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yeats-infection · 5 years ago

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@sqvalors tagged me in a lil writing meme... if you’d like to participate please do and tag me!

ao3 name: fluorescentgrey but i also post some things as drglass (dr. glass is the second song on the fluorescent grey EP by deerhunter, so if i make another pseud it will be likenew, then washoff, etc.)

fandoms: about two thirds of my fics are harry potter or star wars but there are a lot of random little goodies. currently i have shifted into the terror (2018) mode.

number of fics: 59 right now... i will throw a party when i get to 69...

fic i spent the most time on: this is funny because some of these technically took me like six months or more of working on them extremely intermittently... namely, bone machine. the series in the garden has taken me the most time generally... and in that, minuet did take me several months of working really hard while i had a schedule / commute that was not conducive to having a creative practice...

fic i spent the least amount of time on: hilariously, literally my most popular fic by ninety miles, the witcher PWP that i wrote out of spite in two or three hours.

longest fic: the source codes series... particularly heelstone which is 102k. i wrote these two stories in a single summer like a crazy person and i hate talking about them because i find them WAY too gooey. honestly, that’s why they are so long. it’s all the gooeyness!!!!!!

shortest fic: yes, the answer is the witcher porn again (this silly thing is going to be the answer for many other questions in this little meme but i’m just going to stop talking about it while i’m ahead). the west end is just about 50 words longer and is much better and is a much better and more interesting story.

most hits: we’re just going to pretend it’s sex and dying in high society, which has the second most hits. this is certainly due to the fact that @wolfstarwarehouse hypes this story a lot for which i am endlessly grateful!

most kudos: recovery position has the second most kudos so let’s go with that one! i have been very touched by the response to this story, though i do personally like the sequel beachcoma a little more... i understand why not everyone wants to read it because it is a little more bittersweet. but it also comes from my soul.

most comment threads: the two stories in the source codes series are leading here, because i only posted two chapters at a time so that i would get maximal validation, lol.

most bookmarks: in order to talk about a story i haven’t talked about yet, the rosary has the fourth-most. i think this fic is truly my r/s swan song... i said everything i wanted to say and did everything i wanted to do. it’s a really good mystery/noir story that i didn’t think i could pull off until i did! and i love the OCs in it who have sort of manifested these secret headcanons for me that i may expostulate upon someday. thank you to @piovascosimo for the inspiration to write it.

total word count: 1,000,478. lol!

favorite fic i wrote: cannot possibly choose but probably the top five in order of date posted are: desperado, a handful of dust, doom town, beachcoma, jump into the fire

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: i already said all of source codes because it’s way too gooey, i also could make hard time killing floor blues a lot tighter, and a memoir of the flesh deserves a way better ending because i was rushing to make the yuletide deadline...

share a bit of a WIP: i was trying for a while to write a band of brothers AU where they are vietnam vets who start growing cannabis... based on the steve earle song “copperhead road.” this could have been SO good but the plot was too huge and unwieldy so i gave up. my roommate is obsessed with this idea and keeps asking me how it’s going so i may yet finish. but there’s a bit below the cut.

The knock at the door in the night was a sharp shock, bright as lightning, that sent them both back to Khe Sanh and before. Nix ducked. Dick went behind the doorframe. They kept low into the kitchen, where Nix took his old officer’s pistol out from where he kept it hidden behind the fridge. Then they went to the door, keeping to the edges of the hallways.

On the porch was Liebgott. He could have made his own way in likely right onto the couch without either of them noticing, so it was something that he had knocked on the goddamn door. It was particularly something given that none of the boys from Easy should have known about the grow operation, or even about Dick’s farm, being as Dick’s address on file at the V.A. was a post office box in town and Nix’s was still in Jersey. These considerations were nil to somebody who had spent the better part of five years in the bush of Vietnam. He took a last draw from his cigarette and put it out against the rubber sole of his boot, then he put the butt in his pocket. As far as Nix knew, he hadn’t said a word since January 1970.

“Joe,” said Dick diplomatically. He put his hand out and Liebgott took it. Then he took Nix’s. He had handsome dark eyes, but they were full of a wall. You could tell he saw you, but it was like nothing followed the necessary channels to the brain to spur emotional response. It had been like this even while he was still talking, and after a while you got used to it.

“You comin' in,” said Nix, knowing he probably would even if he wasn’t invited.

Inside, they all three sat at the kitchen table in silence nobody was about to break. Finally Dick got up and went to the drawer where they kept the rollies and their share of the product. He passed a sheaf of papers and a film canister full of bud to Liebgott across the table. Nix understood as well as Dick apparently did that there would be no getting anything over on this kid, who had eyes in the back and sides of his head. He’d probably had a nice tour of the property before coming inside. “You hungry, son,” Dick said.

Liebgott shook his head. He extracted one of the buds from the canister and inspected it. They did look mighty good if Nix said so himself. They looked artful in Liebgott’s hand. There were black scabs across his knuckles and a dark rime of filth under those fingernails which still existed. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw to take a paper out of the sheaf and start shredding the flower into it.

“Captain Nixon calls it Easy Diesel,” said Dick, like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.

Liebgott looked up and a smile flashed across his face like the savage golden light of a flare falling over the far hills. His smile was sort of brutal, like the edge of a knife in a barfight, or like a seething animal. Luckily it went away as quickly as it had come. He rolled the joint with a quick grace and lit the business end with his old silver Zippo Nixon hadn’t seen since the war. There was a skull engraved on one side and on the other it read IF YOU ARE RECOVERING MY BODY, FUCK YOU.

“I don’t know how you found us, Joe,” Dick said thoughtfully. “You don’t have to… tell us. But we ain’t exactly keen to have just anybody here.” He paused and looked quickly to Nix, who tried to make it abundantly clear by means of eyebrows that he wasn’t sure they ought to go down this road, wherever it was leading. Dick ignored him. Liebgott was watching them, fully understanding their attempted clandestine exchange. “We ain’t exactly keen to have the DEA here,” Dick said at last.

The cherry at the end of the joint atomized with a crackling hiss. Liebgott looked between Dick and Nix with extreme seriousness sullied only by his exhaling a dignified white cloud out his nose. Then he nodded, once, curtly, demonstrating he understood his orders as they had been relayed.

Nix flashed Dick what he thought was a what have you done type look. But Dick looked totally unbothered. He should have gone into this business years ago for how violently unflappable he was. He said to Liebgott, “I’ll get some blankets and you can make up the couch.”

Liebgott shook his head to say no need. He got up, careful not to scrape the chair against the floor, shook each of their hands again, and in less than a minute’s time he was back out the door with nothing more than what he’d come in with except the joint.

Nix and Dick, on the porch, listening to the crickets, watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Are we hallucinating,” said Nix eventually.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dick replied. “We’ve got to ship all that product or we’ll starve.”

In the morning Nix was in the field, inspecting the plants. Liebgott was standing there at his quarter for god knew how long before he cleared his throat and Nix jumped about six feet in the air. There was a smirk shifting across Liebgott’s face that he would have been better about hiding when Nix had been his commanding officer. He looked like he hadn't slept. Back over there he had looked like that a lot, but it had been different, because of all the uppers they were taking. He cocked his head back over toward the long driveway and then he was off across the dew-wet grass which had already soaked through the hems of his canvas pants and his destroyed shoes.

Nix followed, like a duckling behind a hen. Liebgott still walked as though there were eyes in all sides of his head quickly processing information as he moved. Nix doubted you ever lost that kind of skill, even if in the real world it made you look like a mental patient. He caught up so they could walk side by side through the dew-wet grass. “What did you think,” he asked Liebgott.

Liebgott passed Nix the universal sign of furrowed brow that meant please clarify.

Nix gestured with pinched fingers to his own mouth as though Liebgott were also deaf. “The grass.”

He shaped his hand into an a-ok sign.

“You get any sleep?”

He nodded an infinitesimal nod, like the answer was a secret just for Nix to know.

“Well if you think it could be better just tell me how.”

Nix had had a high school friend whose sister was deaf from scarlet fever and whom he had watched on occasion communicate with her by means of sign language. Early on, back over there, he had sent off to command for a book, but by the time it came he understood it wasn’t that Liebgott couldn’t speak, he just didn’t want to. It was something like how people’s hair supposedly turned white if they witnessed some evil thing, or how people became ascetics in the name of god. If you were really fucked up on drugs or fear or otherwise, or if the natural magical thinking from childhood hadn’t been fully beaten out of you, you might have seen it as the sacrifice he had given to the forest for letting him out without a scratch so many goddamn times. It had been a bit of a trial to explain this to Spiers, who was practical almost to a fault, sometimes.

Liebgott showed another a-ok sign. Then he did a thumbs up which Nix knew meant it was good.

All in all it was smart. If he was still talking, Nix might have asked him, what have you been up to? You been sleeping on the street? You been to the V.A.? What did they tell you? And the answer would’ve been nothing good. Instead they just walked in the cool grass together in the sunshine and the morning was beautiful, and the air was sweet. It was all lovely until Liebgott had to physically stop him, laughing, somehow silently but also hysterically, from stepping right onto the razor-thin tripwire stretched invisibly across the dark gravel.

In the kitchen, Dick was doing the numbers. He took his glasses off when Nix came in and put the coffee on. “He learned a thing or two from Charlie,” Nix said, leaning against the counters.

“Who, Joe?”

“Our driveway is thoroughly ratfucked.”

“Hmm,” said Dick. He put the glasses back on and turned back to the accounting book. He was going to do this whole thing as above board as was humanly possible. The vivid daylight came through the window and struck the lens of his unstylish Ray-Bans and threw a kind of prism of color upon the white paper and the chicken-scratch sums. Nix felt like maybe this was something you would paint if you had the necessary implements and artistic ability. “Maybe we should see if we can get any more help.”

He was mildly ashamed to say it, but the doc had always kind of creeped Nix out. He imagined a hypothetical conversation with Dick, who he knew loved the kid, almost like a son: Listen, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid, I owe him my life, yadda yadda. But either he’s dropped the brown acid one too many times or the voodoo exorcism went FUBAR.

The doc had arrived on the farm on the heels of Sunshine and Rainbows, aka Mr. Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed, aka one Edward “Babe” Heffron. Nix had written Babe in South Philly, being as he was a connoisseur of bud and once upon a time had been famed among their company for smoking anything anyone put in his hand, often to his own detriment. The operation was getting big enough that Nix needed another pair of hands, other than Liebgott, of course, who was still fortifying the long driveway whilst giving away his cover by playing Led Zeppelin IV as loudly as was possible. It was a tough calculation, because Babe was a genius of pot, but he couldn’t keep a damn secret, and lo and behold he had dragged along with him a dark shadow in the human form of Eugene Roe. They came up the driveway in a big old Ford pickup that rattled its rust off in the potholes. Liebgott had dismantled the traps specially for their arrival when they had called from Williamsport to say they were an hour out.

“I figured we could use a medical professional to lend some credibility to the operation,” said Babe thoughtfully, sparking a joint on the porch over sweating jam jars of iced tea.

Roe snorted or something but it wasn’t really a normal person’s self-effacing laugh. Winters clapped his back. Nixon knew Roe had dropped out of medical school after two years but there was no need to say anything. Everyone knew that. Now he was working construction and Babe claimed to be working as a mechanic in a garage, but this seemed suspect given the state of the car they had driven up in.

“Well we sure as hell are glad you boys are here,” said Dick magnanimously.

Babe exhaled an opaque cloud that rivaled Nix’s own father’s ability with a stogie. “Can we see the bush?”

They went out all together to the field and ducked between the rows of corn. Babe knelt in the soil. It was damp with dew and quiet in here. It would have been almost like over there except it smelled good. “What’s the cross,” Babe said, inspecting the plants.

“It’s an indica blend…”

“Well, I can tell that,” he said.

“So you’re an expert on the plant now too?”

“I’ve just smoked an awful lot of joints in my life, Captain Nixon.”

Roe snorted again. When they all looked to him he said, “You said in the letter there was some kind of altruistic reason for all this.”

“It’s medicine, Gene,” Babe said gently, but also like they had had this conversation thirty thousand times. Nix filed away for later the intimation that Roe had read the letter he’d sent Babe at home in South Philadelphia.

“I guess you don’t remember the psychic break you had at the Do Lung Bridge.”

Babe waved this remark off, even though Nix remembered it too. It threw a chill down his back, like a water balloon had hit him at the base of his neck. “That was laced,” Babe said.

“With what!”

“I don’t know! Something bad!” Babe turned to Dick and Nix. “Gene’s teetotal,” he said, like this was a big old point of contention.

So that counted out the bad acid. Maybe he was just like this. Maybe he had had those big sad bug eyes as a child or an infant or a fetus in the womb. “Good on you, Doc,” Nix said.

“I ain’t trying it,” Roe said, folding his arms over his narrow chest, “no matter what it does.”

The doc was a tough cookie. Babe had claimed, over there, about as high as the Byrds song, that the doc came from a long line of the kind of folks described in Dr. John’s “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” and that, as such, he could heal wounds with his mind. When it didn’t work, as on the night when Jackson died, or the night when Hoobler died, or in the forest when Muck and Penkala died, or the night when Liebgott stopped speaking, he went to sit for a while on the edge of camp until Dick went over and made him eat something. Nix watched them in a state of confused envy, and then he went to write the letters to the families, so that Dick wouldn’t have to.

At dusk, after they ate a light dinner of corn on the cob and rice and beans, he took the boys up into the hayloft with an armful of blankets. “Sorry this is the best we got,” he said. He had said that about a hundred god damn times since they got here.

Roe looked like he wanted to say, you’ve got to stop apologizing for everything. Instead he said, “Where does Lieb sleep.”

Babe perked up. “Joe’s here?”

“You didn’t see him in the driveway?”

Nix sighed. “He’s gonna want to know what he did wrong that you saw him,” he said.

“Does he still — ”

Nix shook his head. “Not a peep.”

In a couple days time, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he was hot and tired and stoned, up to his elbows in earth in the field, showing Babe how to replant the hatchlings he’d grown from seed. “You guys room together or what?”

“Me and Gene?” Babe’s eyes were red in the corners from smoking and from the sun. “What about you and Dick?”

Dick, who had the radio on inside turned up as loud as it would go, so that they would hear it in the field, playing Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “What about me and Dick?” said Nix.

Babe was a smart kid. He realized this was going nowhere. With muddy hands he popped one of the seedlings out of its little pot and cradled it into the ground. “Well, I think he thinks he’s looking after me, but in actuality, I am looking after him.”

#my fic #asks

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lunatens · 5 years ago

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campus antics (ii)

read part I here!

words: 1891

genre: fluff (wow what a surprise)

pairing: han jisung x gender neutral reader

summary: college!au where jisung’s the cute, popular kid you’ve got an intense hallway crush on, but you can’t seem to avoid embarrassing yourself every time you talk to him

a/n: the long awaited part 2!!! it’s finally done!! sorry for making y’all wait, I was having a lot of trouble with this agh but I hope it’s a good sequel to the first part <3

song rec: i wanna write you a song - one direction

“y/n please stop that, you’re rattling my glass,” minho says, glancing across your tiny dorm room table at you. you realize you’ve been anxiously bouncing your leg, causing the table to tremble. you stop, sending minho an apologetic look. he’s slouched in one of the chairs, lazily browsing through his phone in one hand and groping for his drink with the other. you, on the other hand, are a ball of tension, your nonstop fidgeting and constant glancing at the clock a clear display of nerves in anticipation of your date with jisung.

“hey, you’ve still got half an hour before you’re gonna meet him. at least try to relax a little, you’re stressing me out,” minho says, putting down his phone. “besides, you look great anyways.”

“i dunno minho, i feel like i should change...”

“NO! no changing! you’ve already switched your outfit like 20 times, this one is fine,” minho protests. you know he’s here to support you but he’s clearly becoming fed up with all your anxious waiting.

eventually, the time comes for you to leave. you lock the door to your dorm and you and minho part ways. minho promises to keep his phone nearby in case you need anything, but you know he’s hanging out with seungmin tonight so he probably won’t see it for a while.

you walk across campus, the summer air beginning to cool as the first leaves start turning colours. you’ve always loved this time of year, and you find yourself walking towards the library whilst staring up at the trees that line the campus pathway, taking in the transitions of green to yellow to orange to red. your foot catches on the sidewalk and you stumble, limbs flailing as you fall to the sidewalk. you managed to brace your fall with your hands, but you pout as you examine your scraped up palms.

“y/n, are you okay??” a voice calls from behind you, and you groan as you recognize the voice—of course jisung had to see you make a fool of yourself yet again.

“yeah, i’m fine,” you say as you sit up. jisung pulls you upright, and you wince at the stinging sensation in your palms. you’re standing right in front of jisung now, and he gently takes your hands in his to examine them.

“ouch, that looks kinda painful. here, we’re really close to the music studio—there’s a bathroom in there we can use to clean you up,” he says, looking at you with a smile. “your hair’s all messed up,” he says, and as his hand moves to your head you’re expecting him to fix it; you let out a shriek of laughter when he just messes up your hair even more.

“hey!!” you yell, trying to escape from jisung. he holds up his hands in innocence, a goofy smile on his face.

“okay, i promise i’m done. let’s go inside,” he says, and you squint at him suspiciously. you reach out and ruffle his hair in return; jisung tries to duck out of the way but fails.

“there! now we’re even,” you say triumphantly. you beam at jisung and he rolls his eyes, then loops his arm through yours and leads you inside.

“sit here,” jisung says, tapping the counter in the bathroom. he turns on the tap as you hop up, swinging your legs while you watch him forage in a cupboard for a band aid.

“jisung i’m not even bleeding,” you say as he pulls out a box.

“i don’t know first aid! i just know band aids are supposed to make everything better. i’m trying to be cute and stuff here y/n, just bear with me,” jisung says. you laugh at him, elated to finally be getting to know the boy you’ve liked for so long.

“okay we should probably rinse your scrapes, here,” he says as he guides your hands under the running water. you bite your lip to stop yourself from laughing at how focused and serious he looks, trying to be as gentle as possible with you. once he’s satisfied, he turns off the tap and hands you some paper towel.

“i’d rather air dry them,” you say with a cheeky smile, waving your hands in the air and flicking water at jisung.

“aghh!!” jisung yells in surprise. “i’ll get you back for that,” he says, turning on the tap to wet his own hands before splashing you. laughing, you raise your hands up in defence. as you lean back away from jisung, your head collides with the mirror behind you with a dull thud.

“ouch,” you say, rubbing the back of your head.

“oh my god, y/n, what am i going to do with you?” jisung says, concerned but still affectionate. “now sit still so i can put this band aid on you,” he says, and you hold out your hands towards him. he carefully peels the paper off, then gently sticks the bandaid over your scrapes.

“there, all better,” he says, clearly proud of himself.

“you’re forgetting the most important step,” you tease, holding your hands out expectantly. jisung’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“but i’m pretty sure i did everything i can...oh!!” he says, grinning at the realization. “does this make it better?” he says, planting tiny kisses on your hands. you giggle at his lips on your skin, glad he picked up what you were hinting at.

“much better,” you say, hopping down from the counter.

“wanna go get coffee now?” jisung suggests, reaching out to hold your hand.

“um, actually...can you show me around the studio?” you question shyly; you’re always amazed by jisung and when he showed you his song yesterday you wanted to know more about what he does. “i’m really curious. you don’t have to if you dont want to! I just th-”

“you really want to see?” jisung asks, eyes wide with excitement and a small smile creeps onto his face. you nod, and jisung eagerly leads you to the studio. “it’s the weekend, so none of my classmates should be here,” he adds as he punches in the passcode. the lock beeps and jisung opens the door and flicks on the lights. there’s a few computers, desks, and a projector in the main room, and the recording booth is another room off to the side. jisung eagerly explains what everything is, babbling away and gushing about all things music. it becomes clear to you just how passionate jisung is, but what becomes even clearer is how much it means to him that you seem to care that much about his interests. you watch him in awe as he points things out to you and explains everything.

“sorry, I get kind of carried away when I talk about music,” jisung says as sets two beanbag chairs right beside each other in front of the projector screen. you had decided to stay in, order take out to the studio, and just chill and watch a movie instead of going to the coffee shop. you each settle into a chair, and jisung drapes a blanket over the two of you.

“that’s okay, I like listening to you talk,” you say, turning your head to look at jisung. his gaze sets upon you, and his eyes are full of fondness as he contemplates what to say.

“you know, you’re actually really awesome y/n,” jisung says finally. the movie plays in the background, but neither of you are paying attention to it.

“you really think so, even thought I've embarrassed myself probably way too many times in front of you?” you question, raising an eyebrow at him.

“it just makes you even cuter than you already are,” he says with a soft laugh and a wink.

“you think i’m cute?”

“well duh, I mean I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” he says matter-of-factly, taking a sip of his drink.

“oh,” is all you can manage to say, all of a sudden too flustered for words.

“hey jisung, why do you work outside so much when you have this studio here?” you ask after a moment of silence.

“well it started out because it was nice to get some fresh air once in a while, and the picnic tables by the med labs are pretty nice...but then one day I caught this cute person staring at me and I couldn’t help but wonder if they walked by there often so working outside once or twice a week turned into pretty much every day and It turned out that person did, in fact, walk by there often. and then I had the luck of running into them in the hallway--which was a great way to find out your name by the way, thanks for that--and then I figured a good way to talk to them was to show them some of my music and then they spilled their coffee on me and they were so adorable and flustered and I, very bravely I might add, asked them out and then ran away before they could say no and, well, here we are,” jisung rants to you, searching your face for a response to his confession.

“jisung, I-” you begin to reply, not really sure what to say because there’s just too many positive emotions rushing about inside you right now, but he cuts you off.

“oh! I...wrote a song for you, if you wanna listen,” jisung says, pulling out his phone and handing you one of his earbuds. it’s dark in the studio, but you swear you can see a blush. you eagerly accept it, placing the tiny plastic device into your ear.

the song’s soft yet cheerful melody fills your ear, and the more you listen to jisung’s lyrics about you the more you find yourself tempted to lean in closer to him, and the next thing you know, you’ve leaned over and your noses are just barely touching as you hesitate to move any further. jisung seems to sense your hesitation, picking up on your shyness, and he smiles as he tucks your hair behind you ear.

“it’s okay, y/n, you can kiss me,” he says, and he barely makes it through his words before you’re leaning in and your lips are pressed to his in a soft, warm kiss. it’s as if you can feel jisung’s affection for you just by the way he kisses you, and before you know it the song is over. you pull away slightly, still remaining in close proximity to jisung’s face.

“can you play it again?” you ask, voice barely a whisper. jisung smiles and plants a tiny kiss on the tip of your nose before pulling out his phone to restart the song. he pulls you in towards him and you cozy up into his chest, the weight of his head resting on yours a comforting feeling.

this night would become the first of many spent staying late in the studio and listening to music together; sometimes having endless conversations that drag into the early hours of the mornings, sometimes saying nothing at all and simply letting the music take over as you enjoy each other’s presence, and you can't help but think to yourself if there ever were such thing as soulmates, you’ve found yours and you’re never letting go.

requested by (several) anons <3

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snarky-badger · 6 years ago

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Sequel to that Murphy's law reader? like She super paranoid going out and because of that the reader like really observant; the point where she can use her unluckiness to her advantage in a dangerous situation, like being chased by some thugs and they have a horrible time! an oil drum burst causing them to slip around, getting run over by a piano, and attacked by birds. before finally catching the reader in a dead end only for Venom jump in after enjoying "the show".

Prompt #2 - I feel like i’m not alone to fell in love with your “serie of unfortunate Events” did you follow the story with the reader meeting eddie or just keep writing it? Because i really love it i never see something that accurate with my life! It’s amazing!

Part 3 of what people have dubbed 'Murphy's Law Reader'. Part 1, Part 2

It took weeks after Venom's 'visit' for the building across from yours to fix the damage from both his little rampage and his written message clawed into the brick. The gun runner that had been Venom's prey had been found headless, amidst a pile of guns, ammunition and drugs. Bullet holes had marred the apartment's walls, signs of a struggle that had been rather one-sided.

It really should have bothered you, you knew it should have bothered you - Venom calmly eating brownies in your apartment before going to decapitate a bad guy. But it didn't. Not really.

Which was why you didn't bat an eye at baking more triple chocolate brownies the next day. Once cooled, you'd put them into a large Tupperware, then duct taped the entire thing to the side of the building just outside your window.

You didn't see Venom again, though three times you checked and found the Tupperware empty, and three times you refilled it with more brownies.Things went back to as normal as they could with you. You went to work - where computers would randomly refuse to function around you, printers would start printing gibberish if you walked past, and the IT department low-key thought you were some sort of computer virus come to life.

Then came the week of hell.

Monday, after your computer monitor had mysteriously started to emit a foul-smelling smoke, you'd been forced to walk home after the bus had broken down a block before needing to pick you up, and almost twisted an ankle after a cat had just bolted out of an alley and dashed across your path.

Tuesday, you'd been demoted to the mail room since your computer was still on the fritz and had nearly sliced your palm open with a exacto knife while fighting to open a box of toner for the Xerox machine.

Wednesday, you'd arrived at work drenched because a truck had motored through a deep puddle next to the sidewalk. Then someone had decided to microwave some foul-smelling fish dish in the microwave, and the smell had infected the entire floor of the building.

Thursday, you'd been sent back to your desk and your new monitor, whereupon your ergonomic chair had mysteriously dumped you on your head when the back of it had given way. Your flailing arm had caught the cord of your mouse and ripped it out of the computer tower. IT had merely sighed and handed you a new one.

Friday, your MP3 player that kept you sane while working had died, and no amount of prayer or charging could revive it. You'd been forced to listen to your the cubical-over's horrible music on their radio. It hadn't even been in English. Or Spanish. It had been some weird, high pitched thing with screaming and bells. Weird. Migraine inducing too.

You'd been so desperate to escape the horrible music that you'd snuck out of work early.

It was a sunny day - which meant no puddles. No cats bolted out in front of you. You were hoping to get home without any insanity, because you were really, really, tired. All you wanted to do was get home and hibernate until Monday.

Naturally, fate decided to throw a monkey wrench into that plan too.

Fucking fate. That bitch.

You were halfway home, crossing the street, when a cat call caught your attention. You turned towards the source of the whistle, meeting the gaze of a man who gave you a visible look-over and a leer, before he started to walk towards you.

Fuck no. You stopped that shit by glaring at him and giving him the finger before hustling into a little coffee shop for safety. He didn't follow you in. Taking a break and getting yourself a hot chocolate and a donut wasn't what you had planned, but it was better than dealing with Mr. I-Have-No-Respect-For-Women.

Only when you'd finished your sweet treat and made certain that the asshole was gone did you leave the shop. It was late evening, and the sun was starting it's descent. You hurried, wanting to get home, wanting, more than anything, to get out of your bra and put on a tee and shorts and just relax.

You were five blocks away when you heard fast footsteps from behind. You were already starting to turn when a hand grasped your left arm and tugged you to a stop.

"You can't take a compliment?"

Fuck. Your. Life.

"Let me go." You pulled on your arm, trying to get free. The man who'd cat called you merely tightened his grip until you were certain that you were going to have bruises, his dark eyes narrowing.

"I gave you a compliment. Least you could do is not flip me off like some whore."

"You cat-called me, asshole! That's not a goddamn compliment!" Growling you kicked him in the knee, then stomped on his foot. His grip on you loosened enough that you were able to twist your arm free. You paused long enough to whack him in the face with your heavy purse before spinning and making a run for it.

No need to bother looking back either. Just fucking run. This wasn't the time to hope for the good in mankind, this asshole was off his rocker.

Not surprisingly, you heard him yell and heard the sounds of pursuit, heavy footfalls pounding the sidewalk. No one that you weaved around bothered to even look up from their phones or bother to realize that you were in trouble. You poured on the speed, dodging people, hoping that nothing stupid would get in your way and trip you up enough that idiot would catch up and get his hands on you.

Naturally, someone splashed water onto the sidewalk ahead of you, suds and cleaning fluid from a mop bucket flowing over the concrete. You were going too fast to slow down, so you braced yourself for the worst, barely managing to stay upright as you skidded through it. The idiot behind you cursed loudly as he slipped, falling to his hands and knees in the suds and screaming at the poor store owner.

Well. Murphy's Law did help now and again. Didn't think it was possible.

Still, you kept going.

Four blocks to go.

Block three, and the asshat had re-caught up to you. Goddamn dude was quick, you had to give him that. Didn't think he had it in him - he'd stunk of cheap cigarettes and cologne. Though you didn't admire his persistence. Wondered how many other women he'd manhandled into going out with him or whatever. The thought made your stomach turn a little. Gross little man.

Three blocks, and his grasping fingers touched your back. You ducked, throwing yourself under a large table that two movers were carrying into an apartment building. You scraped your knees, but idiot ploughed into the piece of furniture and went down hard. The movers weren't too happy with him either, yelling at him and showing not one ounce of mercy for the moron on the ground.

You risked a laugh as you scrambled up to your feet and forced yourself back into a sprint. Two blocks. You could make that. Hopefully the asshat would stay down - ploughing into a wood table at high speed couldn't have felt good.

"Goddamn bitch!"

Well. There was something to be said about his tenacity.

Groaning, you darted past a man on a ladder trying to change a light on a sign, rolling your eyes when he dropped the bulb just as you went by, the 'pop!' of the bulb shattering and the flying glass making Mr. Moron behind you stumble a little.

"Lookout!"

That didn't come from the idiot.

You jerked your gaze forward, then threw yourself to the side, plastering yourself against a building as a Baby Grand Piano rolled past, three men running after the escaped instrument. Caught a glimpse of your personal idiot's eye's widening before he did a Stupid Thing and tried to brace himself to 'catch' said piano.

It didn't end well.

You didn't have to worry about him anymore.

The last block home was journeyed at a calm walk, though you did quirk an eyebrow at the ambulance that roared past, heading towards the, ahem, 'incident'. You stepped into your apartment ten minutes later, sighing tiredly as you locked the door behind you. Dropped your purse onto the floor as you kicked off your shoes, then headed for the fridge and the vodka coolers you kept in stock.

Didn't bother to turn on the lights as you shuffled over to the couch and plopped down onto it, taking a long guzzle of your 'Mike's Hard Lemonade'.

Your life.

No receipt no exchange.

You hoped the piano was okay.

Sighing, you inspected your dress pants, plucking at the material at your knees that was frayed from the friction of the sidewalk. Nuts. You'd have to order a new pair, because your work didn't allow jeans.

You were trying to gather up the willpower to go get changed when you heard a tap at the window. Ignored it for a moment, thinking it was another demented city pigeon, before it happened again, louder than a bird could manage without breaking it's tiny little feathered head open.

Frowning, you got up to see what new hell was trying to break into your apartment, eyes widening when you spotted Venom peering into your apartment, his curiosity quickly replaced by amusement when he saw you.

Sighing again, you went over and lifted the window open. "Sorry, I ran out of flour for the brownies and I haven't gone to the store yet."

"OH, WE'RE NOT HERE FOR THAT, NIBBLE," he rumbled as he squeezed through the window. You backed up a bit as he entered your apartment and rose to his full height, stretching a little. "WE WERE JUST SEEING IF YOU WERE ALRIGHT."

"...alright?"

"FROM THE CHASE."

"The... You... You were there?!" Okay, you were yelling at Venom again. Not something you should make a habit out of. "Why the everlasting fuck didn't you do something?!"

Massive shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "TO BE HONEST, YOU SEEMED TO HAVE A HANDLE ON IT," he told you, before smirking. "AND WE WERE LAUGHING TOO HARD AFTER HE RAN INTO THE TABLE."

You facepalmed.

"THOUGH THE PIANO WAS ENTERTAINING TOO." A low chuckle left him. "YOU REALLY DO ATTRACT THE WORST LUCK."

"Is that why you keep showing up?" you snarked as you went to retrieve your drink, grumbling as you finished it off.

Venom huffed a little at your comment. "WE'LL LET THAT SLIDE."

Another, tired, sigh left you, and your shoulders slumped as you turned to look at him again. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. In my defense, I've had a horrible week that just culminated with me getting chased by a pervert."

The exhausted, on edge, broken, tone to your voice pulled some odd thrumming noise from Venom, and you blinked as he took two large steps towards you before wrapping an arm around your waist and hauling you into a massive bear hug.

You tensed for a moment, your brain trying to make sense of the fact that Venom, of all people, was offering you comfort. But considering all the fuckery as of late, you couldn't bring yourself to really care. It was a hug. You missed hugs.

Closing your eyes, you leaned into him, your own arms wrapping around his waist as you listened to that odd growling noise that was leaving him. One of his taloned hands rose to cup the back of your head, tucking you close, and you relaxed into him. Fuck Murphy's Law. Let it try to get at you now.

He bent down to exhale warm breath into your hair. "BETTER?"

"Yeah." You felt like you should pull away, but he wasn't letting go, and you felt pretty happy to stay where you were. "Thanks."

"WE WERE ORIGINALLY COMING TO THANK YOU FOR THE BROWNIES," Venom told you with another vibrating rumble that rattled your bones. "WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU WANTED TO COME OUT TO SEE THE TOWN WITH US."

"You want me, Disaster Incorporated, to let you swing me around the city on those little webs?" You rose your head from his chest to look up at him. "Seriously?"

He smirked. "WE'RE CERTAIN WE CAN HANDLE ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS."

"You realize that's just asking the Universe to do something, right?"

A laugh left him. "WE'RE STRONG ENOUGH NOT TO GET TAKEN OUT BY A PIANO."

Yeah. You were definitely off your rocker. "Let me get changed into normal clothes and we can go."

The Saturday Edition of the Paper would later cover an odd explosion at a chocolate shop. Where upon a frazzled woman fitting your description was seen running from the store, carrying several boxes of high-quality chocolates, before the Demon of San Francisco swung down, missed picking you up, and pretty much just faceplanted himself into the side of a building.

No one knew where the piano came from, but it was found at the scene of the crime with a large bite taken out of it.

#snarky is writing #venom x reader #venom #reader x venom #filled prompts

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i-need-a-second-library · 5 years ago

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Reading List 2019

So I thought to celebrate the fact that I actually read 100 books this year, I could list them all, give them a short raiting and quickly summarise my thoughts (as far as I remember them, my memory is terrible). So strap in, this is gonna be a looong list.

(The formating is gonna be: Title, Author, Language I read it in (D = German; E = English), rating, short thoughts)

1. The Toymakers, Robert Dinsdale, D, 3/5, Wants to be The Nightcircus but fails. Still sweet and thoughtful.

2. Deadly Sting (Elemental Assassin 8), Jennifer Estep, D, 4/5, Don’t remember specifics just that I was impressed the series was still this good.

3. The Labyrinth of Magic Volume 1, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, Note to self: I don’t like Mangas (The Anime is fantastic though).

4. The Labyritnh of Magic Volume 2, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, See 3.

5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman, D, 3/5, Not my style but I can see what others like about it.

6. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman, D, 4/5, Very informative and entertaining.

7. The Master Magician (The Paper Magician 3), Charlie N. Holmberg, D,3/5, Adequate ending, I absolutely love the magic system.

8. The Plastic Magician (The Paper Magician 3.5), Charlie N. Holmberg, D, 4/5, Great spinoff, better story than the original with exactly enough cameos.

9. Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin 9), Jennifer Estep, D, 3/5, see 2.

10. Inkdeath (Inkworld 3), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, Always a favourite, read it because I was feeling down cheered me right up.

11. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus 5), Rick Riordan, E, 4/5, Why did I wait so long to read this?

12. Vulkanjäger, Katja Brandis, D, 3/5, Good adventurebook for younger readers.

13. Double Crossed: A Spies andd Thieves Story (Heist Society 2.5), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Should really have read Gallagher Girls first.

14. Wizards: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 4/5, Very interesting, smiled everytime Harry Potter or BBC’s Merlin was mentioned.

15. Vampires: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 3/5, Not really a fan of Vampires but if you are you have to read this!

16. Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers 1), Rachel Aaron, E, 3/5, Amazing worldbuilding!

17. The Tomb, H.P.Lovecraft, D, 2/5, I don´t even remember it.

18. All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother, Danielle Teller, E, 3/5, Great new perspective, unfortunately not enough magic.

19. Stars Above (Lunar CHronicles Short Stories), Marissa Meyer, E, 3/5, I would read anything in this universe no matter if it´s good or not.

20. To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo, E, 4/5, Really good, always love a dark fairytale retelling.

21. Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness 1), Rhys Bowen, E, 3/5, Expected more, it´s a bit slow.

22. Mein Reckless Märchenbuch (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, It`s Cornelia Funke of course it´s brilliant. Also, everyone needs a collections of fairytales at home, just for refference. I have gotten into many a discussion about the specifics of a classic story that we needed to look up.

23. Air Awakens (Air Awakens 1), Elise Kova, E, 5/5, Fantastic read, couldn´t put it down.

24. Renegades (Renegades 1), Marissa Meyer, D, 4/5, Marissa Meyer writing about Superheroes? More please!

25. Fire Falling (Air Awakens 2), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

26.Tales from the Front (Air Awakens 2.5), Elise Kova, E, 3/5, Kind of unnecessary, didn´t really add anything.

27. Earth´s End (Air Awakens 3), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, See 23.

28. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars 1), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, Was good when i read it but now after season 4 it just makes me sad.

29. Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars 2), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, see 28.

30. China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians 2), Kevin Kwan, E, 4/5, A LOT of Characters but otherwise really great.

31. Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians 3), Kevin Kwan, E, 3/5, see 30.

32. Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle 1), C.L.Polk, D, 5/5, Won it on lovelybooks (thanks again for that), amazing queer fantasy (often shelved as YA, it´s NOT, the protagonists are like 30 it´s not YA).

33. Water's Wrath (Air Awakens 4), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

34. Crystal Crowned (Air Awakens 5), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, I read this and Water´s Wrath in one night, couldn´t put it down for the life of me.

35. Vicious (Villains 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 3/5, Do you know the kind of book that while you´re reading it is like meh but then you just can´t stop thinking about it?

36. A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers 1), Brigid Kemmerer, E, 4/5, Great retelling, love the mix of modern and fairytale worlds.

37. Ninja: First Mission, Chris Bradford, E, 1/5, Just makes me want part 9 of Young Samurai even more.

38. DOORS: Der Beginn (Doors 1), Markus Heitz, D, 2/5, Love the idea but couldn´t really convince me.

39. Heartless, Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, Really heartless, in the sense that it rips your heart right out of your chest and then crushes it, I think I cried... a lot.

40. Truthwitch (Witchlands 1), Susan Dennard, E, 4/5, Great start to a series, didn´t manage to read the sequels this year will try again in 2020.

41. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, D, 3/5, A classic of the genere for a reason.

42. A rumor of Dragons (Dragonlance Chronicles 1), Margaret Weis, D, 1/5, Boring.

43. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls 1), Deborah Harkness, E, 4/5, The love story is a little rushed, still loved it though.

44. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 4/5, Why didn´t I read this years ago? I mean it´s been on my shelf? And it´s so good!

45. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games 2), Suzanne Collins, D, 5/5, Couldn´t stop even at 4am.

46. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games 3), Suzanne Collins, D, 4/5, I think I read this and 45 in one night (Yes I didn´t sleep).

47. Wicked Fox (Gumiho 1), Kat Cho, E, 3/5, Was in a Fairyloot box, underused setting therefore very interesting.

48. The Glass of Lead and Gold (Mirrorworld short story), Cornelia Funke, E, 3/5, Lovely but when are we finally getting book 4?

49. The MirrorWorld Anthology (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Turns out we´re getting book 4 in 2020. FINALLY!!!!

50. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, E, 2/5, Meh...

51. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry, E, 3/5, Informativ but I prefer the ones by Riordan.

52. Shadow of Night (All Souls 2), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Love the timetravel but like the first one it felt a little rushed.

53. James Acaster´s Classic Scrapes, James Acaster, E, 2/5, I really like his stand up but didn´t really enjoy this book.

54. The October Man (Rivers of London 7.5), Ben Aaronovitch, E, 3/5, It´s always funny to read foreigners writing about your culture, if you like the other rivers of London books you will like this one.

55. A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magyk 2), V.E.Schwab, E,4/5, As good as the first one but with Pirates!

56. Caraval (Caraval 1), Stephanie Garber, E, 3/5, It´s ok but I can´t really understand the hype.

57. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars 1), Elizabeth Lim, E, 4/5, I love this one, the writing is so beautiful.

58. Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days 1), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, The Story is ok, but I absolutely love Penryn.

59. The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman, E, 4/5, Great story with amazing illustrations.

60. World After (Penryn and the End of Days 2), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

61. End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days 3), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

62. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer 1), Laini Taylor, E, 4/5, Lovely Story with great Characters.

63. Pan´s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun, Cornelia Funke, D, 3/5, I read it while listening to the movie soundtrack, can reccomend.

64. Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards 1), Jennifer Estep, E, 4/5, How does she write this many books in so little Time? And how are they all so good?

65. The Return of the Warrior (Young Samurai 9), Chris Bradford, E, 4/5, Noooo its over, I could cry this series was one of my favourites as a kid.

66. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, E, 3/5, Good retelling that gets a little over-complicated sometimes.

67. Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer 2), Laini Taylor, E, 3/5, Wow this turned very dark very fast.

68. Skyward (Skyward 1), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, Spensa and M-Bot are deffinetely some of my favourite characters ever.

69. The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon, E, 5/5, Very long but deffinetely worth it.

70. The Test, Sylvain Neuvel, E, 2/5, Very relevant but not really my style.

71. Archenemies (Renegades 2), Marissa Meyer, D, 5/5, Love it.

72. Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 1), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5, God I just love the Setting.

73. Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 2), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5, I know it´s not a very popular opinion but Mal is my favourite.

74.Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and bone Trilogy 3), Leigh Bardugo, E, 3/5, Bit disapointing as an ending but a rollercoaster in terms of feelings.

75. The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn 1), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 5/5, I think this is the 3rd time I read this it´s so good.

76. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Hogwarts Library 1), Newt Scamander, E, 3/5

77. Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library 2), Kennilworthy Whisp, E, 5/5, I love this one it´s so funny.

78. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Hogwarts Library 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

79. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents 1), J.K.Rowling, E, 4/5, It´s about McGonagall and Lupin of course it´s good.

80. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore Presents 2), J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

81. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore Presents 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

82. Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

83. The Traitor´s Kiss (The Traitor´s Circle 1), Erin Beaty, D, 2/5, A friend of mine realls loves this but I thought it was quite boring but I think that was just the translation that didn´t sit right with me it was kind of weird.

84. Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Skye Alexander, E, 2/5, Not as good as Vampires or Wizzards.

85. The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn 2), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 3/5, Disapointing after the brilliant first one.

86. All Fall Down (Embassy Row 1), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Didn´t really like it.

87. The Book of Life (All Souls 3), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Good Ending, again very rushed.

88. Supernova (Renegades 3), Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, God I love Simon and Hugh so much Spoilers!: I didn´t like that Ace turned out to be evil after all, I thought we would get a story with respectable leaders on both sides which is really rare. Really loved the ending when we learned more about Magpie (i really hope there will be a Sequel or Spin Off).

89. Starsight (Skyward 2), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, It was amazing but I missed the original Crew.

90. A River of Royal Blood ( A River of Royal Blood 1), Amanda Joy, E, 3/5, So many unanswered questions left!!

91. + 92. The Grift of the Magi (Heist Society 3.5), Ally Carter, E, 4/5, Read it twice this year once in spring and the again before Christmas.

93. Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston, E, 5/5, Maybe the best one this year, reads like really good FanFiction, it´s sooooooo good why aren´t you reading it right now?

94. Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society 2), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, Always fantastic

95. + 96. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society 3), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, So good I read it twice in a row.

97. Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song, Multiple Authors, E, 3/5,

98. Winter´s zerbrechlicher Fluch, Julia Adrian, D, 3/5, Only read if you really know your german fairytales it´s really confusing even if you know a lot about them.

99. Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle 1), Amie Kaufman, E, 4/5, “They are not the heroes we wanted. They are just the ones we could find.”

100. Palace of Glass (Reckless Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Can´t wait for Book 4!! Untill then i love everything that even mentions Jacob and Celeste.

Did you read any of these this year? Or any other year? Do you want to? What were your favourites of this year?

I hope you all had a fantastic 2019 and will have an even better 2020!

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