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604to647 · 30 days

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Mi Galleta (Part 2 - White Chocolate Macadamia)

7.5K / Modern AU Grumpy Bouncer!Pero Tovar x Sunshine-Rich Girl!reader

Summary: Pero helps you out with a sticky situation at the restaurant and you get to know him better.

Warnings: 18+ Content (MDNI please), very minor angst, unwanted physical touching (not from Pero), petnames (Cookie, baby, princesa, etc.), kissing, oral (f receiving), unprotected PiV (discussed), cum eating, reader can wear Pero's jacket and it's long on her, Biker!Pero comes with his own warning.

A/N: I don't know anything about bikes! (Also does anyone have any non-dark biker romance book recs?) Series Masterlist

Pero doesn’t call. Or text. Not that night. Or over the weekend. By the time the work week rolls around, you make a vow to yourself that you won’t go to visit him during the day unless he does, and consequently you don’t go at all.

Feeling a little hurt, you wonder if maybe you made a bit too much out of what you thought was mutual flirtation. It was his job, after all, to make it hard to gain access to the restaurant; perhaps he thought that your time together and all your efforts with the cookies and lunches were just a means to an end, and that once you were successful, desire on either of your parts to interact should cease. That thought makes you even sadder; even though you were trying to find a way upstairs, your daily meet ups with Pero had become more - you had liked him. He was gruff for sure, but you had enjoyed getting to know him and the discovery that he seemed to be softer than he appeared. You had thought he enjoyed getting to know you as well.

“I’m sorry he didn’t call, babe,” Dorothy laments, giving you a big hug.

“It’s okay,” you pout, crushed, “…maybe I read too much into it.”

“You’re always so sweet, giving people the benefit of the doubt,” says Eloise, “He really ought to have messaged.”

“Do you think… you would be up for going to Lin? To eat and drink, I mean,” Dorothy asks, sheepishly.

“Dorothy!!” exclaims Eloise, “We agreed not to-”

“Not to what?” you ask, curious.

The two women look at each other; Eloise looking exasperated and Dorothy trying to look innocent. “Okay, out with it,” you grin.

“So… you know how my friends from college are coming in from out of town this weekend? I thought… it might be nice to take them to Lin! It’s this super hot restaurant, still so exclusive, and the food was soooo good last week! We all loved it! And they have that extended cocktails list we said we wanted to try, remember? I feel like it would be such a perfect place to take them!” Dorothy finishes in a hurry.

“You’re right,” you say softly. You would have given Pero a similar rave review if you had had a chance, “They would love it. You should totally take them there.”

“The thing is…” Dorothy chews her lower lip, which is generally a sign that she knows she’s about to ask something completely unreasonable, “… we still don’t know how to get it. Just because we got in once, does that mean we automatically get in again? Regardless… our chances of getting in or even just finding out how to are probably better if… you’re there?”

Eloise shoots Dorothy a death glare.

“…but if you rather not see the bouncer guy… it’s totally okay,” Dorothy adds on quickly.

You sigh, but it’s not one of exasperation but of indulgence. You know if you refuse, the girls would truly let it go, never holding it against you. But… it’s also such a simple thing for you to do, you can’t really find it within yourself not to acquiesce. You’ve always been this way: not a people pleaser per say (it’s not in your nature to do anything that truly makes you uncomfortable or against your character), but genuinely happy to extend yourself for others. If you were to really analyze things, it’s probably that deep down you feel that with the advantages you’ve been afforded, your true grievances in life are little to none; the little things that may be troublesome to you are nothing compared to life’s real misfortunes that you’ve been lucky enough to have avoided. Why not help if you can, your grateful heart always asks.

And, it’s not like you have to see Pero for more than a minute or two.

“Ok, we can go,” you smile. The way Dorothy’s face breaks into an expression of pure joy confirms for you that you’re doing a good thing. Eloise is a little more cautious; she triple-checks with you later that you’re sure, and you reassure her that you really, truly are.

Pero recognizes Dorothy right away when she strides into the building lobby. She’s heading up a good-sized group, maybe seven or eight people, and he’s hoping that you’re among the crowd. As the rest of the party starts to file into the elevator bank, his heart leaps when he sees you bringing up the rear.

You make brief eye contact with Pero as you pass his desk; the look in your eyes unreadable, but he thinks they’re missing a brightness he’s used to. Pero wants to talk to you, ask you how you’ve been. Tell you it’s only been a week but he’s missed you. Apologize for not calling. But then he sees Paul’s hand on the small of your back, guiding you after the group. As he follows, he can’t take his eyes off the sway of your hips and the way this guy is touching you with such familiarity. Who is this guy, anyways? Is he your date? Your boyfriend?

Seething, he reaches in the elevator to swipe the fob and press the button to the restaurant floor, keeping eye contact with you as he wordlessly steps back out into the hall. You can’t look away from Pero either; you’re not sure if this is the scowl he normally wears to maintain his bouncer authority or if he’s genuinely displeased.

“Man, I’d love a mindless, easy job. Thanks, pal,” chirps Paul.

You nearly snap your neck turning your head so quickly, unbelieving of Dorothy’s old classmate’s rudeness. It seems that everyone but Paul takes notice of your horrified expression; you turn to face Pero again, hopefully conveying an apologetic look as the elevator doors close.

---

Pero decides he’s done for the evening. He calls in someone to cover the rest of his shift and goes upstairs to clock out. He saw via the computer that you and your friends have been seated in a private room, and he’s sure that you’re in for a fun night of cocktails and good food, maybe even some dancing – he’s not in the mood to see you come downstairs after a night a reverie with that smarmy guy hanging all over you. Who the hell was that asshole?

Getting his backpack, Pero exchanges his suit jacket for a motorcycle jacket before going by the kitchens to say goodnight to the kitchen and wait staff. That’s when he spots you. You’ve tucked yourself against the wall at the very end of the kitchen serving window where the overhang of the counter creates a little nook you’re sinking into. Pero watches you play on your phone, periodically looking up and scanning the hallway that leads back to the dining room, and that’s when he realizes you’re hiding here. He can’t think of anything down this way for restaurant goers: there are no patron washrooms, and you don’t appear to be in need of any assistance – there are plenty of staff coming and going but you haven’t made any movement to flag anyone down for help.

Pero takes a moment to admire how beautiful you look tonight; maybe even prettier than he remembers. Despite not knowing where the two of you stand, he doesn’t think he can pass up this opportunity to speak to you; and although he’s finding your somewhat squirrely behaviour to be adorable, he tells himself that it’s his gentlemanly duty to make sure you’re okay. Never mind that the dress you’re wearing is doing wonders for your curves, and absolutely nothing for his self control.

“How come you’re hiding by the kitchen?”

Surprised by Pero’s sudden appearance, you answer a little bit haughtier than you intend, “I’m not hiding!”

“You are!” He can’t help but be playful with you, “Why else would you be tucked away down this-” Pero cuts himself off; he’s just noticed that you’re fidgeting with the hemline of your dress, and not just tugging it down, but wrapping your fingers around a large piece of torn fabric, “How did your dress get ripped?”

You look up at him, eyes wide; you didn't realize it was that noticeable.

“Who did that, Cookie?” Pero’s voice is tight, barely masking his anger, but his eyes are soft, full of concern, “Are you okay?”

Suddenly you don’t care that he didn’t call - Pero’s here now and he looks like he’s about to kill someone for you; maybe that’s why you drop the hem of your dress and reach for him. When your hand connects with his chest, it feels so solid and comforting; your body automatically follows, wrapping your arms around his waist and laying your head against his chest. Though caught off guard by your actions, Pero instinctively takes you into his arms, pulling you in close; he brings his lips to your hair and rubs your back soothingly.

“What happened, Cookie?” he asks again when you pull away to look at him with your beautiful, shining eyes, “Who do I have to hurt?”

“Don’t hurt anyone, please. It’s not worth it,” you lay your head back on Pero’s chest.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

You nod, but you seem tired.

“There’s a little terrace where some of us go to take breaks, you want to talk there?” Pero offers. A quiet spot sounds lovely to you.

Pero keeps his arms encircled protectively around you as he guides you past the kitchens, through what looks like the staff locker room and lounge and onto an adjoining terrace, “No one will bother you here, Cookie. I promise.” You sigh comfortably as you take a seat on the patio seating; Pero takes the suit jacket he was wearing earlier out from his backpack and drapes it over your shoulders.

You smile at him gratefully, his presence alone relaxing you. Pero waits for you to tell him what happened; he doesn’t press or push, just sits across from you and holds your small hands in his.

Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, you feel finally comfortable enough to fill Pero in, “The group I’m with tonight, most of them are Dorothy’s friends from college. They’re fun and nice enough, but there’s this one guy that’s always been a bit handsy.”

Pero’s eyes darken as you continue, “Dorothy, Eloise and I call it ‘octopus hands’. Just always touching and trying to grab. Suckers for hands practically. He’s been like this every time we get together with that group, which thankfully is not very often. Anyways, I had had enough of having to dodge him, so I pushed him away… he grabbed onto my dress and it ripped. It was an accident.” You shrug, as if describing the actions of a petulant child.

“And you were hiding from him because you think he might try something? Get aggressive?” If he were an animal, you would definitely describe Pero’s hackles as being up.

You chuckle, “No, I told you I’m not hiding! I’m avoiding the room. It’s totally different.”

“Is that so?” smiles Pero.

“I’m trying to avoid the room because I don’t want to try to act like I’m not pissed. Pretend like things are cool, because that feels annoying to do and I probably won’t be able to do a very good job at it if I’m being honest. And then there would be a scene,” you say, making a face.

“You don’t think Dorothy will take your side?”

You wave off this concern, “Oh no, I’m not worried about that. She’s got my back. And I’ll definitely tell her about it, but I don’t think it’s the right time right now: in front of other people that are friends with Paul, and where everyone has been drinking. I’d rather not put myself or Dorothy in that position.”

Pero admires the care you’re showing for your friends; if you appeared more upset or avoidant of what had happened, he might gently push you to ignore their feelings and give yourself more consideration. As it is, you seem fairly in control of your feelings and the situation, so he doesn’t push.

“So, I was just waiting by the kitchens and thought I would go back in with our food when it was ready. That way I would have something to focus on… instead of punching him in the face,” you finish.

“I’d like to have seen that,” grins Pero, “Is this the same guy who was touching you in the elevator? The one who wanted an ‘easy job’?”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about that, Pero. That was so unbelievably offensive, I was ready to sock him then. Yeah, that’s Paul. I’m sorry,” you look pained at the memory of Paul’s rudeness.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, Cookie. Glad to know that’s not the kind of guy you go for.”

“Nope,” you scrunch you nose up good-naturedly, “I only go for guys who take my number but don’t ever text or call.”

“Oh princesa, I’m so sorry. I wanted to text, I really tried… I can’t find your number in my phone,” Pero looks down, embarrassed.

“What do you mean?”

Pero unlocks his phone and holds it out opened to the Contacts app, “I looked under your name, then I tried ‘Cookie’, then I just started looking for different cookies: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Ginger Molasses… I couldn’t find you.”

You take the phone from him and look at him dubiously but ultimately decide that he’s being sincere, “I put it under the cookie emoji.”

“The emoji? Where is it?” Pero really couldn’t look more confused.

Scrolling to the bottom of his contacts list, you show him it’s under ‘#’ and you when you pull it up, the top of the screen displays the silly selfie you took as the contact photo.

“Oh, Cookie… I feel so dumb. I’m sorry,” Pero looks so much like a dog that’s been scolded that you soften and forgive him immediately. “I should have just texted you right away when you gave it to me,” he types out a quick message and sends it with a whoosh.

When the notification comes in, you look down at your phone: I’m sorry. Forgive me, Cookie? :(

You laugh so hard. Who would have thought that the scary bouncer with the menacing scar over his eye could be so adorable. And sweet. And protective. And hot. Your body moves with a mind of its own; to answer his question, you close the space between the two of you and kiss him.

Pero doesn’t know how it’s possible, but your lips are sweeter than your cookies. He kisses you back softly at first, a gentle introduction of your mouths as he becomes increasingly familiar with the plush feel of your lips, the curve of your soft smile. When your mouth relaxes into a sigh, followed by an oh, he presses deeper, tongue seeking an invitation; as you open up for him, he pulls you closer and lets his tongue do the talking, saying all the words that he wasn’t able to this past week. Your hands wrap around his neck and thread through Pero’s hair as you let out a soft hum of contentment; Pero smiles at the sound and strokes your tongue with his a few more times before pulling off your lips, chasing after them with a couple of light pecks. Opening your eyes, you answer with a flutter of soft kisses to the corner of his upturned mouth before snuggling in under his jaw, “You’re forgiven.”

“Do you want to get out of here, princesa?”

You begin to nod but then stop yourself, “Oh, I would love to, Pero, but… I already ordered and I wouldn’t want that food to go to waste. Also, do you think I could just pay for it separate so I don’t stick the others with the bill? Still… it would be a waste. I hate food waste. Plus, I can’t just ghost Dorothy and Eloise… I have to at least say good bye…”

“What did you order?” Pero asks, simply.

“The Chilean sea bass. Oooh noooo… just thinking about it is making my mouth water. Ok, I’ll admit it, I don’t want to leave because I want to eat it so badly,” you joke.

“Will you let me take care of it, Cookie?” You nod even though you don’t know what he means to do.

“I’ll be 5-10 minutes, you can stay out here or in the lounge if you want. No need to hide by the kitchen.”

“I wasn’t hiding,” you smile as Pero bends down to kiss you lightly.

“Fine, you can avoid in here if you want. I’ll be back soon, hermosa,” and he leaves before you can ask about this new nickname that he’s added to the ever-growing roster.

When Pero is gone, you check your phone and see a few messages from the girls:

Where did you go?

Are you okay?

Was Paul being weird?

You type back a quick response: I’m fine! Yes, he was being a weirdo! But Pero found me, so…

A string of exclamation points and celebratory gif responses come in in quick succession. You’re giggling and typing out responses as fast as you can when Pero returns with a heavy paper bag in his hand, “It’s all taken care of, princesa.”

You peek in the bag while Pero puts on his backpack, “I didn’t order all that.”

“I have to eat too, you know,” Pero pretends to scowl at you before kissing you quickly, “plus there’s a few appies and a dessert thrown in there, too.”

“Can… I pay?” It looks like a full feast.

“Don’t worry about it, Cookie. Staff perk.”

Not sure you believe him, you look at Pero skeptically, but he cups your face with his hands and strokes your cheek gently before giving you a deep kiss that leaves you dizzy, so you decide to just go with it.

“Ready to go say goodbye to your friends?” Nodding, you take Pero’s outstretched hand; he gives your hand a reassuring squeeze before leading you back to the dining room your friends are in.

When you walk through the door, Pero drops your hand in favour of curling his palm around your waist protectively and walking a step behind you like a watchful guard dog. You can only imagine the glower on his face as the room quiets and everyone stares at you; you would roll your eyes and laugh if not for the fact that you see Paul get up from his seat, only to sit down immediately with one glare from Pero.

“I’m going to go, babes,” you say apologetically when Dorothy and Eloise come to give you hugs. They both give you big smiles and so many kisses, never begrudging you for leaving – their only request that you promise to text when you make it home. Blowing them kisses and waving to everyone, even Paul, you breeze out of the room tucked under Pero’s arm with his lips pressed to your hair.

In the elevator on the way down, Pero helps you button up his jacket that you still have draped over your shoulders before pulling you in by his collar for another searing kiss that lasts the entire way to the ground floor; still light headed from his affection, it takes you a moment to register that he’s walking you towards to a sports bike parked just outside the doors. Pero is pulling a black bike helmet out of his backpack when you stutter, “We’re going on that?”

“You ever been on a bike before, Cookie?” Pero smirks.

You shake your head, shyly, “Just scooters and stuff… never… a crotch rocket.”

Pero laughs uproariously, “I’ll take good care of you, I promise.” And you believe him.

Taking a walk around the bike, you can’t help but admire its sleek design as you run your fingers over the letters on the front frame. Even though the engine is off, you can feel the bike’s power emanating off the metal; you don’t know anything about bikes, but you can appreciate a well-designed machine when you see one. You can tell that a lot of care and time has been poured into this vehicle - loving upkeep and carefully selected mods (even though you have no idea what those would be); this motorcycle is clearly a labour of love and you’re starting to feel excited about getting to take a ride on it. Pero watches you as you take in his bike, appreciating the way your gentle fingers skim over the frame, the handlebars, and then the seat of his Ducati; he spies the glint in your eyes go from trepidation, to awe, to excitement and suddenly he can’t wait to take you out on the open road.

“How do I get on?”

Pero points to the little foot peg over the back wheel and holds out his arm to help you up. You’re incredibly grateful for the extra coverage from the length of Pero’s jacket as you grab a hold of Pero’s steady forearm, hike up your left leg to step on the foot peg and swing yourself over the backseat as you would a horse. Planting your foot firmly on the peg on the other side of the bike, you immediately close your legs; you’re almost thankful for the rip in your dress since it provides you with a little more give to spread you legs over the smooth back seat slant without flashing everyone on the street. As it is, your dress is hiked up near the top of your thighs and you’re depending on the flaps of Pero’s jacket for some semblance of modesty. Pero is kneeling next to the bike putting the food in his backpack when he sees you drop your foot from the peg and let your bare leg dangle down, lightly swinging it without your heels ever touching the ground. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything sexier in his whole life. You’re using both your hands to hold your dress to the seat, leaning forward following the natural decline of the seat and smiling broadly at him, “Where are we going?”

Straightening up, Pero grins, “I can take you anywhere you like, princesa. If you want to go home and have dinner by yourself, I’ll take you. But if you’re up for it, we can go to a nice terrace with a view and have ourselves a little picnic?”

You nod at that option and bite your lip a little at how cute Pero looks as he puts on his backpack so it sits on his front like a baby carrier. Then he does something a little unexpected: he reaches out with his helmet in both hands and holds it over your head, “Cookie, I only have one helmet, so this will have to do, okay?” When you nod, Pero slowly lowers the helmet over your head then pops open the visor so you can still see him as he adjusts the strap under your chin. It’s not bad but there’s definitely a little room for your head to wobble around; the inside of the helmet smells vaguely like Pero’s cologne and you feel a warmth spread through you as breath his scent in – when Pero leans back to inspect his handiwork, you give a little giggle and wobble you head around, “I’m a bobblehead.”

Pero laughs and reaches in through the visor opening to pinch your nose, “Ok, when we’re riding, keep your legs on the pegs and hold on to me tight, okay? If anything’s wrong, tap my arm, and if you want me to slow down, tap my leg. Ready?”

You give him a big smile that you’re not sure he can see and an enthusiastic thumbs up; before Pero flips down the helmet visor, he definitely sees your bright eyes shining with excitement. Even though he knows you’re perfectly capable, he makes a show of helping raise your leg up and placing your foot back on the foot peg. One of his strong hands holds onto your ankle while the other gently runs up your calf and brushes your knee, sending a shiver down your spine. When Pero repeats the action with your other leg, you let him have complete control to handle and position you any way he wants and he feels his crotch start with how good it feels to have you soft and pliant in his hands. Once satisfied with your positioning, Pero skates his hand up your thigh, skirting your raised hemline, and when he gives you a light squeeze to let you know he’s done, you inhale sharply and clench down on nothing.

After Pero swings his leg over the frame of the bike and puts on his gloves, he waits for you to wrap your arms securely around his middle before starting the ignition. As the bike roars to life, you give a little squeal of delight that Pero can hear even through the helmet and he smiles to himself. Revving the engine a few times for effect, he takes off carefully but still feels you grip him tighter as you’re jerked back slightly; he can’t say he’s sorry. Picking up speed as he weaves through the streets, he feels you rest your helmet on his upper back and his chest swells at how easily you’re taking to riding.

After about 15 minutes, Pero pulls up to another office building and cuts the engine. Helping you take off the helmet, he finds you giddy with a big smile on your face; as you smooth down your hair, you exclaim, “That was so much fun!!” The ride had been thrilling; you know Pero wasn’t going that fast for your sake, but you found the rush of the wind blowing past you and the freedom and danger of being so open on the road to be exhilarating all on its own. The hum of the engine had been an unexpected comfort and the vibrations of motor reverberating through you had kept you alert and excited throughout your short journey. Not to mention that being so close to Pero and his warmth, sinking in to the feeling of security he provides, has you turned on and tingling. Finding your enthusiasm infectious, Pero helps you off the bike and leads you up to the building to which he gains access with a swipe of a fob he produces from his jacket pocket.

“You have one of those fobs for every building in the city?” you tease.

Pero puts his finger to his lips, “Restaurant industry secret, shhhhh,” he says with a twinkle in his eye.

A short elevator ride later, Pero brings you to an empty terrace with a beautiful view of the city lights; you gaze around in awe as he starts laying out the food.

It’s a wonderfully romantic dinner. The conversation flows easily, and you learn a little more about your grouchy bouncer. You’re only initially surprised to learn that William, the restaurant manager and sometimes host, is Pero’s best friend, and that the two of them have worked together for years at various different restaurants. Remembering William’s easy smile and friendly demeanor from when he sat your party both of the times you’ve dined at Lin, you giggle at the obvious dichotomy between the two friends. If only potential restaurant patrons knew that big golden retriever energy awaited them at the end of the elevator ride should they make it past the scary Cerebus downstairs. When Pero asks you what you’re laughing at, you simply ask him if he and William have always worked their current roles; apparently not - they both started out as bus boys and worked their way through the kitchen, though Pero’s never had the inclination to work front of house the way William has. “You don’t say,” you jest, to which Pero gives you his most fearsome glare. You’re not the least bit intimidated, especially when he follows up with the gentlest forehead kiss.

Between bites of the mouthwatering sea bass, you’re happy to discover that in addition to a common love of food, you and Pero have also both travelled extensively; to your mutual delight, you realize that somehow, you’ve eaten at some of the same restaurants in Europe and Asia. When you both claim to know the best udon shop in Toyko, you agree to say the name at the same time - doubling over in laughter when you both name the same hole-in-the-wall in Shinjuku. Throughout the easy flowing conversation, Pero finds ways to stay close and you welcome his every touch: a caress of your hair near the ear, a stroke of your knee under the table, a kiss to your hand. With the sun now fully set and the chilly evening air giving you goosebumps, Pero pulls you close to his side - tucking your bare legs in between his to keep you warm as you finish dessert. Pero looks into your eyes with longing as you both savour the last bites of the rich lychee flavoured flan. When he helps wipe away an errant sugar smudge near the corner of your mouth with his thumb, he brings his face so close to yours that you’re caught short of breath. He really is so handsome, you think before his mouth descends on yours and you get lost in the way he licks and softly groans into you. Your tongue chases his as you open for him, and you gasp when Pero, palm under your ass, pulls you into his lap fully one handedly.

Wrapping you arms around Pero’s neck to run your hands through his hair, you moan as his hands roam your back, pulling you closer against him still. The kissing is downright urgent: a mirage of open mouths, panting, devouring. Needing air, and a break if you’re honest with how close you are to just sinking down on him on this terrace, you bite down on Pero’s lower lip and nibble a little before murmuring, “Pero, please take me home.”

Pero’s eyes never leave you the entire time the two of you pack away the containers and make your way back to his bike, his look dark and wanting. If he takes his time helping you on the bike, letting his hands trail up and down your legs, eyes lingering on yours before he flips down the visor, who can blame him. If you press yourself tight against his back while he weaves through the streets, inching your hands lower and lower on his torso, seeking out his upper thigh for purchase when he accelerates, who can blame you.

By the time Pero parks in front of your building, the thrill of the ride and the hum of the bike between your legs has only amplified your want; you’re positively dripping for him. You can barely keep your hands to yourself on the elevator ride up and Pero is on top of you the moment your front door closes. Your hands fly to take off his jacket, his shirt, reaching down to frantically unbutton his pants without shame; stopped only when he insists on undressing you first, growling, “Need to take this dress off, hermosa. Don’t want you wearing anything another man has touched for a minute longer.”

You step right in Pero’s space, locking desperate eyes with him as he reaches behind you to undo your zipper; he drags it down slower than necessary, drawing out the process. When you whine at how long it’s taking, Pero chuckles, “Patience, princesa,” before pulling the zipper down the rest of the way and letting the fabric slip over your shoulders and pool around your feet.

“Holy shit, Cookie,” Pero breathes as he takes in your matching black lace lingerie set, “I think my heart just stopped.” Suddenly shy under his gaze, you turn away to lead him to the bedroom, but he stops you and pulls you back so suddenly you crash into his chest. Holding you flushed against him by a strong hand on the back of your neck, Pero uses his free hand to tip your chin up to look at him, murmuring, “You’re so beautiful,” before kissing you like his life depends on it. His lips crush to yours, tongue mapping every slope and dip of your mouth, his one hand now gently gripping your neck under your jaw - caging you within his hands so that you’re left to the mercy of his desire. One rough palm moves down your body to explore all your soft curves, lightly groping and claiming all the spots that make you moan into his mouth. Pero walks you slowly to the couch in the middle of your living room so gradually you don’t even notice until the back of your legs hit the cushions. He releases you at this same moment so that the soft impact has you toppling back, sat on the couch with a light bounce; you can only watch with lust hooded eyes as Pero lowers himself down to the floor onto his knees in front of you.

“Pero,” you whisper, needy.

“I’ve got you, princesa,” breath hot, Pero kisses down your neck, hands holding your legs open so he can slot his wide frame between, getting as close to your body as possible.

“Ohhhh, god, Pero… baby,” you whimper as his mouth worships your neck, nipping at your décolletage, then licking a wet stripe down to the valley between your breasts. When his hands abandon their grip on your thighs to trail up, cupping your breasts, you can’t help but buck into his abdomen, seeking more of him. Face buried in your chest, Pero chuckles, “Such an eager, pretty girl. Tell me what you need, Cookie.”

Pulling down the cups of your lace bra so that your tits spill out, Pero gropes you roughly before his fingers zero in your nipples, alternating rolling, pinching and tugging on your peaks in an excruciating delicious pattern. Smiling devilishly at you, “I’m waiting, princesa.”

“Fuc- oh, Pero, please. Please. Need your mouth, please,” you plead, desperation lacing every word.

Without warning, Pero dips his head to take a breast in his mouth, and you gasp in pleasure, hands flying to bury themselves in his hair to grip his soft curls as his nibbles and swirls your hardened nipple. Back arching off the back of the couch, you try to muffle you moans as Pero’s efforts with his mouth and hands electrify you to your core, heat pooling in your underwear.

“Don’t do that, hermosa. Want to hear you, want to hear what I do to you,” Pero comes off your breast with an obscenely wet smack of his lips before switching over to your neglected breast, his hand taking over for where his mouth left off.

“OH! Pero, feels so good! Right there, oh, ow! Oh god, yessss,” the sting of Pero’s attention on your peaks only adding to your ecstasy. Pero uses your lifted back to his advantage, his free hand now able to claw down your spine, grabbing and massaging your ass. Having his hands so close to your pussy is sending you out of your mind; Pero’s hands and mouth seem to be everywhere at once and you don’t know what to focus on. It’s almost too much and you gently push him away so you can catch your breath; the dopey, shit-eating grin he gives you tells you that he knows exactly what he’s doing to you.

He does know, and Pero’s damn proud of it. He’s never seen anything sexier in his life than you splayed out in front of him with eyes glassy from near over stimulation, tits pulled out of your bra and lightly bouncing as you pant, all while you pussy tries to grind down onto him for some friction. He’s rock hard and he hasn’t even tasted you yet.

Pressing a sweet kiss to your lips, swollen from where you bit them to keep yourself from crying out, Pero moves back slightly so he can admire you some more. He can’t believe he’s here right now, that he gets to be the one that makes you feel this good; another smaller, possessive part of him triumphs that Paul never stood a chance - that you were always going to be his tonight. And now he’s about to show you he’s worthy.

When you look back down at Pero with a lazy grin, breathing more even, Pero presses forward, “I’m going to taste you now, okay Cookie?” Your soft ‘yes, please’, is all Pero needs to hear before he dives forward towards your dripping core. Pressing hungry kisses over your panties, Pero growls when he feels the soaked through fabric on his tongue, “So fucking wet, princesa. Is this all for me?” All you can do is moan in assent as Pero continues to make out with your pussy. His mouth never leaving you, Pero tugs off your underwear; tossing the wet scrap of lace aside to reveal your glistening cunt. Running his fingers through your folds to spread your arousal up and over your clit, he takes a moment to drink in your near pornographic sounds before he lowers his mouth and positively feasts.

You’re entire being feels like it’s been lit up. Pero’s tongue presses against your seam, dipping in and out, teasing you with broad strokes and indulgent swirls. His nose nudges at your clit over and over, as his entire head moves up and down, focused only on bringing you pleasure. You think he’s giving you a break to collect yourself when he butterfly kisses up to your now throbbing clit, but reprieve is the furthest thing from Pero’s mind. Just as you’re crying out his name in a heavenly melody, he breaches your tight hole with two of his thick fingers and seals your clit in between his lips and sucks. You squirm, trying to get away from the sudden onslaught, but Pero lays his other arm across your stomach to hold you down so that all you can do is take, take, take.

“I-I-. I’m so close, Pero. Ohhhh nghhhh, baby, ohhh, so c-close,” you’re simpering, eyes closed and head thrown back, desperate for more while simultaneously sure you can’t handle it.

“Open your eyes, princesa. Eyes on me while I eat your perfect pussy,” Pero commands, nuzzling your aching clit with the tip of his nose to get your attention. When you look down, you lock eyes with Pero as his takes your nub between his lips again, lightly flicking his tongue while his curls bouncing against his forehead from the force with which his fingers drive into you. When you grab onto his hair and pull him deeper into you, he hums his approval and the vibration does you in, you step off the cliff and let go as your orgasm washes over you, wave after wave. Pero continues to finger fuck you through your high while rising on one knee to palm at your neglected tits and kiss you long and tender.

“Oh, Pero. Ohhh, that was- oh god,” you can barely string together your words; you’re completely wrung out and spent. You’re now Pero’s pliable fuck doll, good and ready for his cock and not much else. He lifts your legs and maneuvers you into a laying position on the couch and it’s all you can do to try and keep your eyes open while you wait for him undo his pants and free his hard cock. He’s magnificent: long with an impressive girth, a thick perfect vein runs along the underside of his length, ending at a bulbous weeping head; you want to feel the heft of him on your tongue. Your hunger must show in your eyes and the way your plush lips instinctively part because Pero chuckles, “Another time, Cookie. Right now, I’m going crazy every second I’m not in this tight cunt.” He looks around the room looking for his backpack to get a condom, when, as if you’re reading his mind, you offer dreamily, “Pero, I’m clean. If you want…”

His dick jumping at your words, Pero want you to be certain, “I’m clean too, hermosa. Are you sure?”

“Want to feel you, baby,” your eyes dark with lust, “Fuck me bare, Pero.”

How’s he supposed to last when you have a mouth like that? “Fuck, princesa,” he breathes as he runs his tip through your dripping folds, adding to the sheen of leftover slick he transferred from his fingers; Pero fists his cock and coats it in your release to ready himself for your tight hole. Hovering over you, he lines himself up to your entrance and captures your mouth in a passionate kiss as he slowly pushes in. Every quick inhale of air you take to replace what he pushes out of your lungs is music to Pero’s ears. Your tight walls almost choke him as he feels you spread your legs further, one leg now dangling off the edge of the couch in order to accommodate his size. Pero is remiss to leave your lips, but he’s unable to resist the temptation to lean back and watch your face as you take his full length. You hold his gaze amid your lust-filled haze, a blissed-out smile spreads across your beautiful face that cracks only when you lips form a soft ‘oh’ before relaxing again; Pero is hypnotized by this pattern repeating itself over and over as he pushes in deeper into your cunt. When he finally bottoms out, you let out a breathy ‘Fuck’ before pulling him in for a slow and patient, soul affirming kiss.

Full. You feel so full. “Taking me so well, princesa. God you feel so perfect around my cock,” purrs Pero, peppering your face and neck with soft, soothing kisses; waiting for your go ahead to move. When you give it, he starts slow; dragging his cock nearly all the way out, before pushing back in with the same tempered control – you reward him with a call of his name and praise on how good it feels to be split open. Over and over, he thrusts into you with the restraint of saint until he feels your arousal start to drown his cock, and only then does he pick up the pace; you wrap your legs around his back, heels digging into his back to press him deeper, encouraging him to fuck you harder until he’s driving his cock into your cunt with a force that punches the air out of your lungs every time. His grunts combined with his filthy words affirming how you were made for him, how he wants to stay buried in you, how you’re creaming so pretty around him, push you closer and closer to your edge again.

Snaking his hand between your bodies to toy with your sensitive clit, Pero feels you clenching down, “Come for me, Cookie. You look so perfect when you come, need to see you come on my cock.” You want to please him so. You’ll give him everything he asks for, so long as he never stops looking at you the way he is right now: wrecked, desperate, devoted. Doubling down on his attention to your pulsating bud, Pero draws perfect circles with his thumbs as he continues to rut into you with abandon, chasing both of your releases. This time, when you come, your back lifts off the couch and Pero catches you, pulling you close as you shout out his name over and over into his shoulder, biting down and sucking into his skin so to muffle the string of obscenities rolling off your tongue.

The sting of pain from your teeth brings Pero to his precipice, and he manages to choke out, “Where do you want me, princesa,” before laying you down gently and pulling out. Still lightheaded and cock drunk, you gaze through your lashes at Pero and almost shy, request, “Paint my tits please, Pero.”

Fisting himself furiously, the timidness of your tone in contrast to the lewdness of your words sends a tightness through Pero’s whole body right before he jerks and splashes ropes of cum all over your pretty breasts.

When he’s done, he steps off from over you and kneels by your head, kissing you appreciatively. He reaches to grab a box of tissues but when he offers them to you, you giggle and swipe your fingers through his milky spend and pop your fingers in your mouth, sucking them clean. Pero feels his softening dick make a valiant attempt to jump back to life as he watches you clean every last drop of his cum from your chest, licking your fingers and swallowing with a hum. After he helps you up to your feet, you cup Pero’s face in your hands, stroking his scruff with your thumbs, and he melts under your tender affections. “Stay over?” you look up, doe eyed.

Grabbing you at your waist and sweetly kissing you as he walks you backwards toward the bedroom, Pero grins wickedly, “Of course, Cookie. I’m not done with you yet.”

#pero tovar #pero tovar fanfiction #pero tovar fic #pero tovar x reader #pero tovar x you #pero tovar x f!reader #pedro pascal character #pedro pascal characters fanfiction #modern!pero tovar #modern au #no y/n

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nellasbookplanet · 9 months

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Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition

A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!

I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books

For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.

The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*

You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*

Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*

This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.

The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly

1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*

Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant*

Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*

Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*

Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.

Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen

Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.

The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones

1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.

Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton

1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.

Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke

German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?

The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg

1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.

The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba

Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

#extra bonus rec if you like critical role:#go read Things That Gods Despise by dawl_and_dapple #(and also maybe my fic The World's Between us)#i didnt includ neil gaimans coraline her bc i assumed most people know if it already #(and also i ran out of space)#but if you haven't heard of it consider this another rec lmao #anyway. i may be slightly obsessed with this genre #please recommend me more books (or fics!) if you know of any!!#nella talks books #book recs

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space-writes · 3 months

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So this post has me thinking. Because though the post and a lot of the comments talk about fic, this kind of scene-breaking PSA-feeling scene is something I run across in a fair amount of the M/M erotica/romance I read as well. (By which I mean a lot of indie/selfpub stuff, for clarification purposes) (don’t rec me ‘good m/m books’. my tbr is so long. my kindle is so full. im drowning. my god.)

In those, the ones that repeat are the ‘hey we’re both on PrEP!’ conversation, and the ‘when did you last get tested?’ conversation. The testing conversation also shows up sometimes in M/F that I read, and the one in there that also shows up is fairly naturally the birth control conversation. And first off—none of these are bad to have. None of them are automatically ruiners of good stories, or things you should cut!

What they often are is copy-paste scenes. They’re jarring when they happen because they aren’t written properly in character, and they take you out of the story and damage your connection to the narrative and to the characters. This is, in fact, he would not fucking say that time. This is not a problem of ‘including consent and safe sex is boring in smut’ (a whole other conversation). This is a problem of character voice and also bad dialogue.

Listen, I live here, on the internet. Bad smut is a time-honoured tradition here, and bad dialogue is at its wretched best in bad smut. I have an entire post in the works about writing good sexy dialogue—it’s hard! It’s hard to do!

(sidenote, this is why a lot of smut dialogue prompt lists make me cringe, because the dialogue is either poor, or so generic as to make lines that could be sexy in the right mouth sound poor.)

But the reason these consent-PSA scenes don’t work, and jar readers, is because you are putting words in your characters mouth that you want to say—for whatever reason; you think showing consent is important, you want to be clear about the consent given in the fic, whatever—but you are not saying them how your blorbo would say them.

I have an ongoing D/s romance series. Tens of thousands of words now. Twenty-four main fics, two unposted-yet novels, and a handful of side stories. The main relationship is a Master/sub relationship. They do a lot of kinky shit, and I can count on one hand how many times the couple sit down and talk about consent and they have never, not once, had a conversation on-page that uses the word consent.

What? Why! Space, why do you, person who is very passionate about proper consent and communication in BDSM play, not have any consent discussions in this BDSM fic?

Because those dialogues aren’t what the story needs. When it does, I include them in ways that are relevant to the scene and written in character, not as some obligatory cut-and-paste “do you consent?” “yes I do!” PSA. There is one exchange in fic 2 where the nature of the relationship is established. For the other six fics in that arc, I don’t have them sit down and negotiate scenes. It’s implied by a few lines that they talked about likes/dislikes off-page and then it’s back to the fun kinky shit.

And the thing is, they would say that. They would talk about boundaries and limits, and I could write an in-character conversation about that very easily. I didn’t, because that’s not the point of the story; the focus is on hot sex and emotional pining, and having a three-paragraph discussion about consent between them would get in the way of that.

(obedience readers i know at this point you’d read those two talking about the fucking weather but do not undermine my point here XD)

Listen, I’m just some guy. I take my writing seriously in that I want to be good at it, and I know a lot of people—especially in fic—are just having fun with it. That’s fine! Do what’s fun! But if you want to get better at writing porn, you can do that. I believe in you. You can have your enthusiastic consent and you can do it in character, in scene, and you can make it feel so natural no-one even notices you’re doing it because they’re too busy going ‘holy shit this is hot!’

This is kind of a rant but I just. am very passionate about good dialogue in smut. and about character voice. and i’m tired of reading the exact same PrEP-status conversation in my m/m novels. yes i get it author. you researched gay sex safety. im so proud of you. can we get back to the mediocre porn now.

#space has thoughts #writing #writeblr #smut writing #fanfiction #writing advice #(kinda)#please i just need everyone to get better at writing sexy dialogue #feel free to have a conversation with me about this but don't be a dick #pre-emptively: if you come on this post spouting anti/purity police bullshit you're getting blocked

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mermaidsirennikita · 4 months

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Hi, I Just read Devil in Winter and OMG what a book, I wasn't expecting the level of care taking Sebastian was doing with Evie but I absolutely loved it, can you please recommend books with that kind of dynamic? Of the hero being like that?

And also now that I have the courage to así lol do you have books with the classic he's a super grumpy man but has a soft spot for her?

Hiii Devil in Winter is an amazing book! It's one of those novels where you totally get why it's a classic. Hot, romantic, well-written, and yes! I agree, the caretaking is something you don't expect and frankly don't get from a lot of rake books especially.

And also, don't be worried about asking me for recs, I have anon on for a reason, if I have recs to give I will always give them!

Caregiver Heroes:

When a Duke Loves a Woman by Lorraine Heath. Historical. Just read this, and it actually has mutual caretaking! The heroine is a lower class tavern owner who begins by discovering the hero (a duke lol) after he's basically been mugged and is badly hurt. She nurses him back to health (not like breastfeeding nursing despite his best efforts but you get me) and he can't quit her so he comes back and ends up taking care of HER after she gets a concussion and is very like "you deserve nice things, let me show you what it's like to not have to take care of yourself all the time".

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath. Historical. One of Lorraine's best, about a widow and a lower class scoundrel who becomes the guardian to her son (a baby duke). Olivia is super in charge and though her husband wasn't mean he never gave her the attention or care she needed. Jack really takes over (while not undermining her) and becomes this loving father figure to her son, and she's resistant at first because they dislike each other, but she gradually caves and lets him care for them--and when she gets sick??? Oh, dude. He is CARING for her, including a scene where he has to put her in an ice bath and it's sooo good. TW for discussions of childhood sexual abuse.

Surrender to the Devil by Lorraine Heath. Historical. Follows the previous one, is more about psychological caretaking. The hero is a duke who wants to take the lower class heroine as his mistress, but she has a lot of trauma (TW: childhood sexual abuse) and is super independent. It's another one where he has to basically convince her to let him care for her, and it's big on recovery and tenderness.

Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks is a medieval romance with these vibes, for sure. The hero and heroine are in an arranged marriage, and she's deaf, so a lot of people think she was set back mentally by an accident she had years ago (which actually just caused her deafness). The hero is super gentle with her, and though he's attracted to her he initially is resistant to being with her because he doesn't believe she has the capacity to consent. He's actually a very sweet guy, despite being a warrior lol. They develop this very tender relationship where he takes such good care of her and understands her in a way nobody else does.

Reel by Kennedy Ryan is a contemporary I wanna recommend because the heroine has lupus and the hero is her director (she's an actress, and he's giving her her big break). He is soooo caring, and he was actually a caregiver for his mom before she died. The heroine is resistant about being vulnerable about her condition, but man, it's lovely.

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas is a historical, came after DiW. The hero and heroine were childhood friends, and he actually took care of her when she had scarlet fever, while she took care of him after an incident that made him super ill. His issue is actually that he doesn't want to hurt her, and he thinks he will if they have sex, because her body is still weak after she recovers. So he rejects her, and she comes back from Europe after a couple of years much stronger. So you get a different take--he's so caring, but that makes him hold himself back from her physically.

Waking Up with The Duke and The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath are two of her more well-known historicals (the "local mask asks hero to impregnate his wife" book and the "hero pretends to be his identical twin to spare twin's wife the shock" book). They're both, as Lorraine often writes, focused on heroes who sort of try to show the heroine a different side of life, a different level of tenderness. The hero of Waking Up with The Duke like, rubs the heroine's back and feet. The Earl Takes All has a hero who gives the heroine this different level of affection and tenderness than what she got from her husband, etc.,

Forget Me Not by Julie Soot, again if you're open to contemporary, is a second chance romance between this driven wedding planner heroine and the florist hero who just really wants to take care of her and give her a soft place to land--which is hard for her to accept.

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham has a heroine who's super independent and controversial, and she begins an affair with this lovely single father widower intending to love him and leave him, but he wants to show her tenderness!!!

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley is a second chance romance between an estranged husband and wife, and he wants to rebuild the marriage while she doesn't trust that he can, essentially, give her the emotional support she needs. He spends the book trying to prove it to her!

As for the grumpy hero, absolutely! Try:

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long. Classic, lol, he's so grumpy and he initially is trying to seduce the heroine to get revenge against her brother, but quickly develops a major soft spot for her.

After Dark with The Duke by Julie Anne Long. Another "he's starchy. and grumpy and withholding" book--and initially, he's that with her too, but he gradually softens and she becomes like, the light of his gloomy life, etc.

The's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley has a hero who's so known for being grouchy and aggressive, but when his ex-fiancee comes back into his life he is immediately so into her again, and she's the only one who can really stand up to him and break down his walls. An all time favorite!

In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti. This has a very shy yet very horny heroine who runs afoul of the stern hero, who everyone finds scary--but she doesn't. So good!

The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway. Stern, cold hero who everyone basically thinks committed a murder, lol, but while he and the plucky heroine are initially at odds, she quickly worms her way into his heart.

Managed by Kristen Callihan is a contemporary, but I'd so recommend checking it out. The hero is the uptight manager of a rock band everyone is kind of scared of--the heroine is the whimsical photographer he hires to chronicle the band's tour. They begin this weird arrangement where she sleeps in his bed platonically because he needs her to help with is insomnia lol.

The Truth About Cads and Dukes by Elisa Braden is a marriage of convenience book with a hero who's super stuffy and stern, but ends up falling for his wife despite his best efforts. And becomes OBSESSED.

#romance novel blogging #book recs #romance novels

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wordsifelt · 7 months

Note

Thanks for answering my question. Can I ask your best recs for LGBTQ+ media (tv series or books or manga/manhwa)?

I'm from a country that saw LGBTQ+ as something taboo and my family also think it's sinful. So my LGBTQ+ mainly are from BL and GL manga/manhwa (sorry if I'm wrong)...

Thanks if you want to answer me....

Hi again! I know how you feel, my country's also not great with queer issues. I've only recently started exploring outside the BL/GL subgenres so I may not have as varied a selection as I'd have liked to give you.

I've done a similar post recently but this time imma really go all out. I'll categorise them based on the type of media.

Danmei

Heaven Official's Blessing by MXTX : mlm, Chinese historical fantasy(tw: Violence, gore, death, like A LOT)

Mo Dao Zu Shi by MXTX: mlm, Chinese historical fantasy (tw: death, gore, violence, homophobia)

Peerless/Wushuang by Meng Xi Shi: mlm, historical fiction, murder mystery, enemies to lovers (tw: violence)

(Note: there's a lot more danmei I love but these are the ones I've rated highest, will attempt to make a masterpost or smthg for the rest laster)

Dramas

Not Me (Thai): mlm, political, secret identity, enemies to lovers (tw: violence)

Bad buddy (Thai): mlm, rivals to lovers, family drama

Novels

Peter Darling by Austin Chant : mlm, trans mc, written by a trans author, fantasy, fairytale retelling (tw: severe transphobia, violence and gore, also there may be an age gap but it's not specified)

I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver: Non-binary MC, queer romance, very informative and heart warming (tw: transphobia)

Spell Bound by F. T. Lukens: Non- Binary MC, queer romance, urban fantasy, rivals to lovers (sorta).

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: Queer rep, Poc rep, disability rep, just very good rep in general, fantasy, found family (tw: violence)

Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan: One of the main cast of characters is gender fluid, and is also involved romantically (later on) with the MC, also great representation in general, fantasy, Norse mythological fiction, found family

All For the Game trilogy by Nora Sakavic: mlm, sports, mafia, slowburn, explicit and emphasized consent, enemies to lovers, found family. (tw: violence, PTSD, trauma relating to past SA, etc)

Loveless by Alice Oseman: Aroace MC, university life, queer exploration, found family (tw: aphobia, stereotyping and stigma)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: wlw, space, necromancy, cool stuff, enemies to lovers (tw: violence, death)

She Drives me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen: wlw, sports, fake dating, very cliche but I loved it.

Tv Shows

Heartstopper: mlm main couple, also includes a lot of queer representation, found family (tw: homophobic, transphobia)

Good Omens: Genderfluid MCs(altho usually male presenting), slowburn, Christian derivative mythological fiction, very queer, slowburn.

Our Flag Means Death: mlm Main Couple, lots of other queer characters, pirates, found family (tw: gore and violence tho not much)

I've left out anime and manga/manhwa/manhua cause there's a lot of stuff and I'll have to sift through to find the ones which I consider good rep. May make a post on that later. I also sadly have only a few recs for non mlm fiction mostly cause I've only found a few so far I've really liked.

I hope you like some of these if not all of them. If I've made any mistakes or missed out on some problematic stuff pls do tell me so I can learn from it and fix it.

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pygmypyncher · 5 months

Note

Hello, hope this is ok. Just to say how much I have enjoyed your writing for Bodies. Your writing is so beautifully detailed, and the internal nuances are delightful to wander amongst. I have read all TRC books, not my favourite, but I really like your fics, but Oh boy, I can see how your writing has developed since then. So, just a big thank you for writing all these pieces. (Do you have any recs for queer media that you have enjoyed?)

Thank you so much for messaging! It's really lovely of you to say!

Also very glad to hear my writing has come on since the TRC days! I was very proud of those fics at the time, and really do still think of them fondly, but I am aware of how much I've grown as a writer since then (hence the slight jumpscare this morning, for which I can only apologise!).

Queer media! Let me dredge my memories for a bit, and I will no doubt mention stuff you've heard of or watched/read already. There are doubtless SEVERAL things I've forgotten, as it is well past my bedtime, but if any glaring omissions occur to me I'll send them on! Shows: Recently I've really enjoyed Our Flag Means Death - you've probably at least heard of it (and as you've been looking at my AO3 you'll have seen I've written for it), and it's completely different from either TRC or Bodies tonally bc it is, in essence, a pirate sitcom, but there is honestly nothing so unashamedly and joyously queer out there at the moment. The fandom is a bit of a terrifying juggernaut, so I suggest treading neatly round the edges and delving into some absolutely top-tier fic (of which there is no shortage) if the whim takes you. On the other side of the pirate scale is Black Sails (DO NOT compare these directly they are very different beasts). Excellent story, very dark and gritty, great pay-off. Deadloch is another great show - Australian detective black comedy, filled to the brim with lesbians! The Haunting of Bly Manor is just a gorgeous ghost/love story with some brilliant characters. Feel Good is one of these unexpectedly heart-breaking sitcoms that I can't recommend enough even though it took me a year to build up the courage for a rewatch A League of Their Own (TV) is just brilliant, and i am GUTTED we're not getting a s2 I'm gonna stick Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries here too, bc even though it isn't actually all that queer (but it DOES have Miriam Margolyes, which definitely qualifies it), it's super camp and has what is possibly the only straight mc romance i've ever been invested in which is saying something Books: KJ Charles is a favourite of mine. She writes really great, quick-to-read queer historical romances that always have a great mystery and body count. The Will Darling Adventures (1920s pulp action-mystery with a romance between an ex-soldier who now runs a second-hand bookshop and a disgraced aristo) are my absolute favourites of hers, but everything she writes is very solid. I've also really enjoyed The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir series so far - very complicated Space Opera, again chock-full of lesbians. Sex: Lessons From History by Fern Riddell is a really interesting non-fiction book about, shockingly, attitudes to sex through history, and takes a delightfully non-heteronormative approach to it that I wasn't expecting going in. As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann is an all-time favourite read of mine, but is quite challenging as the main character is Not The Greatest Guy and it does carry some hefty stuff and warnings. Girl Meets Boy and How to Be Both by Ali Smith are both just brilliant stories with some great Gender Stuff going on.

Like i say, I'm sure I've missed stuff! And it's a bit all over the place because, as well as replying to your AO3 comments too early this morning, I am now answering this too late at night. I am sorry, but can do nothing about it :P I hope this is a little bit helpful at least! <3

#vmcgmidlifecrisis #ask #answered #dammit i meant to answer this privately sorry #but can't undo it without deleting everything

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agentnatesewell · 1 year

Note

Book 3 spoiler ask:

I absolutely love Nate, and his is my favourite route, but this book raises so many concerns and questions.

How do you feel about him asking us to run from the trappers? On the one hand I want to understand and do as he says because he is so terrified of losing MC, yet, this is MC's job and they need to feel like their partner sees them as a capable Detective and member of the team.

Also, do you want to talk about his thoughts towards the end? 👀

Hello friend! Thank you for the ask! Absolutely would love to talk about this.

The first question. From a trying-to-understand-n standpoint, I’ve always actually gotten where they’ve been coming from. Does that mean my gal Suri listens to Nate’s plea? No. Not at all. She’s been through Murphy and the Maa-alused, she’s saved UB multiple times. She wants to protect him as much as she thinks she wants to protect her, they’re in a partnership in every sense of the word (at least to her). And she proved it when she was able to distract the Trappers in time for Nate to take them down.

That being said - yes - they do need to trust the detective. Absolutely. It’s a two way trust system.

But really, this happened before we even got any insight to N. That came later when they had their introspective moment, and yeah, I get it. Then the backstory. Etc. I’ll talk about that in a little bit.

One thing I do want to point out is that with the N romance, there has actually been a lot more on the Patreon regarding these fears and how they worry about losing the detective, and how the detective would judge them/leave them for what they’ve done in their past. A few N POVs (book two and book three), a special Patreon write up, and Halloween/Christmas/Winter specials that really sort of round this storyline out.

Putting the rest behind a cut as I’ll delve into post-b3 demo

Okay! So! Yes, I do understand N. At least their POV. They’ve experienced tremendous loss with their father and their half-brother. They know the grief and pain of it. Now there is a human, a human they are in love with. That they have to protect not just out of duty, but out of their love for them and to see them flourish in this confusing world. With the question being - what lengths will they go to?

A human who has every supernatural interested in their blood. Rogues, Trappers, the Agency, themselves.

One thing I liked is that there are parallel scenes in the beginning and the end of the book. Regarding the exact same thing, N’s fear for the detective’s safety. I had Suri tell Nate (who she so gob-smacked in love with) that he has to trust her if this is going to work out between them. And I agree with her - they have to work together and come up with something, or their relationship will continue to be difficult.

I honestly thought they were going to break up. And maybe - as much as I hate to say it - maybe that should have been an option.

Now. THAT scene. Oh THAT scene. Actually completely knocked me off my feet. For reasons beyond the rest, that N purposely drinks half of their blood rations. They’re hungry. The detective’s blood is too enticing.

The thought of that sent them into a spiral in a way that frightened themselves. If you have the bff scene with A, they worry they’ll be the villain in the detective’s story. When they want to be prince/princess charming (not even the hero. A can be the hero).

So, I’ve sort of been all over the place since then. We have a whole book where N and the detective working on boundaries, openness, honesty, trust, and then we are hit with those two scenes.

It was a great time to bring in the BFF. To help calm them down, temper them. Help them realize what it is they need to do. And there is a resolve, a renewed promise in them.

Honestly, I love it. I’m excited to see what comes next. N is a very complex and complicated character. They are good natured, good hearted, incredibly kind and understanding, but there is a darkness in their past they must pass and reconcile within themselves, and there is the whole vampire within themselves. It’s a reminder that there is still so much to learn about them still.

The N route was absolutely wonderful. It made my heart full and happy. I’m curious to the angst that lurks beneath and what we will see when that mask finally comes off. And to then ride off into a happy ending that they and our detectives deserve.

Thank you for the ask! Love talking about my favorite vampire!! Oh now I need book four now!

#thank you for the ask!#anon ask #twc #twc book 3 #twc book 3 spoilers #n sewell

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francesderwent · 1 year

Note

Pls help I finally got a new library card and I'm drunk with power and the need for more books except I have no idea what to read next after finishing The Queen's Thief. *hands out like Oliver Twist* pls, miss, can I have some book recs??

AHHHHHHHH I am ALWAYS so excited to talk about books!

So first of all, my condolences. You have so many amazing books ahead of you in life—we all do, God willing!—but nothing will ever be the Queen’s Thief again!! And that’s a moment I think we need to acknowledge.

With the one data point of the Queen’s Thief, there’s not very many obvious places to go, since there's nothin' else like it!! So basically what I’m going to give you is Cate’s Greatest And Most Approachable Hits. Some of the stuff I love is weird, and I recognize not everybody is going to care for it! But the stuff on this list, I would pretty much recommend to any and everybody!!! You might not like it, but hopefully you won’t think I’m crazy for recommending it lol.

[One asterisk has references to adult content, two asterisks has some skippable sex scenes on page.]

The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison.* This is the one and only book I recommend in relation to the Queen’s Thief, specifically if you really liked King of Attolia. The Goblin Emperor is about a forgotten and exiled distant royal who unexpectedly inherits the throne. There are so many characters and so many names and everybody uses the formal “we”, so it’s not a quick or easy read, but this book is about love discovered where you least expect it and man oh man it makes me cry.

I’m going to make my own weirdo transitions based on perceived similarity like a very drawn-out version of the "I've connected the dots--I've connected them!" meme. And from The Goblin Emperor and its unloved monarch, I’m going to move to:

The Hero & the Crown and The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley.* These are the only Robin McKinley books I’m putting on the list, because they’re just the best ones, and because Aerin is my heart. The Blue Sword was written first, but The Hero and the Crown is a prequel, so you can read whichever one first. The Blue Sword is about a young woman who moves to an outpost of a barbaric land of horsemen tribes and then is kidnapped by a barbarian king. It’s about the meaning of home. The Hero and the Crown is about an extraneous princess who tries to carve out a place for herself in the country that hates her by taking care of pests, i.e., small dragons. It’s about service. They’re both so, so good.

From extraneous princess I’m taking us to:

The Two Princesses of Bamarre and Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine. You may have read them as a kid, but I’m here to tell you, they hold up!! Two Princesses is about one adventurous sister and one timid sister, but when the adventurous one falls ill, the timid one has to go on a quest to find the cure. Ella Enchanted is a Cinderella retelling, but Ella was cursed at birth to always be obedient. It’s one of the best fairytale romances there is! If you’ve seen the movie, forget it! Nothing alike! The book has a heart!

From retelling to retelling:

Princess of the Midnight Ball and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George. These are more recent than Levine’s retellings, but they were an instant classic for me! Princess is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, told from the perspective of the oldest daughter and the under-gardener. It is so sweet and so romantic. Sun and Moon is an East of the Sun, West of the Moon retelling, it’s kind of a wacky fairytale but she totally makes it work. I love George’s depiction of sibling relationships in both of these books!

From retelling to retelling to retelling:

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik.* This book follows three women: one a Jewish moneylender resolutely freezing her heart to drag her family out of poverty, one an eldest sister trying to survive her father’s plans and her mother’s fate, and one an unattractive noblewoman whose father wants to marry her off to the czar. It’s a Rumpelstiltskin story. It’s a faerie story. It’s perfect.

And one more retelling because I love them:

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. It’s kind of The gold-standard fairytale retelling for me?? All the elements of the original are there, and there’s some exciting twists, but it all hangs together. It’s just a good novel.

I'm gonna transition to another Shannon Hale novel:

Austenland, Shannon Hale. You may have seen the film, and I like the film! But the book is better. It’s about a woman who’s had a string of unsuccessful relationships and keeps running back into the arms of one Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. She has the opportunity to attend an immersive regency experience, with costumes and actors as the Austen-esque heros and rules about who goes into dinner when. Will this last hurrah get the fantasy out of her system? What does reality have in store for her?

From Austen we’re gonna move to Heyer:

The Grand Sophy, by Georgette Heyer. Georgette Heyer is The regency romance author, and I think The Grand Sophy is probably the best starter book. I don’t think Heyer is dumb, and I don’t think Austen isn’t funny, so I’d say Heyer is Austen plus shenanigans. Sophy moves in with a family whose lives are all run by the relentlessly practical eldest brother. Sophy doesn’t take direction.

From regency romance to regency fantasy:

Mairelon the Magician, by Patricia C. Wrede. I don’t think you can go wrong with Wrede, but this book and its sequel are probably my favorite of hers. Street urchin Kim is hired to rob a performing magician, but it turns out he’s actually a magician, and he takes Kim along to help him unravel a plot. I’m a massive sucker for “regency England but with stuffy wizards” and Wrede just does it best!!

From Mairelon I’m moving to Wimsey, which makes perfect sense to me but might not make sense to anyone else:

Clouds of Witness, by Dorothy Sayers. This is the second book in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, but I think I would recommend starting here. A murder takes place in the Wimsey family home and Lord Peter has to bring his disreputable talent for detecting home. Wimsey is hilarious, and also if you read enough of his books you will fall in love with him a little, but the Wimsey mysteries are all also just really good mysteries!

Classic detective to classic detective:

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, by Laurie King. Young orphan Mary Russell happens across a retired Sherlock Holmes and thus begins a lifelong partnership. This book is lovely, meandering through small stories of childhood and little cases to something more dramatic at the end. It’s about finding a kindred spirit and coming of age.

The transitions have been fun but at this point they are getting Difficult. Let’s transition from a book about a young girl to another book about several young girls:

The Penderwicks series, by Jeanne Birdsall. I think you’ve read these already, but I would hate to leave them off, since this list is my gift to posterity! The Penderwicks is how Little Women felt when I was a kid! Sisters who love each other! Mischief! A Very Interesting Boy! I love the way Birdsall writes children so much—it makes me remember what it felt like to look at the world like that, and it heals something in me, it really does!

I can make this work! Batty is an animal lover, so we’re gonna transition to:

Protector of the Small series, by Tamora Pierce.* This is the third of three quartets set in the same universe, and previous characters will definitely show up, but these ones are both the best written by far and also the ones where Pierce’s second-wave feminism gets in the way the least. If you like these I fully support going back and reading Song of the Lioness as a prequel! First Test is about Keladry of Mindelan, the young daughter of diplomats who’s the first girl to openly be trained as a knight, after her heroine Alanna made it by pretending to be a boy for years. Kel is a no-nonsense kind of person, and a brilliant tactical thinker, but she also has a heart for the helpless—she befriends the sparrows at her window and hates bullies and protects servants. She’s a fantastic heroine.

The last book in Protector of the Small and the last book in the next series are *handshake emoji* but I can’t tell you why, sooo

Scholomance trilogy, by Naomi Novik.** Nobody will shut up about these books, including me, and there is a reason why!! They’re astounding! Galadriel Higgins is a student at the Scholomance, a death trap of a magic school that wizards send their children to because it’s at least better than being constantly in danger in the outside world. El has made her peace with the competition of life—not everyone is going to make it, you can only look after yourself—but then she has one too many run-ins with the school’s shining hero, Orion Lake. She has a real talent for death and mass destruction and alienating people; he has a real talent for killing monsters and forgetting people’s names. Magic demands balance, after all…doesn’t it?

From here I’ve got no choice but to go to:

Folk of the Air trilogy, by Holly Black.** Spiritual sisters with the Scholomance books: why? Because I said so. These books are a fairytale about love and power, and they’re absolutely modern but totally true. Jude’s parents were killed by a Fae when she was a small child, and her parents’ murderer brought her and her sisters back to court with him and raised them as his own as a matter of honor. She’s a human where humans are playthings and servants, the only home she’s ever known is full of dangers for her, but Jude is determined to prove her worth. If she can’t be as good as them—she’ll be so much worse.

Folk of the Air seems like it’s making fun of notions of goodness and true love and then quietly subverts our expectations by making them more true than even we thought, which brings us to:

Discworld, particularly Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett.* Guards! Guards! is dedicated to the members of the palace guard who appear in one scene in every adventure to run at the hero one by one and then be cut down. I’m really struggling to describe it. It’s about a tiny group of cynical, jaded guardsmen who have given up on their city, until two things happen: a young, hopeful new recruit joins the ranks and doesn’t know yet why laws are flimsy things to be swept under the rug. And a dragon attacks. You can famously start Discworld anywhere, but I’d start here.

And finally, last because it’s unsortable:The Scorpio Races, by Maggie Stiefvater. I can’t in good conscience recommend the Raven Cycle because it’s so unsatisfying and also it will ruin your life, but the girlies deserve a little Stiefvater, as a treat!! And Scorpio Races is the only book of hers I’ve ever read that has an ending that seems fitting. Puck lives on a small island famous for one thing only: in November, bloodthirsty horse-like things come out of the water. And islanders capture them, and train them, and race them—even if it kills them.

#asks #go forth with your library card and have the best time!!!!!!!

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wangxianficfinder · 1 year

Text

I'm in the mood for...

~*~

1. Hi! Are there any fics where lqr is a good uncle to lwj? I don’t just mean those with the tag, but maybe something where he takes care of lwj or comforts or supports him in adulthood (cause when lwj is shown with a support system it’s usually primarily lxc, so I’m wondering if there’s anything with lqr)? Thanks!

When You Finally Find Your Family Series by Eleanor_Fenyx (T, 56k, WIP, WangXian, descriptions of canon events, Fix-It, Autistic coded LWJ, Canon-adjacent, Canon Divergence, Homeless WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending, WWX is a Lan) particularly the second fic which is a WIP.

For the last in the mood for, asking for good uncle lqr, I would like to recommend Iamnotawriter, they have really good stories that include lqr being nice to his nephews and wwx

~*~

2. HI for the next ITMF can you recommend any time travel fics where YL!WWX gets put in post canon WWX’s place?? Fluffy if possible but any will do thanks!

ghost out on the water by twigofwillow (T, 14k, WangXian, Memory Loss, Curses, Angst with a Happy Ending, No One Is Having a Great Time, surprisingly helpful LQR, Best Boy Sizhui, Post-Canon) this is less time travel than a curse with memory loss (and sorry it’s not fluffy) but its an interesting take on what would happen if yllz!wifi suddenly took mxy!wifi’s place in wangxian’s married life

~*~

3. for the next itmf, is there any time travel fics where any of the futures charas get to interact w/ their past counterparts and find them cringe? kind of like the vibe of Travel Back Down That Road by iSwallowMy_converse . thank u very much for ur hard work mods :D

From the Future for the Past by friedchickenlord (G, 27k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, First Love, Love Confessions, Fluff and Humor, accidental time travel due to one husband malfunctioning array, teen wangxian meet adult wangxian, Happy Ending)

~*~

4. hi slightly nsfw ask lol but do you have any fics where lwj is like a sex god - like where he is just really good at sex and has a reputation as such. there is one pride and prejudice themed one that i’m thinking of but other ones like that are just lwj being known for being really good at sex lol. also only with wangxian pls and toplwj !! thank you <3

(our friendship) up against the ropes by daltoneering (E, 36k, WangXian, Modern AU, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, lan zhan FUCKS, Fluff and Smut, Experienced LWJ, Oblivious WWX, Mutual Pining, Friends With Benefits, Pining while fucking, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Masturbation, Spit Kink, Dirty Talk, Light Bondage, Praise Kink, Dom/sub Undertones, Kink Negotiation, Pride and Prejudice 2005 (dir. Joe Wright), mentions of Wei Ying/others and Lan Zhan/others)

Rule Number One: Never get attached. by KizuKatana (E, 130k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O, Light Angst, Crime Boss LWJ, Rogue criminal genius WWX)

the earthquake in the room by phnelt (E, 39k, WangXian, College/University, Modern: No Powers, Canada, Getting Together, Mentions of lwj/others, inter-faculty romance, strangers to lovers to frenemies to lovers, mostly book characterisation)

~*~

5. Do you know any fics where wei ying leave the cuitvatuon world because of how his treated. Like he gets tired of it.

Away from Trouble by Ilona22 (M, 15k, WangXian, Not Jiāng Chéng Friendly, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

~*~

6. hiii!! for iitmf i was wondering if anyone has any recs for fics where wwx has an eating disorder? thank youuuuuu @camppureblood

a kind of emptiness by ScarlettStorm (E, 11k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Eating Disorders, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Eating Disorder Recovery, tricking your brain into better habits, bad choices, followed by good choices, low angst, Happy Ending, Tender smut, Frottage, Praise Kink, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note)

~*~

7. Are there any fanfics where wei ying leaves because he can't put up being treated the way he is. @chloecov4506

The Debts of a Child series by Hauntcats (M, 115k, jiangs & WWX, wangxian, canon divergence, not jiang friendly, angst w/ happy ending)

~*~

8. For the next itmf… is there a re-telling of the story from jin ling’s pov as a children’s book protagonist? Have a great week!

~*~

9. In the mood for a fanfic where wwx makes lwj laugh or smile for the first time and people are in shock or just whipped, overall just want some smiley lwj, preferably during cloud recesses arc?

~*~

10. Hi! For the Next im in the mood for, do you know if there are fics where Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan survive and the Jins have them imprisoned so they can have a reason to attack Wei Ying? Thank youuuuu

~*~

11. hello ❤️ for itmf, are there any fics where Jiang Yanli somehow leverages her Jin marriage into a position of power to help her brothers, instead of the other way around where she was practically jgs' bargaining chip to keep both jc and wwx in check? thank!!!

Aftermath by KouriArashi (T, 57k, JYL/JZX, wangxian, everybody lives (except JGS) au, romance, developing relationship, family, attempted sexual assault, processing trauma)

~*~

12. Hello! Thank you for all your hard work! For the next iitmf fic i'm in the mood for a modern au where wwx is someone who works with guns, be it a sniper or anything else, no thoughts, just shooter!wwx.

~*~

13. I'm in the mood for SMUT, but not just any smut, I'd like any fic where lwj fucks a core back into wwx. Those ones are always fun 👌 Love you all! ❤️

Always Light My Way by cqlorphan (E, 27k, wangxian, post-canon, getting together, friends w/ benefits to lovers, jealous WWX, misunderstanding, pining while fucking, switch wangxian, bottom LWJ, smut, dual cultivation, archer WWX, smart WWX, oblivious LWJ, angst w/ happy ending)

in defense of lightning by fruitys (E, 15k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Golden Core Reveal, Getting Together, First Time, Dual Cultivation)

mercy, tear it down. by orange_crushed (E, 31k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Dual Cultivation, Light BDSM, In Which Wangxian Fumble Towards An Understanding of D/S Dynamics, Porn with Feelings, Recovery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Wangxian-Typical CNC Play, Aftercare, Slight Feminization (ie Wei Ying Keeps Saying ‘Wife’), True Love, Past LWJ/Other)

i had to abandon myself (you took all of me) by justdoityoufucker (E, 27k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Novel Characterizations, Philosophy, Illnesses, Chronic Pain, Cultivation Sect Politics, Dual Cultivation, LWJ fucks a core into WWX, On Hiatus)

24 Hours by tailor31415 (E, 5k, WangXian, post-novel, PWP, But there’s a little plot, Bondage, Prostate Milking, Dual Cultivation) LWJ fucks a golden core into WWX in a lengthy and elaborate ritual (and, as a good Dom and Shixiong, sees that he’s fed, relaxed, and hydrated, and spots him throughout for both sub drop and qi deviation.

~*~

14. hello! ive just read Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket and i am absolutely fascinated about the idea of yunmeng jiang sect leader wwx. most fics ive read with sect leader wwx, he has his own sect. so im wondering if there are other fics where wwx is sect leader jiang. thanks for all your hard work!

The River Runs Forever by Cerusee (T, 136k, wangxian, JYL & WWX & JC, NHS/JYL, WWX & NHS, character death, BAMF WWX, inventor WWX, sect leader WWX, WIP)

~*~

15. Just read golden as they come (but he's bleeding out) and would love anything similar for an ITMF! Or just any v angst golden core/trauma reveals! Thank you!!

Drowning in the Sun by Zelos (T, 8k, JC & WWX, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Transfer, Brotherly Love, Sunshot Campaign, Family Dynamics, Grief/Mourning, Angst, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, [Podfic] Drowning in the Sun by flamingwell)

Listen to the Ocean (Hear it Break) by TheQueen (T, 3k, ChengQing, JC & WWX, WQ & WN, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Reveal, Character Study, Unreliable Narrator, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Angry Grape Boy hurts everyone around him and himself, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, Family Dynamics) close, very angsty moments right *after* a golden core reveal

~*~

16. Do you have any ATLA crossovers because I can’t find any unfortunately

Avatar: The Untamed Waterbender by KouriArashi (T, 181k, wangxian, JC/WQ, JC & WWX & JYL, Avatar fusion, action/adventure, families of choice, light angst, developing relationship, hurt/comfort, pining)

this world (what I make of it) by glitteringmoonlight (T, 22k, WIP, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, Avatar & Benders Setting, Avatar (TV) Fusion, Avatar LSZ, Light Angst, aftermath of a war, wangxian occurs but through lsz's pov, and only after a while, Teacher WWX)

as of 3:19 AM EST on 11/22/2022, the tag Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting yields 22 works for Mo Dao Zu Shi and 20 for The Untamed (TV), mostly overlapping.

Sparks by Anonymous (G, 679, XiCheng, Fluff, Getting Together, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Crossover, Love Confessions) Firebender! JC (mixed-race Water Tribe shidi to Avatar! WWX) training under Air Nomad! LXC

Book One: Water by Dont_do_sadness (M, 43k, WIP, WangXian, Avatar & Benders Setting, Fusion, LWJ is the avatar, JC is So Done and very sassy, Found Family Dynamics, chosen family, Friendship, Slow Burn, Genderfluid NHS, NHS is a Kyoshi Warrior, Protective WQ) Air Avatar LWJ; Southern Water Tribe Jiangs; Earth Kingdom Nies; Fire Nation Jin Sect and Northern Water Tribe Wen Sect for a change

~*~

17. I would love some fic recs where both Jades are autistic and not just Wangji! Thank you!! 💜 @the-vaguely-shifting-void

Falling Headlong by floraidh (T, 35k, wangxian, modern, college/university au, skater au, first meetings, first kiss, getting together, autistic LWJ, drunkji) both jades are autistic, but the focus is on lan zhan.

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic recs #i'm in the mood for a fic #the untamed #wangxian fic search #wangxianficfinder #long post

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johannestevans · 7 months

Text

BristolCon Looms!

Good evening!

BristolCon is coming up on the 21st of October, and I've ordered all the books I'll be selling there, plus have a bunch of badges ready to sell. I won't be on any panels this year, but I will be doing a reading in the evening, and I'll of course be available to chat, answer questions, or sign books.

If you're in or around Bristol, make sure to book your ticket and come along - if not, I'll be filming answers to questions on my TikTok, which I'll also repost on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. You can send questions here on this Google Form.

As far go media recs, I have a few - obviously I've been enjoying the newest season of Our Flag Means Death, and I've started a rewatch of Boston Legal, which is a classic show that I love absolutely to death.

I also have some movies to rec!

Talk To Me (2022, dir. Michael & Danny Philippou) - This movie has everything. Utterly fucked up miserable possession horror, scary jumps and slowly building dread, great character writing, incredible editing, TikTok trends, a pair of side characters made up of an extremely hot Samoan guy built like a rugby player and an extremely hot transmasc person who absolutely fucks shit up, good jokes, good banter, utterly fucked up gore and violence! It's so well-written, it's so well-paced, it fucking rocks!

Swallowed (2022, dir. Carter Smith) - Is this movie good? No. But must a movie be good? Can't a movie effectively be a bugfuck tortureporn flick where a straight guy with a huge dick secretly in love with his gay best friend who's about to leave for Los Angeles to be a pornstar is erect for most of the movie because he ate a magical bug that has an aphrodisiac effect on him whilst trying to traffic those bugs for money, and the gay best friend has to fist him to pull some of the bugs out of his guts? And also Mark Patton is in it and dressed gorgeously and fruiting it up the entire time?

Layer Cake (2004, dir. Matthew Vaughn) - This wasn't a groundbreaking flick or anything, but it was fun and it was pretty gay and sexy. It's got a great cast, really good pacing and choreography - as you'd expect from Mr Vaughn - and a really fun, tightly-written script. Lots of room for male objectification in this one, and that's honestly why I'm reccing it.

We also watched No One Will Save You (2023, dir. Brian Duffield) - I recommend this with a caveat, in that like... So Swallowed is obviously a bit of a shit flick, but has a lot of great stuff going on despite that - No One Will Save You is incredible... for the first two acts. The aliens are haunting in their movements and design, the world feels so real and rich, we get a deep insight into someone utterly consumed with agony and regret at the worst thing they'd done in their childhood. The third act is a complete fumble, and the last ten minutes particularly had me fucking raging. I still think that the rest of the film is so good the movie is worth watching - Kaitlyn Dever really carries it beautifully whilst having no dialogue at all - but just. Be prepared for a shit ending, that's all.

New Works Published

Our Flag Means Death Fanfiction Update: Repentance & Forgiveness

Rated E. Izzy/Frenchie. 49k+, WIP. On the Queen Anne, Frenchie can't sleep.

Desperate to just get whatever he can away from Blackbeard's crew, he knocks on Izzy's door and invites himself in.

Chapter 13 on Ao3 / Chapter 14 on Ao3

Romance Short: Workplace Connections

A junior secretary makes a friend at work, and some more besides.

10k, rated M, F/F. A young woman makes friends with one of the only male secretaries in her workplace. 1960s Manhattan, featuring lavender marriages, period queerness, misogyny, etc. Light-hearted age gap cheeriness. Adapted from a TweetFic.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

Erotic Short: Yes, Sir

A criminal accountant’s goon obeys his orders, then takes them a bit further.

3.6k, cis M/trans M, rated E. A criminal accountant has his big bear muscle guy fuck him, and the bear does so until the accountant is a whimpering mess. Vaginal sex, size difference, rough sex, objectification, implied overstim, power dynamics and role reversal, age difference.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

Erotic Short: A Gift for the Wolfmen

A young man in a brothel is invited to join a quartet of hulking wolf-like warriors.

6.4k, rated E. Two trans men, both being gangbanged by four cis wolfmen with huge cocks.

Fantasy universe with adventurers and so forth. Featuring stuck-through-wall and grope boxes, body writing, vaginal, oral, and anal play, huge come inflation, size difference, knotting, power dynamics, virginity kink, objectification and dehumanisation, degradation, humiliation, breeding kink, body modification, mentions of lactation and pregnancy, and enthusiastic consent throughout.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

#musings #original fiction #our flag means death

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roselightfairy · 8 months

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love ❤️

Aww, I love this! Okay, thank you so much and thank you for the chance to do some navel gazing!

Also... my AO3 has 144 stories on it. When did that happen? For a question like this, I want to pick for quality of writing, but I'm finding myself going back mostly to the stories that either really stretched or defined me as a writer, or simply the ones that were a really memorable experience to write . . . which unfortunately means mostly my longer fics, as so many of the shorter ones were written in a single flurry that I barely remember after the fact! Even though there are some shorter fics that I think are better than the longer ones. So let's get started.

Finding a Voice - I mean, how can I not say this one? This fic, like a lot of my older work, has some passages and scenes that I think are so good I can't believe I wrote them, and some that make me cringe to look back on - but how can I not pick it, when it's the story that probably defines me most as a writer? It's the story that allowed me to stake out my own headcanons and gave rise to hundreds of thousands more in the same world. And, like all my LOTR stuff, I do want to return to it someday soon. <3

Ever Changing, Ever Climbing - still the longest thing I've ever written, and the thing I worked on for the longest time. I lived in the world of this story and these characters for almost a year, and probably came the closest I ever have to what non-fanfic authors experience when coming up with their own characters, because I got to make so much of it up! It similarly has bits that make me cringe, especially when I realize how much more deeply other people have thought about Mirkwood worldbuilding and how much lore I straight-up got wrong, but I think it also has some of my best prose and my best romance writing. And siblings. I got to write baby Legolas in this! And also I just love Laerwen so much and love that I got the chance to write her an origin story, so that it doesn't all exist only in the background of my head.

Only Through Surrender - come on, this is my current obsession; I was never not going to put it on the list! But in some ways, this is exactly the inverse of the previous story. I wrote this faster than I've ever written anything this long, and it's the most daring thing I've ever written in terms of plot. The romance is almost a subplot, which I don't know that I've ever done satisfactorily, and it's an AU, which is not something I'm great at sustaining, and even though I don't know that the writing style overall is my best work, I think that the structure and pacing of the story - and the things I did with characters - are pretty good, all things considered! The only non-LOTR fic on this list.

Velle - in terms of "fun to write," this story might be the very top of all of them. This was @deheerkonijn's and my early-covid project (we actually started it a couple months before, but I think working on it saved us in those early telework days of stress and angst); it's a form of storytelling neither of us had tried before, combining both of our skills, and it's probably the most rigorously edited and densely-packed thing I've ever written. We went over and over and over this story with a fine-toothed comb, making sure the writing and the art worked perfectly together, and we liked it so much we printed it as a physical book! *smooches my copy gently*

Having moved out of the most iconic ones, I wasn't sure what to pick for the last! This became a bit of a toss-up, but I wanted to have a shorter fic represented, so: the hunter's heart, the hunter's mouth. This is my only fic with a Richard Siken title, so I figured it was fitting given that he's everywhere right now. ;) Inspired by the title, this is one of my more deliberately poetic fics, and I had a lot of fun with the writing. It's also some of my more daringly explicit work! (still does not include any words for certain aspects of anatomy)

Thanks so much again for sending me this ask! So sorry for how much I ramble when talking about myself! ;) Off to go pass it on!

#my fic #navel gazing #ask

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aspecpplarebeautiful · 1 year

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I’m so sorry if this is stupid, but is it possible to be aro while wishing you weren’t? I’ve never been in love, but I can imagine what it would feel like in the same way I can imagine what it would be like to visit Paris, even though I‘ve never been. I want that feeling, but I can’t ever envision it happening to me bc I’ve never felt it before. It’s an emotion that I lack the capacity to experience, like it’s just missing from my catalog of feelings. When other people describe it I don’t recognise it as something I’ve ever felt. But I know I want romantic intimacy. Like, I want a romantic connection, I want that experience, but I know it’s not there inside me. Is this aro, or is it something else? Thank you 💚

It is possible to be aromantic but wish you weren't, or still really want a romantic relationship. Sometimes people have a hard time accepting their orientation or lack of romantic feelings. Often it comes out of internalizing messages we're taught around romance, such as the idea that you need romance to be happy, that romance is the only way to have a deep meaningful connection with another person/romance is the most meaningful connection you can have with someone, that being in a romantic relationship gives us worth, etc.

None of these are true by the way, a lot of people live happy, fulfilling lives without romance, or without a long-term romantic partner, we can have deep meaningful relationship with other people outside of romance and not everyone's deepest relationship is with their romantic partner, even if they do have a close romantic partner, and our worth in inherent, it doesn't depend on what kinds of relationships we have or don't have.

One thing I like to compare this with is chocolate. Chocolate's often called the greatest food, something people can't live without, better than sex (ha!), etc. But some people just don't like it, for whatever reason it tastes bad to them. And they can force themselves to eat it, and maybe even tolerate it, but they'll never get that same experience people who absolutely adore chocolate have. But there are other foods, or just in general other things they probably do enjoy. Romance can be like that, sometimes it just doesn't bring that same experience, but there's probably other things out there that will be more fulfilling or feel more worth doing.

I like to look at aromanticism as being given a choice. Aro people have to figure out what kind of life they want to live, what kind of relationships are or aren't important to them, and what actually makes them happy.

(It's actually a choice I think everyone has, because that specific path of building a life around a romantic life partner isn't right for all alloromantic people either, but aro people are often confronted with it in a much harder to ignore way.)

Remember aro doesn't mean you can't have something you want to have, too. Just that you may not enjoy or appreciate things the way you would if you were alloromantic. Aros can still have close relationships if they want them, they can have life partners if they want them, some even still have romantic relationships and/or do romantic coded things, and that includes aros who have no romantic feelings at all. (Though I will say it can often be a lot easier to figure out this part after coming to terms with and accepting your identity.)

If you're not experiencing romantic feelings, I would definitely recommend exploring aromanticism because it is a very common aro experience, and a common reason why people ID as aro. And if you're looking for resources, I'd recommend seeking out reading up on aro experiences, Arocalypse and Carnival of Aros are great places to start if you're not sure where to look, but following aro blogs, checking out aro media is all good too. (You can find a lot of rec lists for books/podcasts with aro characters especially). And even if you don't end up IDing as aro, it will help remove that stigma and scariness of both being aro, and not having romantic feelings.

My other big advice is to go slow. Don't feel like you have to have this all figured out in a day (or that there's any deadline at all). Take time to process, and get to know and understand the aro community and identity. And trust that whatever direction you go, you will find out what matters to you, and what path is right for you.

Feel to ask if at any point you have any more questions, Anon. All the best and good luck!

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polyamorouspunk · 7 months

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do you have any fantasy book recs that arent classics and also aren't like booktok shit?

youtube

Here’s a book tour of what’s on my shelf! I’ll go more in-depth on some of these books below as well as include books I don’t own but still fully support!

Savvy by Ingrid Law

If you know me at all you know that Savvy is my favorite book, enough that I literally named myself after it. Savvy is a great book and won many awards. There’s a 10-year edition out that you can buy now as well. Savvy is a great book as a stand-alone, but the other books in the series are pretty good too! Savvy is a great real-world fantasy coming-of-age in the most wild way possible. Basically a girl comes from a weird family who all get weird powers on their 13th birthday. Through a family tragedy, she ends up having to reveal her family’s secret to friends from church on a cross-state road trip where they meet colorful characters. Through her journey she learns what being a “teen” is like and decided to enforce boundaries for herself, which we totally support. This book is wholesome, and aimed for middle school readers who are transitioning from tweens to teens.

Pros:

Colorful characters

Just a really interesting story you’re going to find things in here you wouldn’t find in any other book. This really means the characters, and their lives. So much thought is put into these characters they’re so whacky they take on a life of their own

Very straight-forward. Since it’s a stand-alone book there’s no confusing overarching plot-line/story.

Great as a stand-alone or the rest of the series. If you like the book for what it is you can keep it to this book, but if you really like the characters and wish to see more of them, they all show up in the later books

Cons:

This is really made for a middle-school audience

There is a character who has a controversial name. She’s the main character in the third book but she’s a baby in this one. Honestly I this isn’t a con for me personally, I understand that books are the product of their time, and when I was 13 when this book came out I didn’t think there was anything wrong with her name, it’s only now as an adult that I’ve been online and seen concerns that people have raised about the name in general I understand this might be a con.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Who here hasn’t heard of The Maze Runner? I’m going to go through it anyway in case someone here hasn’t- and if you haven’t, then here’s my pitch: The Maze Runner, which only has a maze in some of the books but that’s okay, is a great post-apocalyptic book. If you liked The Hunger Games, you will like The Maze Runner. The Maze Runner starts in The Maze and the rest of the series details what happens outside of The Maze. I honestly can’t remember if I read the last book, I read up to The Death Cure at least. I only own the first book and that’s because I picked it up at a book sale. The last time I read this book I had My Chemical Romance’s Sleep playing, and it’s the only time I’ve ever been “scared” by a book other than reading Pet Semetary, so in terms of “scare” factor, this book is on par with Stephen King for me. As someone who really loves viral infection stories, this book has an added layer to it for me. This book borders on being horror, people die and they die horribly and I appreciate that in a teen book series.

Pros:

You can microdose on horror by reading these

These are such a classic they should be easy to find at any library

There are movies

Cons:

If you don’t like scary books maybe this isn’t for you

Your favorite character is dead

Female character isn’t the worst but some people had issue with her especially in the movies

There are movies

Battling Boy by Paul Pope

This is a graphic novel you’ve probably never heard of! I got this book advanced copy and it came with a t-shirt of the main character. This is a graphic novel about a petty god (?) boy who is supposed to take his father’s throne but his father (I think? It’s been a while) decides he’s a brat and banishes him until he learns some manners. If you like Marvel then this is a good graphic novel for you. I have literally no idea if there are more of these, I have no idea if the author has written anything else (I would assume he has), this book literally just dropped into my lap and I still have the shirt and the book and it really wasn’t bad at all.

Pros:

Graphic novel

Cons:

Pretty obscure

The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

This is another book that magically fell in my lap! I’ve only read the first 2 books in this series, and the first was significantly better than the second. This book is set in Ye Old Fashioned Middle Ages times (castles, knights, stuff like that) and is a magic fantasy novel. It follows a younger boy who lives at basically a monastery and I’ll be honest I don’t remember what the plot is but he walks through the woods a lot to arrive at various destinations.

Pros:

He has the cutest little mythical creature (behind him on the cover) and it talks

He’s not the most interesting or relatable main character but he’s pretty chill

The monastery is a cool setting that I feel like isn’t visited a lot

I think there’s a cool cabin he visits too

The monsters (seen in the trees) are kind of cool

Cons:

Second book was a bit of a let-down

Aimed for middle school readers

The Tapestry by Henry H. Neff

This. Is. It. Everyone talks about wanting “good” H*rry P*tter replacements. Well here it is. The best H*rry P*tter replacement out there. I hate to diminish the series to only that, because there’s so much more to it. This book series, much like the one referenced, starts off pretty light-hearted and slowly gets darker and darker as the threat of the main villain becomes more and more real. This series has it all though. The story follows a boy who becomes a destined hero (think Percy Jackson) and his roommate who becomes a destined wizard (think H*rry P*tter) as they work together in a magic school where the teachers and staff are fighting this evil to try and overcome it.

Pros:

There is a gay ship waiting for you right there with Max (main character) and David (roommate)

David is just as important as Max in the story. David’s role is to support Max but at the same time he doesn’t take a back seat. He has his own missions and side-quests going on that the reader isn’t privy to until he tells Max about them

It’s not cannon probably but David is heavily aro/ace coded.

They. Have. Cute. Animals. Everyone at the school gets a “companion” mythical creature and Max’s is ADORABLE. You will fall in love with his little creature companion.

There’s a lot of Celtic references, so if you’re into that, this is a definite recommendation

Time-travel

Daring adventures outside the school in the “real-world” including some cool Day of the Dead stuff

Backstories on some characters/unlikely pairings that I really enjoy, as well as lore to the school

The villain is super charming. Like, Voldemort isn’t charming. He’s just a dick. This villain is charming and you almost end up liking him. Also, they don’t shy away from some dark stuff. There’s character deaths but there’s also a key body mutilation a character has to deal with (so, magical disability representation?)

Cons:

You will cry. Something happens and I’m not going to say what it is but it gets me every time and I cannot and will not forgive the author for it. You can’t just make me love something and then rip it away from me and expect me to be okay with it. Cruelty.

Indelible by Dawn Metcalf

Dawn Metcalf’s first book wasn’t anything I was really liked (but I own it!) but MAN she went OFF with this series. First of all, I just have to congratulate her on making a likable female main character. I love Joy, she’s great, she’s so relatable. Second off: polyamory rep! I love Inq, she’s such a great character, and all of her boyfriends supporting Joy as their like “sister-in-law” is wild. I love the dynamic between Joy and her dude-bro hoard. Also, I love the idea of having a human main character but the non-human main characters have the struggle of trying to decide who they are, and if they want to be human, because they don’t know who or what they are and their place in life. This series is 100% responsible for my poor dating choices because boy oh boy if you like sad emo boys this series is for you. Also I named one of my animals after the sad emo boy.

Pros:

Emo tattoo artist representation

Relatable main character. If my life got destroyed like hers did I would be pissed off too also yeah I would absolute fake-date an emo tattoo artist demon only to fall in love with him how could you not?

Literally sorry who doesn’t want to fuck a scalpel-wielding emo boy tattoo artist demon with black eyes and a sad pathetic nature but who gets murderous when anyone touches his precious human gf

The literally relationship anarchy that is Inq and her manwhore polycule also Inq’s relationship with Joy where she’s literally so fucking bisexual it’s insane

Actual good world-building

Cons:

Just that it’s more obscure so it might be harder to find

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

I did not finish this series, after I got the first book before it was released for public sale I did hunt down some of the other books, at least the second one. This book is a post-apocalyptic dystopian book similar to The Hunger Games (I swear not every futuristic post-apocalyptic dystopian book is similar to the hunger games) where kids are enslaved in a type of prison and kind of like The X-Men their powers are rated by how “dangerous” they are. The book follows the main protagonist as she I think escapes the school either with some other kids or meets up with some other kids. She’s labeled as one of the more “dangerous” types, it goes by color and I believe hers is orange. Her and her companions are hunted down to be returned to their prison as they go on the run. The ending made me kind of sad (I’m not good with character breakups, I am not coping well with OFMD-) but the second book resolves it a little bit? Idk, I think I only read it like once or twice. and even then I only got to the second book. It wasn’t anything to write home about, as my mom says, but if you like the kind of Magneto storyline of him being in a… well, you know what I’m talking about… and you like the idea of that not being so real and having real-world events tied to them but the idea of a fictional prison that basically houses “mutants” who are dangerous, and you like YA romance, this book might be something you’d be interested in.

Pros:

Nice character dynamic with older girl and her younger girl companion

The special powers/post-apocalyptic type story honestly doesn’t really get old to me, even if the books themselves are mediocre

Hell yeah fuck the government

Cons:

If you don’t like that sweet, sweet YA romance taking up a good chunk of your stories this might not be the book series for you

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

I read this series so much as a kid it’s insane. I own most of the books up to book 9, and I’ve read them all up to that. I’ve probably read this book at least 5 times. It never gets old. The series follows a girl who get dragged into the magical underground scene of London with a sarcastic talking skeleton detective. As the books go on you get the sense things are coming to a head, and a bigger, evil prophecy lurks over the adventures of each book, kind of like Percy Jackson.

Pros:

This series is hilarious. I’ve never read a series that’s as funny as this one. Every character is sarcastic and a twat in one way or another.

Valkyrie can be annoying, but you get the feeling that it’s because she’s growing up. She’s an amazing character overall, so even when she makes decisions that I, the reader, disagree with, I feel like it’s because she’s coming into her own person, and that I was that annoying at that age too.

There’s a LOT of these, and they are MASSIVE books. There’s not a lack of content here.

The relationship between Skulduggery and Valkyrie is written really well.

I wanted to be in this universe so badly growing up I wanted to be just like Tanith and Valkyrie and Skulduggery. They were formative characters for me who I aspired to be.

Cons:

I’m sorry. There’s a love triangle between the bad-boy sexy vampire and the polite and goofy fun-loving wholesome boy.

The books start to go off the rails in my opinion after book like 7ish. After book like 5 or 6 I feel like 7 is okay but not as good and then they go downhill from there. There’s more than the 9 I’ve read out, but I stopped reading after about book 9 just from growing out of reading/also feeling like they were going off the rails/I had to hunt down all these books and I own 7 of them which is a LOT especially when you’re like 15 and don’t have a job.

The queer rep is thrown in like book 7 or 8 and it’s literally like 1 sentence and it feels so shoehorned in and it’s like I could have lived perfectly fine with this character being straight like that would have been fine really you didn’t have to make her pansexual after the fact.

Stephanie being 12 when the book series started makes it hard for me to relate now that I’m 24 because I started reading it when I was probably like 11/12 and her growing up and doing more adult things was at times unrelatable to me as a kid (but I wanted to be her!!!) and now that I’m an adult it’s like oh wow she was a child and so was I and then she was “an adult” (15,16,17,18) but now I’m an adult and she’s still a child (15,16,17,18).

Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

If you like steampunk this book series is for you! It’s set in high fantasy, the time period is I guess kind of mideval? I mean they sleep on straw beds and have horse-drawn carriages so it’s certainly not like London circa 1920s or something. This book has trolls and dragons and all that magic shit. This book is cool if you like alchemy as well.

Pros:

This series only has 7 books because 7 is the important number in the series, meaning it didn’t have time to get bad. The books remain consistently decent.

The dragons and alchemy and all that stuff is cool!

Contains a friend group which is pretty neat. Some of them are probably autistic coded.

Did I mention the dragons

The town and cabin in the marshlands are cool fantasy settings, along with other locations in the story.

Cons:

I don’t really understand why some characters have names like Septimus and Beetle and other characters have names like Jenna and Marcia (also how to pronounce “Marcia” was a debate in my household for years and is probably the only thing I agreed with my dad on ever).

Jenna turned into a little bitch. I think she redeemed herself, and I support her joining a coven of witches, but she was just a dick for no reason and Beetle deserved better.

Legend by Marie Lu

This book series is so good, it’s a great little trilogy. The post-apocalyptic city-type setting is cool, it’s kind of starting to hit a little too close to home these days but 😅 the fact this is another book that deals with a mysterious virus and a shitty sketchy government is great and Day is the best character ever.

Pros:

Day. Best character ever.

Cool characters in The Resitance™️

Detailed. Very descriptive. Very easy to picture the characters and their outfits and the locations they’re in.

Dialect! The dialect in this book is amazing! Regional dialect among the poor vs the rich is a great concept to include. I used to say “cuz” way too much as a kid because I wanted to be like Day. Transgender moment.

A neat little triology. Not enough to go off the rails.

Cons:

Not one but two love triangles. Both are bad.

June? Sucks ass. My friends and I used to yell about how much we hated June.

The story that Day supposedly murdered Micah and June just refuses to believe him when he tells her he didn’t seems… unrealistic. Like idk maybe it’s me when I say “man if someone told me they had magic powers I would believe them instantly” or whatever but like her going back and forth on whether or not she believes him seems so wishy-washy. I get that the idea is she was raised in a cult and she is trying to break free of that cult and see the lies they told her (kind of like She-Ra?) but I feel like Adora picks up on that “oh my god I’ve been lied to this whole time! You ARE the good guys! A lot quicker than June. June drags her feet and it makes it annoying as a reader.

Also the revelation that Micah is [redacted] and June’s like I can’t believe he wouldn’t tell me 😭 like yeah girl you’re in a cult I probably wouldn’t have told you either. Sorry.

#punk gets mail #part 2 will be in a reblog

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