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#contemporary fiction
belle-keys · 1 year
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if i were stevie knicks i’d tweet “do not cite the deep magic to me witch i was there when it was written” and tag taylor jenkins reid and then i’d turn off my phone
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Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
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Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City and the race riots of 1967 before moving out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
Mod opinion: I've read this book for a college course on trans stories and I didn't really like it (the other book we read in its entirety for the course was stone butch blues though, so it had tough competition, but I really did not enjoy middlesex because it treats the intersex character horribly). Also note that this book is heavily criticised by intersex activist for its interphobia and fetishization of intersex bodies.
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sterolinesense · 10 months
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“It’s easy to love someone when times are good. Real love is about holding on to one another when times aren’t.”
—Timid, Devney Perry
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queenofasgardreads · 4 months
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“No need to hold back, Mal. He’s a big boy. Whatever you’ll dish out, Nolan can take it.” Her smile is faint. “He probably wants it.”
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
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poetic-pandemonium · 2 years
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Richard arriving at Hampden in The Secret History
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words-after-midnight · 7 months
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Writeblr (re-)Introduction | words-after-midnight
Hi, I'm Nico (he/him)! I'm a 32-year-old Tio'tia:ke (Montreal)-based writer of crime fiction (mostly thrillers), literary fiction, and horror, as well as the occasional poem.
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Current WIPs
🌙 LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE | Psychological thriller
[GIRL ON THE TRAIN x THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS (Nemerever)] A troubled young man attempts to overcome a dark, growing obsession with his estranged former lover after the twisted relationship that uprooted his life is catastrophically interrupted.
Status: Line edit, preparing to query. Tags: #libaw, #call it midnight (inspo reblogs) WIP intro // Excerpt // Playlist // Moodboard
💀 THE DOTTED LINE | Psychological horror
[A CLOCKWORK ORANGE x SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION] A young inmate nicknamed after an Al Pacino movie navigates the chaotic, dangerous world of a medium security American prison while plotting his escape.
Status: Drafting (slowly and intermittently) Tags: #tdl, #the jungle (inspo reblogs) WIP intro // Playlist // Moodboard (cw: gore)
(More under the cut!)
🔵 SUPERNOVA | Dystopian/Speculative
[FRANKENSTEIN x BREAKING BAD] What if you held the key to the Earth’s salvation… and its potential destruction? An eccentric chemistry professor's PhD students decide to investigate her rumored discovery of a highly dangerous theoretical compound, and inadvertently ignite the spark to an unstoppable chain reaction of passion and pride, power and corruption, and unintended consequences they never could have anticipated.
Status: Pre-production (outline/zero draft) Tags: #sn, #hexa (inspo reblogs) WIP intro
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I do not maintain any WIP taglists at this time. You can follow/track my project-specific tags if you want updates on them.
I am open to critique/constructive criticism on any snippets/excerpts I post, for any WIP, unless otherwise specified.
Ask/tag game friendly (but please note that I'm very busy and may take a while to answer)
I'm okay with minors following me, but please be mindful of the fact that my work is written primarily for an adult audience and you will be blocked if you interact with any post tagged #minors DNI.
You should not follow me if you're uncomfortable with fiction that addresses dark (ie. potentially triggering) topics. This being said, I always provide content warnings as needed.
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cozycoffeereads · 1 year
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Hi Booklr!
My name is Bailey, I'm in my late 20s, a lit major, and a bibliophile. I just created this Tumblr dedicated to my reading journey and love of books, poetry, art, and aesthetics. Last year I read 58 books, for this year's reading challenge I plan to read at least 52 books and hopefully break last year's record. Join me on my journey of reading. I will post updates, reviews, and hauls.
Genres I read: Fantasy, thriller, mystery, contemporary fiction, horror, and non-fiction books (such as history, anthropology, and science books.) Occasionally: sci-fi and historical fiction books.
Some bonus things I enjoy: dark academia aesthetic, goth aesthetic, video games, cozy aesthetic, fashion, journalling, studying, world-building, writing, and makeup.
Reblog if you have any of these things in common on your blog. I'm looking for more people to follow. If you follow me, I'll follow back as well. Wanting to build my community. :)
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tagithi · 10 months
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heaven by mieko kawakami
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mangotalkies · 11 months
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breakfast with a man called ove + a new ceramic bowl i'm in love with
three chapters in, i was finding so many similarities between ove and my grandfather. the stringent adherence to routine, fierce independence and the uncompromising opinion on 'the right way to do things'
just got through the chapter with ove and his father, and i think it will be one of my most favourite chapters of this book. i have an unending affinity for reading about the slow, brewing process of love languages being formed; especially for familial or found family relationships.
overall, a funny read till now; looking forward to the upcoming chapters 🐈
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TW - abuse mention, violence mention, injury mention, mental trauma, ptsd
Caliban had taken many women to his bed the first night he’d met them, and that was the only night they’d spent together.  Some he’d dated for a while before becoming sexual.  None of those had ever brought about the conflict that he currently felt with Adira as she returned to the bathroom to finish changing.  It was not that there was not the physical desire for her, or that he knew that it would be far more than one night with her, but rather that the physical was so far less important at the moment than making sure that she felt safe and secure mentally and emotionally.  The other could wait, and he would wait, because he knew how wounded she was in all ways. He did not want to add to that in any way; certainly not if there was a chance of losing the way she looked at him by rushing or pushing for anything.  Whenever her eyes and his met, there was something that he could not describe within them, something that awoke a part of him that hadn’t been touched before, and he was finding he liked it.  
When Adira was once more behind a closed door, she leaned against it, holding the PJ pants to her as her heart thudded within her chest.  She had no idea what had made her so bold as to walk over to Caliban like that and just assume he would welcome her touch upon his bare skin and her help in disrobing.  It hadn’t been until she had actually been in the act of doing it that her brain had kicked in.  By then it had been too late and the only thing she felt she could do was continue, and now she was thankful that she had.  Just his initial response of covering her forearms and hands with his own had almost made her knees give way in relief and also a warm and safe sensation that had flooded her whole body.  She craved him in a way that she had never craved Mircea, in a way that she couldn’t even put into words. It wasn't blind lust, it was something deeper. 
From the day that she had met Mircea, she had known that they would be married.  It was why her father had introduced them.  Also from that day, she had alway tried to garner his approval, to please him, to make him proud, to elicit praise.  He had at least pretended in the beginning to be somewhat fond of her and that her efforts were more than enough.  The lack of overt affection understandable due to theirs being an arranged marriage, but it was one he seemed to desire, something that still confused her with how things eventually went.  However, the longer their relationship went, the more it was obvious that she was not who he wanted and that her efforts would never achieve the results that she hoped for.  She had still tried, no matter how many times she failed to live up to standards he seemed to change on a whim.  Up until the day she had been kidnapped, she had relentlessly tried.
Caliban was completely different from Mircea in every conceivable way.  One could say that their marriage was no less arranged than hers with Mircea had been.  It was not built on love, but an agreement to provide for her and keep her safe.  The difference was that even in the beginning of her relationship with Mircea she had not felt as safe and secure with him, nor had she felt as accepted.  Then there was something about the way that she felt when she was held in Caliban’s arms, the way just his voice calmed any fear or anxiety in her, the look in his eyes when he looked at her, his gentle and soothing touch when she was upset or hurting - it was all so new to her;  at the same time, it was like what she had always been looking for in the past, but never found.  
It was in wondering how he had not found a wife previously, with everything he had already shown her of who he was, that Adira came upon the thought that made her stomach turn: what if there were other women he was in a relationship with when he had saved her?  Could she do that again?  Could her heart take other women also being in a relationship from someone other than Mircea?  If there were, could she even do a fake marriage?  Her breath caught and her heart burned at the thought.
By the time that Adira finally opened the door again, Caliban had started to worry if things were okay with her.  The room had been too quiet, and she had seemed to be in there too long.  He had to keep reminding himself not to rush her.  Patience was never one of his virtues, but he knew that if he wanted to unwrap the delicate gift that was the true nature of the woman he now called his wife, he was going to have to learn some.  There was something about her that made him confident that whatever new skills he might have to learn or test he might feel like he was enduring, in the end, it would be worth it.
“Is everything alright?” He finally asked as she silently crossed over to the bed and began to place her jeans in the bag that he had brought up for her.  She hadn’t looked at him when she came out of the bathroom, nor even when he spoke to her, and this concerned him.  Before she’d gone back in, they’d once again been affectionate with one another and she’d seemed to be relaxing.  Had she had another panic attack of sorts?  
Still not looking at him, Adira’s voice came out soft and stuttered, “I hadn’t thought to ask before if…” She paused, gathering the courage to say what had come to her mind as she realized how much she was attracted to Caliban. It was as if the question was stuck in her throat, refusing to come out.  There was a fear of hearing the answer once it did.
“If what, sweetheart?” Calban asked cautiously, as head cantered.  He had heard the hesitation and nerves in her voice.   He pushed off of the dresser he’d been leaning against to walk over to her.  There was definitely something wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what could have changed in just a few minutes.  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, her head still bowed as if looking down into her bag.  “If you had…someone you were with..you know, when you..we...”  As she let her breath out, she steeled herself for the answer.  Her hands had balled to fists around the clothing she was holding, as if that would somehow protect her from the answer hurting her.  She had known many men who would be with multiple women simultaneously.  It wasn’t like she was naive to the way the world of rich and powerful men who looked like him operated.  Even those who were married often had more than one girlfriend on the side besides their wife. This was often the life wives of family heads led.
So that was the issue that had suddenly come to bother her.  The tension Caliban had been feeling waiting to hear what had upset her faded instantly.   He was glad her back was to him because he could not keep the devilish smirk off of his face.  Not that he was laughing at her, far from it; no, he was delighted that the beauty was concerned that she might have competition for his affection.  To him that meant that she too was starting to feel something for him in the same way he was for her.  Otherwise she wouldn’t care if he was in a relationship with someone else while being fake married to her.  Being fake married to Adira seemed to get better every time he turned around, and now he was going to have at least two weeks secluded with her in a mountain cabin.  Who knew what could happen then?
“And it would bother you if I did?”  The shaky inhale of breath after his question gave him his answer, just before his arms wrapped around her from behind.  She couldn't hide the slight tremble in her body from him, a tremble that he hoped his next words would quell.   Placing his chin on her shoulder, he let his warm breath fan across her neck with his next words, “my darling wife, if there had been, the moment I slipped that ring on your finger they no longer existed.”  He gently kissed the crook of her neck and continued, “there is now, and from now on always will be, only you, unless it is you who wants things otherwise between us.”  Caliban was never one to share a woman, nor did he expect a woman to share him.
As much as his words comforted her, she also felt like they were too good to be real. “Are you sure that you can be happy that way?” Adira was afraid to even hope, even if she prayed, to a god she had long since stopped believing in, that it was true.  She was under no illusion that Mircea had ever been faithful in their marriage, even from the beginning.  He’d always blamed her; of course it was her failure as a wife that led him to have to find others.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”  He kept his chin on her shoulder and laced his fingers with hers now that she’d covered his hands with her own.  Every time he thought he’d figured out how much damage that Mircea had done, something more was revealed.  There was no doubt the coming days and weeks would reveal more, and he would try his best never to repeat those wounds.  If he could, he would instead heal them.  
“Well,I…I don’t know.  I just know that no matter what I tried, I was never enough for Mi-” Suddenly Caliban’s hand was over her mouth, cutting her off as she felt herself fully pulled back against him.  Her eyes closed, her breathing stilled, and she waited for the pain.  Pain always came after the wrong things were said.  Hopefully Caliban would not be as brutal as Mircea had been.  She still ached from being dragged by Kondrat and the abuse in that basement.
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banners by: @cafekitsune
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reading bunny was beginning : smut salon would be so fun, end: I think I'm going to cry over mud and the deeply symbolic fever dream inbetween
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belle-keys · 1 month
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Superior Subgenre: Race Satire by WOC
Here are my recommendations for satirical contemporary books by women of colour about racial fetishization and white neoliberals. Highly recommend these three books if you want to laugh, introspect, and marinate on how American society and institutions are being cooked by the culture war.
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mystsoftime · 23 days
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And...so...it begins for Enzo, Dante, and Renata....
Present Day - Phone Call - Dante & Enzo
“No, I’m still on the way.  Why are you so interested in this case, this agent, and this meeting?  Dante, you’ve never been this involved in one of my cases unless you were working with me.”  Enzo’s eyes narrowed as he spoke with his best friend, and second in command of the Lemures.  “I know that you’ve worked a lot here in the Midwest, but it’s not that big of a deal.  This one seems pretty straightforward.”
“Have you reached the meeting place yet?”  Dante’s voice seemed strained and a bit gruff through the phone connection.  It was clear that being on the other side of the world from this situation was not making him happy.  One of Enzo’s brows rose at this.
“It’s just that Renata…” Dante started to try to explain.  Where to even start to explain.  Could he?  Renata and kids…
“I know that you two are close or something, and she’s new, but you can’t be stepping in any time I work with someone you trained.  I’m not going to take it easy on her, Dante.  If she can’t handle the work, then she can’t be an agent.  It’s as simple as that.” Enzo was close to growling into the phone.  What the fuck was Dante covering up?  If he needed to call Trevarius and get his ass over there, he would.  The other Lemure wasn’t supposed to show up for a few hours, but Enzo’s patience was waning.
“Now Enzo, I didn’t say that.  This one has just been hard for her, that’s why…” Dante had to make him understand, he wouldn’t let Enzo make her a shade because she struggled with kids.
“Dante,” his voice held warning, “I know that there have been issues, that is why I’m here.  I’ve read her file.  She’s a competent agent.  There is no reason that you should be calling me.  What gives?” The tone now held all the command that came from years in command of the whole legion of Lemures that spanned the globe and had for millenia.
“You’re not understanding, Enzo.  I’m trying to tell you that you’re going to have to handle this one diff….”
“I’m not going to pussy foot around anyone’s feelings on this, Dante.  I’m done with this conversation.  Finish your case, and if you want to join us, fine.  I’m almost to the Arch.  Goodbye.”  Enzo hit the red button on the face of his phone to end the call and growled.  He rarely argued with Dante and starting this off with one didn’t make him happy.  What about this agent he was meeting had his friend so keyed up?  He really wanted to know what a brand new agent could have Dante so protective over.
Sitting in a cafe in Prague, Dante let out a string of curses under his breath.  He’d been working with Enzo for centuries, but that didn’t mean that the two men saw eye to eye on everything.  This was one such case, and it wasn’t until he’d hung up that Dante realized that Enzo thought she was new.  What the fuck?  Was ENZO slipping?  How did he forget a Lemure that had been with them over a century?
Closing his eyes, Dante’s thoughts went back to the call he’d had the previous night with the agent that Enzo was getting ready to meet: Renata.  
****
Previous Day - Phone Call - Dante & Renata
“Dante, why couldn’t you come?  I’ve been working here in St. Louis since my death in 1897, he’s never come before.  He’s outright REFUSED, why now?”  Renata had been pacing the living room of her huge Victorian in Compton Heights. Her socks made a soft whisper sound on the antique oriental rug that covered the original hardwood floors she’d had installed when she’d built the house so long ago.  
“Darlin’, calm down. I can’t come, I’m in Prague handling this fucking disaster.  The boss is coming because it’s a complicated case and a kid, that’s all.  I know this ones hard on ya, but it’ll be okay.  As soon as I’m done here, I’ll be there.  I’ve almost found the last body.  One or two days, max.  We’ll find the kid’s body and the monster hurting all of them down there.  You’re not alone.  Trevarius is still there.” Dante hated the sound of her voice.  Hated he couldn’t do anything.  This whole situation sat wrong with him, and Pluto was being a royal ass about not revealing a damn thing about his motivations for not letting Dante just leave early.
“What is he like?  I mean, is he like you?  Is he more like Trevarius?  Or someone else I know?”  Renata had worked with several agents over the years as a Lemure.  They were the agents selected by Pluto to assist humans find the bodies of those who had been murdered or died in places where normally they would not be found.  Those whose bodies could never be found were offered to be Lemure agents by Pluto, rather than to have their spirit wander the earth aimlessly for eternity as a shade.  Renata had fallen into the Mississippi river after a party at Lemp mansion to celebrate a wedding, and she had drowned.  Her body had never been found because of it.  Since that day, she had been a Lemure.
“No, Enzo is not like me.  He is much more serious and a hardass, but you’ll be fine.  He’s not coming to judge you or punish.  No one wants a child to be a shade, and there is no way that a child that young can become a Lemure.  Just relax and work with him.  It’ll be fine, sweetheart.  I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Dante blew out a breath.  Where Dante was relaxed and fun loving except when he had to be the hardass, Enzo was all work and no play, not ever.  In his life, and afterlife, Dante had never met anyone more serious than Enzo.  It made him good at being the leader of the Lemures, but it also made him have few friends and many enemies over the years.
“It’s just he’s refused to come since I became an agent, refused to train me, refused to answer any of my calls or texts, never answered my letters and later emails, so I just don’t understand, Dante.  I’ve felt like he’s hated me from the beginning and now he’s going to be here.  I’m just nervous.”  There was no missing her emotions in her voice.  After so many years of friendship, and now possibly something more growing between them as she had finally released the past, Dante didn’t.  
Many times he’d worked closely with Renata, so many that there were rumors about the two.  Not that there was any truth to them, not yet anyway.  Renata had mourned her husband and children for many years, watching as they and then a few later generations of her family aged and passed.  Letting go of her life as a living person had been hard.  He’d held her hand and helped her through it all.  After over two hundred years, they were almost as close as he was to Enzo.
“You have my number, Ren.  If you need anything, even just to talk or text, don’t hesitate.  We’ve made it through worse than you having to share a case with Enzo.”  Dante chuckled, hoping to put her more at ease.  “I’ve been serving with him for a long time, sweetheart.  I’ve survived.  You can too.  You just have to relax and make sure he always has coffee, black with one sugar.  Throw Trevarius at him if you have to, he can run interference if you can’t get me.”  
“What would I do without you?  I feel like I’m back at the beginning being all a mess again.  I don’t know how you put up with me.” Tears pricked at her eyes, and she got choked up.  She remembered the early days when it seemed like all she could do was cry, and the cases felt like ripping up the wound of her own death.  If it hadn’t been for Dante and Trevarius, she never would have made it through the first decade.  
“You would have driven Trev to pull out his hair.  And I don’t think that he would look good bald.”  Dante laughed, “neither would I, to be honest.  Why do you think we took turns?”  He laughed again.  “Your little blonde ass wasn’t that bad, sweetheart.  It’s not easy to go from living to dead, and then get assigned to your home city.  You still got Trev there on the force. Trev can handle him.”  
Tevarius worked in the St. Louis Police Department as a Detective in Homicide. There was always a Lemure in the Homicide Department of the police force, it made it easier for the Lemures in the area to help them solve the cases surrounding the bodies of the souls they helped.  Trevarius alternated between St. Louis and Chicago.  His replacement depended on Enzo’s whims.  During the first century Renata had been a Lemure, Trevarius and Dante had switched back and forth so they could orient Renata on her job and life as a Lemure.  
“Love you too, Dante!”  Renata made a kissing sound into the phone at his teasing.
“You KNOW you do.  Now, have a glass of wine, relax in that big old tub of yours, and then get some sleep.  I promise the bear won’t bite in the morning.  I’ll have a talk with him.  Sleep sweet, and know I’m there with you in my heart.”  Dante was smiling as he ended the call.  He was feeling positive, having no clue how the call the next morning would actually go.
****
Present Day - St. Louis, MO
As Enzo walked across the grass, he saw what had to be the agent that he was meeting.  Most of the people milling about were in shorts and T-shirts, but the tall blonde stood out in her flowing skirt and sleeveless top.  She wasn’t exactly overdressed, but there was an air of elegance and refinement about her stance.  Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on indicated that she didn’t belong in this time, or place.  That perplexed him since he had just learned of her existence and he knew of all Lemures as soon as they were inducted into service.
Coming up behind her, “Ms. Bellini?”  He waited for her to turn around, and when she did, Enzo got what had to be the shock of his several millennia long life.  He was staring into the face of a woman he knew, one that had been dead since shortly after the birth of Christ.  It actually made him take two steps back, his head slightly shaking as if to clear it.
“Yes, you must be Enzo?”  Renata held out her hand to him.  When he didn’t respond and just kept staring at her without saying anything, she shifted a bit uncomfortable, the smile that had been on her face faltering.  “Is something wrong, sir?”
“Is this a joke?” His voice was cold and his words clipped.  This couldn’t be happening.  She looked and sounded exactly like his wife, who had burned to death in the Great Fire of Rome.  That was when he became a Lemure, and he had held a grudge against Pluto for a long time that his wife had not been offered the same, because he knew that she had become a shade.  There was no way that the woman standing before him could exist, or if she did exist that it was not a cruel joke by a deity or trixter. 
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readtilyoudie · 10 months
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Michael: Aw, Lilly, you’re just jealous. 
Lilly: I am not! 
Michael: Yes, you are. You’re jealous because she got her hair cut without consulting you. You’re jealous because you stopped talking to her and she went out and got a new friend. And you’re jealous because all this time Mia’s had this secret she didn’t tell you. 
Lilly: Michael, SHUT UP! 
Boris: (leaning out of the supply closet door) Lilly? Did you say something? 
Lilly: I WASN’T TALKING TO YOU, BORIS! 
Boris: Sorry. (goes back into closet) 
Lilly: (really mad now) Gosh, Michael, you sure are quick to come to Mia’s defense all of a sudden. I wonder if maybe it ever occurred to you that your argument, while ostensibly based on logic, might have less intellectual than libidinous roots. 
Michael: (turning red for some reason) Well, what about your persecution of the Hos? Is that rooted in intellectual reasoning? Or is it more an example of vanity run amok? 
Lilly: That’s a circular argument. 
Michael: It isn’t. It’s empirical. 
Wow. Michael and Lilly are so smart. Grandmère’s right: I need to improve my vocabulary. 
Michael: (to me) So does this guy (he pointed at Lars) have to follow you around everywhere from now on? 
Me: Yes. 
Michael: Really? Everywhere? 
Me: Everywhere except the ladies’ room. Then he waits outside. 
Michael: What if you were to go on a date? Like to the Cultural Diversity Dance this weekend?
-  The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1) by Meg Cabot
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magical-mistakes-vm · 1 month
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TW - physical violence description, violence against women, choking, abuse, physical harm, injury
Vollrath, Elmar, & Baldur discover what happened to Mahala when she was alone in the office with Jonathan...
Before he sat down at his desk, Vollrath took a bottle of water over to Mahala, who told him she was now just feeling tired.  Baldur and Elmar watched as he said something softly to her and kissed her forehead, then closed his suit jacket over her again.  During it all, she hadn’t moved.  Jonathan was lucky she was alive, they were both sure.  Vollrath was never gentle with anything, yet he was handling her like she was made of the most fragile mercury glass. There was a look on his face, when he looked at her, that they had never seen before.  Since both had known him since they were all children, that told them a lot about what was going on with him.  Neither had a doubt now that she WAS the Lioness. “Okay, let’s see what really happened in here.”  Vollrath said as he took a seat in his office chair, and letting out a heavy sigh.  Baldur and Elmar grabbed chairs from the still overturned conference table and rolled them over, sitting so they could see too. None of them were particularly looking forward to having to watch her be attacked, but they all had to know what happened before the Council meeting. So, Vollrath hit play on the downloaded video, and they all waited.
They watched as the recording showed the three of them leaving, then Mahala unsteadily making her way to the bathroom. The heavy exhale from Vollrath had his two friends looking over at him, a bit nervously.  He was obviously still upset at the way she had staggered as if drunk, leftover side effects of his anger.  The guilt on his face was an unusual sight, and was one more clue that there was definitely something going on between Vollrath and Mahala that they had never witnessed before between him and another woman.  He was now holding his chin in his hand, obviously tense already and nothing had happened; they hoped that when it did, he would be able to contain it.
It was shortly after that point in the video when Jonathan entered the frame.  He sat down what looked like some reports on Vollrath’s desk, as he said he had.  Then he seemed to be looking for something on the desk, moving some files and looking through others.  There was some more shuffling of papers that were randomly on the desk until he froze, that was when the door to the private office bathroom opened and Mahala exited, still a little shaky and with a hand to her temple.  The audio hadn't been downloaded but from the gestures, there had been some kind of conversation about who she was.  The fact she had on Vollrath’s suit jacket apparently did not make it obvious she was somehow connected to him.  Jonathan’s head started shaking and he grabbed both of Mahala’s upper arms and slammed her into the wall.  There was a slight crack as Vollrath had a death grip on the arms of his office chair, and something plastic had broken. “Easy big guy, look over there.  She’s fallen asleep, nice and easy.  She’s fine.”  Elmar tried to reassure his friend, keeping his voice calm.  Or maybe he was reassuring himself, he was no less enraged.  The devastation in the room, and the way he’d just seen Jonathan handle the woman, concerned him, a lot.
The video continued on to her trying to get away, obviously saying something.  Mahala was once again slammed into the wall, then Jonathan had let go of one of her arms to choke her.  There was about 5 seconds of that, with all three of them growing increasingly tense and enraged, and they watched as she put her hands on Jonathan’s chest and shoved once, and the second time it was like the room exploded in a white light.  When the camera focused once more, the room was how they had found it when they rushed in.
“How did she do that?” Baldur asked incredulously.  If she was untrained as Vollrath had said, how could she have commanded that much power into someone else? He was still staring at the screen where Vollrath had frozen it, trying to wrap his head around what he’d just seen.  Nothing was making sense.
“She is untrained, she was terrified, and she probably didn’t mean to.  Think about it.  Her mind would have been focused on getting him away from her.  She’s been in the company of the three of us this morning for a while.  Three powerful warlocks, one being the Master of a whole Coven.  It is going to call to her dormant powers, which are damn strong, Bal.  Depending how much time she spent with Vol last night, could be a damn strong pull by now.  Not to mention whatever residual magic was floating around from Vol losing his temper over jealousy, and then having to help her feel better.”  Elmar laid out everything he was thinking.  He waited for Vollrath or Baldur to correct him if he got something wrong.
“She slept in my arms on my couch last night.” Vollrath caught both of them raising their brows as they looked at him. “You can judge for yourselves our level of affection and how close we were.  So, with the two of you both around her this morning, I’m sure that Elmar is correct.  Which is why her training has to start immediately.  It saved her life, but she could hurt someone on accident as well.” He looked at the two of them in turn before scrubbing a hand over his face and up into his hair.
Baldur considered it all. “She definitely shouldn’t be alone.  Elmar or I should stay with her during the Council meeting tonight.  You have to talk to them.  The video will speak for itself, I’ll call down to security to have them get us a copy with audio.  We need to protect her till you leave for your cabin with her.  She doesn’t seem the kind to attack someone else, but Jonathan has friends that might not listen to the truth.  Another incident like this one, even with provocation and you know that someone will be out for blood.”
Elmar nodded in agreement.  She also needed to be protected from anyone that Jonathan might know that would seek retribution.  She had not acted wrong, but others might not see that. “I’ll stay with her.  Bal, you figured out what was wrong first.  You can speak to the bruises we saw.  If they want to hear from me, they can send you or Vol in.  I can’t add much that you two wouldn’t be better for.  But if they come for her, they aren’t going to fare well.”  His tone and expression were serious.  There were times that he didn’t trust the Council and this was one.
“El, don’t start a fight where there isn’t one.” Baldur warned.  He knew exactly why he felt that way.  “Vol and I got this.  No one is going to come for her.  This isn’t the same situation as your sister.”  The growl that came from Elmar told him that he might have stepped on a nerve he shouldn’t have, but he didn’t flinch.  “It’s not.  Neither Vol or I are going to let them come for her. You just keep her company and make her tea, if she needs it, with some lemon.  Her throat has got to be killing her.”  He glanced in her direction, concern evident across his face.
“NO. ONE. is going to come for her.” Vollrath stated absolutely.  “We are not going to mention the level of familiarity between her and I, nor that she spent last night in my company.  She came here this morning to meet with the three of us after I confronted her on my property last night preparing to do a ritual she is not trained in.  I convinced her to hear the three of us out about her abilities, and the ritual she clearly did not understand.  That is all that they need to know.  Or do you gentlemen feel differently?”  Vollrath looked at both of them, as they agreed with him.  He too knew the Council often stopped listening when they heard something that they thought was the “real story”, and were wrong.  Limiting the story to just what happened in his office would prevent that.  “How do we explain her having your jacket?”  Elmar asked.  That was the only flaw he could see in the explanation that Vollrath was suggesting. “Everyone knows Vol’s temper.  She wasn’t understanding and accepting what was being said, and he started to lose his temper out of frustration.  She didn’t know about shielding and he didn’t think about that.  He caused her to pass out.  We’ll leave out the real reason: she didn’t understand that you and I were flirting with her just to piss off the big guy, and Vol was actually jealous and about to hit one of us.” Baldur gave a tight smile.  Not one of any of their finer moments and he would be happy to leave it out from anyone ever hearing about it.
“Yes, that would be the better explanation for that.  And we WERE making her tea so you both could tell me what an asshole I am, and how I need to control my temper.  So, it’s not like they will question that.”  Vollrath sighed.  He still felt guilty about that, and now more so that she had been hurt when he left her alone in the office. 
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ttal-zi · 2 years
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writeblrs + indie authors please interact!
i have no idea how to start making friends here (ノ◕ヮ◕)ノ*:・゚✧
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