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bunbeeplays · 11 months ago

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The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 17 - Tiffing with Tiff

The next day, the band, and Tiff, go to Miko and Penny's new apartment to talk about their song choices. Penny doesn't love the white features but Miko likes how clean it looks, and love is about compromise. Penny can at least have her eclectic furniture to brighten the place up.

Miko: Thanks for agreeing to meet us here. I know San Myshuno is far from Tartosa.

Drew: No worries, it's all the same loading screen.

Miko: Uh, Tiff? Where's the other violinists? They were invited too.

Tiff: As lead, I can relay any info back to my cohorts.

Miko: Okay then. Did you all have a chance to look over the sheet music we sent you?

Ophelia: Yes! Let's pull them up.

Tiff: You young people and your technology.

Drew: It's the same technology every Sim has had since 2014, Tiff!

Penny: You guys are the experts. What do you think?

Moses: They're all great songs! Unique but not too wild. You have no idea how many times we get the same old songs to play.

Penny: You know I've gotta keep it fresh!

Miko: I vetoed some of the more... outrageous suggestions.

Penny: Looks like out ceremony music requires violin and piano. You okay doubling up, Piano Man?

Moses: I get double the pay so you know it!

Penny: Tiff, you good to learn the sheet music? I know this probably isn't the type of song you usually play.

Tiff: Already memorized.

Ophelia: I love your first dance song. I've been singing it for days. It's starting to get on my girlfriend's nerves!

Miko: Oh, you and Libby made it official! Congratulations. You've posted a bunch of pics with her on Simsta lately, so Penny and I had a hunch.

Tiff: I see. You two are... very friendly with Miss Ophelia outside of work, huh?

Penny: Well, we kind of cornered her in a coffee shop. Hard to keep things strictly business after that. Plus, who else would I constantly text asking to go to the Spice Festival with me?

Tiff: I see. Well, I have connections of my own. Heard of Ty Harper? Head writer for PlumBright Magazine? I could get him to write an entire feature on your wedding!

Penny: The scumbag from that trashy gossip rag? No thanks. You're friends with him?

Tiff: ...I'm married to him

Miko: Uh, moving on. Were there any issues you all saw with the songs for the reception?

Drew: No, everything looks good. People might have song requests but we know a ton of songs.

Ophelia: My mind is a steel trap for song lyrics, I should be good to cover most requests.

Tiff: If young Ophelia doesn't have the range for a certain song you want I'd be more than happy to fill in!

Miko: Uh, thanks, but we made sure we selected songs in her range. I'm sure requests will be fine. You're amazing at violin, we'd like you to do that.

Tiff: I can do both!

Penny: Lady, we don't want you to do both, she's trying to be nice. You're lucky you're playing at all, after the way you treated Miko during our tour! Lucky for you, my fiancée is a lot more forgiving than me!

Tiff: In my defense, teens and young adults look exactly alike!

Miko: Honey, it's okay! Tiff, we're happy with the plan we currently have. We'd appreciate if you focused on getting your team prepped. You're an amazing violinist.

Tiff: Well your taste in singers is... different than mine but you sure know your stuff about string instruments.

The elevator ride downstairs is awkward. Tiff doesn't seem to notice or mind.

Tiff: The clients' questionable choices aside, I'd say that was a successful meeting. Gotta say, that Pizzazz girl has a screw loose. Guess that's why she's such good friends with you, eh, Ophelia?

Ophelia: Do you constantly have to undermine and insult me every chance you get? I've been trying real hard to be civil.

Tiff: I'm sorry, it's just really easy to undermine you, sweetheart. You still have your baby fat.

Ophelia: It was just the holidays. This is regular fat!

Ophelia: I'm singing at this one wedding! It sounds like you're going to sing at the rest of them after this! What's the big deal?

Tiff: You KNOW the big deal. This is a celebrity wedding. One of the guests could make me a star and you just stumbled ass-first into this gig!

Drew: Tiff, you're being more ridiculous than usual. The clients made their decision. You're not going to change their minds.

Tiff: Why's everyone on her side? This was supposed to be my big break. You don't know what it's like to have something so huge taken from you!

Ophelia: You don't know anything about me! If your husband is such a big shot, just get connections through him.

Tiff: He's too good of a man to abuse his power like that.

Moses: Didn't he send paparazzi to Judith Ward's second husband's funeral? Tiff: No one asked, Moses.

Tiff: Fine, if you're determined to embarrass yourself on that stage, be my guest. Don't worry, I'll stay away from you until the wedding. Worrying about you destroying the Laurents' reputation is going to give me stress wrinkles anyway.

Ophelia: UGH! What is her damage! Does she have some sort of tragic backstory or something?

Drew: Nah, I think she just likes being a bitch.

Moses: Look, let's not worry about her now, love. We've got your back. Let's go to the venue and practice, yeah?

Ophelia: Okay. Thanks.

#The Sims #The Sims 4 #The Sims 4 Legacy #The Lemon Legacy #TS4 #The Sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 #generation 1 #ophelia #drew #moses #tiff #miko #penny

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kdm13 · 7 days ago

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got tagged by @catamaranthenonnewtonianfluid to share nine things on my to be read list, so. here goes lmao. just gonna not count things i'm currently in the middle of reading, so. not counting The Invisible Man rn lol

Heavenly Tyrant. i'm gonna start reading it tonight. got it out from the library. here's hoping i finish in time lmao

some Discworld novels. i recently found some old epubs that i got from. somewhere. like. a decade ago XDDDD i left off in the middle of Soul Music, but i'll probably start that over. just without the library time limit this time. i now know how footnote stuff works on an ereader! (my old one might have been too old to have this feature idk, but i know it was a pain when i first tried to read Discworld on an ereader)

Lord of the Rings. another ebook rediscovery. i didn't even know i had these tbh. legit no clue where i got them from

Murder, She Knit. i signed up for a thing that was half off and lasts for a year. i get one free book and a bunch of discounts. considering i just got this ereader, i'm likely to buy a bunch in the first year. this is what i got for free. it comes with a free recipe!

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call. sequel to a book i read last year called I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, which was a delightful bit of horror, honestly. if i like this one too, i'm likely to buy the ebook versions of both. the library currently has this listed as "on order", so idk when i'll get to read it, but hopefully soon

The September House. idr exactly how i found out about this one, but it seems neat!

The True Meaning of Smekday. saw the post saying how watered down the movie based on this book is. want to read the book lmao

i might go for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for my next book from project gutenburg? idk there's like 62 books in that collection, we'll see what happens

being funny and putting Gideon the Ninth in the ninth spot lmao. it was super on sale the other day. teeeeeeechnically i've read a couple pages already, but shhhhhhhh. i've heard good things and i wanna put it on this list

of note is this does not include the massive amount of fanfiction backlog i want to get through, anything i have on hold through libby, or the things i want to reread like the Bendy novels i bought for fic research OTL

i don't feel like tagging many people, and obvi it's optional to do it but uh. @thedreamparadox @waywren @nyakira1412 i guess? and if anyone else wants to do it lmao

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phantomdialogue · 3 months ago

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⊹₊⋆ 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦'𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 ⋆₊⊹

so you are thinking about getting a kindle (or you've gotten a kindle and don't know where to get started with this amazing invention)? here are my recommendations from someone who has been using a kindle for half their life!

get kindle unlimited!

i know i know it's a subscription and subscriptions are rough especially if you're a mood reader or even just a college student BUT hear me out. kindle unlimited is $11.99 a month. if you consider buying a paperback book (not even hardcover), the average book is around the $13-17 range. one month of kindle unlimited is already less than the average cost of a paperback book (and much less than a hardback). even for mood readers, i think it's entirely worth it. let's say you read 4 books in one month and then you don't read at all the next month, you're still saving money. that's a total of $23.98 for two months of kindle unlimited. if we're using the average stated above for 4 paperback books, that's in the $52-68 range. that's approximately a $25-40 savings still on those books even if you didn't use the subscription for a month. kindle unlimited's library is constantly expanding as well. lots of books are getting added all the time and so you're almost guaranteed to find something you want to read. DNFing is also so much more stress/care free with the subscription because you don't have to think about it so much as a loss of money when you can return the book and go get another one without paying any extra. you can keep up to 20 books borrowed from the unlimited library at all times as well so it's easy to download a bunch and take it on a trip where you won't have access. i will sing kindle unlimited's praises forever but this year alone over 60% of what i've read i got through kindle unlimited (that statistic does include ARCs as well in the calculation that i did get for free) and i really do think it's worth the investment.

2. support your local library!!!

one amazing thing you can utilize whether you have kindle unlimited or not is an app called libby. you can connect your local library card and any ebooks that they have available to borrow, you can send to your kindle! this opens up some more options that kindle unlimited may not have and while it likely won't have nearly as many options as kindle unlimited, it is free. and supporting your local library is a huge plus!!

3. decorate your kindle. have fun with it.

i love that i decorated my kindle. it's my baby and i will never not be happy to pick it up. you can decorate it with stickers or just a fun case. i personally have a clear case on mine and then i've bought and collected stickers and taped them (it's much easier to just do a little scotch tape than actually stick them because then you can move them around all the time) on the back. i'll put a photo of my kindle below! as well, i personally am really happy with the decision to pay to remove ads from the lockscreen. this is something you can do when you first buy your kindle or do at a later date when you've got a little extra money to put towards it (it's $20 to do). OR i know there are several ways to get around paying for it by contacting customer support so if you look that up, you may be successful in getting it for free!

4. pop. socket.

i know what you may be thinking... why would i need a pop socket on my kindle? trust me, i thought the same until i did it. having a pop socket on your kindle just makes it 400 times easier to hold and i feel way more confident about not dropping it if i'm reading out in public. personally, i'm a big disneyland fan. i have been probably over 300 times in my life and quite a lot in the last 2 years. when i upgraded to my paperwhite, i got a popsocket because i never quite trusted the idea of reading in line and not bumping into someone and dropping my kindle by accident. this eliminates that problem entirely. i always have a much better grip on my kindle and i feel like it's just so much comfortable to hold with it in general. one downside to consider is that you won't want to get a case with a cover to have a popsocket because then folding that case back makes it so the popsocket is not usable.

5. there are some extraneous things that are nice to have and have their purpose but are not a necessity at all that i'll mention.

i personally own a page turner and i really do love using it for certain scenarios. is it something that i would recommend you immediately buy if you are just getting a kindle for the first time? no. but it's nice and if you need some random christmas present to ask for from your parents, go ahead and throw it on there if you want to try it out. i have used it at the gym to be able to prop my kindle on the treadmill and just use the page turner and that is a huge plus compared to holding it but again, not a necessity. in the same train of thought, if you get a page turner, you may want to get a holder/stand. a lot of people get those bendy holders that you can attach to your bed to be able to use their page turner and read completely under the covers. i don't think a holder would have any use if you didn't have a page turner because then you've still got to reach to turn the page, but it's something to consider as a fun accessory. dust plugs. i personally don't have one (i think i have a weird freak worry that it will get stuck but i highly doubt it would at the same time). this really is like 90% cosmetic in terms of an accessory. you can get them with some cute charms and if you can get it for a few bucks and it makes you happy, do it. i'm all for fun charms and stuff on my bags, but for me, having one on my kindle isn't something i've made a necessity. kindle sleeves i don't mind. i do have one that i use for books as well but i find that i rarely put my kindle in it because i have a screen protector, which i'll mention as my last thing, and so i don't feel the need for any extra protection on top of that and my case. but they are really cute and if you want to use one for a book as well, go for it. finally, screen protectors. the only reason i don't list this as a necessity at all is because i feel like it's rare to scratch your kindle to begin with and the kindle already has an anti-glare coating. i do personally have one because of how much i travel with mine and take it to random places. but it's usually safe to say that you're likely fine without one. if you know you're going to be taking it everywhere and not just keeping it in your bedroom for reading in bed, it might be worth it for you, but it's also not something to stress about.

if you have any questions, feel more than free to leave them in the comments or reblog and I'll answer anything.

i love my kindle. i had a kindle fire as a kid that i read the heroes of olympus on before my mom passed her gen 3 down to me and i kept that until early last year when i got my paperwhite and i couldn't be more of a kindle fan honestly.

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ocean-anchored · 1 year ago

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Continued.. December 27, 23

Lastly yesterday. I had a chill morning cause I needed it. Went to the park with nova & Nathan met me there for a walk. Zack had asked to meet up & I made the expectation clear on what he was wanting out of it which was nothing. Idk why I do this to myself man, I hope I don't regret this again but I agreed. We went skating in bowness and it was really nice. Idk I almost just don't want to say anything because dumb future self is going to look back & be like you're a moron if things pan out the same. He said a lot of good stuff though & how he's been hitting rock bottom. Didn't say "this time is different" which was nice, but started going to NA meetings which alone is at least a step. When I said "how would you react if your daughter was dating a man like you & how you've treated me" & that hit him hard. Again I don't want to get into it too much because I'm not getting my hopes up. I went for a short dinner with Conner after which was alright. Nice to catch up but yea still just whatever. Then ended up going out for a drink/food with Zack again after & back to his place for a movie which I kept my boundaries firm, not matter how much I desired anything. Idk what the heck man but there's something about him that absolutely drives me insane & I can't get over. I just take one look at him & i'm in love again I fucking hate it. Anyways, we continued to have really good conversation & aired so much stuff out. This time, like times in the past I've went on a bit of a ramble about like how I felt in situation etc & I felt like I would loose him, he wouldn't fully acknowledge things I said & would kind of be quiet, but this time I fully listened & acknowledged many points, it was different actually. But good, like we really did talk about so much & touch on hard topics & was able to get closure & understanding. It was honestly probably one of the better conversations we've ever had. I don't want to get any hopes up nor am I allowing anything to go anywhere & this time he actually realizes how he needs to do this for himself & this could take at least a year for him to feel like he's back on his feet & it sounds like he's actually wanting it this time for himself, so Idk, I just pray that this is different for him. I really just want the best for him & I enjoy his company so much but I just need to keep my boundaries & help enforce that we keep building a friendship foundation. We'll see. Anyways, that's the last two weeks recap. Hopefully within the next 3 days while I'm off I can sit down & recap the year again with where I'm at & I would like to be able to think about what 2024 will look like & set some goals that I want to strive towards. I really do want to go into this next year committed to myself and my relationship with God. No more chasing others for attention, no more trying to force anything, relationship, friendships etc. I just can't do it, doesn't feel authentic & continue investing into those who are investing back into me & keep growing. I know I still have a lot of things to continue to work on, I still want to be reading a bunch which I'm really stoked that I've been doing so much more reading, this Libby app has been game changer. I love the feeling of a book but man, I've done 3 audiobooks I think & read a full book already in a matter of only a few short months so I definitely want to carry that into the new year & really get through some of these that are on my TBR. Anyways, I'm going to make some food & decide how productive I want to be today.

#personal #dear future self #life update #dearfutureself #journal update

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readtilyoudie · 2 years ago

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March 2023 Wrap-Up

Total Books Read: 66

Did Not Finish: Quite a bit this time. Sandman comic just wasn't hitting for me. The Nightmare, I couldn't get past the beginning. Same with Stemmy Things, Robbery at the Roller Derby, A Beautiful Composition of Broken (I gave it over 100 pages but they were just bland) and How To Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend Part of why it's so many was because I took a look at my Currently Reading and made an executive decision that I wasn't going to finish them, that I dreaded every time I opened the book. Sorry but it happens.

Best Books: Autopsy has some of the best poetry I've ever read. To Be Taught, If Fortunate has some of the best queer rep. "Now everybody's queer!" and it was magical.

Surprising Reads: Love, Laugh Lich. I don't typically enjoy contemporary romances period, but this one got me good. I'm actually planning on reading the second book.

Disappointing: I wonder if I just chose wrong continuously this month? Between the ones I didn't finish and how big this list is, I'm giving myself a lot of side-eye. Breath of Flowers. D.N.Angel. The Witch's Wolves. Monstrous Duke and I. What Moves The Dead. We Have Always Lived In The Castle. Winter Recipes From the Collective. The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright. Forest Hills Bootleg Society (SUPER triggering with no resolution fyi).

Thoughts For This Month: I set out to read a bunch of novellas and I accomplished that well. I'm quite proud of myself. I'm getting back into audiobooks as well so I expect to read more faster.

Plans For Next Month: We still need more romance quotes. And I've started so many books that I haven't finished. Come on now, Jo. Focus. I also got a lot of manga reading planned since we expanded our Libby repetoire.

Specific Books Planning To Read: I need to finish up Kings of the Wyld. The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (at long last, even though Inu has quoted that entire book already). Who's That Early by Susanna Craig. Uncharted by Alli Temple. Nepenthe by Octavia Hyde. The Never King by Nikki St. Crowe. Railed by the Krampus by Dalia Davies (Look, don't make eye contact with me. I said what I said.)

#the delay is brought to you by a tornado inspired power outage #monthly wrap up #booklr #bookblr #bookworm #march 2023

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arwainian · 2 years ago

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My Reading This Week:

This is that stuff I have started, finished, or continued reading this wee! (So far not including articles for school, but maybe future editions of this style will) I'm trying to find something to do to catalogue the books I read for if twitter goes down sometime soon, but also to give myself a space to catalogue progress through things that take a while to read, or don't have a real point of being "done."

If I do this again, then the formatting will be subject to change as I do this more and come to conclusions about what works best about this for me! I also might move this to a non-tumblr blog, but right now tumblr suits me fine.

Started & Finished:

Delicious In Dungeon/Dungeon Meshi, volumes 10-11 by Ryoko Kui and translated by Taylor Engel

This manga delights me so so much. I love the art style and the tonal dissonance and all the characters and just... *chef's kiss* mwah. While reading these the other day I kept leaning over to my friend to show him panels I really liked. I'm actually considering tracking down where to read the chapters translated by fans before the official english volume translations come out bc i don't want to WAIT longer than I absolutely have to. But I also have enough to read already

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

What's up, it's my brand, queer historical romance with fantasy elements! AND this has murder mystery elements too. This could not be more my shit. I don't tend to preorder books because I am... bad at buying books that I want to read? But I did actually preorder an ebook copy of this as a little gift for myself after I read A Marvellous Light, and I found this so delightful that I could not stop my hands moving. This books wins the coveted "made me jump up and down" prize, and the prize of immediately being recommended to a lesbian friend. Also @ Freya Marske's agent, I would have read the ghost threesome, how dare you keep it from me.

Started & Ongoing:

Boy Oh Boy by Zachary Doss

A very dear friend recommended this book to me after [redacted] last year and I finally got around to picking up a copy through Libby and starting to read it. It is very weird. But I think I'm enjoying it? And yeah, I can see why Tort recommended this to me in the wake of All That.

Ongoing Reads:

Blood Sisters: Vampire Stories by Women edited by Paula Guran

See it is big anthology books like this which are the first reason for the 'just plain ongoing' section. Tort also gave/recommended this one to me, if I am remembering correctly, because I am of course a vampire lover, of both the monstrous and scary-sexy variety. (Gosh this is a Tortoise heavy post) Anyway, I've tried reading a bunch of these in one sitting and can't really do it, so what I'll try is to read one short story from this collection per novella or novel that I read, so that I can make continued progress through it. So far I have read the first five stories in it:

A Princess of Spain by Carrie Vaughn Shipwrecks Above by Caitlín R. Kiernan The Fall of the House of Blackwater by Freda Warrington In Memory of... by Nancy Kilpatrick Where the Vampires Live by Storm Constantine

Aurora by Red (of Overly Sarcastic Productions)

comics with no end in current sight are the second reason for an ongoing section! This is fun, tropey fantasy fluff. This one updates three times a week and I do try to keep up, so to avoid being repetitive I probably won't mention it again unless i feel like there's something i Must say about it. but I feel good about finally having a place to say "hey! I'm reading this right now!"

There we go! Attempt number one of a non-twitter reading log, with all of the (non-school related) reading I did this week (and a bit before with that anthology). Also. this may or may not be the most formally formatted posts I have made to tumblr since I made those name-meaning posts for a bunch of homestuck characters, so please appreciate the effort I made

#bookblr #arwainian princessoid decrees #cal reading log

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luverofralts · 3 years ago

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Arkhelios University

That day was just another day for Abe, not unlike any other day in his week. He had arrived early to his mother’s house to send Theo off to the school bus, and to look after the house before starting class. His mother had already left for work, and Nathan and Nickolas were also gone, hopefully to school and not to wherever it was they skipped class to visit. Normally, Abe would have had to stay on campus to get to class on time, but he had taken to carpooling with Roman, traveling large distances in seconds through teleportation. Abe just had to get through his mother’s errands, and then he’d be free to reconvene at Roman’s. Lucy had left him a bunch of voicemails that he needed to check, but he wasn’t really in the mood for whatever scheme she had up her sleeve now. He’d deal with her once he’d had another coffee.

It all started innocently enough when Abe went to check the pool chemicals. Elaine didn’t like tinkering with chemicals and Abe was graduating soon with a science degree, so the task had fallen to him, even though he’d tried to tell her that his studies were far more relevant to biology, than they were pool chemicals. Without warning, Abe’s legs suddenly felt like they’d turned to jelly. He stumbled a little, but managed to remain standing.

What’s happening? Mom’s going to be mad if I’m sick near the pool furniture, she just replaced them after Libby got a hold of them. Oh god, tell me this isn’t morning sickness again. I can’t possibly do morning sickness again, or have another kid for that matter. Though I really should call for help before I pass out, shouldn't I?

“H-hel....” he mumbled weakly, already losing control of his limbs, and beginning to stumble towards the ground.

Abe tried his best to fall away from the pool furniture with sharp edges, but really, his head hitting concrete wasn’t optimal either.

Aim for the sand, aim for the sand.

Abe’s body collapsed to the ground with a hard thud. The last thing he saw before his eyes rolled back into his head was the clear, blue sky.

When Abe opened his eyes, everything felt different. His clothes were scratchier, his glasses felt pinched against the bridge of his nose, and everything looked disturbingly taller than it had been a moment ago. He had also somehow ended up down the street at the Bellamy house. Was this a prank?

“Stop Roman, that tickles!”

Abe looked up to see a much younger version of Roman, tickling a much younger version of Kaeileen. Was this a dream? It all felt so real if it was. Maybe this was some new random side effect of the broken connection between him and Roman. What was he seeing here though? A memory? A hallucination as he bled to death on the pool tile from a head wound? He had no way of knowing. Maybe this actually was his life flashing before his eyes as he died.

He would assume it was a vision of some sort, and hope for the best. If he really was dying in his mother’s backyard, there was nothing he could do about that. A vision or dream was something he assumed was within his power to change.

"Oh good, Abe’s here again," Kaeileen groaned. "He played with us yesterday."

“And we had fun yesterday,” Roman countered, running up to greet Abe with a hug. “Grandma has her tea set out for reading leaves today, and she said we could give it a try.”

“Your grandma’s crazy,” Kaeileen said with a roll of her eyes.

“She is not!” Roman protested, giving her an impressive scowl. “We can see the future for real! She wouldn’t lie about that.”

Abe numbly allowed himself to be lead into the Bellamy house, where just as promised, Malika was waiting for the children with a tea pot and three small cups.

Malika handed cups to both Roman and Kaeileen, but looked startled when Abe appeared behind them for a cup of his own. Abe stared at the woman who had caused him nothing but pain, and tried not to start screaming at her. If anyone knew why he was hallucinating visions of his past, it would probably be her.

“Here you go Abraham,” she said at last, handing Abe a cup to drink from.

“It’s Abe,” he corrected curtly. “Abraham is my grandfather.”

He snatched the cup he was offered and sat down at the table beside Roman. Of course Roman remained oblivious to his grandmother’s discomfort, Abe’s disorientation, and the glare that Kaeileen was sending Abe’s way.

What a fun tea party. I don’t know why I never came back for more of these as a kid.

Roman and Kaeileen started talking about school, and while Abe was curious to remember what had been the hot gossip in grade school, his attention remained focused on the two adults who never took their eyes off of him.

“How does it feel to be hosting Abraham Jr?” Kamalani asked with a short laugh. “Did you know he was coming today?”

Malika sighed deeply.

“Not entirely. Roman said he was bringing a friend over from school, and the cards were...not optimistic about it,” she admitted. “So, I told him to bring his new friend over for tea readings. It’s much easier to understand readings when the subject is standing before you, asking you to tell him what’s in his future. I just never thought that Roman would befriend Elaine’s son. Of all the people Roman could befriend, he has to choose the one person named after Abraham.”

“Also the heir to Abraham’s heir, if you believe the whispers,” Kamalani added. She looked far more amused than upset, but then again, Abe had been fooled by her before. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Abraham’s time among the living is short, and Roman knows better than to associate with a Helios. He’ll tire of this little Abraham as soon as we nudge him to better things.”

“Yes, I think so. Young Abraham is a fleeting distraction, and Roman’s much too young to find trouble with Darcy Helios, or that rotting corpse of a sister Abraham created.”

“I’m glad that Roman has Kaeileen to help him once Omar and I have a talk with him about the future,” Kamalani said, sighing again. “They’re such good friends.”

“Practically family,” Malika answered mischievously, earning her a sly smile from her daughter-in-law. “Roman will come to understand the divorce. Things are going to be better this way. Omar never deserved you to begin with. Really, I’m more surprised that you could endure him for this long. Salem knows now that letting him move in with us again was a mistake. Omar will never leave, and we’ll be stuck with his crying and moaning about how pitiful he is for years at this rate. The only good thing to ever come from that boy was Roman, and we all know how little Omar had to do with raising him.”

Gee, tell us all how you really feel about your son. I mean, I knew you were a monster, but damn. I could never talk about Theo that way.

“Okay, I’m done, Grandma!” Roman cried, startling Abe from his eavesdropping.

Roman and Kaeileen both finished their tea and lined up for inspection.

“Abe, are you coming?” Roman asked. “It’s time to tell our future. Finish your tea.”

Abe looked at Roman’s expectant eyes, and then over to Malika’s carefully composed expression. He could remember living this day before faintly, and what he could remember of this one random day in his childhood hadn’t been pleasant. He had no desire to repeat the cruel things that grown adults had told him were in his future as a child. Seeing as this all didn’t seem to be real anyway, Abe wouldn’t play along. He knew that Roman’s family had tried to ruin their friendship when they were kids, but as soon as puberty hit, and feelings developed, Abe had been the victor. He had Roman now, and Kamalani and Malika were dead...or something worse than dead even.

“Oh no,” Abe stated stoically, as he dropped his glass “accidentally” on the carpet. Tea seeped into the rug, and the leaves Malika wanted to inspect fell into a messy pile on the floor. “Oops, I guess you’ll just have to skip my reading.”

Abe didn’t even have time to enjoy his defiance. As soon as the cup hit the ground, that same nauseating feeling overcame him again, and he felt himself being pulled once again.

“Hey, why don’t you finish your picture from yesterday?” he heard Roman suggest. “You left your art supplies here, so you might as well.”

Abe’s footing wavered for a second, but this second change was easier than the first. He looked at his surroundings, and was surprised to now be in Roman’s bedroom. Kaeileen sat on the couch, glaring daggers at Abe, while Roman gestured to the canvas that Abe had apparently previously left with Roman.

Oh yeah, I used to scribble things as a kid. I haven’t touched my sketching pencil or a brush in years. Like the year before Roman left for boarding school at least, maybe more. When everything started going badly in Arkhelios, and I started hearing voices in my walls, I stopped everything, and I’ve never looked back. I mean, given that the old house is condemned and was damaged beyond repair from demonic portals, I don’t think any of my art stuff is still there to retrieve, but maybe I could buy some new supplies and start over. Get back into a hobby again, and relearn it with Theo.

Of course the project that he’d left at the Bellamy house was a portrait of Roman. Abe grabbed a brush, and made some clumsy strokes on the canvas, waiting for muscle memory to fill in the gaps in his artistic ability. It looked a little childish, but hey, he was currently a child and hadn’t painted in years. No one could reasonably expect a masterpiece under these conditions.

“You guys are boring,” Kaeileen laughed, as she jumped on the vacated couch. “Is that all you’re going to do until dinner? Why don’t we head to the park and play basketball? My dad bought me a new ball.”

“No, Kaeileen,” both boys said together, and Kaeileen stopped her excited jumping. She looked angry, but tried her best to hide it.

“You’re always busy now, Roman,” she sneered. “You used to be fun. Now all you want to do is hang around Abe, and play video games with Abe, and share your lunch with Abe. We never do anything fun anymore. Not without Abe anyway.”

“Maybe I like him better than you,” Roman replied, giving her an angry glare. “I think Abe is fun, and you’re dumb. Grandpa says your family is ruining Arkhelios anyway. Your dad’s a nobody, and your mom is-”

“Roman, that’s not nice!” Abe interrupted suddenly. “Kaeileen’s our friend, and anyway, my mom says that your grandpa is who’s ruining Arkhelios, not Kaeileen’s family.” The words came to Abe like a script, echoing his words from the past back when this was his reality. It certainly wasn’t what he’d be saying about Kaeileen now.

Kaeileen stuck out her tongue at Roman, her earlier laughter now forgotten.

“Oh no, Roman can’t think for himself, he needs his boyfriend to come save him,” she said coldly. “Why don’t you just marry him then? If Abe is so great, then go marry him and leave me alone. I’ve got lots of other friends to hang out with, and you just have him.”

“What? How does that...?” Abe was having trouble following their juvenile conversation with his adult brain, but he could feel the tension gathering between Roman and Kaeileen. Was this when they had their big blowout with each other? No, he vaguely remembered that catastrophe happening much closer to the start of puberty. There were words and concepts they had screamed at each other that no small child should know about.

Abe remembered Roman much differently as a kid, but clearly his emotions had coloured his memory. Salem had been influencing his grandson from the moment he was born, and Abe wouldn’t be surprised if his adult Roman didn’t still secretly harbour some notions of Bellamy supremacy from all of that brainwashing. .

Without warning, Abe felt another sucker punch to his stomach, as the force that had dragged him to wherever he was now, apparently had other plans in mind for him.

"Roman? What are you-"

Abe locked eyes with the glowing form before him, convinced that he was about to suffer Adrian's fate any second now. Abe had watched the news clips of the Siew family's deaths many times, and he knew that things were about to end badly for him. Very badly. There was no denying that this was the same intense flashing that had been caught on tape at the crime scene, though for some reason, the figure before him was far more defined, radiating with burning intensity.

“Roman?” it said again, and Abe froze in place, not daring to move a single muscle. “Roman?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s me, Roman,” he lied, trying to match Roman’s voice as best he could but failing miserably. “I’m warning you, I, uh, know magic. Dark magic, so be careful.”

Abe had searched his memory for what exactly Roman did have to defend himself, but had come up empty. He could teleport, and had said something about an accident with a fire spell once, so Abe didn’t have much to lie about if this entity knew anything about the actual Roman. The few spells Roman did know, he deliberately hid from Abe, as magic had always frightened him, leaving Abe with nothing to bluff with.

The figure cocked it’s head slightly, staring intensely at him still.

I hope Theo remembers me, and how much I loved him. I should have written him something just in case, considering how many times I’ve almost died. I hope Roman’s life is happy without me. I never wanted him to be a single father. I never-

Just as the figure began to reach out towards him, Abe felt his stomach churn like he was trapped on a boat in a storm. He’d never been so relieved to feel so bad in his life. Nauseousness meant that something was about to pull him away from all of this. Nauseousness meant escape. Nauseousness meant survival.

Right on cue, Abe felt something grab for him, ripping him away from the impending touch of this terrifying entity, and for the first time since he had been trapped wherever he was, Abe finally felt some of the terror leave him. Wherever he was off to next, maybe his kidnapper didn’t want him dead, after all.

Thanks to @potentialfate-sims for the idea to try to replicate the pink flashing and not just angering my graphics card on purpose when I need to 😅

#sims 2 #arkhelios #arkhelios university #abe chun #Kaeileen Rivales #roman bellamy #sorry for the novel #sims 2 pictures #Malika Bellamy #kamalani bellamy

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marvel-girl-13 · 4 years ago

Text

Fic writer interview

Tagged by the ever amazing @mamashitty

Name: Libby (although those who know me from my younger writing days can still call me Livvy)

Fandoms: The MCU and Harry Potter. Most of my Harry Potter fan stuff is mostly with OCs, involving the wonderful world that is Harry Potter’s. In a way, it just really involves that tiny aspect of the world. Sometimes I write some extra stuff for those characters (which can be found on my other page @roleplaycharacter1shots). Never been brave enough to write anything about the original characters, but who knows.

My main love (and a majority of my fanfic writing) involves the MCU. I first started with X-Men years and years ago, although most of that involves major OCs and it is all handwritten still. I took a break when I started college, mostly working on the HP OCs. But once TFATWS came out, I really got back into things with Bucky and an OC I had had stewing for quite some time. I also did some RP with Loki a while back. But right now, Bucky really occupies my mind.

Other Fandoms: I read lots of actor-related writing lately, mostly of MCU actors. I don’t think I’d even write anything with them personally, but reading them is a guilty pleasure of mine. I don’t really branch outside of the MCU/HP other than that, so not too many other fandoms.

Two-shot: I did not know this was a thing until I was tagged in this, haha. And apparently that is basically the two projects I have currently been working on are (although they are more multiple-shots, since they’re each over 25-ish pages each…).

Most Popular Multi-Chapter: I haven’t released them to the public yet, but I hope the two I’m currently bouncing between get at least a few views!

Actual Worst Part of Writing: Dialogue. My brain essentially plays everything out like a film, but I really do suck at witty comebacks and conversations. I can describe the hell out of most things because I want people to see what I see (I used to be really into this, like describing full outfits and such in my younger years). In a way, my descriptive nature is also not that great, since it tends to lead to a lot of run-on sentences sometimes. I am getting better at this though! It makes me wonder if in my other life I could have been a director or something, haha.

How You Choose Your Titles: I suck at titles. I have to really be inspired by something to use it, usually from a song. I also work too hard at being original and then come up with nothing. My current WIPs are currently without titles and probably will be when they’re finished.

Do You Outline: Not at all. I did once to start something, had great ideas… and then never actually wrote anything for it. It basically just starts out with writing down the details of a daydream and then seeing how the next scenes fit together. My X-Men stuff is just a bunch of composition notebooks filled with one-shots in random orders. I don’t have the time to outline or else I lose interest.

Ideas I Probably Won’t Get Around to But Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Loki stuff again, maybe? Right now I’m really on a roll and actually writing all my Bucky stuff down. Although I am wondering if I should get into Steve Rogers/Captain America a little as well…

Callouts @ Me: Just do it. Write the thing. You might actually like how it turns out, you might not. Oh well. Someone else out there likes how you write, so at least spit it out for them.

Best Writing Traits: So I already mentioned descriptive stuff. It makes it great to look back on pieces and be like, “That’s exactly how I remember picturing it, sweet.”

Spicy Tangential Opinion: There’s always going to be someone who hates what you wrote. It’s inevitable, it’s how the world works. Hell, that person could even be you and that’s okay! If you love writing, keep doing it. No one is ever perfect on their first draft and things can be revised. If something doesn’t fit where you originally put it, that doesn’t mean you have to erase it forever. Save it somewhere else, and who knows, maybe it’ll have a new place in that same fic or another one. Not everything is trash.

And also: all characters in the world are up for interpretation. Indeed, there are some traits you can’t just remove or ignore; but if you vividly see that person doing XYZ, then that’s what you see them doing.

Tagging: @bibbitybobbitybooyah, @stormwind13

#fanfic writer interview #fanfic meme

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ripley95 · 4 years ago

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Self-positivity ask! Show off some of your favorite bits of writing. It can be from a WIP or a published work, but go ahead an show off and be proud of your amazing work!

Thank you so much for this awesome ask whoever you are!! It means so much to me that you’re interested and thought of me. I’ve chosen a few passages all from already published works, some are under the read more including a long passage:

From A Cursed Blessing - Synthesis ending one-shot, F!Shenko:

He sees the husks helping rebuild in droves. Once grotesque reanimations of humans, asari and turians with the sole purpose to harvest are now breathing and civilized and have lives of their own. They are no longer hordes meant to kill. They're functional and cooperative. He laments at the thought that his father could be among them. He doesn't know what to make of them, and he can't decide if it's a blessing or a curse.

...

He turns in the middle of the night and moves his arm to envelope a body that isn't there. His fingers brush the empty pillow. He opens his eyes to see his arm, covered in green. He feels tears begin to form. He shuts his eyes tight and presses his fingers gently against his eyelids, and still sees green. Everything's green. He curses it and wants to scream. Just one night, he doesn't want the reminder. He clings the empty pillow tightly to his chest and imagines how he used to brush her hair out of her face as she slept. He remembers that this green sheen was because of her. The thought of it quiets his breath. He trusts in her decision. It was an end to the war, even if it wasn't how they'd planned it. He still doesn't know what happened up there, but he knows he would have done anything to stop the war. He knows he may very well have done the exact same thing as Shepard had their positions been reversed. It's a small comfort. He reminds himself that they'd won, and the war is over, and that's all that should matter. He willfully reaffirms that this is a blessing as much as it feels like a curse. He bunches the pillow up closer to his face and is saddened that it no longer smells like her. It hasn't for quite some time now. Eventually, he finds fitful sleep.

From This Ratty Old Thing - Post Alchera, Hannah Shepard grieving the death of her daughter:

She looked back to the screen then, any trace of mirth entirely gone. “Sometimes I wonder if we pushed you into this life. It was never my intention. As much as I’ve appreciated my time in the Alliance, I always felt like it was my only option. I never wanted that for you. I can’t deny that you’ve done well with it, but sometimes I wish I pushed you harder to consider other things. We never really talked about our careers much, but were you happy? Did you like it?” She cut herself off rather abruptly after that, realising she would never get a response.

Her gaze shifted back to the stuffed dog. Any semblance of happy memories was exchanged for something resembling disdain. “They never even found your body. How is someone supposed to grieve with no proof of death? I don’t even have any ashes. No dog tags. Nothing!” She was visibly upset now, still not looking at the screen. She waited until she calmed down slightly before continuing. “Nothing but this ratty old thing.”

She gave the toy one last glance as she brushed her thumb over the dog’s face, and set it down on the desk. She didn’t even bother looking back at the screen as she stood up, her finger hovering over the power button to her terminal.

“This was a mistake.”

She pushed the power button, and the room returned to blackness.

From Echoes of Old Embers - Post-War, accidental/fake dating, F!Shenko (this one’s long) Honestly, I think this has become my favourite story of mine, and it probably has most of my favourite passages in it, but only chose one to share:

Maisie walked up to them, moving to the beat as she made her way from the dance floor.

“What, you guys aren’t going to dance?” She asked with a beaming grin on her face.

Even if this was an ideal situation and she and Kaidan were somehow together, she would have had a good excuse for getting out of this one. She may as well have been a ballerina on the battlefield, but she had absolutely no rhythm when it came to dancing. Unless she wanted to make a mockery of herself, she wasn’t about to go out there. It was one thing in privacy with her crew. Under normal circumstances, she might not even mind letting loose here, but it would have been one more thing to draw attention to her. For the most part, Libby’s already had her magical night, but she still hated the potential to steal it from her and opted to want to stay on the sidelines.

“I’m afraid I’m a horrible dancer,” Shepard said.

“What?” Maisie asked incredulously, stopping dead in her tracks. “You can’t be serious. You?”

“Oh, she’s telling the truth all right,” Kaidan said from beside her with a snort.

“Hey! You’re one to talk. I seem to remember you making finger guns at that party in my apartment,” she said with a big grin on her face.

“Hey, now, this conversation isn’t about me. Maisie’s already well aware of my dancing abilities.”

“Uh-huh,” Shepard said with a smile that she couldn’t help thinking would wane the moment that Maisie left them alone again.

“It’s true, I know he’s got no game on the dance floor. You, on the other hand, are not allowed to say that without a show,” she said, all but ready to drag Shepard into the middle of the crowd when Shepard pulled back.

“Maisie, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want to draw attention to myself,” Shepard tried to say in a lowered voice.

Maisie huffed out a laugh at her. “Well, if that’s your goal, maybe you should reconsider. Have you taken a good look at that crowd?” she asked, turning to look at everyone dancing. “Everyone’s making a fool of themselves. Only ‘Commander Shepard’ would have a complex about this. If you ask me, I think standing on the sidelines is probably drawing more attention to you than however bad your dancing must be.”

Shepard looked out into the crowd. Sure enough, it was full of people just letting loose. No one cared about how they looked, though she still thought her skills were subpar to everyone out there. At the same time, she probably wasn’t bad enough to draw attention away from everyone else who was just out there having fun.

Shepard turned to Kaidan then, “Shit. She has a point, doesn’t she?”

“I’m afraid she might,” Kaidan said with a smirk.

“Yes! You know I’m always right,” Maisie said with a smile.

“You don’t have to rub it in,” Kaidan said, holding his hand out to Jane. “Shall we?”

“Can’t wait to see this,” Maisie said with a smirk.

Maisie took their glasses and Kaidan gave her the tiniest of glares before he and Shepard made their way out onto the dance floor.

“So, do you have a buzz going yet?” Kaidan asked.

Shepard looked at him, slightly amused. “A bit,” she answered.

“Good, because I think it’ll at least help us not be so self-conscious out here,” he said with a smile as he started dancing.

Maybe it was because she was teasing him about it moments before, but it seemed like he would be leaving his finger guns holstered for the evening. His rhythm was almost as bad as hers. In fact, it was as bad as hers. It brought back memories of them dancing in that casino on the Citadel when they were trying to figure out who stole her identity. Before they even knew she had a clone. They had the exact same dance style then too… And somehow she was always the one that got flack about it from the crew. It made her wonder how security at the casino never thought they were suspicious, because who would want to be seen dancing like that out in public? Shepard had to laugh at the memory of it.

“What?” he said, in mock offense as he stopped dancing immediately, thanks to her outburst. “You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not that,” she said, grabbing his arms to get him to start bopping them again. “It’s just that, I’d say we’re two peas in a pod or something.”

She started mimicking his moves. Not that she was trying to match him or anything, but more because she legitimately didn’t know any other way to dance. She never knew what to do with her arms. Or her legs for that matter... or where to look. Practically nothing came naturally to her about dancing, but then again, she rarely ever had a partner. Today, she had Kaidan as a distraction and it was easier to let go of the insecurities, already knowing that she looked ridiculous, because he looked ridiculous too. They looked into each other’s eyes. It made both of them laugh some more as they kept dancing.

She didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the dancing, but the night’s tension finally started to feel like it was easing away. She liked seeing Kaidan let loose a bit. It wasn’t something that was typically easy for him either.

Before they knew it, they danced through song after song, and the tempo suddenly changed to something much slower. That made them both stop and catch their breath as they looked to each other again, wondering what to do.

Kaidan saw everyone else around them starting to dance, so he looked back towards her with a smile, holding his hands out in question for her to join him. “I guess we probably should.”

Shepard looked around her, realising the same thing. “Right,” she said as she put her hands in his, and he pulled her closer.

Thanks again for this ask! This was really fun to pick out some favourites.

#my writing #mass effect fanfiction #snippets #F!Shenko #Hannah Shepard #asks and answers #thank you!!!#Anonymous

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austennerdita2533 · 3 years ago

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Hey!! Apologize for responding so late this time I’ve had a crazy few weeks/month. I’ve been moving, graduating my masters program, applying to med school, starting a new job, and a whole bunch of stuff!!

But yay I hope you find a Penelope Douglas book you like out of everything I’ve read I still like Birthday Girl that most, but I think that’s because I just loved the couple so much.

I did finish her Devil’s Night series! It was pretty good, it is definitely dark though. Some of the themes got a little overused in my opinion and I do think it is slightly over hyped but it’s still good. I would say each book was a solid 3.5/4 for me. The second book in the series, Hideaway, was my favorite but again I’m a little bias since they were my favorite couple of the series. But all the characters really grow (even the ones I hate) Although I still think Damon’s redemption arc wasn’t as good as it should of been. In my opinion he got off a little easy for what he did. However, I think I just have a negative opinion about all Damons thanks to Ian Somerhalder, because anytime I picture a Damon I think of him and I don’t like him so that probably has to do with it. But, anyway each of the 4 horsemen get their own book and story. All the couples are kind of lovers to enemies to lovers in a way. And it’s told in both flashbacks and present time so I really enjoyed how the story and the relationships were built through both. Overall, a good series though!! Especially for around October since most of the series surrounds around Devils night aka the night before Halloween.

Ooh I haven’t heard of the CrossFire series but it seems like something I might like so I will have to check it out and maybe add it to my tbr, thank you!!

I’ve heard about Lolita (they actually talk about in one of the Devils Night book) and My Dark Vanessa, I’m not sure if i will ever read them though. But I agree with everything you said about reading and fiction in general. And just because you read about something does not mean you condone it in real life either. But if you get to Credence definitely let me know what you think! I still loved it and I didn’t find it disturbing at all, but I understand why it’s not a book for everyone.

I know😩 i found an expert of the Atlas Paradox (book 2) on her website and I’m already excited for it I can’t wait!! She also said the third book so be out no more than 6 months after the second so we won’t have to wait as long thankfully.

I do the same thing with my emotions as you I’m very guarded with them, I think it has to do with my depression when I was a teenager I just learn to shut it all off to avoid feelings things which was a bad idea but well it happened. I actually watched an interview with Olivie and she talked about how we will left to know more about Callum in the next few books.

Yes!! Parisa is definitely a Katherine or even Rebekah Mikealson type. I love her and I’m so interested to see what happens with her and Dalton (because who even is Dalton like what is up with him and his subconscious).

YES LIBBY CORRUPTION ARC! Basically Olivie said she was tired or mortality arcs and she wants to write about what happens when someone gets really mad. So we get to see how both Libby and Callum deal with that intense anger. I definitely didn’t say it as eloquently as she did, but that’s the general picture.

No way your from the Pittsburgh area too?? That’s so cool what a small world, maybe that’s why I felt gravitated to you to talk about books with :)

Thank you for appreciating my love for NicoLibby❤️ I have no idea if they will happen or not but I will love them regardless. But don’t worry I feel the same way about Tristan Callum they really grew on me as the series went on. I could also see Parisa and Reina too if she went down that road I wouldn’t be mad about it either.

I think I want to try some other books of hers: I’m really interested in Alone With You in the Ether and One For My Enemy. She’s also coming out with a YA series My Mechanical Romance next year under actual name Alexene Farol Follmuth (Olivie Blake is her pen name since that’s what she used to write her dramione fan fiction under-which you can still read if you like them!!) which comes out next year. I’m not sure I’ll read it but figured I would give it a shoutout anyway. I’m also currently in the hunt for good dark academia books too since I’m in the mood for that genre ever since reading TA6 so if you have any suggestions let me know!! I think right now I have A Lesson in Vengeance and If We Were Villains on my tbr, but I’m looking for more.

In other news I FINALLY read Ugly Love!! It was so good, my only complaint was I felt the ending was a tad bit rushed. I wish there was another chapter or two at the end, but I still loved it. It was a really unique writing style too especially for some of the flashbacks. So I would recommend that free sample first to see if you like the style since it’s a bit pricey. But the story was cute but also sad. I read it all in one day though I could not put it down.

Oooh Wish You Were Here sounds really interesting I will have to check it out!! I’m not currently into much nonfiction stuff but if I’m ever in the mood for that I will look into The Splendid and The Vile!

Im currently reading The Sevens Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I just started the Bridge Kingdom, and still as always working through tog. I’m hoping to start The Hating Game this week though!! Hope you are doing well!!

Till next time,

ACOTAR Anon

Hello again, nonnie!

From the sounds of it you have been extremely busy. (I relate! Fall is always insane for me at work, with there never being enough of me or my time to go around, which is why it's taken me so long to get back to you.) Congrats on graduating from your masters program, btw! That's an amazing accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself. Good luck with the med school applications. Completing those is...well, a process lmao. I helped my brother with his, the personal statements/essay portions in particular, and it was a lot of work. Even for me. Basically I've been my family's/friends' resident Editor in Chief for years now.

I'm angling to read The Devil's Night series sometime this fall, I think. Hopefully, anyway. It sounds like the kind of thing I'd want to read in the fall because of the dark Halloween-y vibes. I love the idea of the couples being mostly enemies-to-lovers because that's my favorite romance trope. Also, isn't it terrible when a person with a particular name gets a bad connotation and then every time you see/hear it - even if it's a different character or person - your brain automatically thinks of them? I HATE THAT.

I'll be sure to let you know if/when I get to Credence! Once I do, I'm sure I'll write a review that will be floating around here or on my book blog.

Oooh! I'm totes gonna have to check out Olivie Blake's website to take a peek at that excerpt for book 2! Sometimes I kick myself for starting book series before it's finished because if I like it then I have to sit there in anticipatory angst for months and months haha. At least there's only going to be about a six month gap between book 2 and book 3. That's hardly any time at all. It'll go by fast! (However, if there's another huge ass cliffhanger at the end of the second book then we're going to be right back where we are now.)

Dalton is such an enigma, right? It's almost like he has a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on because of the darkness that hides in his subconscious. Or, like, maybe darkness has possessed him somehow? Idk. It's interesting to me that Parisa is drawn to that part of him like a moth to a flame. There has to be something to that.

Also, I am so here for a Libby corruption arc! She was probably the purest of heart out of all the characters in the first book so I can't wait to see how what's happened to her has changed things. A part of me sort of hopes she pushes back against Callum a bit because he was such a demeaning prick to her. And honestly, I think he has it coming.

What I find to be refreshing abut TLA6 is that the ship dynamics are open enough after book 1 for readers to get behind a bunch of potential pairings. I could totes get behind NicoLibby, Libby x Tristan, Reina and Parisa, Callum and Tristan, Parisa and Dalton etc. All I need as a reader is the tiniest push in whichever direction. In the meantime, it's fun to speculate. It'll also give fic writers a lot to play with.

I want to try some of her other books as well. And I've also been meaning to read some of her multichapter Dramione fics. Haven't gotten around to that yet. I think I might end up checking out her upcoming YA title so thanks for the rec! Do you know if she self-publishes? I was just curious.

Since you said you're in the mood for dark academia reads right now, you should absolutely read If We Were Villains. It's a little pretentious with all the Shakespeare allusions and whatnot but that's kind of the point. They're a bunch of snobby actors lol. Besides, the character dynamics are great. It definitely feels more like a YA read, though. Not that there's anything wrong with that because it's entertaining as hell, but when I think about it next to The Secret History by Donna Tartt, which is another fantastic dark academia murder mystery of sorts, its themes aren't as mature or quite as fucked up. TSH is somehow even more pretentious than IWWV, but in the perfect way because they're studying the Classics. It's one of a few 5-star reads I've come across for me within the last couple of years.

Another dark academia series is The Scholomance by Naomi Novik. It's a planned trilogy. A Deadly Education (book 1) is already out and The Last Graduate (book 2) comes out September 28th. Novik is wonderful at creating atmospheric fantasies and this one has a Hogwarts-if-Hogwarts-were-trying-to-kill-you vibe. The school itself is almost like a Stranger Things creature. I will caution you that the narrative voice/style isn't palatable to some folks. The story is told in a stream of consciousness fashion so there's a lot of exposition and extemporaneous detail, which can feel like it's bogging down the action at times. It's definitely a slower-paced fantasy. I've enjoyed it, though. It's different.

There's the Villains Series by V.E. Schwab, too - Vicious and Villains. They're two of my favorite books by her.

And then these ones are on my on tbr: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (which I'm going to read soon), and A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee (which you already included).

Aww yay! I'm glad to hear you finally got around to Ugly Love and enjoyed it so much. I think I just bought a couple Colleen Hoover books because they were on sale. I can't remember if I got that one or not lmao. I want to give that one a read, though, because people talk about it a lot and I'm curious now.

Have you finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo yet? I just read it a couple weeks ago myself. I put it off for a long time because it had so much hype, even though I've been a Taylor Jenkins Reid fan for a while now. I don't want to say too much in case you haven't finished it, but I will tell you that I loved it. The story and its characters really snuck up on me. There was something about it that was compulsively readable. Kinda hate myself for waiting so long to read it haha. I was missing out. Let me know what you thought of it!

How are you liking ToG? I couldn't get into that series as much for some reason. I still have 1 or 2 books to get through. I believe I read half of Queen of Shadows and then...just stopped lol. And I hope you like(d) The Bridge Kingdom. It sounds like a good premise. I just bought the first book the other because it was on sale on Kindle for $1.

I'LL BE DYING TO HEARD YOUR THOUGHTS ON THG, BTW.

So, this might be because it's almost fall and we're getting closer to Halloween, but I've been in the mood to read some science fiction and horror. (The horror makes no sense because I hate to be scared - like HATE it with every fiber of my being - but I'm just rolling with it.) I'm gonna give Renegades by Marissa Meyer here a go soon. I loved the Lunar Chronicles by her so I'm excited. I might also finally get around to Seveneves by Neal Stephenson or The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Who knows? (Both have been on my bookshelves or on my Kindle collecting dust for years now.) I've also somehow talked myself into reading some classic Stephen King horror - which will be an experience because he is a master of making ordinary shit terrifying - so I'm currently trying to decide between The Shining, The Stand, or Carrie for some time in October.

Anyway, enough of my mindless babbling! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day, and as usual, thanks so much for talking books with me! xx

#anonyous #darling acotar anon #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks books

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titriwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Polaroid Picture -- Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Huh, so what have you all been up to since April? *hides* I’m so sorry for the wait, but here, have a (hopefully) nice surprise on this lovely Sunday evening

Read either here on AO3 or under the cut :) And enjoy!

Chapter 13

Beth drives, humming along to the music on the radio, bobbing her head. It’s a warm day, and with the weekend approaching she’s in a good mood. Well, it’s not only the weather and the lack of traffic on her way – she’s taken the Friday off too in order to have one more day in Suffolk – that makes her happy today. It’s also that she hasn’t seen Diana in a few months, and she’s excited to be invited.

She wasn’t sure, Beth has to admit, about coming. It’s always been a little strange – at least her friends say so – to still be so close to her ex-husband’s family. But they don’t really understand. While they’re all close to their respective in laws, there’s something about knowing your boyfriend’s and later husband’s family almost as good as your own. They’d been so close, Tom, Emma, Sarah, Matt and Beth. There’d been sleepovers and ghost stories long before sex and love stories. And now with her own parents gone, Tom’s family became hers, and they adopted her and Matt with open arms.

It’s not her fault, really, that Tom’s been gone for so long to lose contact.

But she’s not thinking about Tom now. She’s enjoying the scenery, and then she’s going to enjoy the company of Diana, Sarah, Emma and their husbands and children. Beth laughs softly to herself. Jack and Yakov will possibly suffer a lot with all those women chatting and laughing away – though to be fair, there will also be cooking involved, and they’re almost always nice to the boys.

After half an hour longer on the road, Beth parks in the driveway of Diana’s home. It’s gotten even warmer, this Thursday quickly turning out to be lovely enough to spend some of the evening with a walk on the beach. Beth takes a deep breath as she gets out of her car. Goodness, she missed the smell of the seaside.

She’s not even fully reached the front door of the house, bag now in hand, when the door swings open and the shout from Sarah’s five-year-old daughter can be heard.

“Aunty Libby!” she shouts while running full speed ahead, her mother’s laughter behind her. Beth has learned not to cringe at the sound of the once so very familiar nickname. It’s not Violet’s fault her uncle – an uncle she probably doesn’t even know – used to call her the same. She simply couldn’t say ‘Beth’, and Diana, bless her heart, called her Libby once and it stuck with the little girl.

The little girl who’s now reaching Beth, who sweeps her up in her arms and twirls both of them around twice, shouts of joys coming from Violet. “Hello, Poppy.”

She scrunches up her nose. “That’s not my name.”

“Noooo?” Beth lips shape an ‘O’. “Really? Sorry, then I used the wrong flower. How are you, little Lilly?”

The girl in her arms giggles. “That’s not my name, too!”

“What? Just how many flowers are there then? Is it Rose? Or Petunia?”

“You’re silly, Libby.”

“Oh!” Beth pokes the little girl in the tummy, making her giggle. “I know. Hello, lovely Violet.” The smile on her face makes Beth almost cringe with how much it reminds her of Tom. Again, it’s not Violet’s fault. She simply resembles the Hiddleston part of her family a lot.

“Hello, Libby.”

They grin at each other as Beth carries her niece – she officially still is that just as Beth is her aunty, right? – back to Sarah and what Beth assumes is the rest of the family. And just as she thought, Sarah, Emma and Diana all greet the duo by the door. Already it’s a loud bunch, but Beth soaks it up and revels in it. There are hugs and warm words, Beth is putting down her bag, and in the background, she can hear Jack and Yakov presumably in the living-room watching what sounds like a movie.

Violet is still in her arms, she’s a bit heavier than the last time they’ve seen each other, which was probably three or four months ago. But it doesn’t matter, this heaviness. Beth’s so happy to see them all again.

But then she notices it. Emma and Sarah are exchanging glances, seemingly trying to convince the other to do something. Diana is the personified calm. Before Beth can ask about it though, Violet pipes up from her place in Beth’s arms.

“Can I sleep in your room, Aunt Libby?”

“Of course, you can if you want to.” Beth’s room is on the first floor right at the end of the hallway. She used to stay in there when she visited with Tom. It doesn’t look the same anymore, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to sleep there. Depending on how many people are in Diana’s house little Violet does have her own room though, on the ground floor with Sarah and Yakov sleeping in the former office. Maybe the parents were simply tired of it? “But don’t you want to sleep in your own room?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Oh?” Beth feels the mood shift. Emma’s and Sarah’s faces change, and this time there is a small flicker of something like cringing on Diana’s face. Blink and you miss it, though.

“Nah. Tom and Julia sleep there.”

Silence. Beth grins, then blinks. Huh? She’s heard ‘Tom and Julia’, but that can’t be. She’s tried not to even think those names for the last month. And yet, now it seems as Violet’s said them. Beth feels herself freezing.

“What?” It’s her voice filling the silence. Even the living-room seems to be quiet now. Or maybe Beth is just numb and deaf.

Violet’s got her sass from the Hiddlestons too, because she’s rolling her eyes now. “Tom and Julia sleep there,” she repeats. Slowly and a bit louder. Nope. Doesn’t sound better the second time around. Do they maybe know other couples with that name?

“Your…” Beth clears her throat. “Uhm…” She looks around. The adults exchange glances again, this time the sisters seem to send their mum looks that say ‘I told you so’. Beth still doesn’t know what’s going on. “Tom is here?”

***

Turns out, Tom is there. Not currently, and not for the past hours Beth’s been sitting in Diana’s kitchen, trying to decide whether she should just leave before Tom and Julia are back from their walk – so much Diana told her – or whether she can be brave and stay. But an entire long weekend with the two of them? No. Someone will be going to get killed that way. Or maybe both.

“Okay,” she sighs, sipping her tea and shooting a glance Diana’s way, who’s sitting across from her at the other end of the kitchen table. “Tell me again why you did it? And why you’re meddling with this?”

Diana actually has the nerve to look offended. “I don’t meddle. I simply invited my daughter in law.”

“Ex.”

“Not yet.”

“Diana.”

“Elizabeth.”

Beth opens her mouth to answer, maybe yell a bit, but she can’t go on, because in that moment there are noises at the front door. It’s the first time Diana starts to look a bit panicked and Beth watches with some sort of satisfaction, before her own panic sets in.

She doesn’t want this. She’s never wanted to see Tom – and most of all Julia – again, and now they’re going to walk through the kitchen door in less than 30 seconds. Maybe she can hide, or make a really quick exit through the garden behind the house? Or maybe hide in the garden? Yeah, running and hiding sound like good options now. Beth almost chokes on her tea, setting the mug down with shaking hands.

There’s laughter in the hallway, and the TV in the living-room is switched off. Of course, the family wants to listen in. A bunch of nosy people, the Hiddlestons and their partners.

And then, Beth catches a glimpse of Tom holding hands with his fiancée as they walk past the door, hanging up their jackets. Tom looks wary. Of course, he must have spotted the car in the driveway.

Then he turns his head, and suddenly Beth locks eyes with him. Her heart is beating fast, her mouth goes dry, and she can’t hear anything apart from her own breathing. Tom smiles, then blinks, then frowns, and in the end, he just looks shocked with eyes wide open, lips parted and his Adam’s apple moving as he swallows heavily.

Oh God. Damn, she should have left.

Before she can voice that thought or even think about anything else, Tom is approaching the kitchen with large steps, dragging Julia along with him.

“What—" Beth hears Tom’s fiancée, but there is no answer, because now Tom’s in the kitchen with them, looking from Diana to Beth, Diana and then Beth again.

“What the fuck is going on?” He goes from confused to angry in mere seconds, and although Beth has known him for more than twenty years now, she’s never seen him like that. Mad at her, yes, silent, brooding, disappointed, childish, all of that. But never once angry like this, veins pulsing, voice shaking along with the finger he’s pointing at her now, swallowing hard and going red and sweaty in seconds. “Why are you here?” he hisses. “What are you planning?”

“Tom—”

“No, Mum. I’m not talking to you at the moment.” He’s seething now, and despite the panic that settles in her gut, in her heart and in her brain, Beth hears footsteps approaching from the living-room. To listen in? Or to act quickly in case this goes out of hand? “I want to know what my ex-wife is doing here the same weekend we’re visiting.” He’s addressing Beth once more. “Do you even have any shame? Doesn’t this feel the slightest bit awkward for you?”

That’s it. That’s enough. But before Beth can stand up from the table and take her leave or even open her mouth to defend herself, Diana speaks up.

“I invited her. She didn’t know you’d be here, I haven’t told her. Don’t blame Beth for everything going on in your life, especially not the things going wrong. She’s a guest of mine.”

Beth swallows, and Tom does too. Behind him, Julia pipes up for the first time since they’ve entered the kitchen. “Well, this is lovely.”

“I want her gone,” Tom whispers, mostly to himself.

“Good,” Beth answers. “I want to go.”

“No!” It’s Diana, and she looks like she’s up for a fight to get her will. “I invited Beth over. Get over with it. I want Elizabeth here.”

“You want me to go then?”

Beth huffs. There it is, the childish side. Big, coming from someone who’s not cared about coming or going for the past six years.

“Don’t be stupid, Tom. I want both of you here.” With a glance at Julia, Diana clears her throat. “The three of you, of course. You’re all adults, you’re going to meet on more than this one occasion, I’m sure. If you meant what you said about visiting more often, there’ll be birthdays spent together.”

Beth glances at the couple. Still angry, still confused. This is going to be horrible. Worse than any family gathering she’s ever had to endure.

***

She stays. She’s actually staying in his mum’s house at the same time he’s there with Julia. Tom still can’t quite understand it. She must feel how uncomfortable this is, right?

And what has his mother been thinking inviting Libby... Beth, Beth of course, over? Tom believes his ex-wife when she says she wasn’t involved. She wouldn’t be that vile, and he can feel the awkwardness radiating off of her.

Julia isn’t any help at all, either. Tom almost feels like she’s bathing in this situation. Feeling smug, showing she’s with Tom now. Showing how Libby... Beth isn’t. He should say something. But should he really? Beth can leave too. She should, actually. It’s his mum’s house. He’s got every right to be here.

He sighs. He wanted to sit in his mother’s garden, relax, feel the sun on his face and not think about anything. That didn't work out so well. And yes, that's mostly Julia's fault. And maybe a little bit Beth's as well. Nah, that’s not true, and Tom knows that. But Julia went shopping. For him. And he doesn’t want to assume, but it could be possible that Julia maybe wants to show Beth who’s the boss of him now as well – not that there actually is one, thank you very much.

But yeah, anyway. Julia went shopping, he’s got new clothes – clothes he’s already wearing to make her happy – and then she went for a walk with his family. Well, at least she can’t see Tom’s pain then. He gets up and winces immediately. Damn it all to hell. Slowly, very slowly, he makes his way through the patio door and into the kitchen. Tom simply has to make it to his room, get out of the clothes and think of something to say to Julia. Maybe he could wrinkle it a bit? He glances at the fridge. No, no, she wouldn’t believe him if he said he used ketchup. For what anyway? Maybe he should fry some eggs?

Before Tom can make the – admittingly quite desperate – attempt to ruin his clothes, a voice stops him. He sighs. Of course, Beth didn’t go with them.

“I’m sorry, but how old are you?”

Huh? He looks at her, leaning there against the kitchen door leading into the hall. “Excuse me?”

Libby’s voice is full of laughter, her face looks like it’s almost splitting in two. “You look like a 12-year-old after a massive growth spurt.”

Tom looks down at himself. He knows what Beth means, but he won’t admit it for the life of him. “It’s fashionable now,” he tries to argue, “men wear it like this.” He was assured of it by Julia and the woman in the shop at least. He's not a hundred percent convinced, but what does he know about fashion anyway?

Beth shrugs, the grin still on her face. “Some men do, yes. But you hate short trousers. And you should. They look terrible, not just on you. Why would you wear trousers that are neither long nor really short? They don’t even reach your ankles.” She looks on sheepishly as she finishes. “Sorry, it’s really not my business.”

It’s really not. But Tom’s tired and he doesn’t want to argue with her. Doesn’t even want to agree with her, either. He just needs to make it down the hall, he’s in pain. So, he just shrugs and makes his way past her, wincing when his shoes – also new – make contact with the sore skin on his Achilles tendon.

Tom knows she’s going to say something just by hearing her take a breath. “Tom, you’re in pain.”

He shakes his head. “Nope, I’m not.”

“You’re limping.”

“It’s the way I’m walking.” He doesn’t want to be mean, he really doesn’t. But she’s right, and she’s not supposed to be. She doesn’t know him anymore.

Okay, Tom admits, even if it’s just to himself. Beth doesn’t need to know him to find out he’s in pain. He’s an actor, yes, but not in his private time. Well, not with Beth. Never has been.

She snorts, and Tom rolls his eyes. He’s almost out of the door, though. “That’s totally not the way you’re normally walking.”

He stops, can’t help the thought rushing through his head – and then straight out of his mouth, because apparently his body is betraying him now. “Ah, you’ve been watching me, huh?”

He blushes in time with Beth, and while Tom tries to make his way out of the room – finally – she stutters, “What? No! I haven’t been watching you. I’ve fucking known you for more than 20 years of my life! I... I... oh, fuck off, I haven’t watched you walk. That’s just creepy, Tom. For fuck’s sake.”

Okay, he stops again, making himself wince once more, but this? This is too good. “Yeah, well. That made me believe you,” he smirks. Tom turns, ignoring the death glare shot his way. “Shit.” He’s sure his Achilles tendons are already blistering.

Tom hears the, “Oh, for fuck’s sake”, but he doesn’t even have time to ask what might be wrong with her now, before he’s dragged to the guest bathroom by his arm, wincing and limping all the way, protesting too, because damn it all, this really, really hurts.

“What the heck is wrong with your feet, Tom?” she asks after she’s made him sit on the toilet seat. He looks up at her, almost sheepishly, feeling like a little boy or young man again, who somehow forgot to do the laundry or bring all the items on the shopping list.

“Nothing,” he mumbles, but then laughs out loud at the exasperated look on Beth’s face. “I’ve got blisters, okay?” Seeing her raised brow Tom continues. “I’ve got new shoes, because apparently mine don’t work with the new trousers. But you shouldn’t see the socks in them. So, I didn’t put them on. I’m barefoot in new shoes, and it hurts. Happy now?”

“Oh, Tom.” She laughs at him, but shakes her head, and Tom is torn between feeling incredibly stupid and happy it’s out and he’s not the only one thinking this was a bad idea. Because he knows that laugh. It’s not meant to be mean, actually she’s already thinking of solutions. She can’t really help herself, it’s just the way she is. “I’ll get you some plasters for that. And please, please promise me you get some socks for those shoes.” Tom nods. He’s too stunned to do anything else. “Alternatively, I can just burn those trousers and say it was an accident,” she winks, “it’s not like I can get on Julia’s bad side any more than I already am.”

And with that she’s gone, leaving Tom to sit on that loo, preparing to take off his shoes. Huh. She’s probably right about that. But he’s not sure if he should feel the way he does about it.

***

Beth hasn’t stopped smiling and grinning since yesterday. She also can't stop shaking her head at Tom’s stupidity. He looked like a teenager in puberty. After a massive growth spurt of course, in love with the most popular girl in school – not that she can relate, she's never been that – who makes him wear the ‘cool’ clothes. He’s never been like that, though, not when Beth knew him anyway. Well, she sighs, people change, and Tom certainly did. But they’ve already established that, right? Right.

She looks around the room, her things packed and ready to be taken to the car. The weekend has been nice, as much as it could with people in it, you don’t want to spend your time with. At least she got to see Tom’s family. Anyway, she can't change it now, so why mourn the time she couldn’t spend with them without Julia running around the house. Or the beach. Or the town. Plus, it’s Sunday, she’s going home today, she won't have to see the two of them ever again, if she doesn’t want to. For real, this time.

Beth takes her bag downstairs with her, where Diana, Sarah and Emma are sitting together in the living-room with biscuits and tea. The men are outside at the playground with little Violet, having said goodbye to Beth earlier. As she looks outside the window and into the garden, she can see Julia pacing on the lawn, her phone pressed to her ear. She looks somewhat excited. Good for her, Beth supposes.

But Tom doesn’t. His hands are tight in his hair, gripping it. He’s frustrated, and he’s also trying to say something. He doesn’t, though. Huh. And then Julia hangs up and comes closer. Beth looks away when they start hugging. No need to watch that.

“Beth?”

“Huh?” She looks around the room. Diana and the girls are grinning at her.

“See anything you like?” Diana asks, pointing outside, her head tilted.

“Just checked.” Her cheeks feel hot, Beth just hopes she doesn’t resemble a tomato.

“Yeah,” Emma pipes up, her eyes glancing Tom’s way. Beth won't look. She won't. “They've been out there for quite some time now.”

Beth shrugs. “Well, maybe they’ve got some things to discuss. They do have to leave eventually, right? Go back to Los Angeles. Or New York. Or, wherever. Don’t they have some work to do?”

Now, the three women Beth loves do dearly are looking at her again. “I don’t know,” Sarah answers. “Do they? I haven’t seen my brother in six years, he sure as hell didn’t inform me about his schedule.”

“Sarah,” Diana admonishes, “he’s tried really well these past few days. Violet adores him.”

It’s clear to see Sarah – and Emma as well – wants to add something, but she can’t, because while they talked, Julia and Tom have made their way back into the house. Julia is looking all giddy, almost bouncing on her heels.

“We want to tell you something!”

Tom really, really doesn’t look like he wants to tell them anything, to be honest. And all of the sudden, Beth isn’t sure she wants them to tell anything, either. Maybe she can just leave very quietly?

“Julia,” he tries, “maybe not now?” He glances Beth’s way, and her suspicions are confirmed. A quick exit is out of the question now, though. Maybe she can drown them out? Or maybe make the ground swallow her.

“Especially now! Elizabeth is part of the plan after all.” Well, that just sounds like shit now.

“Nah,” she says. “I’m not sure I’m part of anything to be honest. Also, I really need to get on the road now. Busy week ahead of me. You wouldn’t believe how many women decided to have their babies next week. Pregnant ladies everywhere.” Emma squeezing her fingers and Tom’s wide eyes make Beth stop her rambling. Yeah, she knows, she knows, no need to rub it in, that was bad. So, she presses her lips together and watches the car crash in front of her happening quietly.

“We’ve just been on the phone with Brian and Judy,” Julia starts her explanation, “they’re our publicists by the way, and they thought it’d be a great idea to go with the flow now, so to speak. And we think it’d be great as well! People got so used to seeing us here in the UK. First in Oxford, then London, and now here. It really would be fitting.”

While Beth feels the heat rising in her body, her heart hammering in her chest, her moth going dry and Emma’s fingers gripping tighter, Diana speaks up. “Excuse me, but I think I speak for all of us, when I say that I don’t have any idea what you’re actually talking about.”

“We’re having our wedding in Oxford, of course!” Julia is grinning, Tom is definitely not.

***

Tagging (oops, please let me know if I used the right list, it’s been a while :D) @devikafernando @itsliterallythis @justthelosersblog @avenger-nerd-mom @archy3001 @nuggsmum @majk78 @hakimo2015 @noplacelikehome77 @theheartofpenelope @mrshiddleston-uk @nonsensicalobsessions @messy-insomniac-bookgirl @pipolaki

#polaroid picture #beth + tom #chapter 13 #tom hiddleston fanfiction #real person fanfiction

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hellomynameisbisexual · 4 years ago

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I’d go so far as to say that the nomination probably saved the site, in fact. For those who need a little background: despite being a small voluntary project the site was nominated for the 2014 Publication of the Year award by Stonewall, the UK’s largest LGBT charity, just nine months after its inception. This was a landmark step in Stonewall’s positive new direction on bi issues. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time Stonewall had specifically nominated a specifically bi publication or organisation for an award. At this point my co-founder, who was taking care of the business side of things, had recently jumped ship and I was seriously considering packing the whole thing in. I won’t lie, I was astonished to read the email.

I’d worked on a publication which won the award under my editorship a few years previously. Unlike Biscuit, however, g3 magazine – at the time one of the two leading print mags for lesbian and bi women in the UK – had an estimated readership of 140,000, had been going for eight years and boasted full-time paid office staff and regular paid freelancers. Biscuit, by contrast, was being dragged along by one weary unpaid editor and a bunch of unpaid writers who understandably, for the most part, couldn’t commit to regularly submitting work.

Little Biscuit’s enormous competition for the award consisted of Buzzfeed, Attitude.co.uk, iNewspaper and Property Week. We didn’t win – that accolade went to iNewspaper – but the nomination was nevertheless, as I say, a huge catalyst to continue with the site. I launched a crowdfunder, which finished way off target. I sold one ad space, for two months. Then nothing. I attempted in vain to recruit a sales manager but nobody wanted to work on commission. Some wonderful writers came and went. There were periods of tumbleweed when I frantically had to fill the site with my own writing, thereby completely defeating the object of providing a platform for a wide range of bi voices.

The Stonewall Award nomination persuaded me to keep going with the site

The departure of the webmaster was another blow. Thankfully by this point I had a co-editor on board – the amazing Libby – so I was persuaded to stick with it. And here we are now. I don’t actually know where the next article is coming from. That’s not a good feeling. But, apart from for Biscuit, I try not to write for free anymore myself, so I understand exactly why that is. As a freelance journo trying to make a living I’ve had to be strict with myself about that. I regularly post on the “Stop Working For Free” Facebook group and often feel a pang of misplaced guilt because I ask my writers to write for free, even though I’m working on the site for free myself, and losing valuable time I could be spending on looking for paid work.

Biscuit hasn’t exactly been a stranger to controversy, in addition to its financial and staffing issues. Its original tagline – “for girls who like girls and boys” – was considered cis-centric by some, leading to accusations that the site had some kind of trans/genderqueer*-phobic agenda. Which was amusing, as at the height of this a) we’d just had two articles about non-binary issues published and b) I was actually engaged to a genderqueer partner, a fact they were clearly unaware of. Now the site is under fire from various pansexual activists who object to the term “bisexual”. To clarify – “girl and boys” was supposed to imply a spectrum and, no, we don’t think “bi” applies only to an attraction to binary folk. The site aims the main part of its content at female-spectrum readers attracted to more than one gender because this group does have specific needs. But there is something here for EVERYONE bisexual. Anyway, it’s a shame all of this gossip was relayed secondhand, and the people in question didn’t think to confront me about it (which at least the pan activists have bothered to do). We damage our community immeasurably with these kinds of Chinese whispers.

Biscuit ed Libby, being amazing

Whilst trying to keep the site afloat, I’ve also been building on the work I started right back when I edited g3, and trying to improve bi visibility in other media outlets. I’ve recently had articles published by Cosmopolitan, SheWired, The F-Word, GayStar News and Women Make Waves and I’m constantly emailing other sites which I’ve not yet written for with bi pitches. Unfortunately, although I am over the moon to be writing for mainstream outlets such as Cosmo about bi issues, it’s been an uphill struggle trying to persuade some editors out there that they have more readers to whom bi-interest stories apply than they might think. It’s an incredibly exhausting and frustrating process.

Libby and I are doing our best with Biscuit. I can’t guarantee that I would be doing anything at all with it if Libby hadn’t arrived on the scene, so once again I would like to mention how fabulous she is. But we desperately need more writers. We need some help with site design and tech issues. We need a hand with the business and sales side of things. We can’t do it without you. And if you know any rich bisexual heiresses who read Biscuit, please do send them our way. 😉

Grant Denkinson’s story

denkinsonpanel

Grant speaks on a panel chaired by Biscuit’s Lottie at a Bi Visibility Day event

So first of all, explain a little about the activism you’re involved/have been involved in.  

“I’ve been involved with bisexual community organising for a bit over 20 years. Some has been within community: writing for and editing our national newsletter, organising events for bisexuals and helping others with their events by running workshop sessions or offering services such as 1st aid. I’ve spoken to the media about bisexuality and organised bi contingents at LGBT Pride events (sometimes just me in a bi T-shirt!). I’ve helped organise and participated in bi activist weekends and trainings. I’ve help train professionals about bisexuality. I’ve also piped up about bisexuality a lot when organising within wider LGBT and gender and sexuality and relationship diversity umbrellas. I’ve been a supportive bi person on-line and in person for other bi folks. I’ve been out and visibly bi for some time. I’ve helped fund bi activists to meet, publish and travel. I’ve funded advertising for bi events. I’ve set up companies and charities for or including bi people. I’ve personally supported other bi activists.”

 What made you get involved?

“ In some ways I was looking for a way to be outside the norm and to make a difference and coming out as bi gave me something to push against. I’ve been less down on myself when feeling attacked. I’ve also found the bi community very welcoming and where I can be myself and so wanted to organise with friends and to give others a similar experience. There weren’t too many others already doing everything better than I could.”

How do you feel about the state of bi activism worldwide (esp UK and USA) at the moment?

“There have been great changes for same-sex attracted people legally and socially and these have happened quickly. Bi people have been involved with making that happen and benefit from it. We can also be hidden by gay advances or actively erased. We still have bi people not knowing many or any other local bi people, not seeing other bisexuals in the mainstream or LGT worlds and not knowing or being able to access community things with other bis. We are little represented in books or the media and people don’t know about the books and zines and magazines already available. The internet has made it easy to find like-minded people but also limited privacy and I think is really fragmented and siloed. It is hard to find bisexuals who aren’t women actors, harmful or fucked up men or women in pornography designed for straight men. We have persistent and high quality bi events but they are sparse and small.”

What’s causing you to feel disillusioned?

“I’m fed up of bi things just not happening if I don’t do them. Not everything should be in my style and voice and I shouldn’t be doing it all. I and other activists campaign for bi people to be more OK and don’t take care of ourselves enough while doing so. People are so convinced we don’t exist they don’t bother with a simple search that would find us. We have little resources while having some of the worst outcomes of any group. I don’t want to spend my entire life being the one person who reminds people about bisexuals, including our so-called allies. I’m not impressed with the problem resolution skills in our communities and while we talk about being welcoming I’m not sure we’re very effective at it. I’m fed up with mouthing the very basics and never getting into depth about bi lives and being one who supports but who is not supported. I’m all for lowering barriers but at a certain point if people don’t actively want to do bi community volunteering it won’t happen. Some people are great critics but build little.”

What do you want to say to other activists about this?

“Why are we doing this personally? I’m not sure we know. How long will we hope rather than do? Honestly, are there so few who care? Alternatively should we stop the trying to do bi stuff and either do some self-analysis, be happy to accept being what we are now as a community, chill out and just let stuff happen or give up and go and do something else instead.”

Patrick Richards-Fink’s story

085d4de So first of all, explain a little about the activism you’re involved/have been involved in.

“Mostly internet – I am a Label Warrior, a theorist and educator. Here’s how I described it on my blog: “One of the reasons that I am a bisexual activist rather than a more general queer activist is because I see every day people just like me being told they don’t belong. It doesn’t mean I don’t work on the basic issues that we all struggle against — homophobia, heterosexism, classism, out-of-control oligarchy, racism, misogyny, this list in in no particular order and is by no means comprehensive. But I have found that I can be most effective if I focus, work towards understanding the deep issues that drive the problems that affect people who identify the same way that I have ever since I started to understand who I am. I find that I’m not a community organizer type of activist or a storm the capitol with a petition in one hand and a bullhorn in the other activist — I’m much better at poring over studies and writing long wall-o’-text articles and occasionally presenting what I’ve gleaned to groups of students until my voice is so hoarse that I can barely do more than croak.” So internet, and when I was still in school, a lot of on-campus stuff. Now I’m moving into a new phase where my activism is more subtle – I’m working as a therapist, and so my social justice lens informs my treatment, especially of bi and trans people.”

What made you get involved?

“I can’t not be.”

How do you feel about the state of bi activism worldwide (esp UK and USA) at the moment?

“I feel like we made a couple strides, and every time that happens the attacks renewed. I hionestly think the constant attempts to divide the bisexual community into ‘good pansexuals’ and ‘bad bisexuals’ and ‘holy no-labels’ is the thing that’s most likely to screw us.”

What’s causing you to feel disillusioned?  

“It is literally everywhere I turn – colleges redefining bisexuality on their LGBT Center pages, news articles quoting how ‘Bi=2 and pan=all therefore pan=better’, everybloodywhere I turn I see it every day. The word bi is being taken out of the names of organisations now, by the next group of up-and-comers who haven’t bothered to learn their history and understand that if you erase our past, you take away our present. Celebrities come out as No Label, wtf is that. Don’t they make kids read 1984 anymore? It’s gotten to the point now that even seeing the word pansexual in print triggers me. I’m reaching the point now that if someone really wants to be offended when all I am trying to do is welcome them on board, then I don’t have time for it.”

What do you want to say to other activists about this?

“Stay strong, and don’t give them a goddamned inch. I honestly think that the bi organizations – even, truth be told, the one I am with – are enabling this level of bullshit by attempting to be conciliatory, saying things that end up reinforcing the idea that bi and pan are separate communities. We try to be too careful not to offend anyone. Like the thing about Freddie Mercury. Gay people say ‘He was gay.’ Bi people say ‘Um, begging your pardon, good sirs and madams and gentlefolk of other genders, but Freddie was bi.’ And they respond ‘DON’T GIVE HIM A LABEL HE DIDN’T CLAIM WAAHHH WAAHHH!’ And yet… Freddie Mercury never used the label ‘gay’, but it’s OK when they do it. And he WAS bisexual by any measure you want to use. But we back down. And 2.5% of the bisexual population decides pansexual is a better word, and instead of educating them, we add ‘pan’ to our organisation names and descriptions. Now, this is clearly a dissenting view – I will always be part of a united front where my organization is concerned. But everyone knows how I feel, and I think it’s totally valid to be loyal and in dissent at the same time. Not exactly a typically American viewpoint, but everyone says I’d be a lot more at home in Britain than I am here anyway.”

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