#jane hangman imagine

[growup-thatbeautiful]

The Alcott

Tags: Jake Seresin x reader, getting back together, short fic, break up and make up, barely a plot tbh

Summary: On a rainy night in Austin, Jake reminds you why you fell in love with him all those years ago.

Warnings: cursing, mild kissing, a lot of prose, breakups, getting back together, jake being a little bit of an ass

A/n: eh, not super happy with it but i wanted it out of my drafts. happy reading to you and 999 followers to me!

——————————————————————————

give me some tips to forget you

“Come with me,” he asks. “Come to school with me.” You both know your answer before he even asks the question. He has his path- the Navy, and you have yours- a job waiting for you in New York. He’s proud of you for getting it, of course he is, but you can’t feel that pride now while he’s asking you to leave that behind for him. Maybe you could do it if you loved him a little bit less.

“Jakey,” you sigh, “Please, let’s not do it like this.”

“There’s no other way to do it,” Jake answers, his tone cool. It’s not the voice you like hearing, especially not aimed at you. You know that Jake can be a cruel, harsh person. He’s shown time and time again from girlfriend to girlfriend. “You’re leaving.” His voice shakes and your heart brakes.

“So are you,” you defend softly. “Come on, we don’t have to do it like this.”

“Maybe,” he says. And he walks away, his blond hair glinting in the moonlight. The confidence in his stride is marred only by a shakiness in his unshakable hands.

You don’t see him again for years.

~*~

i’ll ruin it for you

At some point, you forgive him. It comes naturally, and you don’t think you’ll ever be strong enough to hold it against him.

You went different ways. It happens, you know that now, but the way it happened left scars.

Partners go by, men and women who just aren’t Jake. You love them and they leave you or you leave them- it doesn’t matter, really. They never know you like he did.

You accept that he was your person, your one, and you lost that when you let him walk away.

Some people just don’t get a fairytale ending- or any part of a fairytale. You’re lucky enough to have had a brief view of it.

It’s not like you don’t think about him. Visions of little green-eyed kids running through a manicured lawn with Jake laying out in the sun creep into your mind at weaker moments.

And it hurts to think that it could be with somebody else. That he could be with someone else.

But you forgive him. And you try to move on.

~*~

i think i’m falling back in love with you

Rain falls down around you, blocking the stars from peeking through the clouds. The smell- earthy and sweet- fills the night air, despite the city’s atmosphere. The door to the bar protests its movement when you push it open with a long, drawn out squeal. The neon sign above the door flickers from years of use, the green neon “Alcott” sign long since past it’s prime.

The inside looks the same as it did when you were last here. The dark wood paneling that lines the walls is cracked and a little more faded than it used to be, and the lights are dimmer than you remembered, but the smell of cracked leather is the same. It reminds you of blue eyes and blond hair and a signature grin accented with a toothpick between his teeth.

After all the time away, it still feels like he should be here beside you, a hand planted on your lower back, warmth radiating from his body.

You gravitate towards a booth in the back where you used to spend countless nights, a cold glass sweating rings into the sticky wooden tabletop. The cracked leather of the booth is uncomfortable and vaguely tattered, but it feels like old memories.

From your bag, you pull out a faded yellow notebook and start writing anything that comes to mind. Memories fade with ideas, and your thoughts flow onto the page seamlessly.

This place will always, always remind you of him. It’s the most memorable of your old haunts, a place where you spent countless nights pretending to care less about each other than you really did. It was the place where you lost him and the place where you find him and the place where you fell in love with him.

You’re focused on your work when a figure approaches you and a familiar voice greets you. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here?” That voice, the one you’ve been thinking of, tears you from your writing.

There, standing broad and strong in front of you, is Jake. For a moment you simply stare, thinking it’s a trick of the light. But the gleam in his eyes and the shine of his hair can’t be your imagination.

“Jake?” you ask dumbly. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m giving a speech at the graduation,” he says. “You still live here?” he asks, no judgement in his tone. “You were supposed to do big things in a bigger city.”

“Not everyone can be a naval officer,” you respond with a grin. “And you should know that college dreams don’t work out for everyone. They didn’t for us.” You can’t help but remind him of all the things that happened between you. All those days laying on grainy, Texas clay beaches during weekend trips, sun woven through his hair and his eyes that matches the blue-green water. The late nights cram sessions and coffee runs the morning afterwards, completely enamored by his hand in yours. Laying out on the grassy lawns of campus with a blanket underneath you, iced coffees shared between you, his ball cap backwards and his fingers skimming across the skin of your stomach. “And I don’t live here, I’m just visiting. My cousin is graduating.”

“Murphey?” he asks, light in his eyes. Him and Murph always got along, although they were a strange pairing. Murphey used to visit you some weekends when her parents were busy, and if she stayed with you, it was inevitable for her not to know Jake. “Is she that old now?”

“She’s 22 now. Graduating with an undergrad in nursing. Says she wants to help people,” you explain, pride evident in your voice.

“Fuck,” he says. “That’s unbelievable.”

“Time flies,” you offer. “It’s fucked up, but it happens. Doesn’t feel like it, though.”

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“How’s your mom?” Marie Seresin, when you knew her, was a force just like her son.

The smile that fills Jake’s face is soft and wide, a special one saved for his family. “She’s good. Stubborn as usual, but it’s okay what you’d expect.”

“That’s good. Grace still giving you trouble?” Jake’s sister is just as stubborn as his mother, and she has been a strong advocate for you when you and Jake split up.

“She’s been on my ass to settle down, but that’s what older sisters are for.”

“So I’ve heard. No lucky girl ever got you to buy a ring?” you ask, offering him the seat across from you. He slides into the booth and leans forward on his forearms, the sticky tabletop underneath him.

Jake’s grin doesn’t falter as he takes the question in his stride. “Nope. Many have tried, but to no avail. Deployment doesn’t make it easy.”

“Right,” you say.

“And you?” he asks, and you make yourself busy shoving your things into your bag. “Anyone settle you down?”

“No, I’m too romantic for that.” It’s meant to be a joke, but it falls flat between the two of you. Truthfully, you’re too much in your own head to start something new at this point. “I finally wrote that book, though.”

“Really?” he asks, and that old pride is in his eyes. “I thought you said you were never going to finish it.”

“Yeah, well a few years ago I got some inspiration.” It remains unspoken that the inspiration was him. “I sent you a copy.”

“I didn’t get it,” he says. “But I’ll look for it now.” From the old speakers, an old familiar song starts playing. It’s a country song, one you somehow never learned the name of, one that makes a smile grow on Jake’s face.

“Care to join me, darlin’?” Jake drawls, a smirk on his face as he offers his hand to you, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to dance.”

“How could I? You never let me sit down when we used to come here,” you respond, a grin finding its way to your face.

You fit with him like you never left. His hands on your hips, yours on his shoulders. He’s stronger now, broader too. But he smells the same, like lemongrass and linen.

The music is full of static and not quite loud enough, but you dance on nevertheless. Jake spins you away and pull you in effortlessly, sure of his moves while you don’t know what you’re doing. It’s been a long time since you’ve danced with someone like this.

“I haven’t been the same person since I met you,” Jake says breathlessly. It can’t be because of the dancing. “You’ve changed me, and you know how stubborn I am. That’s no small accomplishment, sweetheart.”

You interrupt and tell him that he doesn’t have to do this, doesn’t have to make you feel better. You’ve forgiven him, and there’s no need to bring up old wounds. Not when they’ve scarred so deep. “Jakey-“

“No,” he cuts you off firmly. “Let me do this. You deserve to hear it.” He waits for your slow nod before he continues, his hands at fists by his side. If he reached out to touch you right now, you couldn’t say no. “We should have fought harder for each other. I should have fought harder. You were- are- the best thing that’s happened to me, and I let you slip away.”

“Why are you telling me this?” you ask. It feels like a cruel trick, him saying these things to you. They can’t be true, can’t make a difference.

“I read your book. I know I said that I didn’t, but I did. There was this line you wrote that said falling in love was the last thing they wanted, but they did it anyway. I don’t think we’ve ever had a say in our paths with each other, but there’s nothing that I’d rather do than fall in love with you again.” It comes out in a rush of words, messy and poetic at the same time. Somehow, it’s everything you want to hear and nothing you thought you’d ever have.

Your answer is uncoordinated and decidedly not romantic. “Are you joking?”

The hurt that passes his face is brief before he recovers. “Darlin’, I’m as serious as I can be. If you’ll have me, I’m here.”

For all your written words, you don’t have an answer for him.

So you do what you’ve wanted to do ever since he walked away that day. You pull him in close to you and kiss him. Electricity flies down your spine and you grab onto his shirt, trying desperately to keep him as near you as possible. Like he’ll fly away in a cloud of exhaust and unspoken words.

But he’s a man of his words, so he kisses you back, his hands cupping your face and roaming your body. He used to know every curve, but you’ll have to reacquaint him now. 10 years is a long time. Though it’s not long enough for you to have forgotten what this is like- being with him. It’s a glass of Whiskey, smooth and burning with just the right amount of heat. It’s fire and smoke and green grass and everything that’s right and good mixed with all things that burn.

“Baby,” he mutters against your lips. “I’ve fucking missed you.” Everything in you screams that you share the same thought.

“I’m here,” you assure him. “I’m here.”

“Good, he says. “Because I’m not letting you go again. We’ve wasted too much goddamn time without each other.”

Part of you knows that this isn’t how things work. People don’t magically come back, and people don’t get swept off their feet in bars on a rainy day. But Jake’s always been a thunderstorm at the least possible time.

You can’t question it when it feels so perfect. Maybe you’ll wake up and realize that this is the aftermath of drinking too much alone or it’s a dream that you’ll turn into a story and sell it to all the other lonely people. You doubt that you’re imaginative enough to create the callouses on his hands or the rough scratch of his jeans. You’re definitely not romantic enough to write the way his lips feel against yours or the desperate edge to his kiss.

But for now you won’t try to wake up. You’re going to keep Jake for as long as you can, and if it hurts you again at some point then you’ll have to heal just like you did the first time.

All the pain in the world is worth it. Worth him. That you know for certain.

#jake seresin #hangman #jake hangman seresin #tgm #top gun #top gun maverick #nova writes #jake seresin x y/n #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x you #jake hangman x reader #jake hangman x y/n #jake hangman x you #jane hangman imagine #jake hangman fic #jake seresin fic #jake seresin fanfiction #jake seresin fanfic #hangman x reader #top gun hangman #hangman fic #hangman fanfiction

[fandomxpreferences]

More Hearts Than Mine Part 11

In which you go dress shopping.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Hangman x afab!reader

Word Count: 1.4k

TW:none

Pinterest Mood Board (this is how I envision it but please imagine whatever you like!)

“Oh my god. That’s the one.” You hear Phoenix exclaim and you laugh at her reaction. This is the fourth dress you’ve tried on and she’s had the same response to each one. You walk up to the mirror in the small boutique and look over yourself.

You do a small spin to see the back and scrunch your nose. “I don’t know.” You say unsure of how you feel about it. “It doesn’t feel like the one.”

“What do y’all think?” You ask turning to the other women who accompanied you. Catherine had insisted on bringing you to a designer shop, stating that whatever you want is yours.

“I think you look breathtaking in anything, but I’m biased.” Your mom smiles and you grin.

“It’s pretty but it doesn’t have that wow factor. I think you should try a few more on.” Jane says and you nod at her.

“That’s what I was thinking too.” You agree before turning to walk back to the dressing room.

The next dress that the bridal consultant puts on you literally has you at a loss for words. You love it and your eyes prick as you imagine yourself walking down the aisle toward Jake in it. The consultant can see your expression and adds a few accessories to bring it all together.

You don’t even have to show everybody to know this is your dress. The door to the room opens and you slowly make your way out to the platform that puts you on display for the group.

The second their eyes land on you, everybody collectively gasps. You give a bright smile and stare at your reflection.

“Okay, that is the one!” Josie declares and you meet her eyes in the mirror as a single tear cascades down your cheek. You nod vigorously and turn to take in the back and train.

“Yeah, I really think it is.” You confirm with a watery laugh.

A few minutes and a dozen pictures later, you’re standing at the counter while they double-check your measurements and place the order.

“Okay,” the consultant begins. “For the dress, veil, and accessories the total comes to just over $9,000.”

You almost choke on your own spit and your eyes bulge. “Excuse me?” You sputter while turning to face Catherine. “You can’t pay that!”

The woman shakes her head gently and places her hand over yours. “I can and I will. Money is no object, especially when it comes to my only sons wife.” She hands over her platinum Amex card and you stand with your mouth gaping like a fish out of water.

Once she’s done paying, you meet the rest of your group outside. “How about lunch to celebrate?” Your mom suggests and Britney eagerly agrees.

“Yes, I’m starving.” She exaggerates and you roll your eyes playfully. You all decide on a place nearby and get in your respective cars to meet there. Your mom and sisters rode with you and the four of you climb into your car.

You’ve barely shut your door when you hear LeeAnn’s voice. “How much was all that? I saw a pair of shoes for $600!” She inquires and your mom frowns at her.

“That’s rude to ask, LeeAnn.” She scolds before turning to face you with an expectant look.

“Really?” You ask and your mom shrugs.

“What? It may be rude to ask but we were all thinking it.” She says while bumping your shoulder gently.

You start the car and glance at your mom. “$9,000.” You utter and her eyebrows shoot up.

“Come again?” She says with complete disbelief and you repeat yourself.

“Holy shit!” Britney shouts and your mom is so taken aback she doesn’t even correct her.

You whip around to face her with an exasperated expression. “I told you they're loaded! Especially now that his mom is divorcing Jacob. She’s bleeding him dry, she pretty much has an endless supply of money. And not assets, like cold hard cash.”

“How much do you think she has?” Britney questions and you shrug.

“Cash? Last Jake heard it was just shy of $500 million and that was almost ten years ago. Investments and assets? Like $1.5 billion. Jake’s dad may be a piece of shit, but he’s a good businessman. He inherited the family oil business and turned it into a tycoon.” You explain and the car falls silent.

“You would never know by looking at them. I mean Catherine very clearly takes care of herself and dresses nicely. But I never would have thought she’s a billionaire.” Your mom comments and you glance her way as you pull into a parking space.

“You know what they say.” You remark. “Money talks, wealth whispers.”

“I guess so.” Your mom concludes as you step out of the car and head towards the restaurant.

Once inside, the eight of you are seated and take a few minutes to look over the menu before ordering. You hand the waitress the laminated book and turn to face your future sisters-in-law.

“So,” you begin. “I’m sorry I didn’t plan anything fancy but after the recent weeks I don’t want to wait.” The two women look at you with anticipation and you smile. “Will you be my bridesmaids?”

You hardly finish your question before you’re met with eager acceptance and you laugh at the women’s reactions.

“Of course!” Josie yells and Catherine shushes her with a small laugh.

Your lips quirk up into a grin that causes the corners of your eyes to wrinkle and your heart warms at their enthusiasm.

Both of your sisters are also bridesmaids and Phoenix is your maid of honor. You’d originally planned to have Britney carry the title, but decided it was better to have your sisters be equal. Plus, Phoenix will be around to help plan the parties and carry out the maid of honor duties.

Two hours later, you walk back into your shared home with Jake after dropping off your family and fling yourself onto the couch. Jake hears you come in and quickly runs to you.

“Hey, darlin’.” He greets you with an adoring look and kneels down to take your shoes off for you. You let out a grateful moan at the relief and give him a tired smile.

“Thank you. My feet are killing me.” You groan and he looks up at you sympathetically.

“How about I give you a foot rub and you tell me about your day?” He suggests and you nod frantically. He joins you on the couch and you turn to place your feet in his lap, sighing as he digs into the throbbing muscles.

“Did you find a dress?” He asks and your eyes twinkle as you think about it.

“I did. It’s beautiful, I think you’re going to love it.” You beam and Jake hums.

“You could make a paper bag beautiful, sweets.”

You roll your eyes but Jake doesn’t miss the glint of affection and blush that creeps up your neck.

“ I feel bad though.” You say softly and Jake frowns. “Why?” He asks and you avert eye contact.

“The dress and accessories were almost $10,000 and then she bought everybody lunch too.” You tell him while running a hand through your hair and he shakes his head.

“That’s nothing to her. She’s spent more than that on a purse before.” He reasons and your shoulders slump.

“I know,” you sigh dejectedly. “But I still feel bad. I didn’t grow up with money like that. It’s such a foreign concept to me that someone has that to just spend, especially on me.”

Jake’s features soften and he opens up his arms. You crawl into them and lay your head on his chest, focusing on the steady beat of his heart. You feel him kiss the top of your head and shift to look up at him.

“Listen to me. You deserve nice things. Hell, you deserve the world. There’s nothing wrong with letting someone give you that.” He says gently and you nod.

“One day I might believe that, but right now it’s weird.” You whisper and Jake squeezes you tighter.

“Well get used to it, pretty girl. As long as you’re with me you’ll never want for a thing, even if I have to cross the ocean to get it.” His tone is light but you can tell he means it with every fiber of his being.

You lean up and press your lips to his and his hand comes up to cup your jaw. You pull back after a few seconds and lean your forehead against his. You feel his thumb run across your bottom lip and open your eyes to see him staring at you already.

“I love you so much.” You confess and he gives you a chaste kiss. “I know, darlin’. I love you too.”

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#jake seresin #Jake seresin imagine #jake seresin top gun #Jake seresin x reader #hangman #hangman imagine #hangman top gun #hangman x reader #top gun imagine #top gun maverick #jake seresin series

[thestarspangledcaptain]

Who/What I Will Write For!

Warning: Mini Essay Ahead

Please Note: If you are requesting, I would prefer if you gave me the desired pronouns for the reader/character!

What I Can / Would Be Comfortable Writing & Or What Topics I Will Cover:

AUs

Expansion of plot lines

Writing for established couples

Reader inserts

Y/N

OC

Any type of romance trope

Platonic relationships

Sibling relationships

Parent relationships (including certain characters as your parent)

Magical beings

Powers

One shots and multi part imagines

LGBTQIA + characters and readers

LGBTQIA + romance

Plot line changes, time changes

Non canonical couples

Canonical couples

Non canon friendships and canon friendships

Small age gaps (when writing for older characters I will made ages fitting with the character) ex: Tony stark. WARNING: If the age gap makes the characters have a legal adult and minor relationship (w the exception of a senior and junior in high school type of thing)

Certain characters (non lgbtq) in lgbtq relationships. For example Natasha Romanoff is a lesbian relationship.

Writings inspired by a song. (I have written work planned out already)

Any shapes and sizes

Angst

Fluff

More steamy scenes (prob up to third base

More serious topics I will cover:

Mental Illness (Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia)

Disabilities (From physical to internal)

Health Issues

Eating Disorders

Self harm

Suicidal thoughts / attempts

Dysmorphia and insecurities

Abusive relationships

Bullying

Surgeries

Fainting

Vomiting (due to ED or illness)

Death

(Car)Accidents

Hospitalization

Sexual assault and rape SURVIVORS and sometimes I may write about a character’s recovery and process of coping with something that traumatic

Therapy

Homophobia

Complicated relationships

Adoption

I will NOT Write anything (no hate to those who enjoy reading some of these things, I just personally would not enjoy writing it or be fully comfortable writing it):

Yandere

Furry related things

Omegaverse

I will absolutely NOT change the sexuality of a character if it is specifically stated (ex. Phastos from Eternals, Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel, Sebastian Smythe, Santana Lopez, America Chavez)

I will NOT write an age gap more than an absolute max of ten years

I will NOT romanticize things in the serious topics I will write for section. They are serious topics and things such as eating disorders are serious, they should not be romanticized. I write things with heavier topics to help people.

Absolutely NO rape scenes

Inappropriate relationships (college student and professor is an absolute no)

smut

I likely won’t redeem people if they’ve done something incredibly evil

Ok here we go! I apologize for the lack of alphabetical order

Avengers/Marvel:

I will for almost any character (mainly excluding some villains)

Any Peter Parker (just request which one you prefer)

X men

Disney:

The princes

Princesses

Big hero six (I will write for hiro exclusively platonically)

Glee:

From Og Cast up to season 4, including Sebastian smythe and warblers

No Sylvester, or schue romance

Harry Potter:

Golden trio

Weasleys

Draco

Cedric

Cho

Luna

Krum

Fleur

Oliver

Seamus

Neville

Young Marauders

Top Gun (+ TG Maverick):

Maverick

Iceman

Goose

Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood

Rooster

Hangman (I adore Jake seresin)

Bob

Phoenix

Coyote

Payback

Fanboy

Non Romantic character relationships I will write for in the Top Gun world:

Cyclone

Maverick

Penny

Admiral Cain

Admiral Warlock

Descendants:

Mal

Evie

Carlos

Jay

Doug

Ben

Jane

Lonnie

Audrey

Uma

Harry

Gil

Percy Jackson TO:

Percy

Annabeth

Grover

Luke

Clarisse

Nico

Tyson

Characters of the following actors (so if the listed actor portrayed a character I will write):

Grant Gustin

Chris Evans

Chris Pratt

Chris Hemsworth

Darren Criss

Dove Cameron

Scarlett Johansson

Emma Wattson

Jennifer Lawrence

Emma Stone

Margot Robbie

Glenn Powell

Sydney Sweeney

Andrew Garfield

I will update this list as I get reminded of more people. :) Have a great day, you are loved

#writing #top gun fanfiction #fanfic #avengers #bickering #black widow #captain america #mal #carlos de vil #adoption #descendants #evie grimhilde #gleeposting #glee #dc universe #disney #thestarspangledcaptain #peter parker fluff #top gun x reader #y/n #hangman x rooster #lgbtqia #character list #top gun maverick imagine #peter parker x stark!reader #top gun fic #jake seresin x reader #hangman angst #blaine anderson #sebastian smythe

[barbiewritesstuff]

Revelation

-- I may have had a dream about this. Not my best writing but my cat wanted cuddles only when I pickes up my phone to write soo... --

Hangman had been playing pool with quite some skill for the past hour, and darts before that. He had been in the zone, undistractable by anyone and anything. That was until he glanced at you.

You had come with your friend for a quick drink. You had obviously introduced her to them which is why Hangman knew her name was Jane and she was a sports journalist. These jobs, or at least hers tended to keep awful hours, so maybe it wasn't a surprise you had decided to meet up so late. Hangman couldn't quite place why she'd brought a baby though. 

The baby was the problem. She was a cute kid, quiet, well-behaved kid and currently curled up into your lap. It also didn't help that she looked a little like you, with her curly blinde hair, blue eyes and adorable little smile.

That's when he started playing shit. 

His brain wouldn't let up. Images of you and your baby, Hangman's baby, dancing around his brain. Feelings he had long thought he would never feel surged from the shadows to plague him. 

He forced the cue into Bob's hands and made his way to you.

"She likes you" He stated. He really wished he could behave normally, say a joke, make you blush, extinguish the fire burning in his insides.

Jake sat himself down in the seat your friend had vacated.

"Where is she?"

"Went to the bathroom, should be back any minute. Are you okay?" You asked. He looked pale and worried. He wiped his hands on his trousees.

Jake thought for a second. You two had become fast friends. You spent hours texting together since the mission, just talking and venting. You had really become one of his best friends. And despite his pickle, the only person he wanted to talk about it with was you.

"I think I'm in love with you. I realised just now, It's never happened before, I'm not sure what to do" 

That much is obvious, you thought. A small smile formed on your face. You thought back on the last few weeks of your life and the late night conversation. It was hard to deny that you were attracted to him, but you had never imagined that Jake could feel the same.

"You could ask me out on a date"

"Yes" He paused with furrowed brows "That would be a good idea"

He didn't. You knew he hated this, Jake's Hangman persona was the carefully crafted façade of a man who needed control. With the asshole persona there was no guessing what people thought of you. With the ladies-man act, you knew exactly where you stood with people. You didn't know why, but he needed it. It was a life-line, and now it was gone Jake realised he didn't know how to function without it.

"I'm free tomorrow, you should pick me up around 6pm, you can decide what to do" You offered

"Thank you" 

"What made you realise?"

"The baby" He said, in a tone implying that he was slightly frustrated with himself.

"You know, I never thought I wanted kids. I never liked them. I realised I might like them -- if they were yours. Ours…"

You looked at him with your mouth slightly agape. He looked away from you.

"I don't really know what to say" You whispered

Shit, he thought, I should have lied. He heard you exhale a shaky breath before saying

"I want kids, Jake. So play your cards right and I might be able to help with that dream of yours." 

Jake wanted to reply but Jane had finished up in the bathroom and was making a beeline for your table. He stood up, almost knocking it down with his knee.

"See you tomorrow then" he smiled, making his way back to the pool table, already knowing he was going to lose. He wasn't going to be thinking clearly til tomorrow anyway.

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun x reader #fanfiction #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #original fic #jake seresin #hangman top gun

[mountainrooster]

WIP WEDNESDAYS

10/18/2022

I have 11 WIPS on my masterlist and no self-control so we'll see where this goes. the tagging on this is going to be a nightmare

wait for it [rooster x gold star kid reader]

= (gold star child: someone who has lost a parent in active service) i saw a tumblr post a set of images related to this song and you cannot tell me that "wait for it" from Hamilton is not the most bradley "rooster" bradshaw song ever. 

my mother was a genius / my father commanded respect / when they died they left no instructions / just a legacy to protect

and everything hangman says about him "waiting for the perfect moment that never comes". this would probably be a series that starts in high school to post uranium mission. anyways they're both hard-core achievers and perfectionists because where they're headed, a little mistake could mean death, something they both know very well. 

[angst, friends to lovers slowburn, hurt/comfort, some character death]

at my worst, I worry you’ll realize you deserve better. at my best, I worry you won’t. 

= definitely a bob or hangman standalone, maybe both. someone says something particularly harsh to hangman and he starts to wonder why you love him, and if you were just settling for him in the first place. bob is shy and not actually insecure most of the time, but surrounded by pilots that are more open and confident, he's worried he isn't good enough for you.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AU

= HOLY CRAP @jupitercomet's "je te laisserai des mots" little women inspired fic is so GOOD. I like little women but pride and prejudice with jake. imagine it. reader would either be a jane type or lizzie type, but I'm way better at writing jane types (see: I am not very witty but I am very kind). you and your sisters have to try and marry rich so that you can save the family from extreme poverty when your father dies and you happen to meet jake at the ball where your first impressions of him are actually horrible. definitely a series.

[enemies to lovers, banter, fun dagger squad relations, period drama pride and prejudice au]

I've also updated the description on a phoenix fic "two birds" that won't be actually be coming soon, coming much later but I'm still hyped as hell for it so stay tuned. it'll have aspects of coming out and sexuality crises which I love to experience myself /sarcastic. I think hangman's standalone "wish you were sober" will be the first to come out, maybe halloween unless I come up with something else shorter by then? I'm 3k words in you guys.

#jake seresin x reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #natasha trace x reader #bob floyd x reader #jake seresin #natasha trace #bradley bradshaw #bob floyd #phoenix fanfic #hangman fanfic #bob fanfic #rooster fanfic #tgm fanfic #top gun fanfiction #dagger sqaud #pride and prejudice au #jake hangman seresin #natasha phoenix trace #bradley rooster bradshaw #robert bob floyd #tgm fanfiction #hangman x reader #phoenix x reader #rooster x reader #bob x reader #wip wednesday

[elxgantcaptain]

/ I actually forgot how intense the opening of Return to Neverland was. Jane, just a kid, is literally wandering the streets of a blitzed London at night when the bombs are dropping.

And then Hook breaks into her room and gags her and shoves her in a sack during the MIDDLE OF ANOTHER AIR RAID. I can just imagine the shock of pilots when a bloody pirate ship is flying straight at them.

What I like is that he's actually CAPTAINING the ship whilst its 'sailing', you really see him in his authority.

What I DON'T like is how they randomly replaced the croc with an octopus? They briefly mention that they got rid of the crocodile but nothing aside from that? Also Hangman's tree is no longer destroyed? And some of the animation is a LITTLE too bouncy for my liking.

#but i still love hook #he's espeically 'all about me' and fabulous in this movie #outofship #headcanons

[mwagneto]

Hey fellas I made a doom patrol as vines video ksnfjsn

#ive never made one of these b4 but it was abt as difficult as i imagined it to be #im satisfied #doom patrol #dc #larry trainor #crazy jane #Rita farr #cliff Steele #niles caulder #the chief #do Jane's personalities count as characters bc theres a lotta them in there #uhh #hammerhead #flit #babydoll #the hangman's beautiful daughter #sfw

[itsthenovelteafactor]

Umbrella Patrol: Part 1

Still in a TUA headspace, and really enjoying Doom Patrol! I feel like there is a lot of potential for fun crossovers between these shows, and some neat parallels between them. Here are some very disorganized ideas because I’m too busy to write out an actual fic: 

note: these are primarily based on s1 of Doom Patrol and s1&2 of tua because I am still in the middle of watching Doom Patrol s2. I would love (love! love! love!) to chat with other people who like both of these shows, but know i am still in the “avoiding s2 spoilers” stage. I might do more of these after I finish s2, hence “part 1″

- they would not get along well in the beginning because, let’s face it, neither group has a very good track record for getting along well with anyone ever. (love them all to death) would a fight break out? probably. would all of the team members and powers and general chaos get so confusing for everyone involved that they would have to stop fighting to try and figure out what was going on? most likely. 

- Five definitely knows about the Doom Patrol from when he worked at the commission and was probably very relieved to not have been the person assigned to deal with the whole De-Creator/Re-Creator debacle. 

- Vic is probably at least aware of the Umbrella Academy because they were pretty famous as kids, but has no idea what really happened to them after except there was this huge scandal a few years ago when one of them wrote a book about how they were all secretly assholes? Something like that.

- Allison is a fan of Rita’s work (I’m thinking she played one of her characters in a remake), but remembers hearing that she was kind of a terrible person? She isn’t sure. I feel like it’d be awkward initially but they’d end up vibing and talking about acting and Hollywood and having the team braincell. 

- Diego: So... you’re a robot. Cliff: Yeah. Klaus: Not that there’s anything wrong with that!! Diego: Our Mom’s a robot. 

- Cliff is like “well, I nearly died and then the guy who I thought was my mentor did an experimental procedure on me that left me in a body that I’m uncomfortable with and feeling like a monster and a freak and I’m unable to interact with people and be seen as normal because of it and am also incredibly strong and worry about accidentally hurting the people I care about and oh, turns out the guy who I trusted and thought was my mentor turned out to be the worst person ever who was only using me as a means to an end” and Luther’s just “same hat!”

- There is definitely confusion around the whole “we travelled back in time to the 60s were not actually from then - can you imagine we’d be so old now?” and “we are actually from the 50s/60s we’re just long lived due to a series of horrifying experiments that were done to us wtf you’re all literally children”

- Dorothy sees Five and is like friend! My own age! And Vanya tries to gently explain that Five is mentally 58, he only looks 13 and that’s how they figure out that Dorothy’s actually over 100 years old. Somewhere in the confusion Five ends up agreeing to attend a tea party. 

- Klaus meets Danny. Enough said.

- But also,,, let’s say more because it makes me very happy to think about. Klaus meets Danny and just feels so at home and gets to talk about fashion with Maura and drag his siblings into singing karaoke and the Hargreeves get to show off their A+ dancing skills 

- TBH, they all try to explain what’s been happening with them and the Hargreeves all thought “well out lives couldn’t be any weirder” and then they hear about the puppet show and are just like “...okay, nevermind. we were mistaken. please continue” while for the most part the Doom Patrol are like “okay, butler’s a chimp, that guy’s in love with a mannequin, all checks out” 

- Larry and Klaus talking about their time in the military and dealing with homophobia. Larry and Luther talking about isolation and taking care of plants. 

- Vanya playing the violin while the Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter paints.

- They at one point get drunk and have a “who’s father figure was worse” competition but somehow halfway through it devolves into Jane and Diego each being that one John Mulaney bit (do you want me to kill that guy for you?? because it sounds like he sucks, and I’d totally kill that guy for you)

- Cliff definitely has some Robot-envy around Grace like, wow she looks and moves like an entire regular human wtf Niles? she shows him how to make smiley-face pancakes. 

- I have no idea how this would work logistically but Ben and Larry would vibe you can’t change my mind. 

- There was definitely some crossover between members of the Cult of the Re-Creator and Destiny’s Children (I’m not sure which one was first chronologically, but I was thinking about the one guy who was like “this is way better than last cult I was in” and how funny it would be if he was talking about Klaus’ cult) . I feel like Klaus and Dr. Harrison have a very weird kind of bond over it.

- Vic “I am literally asking for the bare minimum here in terms of heroics please could you all just follow simple instructions for twenty minutes so the world doesn’t literally explode” and Five just *acknowledging nod of mutual frustration*

- Mr. Nobody keeps talking about crossovers and some guy from My Chemical Romance. no one quite gets it.  

#Umbrella Patrol #Doom Patrol #The Umbrella Academy #Rita Farr #Cliff Steele #Larry Trainor #Vic Stone #Jane Morris #Niles Caulder #Dorothy Spinner #Mr. Nobody #Luther Hargreeves #Diego Hargreeves #Allison Hargreeves #Klaus Hargreeves #Five Hargreeves #Ben Hargreeves #Vanya Hargreeves #Grace Hargreeves #Danny the Street #this crossover would be so chaotic #I love two (2) dysfunctional superhero families #Gerard Way #Gerard Way comics

[wouldpollyapprove]

Tag Lists

These are all the tag lists for who I’m currently writing for. If I don’t have a tag list for a fandom, character, or series, you can still ask to be added to it. And if you are already on any of these lists but haven’t been getting notifications, check and see if your username is spelled properly. Sometimes tumblr is dumb and won’t let me tag people, other times it’s my fault because I’m not spelling things properly.

Permanent

haphazardhufflepuff / woahitslucyylu / mzcrazy2 / lovemissyhoneybee / siriuslyshewrote / tarafaithe / fernweh-fangirl / the-anxious-youth / theshelbyclan / wtfdanness / chloeforde / lucillethings / nemesis729 / sirkekselord / princesscornbread / theartof-flying / anyasthoughts / urbankaite2 / supermassiveblackhope / marvelschriss / sweatydragoncloudknight / spideylovin / cheekypeakyblinders / ravenmoore14 / caelys /peakywitch / nyotamalfoy / thekillingjoke-haha / xxbeckybeexx-blog / armycrazyfangirl / snapesdaughsjm / loliakeoghan23

Fandoms

Gangs of London: thendlessdays / unicorndetective22

Peaky Blinders: thendlessdays / simonsbluee / elia-the-bibliophile / astheworlddturns / saltchloe2017 / annabelrose5 / jenepleurepasbaby /elisabethisdead / soleil-dor / maryams-things / writerdream22 / brandydel / annshit / shadow-of-wonder / amirahiddleston  / beth-winchester21 / jellybeanpie / secret-ssociety / justsimplyme93 / whiskeypowder / lilymurphy03 / peakascum / haileyybird / theflamecrystal / justalonelyslytherin / walkernigh / babaohhhriley / kiki13522 / ietss / minxsblog / maggiescarborough

Top Gun: luckyladycreator2 / maggiescarborough

Law & Order: SVU:

Stranger Things: whiskeypowder / mcueveryday / honeydewpie / pumpararapam / xxx-wounded-angel-xxx

Characters/People

Alfie Solomons: multifandomfix / minxsblog

Arthur Shelby: albeeox / multifandomfix / minxsblog

Cillian Murphy: annshit / irishbish / lilymurphy03 / elenavampire21 

Jake “Hangman” Seresin: dempy

Michael Gray: retromafia / peakywitch / minxsblog

Polly Gray: multifandomfix

Sean Wallace: elisabethisdead / gxngsoflondon

Thomas Shelby: captivatedbycillianmurphy / creativemayhems / magnificentzombiebasement / terrainhead / everyartistwas-firstanamateur / spurra / savannah-elliott / kathryn-jane / annshit  / hanster1998 / irishbish / lettersofwrittencollective / albeeox / justsimplyme93 /snugleo / in-some-fandoms / multifandomfix / irelanddesires / retromafia / lilymurphy03 / infinitelycharmed23 / honeyofthegods / itscheybaby / angelusk / janelongxox / would-die-for-bucky-barnes / slytherinicequeen / elenavampire21 / nikkixostan / buckyswillows / lizyshores / minxsblog /normatural / golden-hoax / karasong

Series

Behind These Eyes: sighonahurricane / lauren-raines-x / gothicwidowsworld

Edge of London: junkiemuppettxx / alexbealee / champagneholland

No Whore: wefracturedmotivation / stressedandbandobessed7771 / a-dorky-book-keeper / maaaaryx / mango978 / whiskeywithtommy / originalugly / greedysiren / sailor-moons-butt / asinsanely / kiaoizz / lordofthunderthr / lustforfern / yehosexybeasts / kimmie-xx / minxsblog

The Runaway & The Baker: venusdemonroe / amys-small-world / homosexualjohnwayne / fuckoffupstairs /  imglourious-imagines / fsociety00da1 / ellesmythe / janelongxox / lothiriel9 

Knowing You, Knowing Me: xoxmariaxox

*~~*~~*

Note: You will be added to any tag list quicker if you send me an ask. I usually see those within a day, but I may not see a comment on a post because either Tumblr decides to be a pain in the ass or I’m blind. And please tell me which tag list(s) you want to be added to, thank you!

#the peaky blinders #thomas shelby #arthur shelby #finn shelby #gangs of london #sean wallace

[manuscripts-dontburn]

Prisoner of Night and Fog

Author: Anne Blankman

First published: 2014

Pages: 432

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 5 days

Though the first part seemed aimed at younger readers and I was ready to plough through many YA clichés, this is, in fact, a really well-written, solid historical fiction. Anne Blankman has certainly done her homework and her fictional character of Gretchen Müller, her sadistic and unpredictable brother and her seemingly weak mother are woven so seamlessly among the real historical characters I actually stopped reading at one point to look them up (and confirm they are indeed fictional). True, the inevitable romance was... well... inevitable from the first chapter and personally, I thought more time and character development would have made our heroine´s journey even more interesting and suspenseful. However, the moments which are meant to be disturbing ARE disturbing, the points meant to be creepy ARE creepy and I also very much appreciate the considerable historical accuracy backing the whole plot. Also, the fact that this takes place quite a long time before WW2, merely hinting at what is to come, rather than presenting the most overused - and overwritten - conflict and horror of the past century. Definitely a book more readers should try if they are at all interested in historical fiction that is written well.

A Supernatural War: Magic, Divination, and Faith During the First World War

Author: Owen Davies

First published: 2019

Pages: 304

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 10 days

Fascinating in focus and yet very tight and even sparing in style, this is a very interesting book that serves well to provide yet another piece to the puzzle of the social history of the First World War. My only major critique would be this: certain parts felt like encyclopedic entries which left one "hanging" - wanting more information but either there isn´t any or the author has decided not to include it. The author himself, too, acknowledges that white Christians were far from being the only ones entangled in the fighting and does mention beliefs and superstitions of other nationalities and faiths, but half a chapter does not do them justice. In other words, this study could have - and should have - been longer, because it calls to us through the ages with everything that is human, naive, fragile and hopeful.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Author: Becky Chambers

First published: 2019

Pages: 135

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 2 days

This was both beautiful and rather depressing. Becky Chambers has impressed me before and she has managed to do it again - on 135 pages of this novella. Her talent as a writer, her imagination and her sensitive treatment of the human psyche is undisputable.

Death of a Romanov Prince

Author: Terry Bolland, Arturo E Beéche

First published: 2018

Pages: 240

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 2 days

Unfortunately, this book was a huge letdown. The Konstantinovichi branch of the Romanov family have always had a special place in my heart and I jump at every piece of literature that concerns them - there are few in the West! Arguably Prince Oleg was the most promising of the last "imperial" generation and I definitely appreciate that somebody tried to bring attention to him. Sadly, this publication suffers from the same weaknesses as any of the books published and edited by Arturo E Beéche: A great number of typos and mistakes within the text. Amateurish formating. Sometimes the original photographs were very small and they are so enlarged you cannot see anything since they are very pixelated. Information and quotes are repeated numerous times. But those technical things could be forgiven if the text had value. I am sad to say that there is very little new information - on the contrary, the book takes such a broad scope to cover various relations and palaces (without providing pictures of what is being described) that it has no time to go in-depth at all. Case in point: there is not a single reference to the homosexual tendencies of Oleg´s father and uncle, even though their sexuality greatly affected their lives. The book spends time listing German and Russian and Greek relatives and mentions Oleg´s intelligence and good character but nowhere does it present any evidence of it. This is not an insightful biography I had hoped for. It is an encyclopedic, sterile and confusingly put together attempt at.... what exactly? I don´t even know. A great opportunity wasted.

The Good Bee: A Celebration of Bees – And How to Save Them

Author: Alison Benjamin, Brian McCallum

First published: 2019

Pages: 192

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

How long did it take: 4 days

I very much appreciate the intent with which this little book was written and it certainly holds some fascinating information and helpful tips. At the same time, the text does not flow too well and reminds one more of a textbook rather than something that would truly inspire one to take up bee-keeping. I suppose I just wanted something else out of it than what it gave..

Hesse: A Princely German Collection

Edited by: Penelope Hunter-Stiebel

First published: 2005

Pages: 287

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 2 days

A well-put together catalogue, introducing just the right amount of information and full of beautiful, high-quality photographs.

The Forsyte Saga

Author: John Galsworthy

First published: 1921

Pages: 752

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 7 days

See my full review HERE

Girls of Paper and Fire

Author: Natasha Ngan

First published: 2018

Pages: 384

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 6 days

I liked the possibilities and the setting more than the final execution and plot. Other than that I just feel like I am too old for this kind of books. So maybe the problem here is me, really.

Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon

Author: Andrea di Robiland

First published: 2008

Pages: 384

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 3 days

I have learned long ago that I am most open to gaining new knowledge through the stories of individual women. By looking through the eyes of Lucia I have finally understood the mess which was Northern Italy before, during and after Napoleonic times and I got introduced to an interesting lady. Definitely a win for me.

Pohorská vesnice

Author: Božena Němcová

First published: 1855

Pages: 181

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 4 days

Když jsem se konečně přenesla přes nářečí i slovenštinu, když jsem přestala kroutit očima nad tím, že celý příběh je o nedostatku komunikace, dokázala jsem ocenit krásný obraz českého venkova, jak jej Božena Němcová zachytila. A konec mne dojal oproti všemu očekávání.

Hitler's Hangman: The Life Of Heydrich

Author: Robert Gerwarth

First published: 2011

Pages: 433

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 5 days

Perhaps not the most exhaustive, but still very informative biography of one of the worst humans ever. The terrifying thing about him was especially the fact that he was so average and unremarkable in every single thing - and then he rode the storm and changed to always be on top. The author´s style is very readable and he manages to strike the chord between the academic and more personal tone well.

The Wife Upstairs

Author: Rachel Hawkins

First published: 2021

Pages: 290

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 2 days

I am not big into thrillers but this got me sold on "Jane Eyre inspired". It was quite good, though this type of writing does not make me crazy.

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke

Author: Anne Blankman

First published: 2015

Pages: 416

Rating: ★★★☆☆

How long did it take: 3 days

A sequel to Prisoner of Night and Fog, this was solid, unfortunately it was not as good as its predecessor. The first book is about a girl waking up to the world, finding cracks in what she has been taught all her life. It is about her deciding to think for herself and how this affects her life and relationships. And since it is pre-Nazi Germany, these changes in her thinking are very dangerous. This second book, on the other hand, is primarily a detective story without a pay-off, and way too many things are spoon-fed to the reader or feel convenient. I also felt that most of the book followed a theme of "we know where to find information - we go get it - Nazis get there at the same time - we somehow manage to escape." On the other hand, if something did work, it was the romance. Passionate, devoted and loyal, and yet mature and believable.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Author: Nghi Vo

First published: 2020

Pages: 121

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 1 day

Lovely and breathing of history and legends. Modest in length, rich in the story.

The Library of the Unwritten

Author: A.J. Hackwith

First published: 2019

Pages: 440

Rating: ★★★★★

How long did it take: 8 days

First of all, as an author who is yet to finish any of her projects, I felt RUDELY called out by this book! Second of all, this is an absolute blast. An adventure with a heart, characters you cannot help but care for and so, so witty and clever in using mythology and even Biblical stories. Brilliant work!

Mansfield Park

Author: Jane Austen

First published: 1814

Pages: 584

Rating: ★★★★☆

How long did it take: 3 days

I suspect that my enjoyment of Jane Austen novels usually comes with how interesting her heroines are. And so when I was given Fanny Price, who for the first 200 pages merely breathes and observes, I was almost less than excited. But once I was willing to understand Fanny was not there to amuse me, she was there to provide a comfortable, quiet place among the bustle of feelings and happenings of others, who only later recognize how much she herself was interwoven into their lives. Mansfield Park does not have the wit and comedy of Emma or Pride and Prejudice but stands on the ground as solid as Sense and Sensibility. It was slow and perhaps even a bit too long, but I enjoyed it a lot.

#booklr #wrap up #March 2021 #trying to come up with some new format for these #no ideas so far

[doedreamss]

The Cowboy and the Mustang (Part Two)

!! READ PART ONE HERE !!

Ship: Hangman Adam Page x Jane (FOC)

Summary: Jane’s decided to carpe that diem and linger in the small Montana town for a night, intent on meeting the handsome cowboy Adam Page for drinks at the local bar.  Their already complicated relationship gets even more so. 

Rating: Explicit (there’s a descriptive smut scene)

Length: 8,308  words

Available below the cut or on AO3 HERE

Harry’s Bar was the only place open passed five o’clock in the evening on a weekday in the tiny Montana town they were stopped in.  The heavy, big wood doors were propped open to help let some cool, fresh air into the packed inside.  Laughter, music and general chatter spilled from within bathed in yellow light.  It tried to touch the few groups of patrons who’d ducked outside for a smoke and laughed and took pauses as they sucked in deep breaths and poured smoke up into the sky.

As Jane and Kate made their way down the sidewalk toward the open doors, one of the men smoking reached to pinch the brim of his white cowboy hat and dipped his head respectfully. He was handsome enough for Kate’s eyes to linger, and she wore a smile as mischievous as his quickly became. She lifted her hand and gave her fingers a little wave at him before turning away and walking with Jane into the bar.

“I don’t know how you do that so effortlessly.”

“Do what?”

“Wrap men around your finger with just a look.  It’s like a superpower.”

Kate laughed, but Jane could tell she was flattered by the compliment.  She was wild and adventurous, far more so than Jane, and often thrived on playing games with the men who tried their luck with her.  Jane wondered if Kate would ever actually find someone captivating enough to keep her interest for long.  She moved through men like she was going through seasons, never completely satisfied with who she found.

“The way that handsome blond-haired cowboy was watching you earlier, I’d say you have a bit of that superpower yourself.”  Kate teased as they sidled up to the bar and Jane blushed immediately, still unable to believe she’d somehow caught his attention enough for him to ask her out for a drink. Jane turned away from the bar, scanning the crowd to see if she could see Adam anywhere.  They’d run a little late.  It was already a half-hour past when he’d said he’d be here.  What if he thought she’d decided not to come and left?

“You know how bad I am with this kind of stuff,” Jane said, frowning as she failed to spot him among the crowd, “you know how atrocious some of those dates you’ve forced me to go on have been.”

Kate made a small, sympathetic murmur of agreement.

“This was weird Kate,” Jane said, shaking her head and glancing back at her friend.  Thankfully on the opposite side of the bar from the juke box and dance floor, the girls didn’t need to yell at one another to have a conversation.  “I’ve never felt like this before with any guy I’ve been with.”  She blinked and met Kate’s eyes.  “It’s a little scary.”

“Okay buttercup,” Kate said, taking a breath and reaching out to comfortingly rub Jane’s shoulders, “I think you might be close to spinning out about this and ruining something great for yourself.  It’s scary, yes, but it’s also exciting, right?  We said this trip was going to help us learn something about ourselves, didn’t we?  You owe it to yourself to at least have a drink with him and see where the night takes you.  If you wind up going home with him, well… we can call this a huge success.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to stay here with me?”

“No!  Besides,” Kate jerked her chin over Jane’s shoulder, “handsome cowboy dead ahead.”

“What?”  Jane asked and turned to look.  Adam was walking toward her, through the crowd.  As soon as their eyes met, he lit up in a smile that made her heart race.  She looked back and saw Kate ducking through the crowd, making her way toward a cowboy lingering near the dance floor.  Kate winked and grinned, to which Jane rolled her eyes and glanced back at Adam as he approached.

He was wearing a vintage western style long-sleeve button-up, pitch black with bold, shiny gold embroidery.  A large gold belt buckle held his leather belt closed, and she imagined when he sat it would bite gently into the soft fat on his stomach.  The belt was strapped through a pair of perfectly fitted black Wrangler jeans and the ensemble was completed with a black cowboy hat on his let-down blond curls and black-dyed ostrich leather boots.  

Damn.  The man knew how to dress to impress.  Jane suddenly worried her boho-style, flowy white and floral print dress with her brown leather cowgirl boots wasn’t enough.  If she’d known she was going to be meeting an attractive cowboy for a date, she might have thought twice about what outfits she needed to pack before she started this road trip.

“Jane, you look… amazing.” His country drawl stalled for a moment as astonishment warmed his tone.  He hesitated with his hand, it’d been clear he wanted to slide it along her hip with familiarity, as if they’d been dating for ages, and pull her in to press her body along his.  But he remembered how much they were practically strangers and stopped instead, letting the flicker of want to play out across his face.  They shared a hug that was all too brief instead and smiled shyly at each other.

“No!  You look, I mean,” Jane waved her hand up and down him, “Wow.”  Could she sound any more stupid?  This was what she’d meant when she told Kate she didn’t have what she had with men. Kate would have said something suave enough to knock Adam off his feet.

Adam grinned anyways and managed to somehow look a little bashful, which only endeared Jane to him more. “I’m sorry I’m late by the way,” he began, brows dipping further inward.  “I hope you weren’t waiting too long?”

“Oh!  No, I wasn’t.  Kate and I were running a little behind anyways, so it kind of worked out.”

“Alright!  Come on, let me buy you that whiskey I promised you.”

Adam stepped up at the bar and slammed the flat of his palm against the bar top, drawing the attention of the bartender who’d been distracted joking around with a few other patrons.

“Adam!  Let me get your beer,” the bartender said with a grin, happy to see Adam, and turned to grab a glass.

“Actually – wait, Wade, instead of the usual, can I get two glasses and a bottle of… hell, whatever whiskey you’d recommend.”

“Oh?  I can’t remember the last time you drank with anyone other than yourself.  Which sucker did you offer to buy booze for tonight?”  Wade asked and swept his eyes over to Jane who was standing beside Adam. Something seemed to click, and his gaze flashed a little wider back on Adam. “Oh… Oh, alright.  Sure Adam.”  He turned, fighting a smile as he went to fetch them glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

Why did Adam always drink alone?  Why was it such a surprise for the bartender to see him with her?  Jane glanced toward Adam’s profile with a gently confused frown across her brow, but he didn’t turn toward her or say anything.  She decided it must be a topic he didn’t want to discuss.

After getting the glasses and bottle, they found a secluded booth toward the back of the bar, tucked away from the music and the dance floor where they could drink and talk with some privacy.  Adam poured a splash of deep, golden whiskey into each glass and handed hers before lifting his own.

“We should say cheers to something.”

“Alright,” Jane agreed, frowning, “cheers to…Whiskey, the horse that brought us together.”  

“Actually,” Adam lifted a finger from his glass and pointed it at her, “he told me his name, and it isn’t Whiskey.”

“Oh no?”  Jane grinned.  “What did he tell you his name was?”

“Lucky.”  Adam replied, and there was a bit of softness there. “We both figured he must be my good luck charm if the same day I got him and started working him was the day you showed up.”

Jane’s cheeks were warm as she glanced at the cowboy sitting across from her.  A smile turned the corner of her lips before she softly decreed, “Cheers to random moments that lead us to something unexpectedly wonderful.”

Adam was smiling too, and he raised his glass toward hers, clinking them gently.  “Cheers.”

After they’d each taken a sip and admired the smooth depth of the whiskey – Adam had waved his hand at Wade and complimented his choice– they fell into easy conversation.  At first it was the basic stuff.  Jane learned Adam had grown up in this town but moved away when he went to college.  He’d come back a few years ago to be close to his parents again, and for a moment he went a little quiet, and Jane suspected that wasn’t the only reason he’d decided to come home.  She wondered what could have happened to him.  

Before she had the opportunity to think about prying further, Adam had turned a new question on her, wondering where she was from.  Jane had told Adam she was from Oregon.  They talked about the mountain, the forests, how she’d come to love horses and how he’d come to love them; Adam had been raised around horses, his father had tamed wild horses just like Adam did now, and that’s where he’d learned it from.  Jane had always wanted a horse but came from a family that couldn’t afford one.  She’d studied horses from afar and been lucky the few times her parents had the money to put her in riding lessons.  She’d eventually earned scholarships for school and worked hard to keep herself exactly where she wanted to be. Adam found that admirable, and she’d blushed and chewed at her bottom lip when he rained the sweetest compliments on her.

The night continued as they drank and laughed and talked and drank.  The more time passed and the drunker they both got, the more times they stopped talking to wander toward the dance floor.  Adam would pinch her hips with his broad palms and pull her in tight against him and get a little bit braver every song they went out to.  The next time he spun her, his hand slid firm and with purpose down the curve of her ass.   As his fingers gripped into the fat he hissed in a hard breath through his nose, lips pressed in a thin line together and jaw clenched.

Jane swallowed thick; her body pressed up against his.  The room was spinning and warm.  She felt sticky with sweat.  She curled her fingers into his shirt and looked up into his hungry face.  “Can we step outside?  I think all the dancing is… getting to me.”

“Of course, darlin,” Adam said softly and put an arm around her waist as he walked her outside the bar.

The cool night air was exactly what she needed to steady her racing heart.  She smiled over at Adam, tilting her head at how pretty he looked beneath the sign’s neon light.  He’d tugged his hat off and run his thick fingers through his long, curly blond hair, and it made her want to do it, too.  She giggled.

“What?”  He asked, watching her curiously.

“I just can’t believe how handsome you are.”

“Ah, I…”  He grinned and ducked his eyes down, giving her that sweet reaction she’d grown to love since she’d seen how shy he’d get. “Thank you.  Means a lot, especially coming from a woman as beautiful as you,” he managed, glancing up at her and smiling as though dazed.

“God… you are too much.” The last words Jane managed before she flung herself forward, drunk and crashing her body into his thick, sturdy frame before laying her arms across his broad shoulders.  Her lips smashed against his.  His shocked surprise melted away quick and soon he was kissing her back with as much need as she’d demanded from him, if not more.  Desperation paused at the edges of his touch, like he’d been a man starved of affection for too long and was having trouble holding himself back from devouring it all at once.

It’d been a long time since Jane had been kissed, let alone like this.  Adam’s hands were all over her body and he’d backed her against the brick wall to the bar, digging his hips up against hers.  He was rough, but somehow Jane still knew he was doing everything he could to hold back, and he could be rougher.  The way that storm brewed inside him and he tried his best to contain it made her heart pound.  Adam pressed his tongue into her mouth and a soft moan vibrated in her throat as he dug his hips up between her legs.

A few snickers and whistles from down the way quickly reminded them both they weren’t alone.  Adam jumped away from her as though she burned – or he burned her – and blinked until he’d cleared himself of the haze their desire had laid over them.

“I –”

“Are you sober?” Before he could get through his thoughts, Jane pressed, knowing exactly what she wanted now.  She’d never felt this way before and Kate had been right. She was going to take full control of this experience and she had a feeling Adam needed to let go too.

“No.”

Jane suppressed a groan, knowing she was still too drunk to safely drive.  “Please tell me this town has a cab service.”

“Actually, on Friday and Saturday nights, old Earl runs a little complimentary service to give free rides to people who can’t drive themselves home.”

“Oh, perfect.  Can we…” she realized then that she didn’t want to bring him back to the hotel room.  What if Kate had gone back early?  What if she already had someone there?  What if she arrived there later when Jane and Adam were… busy?  She felt awkward, suddenly, realizing she was essentially inviting herself over to his place.  “I mean, if you wanted to,” she stumbled out through kiss-swollen lips that still tasted like him, “I figured I could come to your place and we could… keep… going.”

Adam looked at her for only a moment and then nodded quick.  “Yep.  C’mon.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and quickly hit a number, dialing the man who offered rides and letting him know how much they’d appreciate one.  As soon as he hung up the phone, he was pulling her toward him, letting her body gently crash and settle against his.  His hand slid greedy down her backside and rested against the side-curve of her ass.  

“I don’t really do this.” Her alcohol loose tongue spilled the beans but before she could be embarrassed, Adam was nodding.

“I don’t either.”

“I don’t know if I believe you,” Jane said, tilting her head and looking up at him.  “You’re… ridiculously handsome, you’re sweet, you’re funny… wait, did I say how hot you were?”

“I think handsome counts toward that.”

“No.  No, handsome and hot are two things.  You are both.”

“You’re quite the flatterer when you’re drunk.”

“And it’s adorable how shy you are about your good qualities, but also very frustrating. Stop dodging my compliments, cowboy.” Jane pressed up on the tip of her toes and pecked a quick kiss against his lips.  They smiled at each other when she pulled away.

“Actually, Jane, I –” Adam began, but Jane shook her head firmly.

“Nu-uh.  I said no arguing.”

“I wasn’t, I needed to tell you –” but before it could register that Adam was talking, someone honked their car horn behind her, and Jane jumped to look at an old man in a pick-up waving his hand toward them.

“Hey Adam!”  It must’ve been Earl, the man who was going to give them a ride.  Jane grinned and, hand in Adam’s, turned to head toward the truck.  Adam didn’t follow.

“Wait, Jane, before we go, I needed to tell you –”

“Adam,” Jane said as she turned back toward him.  “Whatever you have to say won’t change my mind.  I… there’s something about you, about the way I feel about you, that I just can’t explain.  I’m always logical, I always follow the path I can clearly see.  I told Kate I wanted to learn to take risks and be brave, and I think fate led me here at the right moment so I could meet you.  I don’t want to think about what tomorrow morning means, or that eventually I’m going to have to leave.  I just want to be in the moment with you.  Tonight.  Please?”

Adam drew in a breath; he opened his mouth but seemed lost for words.  His hand squeezed hers tight before nodding and following her toward the waiting pick-up truck.

Somehow Adam managed to hold a casual conversation with Earl on the short drive back to his property. Earl shot a few questions at her which Jane managed to answer despite being distracted eyeing Adam every chance she got.  She needed those firm hands on her body again.  She needed his mouth searing kisses into her skin.  She needed to feel him pull her close as if every second they spent apart was a kind of torture for him to endure.  That passionate storm was inside him, and Jane wanted to be the one he unleashed it on.

She needn’t suffer long, since the town was small, and Adam’s small ranch wasn’t too far outside the main streets.  Earl pulled the truck into the driveway and let Adam know to give him a call if he needed a ride to get his pick-up the next day.  He bid farewell to Jane and told her it was a pleasure meeting her. As he rolled his pick-up truck out of the driveway, leaving them standing hand-in-hand in front of Adam’s house, a horse nickered gently from the pine-wood arena.

“Looks like we woke Lucky up.” Adam said with a grin, gesturing toward the bay colt who stood at the fence, watching them with ears perked.

“Sorry Lucky!” Jane waved, and Lucky snorted, bobbing his head and giving another rumbling nicker.

“He’s telling you,” Adam whispered playfully, and jane laughed.

“I said sorry!”

Lucky snorted, swished his tail against his flanks and turned around, clearly deciding he’d heard enough and was done talking with her.

“Come on,” Adam whispered in her ear, pressing his lips against her neck.  “Let’s go inside.”  He turned her toward the door, fishing into his pocket for the house keys.

After fumbling a little with the lock, Adam managed to open the door and the pair of them spilled into the living area without any grace.  The door slammed shut as she pushed him into it and fell against him, lips hot on his and tongue slipping in his mouth.  Adam groaned, fingers pinching her skin and tracing over her curves. Jane’s hands dropped between their bodies, and her fingers brushed the shape of his cock, semi-hard and trapped in the tight denim of his jeans.  Adam grunted and clenched his jaw, pouring a hot breath out of flared nostrils.

“God woman,” he managed in a tight voice as she ran her fingers up and down its shape, teasing more blood to fill it.

Drunk and giddy on the boldness inside her, Jane kept pushing the more Adam responded.  She tugged his shirt from his jeans and slipped her fingers up beneath the material where she could feel his warm skin.  Adam groaned.  His wide palms skimmed down her backside until they could grip and squeeze into the fat on her ass.  He pushed her into him, and Jane went without a fuss.

While she had been the one to lose control initially, Adam turned the tides quickly.  He pushed off the door and bullied her willing body backwards, one hand lifting to the back of her hair, guiding her mouth against his. His tongue pushed into her mouth just as the arm of the couch touched the back of her knees.  Adam didn’t stop and they toppled over, him falling as a shadowed blanket over her body.  Their laughter and giggling were breathless and short-lived as their mouths crashed together again.

A knee between her legs parted them, and Adam’s hips sank dominantly.  He pressed the bulge of his hard cock, painfully trapped beneath his denim jeans, against the rucked-up fabric of her flowy dress and the cotton of her panties.  He thrusted and groaned.  Jane’s eyelashes fluttered, chin jutting out toward him as the back of her head pressed into the couch cushion she was laid on.  When his mouth left hers – he panted in warm breaths above her as he grinded between her legs – Jane moaned unashamedly.  It melted into a needy whine, and her fingers left his thick, muscled arms to run down the shape of his back, nails pushing into the material of his shirt.

Adam lowered his mouth, caught her lips greedily and with enough force to bruise, but didn’t stay long. He left her lips tingling as he began to kiss along her jawline and down her neck.  Jane’s hands went to the buttons on his shirt, eagerly and blindly slipping them out of their holes until the material hung open.  Her fingers were immediately on his chest, smoothing down the firm shape of his pecs and over the soft fat on his stomach that lay atop the firm muscle below.  She arched her nails into his skin just to feel him tremble, and to hear him moan against her as he took his mouth from her collarbone.

Pushing his palm into the couch for leverage, Adam lifted himself off the couch and away from her.  He stood, breathing in great, heaving gasps, with his shirt hung open at his sides and showing that delicious torso and chest underneath.  His cock was a hard and thick defined shape trapped in his Wranglers.  His long, fluffy blond curls had been tousled by her greedy fingers and lay in wild directions around his face.  He reached down, easily grabbing her up and swinging her over his shoulder.  He was strong…  Jane squealed and laughed, kicking her feet out. “C’mon, wild thing.  I think it’s time you were tamed.” He said while playfully jostling her up and onto his shoulder.  He reached with the hand not holding her and smacked her ass.  Hard.

“Adam!”  Jane squealed, gasping at the soft sting of contact that made her nerves sing.

Adam chuckled with a raspy breath and kicked the door to his bedroom open with his boot, walking quickly across the open space to dump her gently onto the bed.  Jane bounced into the soft give of the mattress, laughter in her mouth as she turned on the duvet and laid herself out in front of him.  The flowy, flirty material of her dress had ridden up her thighs and left them bare and pale for him to look at.  Adam stood at the end of the bed, knees brushing its edge, and stared down at her with his blue eyes gone black in hunger.

Jane had never had a man look at her like that, let alone one who looked like Adam.  She was breathless, skin flush and patched with red from where his mouth, tongue and teeth had already tasted her all down her neck and over the soft cleavage of her breasts.  Lying out on his bed, Jane propped herself up on her elbows as Adam slowly began to strip from his clothes in front of her.  He pushed the shirt still hanging open off first, revealing those thick, work-muscle curved arms, broad chest and thick torso.  His fingers fell to his belt buckle next, which caught a shimmer of light from the moon outside when he tugged it from the clasp and left the leather of the belt hanging open in his well-fitting jeans.  

She drew a breath as he slipped the button free on his jeans, tugging the stiff denim off his hips. She could easily see the thick bulge of his cock pressed hard and needy against his boxer-briefs, tip of the head skimming the elastic band.  He hooked them on his thumbs and tugged, pulling them down his thick, blond-hair dusted thighs.  His cock swung forward, heavy, and he grunted before sighing with relief at finally having no restrictions holding it tight.  He was big… bigger than Jane had ever been with (not that she’d been with many men to compare him to).  Her eyes widened, and she forced herself to pull them from his cock, so their eyes could meet.

Jane swore the alcohol should have all but burned up in her veins but thought she must still be at least buzzed for the bravado she suddenly grasped.  Beneath the steadfast eyes of a handsome, naked blond-haired angel cowboy in front of her, Jane slowly pushed herself up on the bed until she was on her knees.  She reached down, grabbing the material of her dress, heart pounding in her throat and skin hot.  Forcing herself to hold his eyes, Jane pulled it upright slowly, pulling the fabric away until she was kneeling in front of him in her cute matching set of baby blue and white pinstripe bra and panties.  She didn’t stop or hesitate, even when Adam’s tongue wet his lips in anticipation and made the muscles in her belly squeeze tight.   She twisted an arm behind her back and easily popped the clasp to her bra, shrugging the material off completely.  Her fingers went to her panties.

“Wait,” he could barely talk, his throat was so tight, but that command fell hard between them.  She watched his large chest rise and fall with needed breaths and slowly pulled her hands away from her hips.

Adam leaned his weight onto the bed, setting his bare knees atop the duvet.  He crawled over her and Jane laid back until her head was on the pillows and he was a dark shadow above her.  Horses, the outdoors, a faint wisp of unoffensive cologne and the clean smell of whatever he used for his curly, blond hair drifted off him and wrapped itself around her.  She sighed into it, too wrapped up in the emotions to realize that though they were practically strangers, that smell made her soul feel as if she was home.

His fingertips lay gentle touches on her body, down her arms, along her sides, to her hips.  They stilled in the elastic of her panties, and Adam pressed his lips against hers, suppressing a groan on her tongue as he pulled that last bit of clothing that lay as a barrier between them.  As soon as they were cast aside, his hands returned to her body, skimming her curves, fingers curling in to where fat naturally rested on her figure and giving it a greedy squeeze.  His calloused palms slipped from her ass to her breasts, where he devoted time, tongue, and touch to making her nipples hard and her moans sing one after the other from her caught-open mouth.  Jane arched her back toward his touch and reached to slip her fingers into his blond curls, pulling tight.

His mouth popped wet off her right breast, the skin tingling from where his beard had gently scratched it. One hand was used to prop his large body over her, so he didn’t squish her beneath his weight, but the other reached so his thumb and forefinger clasped her chin.  Adam turned her eyes toward his – barely discernible, but for the moonlight pouring in the window to the left of the bed – and slowly lowered his hips between her parted legs.  His cock skimmed her thigh before the head pressed at the warm, wet, tender lips between her legs.  He found where she parted, their eyes locked, and his open mouth poured a warm, long moan over her as he slowly sank inch after inch inside her.

Only once there was no more room left for him to press in did Adam release her chin.  He dipped and smeared his lips over hers.  His tongue pushed into her mouth at the same time he drew his hips back and pushed in again.  His moan was a vibration in against her tongue and to hear it made her eyes want to roll.  Jane arched toward him, taking him more eagerly at his next thrust.  Together, they found a pace that drew passionate moans spilling freely from her kiss-swollen lips and ones from him in hot, heavy breaths above her.

For a moment, that’s what it was.  Fucking. The pair of them lost in the sensation of being in that intimate, special place with someone their hearts were deeply moved by.   Jane watched him over her, what she could see of him in eyes adjusted to the dark and moonlight spilled through glass pane.  She watched the hard dip of his brow, the intense dark of his blue eyes staring down at her, and the jerk of his gold curls over her, the ends just brushing her bare shoulders every time he thrust inside.  She could feel how tight she was around him.  How wet.

Adam’s eyes met hers, and they were pulled back into the moment and away from their individual, romantic thoughts.  Adam’s hips slowed, and each stroke was full, languid, and enjoyed.  He dipped, brushing his lips across hers with a brief touch that sent tingles through them.  Once.  Twice. He teased these kisses, but never fully pressed his mouth against hers.  She ached for it.  The tips of her brows pulled inward and the noise she made became half a moan, half a whine.  Adam responded with a chuckle that was merely a breath and sank into kissing her as deeply and fully as she’d wanted.  His tongue stroked hers as his cock pressed inside, and she moaned, arching beneath him.

Only when their lungs were near starved of air did their lips break, and each drew desperate, shared breaths as Adam’s forehead pressed against hers.

“Jane,” he moaned, and to hear him say her name nearly pushed her to the edge.

“Oh,” she whined, brow pinched tight, face warm with his breath, “Adam… Adam…”

The slow pace dissipated as he pulled them toward delectation, his hips swinging wildly into hers, their moans and grunts and panting mixing together.  Sweat stuck their skin close and blood sang through their veins, every nerve in their bodies on fire, sensitive to the faintest touch.  Jane’s eyes closed tight, her mouth hung open, and the velvet muscles wrapped around his cock squeezed tight before, victim to the whims of her body, she went still as stone.

“Adam!”  One last cry strangled from her throat as the crash came. Fireworks behind her eyes.  Jane’s thighs trembled and shook, clapping against his hips as Adam grunted and drove himself deep inside her, going still. His thick fingers curled tight into the sheets, muscled arms squeezing her arms tight.  The heat of him poured inside her, and it was only then she realized they’d been too wrapped up in the moment and hadn’t thought to use protection. Strangely enough, for a girl who never took risks, Jane wasn’t the slightest bit bothered.

Adam slumped on top of her for a moment, drew a breath, and slowly eased his weight from suffocating her. Sensitive and coming down from their individual highs, they maneuvered their bodies carefully to relax into the aftermath.  Gingerly, Adam pulled himself from her, bent to lay a soft kiss against her forehead, and walked barefoot across the room to what appeared to be the master bathroom. The light pooled white and gentle from the open door and he left it on as he returned clutching a small washcloth which he’d lightly dampened with warm water.

“If you’d like?”  A question in his voice as he handed it toward her.

Jane smiled and took it from him, trying not to be touched that his first thought after sex was to get her a washcloth to clean up with.  It was an act that should be commonplace, but she knew from experience it often wasn’t.  As she cleaned away the sticky webs of their joined cum from her thighs, Adam returned to the bathroom to presumably wash himself up, came back to pull on his boxer-briefs and turned to rummage around in the nearby dresser.

“I can give you one of my shirts to sleep in, if you’d like?”

Jane had just started gathering up her clothes when she looked up and saw him smiling gently, hand extended with a white cotton t-shirt in hand.  She smiled and nodded, taking it with a thank you and went to clean herself up, pulling on her panties and pulling his shirt on before glancing at herself in the bathroom mirror.  Had she ever seen herself look so carefree and happy?  A smile crawled across her face before she could stop it, and she ran her fingers through her hair, fixing it from where it’d bunched and tangled during their lovemaking.  Her heart felt as if it skipped, thinking of going back into the room and snuggling into his arms for the evening.

That smile again.

She turned away and clicked off the light, stepping into the moonlit room where her cowboy had gingerly taken her dress and bra, setting them on the dresser beside where he’d propped her boots.  He was laying in bed beneath the cover and, when she entered the room, threw the other side back and gently patted the mattress.

“C’mere beautiful,” he said, voice gentle and sweet.

Jane slipped into bed and cuddled up against his side as he opened his arm for her to tuck in.  That arm wrapped around her body as Jane turned into him, head resting on his broad, warm chest.  For a moment they said nothing, only existed.  Adam’s breath was warm against her hair.  Everything in Jane began to relax, her entire body feeling as if it were made of jelly.  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this content.  Her eyelids began to gently close and she fought them, not wanting to waste a moment they had together on sleep.  Adam’s fingers began to skim up and down her bicep and shoulder.

“Can I say something super cheesy?”  Jane asked quietly, eyes still closed.

“Mm?”  His voice rumbled in his chest where her cheek rested.

“The way I feel with you… I’ve never felt this way with anyone.”  Too astonished, too happy, and too relaxed, Jane couldn’t pause to worry about whether that was something she should have kept to herself.  Those were the kind of things you said to a man you’d been seriously dating, not a one night stand you met on a quick stop-off on a road trip where you’d likely never return.

It was only when Adam didn’t say anything immediately that worry pinched at her heart.  Jane stirred on his chest, tilting her head up to look at him.  She found him watching her, blond curls a fluffy mane around his handsome face, blue eyes filled with a myriad of emotions all tangled up in one.  He was smiling, though, and he shook his head gently back and forth before leaning forward and pulling her in with his arm, so he could press his lips in a kiss against the top of her head.

“I feel the same way about you,” he confessed once he’d laid back and relaxed his arm, letting them return to how they’d been snuggling.

Without it needing to be said, they both were smart enough to see that this wasn’t easy.  In the morning, Kate would likely be ready to drive on, and they’d continue to their destination.  Maybe on the way back they could stop again… but Jane still had a semester left before graduating university and from there, she’d planned on job hunting closer to home to stay near her parents, siblings, and nephews and nieces.  Adam had his parents here and his small horse ranch and horse training business.  Their lives were set in opposite directions.

It was with that unfortunate echo of an ache, wrapped up in Adam’s arms, that Jane drifted off to sleep, her mind unable to grasp to a solution, but too comfortable being held by him to do anything but surrender to the peace it inspired.

Sleep came and stayed until the soft, gentle chiming of an alarm began to pull her back to consciousness. She groaned gently.

“Sorry darlin’,” Adam whispered in a soft voice, gently easing himself out from where they’d still been tucked up close together, so he could grab his phone and cut the alarm.  “I have to go feed the horses.”  It was still dark outside, judging by the lack of light in the room.  He slipped out of the bed and the immediate lack of his warmth made her shiver. Gently, he set the cover back around her before rummaging around for clothes.

“Do you want me to help?” It was mumbled into the crook of her arm, where she hadn’t managed to lift her head.  Despite offering, she could feel sleep pulling her back.

Adam leaned over and placed a kiss on her temple, thumb gently tucking a wayward lock of her hair behind her ear.  Jane lifted her sleepy eyes toward him and raised a brow.

“No, that’s alright sweetheart,” his gently spoken terms of endearment were making her heart ache in the most wonderful ways.  He was still bent toward her, holding her face in the palm of his hand as if he couldn’t pull away.  “When I get done we’ll go get some breakfast.  Sound good?”

“Mm, mhm.”  Jane nodded, and Adam brushed his lips against hers, sank into a deeper kiss, smiled and finally let her go.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you up when I’m done.”

“Mmkay,” she barely managed, eyelids already drooping, and curled her arms around the blanket in his absence, inhaling his smell that sat in the sheets and drifting back off to sleep. His gentle laugh at her sleepy antics where the greeting to her dreams.

Jane wasn’t sure how long she slept for, but the soft light of early morning pushing in through the curtains pried at her eyes and she slowly opened them, wiping the sleep away and blinking the room into focus.  Adam still hadn’t returned, but she wasn’t entirely surprised and felt a small stab of guilt, thinking she should have forced him to let her help him.  It would’ve gone faster with the two of them.  Slowly she moved from the bed, pulling the covers back and going to the bathroom to splash a bit of water on her face and run her fingers through her hair.  She was just beginning to debate whether she should steal a pair of sweatpants from his drawers and go out to help him when she realized she could hear noises from somewhere in the house.

It sounded like a skillet being put on the stove, and she wondered if Adam had decided to surprise her by cooking breakfast instead of them going out.  Smiling, Jane moved quickly from the bathroom, still dressed only in her panties and his shirt (it was large on her, the hem just barely covering the curve of her rear), she decided she’d let him know she was awake and spend time with him while he cooked.  

Jane started down the hallway, not trying to be particularly quiet.  From around a turn, where she assumed the kitchen was, there came a sudden voice.

“Adam?  You must’ve slept in late!  Those horses are pry starving!”

A woman’s voice.

“I didn’t see your truck in the driveway!  Did Earl Brown have to drive you home last night?”

Jane froze in step, eyes wide.  What…? Who…?

“I’m making biscuits and gravy; it’ll be ready by the time you’re through feeding!”

Standing near the end of the hallway, Jane glanced back down at the end where the bedroom was, fingers pulling the hem of his shirt down and wondering what she should do.  Should she go hide in the room until Adam came back in and explained what was happening?  Should she go grab her dress, see if she could sneak out the window and call Kate to come pick her up?  Shit… she couldn’t do that, she’d left her purse with her cellphone next to the couch when they’d first started making out.

Was he… with another woman? No… that couldn’t be it…  Adam didn’t seem like the kind of man capable of cheating.  Jane didn’t understand.

“Adam?”  Concern and confusion now, and the voice was closer than before.  When Jane hadn’t answered they’d apparently decided to come investigate.

Fuck.  Fuck, fuck, fuck…  It was too late for Jane to duck back down the hall.  They’d see her scurrying away.

“Oh!”  An older woman appeared around the corner of the hallway and stopped dead in her tracks, blinking with wide eyes and staring at Jane. “Oh… Oh my dear, I am so sorry… I thought you were…”  She turned red in the face at the sight of Jane’s lack of dress.

“Um…”  Jane took a small step back, dying inside and trying to figure out what to do.

At that exact moment someone else joined them.  A young girl, maybe six or seven, with long curly blond hair set like a wild, untamable mane around her fair face and the prettiest set of blue eyes.  She was holding a small, stuffed pony and dressed in a long cotton purple shirt with frilly fabric at the end and pink heart patterned leggings.

“Why are you wearing my daddy’s shirt?”

“Uhh…”  Jane’s eyes were wide and jumped to the woman, who she now assumed must be Adam’s mother.  Oh god… oh god…

“Avery, sweetheart,” the older woman blinked and snapped her realizations in place, turning with a smile at her granddaughter.  “Can you help grandma set the table?  Three places, alright?”

“But grandma,” the little girl argued in a whisper, glancing back at Jane with a confused and suspicious look across her young face, “she’s wearing my daddy’s shirt.”

“Avery be a good girl, alright.  Listen to grandma.  Go set the table.”

Avery looked from her grandma to the stranger in the house – Jane – and a look of frustration crossed her face before she turned around and headed back the way they’d come.

“I’m so sorry dear,” Adam’s mother started with hushed apologies, shaking her head and waving over Jane’s shoulder, “You just go back and get yourself decent.  Breakfast will be ready in a little while.”  With one last look that was both confused and apologetic, the older woman turned and followed the way Avery had gone, leaving Jane standing alone in the hallway, struggling to process what had just happened.

Adam… had a daughter?

Jane had ducked quickly into the living room to grab her purse, retreated to the bedroom to put on her bra and dress and was sitting on the bed, trying to figure out what she was going to do, by the time Adam slowly came into the room.  He looked embarrassed and closed the door with a soft click behind him.

“Jane… I…”

“You have a daughter.”

“Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Confused, she searched his face for answers.

“I don’t know…” He glanced from the floor at his feet to her and shook his head slowly.  “I… I was going to, before we got into Earl’s truck, but… what you said about not wanting to worry about the consequences, and it just being about last night… I was drunk… I…”  He paused and blew out a breath, walking across the room to sit on the end of the bed.  They were in reach, but still sitting apart.  “I don’t have a good enough reason, Jane.  I just felt something for you I haven’t felt for anyone in a long time, and I was afraid if you knew I was a single father, you wouldn’t want to get involved with me.  I should have said something, I know.  I just… wanted to let go for once and enjoy something good that crossed my path.  I don’t get that very often, if ever.”

There was an ache in his voice.  A sorrow. It transcended across his body and his shoulders were hunched, eyes dark and troubled.  

“Well…”  Jane drew a breath, “it’s not like anyone got hurt… I mean, I’m horrifyingly embarrassed knowing the first time your mother and daughter saw me, I was only wearing your t-shirt and my panties, but I’ll be fine as long as your daughter isn’t mentally scarred.”

Adam’s brows dipped apologetically.  “God, Jane, I’m so sorry… my mom was going to keep Avery for the day, but she had a nightmare and wanted me, so they decided to come over and cook up breakfast.  I was out in the barn and didn’t hear them pull up, and I never have anyone over, so she didn’t think…”

Immediately, Jane thought of that adorable little girl with his fluffy blond curls and lovely blue eyes, scared and needing her father, and nothing else mattered.  Who cared if she’d suffered some embarrassment?  It wasn’t the first time.  It would have been nice to have Adam tell her about his daughter, but Jane could see his side of things.  Why bother talking about her if it was obvious, they weren’t going to see one another again?  

“Can I ask about her mother?”

A look crossed Adam’s face. It was that same one he’d had briefly last night, when Wade had been surprised to see he was with a girl, and when he’d started talking about moving back home after college.  It was pain and sadness and regret.

“She’s out of the picture. For good.”  His voice clipped at the end.

“Oh…”  Jane said softly and glanced at her hands in her lap.

“It was her choice.”

She looked over at him. Adam licked his lips and ran a frustrated hand through his curls, offsetting them.  It made Jane’s fingers itch, wanting to reach across the distance between them to tuck the hair back in place.  He wore his pain so close to the surface, it was impossible not to see it.

“How old was Avery when she left?”

“It was a month before she turned two.  I moved back home so my mom could help me with raising her.”

“Oh…”  Jane blinked, trying to think of a reason a woman would leave her year-old daughter and a man like Adam behind.  She just kept drawing blanks.

Suddenly, there came a wild flurry of little knocks on the door.  “Daddy and Daddy’s friend, Grandma says breakfast is ready!  Come get it while it’s hot!”  The little voice yelled behind the door, and despite the heavy atmosphere in the room, Jane smiled.  They could hear the little patter of her feet as she ran back away, returning to the kitchen.

Adam looked over at Jane.

“If you just want to leave, I wouldn’t blame you.  I can wait with you until your friend arrives… I’d hate to subject you to sitting down for breakfast with my mama and my daughter after all this.”

Those were the sort of things you did after you’d been dating for a while, when you talked about maybe becoming a little more serious and kept going back and forth about when and how you’d meet them.  Their already complicated story got a whole lot more complicated.

“Do you want me to leave?” Jane asked, watching him quietly.

“No,” he said it too quickly, realized he did, and drew a breath.  It slipped out slow and he shook his head, staring at her.  “I don’t ever want you to leave.”  He hesitated, as if realizing he’d said it, and then decided to charge full steam ahead.  “Actually, I uh… I’ve been trying to sort it out the whole morning while I was feeding the horses, I might have some ideas how we could make this work…”

“Make… what work?” Jane could barely breathe.

“Us…”  Adam’s blue eyes were soft on her.  “If… if you wanted to try it, that is.”

Talk about complicated. Jane blinked, envisioning her strict plan she’d kept herself diligently on, pushing herself through university to earn her degree, and how close she was to finally checking everything off her to-do list.  Nowhere did it say she’d start dating a single father in Montana.

But when was the last time anyone made her feel this way?

Jane stood up slowly. A look of sorrow touched Adam’s face as he assumed, she meant to leave, but he pushed it away, as if he wanted to do everything he could to help ease the burden of making this decision  He didn’t even want her knowing he was upset about the choice he made, trying to respect what she chose.  Jane’s heart ached, but she didn’t leave the room. Instead, she walked around to his front to face him, put her hands on his shoulders and smiled when his eyes lifted and met hers.

“Let’s hear those ideas,” Jane said, and was about to say more when Avery’s little voice yelled through the house.

“YOUR BISCUITS ARE GETTING COLD!”

They both broke out into grins.

“After breakfast.” Jane concluded.  “I’d hate to let a man’s biscuits go cold.”

Adam stood up, and his wide, warm, calloused palms wrapped around her hands.  He pulled her in and leaned down, kissing her gently.

“After breakfast.”

#hangman page #hangman adam page #adam page #fanfiction #fanfic #wrestling fanfic #there's not enough horses in part two #screw u op #u sold out for smut #hapedit

[sebeth]

Doom Patrol: “Pilot”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

S

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 Doom Patrol, Episode One: “Pilot”

 Love the opening credits. Creepy and evocative of the Doom Patrol’s “mad scientist” origins.

Paraguay, 1948: We begin with a snarky narrator and a visit to a Von Furchs, a Nazi fugitive. He is infamous for his scientific experimentation.

Von Furch changes a Mr. Morden into Mister Nobody. Nobody is a villain from the Vertigo Doom Patrol series.

We fast forward to 1988 in Florida. We are at the pre-transformation home of professional race car driver Cliff Steele. A married Cliff is having an affair with the nanny. Cliff’s wife tells him to “crash and die”. Cliff crashes after his wife distracts him.

Cliff regains consciousness after Niles transports his body into a robot form.

I can only imagine the horror Cliff felt upon regaining consciousness.

Did Cliff’s wife consent to this procedure or did Niles simply steal Cliff’s brain? Was the wife working with the Chief? It’s revealed in the Vertigo series that Niles was behind the accidents that caused the members’ misfortunes.

Cliff realizes he’s regained consciousness in 1995. Niles informs Cliff that the world believes he died in 1988?

Rita reveals the truth to Cliff- only his brain survived and it’s encased in a robot body.

Rita tells Cliff: “We need to talk about expectations. And then we need to take those expectations, give them a gentle pat, and flush them into the ocean.”

I’m sensing Rita has been disappointed numerous times in her life.

Rita tells Niles that “Everyone deserves the truth.”

The team members have to stop pushing the off button on Cliff’s body. How can he adjust if they press the off button whenever he has a reaction?

Niles introduces Cliff to Larry. Larry gives Cliff a tour of the place.

Cliff asks Larry about his story.

Flashback origin time for Larry.

California, 1961: Mister Nobody states Larry was an “Atomic Age sex machine”: a USAF test pilot and on the short list for the NASA Mercury mission. Larry was also a married man with children.

Larry flies an experimental NASA rocket plane. Larry encounters an alien energy high up in the atmosphere. The energy destroys the controls on the ship. The plane crashes and burns Larry alive.

Back to the present day – Cliff is attempting to learn how to climb steps in his new body.

Cliff asks Larry what “Drinky’s” deal is. To be fair, every time Cliff has seen Rita she has had a martini in her hand.

Cliff struggles with the reality and limitations of his new form.

Cliff asks Niles if anyone has left “this place”. Niles informs Cliff that “Some have. Some come and go. Others life Larry and Rita prefer to stay. But to be perfectly honest, those who leave find it’s often more difficult for the world out there to accept who they’ve become than they do.”

The line of dialogue allows for other characters to enter and leave the plot.  I wonder if we will see some of the other members of the various incarnations of the Doom Patrol? We know Crazy Jane and Cyborg are coming to the show.

We discover Rita enjoys knitting while Larry prefers horticulture.

I love Rita’s clothing style. Very fashionable.

Rita origin flashback.

She was the queen of 1950s’ cinema. She was also a diva.

Rita was in Africa filming a movie. The dock she was on collapses and she falls into the water. She’s exposed to a strange substance in the water. She emerges from the water with her body collapsing around her. Possible karma as Rita was having trouble looking at a disfigured man while filming the movie.

Cliff makes it up the steps! Achievement unlocked!

Niles tells Cliff that his brain has been altering his memoires to help him cope.

Cliff plays a phone message the Chief used to replicate his voice.

We flashback to the car race. Cliff avoided the car crash and won the race. His wife looks shocked about his survival. Cliff, rather hypocritically, attacks the man he suspects of having an affair with his wife.

Cliff has another romp with Giselle, the nanny, in his trailer. He calls his wife: “I don’t know what happened to us. I’m going to be better. I know it’s late. I don’t even know if you care how sorry I am.”

Cliff goes to his wife’s parents’ house to retrieve her and his daughter.

I’m getting a really bad feeling about what’s going to happen.

A distracted Cliff drives into a semi-truck. Kate and Clara die in the crash. Cliff was the only survivor.

Wow, the show writers managed to make Cliff’s origin even more tragic than it was in the comics.

Mister Nobody informs us “The years pass and it’s all so depressing that I just can’t.”

In 2002, Larry paints a canvas of racing cars for Cliff. Larry is so sweet!

Cliff spends a decade working on a town/race car model track.

It’s 2019 and we hear a female voice yelling “I’m back”.

Rita: “Oh, goody.” Rita is clearly not a fan.

Robotman: “Who?”

Cliff’s been in the house since 1988 and he hasn’t met Jane yet? How old is she supposed to be?

“Meet Jane. Some people call her Crazy Jane. Sixty-four personas each with their own special power.”

Jane is going to be fun. The Rita and Jane dynamic should be a blast.

After a rocky start, Cliff and Jane bond. Cliff was protective of Jane in the Vertigo series too.

We meet several of Jane’s personalities in the episode:

1)      Jane

2)      Sylvia

3)      Hammerhead

4)      Hangman’s Daughter

5)      The unnamed energy being

The Chief decides to resume his occasional travels in the world. The gang’s heard the spiel so much they say it with him.

The gang decides to head into town. When dad’s away, the kids will play.

Rita nervously enters a diner. She meets a fan.

Jane and Cliff head to a toy store to buy a present for his daughter’s birthday. Cliff and Jane bonds over his pre-death stupidity.

Larry finally leaves the bus and enters a bar.

Rita discovers it was rumored to be drunk and doing porn. An emotional Rita begins to lose control over her bodily form.

Jane urges Cliff to call his daughter. Cliff states his daughter is dead. Jane asks “According to who?” Jane claims Clara survived the crash. It’s on the internet. Jane urges Cliff to call his daughter but he destroys her phone.

It didn’t take long for the writers to start the “Chief’s a lying liar who lies” card.

We flashback to Larry, pre-transformation. Larry, a married man, was having an affair with a male member of his ground crew.

The memories trigger Larry and blue light begins to emit from his body.

Rita continues to lose control of her body, turning into a huge oozing mass that breaks through the storm and emerges on to the street.

Jane changes personalities while urging Jane to get a hold of herself.

Larry loses control and the negative energy being emerges from his body.

Rita and Larry’s respective freak-outs are causing massive damage to the town.

Cliff asks Jane: “What should we do?”

Jane responds by changing personalities and transforming into a fire/energy being.

“No! We’re not doing that!”

Cliff saves the day by stopping Rita in her tracks.

The team heads home. Niles arrives back in town as television media is reporting the day’s events.

Niles briefly sees a donkey in his rearview mirror.

Niles arrives home and he’s not happy. Niles heads to the lab and looks at photos. One has a man holding a leashed donkey. The photos appear to be from the time Morden transformed into Mister Nobody.

Niles informs the team their actions have consequences. He has enemies and they will come for the team. He wants the team packed up and ready to leave asap.

Cliff asks about the town. Niles tells him the town isn’t his concern.

“So the town get’s screwed.”

Niles yells at Jane, Cliff yells at Niles – he’s ticked about the Chief lying about his daughter’s death.

Cliff wants to stay and fight but the rest of the team votes to leave with the Chief.

The team leaves but Cliff stays to protect the town.

Jane urges the team to return and fight with Cliff. The team, except for Niles, agrees.

Rita: “I can’t promise I won’t be disgusting, but yes.”

Mister Nobody teleports aboard the bus and taunts Niles.

The donkey approaches the team and farts a message into the sky: “The mind is the limit.”

A black hole appears in the street and begins swallowing the team.

Cliff: “What the f***?”

Great first episode. Loved the soundtrack. We had “Fresh” by Kool and the Gang, “Fox On The Run” by Sweet, “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol, and “People Are Strange” by the Doors.

Mister Nobody, visually and voiced, is more fun than he was in the comic book series.

Niles is manipulative and creepy. In many ways, he is the greatest enemy of the Doom Patrol.

Each character received their fair share of focus in the episode. We were able to see their origins and their distinct personalities.

It’s refreshing to see characters that don’t have “big damn heroes” as their default mode. Rita and Cliff weren’t the most likable people before their accidents. Larry led a secret life even before the plane crash. All three were horribly traumatized during their accidents and resulting transformations and have lived decades in fear and secrecy as “freaks”.  That combination is very hard to overcome to become heroic defenders of mankind.

An excellent debut. Highly recommended.

#Doom Patrol #Rita Farr #Larry Trainor #Cliff Steele #Niles Caulder #Crazy Jane #Robotman #Elasti-Girl #Negative Man #Chief

[livlepretre]

This is a great ask set—I’d love to hear about 12, 13, and 24!

12. favorite character to write about this year:

Well, I think the obvious answer is Queen Elena– because how is it possible not to love her? She embodies one of my very favorite tropes, which is the human coming out victorious against what should be the unconquerable inhuman, and doing it by hook and by crook. I’ve had ample opportunity to write about this with FE, and Elena hasn’t even played her biggest cards yet, so I am thrilled with that. It’s kind of a wild ride writing someone who keeps so many secrets and leaves so much unsaid, and yet is such an internal person, with everything kept under the surface. She’s also wonderfully tragic, and recklessly brave, and has a lot of mythic elements that tease the at the dichotomy between her fragility as a mortal and this palpably terrifying larger than life quality I’ve always imagined her to have. 

Other than Elena– Stefan and Marcel have both been great fun. Well, I say fun. Imagining what Marcel and Elena’s dynamic would be like stretched the limits for me pretty far, since they never catch wind of each other canonically, but Marcel is just so cool under pressure–  a lot like Elena, actually. I didn’t intend for them to have such an intense connection, that just completely wrote itself. 

And as for Stefan! He didn’t make too many appearances this year, but when he did my heart was basically in shreds. There’s something incredibly satisfying about writing the helpless downward spiral he and Elena are stuck on. 

13. favorite writing song/artist/album of this year: 

Gosh, there are a lot of songs I listen to A LOT when I write, or when I’m trying to amp myself up to write– aaand this is quickly becoming a really long answer, but FE requires a lot of mood music! 

Never Met a Girl Like You Before by the Insects– I heard this song for the first time probably in the spring of 2016, around the time I started publishing FE. I knew as soon as I heard it that this is the sound of the fic, the hazy, claustrophobic, out of control, sure to be a doomed and passionate affair feeling of the fic. This song literally sounds like an obsession to me.

All My Heart by the Mynabirds

Because the Night by Garbage and the Screaming Females

There is a Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths

Handle with Care by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

Like a River Runs by Bleachers 

The Only One by Holly Miranda

Apocalypse by Cigarettes After Sex

Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You, Baby by Cigarettes After Sex

Gallery Piece by of Montreal

Sweet Dreams by Emily Browning

Vampire Smile by Kyla LaGrange

Home by Daughter

In the Pines by Widowspeak

All in White by the Vaccines 

I Always Knew by the Vaccines (honestly this is when I know I’m down the rabbit hole too far lol) 

I Don’t Want Love by the Antler

Make It Without You by Andrew Belle

Generals by the Mynabirds

24. favorite fic you read this year: 

Without a Doubt @innermostplanet‘s The Hangman’s Hands. It’s an MCU fic picking up from the end of the first avengers movie, “Thor and Loki never make it back to Asgard. Now S.H.I.E.L.D. is stuck with the world’s most hated war criminal on their hands and everyone wants a piece - unless they can find a way to get rid of him for good.” Jane/Thor and also Jane/Loki, in a way that gives satisfying weight to both. 

I can’t speak highly enough about this gem– it’s one of those stories that leaves me breathless, reeling from the dark beauty of the prose, the thoughtful, often painful, insights into the characters, and just the scope of how very far the story goes from where it begins. I’m a sucker for like… all of the tropes employed, and the writer often threw all of my assumptions as a reader against me in a savagely thrilling way. I learned a lot about writing fic from this, too– about how to shape a long narrative, about how threads of plot and character development can be resolved, and maybe what the point of writing a fic even is, at least for me. 

Thank you for the ask @mercurialobsession! 

#ask #my fic #the hangman's hands

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Also the main artist of the Arcana ships incest :/ so yeah abandon that lmao can you tell us more of the other game? Never heard of it before!

Regency Love is a game you can get at the app store and put on your phone that I found via this post, and I thought it sounded interesting. Also, @skyholdherbalist recommended to me, so I thought why not? And downloaded it. Now I may have a BA in English, but let me tell you, regency era was never my favorite, I was much more of a Renaissance lady, (as you may have guessed by my username, lol.)  and Jane Austen? Ummm, never really cared for her. (I do sort of understand the appeal, just not my thing!) 

Regency Love though? I’ve been playing for about three days and I adore it to bits. Imagine a DnD campaign set in the regency period. You play as a young lady whose father passed a year ago, and who’s at the right age for marriage. From there on you get to talk to the various people in the village, and court various gentlemen. You have stats like reading, riding, dancing and music that you have to develop to play through the game, and you get that by answering trivia and playing hangman, as well as just generally playing through the game. I’m not very far yet, but there’s around thirty different endings, and it’s much more of a video game you play through than a visual novel. I like it because your choices actually effect how people perceive you. it cost five bucks, but compared to how long I’ve been playing it, and how far I have to go? WORTH IT

#also I quit the arcana a long ass time ago #like before that crap show #wasn't that into it anyway #Anonymous #I did think the readings were interesting but I just deleted it to save space on my phone

[veliseraptor]

Your fic recs are always super good, so I was wondering if you could rec some long, plotty and just /good/ ones that are Loki centric? Some emotional angst and plot twists are always a bonus. *Gives a thousand cookies and loves*

Oooh, this is a good one. 

I love plotless whump fic and fic that’s basically 500% emotions with very little “plot” but I do also love a good, long, crunchy plot fic. (Though sometimes “plot fic” mostly means “processing emotions” fic. Which is great, I love that.) 

For this list I made a couple executive decisions: 1) no unfinished fic and 2) only things over 30,000 words. This means a lot of things I really like juuuust slipped under the wire or else aren’t done yet and so aren’t on this list - but that was mostly to keep it manageable for me. 

No Such Liberty by xParrot

Okay, I know I recommend this and the next one every time, but you asked for long, emotional angst, and plot twists and this is one of the best of that genre in the entire fandom. Loki comes back to Asgard after The Avengers, but his plotting isn’t done yet.

Bargaining by Proantagonist

Time travel! Family dysfunction! All the angst that you can handle and possibly more! (Seriously, bring a box of tissues.) This fic is a masterwork. Thor dies, and Loki goes back to change the past. A long way back. This time, he’s going to do it right.

The Unwinding of Loki by dvs

This one has Thor/Loki in it but I’m reccing it mostly because of the Steve and Loki relationship. Loki (pre-Thor) freaks out about his future and flees to Earth, where he gets tangled up in some truly dark magic of his own making. 

Silvertongue by Epiphanyx7

I recommended this one a while ago as a heart-wrenching fic that’s long been a favorite. Loki realizes that Thor will always try to save him, no matter what. This is actually kind of a problem. Featuring a delightfully twisty Loki playing a long game. 

What Once Was Lost Returned by DemonQueen666

On Jotunheim, one of the Frost Giants recognizes Loki, and they demand that he be returned. A lot of Jotunheim worldbuilding and mostly about Loki having to come to terms with his heritage.

Understanding the Storm by Lizardbeth

A nice, long AU series with a whole bunch of angst, Understanding the Storm is an AU from the end of The Avengers that ends up exploring a lot of territory over the various installments. Features a particularly delightful Frigga throughout, but everyone is very well done. 

Darkness, flooded in light by galaxysoup

For everyone who loves the “Loki is an old lady magnet” headcanon: read this one. Loki falls to Earth and ends up in a small town living an ordinary life. 

A Villain State of Mind by Mikkeneko

This one is part of a series but I think the first one might be my favorite - in order to deal with a Loki who somehow ended up not returning with Thor (despite trying), Fury turns to a powerful telepath to get the truth out of him. That telepath being Charles Xavier. 

Godchild by griseldajane

After another battle, Loki finds a child Thor and takes him under his wing. That’s basically the plot, but it’s every bit as delightful as you’d imagine it to be. And also full of feelings.

Nuances by FelicityGS

One of my all time favorite Natasha/Loki fics, featuring a whole bunch of relationship negotiation and forced cohabitation and just…a lot of really nuanced and excellent characterization. (Nuanced, haha.) It’s just very good stuff. Also nonsexual BDSM, which is great, and some exploration of alien biology (specifically Jotun biology) which is also great.

Rearrange by TheGreatCatsby

Loki’s punishment after The Avengers is to be cast back down to Earth with a spell on him that erases pieces of his memory every time he uses magic. It’s an innovative concept and it’s very well executed here.

Rise From Ash by Mikkeneko

I haven’t reread this fic lately because I’m kind of scared to. I remember it being analogous to, like, six punches in the feelings. It’s a time loop fic with Loki trying to save the world, and that’s about all I want to say about it without giving the ending away. 

Man, now I want to reread but I’m not sure I’m emotionally prepared for that.

Out of the Mouths of Babes / The March of the Damned by Rynfinity 

This one is Thor/Loki, which I don’t read a lot of, and a modern/human AU, which I also don’t read a lot of - but damn it’s really good. It’s also really intense - heavy content warnings for…a lot of things. The first one (Babes) is Thor POV; Damned is Loki POV. I recommend reading both. 

The Many Doors of Niu Heimar by nixajane

An AU of the beginning of Thor where Loki almost dies on Jotunheim and Odin reveals to him afterwards that he’s a Frost Giant. They go to Earth and team up with the Avengers there. It’s Steve/Loki (but pretty slow burn) and is nice and long and plotty, with a killer last few chapters.

Jacob and Esau say their goodbyes by Lady Charity

This one isn’t so plotty but it is definitely “emotional angst.” Loki shouldn’t have survived his “death” on Svartalfheim. In the end, he won’t. (Yeah, cw on this one for hella character death.)

Though she may forget by Lady Charity

Another one that involves Loki going to Jotunheim and reckoning with his heritage, and like all of Lady Charity’s fic it’s beautifully written and just truly excellent work. 

The Hangman’s Hands by Mercurie

This fic is inteeeense. I actually haven’t reread the whole thing in a while, but I do go back every so often to reread favorite scenes. It’s Jane/Loki but that takes a long time to build, and doesn’t erase Jane/Thor which I appreciate. The last three chapters might kill you, though. They kind of killed me. 

Ask Me No Questions by Alex51234

Loki is brought back to Earth with a spell that compels him to tell the truth. Loki telling the truth is often not a very good thing. Also features Loki developing a weird friendship with JARVIS, which is pretty legit, and some excellent Bruce and Loki interaction.

Just Let Me Go by JaggedCliffs

This one’s an AU where Odin dies while Loki is on the throne and the illusion keeping him looking Aesir drops - leaving it looking like a Frost Giant somehow having snuck into Asgard and taking the throne and Loki’s place. There’s some pretty intense torture in this one, and a follow up fic that’s still in progress, and it’s all delightfully whumpy and painful.

AND A RANDOM COMICSVERSE REC

Words Will Never Hurt Me by Mythtaken Identity

This one is based on Journey Into Mystery and Agent of Asgard - which if you haven’t read, you really should, but it is comicsverse and may not make a lot of sense without that background. But you wanted angst and plot twists and this fic sure does deliver on both.

#curlzformetal #fic rec #loki's a goddamn mess

[mountainrooster]

I posted 22 times in 2022

That's 22 more posts than 2021!

11 posts created (50%)

11 posts reblogged (50%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@demxters

@callsignvalley

@rooster-soup

@seasonsbloom

@avi8tors

I tagged 21 of my posts in 2022

Only 5% of my posts had no tags

#jake seresin - 6 posts

#top gun maverick - 6 posts

#jake hangman seresin - 6 posts

#tgm fanfic - 5 posts

#robert bob floyd - 5 posts

#jake seresin x reader - 5 posts

#tgm fanfiction - 4 posts

#fics like this inspire me to continue my own wips - 3 posts

#bob floyd - 3 posts

#top gun maverick fanfiction - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 112 characters

#it's like when you pick up a puppy by the scruff and they just dangle there looking at you with those puppy eyes

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

ROBERT "BOB" FLOYD

STANDALONES

gorgeous [coming soon]

= five moments bob floyd was the most gorgeous man in the world

See the full post

19 nkotes - Posted October 12, 2022

#4

Midnights is Jake seresin coded. Mastermind is Hangster coded. All up for discussion.

20 notes - Posted October 24, 2022

#3

callsign? you mean my military assigned gamertag?

32 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

#2

jake "hangman" seresin

standalones

bedside lover

wish you were sober [coming soon]

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37 notes - Posted October 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

WIP WEDNESDAYS

10/18/2022

I have 11 WIPS on my masterlist and no self-control so we'll see where this goes. the tagging on this is going to be a nightmare

wait for it [rooster x gold star kid reader]

= (gold star child: someone who has lost a parent in active service) i saw a tumblr post a set of images related to this song and you cannot tell me that "wait for it" from Hamilton is not the most bradley "rooster" bradshaw song ever. 

my mother was a genius / my father commanded respect / when they died they left no instructions / just a legacy to protect

and everything hangman says about him "waiting for the perfect moment that never comes". this would probably be a series that starts in high school to post uranium mission. anyways they're both hard-core achievers and perfectionists because where they're headed, a little mistake could mean death, something they both know very well. 

[angst, friends to lovers slowburn, hurt/comfort, some character death]

at my worst, I worry you’ll realize you deserve better. at my best, I worry you won’t. 

= definitely a bob or hangman standalone, maybe both. someone says something particularly harsh to hangman and he starts to wonder why you love him, and if you were just settling for him in the first place. bob is shy and not actually insecure most of the time, but surrounded by pilots that are more open and confident, he's worried he isn't good enough for you.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AU

= HOLY CRAP @jupitercomet's "je te laisserai des mots" little women inspired fic is so GOOD. I like little women but pride and prejudice with jake. imagine it. reader would either be a jane type or lizzie type, but I'm way better at writing jane types (see: I am not very witty but I am very kind). you and your sisters have to try and marry rich so that you can save the family from extreme poverty when your father dies and you happen to meet jake at the ball where your first impressions of him are actually horrible. definitely a series.

[enemies to lovers, banter, fun dagger squad relations, period drama pride and prejudice au]

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52 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

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