#Brent's proposal
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Chapter 321: In the Gardens (Pt. 1)
The afternoon sun shone brightly over Howerton House, where Weston’s upper class gathered each year for what had become one of the highlights of the social season.
Langston Crawford, the Tenth Earl of Howerton, stood next to his wife, Gabriella, as they chatted with their sovereign, Prince Stephen, and Princess Jessica.
“I wish my father could have been here today,” Langston said. “Our annual garden party was one of his favorite events, and I’m sure he would have been honored to have you here, your royal highness.”
“Nonsense,” Stephen replied. “The honor is mine. Your father was a dear friend and trusted advisor, and his passing was a blow to all of Weston. Not that you haven’t lived up to his standard, Langston – from what I hear, you have become a real force in the National Assembly, just as he was.”
“Thank you, your royal highness,” Langston replied, smiling. “I hope you and her highness enjoy yourselves this afternoon.”
Nearby, Michael and Ted stood with Fred and a nervous Brent, who impatiently waited for his girlfriend, Sarah Parker to arrive with her parents.
“Calm down, Brent,” Ted said. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Brent took a deep breath.
“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m just ready to get this over with.”
“You’re not the only one,” Freddy said, rolling his eyes.
“So what about you?” Brent asked Ted. “Is Jackson coming today?”
“No, we’re trying to keep a low profile,” Ted said. “His family isn’t as open minded as mine, so we have to be ….”
“There she is!” Brent exclaimed, launching himself toward Sarah and her parents as they stood chatting with the Howertons.
The others watched as he bowed formally to Edward Parker, the Viscount Finchley, and his wife, Lady Madeline, then kissed Sarah’s hand tenderly.
“You know, they really are a perfect match,” Fred said. “They’re both quintessential aristocrats when it comes down to it.”
“He definitely has the manners for it,” Ted said, grinning. “But I’m not going to complain. I’d never have made it through my first season without him.”
“True,” Michael said. “His knowledge of protocol is flawless, but … hold on, who is THAT?”
Ted and Fred followed Michael’s eyes to a striking young woman across the park.
“That, my friend, is Lady Helena Reynolds, the Baroness Wexton,” Fred said.
CHAPTER 1 | BEGINNING OF PART 4 | PREV | NEXT
Continent of Oceana | History of Weston | History of Corwyn | History of Torenth | History of Allycia
#ts4 royalty#ts4 royal legacy#ts4 royal simblr#ts4 simblr#ts4 story#Howerton garden party#Brent's proposal#meeting Lady Helena#Chapter 321 part 1#In the Gardens#HRH Prince Stephen III of Weston#Crown Prince Michael of Weston#Prince Theodore of Weston#Princess Jessica of Weston#Principality of Weston#Oceana stories
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Brent knew Madison was the love of his life since she saved him from his almost laughable death at a restaurant, so... he proposed to her and she said yes!! + they went to a restaurant with friends to tell the news and guess what? Eden and Tyler are engaged as well and invited all of them for the wedding!
+bonus pics!!
Eden and Bella didn't like the food at all as you can see in the pics.. oopsie...
#madi saving him from death was when he knew she was the one and ever since he wanted to propose to her but waited for the perfect time!#also madi's mom moira gave him the blessing to marry her daughter so that's why he did it now!!#ts4#ts4 gameplay#madison&brent
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ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 ( 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝟖)!
✧✧✧
WARNINGS: [ polyamorous/ open relationship scenario [with Roman Reigns], Jey being an absolute sweetheart 🥺 unprotected sex (f receiving) rough love making, smut.]
"TAKE ALL
OF ME
I JUST WANNA BE THE GIRL
YOU LIKE
(GIRL YOU LIKE)
THE KIND OF GIRL YOU LIKE."
[ BUCKHEAD, GEORGIA]
The full moon burned with luster, and the light slipped into the women's loft just two blocks away from the Phipps plaza, small stroking sounds of her laying on her blush were the only thing to be heard in the room.
10:00 pm
The lightly lit phone screen read as the women looked out to the beautiful moonlit Friday night, this was her favorite day of the week the most important to her at least, her thoughts left her as her boyfriend was fixing his tie in front of the big body mirror next to the bathroom. "I'll be home tomorrow night babe, Paul and I have a few business meetings and then we have to be in New York for the auction" he turned his head to see you getting all dressed up in the sexiest lingerie he'd ever seen.
A white lingerie draped her body, but she was covered up with a black sheer robe, the trim was black feathers and her skin glistened with that fenty glitter bomb stuff he knew she loved. " okay just make sure you're being safe, love you Ro" she kept it short and sweet like every Friday night when he had to go, she chuckled as she placed the finishing touches on her blushed up cheeks, she looked at the Samoan man once more before standing up and looking at her phone again.
10:30 pm
She was so ready for him to leave and with that, it's like he read her mind as he nodded making his way towards and out the loft doors, she sighed with annoyance as she tapped her phone turning on Insecure by Brent Faiyaz.
The idea of an open relationship, or polyamory was never her idea until Roman brought up his wife and he didn't want to necessarily stop seeing you.
The lying, the constant leaving he would do at certain times of the day or certain days in the week, so once she caught him she felt as though it was only fair, she instantly proposed they do it under her terms, her brown orbs looked at herself through her vanity mirror, she was getting all dolled up for another man, her midnight lover, and his cousin.
Jey Uso.
"Jey... mhm" she breathed out in almost a whisper, even her saying his name got her warm and her heart fluttering a thousand beats she felt.
He was the most beautiful man she ever laid her eyes on, she met Jey through her friend's cousin who worked for him and his brother as a manager.
conversations being had and here they were two months into their relationship, of course, Roman had no knowledge of this for that would end in complete chaotic violence, but tonight she desired his touch and him like always as he did for her.
11:30 pm
"Perfect.." a sweet smile was plastered on her face as she looked at the setup she had planned for the two of them, she placed the last few white roses she had in her hand on the bed before the ding of the stove echoed in the living room, she walked out of her room tapping the stove top putting her pasta on low before a soft series of knocks were placed upon her door. She placed her wooden spoon down and walked towards the door standing in front of it, " who is it?" she asked there was a deep chuckle to be heard as there was shuffling of bags before the voice revealed themselves.
"Y/n it's me, baby, open up "That voice only belonged to one man she knew, her excitement no longer contained as she unlocked the door to reveal the man of the hour. "Mhm did I just die and go to heaven? you look so ethereal baby" Jey looked at her in admiration but with lust sparkling in his eyes as he stepped into the loft and placed his bags down.
He was quickly met with Y/n body jumping onto his, his big hands firmly holding her ass up as she had this beaming smile, " Jey! " was all she could say, he couldn't help but laugh and slightly blush at the excitement that radiated off of her. "someone's happy to see me, you look so good, mama " his tone was sultry and husk as he took in his women, her thick thighs tighten themselves around his torso once she leaned in capturing his lips with her glossed plumped ones.
She eagerly but slowly kissed him as he moved them both towards the counter placing her down on it as his lips moved in sync with hers, his massive palms gripped her waist as his head swiftly pulled away and placed small teasing kisses against her burning lips.
"you smell sooooo damn good" A low deep grunt emitted from Jey as the floral yet warm scent danced around his nostrils; giggling at how needy he was being she moved her neck some to give him more access, " Thank you handsome, I could say the same about you" she could smell the Dior savage on him as their bodies were so close to one another, his gold chain dangled with ease against his plain black shirt, Jay lifted his head before his brown orbs met hers causing them both to smile.
"I smell food as well, you didn't have to cook for me, bae I know how tired you are after working with clients all day" his hand softly kneed her soft foot for a moment as he looked up at her, she rolled her eyes playfully almost taken back by his statement." shush boy I wanted to cook because A I was hungry and B I like cooking for my man, besides it gives us a chance to decompress and catch up about our week".
she hopped down quickly grabbing two ceramic plates from the cupboards, Jey's eyes followed her thick figure as he watched her maneuver her way through the kitchen as she prepared dinner for the two of them. The chicken Alfredo with broccoli was placed onto the plate with a small side salad to accompany it, she began to take both plates into her hands until Jey swiftly took one of the plates out of her hands.
"Thank you baby this is all so sweet.. but I got it from here mama" A light smirk graced his face as he grabbed her chair pulled it out and watched her stare at him for a brief moment, he had her stuck at his sudden yet smoothly embedded dominance he began motioning her to sit down, she took her seat as told feeling him push her into the table.
"Im gonna pour your drink cause I see you have this wine in this bucket of ice" Jey quickly washed his hands and dried them before pulling out two wine glasses from her cupboard, he popped open the red wine and poured a reasonable amount in both glasses taking his seat again placing her cup across from him making
Y/n giggle quietly at the gesture.
"Now, tell me about your week beautiful" Jey began to dig into his plate as Y/n sipped her wine smiling ear to ear.
☾
Drunken laughs and conversations filled the room between the two as Jey was now washing the plates clean, while Y/n was too busy leaning against the counter as she indulged in her third but smaller cup of wine listening to Jey go on about his week. "it's just been feeling like every week they got me on air but I'm not complaining my merch has been boomin'" now finished with the last plate he washed his hands drying them.
" I'm not complaining either I get to see your sexy ass every Monday on my tv, mhm" a soft moan emitted from you as your brown orbs scanned Jey taking another slow sip from your glass. Jey moved from the sink and behind your body chuckling deeply as his large hand rubbed softly on your ass.
"Enough about me though... I wanna get into you" That statement alone had your panties ruined, the husky raspiness of his voice made it no better as he quickly picked you up placing your body on the counter and spreading your legs apart with his body in between. His coffee-colored iries felt like lasers burning holes into your face as he stared at you with hungriness.
"Say, baby, where did you get this lil set from?" his hands ran themselves near her core and ripped the delicate fabric before you could even form an answer. "Fro- Jey what the fuck!" she squealed embarrassingly leaking slowly onto her counter, Jey held the panties into his hand as he held a dark sinister-like smirk on his face.
" haven't even touched you yet and you're so wet, don't worry I'll buy you some new ones" his lips crashed into yours roughly, and two thick fingers slithered their way between your soft thighs immediately making contact with your dripping core.
You couldn't even concentrate on kissing back as you felt his finger slide inside of you, moaning at the pain and pleasure that filled you up as he slowly thrust his two digits against your tight walls, he pulled away guiding wet passionate kisses against your neck before whispering into your ear.
"I've missed you so fucking much baby... miss this pussy even more" he growled before swiftly dropping down to be at head level with your core, his thumb swiped at your throbbing clit causing you to bite your lip to surpass any moans, "just eat me already" you whined breathlessly bucking your hips towards Jey indicating you needed him now. He wasted no time propping your legs on his shoulders before sliding his tongue all over your clit.
The moment the taste of y/n fell onto his tongue again he couldn't even help himself as he ruthlessly ate you out, licking and sucking at your arousal proudly lapping up your wetness as his hands gripped your legs apart as if he wasn't getting enough. Moans and curses flew out of you like a symphony and Jey was your conductor.
His eyes watched you from down below as he feasted on you, thrusting his tongue painfully slow as he rubbed your clit at a fast pace, your eyes popped feeling your orgasm completely sneak up on you causing your body to jolt in sensitivity as your cum greeted Jeys mouth in a matter of seconds.
"S-shit im sorry.." all you could hear was slurps and sucking before your lips met his in a heated passionate kiss, He moaned against you, feeling his hard buldge against your exposed core before he pulled back licking his lips.
"Don't apologize I just hope you have enough to melt on my dick just like that." He taunted before scooping the flushed women rushing up the stairs as he quickly plotted his sweet torture he had in store.
Hiii! I’m Bobbi 🥹I’m a writer on Wattpad but I’ve heard some good things about the writing community on tumblr, and also I did a jey imagine cause that’s my nigga🤭 so I wanted to see how well it would do here, if y’all want a part 2 let me know!
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I have been using some dead times these past few weeks to go through/purge my latest Project Gutenberg raids, and there are two funny findings I have made:
1- Patricia Brent, Spinster (1918), by Herbert George Jenkins
In general a run-of-the-mill fake dating romance, short and innoffensive, but here's the thing, for anyone familiar with Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey
The love interest is a lieutenant-colonel Bowen (the story is set in the last year of WWI), wounded in action, D.S.O., M.C. now working at the staff
He's later revealed to be Lord Peter Bowen
He's the second son
His brother holds the title, and his mother, the dowager, is a kind, generous woman with a special link with her second son
Lord Peter has a sister too, Lady Tanagra, who helps the war effort with volunteers
Lord Peter has a man by the name of Peel on the same type as Bunter and Jeeves
Lady Tanagra is in love with a friend of Peter and hers, but nothing has come of it yet because he's of a lower class than her and not rich.
Lord Peter falls in love at first sight with Patricia, and proposes marriage to her many times
She refuses him as many times because of a sense of shameful gratitude and what his family would think
Of course the story and characters are different in several ways, and they are not as charming as Sayers', but the coincidences, the coincidences!
2- The Lonely House (1920) by Marie Belloc Lowndes (sister of Hillaire Belloc)
What I didn't know before downloading this book, is that it is subtitled A Hercules Popeau mystery. Yes, you guessed it, Poirot. But it predates Poirot for a little. The wikipedia page on Poirot puts it this way:
Poirot's name was derived from two other fictional detectives of the time: Marie Belloc Lowndes' Hercule Popeau and Frank Howel Evans' Monsieur Poiret, a retired French police officer living in London.[2] Evans' Jules Poiret "was small and rather heavyset, hardly more than five feet, but moved with his head held high. The most remarkable features of his head were the stiff military moustache. His apparel was neat to perfection, a little quaint and frankly dandified." He was accompanied by Captain Harry Haven, who had returned to London from a Colombian business venture ended by a civil war. [3]
But to say that the name was derived is to understate the situation immensely. Popeau has the physical shape, age, and way of talking and dressing of Poirot. Like Poiret, he's French (though still living in France; the plot of this story happens on a vacation he takes to Monte Carlo with... you won't guess... his friend captain Angus Stuart. A Scottish man, who, believe it or not, falls in love at first sight with our fair protagonist!).
Jules Poiret. Hercule Popeau. Hercule Poirot.
And like, wow, we complain about fanfic with the serial numbers filed off, but if you were into reading many novels in 1920s Britain, there were THREE eccentric, short, plump, dandy-ish, French speaking, British captain adopting sleuths around. We'd have three nickels. Historians 1000 years from now would believe there was a significant number of French and Belgian sleuths traveling England and Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
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in pieces | shuri udaku.
◘ rapper/producer!shuri udaku x fem!singer/director!reader
ƸӜƷ
trope – strangers 2 enemies 2 friends 2 lovers
inspo — in pieces by chlöe.
series warnings — mean!shuri, cold!reader, reader is rlly soft in love, her ex is all she's ever known so pls be gentle w her, toxic relationships, crybaby!reader, insults, gaslighting, yall the exes face claim is brent faiyaz LMFAO (i dont keep up w men so he was the first name to pop up), touchy!shuri, reader folds so bad so easily lol, cheating, reader is petty, relapses in judgement, reader is fucking talented, smitten shuri, vv soft but only later lol, reader can get bitchy, shuri rlly gets under her skin, bitter n spiteful reader, reader's manager is so tired of them, reader has her public persona nailed down, ppl rarely ever see the real her, t'challa is alive but their parents aren't, kissing, crying, dirty talk, strap slinger!shuri, fingering, thigh riding, smau elements, studio sessions, cunnilingus, taunting, edging, slut-shaming, possessive!shuri, sub!reader, dom!shuri, the media loves to dawg on reader for nothing, cursing, humiliation kink, bratty!reader, needy!reader, desperation, sexual identity crisis, patient!shuri, shuri likes to push ppl away, mentions of marriage/engagements, alcohol, anxiety, panic attacks, manipulation, clubbing, might have an open ending idk, there's probs more but oh well.
a/n — i have so many ideas dropping consecutively my bad yall LMFAO anyway this is my first series, n um im nervous badd but we move, i rlly like this idea and the skeleton of it so hopefully it comes off the way i would like it to so my perfectionist spirit can smile LMFAO (i find myself so funny sorry), anyway here’s the masterlist before i ramble more <3
dedications —
@zayswriting – i’ve always avoided writing series (hence how i came up w sets LOL) but zay’s my inspo for series like that’s her shit so while the notion is still kinda daunting, she makes me feel like i can try to tackle it at least.
@mbakuetshurisprincess constantly revising ur masterlist bc ur pen is just brilliant, u were also a huge inspo in getting me to write a series n u influence my version of shuri a lot.
then a few people i admire that keep me posting n make me wanna improve; @saintwrld @vixentheplanet @verachii @naomis-daydream @marsolgy @inmyheadimobsessed <3
oke, that's the end of the sappiness.
⟢˚ @letitias-fav @barkbarkbo @shurismainbxtch @rxcently @shuriszn @lppriceisright @golooktheotherway @motheroffae @vampzxi @mysticalmarss @abenomeiiii @6-noir @izrinmabel1 @vexoshuri @ilovelulu @sookiesookie @ziayamikaelson @sapphicvqmpires @locoforshuri @ventingfanfics @melanated-queens @cuddl3s4shur1
ஜ.
no matter how many times i break, i put myself back together every damn time. oh, mm, can i be honest with you?
y/n l/n, a hyper-pop sensation that is at an all-time high in her career; her two-time grammy winning album, above her oscar-nominated directing debut cemented her as a force to be reckoned with, both in the music and film industry. and soon, in a swoon-worthy show of romance, she's flaunting an envy-worthy diamond ring graciously accompanied by a viral proposal from high school sweetheart and renowned artist, christopher brent wood.
engaged and flourishing, her world is almost too perfect to be true, tainted by the pink shades of blinding love that soon violently shatter at the hands of the only love she's ever known, the fractals painfully littering her being; heavy fragments that she can't seem to even begin piecing together.
in a battle of identity, self-expression, independence, and rebirth; the international superstar finds herself in a back-and-forth battle with herself and the people around her, finding that the dark pit she falls into, may not solely be the demise of her fairytale, but also the fall of the y/n l/n that the public came to know over the years; the catalyst to the redemption arc in finding who she really is, the girl she buried years ago.
⊱ ───── .✶˖⋆࿐ ──── ⊰
➺ CHAPTERS LIST.
[ characters ]
prologue : someone’s calling (chlöe)
— after a lengthy hiatus of absolute silence, y/n drops an ominous track w an even more intriguing visualizer, unrecognizable from her usual sweet hyper pop princess look n sound, n the internet wilds; the rebrand peaking an important person's interest.
...coming soon
one : pray it away
— after facing public humiliation from a cheating scandal that had put y/n in the spotlight she comes back into the spotlight w a haunting single n performance that sparks large controversy along with its acclaim; she meets a certain face that she sasses off too in response to her attitude.
...coming soon
two : body do
— after announcing the drop of her debut album y/n is set on a artist rebrand n her manager knows just the person; so she meets world renowned director/producer shuri udaku who directs her visualiser n the bad blood cause tension to spill.
...coming soon
three : i don’t mind + worried
— y/n l/n new maneater cutthroat persona has the internet fawning over her so imagine their shock when she shows up to the grammys w the same man that was the driving factor to her vicious rebrand n shuri gets a glimpse into the real personality behind the scrutinised pop sensation.
...coming soon
four : for the night
— a glimpse into shuri’s true thoughts about the girl she swears she can’t stand.
...coming soon
five : make it look easy
— when y/n finally tackles the song she couldn't face, the internet starts to rethink their view on the girl they've scrutinised n criticised for the entirety of her career n shuri finds it harder to cut deeper into the broken-down girl.
...coming soon
six : looze u
— y/n can’t stop the flood of emotions that overtake her when she confronts the man who broke her heart, opening the floor for hurtful truths n violent words that leave her reeling in her memories.
...coming soon
seven : told ya + cheatback
— the officially single superstar thinks she deserves a night out seeing as her album debut draws nearer by the day, n the fun night out has surprising outcomes.
...coming soon
eight : heart on my sleeve
– when shuri spits her meanest words yet to the softening star, y/n finds herself pathetically adding a track to her album minutes before its release, much to her fans’ concern n the producer feels stuck in limbo.
...coming soon
epilogue : in pieces
— while the successful album drop feels like a weight lifted off of her chest especially w/ an upcoming oscar performance; she can’t help but find the weight replaced by a certain pretty-eyed producer.
...coming soon
⊱ ───── .✶˖⋆࿐ ──── ⊰
hold me when, hold me when i'm in pieces.
ஜ.
#pinkwrighting ⊹ ۪ ᖭི༏ᖫྀ.#◘ — pink series .ꔫ:*#shuri udaku#shuri x black!reader#letitia wright#black panther#black panther wakanda forever#shuri angst#shuri x reader#shuri x you#shuri smut#shuri fluff#shuri x y/n#shuri black panther#shuri#shuri x fem!reader#shuri imagine
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Chapter Thirty-One — Legacy
It didn’t go into the little thing Zeke made to listen to these, not at first at least — it was shoved into some port on his computer as he typed away, looking for something. Analyzing it, I came to realize. When the only thing that popped up on it was ‘AUDIO FILE’ with a jumble of letters and numbers after the fact, he pulled it out of the computer and put it into his invention at a speed that should have broken both.
5k words | 16-20 min read time | TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child death, death, 'hallucinations' in a way, mass death, violence (not visually described).
⚠ AUTHOR'S NOTE: 5k words, and less than half came from my mind. There's someone else who deserves the accolades for this chapter, and it's because she spent 4 hours on mic with me as we wrote this together months ago. Her friendship was the first gift of many I received from being in this fandom, so naturally she had to be the first to feature in Erosion. Thanks @codenamehazard for being the best supporter, helping me lay down the groundwork for Erosion and [you know ;)], and giving me a chance to siphon show your talents in my own fic. Love ya girl!!!
Everyone froze. Even the cicadas outside stopped screaming after Zeke said that. Dr. Sims didn’t look surprised at all — he just moved to look down at the floor. Brent, wide eyed, looked across the room over at me, frozen mid-step.
And Dad? He was glaring. “Yeah, we’re done here.” he said flatly, moving off of the wall to stand. “Brent, Jean — go upstairs and start packing your things—”
“Delsin—” Dr. Sims began before Dad cut him off.
“No, Eugene,” he snapped. “You can’t expect me to believe that shit, c’mon.”
“It’s true—” Zeke began to defend.
“Bullshit!”
Zeke stood so fast that the gaming chair he was sitting in launched back, hitting the desk and rattling the monitors on it. He was gone, storming off into the hallway by the stairwell, towards the room he told us was his and throwing open the door he said we could knock on if we ever needed him.
“I can’t believe you brought me here for information like that,” Dad scoffed, looking at Dr. Sims. “Time travel? Really?”
“Is it that far-fetched when we’re talking about the Beast?” Dr. Sims asked, keeping his composure under Dad’s scrutiny with ease.
“You’re trying to get me to believe time travel exists, Eugene. Do you not hear yourself?” Dad demanded. “I’m trying to help my kid, not play some Back to the Future fantasy—”
“I know it’s a lot to take in—”
“A lot?” Dad demanded, stepping closer to Dr. Sims. “A lot? You’re telling me time travel exists and Kessler didn’t manage to stop the Beast? He still managed to fuck it up?”
Dr. Sims sighed. “If you just let us explain it—”
“No.” Dad cut him off, holding up a hand. He looked furious. “I’m not gonna listen to you tell me fucking lies like this. You didn’t lose anything to the Beast or the plague — I did. I’m not gonna be mocked—”
A loud and harsh bang resounded in the middle of Dad’s argument, making me yelp with a jerk and scaring Brent enough to turn the tips of his hair silver. Zeke stood at the edge of the room, a small metal chest at his feet. For the first time since we got here, he looked angry at Dad, like he was ready for a fight.
Zeke bent down and unlatched the chest, throwing the lid open so hard it bounced off of the frame once. He began digging away in the chest, pulling out things one by one; a yellow and black jacket, a weird backpack with one strap. They all came out and were set down in one fluid, anger-fueled movement as Zeke looked for something. “The last thing Kessler did before he died was give Cole a picture,” Zeke began to explain as he pulled an old leather wallet out of the chest. “You heard the dead drop about Trish — tell me something.”
He stomped up right to Dad, and held out the picture for him to take. “How do I have a photo of them on their wedding day if he never got to propose to her?”
Dad kept his scowl but something in his vision changed as he reached out to take the photograph Zeke held out. Brent moved immediately to look at it from over Dad’s shoulder and it only took a moment till my resolve broke and I stood, moving to Dad’s other side.
It was an old photograph, one of those print out ones you’d get at like, a Walmart photo center. The main focus of the photograph was the bride, who looked straight at the camera with a dazzling smile, veil caught in the light breeze of a spring wind. Cole was there, the actual Cole, features way softer than the ones on his statue as he pressed his forehead to his wife’s temple, looking at her through his lashes. Even Zeke was there in sunglasses and with a smile, face thinner and less wrinkled.
“Cole never even got to propose to Trish,” Zeke insisted. “But Kessler? He had two children with her, and they all died to the Beast.”
Dad took a moment to look up from the picture, eyes meeting Zeke’s. “You’re asking me to trust that Kessler, the man that killed this woman, was in love with her? That he killed his own wife?”
“I didn’t say it made sense, I just said it was true,” Zeke retorted, crossing his arms. “Kessler wanted to make sure Cole would make all the hard choices. He ran when the Beast first showed up in his time. He took away Cole’s ability to be swayed.”
Dad looked back down at the photo. And, slowly, he shook his head. “I don’t believe you,” he said simply, no emotion in his voice.
“Delsin—“ Dr. Sims chimed from the side.
“No, Eugene.” Dad snapped. “There’s no proof besides this picture. How am I supposed to trust this when the man that could confirm it is dead?” Dad breathed deeply like he was trying to keep from spewing a slew of curse words. “I’m here just for the First Sons’ base location. That’s it. I don’t need to hear about this stupid little fairytale — just where this base is. If it wasn’t for her?” He said, jabbing a thumb my way. “I would have already left.”
Dad’s expression looked like it wasn’t up for any sort of debate or conversation, which no one dared to attempt. Zeke sort of scoffed and snatched the old dog-eared photograph from Dad before turning back to the chest full of Cole’s things, yanking up the partially folded jacket off of the ground to throw back in with the rest.
And in the awkward silence of it all, there was the softest little clatter as a small chip came flying away from the jacket and skittered across the floor to my feet.
I stepped back once, bending down to pick up the chip. There was miniscule writing on it in a silvery sort of ink and a chicken scratch that looked like it was due more to shaky hands than anything else: for Zeke.
“Uh, here,” I said, holding it out for him to take.
He just stayed staring at my outstretched hand like it was poisonous, mouth opening and closing like a fish with nothing coming out of it. Not until he seemed to choke on air in an effort to speak. “That shouldn’t be there,” he muttered.
“What?”
That chip was out of my hand in an instant and Zeke was flying across the room, nearly tripping over his gaming chair in an effort to get into it. “How did I never fucking look in the pockets?” he chastised the air, growling.
Dad glanced over at me before looking at the back of Zeke’s head. “I uh…what is it?”
“I don’t know,” Zeke responded. “I don’t know,”
It didn’t go into the little thing Zeke made to listen to these, not at first at least — it was shoved into some port on his computer as he typed away, looking for something. Analyzing it, I came to realize. When the only thing that popped up on it was ‘AUDIO FILE’ with a jumble of letters and numbers after the fact, he pulled it out of the computer and put it into his invention at a speed that should have broken both.
The chip reader crackled as it struggled to read the piece, making a couple clicking noises like it was stuttering before it came to life. There was a bit of shuffling on the line, and a grunt as someone moved with the noise before humming. “Alright.” the voice mumbled to itself. It had a natural rasp that was strained, like he was sick or had a stuffy nose. There was an airiness that gave to a wheeze, like he had spent the last day and a half either crying or smoking a carton of cigarettes. He just seemed so tired. He cleared his throat harshly once, and then started talking. “Audio log, date—” he started before cutting off. There was a pause before he mumbled, “What was today?” to himself, counting off in mutterings before scoffing and saying, “Fuck it.”
Zeke’s hand shot over his mouth, and he paled. “Holy shit,” he whispered.
Professionalism abandoned, the man sighed, taking a moment to gather himself. “Zeke, if you’re listening to this, I’m…I’m already dead. There’s no other way to say it — I’m dead.” Even now, so many years in the future and a good seven feet away, I could hear him swallow thickly, like he wasn’t even really ready to digest the fact himself. “There’s been a lot I’ve wanted to say to you. A lot I’ve been…holding back, but I just never could say, ‘cause how would I? I know we’ve seen insane but the shit that’s been going on with me? It’s just — would you even believe me?”
“I would’ve, Cole” Zeke muttered in the silence.
Cole. Cole MacGrath. My eyes widened so large they felt like they were gonna pop out of my head as I looked at Dad, who’s brow was furrowed as he looked at the little speaker.
“You remember the dreams I talked about, back in Empire?” Cole asked, like Zeke could respond to him then or now. “They never stopped. If anything…they got worse. I started to see—” his voice cracked and he stopped short before continuing, “I started to see…in my dreams, what life could have been. I saw Trish. I saw my daughters.” He huffed, sniffing hard, like he was trying to decide whether to cry or celebrate. “Twins, can you believe it? Beautiful girls. I saw it all — how we struggled to even have them and the day they were born. Amaris and Elena…my sun and moon. We fought to conceive and then they were premature and there was…for a while, we thought we were going to lose them. I’d let them hold my finger sometimes and just whisper to them to keep fighting because I didn’t want them to be alone. I could feel their weight when I was allowed to hold them for the first time. They were so small. Weighed practically nothing. But holding them, something Trish and I got to make? It felt like I was holding the world. I would’ve done anything for them. Protect them, take care of them, love them — I would’ve been the father I never got. I got to see them grow up, too. Amaris was a wild free-spirit that we could barely contain, and Elena…she was so gentle. I loved them both so much, Zeke, and I’ll never even get to have them now. I would’ve done anything for them…”
Dad shifted on my left and I looked at him in time to see him bring a hand to his chin to rub it, eyes wet. Brent was staring at some fixed spot in the wall across from him, face steeled in all ways but actually.
Cole exhaled shakily, hard enough for the mic on the recorder to cackle with static. “But there was more, so much more. I saw the chaos, the destruction, everything Kessler showed me and then some. Saw a world turned upside down, an apocalyptic wasteland where everyone and everything was insane. I saw complete and utter annihilation. I saw a world that no matter what I did, it didn’t matter. That one scares me the most — to do everything right and it didn’t fucking matter.” he growled that last word.
“And the part that scares me the most is that these do not feel like dreams. These do not feel like nightmares. They feel too real.” He insisted. “They feel like — god, as insane as it sounds, they feel like visions.”
That dam that was holding back his emotion cracked, and he gasped. “I’m becoming like Kessler,” he realized in a haunted whisper. “I’m becoming like Kessler, I’m…”
Zeke’s head fell into his hands as Cole’s voice broke and he began to gasp for air, choking back sobs. My cast was pressed so hard to my mouth that I could practically feel its design imprinting on my skin as I tried to keep quiet. He sounded so broken, so scared. This Kessler guy was enough to scare the man that took on the Beast. He was on the brink of hysterics.
He paused for a moment to inhale shakily. “Still, I can’t get that thought outta my head, that one nightmare — that one vision. That I could do everything right and it doesn’t fucking matter. That nobody will see me except for the Demon of Empire City. The power–fueled terrorist that started the plague and destroyed Empire City.”
Brent shook his head and cracked, beginning to pace back and forth in front of Dad and I. Dad’s head was hung low, hands on his hips and his face obscured by his hair. I couldn’t even move from where I was. There wasn’t enough power in the world that could get me to summon my feet to step, not when my legs felt like lead.
“That Conduits could never be seen as anything other than monsters and tools. That I could give everything to save everyone, do everything right, be the hero that everyone wants, that that man groomed me to be…and it doesn’t fucking matter.” Cole continued. “That all of this, all of this pain, all of this suffering, all of this loss — your betrayal, Trish’s death, the loss of what could have been — meant fuckall!
“And none of this matters. None of it matters.” Cole blubbered. “Don’t matter what I do, I fail. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I try…I fail. I fail you, I fail Trish, I fail my daughters. No matter what I do, I’m a failure…just like Kessler. God…no matter what I do, I fail. I’ve become just like Kessler. A failure.” Cole’s voice got louder the further he rambled until it cracked with his held back screams — and a zap. “A fucking failure!” He bellowed, voice cracking. There’s a crash, and more follow, the static on the recorder more electrical than noise as Cole rampaged.
His voice would wail over the sound of destruction, nonsensical rambling that would occasionally be something we could hear. “"They were twins, twins! My little girls, my sun and moon. I failed them! I failed them all!" He screamed at some point, Zeke’s shoulders beginning to shake with silent sobs as he said that. “I‘m going to fucking become him! A failure!” He screams again. “"I killed them! I killed them! My wife, my daughters! They're dead, I killed them!” There was another hard crash, like a pile of something metal collapsed under his rage. “The blood on his hands stain mine! They’re dead because of me! They’re dead because I was a fucking coward the first time and a murderer the second! We’re the same fucking person! They’re dead because of me!”
There was more crashing, more loud screaming that devolved into something incoherent. I wasn’t even sure Cole was trying to talk anymore — he was just angry. But I have never, never heard wailing like that from someone before, a desperate and painstricken sound that vibrated my core. It was enough to actually make my heart hurt, to make me choke back my own sobs. My little whimper as I held back my tears caught Brent’s attention as he passed in front of me. Brent himself has splotches of red across his face from holding back his own sobs, and both of our eyes were glistening when they met. He moved to stand beside me instead of pace and threw an arm over my shoulder, letting me tuck into his side and use his chest to hide the noise of my crying.
And then everything on the recording stopped. Everything except for Cole’s quiet crying. There’s shuffling as the recorder is readjusted and he sniffs hard, coughing to clear his throat. “I want to be wrong.” He murmurs, exhausted. “I hope to god I’m wrong. I…I don’t want you to live in a world like that, Zeke.” Zeke himself began sobbing quietly. “I…I just, I’ve been holding all this back because I didn’t wanna worry you. You’ve got enough problems, you’re dying yourself. You’re suffering from the Plague, I didn’t need you to worry about me. It was my burden to bear. And don’t lie. You would’ve.” He huffs a chuckle, as if he could already hear how Zeke was muttering that he should have told him anyways.
“I want you to be happy.” Cole says simply. “And I’ll still try to do everything right, in the hopes that I’m wrong. I want to be wrong so fucking bad. So that you can live in a world where Conduits aren’t seen as things to be used or monsters to be scared of. So that Conduits can be seen as you see me — just another person. Someone…with fears and hopes and lives and families. Just another person.
“I’m so fucking scared. I don't wanna die.” Cole MacGrath, the Cole MacGrath, said with this haunted tone like the severity of the situation was only just beginning to settle in his chest. “It seems like fate’s got it out for us, huh? Maybe it doesn’t even matter then, if I even do the right thing. That blast core from the Vermaak makes seven, and I’m ready for the RFI. We’ve just gotta charge it some more…but I don’t even know if this whole thing will work — it’s a huge gamble. What if the RFI doesn’t wipe out the Plague? What if it just kills Conduits, kills the Beast, and leaves you all to die slowly? God...so many people are going to die either way, but what if we're wrong? What if everyone dies?”
Cole paused, breathing shakily. “So much goddamn blood on my hands…everyone’s. It doesn’t matter if I did it as Cole, or as Kessler — this is all my fault. Everything lies in this gamble, Zeke. This is more than just coming out short on a slot machine — this could be the end of it all. We could be wrong. The RFI could fail, and all that happens is I kill all of humanity.”
“But…” Cole drew off, another popping sound interfering with the mic. ”I’m willing to take that risk, just for that slight chance that I’m wrong.” His voice is more resolved, even if it still sounded weak. “That this works, and it heals you and gets rid of the Beast. So that you can live and be happy…and so you can live in a world where things are a little more peaceful. I wish it didn’t have to be this way. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way — you can’t always have what you want. Isn’t that right? But I’ve literally lost everything…except for you, Zeke. You’re all I have left. The only family Kessler allowed me to keep. I don’t have Trish. I’ll never get to know my baby girls. So I’ll do it for you.”
Cole’s voice cracked again on you, and it was almost like I could envision him running his hands over his face to calm himself down. “You’re off with Laroche right now doing God knows what to charge the RFI. I don’t know where Nix is, and Kuo…I don’t even want to think about her. We never got to talk after I tested the RFI. I know as soon as that thing’s charged, if I don’t set it off then…then I never will. So…I guess this is goodbye.” he said so casually, so resigned. Like in that small amount of time, he accepted that this was it. “Sorry it can’t be in person, but there’s not enough time for formalities. We were never the type to give a shit about them anyways.” Cole gasped quietly, trying to hold back another wave of emotion. “I love you brother,” he said, voice quivering. “And I’m…I’m sure gonna miss you,”
Cole almost immediately began quietly sobbing by the end of his farewell, the sound echoing through the silent stilt house as the recording stopped. Zeke’s whole body shook as he was wracked with quiet sobs, Brent’s arm was heavy around me and I just knew it was because we were feeling the weight of all of this on both of our shoulders.
Cole was…scared, by the end. Barely able to deal with the fact that he needed to die, and that he was taking out so many people with him. That recording was the final plea of a man wanting nothing more than to be wrong, and I wasn’t even sure if he got what he wanted. I couldn’t reliably decide, at least, by the time I calmed myself down.
Dad breathed deeply and raised his head, arms crossed over his chest. He had that stoic look he reserved for interrogations, but it didn’t hide how red his eyes were. “You weren’t lying.” He said simply, looking at Zeke’s back. “I’m sorry.”
Zeke’s head slowly raised. “Kessler was a desperate sonofabitch, who was willing to do anything to stop the Beast. And that included hurting himself.”
“We don’t know how he did it.” Dr. Sims said from the side. He himself had a rogue tear on his cheek that he hastily swiped away. “We just know it’s true.”
Dad rubbed the growing scruff on his face and sighed. “We can ask more questions later.” he decided, looking at Zeke. The man was still hunched into himself, refusing to look at us; Dad probably thought now was a terrible time to ask some clarifying questions. “But I still think our best option is to find the First Sons’ old base.”
Dr. Sims pushed off of the wall and walked over to where Zeke was, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. “I can go through the rest of the dead drops,” he offered Zeke quietly. “Why don’t you go take a moment?”
Zeke nodded, struggling to find the will to stand. He pulled the chip out of the reader and held it like it was gold, gently putting it back into the pocket of that yellow and black jacket before closing the chest and lifting it, refusing to look at anyone. His echoing footsteps resounded the first floor until his bedroom door closed, leaving us all in the remnants of what was his past.
“Holy shit, Eugene,” Dad breathed, looking over at his friend, eyes wide. “Time travel. Time travel.”
“I know,” Dr. Sims breathed. “I still wonder how he did it. It keeps me up at night.”
“So this Kessler asshole has been a part of it from the beginning and the end.” Dad shook his head. “Jesus…”
Brent’s arm withdrew from my shoulder and he let me move away to sit on the couch, shaking his head slowly. “It still doesn’t make sense,” he mutters. “Why kill his wife instead of keeping her safe? Why keep Zeke alive?”
I drew my knees into my chest the moment I sat down, trying to breathe deeply. I wasn’t even sure how to process this. Time travel! There’s ways to time travel, and Kessler learned to do it to try and stop the Beast.
That thought made me stop. “Dad?” I asked, lifting my head from my knees.
Dad paused his chatting with Dr. Sims to look over. “What’s up, Jeanie?”
“Kessler came back to stop the Beast, right?” I began, “And he was from the future so he…he probably knew who it was. But…John worked with Kessler. John even said in one of the dead drops he was promoted to work directly with him. Why not stop him when he had the chance? Before he became the Beast?”
“He said that?” Dr. Sims asked as Dad’s mouth froze mid response, the weight of the question hanging in the air.
Brent held up a hand as if to correct me. “He said something about Kessler knowing he had an important destiny, remember?” He asked, looking between Dad and I. “If he knew John was the Beast and wanted to stop him, why not just kill him before all of that happened?”
Something wasn’t adding up and we were all beginning to realize it, especially as Dad and Dr. Sims glanced at each other uncomfortably. “That…doesn’t matter,” Dad finally decided. “Not anymore. They’re all dead, there’s no one to ask. All we need to worry about right now is finding this place the ice soldiers were made to see if there’s any sort of connection to Archangel.”
Dad walked over to Dr. Sims’ side as he sat in the gaming chair, leaving Brent and I to share a look, the type that said no matter what was going on, we didn’t believe it. Kessler came back in time in search of a way to stop the Beast, and all he did was ruin lives — including his own. He murdered who was supposed to be his wife, gave his own past self trauma, and yet didn’t even try to stop the man beside him that was the actual Beast?
It didn’t make sense, and I wasn’t sure if there was any explanation that would make it make sense.
Dad and Dr. Sims went through the remaining dead drop chips that would load, painting the rest of the confusing picture on what happened here, at least; Bertrand being angry about whatever sort of Conduit he was, believing God wanted him to be more. There was another Conduit that roamed the swamps and attacked Bertrand’s men — a service more than an issue, in my opinion — and Dr. Wolfe and Kuo decided along with John that Cole was who they needed to fight the Beast.
A suggestion made by John White himself, which left us with even more questions than answers.
But finally, finally, the answer came to us in a talk between Wolfe and Bertrand, “File A435,” he clarified in his accent.
“That new facility you folks are building below the Carriage House, it’s….overwhelming,” he purred, like the sight of it did something to him sexually. I nearly gagged at his voice. “Hats off to you, Doctor.”
Wolfe had the nerve to sound proud. “Our technology is a hundred years ahead of the rest of the world.”
“Don’t be so modest,” Bertrand said. I swear, his accent sounded sloppier coming out of his mouth because of how hard it was watering. “When I joined the First Sons, they told me that they had technology a hundred years ahead. Now? That sounds conservative! When I saw that place I thought I’d been abducted by a UFO!”
Brent snorted slightly on the side and nearly managed to make me laugh; the man sounded ridiculous.
“Sorry for the confusion,” Wolfe murmured, that making me giggle a bit. Dad shot a look at both of us and sharply hushed us, making me bite down on my lips to try and stifle the sound.
“They were just caves before,” Bertrand reminisced. “I knew them well. Played in them as a child. They were a part of the underground railroad, smuggling escaped slaves outta town. Then it was prohibition and whiskey instead of slaves. Now! Now, we’re smuggling in the future.”
The dead drop beeped twice, signaling its end. “Carriage House,” Dad said, looking at Dr. Sims. “That’s where we need to go. Where is that?”
Dr. Sims moved to use Zeke’s computer, typing away. “I’m not…not sure,” he muttered. Playing with the mouse and keyboard wasn’t enough, apparently, as he raised his hand to the screen and touched it, both turning bright blue. Bursts of binary littered the computer’s screen as he used his powers to search for an answer.
“Man, I wish my power was that cool,” Brent muttered, glancing at me. I couldn’t help but agree.
Dr. Sims growled. “Damnit. Turns out Carriage House isn’t a place, but a building almost every plantation had.” He removed his hand, the screen regaining color — and showing a map of New Marais. “Our best bet would be to go to the Ascension Parish and look around the plantations, see if we get lucky.” Dr. Sims pointed to a section on the map.
Dad rubbed his face, looking absolutely exhausted at the idea. “Okay. Alright, then we should go. The sooner the better, especially since that’s on the other side of New Marais.”
“I’m coming with you.”
We all turned towards the hall, where Zeke was standing hidden in the shadows. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed and looking down at the floor. Or, he was, until Dad spoke up, saying, “I don’t think that’s a good idea—“
“Cole did everything he could for shit like this to not happen,” Zeke said, pushing off of the wall and stepping into the room. “He fought for a peace we ain’t getting. If I can make a bit of that happen? If I can stop some assholes the First Sons mighta helped make? Then I’m doing it. Besides, I haven’t been to the Parish in years — maybe being out there will jog my memory on where this carriage house could be,”
Dad turned his back to Zeke to look at Dr. Sims, his face practically screaming at his friend to tell Zeke to stay here. “We could use the help,” Dr. Sims says, more pointedly at Dad than to Zeke’s offer.
Zeke smiled, hiding his eyes behind a pair of sunglasses. “Guess this is a good time to tell y’all I’ve got a ride too, huh?”
Want more from Xeno? Check out her Evil!Cole Apocalypse AU, inFAMOUS: No Man's Land:
Two years has passed since Cole made the choice that decided the fate of Humans and Conduits alike. Two years since becoming the Beast and saving Conduit-Kind by awakening them. After having the burden of being the "messiah" thrust upon him and dealing with the hardships that came with it, Cole finally has enough. He breaks away from the army he reared and takes off into the Wildlands of the Great Plains, where new opportunities await for the Demon of Empire City to claim.
Not only is Xeno’s story an original twist on a classic AU, but her character voice over Cole MacGrath is so good you’ll feel like you’re listening to Eric Ladin read it to you himself. She did all Cole pieces in this chapter! I cannot suggest it enough if you’re an inFAMOUS 1+2 fan, and hey, even if you’re new here — give it a shot. Who doesn’t love conduits, Mad Max style car chases, and the sort of bogeymen Bertrand would be terrified of?
(Tell Coyote and Crow that Rogue sent you)
#infamous erosion#infamous second son#infamous#infamous 2#cole macgrath#xeno writes!!!#Zeke Dunbar#Eugene Sims#Delsin Rowe#seriously she did this on mic as a MONOLOGUE do y'all know how hard she made me cry??? this isn't me writing in shit she wrote#she ACTED OUT THE DEAD DROP for me to write accurately and 1. holy shit she can act emotion so well. hidden VA over here 2. I sobbed.#Jean ain't crying bitch that's me.#fanfic#Sucker Punch Productions
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Linguistics Jobs: Interview with a Language Engineer
This month’s linguistics jobs interview is with Brent Woo, a Language Engineer for a voice assistant. Brent has an MA from Eastern Michigan University and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Washington. In this interview, Brent describes how his career provides him with work-life balance and how his linguistics training ties into his work developing technology we use every day, but might not realize requires language data to run smoothly.
You can find Brent online on LinkedIn.
What did you study at university?
Linguistics and more linguistics! I entered undergrad not really knowing what I wanted to do. I took some finance and economics with the vague idea of becoming an accountant, but I didn’t have an interest in the material. I took some political science and cultural studies classes with some interest in “international affairs” but it still wasn’t quite right for me. I took an intro linguistics class and knew immediately this was it. This was the mix between analytical thinking and interesting human issues that I was looking for. I went on to finish BAs in Linguistics and Russian Studies, and then an MA and PhD in Linguistics.
What is your job?
Language Engineers work on the language designs for voice assistants. When you say something funny like “let’s raise the roof” and the voice assistant can interpret that to raise its volume to the maximum level, that was likely due to an LE language design. LE look into common variations on requests, understand the failures in human-machine communication, and adjust recognition coverage for them. We work on the scale of millions of utterances a day, so this process also has to be automated to some degree.
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
I’m lucky to be considered a subject matter expert in language, and can usually make compelling arguments for utterance coverage based on language and human arguments alone. A common scenario is product or business stakeholders will request to have utterance X go to feature Y, and an LE will know from their expertise that no sane human customer would utter X to trigger Y. The LE has to present the case why that wouldn’t be a good design, and propose alternatives, and overall help the feature get better language coverage. This involves classic syntax for figuring out sentence structures and variations, and semantics for the annotation schema. Sometimes phonetics comes up when there are speech recognition conflicts or misfires!
What was the transition from university to work like for you?
Graduate school was great preparation for moving into this position. I already had experience running quantitative experiments and analyzing the results, managing different stakeholders (advisor, students, lab, external collaborators), and—most importantly—dealing with difficult customers.
Two things were new to me at the beginning: having conversations at the business and product level, and the pace of work. I wasn’t familiar how to navigate conversations about project budget and headcount, but I had a good friend as a mentor who helped me out with these early on. The pace of work differs from grad school: work comes and goes with the product release cycles, there are periods of crunch time and periods of relative calm and catch-up.
Do you have any advice you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
If you’re interested in exploring a non-academic path, talk to linguists in those paths, watch the panels and webinars we’ve run on these topics, ask for mock interviews, and read Superlinguo! You’ll get a sense of what background you need and what projects you should be working on.
Any other thoughts or comments?
The most important thing for me when finding a job after graduate school was to find a work-life balance. While I’m happy and lucky to have an interesting job related to language, I was really thrilled to discover that it was very flexible and I can live a rich life outside of work responsibilities. There were other jobs that may have been a better fit, but were more demanding on my lifestyle or diplomatic capacity (for example, managing people). I have many colleagues at this and other companies who have taken on more intense positions and end up burning out or quitting due to the stress. I find the work-life balance in this position almost ideal and I am very happy.
Related interviews:
Interview with a Natural Language Annotation Lead
Interview with a Software Engineer
Interview with a Data Scientist
Interview with a User Experience (UX) Researcher
Interview with a Computational Linguist
Recent interviews:
Interview with a Data Manager & Digital Archivist
Interview with a Natural Language Annotation Lead
Interview with an EMLS/Linguistics instructor & mother of four
Interview with a Performing Artiste and Freelance Editor
Interview with a Hawaiian and Tahitian language Instructor, Translator & Radio Host
Resources:
The full Linguist Jobs Interview List
The Linguist Jobs tag for the most recent interviews
The Linguistics Jobs slide deck (overview, resources and activities)
The Linguistics Jobs Interview series is edited by Martha Tsutsui Billins. Martha is a linguist whose research focuses on the Ryukyuan language Amami Oshima, specifically honourifics and politeness strategies in the context of language endangerment. Martha runs Field Notes, a podcast about linguistic fieldwork.
#linguistics jobs#linguist jobs#linguistics#careers#language engineer#language tech#language technology#jobs#work#AI#language AI
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Parents and family members of children who were killed in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, demonstrated in front of Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) mansion early on Saturday morning, demanding that he call a special session of the legislature to address gun violence.
The family members, joined by members of the gun reform organization March for Our Lives, gathered around 5:15 am on Saturday to protest the governor’s inaction. Some of the parents held portraits of their children who had been murdered. They also played audio of their children laughing and playing over a loudspeaker, pausing at times to shout the names of their children and to condemn Abbott’s refusal to promote gun reform legislation after the May shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
“Our kids are going back to school and asking, ‘Will I be next?'” said Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was among those killed in the shooting.
The family members demanded that Abbott call a special session of the state legislature to raise the age to buy assault rifles and other semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21.
“You do not give a damn, you care more about our guns than you do our children…We remember them, and we are going to make damn well sure that you do to,” said Brett Cross, uncle and legal guardian to Uziyah Garcia, who was killed in the massacre.
The early morning protest was followed by a larger demonstration on the steps of the State Capitol building, where family members continued to call for gun reform, including Ann Rodriguez, the mother of shooting victim Maite Rodriguez.
“I want to be able to speak about her but also talk about how her life was so meaninglessly taken by this 18-year-old kid who was able to purchase these weapons of war and ammunition, and how I am demanding that the age go up in a special session,” Rodriguez told NPR. “I’m not going to ask — I’m going to demand.”
A spokesperson for Abbott wrote in an email to HuffPost that the governor is leaving "all options" on the table to address gun violence, and that "more announcements are expected in the coming days and weeks as the legislature deliberates proposed solutions."
Abbott has rejected formal requests by the Uvalde City Council, the County Commissioners Court, and the Uvalde school board to hold a special session on the issue. He has also told Uvalde family members directly that raising the age to buy assault rifles would be unconstitutional and that mental health initiatives should be the focus in reducing the number of mass shootings.
But experts say right-wing claims that mass shootings are driven by mental illness shift the focus away from holding gun manufacturers and legislators accountable, and could have detrimental outcomes for people who are mentally ill.
“People with serious mental illness who have access to firearms are no more likely to be violent than people living in the same neighborhoods who do not have mental illnesses,” wrote Brent Teasdale, a professor of criminal justice at Pennsylvania State University, and Miranda Lynne Baumann, then a doctoral candidate at Georgia State University’s criminal justice and criminology program, in a 2018 article for Truthout.
Putting restrictions on people with mental health issues could lead people to avoid seeking treatment, they added.
“There is certainly an argument to be made for the temporary removal of firearm access for individuals actively experiencing mental health crises,” Teasdale and Baumann added. “However, the threat of permanent loss of one’s Second Amendment right could cause harm. People might avoid treatment for fear of losing their guns.”
#us politics#news#truthout#2022#uvalde shooting#texas#mass shootings#gun control#gun rights#gun violence#gov. greg abbott#march for our lives#tweet#twitter#@progressivetex#Republicans#conservatives#gop#protests
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However, that wasn’t all—she also suggested sending out a survey to all of the production employees (though the survey itself would actually be meaningless); it would ask them their name and require that they complete a number of questions. This survey would provide a baseline of typing and mouse-movement activity for each worker that they could then link to user data captured on the factory floor. By joining the two data sets, they could not only figure out where latency and problems were occurring in the facility but also pinpoint who was actually responsible for these problems.
Brent shook his head somewhat in disbelief as he rehashed what Robin had proposed. The ability to not just identify problems but identify problematic employees would be extremely powerful. Not to mention that any decisions he would make about punishing or firing inefficient employees would be quantitatively based and no one could accuse him of subjectivity or bias—he could just point to the data and say: “It is what it is!”
At the end of the day, Brent was walking slowly to his car when he had an even more intriguing thought: “What if I could use this same approach on employees’ supervisor assessments? Maybe Robin could help me identify the people who were critical of me by analyzing their typing behaviors and mouse movements.” He couldn’t see it, but a faint smile had broken out on his face.
I hate this class. So much. It is like the managerial equivalent of being thrilled at creating the Torment Nexus. Go to hell, Pearson.
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The TTRPG NPC Tournament Round 2: Sprout Bloodfeast III, Esq. vs. Selûne
Images are in the order of the poll! Image ID included, click to see the full image please!
More about each NPC below the cut!
Character 1
Name: Sprout Bloodfeast III, Esquire
Party: The Fruity Four
Relationship to party: The cooshee the party rescued from orcs and then adopted
What makes them the best NPC:
The best most goodest boy. Literally such a good dog who warns us of danger and rips monsters throats out. Also one of our party members is convinced Sprout is homophobic because Sprout keeps staring at him, despite the whole party being queer. In summary, they're good dogs Brent.
To learn more about Sprout, check out the extra propaganda in his tag here!
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Character 2
Name: Selûne
Party: THE FACE SMASHERZ!
Relationship to party: Goddess of the moon, patron of paladin Sorbet Lemonbalm (Sorbet is her champion)
What makes them the best NPC:
Do YOU want a base-game goddess taken to the next level? Are YOU a fan of big buff war veteran elves with moon-shaped tit windows? Do YOU want a polyamorous queen canonically married to her champion who also has a girlfriend ????
SELUNE SELUNE SELUNE !!!!
Selune in our game is more than just a base-game goddess. She's one of our prominent party gods, given that our campaign centers around godslaying and the power imbalances that follow. Top three Selune moments in our campaign are:
3. When she got summoned to help aid our party in a massive fight and ripped off her sleeves and hiked up her dress to beat the shit out of interlopers in one of her last temples. 2. That time she faked out her champion into thinking she was killing her in order to save a little baby Kobold from the Corruption with the last of her essence. And lastly... [drumroll] 1. THE TIME MID-FIGHT WITH THE FEY QUEEN WHEN SORBET, HER CHAMPION, GOT MADE INTO THE NEW SUMMER FEY KING AND THE FIRST THING SHE DID WAS PROPOSE TO SELUNE AND SHE SAID YES + BLESSED IT, THUS MAKING THE SUMMER COURT SELUNE'S BY POLITICAL MARRIAGE BECAUSE OUR GIRL SORBET HAD NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH THIS NEW POWER (Also this broke our DM) (in a good way)
Vote Selune: Our Lady Silver, Fey-King Consort, and our Lover of Ladies ;)
Quote:
"...She cherishes every star, on the ground and in the sky, no matter how great or small. I used to hear hearth stories growing up about Selune and her herd of celestial rams, always making sure she had every starry lamb accounted for each night..." - Sorbet, telling young kobolds about Selune
To learn more about Selune, check out the extra propaganda in her tag here!
#round 2#sprout bloodfeast iii#selune#polls#dungeons and dragons#d&d#dnd#dnd oc#dnd npc#ttrpg#pathfinder#powered by the apocalypse#dnd stuff#dnd character#character tournament#oc tournament#homebrew#d&d 5e
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ROUND TWO !!!!
A
Keep Away - Isane Driver VS. Pulp Friction - Fool Heavy
Scatterbrain - Casual Tees VS. Sad Hit Song- V is for Villians
Patches - Jawbreaker Reunion VS. Animal Rites - John Congleton & The Nighty Nites
New Dance - DEERPEOPLE VS. Maple Leaf Etc - Maxshh
B
Mama - Eudora June VS. The Helper - Giannah Noelle
Victim of a Siren - Seraph Siege VS. There's a Darkness (but There's also a Light) - The Wild VS. Ray - Dylans
Alive - GON VS. You are Loved - David Lamotte TIE
Where U Goin? - Half in the Bag VS. For Me - Dearlie
C
The Hidden Word - Noe Venable VS. Echo in the Hills - Carrie Elkin VS. YOUR GALAXY - ROZLYN PELL
Juliet and Juliet -Kactus Kid VS. Low Rent Truman Show - Marc with a C
The Danger - Patricia Wallinga VS. Call Me Captain - Emrys Layne (@callmecapt) VS. Deep Blue - Grapefruit
D
PIANO GAMES - Hazma Notes VS. Worst in the World - Uncle Outrage
Cheese (original mix) -Cheese VS. Hokutoshichisei no Ichiya- Akiko lkuina
There'll be Someone at My Funeral Who Doesn’t Want to Be There - Sammy J VS. The Crayon Song - Class Of 3000
TECVM CIRCVMAMBVLARE NOLO - John Linnel VS. Imagination - Niel innes VS. Me and Nikolai - Pale Young Gentlemen
E
Eat Your Heart Out, Sigmund Freud - Mollie Maxwell VS. Don't Want You -Carpark
Runaways - Big Tree VS. 10,000 Days - OK Glass
Hurricane - My Cat Umi VS. Rotten - Missouri Surf Club
Born to it - Freefonix VS. last week/month/year - rain
F
Pointillize - Raccoon Fink VS. execute - ninty
Better Red Than Dead - KELChip VS. Ego -Powderpaint
... - subeteanatanoseidesu VS. Nighttime (I fall asleep) - Sam X
GOTH BITCH DUB - 621 gecs VS. To.Get.Her - Nixis
G
Dusk and Dawn - Das Fi VS. Between You and Me - Clementine Werchola
Monmon Fanmoran - Mochitsune VS. Can Graze the Roof Bring you Back to Childhood? - Anomaly Vector TIE
Memories - Jens East (Ft. Lotta Rasva) VS. Moongrains with Lyrics feat. Gumi A - Anonaly Vector VS. Ode to Janey Lou- FOE
The Dreaming- Marquis of Vaudevill VS. Best Friend - Taitoki
H
Rusalka and The Shepherd Girl - The Forgetmenauts VS. Four Tall Trees - Leslie Fish
Captain Ward - Tempest VS. The Trials Of Oscar Wilde - Alan John
Winter's Tooth - Alexander James Adam VS. He of Sidhe - Alexander James Adam
Labyrinth - Madeline S VS. The Phoenix - Julia Ecklar
I
Liar and the Hound - Beneath Eden VS. Bodysuit -FlooringCo
Pause Button - Particle Devotion VS. On a Walk - Fort Womb VS. Death is a Girl - Skippocalyptic
52 Pickup - Z. VS. 山谷澗 - Mysterain小雨樂隊 VS. Pub Money - Bag of Cans
J
Never be Famous - Hussalonia VS. 613 - FC the kid VS. Lhasa - Shapaley
Collide - Harold J VS. We Made it - JAMIEvx VS. 412 (coffin built for two) - Mollie Maxwell
Unretractable Fact - Second Person VS. SCARY* - EXIT ONLY
Preserve - PETROLEUM! GENDERLOSS VS. No Proposals - Physical Plant
K
Maneater- Blue Eyed Blondes VS. la somnambule - La Femme Pendu
Center Stage - Howard Martin VS. Gears of the Atom Man - Angels of Liberty TIE
Wake Up Girl - Skeeter Truck VS. Dark Rip - Teen Girl Scientist Monthly
Trust Me - Time Crash VS. Not Yet - Leo and the Little Things
L
Grace - Raelle VS. Animal- Xisco Feijoó
Hyperphantasia - Fearful Earful VS. Tonight Eternity Alone - Rene Clause
Cardigan Sweater - Jasmine Kennedy VS. Milá má - Nahore VS. Side A -Alohaha
The Binding Of isaac - Schmekel VS. Slip! - Bright Orange
M
Boy who Blocked the Sun - Demi the Daredevil VS. Rainy Day Georgia - Jayne Trimble VS. Burn it Down with Math - Deuce of Gears
Haircut Song - Shannon Moser VS. Reunion - Brent Spiner & Maude Maggart
Small Parts of Something Much Larger - Suns VS. Sunshine and Lollipops 2020 - Sad Snack
Say What You Want - Growth Spurt VS. Mirëmëngies - Edona Vatoc
N
Have You Ever Seen a Duck, Like, in Real Life? - Lisa the Beauty Queen VS. Housekeeper- Faun Fables
Caroline - Espers VS. Tales of the Phantom Ship - Nathan Landis Funk
Lotus eaters - Jessica Law VS. Raising the Dead! - Jessica Law VS. Autism Murder Memorial - Fit to Work
Blow Up the Moon - Feel Spectres VS. All For Me Grog! - Spud Bugs
O
Reclaim - Porch Cat VS. Orpheus on Ice - The Small Calamities VS. Violin Concerto in the Key of Crippling Regret - The Small Calamities
Homme Offer Knee - Ben Below VS. Hold My Heart - The Dune Sea
Each Time She Calls - Jessie Gosling VS. flexible guy - clown residue
Howard - Demo- Mother Aiden VS. Blooming Strangely - Ginger & Pear
P
恐竜あげみざわ★ - Kyouruu Friends VS. 星の旅人- Sayaka Senbong & Yumiri Hanamori
The End of the World - Fred Deakin VS. 運命は※ Love You - チームDEKAI
Ultimate Performance of Abandoned Magic Boxes ~ Racks of Junk - KR. Palto47 VS. 薔薇は美しく散る x 輪舞 revolution - okurigi66
297回の試行 - Image44 VS. They'll Make a Monster Out of You - Freefonix
#obscure song tournament#bracket#poll related#music poll#not polls#PRAYING for less ties this round.#but I think there might be MORE somehow cos less people are voting as time goes on#so it gets easier to tie </3
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angelllll 😙🫶
loveeeeee brent faiyaz omg- let me know is one of my FAVS right now
ahhh that's so HARD wait actually- i've been on an ovulation music kick lately bcos your girl LOVES slutty music. i guess my most played as of rn would be sofia karlberg's cover of crazy in love 🤭 its soooo hot like omgg or or luke hemmings live bc i live for slutty whiny vocals-
your affectionate,
🕊️
doveeeeee 💖💘
OMG “who can i love when they tell me I can’t love myself” <<<<<<<<<<<< weird way to propose dove <3 but 1000% times yes-
SLUTTY MUSIC IS MY EVERYTHING like yes ! I am currently walking around campus seducing myself, what about it? also uh WHAT HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD HER VER BEFORE I just listened n her voice is STUNNING FUCKKK-
#my pretty 🕊️ anon <3#🎀 love notes#🎀 princess gossips#UGH whiny vocals 😩#sosososo fucking hot jdvjjhfxsdgh
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Stupid Hidan headcanons
He was born to a whore in the worst parts of Yu's red light district, where he constantly heard very colorful language
His first kill was when he was 4, because some drunk creep dragged him into an alley, so he literally bit his throat out
His favorite insult as a toddler was "limp dick pansy"
As a child of his....status, he had three options: work in the brothel, die on the streets, or become a Shinobi....which is a big part of why he was pissed when they demilitarized
He hates stairs, but he would hate elevators and escalators just as much because they're so slow
Technically bi, but since Jashinism worships destruction, procreation would be considered the "ultimate sin" since its the exact opposite of carnage and slaughter so he's essentially functionally gay
Would be willing to adopt children, but only after they've been potty trained so then he can teach them all about Jashin
He loves dolphins because they're fucking psychos
His ideal "date" would be a bloody massacre
He would probably propose to someone by bringing them a fucking bouquet of arms from their worst enemies, with one of them having a ring on it
He's an unexpectedly good drawer, being capable of making almost photorealistic drawings of people and creatures just from memory
Jashinism has a lot more to it than just murder and carnage, but he uses that as his recruitment tactic because it's what got him interested initially
He doesn't take any money from Akatsuki, but neither does he scrounge up change. He just steals what he needs and kills anyone who tries to stop him. He does this in an attempt to spite Kakuzu to show him money doesn't matter, but Kakuzu highly approves of this because Hidan isn't costing any money.
The only reason he keeps his hair slicked back is because he likes the length, but hates wearing it down because then it gets in his eyes sometimes
He would enjoy punk rock, and Britney spears, and that would be the extent of most of his music taste
He's ridiculously flexible, and will occasionally use it to his advantage to get blood, especially because it startles people to see this murderous twunk bend backwards so far the back of his head is touching his legs, with his legs hardly being bent at all
Half the time he's complaining about inane shit, it's for the express purpose of pissing off Kakuzu
If he's eating at a restaurant or Cafe, he will order a cup of plain ice and just munch the ice cubes
Chewing aluminum foil doesn't cause him pain, and sometimes he'll chew on random bits from wrappers and such just because it feels funny
Part of why he likes spare ribs so much is because once, after another restaurant patron was harassing him, he casually chewed one of the bones to a point then used it to stab and kill the guy
He'd likely get along very well with Anko
If anyone asked his favorite color, he would say red, but in reality it's secretly purple
His singing voice is an almost perfect match for Brent Smith of Shinedown
#naruto#naruto shitposting#shitpost#akatsuki#hidan#hidan akatsuki#hidan naruto#crackhead headcanon#headcanon
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Picard
I hate this show so much.
It's not that bad, I guess. I've said before, the actors are talented, and the production values are generally pretty impressive. You can tell a lot of work went into this. It's not like they just put a hand puppet on the screen and had him go "Herpy-derp I am the Picard! Watch me make poopie!" We're a long way from rock bottom.
But it's still really unsatisfying to watch this thing. I find myself thinking of all the "bad" Trek episodes I've seen in the past, and pretty much all of them would be more fun to watch than this. Quark impersonating his mother? Better than Picard. Dr. Crusher fucks a candle ghost? Better than Picard. Warp 10 Humanders? Not even a question, that episode kicked ass. I mean, it was really stupid, but the real worst episode of Voyager was "Retrospect". Still, both of those were better than Picard.
Let's branch out a little. Dragon Ball GT? Better than Picard. The Proposal? Yeesh, that's a close one. No, Betty White was in that. Still better than Picard. Hocus Pocus? I mean, it's shorter than Picard. I'm trying to think of something objectively worse than watching this show, and I think I'm having to dip into just bad life experiences, like getting dumped or being unemployed.
Let me try to get to this particular episode. It's S2E5, "Watcher". They call it that because the Borg Queen advised Picard to locate a "watcher" who was a potential ally in the mission to fix time. Picard found her last episode, but she's actually a "supervisor" like Gary Seven from the TOS episode. See, we're doing callbacks to Gary fucking Seven here, but this show still can't figure out why Picard and Guinan don't remember meeting in 1893.
I don't think they ever named this "supervisor" character. They should call her "Gary Eight" because fuck it. Anyway, her job is to shepherd the career of astronaut Renee Picard, who's due to go on a spaceflight, but she's got the same anxiety/depression that everyone in 2024 has. Also everyone in 2401 has it too, so time is a flat circle.
Renee's therapist, Q, is trying to talk her out of going on the mission, so Picard's like "Aha! That's just the sort of trick that asshole likes to play." Except no it isn't, he's the one who showed Picard the altered timeline and gave him the opportunity to go back and try to fix it. Why would he be the one trying to fuck things up?
Apparently Q's powers don't work right now, so he does a side plan where he contacts Noonien Soong's ancestor and cures his daughter's comic book mutation to save her life. In exchange he wants Soong's help to do... something. I don't even feel like speculating. This show just drains all the enthusiasm right out of me.
There's a lot of doubles in this show. The Watcher/Supervisor/Gary Eight looks like Laris, but without the Romulan ears. This is never explained. When Raffi and Seven save Rios from ICE, there's an Elnor lookalike on the bus with Rios. This is never explained. The Soong ancestors look exactly like Alton Soong and Soji from Season 1. This... kind of makes sense, but there was no reason to have them be the Soongs. If Brent Spiner wanted to be in the show so damn badly he shouldn't keep asking the writers to kill him off.
None of this crap matters. They could have jumped straight from Episode 2 to Episode 6 and it would have been fine. Picard goes straight to the Watcher to find out about Renee, and they can just skip the bit with Jurati merging with the Borg Queen, since I'm pretty sure that won't amount to anything anyway.
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☆ *~.❤ about me: TAE | 18 | she/her | blck + somoan writer | ENTJ |
tae - (TAY) is the mastermind behind her tumblr blog, telail. Blog has been around since 2018 but hasn't been posted on till early 23'.
hey hey! i'm tae, a uni student constantly running on ateez content and a dream. i major in marine biology which is a stupidly complex sub genre of biology that studies the inner workings of life within the ocean and anything underwater. my hs class is class of 23', which i graduated from as valedictorian in may of last year. my personality type is entj, people with my personality type are known for their strong sense of independence and rationality. i love anything ocean or art related and i've been writing for about 6 years.
+ dbs to moot me if you're 18+ js send an ask :P
▶ -- fave dramas: my name, the glory, my demon, celebrity, tomorrow, see you in my 19th life, business proposal, extraordinary attorney woo, abyss, hi bye, mama!, hotel del luna, ballerina, rookie historian goo hae ryung. girl from nowhere.
▶ -- fave shows & movies: avatar, the last airbender, queen charlotte, h2o, teen titans, amazing world of gumball, chopped, avatar 1 & 2, spiderman across the spider verse, black panther 1 & 2, everything everywhere all at once, 13 going on 30, lucy.
▶ -- fave animes: naruto, demon slayer, inu yasha, death note, blue eye samurai, haikyu, baki, saiki k, fruit basket, assassination classroom, violet evergarden, devilman crybaby, sword art online, attack on titan, jujutsu kaisen, cowboy bebop, the promise neverland, tokyo ghoul, erased, dr stone, mob psycho 100, food wars, akame ga kill etc.
▶ -- music taste: ATEEZ, txt, enhyphen, tbz, billie eilish, chase atlantic, tyler the creator, kendrick lamar, rihanna, brent faiyaz, kanye west, childish gambino, bts, Xscape, skz, NCT 127, p1harmony, the weeknd, erykah badu, evanescense, radiohead, korn, deftones, young thug, future, lil baby, seventeen, G-eazy, lana del ray, xikers, the neighbourhood, frank ocean, drake, 21 savage, pink pantheress, michael jackson, post malone, indila, migos, girls generation, xxxtentacion, kehlani etc.
▶ -- extra: I'm often rlly busy and lowkey burnt out due to how DEMANDING my classes and everyday life are so pls bear with me cs as of rn my updates are hella slow. :P I constantly have ideas brewing tho and requests do give me an extra push to write sometimes so pls don't be shy to send one my way.
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Releases on June 6th
Summary:
Natalie Vos has returned to Napa jobless, fiancé-less, and in need of money to start her own investment firm. August Cates owns a vineyard that makes terrible-tasting wine, but owes it to his friend not to give up. August and Natalie may hate each other at first sight, but their respective financial struggles causes Natalie to propose a marriage of convenience so that both of them can get the capital they need to fund their dreams...
My review:
TESSA BAILEY IS BACK. I enjoyed reading Unfortunately Yours, and I think what made this book really hit was just how reminiscent it was of Tessa's older works. August and Natalie reminded me a lot of Brent and Hayden from Asking for Trouble— August is a brash, cocky retired Navy SEAL, and Natalie is a pedigreed investment banker. There's this immediate sexual tension between August and Natalie, but circumstances make them "enemies" of sorts, which leads to a lot of pretty hilarious back-and-forth arguing between them (as always, Tessa knows how to write good banter).
Natalie and August are both at their lowest when they meet, and I actually liked that. This isn't a story about a ripped-and-ready soldier and a socialite; August is a former SEAL who's now trying his best to create a profitable vineyard to honor a friend's legacy. Natalie is trying to start up her own investment firm and struggles with being seen as a valued member of her own family. She also has a history of struggling with alcohol. They're both a little pathetic (but in an endearing way), little prickly, and scared to let their guards down. But because they both need money, they need to put their hang-ups aside and go ahead with this marriage of convenience.
Regarding their marriage, I appreciated how the wedding happened around midway through the book (ft. dancing to "Brick House" by the Commodores, him tenderly plucking rice out of her hair, and that lift from Dirty Dancing), so lot of the story is Natalie and August learning to live and work together while they "pretend" to be married for real. And that close proximity led to a lot of excellent bonding moments (and not just physical lol). SPEAKING of which—
The sex:
When I say Tessa's back, I mean this in terms of the sex as well. Because August fucked up his first chance with Natalie, he's determined to do this RIGHT the second time around. And by right, I mean no p in v sex until he's convinced she won't regret sleeping with him. Which.... makes for an excellent self-denial subplot.
Here's what worked for me:
a) The dirty talk is still a little paired down compared to Tessa's older works, but it did the trick
b) WEDDING NIGHT! Maybe I've been brainwashed by historical romances about the excitement of wedding night sex but this one was great— the stand-out moment was August telling Natalie he's imagined going down on her so many times "imaginary August has lockjaw". Then there was a classic Tessa Bailey blowjob scene (I feel like a lot of contemporary romances skimp on these, so I like the level of detail Tessa provides).
c) There is, in fact, face-sitting
d) Do I think the opportunity for August to showcase his SEAL skills was a bit shoehorned? Yes, but when it leads to a level of scared/horny desperation that has them pulling over their car during a FLASH FLOOD and he's standing OUTSIDE IN THE STORM while railing her from behind.... I'm here for it.
Basically, I don't believe in the "wife guy" but August is the only kind of "wife guy" I condone, namely, the kind that gets off on it.
Overall:
I had a lot of fun reading this book and absolutely would recommend. If you're looking for a light read (a beach read, if you will) with plenty of heart that also doesn't skimp on good sex, this is the book for you!
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.
#arc#arc review#netgalley#tessa bailey#contemporary romance#avon books#avon#Harper Voyager#romance novel#romance novels
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