#BUT I CAN'T GET THEM I JUST BOOKED A HOLIDAY FOR SEPTEMBER I NEED TO NOT SPEND MONEY

[vcrnons]

this has to be some kind of cosmic joke. i put myself on a svt buying ban LAST WEEK and now my regular music store has all their old albums in stock.

[canirove]

The invinsible princess | Chapter 2

“A very chocolatey Christmas”

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 (coming out next Friday - September 27)

Masterlist

A few months later...

“You know, I was kind of surprised when I got your text.”

“Why?”

“Because I usually am the one who goes visit you in Madrid and not the other way around” my cousin Irene says. 

“Then it was time I came to visit you in Barcelona” I smile.

“Yeah… But why?” she says, giving me a suspicious look.

“Why what?”

“Why have you come to visit me now?”

“I was home alone and bored" I shrug. "My parents are on their annual solo trip before the holidays and Leonor still is at the academy, so I thought… Why don't I go pay my dearest cousin a visit? And I haven't seen Aunt Cristina and your brothers in ages.”

“But we are a few days away from Christmas, and we are spending them all together with grandma. It doesn't make any sense to come now. What are you hiding, Sofía?”

“Me? Nothing”

“Liar.”

“What?”

“You are lying” Irene says. “Who is he?”

“Who is who?”

“The guy you've come to see here in Barcelona.”

“I've come to see you, not a guy” I chuckle.

“You are such a bad liar, Sofía” she laughs. “C'mon, spill the beans. Who is he? When and where did you meet? Is there a Tinder for royals or something?”

“What?”

“I don't know, could be a thing” she shrugs. “Anyway, who is he?”

“He… Ok, fine” I sigh, giving up. Since we were little Irene has always read me like an open book, and it can be so annoying. “There is a guy.”

“I knew it!” she smiles. “Now tell me all the details. When did you meet?”

“This summer.”

“Oh, so this is new! Was it during your holidays in Mallorca?”

“No. It was before that.”

“In Madrid?”

“Kind of.”

“Kind of? What do you mean?” she asks with a confused look.

“First Berlin and then Madrid.”

“First Ber… No!” she gasps. “During the Euros?”

“Yep” I nod.

“Is he a football player?”

“Could be.”

“Could be? Oh… my God, Sofía. Oh, my God! The princess is a wag?” she laughs.

“I'm not a wag.”

“But you may end up being one” she smirks.

“Maybe… I don't know. Everything still is too new and we are just getting to know each other.”

“But wait. Wait, wait, wait. If you've come to Barcelona… Does it mean that he plays for Barça? Is he… Oh my God, is he Gavi? Did you steal your sister's crush?” Irene laughs again. “She's gonna be so pissed when she finds out…”

“It's not Gavi.”

“Then… That new guy? Fermín? He's cute.”

“I don't like them blonde, Irene.”

“Then… umm… No! Ferran? He is like the hottest! You are such a lucky bitch!” she says, hitting my arm.

“Ouch, that hurt!” 

“I can't believe you are seeing Ferran. Like… Woah” she chuckles. “And then you go around saying you are invisible to everyone and that no one pays you attention. You are seeing one of the hottest Spanish players!”

“I'm not seeing Ferran either, Irene.”

“You… what? Then who…”

“Pedri.”

“Pedri? The Pedri?”

“Yes, Pedri. Why that face?”

“I don't know, I just… He doesn't seem your type.”

“Doesn't he? Have you looked at him?” I laugh.

“I… Not really, no.”

“Then you can properly look at him tomorrow, because you are coming with me to watch him play” I smile.

“What?”

“I got tickets. Well, Pedri got them for us.”

“So this is why you've come to see me? To have me third wheeling?”

“I've come to visit you and your family, and then to ask you to accompany me to the game. If someone spots me with you it'll be less suspicious than if I am on my own.”

“Aren't you the invisible princess like you say all the time? You don't need me” Irene says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“That's what I thought too. But Pedri has shown me that that isn't the case. That to him, I've never been invisible.”

“Did he tell you that?” she chuckles.

“He did, yes. And stop laughing, it was quite romantic.”

“If you say so…”

“It was” I say, now being the one who hits her arm. “So, are you coming to the game with me or not? I haven't gotten to see him play with Barça yet, this is the first time.”

“Really? Haven't you known each other for a few months already?”

“We have, yes. But he's been recovering from his injury and we've only managed to meet in person once since the Euros.”

“Just once?” Irene says.

“Yes, for his birthday.”

“And how did you celebrate?” she asks, moving her eyebrows up and down.

“You are the worst” I reply, rolling my eyes. “But yes.”

“Yes what, dear cousin?” she smirks.

“Yes, we had sex to celebrate his birthday. Now, are you coming to the game with me or not?”

“Don't change the topic of conversation just yet. Was it good?” 

“Irene…” I sigh.

“I know it wasn't your first time, Sofía. But what about him?”

“It wasn't either.”

“Interesting… Very very interesting. If you are so eager to see him again, it's because it was good. Is he an expert on anything in particular?”

“Irene, I'm not going to tell you anything else.”

“But you will in the future.”

“Urgh” I groan.

“May I ask you something else?”

“I'm not going to tell you how big he is, Irene.”

“I wasn't going to ask you that, Sofía” she says, rolling her eyes. “Though now I'm curious… Anyway” she says. “What excuse did you use to come see him that day?”

“I told everyone I was going to visit Leonor at the academy” I shrug.

“Wait, she knows?”

“Yes, she does. And before you ask, she approves, so… Are you coming to the game with me or not?” I ask her again. 

“You know football isn't my thing, Sofía. Footballers, yes. But watching them run around for 90 minutes?”

“C'mon, Irene. Say yes. Carlos will be there too, you can talk to him if you get bored” I smirk. 

“I don't know why that should interest me” she says, trying to look unbothered. She's always had a bit of a crush on him even if she denies it. “But I don't know… What does he think about this? Does he agree?”

“Is that important?”

“Well, yes. He's your bodyguard.”

“He doesn't approve because he doesn't like that Pedri is a football player. But I don't give a shit about his opinion on this. He is no one to tell me who I can or cannot date. So, Irene. Will you come with me? Please” I pout. “Please, please, please. I'll tell Pedri to introduce you to Ferran.”

“Ok, fine. I'll go with you” she sighs.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you” I say, hugging her.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah” she says, patting my arm. “But I'm only doing it because you seem to really like this guy and I've never seen you this excited about anyone before. And maybe a bit too because I want to see if Ferran is as hot in person as on tv.”

“Thank you” I smile. 

“Though now you owe me one.”

“And I won't forget about it. Thank you, Irene” I say before hugging her again.

“You're welcome” she replies, hugging me back. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I like your cousin.”

“Even if you only talked to her for five seconds before she only had eyes for Ferran?” I chuckle.

“Even so” Pedri smiles. “But I don't blame her. He is a really handsome guy.”

“And so are you.”

“Thank you” he says, kissing my cheek. “But have you seen his abs? You can grate cheese on them.”

“Meh. I can't eat too much cheese, it doesn't sit well with my stomach. That wouldn't be useful to me.”

“What?” he laughs.

“Yeah” I shrug. “And I've seen your abs, and they are perfect. You have nothing to envy him.”

“I think you are a bit biased here, my lady” he says with a teasing smile.

“Maybe” I reply with a matching one.

“Ehem” someone says behind us as we are about to kiss. Carlos, my bodyguard.

“Sorry” Pedri says as we keep walking.

After the game we decided to visit the Christmas market and maybe grab something to eat before going back home, both of us wearing a hat and a scarf to kind of hide our faces and not get recognized. And so far it has been working and no one has looked at us, though maybe the fact that the market is packed with people is helping us too.

“You seriously chose the coldest day of the year to come visit me, Sofía” Pedri says, the arm he has around my waist hugging me a bit tighter.

“What? This isn't cold, stop complaining” I laugh.

“It is to me, ok? I'm from the Canary Islands in case you've forgotten. I'm not used to it.”

“Then I guess I won't be able to take you skiing with my family. It is a tradition that has been done for generations.”

“I'm not allowed to ski, so” he shrugs. 

“Then you can stay with my grandma in the lodge and play cards with her. She can't ski anymore.” 

“With your grandma… as in the previous queen?”

“The very same” I smile. “Does she also intimidate you like my mum does?” 

“She seems nice. Though I think she can be quite scary when she gets mad.”

“You have no idea” I chuckle. “And she doesn't like the cold either, so now you have two things in common.”

“Which basically makes us bffs. Cool” he says, making us both laugh. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“You have… Pedri…”

“Uh?” . 

“Your face.”

“What about it?” he asks before taking another ship from his hot chocolate.

“Oh my God” I laugh.

“What? What is so funny?” 

“Your face” I say again.

“What is wrong with it? I thought you liked it.”

“And I do. I like it very much. But…” I say before I burst out laughing.

“Sofía, are we sure you are drinking chocolate and that it didn't get swapped for alcohol?”

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just… Don't move” I say, putting my drink down and holding his face with one hand, using the other to deal with what had made me laugh. “Look. This was on your nose.”

“Is that… chocolate?” he says, looking at my finger. “There was chocolate on my super attractive nose?”

“There was, yes” I chuckle before sucking it. 

“Fuck” Pedri whispers, his eyes fixed on my mouth.

“What? Am I the one covered in chocolate now?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“That was so hot.”

“What?” 

“What you did with your finger, Sofía. That was… wow.”

“Oh… I see” I smirk. “Did it make you think of something we could do?” I say, closing the space between us.

“It made me think of something you could do, my lady.”

“To you?”

“To me” Pedri says. “Let's go back to my place.”

“Already?”

“Yes” he nods.

“But we haven't finished our hot chocolates yet.”

“I am too hot right now to drink that.”

“Well, you are wearing the thickest coat ever, that's normal” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Don't tease me, Sofía.”

“Or what? What will you do if I don't stop teasing you?” I say, brushing my nose against his.

“It's more about what I would not do to you once we are at my place.” 

“Ehem” Carlos says next to us, completely ruining the mood.

“Urgh” I groan, resting my head on Pedri's shoulder. 

“Now going back to my place doesn't sound like such a bad idea, uh?” he chuckles. “C'mon” he says, moving my arms from around his neck. “I'll make you a hot chocolate myself if you are still in the mood for it once we are done with… you know.”

“Do you know how to make hot chocolate?” I ask him, arching an eyebrow.

“It's not that difficult, and I'm a man of many talents, my lady.”

“Are you?” I smirk.

“I am. And we better go, because if we keep insinuating things, Carlos’ face is gonna turn so red his head may explode” he laughs.

“It might, yeah” I chuckle.

“Shall we, my lady?” Pedri says, offering me his arm.

“Sir” I giggle before taking it, Carlos sighing behind us and probably rolling his eyes too.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Your hot chocolate, my lady.”

“Thank you” I smile, taking the mug Pedri is giving me before he gets in bed next to me.

“Be careful, tho. It is…”

“Bloody hell!” 

“Hot” Pedri sighs. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah. I think I won't be feeling my tongue for a couple of days, but I'm fine. And I managed to not spill it all over your sheets.”

“You also… umm…”

“What?” 

“You have chocolate on you.”

“On me?”

“Yes. Let me…”

“Fuck” I gasp when his finger suddenly touches me between my boobs and moves up. How had the chocolate ended up there without me not noticing, when it had burnt my tongue? I don't know. But holy shit.

“Done” Pedri smiles after sucking his finger. “Sofía, are you ok?”

“I think you just unlocked a new thing that turns me on.”

“What?” he laughs. 

“The chocolate… the finger… Wait.”

“Sofía, what… What are you doing? You are going to burn yourself again and… Is that a P?”

“A chocolate P, yes.”

“From Pedri?” he chuckles.

“Exactly. Now lick it.”

“What?” he says, his eyes going wide. 

“I want you to lick the chocolate from my chest, Pedri. And if you do it following the shape of the letter, even better. C'mon” I say, laying down. 

“As my lady commands” he says before moving to be on top of me, his elbows resting next to my waist, his eyes focused on mine as he licks the chocolate.

“Bloody hell” I gasp. 

“Those words didn't sound very princess like, my lady. Again” he smirks. “Did you like what I did, tho?”

“Very much.”

“Should we do it again?” 

“Please.”

“Give me the mug” he says, nodding towards the bedside table as he sats up, straddling me. “What should I write now? An S for Sofía?” he says.

“For example.”

“Ok” he says, dipping his finger on the hot chocolate before touching me, the feeling making me gasp again. “Perfect. But I think we could do more. Maybe… a heart?”

“S heart P?” I chuckle. 

“Actually… You've given me an idea. Hold this” Pedri says, giving me the mug. “Try not to let it fall, I'm very fond of these sheets” he smirks.

“I can't promise anything” I smirk back, biting my lip when I feel his tongue on my stomach, trying to focus on the mug in my hand and not on what he is doing to me.

“You taste so good, my lady” he says when he's done.

“Me or the chocolate?”

“I’ve tasted you in other places. It's you” he winks, making me laugh. “Ok, give me the mug back. Time to watch the artist work.”

“The what?” I laugh again.

“I should probably take a photo once I'm done. They could frame it and put it in the Reina Sofía museum.”

“Of course. Let's put a photo of me topless and covered in chocolate in the museum named after my grandmother. I'm sure she would love it. And my mum too. Especially her.”

“Yeah… Umm… Maybe it isn't such a good idea.”

“Still scared of my mum, Pedro?” I ask him with a teasing smile. “I think she liked you when you met her after the Euros.”

“She actually was really nice with me, asking me about the injury and all that. But if she knew the things I've done with her youngest daughter… well. And I have to focus on this, so silence, my lady” he says, dipping his finger on the chocolate again.

“My lips are sealed” I reply. 

Though they don't stay sealed for too long, because the moment his finger starts touching me, I hear myself gasping. First he draws an S over one of my boobs, then a heart between them, and then a P on the other. It is so stupid but so… hot.

“Urgh. Perfect” Pedri says when he's done, sucking his finger and putting the mug done. “Am I allowed to take a photo or will the secret service come after me?” 

“As long as you don't show my face… I don't think they could recognize me because of my boobs.”

“I could” he says, moving from the bed to grab his phone.

“What?” I laugh.

“You have a mole on the left one and another tiny one under the right one” he shrugs.

“Oh my God” I laugh again. “How have you had time to notice all that? We've slept together like twice.”

“Wrong.”

“Uh?”

“We slept together twice on my birthday. Earlier today was the third time. What we are doing will probably lead us to the fourth. And tomorrow I'm not letting you go back to Madrid without doing it one last time, so that would be five. Maybe six. And, like I already told you…” he says, coming back to the bed. “I am a man of many talents, my lady. And the mole on the left is visible when you wear something with a bit of cleavage.”

“Is it?”

“It is. And like I've also told you many times, you've never been invisible to me, Sofía” he smiles.

“Yeah” I reply, feeling my cheeks getting warm. This is what makes me blush. Him being cute, not having him licking chocolate from my stomach.

“Now, stay still. I want this photo to be museum worth it even if it will never be at one” he says, sticking out his tongue as he focuses to take the photo. “Beautiful. I'm such an artist!”

“Of course you are, Pedri” I chuckle. 

“Don't make fun of me, Sofía.”

“Or what?” I ask, arching an eyebrow.

“Or all that chocolate will stay there until tomorrow.”

“As if you weren't looking forward to licking it” I laugh.

“I actually am, yes” he smirks. “So, without further ado…” he says as he goes back to laying on top of me, my body tensing in anticipation. 

“Well?” I ask him when he does nothing, just look at me while resting his chin on my stomach.

“I'm admiring the view” he smiles.

“Admiring the… fuck” I gasp when I finally feel his tongue on my nipple. He had drawn the beginning of the S as close to it as he was able to and… Bloody hell. Again.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I think I've packed it all” I say, looking around Pedri's room. “But urgh, I don't want to leave” I pout, wrapping my arms around his neck. “We aren't seeing each other until next year.”

“Sofía!” he laughs.

“It is a really bad joke, isn't it? Though accurate.”

“And bad" he chuckles. "But think it'll be just a couple of weeks before you come back. And this time for more than just two days and a half.”

“Yeah” I smile. Because with the help of my cousin Irene, we've come up with this excuse about us missing each other so much, that I've decided to spend a month in Barcelona with her and her family since I don't have anything important to do. Perks of being the second in line.

“But before you go…” Pedri says. “I have something for you.”

“For me?”

“For you. Wait here” he says, letting go of me and opening the drawer of one of his bedside tables. “You don't know for how long I've been debating if I should give you this or not since all this between us is still new and you may think it is too soon for gifts. And maybe you won't like it, or think it is a stupid gift, or feel like you now need to give me something in return when there is no need to, or…”

“Pedri. Pedri, hey” I say, taking his free hand and giving it a little squeeze when he walks back to where I am standing, the other holding a small box. “You are rambling.”

“Yes, sorry” he chuckles. “I just… ummm… Merry Christmas, Sofía” he smiles, giving me the box.

“Merry Christmas, Pedri” I smile back, taking it and slowly opening it.

“It's ok if you don't like it, it's something silly. But I saw it while looking for something for my mum and thought it was cute and…”

“Aww, Pedri!” 

“Is that a good aww? Do you… do you like it?”

“I love it!” I say before hugging him. 

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Thank God” he sighs, making us both laugh.

“Will you help me put it on?”

“Of course” he says. He has gotten me a necklace with a little banana charm and a letter S hanging next to it, and it is the cutest thing ever. “There. How does it feel?”

“Perfect” I say, touching it. “I love it, Pedri. I seriously do.”

“Don't you find it stupid? When I told Ferran he laughed at me.”

“Ferran knows nothing” I reply, rolling my eyes. “This is perfect. It is you and I, but no one knows. Only us” I smile.

“Only us” Pedri smiles back, neither of us saying anything else for a while. We are just smiling at each other like two idiots. “That must be Carlos” he sighs when someone rings the bell.

“Yeah…”

“Two weeks, Sofía” he says, cupping my face and resting his forehead on mine. “Just two weeks and we will be back together.”

“Two weeks” I reply, focusing really hard on not starting to cry and on not paying too much attention to the way saying goodbye to him is making me feel and at how badly I don't want to do it, all while trying to also ignore the little voice inside my head that keeps saying the same thing over and over again: you are falling in love with him, Sofía.

[asexualbookbird]

August feels. Blurry. The Thursday of the year. Of the summer? IT feels like the year. I managed to fill out my entire Summer Bingo Board for the library. I haven't heard back about winning any prizes, but I had fun and that's what counts. Bingo made me branch out of my comfort zone which was really neat. Can't say I'll do it more often, a comfort zone is comfortable, but I do enjoy reading something Different every now and then. Did some crafty things this month, which has been a lot of fun, and I've been Smart and Wise and started on holiday gifts so I'm not scrambling in December. It's called personal growth~

The Bone Season: Tenth Anniversary Edition by Samantha Shannon ⭐⭐ - I'm salty about this. Yes, it's an improvement, but it still sucks. The world and magic is so neat, but we're stuck with a plot Like That. Made me do an actual full review on goodreads and on tumblr if you want all the details.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon ⭐⭐- I kept my original rating because honestly I felt the same as I did years ago. It's worse than the updated version, but it's the core of the novel that needs changing. Props to this one at least for making Paige asexual. I do not want to see this book on ace book lists ever again.

The Adventure Zone: The Suffering Game by The McElroys and Carey Pietsch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- One of the best installments so far. The art is AMAZING, I love the meta they're doing with Griffin and The Hunger, it was a little rushed and I'm bummed we aren't getting a full adaptation of The Stolen Century, but this is still right up there with Petals to the Metal for me!

The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - T Kingfisher has never written a bad novel to me, but this one did take me longer than her others to really click. The audio narrator had some inflections that didn't work for my brain, but once they went through the door, things got Weird and picked up. These two made so many stupid decisions, but it still felt in character! Big Stan Pines energy coming from that uncle.

Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - For book bingo! Got me a square for Read Nonfiction, Read Something About The Environment, and Read Something You Found from Book Page (a magazine advertising new and upcoming books). AND it had a local connection. I learned a lot, it was really neat and didn't feel like I was reading a textbook. It was very engaging, and has me looking at grocery stores differently. It was hard to find, though, because Frostbite is a very common name in the urban fantasy romance genre.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Oof. Very heavy, very creepy, very GOOD. Did not expect the many graphic dog deaths, but that was on me. Technically I WAS warned, my brain just didn't register "SGJ dogs are not safe" as "The dog dies in this one". The audio narrator was very good, but I had to listen to the opening a couple times to really get everything to click. It might've been easier had I" read it myself, but the cadence of the narrator really added to the story.

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox ⭐ - Wow when was the last time I had a true one star read. (Actually not too long ago. It was The Novice.) This wanted so badly to be The Haunting of Hill House, but if you want another book like Hill House, just read Starling House. We missed what actually happened in the book because the main character was losing her memory. If you want that, go read Harrow the Ninth. This was a mess and I hated it.

On that note, I need to read something to recharge my faith in books, so MURDERBOT TIME! That's my only reading plan for September, but now I'm feeling Rushed because the year is almost over and I still have about half of my reading goals list left. Whoops. I'd also like to at least attempt some of the Swordtember prompts, if not do all of them. That looks like a lot of fun! So! Onward we go!

[sirowsky-stories]

The Old Prince

Part 4

Author's Note: Hello, again! I still can't get this story out of my head. I'm introducing a new element to it in this chapter, which we'll all get more acquainted with in the next one, but I'm adding an image at the end of this one, to give you all an idea of what it'll look like.

Description: After realizing that Oberyn hasn't been honest with you, life back home has becomes anxious, filled with questions that you fear may never be answered. But you still have to try and find some normality, and this year's Thanksgiving Ball seems like a good place to start.

Rating: Mature 18+ONLY Warnings: Monster Oberyn Martell x Female Reader, AU fic, eventual romance, obviously Halloween themed, reader cusses, lots of angst in this one, overprotective coworker, slightly jealous Oberyn. Word Count: 6030 Author's Masterlist

   You’re back at work already the next day. Halloween has come and gone, which means it’s time to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and since you’re one of only four employees at the local holiday specials store, you’re sorely needed. September through December are the busiest months for this type of store, so every day you’re not all working is a minor disaster.    But if you’re honest, it isn’t your loyalty to the job that’s responsible for your quick return or the extra hours you’re putting in.

   It’s simply because the job is the only thing that takes your mind off him.

   When you’re home, he’s all you can think about. You hear his voice as clearly as if he’s standing in the room with you, asking questions about your life and then letting you prattle on for hours. Something you had attributed to his kind nature and polite manners.    Now though, it seems more like he was trying to learn as much about you as he could, for reasons you don’t dare to even imagine.

   He’d asked you about trivial things, like what book you’d last read or if you prefer to stack your firewood bark side up or down, which you still can’t see the harm in having told him. But he’d also asked you about your work, your people, your interests and how you spend your days, the answers to which must’ve allowed someone of his age and accumulated knowledge of people, to fully grasp your personality and character.

   So, why is that making you have a mild panic attack every time you think about it?    Because you have no idea what he might do with that knowledge. Maybe he was just curious. Maybe it makes no difference at all what you’ve told him. It is possible that he really was just happy for the company.    It’s the “what if” that plagues you.

   Because if he does decide to use his knowledge against you, the odds will be entirely in his favor, since you know nothing about him in comparison.    You want to believe that you wouldn’t have fallen for him (and you did fall for him) if he is indeed the monster that tried to kill you. But in truth, there’s no way that you could know that with any certainty.    Just like there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself from him, either way.

-=<>=-=<>=-=<>=-

   The hours are endless and deafeningly silent in the days after your departure.    He has never been one to wander, to have that restless tremor within, pulling one to their feet and refusing to let them remain still. But he does now.    The stone will quickly turn polished with all his wandering, should the feeling not subside soon enough, which it gives no indication that it will.

   So, he wanders. Through each of the nine wings and up into each of the nine towers, yours being the tallest, and the only one he lingers in. The only place that now offers him peacefulness.    He is aware that he still calls it yours, even though your stay was brief, and you will never again reside there. But it holds so much of your scent still.

   He sits there for hours sometimes, forgetting time all together as he drinks in your skin, hair, the faint lavender scent of your own sheets which you brought with you to this bed. He wonders how long it will take before he will no longer recall the softness of your lips. He thinks of them often, in the hopes that the memory might remain fresh to his senses for a little longer.

   But after only one week, his resolve is already faltering. He dreams of you. Wakes up screaming and drenched in sweat at the memory of his teeth embedded in your soft and tender flesh.    And other times, when the dream has been wonderful… he wakes up erect, longing so desperately for the mere touch of your skin against his own, that he cannot refrain from pleasuring himself to the very thought.

   This does not shame him, though. He is much too old to concern himself with the public perception of what is considered right or wrong among the many varieties of carnal pleasures.    The modern world would likely frown at his history of dalliances, as he has always been a man of omnivorous taste. He has never coveted children, but gender has never been an obstacle to pleasure, in his eyes.

   He has found that women offer a comfort and an emotional closeness that the males with which he has explored enjoyment in the past, have not given as freely. But this was long ago. The world has changed much since then, and gender appears to have become less rigid of late, which Oberyn finds most agreeable.    Still, it’s in a woman’s embrace he has most often felt at home and wanted, beyond that of the carnal.

   And then there is you.    His Valya, though his only by name, not commitment. The first person ever to command such control over his mind and senses. He feels almost enslaved by your very being, as though your mere existence demands his servitude.    And surprisingly, he has no objections to this.

   A terrible fatigue and weariness with the centuries upon centuries of managing himself, always fearful that a moment’s loss of control will result in carnage, has taken root within his being, and will not be untethered.    It festers there, making him increasingly agitated, whilst also draining him of all desire and every grain of levity that he had once possessed.

   But in your company, all this turns pale, irrelevant and silenced. You have freed his heart and brought light back to his soul, and now that he has felt it once more, he cannot stand the loss.    The slow, but still so noticeable, reversion to that caged and lonesome man who spends every waking moment fearing the dragon more than any man who might encounter him.

   Still, you are not as a drug to him. He does not crave you the way a drinker craves the bottle, enslaved by the need to consume, dull, and forget. Instead, he feels only brightened, strengthened and awakened by you.    In your presence, Oberyn comes alive, for the first time in ages feeling stronger than the beast, and therefor less controlled by it.

   Every waking moment, his mind looks for ways to relate to you. Everything he sees, smells, touches, it all somehow becomes about you, because that is how dearly he misses you.    And it’s getting worse.    Each day, he battles with himself over whether he has just cause to seek you out once again, and every day, pushing the victory to your favor becomes that much harder.

   He knows that he will eventually fail, because even if he flew to the other side of the world, there would be nothing to stop him from returning. Your house, work and people are known to him, so the day that he eventually fails to convince himself that you are always safer away from him, he will have no trouble finding you.

   It was you that kissed him. He did not ask you to. And that is the carrot which forever dangles before his lips, sweetening his thoughts with the notion that you might do so again, if given a chance.

-=<>=-=<>=-=<>=-

   It takes three weeks before you begin to be able to walk around outside your own house after dark, without fighting panic at the sight of every deep dark shadow, expecting to see golden eyes glowing as they stalk you.    The fear is still there, but with every day that passes without any sighting of the serpent, you’re starting to become less controlled by it.

   You tell yourself that he wouldn’t have let you go just to come after you again, that would’ve been pointless.    But you also wonder if the woman who’d owned this house before you, and who’d vanished without a trace one day over eight years ago, had really wandered off and gotten lost like people think, or if she too could’ve encountered your captor.

   All in all, over the past fifty years, the Seven Hills have claimed nearly thirty lives, half of which have been accidents when people have underestimated the danger of some of the trails, falling to their deaths over cliff-edges, or simply getting lost.    But the other half are unaccounted for. People who just vanished out there. Assumed to have fallen into crevasses or perhaps been buried under mudslides. Natural events.

   If Oberyn hadn’t brought you back, you would’ve become part of that statistic. Which is a frightening thought.    It’s all frightening. Just the reality that dragons aren’t a myth is enough to make you shiver in your bed when you’re trying to sleep, which you haven’t been able to do much of recently.    Fortunately, the holidays are tightly packed at this time of year, so you have no problems staying busy.

   The city council made a brilliant move around a decade ago, with the decision to create a separate account for all profits earned by tourism. The Seven Hills isn’t a city which depends financially on tourism, so it didn’t affect the overall economy. And the brilliance of this move, lay in what that money has since been earmarked for.    Which is celebrations.

   Holidays, anniversaries, and other significant events are all celebrated with parades, formal balls or just big parties, all at the expense of that one account.    The idea had come from a police officer, who had been concerned about a steady incline of violent crimes, and her hope had been that people who have fun together might be less likely to harm one another. Which had happily turned out to be correct.

   So, when you wake up on Thanksgiving morning, having managed to scrape together a handful hours of decent sleep, it isn’t a family dinner you’re planning on going to.    Not that you have any family to celebrate with, even if you’d wanted to. You were an angel baby, left at the front steps of the local church when you were just days old.    The woman who’d ended up raising you had been lovely, and your relationship with her had been good, right up until she’d died shortly after you’d turned sixteen.

   After that, the city had become your family, albeit a distant one. You like your coworkers and you do hang out with them outside of work now and then, but you’re not close. You don’t talk to them about personal stuff.    Perhaps because you’d started your life being abandoned, that’s what you’ve come to expect from everyone, so you shield yourself from caring too much. From letting people in.

   Which is why Oberyn’s betrayal hit you so hard. Because you did let him in. Against the wisdom of all your experience and even the fact that you had literally no reason at all to trust him, you’d told him everything that you never tell anyone.    In just a few days, he’d somehow managed to make you feel safer with him than with any other person you’ve ever met, and he’d done that despite knowing that he was the one who’d almost killed you.

   “Stop it…” you tell yourself, closing your eyes for a moment over your morning tea, because you’d promised yourself that you’re not gonna let him ruin this day.

   Not Thanksgiving. Not the one day of the year specifically dedicated to remembering and celebrating the positives.    This year, the city’s celebration is gonna be a ball at the old courthouse. It’s the fanciest building in town, made of stone and actually resembling a castle more than anything you’d normally associate with legal matters.

   It was commissioned in the late 1800’s by a wealthy lord who wanted criminals to know just how far removed from greatness they were, so he had every piece of metal within the courthouse coated with gold and silver, and every chair was made for comfort and splendor. Except the one offered to the accused, which was just the simplest and cheapest wooden chair that could be made.

   Because of the small fortune of precious metals, the house was prone to burglary and vandalism, so over time, its splendor lessened and by the time they stopped using it, some fifty years later, it was far from the opulence of its original state.    But around thirty years ago, the city decided that since it’s a historic building, it should be preserved, and spent two years and a lot of money on restoring it. And while the metals are fake these days, it still looks every bit as pretentious as it was always meant to.    It’s a perfect venue for any kind of party, though. And especially a ball.

   You’ve had a dress picked out and ready since before Halloween, but because you’re also part of the crew for this event, you won’t be putting it on until you’re already there. It’s packed and ready, along with some makeup and hair styling stuff, all of which you’ll need to remember to bring so that you can get changed once your work is done.    All the staff from the shop try to help out for these kinds of events because you’re the town’s experts on decorations, and you all enjoy getting to apply your skills on a bigger scale now and then.

   The party starts at 4 pm, with the mayor of the city giving his annual thankfulness speech, which is never as dull as it sounds, because the mayor is a former standup comedian, of all things. And although he’s pushing seventy now, he still knows how to work a crowd and get a good mood going.    After that, the dance begins. It’s a blend of classics like foxtrot and waltz, as well as line dance and even hip-hop, but the first one is always a traditional square dance.

   Everyone who lives here knows that one, because if you chose not to participate in the first dance, hardly anyone will talk to you for the rest of the evening because they’ll assume that you’re a person who just hates fun.    You know that because you made that mistake as a teenager.    After the dance, when everyone’s gotten their appetite going, the Thanksgiving dinner is served, and then the program ends and people can just hang around or go home.

   You arrive at the courthouse shortly before 9 am, after tending to Casper and triple checking that you remembered everything, finding two of your colleagues already there.

   “Hey, Boo,” Simon calls to you as you walk in with your bags.

   It’s a nickname you’ve earned over time, by managing to individually scare every one of your coworkers into falling to the floor, just by saying “boo”.

   “Hey, Si. How are we doing?” you answer, dropping your stuff in a corner and then looking over the boxes of decorations.

   “We brought all the labelled boxes, and Kelli remembered the glitter cannons.”

   “What about the balloons?”

   “Oh, yeah, Micah’s already working on those,” he says, and gestures casually towards an unspecified area of the building.

   “Great, then I’ll get started on the leaves and garlands. Unless you want help with the tables?” you ask, looking out over the large open space that had once been the waiting hall and grand foyer.

   It had been made to look like something out of the roman empire, with giant marble pillars recessed into the walls, serving no purpose other than to add to the grandeur of the room.    The hall cuts through the entire length of the building, perhaps a hundred yards long, and easily thirty yards wide, with a curved ceiling around fifteen feet off the floor at the center, and five big crystal chandeliers dangling from up there.

   It’s full of tables today, but the size of the room makes them look like something from a dollhouse.    In contrast, the empty courtroom which will serve as the dancehall, looks smaller than it is.

   “Nah, I’m good. You get going on that, I’ll let you know if I need your help,” Simon replies, so you smile and nod, before grabbing a box and setting off to the right where the big double doors to the courtroom stand open.

   It’s fun work, getting to decorate a place like this, and while all four of you initially work separately, soon enough, you’re all helping Simon in the foyer, because the tables always take longest and requires the most precision.

   “You know, you really didn’t need to bring your makeup, Boo,” Kelli says when you’re working side by side on the finishing touches of the table decorations.

   “What do you mean?” you ask her, but you have an idea of where she’s going with this.

   “Look, I don’t know where you went, but if it’s true that you were just lost in the woods, then you must’ve found the fountain of youth or something.”

   She doesn’t sound envious or even annoyed, just disappointed, and you want to retort so badly. To rebel against the notion that you’ve lied about getting lost in the woods just to cover up a trip to some fucking beauty clinic, or whatever.    But you can’t, because you can’t explain the change in your appearance.

   “Oh, I found something…” you say between tight jaws, unable to hold back your frustration at the mere thought of the slithering serpent.

   She can tell from your tone that asking any further questions isn’t gonna end well, so she changes the topic, instead getting back to the evening and how excited she is.    But when the time comes for the four of you to get ready, you find yourself standing there in your dress, staring in the mirror at the face that isn’t yours, and yet, is somehow also the perfect you.

   Not perfectly symmetrical or flawless in that kinda way, but just… perfect in a sense of natural beauty, perhaps.    Kelli’s right, putting makeup on is basically redundant, since there’s nothing really to improve. And if you’d had a choice in the matter, it might not have felt so artificial. But it does. It feels anything but natural.

   “Not today,” you remind yourself, meeting your own eyes in the reflection. “You can wallow as much as you want tomorrow, but today, you’re thankful to be alive and to have all the comforts you need.    And for Casper, your white knight. Even though he ran away.”

   When you walk back out into the grand hall, you’re met by the sight of people pouring in through the massive, double oak doors, in a slow and happily chatting procession. They’re allowed to sit at the tables if they want to, even though dinner isn’t for several hours yet, since there are only a few stone benches available throughout the building for anyone needing to rest their legs.

   Everyone knows who you are, so as you make your way through the crowd, you’re met with greetings and polite nods, but also a lot of slightly stunned and gaping faces as they look you over. You try to ignore it and just focus on finding your colleagues, but soon enough, you’re hearing people whispering about you as you pass them.    And suddenly you’re regretting picking such a glamorous dress.

   It’s golden in color, which you’d picked because of how perfectly it compliments your skin tone, but which now makes it feel flamboyant and excessive.    But it’s also the simplicity of it that drew you to it. There aren’t any garnishes, it’s just a softly flowing fabric that hugs your form in a very gentle and comfortable way. Not too tight anywhere, not restricting your movements at all, since the skirt is designed to make it look like liquid gold in motion.

   By the time you reach Simon, standing at the door to welcome people, you’re regretting having come here at all today.

   “Hey… are you alright?” he asks when he sees you, and while you notice that he too roams over your form with wide eyes, unlike everyone else, he doesn’t comment on it, and his gaze returns to your face with a concerned wrinkle between his brows.

   “Everyone looks at me like I’m a freak,” you whisper, dropping your head forwards to not have to see anyone’s scrutiny anymore.

   Ordinarily, you wouldn’t be particularly concerned about people’s opinion of you, and again, if this change had been your choice, you could’ve held your head high and ignored them.    But since it wasn’t, you’re left feeling unfairly judged, and knowing that you’re also incapable of defending yourself on this matter just makes it that much worse.

   Instead of trying to comfort you by telling you that there’s nothing wrong with you, Simon turns away from the crowd and gives you a long and firm hug. Because that’s the kind of person he is. He suffers from terrible anxiety himself, something he’s learned to live with and knows how to manage for himself, but which also makes him really good at understanding that words can be powerless against feelings sometimes.

   You thank him before he lets you go, because he’s already made you feel better, and he just smiles in return before getting back to work. You stay there next to him, letting his calm and positive energy infect you while you try to avoid looking at any one person for too long as you help him welcome them to the celebration.    The mayor is the only one who stops to shake your hands and thank you for your work, before he steps inside and prepares to deliver his speech.

   As always, he executes it with practiced ease and has the crowd in tears of laughter before the end, even though he’s managed to fit in serious things like being thankful for the continued decline in crime rates, or how well the city has recovered after a local factory had burned down six months ago.    He finishes by encouraging everyone to step over to the courtroom for the dance, and everyone does.

   The wonderful thing about dancing is that no one cares all that much what anyone else is wearing or how they look, as they move across the floor together. It’s just about having fun and letting the rhythm take you.    Still, once the square dance is done, Simon kindly comes to your rescue when no one on the floor offers to pair up with you for the next dance, which is a foxtrot.

   He’s not the best dancer in the room, but again, none of that matters as the point is to let go of expectations and enjoy yourselves free of judgement.    He doesn’t step away when the song ends and you’ve taken your bows, preparing to lead you on for the next one as well, but just as you take your positions, there’s a voice to your right.

   “May I cut in?”

   You stop breathing at the mere sound of it. The voice that’s haunted your thoughts and dreams for weeks now, the voice that heats your blood and sends shivers along your skin.

   “Uh… sure,” you hear Simon hesitantly agree, since you’re not objecting, and then step away.

   Still not breathing, you look up as the much taller Oberyn takes his place, confidently taking your waist and then your hand, sending sparks through you with his mere touch.    He looks exactly the same, donning his customary green coat and black trousers, as suitable at a black-tie event as they’d seemed in the dark and mysterious castle.

   The coat is one of those stand-up collar ones, with around fifteen silk buttons leading from his Adam’s apple down to his waist, where the weight of the fabric holds the two sides close together down to just below his knees.    And the sleeves stop over the base of his hands, not at the wrist, so whatever he might be wearing underneath, no one can see it.

   The only other time you’ve been this close to him (aside from the kiss) was when he’d carried you inside that first day, and you hadn’t been paying this close attention to him then.    But you are now. Because you wholeheartedly suspect him of being a monster underneath those clothes.    Still, not one bone in your body is telling you to run.

   “Breathe, Kaivalya,” he whispers close to your ear, and your body responds as if it had been a command, desperately filling your lungs until you start to feel dizzy.

   “You… you shouldn’t be here,” you whisper back, just as the dance begins and he starts to waltz you around the room as elegantly as if he’d been a professional dancer.

   “No, I really shouldn’t,” he agrees, and then pauses before adding: “But I can’t stop thinking about you.”

   The air flowing over his skin as he moves sends his natural fragrance straight into your nostrils, and it makes your knees weaken, stoking the heat that already simmers somewhere in your gut, clouding your thoughts with desire.    But it’s that feeling that gives you the strength to push away from him.    It scares you. The hypnotic way that you react to him. And that fear is enough to give you back your senses.

   You step back, almost colliding with another dancing pair, and when he lets go of you, you turn and start to make your way to the exit.    The air suddenly feels thick and hard to inhale, strangling you as you try to free yourself of the crowd, the music, and the strange sensation of your brain being caged by your own senses.

   Reaching the brisk winter air outside of the main entrance, you stop, holding on to a lamppost at the top of the stairs not to fall over with how dizzy you feel.    A hand comes to rest on your shoulder, but it isn’t Oberyn’s. Simon has noticed what’s happened and followed you outside. He’s a good guy, and you can imagine how that scene in there must’ve looked to him. But you would’ve preferred it if he’d left you alone this time.

   “Who is that guy, Boo? You want me to get rid of him?” he asks, but before you can answer, you feel him twitch and pull away from you.

   “You could not remove me however hard you tried, boy,” Oberyn says, and you can hear a dark tinge to his voice now.

   But it’s not arrogance. It sounds more like… jealousy.

   “That’s not up to me. If my friend doesn’t want you here, then you’re not staying, and I’ve got plenty of people here that’ll back me up if I ask them,” Si persists, entirely undeterred by the other man’s superiority.

   There’s a slightly possessive edge to the way he says “my friend” which would ordinarily have made you feel appreciative of his protectiveness, because you’re not actually that close. But today, it makes you feel like a toy being fought over, and you don’t like it.    You straighten up, having finally gotten yourself under control, just in time to see the serpent step closer to your colleague.

   “That’s enough, both of you!” you call out to get their attention. “Simon, go back inside.”

   “Boo-…” he begins to protest, but you cut him off.

   “I just needed some air, I’m fine. Please, just go so that we can talk.”

   He hesitates, throwing a suspicious glance at the other man, but then does what you’ve asked. Because in the end, he knows that you’d never agree to be alone with someone that you fear might hurt you.    But the things is, you do fear that Oberyn might hurt you. You just also need answers, badly enough that you’re prepared to demand them now that he’s here and can answer you.

   “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you either,” you admit once the two of you are alone. “But I’m pretty sure that we have very different reasons why.”

   He remains at a respectful distance now that you’re not dancing, and you notice that the heat from before is starting to fade, leaving you exposed to the winter chill.    You cross your arms over your waist to keep them warm. There are no sleeves on your dress, so the slight breeze is already threatening to make you shiver.    Why is it that whenever you’re around this man, you’re either too hot or too damned cold?

   “What are your reasons, my lady?” he asks, and his voice is soft now.

   Not inviting or seductively soft, but more like it’s been subdued by worry and trepidation.

   “I need to know… what you are,” you say quietly, watching his face without blinking for fear that you might miss some revealing detail.

   But his features remain unchanged, and no answer seems to come to his lips, so you step closer while trying to fortify yourself against something, but you’re not even sure what.

   “Are you the one that bit me?” you ask, damned near choking on the last two words, but still, he remains statuesque before you, driving your fear into frustration. “Damned it, you owe me answers, Oberyn! Tell me the truth…… Are you the serpent?”

   For what seems like one endless moment, he merely stares back at you. But then, ever so slowly, a terrible sadness begins to flood his eyes.    He bows his head and closes them, perhaps trying to stop the feeling, but it just spreads. Spilling into his brows and forehead, and then down to his cheeks and mouth.    It’s subtle, and yet so distinct. So unmistakably sorrowful, as if drawn from the sky and the deepest recesses of the earth, filling every cell of his being with a pain unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

   “I will not ask your forgiveness… I could never earn such a thing,” he says, speaking so quietly now that you have to step even closer just to hear him. “I ask only that you believe me when I say that I never wanted to hurt you.”

   He opens his eyes again, and when he finds you standing closer, he backs away and shifts his hands behind his back, as if trying to keep them from reaching for you.

   “I saw you running, and I tried to distract myself by going after Casper, but it was too late. I had already caught your scent,” he explains, and you’re mildly impressed that he isn’t making excuses or trying to convince you that he’s worthy of redemption.

   “And if I were to run away now?” you wonder, trying to understand how the man and the beast are connected.

   “I would let you,” he replies quickly, clearly eager to make you feel as safe as you can around him. “In my human form, my human instincts are in control. You are never in danger from… me.”

   “But if you were to become that thing right now…?” you press on, still far from convinced of your own safety.

   He thinks on that for a moment, and there seems to be something uncertain to his conclusion.

   “The real reason why I sedated you for the journey home, was because I needed to fly you back,” he begins, and you can’t stop the sharp gasp and the two steps that you stumble backwards, away from him, as you hear that. “But even the beast is enchanted with you now, Valya.    I want only to protect you, no matter what form I might take,” he finishes, unable to keep himself from coming closer and extending a hand to you.

   “No, you stay away from me,” you warn, stepping back further.

   He stops cold, and the sorrow in his eyes transforms into something you can only describe as the purest pain imaginable. It cuts and tears at your heart, because even though he did hurt and lie to you, he doesn’t deserve to suffer this severely for it.    But however much you might want to ease his pain, you don’t know how, because you can’t reconcile with what he’s done to you.

   “As you wish, my lady,” he says, and his voice breaks at each word.

   He straightens himself, and then bows fully, dropping his entire torso halfway forwards in a perfect display of submission. And when he rises again, tears have filled his eyes to the brim.

   “Always…” he adds in a barely audible whisper, and then he turns and starts to walk down the front steps of the courthouse.

   The air cools significantly as he departs, and you wonder if that’s just your senses tricking you, or if he really does warm his surroundings by his presence alone.    Then, just as he reaches the ground, a faint glow appears in the sky, maybe a hundred feet to his left, and seems to swoop down over him.    He sees it, and stops walking to follow its journey with his gaze, as it makes an elegant turn which changes its direction towards you.

   And when it does, you can see that it’s an owl. But not like any you’ve ever seen before. It’s almost transparent, and when it flaps its wings, they seem to leave entire galaxies of stars behind them, fading as quickly as they appear.    It flies straight at you, landing on top of the half-pillar that makes up the corner of the stone railing to the staircase, where it folds its wings back and just stares at you.

   Mesmerized by its large blue eyes, you stare back, feeling as though an infinite mass of knowledge lies within this creature, and that it uses this knowledge to judge you.    It’s about the size of the golden eagle named Marahute in that Disney movie with the mouse rescuers, but the fact that you can almost see through it makes it slightly less imposing.

   If it is judging you in some way, it can’t be too damning a conclusion because you feel no discomfort from the being. In fact, for the entire time it stares at you, you feel nothing at all.    Then suddenly, it opens its wings and takes off with one large leap, fading into nothingness within just one little second.

   “Wow…” you breathe, having completely forgotten your worries for a moment.

   “You saw it?” Oberyn asks from his spot on the ground at the bottom of the stairs.

   “Yeah, it was amazing. What is it?” you wonder, taking your eyes from the sky and back to him, finding him looking extremely puzzled.

   “She is the Sky-spirit: Caelum. But…… humans cannot see her.”

   You stare into his eyes while his words reach you, and the implication behind them slowly sinks in.    The temporary reprieve of your emotional turmoil is wrung from you with ruthless force, and this time, it’s your eyes that are suddenly brimming with tears, your frame that’s brutally tortured by the inescapable truth.

   “What did you do to me…?” you accuse, glaring at him now because all you have left to turn to is anger. “What am I? What did you turn me into?”

   But as horrible as you feel, as much as these thoughts are plaguing you, your feelings still somehow pale compared to the enormity of his.    The knowledge that he’s robbed you of your own reality, seemingly without him even knowing how or understanding why, is mercilessly demolishing him from the inside.

   “I don’t know…” he confesses. “I am so deeply sorry, my dear… I have no answers.”

   Your tears fall as the cold finally creeps into your blood and makes you shiver. Hugging yourself, trying to come to terms with the thought that you don’t know who you are anymore, you feel so lost.    But then the air around you is warmed up once again, and you look up to find Oberyn before you. He takes you in his arms and hugs you close, flooding your body with that same heat as before, even now when you’re in too much distress to feel anything good.

   “But I will not stop until I have found them,” he promises, then he kisses your temple, pulls away, and with a gust of wind, he’s suddenly just gone.

Part 5

The Ten Spirits of the World Air - Forest - Water - Stone - Night - Autumn - Winter - Spring - Summer. (No, I didn't miss one. You'll see.)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! If you wish to be notified when this story is updated, follow @sirowsky-stories and turn on notifications, or just ask nicely, and I'll tag you.

@kittenlittle24 @joelswritingmistress @pedrostories

[choicesseptemberchallenge2023]

[Masterlist]

Welcome to Choices September Challenge!

Hello everyone! I'm Aura (@midnightmelodiz ). This is my first time hosting this monthly challenge, so I'm really excited about it. I really hope you all will like the prompts chosen for this month.

🍁GUIDELINES🍁

This is a prompt based contest. There's a prompt given for everyday, using which you'll have to create a content. Some days have multiple prompts, and different types of prompts. Feel free to use them all in the same work if you want.

You can use multiple prompt for the same work if the prompts are for same day. Don't mix and match prompts from different days.

Almost all kind of contents are acceptable. List of acceptable contents : fanfictions, drabbles, short-story/one-shot , poetry, microtale, art, mood board, theme, banner or other graphics etc.

Work based on any book from the Choices universe are welcome.

Submitted works will be featured on a weekly masterlist.

You can participate as many times as you want throughout the month.

Multiple entries for the same prompt, or same day prompts are allowed.

If your work contains NSFW/mature or triggering content, please use appropriate warning.

Mention/list the prompt(s) you are using in your content.

If possible, in stories, drabbles etc., write the prompt(s) in bold.

You can use the tag #choicesseptemberchallenge2023 & #choicesmonthlychallenge .

Please tag @choicesseptemberchallenge2023, feel free to tag me too : @midnightmelodiz . You can dm me your entries as well since Tumblr glitches a lot. Honestly I'd prefer if you dm your works, as Tumblr tags don't always work.

If I don't mention your work in the weekly masterlist, please send me a dm with the link.

🍂PROMPTS🍂

🍁 DAY 1 : Memories •||• "I can't be who you want me to be"

🍁 DAY 2 : Stars •||• Two people who keep crossing paths but miss actually meeting.

🍁 DAY 3 : Sea, Ocean •||• "You really like it?" "No, I was kidding."

🍁 DAY 4 : Moonlight, Moon •||• They have been secretly in love with each other for a long time.

🍁 DAY 5 : Diary, Journal, Notebook •||• "We're here now. Everything's alright."

🍁 DAY 6 : Dreams, Day Dream •||• "I'm in love with you!"

🍁 DAY 7 : Hope •||• Sharing something personal about them that they've never shared with anyone before.

🍁 DAY 8 : Coffee, Hot Beverage •||• "Come back! I'm not ready to get up yet. So you aren't either."

🍁 DAY 9 : Date Night •||• "I'm home, sweetheart!"

🍁 DAY 10 : Gift •||• "I care about you. I always will."

🍁 DAY 11 : Travel, Holiday , Vacation •||• Sharing an ice-cream together.

🍁 DAY 12 : Books, Reading, Writing •||• "You and me, it's never going to happen."

🍁 DAY 13 : Flowers •||• "I want to be with you." "I don't."

🍁 DAY 14 : Polaroid, Picture •||• Clicking candid pictures of their S/O to capture the special moments.

🍁 DAY 15 : Childhood, Nostalgia •||• "I love you. It's always going to be you."

🍁 DAY 16 : Cooking, Baking •||• Pretending to date each other to get out of a situation.

🍁 DAY 17 : Picnic •||• "That's all I really need. Some time with just you."

🍁 DAY 18 : Cuddle, Snuggle •||• Taking care of the other when they're sick or feeling low.

🍁 DAY 19 : Museum, Library •||• Picturing a future together even though they know it might never be true.

🍁 DAY 20 : Blue •||• " Are you saying that there's hope? Maybe in the future-" "No."

🍁 DAY 21 : Love, Kiss •||• Sending love letters to the other.

🍁 DAY 22 : Friends, Friendship •||• "It feels like I've known you forever."

🍁 DAY 23 : Fall •||• "I'm seeing someone."

🍁 DAY 24 : Serene •||• "Guess all those romance novel paid off after all, huh?"

🍁 DAY 25 : Secret, Surprise •||• "Is that my shirt?"

🍁 DAY 26 : Chocolate •||• Predicting the other's words or moves.

🍁 DAY 27 : Sunset •||• "Why did I know you would say that?"

🍁 DAY 28 : Wedding •||• "I always knew you would get together someday. What took you two so long?"

🍁 DAY 29 : rêveur, rêveuse •||• " You are all I could ever ask for."

🍁 DAY 30 : Home, Heart •||• "I'm here for you. Always."

**{Credit for most of the dialogue prompts goes to this blog~ @youneedsomeprompts}**

Have fun creating!

[lovelyleclercs]

Bringing the Holidays Home to You- LN4

Lando Norris x Fem!Reader

->Canada gets hit with a huge snow storm, meaning that nobody could fly in or out, meaning you can't go home for the holidays like you always did. Lando finds a way to bring home to you for the holidays.

word count: 1422

warnings: Not proof read, probably super cheesy

A/N: I absolutely hate the way this turned out lol but here is a land fix, as promised.

As you looked out the window of your 5th floor office, you couldn’t help but think about how badly you wished you were back home in Canada, sitting on the couch with your nieces and nephews as you all sipped on some hot cocoa after building a snowman. It was a Christmas tradition- one that you had always done since your oldest niece, Taylor, was old enough to understand the concept of building a snowman.

Canada had gotten slammed with an intense snow storm, your hometown covered in around six feet of snow. It wasn’t unusual for Canada- snow storms were pretty common- but this was the first time that a snow storm would ruin your christmas.

Lando had agreed to finally go to Canada for Christmas this year, as the two of you had spent the previous two years in the UK with his family. As much as you loved spending the Holidays with the Norris family, you had missed your family back at home and couldn’t wait to go back.You had been anticipating this trip for nearly three months, booking the flight back in September once they had become available.

The trip had very quickly become even more important to you after finding out that you and Lando were expecting your first child back in early November- you planned on telling your entire family during this trip back home.

Lando had noticed how upset the cancellation of the flight made you. When you received the email late last night, you had completely shut down, not wanting to do anything at all for the rest of the night. He suggested watching a movie, setting up Christmas decor in your shared apartment, and even going down the road to your cookie shop for a late night cookie- but you were having no part of it.

The moment you had left for work that morning, Lando had decided he needed to do something, anything, to cheer you up. While there was no way he could get you home for the holidays, he was hoping that he just might be able to bring the holidays home to you.

Lando spent the entire day decorating the apartment from the kitchen, to the bathrooms, to even going as far as to decorate your home office, which you hardly ever used.

The kitchen was decorated with little gingerbread garland that he had found at the bottom of a tote, the garland being strung on the backsplash all around the kitchen. He had swapped the normal dishes out with the Christmas dishes, something he remembered you did every year. After that, he swapped the dish towels out with Christmas ones, as well as swapping all of the candles and soaps out with Christmas scented options.

After the kitchen was decorated to his liking, he moved to the bedroom. He had found a small tree hidden in the attic and set it up in the one empty corner of the bedroom. He changed the bed sheets out to the Christmas ones that had cute little snowmen on them. He strung up white christmas lights all around your room, knowing how much you loved cozy lighting- especially during the holidays.

Lando didn’t have much to decorate your office with, but he was able to find some random strands of tinsel, which he hung off of your desk as well as hanging some colored Christmas lights from the curtains.The bathroom took little time as all Lando had to do was change out the shower curtain and the soap scents, but he was proud of himself for being able to change the shower curtain without any help.

The final room was the living room. Lando spent nearly five hours decorating every corner of the living room. He started by putting the tree up first, which took up about an hour alone. He never expected putting together a tree would be so difficult alone. Once the tree was put together, he spent about 45 minutes decorating it, making sure that all of the tinsel and ornaments matched in color.

After the tree was finished, he turned towards the mantel, putting up a few christmas themed picture frames with photos of the two of you over the past couple of christmases as well as a new christmas frame with a photo from the first ultrasound the two of you had last week.

After putting up photos, Lando grabbed the two large stockings as well as the one small stocking off of the counter and hung all three of them up, putting the small stocking in the middle, his on the right, and yours on the left.

After hanging up a few strands of lights, putting out some sugar cookie scented candles, and turning on the fireplace, Lando sat down on the couch and waited for you to arrive home.

At just about 5pm, you opened the door to the apartment and dropped your purse on the counter as you slipped your shoes off. “What do you want for dinner, Lan?” you yelled from the kitchen, not even noticing the Christmas decorations.

Lando walked into the kitchen, a smile on his face as he approached you, placing a kiss on your cheek. “Hello my love, how was work?”

You shrugged, wrapping your arms around him as you rested your head on his shoulder. “It sucked. I hate my job, you know that”

“You could always quit, you know that. When the baby arrives, someone is going to have to take care of it”

“I can’t just expect you to pay for everything, Lan.”

Lando kissed you gently, his hands resting on your sides. “I want to take care of you and the baby. Imagine if you quit your job and brought the baby along to every race weekend… We wouldn’t have to spend so much time apart…”

“I’ll think about it, honey. Right now, the only thing I'm worried about is dinner. What do you want me to make?” you asked, looking into Lando’s eyes.

Lando laughed and looked at you. “You haven’t noticed, have you?”

“Noticed what?”

Lando pointed at all of the decorations in the kitchen. “I decorated while you were at work!”

You looked around the kitchen, noticing all of the Christmas decor that was placed out from garland, to dish towels, to hand soap. You couldn’t help but smile wide, feeling incredibly grateful for everything Lando had done. “Lan…”

Lando kissed your forehead and smiled “I know how much you wanted to go back home this christmas, but obviously mother nature had other plans, so I wanted to make sure that you felt as much at home for the holidays as possible.”

You teared up and pulled Lando into a tight hug, burying your face into his shoulder. “This is so sweet, Lan… thank you…”

Lando rubbed your back gently, a smile also forming on his face. “Come on my love, I want you to see the rest of the apartment!”

You wiped away your tears and took his hand, following him to the living room. As you looked around, you saw how well he decorated the tree, feeling relieved that he was able to decorate it the way you liked it. When you looked over at the mantle, you smiled and teared up once more. “You got the baby a stocking and a frame? That’s so sweet…”

“Well it is technically their first christmas, they need to be included too!”

You smiled and wiped your tears away before walking past the bathroom with him, noticing how he changed the shower curtain by himself- something he’s never been able to do before. “Great job on the curtain honey”

“Thanks! But wait until you see the cute christmas bedding I bought for our bed!!” he said as he pulled you into the bedroom.

You looked around the entire room, noticing the small christmas tree tucked in the corner, the warm string lights, and the cute little snowmen bedding. “Lan, this is all so cute and cozy, I love it!”

“Good, I’m glad you love it because tonight we are going to cuddle in bed and watch a christmas movie together while we drink hot cocoa and eat some pizza”

You smiled and wrapped your arms around Lando’s neck. “Thank you so much for this, Lando. All of this means so much.. More than I think you even realize.”

Lando kissed your cheek gently and smiled “no need to thank me. Now get into bed, i’ll go make us hot chocolate”

[wosona]

I wasnt even playing on watching the match to begin with,i was scrolling on tiktok as edits of euro 2022 kept coming up and then I started doing some investigating snd came across fcbfemeni and arsenal etc and lucy ona leah keira etc and I was flabbergasted i honsley thought the lucy ona and keria were in a threesome 😭 I know thet aren't haters don't come at me! Then i done some following on insta and twitter and came across this app! And you and wosobronze are the two that stuck out to me! Then I realised there was a game so i obviously watched it and was blown away!!! I then binged watched loads of old england and barcelona games! And have even booked tickets for the game on Tuesday 🙈 but in terms of lucy and ona I'm lost like completely so if some one could please explain what's going on between them I would be really appreciative🙌 can't wait to see these videos aswell🫶

OKAY SLAY this was an impressive explanation

it took me over a year to go to my first football match (i’m a procrastinator) so that’s more than impressive that you’re going in a couple of days

right so—the timeline is not entirely accurate cause i’m not a magician and i wasn’t a fan back in like 2018 xx

lucy and keira dated from around 2015 until august/september 2022 (it’s thought they split pretty soon after the euros)

they both moved to barcelona from man city in the 22/23 season

between 2020 and 2023 ona played for man united

lucy staniforth is lucy’s childhood friend and played for united with ona, at staniforths wedding in december 2022 lucy and ona officially met (we think) there’s a few pics of them and it’s very adorable

all speculation but it’s thought something happened between them that night

in may lucy was spotted at the machester derby where ona won player of the match, she got away with that one as most people thought she was just watching her old team

ona went to the chelsea v barça uwcl semifinal but that was also inconspicuous at the time

in july a video posted from vicky losadas wedding showed lucy attended. the wedding was in spain and during nt camp so she flew there and back in practically 24hrs. Ona attended too and it was deduced that lucy was probably her plus one as she wasn’t in any of the official wedding pictures and didn’t post anything from it

the world cup- after spain beat england in the final, ona immediately went over to lucy to try to console her, god everything from that moment looks so tense between them. after the celebrations had pretty much finished on the pitch ona went over to her in the dugout, they sat together for about 10 minutes and there’s loads of photos. it blew up everywhere all over the news and tiktok.

if you look at those pics it’s pretty bloody obvious they were dating, but it took a lot of people by surprise and the majority of us thought the dating rumours were just a joke.

two girls recognised them at a restaurant in menorca and asked for a photo, posted it and tagged them, so it became pretty clear they were on holiday just the two of them and BOOM a lot of people were convinced

throughout the entirety of the season lucy and ona drove to matches together, i can only think of one or two times when they didn’t, there’s quite a few cute arrival videos actually

as the season went on they got progressively more comfortable in public with each other and it became far more obvious they were together- a lot of shared luggage and clothes

there have been quite a few posts, and things that needed a bit of investigation. it’s very clear they’re in a serious relationship and have been for over a year. ona lived with lucy for the majority of the season and lucy went to the nations league final in march to watch ona win.

there are so many more things that have happened but this is the first part of the lore to get you caught up a little.

let me know if you have anymore questions cause i barely scratched the surface if i’m being honest😭

[nancypullen]

Good Day

Yesterday was fun...actually FUN! The mister was making some noise about starting a project that's been on the table for a while. You see, this house was born without windowsills. It's tragic. I've never lived in a home without windowsills. Where the heck are you supposed to put little herb pots or cute holiday knickknacks? Where are cats supposed to sit while they watch birds?

I'm sure the original builders saved money, but it's cramping my style. Mickey has assured me that it's easy enough to cut, paint, and install sills. SO that's what he plans to do. Personally, I think we should start in a room no one sees, like his office. He plans to start in the living room and kitchen...

If the end result is windowsills that I can enjoy, I will be forever grateful.

I think you can buy actual windowsills and just slide/glue them in place, but of course our windows are not standard sized - that would be too easy. To make a long story even longer - this post has nothing to do with our windows. Mickey told me that he was going to drive into Dover (about 40 minutes) to shop at the Lowe's there. He encouraged me to go with him and I made every excuse in the world not to go - I had chores to do at home, I needed to do a big grocery shop, I'd just spend money there that I don't need to spend, etc. Then he said the five words that had me in my shoes and out the door in a flash, "Dover has a Home Goods." He suggested dropping me at Home Goods while he did his lumber shopping. Girls, that was the golden ticket. I've been in many, many Home Goods stores. MANY. If I see one, I usually stop. I have left money in Home Goods in various states and cities without a regret. So when I say that the Home Goods in Dover, Delaware is the best I've ever seen, believe me. If there is a heaven, I'm pretty sure I just got a glimpse of what it's like. I could have spent an entire day and a thousand dollars. Because I am frugal I kept it to $35, but I'm very happy with my haul. I tried to be mindful and not get swept away in the massive and beautiful Halloween section but I did end up with one gorgeous crow and a single, glittery pumpkin in my cart. I mean...who could resist?

That wooden cake pedestal was purchased as well. It will be part of a fall centerpiece for the table - isn't it lovely?

I grabbed a pack of napkins from their endless selection and have already used them to transform a dollar store pumpkin.

Now that she's dry I'll add some burlap ribbon and lace.

September is off to a good start. I mentioned a crow. I can't resist a good crow. The one at Home Goods had been looking for me. He's perfect for a project. You see, a few weeks ago I picked up four chunky candlesticks at an auction for just $2. I knew that I'd want to turn them into something else, so this is what I'm starting with..

I'm going to chalk paint them ivory and distress them so a bit of that dark wood shows through. That dollar store stack of pumpkins will be painted in more muted colors, and maybe I'll add a wide burlap ribbon somewhere. How fun is that?? One simple trip to Home Goods has resulted in several craft projects to keep me happy. That's a win. I did buy a few practical things as well, like these adorable reusable straws. Pink with gold crowns!

I use straws every morning when I drink my protein shake. The grandgirl uses straws when she's here as well. I usually buy boxes of pretty floral straws, but these are just as cute and can be popped into the dishwasher. I love having a list of artsy things on my to-do list, and autumn is my favorite time for that, probably because the stuff is just so much fun to make. My last clay ghost is ready for paint and I'll start him today. I'm giddy over that. He's the one who will be a patchwork quilt. I thought I was being so original, and had even dreamed up a book about him. When I did a quick Google search to make sure nothing similar existed, I realized I'm a couple years too late - but doesn't this story sound delightful? Much better than mine.

"His parents are both sheets...his grandmother was a lace curtain..." I love that so much. All the more reason to enjoy painting my little ghost. Anyway, after my $35 Home Goods spree (I regret not buying the Halloween bedsheets) Mickey suggested we grab lunch. If there's one thing I enjoy almost as much as Home Goods, it's going out for lunch. Nothing fancy, we just popped into Qdoba where you can build a semi-healthy, spicy bowl. And, as if the day wasn't splendid enough, when we finally pointed the car toward home we went through a Starbucks drive-thru for a yummy drink. You guys, I felt like I'd been let out of prison after being wrongfully convicted. Home Goods, lunch, and Starbucks - what a fun day! At the moment I have laundry chugging and another load to go in after that one. I should probably dust, and clean windows...but the odds are very good that I will be painting and crafting today instead. It's a holiday, I'm allowed. Alright, time to start painting candlesticks, so this is where I'll sign off. Sending out loads of love, encouragement, and the hope that this new month brings happiness to our doorsteps. While we're waiting, we might as well create a little of our own.

Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy

[lightning-storm-studies]

No-stress Summer Learning Challenge 🌞

Where did the idea of the no-stress summer learning challenge come from 🤔?

I see do many posts about summer studying, that it makes me worried. People spend their time studying during summer holidays, already preparing for the upcoming semester/school year. It's your free time and, as someone, who already has a full-time job (and is trying to finish her thesis to get a master's degree), I can tell you, that you probably won't have that much free time in the summer once you start working. Yes, it's sad and unfair, but unfortunately, it's real 🙁. So please, take your time, use it for something else, than worrying about exams, preparing for school and getting stressed and burnt out before school even starts. Don't waste your energy sitting in front of your PC/laptop, or with a course book, learing stuff by heart, while the sun ☀️ is shining outside, children are playing and other people are going out with their friends and families. And if you already work full-time, but also are still a student, don't use whatever free time you have on summer to study even more. Unless you absolutely have to, of course (I'm in this kind of situation, I have to write my thesis during summer, because the deadline is in September), but even then, don't use all your time for schoolwork. Although I consider summer studying an unnecessary stress factor, there's a difference between studying and learning. Studying is for school, learning is for yourself 🙂. I'm not telling you to be lazy the whole summer, but to consider learning something, that doesn't include schoolwork. It may be related to what you're studying in college/at school, or it may be something totally different. It may be something about technology 🔌 (programming, robotics, electronics...), art 🎨 (drawing, painting, embroidery...), nature 🌱 (gardening, foraging, birdwatching...), music 🎶 (singing, playing an instrument, making electronic music...), foreign languages 🗺️, sports ⚽, cooking 🍲, baking 🍩, kintting 🧶, sewing 🪡... the list is endless. So, as an alternative to summer studying challenge, you can start a no-stress summer learning challenge.

The main rules 📑

The main purpose of this challenge is to find motivation to learn for yourself 😀 again, so no exams, no homework, no grades, just you and your goal .

You're free to choose what you're going to learn, based on your own passions, dreams and ambitions 😍, without worrying about other people's judgement and expectations.

It's supposed to be stress free 😌, so there are no fixed schedules or deadlines. It's up to you to plan your learning and decide, how long it's going to take you.

To stay focused, please choose one topic and stick to it. It doesn't mean, you can't learn anything else. Actually you should, because staying concentrated on one thing for too long can make you burn out quickly, but have one main goal 😎.

Remember to take proper breaks 🥱. Learning all the time will only make you sterssed and tired. It's not school, so you don't need to worry about any fixed due date or preparing for a test.

Don't be too hard on yourself and remember that mistakes are a part of learning 😯, not a failure or shame.

Preparing for the challenge and completing it 📚

Think about, what do you want to learn this summer. It doesn't have to be very specific at this stage. For example, it can be something like "I want to learn about cats 🐈", or "I want to learn to draw 🖼️", or "I want to learn about tea 🫖".

When you know, what you want to learn, do your research, to be able to set a more specific goal. Read about this topic, watch some videos, maybe try to find people, who have more knowledge about it, than you, and talk to them. Let the "I want to learn about cats" become "I want to learn proper cat care 😸", the "I want to learn to draw" become "I want to learn to draw manga 🎏" or the "I want to learn about tea" become "I want to learn, how to brew various kinds of tea 🍵".

You've done the research, so now it's time to find your "why", because to stay motivated, you need to remember that you're doing it for a reason and that this knowledge is useful. The "I want to learn proper cat care" becomes "I want to learn proper cat care to make my cats healthier and happier 😻", the "I want to learn to draw manga" becomes "I want to learn to draw manga, because I'm interested in art and Japanese culture 🌸" and the "I want to learn, how to brew various kinds of tea" becomes "I want to learn, how to brew various kinds of tea, because I like tea and I want to make it even better 🍃".

Once you find your motivation, look for the learning resources 💻. It can be an online course, internet articles, scientific papers, books, YouTube videos, TikTok videos... whatever, depends on what you're going to learn. You can also contact someone, who is na expert in what you're learning, and ask them for help. While learning from blogs, videos, etc., remember to check the sources, to make sure the person, who created this content, knows what they're talking/writing about.

When you know your resources, plan the whole thing ahead 📝, considering your other summer plans (like traveling or going out with friends), to make sure, that you have enough time for learning and that the time you're going to spend working towards your goal is fairly evenly distributed to avoid stress and burnout, but remember to make your schedule flexible, so you don't have to worry about learning at a fixed time. Again, it's not school.

You've planned everything, now set reminders in your phone 📱 and/or write it down in a planner 📔 or on some post-it notes 📄... whatever works best for you to remember about your goal and the time you've decided to spend learning.

To minimize the risk od procrastination, divide the tasks into smaller tasks. You can write to-do lists ☑️ (either digital, or on paper), so you can see your progress and know exactly, what needs to be done.

To avoid getting burnt out 🤯, step away from what you're learning once in a while. Don't overwork yourself, you're not preparing for an exam.

To ensure you have enough energy ⚡, take care of your health, both physical and mental. Take breaks, sleep long enough 😴, go out with your friends, stay hydrated 💧, exercise 🏃🏻‍♀️, spend some time in nature 🌲.

Last, but not least: remember to post regular updates about your progress on your blog. It can be every day, every three days, once a week... you decide. It can include photos, but doesn't have to. Just make it regular and tag it with "no-stress summer learning challenge" or "no-sslc" 😊.

[triviareads]

ARC Review of A Jingle Bell Mingle by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy

Rating: 4/5 Heat Level: 4/5 Publication Date: September 24th

Premise:

Adult film actress Sunny agrees to live with ex-boybander-slash-prior-hookup Isaac Kelly in his spare bedroom so she can work on the script for her new romantic holiday movie.

My review:

A Jingle Bell Mingle was a super sexy, super touching (ha, see what I did there) raunch-com, and the perfect way to wrap up the Christmas Notch series. We've been edged by Sunny and Isaac ever since they had an off-page threesome with another pornstar (It's what Isaac's dead wife would have wanted, okay?), and I was excited to see them pick up where they left off, even with a two-year gap.

Yes, this book does start with an early bang, and I do appreciate it not only because I love an early sex scene, but also because I love when couples don't necessarily need a lot of build-up before sex, but they have ways to go before they can actually be in a functional relationship— It feels very contemporary.

So Sunny moves in temporarily to work on her holiday movie script, and gets it in her head that the only way for Isaac to regain his creative muse is.... dates. With other people. What follows is a hilarious sequence of dates including a hot mechanic, hot librarians, and a hot catty pornstar from That threesome (Isaac and Sunny are both bisexual). Obviously they're all disasters.

Also, I LOVE Sunny; she's bubbly and quite fearless, but she also has some very real insecurities where Isaac is concerned, particularly when it comes to the emotional aspect of their relationship. She also has ADHD and you see these moments of hyperfixation throughout the book, my favorite being the mystery of the mailman, WWII soldier, and his wife, and whatever they were up to back in the day.......

As for Isaac, if you're a fan of a sadboi hero, he's your man. Isaac is.... tragic, to say the least but like, in a hot way because who doesn't love a hot tragic widower? He was also celibate for two years, between the first time him and Sunny hooked up and the present which, again, HOT.

Here's where it gets less hot but packs an emotional punch: Isaac isn't over the passing of his first wife. At all. And at first, it's sweet and sometimes even funny how dramatic and overwrought he gets at times. Then you see the extent of his unhealthy coping mechanisms, namely shutting everyone out to grieve alone, and making Sunny feel reduced to a body rather than someone he can have an emotional connection with. I really appreciate how this book deconstructs that thing romance heroes are prone to doing, where they're convinced they only have one great love of their life, and they're gone now so he can never love again. A lot of romance novels have that development off-page or kind of brush over it so it can get to the happily-ever-after, but not here. Isaac is forced to confront this not only with Sunny, but also his boyband friends/former Christmas Notch heroes.

The sex:

Isaac and Sunny are down-and-ready, anytime, anywhere kind of couple, so obviously they're a fan of a quickie (see: their first time on-page), and public sex because they just can't wait (which is how Sunny ends up shoving fistfuls of cash into a photo booth while Isaac has a hand up her skirt and rips her tights). Isaac does have a bit of a STERN edge but I'd say it's less bossy and more dirty and desperate, plus loads of dirty talk.

I also like how Sunny is never super hung-up on her body as a plus-sized woman, but there's still that moment of genuine awe when Isaac picks her up and drops her on the counter of a public bathroom (another one of their more public encounters lol), and that felt so real to me.

Also, we do get the rare contemporary romance butt stuff, and it does go both ways :D ft. the return of the gingerbread-scented lotion (iykyk).

Overall:

What I love about the Christmas Notch books is that they're genuinely funny (not all romances billed as romcoms are, in my opinion), and they're sexy, sex-positive, AND body positive in a way I rarely see in traditionally published romance novels. A Jingle Bell Mingle was no different and I'd strongly recommend it to any romcom fan.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb:

Exes. Professional rivals. Just one bed. What could go wrong?

All Jessica has ever wanted is her own happily ever after. But until that happens, she spends her days as a small-time romance writer, penning satisfying Happily Ever Afters to soothe the heartache left by her ex-boyfriend Nick—also a romance writer and now her biggest rival—who has found success writing love stories without happy endings. It’s what he’s good at, after all . . .

So when their professional obligations bring them to a remote inn a few days before Christmas, they’re a little more than peeved, especially when they get trapped sharing a room in a snowstorm. But what’s more fitting for two romantic writers in a slump? Realizing the friction between them might be the only cure for their writer’s block, they decide to turn their frustration into fiction . . . and the pages start flying. But will Jess’s heart soar, too? Nick is the last guy on earth she should love . . . but what if he is really all she wants for Christmas?

Review:

Exes who are both romance authors and forced to face each other again five years after their breakup in which one of them has to award the other one at a ceremony??? While also being trapped at a holiday inn sharing one room... what could go wrong? Jessica loves Christmas... except for the one Christmas in which her ex Nick dumped her right during Christmas. Nick and Jess are both romance authors (except all of Nick's books dont have happily ever after endings) and now that Nick is the more successful author and they share the same publisher, Jess is forced to be the one to give him the award at the company ball. Nick and Jess have not spoken or seen each other over the five years they've broken up. Nick hates Christmas, he also can't seem to write a happy ending for his books.... and he's still very much in love with Jess and absolutely regrets dumping her. Now that he finds out that she's going to be the one giving him the award.... and that she's in need of a room to stay in since her room was cancelled, it'd be the perfect opportunity for him to get a second chance with her... if she could forgive him. Trapped together sharing one bed, Nick and Jess will have to finally face the reason Nick dumped her all those years ago out of the blue and why she should give him a second chance. When I tell you I couldn't stand Nick, I mean it. The whole "reason" for the break up felt shallow and honestly I wouldn't have gotten back with him at all. The fact that Jess, someone who never heard an apology, a single reason or call from Nick all those five years, in which he "regretted" dumping her out of nowhere should be a clear enough indicator to sleep in the lobby rather than be anywhere near him. The fact that she caves in under 5 seconds and then within like a day or two is immediately back in her feels for him?? Yeah no thank you. I love second chances when they are done right and this one just didn't feel any way earned at all. Just like the book says, these two characters are not the iconic romantic couple Nick and Jess from New Girl, because at least the second chance romance felt earned there and actually worked. This one just didn't connect with me at all and I honestly didn't care for their second chance at all. If you like quick second chance romances then I'd say give this a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

Release Date: September 24,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[ashleywool]

72 hours until my in-person callback

...with the neuroendocrine surgeon! 😜

Confirmed: there is a lesion on my pituitary gland which may be either a pituitary adenoma, a Rathke's cleft cyst that's behaving like a pituitary adenoma, or both. Whatever you wanna call it, it seems to be the source of all this crap, and surgery will be the next step.

I am SO grateful to the scheduling team for following through on their promise to call me the second a cancellation came up so I wouldn't have to wait until mid-September. I can't wait to SKIP off the subway into the UES on Tuesday morning (if not physically, then spiritually). I can't wait to MAYBE HOPEFULLY have surgery scheduled by this time next week, to get this stupid tumor thing off my pituitary gland for good.

I'm starting to feel some sadness about the prospect of leaving this apartment. This second-story walkup studio, the first lease I ever signed. This apartment was my dream for so long. For a whole year, I got to live that dream--and for half of that year, I even got to pay for it myself.

It's weird, as a person who believes in disability pride and abhors capitalism, that my two primary goals right now are (1) obtain this surgery so that I can become healthier, (e.g., less disabled), and (2) in doing so, obtain the ability to work as hard as I can, so I will have a shot at attaining financial independence again, and maybe even retaining it this time.

But no. That's not it. What I want is to feel better, so I can do more things that I love, and earn enough of my keep to have my needs met and be able to give back to the world in a meaningful way.

I want to work because there are so many things I enjoy working at. I want to make money because participating in capitalism is the only way to ultimately free yourself from its trappings and help others do the same.

And also, I want to sing and dance and roller skate and walk in the woods and read all the books and pet all the cats and bake cookies from scratch and engage in all the niche fandom content and visit my family and friends whenever I want and host them for holidays without worrying about whether or not I'll have the energy.

Tuesday will bring me one step closer to all of that. Thank God. God is still good.

Just over 71 hours.

[queerlilchinchin]

Writer Week

Happy writer week!

Well, okay, not yet. But I wanted to introduce my idea for it. :)

I've been looking up several different famous authors' birthday and death days and I'm noticing a pattern that a lot of them take place in September.

So!

I'm making Writer "Week" from September 13th to the 21st. Yes, I know that's a little over a week, but there are 3 famous authors birth or death anniversaries (that I know of) that take place during that week. I thought we'd turn it into a special week for writers. Kind of like how there's Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Day in America (I'm not sure of other countries' examples, sorry).

So, I wanted to start off the introduction with the mascot for Writer Week.

Introducing the Writer Week Chin:

Yes, I made my own animal the mascot for Writer Week. If you can't do that when creating a holiday, what's the point? ;)

Anyway, how do you celebrate Writer Week?

You celebrate Writer Week by taking an hour or half-hour if you're busy out of your day to go to either old writers you haven't spoken to in a while or if you're new to the writing scene, the early writers you got into and commenting on their fics or telling them what made you love their writing.

Writer Week is celebrated by celebrating your favorite writers. It can be on here. It can be leaving a review on your favorite author's books. It can be on AO3 or Wattpad. It doesn't matter where you celebrate it, just that you spread love to the writers you love.

Again, Writer Week is from September 3th to the 21st, so it's actually 9 days, not a week, but I wanted to include multiple big authors anniversaries of death or birth in the holiday, especially since so many take place in September (I think I hit like 6 in my research and I didn't even research a whole lot of the big authors).

Join me in spreading love and encouraging others to do the same to all of our favorite writers.

Writers need reassurance sometimes and it can be difficult to get it, so having a week that is specifically geared toward doing that, I think would be good. Think of it like Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Valentines Day all wrapped in one but for writers. ^^

Oh and if you have an up and coming writer that you love too, let them know you love them too! It doesn't just have to be old writers. :) boost their writing, tell them how great they are and how much potential you see in them! Spread love for them so that others may be drawn to their writing the way you have been. :]

Happy be-earlied Writers Week. <3 I hope I get to see you all celebrate in 4 months.

[coffeeconfess]

holy moly it's been a hot minute since I've posted. I considered deactivating this acc since I graduated in September but I'm starting uni in February so knowing me I'll find someone to replace 🍯 and 🐕 pretty quickly. I'm gonna give a quick recap of the last couple months since I don't really have anyone else to talk to.

On my last day I handed out a couple letters to teachers that I was going to miss, and that obviously included 🍯 and 🐕. 🍯 ended up sending me an incredibly sweet text in response that made me tear up. I'm a little worried about how 🐕 responded to his letter since it was incredibly close to just straight out telling him I love him. I know how everyone else responded since my friend who's still at the school told me, but he didn't say anything about it. I'll probably be visiting the school sometime this year since there's a project they were working on that I helped with but didn't get to see so I'm hoping I didn't make things weird.

It wasn't too bad being out of school to start off with, I had a bunch of free time and eventually I got a holiday job, but it's gotten lonelier and lonelier. I miss being asked about my weekends and what movies I've watched and what books I'm reading. I miss having a mentor. I miss having adults who cared about me and my mental wellbeing. I'm an adult now, but I still feel like a fucked up little girl who just needs a hug and someone to watch cartoons with. My home life is a complete fucking mess right now and school was the closest thing I had to stability and it feels like the ground has collapsed beneath me. Maybe once I start uni I'll regain that sense of stability I had, maybe I'll be happier since I'll be with like minded people, but I'm not good with change. I miss being looked after. And god, I miss them.

I don't know what my feelings towards them were. I can't tell if it was love or infactuation or something else entirely. But I just can't stop replaying memories in my head and thinking about how much I miss them. I'd do anything just for a hug. Maybe that'd give me some form of closure.

[melye1981]

Very Depressed... I Miss My Mom...

As the holidays become alive again, another year almost gone, and two years since my momma died. I can't bear this pain. People say it gets better with time. No, not for me. This year has not been kind to me. I am struggling financially. I have a $308.00 electric bill that I can't seem to catch up on. This city is a joke. I've tried setting up a GoFundMe, but nobody seems to wanna help people anymore, unless it benefits them. I'm at risk of having my electricity shut off, my boyfriend basically told me to kick rocks because he can't handle the honesty of how shitty he treats me, and then on the two-year death anniversary of my mom that passed this September, my boyfriend didn't even comfort me. Instead started a pointless argument with me. And then today, we argued all day because he ghosted me Friday, and then ditched me on Saturday, so we spent all of Sunday arguing, and the motherfucker can't even take accountability, because he's got that Taurus arrogance that I can't stand. And then before he went to bed last night, we got into it again. I think it's just time for me to go. My next door neighbor and my landlord are harassing me twenty four seven, about moving, and when am I moving, because selling my house would be easier if I weren't in it. Well, fuck them. I'm over this. Everyone in my life is a douche bag right now. I've done nothing but help these people and be kind, and all they can do is talk shit or make me feel like shit... I don't get it. This is why Aquarius would rather be alone than socialize. At least this Aquarius does... It's always the nice people who wear their hearts on their sleeves that get shit on when they're doing absolutely nothing to deserve it. I miss my mom and wish she was here to stand up for me. I know that seems childish to still want my mom to stand up for me at my age, I'm 42, but you know, I always need my mom. Being mentally ill is a big challenge that nobody gets unless they're mentally ill themselves. I've been crying all day and now into Monday morning, I'm at my computer crying again. I feel misunderstood, taken advantage of, misled, lost, truly lost. I am stuck and I don't know where to go from here. Even though I have a boyfriend (who treats me like shit but can't admit that he's an asshole to me), I still feel all alone and lonely. I've never felt so alone in my life. Here come the holidays, so another year by myself on Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's nice. Oh well. I'm tired of being tired. I can honestly say I hate my life. I want to write a book about my life after losing my mom, and how it's affected my mental illness and me as a person in general. My emotionally abusive relationship, my shady so-called friends, all of it. My heroin-addict father... Why can't I just erase my life and begin again as a baby with no flaws, parents who aren't dysfunctional, and a family that isn't dysfunctional, either. But I can't. I have to live out the next twenty or thirty years of my life still learning to accept what is, and learning to just settle for whatever at this point. I don't see myself living past my 60s, nor my 50s if I keep smoking cigarettes the way I do. I truly hate my life. Nobody will remember me when I die, I will be one of the forgotten, with just a little over 42 subscribers on YouTube and a lousy 132 friends on Facebook, nobody interacts with me on either site, so whatever I'm doing isn't right. I'm invisible, but that's okay. One day, I'm gonna fade into nothing, and nobody will know me anymore. They won't know of me, they won't know of my location, and they won't care, either way, just like they don't care now. Hell, even I'm at the brink of not giving one fuck about myself anymore. Why bother? I wasn't even a planned baby. I was just an accident between two people. I can forgive my mom, but my father, no. He was on heroin when I was created. I've had problems since birth. And now, at my age, I would figure those problems would eventually cease. But no. I'm always crying, sulking, self-soothing, thinking about dying, shutting myself away from the world...

[thetenthdoctorscompanion]

So with the holidays upon us, what are the holidays in IO like? For the Walcotts and the others? I believe you have Chrissy celebrating Christmas in the story, but in my head she's Jewish since her fc is Alona, so I imagine her and her dad celebrating Hanukkah, and her teaching the others about it. I imagine them having a lot of fun learning about it. What about El's first holiday season? Besides the Snowball, what's that like? Does she learn about Santa? What's the gift situation with them all? What about favorite holiday movies? I need help getting into the holiday spirit, despite buying most of the necessary gifts, I still feel like it's September or something.

Okay, I've been thinking about this for like a week now, and I think I've finally got a good-ish answer for you. I can't remember which details are public and which are sitting in a plot document somewhere, but you'll learn in the one-shot series that Chrissy's mom's name is Hannah.

I think when Chrissy was a kid, her family probably celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah—Christmas on Pete's side, Hanukkah on Hannah's side. Unfortunately, since Hannah got sick when Chrissy was still really young, Chrissy only has pictures and a few hazy memories of those times.

Rest under the cut because i wrote another gd essay.

Once she and her dad started moving around, holidays became a lot less certain. The "big holidays" generally spent with family are tough for them, but Pete does what he can. He was never particularly religious, so for him, it's more about making sure Christine feels like she's part of the experience. They've got a tiny plastic Christmas tree they can take from apartment to apartment, and probably a plug-in menorah. Chrissy gets eight gifts during Hanukkah and the rest on Christmas. Cooking's never been Pete's specialty either, so holidays either mean a store-bought feast, take-out, or going out to eat, but sugar cookies in different shapes? That he can manage.

It isn't until they get to Hawkins that holidays really change at all. Not their first year, but once the Hendersons move in. Dustin's used to BIG holiday gatherings, so when Claudia hears that the Walcotts don't usually do much, you just know she's going all out. Personalized stockings, hand-made ornaments, the whole shebang. And as much as Chrissy loves them for it, it makes her miss her mom.

That's probably what prompts her to grab some books from the library, so she can figure out how to do a real Hanukkah. The Walcotts finally get a real menorah and Chrissy tries to cook the right food. She's not sure she's doing any of it right, but really, it's a celebration of her mom anyway.

God, I haven't even gotten to the rest of your questions yet. OKAY.

El's first Christmas is pretty overwhelming for her. I highly suggest reading Darkness at the Edge of Town, which is a ST companion book from Hopper's POV. Most of it's set in the past, but Hopper's actively telling the story to Eleven, so there's a few chapters of the two of them in the cabin and Hop is a huge sap. I almost cried chapter one. It also talks about her going to a holiday party with her friends, which I believe is covered in a comic I haven't read.

In my mind, the party gets together at someone's house—probably Dustin's, because Hopper's too nervous to let Eleven back to the Wheeler house yet, and Claudia's not gonna question one of the kids bringing an unknown friend. I think she learns ABOUT Santa, but the kids tell her straight off it's a story they tell little kids. (Mike and Lucas are exactly the type of people to tell you that Santa's not real.) Plus, no one really wants to lie to her, silly as it may seem.

There are like...a lot of kids in the party, so I don't think everyone gets something for everyone. That being said, the party has to buy two super-comms—one for Eleven and on for Max—so that's a gift from everyone for both of them. Chrissy obviously buys additional gifts for El and Dustin, and probably for Max too. Steve gets directions from Chrissy on what video game to buy for Dustin. He feels compelled to get something for Eleven too, so he just buys the exact same thing he bought Chrissy: a hat with matching scarf and gloves. It's not inventive, especially considering El's like...not allowed to go outside...but Eleven loves them, because she matches Christine.

Okay this is beyond an essay at this point, I can go into movies if you want to ask again lmfao. 😅