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plasticfangtastic · 7 months

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American Royalty. Ch. 10

A Homelander X F! Reader/Dadlander fanfic.

A/N: sorry for the delay, I wrote another fic and that ate my time, hope y'all like the chapter, there's only 3 chapters left and the epilogue and now that kinktober its done I should be able to post the remaining chapters on time, if ya like to be on the taglist plz leave a comment with a request. prev. chapter here:

Tags: mild gore, angst, slow burn, fluff, oc characthers, child neglect, dadlander, romance, some spicy and murder.

Chapter Ten

Reconsidering

A lavish prison.

More rooms than ideas to fill them with– mere latrines for kisch.

Floors that screamed ugly opulence, the kind that made you yearn for the simplicity of owning nothing, of forced minimalism... or tasteful decor.

When you cracked your neck to witness the enormity of the seven story mansion (not counting the cellar basement and the terrace) the price tag had frightened you to the core more than the height, making you feel more than inadequate in visitation, as you had come in jeans and an ironic t-shirt to accompany him (not that you had a choice)-- as Homelander pulled you around from floor to floor, forcing you to walk alongside him from beige rooms to white rooms, past rich dark wood doors. So heavy they hurt your wrist, you worried for your future.

These were the things you could only witness in pictures.

“I hate the carpet.” He said coyly, trying to stand close to you without frightening you.

Looking down at the rug you’ve taken your shoes off for-- it was luxurious, it was nice for the somewhat dark library, the smell of curated cedar and walnut genuinely intoxicating. From a second glance it matched his taste in your mind, but you guess he was a lot more finicky than he already was– perhaps it wasn’t soft enough for him, you thought.

“I'd rather we just have the floors bare– it’ll be easier to clean.”

“Concerned about the maids already?”

“Maids?”

“Honey, you don’t think I expect you to clean this thing by yourself?” He gave you a playful pat in the back– even with superspeed you’ll wear yourself out…”

The real estate agent who kept rubbernecking at your direction, raised his eyebrow as he saw how stiff you were next to your fiance.

Pressing yourself against the aged stone of the terrace fence, the city seemed so far away as you looked down from so high up, wondering if you could fall quick enough, if he would catch you right on time or make it easy for himself and play the tragic broken hearted hero. The cold breeze kissed your temples as you processed the jarring passage of time.

Kaleem, his wife Alessia and your co-worker Chrissie dropped what they were doing when you broke the news that you’ve gotten engaged, they’ve already gotten it from the breaking news report and online but actually hearing it out of your mouth cemented it, it wasn’t a lookalike sharing your name marrying Homelander! But you! Their hardworking and worn out cook.

Who never once mentioned him before, who never described your baby daddy, who gave no hints… yet to them who thought were your friends–if not confidants, felt betrayed.

They were friends of yours but the fear of Homelander’s and Vought had been so great you never wanted to disclose who’s Helena’s father was to anybody, they had formed very strong opinions over the time they’ve known you but at the sight of half a dozen black suits entering their pizza shop– you probably would have never been able to tell them on your terms, anyways.

You had no choice now but to divulge.

After having been made to lose a day’s work and being informed they would have to agree to some sketchy stuff regarding selling your situation to the public, you owed them an explanation– at least the financial compensation for their cooperation was generous.

Right now you were a stranger.

You told a version of your story, adding to what they already knew, like everybody else their image of Homelander was firmly cemented after 20 years of exposure to the bastard, it was hard to view ‘The Nation’s Favorite Dad’ was the one who threw you on the streets, nobody spoke much while you melted into the booth, your sight so far away, as the light’s buzz drilled into your brain.

“Is the dick at least good?” Chrissie slurped loudly on her coke– I mean go get your bag bitch, just don’t let him make you sign a prenup and when you get divorce take half his shit.”

“Slightly above mid… his mouth tho…” You did smile there.

“Is it little?”

“I wish… shit hurts. Can’t sit straight afterwards... he's just so quick! Thank god his mouth isn't just good at speeches” You chuckle dryly.

Chrissie began spacing her fingers until you rolled your eyes in embarrassment, poor Kaleem sat in his corner pretending to be blind.

You both shared an ugly snorting laugh, cackling from the absurdity of the situation.

“You wouldn’t be the first woman to marry for benefits– trust me I seen a lot of ‘90 day fiance’ and my aunt Lucia’s been married to my uncle for 32 years– she met him a month before the wedding and only for the green card.”

“32 years?” That was dreadful.

Alessia was quite relaxed about the whole ordeal, if anything it was the most stimulating thing that had happened in recent years and seeing a six-year- old tutor her teenage son was exhilarating.

“She said he has a big dick and uncle works the night shift… works great for her– pretty sure 2 of their 7 kids are his”

“Is this the aunt Lucia that came and did our light fixtures? I feel sorry for your uncle.” Chrissie said.

“Yes– she's happy, and don’t be… Uncle Frank may have a whole other family in Mexico, but that’s a whole other business.” She said loudly– look you had it rought, and fuck him. I thought killing the dude at that rally was a bit much, but dumping you in the streets– way worse than murder! Look, we got three kids and if this dumbass died on me– I don’t know how I would cope and if some hot rich asshole asked me to marry him… I might ‘cuz college ain't cheap.” You could laugh, watching Kaleem agreeing he would do the same if she died– Homelander is cute and has money. You said it yourself– you don’t have to love him. He’ll meet somebody else and end it, but Helena it’s your main priority here not him, and I mean after everything you’ve been thru you deserve to cruise thru life.``

“I don’t think John is going to let me fuck around…” You groaned, resting your head on your forearm as you sunk deeper– I don’t have to be happy, right?”

“It’s overrated.” Chrissie said– Helena would probably finish college by 12, and that if she takes her time.”

“Thank you guys for encouraging me in my new ‘Sugar Baby’ journey– I always knew I had it in me to be an amazing hoe.”

It wasn’t what you wanted to hear… to them who just like you had to break their backs to keep the roof over their heads, it was an enviable golden opportunity and in this economy one couldn’t really afford to miss out on such opportunities…

“Just pretend you like him if he’s ever around, I guess.” you mention.

“It’s gonna be hard ‘cuz I like Noir more.” Chrissie says leaning across the table to pat your shoulders.

So here you were admiring the Upper East Side, in the nicest street, in a coveted building that he had every desire in the world to make you ‘Lady of the House’, it was beyond extravagant it even had an elevator… so there was some appeal.

Ashley followed him like a lap dog as he listed a billion much needed remodeling decisions to bring back the home into the office spaces by force, in case he decided to purchase the edifice.

“So you like it? This is the fifth house we’ve seen… you said you wanted a yard and space.”

“Needs more plants… is a great location…” you said softly, still looking down, pretending to not notice Ashley was writing that down too.

“But do you love it?” he pressed rubbing your shoulders– we can still get the penthouse… even if it's only four bedrooms but great open concept! Or the condo right in front of Central park– but that one is only 3 bedrooms which might tamper with our plans… although the one in 63 street, classy and it has a cinema.”

He kissed your forehead, after speaking quickly.

“Do you love it?” You asked, fixing his hair once he got too close to you– this will be your home too.”

“Is pre-war” He whines playfully– is so pretty… the brownstone… the history…” He gives you the most pathetic attempt of ‘puppy eyes’ you’ve ever seen, a smile creeps onto your face without permission which he takes graciously– I can see us here.”

“You’re not hanging a giant american flag anywhere in this house!”

“A small one?” He pouts.

“In your office… and it better be small, John.” You rested your head on his chest– The kitchen… is awful.”

He was touchy, your skin numb to his touch at this point, he wanted to kiss you and hold you until you cherished him, but he wouldn’t force it.

You just had to keep smiling and thwart most of his approaches, but you know if you gave him just enough affection he would be unable to notice the wicked game you were playing– forcing him to move at your dictated pace, to keep him on his toes yearning that you would turn and pamper him, never knowing if his affections were welcomed or not, but knowing you gave yours to him and he welcomed it.

You could see Ryan and Helena growing up happy, and safe.

You and those two children sitting by the fireplace, enjoying hot chocolate and opening Christmas presents.

You would in fact not choose this house just to spite the man, who had fallen in love with his grand vision– not that the chosen house was worse, just one floor shorter, just as massive as the other and still in a great location… so Homelander didn’t complain too much… just a little.

The boxes increased but there was still so much to fill up, even with his stuff it wasn’t enough to fill the gaps… he would not spare you from the American flags, tragically as it sounds.

At least it was framed and matched the decor of the gallery and dining room. As you unpacked and watched the movers bring the beds while the kids argued about who kept which floor– Helena demanded the fourth floor already making executive decision to turn the empty rooms into labs and offices for her future endeavors, while Ryan wanted to be normal child and stay in the same floor as his sibling, ultimately pushed to the fifth floor after multiple rounds of rock-paper-scissors, and a paternal mediator who said they had to settled it with another round of games which sadly Ryan lost.

After a laborious day, you two just sheepishly laughed as you stared at your bedroom, both leaning against each other as you laughed, staring at the wooden cross dividing the two beds and matching nightstands– all so very circa 50’s catholic chic.

You two just laughed about how absurd this was in execution, a part of you wished to just put the beds together instead of making your great-grandmother proud.

“Y’know we could’ve fit two kings in here…” He said while staring at the space.

“I thought you wanted me close-by.”

“Double’s were the perfect choice.” He replied quickly.

It took weeks before you reached a boiling point with your live-in situation, to see him walk around your home in that stupid suit, his mind longing for the familiarity of his abandoned penthouse was frustrating, he himself didn't expect to miss it either– He felt like a guest that refused to leave instead of your fake fiancee, this wasn’t him staying overnight at your previous domicile levels of awkward, that had been a challenge on its own, even if now you skipped the pillow walls and sleeping on the floor… God knows how many times he picked your unconscious self up from the ground and laid you to bed, while he sat next to you reading a book in the dark– this was an alien living in your house calling himself the owner.

Before you knew it your heart stung as you dragged the two kids to the nearest Target to bulk buy the man some loungewear, both from exasperation and as request from his son who mentioned he didn’t really own much clothes, and what little he did own he didn't feel like washing every 2 days just to chill around the house... and as his future wife you gave yourself automatic permission to buy him clothes… just anything that would get him out of that suit.

Ryan had never been to many stores before, much less a Target, it hurt a tad to see him fascinated by the colorful aisles and the abundance of people…knowing he had grown in a compound, the mother in you just wanted to squeeze him and apologies for it all, but you instead just squeezed the handle bars and let him pick snacks that caught his fancy.

It was hilarious that you would find yourself doing this again– back then buying for him had been difficult, he wore very little but he liked your input, he simply wore what you told him, but after so long you had no idea what he liked anymore– this wasn’t food… this wasn’t easy… so the plainest sets were your best bet.

There was something fresh about this, as you perused the aisles with the kids in tow, thinking of buying him some jeans and clean button ups, Ryan picking up colorful socks while Helena opted to pick him a shirt just to fit in.

You had fun, you looked forward to sprousing his wardrobe, watching this scene play out made you feel as if you were normal, until somebody took your photo at the checkout in your least flattering angle.

It took another week before he opened up to being undressed and exposed in cheap pajama pants and white t-shirts, it would take three weeks for him to do so without being told to– plus enough complaints about people trying to photograph them after seeing the Homelander lounge in the terrace, served as added motivation.

You told yourself it wasn’t too bad to cohabitate, as you saw him slowly get more and more comfortable in his new environment, as you watched him become softer with your kids, as you found yourself having pleasant breakfasts, found yourself being welcomed home and conversed over coffee about your day or his day– not even bringing up his concerns about you still choosing to work in Lucci when you could do so much better too often, giving up on teasing you with buying you a restaurant, or upcoming publicity stunts when you weren’t in the mood to listen to the drivel.

Staring down from the roof garden looking at the brownstone buildings around and the pale light, pleased by the subtle fragrance of flowers behind you, he seemed so normal as you watched him from across the coffee table.

He kept sipping on his latte looking miffed before turning around and asked about why Elmo had been staying over for the last 3 days, to which you reminded him he sent his dads to sort some business in Singapore.

“Does he have no other family?” He thought of Singapore– it was quite urgent… they decided to fuck us up.”

“You and them booked them for acting classes plus they have their first suit fittings tomorrow… easier for them to leave Elmo here and have us take care of that– they’re a team-up. They should be close.”

“I know! But why does he have to sleep here? He’s a boy.” He seemed concerned.

“‘Cuz we got the space…?”

“It doesn’t seem appropriate.”

“Oh you freak.”

He was still stiff around the edges but you could bear with it, as you saw him and Helena bond you knew your daughter was handling him well– your target was Ryan now.

You asked him to help you around the kitchen more, taking your time to teach him without pressure, scolding his father when he acted like it was undignified of him to help around the kitchen and forced him to eat whatever he'd made, making him feel proud when he took charge of dinner even if it was slightly too salty at times and his impenetrable skin resulted in chipped knives…

You helped him make those cute films and took him out to the cinema, buying him books on the subject, encouraging him to join art clubs, to try as many extracurriculars he was interested in and to ignore his father as he pushed Ryan to join sport related clubs, when all he wanted was to make dioramas with his new found friends, instead.

Homelander didn’t have any issues with Helena for her selections were sparse, just the chess club, and some science club she was quickly losing interest in… if anything he was being pushy about piano– and god knows how he managed to bring that piano to the fifth floor without breaking anything.

Is not as if she was already taking too much in-between physics, science and math classes… and working casually at Vought, but he didn’t seem to care. Helena assured you she could handle it, telling you to focus on your tasks without worry and you listened.

Ryan liked your support, it helped you get closer as you allowed his friends to enter the house for his little projects, he liked when you twisted his father’s ear to let him be just in case he began to disapprove, he began to trust you.

Helena wasted her afternoons in the office between daycare, superhero training and shadowing her father or Ashley, reading his meeting notes, writing them for him, or as he called it assisting him, learning about the company and the labs from her privileged position– the whispers of curious passerby wondered why Homerlander would keep his daughter so close, it had taken the building by surprise to learn that this little girl had been his child all along even if rumors had spread prior… but the once cute anomaly began to gain a insidious reputation in the underbelly of this company, something that made them more uneasy than just her strange demeanor from before.

“What’s that on your dress?” You noticed a brown stain on the hem of her dress.

“Iodine.” She said while taking her clothes off, Homelander said nothing as he picked after her.

Homelander gave you a stiff smile as he scrunched the clothes into a ball before your kid ran up towards the bathroom, mentioning she’s a tad clumsy with the equipment as he walked past you.

You didn’t need to know that the duet had some quality father-daughter time to the misfortune of some lab rat.

He stared at the chunky bloodstain sliding down the wall.

“I can explain.” She panted, staring at her work as her eyes spun around the room.

“It’s pretty obvious what happened, no?” He said stepping on top of the unidentified– "I'll have somebody come clean it up, darling.”

“You’re not mad?” She asked, genuinely nervous, fidgeting with her fingers as her head throbbed.

“Why did you kill him?” He stared at the smashed patty with curiosity.

“He resisted termination… forcing me to defend myself… he took my assistant.”

Homelander looked at the other corpse and its mangled remains, spilling around her boots.

“Why?” He spoke with a boor.

“Self-defense.”

“You took your time doing it… you could have cut his oxygen supply and killed him in a few minutes, instead you” He kicked a shattered bone– made it agonizing.”

“Tch… if he attacked me I would’ve lost control of the bubble…” She gasped lightly trying to kill the headache inside her– the math… the math makes sense. My formulas make sense. But it's them… these samples aren’t fit, they aren’t meant to be like us. They are worthless!”

She leans towards the wall, smacking her forehead against the wall full force, Homelander jumps on his heel but doesn’t reach her as she mutters incoherent curses under her breath, his hand stop just inches from her.

“This one wasn’t too bad… I thought I cracked it but then I noticed…” Helena was pensive looking at images he wasn’t privy to, as she spoke with a light airy voice as her lungs emptied for her to speak once more— I cull it.”

She squatted picking up a loose tooth from the ground, examining the perfectly structured canine, for the first time Homelander felt uneasy about her.

“Is not often that I feel…”

Homelander raised a curious eyebrow, taking a step closer towards her, Helena tilted her neck to look at him, her sight so detached it didn’t seem possible for a child to make such an expression.

“Excited. The simulations always succeed but the human variant poses an interesting angle I hadn’t previously considered… truly successful adult specimens… V24 almost recreated the perfected serum but with nasty side-effects… programming the serum is obtainable but adult humans continue to reject it or somehow create variants as if the host alters the code live” She flicks the tooth– Is like Frederick left me a puzzle.”

“So are these just pieces” He waved his fingers nonchalantly at the messy remains.

She scoffed standing up and patting her knees clean.

“You know why I play piano?”

He shook his head.

“Because in order to be good at it… you have to foster talent… but no amount of practice can’t beat those blessed with a gift… supposedly. So I have to solve his puzzle because I cannot believe that that coward was blessed more than me.”

“You think Vought has beef with you? So what will you do with all your failures? Murder them?”

“Is it murder to cull a deformed goldfish? No… that’s just mercy.” She stands up fixing her hair– It’s not beef. Is a challenge he left us with.”

His smile is so wide his skin creaks as it stretches.

He picked her up to plant a kiss on her chubby cheek.

“You’re such a messy child.” He kissed her again– you got your pretty dress dirty.”

“Sorry.” She moped– sorry about all of it… you must think I'm a hack.”

“Is okay princess… daddy will just buy you a new one… and a new dress.”

You didn’t question the stains on her dress, god knew what sort of chemicals and stuff she had to play with, and how much of it wasn’t built for the size of her hands.

The more you saw him return to that man you once loved, you felt down the spiral of considering giving him a second chance– Helena was happy, she was smiling, she was playful, your quiet daughter had blossomed under your mutual care, seeing him domesticated, seeing him interact with genuine joy with her had began to melt your heart. It didn’t help that he look so delectable in compression shirts, as he came back with the kids without a sweat on his brow, Ryan just as dry with nothing more than messy hair and then your daughter dropping to the ground half-dead from the walk… what you had stared at mostly had been his ass in those black tights.

“Honey it was only 20 miles.” He sounded a bit frustrated– gotta get her fit otherwise she will get outperformed.” He turned to you sounding a tad aggressive– she’s my daughter she should be able to handle it just like me and Ryan.”

“Mommy!” she cried.

“Most humans can’t even do twenty!”

You picked her up, not caring she was covered in sticky sweat but as you draped your child over your shoulder kissing her head as she whined, you caught an improper glimpse at him, no doubt he caught a couple looks from passersby on his way here– even by this city standards he was wearing too little.

“Go change…” You said with a light blush on your neck– don’t be a dick to her, she wasn’t born a copy of you.”

He pestered Helena for the rest of the evening, giving up once she barricaded herself in her bedroom.

“Spending all her time inside books is not gonna do her any good… she needs exercise.”

“I think you got the kids mixed up, dear.”

He moped in the living room pursing his lips, one sentence away from crossing his arms and whining like a child.

“Look I think it’s great that you want to train her but… she’s not like you. I would love for her to have inherited some of your physical skills– it's just not gonna happen.”

“I know. I don’t know why she’s so different from me… yet she has to get better…” His sight lingered on the roof– You think she’ll move her dresser out the way.”

“She’ll move it when she wants to– and don’t think about getting in there thru her window!” He almost complains but chooses to stay quiet scooting closer to you on the couch– What?”

“You seem mad…”

“You harassed our kid all day and made her upset… but I was mad before it...I made the mistake of googling myself after somebody at work made mention– have you seen the shit that people are saying ‘bout me online ‘cuz of you.”

Homelander shook his head lightly.

“I only google myself.”

“People are saying nasty shit. Hurtful shit… saw my mom getting interviewed… that was nice… she certainly made me feel like shit.”

“Want me to kill her?” Homelander spoke in such a bored tone, his head finding his way on your lap with the smoothness of a cat, unconsciously your hand took to his hair– Or something else?”

You stared at him and considered it, your mom sort of had it coming if she was going to paint herself a saint for her 15 minutes of fame.

“Don’t kill my mom, John. I just don’t want people saying I’m a bad mother because my kid went to a “shit public school” in the projects.” you said annoyed.

“I’ll see if Vought can write you a fluff piece.”

You believed him, choosing to put your anxieties away as he nuzzled into your stomach and let you watch TV without care as long as your hands kept pampering him making little commentary as you watched true crime videos.

Rolling in your bed you turned to see his back on the bed beside you, you signed readying to play dirty, your body awoken to something sickening.

“I know you ain’t asleep, John.”

His ears perked, he turned to see your silhouette in the dark.

“I can’t sleep.” You whispered– mmm…so” you signed lightly– can you get your dick up?”

His ears perked up, lifting himself by his elbows as he adjusted to face your darkened silhouette, your cheeks reddened, mildly embarrassed, your mind wandered back to the sight of his clothes, to the tussling of his hair and the glint in his eyes as of late… and of that last sudden night of intimacy.

“Oh. O-okay… might need some stimulation is not like I got a crank down there.” he faked being annoyed by your request.

“I stopped taking the pill…” His piercing eyes illuminated the room for a brief second just to catch a sly smile ‘bout to fade away off your face– so you wanna put the mommy in MILF or not?”

He tripped out of the bed to jump into yours, clawing his way back towards you, as the little voice in his head blared sirens.

Latching on your neck, ripping your clothes open as you tried not to chuckle at his messy desperation to fuck you, you closed your eyes and thought of nothing but the hundred different pleasurable sensations prickling you– it had been so long… your body sensitive, writhing over his hungry touch, wherever his hands and his lips got to taste you felt it twice as strong.

Whatever he was imagining in his head was happening none of it was relevant– this was simply a mutually beneficial exchange. Nothing but lust, it had to be lust because you didn’t see Homelander underneath you, as you rode him, as he let you fucked him just as hard as he wanted to fuck you– you saw the John that he had killed so many years ago... but somehow you didn't hate the sight.

He wanted to devour you, he was needy and pent-up and you took it all graciously, for one night you two used each other equally.

Finding himself delighted and more aroused at the squeals and mewls coming from your delicious lips just as much as you enjoyed the moans and guttural grunts that came from him as he cried against your chest, crying for your kisses and directions, liking the way he craved your scent once again.

You were better than his molasses drenched memories.

Homelander teeth gilded over your neck, the thought of him ripping and gnawing on your flesh lingered as he brought you to an orgasm.

To be so close to death as you touched heaven… you heaved, melting into the mattress letting him lumber atop of you, too delighted with the end result to complain… looking down to find him kissing your chest, whispering sweet grunts as your hand pampered his hair, you tried not to smile at that satiated goofy expression on his face, at the flickering light illuminating your skin as he purred around your touch.

He was so easy to win over… it scared you.

My Taglist-- @demodemo909 @immyowndefender @fromforeigntofamiliarity @ghqstfqce

#personal #my fic tag #Homelander #homelander x reader #homelander x you #homelander fanfiction #sorry for all the delays am a mess #american royalty #homelander x f!reader

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triviareads · 10 months

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Can you recommend any books where they get right into the sex?

Either historical or contemporary

Sure! I'm all for an instant gratification moment (and for the purpose of this ask I stuck to early sex scenes between the main couple because there's a decent amount of het romances out there that begin with the hero and another woman..... though predictably not many with the heroine having good sex with another man :/).

Contemporary:

Minx by Sophie Lark: There's some fabulous, very hot sex (and pet play) a few chapters in, after Blake agrees to take on Ramses as a client. And once the ball gets rolling, it really doesn't stop.... and only gets better from there.

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez: Roxanne basically *mounts* Mateo (if there's one thing Angelina loves, it's a mounting moment) right after their agreement that she'll get her pregnant in exchange for money is finalized. It's very.... economical and Mateo hates it, but gets off on it. He's soooooo conflicted and I personally loved that.

After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez: The other mounting moment sex scene; Alex hops on Jeremiah literally two minutes after arriving in the dead of the night at her family's bar. It's honestly made hotter because Angelina writes a (kinda hilarious) premature ejaculation coupled with Alex getting off after. It works and I'm all for it.

Sherwood by Sierra Simone: Such an underrated book imo; the prologue has our "Robin Hood" (she's a woman here) about to be deployed, and "Maid Marian" tries to dissuade her by eating her out. Very emotional, very hot.

Asking for Trouble by Tessa Bailey: An early face-sitting scene after she's cuffed him in her foyer. Brent puts his "middle-class mouth" to gooood use.

Scorching to the Touch by Ofelia Martinez: There's hate sex about two chapters in; Erica makes Friedrich eat her out in the bathroom of an event and when he whips out his dick and is all "what am I supposed to do with this?", she points to a stall. Honestly, a winner.

The Risk by Caitlin Crews: She's a ballerina pretending to be a stripper-escort who gets her fantasy of being "bought" fulfilled and she and her billionaire have sex pretty much right after.

Crashed Out by Tessa Bailey: Like a couple chapters in, Jasmine sees Sarge's dick and books it to her car and tries to get off, but then Sarge catches her and lends a helping hand all while asserting he's a Grown Man now.

Desperate Measures by Katee Robert: Jafar kills Jasmine's mob boss father in the beginning and within the next chapter, there's a CNC scene where he chasing her down while she pretends she doesn't want it.

Give Me More by Sara Cate: Sara immediately sets up the throuple by having the married couple, Hunter and Isabel, have anniversary sex while listening to their friend Drake have sex with two other women, with Drake also getting off while listening to Hunter and Isabel.

Historical:

The Bride Goes Rogue by Joanna Shupe: A fabulous anonymous encounter with neither Preston nor Katherine realizing who the other person is (right after Preston rejected his arranged betrothal to Kat) and they're pretending to be Louis XV and Madame Pompadour while they get each other off at a French Ball.

Her Husband's Harlot by Grace Callaway: The book starts with Helena following her husband to a brothel disguised as a prostitute, and Nicholas fully doesn't recognize her when he (successfully) has sex with her for the first time.

Passion by Lisa Valdez: An erotic romance; the literal first lines describe Mark groping Passion during the Great Exhibition, and he has her "pinned to the wall like a butterfly" within the next few pages.

The Virgin and the Rogue by Sophie Jordan: Charlotte is (allegedly) under the influence of an aphrodisiac when she mounts Kingston (can you tell I have a thing for this) in the library in the middle of the night, dry humps him, and runs away. Unironically one of my favorite Sophie Jordan sex scenes.

The Rake Gets Ravished by Sophie Jordan: The story begins with Mercy breaking into Silas's bedroom to retrieve the deed to her family home, and when Silas finds her, she seduces him and fucks him into such a deep sleep that when he awakes, all he's left with is an apology note and her *virgin blood* on the sheets.

#book recs #sophie lark #angelina m lopez #sierra simone #tessa bailey #katee robert #sara cate #ofelia martinez #caitlin crews #sophie jordan #lisa valdez #grace callaway #joanna shupe #historical romance #contemporary romance #romance novels #ask

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thebramblewood · 19 days

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📩 Simblr question of the day: Shuffle your favorite playlist, whats your oc/sims' reaction to the first song that plays?

answer in whatever way is most comfortable for you and feel free to share this SQOTD around, make sure to use the hashtag SQOTD and tag me in separate posts ~ 💛

Hi, Squatty! Thank you for thinking of me for today's question. I've sent it around to a few other inboxes too. ❤️

I think Helena would definitely like this song, and she would probably add it to her own playlist if it wasn't already in her library. I've always imagined her being mostly into singer-songwriter and indie folk type music (not that she has much time to enjoy it between first convincing herself she was the number one fan of Ulrike's synth-punk band and then being preoccupied with a little thing called vampire transformation).

To Lilith, it would just be background static or elevator music basically, definitely nothing to get her pumped up for a night out on the prowl. Caleb is a great music lover, and I don't necessarily see him keeping up with all the latest releases, but as a musician himself he's open-minded and can find something to appreciate in most things as long as they have a strong melody and solid musicianship.

#asks #sqotd

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josefavomjaaga · 5 months

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Meeting Soult in Düsseldorf

A short impression from the personal memoirs of a book trader who happened to pay a visit to marshal Soult during the latter's exile in Düsseldorf.

Marshal Soult, Duke of Dalmatia, was at that time expelled from France by the Bourbons and living in complete seclusion in Düsseldorf, but I was immediately received by him. I had seen him several times in the full splendour of his former position at the Emperor's side, but now I hardly recognised him in his simple bourgeois clothes, in his plain, only just decently furnished room. His manners were also far removed from all grandeur, and I could compare them with those of a stolid, friendly businessman. I sat by his side for almost an hour, and our conversation initially revolved around the current political situation in France, which, like the proceedings of the bourbons against the Napoleonists and liberals (I recall the permanence of the courts martial and the prévotal courts at the time), he deplored bitterly. For himself, he cherished the hope of a not too distant return to beautiful France, and he wished for it all the more as he sorely missed his library and his art gallery, both of which he could not bring himself to let come to his place of exile, and so on. He was completely familiar with the literary publications that had been proliferating in Paris since the Restoration, and he entered into a detailed discussion with me of several of the most important works, such as: Les Fastes universelles, Biographie moderne, Victoires et conquètes des armées françaises, Dictionnaire des sciences naturelles, Biographie universelle, etc., which he ordered to be purchased for his library. Shortly before, in Paris, I had made the personal acquaintance of the young Count Las Cases after his return with his father from St Helena, and the Marshal seemed to receive my communications on the subject with pleasure; I was struck by the fact that he himself made little mention of the exiled Emperor, and avoided speaking at all of his great past.

Soult missing his paintings - and his books. This seems to tie in nicely with the story of his former "camarade de lit" about Soult always being in bed with books as a young soldier.

#napoleon's marshals #jean de dieu soult #düsseldorf 1816

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hbcsource · 1 year

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HELENA BONHAM CARTER IN CONVERSATION WITH SIMON CALLOW | THE LONDON LIBRARY MAGAZINE | APRIL 2023 Helena Bonham Carter was joined by the writer and fellow actor Simon Callow at home this spring to discuss her new role: Library President. The two are longtime members and met filming the 1985 EM Forster adaptation A Room With a View. Bonham Carter was 19. It was the first of many Merchant Ivory productions for her, including Maurice and Howards End, before Hollywood called, with a role as the suicidal love interest in David Fincher's Fight Club. Work with her former husband, Tim Burton, came next, as well as a contribution to the Harry Potter franchise and more. Callow's acting career includes stage roles in Shakespeare, Beckett, pantomime and contemporary theatre and beloved British films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral. He is a biographer of Oscar Wilde and Orson Welles and a renowned Dickens expert. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. HELENA BONHAM CARTER: Simon, it's very nice to see you here. Welcome to my Presidential home! I'm not having a clever day - do you find that, or are you always clever? SIMON CALLOW: Always. But I think I might be daunted by being the President of The London Library. Such a wonderful title, such a wonderful entity. HELENA: I love the title. The older I get, the more I like having conversations with dead people - for instance my dad, who made me a member when I was 21. For the Library to then ask me to be President... SIMON: Fantastic. HELENA : I used the Library a lot then, which was also when I first met you. I was sort of roaming and feeling lost, having a great time filming but feeling out of my depth everywhere. My peer group had gone to uni, and I was suddenly just on my own path and really unequipped to deal with it. I had a massive chip on my shoulder. So The London Library was my college. I felt legitimate, and I thought I could wander in and dress up like Virginia Woolf. SIMON: It's like going right back to the source, isn't it? There it all is, and there they were. HELENA: There they were! It's not only a conversation with my dead dad, but a conversation with EM Forster. If it was not for him, we wouldn't be here. SIMON: A Room With A View is my favourite film of all the films I've been in, and I'm still astonished by its freshness. HELENA: It still works. SIMON: It really does. It was my second film and I was incredibly relieved - I'd been in Amadeus and detested every second. When I got the script [for A Room With A View] Ismail [Merchant, the producer] said to me: "We want you to play the leading part!" So I thought, "This is great, he sees me as George. I'll go on a diet immediately." Then my agent discovered I was in fact playing the Reverend Beebe. And I thought, "No, outright no." I was terribly hurt. HELENA: And totally miscast. SIMON: Beebe's the fat old parson; I can't possibly play him. Finally I gave in to discover that suddenly I was with the aristocracy of British film and theatre: Maggie [Smith], Judi [Dench] and Fabia Drake, no less. And you. Who was completely new. HELENA: I was a foetus. SIMON: What I remember about you then was the incredible speed with which you spoke. HELENA: Oh, seriously? That's like my daughter. SIMON: You would change tack in the middle of a sentence and contradict yourself. HELENA: I don't think that's changed. I'm interested that I spoke at all. I remember myself as a mute, a total mouse, and so in awe of everyone. I was aware that you were a writer and talking about Mozart a lot, so I thought, "He's the Renaissance man that I have to become." Also, without being too indiscreet, you were one of the kinder adults. SIMON: Fabia was an absolute holy terror. What was great was to be working on a script drawn from such a wonderful novel. Ruth [Prawer Jhabvala, who adapted the original novel for the film] incomparably excelled at weaving the words from the novel into a real script, so that these were really people talking to each other. My favourite scene in any movie I've acted in is our scene at the piano. HELENA: It was the most important scene. You, as Mr Beebe, caught Lucy [Honeychurch, my character] playing in private. He's so tender and I love that. "If only you knew how to live as you play." SIMON: Beebe, certainly as written by Ruth - less so by Forster actually - is essentially benevolent. I remember the first read through, in London somewhere? HELENA: I was terrified. Maybe it was the first time I read with Maggie and Judi. SIMON: Maggie terrified me by saying, "Why are you calling him 'Beebe'? It has to be 'Bee-be'. Beebe sounds as if we're at the Beeb!" Were you always a great reader of novels? HELENA: Quite a good reader, though I was slow. I was taught at English A Level by Penelope Fitzgerald. SIMON: I knew and loved her. Was she a good teacher? HELENA: Extraordinary. Did you ever read Offshore? I love that. But I thought it would be good to look as if I read, because then every heroine in every book or film was a reader or writer. I wanted to be Judy Davis in My Brilliant Career. It was probably quite healthy, instead of fixating on a physique, which is what most people do these days because of Instagram. I wasn't very sexual for a long time. SIMON: You were wearing lots of clothes. HELENA: So many clothes. SIMON: One couldn't even begin to guess what the woman beneath would be. HELENA: No, there wasn't a body. SIMON: It was extraordinary, you were a sort of Oxfam shop on two legs. HELENA: I don't know where that came from. I think I had a real complex. Maybe because I was in such a male world. I went to Westminster [School], which was all boys, so before I even walked into period movies, I was dressed as a Victorian. It was always about pretending to be in the past. I over romanticised or felt I belonged in the past, actually. SIMON: The biggest relationships in my young life were with my grandmothers. I asked one to make me an 18th-century costume for a Christmas present. HELENA: Oh, I love that. So you dressed up as Mozart? SIMON: In effect. I loved the fabrics, the shimmer of it all. HELENA: On Maurice [1987] I did hair and makeup for all the men, which was rather a good way of dating people. It was Tinder then. In terms of influence, how important were your parents? SIMON: The only one of my family that read novels was my grandmother, though she never talked about them. A book can be just for you. You have a relationship with the characters and have somehow subsumed them into your psyche. HELENA: I always feel like you want to share the wonder. SIMON: Your family are very literary, aren't they? HELENA: Well, my grandmother Violet definitely was, on my dad's side. She was [Prime Minister H H] Asquith's daughter [and president of the Liberal Party from 1945-47]. My maternal grandmother was a special character, but found it difficult to read. I think she would have been diagnosed as dyslexic now, but she wrote beautifully. My mum, her whole life has never been without several books. My dad developed cortical blindness, which meant he couldn't see faces, but could read, so he read his way through the last 24 years of his life. We had half of The London Library in our home because they'd send him books. SIMON: Oh, fantastic. HELENA: Violet was formidable and wrote a lot of letters. I came back from filming with Woody Allen in a monastery in Taormina, and Dad was editing them. There was a postcard to her husband in 1940 saying: "Have just finished Morgan's latest Howards End." She knew Edward Morgan Forster. When I came to film Howards End with you, I read Violet's [unfinished] autobiography and thought, "Oh god, she was basically like the Helen Schlegel character, a sort of radical bohemian, a bluestocking..." And would have been the same age. So maybe she was a bit of a model for Helen. SIMON: Forster wasn't a recluse until later at King's College Cambridge, I think. HELENA: Did you ever get a sense of what he was like? SIMON: Everything in his life was the opposite of what he espoused: the passion, the connecting. This gives his work its force, because it didn't come easily to him. He had to struggle to make it happen. HELENA: He did have relationships though, didn't he? SIMON: Famously with a married policeman, Bob Buckingham. But also earlier, in Alexandria, and later, with a Bulgarian art collector, 45 years his junior. All very discreet. As a young gay man, I was impatient with him. Instead of thinking how extraordinary it was for its time, I just thought, "Come on, we've gone beyond all of this". It felt a bit spinsterly. Now I think it's passionate and unbelievably brave and exquisitely written. Then, I was more taken by DH Lawrence, which was all oceanic... My entire ambition was to be a writer. Do you write? HELENA: I've been asked to, and I've written the odd article. My attention span is troubling, but I do enjoy it when I apply myself. SIMON: I have to work very hard at it, and do terrifically long days. I can be at the laptop by seven. HELENA: In the morning? Jeez. OK, so you've got Morning Brain. SIMON: I've got a night brain, too. But no afternoon brain. HELENA: The afternoon is not really good for much. SIMON: Yes. I have difficulty in the theatre, rehearsing in the afternoon. HELENA: I have to have a snooze, no matter what. The snooze has been a pillar of my living. Do you ever write in books when you're reading them, or is that sacrilegious? SIMON: I do when I'm reviewing, but that's with proofs, so I can scrawl all over them. HELENA: I've got a thing about having a relationship with a book, so I will, unfortunately, write sentences in them. Also in the hope that somehow it's going to stick in the brain. SIMON: Let's talk about the Library - its location, for instance. St James's Square is enchanting. HELENA: Yes, and I do think that places work magic on us and influence what we think. It is very creative. Also, just silence. To go and sit with others with no danger of conversation, but you've got the company of other people concentrating. If you're going to seriously write, it could be very lonely. You have to go to battle with yourself, but it's alleviated at the Library because you're with other people who are going into battle with themselves. SIMON: Libraries generally have a very curious combination of this quietness and focus, coupled with a very sexy feeling. It's the silence. HELENA: I was going to raise that, but you start. SIMON: I wonder why that is exactly. It's just because everybody's in their own space and in their own world somehow, and you know that as you drift into that sort of semi hypnotic state, sex is going to be in there somewhere. HELENA: Yeah, it's always there. SIMON: So it's the subconscious. It's sort of milling around the Library. I think I said this before, it's like a book bordello. You just go up and take whatever you want to. HELENA: Have your pleasure. I like that. SIMON: The Library's postal service is also miraculous. And everyone's so sympathetic. Years ago, my dog acquired a passion for 17th-century literature; it turns out it was the fish glue used to bind the spines. One day I came home and there was a priceless volume in pieces all over the place. I offered to replace it somehow but the Librarian said: "I have dogs; I understand." HELENA: How do you use the Library? SIMON: Not for writing or reading. Just to borrow books. The collection of arcana is vast. Writing about Orson Welles, I needed to know what it was like to be a tourist in Morocco in 1930. The Library had six - six! - guides from the period. I don't know anywhere else I could have found that. I love clambering up the metal stairs and finding things that nobody's taken out for 100 years. HELENA: You think George Eliot is going to actually appear. SIMON: It still is enchanting to me to do that. HELENA: As a writer, do you have a ritual? SIMON: Procrastinate as long as possible. I was so relieved to discover that Ibsen could spend four hours rearranging his desk before starting to write. Unlike Dickens. HELENA: He just sat down? SIMON: He was always writing at least two things at once, sometimes more - he wrote the last of The Pickwick Papers and the first chapters of Nicholas Nickleby simultaneously. He worked it all out, I'm sure, on his long walks. HELENA: Have you seen his original manuscripts? SIMON: Almost illegible; you feel the heat of his creative energy. He talks about the characters dancing down the pen. HELENA: I love that - when somebody takes possession. SIMON: As with acting: when it's good, it's not you playing the character, it's the character playing you.

#helena bonham carter #simon callow #the london library #interviews #2023 #interviews: 2023 #the london library magazine 2023

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helenaheissner · 1 month

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Love During Robot Fighting Time: Chapter 17

Hello, lovelies! Hope y'all are doing well :)

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And now, back to our regularly scheduled nerdy romcom shenanigans!

***

Zeke

4 Years Ago

“Hey there,” I said as I walked through the Lair, our school’s main cafeteria, renowned for its aggressively mediocre food. It was a wide room divided into two halves, and overlooked an admittedly gorgeous lawn leading to the big white chapel that was on all of our brochures. The lighting was dim in the late evening hours- the cafeteria was closing in less than an hour, but I’d been so busy at the library trying to get caught up on everything that I’d barely even looked at the time. And then my stomach growled and I realized I hadn’t eaten in almost twelve hours, at which point I braved the thousand yard trek from the library to the Lair. I’d managed to acquire a club sandwich for myself and searched far and wide across the cafeteria in search of someone, anyone, I even remotely knew, anything to say I was at least making some goddamn friends finally. I traversed all the way to the far end, overlooking the law, where, atop a pleather seat in a booth eating a caesar salad, I found someone. “It’s Watanabe, right? Don’t we have two classes together?”

The rumpled, exhausted looking boy with the shaggy black hair falling around his face looked up from his salad and his phone and made eye contact with me, seeming legitimately startled that anyone was talking to him. “Oh, uh, yeah, I think so. But, I… Uh, I don’t think I remember your name?”

“Zeke Underhill,” I smiled. “Mind if I sit? This place looks haunted at night, figured it’s better to have strength in numbers.”

He laughed weakly. “Yeah, I suppose so. Uh, go ahead and sit. I don’t know if I’m that great of company, though.”

“I mean you’re here, aren’t you?” I said. “That’s all that’s required.”

“Yeah, but I meant, like, conversationally.” “We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”

He gave another weak laugh, filtered through a snort. “Yeah, I guess. Anything else you wanna talk about?”

“You ready for Professor Eddington’s test next week?”

“We have a test? Already?” Watanabe leaned forward, panic encroaching on his acne-marked face.

“Yeah, he announced it yesterday,” I said.

“Shit.”

“You were there yesterday- I saw you,” I pointed out.

“I… Was distracted.”

“By what?”

He did a conspiratorial double-take, then pulled up an image on his phone and slid it over to me. “I call her Dai Gurren.”

“Oh, awesome!” I said. “Like from Gurren Lagan?”

“Yeah! You a fan?”

“Huge- love anime. Giant robots for days,” I said.

“Awesome!” he said. “What are your favorites?”

“Uh, Gundam, especially SEED and IBO. Raxephon, Mazinger Z, IGPX-”

“I! G! P! X!” he said, fist pumping at each letter. It was certainly something- he’d practically come alive once we’d both started speaking the shared language of nerd. We wound up talking for a while after that, and he invited me to hang out in his dorm’s common room with him the next night to watch Planet With. So, I headed over there at 8 PM, into a beige room with a collection of couches and desks and a plasma screen television adorning the far wall.

A girl was there with him, short and black with great hair and huge… Tracts of land.

“Zeke, this is my girlfriend, Olivia,” he said. “Olivia, this is Zeke, from our class with Eddington.”

“Nice to meet you,” Olivia said, half-heartedly offering a handshake.

I picked up on a disappointed vibe from her before even making hand-contact. “You too. Hey, uh, if you guys wanna have a date night, I can scram-”

“No, it’s fine,” Watanabe said.

I noted the frustrated look on Olivia’s face right away. “Aaaare you sure, Watanbe?”

“Please, call me Frank,” he said. “And yeah, it’s fine. Olivia and I wanted to ask you something, anyway.”

“We did?” Olivia said.

“Yeah, we did,” Frank furrowed his brow. “But not till later. For now, let’s watch this weird freaking show!”

And so we did, though after an episode, Olivia and Frank started making out right next to me. I tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the tv, but then it kept going the entirety of the second episode.

“I’ll see myself out,” I said, getting up from the uncomfortable couch and heading for the door.

Frank pulled himself off of his girlfriend for five seconds and managed to grab me by the back of my shirt. “Wait! WAIT! Not yet!”

I rolled my eyes and gave a mild exhale. “What’s up?”

“Still need to ask you something!”

“Then fire away,” I said, struggling not to laugh.

“Do you wanna join our robotics team?” he asked. “I want at least three of us for it, and based on our conversation yesterday, I’d say you really know your stuff.”

I turned around and looked at Frank, all pleading and hopeful and earnest and enthusiastic, while also noting Olivia’s face- annoyed, frustrated, but some of that was seemingly aimed at herself more than at me.

“Sure,” I said. I mean what the hell, it would be the closest thing I had to a social life. What was the worst that could happen?

***

NOW

Kate stood on her tip toes as she kissed me goodnight under the lamppost on the corner of my street, her lips wet and slick from her lipstick, her tongue entering my mouth as mine entered hers, her hands on my chest as mine squeezed her butt. She giggled, and gave me one more peck on the cheek. “You have a good night, Mr. Underhill?”

“I had a great night, Ms. Calloway,” I said, drinking in the cherry-blossom scent of her perfume. “Sure I can’t convince you to come up for a night-cap?”

“My heart says yes, my brain and body say I’m exhausted after tonight,” she said. “Say hi to Faith for me, though. Let’s all hang out again this week, yeah?”

“Definitely,” I said.

She turned around and started to scamper off, but then pivoted around and ran back to me and kissed me one more time. I stood there, stunned as she ran off again, but I smiled anyway. ‘Hate to see her leave, love to watch her walk away’ as she herself admitted she’d once thought about me.

I ambled up to my apartment, the witching hour long since past, whistling ‘Feel Good Inc’ under my breath as I turned on the hallway light and took off my leather jacket. Kate and I had gotten In ‘N’ Out and eaten our burgers together in the back of her truck while parked on top of a cliff in the Hollywood Hills. We looked out into the city and just… Talked. About us. About the tournament. About Kate’s whole ‘image makeover’ plan. I’d never been great at the self-promotion stuff, but she seemed to be taking to it relatively well.

And then, you know… We made out a bunch. Started getting a little frisky but stopped short of outright fooling around. We weren’t there yet, and Kate admitted she wasn’t sure if she was totally comfortable exploring her body like that at the moment. At least not until she was further along in her transition. Still, it wasn’t an absolute, and she’d even said if there was anyone she’d wanted to explore it with

I jumped when I saw Faith laying on the couch, staring up at her phone while All My Children played on mute from the tv screen. A handle of vodka sat on the coffee-table, significantly reduced in contents compared to when I’d last laid eyes on it. “Hey,” I said, walking over to the couch. “You okay?”

“No,” she said. “I’m drinking alone- does that sound okay to you?”

“It definitely doesn’t,” I said, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, pushing aside the table to make some room for me in this equation. “What’s going on? Who are you texting?”

“I’m not texting anyone,” Faith said, rolling onto her side and facing me. “I’m contemplating texting Olivia.”

“Oh?” I said, swatting her hand away when she tried to reach for the vodka. “What are you contemplating texting her?”

She looked at me with a tortured expression. “Please don’t make me say it.”

“Okay, I won’t make you say it. But if you don’t, then I can’t help talk you down from this proverbial ledge, girl,” I said.

She pouted. Which was in no way cute, definitely not, I definitely wasn’t still thinking that about her. Not in the slightest. “I miss her.”

My jaw dropped, and I blinked. Hard. “What?”

“I… She… I miss her.”

“You… Miss her. After what she did to you, you miss her?”

“She apologized,” Faith said weakly.

“After what she did to Kate, you miss her?”

“Kate started it,” Faith said with a wave of her hand.

My eyes narrowed.

“Okay, that’s not a great line of internal logic, I know,” she said, sitting up and crossing her legs. “But like… Kate did provoke her.”

“What are you gonna say next? That you provoked Olivia into cussing you out when you-”

“Don’t go there, Zeke,” Faith snapped. “And don’t… Don’t make that comparison, please.”

“Okay, but can you please consider this from my perspective for a moment?” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Olivia has now been weird and hostile about two trans girls coming out to her- one is my best friend, the other is my girlfriend.”

Her eyes, previously fixed on our rotating ceiling fan, shot towards me. “Girlfriend?”

“Y-yeah,” I said, flinching at her intensity. “We’re… Uh, well, we’re putting labels on it now.”

“How long has that been a thing?”

“About,” I started, then checked the clock on the homescreen of my phone, “Five hours?”

“I see.”

“What?” I asked.

“... Nothing.”

“Don’t do that, Faith,” I said, “If you’ve something to say, please just say it.”

“...”

“Faith.”

“...”

“Faith!” I said. No, no, stop getting angry with her- she’s drunk, you’ve dealt with drunk people plenty of times without losing your temper. She’s drunk and she’s lovesick and she’s dealing with the uncomfortable truth that someone she loved might not exactly be the best person ever.

Then again, it wasn’t like I was in any way unbiased where Olivia Root was concerned.

I inhaled and exhaled through my nose, letting the fresh air filter up into my brain and clear out all the junk. “Actually, it’s okay. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through with all this, you don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to tell me.”

“But I do wanna tell you, I just… Can’t,” she said, looking down at me, hair framing her face beautifully, freshly-shaven legs stretched across the couch…

NO, NO, BAD! I thought instantly. You have a girlfriend. Do not check out Faith like that. You are not gonna be like Dad. “Okay,” I said, “If you can’t, then you can’t. Just please, please don’t text Olivia the ‘I miss you’ text- I’m really worried about what’s down that road.”

She nodded sagely… And then hiccuped. I suppressed a chuckle

She failed to suppress hers, which I didn’t not think was cute. She’s. Just. A. Friend. I repeated the mantra in my mind over and over again.

“How was your date?” she asked.

“Really nice,” I said.

She winced. I squinted. Was she… Okay, no, no, no, no. Don’t read into that. Just don’t. Nothing good down that road either.

“Kate really is something, isn’t she?” Faith asked.

“Yeah,” I smiled, the image flickering in my mind of her on my lap in the back of that truck, the city below us and the stars above, all the time and opportunity in the world. I felt like I could be whoever I wanted to be when I was around her, and I knew she felt the same about me. “I’m… I’m glad you two have become friends.”

She gave a smile I couldn’t help but think looked a bit bitter, and said, “I am too.”

That was when both of our phones went off. We checked them, and I saw an alert from the robot fighting tournament committee. Next week’s fights had been announced. Faith and I’s next fight had been announced.

“Oh, crap,” we both said at the same time.

***

9 Months Ago

“Hey, uh, Zeke?”

“What’s up, Faithy?” I said, sitting at the kitchen table and eating a plate of turkey sausage and scrambled eggs while scrolling through some onboarding documents on my laptop that I had to read for a temp job that started tomorrow. Help getting a new type of passenger plane ready- they needed extra workers for a few months, but there was no chance of it leading to anything full-time. Perfect, as far as I was concerned.

Faith was having a bit more trouble finding temp jobs since she started her transition a few months back- nobody said out loud they didn’t wanna hire her because she was trans, but it was hard for her- or me, for that matter- to take it any other way when she was a bloody genius engineer and yet they kept hiring other folks from our graduating class who I knew weren’t as smart as her.

Such as me, for example.

“Will you take me bra shopping?” she asked. She stood in the doorway to her room, wearing a baggy black and gold West Point football jersey over her long red skirt. Interesting fashion choice in the middle of the last gasp of the baking summer heat.

I nearly spat out my black coffee. “Um… Yes?”

“Really? You mean it? I don’t wanna inconvenience you-”

“I’m just a little confused as to why you want me to go with you. Did you suddenly forget how to drive?”

“No, it’s not that,” Faith said. “I just… Look, my breasts are budding and my nipples are all poking through my tops, but I don’t really pass yet, so I’m kinda scared to go bra shopping alone, okay?”

I tilted my head, looking at the five-foot-three-inch girl with the perfect hair and the perfect makeup, and sincerely wondered how anyone could see anything other than a young woman. “Alright, sure. Just gimme a few minutes.”

“Are you sure- I know you’ve gotta read and sign all that stuff by tomorrow-”

“It can wait a few hours,” I said, closing my laptop and standing up.

As I made my way for my bedroom to put my computer away, Faith asked, “Can I hug you?”

She’d been asking that a lot, lately. “You know you don’t always have to ask, right?”

“Yeah, but, I… I don’t wanna make anyone uncomfortable,” she said, looking at her feet as they traced the surface of the floor.

I smiled gently. “You could never make me uncomfortable, Faith.”

“I did that one time, when Olivia and I kept making out right next to you-”

“Yeah, but that’s her fault for being a jackass,” I said.

Faith glared at me.

“Sorry,” I said, “Forgot I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

I stepped around her, but then she grabbed a fistful of the back of my shirt again. I chuckled, then turned around and hugged her.

And then I felt something, two somethings, poking my chest.

My eyes bulged. “Uh, Faith-”

Her eyes did the same, and she leapt off of me. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I said, laughing nervously, scratching the back of my head.

Silence, so awkward it belonged in an episode of The Office, sat over the room.

Finally, Faith broke it: “Well, uh, do you get the point now?”

My mouth curved up into a smile.

“Or do you need another poke?” she said, looking ready to mug for the proverbial camera.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Just the tips, right?” she said.

And I laughed, waaaaayyy harder than I should have at puns that stupid. And she giggled at her own joke, swaying back and forth as she stood there, light from the window scattering around her hair like a brilliant halo, framing her in all her awkward, ridiculous, degenerate, glory. And I saw her. I saw HER. And she was the same person I’d met all those years ago, but everything that had always been good about her- her heart, her humor, her sincerity- had all been amplified twenty fold and was now wrapped up in a very pretty package.

A shot of emotion, hot and fierce and downright ravenous, went through my heart and pumped through the rest of my body. Yearning, desire, attraction, all slamming into me like a violent tide.

Oh, crap, I thought.

***

Present Day

The names ‘George Gregson’ and ‘Pendulum’ loomed large in the robotics community. Winning five championships and only having four total losses in the professional circuit to your name over a decade-spanning career tended to have that effect. Faith and I had been lucky enough to not have to face him at all our freshman season, and that he’d been knocked out of the championships due to mechanical failure in the semi-finals.

Yes, that’s right- Kate had beaten the guy. On a technicality- his engine just overheated and shorted out within ten seconds of the match starting. Kate hadn’t landed a single blow against the guy before experiencing victory by default, something even she admitted was pretty hollow. But it was also the only reason she’d gotten to the finals. Which was probably the only reason Faith and I had won last year, because I was convinced we would lose to Pendulum in a fair fight. Olivia and Faith had a similar opinion on our prospects against Gregson last season.

And given Gregson already had a 3-0 record and was basically guaranteed a spot in the championship bracket, I saw no reason for this season to be any different.

Faith and I stood in our rented garage in Culver City, looking at Dai Gurren, wondering what, precisely, the hell we were going to do.

“This is bad, Zeke,” Faith said.

“I know it’s bad, Faithy,” I replied.

“Please don’t call me that anymore,” she said, somewhat curtly.

I blinked. “Ooookay,” I said, hoping the bite wasn’t too obvious in my voice.

If it was, she didn’t notice, or at least pretended not to. “We need to win both of our remaining fights if we want a spot in the championship.”

“I am aware of this,” I said, breaking the power tools out of their plastic containers. Drills. Lots of drills. Appropriately enough. “So, Ms. Chief Engineer/Team Captain: how do we approach this?”

Faith took out a drill and pulled on a pair of safety goggles. “We work with what we’ve got. Also, text Kate the address and tell her to meet us here. I have an idea.”

I fired off the text, and then Faith and I started disassembling the front of Dai Gurren and removing the maw of six small drills. We replaced them with much larger, thicker drills, all made of titanium and sharp enough to puncture sheet iron. And which, hopefully, would stand up to Pendulum’s swing of death a bit better.

Pendulum was the type of unconventional bot that worked primarily through raw power. It was tall and cylindrical, painted jet black and made of carbon steel. Down the middle was a hammer that was normally nestled safely inside a slot, held in place by a magnet, but a flip of Gregson’s control panel caused the magnet to turn over to a reversed charge magnet that repelled the metal hammer with a terrifying concussive impact. I’d seen it undercut bots and tear their faceplates off, shatter weapons and crush wheels and brutalize engines. It was perfectly designed to destroy flippers and spinners, and most drills and other melee weapons weren’t safe to use in a direct assault. You had to come at Pendulum from an angle, stay out of its range. That was its only real weakness- the angle of its attack was limited to what was right in front of it.

Which would be less of a problem if Gregson weren’t also a ridiculously good driver. So good, the only driver I could imagine having even a fraction of a chance against him was…

Entering the garage right that moment, wearing ripped jeans and a purple tank top, her hair tied back and her face sans-makeup. “Hello there!”

I smiled. “General K-”

“We don’t have time,” Faith said. “Hey, Kate. Did you bring the stuff?”

“Poly’s in my truck,” she said, hitching her thumb back and pointing to the parking lot outside. “I’m not crazy about incurring a bunch of damage outside the box though.”

“Then it’s a good thing this will be a no-contact match,” Faith said. “We just need to work on our driving.” She pointed at me without making eye contact. “We both do.”

Okay, this was getting a little ridiculous. But now probably wasn’t the time or the place, so I let it slide.

We cleared out the workstation, swept the floor clean, and put the bots on the ground: Polyphemus, Dai Gurren, and Gurren, our minibot. It was barely the size of Faith’s handbag, with a single drill protruding from the front. But we would need every weapon in our arsenal if we had a snowball’s chance in hell on this one.

“Ready?” Kate asked from the other side of our garage.

“Ready,” Faith said.

“Ready,” I said, not feeling at all ready. This, a match against Kate, felt… Wrong. Even a training match, a glorified game of two-hand-touch football, felt distinctly off when fought against my girlfriend.

Which could pose a serious problem going forward.

Polyphemus’ ax was still attached, meaning it was moving slower than it would normally. Which was good- Pendulum’s slow and steady speed was one thing we could plan for. Even still, Kate hurdled towards us, dividing our two bots down the middle and pivoting left very suddenly to aim for DG. Faith went on the retreat, letting Poly chase DG in circles before suddenly changing direction while I went after Kate from behind.

That was when Kate shot left again and went on the retreat; Poly slid over to my feet and skidded into a sharp turn as both DG and regular G were giving chase.

I flanked wide and went around the room counterclockwise, going towards Poly at its center before banking right and connecting, very lightly, with its wheel. Faith did the same with its other side.

“You got me!” Kate said. “Great job!”

“Thanks!” I smiled.

“It’s not good enough,” Faith said.

“Huh?” I said.

“We need to be on the offensive the entire time, both of us. Gregson is relentless- he will not give us the chance to get our bearings. Let’s go again.”

And because she was, objectively speaking, correct, I nodded, and we went again.

Kate didn’t make it easy on us, forcing us to scramble for enough ground to try and attack her from the sides, but after a few minutes we managed it.

But it wasn’t good enough for Faith, so we went again.

And again.

And again, and again, and again, a few more times after that, until we all ran out of fuel.

“Okay, I think we’re done for the day,” I finally said.

“What are you talking about?” Faith said.

“We can’t expend any more of our fuel budget if we wanna be able to comp Katie for helping us today,” I said. “Which you agreed to do- in fact, you suggested it.”

“That… Okay, yeah, fair enough,” Faith said.

“Good fight, y’all,” Kate said, walking over and taking her goggles off, then taking mine off of my face and poking my nose playfully. “Boop.”

I smiled, and probably looked like a huge dork.

Kate went to do the same with Faith, but swatted her hand away.

“Sorry,” Kate said.

“You really need to work on not touching people all the time without warning!” Faith said with a nasty grimace and a clenched jaw.

Kate’s eyes dropped. “Sorry.”

My eyes narrowed. “Little hostile there, Faithy, don’t you think?”

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that!” she snapped.

I balked, then raised a finger and took a step forward. “What is going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what aren’t you telling me?” I said. “Because it’s clearly something- you’ve said as much.”

“I also said I didn’t wanna tell you.”

“And that’s fair. But what isn’t fair is you taking out your frustration over that fact on me and especially on my girlfriend!”

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Kate said, holding up both hands and offering a conciliatory smile.

“Like hell it isn’t- you came all the way over here to help us, your competition, do better in a fight, in spite of the risks to your bot and having to take time away from your own stuff to do this,” I said, “And Faith rewards you by acting like a drill sergeant and then hissing at you!”

“Oh for- don’t do that! Don’t use your girlfriend like a talking point in your argument. Your problem is with me, don’t make it about how she and I are trying to establish boundaries!” Faith said.

“You both know I’m standing right here, yeah?” Kate said flatly.

“Yes!” Faith and I both shouted.

Kate stared at us… Actually, glared is probably the better word. “I can’t believe I’m the rational one in this room right now. That literally never happens.”

I winced. “You’re right, I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine,” she said, “This isn’t actually about me. You both think it is, but it’s really not.”

“Kate,” Faith whined.

“What does that mean?” I asked. Oh no. Oh no no no.

“It means-”

“Don’t!” Faith snapped again. “It is not your place to tell him that!”

“Tell me what?!” I shouted. Please, say it ain’t so.

Kate breathed in through her nose slowly, then out through her mouth with equal speed and purpose. “Tell you guys what- I’m gonna run to the gas station on the corner, get us all some sodas. And while I’m gone, you two can hash this out.”

“Please don’t,” Faith said.

“Watanabe, seriously, it’s time to face the truth,” Kate said. “It really will set you free.”

She turned on her heel and left before either Faith or I could stop her.

Leaving the two of us there with nothing but the proverbial elephant in the room. Dread gnawed at my stomach lining like mud wasps digging into my flesh. It couldn’t be what I thought it was. There was no way.

But it would explain… Well, a lot of stuff, honestly.

I took off my work gloves and heaved a sigh. “So…”

“So?”

“So.”

“Yeah,” Faith said.

“Yeah what?”

“I…”

I closed my eyes. “Faith. We have the fight of our lives coming up on Friday, and we need to be a functional team when that happens. If you’re just stressed about that, then that’s fine, I’ll accept it. But I need you to talk to me.”

“I… Can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both?”

“Faith.” There was no other explanation. Nothing else made sense. But if she didn’t say it… It would keep eating away at her. But I still had no right to force her to say anything. “Maybe I should just go home, let you cool off.”

I started towards the exit, then felt a tug on the back of my shirt.

I turned my head, and saw her clinging to me, face scrunched up, tears falling out her eyes. “Wait.”

So I waited.

“I like you, Zeke,” Faith said, half a whisper and half a scream. “I like you a lot, and I have for a long time. Since… Before I was even living as the real me. You’ve always been there for me, propping me up when I just wanted to fall down, and… I can’t picture myself without you. I like you.”

My back went stiff, and I didn’t turn around. I… It just… Hearing that, from her, after all this time… It sent a hundred million different thoughts pinballing inside my brain simultaneously. The first one was an instinct, to turn around and kiss her, to sweep her off her feet and make violent love to her on the floor.

The next one, far louder, far angrier, was ‘I won’t be like Dad.’

“Why… Why did you wait so long?” I asked, still not facing her.

“I was scared,” she said, still not letting me go.

“Scared of what?”

“That you wouldn’t like me back. That I’d ruin things between us. That you’d reject me like Olivia did and then I’d… Then I’d be all alone.”

The words screamed inside my mind: I could never reject you. I could never let you be all alone. They were followed by the words, You only ruined things by waiting until now to tell me.

I gulped as I thought that, disgust coagulating inside my core. What is wrong with me- she’s pouring her heart out to me, and I need to say something. Anything.

“Do you hate me?” Faith asked.

“I could never hate you,” I said, and it was the truth. “You’re my best freaking friend.”

“And that’s all?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know what to say to that,” I said. “I’m with Kate- you know I’m-”

“I know. And she’s… She’s a gem. I was wrong about her. The fact that she’s okay with me having this conversation alone with her boyfriend is… It says a lot, I think. Especially about how trusting she is.”

“I agree. So you can see why it’s important that neither of us betray that trust,” I said evenly. Finally, slowly, I turned around.

I regretted it immediately upon seeing the tears flooding out of her. Faith said, “You’re right. And I don’t wanna hurt her like…”

I knitted my eyebrows together. “Like?”

“Like Olivia did with me. I don’t… I don’t wanna hurt either of you, and I feel like the longer I stay here, the longer I do this, the more likely it will become that I do.”

I reached for her shoulders. “That’s not gonna happen.”

She pulled away, stepped out of my reach, and said, with the guiltiest voice I’d ever heard, “It already has. You don’t even know that you’re crying too, do you?”

“W-what?” I reached for my eyes and found the water leaking out.

“This was a mistake,” she said, taking a few more steps back. “I’m a damn coward and this was all a mistake. I- I’m sorry, Zeke. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you all this, and I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I know how much you don’t… Don’t wanna be like your dad. This isn’t fair to you. Or her. Or anyone.”

She started for the back exit, and I started after her. I reached for her.

She pivoted and swatted my hand away. “Don’t follow me. Please just… I need to be alone right now. Go to Kate, Zeke. Go be with your girlfriend. You deserve someone like her.”

She ran out, and left me there, too stunned to say anything or move. By the time I regained my senses and chased her out into the parking lot, she’d already gotten in our car and started driving away.

“Um… What just happened?” Kate said.

I jumped, turned around, and saw her walking up behind me with a can of soda in one hand and a plastic convenience store bag in t’other one.

She hugged me without asking- she didn’t need to anymore. And right then… I needed it. I just needed it. “I messed up.”

She held me close and tight, and we stood there a while under the harsh light of day.

#original fiction #serial fiction #trans woman #web novel #wlw #trans protagonist #action #comedy #romance novel #romance #romcom #romance author #indie author #bisexual protagonist #love triangle #enemies to lovers #friends to lovers #polyamory #polycule

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thereaderbee · 1 year

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📚 What holiday books & movies are you reading/watching this month? And/or, what are you reading this weekend?? Friday has finally arrived, Bookworms. Do you have any fun reading plans, or other plans, this weekend? I am hoping to spend the weekend reading and watching holiday movies. (We shall see if it actually happens though. 😏) Are you reading any holiday books or watching any holiday movies this month? I have a lot of holiday books picked out to read this month. A few of them are pictured above, and I also have a few ebooks and audiobooks borrowed from the library as well. I’m hoping to get to as many of them as I can. I’ve already read one from the stack above, and I’m hoping to finish up the second one today. Next on my TBR is *Season of Love* by Helena Greer. It sounds so cute! ❤️ As for movies, my go-to favorite holiday movies are While You Were Sleeping and You’ve Got Mail … Though, YGM is really a great movie for any season. ❤️ What holiday books and movies will you be enjoying this month? (Or what are some of your favorites?) And if you’re not reading or watching any holiday things this month, what are you reading this weekend? 🌲 📚 🌲 📚 🌲 📚 #AlltheBooksDec22 #MyFictionalMusings #CourtofReadingDec22 #ReadingintheWeb 🌲 📚 🌲 📚 🌲 📚 #bookstack #holidayreads #weekendreading #fridayreads #currentlyreading #amreading #tbr #toberead #romancebooks #romancereader #yabooks #bookstagram #shelfie #booklover #bookobsessed #cozyreading #bookaesthetic #booknerd #booksaremagic #reading #books #readerlife #readingtime #newbooks #goodreads #bookcommunity https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl8lyzGudvH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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anythingeverythingm · 2 months

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Day 8: Anne of Bohemia and Hungary

Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (also known as Anna Jagellonica)

Born: 23 July 1503 Died: 27 January 1547

Parents: Vladislaus II of Hungary and Anne of Foix-Candale Archduchess Consort of Austria, Queen Consort of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia Children: Elizabeth, Queen of Poland Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor Anna, Duchess of Bavaria Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria Maria, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg Archduchess Magdalena Catherine, Queen of Poland Eleanor, Duchess of Mantua Archduchess Margaret Barbara, Duchess of Ferrara Charles II, Archduke of Austria Archduchess Helena Joanna, Grand Duchess of Tuscany

Anna of Bohemia and Hungary was the oldest child and only daughter of Vladislaus II of Hungary and his third wife Anne of Foix-Candale. Her younger brother was the King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. On her father’s side, her grandparents were Casimir IV of Poland and Elisabeth of Austria. On her mother’s side her grandparents were Gaston de Foix, Count of Candale, and Catherine de Foix.

She was born in Buda (actualmente Budapest) Her mother died shortly after her brother’s birth. Their father died on 13 March 1516 and the two siblings were left in the care of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Maximilian arranged for Anne to marry his grandson, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria.

Anne received a humanist education focused on problem-solving skills. There was also an emphasis on self-defense with weapons and other physical skills and hunting. She was instructed in music and dance and came into contact with many humanists visiting the imperial library.

On 26 May 1521 in Linz, Austria, Anne and Ferdinand were married. Ferdinand governed Habsburg hereditary lands on behalf of his older brother Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. It was stipulated that if Anne’s brother died without heirs, Ferdinand would succeed him.

On 29 August 1526, Louis was thrown off his horse at the Battle of Mohács against Suleiman the Magnificent. As he had no legitimate heir the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia were left vacant. Ferdinand quickly claimed them. He was elected king with Anne as his queen on 24 October 1526.

Hungary, on the other hand, was a different matter. Ferdinand was proclaimed king by a small group of nobles, but another group did not want a foreign ruler so they elected John Zápolya as an alternative king. The conflict that resulted lasted until 1570 when the Treaty of Speyer was signed in favor of Anne’s son Maximilian.

In 1531, Ferdinand’s brother Charles V elected him as his successor and was to be proclaimed King of the Romans after his death.

Anne was trusted by her husband, serving as regent in his absence and presiding over matters of great importance. She became renowned for her charity and wisdom.

All 15 of their children were born in Bohemia or Austria.

She died on 27 January 1547, aged 43, in Prague, after the birth of her last daughter.

#1500s #16th century #house of habsburg #women history #history #women in history #reinessance #hungary #austrian history

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namig42 · 3 months

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random OC ask: what would your OC's ideal home be like? this can be as specific as inspirational pictures, or as general as the vibes they would like it to give off.

Let's see... I've got quite a few ocs, though Sahed is my current main, but I'll share all my BG3 characters and a general summary of what they'd love!

Wyndolyn

My first, my special half orc gal, she grew up always appreciating nature, and she would want that to continue. Some cozy cabin in the middle of the woods near a river where she could fish, forage, and hunt, and be at peace in the solitude of the woods. That sounds perfect for her. She's a simple person with simple desires.

Helena

Helena, my sweet, chaotic rogue, loves the feeling of being in the city. She loves the noise and chaos of it all, and there's so much potential for causing chaos in a place that's just bustling with activity. She'd be happiest with a small house somewhere in the Lower City, a bit away from the main happenings of Baldur's Gate, but close enough that she can still hear it from her balcony. Her cozy little house would be full of treasures and tokens that she's nabbed from all over the place from all sorts of people, littering the shelves and cluttering up the place just a tad, though she doesn't mind it.

Dahlia

My sweet, dangerously curious nerd of a monk. She was fond of her life in the Lathander monastery, though she also loves exploring the world. Her ideal life would be one of a nomad, traveling the world, seeing all sorts of things, helping people along the way, and having a home on a sunny hilltop to always return to that's filled with a library of all the books and knowledge she's accumulated over the years. It would be like her treasure trove that she always has to return to in order to appreciate and add to before continuing onto another adventure.

Vero

My lovely bhaalspawn bard. Vero is someone who imagines herself with a great deal of poise and sophistication. She wants to be the epitome of a proper noble elf, and so her ideal home would be a regal one with large spaces, tall ceilings, and filled with art and culture. A proper palace. She'd have a large wardrobe as well, mostly of purple and blue silks and highly elaborate dresses with a great deal of jewelry to choose from, and would have a beautiful view of the city she lived in from a balcony somewhere in her palace. I imagine it being quite similar to the Szarr palace actually, except with a deep purple wall paper instead of the red and also none of the vampire lair bits lol

Sahed

Two things about Sahed: he greatly enjoys solitude and is also very proud of his dragon heritage. So proud that sometimes he's a bit too much of a nerd about dragon culture and lore and wants to emulate the behavior of a true dragon rather than that of the dragonborn. With that in mind, Sahed's perfect home would be a cave somewhere at the peak of a mountain that's surrounded by forest, with a whole trove of gold, jewels, and tomes of forbidden magic, powerful rituals, and the most fascinating of dragon stories inside. Ideally this cave is looming above some powerful village or town that he has taken power over. He'd want the townspeople to provide him tribute and sacrifice in order to appease him from destroying their town or killing their people, but he may do it anyways if he's in the mood.

Velora (Bonus)

Velora, my sweet, naive cleric that just wants some affection and appreciation, is quite simple. Her ideal home is less about the location and more about having a family inside of it with a partner that adores her and sees all of her, not just her acts of service. She'd like to have a few kids as well that she can dote on and raise in a way that she wishes she had growing up. She's more comfortable in smaller towns in forests, so a nice, comfortable house somewhere with a bit of nature and a bit of community would suit her.

#bg3 #ocs #my ocs #wyndolyn #helena #dahlia #vero #sahed #velora #ask #I love this question!#Also how different all my ocs ended up being in their desires really makes me happy

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havendance · 1 year

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I read volume 1 of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey (2016) (because it had Huntress on the cover and I was curious) and am of mixed opinions about it.

The thing is, part of me really wants to like Gus Yale, aka Oracle. He has a number of factors going for him that I like in a superhero character. The idea of a person looking and going "I haven't seen X hero around, but I really admired them and don't think that legacy should disappear." is something that I really like. I have an OC who has basically that backstory. It's pretty similar to what Tim Drake has going on and I really like that about him. It's an element present in Steel's origin story.

Like this part here, I find this compelling:

But I never lost hope So I waited. And waited. But Oracle never acme back. Then it hit me. Since no one knew who Oracle was, anyone could be Oracle.

I think, on face value, 'superhero disappears and someone else steps up to take their place' is a fun story arc. The question being though, can you make it work with Barbara as Oracle? Which is, ehhh, why isn't she Oracle? With the whole magicure disability thing, it isn't a great look. I could maybe see this type of storyline working in a story where Oracle gets fakeout killed but really just has amnesia or is lost in time or something because then it's temporary and less fridge-y. But here, it's eh, the subtext isn't great.

And like, the other thing about Gus as Oracle is that he is introduced as an antagonist initially. The inciting even of this arc is Barbara discovering that there's someone else calling themself Oracle who's selling information to mob. He's framed as a creepy stalker who has a collection of stuff of hers like her library card and her old glasses. Tim is also introduced as a stalker who has a rather extreme level of investment in Batman and Robin and Dick Grayson in particular, but it feels different. Tim is supposed to be the new Robin and I think in a way that I can't quite articulate, that means that narrative treats his with more grace. It feels more earnest and less creepy. Gus as being a young adult obsessed with a young woman who is out of his league and unaware of him, also has these iffy tones to it.

This is the first time we see him:

(The fact that Gus is black, in relation to all the rest of this, also feels not great to me, but I feel less qualified to comment on that.)

And then, of course, there's this, which just feels unessarily mean-sprirted and meta, and also kind of manipulative in the way that we're clearly supposed to disagree with him as a gut reaction:

But if I'm being honest… I liked you better as Oracle

The fact he gets a more positive framing later and ends up working with them, doesn't change any of the things about his inital introductions. Introductions are important. And then, at the of issue 6, he's implied to be involved in something more sinister.

It just. I don't like it; it doesn't work for me.

On a more positive note: I did like most of the Huntress content. It's not one of the top Huntress comics by any means, but it was fun. Serviceable enough. I did like the twist that her mom survived. While I think, ultimately, it's more compelling if she's the only one to survive, her mother also being alive and thinking she's the sole survivor has a lot of fun storytelling potential. I do think that Helena's ultimate decision to not kill the man who'd ordered her family's deaths didn't exactly work for me, but yeah, I think she largely worked. I also liked the art style.

#batgirl and the birds of prey #havendance reads comics #gus yale #barbara gordon #carthago delenda est #dc #bats + birds + affiliated

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cherrysfeelings · 7 months

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Ain't no way that Helena De Llanos (Emma Cohen's step-granddaughter) donated all of this to a film library (235 boxes)

"Neither widow of, nor wife of; Emma Cohen is a total creator and artist in herself" (I really like how Helena is making Emma Cohen relevant too, not making all this things only about her gradfather). Louder girl, louder.

Look at those photos, they're probably from the 90s/late 80s, she looks so Beautiful as she always did

Of course we also have some things about the ginger with fake short temper who decided to marry Emma in a hospital

Look at this drawing of her in the script of 'Bruja más que bruja' (Witch more than a witch), she looked so great in that film, so sad that rtve play doesn't have it 😔 and I'm going to leave with this other thing that Helena De Llanos said (I love Helena De Llanos, she's like a savior for me)

"they created because they wanted to create and not out of a need for fame or transcendence,"

#just girly things #emma cohen #Helena De Llanos #new Emma Cohen material #Imagine that you're step-granddaughter loves you even more than your parents did

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bookgeekgrrl · 11 months

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My media this week (11-17 Jun 2023)

youtube

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰 Grounds For Divorce (Tepre) - 122K, drarry, accidental soulbound - the years of them dealing/not dealing with the Bond, the angst, Harry being a mess & figuring shit out, a trip to Egypt, family, lemon trees, a cat and a garden

😊👂‍ Murder at the Beauty Pageant (Miss Underhay Mystery #12) (Helena Dixon, author; Karen Cass, narrator) - Kitty & Matt solve a beauty pageant murder while hampered by a new, obstreperous Inspector

😊 Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller (Oliver Darkshire) - charming, amusing & affectionate account of Oliver's journey in becoming a rare bookseller. (Oliver runs Sotheran's twitter account & if you know, you know.) [when I put the hold on this at my library there was no audiobook available but upon returning it, i see that one is there now, and i'm salty bc honestly this was the perfect book for an audiobook!]

💖💖 +74K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

A Place of Healing (this_wayward_life) - MCU: stucky, 12K - very cute & fluffy modern no-powers AU with nurse!bucky and doped-to-the-gills recovering steve who falls head-over-heels at first sight

Memories are Made of This (eleveninches) - MCU: stucky, 13K - recovering bucky angst-with-a-HEA

Long Time Coming (BewareTheIdes15) - Smallville: Clark/Lex, 14K - not my usual playground but I've enough osmosis cultural knowledge to enjoy this excellent fic; the characterizations were great - Lex's POV was absolutely hilarious, he was really going thru it

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Hot Ones - Jason Sudeikis

Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed | Roman Mars

Food for the Gods | 1909 Recipe

Songs That Changed Music: Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Game Changer - s5, e7-8 "The Bachelor"

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Switched on Pop - Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

⭐Smart Podcast, Trashy Books - 566. The Blessings of Comfort Reads with KJ Charles

Desert Island Discs - Simon Pegg, actor

Our Opinions Are Correct - Mini Episode: Which Star Trek Character Deserves Their Own Show?

Rachel Maddow Presents: Déjà News - Episode 1: Riot at the Gates (Again)

Radiolab - The Seagulls

⭐Into It - How Netflix Envy Broke TV

⭐The Sporkful - Inside The World Of Food Smuggling

The Atlas Obscura Podcast - The Greenbrier

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nightfall-by-jacqui-natla · 10 months

Text

17. THE INVITE

THE SUN WAS STILL RISING BY THE TIME RHONA AND I REACHED TO THE MANSION'S LARGE DOORS. She opened the door and we entered. Gabriel stood in front of the active fireplace - which was confusing to me - and Helena was standing behind him. Simon and Alana sat side by on the couch to the left and Joseph was on the opposite side.

"I thought we need to have a search party," said Joseph.

"She was just enjoying a walk at night," Rhona said to him.

I spotted a book lying on the ground. I walked to the book.

"Say, for a coven who has a library" I voiced, sauntering to the book. "You left that book on the floor."

"It's not me," Simon rose his hands.

I picked up the book and, abruptly, something landed in front of me. I saw Ethan, who roared at me like a little kid trying to scare me. He was a big kid. My amber eyes stared blankly at him as he stopped screaming.

"Oh, hi, Ethan," I greeted him after picking up the book.

"Were you scared?" He asked me. "Tell me honestly."

"I was close to being scared that time." I sarcastically replied.

"Oh, I'm going for fearsome here, but I just don't feel it!" He said as we walked to the coven. "I think I'm just coming off as annoying."

Did he think? Man, does he listen to himself?

We sat down on the couch: Ethan with his parents and Rhona beside Joseph and me beside her. Gabriel held a white envelope in his right hand and opened it. He pulled out a small card, cleared his throat and started reading it.

"Isabella Marie Swan and Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," he began. "Together with their families; request the honour of your presence at the celebration of their marriage."

A part of me squealed inside me. Edward and Bella are getting married? Why was I surprised? They had been dating for quite some time, even with the madness of Victoria, the newborns, the wolves and, possibly, the Volturi.

"That's great news!" Alana said happily.

"Well, it's about time," Joseph added.

When they were celebrating, I remembered something. Something that Jane said to the Cullens about Bella.

"Caius will be interested to know that she's still human."

Why would Caius be interested in Bella and her mortality? How much does the Volturi know about Bella?

"The date is set," I whispered to myself.

"What?" Gabriel sounded concerned as he asked me.

"Bella said that to her."

"Who?"

"Jane."

His golden eyes stared blankly at me as the room went quiet. Dead quiet. This wasn't good.

"You saw the Volturi?" Joseph spoke first.

"Just the four. Jane, Alec, Felix and Demetri." I answered him.

"I assumed they were aware of Victoria and her army," Gabriel added.

I nodded. "They would have stopped her but I couldn't help but think that they already knew."

"Why's that?" Simon questioned me.

"I don't know" was my answer. "I just do."

"So Bella knew about them?" Helena asked.

"Seems so," I replied.

"Why keep her alive?" Helena's words caught my ear.

"What do you mean?" I sounded worried.

"Usually when a human discovers the Volturi, they would become food," Gabriel said. "The one rule all vampires have to obey is to keep our existence a secret."

"Well, Victoria kind of broke that rule," I said. "Many people were disappearing in Seattle. Yet the humans didn't think they're vampires now."

And most likely, dead. Except for me. I wondered if the people in Forks were worried about me. Were they looking for me for all those times?

"How did the Volturi miss you?" Ethan enquired and his mother nudged his stomach. "What? Am I not allowed to ask her that? I'm just curious, that's all."

"I was invisible when they arrived. That's when Bella told Jane."

"Lucky escape, for you," Rhona added.

"Are the Volturi invited?" I asked them.

"I hope not," said Simon. "Since there will be few humans at the wedding."

"And they have a great thirst for human blood," Gabriel added. "And to avoid any suspicions, Carlisle invited Bella's family and friends."

"Will there be other vampire covens?" I inquired again.

"The Denali Coven," Helena answered. "They lived in Alaska and they also drink animal blood."

"Which is great for the humans," Rhona joined in. "I mean the drinking animal blood as well as them not knowing about us."

"They're like the cousins to the Cullens," Ethan said.

"Who is in that coven? How many?"

"Five," said Gabriel. "Tanya, the leader, her sisters Kate and Irina, Eleazar and his mate Carmen. It would be nice seeing them again."

The Denali Coven sounded interesting. It would be nice to meet other vegetarian vampires.

"Anyway, when's the wedding?" I asked.

"Thirteenth of August," replied Gabriel. "This Saturday coming."

Today was Wednesday. That was three days away. How long did Edward and Bella date? A year, maybe? Maybe Bella wanted to marry Edward so she could get turned into a vampire. It would solve the problem with the Cullens so they won't keep any secrets from her. Or maybe people would think that the Cullens are secretly a Mormon family who converted a young woman to the religion. Or cult to some people. Either way, the wedding will happen.

"I'm thinking that the wedding will be at their place?" Simon asked.

"It said it's at four hundred and twenty Woodcroft Avenue in Forks, Washington," said Gabriel, looking at the invitation.

"Oh, yeah," I spoke up. "Their place." Everyone looked at me. "It was a nice place..." I spotted Alana looking at me as if she was offended by my comment. "But this place is way nicer."

She turned her gaze away from me. I think I saved myself from her wrath. Who knew how many times she would get mad?

"That means we can do our girls' shopping trip!" Rhona squealed with excitement.

"A shopping trip for a wedding," said Helena.

"But would the humans see us sparkle?" I asked. "That would suck."

"Don't worry about it, lass," replied Alana. "It's going to be pouring rain tomorrow. Your typical London weather." She ended with a chuckle.

"It's going to be your first time, Violet," Rhona added. "It's going to be fun!"

Rhona reminded me of Alice a little bit. Bubbly and sweet. I couldn't help but feel excited about the whole thing.

The countdown for the wedding has begun.

Continue to 18. DRESS SHOPPING

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