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bilbobagginshome · 1 year ago

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“I think fanfiction is literature and literature, for the most part, is fanfiction, and that anyone that dismisses it simply on the grounds that it’s derivative knows fuck-all about literature and needs to get the hell off my lawn. Most of the history of Western literature (and probably much of non-Western literature, but I can’t speak to that) is adapted or appropriated from something else. Homer wrote historyfic and Virgil wrote Homerfic and Dante wrote Virgilfic (where he makes himself a character and writes himself hanging out with Homer and Virgil and they’re like “OMG Dante you’re so cool.” He was the original Gary Stu). Milton wrote Bible fanfic, and everyone and their mom spent the Middle Ages writing King Arthur fanfic. In the sixteenth century you and another dude could translate the same Petrarchan sonnet and somehow have it count as two separate poems, and no one gave a fuck. Shakespeare doesn’t have a single original plot—although much of it would be more rightly termed RPF—and then John Fletcher and Mary Cowden Clarke and Gloria Naylor and Jane Smiley and Stephen Sondheim wrote Shakespeare fanfic. Guys like Pope and Dryden took old narratives and rewrote them to make fun of people they didn’t like, because the eighteenth century was basically high school. And Spenser! Don’t even get me started on Spenser. Here’s what fanfic authors/fans need to remember when anyone gives them shit: the idea that originality is somehow a good thing, an innately preferable thing, is a completely modern notion. Until about three hundred years ago, a good writer, by and large, was someone who could take a tried-and-true story and make it even more awesome. (If you want to sound fancy, the technical term is imitatio.) People were like, why would I wanna read something about some dude I’ve never heard of? There’s a new Sir Gawain story out, man! (As to when and how that changed, I tend to blame Daniel Defoe, or the Modernists, or reality television, depending on my mood.) I also find fanfic fascinating because it takes all the barriers that keep people from professional authorship��barriers that have weakened over the centuries but are nevertheless still very real—and blows right past them. Producing literature, much less circulating it, was something that was well nigh impossible for the vast majority of people for most of human history. First you had to live in a culture where people thought it was acceptable for you to even want to be literate in the first place. And then you had to find someone who could teach you how to read and write (the two didn’t necessarily go together). And you needed sufficient leisure time to learn. And be able to afford books, or at least be friends with someone rich enough to own books who would lend them to you. Good writers are usually well-read and professional writing is a full-time job, so you needed a lot of books, and a lot of leisure time both for reading and writing. And then you had to be in a high enough social position that someone would take you seriously and want to read your work—to have access to circulation/publication in addition to education and leisure time. A very tiny percentage of the population fit those parameters (in England, which is the only place I can speak of with some authority, that meant from 500-1000 A.D.: monks; 1000-1500: aristocratic men and the very occasional aristocratic woman; 1500-1800: aristocratic men, some middle-class men, a few aristocratic women; 1800-on, some middle-class women as well). What’s amazing is how many people who didn’t fit those parameters kept writing in spite of the constant message they got from society that no one cared about what they had to say, writing letters and diaries and stories and poems that often weren’t discovered until hundreds of years later. Humans have an urge to express themselves, to tell stories, and fanfic lets them. If you’ve got access to a computer and an hour or two to while away of an evening, you can create something that people will see and respond to instantly, with a built-in community of people who care about what you have to say. I do write the occasional fic; I wish I had the time and mental energy to write more. I’ll admit I don’t read a lot of fic these days because most of it is not—and I know how snobbish this sounds—particularly well-written. That doesn’t mean it’s “not good”—there are a lot of reasons people read fic and not all of them have to do with wanting to read finely crafted prose. That’s why fic is awesome—it creates a place for all kinds of storytelling. But for me personally, now that my job entails reading about 1500 pages of undergraduate writing per year, when I have time to read for enjoyment I want it to be by someone who really knows what they’re doing. There’s tons of high-quality fic, of course, but I no longer have the time and patience to go searching for it that I had ten years ago. But whether I’m reading it or not, I love that fanfiction exists. Because without people doing what fanfiction writers do, literature wouldn’t exist. (And then I’d be out of a job and, frankly, I don’t know how to do anything else.)”

— “As a professor, may I ask you what you think about fanfiction?” (via meiringens)

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bilbobagginshome · 1 year ago

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A Deadbeat's Journal 27

A Jotaro Kujo x Blackfem reader story

Third person Narration

Jotaro after cutting the call is already looking up tickets to Brazil. He genuinely feels the loneliness of the night as even the stars dance alongside one another almost in jest of his bleak solitude. After mulling over Y/n’s words for the billionth time that evening he finally settles into a slumber as the waves of the ocean slowly rock him to his sleep.

Morning comes and he restarts the engine hoping by midday he can be back ashore and seriously making moves back to her and by midday a ½ of his goal is accomplished and he lands. Unlike the vibrant port of Zanzibar , filled to the brim with awe-looking tourists and inviting locals , the shores of Beira are filled with fishermen looking for their daily meals and children playing on the shores during their lunch break. They simply stare slightly at the foreigner who appears seemingly out of nowhere but soon looks away without a care in the world to this foreign specimen. After finding a suitable garage and parking his yacht, he sets off inwards of the town to find a motel.

He records for y/n an overview of the new city he gland at and by the time he gets to a cheap hotel he scoured for online for over an hour , he’s absolutely exhausted already contemplating the next phase of his journey,

Just then a sudden notification goes off his phone and when he checks on the messenger is shocked by the email he sees and decides on calling the number as per requested

“Hello , is this Mhambi?”

“Oh Mr Jotaro, I did not expect you to call me so soon .”Mhambi responds cheerfully with tinges of distress.

“I’m actually quite excited about the idea you have proposed with me and I was too excited to not call as soon as I read your email.”He responds slightly out of breath from moving erratically around the room.

“I’m glad you think so. Though I’m just a small time environmentalist , I appreciate you taking the time off your day to further discuss this.”

“If small time means literally being a Nobel nominee then Albert Einstein made a small theory.”He says in utter shock at her word and Mlamba simply chuckles at his incredulity.

“Well. If you don’t mind, we can meet up this evening. I know a lovely dinner spot that is in a cave and I’m sure a foreigner like you would love to see something of the sort.” She says and after jotting down the place and time they should meet , Jotaro ends the call.

He takes a slight whiff of his shirt and decides a scrub in the shower is a necessity to undertake. As he rubs himself off he contemplates further of the opportunity that has simply fallen into his lap. For some reason the puzzles seem to seamlessly mend together ever since he got that award and minus the depression that comes with being 80% alone, he’s really basking in the light of his achievements despite how backbreaking and prolonging the Mombasa project entailed and by the time he is done with the shower a fantastical daydream of his future career moves hastens his pace to meet Mlambe.

He’s soon done and with time to spare quickly finds a bike to take him to the cave restaurant and just as promised the restaurant is spectacular. Dark aside from the pink and purple LED lamps hidden within the cave rocks has him thinking that he stepped into a world similar to that in Harry potter and when he was advised to remove his shoes as the cave is closer to the shore, his inner white man was already squealing in joy. He is soon directed to their table and Mlamba is decked in a form fitting little black dress with softer pearl jewellery as accessories and eyes so wide you would think you’re staring in a bottomless dark pit. Her dark skin glows in the multitudes of colours the lamps exude and she brings out a small smile in acknowledgement.

“Hi Jotaro, nice to see you “ She says as they engage in a polite hug.

“Nice to see you too, Mlamba. Here are some flowers. And you look beautiful.” He says as he hands over some flowers he had picked up on the way.

“Wow what a gentleman. Where have you been hiding all this time?” She says in a flattered tone as she keenly looks into the composition of the flowers ,

“Oh and locally sourced! You really are keen.” She says as she places them to her side of the table,

“How can I hand an environmentalist flowers that aren’t ethically sourced and produced? You’d judge me to death.” He says with a smile of his own and she laughs in surprise though does not refute his statement.

They take into talking about the plans as the waiter leaves to place their order and she says,

“I’m actually glad you are doing this entire expedition because I’ve been dying to meet you after your second thesis on whale life in Japanese coasts and your work on protecting the endangered species there.” She says while nursing her second cup of wine.

“Oh thank you, that's such an honour. Is this why you considered me looking over the fish?” He questioned as he slowly downs his first whiskey,

“Something like that. I also did not want to deal with old creeps who have misogynistic undertones.” She says with a frown and he nods in agreement.

“Fully understandable.” He responds and the food is brought by. He decided on letting Mlamba choose the food he’d be eating and after a bite is seemingly intrigued and continues wolfing down on the food.

“Damn, you didn’t have lunch?” She questions as she notices him almost halfway done with his food barely five minutes into their dinner.

“Something like that.” He responds bashfully and straightens up to eat at a slower pace.

“So, why are you doing this expedition, especially on your own. You don’t have anyone to go around the world with?” She questions whilst looking at him in an unreadable expression, sipping her wine with ease.

“I did but my girlfriend was interested in pursuing other dreams and so she went to Brazil.”He replies with a fonder tone.

“Oh,girlfriend. I wouldn’t have guessed. Where did you both live before?” She questions once again, tone a tad more alert than usual.

“Kenya. She’s a lawyer.” He responds while spooning the last of his food on his empty plate.

“Oh that’s amazing. Can I see her?” Mlamba says with a smile and excitedly pulls out her phone to show her pics of her with him and some that seem more stalkerish than normal.

“You must be really fond of her.” She muses as she returns the phone.

“Definitely. She made my life there easier.”He responds with a smile while pocketing the phone. Realising all he’s spoken about is himself, he questions,

“And what about you ? Is there anyone special in your life?”

“There was. Now my love life is dryer than the Namibian desert.”She says with a sigh

“Yikes, what happened?”

She proceeds to tell the sob story of how she had travelled all the way to America to meet her long term long distance relationship as she heard rumours circulating that he was getting married to someone and lo and behold she finds him in the middle of a dowry negotiation. By the time her story draws to an end , she is whimpering and some of the tables around them look at Jotaro in disdain as he attempts to slightly pat her shoulder.

“Oh I don’t know what has come over me. I genuinely thought he was the one you know. Come to find out he planned to make me the secret African wife!” She exclaims as she wipes off her tears, makeup smudged from the mascara and eyes stinging with a red hue.

“Oh wow. I’m sorry.” Jotaro says awkwardly as he gestures for her to drink more water.

“I’m sorry , I’m supposed to be more professional than this, however it feels relieving to tell you. I couldn’t tell anyone close to me as they warned me about him so thank you for listening.”She responds, fully composed now though a round of hiccups have replaced her crying.

“You should tell them. They could be judgy but they’ll put the “I told you so” on hold until after you’ve fully healed.” He responds with a smile,

“Oh thank you. You have a sweet smile. Come on, let's pay and I’ll give you my draft for the project.” She calls for the waiter and after he brings the receipt , Jotaro forcefully insists on paying and after a minor back and forth she agrees to let him pay on the condition that she’ll tip the waiter

“Thank you for this and listening to my sob-rant I appreciate it.” She says as he puts her on an uber.

“No problem. I just saw the link you sent me. I’ll be telling you this , "Expect a response during the midday cause I’m just going to bed after this.” And she laughs, simply nods as she walks in and waves bye at him as the car speeds off. As he calls his own car. He notices a call and does not wait for the second ring to answer the question.

* * *

Working with Mlamba gets rid of the slump Jotaro formerly heard. For the first time, it seems that his working skills align very well with her. Though this isn't to say that he’s never worked well with other researchers but rather never been so in tune with ideas on how the research is to phase out and as the days go by, his loneliness is easily curbed.He spends almost every morning with her and by the evening they have dinner at the street vendors outside. Moreover, major progress is being made in their research and to celebrate Mlamba proposes something for the upcoming weekend.

“The club, I don’t know, I don’t think my girlfriend would be comfortable with the idea of me going to such a place when she’s not close by and since our relationship is very young, I don’t feel like raising unnecessary tension.”

“Aren’t you bored of always being at home, besides she sounds understanding based on the conversations you guys have.” She says offhandedly as they close up the lab for the day.

“Are you eavesdropping on my conversations with her?” Jotaro questions with a slight scoff on his tone.

“Not even my fault, I just happened to walk by the one time she called you during work. I didn’t even listen to what you guys were saying, I just remember a soft tone .” She says arms raised in surrender as Jotaro looking down on her with a raised brow.

“She is understanding. It's honestly a surprise how understanding she’s gotten, however I’m not willing to put my relationship on the line for a night out in a club that I’m 90% sure will not enjoy to the fullest.” He says pointedly to cut the conversation short.

“Oh please, all my friends have been asking to go out and I feel pressured to go after a few weeks of ghosting them . Plus aren’t you too trustworthy? Do you really believe she doesn’t have her way all the way in Brazil?” Mlamba responds, her tone getting slightly harsh nearing the end of the sentence.

Jotaro simply shakes his head and after pondering for a few seconds on their walk to the bus stop, takes out his phone and dials her number.

“Hey baby, how has your day been?” Y/n says as he overheads a mocking repetition of her sentence by Patience while Abdul laughs loudly in the background.

“Hi my love I’m perfectly fine.” Jotaro responds with a smile on his face, the tensions on his shoulders immediately relieving themselves.

“What a random time to call me, Is everything okay?”She asks and Mlamba, silently listening to their conversations, jabs slightly at Jotaro’s waist to proceed with the question.

“Well I do have something to ask. I’d like to go to the club with a couple of friends I’ve met over here . Would you be okay with that?” He asks worriedly .

“Of course. I’m so glad you’re making friends out there.You’ve been so lonely over the past few weeks it's been worrying me. And you shouldn’t ask to enjoy yourself. I trust you.” She says with a jovial tone. Jotaro can already imagine the smile on her face and wishes, for the nth time this month, that she was closeby.

“Okay , I just wanted you to be comfortable. I don’t want us crossing any boundaries in the relationship.” He says .

“Don’t worry jojo.”

“I’ll call you later okay? I love you.”

“Love you too” She says with a slight pout and he waits for her to cut the phone before placing it back in his pocket.

“Now that you have permission. Can I confirm with my friends that I will be coming alongside you?” She says as they wait for the bus to arrive. At this time the stop is filled with teenagers recounting the days shenanigans in their variously coloured uniforms, working mothers who are already arguing with the nanny on what should the family should have for dinner, men barely keeping awake after a long work shift in the office and hawkers attempting to sell their roasted beans and cashew nuts to the passengers. The evening air stilling as the sun sets slowly behind their bus stop and some curiously looking at the quiet mammoth that is Jojo next to the short and bubbly Mlamba who is conversing on the phone as she excitedly shares the plans for the next day with her friends. So yeah, just another peaceful evening for him at the bus stop.

He likes the pace of life here. It seems like every second passes by slowly like a rainy cloud gradually covering the blue skies. It makes you want to live and embrace every moment. That’s why he hated the capitals, especially in developing worlds. They seem extremely fast , they remind you that life is a mere mist, here one minute and gone the next.Not even a second to breathe one has already moved on to the next thing.

“Hey Jotaro?” Mlambo questions after noticing he had spaced out .

“Yeah yeah?”

“It's official, we are going clubbing till the morning tomorrow and the best part is all my friends can make it.”

“Yey” Jotaro responds unenthusiastically.

“Show more passion, shout YEY!” She says whilst letting out a hurray that has some people turning heads in slight annoyance.

“No, you should be grateful I haven’t yet backed out of the plan.” He warningly says.

“I know you can’t do that , right?” Mlamba says in a worried tone and he simply smiles and shrugs his shoulders as he watches her face contort into a series of expressions that document her spiralling.

* * *

When they enter, the club is empty almost as though it opened only a few minutes ago. Their group of eight though is able to find ample seating and start already on buying a bottle of whiskey.

“We could have started with cocktails, or even a beer?” Jotaro says whilst simultaneously wondering what state their livers are in.

“Jotaro here, we even believe the best way to get rid of a hangover is by pouring another shot.” David , one of Mlamba’s closest friends says with a smirk.

“That’s insane.” He shudders out loud whilst sipping his long island cocktail.The Dj playing the lamest hits he could find in his folder, the club barely hype , Jotaro begins to think he should have instead read one of the books Y/n recommended or even spent hours on the phone with her rather than this. Well at least the company is tolerable.

“We should get another Jack Daniel's , this one seems on the brink of ending. Waiter!” One of the squealing girls in their entourage shouts, makeup and hair done to the T , she’s a stunning doll

“Nevermind.” Jotaro mutters to himself.

Mlamba , noticing her guest slowly retreating to the confines of his corner in his booth , scooches over to be closer to him. Already a tad tipsy and slightly high over what Jotaro hopes is simply weed she whispers, in the barely loud are,

“Do we seem a bore to you jojo?”

“No” He stiffly replies, slightly ruffled by the use of his nickname.

“Then dance.”

“The music is , for lack of a better word, dogshit.”

“Okay, but you owe me a dance when the place gets hype.” She sweetly says as she goes back to talk to some of the girls alongside the group.

And unlike Jotaro’s lacklustre expectations of what the night will bring , the place does get indeed better, especially since they switched the Djs out and brought in more 2000 classics mixed with 2010s EDM and some Afrobeats, the once boring entertainment centre seems to fill with a group of people around their age group and thus the night truly begins.

After his two cocktails and a few sips of the whiskey , Jotaro feels loose enough to converse with the people around him and them, noting that his guard is completely done, runs him a wave of questions that seem more like a tsunami. And he, though still slightly alert, is even willing to disclose some vulnerable information.

“So can we see the very mysterious girlfriend you keep mentioning.” One of the dolls, Yasmine, asks with a smirk in her face, And despite attempting to move on to other topics everyone in the table, especially Mlamba continuously insists on seeing her and he reluctantly removes his phone and gets out the first picture he can find of her.

The booth stares in silence as they look in awe at the image displayed amid the dim lighting of the club. And after a few seconds of what Jotaro considered to be deafening silence puts his phone back in his pockets.

“You need to tell me what you did to bag a girl like her, that ass is PHAT!” Jonah, one of the more extroverted of Mlamba ’s friend group loudly says and even though Jotaro chastises him for his remark,he can’t help but let out a smile in agreement.

“And while you’re at it direct me to her sister,” David says in awe. Jotaro hates to admit it but nothing boosts his ego more than knowing that everyone knows that she’s taken. By him.

Mlamba stays silent while the others sing choruses for her beauty and after a few more sips of whiskey he is inclined to divulge more general information about her. As the hype around her dies down, people start picking their partners to dance . And as he makes himself more comfortable in his seat, a more intoxicated Mlamba slurred in a whiny voice

“Jojo, you promised me a dance, why are you seated?”

“It's not like we’re waltzing, you can go dance, you don’t really need a partner.” Jotaro says with a shooing motion, already in the midst of simply enjoying the limbness of his tipsiness.

“Pleaseee” She whines even more. Jotaro doesn’t know why the sudden urge to shove her away from his arm almost overtakes him but , as a silent apology for his spur of the moment anger, he decides to appease her

Squealing in joy, she leads him to the dance floor. It starts off tame , even enjoyable as she encourages him to dance some of the more footsie local moves that most people and their friends do. Even her other friends join in and it starts a whole dance circle as the energising Afropop tunes play out . Then it turns to become a bit more sexual and she attempts to whine at him.

“Yeah I think I should get back to my seat.” He says, already uncomfortable with the amount of people grinding at him.

“Just one more song.” She insists.

“No, I don’t feel uncomfortable doing this. Plus I have a girlfriend. What would she think if she saw me in this situation?”

“Good thing she doesn’t have to see since she’s so far away from you.” Mlamba says with a smirk. He , making sure she doesn’t get hurt, shoves her away.

“I can’t believe you. I’m leaving”

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Hello once more! Sorry I lied about the back to regular scheduling. I'm heading to uni and its been a hassle, plus I was on holiday halfway of August. Some sad news coming up but I promise it will not be all dreadful

#jojos bizzare adventure #blackreader #jojo #jojo no kimyō na bōken #jotaro kujo

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