#Fiction: Folklore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hayatheauthor · 4 days

Text

Writing Rage: How To Make Your Characters Seem Angry

Anger is a powerful emotion that can add depth and intensity to your character's personality. If you're facing issues realistically expressing your characters' rage, here are some quick tips to help you get the ball rolling. Whether your character is seething with quiet rage or exploding in a fit of fury, these tips will help you convey their emotions vividly to your readers.

Facial Expressions

Furrowed Brows: Describe the deep lines between their eyebrows, signaling frustration or intensity.

Tightened Jaw: Mention their clenched jaw, indicating suppressed anger or tension.

Narrowed Eyes: Highlight how their eyes narrow, showing suspicion, irritation, or anger.

Raised Upper Lip: Note the slight curl of the lip, suggesting disdain or contempt.

Flared Nostrils: Describe how their nostrils flare, indicating heightened emotions like anger or aggression.

Body Language and Gestures

Crossed Arms: Show their defensive stance, portraying resistance or defiance.

Pointing Finger: Describe them pointing accusatively, conveying aggression or assertion.

Fist Clenching: Mention their clenched fists, symbolizing anger or readiness for confrontation.

Hand Gestures: Detail specific hand movements like chopping motions, indicating frustration or emphasis.

Aggressive Posturing: Describe them leaning forward, invading personal space to intimidate or assert dominance.

Posture

Tense Shoulders: Highlight their raised or tense shoulders, indicating stress or readiness for conflict.

Upright Stance: Describe their rigid posture, showing control or a desire to appear strong.

Stiff Movements: Mention their jerky or abrupt movements, reflecting agitation or impatience.

Eye Contact

Intense Stares: Describe their intense or prolonged gaze, signaling confrontation or challenge.

Avoiding Eye Contact: Note how they avoid eye contact, suggesting discomfort or a desire to disengage.

Glaring: Mention how they glare at others, conveying hostility or disapproval.

Dialogue

Raised or strained tone with variations in pitch reflects heightened emotions.

Short, clipped sentences or abrupt pauses convey controlled anger.

Use of profanity or harsh language intensifies verbal expressions of anger.

Volume increase, from whispers to shouts, mirrors escalating anger levels.

Monotonous or sarcastic tone adds layers to angry dialogue.

Interruptions or talking over others signify impatience and frustration.

Aggressive verbal cues like "I can't believe..." or "How dare you..." express anger explicitly.

Reactions

Physical Reactions: Detail physical responses like increased heart rate, sweating, or trembling, showing emotional arousal.

Defensive Maneuvers: Describe how they react defensively if someone tries to touch or talk to them, such as stepping back or raising a hand to ward off contact.

Object Interaction

Aggressive Handling: Show them slamming objects, throwing things, or gripping items tightly, reflecting anger or aggression.

Use of Props: Mention how they use objects to emphasize their emotions, like slamming a door or clenching a pen.

Descriptive Words:

Verbs:

Roared with fury, expressing unbridled anger.

Snapped in frustration, indicating sudden irritation.

Shouted angrily, releasing pent-up emotions.

Glared fiercely, showing intense displeasure.

Slammed objects in rage, symbolizing anger's physical manifestation.

Grunted in annoyance, displaying impatience.

Raged vehemently, portraying uncontrolled anger.

Adjectives:

Furious and incensed, conveying intense anger.

Seething with rage, bubbling beneath the surface.

Livid and fuming, exhibiting visible anger.

Agitated and irritated, showing growing impatience.

Enraged and wrathful, expressing extreme anger.

Vexed and irate, indicating annoyance.

Infuriated and incandescent, highlighting explosive anger.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and publishing tips for authors every Monday and Thursday! And don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey!

170 notes · View notes

writingwithcolor · 3 months

Text

[Running Commentary] Zombies are Zombies: Cultural Relativism, Folklore, and Foreign Perspectives

She obviously started getting into media in Japan, and (from my research into Japanese media and culture), Japan’s movies about zombies are mostly comedic, since due to traditional funerary practices the idea of zombies bringing down society is ridiculous to a lot of Japanese people.

Rina: OP, this you? https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-zombies/

Marika: Counterpoint: Parasite Eve. Resident Evil. The Evil Within.

Rina: Literally all the grody horror game franchises that people forget were developed and written by Japanese people because the characters have names like “Leon Kennedy” and “Sebastian Castellanos”

~ ~ ~

Based on the reception we received the last time we did one of these, the Japanese moderator team returns with another running commentary. (They’re easier to answer this way) (Several of Marika’s answers may be troll answers)

Our question today pertains to foreign perspectives on folklore—that is, how people view folklore and stories that aren’t a part of their culture. CW: for anything you’d associate with zombies and a zombie apocalypse, really.

Keep reading for necromancy, horror games, debunking the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, Hong Kong jiangshi films, Japanese disaster prep videos, and Vietnamese idol pop...

Essentially, in my story there’s an organization who wants to end the world. They think this one woman in particular, a woman of mixed Vietnamese (irreligious, Kinh) and Japanese descent who spent her formative years in Japan, is the person to do it because she’s (for lack of a better term) a necromancer; powers are semi-normal in this world. She prefers not to use her powers overall, but when she does she mostly talks to ghosts and spirits that are giving people issues. She could technically reanimate a corpse but she wouldn’t because she feels that would be morally wrong, not to mention she couldn’t start a zombie apocalypse in the traditional sense (plague, virus, etc.) in the first place.

(Marika (M): Your local public health officials would like to assure necromancers that reviving the dead will not provoke a zombie apocalypse. This is because necromancy is a reanimation technique, and not a pathogenic vector. Assuming that the technique does not release spores, airborne viruses, gasses, or other related physical matter that can affect neighboring corpses in a similar way, there should be no issue. However, necromancers should comply with local regulations w/r to permitting and only raise the dead with the approval of the local municipality and surviving family.)

M: I think it makes sense for most people of E. Asian descent, including Japanese and Vietnamese people, to find it culturally reprehensible to reanimate the dead. I imagine the religious background of your character matters as well. What religion(s) are her family members from? How do they each regard death and the treatment of human remains? Depending on where she grew up, I’m curious on how she got opportunities to practice outside specialized settings like morgues.

M: It’s true, space in Japan is at a premium, even for the dead. You note that most of Japan cremates, but, surely, it must have occurred to you that if there aren’t that many bodies in Japan to raise…she doesn’t exactly have much opportunity to practice with her powers, does she? I yield to our Vietnamese followers on funerary customs in Vietnam, but you may want to better flesh out your world-building logic on how necromancy operates in your story (And maybe distinguish between necromancy v. channeling v. summoning v. exorcisms).

Rina (R): OP, this you? https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-zombies/

M: Counterpoint: Parasite Eve. Resident Evil. The Evil Within.

R: Literally all the grody horror game franchises that people forget were developed and written by Japanese people because the characters have names like “Leon Kennedy” and “Sebastian Castellanos”

R: And yes, the Tofugu article uses Resident Evil and those games to support its theory, with the reason that they are set in the West. But that only suggests that Japanese people consider zombies a Western thing, not that Japanese people consider zombies nonthreatening if they were to exist.

M: Same with vampires - series like Castlevania also use Western/ European settings and not “Vampires in Japan '' because vampires just aren't part of our folklore.

(M: Also, realistically, these series deal with individuals who quickly perish after their bodies are used as hosts for the pathogen in question, rather than the pathogen reanimating a corpse. Although the victims are initially alive, they soon succumb to the pathogen/ parasite and their organic matter then becomes an infectious vector for the disease. It should be noted, infecting ordinary, living humans with viruses to grant them elevated powers, is not only a major violation of consent and defies all recommendations made by the Belmont Report (in addition to a number of articles in the Hague Convention w/r to the use of WMDs) and is unlikely to be approved by any reputable university’s IRB committee. This is why the Umbrella Corporation are naughty, naughty little children, and honestly, someone should have assassinated Wesker for the grant money.)

R: wwww

From what I know Vietnam didn’t have a zombie movie until 2022.

R: Do you mean a domestically produced zombie movie? Because Vietnamese people have most certainly had access to zombie movies for a long time. The Hong Kong film Mr. Vampire (1985) was a gigantic hit in Southeast Asia; you can find a gazillion copies of this movie online with Viet subs, with people commenting on how nostalgic this movie is or how they loved it as a kid.

M: “Didn’t have a [domestic] zombie movie” is not necessarily the same thing as “Would not have made one if the opportunity had arisen.” None of us here are personifications of the Vietnamese film industry, I think it’s safe to say we couldn’t know. Correlation is not causation. It’s important to do your research thoroughly, and not use minor facts to craft a narrative based on your own assumptions.

(R: …Also, I did find a 2017 music video for “Game Over” by the Vietnamese idol Thanh Duy which features… a zombie apocalypse.)

youtube

(R: The MV has a very campy horror aesthetic and zombie backup dancers (which I love, everyone please watch this lol). But the scenes at the beginning and end where people are biting their fingers watching a threatening news report clearly establish that the zombies are considered a threat.)

So at one point, she laughs about the idea and remarks how ridiculous it is to think zombies could end the world. What I’m struggling with are other ways to show her attitude on the issue because I’d assume most non-Japanese readers wouldn’t get why she thinks like that. Are there any other ways to show why she thinks this way, especially ones that might resonate more with a Japanese reader?

R: The problem is this does not resonate in the first place. Your line of thinking is too Sapir-Whorf-adjacent. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, otherwise known as linguistic relativity theory, claims that language shapes cognition—that you can’t conceive of something if you can’t express it in your language. This is a very weak theory that you can easily bring evidence against: think of the last time you felt an emotion you had a hard time putting into words; just because you didn’t have the language for it doesn’t mean that you didn’t feel it, nor does it mean that you won’t be able to understand or recognize it if you feel it again. Similarly, it’s not a sound assumption to say that if some kind of subject matter does not exist in a culture, then people of that culture couldn't possibly conceive of it. This excerpt from linguist Laura Bailey sums it up quite well.

M: Just because ghosts may be more culturally relevant doesn’t mean that zombies (or vampires, or whatever) are nonexistent in a Japanese or Vietnamese person’s imagination when it comes to horror and disaster.

R: Really, if anything, Japanese people are much more attuned to how easily a society’s infrastructure can be destroyed by a disruptive force without adequate preparation. Japan is natural disaster central. A Japanese person would know better than anyone that if you aren’t prepared for a zombie epidemic—yeah it’s gonna be bad.

M: Earthquakes, tsunami, typhoon, floods: Japan has robust disaster infrastructure out of necessity. 防災 or bousai, meaning disaster preparedness is a common part of daily life, including drills at workplaces, schools, and community organizations. Local government and community agencies are always looking for ways to make disaster and pandemic preparedness relevant to the public.

M: Might “zombie apocalypse prep as a proxy for disaster prep” be humorous in an ironic, self-deprecating way? Sure, but it’s not like Japanese people are innately different from non-Japanese people. Rather, by being a relatively well-off country practiced at disaster preparation with more experience than most parts of the world with many different types of disasters (and the accompanying infrastructure), it likely would seem more odd to most Japanese people within Japan to not handle a zombie apocalypse rather like might one handle a combination of a WMD/ chemical disaster+pandemic+civil unrest (all of which at least some part of Japan has experienced). Enjoy this very long, slightly dry video on COVID-19 safety procedures and preparedness using the framing device of surviving a zombie apocalypse.

youtube

M: Living in Los Angeles, I’ve often experienced similar tactics. We do a fair amount of advance and rehearsed disaster prep here as well. In elementary school, the first and last days of class were always for packing and unpacking home-made disaster packs, and “zombie apocalypse” simulations have been around since I was in middle school for all kinds of drills, including active shooter drills, like the one shown in this LAT article. The line between “prepper” and “well prepared” really comes down to degree of anxiety and zeal. So, it wouldn’t be just Japanese people who might not be able to resonate with your scene. The same could be said for anyone who lives somewhere with a robust disaster prevention culture.

M: A zombie apocalypse is not “real” in the sense of being a tangible threat that the majority of the world lives in fear of waking up to (At least, for the mental health of most people, I hope so). Rather, zombie apocalypse narratives are compelling to people because of the feelings of vague, existential dread they provoke: of isolation, paranoia, dwindling resources, and a definite end to everything familiar. I encourage you to stop thinking of the way Japanese people and non-Japanese people think about vague, existential dread as incomprehensible to each other. What would you think about zombies if they actually had a chance of existing in your world? That’s probably how most Japanese people would feel about them, too.

228 notes · View notes

valdevia · 1 year

Text

The Mermaids of River John, 1918. This town in Nova Scotia has seen many stories of animals described as mermaids over the years. This picture caused a lot of debate, and although many dismissed it as a hoax, some still believe it to be real.

#mermaid #folklore #fiction #horror art #photoshop #vintage

3K notes · View notes

4vschy · 1 year

Text

taylor swift icons

salve, like, coment or reblog!

625 notes · View notes

whereserpentswalk · 2 months

Text

There was a girl whose body was thrown into the ocean when she was still alive. Her father did it with a tearful smile, going out on a boat because she wasn't the person he decided she was, and threw her away for reasons only humans have.

And as she fell, and as the water filled her lungs, the ducks saw her, but they had no pitty on her, saying to eachother: "this girl was killed under the laws of humanity, and we cannot interfere with the law. It is sad what happened, but it was her father's right."

And as she went further down, and closer to death, the schools of fish saw her, but they had no pitty on her, saying to eachother: "this girl is reacting far too violently. If only she was more calm when they thrust her down, then mabye we would spare her. She's too old too, and too masculine, and not even a virgin. We must find a better looking victim to spare."

And she fell so far down that the rays could see her, but the rays didn't spare her, and told eachother: "this girl is weak. Can she not swim, not pull herself up, is water in her lungs enough to hurt her? If she was just a child perhaps we would spare her, but she's old enough to be able to swim out of this herself, even if ropes bind her hands. We cannot spare her."

And eventually she floated down to the sea with no sun, where only the sharks could see her, and the sharks said to one another: "this being has tasted blood in her mouth, yet has no fins to swim with, we must help her."

And the sharks took her, and swarmed her body yet did not eat her. And her skin became grey and rough, and her bones became as soft as the tip of her nose, and her teeth became sharp and plentiful, and her eyes became white and cold. And she could breath as gills grew on her sides. And she could swim, as fins grew on her arms and legs, and a tail grew on her back.

And she lives now as the queen of the sharks, half human half animal, and she finds those who reject and harm their own children, and she takes them to the sea with no sun, where the sharks will be there to judge them.

107 notes · View notes

notaplaceofhonour · 12 days

Text

Hey Jumblr, what’s your favorite Jewish story?

could be real or fiction, could be about Jews or just by a Jewish author/creator, could be from the Bible, from the Talmud, from folklore, from wherever, just reblog with your favorite Jewish story whatever it is

I’ll go first: I really love the X-Men, especially the arc of Magneto & Xavier’s relationship, and the story of the golem (I couldn’t pick just one lol)

#runners up were Wolfenstein II: New Colossus Gravity Falls & A Series of Unfortunate Events #jewish #jumblr #jewish folklore #jewish fiction #jewish history #judaism #jewblr #jewish stories

74 notes · View notes

stanningjay · 7 months

Text

Auro, the God of Spring, turns to stone each year at his season’s end, only awakening the following year at its beginning.

For four hundred years, it has been a dreamless sleep for Auro.

This year, he knows he will dream of Alexios until he can walk the earth again.

🖼️ by @crossroadart-seabear

#writing #fiction #queer fiction #gay romance #original fiction #emmaline strange #indie authors #lgbtqia #queer art #support human artists #sword and sandal #greek mythology #ancient greece #ancient rome vibes #fantasy #legends #folklore

148 notes · View notes

batboyblog · 1 year

Text

I keep having an idea for like a Jewish Percy Jackson book series. Basically the idea that Yiddish/Ashkenazi folklore is/was real and like Percy Jackson's greek gods the dybbuks, Golems, demons and all the rest came west to New York City and they're under the city in the subway tunnels and sewers

And I was thinking of two main characters. There's Josh a very modern teenager, who loves ghost hunters, and super natural podcasts and loves his bubbie's stories of Yiddish folklore. He travels into the subway armed with a camera and ghost hunting equipment and comes face to face with....

Yehudah, AKA Hoodie, a young Hassid from Brooklyn. Hoodie's family from hundreds of years have kept the spirts down, fought monsters, and protected the community, first in the old country and now in New York using folk magic and things

Josh is all about science and trying to understand "okay but how does it work?" and Hoodie is very "it's tradition this how its done, please shut up and stop getting in trouble!" A story of two Bar Mitzvah boys studying Torah, dealing with middle school, each other, and being stuck in the tunnels under NYC in the middle of the night facing the horrors

#Percy Jackson #PJO #jewish fiction #jewish folklore #Jewish #Jumblr #Yiddish #new york city

532 notes · View notes

breelandwalker · 1 year

Text

Looking for some fabulous free ebooks to load up on this winter? Go check out the catalog at Global Grey Ebooks, a huge archive of public domain texts. Search by subject, author, title, or keyword, or browse one of the pre-existing categories such as Fiction, Folklore and Mythology, History, or Poetry. I know my fellow witches will want to check out the Esotericism and the Occult section!

You can pick and choose as many titles as you want or purchase a pre-curated selection that covers a particular topic. (The zipped ebook collections make great gifts for bookworm friends from far away!) All proceeds go to supporting the continued existence of the archive, which is maintained by a single tireless worker bee. If you like what you see, please consider donating.

(Keep in mind while browsing that this is an ARCHIVE and these are OLD books. Some texts may contain material that we now know to be objectionable. I would encourage everyone to read critically and to view them as a window into the past and a marker for how far we've come.)

I've been using Global Grey Ebooks for several years now to locate and read hard-to-find ebooks on history and occultism. This is a fabulous resource for anyone with an interest in history, folklore, classical fiction, or classical literature in general.

Check out Global Grey Ebooks and start adding to your personal library today!

#library #books #gift ideas #witchcraft #witchblr #history #philosophy #fiction #ebooks #free ebooks #folklore #mythology #poetry #religion

807 notes · View notes

pers-books · 2 years

Text

The Green Man's Gift - Juliet E McKenna (No Spoilers)

The Green Man’s Gift – Juliet E McKenna (No Spoilers)

The Green Man’s Gift – Juliet E McKenna (Cover art by Ben Baldwin) A teenage boy has turned up in Snowdonia, barely conscious and babbling about beautiful women and fairy feasts. The authorities are busy blaming magic mushrooms but the local wise women say that’s not why the lad is in such a state. They enlist dryad’s son, Daniel Mackmain, to investigate what really happened to the teenager. But…

View On WordPress

#Author: Juliet E McKenna #Books #Fiction: Contemporary #Fiction: Folklore #Review

1 note · View note

writers-hes · 10 months

Text

the one i love most (a. bridgerton x reader)

helpful links: navigation | master lists | rules and guidelines | tag list | fic recs

But I knew you Playing hide-and-seek and Giving me your weekends, I I knew you

(Warnings: cheating, folklore by taylor swift… angst), unedited

Kate was your dear friend but it was Anthony Bridgerton who had your heart. It wasn’t something that you meant…Anthony was just always there. He understood you in ways no one ever has. Maybe it was because of the friendship that you both fostered long ago. Two kids in his mother’s garden, playing hide and seek with his siblings. Your friendship was rooted on solid ground and nothing could have ever ruined it.

When Edmund Bridgerton died, it was you who helped Anthony through it all. He said it himself one afternoon while you walked through the lush green grasses of the park. You smiled and brushed it aside. He was your friend, it was the least you could do. Anthony was grateful for you. Grateful that you stayed in his life despite his shortcomings and his mistakes. You’ve always been there for him and he couldn’t just let you go so easily. It hurt him when you left. It broke him when you told him that you’d never want to receive another letter from him…he didn’t follow.

But everything hurt.

It started one night. You were in a secluded area in someone’s estate, attending the party under the guise of looking for marriage.

“My mother has been pestering me to find a wife,” he chuckled. “I don’t think I could marry yet. There’s so much to do…so much to achieve and I…” words fell from his lips as he watched you tilt your head sideways.

“What is it?”

I wanted it to be you. I want you. I want everything but I’m tied down to my responsibilities and I can’t just want you so wantonly without thinking about anything else.

“I am to attend a picnic with the Sharmas,” he sighed. “The younger sister…Edwina. What do you think of her?”

“Why does it matter? She’s smart, capable, and beautiful,” you replied monotonously. Edwina was all of these things but Anthony wanted something else.

“I think it is Kate who has my heart,” you heard him mutter. You looked up at him, hopelessness stirring in your heart. “But I’m not sure yet,”

“Shouldn’t love be as simple as knowing?”

Kate Sharma was the perfect match for Anthony and you couldn’t even deny it. It was there. They were written in the stars; foretold by the cosmos. You simply had no space in his heart. The shape of Anthony that you so carefully took care of would forever be his but you would never be. It was the same thing when he fell in love with the opera singer. He longed for her whilst he occupied your mind.

“But I want you…”

“Anthony?”

“I want you,” he said. “But if it is one of the sisters who I shall marry for the preservation of the honor of my family, then, I shall,”

Words died down in your throat. Were you not honorable enough for him? You shook your head as he neared.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you since the day I realized that I want you,” he whispered. “Will you allow me?”

One kiss turned into more kisses. Fleeting touches that occurred sometimes. He’d look at you sometimes while you laughed at someone else’s jokes. You’d look away when he’d dance with Kate. Soon, you were travelling the roads less travelled by; wearing Anthony’s garments as to not arouse suspicion. Soon, you were meeting an inconspicuous alleyway that led to a hidden cottage just outside of the city. Only the two of you before he marries Kate tomorrow.

“You’re getting married tomorrow,” you told him.

“But it is you who I want,”

“How many more proposals must I reject for you, Anthony?” you asked but he’d kiss you so you’d never have to think of it ever again.

Tomorrow, when you help Kate prepare for the wedding, you'll have a lump in your throat that you’ll try to swallow. When he puts the ring on her finger, you’d tear up because of how happy you were for the two of them. They’d never know the cross you’d carry in your heart; how terrible you’d feel because Anthony would never be with you. You’d never be his wife. He’d never wake up beside you ever again. You knew that he loved her and you only warmed his bed to keep him from the cold. He’d never know the guilt you’d carry for loving him while he loved someone else. He’d never know anything because at the end of the day, it was Kate whom he loves.

It’s been three days since he married Kate.

He seeked you out in all of those days. He’d come up with a smooth lie about his estate but he’d ultimately end up with you somewhere. He’d hike your skirt an inch higher than what was appropriate and when the sun sets, he’d walk away and let you go. Not today, though. You were set on telling him something important.

“A duke proposed to me,” you muttered while he fixed his belt. He looks at you.

“And what did you say?”

“That I’ll think about it,”

“Say no,” he says, sitting down on the bed, helping you with your corset. “Say no,”

“Why?” you asked. “I’m not getting any younger, Anthony,” you sighed. “My mother wants me to accept his proposal. It’s not everyday I get proposed to by a duke,”

“A viscount isn’t enough for you?” he asks, nibbling softly on your ear.

“No, it’s not like that. You know it isn’t,” you scolded, inching away from him but he holds you closer. “It’s just that…my prospects aren’t as great. Every year, my value dwindles down. This man…he’s kind and considerate. He’s not half as bad and respects me.” Every word seemed to stab Anthony’s heart, twisting it further and further until he was bleeding. “Besides, if I don’t marry, where else will I go?”

“You’ll have me,” he says. “You don’t need a duke to take care of you. I will,”

“And what of my family? What about Kate?” you asked. “Anthony, you’re only mine when we’re together. These clandestine meetings ought to stop soon,”

“Will you make him wait a little bit more? Until I sort things out,” he asks and you nod, your voice betraying you once more. You knew that you had to give an answer soon…but for now, you’ll allow yourself to take Anthony’s word for it. “I promise you’ll never have to look for somebody else to take care of you,”

Between the two of you, you both knew that things would be changing. Anthony has never faced a proposal from a duke before when it came to you. You were right. How many proposals do you have to reject just so you could wait around for him? He knew it was unfair for you but Anthony was a selfish man. He couldn’t imagine himself sharing you with somebody else. He couldn’t imagine losing you and if it took the heavens to come crashing down to do so, he would be more than happy to comply.

He watched as your carriage took you back home. For all everyone knew, you met up with Anthony by the park for an afternoon stroll. It was a daily occurence that shocked no one. Still, when he married Kate, the Ton wondered if these meetings would stop. The town moved on from one gossip to another but one thing was sure…they’d never get over how a married Viscount and a spinster from a respectable family met up every afternoon without lapse.

You sat in the drawing room of your house. You heard the whispers on the street. How shameless! You knew what they said about you but still, there was something inside your heart that bloomed whenever you saw Anthony. You’d never admit it to him and it seems that he’d never say it too but without the verbiage of confessions, you just both knew.

You hated how he made you feel sometimes. It hurt to know that no matter what you did, you’d never take things back. It hurt to know that you were hurting Kate too. She’d never hurt you the way you hurt her. Multiple times…over and over again. Anthony would never know the guilt that consumed you whenever you laid with him…the torment of knowing what’s right but doing what’s wrong because for him, what he was doing was right. He was a selfish man.

The next time you met Anthony with even more confusing feelings was a dinner hosted by your family. He was with Kate, happiness painting his face so effortlessly. Kate made him happy while you looked like you were dying multiple times. You flashed a smile when Kate found you. It was so natural, nobody would ever suspect a thing.

“Kate, you look so beautiful,” you told her. “Marriage life suits you,”

“Anthony treats me well,” Kate laughs. “I heard a duke has proposed to you…?”

“Yes,” you nodded. “I…said yes,”

“What? That’s amazing!” Kate exclaims but you shush her.

“It’s still something that we decided to keep between us,” you confessed. “A moment of peace before the Ton realizes,” You couldn’t look at Anthony who appeared beside Kate.

“Anthony, you can’t tell anyone but our dear friend is spoken for,” Kate whispers and Anthony could feel his world crumble. He showed it with a fake smile and a clench of his jaw.

“What?” he asked, incredulously. “You’re engaged?”

“Yes,” you whispered, looking everywhere but him. “I am,”

“Excuse me for a moment,” Kate says, sensing the tension between the two of you. She knew that you were the closest among the Ton and you were the one to thank for how Anthony turned out. He only ever listened to you and she often wondered if his heart belonged to someone else. Maybe you…but you were engaged now. Surely, she’d never have to worry about that. About you.

“Let’s go,” Anthony says, taking your arm and then dragging you to your room. How scandalous. It hurt to think that for him, he could drag you everywhere else without so much as a word from you. He locks the door behind him and looks at you like you’ve murdered him.

“Is it true?” he demands. “That you’re spoken for?”

“Anthony—“

“Please…just tell me,” he begs. “Is it true?”

“It is,” you nod and he inhales a breath. “I was planning to tell you tonight. He’s kind, Anthony. You’d never have to worry about how he treats me,”

“Break it off,” he says.

“Excuse me?”

“Break off your engagement. It’s my job to take care of you. While it’s early,”

You felt anger bubbling inside you. How could he ask that of you when he could never do the same?

“We can’t keep on seeing each other like this, Anthony,” you tell him calmly. “Kate loves you and I…”

“What about you? Do you love him?”

“I’m engaged to him,”

“Do you love him?”

“I’ll learn to!” you cried. “He’s a great man, Anthony and after we wed in England, he’ll take me away from here and bring me to Scotland,”

“What?” he asked. “He’ll take you away from me? What about me? What about us? You’ll forget about us that easily? Like we were nothing? You know that I need you here. Why are you leaving me? Do you not love me?”

“You can’t do that to me, Anthony,” you tell him. “I could have stayed with you for a lifetime if you weren’t married…but this—everything—doesn’t feel right anymore. I’m hurting Kate. We’re hurting her without her knowing and you’re hurting me.” you cried. “This is all too confusing for me and I’m afraid we have to let it end here,”

“We can’t. We’ve known each other in all of our years. You just can’t leave me here alone.”

“But you are married to Kate! It doesn’t feel right. Do you know what the Ton thinks? I used to think that we could just both run away,” you told him. “I thought about it but it couldn’t happen. You have your responsibilities and I have mine…”

“I need you here,” he begged, sitting down on your bed as you walked towards him. “Just stay here with me. You can marry him…just stay here with me, please,”

“Anthony…”

“Please,” he begs, wrapping his arms around your waist and laying his head on your chest. “You can’t leave me. You’re the only person in this whole world that gets me. You know me more than anyone else. You’re my person,”

“But I don’t know you anymore, Anthony. Ever since you married Kate, everything between us became purely physical. You don’t talk to me anymore. You don’t kiss me the same way you used to. You stopped letting me in,” you said, stroking his hair softly.

“Please. I’ll be better. Kate may be who I am married to on paper but it has always been you,”

“So, why didn’t you choose me?”

Anthony stilled. You’d never know how much he wanted you. You’d never know how much he yearned for you. You’d never know how he had to stop himself from loving you completely because he believes that he’d never deserve your love. He didn’t want to marry in love and you wanted it more than anything. He was tied down to produce an heir. He never wanted to love but you took it from him. He’ll always be the first born. His responsibilities must come first before his whims.

“And then what? We’ll hurt two people?” you asked, hands on his shoulders to push him away. “Anthony, I’m so tired of hurting the people that I love,”

“Am I not who you love the most?” he asks in a small whisper. “You’re who I love the most,”

“So why did you marry Kate?” you asked, breaking away from him. “You’re telling me you love me now when you’re married to someone else. When I’m about to marry somebody else,” you cried, tears flowing from both your eyes. “I’ve done nothing but love you in all our years. I was so, so, so convinced that you were going to marry me. I rejected proposals and prospects because I was holding onto that thread so badly but you never once asked me for a dance,”

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so, so, sorry,”

“If I asked you to run away with me now…would you?”

“Kate is pregnant,”

You could only chuckle as you moved from him.

“Kate is pregnant,” you nodded. “Kate is pregnant and yet, here you are begging for me to stay. You’re about to have a family, Anthony. Why can’t you see that we’re hurting the one we love?”

“Because I love you the most,”

“Kate is pregnant,” you reminded him. “Anthony, we should stop all the emotions that linger. I’m leaving England and you have to leave me too. We’d never be the same. We could never have our nights again. I am thankful for them, trust me…but this—this needs to stop.” you shook your head in disbelief and excused yourself.

Anthony watched as you left your bedchamber. He’d have to save face and attend your wedding soon but for now, he’ll allow himself to nurse his broken heart in the place where you broke it into a million pieces.

Marked me like a bloodstain, I I knew you Tried to change the ending Peter losing Wendy, I I knew you Leavin' like a father Running like water, I And when you are young, they assume you know nothing

cc: @screechingdreamercollectorsblog @pink-lemo @lana-isabelle @evelyn3000 @simran1111 @marrilly @jemimah-b99 @goldeng1rl8 @lovely-him @wreckedsymphony @silvermistt @rexit-mo @chazubagi @freyathehuntress @flourishandblotts-inc @ @bellaiscool

#anthony bridgerton x reader #anthony bridgerton #fanfiction #fan fiction #anthony bridgerton angst #angst #folklore #bridgerton #cardigan #fanfic #fan fic

232 notes · View notes