#riley matthews imagines

[thatrandomwriter]

Be Right Back

Ghostface Stu Macher x Reader

Warnings: Threat of violence, underage drinking, kissing

Summary: Ghostface follows reader into the basement at Stu’s house party, but reader has an idea about who might be behind the mask

“I don’t know what you did, Sidney, but on behalf of the entire student body we all say thank you!” Stu had swooped in to walk with Sidney, Tatum and I, presenting us with flowers. He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes. He clutched his chest as if this was the most heartless action I could’ve taken. I laughed.

“Drop it, Stu,” Tatum said as Sidney looked down at the ground, but Stu was not put off.

He slid between me and Sidney, slinging an arm around each of our shoulders, “Ya know I say, impromptu party tonight, my house, celebrate this little siesta. What do you say?” I could smell his fresh cologne, feel his warmth next to me.

“Are you serious?” Sidney asked, unconvinced.

“Sounds like fun - might be good to take your mind off things?” I said.

“That’s exactly right,” Stu piggybacked off my reasoning, flashing me a grin. I felt my face heat up slightly, “If Tatum doesn’t invite the entire world, we’ll be fine. Intimate gathering, intimate friends,”

“What do you say, Sid? I mean, pathos could have it’s perks,” If Tatum was on board too, there was no way Sidney was saying no.

“You’ll be totally protected. Yo, I am so buff. I got you covered, girl,” Stu made a show of removing his arms from around us to flex them exaggeratedly.

“With Stu as your bodyguard, no-one is getting anywhere near you,” I said, and Sidney smiled.

“Come on, Sid. For me? It could be fun,” Tatum appealed.

“Okay, whatever,” Sidney caved in.

“Yeah? Cool, you guys bring food, alright?” Stu said, leaving to walk in another direction. I turned to wave goodbye, catching him doing a triumphant air guitar.

“Save that energy for the party,” I called back to him.

“I’ll be at the top of my game, don’t you worry,”

*

I was a few hours and a few drinks into the party. Stu had disappeared a little while ago, and embarrassingly, I was disappointed that he wasn’t around to hang out with anymore. Instead, I was sandwiched between Sidney and Tatum, sunk deep into the squashy sofa, someone’s legs across mine.

“I’m getting some more drinks - anyone want anything?” I asked, feeling more claustrophobic than thirsty. I was met with a general consensus that just about everybody needed another beer “I’ll grab whatever I can carry,”

Tatum removed her arm from my shoulders, and I struggled up from the sofa.

“Thank you!” Tatum grinned up at me.

“Be right back,”

I was still getting used to the size of Stu’s house, managing to open two wrong doors before I came across the basement - dark and steep stepped. I fumbled for the light switch, hand patting down the wall, until finally I felt it and flipped it on, lights flickering into being.

The fridge was impressively stocked - full of as much beer as could be crammed into it, bottles and cans stacked haphazardly, threatening to fall to the floor if I made one wrong move. I wiggled a few free, grabbing bottles by the necks in an attempt to fit more in my hands. It would be a miracle if I made it back to the party without dropping any of them, but one trip down into the spooky basement was enough for me, especially with a killer around; I would not be making a second trip if anyone ended up without a drink.

I reversed with the beers, shutting the fridge with my foot and nearly toppling over, stumbling backwards until I hit a wall. No, not a wall - a person, soft and warm.

“Sorry, guess I’m more tipsy than I thought,” I laughed, turning to see who I had fallen into. A white mask, mouth open in an exaggerated scream stared down at me. A ghostface mask. “Shit, you scared me,” Was this just a tone-deaf joke? Perhaps someone had meant to catch Sidney down here to really freak her out. Or maybe this was the real deal - I fought the urge to laugh. This could not be how I died, fetching beer at a trashy highschool party.

“I’m just gonna-“ I moved to walk around him and back up to the party, but he side-stepped, making me walk into him again. Something about him seemed familiar - his height, the way he stood, his smell … I realised then exactly who it was. I had smelled Stu’s cologne when he had put his arm around me earlier, and I could smell it again, now.

“Stu?” I let out my laugh, relieved. He had a tendency to take jokes too far, this was just an instance of his somewhat unsympathetic sense of humour.

Stu shook his head, mask turning from side to side.

“Come on, I know it’s you. Let’s go have a drink,”

Metal gleamed as Stu revealed a knife from inside one of his long sleeves.

“That’s not funny, Stu,” Was this part of his joke? Would he really take it this far, or was I somehow mistaken about the identity of whoever it was behind the mask?

The person tilted their head to one side, as if he were analysing what I was saying. For a moment, we were at a silent impasse. Then, Ghostface lunged for me with the knife. Beer slid from my arms, shattering on the basement floor, and I made no effort to hold onto it as I ducked. I shoved at the body in front of me to put some distance between us. I was trapped between him and the shut garage door - all I could do was try to evade his attacks. Part of me was still convinced that it was Stu, another knew that surely he was not capable of murder. He stabbed at me again, and this time I gripped onto his arm, but the knife was aimed for my chest. I was weaker than he was, and despite all of my efforts, the knife was still closing in on me. I knew in that moment that I was not going to win this fight, so instead, I turned my attention to the mask. I managed to push his arm to the side, stepping away from it so that he stumbled forward. Before he could recover, I grabbed onto the mask, yanking it away from his head.

“Stu?” The reveal floored me. I had been expecting this, I had known it was him, but still I was shocked. Stu regained his footing, taking advantage of my shock to shove me backwards and into a wall, a real one this time, knife at my throat. I was breathing heavily, from a combination of fighting him, fear, and, ridiculously, what felt like nervousness twitching in my chest at our proximity.

“How’d you know it was me, huh?” He pushed the knife further into my skin for a second, punctuating the question.

If it was anyone else, I probably would not have figured it out, “I just … recognised you,”

“You did? Well, I have to say, I’m very flattered - what are you, a stalker?” Stu was teasing me, laughing at me, with a knife to my neck. He stepped forward, even closer to me than before, almost touching me. I could still feel my chest rising and falling heavily.

“You’re flattered?” Part of me thought that maybe playing into this attraction could keep me alive, even just long enough for someone to notice that I had been gone too long from the party. Another part was shamefully intrigued as to where this was leading.

“Of course I am - don’t you think I’ve noticed you too?” he leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Who would’ve thought a knife was the way to get your attention?”

When he pulled back, I couldn’t help but glance down at his lips, how close they were to mine. As soon as my eyes were back on his, I knew that he had noticed. My face grew hot, but something shifted in his expression, becoming less playful and more serious as he surged forwards to kiss me. I tilted my head up towards him, my eyes shutting as his lips moved against mine, fast and hungry and full of desperation. I was pressed between him and the wall, the coldness behind me a stark contrast to the warmth in front. One of his hands found my neck, replacing the knife, thumb grazing my throat in a gentle caress meant to remind me that I was still entirely at his mercy. The feeling made me groan slightly. His teeth nipped roughly at my lower lip, hard enough to sting. I parted my lips for him, and he delighted in sliding his tongue into my mouth, leaving me somehow even more breathless than before.

His hands were on my hips, “Jump up,” Stu broke away from me only for a second, as I jumped up to wrap my legs around his waist. He used the wall to hold me up, one hand snaking back up to my neck, the other resting on my hip, fingers grazing the skin just beneath my top. He used the hand on my neck to pull my head to the side, kissing down my jaw until he reached skin soft enough to leave a hickey. Stu bit at my neck, sucking soft skin between his teeth, making me wince slightly which only encouraged him. When he was finally satisfied, he looked up at me, grinning, “You’re my masterpiece,”

The doorknob jiggled, before a knock on the door made him turn away. “You alright in there? I came to see if you needed help carrying the drinks,” Sidney’s voice sounded down into to basement.

I looked to Stu. Now would be the time for me to scream for help, “All good, I think the door locks when you shut it too hard sometimes,” I said. She would never make it through the locked door in time to save me, I told myself. But Stu was kissing my neck, nuzzling into me, and I knew the real reason.

“If you say so,” Sidney said.

“Yep, I’ll be up in a minute,” I struggled to keep my voice steady, but my reply seemed to satisfy Sidney, as there was no other sound from upstairs.

“How do you know you’ll be back?” Stu asked, finally removing himself from my neck to look into my eyes.

“I don’t, but I thought you’d want me to get rid of her,”

A smile widened across his face at my compliance, and his thumb caressed my throat once again, “Aren’t you clever?”

“Will I be back?” I asked; he was carefully evading answering his own question.

“I haven’t quite decided yet,” his hand had strayed to the knife which had been resting on top of a chest freezer, “But I’m sure you can figure out a way to make keeping you alive worth my trouble,”

[shoot-the-oneshot]

NEW YEAR NEW PROMPTS!!! Request are open!!! Send em in

- [ ] 74 “Help me set this fucking thing on fire.”

- [ ] 75 “have you eaten today?” “Yeah” “okay have you eaten more than a fruit roll up”

- [ ] 76 “tell me again.”

- [ ] 77 “be my good girl.”

- [ ] 78 “who did it?”

- [ ] 79 “I don’t care where I am in the world I’m with you, I’m right there with you.”

- [ ] 80 “Tell me. Do you plan out all of the dumb stuff you do? Or does it just come naturally?"

- [ ] 81 "I plan but it never goes how I want."

- [ ] 82 “I might have done some bad things in my life but you are by far the best.

- [ ] 83 "I gave a dude your number, he wouldn't stop bothering me, give em' hell,"

- [ ] 84 "do you have my sad hoodie? I need my sad hoodie,"

- [ ] 85 "oh really?" / "yes, really." / "lying doesn't suit you, sweetheart”

- [ ] 86 “Weird way to propose, but ok."

- [ ] 87 Why do you insist on giving me pet names?

- [ ] 88 "you? beat me? what a joke,"

- [ ] 89 of course the flowers I got you were the best, you think you can do better?'

[xetswan]

By Your Side- Prologue

(Joshua Washington X Reader)

(Until Dawn)

[Prologue] [One] [Two]

“Hey sissy.” Jessica jumps on the end of my bed with a huge grin. I raise a brow, closing my laptop.

“What is it, Jess?” I let out a large sigh causing her to pout out her lip.

“Oh come on, I just wanted to hang out with my older sister.” She nudges my calf, scooting closer to me on the bed.

“Right, you haven’t called me sissy in years.” I call her out, to which my little sister scoffs. Shaking her head in disagreement to my statement.

Right now we’ve been home alone, our parents out for some business trip or so they say. They do this every month or two, telling us a business trip came up that they have to go to when in reality we all know it’s just a mini vacation they want to take without feeling guilty. Something they shouldn’t have to feel guilty for.

“Uh, yes I have. Just the other day. Maybe I just want to say it again.” Jessica argues with me and I let out a small chuckle.

“Okay, I’ll keep you to it, sissy.” I mock her, she tries to hide it but she breaks out into a smile as well.

“Okay, fine. I overheard Hannah saying we’re going to the lodge! Did Josh say anything to you about it?” She hops up on her knees, bouncing on my bed a little bit. “It was mentioned but I don’t think I’m going.” I let out a nervous laugh, I watched as her eyes bulged out of the sockets along with her mouth hung wide open.

“You have to go! Mom and dad won’t let me go unless you do.” She grips on my knee shaking me aggressively.

It’s not that I don’t want to go.

It sounds fun as heck but lately Josh has been acting a little more flirtatious with me and I’m not up for an awkward weekend of the group making fun of us. Ever since Thanksgiving he started becoming more flirty with me. I went to his family’s dinner and I don’t know.

I like him, of course I do. Who wouldn’t in my position I just don’t want our friendship to get messed up in the heat of things.

“I.. I don’t know Jessie. I have a lot of homework to catch up on.” I lie, I’m all caught up. I only have three classes so I also have time to work.

“[Name], please. I’ll clean your car whenever you want me to! And your dishes! For a month!” She pleads with me. I bite the tip of my thumb thinking about it. A weekend with friends might get out minds off of things. Josh might not bother me as much as I think he will. I close my eyes.

“Okay,” I breathe out, “okay, I’ll go but please try to make sure the pranks against me are at a minimum. And don’t worry about cleaning my things.” I slouch down a tad bit only to be brought back up by my sister who squeals and hugs me. “I can’t wait for the invitation to make things official!” She lets me go and excitedly leaves my room.

I hear her call Ashley which surprised me. I didn’t expect her to really become friends with Ashley. It’s better than Emily though.

I check my phone that pings a few times, Josh and Chris’s names pop up and I roll my eyes at what they’re saying.

“Partying it up on Mount Washington!!!!!!!!! What you guys think?” Josh using way too many exclamation points.

“I’m in, you know it!” Chris sends with multiple emojis and I snort out a laugh.

“[Name], how about you?” Josh puts a little winky face to which I roll my eyes, a smirk still laid upon my lips though.

“Hm, I don’t know.” I respond back, Chris sends a gasping face emoji in response to my message.

“You’re the life of the party you have to be there:(“ Chris says.

“Is it worth my time though?” I tease them, obviously I already told Jessica I was going. I’m not backing out of my word but it is fun to mess with my boys.

“Oh wowww, can’t believe Miss chugger won’t come to a party… with provided alcohol.” Josh says, my jaw slacks open in shock.

“Hey, Miss chugger is in the past, dead even and she’s not coming back.” I remind him. In high school we of course were bit of partiers.

I was the worst of the worst when it comes to drinking. I’d out drink everyone, chugging disgusting beers, taking shots of pure vodka like it was nothing. Just thinking about those days makes me want to vomit.

“I miss her:(“ Chris comments,

Josh puts the laughing emoji, “me too:(“ I roll my eyes once again.

“Shut up, I’m coming I already told Jessie I would. Miss chugger on the other hand you guys can forget it.” I turn my phone off after I hit send, getting back on my laptop to watching YouTube videos like I was before Jessica rudely came into my room.

“C’mon, sissy, everyone else is already waiting for us!” Jessica dramatically tugs me onto the cable car.

“You’re really sticking with Sissy now?” I scrunch my face, throwing my backpack onto my back since I just had to get my hat out, somehow I forgot how cold it actually was going to be up here. I was currently wearing a little puffer jacket, a pink slightly cropped sweater underneath with low rise jeans.

“Of course, I told you I might want to say it again and I do!” She folds her arms. I shake my head. “Okay, sorry.” I jokingly say.

As the cable car goes up I glance around. Taking in the beauty of it all.

I used to come up here with the Washington’s for the summer sometimes, this also isn’t my first winter up here. I love the Washington’s, they’ve always welcomed me. It was nice to have a place where I didn’t always have to take Jessica with me since she’s my younger sister our parents always expected me to have her tag along.

I love her and all but it’s cool to have my own time too.

“Look, I see them!” She points over to the group who were actually waiting for us. I glance over and they’re waving to us, so we do it back.

Jessica was practically on the edge of her seat excited to get off. As it gets to where we need to be we rush off and get greeted with hugs from our friends. Even if we’ve seen them just days or a few weeks ago.

“It’s nice to see you actually came!” Josh jokes with me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Yeah, it was a tough decision.” I mess with him. Chris gives me a small side hug.

“Ready for the weekend Chugger?” He takes my hat off to which I slap him on the arm.

“Chugger doesn’t exist anymore. Give me that!” I jump up to grab from the blond.

“I think I’ll wear it.” He places it on his head. “Doesn’t this look nice on me, Josh?” Chris turns to our other friends as we all start walking. “Oh man, I’d totally take you to the bone zone if you were a girl.” Josh says and I let out a sort of loud laugh.

“The bone zone? God you are so corny.” I hold my stomach.

“Okay, okay, calm down. It wasn’t that funny.” Josh pats my back. Chris tries to hold back his laughter as well.

“Are we almost there yet, my feet are killer from the work out I did earlier.” Matt speaks up from behind us, we stop and turn.

“Just a little bit always, princess.” Beth replies to him. “Ha-ha, I’m serious. I might’ve did a little too much.” He mainly comments the last part to himself. I then hear Mike and Emily flirting with each other making me want to gag but then I also notice how Hannah was staring at them, well staring at Mike.

We began walking again and I slowed down a little bit.

“Hey, Han.” I nudge her arm. She snaps out of her thoughts looking at me.

“Hey [Name].” She gives a small smile. “You like him?” I whisper, her face suddenly then drops.

“Who told you? Did Josh read my journal or something?” She starts to panic but I shush her, calming her down.

“No, no, I saw the way you were looking at them. Either you like him or it’s Emily which is kind of doubtful considering I didn’t think you swung that way. It’s not a bad thing if you did.” I rambled on a little bit, causing her to snicker shaking her head.

“It’s him, I didn’t think I was that obvious.” She shyly rubs her hands together, most likely trying to give herself warmth.

“It’s probably not, I just enjoy observing people sometimes.” I assure her.

“Oh, okay. Well I’ve actually done some observing myself and it seems like you’re avoiding my brother.” She calls me out, my mouth instantly closing having nothing to say in response to that spot on observance she had.

“What? I haven’t- I’m not avoiding him.” I disagree, glancing up to see Josh, Chris and Matt messing with each other as Mike cheers for god knows what they’re doing. “Right, so you not coming over on the weekends to hang out with Josh after Thanksgiving is you not avoiding him?” She questions me.

“Exactly it’s not.” I try to stay confident with my answer, attempting to keep a straight face but once I look at her we both burst into laughter.

“Fine, fine! I am.” I sigh out, kicking the snow as we walk up the trail. “But why? You guys never have a problem.” She frowns.

“It’s a long story.” I bite my bottom lip thinking about all that’s happened.

“We have some time before we get to the house.” She says, shrugging her shoulders. I glance up ahead again, seeing as everyone was pre-occupied with each other.

“Josh and I sort of got flirty with each other. Your brother was super headstrong with it. I kind of did it back. We kissed a few times on Thanksgiving night and since that night I was scared it would ruin our friendship so I cut back. I gave excuses to not come over.” I let out in a low voice so only she could hear. Hannah smiles at me sweetly.

“I know I’m a jerk for it but it’s just my anxiety taking over I guess.” I stare at the ground.

“You’re not a jerk. That also wasn’t a long story.” She comments, both of us laughing once again. “Just talk with Josh. You never know what could happen.” Hannah nudges me, I do it back to her. Both of us smiling. “Okay, I will.” I stand up straighter.

Once we get to the lodge, Josh opens the door dramatically.

“Finally, warmth!” Sam opens her arms, spinning around as she walks further inside. I watch Beth turn the lights on with a smirk watching Sam. “Very exciting.” I agree, tugging my jacket off, holding it in my arm.

“Party time!” Mike announces earning the rest of us to cheer. Josh, Chris, Ashley and I go get our rooms, well Josh is showing us to ours, I’m the last one too. He turns a familiar corner and I start to fold my arms.

“This is your room, Josh.” I point out. “Nice observation.” He smirks, taking my jacket and back from my hands he places them down with his on a chair that’s up against the wall. I shake my head, chuckling.

“Where’s my actual room that I usually sleep in?” I lean against the doorway.

“Oh c’mon, babe. Just this weekend.” He comes up to me, taking one of my hands. “Just this weekend, what?” I raise a brow, confused but also intrigued. He leads me into the room, sitting me down before going back to close the door.

“I mean we both know how we feel about each other. It’s pretty obvious.” He concludes, not exactly looking me in the eyes. “And how do we feel about each other, Joshua?” I stare up at him. His eyes finally meet mine, and it looks like he melted just from our eye contact.

“Y’know…” He mutters, coming closer. “I don’t.” I tease him, standing up to push him down on the bed so I’m in between his legs this time. His hands find my hips, aggressively he squeezes them, lowly groaning.

“[Name], please, you don’t understand what you do to me.” He pulls me closer to him, my chest practically in his face. I feel my face warm up, I wasn’t expecting this. My hand drags up his torso to his face, cradling it as I force him to look up at me.

“Let’s try this out.” I whisper. His eyes lighten up, I feel his grip tighten even more.

“What- what do you mean?” He adjusts himself on the bed, I still stare at his face. “Let’s try out the relationship thing,” I begin and a smile erupts on his face.

“But, if this doesn’t work out, we don’t let our friendship get awkward.” I practically am begging with my facial expression. “It will work out.” He pushes me back a little bit so he can stand up. He kisses me gently, first on the lips then trailing down to my jawline.

“We should get going back down before anyone gets suspicious.” I hum out, feeling his lips begin to touch my neck. I try to push on his chest but he’s gripping my sides so tightly like I’ll run away.

“Let them.” He takes a small break only to work on my neck again. “Josh.” I gasp. He snickers, finally stopping. His eyes trail all over my face then to my neck.

“You might want to cover that up.” He taps the spot he was attacking before grabbing his phone from the bed and walking out. My face scrunches up, confused at first but then I rush over to the mirror, I let out a loud gasp.

“Joshua!!” I hold my neck and I hear him let out a laugh. I sigh, going over to the chair with our stuff and dig in it, finding a stupid thin scarf I brought and neatly wrap it to hide the hickey he gave me.

I finally start heading downstairs, joining the rest of the group who were planning out what we’re doing for the weekend.

Later that night Josh and Chris decided to do a drinking game, I sat next to Josh as Chris sat across from us.

Beth and Sam were watching everything go down. “Come on Chugger, you gotta join us.” Chris practically whines, my eyes roll in response. “I told you she’s dead. Now knock it off.” I wave my hand in a swift movement.

“I liked Chugger, she was sexy.” Josh whispered the last part into my ear. I shove him away from me as my face warmed up.

“What was that? Care to share with the class?” Sam speaks up and I felt my eyes widen.

“Chugger, she was a sexy woman back in the day.” Josh announces and my body shrivels down in embarrassment. “She was a careless teenager.” I disagree. “Same thing.” Chris shrugs his shoulders, picking up a beer and beginning to take the first sip.

I watched as the two get shitfaced with Beth and Sam, us three talking about school work or just things going on in our lives.

Sam decides to join the others and I think Hannah went to go write or something, Beth and I are now taking pictures on our phones acting stupid.

Josh and Chris are passed out now.

“I’m glad you decided to come.” Beth smiles at me and I nod, putting my phone down.

“Me too, even if your brother is annoying. I’m still having fun.” I joke, of course forgetting why I have my scarf on I take it off due to me getting hot and my neck starting to sweat.

“He loves you.” Beth mumbles looking over at her drunken brother, laughing. “I don’t know about love but yeah.” I glance over at him, his face smushed on his arm with his mouth wide open.

“Oh my god.” The girl suddenly whispers and I snap my head over to her. “What? What is it?” I look down at myself to see if she accidentally dropped something on me.

“Is that a hickey?” She flicks the spot on my neck, I hiss, slapping her hand away.

“Is that from Josh?” She breaks out into a small laughing fit.

“What- no, it’s- maybe.” I couldn’t find a good excuse okay? Kill me. “That’s hilarious, Matt owes me fifty bucks.” She throws her head back.

“You bet on our love life?” I crossed my arms. “Everyone practically did. Even Chris.” She gets up to start cleaning after Josh and Chris.

I just sit there, in shock from what she just told me.

Beth leaves the room and I go back to sitting beside Josh, laying my head down on his shoulder. He moves around a little bit. “Hm?” He hums and I shush him.

“Sorry, just wanted to be by you.” I whisper. He grumbles a little bit but harshly leans up to put his arm around me, laying his head back down on his other arm. I smile to myself, laying down on my arm, cuddling up next to him. Our legs now sort of entangled together. I didn’t drink or anything but the tiredness of traveling finally hit me.

I don’t even know how much time has passed but that was until I heard the ending of a conversation.

“Just because he’s class Prez doesn’t mean he belongs to everyone… Mike is my man.” I hear Emily say as they leave the kitchen.

“Hey, Em. I’m not anybody’s man.”

“Whatever you say, Darling!” She sings. I lift my head up for a second but then shrug, going back to sleep, I hear someone walk in but I just ignore it.

Thinking I was going to get to fall asleep for longer I instead get Beth walking in to continue cleaning up, I still let Josh hold onto me but I sit my head up to watch her.

“Hey did you see that? Dad said it’d just be us this weekend.” She turns to us but sees the two boys still passed out.

“Josh?”

“He’s been passed out, love. I don’t think you’ll be waking him up anytime soon.” I give her a sad face.

“But what did you see?” I ask. “I thought I saw someone outside. I swear I did.” She frowns, glancing at the window again but she heads over to the counter.

She picks up a bottle that’s in front of us and empty by the way. It’s an older scotch, Jeremiah Cragg.

“Jeez, Josh… Once again brother you outdone us all. She pats the arm that he has around me and I tiredly laugh. I then watch her spin a paper around, picking it up to read it.

“Oh my god. What did our naive sister get herself into now?” Beth turns to us and I raise a brow. “What?” I ask. “Here.” She hands me the paper and I read it. I close my eyes letting out a long breath.

“I think they found out about Hannah’s feelings. This has to be a prank.” I gently pull Josh’s arm off of me and I stand up, placing the paper down and they we look outside to see Hannah crying, running past the window.

“Oh my god.” I gasp.

“Wake Josh I’ll go to the others, I hope that wasn’t Hannah.” She runs outside, I nod. Going over to the passed out drunk. I overhear the others yelling outside for Hannah and then hear Beth run after her sister.

“Josh, Joshua, hun.” I push his body. His snore becomes a little louder and I bite my bottom lip. “Babe, c’mon wake up, Beth and Hannah ran outside.” I say a little loud, shaking him more aggressively.

“What?” He becomes more awake.

“They what?” He lifts his head up.

“The others played a prank on Hannah, I’m guessing it was bad because she ran outside and Beth followed from what I heard.” I tell him, now he’s more alert and he drunkenly stood up. He stumbles a bit so I run over and get him a water.

“Here, drink and let’s go.” I tell him. Suddenly when we saw the group he sobers up.

“What the hell did you guys do!?” Josh angrily shouts, he was holding my hand for support.

“It was just a prank, Josh, we didn’t mean for it to upset her like that.” Emily steps forward and I glare at her. Then at Mike, then to Jessica.

“Especially you, Jessica.” I point a finger at her, her head goes down.

“I can’t believe you guys would do something so stupid like that.” I shake my head, disappointed.

“I tried to warn her, I was too late.” Sam tells me and I smile weakly. “Let’s just hope they come back soon.” I frown.

Soon never came though.

After thirty minutes Josh began to panic and I woke Chris up. Catching him up with everything as we decided to go look for the two sisters.

I called the police and mountain patrol but we never found them.

For months we did search parties, I stayed by Josh’s side, knowing it’s a tough time for him. I barely passed two semesters as I was always with him trying to help.

I didn’t mind it though. I wanted to make sure he was okay. I knew he wasn’t. His parents were rough on him, telling him it was his fault since he was drunk.

It wasn’t his fault. It was our stupid friends fault for playing that dirty prank on Hannah the way they did.

It’s about a year now and no one has even seen a sign of them…

It’s horrible.

[stumachersfavoritegirl]

Stu Macher x Tatum Riley (Scream 1996)

[inlovewithalotoffandoms]

'What is this?' and 'I like like you."

You were so confused about what was happening. Riley pushed you into her room. And the last person you wanted to see that day was also there.

"What is this? Why am I here? Why is he here?" You ask while pointing at the one and only Josh Matthews.

"Why is she here?" Josh asked his niece.

"You two are going to talk about this." Riley replied to both of yours and Joshs questions. You shock you head and said to her,

"No. I am not talking him."

"And I am not going to talk to her. So I'm just gonna leave." Josh said but he didn't get to the door on time.

"Sit down." His niece demanded him.

"Talk."

"No." You said. You didn't want to talk to him after he found out what you did.

"Tell her how you feel." Riley said to her uncle, walked out and locked the door.

"You shouldn't have done that." He finally said.

"What?" You asked him like you didn't know.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know what you did."

"So. Why shouldn't I have done it?"

"Beacuse...it's not you Y/N."

"This is me Josh. You think you know me, but you don't."

There was silence so Riley came back in then room looked at you and said,

"Tell him why you did it."

"Riley this is stupid. I'm just gonna go." You replied to her. But as before she said,

"Sit down."

And left the room once again.

"You wanna know why? Marcus is Marcus. He was talking crap about you and the things he was saying weren't true." You finally let go and said it.

"So you got mad at him and...." He began, but stoped to let you tell the story.

"Broke a few bones."

"A few?"

"Okay. I broke a lot if his bones."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Okay, maybe I got a tiny bit protective when Marcus called you a 'weakling'.

"Lets define 'tiny."

Riley came into the once again and said to you,

"Tell him how you feel."

"Riley." You whined.

"Tell him." She says as she leaves once more. You couldn't hold back anymore you had to tell him how you felt.

"Josh, I.....I like like you." You said and smiled at yourself that you finally told him that you liked him. Josh couldn't believe what he was hearing. You liked him back. So he asked you,

"Wait, you like me like me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't need to rube it in."

"I actually like like you too."

"Really?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Well you be my girlfriend?" Josh asked you. He finally asked you. So You kissed him as a yes. When you pull away you asked,

"Did that answer your question?"

He nodded his head slowly, staring at you in shock. Josh got snapped out of his trance hearing Rileys' classic "Yyyyyyyaaaaayyyyyy." She came in the room and said,

"If you're gonna kiss, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"Yes ma'am. " Josh said and got up.

"We're out of here." You say. But before you left you smiled at Riley and said,

"Thanks Riley."

"For what?" She asked.

"Forcing me to tak to Josh."

"Your welcome."

When you and Josh left, Riley did her happy dance. She had successfully got you and Josh together.

The End.

[blahblahblees]

ヽ｀、☁ヽ｀─── girl meets world masterlist

riley matthews

none

maya hart

teenage dream (fic on wattpad)

lucas frair

lollie (fic on wattpad)

farkle minkus

you belong with me (from oxangejuice)

the romantic way (from oxangejuice)

zay babineaux

none

[venusonthemo0n]

ᥫ᭡ . # ۫ , ⸺ UNTIL DAWN !

matthew taylor

emily davis

michael munroe

jessica riley

joshua washington

samantha giddings

all until dawn content

[mxlti-fand0m-imaginess]

Riley Matthews Masterlist

none yet!

[gnocchibabie]

This scenario has been living in my brain especially since I recently came home from a bad day of work and just had to watch my comfort movie so…

Imagine you’ve had a horrible, awful, no good day and come back to yours and Simon’s home. You get changed into your comfiest pajamas and flop onto the couch, turning on Netflix and scrolling through the endless lists of shows and movies for something to watch and settle on Pride and Prejudice (the 2005 version ofc). You’ve seen it more times than you can count but it's your comfort movie, so yes - you’re watching it again. Making yourself comfortable on the couch, you get about 5 minutes into the movie when Simon gets home from work. After your usual greetings and a peck on the lips you reach out for the remote to turn off the movie, assuming Pride and Prejudice isn’t exactly his cup of tea.

“What are you doing?”

“Just turning it - I know you don’t care for thi-”

“No, we’ll watch it” 

You chalk this up to Simon understanding that you’ve had a bad day - that he’s willing to sit through anything for you. So he shimmies next to you on the couch, him sitting and you laying down, your feet resting in his lap. 

You figure that Simon may slightly dissociate during the film as you can’t possibly imagine a man like him would find this kind of thing entertaining. You get further and further into the plot and, despite seeing it time and time again, find yourself giggling and kicking your feet at the infamous hand flex scene. 

“What was that all about?” Simon is clearly confused, but amused by your reaction.

“The tension - the way he flexes his hand after touching hers - hell, the way he’s not even wearing gloves - you wouldn’t get it” you finally give up on trying to explain the definition of romance when you hear Simon chuckling at your ramblings. 

But when you reach the confession scene, where Elizabeth and Darcy stand in the rain shouting at each other, Simon surprises you. 

“The hell?” you hear a gruff voice say beside you.

“What?”

“What kind of confession was that? He just insulted her entire family.”

“Do my ears deceive me, or are you actually getting into this movie?”

“Never said I wouldn’t,” he scoffs.

“Well just keep watching!” you urge.

Throughout the rest of the film, Simon makes more comments. You do your best to hide your amusement - the movie clearly piqued his interest. You both watch as the rest of the story unfolds; Elizabeth touring Darcy’s estate, Lydia eloping with Mr. Wickham (“What a sorry sod that Wickham is.” Simon had said, which had you utterly rolling.), Bingley proposing to Jane, and finally - Darcy proposing to Elizabeth. 

Since Netflix happens to show the american ending of the film (controversial, I know), you and Simon watch as the final scene folds out before you two. Tears threaten to spill from your eyes as you hear Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfayden recite: 

You may only call me Mrs. Darcy when you are completely and perfectly and incandescently happy.

And how are you tonight, Mrs. Darcy? 

Simon pretends not to notice your glazed eyes as the movie fades to black. Sitting up and stretching with a groan, you look over at the clock realizing it was getting late, then back at Simon, “Well? How’d you like that?”

“S’alright” Ghost shrugs his shoulders

You scoff, “Yeah sure, that’s why you were glued to the screen.”

Simon chuckles and stands from his place on the couch, stretching as you did before turning back towards you. He outstretches a hand and gives you a small smile, “Ready for bed, Mrs. Riley?”

[defluw]

Happy Birthday !!!

Simon "Ghost" Riley & fem!Reader

Last night you said that you wouldn't be able to fully celebrate Simon's birthday because of your busy work. The man was not particularly upset, he was already used to spending this day as usual.

- And tomorrow, together with Scarlet, we need to go to kindergarten in the morning for a holiday. It won't last long. - you looked at Simon and kissed him on the cheek.

- Okay.

You went to bed and waited for the next day, already imagining how you would surprise Simon.

The next morning came. Simon and Scarlet left home at 7 a.m. As soon as they disappeared from view, you launched his entire team into the house. John Price, Johnny, Kyle and your eldest son Matthew helped decorate the house. You had 2 hours for all this and you tried to decorate and cook everything as quickly as possible.

Simon walks into the house with Scarlet in his arms. He is met in the hallway by your dog, who is glad to see his master. Scarlet babbles happily and tells her dad. The two of them still do not suspect anything until they go into the living room, where all Simon's friends and family are gathered. There is a huge inscription "Happy Birthday!" on the wall, balls and jewelry are lying around.

- Happy birthday!!! - everyone is shouting loudly.

You went up to Simon and kissed him.

- How do you like the surprise? We tried our best - your mouth stretched into a wide smile and you gave him your gift wrapped in a bright package.

-Thank you very much. - Simon smiled slightly. But in his heart, this man was ready to squeal with joy. A pleasant feeling spread in his chest at the sight of all the people close to him. The realization that they were all trying for him was pleasant and meant that he was a really important person to them.

It's nice to know that you are loved and appreciated. That your loved ones care about you. That on this special day they arrange a holiday for you and give you a lot of attention and happy impressions.

On this day, Simon finally realized that this birthday is the best day.

In honor of my birthday today, I decided to write such a story. ❤

[princesssarisa]

@anghraine has sometimes complained about the Jane Austen fandom's tendency to insist that Darcy must look like Colin Firth. So I thought I'd see if that same tendency is common on Tumblr or not.

[mytragedyperson]

OK I'm sorry, I'm back with this same monologue again because the wording here. "found out I was gonna have a chance", not found out you liked me, no, not found out about Maya's feelings. He was gonna have a chance, as if he'd thought about it before, considered the possibility, but ultimately decided he didn't have a chance. And we do know from season 1, that he did consider it, from the conversation he had with Farkle about asking one of them out, where he asked Farkle about what he'd do if he asked each of them out. But that seemed more hypothetical, until now. He wanted a chance with her and never thought he'd get it, but he did... and he gave it up. Like, you can't tell me this man doesn't or didn't ever have feelings for Maya, that he only ever liked Riley, because the wording here suggests otherwise, and I feel like most people have accepted that, yes, Maya's feelings for Lucas were genuine and Maya turning into Riley was a cop out. I genuinely believe Maya and Lucas's characters would've ended up together eventually.

I feel like it's a shame Lucas didn't ask more questions when she told him he'd picked Riley either way, because season 1 or 2 Lucas would've shut that down and been like no that's absolute nonsense, you're you. Like the fact everyone just went along with that is insane. They made her feel bad for developing as a person and being happy and forced her to go back to how she was before. That's just sad. Could you imagine if anyone but Riley did this? I feel like Riley only got away with this because she's Riley. And to be clear I don't hate Riley, I don't think she had bad intentions here, but Riley has been shown to dislike change, and that could apply even if that change is good. I don't think Riley really considered how much of Maya's change came from the fact her home life, her personal situation had changed. Because Riley's always had a loving family and frineds that support and protect her, so she doesn't quite realise how much that would change for someone who never really had it. An the Matthews did try to treat Maya like one of the family, and while I do think Maya wanted to be part of the family, I don't think she ever truly believed she was. They were a family, but they weren't her family. And a lot of what Lucas said, if i remember that scene correctly, came from before she "became Riley" so no he didn't pick Riley either way. We'll never know who he picked by the end of that episode. But, either way, whoever he picked, he chose them because of who they were.

Also I genuinely feel like the season 1 and 2 versions of most of these characters would punch their season 3 versions in the face, but none more so than Riley who would never stand for anyone talking to her best friend the way Riley does in season 3. Even late season 2, not yet in a love triangle but clearly heading that way Riley would destroy season 3 "you became me" Riley. This season only really happens if everyone is put of character which they were

[cypressure]

Have you got any recommendations for dinosaur nonfiction books?

Your art makes me so happy 🥺

hey thank you, i appreciate your saying so (and also giving me the opportunity to talk about dinosaur books)! under the cut for length--

starting off with an overview before getting down to specific topics, my first recommendation is Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved by Darren Naish & Paul Barrett. this was first published in 2017, but the third edition was just released with plenty of updates to reflect new discoveries and hypotheses. it's very thorough and accessible, and takes you through all the major clades of dinosaurs and everything we know about their evolution and ecology. this is definitely the best starting point for getting up-to-date with dinosaur science.

the end-Cretaceous extinction has been getting lots of popular attention lately (thanks to DePalma and the Tanis site I suspect), so if you'd like to learn more on this subject, I love The Last Day of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black, also from 2022. this is the scariest dinosaur book i've ever read--she paints an incredibly vivid and horrifying picture of the aftermath of the meteor impact, and of how the animals which survived the event managed to live on.

if you want to read about how exactly we know all these things about dinosaurs, I just recently picked up Dave Hone's How Fast Did T. rex Run? (titled The Future of Dinosaurs in the UK i think), published in 2022. he delves into what we know from the fossil record and how paleontologists work to figure these things out, as well as what we don't know yet and what we probably will never know, and the difference between those two. i suggest it for learning about paleontology as a scientific process, and it's a very interesting read.

so far, all of these books have been about dinosaurs as a whole; if you are looking for popular publications about specific groups, there are not as many options unfortunately (for some reason there isn't a huge audience for 200-page books about obscure thyreophorans. sighs disappointedly). most of what we get is about the large, more familiar clades; you will see books on tyrannosaurs, and there's a few field guide-style books about Mesozoic birds (which tend to be very beautifully illustrated but kind of technical; see below for titles). my pick for clade-specific books is The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants, by Mark Hallett and Matthew Wedel, from 2016. this one goes into serious detail about every conceivable aspect of sauropod paleobiology, which as you can imagine is a huge and fascinating topic, and all the artwork is gorgeous. caveat: it being 8 years old means there's some science in there which will be outdated by now, but as far as i can remember it's still worth checking out.

and finally, as a paleoartist, i have to mention paleoart books! if you're interested in the science behind the choices paleoartists make when reconstructing extinct animals, especially for your own practice, i cannot recommend enough Mark Witton's The Paleoartist's Handbook, from 2018. he thoroughly explains how to interpret fossil evidence and paleontological research from an artist's perspective, and covers about everything from soft tissues to composing a scene. this is one of less than a handful of books on this particular topic, and it's definitely the most in-depth.

with any scientific subject you have to be careful with older books; this is especially true with paleontology since the discipline has accelerated so much over the past few decades and shows no signs of slowing down. i would even hesitate to recommend anything published more than 10 years ago, since new discoveries and technology have made so many questions and hypotheses moot (and in turn created new and more interesting ones)! the only exception to this is a recommendation for historical significance: Robert Bakker's 1986 The Dinosaur Heresies is essential to understanding what modern paleontologists call the Dinosaur Renaissance, or how our perception of dinosaurs changed from lizardlike evolutionary dead-ends into the active, successful bird ancestors we see in reconstructions now. this book kickstarted that change, and it's easy to see how: it's a very engaging read, Bakker argues his points very effectively, plus there are cute dinosaur cartoons. (i also love a lot of older works for their personal significance, but gushing about formative dinosaur books is something for another post.)

finally, thanks to the wonders of the internet, books are not the only way to learn about current dinosaur science! the best way is always by reading paleontology papers, where scientists directly describe and illustrate new discoveries or hypotheses. however, i know jumping straight into the technical literature may be overwhelming: fortunately a lot of paleontologists have social media, blogs, and/or podcasts where they write about their work and new developments in the field. the heyday of science blogs is kind of past, but there are still a few very good ones out there: this list on Feedly has a good selection to browse. being just self-published material, all of these don't have the benefits of peer review that papers and books do, so always be willing to take things with a grain of salt and do your own research.

of course this is a non-exhaustive list, especially limiting myself to both works recently published and which i have actually read. i've certainly forgotten or missed out on many new paleontology books (Dean Lomax's Locked in Time is one of these which i still haven't gotten ahold of yet, but which im very excited to get to); i welcome any additional recommendations or thoughts from the rest of paleoblr!

i hope this was helpful and i wish you luck in your reading :)

[xetswan]

Imagines- Mike Munroe

Dating Mike Head-Cannons

Requested

(Warning, I haven’t done headcannons in fucking years so be warned please😭 I also know its short and I’m sorry I have to get back in the groove of them)

- [ ] Dating Mike would include

- [🔆] The girls in the group being salty about it, especially Emily.

- [🔆] Him being his horny self but in reality he really does care about you.

- [🔆] The reason you started going out being the fact that you’re related to Matt.

- [🔆] He found you attractive but Matt told him to knock it off and once you found that out you just had to push on it. Flirting with Mike whenever you got the chance.

- [🔆] The two of you openly joke about your sex lives, obviously not really giving out details of the real deal but you guys both find it funny to make Matt or anyone else uncomfortable.

- [🔆] Him calling you princess as a joke due to how spoiled you are and then it just becoming your nickname. That or M’honey also started as a joke when he would open doors for you.

- [🔆] Opening doors is huge for him too. Never letting you open one, he would push you out of the way before you even got the chance. Car doors, or just regular building ones.

- [🔆] He finds it attractive when you shut down an argument that’s happening in the friend group instead of added more to the fire. Something Emily did not do that he started to really dislike afterwards.

- [🔆] He has a bit of jealousy towards certain guys. Not in an objective way but more protective way.

- [🔆] And after everything that happened on Blackwood he’s especially protective. He couldn’t let you leave his sight after everything.

- [🔆] After everything happened he tried to act okay but it was obvious that he wasn’t. Even with his little jokes about his fingers being gone or the little quips he made about what he went through.

- [🔆] At night you have to be as close as possible to him even if that means being literally on top of him or being smushed just so he knows you’re there. Even keeping a hand on your wrist or chest to feel your heartbeat if his head isn’t already laid down on your chest to do so.

- [🔆] And knowing what you went through as well, your nightmares were the worst. You’d wake up in a panic thinking you were back there in the mines. Running for your life but when you woke up he was already awake himself to comfort you after he heard you little whines and cries in your sleep.

- [🔆] You were there for each other that’s for certain.

Masterlist

Until Dawn M.L.

Requested

[maverickthepup]

What I write, who I write, and what you can request!

Hi! This is where I have info on what I write, who I write, and what I am comfortable writing/what you can request! If you have any questions feel free to ask me!

What Maverick writes…

I write fanfiction, oneshots, and imagines, and headcannons!

These will of course include age regression or pet regression in some way, wether you the reader are a regressor, or a character is.

I will write for the fandoms/characters I have listed below. If you want a different character and don’t see them down there, you may ask if I will write for them but I won’t make any promises.

What Maverick is comfortable writing…

This is a 100% SFW blog, so no NSFW writing at all. I’m not comfortable doing that for age/pet regression.

I am perfectly fine writing relationships like dating or being married, with hand holding, cuddling, kissing, etc etc. But I will not do smut, kinks, or heated make outs.

Basically just cute fluff is what I’ll do!

I can write the following:

Âge regressor reader or character

Pet regressor reader or character

Caregiver reader or character

Fluff!

Dating/Married

Platonic! (Like just friends and stuff like that)

Poly relationships

Male, Female, and gender neutral readers!

I will usually write in second person point of view that way I can use ‘you’ instead of y/n.

I write a mixture of genders for

“Y/n”, I write male, female, and gender neutral that way everyone can hopefully enjoy my writing!

If you make a request and do not specify gender for “y/n” then I will just do gender neutral by default.

I will always specify before each writing piece what gender “y/n” is, and give a little summary of what the writing plot is! I will also try to put any warnings there too, so if I miss anything just let me know and I’ll add them!

Fandoms/Characters Maverick writes…

Here they are! Again if there’s a character you specifically want but don’t see then feel free to ask if I would write for them, but I won’t make any promises.

If you don’t see a fandom on here you can ask if I write for that fandom but it’s likely I’m either not in it or I don’t write for it.

Horror movies/slashers:

The Lost Boys 1987:

Michael Emerson

Star

David

Marko

Dwayne

Paul

House of Wax 2005

Bo Sinclair

Vincent Sinclair

Lester Sinclair

Friday The 13th

Jason Vorhees

Halloween

Michael Myers

Rob Zombie Michael Myers

Scream

Billy Loomis

Stu Macher

Sidney Prescott

Tatum Riley

Randy Meeks

Gale Weathers

Dwight “Dewey” Riley

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Bubba Sawyer

ChopTop

Nubbins

Thomas Hewitt

The Boy

Brahms Heelshire

IT

Henry Bowers

Patrick Hockstetter

Reginald ‘Belch’ Huggins

Vic Criss

Predator

Yautja’s/Predators (if you have a specific one just let me know!)

Alien

Xenomorph

Marvel:

Tony Stark

Clint Barton

Natasha Romanoff

Bruce Banner

Steve Rodgers

Bucky Barnes

Thor

Loki

Wanda Maximoff

Pietro Maximoff

Vison

Zemo

Peter Parker

Stephen Strange

Matt Murdock

Peter Quill

Gamora

Drax

Detroit Become Human:

Hank Anderson

Connor

Kara

Luther

Markus

North

Simon

Josh

Gavin Reed

Mystic Messenger:

707

Zen

Jumin

Yoosung

Jaehee

Saeran

V

Monster Prom/Camp:

Damien LaVey

Vera Oberlin

Zoe

Poly Geist

Miranda Vanderbilt

Liam De Lioncourt

Scott Howl

Calculester

Milo Belladonna

Dahlia Aquino

Aaravi Mishra (And Hex)

Joy Johnson Johjima

Moss Mann

The Narrator

The Wolf Among Us (video game):

Bigby Wolf

Snow

Beauty

Beast

Bloody Mary

Red Dead Redemption:

Arthur Morgan

John Marston

Dutch Van Der Linde

Javier Escuella

Sean Maguire

Charles Smith

Lenny Summers

Tilly Jackson

Marybeth

Abigail Roberts

Karen Jones

Sadie Adler

Miss Grimshaw (platonic only)

Hosea Matthews (platonic only)

Heathers: (movie or musical, just specify which one you’d prefer! Even though there probably won’t be much of a difference in my writing… but I will try!)

Heather Chandler

Heather Duke

Heather McNamara

Veronica Sawyer

J.D

Kurt

Ram

The Breakfast Club:

John Bender

Alison Reynolds

Claire Standish

Brian Johnson

Andrew Clark

[ardenrosegarden]

Was tagged by the lovely @lesbianedmund top post my top 9 books of the year (so far), sorted in very rough order of preference:

Arthur de Bretagne (1187-1203): L'espoir breton assassiné by Eric Desbordes

I got this one after reading Desbordes’ biography on Constance of Brittany, and while many parts overlap pretty heavily, it is nice to have a large book fully centered on Breton politics and culture during the last decades of the 12th century. Breton historiography has kind of skipped over the late 12th century and English/French historians understandably only turn their attention that way when it intersects with what kings are doing, so it is nice to have a much more substantial book on Arthur and Brittany than its usual afterthought status. Understandably, a lot of the book also focuses on Arthurian legend and belief in Wales and Brittany, and its last chapter looks at Arthur’s impact on literature.

Duchesses: Histoire d'un pouvoir au féminin en Bretagne by Laurence Moal

One of the comments Moal got from a Breton news station was about how many pictures there are in this book, and they were not kidding, there are a lot of HQ images to look at. The book focuses on the office of Duchess of Brittany: what we know of how they lived, how they exercised power, how that changed through time, and finally how posthumously they have passed into myth and symbolism in the common imagination (the last part focusing on the 5 probably most well-known duchesses: Ermengarde d’Anjou, Jeanne de Penthièvre, Jeanne de Flandre, Françoise d’Ambroise, and Anne).

Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey

Richard Fortey is one of the big names in trilobite paleontology, so he’s very knowledgeable and someone I consider reliable about the topic, I love the way Fortey writes. His book roughly follows the development of trilobite paleontology and how our perceptions of them have changed and become more clear through time. I’ve posted a snippet on my blog before; I’d post the entire thing if I could, but I can’t- and I won’t- because I think you should read it for yourself.

Henry the Young King (1155-1183) by Matthew Strickland

Henry the Young King, perhaps partly due to his premature death in 1183 is commonly written off as a frivolous and “less serious” candidate for the status of Henry II’s heir than his brothers. Strickland’s biography I think rounds out and fleshes out his character and sheds light on his surrounding context and why he chose to do the things he did.

Berengaria: In Search of Richard the Lionheart’s Queen by Ann Trindade

Berengaria of Navarre is a shadowy figure in both Navarrese and English sources, and paradoxically is much more visible in the record after Richard I’s death. Its in this period that she’s attracted criticism from English historians for fighting for her dower rights. Given the limited information we have on Berengaria, much of the book looks at those in her sphere (her father, siblings, Richard, Joan of Sicily etc.) to reconstruct her life as a young girl and married woman. There is much more information on her period of widowhood, and this is where Trindade challenges the view that Berengaria was overly selfish in her dealings with her in-laws after Richard I’s death.

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World by Riley Black

Riley Black seeks to reconstruct the last days of the dinosaurs, from the moments before and after the asteroid seen through the eyes of chosen organisms. The book continues to look through the eyes of surviving organisms in the succeeding months and years after impact, using current science to write a narrative that allows us to “see” what life would have looked like then. This book is written with a more narrative storyline rather than like a textbook, so it’s very digestible and to me feels something similar to a paleontology documentary.

Henry II, New Interpretations edited by Christopher Harper-Hill and Nicholas Vincent

This book was written to coincide with the 850th anniversary of Henry II’s coronation and is less of a biography as it is a collection of essays on different aspects of Henry II, his rule, and important people he interacted with. As pointed out in Vincent’s introduction, our view of Henry II is constantly being reviewed and modified, and this book in another one in a long line of studies challenging how we see Henry II and the surrounding context he lived in.

Power and Pleasure: Court Life Under King John, 1199-1216 by Hugh Thomas

John’s rule is very well-studied due to the well-kept records of the time, which allows us to look at more aspects of his leadership in greater detail. This book looks at John’s court life in detail, with a focus on how court life was both an opportunity to exercise power as well as a means for pleasure. It also studies how John himself succeeded or failed at handling the soft power in court life.

Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe by Richard Kaeuper

In the high middle ages, violence between lords (and especially the effects on churches and monasteries) often clashed with the ideology with the Church, then undergoing the Peace Movement which sought, among other things, to decrease local violence. The book records the discourse between clergy, kings, and knights themselves on their construction of chivalry through the middle ages.

tagging @heartofstanding, @lady-plantagenet, and anyone who would like to <3