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queenimmadolla · 2 years ago

Text

𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

(Tattoo Artist!Eddie Munson x Apprentice!Reader)

Summary: . . . After deciding you were meant for more than what life had in store for you, you gave into the siren call of the city─well a city. But when city life finally eats away at your bank account and your main source of income isn't reliable, you take on an apprenticeship at a tattoo shop where your boss is the six-foot something, tattoo covered Eddie Munson who quickly and unwisely becomes intrigued by you. Nothing romantic can come from it, lest you risk it being torn apart by your past, his lover and yourself.

Entire Work Warnings: 18+ (smut will take place in later chapters), swearing, financial problems, mentions of loss, escorts/call girls, age gap (Eddie is 36, reader is 25), financial shaming, slut shaming, implied sexual harassment, bimbo!reader (she may not be book smart but she knows the score) angst, self-sabotage.

a/n: based on my initial post and elements of Breakfast at Tiffany's. next chapters will be significantly juicer, this was just something to get us going. this is dedicated to @munsonology, happy birthday and I hope this year was a good one! and a very gratitude filled thank you to my dear friend, @kitmon, for continuing to be an an amazing beta! hope you guys like it so far ♡ (attempting the keep reading feature, fingers crossed)

word count: 5k

“They don’t bite.” “Hmn?” Came your absent-minded reply, eyes cutting from the harpy, evil in her eyes and blood soaking her talons, to the man flipping through the red binder you’d been carrying around you in the Indianapolis heat.

Sweat evaporated off your skin, giving away to goosebumps in the air conditioned shop, a much welcome relief to the borderline unbearable heatwave settling over the city streets, something that can be found in every nook and cranny. You’d been navigating your way throughout the city since before dawn broke, eager to get your fill of it while the streets were quiet and a decent temperature. It had been almost chilly this morning, your thick strapped tank top and daisy dukes—that you normally wouldn’t allow yourself to be caught dead in—leaving most of your skin exposed, with no direct sunlight to warm it. Now that the sun was out, you were on fire out there.

“The artwork.” He glanced at the framed harpy drawing along the wall, the one you’d been staring at, one of many framed depictions of gruesome and mythical looking creatures. “I don’t blame you though, that one isn’t particularly my favorite. Pretty badass, though. Heh.” “Oh,” You shook your head, the oversized shades adorning your face sliding down the bridge of your nose, “No, I’m not afraid of it. I like it. It must have taken forever though.”

You turned your attention to her again, admiring how realistic her feathers appeared. Painstakingly detailed and whoever was walking around the city with her on their body surely endured a generous amount of pain to get her.

And a large hole in their wallet.

“It took a ton of sessions, for sure. My boy did it a couple years ago.” The man, Argyle, as he’d introduced himself when you’d first walked into the shop, flipped his long black hair over his shoulder before he flipped to the next page of your portfolio. He let out a sound of appreciation as he leaned his weight on his elbow, hand resting over his mouth.

“This is good! This is really good!”

You lifted your chin to peer at the drawing he was fascinated with. Ah.

It was a drawing of the skeletal Grim Reaper, cloaked in a black robe and scythe clutched in one hand while his boney middle fingers stretched his eye socket holes down in an obvious taunt. A tongue, black and tendril like, lulled out of his mouth.

You thought it was pretty good, too. The idea for it had struck you at a party, you’d been hiding from an annoying suitor and ducked into an office room, doodling to your heart's content once you grew past your boredom.

You grinned, a feeling of giddiness beginning to bubble inside you.

“Listen, the DM’s out right now, running some errands. He should be back soon, can I hold onto this?” Argyle asked, gripping the sides of the binder and raising it as if you didn’t already know he was referring to your portfolio, “I think he’ll be pretty impressed with your stuff.” You fidgeted with your fingers, giddiness giving away to nerves once more. “Really? You think so?” Hope was something you hadn’t felt in a while; you’d been through exactly fourteen tattoo shops throughout the city, most of which you’d been rebuffed from before they so much as flipped open your portfolio, having already decided your particular aesthetic didn’t fit their image. They hadn’t verbalized as much, but you knew. You glanced down at your pink boots, already such a stark contrast to the black beams beneath your feet.

It wouldn’t be a big deal if you hadn’t made a wager with yourself, you could only go home once you’d accomplished your task of getting one of the shop owners to actually look at your work. While Argyle had made it clear he wasn’t the head honcho, he’d be passing it along.

“Yeah, man! This is some pretty legit stuff! I’ve been tatting, myself, for a couple years now, and I’m good–don’t wanna flex or nothing but I’m really good. Only it took a couple of years for me to actually get this good, you know? And I’m not even talking about on skin. You haven’t tattooed anyone before, right?” You thought back to when you had mentioned your art skill to a brief...something, he’d been intoxicated enough on expensive wine and your sangria kisses to encourage you to use the tattoo kit one of your friends had re-gifted you after her interest in the subject waned. You’d never particularly imagined yourself etching into people’s skin before, not even when she’d given you the supplies because she’d seen some of your doodles.

Thanks to her, a suit and tie you no longer spoke to, who made more money than you’ll ever see, was walking around with a secret under his briefs: a pair of shiny cherries on his left ass cheek.

It was no loss to you. Sure, he made money. Just not nearly enough for you to tolerate how aggressive he’d been with his affections as soon as he was sloshed. You’d given him the tattoo with his drunk pals cheering him on, went out to a very high standard club, then promptly ditched him the moment you were out of his sight. You hadn’t answered the door when he came pounding on it the next morning and the morning after that.

You’d originally had no intentions of using the tattoo equipment, until that encounter. It had planted a seed, an idea that may get you out of what you had to do to survive. Tattooing hadn’t been a passion, and it still wasn’t quite one but you needed money and you had talent.

“No,” You lied with a shake of your head, “I haven’t.”

“That’ll change soon,” he laughed, closing your binder as he leaned further over the glass counter. Your gaze briefly flickered to the jewelry it housed.

“You got a number we can reach you at?”

You’d scrawled the number of your landline down on the back of one of their business cards before Argyle could rethink his decision to pass your work along.

“Hopefully, we’ll see you soon!” He called out as you retreated towards the door.

God, I hope so.

The thought of a somewhat stable job that could help the pitiful state of your checking and savings account was the only thing powering you through your long walk home. You couldn’t risk a cab, that would mean you’d have no fare money for tonight, and who knows if you’d have to make a speedy exit?

You’d learned. Eventually.

Forty-five minutes later, you entered your apartment, sagging back against the door as you dropped your bag and kicked your shoes off, unconcerned as to where exactly they’d landed.

Sweat glistened over your skin, and unlike in that last tattoo shop, there was no air conditioning to cool you. You and Sid saved that for special occasions.

Instead, you opened the large window to the fire escape, obnoxious sounds of the city you called home filling the apartment.

It wasn’t much, but it was better. Next came the matter of your clothes, stuck in the most uncomfortable of ways to your flesh. Your tank top was peeled off and thrown over the couch, daisy dukes abandoned near the entryway of the small kitchen on your way to the bathroom.

A quick glance was spared behind you, taking in the state of your shared home. It was a mess and not even remotely surprising. The place was barely furnished with the essentials, all of which were secondhand: a couch, a coffee table with a sheet over it to hide the stains, one shelving unit, a rug and tapestries hung artfully on the walls for deception. They made the place look more put together than it was, but you’d love it even if it were still barren. A roof over your head in the city meant you didn’t have to return to the past you’d clawed your way out of..

The only thing worth much was the framed photo on the kitchen counter, and that was only in sentimental value. You and Sid, arms around each other’s shoulders as you sat in a booth at a shitty diner you’d tried upon first moving to the city. They’d taken your photo for being the 600th customer and tacked it to the wall.

You’d stolen it and had no regrets because you got to keep your memory and ended up getting food poisoning.

With a shrug, you entered the bathroom for a much needed scrub down and some disassociating. Your mess could wait.

─

Eddie was not in a great mood when he walked into the shop.

His jacket was clutched in a sweaty palm, rings twisting around the flesh of his fingers and his bangs were beginning to stick to his forehead, all the result of the walk from his fucking car to the shop door.

“Grumpy?” Argyle asked, amused with the clear annoyance on his face.

Eddie sneered, standing under the vent for a minute to cool down, “Triple digits. Triple fucking digits out there, man. You could shove a thermometer up the devil’s asshole and it’d be cooler than that.”

Once he’d solidified, he stalked past the front desk, threw his jacket onto the counter and picked up a stack of mail.

“Did I miss anything?” Eddie asked as he flipped through the envelopes, mostly junk.

“A couple of walk-ins. Nothing too major there, handled them myself. Simple stuff, one wanted a goldfish. Not like a detailed one, like how you’d try and draw a goldfish cracker. We did have a few who wanted a couple of advance pieces, got ‘em booked for consultations with Johnny boy and Rob.”

“Nice,” Eddie chuckled under his breath at the mental image of the goldfish tattoo, most likely an act of affection. Tattooing people who wanted to permanently carry reminders of their children was one of Eddie’s favorites to do, partially because of the sentiment but mostly because the drawings were amusing.

He’d just finished tossing out the junk mail when he reached for his jacket to hang it up properly and discovered it had been concealing something.

“What’s this?” Eddie asked as he lifted the slim red binder. Looked relatively new.

“Huh?” Argyle glanced up from the sketch he was working on, recognition flashing across his face, “Oh, yeah! We got a prospective new hire, someone dropped off their portfolio.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and heaved out a heavy sigh as his jacket was tossed aside yet again. He had nothing against other tattoo artists, but the last one he’d hired that hadn’t come from his friend group ended up nearly destroying the group.

Henry had been charming, good at his job and charismatic. Turns out, he’d also been a master manipulator and had a particularly abhorrent temper. Tensions had been high, heads were butting and fights had occurred—with a permanent reminder in the wall near the front entrance where a large hole had been punched through. Henry had to go.

Eddie wasn’t looking to repeat the situation.

“I think we’re good on artists around here–and put a reminder on the calendar for me to patch that damn crater up.”

“Well, it’s a good thing the artist isn’t a tattoo artist. Yet. I’d look at that portfolio first before making any decisions, if I were you. I think you’re gonna see the beginnings of something goooooood, and dude, you’ll be killing our fun if you fix it. Do you know how many glory hole jokes we tell?” Eddie ignored the latter half of Argyle’s statement, reluctantly flipping the portfolio open to the first page and annoyance began to associate itself with him once more.

A body, in a state of decomposition greeted him. But it wasn’t maggots or rotting flesh involved. Flowers grew out of the crevices, with moss and mushrooms over her skin. A lot of fine line work.

The next page was home to a bird-like creature with the body of a lion, a Griffin. Done in American Traditional.

A skinny, demonic looking goat with horns and legs long enough to belong to a horse, clouded eyes and wyvern wings was on the page after that. The Jersey Devil. Someone knew their Cryptids.

The portfolio contained a vast amount of drawings from horror depictions to more aesthetically pleasing visions; the hydra, skeletons, dragons, goddesses, respectable attempts at the modern Renaissance pieces, and even a couple of Barbie references, ranging in a variety of tattoo styles.

Eddie closed the portfolio and drummed his fingertips across the countertop, scowling.

That long haired doofus was right. This was beyond good work. But if they weren’t a tattoo artist, there wasn’t much Eddie could do with them. Drawing on paper is a much more different experience than skin. Mistakes can be erased on paper, the sketch done over again. Can’t do the same on flesh.

It’s intimidating.

They’d have to start off slow, like he had. Trained under a watchful eye, an expert who’d guide them with experienced hands. He was sure Jonathan and Robin would be eager to have an apprentice.

But before Eddie would even begin to entertain the idea of an apprentice in his shop, he’d have to see exactly what it was he was working with.

“Leave a number?” He asked without looking at Argyle because he knew he’d see nothing but a smug expression.

“Yup.”

“See if you can get him back in the shop tomorrow.”

“Why not today?”

“Because I have a session for the rest of the day, remember?”

“Oh, yeah! I forgot.” Argyle’s grin was sheepish as he read off the calendar. “Stacy Peterson called. Car troubles. Unable to make it to appointment with Eddie. Rescheduled. Heh. So…you also missed that.”

“I’ll strangle you later, just get him in here then.”

Argyle opened his mouth, then closed it as an expression that said I know something you don’t crossed his strong features. “Righty-O, boss. I’ll give him a call.”

You’d been lounging in the bathtub, hair up and out of the way, eyeing the grooves of the shower tile. They were a permanent taunt, stained dark no matter how hard you and Sid scrubbed and you hated the sight of them.

People with money didn't have to stare at them, able to afford to have them professionally cleaned or the shower wall—the entire bathroom renovated.

Someday, that would be you.

You sunk further into the water, toeing at the faucet when the shrill sound of the landline filled your more than humble home. The thought of simply letting it ring played in your head until you remembered the tattoo shop you’d visited last.

Hastily rising from the tub, water was splashed along the floor while you did a terrible job of drying off and ran naked the rest of the way to the living room, almost slipping as you did.

The receiver was yanked off its post, “Hello?”

“What’s up, Dudette? Argyle calling, dunno if you remember me from earlier…”

“Yeah! From the tattoo shop, right?”

“Right-O! Listen, The Dungeon Master is in and he wants to see if you can get down here to show him what you got. Possible?”

“Yeah, it’ll be no problem!” You’d have to run most of the way but street traffic around this time wasn’t that bad so you wouldn’t have to fight your way through bodies.

“Cool, cool, cool. And between you and me, this is pretty much the interview process. Good luck, dudette, and may the force be with your tattie skills. I’ll see you when you get here!”

As soon as you’d hung up, you ran to your room to get dressed. You didn’t have much of a wardrobe, but it wasn’t high on your list of priorities considering you and Sid practically shared one. Another tank top was selected—to mitigate sweating on your way to your interview—along with a gifted pink thong and matching bra. You’d snagged your Daisy Dukes from the floor on your way out, shimmied them on, grabbed your small bag and keys and headed out.

The selection of attire was a good one, the heat was still stupidly unbearable and heavy. You’d need to wash off again tonight. You’d managed to make it to the shop in under twenty-five minutes, having ignored all the looks you’d received as you hurried along the streets and the feeling of the air conditioner on your skin was a welcome one when you made your way back into the shop.

Argyle greeted you with a bright grin from his place behind the counter, throwing up his hands, “You made it! One sec.”

Then he turned his upper body to call into an area you couldn’t quite see into, “Oh, Eddie boy! Your prospect has arrived.”

You hadn’t cared to entertain ideas on what your potential boss could look like, all you were concerned about was the position and getting your foot in the door. Even if you had tried to imagine him, nothing could have prepared you for the actual sight of him when he emerged.

He was big, tall and cloaked in black, despite the heat of the city. He wore what you figured had once been a black t-shirt but was now lacking sleeves and a proper neck hem to be considered a makeshift tank. His pants were shiny leather and also tight, hugging the muscles of his thighs, and he sported a dark pair of pointed boots.

He wasn’t particularly muscular enough to be the body builder type, but it looked like he could probably pick another grown man up with ease. His skin had a light tan to it, barely anything really, just like everyone else, he obviously couldn’t escape the sun. It was littered with intricate tattoos, weaving up his arms—a few you could tell disappeared under his shirt—and his neck.

The word freak was permanently etched in black ink along his temple and over his eyebrow. Two silver balls decorated his other eyebrow.

Leaning up against the back wall like that, arms crossed to make the muscles of his arms bulge slightly and oozing confidence, he looked like the personification of some really good sex.

But he wasn’t what you were seeking out and you didn’t like to mix business with pleasure.

Eddie was caught completely off guard, trying to school his shock and keep his composure.

When he’d seen that portfolio, he was expecting someone with jagged edges, piercings galore and more than just a couple of tattoos to be behind it and standing in the entryway of his shop.

Someone who looked like their art.

You…didn’t. With your little pink cowboy boots, tank top that accentuated your figure and shorts so small, they should’ve been considered a form of underwear, you didn’t look at all similar to what Eddie was expecting. Not even if he closed his eyes.

You didn’t waste time, quickly introducing yourself as you stepped up to the front desk and Eddie pulled himself from his stupor, closing the distance to shake your palm. Smaller than his (though most were) and slightly sweaty, no doubt due to that god forsaken heat outside.

Eddie could see bits of your hair sticking to your skin, little beads of sweat prickling over your exposed collarbone and trailing down, down between your─

“Thank you for taking the time to even look at my portfolio! I really appreciate it.”

Eddie blinked hard, clearing his throat before smirking to pretend he hadn’t been drawn in by your chest.

What the fuck was wrong with him all of a sudden?

He’d had plenty of beautiful clients, he’d tattooed nice asses, tits, pubic regions, thighs, all the beautiful areas. Now all of a sudden he was acting like he’d never seen a pair of tits before.

Hell, Eddie had been thoroughly busy with a pair, held them in his hands before he came into the shop.

Professionalism, he reminded himself.

“Not a problem, what I see—saw was pretty impressive,” Nice save, Eddie, you dick. He cursed himself, “You adapt well to different styles.”

“Thanks!” You chirped, excitement filling you at the praise. It was so nice to hear positive feedback about your work instead of being sent out of a shop before they so much as opened your binder. “I like to experiment with different styles, see what it is that people like so much about them and honestly, it’s mostly because I haven’t quite found my art style just yet.”

Hence your range, you were constantly expanding with your art because you hadn’t found one style you wanted to make yours yet. Or maybe you had and just didn’t know it yet. Whatever.

Eddie and Argyle exchanged a look before he stepped back and nodded in the direction he came, “Why don’t you follow me? Show me what you can do?”

You didn’t hesitate, stepping past the front desk.

There was more artwork lining the short hall he took you down until you arrived at another room, obviously one meant for actual tattooing as there was a tattoo chair in the middle of the room.

On one of the counters, was an area already prepped for you. A tattoo gun, some ink, and some obviously fake skin that rested on top of a disposable sheet cloth, along with some gloves.

“Argyle tells me you haven’t worked on skin before.”

Sure you haven’t.

“Not a whole lot of people lining up to get tattooed by someone with no experience,” you shrugged, following him over to the counter he was leaning up against.

“You’re hanging around the wrong crowd then.” He joked and you let out a small laugh.

He had no idea how right he was.

“The first tattoos I ever got were from inexperienced people. This one,” he gestured to a Wyvern on the back of his arm, “I got my junior year of high school from a waitress at a bar I always snuck into.”

“And this one,” he yanked the tattered collar of his shirt down to expose more ink, but the one he was referring to was a spider, “I got my first senior year from someone I did…business with.”

First senior year? Eddie was proving to be an interesting character.

“But enough about me,” Eddie released his shirt, allowing it to hide the artwork depicted on his chest, “let’s get down to business.”

Before he could even explain what everything was, you dropped your purse onto the counter nearby, pulling a small box of unopened gloves from it.

“You mind?” You asked, fingers poised to rip it open.

“Go for it,” He shrugged. Gloves were gloves, so long as they were uncontaminated he didn’t mind.

You tore into them and Eddie was still somehow surprised to see they were pink. Clearly his black ones weren’t your style.

“Can I ask you a question?” You asked as you pulled the gloves on. Eddie watched you, intrigued as you finished assembling the tattoo gun without his help and opened the ink pack.

“Sure,” He mused, eyeing you skeptically. Hadn’t tattooed anyone but you were clearly familiar with it. Interesting.

“Did your tattoos hurt?”

Eddie waited until after you’d started the tattoo gun and got into working on the fake flesh. Apparently you already had an idea in mind.

“A bit of an amateur question, you don’t have one?”

“Nope.” You confirmed, paying him no mind as you leaned forward, gaze focused solely on your task, “I kind of want one but I’m not in any particular rush, you know?”

Eddie made a sound of agreement, at a brief loss of words as you arched your back, ass sticking out and he became painfully aware you were wearing a hot pink thong, the tails of it peaking out past the top of your denim shorts. He should’ve offered you a seat but you didn’t seem all that bothered with standing.

No, that was apparently his foil, because he was incredibly bothered by you standing, especially with your ass out like that; when it made his pants tighten considerably in his crotch region.

He was getting hard.

Eddie was mortified, stiffening (go figure) as he attempted to calm himself, eyes darting away from your ass to stare at one of the cabinets. Of course this had to happen to him on the day he chose to wear a pair of pants that left little to the imagination should the boy downstairs start acting up.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look.

“Hurts, depending on the area, which I’m sure you already know. The tattoos on my back and my thighs hurt pretty bad. Forearms were a bitch, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The ones on my wrists and hands were the worst, pain wise, in my opinion. Obviously it didn't stop me, but those tend to be areas with a lot of bones, veins and very little muscle, so it’s expected.”

You hummed in response and his gaze briefly flittered over to you before his cock pulsed and he tore it away again, grateful your attention wasn’t on him.

The remainder of the ‘session’ was spent in relative silence with the music playing through the speakers installed throughout the shop, keeping it from being awkward. Eddie had just managed to will his erection away when you finished, setting down the gun before you pulled your gloves off.

“What do you think?” You asked, still admiring your work and Eddie peered around you to assess it.

A wyvern, similar to the one on his arm but done in a fine line style.

He chuckled, amused with your reference and you fought valiantly with yourself not to grin. You were trying to impress him, sticking with a subject he liked enough to make it a part of him permanently, but you hadn’t imitated the style of it to keep from downright copying and to showcase your ability to adapt.

“That’s pretty good,” And it was, not a whole lot of people could get lines that perfect or seem as confident in their abilities on their first try. Still, Eddie could tell you’d have some ways to go before you were ready to be on your own, “but you can do better.”

You tried not to frown, “Oh.”

Eddie smirked and you finally turned to face him, apprehension on your face.

“Don’t look so down. After some time around here, watching us work, you’ll be ready. The apprenticeship will fly by in no time.”

“Wait—you mean—you want me?!”

“I’d be stupid not to.”

You let out a squeal and threw yourself at him, giving him a quick squeeze before your brain caught up to your body and you pulled away.

“Sorry, sorry! I’m just so excited.”

Eddie cleared his throat, shifting his body away from you and rasped out, “Argyle will have the paperwork for you to fill out.”

“Got it,” You grabbed your bag and was just about to head out of the room when Eddie called your name, “Huh?”

“Be back at the same time tomorrow. You’ll be practicing on real skin.”

“But I thought you said—”

“Me.”

Something in you bubbled with excitement and nerves.

You nodded once and then left the room to see Argyle for your paperwork.

“So?????” Argyle asked once you’d approached him, a sullen look on your face.

You couldn’t keep the act up, beaming as you practically bounced, “I’ll be seeing you around more often now!”

He whooped, extending an arm out for a high-five which you reciprocated.

“You are gonna love it here, Dudette. Just wait until you meet everyone! First, we gotta start on your employment.”

Your brows furrowed as you watched him go through a filing cabinet.

“Wait—this is paid?”

“Yeah! We’re not big on slave labor here.”

Score for you! You had a feeling you wouldn’t be clocking a ton of hours but every single penny counted, especially considering how hard of a time you had actually building a savings account.

Argyle had walked you through the paperwork, where to sign, what things meant and since the shop was getting ready to close up you’d simply just bring the completed paperwork back with you tomorrow.

The door chimed behind you and you turned to see who could be coming in at the last minute, eyes widening at the voluptuous woman before you. Her hair was long and jet black, skin pale (apparently one person in this city was capable of defying the sun) and make-up done so elegantly it reminded you of actresses from the silver screen era. Her dress was simple, black and hugged her curves exceptionally well. You could tell it was worth more than everything in your apartment combined and you’d feel bad about it if you also couldn’t tell she was older than you.

You’d have time to get there.

“Hey, Deidre.”

“Hello, Argyle.” She gave the both of you a dazzling smile as she removed her sunglasses and walked right past Argyle, down the hall you’d come from.

He didn’t even look surprised and paid her no real attention.

“We’ll see you soon?”

“Damn straight.”

Argyle let out another cheer as you walked out the door with high spirits. Not even the nasty, hot air could get you down.

You’d climbed up the stone steps until you reached the sidewalk and glanced behind you at the neon sign depicting the name of the tattoo shop you’d now be working at.

“Welcome to The Dungeon,” You mumbled to yourself with a smile.

You turned back to the sidewalk, staring down at the pathway you’d have to take before you thought better of it, sticking your fingers into your mouth to give a sharp whistle.

It caught the attention of a cab driver down the street, and you gave him your address when he’d pulled up and you’d hopped in, ready to prepare for tonight's plans. You deserved a little break, after all, you were one step closer to securing the future of your dreams.

Eddie sagged against the counter once you’d left the room, scowling down at the bulge that had reappeared in his pants when you’d hugged him.

Why his body was suddenly acting like he was a horny teenager again, he had no idea.

He wasn’t about to do anything about it, though. Not when you’d be hanging around the shop for the foreseeable future. Eddie didn’t get involved with his employees. He’d worked in a couple of shops where he’d witnessed that occur and it always ended in a mess. Not a good kind.

He busied himself with cleaning up, tossing away the supplies you’d used and storing your first piece of work. It’d be nice for you to look back at once your apprenticeship was over. When Eddie had nothing else to clean, he sighed and rubbed at his eyelids.

Platonic. Professional. God, if he couldn’t keep his dick in check, he’d be in a world of trouble. You’d be trouble.

“Need a hand?”

Eddie snapped around, relieved to see it was just Deidre. Explaining why he had a boner to anyone else wasn’t something he was keen on doing. In fact, he probably wouldn’t be telling her exactly why, either.

Taking her up on her offer, however, was something he would eagerly do.

“Are you offering yours?”

She laughed, setting her purse down on the counter where your bag had been just a few minutes ago, and walked right up to Eddie, her body pressed against his and grinding onto him as the older woman slid her arms around his shoulders.

“Mmm, not just my hand.”

All Eddie knew next was the taste of her red lipstick.

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hxrsheykisses · 1 month ago

Note

Hi Hershey!!! Firstly, I just wanted to say that your ao3 ETC fic is amazing!!! It’s in my tabs and I refresh it every few hours or so lolol

I was wondering if you could write abt how the boys from etc would deal with a hopeless romantic! reader? Like, the reader watches a ton of rom-coms, reads romance books, and laments abt how they can’t find a bf (when the boys are literally right in front of them)

Take all the time you need to write this!! <3 I hope you have a good day!! :D

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!♥️♥️♥️♥️ Awww I love this request! Thank you so much for requesting!!!💋

Where do I even begin?

The boys would be frustrated to say the least because you’re over here watching countless of rom-coms, reading romantic books, and are constantly talking about how you don’t have a boyfriend. You also spout on about how every person your age has a boyfriend while you don’t!

The issue is how you act blind. Cause there are CLEARLY four boys who’d love to fill that void in your heart and you’re taking a blind eye to it. let’s be for real, when was the last time any of these gross teens got close to a relationship without it falling and burning? If anything, they’d love to become your boyfriend!

If you open your fucking eyes, that is.

Bill is the one who’s going to be frustrated and pissed off because he has a superior complex and an ego that is up where heaven is. He’s going to be so butt hurt over it that it genuinely makes him want to pull his hair out. He’s tried everything in the book that is out of character for him; he opened doors for you, held out chairs for you, gave somewhat little care to your feelings, and just trying to be a LITTLE bit better. However, none of those efforts are working well much to his disdain.

Josh, he gets upset when his attempts at “wooing” you don’t go as planned. He rambles on about his interests and you looked and acted very interested in them. He would show off his many collections or any doubles he has to you in hopes that it’ll get you closer to him and soon be wrapped around his finger! He wasn’t pissed off like how Bill is—but he still was hurt! You two share some of the same interests so he thought that you’d be happy to know that if you two ever became a thing, you’d have a boyfriend who enjoys the same things as you! That’s always good right?

Pete is a little cornball so he’d know some of the ropes on how to win a person over or two! He would compliment you daily, makes some jokes to make you laugh, try to take you places, and he even stole some of his parents money to buy you something you like. Pete loves seeing you smile all big when he does these things and it gives him a big ego boost! But it still makes him confused and pretty frustrated when he still doesn’t have you where he needs you! Your still going on about you not having a boyfriend after he literally took you out to eat at Mcdonald’s!

Jerry is the sanest out of all of them. He doesnt want to overwhelm you with gifts, be overly sweet, or talk to much about himself in fear that he might drive you away. Jerry is hesitant but he still interacts with you, making sure not to go overboard. He thinks you’re pretty/handsome, smart, and you seem to be the person he actual sees himself having a chance with considering the circumstances. He can get kinda angsty here and there because he’s worried that maybe he’s not the one that you want and that’s why you haven’t made any moves yet…

And god help us all if they find out that they ALL have a thing for you! They will go fertile and lash out at each other, trying to one up the other, constantly arguing about who’s going to hang out with you, etc. You on the other hand are so oblivious to the chaotic mess as you let out a long dramatic sigh, saying how you’ll never find yourself with a boyfriend who loves you…💔

Bill thought about getting you glasses so that you can see that the love of your life is him and not the others

#the eltingville club #eltingville pete #eltingville bill #eltingville josh #eltingville jerry #welcome to eltingville #bill dickey #josh levy #jerry stokes #pete dinunzio #fluff #kissy 💋

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bunni-v1 · 1 year ago

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Hi! For the 500 follower special, can I get L,O,Q and X from the sfw alphabet, for deuce, Lilia and malleus? Thank you <3

🍓I'm powering through the sfw requests, then I'll get nsfw, and then full lists in the same order. I'm so glad so many people requested, I just hope I don't let anyone down with my responses :/

I DROP MALLEUS LORE SPOILERS IN MALLEUS' OPEN PROMPT!!! (NOTHING BIG, BUT ITS MALLEUS LORE)

Deuce

L - Little Ones (how are they around children?): Oh, Deuce LOVES kids. He just thinks they're so cute and sweet and -- ugh, he wishes he had siblings to spoil. Equally, though, he's very nervous around them when he first meets a kid. I mean, they're so little? How are the so tiny and helpless? He just wants to smother them with affection, but he can't cause they might die if he does that.

O - Open (when would they start revealing things about themselves?): Deuce is a pretty open book from the start. He doesn't really have a reason to hide, and if you're his partner, why would he want to hide anything? So, you probably know most things about him before you even start dating, and then he tells you the more embarrassing things later down the line as you get more serious about each other.

Q - Quizzes (how much would they remember about you?): Listen, he's not good with the little things like favorite colors or what your favorite song is. But if you tell him what your favorite flower is, your favorite restaurant? He never forgets it. It goes in the long-term Deuce memory bank, forever categorized as incredibly important, but he has no idea why until he needs the information.

X - Xtra: Deuce is, surprisingly, very good with hair. He used to have to help his mom style hers, so he knows a ton of really cool tricks for styling it. Female, male, non-binary -- doesn't matter, he knows how to style your hair and it's going to feel like a GODSEND to your scalp.

Lilia

L - Little Ones: Lilia's favorite hobby is being a father of three, so it's safe to assume he loves kids. Just everything about them is so darn cute -- their stubby little arms and disproportionate bodies. Oh! He can't get enough. If he could raise a hundred more kids, he absolutely would love to!

O - Open: Lilia, unlike Deuce, is not open at all! He puts on this bright and cheery face so he can hide from his dark and fucked up past. You are the light of his life, his guiding start in the night sky -- he doesn't want you to know how much of a monster he is. It's not until you are WELL SETTLED in your relationship that he tells you about his painful past, the things he's done, and how badly he wishes he could take it all back.

Q - Quizzes: Oh, Lilia knows everything. His memory just seems endless, and no matter if you told him something today or years ago, he would remember it clear as day. Every little detail from the very basics to the intricate ways you go about doing different things, he knows and adores all of them.

X - Xtra: Lilia is very good at gambling -- just hear me out. He's incredibly observant and reads people better than they do themselves. Not only that, he's smart. He can sit down at any gambling game, any kind, even if he's a beginner, and walk away with as much money as he wants. He is a casinos worst nightmare.

Malleus

L - Little Ones: Children make Malleus... nervous. They're very little, and they seem very unaware of things around them, yet they have the confidence and demand of a well-established ruler. It's discomforting. Still, he did help raise (technically) two younger boys, so he does harbor some affection for children, he just has to get used to them for him to really enjoy them.

O - Open: It's not to say that Malleus is NOT open, it's just that he doesn't think to share things about himself. So he seems closed off, but really he's just thinking about gargoyles. He does this... thing, though, where he just... lore drops on you. Out of nowhere, he just "My mother died before I was born, and the love that Lilia gave me was enough to cause me to hatch, therefore, he is the closest thing to a father figure I will ever have." Kay... cool Malleus.

Q - Quizzes: He is so bad at keeping track of time, he will not remember 90% of the things about you. He will, however, remember the most random things. Like he doesn't remember what year you were born, but he knows your favorite character and all their lore. It's because he only cares about the things you care about a lot. If you talk about something frequently, he's going to go out of his way to learn more about it because it matters to you <3

X - Xtra: Malleus has an EXTENSIVE collection of Magic The Gathering Cards (or the test equivalent). He doesn't play the game, he has no idea how it works, but he really likes the collecting part of the whole thing. The art on the cards is pretty, and that was enough to fuel a whole collection.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #x reader #bunni's treats 🧁#lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia #deuce spade #lilia vanrouge x reader #malleus draconia x reader #deuce spade x reader

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pluckyredhead · 9 months ago

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☕️ sliiightly late but would love to hear your thoughts on Tom King (I get the impression you’re not a fan? - ive only read one book of his (heroes in crisis) and a couple issues of mr miracle but I always see people talking about how great some of his books are)

Lol I am indeed not a fan. BUCKLE UP, FRIEND.

So two things about Tom King that give him such a good reputation outside of fandom circles: one, he is regularly paired with some of the best artists in the industry, which means his books look incredible. I mean, just astonishingly beautiful all around.

And two, he is very good at including certain signifiers that indicate "this is a prestige comic." It's hard for me to describe it - it's an "I know it when I see it" kind of thing - but there are certain ways of writing and laying out a comic that signal seriousness, intelligence, boundary-pushing. Art with a capital A.

The easiest example I can give is the nine-panel grid, which is exactly what it sounds like: a page of three panels by three panels, all the same size. This is associated with older comics (like, Golden and Silver Age) because it's so simple, but also it's very very associated with Watchmen. So now when people trot it out there's an element of "Look at me! I'm just like Alan Moore!"

Tom King looooves the nine panel grid. He uses it a ton in Mister Miracle (Kirby used it a lot so this kind of makes sense) and Heroes in Crisis, especially for the therapy sessions. And there's this thing in the industry where people see a nine panel grid and they're like "Oh! This comic must be Smart." But if you scratch a lot of Tom King's work, it has very little substance beyond a sort of complacent nihilism.

(Geoff Johns also used the nine panel grid to signify that he is An Intellectual Writer now with Three Jokers, which was fucking hilarious. Geoff Johns is the Michael Bay of comics and he was trying to be Wes Anderson. It was embarrassing for him.)

And actually, speaking of Tom King and Watchmen, Heroes in Crisis has a great example of how he's using shorthand instead of, like, building a real story. There's a moment where Clark tells Bruce and Diana that someone anonymously sent all the superheroes' therapy footage to Lois, and they're like "She can't publish it," and Clark's like "She's a journalist. She did it 35 seconds ago."

This is a reference to a very very famous line in Watchmen, when Ozymandias is talking about his plan and then reveals that "I did it 35 minutes ago." But Heroes in Crisis has nothing to do with Watchmen, and Lois's actions (publishing private medical information for no reason) have nothing to do with Ozymandias's (dropping a fake alien squid on New York to end the Cold War; also, sorry for the Watchmen spoilers). It also has zero consequences, either within Heroes in Crisis or in later comics.

That moment serves literally no purpose except for Tom King to tell the reader "I've read Watchmen." Which...is not really much to brag about? I'm pretty sure it's the bestselling graphic novel of all time. Lots of people have read it, dude. The line has no story or character purpose, it's just the equivalent of like...teenage boys quoting Rick and Morty or whatever at each other to signal that they're an in-group. Except pretentious. It's like if teenage boys quoted Proust at each other. (That would actually be amazing.)

And in fact - and this is my big beef with King - the line actually harms the story, because it's wildly out of character for Lois (and Clark, who fully supports her decision here). Why on earth would Lois publish the private medical information of dozens of people, many of whom are her husband's friends, or even her friends and in some cases family? It's not newsworthy, it's deeply unethical, and she doesn't know who her source is. It makes zero sense that she would publish it, and equally zero sense that Perry would allow her to - they're the Daily Planet, not fucking TMZ. But she does it...so that Clark can paraphrase Watchmen. Okay???

And that's the big problem with King. He has no knowledge or understanding of the vast majority of characters that he writes, nor does he care to learn. He is a fundamentally ignorant and lazy writer. Heroes in Crisis really exposes this, because it uses so many characters, and he gets so many of them wrong, and it's so clear that he like...Googled shit with no context.

Like, take Kyle Rayner. King has him praying in Spanish, and like...okay, sure, Kyle's dad is Mexican. Except Kyle didn't know that until he was well into his twenties! He literally had no idea that his father was Mexican or that he himself was Latino until he was an adult, and while he does canonically speak a second language in the comics, it's Irish. In both HiC and Omega Men, King writes Kyle as devoutly Catholic, when Kyle has never been shown to be religious in any other comic. King just went "Oh his dad's Mexican, he must be Catholic and fluent in Spanish." Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't have comics where Kyle engages with his Mexican heritage, but this is just a stereotype.

King also has this trick where he goes back to a character's debut issue and does a close reading of it to inform his writing, and everyone congratulates him on his deep cut...but he reads nothing else about the character. In Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the only Supergirl comic he references out of 63 years of canon is her first appearance, which is all of 8 pages long. Way to dig deep in that research, champ.

His book Danger Street was touted as celebrating the obscure characters of the DCU, but it was really just utilizing this trick to the max, because it was all about characters from a comic from the 70s called 1st Issue Special, which was dedicated to trying out new characters and concepts, so it was a whole bunch of debuts. I only skimmed part of Danger Street while researching something else, so I can't claim an in-depth reading, but one of those 1st Issue Special characters was the blue Starman, Mikaal Thomas. King uses that 1st Issue Special debut issue and literally none of Mikaal's other appearances to inform his writing. And you might say, well, okay, that's an obscure character so who cares? But Mikaal is a historically significant character who was half of DC's first on-page gay kiss in a mainstream comic, and you can't even tell from King's take on him that he's queer, because surprise surprise, his queerness wasn't in his 1976 debut but was a later development. And everything Mikaal does doesn't have to center his sexuality first and foremost, but it would have been nice if it seemed like King was even aware of it.

King also doesn't understand, like...really simple themes. I thought Mister Miracle was really good when I read the first issue...and then the story kept going, and I was like "Ohhhh he doesn't understand the point of the Fourth World at all." And the Fourth World is, like...the least subtle Kirby ever was, and Kirby was never subtle. Anyway Scott Free is a hero and Orion is also a hero, and if you don't understand that basic fact and how it is the central theme of the Fourth World - that given the chance, good will always be stronger than evil - you need to go back to remedial comics school.

AND FINALLY (lol sorry), all of his comics are just...miserable. They're about terrible people being terrible to each other. Which...is fine, I guess? But it's not why I personally come to superhero comics.

So yeah: I don't like King's work because he doesn't actually know what he's talking about, he doesn't do any substantive research, and he's so cavalier with the characters that he's been given temporary charge of that even DC has made almost all of his writing out-of-continuity after the fact. And the fact that the comics establishment treats him like he's some kind of genius makes me want to scream.

#comics

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sunthyme · 1 year ago

Text

Hehehe. Part two baby! Be prepared! (Pun absolutely intended) Also, to the people who are yelling the the tags, I love you guys! I read them all and I can't say thank you enough. It genuinely means a ton!🩷🩷🩷

Enough of me being sappy,

🌻Savanaclaw🌻

Disclaimer: Savanaclaw is like lowkey my favourite dorm, not in terms of redesigns but I love the characters. Huge Leona fan and Jack and Ruggie are my children so I will not stop talking about them. You have been warned.

First up, though y'all have seen him already,

♟️Leona Kingscholar♟️

(he/him) - Unlabelled but doesn't care about gender

I snuck in a lil treat of my work in progress housewarden card. The jumpscare it was to toggle my version with the og card underneath, y'all. Am I making my version of pretty much all his cards? Yes. Will they ever be finished? Who knows? Anyways, onto the headcanons...

- Physically, I feel like I changed a lot and not a lot at the same time. I gave him some more scars which I guarantee you are from really stupid accidents.

- Piercing on his ears just cause I felt they fit him and snakebites because (I'm so down bad for them) it gave the illusion of fangs even with his mouth closed. Gave him moles cause they're pretty.

- I textured his hair and gave him a shit ton more because if the og design won't AT LEAST give him fluffier hair, what's the point? Yana Toboso, if you don't give this man a high ponytail in the Clubwear Card, I will hunt you down. Also made his front, larger braids the colour of Cheka's (And presumably Farena's) hair because honestly? They didn't really look similar enough? Also threw in some smaller braid to 'tie' them in more (haha).

- Someone gave him like this cool inverted pupil due to a scene in the movie but I simplified it to basically heterochromia.

- This might be hardly noticeable but I give give him slightly more muscle? I felt it suited him more idk.

- Onto non-physical headcanons, he has 💕depression💕! This is kinda not up for debate given how much he exemplifies the symptoms. Hell, he made me realise that I may have depression cause I was like, "Damn, he's so relatable, not wanting to get out of bed, no motivation to do anything, struggling to care of himself. He just like me frfr- oh..."

- By the way, I see a lot of people talking about Ruggie's reaction to the fallout of Book 2 but I think that on Leona's side, he felt horrible and probably locked himself away for a WHILE. I think his mental state must have been terrible and I'm SO PISSED HIS FCKING PROBLEMS NEVER GOT BROUGHT AGAIN WTF! Well, I'm on Book 4 so maybe???

- Anyways, I saw someone posit he could also be autistic, more on the asymptomatic side which is actually growing on me a lot. Picky eater, doesn't like tighter clothes, not fond of loud noises, smaller things but I'm a fan.

- Really random but I like the idea that he's one of those people who kids love for literally no reason, he just doesn't like to be around them.

- Is actually extremely book smart, though that's kinda already canon but I mean this bitch was a nerd when he was younger. Knows way too much on various topics, especially about his homeland.

- He can purr. I know lion's can't but there are literal mer and fae. He's just a big kitty. My and Idia like 🤞 when it comes to thinking of Leona as just a big meow. I have a cat who doesn't like anyone but I'm her favourite, I could win him over.

I could talk about him for sooooo long tbh so I'll shut up now.

Anyways, now for my boy,

💸Ruggie Bucchi💸

(he/she) Bigender - Biromantic Asexual

God I love my bigender child.

- I made him black, though probably mixed and gave him vitiligo for both visual flavour and a mild(?) reference to like hyena spots?

- He originally was going to have her hair down but then I realised how many of them had their natural hair already so I gave him dreads? I'll have to render them out at some point.

- Gave her more scars too, since she grew up in a more rough environment. Made his eyes really big and cute 'cause I feel like she can get extras when she hits 'em with the puppy eyes.

- Probably got mad ADHD, has to constantly be fiddling with something or another. Wears spinny rings a lot. He's actually really good at paying attention in class and likes to learn.

- Steals from Leona, whether it's money or items or clothes he leaves out (which, while Leona would never admit, he purposefully leaves out for Ruggie).

- Oh and a post pointed out that hyenas can purr, so have fun with that.

That's mostly it for now, but expect this list to grow lmao.

Now for,

💪Jack Howl💪

(he/him) - Queer (he doesn't know lol, just knows he likes dudes at this point)

Not me struggling to find a weight emoji (I failed) 😭😭😭

- Ah, I made a reference in the Heartslabyul post about my concern about darker skinned characters with white hair and I was mainly talking about Jack. I also had to make Kiki, and I figured that wolves have pretty naturally salt-and-pepper hair, so why not. I actually love how it looks omg, it's very pretty and marbled.

- Gave him darker skin, since I headcanon him as black but I did see someone who designed him as indigenous so it might change in the future idk. Also it makes his eyes almost glow and I love that for him.

- He gets more scars too, though likely from sports rather than fights or anything.

- He's autistic. Apologies that so many of them are autistic to me, not only am I autistic but like, the way they're written speaks to me. His whole moral compass being the reason for Book 2 playing out like it did was an immediate 'yes' from me. He's my boy and my son and I will fistfight anyone that smack talks him (looking at those Savannaclaw NPCs in one of Deuce's vignettes).

- Oh, I forgot. He listens to K-Pop. I don't know if it?s canon that he has younger siblings, though I totally think he does, but one of them accidentally got him into K-Pop and J-Pop so whenever he's at the gym, that's what he's listening to lmao. Specifically girl groups, he likes them enough that he knows all their names. He insists it's out of respect, which it is but he's also lowkey a stan too lol.

- Generally has a weakness for cute things, even if he doesn't show it. Also a total plant nerd omg. He could instruct you on pretty much any houseplant on how much sunlight and water it needs, seasonal changes, etc.

Final note is that I'll make a separate post about him and Epel, cause I love them and have some headcanons there too.

Now for my ocs!

💎Kiki Adebayo💎

Third Year - (she/her) Transfem - Aromantic Demisexual Sapphic

- Twisted from Rafiki? I think that's his name, the baboon. I'm crying sobbing throwing up that you can't see her eyes in this.

- She got the white hair since the fur on a baboon is directly white and took inspiration from Dislyte's Isis design. Her eyes are a pale gold like her earrings and she has red to blue eye shadow.

- Natural resting bitch face but she's just tired most of the time. She'd probably be the actual vice housewarden as I think her family has been close to Leona's for a long time, though she earned her spot with her own skills.

- Additionally, I wouldn't call her and Leona 'childhood friends' but she's known him for a long time. She's like, concerned about him as he's changed so much but she also worries that it's not her place. As a result, she tries to make sure Ruggie's not taking on too much and handles most of the dormhead duties herself.

God, she's so pretty omg anyways

👟Mandisa Jelani👟

Second Year - (they/she) Demi-girl - Pansexual

- Mandisa is also based on the hyenas, though I don't know if her and Ruggie are from the same pack necessarily.

- I gave her scars, moles, and some piercings as well, I just felt like they'd suit her.

- I think she and Jack would be relatively similar in terms of personality, I see her being the gruffer upperclassmen. I think she'd be rather protective of the first years, knowing how harsh the older dorm members can be and she does her best to make everyone feel welcome.

Next up,

🤘Rocío Chávez🤘

Second Year - (she/her but doesn't really care) Transfem - Panromantic Asexual

You'll never guess who she's based on /j

- My girlie based on Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove! Yes, she is a big and buff bimbo? Himbo? I don't know but she's got a heart of gold and head empty.

- I wanted to keep her physique cause it always annoys me when people genderbend a character but don't keep them proportional to their og design. Mini tangent over, she so silly I love her.

- She and my Yzma character met as first years and have been inseparable since, though I'll talk more about that later.

- Not a massive ton of characterisation sine it's been a while since I've seen this movie too but I'm always open to suggestions.

Finally, my silly

🎸Abayomi Furaha🎸

First Year - (she/they/it) Nonbinary - Bisexual

- My final baby from Savanaclaw, also based on a hyena. Specifically the lil bug-eyed one, but I gave her a lazy eye instead. Not sure how well that comes across but I tried.

- She's got scars, was definitely bullied as a kid and I think that once the dorm members consider her a part of the pack, they'd be super overprotective as a result.

- That being said, she's more than capable of defending herself as she's good at various martial arts.

- She's into rock music and joined the music club as a result. Probably a drummer or guitarist as I think she's insecure about her voice.

- She and Mandisa are quite close and she convinced them to dye the edges of her hair red. Abayomi wanted touch up hers and managed to get Mandisa in on to lol.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for Octavinelle and thank you so much for reading!

#twisted wonderland #twisted oc #twsted oc #god save me i’m in twsted hell #savanaclaw #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #jack howl #digital art #art #fanart #sunthyme

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oddberryshortcake · 2 months ago

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Hi Oddberry! I saw that you saw my ask on Cozi's page and the confusion I had along with it 💀

Now that I think about it I actually do remember Cozi mentioning your Megara OC/yuy was yours and just forgot! 😭 My apologies 😅

Buuuuuuut…now that I know who the owner is, may I ask for some lore on your oc and what her relationship is like with the other NRC cast?

It’s no problem at all! Cozy and I have been collaborating together for years so there is a lot of overlap. She’s the designer of Katerina, but she helped some with characterization too, just as I pitch in sometimes with Tia and the boys!

I’m sorry I don’t have any fun visuals to accommodate this and it’s just words BUT hopefully it’ll be an interesting read.

It will be under read more so I don’t bother everyone, OKAY LETS GO!

Grim- Starts off as a sort of Meg with Pain + Panic type of dynamic where they make little digs at each other and argue in petty ways. Obviously they both genuinely care about each other and are protective in their own ways. That's her lil guy, and she is HIS hench-human who he must protect at all costs.

Ace + Deuce- Best friends #1 and #2, at first they both treat her like she can't do anything herself because she 1. doesn't have magic 2. is a girl (who is still taller than them but still.) Her intellect, though often coming off as sarcastic in her advice, and her fencing abilities prove that she isn't some helpless magicless girl make their friendship feel more equal. They're basically her little brothers now. They still walk on either side of her around school just so the other students don't get any funny ideas.

Riddle- She and Riddle have similar moms (I changed up her upbringing after reading Go The Distance by Jen Calonita) Kat's mom isn't as abusive as Riddle's, but incredibly overbearing and imposing because she wants her daughter to live a successful life. This is a theme with her and the other over blotters, but she empathizes with him and the two of them get along well. I think the moment between Yuka and Riddle in Book 2 manga where Riddle fixes Yuka's outfit for her feels very them too.

Cater and Trey- Basic cordial relationship, no complaints there besides annoyance at their previous complacency in Riddle's overbearing rules

Leona- She's a strong and respectable woman. He's already ready to help her out in a pinch. He's reliable and smart. They get along well.

Jack- Another bestie. I think the two would have a good time doing exercises together. She doesn't join him for a run every day but he's good motivation to not rot in her bed on weekends.

Ruggie- She loves his hustle. Eat the rich, lil dude.

Azul- What a slime ball. She takes everything he says with a grain of salt. HOWEVER, she has been bullied in the past (not as bad as he was, but was intentionally excluded and isolated from her peers) that vulnerability is hard to show, of course he does everything he can to cover it up. If she makes a deal with him, she's sure to read the fine print and always makes good on her word so she can get out. It'd be no good if she was in debt twice.

Floyd- Called her a catfish, offending her right off the bat. However, he's tons of fun to hang out with when he's in the right move. He demanded she teach him to fence as soon as he found out she could do it. Now he calls her 'catfish' with a lot more affection. The nickname isn't so bad now.

Jade- She can't tell what he's thinking unlike his twin and Jade's teasing doesn't always sit right with her, but he knows how to behave himself. But she is gonna be looking at im like 🤨 occasionally

Kalim- OH KALIM!!! Kalim, she wants to preserve your happiness. I feel like Kat would get along really well with the light trio as a homage to Meg working for the villain but falling in love with a genuinely kind well-meaning hero. Kat definitely blends in well with typical NRC students with a healthy amount of skepticism towards the intentions of others and being admittedly pretty cut-throat when upset. She sees how Kalim made mistakes, but knows his intentions weren't bad, and she still feels a bit guilty for snapping at him so badly at Book 4 out of frustration. She doesn't want Kalim to lose the optimism he has for the world, in fact, she wishes she had that kind of joy herself. They get along pretty well...Perhaps, TOO well.

Jamil- They're literally like two peas in a pod, like a girl version of him. I imagine Kat and Jamil rant about stuff together while braiding each other's hair and whispering sarcastic remarks to each other. She has empathy for him and wants him and Kalim to turn out okay, but she doesn't impose, it's not like she understands the full extent of what they're going through but she's there to lend a helping hand, or nod and go "exactlyyy" when Jamil vents to her.

Vil- He'd want to take her under his wing. She's pretty, has modeled in the past in her original world, is literally supermodel height and is full of potential. She views him as overbearing at first and then becomes appreciative of his strength and care for his dorm mates. Sure, he gets on her for not making the best decisions with what she does with her day, but it's not so bad to get free skin and hair care stuff.

Rook- She found him off-putting at first but then grew to appreciate the fact that he finds beauty in everything...She wishes she could view the world like that. Damn light trio, making her guarded heart melt like that. His earnestness is a trait she's come to respect and surprisingly, his appreciation for her almost goes up to the same levels as Neige and Vil 😳 h-hello?? Oh he's so sad he didn't get to see the work she did in her original world...

Epel- BESTIEEEE! They're so tall queen and short king. Kat is forever grateful of everything he did for her in Book 5, from letting her squeeze the life outta him from her fear of heights when they rode a broom together to literally saving her life with his spell. They totally had mini sleepovers when she stayed in Pomefiore during Ramshackle renovations.

Idia- Oh man, the Hades/Meg dynamic right here. Her phone died and she lost all of her old game consoles and manga collection when she came to Twisted Wonderland, he saw this as an opportunity to convert someone irl into his nerd interests. He uses it as blackmail to get her to do stuff for him like run errands and junk. It's really just a stupid excuse to become more isolated and to keep her around, Kat resents him as she feels she's being used. After Book 6, he drops the act and frees her from her 'debt,' now they just hang out and play games like normal friends. He comes up with cringey nicknames to call her and Muscle Red has assumed she was his girlfriend during a gaming session between the three of them. Idia is currently planning how he, Ortho and Kat can group cosplay now that he has the confidence to do it in public with his gamer-girl friend (I cringe as I write this)

Ortho- Basically #3 bestie next to Ace and Deuce. They relationship started tied to Idia, Kat assuming that Ortho was just some robot servant Idia made, which Ortho corrected her on. She felt personally responsible for Ortho going rogue during Book 6, with her being dismissive of his role as Idia's younger brother haunting her as she never got to properly apologize. As a homage to Meg ending up in Tartarus, I had Kat personally go in there to get Grim, Idia, and Ortho as they fell. She's the one who manages to grab Ortho's memory chip before Vil drags all of them out (Kat wasn't physically changed by Tartarus since she doesn't exactly belong in that world but uh, maybe you'll find out more lol). She believes that Ortho is dead for a while and feels immense guilt over it and definitely didn't cry in her Pomefiore bed at night when they got back (she did.) So when Ortho comes BACK and also BECOMES A STUDENT she had never been so proud and happy. If she catches ANYONE trying to bully Ortho, she will fight (not that he needs it, he has a laser) and appreciates Ortho's general helpfulness. She has played video games in his new dorm room many times.

Malleus- She thinks he's odd, but in a cool and mysterious way. The two of them enjoy talking and wandering around at night. She's invited him inside Ramshackle and when he agrees a few times, she shows him some modern human stuff and they bond over the fact that they're BOTH new to twisted wonderland tech (I imagine it's close to normal tech but different in a way that there would be a learning curve). She definitely thinks he can get carried away with his magic but doesn't treat him with fear. Her stance on him is pretty identical to that of Silver and Sebek's in Book 7, she needs to stop him but also wants to save him.

Sebek- A bestie that took a while to come around. The two get into arguments, with Kat usually taking Silver's side in most small conflicts, both cause she likes Silver and also likes to spite Sebek, but Sebek comes to respect her and her ability to fight for herself. Kat sees who Sebek really is and accepts him. The two still bicker, but it's ride or die by Book 7. If there's one thing they both always agree on, it's that Silver needs to stop hating himself.

Silver- These two...I have an affection for their dynamic because I believe Silver is the closest to a twst Hercules that we have so far. Sweet, a lil air-headed, strong with a kind heart. Kat would feel similarly toward him that Meg goes toward Herc, she wants to keep him safe and she can't detect any of the typical NRCness from him. He's just genuinely a good person and it makes her soft. The two of them both train together, mostly with batons for sword fighting. Kat finds him strange and enchanting and Silver views Kat as a strong person with a talent for swordsmanship. They are each other's rock for Book 7 and I sure hope nothing bad happens to them.

Lilia- He's so weird, but charming. She already figured that he's Muscle Red from context clues but she hasn't said a word to Idia about it because it's funnier that he still doesn't know. He gives her candy for talking to his 'precious boys' and generally spoils her. Kat's father wasn't in her life but Lilia...Y'know, maybe he's what having a dad feels like.

#oddberry asks #Katerina Vallis #This was really fun to type I hope this isn't a super boring read lol

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ryuichirou · 8 months ago

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What do you like about Book 5? I feel like reading one of your analysis

Anon! Thank you so much for this ask and for enjoying my analysis. I’ve been waiting for someone to ask about Book 5 lol It’s one of my favourites. Unfortunately, I also made you wait for ages, as I always do, but I hope this time helped me to collect my thoughts better lol

I really really love and resonate with the main themes of the Book 5: self-doubt, self-improvement, dedication to your crafts and knowing your strengths, but also enjoying what you do. I’ve said it tons of times, but I’ll repeat myself: I strongly believe that this is the beauty that Rook is talking about in his little rants, and this is why in that particular crucial moment Neige ended up being more “beautiful” in his eyes. Neige did what he wanted and enjoyed every moment of it, and Vil was so focused on the win that he couldn’t enjoy himself, thus losing the spark… well, you know how I feel about the whole Rook’s betrayal thing: I’ve talked about this in the past.

God I love a lot of aspects of this book, but I’ll mention as many as I can without this post getting obnoxiously long lol

I love Vil and Epel’s conflict a lot! I talked about them in this post, so I won’t dive too deep into it, but: it’s so amazing to see a piece of media where a boy teachers another boy that cuteness and beauty is a strength in its own, and he does it not in a campy way; in fact, he does it with brute force lol Vil isn’t gentle at all, on the contrary, he is very stubborn and tyrannical at times, but this is what makes the dynamic more interesting. I really love imagining how awkward it was for everyone to just stand there and watch these two yelling at each other and slamming the doors and physically fighting, and how at the end of the book they grew so closer and more understanding of each other.

Now let me yap about Deuce a lot! I really love that Deuce kind of ended up being one of the main stars of this book! It’s so satisfying watching him win and get rewarded for his hard work, and by hard work I mostly mean his self-reflection, self-discovery and willingness to grow. One of my favourite aspects of ADeuce dynamic is that Ace is that guy who is smart but doesn’t care so he gets a C and Deuce is that guy who tries his best and grinds as much as he can but still gets a C. Both of them get a C, but the situations are so different, and I am glad we got to see Deuce being so frustrated about it. It feels so unfair, and this is one of the things that caused him to be a delinquent in the past: if he can’t succeed even if he tries his best, why should he even bother?

But Deuce isn’t the same Deuce he used to be: he is mature enough not to give up and he wants to improve very badly. This is why instead of flipping everyone off and leaving he listens to Vil’s critique, he volunteers to get extra ballet lessons, and he only snaps when Ace pokes him at the worst possible moment. If we apply that Utena-ass chicks-in-the-egg analogy that Rook and Kalim brought up when talking to Deuce, this is a symbol of Deuce-the-chick already trying to break the egg.

BUT. At the same time, not every single thing would be fixed if you just “try harder”, and despite the fact that Vil expresses this in frustration, he is kind of right. Isn’t it a bit ironic that Vil has pretty much the same inner conflict as Deuce? He always tries his best, and yet he can’t reach the thing he wants so badly?

Anyways, this is where the real act of breaking the egg begins: you have to accept your own strengths even if you dislike them. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have a choice: Epel doesn’t HAVE TO be cute, Deuce doesn’t HAVE TO do his act-first-think-second thing, but being aware of what you are good at and how your brain, body and soul operates is important.

Deuce has always felt that he has to be someone different, and he is still struggling, but Book 5 gave him such a huge moment of growth that peaked in him unlocking his Unique Magic, I love it so much it’s insane….

I also love all the snippets of Kalim and Jamil that we got in this book, even though they didn’t play as big of a role as they could have. Still, Kalim got slapped in the face with the first ever objective evaluation in his life, and seeing him trying to comprehend his feelings was so good. I want to see more of this side of Kalim, I want to see more of him processing how others actually see him and that sometimes others will be picked instead of him, and that’s totally fine. And he gets it, but getting it and accepting it are two different things, and Kalim has a lot of maturing to do.

Even though he was quite mature when caring for the kohais, and especially during Vil’s overblot. The poor guy got so traumatised by Jamil’s overblot that he clocked that something was wrong with Vil, and I love it a lot.

(Also, Jamil is hot. No notes; just thought I’d mention that)

Speaking of overblots! God, Vil’s entire overblot section is *chef’s kiss*

I love how even in his design he still has this ominous but motherly (not in a caring way, more like a step-mother) nun/queen-like vibe. But what I love even more is how Vil’s overblot happened.

The fact that he almost killed a person? Yeah I know that we don’t know if he actually wanted to kill Neige or just poison/curse him, but let’s think for a moment: he was willing to cause harm that is pretty serious, and I don’t think we should downplay it because Vil himself doesn’t. The stakes of this overblot are pretty high… Even though technically Leona caused a lot of harm and seriously injured Ruggie, even though Jamil yeeted Kalim+the boys to possibly die also; I guess Vil’s act feels so impactful because of his reaction.

I really love how Vil got so extremely disappointed in himself and so afraid of others looking at him with disgust that THIS made him snap. I love how Kalim kept repeating that Vil didn’t harm anyone and shouldn’t feel this way because this didn’t matter anymore: even if Vil didn’t end up causing harm to Neige, he himself already learned how disgusting of a person he was.

Vil is very complex, Vil has high standards for himself, and this is simultaneously his blessing and his curse :” )

I really love his backstory, I really love how gently Rook called him back as he was awaking after the flashback sengment… I barely mentioned Rook in this post woah, but I feel like I talked about how much I loved their relationship in this book quite a lot! So I’ll just say it again: I think Rook’s support and Rook’s betrayal both are crucial to understanding the message of this book and Vil’s character as well. Also, they’re an amazing ship.

Another thing I love is how likeable Neige is lol It would’ve been so easy to do a “you know, Snow White is also a bitch!” thing, but Twst never does it with its characters: the “good guys” are genuinely good, likeable people, but this doesn’t make the villains’ perspective any less relatable or badly written. Neige isn’t pretentious or righteous about being good, he is just naturally sweet and wants to have fun and take care of people around him: you can’t hate this guy, well you can, but also you can’t. And Vil knows that his grudge is petty and one-sided.

But at the same time? THE FRUSTRATION YOU FEEL WHEN YOU WATCH NEIGE AND HIS LITTLE FRIENDS DANCE AND SING IS INSANE. I feel like I know this book so well but I still get mad every time I hear that song LOL THIS IS SUCH A TRUE TO LIFE SITUATION AAAAH-

Yelling aside, I really do think it’s pretty real for a lot of people, especially those who create something that other people evaluate (i.e. posting what you create on social media). Even if you know in your head that numbers don’t mean anything, even if you know how algorithms work, even if you keep in mind all the factors that go into the reasons behind the feedback one receives, you’ll still inevitably end up comparing your numbers to some other person and feeling like this is unfair. Everyone suffers from this thing, everyone ends up feeling like the numbers express their worth and how others see them. Everyone feels stupid when something they worked hard on doesn’t get as many numbers as a quick nostalgia-bait that isn’t even good but ultimately is more engaging to people for other reasons.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen this exact conflict shown in media in this particular way, so I really appreciate it.

So, to sum up, even though it may seem like Ch5 is way too long and focuses on a lot of things at once, I think all of these things tie into one thematic narrative very nicely. Despite the fact that Vil’s “sin” would probably be vanity, I how much he talks about physical appearance, diets and cosmetics, the majority of his inner turmoil boils down to him feeling like a misunderstood artist and caring too much about how others envision him. Epel, Deuce, Kalim – all of them struggle with how others evaluate them, in their own different ways.

This book also had a lot of tasty dialogue (a lot of shippy ones too) and a lot of very good conflicts that made characters understand a lot about each other and themselves.

Speaking of ships? Rook/Vil and Neige/Vil aside, we had such a fun Azul/Jamil moment at the beginning of the book, and also Kalim/Jamil, Ace/Deuce, also some food for those who enjoy ships that we don’t really like. It was fruitful.

Also this is the book where Idia got called a brocon, and this gives it the additional +100 beauté points.

#replies #about characters

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fandoms-in-law · 4 months ago

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Muddy Letters - The Beginning

Authors Note: I have 2 possible summaries for this fic and neither really work for posting it all in one story. Instead both the summary I want to use and the story is in 3 parts: The Re-Beginning, The Beginnging (you are here), The Conclusion

Contrary to normal expectations, I suggest reading the Re-beginning first.

Summary: It starts with a car theft an apology note. It ends with a fathers anger and another apology note.

/\/\

Dear kids in this house,

Dad says he had to steal the car but I’ve passed here before. You’ve got an angry dad too. I’m sorry if he takes it out on you or is angrier because my Dad did this. I hope you’re okay.

I’ll bury this in your garden hoping you find it. Dad’s don’t dig but kids do.

Sorry again, Eddie, that isn’t my real name in case your dad sees this.

To Eddie

Do you like that name cause I wanna keep calling you it?

He was angry but I could hide. They’ll be on a trip soon so I’m not worried.

I’m Steve, and you’re forgiven if you need me to say that. My nanny says that’s how I should respond to apologies but you’re apologising for something your dad did so I’m not sure. You’re forgiven anyway.

From Steve.

Hey Stevie

I like Eddie more than my real name, Please do.

This is fun, burying letters, much better than sending the,. It’s like we’re rebels planning to take down a corrupt kingdom in secret-

Eddie?

Were you hurt? You looked hurt or I think it was you I spotted from my window. Do you need help? I can try to do something. Just tell me what.

Steve

Stevie, don’t worry.

Dad got mad and interrupted me writing that note but never fear, I am fine.

I don’t like my Dad. We’re staying with Uncle Wayne now, or I am. Dad keeps disappearing. I think it’s cause he’s stealing things and Uncle Wayne says I’m smart for noticing that. My teachers and Dad never thing I’m smart.

You’re my friend, my digging friend, so I can tell you all that. And about this book Uncle Wayne has.

It’s called ‘The Hobbit’ and is about more people who dig! Just like us! But they have hobbit holes or smiles and dwarven mines. They’re so awesome. When we’re older we should dig a hobbit hole and live in it together. Eddie and Steve of the Hole in the Woods!

From Eddie

Eddie

That sounds fun! I can get blankets and pillows. Let’s just start digging now actually. A bit further into the woods than this so my Dad won’t notice. I’ll start looking for where there’s a glade or something we could manage it now.

We could make it our secret den if you want to meet?

I tried asking if I could read the Hobbit but Mom doesn’t think quests and battles should be read about and Dad called it ‘fantasy mumbo-jumbo unbecoming of our family.’ That means I’m sure it’s brilliant but don’t think I’ll get to read it for a while. Can you tell me more about it?

From Steve

Dear Eddie

You’re my friend. I was surprised but you’re my friend and you know who you are better than me. If you say you’re a boy called Eddie then that’s who you are.

Please come back, Steve

Stevie

I shouldn’t have run so quickly before. Thank you for being so sweet. See you here on the weekend?

Eddie

I know you were still sad when you left. Men can have long hair. I saw it on Dad’s last city business trip. We could grow our hair out together if you want, be two long haired boys. That’ll make growing it out of the buzz cut more fun, right?

Look at this book. It’s got tons of hairstyles we could try.

Steve

Dad’ll never let me do that. He’s so pissed I cut all my hair off I don’t think he’ll come back for a while. He even his Uncle Wayne when he called me Eddie. I don’t want him to take me away again, Steve.

You keep the book. I bet you’d look great with any of those haircuts.

Eddie

My dad found the letters so I have to stop. He – I – I’m saving the letters I can but I have to stop. I’m sorry.

We’ll get our Hole in the Woods one day, I swear.

Steve

Here are the ones you sent to me. Uncle Wayne would keep them but he clears my room out occasionally. Look after them. I’ll find you again.

Eddie

I wish I wasn’t a Harrington. I’m sorry, so sorry for everything Dad wants me to be. I – I don’t want to die but I can’t survive unless I become him. I’m sorry, please hear that, read this.

Steve

I guess you never checked for this. I hope I can give it to you one day. I’m Still Sorry.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #platonic steddie #trans eddie munson #epistolery #penpals steddie

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mermaidsirennikita · 1 year ago

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ARC REVIEW: Charlotte and The Seductive Spymaster by Grace Callaway

4.75/5. Releases 1/11/2024.

Vibes: Mr. and Mrs. Smith without the enemies part, twisty-turny marriage in trouble, ridiculously hot ~games~, and a balance of angst and fun

Lady Charlotte Fayne has put together the perfect team of operatives--her Angels--and has watched each one find love. Charlie, however, keeps her heart guarded--still stuck on the husband who betrayed her before dying twelve years ago. But just as a new, charming man begins to tempt her, Charlie's lost love comes back from the dead. And he's not at all the man she thought he was--he just might be better.

I love this series. Victorian Charlie's Angels with ridiculously hot sex is a perfect concept, and Charlie was always the kind of distant, rational mentor waiting in the wings as each of the Angels went on their adventures. Making her story a marriage in trouble take--with, like, a lot of twists--adds a sense of messy drama and humanity and yes, angst. But it remains a ton of fun, with the adventure, heat and sly humor I've come to expect from a Grace Callaway book. This one has my heart!

Quick Takes:

--One thing that stood out to me here was how different Charlie read, compared to a lot of Callaway heroines I've experienced before. She's older, more experienced, and has been through the wringer--and you can tell. I feel like a lot of writers would dial back the things that make Charlie, Charlie in order to put her at a girlish disadvantage, vulnerable to her hero. Not so here, thank God. She doesn't suddenly become an ingenue. Instead, she remains this smart, hypercompetent woman in her thirties... But with the added dimension of a weakness: this husband she thought she'd lost.

And that brings me to another reason why I loved Charlie. In so many ways, she is the smartest, most put together person in any room. But when it comes to Sebastian? Dude, she's spinning. Not in the sense that she makes a fool of herself. So often, she remains composed. In several scenes, she takes the lead with him, outplays him, throws him for a loop. But Sebastian knows a side of Charlie that nobody else does. He's occupied this hidden corner of her heart she's tucked away for over a decade, and she's done the same with him. This is a romance about two people who are absolutely on the same level--and are completely undone by each other.

--That said, I really, really adored Sebastian. He's playful, snarky, and extremely seductive... but underneath, there is a wealth of wounds and guilt. Which, I mean--catnip. He clearly loves Charlie, and he also so clearly believes he's not worthy of her (again, this is a hero type that is absolutely carved into my soul). There's an element of "I left to protect you", which is a bit more conventional; but really, his choices are much more rooted in this deep lack of self-worth, which he covers up with all the charm. My boy needs therapy.

But again, he's not a moper. He's remarkably effective--just as competent as Charlie. And he's rather hilariously possessive. Like, yes, he's been pretending to be dead for twelve years, but that doesn't mean a man is going to just SIT THERE while another guy KISSES! HIS! WIFE! If you're a "MY WIFE" reader, then you're going to love him. This dude was this close to braining a man he'd never met in his life with a rock because he was getting too close to Charlie. He's also exceptionally, obsessively devoted. (There was one choice Grace made regarding what Charlie and Sebastian had gotten up to during their time apart that I really appreciated, and it's a tough balance for romance readers.)

Honestly, it's kind of rare that I like both halves of a romance couple to the same degree. But Charlie and her man are just so passionately well-matched, and so passionate about each other, that you can't really resist them. They're MEANT to be together, and it's abundantly clear throughout the novel.

--Grace Callaway writes mystery plots in a way that I actually understand, which is kind of a feat, as I often focus so hard on the romance that my brain has little time for mystery. This was no different. I found the adventure fun and engaging, and there was so much to enjoy about like... Charlie infiltrating sex parties, and Charlie and Sebastian GETTING STUCK IN A CAVE TOGETHER. (Y'all know what happens in caves. A bit of a Ravished tribute, maybe? Though, uh... They didn't do all THAT shit in Ravished.)

And the thing is, Grace did an amazing job of balancing the sense of adventure and humor with the angst in this book. Because yes, there is a lot of angst, it's inherent to the plot. There's also a really interesting thread that I was kind of nervous about initially--but it's pulled off with thought and sensitivity here, and ultimately really appreciated it. However, the book never feels overwhelming or overly dark because there's so much fun and sparkle through the rest of it.

--In a lot of ways, this one is about falling in love with someone you thought you were in love with before... But were you, if you didn't really know them? At least on Charlie's side. And that's a big challenge in a book, but it's done so well. She has to really come to terms with what she knew about Sebastian before and what she knows now, and trust in the reality of his feelings for her.

Although--it's a lot easier to trust in those feelings when a guy is being as absolutely swoonworthy and adoring as this one. This is DEVOTED hero, and his desperation for her just wrenches itself off the page at every moment. You get the longing, you get the agony, you get the desire. I mean, it's a Grace Callaway book. You get the desire HARD. Speaking of...

The Sex:

Ugh, this book is hot. Super hot. Hot hot hot. It's one of those stories where they're arguing and snapping at each other one minute and making out the next, which is what I personally adore. And there's such an interplay of power dynamics? Charlie does a bit of light domming in one scene, but at the end of the day, girl is very dominant in her everyday life and very submissive in the bedroom. Fortunately, her hero is a man who deeply Gets That and... more than rises to the occasion.

You get it all here. There's some erotic eating (I really love a story in which cream is applied to male anatomy); there's really effective usage of a riding crop on our hero (please God authors write more books in which heroes get whipped and lashed and such); there's a GAME they both play in which they get rewards and punishments. And lest you feel too sorry about Charlie spending twelve years without him--she took care of herself. In fact, Sebastian gets to see exactly how she took care of herself. Another dear authors note: please include sex toys in more romances in general, but especially more historicals. Also, Sebastian's absolute DELIGHT in Charlie having them was great. He's such a great hero.

I had high expectations for this one, and it absolutely met them. It's always so pleasing to read a book that goes where it needs to go on every level. I find Grace to be a really consistent author, and I'm so excited about her next series... though... I mean.... I wouldn't be mad if someone from this one got a book, or at least a novella. Everyone deserves love, right?

Thanks so much to Grace Callaway for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#romance novel blogging #romance novels #arc reviews #book recs #book reviews

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clementine-side-blog · 8 months ago

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Timothy Klitz SFW Headcanons

Summary: My personal SFW headcanons for Timothy Klitz. I didn't really worry about keeping these headcanons based in the year the movie came out, so...modern AU? I guess? Idk.

(A/N: I imagined Klitz having graduated high school and being in college while writing these headcanons. So like he's around 20 and lives in his own apartment)

(Read Below For Headcanons)

Personality:

He's a fairly quiet person and he tends to be shy. It takes him a while to get comfortable with someone.

When you get to know him though, he's really funny and sweet.

His sense of humor is really good! He's always telling jokes and is good at making uncomfortable situations easier to handle with lighthearted jokes.

When he gets a crush on someone, he can barely handle being in the same room as them.

He's the type of guy to have dreams/daydreams about his crush and space out while staring at them.

Timothy is a very responsible person. His parents were always out of the house on work trips, so he learned to live on his own. This proved useful when he graduated and moved into an apartment of his own.

He's a very smart man. Klitz graduated highschool with a 4.0 GPA, all A's, and even did tons of community service. Now that he's in college, he's still the top of his classes.

He's a nerd asf.

He can be a little cocky when he gets in a relationship with someone. Once he realizes that they love him and that it's not an elaborate prank, he gets a confidence boost.

I feel like his IQ would be around 100-115? It would definitely be above average, but not insane.

Summary: He's sweet, shy, caring, confident (eventually), smart, and funny.

Hobbies:

He collects comic books/figurines. Basically imagine Sheldon's room from Big Bang Theory.

Occasionally he draws things. He's not the best at it, but he's improving. He likes using charcoal, but he HATES the texture.

I think he has OCD. It's not that intense, but it makes him want everything to be neat and tidy. He has a morning/night routine that he follows down to the last word.

It is very rare to find his apartment untidy/dirty. He cleans his whole apartment at the end of every week.

He plays video games a lot. His favorites are Resident Evil, Assassins Creed, COD, Fallout, and Diablo. But he occasionally plays Minecraft when he has a chill day.

He loves music. He listens to basically everything except country music. He loves metal/nu metal a lot though. Some random bands/singers he likes are: Weezer; ICP; blink-182; Green Day; Korn; Beach Boys; Kings Of Leon; Radiohead. (not all, but just a few)

Random:

He is a goody two shoes asf.

Loves going to concerts.

He can play acoustic/electric guitar.

Once he graduated high school, he got a haircut. It's still long, but he made the bangs less blunt and got layers in his hair. It looks like a less messy wolfcut, almost. If that makes any sense.

His favorite color is green, but he really loves mossy green.

He can get very protective of the person he is dating.

Loves to cook.

One of his favorite movies is Fight Club. He can rewatch it and never get tired of it.

#writers #fanfic writer #writers of tumblr #fanfic #paul dano #danonation #danonator #danocel #timothy klitz #klitz the girl next door #clementine side blog

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irresponsibleink · 1 month ago

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Onision's Book is an Abomination Against God

1/28/25

I have a burning desire to hold opinions on things that are none of my business. I also love unintentional comedy, I love stories that are so unaware of how bad they are, that they’re quite good. This blog post started as an experiment. The plan was to read the lowest-rated book in my library and then read the highest-rated book to see how they compare. The lowest-rated book in my library happens to be Stones to Abbigale by Onision, with an average of 1.87 stars on Goodreads, which is concerning. Goodreads tends to be very forgiving with reviews, if you can find anything below 3.50, you’re in for a wild ride. After reading this novel and compiling my notes, I realized that this novel is so grotesque, so insulting, that it deserves its own post entirely.

Onision is a disgraced YouTuber who has been accused of s*xual ass*ult. Among the countless videos about him on YouTube, there are plenty that discuss his lackluster books. Curiosity ebbing in my heart, I bought a used copy on eBay and waited eagerly for the novel to arrive. I was worried I’d be biased while reading the book, being aware of how other people feel about it and Onision’s past, but oh boy, I didn’t think about Onision once while reading it. The book completely immersed me. Not because it was good, but because it was so terrible I couldn’t focus on anything else.

This novel is 180 pages and normally I could knock that out in an evening, but I had to pause often to regain my composure and wait for the growing migraine to dull before diving back in. On BookTube it’s easy to find reviews of readers claiming to have found the worst book, but they’re all wrong. Stones to Abbigale is the worst novel. Ever. It contains immature, inauthentic, pretentious writing, filled to the brim with spelling errors, characters that make no sense, and senseless tragedies that are used to make the novel feel edgy and deep.

This post contains spoilers, (trust me, please don’t read this book) and trigger warnings for s*xual ass*ult, school sh*otings, m*scarriages, ab*se, self-h*rm, s*icide, and death, though I talk about none of these things in detail.

Stones to Abbigale follows James, a high school student who falls in love with his classmate, Abbi. There is no standard plot to the story; it’s less of a novel and more of a random series of events that happen to these two teens.

The other characters include Ms. Robertson, Jason, Davis, James’s Mom, Seth, and Barack Obama. There are more characters but they don’t matter.

Actually, none of the characters matter. In most novels, the author takes time for the reader to develop a connection to the characters, that way the reader will care about the story and continue to read it. In this novel, I was divorced from James and Abbi. There are scenes in this book where you should be worried about their safety and I felt nothing. There were even points where I was rooting for them to die, and these characters aren’t written to be unlikeable, they just are. Onision meant for the reader to sympathize with these characters.

We’re chronically told how smart, funny, and kind-hearted James is, but we’re never shown that. James’s inner dialogue reads like an alien’s memoir and his two personality traits are being ‘observant’ and being obsessed with Abbi. As James parades through the story, everyone is chronically kissing his ass, including the president of the United States.

Abbi doesn’t have a personality beyond having a cartoonishly tragic past and having the hots for James.

Ms. Robertson is the guidance counselor at the school and she does not behave like a human being. She’s framed as being a crazy religious Karen who has a personal beef with Abbi because Abbi was s*xually ass*ulted and when she didn’t want to keep the baby, Ms. Robertson lost her shit. Okay, that’s believable, there are tons of pro-life asshats out in the world, but Ms. Robertson loathes Abbi to the point it seems like she knows something about her that we don’t. This could've been an interesting subplot, but it was not handled well at all and came off as unbelievable. Ms. Robertson’s crimes against humanity include screaming at children in public, changing James’s class schedule so he can spend more time with Abbi, and framing innocent children for crimes they didn’t commit.

Davis is James’s ‘best friend.’ I use that term loosely because as soon as James starts dating Abbi he seemingly forgets about Davis. But Davis does not forget about him. Davis is in love with James. This is unconfirmed, but Davis goes on and on about how much he loves his buddy! Platonically, of course! At one point, Davis becomes withdrawn when James starts dating Abbi and even asks James if he ever thinks about anyone else in a romantic way. This would be an interesting subplot but it is never explored and it is never confirmed that Davis has romantic feelings for James, though it is quite obvious. Davis seems to love James a little too much… Davis’s crimes against humanity include talking like a mentally ill eight-year-old and having no interests outside of James.

James’s Mom is a cardboard cut-out who does whatever is convenient for James, which I’ll talk more about later.

Seth is Abbi’s boyfriend, who she eventually leaves to be with James. Seth is ab*sive and cartoonishly evil.

Jason switches back and forth from being a meathead bully who s*xually ass*ults classmates, to a brain-dead himbo.

Barack Obama makes a brief appearance to congratulate James on being a good person. He is never referred to as Barack Obama, just ‘the President,’ but since this book was published in 2015, this officially means that Obama made an appearance in this story. He visits James’s school shortly after a sh*oting took place there and took the individual time to speak with every class. When visiting James’s class, he knows exactly who James is, because James is the main character.

“James Patrick, the boy who nearly saved the day.” - Barack Obama

By the way, James did nothing during the sh*oting except roller skate through the school searching for Abbi. That was all he did.

The authenticity and realism of this novel were a big reason why I couldn’t empathize with these characters. This book is written how Onision believes teenagers think, but the entire novel feels unrealistic and inauthentic. Nobody talks in a normal way, nobody thinks normally. This book felt like it was written by an alien who doesn’t understand human nuances or emotions. At one point there is a school sh*oting and the only observation that James has about the incident is that his classmates are staticistly higher to experience depression or s*icide.

“[The survivors are] all now subjected to a heightened risk for depression and, statistically, even s*icide.” - James

The most egregious example of the characters behaving unrealistically is when James’s Mom invites Abbi to move in with them after her father is arrested and allows her teenage son and his girlfriend to sleep in the same bed and share the same room. Later on, James’s Mom gets remarried and moves in with her husband, leaving James and Abbi alone in the house to finish out the school year on their own with no adult supervision.

The entire novel is filled with sentences that are empty and devoid of meaning, sentences that are meant to be deep and hard-hitting. This book is like a novelization of all the r/im14andthisisdeep posts.

“Make up is just make up, skin is just skin, it is what it is.” - James

I can’t forgive this book for its sloppy, ham-fisted use of very serious issues. This book includes s*xual ass*ult, s*icide, self-h*rm, ab*se, a school sh*oting, and a m*scarriage, and absolutely none of those things added to the story. The school sh*oting is conducted by Seth shortly after Abbi breaks up with him, and it is an event that is used as a dramatic garnish right in the middle of the story and none of the main characters die or get hurt, so it doesn’t matter. The other terrible events are just a randomized list of occurrences that Abbi experienced in the past, horrible things that she often laments about so James can fix her. Words can’t describe how angry I was when it was revealed that Abbi was SA’d.

This book has nothing to say about any of these serious issues. It is ill-prepared for it, and it doesn’t even try. To lazily shoot out incidents that have nothing to do with the story so that the writer can feel deep and smart is something that I cannot take. How dare this writer use such a terrible thing as a random occurrence to make us feel bad for these unlikable childish characters. I’m not against any of these topics being written about, but when you, as a writer, introduce them into your novel, you have a responsibility to the people who suffered through these things to write about it seriously and realistically and not treat it as a joke. Onision should’ve just written “fuck SA survivors,” on his online forum and left it at that. Instead, we get this shit.

This entire novel reeks of arrogance. This novel has so many spelling errors. If I’m to believe what Amazon tells me, Onision’s partner, Kai, edited this novel, and boy, did they do a bad job. The writing style is borderline unreadable. There were so many spelling errors and the language was stilted. Just one pass through a spell check system is all it would take. Onision has fans who offered to edit it for free, and he refused. Why? Because he’s arrogant. He believes the novel doesn’t need a second or third draft, he believes it’s fine the way it is and if we can’t see that, then we just can’t appreciate true art!

James is a self-insert character for Onision. It is obvious through the way everyone treats James and his heavy plot armor, not to mention the fact that Onision’s real name is Gregory James Daniel. In the description of the book, Onision writes, “James is essentially a better version of myself. His home, his school & his life all resemble my own at his age. The people James analyzes and is surrounded by are not so unlike those I’ve known as well. I have experienced much of the loss James has however his happier moments are more often than not also mine. I want to share my story without it being purely non-fiction.”

I hope that droning, moronic sentence gives you a glimpse into what it was like to read this book. By the way, any spelling errors you see in the quotes are Onision’s and his alone.

If this is a fictionalized retelling of actual events, then what parts of this are real, then? If this novel was a way for Onision to tell his story without the confines of reality, then what percentage of this actually happened? Did Onision meet Obama? Are they still bros? Did Onision’s mother give him an apartment when he was a junior in high school? Did Onision survive a school sh*oting? From what I can find, Gregory James Daniel or James Jackson, has never survived a school sh*oting. What about this novel was real? What parts of this novel actually happened? None. None of this happened. Onision romanticized his childhood and added some random bullshit drama and violence to juice it up. The end.

On top of everything else, this book has the audacity to be pretentious. Some people can do pretention well, like Quentin Tarantino, or Christopher Nolan. Gregory James Daniel has not earned the right to be pretentious. If you’re going to be pretentious, at least give me a good story, but Onision can’t do that because he’s too arrogant to accept feedback or criticism.

The only saving grace of this story is that it can be funny sometimes. Not funny in the way it was intended, but funny nonetheless. Around 2/3 into the story, James, Abbi, and Davis are driving and witness a man jump off an overpass. Davis rushes out of the car, which is still moving, by the way, and attempts to help the man, who is clearly dead, and gets hit by a car and fucking dies. This all happens within two pages, and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. It was so unexpected, completely out of left field, and so fucking stupid.

So after this, we get a chapter of James blaming himself, even though he didn’t do anything, Davis’s mom praising James for being a good friend, and James pushing the pain away by smashing his girlfriend.

“[Abbi] was all I had left.” - James

Yeah, fuck your mom and your sister, I guess.

So, how does the story end? Someone blows up the school. That’s it. The school is blown up and the last line of the story is, “Well, I guess I won’t be running for [class] president.”

Whoa… what a story. I bought this book on eBay for five dollars, but if I had paid full price, it would’ve been ten. Ten dollars. That was how much I made per hour at my last job. That means that one hour of labor is equal to this torture nexus. God fucking damn it…

If you’re curious about the details of this book, watch one of the countless YouTube videos made about it instead of reading it. I recommend the one by @strange-aeons, which was how I found out about this goddamn monstrosity in the first place.

I gave this story 1 star on Goodreads and 0 stars on Storygraph because Storygraph is a superior app. When looking at other reviews on Goodreads and Storygraph, it seems all the positive reviews are either people trying to give Onision the benefit of the doubt or people who are being sarcastic.

Overall, this book is similar to The Perks of Being a Wallflower if it was co-written by a fourteen-year-old and a mentally ill incel and published on Temu.

Final grade: BAD

Rick Stepp ([email protected])

#onision #booklr #books #book review #stones to abbigale #bad books #review #long post #long form content #goodreads #storygraph #books and reading

4 notes · View notes

queenimmadolla · 2 years ago

Text

𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

(Tattoo Artist!Eddie Munson x Apprentice!Reader)

a/n: my fav little hater was upset about my post getting interactions again so they flagged it to be incorrectly labeled, meaning it's hidden from the majority of people so repost time! there is no mature content in this chapter, suck it. based on my initial post and elements of Breakfast at Tiffany's. next chapters will be significantly juicer, this was just something to get us going. this is dedicated to @munsonology, happy birthday and I hope this year was a good one! and a very gratitude filled thank you to my dear friend, @kitmon, for continuing to be an an amazing beta! hope you guys like it so far ♡ (attempting the keep reading feature, fingers crossed)

word count: 5k

And a large hole in their wallet.

“This is good! This is really good!”

You lifted your chin to peer at the drawing he was fascinated with. Ah.

You grinned, a feeling of giddiness beginning to bubble inside you.

Thanks to her, a suit and tie you no longer spoke to, who made more money than you’ll ever see, was walking around with a secret under his briefs: a pair of shiny cherries on his left ass cheek.

“No,” You lied with a shake of your head, “I haven’t.”

“That’ll change soon,” he laughed, closing your binder as he leaned further over the glass counter. Your gaze briefly flickered to the jewelry it housed.

“You got a number we can reach you at?”

You’d scrawled the number of your landline down on the back of one of their business cards before Argyle could rethink his decision to pass your work along.

“Hopefully, we’ll see you soon!” He called out as you retreated towards the door.

God, I hope so.

You’d learned. Eventually.

Forty-five minutes later, you entered your apartment, sagging back against the door as you dropped your back and kicked your shoes off, unconcerned as to where exactly they’d landed.

Sweat glistened over your skin, and unlike in that last tattoo shop, there was no cool air conditioning to cool you. You and Sid saved that for special occasions.

Instead, you opened the large window to the fire escape, obnoxious sounds of the city you called home filling the apartment.

You’d stolen it and had no regrets because you got to keep your memory and ended up getting food poisoning.

With a shrug, you entered the bathroom for a much needed scrub down and some disassociating. Your mess could wait.

─

Eddie was not in a great mood when he walked into the shop.

“Grumpy?” Argyle asked, amused with the clear annoyance on his face.

Once he’d solidified, he stalked past the front desk, threw his jacket onto the counter and picked up a stack of mail.

“Did I miss anything?” Eddie asked as he flipped through the envelopes, mostly junk.

He’d just finished tossing out the junk mail when he reached for his jacket to hang it up properly and discovered it had been concealing something.

“What’s this?” Eddie asked as he lifted the slim red binder. Looked relatively new.

“Huh?” Argyle glanced up from the sketch he was working on, recognition flashing across his face, “Oh, yeah! We got a prospective new hire, someone dropped off their portfolio.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and heaved out a heavy sigh as his jacket was tossed aside yet again.He had nothing against other tattoo artists, but the last one he’d hired that hadn’t come from his friend group ended up nearly destroying the group.

Henry had been charming, good at his job and charismatic. Turns out, he’d also been a master manipulator and had a particularly abhorrent temper. Tensions had been high, heads were butting and fights had occurred–with a permanent reminder in the wall near the front entrance where a large hole had been punched through the wall. Henry had to go.