#fantasy patrol liz liz

[nastyboker]

@kazachokolate and I decided to do this Double Meme by rennyo8 (unfortunately, we couldn't find them or their original version anywhere). My side is the left one and hers is on the right.

1. Our self-portraits.

2. Our attempts to draw each other

Based on old photos, drawings and imagination. Yeah we never actually met, but that's the fun part. :D

3. and 4. are skipped due to being plain Russian text.

5. Our redraws of each other's art.

I chose Kazachokolate's OC, I think she's adorable!

I gave her Lamb-Cult-ish pupils because Kaza likes the game.^^

6. Art Trade Time!!!

We both agreed on ships, bc shipping is love, shipping is life. Kazachokolate requested Vasilisa and Alexander from Black Book. I asked for Vasilisa (yeah that's kinda funny) and the Cat from Fantasy Patrol. Guess we both like Russian witches with braids, fine relations with black cats and who also are female husbands to their male wife nerds.

7. "Blind" Ship.

Each of us picked a character and drew them in a kissing pose without telling each other about our choice. We only agreed on head size and hand position beforehand. I had a very hard time making the decision. Mavis is probably not the most creative option, but I'm actually happy with how it all turned out to be.

A tin man and a vampire girl is a pretty neat ship, if I do say so myself. Them outliving their partners wouldn't be an issue anymore. :D I love how they randomly got some similar details like Mavis' hair and Tin Man's hadle (which resebles hair a bit) sticking out and curving or them both having small round dimples.

This meme was an enjoyable experience. Really helped me to get myself out of my comfort zone a bit.^^

I'm sorry, if you broke your eyes trying to read all this.

[photogirl894]

You probably know where the inspiration for this one comes from, but can I pretty please request a Hunter x Reader with the line “I’d rather share one short life with you than spend my whole life alone, " possibly in a fantasy AU where Hunter is a knight and reader is a princess??

Congratulations on 1300 followers, lovey!

Girl, you know the quickest way to my heart! Give me Hunter AND Aragorn?? YES!! 🥰 Glad you caught where that line prompt came from lol I just re-worded it a little differently.

I can definitely do a fantasy AU for you, my sweet Liz 💜🥰

"Heart of a Man"

7. “I’d rather share one short life with you than spend my whole life alone.”

Pairing: Hunter x Princess reader (Fantasy AU)

***

As a Princess, you were not afforded the luxury of love. Your older brother was next in line for the throne, so you didn't have to worry about the pressure of being Queen one day and finding a suitable spouse to rule with. However, you were expected by your parents, the King and Queen, to enter a political marriage with the Prince of another kingdom to secure an alliance between your kingdom and his. You didn't want to be forced into something like that, but you were a Princess; therefore, it was your duty.

You especially didn't want to go through with the marriage because your heart already belonged to someone else...someone you unfortunately could not be with.

His name was Hunter and he was the Captain of the Kingsguard. He was the one your father always entrusted with your safety when you traveled to other kingdoms or needed security or an escort somewhere. When you spent so much time with the Captain, it was almost inevitable that you would fall for him. Especially when he was handsome beyond compare with his long, dark hair and a skull tattoo on half of his face; a mark of the tribe of people he hailed from. Even the most handsome Prince in all the world that every maiden fawned over would not rival the Captain. Not by a long road. He was also noble, loyal, brave and incredibly kind. Even though he was loyal to the King and tried to abide by his sworn duty to protect you, he couldn't deny his true feelings either and had fallen for you, too.

After one particular trip, when you had almost been assassinated and the Captain had saved your life by putting himself between you and the attacker, you had let your feelings slip by kissing him when you were alone in the medical room. The both of you had suspected there was something more between you, but had chosen to not act on your feelings so as to not put yourselves in compromising positions. That day, though, when you thought you'd almost lost him, you decided duties be damned. Even if it was just the once.

It was that day that changed everything. Your tender kiss was what caused a shift in the Captain's heart...a shift so great that one night, at a grand ball; the one where you were supposed to announce your engagement to the Prince, even, he came to you with an offer that greatly surprised you.

The feast was over and everyone in attendance was mingling or dancing. Your parents were talking with the Prince's parents and the Prince was trying to talk to you, too, but you weren't really in a mood. You hated that you were even at this ball to begin with. Luckily, Hunter came to your rescue, telling you he had some urgent business to discuss with you, which gave you the excuse to take your leave of the Prince.

He led you to the secluded gardens out on the grounds of the castle and once he was sure the two of you were out of sight from any patrols or royals, he took you in his arms and kissed you with such overwhelming passion that you immediately couldn't help but reciprocate.

"Was this your urgent business, Captain?" you asked between kisses.

"Yes and no," he answered, "but I will get to it in a moment."

You pulled away and hugged him around his waist, burying your face in his chest. "I don't want to go through with this," you told him, your voice quivering as you felt his hand smooth your hair. "I don't want to be with the Prince. I want to be with you. If I marry the Prince, I'll be taken away to his kingdom and I'll never see you again. I don't know if my heart could bear it."

Tears fell from your eyes and onto his armor. For a short moment, he said nothing, but when he did, he said something that you didn't anticipate:

"Then run away with me."

Stunned, you lifted your head to look at him, his brown eyes almost glowing in the moonlight as he looked down lovingly at you.

"I can't deny myself of this any longer," he told you. "My heart as a man has overcome my duty as a knight...and I have fallen deeply in love with you, my Princess."

You lightly gasped in both surprise and delight. He swore he would not shirk his duty as the Captain and that he would not compromise you that way for your safety...but now, it appeared that he was forgoing that vow.

"I can't bear the thought of you marrying the Prince either," he continued. He reached down and took your hands in his. "Run away with me and marry me, Princess. We can go anywhere, just us, and be together as we desire." He brought your hands to his lips and kissed your knuckles, showing his heartfelt devotion to you. “I’d rather share one short life with you than spend my whole life alone. Come with me...tonight...please, (Y/N)."

Never in all the time you'd known him had he ever addressed you by just your name. It was always formalities such as "Princess", "your Highness" or "my lady". That proved to you how incredibly serious he was about this proposal...and you thought your heart would burst with all-consuming joy.

"Yes!" you quietly exclaimed. "Yes, I will go with you and I will marry you! Yes!"

You threw all caution to the wind and jumped up on him, throwing your arms around his neck and kissing him happily. He stumbled back slightly from the impact, but he held you in place against him as he kissed you in return.

When he set you back to the ground, he kept going, "I only have a bit of money to my name and I don't have a ring for you yet, but I can offer you my heart and my undying devotion. My duty to you remains the same: I will do everything in my power to protect you and to make you happy. I will love you for the rest of my days and beyond."

"I don't need anything else," you reassured him, your hand coming up to his cheek. "I only need my beloved Captain and the love he gives. That alone makes me richer as a woman than being a Princess ever did."

With a sigh of both relief and love, Hunter turned and pressed his lips to your palm.

"I love you so much," you told him.

"And I love you," he replied. "More than I can ever put into words."

"When do we leave...Hunter?" you asked with a smile, his name sweet as honey on your tongue.

"We can leave this very moment, if you wish," he answered.

"Then what are we waiting for, my love? Our future awaits."

Photogirl894's Fluff/Romance prompts

Photogirl894's 1,300 Followers celebration fics

[taleswritten]

Under the cut is a list of muses I have for those who can’t open the google doc. Note: the google doc has detailed information about them so if you can, please open it up.

Bold is primary, italic is secondary, regular is by request.

TVD/TO/LEGACIES:

ELENA GILBERT

KATHERINE PEIRCE

DAMON SALVATORE

ALARIC SALTZMAN

LIZZIE SALTZMAN

josie saltzman

caroline forbes

bonnie bennett

Klaus Mikaelson

FINAL FANTASY:

CLOUD STRIFE (ff7r)

aeirth (ff7 remake)

tifa (ff7 remake)

Jill Warrick (ff16)

Clive Rosfield (ff16)

snow villiers

THIRTEEN REASON’S WHY:

Justin Foley

Bryce Walker

Jessica Davis

Clay Jenson

911/911 LONE STAR:

ATHENA GRANT

MADDIE BUCKLEY

OWEN STRAND

TK STRAND

GRACE RYDER

AHS:

Brooke Thompson

Montanna Duke

donovan

BBC SHERLOCK:

SHERLOCK HOLMES

BRIDGERTON:

Simon Bassett

Daphne Bridgerton

kate sharma/bridgerton

Penelope Featherington

BTVS/ATS

Buffy Summers

CORDELIA CHASE

CAOS:

SABRINA SPELLMAN

ONE CHICAGO:

natalie manning

JAY HALSTEAD

ADAM RUZEK

KIM BURGESS

Hank Voight

CRIMINAL MINDS:

Spencer Reid

Emily Prentiss

DAREDEVIL:

MATT MURDOCK

DEXTER:

DEXTER MORGAN

DCTV:

SARA LANCE

JOHN CONSTANTINE

SPOONER

EUPHORIA:

JULES VAUGHN

RUE BENNETT

FROM DUSK TIL DAWN:

Seth Gecko

Kate Fuller

GOOD GIRLS:

BETH BOLAND

Greys’ Anatomy:

meredith grey

JO WILSON

CARINA DELUCA

Ameila Shepard

GAME OF THRONES:

DANY

Jon Snow

Sansa Stark

NCB HANNIBAL:

WILL GRAHAM

HAUNTING OF BLY MANNER:

DANI CLAYTON

PETER QUINT

HEMLOCK GROVE

PETER RUMANCEK

HTGAWM:

CONNOR WALSH

LAW AND ORDER SVU:

OLIVIA BENSON

Elliot Stabler

kathleen stabler

alex cabot

casey novak

LOST GIRL:

BO DENNIS

LUCIFER:

CHLOE DECKER

lucifer morningstar

mazikeen

MINDHUNTER:

Holden Ford

POSE:

ANGEL EVANGALISTA

BLANCA EVANGALISTA

PRODIGAL SON:

MALCOLM BRIGHT

RIVERDALE:

ARCHIE ANDREWS

BETTY COOPER

TONI TOPAZ

CHERYL BLOSSOM

FP Jones

JUGHEAD JONES

ROSWELL NEW MEXICO:

MAX EVANS

LIZ ORTECHO

STRANGER THINGS:

NANCY WHEELER

BILLY HARGROVE (BILLY’S TATTOOS POST SEASON THREE HERE )

STATION 19:

Vic Hughes

SUPERNATURAL:

Dean Winchester

THE MAGICIANS:

ELIOT WAUGH

MARGO HANSON

THE WITCHER (GAME, TV SHOW, AND BOOK MIXED MEDIA):

GERALT (please note, geralt has cat-eyes. not the eyes we see in the show. if you need a visual, think game geralt)

CIRI

TRUE BLOOD:

SOOKIE STACKHOUSE

TARA THORTON

jessica hamby

JASON STACKHOUSE

SAM MERLOTTE

WYNONNA EARP:

WYNONNA EARP

WAVERLY EARP

NICOLE HAUGHT

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY:

KLAUS HARGREEVES

ALLISON HARGREEVES

VAN HELSING:

Vanessa Van Helsing

YOU:

BECK

JOE GOLDBERG

LOVE QUINN

THEO

FORTY QUINN

DCU:

WONDER WOMAN/DIANA PRINCE

HARLEY QUINN (au verse 1 here)

DESCENDANTS:

HARRY HOOK

MAL BERTHA

EVIE GRIMHILDE

MCU:

DEADPOOL/WADE WILSON

EDDIE BROCK/VENOM

STEVE ROGERS/CAPTAIN AMERICA

WANDA MAXIMOFF

BUCKY BARNES

NATASHA ROMANOFF

YELENA BELOVA

THOR

LOKI

MICHAEL MORBIUS

Peter Parker (the amazing spiderman)

POTC:

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW

ASSASSIN’S CREED SERIES:

JACOB FRYE

EVIE FRYE

EIVOR

KASSANDRA

DETRIOT BECOME HUMAN:

Connor

DRAGON AGE:

MORRIGAN

FENRIS

GARRETT HAWKE

MARIAN HAWKE

CYBERPUNK:

V (both male and v, both streetkid and corpo)

JOHNNY SILVERHAND

JUDY ALVAREZ

LAST OF US:

joel miller

ELLIE

LEGEND OF ZELDA:

LINK

RESIDENT EVIL:

ADA WONG

LEON KENNEDY (previously traumamade)

ETHAN WINTERS

LADY DIMITRESCU

Claire Redfield

dimitrescu daughters

TOMB RAIDER:

LARA CROFT

UNCHARTED:

NATHAN DRAKE

BLEACH:

ichigo kurosaki

GRIMMJOW JAEGERJAQUEZ

VAMPYR:

JOHNATHAN REID

BLACK BUTLER:

SEBASTIAN MICHAELIS

BLUE EXORCIST

RIN OKAMARU

HELLSING:

SERAS VICTORIA

INTEGRA HELLSING

NARUTO:

NARUTO UZUMAKI

TSUNADE

SEVEN DEADLY SINS:

BAN

VAMPIRE KNIGHT:

yuuki cross/kuran

ZERO KIYRUU

OUAT:

Regina Mills

Emma Swan

SOA:

JAX TELLER

VENUS

GEMMA TELLER

WHITE COLLAR:

Neal Caffrey

FAR CRY:

FAITH SEED

NEW AMSTERDAM:

MAX GOODWIN

CRUELLA:

CRUELLA DE VILLE

MASS EFFECT:

JOHN SHEPARD

JANE SHEPARD

KAIDAN

SAMARA

KASUMI

MIRANDA

DOCTOR WHO:

rose tyler

GOSSIP GIRL REBOOT:

ZOYA LOTT

MAX WOLFE

DOOM PATROL:

JANE

LARRY TRAINOR

A WAY OUT:

LEO CARUSO

CASTLE:

RICHARD CASTLE

BITTEN:

ELENA MICHAELS

TEEN WOLF:

CHRIS ARGENT

ALLISON ARGENT

SCOTT MCCALL

LYDIA MARTIN

STILES STILINSKI

THE FLASH:

BARRY ALLEN

NORA WEST ALLEN

BART WEST ALLEN

IRIS WEST

CAITLYN SNOW

KILLER FROST

SUCKERPUNCH

BABY DOLL

SHADOW HUNTERS

ISABELLE

ALEC

HOUSE OF ASHES

JASON

THE MEDIUM

MARIANNE

THE LAST KINGDOM

UHTRED RAGNARSON

Iseult

MOON KNIGHT

STEVEN GRANT/MARC

FIRST KILL

Calliope Burns

Juliette Fairmont.

THE QUARRY

Kaityln Ka

Dylan Lenivy

Laura Kearny

THE SANDMAN

Dream/Morpheus

INTEVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

Louis De Pointe

Claudia

HORIZON SERIES

Aloy

THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY (TV SERIES)

Rose Hathaway

NETFLIX’S WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Addams

Morticia Addams

Enid Sincliar

DAYS GONE

Deacon St. John

QUEEN CHARLOTTE - A BRIDGERTON STORY

Queen Charlotte

MAYFAIR WITCHES

Rowan Fielding

Critical Role (currently caught up to episode 97 and both seasons of the animated show)

Vax

Vex

Keylith

THE EVIL WITHIN

Sebastian 

Baldur's Gate 3:

Astarion

Karlach

Orin

Hazbin Hotel:

Angel Dust

Charlie Morningstar

Niffty

Alastor

Outlander:

Claire Fraser

[hayscodings]

tagged by: @l0st4l1fe

- - - - -

name: alexa

zodiac Sign: taurus

personality type in enneagram, myers-briggs, or both: intj

before we hit the road, what snack are you gonna bring for our trip? no snacks just iced coffee

navigator gets to pick the music so what song are you turning on? never said by liz phair, then what's up by 4 non blondes

what is a universe from a fantasy tv show you would like to visit? chilling adventures of sabrina so that i can help lilith kill satan

and what about a fantasy movie? the witches of eastwick. i want to join their polycule

okay, how about a scifi tv show? doom patrol. laura de mille i can fix you

and a scifi movie universe? the faculty (1998)

any other tv show or movie universes you'd like to swing by before we move on? shameless. i'm sharing a cigarette and talking shit with svetlana

okay hold on to your butts we're switching gears to fanfic universes. tell me which fanfic universe we're visiting first? i'm too lazy to do this

cool, do you have one more you'd like to stop at before we head home? nah

alright, on our way out of fanfic land you get to snag some tropes to bring home and apply to your own life, think fast! enemies to lovers, mutual pining...i can't think of anything else i don't have favorite tropes i have favorite genres. namely hurt/comfort

wow okay, hope those tropes work out for you!! our adventure has finally come to an end, where in the world am i dropping you off? home

- - - - -

tagging: @holymurdock, @ariesbilly, @fredheads

[blooming-violets]

Five Minutes || TASM One Shot

Summary: [Original Prompt] by @liz-allyn​ Peter is bad at answering his phone, but you are wary of calling him while out on Spidey patrol anyway. When he gets a break, he sees a missed call from you. When he listens to the voicemail, the sounds are almost unintelligible and chill him to the bone. (Peter x Reader)

Warnings: STORY SPOILERS: paralysis from the waist down occurs

A/N: Thanks again to my Spidey Muse Lizzy for always making wonderful, thoughtful prompts for nerds like me to write to! You make being a part of this fandom extra fun. 

Tag List: (Reminder! I’m redoing my tag list. Read about it here [x] if you would like be added or re-added)  @ongreenergrasses  @captaindanvxrs  @andiforgetaboutyoulongenoughh

It was hot inside of the Spider-Man suit. Even in middle of the night, when the summer air should have cooled down after the sun went to sleep, the fabric still clung to his sweaty skin. Every twist his body made while swinging across the city was uncomfortable. Everything felt too tight.

Peter couldn’t wait to get back to their apartment. He fantasied about finally being able to strip off the suit and climb into a cold shower. The icy water would cascade over his boiling skin and calm his every nerve. That nagging, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach would heal itself under the stream. He chalked up the uneasy feelings he had been experiencing all night to the oppressing, claustrophobic skin tight material. Once he was free of all that and back into his normal clothes, he’d regain a sense of relief again. His girlfriend would have the bedroom air conditioner on high and all would be right in the world. He was even explicitly told to use the door this time because all the windows would be tightly shut to keep the cool air in. 

The night seemed to be slowing down and Peter thought it was about time he headed home. He meandered over to the alley he left his belongings in. Stuck high up on a wall, covered in his webs, was his tattered, black backpack. Tonight he opted to go with as little gear as possible. That meant keeping a stash of his things in a safe place until he could return. Peter scaled the wall and ripped off the webs. He slung the bag over his shoulder and jumped back to the ground. The first thing he did was pull out a water bottle. It was one his girlfriend had got him last Christmas. It was the kind that was meant to keep water cold all day long. She knew it would be the perfect gift for these long summer nights. 

Peter glanced around to make sure he was alone before ripping off his mask. The fresh air against his skin was heavenly. He held the cold bottle up to his red, clammy cheeks and leaned against the brick wall trying to enjoy any reprieve from the heat he could get. While the stainless steel worked at cooling down his heated face, Peter pulled out his phone. He was almost out of battery. Charging his phone was one of many things he often forgot to do. There was one message left on his voicemail. It was from his girlfriend. She was probably reminding him to use the door instead of the window before she went to sleep for the night. 

He started chugging the water, letting the still frigid liquid slide down his throat to cool off his insides, while he popped the phone up to his ear. The first few seconds were nothing but muffled fabric sounds. He started to think she had simply butt dialed him and almost hung up when he heard her voice. 

“You don’t have to hold the gun so close to my head. It could accidentally go off if we go over a bump. My hands are already tied behind me. I’m not going anywhere. Where are the four of you taking me anyway?"

Peter choked on the water and stood up straight. Her voice sounded far away from the phone as if she was trying to hide it beside her. If he didn’t have such good hearing, he probably wouldn’t have been able to fully make out everything she was saying. Alarm bells started ringing in his ears. She sounded scared but there was a sense of urgency and mock boldness in her voice. He instantly began to listen for any background noises that could give him clues. There was definitely someone else speaking. They had a low voice but he couldn’t make out any specific words. If he strained his hearing, he swore he could hear the sound of a car rumbling around them.   

“Did you know the Queensboro Bridge was featured in the book Charlotte’s Web? She refers to the bridge as a giant spider web. Kinda ironic that’s the bridge you guys decided to stop on...”

“Shut the fuck up! What is she talking about? You picked a shitty hostage, Mikey.” Someone else was speaking now. “We should have duct taped her mouth too.” 

His heart rate sped up. He didn’t have to listen for clues. She knew what she was doing. She was giving him exactly what he needed to know. There were four men. At least one of them has a gun. Her hands were duct taped. They’re going over the Queensboro Bridge.

“Are those bombs? Wait, no. What are you doing? Stop!” 

She couldn’t hide the panic in her voice any longer. He could hear a door open next to her. A man’s voice called out.

“Hey! She’s got a fucking phone with her!” 

The sounds of a struggle filled his ears. He envisioned her being dragged out of the car. From far away he could hear her cries. 

“No! Don’t touch me! Get off! Peter! Help me!” 

The message stopped. There was nothing but a deadly silence left to settle around him. Ice shot through his veins as his blood ran cold. Any sticky heat that had been on him before vanished. A chill ran down his spine and a hollow feeling filled his stomach. 

Peter checked when the message had been sent. Almost twenty minutes ago. His mask was back on and he was flying through the air at record speed. Twenty minutes was a long time. There was a number of things they could have done to her since she left it. Images of all the awful acts he could imagine flashed across his mind. All of them ended in her death. 

She had mentioned bombs. He hadn’t heard any explosions yet. There were no sirens or mass panic. That was the only hope he had to grasp onto right now. 

“Come on,” he muttered anxiously. He threw himself forward with such velocity he almost didn’t have time for the webs to stick to anything before he was off shooting a new one. To any potential night time on lookers, he would have resembled nothing more than a red blur across the sky. There and gone again before they had any time to process what they were seeing. 

The warm, yellow glow of the bridge lights finally graced his sights as they stretched long across the East River. The Manhattan skyline lit up as a backdrop behind it. The lights danced over the smooth surface of the water. On any other night it would have made for a romantic view. Tonight, the lights called out and beckoned him towards them. The bridge did resemble a big, metal spider web. If he was the spider than his girlfriend was the insect trapped in the webs. He’d find her and free her. Whoever had stolen her from him would be his prey. 

Red and blue flashing lights caught his eye. The police had gathered at the end of the bridge. Their cars were formed to block the roads from anyone entering or leaving. Peter could only assume the other side looked the same. He landed onto the roof of one of their cars and shouted down to the group of officers standing around, “What’s going on out there?” 

A younger man looked up and approached him. He had an excited look in his eyes like this was his first time on a real job. 

“Oh wow, it’s really Spider-Man! This is so cool,” He stared up at Peter with a goofy smile. 

There was no time for lighthearted banter. His girlfriend was out there. Peter snapped at the man, “I said, tell me what’s going on out there! Now!”

The officer blinked, taken aback by the harsh tones from the usually friendly Spider-Man, “A couple of goons are threatening to blow up the bridge. We don’t know why yet. They have a hostage with them. If we try to get any closer, they threaten to shoot her. We’ve had to fall back here for now but there are talks from the captain that we might try to rush them anyway. Luckily for us, she’s the only the civilian out there. They’re trying to outweigh one civilian life versus the millions of dollars in damage an exploded bridge will cause. I, personally, think they’re a little out of a touch with reality but that’s what’s being discussed now. They think her chances are survival are so low they might view her as an unfortunate causality. Now that you’re here, maybe you can change their minds.”

His words made Peter’s blood boil. Fuck the police. This wasn’t just any civilian. This was his civilian. Spider-Man’s goal was always to save any innocent life that he could. The police often had other ways of thinking. They had clashed many times in the past over this. Peter webbed a megaphone out another officer’s hand and stood up on the car roof. 

“Listen up,” he shouted into it, addressing the crowd of cops. “No one but me is getting anywhere near that girl out there, understand? Those people are dangerous. If she gets injured because you fucks are too far up the government's ass that you’re willing to put money over her life than you can say goodbye to my help forever! You try fighting the next mad scientist or super villain without Spider-Man and see how much city damages you have then! That girl out there is my responsibility. I’ll handle this! All you have to do is stay here and arrest the bastards when I’m done with them. Think you can handle that?” 

Peter didn’t wait for any answers. He tossed the megaphone down and webbed himself onto the bridge. It was a long stretch of road but he could just make out a yellow taxi parked three quarters of the way across. It was the only car on the bridge. Standing around the car were three men. They looked small and far away. He couldn’t make out any details. The fourth man and his girlfriend were no where to be seen yet. 

Before he got close enough for them to notice him, Peter swung himself under the bridge. He continued his forward momentum out of their sight until he was just underneath the criminals. Then he crawled onto the side of the bridge and half way up one of the arched towers. From there he had a good, hidden view of what was happening. 

Two men were setting up, what looked to be, large packs of explosive material along the width of the road. The third man stood next to the stolen taxi and watched. Occasionally he’d shout more orders at the two of the them. Peter guessed he was the one in charge. Standing off to the side of the bridge, against the railing opposite him, was the fourth man and his girlfriend. Her hands were bound behind her back and a gun was pointed to her side. He could see wet tear streaks down her rosy cheeks. She was being watched by the largest of the men. He was a massive, broody hulk of a man. His entire hand easily wrapped around her upper arm, holding her in place beside him. 

She must have sensed his presence because her eyes flicked over to him and widened when she saw his masked face peeking out from behind the pillar. Her entire body gave an exhale with relief. She knew he’d save her. He’d always save her. Even if she didn’t have abilities of her own, she always seemed to know when he was near. Peter needed to get closer to her.

He crawled back down the arch and swung under the bridge to the other side. Quietly, he pulled himself up behind the two of them. The sweet, floral scent of her conditioner tickled his nose as the summer night air blew her hair in his direction. The thought of that man’s grubby hand clenching onto her delicate skin filled him with rage. They chose the wrong woman to keep as a hostage. This one had Spider-Man’s vow of protection. Whoever dared to touch her would pay with their lives if it came down to that. 

Peter silently reached over the railing to rip off the duct tape bounding her hands. She kept perfectly still to not let the man onto their new company. Once he knew she was free from any restraints, he launched himself off the metal railing and onto the back of her captor. With a single sweep of his leg, he knocked the man’s gun out of his hand and webbed it off of the bridge, hearing it splash into the water below. 

The man yelped. He stumbled forward, trying desperately to grab over his shoulders at Peter, while he careened around. His noises alerted the other three men to his presence. It was time for some fast action. Peter pushed himself off of the tall man, backflipping through the air, and landing directly in front of his girlfriend to block her from their view. 

“That was so hot,” she whispered under her breath. 

Peter couldn’t help but chuckle to himself under his mask. Even in the face of danger, she could still make him laugh. His enjoyment was short lived at the sight of the three other men running towards them. He turned to his girlfriend and collected her into his arms. 

“Hold on tight. I’m getting you out of way,” he said while shooting a web to the top of the bridge. 

He pulled her up and helped her onto a platform on the tower. Despite the heavier wind up this high, he could still hear the men screaming profanities at them from over one hundred feet below. She had a death grip around his neck. He finally had a safe moment to check in on her.

“Are you okay?” He asked. He reached up and tugged his mask off his face so he could properly look at her. 

She was breathing rapidly, “Am I okay? You know how much I hate heights! This was the best spot you could think of to bring me?”

Peter gave her a weary smile, “We’re on a bridge, babe. There are no hiding spots unless you wanted me to throw you into the water.”

“I’d prefer the water to this!” Her voice was shrill with panic. “It’s too windy! It’s not safe.” 

Peter refrained from his urge to poke fun at her. Now was not the time to get her all riled up. He tried to get her to sit down but she screamed anytime he moved. He always secretly loved how tightly she would grip onto him whenever she anywhere a few feet off the ground. It made him feel needed. She made him feel like a protector. 

“Okay, listen to me. I need to take care of those guys down there. You’ll be safe up here. I promise. If you just lay down on this platform, right in the middle, it won’t feel like the wind is going to blow you off. Just close your eyes and count to 100 three times. That’s five minutes. In five minutes I will have everything taken care of and I’ll be right back to get you. You’re not going to fall off if you don’t move.”

She adamantly shook her head no. Her eyes were squeezed shut so she wouldn’t have to see how high up they were. He tried to look over the edge to scope out what the men were doing. One of them was attempting to scale the scaffolding up to them. Peter wasn’t worried. He’d never be able to get close enough without Peter stopping him. 

“I’m so sorry about this, baby, but I really have to go,” Peter sighed. 

He pried her arms off from around his neck and pushed her into a sitting position. She squealed and immediately curled herself into a ball, hiding her head in her arms. It hurt him to see how terrified she was but he knew she’d be too scared to move from that spot. As long as she stayed still, she’d be safe and out of harms way. 

“There’s nothing to hold on to! Peter, I’m going to fall. Don’t leave me!” She cried. 

He had to think fast, “Give me your hand. I’ll web it to the bridge. It’ll keep you from thinking you’re going to fall.” He grabbed her hand and placed it flat in front of her, shooting a web over it to lock her into place. He watched as she gave it a few tugs and was satisfied to see her hand didn’t budge. 

“Remember, count to 300. Five minutes and I’ll be back. I love you,” Peter leaned down and placed a quick kiss to the side of her head. 

He pulled his mask back down and leaped off the side. He landed on a metal support beam just above the man attempting to climb towards his girlfriend. 

“I don’t think you have the proper climbing safety gear to be up this high,” Peter shamed the man. He tutted his tongue at him. “You better be careful. You might slip and fall.”

With those words hanging in the air, Peter swung around the pole and used the force to kick the man straight off. He watched him scream as he fell, waiting until the very last second to catch his foot with a web. He would have enjoyed watching him splat but that wasn’t the Spider-Man way. The end of the web was attached securely to the beam. He could dangle upside down until the police collected him later. 

A gun shot rang out. Peter could feel the bullet whiz past his ear. It just narrowly missed hitting him. He turned his attention to the three men left below. This shouldn’t be too hard to finish. They didn’t seem very bright. Peter swung down. He easily webbed the gun out of the man’s hand and tossed it aside. It was like taking candy from a baby. 

“You guys aren’t putting up much of a fight,” he declared. “You know that was my girlfriend you decided to kidnap today?” As he talked, he singled out the man closest to his left to attack. “Of all the people in the city to use as a hostage, you picked the one Spider-Man cares about the most.” A solid punch landed against the man’s jaw. “You have terrible luck. I was on my way home and everything.” Another punch. “You probably would have gotten away with what you were doing had you chosen literally anyone else.” Sweep the legs. “That’s too bad you won’t be able to finish out whatever plan you had going on.” Web the man’s body to the road. “But now you’re going to rot in jail for what you’ve done.” 

Two down, two to go. Peter turned on the next man. “My advice to you-” He dodged another bullet being shot in his direction. “Don’t get on Spider-Man’s bad side.” Kick the gun out of his hand. Knock him down. Web him up next to his buddy. “It’s too easy. Give me a challenge.” 

He was feeling triumphant in how this fight was going. He could feel his own cockiness taking over. Once he took out the last guy, it’d be all over in a matter of seconds. Soon he’d be back in bed with his girlfriend safe in his arms. They’d take tomorrow off and just soak up the feeling of being in each other’s company. She’d find ways to thank him for saving her and he’d relish in his win. Peter was so sure that everything was now fine that it took him a second to realize what he was seeing when he turned around to take out the final man. 

The man was standing in front of the packs of bombs he had placed on the bridge. He had his hand hovering over a button and he had a heinous smile plastered on his face. 

“You say that’s your girlfriend up there?” He said. His words dripped with smugness as he pointed above his head. “The girl you put directly above my bombs?”

Peter followed his finger. Sure enough, the bombs were lined right under the tower where she was still curled up and waiting for him. His stomach dropped. He suddenly felt very ill. His mouth went dry and he couldn’t speak. 

The man spoke instead, “What’s the matter? You were so chatty a minute ago. Cat got your tongue?” He laughed. “Here’s how this is going to work, Spider-Man. You’re not going to come any closer or else I’ll press this button. You go on back to the cops down there and give them a message. Tell them to leave so I can make my escape. I’m not going to jail. Either I get out of here a free man or I blow myself and that girl up. It’s your choice.” 

Peter slowly raised his hands and backed away. He glanced up at the tower his girlfriend was on. It was past five minutes now. She’d be starting to panic. She was waiting for him to return. He had promised her five minutes was all it would take. 

“Okay,” Peter said just loud enough for the man to hear. “I’ll go tell them. I’ll make sure you get out. Don’t do anything stupid.” 

It was the only choice he had. He took a deep breath and turned around, swinging himself down the road towards the barricade of cops. He had only gotten a few feet away when his heart leapt into his throat. The sound of sirens filled his ears and red lights flooded his vision. Police cars were speeding straight towards him. They must have gotten sick of waiting. They didn’t care who got hurt as long as they stopped the men. They had no idea the thing they were trying to avoid was the exact thing they were now going to cause. 

He dropped onto the road, holding his hands up, trying desperately to signal to them that they had to stop. 

“No!” Peter shouted. 

His words were in vein. The moment the man saw the cars, he pressed the button. 

A loud explosion erupted behind Peter. The force of the bombs threw him forward. He slammed onto the ground and tried his best to dodge the oncoming police cars that were trying to skid to a halt. He rolled out of the way just in time from getting hit. There was no time for to think about his own life. He jumped to his feet and starting running towards the billows of thick, grey smoke filling the air. 

Peter couldn’t see much but he could hear a loud, deep cracking sound. There was a massive, gaping hole in middle of the bridge floor. Rubble fell in large chunks into the river below. He could just make out the tower his girlfriend was on directly across from him. It was teetering on the edge of the hole. It was still standing but wide, deep-seated cracks ran along the metal support beams. The entire structure wobbled under the pressure. It wouldn’t stay standing for much longer. 

Peter backed up and broke into a run. He launched him across the gap. In mid-air, he shot a web high up the tower and pulled himself onto it. The metal under him was highly unstable. He could feel it buckling and swaying in the wind as he frantically crawled to the top. Through the rising smoke, he could see his girlfriend desperately trying to free her hand from the web. By trying to keep her safe, he had inadvertently trapped her onto a collapsing structure. 

He made eye contact with her from across the platform and he sprinted to her. The entire tower started to tilt as he ran. If he didn’t have perfect balance, surely he would have fallen off. 

“Peter!” She cried the moment he reached her. His arms entangled her against him. She was still alive and he intended to keep her that way. He easily ripped the webbing off her hand and picked her up. 

“It’s okay. I got you! I’m going to get us out of here!” He shouted. The sounds of bowing metal got louder. With a thundering, awful crack piercing the air, the entire tower finally gave way. It felt like it moved in slow motion as the flooring under him tilted to a 90 degrees and fell forward. 

Peter wrapped his body protectively around his girlfriend and jumped from the falling tower. They soared through the air. Amongst the smoke and crumbling rubble around them, he desperately searched for some place safe to shoot his web to catch them. Chunks of heavy steel plummeted past them. He’d maneuver his body to spin out of their way the best that he could. Through a brief clearing of the smoke, he managed to get his web to attach to the railing of the bridge. 

Peter swung them over the side. Their falling momentum caused them to swing up underneath the bridge. He had just enough time to block themselves from crashing into the underside of the bridge with his feet and push them back into the air. Their bodies spun on the end of the web. They were moving too fast. He was struggling to gain control. He could hear his girlfriend whimpering as they were pushed back out from under the bridge. There wasn’t much else for him to attach to. All he could do was hold on to her and wait for their swinging to slow down. He felt like a pendulum stuck under a collapsing bridge. If his other hand wasn't busy clutching onto her, he might have been able to steady them, but he refused to loosen his grip. 

“It’ll be okay,” he tried to assure her. “I think we’re slowing down. It’s almost over-”

As they swung out into the open again, a large steel beam dislodged from the top of the bridge. It twisted through the air down towards them. Had Peter not been so distracted, he would have sensed its incoming. Instead, he was completely caught off guard when it slammed directly into his back. The heavy forced jerked him forward. His grip around his girlfriend loosened enough for her to be thrown out of his arms. 

Her screams filled his ears as she tumbled through the air towards the water below. 

His body reacted on autopilot. Her terrified face exploded into his vision. His free web shot out towards her. 

It cut through the air faster than she could fall. 

He watched it reach out for her. 

The ends made contact with her chest. 

It caught on her dark t-shirt. 

Her fall stopped short but Peter was still swinging. 

One arm stretched above him to stay attached to the safety of the bridge. The other arm stretched below him to keep her from a certain death. 

Her body swung out under him, dangling on the end of his web. He still hadn’t gained control over the momentum of their initial fall. He watched helplessly as she was carried forward and then backwards. Her body spinning rapidly towards the side of the brick supporting arch under the bridge. Peter desperately tried to pull on the web, to stop her from hitting the wall, but his attempts were futile. 

The sound of her spine smashing into the corner of the arch rang out over all the other noise. Her body went completely limp. 

Peter screamed in horror. 

Quickly, he lifted up on the web holding her and tied it to the one attached to the bridge. He slid down the strands to her. 

He called out her name. 

Her eyes were closed but he could see them fluttering back and forth under her lids. Carefully, he collected her into his arms and webbed them over to land. He placed her down gently in a patch of warm grass. He threw off his mask and leaned over her face. 

“Wake up,” he pleaded. Tears pushed down his cheeks. “Wake up. Please.”

Peter slipped his hand out of his glove and held it to her neck. She had a weak pulse. “Baby, please. Open your eyes.” 

Someone was moving behind him. He refused to take his eyes off of his girlfriend to see who it was. 

“...Spidey?” It was the voice belonging to the young officer he had spoken to earlier. “Is everything okay?”

Peter turned his head to glare at him. This was their fault. He had it under control until the police decided to ignore him and barge in anyway. They were the reason his girlfriend was like this. He didn’t care that the man could see his face. In fact, he was glad he could. He wanted him to see the pain etched into his every feature so the police could understand what kind of enemy they had made today. 

“Call an ambulance!” He spat the man. “Is that a simple enough task for you to handle?” 

A quiet moan drew his attention back to his girlfriend. Her fingers twitched. Peter pulled her hand into his and brought them to his lips, pressing a soft kiss onto the back of her hand. 

“I’m right here, baby. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay. I’m here.” He had no idea if it was going to be okay but he was saying anything he could to comfort her. 

Her eyes fluttered open. They were wet and glassy. The lights of the city reflected out of them. A breath of relief escaped his lips as she looked at him. A smile broke over his face. 

“You’re okay,” he muttered. “You’re alive.” His hands swept over the top of her head, pushing her hair out of her face. 

“Peter?” She croaked out. 

“Yeah, I’m here.” He kissed her hand again. She would be okay. The ambulance would be on the way. They’d get her all fixed up. She was alive. She’d be okay. He had done it. He had saved her. 

“Peter?” She said again. A frown pinched her brows together. “Peter...I can’t move my legs...”

---

He couldn’t look at her. 

Anytime he tried, all he saw was a flashback to her body wrapping around the corner of that arch. There was too much anger inside of him. He hated the police. The hated the criminals. But most of all, he hated himself. 

He should have held onto her tighter. 

It was his fault she was like this. He was supposed to protect her. 

It had been almost two months since the incident. He had refused to wear the Spider-Man suit anymore. The public was already talking about it. A whole two months without any Spider-Man sightings. Rumors were flying that he had died on the bridge that night as it was the last time he had been seen. He didn’t care. Let Spider-Man die. 

It became very apparent early on just how inaccessible their apartment was for wheelchair use. He needed to be with her full time to help her get around. There was no time for helping anyone else when she needed him the most. They hadn’t spoke much since she got home. He always kept his eyes averted from her gaze. He was so afraid if he really looked at her, he’d see her blaming him for everything. She was struggling to come to terms with what happened. She slept a lot. He could hear crying next to him at night. He was afraid to touch her. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore than he already had. 

One morning, he was standing at bedroom window, staring out at the city streets below him. He heard her roll in behind him. 

“Peter?” He could hear the sadness in her voice.

“Hmm?” He didn’t turn around. 

“Do you hate me?” She whispered. 

Grief tugged at his heart. He finally turned to face her but kept his eyes pointed at her lap, “Of course I don’t hate you. Why would you say that?”

He heard her swallow.

“Then look at me, dammit!” Her voice caught in her throat and she held back a sob. “You never look at me anymore. You don’t talk to me. I see your entire body clench up whenever I come in the room. You can’t look at me because when you do, all you see is living representation of your failure!” 

Peter closed his eyes to keep the tears at bay. He hated that she was right. 

“I’m not your failure, Peter! I’m a person. With feelings. The same exact person I was before that night. That didn’t go away just because I can’t walk!” She took a shuttered breath. “And you didn’t fail me, Pete. I’m alive because of you. I still get to see the sun set every night. I get to feel the wind on my face. I get to look forward to the future even if that future is shifted slightly from what I thought it would be. I still have hopes and dreams. But you don’t see any of that anymore. Do you?”

She wheeled her chair directly in front of him. He leaned down to be level with her. Her hands reached out and cupped his face. His body melted into her at her touch. 

“Look at me, Pete.” She whispered. “Please. I miss you. Don’t push me away.”

His eyes flicked up and locked with hers. Tears were spilling down both of their faces. He didn’t see a single hint of blame behind her eyes. He saw nothing but love and longing for him. His bottom lip quivered. How could he have let himself get so distant from her? 

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed. “I love you.”

“Then start showing it,” she answered. 

[storiesungaa]

Under the cut is a list of muses I have for those who can’t open the google doc. Note: the google doc has detailed information about them so if you can, please open it up.

Bold is primary, italic is secondary, regular is by request.

TVD/TO/LEGACIES:

Elena Gilbert

Katherine Peirce

Damon Salvatore

Alaric Saltzman

Lizzie Saltzman

Josie Saltzman

Caroline Forbes

Bonnie Bennett

Klaus Mikaelson

Final Fantasy:

Cloud Strife

Aeirth

Tifa

Snow Villiers

Thirteen Reason’s Why:

Justin Foley

Bryce Walker

Jessica Davis

Clay Jenson

911/911 Lone Star:

Athena Grant

Maddie Buckley

Owen Strand

TK Strand

Grace Ryder

AHS:

Brooke Davis

Montanna Duke

Donovan

BBC Sherlock:

Sherlock Holmes

Bridgerton:

Simon Bassett

Daphne Bridgerton

BTVS/ATS

Buffy Summers

Cordelia Chase

CAOS:

Sabrina Spellman

One Chicago:

Natalie Manning

Jay Halstead

Adam Ruzek

Kim Burgess

Hank Voight

Criminal Minds:

Spencer Reid

Emily Prentiss

Daredevil:

Matt Murdock

Dexter:

Dexter Morgan

DCTV:

Sara Lance

Euphoria:

Jules Vaughn

Rue Bennett

From Dusk Til Dawn:

Seth Gecko

Kate Fuller

Good Girls:

Beth Boland

Greys’ Anatomy:

Meredith Grey

Jo Wilson

Carina Deluca

Ameila Shepard

Game of Thrones:

Dany

Jon Snow

Sansa Stark

NCB Hannibal:

Will Graham

Haunting of Bly Manner:

Dani Clayton

Peter Quint

Hemlock Grove

Peter Rumancek

HTGAWM:

Connor Walsh

Law and Order SVU:

Olivia Benson (inactive)

Elliot Stabler

Kathleen Stabler

Alex Cabot

Casey Novak

Lost Girl:

Bo Dennis

Lucifer:

Chloe Decker

Lucifer Morningstar

Mazikeen

Mindhunter:

Holden Ford

Pose:

Angel Evangalista

Blanca Evangalista

Prodigal Son:

Malcolm Bright

Riverdale:

Archie Andrews

Betty Cooper

Toni Topaz

Cheryl Blossom

FP Jones

Jughead Jones

Roswell New Mexico:

Max Evans

Liz Ortecho

Stranger Things:

Nancy Wheeler

Billy Hargrove

Station 19:

Vic Hughes

Supernatural:

Dean Winchester

The Magicians:

Eliot Waugh

Margo Hanson

The Witcher (with game verse):

Geralt (muse note about geralt/triss here)

True Blood:

Sookie Stackhouse

Tara Thorton

Jessica Hamby

Jason Stackhouse

Wynonna Earp:

Wynonna Earp

Waverly Earp

Nicole Haught

The Umbrella Academy:

Klaus Hargreeves

Allison Hargreeves

Van Helsing:

Vanessa Van Helsing

You:

Beck

Joe Goldberg

Love Quinn

Forty Quinn

DCU:

Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Harley Quinn

Descendants:

Harry Hook

Mal Bertha

Evie Grimhilde

MCU:

Deadpool/Wade Wilson

Eddie Brock/Venom

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Wanda Maximoff

Bucky Barnes

Natasha Romanoff

Yelena Belova

Thor

Loki

Sylvie

Peter Parker (the amazing spiderman)

Peter Quill/Starlord

POTC:

Captain Jack Sparrow

Assassin’s Creed Series:

Jacob Frye

Evie Frye

Eivor

Kassandra

Detriot Become Human:

Connor

Dragon Age:

Morrigan

Fenris

Garrett Hawke

Marian Hawke

Cyberpunk:

V (both male and v, both streetkid and corpo)

Johnny Silverhand

Judy Alvarez

Last of Us:

Joel Miller

Ellie

Legend of Zelda:

Link

Resident Evil:

Ada Wong

Leon Kennedy

Ethan Winters

Lady Dimitrescu

Dimitrescu Daughters

Tomb Raider:

Lara Croft

Uncharted:

Nathan Drake

Bleach:

Ichigo Kurosaki

Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

Vampyr:

Johnathan Reid

Black Butler:

Sebastian Michaelis

Blue Exorcist

Rin Okamaru

Hellsing:

Seras Victoria

Integra Hellsing

Naruto:

Naruto Uzumaki

Tsunade

Seven Deadly Sins:

Ban

Vampire Knight:

Yuuki Cross/Kuran

Zero Kiyruu

Shadow & Bone:

Alina Starkov

Aleksander/Darkling

OUAT:

Regina Mills

SOA:

Jax Teller

Gemma Teller

White Collar:

Neal Caffrey

Far Cry:

Faith Seed

New Amsterdam:

Max Goodwin

Cruella:

Cruella De Ville

Mass Effect:

John Shepard

Jane Shepard

Doctor Who:

Rose Tyler

Gossip Girl Reboot:

Zoya Lott

Max Wolfe

Doom Patrol:

Jane

Larry Trainor

A Way Out:

Leo Caruso

Castle:

Richard Castle (private muse for musewrittcn)

Bitten:

Elena Michaels

Teen Wolf:

Chris Argent

The Flash:

Barry Allen

Nora West Allen

Bart West Allen

Iris West

Caitlyn Snow

Killer Frost

[tabloidtoc]

OK, March 9

Cover: Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone just married and baby on the way 

Page 1: Contents 

Page 2: Contents 

Page 4: After a difficult few years Bethenny Frankel is launching a new business venture and has fallen in love again 

Page 6: Ben Affleck is finally coming clean about his darkest days 

Page 7: Tori Spelling is going the extra mile to give her five kids the caring fun-filled childhood she never had, while the world lusts after Brad Pitt his ex Angelina Jolie seems to be starved for romantic attention and she’s been set up on a few discreet dates but nothing’s worked out, Josh Duhamel whines that he’s too pretty to be taken seriously as an actor and that it’s sexism in reverse 

Page 8: Amanda Bynes is trying to get her life back on track this time with a man by her side, if Johnny Depp is asked to reprise his role of Captain Jack Sparrow he’ll ask for $50 million because his bank account is dwindling 

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- purple -- Jennifer Lopez, Margot Robbie, Cynthia Erivo 

Page 11: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Sophie Skelton, Charlize Theron 

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Ashley Greene vs. Lydia Hearst, Ali Tamposi vs. Aubrey Plaza, Olivia Palermo vs. Dove Cameron 

Page 14: News in Photos -- Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake in London and Berlin 

Page 15: Rashad Jennings, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Holland with fans at the LA premiere of Onward, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani and her son Apollo 

Page 16: Paw Patrol -- James Middleton with four of his dogs, Denise Richards, Delilah and Amelia Hamlin with Road Dogs & Rescue’s adoptable bulldogs 

Page 18: Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker film Respect, David Beckham with kids Romeo and Cruz and Harper at Victoria Beckham’s fashion show, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber tried to teach Jimmy Fallon to play hockey 

Page 20: Tiffani Thiessen and daughter Harper in the Rookie USA fashion show in Chicago, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Kate Bosworth at the Byredo store opening 

Page 21: American Idol judges Lionel Richie and Kate Perry and Luke Bryan, Eugene Levy, Harrison Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live 

Page 22: Celeb Mini-Me’s -- Reese Witherspoon with daughter Ava, Helena Christensen with son Mingus whose dad is Norman Reedus, Elizabeth Hurley and son Damian 

Page 24: Inside My Home -- Olivia Culpo’s California crib 

Page 26: Hayden Panettiere’s dangerous romance 

Page 27: John Cena and Shay Shariatzadeh engaged, Katherine Schwarzenegger complains that life married to Chris Pratt is boring and she’s boxed in at home 

Page 28: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have gone on a spending spree getting wines and cheeses and jewelry and clothes and electronics and toys for son Archie, though friends and family are begging Sofia Richie to end her romance with Scott Disick she just can’t bring herself to do it, Love Bites -- Jason Lewis and Liz Godwin engaged, Melissa Fumero and husband David welcomed their second child, Chris Randone and Krystal Nielson separated 

Page 30: Cover Story -- Ultimate bachelor Leonardo DiCaprio secretly weds Camila Morrone amid buzz they’re expecting 

Page 34: Ryan Reynolds balances fame and fatherhood and a booming career 

Page 38: Secrets and trivia about The Breakfast Club 

Page 40: Catherine O’Hara says goodbye to Schitt’s Creek 

Page 46: Style Week -- Parisa Fitz-Henley’s look at the premiere of Fantasy Island 

Page 49: 5 minutes with Rebecca Romijn 

Page 50: Hair Special -- Edgy Shag -- Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, Long Braids -- Gabrielle Union and Zendaya 

Page 51: Chic Bob -- Natalie Portman and Hailey Bieber, Short Fringe -- Saoirse Ronan and Charlize Theron 

Page 54: Entertainment 

Page 55: Q&A -- Britt Robertson of I Still Believe 

Page 58: Gwyneth Paltrow’s fresh-faced fete -- Alexandra Grant, Kate Hudson, Rumer Willis and Demi Moore 

Page 60: Hollywood Heat Meter -- the royal family had trouble finding guests willing to attend Prince Andrew’s birthday party, Steve Kazee proposed to Jenna Dewan, Duchess Kate Middleton used hypnobirthing, Meital Dohan blamed the age gap for her split with Al Pacino, Stars on exclusive dating app Raya -- Ben Affleck, Channing Tatum, Kiernan Shipka, Demi Lovato, Chelsea Handler 

Page 61: Sound Bites -- Kerry Washington on Reese Witherspoon, Amy Poehler, Robert Pattinson on his scent, Constance Wu, Katy Perry 

Page 62: Horoscope -- Pisces Camila Cabello 

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Laura Dern

[profitinaecho]

Happy New Year, pt2

“So how did Isobel talk you into letting her decorate for this thing?��� Liz asked Maria moving to the beat of an upbeat song.

“She has her ways. I don’t want to talk about it. Is he watching?” Maria wrapped her arms around Liz’s waist and swayed avoiding looking at the pool table where Max and Michael were playing against Alex and Kyle.

Liz hummed watching Michael glance from Alex to Maria then back to his pool shot. “Well…”

Suddenly, the music dropped and Liz and Maria were bouncing, twerking and grinding in rhythm to each other and the music. Liz could feel the exact moment Max noticed her shaking her ass but was too busy keeping up with Maria to focus on the waves of lust being sent her way.

As it shifted into a slow song, Max cut in. “I could feel you watching me from across the room” Liz whispered

“That’s probably because I was so busy watching you that I lost my game.” He pulled her closer, glancing at the clock to see how much longer until the countdown so they could just be together and go home.

“I know what you’re thinking. We can’t leave before midnight champagne toast, Max. It’s bad luck”

“Ok but, hear me out,” Max gave her The Look and leaned his forehead against hers. “What if we make it move faster by spending some time in my patrol car?”

Liz giggled feeling his excitement at the idea following him out to where they parked. “I knew you always wanted to get me in the backseat of your car”.

“You have no idea. Let’s put the seats down and go in the cargo area, there’s more privacy”.

Kissing each other thoroughly they moved into the back seat. Liz unbuttoned his shirt as fast as she could and they laughed as she became trapped briefly from him trying to pull her dress over her head in his frenzy and it getting stuck. “Zipper, zipper, where is your zipper? Why is it hiding from me?” Max grumbled, keeping his head  ducked down so as not to bump it on the roof. Finally succeeding, he joyfully freed Liz from her dress and laid back across the cargo area. Reaching out, he slid his hand up her calf and pulled her closer. “Do you want my fingers first or my mouth?”

“Babe, you know I want both!” Liz teased, unbuckling his pants and sliding them off. She climbed on his chest and positioned her pussy right below his face. They had been teasing each other all night through their connection. Enough was enough.

Kissing up her inner thigh slowly, he could feel her frustration as he took his sweet time teasing her, occasionally just breathing across her folds. At her pleading Maaaaaax he gave her a couple half hearted licks knowing damn well it wouldn’t get her there. Snarling, Liz grabbed him by his hair and started to direct him to exactly where she needed him and to thrust against his tongue. As if he didn’t already know what did and didn’t feel good to her with echos of her sensations pulsating through his body. He started circling her clit with his thumb and that was it, she was coming.

She slid back down his chest breathing heavily from her orgasm and he could feel how wet she was. “My turn” he growled, flipping her over and crawling on top of her. He slapped his dick teasingly against her pussy a couple times before sliding in, making both of them gasp as the echos of sensation started again. Later when they got home, they would take it slow and make love but right now he just needed her. He went at a fast pace, just there in the spot he knew always did it for her. He could feel her nails scratching his back at how rough he was being and part of him worried he was going to accidentally hurt her but he could feel she was already almost there again and knew she would lose it if he slowed down. After she came twice, he finally gave up control and let himself come inside her.

He flopped on his back and smiled at his very disheveled girlfriend. They snuggled and caught their breath, talking about their hopes for the new year. They both agreed that 2020 would be the year that neither of them died…. again. Liz playfully walked her fingers up his chest after a while and asked if he wanted to go again.

“Cuffs or no cuffs?” Liz held out her wrists in answer and he kissed her wrists before reaching in the front seat for his hand cuffs. He clicked them loosely into place and murmured “Good girl. Oh, you’re all the fantasies today”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where were you guys?! You missed the champagne toast! I had that champagne flown in from Paris and you look like you stuck your fingers in a light socket!” Isobel exclaimed, catching them sneak back in to her perfectly crafted party with a scowl.

“Morality has no place on New Years Eve,” Max smiled at her mischievously. “I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

[rironomind]

Original work [SH- Cut]

I’m working through the first draft of a fantasy novel but the story has changed pretty drastically since so I’m cutting this whole chunk. I thought it was pretty exciting but it has no place in my novel so I figured I might as well share it before it’s lost forever. 

Summary: During an eclipse, the citizens turn on their leaders. Oz, who has been tasked with protecting the young lord of the citadel, calmly assesses the situation.

“It’s a mirror system,” Needle explains, in Lihese, for the benefit of his brother who is almost certainly about to start screaming for attention. “The crystals aren’t shining bright enough to last out the storm, let alone the eclipse. We could be down here for days.” He interrupts himself with a fit of coughing. Cece hands him a skin of water. “It’s okay,” Needle says. “I’m just tired.” The flesh under his eyes are dark and swollen while his cheeks are sunken, a punishment for taking on all this responsibility. 

“The mirror system relies on a series of silvered glass set up around the Under,” Needle explains. “Ray designed it. But we need to be able to put it up.” He erupts into a fit of coughing again. 

“You’re burning up,” Cece says, trying not to let any harshness creep into her tone. “You need to rest.” She manhandles him into the small cot they have set up in their space. Every evacuee gets an allocated lot. The four of them have been granted one in the centre, under the greatest amount of light. Around them are muffled murmurs of the citizens, their voices hushed by trepidation.

“I’m ok, I can still help,” Needle protests weakly, but Cece’s firm hand keeps him in the cot. 

“Ouou,” Cece says, fixing burning red eyes on Oz. “You need to help Ray.”

Oz doesn’t even bother to summon the energy to be surprised. “What do you need,” he barks.

“Um, the plans are almost done. All we need to do is set up the mirrors.” He unrolls the map of the Under. It’s the parchment he took from his father’s study. The only one in existence but it hardly matters since Oz knows this place like the back of his hand. How many times has he patrolled this damn place? The layout is uneven, it being a natural cave and all, but he knows every rock and bump. 

Ray hands him a stack of mirrors. “Can you, uh,” he starts. “Put them up?”

“Bit by backbreaking bit.”

The next hour or so is spent swinging back and forth the Under, climbing up to fix the mirrors into place, jamming them into the rocks until the angle is just right. By the time the mirrors are up, Needle has rested enough to continue planning with his brother.

“Ridiculous, don’t you think?” Oz mutters to Cece in Tieyen as the two brothers pore over their parchments.

“What?” 

“That I just put up a bunch of glass all over the place. I mean we’re in a room full of Liangers.”

“No one is ready for this eclipse!” Cece hisses back.”No one is properly rested, people are dead!” That would explain the weeping. “And they need to conserve their energy,” Cece says, shaking her head.

Oz is silent. He watches the two brothers prepare a container for a light ball and face it towards the first mirror. The light beams out like an arrow and bounces off the first, and then second mirror, but it misses the third by a hairsbreadth. Everyone looks at Oz.

“Goddammit.” 

Climbing up a second time, he notices other things. People complaining, they start to wander towards the main shelter. When he rejoins the others, Cece has already taken charge. She steps towards the citizens, eyes burning bright. “We protect you. But we protect them first.” 

Oz lifts a shoulder. “She says it because I can’t.”

Liz the Tanner adjusts her stance. “You would fight us?”

“You’re disturbing the peace,” Oz explains, throwing a small dagger into the air. It flips a few times before he catches it by the handle, its sharp blade pointed menacingly towards the crowd.

“What peace? This pit isn't peaceful,” she spits. “The citadel isn't at peace, the kingdom isn't even at peace. We’re less than a decade from the war and we’re all holding our breath in case the flame goes out.” Oz casts a glance at the crystals hanging above. They’re less bright than the glowing fury of the mob of Lumierians before them. “The reason why the shield wasn’t ready-”

“Ouou…” Cece mutters in warning. Oz pretends not to hear her, he hasn’t changed his stance. 

“Ou Zi!” Cece hisses. She can tell. Of course she can, she’s watched him before. Opposite her or from a distance she can smell the danger. Or maybe just the tang of her own fear. 

 Oz surmises that Ray has lost control of the situation and by the looks of the citizens’ raised weapons, they agree. They’re long past the point of excuses. This is three years of uncertainty and two particularly long hard weeks of which to stew the grudges, doubt and hatred.

“You had your chance, Ray.” Liz says, raising her hand. She uses her magic to refine metal and armour. Oz has espied her at work when she came to the castle to carry out more finicky projects for the family. Her focus is absolute, like needlepoint. He’s seen her carve leather, metal and even stab a cow through the heart with light at point-blank. 

But she’s got nothing on a moving target. Liz’s fingers start to glow and out of the corner of his eye, Oz sees the fluttering of a brown cape as Cece’s arm rises to stop him.

“Mother!” A young girl rushes to the front of the fray and grabs Liz by the arm. “Stop this!”

“Lily! Get off me!” 

Oz recognises the girl from Ray’s court. One of the tittering scholars who gazes at him with starry eyes. “Earl Ray is doing his best!”

“Be quiet, Lilly.” Liz, her mother’s eyes are hard, a cold greyish-yellow like a star that’s burned itself down, worn thin over the years. (‘Do your people shine?’ Lady Sana asks. ‘Do they, Oz?’)

“No,” Lilly Tanner responds high and petulant. “What do you have against Ray? He’s doing his best.”

“Lilly! Have you forgotten? Your brother who was supposed to return months ago?” She looks from Lilly to Ray. 

Ray’s face blanches. 

“That wasn't Ray’s fault! It isn’t his fault the Duke hasn’t returned. Or…” she drops her voice and looks sulkily away. “Anyone.”

“This is your brother, Lilly. Your own flesh and blood and instead of them, you are defending a family of murderers-”

“And if he hadn't returned that's on him, he always forgets where he is. He didn't even want to take over the business, he just wanted to find father. If it wasn't for the summons-”

A resounding slap and Lilly fell away, clutching her cheek. Liz dropped her hand. “He would still be with us. Hold your tongue. You embarrass me.”

Oz allowed a sneer to cross his face. “Civil unrest, even dividing families, what mischief you get up to Ray.”

“I...I can fix this,” Ray continues to mumble over and over again. Ray’s face contorts which betrays his unease. Oz thinks he’ll lose his nerve. It’s too late. Then Ray opens his mouth and proves him right. “Citizens of Sereto, I speak on behalf of Duke Lamiere.” Ray’s voice is trembling but his fists are clenched by his side. “We ask for your patience, we are doing the best that we can.”

There’s a pause and Ray’s shoulders dip. Oz stares unblinkingly at the crowd. 

A cry rings out. “Is that the best you can do?”

“We are in the process of restoring the light until the eclipse ends. There is ample food and medicine in the centre. We have rationed enough for a few days, but please be courteous or swift action will be taken against you.” Ray tries to get Oz to meet his eyes. 

“You call that courteous?” Shouts the same busybody from the back. This time, Oz spots him. He’s a vendor at the market, sells imported goods, of which imports only come once a year. They used to come every few months. But if he’s worried about making money he shouldn’t have come to this citadel. If he was brought here against his will or perhaps misled like many others, Oz could have sympathised, but it’s not often he gets to follow up on a threat, so he strikes. A dagger leaves his fingers and whips through the crowd, embedding itself in a scaffold next to the naysayer who almost wets himself.

“Ozul!” Ray shouts in alarm.

“What, I followed orders, that’s what I’m supposed to do, right?”

 “That’s right, we can’t blame the dog for who its owner tells it to bite,” Liz says offishly.

Oz spins round, “I resent that. I prefer not to bite, lots of things taste bad.”

Liz cracks her knuckles. “Easily fixed when we remove your teeth.”

[krinsbez]

Book Recommendations: Da Big List, Fiction Edition

Well, I said I’d do more book recs, so here we go...

(note that some of the series recs are out of date, with additional installments written since I previously updated the list) 

-Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers is the single best work of superhero prose I have ever read. -The Six-Gun Tarot by R. S. Belcher, in which the unusual inhabitants of a Wild West town (a sheriff who can't die, a deputy who's the son of Coyote, a housewife who used to be an assassin, and more) fight an Eldritch Abomination. Has two sequels, The Shotgun Arcana and The Queen of Swords -"Craft Sequence" series (six books and counting, starting with either Three Parts Dead or Last First Snow, depending on whether you want to read 'em in publication or chronological order, respectively), by Max Gladstone. Set in a modern-esque fantasy world that runs on corporate necromancy and "applied theocracy", the first (in publication order) involves a junior associate in a necromancy firm having to investigate the murder of the god who powers a steampunk city. -The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, in which the half-goblin Unfavorite son of the Elven Emperor is unexpectedly raised to the throne after his father and half-brothers die in a zeppelin crash. -Daughter of the Sword by Steve Bein, in which a Tokyo policewoman catches a case that involves a Yakuza power struggle and a trio of magic swords, with extensive flashbacks (as in, they ultimately take up about half of the book) to the history of said swords. Has a sequel, Year of the Demon, in which the heroine goes up against a cult revolving around a mask tied to the swords. Also, more flashbacks. Now has a third sequel, Disciple of the Wind; there are also a couple of eNovellas, which I haven't read. -Eifelheim by Michael Flynn, in which a Renaissance-era village in Germany interact with a group of aliens whose ship crashed nearby. -Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, in which the last remnant of a space warship's AI seeks revenge on the ones who blew up the rest of her and...find out why they did it. Has two sequels, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy. -The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont, in which the creators of Doc Savage and The Shadow team-up with each other (and L. Ron Hubbard and someone else who is a minor spoiler) on an actual pulp adventure involving Nazi spies, a Chinese warlord, and something which is actually a BIG spoiler. Has a sequel, The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown, in which Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and L. Sprague De Camp investigate Tesla's final invention. -Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, in which Master Li, a sage "with a slight flaw in his character", is hired by an immensely strong peasant named Number Ten Ox to investigate a mysterious plague afflicting his village in a "China that never was". Has two sequels, The Story of the Stone and Eight Skilled Gentlemen that are greatly inferior but still enjoyable. -The Kitty Norville books by Carrie Vaughn (15 books starting with Kitty and the Midnight Hour; the count includes a short-story collection and a side-novel starring a secondary character), about the host of a midnight radio show in Denver, who is also a newly turned werewolf. One night, instead of playing random music, she starts talking about the supernatural. Then vampires and other werewolves start calling in... -The Inspector Chen novels by Liz Williams (6 books starting with Snake Agent), about a police detective in a near future Singapore who investigates mysteries that require him to liaise with the Chinese versions of Hell and Heaven. -"Barsoom" series by Edgar Rice Burroughs (11 books, starting with A Princess of Mars): The ur-text of the Planetary Romance sub-genre, one of the definitional texts of soft SF. Rollicking adventures with epic characters in a marvelously imagined world. Long story short; a Civil War vet on the verge of death is astrally projected to not-yet-dead Mars, befriends a group of warlike natives, falls in love with the Princess of another, and turns the whole planet upside down in the name of love. Then he has kids... -"Lensman" series by E. E. "Doc" Smith (6 books; starting with either Triplanetary or Galactic Patrol, depending on your preferences): The granddaddy of all Space Operas, a triumphant example of power creep. The forces of Order and Chaos war for the fate of the universe, using the ultimate police force and an army of space pirates as proxies. -Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon: An exploration of the future evolution of mankind. Starting in the '30s with the then-current state of the "First Men" (that is to say, Homo sapiens sapiens) until the extinction of the "Last Men" millions of years hence. Redefines epic scope. -Star-Maker by Olaf Stapledon: A companion of sorts to Last and First Men, except with with the scope turned up to eleven, covering billions of years and the entire universe. -Slan by A. E. Van Vogt: Jommy Cross is a Slan, an evolved human possessed of superior physical and mental abilities. Years ago, the Slans took over the world, but their regime was overthrown and now the Slans are hunted. When Jommy's parents are killed, he must learn to survive in a world that hates and fears him...or does it? Jampacked with twists and turns, not to mention being the archetypical "mutant hunt" novel. -Voyage of the Space Beagle by A. E. Van Vogt: The best and brightest of man's scientific minds have been sent into space to explore strange new worlds, and then figure out how to keep the life-forms they encounter from killing them. A rip-roaring tale of of space exploration, alien monsters, and an omnicompetent protagonist. Not only was it a major influence on Star Trek, one episode is the basis for Alien. -"Demon Princes" series by Jack Vance (5 books starting with The Star King): Years ago, the five most dangerous criminals in the known universe joined together to murder or enslave the inhabitants of a small colony. Now the sole survivor is hunting them down one-by-one across the galaxy... The narrative is a great combination of action and mystery, and the setting is full of all manner of interesting worlds and civilizations. -"Planet of Adventure" series by Jack Vance (4 books, starting with City of the Chasch): An Earthman crash-lands on a planet inhabited by four alien species, and the humans they've enslaved, travels the world to find a way home. A marvelous exploration of the concept of Blue-And-Orange Morality. -"Sector General" series by James White (12 books, starting with Hospital Station): Life aboard a massive, multi-species hospital space station in a deeply idealistic 'verse with one of the most diverse bunch of aliens ever devised. The first six books are mostly collections of short stories featuring medical mysteries solved by Dr. Conway (the primary exception is the second book, which is mostly a novella set against the backdrop of an interstellar war and brilliantly inverts the "Hard Man Making Hard Decisions" trope), as he goes from being a trainee to one of the hospital's elite, while the latter six are novels featuring an assortment of characters. -"Cobra" series by Timothy Zahn (9 books and counting, starting with Cobra): A multi-generational tale of super-soldiers in war and peace, with a healthy helping of interstellar diplomacy. A really interesting take on MilSF, where out-of-the-box thinking takes center stage. -"Quadrail" series by Timothy Zahn (5 books, starting with Night Train To Rigel): Frank Compton, former agent of the human government, finds himself working for the mysterious aliens who run the local 'verse's sole form of interstellar travel; a train in space called the Quadrail. Intrigue, action, and plot twists abound, including one of the best Heel Face Turns I have ever encountered. -"Stainless Steel Rat" series by Harry Harrison (11 books, starting with The Stainless Steel Rat, and one short story, which can be found in the collection Stainless Steel Visions). In a far future where mankind has spread across the stars, crime has been eliminated. Well, that's what the authorities would like you to believe; in truth there are still a small handful of individuals maladjusted enough to commit crimes and smart enough to get away with them. James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" Digriz, the Stainless Steel Rat, may be the smartest of them all, a white collar thief and con artist who's almost pathological disregard for law and authority is balanced by a surprisingly strong moral code. Which is why when he is finally caught, the authorities put him to work catching criminals who lack those morals. This is classic SF comedy, with a surprising amount of pathos at points. -"The Parasol Protectorate" series by Gail Carriger (five books, starting with Soulless). A humorous and exciting tale of love, intrigue, mad scientists, and fashion in an alternate Victorian era where the British Empire's power derives from steampunk technology, werewolf soldiers, and vampire politicians. Has a sequel series, "The Custard Protocol" (3 books and counting, starting with Prudence) revolving around the daughter of the original protagonist. Has a YA prequel spinoff, "Finishing School" (4 books, starting with Ettiquette and Espionage) revolving around a teenager who is recruited by a boarding school that trains spies. There are, in addition, a manga adaptation of the first couple books. -Ports of Call by Jack Vance. Myron Tany has always dreamed of traveling the Gaean Reach. When his eccentric aunt acquires a spaceship, it seems his dream has come true...until she ends up marooning him on random planet. Fortunately, Myron is able to obtain a position as supercargo aboard the merchant ship Glicca. The story does not really have a plot per se, consisting primarily of a series of marvelous picaresque vignettes as Myron and his crew-mates travel to different worlds delivering cargo, trying to acquire additional cargo, and periodically running afoul of bizarre local customs. The book just kinda stops at one point, and resumes in a second book, entitled Lurulu. I'm not really describing this well, but they're both very fun, beautifully written books. -The Green and the Gray by Timothy Zahn. A night on the town for a young New York couple takes a turn for the weird when they are forced, at gunpoint, to take custody of a 12-year old girl. They soon find themselves enmeshed in a secret Cold War between two alien races that have secretly been living in the city for generations...a Cold War that is threatening to turn hot. -The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. A young woman awakens surrounded by corpses with no memory of who she is. In her pocket is a letter from her pre-amnesia self, one Myfanwy Thomas. It seems that Myfanwy was a senior bureaucrat for the covert organization in charge of controlling magic and other such weirdness in Britain, and that her amnesiac state is something that was done to her. Myfanwy must therefore investigate the mystery of precisely who that is, while simultaneously do a job about which she knows nothing, without letting anyone realize what's happened to her. Ha a sequel, Stiletto, though I cannot explain the plot without spoiling the previous book. -Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. A tale in which an elderly demon-hunting cleric and his paladin assistant team-up with a shape-shifting barbarian girl and husband and wife alchemists to prevent an undead villain unleash an ancient evil, while trying not get involved between the conflict between the tyrannical ruler of their city and a gentleman thief-turned-revolutionary. Did I mention that the cleric's spells invoke the name of Allah, the paladin is a dervish, the barbarian is a Bedouin, and the whole setting draws it's cues not from Tolkien but the Arabian Nights? -"White Trash Zombie" by Diana Rowland (6 books and counting, starting with My Life As a White Trash Zombie). Angel Crawford is an unemployed high school dropout in rural Louisiana with a deadbeat dad, an asshole boyfriend, a drug habit, and no future. After one particularly wild night of drinking and drugging, she gets into a devastating car accident...and wakes up in the hospital without a scratch on her to find that an unknown benefactor has arranged for her to have a job at the Coroner's Office. Which is good because she now has a hankering for brains... -Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom edited by John Joseph Adams. Exactly what is says on the tin, a collection of original stories set on Barsoom by an assortment of writers. As with any anthology, quality is a bit uneven; some of the stories are excellent Original Flavor pastiches, some are deconstructions or parodies, one or two are just bad. But all in all a great collection. -Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs edited by Mike Resnick and Robert T. Garcia. Same basic idea, but for the entire Burroughs oevure, including some of his non-SFnal work. -"Winter of the World" series by Michael Scott Rohan (two trilogies, the first starting with The Anvil of Ice, the second place taking place before the first and in another part of the world, and which I haven't been able to get my hands on ), an epic fantasy taking place against the backdrop of an Ice Age, in which a young man rises from slavery to become the most powerful smith-cum-magician the world has ever known, and together with some companions fights to defeat the sinister primal forces that wish to cover the world in glaciers forever. Much less generic than it sounds, even without going into the appendixes which reveal the real(ish) science behind quite a bit of the magic. -"Spiral Arm" series by Michael Flynn (4 books, starting with The January Dancer). Moderately Irish-flavored space opera, the first book tells the tale of of how a random space captain found a pre-human artifact, of the various hands said artifact passed into, and the conflicts that sprung up in it's wake. The second book turns the first's framing sequence into an epic of it's own, as a young bard hunts down the truth of her parentage. The series notably involves massive retcons with each volume, revealing that what we thought was going on was actually something else, but does so in a way that's compelling rather than irritating. -Dr. Jay Hosler is an entomologist who has written four edutational graphic novels for children (Clan Apis, The Sandwalk Adventures, Optical Allusions, and Last of the Sandwalkers). I've read three and they are amazing. In Clan Apis, a young honeybee desperately searches for her place in the hive, and ultimately finds an unorthodox solution. In The Sandwalk Adventures, an elderly Charles Darwin tries to convince a follicle mite living in his eyebrow that he's not God, by teaching him about evolution. In Last of the Sandwalkers (no relation)...honestly, the story contains so much epic awesomeness, I just want to list it, but it's all spoilers; suffice to say that the title character is A: a beetle, B: could give Sam Carter and Agatha Heterodyne a run for their money in the mad science department, and C: leads an expedition to explore the unknown and along the way discovers truths about her family and the nature of her people's civilization that some people really don't want her to (also you learn stuff about beetles). -Nightwise by R. S. Belcher. Years ago, Laytham Ballard was the Golden Boy of the occult underworld sub-culture. That was a LONG time ago, and no one would ever mistake Laytham for golden. But he's not so much of a bastard that he'll refuse the last request of one of his few remaining friends. What was supposed to be a simple revenge killing, however, turns out to be a lot more complicated and a lot more dangerous than Laytham ever imagined. Has a sequel, The Night Dahlia, which I have yet to read. -Brotherhood of the Wheel by R. S. Belcher. Jimmy Aussapile is an independent trucker, hauling cargo cross-country to support his pregnant wife and teenage daughter; he is also a member of a secret order descended from the Knights Templar that protects the highways of America from monsters both human and not. An encounter with a hitchhiking ghost finds him heading off on a quest, in which he joins forces with the heir apparent of monster-fighting outlaw biker gang who's military service unleashed some serious inner demons, and a State Trooper who's determination to solve a series of child abductions leads her to go rogue. Together, they must battle an ancient evil involving serial killers, human sacrifice, and Black-Eyed Kids. Note that it's loosely tied to Nightwise, in which Jimmy shows up in one scene as a minor side character; meanwhile, an off-hand reference to Laytham is made at one point in Brotherhood, and a minor plot thread in the later novel relates to a major plot thread in the earlier. They aren't even the same genre, with Nightwise being urban fantasy noir instead of horror. All in all, one doesn't have to have read one to enjoy the other,

[bluesies]

LGBTQIA+ books coming out in 2017

there are a ton of lgbtqia+ books coming out this year so i decided to compile a list of all of them! if i made a mistake or if you know of a book that should be on this list but isn’t, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

JANUARY •flying lessons and other stories by ellen oh | jan 3 | diverse middle grade anthology •the cursed queen (the imposter queen #2) by sarah fine | jan 3 | wlw ya fantasy •wing jones by katherine webber | jan 5 | ya sports contemporary, wlw secondary character •history is all you left me by adam silvera | jan 17 | mlm ya contemporary •whiteout (seasons of love #1) by elyse springer | jan 24 | mlm contemporary romance •dreadnought by april daniels | jan 24 | ya superhero ft. trans mc •nor the battle to the strong (intertwined souls series: eva and zoe book 6) by mary d. brooks  | jan 24 | wlw historical fiction •the you i’ve never known by ellen hopkins | jan 24 | wlw ya contemporary •making love by aidan wayne | jan 30 | wlw fantasy romance •rogue magic by kit brisby | jan 30 | mlm urban fantasy   •our own private universe by robin talley | jan 31 | bi mc, ya contemporary •ida by alison evans | jan ? | bi mc+trans and non binary characters, sci fi/fantasy •flowers of luna by jennifer linsky | jan ? | wlw sci fi •warrior: a collection of short stories by antonica jones | jan ? | multiple lgbtqia+ protagonists, sci fi/fantasy ya anthology

FEBRUARY •the impasse (miles #3) by franci mcmahon | feb 1 | wlw western  •be safe by doug weaver | feb 2 | mlm literary fiction •my ladybird story by magus tor | feb 3 | trans mc, contemporary •claiming mister kemp (baleful godmother #3) by emily larkin  | feb 6 | mlm historical romance   •embers (common law #2) by kate sherwood | feb 6 | mlm, contemporary romance  •hacked up by ethan stone | feb 6 | mlm, mystery/thriller •working it (ringside romance #1) by christine d’abo | feb 6 | mlm, contemporary romance   •at the edge of the universe by shaun david hutchinson | feb 7 | mlm ya contemporary •island of exiles by erica cameron | feb 7 | bi mc, ya fantasy •the stars are legion by kameron hurley | feb 7 | wlw sci fi •once bitten by kate owen | feb 8 | wlw fantasy •the wolf and the moon by kayla bain-vrba | feb 8 | mlm fantasy •fighter (the brick yard #1) by carol lynne | feb 9 | mlm, sports contemporary •stolen ink (ink  born #1) by holly evans | feb 10 | mlm, fantasy/paranormal •as i am (all saints #3) by a.m. arthur | feb 13 | mlm, contemporary romance •half by eli lang | feb 13 | mlm, fantasy/paranormal  •hard wired (cyberlove #3) by megan erickson | feb 13 | mlm mc, m/m romance •amounting to nothing (tacoma mounted patrol #3) by karis walsh | feb 14 | wlw mystery •birthright by missouri vaun | feb 14 | wlw fantasy •crescent city confidential by aurora rey | feb 14 | wlw contemporary romance  •guarding mr. fine by helenkay dimon (tough love #3) | feb 14 | mlm, m/m romance •love down under by m.j. williamz | feb 14 | wlw contemporary romance  •love is love by mette bach | feb 14 | trans love interest, ya contemporary •same love by tony correria | feb 14 | mlm ya contemporary •the fury by camilla quinn | feb 14 | wlw fantasy   •the right kind of wrong by p.j. trebelhorn | feb 14 | wlw contemporary •we are okay by nina lacour | feb 14 | wlw ya contemporary  •wishing on a dream by julie cannon | feb 14 | wlw erotica  •worms of sin ( m’coul and ghoul series #2) by lyle blake smythers  | feb 14 | mlm, thriller   •a welded wave by z.a. tanis | feb 15 | trans+mlm mc, contemporary romance •behind bars (pandemonium #2) by meredith katz  | feb 15 | mlm, fantasy •cornwall is for lovers by h.p. medina | feb 15 | mlm mc, historical romance •finding fire (finding home #2) by shelia powell, liz mcmullen | feb 15 | wlw paranormal romance •humanity for beginners by faith mudge | feb 15 | wlw, fantasy/paranormal •peter darling by austin chant | feb 15 | trans+mlm mc, fantasy retelling •skyborn by helen maeve | feb 15 | wlw, fantasy •something there by jayne coleridge | feb 15 | wlw, contemporary romance •soundproof by c.a. blocke | feb 15 | mlm mcs, m/m romance •sparkwood by daria defore  | feb 15 | mlm, fantasy, romance •the death of israel leventhal by boom baumgartner | feb 15 | asexual, bi+homoroamntic+mlm characters, paranormal urban fantasy       •the last american hero by nicole field | feb 15 | trans+mlm mc, superhero/fantasy   •tread lightly by catherine lane | feb 15 | wlw, urban fantasy •when did thirty become such a big deal by alessandra ebulu | feb 15 | mlm, m/m romance  •you’re fired by shaya crabtree | feb 15 | wlw erotica •beneath the stars by lynn charles | feb 16 | mlm contemporary romance •dating ryan alback by j.e. birk | feb 20 | mlm, m/m romance  •a conjuring of light by ve schwab | feb 21 | bi+genderfluid mcs, ya fantasy •an unseen attraction by kj charles | feb 21 | mlm, m/m historical romance  •single malt (agents irish and whiskey #1) by layla reyne | feb 21 | mlm thriller •as la vista turns (queers of la vista #5) by kris ripper | feb 27 | wlw contemporary romance •10 things i can see from here by carrie mac | feb 28 | wlw ya contemporary  •a good idea by cristina moracho | feb 28 | bi mc, wlw, ya mystery/thriller

MARCH •a careful heart by ralph josiah bardsley | mar 1 | mlm contemporary •america #1 by gabby rivera & joe quinones | mar 1 | wlw mc, comic •fury's bridge (afterlife, inc. #1) by brey willows | mar 1 | wlw fantasy •darkness (common law #3) by kate sherwood | mar 6 | mlm mystery •the other f word by natasha friend | mar 7 | wlw parents, ya contemporary •the inexplicable logic of my life by by benjamin alire sáenzs | mar 7 | mlm parent, ya contemporary •the pants project by cat clarke | mar 7 | trans mc, middle grade contemporary •you’re welcome, universe by whitney gardner | mar 7 | wlw parents, ya contemporary •the northern heart (kingdom curses #2) by sasha l. miller | mar 7 | mlm fantasy •ghosts & ashes (broken moon #2) by f.t. lukens | march 10 | mlm ya sci-fi •attention to death by alisha abraham | march 10 | mlm, mystery/thriller •fair chance (all fair’s #3) by josh lanyon | march 13 | mlm, mystery •insight (the community #1) by santino hassell | march 13 | mlm fantasy   •sons of devils by alex beecroft | march 14 | mlm historical fantasy  •danced close (portland heat #6) by annabeth albert  | march 14 | mlm, m/m romance •divided nation, united hearts by yolanda wallace | march 14 | wlw historical •lightning strikes (lightning #1) by cass sellars | march 14  | wlw thriller •love in disaster by charlotte greene | march 14  | wlw erotica  •queens of geek by jen wilde | march 14 | wlw ya contemporary •secret hearts (romance #14) by radclyffe | march 14 | wlw contemporary •sins of our fathers by a. rose mathieu | mar 14 | wlw mystery •star-crossed by barbara dee | mar 14 | questioning mc, middle grade contemporary •the new old me: my late-life reinvention by meredith maran | mar 14 | wlw memoir •the sniper’s kiss by justine saracen | mar 14 | wlw historical  •troop 18 (a dr. kate morrison mystery #3) by jessica l. webb | mar 14 | wlw mystery •worthy of trust and confidence (agent o’connor #2) by kara mcleod | mar 14 | wlw mystery •future leaders of nowhere by emily o’beirne | mar 15 | wlw ya contemporary •in the direction of the sun by lucy j. madison | mar 15 | wlw contemporary •winterbourne's daughter by stephanie rabig | mar 15 | asexual, biromantic+bisexual, trans characters, and poly relationship, fantasy •growing pains (toronto connections #3) by cass lennox | mar 21 | mlm contemporary •shadow run by adrianne strickland | mar 21 | genderfluid+gay secondary characters, ya sci fi/fantasy •strays (urban soul #2) by garrett leigh | mar 27 | mlm contemporary romance •the lotterys plus one by emma donoghue  | mar 28 | wlw+mlm+transgender characters, childrens/middle grade contemporary •honestly ben (openly straight #2) by bill konigsberg | mar 28 | mlm ya contemporary •watch as my world ends by kayla bain-vrba | mar 29 | mlm fantasy   

APRIL •at attention (out of uniform #2) by annabeth albert | apr 1 | mlm, m/m romance   •death goes overboard (a detective heath barrington mystery #2) by david s. pederson | apr 1 | mlm historical mystery •relationship status (ethan & wyatt #3) by k.a. mitchell | apr 1 | mlm new adult contemporary •strawberry summer by melissa brayden | apr 1 | wlw contemporary romance •don't feed the trolls by erica kudisch | apr 3 | gender questioning mc, new adult contemporary •home fires (common law #4) by kate sherwood | apr 3 | mlm contemporary •loose cannon (the woodbury boys #1) by sidney bell | apr 3 | mlm contemporary •ashes to asheville by sarah dooley | apr 4 | wlw parents, ya contemporary  •get it together, delilah! by erin gough  | apr 4 | wlw ya conetmporary •the truth about goodbye by russel ricard | apr 4 | mlm contemporary •the paths we choose (lillac town #2) by m hollis | apr 6 | wlw mc, na contemporary •hopeless romantic by francis gideon | apr 10 | mlm+trans characters, contemporary •the upside of unrequited by becky albertalli | apr 11 | secondary wlw, ya contemporary  •razor's edge (american yakuza #3) by isabella | apr 11 | wlw thriller •placement by abby elise | apr 17 | bi mc+asexual+agender characters, dystopian  •wake up call by j.l. merrow | apr 17 | mlm contemporary romance •escape in time by robyn nox | apr 18 | wlw historical time travel •forget me not by kris bryant | apr 18 | wlw contemporary •highland fling by anna larner | apr 18 | wlw contemporary •meg & linus by hanna nowinski | apr 18 | wlw+mlm ya contemporary romance •phoenix rising (storm’s quarry #2) by rebecca harwell | apr 18 | wlw sci fi/fantasy •soul survivor by i. beacham | apr 18 | wlw contemporary romance •the edge of the abyss (the abyss surrounds us #2) by emily skrutskie | apr 18 | wlw ya sci fi/fantasy  •the girl on the edge of summer (micky knight #9) by j.m. redmann | apr 18 | wlw mystery •unknown horizons by c.j. birch | apr 18 | wlw sci fi  •city of dreams by sydney blackburn | apr 19 | mlm, fantasy/romance •puss in prada by marie jacquelyn | apr 19 | mlm, fantasy/paranormal •lumberjanes vol 6: sink or swim by shannon watters | apr 20 | wlw+trans characters, ya fantasy comic •necessary medicine by m.k. york | apr 24 | mlm contemporary romance •thaw (seasons of love #2) by elyse springer | apr 24 | wlw adult contemporary romance •back piece (skin deep inc. #1) by la witt | apr 25 | mlm, contemporary romance •looking for group by rory harrison | apr 25 | mlm+trans characters, ya contemporary

MAY •cask strength (agents irish and whiskey #2) by layla reyne | may 1 | mlm thriller •concourse (five boroughs #5) by santino hassell | may 1 | mlm, contemporary romance •risky behavior by l.a. witt | may 1 | mlm mystery/suspense, romance •georgia rules by nanci turner stevenson | may 2 | wlw parents, middle grade contemporary •how to make a wish by ashley herring blake | may 2 | wlw ya contemporary •my fairy godmother is a drag queen by david clawson | may 2 | mlm ya contemporary •noteworthy by riley redgate | may 2 | bi mc, ya contemporary •the dark prophecy (trials of apollo #2) by rick riordan | may 2 | bi mc+mlm, ya fantasy/mythology •bad beginnings by nicole field | may 3 | mlm, contemporary romance •the silksmith’s girl by reece pine | may 3 | intersex mc, historical fiction •release by patrick ness | may 4 | mlm, ya contemporary •the seafarer’s kiss by julia ember | may 4 | wlw fantasy retelling •bend by nancy j. hedin | may 8 | wlw contemporary •faking it (ringside romance #2) by christine d’abo | may 8 | mlm, contemporary romance •girlhood by cat clarke | may 9 | bi mc, ya contemporary mystery •it’s not like it’s a secret by misa sugiura | may 9 | wlw ya contemporary •ramona blue by julie murphy | may 9 | self-identified lesbian questioning (bi)sexuality, ya contemporary •undercover girl: the lesbian informant who helped the fbi bring down the communist party by lisa e. davis | may 9 | nonfiction •the penalty for holding (the games men play #2) by georgette gouveia | may 10 | mlm, contemporary •wish on the water (the sole experiement #3) by eve francis | may 10 | genderqueer love interest, contemporary •primal need by parker foye, holley trent, k.l. white | may 15 | mlm paranormal romance anthology •summer stock by vanessa north | may 15 | mlm contemporary romance •the alpha's claim by holley trent | may 15 | mlm paranormal romance •forsaken trust (luce hansen thriller #2) by meredith doench | may 16 | wlw, mystery •gatecrasher (the maverick heart cycle #2) by stephen graham king | may 16 | mlm, fantasy/speculative fiction •her best friend’s sister by meghan o’brien | may 16 | wlw, contemporary romance •letter of the law (lone star law series #3) by carsen taite | may 16 | wlw, mystery/thriller, romance •new life by jan gayle | may 16 | wlw, contemporary romance •rough patch by nicole markotic | may 16 | bi mc, ya contemporary •royal rebel (a royal romance story #2) by jenny frame | may 16 | wlw, contemporary romance •serendipity by max c. payne | may 16 | mlm, contemporary romance   •the love interest by cale dietrich | may 16 | mlm ya contemporary •this would make a good story someday by dana alison levy | may 16 | wlw parents, children’s contemporary •unbroken by donna k. ford  | may 16 | wlw, contemporary romance  •where the light glows by dena blake | may 16 | wlw, contemporary romance •wicked frat boy ways by todd gregory | may 16 | mlm, erotica  •straight expectations by peggy cryden | may 18 | nonfiction  •queer, there, and everywhere: 23 people who changed the world by sarah prager | may 23 | nonfiction  •eternity in an hour (eternity #1) by matthew merendo | may 24 | mlm, fantasy  •fraud twice felt (the oddities #2) by j.t. hall | may 29 | mlm, paranormal romance  •heels over head by elyse springer | may 29 | mlm, contemporary romance 

JUNE •troublemakers by catherine barter | june 1 | mlm side characters, ya contemporary •action (murmur inc. #2) by quinn anderson | june 5 | mlm, contemporary romance •on point (out of uniform #3) by annabeth albert | june 5 | mlm, contemporary romance •perfect ten by l. philips | june 6 | mlm ya contemporary romance •tash hearts tolstoy by kathryn ormsbee | june 6 | asexual mc, ya contemporary •from prejudice to pride: a history of the lgbtq+ movement by amy lamé | june 8 | nonfiction •american family by catherine marahsall-smith | june 13 | mlm, adult general fiction •an unnatural vice (sins of the cities #2) by kj charles | june 13 | mlm, historical romance •how to survive a summer by nick white | june 13 | mlm, adult general fiction     •marriage of a thousand lies by s.j. sindu | june 13 | mlm+wlw mcs, literary fiction •the gentlemen’s guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee | june 20 | bi/pan mc, mlm ya historical fiction •seduced by the tide (dragon soul #2) by sean michael | june 26 | mlm, paranormal romance/erotica •a destiny of dragons (the tales of verani #2) by tj klune | june ? | mlm+asexual characters, fantasy

JULY •love and other hot beverages by laurie loft | jul 3 | mlm, contemporary romance •spun! (the shamwell tales #4) by jl merrow | jul 3 | mlm, contemporary romance •the other five percent by quinn anderson  | jul 10 | mlm, contemporary romance •the art of starving by sam j. miller | july 11 | mlm ya contemporary •sovereign (nemesis #2) by april daniels | july 25 | ya superhero ft. trans mc •the backstagers vol. 1 by james tynion iv | july 25 | mlm fantasy comic •the gallery of unfinished girls by lauren karcz | july 25 | wlw ya contemporary

AUGUST •we now return to regular life by martin wilson | aug 1 | mlm ya contemporary •barrel proof (agents irish and whiskey #3) by layla reyne | aug 7 | mlm, suspense/romance •little & lion by brandy colbert | aug 8 | wlw ya contemporary •what is gender? how does it define us? and other big questions by juno dawson | aug 10 | nonfiction •the gang’s all queer: the lives of gay gang members by vanessa r panfil | aug 15 | nonfiction •dress codes for small towns by courtney c. stevens | aug 29 | ya contemporary questioning mc •illegal contact by santino hussel | aug ? | m/m romance •the tiger’s watch by julia ember | aug ? | genderfluid mc, ya fantasy

SEPTEMBER •girl made of snow and glass by melissa bashardoust | sep 5 | wlw ya fantasy retelling •lgbtq politics:a critical reader by marla brettschneider, susan burgess, christine keating | sep 5 | nonfiction •mask of shadows by linsey miller | sep 5 | genderfluid mc, ya fantasy •they both die at the end by adam silvera | sep 5 | mlm ya sci fi contemporary •autoboyography by christina lauren | sep 12 | mlm ya/na contemporary romance    •caterpillars can’t swim by liane shaw | sep 12 | mlm mc, ya contemporary •echo after echo by amy rose capetta | sep 15 | wlw ya •kaleidoscope song by fox benwell | sept 19 | wlw ya •the queer history project: no way, they were gay? by lee wind | sep ? | middle grade nonfiction

OCTOBER •27 hours by tristina wright | oct 3 | mlm+wlw ya sci fi •that inevitable victorian thing by e.k. johnston | oct 3 | wlw ya sci-fi/fantasy •the ship of the dead (magnus chase and the gods of asgard #3) by rick riordan | oct 3 | genderfluid mc+non-labelled lgbtqia+ character, ya fantasy/mythology •the tiger’s daughter by k. arsenault rivera | oct 3 | wlw, ya fantasy •top ten by katie cotugno | oct 3 | bi mc, ya contemporary romance •like water by rebecca podos | oct 17 | wlw ya contemporary •the 57 bus by dashka slater | oct 17 | agender mc, ya •mick & michelle by nina rossing | oct ? | trans mc, ya contemporary •the consumption of magic (the tales of verani #2) by tj klune | oct ? | mlm+asexual characters, fantasy

NOVEMBER •boomerang by helene dunbar | nov 7 | mlm ya contemporary mystery •chainbreaker (timekeeper #2) by tara sim | nov 7 | mlm ya sci fi/steampunk

UNKNOWN RELEASE DATE •alan cole is not a coward by eric bell | ? | mlm middle grade contemporary •amelia westlake by erin gough | ? | wlw ya contemporary •here so far away by hadley dyer | ? | mlm ya contemporary •hold my hand by michael barakiva | ? | mlm ya contemporary •if found return to astropop by lucas hargis | ? | genderfluid mcs, ya contemporary •these books belong to ken z by r. zamora linmark | ? | mlm, ya contemporary