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manisca-rye · 6 months

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Winter's Heartache

Rating: General

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OC (James Buchanan Barnes x OC)

Trope: Wartime Love (Semi-Historical)

Word Count: 2K

Synopsis: While away at war during winter, Cassia misses her husband dearly and hopes for his safe return. This semi-historical wartime fic was inspired by Song For A Winter’s Night, both the version by Sarah McLachlan and the original version by Gordon Lightfoot. Both versions are wonderful to listen to but aren’t necessary to read this story.

My Dearest Cassia,

As I write this letter to you, memories of your lovely smile, your radiant face, and your fiercely enduring gentle spirit lend me strength, even while my body grows weary with each day I spend away from you. I received and read your last letter, and was glad to hear that all is well with you.

The war continues on this front and each day brings with it battles to be fought and obstacles to overcome. The spirits of our men grow weary of death and bloodshed, and frustration plagues us all. But we persevere and continue fighting this war for our country and in His Majesty King Steven’s name. We have won battles and will continue to do so, and so shall we triumphantly defeat the treasonous pretender and his army.

I hope to be able to return to you promptly when this war comes to an end and victory is ours. But for now, I remain utterly and completely devoted to you and all that you are.

Ever yours,

James.

I gently caressed the letter I had read a hundred times now, carefully folding along the folded creases before pressing the letter to my lips as I recited the comforting words written by my husband’s hands.

I stood up and made my way to the end of our bed, opening the trunk to retrieve a keepsake box where I kept a few particular precious knick-knacks that I had accumulated over the years. And where I planned to return the letter I had been reading this evening, as I had tried to comfort myself with thoughts of James in order to keep melancholic thoughts from clouding my heart and mind.

I received the letter over a month ago and had not heard anything else from James since then. As the winter snows grew deeper and the season brought with it more snowstorms than one could handle, I continually took solace in the memories and letters that gave me hope that a time would come when I would once again be held in the arms of my husband.

The war that had taken James away from me and our family, had broken out earlier this year after someone who claimed to be a long-lost son of our recently deceased King had come up to challenge the authority of the rightful heir to the throne and brought war and chaos with him. It was said the Pretender’s army of bandits had been raiding the eastern countryside and wreaking havoc on the lives of the people there, and in turn, our newly crowned young King Steven had answered the call to protect his people and had gone to battle. As the war had continued to rage on and the bandits of the imposter Alexander Pierce continued to reign terror, King Steven had called upon his loyal vassals to serve and defend the Kingdom, and James as the oldest son of the Marquess and Marchioness of Brooklyn-upon-York, along with his younger brother Samuel, had heeded the call to battle and had been gone for the better part of this year.

I knew what James had done was noble and held with the character of bravery, courage and fierceness that I had come to admire in him. He had demonstrated all these wonderful traits and more countless times in the face of opposition to our union, from when he began courting me as the daughter of a Baron and someone considered below his station, to our marriage and thereafter.

Nonetheless, I still missed him terribly and the only comfort and assurance came from the letters his family and I had received in subsequent months since he had gone to war, and the reports we had been receiving saying the war had turned largely in our favour and the pretender King and his army of bandits were going to be defeated.

I missed James’ gentle smile and quiet laughter. I missed his shining cerulean eyes and his wonderfully strong and gentle hands that had held and caressed me time and time again. I missed his presence and his sense of responsibility in everything he did. But most of all, I desperately missed and longed for him, in his entirety.

I sighed as I made my way back to the wide window ledge where I had left the burning lamp, once again checking that the window was securely locked in place against the heavy snow falling outside. After making sure all was securely locked and the fire had been stocked, I made my way to the empty bed to attempt the chore that sleeping certainly felt like at this moment in time.

Outside, the snow raged and whistled, and I imagined I could hear James’ voice whispering through it, words of comfort and reassurance. I certainly hoped and prayed that he was well, though I hadn't heard anything more from him after his last letter and the reply I had sent back. I hoped in time he would return to me unharmed and whole.

***************

The next morning, I was in the Great Hall breaking my fast with a hearty meal of wheat grain and barley porridge, as I chatted with Margaret, James’ young sister, who was seated next to me at the table occupied by the members of the Barnes family. The Great Hall was filled with chatter as the castle occupants broke their fasts in preparation for the duties that lay ahead.

I nodded along to Peggy’s recounting of her recent lessons with her tutors among other things, casually looking around and noticing a member of the castle guard talking quietly to Lord Barnes where he was situated a little ways away from me. I could not properly hear what they were discussing due to the surrounding chatter and Peggy’s voice next to me, but I hoped it was nothing too worrying as Lord Barnes’ expression was unreadable to me.

Lord Barnes, though still capable and strong, had been unable to lead the armies of the North in the ongoing war due to his declining health in recent years. And so his eldest son and heir had led the armies, as James was an experienced warrior, strategist and tactician in his own right.

I realised when Peggy went silent that she had stopped talking and turned to her as she questioned, “You’re not even listening, are you?”

I shook my head as I gave her a rueful smile in apology and replied, “I’m sorry, my attention drifted for a moment. What did you say last?”

“I was saying...” Peggy then explained her thoughts about how the winter monsters of folktales probably roamed around during winter storms such as the one we had last night, and she wondered if they did indeed capture solitary people who accidentally found themselves outside during such a storm.

“Let’s hope not. It would be dreadful if monsters captured people during winter storms because then everyone would be afraid to ever go out during winter for fear of getting caught.” I replied, pulling my heavy shawl closer around me to hold off the chill despite the lit fireplace a little ways away from where I was seated.

As we continued chatting, a silence fell over the Great Hall making me halt my words as I turned to look around and faced where Lord Barnes was now stood with the guardsman standing off to the side.

Lord Barnes began in his quiet yet commanding voice, “I have received news that is most welcome.” We all waited for him to continue. “A messenger arrived this morning with news that the Northern host that matched with James and Samuel are on their way. The war has been worn and the armies of the North return victorious.”

An uproarious cheer went up amongst those gathered in the Great Hall, and I joined in the happy cheering and exclamations as I realized James was finally returning home at last.

***************

The snow in the main courtyard had been partially cleared away, and it was now nearing mid-afternoon as the household of Barnes Fortress had gathered in the courtyard to await the arrival of the Northern armies that had been spotted and were expected to arrive soon.

I was anxious and beyond excited, and my mood was shared by many who also awaited their own loved ones who had gone off to war. I stood in line next to Lady Barnes where she stood next to her husband, and Margaret stood after me as we awaited the return of James and all those who had gone to war.

The sound of the horn announced the fact that the army procession was entering the gates of the castle, and though I didn’t have long to wait, those few moments felt like forever before the procession led by soldiers on horseback, wearing the colors and sigils of House Barnes and other houses of Brooklyn-upon-York bled into the courtyard.

When James, Samuel, and other soldiers that had led the procession dismounted and began making their way to where we stood, I caught James’ eye as he came towards us and I forgot all Lady-like etiquette as I took off and run into his now open arms, embracing him as quiet sobs of happiness spilled out of me. The feeling of having him right in my arms with his own arms wrapped around me was indescribable elation and happiness that made me feel as though we were the only two people in a world of our own.

The fierceness of my embrace was only matched by his own returning embrace as I silently whispered, “I can’t believe you’re finally here.” While we continued embracing each other.

We were brought back to the world around us as Lady Barnes came up to us and gently but forcefully called, “James, Cassia.” When we reluctantly untangled ourselves though we still held on to each other’s hands, we turned to where she stood next to us and noticed that some of the people in the courtyard were starting to make their way into the castle.

James squeezed my hand before letting go as he hugged his Mother, who advised, “Let us make our way inside. You will have time to yourselves later, but for now, we must go in.”

After a short speech given by Lord Barnes in the Great Hall thanking the Northern armies and announcing that a feast would be held in honour of their return, James was called away for a brief council to report on the war as he promised to return to me as soon as he was able.

When James returned to our chambers about an hour later, I instructed a serving maid to oversee the preparation of a hot bath and to have light refreshments brought up, before James and I moved further into our chambers and finally had a moment to ourselves.

I assisted James in taking off his leather armor and laid it all aside until he was left only in an under tunic and breeches before he sat on the bed and I joined him, sitting on his lap with my arms around his neck and my head resting in his neck, ignoring the scent and sweat of days worth of travel as he held me around my waist and we sat in silence, basking in this unhurried moment.

Conversation and duties would come later, and we had a feast we would be attending tonight in celebration of a war that was won in our favor, but for now, simply having this quiet moment to ourselves meant the world and so we enjoyed it for the rarity it was.

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manisca-rye · 1 year

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Dreams of Grandeur and Paradise

Title: Dreams of Grandeur and Paradise (Part 1)

Rating: M

Pairing: Berlin/Andrés de Fonollosa x OC

Word Count: 5K

Synopsis: The day the most iconic heist in history began at the Royal Mint of Spain, Francisca Martínez was working her last shift of the week in the cafeteria of the museum as a waitress. The heist lasts a total of six days, during which time Francisca finds herself getting too comfortable with her hostage status as she develops a decidedly unhealthy fascination with the leader of the heist, an enigmatic man called Mr. Berlin.

Contains: unequal power dynamics, smut, possible stockholm syndrome

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Segment I: A Robbery At The Royal Mint

Friday

The atmosphere at the cafeteria of the Royal Mint of Spain was as busy as it ever was on a Friday morning and so I went about my work duties, serving patrons with their food orders and ensuring everything was running smoothly on my part. I had been at this job as a waitress for two years now and had come to enjoy the various interactions I had with the patrons that often came by the cafeteria.

I had come in for my morning shift and began work at seven o'clock, and now a little more than three hours into my shift, the morning breakfast crowd of patrons had slowed down and so I was performing clean-up duty as I went around the tables of the cafeteria collecting anything left behind and wiping down the tables while I sang along to the music playing in the cafeteria and paid faint attention to the chattering of the other cafeteria workers.

As I made my way back to the kitchen of the cafeteria, the sudden opening of the cafeteria doors caught my attention as two people dressed in red jumpsuits and pointing guns in my direction made me drop the cleaning items I was holding as I froze in fear for a momentary second. The next few minutes were chaotic as I, along with all the other employees of the cafeteria, were led out by the armed robbers until we found ourselves in the main hall of the museum where we were instructed to cover our eyes with sleep masks.

I could hear the sounds of people sobbing as we stood around waiting for the unknown, and my own terror at the current situation made me cry quietly right along with the others. I listened to the voice of one of the robbers as he gave a speech that explained our current circumstances and warned us of the importance of obeying their instructions. After completing several rounds of the instructed breathing exercises, I found myself gradually calming down enough to stop crying and was left shivering in fearful anticipation.

It was nerve wracking to stand in wait silently, and when the alarms began to go off, I hoped that meant that the police would be alerted to what was happening and rescue us before the robbers could do anything to harm anyone. The next moments were filled with the sound of gunfire going off and the screams of everyone taken hostage and time seemed to stop as my terror came back tenfold.

Segment II: We Are Now Hostages

It had now been a few hours since the robbers had entered the royal mint and taken everyone hostage. In that time, we had all our phones confiscated and we were currently seated on the floor of the main hall, still blindfolded as we waited while hoping for the police to negotiate our release. I continually tried to distract myself with happier memories and my terror at my current situation was minimally lessened if nothing else.

I was taken out of my thoughts by the orders to stand up and take our masks off. I blinked as my eyesight adjusted to the light after having been kept in the dark for so long. Cautiously looking around I could see most of the other hostages wore varying expressions of tiredness and fear as we listened to the robber that had introduced himself as the leader, Mr Berlin, explain that we were going to receive sleeping bags, sandwiches and water in preparation for sleep. He went on to announce that we would also be required to wear red jumpsuits similar to the ones the robbers wore and would be given fake guns to be used at a later time. Despite the circumstances, I eagerly consumed the sandwiches and water, having not realised how hungry I was with the passing of time.

After finishing our meals, we received masks similar to the ones worn by the robbers and engaged in what I later figured out was almost a confrontation with the police. Thereafter, the kidnappers instructed different groups of people to follow them and be put to work while the rest of us that remained would get a chance to sleep. I fell asleep soon after getting into my sleeping bag, hoping that when I woke up, the nightmare I found myself in would have somehow ended.

Segment III: Medication and Gunshots

Saturday

When I next woke up, the nightmare had not ended and I found myself still being held hostage in the royal mint. I could feel what I guessed was a stress-induced headache coming on, and so I tried breathing exercises to calm myself but that didn't seem to be helping no matter how much I willed myself calm. I had experienced similar headaches in the past, most often in the year following my Mother's death but had learnt to manage my tiredness and stress as the years went by.

The speech given by Mr Berlin about ensuring no one became depressed by assigning us all tasks was cut short when he came and stood in front of the older woman that was sobbing in front of me. After offering anxiety medication to the sobbing woman, the question was asked if anyone else needed medication and after a few more people spoke up, I raised my hand and was called on, “I need pain killers.”

After the robber called Nairobi had collected a group of men to follow her, we were each allowed to record videos for our families. I had no immediate family to speak of since my Mother's passing six years ago and my Father's death a decade ago. I had no siblings as I had been an only child and any extended family I had left, I was not particularly close to. Nonetheless, I thought about what I would like to say to the people I considered family, my closest friends and my Mother's closest friends that I considered my own aunties.

“Hello. This is Francisca. Francisca Martínez. I am doing well. We are being well looked after and the robbers are not violent. I hope to see you all again soon, and wish you well for now.” I breathed deeply after my video had been recorded, with the assurance that our videos would be seen by our loved ones on the outside. I was led to an upstairs office where the people that had requested medication earlier were sitted and waiting in tense silence while we were watched over by one of the large and strong-looking robbers.

I was seated closest to the door and so was given the medication to distribute when it was delivered by one of the younger-looking robbers, passing the bag around for everyone to collect their medication. I gratefully took the painkillers and waited for the medicine to start taking effect.

After what could have been an hour or less, I realised that the Director's secretary Ms Monica Gaztambide had not returned after having accompanied the robber out of the office. I only knew of Ms Gaztambide through our limited interactions when she would come by the cafeteria on occasion, but hoped that she was doing well and hoped she would be okay.

The sound of faint gunshots were soon heard and the faint sense of calm I had created for myself vanished in that instant.

Segment IV: The News of Ms Gaztambide's death

Sunday

The next day found our group of five, Alma, Carmen, Elena, Gabriella and I, in the same office we had spent the previous day and night in. I had once again taken another dosage of the painkillers provided yesterday after waking up with another headache and so sat back as I began feeling the slow effects of the medication work to relieve the throbbing pain.

The only chance we got to get out of the room that morning was to go to the bathrooms to relieve ourselves and freshen up as best we could with only the use of limited toiletries, paper towels and water from the handwashing sinks. I stood in front of the mirror as I applied a minimal coating of hand lotion to my face after a wash, giving my dark brown skin a minimally better-looking appearance.

When we returned to the office, we were soon silent as we sat around with not much to do other than reflect on the fact that we were currently hostages. I tried not to feel trapped but the stress of not knowing what was going on was suffocating. Each time we heard gunshots, we feared someone had been shot but received no definitive information from the robbers.

My mind drifted as I continuously wondered if I could have done anything differently on that Friday morning in order to have avoided being caught up in my current situation, though I could not have predicted that I would ever be caught up in such a situation.

By the time one of the younger robbers, Rio, came to distribute food and water, I had decided and worked up the nerve to request being assigned any type of task so as to hopefully occupy my mind enough to momentarily forget what was going on. I requested a private chat and when Rio and I had made our way into the corridor outside the office, I began, “I feel better today than I did yesterday and wanted to find out if there are any tasks I can be assigned to do downstairs.”

“There aren't any tasks that require any more people right now. But I will let you know if that changes.” He replied before he escorted me back to the office and left our group alone.

The atmosphere of the room was somewhat less anxious with the robber guarding us from outside the door and not in the room with us as the other had been yesterday. We were able to exchange quiet conversation and reassurance to each other as we sat and waited for the unknown.

The chattering abruptly ended as the door opened and in came the robber that had introduced himself as the leader of the heist. The atmosphere of the room became tense as Mr Berlin sat in the chair closest to the door, surveying us all with a look that I could not really read. With a stroke of unfounded bravery, I stared and studied him, looking for something I was not aware of but some part of me was curious about such a man.

Mr Berlin gave a speech about how we were protected from the horror, blood and gunfire that was going on outside of where we were.

I listened to his voice, trying to determine what sort of person would lead such a heist against an institution like the royal mint, when he announced that he had had to order the death of a person in order to maintain order. The tone of voice used by Mr Berlin to describe emotions made it seem like he was firmly detached from the very emotions he described.

The mention of the death of Ms Gaztambide filled me with fear and sadness as I wondered if that meant that we might all lose our lives. Mr Berlin had previously assured everyone that we would not lose our lives if we followed the robbers' rules and I wondered whether Ms Gaztambide had broken one of their rules or they had just turned against her and killed her regardless of their own rules.

Either my sense of bravery had intensified or maybe I was just getting tired of my current circumstance but I raised my hand when he had finished speaking for several moments and when he nodded in affirmation, I took a deep breath as I asked, “You assured us that we would all be safe if we followed the rules and instructions. Did Ms Gaztambide break one of the rules?”

Mr Berlin looked at me directly as he answered, “Ms Gaztambide had hidden a phone away. One of the very first rules given was that no one was allowed to keep any phones with them and no one was allowed to contact the outside world.” He looked at all of us as he reassured, “Nothing will happen to you for as long as you obey the rules and instructions given to you.”

After a few moments of silence, Mr Berlin stood up and made his way to the door, leaving without another word.

My thoughts were filled with sadness for Ms Gaztambide's unfortunate fate and what that meant for the rest of us. But underlying my sadness was a growing morbid curiosity about just what kind of man the leader of the robbers was.

Mr Berlin had previously seemed reassuring, or rather as reassuring as one could be as a kidnapper in a hostage situation, each time he made one of his speeches explaining what was required of those taken hostage. But now I particularly wondered what kind of a man leads criminals to take hostages in such a manner and discusses the death of a woman as though it were a usual everyday happening.

After what felt like a less than three hours later, the sudden sounds of gunshots and screams began ringing out. We all instinctively dived to the floor and were huddled together as the gunfire and screams continued for what felt like an endless amount of time, though was realistically less than half an hour, before all went quiet again.

All five of us checked on one another to make sure everyone was doing okay, reassuring each other of our well being. Carmen noted something that we were all thinking but too afraid to say, “Do you think they killed a lot of people?”

After a beat of silence., I shook my head in disagreement. “The screams indicate that people are still alive enough to scream. It could be the police storming inside.”

“Are we just going to wait here not knowing what's happening out there?” questioned the heavily pregnant Elena angrily.

“What do you want us to do? We don't know if the robbers are right outside the door waiting for one of us to step out of line.” Was the reply from the schoolgirl called Gabriella.

As we lapsed into momentary silence, I looked at the door that was supposed to provide security for those inside the room but now acted as a prison gate to keep us locked and unknowing of what was happening outside.

Segment V: Mr Berlin

As more time passed in anxious waiting, the sound of the door opening was a change in the monotony of our routine as we all turned towards the door to see one of the robbers make his way in. He promptly informed me that I was to be escorted somewhere, hopefully not my sudden death, but I nonetheless followed him as he led me to an office down the hall.

He opened the door and indicated that I should proceed and I did so semi-cautiously and turned as the door closed after me, to face the leader of the robbers where he sat behind the large wooden desk drinking what looked to be wine.

“Francisca Martínez.” Mr Berlin questioned, and I nodded in affirmation while wondering if it had been a question or simply a form of acknowledgment.

“Come closer Miss Martinez.” Mr Berlin implored as he drank his wine with a self assured grace.

I moved several steps and now stood in front of the enormous wooden desk. I finally got a chance to study the leader of the heist up close as he offered me a seat in one of the chairs facing him and I quietly thanked him as I took a seat.

A few moments of muted silence passed before he began, “You would like to be assigned a task downstairs, is that right Francisca?” I simply nodded my affirmation in reply.

“You aren't happy with the consideration offered to you so far?” Mr Berlin asked in a tone of voice that did not indicate what answer he preferred to hear but nonetheless, I replied, “I do appreciate your consideration by giving me medication and feel much better than I did earlier today and yesterday. I don't have any headaches anymore. If it's not a bother, I would like to be assigned work with the other hostages downstairs.”

After another moment of simply holding eye contact, he questioned, “Tell me, what was your job before we commandeered operation of the mint?”

“I worked as a waitress at the cafeteria.” I replied, breaking our continued eye contact as I had begun to feel uncomfortable with the intensity with which he stared at me.

“There's already a team working in the cafeteria to prepare food.” He mentioned in reply. “In fact we already have people for everything.”

I nodded in understanding as I replied,“I can also perform any other required tasks.”

“That's the right attitude to have at a time like this.” He replied as he finished his drink and stood up to pour himself another drink, my eyes following him across the room as I had nothing to say in answer to his comment.

Mr Berlin stood upright by the drink station and took a good drink of his wine, watching me with the eyes of a hawk as the silence stretched on.

I stood up and prepared to ask to leave and return to the other office, when he spoke up in a conversational tone of voice. “When Mussolini was losing the Second World War and a cloud of depression wouldn't allow him to think, he realized that the only thing that could lift his spirits was sex.” I stared at him, listening where I stood. “So, he had a prostitute ensconced in a room next to his office, and would visit her every now and then so she could bring back his joy.”

I took a moment to process what he said, trying to read the meaning under the words and particular example given before I ventured to reply. “I wonder what the prostitute thought of that arrangement and what she thought of the man who had made such an arrangement with her.”

Mr Berlin looked at me with a faint trace of what could have been a smile as he heard what I had said. “Indeed one does wonder. Was it simply the money he offered her in return for her company or was there more to their arrangement.”

“Some women find the idea of illicit sex with men considered immoral to be a thrilling fantasy.” I returned looking at him and allowed myself to admire his physicality despite the wrongness of such emotions, especially given the news of Ms Gaztambide's recent fate.

Mr Berlin seemed to study me as he questioned “Is that a fantasy you've had Francisca?”

I breathed deeply as a brief moment of anxiousness passed through me before I answered, “Not until very recently.”

Mr Berlin turned the chair closest to him to face me as he sat down directly across from where I stood against his desk, before he questioned, “Tell me Francisca, do you consider me an immoral man?”

“Morality is relative, particularly in certain circumstances more so than others. But desire and pleasure are universal.” I answered assuredly, my thoughts focused on this very moment as I awaited his reply.

“Absolutely.” He responded. “Now the question remains if I desire you, Francisca.”

“That's a question only you can answer.” I said as I purposefully looked at him and tried to present myself confidently as I stood looking right at him.

Mr Berlin casually stood up and set aside his glass, walking to where I stood while staring at me with an intensity that evoked further desire in me. He stopped so close to where I stood, his dark eyes looking down into my own dark brown ones as he brought his hand to the side of my neck, holding onto my neck with a measure of force before bringing his lips to slowly trace my jaw as he whispered: “I certainly desire you, Miss Martínez.” Before he brought his lips to my own, kissing me slowly at first with a few kisses before fully covering my lips with his own.

I kissed him back without thought, enjoying the taste of rich wine his lips carried and the feel of his lips against mine as pleasure coursed through my body. We slowly broke apart after a few more moments, and I breathed deeply in order to catch my breath as Mr Berlin brought his hands to my waist and guided me onto the desk while he moved to stand my open legs.

Mr Berlin kissed me again even more fervently and I kissed him back just as fiercely while fisting both hands into the front of his jumpsuit. We were soon stripping out of our clothing in between urgent caresses and fervent kisses. Before long, I found myself laying naked on the desk as I rested one bent leg on the desk, feeling pleasure course through my body as Mr Berlin moved closer between my legs while his hands held my waist.

When I shifted my eyes and was looking directly at him, he thrust into me in one swift motion that left me gasping deeply through a heady mixture of pleasure and pain, before my hands moved to grip the edge of the desk by my head.

Mr Berlin fucked like he seemed to do everything else, with a systematic sense of harsh precision as he thrust in and out. Both his hands held onto my waist tightly as he continued fucking me. Only his low groans alerted me to the fact that even he could succumb to the urges of sexual pleasure.

As I approached climax, Mr Berlin brought the hand that had been against my waist to my throat and held on with the slightest pressure, seemingly intensifying my feelings of ecstasy as I moaned passionately, until eventually, my climax washed over me with the intensity of an explosion that rushed through my body and left me in a whole new state of ecstatic bliss. As I experienced the high of my own ecstasy, I felt when Mr Berlin achieved his own orgasm as his thrusts slowed down and the heat of his climax enhanced my own feelings of calming pleasure as I breathed deeply trying to catch my breath for the next few moments.

I accepted the drink Mr Berlin offered as I finished tying my jumpsuit around my waist, before sitting back comfortably on the sofa set to one side of the room. The atmosphere around us was one that was borne of a sexually satisfied calm that followed a round of good sex.

He handed me my drink as he joined me on the sofa, seeming to study me as I smiled at him before taking a generous sip to taste, the rich flavour of the wine reminding me of the taste of Mr Berlin's lips. Just as I brought my glass away from my lips, there was a rapid knock on the door and both Mr Berlin and I turned to see one of the robbers, Nairobi, followed up her knock by opening the door before coming in. Nairobi spared me a momentary glance before looking at Berlin and giving him an urgent look.

Mr Berlin promptly stood up and I followed suit, setting my glass aside as he informed me that I would be escorted back to the other office shortly and to go and wait outside for Nairobi to escort me back. I nodded in understanding before I went out into the hallway, only faintly catching the words exchanged between Nairobi and Mr Berlin before she was leading me quietly and quickly back down the hallway to the office I had been staying in.

“Thank goodness you're back. We feared the worst when you didn't return after leaving.” Alma said as soon as the door closed after me, and similar sentiments were shared by the other ladies of what had become our unofficial group.

Carmen looked at me curiously as she questioned, “Where were you and what happened?”

I gave them what I hoped was a reassuring smile as I answered, “I went to see the leader of the robbers, Mr Berlin, about getting assigned a task downstairs. And was informed that all the tasks have already been assigned to people and they don't require any extra people.” A version of the truth was always better than trying to lie, which I was not particularly good at anyways, and I could not really explain the whole truth as I was now only coming to my senses as I realised what I had just done.

All the ladies accepted my answer though Carmen still looked at me weirdly and I smiled at her as I reassured her that everything was okay with me and not to worry too much about me.

As the conversation continued among the other ladies, my thoughts came back to me as I recalled the meeting I had had with Mr Berlin. Some part of me had known that I found him attractive and fascinating as soon as I began to observe him intently. I had decisively pushed such thoughts to the back of my mind earlier today after learning about Ms Gaztambide's death and the role he had to play in her demise. I wondered if the fact that I did not regret fucking Mr Berlin despite my sense of sadness over Ms Gaztambide's death, was an indication of my true expression of moral understanding rather than the understanding of morality I thought I held previously regarding murder in any form.

I also pondered whether having sex with Mr Berlin was something I would desire again or whether it had been a one time occurence induced by the stress and atmosphere of the heist. I stood up and went to the table where bottles of water sat, taking one and drinking deeply of the water before joining in the quiet conversations happening.

After what felt like less than an hour, we were told that we would be going out to chat with a member of the police forces to provide proof of life and so we prepared for that task.

When it was my turn, I was escorted by one of the robbers and was led to the main hall where a female police officer was seated next to Mr Berlin.

“This is Francisca Martínez.” Mr Berlin's voice was clear and precise as I came down the last few steps and stood in front of him and the police officer, who he introduced as a Police Inspector.

“How are you doing Miss Martínez?” She began as she looked at me.

I answered as truthfully as I could while heeding the warnings given beforehand to keep our answers brief when answering the police's questions. “As well as can be.”

She took a few notes before asking the next question, “How have you been treated so far?”

“I have been treated well enough so far.” I replied as I studied both the Inspector's and Mr Berlin's facial expressions. The Inspector had a measure of concern in her expression while Mr Berlin's face expressed how arrogantly assured he was of the situation, which is an expression he seemed to frequently carry on his face as he stared at me while I answered the Inspector's questions.

After being escorted back to the office where I had spent most of the past two days, I joined the other ladies and shared the way our interviews with the Police Inspector had gone.

Later that night, we had dinner in the same office we had been in all day with the monotony only broken up when we were escorted to the washrooms to use the bathrooms and freshen up as needed. Soon enough we began preparing our sleeping bags for another night spent being held hostage in the offices of the mint, as we were not allowed to go back to the other hostages downstairs and were forced to sleep in this office that had begun to feel claustrophobic despite the veneer of luxury it carried.

I was abruptly woken from my shallow sleep by the sound of a loud explosion that seemed to revibrate all around me. I quickly sat up, scrambling to make sense of what the explosion had been as all that could be heard from outside the door was ringing silence and the sounds of the circling helicopters outside seemed to intensify. I felt a mixture of fear and anticipation as I waited for someone to come through the door to either kill us all or rescue us. The atmosphere among our group was tense and anxious as we all looked at the door that led out of the office we currently occupied. This room we were in could be locked from the outside as we had discovered earlier, and so we were trapped with no way to get out even if the explosion that had woken us up had set fire to the building.

A few minutes after the explosion had rung out, the sound of gunfire began and was loud and continuous. The gunfire continued for what seemed like forever and rang so loudly that by the time all quieted down again, I was left tightly wound in a mixture of anguish and fear as my ears seemed to ring after the constant noise bombardment.

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manisca-rye · 2 years

Note

I want to see more African black girls in both fiction and fanfiction, and not just ones who are always philosophizing and concerned about colonialism, neo-colonialism and wars. African girls just expressing their cultural pride and other regular everyday things.

I was wondering what kind of female black characters do people want to see more of? Like, them being soft or selfish?

Black Girls & Women: Representation We Want

As a Black woman reader, I definitely want to see more soft Black girls and women in literature. Girls with their own self-interests (caring about oneself isn’t necessarily selfish) and not always someone else’s caregiver is great too.

Here’s my list!

More Black girls...

In love

With close family bonds and healthy relationships and support systems (that don’t require enduring abuse, fixing their partner, or overall emotional labor to earn domestic happiness)

Being protected

As main characters, heroines and anti-heroes

On adventures

In fantasy and magical settings

In historical settings as peasants, upper-class society, and royalty

Descriptions of Black Afro hair, skin, features as a normal thing in books (see this compilation) and not in an Othering way

On the other hand, vibrant, sometimes hyped up descriptions that allude to their beauty (see this ask. Or this one). Not Othering, just appreciating!

Put us in fancy dresses and give us a sword and let us dance at the balls and have admirers!

Experiencing complex emotions not necessarily in reaction to racism or racist violence

On the book cover! And with an accurate, not light or white-washed model

~Mod Colette

Responses:

@madamef-er

Soft black girls and nerd girls who like cute things.

Shy black girls not just in situations with boys.

More lgbtqia+ black girls. Studs! Femmes!

Gender fluid and non conforming constantly changing their style because they like it!

Spies and not just as the 'sexy bait' or 'weapons master' let us sit behind the computer for once and be hackers and stuff

@tanlefan

Black girls who are just...people.

I want a fantasy escapism adventure that isn't a thinly veiled discussion on slavery or racism or any other aspect of The Struggle. I am tired.

Can I just have a happy Black girl who believes in fairies or something?

@esmeraldanacho-1776 More autistic Black women/girls! I don't care what genre really; just have them in there!

@briarsthicket And enby black people!

@mattiekins

Def soft black girls.

Energetic and playful.

Or shy and quiet.

I want to see more black girls who are nerds and not just mommy mommying or nanny nannying everyone.

I want black girls who want to be a ballerina, or a talk show host, or a game designer etc.

I want a black girl who gets to be happy.

Who doesn't have to act older than she is and be the shoulder for everyone, always.

@xiiishadesofgrey

I want more black lady nerds, if we’re talking modern settings!

More black ladies who have a sporty/playful nature!

Who aren’t afraid to get dirty and make chaos, without being dirty or frowned upon!

Strange as it sounds coming from me, more black princesses! Brandy as Cinderella in the 90s was my first Cinderella, and I LOVE that.

Please, god, more black wlws.

@daintythoughtswritersblock

I want to see tropes exercised

Black women of all shades and tones

@hazelnut4370

Tbh just fellow black people being happy, like I rarely see that,

Or enjoying hobbies

rivergoddessdream

Happily childless black women

Black women traveling the world

Fat black women in happy, healthy, poly relationships

Black cis and trans women having a true sisterhood

Autistic black women

Black women in period pieces that aren't about slavery and don't take place in the US

Black women thespians

Black women painters

Black women revolutionaries

Black women front and center in the narrative

Black women healers and storytellers

Non christian Black women stories

Black women rockers

#complicated black women characters #tell those stories

@missnancywrites

More Black Girls...

With diverse cultural and social backgrounds!

That are nerdy, girly, intelligent, ditzy, all the personality types that white girls in literature get!

That are fragile, shy or anxious. Almost every single black woman I’ve seen in media or otherwise are wise and adult. Let us be an absolute wreck, or an anxious mess!

In science! Characters like Shuri, Moon Girl and Iron Heart in Marvel revitalized me, cuz young black girls only get two types. Both these girls are in intellectual and in science, but have bery different personalities.

In interracial relationships, and not because they hate black men or something along those lines. They just happen to be dating outside their race, black women get hate for that in real life and it’s unfair. Let us have relationships outside our race! That said...

In platonic relationships with black men! I think that’s important, cuz I don’t often seen black solidarity unless it’s for the purpose of showing how diverse the writing is. Let them share interests, daily frustrations that they would only understand, but don’t force a romance.

In solid friendships with other black girls! For some reason, we’re pitted against in each other inside and outside of writing! Write some sweet wholesome friendship!

With different sexualities! Let there be some that are ace, others are gay, bi or pan! Just be sure you don’t sexualize them, or turn em into a robot.

•Who are dark-skinned! This can be seen a lot in tv or movies, but when you want a black girl in your stuff don’t just hire a light-skinned black girl or a biracial black girl. It’s not the same.

Who get to act their age! Black women have a long standing history of being adultified, starting from a very young age, and it’s extremely harmful. Little black girls can wear what they please, the problem is people sexualizing them. Let the teen black girl be a teenager, she can look out for her siblings but she isn’t the keepern the house or their lives. Young adult black girls are not ideal housewives or capable working machines, they mess up and mess around just as much as any young adult.

With mental/physical disabilities or illnesses. Alongside with being forced to be more mature than they are, disabilities/illnesses are never taken seriously and we’re forced to just deal with it. Having black girls who happen to have these issues, but also have a healthy support group is always good!

@ink-and-roses

Seen as beautiful and desirable and NOT in a hypersexualized way

Interracial relationships are wonderful because black girls are beautiful and lbr everybody sees it

Sensitive and allowed to feel something other than righteous anger

Some black girls are skinny! Some are big! Some are slim and some are curvy! There’s no mold!

Dark skinned!

A YA protagonist out to save the world from something other than racism

Superpowers or magic that doesn’t come from generational trauma or slavery

Black characters who support other black characters. None of this token crabs in a barrel business.

Black girl nerds and punks and goths exist. I promise.

And this may be a personal preference but I’m not against the idea of a damsel in distress. We are always being strong. Let her be soft and delicate and cared for. Let her be princess carried and rescued from the tower and the dragon.

[Note from Mod: It’s not just you! I love a Black damsel being saved and protected. What is progressive for one woman varies due to historical and present depictions and is why intersectionality in feminism is so important! -Colette]

@nightlyswordswoman

As a writer, I write a lot of my black female characters like this because I rarely ever see black women being represented in these ways! ESPECIALLY on the covers of books, unless the author themselves is a black woman and even then its rare.

Too often black women are stereotyped as strong protector types that are always rough, tough, and don’t need anybody in books (and real life), when that’s honestly just dumb and inaccurate--black women are as vulnerable as anyone else (in some cases, even more vulnerable, but that’s another topic).

So yeah, this list is 100% accurate and I encourage those who are interested in writing black female characters (whether you’re a black woman or not) to consider writing them like this, because the stereotype needs to die lol.

#african girl #black reader #black in fanfiction #african black girls

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manisca-rye · 2 years

Text

I've now seen Dune twice in theatres, the first time in IMAX and the second in 3D ULTRAAVX and both times were beyond phenomenal and made me fall in love with this story and universe even more. I'll probably watch the movie a few more times just to take it in again and again.

I loved too many things about the movie to name them all but Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto (and that beard he was rocking) and Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides gave me inspiration for numerous fics that I will be trying to find the time to write over the next two years while waiting for part 2.

House Atreides 💚💚 "There is no call we do not answer. There is no faith that we betray."

Atreides! Atreides! Atreides!

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manisca-rye · 3 years

Text

I love to read and write, what I love to read and write. That's that.

I like that I’m finding more black women on here that thirst and simp over unproblematic white men like me because I don’t feel as lonely anymore. Cant really enter the Twitter realm with this energy because I’d be labeled as a ‘coon’ or ‘bed wench’😭💕

@honeychicanawrites @whiskey-cokenstuff @kisses4sweetb @liquorlaughslove @laketaj24 @bakarilennox @munteanhore @6lackfiction @punani @pinkgirlinablueworld @tantricevans @chaneajoyyy @rubyy98 @thelovelychris @princezukohere @iguessweallcrazyithinktho

If you write for black women and other women of color:

Reblog, comment, do whatever because I would like to check out your work... and give you all the praise you deserve.💜

#black reader #poc reader #x reader #reading #writing #fanfic #fanfiction for black girls #black in fanfiction

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manisca-rye · 4 years

Text

The Pain of Loss

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: Kind of Angsty/Sad

Synopsis: Grief comes in a moment’s notice and your whole world then changes and all you have left is each other to lean on and find strength in. In simpler terms, Tom and his wife deal with the loss of their baby.

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times as I tried to let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the bedroom, noticing that the alarm clock on the nightstand read a little just after 2 o’clock in the morning.

Before I could attempt to go back to sleep, the sharp feeling of an intense cramp pierced through my lower abdomen and I gasped in pain and brought both hands to massage my stomach. I took a deep breath, waiting as the residual pain faded while wondering what had caused the cramp itself.

After a few moments of quietness, I slowly turned on my other side to stretch out the soreness I felt in my lower back and faced my sleeping hubby of more than two years now, Tom.

Just as I settled into my pillow, another cramp pierced my stomach bringing with it intense pain and causing me to whimper as I closed my eyes to wait out the pain.

The sound of Tom’s husky voice alerted me to the fact that he was now awake. “Love, is everything alright?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, massaging my lower abdomen in slow wide circles with the hopes of alleviating the pain. “It hurts so much.”

When Tom reached over to his side of the bed and switched on the lights, I drew back the covers and sat up hoping to get into a more comfortable position, and instead noticed the blood that had soaked into the cream coloured bed sheets and formed a considerable patch under my legs.

“Tom.” My voice was deceptively calm as I talked. “I think something might be wrong with the baby.”

“The baby?” Tom turned to look at me and when he noticed where my eyes were focused, he immediately jumped into action. “Okay, how do you feel? What do you need?”

I shook my head as I answered, “I think we might need to go to the hospital. I don’t feel too well.”

“Okay. We’ll take the car, it’ll be much faster that way.” He said as he rushed to my side of the bed, helping me out of bed as I tried to steady myself on my own two feet.

Just as I draped a robe over my sleeping shirt, I was hit by another wave of pain that vibrated through my abdomen and lower back, making me weak in the knees as I leaned forward resting against Tom’s chest.

“Darling?” Tom questioned, as I shook my head and leaned further into him, trying to hold in my whimpers as I felt the remnants of the lasting pain.

“Put your arms around my neck.” Tom gently coaxed as he brought one of his arms to my back and the other behind my legs lifting me up, before making his way out the bedroom door.

Soon enough, we were speeding down the road on our way to the hospital.

I anxiously rubbed my small baby bump with one of my hands as Tom held my other hand while he drove as fast as he possibly could without comprising our safety.

“It’s okay,” Tom said. “Everything is going to be okay. We’re almost there.”

I took deep breaths as I nodded at Tom’s words, agreeing with him as I willed my mind to believe that the baby would be okay and this whole episode would have just being an unnecessary scare.

I looked around the car, blinking my eyes as I tried to focus and faintly registered the sound of Tom’s voice though I couldn’t fully process what he was saying. The more I tried to focus, the more it seemed I couldn’t and shortly thereafter, I slowly felt myself losing consciousness.

***************

Slowly, but gradually my mind seemed to know that I needed to wake up and as soon as this was clear in my mind, I blinked my eyes open, slowly adjusting my eyesight to the unfamiliar clinical looking surroundings.

The only sound in the otherwise silent room was what sounded like a machine of some sort somewhere in the room.

I slowly looked around the room, trying to recall what happened for me to end up in what I was surer by the second, was a hospital room.

My mind eventually noted that I was wearing a hospital gown and that my husband, Tom was seated in a chair beside the bed I was laying on and seemed to be asleep, based on the sound of gentle breaths I could hear coming from where he lay his head on the very edge of my bed.

I gasped in shock as the memories of the last time I was awake flooded my mind, and I quickly brought my right hand to touch my midsection to feel for the reassuring baby bump that had become a constant source of happiness and anxiety ever since we found out we were expecting our first child.

“How are you feeling?” Tom’s quiet voice questioned as he sat up and reached for my left hand, holding it his own.

“I think I’m okay. My body just feels a little weird.” I said as I turned to lay on my side so as to face him and felt a lingering sore pain in my abdomen. “Ouch.”

“Don’t push yourself. The doctor said you will need time to heal.” Tom said as he stood up and helped me settle more comfortably into bed.

I patted the space beside me on the bed, indicating that he should join me before asking, “So what exactly do I need to heal from?” While my other hand rested on my baby bump.

When I turned to Tom and saw his eyes watching me silently with an expression of what seemed to be worry and sadness all in one, I immediately knew something was wrong and he was aware of something I was not privy to.

“Tom?” I asked, waiting for him to answer my question. “Is our baby okay?”

He gently took and held both my hands in his before taking a deep breath and making eye contact as he said, in a quiet but firm voice. “We lost our baby. The doctors tried everything they could, but we had already miscarried by the time we arrived at the emergency room.”

I stared into Tom’s dark brown eyes, filled with his own grief and sadness as my own eyes filled with tears.

“No. You’re lying to me.” My voice was shaky and filled with disbelief as I refused to accept what Tom was telling me, despite a part of me knowing it to be absolutely true as I gazed into his eyes that were bleeding with grief and sadness as he could only nod at my words.

Quiet sobs broke through my lips as I felt a wave of grief wash over me as I brought my hands to cradle the baby bump that had once held the baby I had grown to love immensely in the few months since finding out about its existence.

I barely registered the feeling of Tom getting closer to me on the cramped hospital bed as he carefully and securely wrapped his arms around me and I turned my head against his chest and tried to draw the strength and comfort from him that I so desperately needed at this very moment.

I have no idea how much time passed as we held each other, and mourned for the loss of the child we had just lost, but we eventually both quieted down and were silent with each of our own thoughts.

***************

After being released from the hospital with a course of antibiotics to help treat the bacterial infection that had led to the miscarriage, I was discharged and Tom and I went back home and tried to get back into the swing of things.

I went back to work about a week or two after being released from the hospital and getting cleared by the doctor, and Tom went on with his job as he was currently doing advertising gigs while he was off actively acting.

Everything continued on with an unspoken agreement to not talk about the miscarriage and we just ignored the room we had been turning into a nursery when we still thought we would have a baby.

We had only told our families and closest friends that we were expecting and had not announced the pregnancy publicly beyond our immediate circle, despite the excitement of a first-time pregnancy. And after having miscarried, we had explained to our closest friends and family that we had lost the baby in the briefest of terms and had tried to graciously accept the condolences and empathy we received in return.

This false calm we had created for the past few weeks was shattered when I came home one early evening and found Tom just sitting silently in the nursery while staring out the window.

I stood in the doorway of the nursery, looking around at the unopened boxes against one wall while other furniture and items in shades of ivory and gold were where we had left them the last time we had taken a Saturday afternoon to decorate and prepare the nursery.

“Tom?” I asked as I slowly walked to where he was seated. When he looked up at me with tear tracks on his cheeks, I barely restrained my own eyes from filling with tears as I moved towards him and situated myself in his lap before bringing my arms around his shoulders as he brought his arms around my waist. I held him carefully to my chest for a few silent moments before he started releasing painful sobs, and I tried to comfort him as best I could as he had done for me during the first few days in the hospital after we had initially lost our baby.

When the room eventually grew quiet except for the sound of our breathing, I silently acknowledged what we had been failing to say for the past few weeks and quietly whispered, “We lost our baby before we could even meet him or her.”

It was silent for a few more moments as Tom leaned back against the chair, and we looked at each other as he replied, “She would have grown up to be just as beautiful as her Mum.”

I choked out what was probably a cross between a sob and a giggle as I added “Or maybe as handsome as his Dad. Coupled with your beautiful smile and love of soccer.”

We kept silent as we imagined the child we would have had, before I said something I was just beginning to understand, “We can try to control life, but sometimes it doesn’t always go the way we might want it to.”

With time, Tom and I learned to live with the loss of our child and though we still missed him or her every day, the pain slowly lessened with each new day. Sitting down to long conversations with each other, and with those closest to us helped immensely and eventually, we hoped we would come to a point where we would like to try for another baby after some time had passed.

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manisca-rye · 5 years

Text

T’s Masterlist of AU Ideas

Need some inspiration for your next fanfic? Here are a list of ideas I’ve compiled to help you get started! There are also a few sub-AUs I included just because :)

BY ERA…

50s AU

80s AU

Ancient Egypt AU

Cold War AU

Medieval AU

Dark/Middle Ages

Renaissance

Regency AU

Revolutionary War AU

Roaring 20s AU

Stone Age AU

Tudor AU

Victorian AU

World War I AU

World War II AU

BY GENRE…

Apocalypse AU

Dystopian AU

Fairy Tale AU

12 Dancing Princesses

Aladdin / Arabian Nights

Beauty & the Beast

Cinderella

Hansel & Gretel

Jack & the Beanstalk

Peter Pan

Rapunzel

Rumplestiltskin

Sleeping Beauty

Snow Queen

Snow White

The Frog Prince

The Little Mermaid

The Prince/Princess & the Pauper

The Princess & the Pea

Thumbelina

High Fantasy AU

Horror AU

Mafia AU

Military AU

Musical AU

Mystery AU

Noir AU

Pirate AU

Sci-Fi AU

Shakespeare AU

Superhero AU

Supernatural/Paranormal AU

Time Travel AU

Urban Fantasy AU

Utopian AU

Wild West AU

BY COUPLE…

Airplane Passengers AU

Aristocrat/Commoner AU

Arranged Marriage AU

Artist/Muse AU

Author/Publisher AU

Body Swap AU

Childhood Sweethearts AU

Chosen One & Sidekick AU

Complete Opposites AU

Doctor/Patient AU

Hades & Persephone AU

Handcuffed Together AU

Lab Partners AU

Neighbors AU

Pen Pals AU

Personality Switch AU

Rockstar/Groupie AU

Roommates AU

Royalty/Servant AU

Soldier/Nurse AU

Soulmates AU

Teacher/Student AU

Tourist/Native AU

BY MOVIE / BOOK / SHOW / GAME / PLAY / BALLET…

Battle Royale AU

Breakfast Club AU

Chronicles of Narnia AU

Dirty Dancing AU

Giselle AU

Hogwarts AU

Inception AU

Jumanji AU

Les Miserables AU

La La Land AU

Middle Earth AU

Nutcracker AU

Pacific Rim AU

Phantom of the Opera AU

Star Trek AU

Star Wars AU

Swan Lake AU

Swiss Family Robinson AU

Terminator AU

Wonderland AU

BY CHARACTER TYPE…

Android AU

Archaeologist AU

Assassin AU

Astronaut AU

Celebrity AU

Cosplayer AU

Criminal AU

Dancer AU

Demon Slayer AU

Detective AU

Double Agent AU

Explorer AU

Fallen Angel AU

Fighter Pilot AU

Guardian Angel AU

Hacker AU

Musician AU

Nerd/Geek AU

Olympic Athlete AU

Photographer AU

Private Eye AU

Punk AU

Race Car Driver AU

Revolutionary AU

Royalty AU

Street Performer AU

Tsundere AU

Tutor AU

Viking AU

Yandere AU

BY MYTHOLOGY / LEGENDS / FABLES…

Atlantis AU

Egyptian Gods AU

El Dorado AU

Fountain of Youth AU

Greek Gods AU

King Arthur AU

Norse Gods AU

Robin Hood AU

BY SUPERNATURAL / PARANORMAL ENTITY…

Angel AU

Banshee AU

Demigod AU

Demon AU

Genie AU

Ghost AU

Mermaid AU

Siren AU

Werewolf AU

Vampire AU

Zombie AU

BY HOLIDAY…

Christmas AU

Fourth of July AU

Halloween AU

Hanukkah AU

New Years AU

Spring Break AU

Thanksgiving AU

MISCELLANEOUS…

Backpacking Across Europe AU

Battle of the Bands AU

Bookshop AU

Carnival AU

Circus AU

Coffeeshop AU

College AU

“We got paired up for a group project but none of us know what we’re doing”

Conspiracy AU

Dragons AU

Heist AU

High School AU

Summer School

Immortal AU

Kidnapped AU

Prison AU

Reincarnation AU

Road Trip AU

Seven Deadly Sins AU

Summer Camp AU

Time Travel AU

FOR HUMOR…

“Marry me because my green card expired” AU

“Why does by neighbor have to be an aspiring opera singer?” AU

“I’m a server and you’re a frequent customer and you flirt with me but YOU NEVER TIP ME, WHAT THE HELL MAN?” AU

“I never break the law but I was asked to be part of a massive heist and damn, I really need to pay off my student debt…” AU

“I lied and said I could speak a different language to impress my crush but now he wants me to tutor him so I need to become fluent in Mandarin in 3 days HELP” AU

“We are fictional characters that know we are fictional characters and so we decided to have a little fun and mess with the author by not following any of the tropes they’re writing” AU

[Updated 8/21/17]

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manisca-rye · 5 years

Text

AU List A-Z

Made a list of all the AU’s I could think of. Used to help me when I have no ideas, decided it could help others and I should post it. It took a few weeks to fill it out this extensively and I have no more interest in adding to it, so please don’t bother suggesting anything （；￣д￣）

Accidental Marriage AU

Actor AU

Alien AU

Amnesia AU

Android AU

Angel/Demon AU

Animal AU

Apocalypse AU

Arranged Marriage AU

Artist AU

Art Student AU

Assassin AU

Athlete AU

Author AU

Avian (Bird People) AU

Babysitter AU

Bakery AU

Ballet AU

Band AU

Bartender/Bar AU

Beach AU

Blind AU

Blind Date AU

Bodyguard AU

Book Store AU

Bounty Hunter AU

Brothel AU

Caterer AU

Camp Counselor AU

Camping AU

Carnival AU

Castaway AU

Celebrity AU

CEO/Boss AU

Chef AU

Child AU

Choir AU

Circus AU

Clothing Shop AU

Club AU

Coffee Shop AU

College AU

Conductor AU

Choreographer AU

Coworker AU

Criminal AU

Cult AU

Cyborg AU

Dancer AU

Dead/Death AU

Deaf AU

Demigod AU

Demon Hunter AU

Detective AU

Dimension Hoping AU

DJ AU

Doctor AU

Domestic AU

Dragon AU

Drama Class AU

Enemies AU

Ex AU

Fairy AU

Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage AU

Fashion/Fashion Designer AU

Fire Fighter AU

Forbidden Love AU

Fugitive AU

Gang AU

Gardener/Gardening AU

Ghost AU

Hairstylist AU

Haunted House AU

Hero/Villain AU

High School AU

High School Reunion AU

Historical AU

Horror AU

Hospital AU

Hunger Games AU

Immortal AU

Judge AU

Jury Duty AU

Kidnapper/Kidnapped AU

Lawyer AU

Library AU

Lifeguard AU

Mafia AU

Maid AU

Magician AU

Magic AU

Marriage AU

Mechanic AU

Medieval AU

Mermaid AU

Military AU

Model AU

Modern AU

Monster/Monster Hunter/Monster Tamer AU

Murder Mystery AU

Musical AU

Musician AU

Neighbor AU

Ninja AU

Nurse AU

Office AU

Officer (Police) AU

O/B/A AU

Parallel Universe AU

Parametric AU

Paranormal Investigator AU

Parent AU

Pen Pal AU

Pet Store AU

Photographer AU

Pirate AU

Podcast AU

Porn Star AU

Prisoner AU

Prank War AU

Prostitute AU

—

Reality TV Show AU

Reporter AU

Restaurant AU

Resurrection AU

Road Trip AU

Roll Reversal AU

Room Mate AU

Rival AU

Royalty AU

Scientist AU

Serial Killer AU

Servant AU

Sick AU

Social Media AU

Soulmate AU

Space AU

Spy AU

Stalker AU

Stranger AU

Street Racing AU

Stripper AU

Student AU

Survival AU

Tattoo Shop AU

Teacher AU

Theater AU

Thief AU

Time Travel AU

Undead AU

Undercover Cop AU

Vacation AU

Vampire/Vampire Hunter AU

Veterinarian AU

Waiter AU

War AU

Wedding Planner AU

Werewolf AU

Wild West AU

Witch AU

Wizard AU

—

Yandere AU

Youtuber AU

Zookeeper AU

Zombie AU

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manisca-rye · 5 years

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236K notes · View notes

manisca-rye · 5 years

Text

Temptation

Rating: Mature

Pairing: Dylan O’Brien x OC

Trope: Professor/Teacher

Word Count: 3K+

Warnings: Smut/Lemons

Synopsis: Mara Williams has been enthralled with her teacher, Mr O’Brien, since the first time she saw him. After several weeks of a tentative friendship having formed between them, she plans to see just how far she can tempt him into finally confirming his attraction for her.

Author's note: I appreciate and welcome feedback.

***************

I crossed my right leg over my left, consciously making the blue and white plaid skirt of my school uniform ride further up my leg, exposing just enough of my thighs so as to seem unintentional. I had positioned myself in my chair in a way that exposed the outline of my thighs and had purposefully set my skirt higher on my waist so that it would easily ride up when I crossed my legs and expose the soft skin of my outer thighs.

I glanced up to the front of the classroom where the teacher’s desk was situated, smiling when I caught the eye of Mr O’Brien just as he looked up from where his gaze had been focused on my legs.

He momentarily cleared his throat before turning his attention to the papers scattered across his desk, and I turned back to my class assignment as a small victorious grin spread across my face at the minimal victory I had just accomplished.

I was currently in my second period class of the day, an Advanced Functions Math class taught by Mr O’Brien, who was a teacher that I had first encountered this year when I took his class. I had heard of Mr O’Brien from other students who had been taught by him, and he was thought of as a fair but serious teacher despite his relatively young age in comparison to other teachers.

The first time I attended his class and experienced him teaching the class, I was enthralled by his rich voice and his quiet and intriguing aura. As I continued attending his classes and interacting with him as the instructor of the class, I found myself taking closer notice of his physical attributes, from his light brown eyes to the set of his beautiful lips. His face was clean shaven but sharp and his stature was somewhat lean but not overly so. When I first acknowledged that I was attracted to him, I initially thought my attraction would not amount to anything significant.

As the weeks progressed, and I found myself interacting with him during brief discussions after class, our conversations and interactions were occasionally flirtatious but not of significance. I decided to see how far his flirtation would go and had devised a plan to try and be more seductive in my encounters with him while trying to gauge the extent of his attraction for me, as I had been certain that he was likely physically attracted to me too after having observed and analyzed how he responded to me on more than one occasion.

The sound of the bell ringing marked the end of the second period, and all those who had completed their class assignments rushed to get out of the classroom while a number of students were only now handing in their completed assignments.

I waited to hand in my assignment until the class was almost empty, save two other students who were now making their way out of the classroom.

I stood up and walked to where Mr O’Brien was standing by his desk and my face took on an expression of mild regretfulness as I handed him my class assignment and stated, “I’m sorry I didn’t complete the class assignment. Would it be possible for me to come in during lunch break and finish up?”

He nodded affirmatively before replying, “You can come in at lunch. I’ll be in here grading the completed class assignments.” While gesturing to the pile of papers on the center of his desk.

I smiled in gratitude as I handed him my class assignment, his fingers briefly brushing against mine before I turned and walked back to my desk a few paces away from his own.

After collecting my bag and donning my dark blue blazer over the white shirt of my uniform, I walked to the door with what I hoped was a seductive sway to my hips before reaching the door and turning back to Mr O’Brien whose eyes were on me once again as I smiled and waved goodbye before making my way to my next class of the day before lunch break.

***************

I looked at myself in the girls bathroom mirror as I made sure my dark wine colored semi-matte lipstick was set perfectly on my lips and the rest of my makeup and person was picture perfect, before adjusting my crossbody bag on my shoulder and leaving to make my way to the end of the second floor hallway where Mr O’Brien’s classroom was located.

I knocked on the door when I arrived, and at the prompting of the sensuous voice I had come to associate with my new favourite teacher, I opened the door and walked in.

I closed the door behind myself before greeting “Hi Mr O’Brien.” While walking to stand in front of Mr O’Brien where he was leaning against his desk with my assignment in his hand.

“Ms Williams.” He answered in return before handing me the class assignment and going back behind his desk to take a seat. “I can only grant you an extra fifteen minutes to finish your assignment so it’s fair for every other student.”

“Understood.” I replied as I walked to my desk and set my class assignment on the table before discarding my bag and blazer onto the chair next to mine.

As I began working on the one question I had purposefully left unanswered from the class assignment, I took my time going over the various methods of solving the equation as part of my rough work and pretending to be fully engrossed in what I was working on. I could see out of the corner of my eye that every few minutes, Mr O’Brien would look up to see if I was still working on the class assignment, during which time I would pretend to be engrossed in my work. I occasionally moved the way my body was situated on my chair, and would observe the responsive glances that Mr O'Brien would sneak at me when he thought I was not aware, when in actual fact I was rejoicing on the inside that my little scheme of seducing my teacher seemed to be working.

About eight minutes after I had come in to finish my class assignment, I decided that the final part of my plan would either come to fruition or possibly embarrass me beyond belief if I had been mistaken and my interpretations of Mr O’Brien’s actions were wrong.

I took a calming breath before I stood up and handed in my class assignment to Mr O’Brien who had looked up at the sound of my chair scraping the floor as I stood up.

“Are you going to be grading it now?” I asked as I passed my class assignment onto his outstretched hand, brushing my fingers against his slowly while he answered, “Yes, Ms Williams.”

I nodded in acknowledgement as I said, “If it’s okay with you, I would like to wait for my mark.” And after having received a nod of confirmation, I slowly strolled around the classroom studying the different math related posters while feeling Mr O’Brien’s eyes glancing in my direction from time to time.

By the time I got back to Mr O’Brien’s desk, he was only done with the first page of my answer sheet and had his eyes firmly set on me. He cleared his throat before once again addressing me, “Ms Williams.”

“Mr O’Brien.” I returned in kind, with a sweet smile on my face as I came to stand beside him, looking over how I had done so far on my assignment, and leaning down a bit so as to draw attention to the outline of my chest in my fitted uniform shirt.

After a few moments of skimming my class assignment, I turned my attention to my side where Mr O'Brien was staring at me intently before he abruptly stood up, making me take a small step backwards as he stood up and looked directly into my eyes.

We stared at each other for a few moments with our eyes boring into each other and only the sound of our breathing and the charged air between us.

I leaned towards him, unconsciously parting my lips slightly, as I waited and hoped he would close the distance between us and finally kiss me like I had wanted him to for some time now.

After a few anxious moments of pure silence, he blinked before closing his eyes and closing his lips over mine in a kiss that started out slow and gentle before becoming deeper as we both moved our lips against each other’s. I brought my hands up his arms before bringing them to his shoulders as I held on to him while his own hands came up to hold my waist.

We broke apart when we were both nearly out of oxygen and tried to catch our breaths.

When I brought my hands down from his shoulders, he looked at me, his golden brown eyes staring at me in a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

I gave him a reassuring smile as I stepped away from him and walked towards the door, before locking it securely and walking back to him with a smile that held a promise of what was to come.

He breathed out what I figured was a sigh of relief as I walked towards him. Reaching where he stood, he brought one of his hands to my waist while the other came to rest on my cheek as he gave me a sexy smile before leaning towards me and bringing his lips to mine once again.

We parted briefly when he brought his hands under my ass and urged me towards his desk, and after quickly clearing the center of the desk, we returned to our makeout session.

As his kiss became more passionate, I returned it with the same amount of fervour that he offered me, bringing my hands up to his neck and running my fingers from his shoulders to his biceps and up again before settling my hands on his neck and letting my fingers ran through the hair at the nape of his neck. His lips moved against my own before his tongue began licking mine, deepening our kiss as we started exploring each other’s mouths. His taste was both sweet and heady, a taste that was uniquely his own.

We parted after running out of breath once again, and he began peppering kisses down my neck before proceeding to my collarbone and shoulder, leaving a trail of electric heat where his lips had touched. I brought my hands to his front and started running my hands along his torso while partly distracted with the feeling of his sweet lips sucking on my collarbone, making me moan in appreciation.

“We really should not be doing this, Ms Williams.” He said as he leaned away from my lips to look into my eyes.

I thoughtfully looked at him as I replied, “We both have the capacity to decide what we should and should not be doing, Mr O’Brien.” I then gently kissed the corner of his mouth before adding, “And my name is Mara.” Before continuing with slowly kissing down his neck.

After a moment, he replied, “My name is Dylan. Mr O’Brien seems too formal for our current situation.”

I made quick work of unbuttoning his shirt and began running my hands on the exposed part of his smooth sculpted chest and continued exploring his torso as far as his shirt would allow while still on his body.

The sound of his melodious chuckle broke my concentration, freezing my hands in their tracks as I looked up into his bright eyes that held a mixture of mirth and lust.

“Someone seems impatient,” He said in reply to the question I had yet to ask.

I nodded in agreement of his assessment before whispering, “I’ve waited too long to be able to touch you, Dylan.” As I leaned into him and pressed featherlight kisses on his chest.

When I leaned back and looked at him again, he only briefly caught my eye before bringing his lips to mine again as his hands went to my waist. His right hand began running up the side of my torso and reached the shirt covered underside of my breasts before he cupped me softly and began palming me through my shirt and bra making me moan into his mouth as the intense feelings of pleasure ran through my body.

A brief look passed between his vivid eyes and my own dark brown eyes, and that was enough confirmation for us both as we rushed to undo our clothes, while we continued to drown in each other as we kissed and touched.

By the time we slowed down to take a breath, my shirt had been discarded and I was only left in a bra while my black box braids were in disarray and loosened from the hairband I had used to secure them this morning. Dylan seemed to be in the same condition as I was, though his shirt had only been fully unbuttoned and his trousers hung freely on his waist with the belt having been undone by my fingers during my own explorations under his trousers. His dark brown locks were not in their usual semi-arranged style as I had run my fingers several times through his hair in the heat of our makeout session.

I kicked my shoes off my feet as he started kissing me once again, with his mouth planting open-mouthed kisses on the tops of my breasts before he unclasped my bra and discarded it somewhere while his mouth latched onto one of my nipples.

I was moaning and I faintly noticed when his mouth would cover mine if I moaned too loudly forgetting our current surroundings. The feelings of pleasure I was experiencing as he alternated with his mouth sucking on one breast while his hand stroked and palmed my other breast were better than anything I could have ever imagined.

By the time his mouth and hands gave me rest, I was panting with so much need coursing through my body, I felt as though I would explode soon.

I looked down between us as I brought my hands to his pants making my intention clear at that moment in time. To which he kissed my cheek sweetly as he asked, “Are you on birth control?”

“Yes, I am.” I answered while my hands made quick work of pushing down his trousers followed by his boxer briefs before his erect cock was exposed to me in all its glistening glory. I gently cupped his balls in my hands before giving an experimental squeeze, to which he only grunted in response. When he did not react further, I grew bolder and started by running my hand over his cock, from tip to balls and back again before I started stroking his cock and kneading his balls. Soon enough, he could not hide his moans and grunts of pleasure, and I was immensely proud that I had given him said pleasure.

His hand abruptly caught my forearm, before he kissed me as he pushed my skirt up my thighs until I was fully exposed to him as I sat further back on his desk. I was soon disrobed of my panties, and we once again looked into each other’s eyes as I brought my hands to his shoulders while he held one of my legs up with his arm and stood between my open thighs.

He leaned his forehead against mine as he took his cock into his hand and guided himself to my entrance, and for a few moments, we just stared at each other with eyes clouded with a need for each other in that moment.

He pushed into me in one quick thrust, and my eyes closed of their own accord as I moaned in a mixture of intense pleasure and pain.

We waited as we savored the feeling of finally being joined together physically, before he began thrusting slowly at first and increasing his speed and intensity.

He pounded into me with a furious and passionate intensity that I returned and matched thrust for deep thrust and gave as much fire as he did.

I could soon feel my pleasure reaching higher and higher, and just as Dylan thrust into me deeply once again, I felt myself reach an earth-shattering climax. I was aware of nothing else except the feeling of floating weightless in the universe as my breathing seemed to momentarily pause and stars and lights exploded behind my eyelids.

As I came down from my high, I became aware of the feeling of Dylan’s hard cock in my cunt just as the feeling of his warm cum coated the inside of my walls as he thrust into me a few more times.

After what could have been seconds or minutes, we finally separated and he pulled out of my cunt, his cock now having softened and laying between his legs. We were both coming down from the endorphin rush and we were both sweaty as we leaned against each other, his own medium beige skin flushed pink and tinted with a layer of sweat while my own deep brown skin shone with a layer of sweat.

He leaned in once again and started kissing me and I returned his kiss briefly, before pulling away and saying, “The bell might ring soon and we have to get cleaned up.”

He looked at me with what looked like a pout, and I only laughed in reply before kissing him briefly as I stood up and got comfortable on my feet once again.

We quietly went through the motions of redressing ourselves and straightening out our appearances. Using the wipes I always carried in my bag and the box of tissues on his desk, we were able to clean both our lips, faces and necks from the dark red lipstick smudges left there, as well as anything else that needed cleaning including his desk.

When we had both made ourselves presentable again, I picked up my bag and slung it on my shoulder, before I made my way to where Dylan was leaning against his desk and reached up to kiss him as he met me halfway and kissed me back just as the bell indicating that lunch was over rung through the building.

I smiled at him once again as I handed him a wipe indicating his lips, before I said, “See you Tomorrow in class, Mr O’Brien.”

He nodded his head before replying, “Tomorrow it is, Ms Williams.”

I smiled as I left the classroom with a feeling of euphoria.

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manisca-rye · 7 years

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Burnt Dinner

Rating: General

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Prompt: “I love you a lot, but please stop trying to cook me dinner, you suck.”

Word Count: 600

Warnings: None, Just fluff.

***************

As soon as I opened the door to the apartment, I was hit by the faint smell of smoke, making my face scrunch up in distaste as I discarded my handbag on the table by the entryway before rushing to the kitchen where the sound of the smoke alarm was coming from.

I was met by the sight of Tom, my boyfriend of two years now, waving what looked like a kitchen towel at the ceiling where the smoke alarm was blaring in response to the smoke that was circulating.

“What happened?” I yelled over the sound of the alarm, as I made my way towards the back of the kitchen and opened the windows above the sink, in addition to the already opened balcony door that was currently bringing in some much needed fresh air as the smoke was let out.

“The dinner I was preparing burned.” He replied as he continued waving the kitchen towel close to the still blaring alarm.

I moved to the stove to double check that it was fully switched off, before proceeding to pour water into the charred pot holding what barely looked like food and leaving it in the sink for later.

After a few more minutes of letting fresh air in, the smoke alarm stopped blaring and I shut the balcony door before turning towards Tom who was leaning against the middle counter of the Kitchen with the kitchen towel set aside.

I looked at him with an eyebrow raised as I asked, “How did you even burn whatever it was you were cooking?”

He looked at me sheepishly as he answered, “I left the stove on for a few moments, and by the time I returned, the smoke alarm was going off and the chicken was burned.” While gesturing to the charred pot now resting in the sink. “I wanted to surprise you and cook you a lovely dinner tonight.”

I nodded in acknowledgement before walking towards him, placing my arms around his neck as his hands came to rest around my waist before I leaned towards him and gave him a slow chaste kiss.

“I appreciate the thought you put into it. But please stop trying to cook me dinner, babe. You suck at cooking.” I said while nodding to the pot as evidence, while also referring to the other two times he had tried to cook meals for me and it had turned out disastrous both times too.

“I don’t think I suck at it.” He answered while giving me the cutest pout.

I laughed at his facial expression as I answered, “Okay, but you need practice then. Cause the first time you tried, the food was undercooked and we both ended up in hospital, while the second time around, the food was overcooked making it unenjoyable to even get down. And this time, it’s not even edible.”

“So, maybe I’m not the best cook there is.” Tom replied in assent as he pulled me closer to him.

“But I still love you.” I answered as I peppered kisses down his neck. “Even if your cooking skills need improvement.”

He brought his lips to mine, and I kissed him again briefly before pulling away from him and saying, “Since it looks like we won't be having a home cooked dinner tonight, I think we should order in.”

He nodded as he took my hand in his, leading us to the living room where we kept some of the food menus we had collected.

#tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x black!reader #tom holland #fluff #spider-man: homecoming #spiderman #cuteness #tom holland imagine #tom holland x poc!reader #spiderman x reader #tom holland x oc #tom holland x black!oc #peter parker x reader #spiderman: far from home #marvel #tom holland x y/n #fanfiction for black girls #black in fanfiction

52 notes · View notes

manisca-rye · 7 years

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Awesome Sites and Links for Writers

Just about every writer out there has several go-to websites that they use when it comes to their writing. Be it for creativity, writer’s block, to put you in the mood or general writing help. These are mine and I listed them in hopes that you’ll find something that you’ll like or find something useful. I’ve also included some websites that sounded interesting, but I haven’t tried out yet.

Spelling & Grammar

Grammar Girl – Grammar Girl’s famous Quick and Dirty Tips (delivered via blog or podcast) will help you keep your creative writing error free.

The Owl – is Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) it's a great resource for grammar guides, style tips and other information that can help with your writing, especially academics.

Tip of My Tongue — have you ever had trouble of thinking of a specific word that you can’t remember what it is? Well, this site will help you narrow down your thoughts and find that word you’ve been looking for. It can be extremely frustrating when you have to stop writing because you get a stuck on a word, so this should help cut that down.

Free Rice – is a great way to test your vocabulary knowledge. What’s even better about this site is that with every correct answer, they donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program. So, please disable your adblock since they use the ads on the site to generate the money to buy the rice.

HyperGrammar – the University of Ottawa offers up a one-stop guide for proper spelling, structure, and punctuation on this site.

AutoCrit – the AutoCrit Editing Wizard can check writing for grammar errors, clichés and other no-no’s. It also provides a number of other writing resources as well.

Writer’s Digest – learn how to improve your writing, find an agent, and even get published with the help of the varied blogs on this site.

Syntaxis – it allows you to test your knowledge of grammar with a ten-question quiz. The questions change every time you take the quiz so users are sure to be challenged each time around. It definitely helps writers know if there’s something that they need to brush up on.

Word Frequency Counter – this counter allows you to count the frequency usage of each word in your text.

EditMinion – is a free robotic copy editor that helps you to refine your writing by finding common mistakes.

Proofreading for Common Errors – this is a simple tutorial on proofreading your writing by Indiana University.

BBC – has a section for helping you with your skills, especially in writing, from grammar to spelling, to reading, to listening and to speaking.

Tools

Copyscape – is a free service that you can use to learn if anyone has plagiarized your work. It’s pretty useful for those that want to check for fanfiction plagiarism.

Plagium – is another a copy detection system, that provides a very similar service to Copyscape and uses Yahoo! rather than Google to perform its searches. Just keep in mind that searches for simple text up to 25,000 characters remains free of charge, but any larger requires credits to be purchase.

Write or Die – is an application for Windows, Mac and Linux which aims to eliminate writer’s block by providing consequences for procrastination.

Written? Kitten! – is just like Write or Die, but it’s a kinder version. They use positive reinforcement, so every time you reach a goal they reward you with an adorable picture of a kitten.

Fast Fingers – offers you an easy way to improve your typing skills. It’s puts you through a quick typing game that tests your typing speed and improves it at the same time. It’s also a great way for writers to warm up.

Information & Data

RefDesk – it has an enormous collection of reference materials, searchable databases and other great resources that can’t be found anywhere else. It’s great to use when you need to find something and check your facts.

Bib Me – it makes it easy to create citations, build bibliographies and acknowledge other people’s work. This is definitely something that academics will love. It’s basically a bibliography generator that automatically fills in a works cited page in MLA, APA, Chicago or Turbian formats.

Internet Public Library – this online library is full of resources that are free for anyone to use, from newspaper and magazine articles to special collections.

The Library of Congress – if you’re looking for primary documents and information, the Library of Congress is a great place to start. It has millions of items in its archives, many of which are accessible right from the website.

Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names – is the most accurate list of popular names from 1879 to the present. If your character is from America and you need a name for them, this gives you a accurate list of names, just pick the state or decade that your character is from.

WebMD – is a handy medical database loaded with information. It’s not a substitute for a doctor, but can give you a lot of good information on diseases, symptoms, treatments, etc.

MedlinePlus – is the National Institutes of Health’s Web site that contains information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. It also offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free. You can use the site to learn about the latest treatments, look up information on a drug or supplement, find out the meanings of words, or view medical videos or illustrations. You can also get links to the latest medical research on your topic or find out about clinical trials on a disease or condition.

Mayo Clinic – is a nonprofit medical practice and medical research group.

World Health Organization (WHO) – is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and ageing; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse; and driving the development of reporting, publications, and networking.

Google Scholar – is an online, freely accessible search engine that lets users look for both physical and digital copies of articles. It searches a wide variety of sources, including academic publishers, universities, and preprint depositories and so on. While Google Scholar does search for print and online scholarly information, it is important to understand that the resource is not a database.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac – this classic almanac offers yearly information on astronomical events, weather conditions and forecasts, recipes, and gardening tips.

State Health Facts – Kaiser Family Foundation provides this database, full of health facts on a state-by-state basis that address everything from medicare to women’s health.

U.S. Census Bureau – you can learn more about the trends and demographics of America with information drawn from the Census Bureau’s online site.

Wikipedia – this shouldn’t be used as your sole source, but it can be a great way to get basic information and find out where to look for additional references.

Finding Data on the Internet – a great website that list links that can tell you where you can find the inflation rate, crime statistics, and other data.

Word References

RhymeZone – whether you’re writing poetry, songs, or something else entirely, you can get help rhyming words with this site.

Acronym Finder – with more than 565,000 human-edited entries, Acronym Finder is the world’s largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initials.

Symbols.com – is a unique online encyclopedia that contains everything about symbols, signs, flags and glyphs arranged by categories such as culture, country, religion, and more.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary – is a dictionary that lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.

The Alternative Dictionaries – is a site that you can look up slang words in all types of languages, including Egyptian Arabic, Cherokee, Cantonese, Norwegian and many, many others.

Online Etymology Dictionary – it gives you the history and derivation of any word. Etymologies are not definitions; they’re explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

MediLexicon – is a comprehensive dictionary of medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, and health care abbreviations and acronyms.

Merriam Webster Online – the online version of the classic dictionary also provides a thesaurus and a medical dictionary.

Multilingual Dictionary – it translate whatever you need from 30 different languages with this easy-to-use site.

Writing Software

Open Office – why pay for Microsoft products when you can create free documents with Open Office? This open source software provides similar tools to the Microsoft Office Suite, including spreadsheets, a word processor, the ability to create multimedia presentations, and more.

LibreOffice – is a free and open source office suite. It was forked from OpenOffice.org in 2010, which was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite comprises programs to do word processing, spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, maintain databases, and compose math formula.

Scrivener – is not a free program, but it’s certainly a very popular one. It's great for organizing research, planning drafts, and writing novels, articles, short stories, and even screenplays.

OmmWriter – is for Mac OS X, a free simple text processor that gives you a distraction free environment. So you can focus only on your writing without being tempted or distracted by other programs on your computer. They are currently working on a Windows version of their software as well, so keep an eye out for that if you’re interested.

FocusWriter – is another free distraction-free writing application that keeps your writing space simple and clean without sacrificing functionality. It includes a daily goal tracker—work count and time spent writing—spell checking, real-time feedback on variables like word and page count, and tabbed document browsing. The great thing about this is that it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Q10 – is a free portable distraction-free writing tool for Windows. The interface includes nothing but a tiny bar at the bottom that displays the character, word, and page count—you can toggle the bar off for a totally distraction free workspace.

Evernote – is a free app for your smartphone and computer that stores everything you could possibly imagine losing track of, like a boarding pass, receipt, article you want to read, to do list, or even a simple typed note. The app works brilliantly, keeping everything in sync between your computer, smartphone, or tablet. It’s definitely a useful app for writers when you have ideas on the go.

Storybook – this open source software can make it easier to manage your plotlines, characters, data, and other critical information while penning a novel.

ScriptBuddy – is a full-fledged screenplay software program. It handles the proper screenplay format automatically, so you can concentrate on your story. It is easy to use and the basic version is free.

TheSage – is a free application, which is a comprehensive English dictionary and thesaurus that provides a number of useful and in some cases unusual search tools.

Sigil – is ideal for e-book authors because it's a free EPUB editor with a stack of essential features.

YWriter5 – is a free word processor and is designed for Windows XP, Vista and beyond. It's a small but very comprehensive tool which helps you to plan your novel. It breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. You can set up deadlines, for instance, and the program’s Work Schedule report will let you know how much you’ll have to do, each day, to finish on time. You can even enter your characters, locations and items and freely organize them into scenes. This definitely sounds like it’ll be useful for NaNoWriMo writers.

Kingsoft Office (WPS Office) – is an office suite for Microsoft Windows, Linux, iOS and Android OS. The basic version is free to use, but a fully featured professional-grade version is also available. This software allows users to view, create and share office documents that are fully compatible with dozens of document formats, including Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel. In other words, the format is similar to a Microsoft Word document (.DOC or .DOCX file) and supports formatted text, images, and advanced page formatting. Kingsoft Writer documents can be converted to Microsoft Word *.doc files in the software.

Creativity, Fun & Miscellaneous

National Novel Writing Month – is one of the most well-known writing challenges in the writing community, National Novel Writing Month pushes you to write 50,000 words in 30 days (for the whole month of November).

WritingFix – a fun site that creates writing prompts on the spot. The site currently has several options—prompts for right-brained people, for left-brained people, for kids—and is working to add prompts on classic literature, music and more.

Creative Writing Prompts – the site is exactly what it says. They have 100+ and more, of prompts that you can choose from.

My Fonts – is the world’s largest collection of fonts. You can even upload an image containing a font that you like, and this tells you what it is.

Story Starters – this website offers over one trillion randomly generated story starters for creative writers.

The Gutenberg Project – this site is perfect for those who like to read and/or have an ereader. There’s over 33,000 ebooks you can download for free.

The Imagination Prompt Generator – click through the prompts to generate different ideas in response to questions like “Is there a God?” and “If your tears could speak to you, what would they say?”

The Phrase Finder – this handy site helps you hunt down famous phrases, along with their origins. It also offers a phrase thesaurus that can help you create headlines, lyrics, and much more.

Storybird – this site allows you to write a picture book. They provided the gorgeous artwork and you create the story for it, or just read the stories that others have created.

Language Is a Virus – the automatic prompt generator on this site can provide writers with an endless number of creative writing prompts. Other resources include writing exercises and information on dozens of different authors.

Background Noise/Music

SimplyNoise – a free white noise sounds that you can use to drown out everything around you and help you focus on your writing.

Rainy Mood – from the same founders of Simply Noise, this website offers the pleasant sound of rain and thunderstorms. There's a slide volume control, which you can increase the intensity of the noise (gentle shower to heavy storm), thunder mode (often, few, rare), oscillation button, and a sleep timer.

Coffitivity – a site that provides three background noises: Morning Murmur (a gentle hum), Lunchtime Lounge (bustling chatter), and University Undertones (campus cafe). A pause button is provided whenever you need a bladder break, and a sliding volume control to give you the freedom to find the perfect level for your needs and moods. It’s also available as an android app, iOS app, and for Mac desktop.

Rainy Cafe – it provides background chatter in coffee shops (similar to Coffitivity) AND the sound of rain (similar to Simply Rain). There’s also individual volume and on/off control for each sound category.

MyNoise: Online Fire Noise Generator – If you love the sound of fire crackling in a fireplace, this is the site for you.

8tracks – is an internet radio website and everyone can listen for free, well it use to be completely free. Unlike other music oriented social network such as Pandora or Spotify, 8tracks doesn’t have commercial interruption (that’s if you get 8tracks Plus). Users create free accounts and can either browse the site and listen to other user-created mixes for as long as they like, and/or they can create their own mixes. It’s a perfect place to listen to other writer’s playlist, share yours or find music for specific characters or moods. Note: Joining is still free, however you’re now limited to 1 hour of free listening for each week (or more depending on how much people like your mixes). If you want unlimited access it’s $30 per year or $5.00 a month.

Playmoss – with 8tracks no longer having free unlimited listening and no commercial interruptions many people looked for an alternative and Playmoss is what 8tracks use to be. It has all the same basic features that 8tracks has, only with extra goodies like unlimited skips, able to see the entire tracklist before playing, start at any point in the playlist, see how many playlists contain a certain song and even collaborate playlists with other people.

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