#much prefers her new domestic life with claire | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yurimother · 9 months

Text

The 2023 Yuri Guide - Light Novels

Your ultimate guide to the best Yuri content with over 200 curated titles from every genre and medium.

Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka

• School • Drama • Romance

Saeki Sayaka has always been an old soul—serious and reserved, preferring to focus on her studies rather than make friends. Until, that is, a romantic confession from another girl in middle school turns her carefully ordered world upside down. Though none of her classes have prepared her for this, Saeki must now come to terms with her sexuality in this gentle, coming-of-age novel about grappling with first love, growing up, and relating to other people.

~Written by Hitoma Iruma, Illustrated and Created by Nakatani Nio~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

• Action • Fantasy • Isekai • Enemies to Lovers

When Menou, an Executioner of deadly interdimensional “Lost Ones,” encounters a Lost One named Akari who can cheat death, she sets out on a mission to kill the unkillable girl — but her newly stirring feelings might get in the way of her blade.

~Created by Mato Sato, Illustrated by nilitsu~ Licensed by Yen Press

Girls Kingdom

• School • Romance • Comedy • Master/Servant

All Misaki wanted was a free education. Instead, she accidentally lands an exclusive contract with the most prestigious girl in school... to serve as her personal maid! Misaki soon discovers that Amanotsuka Academy for Girls is no ordinary school—her classes are all about how to be a maid, too! Students who impress the school’s elite young ladies with their domestic service skills might be lucky enough to become a “Seraph,” guaranteeing them a job with an upper-class household after they graduate.

~Created by Nayo, Illustrated by Shio Sakura~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Girls’ Love of the Dead

• Horror • Mystery

When Mitsuki’s best friend suddenly dies, she decides to seek out the old abandoned building of their school, the Romero Private Academy for Girls. But when she meets her dear Rin again, there are quite a lot of reasons why the other girl doesn’t remember her…

~Created by Nanaoku Hoshii, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet

I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner

• Isekai • School • Comedy • Action • Fantasy • Romance • Enemies to Lovers

Claire François has it all: beauty, brains, and the blood of nobility. As the daughter of a high-ranking noble, she takes her status and the according responsibilities with utmost seriousness—even as the king threatens to undermine his realm’s stability with his visions of “meritocracy.” Claire is nevertheless prepared to take this societal change in stride, until one of the new commoner students at her elite academy, Rae Taylor, turns her life upside down. Everything about Rae confounds Claire, from her behavior to her intellect to her bizarre fixation on Claire herself. Little does she realize just how much Rae will change her world, and how much she’ll change Rae in turn.

~Created by Inori, Illustrated by Hanagata~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment

Last and First Idol

• Horror • Sci-Fi • Anthology

"Bye-bye, Earth! My idol activities here were so much fun!” A wannabe idol turned reality-shattering entity, existential isekai organisms, and a space opera about murderous voice actors… Award-winning author Gengen Kusano presenting an astounding collection of three harrowing existential widescreen yuri baroque proletariat hard sci-fi idol story has carved out a new legend in science fiction history! These high-concept stories are crammed full of horrific imagery and exceptionally detailed science that will leave your mind reeling.

~Created by Gengen Kusano~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

A Lily Blooms in Another World

• Isekai • Romance • Fantasy • Enemies to Lovers

Miyako Florence isn’t sad when her fiancé breaks off their engagement after two years. It’s all according to plan! Whisked into the world of her favorite otome game, Miyako frees herself from a dull noble to pursue her true soulmate: the game’s villainess Fuuka Hamilton. Proud Fuuka only has eyes for their mutual ex-fiancé! Miyako confesses her love to Fuuka and proposes that they run away together. Fuuka agrees on one condition: Miyako must make her say “I’m happy” in 14 days. With conniving nobles, strange diseases, and magical rituals pulling them apart, can Miyako win the villainess’s heart?

~Created by Ameko Kaeruda, Illustrated by Shio Sakura~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Lily Clairet

• School • Slice of Life • Weak Yuri

A young girl is arguing with a cherry tree. That's a new one for Lily, who's managed to reach the end of her first year at high school without too much weirdness. Unfortunately for her, it's not long after solving this odd mystery that her untroubled life begins to unravel. Discovering an abandoned room at the end of the music department corridor, she finds that aside from it being utterly run-down, it's also devoid of its sole occupant: Sonata Sonoda, the missing journalism club president.

~Created by Kaye Ng, Illustrated by Rumikuu~ Independently Published

LOVELY! My Adorable Mamecchi

• School • Romance • Friends to Lovers

Everyone may have their eyes on the charming, prince-like Hikaru, but there's only one person Hikaru's got her eyes on - her darling childhood friend Mamecchi! But between Mamecchi's hot-and-cold personality and Hikaru's subconscious denials, this sure doesn't look like a recipe for success...when a certain repeat customer gets into Mamecchi's good graces, will Hikaru finally muster up the courage to confess to her first love?

~Kumako Nanbu, Hiromi Takashima~ Licensed by Manga Planet

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

• Fantasy • Romance • Comedy • Isekai

Despite her supposed ineptitude with regular magic, Princess Anisphia defies the aristocracy's expectations by developing "magicology," a unique magical theory based on memories from her past life. One day, she witnesses the brilliant noblewoman Euphyllia unjustly stripped of her title as the kingdom's next monarch. That's when Anisphia concocts a plan to help Euphyllia regain her good name-which somehow involves them living together and researching magic! Little do these two ladies know, however, that their chance encounter will alter not only their own futures, but those of the kingdom...and the entire world!

~Created by Piero Karasu, Illustrated by Yuri Kisaragi~ Licensed by Yen Press

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!

• Fantasy • Action • Horror • Master/Servant • Slow Burn

Flum Apricot was never meant to be a hero. Despite zero stats across the board and a power she can’t even use, she somehow finds herself included in a party of heroes. But Flum’s life hits rock bottom when the party’s renowned sage, Jean Inteige, decides that the useless girl is dead weight, and arranges to have her sold into slavery. Tossed to monsters to be feasted upon for her master’s entertainment, Flum makes the desperate choice to reach for a cursed weapon…and something new awakens within her. A grimdark tale about one woman’s blood-soaked quest to reclaim her life!

~Created by kiki, Illustrated by kinta~ Licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment

Sasayaki no Kiss -Read my lips.-

• School • Romance • Drama

Haruka has always lived in a soundless world. But not in her dreams, where she can hear her own voice - and the voice of the only other person in the dream with her, a beautiful high school student wearing an adorable, unfamiliar school uniform. Haruka knows this is just a dream, but why does a part of her think it's more than that? Is this girl she finds falling asleep in the park really the literal girl of her dreams?

~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet

Seriously Seeking Sister! Ultimate Vampire Princess Just Wants Little Sister

• Comedy • Fantasy • Yuri Harem

Long ago, on the continent of Ephenia, there existed the feared tribe of vampires called “True Bloods,” whose great strength allowed them to reign supreme over all other tribes. However, a millennium has passed, and any trace of them has vanished off the face of the planet. That is, until the youngest and most talented royal daughter of the True Bloods awakens in the modern day.

~Created by Hiironoame, Illustrated by Siso~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!

• Fantasy • Comedy • Action

Tanya Artemiciov is a talented Mage-class adventurer who just got kicked out of her party by a sexist scumbag. So what's a girl to do? Go to the wasteland and blow stuff up of course! One small problem though: she inadvertently frees a mythical Sorceress named Laplace who was sealed away for the past 300 years… Surprise! Turns out this so-called "wicked" Sorceress is actually pretty cool. Laplace wants to start a party of her own, Tanya wants revenge, and the solution is obvious: team up. It's time to kick ass, kiss girls, and dismantle the patriarchy!

~Created by Ameko Kaeruda, Illustrated by Kazutomo Miya~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Side-By-Side Dreamers

• Sci-Fi • Supernatural • Action • Fated Lovers • Love at First Sight

Unbeknownst to the common citizens, a battle has been unfolding between the Suiju, beings that possess people's spirits in the land of sleep, and the Sleepwalkers, who have the power to move about freely in their dreams. Saya Hokage, a high school girl who is unable to sleep due to insomnia, encounters Hitsuji Konparu, a girl who can put anyone to sleep as a “lover” in a dream. When Hitsuji's senpai sees potential in Saya, she ends up joining them and their group of Sleepwalkers on their mission.

~Created by Iori Miyazawa~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Two Guns Under the Sheet

• Action • Drama • Enemies to Lovers • Shakaijin • Love at First Sight

All Aya wanted was a one-night stand that could take her mind off her lost love, but with Sakura, she may have finally gotten more than a one-night stand - she may have finally found "The One"! But before she rushes into imagining their future together, there's one uncomfortable question Aya has to face first - could it be possible that her beautiful new love is somehow related to the same organization she's bound by duty to destroy?

~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Akiko Morishima~ Licensed by Manga Planet

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta

• School • Romance • comedy

Yuna Momose and Rinka Aiba were made for each other, and their whole school knows it. Between Yuna's princess-like elegance and Rinka's prince-like charm, all their classmates see them as the ideal couple. Yotsuba Hazama is no exception to that, but she is exceptional in another way: she's somehow managed to become fast friends with both of them! Having the whole school's favorite ship as her two best friends isn't exactly easy, though. Not only does it make everyone treat Yotsuba like a particularly obnoxious third wheel, it makes her feel like one too! Or at least it does, until one day, Yuna asks her out. And then Rinka asks her out too! And Yotsuba, whose social anxiety never seems to kick in until after she's already messed something up...says yes to both of them, without sparing so much as a single thought for the consequences. Oops! Now Yotsuba only has one choice: keep her accidental two-timing under wraps and make both of her new girlfriends as happy as she possibly can!

~Created by toshizou, Illustrated by Kuro Shina~ Licensed by J-Novel Club

Yuri Will Not Blossom at Work!

• Drama • Romance • Enemies to Lovers • Shakaijin

Just as Rikka thinks the matchmaking event she grudgingly signed up for can’t get any more dreadful, she runs into her colleague-slash-rival Yuri Kisugi. Using Rikka’s embarrassment as leverage, Yuri compels Rikka into helping her find the perfect candidate to marry. Rikka goes along with Yuri’s antics with the hopes it will lead her rival away while she climbs up the company ranks. But what happens when Rikka’s nurturing tendencies coincide with Yuri’s secret vulnerabilities?…

~Created by Mai Yanagawa, Illustrated by Ruri Hazuki~ Licensed by Manga Planet

Yurizen! Salon -Shirayuri’s Comforting Food Therapy-

• Shakaijin • Romance • Slow Burn

Was it fate that led to Miiko meeting Doctor Shirayuri that one rainy day…or was it just her cramps? Pâtissier Miiko works through little pains like the rest of us, but when her ailments begin to affect her work, there’s got to be something she can do about it. Enter beautiful, mysterious herbal medicine doctor Shirayuri, who might be the solution to Miiko’s problems – in more ways than one!

~Created by Kumako Nambu, Illustrated by Miso Higashikawa~ Licensed by Manga Planet

Read More of the 2023 Yuri Guide

⚪ Must See ⚪ Anime ⚪ Manga ⚪ Visual Novels ⚪ Webtoons

Official releases help support creators and publishers. YuriMother may make a small commission from sales to help fund future content.

Check out the 2023 Yuri Guide page on Bookshop to buy licensed titles and support local bookstores!!

Official releases help support creators and publishers. YuriMother may make a small commission from sales to help fund future content.

Support YuriMother on Patreon for early access and to read exclusive in-depth articles on Yuri and LGBTQ media.

#yuri #queer #yuri guide #girls love #lgbt #gay #lgbtq #gl #lesbian #anime #manga #light novels

209 notes · View notes

prettywordsyouleft · 3 years

Text

To Be Continued - Part 7

Summary: As an author, you had created Brian Kang for your current trilogy series to represent the ultimate man that everyone would love, along with Charli Evers - your female protagonist. What you hadn’t expected was for him to find a way out of the story and begin shaping up your world instead

Pairing: Brian Kang x female writer (ft. Park Sungjin)

Genre: writer au / romance / fantasy

Warnings: fictional characters coming to life / a bit of angst here and there / Sungjin as a cop (or does that only affect me?) >_>

Word count: 2198

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue

It was as if you were writing a new novel. Instead of focusing on how Charli Evers would finally get with her battered beau, you were at the peak of experiencing all the emotions and excitement that came from a new romance. You were enjoying playing the main protagonist for the first time in your life as well.

“What are you doing?” Brian asked with a hint of amusement in his tone. You leaned in even closer, already entangled together on the couch after watching a movie, and lifted your index finger.

“Counting.”

“Counting what?”

“How many lashes I gave you,” you murmured, your gaze honing in on one eye. You let out a whistle when you finished. “I gave you so many! Why are you this perfect?”

“I don’t see myself as perfect at all. You sure made a point of that in my creation, too.”

“How? You’re handsome, protective, honest, playful, charming, sensitive, and did I mention handsome?”

Brian’s lips curled up some from your description. “I think you might have said it twice.”

“Because you truly are that good looking!” you surmised, and Brian chuckled.

“Is being handsome all that matters to you?”

“Well, no.” You blinked a couple of times whilst trying to come up with an answer that didn’t make you feel shallow. The truth was, you really did enjoy looking at him a whole lot.

Over the past two weeks, that was what you had done an awful lot of. No matter what mundane task Brian did, he looked exceptional doing it. His laugh was music to your ears, and his voice made your heart flutter constantly. Any time he smiled, you worried your knees would give way, and on the rare chance they actually did, the way he caught you so easily with his strong embrace had you swooning further.

You wondered if this was all a dream. Instead of Brian coming out of your laptop, and your novel, perhaps you had died from your illness. That would explain why everything lately had felt so heavenly at his side.

Either way, you didn’t want to wake up or move on to the next realm. This was where you wanted to remain forever.

Especially when he kissed you. Leaning in to break you out of your reverie, Brian’s luscious lips pecked yours twice, a chuckle vibrating out of him when you realised you had zoned out again. “You’re too adorable.”

“Hardly.”

“If you keep calling me handsome, I’m allowed to call you how I see you.”

You sighed heavily and attempted to pull away from the man. “I don’t want to be just adorable if you’re handsome, Brian.”

“What do you mean?”

“Charli Evers is beautiful! She’s stunning and successful and has a body that would make any male swoon over her. She’s a goddess, and I’m just adorable.”

“You’re really adorable when you’re jealous,” he mused and shook his head, reaching out to pull you back in close to him again. “Charli isn’t real like you are.”

“What if she comes to her senses and finds out that you’ve left that world. She could come here, and it would be no competition between us!”

“You’re right. It wouldn’t be. Because I’d choose you over her every time.”

You scoffed loudly and pulled yourself away again, going over to the kitchen to get a drink of water to cool down. It was hard enough having insecurities as a person, and when you had lived alone, you barely thought of them, too busy up in worlds like Captivated to truly care. Your flaws, at points, made good fodder for some character traits, but you never wrote yourself fully into a world. You had come close in Destined, but even the main protagonist there was far more charming than you were to hook Park Jinyoung as she had.

Brian’s arms slipped around your waist, and he dropped his chin onto your shoulder. “It’s all about perception. You see Charli as superior to you. But she’s the type of woman you see in a magazine. Flawless, beautiful, and whilst you no doubt have made her relatable to your fans of the series as a person, as she does have a good soul, you are real. You aren’t sculpted to perfection. You aren’t going to star on the front cover of any Vogue or Marie Claire. Instead, you are starring as my leading lady.”

“I’m not sure if I’m flattered or not,” you mumbled, turning around to face Brian. “Maybe I want to be on the front cover.”

“It’s not in your personality to stand out like that. You much prefer this lifestyle. Domestic and homely and comfortable.”

“So she’s sexy, and I’m homely,” you deducted, whilst Brian groaned loudly.

“Can’t we go back to the part where we were thinking of just us? I don’t like you comparing yourself to someone else.”

“I’m sorry,” you admitted, lowering your gaze from his. Brian had a habit of making sure you were always looking at him, and he easily fished out your gaze again, smiling gently when he caught your eye. You sighed. “I guess whilst I made you to be the dream guy for me, and those who read my series, I never quite realised the impact you would have on my world if I actually had you.”

“If I have to make a point of telling you how much I appreciate and adore you daily, then so be it.”

“You shouldn’t have to though,” you pointed out, going around him and heading into your office. Brian followed you and leaned against the threshold as you sat down in your chair.

He nodded his head. “No, I suppose I shouldn’t. But isn’t that what makes a relationship work? I support you, and you support me. When one of us feels lower than the other, then it’s important to make sure they feel cherished and loved.”

“Loved?” you repeated, your eyes widening at his choice of words. Brian cleared his throat noisily, looking around your room as opposed to keeping eye contact. You smirked. He was cute when he was embarrassed.

“Isn’t it time to write, Miss Writer?”

“Perhaps I just got some inspiration for my starting point of Eternity. I mean, in the story, Charli Evers is cherished and loved by Brian Kang, isn’t she?��

“Have your fun at my expense.”

“It’s all those good lines I breathed into you. No wonder you make the world swoon, Brian. You’re full of the perfect lines to make any girl weak at the knee,” you told him as you opened your document for the final piece in this story. Admittedly, it was blank and had remained that way for some time. You knew it was because you were too busy with Brian in person that you couldn’t possibly think about writing about him as well.

However, you had received notice from Lily earlier in the day about your next deadline, and so you had promised after one movie tonight, you would end your evening with starting the next novel.

Glancing over at Brian who was still in the doorway, you smiled, and he nodded. “As long as you know it’s your knees I want to make weak every time. Have a good session, my love.”

However, two days later, you were still staring at a blank page. It wasn’t without trying, of course. You wrote, only to erase the sentence immediately. You told yourself to just let the words flow out and not edit them until you were done. Except nothing but a trickle of nonsense made it onto the document each time and after every gruelling session, you found yourself exhausted, mentally, and from simply staring at a blank page.

In all your years of creative writing, you had never been as stumped as you were now. It made no sense! You were living and breathing your own romance in life. Surely, the amount of affection Brian poured over you would easily inspire you enough to write it out. And generally, when you stepped into your office to write, it came from feeling inspired and uplifted to write about a world where love conquered all.

As soon as you were in front of your laptop, however, words failed you.

You had tried everything, from changing your writing schedule to practising with unrelated scenes. That had you hopeful. Every time you wrote a drabble about something outside of this series, you were capable of penning an entire world. In fact, you had now written a series of short stories about random characters and scenarios with relative ease. The success you felt from doing these was short-lived as soon as you opened Eternity, however. Nothing formed, nothing came to mind.

Nothing.

“Maybe it’s because I don’t want to share Brian with Charli,” you wondered out loud, immediately shaking your head. Whilst the Brian you were falling for fast, was that of the same Brian Charli would risk her all for, inside your literary world, you felt no need to keep him to yourself. You wanted Charli and Brian’s story to wrap up with a neat bow after their final tribulations of proving their love would outshine the obstacles in their way. You were determined to gift your readers what you had planned all along for the star-crossed lovers. And you needed to send Charli off on her merry way with a confirmed end.

Whilst your story with Brian continued.

“Just write something, Y/N!” you instructed yourself to do, poising your fingers above the keys.

It was a struggle, but they began to move, and you hoped this time would be the official start of your novel.

“So, what do you think?” you asked cautiously, staring at Lily as she read over what you had sent her.

Your editor didn’t say a thing, and sometimes that was a good notion. You had rendered her speechless yet again.

However, you knew better than that. She wasn’t speechless, she was in disbelief. Lily finally looked at the web camera on the video call and blinked several times. Pulling off her glasses, she wiped at them before placing them back over her eyes. And then she screamed incoherently.

“Lily, I can explain.”

“You better, and fast,” your editor stated back, trying to recompose herself. “This isn’t your writing.”

“Well, it is,” you told her, attempting to smile. Her laser glare wiped it off your lips, and you groaned. “So I think I’m having a writer’s block.”

“But you don’t suffer from writer’s blocks, you overcome them before they get to that level. What have you been doing for the last month that this is all you can turn in for me to look over?!”

“I’ve been a little preoccupied,” you announced, rocking back and forth in your chair. “And it’s sort of been hard to write.”

“I don’t buy it. You love to write.”

“I mean, I have been writing,” you agreed, grinning sheepishly. “Just not on what I’m contracted to be doing.”

“Y/N!” she whined, and you sighed heavily. “How are you going to make up time if you don’t even have a first chapter formed?!”

“I don’t know exactly, but do you think delaying the third story, especially since my second one is only at the publisher’s now preparing to print, can happen? I’m sure we don’t need to bang this series out one after the other. The hype from the wait will make it only more worthwhile for the fans!”

“Not if you plan on producing this type of rubbish! There’s no life in this part you’ve sent me! It’s as if Brian’s soul was sucked clear of this world and only Charli remains.”

You choked on the drink you had reached for, and this alerted the man in the adjacent room, your hands waving him off inconspicuously before Lily saw him.

You didn’t know what your editor’s reaction would be to find out your writer’s block stemmed from you dating someone. And you certainly didn’t want to find out either.

“That’s it, I’m coming over!”

“Lily, that’s unnecessary. You don’t have to!”

“Oh, but I do. My star writer is fumbling around and not focusing enough on what she needs to be doing. Boot camp is on its way.”

“I could help her,” a new voice added to the conversation and you clamped your eyes shut as you heard the wind being knocked out of Lily entirely. Brian crouched down at your side and smiled at the camera. “Lily Morton, correct?”

“You know my name.”

“Of course. You’re an important figure in my life.”

“I… I am?!”

“I mean, you help Y/N with her stories a whole deal, so that’s a special role to have.”

“Y/N, who is this person? He looks far too familiar and yet I feel I haven’t quite met him in the flesh before.”

“It’s a--” Catching yourself from your stalemate sentence, you smiled. And for some reason, you felt compelled to introduce him properly to someone. Before you even realised it, the words fell from your mouth.

“You’ve kind of met him already, Lily. This is Brian Kang, the star of our series.”

_________________

Part 8

[DAY6 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

#kwritersworldnet #young k #young k fiction #young k fanfic #young k fluff #young k romance #young k au #day6 #day6 fiction #day6 fanfic #day6 fluff #day6 romance #day6 au #pwyl; to be continued #kpop fiction #kpop fanfic #kpop fluff #kpop romance

80 notes · View notes

liusaidh-writing · 3 years

Text

Call it True - Chapter One

Claire and Jamie are neighbors - though they’ve never met. Claire, infatuated with her Scot upstairs, is more than a little certain that it’ll never happen. Is she wrong?

Prefer to read at AO3?

Hope you all enjoy this...I really wish I could say I’d update on a regular day weekly, but as of right now I don’t get much time to write. So please be patient!

**I’d like to thank (profusely) @faithperry46 for being my life-saver/beta reader. I wouldn’t/couldn’t have done this without your help!**

Here we go...

-----

Claire chuckled to herself, hearing the vacuum come on downstairs again. Every morning, without fail, the older lady who lived downstairs turned it on...to hoover her back patio. Living on the first floor, she was granted a small back garden - one Claire was envious of. Though she didn't think she'd do much but sweep her patio with a broom.

Claire pushed open her kitchen window and held her breath, wondering if he'd be here at his window today. Claire figured this was her favorite way to start her days: a small chat with her mysterious, yet lovely -and stupidly handsome,- neighbor, Jamie.

Claire hid a grin when she spotted his curly auburn hair.

"Poor woman. Shall we buy her a broom for Christmas?" He joked, greeting Claire with his unassuming smile. He gave her a wink - if it

could be called that, seeing as he couldn't wink correctly but instead closed both eyes in a humorous attempt.

Claire smiled properly this time, calling to him as she rested her elbows on the window sill.

"She's going to break that thing soon enough. I'll get the dustpan if you'll get the broom?" she offered with a laugh. It was only May, but who was Claire to say it was too early to start Christmas shopping? Especially if she could do it with Jamie.

"It's a deal. We can present it to her together." Jamie smiled at her, and Claire as per usual, panicked, swatted her face with her hands while mumbling something about a bug before excusing herself.

"I've got to run just now, but we can work out the details later. See you soon!"

She shut her window as she heard him respond with a friendly 'Have a good day, Claire!'

She didn't truly need to be anywhere for another half hour - her shift at the hospital started an hour from now, but she just couldn't talk to him for long. She'd get all flustered, and was terrified she'd say something completely stupid and ruin what they had. Claire had never met the man in the flesh, but she was completely enamored with him...or his face rather, since that was all she could see from her window.

She loved his stupid wink, his big smile that nearly met his slanted eyes as he greeted her when they saw one another. She had no idea if he lived alone, but she was certain that someone that handsome had to have a girlfriend at the very least. Or a boyfriend, perhaps. He certainly had no need of anything more from her than a quick morning chat... or else it would've happened already - that's what she told herself six months into their weird connection. Her erratic schedule at the hospital kept her from seeing him every morning and explained why they'd never met in person.

Their relationship never ventured much further than chatting about their mutual source of amusement: their elderly neighbor with the hoovering obsession. They chatted here and there about happenings in their respective days: 'You got a haircut!' She'd say, noticing his hair was slightly shorter. He'd nod, pretend to preen, and run his hands through his hair with a laugh.

He had no idea what that did to Claire. She was sure her cheeks went pink whenever he was even slightly flirty. She'd lose the ability to concentrate, to speak, so she'd excuse herself in some clumsy way and go about her day with him swimming around in her imagination. She'd fantasize about knocking on his door, asking him for coffee, laughing over a shared joke that didn't have to do with their neighbor, Jamie kissing her dumb as his hands roamed her back for her bra strap...

Sometimes she got carried away.

---

Claire got to work, noticing that her favorite co-worker, Lesley, was already there. Claire saw Lesley's toddler's car seat in the back, knowing it hadn't been a fun morning at her house. Lesley had a two-year-old son named Harry who Claire enjoyed, but Lesley's ex-husband Frank wasn't always in a helpful mood. So, this morning -like a lot of mornings,- the two-year-old was brought to the hospital child care center instead of staying home with his father.

Claire sighed, shaking her head on Lesley’s behalf. Claire remembered when she’d gotten married to Frank and when she’d had her son - Lesley had thought she had it all. "But look," Claire thought, "it all fell apart at her feet shortly after it began."

"I’m better off by myself. Only me to worry about.” It was her mantra of sorts, and Claire had convinced herself it was true.

She got to her floor, put her stuff in her locker, and slowly shuffled to her station as she wondered what her day would bring. Lesley was there, as expected, riffling through some files as she smiled at Claire in greeting. Lesley was slightly shorter than Claire, with medium-length blonde hair Claire was sure wasn’t entirely natural. Lesley’s down-to-earth demeanor and penchant for keeping Claire grounded in reality was, unbeknownst to Claire, her saving grace during the work day, and though Lesley had had a rough go of it with Frank, she remained, for the most part upbeat - something Claire struggled with at times. Always there to lend an ear, Lesley was invaluable to Claire, and she was happy to return the favor whenever possible.

“Here you go, Lady.” Lesley said as she handed Claire a bright red folder with a name Claire couldn’t read on the side. “New admittance - a 72-year-old woman had a stroke and is in for observation.”

Claire worked on the cardiac floor and enjoyed it... for the most part. The majority of her patients were older men and women, and she found them easy to talk to. She knew she could offer them some comfort and help during their stay.

Grabbing the folder, she headed to her first room and started her day.

---

Claire’s lunch left much to be desired - leftover Chinese food that had Lesley crinkling her nose.

“How old is that, Claire?”

“I'm not sure. A few days…”

“It doesn’t smell right.”

Claire watched as Lesley’s mouth formed a frown. Lesley had her own lunch - a fresh salad with grilled chicken and cashews.

“We can’t all be chefs, Lesley,” Claire said as she took a bite of her Kung Pao chicken. She made a face, struggling to swallow. Perhaps she should’ve thrown it out - but it was all she’d had to bring today.

“You live alone, Claire - you can cook all you want! I have to make my lunches once Harry has gone down for the night. After folding all of the laundry and scarfing down what’s left of dinner.” Lesley took a bite of her salad and chewed slowly as Claire shook her head.

“I don’t know how you do it,” she said quietly, pushing her fried rice around with her fork. “I could cook, I suppose,” she continued, thinking about the ingredients in her refrigerator. Those consisted of a block of parmesan cheese, a bottle of orange juice, and a small pint of milk. “I could make...well, not much at the moment, but…” Claire, wanting to change the subject from her nonexistent domesticity, decided to bring up Jamie.

“I think he must have a girlfriend,” Claire said, deciding to throw her lunch out and buy some peanut butter crackers from the vending machine. As she fished for some coins in her purse, she continued. “I mean, he’s gorgeous...surely he’s taken. You know I have no luck, Lesley.”

“Well, Claire,” Lesley began, sounding unsure about her next statement. “Do you...try?”

Grabbing her crackers from the slot at the bottom of the vending machine, Claire whirled around, brows knitted and mouth in a scowl.

“I do try,” she said, opening the crackers and stuffing one in her mouth. “I just figure he’s not worth my time,” she mumbled, spraying crumbs over her shirt. She brushed them off, shrugging.

Lesley rolled her eyes, then set them on Claire, giving her a pitying, yet frustrated look. “You don’t know anything, Jon Snow.”

“It’s ‘You know nothing…’” Claire corrected, ignoring her comment. “Look how it worked out with Frank. You’re not exactly a great example of romance gone right.” Claire felt somewhat guilty when she saw Lesley’s face fall for a second, but the conversation was cut short by the clock. Time to get back to work.

“Just give it a go, Claire - the worst that could happen is that he is involved with someone else. You don’t know unless you ask.” Lesley gave her parting advice before they headed out of the lunchroom.

Claire believed that the idea of knocking on his door and asking him about his relationship status was a little too much to ask of her. She’d talked to him - flirted even, and still...nothing. Nothing good could come of her asking him out, she decided. Only mortal embarrassment, and the unfortunate circumstance of having to live under someone who’d turned her down. No, thank you.

Claire managed to push down all her thoughts about Jamie and get through her shift, and was relieved to plop down on the bus seat that would take her home.

Getting home, she eyed Jamie’s door, craning her neck in the stairwell to get a glimpse of the bright red door identical to her own, except he lived at 3C, she at 2C.

"No sign of life," she sighed, hitching her purse and bag higher up her shoulder as she made her way to her flat. Her phone buzzed as she went in, tossing her bags on the entry table and reaching to dig into the depths of her purse for the offending object. She didn’t want to answer it, but she saw it was Lesley, so she swiped up, putting it to her ear with some trepidation.

"Please don’t ask me to babysit. Please, please," she begged silently as she heard Lesley begin to talk. She didn’t not like Harry. He was an adorable child and didn’t cause much trouble when he was here, but she had been looking forward to a much-needed day off work, and babysitting a toddler hadn’t been at the top of her agenda.

"…so anyway, I know it’s your day off,” Lesley said, and Claire groaned inwardly, covering the phone with her left hand. “But I’m just stuck, and I thought...maybe you’d help me out?”

Claire gave a pained smile, even though Lesley couldn’t see her, rubbing her hand through her hair as she sighed.

“Sure, Lesley, you know I will. It’s no trouble. Just drop him by in the morning.”

Claire hung up, trying not to feel irritated by the prospect of watching a two-year-old all day. She had no plans, really, except to vegetate in front of the television, devouring Netflix true crime shows. But it sounded so good. Pizza delivery, maybe pull out her untouched bottle of whisky from some Christmas past...

"Oh well, she thought, I’ll just get through it. I’ll have another day off eventually." She thought. It then registered that she was due to work some night shifts coming up. "Oh... fun," she groaned to her empty apartment.

Claire glanced at her ceiling when she heard footsteps upstairs. Jamie was home. What was he doing tonight, she wondered. Was his girlfriend over? Did he have a date, or was he, too, looking at an evening of solitary drinking?

Claire nearly jumped out of her skin when her doorbell rang. She shuffled to the door, warily looking through the peephole. She wasn’t in the mood for visitors.

Puzzled, she saw a young teenager standing there holding a plastic bag, marked with a local restaurant’s logo. He wore a bright red hat, had more zits than craters on the moon, and he bore a scowl. Slowly, Claire opened the door, knowing she hadn’t ordered anything.

“Did you order this, lady?” the kid spat, holding the bag out to her, desperate to unload his delivery and get out of there.

“Er...no...What’s the address?”

“I don’t know, It’s smudged. I’m just...working my way around.” The kid shrugged, still holding out the bag.

“Well...I didn’t order it. Sorry. Try upstairs. Above me, perhaps? I know my neighbor just got home.”

The kid sighed, drawing the bag away from Claire. He didn’t say anything, but slowly turned around and, swinging the bag around in a wide arc, growled as he started to make his way up the stairway. Claire waited at her door, hearing the delivery attempt upstairs.

Hearing Jamie’s voice, she put her face in her palm, frustrated with herself. She could’ve made that delivery. She could’ve been standing in front of him now, complete with food. They could’ve eaten dinner together, watched a movie, somehow become entangled on his bed…

Shut up, Beauchamp!

She grabbed her phone, dialed to order a pizza, and slumped on the couch, resigned to her fate as a spinster, alone in front of Murder by Numbers for yet another evening. She folded her arms, brows knit, imagining Jamie upstairs with the girl he definitely had over. Why couldn’t she be hopelessly in love with someone at work, someone she saw every day? Someone she’d seen the bottom half of? That would make it easier. She always imagined Jamie as being about her height, but she could tell just from what she’d seen of his arms that he worked out. When he wore the sleeveless t-shirts, she always marveled at his biceps and had recurring dreams about them draped around her waist.

She also knew he was a Scot, a transplant from somewhere north. She wondered if he ever wore a kilt because she figured she’d pay good money to see it. Oh, she was pathetic, she knew, but she didn’t care when she was alone in her thoughts. She wondered if it would do her good to get a cat. Perhaps then she wouldn’t do so much daydreaming. Surely it wasn��t healthy.

#outlander #outlander fic #outlander fanfiction #writing #lord help me #i will try to post more at least weekly...#i'm excited about this one though #i even have it all planned out!#that's never happened...ever #enjoy!#feedback welcome

17 notes · View notes

romioneficfest · 4 years

Text

Put a sickle in the swear jar

Title: Put a Sickle in the Swear Jar Prompt/Day: Day 11- St Mungo’s Tumblr name: Rating: PG Brief summary: Ron is having one of those days… (bit of a post-Hogwarts domestic day in the life) Any possible triggering/warning tags: one bad swear, blood, allusions to Ron and Hermione doing it.

Ron let their dog Chudley into the back garden, then collapsed onto the sofa with a heavy sigh. The shop had been unaccountably busy for a Thursday, and almost half their staff were out sick with Fwooper Flu, including George. He had a few investor meetings, a Ministry contractor for their Defense products, and had to simultaneously man the floor of their flagship shop so it wouldn’t be a complete disaster when his meetings convened.

As it always was when a shop was lean staffed, his work shift produced the worst customers in the world. Each was ‘talk to the manager’ types: high maintenance and generally unpleasant.

The very worst was a dad who had let his terror of a four-year-old go wild through the shop. He started his visit by setting off five decoy detonators in the potions aisle, then poured love potion into the pygmy puff enclosure, and ended it by licking the outside of the glass case full of sweets.

The kid’s dad had a ‘never tell your child the word no’ policy in place. He made quite a stink when Ron dared to use the dreaded word to his child when the blighter sprinted around the shop and nearly toppled a full display case of fart sprays. Ron was only lucky they had left the shop by the time his meetings started.

He had to do his meetings on the sales floor, but it gave him a chance to show off a new prototype. He set the Secrecy Spellorator down and it created a field about two meters wide where no one could hear them ‘plan mischief.’ It even turned the volume down to noises outside the field ‘so as not to distract you from your pranking plans.’ Ron explained its alternative uses for Defensive magic and overcrowded offices, and given the way their eyes lit up, Ron could tell the pitch had gone well.

Now all he wanted was some beer or a long nap, neither of which he had proper time for. He needed to pick Hugo up from school and figure out something for dinner. He languidly pulled his arm up to catch the time. Ugh, five minutes more and he might be late.

He slumped up the steps, changed from business robes into his much preferred Muggle clothes, and let the dog back in, before Apparating a few streets away from Hugo’s school. When he arrived, a few of the mothers were gathered and chatting about an upcoming event.

Maybe if he looked busy they wouldn’t try to rope him in… He fished in his pocket for his sporadically used mobile, but realized he’d forgotten it at home.

In moments he was surrounded.

“Ron! We were just talking about you! Weren’t we, Claire?”

“Yes!” she answered with an enthusiastic clap of her hands. Whenever they were talking about him it usually meant manual labour was needed. “We’re doing a school fundraiser the fifteenth and could use your help setting things up. Also, could you bring your bakewell buns? We’ve all been simply craving them since last year!”

His brain went horribly blank of excuses, but he was saved from having to answer by his son.

“Dad!” Hugo cried from across the schoolyard, a giant grin splitting his freckled face. Ron waved at him but blanched when Hugo started running. His overly large backpack wildly swang from one hand, while his puffy jacket flailed like a flag caught in the wind from his other. Ron could see disaster looming.

“Don’t run, Hugh!” Ron hollered. As if time had slowed he watched in horror as the strap of Hugo’s backpack caught his foot, sending the seven-year-old flailing. Normally Ron could have prevented a painful crash with his wand, but with all the mums about him he couldn’t pull his wand out in time.

Hugo face-planted straight into the ground, his giant thud pulling a chorus of high-pitched gasps from the mothers.

Ron sprinted to his son who was whimpering and not moving.

“Shhh now, you’re okay, little man,” Ron said, trying his best to sound calm as he removed the backpack from around Hugo’s ankle and turned him over.

“Oh shit!” Ron let out. His son’s large brown eyes filled with tears, and his mouth overflowed with blood. His chin looked to be split open as well. “Merlin! Er, okay, Hugh, we’re gonna get you to a healer, but I need to carry you ‘round the corner so the Muggle mums don’t see us Apparate, okay?”

“You- you g-gotsta put a sssickle in the sssswear jar,” Hugo managed to lisp, before breaking into a wail as he saw the blood hit the ground.

Ron scooped up his son, somehow managing to hold the backpack and jacket as well.

The mums all had a variety of questions as he tore down the street, but he simply yelled over his shoulder that his car was round the corner. Checking about him, he Apparated them to St Mungo’s waiting room.

He vaguely recognized the lady behind the check-in desk. Her glare jogged his memory. He might’ve yelled at her a year or two prior…

“My- my son. He fell, and —”

Her glare softened after noticing Hugo’s cries and the blood soaking through Ron’s jacket. Cleared of blood by the healers Ron was infinitely grateful to not be Muggle. Chipped teeth, split lip and lacerated chin… The kid was a mess! Hugo was healed in just a few minutes, leaving him with only a small plaster for his chin he’d need with a topical ‘scar-begone’ potion for a few days.

“Do you have any plasters with brooms on them?” Hugo asked, feet kicking against the exam table.

The healer shook their head.

“Trains?”

“Just beige, I’m afraid,” the healer said with an apologetic smile.

“Dragons?”

“Hugo, we have some at home,” Ron said, knowing Hugo would continue to name things if he wasn’t stopped. “Plus we have some ice cream with your name on it!”

Hugo let out a cheer. They took the Floo home, as Ron was far too tired and rattled to be Apparating with his son.

Ron and Hugo were working on their second helpings of ice cream when Hermione arrived home via Floo.

“Hello boys,” she said, before stopping in her tracks. “Ice cream? Ron, it’s not even five-thirty!”

“We deserve it, believe me.”

“We deserve it, Mum!” Hugo repeated, with a chocolate smeared grin. “Believe me!”

Ron told her about the day they’d each had, and Hugo was happy to inform her how ‘Dad hadn’t put his sickle in the swear jar yet.’ He also was in dire need of a better plaster for his chin.

By the end of the tale she had a cautiously amused look on her face, and went to get their boxes of plasters.

“Okay, Hugo, looks like we have trains or dragons.”

“Both!”

“Choose one.”

“But Mum, I deseeeerve it, believe me!” Hugo said, a pleading look on his face.

She and Ron traded smiles over his curly head.

“Just today, because you were so brave at the hospital.”

“Gryffindor!” Hugo declared, before running after the dog, two plasters on his chin.

“How are you after all those adventures?” she asked, cuddling into Ron’s side.

“Better now that you’re home,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “You okay with ice cream for dinner?”

“Not my first choice, but I’ll manage.” She smiled at him. “Ginny should have Rose back from Quidditch practice soon.”

“Can I feed her ice cream too?” he moaned, closing his eyes.

“You don’t have to. She’s eating with Ginny and the kids.”

“Thank Merlin, because I feel like I’ve been pulled through a keyhole backwards.”

“Oh, I guess that means we can’t…” Hugo ran by and Hermione stopped herself. “Can’t ‘you know,’ tonight.”

“Can’t… Oh right! That!”

He felt a bit chagrined that they had to schedule it ahead, but the past few weeks hadn’t allowed for much spontaneity.

“Honestly…” he sighed, before looking sideways at his beautiful wife and slowly smiling. “I’ll manage.”

“We deserve it,” she grinned.

“It’ll be boring and passionless,” he teased, leaning in to plant a kiss on her neck, lingering a bit too long.

She shivered in pleasure. “Of course.”

“You won’t even have to put a silencing spell up,” he said before kissing her more deeply. “Over in five minutes.”

“I’ll prepare myself for the disappointment,” she purred. “Twice.”

“Twice?” he asked with a disbelieving look. She stared at him quite seriously before she broke and began laughing.

“Can you imagine?” she giggled.

“After the day I had?”

“On a school night?”

“Twice?!” they repeated, laughing and snorting,

There came a great crash from the other room. Hugo shouted ‘I’m ok!’ while Chudley barked. Ron began to get up, but Hermione pulled him back down to the couch.

“Don’t forget to put a sickle in the swear jar,” she said as she rose, going to check on their chaotic son.

#Romione FicFest 2020 #Fic Post #Romione #Ron Weasley #Hermione Granger #Submission #Queue Up for the Dragon #Rated PG #cw:#cw: blood

114 notes · View notes

hillnerd · 4 years

Text

Put a Sickle in the Swear Jar

Written for @romioneficfest - thx to @abradystrix for editing Rating: PG AO3 ff.net Summary: Ron is having one of those days… (bit of a post-Hogwarts domestic day in the life) triggers: blood, allusions to Ron and Hermione doing it.

-----

As it always was when a shop was lean staffed, his work shift produced the worst customers in the world. Each was ‘talk to the manager’ types: high maintenance and generally unpleasant.

Maybe if he looked busy they wouldn’t try to rope him in… He fished in his pocket for his sporadically used mobile, but realized he’d forgotten it at home.

In moments he was surrounded.

“Ron! We were just talking about you! Weren’t we, Claire?”

His brain went horribly blank of excuses, but he was saved from having to answer by his son.

Hugo face-planted straight into the ground, his giant thud pulling a chorus of high-pitched gasps from the mothers.

Ron sprinted to his son who was whimpering and not moving.

“Shhh now, you’re okay, little man,” Ron said, trying his best to sound calm as he removed the backpack from around Hugo’s ankle and turned him over.

“You- you g-gotsta put a sssickle in the sssswear jar,” Hugo managed to lisp, before breaking into a wail as he saw the blood hit the ground.

Ron scooped up his son, somehow managing to hold the backpack and jacket as well.

He vaguely recognized the lady behind the check-in desk. Her glare jogged his memory. He might’ve yelled at her a year or two prior…

“My- my son. He fell, and —”

“Do you have any plasters with brooms on them?” Hugo asked, feet kicking against the exam table.

The healer shook their head.

“Trains?”

“Just beige, I’m afraid,” the healer said with an apologetic smile.

“Dragons?”

“Hugo, we have some at home,” Ron said, knowing Hugo would continue to name things if he wasn’t stopped. “Plus we have some ice cream with your name on it!”

Hugo let out a cheer. They took the Floo home, as Ron was far too tired and rattled to be Apparating with his son.

Ron and Hugo were working on their second helpings of ice cream when Hermione arrived home via Floo.

“Hello boys,” she said, before stopping in her tracks. “Ice cream? Ron, it’s not even five-thirty!”

“We deserve it, believe me.”

“We deserve it, Mum!” Hugo repeated, with a chocolate smeared grin. “Believe me!”

Ron told her about the day they’d each had, and Hugo was happy to inform her how ‘Dad hadn’t put his sickle in the swear jar yet.’ He also was in dire need of a better plaster for his chin.

By the end of the tale she had a cautiously amused look on her face, and went to get their boxes of plasters.

“Okay, Hugo, looks like we have trains or dragons.”

“Both!”

“Choose one.”

“But Mum, I deseeeerve it, believe me!” Hugo said, a pleading look on his face.

She and Ron traded smiles over his curly head.

“Just today, because you were so brave at the hospital.”

“Gryffindor!” Hugo declared, before running after the dog, two plasters on his chin.

“How are you after all those adventures?” she asked, cuddling into Ron’s side.

“Better now that you’re home,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. “You okay with ice cream for dinner?”

“Not my first choice, but I’ll manage.” She smiled at him. “Ginny should have Rose back from Quidditch practice soon.”

“Can I feed her ice cream too?” he moaned, closing his eyes.

“You don’t have to. She’s eating with Ginny and the kids.”

“Thank Merlin, because I feel like I’ve been pulled through a keyhole backwards.”

“Oh, I guess that means we can’t…” Hugo ran by and Hermione stopped herself. “Can’t ‘you know,’ tonight.”

“Can’t… Oh right! That!”

He felt a bit chagrined that they had to schedule it ahead, but the past few weeks hadn’t allowed for much spontaneity.

“Honestly…” he sighed, before looking sideways at his beautiful wife and slowly smiling. “I’ll manage.”

“We deserve it,” she grinned.

“It’ll be boring and passionless,” he teased, leaning in to plant a kiss on her neck, lingering a bit too long.

She shivered in pleasure. “Of course.”

“You won’t even have to put a silencing spell up,” he said before kissing her more deeply. “Over in five minutes.”

“I’ll prepare myself for the disappointment,” she purred. “Twice.”

“Twice?” he asked with a disbelieving look. She stared at him quite seriously before she broke and began laughing.

“Can you imagine?” she giggled.

“After the day I had?”

“On a school night?”

“Twice?!” they repeated, laughing and snorting,

There came a great crash from the other room. Hugo shouted ‘I’m ok!’ while Chudley barked. Ron began to get up, but Hermione pulled him back down to the couch.

“Don’t forget to put a sickle in the swear jar,” she said as she rose, going to check on their chaotic son.

#romione #ron weasley #hermione granger #hugo weasley #rose weasley #fanfic #family fluff #my writing #fanfiction

25 notes · View notes

jukeboxjulian · 4 years

Text

( TOM HOLLAND / CIS MALE / TWENTY FOUR / HE/HIM/HIS ) i always seem to run into JULIAN EVANS at jukebox records. i’ve heard that if the REGULAR CUSTOMER had to choose one go-to record, it’d be SAVES THE WORLD by MUNA and that they can be CARING but also kind of SHY. for some reason, they always make me think of FINGERS CALLUSED FROM GUITAR STRINGS, TOO MANY SCARS TO COUNT, and THE TOO GOOD TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD CINNAMON ROLL MEME. — ( alyssa, 27, pst, she/her/hers )

hi everyone!! I’m alyssa and I am super super new to tumblr rp... as in, this is my first time ever roleplaying on here in a group (eek)! I’ve been roleplaying for over 15 years now (seriously) and am usually used to forums and 1x1, so I’m excited to try something new :) I tend to write a LOT - as in if you don’t shut me up, I will give you thousands and thousands of words for replies hehe. anywho, julian is one of my favorite muses ever and I’m so excited to bring him here!! without further ado, here is my sweet baby angel precious baby panda, julian!

TW: child abuse, domestic violence, and alcoholism.

background | past & present

julian was born julian tyler evans on march 28, 1996, in santa barbara, california, to claire evans and dylan porter. if you ask him, he’ll tell you he has one parent - his biggest inspiration and his role model, claire. julian inherited all his best traits from claire: his kindness, his determination, his passion, and his ability to care for everyone and anyone. as a pediatric nurse, claire worked long hours throughout the majority of julian’s childhood, but still managed to stay exceptionally present in her son’s life and parent him through a tumultuous relationship.

dylan is out of the picture. julian has a few happy memories with his dad prior to the age of six, but the majority of their relationship is mired in trauma. dylan always had problems with alcohol, even prior to having julian, but those issues worsened when he lost his job in the early 2000s. seemingly overnight, the dad that julian once knew vanished. what started as a loving father-son relationship turned into a twisted game of cat and mouse, and julian found himself walking on eggshells in his own home. more often than not, julian spent his nights covering the bruises and scratches dylan gave him earlier in the day. julian and claire quickly became ER regulars, and he learned to sew his own stitches before his fourteenth birthday.

the abuse julian endured forced him to turn his pain and doubts inward. the overly happy and energetic child version of julian disappeared, replaced by a cautious and quiet boy who didn’t dare rock the boat for fear of retaliation. throughout his difficult childhood, julian found solace in one thing - music. as the son of two musicians, julian learned guitar and piano before he learned to form proper sentences. a natural knack for the craft led julian to pick up bass, drums, and production at an early age (though guitar and piano are still his first loves). the majority of julian’s high school years were spent locked in his room, perfecting one beat for several hours or layering vocals late into the night.

his best friend, danny, is perhaps the only thing that kept julian’s head above water throughout his childhood. julian and danny met in the orchestra room in middle school when neither of them had friends to sit with at lunch. the two boys became best friends instantly and helped each other through their childhood struggles - danny helped julian survive his dad’s abuse and julian provided danny with a safe space after coming out to his homophobic parents.

julian and danny moved to san francisco for college. it was there that they met zoe and kevin through an on-campus a cappella group. the four bonded immediately through a cappella and now play together in a band (and live together as roommates). you can catch them playing gigs around town, and you’ll probably catch julian outside the venue two hours later having in-depth conversations with every person who showed up for their show. the stage is the one place where julian comes alive - he’s a natural performer and sheds his shy persona easily when he’s in his element.

outside of the band, julian works as a second grade teacher, and occasionally works in the stacks at the local library during the summers to make extra money. he adores children and spends most of his free time coming up with lesson plans and songs to teach his kids in an engaging way. adorable elementary school teacher by day, hot musician by night: the julian evans story.

personality

julian is the definition of the “beautiful cinnamon roll, too good, too pure for this world” meme. he cares deeply and intensely about the people he loves, and he’s the most loyal friend you’ll ever have. julian is the friend who will hold your hair back while you puke. he leaves granola bars in his roommates’ cars when he knows they’re not eating enough. he goes out of his way to care for everyone he meets without expecting anything in return.

with that being said, julian is a bit of a doormat. this largely stems from his history of abuse - he’s used to thinking that things are his fault, and that it’s easiest to accept the blame and not rock the boat, even when he’s in the right. he’s the guy who won’t mention that the waiter got his order wrong at a restaurant because he doesn’t want to make them uncomfortable. you could shoot julian in the heart and he would apologize for bleeding on your clothes.

julian prefers lyrics to discussions. he’s a producer and a songwriter above all else, and he finds it much easier to express his feelings through music than through conversation. when his back’s against the wall - when he’s experiencing intense ptsd or anxiety or sadness or anger - he locks himself in his room and writes music.

as someone who craves deep, lasting connections, he isn’t one to have lots of acquaintances or fair-weather friends. he can count the number of close friends he has on one hand and he likes it that way. it’s hard for julian to open up to people initially, but once you get through his quiet exterior, he’ll let his guard down and stick with you no matter what.

in terms of romantic relationships, julian is tragically heterosexual. like in his friendships, julian is the type of person who wants a long-term, stable relationship. since his childhood, julian has always been a hopeless romantic, constantly searching for the girl who will finally make him understand the love songs he’s listened to his whole life. he’s painfully shy, which means he has a hard time approaching girls he’s interested in, and most girls don’t take the time to crack through his quiet exterior. with that being said, the girl who does end up with him for the long haul is in for a very loving relationship.

headcanons

around his friends, julian is the quintessential chaotic aries. he WILL set the kitchen on fire because he moves too quickly while cooking and will try to do backflips in the living room just to prove he can.

julian is a fantastic cook and a terrible baker, because he gets too distracted to properly follow directions. he’s also been a vegetarian since he was 13. his favorite food is his mom’s eggplant parmesan.

he has a small garden on the balcony of his apartment, where he’s trying to grow vegetables and flowers. he says hi to the bees that show up every morning and has names for all of them, even though he can’t tell them apart.

julian loves his music more than anything and tries to form deep, lasting connections with the fans of his band. he remembers every person he’s met and always tries to connect with people, even though it’s a bit draining for him as an introvert. he’s terrible at social media and has no idea how to work instagram live, but tries to do it anyway to connect with the fans.

julian will listen to anything and everything - kpop, death metal, folk, rap, the works. he drives his roommates up the wall by blaring music at all hours of the day.

he has a pit bull named belle that he adopted from the shelter. she’s his best friend. he also has four aunts, and was basically raised in an intersectionally feminist sex-positive witch coven. yep.

producing is julian’s biggest passion, followed closely by songwriting. he produces all of his band’s songs and enjoys collaborating with others on production. it’s the one area where he feels confident enough to be himself.

for someone so shy, julian is super comfortable with his sexuality and won’t stand for toxic masculinity. he and danny used to do drag, but he hasn’t had a ton of time for it recently. he is also very confident in the bedroom, which surprises a lot of people. hehe.

julian is a boxer. what stemmed from a need to defend himself turned into a genuine passion - it’s easy for him to turn his brain off and focus when he’s working out. that being said, you’ll only find him at the gym in the wee hours of the morning, when he doesn’t have to be around too many people. he is an introvert, after all :)

julian is dyslexic and has pretty terrible vision, so he needs glasses. he usually wears contacts, but the first girl to tell him she thinks he looks cute in his glasses will steal his heart.

#jukeboxintro #( intro )#sorry I wrote so much there is SO MUCH to julian u guys will see #eeeeep

6 notes · View notes

elizabethemerald · 5 years

Text

Shipping Game

I was tagged twice! Thanks to both @autumnalfallingleaves and @eurazba for this fun game!

Pick your top 10 ships without reading the questions. [or if you’re a one ship dedicated blog, feel free to answer all of them for just that one, or do all the ships from one fandom, this is just for fun].

1. Jlaireby - Jim x Claire x Toby

2. Barbmura - Barbara x Nomura

3. Hammerhunter - Jim x Toby

4. Girl Power Polycule - Darci x Claire x Shannon x Mary x Aja

5. Main Protagonists - Jim x Darci x Claire x Toby x Aja x Steve x Eli x Krel

6. Stricklakerot - Strickler x Barbara x Angor Rot

7. Blinkbarbmura - Blinky x Barbara x Nomura

8. Mary x Shannon

9. Darci x Claire x Toby (Does this have a ship name?)

10. Trolldads - Blinky x Aaarrrgghh

[God I have 6 poly ships in my top ten, and not a single het appearing one.]

Do you remember the episode/chapter/scene where you first started shipping 6? Stricklakerot

There wasn’t a canon scene but when I first saw this piece of artwork (X) I thought of it as a possibility, fell in love with it after that.

What’s your favorite fanfiction for 4? Girl Power Polycule

Honestly, I don’t know that I’ve ever read a piece of fanfiction focusing on all of them. I am however thinking of writing that very story.

What’s your favorite fan art/picture for 2? Barbmura

That is...really hard to say. I think it’s going to be this one (X) because it my dream to have an amazing wedding like this.

What’s your favorite headcanon for 1? Jlaireby

I have so many headcanons for them, it’s hard to choose. I think my favorite and one I’ve written about several times is that Toby will video call Claire and Jim as “Video dates” while they are on the road to New Jersey. It’s the cutest headcanon to me.

What do you like most about the dynamic between the people of 7? Blinkbarbmura

This is one of the ships that is the most likely to absolutely lose their minds if something happens to Jim. Barbara was willing to throw hands with Merlin when Jim was hurt. Blinky straight up blew up a dude when Jim was on trial. Nomura has no hesitation with doling out punishment, and willing sacrificed herself to allow Jim to escape the Darklands. Together there isn’t a restraining force among them. So Jim gets hurt, and these three rain an ungodly hell on the perpetrator.

When 9 10 have sex is it more giggly or more serious? Trolldads

Uhhhh, I’m not to create a head canon for how three teen aged kids have sex, so how about I do Number 10 instead? I think it would be more serious. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh can be silly and lighthearted, but I feel like when its just them things are more serious.

Out of all the ships who do you think have the best chemistry?

In order of best chemistry my ships are: Jlaireby, Hammerhunter, and Darci x Claire x Toby. These kids are the ones who have gone through the most. Their relationship is started on being best friends. There’s nothing these kids can’t do together.

Which ship has the strongest bond?

I feel like saying the Main Protagonists is a little cheating, so I will say Barbmura. These two women, have a longer life experience and more in common throughout. They understand each other, understand what drives the other.

Which ship do you spend the most time reading fanfiction for/talking/writing about?

Again, in order of how much I’ve written: Barbmura, Jlaireby, and Mary x Shannon. These three ships are the focus of my entire After the Eternal Night extended universe.

Which one was your first ship?

Jlaireby. Being poly myself, I’m always all for shipping all the protagonists. Teen Titans? Lovers. The Mystery Gang? Lovers. The Trollhunters Trio? Lovers

If 6 were to break up, how would it happen? Stricklakerot

Unfortunately it would probably be because of Strickler and Angor’s history. One did kind of enslave the other. That might be hard to forgive.

Between 3 and 8, who would last the longest if they were in a zombie apocalypse?

Ok this is between Hammerhunter and Mary x Shannon. That’s a tough call. Fortunately it just happened to line up two of pair ships, rather than my many poly ships, so no unfair advantage. Jim’s biggest weakness during a zombie apocalypse would be his weakness to sun (I actually have an AU idea focusing on this idea, that I haven’t started writing yet) I think Jim and Toby would win out. They are experienced fighters with magical armor and weapons. Shannon has magic, and Mary’s no slouch in a fight, but I just think experience would win out. Or they would end up working together and be unstoppable.

Does 7 hide their relationship, and if so, why? Barbmura

I think there might be a brief period where they hide their relationship. Barbara may be unsure how Jim will feel about her dating his father figure Blinky and his former enemy Nomura, much less at the same time. I think when Jim tells he is dating Claire and Toby at the same time, she implies that she might also be dating multiple people. Jim guesses right away that her partners are Blinky and Nomura. He’s happy for her and for them. Toby and Claire are the ones to give them both the shovel talk.

What is 9′s favorite date to go on? Darci x Claire x Toby

So far in my writing they have gone on a date to a coffee shop and a funeral. Of the two they definitely seemed to prefer the coffee shop. I think staying in would probably be their favorite dates in the future.

What’s your favorite canon moment between 10? Trolldads

So my two favorite moments are when Blinky lovingly touches Aaarrrgghh’s statue in the library while Jim is in the Darklands and when Blinky is human and Aaarrrgghh is wounded by Creeper’s Sun and they are both being awkward around each other and so sad that things are weird.

What do 5 argue most about? Main Protagonists

Ok. Ha ha ha. Take your pick. There are a lot of powerful personalities here. A lot of different ways of approaching problems. They’ve all had their share of arguments about how to deal with their trials. I mean even in a domestic setting where they have a massive house in Arcadia, or in the Royal palace on Akiridion-5, or cave in New Trollmarket. There could be arguments about so many things. I love them all, but there are quite a few hot heads in this group.

If you had to pick an OTP which would you chose?

Even the concept of choosing one can go fuck itself. The closest I could get would be the choosing two. All the Teenagers and All the Adults. Every teen is dating every other one. Every adult is dating every other adult. Two massive love webs. Who even chooses?

What’s the biggest kink that 1 2 shares? Barbmura

Uh,, Still not making sexy things for teens so for number 2 instead? That’s a hard one. I don’t think its anything related to bondage or domination (Mostly because i feel like they are both doms) I think it would be “marking” the other. Scratches, bites, hickeys and the like. In her troll form Nomura has to be careful not to make the marks permanent. Barbara will cover her body in lipstick kisses, when they are both human, the fun can get intense.

Do 8 want children? Mary x Shannon

Hell yeah! Shannon is from a long line of lesbian witches. She knows a spell that can allow two women to conceive. Their kids are going to be so pretty and they’ll have a share of Shannon’s magic. Plus they will have so many magical aunts and uncles as the rest of the Reckless Club jump over themselves to take care of the kids.

Between 10 and 4, which would you rather become canon?

Which one is more likely? Trolldads. Which one would I prefer? The lesbian power polycule. Like let’s get all the ladies to date each other. It’s super gay and very wholesome. And they can all kick the asses of any guy who messes with them.

Does 2 do much PDA? And does it annoy their friends? Barbmura

Uh, probably yeah. In my story I’m writing for these two, they are pretending to date at first so they do a lot of PDA to prove that they are dating. Then when they are actually dating that trend continues. They are both in other matters pretty private people and probably wouldn’t normally, but they love each other so much they can’t help it. The PDA annoys Toby and Jim but no one else minds. Barbara is basically Toby’s mom, and literally Jim’s and they are both done with having to see their mom kiss changelings who tried to kill them.

Which of the ships would you say is the most romantic with each other?

Jlaireby, hands down. These kids who have, almost literally, been to hell and back for each other? Oh yeah. They know exactly what the others need, when to hug, when to kiss, when to give them space and when to hold them tight like they will never let go. They all go above and beyond for each other Valentines is a glorious disaster every single year. And their anniversaries (there are multiple depending on when each felt they started dating the other. None of them agree on the actual dates) are always magnificent.

How would the proposal between 5 go?

I already wrote this! (X) Like so many things, it’s a god damn disaster of a romantic night. All the planners and over thinkers interacting with all of the spur of the moments. They didn’t even mean for it to be this poly or this gay, but it sure as hell was. After everyone proposed and danced they retired to Jim’s house (it was closest) and fell asleep on the floor in the living room. The next morning they tried to sort out who had proposed to who. The relationship web became increasingly silly. A few folks who didn’t get the chance to propose to everyone they wanted to did so in the morning. Which made the relationship web even more difficult to read. They gave up when someone asked what a wedding like that would look like. I am now going to write this up!!!! This is great.

Who cooks more often in 3? Hammerhunter

Is there ever any doubt? Jim all the way.

I’ll Tag @yellowmagicalgirl, @imthegingerninja and @sombra-core Uh if anyone else wants to do this please feel free! I don’t know how many people have been tagged already.

#I have so many ships #how am I supposed to tag this?

4 notes · View notes

mrsquill · 6 years

Note

you know i love your fics and so i was wondering if you could write something about owen cleaning up his trailer one night (post jw, pre jwfk) and he's just been drinking and missing claire a lot and he finds something of hers and it just sends his brain into overdrive thinking about claire ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Nicky, thankyou so much. You’re a darling for this. I hope you enjoy it!

Owen moved around his trailer slowly, sorting piles of laundry and stowing them away neatly. It was part of his everyday routine; wake, jog, shower, work on the cabin, eat, chores, sleep. Once in a while he treated himself to a beer; tonight was one of those nights. It was his domesticated military regime, one he’d become more than accustomed to in the past six months. He bothered nobody, and in turn nobody bothered him. It was beautiful. Tomorrow he’d head on down to the local town, spend some time in the laundromat before picking up his groceries.

The girl behind the counter, Jodie, pushed him for a date every time he ended up at her till. She was gorgeous, with her all-American smile and highlighted blonde hair, but she was a good fifteen years younger than him. Owen wasn’t quite old enough to be her dad; but he felt that he damned well could be. Her grin was achingly carefree as her lashes fluttered his way; but she wouldn’t wear him down, not even as she giggled breathily at his mediocre conversation. Owen’s resolve was tougher than ever, his solitary lifestyle suiting him just fine.

Owen sighed as he swigged from his bottle; the clock ticking past 8pm as he sat himself down on the sofa bed, staring into space. He was stuck in an everlasting rut; the bones of a spacious, luxury cabin lying feet away from him, but no family to fill it with. Once completed would stand lonely and empty, Owen as its sole occupant. He eyed the plans on the coffee table; one of the three rooms pencilled in as a potential nursery. He searched his pockets for a pencil, scratching it out. Should’ve done that a long time ago. Owen’s heart had been splintered and blown to pieces several times thanks to everything he’d lived through, but nothing pierced his soul quite the same way as that black mark on the paper.

He settled back against the cushions, motivation for the evening evaporating with every passing minute. Something glinted in the light of the setting sun, stuck beneath the sink unit. Owen narrowed his eyes, seeking it out, down on his hands and knees as he pulled it free. An earring. Claire’s earring. He rolled it between finger and thumb; wondering if she missed it at all. If she missed him, at all. Owen hadn’t heard from her for four months; she’d called to let him know her new address. In case of an emergency, he guessed. The finality of her tone didn’t allow him to dream up any other possibilities.

They had clung to one another desperately after the fall of Jurassic World; the media firestorm, the interviews, the million-dollar lawsuits. He’d held her hand throughout it all, the press hounding them for details and statements on everything from Simon Masrani to what their next steps as a couple were. They both declined everything; preferring to slip into obscurity as time wore on, Owen awarded a small settlement from InGen and moving all his worldly belongings into an apartment with Claire. It was then that things began to go wrong, in his mind. When the relentless momentum of their lives began to slow down to almost nothing; the two of them needing one another’s protection less and less. Owen began to grow restless in the city, desiring grass beneath his feet and no buildings above his head.

The same could not be said for Claire. She ploughed all her time, energy and remainder of her savings into the Dinosaur Protection Group. Owen grinned weakly, now, as he recalled her joy that first day when she came home to him; the excitement bubbling beneath her skin as she told him she’d found office space to rent downtown. Though he didn’t wholly agree with what she was doing, it was hard not to be proud of Claire. Not many people on this Earth could have watched their life’s work destroyed in front of their very eyes, and then risen from the ashes like she had; ten times more tenacious and thirsty to change the world. She was determined to save them: the dinosaurs left on Nublar. It would ultimately be what drove them apart.

Owen watched Claire face setback after setback, wondering when - if- her resolve would weaken. It wasn’t healthy for her; she was awake for hours past midnight and living off of coffee and not much else. He saw Claire grow slimmer from exhaustion, hating what it did to her. He took on odd jobs from the recommendations of friends, earning himself the reputation as a handyman. The time they spent together dwindled, Claire preferring to grab takeout on her way home than join him in the early evening for food he’d made.

The group was her baby, but it caused fights between them, the final one proving fatal. Owen tried to take her away for the weekend as a surprise in the new van he’d brought; she’d asked to drive it and he’d said no, both worried about how tired she was and also having the entire trip planned out ahead of them - a trait he’d picked up from Claire, ironically.

Tempers flared within the walls of their apartment, the fire stoked by stubbornness on both sides. Claire said he was being unreasonable and unsupportive after Owen had commented again that she was working too hard; he in turn told her she was stupid for trying to save the dinosaurs, that it would only cause her even more trouble in the end. The look of hurt in her eyes at the insult was one that Owen would never forget. It was an idiotic comment, said in the heat of the moment, but Claire wasn’t going to let it slide. She told him to leave, to go live like a bum in the van if he wanted to. He left that night.

On reflection, Owen should’ve tried harder to save her, to save what they had. There was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with Claire. He had been since his first day at the park, when he’d forgotten a pen to sign his contracts, and she’d reprimanded him for the minor mistake. It doesn’t do to be careless, Mr Grady, she’d murmured, her eyes as steely as her resolve. God, he’d wanted her from that moment onwards. Claire Dearing was a challenge, and Owen guessed he was a fool for believing he was up to it. She was right: he’d been careless, and he’d ended up paying the ultimate price.

No woman would match her. Ever. The way she’d clawed at his skin every time they’d made love: bitten his lower lip, squirmed and shaken beneath him. The way she would lie utterly sweat-soaked and spent in his arms, hand resting gently over his heart as they fell into a dreamless sleep. Claire was flaming hot for him whenever his fingers skated over her upper thighs, rubbing circles in a maddeningly slow motion. His mind wandered to her creamy flesh, displayed for him in the most elegant scraps of pastel lingerie; freckles dusted over the tops of her breasts like cinnamon, the smooth slopes of her ass, reddening slightly thanks to the palm of his hand. Owen felt himself begin to harden in his pants and berated himself for the reaction. He had to get a grip. She wasn’t coming back.

Owen’s fists had tightened involuntarily; the stud in his palm perhaps drawing blood. He was past caring. He’d lost Claire once before; destroying any potential between them with a date from hell. He’d gotten her back in the most unconventional way, but clearly he hadn’t been grateful enough. Owen had wanted to duck and run from every scar Isla Nublar had left him with; every one other than Claire. She was seared onto his heart, buried under his skin. Owen doubted the day would come where she wouldn’t be.

#clawen

41 notes · View notes

kimmytalks · 6 years

Photo

So I basically live on Netflix like any typical university student. I spend a lot of time browsing through the endless catalogue that netflix offers and I completely understand how annoying it can be to spend so much time finding something to watch. I compiled a list of some of my spring favourites of shows I’ve recently watched! It’s sorted by genre to make it LOADS easier to find something depending on what you’re feeling. If you find something you like, check it out and spread the word! Let me know what you think of the show! I’d love to discuss your favourite characters and gush about it!

Marvel Shows

DAREDEVIL

“You were right... what you told me over the radio that night. Not everyone deserves a happy ending. ”

The “devil of hell’s kitchen” A.K.A Matthew Murdock steals the show as New York City’s very own blind vigilante (who also has a job as a defense attorney). It will literally leave you on the edge of your seat. There are two seasons, two villains that Daredevil goes up against while fighting a bigger underlying villain in New York City. There is SO much action, there’s romance, it’s electric and everything you would want in a TV show.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Action: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Elektra Natchois, Matthew Murdock

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

LUKE CAGE

“You know why everyone wants to be the king? Cause of the crown.”

Meet Luke Cage, a bullet-proof black man in NYC. Loyal to Harlem, Luke decides to start using his abilities to start cracking down on the unusual crimes in the area.

This show has amazing dynamics, all of the characters work hand in hand with each other and the bonus is that you get to meet some other important characters such as Claire Temple, Misty Knight and Jessica Jones. The story line is moving, the action is incredible and i loved how unapologetically black it was.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes, Luke Cage

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

THE PUNISHER

“Those who do evil to others - the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists - you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me... The Punisher.”

Frank Castle is a murderous vigilante in NYC. I’m going to give you guys a bit of a warning, it is VERY brutal and gory. To fully understand the backstory of Frank you have to watch Daredevil Season 2. He’s back from the “dead” and has new battles and villains to face, including someone very close to him. You get to fully understand the way Frank’s mind works...to an extent and how corrupt the U.S government really is. I’m someone who doesn’t mind gore so I really enjoyed this and the story line will keep you on edge.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Action: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Frank Castle

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

Drama

DYNASTY

“The Carrington impulse is to throw money at a problem and if that doesn't work, lie.”

From the FIRST episode this show leaves you gasping for air. Who doesn’t love watching rich people’s drama? The Carrington’s are one hell of a family, tons of drama and money crowd them. There’s mistresses, secrets, lies and murder (just like any good drama).

This show honestly will make you laugh with Fallon’s wits and sarcasm as well as her raunchiness. The show also brings up some good social discussions such as immigration and racism. If you’re a fan of shows like Empire and Scandal you’ll definitely want to check out Dynasty.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Fallon Carrington, Steven Carrington

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

RIVERDALE

“I don't follow the rules. I make them. And when necessary, I break them.”

Riverdale has kind of gotten confusing this season but the drama still prevails. I was a huge fan of the Archie comics as a kid so I do actually really enjoy the spin CW has taken with it.

It’s full of drama, heartbreak, conspiracies and friendship ordeals. The core 4 (Betty, Jughead, Veronica, Archie) solve murder mysteries in their small once innocent town. They stand up in social movements and protest against issues that would ruin the social well-being of the town.

If you like murder mysteries, witty teens and small town drama, you’ll want to check this one out if you havent already.

Plot: ✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Betty Cooper, Toni

Overall: ✰✰✰

STAR

“You and I have very different ideas of nothing. I've had to scratch and claw for everything I've got. So when someone hands me a credit card, that street bitch just comes out.”

I’M SO MAD THIS SHOW ISN’T GETTING MORE RECOGNITION.

It follows three young girls who become a music trio in Atlanta. This show’s acting is incredible and the drama will continue to keep you on your seat. It EVEN deals with very real issues, even incorporating some recent social justice movements in the episodes.

The shows talks about current issues such as: racism (episodes dedicated to Black Lives Matter), the foster care system, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and addiction. I loved every minute of Season 1 and it leaves on such a huge cliffhanger!!!

Bonus: The music is INCREDIBLE, and can be found on spotify as well.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama: ✰✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Alex Crane

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

SCI-FI

THE 100

“Who we are and who we need to be to survive are very different things ”

The 100 is honestly one of my favourite shows ever (with the exception of Season 3). It’s everything I would want in a post-apocalyptic show about delinquents in space.

These kids are incredibly witty, smart and brave-hearted. Imagine being a kid thrown to a radioactive Earth and having to fight for your lives against the Earth and enemies. There’s romance, there’s so much action and you get to admire the main characters of the show as if they were your own friends. In the first few seasons they’re fighting against the grounders (people who survived the radiation on Earth), then they make an alliance, it’s broken a few times and now they have to go back to space because Earth is now uninhabitable again. There is a Grounders plot which is also pretty well done but I prefer the scientific plot that the show started with. You’ve probably seen tons of GIFS on here about The 100 so what are you waiting for?

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Raven Reyes, Bellamy Blake

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

COMING OF AGE / TEEN TV SHOWS

END OF THE F**KING WORLD

"It’s strange. A lot of the time you don’t register the important moments as they happen. You only see that they were important when you look back."

If you enjoyed Skins you’ll probably enjoy watching James and Alyssa accidentally become fugitives after they get bored and run away from home.

This show is honestly a mix of everything and I absolutely loved every minute of it. If you have a dark sense of humour, you’ll enjoy the witty remarks from James and Alyssa alike. They’re an odd pair the both of them but they care for each other a lot and watching their relationship progress through ten episodes (needs to be more).

The quotes are powerful they make you think about life, love, sex, relationships and everything in between.

Plot: ✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰

Favorite Character: James

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

THE GET DOWN

“This ain’t Disneyland, this s*** is the f*****g Bronx. Either you be strong, or you be gone. All I find, all I keep. Either you beat the world, or you get beat.”

First of all, I am so sad Netflix decided not to renew this gem of a show. It follows a group of kids in the hip-hop/disco scene in New York City, specifically the Bronx.

I really enjoyed this show, it was really different and I loved the musical numbers included in it. The fashion was everything and every single character is so lovable.

The show also discusses the poverty in their community and the gang violence that surrounds them. This post doesn’t do it enough justice but seriously, it’s awesome and you should check it out.

Plot: ✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Marcus “Dizzee” Kipling, Mylene Cruz

Overall: ✰✰✰✰

ON MY BLOCK

This one is basically hot off of Netlix’s production company, it came out March 16th. It’s currently on it’s first season and has a total of ten episodes! (Super-easy to binge and re-watch) Where do I even begin with this show? It made me so nostalgic of being in high school and I honestly wish I had a squad like this during those years. It follows Monse, Cesar, Olivia, Ruby and Jamal through their first year of high school freshmen and all the ordeals that come with your first year of high school. There’ the boy drama, figuring out who you are, helping your friends and all that stuff everyone remembers from high school. But throw in the fact that these kids live in an inner city, they have more issues they’re dealing with such as gang violence in their community.The show also does a pretty okay job at discussing the racial issues all of the characters face (such as Olivia’s parents deportation) cultural appropriation and Monse’s struggle with her mother leaving her. I honestly fell in love with this show and all of the characters. If you’re looking for a good pick me up show this is the one to watch. They’re a really dynamic group of kids to watch and honestly who can’t help but laugh at Ruby’s sarcastic remarks? Or even Jamal’s constant clap-backs and schemes with Ruby’s Abuelita. The season finale will leave you in tears so don’t say I didn’t warn you! (which is why I need all of you to watch it right now so we can get it renewed for season 2!)

Plot: ✰✰✰✰✰

Drama/Action: ✰✰✰✰

Favorite Character: Honestly? All of them I can’t choose a favourite.

Overall: ✰✰✰✰✰

120 notes · View notes

gadgetgirl71 · 3 years

Photo

Amazon First Reads November 2020

Well Halloween is over and Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night is only a three days away. You’d think it was bonfire night every night. People have been letting off numerous fire works every night and over the weekend its been even worse. As they start going off just as dusk falls and they go on for the rest of the night, sometimes even in to the early hours.

Anyway back to this months Amazon First Reads, Prime Members are allowed to choose one book this month out of the eight titles.

This months choices are:

Thriller

The Last Resort by Susi Holliday, Pages: 300, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One perfect crime.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear.

Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat—it’s a trap they can’t get out of.

As the clock counts down to the lavish end-of-day party they’ve been promised, injuries and in-fighting split the group. But with no escape from the island—or the other guests’ most shocking secrets—Amelia begins to suspect that her only hope for survival is to be the last one standing. Can she confront her own dark past to uncover the truth—before it’s too late to get out?

Book Club Fiction

Memories in the Drift by Melissa Payne, Pages: 279, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: My name is Claire. I’m thirty-six years old. It’s September. I know what I’m doing and why I am here…for now.

Ten years ago, Claire Hines lost her unborn child—and her short-term memory—following a heartrending tragedy. With notebooks, calendars, to-do lists, fractured pieces of the past, and her father’s support, Claire makes it through each day, hour by hour, with relative confidence. She also has a close-knit community of friends in the remote Alaskan town where she teaches guitar to the local children. It’s there, in the reminders.

As determined as Claire is to regain all that’s disappeared, she’d prefer to live without some memories of her before life—especially those of her mother, Alice, who abandoned her, and Tate, the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart.

But when Alice and Tate return from the past, there’ll be so much more for Claire to relive. And to discover for the very first time. Through healing, forgiveness, and second chances, Claire may realize that what’s most important might not be re-creating the person she was, but embracing the possibilities of being the person she is.

Suspense

Every Last Secret by A R Torre, Pages: 302, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: Welcome to the neighborhood. Watch your husband, watch your friends, and watch your back.

Cat Winthorpe has worked hard to get what she has: a gorgeous home; social standing; and William, her successful, handsome husband. Then a friendly new couple moves into the estate next door. While cautious, a good neighbor like Cat greets them with open arms and warm hospitality.

Neena Ryder isn’t a fellow lady of leisure. A life coach with off-the-rack dresses, personal issues, and a husband who hasn’t delivered, she’s anxious to move up in the world. This beautiful new town is a step in the right direction. It’s also making Neena aware of what she doesn’t have. Namely, William. When Neena’s infatuation escalates into obsession, it’s just a matter of eliminating a few obstacles to get the life she wants. The life next door.

As Neena’s secret fixation grows, so does her friendship with Cat. But beneath their cordial interactions is a wealth of temptations, secrets, and toxic jealousy. For both women, the desire for a perfect life can turn perfectly dangerous.

Historical Fiction

Under a Gilded Moon by Joy Jordan-Lake, Pages: 409, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of A Tangled Mercy comes an enthralling novel of secrets, a tumultuous war of ideas, and murder as classes collide in the shadow of Biltmore House.

Biltmore House, a palatial mansion being built by the Vanderbilts, American “royalty,” is in its final stages of construction in North Carolina. The country’s grandest example of privilege, it symbolizes the aspirations of its owner and the dreams of a girl, just as driven, who lives in its shadow.

Kerry MacGregor’s future is derailed when, after two years in college in New York City, family obligations call her home to the beautiful Appalachians. She is determined to distance herself from the opulence she sees rising in the Blue Ridge Mountains, however close its reach. Her family’s land is among the last pieces required to complete the Biltmore Estate. But something more powerful than an ambitious Vanderbilt heir could change Kerry’s fate as, one by one, more outsiders descend on the changing landscape—a fugitive from Sicily, a reporter chasing a groundbreaking story, a debutante tainted by scandal, and a conservationist prepared to put anyone at risk to stoke the resentment of the locals.

As Kerry finds herself caught in a war between wealth and poverty, innocence and corruption, she must navigate not only her own pride and desperation to survive but also the temptations of fortune and the men who control it.

Memoir

Jew(ish) by Matt Greene, Pages: 199, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: What does it mean to be Jew(ish) in 2020? Caught between tradition and modernity, between a Jewish family and a non-Jewish son, Matt Greene ponders the big questions concerning identity, religion, family and Seinfeld.

When his son was born to a non-Jewish mother, Matt began to consider the upbringing he’d put behind him—the sense of not belonging, the forbidden foods, the holidays that felt more like punishments. There are more types of Jew than there are bagel fillings, and for every two there are three opinions. But if you’re not a black-hatted frummer, if you’re allergic to groups, if you observe but don’t believe, or you don’t observe at all, does that make you less Jewish?

In this wide-ranging series of essays, at turns irreverent, insightful, urgent and iconoclastic, Matt considers what might loosely be termed ‘the modern Jewish experience’, and asks what it means to be anything in a world obsessed with the self and the other.

Domestic Suspense

Open House by Katie Sise, Pages: 255, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: A missing young woman, ten years gone. A town still held in the grip of an unsolved mystery. A breathtaking novel of psychological suspense by the bestselling author of We Were Mothers.

A decade ago in upstate New York, art student Emma McCullough walked into the woods and was never seen again. It’s a mystery that still haunts her bucolic university town and her broken family, especially her sister, Haley, whose need for closure has become an obsession. But now, finally, the first piece of evidence in the vanishing has been found: Emma’s bracelet, lodged in a frozen piece of earth at the bottom of a gorge. For Emma’s three best college friends, for a beloved former teacher, and for Haley, the chilling trinket is more than a clue in a resurrected cold case. It’s a trigger.

Then a woman Tis attacked during an open house, and the connections between the two crimes, ten winters apart, begin to surface. So do the secrets that run as deep and dark as the currents in this quiet river town.

Biographical Fiction

The Empress by Laura Martinez-Belli, Translator Simon Bruni, Pages: 402, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: From a bestselling author in Mexico comes her English-language debut—an enthralling historical novel about the tragic reign of Empress Carlota of Mexico.

It’s 1863. Napoleon III has installed a foreign monarch in Mexico to squash the current regime. Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria accepts the emperor’s crown. But it is his wife, the brilliant and ambitious Princess Charlotte, who throws herself passionately into the role. Known to the people as Empress Carlota, she rules deftly from behind the scenes while her husband contents himself with philandering and decorating the palace.

But Carlota bears a guilty secret. Trapped in a loveless marriage, she’s thrown herself into a reckless affair. Desire has blinded Carlota to its consequences, for it has left her vulnerable to her sole trusted confidante. Carlota’s devious lady-in-waiting has political beliefs of her own—and they are strong enough to cause her to betray the empress and join a plot to depose her from the throne. As Carlota grows increasingly, maddeningly defenseless, both her own fate and that of the empire are at stake.

A sweeping historical novel of forbidden love, dangerous secrets, courtly intrigue, and treachery, The Empress passionately reimagines the tragic romance and ill-fated reign of the most unforgettable royal couple of nineteenth-century Europe during the last throes of the Second Empire.

Children’s Picture Book

The Snow Dancer by Addie Boswell, Illustrated by Merce Lopez, Pages: 32, Publication Date: 1 December 2020

Synopsis: Young dancer Sofia wakes up to a quiet, white world—it’s a snow day! She makes her way outside to the neighborhood park, where a field awaits her, white and shining and open. It isn’t long before the rest of the neighborhood wakes its sleepy head—and the other kids make their way to the park, scattering all of Sofia’s beautiful silence. But with the help of a new young friend, Sofia is ready to show everyone what a snow dancer can do on a perfect day like this. With lyrical language and gorgeous art, this book sparkles with all the joy and beauty of a snow day.

*** Which book will you choose? I’m not sure which book I’ll choose as non of the books stand out to me. ***

#AmazonFirstReads, #Amazonkindle, #AmazonPrimeMembers, #BiographicalFiction, #BookClubFiction, #Books, #ChildrensPictureBook, #DomesticSuspense, #HistoricalFiction, #Kindle, #KindleBooks, #Memoir, #Suspense, #Thriller

0 notes

syrupwit · 5 years

Text

Just Married Exchange 2019 Letter

WARNING: CONTAINS AVENGERS: ENDGAME SPOILERS

Hello, and welcome to my letter for Just Married Exchange 2019! Thank you very much for considering creating a fanwork for me. This letter is intended to provide optional details and potential inspiration; my primary intention in writing it is to make things easier for my assigned creator. If it’s not doing that for you, please feel free to disregard it.

My AO3 profile is here.

For this exchange, I’ve requested fic only for the following fandoms and pairings, divided into themed sections for ease of browsing:

Dishonored: Corvo Attano/Delilah Copperspoon, Delilah Copperspoon/Emily Kaldwin

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/2012!Tony Stark [Endgame spoilers]

The Umbrella Academy: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves

DNW / DO NOT WANT

Hopeless or unremittingly dark endings

Rape/non-con

Underage sex

Non-canonical permanent major character death

Onscreen animal harm/death (referenced/implied nonspecific death is fine)

Onscreen child abuse (referenced/implied past abuse is fine)

Bestiality, necrophilia, scat, permanent non-canonical significant body modification

Characters in requested romantic ships being written as asexual/aromantic

Character or ship bashing

GENERAL LIKES

Humor: ludicrous/cracky premises treated seriously or unseriously; comedic action sequences; comedy of errors; hijinks; absurdity; gallows humor.

Romance: first times; get-together; pining; friends to lovers; enemies to lovers; UST; belligerent sexual tension; flirting, especially when one character doesn’t think the other is being serious; flirting in established relationships; possessiveness and jealousy without entitlement.

Action/Adventure: time travel; interdimensional/multiverse travel; escaping from captivity together; camaraderie, teamwork, unusual team-ups; missions/cases and snippets thereof; undercover as XYZ; identity porn; road trips of the terrestrial, extraterrestrial, aquatic, and supernatural varieties; space travel; visiting other planets; wilderness survival; climactic warehouse confrontations; wacky foes/locations/circumstances for battles; bar fights.

Smut: characters feeling overwhelmed; lots of emotions; awkwardness; praise kink; unexpectedly compatible; kink discovery/exploration; characters being really into their partner and/or what they’re doing and/or how into what they’re doing their partner is. I will read pretty much any kink besides my DNWs if the characters are jazzed about being together and doing the specific act(s).

Miscellany: atmosphere, mood, immediacy; character studies; missing moments; surrealism; slice of life; domesticity; appetizing descriptions of food; diners; carnivals; big scary buildings with tragic histories; mansions; abandoned mansions; secluded or remote locations; forests; beaches; holidays; seasons; weather; thunderstorms; getting caught in the rain.

DISHONORED

Corvo Attano/Delilah Copperspoon Delilah Copperspoon/Emily Kaldwin

Delilah! She's the best/worst. What if her coup in Dishonored 2 taken a slightly different approach? Alternately, what if she'd shown up earlier to claim the throne? I'm tickled by her creeping on Corvo as the Heart and her tension with both Corvo and Emily. I'm fine with UST or weird feelings/foe-yay instead of straight-up romance for both pairings.

Please note that I love these games + world/lore and am spoiled for everything.

Freeforms Requested:

Disastrously Incompatible Political Marriage: Because it so would be. How might future history books characterize a Corvo/Delilah or Delilah/Emily co-rulership? What about journalism of the day? How would they fare resolving problems in the empire? Diplomacy? Daily life? Or maybe they suck as co-rulers, but unexpectedly discover that they’re okay at fighting together or living an average life?

Disastrous Wedding Ceremony Everyone Will Gossip About For Years: PLEASE. How rushed or drawn-out was the wedding planning? Has one of them been trying to sabotage the ceremony with clashing decor choices, or perhaps with murder? ...Does the Outsider crash the reception?

Is my spouse trying to kill me | Someone's trying to kill me and I think it's my spouse: Grouped together for being thematically similar. I feel like Delilah is a more likely candidate for the role of spouse-attempting-murder, but I’m intrigued by the reverse as well.

Marriage is Interrupted by an Assassination Attempt and they Continue After they Take Care of Them | planned assassination during wedding night goes wrong: Again, grouped together for thematic similarities. Who hired the poor assassins? If Delilah or Corvo / Emily end up having to use their powers, how do they deal with the aftermath?

.[Buffer space for Endgame spoilers below!]

MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

Peter Parker/Tony Stark 2012!Tony Stark/Peter Parker

Wooooo! \m/ This is my MCU OTP at the moment. I adore their mutual importance to each other, their easy teamwork and camaraderie despite the age gap, and the potential for ANGST ANGST ANGST and pining as well as humor and fluff. I love stuff where they’ve been pining mutually and self-awarely for a long time, but also stuff where one or both parties don’t realize their feelings until XYZ catalyst forces them to.

Please note that my underage DNW does apply here, although UST and feelings/pining while Peter is underage are fine with me.

I'm totally down with Infinity War / Endgame compliance or canon divergence AUs (e.g., the universe where Thanos disappeared in 2014, AUs where they defeated Thanos in IW, Civil War was resolved without Tony recruiting Peter, etc.). Please feel free to run with the freeforms as-is, or check out the expansions and prompts below.

Freeforms Requested:

Accidental Travel to an Alternate Universe With an Unexpected Spouse | Permanently Transported To Alternate Universe Where They're Married To Person Who Is Dead In Theirs | Temporarily Transported To Alternate Universe Where They're Married To Person Who Is Dead In Theirs: I’m intrigued by the idea of Peter traveling to an alternate universe where he’s somehow married to Tony, but also by the idea of Tony -- post-IW Tony, perhaps -- stumbling on a world where he’s married to Peter, perhaps in the course of trying to reverse the Snap.

Trapped In Fake Perfect World That Includes Marriage They Don't Believe They Can Ever Really Have: Oh no! Who’s trapped? Who’s the fake perfect spouse? What compels the trapped party to give up the fake perfect world, and how difficult is it and why?

Always Married to Same Person When You Dream | Marriage within dreams becomes real: Is the dreamer pining, mourning, or experiencing a more complicated situation (e.g., a spell, meetings on the astral plane, meetings in a temporary afterlife, meetings in a space between universes, premonitions of a breach between universes, etc.)? I am very fond of dreams and surreality in fic, so I would love to see that sort of atmosphere incorporated too if it floats your boat.

Aliens Make Them Get Married: YESSSSS. Whatever the justification, I love this trope.

Characters Keep "Forgetting" to Annul Accidental Marriage | Series of Mishaps Prevent Annulment of Accidental Marriage: This seems like it could be hilarious. :D

Carried Over The Threshold: I just really like this image! Though I’m partial to Peter carrying Tony, the other way around appeals to me too.

.[Buffer space for Endgame spoilers above!]

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves

I will admit I wasn’t sold on Allison/Luther during my first viewing of the series, but subsequent viewings have decidedly awoken me to their charm. I’m super interested in the idea of an incongruously sweet connection arising from the fucked-up-ness of their upbringing, and in exploring how that connection carries over into their adult lives.

Allison became a superstar; Luther spent four years alone on the moon. How did they part, back when the siblings went their separate ways as young adults? Where was Luther during Allison’s wedding? How did Allison learn what happened to him? Did they keep in touch directly, or just hear about each other incidentally from the people they did maintain contact with?

If you can tell from the selected freeforms, I am here for tropey fluff and angst for this pairing. I also really like canon divergent AUs -- The Day That Wasn’t, handwavey “we averted the apocalypse after all” AUs, for want of a nail, etc. -- and futurefic. I enjoy Claire and would love to see her meet Luther. In general, though, I’d just like to explore these two more.

Note: I would prefer that any fic written for me in this exchange not focus more than briefly on the incest aspect of this pairing. Outsiders can be horrified that the adopted siblings are getting it on, but the Hargreeves children don’t seem to care a lot in-universe, and I’d like it to stay that way in fic.

Freeforms Requested:

Asking someone to be their witness

Character fantasizes about getting married

Crying With Happiness During Wedding

Wedding Fluff | Wedding Planning | Something Old Something New Something Borrowed Something Blue

Crashing a Wedding to Prevent a Bad Marriage | Crashing A Wedding So Character Can Marry One Of The Participants Instead | Objecting during the marriage ceremony

Road Trip Honeymoon | Road Trip to Marriage Ceremony

Trapped In Fake Perfect World That Includes Marriage They Don't Believe They Can Ever Really Have

Undercover as Married While Mutually Pining

Time Loop Can Only Be Ended Through Marriage

Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves

So. Five is a dick to everyone, but he’s slightly less of a dick to Vanya. What’s up with that? Or: How close were they as kids, and how might they reconnect as adults?

I’m really interested in how a relationship might develop between these two in a future fic or canon divergence AU. Maybe Five only zapped forward in time for a little while, or was able to return at an earlier point in time than 2019? Maybe Vanya was able to learn to control her powers as a child and grew up as a participating member of the Academy? Maybe -- maybe! -- the siblings managed to avert the apocalypse, and they’re adjusting to life together in the aftermath? I don’t know! I’m interested in all kinds of things.

I love the idea of Vanya and Five as a battle couple or married coworkers, and of them getting together while on a case/mission. A while ago, someone on FFA brought up the idea of them undercover fake married in 1950s suburbia, and I am SO into that -- both the specific setting, and the concept of Five/Vanya going undercover as a fake married couple in various eras/locations.

Please be advised that my underage DNW includes Five having sex while in his younger body. UST is fine, but I’d like Five to physically be an adult for any sexual situations.

Freeforms Requested:

Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress

Fake Marriage Results in Surprise Real Feelings | Obviously Fake Marriage Leads To Third Party Realizing Their Feelings For Half the Couple

Pretending to be married to access information

Undercover as Married | Undercover as Married Leads to Unexpected Feelings | Undercover as Married While Mutually Pining

Honeymoon Heist | Road Trip Honeymoon | Working While on Your Honeymoon

Time Travel Backward To Fix The Past Also Results In Unexpectedly Getting Married

#optional detailed letters for exchanges tag

1 note · View note

wthomeland · 7 years

Text

Season Sex: Why It’s Totally Happening

Sheba, an active member on our WTH forum, has put together a comprehensive, damn near perfect list in defense of Season Sex on the Quarrie Sex thread - yes, we have a whole thread dedicated to Quarrie Sex with close to 3500 views at the moment - and gave us permission to post it on our blog. We couldn’t have summed it up better ourselves! Thank you, Sheba!

Pros (Yes, it's totally happening!):

No one else has gotten sexy time yet this season (except for Quinn, briefly, in episode 1). It's Showtime--someone has to this season! My bets are on Quarrie.

It's time. We've had enough hints, enough establishing of a relationship, enough of prolonging the inevitable, enough of the attempts at dating other people (and being jealous). We need to see them show us their love more explicitly now.

I'm assuming they're still going to address "the letter," and how could something not happen after addressing that figment of beauty?

The opening credits end with the "Why?" scene, showing Quarrie in an embrace. Their arc is important this season, and we're going to see them bond more than ever.

The first scene of episode 6 shows Carrie en route to visit Quinn at the VA. We learn that she visits him daily. We are being told that he is a priority in her life. He must know this!

In the "let ME go" scene, you can see that Carrie is not backing down, and she never does in this episode. She even tracks him down at the crack house. He needs to see that this is out of love, not guilt/duty.

Remember that lol moment when Otto showed up in episode 1? His whole purpose was to say, "If it's not me...then let it be someone else" and then CUT to Quinn. *Foreshadowing* y'all!

You can see through her tears, her choking up, her gestures, and her facial expressions during the "Why?" scene that Carrie loves Quinn. She said it all without using words--which is how Quarrie often communicate very beautifully.

The hug/nightquare scene reestablished their sexual tension, and it is a tease for that tension to be revisited fully in a later episode.

Carrie has only smiled a few times this season, and she smiles whenever she's looking at/talking about Franny and/or Quinn. She, like Franny, adores Quinn. Soon, he has to see what she sees!

Carrie makes no hesitation in jumping on top of Quinn to save him in episode 5, and she has defended his actions to everyone. I doubt she'll question him or turn him away if he seeks her comfort again this season.

Quinn loves and trusts Carrie more than anyone. That's why he wanted to watch the sarin video with her. A bit of a stretch, but it may also be why the writers didn't show Quinn reciprocate Astrid's love declaration. We have to see Quarrie move past their communication issues and reach some type of climax (pun intended!).

Cons (No, it's totally not happening!):

Quinn is not ready for sex because of his current condition, and Carrie knows this.

COUNTERARGUMENT: I think they showed Quinn getting some type of action in episode 1 for a reason. He is capable of and ready for many things in season 6 (especially in episode 9), so I doubt sex will be an issue. A point of lol, but the one pill bottle that we see Quinn looking at in episode 8 is Bupropion, one of the few anti-depressants on the market that does NOT cause sexual dysfunction.

Carrie rejected Quinn after the hug/nightquare scene. She's not interested (anymore)!

COUNTERARGUMENT: Carrie didn't feel that sex was appropriate at that place and time. She was in the process of trying to get Franny ready for school. Plus, Quinn was clearly shaken and she might have been taking advantage of him if she had not resisted. Shallow, I know, but Quinn hadn't showered. He also wasn't being himself--he wouldn't have gone straight for second base like that in S2-S5. Homeland is leading us carefully to the season sex scene we deserve.

Carrie only wants to become intimate with Quinn 1.0.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Carrie did say in episode 1 that he had to keep trying, because just when you feel like you can't go any further, that's when breakthroughs can happen. Was it moto shit, or could Quinn really have a breakthrough this season? Also, regardless if he doesn't have a breakthrough, he still seems better in episode 9 than he has been for a while. He also seems much better in those quieter scenes--such as in the "Why?" scene, the scenes where he's playing with Franny, and in the final scene with Astrid. I think Carrie will see the person she loves in Quinn when she sees him next!

There is just nothing that indicates Carrie is sexually attracted to Quinn these days.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Well, she certainly hasn't seen him in the best shape this season. But, she wasn't exactly dropping major hints that she had the hots for him in season 4, when she was arguing with him all the time, and they ended up kissing by the finale! What makes Quarrie great is their sexual TENSION. I personally see sparks, even when they're fighting. If they were super nice to each other throughout season 6, they just wouldn't be the Quarrie we know and love. We might not be anticipating for them to reunite, reconcile, and consummate this relationship as much. They're trying to sustain our interest throughout the season!

Carrie loves Quinn, but she's not IN LOVE with him.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Even though she hasn't said the words, her facial expressions, desire to save and defend him at every turn, putting her relationship on a similar level of intensity as her relationship with Brody--all of this conveys to me that she loves him in every sense of the word. We knew Quinn loved Carrie before we heard the letter, too. We definitely get the hint, but thanks for the receipts anyway!

Quinn is going to doubt Carrie's love for him because of Dar's statement that Carrie only cares for him out of guilt.

COUNTERARGUMENT: I think (hope!) Quinn knows better than to trust Dar at this point, even though Dar knows that Quinn feels insecure about the idea that he can be loved (as does Carrie--remember that random road trip to Missouri?). But, Quinn received affirmation from Astrid that he can be loved, and he might receive a similar "more than that..." statement from Carrie.

But Carrie DID save Quinn out of guilt.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Sorry, but nope. I'm not saying that she didn't feel any guilt at all, but there is a reason that we were hearing the love letter in the background as Carrie looked at the light shining on his face in the S5 finale. None of this conveyed perplexity about feeling guilty. It was all about love. Carrie was willing to let Brody and even Saul die, but it's different with Quinn. She cannot lose him. It's not that she can't lose him because she would feel too guilty if he died. She can't lose him because she loves this person deeply.

But Claire Danes said--

COUNTERARGUMENT: Nope. I know that interrupting is completely rude, but I'm going to stop you there. You think she is going to spoil the plot for you? Do you know if she had even read all of the season 6 episode scripts at the time they were filming that interview? These interviews are not canon. They're just PR, OPINIONS of the cast, and they should sometimes be taken with a grain of salt. F. Murray Abraham told Kelly Ripa a funny "spoiler" that Dar and Carrie were going to get married in S6. Also, if you take Claire Danes' words as Bible, she also said on Ellen that her primary wish for Carrie was to see her happy and in domestic bliss one day. Quinn should be in this pretty picture, no?

Carrie can't sleep with Quinn if she wants him to live! Everyone she sleeps with ends up DEAD. She's a black widow!

COUNTERARGUMENT: Too bad that black widow charm didn't work on our dear Jonas, who we assume is still walking around Berlin. Also, I'll let you in on a little secret: Quinn's plot armor protects him against Carrie's black widow lady parts. He will live, folks!

Quarrie's relationship isn't about sex. Carrie even told the therapist in episode 9 that their relationship is not intense in a physical way.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Well, regarding episode 9 specifically, she probably wouldn't have gotten that okay to visit her daughter if she hadn't made it clear that she wasn't putting a sexual relationship over her daughter's safety by bringing Quinn into her home. Also, I took that line as a hint that their relationship isn't physical YET. She's clearly stating a fact here, but relationships can change over time! And, of course, their relationship goes way beyond sex. It's a deep, lasting love that transcends physical attraction. But can't we have our cake and eat it, too, just once? Carrie spent a lot of time in that chapel in S5, but she didn't turn into a nun.

Quinn is too intense for Carrie. They won't have sex because they're probably priming her pairing with a normal like Reda, Otto, Nate, or Max.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Well, Carrie's foray into normalism with Jonas certainly didn't work out too well in the end, right? If Carrie were going to be paired with Reda, Otto, or Max, then there would have been more obvious sexual tension by now, or she would have already slept with them. She wouldn't have told Otto "IT'S NOT" if there were any chance for him whatsoever. I think Carrie prefers someone who is better at tracing calls (Quinn!) than Nate. Also, Carrie likes intensity sometimes, and Quinn likes normalcy sometimes, so it's not like they're cookie-cutter characters. Bottom line is that we're too close to the finish line for a new endgame love interest. Quinn was introduced in season 2, leaving plenty of time to develop the relationship, and it would not be good storytelling to pair her with a random or an old friend she was never sexually attracted to in the end.

There is simply no time for it.

COUNTERARGUMENT: It really doesn't require that much screen time, and they don't have to show everything (unfortunately). Homeland sex scenes are usually not long or drawn-out (not that we wouldn't mind, for Quarrie!). Also, the show can't be constant action for the last three episodes. Moments of action are often balanced by moments of quiet. Maybe they'll balance Saul or Dar-oriented action sequences with Quarrie intimacy, or the Quarrie intimacy scenes will take place in a brief period after they've completed part of a mission.

They're going to postpone Quarrie as long as possible, and there are at least two seasons left in the series.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Maybe, but that doesn't mean intimacy is off the table this season. We had a kiss in S4, a written declaration of love in S5, and now it is time to take it to the next level in S6. Intimacy in S6 doesn't mean they're getting married and buying a house in the Hamptons by the S6 finale. There can and will be more drama in store for these two.

This Dar stuff...complicates things.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Does it really, though--at least, on the Quarrie front? If Quinn's backstory is revealed in detail to Carrie, then Carrie will officially know all (well, most) of his shit, and he'll know hers. If she rejected him because she thought all of this was too much for her, or because she felt pity rather than love for him, then she wouldn't be the compassionate heroine we know. She often sees the good and lovable in the worst or saddest of people. Quinn, much like Carrie, is searching for someone to love and love him in return, without exploitation, as he has admitted in many ways that he cannot/does not want to be alone. It will be beautiful to see how Carrie and Quinn find true, lasting love and meaningful intimacy after all of their respective self-doubting. If anything, the Dar backstory provides more motivation, rather than deterrence, for Quarrie to share a loving, intimate moment this season. Thank you to sunshine (from the forum) for contributing this con and counterargument!

#season sex #carrie x quinn #quarrie #wth forum #homeland #homeland meta #sheba

30 notes · View notes

leekchess87-blog · 5 years

Text

“We Are Looking in a Mirror”: Ramsey Campbell Curates the History of Horror

NOVEMBER 4, 2018

FIRST, THE BONA FIDES. The Folio Society is a British publisher that produces limited hardcover editions of classic titles, both fiction and nonfiction. Their books are handsomely produced and usually include original illustrations of very high quality. Until 2011, Folio titles were only available to subscribing members, but they are now sold to the general public via the company’s website. Although most of their releases are reprints, they have commissioned the occasional anthology of specialized interest, such as The Folio Book of Ghost Stories (2015), edited by Kathryn Hughes. The newly issued The Folio Book of Horror Stories (2018) is a follow-up volume with a more expansive editorial remit.

The book’s editor, British author Ramsey Campbell, needs no introduction to aficionados of the horror genre. He is arguably the most distinguished living writer of horror fiction, having won 12 British Fantasy Awards for his novels, stories, and anthologies, as well as lifetime achievement awards from the Horror Writers Association and the World Fantasy Convention. His fiction spans the gamut from eerie tales of supernatural dread to works of extreme, graphic horror, and this wide range perfectly equips him to helm a volume that purports to canvass the field from Poe to the present.

Campbell’s introduction makes the case for a generous construction of the genre’s borders. While horror is a form distinguished by its characteristic affects, those emotional states can vary from “supernatural fear” to “psychological disquiet” to “terror devoid of a physical cause.” Horror, Campbell writes, “is the least escapist form of fantasy […] It shows us the monstrous, sometimes to reveal that we are looking in a mirror.” The editor’s catholic tastes are evident in his choices, which start with Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839) and conclude with Adam Nevill’s “Hippocampus” (2015). There are 15 stories in all: two from the 19th century, five from the first half of the 20th, five from the second half, and three from the 21st. They include obvious classics alongside unexpected selections by major authors and a few contributions from relatively obscure talents. The book thus manages both to satisfy readers new to the field, by providing a sense of its historical development, and to please well-versed fans, by presenting them with unexpected gems.

There are a few surprising omissions, none more notable than Robert Aickman, whom the editor himself has often praised as one of the finest authors of weird fiction ever. Campbell acknowledges that another curious absence from the book — J. Sheridan Le Fanu — was the result of a lack of space, but while Le Fanu’s work is in the public domain and thus readily accessible, Aickman’s is not — though NYRB Classics recently released a welcome compendium of the author’s “strange stories.” Considering that a third of The Folio Book of Horror Stories is consumed by two long texts, Arthur Machen’s “The White People” (1904) and Stephen King’s “1408” (2002), it might have been possible to select briefer works by those particular authors in order to find room for Aickman, or Clive Barker, or Roald Dahl, or Richard Matheson, or Joyce Carol Oates, or any number of other worthy figures who are absent here. It should also be said that the canon presented in Campbell’s volume is exclusively Anglo-American: no Hoffmann, no Kafka, no Borges, no Quiroga.

But these are quibbles. If the reader wants a more extensive introduction to the genre, there are comprehensive works available, such as David G. Hartwell’s The Dark Descent (1987), which features 56 stories, or Jeff and Ann VanderMeer’s The Weird (2012), which includes over 100. One of the chief pleasures of The Folio Book of Horror Stories is its relative concision, the fact that it can be hair-raisingly devoured on a single lonely night, as well as the opportunity it presents to witness one of the preeminent talents in the field curate a “greatest hits” volume. Campbell has edited more than a dozen anthologies, including award-winning installments of the “Best New Horror” series (1990–’94), but none of his previous stints as editor has afforded him the historical or thematic scope this one does.

Campbell shows himself to be a skillful anthologist indeed: the selected tales echo one another in curious and provocative ways. The first two entries are a case in point: both Poe’s “Usher” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” (1892) are tales of stifling claustrophobia, of domestic environments cursed by the tainted legacies of their past inhabitants. But while Poe’s story uses the distancing technique of an external narrator, who watches his childhood friend succumb to madness, Gilman offers an indelible first-person portrait: her narrator, by the end, is irremediably insane. As Campbell remarks in his introduction, works like Gilman’s show a particular strength of the genre — its ability to deploy narrative voices “impossible in conventional terms,” and thus to evoke extreme psychic states with terrifying immediacy. This contrast between distancing and immersive styles runs throughout the volume: Lovecraft’s “The Music of Erich Zann” (1922) and Reggie Oliver’s “Flowers of the Sea” (2011) relate, from an uneasy but external vantage, the mental deliquescence of an acquaintance or loved one, while Shirley Jackson’s “The Bus” (1965) and Dennis Etchison’s “Call Home” (1991) plant readers squarely inside the nightmarish predicaments of their protagonists, who find themselves at the end — like Gilman’s narrator — trapped in recursive loops of lunacy.

Several of the stories combine these two techniques via the traditional framing device of the mysterious manuscript found in some cryptic archive. M. R. James’s “Count Magnus” (1904) features the diary of a researcher whose antiquarian obsessions summon a vampiric revenant; his frightful story is bookended by the bland observations of a narrator who discovered the manuscript “in a forgotten cupboard” of a dilapidated house. In Machen’s “The White People,” a pair of occult dabblers ponder a wild account of sorcerous initiation penned by a young girl who died in mysterious circumstances. The most unnerving of this subset of stories is Thomas Ligotti’s “Vastarien” (1987), in which a hapless bookworm is literally possessed by the eponymous tome: “Each passage he entered in the book both enchanted and appalled him with images and incidents so freakish and chaotic that his usual sense of these terms disintegrated along with everything else.” By the end, he has been absorbed into its fragmented dreamscape.

A turning point in the volume, historically speaking, is Fritz Leiber’s 1941 story “Smoke Ghost.” As the title implies, it is a tale of eerie haunting, but the eponymous specter does not lurk in some cloistered abbey or rural forest, as in Algernon Blackwood’s “Ancient Lights” (1912); rather, it is the veritable incarnation of big-city squalor and malaise. A grimy, shambling creature “with the soot of the factories on its face and the pounding of machinery in its soul,” it stalks the protagonist relentlessly, first as a series of sooty silhouettes glimpsed from his subway seat and high-rise office building, then as a demonic amalgam of all the psychological trials of urban life, and finally as a demonic idol demanding total subservience and devotion. In short, Leiber transplants a Gothic monster into a hyper-modern space, thus setting the tone for future chroniclers of urban anxiety and dread, such as Campbell himself.

The editor sums up Leiber’s achievement succinctly: “Whereas previously the supernatural might invade a mundane setting, in ‘Smoke Ghost’ that setting is its source.” In the wake of “Smoke Ghost,” even the most trivial incidents of modern life can be occasions for ghoulish horror: a bus ride (in Jackson’s tale), a message left on an answering machine (in Etchison’s), a night spent at a big-city hotel (in King’s). Works that revive the Gothic tradition more directly, such as Ligotti’s, come across in part as self-conscious pastiche: a deliberate reversion to the genre’s roots. It is a tribute to Campbell’s skills as an editor that such a brief conspectus of the field can lend itself to such large-scale observations and comparisons.

The stories in the book that most affected me were the three I had never read before. They are also the most graphically gruesome, thus giving the lie to the notion, advanced by some critics, that it is always preferable to suggest, rather than to explicitly unveil, a tale’s central horror. Margaret St. Clair’s “Brenda” (1954) is a skin-crawling story of a pubescent girl who, while on holiday with her parents, develops a weird psychic bond with a stinking, silent, shambling stranger:

He was not a tramp, he was not one of the summer people. Brenda knew at once that he was not like any other man she had ever seen. His skin was not black, or brown, but of an inky grayness; his body was blobbish and irregular, as if it had been shaped out of the clots of soap and grease that stop up kitchen sinks. He held a dead bird in one crude hand. The rotten smell was welling out from him.

The tale hints cryptically at — but never offers a clear answer for — Brenda’s motives in embracing this foul golem; as Campbell comments in his introduction, sometimes “an enigma can be richer than an explanation.” St. Clair was, during the 1950s and ’60s, a prolific author of science fiction and fantasy whose work is neglected today. The editor deserves credit for unearthing this genuinely creepy story from the moldering issue of Weird Tales where it has been immured for decades. Indeed, Campbell has done much to rehabilitate interest in this author’s work, having edited a retrospective volume for Dover Press, The Hole in the Moon and Other Tales by Margaret St. Clair (though this title has unfortunately been delayed by copyright issues).

Campbell’s own contribution to The Folio Book of Horror Stories is the sublimely grotesque “Again” (1981), a tale of claustrophobic entrapment so intense you actually feel vaguely frantic while reading it. While several of the stories in the book derive their frissons from repressed sexuality, there is nothing repressed about Campbell’s story: it is shockingly explicit in its grim evocation of an erotic slavery that survives death itself. I found myself stifling gasps at its baleful twists and turns. Surprisingly, the story was not included in Campbell’s 1987 volume Scared Stiff: Tales of Sex and Death, where it would have been right at home.

The final story in the volume, Nevill’s “Hippocampus,” is something of a revelation. Campbell calls it, in his introduction, “bracingly experimental,” and it is most certainly that: a calmly narrated exploration of an unmanned freighter adrift in mountainous seas, it slowly unveils — without ever fully explaining — the grisly bloodbath that claimed the ship’s crew. “The pale flesh of the rotund torso is whipped and occasionally drenched by sea spray, but still bears the ruddy impressions of bestial deeds that were both boisterous and thorough.” There are Lovecraftian hints of occult entities unearthed and unleashed, but these are mere background to a boldly cinematic and meticulously detailed tour of a floating abattoir. The effect is, by turns, bewildering and disgusting, and altogether brilliant. “Who can say what future [the story] adumbrates?” Campbell inquires. If “Hippocampus” is any indication of the present strengths of the genre, its future would appear to be as bright as the past so ably anatomized in The Folio Book of Horror Stories.

Rob Latham is a LARB senior editor. His most recent book is Science Fiction Criticism: An Anthology of Essential Writings, published by Bloomsbury Press in 2017.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/we-are-looking-in-a-mirror-ramsey-campbell-curates-the-history-of-horror/

0 notes

stb042896 · 6 years

Text

New

Hi. It is November 30, 2017. I kept saying I would come back and update, but it’s just so far behind there’s no way to catch up. So, it’s been a while. Things have been an absolute rollercoaster. Since I’ve lasted posted, I moved out of my Mission Viejo house and moved into the upstairs of Mema’s in Huntington Beach. It was the first time Ciera and I lived with each other and it was the most exciting part of our lives together. We lived in Mema’s house from August until February, where we got our first apartment with our new kitties, Dash and Oliver. We met some roommates, they were a couple and one worked for Disney for several years. They were strangers, but seeing as one was from Disney and in a long term relationship, we felt assured. In October 2016, Ciera confessed she was confused about her gender. She told me when we were showering together. Knowing Ciera, this was just talk. She has always been low on self esteem and I didn’t think much of it. That month, she chopped off ALL of her long, beautiful waist-length hair. I absolutely hated it. I was not attracted to her like I was beforehand. More, she was very confused about her gender and this was stressful on the both of us. I understood where she was coming from, but it felt like she didn’t understand where I was coming from. This blindsided me. I felt like she was changing herself into someone I didn’t know for 3 years. I fell in love with someone different, and she was changing right in front of me. We stuck it out, though. It was very hard for me to even think of her becoming male. But I loved her so much. I would’ve done anything for her. After we got the kittens, we decided to move. It was abrupt, and Ciera never mentioned she wasn’t ready or wasn’t able. Looking back, perhaps we shouldnt have. She didnt seem fully matured enough to live on her own, but she was improving, and I had faith. Apartment life was great....amazing leasing agents, beautiful pools, jacuzzis, fitness center, clubhouse, the whole community....until it wasn’t great anymore. My roommates became unraveled. They were very immature for being 30 years old, and things got bad. I said things on social media they didn’t like, and it became a threat for them to move out or they would take things to the authorities/my job. Looking back, this was utter bullshit. Empty threats for my endless anxiety. They moved out around August. Things with Ciera had been bad. We had fights, bad ones, she did things that were unforgivable, but I continued to forgive her because I loved her and would’ve done anything to get us back on track. We went through a lot of stress to find new roommates. By the Grace of God, my cousin and her 4 year old got approved to live with us! It was going to be the ABSOLUTE BEST. We were all gonna be best friends, my cousins would be over, Ciera’s sisters would be over, it would be so fun!| I asked Ciera, when she said she had plans, to PLEASE not have plans on the day we had to move our stuff into the new room. She was okay with that. We had to clean the house before the girls moved in. This was the final turnpoint. She wasn’t home all day. Veronica came over and did everything me and Ciera were supposed to do. Ciera lied. She was at some girl’s apartment all day. Mind you, Ciera had been getting home from work past 1 AM when the parks were NOT in peak. She wouldn’t answer when I would call. That terrified me. I thought she wasn’t safe. But, she just lied. She was cheating. We weren’t together since March, when she left me at home on our 3 year anniversary, but we had every intention of making it work. Until this. She changed overnight. Completely abandoned me as if I was nothing. She turned stonewall. No expression. I cried and begged and needed answers. I confronted her that night; me and Veronica went out with Claire and Francesca. She admitted it. We knew the exact name of the apartments. She was caught. From there it got worse and worse. She became shadier. She was lying and not being herself. She was completely changed by this new person she was seeing, and by her new group of “friends”. Not good influences. The next few months were torture. I was at my lowest low. Absolutely heartbroken. It wasn’t be anymore. I was completely blindsided. Her words were awful, and she accused me of domestic abuse. While on vacation with Claire, she threatened me with a restraining order. I rather encouraged her to do that because you can't use a restraining order to get out of a lease. She knew she had no evidence, because I’m not an abuser, so she never went through with it. She broke me to the most I could've been broken. But I was seeing someone new, and she instilled in me a newfound confidence I’m not sure I had. For once, I started to see myself as beautiful, and I felt so capable. More than I’ve ever been. I could feel myself making a 360. I felt good. I had someone to share new things with, share the holidays with, learn alongside. We were okay not labeling us. She understood and respected I wasn't ready for a relationship. I had to repair myself before I could think about being in a committed relationship with someone else. We started creating new memories, and creating future plans. The other night, as I was drunk out of my mind and vomiting over a toilet, she broke it off with me. She thought she was fine sharing me, if i dated anyone else (i wasn’t), but she wasn't. Her feelings were too strong. I think she may have felt used. I don’t know. I kept falling asleep over the toilet and she moved me to the couch. She was gonna leave, but it was 430 in the morning and I didn’t want her to go. I couldn't say or do anything except for physically hold on to not let her go. At least until the morning. She woke me up at 730 so I could drive her back to her car in Simba. She was drunk at Trader Sams the night before, and I didnt want her driving back or sleeping in her car, so I got her a Lyft back to Sabrina’s. On the car ride there, I could tell she wanted me to fight for her. But nothing I said could change her mind. I am not ready for a relationship with anyone. I had been going back and forth over it, if I was ready, and I wasn’t. I need to heal. I thought we were enjoying each other’s presences. I didn’t know she would blindside me with that and leave like nothing. So, she's gone. I’m here repairing myself yet AGAIN from losing someone who had become one of my best friends. It’s weird going from constantly talking to her, to not talking to her at all. Sabrina said Kat saw my finsta, too. But after everything. Who knows what she saw on there? The thought makes me want to throw up. If i wanted her to see, I would've let her follow it. I’m almost back to square one. I’m alone, left to figure out why people keep leaving when I’m close to them. The holidays are hard alone when you're used to being with someone. I know I’m strong, and I know I will never need someone to complete me. I need to get back to the me who knows I can enjoy doing things on me own. I’ve never needed another human. I’ve always been fine on my own. Before Ciera, it’s what I preferred. I need to get back to me.

0 notes

gadgetgirl71 · 3 years

Photo

Amazon First Reads April 2021

As you all know I always look forward to see what Amazon First Reads has in store for us. This is the first month in a while that they haven’t included children’s picture book in the line up but they have added a young adult book instead.

This months choices are:

Domestic Suspense

The Aftermath by Gail Schimmel, Pages: 349, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: Three women: a mother, a daughter, a friend. Can they save each other from the past?

It’s been twenty-six years since the accident, but Helen still lives on autopilot, going through the motions of work and motherhood. Her one wish is for her daughter Julia to settle down with her own family—so Helen can let go.

Julia has dealt with her mother’s emotional distance by looking for love in all the wrong places. But when her latest choice drives away her best friend, Claire, Julia realises she’s on her own.

Impossibly perfect Claire is so busy caring for everyone—even her cheating ex-husband—that she’s forgotten to look after herself. Reeling from Julia’s betrayal, she doesn’t know who to trust.

As their lives unravel, these three women reconnect in unexpected ways. But with a devastating secret still hanging over them, will they ever be able to leave the past behind?

Revised edition: Previously published as The Accident, this edition of The Aftermath includes editorial revisions.

Contemporary Fiction

An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart, Pages: 373, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: An endearing novel of friendship, forgiveness, and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart.

It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Suspense

The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda, Pages: 306, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: There is no limit to the lies, suspicion, and secrets that can poison the perfect marriage in this twisting novel of suspense by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.

Kate Nelson had it all. A flourishing company founded with her husband, John; a happy marriage; and a daughter, Ashlyn. The picture-perfect family. Until John left for another woman. Tish is half his age. Ambitious. She’s cultivated a friendship with Ashlyn. Tish believes she’s won.

She’s wrong. Tish Nelson has it all. Youth, influence, a life of luxury, and a new husband. But the truth is, there’s a lot of baggage. Namely, his first wife—and suspicions of his infidelity. After all, that’s how she got John. Maybe it’s time for a romantic getaway, far from his vindictive ex. If Kate plans on getting John back, Tish is one step ahead of her.

She thinks. But what happens next is something neither Kate nor Tish saw coming. As best-laid plans come undone, there’s no telling what a woman will do in the name of love—and revenge.

Historical Fiction

Tears of Amber by Sofia Segovia, Pages: 487, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Murmur of Bees comes a transportive novel of two families uprooted by war and united by the bonds of love and courage.

With war looming dangerously close, Ilse’s school days soon turn to lessons of survival. In the harshness of winter, her family must join the largest exodus in human history to survive. As battle lines are drawn and East Prussia’s borders vanish beneath them, they leave their farm and all they know behind for an uncertain future.

But Ilse also has Janusz, her family’s young Polish labourer, by her side. As they flee from the Soviet army, his enchanting folktales keep her mind off the cold, the hunger, and the horrors unfolding around them. He tells her of a besieged kingdom in the Baltic Sea from which spill the amber tears of a heartbroken queen.

Neither of them realizes his stories will prove crucial and prophetic.

Not far away, trying and failing to flee from a vengeful army, Arno and his mother hide in the ruins of a Königsberg mansion, hoping that once the war ends they can reunite their dispersed family. But their stay in the walled city proves untenable when they find themselves dodging bombs and scavenging in the rubble. Soon they’ll become pawns caught between two powerful enemies, on a journey with an unknown destination.

Hope carries these children caught in the crosshairs of war on an extraordinary pilgrimage in which the gift of an amber teardrop is at once a valuable form of currency and a symbol of resilience, one that draws them together against insurmountable odds.

Domestic Suspense

The Watcher Girl by Minka Kent, Pages: 236, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A woman’s suspicions about her ex-boyfriend become a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of psychological suspense by Washington Post and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Minka Kent.

Eight years ago, Grace McMullen broke Sutton Whitlock’s heart when she walked away. But it was only to save him from the baggage of her own troubled past. Now all she wants is to make sure he’s okay.

Only everything she learns about him online says otherwise. According to his social media accounts, he placed roots in her hometown, married a look-alike, and even named his daughter Grace. He clearly hasn’t moved on. In fact, it’s creepy. So Grace does what any concerned ex-girlfriend would do: she moves home…and watches him.

But when Grace crosses paths with Sutton’s wife, Campbell, an unexpected friendship develops. Campbell has no idea whom she’s inviting into her life. As the women grow closer, it becomes clear to Grace that Sutton is not the sentimental man she once knew. He seems controlling, unstable, and threatening. And what a broken man like Sutton is capable of, Grace can only imagine. It’s up to her to save Campbell and her baby now—but while she’s been watching them, who’s been watching her?

Book Club Fiction

Take What You Can Carry by Gian Sardar, Pages: 333, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: An aspiring photographer follows her dreams and faces her fears in a poignant novel about finding beauty, promise, and love amid the chaos of war-torn Kurdistan.

It’s 1979. Olivia Murray, a secretary at a Los Angeles newspaper, is determined to become a photojournalist and make a difference with her work. When opportunity arrives, she seizes it, accompanying her Kurdish boyfriend, Delan, to northern Iraq for a family wedding, hoping to capture an image that lands her a job in the photo department. More important, though, the trip is a chance to understand Delan’s childhood and bridge the differences of their pasts. Yet when the return home proves less safe than Delan believed, Olivia is confronted with a reality she had not expected, and is awakened to the dangers of a town patrolled by Iraqi military under curfew and constant threat.

But in this world torn apart by war, there are intoxicating sights and scents, Delan’s loving family, innocence not yet compromised, and small acts of kindness that flourish unexpectedly. All of it will be tested when Olivia captures a shattering, tragic moment on film, one that upends all their lives and proves that true bravery begins with an open heart.

Humorous Fiction

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin, Pages: 301, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A road trip can drive anyone over the edge—especially two former best friends—in bestselling author Ann Garvin’s funny and poignant novel about broken bonds, messy histories, and the power of forgiveness.

Widowed Samantha Arias hasn’t spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It’s for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies.

It’s simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband’s VW camper, find Katie’s diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah rescue, and drive him back home to Wisconsin. If it’ll make Katie happy, no favor is too big (one hundred pounds), too daunting (two thousand miles), or too illegal (ish), even when a boho D-list celebrity hitches a ride and drives the road trip in fresh directions.

Samantha and Holly are following every new turn—toward second chances, unexpected romance, and self-discovery—and finally blowing the dust off the secret that broke their friendship. On the open road, they’ll try to put it back together—for themselves, and especially for the love of Katie.

Young Adult

Only The Pretty Lies by Rebekah Crane, Pages: 272, Publication Date: 1 May 2021

Synopsis: A young love story about breaking painful legacies by the author of The Upside of Falling Down.

Convention doesn’t carry much weight in Alder Creek. It doesn’t in Amoris Westmore’s family either. Daughter of a massage therapist and a pothead artist, inheritor of her grandmother’s vinyl collection, and blissfully entering her senior year in high school, Amoris never wants to leave her progressive hometown. Why should she?

Everything changes when Jamison Rush moves in next door. Jamison was Amoris’s first crush, and their last goodbye still stings. But Jamison stirs more than bittersweet memories. One of the few Black students in Alder Creek, Jamison sees Amoris’s idyllic town through different eyes. He encourages Amoris to look a little closer, too. When Jamison discovers a racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris’s worldview is turned upside down.

Now Amoris must decide where she stands and whom she stands by, threatening her love for the boy who stole her heart years ago. Maybe Alder Creek isn’t the town Amoris thinks it is. She’s certainly no longer the girl she used to be.

*** Which book will you choose? If you come back on 5 April 2021 I’ll let you know which book I chose.. ***

#Amazon #amazonkindle #amazonfirstreads #amazon prime members #bookclubfiction #contemporary fiction #domestic suspense #HistoricalFiction #humorouseFiction #Kindle #Kindlebooks #suspense #youngadult

0 notes