#which was why she was an ex fiancee!

[somethings-monstrous]

I dreamed I worked in retail again and I got in trouble for sneaking off to a display of little plush clothed animal dolls...repeatedly...Now I've got to make a little 8 inch frog in cotton overalls a reality. He was the only one my brain would fully conjur an image of.

[kaivenom]

How would Benedict Bridgerton court you... HCS

Masterlist

You both first crossed glances at a ball, you were not a debutant, just passing around, just like his sister Eloise, you weren't much interested on claiming attention, but you catched his.

His first thought when he saw you in the back of the salon, tapping your feet to the rythm of the song while looking at a big painting was that he needed to paint you.

He spent the rest of the night, admiring you from the distance, until you both almost bumped into each other.

Inmediatly he took the chance and asked you to dance.

It was the funniest night you both had, cause after the dance, you talked about art, and drinked, and danced again, all night until your mother decided it was time to leave.

After that night, you didn't heard from him in a couple of weeks, you almost thought he forgot about you.

The thing was that he was collecting information about you, everything he could find that he knew you would like.

Then a bouquet of your favourite flowers came to your door, signed by the name of "Your artist", you knew it was him, but he surely wants to be romantic so you let him be.

A couple of days later, your favourite crystals, and then gems, and fabrics, and art supplies.

With this routine of secretism, a couple of months passed by with his gifts demostrating that he knows you.

You saw each other a couple more times during balls and dances, until you decided to approach him again.

"Why do you sent me notes but not talk to me?"

"I want you to see that i can know you better than anyone, plus i want you to be as crazy in love for me as i am for you."

A smile escaped both of your lips, suddently you had an idea.

You dropped your fan carefully and he inmediatly get down to pick it up.

"So... that's how you like to play then." he told you with a smirk.

"You said you wanted me to get crazy about you, who says i can't play that game too?"

"Then we both must play."

The once innocent game of knowing each other turned into a rollercoaster of temptation.

Small touches while dancing, innapropiate comments while talking in public, purposely moving to the corner of the room to have more privacy with your not so discreet behaviour.

(I firmly believe that Benedict is a switch with a very brat behaviour, so picture that)

Until your mother decided that you were going to marry a noble.

Thats when the game stopped and started to get serious.

Benedict distanced himself from you and you got so sad from the lonelyness that awaited your future that you wouldn't leave your room.

Your mother didn't let you alone in any social act, that means that you can't talk to him... ike that could make a change.

One week until the wedding and everything feels bad when suddently you received a bouquet of your favourite flowers with a note.

"I will not cut you like this flowers, but i will keep you to myself no matter how, with love Your Artist.

You almost broke in tears right there, your mother entered the room with your future husband to finish some business.

They didn't even care to ask you what happened, the just talked about your future like nothing.

One of the servants announced Benedict and everyone on the room turned around.

"I am here to propose."

"Too late, she is my fiancee." you couldn't believe what was happening.

"I double the endowment, my mother and brother approved it."

You know your mother will marry you to the best match she could find, which means the one who could provide more money.

After verifying everything was right, your mother inmediatly sent out your now ex-fiancee and welcomed with open arms your new husband.

"How?" you asked him, still processing.

"I intended to send you that flowers yesterday, i don't know why they got today." he sounded more concerned about his time planning that your tear, "Oh, you mean all the other things, sorry for ignoring you, once you got engaged my family forced me to separate myself to not staint your virtue... so i was convincing them to let me marry you."

"I..." you kissed him on the lips with passion, with all the emotions you've been keeping inside.

"I think we should wait to the weeding night, in a week." your eyes opened surprised while he justs smirks, "I didn't want any longer to kall you mine, so i managed to get a wedding licency too."

"I love you."

"I know, and i love you too."

[miley1442111]

new house, new title- b.floyd

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a/n: intended for fem reader, but as always imagine what you like:)))))))))

summary: how you and bob settle into your new home

pairing: bob floyd x reader

warnings: none

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Bob was nervous. He loved you and he saw himself growing old with you and having children, and eventually grandchildren. A family is all he’d ever wanted in life. He’d grown up in a huge family that shaped who he was, of course he wanted that for his kids. When he was a kid and an adult asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he told them he wanted to be a dad.

Now, standing outside of your newly-purchased farmhouse sitting on a hefty 15 acres of land, a barn and stables just a 3 minute walk from the house, and a small cove leading to the lake partly on your land, just a 10 minute walk away, yet he was nervous.

Why? you may ask. Well, Bob hadn’t proposed yet. Which is what he was planning on doing right now. 

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You looked so pretty, messy hair and moving clothes on from the exhausting day, yet you were still smiling at him the same way you do every time, with pure adoration and love. 

You two were sitting outside on a picnic blanket as the sunsets, the golden sun keeping you warm as the summer breeze gently blew past you. 

“I can’t believe it’s ours,” You smiled. “It’s so beautiful.”

Bob’s eyes stayed trained on your figure, going over his speech one more time, the ring in his pocket feeling heavier and heavier. 

“You’re so beautiful,”  he smiled and you chuckled. One thing you’d learnt about Bob Floyd is that Bob had moves  he’d just never used while flirting. Trust me, he used it now.

“So are you,” you smiled,  Bob would never get used to your compliments, his ears and cheeks turning red as a shy smile spread across his face. 

“Baby-” Bob was starting, but you yelped, spotting a small kitten in the distance. Immediately jumping up and running over to grab it. Bob didn’t know what was happening at all, so he jumped up and followed, running after you. “Baby!”

“Rob, look!” You squealed in delight, the small black kitten in your arms, nuzzling into you as she shivered. You were the only person in the world who called him ‘Rob’, ‘Robby’, or ‘Bobby’. He loved it. He smiled at the scene in front of him. You were a vision in the sunset, the small kitten looking so comfortable in your protective arms. Bob could hear more meowing from behind and found the rest of the litter, and the mother cat asleep. 

“Baby-” He started, knowing that look your eyes. 

 “We’re keeping all of them,” you said decisively. Bob stared at you with an amused smile. “What? They live on our land anyway, why not let them into the house and feed them?”

“There’s 10 of them!” He laughed.

“You can name like 5 of them,” you shrugged. “Maybe 4.”

Bob laughed again, pulling your waist into his. This was the perfect moment, he’d never felt more love in his life. He pressed a kiss to your lips as his hand reached into his pocket to find… nothing. He pulled away abruptly, panic setting in. 

“Rob, what’s wrong?” You asked as you recognised the anxiety in his eyes. “Rob?”

“I dropped it,” he admitted, horror filling his features. “I dropped the ring.”

Now it was your turn to panic. What ring? Was he finally proposing? “Holy shit,” you gasped out. “You’re proposing.”

“Yes I am, and I dropped the ring somewhere back there,” he hid his face in his hands. He’d ruined it. He was the worst boyfriend/ maybe fiancee/ maybe ex-boyfriend? 

“Yes. I’ll marry you,” you smiled, tears falling from your wide eyes. Bob looked up immediately, shock filling his features. 

“You will?” He smiled, his hands circling your waist. You nodded furiously, the kitten still in your arms as you held it tighter, careful not to hurt it. “I love you so much, and it’s been a long time coming- I know that,” he smiled when you giggled. Even if he dropped the ring he might as well continue with his spiel. “And I’m sorry it took me so long. To be honest I’ve had the ring in my bedside locker for a year now,” that earned him a (deserved) slap on the arm. He chuckled, raising his hands in defeat. “And I’ve wanted to marry you everyday for the past 6 years. You are the most incredible thing that has ever happened to me, I swear to god, when you walked in on me changing in your mom’s house-” You laughed, leaning your head on his shoulder. “I never thought I’d find the love of my life. But I did. And I’m so glad I did. You are everything to me, I love you a lot more than I can ever try to put into words. Thank you for just being here. I love you, and sorry that I dropped the ring- it was real pretty, at least I thought it was.” 

“I don’t give a shit about a stupid ring Rob,” you chuckled. “You’re going to be my husband,” you smiled, kissing him heavily. 

“It’s not stupid,” he defended it, an uncertain insecurity running through his voice. “I-I made it,” he admitted sheepishly. “But if you want something else I don’t mind-”

“I’m finding that ring,” you said definitively. You loved it when Bob made you stuff, he was the epitome of ‘to be loved to to be known’. That man made you things at least once a week to make your life easier, even in the early stages of your relationship. “And I only want that ring Bob,” You smiled and kissed him again, then handed him the kitten in your arms as you walked off, beginning to look while the sun was still up. 

Bob looked down at the kitten in his arms, protectiveness filling him almost immediately. He wanted to name this one Patch because of the patch of white on his stomach. His baby fever had been bad in recent months, but seeing you hold the kitten in your arms, so contempt and protective, he was sure he was ready to have children that second. 

Fuck waiting until after the wedding. 

“I found it!” You shouted, holding up the small box Bob had dropped earlier. 

“Bring it over here!” He shouted back. “Don’t open it yet!” 

“Why not?” You asked, running over. 

“Cause I have to get down on one knee,” he smiled, his southern charm pulling out all of the stops. He lowered himself onto one knee, the ring box in one hand with the kitten in the other. “So Y/n, will you do me the honours of marrying me?” He smiled up at you, and when you wrapped your arms around his neck, practically screaming ‘yes’ he knew he was exactly where he needed to be. He also knew you two were definitely keeping all of those cats. He also knew he loved you, a lot. 

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navigation for my blog :) (criminal minds, obx, the bear, marvel, top gun, the hunger games :)

topgun masterlist :) (requests open!)

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[sunderwight]

SVSSS AU where Shen Yuan's younger sister does a villainess transmigration.

The world she ends up in was originally a dating game and visual novel with some light RPG and crafting elements. Playing as purehearted main girl Qiu Haitang, one could choose any number of routes to pursue, from dashing Liu Qingge, to scholarly Mu Qingfang, sexy ice demon Linguang Jun, cute-but-domineering younger half-demon Luo Binghe, and so on. It was an interesting game, though it notoriously inspired some frustration when some of the more interesting side characters (like Yue Qingyuan) were completely unavailable as romantic options, and inspired at lot of rumors about hidden content and demands on future DLC expansions.-

Shen Meimei hadn't particularly liked the game. Sure, she played every route to 100% completion, bought all the extras, the official soundtrack, and the merch (fanmade as well as what slim-pickings existed officially), but that shouldn't be mistaken for approval. Much of that was in fact a desperate quest to figure out what the hell was even going on! Ignore the play time listed for this scathing Steam review, everyone! It shouldn't be factored into any assessments!

The game had several problems, in Shen Meimei's opinion.

The main issue was the lack of follow-through on the buildup of the backstory. Qiu Haitang's whole family was killed one night, maybe-probably by her sketchy as fuck ex-fiancee, who was also a hostage being kept by the Qiu family as leverage against a rival family. Which begged so many questions! Shen Meimei had suspected all along that there was more to it than met the eye (not just because the evil family shared her surname) but it was never deeply delved into. The whole thing only even got resolution in some of the routes, and the most thorough was Luo Binghe's. Luo Binghe had a huge vendetta against Shen Qingqiu, Haitang's sketchy former fiance, which left a lot of room for doubt about his investigating the issue. Was Shen Qingqiu really to blame? Or was Luo Binghe just taking advantage of an opportunity to pin SOME crime on him, since he couldn't really get him for the shit he actually did to Luo Binghe himself? What about the hints regarding that Wu Yanzi guy? Why did those never seem to amount to much? Were the Qiu family really stupid enough to betroth their only daughter to a hostage, or was something else going on? And what about Xiao Qi, the slave boy servant of the Qiu who was mentioned a few times as another possible survivor or witness, but who never comes up again?

Shen Meimei played through everything, certain that there had to be some way to actually solve or gain clarity on the Mystery of the Qiu Family Murders, but even after completing the main routes and unlocking and completing the hidden ones -- nothing! It was all just swept aside in favor of tepid romance arcs, made all the more insufferable because of the compelling subtext between the male love interests. Like, why were any of these guys even interested in Haitang when they so clearly had more going on with each other?

Annoyance over a game Shen Meimei lost too many hours of her life to was one thing, of course.

Transmigrating into the younger sister of notoriously sketchy ex-fiance Shen Qingqiu was another!

Bad news: in the routes where Shen Qingqiu is prosecuted for his crimes, his whole family goes down with him. So if this goes poorly, not only will he be punished, but so will Shen Meimei!

Worse news: this fictional version of her family is almost identical to her actual real family. To the point where she would be checking everyone else for transmigration, except that no one but her seems aware that anything is odd. Shen Qingqiu acts exactly like her older brother, right down to his particular flavor of prickly social behavior and cynicism. And their middle brother is a chronically ill nerd who hate-reads trash novels and is completely fascinated by weird monsters (a much more worrisome trait in a world that actually has a lot of those...)

In short, her life is on the line, and so is her family's!

Damn you, Veiled Heroine Games! If you hadn't abandoned so many plot threats, Shen Meimei might actually know what was going on and be able to neatly circumvent everything! But now she has to figure out how to win the protagonist back over, rescue her brothers, and solve (and possibly further cover up...) the mysterious Qiu family murders, all while keeping Luo Binghe away from Shen Jiu, and preventing Qiu Haitang from completing any of the romance plotlines that will cause troubles for them! Which is most of them!

[trickphotography2]

'tis the damn season | Chapter 9

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Julie/Cece (OC, no physical description)

Word count: 6K

Synopsis: After six years away from home, Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was finally going to make his parents happy and surprise his family by spending Christmas in Magnolia, Texas. Introducing his pregnant fiancee to his family is a culture clash, with rural Texas meeting California influencer. Though unhappy in his relationship, Jake knows he has to buckle down and do the right thing with a baby on the way.

The last person he expected to run into was his high school sweetheart and the one that got away, Julie.

The holidays are already going to be hard enough for Julie. Her home baking business, which had started as a fun side project, exploded after a few TikToks went viral. Just when she was getting the hang of juggling her job and business, tragedy struck. Facing her first Christmas as an orphan, the last thing Julie expected was to hear that once familiar nickname - Cece.

After almost a decade apart, Jake and Julie can't help but feel that old familiar spark. Even with the realities of their lives pressing in, they can't help but wonder what might have happened if just one of them had fought for their relationship all those years ago.

Chapter 8 | Master List | Ao3

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Chapter 9

"Hangman, my office - now."

Jake closed his eyes as the door to the Ready Room slammed shut, the silence after Cyclone's order already overwhelming. He could feel the other aviators staring and set down his nearly full cup of coffee, scrubbing a hand down his face. The soft clanking of his g-suit clips was the only sound in the room as he forced his head high and strode into the hallway, following in the air boss's wake. 

Cyclone barked for him to come in when he knocked, and Jake stood at attention in front of his desk. He tried to keep his eyes on the wall over his shoulder, but he could see how the vice admiral clenched his jaw and heard the tap of his pen on the desk. "Sir -"

"Did I say you could speak, Lieutenant?" Silenced, Jake forced himself to take a breath and make sure he didn't slouch. It was another minute of tapping before his superior spoke. "I want to know why the hell the base is getting calls about your personal life…legal, the gate shacks, and even the base commander's office. And then I hear that it's not only us - Coronado is also hearing about your sex life. So why is that, Hangman?"

A wave of dread hit him. He hadn't thought, perhaps naively, that what Shayla did would get back to his job. He didn't live online - hell, his social media hadn't been updated in months, except for his ex tagging him in stuff, though his follower account was high. Cece's business was connected to her social media, so it had made sense for them to make that connection. But him? Why the hell would anyone call the fucking base? "Sir," he started again after clearing his throat. "I -"

"Save it. I've seen both videos." Cyclone ran a hand down his face before resuming his pen tapping while looking out the window. "Conduct Unbecoming," he muttered, and Jake froze. Catching this, Cyclone turned his gaze back to the younger aviator. "Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentleman. They're tossing around the idea of hitting you with an Article 15." 

Anger battled with worry at his pristine record being marked with disciplinary action. Being known for violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If he accepted it, an Article 15 would save him from a trial and court-martial, where he would face fines or confinement at best, lose a rank, or be dishonorably discharged at worst. The Article 15 still held a penalty. He could deal with a 30-day restriction or even his paycheck being halved for two months - it would hurt, but he could do it. But it could impact his ability to be promoted. Every time he went up for a rank, there would always be an asterisk next to his name and accomplishments. It would be on his Fitness for Duty report, marked under behavioral. 

Because his fucking ex lied. 

Her fucking lie made them think he'd acted dishonorably. Brought shame to the Navy. Impacted his ability to command subordinates. That her posting the video would impact his mission capability. 

Jake swallowed hard, refusing to acknowledge the angry tears pricking his eyes. For years, he'd always thought his greatest regret would be letting Cece go in Virginia, but now he knew it was talking to Shayla that night at the Hard Deck. 

The clicking of computer keys snapped Jake out of his shame spiral, and Cyclone's lips pressed into a thin line. "Activation orders are in your inbox. A new mission came in before the holidays, and I was going to wait to issue orders until after the new year, but the timing's perfect for getting you the hell out of my sight. The SEALs need aerial support and requested two of my best. Unfortunately, that includes you. You'll need to do a SERE refresher before deploying." 

Jake's throat tightened at the mention of SERE. Like all pilots, he'd participated in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training. While the experience was invaluable, he could never entirely forget the feeling of being waterboarded or the screams of the woman in their squad who had been captured by the instructors and thrown into a pit. The rest of the team had been forced to listen, hiding in the grass as the instructors poured buckets of water over her until she was treading to keep her head above water, yelling at her to give up the intel. 

"How long is the deployment, sir?" 

"The earliest refresher course is in Kittery, so you'll be headed to Maine in three weeks, then back here for a month of training before deploying. The mission length is unclear, but we expect to be on radio blackout for its entirety. Now, get the fuck out of my office."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, and Hangman?" Jake paused with one foot out the door. "Keep your private life off the goddamn internet." 

"Sir."

Julie's eyes were heavy as she stared at her computer, resisting the urge to drop her head into her hands. Rather than head into the bank, she'd called out of work. She knew it was putting her supervisor in a bind, especially since a lot of the parents were still out taking care of their kids who were out of school for the holiday. Still, she would sit at the counter covering for the tellers instead of processing loan applications in her office. Opening herself up for that amount of scrutiny was too much. 

Not only that, but she was so tired. After Jake left and Lucy finally went home to her family, Julie crawled back into bed. She could still smell Jake in her sheets, and when it became overwhelming, she got up and stood outside of Daddy's bedroom. After Lucy had helped her clean it the first time after he died, she'd only gone in to dust and change the sheets occasionally over the last 11 months. Daddy's clothes were still hung in the closet and tucked into the drawers, his wallet and watch still on the dresser. After a long moment, she crossed the bedroom, running her fingers along the furniture before slipping into the bed like she had so many times as a little girl after waking from a bad dream. 

But this time, Daddy wasn't there to hold her until she went back to sleep, banishing the monsters from her imagination. "I miss you," she'd whispered, resting her hand on his pillows.

Sighing, she pushed to her feet and went to refill her coffee. She was almost out of creamer and knew a trip to the grocery store needed to happen. While her appetite was nearly non-existent, she knew she needed to eat. Without a working oven, her options were limited. Ally offered to drive down to the store with her truck to pick up a new oven and Will and Mr. Seresin to install it, but Julie was reluctant to see the Seresins. She had yet to answer Jake's call that morning or respond to his text.

I love you so much, Cupcake. We'll get through this. I'll call you later.

It was still on her mental list of things to do, along with replying to people requesting to cancel their orders with her. While her first instinct was to agree and issue a full refund, Lucy had put her foot down on that and pointed out that they'd signed contracts that outlined penalties for cancelations - they would get partial refunds if anything. Settling back at the kitchen table, Julie clicked on her next order email and scanned it before deleting it. And the next. And the next.

The fourth email was an actual inquiry for cake pops. The person had included a note in the comments.

I hope you and Jake are happy. His video made it look like you guys are meant to be. I hope this all dies down soon. I've always wanted to try your stuff, and I figured now would be a good time. Thanks for being my comfort creator on here! 

Tears pricked her eyes as she reread the note. When Jake had sent her the link to his video after he'd posted it, she'd been too numb to react. After showing what his apartment looked like after Shayla had destroyed it was bad enough, but he'd lost his temper and laid out exactly what happened. His work with the greenscreen was wonky, but he shared the screenshots where she'd admitted to lying about the baby. He'd talked about their relationship, how he was never comfortable with her filming, and her begging to continue. How she'd cheated, and they'd broken up before telling him she was pregnant, and he wanted to do the right thing.

He admitted to not being open about who Julie was to him when they went home but pushed back on the idea that his family was rude to Shayla. Instead, he told them how she'd posted the "pregnancy announcement" video before they could tell them the news and how she hadn't respected their privacy. He confirmed that he was the one in Julie's video - she could have kicked herself for not catching when his wrist had briefly appeared in the background as she piped out macaron shells and he grabbed a cupcake pan to put in more liners - and anger colored his words when he talked about Shayla destroying her work. 

"I want to be clear," he'd said, staring directly at the camera. "That I kissed Ce… Julie that night. But that was as far as it went. And it was a mistake that we both regretted immediately because I was still engaged to Shayla at that point. But nothing. Else. Happened. I…” He looked away and cleared his throat. "I was ready to agree never to see Julie again if that would have made Shayla feel more secure in our marriage. But we never got to that because she left her computer open, and I saw the texts to her best friend. And I did yell at her. And took my ring back. I was only at Julie's house that night because I couldn't stand to be under the same roof as someone who tried to trap me into a marriage with blackmail. Julie was my friend that night, and I needed that."

"I won't apologize for not staying with someone who lies and manipulates and intentionally hurts my loved ones. And that's what Shayla did. She hurt people to get you to watch her videos and get brand deals and free shit. She doesn't care about you or me or anyone but herself. But I do owe an apology to my family for bringing her with me, making you uncomfortable, and not being the son you raised. And, of course, to Julie - who has been family since we were kids and I've been in love with almost that long. I'll never be able to make up for the hurt I've caused, not just over the last week. I wasn't always honest with you when you deserved that, and I put myself and my career before you. You didn't do anything to deserve all of this except be there for an idiot who is still in love with you and couldn't hide it well. And I'll spend every day trying to make it up to you if you let me. I've been bad at keeping promises, but I want to keep the one of being your first and last kiss, Cupcake." 

"And to everyone else, please just… leave her alone. Julie's the most selfless person I've ever met and doesn't deserve this. Hate me, hate Shayla, but leave her out of it. She's a good person, and those are hard to find." 

He looked so defeated, hair a mess from running his hands through it and the dark circles under his eyes again. From the extent of the damage, Julie knew he wouldn't have gotten much sleep last night, either. Unlike herself, he probably didn't take the easier route and call out of work rather than face real life. He was probably facing it head-on with that bullheaded stubbornness he'd been known for as a kid. 

After typing a quick quote for the cake pops with multiple decorating options, including a short 'thank you for your support!', she clicked into the next email. She closed when she saw a request for a macaron cake that read 'Happy Homewreckers!'. Tears trickled down her face as she breathed like Jake had taught her. She could get through this. 

Lunch was rough. Jake could feel eyes on him as he took his tray to their usual table, sitting with his back to the wall and forcing himself to meet the gaze of everyone who looked at him. A few had the decency to look away quickly, but others leaned toward their buddies and whispered. 

The Daggers circled around him, providing their unspoken support. Still, he knew they had questions for him and were just waiting for some privacy to ask. But he could have put up with it if Cece had just responded to his text. She hadn't said a thing since he'd sent her the link to his video, and he was starting to regret doing it without talking to her first. It was his fault this was happening, and he wanted to protect her as much as possible - but he should have at least given her the option of not doing it. 

And now… now he had to tell her that he was deploying. Again. The very thing that had ended their relationship all those years ago. This time, though, he was going to tell her. Jake had to show that he'd changed for her to trust him. But, fuck… the idea of going through SERE again and then a blackout mission? Not being able to contact Cece or Will, his parents? Possibly missing Tyler's birth? 

Cyclone may have picked him because of his record, but it also felt like this was a punishment. 

Julie pulled her daddy's baseball cap low on her brow, ducking her head as she walked into the grocery store. The cart rattled loudly as she hurried down the aisles, avoiding as many people as possible as she stocked up on snacks and anything she could make in the microwave. 

For as fast as she moved, the whispers moved faster. Clinging to that numb feeling, she tried to block them out, not even wondering how the older Magnolia population would be aware of internet drama. She would put money on Betty Roberts having spread the news far and wide. All she needed to do was get her stuff and get home, where she could go back to bed and pretend that this was a bad dream. 

"- showing her face after all that?"

"Did you see his, though?"

"We all know the Seresin boy's been known to tell tall tales. Besides, you know what those two are like - they've always been all over each other."

Cheeks blazing, Julie ignored the loud conversation from the aisle, recognizing the town gossip's voice. And sure, as teenagers, she and Jake hadn't been the most conservative about public affection. But Betty made it sound like they'd been groping each other in public. She hadn't even touched Jake in public in over seven years, and that had been down in Austin. Keeping space between them had been her goal since he'd come back home. Because Jake's touch, his kiss was… well, it made her lose her head. It made her want to do things like pack a bag and start driving out to California to escape the scrutiny of their small town. It made her want to hide in his bed, covers pulled over their head and his sleepy gaze holding hers until the rest of the world fell away. Until she forgot why the walls she'd built so high were needed. It made her want to ignore the fact that the man she loved had the power to hurt her as no one else did. 

There was a loud scoff, and Julie pressed her lips together, eyes closing as she willed herself not to feel. Not to acknowledge the women turning on the aisle and staring at her, shopping baskets dangling from their arms. She felt their stares like cobwebs on her skin as they neared, their whispers like daggers in her heart. 

And then one struck true. "Her parents would be so ashamed." 

Tears gathered behind her eyelids at the cruel words, a contradiction of Daddy's letter in her purse. Slowly, she turned to face Betty and her friend Joanne, the second-biggest gossip in town. "Are your lives so small," Julie said softly as they stopped behind her, "that you have to make yourself feel bigger by talking about others?" 

"Excuse me?" Betty demanded, recoiling slightly.

Tossing the bag of frozen corn into her cart, Julie turned fully to face the two, her tone flat as she spoke again. "Do you think that people actually like you? That they look forward to seeing you coming toward them, knowing that they have to watch every word, every action, every breath they take in front of you because if they don't toe the line of what you deem appropriate, you'll tell the whole town?" Joanne's mouth fell open as Betty flushed bright red, drawing herself up.

"Why, I never -"

"Shut the hell up. You never shut the hell up," Julie sighed. "You talk, and you whisper, and you judge, and you make people feel horrible for just living their fucking life. And for some reason, you think that people care what you think, but the truth is that we all think that you're a nosey bitch." 

"Julie Ryan!" Betty sputtered. "I don't know WHAT's gotten into you, young lady, but -"

"I'm done." And then, without another word, she turned and walked out of the store, abandoning her cart and her last fuck. 

Holy shit, word on the street is that Julie FINALLY stood up to Betty Roberts!

Jake stared down at the text from his sister-in-law as he sat in his truck after work. While Cece hadn't contacted him all day, apparently, she'd been out and about in Magnolia. He let his head fall back and sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. He wanted to return home - not in his apartment but Texas. Because if Cece had finally said something, things would have been bad.

Jake, have you heard from Julie? I stopped by her house, but she wasn't there. I wanted to check on her after what happened at the store.

The text from Mama worried him. Turning the ignition, he waited until his phone connected to Bluetooth before calling Cece. As it rang, he let his head fall back on the rest, and his eyes closed, anticipating her voicemail again. When she said they needed space, she'd promised not to disappear on him again, but it was starting to feel like that's what was happening. After managing seven years without her, it had only taken one week for Jake to miss her as much as he had when she'd left him back in Virginia. And now… now he didn't know if he would survive losing her again.

"Hello?" 

"Hey, babe." Just the sound of her voice had his muscles relaxing and a tired smile creeping onto his mouth. "You okay?"

"I'm…" There was a long pause, and Jake's grip on the steering wheel tightened when he heard a choked inhale. "I think I did something stupid?"

"What's wrong? What happened, honey?" Cece didn't say anything, but he heard her take a shuttering breath. "Cupcake, is this about the grocery store?" 

Her laugh was watery and brittle. "Of course, you heard about that already." 

"Only that you did what everyone should have done to Betty Roberts a long time ago, but not specifics." He heard her chuckle before gasping, and his heart broke at her sob. "Cece…" The only sound on the other side of the line was her crying, and Jake wanted to pull her into his arms so badly. Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose and swallowed hard. 

"I-I called her a n-nosey b-bitch." Jake snorted, which made her wail, "It's not funny, Jacob!" 

"I'm sorry, honey," he laughed. "You're right, it's not funny. It's fuckin' hilarious and well-deserved. You're a goddamn hero for finally sayin' it to her face when everyone's been sayin' it behind her back for decades." 

Cece sniffled, and his hand flexed around the wheel. "You… you don't think Mama and Daddy would be ashamed of me?" 

Rage blinded him. "Did that bitch say that?" he demanded. When she hummed an affirmative, he slammed his fist onto the top of the steering wheel while cursing under his breath. "Honey," he said through clenched teeth, "you know that's not true, right? Your parents loved you and would never have been ashamed of you. Your daddy told me all the time how proud he was of you. And your Mama loved you so damn much that she probably would have told Betty off herself, just like she did that woman who said somethin' about the pie you submitted to the fair."

"What?" There was confusion in her voice, and Jake chuckled.

"You know - when you entered a kids' baking competition when we were eight or so for the summer fair. I heard one of the other girl's mom's makin' a comment about how your pie wasn't as pretty as her daughter's, and your Mama told her that it's a good thing that she wasn't picked as one of the judges because she wouldn't know a pretty pie if it was shoved in her face." 

"My mama said that?" Cece asked, laughing wetly. 

"Yup. That's why we spent so much time by the quilts that year - our mamas weren't quiet about how much they thought her submission wasn't up to snuff."

"I… I remember the quilt but didn't know about the pie." 

"Your mama was proud of everything you did, Cece." When she was quiet, he sighed and started to pull his truck out of its spot. "What're you doin' tonight, honey?" 

"Um… not much." 

"Any chance you'd be willing to let me see your gorgeous face? I'm driving home now, but we could do a video call in about an hour." 

“I… um…” The hesitation killed him, but then she spoke again. "I'm not sure what my internet situation will be tonight." That made him laugh.

"I know Magnolia's a bit behind the times, but the wifi wasn't bad."

"I'm not in Magnolia." Easing onto the road, he frowned. 

"Did you go get your oven?" Her groan made him smile. 

"No, but that probably would have been the smarter thing to do."

"Where'd you go?" 

"Arizona."

"Ari -" Jake's foot slammed on the break before he blew a stop sign, and he stared down at his phone as though he could see her face. "What the hell are you doing in Arizona?" 

"Well, I'm not there yet," she said after a beat. "I'm still in New Mexico, but close to the border, so I'll be there soon." 

“Why…what the… Cece, why are you in New Mexico? Why are you going to Arizona?!"

Her nervous laugh was drowned out by someone hitting their horn, and Jake glanced in his rearview mirror before slowly moving forward. He tried to keep his attention on the road, but it was hard. "Did you know the Grand Canyon is only about 10 hours from Magnolia? And I've never been." 

"The Grand… you're going to the Grand Canyon? In December?"

"Why not?" Her tone was defensive, and he knew he needed to tread carefully.

"It's not… the best time for sightseeing." His reasoning felt flimsy even to himself. "And what about work?" 

"I need to concentrate on driving," Cece replied after a long pause. 

"Baby -"

"I'll call you later when I stop for the night."

"At least tell me you're gonna get a hotel. I don't want you to sleep on the side of the road. I can get you one -"

"I can afford a fucking hotel, Jake!" Shocked at her outburst, he stayed silent, listening to her heavy breathing. "I'm not a child. I can take care of myself."

"I know that."

"Do you?" she hissed. "Or are you just like everyone else, thinkin' I've been waiting for you all this time? That poor, pathetic Julie Ryan always needs someone to look after her? That my whole world stopped the day I left Virginia, and I've just been waiting for you to come back to me? Do you know that everyone - EVERYONE - thinks that you left me? And I let them because you weren't there to defend yourself, and it was too hard to convince them otherwise?" 

"Ce -"

"I didn't tell them that Golden Boy Seresin was a liar who couldn't even tell the woman he was supposed to marry that he was leaving AGAIN. That I had uprooted MY WHOLE LIFE for you, and you didn't even have the decency to tell me that you were leaving. You just let me look like an idiot in front of all the other spouses. Let me think that we were gonna have the wedding and start our lives together - all while you were keeping a huge secret from me." Jake's heart shattered when her voice cracked. Pulling to the side of the road, he slung an arm over the steering wheel and rested his forehead on it.

"Honey, I'm sor -"

"I protected you all this time. I put my dreams aside for yours and was okay with that. All I asked for was honesty, and you couldn't even give me that. And when I finally - FINALLY - had something that was mine and only mine, something that I loved and built and put in the hard work for… you ruined it, Jake. You took it from me." For a long time, there was only the sound of her panting breath over the line.

"I'm so sorry, Julie. I never meant to hurt you," he rasped.

"I know that, and that's the hardest thing about all this - you never had to try to hurt me. I just let you." 

Tears dripped down his face as he listened to her cry. "I…I don't know…baby, I'm sorry. Tell me how to fix this, and I'll do it." 

"I don't think you can. There's nothing… we've been moving toward this since we were 18, Jake. And maybe now it's time to just throw in the towel." 

"No." Clearing his throat, he spoke firmly and sat up. "No, I'm not givin' up on us, Cece. I love you. You're the only woman I've ever loved, and I won't lose you again." 

"You love who I was when we were teens. You don't know me now." 

"Then let me. Come out here, and let's figure this out."

Her laugh was brittle, "That's the problem right there. You always ask me to do the hard thing without realizing it - I have to come to you. I can't have a career because yours is more important. I have to make myself small so you can be the big shot you always wanted to be." 

"I… I can't get leave to come home, Cece. Please, you know I would if I could. But I -"

"I don't know you would. You've never had to make the sacrifices in our relationship." Her words were like a slap to the face. 

"That's not true." That only made her laugh, and he felt a rush of anger. "You think I wanted to be away from you all the time? Is that what you think? When you said you thought you were pregnant, I was ready to give it all up - the Academy, flying, all of it. And you're saying I didn't make any sacrifices?"

He could feel the hurt across the open line and opened his mouth to apologize when she cut him off. "Well, it's a good thing I wasn't pregnant then or after we fucked at the bar, so you never had to decide between me or your dreams. Because, unlike you, I don't think I could have lived with ruining yours." 

The call ended as Jake stared out the windshield, trying to comprehend what Cece said. Had she thought she was pregnant after they'd hooked up in Austin? Was that why she'd run away from him in the grocery store? Scrambling for his phone, he dialed her number, hanging up and calling again when it was sent to voicemail.

Just like his next ten calls.

Cold seeped into Julie's skin as she watched the sky turn indigo as the sun rose. Snow blew around her, and the news warned of a blizzard that day. The smart thing to do would be to head back into town and climb back into her hotel bed, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the beautiful sight before her. 

There was something so peaceful about sitting there, her racing thoughts finally silent. Tears pricked her eyes as the wind whipped her hair into her face. As the light started to kiss the canyon's rim, her eyes were drawn down into its depth. Snow dotted the upper rim, disappearing further down. 

Gorgeous. And only a day's drive away from home. 

The thought had her reaching into her pocket and retrieving her phone. Daddy's lawyer had sent her the bank account info for Mama's travel account. Ignoring the red bubbles alerting her to the missed calls and texts, she navigated to her email and clicked on the encrypted message. Cell service was spotty, but she memorized the login information. 

Her finger hovered over the texts, curiosity warring with peace. She'd seen the preview of Jake's message as she lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had started with an apology, and it took everything in her not to apologize to him. She'd never meant for him to hear the arguments and thoughts she'd bottled up for years, but they'd spilled out at the first opportunity. Julie's resentment toward him had been overwhelming and now was tinged with regret for hurting him with the truth. But she'd carried that hurt in silence for so long. Everything about their relationship from the moment he was accepted into the Naval Academy had been about him. Hell, even their spring breaks in South Carolina had been to make his life easier - the times she'd asked to meet in Florida or for him to come to Texas, he'd pleaded for her to go to him. He was so tired between school and training, and he wouldn't have the summers to relax like she would. So, she went across the country every March to spend time with him instead of going on trips with her friends. He'd only met her college friends at graduation, while she'd spent a week with his every year.  

Instead of looking at the texts, Julie took a picture of the sunrise and sent it to Lucy. When she'd called from the road to let her know that she was heading out of town, her best friend had been worried and made her promise to check in. The picture was slow to send in their text thread, and Julie took the opportunity to scroll through their messages. Pictures of her kids and husband were sprinkled throughout. There was a video of Joey asking for a monster truck birthday cake and Julie crouching next to Emma at her ballet recital. 

Sniffling, she shoved the phone back into her pocket and stared at the sunrise, trying to force away her thoughts. But they raced in opposite directions - ten hours east to Magnolia and nine hours west to San Diego. If she was at home, she would be getting up soon and heading to work, or having breakfast with Ally. Out west, Jake was probably waking and getting ready to go to the base. 

Her breath misted in the air when Julie sighed. The wind was picking up, and she knew she'd need to get back to town before the storm blew in, but it was hard to tear her gaze away from the canyon. A car door slammed, and she jumped, turning to see two people climbing out of their vehicle. They nodded, and she smiled back as they stood a bit further from her and looked at the sunrise. 

When her fingers started losing their feeling, and the sky was a beautiful pink and orange, Julie returned to her car. As it heated, she took a deep breath and pulled up Jake's texts. They were full of apologies and pleas for her to answer the phone. He wanted to know if she'd thought she was pregnant after they'd seen one another in Austin. That made her cringe. She regretted telling him like that, especially after everything that happened with his ex. He promised to try harder if she would just pick up. He wanted to come home, but he was just told about a mission he was being sent on and wouldn't be able to.

I only have 3 weeks until I leave, and we won't be able to talk. Please, baby, don't let it end like this. I love you, and I know I haven't always been the best at showing it, but I want this to work.  

A lump rose in her throat at the thought of him leaving again, and she paused before sending him the same picture she'd sent Lucy. We'll talk before you go, but I need space right now.

The technology gods were clearly on Jake's side because the message went through quickly and was marked as read almost immediately. Three dots appeared on the screen, and Julie bit her lip while watching them flicker. Finally, the message appeared. Beautiful, but not as beautiful as you. I love you, Cupcake.

After a moment, she typed back Love you too, Farm Boy.

Quickly closing the message, she pulled up the banking app and entered her Mama's travel account information. She hesitated before closing her eyes and hitting the login button. Slowly, after a few seconds, Julie peeked at the screen. The amount made her breath catch. Tears flooded her eyes as she stared at the number. 

Fumbling for her purse, she grabbed Daddy’s letter, skimming the words until she found what she was looking for. 

I put her life insurance payout there and have added a little every year. All you have to do is contact my lawyer, who'll give you the account numbers and start the transfer. I should have given it to you before, but… well, the reason always changed. But now that you have it, I want you to do whatever you want with that money. If you want to travel like your Mama wanted? Do it. You want to go back to school? Perfect. Start your bakery? You'll be so successful. Buy a house? I only ask that it's somewhere other than Magnolia. Sell the house and put the money toward your next dream. 

Be selfish, baby. Treat yourself to whatever you want - as long as it's what you want. 

Looking over the dashboard at the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, Julie started to cry at the memory of her Mama reading her books before bed, building worlds in her mind. Her daddy pinching pennies as she grew up and helping her bake late into the night. Lying in the back of Jake's truck and talking about all the places they would see when they were married. 

The money wouldn't solve everything, but it was enough to give her space to breathe and figure out what she wanted to do. It, along with her moving fund, would give her what she needed most—time. 

As she pulled out of the parking lot, she could almost hear Mama's voice. "You and me, baby girl, we're gonna see the world one day." 

---------------------------------------

Author's Note: Soooo... thank you for you patience with me getting this out. I had some difficulty with this chapter, because I was struggling between going with my original ending and one that was less angsty. I went with the original (the other option was Cece driving to Jake's after because they didn't have a fight, and her meeting the Daggers). But Cece needed to finally let Jake know how she was feeling, and Betty may have been just the push she needed.

SERE training is no joke. I stole the story about the woman being thrown in the pit from my best friend's husband (former military intel guy), who still has issues with the smell of peppermint to this day because he hid in a patch of it while it was happening. They no longer waterboard soldiers, but that practice only stopped in the 2000s, I believe.

Also, the next chapter will be the last one in this series 🫣 (Edit, there will be an epilogue)

Read Chapter 10

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[thewalrusespublicist]

Hi! What are your thoughts on Paul's relationship Jane Asher? It seems very not affectionate, and even that Paul didn't care about it at all, Jane a little bit more than him but also not really? So a PR relationship? But if yes, why? It's pretty bizarre to me when I look at it . What do you think?

Hi anon!,

I think there’s a bit of a misconception about their relationship that lingers because neither of them have talked about it and it ended terribly (iconic break-up though Jane just amazing). Linda's illness meant that Jane was also airbrushed from MYFN out of respect for her (Peter Cox keeping a copy of Jane's cookbook to pull out and set Linda off about her own autobiography is both worrying and hilarious). All of that makes it seem like she was a blip.

The reality was that Paul and Jane were sweethearts who were deeply loving and affectionate. There's been a lot of really good compilation of quotes and lovely images which I'll link here and here. In short though, Paul lived with the Asher's for years, took time to spend on just her, alludes to missing her on Sgt Pepper and were remarked on as being a lovely couple by people like Ray Connolly, Cynthia and Patrick Stewart weirdly. I can't remember where I saw it but there was this article after Paul was with Linda where he's says something like 'Jane and I are still in love with each other like you are with exes but hey ho!' (I remember it clearly because it was a huge WHAT moment, please if anyone has it I'd be so grateful.) When they split Paul spent weeks crying on Alistair Taylor's shoulder about how he'd lost his 'closest friend', the one he told everything to and he could be himself around. Jane loved him for him and showed him a whole new world and scene. She was a huge part of his life, to the point he dedicated part of 'Eye of the Storm' decades later to her.

So if they were this big love story, why did they split? Well aside from the tinnnyy little cheating issue, they just weren't suited at that life-stage. They met when she was 17 and he'd just turned 21 and broke up when she was 22 and he was 26. People change a lot as they get older and suddenly life plans get in the way. Jane didn’t want children then and wanted her own career whilst Paul is one of the most instinctively paternal, baby-crazy men I’ve ever heard of and had at the time a view of a ‘traditional’ wife that stayed at home with the children. Those two alone are deal-breakers for any relationship. In the Hunter Davies bio it seems they are trying to work the career thing out but there is no way on gods green earth that Paul would give up on the prospect of children.

Then there were the other problems. According to Ray Connolly, Jane didn't like Paul’s drug taking, the affairs, his preoccupation with the Beatles and that he seemed closer to John than her and prioritised their relationship over her (💀). Jane quite fairly wanted to be number one and Paul did try to prioritise her with weeks alone after India in Scotland. However at the end of the day Paul was too enmeshed with the Beatles and especially John to give her that starring position.

So yeah, Jane played a really important part in Paul's life in the 60s, they had a deep and cherished relationship but ultimately they wanted different things and really no one could come between Paul and John ... except themselves.

(Also ngl if you wrote 'we can work it out' about me I would have throttled you Jane has some patience goood god.)

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review 32 – The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

This is the first book this year I picked up specifically and entirely because it got a Hugo nomination; I’d previously vaguely heard of it, but never in any detail and the title didn’t really grab me. Despite what an exercise in masochism the whole ‘read every nominee for best novel and novella’ turned out to be last year, I’m actually very glad I stuck with it. Not sure I’d actually vote for it – this years best novel slate is actually incredibly strong – but it was an absolutely lovely and just fun read.

As one might assume, the story follows the eponymous Amina al-Sirafi, infamous and legendary corsair, smuggler and general rogue plying the Indian ocean sometime in the 12th century. Dragged out of an obscure retirement by the aristocratic mother of a former crewman whose fate still haunts her, she is sent on a mission to rescue the crewman’s kidnapped (or runaway) child by the twin incentives of more money than she could ever spend on one hand and blatant threats to the safety of her own family on the other. From there, she puts her crew together, has an unfortunate reunion with her demonic not-technically-ex husband, makes a pact with an island of officious peris, and races to prevent a Norman warlock from seizing control of an ancient relic to make war upon God.

The setting is honestly the point of this as much as the actual plot or any of the characters are. The late medieval Islamic maritime world and the wider Indian Ocean trading networks are an incredibly rich milieu to sink your teeth into, and one the author’s clearly fallen wholly in love with. I can’t speak for their accuracy, but little details of life and flourishes of historical terminology drip off every page, and the whole thing sings with the amount of research that was put into it. It’s the vanishingly rare work of fiction with a list of further reading at the end that actually makes me want to go hunt them down.

Specifically placing it in the twelfth century is kind of interesting, in terms of placement in the Islamic Golden Age – long, long after political power became fully fragmented and the Islamic world was linked more by economic and cultural ties, in the midst of the Crusades in the Levant, but still a few generations before the Mongols sack Baghdad. I really don’t have any ideas or assumptions about te why here, it’s just centuries later than the voyage of Sinbad the book is clearly riffing off of, so it makes me curious.

The enthusiastically researched and real-feeling setting does sadly kind of stop with the characters. Amina is sincerely religious and comfortable with the supernatural in a way that feels much more fitting than the vast majority of fantasy protagonists, but in every other sense she is clearly written to be relatable and sympathetic to an assumed audience of modern liberals. (Near-)Queernorm settings are great, but does jar with the fixation on historical grounding a bit. (The whole beat where dragging a runaway bride back to their family and decades older rich fiancee is unfortunate but for their own good until it’s realized they’re trans also kind of feels like a parody of a certain kind of identity-focused liberalism).

Between this and the Radiant Emperor duology I’m definitely rediscovering a real love for historic low fantasy. The research burden is immense but it’s hard to beat the actual past for making a world that feels lived in and real, and provide the vital sense that there are a thousand other stories happening just out of shot. The complete lack of generic-western-fantasy magic and monsters is also nearly as appreciated as the lack of castles and earls.

Which is good, really, as if you ignore the setting there isn’t really much to chew on here. To an extent this seems deliberate – the story is trying to be a pulpy, larger-than-life swashbuckling adventure, what with the getting dragged out of retirement for one more big score and the getting the band back together and the cackling 1.5-dimensional villain trying to make himself as unto god. In the main it absolutely succeeds at this (though the introduction of a generous and competent pirate captain who lends Amina a ship and a spirit-cutting magic sword out of nowhere at the end of the second act does strain things a bit). It does end up feeling a bit like using the most gorgeous, lusciously details stage in the world for a bunch of puppets to act out a pantomime, though – Amina is basically the only character in the entire story that feels like a person instead of a cartoon. They are, at least, more amusing cartoons than not. Raksh the murderous but cowardly ambition-seeking incubus husband was a highlight.

All in all, a very fun, page-turning read. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

[imyourbratzdoll]

Could you do Bucky's POV for "she was his angel and he was her knight"? I would just want to know if Bucky did feel guilty but he was just hiding it.

I like your storys very much wether if it's smut, fluff or angst!❤❤❤❤

hi honey! thank you so much!

this is a sort of part 3 of you aren't nat, and she was his angel and he was her knight.

summary - bucky tries everything to destroy your happiness.

warning - angst, no happy ending for bucky.

the gif I use isn't mine, divider by @newlips and @firefly-graphics

“So… You fucking my best friend now?”

The words echo in Bucky’s head.

“Can’t say I’m surprised. You have always been super easy.” 

He stares at himself in the mirror, following the bruises he received.

“I bet he wishes it was Natasha or maybe even Sharon. Do you really think anyone would want you as their first choice?”

His hand opens and closes. 

“Why should I? It’s not like you like her, and she’s just your rebound because you can’t have who you really want.” 

Bucky’s eyes connect with his own.

“Go on, Stevie. Tell her the truth, c’mon. Doesn’t she deserve to know that you aren’t better than me?”

His anger grows inside of him, remembering it all.

“You can’t take me, Steve. You’re weaker than I am.” 

All because of you, Bucky had lost his best friend. You just had to go and spread your legs for anyone who paid you enough attention, and Steve was the poor soul caught in your web. Bucky hated you and had hated you ever since he met you. When you asked him out, he found the perfect opportunity to make Natasha jealous and possibly hurt you simultaneously. Bucky really had no reason to hate you. When you met him, you welcomed and treated him like family. But the more you hung around him, the more he had grown to hate you, and now he hated you even more because you’ve turned his best friend against him. 

Bucky had come out of his room and headed to the loungeroom, noticing you and Steve curled into each other and Natasha and Sam the same. He scowled. He wished you would just disappear. No one wanted you here. He smirked. Maybe he could prove that Steve was just using you, yeah. He’d do that, and there’d be no way you’d ever compare to the Peggy Carter. He abruptly left the room, coming up with the perfect plan. 

A few weeks passed, and you and Steve were happier than ever, and it was pissing Bucky off. He smiled as a woman walked into the room and toward him. She was the spitting image of Peggy, which should make you see that no one wants you. “Bucky?” He nods, surveying her and feeling happy she kept with the 40s style. “What exactly am I doing?” 

He smiled charmingly, “You're just going to be my date to a party. Is that okay?” She nods, linking arms with him, and they head off to the party Tony had organised. More like yours and Steve’s engagement party, but if Bucky had it his way, there’d be no engagement, wedding, or you. They had entered the room, and Bucky grinned when Steve’s eyes widened slightly. His focus was on the woman beside his ex-best friend. When you saw what Steve was looking at, Bucky's smile widened even more. The smile on your face had fallen.

Bucky began to lead the woman over to the happy couple, feeling his heart skip happily as Steve’s gaze focused on the Peggy look-alike. “Hello, I guess congratulations are in order.” He watched you gulp, your eyes flickering between Steve and the woman. “Oh, right! This is my date.” She smiled, introducing herself and shaking your and Steve’s hand. 

Steve squeezes your side and smiles. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Steve, and this is my beautiful fiancee, Y/n.” Bucky frowned, wondering why he was now looking at you, not the woman he had brought. Steve’s eyes moved to Bucky’s icy blue ones and hardened. Bucky didn’t know that Steve wasn’t like him, even if he liked to think he was. Steve really did love you. He had loved you when you first met and loved you through it all. No other woman could compare to you, and Bucky had to realise that. 

Months after the party had passed, and Bucky tried everything to get rid of you, to hurt you. But it seemed like nothing fazed you anymore. Steve had clouded your mind from Bucky, and he couldn’t even ruin your wedding. 

Bucky sat outside, glaring at everything, not noticing Steve making his way over. “You know, she never did anything to you.” His gaze moved, and he glared more, “I don’t know why you hate her, and I don’t care anymore. You need to stop trying to ruin our happiness, do you understand?” Steve stared into the distance, where you stood, hand placed gently on your stomach.

“Please, you don’t love her.” He grunts as Steve slaps him across the back of his head. 

“Shut the fuck up. I love that woman with my entire being. We’re happy, Bucky. You should’ve been there as my best man. You should’ve been happy for me. You should be the fucking godfather to my child! But for some fucked up reason, you hate my wife. She treated you like a human from the beginning, and you just threw that kindness away. For what fucking reason?” Bucky stared at his old friend as Steve spoke, tears in his eyes with every word. “You don’t even have one. I don’t even know who you are anymore.” 

And with those words, Steve left, leaving Bucky alone. And for many years, Bucky would continue to be alone.

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[diamondcitydarlin]

Talk of spoilers (and that one big spoiler scene I posted) below!!!

Okay I'm calling this now and I hope I won't be wrong lmao, but now we know that there's a plot about Beej's ex-wife coveting his soul for her own immortality, I will be damned if that isn't followed up by Lydia saving him (esp as it seems her own fiancee is going to turn out to have been using her the whole time as well, which Beej will help her find out). Like idk maybe that's why he gets comically inflated, he refuses to let Dolores own him anymore and so she makes to, like, perma-kill him but Lydia's like no, actually, you don't get to say what happens to his soul anymore because he's MY husband now and something about this actually finalizes the new marriage and saves him. By making his ex-marriage about his SOUL of all things and how Dolores uses it to steal his for her own ends, I think that definitely implies and opens the possibility to Lydia willingly saving him/his soul with their marriage as he does her (and his new family uwu) and that also implies they'll have built a bond/rapport enough to that point to warrant it!!!! Do yall see what I'm saying? Do you get the vision?? Tim Burton is going to EAT and leave no crumbs with this comical gothic love story, I fear

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I asked a coworker who works in a different department to leave my partner's family alone. I work at the same place as my partner's cousin's ex fiancee. He is the definition of creepy. To get one reason why I think he's creepy let me tell you that my partner's cousin is either 22 or 23. He's 34 or 35. There is a 12 year age difference, and they got together when she was around 18. The family thought it was okay because, "She has been in worse relationships before." And he's autistic, so a few family members say that he's mentally her age anyways. Which is ablest, I know. But, they broke up before Thanksgiving Dinner due to him telling her to not talk to him for weeks. (But he can text her, she's not allowed to text him. It was very confusing.) And he thought he could show up to dinner unannounced after telling her to not talk to him back. She tossed him out to walk home alone. Before they broke up though, he had a habit of cheating on her with mainly coworkers. He told her that she wasn't enough for him. And blamed her for his cheating whenever she went out with friends or family. That's another reason why I think he's creepy. He's also creepy for explicitly talking about the sexual activities he has done with her around family. Piss, feet, only fans, threesomes, everything. Everyone knows what they did because he doesn't keep it to himself. I also think I'm letting my emotions get the best of me, because he also doesn't keep his mouth shut over how he finds my partner attractive. And making requests for my partner to dress up as sexy characters like Rogue the Bat from Sonic. My partner, who is 21. Younger than their cousin. The person he has known when they were a minor. He also at one point dragged me into their relationship drama by accusing her of using to me and my partner to stalk him at work. (To be honest though, she had a habit of stalking him at work to catch him cheating. To the point where a cop was called to stop her, she got dropped off at a mental health place because she spat at the cop. I sort of understand why he accused me of that. But it still pisses me off that he would drag me into this while barely knowing me at the time. All of that because I asked for my partner to come get me ibuprofen on my lunch, and he happened to cross paths with us at work.) Anyways, point aside. He keeps trying to talk to the cousin, and she keeps flip flopping between rationally knowing that she shouldn't and saying that she deserves him. Even though within a month of breaking up, he asked out 5 COWORKERS to dinner. He is actively treating her like a side piece. But it's obvious she's gonna try getting back with him the moment he can't get anyone to sleep with him. I don't want him in her life again and by proxy my partner's. My partner is scared of him, and I feel protective. Would I be the asshole to tell him to please make up his mind and stay out of the cousin's life. I feel like it would be unprofessional to bring up family drama into work. He has a higher position than I do, and is friends with my bosses. I could risk my first job. But I hate how scared he makes partner.

What are these acronyms?

[m9rtality]

Always an angel, never a god.

PART TWO

“Always an angel, never a god.”

I sat and watched as my boyfriend Dazai Osamu flirt with my best friend while he sat right next to me. I watched as he complimented her beauty and told her that she looked like a goddess, that her beauty matched a Juliet rose. Juliet roses were his favorite flower, he always said my beauty matched a regular red rose, a flower he claimed was over favored and boring.

“Always the artist, never the muse”

I sat silently as I sketched out a picture of my fiancee Osamu Dazai with my best friend, he had requested I drew my best friend and him as his birthday present, because she had already bought him a present he had wanted dearly, matching rings. But not with me, with her. I watched as he opened her gift and jumped up with excitement and love filling his eyes, I watched as he hugged and spun her around before taking her hand and putting the ring with ‘D.O’ engraved in it on her left ring finger before she put the other ring with ‘R.F’ on his left ring finger as well.

I cleared my throat as I stood up and handed Dazai the present I had made them, it was a painting of the two together. They were smiling as they sat on a bench in the park on a beautiful winter day, all Dazai said was “Thanks.” and kissed my cheek before holding her hand and walking to his room to hang up the art piece of the two.

“Always an option, never the first.”

I felt tears in my eyes as I heard my husband Osamu Dazai telling Riko that she was always his first choice, telling her that he always loved her but settled for me just because he couldn't have her. To which she giggled softly, her angelic voice telling him to quiet down because I’d start crying if I heard his words, and she was right. I cried softly as he laughed as well and told her “They’re such a crybaby, and maybe if I found out I’d be freed from their tight hold on me.” Riko giggled again at his words and through the crack of the door I saw them kiss, passionately.

Osamu never kissed me like that, he never kissed my lips. Instead he kissed my cheek or forehead but never the lips that craved his against them. His arms wrapped around Riko’s waist as he swayed the two slowly as they kissed. He never held me, never wrapped his arms around me as if I was going to disappear, hugged me as if I was the only person he needed, touched me as if my body was made for his and his body was made for me. So why did he act that way with Riko?

“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride”

I stood behind where Riko Fujisaki Dazai was meant to stand as she smiled and walked down the aisle while she looked at my ex husband Dazai Osamu, her soon to be husband. I watched him look at her, the way he should've looked at me. He looked at her with so much love in his eyes that it made me sick to my stomach, I watched as the man I married, the man that I chose, the man that I was there for no matter what love another woman, marry another woman, choose another woman, be there for another woman for the rest of his fucking life.

What was so special about Riko that my Osamu chose her over me? She was a rich spoiled girl that bought her way through life and never had to worry about another person a day in her life. I knew what he went through, I saw and helped him at his worsts, I worked my way through life so what the fuck was so special about Riko Dazai.

After their wedding I found myself in a bar, drinking my heart out as I had to witness the man of my dreams, marry me, divorce me and then marry my best friend.

I will always be an angel, but never a god.

.

..

..

“You alright there doll?”

a voice said.

[ilguna]

☼ too close pt2 (Finnick Odair) ☼

summary; it's been a month since Finnick's seen you, and yet he's still having dinner with his ex-girlfriend, making excuses on why you haven't shown up. he can't stomach it anymore, though. he needs to come clean.

warnings; swearing,

wc; 2.5k

notes; highly requested!!

part one.

--

It ends tonight.

Finnick knows he’s said it about a dozen times at this point, but he really can’t continue to lie his way through the situation anymore. Every week when another dinner rolls around, he swears it’s going to be the last time he comes up with an excuse to Annie and Rain on why you can’t attend. 

He means it this time. 

It’s been a month since he’s seen his best friend. That’s thirty days too long. The truth is he should’ve fixed everything the day after you told him how you feel. He should’ve gone home that night and called Annie to tell her the truth about the engagement. He should’ve showed up at your door the next morning with an apology on his tongue.

And he didn’t do any of that. At the moment, all of his emotions were too raw, he wasn’t ready to deal with it. Annie had finally told him she missed him, which felt like a dream come true. It was a sign the past eight months weren’t for nothing, he knew it was a matter of time before she came back to him.

She said so herself, he was the best boyfriend she could’ve asked for. She said he’d been amazing to her, he’d given her everything she wanted. The only real issue they had between them was the fact they didn’t share the same interests. Which he worked hard to change, and he practiced that in the pretend relationship he had with his best friend.

Finnick was on a high, under the impression Annie was going to leave Rain. It never crossed his mind that he was damaging you. In his defense, he thought you were on board with what was happening. You never told him otherwise. You agreed to help him. Which is why he has a hard time taking responsibility for the outcome of that night. 

Maybe he should have considered your feelings more deeply when he went to you with the idea in the first place. Maybe you should’ve told him to find someone else because you weren’t comfortable doing it. 

When you handed his family’s engagement ring back to him and confessed your love, it was a nightmare coming true. He never really considered the possibility, because you’d been friends since high school. If you liked him more than a friend, he thought you might’ve told him sooner. 

It felt like a scene out of a movie. Finnick was put into a position he’d never pictured himself having to deal with before. He didn’t know how to react to you telling him you loved him, besides remembering the original agreement. You promised him nothing would change between you two if you pretended to be his fiancee. 

And that’s all he could think about on the drive home.

What he failed to realize up until recently is that you’ve been bottling those feelings for a long time. By the sounds of it, it started at least when he and Annie had begun dating. So, he did the math, and the time has by far been one of the hardest pills to swallow during this past month. 

It came out to two and a half years.

It’s no wonder why you were so upset, why you couldn’t stomach it anymore. He would go crazy, too, watching someone he loved get stuck on another relationship. If they asked him to act as their fiance for months on end, while they were completely oblivious of how he felt.

Finnick sighs, twisting the heirloom engagement ring between his thumb and forefinger. A week prior, Annie noticed it was sitting in the bathroom in a jewelry bowl you made for him. It’s in the shape of a seashell to match a theme you picked out for him. You’d gotten tired of almost losing your jewelry down his sink, so that was the solution.

Annie brought it out to Finnick, asking why you didn’t have it with you. Or actually, why you didn’t have it on your finger. Her tone of voice rubbed him the wrong way, as if you were a shitty fiancee, implying you were forgetful. He got snappy back, telling her that he wanted to get it cleaned for you because the polish was old and wearing off.

In reality, he’d made a habit of playing with it when he thought of the different ways he could apologize to you and mend the broken friendship. Rain took the ring from Annie, inspected it, and then offered for his brother to make it look brand new, if Finnick wanted. He accepted, Rain dropped the ring into a tiny velvet bag he had on him for occasions like these—apparently he does this often for friends—and took it.

Finnick just got it back tonight, and he’s already back to messing with it. 

He gently sets the ring down on the table, using his hand to cover it from his sight. He turns his attention to the plate in front of him, finding the dinner Annie cooked and brought over. She’s not the best chef, but there was one recipe she perfected. By coincidence, it was his favorite home cooked meal his mother used to make on special occasions.

He’s had a couple of bites from his plate, but it doesn’t taste the way it used to when he was dating her. In fact, it’s worse. He’s already lost his appetite. He was hoping Rain was going to cook like he said he was, Annie must’ve overruled him. Maybe this is supposed to be another sign from her, telling him that she misses him. 

Finnick doesn’t care.

“When do you think (Y/n)’s coming back from her trip?” Rain asks politely, pushing the buttery rice around his plate with a fork. Not even he’s hungry for what she made.

“Soon.” Finnick says, taking a breath to say something more, maybe about how she’s enjoying her parents’ company too much, but the words don’t come out. All it’ll be is another lie.

“Really?” Annie asks, face twisting. “You said that she would be home sometime this week, before the dinner.”

“Did I?” Finnick asks, eyebrows drawing in. He doesn’t even remember what they had for dinner last week, much less the lies he told. Or if any of it was mixed with the truth. How did you manage to keep Annie and Rain convinced you two were engaged for so long? It’s exhausting.

“Yes, Finnick.” Annie’s frustrated, he can tell by the way she shakes her head when she speaks. And the use of his name. “You told me that she’d be here tonight. That’s why I made so much food.”

She motions to the different dishes laid across the center of his dining room table. Earlier, when she and Rain were setting them down, all Finnick could think about was how much leftovers there would be. How much he’d be forced to take and throw away later, because her food doesn’t reheat well. 

This makes Finnick remember a time where Rain told him how thankful he was that you would give them the leftovers. The less he had to eat Annie’s food, the better. Finnick knows he felt the same at one point. Once he started to eat your cooking, he forgot about how horrible he had it for over a year. He’d even gained some weight back.

“Oh, well—” Finnick starts.

“I tried to give her a call.” Annie places her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her palm. “I wanted to ask myself because you’ve been so dodgy, but she doesn’t pick up. Or answer any of my texts. I’ve sent her easily a hundred now, trying to get together with her for a girls night if she doesn’t want to do a couples dinner. Still no answer. It’s kinda rude of her.”

Finnick presses his lips together. You probably blocked her after the first couple of messages and calls. Like you did to him. He tried to reach out when he got his head screwed on right, and you were reading the texts at first. And then you stopped, it’s all just left on delivered now.

“She’s not obligated to answer you, babe.” Rain tells Annie. 

“I would think so, since we’re friends.” She rolls her eyes, sitting back in the chair. “If the roles were reversed, I’d hope she would check on me.” Annie puts her hand on top of Rain’s. “Which is why I’ve decided that we’re going to stop by her house later this week to see her in person.”

Finnick makes a face, Annie catches it before he can relax. 

“Why’d you look at me like that?” 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He tells her. “If she wanted to talk to you, she would.”

“Finnick, respectfully, I really don’t care what you think.” She waves her hand. “I’m tired of the excuses every week. First it was that she was sick, and then she made other plans, and now she was on a week and a half trip. You told me she’d be here today, and you don’t even remember it.” 

“Is she mad at us?” Rain asks.

“No.” Finnick shakes his head. “No, she’s fine.”

“Then where is she?” Annie asks. “Because you’re clearly lying.”

Finnick sucks in a breath, holding it. He’s caught. Annie can see right through his lies better than anyone. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’s been doing some investigating in the background. The only reason why she didn’t figure out the engagement was because you noticed how observant she could be, she likes to be correct.

“Not…” Finnick starts, trailing off. He doesn’t want to do this. He would rather hide. “Not everything is what it seems between (Y/n) and I.”

“What do you mean?” Annie asks.

He averts his eyes. “We’ve been having problems. I haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks, since the last time we all had dinner together.”

The room gets quiet, Rain is the first to speak. “Why?”

“We’re—uh—we’re at different places right now.” Finnick stutters. “You know.”

“No, I don’t know.” Annie’s eyes have narrowed. 

“Is it the engagement? You two did kinda jump the gun on it.” Rain says.

“Yes.” Finnick says, almost going in the right direction. “Yes, we don’t think we’re ready for that quite yet. It was the wedding planning, it was freaking her out.”

“That’s not it.” Annie says. “Come on, Finnick.”

“Well… it’s not completely a lie.” He reasons, swallowing hard. “We’re definitely not ready for that type of commitment.”

Finnick cringes inwardly, did he really just say that? Commitment? As if Annie didn’t say the exact same thing to him? He’s using his past breakup to get him out of this conversation faster. Pathetic.

“Why?” Annie emphasizes.

Finnick opens his mouth, and then closes it. “We weren’t actually engaged.” He says slowly, as if it’ll make him feel better. He can feel his face getting hotter, thinking about what to say next, the why. Is the air conditioning even working in his apartment? “I asked her to pretend to be my fiancee because…” 

The words won’t come out.

“Because?” Annie prompts.

“Because,” Finnick swallows hard, “I had feelings for you. I loved you. When you told me that you were dating Rain, I was jealous. And so I asked (Y/n) to be my fiancee, I wanted you to regret leaving me.”

“Uh…” Rain lets out, disturbed. He looks between Annie and Finnick, clearly not liking the conversation. “Maybe we should leave.”

Annie holds up a hand to silence her boyfriend. “You wanted to make me jealous? Why would you think we’d get back together?”

“That doesn’t matter.” Finnick tells her. He’s beginning to feel better, like the weight of the lie has already been lifted off his chest. “I don’t feel that way anymore.” He gets to his feet. “If this mess has taught me anything, it’s that you’re not worth it.” 

“What?” Annie asks, standing up from her chair. “I’m not worth it?”

Finnick ignores her, looking at Rain. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I actually intended on forcing her to break up with you. And I agree, you should probably leave.” He turns his head to eye Annie. “It was a mistake trying to keep you in my life, Annie.”

Annie flinches as if a pot of boiling hot water has been thrown on her. “A mistake? You just said you were trying to get me back? You’ve already changed your mind?”

“Annie.” Rain says, still seated.

Finnick’s expression is filled with disgust. “Why do you care? You’ve got your boyfriend right next to you.” He reminds her. “I have missed (Y/n) more than I ever missed you. I would rather have her in my life. She actually makes me happy. You made me miserable.”

—

Finnick adjusts the vase of flowers, arranging them to face the front door for when you answer. He was lucky there was still a florist open tonight, since tomorrow is a holiday, almost every place was closing early. It didn’t help that Annie had a meltdown in his dining room, it took both Rain and Finnick to get her out of the house.

Finnick had to promise to give Rain his dishware back later this week. He doesn’t think they’re going to stay together for much longer. Especially considering that Annie admitted she was thinking about leaving Rain soon. If it wasn’t awkward before in the room, it was after that.

He takes a breath, raising his fist to knock on your door.

He can do this.

Finnick knocks three times, and then takes a step back to wait. It feels weird being back here after being away for so long. A month was definitely too long. He wouldn’t blame you if you took a look through your window and decided he wasn’t worth your time. If you did, he’d leave you alone. 

The lock on the door turns, he can hear it. All of what he rehearsed comes back to him in one giant wave, overwhelming him instantly. By the time the door opens fully, his mind blanks and his mouth goes dry.

His heart jumps at the sight of you, and then sinks when he realizes how tired you are. The flowers lower in his hands, lips downturning. “I am so, so sorry (Y/n).” Finnick says quietly. “I never meant to hurt you this deeply.”

“I know.” You tell him.

“I never should’ve asked you to do that. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea. I just—”

“You were in love.” You say. “People do stupid things when they’re in love.”

Finnick shakes his head. “You’re not stupid.”

Your face twists suddenly, “I feel like it.”

“You’re not. You’re human.” Finnick says. “We’ve known each other for a long time. It was bound to happen.” 

“Yeah.”

“I miss you.” Finnick murmurs. “I got these for you.”

You push your door open a little further, allowing him to see inside. “You wanna come in so we can talk about it?”

“Yes.” Finnick comes closer. “Thank you.”

[ekaterin1701]

On to episode 6 of Season 1 of Stargate - The First Commandment.

The episode starts with two SG team members running to the Stargate on an alien world as they’re being chased, then we see that there are two other SG members in the group chasing them, then one of the escaping men is killed by one of these SGC members. A gripping opening sequence!

SG1 are sent in to find out what’s going on. We find out that SG9 have been on the planet for a few weeks, the native population thought they were gods because they came through the Stargate, and Jonas Hanson, the leader has gone crazy and started believing he is god. We also find out that Jonas is Sam’s ex-fiancee.

She has a conversation with Daniel where she comments that Jonas always liked to be in control, and when Daniel asks what she saw in him (tactful, Daniel!), she replies that she has a soft spot for the lunatic fringe and mentions that Jonas’ black ops past obviously affected him, all while Jack is walking right behind them… Jonas later tells Sam that she’s ’the healer of the emotionally wounded’ - ouch.

SG1 find out that Jonas told the natives he could ‘turn the sky orange’ so they wouldn’t have to live in caves (due to high radiation levels from the sun), and Teal’c recognises this description as a Goa’uld force field/ shield. Sam, then Jack, are captured by Jonas, but Teal’c, Daniel, and one of the natives (Jamala), find the other part of the shield generator, which they use to prove that Jonas isn’t a god as he can’t activate the shield by himself. And Jonas is killed by his people, who throw him into the Stargate after he’d dialled earth without sending through a code, meaning the iris is closed.

Sam feels guilty for not shooting Jonas when she had the chance, and Jack tells her that killing a man is no badge of honour. A powerful line.

Further Thoughts

I felt this was much darker in tone than the previous two episodes, because the villain of this episode is an ordinary human.

The planet was abandoned by the Goa’uld, who left the shield technology behind, and the natives live in an abandoned mine - I wonder if this planet was mined for naquadah (not mentioned on the show yet) in the past.

Daniel comments that Abydos was an exception as most of the planets used by the Goa’uld are more like this planet (a forest), and Teal’c comments that the Goa’uld terraformed planets. This explains why they all look like British Colombia 😀

I’ve been trying to find an image of the drawing Teal’c does of the valley (which Jamala compliments), but haven’t had any luck yet!

Edit: This is the first time we see them camping off-world - the tents, the dubious-tasting MREs, setting a perimeter, taking watches. I’ve read so many fanfics with these ‘camping off-world’ moments that’ll seem like cliches, so it’s a little odd to see actually it on the show!

[mariana-oconnor]

A Scandal in Bohemia

A slight rant about Irene Adler and her portrayal in adaptations.

Irene Adler is so often portrayed as a love interest (romantic/sexual/intellectual) of Sherlock and I understand why, I do. Sex sells. People want a romance in their story. People historically have been unable to imagine any possible situation in which a man shows interest in a woman that is not romantic or sexual in nature.

It also, in more recent times, allows adapters the chance to extend her part so there's a canonical multilayered female character in their adaptation and they don't have to make one up. BUT

a) Irene Adler isn't a love interest for Sherlock Holmes

and

b) She's not even really an adversary.

People portray Irene Adler as this cunning, often criminal, female character, going through life manipulating people and often as a straight up con woman. And it's dramatic and it's fun and she's really cool like that.

But really, at heart, A Scandal in Bohemia is about a woman who wants to move on and her creepy ex who has some sort of power over her that she's trying to escape.

The line from the original story, in Irene's own hand is:

The King may do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future.

And based on what we've seen of the King, I'm really more inclined to believe her than him. His repeated exhortations of 'what a queen she would have made' if she were 'on his level', when he's marrying an entirely different woman. And multiple other weird and borderline creepy things he says in reference to her.

But look at her actions: She marries in secret. She marries hurriedly. She has been forewarned that the King might approach Sherlock to an extent that she is looking out for him. On realising that Holmes is close, she ransacks her own home and leaves the country. That's not the actions of someone who is in control of the situation. That's the actions of someone who is scared. Someone who has a powerful enemy and is taking measures to mitigate the issues that causes.

We're never told how the king 'cruelly wronged' her. It could be any number of things. Perhaps she's lying. The only facts we have on the matter are these:

The King and Irene had some sort of a relationship that resulted in an indiscreet photograph.

The King wants that photo back.

Irene believes she needs to be married quickly and in secret.

Irene leaves the country rather than risk a confrontation or give up the photograph.

That's a very different story from any adaptation I've seen. And like I've said, I get why, but I feel like we're missing the adaptation of a woman outsmarting and outplaying her abusive ex and making a new life for herself.

Maybe the people writing the adaptations find this motivation boring and unimportant. They want the woman who outsmarted the Great Sherlock Holmes to be worthy of that title and they don't find the tale of a woman outrunning an unpleasant, if not outright abusive ex to marry someone she actually loves to be grand or dramatic enough (and given the way his story changes, I'm not going to rule out extreme gaslighting here, man seems unable to keep his story straight and weirdly possessive). Of course 'The Woman' must be a brilliant mastermind. Of course she's manipulating everyone around her. Of course she is. Only that kind of woman could possibly outwit our hero. /sarcasm

Also, Godfrey Norton deserves to be adapted more. This is a man who clearly trusts and supports his fiancee/wife. He's totally prepared to drop his very respectable job as a lawyer at the drop of a hat to run away with her. I assume from those facts that he has at least some awareness of the situation and supports her. Godfrey Norton is a gentleman and a scholar.

ETA: I'm not saying that she's not brilliant. She is brilliant. Her disguise fools Holmes, she sees through his disguise and his scheme. She manages to keep him out of her plans to the extent that he's playing catch up the whole time. She absolutely defeated Holmes. But she's also compassionate - she cares for the old man Holmes portrays - she's in love with her husband, and she's understandably scared. None of that detracts from her brilliance, in fact it serves to make her more brilliant if anything. She's capable of doing these things while she's clearly upset and worried.

Adaptations tend to ignore those qualities - the more feminine qualities? She's not brilliant in the way that people want her to be brilliant. It often seems like they're not looking for Irene Adler, they are looking for a female Moriarty.

[bacchanal-if]

I've been tagged by @if-mirrormine to do this fun game!

make a poll of your favourite female characters and see which your followers like the most.

I will be tagging @brightest-stars-if, @night-market-if, @shepherds-of-haven, and @darkfictionjude, whose female characters have an unfairly critical (not to mention sexist) time of it in her asks. There is, of course, no pressure or expectation for any of you to play along! I am merely curious as to your answers! 💜

On to why I chose these... (be aware of spoilers)

Annie Wilkes:

She is absolutely terrifying. Just when you think you've figured her out, she proves you wrong, and I adore her for it. Of course, when I say adore, I do not say I agree! Merely that I love how her character is written. She takes a lot of assumptions it's easy to make (or hope for) and tosses them out the window. Phenomenal. I still need to watch the movie!

Carmilla:

Absolutely the most one dimensional character on this list, but a sweet, seductive, sapphic, 19th century "we're just friends but we sleep in the same bed" vampire who was in all likelihood an inspiration to another, more famous vampire story, Dracula? Forgive me this indulgence 😌

Elizabeth Bennet:

A "basic" choice, but a popular one for very good reason. She lives, she breathes, she is her own person and will not compromise for it. Miss Bennet is strong and self-possessed, but she is also vulnerable to her feelings, making her more than just that.

Elle Woods:

Another popular choice, but how many female characters do you see who are strong, competent, and aggresively feminine? She was groundbreaking. Even when she tones down her wardrobe by the end of the movie, she still wears designer and bright red lipstick, and it's her knowledge of the beauty industry that gives her a decisive win. And you can't forget how female-positive she is with all the other women, turning the stereotype of women being catty to each other (her ex's new fiancee) on its head.

Marge Gunderson:

She's a bit similar to Elle Woods but in a different vein. She is heavily pregnant, a fully supportive, sweet, and tender wife who will cook breakfast for her husband, and she is acutely aware of the world around her, showing incredible ability to connect the dots, which makes her an incredible detective.

Blanch Devereaux:

The slut-shaming jokes at her expense are endless, but they only make her stronger and you love her for it 😂 She is unapologetically up for a good time any time, but she isn't just a slut (affectionate), she has a career she is proud of, her own vulnerabilities, and some of the most cutting lines in the show. I wish there were more sex-positive female characters like her.

[mishy-mashy]

Fourier never appeared in the main series, but man, he's actually really funny. Absolutely like Subaru in his behavior but less cringe that stems from realism and second-hand embarrassment. Just friends being friends

Since I got my hands on that EX novel, I'm gonna pitch some moments of him so he's at least remembered if his name is brought up. I'll include some pictures for reference, and won't include the whole thing to avoid spoilers

1. This one can be found on the wiki as is: he fell in love with Crusch at first sight, but the moment she saw him, she threatened him with a knife in his own house—she then proceeded to almost attempt suicide for her mistake

2. He's so much like Subaru. He's loud, brash, in love with a girl at first sight, has small worries that he blows out of proportion unless they're absolutely important and life-changing like impending death, falls to his knees in anime-style sulking when told he's not as manly/strong as he wants to be to the girl he likes...

3. After seeing Crusch, you see how there's a guy chasing him in the first picture? That's his tutor. Fourier proceeded to slap him in the face ("MY EYE!!" screamed in comical fashion), drag him down a hall, and make him hit his head on every column and wall in existence

4. In the second picture, where Crusch holds a dagger, Fourier backtracks over it a lot like Subaru would

Fourier: Who would give their daughter a dagger on their birthday? They've no sense.

Crusch: Your Highness, I asked for this dagger from my father as a gift that day.

Fourier: Yep! Your father's the most sensible man ever! Daggers, wonderful gifts to young girls, they are!

5. That illustration of him and Crusch in a sword fight? He did that so Crusch would wear a dress.

Crusch sees him about to fall over like a shaking fawn, pathetic with trembling legs and supporting himself on his sword. He's exhausted and wanting to pass out or cry, and Crusch is like "Should we stop?"

And Fourier is all "NO!" and charges in with war cries the entire time.

"YAAAAAHHHH! CRUUUSCH! WEAR A DRESSS!!!"

I crap not, that's all he shouted, and it kinda scared Crusch.

"Wear makeup! Like flowers! Wear jewelry! Show me that beautiful smileeee!!! Uwaaaaaa!!!"

That's his motivation. It's hilarious and also sad, because he knows he probably hurt Crusch a lot for not letting her wear dresses. He's so exhausted by the end of it that he literally passes out on the ground after Crusch cedes it's her defeat

6. He didn't know Ferris was a boy. So when he had Ferris pose as his fiancee after Crusch couldn't so he could turn down his marriage prospect,

He did so, thinking Ferris was a girl. He only found out afterwards.

Also, before they actually went through with the plan, Fourier was raring to pretend being Crusch's lover, and getting all flustered at the idea. Imagine servant Subaru being all blushy over going on a date with Emilia and wiggling around. Not very different

"M-Me... and Crusch..!!"

"Compose yourself, my prince!"

- Fourier and Ferris, off of memory

7. The castle rumored that Fourier was gay, because he declared he loved Ferris, no matter his gender.

"As long as you're you..!"

Which is really sweet (how Fourier loves him). Still, Ferris worried he hated him after the reveal.

Ferris and Crusch are discussing this new rumor as Ferris is afraid of confronting Fourier after he learned he was a male... then His Highness comes barreling in, basically screaming and crying

"Crusch! Ferris! It's horrible, oh so horrible! I need you two now through the worst struggle of my life! Where are my two trusted people?!"

Because he literally just heard the rumor himself.

I think he was afraid that Crusch wouldn't love him if she thought he was batting for the other team, and that's why he stressed over the rumor? He also feared Crusch not liking him if he got fat

He's so fricken funny and this is just from me skimming the book. I haven't sat down to read it through, but just by skimming, Fourier and Subaru behave so similarly that it's just- my gosh.

Do Ferris and Crusch look at Subaru and think of the prince? When Subaru shouted and disrupted the Royal Selection gathering, and Julius probably saw Joshua, did those two see Fourier?

Granted, Fourier is more wise and composed than Subaru, and probably would've been more graceful about his interruptions, but the shouting of what he wants and thinks when riled up? The "wisdom" (knowledge) that comes out of nowhere, which both Fourier and Subaru have? (Fourier from instinct, Subaru from Return By Death)

Fourier wanted so badly to let Crusch be a woman, and fawned over her beauty and just wanted her to enjoy typical things of women. Subaru kicks his blanket like it's personally assaulting him, just thinking of multiple Emilias as he tries to sleep, and isn't afraid of showing his affection throughout the entire series

On the point of affection, neither of them are afraid of showing it to people they care about. Subaru braids hair, plays with kids, compliments outfits and smiles, Fourier hugs and tells his dreams of futures with his friends and has dances with them, etc.

(They even have the penchant of acting like things are fine to Julius by not telling him anything before they literally collapse in front of him [Fourier in a carriage, Subaru being possessed], leaving Julius to deal with them when things go south)

(On that note, it's sweet that Julius always calls for Ferris when someone is hurting, because he knows who can help best)

Anyway, Fourier? Funny kid. Resembles Subaru. Parallels can probably be drawn from them. Is important to the development of Crusch and Ferris, so it's not bad to remember him. The history of the royal family should come into play when regarding the Archbishop of Lust and Felt, too.