#Selected titles

[rockislandadultreads]

Jewish American Heritage Month: Fiction Picks by Jewish Authors

The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan

Naomi Grant has built her life around going against the grain. After the sex-positive start-up she cofounded becomes an international sensation, she wants to extend her educational platform to live lecturing. Unfortunately, despite her long list of qualifications, higher ed won't hire her. Ethan Cohen has recently received two honors: LA Mag named him one of the city's hottest bachelors and he became rabbi of his own synagogue. Taking a gamble in an effort to attract more millennials to the faith, the executive board hired Ethan because of his nontraditional background. Unfortunately, his shul is low on both funds and congregants. The board gives him three months to turn things around or else they'll close the doors of his synagogue for good. Naomi and Ethan join forces to host a buzzy seminar series on Modern Intimacy, the perfect solution to their problems--until they discover a new one--their growing attraction to each other. They've built the syllabus for love's latest experiment, but neither of them expected they'd be the ones putting it to the test.

The Secret of Clouds by Alyson Richman

Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev. Years later, after the couple has safely emigrated to America the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri's boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspires Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she'll never realize just how strong Yuri has made her—until she needs that strength the most.... A novel that will make readers examine what it means to live life with a full heart.

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Ari Abrams has always been fascinated by the weather, and she loves almost everything about her job as a TV meteorologist. Her boss, legendary Seattle weatherwoman Torrance Hale, is too distracted by her tempestuous relationship with her ex-husband, the station’s news director, to give Ari the mentorship she wants. Ari, who runs on sunshine and optimism, is at her wits’ end. The only person who seems to understand how she feels is sweet but reserved sports reporter Russell Barringer. In the aftermath of a disastrous holiday party, Ari and Russell decide to team up to solve their bosses’ relationship issues. Between secret gifts and double dates, they start nudging their bosses back together. But their well-meaning meddling backfires when the real chemistry builds between Ari and Russell. Working closely with Russell means allowing him to get to know parts of herself that Ari keeps hidden from everyone. Will he be able to embrace her dark clouds as well as her clear skies?

A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen

Esme Nash is eager to leave her small town and begin her carefully planned post-grad life: a move to New York City, an apartment with her loving college boyfriend, and a fancy job at an art gallery. But when tragedy strikes, instead of heading to Manhattan, she returns home to care for her ailing father, leaving every bit of her dream behind. Seven trying years later, Esme is offered a dog-sitting job in Greenwich Village by a mysterious stranger, giving her access to all of her long-buried hopes and dreams--as well as to an epic collection of designer shoes. Esme jumps at a second chance to step into the future she's sure was meant to be hers. As she retraces her steps, one pair of borrowed shoes at a time, making new friends and reconnecting with her old love, Esme tries on versions of herself she didn't know existed. But the hazy August days and warm summer nights pass too quickly, and Esme must decide how much of the life she imagined still fits, and what--and who--is on the road ahead of her.

#fiction #contemporary fiction #adult fiction #jewish authors #jewish american heritage month #to read #tbr #to be read #library books #Book Recommendations #book rec #reading recommendations #Selected titles #highly recommend #booklr #booktok #books to read

[maculategiraffe]

#was just idly browsing fake books with holes inside. and intrigued/baffled by the selection of titles #my poll

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"The Darkness Within" PART 1 (Sonic X - Dark Sonic)

(Sonic's POV)

The faint sound of his friends' laughter and voices echoed in Sonic's ears even as he stood at the very edge of the Typhoon, a frown twisted across his face as he stared unseeing at the stars.

He hadn't felt such shame in a long time.

Normally, he did whatever he pleased without a care of what anyone thought. He did what he believed was right whether it was perceived that way or not.

So it was safe to say that the events of the attempted rescue of Chris and Cosmo had left him a little . . . shaken.

He couldn't believe the way he'd lost control.

Never before had he felt so intensely angry. Sure, he'd had a right to, his friends were hurt and the Metarex creep was threatening to experiment on them if he refused to let them do the same to him. Sure, he'd felt a little off since he'd discovered the hoards upon hoards of fake chaos emeralds.

And then— what?! He hadn't been able to think straight. His vision had nearly turned red with how furious he'd been. All he could feel was white-hot anger. He remembered hearing himself laugh like some kind of psychopath. He remembered tearing into the Silver and Gold Metarex that were meant to test him, he remembered slicing them to bits at lightspeed and feeling not an ounce of remorse as their armor exploded and they were killed.

And the next thing he'd known, Eggman of all people was scolding him and telling him to calm down.

It had taken him a hot minute to relax. Hearing that Shadow had rescued his friends while he'd been . . . like that, had startled him in the worst way.

Now they were all back, safe and sound. Cosmo and Chris were alright. Everyone on the other side of the ship was celebrating, believing the day was a victory.

In a way, he supposed, they were right.

But Sonic could not relax. He couldn't bring himself to join them, he couldn't even bring himself to smile as he stood alone on the opposite side of the ship, staring at nothing and thinking of everything.

His mind wouldn't shut up, and he didn't have enough space to run on the Typhoon. He was stuck.

What if it happens again?

It won't. I won't let it.

I don't know that, I had no idea this morning that it would happen today.

Now that I know, I'll make sure it never happens again.

Today was just proof that I don't have it as together as I thought I did.

They don't know. No one else here knows. No one knows but Eggman.

Would they be scared if they knew? If they SAW me like that?

Don't worry about it. Just keep going. Don't look back. I never look back.

But usually that doesn't have anything to do with something I did wrong.

Do I apologize somehow? Should I leave? Take some time to myself? How much time? They need me to help them fight the Metarex.

I can't leave, but I sure want to.

I just wish—

"Hey, Sonic! You doing okay?"

He jerked his head around to see Tails slowly approaching his perch, blue eyes wide and curious. Glimmering with just a hint of concern.

Sonic sat down in place and nodded curtly, his voice stuck in his throat. He'd been talking a lot more nowadays than he used to, trying to get better at communicating with people and making friends, but some days it was still hard.

Apparently today was one of those days.

And Tails could see right through him.

His face fell. "Something happened, didn't it?"

Sonic avoided his eyes, choosing instead to stare intensely at the floor in front of him as if it was a work of art.

Slowly, cautiously, Tails moved closer and sat a couple feet away. Sonic could still feel his little brother's eyes on him, but he refused to make eye contact. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it.

"Did you get hurt . . . ?" Tails sounded doubtful yet worried.

Sonic shook his head.

"Did the Metarex say something that bothered you?"

Another wordless head shake.

Tails didn't ask anything else for about a minute, choosing instead to let them both sit in thoughtful silence and allow Sonic to try and pull himself together.

I can't tell him. There's no way.

I can't tell him . . . all of it.

Sonic swallowed, lifting his chin and finally daring to meet Tails's questioning eyes. He opened his mouth, but could not bring himself to make a sound.

Tails bit his lip, then lifted his hands and signed, "I'm here."

Sonic nodded with a small, grateful smile, then, after a hesitation, signed back, "Something happened. I did something."

Tails tilted his head slightly, and even though he could've just spoken his response, he continued signing. "What did you do?"

There was no fear or aggression in his hand movements or expression. Just genuine, gentle curiosity.

Sonic closed his eyes for a moment, that awful feeling of shame washing over him all over again. "Something bad. I caused harm. I didn't mean to."

Tails smiled gently. "You didn't mean to. You didn't harm our friends, right?"

Sonic exhaled silently through his nose. "No. I hurt the bad guys." He didn't think there was a sign for "Metarex," but if there was, he didn't know it.

A flicker of confusion appeared in his little brother's eyes. "You stop the bad guys all the time."

He fidgeted uncomfortably, then signed, "It was different. Can't explain. I was wrong."

Tails paused for a long moment after those shaky signs from Sonic, looking thoughtfully at the sky.

"It's okay," he signed back eventually. "I know your heart is in the right place. Whatever you did, you wouldn't be feeling so bad if it wasn't in the right place."

Sonic blinked. He fidgeted a little more, then quickly signed, "Thank you."

The fox kit smiled and nodded. "You're welcome. I'm here for you." Then, without waiting for a response, he stood up and extended a hand out to Sonic.

Sonic initially thought Tails was going to bring him back to the group, but then remembered that his brother knew him better than that. So he accepted the little hand reaching for him and stood as well, then followed the fox kit downstairs inside the ship.

Tails brought him to his bedroom on the ship, gestured for him to wait there, then left. For a few minutes, Sonic sat alone, fingering the cool sheets and looking around the room, anything to avoid thinking too much again.

After those few minutes, Tails returned with a steaming mug of tea, which he carefully handed to Sonic. "Take your time," he signed, smiling sweetly. "This will help you sleep."

Sonic managed a small, regretful smile. "Thank you," he signed again.

Tails nodded, patted his hands in reassurance, and left the room.

Sonic paused for a long moment, then sat back on his bed and sipped his tea. He recognized the flavor as the same kind Tails himself used on bad nights, the ones with nightmares and thunderstorms.

He took a deep breath. Over the course of the next hour, he finished his tea over a good book. He listened to his friends' voices wind down outside on the deck.

And eventually, he slept.

AO3 version

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #miles tails prower #sonic and tails #unbreakable bond #they're brothers your honor #sonic x #dark sonic #fic #one shot #my fic #my writing #fanfic #dark sonic fanfic #post dark sonic #hurt/comfort #selective mutism #sign language #yeah yeah real creative title i know #but it came to mind immediately and i was like “why not” #ao3 link #the darkness within #will reblog this on Wednesday #part 1 #i genuinely don't know when part 2 is coming out #midterms are coming up and a ton of homework #also im going on tour in a little over a week haha #maybe I'll write it in the van #akmdmfmsmsfm

[st4rstudent]

After many a moons, the marketable cogs are finished

#toontown corporate clash #ttcc #i just got done tagging them all by title and name just to find out there is a tag limit #marketable cogs whatever #not selective tagging them. maintag only #clemart

[anna-scribbles]

“Look who finally showed up.” Ladybug’s voice was the quiet kind of rage, an animal she was just barely keeping penned up. “I was starting to wonder.” She looked at him like he was a dead thing.

good morning and happy call it even chapter 6 day to me and @sha-nwa and all those who celebrate<3

#listen the chapter title selection on this one was a doozy. let me tell you. #so many good options #stiffest competition was between this one and 'a simple complication' from the story of us #but ten thousand bad moments from vicious won out. #both just sort of making fun of how terrible adrien's life is #but! well! #adrien sort of does have a terrible life. I feel that writing him this way is true to his character #anyway #HAPPY CHAPTER SIX DAY #im posting this so early bc otherwise it would be at literally like 5pm and I dont have the patience for that #ml #call it even #miraculous ladybug #mlb #ml fic #ml fic rec #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #adrinette #ladynoir

[balkanradfem]

I've used the uBlock Origin to block out the Tumblr Live permanently, and it seems to work right now! If you use firefox you can try it too.

#tumblr live #ublock origin #just be sure to select all of it with the dropper #if you go right under the title it selects it all #i'm gonna block whatever part of internet i dislike from now on #bye bye tumblr live

[ao3screenshotss]

#submission #title: #selected conversations from the magisteel discord server #author: #lowbatteryhealth #workskin: #liilllyyyy #ace attorney #maya fey #LMAO WTF #would actually die to see this though #thank you for submitting!!

[jamiethebeeart]

I never thought I'd make a fake Danny Phantom title card in my LIFE and yet here we are. I wanted to make sure I included Valerie and Sam and it spiralled out of control from there (including coming up with a basic plot episode featuring identity reveals and character development). Unfortunately I'm not very practiced with the title card comic book punchy coloring style so I leave it up to the @green-with-envy-phandom-event colorists :P

#danny phantom #valerie gray #sam manson #did i create a new ghost as the “antagonist” for this fake episode? obviously. #danny phantom art #no seriously. i can bs my way through the dynamic composition but i have no faith in coloring it. the real dp title cards are iconic #i wasnt sure about the white lineart but it looked weird to have it and the shadows black and i figured the contrast is high enough to #easily select and recolor it as the colorists want/need #i tried to give val more of like??? a twists hairstyle but i dont think it came through very well/identifiable #my lineart for hair isnt super detailed so it was .... mmm a time trying to strike that balance. anyway i think #val deserves more hairstyles in general. #dp jbee

[niki-phoria]

ᯓ✦⭑٠ ࣪⭑★⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑨𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝒀 𝑶𝑹𝑩𝑰𝑻 ━━ 𝐍𝐈𝐊𝐈-𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝟐𝐊 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓

in celebration of hitting 2k followers (thank you !!) i've decided to open up an event !! it will run indefinitely (until i make an announcement about closing it). the event rules, characters, and prompts are listed below the cut !!

𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒

i only write for male/gn readers (this includes trans readers); fem reader asks will be denied

i will not write smut or hurt/no comfort content

i will write romantic or platonic relationships

fics will be written in second person

fics will be ~200 words per person/character

send asks with the character(s) and prompt (either from my list or create your own !!) clearly listed to my inbox

ex: "can you write gojo with "dancing in the rain" please"

posts will be tagged with #★⊹ ࣪ ˖ niki-phoria 2k event

please be patient !! i will do my best to write every request in a timely manner

feel free to send any questions to my inbox and i will answer them as soon as possible

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑...

jujutsu kaisen ━ itadori yuuji, fushiguro megumi, inumaki toge, okkotsu yuuta, gojo satoru, geto suguru, choso

enhypen ━ ot7

tomorrow x together ━ ot5

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒 (please choose 01-02 prompts per request !!)

dialogue

"come back to bed"

"did you eat today?"

"can i stay with you tonight?"

"i brought you something" "why?" "it reminded me of you"

"you're blushing"

"i'm here. i've got you"

"is that my hoodie?"

"you're staring" "you're pretty/handsome"

"you remembered?"

"i thought i had lost you"

"just let me take care of you"

"i hate you" "you love me"

moments

playing with/styling their hair

wiping their tears away

patching up their wounds

dancing in the rain

stealing bites of their food

helping adjust their outfit

stargazing

falling asleep together

caring for them when they're sick

sneaking out to see them

waking up next to them

tropes

friends to lovers

secret dating

forced proximity

childhood friends

oblivious best friends

#★⊹ ࣪ ˖ niki-phoria 2k event #first time doing smth like this pls be nice to me /hj #jjk x reader #jjk x male reader #enha x reader #enha x male reader #txt x reader #txt x male reader #i realize this is a weird selection of ppl to write for but just go with it lol #header from pinterest #title from txt - dear sputnik

[tennessoui]

Oh man, am I gonna sound like a liar if I say I thought the anonymous fic was yours before it was revealed? I first thought of you when Obi-Wan described loving Anakin as ruinous (cause I associate you with that word thanks to the Regency AU) & then I was like 90% certain with the author's note but I was too afraid of being wrong to say anything.

lmaooo I’m ok with those two things being my author’s calling card tbh I wrote out ruinous and I was like I think I use this word too much. everything’s ruinous and everything’s untenable and you bet my tags are mostly unsortable and there’s a meme in the author’s note lol

#asks #it also imo has a very kit title #but all I can come up with is kit titles so maybe I have selection bias or something #good on you for guessing 🥰 #throat fic au

[howtodigatrench]

re-equip

#waiting for the art fight theme reveal <3 #my hypothesis: worm vs wyrm #demon slayer #kny makomo #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #title and arrow symbol is dicey dungeons related #trenchart #digital #colors live on switch #select and fill tool

[rockislandadultreads]

Multicultural Romances: Contemporary Picks

How to Marry Keanu Reeves in 90 Days by K.M. Jackson

Bethany Lu Carlisle is devastated when the tabloids report actor Keanu Reeves is about to tie the knot. What?! How could the world's perfect boyfriend and forever bachelor, Keanu not realize that making a move like this could potentially be devastating to the equilibrium of...well...everything! Not to mention, he's never come face to face with the person who could potentially be his true soulmate—her. Desperate to convince Keanu to call off the wedding, Lu and her ride-or-die BFF Truman Erikson take a wild road trip to search for the elusive Keanu so that Lu can fulfill her dream of meeting her forever crush and confess her undying love. From New York to Los Angeles, Lu and True get into all sorts of sticky situations. Will Lu be able to find Keanu and convince him she's the one for him? Or maybe she'll discover true love has been by her side all along...

The Singles Table by Sara Desai

After a devastating break-up, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again. She puts her energy into building her career and helping her friends find romance through the wedding season. She's never faced a guest at the singles table she couldn’t match, until she crosses paths with the sinfully sexy Jay Donovan. Former military security specialist Jay has no time for love. His life is about working hard, staying focused, and winning at all costs. When charismatic Zara crashes into his life, he's thrown into close contact with exactly the kind of chaos he wants to avoid. Worse, they're stuck together for the entire wedding season. So they make a deal. She'll find his special someone if he introduces her to his celebrity clients. But when their arrangement brings them together in ways they never expected, they realize that the perfect match might just be their own.

A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria

Hi Mich. It’s Gabe. After burning out in her corporate marketing career, Michelle Amato has built a thriving freelance business as a graphic designer. So what if her love life is nonexistent? She’s perfectly fine being the black sheep of her marriage-obsessed Puerto Rican-Italian family. Besides, the only guy who ever made her want happily-ever-after disappeared thirteen years ago. It’s been a long time. Gabriel Aguilar left the Bronx at eighteen to escape his parents’ demanding expectations, but it also meant saying goodbye to Michelle, his best friend and longtime crush. Now, he’s the successful co-owner of LA’s hottest celebrity gym, with an investor who insists on opening a New York City location. It’s the last place Gabe wants to go, but when Michelle is unexpectedly brought on board to spearhead the new marketing campaign, everything Gabe’s been running from catches up with him. I’ve missed you. Michelle is torn between holding Gabe at arm’s length or picking up right where they left off—in her bed. As they work on the campaign, old feelings resurface, and their reunion takes a sexy turn. Facing mounting pressure from their families—who think they’re dating—and growing uncertainty about their futures, can they resolve their past mistakes, or is it only a matter of time before Gabe says adiós again?

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

When a Nigerian woman falls for a man she knows will break her mother’s heart, she must choose between love and her family. At twelve years old, Azere promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man and preserve her culture even after emigrating to Canada. Her mother has been vigilant about helping--forcing--her to stay well within the Nigerian dating pool ever since. But when another match-made-by-mom goes wrong, Azere ends up at a bar, enjoying the company and later sharing the bed of Rafael Castellano, a man who is tall, handsome, and white. When their one-night stand unexpectedly evolves into something serious, Azere is caught between her growing feelings for Rafael and the compulsive need to please her mother who will never accept a relationship that threatens to dilute Azere's Nigerian heritage. Azere can't help wondering if loving Rafael makes her any less of a Nigerian. Can she be with him without compromising her identity? The answer will either cause Azere to be audacious and fight for her happiness or continue as the compliant daughter.

#Romance #contemporary #contemporary fiction #contemporary romance #to read #tbr #library books #multicultural #book recs #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #to be read #booklr #booktok #book tumblr #Selected titles #womens fiction #chick lit

[osamid]

a head-canon of mind is i think post-oda’s death dazai 100% “doesn’t allow” himself to get attached to people, bc he thinks eventually everything he has will be lost. this manifests in him constantly keeping a persona with everyone he interacts with and never showing true emotional vulnerability.

HOWEVER. i also think that dazai-post-oda’s-death compulsively fills his hours strategizing on how to protect those people he “doesn’t care about” from harm. i’m talking notebooks upon notebooks crowding his dorm filled with data and analysis on the ada and select port mafia members’ strengths and weaknesses, who and what might threaten them, and how he would prevent that threat before it could even happen.

i think dazai believes he’s a curse on everyone he knows, and he has to expend his only asset (his mind) on ensuring he’ll be able to thwart the curse before it ever comes to fruition. because last time he kept someone close to him and damned all the consequences, they died.

#kunikida barges into his dorm one day when he ‘sleeps in’ past work and finds dazai agressively re-writing another plan for kenji #in case his family is kidnapped and used against him as blackmail take him away from the ada #he never went to sleep the night before. #many of the notebooks are titled [NAME] - Mori #and are exclusively filled of plans he thinks mori would use them in and how he’d circumvent them #he’s sooo unwell. just hug the people you care about man. why are you batman. #this is VERY self idulgent btw i’m aware. #however idc this is clone high for classic literature #BTW ‘select mafia members’ doesn’t just mean chuuya. he has ones for akutagawa and gin as well #actually those are some of his longest because he can’t directly interact with them and therefore his plans are more complex #bsd dazai #bsd headcanons #bsd #ango has a couple of notebooks too. btw. if you even care. #my hcs

[ivyppoison]

i wrote this for a poetry challenge 🤭

#txt. #TITLE ── Father I Confess #poetry #i hope i get selected god #if i don’t though #it’s okayy

[amee-racle-ofmyown]

(for some reason tumblr wouldn't let me edit the post draft? so I've had to screenshot this ask)

how can I say no to someone asking me so nicely for heist mark content? and thank you!! I'm so happy you enjoy it🥺💖

I decided to go with 11. picking a leaf/flower petal out of their hair, or brushing dirt off of their face

mud on my face and heart on my sleeve, when I'm with you

Heist!Mark x reader | Words: 1,264 | Read on AO3

A masters degree in digging, huh?

A bad luck magnet and reckless idiot at times though he may be, your partner in crime never failed to surprise you.

You were left reeling, barely enough time to process the deep hole that had appeared on the floor of your shared cell in what was surely an impossible amount of time. Or had it been longer, and you had simply zoned out while he was digging? No, that didn't seem right.

Years of carefully planned heists — down to the precise minute for certain jobs — had allowed you to develop a near impeccable sense of time. But today you felt strange, as if something was throwing off that instinct, making you doubt your judgement.

Self-doubt, however, was something you could not afford to pay any mind on a high-stakes job such as this, especially when Mark always seemed to rely so heavily on your choices in the heat of the moment. So instead, you allowed yourself to indulge in his confidence, using it as a springboard to bring you back to certitude.

You followed him down into the tunnel as the two of you made your way under the penitentiary to the Warden's office.

When you emerged, the pair of you were covered head to toe in soil and dust. It wasn’t the first time you had both ended up dirty on a heist, having to throw your clothes in the laundry when you returned to base, but the smug satisfaction and relief that came with bringing home your loot was always well worth it.

Once you had secured The Box, it was only a matter of fooling the nearest prison guard into aiding your escape. You watched as Mark absolutely milked his performance, feeding the guard some sob story he’d made up on the fly about him and his grandmother both being on death’s door, while you gestured dramatically to emphasise parts of his tale when it felt appropriate.

You struggled to stay composed seeing Mark’s expressions — he’d always been one for theatrics. In your opinion, he was overdoing it too much for the act to be convincing, but all that really mattered was the guard was completely buying into it, far too distracted by Mark to notice you fighting to contain your laughter (or the gaping hole in the ground, apparently).

‘I know this sacrifice, and what it means to you. But it means so much more to me,’ Mark declared with as much gratitude as he could muster, clutching the guard’s phone tightly.

The guard responded with various distressed noises, and you honestly couldn’t believe how well this was going.

‘But if also, you know, I could hear my gran-gran’s voice in peace,’ Mark continued somberly. ‘I don’t want you to hear her. She’s real sick.’

‘Ok, yeah, she’s probably got some kind of weird co- I get it,’ the poor guard stuttered.

‘They’re okay, they can hear it,’ Mark said, nodding and gesturing to you.

‘Yeah you guys — y’all shower together n’ whatnot,’ the guard replied, getting up to leave.

Mark nodded dismissively while you frowned and raised an eyebrow at the guard’s words. As he trudged sadly down the hall, though, you felt a little bad for lying to him. Either he was going through something himself or was just a particularly emotional guy.

Mark perked up, dropping the act as soon as the guard was out of earshot. ‘Well, that was easier than I thought it’d be. But we got a phone, which is the only thing we need to get outta here.’

You stood up, stepping towards the edge of the room and poking a finger against the gate, which the guard had conveniently left ajar, pushing it wide open with a creak.

You turned to look at Mark, then back, gesturing to the open cell door and the obvious escape before you.

‘Nooo, that’s too easy. We’ll leave that as a backup plan for our backup plan. I’ve got a call to make.’

You simply rolled your eyes. At times like this, it was better to just let your heist partner do his thing.

You hear Bubba’s voice over the phone, letting you know he’ll arrive in five.

‘Now, I don’t know if that was five hours or five minutes—’

The squeal of tires is all the warning you get before a pickup truck bursts through the back wall of the cell rear-end first and you hear Bubba yell for you to get in.

What immediately transpires is a blur of motion as you feel adrenaline in your veins and your heart thrumming in your ribcage. Mark ushers you to the back of the vehicle, yanking the door open and letting you go first as you clamber into the safety of the cargo bed, pushing aside fallen bricks from the collapsed wall. Mark follows suit, pulling the door closed behind him, and the car speeds away into the night.

You barely register the chill of the October air as you cling to the back of the truck with your left hand.

The autumn wind whips at Mark's hair as he crouches beside you. You can't help but think he looks gorgeous despite his roughed up appearance, all the dirt from the tunnel and the rubble from the broken wall.

He shoots you a grin, looking positively ecstatic, and you can practically feel the triumph and thrill that radiates off him. It's the same feeling coursing through your nerves as well.

You have had close encounters with the authorities before, but breaking out of prison is a new high for you both.

You give him a wide smile in return, and when he looks directly into your eyes everything around you seems to slow and obscure out of focus. All that matters in this moment is that you're both safe and free, and all his attention is solely on you. The space between you feels static and you think to yourself that any risk, any close call, is worth it for him to be smiling at you like this.

You reach out towards his face with your free hand, cupping his cheek in your palm. His eyes widen a fraction but he doesn't say a word or make a move to pull away.

You almost miss how he leans ever so slightly into your touch as you swipe at the dirt with your thumb.

‘Your face is all dirty, dummy.’

‘So’s yours.’

Your other hand comes up to hold the other side of his face and you shift slightly, steadying yourself (not that you really need to, you seem to have slowed down enough that you won't fall out suddenly and besides, you trust Mark enough to grab you in time should that be a real danger).

His left hand comes up to your right to tenderly hold your wrist in place.

His skin feels warm against yours, stubble tickling your palms. You wipe at the dirt and dust with both thumbs this time.

Your faces are inches apart now. You can't ignore the way his eyes flicker very briefly down to your lips, and you have half a mind to kiss his stupid, smug face right then and there.

The moment is broken as Bubba calls out to you both from the driver seat, letting you know that you'll be far enough to stop soon.

As you and Mark exit the vehicle though, the rush remains present, and it isn't just from the thrill of escaping. His gaze and touch send you on a roller coaster of their own.

#aww. all that only for bob to pull a gun on them😔💔 LMAO #(EDIT UHH. this was scheduled for 10 pm my time I have no idea why it posted now tumblr is broken💀 whatever I guess) #I tried to keep y/n speaking to a minimum #I want to make a more concentrated effort to write them and the captain as selectively mute or very quiet #not for all my fics but some #coming up with a title was the hardest part of this #thank you for requesting!! and for reading🫶 I really missed getting writing requests honestly #amee writes #ahwm #a heist with markiplier #heist mark #heist!mark #mark iplier #heist mark x y/n #heist mark x reader #heist!mark x y/n #heist!mark x reader #partners in crime #x reader

[nyctarian]

& O Bright Star of Disaster, I Have Been Lit by Franny Choi

#o bright star of disaster i have been lit #franny choi #poetry #sorry after i had to select poems for our poetry month display #ive been reading thru a few of the books that the poems i selected came from #and sorry but. to me this is a kenny line. coupled w the O Bright Star in the title. GoLo-core imo #kenny being called the god of pro wrestling by don callis while continually failing to achieve the godhood of winning by phoenix splash #golden lovers #kenny omega #kota ibushi #wrestling