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cielsosinfel · 2 months

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I never posted a list of my favorite books I read last year, so here's something brief (with links to posts I made about the books, if I did):

Fiction:

Bloom by Delilah S Dawson: An F/F horror romance that I would describe as "An Eroguro Yuri Yandere Visual Novel Bad End In Western Book Form." A woman coming out of a terrible break-up, and cutting her mother out of her life before uprooting to a town where she knows no one, falls head-over-heels for a beautiful and eccentric woman at the farmer's market. A downward spiral into obsessive love ensues. Short, sweet, perfect build-up, would recommend for an easy fun grotesque read. (Major CW warnings: short but graphic descriptions of past CSA and violent animal death.) Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh: a young human girl growing up on a space station of the remainder of human separatists, waging a fruitless war against the alien empire that decimated humanity years ago, suddenly has to confront the fact her entire upbringing and understanding of the universe and its politics and the foundation upholding her beliefs and ideals was a lie. There's F/F and M/M romance but they're not the focus (and tbh not very satisfying. The story is satisfying.) has one of the most artfully written explorations of the horror of incestuous grooming that I've ever seen written. Major CW: Characters facing racism, Incest and ever-present threats of sexual violence and forced pregnancy.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling: F/F SF horror fiction: a woman lies about her credentials to take on a very dangerous, but lucrative, cave diving job in order to escape her backwater mining planet has the slow realization that her employer and handler does NOT have her best interests at heart. A terrifying visceral psychological horror that spirals out of control into an emotionally and mentally abusive romantic relationship. What's better than this, two women becoming unhealthily and abusively condependent as they face the horrors of deep caves, isolation and family trauma together.

Walking Practice by Dolki Min, tl. Victoria Caudle: A South Korean self-published novel translated into English, about a carnivorous, shapeshifting alien trapped on Earth who uses dating apps to find its prey amongst the lonely citizens of a major city. A very harrowing exploration of social isiolation and ostracization of people who fall outside the majority norms, with a definite focus on disability, sexuality and transgressive gender.

The Wicked and the Willing An F/F Gothic Horror Vampire Novel by Lianyu Tan: What the title says lol. This takes place in colonial-era Singapore, where our heroine Gean Choo takes on a job as working as a live-in housekeeper for wealthy white European Verity Edevane, who she's drawn to and desires despite every single warning flag, and is introduced to Po Lam, Edevane's faithful and most trusted employee. And then Gean Choo realizes her new employer is a vampire and handsome Po Lam, who has been murdering young women for her to feed off for years, is determined to protect her. This novel does not go the way you will think it might go. There is a lot going on it that I LOVED and really recommend it. Major CW: Characters facing Racism throughout and descriptive discussion of past CSA that comes up several times.

Nonfiction & Poetry:

Wanting: Women Writing About Desire: A nonfiction anthology of short memoir pieces where women from a very diverse background and of diverse identities, write about their relationships to sex, their bodies, and the act of desiring. I really, really am glad I read this. There is some of the most thoughtful and truthful, uncensored, writing on the complicated sides of being a CSA survivor, that I've ever read, in this book. Many women also write about the intersections of sexual desire and race and culture, transgender status, non-straight sexuality, disability.

Cartographies of Desire: Male-male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950 by Pflugfelder: A very comprehensive overview of the history of sexual and romantic relationships between men in Japan from the Edo Period through to the post-WW2 period, as well as government efforts to control and repress such relationships. I really appreciate this book because it heavily cites Japanese-language sources to show that the repression of homosexual relationships between men was not purely a part of Meiji-era Japan's process of "modernization" via adopting many Western moral and political concerns- control and repression of male-male sexual relationships has happened all throughout Japanese history, but for more complicated reasons than disgust and moral disapproval of men fucking.

Major CW: A lot of the text is about historical pederasty (that is, sexual relations between men over the age of 18 and boys under the age of 18) and sexual violence is a major element of what is examined.

I'm gonna add to this when I come home but I'll just post this for now since it's pretty long.

#reading log #mine poste

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quirkyfantakes · 2 years

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I am a long-time Regency/historical romance reader, and have been waiting for literally my whole life for TV/Hollywood to adapt this genre that has brought me so much happiness for the small and big screen.

And then came Bridgerton.

All hail the Shondaland crew for figuring out how to make TV romance elicit all the big romance novel feelings that keep the die hards engaged in this genre!

And not only that, but also IMPROVING on the genre. Of course we romance readers love our tropes and formulas, but there are plenty of romance story conventions that I despise.

Here are three romance novel tropes/conventions that Bridgerton S2 and #Kanthony exploded, for the good of all humanity:

1 - Hero is tanned/darker, heroine is fairer/paler.

Is it because darker skin is connected to outdoor work/manual labor/sun exposure, and fair skin connotes the opposite? But there is a REAL THING in many romance novels about romanticizing the contrast between the hero's darker skin with the heroine's, particularly when they clasp hands or other body parts. As a dark skinned person who is partnered with a white man, I HATE this romanticization of skin color difference in this direction, and it makes me so happy that the Kanthony aesthetic is in the complete opposite direction.

2 - Hero is tall brawny big guy, heroine is petite/pocket sized

I LOVE that Anthony and Kate are so close in height to each other, that they are literally AND figuratively equal in stature, and that they can (to paraphrase Anthony in the Featherington garden in episode 8) "see eye to eye" so easily with each other.

And, yes yes yes -- Jonny Bailey is BUILT, and Simone Ashley is quite lissome, so the subversion of body typing is not quite 100%. But I have full confidence that the artists of Shondaland are going to continue to do us right with #Polin.

3 - Virginal heroine lacks gumption/knowledge/wherewithal to initiate the first kiss.

Kanthony longed and longed and LONGED for each other, but when that first kiss finally happened in episode 6, it wasn't capital-S sex-hound Anthony who gave in to his yearnings -- but the eternally buttoned-up KATE who took the first step.

It is actually quite subversive for the 26-year-old spinster to be so confident in Regencies; I am so much more used to the rake/libertine needing to "teach" the lady how to take control of her sexual agency. And indeed, in episode 5, Anthony SAYS OUT LOUD that he dreams of "the things he could teach [her]."

But in reality: the man just teased and teased and TEASED, from bee sting scene to Aubrey Hall study scene to Lady Danbury's sitting room scene. This guy was NEVER going to take the leap to actual physical contact -- it took the "inexperienced" spinster to finally cross that bridge. And thank goodness she finally did.

#bridgerton #bridgerton season 2 #anthony bridgerton #kanthony #anthony x kate #kate x anthony #kate sharma #polin #romance #regency romance #tropes

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redheadkittys · 2 years

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im sorry if this souds rude but do you know any otome games where the female mc isnt white ? or something like obey me where there isnt a canon look for mc agian i am sorry if this souns rude

...first of all: this isn't absolutely rude...your question is totally valid...

...to answer your question i must explain why the female MCs in otome games are light skinned...since these games were invented in japan you must know that having fair skin is part of the historical ideal of beauty for females...even today woman in jp(or in some other asian countries) bleach they skin with different cosmetics or as a example carring in summertime an umbrella to avoid tanning...i hope now you have an better idea why they're all light skinned...

...so here comes a little list with the few games i know(but be aware that some only can be played on PC bc they're indie and/or cost money):

- Mechat (Android), a dating sim full of hot funny dangerous li...the MC isn't seen so you can have it like you want...

- Lovelink (Android), very similar to mechat but here you can personalize your MC...

- Chapters Interactive Stories (Android), the app is full of Stories and you can personalize your MC...i liked it a lot but it costs a fortune bc you need diamonds for answers...

- When the night comes (PC), a supernatural fantasy romance game...the MC is faceless...to find on itch.io

- Pairs (PC), a little sci-fi fantasy romance game...the MC can be only choosed from this 4...can be found on itch.io...

- Red Embrace: Hollywood (PC), a very DARK drama romance game (not recommended if you don't like angst and blood), you can costumize your MC...to find on itch.io...

- Ultramarine: A Seapunk Adventure (PC), a fantasy visual novel romance game in which the heroine takes a trip down into the depths to meet a merman...to find on itch.io..

...i'm sorry that i couldn't really help you with the little i know...Wish you a wonderful day...

#...lovestruck would be nice now bit the app is gone...#otome games #otome #kitty answered #...on queue...

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moorheadthanyoucanhandle · 2 months

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WHAT A STITCH

Now in theaters:

Lisa Frankenstein--Our teenage heroine's misfortunes start with her name: Lisa Swallows. She's survived the murder of her mother by a masked maniac, and the remarriage of her father into a new family, complete with a tirelessly perky stepsister, and her transfer to a new school. The understandably morbid-minded, socially awkward, vaguely Goth Lisa spends her spare time in an abandoned cemetery, tending the grave of a long-departed young fellow on whose romantic-looking memorial statue she has a bit of a crush.

The young man is jolted back to something like life by a lighting bolt, but he's still a moldered corpse until Lisa starts supplying him with new body parts, obtained from irksome people who end up dead around her. This process involves needle and thread, and a terribly strange tanning bed. With each new addition, The Creature becomes a bit, well, hunkier.

Released just in time for Valentine's Day--and for the February Island of Misfit Movies dump--this off-the-wall teen horror comedy-romance, directed by Zelda Williams from a script by Diablo Cody, is every bit as broad and silly as it sounds, but in a good way. Cody has attempted horror before, with the misfired Jennifer's Body in 2009. This one works better, even though it's uneven and sloppy at times, and the story makes less sense than that of the earlier film. This may even be part of the reason it works better; the wispy, nonsensical plot makes no claim that it's anything but a pretext for Cody's ornately loopy dialogue, and for some good-natured gross-outs.

And, more importantly, it's a pretext for the acting. Cole Sprouse manages to be both bestial and Byronic as the revived Creature, and he may have the best aggrieved monster moans since Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Carla Gugino hams it up as the self-adoring wicked stepmother, and Liza Soberano, as the stepsister Taffy, is a charming surprise; in a characteristic touch of Cody generosity, she's allowed be genuinely instead of insincerely sweet.

But what really makes Lisa Frankenstein worthwhile is Kathryn Newton. Her performance is a comedic tour de force, at least as good as her riotous turn in 2020's Freaky, layered and mannered and truly funny, with the puckish slyness of the young Susan Sarandon. Newton could be the next big scream queen, not because she does a lot of screaming, but because she's a scream.

Also, this movie is period piece, set in 1989. It's remarkable how refreshing it is to see a teen flick without a cell phone in sight.

#lisa frankenstein #kathryn newton #cole sprouse #liza soberano #carla gugino #diablo cody #zelda williams #frankenstein

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trouble-writing · 1 year

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Slightly cracky 'he was the gardener all along'-idea.

Let's turn the 'Akira's parents are loaded'-headcanon up to 11. They have a huge elaborate garden. Akira comes back and slots seamlessly back into the family.

His parents ignore him as much as before, but they don't think of him as an absolute criminal, so that's nice. But they are adamant about him not going back to Tokyo, and more or less forcing him to enroll in the college in the next bigger town.

Maybe they could pull some strings despite his (overturned) criminal record. He goes there after protesting, being sure he will transfer at the first opportunity. It's not that bad. Morgana's here, his friends can video call and message, and he mostly has the house to himself.

On one of the rare occasions his parents are there, they inform him that they hired a new gardener from a local firm with good reviews, and he's supposed to keep an eye out if he does a good job, etc. And he does! The flowers look better than ever.

It's a delight to see the garden flourish, especially after he spent working so many hours at the flower shop. He starts doing his homework outside, but he hasn't seen or met the gardener yet, since he always comes around when Akira has classes.

Until one day - classes are canceled - he looks out the window and sees someone working out there. Imagine the general gardener fit, jeans, a t-shirt, if we're daring a straw hat, and Akira's just looking. And keeps looking.

He likes the glimpses of sun-bleached hair he sees and the slight tan, but he's busy, having a call with Ann scheduled, and during it, he carries the laptop over to the window and she approves of what she sees, comparing Akira to a romance heroine lusting after the gardener.

He just laughs. He doesn't laugh when he sees the gardener remove his shirt the next time. And thus begins Akira's journey of lusting after the gardener, but trying not to become a cliché by being inappropriate towards the guy. He hasn't even seen his face!

And well, it's summer soon, and he still misses Goro, and maybe Ann was right that he should distract himself, and flirt a little. And of course, there's a pool in the garden. Because of course. And maybe he should do his homework at different times on one of the beach chairs.

Wearing shorts and t-shirts, maybe even a tank top if he's particularly brave, to see if there might be a little interest. And there is! It's almost as if the gardener can't look away whenever Akira enters the garden and makes his way to his new favorite spot.

The guy keeps working and himself hidden, but it's as if Akira can feel his eyes on him. They keep staring at each other once the other looks away, and it's fun for a while. Definitely distracts him from everything else going on in his life.

At one point he gets bold enough to just approach the gardener. More or less sneaking up on him. And when he finally makes a noise to let him know Akira's approaching, he turns around.

And Akira stares into the face of one Goro Akechi, who found his calling in taking care of plants and nurturing them during their time apart.

*bows* That is all.

#akeshu #Trouble posts ideas #persona5 #au ideas #Writing by Trouble

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viscountessevie · 2 years

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I’m not going to excuse people getting threatening messages because that’s just fucking wrong, no matter what. But you very much shared an ask response on the main Bridgerton tag about Colin being confused and fucking Penelope’s belly button. Like okay, maybe it seems like a funny joke of him being a clueless virgin? But I have heard the fat joke countless times growing up, about a woman being so fat that a man might make that mistake. And hey, maybe you never experienced that but it’s really hurtful. It just comes off as incredibly fatphobic, so if you’re not actively trying to hurt people, please try harder?

Anon is talking about this post

[Shoutout to my friends for looking this over before I posted @sweetestviscount @sophiamariabeckett and @hptriviachamp & @jeanvanjer for the HR insight]

Hey there, thank you for sending this ask and letting me know in a civil manner! While they were not death threats aimed at me - I’m hoping I never get those - THIS is the way to broach things that are hurtful not call people disgusting names and hope they die. Under no circumstances should we ever try to justify death threats under the guise of moralising. That being said, I genuinely thank you for the way you wrote this, anon.

I definitely hear you and understand your frustration on hearing countless fat jokes growing up. That must have been really shitty and I'm genuinely sorry about that. I promise you this blog is a safe space for those who wish to make it as such and, while I condemn Show!Penelope for her actions, I am actively anti-fatphobic and DO NOT tolerate it on here at all!

However, I would like to clarify the joke in the ask and the anon who sent it very much confirmed it too. You were somewhat right in your first guess:

Like okay, maybe it seems like a funny joke of him being a clueless virgin?

You may also have missed a related ask here where I explicitly stated this:

To a certain extent, it is about his cluelessness as a virgin but mainly about the lack of his sexual prowess and so I assure you, the joke is 100% on Show!Colin and the way he is currently being written and nothing against Pen or her weight at all.

Like I said in the screenshot above, literally nothing wrong with being a virgin! It can be great and you aren't always clueless. Again, this is HR (Historical Romance) show and that comes with a certain standard. If they want to keep him a virgin, that's great - more rep for people like us! But he needs to be a Hot Virgin™ and if he was clueless, let Pen teach him or something! That's a solid trope.

While we are on the topic, I do want to defend Pen against the show and the way the showrunners clearly view her. Aside from the horrible things she's done to innocent people in the Ton, hate-criming the POCs and backstabbing those closest to her, it's very telling that Daphne and Kate got Regé Jean Page as Simon and Jonathan Bailey as Anthony respectively who do have a large number of people who find them hot (if they aren't your type, fine but you can't deny they are on the higher end of an objective attractiveness scale). They fit the standard of a typical Hot HR Hero and that's what their wives deserve!!

Why doesn't Pen get the same type of hero? Why isn't she written like Daph and Kate who also hit the standard of HR heroines? Yes, Penelope is framed sympathetically by the narrative after everything she's done but when you put together all the actions I listed above, she is also written as a villain that gets away with everything (so far - we don't know if she'll even apologise in S3). If this was any other show where she wasn't guaranteed Colin as her endgame, she would be a villain.

It's just really annoying to see the (1) one fat main character on the show not given the HR heroine treatment and given a boy next door looking man who is very close to doing brownface if that tan from Greece keeps up. Book Pen (pre-TVWLM weight loss) and Nicola deserved the HR treatment!!

[I have said this a couple of times on my blog but Newts is cute; especially his S1 looks but it not exactly HR Hot but if he gets you going, that’s great! He’s just not it for the majority of us and that’s okay too.]

To close this off, again I do apologise that the original ask hurt you and may have brought up painful memories. That was neither Jett Anon's intention nor mine, I hope the clarification helped and my DMs are open if you do want to vent about this more.

#Bridgerton #Bridgerton Fandom #Penelope Featherington #Honestly she deserved better

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ramayantika · 2 years

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Ch-3: Almost fainting at a painting

Haanji namaste. Sorry for this ekdum weird chapter name par dimag mein acha naam aaya nahi. Also Saanjh, if you are reading this, khana hai iss chapter mein.

CH-1 CH-2

Anika was back to health within a day. Nobody made any comments or asked any questions about the veena episode, but Anika's head was bubbling with many questions, yet she kept silent about it.

Later she concluded that it happened due to her being deeply invested into the story. She had always been attached to stories, especially to the ones which involved tragic romances, stories from bygone eras, and epic heroes and heroines.

However, all her questions were pushed to the back of her head when Sonalika announced that they were to leave for Bhubaneswar within the next two days.

'Chal, Anika, now focus on the project and not on their incomplete love story,' she muttered to herself when she heard Sonalika.

Two days later, she was standing in front of the glorious mansion of the Routrays that stretched over the majestic green Udayagiri hills. Her mouth opened in wonder, as her eyes took in the grand view that blessed her eyes. Sonalika looked at Anika's face and tugged her hand playfully.

"Muh toh band karo didi. Aage aur bahut hai." She walked inside the gates when two men in suits arrived and took their luggage.

They sat in the reception area which according to Anika looked like a normal reception area of a hotel. It looked like a guest hall fit for royals. The entire floor was sprawled with maroon sofas with sofa covers embroidered in traditional designs. There was a beautiful chandelier over her head and for a second, she wondered about the probability of the chandelier falling on her.

After ten minutes, a lady in a neatly draped maroon saree arrived with a bright smile on her face, holding a tray with two mocktails.

Sonalika got up instantly, a cheerful look on her face, exclaimed, "Ah Nandini, such a pleasure to see you. How have you been?"

Nandini replied while offering the tray to Anika. "I have been well my child, just that the sun this year has been too harsh." She moved her eyes towards her arms. "Look, how much have I tanned this time! This will take a month of haldi besan to go away."

Sonalika took her drink from her and sat on the sofa. "So, Anika, she is Nandini. She works here at the palace and I have known her since childhood." With a teasing grin, she added, "And don't be fooled by her youthful appearance. God knows how doesn't she age." She then gestured towards Anika. "And she is Anika, my school friend. She is doing a history project so she will be with us for a month.

Nandini's ears perked up and Anika observed a glint in her eyes, which quickly went away. "Well, I hope your stay here is comfortable and since you are my Sona's friend, which makes you my child as well, you can always reach out to me if you need anything," she said in a friendly tone. "And call me Nandini only." She passed one last smile at the girls and took the tray away and walked away.

Anika, amused at the lady, turned towards Sonalika. "Bro, how old is she? You said that you knew her since your childhood.'

" Thirty nine, I guess. No older than forty though."

"She looks like she is in her late twenties, no way can she be thirty nine."

"Yeah when we grow old, I will ask her to share her anti-ageing secrets."

***

"This sword belongs to Gajendra Deva Routray and is of twenty kilos," Nandini stated, as Anika's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Kshatriyon mein itni power kahan se aati thi haan," said Anika, meeting a pair of amused eyes. "Mera toh 1kg atta lane mein hi halat tight hojati hai."

Nandini suppressed a chuckle and walked ahead towards a narrow doorway. "Enough of the weapons now. Come here in the gallery, I will show you the real paintings of the royals."

Anika's eyes lit up and Nandini had caught her eyes very well. She opened the door of the gallery and stepped aside to make way for the girls.

Anika stepped inside, and looked around the gallery. "Does the gallery have paintings of every member of the royal Family?"

This time Sonalika spoke. "We have almost everyone over here. My family is there, look!" She pointed ahead to the wall.

Sonalika was a baby in that painting. Dressed in a green lehenga and eyes laden with kajal, she looked absolutely cute in that painting. Since they were the ones born in the modern era, they could have simply got their photos framed, but they wanted to have their photos painted just like their ancestors so they got themselves painted and framed it in the gallery.

"Now come on Anika, let me introduce you to everyone." Nandini now stood beside her, leading the way.

"Wait! First show her the painting of Kavindra. We were talking about him and his story some nights before. This girl," Sonalika gestured towards Anika, "ended up dreaming about him, you know. Who knows by some weird magic of the universe, she could have seen the real him?"

Nandini's voice suddenly turned grave. "She saw the prince in her dream? So early?"

"So early?" Anika interjected. "What does that mean?"

"N-nothing. Come on, move ahead, my child." Nandini grabbed one end of her pallu and wrapped some part of it over her finger.

Sonalika did not pay attention to any of that. She was excited to check if by coincidence, her friend had seen the prince or not.

A sudden gasp brought Sonalika to focus around her surroundings. Anika's hands were over her face as if shielding herself away from something. She quickly went towards her friend and made her sit down on the floor.

"Are you okay, Anika? First you fell ill back home and now suddenly over here. All good?"

"I saw- fire. Sparks everywhere. A huge flame just blew over my face." Anika kept rubbing her face as she spoke. Sonalika turned towards Nandini and said, "Get a glass of water for her please. I think she is really unwell."

Nandini hurriedly walked outside. Sonalika rubbed Anika's back gently as she slowly began to compose herself. She took deep breaths and rubbed her temples frequently. Finally gaining some strength to speak, she asked, "Sona, please can you get crocin from my bag? That might help this headache."

Sonalika quickly left to fetch Anika's tablets. Alone, Anika made another attempt to look at the painting of the prince. It felt puzzling that just after hearing his story, everything felt weird around her.

'First, a dream then a vision and I unknowingly play music from the same vision and now I see a fireball over my face. Was I related to this prince in my past life,' she muttered in annoyance. 'Jabse malum chala hai iske bare mein tabse sab ulta sidha hi ho raha hai.'

True she was annoyed, but one glance at the prince's painting, everything faded away. The first time, her eyes landed over him, she saw fire around her and felt tremendously hot. That vision and fiery sensation lasted merely a few seconds, but were enough to fatigue the mind.

The prince in the painting stood elegantly, a small smile on his lips, unlike the other royals who looked stoic, with no smile or any expression on their faces. His small smile for no reason made Anika feel peace. Her headache lessened a bit. Kavindra was dressed in a white kurta that reached to his shins. His right hand held a white lotus while the other hand rested over a long white stool that was very well carved and designed with precious jewels. The painting had a lot of white in it. The prince himself was decked in white.

His face was to the front which again was unlike the other paintings where everyone looked to their side or to the corners.

"He must have been a rebel it seems," said Anika with a smile.

The painter had done a very commendable job. Looking at the prince, she felt as if she was at ease. The tender look of the prince reminded her of the gentle rain that falls at nights. Even from a painting, Anika could feel that the prince must have been a very approachable and a friendly being.

"Anika, here's your glass of water." Anika jumped a little on hearing Nandini's voice beside her.

"When did you come in?" She asked, taking the glass from her.

"Umm.. just now?"

"Ani, take your tablet. I even got your purse with me." Sonalika barged inside the gallery.

Anika quickly swallowed the tablet and looked at Sonalika. "I guess, Sona, your Kavindra is affecting me. First the vision and now this."

"The vision?" Both Nandini and Sonalika asked, their eyebrows raised in question.

Anika gulped her water slowly while trying to figure out an acceptable answer for both the women. "Vision? Did I say vision?" Nandini nodded at her.

"Oh, hehe, it was related to the project. I have a vision plan for my project. Nothing much." Sonalika passed a dubious look, but stayed silent.

Nandini casted one final look at Kavindra. Nobody noticed her smile at the painting. Nobody noticed her finger movements under the edge of her pallu that was tied to her finger.

"I think food will solve everything now. You girls come to the dining room within fifteen minutes while I set up the Royal Odia cuisine," Nandini said. Her index finger was still moving in circles under her pallu but none of the girls noticed it.

She then walked away, leaving Sonalika and Anika in the gallery. Sonalika glanced at the painting once again and then at her friend.

What was going on with her friend? This wasn't a case of being too involved or obsessed in a princely story. Something else was at play.

***

Nandini and other staff members pulled out chairs for both Sonalika and Anika. The chairs were too cushiony for Anika, who felt that she could even sink in them while eating.

An old lady around her fifties arrived with a large bowl of some brown coloured sweet dish and placed it on the table. "Eita hela ama Rasabali." (This is our Rasabali.)

The round reddish brown sweet was coated in thick flavoured milk, garnished with nuts and kesar that made Anika lick her lips. Another helper began serving the sweets to the girls while other mouth watering dishes arrived.

There was machha ghanta, a deliciously tempting fish curry served with hot steamed rice. A small bowl sized serving arrived for Kanika, a traditionally prepared sweet pulao that was also a part of the chappan bhog offered to the favourite deity of Odisha, Lord Jagganatha.

Two tiny white bowls were brought in that contained aambo khatta (mango khatta). Anika dipped her finger into it and licked it. The taste made her smile.

Sonalika, smiled and said, "Ruk jaa aur bhi hai."

"Aur kitna hai bhai? Itna toh aaram se ho jayega," Anika said, after breaking out from the rich taste of her khatta.

A pot arrived with steaming Pilaf. The golden brown colour of the rice mixed with the aroma of spices made Anika want to gorge on the meals already, but she waited patiently for all the dishes to arrive.

Finally, her wait was over when she was served two large Pahala Rasagulla. Sonalika immediately popped that white delicacy in her mouth and closed her eyes. Anika on the hand squeezed the white ball to see how much chasni they were giving out.

Nandini after ensuring that all the dishes were served began to speak. "Now, a good meal will take all your tiredness away Anika along with causing a riot in your tastebuds. Call me once after you are done with your meals. I will escort you to your rooms."

Every helper and all the staff members soon left away to let the girls enjoy their lunch. One of the windows was left open letting some cool breeze pass inside the hall.

Anika was about to stuff her rasgulla in her mouth when a sudden gust of wind passed by her. The wind tickled her neck and blew some stray hair strands by her ears. Immediately she looked back towards the window.

Nothing.

The trees outside were still as a statue. Not a leaf moved an inch. It was quite peculiar here. She gulped her rasgulla and asked Sonalika, "Sona, did you feel the wind?"

"Wind?"

"Yes, abhi ekdum zorr se hawa andar aaya na." What on earth is going around me? Anika wondered.

"I think you really need a good rest. Jaldi khana khatam kar. Nandini will show you the roomroom and you get some rest." Sonalika's face soon turned to a frown as worry etched her face. Things were going very wrong and strange after she told her story about that prince.

"Anika," Sona turned a glance at her friend's hair, "why is there a black burnt rose on your hair?"

She shook her head and the rose fell on the table beside her plate. Her fingers ran over the coarse petals of the rose. Some of the petals even crumbled into small black bits under her fingers.

Somewhere in the dark ruins of the once glorious palace, a finger plucked a string of a partially burnt veena.

******

Tagging: @navaratna @inexhaustible-sources-of-magic @ma-douce-souffrance @Nandini where did you go I even made you a character in here 😭

And the khane ka photo

Rosogolla as we odias say

Khatta

Kanika

Rasabali (you must have this once at least)

The fish curry!

Pilaf

#samridhi writes #fics

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mermaidsirennikita · 2 years

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Any romance novels where one of the characters is beautiful and the other is unattractive? Tired of seeing only attractive people falling in love.

Honestly, I don't know? Because here's the thing--once someone falls super in love, even if the person is not conventionally attractive, their lover~ finds them really hot. And in a romance novel, you are not getting an omniscient narrator, really, but the perspective of one or both leads. So it's hard to tell.

I also really don't like it when characters are super self-pitying about their appearances (there's a difference between insecurity and self pity, you know?) and a lot of books in this vein unfortunately swing that way.

With that being said, I'd recommend looking into:

Her Baseborn Bridegroom by Alice Coldbreath. I gave this a 3/5 because some writing quirks bugged me, but I will definitely be trying more from her (some have said that her more Victorian-set books work better?) and she's apparently big on this. The heroine is described very skinny, super freckly, just kinda sickly and awkward looking. The hero isn't described as beautiful but he is like, very big and strong and classically appealing in that sense.

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt--This book FUCKS SO HARD. The hero has smallpox scars and is considered super unsightly. The heroine isn't like, a stunning beauty, but she's attractive and he's very convinced that she won't be into him because like. He's an earl and women are literally!!! Turning him and his fortune down because he's so ugly. She and I, however, are of the same mind, which is to say--when the dick's that good, the face is really less of an issue.

Generally, Hoyt likes to describe people in very interesting ways. Not a lot of her heroes and heroines are just like, stunningly beautiful, save a few here and there. I think that in Sweetest Scoundrel, the heroine (Grace, I believe) is described as unattractive--super bony and pinched looking. But the hero, who's this handsome roguish scoundrel type, is incredibly attracted to her. In To Beguile A Beast the heroine is super beautiful (she was the mistress to a duke) and the hero is very scarred and missing an eye due to his past as a soldier. Fucks like a champ, because it's Elizabeth Hoyt. This is the "I will put this lemon wedge in you so you don't get pregnant but I'll make it sexy" book. The "loves a hint o' lemon zest hero" book, if you will.

In The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, the heroine is pretty and the hero is so hideously scarred that, again, even though he's a duke people are turning him down. They have a marriage of convenience so that he can get an heir.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase is a classic wherein everyone is like, "this hero is so ugly because his mom was Italian so he has a natural tan and a large nose", which just sounds like a really hot person to me, but he's canonically considered ugly and the heroine is beautiful. I couldn't get into this when I tried it, but idk, I feel like it could've been a mood issue, so I will be listening to it in audio as soon as my library gives me that thing.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #his sin? ITALIAN is still the funniest shit to me

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ya-world-challenge · 2 years

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Book Review - Daughter of the Moon Goddess (🇨🇳 China)

(image source: Sam Lim @ pexels)

YA World Challenge Review for 🇨🇳 China (repost)

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Author: Sue Lynn Tan

Review

This is one instance where you should definitely judge a book by its cover. Just like the cover, this book is so pretty! The book is like an elaborate Chinese costume drama where everyone is beautiful (well, they are immortals). The setting is lusciously described with palaces and gardens full of marble and silk and jade, gold and pearls, flowers and incense. This lusciousness extends poetically into the prose bringing an atmosphere of mythical China into every paragraph. “her voice now cooler than a piece of unworn jade” “the threat that lurked beneath the empress’s tone like a silk cord yanked tight”

The prose is written with a classical feel and never too modern, while still keeping an easy to read flow, so it really does feel mythical.

My father slew the suns. My mother lights the moon.

Xingyin is the daughter of Chang’e the moon goddess and Houyi the archer from the famed Chinese story. She finds herself fleeing her home on the moon and soon fate draws her into the gilded world of the Celestial Palace, while keeping her secrets and searching for a way to save her mother. Oh, and there’s Liwei. He’s a prince. But there’s also a love triangle of sorts.

But what I really like about Xingyin as a heroine is that she’s badass in a quiet sort of way. Oh, she has a sharp tongue at times, but overall she’s compassionate, honorable, and most importantly, respects herself and doesn’t accept less than she knows she deserves. And in love, she analyzes her feelings wisely and maturely, often putting her own goals over matters of the heart.

What I liked

Beautiful world, beautiful prose; Strong, wise, honorable characters; a mature and respectful approach to love

Dramatic mythical adventure

A gender-equal world, yay!

What I didn’t like

Nothing..?

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. While there is a current of romance flowing through the book at all times, I thought the main theme was personal growth, as Xingyin learns from all she experiences, and loyalty and dedication - to her family, friends, and her goal - with adventure and just a little intrigue.

Though this is a duology, the ending wraps up nicely, with just a few unanswered questions that might come up in a sequel.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 stars

Buy at Bookshop.org || Kindle link

Genres: #mythology #fantasy world #romance #family #adventure #royalty

Content warnings at Storygraph

#book review #china #daughter of the moon goddess #booklr #bookblr #ya books #fantasy world #mythology #romance #adventure #royalty #asia #5 stars

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dwellordream · 2 years

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“Legend has it that the erotic historical sprang, full-grown and kicking, out of the head of Kathleen Woodiwiss and stormed brazenly onto the romance novel scene. Between 1972 and 1974 romance sales were down, publishers were looking for a new formula, and Nancy Coffey of Avon books discovered Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower (1972) from a stack of unsolicited manuscripts. Longer than other romances then on the market, its sexual encounters were more graphic and violent and there was a grandness of design, involving extensive travel and high adventure, heretofore unseen. The sweeping popularity of this new formula electrified the whole market; hundreds of thousands of romance lovers became burningly obsessed.

Soon after Woodiwiss’s resounding success Avon came out with Rosemary Rogers’s Sweet Savage Love (1974), giving the new formula one of its names: the “sweet savage” romance. What was it about the “bodice-ripper” that caused such a historical break, a radical shift in romance formulas thereafter? Their essential charm stems from their erotic dangerousness, their near-pornographic sexual violence, and their eroticization of travel, of the world and all its exhilarating experiences. In fact, experience itself becomes erotically dangerous, a sublime reaching toward transcendence, or a final movement toward a heroic and ecstatic death.

The formula hinges on the elusive and cryptic hero who gestures toward the endless possibility of erotic darkness. Brandon, the hero of The Flame and the Flower, emanates ominous blackness: hair that is “raven black,” skin that is “darkly tanned”; he “sweeps” the heroine “with a bold gaze from top to toe” (31). His desires turn on cruel mastery and imprisonment of the heroine; his evil actions set him apart from earlier mass-market formulas as a character singularly unredeemable: “He had the look of a pirate about him, or even Satan himself” (31). “Tall and powerful he stood, garmented regally in black velvet and flawless white. He was Satan to her. Handsome. Ruthless. Evil. He could draw her soul from her body and never feel remorse” (92).

The erotic fantasy of being subjugated—terrified and trembling—by such an archetypal enemy figure hinges, once again, on his subjugation at the end of the novel by his love for the heroine. He tumbles from masterful demon lover to having a body that is pale, that trembles, mirroring her physical terror upon first meeting him. “The breath caught in Brandon’s throat. He went pale and suddenly began to shake. He cursed himself for letting a mere girl affect him this way. She played havoc with his insides. He felt as if he were again a virgin, about to experience his first woman. He was hot and sweating one moment, cold and shaking another” (152).

Tossed from one passionate, self-decimating extreme to another, the hero of the erotic historical embodies a grandness of contradiction distinct from other romance formulas, particularly earlier ones, and his dramatic transformation from distant, cold villain to burning lover whose world resides in the heroine is more violently exaggerated than in any other romance genre. It is this excessiveness that pulls the erotic historical toward the genre of pornography.

Both genres tend to repeat again and again the point of supersaturation of meaning—with pornography this point is penetration, and with the erotic historical it is the passionate frisson between the hero and heroine. Steve Morgan, the hero of Sweet Savage Love, cynical gunfighter, ever-wandering killer, is so full of dark experience and secret doings that his past is never finally told and resolved. Steve’s life as a homeless fighter does not change with his final transformation into a lover; he takes the heroine along with him on his travels, and she herself becomes a vagabond and fugitive.

In the erotic historical, distinct from other contemporary mass-markets, the lovers remain outside, wayfarers on the margins of society. In all the heroes of this genre, we find something of Rhett Butler from Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (1936) (itself an early classic of the erotic historical genre). A perennial influence on enemy lovers everywhere, Rhett introduces us to the cynical libertine who hides an interior of deep disappointment. He self-destructively gestures again and again to his fallenness, goading society to cast him out more and more: “Suppose I don’t want to redeem myself?” Rhett asks. “Why should I fight to uphold the system that cast me out? I shall take pleasure in seeing it smashed” (240).

A ruined idealist, he has before him a world void of real truth, of strong principle and moral rectitude; thus he tumbles into the abyss with an unimaginable grace and charm. Rhett presents us with that common twist on the erotic outcast character: the dandy. He wears “the clothes of a dandy on a body that was powerful and latently dangerous in its lazy grace” (179). We often encounter the dandified dangerous lover, as we see with Oscar Wilde’s characters (and Wilde himself and his fellow Aesthetes), the Byronic hero in the popular imagination (and Byron himself), and many characters from contemporary romances (particularly the erotic historical and the regency genres).

This performance of eccentricity, showiness, and bold statement expresses a sense of mastery over social codes and gestures—a mastery to the point of deconstructing them. Exaggerating such social expressions performs an ironic disenchantment and, to reference stock Romantic ideas, a sense of self so singular that, even visibly, he “stands out.” To “stand out,” though, asks for witnesses to self-exile; the dangerous lover “confesses” his disappointment in a world too shallow for him; his only recourse is to parody this lack of soul. To be superficial on the surface is to point to and, at the same time, hide an interior.

Confession is eroticized with dangerous subjectivity: the secret depth of the soul is unveiled to the beloved and the beloved only, and when it’s exposed the fact that it can’t be represented is uncovered. Such is the paradox; the lover says: “Here is the depth of my pain, see how it can never be understood.” Yet the dangerous lover’s infinite subjectivity is infinite only insofar as it is confessed and witnessed—its very presentation guarantees its unrepresentability. As Barthes affirms of the lover: “ . . . passion is in essence made to be seen: the hiding must be seen: I want you to know that I am hiding something from you, that is the active paradox I must resolve: at one and the same time it must be known and not known” (Lover’s Discourse, 42).

What the dandy expresses with his style is that his style can never represent him. While Rhett is a rascal, when he loves he is the best of men, but he must hide this because, more than any other man, he feels he has failed on a grand scale. Maintaining complete indifference for the world and in the world is essential, otherwise his hell will cut deeper, his lacerated interiority will be exposed to further wounding. The world mirrors his subjectivity: a lost cause. Only the heroine witnesses his depths of strength and hence also the depths of his final despair. All others see only his reckless, insolent façade.

With Rhett we are reminded of the self emptied or the absence of being—his eroticism sets before us our own death, our own darkness. Scarlett describes her first encounter with this erotic: “He was like death, carrying her away in arms that hurt. . . . She was darkness and he was darkness and there had never been anything before this time, only darkness and his lips upon hers. . . . Suddenly she had a wild thrill like she had never known; joy, fear, madness, excitement” (940). Barthes writes of this craving to be engulfed or annihilated as part of the lover’s discourse. It is a dying without the pains of dying, “the gentleness of the abyss” (11) where responsibility no longer holds one in its clutches.

The beauty of erotic death is replayed in another classic dangerous lover narrative, as well as an early and influential erotic historical—Edith M. Hull’s The Sheik (1921), considered by some to be the first romance of the twentieth century. The sheik of the title kidnaps, rapes, and holds captive an aristocratic English girl. Again the inexorable divide: the mysterious, ruthless leader of a roving band of Arabs and the subjugated, enslaved English girl. The sheik has “the handsomest and cruelest face that she had ever seen. . . . He was looking at her with fierce burning eyes that swept her until she felt that the boyish clothes that covered her slender limbs were stripped from her” (56–57).

She observes that “ . . . his face was the face of a devil” (141). His subjectivity has the hiddenness of danger: “The man himself was a mystery. . . . She could not reconcile him and . . . [the] dozen incongruities that she had noticed during the day crowded into her recollection until her head reeled”(79). He has exiled himself from his aristocratic English origins; he wanders the desert incessantly. Redemption from self-inflicted loneliness comes finally through true love. His only escape must be from outside, through a transcendence which he can’t possibly see beforehand because it is so exterior to any kind of solution he could find for himself.

The lover brings the caesura, the utter surprise of an interruption of restless being. As an outsider love narrative, The Sheik ends with the declaration of love signifying a pact to wander together as homeless voyagers. The Sheik makes fast the chain that links the erotic historical with pornography (and we will see everywhere these links between the dangerous lover romance and pornography, particularly in the nineteenth century). Even though Hull’s story is not sexually explicit—in fact, on the page we only read about kisses—she rewrites and romanticizes a popular nineteenth-century pornographic narrative.

The darling of nineteenth-century pornographers, the story of an exotic foreigner—a Turk, a sheik, a pirate, a brigand—enslaving and raping a pale and supplicant English virgin provided the ultimate titillation for the English gentleman reader. The anonymous The Lustful Turk: Scenes in the Harem of an Eastern Potentate, published around 1828, provides us with a famous example of a pornographic version of The Sheik. The narrative of The Lustful Turk, up until the all-important ending, is essentially the same as the sheik romance.

Of course, with the romance the ending is everything: in The Sheik, the transcendent sphere of love “redeems” the brutality of the hero, casting a rosy glow of forever back on all sadistic acts. The pornographic version merely repeats, unrelentingly, the act of penetration, of possession. No transcendence here: meaning flattens out into a repetition which could sustain itself forever.”

- Deborah Lutz, “The Erotics of Ontology: The Mass-Market Erotic Historical Romance and Heideggerian Failed Presence.” in The Dangerous Lover: Gothic Villains, Byronism, and the Nineteenth-Century Seduction Narrative

#the dangerous lover #deborah lutz #cw: rape #cw: racism #cw: orientalism #literature

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yaworldchallenge · 2 years

Text

Review - Daughter of the Moon Goddess

🇨🇳 China

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Author: Sue Lynn Tan

Review

The prose is written with a classical feel and never too modern, while still keeping an easy to read flow, so it really does feel mythical.

My father slew the suns. My mother lights the moon.

What I liked

Beautiful world, beautiful prose; Strong, wise, honorable characters; a mature and respectful approach to love

Dramatic mythical adventure

A gender-equal world, yay!

What I didn’t like

Nothing..?

Though this is a duology, the ending wraps up nicely, with just a few unanswered questions that might come up in a sequel.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5 stars

Buy at Bookshop.org || Kindle link

Genres: #mythology #fantasy world #romance #family #adventure #royalty

Content warnings at Storygraph

#YA world challenge #china #review #book review #daughter of the moon goddess #sue lynn tan #ya books #booklr #bookish #mythology #fantasy world #romance #family #adventure #royalty #straight #5 stars

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weizhentian · 1 year

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Been browsing Harlequin romance manga. I like how convenient they are (having pictures cut down on reading time significantly) and how the art styles often evoke classic shoujo artists.

I'm not so happy with the shadism (?) in the character design choices. Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband has a Venezuelan heroine who has dark eyes and hair and presumptively tan skin in the original novel, but the manga adaptation makes her hair and skin lighter.

I got curious and started Sheikh's Pregnant Cinderella (yeah I know), and the artist gave the Arab heroine light brown hair and purple eyes. Both characters are pale on the cover art :(

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samanthamarkle92 · 2 years

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Hey followers! Dusted of the old laptop and FINALLY uploaded some pics I had used for story collages to Google Photo. Found this great couples pic that Wattpad had deemed too explicit. It perfectly captured the scene I used it for! Soooo, sharing it here with a little excerpt from my post-apocalyptic romance, Their Scars (available on Wattpad). To set the scene, our heroine Kayla (an escaped sex slave) and her protector-turned-lover Collin (a soldier) share a sweet but intimate moment in the bathtub. Written in my steamy-sweet style!

Collin came in.

"Hey, beautiful." He said. He watched her relax, as though there would be no one else in the world for her. He stood there a minute.

"Join me?" She asked, smiling.

"Sure," he answered, stripping off his clothes and getting into the tub with Kayla.

He leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Do you love me?" He asked sweetly, brushing the wet tendrils of hair out of her face.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes." She said.

"Say it."

"I love you and I trust you." He smiled, then handed her a bar of soap; like she was a child.

"Ok," Collin said. "So, wash my back."

She nodded.

Kayla ran the bubbles up and down his muscular back. She felt so relaxed all the pain, hurt, and fear she felt was gone. She couldn't care less about her past and the troubles that filled her mind faded into nothingness. As she finished, Collin took the soap, and Kayla took the moment to gaze at him. When he turned around, his eyes sparkled. They were the world's most beautiful eyes.

"Babe, I know you want to wash the rest." He said, grinning devilishly. Kayla giggled.

He had the body of grown man. Taller than average, strong and broad shouldered with a deep tan. He was gorgeous and he knew it. Kayla couldn't take her eyes off him. There was something about him.

She ran the bubbles down his chest. His muscles contracted under her touch. He had muscular arms and thighs; with a lean belly. When she touched them, they were golden brown and so soft. As she gazed at him, she realized he was very good-looking.

She took the soap and touched his broad shoulders, pushing the bubbles into his brown hair. He arched his back a little. She then ran the soap from his shoulders down his arms, watching the bubbles run down them.

He had nice hands, she thought. It was weird to think that at one time, she had touched his hands. How could she forget that? How could she forget him?

Her insides quivered with love. She was so lucky to have him now.

Her life seemed better than ever after him in it. She knew they were going to make it.

He laid back, so Kayla's head was under his chin. He put his arms around her, and the warm, watery air filled his lungs.

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you again. I promise." He said.

"The other night still feels surreal," Kayla murmured. "You made me feel safe. I know I can put all of that horrible stuff behind me. It's always going to be with me though."

"All of the bad stuff you've been through is going to fade, if not completely. You will be whole again. I promise you that." Collin said.

He rubbed her back slowly. She leaned back against him. "What are you thinking?" he asked, softly.

"I'm thinking about being with you forever," Kayla whispered.

"Me too." He replied. "We are going to be happy."

Kayla wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. Her breasts pressed against his chest.

As he held her, the words flowed out of her mouth.

"I will always love you. I will never leave you. I promise to love no other man as I do you. I promise. I never meant to fall in love, but I did. I'm thankful it was you. I love you." There was passion.

Collin pulled her against him, and they kissed. His fingers trailed down her belly.

"I love you, Kayla. Please, know that you're not a toy. You're not just some tender. You're smart. You're beautiful." He said. "I will be here beside you, no matter what. And if you just need someone to talk to, don't be afraid to ask. I want you to be happy."

Kayla's kisses traveled down his neck. She felt his touch go lower. She felt a warmth growing in her. She was warm, yet trembling with sexual desire. She broke off the kiss, gazing at him in her most passionate way.

Collin was breathless.

"I love you." He said. "I'll always protect you. I always will. No matter what I will protect you."

"Please don't stop." She whispered. "I want you. It's not just because of the way you make me feel, but your everything. You are so caring."

She smiled. He saw the hope in her eyes. She smiled at the thought that she could be a new person.

She kissed her way down his chest to his stomach. He locked her in a hug and rolled, sending water over the edge of the tub.

She was naked underneath him. He kissed her.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He said. "And I trust you. I will always love you."

Collin pushed his hands into the water. He needed to touch her.

It felt so hot under his hands. It was like fire burning his fingertips. He kissed her forehead, her nose, then her lips once more. She was his woman. She was everything he desired in a partner. She didn't deserve what had happened to her. She didn't deserve anything bad to happen to her anymore.

Her lips were warm, and her eyes were sleepy. "I can't live without you. Not if we're going to be together. I need you, Kayla. Please, be mine."

"You're mine too." She said.

She reached into the water and pulled him to her.

"And you're perfect." He whispered. "You're the only one I need. You're the only one left in the world. You're the only one who I want. And don't ever forget that." He said

"I love you, Kayla." His soapy hand stroked her smooth back. "My precious Kayla, who has always been my treasure, my heart."

She lay beneath him, in his embrace, as he kissed her, and caressed her body. She moved against him as they kissed each other. His hands roamed her back and her hips as he kissed her deeply. She kissed him back.

He'd always be there for her, promise he would do whatever it took. She would be in good hands. He would do anything to be with her. He would do anything for her.

Kayla felt her body, heart, and mind melt against Collin's.

Kayla glanced down at herself. There was a softness in her eyes. She looked up at him, "I'll always be yours, Collin. Forever."

"Forever." He smiled at her.

"I love it here," Kayla said. "I love you here with me."

"I love you. " Collin said in a whisper.

They held each other and continued to kiss. They had eternal happiness.

"I have no doubt now that you love me," Kayla whispered.

She could feel the love they shared. Pressing her lips to his, he wrapped his arms around her waist. This was what she would call heaven. He let his eyes travel over her body, admiring every inch of her. Then his lips came down on hers.

She moaned in delight. The sensation was exquisite.

As they kissed, her senses went wild. Every part of her body throbbed, feeling alive and full. She was filled with desire. She felt his fingers brushing her naked arm, his tongue sliding inside her mouth.

Her body was on fire. The heat began to spread throughout her entire being. She wanted him. She loved him. She never wanted this day to end. She would never want this moment to end.

His hands slid over her breasts as she cupped his face. He kissed her passionately, the sudsy water splashing over their bodies. She couldn't remember the last time she had experienced such pleasure or love. All she wanted to do was be close to him. She needed to know that he was there and was going to be.

"God, I love you," he mumbled against her lips. He stared deeply into her eyes. "This is my universe and I'm going to hold you tight and protect you from harm. I swear it Kayla. Everything is going to be okay."

She rested her head on his shoulder. He was holding her. He was going to be there. He wasn't going anywhere.

"You are so amazing. I will never, ever stop loving you." She said.

The words were pure and true. Collin gently removed her from his lips and kissed the side of her face.

"Kayla, I have a surprise for you." He stood up and dried off.

Kayla got out of the tub and thought he was going out back. He was standing in front of her, and he was holding out his hand.

"Collin, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Come on." He urged.

Kayla blinked up at him.

"Collin, this isn't the place to..." Her tone was hesitant. She was afraid.

"Don't be afraid. I want to show you my surprise." He pleaded.

"It's all right." Collin pulled her from the tub. He dried her off with a towel. She closed her eyes as the towel stroked her skin, then he did the same to himself. They pulled their clothes on. She said, "I trust you. " She put her hand in his, and he took her out back to the shed.

Collin got down on one knee.

That's all folks! If you want the read the full story, go to this link!

#romance #wattpad #wattystories #love #lovers #original character #couple #post apocalyptic #so sweet #steamy

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