to claim you'd be strong-willed and find a way out, only because by knowing the book you know a way out exists. But in practice it's much harder, especially without that knowledge. How long would I last, would I immediately fall into the camp that follows the prompts? Would I resist but fall to its sway? Or, would I fall to the enemy camp, once it became clear they wouldn't get rewarded otherwise?

Sad thing is, as fantastical as the space itself sounds with its descriptions - almost akin to a white void with stairs stretching forever - the overall concept of a space being created for such a purpose doesn't even strike me as all that out there, and I think that suggests it's definitely left an impact on how I view the world.

It's just outlandish enough, and yet there's people all the time who would do such a horrendous thing, in the name of research... or perhaps even just their own amusement.

Honestly I barely remember the ending - how they got out, life after. In a manner of speaking, I think I too got trapped in the house of stairs - only unlike the characters I'm still stuck there, poking around the place and contemplating just how much - or little - it'd take for someone to create such a thing in reality.

Hopefully that answers the question in a satisfying way ^^; I was stuck on this for a bit since, as mentioned before, a lot of my childhood has been lost to memory issues - it was hard determining what books impacted me how, when I barely recall what I was like before reading it, you know?