#I've had a kindle for like 15 years and had like the FIRST one so yeah

[moghedien]

converted all my kindle books to epub and ordered a kobo and I think this officially ends my being stuck with anything in the amazon ecosystem

might finally bite the bullet and replace my kindle with a kobo

[mcalhenwrites]

Cal's Book, Patreon/Ko-Fi, & Commissions

Geckos, Automata is available for sale in both paperback and on kindle! You can buy it here.

This helps me out the most, since writing is my dream job, and I can do it with the least amount of strain on my chronic pain. (I have fibro.) You can see exclusive art and early-access WIP glimpses of my writing, writing notes, etc. on Patreon. I have several tiers, some of them quite low, like $1, $3, and $5 a month. :) If you want to help out and throw me a one-time amount of money every now and again as thanks for the stuff I share publicly, feel free to buy me a Ko-Fi. Currently, I'm offering commissions for these ornaments:

They are $35/each + S&H fees. Payment through Paypal (or cash if you're buying in person, which saves you the S&H fees). I can do different colors. I cannot do too many of these, and as I am having surgery this week, please expect these to arrive after this Christmas. No worries, you can enjoy them for the next or even display them year-round.

I also take commissions for sketches. Some examples of commissions I've done recently:

Pricing is $10 for bust ($5 for second character), $15 for thigh-up ($10 for second character), $20 for full body ($15 for second character). Limit 2 characters. Backgrounds may be available at an additional cost, but ask first since I'm fairly new to adding them. You can reach me at mcalhen (at) gmail (dot) com for further questions on any commissions. I do take some custom crochet commissions, but that's extremely limited, and I had honestly hoped to afford housing without selling crochet, since it causes me pain and eats up the time I would love to be writing instead. So please consider supporting my writing, and spreading this around helps me with sales. Thank you!

[fictionadventurer]

Hello

3,8,9,13,14,15,18,20,21,22,26,30,33,39,41,44,45,46,48,52,55,58,60, for the ask game !

(I recognize that i may have asked too many questions.....partly as an excuse to get more book recs!)

Okay, let's do this!

3. How many books have you read (this year) so far?

According to Goodreads, 77, but that counts a lot of short stories, novellas, and in one case, a serial story where each part counts as a single book.

8. A book you've always wanted to read but never got a chance?

Lots, but lately I've been thinking about how I've never gotten around to reading A Canticle for Leibowitz, despite being recommended it years ago.

9. A book you're never, ever gonna read?

Harry Potter.

13. A genre you aren't a fan of in particular?

Horror.

14. A genre you love?

One I've recently started to define as vintage fiction--cozy books that are old enough to be classics, but aren't high-brow enough or famous enough to be considered classic literature.

15. A reading habit you could get "canceled" for?

Leaving so many books unfinished for no good reason.

18. Recommend a book to the person who sent you this ask.

Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien--a very fun fairy tale fantasy he wrote for his kids.

20. A book series you can't wait to read.

Once a Queen by Sarah Arthur feels like a fantasy book that should have a minimum of four other books already available for me to read, and the sequel can't come fast enough.

21. A book series you're never going to read.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

22. A celebrity's book rec that you loved?

Jo Walton enthusiastically recommended Desire by Una Silberrad and introduced me to a new favorite obscure author.

26. Your favourite reading position?

Sitting?

30. If you could have access to anybody's bookshelf, dead or alive, which person would you pick?

I am sticking Manalive on Steven Moffat's bookshelf so he will write the adaptation (and read the rest of Chesterton and become Catholic).

33. Do you annotate as you read or prefer not to?

Absolutely not. When I read a book, I want to read it with fresh eyes, as the person I am now, without the person that I was last time chattering in the margins.

39. Favourite book to movie/TV show adaptation?

The 1995 Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite movies of all time.

41. If you could read the first draft of any one book, which book would you pick and why?

I'd like to read the original version of Black as Night by Regina Doman, which apparently had an entirely different plot before major rewrites.

44. Favourite book protagonist?

I can't pick one favorite! I'll just mention that Wilkie Collins has written some of my favorite female characters in Victorian fiction--Marian Halcombe in The Woman in White is one of my favorite characters ever, and I loved The Law and the Lady mostly because of how much I loved the narrator.

45. Favourite book villain?

One of the reasons Little Town on the Prairie is my favorite Little House books is because of how well Wilder presents Nellie Oleson and Miss Wilder as villains.

46. Favourite literary quote?

How am I supposed to pick one?

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go to Goodreads and find something that got highlighted in Kindle.

Okay, here's a quote I highlighted in Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell that I had completely forgotten about.

He was just the kind of man that all his neighbours found fault with, and all his neighbours liked.

48. If you could be a part of any story you've read, which book would you pick?

I'm just going to live in the cottagecore atmosphere of your average Elizabeth Goudge book.

52. Do you like audiobooks? If yes, which is your favourite audiobook?

I adore audiobooks!

Probably the coolest one I've ever listened to was the full-cast audio recording of Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, because it takes place in a world where people often sing in their day-to-day lives, and this audio version has the characters sing all the songs!

As far as ones that are readily available, my favorite is the Jim Dale version of Around the World in 80 Days. That man's range of voices is astounding!

On Librivox, Vanity Fair (Version 2) has the best Librivox narrator I've ever heard. Most of the time, I'm just happy if the narrator pronounces everything correctly, with bonus points if they have a fitting accent. This woman was doing multiple accents!

55. If you could have any book related job in the world (librarian, editor, publisher, writer, etc), what job would you pick?

Writer.

58. A book that emotionally wrecked you?

I wept through large portions of In a Far-Off Land by Stephanie Landsem.

60. Talk about books! Anything you like, maybe share some more recs<3

I've just started Codename Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem, and I'm excited to try another book by the author, because I've heard even more good things about this one.

[happy-mokka]

2024 in books

Previous: #1 + feedback #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7

#8 The Lord of the Rings

by J. R. R. Tolkien English

Well. This one doesn't really need an introduction.

I've first read it when I was 15 and it blew me away like no other book before or afterwards.

Since then I've read pretty much all his Middle Earth related work.

This is the one I keep coming back to on a regular basis every 1-2 years or so, for the past 33 years since the 1st read.

I took the title picture from my issue of the Harper Collins Paperback edition from 1995. It was the 1st English book I had read (originating and currently still living in Germany) and in the meantime its pages are pretty worn out and start becoming all yellow. I love it. A few years back I also got me a Kindle edition for practical reasons and did my last re-reads with that one, but now I decided to pick up this old little baby once more. I want to really feel it again and smell the well-aged pages...

So, let the journey begin...

Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains in the moon. Roads go ever ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green And trees and hills they long have known. The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. The Road goes ever on and on Out from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, Let others follow it who can! Let them a journey new begin, But I at last with weary feet Will turn towards the lighted inn, My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

[corvidquartz]

Witchy Questions Tag...Thing?

Came across this in my scrolling and thought it looked fun! I know I reblog a lot of stuff related to witchcraft and have briefly talked about my practice, but if anyone is curious to learn more, this is the place for it!

Here's the link if anyone wants to do it too!

Do you use runes as a written language? - No I don't. I do use runes on occasion for spellwork, but not as a written language.

2. Do you feel you have natural gifts such as (premonitions, hearing spirits) and if so do you think this is what led you to this path? - I've found that I'm rather good at sensing different energies (whether physical or emotional) and I can read people incredibly well. That in of itself isn't what led me down this path, but these skills have certainly come in handy during my practice.

3. What deity do you work with if any and why?- I currently am working with Apollo, Cerridwen, Hades, and Oonagh. Apollo has been helping me a lot with self-care and self-esteem and generally helping me rediscover a zest for life I thought I'd lost. He kindled a love for Divination I haven't let go of too and is a big help when it comes to my creative work! Cerridwen has been helping me better connect with my heritage and has been a beacon of inspiration as I delve further into my craft and into who I truly am as a person. Hades has been helping me manage my money a bit better and has been a very calming presence while I’ve begun processing my own mental health battles and trauma (he and Apollo are preparing me to do a LOT of Shadow Work.) Oonagh is the most recent deity to reach out to me, and she intends to assist me with building a better relationship with exercise and my own self-image as I begin to take steps into a transitional period of my life. She’s hoping to help me reconnect and heal my inner-child as well.

4. Have you always worked with this same deity? - I’ve only really begun deity work this year, so all the deities I’ve listed are the only ones I’ve worked with so far and are the same ones I work with right now.

5. Do you use any personal items in your practice, (blood, semen, tears, urine, etc)? - No, I haven’t used anything like that. Maybe fingernail clippings or hair in the future, but nothing further than that.

6. Do you do past life readings or have ever had one done; who where you or how did you die? - I haven’t, but I’m interested in it!

7. What is your favorite magical tool? - My tarot cards! I absolutely adore them and I get in such a good mood whenever I get to use them.

8. What is a song or type of music that gets you into a witchy mood? - Anything by Celtic Woman, Fish In A Birdcage, and/or Poor Man’s Poison.

9. Where is the most magical place you have ever been? - There is this foresty area my parents used to take me to a lot when I was a kid that honestly felt like stepping into a fairytale whenever we arrived.

10. What animal is your familiar if any? - I currently don’t have a familiar.

11. If you have a familiar, did you choose them or did they choose you? - As previously mentioned, I don’t have a familiar as of right now.

12. What in the craft are you best at (tarot, spells, ritual,) etc? - I’ve done a lot of divination work, mainly with tarot and pendulums, and I’ve found I’m the best at that.

13. What in the craft would you say you are weaker at? - I’m not very good at astral projection, but I’d love to get better.

14. What is your most favorite part of your craft (spell writing, divination, etc)? - Divination for sure! I also love the deity work that I do and the bits of dabbling that I can do into kitchen witchcraft.

15. What was the first tool you ever purchased? - My first tarot deck! Was only of the major arcana and it was themed around cryptids. It's now my main way to communicate with Hades. He really likes it. ^^

16. What was your first homemade tool for your practice? - My first physical book of shadows. I use a digital one a lot more now, but I hope to transfer everything into a proper physical form one of these days.

17. What are your feelings on raising kids in the craft? - If I were to have kids, I would be open about my craft, observe Wiccan holidays, and answer any questions they’d have, but ultimately leave whatever spiritual path they wish to go down up to them.

18. If you were a goddess or god, who would you be? - Honestly, I’m not sure. I’m quite content in my mortal coil and enjoying the relationship I have with the divine as of right now. ^^;

19. Do you use astrology in your practice? In what ways? - I’ve always loved astrology and try to work moon phases into when I do spellwork and star signs into my divination work when I do readings for other people.

20. What if any ways could you practice dark magic and still respect the beliefs of Wicca? - I’m a firm believer in not harming others when it comes to my craft. If it were in self-defense it would be one thing, but I won’t be practicing anything that could violate the natural law and morals I’ve come to know for so long.

21. Do you have any witches in your family? - My mother and my younger sibling! My father and stepmother are also spiritually inclined, but I don’t believe they consider themselves witches.

22. What item can you not witch without? - My pocket sack of crystals and oils! Never leave home without them.

23. What is your favorite sabbat or time of year ritual? - I’d say Samhain and Yule are my favorites!

24. Have you ever had a YouTube burn out? - Occasionally, but nothing that pulls me away for too long. It's a big part of my job after all!

25. What is your fav witchy shop, and do they have an online store? - Blodforlog on Etsy! Their stuff is extremely well made and the owner is so kind!

26. When buying witchy items, do they choose you or do you choose them? - Depends on what I’m looking for! When it comes to things like herbs or crystals, I tend to choose them. Anything else tho, I either feel pulled to them personally, or one of my deities draw me to them.

27. How do you organize your herbs/ingredients? - I organize everything into labeled jars and bottles that I either line on my windowsill or keep in a designated box.

28. Do you have interest in other deities that you don’t work with; if so, which ones? - I currently don’t work with Loki or Dionysus, but their mythology interests me a lot!

29. Do you have a favorite time of day to do spell work; if so, why? - I prefer to do spellwork whenever I need to throughout the day. No real designated time.

30. Are you solitary or do you work with a coven? - Currently a solitary practitioner. If a coven ever came my way that seemed like a good fit for me tho, I might consider it.

31. If you could pick a certain witchcraft tradition that fits your practice most what would it be (Druid, Celtic, Wicca etc)? - I’d consider myself a Wiccan, though I hope to research further into Celtic practices given my Celtic heritage.

32. What was the most creative spell you have ever done. What did you use? - I came up with a long-distance protection spell to help keep my partner in good health and spirits while his state was being overrun by smoke. It mostly consisted of spoken word and runes as well as some protection oils and black salt that I had on hand (I was staying with my family for a holiday and didn't have all my usual tools and materials on me).

33. What do you prefer for divination (tarot, oracle, runes ,etc, and why?) - Tarot cards and pendulums are my go-to items for divination.

34. What are some ways you keep yourself grounded? - I have a pouch of protection/grounding stones and oils that I keep on me at all times. I also wear a lot of grounding-based jewelry and have different playlists prepared for me to listen to if I feel myself spiraling or getting anxious or overwhelmed.

35. Have you ever had a spell go horribly wrong? - Not yet, as far as I can tell.

36. What are your opinions on initiation rituals? - I honestly don’t know a lot about them, so I don’t really have an opinion. ^^;

37. Have you ever had full contact with your deity; if so, what happened? - I’ve mostly heard their voices in the back of my head and catch glimpses of them when I’m really tired and a bit more “floaty” if that makes sense? I have a good idea of what they look like and what they sound like, but otherwise, divination is really the only way I can communicate with them directly and get a direct answer back. The first time I ever actively communicated with a deity was Apollo. I had asked for a sign that he was present and reaching out to me while I shuffled my tarot deck, and the cards exploded out of my hand and all over the floor. The first card I picked up was the sun card, so that certainly was the sign I was looking for. XD

38. What about you is un witchy? - I’m a giant weeb. ^w^

39. For the dating witch, how do you tell a new love interest that you are a witch? - I’d honestly just be open about it and understand that there may be questions about it. So long as I’m transparent with them, I’ve found they take it best.

40. Who is a past witch that has inspired you ,famous or not? - SpiritualiTea has been a big inspiration to me! Her approach with witchcraft is super grounded and she clearly has a lot of fun with what she does.

41. How do you handle rejection from a fellow witch that refuses to do a reading or spell for you? - That hasn’t happened yet.

42. Do you think it is necessary to cast a circle when you do spell work or any magical working? - I don’t typically cast a circle for typical spellwork, but it is something I recommend of you are calling on other entities for assistance.

43. If Steven Spielberg called and wanted to make a movie of your life, who would you want to play as you? - Uhhhhhh…if it were animated…idk…Ben Schwartz?

44. What is some advice that was given to you that you pass along because it made an impact on your path? - Your path doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s. Do things at your own pace and do what brings you the most happiness. So long as you aren't hurting anyone of course.

45. What is some advice you would give someone who has not found there diety? - Trust your instincts, do your research, and be openminded. The divine may just surprise you.

46. Where do you buy your herbs? - Either online or from whatever grocery store that has what I need.

47. How did you feel casting your first circle (silly, scared, stumbling, etc)? - Very intimidated and like everything I was doing was wrong.

48. What was your first successful spell? - I did a restful sleep spell to help with my insomnia. It’s helped a great deal (tho honestly I’m overdue for replacing the jar ^^;)

49. What is your general practice for meditation? - I have a hard time doing traditional meditation, so I’d consider listening to calming music and taking a walk or laying in bed quietly to be my personal form of meditation.

50. Are you a day walker or a night comer? - I’ve always been more of a night person, tho I do enjoy many aspects of the day!

51. How and when did you know you wanted to be on this path? - I was raised Pagan by my parents and picked up Wicca as I got older. It was made clear to me that I was free to choose my own path, but Paganism and Wicca just resonated with me the most and thus when I was old enough to decide that for myself, I knew that the path of witchcraft was the best path for me. It’s helped me through so much in my life and I want to continue that trend for both myself and those around me.

52. What type of pagan are you (Wiccan, eclectic, hedge, etc)? - I would consider myself Pagan-Wicca that is pretty eclectic in terms of witchcraft practice.

53. What candle color do you use most? - I live in a dormitory that doesn’t allow candles right now, so I haven’t been able to do many candle spells yet. Of the colors I HAVE used tho, yellow and white seem to be my go-tos as of right now.

54. What area would you like to see your craft grow in? - I’d love to look more into medical herbalism! It’s an area I’ve always been really interested in!

55. What is your preference, to buy or make your tools? - If I’m unable to make something myself, I prefer to purchase handmade items from small businesses and show my support to fellow witches.

56. What fictional witch book/screen inspired you the most? - I adored Sabrina The Teenage Witch growing up and The Owl House is one of my current favorites! I have always been drawn to shows and books that featured witchcraft in general, so it's nice to see more witch-themed content being made.

57. With your first spell where you alone or in a coven? - I was alone.

58. What is your favorite candle, incense scent for magical purposes? - I adore the smell of lavender and anything with a bit of a spicy scent to it like cinnamon!

59. Where is your favorite place to go to reconnect with nature? - A park near my family’s house has a hidden clearing that looks over a river. It’s one of my favorite places in the world.

60. Do you believe in fantasy creatures (unicorns, gnomes, elves, fairies, etc)? - Of course! Fairies have been an active part of my life since I was small.

61. Do you believe in ghosts/spirits? - Yep! Have always been surrounded by the supernatural.

62. Would you ever teach the craft? - If I ever became an expert at any specific area of it, I’d consider it!

63. What if any legal herb do you use for moods? - Essential oils are my best friend! I have different ones for every occasion!

64. What is the most recent spell/ritual you have done? (slight detail please) - I have a simple intentions ritual that I do in the morning that involves runes and different oils that help me get in the headspace I need in order to do what I need to do that day. For example, if I know I have a lot of work I need to do that day (I’m a freelance editor), I would do a ritual with Road Opening oil and Divine Blessings so that way I know the flow of creativity I need will be available to me and I’ll be less susceptible to distractions.

65. Do you have a happy place you go to during meditation? - Either my bed or somewhere outside.

66. What is your favorite witchy book? - Nothing specifically witchy itself, but a book that always puts me in a witchy mood is Coraline by Neil Gaiman!

67. Do you have a ritual to get ready before a ritual or spell? (what is it) - Not really. Most smaller spellwork I do is stuff I do as it comes throughout the day. No real need for prep beforehand.

68. Do you always use your own spells or do you tweak others? - I tend to take inspiration from other spells and make them my own to suit what I need them to do.

69. Do you prefer spells/ritual inside or outside? - They’re typically done as I need them, so whether that’s indoors or outdoors is left up to circumstance.

70. If you are coming from a Christian/catholic background. Did you find the transition hard with family and the whole going to Hell thing? Basically leaving all you been told was right? - As I said before, I was raised Pagan, so I never had that issue with my family. The last two partners I had came from VERY strict Catholic and Christian upbringings, however, so explaining my background to their parents was always…interesting. My current partner’s family is very open to Paganism thankfully, so haven’t run into issues there yet.

71. What are your totem animals? - I don’t believe I have any yet, if I’m understanding the question properly.

72. What are some things you reuse after spells/ritual work? - Mostly jars and containers if I clean and cleanse them first.

73. Who helped you most when you starting on your path? - A lot of resources in the form of online creators that I found online and from my own family has been extremely helpful.

74. Do you know any good witchy phone apps (like moon phases)? - I’ve used a moon phase app and a stone identification app in the past, but the names aren’t coming to mind atm. ^^;

75. What is your favorite magical study? - Honestly, anything I can find! I’ve been enjoying learning divination and kitchen witchcraft the most tho!

76. Outside of the YouTube and Facebook community, do you have a lot of witchy friends in the physical world? - I have a handful, but we all haven’t talked in a bit due to life stuff. ^^;

77. Do you feel that the deities we work with are a force from one higher power and that all beliefs and religions are from the same one God/place? - I’m more of an Omnist and believe that all deities from all cultures are real, even if I myself don’t work with all of them.

If you have any questions regarding any of my answers, feel free to let me know! Otherwise, here it be! Hope you all enjoy! Blessed be!

[alarajrogers]

Gamification is scary

So, I use Kindle on my phone for most of my reading, because my eyesight is no longer super and it's hard to read physical books. (This is tragic when it comes to comic books, which are so hard to read on a phone there's no point to trying.) And for more than a year now, Kindle keeps running these three-month "challenges" with "achievements". Things like a badge for reading every day of a week, or every day of a month, or a book off a specific list that's like "a selection of books that got turned into movies", or things like that.

Let me make this clear: you get nothing for these challenges except a badge on the challenge page. This is more ephemeral than a shiny sticker for being good in school today.

Since I discovered them in April 2022, I have been addicted to these challenges. Like, will buy a book I wanted to buy anyway but probably should not be buying right now, because it's on the list for a specific challenge. Like, get Kindle books from libraries to meet the challenge.

Every time they draw to a close, I say "I will not start a new one. I'll be free." And then Amazon runs the next one, and like a fool, here I am again. It's not that they're hard; generally speaking, every time I go to the bathroom and every time I have to wait for someone I am driving (only driver in the house, I am driving people all the time), I take time to read. But here I am, trying to pick out books specially from their list. (I use my Kindle Unlimited or libraries to get the books, 'cause I'm broke right now.)

They have mystery challenges that they unveil on given dates. I thought the next one was 7/15 so I was kind of ignoring the challenges. Then I failed to find time to read Kindle on 7/11 because I had a fanfic I was reading instead. For the first time in more than a year, I did not read Kindle.

Guys. They released the challenge on 7/10, not 7/15 -- I read it wrong -- and it was "read on 7/11 and 7/12 because of Prime Day." That's an and, not an or. Because I missed reading one day out of over a year, I missed one achievement... and I am bummed about this. I mean, I'm not crying or anything, but I actually have regrets. Despite the fact that this is a transparent attempt by Amazon to get me to use their services and buy more books (I don't buy any more books. Kindle Unlimited, which is basically a subscription lending service that's the price of one book a month, lets me take out 20 at a time, and my slots are always full and frequently rotating. But it's the principle of the thing, I know what Amazon wants.) Despite the fact that there is literally nothing I get out of this except a little colorful badge. Despite the fact that it is absolutely unreasonable to care about this and I've been trying to quit for months.

Gamification is a scary, scary force.

[casspurrjoybell-24]

My Mate - Chapter 15 - Part 1

*Warning Adult Content*

I think I'm freaking out a little... or a lot.

Tomorrow's my birthday... I'll be eighteen... I'll be able to detect my Mate.

'Why am I freaking out? I've been waiting for this forever.'

Frowning at my naked form in the mirror, I turned from side to side before looking down at my groin.

I'm not very big in that department.

'What if I can't satisfy my mate? What if I'm not attractive to him?'

I mean, everyone has always picked on me because I'm a small blond Omega.

They make it seem like those features are unattractive.

What if my mate thinks the same?

I don't have much body hair, my leg and armpit hair is more of a strawberry blond and can't really be seen unless you're looking closely.

Should I shave my legs like my Mom? Maybe I should shave my pubic hair, it's strawberry blond like the hair on my head.

Shrieking, I shifted into my small wolf and took off out of my room.

While I was running down the stairs to the first floor, I tumbled and ended up falling the rest of the way down.

Landing with a thud, I grunted and laid their unmoving for a moment before pushing myself up.

Mom and Dad were in the living room and I went to Mom whimpering.

She looked up from her Kindle and I jumped up on the couch beside her.

I was unconsciously yipping like a young pup for its Mom as I pressed my head against her side.

Dad was watching curiously but I hid my face.

Mom sighed and started running her fingers through my copper fur which had an immediate effect and calmed me down some.

Like in my Human form, I'm not very big... I'm a runt.

My wolf is about as small as a medium sized dog and my fur is still kind of fluffy like a pups.

I looked like a house pet but at least I could curl up on the couch beside Mom as she scratched behind my ears.

She was reading again and I slowly wiggled until I was laying half on her lap so she could scratch my belly... I liked that the most.

My leg involuntarily kicked as she scratched some spots but I didn't mind, it felt good.

I woke a few hours later alone and to the smell of food that made my tummy grumbled.

Slipping off the couch, I went upstairs to my room knowing Mom would yell if I went into her kitchen with my fur.

Shifting and quickly dressing in pajamas, I went back downstairs and found my parents in the kitchen.

They were talking lowly but stopped and looked at me when I entered.

Looking away embarrassed by how I'd acted, I climbed up onto a barstool.

"Hungry?" Mom asked knowingly and I nodded.

"Good, I'm making your favorite since I can't tomorrow."

I frowned at that and looked up.

My birthdays usually weren't happy days for me... especially after all those years mom made me hand out invitations to my whole class.

I'd spend the day on the couch waiting for at least one classmate to show up... no one ever did.

I finally got the nerve when I was eleven to tell mom I didn't want to celebrate my birthday anymore.

So we compromised and mom decided she'd make me a birthday dinner with only immediate family.

"Don't look at me like that. I have to be at the pack house tomorrow, the Alpha is having guest from another pack for dinner."

"What? Why?" I asked, curious.

The Alpha doesn't just allow anyone on his territory, it'd have to be someone important.

"Who?"

Mom shrugged and I looked at Dad who pretended not to notice.

"It doesn't matter, you're going to stay away," she said, looking up to glare at me.

They must be really important... maybe another Alpha?

"Yes ma'am," I said after realizing she was waiting for a response.

"Now, are you going to tell us what that was about earlier?"

I dropped my head onto the counter and groaned.

"Nothing," I said lowly.

"Sit up and answer your mother."

I did as Dad said and sighed.

"It was nothing. I was just being stupid."

It was stupid of me to worry about my Mate not liking me, even if he doesn't, he's stuck with me for life.

"Just... I was just thinking about tomorrow."

Mom looked up from the noodles she was boiling, a smile stretching across her face.

"Thinking about your Mate weren't you?" she giggled excitedly and I looked at her weirdly.

"Any idea who it could be?"

I shrugged and Dad laughed.

"There's someone you'd like it to be," Dad said knowingly, making my face burn.

Before they could gang up on me, the front door opened and they both sniffed before looking at each other.

Clearly speaking through their bond link.

I didn't smell anything but I heard two sets of footsteps and I dreaded the thought of Robert being with him.

I didn't want to see him at all and was about to get up and run upstairs to hide until Calvin entered the kitchen.

That dark haired female I remembered from the fair following closely behind.

"Calvin," Mom said putting on a fake smile.

"Who's your friend?"

Calvin seemed hesitant before he grabbed the female's hand and pulled her to his side.

My eyes widened in surprise as I got an idea of where this was going.

"Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you."

'Oh this was not going to go good... Mom lost her smile as if knowing this too.'

"This is Carmen, my girlfriend."

Calvin looked down at the female and then back to our parents.

"And she's pregnant... with my pup."

[bylightofdawn]

WIP SUNDAY

Ya'll I really wanted to just post the entire confrontation scene with Slick. Or Cody and Rex's reunion, or even the bits about Cody tying at the mention of the infamous recruitment poster.

THERE IS SO MANY THINGS I WANTED TO SHARE FROM THIS CHAPTER. Holy fuck.

I settled on this one. Takes place after the shitshow of Rex finding out Slick is alive and has been unknowingly part of his clone rescue operation due to the splintered and highly compartmentalized nature of their network.

It's super rough as always. I am not kidding when I say out of this 22,000K word fic (seriously, El?? Like really control yourself woman) it has 999+ suggestions. It's actually giving me anxiety thinking about having to edit this.

EDIT: I also had a minor heart-attack because I'd opened a new focus document so I could try and fix this up a little bit and it replaced my existing doc and I COULD NOT FIND IT. And my backup file in google docs only has the first 15 pages? Like I've been regularly copy/pasting I thought but it was like troll lol lol lol no.

I was able to recover it but ya'll. I would have been devastated if I lost all that time and work. Like I would left the internet for another two years level of devastated. orz. Okay, maybe not that extreme but it would have been ugly.

Outside, the heat was still unbearable, but at least the suns mainly had set now, so the chances of anyone recognizing them outright were relatively slim.

Because his treacherous sense of balance and knees didn’t feel like they were up for any extended walking, Cody indicated a crumbling mudbrick as a place to cop a squat, and they made their way towards it.

“I don’t understand; you sound like you were defending him back there, Codes. Slick? You remember what he did, don’t you?”

He supposed it was a valid concern concerning the recent biochip he’d had in his head.

It didn’t mean it didn’t rankle all the same.

“Of course I remember what he did. I wanted to shoot him myself when I first saw him. Or I would have if I hadn’t been on the brink of karking death.”

The concern seemed to win out over outrage. “What? What happened to you, Cody?”

“I deserted, but I didn’t have a good plan in place, and it bit me in the ass. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to get off of Coruscant if you’re a rogue clone. I thought I could raise the credits and find a way of buying my way off the planet. But with these new chain codes, I couldn’t find legal work. Not to mention they have bounty hunters and entire gangs that roam around hunting for clone deserters. So I had to keep going deeper and deeper until I was in the lowest of the low places. I ended up in a camp built by other unhoused illegals. It was hell, Rex.” Cody confessed softly, and he distantly felt his brother sling his arm around his shoulder in a comforting manner.

The movement jostled his wounded arm, which meant the good pain meds were wearing off but also suggested he’d probably be able to stand up straight and run if he needed to, so he’d take the tradeoff.

“I took what work I could, which, let me tell you? None of the awful jobs we had in the GAR could compare. This was stuff so vile and noxious or too dangerous they didn’t even want to risk the cost of repairing droids to accomplish it. It was pure, predatory exploitation of the most vulnerable residents of the planet. And there are entire cottage industries around it.”

The anger that kindled in his heart when he spoke of that was white hot and fueled with still real memories of what he’d been forced to do to survive.

“And, of course, the pay was a complete joke. I could have worked the rest of my unnaturally accelerated life and wouldn’t have been able to save up enough to book passage off that planet. Then I got injured, and it’s not like I could walk into a med-clinic asking for treatment. So it got infected and finally got so bad that I legitimately traded away every credit I’d scrapped together to buy a bacta tube older than we are. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say I was on the brink of death when Slick found me.”

“Where did you get wounded?” Rex’s protective little brother instincts reared their ugly head, and it was only then that he seemed to notice the blood that soaked through the bandages and the sleeve of his arm. “What the hell Cody?!”

“Relax, I probably just popped a stitch or something. Sy will prolly complain about me ruining her beautiful work or some osik, but it can wait a bit. This is more important.”

The look Rex shot him was unfriendly and patented Captain Rex’s judgment.

“So out of the top five list of people I least expected to show up coming to my rescue was Slick. Right up there with Darth-kriffing-Vader and the vaping Emperor. Not going to lie, vod. He got the drop on me, too; I was sitting there in the garbage and refuse, trying to pull the rags. I laughingly called my shirt, and there Slick was standing over me with a blaster in my face. I thought I was a goner right then and there. Stars know if our situations had been reversed, I wouldn’t have hesitated to put a blaster bolt in his head.”

“Exactly!” Rex huffed.

“And I would have been wrong. He ended up stunning me, taking me back to his ship, and saving my karking life. He gave me medical treatment to keep me from losing my arm or worse and then told me how he was working on smuggling brothers off of Coruscant. He talked about how Howzer and his team saved him and gave him a new purpose. He’s made it his purpose to save as many brothers as possible, and I believe him.”

Rex immediately scoffed at the concept, unwilling to even contemplate that Slick had anything but ulterior motives in mind.

“Think about it. What was the reason he gave us all those years ago for why he betrayed the GAR? He wanted to save as many brothers as possible by cutting the war as short as possible. It was a completely idiotic plan and utter nonsense, but I believe he believed that even now.”

“It doesn’t forgive what he did, Cody.”

“It doesn’t, but everyone deserves redemption. And after three years of rotting in a jail cell, can you say anyone else will understand what our brothers still trapped behind enemy lines are going through?”

“Doesn’t matter; I wouldn’t trust that quacta as far as I could throw him with one finger.”

“I understand that. Allow him to prove you wrong.” An idea that was so wild and radical came to him that he barely dared utter it aloud. “I want to help you with this operation. What you’re doing here is…it’s everything. And I want in. Put Slick under my command, and if he proves to be a traitor, I’ll shoot him myself.”

The questioning look Rex shot him spoke volumes. “Can I trust your judgment on that?”

Cody shot him an exasperated look in return. “Of course, you can. I haven’t forgiven him myself, and I don’t know if I will ever be in a place where I can. But I understand his need to do something. To save as many of our brothers as he can. It’s a chance at redemption for him, and let’s be honest with ourselves. We all have things we want to make amends for. Mistakes we wish we could unmake and people we couldn’t save.”

It didn’t take a graduate in psychology degree to know who Cody was talking about, and Rex just leaned his head against his brother’s with a quiet sigh.

“I couldn’t save Skywalker or Amidala, or Jesse…Kix…Fives. I get it. I hope you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment, vod.”

“If I am, it wouldn’t be the first or last time. Now…tell me about Ahsoka? You managed to get her out?”

Rex sighed and quietly told the painful story of what had happened on the Tribunal and everything that had happened from there. How’d he’d painstakingly build up his network of clones trying to save clones. How he’d heard whispers of a network doing the same thing for Jedi.

That knowledge had Cody’s heart leaping in his throat.

They talked for a while, catching up on what felt like years of missing time when in reality it had barely been a year.

Eventually got interrupted, not by one of the others but by an Eopie whose paddock fence they were seated on made its presence known by nuzzling at the top of Cody’s hair and lipping at his curls in an exploratory manner that didn’t bode well for his continued possession of said hair.

He pulled away with a laughing grimace. “I think it’s trying to eat my hair.”

Rex laughed uproariously at the mental picture. “I mean, you’re not exactly the picture of regulation anything right now, ori’vod. Come on, lets go join the others.”

“Can I trust you to not try and shoot Slick?”

“I won’t shoot him so long as he doesn’t do anything shifty. That’s the best you’re gonna get out of me. And I still think you’re nuts wanting to take him on but if it means we get you as an asset, I’d be a damned fool to look a gift bantha in the mouth.”

[arwainian]

Reading This Week 2023 #1

Do not let the numerous fanfics read fool you, I did not have a lot of reading time this week as I have been busy at my first(!!) academic conference. I'm so delighted to have this opportunity to talk (in front of actual scholars and academics!) about research I've been doing. Very intimidating and cool.

Because of said academic conference, I was too exhausted (and tbh, celebratory sake-drunk) to type this up Saturday night like I've gotten into the habit of, so this is coming to you All recorded on Sunday morning

Started and Finished:

[fe3h fanfic]

The Care and Keeping of Byleth Eisner by Muftiday Children of the Goddess by wearwind Reaching Out, Sunlit by wearwind Liberation by 0shadow_panther0 network effects (the tragedies after duscar) by mareza and they come unstuck by Azzandra homeroom (or, if we're not recruited in 15 minutes, we're legally allowed to leave) by Schistosity AITA for not wanting to talk to my daughter? by knave_of_swords Observation by leonidskies Collateral by Azzandra Common Ground by TheDoctorIsIcecube Your name? by jemtokall Worthy of Your Protection by Hyakunana & leporidae The Crest of Riegan by BuddyTheMeanPeacock

*wipes sweat off forehead* my on-an-airplane fanfic reading habit is no joke, however a lot of these are Short. My faves of this set are absolutely "homeroom [...]" and the wearwind fics (and I'm very excited to get back to read more of wearwind's works once I actually get farther in my golden deer run)

[f@tt fanfic]

behind the centre by fangirl_squee Vishteen Minutes by risocean Chapter 9 of the void, through your body by zerodignity Duet for Plucked Strings & How the Songbird Sings by beanenchilada an accurate copy by zerodignity

okay this is a more reasonable number! "Vishteen Minutes" was extremely good at capturing the voices of Ali-as-Marn and Jack-as-Pickman, so i am extremely delighted by it [note to self: track down zerodignity on social media so I can ask if I can podfic 'the void through your body']

now onto actual books

Queer: A Graphic History written by Dr. Meg-John Barker, illustrated by Julia Scheele

I really could have sworn I started reading this book last week, but it turns out it just goes very quickly despite its density of information. A fun/good refresher on queer theory concepts I learned about last year, and nearly got me in an argument with someone in a discord server

A Thief in the Night by K.J. Charles, narrated by James Joseph & Ryan Laughton

I had been Planning to wait until this came out as an ebook to read, until my mom reminded me I could just use her audible account where she'd already purchased it (just like I already use her kindle library...). In the end I am desperately thankful for that reminder because once i was Too Tired to even read fanfic on my flights this week, Toby and Miles kept me going until I could collapse into a bed *does jazz hands in KJC fanboy*

Beastars, Vol. 1 by Paru Itagaki, translated by Tomoko Kimura

i watched a video essay doing a queer reading of beastars which reminded me that I wanted to read the manga, so here we are. it's going to be A Little While before I get to a part of the manga that the anime hasn't covered already, but so far I am enjoying this read

Ongoing:

Teen Titans: The Silver Age Omnibus, Vol. 1

I read another couple adventures from this in the Day and a Half i had at home this week. I deeply love how much the Titans love The Beatles. Also the adventure "Requiem for a Titan!" broke my heart! Dick Grayson......baby boy.........

The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

I read.... like one or two more pages of this? I think I'm just not in the right mood for it this week

Started and Ongoing:

Before Trans: Three Gender Stories from Nineteenth-Century France by Rachel Mesch

my hold for this from the library came in! Oh i am so excited to be reading this. It's a bit of a slow read since it is three mini-biographies on "women who dressed as men" who we can pretty easily read with our modern lens as proto-trans, trans ancestors, etc. i'm really enjoying it

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, narrated by George Guidall

I think I'm starting a tradition now of reading-by-audio a classic novel at the beginning of the year. in both cases because I sort of want to write a story inspired by them

[bloomsberries]

I posted 837 times in 2021

72 posts created (9%)

765 posts reblogged (91%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 10.6 posts.

I added 148 tags in 2021

#seen in 2021 - 58 posts

#wandavision spoilers - 15 posts

#the witcher - 14 posts

#dmm - 11 posts

#😍 - 11 posts

#wandavision - 9 posts

#black widow spoilers - 8 posts

#black widow - 8 posts

#shadow and bone - 7 posts

#yennefer of vengerberg - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 128 characters

#and i also think that having all of the ‘information’ in the world at your fingertips doesn’t necessarily make you more informed

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Here is a post to hold myself accountable:

I spend too much time doing meaningless nonsense on this phone. I am going to start writing my works in progress again and I am going to finish them. I will post a link here every SATURDAY until they are both done. RS first, then Bedlam. If you don’t see me doing this, feel free to call me out on my bullshit.

Thanks for your time lol.

34 notes • Posted 2021-07-25 22:49:54 GMT

#4

I used to do these lists back on LJ and I was reminded by ratherembarrassing’s recent weekly posts. I realized how much I like reading about other people’s experiences, what they’re into, how they’re feeling, what they’re up to—and i was also reminded about why I used to like doing it for myself, which was as a way to stay connected. I have disconnected myself from all but the most “essential” people in my life, and I haven’t found anything good in that isolation. I have to admit, once I stopped contributing to fandom (writing, having any meta opinions whatsoever), I kind of thought that no one would really want to read about my day/week. It’s easy to disconnect irl, especially in the middle of a pandemic, but it’s even easier to disconnect in online spaces.

Anyway, what I’ve been up to:

1. Watching Perry Mason in the evenings has been a soothing balm I hadn’t expected. It’s so predictable and yet enjoyable despite (because?) of its predictability.

2. I haven’t written anything since I got sick last month. I was on a tiny little roll, and now I’m back to not knowing how to string three words together.

3. I had a random Audible credit and picked up something called The High Five Habit? So far it sounds like so much hooey, but I do enjoy high-fiving myself in the mirror.

4. It’s October, which means we are in my favorite part of the year, finally. It is 95 degrees outside, but I can pretend we get to enjoy fall. TONIGHT I DECORATE.

23 notes • Posted 2021-10-01 21:13:12 GMT

#3

“Sphinx,” Rendezvous Series #77.

22 notes • Posted 2021-07-31 20:27:50 GMT

#2

things I've done with my freedom from my phone (I'm on day 4):

finally finished The Mars Room and Go Tell It on the Mountain (is there any writer who is able to match Baldwin's ability to construct a sentence, beautiful AND filled with pathos; if there is I don't know of them); am deep into How to Do Nothing; I'm going to start The Broken Earth trilogy next (it's time)

watched Ninotchka, The Desperate Hours, The Out-of-Towners (original)

have NO idea what is happening on Twitter; truly the greatest thing to have come from this whole endeavor

I've written in my journal Every Day

downloaded RS to my Kindle so that I can refer to it whenever I need to for writing purposes without going on the internet and possibly distracting myself (I'm bad); it is WEIRD seeing it there, among the real books

according to my phone, I am averaging 77% less screen time than last week

I hope you're all doing wonderfully

16 notes • Posted 2021-11-16 21:32:06 GMT

#1

Got the new TWSBI Swipe pen and I can safely say I will never go back to the mess that is piston filling fountain pens again. (Shh I know it’s not hard.) You mean I could have been using cartridges this whole time?

15 notes • Posted 2021-08-09 21:06:41 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[alldrinkingaside]

THE TERRIBLE TWEET STORM OF AUGUST 8TH, 2020*

I posted 21 Tweets on Twitter on August 8, 2020. Here they are in chronological order as posted:

1. "Can my past, too, be infinite or are all the stones already carved?"

2. "How come if alcohol kills millions of brain cells, it never killed the ones that make me want to drink?" - Author Unknown

3."At least I'm not an addict." That's the sense of moral superiority I once had. Today, that statement would be sadly laughable.

4. "Alcohol separated him from the world in his addiction and loneliness can take him back out there."

5. "No one ever knew he needed help because he was so good at hiding it from himself and from others. Sweet oblivion. Pretty poison."

6. "Not that I'm making excuses, but it just seems that once you slide so far down into your alcoholism after so many years, you are so entrenched that it seems the only answer is another drink."

7. "Where do you turn when more is too much, too empty, too lost?"

8. "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without also helping himself."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

9. "I don't think we get more alcoholic. I think it just shows more as time goes on." A New Pair of Glasses, Chuck "C"

10. "I don't know if I can ever feel as empty as Jim has felt. Knowing the cause does not erase the effects of his emptiness. I don't think I've ever felt an emptiness quite like his."

11. "A mind stretched by a new idea never shrinks back to its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

12. "Being drunk allowed me to deal with the drunk in me."

13. "But when he turns his back on empathy, he turns his back upon himself."

14. "Diplomatically searching for others equally high, we (my disease and I) would manufacture memories out of blackouts like free-range intoxicated chickens."

15. "His sobriety, at first, was like a bad translation."

16. "How many keys did I have to lose before I would learn that alcohol no longer opened doors?"

17. "I measured my life in pints instead of hours."

18. "If the brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we could not." - Emerson Pugh

19. "It's not trespassing when you cross your own boundaries." - Anonymous

20. "When I thought I could stay sober alone, I wound up drinking alone."

21. "You are what you eat, but what are you when you are only what you drink?"

*(All quotes, except where noted are by the author of All Drinking Aside. All 21 Tweets are excerpted from this same book.)

*****

Immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal 

(Find it on Amazon. Book it here): http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO

#alcoholism #addiction #recovery #books

Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery 

(Find it on Amazon, Book it here): https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT

Both Books are Available in Print and Kindle Editions.

[lets-steal-an-archive]

"For season three, the network wanted a more colorful look," explains Serge Ladouceur, director of photography. "We'd already pulled away from the strong gothic look of the beginning of season one, and in season two we established a look that I think suited the show. But the network wanted it brighter, and I went along with it and made it work. The dark scenes were still shot dark, so we were cautious in keeping the direction of our show."

"None of us cared for going brighter," comments Phil Sgriccia. Kim Manners concurs. "It may have pleased the network, but it didn’t please us."

Jensen Ackles, however, is sure that Supernatural's look will always be great with Ladouceur lighting the show. “He's a genius. We're lucky to still have him. For him to constantly evolve his lighting with the show and change it accordingly, that's a testament to his talent."

Source: Knight, N. Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 3. Titan Books, 2009: 15.

SH & LZ: The overall brightness or darkness of the show has been a conscious decision, one that changed several times over the course of the series.

Serge: We want Supernatural to look like all we witness could really happen in real life. So, for me, there is a strong reality-base bias. Lights are source justified, windows, practicals. I also work with a strong contrast ratio. The look we developed at the beginning of the first season could be technically described as follows: a bleach bypass look by which we desaturate colours and increase contrast in the timing suite. As the first season progressed, we adjusted this look and pulled back from the strong contrasty flavour of the first episodes. The so called 'informative' scenes, in which the Winchester boys research a case, were rendered with a more natural approach, meaning there was less desaturation and contrast, and the 'supernatural' scenes were rendered following our original bleach bypass concept. In the second season, we followed the recipe developed in the first season and adjusted the look according to the different stories and somehow we pulled back a little more from the original recipe in some episodes because of the comedy nature of some particular scripts. We were going to stay the course, keep it dark. But that was a wish, really more than a wish, from the network. They wanted it a little brighter. So we went along. […] We went a little less dark and more colourful. But overall I've always felt the series is a dark series and should stay dark. I enjoyed doing that season anyway because it was an experiment. At the beginning of the fourth season, Eric Kripke told me, 'So we're staying dark.'

Source: Sarah House and Lynn Zubernis, "Fan Appreciation no.2 Serge Ladouceur: The Cinematographer." In Fan Phenomenon: Supernatural, edited by Lynn Zubernis & Katherine Larsen (Intellect Books, 2014: Kindle File).

"For any post-production geeks out there, we had to change up our post process in season seven," reveals producer Todd Aronauer. "Because of the disaster in Japan last year, the main industry standards of deliverable format, the Sony HDCAM and HDCAM SR, were pretty much non-existent at the beginning of this season, since the disaster decimated the Sony factories. So we switched over to Alexa cameras for the dailies masters and archive masters. We noticed some issues in the beginning of the season and it took a couple of episodes to work things out with color correction. We wanted to keep the archiving consistent, so if we go back to our previous methods of process and workflow for the remaining seasons then season seven will just be an experiment in the technical side of the Supernatural process."

Source: Knight, N. Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 7. Titan Books, 2012: 11.

Supernatural also serves as a case study in the transition to digital production — as the pilot and first three seasons were shot on 35mm film and then captured on a series of increasingly capable digital cinema cameras: the ARRI D-21, the Red One Mysterium-X, and ultimately ARRI's Alexa family.

I am in love w the way pre 2000s films have that hazy feel to them. hd honestly kills the vibe

[topicprinter]

Jeff Bezos built Amazon, the largest retailer on the internet and forever changed ecommerce. In his free time he plans to save the Earth through space travel. There’s no denying it, Jeff Bezos is an absolute badass.The man drops some really inspirational lines too.Here are 5 of my favorite Jeff Bezos quotes to channel a little badassery into your work day.1: “If you double the number of experiments you do per year you’re going to double your inventiveness.”2: “Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”3: “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”4: “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”5: “What we need to do is always lean into the future; when the world changes around you and when it changes against you – what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind – you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.”Hungry for more Jeff Bezos quotes?We got you covered. We trawled through all of the quotes we could find, eliminated duplicates, and sorted them out in a way that’s easier to swallow. Here we go:Jeff Bezos quotes about Amazon:On Amazon’s big ideas:“We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.”On being different + better:“One of the things we don’t do very well at Amazon is a me-too product offering. So when I look at physical retail stores, it’s very well served, the people who operate physical retail stores are very good at it…the question we would always have before we would embark on such a thing is: What’s the idea? What would we do that would be different? How would it be better? We don’t want to just do things because we can do them…we don’t want to be redundant.”On always charging less:“There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second.”On novelty:“What we want to be is something completely new. There is no physical analog for what Amazon.com is becoming.”On profitability:“We expect all our businesses to have a positive impact on our top and bottom lines. Profitability is very important to us or we wouldn’t be in this business.”On customer-focus:“If there’s one reason we have done better than of our peers in the Internet space over the last six years, it is because we have focused like a laser on customer experience, and that really does matter, I think, in any business. It certainly matters online, where word-of-mouth is so very, very powerful.”Jeff Bezos quotes on doing business:On knowledge:“If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.”On competition:“Your margin is my opportunity.”On value creation vs advertising:“The balance of power is shifting toward consumers and away from companies… The right way to respond to this if you are a company is to put the vast majority of your energy, attention and dollars into building a great product or service and put a smaller amount into shouting about it, marketing it.”On fact-based decision-making:“The great thing about fact-based decisions is that they overrule the hierarchy.”On the Benefits of Market Leadership:“Market leadership can translate directly to higher revenue, higher profitability, greater capital velocity, and correspondingly stronger returns on invested capital.”On culture:“Part of company culture is path-dependent – it’s the lessons you learn along the way.”About history:“The killer app that got the world ready for appliances was the light bulb. So the light bulb is what wired the world. And they weren’t thinking about appliances when they wired the world. They were really thinking about – they weren’t putting electricity into the home. They were putting lighting into the home.”On inverting questions:“The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?'”On online scale:“On the Internet, companies are scale businesses, characterized by high fixed costs and relatively low variable costs. You can be two sizes: You can be big, or you can be small. It’s very hard to be medium. A lot of medium-sized companies had the financing rug pulled out from under them before they could get big.”On advertising (industry):“I’m skeptical of any mission that has advertisers at its centerpiece.”On advertising (your business):“In the old world, you devoted 30% of your time to building a great service and 70% of your time to shouting about it. In the new world, that inverts.”On Long-termism:“My own view is that every company requires a long-term view.”On novelty:“A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn’t last.”Jeff Bezos quotes about being customer-focused:On obsessiveness:”The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth’s most customer-centric company.”On hosting customers daily:“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”On customer service:“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.”On aging customers:“If your customer base is aging with you, then eventually you are going to become obsolete or irrelevant. You need to be constantly figuring out who are your new customers and what are you doing to stay forever young.”On being competitor-focused vs customer-focused:“If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.On pricing:“I’m a big fan of all-you-can-eat plans, because they’re simpler for customers.” “Our point of view is we will sell more if we help people make purchasing decisions.” “You don’t want to negotiate the price of simple things you buy every day.”Jeff Bezos quotes about Evil:On banks:“The one thing that offends me the most is when I walk by a bank and see ads trying to convince people to take out second mortgages on their home so they can go on vacation. That’s approaching evil.”Jeff Bezos quotes about Innovation:On the anti-fragility of innovation:“Because, you know, resilience – if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you’d be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn’t a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.”On frugality:“I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”On being misunderstood:“I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.”On growing a business:“There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you’re good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward.”On experiments:“It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.”On uncertainty:“If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.”On serendipity:“There’ll always be serendipity involved in discovery.”On stubbornness and flexibility:“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”Jeff Bezos quotes about life (and prioritization):On resourcefulness:“Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”On working for others:“I don’t want to use my creative energy on somebody else’s user interface.”On regrets:“The framework I found which made the decision incredibly easy was what I called – which only a nerd would call – a ‘regret minimization framework’.So I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and say, ‘Okay, now I’m looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have.”Jeff bezos quotes about the long-term:On long-term thinking and invention:“I don’t think that you can invent on behalf of customers unless you’re willing to think long-term, because a lot of invention doesn’t work. If you’re going to invent, it means you’re going to experiment, and if you’re going to experiment, you’re going to fail, and if you’re going to fail, you have to think long term.”On making money in the long-term:“You can do the math 15 different ways, and every time the math tells you that you shouldn’t lower prices because you’re going to make less money. That’s undoubtedly true in the current quarter, in the current year.But it’s probably not true over a 10-year period, when the benefit is going to increase the frequency with which your customers shop with you, the fraction of their purchases they do with you as opposed to other places. Their overall satisfaction is going to go up.”On long-termism in life:“Another thing that I would recommend to people is that they always take a long-term point of view. I think this is something about which there’s a lot of controversy. A lot of people — and I’m just not one of them — believe that you should live for the now.I think what you do is think about the great expanse of time ahead of you and try to make sure that you’re planning for that in a way that’s going to leave you ultimately satisfied. This is the way it works for me. There are a lot of paths to satisfaction and you need to find one that works for you.”On long-termism in company culture:“You need a culture that high-fives small and innovative ideas and senior executives [that] encourage ideas. In order for innovative ideas to bear fruit, companies need to be willing to “wait for 5-7 years, and most companies don’t take that time horizon.”On getting long-term minded people:“If you’re very clear to the outside world that you’re taking a long-term approach, then people can self-select in.”Jeff Bezos quotes about motivation:On product missionaries:“I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.”On being counted on:“I think one thing I find very motivating — and I think this is probably a very common form of motivation or cause of motivation — is… I love people counting on me, and so, you know, today it’s so easy to be motivated, because we have millions of customers counting on us at Amazon.com. We’ve got thousands of investors counting on us. And we’re a team of thousands of employees all counting on each other. That’s fun.”On changing the world:“I want to see good financial returns, but also to me there’s the extra psychic return of having my creativity and technological vision bear fruit and change the world in a positive way.”Jeff Bezos quotes about word-of-mouth:On great experiences:“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word-of-mouth is very powerful.”On customer happiness:“You know if you make a customer unhappy, they won’t tell five friends, they’ll tell 5,000 friends. So we are at a point now where we have all of the things we need to build an important and lasting company, and if we don’t, it will be shame on us.”

[cherokeegal1975]

Johnathan was a family man and cargo runner and had no interest in getting entangled in royal affairs. So, when a deposed and fleeing princess arranges a meeting to give him a package to keep safe, he was reluctant to take it. But she convinced him to hide the royal seal until she needed it back despite himself. Unknown to him, she had also ticked him into carrying another precious cargo. When Johnathan learns of the trick, he’s furious. When he confronts the princess about it, he learns it’ll be impossible to return it before it’s appointed time. Then she tells him of an unbreakable bond between them and ends a long search for someone he had lost as a boy. So, instead of revenge, he does what he can to help her. He must also avoid capture; the King would execute Johnathan if he ever found out about his secret cargo.

I did everything for this audiobook. I had no help and it was super hard to finish. Would love your honest feedback. Please give it some time, there's more than a half hour of story here. I notice that most people only listen to the first half hour and then never come back. It's a full-blown novel and the story will take time to build. Ages 15 and up will have no problem with this book, but I recommend headphones if anyone else is in earshot, especially if you make it to chapter five. I didn't have time to draw more illustrations for it, so the four or five there is all you got and they're all no more than PG rated. This story was inspired by an online dumpster dive I did some years ago. Worth exploring, but I didn't like what most people did with the mpreg genera, so I decided to do my own version. Basically, I wanted to test my writing skills with this one. This book is available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon, so you can just read my book if you want to. I even recently updated the cover art and the synopsis for it.

Update exclusively for Tumblr, 10/15/2023: I am sick, I am bored. I really want to earn some honest feedback. Preferably some in depth comments if possible. I really want to know what you think. I've got about six days before I can go to the dentist to get this infected tooth removed and it really hurts. The painkillers I'm taking are giving me some unpleasant side effects, but my mouth and the whole side of my head hurts too much for me to stop taking them. Between the negative side effects of the drugs and the pain, I'm feeling quite ill and drained of energy. And yet, I'm expected to work as if nothing is wrong and I don't get a choice about it. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a much needed nap...if I can sleep. All this has been making it hard for me to get some rest even at night. The very same painkillers that are making me sick don't always work to keep my pain at bay either. I rarely get any feedback for my books and of the two novels I have written, this one sells the most often when I do make a sale on Amazon. Anyway, I could use some cheering up. If you buy my book and write your very honest feedback on Amazon I'd love that too. Every comment is deeply cherished and I can potentially learn something useful from them as well.

This is the link to my book on Amazon:

Unexpected Cargo: Smith, Meriah: 9781537355238: Amazon.com: Books