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bi-outta-cordonia · 4 years

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Top 10s

The year is coming to a close and despite this being my first foray into PB fandom for the year, some interesting shit has happened in these books and 2019 was full of all sorts of fun stories. I want to cap off Choices this year by naming my top ten favorite moments in all the books released in 2019.

Tagging all my favorite unfriendly Black hotties: @questionablespecies @imogen-wescott @beyonceswigs @annelyseadair @cassiopeiacorvus @massivelysilentchaos @nikkisha16 @boujeechoices @raleigh-carrera @mand-delemonde

10) BB MC training with Jax: I like. Many things. Many things involve swords. Jax training BB MC in fight skills was awesome as a scene, especially since it came with the moment of him reestablishing his connection with his blade and the two of them touching foreheads as they come to terms with her death. But nothing--nothing--is gonna top the moment where the two of them literally fight each other. They train and they train hard as hell. “What’s this position called?” “It’s called ‘you better not break my defense because I’ll kick your ass’.” And then she cuts part of his shirt. He looks up, they start back with the training, and he slices part of her dress. They keep going until eventually there are no more clothes and they are now on the ground, making out. The exact opposite of training, but I can’t hear over the receptors in my brain that sound off for couple training scenes.

9) “Oh, you like that”: Listen. NB was trash. There’s no denying that. But that first moment when you finally get to dive into Cal, make out with him, when ol girl takes off both of their clothes for the most intense face sucking she’s ever experienced in life? And then he dips his head or bites her neck or whatever the fuck he does--I don’t even remember. Because what I do remember--very vividly--is damn near throwing my phone across the room when he says “Oh, you like that...” I read it in his drawl, felt that shit in my soul, and it will never not make me so incredibly disappointed that we will never get to see him really go buck wild with MC because it was there.

8) Landry bailing if you don’t talk to him: It happened with Vanessa, happened with Becca, happened with Olivia, happened with Sebastian--sometimes. I don’t want to make friends with folks who come at me sideways when it doesn’t immediately benefit them. Landry being a little coward was something all the intelligent folks saw coming but you could see inklings of the narrative trying to set him up for redemption at the eleventh hour. Except. I didn’t want that. A majority of folks did not want that it seems. And PB listened for once and didn’t force us to have to interact with him during the last leg of the first book. If you talk to everyone in the friend group before you get to him, he bails and is not seen or heard from. Good.

7) MOTY MC making bank off her deadbeat ex husband: MOTY was also another unexpected favorite to come out of 2019 and told the story of a single mother trying to raise her baby right. Guy was and is easily the worst antagonist to ever show up in these books because he is so disgustingly real. Emotionally abusive, manipulative, narcissistic, and cruel--he did everything in his power to exert power over MC. He wanted the kid, not because he wanted to be her father but because he wanted to use her to help boost him, and going through the whole book making sure to pick options that would best demonstrate that MC was providing exactly what the baby needs, only for the judge to say that not only is she not awarding custody to Guy but he also has to pay child support, pro- and retroactively?? When sis opened that bank account and saw tens of thousands sitting in her savings?? I almost cried.

6) ILB MC rising from certain death and avenging her parents: Okay so this might be cheating a little because ILB came out in 2018, but I also said this was a top ten list of shit that happened in 2019, and seeing this bitch break out of a coffin, swim up, and straight murder the man that took her parents from her was insanity. Richard really thought he had her on the ropes, huh? He thought she wasn’t gonna be able to break out and kick his ass? And when she told him that, as far as the entire town was concerned, he was already dead and they were just waiting for his body to wash up? Ooh, she wasn’t stuck on the boat with him--he was trapped on the lake with her.

5) Logan was a forced LI for a good reason??: Girls, Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance was an unexpected fave this year but out of all the moments to choose from that absolutely floored me, the fact that Logan was so heavily pushed was because Kaneko asked him to gain your trust so that the crew could use you? That shit hurt so much and had me screaming the entire time I was tapping through the revelation scenes. I mean, we’ve had LIs betray MCs a ton of times but I still could not believe that Logan had so thoroughly did what he did and when they showed you the flashbacks of the very subtle ways he was trying to weed information from MC? In the early stages?? Man.....this is why my MC went with Colt--kidding kidding. She is with Colt but I love Logan deeply solely because of this.

4) BB MC dying: okay NB tried to do something groundbreaking but like it got completely overshadowed by BB MC getting fucking stabbed through her chest because typically your MC will walk away okay from most scenarios but this bitch actually didn’t. Couple that with the fact that I’m romancing Jax so the thing that killed her was his sword, something that has been revealed as being a precious thing and something he’s cherished for a long time as a tool to help him protect the ones he loves? It hit me right in the a ng s t. She pops back up a vampire in the third book, a reveal which comes to us at the end of the second but oh man watching Jax cradle her dying body, knowing he was never going to forgive himself for this happening? It was delicious.

3) ACOR MC turning the crowd on Caesar: okay, stabbing Caesar was fantastic, no one is denying that, but I honestly thought the most impactful and most fucking insane moment of ACOR is when MC made the first attempt, got caught, and was able to stir the crowd during the final leg of her trial to the point that she started a literal riot in Rome. The flavor, the power--can you imagine being Julius Caesar and watching a ho string your folks along and convince them that she couldn’t possibly have been guilty of a crime because her pussy is too good for that? Who is gonna win this fight--a certified conqueror of several realms or one bitch with the world’s most fantabulous coochie? The answer may surprise you...

2) TRR MC is pregnant: we got stuck in yeehaw hell for seven weeks...seven weeks of having to act like Bertrand and Savannah were even that important according to the narrative when MC is a whole ass duchess trying to start her family....all the months of seeing Liam talk so enthusiastically about wanting a family with MC, wanting to be a father, and wanting to build a life with her, after all the bullshit they went through and the hurdles they had to jump in order to even get to the point where they could be happily married? And then she called him out to the field and told him that they were having a baby? I cried. I cried so hard.

1) ACOR MC stabbing Cassius in the fucking back: I loved ACOR so much. So much of the political machinations, the scheming, the dancing around language while trying to manipulate powerful patrons into doing your bidding--I had Antony wrapped around one finger and Cassius on the other--string them both along while trying to achieve my own goals but maaaaaaan....Betraying Cassius at the last second in order to protect yourself from reprimand so you can make a clean getaway from Rome was the peak. The epitome of ACOR MC in a nutshell. I fucking loved how absolutely unhinged and manipulative that bitch could be. She literally sat up there and told him all the things he wanted to hear, acted like she cared about who he wanted for Rome, in some cases straight up lied to him about how much she loved him, and then during the moment that mattered most--when they both stabbed Caesar and thrust Rome into chaos--she shed the visage of the beautiful woman he had so deeply fallen in love with and unveiled the poisonous snake she had always been. She used him. He truly and honestly didn’t see it coming until he peeked outside and happened to spy her standing firm at Antony’s side. And the narrative let me do that with the utmost glee.

And that’s it. Go forth. Make your own list. Criticize mine, idc.

#playchoices #choices

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mi6-cafe · 5 years

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The second week of writing for LDWS participants has come to a close. Now it’s time for the next bit of the competition: reading and voting!

prompt: “just one shot” Word count: 200 Challenge: use only seven paragraphs

Voters–after you read, check out this form to vote for your top three drabbles! You can also leave anonymous feedback for the writers!

Who can vote? Anyone who’s read the drabbles! Yes, that includes YOU!

Writers–you may also vote, but we do ask that you vote for three drabbles other than your own.

The voting period ends at 11:59 PM EST on Sunday night. Results will be posted and anonymous feedback will be emailed on Monday.

Remember, readers–it’s up to YOU to decide who will wind up on top at the end of the competition!

Drabbles are under the read-more:

Title: Easy Shot

Author: kiddohno

Warnings: Drinking/Alcohol

Summary: James watches over a drunk Q.

It had been a slippery slope.

Q had agreed to just one shot. One, he’d said, and that’s it. James had waved the bartender over, ordered something sweet that would go down easy. So easy, that Q had acquiesced to a second, third, fourth… While James had nursed a single martini, quickly sensing that one of them would have to keep their wits.

James then watched, amused, as Q had gone from drinking to dancing. Energetically and enthusiastically making his way around the club, movements somehow both wild and graceful. While he drew plenty of attention, he politely declined any approach, allowing only brief conversations that James couldn’t hear over the loud beat of the music.

When Q eventually made his way back to the bar to order another shot, he was also determined to get the agent to dance with him.

“You’re drunk,” James had observed while Q threw back the shot.

“Hmm,” Q’d agreed as he plucked the stick of olives from James’ martini. In one deft movement he’d brought them to his mouth and pulled them off, eyes on James. “Absolutely.”

James finished the martini in one go, and let himself be led out onto the floor.

Title: Consequences Author: IrishWitch58 Warnings: canon typical violence Summary: Q is injured and Bond responds in kind

Just one shot started this, leaving Q lying in a hospital bed with machines and monitors. Surgery had stabilized him but now the doctors were just waiting for his own body to catch up and start healing the damage.

Bond was not waiting. He touched one pale hand briefly, and turned on his heel, leaving the hospital room to the sigh and beep of the machines.

Q's second was competent, professional and as angry at the attack as Bond was. R had used facial recognition software to follow the gunman. “We think he's gone to ground. He hasn't left the country.” She handed over a file with pictures. “This is what we know about him.”

The file and an unregistered weapon rested in the passenger seat. Bond eyed the closed petrol station sure his target was inside. Bond could wait now, the patient repose of a predator.

There was a stir at the back door. A figure in a black cap and denim jacket stepped out, glancing around nervously.

Bond raised the pistol and called the name on the file. A startled face turned, eyes wide. A hand made a futile grab for a weapon.

Just one shot ended it.

Title: Realization Author: sunaddicted Rating: T Warnings: canon violence Summary: one moment - that's all it takes

Q could barely believe how a moment had so suddenly changed his priorities: as he watched 007 fall, blood blooming worryingly bright against the white of his shirt, he couldn't help wondering about why he had rejected James again and again - afraid of something happening to him and being left alone.

It hadn't changed the fact that Q loved him - it had only been a waste of time.

Q dropped to his knees and unceremoniously dragged 007 behind a corner, his heartbeat barely slowing down when he felt the other's chest rise and fall under his fingers as he grabbed his Walter; he could have easily hacked it, if he had had at least his mobile on hand - as critical as the situation was, though, Q put the gun in James' hand "Can you shoot propped up against me?"

"It's n-not... ideal"

Q forced himself to ignore the blood that coated James' lips "I asked you if you can do it - not if it's ideal"

"Bossy" James coughed up a chuckle as Q moved him around "Anything you need, my dear Quartermaster"

"Just one shot" Q reassured, entwining their fingers together around the grip of the gun, ready to shoot.

Title: Qustom Made

Author: Venstar

Warnings: None

Summary: a leap of faith.

He was standing on a precipice, the world seemed to disappear below him. Bond glanced up at the night sky, the stars winked at him through the passing storm clouds. Water dripped from his face and bespoke suit as he calmly considered his options.

A voice, soft, posh and very threatening crackled to life in his ear. “Tick, tock, Mr. Bond. Tick tock. Time waits for no man.”

A wry smile pulled at Bond’s lips and thought back to the trio of movies Q had forced him to watch months ago when he had discovered Bond hadn’t understood what my precious meant during one of their lazy lie-ins. “I am no man.”

The voice laughed in response. It was broken up by static. “Very clever, now move your arse. You’ve got just one shot at this. Make it count.”

Bond considered the height that he was about to drop from. “Just like threading a needle, Q.” He adjusted his stance and bent his knees.

A snort came over the line. “Do you sew Mr. Bond?”

“All my suits are Qustom made,” Bond said as he leaped. A delicate, black parachute unfolded from his jacket with the tug of a cufflink.

Title: Shots Author: ato Warnings: none Summary: Q receives an unexpected invitation...

“C’mon, Q. Just one shot.”

Q’s surprised Bond would forego his usual elegant cocktails. After a moment’s hesitation, he nods and claims the last open barstool in the noisy pub. With a smirk, Bond holds two fingers up to the barkeep, quirking an eyebrow at Q, who points to the scotch on the top shelf. It turns out to be very good, and they don’t stop at one.

Hours later, lying on his stomach with the sheets pooled around his waist, completely shagged out and grinning, Q notices James fiddling with his phone.

“Oh, no. No photographic evidence of this encounter. You’re smug enough.”

“Just one shot,” James insists, leaning over Q and kissing his neck. “Just here... the nape of your neck and this curl I keep playing with and this mole. No one else will know it’s you. For when I’m on mission.”

Q buries his face in the pillow, and the shutter clicks.

Days later, a worried Q listens on as James gets himself cornered and reduced to one bullet. Still, James insists he has everything he needs. Just one shot. He’s soon home with an empty clip, a mischievous grin, and a bottle of foreign scotch.

Title: Take the shot Author: Susspencer Warnings: Gun violence, Summary: Daily in the lives of Mi6 members everything can be different if things just go a different way. Whether it’s a double 0 or someone from Q branch or even Moneypenny, life sometimes only gives you just one shot. Will you take the shot or will you miss it?

“James, you have just one shot.” 007 swore this was the only instruction that he was ever given. His license to kill appeared limited.

“Take the shot!” M yelled, as Moneypenny peered through the scope. Two men stood fighting. She took just one shot and watched a man fall from the train.

James had had enough of nursing his wound. He took this one shot, that M would trust him enough to return to the game.

Q's com was open, as he heard 007 fire. He watched as James’ shot went askew. Q adjusted the trajectory with the click of a few computer buttons. Just one shot, with Q's help, became fatal.

After a tetanus shot at medical, with a watchful eye of a concerned friend, it was off for the weekend. The life of a 00.

Friday night at the pub, meant 00’s and shots. They taunted him. “Come on, just one shot.” Q had warm fuzzy feeling and then sleep.

The next morning Q found himself in James’ bed. Q recalled how he arrived in this position. Q smiled. “It took just one shot to get here, but several others to point the way,” as he kissed James.

Title: Biology and the Perils of Efficiency

Author: Gwylliondream

Warning: None

Summary: Bond is the oldest agent on the MI6 payroll.

Sweaty and panting, but far from sated, Bond lay facedown on the duvet. Every muscle in his back tensed beneath Q’s fingertips.

Outside, the rain fell. The power had failed an hour earlier, but Q’s flat glowed with the help of some candles. When Bond escorted the Quartermaster home from the floodlit halls of MI6, he hadn’t expected an invitation inside.

Q grabbed two handfuls of firm arse. He took care to massage them deeply before lowering his mouth to the small of Bond’s back.

Bond gasped and shuddered, too breathless to demand that Q get on with it.

Moving toward his prize, Q felt the fluttering beneath his tongue. He maintained his demeanor, no matter how badly he wanted to grin. He drew back and blew a gust of hot breath across Bond’s arsehole. The candles flickered, sending shadows across the walls.

Bond’s toes clenched as he found his voice. “Don’t stop, for fuck’s sake!” he pleaded for Q to continue.

Q smiled and rested his hand on one arse cheek. Biology dictated that a man of Bond’s age had just one shot. Q was determined to make it worth his while… even if it took him all night.

Title: Down

Author: Iambid/Flantastic

Warnings: None

Summary: When things go wrong, Q will always find him

The pub was a dive. Not James’s usual style. Q found him propped up against the bar, his bruised and bloody hands wrapped around a tumbler of whiskey. James hadn’t been able to stop the man he’d been tracking and his device had killed so many people. He’d disappeared but he was no match for Q. James drunkenly raised an eyebrow when he saw him.

“Smartblood, remember?” Q said as he tapped the injection point on James's arm.

“Smart boy.” James countered, smiling. His face fell. “You shouldn’t come looking for me.”

“You shouldn’t crawl into the bottom of a bottle whenever a mission goes wrong.”

“What else is there?” James asked. “I don't have anything else,” he said, as Q leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You have me.”

James shook his head sadly and for a moment Q thought he might try to push him away. He had before and it hurt Q to think he couldn’t always make things better for his agent. James sniffed and suddenly threw back his drink before beckoning over the barman.

“Just one more shot.” Q said gently, running his fingers over James’s sleeve. “And then come home with me.” James nodded.

Title: It's a Date Author: solarmorrigan Summary: Q gives Bond some incentive to make it home in one piece Warnings: None

“You should go to dinner with me,” Bond said, “when I get back.”

“And you should focus on the matter at hand, 007. Try to be professional,” Q chided, more amused than anything; it wasn’t as though he wouldn’t say yes eventually, but he liked to make Bond wait for it.

A few shots rang out over the comm, corresponding to the guards Q could see drop down on the security feed he had running onscreen. “I am focused,” Bond insisted. “I’m capable of multitasking, you know.”

There was a sharp reply ready on Q’s tongue, but it was lost when a flurry of activity occurred onscreen; an unexpected group of guards, an alarming amount of gunfire, and a heart-pounding few moments of silence while Q searched the security feed for Bond.

“007, report.”

“Uninjured. Penned in,” Bond’s voice came through, quiet but steady; there was a brief pause. “Low on ammunition. I have one bullet.”

Q was already typing, looking for a way, any way, to get Bond out. “Well, you’d better make it back. It’s my understanding that I should have dinner with you,” Q murmured, still searching. “I’ll give you just one shot, 007. Don’t waste it.”

#10

Title: A Quick Pick-Me-Up Author: azure7539arts Warnings: None Summary: Bond was trying so hard to stay sober for this. He really was.

“Just one shot?”

Bond said nothing and finished the rest of his Scotch, which, no matter how much he didn’t want to agree with her right then, really didn’t feel anywhere near enough at all. “I still have a mission to monitor, thanks,” he replied, and even without looking, he could still feel the sharp edge of Eve’s sly smile brushing right up against the edges of his senses.

“R can always take over, you know,” Eve offered, bridging the short gap between them to come lean against the table Bond was also occupying. “Speaking of which… how’s our boy doing?”

“Spectacular,” Bond mumbled before he could stop himself, the indignant hints like budding thorns under the gruff of his voice.

Eve’s grin had become positively shark-like. “Admit it, this isn’t about something as petty as you being jealous because Q’s getting all the attention. You’re actually jealous because he’s out seducing someone else and is doing a fine job at it, too.”

Bond’s eyes flitted over to where the remaining bottle of Scotch was.

Distantly, he contemplated just downing the whole thing, firmly ignoring the heat that had begun spreading all over his back just from listening to her.

#11

Title: Formidable Author: solitaryjane Warnings: none Summary: Bond and Q go rogue together, and the first act is to assassinate M.

This is it, Bond knows. There is no turning back.

He adjusts the sniper rifle and looks once more through the scope. The action is redundant and a bit obsessive, not exactly something 007 is particularly known for. It’s fitting, however, in lieu of his new persona, one that has crept into his subconscious without a by-your-leave. MI6 has betrayed him, betrayed them both, and they’re simply not willing to play anymore.

On the other side of the scope sits Mallory in his fortified office. The window is triple-reinforced, but Bond knows the bullet will penetrate it like spun sugar - Q invented it after all. He will have three minutes to get to the car, fourteen to avoid all the roadblocks. Once he gets outside London proper, where Q is patiently waiting, they’ll be free.

His earpiece crackles. “Now or never, James,” the familiar voice prods, and Bond smirks. He can almost see the green eyes through the camera perched above. Won’t be long, darling, he thinks, and the smile grows wider. It won't.

Bond doesn't look away this time. His hand is steady on the trigger, the aim perfect. His heart leaps at his throat.

Just one shot.

Go.

#12

Title: Never A Good Sign

Author: melynen

Warnings: none

Summary: After a night out, Bond and Q have a little talk.

“‘Just one shot’, you said,” Q glares at Bond. “‘It won’t have any effect on you’, my arse.”

“That one didn’t, no,” Bond says mildly. “It was the subsequent six that did, I believe.”

Q huffs through his nose and looks at the man standing in the middle of his office. It’s unfair, really, how he never seems to suffer from any ill effects from all the drinking Q sees him do. Even now, barely five hours after having escorted his sloshed Quartermaster safely home and setting out water and painkillers at the ready on his bedside table, Bond hardly looks affected by the early hour.

But then, Q brightens considerably. “Vomiting all over your lap was the highlight of my evening, though.”

“I’m sure,” Bond says, and he sounds amused. He pauses and his eyes twinkle; it’s never a good sign. “You did quite thoroughly wreck my suit, darling. I fear it may be a lost cause, so I may require some form of… compensation from you.”

Q blinks, eyes tracking Bond’s movements. “Really, 007?”

Bond steps into his personal space, lips brushing against his ear, and Q shivers. “Oh yes. We shall revisit the topic once I return.”

Thank you to our amazing drabble writers for taking the shot this week!

To our amazing readers, you can help this competition by going here to vote on your top three drabbles. You may also leave anonymous feedback for one or more drabbles.

Let’s vote!

#00qldws #ldws #00Q

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