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characteroulette · 6 years

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Also, as an added bonus, I wrote an actual scene for the "We Didn’t Need You" AU that I had fun with (because Jonathan), so here’s that, too

Dante knew even in childhood that he was meant to be alone. Whenever he tried to get his classmates to play with him, they were never interested in giants made of melting clay or trickster pixies who trapped the unsuspecting travellers in eternal dances. They wanted to play things like 'house', or re-enact bible stories, or play made up silly hero stories in which the monsters were always defeated and the heroes came out on top.

They didn't seem to understand that the monsters could have complexity to them, that they weren't just evil beings. And Dante never understood the appeal of pretending to be a family. (They could have their robot cats and pet dragons, but the fact that the Mama and Papa were so kind and loving with their babies just seemed like such a lie.)

He had a Mama and a Papa. He had a sibling sometimes. But, at the end of the day, Dante was always alone.

At some point, he just started preferring it that way.

Of all the new first years that came to their school that year, it was the frightened blond boy who caught Jonathan's interest. The kid got a single room, always ate alone at his own table, and seemed to be avoiding everyone else. An air of loneliness hung about the boy, yet it was a contented sort of loneliness. At least, if Jonathan was reading it right.

Honestly, despite never even interacting with this other boy, Jonathan felt a kinship with him.

Maybe that's what possessed him to sit down at the same table one day for lunch, completely unprompted.

The disturbance made the boy look up at Jonathan. A mixture of confusion and fear was in his eyes, which Jonathan now noted were red. Just as Niculaie and Damon's eyes were. After the initial surprise (and attempting to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do now that he'd made this impulsive decision), Jonathan held up a hand in greeting. "Hey."

The other boy nodded slowly in return. "Um. Hi."

His voice was quiet, unsure. Which was fair. Jonathan had invaded the other kid's space. Jonathan offered up a smile, shoving his hands into his lab coats' pockets. "I'm Jonathan. Nice to meet ya. Mind if I sit here for today?"

"Uh." The other boy bowed his head, staring resolutely at his tray of food. "I guess. I can't stop you. If you really want to." The more he spoke, the quieter he petered out by the end. And, perhaps because Jonathan was very aware of his own accent, he could hear the slightest bit of accent in the other boy's voice. "I'm, uh. Dante Vicario."

"Vicario." Jonathan sounded the name out shortly. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Perhaps he'd run it by Damon, that pompous rich boy knew the whole school. For better or worse. Jonathan half-smiled and turned back towards Vicario. "What electives you taking? Let me guess -- one of 'em's Study Hall, right?"

Vicario kept his head down, his expression mostly out of view. Jonathan waited a moment for Vicario to reply, realised he wasn't going to get one, then went about eating his own lunch. He'd sat there, it was up to him to make conversation. But it was also polite to give space when appropriate. And it didn't seem like Vicario was very keen on the whole talking thing.

Maybe Jonathan could try again during dinner. Or maybe even after hours. Vicario had that single room and all.

But no, no. That wasn't Jonathan, that wasn't how a nice, straight boy would make friends. And Jonathan was a normal, straight boy.

"Sitting here today, huh?"

Frank suddenly dropped his tray on the place beside Jonathan's, grinning mischievously as Vicario jumped at the sudden noise. Jonathan frowned in amusement at Frank. "Thought I'd get to know Vicario a bit. How about you?"

"Oh, you know." Frank sat down, cheery as usual. Despite Jonathan knowing exactly what Frank meant. Still, graceful as ever, Frank moved on by looking next at Vicario. "So. Would you rather fight a bear or a bunch of bees?"

Jonathan snorted, barely holding back his laughter. Another perfect opener from the genius kid himself. God, Jonathan was so glad Frank was able to be his roommate. Even if it meant he was reminded of William more than he'd like. Well, whatever. That ship had sailed. Now Jonathan just had to keep his head about him, to last until the end of the year. Then he'd be off to college and, hopefully, things would make more sense by that point.

Vicario dared to glance up at Frank, that mix of fear and confusion still in his eyes. They stared at each other a moment. At first, Jonathan wasn't sure which of them would speak first, if at all. Then Frank grinned brightly. "All right, easier question. What would your most essential item be if the world ended right now?"

Vicario perked up for just a second, an answer ready in his mind. But he paused, stopping himself. An awkward minute passed, in which Frank's smile fell and Vicario looked to be fighting with himself on something. Then, in a surprisingly swift motion, Vicario stood, grabbing his tray, and hurried off. Both Jonathan and Frank watched Vicario dump the whole tray in the trash, then leave the cafeteria completely. Jonathan wasn't sure Vicario had even touched any of it.

"Huh." Frank sunk back in his seat, looking as perplexed as Jonathan felt. "I didn't expect he'd run."

Jonathan hummed vaguely in reply. It may have been an impulsive decision, but this was turning out to be more intriguing than he'd expected.

Frank shrugged, then grinned up at Jonathan. "You gonna answer my question at least?"

Jonathan smirked, placing his hand heavily on top of Frank's head. Just enough to push Frank forward in his seat a little. "Hah, but you all ready know my answer."

"It could've changed, unlike your attitude."

Frank half-whined, half-laughed. The kid was such a good sport. As such, Jonathan relented, removing his hand and allowing Frank to sit upright again. "It's still my chem. set." As he answered, Jonathan leaned back in his seat enough to cross one leg over the other, staring off towards the exit to the cafeteria. "The chemicals come in handy. Never know when you'd need explosives or some medical supplies."

"Logical as ever, sir chemist." Frank attempted a posh, serious tone, but ended up giggling. Jonathan smiled along. Frank petered out, then gave a long, dramatic sigh. "I gotta go now, I only came over to talk for a bit."

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Got plans?"

"Yeah, that Philips girl agreed to help me with some of my English stuff." Frank grinned as he stood and grabbed his tray, giddy as ever. After a moment, however, that giddiness turned into sheepishness. "I mean. Not that I don't think you'd be able to help me with that, too, just."

Jonathan shook his head in what he hoped was an encouraging, understanding sentiment. "Go make friends."

A bright child like Frank couldn't be bound to just his focused brother and someone as dour as Jonathan, lord knew. Frank seemed reassured, thankfully, perking right back up and grinning with confidence. "Thanks. See ya later, Jonathan."

They waved to one another in parting as Frank dashed off to sit with miss Paige Philips and her gang. Jonathan contented himself a minute with watching them all interact with one another, talking and laughing animatedly. They had the Wolf, his band mates, and van Helsing IV with them. Frank and the Fourth must've been new additions, as Jonathan didn't remember them being there last month. Or even last year for the Fourth. Damon was probably keeping closer tabs on them, being so hung up on that Philips girl.

Honestly, though. She wasn't that special, really. Her blonde hair might've been the only real stand out thing, as she insisted it was natural, but in every other respect she was normal. She had a lot of fight, she didn't take any bullshit, and besides that. Couldn't Damon tell she wasn't interested? Niculaie at the very least had to have mentioned it to Damon. Even Natasha or Aglaé had to have said something by this point. It'd been a whole year!

Speaking of, Niculaie, Damon, Natasha, and Aglaé (with Diane, Charon, and Gaëlle) all grouped over, sitting around Jonathan's table with their trays of lunch. Natasha gave a cheery greeting while Charon immediately engaged Diane and Gaëlle in a discussion that seemed like a continuation of an earlier topic. Aglaé, of course, had his nose buried in a book. Niculaie, oddly, smiled very gently at Jonathan. "You tend to smile so much more whenever you're speaking with Ernest."

Damon near cackled. "Kid should realise what a rare treat that is."

Jonathan levelled them both with his best uninterested expression, hoping to god his embarrassment wouldn't show through. "Whatever, Kingpin."

Damon really laughed at that while Niculaie frowned. How the two of them ever became friends and stayed that way, Jonathan would never understand. Even though, on the inside, he knew exactly how easily Damon could work his charms on someone. That show-off had been born lucky, a trait Jonathan certainly didn't share. But the jerk did make use of it to help out Niculaie when it mattered, so maybe Jonathan could ease up. Just a little.

An earlier thought came back to him and he decided in favour of pursuing it. "Hey, Asheford, humour me a moment. Why's the name 'Vicario' ring a bell?"

For a brief second, Damon's eyes went wide. Like he'd been caught off-guard. Even Niculaie's expression turned to shock in that moment and he turned to Damon in concern. Before Niculaie had a chance to say something, however, Damon recovered and smoothed himself out with a smirk. "Had a run-in with the Fireball, eh?"

"Is, um." Niculaie paused, a little too excited, and continued with much more calm. "How was he doing? Did you get to talk to him long?"

Jonathan, a little taken aback, frowned at them. "No, he. He barely told me his name before he bolted. Am I missing something here?"

"Dante Vicario is the son of Lietta and Caro Vicario." Aglaé, surprisingly, spoke up, drawing their attention. Aglaé didn't even look up from his book, turning a page idly as he continued. "The Vicario family are the founders and owners of the world's leading company in computer science research and development."

Damon sat back, satisfied. "Exactly."

Jonathan grimaced, a little in frustration and a lot in annoyance. "And how again does this relate to me knowing the name?"

"The Vicarios have been my family's clients for years." Damon waved a hand dismissively, his other arm crossed over his chest. "Maybe you heard your mom mention them or saw the name on one of her court documents."

Jonathan might've relented, might've agreed at that, but Niculaie's entire posture drooped in almost a guilty way and no, Jonathan wasn't about to buy that easy an explanation. There had to be a little more than just that. For the moment, though, he settled for nodding along and dropping it. Damon quickly moved the topic along to what they should do about the computers in the towers and Jonathan tuned him out, opting to watch the rest of the cafeteria.

Vicario never returned. Maybe that was a good thing.

#Momo writes stuff #Game Kids need their own tag #Dante #Jonathan #Frank #Damon #Niculaie #Aglaé #au: we didn't need you #I might as well tag that #Jonathan was a fun write holy shit #I wish I got to write him more for the main story

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carasstarwarsmusings · 6 years

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Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created this past year (fics, art, edits, etc!) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works.

I was tagged by the wonderful and talented @perrydowning

I only started writing fic in 2017, so at least I don’t have to sort through what’s eligible. Let’s see though...

Snare

My first AU and second fic, an AU where the Resistance was waiting in Tuanal to ambush the First Order with the intent of capturing Kylo Ren. He escapes, injured. While this is a fairly dark, pragmatic Kylo that shifts lighter through the story, this fic pushes most characters into a very morally grey zone. Expect the unexpected.

“Kriffing bitch,” he growled the words out, refusing to look to the corner where she sat.

“So nice to see you too, Ben,” her voice was cold. He didn’t need to see her to know the hard, steely glint that would be in her eyes. The way she always looked when she locked away her emotions and operated on sheer determination to do something, and damn the consequences to those around her.

It was the look she had when she sent him away, even as he pleaded with her not to make him go. He winced at the memory, now raw again after reliving it in the force vision. His chin tapped the metal band around his neck and he let out a growl, “You put a suppression collar on me.”

“We did,” she answered, “it’s a nicer option than the chemical suppressants.”

“You collared me like a kriffing dog.” He gritted his teeth, “Kriffing bitch. ”

He heard her stand and the rattling of the chair as she dragged it closer, so she was sitting in front of him. Still he refused to look at her, keeping his eyes trained onto the floor. “It’s unfortunate, but necessary.” She paused, he could see in his mind her pursing her lips as she waited to see if he’d say anything else, “This entire ordeal, I’m afraid, was unfortunate but necessary.”

Anger spiked in him again and he jerked hard on the chains before stilling, staring at the floor. “ Unfortunate . Yes, nearly killing me was unfortunate . Getting so many of your people killed was unfortunate . Niima being leveled to ruins was unfortunate . Tell me, did you do anything to help your allies down on Jakku? Or did you pull your people out without even an apology for leaving them with nothing but destruction?”

There was a long pause, the room silent except for the sound of his mother’s deep breaths. He had aggravated her with an accusation that was completely true and she loathed to even think about. But when she spoke again, her voice was calm and cold.

“You’ve seen the rest of the map to Luke,” she said, as he blew air angrily out of his nose. “And you’re going to give it to us so we can find him.”

Chained

My very first fic (well, at least since my teenage years). Canonverse post TFA. Kylo starts very dark, be warned on that. Kylo and Rey deal with the aftermath of Starkiller and the realization that their minds appear to be linked. A complex (but far less grumpy than the one we got in TLJ) Luke, fiesty Rey, dark and obsessed Kylo. I even brought Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren into this story (but not in a way that requires you to have ever watched Rebels). It’s a fun, very plot driven ride. And I really like this Kylo---

“I don’t think they saw us,” she said, quietly, backing away from the door and ducking behind one of the consoles. Her nerves were on edge as the sound of footsteps stopped somewhere close to the room they were in. Leia nodded, her face pale, peering over the console.

It all fell quiet and for a moment she felt like she could breath again.

Then the door exploded inward.

A pair of troopers rushed, raising their blasters. She jumped to her feet, ready to ignite her staff, when the two went flying in opposite directions and smashed into the walls. Freezing in place, her head not quite wrapped around what just happened, she heard the sound of commotion and shouting and a few screams from the hall… and whistling. A pleasant, almost jaunty sort of tune. Someone was whistling? Dakriff?

A lightsaber crackled from the hallway as another trooper screamed in pain, and her breath caught in realization.

Ren appeared in the doorway, saber crackling in his right hand. Nonchalant, whistling, as if he was strolling through a park and not a battle. As if he likely hadn’t just cut his way through a unit of stormtroopers. His eyes met hers and grinned.

One of the stormtroopers who’d been flung into the wall shifted, trying to raise his blaster. Ren’s head turned and the arm lifting the blaster slammed into the ground. He spun his saber as he walked casually over to the trooper who strained against the force hold. Lifting the saber up mid twirl and catching the hilt in both hands, he plunged the blade straight down through the trooper’s chest. Withdrawing it he spun it again, glancing over at the remaining trooper, he appeared to deem him not a threat and disengaged his saber.

He still hadn't stopped whistling.

Apathetic Synergy

AU where Rey is captured on Starkiller and is taken prisoner by the FO. Slow burn forced cohabitation as Ren tries to gain her trust and loyalty. Very wild, feral Rey and an OCD Ren.

She stared up at him, trying to blink back tears that were leaking out of her eyes. “I want to go home…” she whispered. “Please, just let me go home.”

He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he shook his head, “No.”

“I need… I need to get back. You don’t understand I need to get back,” her voice broke. “I’ve been gone too long…” A dam broke as she started to sob below him.

The depth of her fear and sadness seemed to fill the room. Still holding her down, he leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers as he shook his head, “There was never anything for you there beside false hope.” He pulled back as she shook her head hard letting go of her wrists and sitting up. She pulled her hands down and buried her face in them.

“Look at me, Rey,” he said, leaning over her slightly. She pulled her hand down and looked up at him, her hazel eyes wet. “They were never coming back,” he said, voice gentle.

Her eyes shut as she shook her head, another sob wracking her. He sighed, rolling himself off of her, looking down she curled herself up as she cried. After a minute or two he reached down, slipping his arms under her back and cradling her against him awkwardly. It had been a long time since he had tried to comfort anyone. Tucking her head under his chin, he let her sob into his chest.

“Whoever they were, they didn’t deserve you anyway,” he murmured. “They didn’t deserve you.”

Low Places

My sequel to Pro Forma, which you may want to read first for background, but I don’t think it’s necessary to understand the story. Given my tendency to write dark and angsty stuff, this fic is my relief of lighthearted banter and affection between these two idiots on opposite sides of the war who are totally infatuated with one another. Bonus, Phasma/Mitaka side ship, which I’ve been told does have the official ship label of “Lt. Chrome”. I wouldn’t call this fic angsty free, but it’s angsty light and with wonderfully cheesy flirtation mixed in.

“The blond--”

He let out a laugh, “Phasma?”

“You two seem friendly.” He seemed really amused by this-- was he laughing at her? It wasn’t until she noticed him looking at her mouth that she realized she was pouting, her lower lip sticking out as she glared at him. Gods, was she a five year old? Her face burned and she forced her lips straight.

Ren just shook his head, “We’re friends, kind of, in whatever way people like her and me can have friends.” He leaned towards her, “You were jealous.”

“I am… “ she sputtered a moment. That was ridiculous, “I am not jealous.”

“Is that so?” he gave her a patronizing smile.

“I ran into her in the ‘fresher,” she said, trying to reestablish her footing again as she glared accusingly, “I got the feeling she knew---”

“Oh…” he leaned back, looking slightly sheepish.

She put her face in her hands, shaking her head, “You told her?”

“So…” he leaned forward, “here’s the thing with me and Phasma. I provide the whiskey, we bitch about work-- mainly Hux, mostly we bitch about Hux, and she listens and absolves me of my sins.”

She shook her head at the absurdity of this, “I’m a sin then?”

His eyes scanned down from her face and back up again, “Best I ever committed.”

Something to Love

My take on a Reylo baby fic. At some point, post TFA, Rey and Ren ran off together, building a home and a family hidden in wildspace far from the war. But sadly, the war isn’t done with them, six years later they find themselves dragged back to the mess against their will.

I warn you in advance that I will make you hate characters you didn’t know you could hate in this fic. It’s very very angsty. If you don’t like angst, read chapter one and pretend that I don’t have any other chapters where I utterly destroy the domestic bliss I create in that first one.

She growled, it was a feral sound, “I want to talk to Organa.”

“Organa’s not the only one in charge now, Rey. But I’m sure she’ll want to talk to you too.”

Frowning, her eyes darted to the rank badge on his jacket before looking back at him, “I see you’ve moved up in the world. Is that your way of telling me you were behind this?”

“I’m one of them. Your seizure was my operation,” he studied her. “And it’s my way of warning you that Organa has no say in any of this. Conflict of interest.”

She blinked again, her eyes wet, willing herself not to cry, not now, “Why? We weren’t hurting anyone, why go through all this effort for us?”

There was a long pause before Poe sat up and leaned an elbow on the table. He opened his mouth, then shut it, seeming to reconsider what he was about to say before finally speaking, “We need your help, Rey.”

“My help?” She stared incredulously. “You attacked us, kidnapped us, kidnapped my children , and you think I’m going to help you?”

“The First Order, they’re building something. A weapon. But we’re not entirely sure what it is,” he seemed to be ignoring her outburst. “And give we’re currently pinned back, investigating is next to impossible. We want to attack some key First Order bases, see if we can’t get some breathing room, before going in and finding out what they’re doing before it’s too late. We could use a little Jedi help in all this.”

“I’m not a Jedi,” she snapped.

“Close enough.”

Okay, that’s my five, I tag @dvrksister, @reylojohnson, @nottheyounglings, @otterlyanonymous, and @lonelyspacebabies. Play if you like, ignore if you’d rather not ;)

#tumblr games #my writing #my fics #reylo #reylo fanfics

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arirashkae · 7 years

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Okay, prompt for literal fluff. Felix-is-a-cat AU, only now BOTH of them are cats. Maybe something where they are totally just cuddling up for warmth... Bonus points for Locus cleaning Felix (G-rated) who reluctantly sits and positively does not enjoy it of course. Lol.

I almost didn’t get to this because I kept getting called away. But! I am here! Have an AU scene to FQPRCC for Fluff Week! (Also, Google Translate is the best when doing Red vs Blue XD. “Look what the cat dragged in”, which interestingly is different than “look what the cat dragged in”)

Quod Cattus Respice In Trahebatur

Characters: Felix, Locus (not written to be shippy, but I’m not gonna say you can’t read it that way)

Rating: T/M for Felix’s usual command of the English language

Warnings: involuntary shapeshifting, accidental intoxication, forcible cuddling

Word count: 1698

AO3

@rvbficwars (just in case XD)

‘Oh,that is not fucking fair.’Felix’stail lashed angrily as he pulled back on Locus’ undersuit, helpingthe enormous and fluffycatthat was his partner to extricate himself from the jumble of armor.

Locustwisted to look himself over. ‘Thisdoes seem to be a problem.’Somehow,Locus managed to come out of this twice Felix’s size.

Theyhad almost made it to the door with the crate holding Felix’s armor.Unfortunately, ‘almost’ only counted with horseshoes, hand grenades,and tactical nukes, and Locus had been caught in the same beam oflight that had enveloped Felix when he’d tried to circle the room.

‘No,I mean even as a goddamned cat you’re still a beast,’Felixgroused. Locus just shot him an unimpressed look and concentrated onstanding up properly.

Thetwo of them picked their way out of the room, trying to hurry whilenavigating the unfamiliar mechanics of having four legs.'Technically,that is the definition of a cat.’Theystopped just outside the door and turned back. Their armor lay a fewyards inside. They had come so close, and yet nowhere near closeenough.

'Oh,go fuck yourself. You know what I mean.’Felixyawned, showing off every single one of his nice sharp teeth. Locusremained unimpressed. He turned away and sat down just outside thedoorway, studying what he could see. As if that would give them anyclues as to what the fuck had just happened or more importantly howto fucking fix it.Felixconcentrated instead on coordination and processing the flood ofinformation his new senses were bringing in.

'Ithink we can safely assume that the researchers also ran afoul ofthis device.’Neitherof them even bothered questioning how they were still able tocommunicate so effortlessly. After so long having each other’s backs,sometimes Felix was amazed they even neededtospeak to each other any more. Not that Felix was taking a vow ofsilence any time soon, mind. Irritating Locus was one of the thingsthat got him out of bed in the morning.

'Gee,you think?’Felixtook another few careful steps. Embolden by the lack of wobbling, hetried a few small hops. The more he moved, the more natural this newbody felt. Twitch an ear thiswayto catch noises over there,curl the tail justsotohelp counterbalance a jump …

Hestopped and cocked his head. Locus was still peering into ThatFucking Room, the tip of his ridiculously fluffy tail curled aroundhis feet and his whiskers twitching slightly. Felix tilted his headthe other way, gauging the distance.

Hecrouched and crept forward, stepping carefully to be as quiet aspossible. When he was fairly confident he could make the leap, hepounced–

–andended up slammed to the floor as Locus whirled and smacked him,pinning him down with his own body weight. 'Iwas wondering how long before you tried something like that.’

Felixtried to twist free, but Locus was easily double his size, evenbefore accounting for that coat. He huffed. 'Oh,come on. Like you aren’t tempted to try.’

Locusdidn’t answer, but he did let Felix up, cuffing him lightly in thehead. 'Weshould at least attempt to access the records. Hopefully the team wasable to find somethingthatwill help us before they disappeared.’

'Withour luck, they’ll be locked by fingerprints or retinal scans or someridiculous key one of them made up.’

'Whichis why we were given the decryption overrides.

Theythreaded their way through the cleared rooms, eager to find the exitas quickly as possible. Neither one of them liked leaving their armorand weapons behind, but there was very little they could do about it.

Thesun was almost too bright, the jungle around them too loud, when theyfinally made it out of the temple complex. 'Idon’t know if you’ve looked at yourself in the last few minutes,Locs, but I don’t exactly think either of us is going to be flyingthe Pelican over there any time soon. And carrying any of those padsthrough this mess is going to be exactly easy.’

Aftera few moments of getting their new bearings, they struck out fortheir Pelican. 'Wewill figure something out. We are still alive, and more importantly,still awareofwho we are, regardless of what we look like.’

Neitherof them needed to say it, but they both heard the 'for now’ at theend of that statement.

'Fiiiine.Be the optimist.’Felixtrotted ahead, pausing every so often to sniff a plant or try topounce on a bug. He had just stopped, staring at a particularly luridflower and trying to remember if he’d noticed it on the way down,when Locus barreled into him. They tumbled down the path, Felixyowling in indignation as he clawed for purchase to stop them.

’Bequiet,’Locussnarled. He whirled to face the flower and backed up slightly, stillsnarling, ears pinned back and poofed out to look even larger. Itwould have been hysterical, if not for the fact that the flower wasnow turned towards them – and there was a splotch of pollen onLocus’ face.

Felixcaught himself flattening to the ground in fear and shook himself'Whatthe fuck was that?’

'Idon’t know, but it looked like it had been leaning towards you andthat can’t have been good.’Locuskept backing up until he was even with Felix. 'Didany of it hit you?’

Felixtwisted, managing to roll completely over as he checked. 'I’mclean. You get hit any worse than that?’

'Idon’t think so.’Locusshook his head and took a few swipes at it with one paw. 'ButI did inhale some of … some of it…’Hetrailed off, shaking his head again.

'Locus?’Felixcrouched again, unsure if his partner was going to go berserk, dropdead, or–

–orstart … laughing?

'I’mmmgood.’Locusswayed on his feet, before flopping down on one side, blinking up atFelix.

Felix’sears flattened almost immediately. ’…Locus?’

Hispartner twisted around, ending up almost flat on his back and curvedin a semi circle. 'Yyeesss?’

Felixgaped at him. Then he realized that rumbling noise was Locus purring.'Holyfuck, are youhigh?’

'AmI?’Locusblinked up at him, tail swishing lazily. He took a swipe at the emptyair above him.

'Ohfuck me,’Felixbreathed. As if this day couldn’t get any worse – or any moreridiculous. Now not only were the two of them currently fucking cats,but his stoic and taciturn partner was currently rolling in the grassand batting at imaginary butterflies or some bullshit like that.

Hehad to smack Locus a few times to get his attention, but eventuallyhe focused on him. 'Getup, asshole. You can’t stay here. With our luck, you’ll get steppedon before we change back.’

’…Felix?’

'Oh,Jesus Christ, get on your fucking feet and let’s go.’Felix practically had to shove Locus into sitting up, but once he wasthere, momentum or what-fucking-ever took over and he stumbled to hisfeet. And stopped there.

Itprobably looked ridiculous, but Felix face-palmed – face-pawed? –anyway. He bumped his shoulder against Locus’. 'Thisway, asshole.’Hestarted back down the path to the ship; Locus trotted after him,purring happily and his tail straight up like a banner.

'Fuckyou, fuck this place, fuck this job,’Felixgrumbled. At least he could still manage the keypad for the Pelican.That meant he could herd Locus into the fucking ship – 'goddamnit,thisway’– andlock the ramp behind them. He silently apologized – something hewould never do out loud – for every time Locus had hauled his drunkass back to wherever they were holed up. If he had been half as badas this, then Locus had the patience of a goddamned saint.

Ofcourse, now they had to figure out what the fuck to do next.Hopefully this shit would wear off soon; Locus stoned and happy wassomehow even creepier than he was sober. Probably because it was justso wrong.

'We’reprobably going to have to eat the MREs cold until we get our bodiesback. I don’t trust something won’t fuck up if we try to heat themand–’

Forthe second time in less than as many house, Felix found himselfsquashed beneath his partner. Thistime,however, Locus was purring like a goddamned chainsaw and nuzzlingthe back of his neckwhatthe fuck?'Youworry too much.’

'Yeah,because that’s usually yourjob,asshole. Now let me up.’

InsteadLocus, fucker that he was, just sprawled even more. 'No.’M comfortable.’

'Locus,I swear to fucking God–’

Felix’sthreat was cut short by the swipe of a rough tongue across his head.He froze in complete shock. Locus repeated the motion, somehowmanaging to purr even louderinthe process.

'Locus,’Felixhissed. 'Whatthe fuck do you think you’re doing?’

Locusjust shifted until he was less sprawled and more curled up acrossFelix’s back. 'Quiet.You’re too tense. Need t’ relax.’Hecontinued fucking groominghim,and started kneading his shoulders for good measure.

Almostagainst his will, Felix didfeelhimself start to relax, between the purring and the kneading. 'So,what? Are you suggesting a catnap?’Nowaywashe going near the groomingwitha ten-foot pole. If he was lucky, Locus wouldn’t remember any of thiswhen he sobered up.

'Yes.Sleep. Tha’ would be good.’Locusgave a jaw-cracking yawn, and Felix couldn’t help mirroring him. Hehuffed a sigh as Locus dropped his head on top of Felix’s own. Thatactually did sound pretty good right now.

’…you know you’re an asshole, right?’

Locusput one paw over Felix’s mouth. 'Shhh.Sleep now. Argue later.’Henuzzled the back of Felix’s head and dropped off almost immediately.

Ofcoursethefucker would snore rightinhis ear. Asshole.

(Have some cat!mercs 😁💕)

#rvb fluff week #isaac 'felix' gates #samuel 'locus' ortez #my writing #zhaneel replies #izzybutt #Zhaneel replies #fqprcc

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queenofmahishmati · 7 years

Text

Baahubali Question Meme

Brainchild of the awesome @avani008 ( I drafted this before you tagged me in your reply LOL ). So I’m putting it under readmore after the first answer cause they’re all really long…

1. Which language do you prefer to watch the movies in and why? If you’ve watched multiple versions, are there any translation choices in one version that you prefer?

Both the movies, I watched them first in Tamil. And then in Telugu. Those two are my only preferred versions cause I love hearing the original voice of the actors as I’m more used to it ( I grew up watching movies from these two film industries ). Also, very recently I came to know that though the story was written in Telugu, the script was written entirely in Tamil and then translated to Telugu ( just few parts were done the other way around ), so most of the Tamil dialogues from both the movies hits straight home with me. My two ever favourites would be,

இக்கணம் முதல் மரணம் அணைக்கும் வரை நான் உன்னுடையவன் தேவசேனா. I’m yours till death embraces me, Devasena ( Amarendra )

இந்த பிரபஞ்சத்தில் நீ விரும்ப வேண்டுமானாலும் வெறுக்க வேண்டுமானாலும் நான் மட்டும் தான் இருப்பேன் தேவசேனா. You have only me to love or hate in this world henceforth, Devasena ( Bhalla )

2. Your favourite song picturization.

Tough!! Its a close call between Irul Konda Vaanil ( Mamatala Talli ) and Vandhai Ayya ( Dandalayya ). I low-key love Shivam ( title cards track ) and Manohari. I love the waterfalls alone in Dheerane ( Dhivara ).

3. Devasena or Sivagami?

If you knew me, you wouldn’t ask me that question. Both had their best qualities and their fatal flaws. I can’t choose. But I’ll put them in this order, Sivagami And Devasena.

4. It’s not a fandom without shipping. Share a headcanon about your OTP, or your NoTP, or that one non-canon ship that is intriguing, or all three!

OTP of all otps: Amarsena — Every time Amarendra excuses someone mocking him ( I’m imagining there would be plenty times in the one year they stayed as a couple within the castle ), I can’t help but picture Devasena giving a hard nudge to his side or challenging him and everyone present openly like she did at her baby shower ceremony to do something about it.

BONUS— a cute headcanon:

A: Why am I the only one unable to feel her move? D: HE won’t respond until you address your son properly!

( a girl can dream… )

5. Kuntala or Mahishmati?

Mahishmati, my url says it all!! Mahishmati endured while Kuntala burnt ( all thanks to my King, don’t hate me ).

6. The scene(s) you could watch over and over again.

That one iconic scene: When Deva walks over Amarendra’s shoulders ( I’m Kattappa in that scene ). Second best: When Sivagami power walks into the throne room with the baby in her hand and kills Martanda saying “Raja Thandhiram!!” Third best ( and also the one I melt with ): When Bhalla talks to the crown flexing those abs and muscles, glinting like a dream in gold in that fire light…

7. Like it or not, get in touch with your inner Bijjaladeva: think of your favourite character, and tell us one thing that annoys you about him/her.

Looks at Amarendra during Dandalayya: How the hell is he always so popular despite being the pauper??

8. Kattappa or Bhalladeva?

BHALLALADEVA. He did what he wanted to do or constantly found a twisted way to do it. To be honest, Kattappa should’ve take a few lessons from him cause I’m thinking Bhalla had that attitude ever since he was a kid…

9. Time to channel Amarendra instead: think of your least favourite character, and do your best to come up with one positive thing about him/her.

Dandanayakka: He is loyal to his friendship with Bhalla and thus would prove to be loyal to the throne (??)

10. Everyone’s got an unpopular/controversial opinion, no matter what the fandom. Let’s hear yours!

Bhalla who killed his own mother should’ve killed the mother of his son too just because she wasn’t Devasena ( or she might have died too but honestly no, Bhadra couldn’t have been adopted but could definitely be a surrogate son ).

Being a vassal kingdom to Mahishmati, maybe if Devasena and her brother had remembered to turn down the marriage offer in a little more respectable way or had even mentioned that Deva was interested in someone else or something along the lines— the entire catastrophe that happened after Deva’s arrival in Mahishmati could’ve been prevented. And also, I’m sorry to say this, no matter how much of an ideal and exemplary woman Devasena is, I couldn’t help but cringe at the less than respectable way she treated Sivagami ( Bhalla & Bijju don’t matter honestly ). A woman of her wisdom and who possesses so much clarity, could’ve handled it all more tactfully rather than erupting like an impatient volcano. The one year in exile is what made her perfect. And sadly, we could see the same problem reflected in Mahendra. He may look like his father but is carbon copy of his mother.

11. Choose your favourite fandom sorting mechanism (i.e. Hogwarts houses, daemons, Game of Thrones houses) or more than one if you’re really feeling adventurous. Tell us what results you think the main Baahubali characters would have.

Hogwarts houses would be my obvious choice. Sivagami would be in Ravenclaw. Amarendra would be a Hufflepuff. Devasena is undoubtedly Gryffindor. Bhalladeva is a complex puzzle who could fit in both gryff and slyth, but would be a Slytherin because of his slyness and thirst for power that you cannot see in a gryffindor. Kattappa is Gryffindor. Bijjala and Bhadra, again Slytherin. Avantika and Mahendra are Gryffindor.

12. Let’s pretend Rajamouli has decided to make a oneshot film about any period of time not covered by the films, whether before, after, or during the events we see–but only one. What would you want it to be about?

I don’t know if this opinion exists, but I want to see the childhood days of Amarendra and Bhalla because no child is born evil. I need to see what changed Bhalla to the way he is ( there needs to be a bigger force than his father’s temper tantrums cause he obviously knows that, to be in power he needs to be like his mum and not Bijju. He knows for his word to be law, he cannot simply throw them around. )

I also want to see the one year that Amarsena lived within the palace after the wedding which I’m sure most of you wish for as well.

13. Avantika or Mahendra/Shivu(du)?

I would honestly pass them both but since I don’t have another option, I would choose Avantika. She has her head screwed on right ( well, better than Mahendra I mean ).

14. What three movies/books/TV shows would you recommend to fellow fans suffering Baahubali withdrawal?

God, this is gonna be awfully hard cause I’m not yet suffering from any withdrawal symptoms. My mind is still roaming somewhere in Mahishmati and refuses to come back.

So Movies, I would suggest you to look forward to Nene Raju Nene Mantri cause I see so many parallels between those two characters of Rana ( I may very well be talking to all the Bhalla fans in here ). Mirchi is a roller-coaster. If you need more of Rajamouli’s magic in a historical setting, try Magadheera. For Books, you can try the Rise of Sivagami. Also The Shiva Trilogy, you will love it trust me. Or any versions of Mahabharatha, my favourite is Palace of Illusions which is the entire story from Draupadi’s perspective. An immensely satisfying read it was. I don’t have time for TV shows really but Game of Thrones anyone?? ( gosh I still got one whole season to catch up to before the recent season )

15. Tag any of your friends that you think might be interested!

Okay, I’m tagging only those I know are as mad as me about Baahubali or I might have discussed this movie franchise with them at some point. @forestpenguin, @adiyaathi, @myluckyerror, @sakhiya, @kollyreign & @puppyloveblog24

The rest of my amazing followers are welcome to do this if you find it interesting, just tag it “baahubali question meme” and we would love to read all of your opinions.

#baahubali #baahubali question meme #know me better #baahubali things

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artificervaldi · 7 years

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Velvet Apartments [2/?]

Characters (this chapter): Yu Narukami, Makoto Niijima, Elizabeth, Marie, Aigis, Yosuke Hanamura, Fuuka Yamagishi, Mitsuru Kirijo, Rise Kujikawa

Ships (this chapter): Mitsuru/Fuuka, hints of Aigis/Elizabeth, start of Yu/Yosuke

Summary: Yu Narukami was finally ready to move out and be on his own. Too bad for him Velvet Apartments was filled to the brim with almost too colorful characters.

Previous Chapter | Ao3 Link | Next Chapter

A/N: The next chapter on tumblr, yay! This one is mostly P4 characters with some P3, next one will finally see Akira and some P5 characters that aren’t Makoto.

Yu Narukami was finally moving out on his own. It’d been a long while since he’d even thought about moving out on his own. After high school he’d gone to live with his uncle and Nanako for a while, but eventually he just felt the need to move somewhere of his own.

So here he was, back in a city and wondering if that ad for Velvet Apartments was a good idea or not. The building looked nice, it was fairly tall and kind of wide for your average apartment building, but nice. If it looked like this, then maybe it would be alright.

“W-whoa!” Before Yu could take a step forward, a man on a bicycle went zooming by, right into the wall of the building. Judging by the groans that followed, it hurt quite a bit.

He thought for a moment, should he say something? It looked like it hurt quite a bit. Maybe he should help--

“Excuse me, sir?” He glanced to the side and saw a young woman in a school uniform standing next to him. “Is this car yours?”

He blinked a few times and glanced back at it. “Yeah, it is. Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s sitting in an awkward area and I believe the apartment complex has rules against it unless you’re leaving it there for a reason.” She fixed the bag on her shoulder. “It seems you’re moving in, but the fact you’re standing there might cause some problems.”

“Oh, sorry.” He started for the door and the girl followed. Looked like he would have to wait to check on that guy. That is if he was even still there by the time he was done with his things. “Could I ask your name?”

“Oh, Makoto Niijima. It’s nice to meet you, mister, er…”

“Yu Narukami. It’s nice to meet you as well Niijima-san.”

She smiled at him and held the door open. “Odd, Theodore is usually here this time of day.”

“Who?”

“The doorman.” Makoto smiled at him as they made their way to the elevator. “I’m sure you’ll meet him eventually.”

“Good to know.” He turned to the elevator and pressed the up button. Floor five, huh? He would have to make sure to walk at least some of the time. It would make decent exercise.

“Hello, Elizabeth.” Yu looked up and saw a woman standing in the elevator. So there was an attendant here, huh? They just seemed to have a lot of things here, how nice.

“Hello, oh and who are you?” Elizabeth looked over at Yu and he paused. Her eyes were bothering him for some reason, it felt like they were staring into his soul…

“This is Yu Narukami, I believe he’s moving in today.” Thank god for Makoto, he wasn’t sure he’d have said anything himself.

“I see, it’s nice to meet you, Narukami. I’m sure we’ll get along swimmingly.” Elizabeth held out a hand and smiled.

Yu took her hand and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Elizabeth took a step back and allowed Yu and Makoto to enter the elevator. Before she could even ask what floor, though, a couple women came running into the elevator.

“Made it…” A woman with black hair stood up and, after glancing at Yu, turned to Elizabeth. “Your sister wants to talk to you.”

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment before turning to the blonde who was with her. “Aigis! Fourth floor?”

Aigis nodded and turned to face the front of the elevator, sighing just a bit. Something told Yu this happened way too often.

“Don’t ignore me, Elizabeth. I don’t want her nagging me.”

“Niijima, Narukami, what floors do you need?” Elizabeth smiled at the two, still ignoring the girl.

“Third floor, please.” Makoto turned her head away and stared at the wall. Yep, this kind of stuff must happen often.

“Fifth floor, for me. But, uh,” he pointed at the girl, “are you going to answer her?”

“I’ll answer Marie when she isn’t just relaying Margaret’s message.” Elizabeth smiled at him. “She needs to learn that in this family, always listening to Margaret is Theo’s job!”

“I don’t always listen to her, and besides, I’m not part of your family!”

Yu looked over at Makoto and Aigis, both of them seemingly ignoring what was going on. There was no way this wasn’t a usual happening. God it was so tense in the elevator and Elizabeth hadn’t even pressed the buttons yet.

“Maybe I’ll just...go and take the stairs.” He had a feeling things would just get more tense if he stayed in here--

“No, no!” Elizabeth pressed the third floor and fifth floor button. “No need for that!”

“Elizabeth-san, what about the fourth floor?” Aigis moved to press the button, only for her hand to be swatted away.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get off there!”

Yu frowned and was about to ask about that when Makoto placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

“No one’s sure why she does this, but she always does. The best guess is she’s flirting,” Makoto whispered this into his ear before turning to look back at the wall. “It’s best not to think too hard on it.”

Yu frowned, but decided to listen to Makoto. Elizabeth seemed to be a little too much to handle on someone’s first day in a place. Instead, maybe he would try and start small talk with Marie or Aigis.

“So--” He cut himself off when Marie and Aigis both just sent him cold stares. Maybe small talk wouldn’t be the best idea either, then. He was really starting to regret not staying with his uncle and Nanako for even just a bit longer.

No, no. He needed to think positive. He chose this place and he would make the most out of it. Makoto seemed like a nice enough girl and he was sure there were other pleasant people around. Maybe that guy who hit into the building was, too.

Soon enough the elevator came to a stop at the third floor and Makoto made for the exit. “Well, goodbye now.”

Yu waved a bit and Aigis nodded in acknowledgment. Elizabeth seemed about ready to say something when Marie grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Okay, you’re going to listen to me now. I don’t want to have to ride this thing all--”

“Doors closing!” Elizabeth chirped, completely ignoring Marie once again. She really didn’t want to hear about her sister needing her, huh?

“Ugh, you’re the worst, Elizabeth!” Marie huffed a bit and took a step back, crossing her arms. Poor girl, Yu couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Soon enough, though, the elevator came to a stop at the fifth floor and it was time for Yu to head out. He still had a lot left in the car to get, after all. It was just an added bonus that he was going to get away from this awkward tension.

“Thank you, goodbye.” He quickly moved off the elevator, only for Marie to follow him off.

She frowned when he rose an eyebrow at her. “I am not dealing with those two alone.”

Yu looked back over his shoulder and the last thing he saw before the elevator door closed was Elizabeth wrapping her arms around Aigis’s shoulder.

Yu had decided to go down the stairs after dropping off the boxes in his apartment. The trips up would take longer, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go into that elevator right now. Elizabeth was too odd to ride up and down with her repeatedly.

He peeked over to where the guy had hit into the building and he was still there, only he wasn’t alone anymore. A woman had made her way over to him and was kneeling next to him, checking his injuries. That was hard to focus on when another woman was standing next to them, though.

The woman next to them was impossible to ignore, her hair was a red and her lips had the same color. She stood straight, arms crossed against her chest, and the heels on her feet just made her seem taller. She was...intimidating, to say the least.

He made his way over, too curious now to wait until he was done moving his things in. “Is everything alright here?”

“Oh,” The woman kneeling looked over at him and jumped a bit, “y-yes, I think so!”

“Ow, ow, ow…” The guy was obviously not alright, if the blood on his forehead meant anything. He must’ve hit into the wall really hard, then?

“Please stop moving! I can’t clean the wound if you keep moving…”

“It hurts, though! It hurts a lot, shit…!” The guy shook his head and stood up. “I’ll be fine!”

“But--”

“Fuuka, er, Yamagishi,” the other woman finally spoke, moving to hold out a hand to Fuuka, “he doesn’t seem like he’s going to be taking the help. We have things to do, come on now.”

“Mitsuru-san…” She blushed as she took the hand and allowed herself to be helped up. “Alright, if you’re sure you don’t need help, sir…”

“I’m sure, I’m sure! Thanks, though…” The guy groaned and touched his forehead, grimacing when he saw the blood on his fingers. “Aw shit…”

Fuuka seemed to pause for a moment before being led off by Mitsuru. Yu noted as they walked away that they seemed nervous about touching each other for more than a few moments, both moving away whenever they noticed themselves being close. Odd…but whatever.

Yu decided to at that point turn his attention to the bleeding man. Unlike the women, he wouldn’t give up if swatted away at first. If there was one thing about him, it was that he was stubborn.

First, though, he had to go grab his first aid kit, which luckily hadn’t been in the first round of items carried up to his apartment. In fact, it was the first item he was planning to take on the second trip, what luck he had.

“Don’t move.” He made his way over and started dabbing at the wound, the first aid kit already open and next to them.

“Whoa, whoa! You think I want you touching me if I didn’t let that pretty lady help?” The guy backed up a few steps and right into the wall. “I’ll be fine. Really!”

“You’re going to bleed out if you leave it like that, though.” Yu began to try and clean the wound, despite the fact this guy didn’t seem to want that to happen, like at all.

“H-hey, I haven’t--ow--seen you around before! Who’re you?” Someone was trying to distract Yu.

“Yu Narukami, I’m moving in today.” And yet, he didn’t even pause his cleaning of the wound for a moment.

“I could kinda tell by all the boxes in that car, but hey--ow! How about you go back to moving in, you have a lot and I’ll even help you!”

“I just need to bandage it now, though. I won’t say no to the help, though.” He paused as he grabbed the bandages. “What’s your name?”

He sighed, seemingly resigned to being cared for by Yu. “Yosuke Hanamura...Nice to meet you, even if this is an odd way to start things off.”

Yu shrugged as he finished (sloppily) wrapping the bandages around Yosuke’s head. He’d had worse first meetings before, so he didn’t see the issue with all of this, not really.

“Anyway…” Yosuke moved around him, to the back of Yu’s car, picking up some of the boxes. “What floor are you gonna be living on?”

“Fifth floor.”

“Whoa, well, looks like we’ll be on the same floor then!” Yosuke laughed a bit and turned to Yu. “What a coincidence, huh?”

“Guess so, good to know it won’t be hard to take you to your apartment when you hurt yourself.”

“Oh come on, I don’t hurt myself that much!”

Yu looked him over and frowned. “Are you sure?”

“I am!”

“Alright.” Yu shrugged and moved next to him, picking up some boxes himself. “Still, in case you do hurt yourself.”

“I really don’t need you worry about that happening,” Yosuke sighed and shook his head, moving towards the entrance, “just forget about my--Holy shit!”

“What?” Yu looked over his shoulder and blinked. There was a group of people, all crowding around someone. What was going on?

“Risette! Risette!”

“Dude, did you hear that? Risette is here!” Yosuke turned to look back at Yu, his eyes sparkling. “An actual idol is here!”

“Whoa, that’s cool.” He smiled at Yosuke, he didn’t keep up with idols usually, but he knew an idol being at the apartment building was going to be something special.

“Cool?! It’s more than cool! Oh man--” Yosuke looked around. “Let’s hurry and get this stuff up to your apartment, alright?”

“Alright, sure. But how are we going to get into the apartment?” It was, to say the least, nearly impossible to fight through a crowd this dense.

“We just have to do our best…” Yosuke gulped and pushed forward, only to basically be spit right back out by the monster of a crowd. “Dammit!”

Yu frowned and looked around, was there an easier way through? There was a woman at the front of the crowd, with plenty of room near her. They should just go that way, right?

“Follow me.”

“Huh?” Before Yosuke could truly question what was happening, Yu was on his way, pushing towards the woman. “Dude, no! Wait!”

“Excuse me, could we get through here?”

The woman blinked a few times and looked to Yu, a frown on her face. It was as if she wasn’t expecting anyone to approach her so casually or something.

“Stop!” Yosuke tugged him back by a shoulder. “Do you know who that is?”

“No, should I?”

“That’s Risette, you idiot!”

Yu blinked a few times. “Oh...oh.”

Risette sighed, running a hand through one of her ponytails and shook her head. “You can go through here, don’t mind me.”

“Thank you, sorry for any issues.” Yu smiled at her and nodded as he walked past, leaving Yosuke no choice but to follow after her.

Risette watched them go and frowned. As they got closer to the doors, Yu heard her mumble something

“...If you’re living in the building too the least you guys could do is ask my real name.”

#persona 4 #persona 4 golden #persona 3 #persona 5 #yu narukami #narukami yu #persona fanfiction #persona fic

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diverseladybookproject · 7 years

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Amanda Reads - March 2017

Since I revamped my blog this month, I thought I’d do a little survey on Twitter to ask how y’all would like these books rated—should I use my rainbow system from #diverseladybookproject, or should I continue with my wacky number of dogs petted system. Well. The people have spoken. And the dogs have been petted.

A reminder of how the rating system works:

0 dogs petted: DNF. I couldn't get through the book. It's not a good day.

1 dog petted: It was an okay day. I mean, I got to pet a dog. But it could have been better.

2 dogs petted: A solid effort. May recommend.

3 dogs petted: A really good day, tbh. Would recommend willingly to friends and family.

4 or more dogs petted: Best day. Will be recommending to all the people. Pet all the dogs.

March was both a good and a bad month for books. I DNFed two books this month. YES, TWO. It’s a first, both for me and for my time on this blog. Would you believe that I haven’t DNFed a book since I started writing about what I’ve been reading on this blog? That’s almost a year’s worth of books! And these are my first DNFs. I’ll explain why on both accounts, don’t worry.

Well. Let’s get started. You might be here a while.

Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz

After being up late into the night finishing The Last of August at the end of February, I was in a major book hangover. MAJOR BOOK HANGOVER. I was sort of trying to read this book, and I thought I couldn’t get into it because of said book hangover. But then I had the privilege of meeting Brittany Cavallaro and realized, nah. I just wasn’t into this book.

The premise sounds awesome. Two young women tell the stories of their lives in South Korea in the late 1970s. I wanted to like it. And really, maybe I will like it at some other point in my life, when I have more time to devote to a sprawling story that is more character-based than action-based. I haven’t ruled out that possibility. But here’s the thing—I was 15% in, and I still hadn’t met the second young woman that this book was supposedly about. In fact, the first chapter was from the point of view of a guy who seemingly has nothing to do with the story? I was confused and frustrated and bored. So I scrapped it. But like I said, I’m not ruling out trying again when I’m in a different mindset.

Rating: 0 dogs petted—DNF at 15%.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I got back into fairly regular running and hiking with the dogs after a goofy start to the year and brought Lauren Oliver along with me. (She’s a runner, so I think she’d approve.) This is the second book in the Delirium trilogy, and I was terrified that it was going to suffer from middle book syndrome. And it did, in some regards—Alex was gone, the setting was completely different, and it was sort of like a whole other story, unrelated to the first book. But the threads tied back to Delirium, and I enjoyed the new characters and plot. I won’t say I liked this book better than Delirium, because it was so different. But I did enjoy listening to it a lot. I’m not going to say any more about the plot so that I don’t spoil the first book, but yeah, it was good. I’d recommend that people complete the trilogy.

Rating: 3 dogs petted.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

OH MY GOD.

You’ve already heard me talk about this book some, and it’s worth all the hype. Here’s the premise: Starr Carter lives two lives. She’s the daughter of a former gangbanger and lives in the rough part of town, but she also attends a wealthy, mostly-white private high school. She has a white boyfriend, but is terrified of bringing him home to meet her father. You get the idea. One night, she’s at a spring break party in her neighborhood when shots are fired, so she leaves with her childhood best friend Khalil. On the way home, they’re pulled over for no apparent reason. Khalil is frisked. When he’s checking to make sure Starr is okay, he’s shot by the white police officer, even though he is unarmed and is not resisting. Starr is the only witness, and it’s her word against the white cop’s. Her worlds are colliding, and she has to learn how to live in both of them while being true to herself.

I think I’ve stated that this book was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, and it shows on every single page. It bleeds relevancy and politics and everything that we’re not supposed to talk about in books for young adults. But young adults are the ones who are going to change the world. Remember that.

I’m never going to shut up about this book. And Angie Thomas, the author, is lovely and wonderful and deserves all of the praise that she’s received.

Rating: 4+ dogs petted. If you want to read this book and either can’t afford it or don’t want to buy it, I’ll buy it for you. I’m serious. Everyone needs to read this book. I’m all over social media. Find me and I’ll make it happen.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

This was my other DNF this month. I’m wondering if the pattern has more to do with when I’m reading these books than the content of the books themselves, but that’s a contemplation for another time. This is another one that I really wanted to like. Tea is a necromancer, so she has to leave home with the brother she brought back from the dead to train and hone her skills. Also there’s a war brewing, but I didn’t get that far. I found it to be slow and boring. The concept is completely awesome, but I think it just wasn’t for me. Or maybe it wasn’t for me at that time. In any case, I DNFed. Although I promised some Twitter people (hi, Twitter people!) that I’d give it another try down the road, and I will.

Rating: 0 dogs petted—DNF at 20%.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

As with Pandemonium, I’m not going to say a lot about the plot to this one here. It’s the third book in the Delirium trilogy and the best of the bunch, in my opinion. Lena picks the story up right where Pandemonium left off (that ending, omg), and surprise! We get Hana’s perspective too! That was one of my favorite things about this book—Hana has been cured, so her perspective is different and interesting. Sarah Drew does a fantastic job, once again, of helping me get inside the character’s heads to feel what they’re feeling (because I listened on audio while I was running and hiking and driving in the car). And Alex was back. I repeat. We got more Alex. Hallelujah, because he’s the best and even though I hate myself a little for it, he and Lena are one of my OTPs. Fight me.

Rating: 3 dogs petted, only because the dystopian genre is a little old now and I’m not sure who I’d recommend this one to.

Since You Asked… by Maureen Goo

The way this list is organized is a little confusing, but I started reading Since You Asked… right after I DNFed The Bone Witch. I wanted something light and contemporary, and I had picked this up at the North Texas Teen Book Festival, where Maureen Goo was promoting her upcoming release I Believe in a Thing Called Love. I chose this particular book after The Bone Witch because YA contemporary often helps me get out of reading slumps and I wanted a cute high school romance. That uh… that wasn’t what I got.

Since You Asked… is what I would consider a slice-of-life book. Nothing huge happens in the plot, really, and there isn’t a big arc that takes us to the end. It just sort of exists. It was fine—not knowing whether Holly would ever get with her friend David was part of what kept me reading. (Yeah, I shipped Holly and David HARD, and I don’t regret it.) I finished it in 24 hours and was left feeling a little let down, but I still enjoyed the read. And the cover! It’s got a great cover. I don’t know, I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads right after finishing it, but I think I’m going to downgrade it to 3. The lack of plot arc has been niggling at me. But it was cool to see an entire book told from the perspective of a Korean-American high school student. That aspect reminded me a lot of Lane from Gilmore Girls.

Was that review wishy-washy enough? Ha.

Rating: 2 dogs petted. I loved Goo’s writing style and am really excited for her upcoming release, so I’ll be reading her again!

Done Dirt Cheap by Sarah Nicole Lemon

THIS BOOK. I’m not sure how I’m going to write about this. I have no cans to even right now. I looked at my review on Goodreads and it’s mostly me repeating “THIS BOOK” in all caps with hearts at the end. Hahaha.

The synopsis is simple enough: Tourmaline Harris thinks she put her mother in prison by calling the cops when she was ODing, and now her mother’s former boyfriend and dealer are after her. This is on top of already living in the dark world of a motorcycle “club,” which her father is the president of. (Yes, there are lots of motorcycles in this book and I WAS THERE FOR IT.) At the same time, Virginia Campbell is given the assignment by her boss to weasel her way into the good graces of said motorcycle club, but won’t tell her why. Virginia’s life is equally dark—she was essentially sold to a drug dealer who moonlights as a lawyer by her mother when she couldn’t pay her legal fees. Said drug dealer (fittingly named Hazard) turned Virginia into a pageant queen and a lower-level drug dealer to pay off the debt. As Virginia attempts her mission, Tourmaline is in need of a friend. Oh, and they both have swoony love stories and I was a puddle on the floor at the end because of the feels.

Bonus points for kickass ladies (Tourmaline and Virginia, plus some), a wonderfully complicated female friendship, complex family dynamics, a POC love interest who actually VERBALLY DISCUSSES WITHIN THE STORY what it’s like to be black in the South and what that might mean for them, and a veteran who has seen stuff and is afraid to be vulnerable but finds his equal and OH MY GOD I’m puddling again.

THIS BOOK. <3 <3 <3

Rating: 4+ dogs petted. I love this book so much. Words are hard. Swoon.

Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles by J.M. Sullivan

Where do I even begin! I’ve been waiting and WAITING for the opportunity to read this book by my lovely friend J.M. ever since I first heard about it. Who can resist an Alice retelling with zombies? Okay, hi, I actually don’t think I would have picked this up at all if it weren’t for my friendship with J.M.—I’ve never been a fan of retellings, for some reason! And zombies freak me out! After I stressfully asked her if I would be scared reading this before bed and she laughed at me (LOL), I dove right in. And oh my gosh, y’all. It’s so good! I don’t feel like I need to dive into the plot too much, since you should all know the story of Alice in Wonderland, and it’s just that with a twist. There’s Alice. There’s adventure as she fights the zombies while trying to save her sister from becoming one. There’s a hint of love, there’s the characters you love (again, with a twist), and there’s a kickass teenage main character. What more could you possibly ask for in fantasy literature! Go read it go read it go read it!! (Alice releases on May 16, 2017—full review to come the week before the release!)

Rating: 4 dogs petted! This was so fun (and not scary, I promise)!

On The Fence by Kasie West

On March 31st, I decided that I should read this YA contemporary novel that was billed as a possible comp title to Something Beautiful because it had a friends-to-more plotline. I figured it would be my first book of Backlist April. I even billed it as such in last week’s Friday Reads! But guess what I did?

… I stayed up until 2 am finishing it in a single sitting. Oops?

Here’s the rundown:

Charlie just finished her sophomore year of high school and has the whole summer ahead of her. She’s looking forward to running, basketball camp, and lounging around, like a typical teenager. But on her first day of summer vacation, she gets a speeding ticket, which prompts her police officer dad to force her to get a job to cover the cost. Working part time leads to less time for running, which causes her to not be able to sleep some nights. So she starts spending some of the hours in the middle of the night chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence that separates their yards about all the things she can’t seem to say to him during the day. Braden is practically her brother… right? OR IS HE MORE???

(Capital letters added for emphasis are my own doing, not the publisher’s. Ha.)

This was the cutest. I was on board with Charlie and Braden from the very first page, and I loved that he (obviously) saw more in her than she ever saw in herself. I don’t know why I waited so long to read a Kasie West book, because her writing reminded me a lot of Sarah Dessen (one of my faves). And, for those who want to know, On The Fence is a great comp title for the first half of Something Beautiful. If you’re into that sort of thing.

Rating: 3 dogs petted. Light. Fluffy. Cute boys and a girl’s journey to self-discovery. Just not, like, a deep book. You know?

Hi. I apparently spent most of March reading. I’m okay with it, tbh.

What have you been reading?

Happy April!

-A.

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