#novel suspects insider's club

[lilibetbombshell]

[sapphicthunderhead]

TMAGP 15 Thoughts (Spoilers):

The first statement reminded me strongly of Jonny’s novel 13 Storeys (I’d highly recommend listening to it on Audible, btw; the voice performances are magnificent), as well as Ep. 8, Running on Empty (turns out both 8 & 15 were written by Newall). Naturally, it also recalled to mind old Hunt episodes from TMA— particularly Murder Club.

I’m not sure of that statement giver’s motives, but I’m inclined to speculate that either he had to hunt (as he elected to do) or he would simply be next to die, to inspire fear in his staff as they were hunted down by the clientele. But I personally would’ve chosen to die in that situation; a quick death would be preferable to such a drawn-out end (and not quite so delectable to the Hunters). I will say, in his defense, that he was perceptive or had good instincts to recognize that going to the police wouldn’t save him. I think it’s safe to say that the police are Hunt-aligned in this Universe also.

THE MATRIARCH. Excited to see more of her. Strongly suspect she’s an OIAR external, and clearly she has ties to the Bouchard family. Hoping we get to learn a great deal about her & that she dies a horrible gruesome death the likes of which Jude Perry, Not-Sasha, etc. suffered at the hands of the Archivist.

Updates on our 4 main OIAR employees (because Colin has been gone for a while now…):

1) Sam: continues to be complete dork. I say that with love.

2) Celia: the Avatars of this world can smell/sense that she’s a foreign entity. Also, glad she has a babysitter arranged for Jack given her possible propensity for random spontaneous teleportation. Very responsible. Girl’s doing her best given the circumstances.

3) Alice: has entered her 3rd Wheel era. Poor baby. Official blorbo. Good big sister. Desperately needs therapy (both for her sake & for the sake of those around her). Was all fucked up inside before most recent traumatic incident. About to go off the rails? Potentially.

4) Gwen: Icarus. That’s all I have to say about her right now.

Regarding the victim of the Deep (seemingly a Vast-Buried hybrid with a specific thalassaphobic bent to it) that Alice encountered after her brother’s concert, I have to say that their fate frightened me more than any other victim’s thus far in this Universe. It’s the perpetuity of the torture she’s enduring that truly makes my stomach turn. I hope to someday be able to communicate such horrific concepts as effectively, subtly, and concisely as Jonny managed to do with this one. I’m blown away.

Also, did it sound to anyone else like Alice was muttering a chant while giving the Deep victim CPR?

[maleyanderecafe]

Dear Devere (Visual Novel)

Created by: Katy133

Genre: Romance/Supernatural

This game was something that I found on TVTropes of all locations and is very beautifully done. It's more or less a kinetic novel, only really having one important choice at the end, and most of the illustrations are the letters that Devere and Angela send to each other, but it's done in a way that makes the story well done, along with the voice acting for both of them.

The story starts with Angela writing a letter about her book club. She talks about a particular person named Eliza, who seems to hate her, and how she has been giving her rude remarks. She gets a letter back from someone, telling her how he sympathizes with her, signed Mr. Devere. The two continue to write back and forth with each other, with Angela and Devere plotting to have some revenge on Eliza. Devere seems to be unable to visit Angela despite being close in proximity, however, comes to visit Angela in her dreams, and eventually as the two talk, they start to fall in love.

Between the love story, we actually see that we are an inspector who has come to see the missing case of Angela, checking through letters to find where she has gone. We also see later that when Angela and Devere attempt to communicate with each others with lights, there are a couple of agents watching them to make sure that they aren't spies for the other side.

During this time, Devere gets a forged letter from a man named Cailin Calwood, pretending to be Angela and asking for him to not write to her anymore. Devere catches this right away and writes back to warn Angela. We learn that Cailin is one of the guys that has been trying to court Angela, however, Angela finds him rude and pompous and has trying to been stay away from him. Angela finds that her house has been broken into, and suspects that it's Cailin, as he's also been stalking her after he's been rejected. The two of them are able to meet up thanks to a riddle that Devere ends up hiding in his letter, and the two are able to meet up where Devere lives, inside of a cave. However, Cailin catches on, sending another letter to Devere telling him that the two of them don't belong together. Cailin continues to threaten Devere, even trying to get the police to take him down, stating that he is a spy that lives in the woods. They find a body that seems to have been eaten by Cailin's dogs, believing that it was Angela's body that was found. It's later revealed that the body is actually Cailin's, and that the bite marks actually comes from the wolves. The inspector is able to find the cave that Devere resided in and finds a list of things that Devere wanted to do with Angela, like going out into the world and travel. The inspector then has the decision to lie and destroy the evidence, thereby letting Devere and Angela go or to tell the truth.

Lying and destroying the evidence leads to the good ending, where Devere and Angela are seen talking to each other. It's fully revealed that Devere isn't quite human and that the two are able to go out and travel with each other as planned.

Telling the truth will lead to handing over the list to the chief inspector, and waiting as they hear wolves at night, possibly the last sounds of Devere as he dies.

This visual novel is extremely pretty and I love the way that it presents information. We never see what any of the characters look like, but we do get to see the beautiful letters and envelopes that the character writes on. Everything else follows suit in a sort of picture paper cutter kind of way, with photos used for the chairs and everything else that we find inside of the cave Devere lives in. The voices as well add to the experience and I think it really shows just how much the two of them love each other and what kinds of lengths they have to go through just to be together. We never really get to know exactly who Devere is, though based on the fact that he can go into dreams, can tell what people use to write letters (or type them) and can (I would assume) shapeshift into a wolf, we see that he's not quite human, though it seems to be implied he might be some sort of demon of sorts considering the end image of the famous painting, and the names of Angela and Devere themselves. The mystery kind of adds to the allure of the entire thing, which is already whisked in classiness.

The yandere in this one is of course our villain character Cailin, who causes the big problems between Devere and Angela. Yanderes of course, make consistently excellent villains in a lot of media, so Cailin is no exception. He exemplifies the worst for yanderes, being constantly persistent, attempting to kill any suitors (well, specifically Devere), manipulating others into getting rid of Devere (as well as impersonating her to try to get him to stop writing to each other) and breaking into Angela's house. I will say that he makes for a good force against Devere and Angela, forcing them to become more secretive and making their relationship stronger as a result. Of course, in the end, Cailin attempting to kill Devere backfires, leading him to be killed by Devere himself, and possibly in the end getting Devere killed if the investigator tries to tell the truth to find Angela. I honestly did think that Devere himself might be a yandere considering that he killed Cailin afterwards, but I think my interpretation of the letters was a little off, considering that it seems like Devere did it out of self defense rather than protecting Angela (I mean, he probably did it for both reasons, but I think self defense is a higher priority), and that he seems to have been killed in the ending where the investigator tells the truth. Some of the scenes are left a little more vague on what exactly happened, so sometimes there is room for interpretation.

Overall, extremely well made visual novel that I really enjoyed playing. While the yandere is more or less the general bad guy, he does push the narrative and does his job well. I would highly recommend playing it and experiencing it for yourself.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 66 The Village Book Club Murder

Spot the difference :0

Yea I bought another copy and this one is going to be 'fully illustrated'

Cramming TINY drawings into TINY spaces

So many phlat little logicos

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Irratino gets a call. It’s not from Logico, so now he answers it. Dude-

RAVEN: Yeah. You have been on the murder game by yourself for WAY too long. Take a break, read a book. Do something nice with your time.  IRRATINO: I… I guess. 

Poor Logico is rotting away in a cage. Anyway, searching for something relaxing, Irratino stumbles across a small village. The sign reads ‘Very Special Village: Contains a Secret!’. Sounds like Goat Lord’s cup of tea. So he wanders around until he finds himself in a bookshop, where some pals are raving about their favorite Dame Obsidian novels. What other books are there? Earl Grey, Bishop Azure, the Duchess of Vermillion, and Sir Rulean are having a tea, without asking where it came from of course. In the background, a human is crushed under a piano. How did someone even accomplish that??

GREY: Hello… do you need something? IRRATINO: Can I join the book club?

They all look at each other with grave suspicion.

AZURE: Sure i guess

Irratino is handed a book called Knock Knock… Who’s There? Murder! He snorts - he thought the episode titles were bad, this is insane! 

AZURE: The book I want to talk about is A Very Proper Murder. I believe Deductive Logico did not do it justice when he referenced it in his memoir - every time I read it, the end surprises me. The affair between Baron Maroon and Earl Grey is such an amazing twist.

Grey kicks the book out of her hands and across the room.

GREY: Let’s talk of a different book! AHAHAHAHA!!

This discussion is… something, but Irratino can’t help but pay attention more to the carcass in the room. How did someone- never mind. The most important question is who. He gets up and scans the room - the others are too busy with their books to even notice. There’s a suit of armor on display, but it’s crooked - like someone shoved it back last-minute. Proud of his logical deduction, he looks inside, and finds a scaly speck of blood. He could test it, but he’s more interested in the shed scales - upon microscopic examination, they are shown to be from the Duchess. Why have the suspects been leaving so many blood stains everywhere? 

Irratino takes to outside for further clues. When he wanders into the pub, the chatter immediately stops and all the guests stare at him. And across the street, there’s a human in a rocking chair on the porch, muttering something under his breath. 

DUCHESS: Where did the goat man go?

Irratino zips back into his seat and pretends he was listening. He sees that Sir Rulean is just as interested as he is, and is playing chess with himself.

IRRATINO: What are you doing? RULEAN: I’m trying to study how the knights move, so I can be more like a real knight. [...] …Whoops-

Irratino does something incredible - he draws a grid just like Logico does! And when he does, he finds the solution to be… a lot easier to find than when he decides to formulate everything in his head. Earl Grey was the piano killer! With his scrawny figure? HOW?

GREY: I did that to protect the secret! Which I’ve done.

Irratino remembers the secret this village boasts. Running outside to find more, he spies a newspaper in the trash: ‘Major Red to Reveal Major News!’

IRRATINO: What… am I doing? What am I DOING? I can’t take a vacation! NOT NOW!

And he runs to find the prison. Logico isn’t worth losing for anything.

The end!

hhhhHHHHhhHHhHH

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[monsterblogging]

Newt Geiszler and John Myers basically have the same uncle (yes, really!)

Yesterday I was looking at John Meyrs's bio by Guillermo del Toro as presented in the Hellboy DVD special features, when I saw this:

Johnny slept most of the way. He woke up in his new room, above his uncle's tool shed/workshop, and there he stayed for the next 12 years. Uncle Thad is - in Johnny's mind - a pair of hands. greasy, rough, and calloused, they were the best ever at machining, putting junk together, and making things run. He was a large, weathered man who smelled of gasoline, nicotine, and paint thinner. He kept everything in little glass jars, labeled with a felt pen and lined up in endless rows, three-deep in his forever messy, ever-changing workshop.

At night, they listened to radio. They never owned a TV. Johnny had to go to his friend's house to watch that. But he liked radio more. The tales were more vivid, the heroes were taller, the dangers more real.

TV was phony.

Uncle Thad always worked with the radio on. He loved to listen to a station somewhere in Europe that - ironically - played mostly jazz and big band music.

And I was like... hey, wait a minute, isn't that also Newt's uncle? So I checked the paragraphs about Uncle Gunter as described in the Pacific Rim novelization, and... yup, here we are:

Newt and his Uncle Gunter had struck the same sparks when Newt was a kid, tinkering in the basement of Gunter’s studio, where fringey techno musicians stood around making sounds and waiting for Gunter to come up with the next innovation that they would turn into the club tracks that pounded out of speakers all over Europe. (p. 95)

Gunter’s laugh, from his belly, roughened along the way by cigarettes. Uncle Gunter who gave people things before they could steal from him. The gear in his studio. A new sound, one that nobody had ever made before. Lines on a monitor danced out the data, expressing it. Ecstasy of sound and idea, endlessly dividing inside Newt’s mind. (p. 117)

Not only are these two guys very similar, but there's a number of similarities here in the writing itself that makes me suspect Alex Irvine was quoting Newt's bio almost verbatim.

There's also another little something in John's bio that fans of Trollhunters might find interesting:

Together they modified johnny's moped when he was fifteen. Boy, how he loved that piece of junk. A true love story. he can tell you about the day he got it, and about the day he cleaned every single part, hell, he even remembers what he was wearing when he first saw it.

If you've watched Trollhunters, you might remember when Blinky helped Jim Lake fix up an old Vespa. So it looks like that element with John and Uncle Theo got recycled into Jim and Blinky.

[monsterintheballroom]

Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club set for stage adaptation (x)

Tom Basden to co-write the stage play, with Steven Spielberg co-producing

Acclaimed author, presenter and producer Richard Osman has announced that he is working on a stage adaptation of his best-selling novel The Thursday Murder Club.

Speaking on the latest episode of his podcast The Rest is Entertainment, co-hosted with Marina Hyde, Osman said that a stage version of his book was being developed as a theatre production, confirming: “We started working on a Thursday murder Club adaptation for the theatre.”

He is writing the adaptation with “a brilliant writer” and actor Tom Basden (Plebs, After Life, Mandy), “so you have people who know what they’re doing, and directors who know what they’re doing. But honestly, I think the key, and Inside No. 9 will do this brilliantly, is understanding you have a live audience and there’s an electricity and there’s a crackle”, he said.

The project is “very, very early stages” confirmed Osman. “Me and Tom are just sitting down and thinking about it and talking about it at the moment, more on that kind of next year, I suspect.”

Osman and Hyde referenced the new stage adaptation of Inside No. 9 as as an example of adapting stories for the stage. A new stage show of the hit BBC comedy, to be called Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright, is coming to the Wyndham’s Theatre later this year starring the TV show’s writers and stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton.

“In general, the idea that, if we’re talking about the boys from Inside No. 9, the insane amount of work they put into that program and the insane amount of imagination they put into that program, the difficulty of filming; the idea that they could put together a stage show, which could then run for the next 10 years and delight people everywhere and bring them, you know, money as well for the next 10 years, I think is great. But just the idea of entertaining a live audience for a writer, I think, is very, very exciting”, said Osman.

Richard Osman is also working with Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Partners company on a movie version of Thursday Murder Club, which will star Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie and Ben Kingsley.

Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Mrs Doubtfire) is set to write and direct.

Osman spoke about how signing the film contract with Amblin has meant that Steven Spielberg will also be a co-producer of the stage adaptation of the show.

“As soon as you go into another medium, if you do Thursday Murder Club as a book, okay, I understand what it is to be a reader or, you know, you’ll listen to an audiobook. I understand the intimacy of that. I understand that you can go back and re-check things. I understand that you can put it down and pick it up again the next day.

“You understand how somebody reads in the same way that if you’re making a quiz show on TV, you understand that people are sitting at home with their family. They’re not always concentrating the whole time, but if they are, they want to interact. They want to talk to their family about what they’re seeing. They want to answer questions. So you understand exactly why and how somebody is consuming what it is that you’re doing.

“And in the theatre, again, it’s that idea of, you have to get inside the feeling of somebody who’s come down to London or to a regional theatre on the train, who’s had a bit of dinner beforehand, who’s now sitting and there’s going, oh, someone a bit taller than them in front of them, but just that excitement.

“The second you understand that, you start thinking about your raw material, if it’s Inside No. 9 or if it’s Thursday Murder Club, you start thinking about it in those terms, it’s how do people want to see that, what’s the first image they need to see, what feeling do they want?

“And, for most creators I think, most writers, that is not something that frightens them, that’s something that excites them. You know, that’s incredibly… I’ll just talk about Thursday Murder Club because I can think about it from my own experience, I know what the material is. I know who the characters… the adaptation has to go through the lens of being in the theatre. Lots of smaller things, you know, it has to be an hour first half, there has to be an interval because that’s how theatres pay for things, and then there has to be a slightly shorter second half, but you know, that’s not a million miles different to a movie. It’s very different to a book, but I think by and large, when you adapt things and change them into a different medium, the technical thing is interesting, but there’s a million, great theatre producers.”

[sheilajsn]

Hard Girls de J. Robert Lennon

Hard Girls es el primer libro de la serie Jane and Lila Pool de J. Robert Lennon. Yo recibí una copia de este libro como parte del Novel Suspects Insiders Club. Lo primero que voy a decir es que yo quería que me gustara este libro. Ustedes saben que me encantan los libros con mujeres fuertes que se enfrentan a situaciones difíciles y salen victoriosas. O sea, nada más de leer el blurb era…

[linneatanner]

Book Review The Low Road Katharine Quarmby #WomensFiction #FeministFiction #HistoricalFiction #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour @katharineq_ @thecoffeepotbookclub

FEATURED AUTHOR: KATHARINE QUARMBY It is my pleasure to introduce Katharine Quarmby as the featured author in The Coffee Pot Book Club Blog Tour that is being held between January 16th — February 6th, 2024. Katharine Quarmby is the author of the Historical Fiction / Lesbian Fiction / Women’s Literature novel, The Low Road, released by Unbound Publishing on 22nd June 2023 in the UK, on September 2023 in the US, and on 2nd January 2024 in Australia/NZ (400 pages). Below are highlights of The Low Road, Katharine Quarmby's author bio, and my review of her poignant 19th-century novel. Tour Schedule Page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/12/blog-tour-the-low-road-by-katharine-quarmby.html HIGHLIGHTS: THE LOW ROAD   The Low Road By Katharine Quarmby Blurb: In 1828, two young women were torn apart as they were sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay. Will they ever meet again? Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of a woman – Mary Tyrell – is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is later sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service. It is at the Refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love. But the strength of this bond is put to the test when the girls are caught stealing from the Refuge's laundry, and they are sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, setting them on separate paths that may never cross again. Drawing on real events, The Low Road is a gripping, atmospheric tale that brings to life the forgotten voices of the past – convicts, servants, the rural poor – as well as a moving evocation of love that blossomed in the face of prejudice and ill fortune. Buy Links: Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/mg5RAD Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-low-road-katharine-quarmby/7418138?ean=9781800182394 AUTHOR BIO: KATHARINE QUARMBY   Katharine Quarmby has written non-fiction, short stories and books for children and her debut novel, The Low Road, was published by Unbound in 2023. Her non-fiction works include Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People (Portobello Books, 2011) and No Place to Call Home: Inside the Real Lives of Gypsies and Travellers (Oneworld, 2013). She has also written picture books and shorter e-books. She is an investigative journalist and editor, with particular interests in disability, the environment, race and ethnicity, and the care system. Her reporting has appeared in outlets including the Guardian, The Economist, The Atlantic, The Times of London, the Telegraph, New Statesman and The Spectator. Katharine lives in London. Katharine also works as an editor for investigative journalism outlets, including Investigative Reporting Denmark and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Author Links: Website: https://www.katharinequarmby.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatharineQ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katharinequarmbywriter/ LinkedIn: Katharine Quarmby - Writer, Journalist, Editor - Self-employed | LinkedIn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katharinequarmby_/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Katharine-Quarmby/author/B004GH8LS6 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2082356.Katharine_Quarmby BOOK REVIEW: THE LOW ROAD     The debut historical fiction novel, The Low Road by Katharine Quarmby, is a tragic tale about female prisoners banished from Britain to Australia in the 19th century. Based on real-life events, the story takes place in the Victorian era when women were judged by rigid moral codes and suffered social injustice. At the beginning of the story, Hannah Tyrell reflects on how her fate was cast at the moment her out-of-wedlock mother—Mary Tyrell—gave birth to her. She recalls how they were taken in by a kind couple in exchange for work on their farm. Fate throws Hanna's mother a cruel twist when she is raped and impregnated. She keeps her pregnancy a secret until her baby dies shortly after birth. Arrested for murder, she is jailed and commits suicide. Hannah is forced to witness the gruesome act of her mother's body being staked through the heart for her unpardonable sin before being buried. Later, Hannah is sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she is trained in domestic service. She meets and falls deeply in love with a fellow resident, Annie Simpkins. Their strong bond and friendship are tested after they are caught stealing from the Refuge's laundry and are imprisoned in filthy prisons where they wait for their sentences. Eventually, they are separately banished to Botany Bay where they may not see each other again. Author Katharine Quarmby has written a compelling story told from the first-person perspective of Hannah Tyrell. The lyrical stream-of-consciousness narrative delves into her inner thoughts and emotions from childhood to adulthood. The tale is gripping and engaging as we learn about the injustices that Hannah and her mother must endure. The aspect I liked best about the book is Hannah's relationships with other females: her mom, her friends at the Refuge, and other various side characters. Mary Tyrell comes across as a strong and tragic heroine—a protective mother who has a profound impact on her daughter Hannah. The spiritual bond between mother and daughter permeates throughout the story. The story reflects the author’s impeccable research and passion for the subject. At mid-point, the story promises to be an epic tale of Hannah's fight to overcome her struggles. However, the relationship between Hannah and Annie did not resonate with me, and the story veered in a different direction than I anticipated when Hannah arrived in Australia. Still, it is an evocative, gripping tale of cruelty juxtaposed with courage and kindness that an orphaned girl experiences, struggling to survive poverty and seek love on the other side of the world. I recommend The Low Road to historical fiction readers interested in the realistic depiction of female convicts transported from Britain and Ireland to Australia where they help build a young colony in a harsh land.     Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub Bluesky Handle: @cathiedunn.bsky.social Read the full article

[pavspatch]

“The Ridiculous Life of a Non-League Chairman”

WRITING a successful funny book on football is no easy task, as I know only too well. Something that raises a lot of laughs when it happens, or when recounted at the bar top over a few beers, often draws looks of total indifference sometime later when it appears in print.

And you’ll inevitably find it compared with the magnum opus that is Fred Eyre’s “Kicked into Touch”.

"Nowhere to Run", the new book by Ashton United co-chairman Jonathan Sayer, differs from the traditional style. Rather than being a collection of humorous anecdotes, it's a novel based on funny stories, many of which, by the author's own admission, have been embellished and exaggerated.

Names, on the whole, have been changed "to protect the innocent" but anyone who's familiar with Ashton United, or the Tameside non-league scene, should be able to work out who they are, even though the author insists none of his characters are faithful representations.

First-team manager Jamie Benshaw — a free-scoring striker with a mop of blond hair — has to be Jody Banim. Harry "Robbo" Roberts — a tall ex-police officer — chimes with Steve "Hobbo" Hobson. Club president Reginald Timpkins is the legendary Ronnie Thomasson. Tony Liverstout must be an amalgam of Terry Hollis and Terry Liversidge. You can work the rest out for yourself.

Interestingly, Mike Clegg gets his real name. His successor Steve Cunningham becomes Jamie Cunningham. I suspect the book was pretty much complete by the time Ashton changed managers at the start of the year

"Nowhere to Run" is a tale which does exactly what it says on the tin - well, cover. It recounts the ridiculous life of the chairman of a semi-professional football outfit. It's not uproariously funny, but it does make you smile and want to turn over the next page.

Its greatest success is how it allows the average supporter see a club through the eyes of owners. As fans, we know how we feel, and we have, or at least thinke we have, a good idea of the management and players. But what of the chairmen, the people so often viewed as inept and responsible for creating problems rather than solving them?

Jonathan gives us more than a peep behind the curtain. And he accepts the low-esteem in which directors are held. The book starts with a quote from Bill Shankly: "At any football club there's a holy trinity: the players, the manager and the supporters. The directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign cheques."

I'd often wondered what it was like to sack a manager. "Nowhere to Run" supplies a blow-by-blow account not only of what happens when the axe falls, but also the dilemma owners face when coming to their decision. Should they show faith and give the boss time to turn things round? Or should they act before things get even worse and it's too late?

Jonathan even admits to being scared of how the manager might react — something I've often wondered about considering some of the managers I've dealt with over the last 40-plus years.

We also get an inside view of the appointment process, which is something clubs tend to keep very secret in these days where they release news through anodyne social media statements rather than through a dedicated reporter from the local rag.

"Nowhere to Run" shows it really is true that people will askfor a job fully believing their success at the Football Manager video game is ample qualification to lead a Northern Premier League side. Sorting through dozens of applications is no easy task. The book also confirms that former Curzon boss John Flanagan was interviewed. He has to be Jim Finnigan who managed local rivals.

All the bitter disappointments and euphoric highs of running a non-league outfit are laid bare: buying (too much) kit, placating stroppy long-time supporters, dealing with the council, and the chaos that passes for wages and finances. The constant stream of phone calls, texts and WhatsApp messages, each on a different topic.

"Nowhere to Run" is a warm, gentle and funny read that underlines the Burke family's love for Ashton United and their genuine desire to see the club do well.

Anyone with knowledge of the semi-professional game should enjoy it. If you don't have knowledge, believe me, the stories are based on fact. I have personal experience of the mayhem that passes for everyday life in non-league land. I still bear the scars from meetings that have featured long, long arguments over buying an extra dozen pies for Saturday's derby match.

Whether Jonathan really drove to Bashley in Hampshire rather than Basford in Nottinghamshire, is another matter entirely.

"Nowhere to Run" by Jonathan Sayer, published by Bantam Books, will be published on August 10. 20 per cent of all proceeds will go to Ashton United in perpetuity.

[curewhimsy]

Margot x Edgeworth fic plans

TW: Murder by poison, Suicidal ideation

Tragedy fic

Takes place in Ace Attorney universe but crosses over OCs and some other fandoms

———

Fandoms-

OCs

Vocaloid

UTAU

Idolmaster

Ace Attorney

Dangan Ronpa

Margot Nocturne (OC) is a quiet, unsuspecting librarian who has always been jealous of local broadway performer Taya Soune (UTAU) for his charisma, success, and musical talent, to the point of spite and resentment. Margot kills Taya with poison in his drink. She pins this crime on Ritsu Namine (UTAU) by making sure Ritsu gave this poisoned beverage to Taya.

Margot feels a lot of sadness and regret after this murder, enough for her tears and shock to look convincing, as if she didn’t do the murder.

Ritsu’s attorney in this case is Teru Tendo. (Idolmaster SideM)

Miles Edgeworth is the prosecutor and is going to try to find Ritsu guilty.

During the window of time where Edgeworth is convinced Margot is innocent, a romance blossoms… a true romance too. Margot is a broken woman who has never had a companion, and the kindness Edgeworth gives her changes her world. But the truth still lurks behind both of them, and it’s ugly and tragic. Margot is a killer. If she were to be brought to justice, she would get the death penalty.

Who is testifying-

Ritsu Namine (UTAU)

Rui Maita (Idolmaster SideM)

Touko and Syo Fukawa (Danganronpa)

Maya Fey (Ace Attorney)

Aoi Asahina (Danganronpa)

Larry Butz (Ace Attorney)

Margot Nocturne (OC) (as an ��innocent witness”)

Kaoru Sakuraba (Idolmaster SideM) does the autopsy on Taya’s body. He and Tsubasa Kashiwagi (Idolmaster SideM) are helping Teru with the case. Teru even gets an updated autopsy report that Edgeworth doesn’t have at one point! 

It just seems like Edgeworth isn’t doing so well in the trial this time.

The setting is a library that also has karaoke. The concept of the place is “a library where you don’t have to be quiet.” Taya Soune is feeling gloomy that day and decides he wants to sing alone in his own concealed cozy booth. He takes his first sip of a drink that his friend Ritsu Namine served to him moments before, not realizing it will lead to his death.

Ritsu recently got a part time job serving drinks at the karaoke club. Margot works at this place too, as a librarian who organizes and helps people check out books. Margot is good at concealing her sour and vengeful attitude. She has been known to cry and be shy, but nobody suspected she had been wanting to lash out.

It is a relatively quiet day at the karaoke library.

Margot bought a small bottle of poison with her that day. The poison was purchased from the black market, and all evidence of the purchase had been destroyed. Margot was contemplating locking herself in a karaoke booth and ending her life.

Margot then sees Taya Soune come into the building. Margot holds a grudge against Taya because he has a positive attitude, has tons of friends, and is accomplished, everything Margot isn’t.

Ritsu is called up to sing a song, and leaves Taya’s drink on a table unattended. Margot is overtaken by the urge to slip the poison in Taya’s drink and murder him instead.

Nobody is even there to witness Margot slip the poison in the drink.

Ritsu comes back from the karaoke room and serves this drink to Taya.

Minutes after sipping the drink, Taya begins coughing blood, and is too weak to move or call for help. He is bleeding from the inside and dies within a couple of minutes.

Since Margot works at the library, she has controls of the temperature in all the karaoke rooms. She hastily attempts to create an alibi by making Taya’s room cold for three hours, allowing rigor mortis to set in at a later time, making it so the time of his death will be estimated at a later time. She has the room go back to the normal temperature after three hours so nobody suspects the change. She also wore gloves when changing the temperature.

(Margot has read her fair share of mystery novels. But she overlooked that she was still present when Ritsu was pouring the drink, making all her work useless.)

Margot flees the library.

Three people discover Taya’s body five hours later, noticing they can’t find him.

The three who discovered the body were Taya’s best friend Ritsu Namine, Taya’s English and drama teacher Rui Maita, and Maya Fey, who just happened to be there.

Ritsu’s fingerprints are found on the cup with the poison, and evidence points to him being the one giving it to Taya.

Checks on Ritsu’s background are done. They find that he in fact has distant ties to the yakuza.

The autopsy report says Taya died at 3:00 PM, which is after Margot was gone from the library.

Taya actually died at 1:30 PM.

After Margot is gone from the library, she goes to the park and disposes of the poison bottle (crucial evidence) by disguising it as a necklace charm and giving it to a “handsome guy” as a love present. And the handsome guy… just happens to be Miles Edgeworth. Margot doesn’t know that Edgeworth is going to be the prosecutor in the case she caused. Also Edgeworth rejects her advances. But… he accepts the gift! This marks the start of a very complicated relationship.

Edgeworth eventually sees that Margot is broken and one day invites her to his house for tea. He is the type who cannot ignore something abandoned or hopeless.

Phoenix Wright isn’t the attorney here, because he’s in the hospital... (Also the world doesn’t revolve around him!)

Touko Fukawa is a shy romance author and cannot stand subjects about blood and murder. Her headspace alter, Syo, writes murder mystery novels. In fact, she wrote the very novel that inspired Margot to lower the temperature in Taya’s karaoke booth! She knows those tricks. Syo is there for most of the trial as Touko cannot handle it, and gives good leads on who the murderer could be… She absolutely thinks it’s Maya Fey, who was at the karaoke library at the time! And she gives a convincing testimony.

Now everyone is convinced Maya Fey could have done it, so Ritsu is set free and Maya goes to the detention center. Again. But there’s stilll evidence missing…

Despite it being humorous as ever, the testimony that exposes the most truth ends up being… Larry Butz’s?

Eventually when the truth is close to coming out, since Margot didn’t seem to have much of a motive, there is trouble establishing one.

But then Margot cannot stand the pressure and accidentally slips.

She ends up saying, “I understand that the justice system cannot always expose the real truth. But I wanted to die anyway… it’s why I had the poison in the first place.”

Margot’s clumsy statement exposed her as the one who possessed the poison and put it in Taya’s drink.

She breaks down and confesses everything, her motive, and her actions.

Margot is brought to justice in the end, and will get the death penalty. At this point, Edgeworth had grown to trust and love Margot… She changed his life as well. Edgeworth is shocked and saddened so much that he becomes a crying wreck in the courtroom…

Margot is last seen smiling with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Goodbye, Mr. Edgeworth… Thank you for making my final days worth remembering.”

[lilibetbombshell]

[nadja-antipaxos]

two - mirrorball

Previously - One || Masterlist || Next - Three

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: swearing

Note: Please enjoy this next chapter and leave feedback if you'd like! Still takes place before 2x05.

Word Count: 1,113

They walk to the parking lot and see Roy and Keeley talking as he drops her off.

“Hi, boys.” She smiles.

“Mornin’, Keeley. Mornin’, Roy.” Ted smiles back.

“Don’t forget. We gotta pick up Phoebe.”

“Oh, right. Play date with that Kokoruda girl.”

“Her name is Diya, Roy. Not that hard especially for an Indian name.”

Ted looks at Beard before walking closer to them.

“We just met a little girl named Diya.”

“Her mom is Priyala Kumari. She got us coffee.” Beard chirps up causing Ted to give him a surprised look.

“That’s her. She goes to Phoebe’s school. Roy coached her.” Keeley’s eyes lit up with recognition.

“Fucking beast. Best kid on the team—besides Phoebe.” Roy nods. “Just threw her whole body into it.”

“I can see that. She knows what she wants.” Ted smiles.

Letting his curiosity get the better of him, Ted looks Priyala up online after training. He restricts himself from looking up anything personal because that felt weird. He just wanted to know more about her books. One of her books is going to be made into a movie and she’s writing it. She’s pretty popular and mostly writes romance novels, but the kind with a brassy female protagonist and not the ones with ripped shirts and washboard abs. It had a man and woman who hate each other, but are forced to work together on a project. They’re both cutthroat ad executives.  Ted bought the ebook to check it out. It was funny, thoughtful, and romantic. She’s a great writer. He couldn’t put it down until he finished it. He decides he’s gonna buy the one that Beard is reading next.

Beard wants to go back to the coffee shop and Ted suspects he’s psyching himself up to getting his book signed. They get in line. Diya waves wildly and Priyala gives a small smile as they move ahead. Priyala nudges Jaya who then looks up and gives a weak wave.

“Good morning, Coaches.” Diya has a long ponytail today. It swings back and forth as she skips to the waiting area.

“G’morning, ladies. Y’all looking snappier than a Mercedes.” Ted smiles.

“Good morning.” Priyala laughs.

This time they didn’t rush off right away. Instead, they walked with them down the streets. Ted hopes no one calls him a wanker while he’s walking with children. They haven’t done it in a while, but now that they’re losing again, who knows? Diya tells them about a book she’s reading in class while Jaya trudges along in silence. Ted looks at Beard. Beard clears his throat and stops making Priyala look back at him.

“Ms. Kumari. I didn’t wanna say this yesterday, but I love your books.”

“Why? Are you embarrassed?” Priyala teases.

“No. Never. I just didn’t wanna bother you.” Beard explains, a little flustered.

“He reads your book at the club. If he was embarrassed he wouldn’t do it in front of all that unbridled testosterone.” Ted adds with a gentle eyebrow raise.

Priyala laughs and Beard relaxes. He pulls the book out of his backpack.

“Could I get your autograph?”

Diya rolls her eyes and Jaya hands their mother a Sharpie pen from her bag. She must get this enough to warrant such a reaction.

“Of course.” Priyala scrawls a message on the inside and gives it back. “What do you think so far?”

“Ah ah ah, don’t tell me. It’s next on my list.” Ted puts his fingers in his ears.

“Okay, is there a Richmond book club or something?” Priyala chuckles.

“No, no. I read one of your books last night. Couldn’t put it down. I was gonna ask Beard if I could borrow his, but seeing as you just made it a collector’s item—I’m gonna be getting my own.”

“Which one did you read?”

“All or Nothing. It was like You’ve Got Mail but with politics instead of book stores.”

“I love Nora Ephron.”

“You must be the heir apparent then. You had those perfect touches, but it was definitely your own voice.”

Her eyes grow wide as she stares at him. She’s clearly thinking. He doesn’t say anything and just stares right back. Beard shares a look with Diya and Jaya.

“Mummy, Coach Lasso said something nice.” Diya tugs her sleeve.

“Uhh. Wow. That—I haven’t heard that before.” Now she’s flustered.

“Say thank you.”

“You’re right, baby. Thank you, Coach Lasso. That was very kind.”

Jaya rolls her eyes in a way that puts Roy Kent to shame.

“See, Mummy! They came.” Diya jumps up and down clearly not needing any pick me up the next morning.

Before Priyala can do it, Ted picks up their orders. She looks at him in a way he can’t place. Is she suspicious? Grateful? Bored?

“I didn’t see your book on, eBay, Coach Beard. You must’ve kept it.” Priyala smiles as Ted holds the door open for her.

“Oh, trust me, that’s a prized possession now. Right up there with the Payton jersey,” Ted tells her.

“I don’t know what that means, but okay.” Priyala shrugs.

“Walter Payton. Chicago Bears.” Beard adds.

Priyala looks at both her daughters to shed any light on the situation. No such luck.

“Where are our manners, Coach Beard?” Ted asks as they walk down the street.

“What?!” Beard makes a show of looking around. He pats down his jacket and turns up empty.

“We haven’t offered these fine ladies tickets to the match on Saturday.” Ted shakes his head.

The scream that erupts from Diya’s mouth is so high and so loud you’d think she was telling every dog in London the 101 Dalmatians were missing. Jaya cups her hand over her little sister’s mouth. She bounces up and down silently instead. Despite the ringing in her ears, Priyala looks at Ted.

“That’s very nice of you, Coach Lasso, but please don’t go to any trouble. Especially after Diya punctured your ear drums.”

“Sorry, Mummy. Sorry, Coaches.” Diya frowns making an upside down triangle with her mouth.

“We’re all good, Robin Hood. We’d love to have ya. Wouldn’t we, Coach?” Ted looks over at Beard who nods. “You don’t know him well enough yet, but that was a very rare nod.”

Priyala chuckles and looks at her children. “Would you like to go?”

“Mummy, please just get Mr. Lasso’s mobile before Diya kills us.” Jaya pleads.

Ted pulls out a business card out of his wallet after realizing they could’ve just exchanged phones. She types it in and shoots off a text.

“We’ll see you Saturday. Thank you, Coaches.” Priyala raises her eyebrows expectantly at her daughters.

“Thank you, Coaches.” They sing back in unison.

[alaffy]

One of Us is Lying - Ep.2x05 - Simon Says Ho Ho Ho!

Didn't realize the detective was a comedian. Did she really criticize Addy for being wrong about a suspect? This detective, the one that spent last season following four people who she thought were the killers in such an obsessive level; that she completely missed every sign that it could have been someone else and let the real killer get away? Really the last person to talk here.

A lot of this episode is more…well, it's less about the mystery and more about the characters.  Because of this, this write up is probably going to be pretty short. As I have mentioned before, I'm not a huge fan of the characters themselves. This episode is great for anybody who loves the characters; but for me, this episode was just kind of there.

But one thing that I do like that they're doing is with the Janae. I think it’s great that we are seeing so many more characters that identify on the LGBTQIA spectrum. But, in many of these cases, it’s either they are already out and seem to have a good idea of who they are or (like Cooper in season 1) they have an idea who they are, even if they may not be ready to officially come out yet.  So, I like with Janae that they are a character that is still figuring things out.  Sometimes that journey of self-discovery takes time and that’s ok.  I like they fact that the writers are showing that it’s normal.

But getting back to the episode, well, Giselle is dead and the group’s running out of options. They try to talk to Vanessa to find out a little bit more about Giselle, but Vanessa clearly believes that they are murderers. I mean, they are…but not the way she thinks they are.

They also believe that it is possible that Cole might have lived up to his vague (and ominous) promise and killed Giselle; but later on find out that Cole, in fact, was with the cops that night. And so they're faced with this dilemma of, well, they can keep themselves safe by not talking; but that might put others in danger.  This concern is made worse when Janae comes home and they find a package inside their house; and if Simon Says can get in their homes then their families are in danger.  And so they've come to the decision tha, the only way to stop Simon Says is to turn themselves in.  However, they’re going to give themselves one last day.

And really, that's what most of the episode is, just them having that one last day doing things that they would like to do before they turned themselves in at midnight. Meanwhile, Maeve is trying to figure out who Simon is, and there's this really weird scene of the principle who apparently is writing a fiction novel based on the teens; which good luck getting that printed and not sued.

Anyway, the group decides that at midnight they're going to turn themselves in. They're also going bring the package that Janae got, which they haven't looked inside of, to the police station as proof that Simon Says is real. What they don't get is the text from Maeve which says something about Simon Says being in all the computers of the school; or something to that effect.  The text popped up on screen pretty quickly and I only was able to read parts.

However, when the Murder Club tries goes inside the police station and say that they have information about Giselle’s murder; they find out that someone has already been arrested. It’s TJ and, apparently, there’s evidence in the car that proves he killed her.  Oh, so TJ was here to be a scape goat.  Gotcha.  At this point, something in the package starts to laugh (because of course it does) and Addy opens the box to find a doll that looks like Simon. 

[med-przemek]

Book review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Written by Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club is an extraordinarily detailed plot filled with twists and turns, keeping the reader ready on their toes with each suspect delineated. The Thursday Murder Club consists of four care home residents of Coopers Chase: Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce; Joyce being the newest member replacing Penny who has dementia. The story leans towards Joyce being the narrator of the story as we, as readers, relate to the excitement of witnessing the first case of the Thursday Murder Club just as Joyce with her also comically relieving diary entries.  

Beginning with Ian Venthman, a man of entrepreneurial success, plans to expand Coopers Chase with the Woodlands project set to take place on the land of the Garden of eternal rest (a cemetery filled with convent nuns). Ian plans to make extra fortune on top of this new development and does this by replacing his lead builder, Tony Curran, with Bogdan Jakowski. Later that day, Tony is dead. 

Ron being the only one to witness an argument between Tony and Ian, is interviewed by a chief policeman Chris but refuses to talk, under Elizabeth’s plan, unless it is Police Constable Donna. With this clever bargain, Donna is back again involved in high level crime in exchange for the club to receive insider police information. 

With the construction soon to go ahead, Cooper Chase residents rise in mutiny and form a human barrier to the construction machines at the entrance. Meanwhile, at the back of the cemetery, Bogdan, out of curiosity, digs up one grave and uncovers an extra, unexplained skeleton outside of a grave. Back to the entrance, Ian pushes Father Mackie out of respite for disrupting his legal expansion. Chris tells Ian to leave immediately, and not even reaching his car’s door, Ian collapses and dies. 

This is the short summary of part one of the two of the book, The Thursday Murder club are left with not one but three potential murders to unravel. Being a hooking read with all the twisting plot turns and a multitude of accused dovetailed with the comical relief of both Joyce’s diary entries and senior witticism; this was a true mystery to be unsolved. Standing out from it’s mystery novel competitors, it is a top seller due to, in my belief, the unconventional, senior leading characters who transcend the definition of elderly lifestyles and prove that mysteries unequivocally just need to be resolved. 

I shall be buying the next two books in this series: The man who died twice and the bullet that missed the train. 

[omniversalobservations]

Spider-Man: The Gathering of the Sinister Six (1999)

The Machiavelli Club, mentioned on pages 34-35 of Gathering of the Sinister Six, as well as pages 162-163 of Revenge of the Sinister Six, was founded by Professor James Moriarty, from the Sherlock Holmes stories "The Final Problem," "The Adventure of the Empty House," and the novel The Valley of Fear.  Its members include various rogues from comic books, movies, prose fiction, and so forth:

* The waiter at the Macchiavelli Club is Henry from Asimov's BLACK WIDOWER stories. * Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin) * Obadiah Stane (The Iron Monger) from Iron Man. * Gruber brothers: Anton Gruber first appeared in the prose novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (a sequel to his homosexual murder mystery The Detective).  Anton Gruber was basically a Baader-Meinof/Red Army Faction-style terrorist.  He was renamed Franz Gruber for the film Die Hard, while his brother Simon appeared in Die Hard With a Vengeance. * Doctor Fu Manchu is obviously "the long-lived oriental gentleman" that the Gentleman refers to.  (Although later on it is said that the Gentleman harbors prejudice against the Chinese, he makes no snide remarks about Doctor Fu Manchu.)  The Gentleman believes that Doctor Fu Manchu is dead due to the events of Master of Kung Fu #118, though he showed up alive and well in Marvel Knights I #4.  Marvel currently refers to him as the Ghost, due to licensing issues. * Auric is Auric Goldfinger, from the Ian Fleming novel.  Auric is derived from the Latin word for gold, from which its elemental symbol, Au, is derived. * Lex is Lex Luthor. * Justin Hammer is an Iron Man villain. * "The German Herr Taubman."  An alias used by a recurring villain called "The Deaf Man" in "The 87th Precinct" novels by Ed McBain.  Great novels BTW.  (Taubman is German for deaf man as I recall.)  Here's a clip from a fan site. * The Wrightsville Diedrich Van Horn is from the Ellery Queen novel Ten Day's Wonder, written by Ellery Queen.  (Ellery Queen was a sleuth created by two cousins who adopted his name as their pen name.  He went to a town called Wrightsville for vacations.  In the movies, Ralph Bellamy played Ellery Queen-Bellamy also appeared in two Eddie Murphy movies as one of the Duke brothers.) * Ras is Ra's Al Ghul, from the Distinguished Competition. * Soze is from the film The Usual Suspects. * Hannibal is Hannibal Lecter, from the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, and later Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. * Carmen is Carmen San Diego from the computer game and cartoon show. * Mr. Glass is from the film Unbreakable, as played by Samuel Jackson. * Napier refers to the Jack Napier, the Joker, from the 1989 Batman film. * Ernst is Ernst Blofeld from the Ian Fleming novel Thunderball. * Randolph and Mortimer Duke are from two Eddie Murphy films, Trading Places and Coming to America.  While in both these films Randolph and Mortimer Duke, insider traders, were played by the same actors (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy), Eddie Murphy was not playing the same person in these films, which were otherwise unrelated.

Although not mentioned as a member of the Machiavelli Club, Caspar Gutman worked with the Gentleman in the past, per page 166 of Secret of the Sinister Six. Casper Gutman comes from the Dashiell Hammett novel The Maltese Falcon, published in 1929.

Source: Marvel Universe Appendix

Carmen Sandiego is part of the Machiavelli Club, along with Jack Napier, Hannibal Lecter and Mr. Glass. Among others. Moriarty was a founding member, and the Gruber Brothers and a villain from an Ellery Queen novel have been members. The Gentleman briefly converses with two brothers, Randolph and Mortimer, who made their money on the futures exchange, and wonders how they earned a place at the club as they are no more 'evil' than standard stockbrokers.

Though not mentioned by name, Clint Eastwood, Robert Downey Jr. and Sylvester Stallone are all heavily implied to be attending Brick Johnson's funeral.

The cast from Scooby-Doo shows up at the end of the final book.

The 27th Precinct's Detective Briscoe takes statements.

Dr. Christian Szell is an old associate of The Gentleman.

Quentin Beck passes Cassady and Jesse.

In the third book, the Gentleman credits the inspiration for his overall Evil Plan to be a late associate of his named Auric.

One of the police officers in the third book is implied to be the son of Marge Gunderson.

Source: TV Tropes

(image via Amazon)

[writing-in-april]

Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde (1/?)

Part One: The introduction

Spencer Reid x Female Reader

Summary: Reader meets a mysterious stranger at the library during a book club meeting.

Part Two, Part Three

Series Masterlist

A/N: Hey Heyyy! This is my first Dom!Spencer fic in so long!!! My last one was also funnily enough for a fic swap as is this one! I had @aperrywilliams for the fic swap organized by @imagining-in-the-margins. I had so much fun writing this one- it’s based on a prompt that I got from @andiebeaword and @spencers-dria helped me by guiding me with the book club idea- with a little twist! I am considering making this a series, if y’all are interested PLEASE let me know- I really want to because I had so much fun writing this. Thanks to all y’all for reading and requests are open!!

Warnings: 18+, Dom Spencer, Public Sex (is anyone that surprised??), Impact Play, Post Prison Spencer, Use of the nickname Doctor during sex, Spencer is a brat tamer, Spencer is morally ambiguous but doesn’t do anything explicitly immoral

Main Masterlist Word Count: 3.0k

As soon as you walked in through the large wooden doors it felt like history hit you over the head with a book. Even though it was on the small side for a library it still probably held more books than a normal public library, almost every wall was adorned with built-in shelves stacked from bottom to top with old books. They ranged in every subject you could think imaginable, from every point in history imaginable, and from every point of view that was imaginable. When you had first discovered this place it had felt like you had been transported to another world. You were surprised that more people didn’t know about this old library nestled in the corners of D.C, it was just sitting there idly watching as history passed by day by day, while it sat writing down all its secrets.

A meeting of the classics was scrawled on the standing white board you saw right when you walked into the library. A meeting of the classics from 7pm to 11:30 in reading room C were the exact words, you didn’t even really need to read them as you had been looking forward to this event for weeks.

You made your way down to the reading room that was specified, only encountering a few stragglers similar to yourself on the way down. You were somewhat new to the events that this library ran, only coming to the past four months. It was quickly becoming your favorite thing to do every month.

There was always a theme to each of the parties, ranging from different eras of history, specific novels, and including things that were open to interpretation. Tonight’s theme was as stated on the white board, a meeting of the classics, which had been described as “Pick your favorite literary icon from a classic novel and dress up as them.”

You had decided to not pick a character from a classic novel, but rather an author, Mary Shelly. You based your entire look on the iconic writer of Frankenstein (with a twist of course) because it had been your favorite novel as a child, it still was your favorite novel.

Once you had made it into the large reading room you took in the full room like you did every week. People were dressed as many outlandish characters, with some being more difficult to decipher than others. As you walked around the reading room you could feel the eyes of another on you.

You could feel his stare following you intently as you walked around mingling with the others that you had met before. The eyes belonged to a man you hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, a man dressed as someone instantly recognizable, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. What other iconic character would be split down the middle, half innocent doctor and half evil alter ego.

Even behind the costume you could tell how attractive the man was. He was extremely tall and lanky, with deep brown eyes and the fluffiest brown hair you had ever seen.

“Who’s that?” You asked the married lady and gentlemen dressed up as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Maybe it was shameful that you didn’t know their actual names, but you guess that’s what some people want when they come to an event like this

“That’s Dr. Spencer Reid, he hasn’t been here for a while and he sometimes misses things because of work. You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard he got in trouble with the law, that’s why he hasn’t been here for almost six months.” Her gossipy voice was drenched in fake sugar that made you gag on the inside. You still did appreciate her information as it gained you the name of the man who couldn’t stop staring at you like he was trying to figure you out.

“Must not have been that bad if he’s already out now, or maybe he’s innocent.” Ms. Bennet shrugged her shoulders at that. You may have even been naive to not heed her warning, but the idea of getting to know the mysterious fluffy haired man that had been staring at you all night was too intriguing for you to ignore.

“Who are you?” The mysterious man asked when he finally decided to approach you instead of staring at you from across the room.

Trying to maintain the same level of mystery as the man had you dodging his question with a simple redirect, “Who’s asking?”

“I thought it was quite obvious who I was.” He was right it was obvious, but why would you let him know that despite the fact that you knew what character he was you could tell the man underneath was the real mystery of it all.

“You’re the one who is not obvious.” The back and forth you had already picked up with him was thrilling, you sensed the fact that in most conversations you would have with him it would be a kind of battle that you would have to win.

“If you must know, kind sir, I am dressed as Mary Shelly, author of Frankenstein, with a bit of a modern twist.” You made sure to call him sir instead of his earned honorific this time, to see if it would poke any buttons.

“I am not a sir since my name is Dr. Spencer Reid. I can see now who you are dressed as, but I would still argue that it is not what the intentions were when they set this up.” You could tell that he was only teasing you with the way the inflections of his voice sounded, you were glad your teasing had been a moderate success.

You did also provide him your name before deciding to poke his buttons once more,“But, isn’t she a classic, Dr. Reid?”

“But, you have not made her a classic anymore by putting as you say a ‘modern twist on things’ though I must say it does look well made.” You would’ve been offended if you could not tell that it was all in jest, though you still got the sense that you still were not seeing what all this man was about.

“Thank you, Doctor I made it myself. However, you still haven’t answered my question yet, Dr. Reid.” You asked the next question hoping he would get what you were implying, “Who are you?”

“I suspect you may already know, but I am dressed half as Dr. Jekyll and half as Mr. Hyde.” At least he started to somewhat catch on to the hidden meaning in your words, though you still had not dug up the real answer you were looking for. He was too intriguing to persuade you to stop digging, you wanted to find who the doctor really was, not the partial mask he was still using.

“Yes, I suspected as much, but aren’t you breaking the rules by dressing up as technically two characters?”

“Were there rules that said I couldn’t dress up as two characters?” He fell nicely into the small trap you had set for him, retorting quickly without thinking. Which you found odd for a man that was clearly intelligent.

“No, but were there rules that said I couldn’t dress up as a classic author with my own twist?” The look on his face had let you know you had won the debate. You smirked with triumph as you glanced over the man, taking note of each of his handsome features in case you would never see him again.

You decided to pivot the conversation to another question that was on the forefront of your mind,“Do you have a dark side, Dr. Reid?”

“Doesn’t everyone?” He was deflecting, but he didn’t seem agitated by your question, simply amused by your dogged curiosity.

“I am curious though, what are you exactly underneath it all Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?” Your coy smile was most definitely not lost on him, he could see right through your facade. He could see right through Mary Shelly to find the true you underneath. You only wished you could figure him out as well, you wondered how he got so good at being able to read people in an instant.

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” Well, at least you got the answer to what you were looking for, even if the answer wasn’t as straightforward as you may have been expecting. But, you were realizing that Dr. Spencer Reid was probably anything but straightforward.

Your heart was pumping fast, his words had a bigger effect on you than he had probably expected, your panties hidden underneath your long dress were dampening quickly. Though as you saw the smirk on his face grow as you fidgeted in your chair you realized that maybe this was intention all along.

You excused yourself for a moment with a veiled excuse of going to the bathroom. You hoped he’d follow right behind you, to see that you were going to one of the empty reading rooms. If you had read his intentions correctly the heavy doors on each of the rooms should significantly squash any noises he or you would make.

Sure enough after an appropriate amount of time had passed so as to not raise suspicion, the good doctor (that may or may not be good at all) entered the empty room.

He brought you into a dominating kiss that made you want to cower at the same time as be completely defiant. You fought with valor as he tried to consume you entirely with the kiss, not letting his tongue slip into your mouth for as long as you could hold off. In the end you still lost the fight when he lifted you up onto one of the large wooden desks in the room, causing a gasp to fall from your lips that finally gave him full access to your hot wet mouth. He suddenly pulled away to pinch your cheeks together with his hand to make you look at him which made you whimper pathetically at first, but you appreciated his next question immensely.

“Do you want this?” You nodded as vigorously as you could with his hand pinching your cheeks.

He however was not satisfied with my eager nod and prompted you to confirm once more with an even harsher tone, “Speak up when you’re talking.”

“Yes, Doctor.” You replied with his honorific instinctually and you were pleasantly surprised with the eager groan that came from his lips in response. Plus, you were slightly rewarded with being able to feel his lips on your collarbone, sending even more shivers down your spine.

“Let me know immediately if that changes.” The contrast of his sweet meaning words with his hand gripping your jaw was jarring, but you couldn’t deny that you enjoyed it. It just made you want to be as bratty as possible because even if he was harsh there was still the underlying care in everything he did, you felt safe.

“Maybe I should just call you Mister instead, since that’s clearly your dominant side.”He growled into your neck that was quickly getting covered in hickies, next thing you knew he flipped you around to face the desk closest to you with your back to his chest.

“Bend over.” He commanded, to which in response you opened your mouth to retort. Instead of letting you run your mouth as you had done before he wound his hands through your hair and pushed you down to take the position he wanted. He then pulled up your dress to uncover the panties you had soaked through. You thought maybe he was going to give me some relief of the ache in my core, but you were given a harsh slap on your ass instead.

A whimper involuntarily came out from your lips from the harshness of the slap that you assumed was revenge for not following his commands. He then spoke with deadly conviction, “I want you to say thank you, doctor after every time I spank you.”

You only agreed because you were afraid that if you did not comply now he may not give you what you wanted. So, as soon as the next stinging slap came down on the same spot as before the phrase fell from your lips, “Thank you, Doctor!”

He continued his repeated hits onto your ass and you made sure to never miss thanking him with a cry. Once he was satisfied with how much you were punished for your sassy remark he rubbed over the inflamed skin of your ass with his large, unbelieving hands. He moved your panties to the side to dip his deft fingers to run through your folds, collecting some of your wetness. You whined loudly and perhaps pathetically in response to him only lighting touching you instead of obliging the heat you felt everywhere.

“Be patient, you’ll get what you want since you decided to start listening to me.” He snapped which caused your knees to buckle again.

“I can be patient, Doctor.” He definitely appreciated the continued use of his honorific in this scandalous situation as he let out a groan almost every time you said it. Instead of answering you he started to undo the pants of his outfit, a pair of slacks that were also equally as split as the rest of his costume. You didn’t look back to see his cock because you did not want to be punished by him twice in one night. But, you certainly felt it.

You could tell just as he was running the head of his cock through your folds and pulling your panties to the side again that he would be the biggest you had ever been with. What should have worried you slightly only ended up sending a shock through your core instead. He was at least somewhat gentle when he finally started to enter you, letting you get somewhat adjusted before sinking in all the way to the hilt.

As soon as he sensed that you had adjusted he started a rough brutal pace, not that you were complaining as he hit all of your most sensitive spots as his cock dragged through your walls.

He made no effort to stifle the loud moans that were coming from your mouth, maybe he thought the thick wooden doors would stifle the noises. But, there was no way no one would be able to hear the unintelligible wails that were coming from you.

“You like bringing out this side of me don’t you?” He rasped out after he pushed your torso back down to flat on the desk once you started to lift yourself up on your elbows. When you only answered with a noise that was not understandable he prompted you to speak up with another slap on your ass and said, “I said earlier to speak up when you’re trying to talk to someone.”

“Yes, Doctor!” You finally were able to cry out with a few more slaps to your ass from him.

Each time you kept getting close to the edge he’d pull away from you slightly dashing your orgasm away from you cruelly. Each time you decided to whine out loud to voice your displeasure even if it was involuntarily he would just prolong edging you for even longer. You were babbling incoherently when he pulled you by the hair so your back was pressed into his chest and after a few more moments of hearing you beg nonsensically with tears in your eyes he finally gave you the command,

“You can cum.”

“Thank you, Doctor!” You wailed as your orgasm washed over you in devastating waves, you were sure no other man had made you finish so hard in your life. You kept repeating, “Thank you, Doctor!”over and over until you had completely come down from what was arguably the best orgasm of your life. Your own orgasm helped propel his forward, and you made sure to confirm out loud that you were ok with him cumming inside you. The warmth that filled you as he pumped into you a few more times caused one last groan to come from you that was weirdly harmonious with the groan from the doctor.

Normal aftercare wasn’t really applicable in this type of situation, you hardly knew him and the added fact that you were in an old library with a party down the hall didn’t help either. He still cleaned you up with a softness you had yet to see from him during your short encounter. Aloe probably would’ve been the best option to soothe your raw bottom, but he did massage you for a few minutes after he cleaned the rest of you. He had even made sure your clothes that were not period accurate, as he had pointed out earlier, were neat before you both left. There were no cuddles and soft loving words exchanged, but you still felt immensely cared for by a man who claims he might not be a good man. He was a strange case.

“You still never answered my question, Doctor.” You stated as you stood on the steps of the library after you two had slipped out to leave.

“That’s because I still don’t have an answer.” And, with that you parted ways into the cool air of D.C. You hoped he had the same feelings as you when you had both parted ways, you wanted to see him again. There was another meeting next month, maybe then you would get your chance again.

The thrill that ran through your veins whenever you interacted with him, whether he was fucking you or having a rousing conversation about classic literature made you want him no matter whether he was Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. You’d take them both.

Part Two, Part Three| Series Masterlist

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