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lonelyisamyw-0love · 4 months

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Another Place, Another Time (Final)

MarcXFem!Reader (Jake and Steven in headspace)

Summary: After a week of staging, planning and pestering, you finally get to meet Marc. How hard could this be?

CW: Marc being distant, arguing/ yelling, Accidental triggering, swearing, bad Chicagoan accents, almost definitely railroad sentences, mention of Wendy, allusions to trauma

A/N: Thank you for anyone who had read, liked and reblogged my first fic series. It has meant the world to me and I hope ya’ll enjoy! There is also two lil translated phrases at the bottom!

Steven is Orange

Marc is green

Jake is Red

~~~~~~~~~

You find yourself pacing anxiously from the living room to the kitchen and back. If you aren’t careful, you’ll wear a hole in the floor. “Why is this so hard? The hell am I so nervous for?” Mumbling nervously, you check the text messages between yourself and “the gang”. Rereading the messages between Jake, Steven and yourself does little to soothe the creeping anxiety. Your phone vibrates suddenly, startling you as a message comes thru.

“ETA 5 minutes

-J”

“fuck…fuck!. Okay calm down. This is fine. We planned for this. Just breathe.” You know Jake is being kind by giving you a heads up but it only makes it worse, damn him and his consideration. You spend the next five minutes sitting on the couch, bouncing your leg. Exactly 5 minutes later, there is a sharp knock. You take a deep breath and walk over to the door, take another deep breath and open it. In front of you is a familiar form but a vastly unfamiliar vibe. The squared shoulders, slick-back hair and a stony face. Tension radiates off him like Jake, but it feels more intense, almost stifling. This man is like a mausoleum: imposing, guarded and full of secrets.

Smiling, you open the door wider to let him in, “Hi Marc! I’m happy I finally get to meet you. Shoes off at the door please and make yourself comfy.”

He walks in, toes his shoes off, and lines them neatly at the baseboard by the door. “Pleasure to meet you Y/N, thank you.”

“Of course, have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?”

“Just water”

“Comin’ right up.” You return with two glasses of water, handing him one before sitting on the other couch. What are you supposed to say? You aren’t supposed to ask about his past, you know that but you don’t know where to start. Asking about the weather seems so dumb. Jake told you he likes the Cubs but you don’t know anything about sportball?! Why is talking to Marc so much harder than talking to the strangers at the diner??

Marc clears his throat, “Thank you for the water.”

“I have an idea!”, you exclaim suddenly, causing Marc to raise an eyebrow.

“Ok I was thinking we do something together. Let’s go. C’mon!” You stand up and head to the kitchen, turning around to see Marc standing awkwardly.

“Marc? You okay?”

Marc shakes his head a bit before turning towards you, “I’m comin Y/N”

“Marc you sure you’re –

“I’m fine. What plan do you have for us?” he asks. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking, is he already annoyed with you?

“I thought we could bake a cake together.” You reply smiling.

“Bake a cake…with you?”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing. It’ll be fun and we’ll have something good to eat afterwards.”

“I don’t bake.” Marc replies flatly.

Really hermano? That’s your response.

Marc, at least give it a chance.

You look at Marc blankly for a moment. Alright, you hadn’t considered that answer. “Ooookay well, why don’t we try then? It can be a learning experience.” You reply, looking around for an apron.

Say yes marc, Y/N’s trying her best.

Steven’s right, you should at least try.

I don’t need either of you chiming in. I’m here aren’t I?

Don’t make it sound like such a chore, Marc.

“So I have all the ingredients and a recipe so it shouldn’t be too bad” You explain, while handing him an apron. Sighing, he ties it behind himself.

“You don’t need a recipe. You just throw stuff in a bowl, bake it and then done. How hard can it be Y/N.”

You chuckle softly gathering the dry ingredients, bowls, and utensils. “You would think but you have much to learn my friend! Baking is more of a science and then you can play around with the flavors and such.”

Marc opens his mouth to offer a rebuttal but closes it before looking over your shoulder at the recipe.

“Why are there so many steps? The first 3 steps could just be 1 step.”

“They just aren’t. Breaking it down is easier to make sure we don’t get confused or make mistakes. Could you put the dry ingredients in a bowl by the recipe? Please and thank you.” You reply, trying to keep any frustration out of your voice. You begin cleaning and chopping strawberries as you hear soft grumbling and swears.

“Steven, I know how to-. Jake shut the hell up.” You turn around to see Marc hunched over the bowl, jaw clenched. Okay, so, calm fun baking time was not going as planned.

“Marc, do you want to swap and do the strawberries and I’ll do that?”

“No! no, It’s just throwing powders and stuff in a bowl and stirring. I can handle that.”

You take a deep breath to try not to snap back, “I know you are capable of doing it. I was just offering to help. If you want it to come out right, you have to follow the recipe. If not, we can swap.”

Mate, just listen to her. Y/N knows what she is talking about.

If she bakes half as she cooks, I would listen to her hermano.

“Marc? Im not trying to be a dick but would you please just listen-”

“I said I got it” he grits out.

You feel your chest tighten in irritation, the simmering frustration turning into genuine anger. “Fine, but if the cake is messed up. It’s your fault”, You retort flatly before you resume chopping strawberries.

Mierda…

You don’t see Marc’s body stiffen. Don’t see his chest start to heave or his fists curl so tight the knuckles have gone bone white.

Marc…Marc she didn’t mean it like that. She didn’t know..

“Fuck it! Forget this whole thing!” Marc shouts, cutting the tension in the kitchen like a razor. Whipping your head around, you see him, red faced fists clenched at his side. You frown. “What is your problem Spector?”

He snatches the apron off and takes a step towards you, “Forget. This. I told them I didn’t need to meet ya, but I agreed to anyways. Ya want to bake a fuckin’ cake like with Steven but I’m. Not. Him! You and I aren’t friends Y/N!”

The anger churning inside you reaches a rolling boil. You slam the knife down on the cutting board and round on him. “No. You’re absolutely right. We aren’t friends. But that’s only because you make it so fuckin’ difficult to get to know you, to try and care about you. You’re buttoned up so goddamn tight you make it impossible!”

“Why does it matter to ya! You have ya friends. Y’have Steven and Jake. Why are ya trying so hard to-

“Because I want to be your friend too!” You shout back, cutting him off. “If your life was as bad as the boys have told me and half as bad I remember hearing it through the walls. You deserve to have someone care about you! I want to care about you too goddamnit!” Marc stares at you blankly. It is a silent standoff between you and Marc, save for the sound of you two breathing.

“What?” Marc asks softly.

“What part didn’t you hear?” You fire back, the adrenaline coursing through you leaving you poised to lash out again.

“What did you just say? Why did you say that?”

“I said you’re a fuckin grump”, You retort, crossing your arms over your chest.

Marc shakes his head, “Not that part, the other part.”

You blink a few times, what the hell is he playing at? “I’m trying to get to know you but you make it impossible?” you repeat, uncertainty dousing the fire in your chest.

Marc shakes his head again, “No the...the friend…part.”

You open your mouth to spit back a response, but you notice the genuine confusion on Marc’s face. His hands are still in fists but he’s trembling. His eyes are searching your face for an answer to a question he’s never ventured to ask. You realize Marc really doesn’t understand why you’re putting in the effort. To him, you are Steven’s friends. You’re Jake’s friend. Not his, never his friend. You remember conversations with Steven and Jake about some of Wendy’s “bad days”, about the self-loathing, the guilt, the shame. You realize that despite knowing Steven since you were children, and knowing Jake for over a year, this is your first time meeting Marc.

“Fuck…Marc…” You sigh, arms dropping to your sides. “I…lemme start over. First, I want to apologize. You were being an ass, but I had no right to yell just now. Especially when I’m trying to get to know you. That was unfair of me and I’m sorry. Second, I’m trying to be your friend because I care about you. I care about all of you. I want to learn about you the way I did with Jake and the way I did with Steven. You are your own person and you deserve to be treated with the same care as all my friends.” Marc continues to stare at you with an unreadable expression.

¿Estás bien?

Mate, you…you’re awfully quiet

“I-I’ll cut the strawberries. We can swap.” Marc replies in a voice much softer than you expect, his shoulder relaxing slightly. You smile at him, hoping to turn this day around. “Why don’t we do that together after the cakes are in the oven, alright?”

Marc nods, looking between you and the bowl nervously, “I don’t remember what I put in the bowl earlier.” You go to wave your hand dismissively but decide that sudden movements would be a bad idea. You slowly grab the apron and hand it back to him. “We’ll figure it out together”. You walk over to the counter leaving some space for Marc as you two go over how far he has gotten in the recipe. Occasionally you ask if he can remember how much and try to adjust accordingly.

“Alright Spector, next we have to-“

“Marc. I used to be in the military.” He pauses, “My CO only used last names and I just…I can’t. Just call me Marc. Please?” Marc explains, hoping that you don’t ask any further questions.

You nod and continue, “Alright Marc, how are you with crackin’ eggs? I need you to put on in the mix.” Marc takes an egg and cracks it into the bowl one handed. Your sudden applause catches him off guard. “Why are you doing that?”

“Cause that’s cool as hell! I still crack eggs with two hands, even after baking all this time. Don’t tell the others, I think they’d make fun of me.” You laugh before mixing the batter and pouring it into two pans. March snorts softly, “Sure, yea your secret is safe with me Y/N.”

You begin to clean some of the counter space while the cakes are in the oven. “Okay Marc, you’re on choppin’ duty for the berries. Have at it.” Marc nods and makes his way to the abandoned strawberry station. Wiping his hands on the apron, he begins to chop them similar to the ones you previously done.

Soooo…how’s it going mate?

It’s fine…I guess. Better now than earlier.

You just had to giv’er a chance.

Both of them needed time Steven

Sorry ‘bout us prattlin’ on earlier Marc. We didn’t mean to overwhelm you

Stevens right, we should’ve just let you two talk without butting it. Lo siento

We can talk about it more later. I just…Thank you though, for “Shit!”

“Marc what happened?” You turn to see him holding his bleeding finger.

“it’s nothing Y/N. I’m fine” He tries to reassure you but you’re already by his side, gently tugging him to the sink and running the finger under cool water.

“I leave you alone for 10 seconds and you’ve nicked your finger. How am I s’possed to let you loose in the kitchen?” You fuss over his superficial injury as you clean it and bandage it. Marc stares at you baffled. No one fusses over him, no one tends to his injuries except for himself. It’s just a scratch why are you making such a…Oh, right.

“Okay, scratch that, you’re off knife duty. Can you work a mixer Marc?”

“Y/N it wasn’t that big a deal, I can cut the strawberries-“

“aht aht! No bleedin’ in this kitchen. You’re on whipped cream duty.” You smile widely at him.

“But-“

“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas, now go. The mixer calls you” Marc stands there baffled.

Good to know we’ve all had at least one weird interaction with Y/N, ey lads? Marc, might as well head to the mixer, she’s made up her mind.

You explain the ingredients to make whipped cream and how to work the mixer to Marc, who dutifully nods along with your explanation. You head to finish chopping strawberries and hear the steady hum of the mixer behind you. Smiling to yourself, you add a little lemon and sugar to the bowl of berries.

After the cakes have been pulled from the oven and cooled you and Marc layer the cake, whipped cream and strawberries.

“Marc…Marc lean in”

“Y/N what are you doin’?”

You whip out your phone and snap a few selfies. “For the new album! It’s your first cake so we need to document it!”

He smiles, turning to look at the cake. But his eyes catch the recipe. The cake you two have made looks nothing like the picture. The cakes themselves are uneven, the whipped cream doesn’t look as smooth, the berries haphazardly placed. Marc’s heart seizes in his chest. All he can hear is Wendy’s voice berating him. Screaming that it’s his fault the cake came out wrong. You don’t notice at first, happily looking at the photos when you hear Marc’s breathing get heavier. Looking up, you glance between him and the cake a few times before standing next to him.

“Not bad for your first cake Marc. I can’t wait to eat it.” You hold a knife in your hand, “Would you do me the honors and cut me a slice?” Marc looks at you surprised; aren’t you mad at him? Don’t you hate him for ruining the cake? Studying your face, he sees nothing but warmth and compassion as you wait patiently for a response. “I uh, sure yea” He takes a few steadying breaths before cutting a slice for you and himself. You smile as you take your plate and two forks to the living room. Marc stands stock still before he feels his legs move beneath him.

Marc! Cake time!

Right, yea sorry.

Marc follows behind you and sits next to you on the couch. You hand him a fork before gathering some cake of your own. You hold it up to him. “Cheers!” He gathers some cake on his fork and gently taps his fork against yours, “Cheers Y/N”. You take a few bits of the cake, before looking at him. “So…Let’s hear your thoughts, Marc. How is it?” He chews thoughtfully, “the strawberries are nice.” You laugh loudly, “Marc! C’mon. How’s your first cake?”

“I don’t think it’s s’possed to be this salty or thick.” He says softly, poking it with his fork. “Yea well, we went off script a bit. S’alright though, next cake will be better!” You reassure him, continuing to eat your slice, “besides, you did an incredible job with the whipped cream.”

“I’m sorry Y/N. For ruining the first day of the day”

“Marc, it’s alright I-“

“No, it’s not alright. You…You were trying to get to know me. You put in a lot of effort to include me, but Jake and Steven were in my ear carryin’ on and I’ve never baked before let alone with someone else.That’s not an excuse though. I didn’t give you a chance, I yelled at you. I backed you into the corner of the kitchen. You didn’t deserve that and I apologize.” Marc looks at you, shoulders slumped, “Im sorry Y/N.”

You set down your plate and extend your hand, smiling, “We can always try again Marc. Shake on it?” Marc smiles and you pretend to not notice when he wipes his eyes before shaking your hand. “You’ve got ya’self a deal.” You chuckle, “I don’t know if you noticed but when you get upset your accent is thicker. All youse guys do it.”

“It does not.”

“Does too!”

“Says the person who just said ‘youse guys’”

You squint your eyes, “You’ve won this round Marc. Oh! Before I forget. Stay here, I have something for you.”

“Y/N…No you don’t have to-“

“Too late” you call from your bedroom. Marc sits suddenly nervous, until you come back into the living room, arms behind your back.

“Okay so I worked with Steven to do this. He told me how upset you were about Sir Rosser and I didn’t get it at first but then Jake explained it a bit more to me and so-” You pull a small patchwork bunny in his favorite color from behind your back, holding it out to Marc. “I got you your own. Now you don’t have to share. If you even still have the old one. Would you even want a stuffed animal? Fuck, I didn’t think about it til just now. Maybe I should’ve asked first” you ramble nervously before you realize Marc hasn’t said anything, he hasn’t even moved.

“Marc? could you at least say something? Anything? The silence is killing me”

Marc looks up at you with misty eyes before reaching for the stuffed animal with shaking hands “you…got me my own rabbit?”

You smile, relief flooding your system, “Course I did!”. You pull a ruler from behind your back with the other hand, “And when you name it, I’m going to knight him like I did Sir Rosser. I am still the lady of the land.” Marc looks between you and the rabbit before laughing, brightly for the first time in longer than any of the boys can remember.

You were right Steven, Y/N’s a good friend to have.

Marc is right, I guess we have you to thank for this.

I’m glad you lads get it. Now since we’re talking about my good ideas, I have a few others suggestions

no echarse flores Steven

Epilogue

You and Marc are sitting on the couch, the plates of cake long forgotten on the table. You’re chatting about random facts you’ve been itchin’ to share when his head snaps to one side, as though listening for something.

“Y/N, did you hear that?”

“Yea, it’s my voice...we’re talking.”

“No not…the snapping noise. Like a crack”, He looks back at you. “You didn’t hear it?” you shrug, unsure of what he’s talking about.

Sorry mate, that was us. Didn’t mean to startle ya.

What do you mean “that was us”

Steven and I high-fived no te preocupes. Keep talking with Y/N.

“Hellooo Marc. I said did you figure out what it was?” You call from beside him. Marc sighs, turning back to you. “Yea it’s fine. Keep going. you were telling me something about eggs?” You smile and continue your impassioned rant about how a chef’s hat has 100 pleats and that each pleat represents 1 way to cook an egg. Marc smiles, holding his rabbit in his lap.

I could get used to this.

~~Translation~~

no echarse flores- Don’t flatter yourself

no te preocupes- Don’t worry

#moon knight #steven grant #marc spector #jake lockley #moon knight fanfiction #moon knight x reader #moon knight fic #moon boys #marc spector x reader #steven grant x reader #jake lockely x reader

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aurorawest · 6 months

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The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi - 5/5 stars

This book managed to rip my heart out at least 3 times. I loved it. Medieval enemies-to-lovers slow burn; very romantic. Kinda read like fanfiction at times but in a good way. 10/10 would read a follow-up love story about Arundel and Captain Wekena. If you like Captive Prince, give this one a try.

Reforged by Seth Haddon - 4/5 stars

Pretty good bodyguard romantasy. Ironically CS Pacat blurbed this one (another am-I-in-the-matrix moment). The world was interesting and I enjoyed the politics, though they're definitely not as complicated as other SFF politics I've gone feral over (see: Captive Prince, Winter's Orbit, A Memory Called Empire). I ordered the sequel after I finished this.

The Doctor's Date by Heidi Cullinan - 4/5 stars

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske - 5/5 stars

Where do I start? I love, love, LOVE A Marvellous Light. It's one of my favorite books ever. None of the rest of the books in the trilogy could live up to it, really, because it's so good. You'll notice I rated this one 5 stars though, because quite honestly I fell prey to a bit of The Academy Paying The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Its Due syndrome. I did love this book and thought it was better than A Restless Truth (which I still loved!) but part of that is, quite frankly, just due to the fact that I prefer m/m romance to f/f romance.

Anyway. This was such a good finale to the trilogy. I loved that the romance was a giant middle finger to purity cultists. I loved that one of the mains was Italian. I loved finally getting the story of what happened to the Alston twins. One thing I thought was really cool was how, viewed from the outside, you totally get why Edwin is such a loner. I really admire from a writing perspective how Marske pulled that off.

I feel like there's a lot to be said about what Marske was trying to SAY with this book, but I definitely need to reread it first before I can articulate any of it. The purity culture stuff is obvious, but the magic system too. I feel like Jack when he's almost able to connect everything in his mind into a bigger idea, but he can't quite get there.

I've got a special edition from Illumicrate coming, so I'll be rereading it when I have that.

Oh also, this book was the embodiment of all that one tumblr post -

The Guncle by Steven Rowley - 5/5 stars

I saw this in bookstores for years before I finally gave in and bought it. The blurb makes it sound insufferable and twee. Ignore the blurb. This was such a good book about grief and learning how to live again after terrible loss.

I Like Me Better by Robby Weber - 4/5 stars

At last I can stop getting the Lauv song stuck in my head whenever I set eyes on this book (it's stuck in my head as I type this). Pretty standard-issue YA, but it was cute and had a good message.

The Stagsblood King by Gideon E Wood - 4/5 stars

Another book about moving on from grief! This is the second book in a trilogy. When I was trying to determine if I wanted to read on beyond book 1, I scoured the internet for information about what happens in books 2 and 3. Eventually I decided, hell, I enjoyed book 1 well enough, even if what I want to happen in the rest of the trilogy doesn't happen, they're worth reading. SO, to that end, I will tell anyone looking for info that Tel gets romantically involved with a new man in this one, which, eh. I still want him to somehow end up with Vared. It was still quite good though.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune - DNF at pg 82

So funnily, we were at the bookstore the day I was about to start reading this, and my wife pointed out Ravensong (also by Klune) to me and said, "Do you have this one?" I made a face and said, "That's an older one of his books and I'm wary of his early work after that horrible Verania series. I don't think I've ever read an author as hit or miss as TJ Klune."

I wrote the above when I was 60 pages in and now I have officially DNFed this. Listen. You know how in Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi was clearly given free rein to do whatever he wanted, so all of his worst impulses made it to the final cut unchecked? Yeah. That's what this book is like.

Here's my Storygraph review: I see Klune is officially Too Big To Edit now. This book has exactly the same problem that his awful Verania series had—a joke that's funny at first but quickly grows tiresome when it's repeated five times per page. The emphasis on Victor's asexuality was also weird and read like Klune was just super proud of himself for writing an ace character.

Lion's Legacy by LC Rosen - 4.25/5 stars

Queer, YA Indiana Jones, but less #problematic. This book had some eerie similarities to my own archaeology adventure novel(s), which made me wonder half-seriously if I somehow know Lev Rosen? Anyway, I feared this would be very heavy-handed and not nuanced on archaeology's ethical dilemmas, since it's YA and also the current culture is to view said dilemmas as completely black and white with no nuance, but I was pleasantly surprised. It manages to examine that, queerness, and daddy issues, plus has time to be a genuinely fun and exciting adventure story. Highly recommend.

Too White to be Coloured, Too Coloured to be Black by Ismail Lagardien - 4/5 stars

I picked up this memoir in a bookstore at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg as research for Six Places to Fall in Love, since Percy is coloured. A pretty brutal read, but good, and definitely good research. The author was a photographer and journalist through the most violent years of apartheid.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson - 5/5 stars

Two nonfiction books in a row?? This is the second book by Erik Larson I've read, the first being the excellent The Devil in the White City. I'm not, in general, all that interested in WWII when it comes to military history, but this book is about the day to day lives of Churchill and the people surrounding him (with brief stops to visit FDR and high-ranking Nazis sprinkled throughout). This is a very, very good book, and I recommend reading it if only as a reminder of the resilience and bravery of ordinary people under terrifying circumstances.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

Holy shit. Holy shit is this book good. Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in.

I need everyone to read this book. Now. Yesterday. Get to it.

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imnotgrimimjustagrumpyreaper · 5 months

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Dukeceit (because I have to be real, that's all that's on this list) Fanfic recs.

This is Grim's favorite Dukeceit fic ,to ring in the new year. A disclaimer, I am well aware that all of these are WILDLY popular, and don't need my help, but you know what? I love them, and I wanna talk about them. One thing you're gonna learn about me REAL quick is that I love a silly little AU lol.

For All the Sacred Selfless Days.

A university AU with Remus and Janus as professors. Remus’s coworkers keep trying to set him up on blind dates, and seeing as how he’s demi-romantic, he’s really not down for that. So, he asks his long suffering best friend, Janus, to help him out. To fake date him, at least until the big party to welcome all the newly tenured professors…Only problem is, Janus, actually is, just a bit in love with his best friend.

(For All the Sacred Selfless Days is LEGIT probably in my top three fics of all time for any fandom, all the fics in this series are great, but this is the one that really sticks with me. I can honestly say it's been a HUGE inspiration in my own writing intentionally and unintentionally.)

Persistent Ghosts (Sing of Home).

Based on Steven King’s “Misery,” Janus is kidnapped. In this deeply sad and grounded depiction of grief and all the forms it takes, everyone thinks he’s dead, and struggles with moving on from him being dead. He’s not dead, he comes home, and in the next chapter…Everyone struggles to move on from him being “Dead.”

(I honest to god forget this one exists, sometimes because I’m careful not to over read it, so that when I do go back and reread it, I can experience it like new. This is one of those extremely well crafted fics that makes you question your life, your sanity. It never fails to make me cry. I love this fic so fucking much, it’s just so well written, man. Side note, just re-read this. THIS is the reason why there is a reference to Misery in TMDORG. This is why Janus wants to be an author, this is the reason -I- realized I want to be an author FUCKKIN HELL MANNN).

Punch Drunk (On Your Human Touch).

Set in a soulmate-verse turned cyberpunk dystopia where there’s an upper city, and a lower one, you follow Janus, who runs his business by knowing things about people in both. He’s been caught, and brought to a bar by someone who he knows nothing about: The Duke, a crime lord. “So, tell me, snakes and wires, what makes you human?”

(THEY HAVE TEETH IN THIS ONE. I love a good soft fic where characters are soft as much as the next guy but WHOOOO BOY. I LOVE IT WHEN THEY HAVE TEETH AND SHARP EDGES. The world building in this is INSANE. The amount that’s introduced and how it all weaves together makes my head spin. I think about it constantly.)

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. Grim's favorite dukeceit fics, because I'm back on my bullshit. Read them, if you haven't, and here's to all the new fics of the new year!

#the word of grim #dukeceit #demus #remus sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides fanfiction

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magicofthepen · 11 months

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🐛🪳🐞

bug me for fic recs!

aand *spins fandom wheel* let’s do one per fandom/sub fandom again!

🐛 Recommend a great WIP / unfinished chapter fic everyone should leave a comment on!

I was just talking about this one in the tags of another post, so:

Causal Sequence by @leia-stark / @joycieillustrations: Chancellor Narvin spends every evening in the Lady President’s quarters. Set during Gallifrey Series 5.

(Romana/Narvin series 5 fake relationship—because best to feed the rumors that they’re involved, especially if it hides their actual secrets. only three chapters so far and it hasn’t been updated in a while, but I really hope there’ll be more—the banter and snark between Narvin and Romana is spot on for where their relationship is at in series 5 and I really want to see how their Practical Plan inevitably leads to Complicated Emotions.)

🪳 Recommend a great AU!

in honor of it recently updating and the author promising that it will be finished(!!):

The Law of Gravitation by @bardqueenofgallifrey:

Bill Potts has had her life turned upside down - in the space of a year, she's ended up as one fourth of the biggest band of the century, and become a global lesbian icon. Which, let there be no misunderstandings, is pretty awesome.

What she didn't need was to fall for some mysterious girl who keeps turning up in the front row of their concerts, a girl with a star in her eye.

And if the gay panic weren't enough, Theodore (or, the Doctor, as his older fans call him) and Missy are sitting on some secret that only River Song seems to know anything about, a secret that could bring up a dangerous part of their past with their ex-bandmate Harold Saxon - and a horrific reporter called Kovarian seems determined to unearth it, at any cost.

(aka the band au. twelfth doctor era centric, but there are so many cameos. it’s such a delightful fic, I love reading these characters—many of whom never interacted in canon—spark off of each other. it’s fun and heartwarming and funny and angsty, and I’m looking forward to rereading at some point!)

🐞 Recommend a favorite fic or several from one of your friends, or a fic author you really look up to!

oh there’s so many I could list for this one, so let’s go with an author I look up to, but who I don’t think I’ve talked about except to friends, because I didn’t do much original posting about Steven Universe. and it’s hard to pick just one fic to rec, but let’s go with this one:

Marching On by @oathkeeper-of-tarth: Garnet, Bismuth, and Pearl, and the end that is anything but. "Change Your Mind" episode tag.

(this author was The steven universe author for me back in the peak of my SU fannish interest and wrote such amazing rebellion-era fics and character explorations. so of course, when I did a spontaneous rewatch last fall, I immediately went and found the fics of theirs I hadn’t read—including this one, which absolutely captures the nuanced feelings of the finale, starring the three og rebels.)

#not sure if we have any fandoms in common but thank you for the ask!!#mvshortcut #gallifrey audios #doctor who #steven universe #asks #ramblings #gallific #dw fic #su fic #fic

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riality-check · 1 year

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[carefully sticks a ⭐ on what's in a name, dots and dashes, and like one of the girls] [thinks for a moment] [sticks one more on smin] I am a cozy blanket bundle, please talk to me about your stuff! <3

omg i'm so excited to talk about all of these (and i'm sticking a read more on this post because it's going to be long as hell)

what's in a name, anyway?

Nancy meets his parents about six months in. The whole time, during that catered dinner, his parents call him "Steven." His father asks him about basketball - he never went to his games - and why he wasn't captain yet. His mother made vague references to staying out of trouble, Steven James.

She watches Steve shrink before her eyes. Watches him become something small, so unlike “The Hair” and “King” and the boyfriend she knows.

Nancy isn't sure what to do, and she hates uncertainty more than anything. When they're alone, she tries for a joke about how much she hates when her mother yells "Nancy Grace" across the house.

It's not the same. They both know it. Steve laughs anyway.

Months later, when they're at that Halloween party and Nancy is too drunk to see straight, she calls him "bullshit" but makes sure "Steven" never leaves her mouth.

(She’s angry and scared and a lot of other things, but she doesn’t ever want to see Steve that small again.)

I love writing Nancy's POV so much. Seeing Steve through her eyes was so much fun and such a challenge since I had to go back to who Nancy was during seasons 1 and 2. The "calls him 'bullshit' but makes sure 'Steven' never leaves her mouth" line is probably one of the best I've written.

dots and dashes

Steve yanks himself out of his thoughts and back to the present, where he’s standing at the front desk of Family Video on an exceptionally dead Monday.

Dead, except for one Dustin Henderson.

“I’ve told him no five times, but apparently he only listens to you,” Robin complains.

“Bold of you to assume I listen to Steve,” Dustin shoots back.

“He doesn’t,” Steve tells Robin. “He only listens to me when there’s a crisis, and even then, I have to fight him on it.”

Dustin looks too proud of himself.

“It’s not a compliment, shithead. What has she told you no about?”

This interaction was so spontaneous as I wrote it, and I got so many wonderful comments about how in character it is! So, I'm really proud of it, and I'm laughing as I reread it.

like one of the girls

“No one else is like me, Stevie.”

“I know. It’s why you’re the best I’ve ever had.”

And before Eddie can respond, Steve is out like a goddamn light.

That’s fine. Eddie reaches over and turns out the light before he snuggles right back up to Steve. He’s gonna have to do laundry tomorrow, and he has a long-ass shift at Thatcher, but that’s all fine. All of it can wait.

This moment, right now, head resting on Steve’s chest and arms wrapped around him, is all that matters.

This moment, and the certain knowledge that Eddie is it for Steve. Because for a long time, probably longer than he’s realized, Steve has been it for Eddie, too.

And Eddie falls asleep with the thought that none of those girls, however many there were, have ever had that from Steve.

It took me forever to figure out how to end this fic. It started out as a drabble in my notes app with a vague concept of Steve taking the reins, and it turned into a fic that made one of my friends ask "why is there bowling in the porn." I'm really proud of how soft and sweet this fic ends, and I love its placement in my series.

slay monsters, if needed

But it’s not like she wouldn’t do it. Nancy might be a bitch, has known that since she was eight and got called it to her face for the first time, but she’ll always help people, especially when she’s the only one who can do it.

Live, love, Nancy Wheeler. I love writing her so much, and everything about her in SMIN has just been such a fun thing to do.

I see so much of myself in her it's scary. The bitch line is actually from my own life (it didn't bother me then - I didn't tell anyone because I didn't care. My friend brought it to a teacher - and it certainly doesn't bother me now.)

ask me more questions about my fics!!

#thanks so much for asking!!#asked and answered #mira-jadeamethyst #fic director's cut #smin #like one of the girls #dots and dashes #what's in a name anyway?#steve harrington #eddie munson #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #dustin henderson

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iwasneverth3re · 1 year

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HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII im here (heres a few questions) (༎ຶ⌑༎ຶ)

what led to you liking gun? (if u do like him)

what arc in lookism did you like the most?

do you have any pets and if u dont what pets would u wanna get?

what's your favorite food?

compliments <3 :

I AM SOO IN LOVE WITH YOUR ART LIKE I GENUINELY MEAN IT WHEN I TELL YOU I JUST STARE IN AWE FOR A FEW MINUTES ADMIRING HOW GORGEOUS AND ABSOLUTELY STUNNING IT IS.

and also i get sent to heaven whenever you compliment me fjsadjhfsjk

HYUSOLKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIIII💛 first of all, I just wanna say thank you for stopping by and sending me an ask!!

But let's GET INTO IT *rubs hands together*

- "What led you into liking Gun?" *in Steven blum's voice* I love the kind of woman thay can kick my ass-

But no seriously though, it's kind of funny because prior to me rereading lookism last year, Zack and Goo were actually my most favorite characters way back when. When I first read the series back in 2018 I used to LOOOOVE Zack (I still do!) because I loved the character development he went through (I'm a sucker for characters that are originally an asshole but once they become humbled multiple times, and they try to hecome a better person, they become extremely lileable) and he's such a great guy. Like I remember wishing I had a Zack Lee in my life because his love for Mira is so sweet and he's got that typical don't-hurt-my-loved-ones-or-I'll-murder-you Shonen trope that everyone knows and loves. I used to love Goo (I STILL DO THATS MY OTHER MAN) because I liked how chaotic and unpredictable his character was, especially when he helped out Vasco in the past arc (and it was interesting to me since you'd think that Goo was doing out of the goodness of his heart but nah he was just happy that he has an excuse to go all out like this mfer is CRAZY).

Anyways, back to the main point, I love Gun as a character because this guy? Fuck him. Fuck him AND his drip. He's an absolute menace. He is horrible and I love him for it because he has no redeemable qualities and he knows he's not a good person. He does have his moments where he has done something /good/ (good is a stretch and a lack of better wording) I.e when he let Eli go to see Heather, when held off on Jake's and Big Deal's disposal because he respected Jerry's undying loyal to Jake. Other than that though, Gun is a very much self-serving character. Although Gun has done many horrible things, he surprisingly sucks as a villain LMAO but perhaps I only feel this way because he's not a major foil to our beloved mc, Daniel. For a serious character, Gun's quite the goofy character because a) every time he acknowledges someone or hypes up their strength, they get packed up. B) he is unintentionally funny. Like him partying it up with Goo while holding a fire extinguisher? Him getting so mad at Eli for wanting to leave the gangster life for Heather? Him about to beat the crap out of people younger than him in a high school parking lot? HILARIOUS. He's also so easy to make fun of him LIKE LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE A T-REX READY TO SWALLOW YOU WHOLE

Although I very much do still enjoy his cold, blood-thirsty character that we get these days, I do miss his old characterization back in the old lookism days because he smiled a bit more and while he's still goofy, he was a different kind of goofy back then. He's also interesting to me; like there's so much that we need to unpack from his character because from what we know so far, he's the head of the Yamazaki clan, he's the only known person thus far that is constantly in UI mode, he got sent to juvie (as he should), and he's allied himself with Charles Choi while they were both in juvie for reasons unknown.

OOF THIS ANSWER GOT VERY LONG IM SO SORRY.

Basically TL;DR I love Gun because he's a fun character, who also happens to be an asshole and the narrative doesn't try to paint him as otherwise by any means. He's also badass and hot and handsome (not a lookism moment) and funny.

- "What arc do you love the most in lookism?" OH no, you really don't expect me to answer that do you because there are TOO many that I like to simply choose one LMAO. I really liked the arcs back when lookism had the more thriller/suspenseful elements to it . Like the whole stalker arc? I remember getting actual chills reading it, specifically those panels where one panel shows Daniel sleeping in the dark but then lightning strikes and it shows the stalker crouched over, watching Daniel slumbering with that creepy little smile of hers). I also liked Zack's babysitting arc with Yena because at first he was upset that his date with Mira was interrupted by said person finding a missing child. But after time, he completely falls in love with Yena (or ZaMi at the time LMAO) and I really do hope that we get a mini arc where he can babysit her again.

- "Do you have any pets? And if you don't, what pets would you wanna get?" I actually have a pet! Her name is Keiko and she's a grey and white domestic short haired cat! She's turning 4 this year🥹

- "What's your favorite food? OOF now this one is a hard one because I can't choose just one favorite. I would have to say that sushi, takoyaki, butter chicken, French fries, pasta, cake and cookies are definitely my favorites!

Compliments <3; D'AWWWWW HYUSOLK THATS SO SWEET OF YOU TO SAY🥺 I'VE NEVER HAD ANYONE SAY THAT THEY'RE IN LOVE WITH MY ART (LIKE IT'S JUST HARD TO BELIEVE WHEN I HEAR IT) OR SAYING HOW GORGEOUS OR STUNNING IT IS AND COMING FROM A TALENTED ARTIST SUCH AS YOURSELF IS A HUGE HONOR AS WELL BECAUSE YOU'RE EITHER ALWAYS CHALLENGING YOURSELF OR EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT ART STYLES AND IT COMES OUT SO BEAUTIFUL EACH TIME?? LIKE IM STILL NOT OVER YOUR JANIEL ART AS THE FALLEN ANGELS MOVIE POSTER LIKE ITS SO STUNNING AND THE WAY YOU COLOR IS SO GOOD - LIKE I COULD NEVER.

- You get sent to heaven when I compliment you? No, I GET SENT TO HEAVEN WHEN I GET COMPLIMENTED BY YOU BECAUSE AGAIN, IT'S STILL SO SURREAL TO ME THAT A TALENTED ARTIST SUCH AS YOURSSLF, WOULD LIKE MY ART🥺💓💓💓

Also a little off topic here but I find your love for Jay adorable because whenever you draw him, you can tell that you have a lot love for him and it really shows! Like I don't know how to explain it but you can see it if that makes any sense??? Anyways way though, thanks for stopping by!!

#IM SO SORRY MY RESPONSE TURNED OUT A LOT LONGER AND BIGGER THAN I INTENDED FOR IT TO BE😭😭#these ask games are really fun!#li li speaks💬#li li's asks💬#Heartfelt Hyusolk💟

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thepropertylovers · 11 months

Text

9 Readers Share Tips for Teaching Your Child to Become a Better Reader

We’ve been trying to get our oldest into reading more. Right now, he doesn’t enjoy reading, but I think that’s mostly because he hasn’t really learned how to read well yet. He can read almost all words, but he’s struggling to comprehend and really get into the story, and a lot of that is a lack of interest.

We read to him almost daily, we have him read aloud to us, and we ask him what the story he’s reading is about. We’ll get there, I just know it.

In an effort to get him caught up, I asked you for tips on how to help your child become a better reader, and you gave us so much good advice that I wanted to share (thank you!). If you’re looking for some advice in this area, below are a few of your responses, and if you want to see the rest, you can click here.

“Get them books about what they are interested in. For example, if you plan a vacation, find books about what you can see and do there. If you are going to a movie, find books about the topic ahead of time. Get some books about the baby animals on the farm or sports they like.

Read aloud to them. Pick a book as a family and read a chapter every night (or day). 3. Let them see you read. They need to see that reading is a fun and pleasurable experience, not just a subject in school. Maybe the entire family puts aside electronics for 30-60 minutes every night and reads. Then, share something about what was read.

This is important and is often skipped, but TALK to them about what they are reading. Not only can you check their comprehension but you are sending the message that what they are reading is important to you.” -Sue

“Go to the public library together, let the kids pick out books, and read to them as a family. Ask questions about the stories. Another wonderful option is to listen to audio books.'“ -Patrick

“In my experience a series that draws their interest and will make them want to read. For me it was Harry Potter my aunt read and recorded the first 10 chapters for me to follow along then when I wanted to know what happened I had to start reading the book so I could find out.” -Andrew

“This sounds ridiculous but we taught [our child] how to read by putting subtitles on her favorite shows. She started associating the words with the pictures.” -Jill

“Phonics... if you/kids can "sound out" a word, they can pretty much read anything. "Hooked On Phonics" seems to be most widely used but there are 100's of books available here.” -Steve

“7 Keys to Comprehension How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It by Susan Zimmerman and Chryselephantine Hutchins. You can get it on Amazon for $12. I used this book when I was a teacher and when I was literacy coach. I had amazing results using this book as a guide.” -David

“Make it a game, be consistent with time of day. Play the characters . Reread the same material. Switch between you reading to the child and the child reading to you. Age appropriate with pics to give clues. Dr Seuss is your friend.” -Steven

“Phonics! If your child cannot hear the parts of a word then they cannot read the parts of a word. You have to start with learning by sound before you ever look at the print word. Best skills for this: rhyming, give them 2 words that rhyme and one that doesn’t have them pick out the incorrect one. Syllables. Have them clap ( or my favorite hum) a word and tell you how many parts are in the word. Give them a word such as fan. Say if you take out the “f” sound in fan and replace it with the “p” sound what word do you have? These make great games for car rides, while your cooking dinner and they are helping, or really anytime.

Also, any and all Jack Hartman videos on YouTube. They are fun and really help with learning letter sounds/blends/ and he even has topics for other subjects!

All of these will really help learning the basics of the word and lead to a better more confident reader!” -Kate

“I’m an English teacher and Mom. This is what I do with my kids.

Get their Lexile level from their iReady report.

Then choose a book they are very interested in, that is just a little above their lexile (which is their independent reading level). Have them read to you, but when they get stuck on a difficult word, model how you work through or sound out that word (I often cover half of the word, to make it more approachable).

If they are in chapter books and get fatigued, finish the chapter for them.” -Samantha

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ufonaut · 2 years

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37, 38, 39, 40 for the not salty and salty ones, please?

THANK YOU!!!!!

REGULAR:

37: Any signed books, sketches, or otherwise?

YES! i have a mini mister miracle print signed by mitch gerads & tom king (sadly without having ever met them since it came with the tpb from forbidden planet), a heroes in crisis #1 signed by clay mann, a new year's evil (dc's 2019 christmas special) signed by ram v & dan watters and a jsa: strange adventures #1 signed by gary erskine. i also amazingly (THANKS TO KATIE MY BELOVED) own an all american comics #16 postcard legitimately signed by mart nodell, alan's creator

less comics-y but i also own aquaman (2018) and shazam (2019) posters signed by jason momoa + james wan and zachary levi, mark strong + david sandberg respectively

38: If you were to pick the dream superhero book you’d wanna read who would write it, and who would draw it, and what hero would it be about?

ON GOD I AM GETTING KEITH GIFFEN & RON WAGNER BACK ON JARED STEVENS/FATE

but otherwise the answer is james robinson & greg smallwood on an alan scott or hal jordan black label. either goes, completely different vibes though

39: Crossovers you would like to see

crossovers are the one thing i tend to dislike, especially when it's stuff a la the amalgam universe, but the crossover of my dreams is about to happen anyway when dark crisis hits justice league with devastating results

40: Name some comics that have made you cry, laugh, feel frightened, and happy.

starman makes me cry like nothing else in the world, i'm sobbing every single time i reread. similarly, i think ambush bug (all keith giffen-written varieties) is the no 1 comic to get me laughing out loud. i don't think any comic's managed to make me feel frightened but i think mister e (1991) is one that really stands out in terms of visceral vaguely uncomfortable reactions, and i'm saying that fully as a compliment since it's one of my all time favourite books! as for happy, just about any book i love but let's go with the book of fate :)

SALTY:

37. I wish fandom/official writers understood ___ about [x].

i wish the dc fandom as a whole understood the difference between canon & headcanon and didn't just pretend they do. i wish geoff johns understood better writers came before him & he doesn't need to undermine their work to make himself stand out.

38. What character that was reduced to a love interest deserves so much better?

kendra saunders in jsa 1999 without a doubt. before carter gets in on gaslighting her into believing she's his reincarnated wife, she's one of the best characters in the series

39. Which character do you get the most defensive of?

ALAN SCOTT. I'D GO TO WAR FOR HIM

40. What’s your most detested plot point?

parallax/ion retcon by far. nothing else compares with the absolute hatred i've got for that

#asks #goldencruel

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beeblackburn · 2 years

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Book asks: 11, 17, 26 (what book characters do you relate to and in what way?), 28, 37 and 43 :D

Thank you, @books-and-doodles!

11. Do you post reviews??

Professional ones? Nope. Not that I wasn't a little interested, Nerds of a Feather once put out a call for new writers on their staff, and I toyed with the idea of reviewing stuff for the public. But for a few reasons (I'm not sure I can keep to a weekly schedule, my brain doesn't work that way, I'd be forced to catch up with the recent titles and I don't quite care to buy a constant stream of hardcovers, I'd always feel insecure, I see these amazing, professional reviews on ComicsXF, Strange Horizons, and Nerds of a Feather, digging into the strengths and flaws of these stories and bringing so much weight and concise surgery-precise analysis to them, and I'd just feel inadequate to them always), I've refrained. I'd also worry about fucking up reviewing a book or missing a detail worth addressing or not giving something of value and quality to the world with any review I write.

Personal ones... honestly, I'm not sure I'm up for that in some ways. I do love to ramble, but I love to do it with an audience that can respond right away. I work better with, at least, someone to bounce off of in a discussion or server so that I can further elaborate. My brain can focus on particular points that someone wants addressed, rather than try to encompass the totality of a work (I can try that, but reviews are daunting like that, they always feel small and don't capture the entirety of an experience to me. Can they ever?) Though, I'm not sure talking books and shows with y'all in the discord server count as reviews, per say.

17. Is there a book on your TBR pile that you don’t think you will read?

I feel like this question is weirdly phrased in the sense that if I don't think I'll read a book, why would I put it on my TBR pile? And, if I originally wanted to read it and I changed my mind, wouldn't I just remove it off the list?

That being said, the closest I've come to that is Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson. I've owned that book (I actually bought it twice, long story involving Canadian author sale periods) for years and my god, I cannot get past the first few chapters. They're so overwrought and self-consciously trying too hard to emulate this needlessly grim vibe (which I feel The Black Company did better). I really do want to try again, but I've tried penetrating through that book twice or thrice and I'd need a crowbar to break through that prose and I might be losing a little hope that I'll fully get into that mammoth of a series, given the first book.

26. what book characters do you relate to and in what way?

I've actually gotten a similar question here and answered with Stannis and Fitz! In hindsight, from what I remember of Fool's Assassin and a quiz I once took, I wonder if Bee Farseer isn't more my type, given she's got a few key similarities with Fitz, but is way more prone to reacting in anger than Fitz is (Fitz is more inclined to sullen moods then reacting in anger, though his angry reactions are more explosive) and she's far more inclined to her privacy and material possessions than Fitz ever was. The moments where Fitz tried to minimize her childhood bullying and Bee just went off on Fitz, and that time when Bee yelled at him for not asking her about her stuff while he was prepping the Yellow Suite? Very me. Me to a point where I was vividly reliving them in my memories with my own father.

There's so much of Bee's thought process in that latter scene where, when I reread them, they're so me, it hurts:

I hated the tears that suddenly flooded my eyes and how my throat closed and choked me. I didn’t want to be sad. I wanted to be angry. Angry hurt less.

[...]

That woke no sympathy in me. It only made me angrier. This was my pain; I had been robbed of things I had cherished. How dare he stare at me as if he were the one who was hurt?

I've got my share of temper problems, and finding comfort in anger than tears, especially in a conflict, and if most people ever try to make any fight about their pain, I will react like Bee does here and shut them off. My body language with that isn't the same as hers (I was raised male, so I ball up my fists in anger), but I definitely relate to Bee just shutting off Fitz, when she feels she's been wronged by him. There's definitely moments I acutely relate to Bee in her less pleasant moments more than I do with Fitz, even if I do share a ton with Fitz in his more sullen and moody melancholic spells.

Maybe I'm due for a Fitz and the Fool trilogy reread, I actually love that trilogy. 😏

28. First book that comes to mind, tell us about it. Rant

cracks neck on one side

You already ranted about The Name of the Wind, but I will say this about that book: that book didn't infuriate me nearly as much as Ready Player One. The Name of the Wind could be funny in a "so bad, it's good" way, especially with the dialogue and stuff. How overwrought the romantic descriptions were (We get it, Kvothe, you wanna eat out a woman so hard, she's chocolate and coffee and whatever colorful food comparison you wanna pull). Also, the names are pretty neat in a "this isn't just medieval names, just change a letter or two" way. There are interesting enough concepts in it.

Ready Player One? God, there's just nothing redeemable about that book. Is it the most disappointed I've been in a book? No, Wings of Fire's Talons of Power takes that stand, than warps that stand across dimensions in deus-ex-machina magic bullshit. Is it the most evil book I've looked into? Hardly, Gone with the Wind takes that cake by miles and heights. Is it even worth getting vicious and spiteful and mean over? Honestly, no, it's just pathetic, puerile and full of mediocre masculinity, and Ready Player One is hardly the biggest offender of that in that regard. I'm sure I can find worse examples.

But make no mistake, I loathe this book. I would set this book on fire, if it wouldn't contribute to global warming, among its narrative and literary sins. I'm not nearly as nice with this book's fans as you are with The Name of the Wind's fans by offering a warning. I easily don't care if I piss off any fanboy who would die on the highest hill, just to defend this mediocre, shallow diarrhea of spewed shit. Kvothe and Rothfuss might've been bad, but I found Wade and Cline and their condescending "oh, these girls love video games, that means they have worth" attitude pissing me off more.

At least Kvothe has a personality, even if it's a punchable one, and it's entirely possible Denna rejects his ass, given Kote being without her. Wade is just a big cash-bag of 80's references and that deems him worthy to get the girl. This whole book is just Cline wanting to wank off to the 80's and using Wade as his cock to furiously masturbate off them. Rinse off after every climatic reference, then repeat with another bit of (white, male-centric) 80's nostalgia. I wish I could rant off more about the book's failings, but really, that's all this book is and how little there is beyond the surface of that smug nostalgia.

There's no criticism I can say that someone else hasn't already better put down, and lord knows it's not the worst book ever, hell, it probably won't even be the worst of its "wanking off to a fantasy period of white male-centric nostalgia, where the generic self-insert gets to be the hero saving the day and getting the girl" lot. Like, I could definitely find something worse than this book, if I tried.

In the end, it's just a book, and cheap fun at that. It's a hodgepodge of 80's references and it's competent at that. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but the creative sterility and slavish devotion to a particular vision of 80's nostalgia of this premise is just so pathetic. Not anger-inducing enough for me to gnash my teeth in blind rage, not problematic enough for me to be truly up in arms about, not even hopeful enough for me to be disappointed that it could've been better and just wasn't. It was just nothing. There's a huge reason I DNF'd hard off this book. The Name of the Wind inflicted anger or unintentional hilarity my way, at least. This book's details were like the wind and passed by my mind after I read it, and will pass by just as quickly after I finish with this question.

37. Is there a book that you think everyone should read??

ASSASSIN'S APPRE—

shot by gunfire

Okay, yeah, of course, everyone should read Assassin's Apprentice, The Blade Itself, and A Game of Thrones...

But that's a bit of a boring answer, so, if we're going off the beaten path...

The Goblin Emperor, an excellent tonic to the increasingly tonal homogeneity of fantasy, a wonderfully melancholic, yet comforting, tale about a boy growing into the role of king and trying to set the world to rights, not through grand gestures, but small kindnesses. It's a book very preoccupied with how to go about being kind towards those socially below you, which earns a ton of points. It might be idealistic, perhaps too much for a more jaded public, but everyone should read this book, it's excellent and well-thought out in its world-building and characterization through Maia's narrative and quite a few supporting characters.

A Natural History of Dragons, I'm on record of saying Marie Brennan's one of the most underrated fantasy writers working right now, and The Memoirs of Lady Trent is proof-of-concept of that: a Victorian adventure that utilizes an epistolary approach to write the protagonist's story as such, while getting to be critical of its own trappings and past prejudices/attitudes. Add in dragons, the lack of war, its self-contained nature, and a romantic subplot that's treated frankly and with respect to the minds and shared interests of the parties, and it's a book I feel more people should read.

The Golem and the Jinni, because it's one of a handful of urban fantasies I'll actually touch and care about? It uses its fantastical trappings to explore questions about immigration, connection, and loneliness, and it's a slow-burn of a book too, more concerned with the protagonists forming connections with others, which this more-slice-of-life-now reader sorely needs. Chava and Ahmed are a winning pair of protagonists, and the (mostly) lack of conflict feels refreshing to me, allowing relationship-building to take the bulk of the narrative, which endears me more to these lonely characters.

The Curse of Chalion, because it's Lois McMaster Bujold working with a magical curse, court intrigue, PTSD, and gods with spirituality in a way that's very different from other writers. Lupe dy Cazaril alone is a great protagonist, dutiful, broken, more-than-he-appears, and the supporting characters are well-realized, carrying depth, even just from being reviewed from Caz's perspective (some of it gets realized in greater depth in the sequel book). It's a slow-burn of a book, with meticulous pacing, with amazing scenes that still catch my breath. It's Robin Hobb, if she was a little more optimistic about her stories. Everyone should read it.

City of Stairs, because this is yet another urban fantasy I care about. Robert Jackson Bennett is one of the smartest recent fantasy writers out there, outside of N.K. Jemisin for an immediate example, and the core premise is very much an outlier from fantasy's fascination with war: a murder mystery set after humanity killed all the gods in a bloody conflict. Shara and Sigurd have a great friendship and dynamic together as partners, the world-building is original in its inspirations (borrowing more from Russia than Western Europe), and its themes meaty without the narrative being too heavy, nor its prose too lyrical to be purple blood.

43. Free rant, go ahead, we all know you want to.

cracks neck on both sides

Don't much care for the complaint that Found Family is an overused trope nowadays! Sure, I can logically see an oversaturation of that as a selling point, and I will definitely take issue with poorly-written/shallow versions of it, but the core concept of it by itself being complained about? You can rip Lilo and Stitch's "This is my family. I found it, all on my own. It’s little, and broken, but still good. Yeah. Still good." from my cold dead hands after I'm never done forever loving and defending found families, beyond my grave.

That being said, found families with absolutely no conflicts definitely ring false to me. Any relationship is work. Lasting friendships aren't built in a day, lasting bonds of family are built over time, brick by brick. And family members can get on each other's nerves. They get into disputes or disagreements or petty arguments as well. If that's not happening, it'll run the risk of being so saccharine, my eyes' got cavities. It'll feel hollow, like the only reason characters are family is because they're lucky enough to never get into a fight or non-confrontational enough to never risk anything raw or real, and stay in a bubble of nonconflict, instead.

And if there's no consideration of what family is defined as by the characters and struggle of having to split from a more traditionally biological-centric definition, that we just have to take for granted that characters are family because they tell each other they are and are pleasant to each other on a daily basis, it'll feel off to me. I've spent a lot of time mulling over the boundaries and definitions of family after years of having a limiting definition of it, that characters easily accepting a more inclusive definition of family right off the bat without visibly grinding and trying to change from a more limiting definition feels deeply unearned to me.

And found families that don't go into how one chooses to love end up feeling like a missed opportunity to me. So much of our traditional values of family take for granted familial obligations, set by bloodline. "Because we're family" is always the same refrain with some families and what they demand of you, even if they all hate each other or don't particularly like each other as people. There's power in someone asserting their choice to love another as family, to bear things for a new family, instead of being resigned to side with an old one because of blood.

(I have a few stray ruminations on family as a concept: should it defined by blood? No. Should it defined by a piece of paper? No. Should it be defined by daily pleasantry? Not by itself, no. And yet, the former two are taken as gospel truth in our society and we've undersold the importance of intimacy and vulnerability and love and loyalty in our concepts of family as a result. And some of us are so starved for decency that we mistaken the latter for a shred of a better family. The found family trope is complex to me in that I had to break down so much of my former definition and I wouldn't mind reading other characters have similar thorny changes in their conception of family.)

So yeah! Found families! I have Thoughts™ on them, and not a small amount of them. 😜

Thanks again for the questions, @books-and-doodles!

#book asks

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dribbonart · 3 years

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Steven Universe Reread: Art and Origins

There’s so much printed media for Steven Universe out there. There’s no way I’m going to talk about it all, since a single comic costs ten dollars. Buying a small fraction of the books would cost much more than the DVDs of the whole series. This is compounded by the fact that a lot of the books are out of print and now are selling for ~$100.

So my reread will be far less comprehensive than my rewatch.

That being said, Art and Origins is essential.

I have no idea how to talk about Art and Origins. There’s so much content, I can’t even read it all at once. I get overwhelmed. So this is going to be a bunch of random thoughts, instead of trying to cover everything in the book with a week of posts.

There is no Steven Universe “canon,” other than the show. People often say, “this comment by a creator doesn’t contradict the show, so it’s officially canon.” If you took this approach to the early notes about the show, you’d be convinced that the gems were goddesses, they’re from another dimension, and Pearl has a fire theme.

Of course, “canon” doesn’t really matter? Catholic canon is meaningful because it governs a powerful organization, television canon isn’t meaningful because it governs a fictional universe. If you want something to be true, go ahead. Especially now that the show is over, there’s going to be nothing to contradict you.

I LOVE how they show all the steps they took to get to a finished product. We see endless “bad” sketches of characters and ideas. It takes a lot of courage to show off your unfinished work. It’s also reassuring to bad artists like me, to know that even great artists often don’t know what they’re doing. To think that Rebecca didn’t know what to do with Pearl, to the point of writing, “PLEASE HELP! I NEED THE MOST HELP W/ HER!!!”

It also reminds us how much of the show is a collaboration. Don’t be surprised the crew made more work than you, an individual!

Amethyst had an animal theme, we were robbed.

The funniest thing in the book is the zine. These people were working incredibly hard on the show, so naturally the first thing they do is make a ton of additional art about the show. I guess this is the sort of thing you do when you truly love your work.

I’ve already said my piece about Zuke, but if you flip through the book at random, you’ll notice that the most eye-catching art is almost inevitably one of theirs.

Why does the Smoky Quartz page include “SQ 3.0”? Seems like Steven + Amethyst should be Smoky 2.0.

There’s no way I can talk about everything in the book in a reasonable amount of time, so I’m just going to insist everyone read it. It’s still a good price, and it’s incredible, even if you’re just looking for information about working in animation.

#Steven Universe #SU Rewatch

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pensbridgrton · 3 years

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so this is a bridgerton post

just a personal list of THINGS i wanna see on the tv show (which continues for 8 seasons in my head) having just finished reading (and rereading in some cases) the entire series (and ofc watching s1 of the show)

in rough order of need:

1. all the other love interests (other than penelope) to be nonwhite. Gareth is an obvious one if they keep his relationship with Danbury, but like... nonwhite love interests!! (Personally would love to see an Asian Kate and Indian Michael, but I’m really not picky here. Like MAYBE I’ll accept Lucy being blonde but honestly - I want all of the love interests to be nonwhite.)

2. bisexual benedict bridgerton. it TRULY felt like they were setting this up... worst case, let him bang some dudes in season 2 before meeting Sophie. Better case? Make Sophie into Steven. You can keep the essence of the story... but honestly just make it even BETTER that way. Gay cinderella??? Yes please.

3. LESBIAN ELOISE. Not only have they set this up with her relationship with Benedict, but the Phillip they cast doesn’t... work. You know who would work and is already a wonderful character? MARINA. You can have the same essense of the story but make it even better because... well, gay. Also lessens the constant influence of kids in the series.

4. Just generally less kid-themes. It makes sense for some of the storylines - Daphne/Simon’s, for sure, but Eloise? Doesn’t make sense with this Eloise. Rewrite Francesca accepting her infertility and adopting a kid or something. Also... 9 kids? Give Lucy a break.

5. i would love to see, like they did in s1, introductions of future storylines sprinkled in. I WANT 8 seasons desperately, because I do believe each sibling deserves THEIR season. but if you need to condense things later on, for example if you have fransesca/john getting married during benedict’s season they you could do colin/eloise/fransesca’s storylines simultaneously, like in the books

6. the fact that s1 was wholly this decent and it by FARRRRR the worst book makes me so excited bc if they could create this content with not-good source material then i’m intrigued...... but some of the wittiness from the book was definitely missing and i would love to see more of that

#spoilers #bridgerton

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saikagerights · 4 years

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Update: ”I Know What We’re Going To Do Today!”

Howdy Guys!

I hope you didn’t miss me too much. Yesterday, I was suddenly reminded of all of the work I left unfinished back in August. What I also realized is that I never posted the last thing I wrote before my absence.

I’ll be frank:

These past few months have been pretty strenuous for multiple reasons, and I haven’t found the proper time nor the inspiration to sit down and write more of the journal. In fact, the last oneshot I wrote was directly inspired by art that took ahold of me right at the beginning of the semester.

Besides the world constantly being on fire in 2020, the problems with my stomach hit a wall in August. I had multiple different tests done to try and find the problem, but there was no diagnosis in the end. My doctor prescribed that I start taking natural remedies to try and ease my sickness, and so far..... It’s been working! I’ve actually had an improvement in my health since then. I started taking probiotic vitamins in the morning and drinking kombucha, and now my persistent nausea during the day has disappeared. I’m down to taking one nexium before I go to bed, which is great because this medication was initially prescribed for twice a day.

School, has been interesting so far. It’s my first true semester deep into my music education degree, and I find myself struggling in certain areas due to the pandemic. Some classes are made more difficult to achieve in, while others make it hard to attend consistently. However, I’ve been keeping my head above water relatively well regardless of that. Work......I can’t say that I’m too satisfied with my current employment. If you read my notes on AO3, you knew that the summer was about readjusting to work amid the pandemic, which went over with ups and downs, but more often the latter. I realize now that after 3 years, I am not making enough money to be dealing with the type of work environment I am currently in. Many of the coworkers that I had come to realize as family have left or plan on leaving as well because they feel the same. I gave an ultimatum to my manager that I need to get my much needed promotion and raise or I am walking out before the holiday season, which for a retail store is major crunch time. In this department is where I find the most stress, as it is transitional period. I am in the midst of finding employment elsewhere, which can hopefully give me a much larger paycheck that can help boost my savings and support my college fees.

Free time is spent prepping. Whether it is singing, or practicing another instrument for my methods courses, or even supplemental music theory, I am in a constant state of prep work. And for watching or reading anything, there’s been a lot of comfort shows and not too much else. I took a tiny break from anime and started watching more western television. One thing that my coworkers have been wanting me to watch for ages has been Stranger Things, which I’ve enjoyed a lot so far. I took a short break from it after the slog fest that was the 2nd season, and am now on Season 3. I got access to Amazon Prime Video, so I finally watched the anime adaptation of Wotakoi, a manga I really love, and recently began watching Blade of the Immortal, which is very bloody and very interesting. But above all else, my general mindset this fall has been around one thing and one thing alone: Phineas & Ferb

A cartoon that has been one of my favorites since I was 6 years old has recently resurged in my life and has overtaken my attention once again. What was meant to be my comfort show of the lockdown during the spring has become my comfort show of the fall semester, turning into a massive hyperfixation that has overriden my thought process. Don’t worry, I didn’t go that deep. I just might’ve written 3k words of an analytical piece for the show’s emotional finale, “Act Your Age.” But I stuck true to my morals and didn’t read any fanfiction (this time). This laser focus on the show is actually 5 years late, as I was in the thralls of a fixation when the series ended back in 2015 just as I was discovering Steven Universe, which was the series that won my attention for the next year before I was captured by anime in highschool. But now, I’ve decided to take a break from it until Christmas, as I didn’t watch either of the show’s Christmas specials during my 3 month fling. Everything has connected to this show, and I mean everything, including my own musical development which I really don’t want to go into detail with.

But today, the dreaded Election day in my country, I’ve finally found the resolve to come back to writing Saiino related things. Last night, I took a step back and began to reread my journal to re-immerse myself within my ideas, which ended up being a fantastic idea because it actually made me realize that I needed to change the perspective of the next entry. Along with that came my idea for the prompts in Yamanaka Week 2021. I actually have decided that my participation will follow it’s own running theme that coincides with my journal while also following some of the prompts. They will all be centered around 1 particular headcanon, so I hope you aren’t too dulled with my idea. It will start with my next oneshot chapter for the Sai Journal. As exciting as it is however, I will not be able to start working on this until I can clearly see the end of this semester. Be on the look out for my oneshot, “Technical Difficulties,” and any more updates about Yamanaka Week, because they are coming. I have to go to a zoom meeting for a class, so I will end it here.

Until Next Time

- Saikage

#saiino #yamanaka week 2021 #InoSai #sai yamanaka #Ino Yamanaka #Sai Journal #Sai Journal update

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theseerasures · 3 years

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Conspicuous Media Consumption, 2020

it’s that time of year again! *saddest toot from the party horn*

for those of you just joining us: it’s a “consume a different content every week for 48 weeks of the year” challenge. for a longer explanation, check out last year’s write-up here, and as always, feel free to pop in and ask questions about any and all of this content.

(same disclaimer as last year too: content for this project ONLY here, and not certain...*looks at my billion Sad Cop Lady posts*...hyperfixations.)

(man remember when i was big into X-Men comics earlier this year? better times than these, if only because no one's discoursing about Emma Frost’s woobie/war criminal ratio anymore--her w/w, if you will)

(...i swear at one point i didn’t exclusively like platinum blondes but alas)

Bitter Root (comic, 1 issue finished 1/1/2020): still very cool on a basic concept level, but runs into the Image Comics problem of just not having enough content to keep my interest beyond that. part of that is on me, for picking it up again BEFORE the second arc rolled out, but the first five issues didn’t really follow (or resolve) any cohesive story either, so...meh.

Immortal Hulk (comic, 3 trades finished 1/17/2020): still not gonna be something i care deeply about (maybe one of Bruce’s Hulksonas dyed his hair???), but i do want to give kudos to Al Ewing for sheer consistency in terms of sustaining this level of quality storytelling month by month for more than two years now. working with the dense archive of the Hulk mythos and managing to make it interesting and thoughtful is impressive even if i personally would not expend the same effort.

Disco Elysium (game, finished 1/18/2020): honestly i should have twigged onto what this year was gonna be like when the third thing i drew from the barrel was pure uncut Eastern European flavored depression. i faintly recall people ragging on it for being pretentiously cynical, but i actually thought its core slid more towards idealism than people give it credit for. also gratified that i haven’t heard anything about Robert Kurvitz using slave labor to finish it, which is a thing we have to say about our video games now!!! fun.

Watchmen (TV, 7 episodes finished 1/27/2020): i am a fool who wants to believe in Damon Lindelof and I WAS RIGHT!!! honestly still cannot believe that he pulled off this highwire act with such deft aplomb. might be my favorite TV this year, which is a pretty high bar given how much TV i ended up watching.

On a Sunbeam (comic, finished 2/1/2020): Tillie Walden rightly deserves all the praise for inventive queer storytelling, but i will say that on reread--since i first read this as a webcomic--there ARE some issues with pacing here that clearly come from the foibles of its original intended medium. still just excellent, even if after some plot significant haircuts i was having trouble telling a few folks apart.

Lazarus (comic, 1 trade finished 2/8/2020): it’s so good and i want moooooorrrreee--though obviously Rucka and Lark have the right to take all the time they need. the newer longer issues work really well with the epic prestige drama vibes of the story! i’m into it.

The Good Place (TV, 4 seasons finished 2/18/2020): i’m gonna be super honest: i actually wasn’t a big fan of the finale, nor the last season as a whole. it felt like all of Eleanor’s flaws vanished for a majority of the season, and the Chidi-centric episode where they tried to give a legible justification for why he’s Like This was...i didn’t care for it. still, it’s so good and unique on the WHOLE that we’ll literally never get anything like this ever again, and that counts for a lot.

The Old Republic (game, finished 2/21/2020): it’s an MMO so it will never actually Be Finished so long as the servers aren’t shut down, but i caught up on the content i’d missed in the intervening months. Onslaught thus far has mostly been...kinda bland tbh; going back to Imps vs. Rebs after all the shakeups in the previous expansions feels like a waste.

High Road (album, finished 2/22/2020): someone should tell Kesha not to say that word!! otherwise i was very happy with this album, and happy FOR her even though we don’t know each other. being able to find joy again in the same genre of music you made while you were being horrifically exploited is very cool.

Young Justice (TV, 13 episodes finished 2/28/2020): given how much the middle stuff dragged--STOP KILLING YOUR HIJABI CHARACTER IN HORRIFIC WAYS--i was...actually kinda mad by how the end managed to stick the landing anyway. the day being saved by Vic’s self-acceptance and Violet’s sublime compassion was A+, and even the Brion/Tara switchup was a pleasant surprise, though it relied on me caring about Brion MUCH MORE than i actually did.

Manic (album, finished 2/29/2020): do people still care for/about Halsey? i feel like even That One Song that was on every tumblr gifset ever has kinda faded into obscurity at this point. this album was...okay. i feel like people give Halsey a pass for extremely obvious lyrical turns that they wouldn’t for other folks because of her subject material--which is fine. not really my cup of tea, but i also listened to lots of Relient K this year, so that’s probably a good thing.

Jade Empire (game, 3/10/2020): the only 3D-era Bioware game that didn’t franchise out, and for good fucking reason!!! the Orientalism and appropriation really haven’t aged well, and even beyond that the story was...standard Bioware faire. even my usual “my wife’s a bitch i love her” Bioware type didn’t do it for me, and i just ended up romancing no one. it did make me think a lot about what level of cultural borrowing is accepted nowadays, and why: people still look fondly at Avatar and talk about how ~accurate and respectful it was, for example, despite it being staffed almost entirely by white folks, and the Orientalism ALL OVER the monk class in DND is still fine for some reason.

Alif the Unseen (book, finished 3/31/2020): interesting to have read this AFTER reading The Bird King last year, because it highlights how the intervening years have shifted G. Willow Wilson’s thematic interest and improved her craft. i’m actually quite fond of how her characterization work is rougher here--Alif is extremely flawed to the point of being insufferable, but it makes his development by the end more satisfying. Dina is also just good and i love her

Baldur’s Gate (2 games, finished 5/31/2020): well, having finally finished the series i’m happy to say that it...still doesn’t really do it for me, sorry. any awesome story moments were overshadowed by the EXCRUCIATING inventory management system and the combat (i still don’t know what a THAC0 is and at this point i’m afraid to find out). these games crucially lack the Home Base that later Bioware games were so good about, and that (coupled with the huge cast of characters you can drop off and never see again) really hurts the intimacy for me. by the time we finally did get one it was the Hell Dimension in Throne of Bhaal, and i was just...trying to get through it. (yes, i did just say that about one of the most beloved expansions ever to one of the most beloved games ever.) THIS particular iteration of “my wife’s a bitch i love her” was very good, but the game wouldn’t let me romance her :(

The Underground Railroad (book, finished 6/19/2020): honestly what is there even left to say at this point! it was exactly as good as every critic on the planet said it was, even with my usual aversion to hype. draining and horrifying in turns but still insistent upon a future for Black folks.

Steven Universe (6 seasons and a mooooooviiieeee, finished 7/11/2020): yes, i DID finish the show and almost immediately begin a rewatch. this series is now one of my top five most formative things, and the amount of love and respect i have for it is incalculable. that said: i once again did not love how the central conflict of Future was resolved (just the resolution--i loved the finale just fine). for all of Steven’s breakdown was built up, resolving it with “EVERYONE HUG HIM UNTIL HE CRIES” felt...cheap, especially since up until this point the show had been so good about treating trauma and mental illness with the respect and nuance it deserves. it made me wish some of the earlier, less substantial episodes had been cut so we could spend more time at the end.

What It Is (comic, finished 8/19/2020): y’all i love Lynda Barry SO MUCH. for the longest time i was worried that One Hundred Demons was more a lightning in a bottle situation but every book of hers i pick up makes me feel obscure emotions i didn’t even realize existed. the compassionate way she’s able to describe her child self and how weird and fucked up she was (and still is) is honestly aspirational.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (TV, 5 seasons finished 9/26/2020): so here’s a reversal of what i’ve been complaining about with other shows: i was mostly lukewarm-to-warm about She-Ra, but the later seasons and the finale made me much more into it as a whole. more shows should improve in stakes and overall quality as they age tbh!! i still don’t actively love Catradora (my sole quibble with season 5 actually has to do with the way Adora kept backsliding as a character to make certain Plot/Relationship things happen), but i’m very happy for them nonetheless. i can certainly appreciate a show that will go for High Feeling over tight plot. dark horse standout moments: trees growing everywhere proving that Perfuma Was Right, and Hordak and Adora seeing each other--that weirdly intimate moment of recognition.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters (album, finished 10/7/2020): again i find myself not having much to say that no one else has said. it’s good! once again love it when an artist reclaims something they’d attached with negative affect (anxiety, depression, disordered eating) for better and brighter things.

Solutions and Other Problems (comic, finished 10/25/2020): i was very into Allie Brosh’s ambition with this book, which feels weird to say but i stand by it. it’s cool to see an artist try to make a new medium work for them instead of just sticking to what already works. not all the experimentation was 100% effective, but it was still delightful and occasionally devastating to read, so.

Legend of Zelda (3 games: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Link Between Worlds, finished 11/1/2020): this was the third time i’d played Ocarina of Time, which made it the nice, comforting groove i settled into before Majora’s Mask blatted me in the face. i’m not usually a completionist Zelda person because...the gameplay in Zelda is bad, do not at me it just is, but i really felt like i HAD to be one for Majora’s Mask since the whole point is to get attached to the banalities of the town. i’m sure nobody’s surprised that i loved it, even if it gave me an existential crisis about how life goes on in the game for NPCs when you’re not there to save them from it, and there’s not enough time to save them all all the time (also not a surprise to anyone: Romani and Cremia gave Personal Feelings). Link Between Worlds...bad. not like in a “this is a bad story by every measurable gauge” way, but i was already struggling with the 2D playstyle shift enough that for the whole story to end with some “yes it’s v sad that Lorule is Like This but trying to steal Hyrule’s privilege is Even Worse Actually” noblesse oblige bullshit left a VERY poor taste in my mouth, this year of all years. i did audibly gasp when Ravio took off his mask, though. i’m currently playing Breath of the Wild in cautious increments; it’s the first time i’ve enjoyed early Zelda gameplay, but if they wanted fully voiced cutscenes i wish they got voice actors who...knew what words sound like.

folklore (album, finished 11/6/2020): my belief that Taylor Swift is Just Fine continues, i’m afraid. i LIKED this album, don’t get me wrong, and respect her constant drive to innovate, but i didn’t love it substantially more or less than any other Taylor Swift album. mostly i’m just tickled by how she thinks leaning into the indie aesthetic means borrowing Vita Sackville-West’s entire wardrobe, though i will admit to feeling Something when she swore in a song. i think it was like. savage vindication?? you go ahead and swear, Taylor Swift. you deserve it.

Shore (album, finished 11/19/2020): do people still care about the Fleet Foxes? i think there was some Drama with Josh Tillman a while back but i don’t remember where the discourse landed with who was being more problematic. it was nostalgic for me to listen to their new album--made me remember being an undergrad who exclusively listened to men who mumbled and played acoustic guitar all over again.

Star Wars (3 movies: original trilogy, finished 11/27/2020): there is So Much bad Star Wars these days that every time i rewatch the original trilogy i’m afraid that they will suddenly be bad, but guess what! they’re not. i love these children and their hot mess stories, i love that Lando doesn’t know how to say his best friend’s name. what stood out to me this time was the way Obi-Wan described the Force in A New Hope, which strongly implied that ANYONE can be Force Sensitive; that obviously faded with each subsequent movie, but part of me does wish they’d kept it.

X of Swords (comics, 22 issues finished 12/5/2020): i am enjoying Hickman’s X-lines!!! not so much here for the Grand Conspiracy or whatever, but the character work and highkey weirdness is fabulous--they FEEL like X-Men, despite all the shakeups in-universe. this crossover is a nice microcosm of all that: grandiloquently all over the place, but still full of cool standout moments and genuine hilarity. ILLYANA DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SPELL MAGIC.

Fire Emblem (4 games: Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, finished 12/14/2020): this was the thing that i was closest to giving up early on, but i ended up hyperfixating on it instead. that’s a credit to what the gameplay does to my lizard brain more than anything else, because the story and character writing is...insipid. it was very bizarre to witness this franchise blunder around with its animal-people racism allegory around the same time i was getting back into RWBY, and ITS animal-people racism allegory blunders. Awakening was the first time i felt anything for the franchise beyond “teehee red units disappear make exp bar go up and brain go ding,” so i’m excited for more mature storytelling in subsequent games (they MUST get better. they MUST). the child husbandry thing is...very bad tho, and Apotheosis being “challenging” entirely through the game changing all the rules is also bad.

once again no vidya games that came out this year--i’ll probably pick up Spiritfarer or Hades after the New Year, though (or maybe TLOU II! but probably not. sry Laura and Ashley). more TV and franchises this year, which made me feel In Touch with the Children but was also kinda exhausting. nothing was so egregiously terrible i dropped it without finishing! in a year like this that feels almost like an accomplishment

#conspicuous media consumption

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smallblueandloud · 4 years

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 for the writing ask- I AM SO SORRY I COULDNT STOP!!! xoxo

aaaah these questions look SO GOOD thank you so much <3 <3 for this ask meme, which will be open all weekend!

1. tell us about your current project(s) – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

i pulled open all of my WIP google docs for this and my laptop started whirring ominously, lmao. this is going to be a Little Long but i love talking about my wips so who cares!! (under the cut because EXCERPTS)

guys and dolls but gay - very, very casual rewrite of guys and dolls if sky masterson was a woman. i’m loving how chill i’m being about this one because it’s so much fun to not have to worry how i’m going to write lyrics in a not-weird way and just focus on the story. this one’s first because it’s theoretically closest to being finished.

sky, laughing: “oh? people. all the people you turn down every day. well, i imagine there’s someone out there that’ll catch your eye.”

sarah, stiffening: “...yes, there will be.”

sky: “and what might this person be like?”

sarah: “he will not be a gambler, for one.”

sky does not miss the pointed pronoun. “i’m not interested in what he won’t be, i’m interested in what he will be.” she sits down on the desk, in a pointedly masculine pose, and sets her fedora next to her - at her most Hot Queer, basically. “how will you know when he gets to you?”

my fic for the aos rarepair fic exchange - i can’t give any plot or ship details, for obvious reasons, but it’s 1.3k and i’m having fun with it!

steven roadtrip of destiny - canon divergent fic set at the end of steven universe future where steven goes on a roadtrip instead of... canon. it deals with some heavy emotions and it’s also a character study so it’s tentatively shelved until i get around to rewatching suf. but i am projecting on steven like crazy and it’s really, really cathartic. it’s taught me a lot about myself too lmao.

He’s never been anonymous before. He kind of likes it. It means he can fold his arms on the table and put his head down without Pearl worrying about his posture, or someone asking him if something’s okay.

In the last few months, he’s grown to hate people asking him how he’s doing, or if he’s okay. He always ends up lying, because he doesn’t want to worry them, and he ends up feeling worse.

Probably because it’s more of him supporting other people without supporting himself.

He should have told someone how he was feeling. He should have reached out. Sadie could’ve helped him. Lars would’ve listened. Connie would have hugged him and then found him the appropriate mental health professional.

(God, Steven wants a hug. Also the appropriate mental health professional? Whoever that would be.)

untitled aos fic - i don’t want to give a lot of details because :eye emoji: and also i don’t know much about what the plot of this is going to be anyway, lmao. but here’s an excerpt:

daisy “that actor who doesn’t shut up about data harvesting” johnson (@daisyquake) tweeted: two weeks :eyes emoji:

Elena Rodriguez | Seven Cents S2 Streaming On Netflix Now! (@yoyorodriguez) retweeted and added: the problem with being friends with daisy is that you SHOULD have some insight into what her tweets mean but you still have no idea

Fitz (@justfitz) retweeted and added: Try being married to her

untitled star wars twins fic - because i am a total and massive nerd. i’m just kind of stuffing everything i have feels about from the post-anh era into this and planning on figuring it out later? i’m really loving talking about the culture of alderaan (and the culture of the survivors) and also i just love writing luke and leia’s relationship... so much......

(no excerpt for that one because i’ve basically posted all of it in various posts lmao)

aos ds9 au - i’ve posted a LOT about this already and i want to keep the plot a surprise but fsk is in this and married and half the cast is aliens, what else do you need in life.

“Good morning,” says Jemma, coming into the room with her hair wet and her uniform crooked. “Hello, darling.”

“Hi,” says Daisy, turning her face up for a kiss. Jemma obliges absently as she walks past, looking around the room.

“Has anyone seen my hair clip?”

“No,” say Fitz and Daisy in unison.

and of course, last but never least in my heart, chapter 3 of the magnum opus - writing this is on hold until my brain decides to stop hitting me over the head at every possible moment, but there’s like... 2k written so far? it’s. it’s going.

“Yeah, yeah,” says Coulson, and makes quick work of the right gauntlet. It’s only halfway through the left one that his fingers slow and he says, quietly, “Simmons designed these, didn’t she?”

She lets out a quick breath. “Yeah.”

He stays quiet for a few more seconds, finishing up the last of the straps, making sure they’re tight enough. Finally, he says, “She should be helping you with these.”

Daisy pulls her arms back and swallows down some words, or maybe a couple of feelings, or maybe a sob. “Yeah, well.”

2. tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

the last sentence of the magnum opus!!!!!!!!!!

no, lmao, i’m gonna try to be serious. i really, really want to write some librarians fic in the near future? also MORE OF THE SENSE8 AU. i’m DYING to write some stuff about that. especially sam’s cluster, for some reason? Let’s Make Him Suffer (Comedically)! one day i’m gonna finish that list of what cluster/situation each song is about and then it’ll be over for all of us!

3. what is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

i spent about eight months imagining a scene where riza hawkeye was really injured and mustang was holding her in his arms (basically the promised day scene but with more privacy) so does that count?

hmm, just for some other possibilities: glinda telling dorothy about elphaba, laura somehow seeing or speaking to natasha during catws, a good omens au of the good place (specifically the ”i don’t even like you!” / “you doooooooo” scene), kencyrath au of star wars (ESPECIALLY THIS ONE, except setting up the first scene alone would take 7k, but i want to talk about leia and luke and their MESSED UP TRUST ISSUES in this au).

oh, also, something about star trek tng where jean-luc and beverly and jack were in love and then jack died and picard left. more specifically a scene set during the pilot episode where jean-luc very cordially offers beverly the option to transfer off the enterprise, that he wouldn’t dream of holding it against her, and beverly very cordially telling jean-luc to go fuck himself. i want to write 30k of that broken triad. i want it so bad. i dream of that fic. maybe one day when i find myself with a completely empty month or two, i’ll binge all of tng and Write Some Stuff.

4. share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

since you and i have tww in common, i’m gonna do a tww fic! otherwise i’d have to reread literally every fic i’ve ever written, lmao.

(this is long but i put this post under the cut so i have RIGHTS. also consider this a sneak peek for the j/d fic in the sense8 au?)

“It’s okay,” says Helen. She sits for a moment in silence, seeming thoughtful. “The Congressman and I are in the same cluster,” she says eventually. “I’d- I supposed that’s easier on the Secret Service?”

“Yes,” says Donna. “The-”

She stops herself from saying anything further. President Bartlet and the First Lady aren’t exactly quiet about who’s in their cluster, especially with senior staff, but that doesn’t mean she should go talking about it in an unsecured room in LA, of all places.

To cover for her blunder, she gives up something else: “The same with Josh. They got really lucky with him, actually. It’s just him and me, so they won’t have to worry about anyone threatening the Chief of Staff through the barista in the local Starbucks.”

Helen looks up from the Ohio numbers she’d drifted back to, a slow smile creeping up on her face. “Josh is in your cluster?”

“Uh-” says Donna, feeling like national security wasn’t worth whatever she’s just blundered into. Oops. “Josh- Josh is my cluster, ma’am.”

She catches her mistake the second it’s out of her mouth, but Helen doesn’t call her on it, more focused on other revelations. “No wonder you two look at each other the way you do!” she says, sounding delighted. Donna shuts her eyes, praying for this to go away. It’s not that she’s ashamed of Josh - it’s just so, so complicated, and other people never think about how difficult it was. Still is.

i’m just... i really liked the idea of donna fumbling and having to reveal this to cover up for what else she was going to say? i don’t know why i’m so charmed by this. i think it’s because it would be impossible in the show - you can’t show what someone was going to say on television, not without a lot of setup and very careful scripting. it’s just a really fun situation to write about and i’m really proud of this conversation in general.

also helen santos was a dream to write and i love her a lot. i kind of want to write one of the fics in the series about her and her cluster solely because like... look at her. she’s a delight in literally every scene. i love her.

5. what character that you’re writing do you most identify with?

daisy johnson!!! i love writing daisy johnson!!!! she is the most adhd character i’ve ever written and i literally just have to transcribe my own inner monologue and it works perfectly!!!!!

Swing shift: 1600 hours to 2400 hours. Daisy always ends up getting back to her quarters at like 0030 hours, when Jemma is asleep and Fitz is reading some kind of technical journal. Then she has to eat replicated pizza, alone, and freshly replicated pizza is actually pretty hot but it feels cold at that time of night, like, spiritually.

6. what character do you have the most fun writing?

...whoops i literally just answered that lmao. uh. i also really love writing sky masterson in the guys and dolls fic? she’s just weaponized hot queerness in a suit and i love her for it. she is intentionally trying to seduce this repressed lesbian and it’s really funny and also really hot of her and it’s so much fun to write.

also, i wrote chidi for the tgp fic and it was possibly the most fun i’ve ever had with a pov, although that was also because i was purposefully trying to mimic the tone of the show. i still think that line about michael and a grenade is, like, the funniest i have ever been in my life. but chidi’s panic was surprisingly easy to write? all of tgp’s characters have such STRONG voices, it makes writing fic ridiculously easy as long as you don’t get stuck on a plot for six months.

7. what do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? would others agree?

oof, this one is ALWAYS tricky. uh? uhh?? i’m going to ruin everything by saying this but i basically alternate between the same two sentence structures and i am really frustrated about it. i also alternate between the same two styles of endings and i always use the same beginning (set scene, main character pov, thoughts-as-exposition, back to scene).

BUT ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE i like to talk about emotions and relationships and character development!! i have my “queer subtext goggles” superglued to my face, lmao. i like to think about how characters must have felt about things in canon and how it must’ve influenced them. i like making people deal with the consequences of their actions, especially how it’s influenced they themself. i also just really, really like writing people who love each other, whether it’s romantic or platonic or anything in between. i just want them to be happy! i just want them to stick together! doesn’t matter what fandom, i stand by it.

#loudwithlaughter #sb and l rambles #sb and l answers #sb and l is writing #thank you for sending this in!!!!!#now for literally All The Tags lmao #aos ds9 au #verse: fitzskimmons thingy #fic: you're a candle in the window #verse: and it's golden #mcu ideas #tgp ideas #st ideas #fic: help me hold on to you #fic: on that bumpy road to love #jesus CHRIST that was a lot of tags #okay okay i'm pressing post now #this was such a delight thank you SO much for sending it!#the steven roadtrip of self discovery fic

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killmongerkink · 5 years

Text

11:37 PM - Part 3.

Summary: Erik and you meet up at an unlikely location.

Pairing: Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens X Black!Reader

Warning: oral sex & fluff.

Length: 5k

BTW: i really wasn't planning on continuing this series. i kinda fell out of love with it, but then i reread my work and it made me want to write all over again lol. i’ll try not to take so long with writing these next few parts :/. enjoy and sorry for any typos!

CATCH UP: part 1 / part 2

MASTERLIST

"So, who's that broad you been chillin' with?"

Erik's attention was momentarily pulled from the game as Aaron questioned him. Him and his boys had been in the house for most of the day, deciding to meet up and chill since they didn't have shit else to do on a Saturday. It was Erik's day off at Acuity Brands where he was the lead data engineer, Lo had pulled a double shift to get the day off and Aaron didn't know the definition of a job, so it was a unanimous decision to link up.

"Chill with that broad shit man, she got a name."

"Well you won't tell us her name, so what the fuck else are we supposed to call her?" Lo replied, his head still stuck in his phone as he watched some rap battle on Twitter.

"Y'all ain't got to know her name, just know it ain't broad. Have some respect."

Aaron gave Lo a look in which Lo returned, before they both busted out laughing. Erik sat back, unamused by the two men. They had been questioning him since they got to his crib about the new girl he had been seen walking home a few times. He should've known niggas on the block couldn't mind their damn business. It's not that he had a problem with people seeing you with him, he just didn't want others knowing about what he had going on or trying to get to know you. You were the only thing in his life that he didn't have to share. When it came to his job, he shared that with his co-workers and uptight boss. When it came to his apartment, he shared that with the few close friends he had. When it came to you .. you were his. Not in the sense of you being his girl or anything like that, but he appreciated the fact that he was the only person you really knew here besides your Uncle and classmates. He was the one that got to walk you home, take you to all the dope mom and pops shops and show you the hidden foot spots around Harlem. The last thing he wanted was you getting close to someone else because then he'd be on the back burner. No longer would you need him to walk you home and he wouldn’t be able to see your face light up when he showed you something new due to someone else beating him to it. He'd be damned if that happened. His eyes shifted over to Aaron doing a broke down version of the woah and Lo hyping him up, especially not these niggas.

Erik wasted no time pulling out his phone and searching for your Instagram. It had been a while since he saw you, a week and a half to be exact. He didn't hit up the gas station these past couple days because he didn't really have anything to get, and he could only eat so many donuts and snickers before his body would start paying for it. During those days, he kept up with you via social media which wasn't much since you barely posted. Neither did he, but shit ... he wanted to know what you were up to. He could've just DM'd you since he didn't have your number. The realization making him pause, why didn't he have your number? He was gonna make sure he got that shit the next time he saw you. He could see you now, being all shy and awkward after he asked and the thought made him chuckle.

"What's so funny? Yo' ass being all quiet and shit. You lookin' at titties?" Aaron eyed Erik suspiciously, leaning back and craning his neck to look at his phone screen.

"Yo, you ever mind your business?" Lo quipped back. "Now you know E private. I'm surprised his ass even got us in his crib, you know he be acting like he got the secret formula and shit in here." Lo shook his head, eyes still glued to his phone.

Since Lo had been cool with Erik before Aaron, he knew him better. Erik didn't like people in his personal business or space, close friend or not, and if you began to ask one too many questions, he'd get suspicious quickly. Everyone knew that, but there were some people that just couldn't get the hint or just didn't give a damn and that was Aaron.

"Y'all so sensitive, acting like my gotdamn momma. I just know y'all better change them attitudes by tonight. You know his girl Tae having a kickback and we gotta be in there.” He pointed towards E, a quick “she ain’t my girl” leaving Erik’s lips. “She bringing all her homegirls from her campus and you know what that means." Aaron rubbed his hands together, a sly grin on his face as all three men exchanged a blur of ayeeeee's and yeeerrrrrr's.

The apartment was pretty packed when Erik and his boys arrived. Most people already had drinks or a blunt in their hand, some boo'd up on the couch while others played dice and beer pong. When a few eyes noticed their presence, they were met with daps and laughs. A few random girls came up, offering to make them drinks and they nodded along, not dumb enough to refuse being served.

They all made their way through the numerous bodies, standing by the kitchen entrance where Tae was talking loudly to a few friends. Erik had met her at a party a year or so back, and since then she’d been around. He threw her one of his signature smiles, knowing that it would make up for him curving her for these past couple weeks. It wasn't as if he was doing it on purpose, he just had more important shit to do with more important people. She acknowledged his smile by rolling her eyes and turned back to her conversation. He stayed put, knowing that she was trying hard not to walk over to him. He was pretty sure she already dogged him out to her friends, hence why they were all trying to look at him without being obvious. All it took was one of the randoms to hand him a drink before Tae was walking up.

"Hey Neicy, the girls in there need some help. Would you mind?" Her eyebrow rose, silently challenging the girl to not obey.

"Uh, sure thing." She nodded, looking at Erik one last time before shuffling back into the kitchen.

Tae turned to him, sighing heavily as if the last place she wanted to be was here. While she was busy putting on a show, he took the opportunity to really look at her. It was easy to write her off since she was away at school, but now that she was back for the weekend he was planning on making it up to her. It didn't hurt that she looked even better than the last time he saw her.

"You been giving my shit away?"

Tae gave him a confused look before catching onto to his comment. Her shoulders bounced, her drink sloshing in her red solo cup. She knew that he wasn't one that was fond of someone else being in his shit, something he had made known when they first fucked. Word got around quick here and since he hadn't heard anything, he figured she was behaving herself at college. Tae looked over her shoulder, pleased that everyone was occupied in their own little world and looked back at Erik, saying nothing as she grabbed his hand and walked him back towards her bedroom.

Erik relaxed at the end of the bed, careful not to spill his drink on himself while he leaned back and rested his weight on his elbows. He stared up at the ceiling for a second, wondering what you were doing. Probably home, catching up on work or watching Netflix. Tae's hands made quick work of his belt and jeans, pulling them down to his knees along with his boxers. A few seconds later, she made herself busy by licking a broad stripe along the length of his dick, going back and forth with no hands. She craned her neck to the side, using her tongue to lift the weight of his head before his dick was sinking into her warmth. Releasing a sigh, he felt tension flow from his body and into her mouth. It had been a minute since he got some head. He wasn't one to just lay down with anybody, so he kept a select few around that he could depend on. One of his favorites was Tae, but that changed when she started handing out ultimatums. She knew what it was since the beginning and that he wasn't in the correct mindspace for anything too serious. All Erik wanted was a girl he could chill with and fuck, all that extra shit didn't interest him. When he was told "either you cuff me or I'm not fucking with you anymore", he took that as his hint to dip on her, but it wasn't long before she was right back where she always was - on her knees.

Erik wondered if you were the type to do that, force someone into something that you knew they weren't interested in ... nah. If anything, you would be the one getting pushed to do something. Your quiet and shy nature was enough evidence to prove that, but he did notice that more of your personality was starting to show. Maybe it was because you were finally getting comfortable around him, maybe it was because he didn't allow you to shut down and crawl back into your hole when you were with him. He could see that you were goofy as hell, true to yourself and actually educated on various topics. He was just waiting for you to realize that.

His attention was brought back to Tae when he felt her by his balls, her hand resting underneath them and her fingers wrapping around his dick, holding the two together in one hand. Her attempts to deep throat caused his hips to raise on their own, his girth making it nearly impossible for her to swallow it all, let alone get his nuts. That didn't deter her from making sure to give an adequate amount of attention to all of him though. He appreciated her efforts and enthusiasm, her watery eyes proving that she was really trying to go all out tonight. She dragged her mouth up his length, a loud pop resonating in the dark room before her hand jerked him slowly, Erik's low grunts mixing with the sounds of squelching due to a mixture of his pre-cum and her excessive amount of saliva.

The image of you replacing Tae's form popped into his head and he felt his body jerk. Had you ever even done this before? He wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't, but the thought of you eagerly wanting to prove yourself as you kneeled in front of him had him ready to bust. Your lips were always glistening with that damn lipgloss he would see you use every now and again. And he could tell you had a long ass tongue from the times you would randomly stick it out after saying something funny. Shit would probably feel like heaven.

"Erik, what's wrong? Why are you being so nice?" She pouted, sticking her tongue out and slapping his head against it hard before sucking it to her mouth, only paying attention to his tip as if it was a lollipop.

Her comment made him freeze, looking off to the side and realizing what she was saying was true. Usually, he was rough when it came to anything sexual. He got off to it, taking control and spitting out obscenities. There was no time to be soft and sweet, it just made the nut take longer to come in his opinion. So why the fuck was he being so laid back all of a sudden? A part of him was ticked off as he thought about it, raising up from the bed and gripping Tae's hair in his fist, earning a cry from her.

"Ow Erik, that hurts.." Obviously not enough since seconds later she was back to doing her job.

Now he was annoyed. He didn't even know why he bothered coming in here with her. He wasn't feeling it anymore and he just wanted to go for a drive, maybe stop by a place that he hadn't been in a couple of days. But he couldn’t pass up on some quick head so he sat back and let her do her thing, calling her out her name and holding her head in place so he could fuck her mouth. He ignored her hands trying to push against his thighs and watery eyes, his dick staying in the back of her throat as he fed her, dick draining his kids into her mouth before letting her go. With a deep sigh, he leaned back against the bed and relaxed. Tae quietly walked off to the adjoining bathroom, the water running filling the relatively quiet room except for the heavy bass vibrating through the walls. A few minutes later she was back, a warm feeling casing his dick as she wiped him carefully, planting a kiss on his head when she was done.

“You must’ve really missed me huh? That was a big one.”

Erik ignored her question, raising from the bed and setting his cup on the dresser before pulling back up his clothes, Ferragamo belt buckled as he checked himself out in the mirror quickly. He chugged the alcohol down, discarding his cup back on the dresser for her to clean up.

“You know, you could visit me at school sometimes. My roommates are always out so we could have the place to ourselves. I hate that we only see each other when I come back home.” She shuffled out the door behind him, huffing when she realized she was being ignored.

Before they could reach the main area where the party was being held, he turned around and backed her into the wall. She looked up at him with desire in her eyes, hands smoothing his shirt across his chest as she eagerly waited for him to continue. Erik knew the hold he had over her, he could throw her to the side and she’d still come running back. Some would say he was trash for playing with her heart, but Tae knew what it was and she could make her own choices. Since she was going to be around for a couple of days, he wanted to keep things between them on a good note. He was way overdue for a good fuck and wanted to hit it at least twice before she went back to campus. He looked at her for a moment, her eyes slightly wet and still red from her tears earlier.

“How long you gon’ be in town again?”

“Until Tuesday. That gives us four whole days to do whatever we want. I could come over one day, maybe cook for you?”

Yeah, that wasn’t about to happen, but Erik wasn’t that much of an asshole to turn her down so bluntly at her own party. He just rose his brows, acting like he was thinking it over before shrugging, letting her know that he’d think about it. As he walked away, he knew the only way they were gonna meet up was if he came to her place. No one knew where he stayed except for family and those he considered family, and he was trying to keep it that way. He really just wanted to know how many days he had left until he could link up with you. With Tae in town, it would be next to impossible so he had to play it smart. He didn’t want you knowing about her and damn sure didn’t want her knowing about you.

The house party had got crowded in the time they were away, more bodies littering the living room and kitchen. Erik made his way through the few people standing in the hallway, head turning slightly to his left when he saw some new people that wasn’t there when he came. It was a couple of girls and he didn’t really pay them any attention until a certain one caught his eye. Her hair was down in front of her face, slightly hiding her from his view. She looked good from the side, not as dolled up as the rest of the females surrounding her, but that just made her stand out more. He liked that she wasn’t trying too hard, she was just chillin’. Oversized baby blue t-shirt, black biker shorts and some Jordan 1 UNC patents on her feet. He nodded his head to himself, silently approving her fit.

Fly lil thing. Ass fat too.

If it wasn’t for Tae on his heels, then he would’ve tried to shoot his shot. Just as he was about to keep it pushing, Tae’s loud shrieking made his face screw up as he looked back her, confused at her loud ass outburst. She told him to wait there for her and brushed past him, running up to the new group and wrapping her arms around their shoulders. He begrudgingly listened, hands stuffed in his jean pockets as he looked on. She turned around and skipped over to him, wrapping her hands around his forearm and pulling him over to where she was once standing.

“Guys, this is Erik. Erik, these are my friends from school.”

He nodded his head and went to reply until baby blue turned her head in his direction, the room around him pausing briefly as his eyebrows lowered in confusion before raising in disbelief.

The last thing you expected was to see Erik at Tae's party.

Tae had invited you about a week or so ago, along with a few others girls from your sociology class. She was having it at her cousin's apartment, which was where she stayed when she wasn't on campus, and made sure to make all the girls promise that they would come. Claims of it being the best party you’d ever go to and not wanting to come off rude, you decided to go. You could tell early on that keeping up with appearances was a big deal for her. You couldn't recall a day where she wasn't looking her best or even seemed stressed. How she did it? It was above you. There were moments where you saw the real her, but they were few and far between. Whenever she would realize she was dropping this 'confident bad bitch' persona she liked to put on, she would quickly tighten up and go back to being the girl everyone knew her as. On campus, she was the IT girl. Guys wanted her, girls either wanted to be her or fight her. She was one of those people that you would rather have as a friend than an enemy for sure. So you knew you had to show your face, she’d feel some type of way if you didn’t.

You didn't know if you should say hi to Erik or not with the way Tae was holding onto him. It was very territorial and knowing her, she wouldn't appreciate the fact that you two already knew each other. The girls all said hi after she introduced him, yours coming out a little later than everyone else's as you looked at him a little confused. Were they dating? He hadn't pushed her off or said anything since she brought him over and with the way she was going on and on about him, they obviously had some type of relationship. He nodded his head and mumbled a low "wassup" back, his eyes passing over your classmates before resting back on you. So this was why you hadn't seen him lately. He was spending all his time with her.

"You guys having a good time? Happy you came?" Tae smiled brightly, eagerly looking at you all and waiting for a response.

"It's lit, your cousin is so cool for letting you have it at her place." "Girl duh and you got some fine ass friends, introduce me to some." "Hell yes. If not, I would've been stuck in the house being bored." Everyone spoke over one another.

She nodded her head, catching on that you hadn't spoke yet and looked at you, raising her eyebrow.

"It's great." You smiled brightly. "I’m happy I came."

"Uh, I'm so happy you guys are having a good time. Well, I need to go make a couple more rounds. Someone here was occupying my time and I couldn't say hi to everyone." The smirk she threw Erik when she looked up at him had your eyes desperately wanting to roll, but you stopped yourself.

There was no reason for you to be mad. It's not like you guys were close friends or anything. He was just a regular that you'd ring up. The same regular that made it a routine to walk you home from work. The same regular that had been introducing you to some of the best food spots that you ever could've imagined. You couldn't even begin to think about all the good food that you'd scarfed down in the past week. Either way, it was obvious that the Erik standing before you and the Erik at those times were different people. You could feel his energy and it wasn't the same sweet flirty one that you were used to. Instead, he had this confident air that was clouding over him and you would've thought it was attractive if it wasn't for him standing next to Tae.

You all nodded and told her you'd catch up afterwards, your eyes not bothering to look back at the man before you started to make your way into the kitchen. A red solo cup later, you were perched on one of the barstools and listening to some funny story that Marissa was telling, or at least trying to. From where you were sitting, you could see Erik and Tae perfectly. She was sitting on his lap as she talked to some people, his hand on the couch armrest before she was pulling it around her. He kept his arm around her waist, his head slowly looking around the apartment until he was looking at you. Making eye contact was inevitable, since you were too slow to look away or play off your obvious staring. You gave him a small smile, the corner of your lip raising quickly before going back down. He returned it, eyes casting downward before he was turning back to those around him.

The next hour and a half flew by. The company of your friends mixed with some of your favorite songs and a funny ass dance battle between some guys had you enjoying yourself. Somehow you ended up joining a group of people playing Never Have I Ever and you felt a little left out as everyone knocked back shots while you just held yours. The questions started off fun, but quickly turned sexual, making your lack of experience obvious when you could do nothing but watch everyone drink. You lied on a few, and laughed off others, all while unknowingly being watched. When you realized it was around 1:30 am, you decided it was time to dip. It was pretty late and you had work tomorrow, along with an essay to type up. You didn't want to regret it in the morning, so you bid your friends a goodbye and promised to text them when you made it home.

As you got up and hugged them all, you made eye contact with Erik’s back as he laughed loudly at something. Surprisingly you didn’t spot Tae anywhere near him. You didn't really want to talk to him, annoyed that he hadn't spoken to you the entire night and instead decided to stick to Tae as if he was on a leash. It seemed like he was fine when it came to walking you home in the dead of night, but couldn’t be bothered with a simple “how are you?” now. You couldn’t even lie to yourself and say this was shocking. This wasn’t the first time a guy had ignored you around his friends and you were sure it wouldn’t be the last.

The walk home was going to take you about 15 minutes, which wasn’t too bad you guessed. It was late so the sun was long gone now and there’d be a nice breeze to accompany you. You had your little pepper spray if anything went down and a baby taser your Uncle pretty much forced you to carry. Exiting out the building, the lights from neighboring apartments and the corner stores kept the block lit for you. You were happy that you decided to get out a little, but couldn’t deny that being alone was ten times better. You could finally breathe and walk freely without worrying about bumping into somebody or vice versa.

After 6 blocks, you were starting to feel the repercussions of walking in shoes that weren’t broken in. Your heel was starting to throb, but you did your best to ignore it and adjusted your bag over your shoulder. The sounds of cars here and there weren’t out of norm, but you started to get nervous when you realized that one was driving suspiciously slow for no good reason. You hadn’t been paying attention so you had no clue how long they’d been there, but as you heard the slow and steady rumble of the engine trail behind you, you began to wish you had stayed at the party. Or at least gotten an Uber. Nonetheless, you kept walking and looking forward. It wasn’t until you stopped to let a car pass that a deep voice met your ears.

“You know I could’ve kidnapped your ass if I really wanted to right?”

You clicked your tongue, head shaking slowly as you recognized who it was. Of course it was him. With your arms crossed over your chest, you turned your body towards the car and slowly walked over. This was the first time you had actually seen it and it actually fit him, intimidating and sexy. You held back your smile as you watched him tilt his head at you, before knocking his head back, inviting you to get in without words. As much as you wanted to, thoughts of him and Tae together held you in place. They had something going on, you were sure of it, so you didn’t want to continue getting too close to him just to end up with your feelings hurt. You were also still salty that this was the first time he was speaking to you this night.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to Tae’s? I’m sure she’s probably wondering where you went.”

“Who says she doesn’t know already?”

“Based on the fact that she wouldn’t let you out her sight, I highly doubt that.”

Before Erik could respond, his phone started ringing. As he was going to answer it, he whispered a quick "get in" that you didn't obey. You could tell he was getting annoyed, but it was funny watching him roll his eyes like a spoiled child. The noise around you guys unfortunately prevented you from hearing his conversation, so you were stuck using your context clues to figure out what was going on.

"Sup?"

"My bad bro, I had to dip out real quick. Something came up."

His thumb pointed towards the passenger seat and you shook your head, amused as he sucked his teeth and sat back. He stared at you as he continued to talk and you tried your best to look everywhere but him. At the stop light, at the LED open signs that blinked in the business windows, even at the empty trash bag that was currently rolling down the sidewalk. Literally anything to stop your eyes from landing on him.

"Catch a fucking Uber my nigga, the fuck?"

"Not tonight. I got important shit to handle. I'll hit you tomorrow."

From your peripheral, you watched him hang up and stick his hand out the window, reaching for you. He was definitely trying to be cute, small pout on his face as his fingers finally brushed against your arm.

"Why you playing hard to get?"

"I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out why you're so adamant about me getting in your car when I'm literally like 5 blocks from my place."

"A lot can happen in 5 blocks and if you don't get in, I'm just gonna follow you the rest of the way."

"That's really ... stalkerish."

"I don't care." He said bluntly, shrugging his shoulders.

After some time, you finally listened and got inside. Deep down you wanted to hop in as soon as you saw him, but you wanted to see if he was gonna be persistent. His eyes followed you as you slipped inside, purse now in your lap as you protectively held it against you. It was being lifted off you and onto the floor with a huff seconds later, Erik’s hand pulling the seatbelt around you, unaware of how his knuckles were brushing against your breasts. He was too busy going on about how you shouldn't be walking late at night to notice. You stayed quiet, stomach now in knots as he tried to find the buckle that your thighs were hiding. You lifted up some, assisting him and trying not to overthink when you felt his hands on your hips. Finally he clicked it in and you were able to breath, relaxing into the seat as he took the car out of park and rolled up to the now red light.

"So, what important shit do you have to handle?" You questioned innocently.

"You."

* * * * *

taglist: those below are people that asked to be tagged, i saw in my notes on part 1/2 or mutuals :). if you don’t wanna be tagged in future updates then please let me know!

@hearteyes-for-killmonger @erikaintdead @chaneajoyyy @james-heaven-barnes @iamrheaspeaks @raysunshine78 @kimpossible1977 @twistedcharismaaa @janelledarling @thadelightfulone @thehomierobbstark @purple-apricots @yoyolovesbucky @journeytomeee @wakanda-inspired @l-auteuse @ghostfacekill-monger @hidden-treasures21 @eye-raq @enigmaticaphrodite @junesbride @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @werkoutbliss @imagine-n-shit @honeytoffee @michaelsgoldengurl @theblackblackwidow @destinio1 @eriksprincess @blowmymbackout @melaninmarvelgirl62 @savagescorpion @blackgirlreadsfanfic @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @vikkidc @maddiestundentwritergaines

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