#and i don’t want to spend almost $200 on these books

[marbleheavy]

why are textbooks so expensive it’s so frustrating

[gabrielle-kl]

Not Your Average Legacy ~ Sims 3

Challenge Created by: gabrielle-kl

Proofreading was done by the lovely Simphora!

Hi, my name is Gabrielle and ever since early last year I wanted to see if I could create my own legacy challenge. Going into this challenge I want you to know that it’s not just about making a sim and completing the tasks to beat the challenge. This is a legacy challenge, however, I made it with endless storyline possibilities; think of it as a narrative adventure game where the player's choice is heavily impacted!

~ R U L E S ~ 

I do not specifically have rules other than following each generation in order and no money cheats (Only cheat your money for generation 1 for the starting funds). 

If you play my challenge I would love to see your sims in action! Please tag me with #notyouraveragelegacy so I can see it!

Generation 01 - Writer’s Block 

Ah….ok that’s pretty much that! You pack your bags, check your bank account to make sure you have enough simoleons, and finally your laptop. Perfect, you're out the door leaving your small family and hometown to focus on the only thing that makes you feel like everything around you is in your control. 

Growing up you liked making crazy narratives where there was always a twist at the end. You love making others wonder how you are going to finish the story. Like every book, it has chapters and your chapter begins in your new town. Now, this isn’t smart on your part but you got your new place for dirt cheap. I mean it’s empty, it only has your basic household necessities, and it’s not that bad but could be a fixer-upper.

Ignoring the fact you have barely anything in your home you take out your laptop….and head to town. You spot a cafe, decide to chill there for a bit and start doing what you love….writing. You honestly quite like this cafe and decided to write in here often, almost like your Jughead Jones.  

Like every writer….sometimes we get stuck and can’t think of anything to write, you are under a lot of stress; I mean I don’t blame you, your home doesn’t even have a comfy couch, not to mention you are low on funds, like really low. Frustrated with yourself, you head home and try to figure out how you are going to pay bills and afford necessities. Yeah, you're going to need a job. 

Get started: Start with a house or apartment  that is practically empty it only has the basic household needs (ex: stove, fridge, bed, toilet, etc)

* When you start making money here and there that’s when you can start personalizing your home* 

Starting simoleons: § 200

Traits - Artistic, Bookworm, Frugal, Perfectionist, Shy

Lifetime Wish - Professional Author 

Zodiac sign & Favourites: you choose

Goals ~

Visit the same community lot 3 times a week to write stories on your laptop 

Complete the writing skill 

Try to befriend your neighbours 

Get a part-time job of your choice 

Find your spouse at the same community lot you always visit 

Adopt a stray

Have as many kids as you want 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

After a while you realize the job you have now isn't making you happy, yeah it pays the bills but it is not what you want to do.

The choices are: to quit your job or find a way to get fired then register as a self-employed writer. 

Generation 02 - You never really grew up

As a kid, you were always playing with the kids who lived in your neighbourhood along with your siblings. You would play at the park, build forts, have sleepovers, tell stories and watch movies super late. You did everything with them, but that didn’t last long. Unfortunately, things don’t stay the same; some of your childhood friends started to drift and do different things that interest them, which includes spending time with other kids. Even your siblings tell you they don’t have time to do these activities with you anymore. You lose all contact with your childhood buddies because all you want to do is what you always did with them but they find it childish but you don’t.

It hurt for a while and you found it quite difficult to build friends in school because none of them were interested. But that didn’t stop you from being a kid at heart, you would go to online chat rooms and talk to people online. You would talk to a bunch of people there and eventually end up texting and calling each other. It makes you so happy that you have people that you can connect with, that don’t find your way of spending time with each other childish. 

Traits - Childish, Excitable, Good Sense of Humor, Social Butterfly, Computer Whiz

Lifetime Wish - Super Popular (Don’t worry you don’t need to complete it)

Goals ~

Befriend the kids in your neighbourhood or even some school kids

Collect 5 butterflies or Beetles

Always accept to hang out with friends 

Call friends often 

Get the distance relationship status with all your childhood friends once a teen

Make four new friends and keep those friends 

Never move out of your childhood home

Have 2-3 Kids 

Have three failed part-time jobs (constantly getting fired) 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

The choices are: you rekindle a friendship with one of your ex-friends or fall in love with someone in your friend group.  

Generation 03 - Wild 

You’re quite the charmer, it stands out amongst your siblings. Hey, it followed you right to high school, you were that semi-popular kid but mostly annoyed everyone with slick remarks. Well, I guess someone finds you funny because you end up finding yourself in a relationship, the two of you just clicked. You would go on dates with each other in the most random places sometimes. 

College applications are starting and you have already applied, however, your lover tells you he/she doesn’t have any plans to go to college. You both decide that instead of breaking up, you have a long-distance relationship. 

While at college you’re having a blast, and you tend to throw big dorm parties, like cops knocking on your door-type parties. Dorm mates secretly hate you but at least you clean up after yourself…in the morning….they can’t be mad at you forever, right?

Juggling studying, partying and a whole relationship back home, yep you didn’t think this through; the stress is getting to you but you don’t show it. But then you do something that you might regret.

Traits -  Irresistible, Born Salesperson, Charismatic, Party Animal, Eccentric 

Lifetime Wish - Descendant of Da Vinci (Optional to complete)

Goals ~

Have a high school sweetheart and remain with them throughout University

Get a secret matching tattoo with your lover as a teen 

Complete the Inventing skill and Handiness skill 

Use the invention crafting bench 

Apply for University and major in business 

Join a Sorority/Fraternity 

Throw big parties every week while at University 

Graduate from University and join the business career 

Work on inventions throughout your life and sell them for a profit

Call your girlfriend/boyfriend back home often 

Hook up with four different sims at one of your parties 

Have one kid

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline. So you did cheat on your high school sweetheart during a party at university. What do you do? 

Confess about cheating on your partner once you return home or never tell them what you did.

If you tell them that you cheated on them depending on how they respond, you can rekindle the love or let them go and move on. However, if you decide to never tell them you have to stay with them and have another secret hookup with one of your hook-ups from your University days. (That’s brutal….)

Generation 04 - Guilty Pleasure 

I swear you just let anything fly out of your mouth! Of course, you don’t see anything wrong with it but your parents do and they are very concerned about it. That however doesn’t bother you at all, as a kid you liked to obsess over the weirdest things and would not shut up about it. If it interested you, you made sure everyone around you knew about it too.

A lot of other people you know find the things you are into very strange and none of your friends are interested in them, they think it's weird and I don’t blame them. You pick up random hobbies but can never stick to one, you also like dressing up in random costumes doing these hobbies. You are in your own little world and to you, it’s your guilty pleasure. However, being a young adult and trying to please your parents at the same time is very tricky, so you get a job in the cooking business and try your best to be responsible and work hard in your career. But knowing you that doesn’t work out, does it? 

You check in with your parents every week and let them know how “amazing” you are in your career and how well life is going for you. It’s your way of showing them how much you've matured…..although what they don’t know can’t hurt them. You like to go to clubs and bars every weekend and sip a few drinks and go on stage and show the crowd how talented you are! Maybe a shot at stardom?…. Yeah in your dreams. 

On one of your weekly trips to the bar you get yourself into a pickle, how are you going to cover this up now?

Traits - Inappropriate, Heavy Sleeper, No Sense of Humour, Clumsy, and Insane 

Lifetime Wish - One Sim Band (Optional to complete)

Goals ~ 

Reach Level 5 in five different skills

Go out to eat with your parents / call them every week (while they're still alive)

Go to bars/clubs every weekend and have a few drinks before you get up on stage and do Karaoke

Have three good friends 

Get into two fights at the bar/club

Get Pregnant or get another pregnant sim from a random hookup

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

Oh no! Now you’ve got a kid, what are YOU going to do? Either, keep in touch with the other parent, have he/she visit your kid and maybe this little hook-up could be more, or not? Up to you. Or after your child is born you keep the baby with you and never speak to the other parent again.

Generation 05 - Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

You can’t stand your mom/dad (Gen 4 parent) everything they do is so questionable as if they have zero idea what's going on at all times; the majority of your free time is spent watching action channels on tv or playing with action figures. You spend most of your time in your room with the door locked and you don’t care to make friends with kids your age so it’s just you. No matter how much your mom/dad tries to please you, you do not pay them any attention. You like spy movies and you decided being a secret agent is your dream job no matter what the cost was. However, being in this line of work made you quite paranoid and all of a sudden you disappeared. Where did you go?

Traits - Perceptive, Genius, Ambitious, Good and Neurotic 

Lifetime Wish - International Super Spy

Goals ~ 

Have good grades in school (child to teen)

Move out of mom/dad's house once a young adult (Get a part-time job if you have to)

Max the Charismatic skill 

Have a high level of Logic skill

Have a high level of athletic skill (doesn’t need to be maxed)

Have a mediocre relationship with Gen 4 parent

Get a job in law enforcement (eventually, go into the special agent branch)

Surprisingly you fall in love with someone you work with

Have two kids 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

You've grown quite paranoid ever since you started working as a spy. You think that in the middle of the night, someone is going to come for you, I mean I don’t know who but you do.

Pack your bags and all your belongings, leave your spouse and kids behind, move to an off-the-grid location and lose contact with everyone you know. Quit being a spy to start a new “safe life” (that’s not messed up in the slightest, but hey who am I to judge) 

Or 

In the middle of the night, you decide to wake up your spouse and tell them to get the kids and pack their packs and meet you in the car. Because all of you are moving to a new home that is far far away from your original home to start a “new life”. 

Generation 06 - Globetrotter 

All of a sudden your life changed overnight. Literally! Everything you once knew before is all different now, nothing feels like how it used to be and they won’t even tell you why. No one will tell you why. You started acting up as a teen; going out late at night, staying up super late, fighting, you even ran away. You only made it to a park but that was cut short because one of your parents found you, your life is a complete mess. Honestly, I don’t blame you; but apart from being angry all the time you found a hobby you quite enjoy. 

Remember when I said you attempted to run away? Well, this time you steal your parent's credit card and sneak out at night to a completely different country. Who cares where it was, you just wanted to feel some adrenaline for once. On your adventure, you decided to start taking a lot of pictures of everything you saw and started engaging in conversation with the people who lived there. Your childhood was pretty much sheltered and even though your parents are frantically searching for you, you're too busy living it up overseas; might as well send a postcard!

Traits - Hot-Headed, Commitment Issues, Photographer’s Eye, Adventurous, and Kleptomanic 

Lifetime Wish - Blog Artist

Goals ~ 

Have a terrible relationship with Gen 5 parent (if they are still in your life)

Master Photography, Social Networking

Have above Level 5 in writing 

Go for a jog once a week

Have three different romantic relationships with sims from three different worlds

Be disliked by two sims

Go on vacation five times throughout your life or even more (you are a traveller, of course)

Have a Level 5-star blog (you blog about your travels)

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

These are your choices: Life is moving fast for you and you are a busy individual. However, you do not want to have a job and instead of just working you find another alternative….your brilliant idea is to gamble to solve all your problems! 

Or 

You love your blog, you really do and you love your followers but you want more. You want to live life luxuriously and never have to worry about money. So you find yourself chatting it up with the celebs in your city, how? I don’t know but you find a way.

Hope you really enjoy this challenge as much as I had fun making it. Dag, Dag! :)

[nanowrimo]

5 Steps to Get Your Novel Ready to Self-Publish

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Kindle Direct Publishing, a 2022 NaNo sponsor, helps you self-publish eBooks and paperbacks for free. Today, author Denise Grover Swank shares some tips to help you get your novel ready to publish:

Congrats on completing NaNoWriMo! I completed my first book with NaNoWriMo in 2009, and was thrilled when I’d finished, but I wasn’t ready to hit publish just yet!

1. Have someone else read your novel.

Every book needs revising and editing. Trust me, I’ve written over seventy books at this point and still need to revise books. 

You’ll either need to find a developmental editor or alpha readers. Alpha readers—well-read readers and/or other authors—are great for writers on a budget and are usually free. You can find them in writers’ groups or your friends who are readers. Just be careful if you’re using friends and family: they’re going to be biased. (Unless they’re my aunt who read my paranormal thriller and told me I should write children’s books.) 

2. Invest in copy editing.

You’ve revised and edited your book, now what? Copy editing is where you may want to invest if you can. Copy editors look at your book line by line and correct grammatical mistakes. Please, please, please don’t try to do this yourself. You’ve read you book countless times and will miss things. Trust me. I know. (If you need a proofreader, here’s where your friends who can spot a typo a mile away come in handy.)

3. Get a good cover.

Let’s talk covers! Study the market and find out what’s selling in your genre, then find a cover designer who fits the trends. You can spend anywhere from $100 to $1000 or more, but you can get by on the lower end. Just don’t try to make one yourself unless you’re really good at graphic design. 

4. Get the formatting right.

You’re almost ready to publish, but first you need to format your eBook and print book—You can do this by using the free templates available on Kindle Direct Publishing, you can pay someone to do it, or there are several programs less than $200 that will do this for you. 

5. Now you’re ready! 

There are multiple places to publish, but KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is super easy to use! Be sure to claim your books on Amazon Author Central, create an author page, then ask readers to follow you. Amazon will let your readers know about preorders and releases. Kindle Unlimited is great for newer authors who are still finding an audience, and readers in KU are more willing to take a chance on new-to-them authors. And finally, use the gifting option on your product page for giveaways on social media. Readers who love your book will tell their friends—never underestimate word of mouth marketing!

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Denise Grover Swank lives in Kansas City, Missouri. You can find out more about Denise at www.denisegroverswank.com.

Top photo by Nong V on Unsplash. 

[oldbutnotyetwise]

Unexpected Gifts

     I have said this before and it bears repeating here, every good thing that happens has some bad attached to it, and every bad thing that happens has some good attached.  

     As I am writing this I have crossed the one year anniversary since my diagnosis of ALS was confirmed at Sunnybrook Hospital.  Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a rare neurological disease that affects motor neurons in the brain or spinal cord that affect voluntary muscle movement.  Think of it like when you go to sleep, except in my case parts of my body are going to sleep never to wake again.  I’ve lost the use of my legs, I’m losing the use of my left hand, and my ability to speak is being impaired.  Eventually the muscles that allow me to breath and swallow will stop working.  In some cases ALS also results in frontal lobe dementia, so your two options are having a healthy mind trapped inside a non-working body, or dementia where you still are trapped inside of a non-functioning body while you have no understanding of what is going on, or the burden you are placing on your caretakers.  

     So about now you should be saying, how can there be anything positive about having ALS?  What good can possibly come from this Death Sentence?  Well let’s ponder that question and see what we can come up with.

     When given a terminal diagnosis I had a rather drastic shift on my perception of time.  Prior to the diagnosis, I didn’t give time much thought, foolishly I thought that my time was almost like grains of sand on a large beach, almost endless.  Once I received my diagnosis suddenly time became like the water in a canteen, something not to be wasted or used foolishly.  So you are wondering why is this a good thing, well it is because I have been taught the lesson of Mindfulness.  When you have lots of something it is hard not to take it for granted.  When you have something that is limited and quickly running out then you appreciate it a lot more.  You suddenly realize what an amazing gift time is.  You suddenly have the wisdom not to waste your time on foolish things.  You don’t waste your time on bad books, bad movies or with people you don’t want to spend time with.  If you want to do something and you can, than you do, no longer putting things off for some day in the future because now you know that someday may not come.  I wish that I had learned this lesson about the value of time much earlier in my life, but am grateful that I did learn it eventually and in turn  have worked much harder at enjoying what remaining time that I have left. 

     Living in Canada, or in this case Ontario I have a government run Health Plan.  On top of this I also have a benefit plan from my workplace until I am 65.  I will spare you numerous sad stories of people in other provinces, or in the U.S. who were waiting for approval for the ALS drugs and after two years of waiting they finally get the letter advising they had been approved,,,,the day before they enter a Hospice.  People who live in remote areas of provinces where they are hours and hours away from the nearest ALS Clinic, or even any medical assistance.  We are now living just over an hour from the ALS Clinic at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, generally accepted to probably be the best one in Canada.  I never really understood what a gift the pubic health care system was prior to this, but I do recognize how lucky I am in comparison to so many others.

     I would guess that my ALS medications probably cost somewhere between 200 and 300 thousand dollars a year.  My benefit plan is presently paying for my drugs, can you imagine not having coverage for drugs that could possibly help you?  Where you have to decide between selling or mortgaging your home and draining your bank accounts to buy your medications or choosing to go without.  Where medical decisions are based on dollar amounts instead of what is best for you?  I am grateful for the gift of a benefit plan that allows me to take these expensive drugs in the hope that they are helping me.

     I have met so many amazing people in the medical field since the first day I attended Sunnybrook.  The entire team at Sunnybrook who compassionately care for their hundreds of patients, knowing that everyone they are caring for will eventually lose their fight,  ALS remains undefeated.  As well the nurses, ALS Society, and Community Care Team who all make this horrible disease a little more tolerable.  I am grateful for the gift of all the caring people who work hard to look after me in such a kind, caring and compassionate way.

     A disease such as ALS is expensive.  The amount of medical or assistive equipment can be prohibitive, says the guy waiting for his $32,000 electric wheelchair.  The items we have around the house are a collection of things people have given or loaned us, we have purchased new or used, or that we have been reimbursed for through my benefit plan.  There is something called the ALS Loan Cupboard where people donate used medical equipment, let’s be honest, probably after their loved one dies.  I presently have a walker, electric lift chair and an electric hospital bed all loaned to me from the loan cupboard.  The list of medical equipment I require is constantly growing and already my life would be unbearable without it, so I am grateful for the gift of all this equipment that I have access to that helps me make it through my days.

     I will wholeheartedly acknowledge that I find myself surrounded by the best possible friends.  These are friends that take time out of their very busy lives to visit, or call, or email or set up video calls.  Somehow the whole world is going on at an extremely hectic pace while my life is coasting to a stop.  Most of the world continues on riding the merry go round of life, but a few people realize something important is going on and they are here for me.  Together we exchange old memories, share embraces, shed a few tears and just generally stand by each other.  When you are travelling a dark scary path and suddenly you find a trusted friend at your side you will notice your path becomes a lot less dark and scary.  I am grateful for the gift of dear, treasured friends.

     I have my dear sweet wife Robin here by my side from sun up to sun down working so very hard to look after me.  I don’t think anyone else has someone as amazing as her, and some people are forced to go through this nightmare alone, which I can’t even begin to imagine how impossibly hard that would be. I am grateful for the gift of my loving wife Robin.

   In Canada there is Medical Assistance In Dying, also known as MAID.  If you have a terminal illness, you can fill out a form, meet with a Physician who should agree with your decision and sign off on the form.  Then a minimum of three months later you meet with a second doctor go through the process again at which time you can select a day you want to end your life.  You can change your date or back out at any time, and yes if you are wondering it is a surreal experience going through this process.  I have friends travelling the same path as I am in the United States who would have to travel to another state to end their lives, as if this process isn’t difficult enough they have to travel to a strange place hundreds of miles away from their home and friends to end their suffering.  I am grateful for the gift of living somewhere that I am treated as kindly as a beloved pet who is allowed to leave this world when their struggle to live becomes too much for them.  Leaving this world in a kind compassionate manner, surrounded by loved ones, finally able to rest after fighting the good fight.  

     So I encourage you to always remember, every good thing that happens has bad attached, and very bad thing has good attached.  So next time something bad happens to you I encourage you to look for the good.  Yes you may have to look hard, yes it may be hard to find but I assure you it is there.  Then once you find those good things I encourage you to focus on them rather than the bad things, I think that will help make your journey a bit easier.

[princessconsuelapark]

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE BITS OF Karen Miller’s Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth

- Obviously the infamous scene of Ahsoka watching Obi-Wan and Anakin. “At least [Anakin] had Master Kenobi’s company for a little while. She was sure that accounted for [Anakin’s] relief. They cheered each other up, those two. No matter how dire the straits, Anakin and Master Kenobi always managed to find a joke, a laugh, some way to ease the tension and pressure of the moment. Between the two men lay absolute trust. Absolute faith.”

- The two of them getting so lost in each other, like only 10 pages into this book, that they literally forget that other people are in the room. (”They stared at [Ahsoka], startled, as though for a moment they’d forgotten she existed.”)

- Ahsoka telling Torrent Company: “No more dying. It's against regulations.”

- The Republic running the war like an absolute circus. They lose all comms, but ‘trust the force’ or whatever and go ahead with the plan anyway. Yoda gives battle orders that are “cryptic”. Anakin and Obi-Wan refuse to include others in their plans, which are “vague” and very much improvisational, driving Admiral Yularen to absolute despair in the process.

Yularen: when should we launch the battleships? Anakin: I’ll signal you Yularen: okay, what’s the signal? Anakin: Obi-Wan will know Yularen: okay, Obi-Wan, what’s the signal? Obi-Wan: we don’t actually have a signal, but don’t worry, I’ll tell you when Anakin psychically force-messages me Yularen: *starts mentally composing his resignation*

- Obi-Wan and Anakin making breakfast plans together. Like they actually decide what time they’ll meet and everything. In fact, Obi-Wan is willing to delay his own breakfast so they can eat together, because Anakin wants to sleep in (*have morning sex with Padmé)

- “Obi-Wan indulged in his own swift smile. Yes. They were indeed working in sync. And he realized then how much he’d missed this. Had missed Anakin and the way they could read each other without the need for clumsy words. [...] Working without Anakin was like working half blind.”

- Ahsoka and Rex’s relationship! He calls her “little’un” and she literally stands guard at his hospital bed when he gets injured. It’s everything.

- Both Anakin and Obi-Wan being (almost uncharacteristically so?) generous with their praise towards their respective padawans, and yet neither Ahsoka, not Anakin considering the praise enough.

- This is especially funny, considering Obi-Wan tells Anakin he should never “feel bad for being extraordinary” (which in turn has Anakin think “How could he be extraordinary and let Obi-Wan [hypothetically] come to harm?”) and that there is “no escaping the fact” that Anakin is “the most gifted Jedi the Temple has ever seen”, that sometimes he can’t imagine who he’d be today if not for Anakin, and god, this one makes me deranged: “I cannot deny this: knowing you has made me a better Jedi”

- Meanwhile, there is this one bit where Obi-Wan is super judgmental about Palpatine having a soft spot for Anakin, like I’m sorry, have you ever looked in the mirror, sir

- Anakin immediately getting attached to every single person he meets, and being very dramatic about demanding Obi-Wan help him save them all, which prompts Obi-Wan to proclaim in his head: “He’s as bad as Qui-Gon. Picking up strays...”

- When Obi-Wan literally spends minutes mid-battle just staring out a window, worrying about Anakin, and fucking Admiral Yularen has to be like ‘he is a very capable young man, you know, I’m sure he’ll be fine?’ This is only made better when 200 pages later, Anakin stares at a boarded up window, worrying about Obi-Wan, and a kidnapped scientist, who met them two seconds ago, has to awkwardly pretend she believes him when he claims he’s not worried about Obi-Wan.

- In fact, throughout this whole novel, Anakin and Obi-Wan do not stop worrying about each other, and actually most of their conversations start with ‘are you okay?’

- At one point Anakin reroutes an entire medevac ship to get Obi-Wan off-planet, then - instead of doing his job of escorting humanitarian aid delegates - calls ahead and orders a fucking admiral to escort Obi-Wan to the medbay. Then he calls ahead to the medbay to make sure they’re expecting Obi-Wan.

- Related: the scene where Obi-Wan tells Ahsoka off for worrying about Anakin and not focusing on the present, then proceeds to worry about Anakin and not focus on the present.

- Anakin being super attuned to Obi-Wan’s body. There’s a bit where he feels that Obi-Wan didn’t get medical attention for his battle wounds, then later on can sense Obi-Wan’s physical aches and tiredness, like his own

- How according to Bail, Obi-Wan stares at the Jedi Temple “as though it were a long-lost lover” and with “longing” in his eyes

- Threepio asking after Artoo when Anakin calls, to make sure he’s okay after battle, awwwwww

- Yoda having the biggest soft spot for Obi-Wan, his fave grandchild. He bonds with Anakin over forcing Obi-Wan to stay in the Halls of Healing. He invites Obi-Wan to tea. He sleeps in the comm centre, so he can immediately hear news on how Obi-Wan’s mission is going. He tells Obi-Wan he’s been drawn to him since he was an infant, because Obi-Wan burns in the Force’s light. They tell him Obi-Wan’s comming him and he’s like “Excellent.” Some very relatable stuff there, ngl.

- Anakin being super unhinged, in the most iconic way. He throws a chair out of frustration, sits on top of a table in the Archives, punches a wall because he’s angry, asks Obi-Wan what a tauntaun is, refers to his past self as a “meek little Padawan” (this has Obi-Wan losing it), gets so mad that Padmé’s not home that he breaks a laser turret with his hand, tells Obi-Wan to “just sit there and be wrong”, sends a whole hangar full of people home early from work, because he “prefers to work [on his ship] without distractions”. Like he is truly mad and I love him.

- Similarly, I adore how Obi-Wan is an absolute insane person during 75% of this book. Half the time he opens his mouth is to be unhelpfully sarcastic, the other half is to chide Anakin, like he is 5 years old, just before acting like a 5 year old himself. Some glorious characterisation there, Karen Miller, hats off, honestly.

- Obi-Wan praising Anakin to anyone who will listen and constantly making excuses for him whenever someone criticises him! This bit stands out in particular:

Obi-Wan: do you regret letting me train Anakin? Yoda: well, you did your best Obi-Wan: um, that’s kinda vague...? Yoda: you have to admit he’s a bit difficult Obi-Wan: EXCUSE ME WHAT DO YOU MEAN DIFFICULT Yoda: you know him better than anyone, surely you can admit he can be difficult Obi-Wan: *changes the topic, but keeps thinking about how Yoda is so so incredibly wrong, and how Anakin is the best*

- “You know, General, some say young Skywalker’s the crazy one, the reckless one, the Jedi most likely to go down in a blaze of glory. I used to say it - but now I’m not so sure. In your own quiet way you can be just as terrifying.”

- When Anakin leaves Obi-Wan alone for two seconds, so he just starts aimlessly wandering about the Temple, like some lost youngling or something

- Padmé having so much love Obi-Wan. It makes her so happy seeing him and Anakin smile together because good friends like that are hard to find !!!! She tells Anakin to bring him back safe from their mission !!! When she worries about Anakin, she sometimes also remembers Obi-Wan exists and is also in danger !! (No, seriously though, she is very cute about Obi-Wan this whole book.)

- “My Master would die before he’d let anything happen to Master Kenobi.” Ugh, that’s just. Yeah.

[silkiemae]

The Throne of Broken Gods by Amber V Nicole

tw: r*pe

Listen, I tried. I really, really tried to finish this book, but when Samkiel started tossing Dianna in the air like she was a toddler playing in the pool at the 70% mark, I couldn’t deal anymore. 

Before I start my review of the actual book, let me just complain very loudly about that blood-spattered note meant to recap the events of book one. First of all. Who approved that art? Who thought it was a good idea to put red text on top of a blood-spattered background in sloppy cursive writing where the spatters are sometimes placed over the text? How am I supposed to read that? Fire whoever approved that rn, Amber. Second of all. The fact that it took not even a full two pages to recap an almost 900-page book is hilarious to me. That’s how you know that absolutely nothing of import happened in Book of Azrael. 

So, I’m not going to lie, I barely remember what the actual plot of these novels is meant to be. In book one, Dianna and Liam spend most of the book dicking around, bantering like two individuals who’ve never flirted with another person in their life, while they look for The Book of Azrael. I don’t remember why they want this book or what it’s supposed to do, just that Dianna’s maker, Kaden, wants it real bad, and they need to get it before he does. After some incredibly heavy foreshadowing that somehow no one(except for me) saw coming, Dianna’s sister, Gabriella, is murdered by Kaden. This is the catalyst for Dianna to go full villain mode. In book one, she’s advertised as if she’s a villain but never does anything villainous. In book two, Dianna goes hard

But sadly, not in a way that is enjoyable to read. At all. 

Here’s the thing. These books have the potential to be enjoyable reads if Amber would just give them more time. The writing is so stiff and clunky. There are so many words that could be combined or sentences that could be cut altogether that would make this flow so much better. It’s like the editors have never heard of contractions before. There are entire chapters that should be cut because they contribute nothing of value to the plot. They’re just there to fill space, and this book is already nearly 900 pages. We do not need any more filler chapters. All the characters still speak like robots. Everyone has the exact same voice even though we have multiple first-person POV chapters, but literally, everyone talks identically. If not for the chapter title telling us whose POV we’re in, I never would’ve been able to guess. Some of the POVs seem like they’re there just so a ‘spicy’ scene could be included, but again, it contributes nothing to the story. Throne of Broken Gods reads as if Amber was desperately trying to revamp it so that it reflected what she actually wanted Book of Azrael to be, but it suffers greatly. Once again, this book is far too long. Nearly 900 pages of nonsense. 400 of those pages are Dianna’s villain spree and Samkiel cleaning up her messes and thinking about how much he wants to save her. 200 of those pages are Dianna being sad about her sister and pushing everyone away. I’m assuming the actual plot of this book is crammed into the last 200 pages, but it took so long to get there that I don’t even care anymore. 

There’s sudden background on Dianna thrown in that should’ve been given to us in the last book. We’re told that Dianna and her sister were once named Mer Ka and Ain, but her backstory never gets expanded on. The name is used approximately 5 times throughout this 900-page book. And then it turns out that wasn’t even actually her real name. We’re given a random ritual that makes no sense where Dianna burns Gabriella’s body and spreads the ashes over a beach so that all of her ‘parts can be reused,’ but…how are they being reused by disintegrating into the ocean? We’re given flashbacks that took place during the first book that should’ve just been written into the first book. These books need such heavy-duty re-works. Like I really do think this had the potential to be a cool series, but it’s just so poorly written I am constantly shaking my head in disappointment. 

So, Dianna is going from faction to faction, slaughtering every single person who happened to be in the room when Kaden murdered her sister. It doesn’t matter that most of these people seemed to have no idea Kaden intended to kill her. It doesn’t matter that Kaden is meant to be so powerful that no one but a God King could kill him. It doesn’t matter that even if these people did try to intervene, they more than likely would’ve been killed alongside Gabriella. Nope, Dianna doesn’t care. They’re all on her shit list. And in order to get strong enough so that she can kill all these people and be an all-powerful badass, she kills and eats countless mortals. None of these kills is shown on page. Dianna never reflects on the fact that she just killed and ate a bunch of innocent people who had nothing to do with her sister’s death. The only thing that matters is her revenge. She kills Drake, that one guy she pretended to kill in the last book, but this time she kills him for real. She slaughters Camilla’s entire coven and a few other covens too. She threatens Samkiel’s family 1000 times. Stabs him in the gut, and he gets a boner from it. At one point, she disguises herself as another woman(she has the ability to shapeshift into any form she wishes), sneaks into a hotel room with a group of prostitutes, sleeps with one of the men inside that room and then promptly murders him and everyone else there. 

That is rape. Dianna is a rapist. And the thing is, I don’t think the author realizes this. There are trigger warnings for nearly everything in this book except for rape. Dianna felt the need to disguise herself to sneak into a room so she could get close to one of her evil boss’s lackeys. So, clearly, that means he would’ve recognized her if she’d looked like herself; otherwise, why disguise yourself at all? That means he would’ve not had sex with her if he knew who she was. Dianna felt the need to disguise herself so she could sleep with a man who would’ve otherwise said no and then kill him—and everyone else in the room. So if she intended on killing everyone in the room anyway, why sneak in? Why did she feel the need to sleep with someone she was intending to kill? She tells Samkiel that she did it for fun. (She also says she left him the room full of dismembered body parts and a pair of her PANTIES as a parting gift to tell him she’s never coming back. WTF KIND OF PARTING GIFT IS PANTIES AND A ROOM FULL OF DEAD BODIES? HOW DOES ANYONE INTERPRET THAT?) 

And he’s jealous. Instead of being horrified that the woman he loved raped and killed a man for fun. He’s jealous that another person touched her and was inside of her. And this continues throughout the whole book! Liam just constantly having random monologues about how they haven’t discussed their exclusivity. Why is that relevant at all? See, this is where I just started wanting to rip chunks of my hair out. Because nowhere in this book do Liam or the Hand really condemn Dianna’s actions. They’re all about saving and protecting poor little precious Dianna because she’s “starved for attention”. She just needs a hug, and then she’ll stop mass-murdering everyone!! She kills Tobias, and then Logan and Neverra are like OMG YES, SLAY, SHE’S OUR QUEEN. I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT SHE’S A MURDERER SHE’S AMAZING. OMG Xavier and Cameron take her out to get wasted at a bar even though she’s literally under house arrest, but she deserves a night of fun even though she’s a mass murderer! Then when a bunch of vampires show up and beat the shit out of her, and Samkiel blames Xavier and Cameron for it, she stands up for them, and they’re all like oH MY GOD, WE RESPECT YOU SO MUCH.

And like…what? what???? The celestials are supposed to protect mortals, right? Yet they’re over here lauding a woman who just slaughtered(and ATE) a shit ton of them so she could get revenge against people who just happened to be in the same room as her sister when she died. Like WHAT? Nobody ever addresses what Dianna did. Dianna only feels guilt because she is lonely and didn’t save her sister. She expresses remorse only for hurting her friends(and only when they tell her to her face that she hurt them) but none for the countless humans she killed in her quest for vengeance. I’m disappointed because I really think there was room for an actual in-depth exploration of remorse and trying to atone for those actions, but no. 

The only person who does speak out against Dianna ends up being a bad guy. And it’s wild to me that the author clearly wants me to disagree with him. But he’s right. Dianna did destroy two cities, she did slaughter a bunch of people and eat them; she did threaten and hurt Samkiel and the Hand. Like she did all of these things, and she was basically given the Nesta/Feyre treatment by being put in a fancy castle as ‘punishment’ and then forced to go on long jogs. There’s a council of mortals calling for her to be punished, and Samkiel’s response is to “put them in their place” by making the room explode. Am I the only one who’s seeing a problem here? Dianna should be punished. It’s one thing if she’d just gone after Tobias and Kaden, etc—the actual BAD GUYS. It’s one thing if she simply were being scary and threatening the others to get information as she did in the last book. But she didn’t. She went way over the line. And the only thing she really seems sad about is failing to kill Kaden and avenge Gabriella. She doesn’t seem to feel bad about any of the innocents she’s killed. Nor does she feel any remorse over killing the people who didn’t know Kaden planned on killing Gabriella. (she does feel a little bit sad over Drake, but only because his ‘fated lover’ came to kill her for killing him. But that’s literally 500 pages into this book) Like, sure it’s revenge, and she’s mad, but it makes me unable to empathize with her because everything she doing has no actual logic behind it. There’s also the fact that Samkiel and the Hand are constantly justifying her actions as if she’s in the right to do what she’s doing. And like…no? If you want to write an evil character, just let her be evil. Stop trying to justify her actions and paint her actual horrible deeds in a flattering light. Because Dianna is a rapist and a murderer, and people keep saying she needs to be protected? So we’re protecting rapists now? I find it really disappointing that there’s really no exploration of how she feels about what she’s done. I would’ve really been interested to read her experience of real remorse instead of constantly thirsting after Samkiel any chance they’re together. Instead of feeling constant jealousy for no reason.

I just want to say that it is entirely possible to write a character who is a garbage human and an utter piece of shit without justifying their actions—and they can still be a character that is liked. Daemon Targaryen murdered his wife, choked his other wife, and did a bunch of other shitty things, but he’s a really great character. Cersei Lannister is a devious evil bitch, but she’s also a fantastic character. You don’t see people justifying their actions. 

I wish the author would’ve expanded more on the fact that all of this was a suicide mission and Dianna didn’t expect to have to deal with her guilt or something. I wish that she would’ve stopped her villain spree after she slaughtered Drake and his Coven. I think the book would’ve been better if she had maybe killed a few humans, and we saw it on page, then she went after Drake first. She kills him, and then she’s trying to convince herself that what she’s doing is right and that soon she’ll be reunited with her sister, etc. But then Samkiel captures her, and they make her actually deal with the consequences of her actions. She actually faces the fact that she’s killed innocents. The book would’ve been far shorter and much better. And I really wish that the book would’ve dialed back the horniness by 1000%.

It feels like every single conversation in this book ends up centering around whom Dianna spread her legs for to get information or to get where she is in life. Nobody can spend a single minute with Dianna without making some crass remark about her vagina and how good it is and how everyone wants to fuck her or how everyone loses their mind once they fuck her. It is insane just how many times a conversation like this happens just in the first four hundred pages. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to Cameron and Xavier eating pancakes and talking about “how good it is” and why Samkiel is all bent out of shape about her. Like, Amber, what the fuck?

Then the sex scenes that are actually written just feel…soulless to me? Like they’re just a list of actions. One of the scenes is Cameron basically using another woman to forget the man he’s in love with and the whole time they’re boning, he’s having thoughts like, ‘god, she’s a righteous bitch, but she sucks dick like a goddess’ or ‘god she may be a bitch, but her pussy is divine’. Like….oh my god?!?!?! 

In the midst of Dianna’s raging, she goes after a fate called Roccurem for some reason I don’t understand. He repeatedly mentions that gods have tried and failed to kill him, yet Samkiel and Dianna continuously threaten to rip him to shreds. They just annoy me so much, let me tell you. She calls him Reggie sporadically throughout the book, I don’t really understand why they couldn’t just stay consistent with that. But anyway, this fate literally is playing a matchmaker between Dianna and Samkiel. He’s just floating from person to person like, ‘ayyyy he loves you. Give him a chance’. He literally set up Dianna getting beat up by vampires in an effort to push her closer to Samkiel. And Xavier and Cameron let it happen? So, that’s fun. Lmao 

So, I gave up at the 70% mark, and truthfully it feels like we’ve lost the thread of the plot. It feels like Dianna and Samkiel are aimless and have real no purpose whatsoever. Dianna wants to kill Kaden but nobody is really focusing enough on what havoc Kaden might be wreaking. Nobody is really trying to find him. They’re all so focused on Dianna and the bullshit she’s doing and making sure she feels better that they’re letting Kaden and the fact that he’s gonna probably destroy the world to the wayside. This books suffers greatly because of this. 400 pages of Dianna pointlessly slaughtering people and pushing people away. 200 pages of Dianna thirsting after Samkiel and refusing to face her grief. What is the actual plot of this story? Why did that need to be 600 pages when you could’ve explored that entire arc in like 150. 

Last thing I’m going to vent about and then I’m done. I hate Dianna. She is so beyond annoying. She’s gullible as hell and believes anything anyone tells her. Kaden shows up one time to tell her Samkiel is betrothed to some woman and he’s obviously lying to make her upset but she believes him in .2 seconds. Never once questions that he might be messing with her. And it just makes me dislike her so much. After she was betrayed like ten times in the last book has she learned absolutely nothing? She’s 1000 years old and has no concept of treading cautiously or idk using her brain before reacting? She gets jealous in a heartbeat any time Samkiel mentions a woman he knows. Xavier and Cameron make up a girl Samkiel is dating and she gets murderously jealous. Like girl, you are not cute. And it’s not cute for Samkiel to behave this way either. Ya’ll are thousand year old celestial gods and you still get as jealous as high schooler? Grow up. 

Anyway, if anyone finished this book please let me know if Dianna ever acknowledges the fact that she raped someone. Or idk, shows some remorse for anything she did. I’d love to know. Bye.

EDIT: I skimmed through the last three hundred pages because it was bothering me too much. So I'll give a quick rundown of what I read. Dianna never acknowledges that she raped someone. Only one person ever says Dianna is a mass murderer, and he's considered a bad guy. I hoped to find something in there that maybe had Dianna showing remorse or atoning, but instead, there are a lot of meaningless conversations. Dianna masturbates while she's lonely and waiting for Samkiel to return. She chats with a fucking star. They go to the beach and play beach volleyball or something and have a picnic. Neverra, Imogen and Dianna hang out and talk about the betrothal between Imogen and Samkiel and Dianna's insane jealousy. Suddenly text messages are introduced 600 pages into the books when they were never present before. Samkiel goes back and fights some creatures called Gigantes (lmao) Honestly, the names in this book are killing me. Porphyrion. GARLEGLISH?? This whole time they're just waiting for Dianna's powers to return for some reason. Camilla disappeared for like 300 pages only to finally get her own POV chapter near the end of the book. 

Even though Dianna shows no remorse or anything, somehow she's Samkiels' queen, and everyone forgives her. Do they talk about having CHILDREN? Honestly, I'm so glad I'm skimming this because nothing is happening. Samkiel and Dianna finally kiss and when Samkiel pulls away, Dianna instantly assumes there's someone else. I'm so tired of her. They have the longest sex scene I have ever seen in my life. Still, nothing has happened plot-wise. Dianna finds out she was adopted and Mer Ka wasn't really her name even though she mentions it five times and never elaborates. Then she and Samkiel have more painfully long sex. Another shocker, Reggie is also a bad guy. NOW DIANNA IS CALLING SAMKIEL SAMI. Actual plot only takes place the last 100 pages. 

And finally I'm enjoying it. I was genuinely surprised by the plot twist. What a pity. 

(I forgot to mention this, but Samkiel calls Dianna Akrai approximately three times which supposedly means 'my heart' and then never calls her that again. Also, I was corrected that in the last book, Samkiel actually doesn't call his mom 'madre' but calls her 'medra' which is the Latin word for excrement. So.....BIG LOL BECAUSE THAT'S EVEN WORSE. Calling your mom a piece of shit hahahahhhahaha byeeeeeeeeeee. Also, part of me thinks that maybe she went back and re-edited Book of Azrael because there were typos in there that I highlighted to laugh at that are now gone, so...he very well could've called his mom Madre and then changed it to Merda which is EVEN FUNNIERRRRR BECAUSE SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS FIXING IT ONLY TO MAKE IT WORSE)

[screadingchallenge]

Behind the Keyboard-Volume 11

Behind the Keyboard is a series of interviews with different Schitt’s Creek fanfic authors. The series will last as long as there is interest (from authors) and capacity (from me). If you are an author from the Schitt’s Creek fandom who would like to participate, send a DM to this account.  

Each author was given ten questions. The first five questions are the same for every author, the last five will vary.

Remember, this year’s Reading Challenge begins July 15, so polish up those MFL lists.

Let’s meet our next author:

@likerealpeopledo-on-ao3​ /  Likerealpeopledo

How many fics have you written?

49 that are posted on Ao3 but I was writing fics before I knew what they were, so conservatively, probably closer to 200 or 300.

When did you publish your first fic on AO3?

July 13, 2014 in another fandom.

Describe your writing process from “Oh, I have an idea” to pushing publish on AO3. 

My writing process involves a lot of wailing, crying, and gnashing of teeth. But amongst that, once I have the premise, I usually start by deciding what my fic is really about. Not just plot (which is almost secondary) but what my theme is or what idea I’m trying to get across about the characters. I try to figure out POV, time period, canon vs AU, so I know what my foundation is. I brainstorm with my friends and betas as much as I can. Once I have all that in place, I make a playlist with songs/lyrics relating to my plot and theme. I listen to it while I’m driving mostly, because that is where I get a lot of my ideas. 

My favorite stage of preparing to write a fic is research. If the fic is something simple, like about how Patrick came to own his mustard sweater (seriously, where did he get that and why; please see my first SC fic for reference), I’ll watch the episode or read the script for a refresher. Or at least the piece that is pertinent to my fic. I rewatch episodes less now because I feel like I have the voice down but if I’m struggling to get something going, I will always go back to the source material.

If I’m writing a fic that is more complex (like about kidney donation or chronic pain), I watch documentaries, I read books, articles, wiki-everything. If I’m writing an enemies-to-lovers (current WIP), I try to read or watch things that have similar themes or tropes. Not to steal from them, but to see what I can subvert. I have this fic-writing idiosyncrasy where I like to feel like I’m doing something new, which I know is madness because I’m using someone else’s characters and there are like, four kinds of stories in the world, but. Alas.  

I write notes for every thought I have about the fic into my Notes app or a notebook. I sometimes outline, especially if it’s long, but usually I don’t outline until I have some ideas of scenes on paper. It’s a reverse outline, I guess, so I can see how I want to string things together.

If it’s a long fic, I do not write in order. It is my greatest strength and my biggest weakness I think. I write what excites me, what stands out in my head, snippets of conversations that I can cobble together to make a cohesive thing. It means that by the time I get toward the end of a draft, I’m left with the parts I think are boring, like exposition or transitions, and I spend a lot of time arranging and rearranging. Again, this has its advantages and disadvantages. With shorter pieces, I will sometimes write in order but even within scenes, I tend to write dialogue first and then flesh everything else out around it.

Sweet baby cheeses, my process is long and I’m not even done.

I usually write best in the morning. I do better without distractions but I can write anywhere. I write longhand when I get stuck. I try to write a little bit  every day but honestly, I write the most when I feel like I have something to say. Those are the times when paragraphs sort of pop into my head, or I can visualize an entire scene. (If I feel like I can’t hear what the characters are saying, I close my eyes. This leads to some impromptu writing naps.) Some days I’ll write 5000 words and others it will be 50. After nine p.m., I hate everything.

Once I have the first draft done (as if that is a swift process), I send it to my betas. I have two. One of my betas likes to see a whole draft before she makes suggestions and one will beta in pieces. (As I’m writing my first draft, I am constantly harassing both betas and sending them snippets. If I get stuck, I’ll turn to discord or my betas for brainstorming.) Once the first draft is betaed by both, I’ll put together my second draft (this is hilarious because the way I edit, I feel like the second draft I send to beta is realistically the 39th draft, but) and send it in chapters. That way they can make final edits and tweaks and I can begin to post. With a long fic, I like to be a few chapters ahead in edits before I post. With a short fic, I will send it to beta once, but not necessarily a second time, depending on how clear I was in my own head about what worked and what didn’t. Sometimes I’ll just resend a section if I had to make big changes or if it’s a new piece I added.

If I tell you about the nerves and insecurity I feel when posting, we will be here until the end of days, so just know, pushing send is a fraught thing lol.

Tell me about your most recent fic? What do you love about it? Is there anything you think you could have done better?

My most recent fic was Such Great Heights, which I called AirPat. It took me a long time to write it (almost two years) and I kept writing other things because I felt stuck. I’m not great at loving my writing, but I think that with AirPat, I really leaned into the banter and the humor, and I love that they were both all in from the beginning. I also loved that I was able to show a more complicated, complex side of the Brewers while still keeping them who they are, and write an original character in Patrick’s cousin, Sam. I love exploring Patrick’s psyche and I think I did a good job of making it make sense for him and his situation. It was a fight in my own head, let me tell you. I am also very proud of the wedding crash and if you haven’t read it yet, that chapter is worth the price of admission.

I always think I could have done better, but I don’t know that there is anything I would change at this point. I have probably already changed it, ha. I am not precious about words or scenes, usually, and have a tendency to edit pretty mercilessly. I will kill a lot of darlings in service of a story, and in AirPat, I took out a whole chapter midway through edits because I felt like the story was getting bloated. I felt so much better afterward. I am always wishing I had chosen better words or a new way to say someone smiled, but it’s nitpicky stuff, not structural.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about publishing their fic for the first time?

Write what you want to read and don’t worry about what other people will think. Writing is supposed to be fun (I have to repeat this to myself often) and there is always someone out there who will identify with what you have to say. I would also recommend having a beta, because there is nothing like immediate feedback and someone who can help you make the best story you can, because no one can do this alone. Paid writers have editors so why shouldn’t we? Also, if your writing is true to the character, you can’t go wrong. 

How much of yourself do you put into your stories or characters?

Ugh, too much. I am writing David and Patrick, who have been invented by someone else and who are mostly fully formed already, but I steal liberally from my own life. Patrick, especially, is a blank slate I draw on with my own experiences. David is my more judgemental side. I think we all develop head canons based on our own experiences a bit, and sometimes that closeness helps, but sometimes it can hurt. 

What parts of writing are easy for you? What parts are hard?  

Dialogue is easiest for me. I think I had a lot of conversations with myself as a kid and that just carries on now. I think understanding emotionality and how we behave because of that is also a strength for me. I have always been good at balancing humor with tough things, and I credit my family and unfortunate Catholic upbringing for that, I guess. Putting myself out there is hard. Not getting engagement is hard. On a writing level, exposition is boring to me so it’s difficult. Also hard (pun intended), writing sex scenes. Bless the fade to black. I like writing kissing though. 

What’s a fic (by any author) you love that you don’t think enough people know about?

Ack! It’s hard to know what people know and don’t know, but I’d say that if you  haven’t read The Sidelines by wildhoneypie, or anything written by sullymygoodname or Nilolay, you’re missing out. 

Tell me about a story that you wish you could write but that you’re not quite ready to tackle.

I am always envious of people with 1100 WIPs because I barely have one idea at a time. I do have a few things I’ve considered but never dove into, and usually it’s because I think it’s going to be too complicated for my little brain. I have always wanted to write Patrick as a robot, which involves maybe more science-fiction elements than I’m entirely comfortable with and a ton of research. I have also always wanted to write a military AU (a lot of research required) but theme-wise I don’t know if it would fit in the SC world. 

What’s one question you would like to ask Dan Levy about writing? 

How do you make sure you keep enjoying it? Also, are you hiring? 

[thetypedwriter]

Chain of Thorns Book Review

Chain of Thorns Book Review by Cassandra Clare 

I don’t know what to say about Chain of Thorns, the Last Hours trilogy, or Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter books that I haven’t already said. At this point, I’ve written a multitude of reviews for her books, ranging from the main series, spin-off trilogies, and side novels. 

The Shadowhunter universe is now so huge and overwhelming that if I stop, I know I’ll never be able to catch up again (or want to, most likely). So I just keep…chugging along.

Chain of Thorns is the third installment of the sequel series to the prequel series (yes, you read that right) and is average on a banal level. I’ve said this for the previous two reviews of the first and second books of the Last Hours trilogy respectively, but this is Cassandra Clare’s worst trilogy by far. 

I’m not going to review aspects of world building, history, background, or even explain very much because at this point, people reading this review have either kept up with Cassandra Clare’s books like I have, or are just reading this review out of curiosity and accepting that they won’t understand any of the details or intricacies I mention, seeing as this book is freaking number twenty in the overall series. 

That being said, Chain of Thorns is a predictable ending to an already hackneyed series. The plot of this book is beyond boring. Belial, one of the princes of Hell, takes over London and makes it his own little slice of Edom on earth. This turns all the humans and downworlders into lifeless puppets. Why is he doing this you might ask? Just…cause. 

I genuinely don’t know. Belial as a villain is atrocious. I get that he’s a demon, but he is comically evil. The way he speaks, his motivations, and his actions are so ridiculous and trite that I could hardly stomach reading scenes with him. Good thing the scenes with him were not until the last 200 pages of the book. 

For a book that’s almost 800 pages, you might be wondering what the first 600 pages are about if they don’t contain Belial, the main adversary. The answer is: character relations. No, really, that’s it. 

The first 600 pages contain Cassandra Clare’s millions of characters interacting, keeping secrets from each other, and generally making themselves miserable for lame, noble reasons that lack finesse or intrigue. 

This character is in love with this character, this character is sad, this character feels guilty, this character feels shame, rinse and repeat. Normally, I’d say that Cassandra Clare’s main strengths are her characters and how she characterizes them. 

However, in Chain of Thorns she spends soooooo much time fleshing out the main characters that the plot is squeezed lifeless. The same events are repeated over and over again so they can be seen from different perspectives, which makes the book a slog to get through, forgoing any kind of significant advancement story-wise. 

Additionally, her characters aren’t interesting. All of the main characters in this series—Cordelia, James, Lucie, Jesse, Ari, Anna, Christopher, Grace, Thomas, Alistair, Matthew, and more, if you can believe it—have been done more thoughtfully in other installments Clare has written. 

Take Christopher for example. I know almost nothing about him except that he’s the inventor-type guy. Clare has already written one of these with Henry from The Infernal Devices and was done better. Emma was a better Cordelia, Will was a better James, Cecily was a better Lucie, Jem was a better Matthew, and on and on it goes. 

None, and I mean none of the characters from this series stood out in any new or notable way. Even the couples from this series are overshadowed by other couples in Clare’s universe. A large reason for this, in my opinion, is because everyone in this goddamn trilogy is too good. 

They’re mind numbingly altruistic. Everyone is selfless, trusting, brave, kind, and inherently accepting. There’s no spice, no nuance, no complexity. The only tension this book has for the first 600 pages are the characters keeping secrets from each other. 

Not because of some malicious reason, oh no, that would be too gripping, but instead because they don’t want to burden the others. Bleh. 

The epic final fight, if you could call it that, lacked any emotional depth, was glaringly obvious in terms of how it would end, and no character of magnitude died, leaving this book without emotional weight or consequences. 

Clare’s writing itself was fine, as usual, as was her world building, but she did have several scenes that seemed to go on and on forever without purpose or reason. 

For example, there are several chapters describing Belial’s London and how horrific it is. We need one of these scenes to get the picture. Two, max, if Clare really wants to drive it home. 

Clare has at least eight scenes describing this hellish London, which is really just the same descriptions repeated multiple times throughout way-too long chapters stretching out barely present and miniscule tension. 

Overall, this is not Cassandra Clare’s best work. The plot and its villains had much to be desired. Her characters, usually her greatest strength, were carbon copies of other characters from her previous series who outshined these characters drastically.

 The novel tried to present too many POV’s, which watered down every protagonist exponentially and their magnanimous personalities made it difficult for me as a reader to connect to them on any kind of human level. 

Recommendation: You don’t need to read this trilogy. Unless you’re a hardcore Cassandra Clare fanatic, this series will offer you nothing that her previous series haven’t given you already. Steer clear unless you’re a completionist and have already spent way too much time reading the Shadowhunter series as a whole and feel obligated to continue. 

Score: 5/10

[lobstermatriarch]

So my book club is reading Ir*n Wid*w for our meeting this weekend and I was.

so excited.

Nonbinary author, main character in a poly relationship, rooted in Chinese mythology and folklore, reportedly feminist and queer perspective, 4+ stars on Goodreads. It’s perfect on paper.

I’m now almost 2/3 of the way through and giving up, I’m just disappointed and angry. How do you pretend to be a feminist book when for 200 pages the MC is the only named character who’s not a dude? It’s this hugely misogynistic setting and yet the MC is the only girl who is Super Special enough to have an Opinion about what’s going on, all the other women are docile/obedient or treacherous. And even then, MC’s agency is pretty limited! She spends a lot of time thinking angry, rebellious thoughts or spitting badass one-liners, but for the most part the narrative is relying on her boyfriends and luck to actually move the plot forward. She has no friends, no interests except love interests, no complexity or personality besides being angry and reacting to the things men do. I also understand that there’s some big twist and government overthrow coming up too (and I can only hope that it’s the MCs idea), but again, I’m almost 2/3 of the way in!!! I can’t wait forever for this super special Strong Female Character to start having some agency again!!!!! It would help if the writing itself was better, but I mean... it’s serviceable. It’s fine. I’ve enjoyed books that have had worse technical writing, but that’s not a huge point in anyone’s favor.

Love that a nonbinary author of color is getting so much attention and popularity, but, like... this is not the revolutionary work I was sold on. This is barely beyond the H*nger Gam*s, and at least in the H*nger Gam*s the sister that MC wanted to protect/avenge had a personality!! I can’t get invested in a book that hasn’t really passed the Bechdel test halfway through despite having a female MC, especially when said MC barely has an inner life of her own. We don’t even know where the anger comes from! It’s this horrible misogynistic world and without any in-universe explanation for how she learned this stuff she is operating on our morality system. Do you think that maybe, maybe there could have been a series of smart women who figured this out over time and taught it to her? Nah, as said above, all other women in this world are meek and submissive and she's just smart and special enough to figure this all out on her own.

(Even worse, her boyfriends have figured this out before the other women, so they are the only people she has had any positive interactions with at this point. It just helps to drive home the message that you can’t trust or rely on other women, only the hot guys! Great stuff for “feminist” YA!!!)

Another quick aside, the fact that this was pitched to me as a queer book makes me wanna scream. I’m bi! I like dudes! I like that she has multiple men interested in her and each other!! But this is a fictional society that has been maiming and killing women for centuries and you can’t be assed to actually, I don’t know... include some women?? Plus it is so clearly not written for gay/bi men, so having the big queer relationship being a flimsy romantic interest between the MCs two boyfriends feels more like old school yaoi voyeurism than queer lit to me.

I can’t help but feel like this book’s popularity is just an influencer following at this point. I don’t think I’d be so viscerally angry if it wasn’t held up as this new YA standard for feminist, queer lit, and if the author themself wasn’t making such a huge deal about “breaking down barriers.” I’m frustrated and sad that this is what we’re holding up as the future, when in so many ways it’s taking a few steps backwards.

tl;dr read a book that was pitched over and over across various platforms as this big breakthrough in YA fiction and found it less compelling/progressive than a lot of 90s shoujo anime

[bilbobagginshome]

A Deadbeat’s Journal 15

A Jotaro Kujo x blackfemreader fic

March 15 20XX,

Despite doing absolutely nothing for the past three months, the day at the hotel felt well deserved, especially since I don’t remember the last time I had my back properly massaged . I could feel the literal stress in my body evaporate as the masseuse kneaded and pressed me like chapati dough. By the time I was done, even Grandpa Joseph, who had his own massage , noticed that I had become less rigid. So I spent the entire day sipping mocktails , enjoying the large sized pool and eating an abundance of culinary delights. Maybe I’ll enjoy working at a hotel, after all I’m a big advocate of soft life.

By dinnertime, I had to borrow one of mama Holly’s light green,satin strap dresses because the pretentiousness of the evening banquet did not allow my cotton vest and thrifted jean shorts to make an appearance. Though I did look good and Jotaro’s sidelong glance confirmed it . I did feel bad for Samosa so before we headed home, I bought her some prawns to snack on before sleeping . Jotaro insists that she is not that affected by me not being at home as much but he doesn’t know how much we spend time together .I literally get separation anxiety when I’m away from her for more than 6 hours.

Jotaro seemed exhausted . I asked him about it and he didn’t want to talk about it . I mean I care for him but he almost skipped his prescription drugs, his eye bags are becoming more prominent and there isn't enough eye size to carry those bags . His complexion , despite being a bit tanned, seems greyer too. I don’t want to push him but I feel like he’s trying to quickly get over the workload. Like no offence but I thought marine biologists just looked at dolphins and went , “Yes that is indeed a dolphin.” He has hefty encyclopaedias , some could even be half my weight considering how gigantic they are and is consistently hunching over them when writing his paper. He once mentioned that because of how unresearched the Indian coast is from the turn of the century , he has to update said encyclopaedias .Some of the books become entirely useless because of the  alarming climatic conditions that are affecting the global south. He almost gave me an existential crisis by informing me that by 200 years due to the dramatically rising sea levels, Mombasa may not even exist. I may be cremated thanks to this timely information.

An overworked and undervalued job that is Jotaro Kujo’s profession .He practically dragged his body to bed . He should have lived a trust fund baby lifestyle but the workaholic eats and breathes his job so that is out of the question.

In other related news, my feline firstborn was entirely happy to see us , she ignored Jotaro (a first for both of us) and went straight to lapping at my legs in an attempt for me to hoist her up. She’s gotten bigger , almost too big considering she’s only 8 weeks old and has quite a tummy despite her stubby legs. She graciously feasts on the prawns and heads to my room for our skin care routine which consists of me actually doing my skin care and brushing out her fur when I’m done . Her kittish nature is very much alive , playing with my braid stands whenever they aren’t in a bonnet and encouraging me to jump whenever she pounces at me . What a cutie!

I plan to take mom Holly and gramps to boat rides in the South Coast, partly because I want to jet ski but also they mentioned wanting to do paragliding and swimming with dolphins.

March 16 20XX,

I’m shaking as I write this? Considering how great of a day I had, I should not have come home to this . First of all, I’ll focus on the positives .The day was splendid, we didn’t spend a lengthy amount of time trying to take the ferry. It was actually surprisingly enjoyable swimming with the despicable dolphins who’s pretty privilege won me over . We also jet skied, mom Holly loved  it , even taking over from the instructor and rode it herself. The day turned for the worst from the moment I arrived home.

To give you some context, I was rushing out and I mistakenly forgot to switch off the stove . Luckily the gas was already out so nothing bad happened but I got home and found an infuriated Jotaro. I can even vividly remember the conversation ;

“Hi jojo.”

No answer, I walked in and saw him glaring at me as he sat on the kitchen counter . Samosa must have sensed something was about to go down as she leisurely walked to my room.Look I wasn’t even mad, he had a tough day and the dopamine from riding a jet ski for the first time was still giving me a euphoric rush . I drank the water from the dispenser and told him good night .He however demanded for me to sit down . I blankly stared and sat across from him.

“Why did you leave the stove open?”he questions with a very unamused tone. I look onto the stove and realise I must have left it on after making Pilau for his dinner. I shrugged and said 

“I’m sorry I didn’t realise . I’ll be careful next time.”Which I may add , was a proper response . I didn't justify my recklessness and assured him in a simple sentence that I wouldn’t repeat the mistake . Thinking he had acknowledged my mistake , I stood up .

“We aren’t done here.” He harshly responded . I haven’t heard him raise his voice at anyone since his teen days and he decides to shout at me. I’m now fuming.

“What could have happened to Samosa had the stove still been lit ? Aren’t you too loose with your mistakes?” My mind just went ‘Be for real’.

“I recognise my mistake Jotaro and I thank God nothing serious happened as a consequence. “

“Maybe it's because you can’t think of anyone but yourself but I had months of research papers here and had yet to have them in digital format . They could have been gone!” He boomed. I flinched . He noticed and moved closer . What could I have done?

“I said I’m sorry! What do you want me to do ? Reverse time ? I can’t do that .You’re scaring me and I feel uncomfortable around you .” I say and run to my room.

I’ve always been scared of people shouting . Less because of the act itself and more because of what it may lead to . I vividly remember the post election violence. I was in a secure estate so I didn’t face the brunt of the impact . But at seven I remember the shouting , the screaming that filled the streets. My mom barricading the gates to ensure the rioting masses didn’t attempt to kill us based on our tribal ties. At seven I contemplated whether it was better to burn within your home or be displaced and become a domestic refugee. Both options carried a low survival rate. The ending to that tragic event was grim . The politicians , unaffected , decided on a compromise alongside a new constitution . 600,000 people were displaced,3,000 injured and killed. It was a far hopeful outcome than the Rwandan Genocide , but like a small scar, forever left its mark .

Jotaro doesn’t know the trauma that time had on me. But God don’t I hate how intimidating he looked . What the momentary flashes of the past panged me with . He hasn’t tried to talk to me , nor did he follow me . I’ll sleep it off . Maybe I’ll talk about it with Ms Khadija.

Third Person Narration.

Jotaro didn’t understand why y/n spooked out when he shouted. Granted he assumed he wasn’t as loud but he didn’t know the impact it had on her . He thought he’d wake up and apologise . The previous day had been rough on him.He had messed up on writing one of the records and this messed up the entire file so he was stuck fixing the mistakes of a past sleepy Jotaro. When he comes home, he finds the stove left on and his seemingly short fuse bursts. He wanted a shouting match and y/n was the perfect person he could shout at especially since she wouldn’t take that  sitting down . He didn’t expect wide glassy eyes and an ever shrinking figure . He only wanted to check on why she reacted like that , but she skirted away, dashed to her room and locked the door.

He came back from the gym , guilt in full motion. He shouldn’t have tried to instigate a fight . She wasn’t home, must have left when she noticed he left . She didn’t even make him oatmeal and eggs (which she always kindly did despite his adamant refusal). Yep she’s scared of him and he’s realising the consequences of lashing out full force without thinking through. She had apologised, willingly as a matter of fact, and he didn’t take the cue that she was uninterested in arguing with him . It was his fault.

He is lost throughout the entire workday, his colleagues snapping him back.He reasons that his mom and gramps are unaware and are off dragging y/n to show them around. He decides after work he’ll apologise . He’ll willingly grovel at her feet.One day passes , he attempts to stay up but the exhaustion kills him and he sleeps, She smartly avoids him . Coming home at times she knows he’ll be asleep and waking up bright and early before he wakes up.

By the third day he decides to go to the hotel , believing that she stays there for a longer duration to avoid him .He finds her beside the pool, smiling widely at whatever anecdote Gramps is dramatically exaggerating about and he’s envious. The pool lights illuminate her wide smile and the one who gets to see this carefree view swinging on the hammock is a blubbering old man.She looks up and a frown hardens her features.He’s ready to bow down, profusely apologising for his sins .Joseph looks back and notices Jotaro’s approaching figure . If he knows anything about their argument , his expression reflects nothing of acknowledgement. He sadly says;

“Picking her up today? It's sad , I was about to get to the good part.”

“Talking about your plane crashes is not a casual post dinner conversation . “ Jotaro admonishes.

“Sheesh , well I’m heading to bed . You better be free tomorrow, we are going golfing and I want some of my associates to meet the family.” He says and winks at y/n who nods in affirmation .

“I’ll be there ,” And with that Joseph abruptly leaves.

They sit in silence.The sound of the fanned leaves cover up the excruciatingly awkward prolonging quietness. Y/n makes no move to talk and Jotaro is unnoticeably jittery.He finally says;

“I’m sorry.”

“It's fine.”

“Please , forgive me. I don’t know why you were afraid , but I didn’t mean to scare you at the moment.”

“Jotaro, It's late, let’s go home okay ? I’m tired and you must be too.”She rises up and walks to the reception area , Jotaro, after a long glance, follows her.

Her icy demeanour retains its rigidness even when they go over to take Joseph and Holly during the next day. She encourages Joseph to take the front seat and talks largely to Holly throughout the ride , She looks angelic in her blue sweater vest and tennis skirt but Jotaro refutes on complimenting cause , that wasn’t the time.

Once the arrive , one of the associates , a bald headed man with a pot belly underneath an all white outfit welcomes them, gesturing them to the court .He drags a glance at y/n and when she mentions her name replies;

“What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl! My son , the useless bastard, is having problems getting a wife, maybe I should pair him up with you.”

She refutes and Jotaro adds;

“Actually we are in a serious relationship .It would be disastrous if they met right?” He warningly smiles and the man drops the conversation immediately .Holly and Joseph however , smile knowingly at Jotaro who ignores their telepathic teasing.Noticing the stares y/n gets as they walk to the field, he places his arm on her lower back which she begrudgingly allows.

Y/n is contemplating . Her usual course of action is to force Jotaro to grovel in forgiveness but her conscience is now against that . Ignoring him is difficult, considering their living arrangements but she doesn’t want to forgive him yet.She decides on guilting him a bit, perhaps talking about her trauma will put him in place .They trail behind Joseph’s and Holly’s golf cart in silence and quickly get out once they reach the first field. She is average at playing , which is good considering she’s a beginner, Jotaro however is struggling throughout the holes, needing adjustment from Holly who seems to be a professional in the sport , easily beating everyone else playing .

“How are you so good mom?”

“I’ve been playing since I was accompanying papa to his meetings.”She gleefully responds. Y/n is in awe .

“Then why didn’t you go pro.”

“I did . I quit after a year. The sport isn't fun when it's your job.”

“Why does it always seem like you’ve lived a thousand lives?” Y/n rhetorically remarks which earns a laugh from Holly.

By the eighteenth hole the results confirm that Jotaro is dead last alongside Joseph. Holly is at top and Mutua(Jotaro’s associate) is the runner up followed by y/n.

“It seems the women in your family are very capable in comparison to the men.”Mutua Jokes.

“I can't refuse that, Y/n here can probably run a country with ease.” Jotaro chuckles in agreement while slowly shaking the shoulder of a timid y/n.

“Anyway let’s have lunch then we can discuss business.” Mutua instructs.As they head to the carts, Y/n slowly says to Jotaro with a small chuckle

“If you weren’t so impactful with your hits, you would have landed some hits rather than consistently scraping the ground.” .Jotaro loudly laughs at this much to the shock of everyone 

“I hope you can teach me someday.” He responds while revving the engine.

They spend the afternoon casually eating lunch and much to Joseph’s annoyance , Jotaro excuses both him and y/n out the country club early.

“Why are we leaving early? and who’s going to take mom and gramps home?” Y/n questions. Jotaro offers a small assurance that he ordered an uber and drives off to ..

“Tudor! Are we having mishkakis for dinner?” She excitedly questions as she hopes off the car.

“Yep,” Jotaro says. She isn't usually in this area of Mombasa so she rarely gets to enjoy the savoury food as often . Y/n took it as takeaway largely because it's much easier than stuffing herself with foodstuffs .

They walked around the area in silence, despite the cars the streets were not as packed as it was approaching seven. Jotaro suddenly breaks the silence by saying;

“The day we argued , I was stressed and when I saw the stove top on and went berserk. I apologise for scaring you and for putting you in such a position.”He looks down in shame.

“You remember when we came to Japan during April? And we weren't able to come during the usual Christmas time?”Y/n askes and Jotaro nods in confusion.

“We didn’t come because Kenya was at the brink of civil war and everyone was barricading themselves at home, fearing the worst.”She adds and Jotaro shoots up in utter bewilderment . 

“I wasn’t exactly harmed but the screams and shouting I heard on the streets were practically nightmare fuel for weeks. That’s why I reacted that way. Thank you for apologising but the next time we argue , please try to lower your tone.”She finishes with a slight smile gracing her lips.

Jotaro’s heart is heavy. After composing himself, he bows down much to the surprise of y/n and the people surrounding them . He then solemnly says;

“I’m so sorry . I’ll do everything I can to repent.”

Y/n forces him to get up , largely because she’s embarrassed but also because she had planned on forgiving him anyway. They walk back to the car and Jotaro remains silent for the rest of the ride back.

“You know you can speak to me right?I’m not going to start quivering whenever you speak.”Y/n says once they alight from the car.

“I was thinking, maybe we should go out, at the mall. We can even check out Miniso's”Jotaro says whilst  needlessly stratching the back of his neck

“We should. Not for me though, you need a lot more clothes that are fashionable, I’ll just buy stationery.” She excitedly responds , not without casting a withering glance at Jotaro’s outfit.

He smiles in response.

                                      prev  masterlist next

It seems my poorly written fanfic has earned some views ,Thank you so much for the support.

But seeing as my first uni semester is ending I need to pay more attention to the books. Updates will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Cross your fingers for Saturdays) . I apologise and now understand authors who don't post as regularly.

[gabrielle-kl]

Not Your Average Legacy ~ Sims 4

Challenge Created by: gabrielle-kl

Hi, my name is Gabrielle and ever since early last year I wanted to see if I could create my own legacy challenge. Going into this challenge I want you to know that it’s not just about making a sim and completing the tasks to beat the challenge. This is a legacy challenge, however, I made it with endless storyline possibilities; think of it as a narrative adventure game where the player's choice is heavily impacted!

~ R U L E S ~ 

I do not specifically have rules other than following each generation in order and no money cheats (Only cheat your money for generation 1 for the starting funds). 

If you play my challenge I would love to see your sims in action! Please use the tag #notyouraveragelegacy so I can see it!

Generation 01 - Writer’s Block 

Ah….ok that’s pretty much that! You pack your bags, check your bank account to make sure you have enough simoleons and finally your laptop. Perfect, you're out the door leaving your small family and hometown to focus on the only thing that makes you feel like everything around you is in your control. 

Growing up you liked making crazy narratives where there was always a twist at the end. You love making others wonder how are you going to finish the story. Like every book, it has chapters and your chapter begins in your new town. Now, this isn’t smart on your part but you got your new place for dirt cheap. I mean it’s empty, it only has your basic household necessities, and it’s not that bad but could be a fixer-upper.

Ignoring the fact you have barely anything in your home you take out your laptop….and head to town. You spot a cafe, decide to chill there for a bit and start doing what you love….writing. You honestly quite like this cafe and decided to write in here often, almost like your Jughead Jones.  

Like every writer….sometimes we get stuck and can’t think of anything to write, you are under a lot of stress; I mean I don’t blame you, your home doesn’t even have a comfy couch, not to mention you are low on funds, like really low. Frustrated with yourself, you head home and try to figure out how you are going to pay bills and afford necessities. Yeah, you're going to need a job. 

Get started: Start with a house or apartment that is practically empty it only has the basic household needs (ex: stove, fridge, bed, toilet, etc)

* When you start making money here and there that’s when you can start personalizing your home* 

Starting simoleons: § 200

Traits - Creative, Bookworm, Loner

Likes: Writing

Aspiration - Best-selling author (Finishing the aspiration is optional)

Goals ~

Visit the same café three times a week to write stories on your laptop 

Complete the writing skill 

Try to befriend your neighbours 

Get a part-time job of your choice 

Find your spouse at the same café you always visit 

Adopt a stray

Have as many kids as you want 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

After a while you realize the job you have now isn't making you happy, yeah it pays the bills but it is not what you want to do.

The choices are: to quit your job or find a way to get fired and then become a freelance writer.

Generation 02 - You never really grew up

As a kid, you were always playing with the kids who lived in your neighbourhood along with your siblings. You would play at the park, build forts, have sleepovers, tell stories and watch movies super late. You did everything with them, but that didn’t last long. Unfortunately, things don’t stay the same; some of your childhood friends started to drift and do different things that interest them, which includes spending time with other kids. Even your siblings tell you they don’t have time to do these activities with you anymore. You lose all contact with your childhood buddies because all you want to do is what you always did with them, but they find it childish but you don’t.

It hurt for a while and you found it quite difficult to build friends in school because none of them were interested. But that didn’t stop you from being a kid at heart, you would go to online chat rooms and talk to people online. You would talk to a bunch of people there and end up texting and calling each other. It makes you so happy that you have people that you can connect with that don’t find your way of spending time with each other childish. 

Traits - Childish, Insider, Geek

Aspiration - Leader of the pack

Goals ~

Befriend the kids in your neighbourhood or even some school kids

Collect frogs and Mysims Trophies 

Always accept to hang out with friends 

Call friends often 

Fall out with all your childhood friends as a teen

Make four new friends and keep those friends 

Never move out of your childhood home

Have 2-3 Kids 

Have three failed part-time jobs (constantly getting fired) 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

The choices are: you rekindle a friendship with one of your ex-friends or fall in love with someone in your new friend group.  

Generation 03 - Wild 

You’re quite the charmer, it stands out amongst your siblings. Hey, it followed you right to high school, you were that semi-popular kid but mostly annoyed everyone with slick remarks. Well, I guess someone finds you funny because you end up finding yourself in a relationship, the two of you just clicked. You would go on dates with each other in the most random places sometimes. 

College applications are starting and you have already applied, however, your lover tells you he/she doesn’t have any plans to go to college. You both decide that instead of breaking up, you have a long-distance relationship. 

While at college you’re having a blast, and you tend to throw big dorm parties, like cops knocking on your door-type parties. Dorm mates secretly hate you but at least you clean up after yourself…in the morning….they can’t be mad at you forever, right?

Juggling studying, partying and a whole relationship back home, yep you didn’t think this through; the stress is getting to you but you don’t show it. But then you do something that you might regret.

Traits -  Romantic, Goofball, Maker

Aspiration - Master Maker

Goals ~

Have a high school sweetheart and remain with them throughout University

Get a secret matching tattoo with your lover as a teen 

Use the woodworking table to max handiness skill 

Apply for University and major in business 

Join the spirit squad or spirit corps (depending on which university you attend)

Throw big parties every week while at University 

Call your girlfriend/boyfriend back home often 

Hook up with four different sims at one of your parties 

Graduate from University and join the business career 

Work on inventions throughout your life and sell them for a profit (Go ahead, open that store!)

Have one kid

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline. So you did cheat on your high school sweetheart during a party at university. What do you do? 

Confess about cheating on your partner once you return home or never tell them what you did.

If you tell them that you cheated on them depending on how they respond, you can rekindle the love or let them go and move on. However, if you decide to never tell them you have to stay with them and have another secret hookup with one of your hook-ups from your University days. (That’s brutal….)

Generation 04 - Guilty Pleasure 

I swear you just let anything fly out of your mouth! Of course, you don’t see anything wrong with it but your parents do and they are very concerned about it. That however doesn’t bother you at all, as a kid you liked to obsess over the weirdest things and would not shut up about it. If it interested you, you made sure everyone around you knew about it too.

A lot of other people you know find the things you are into very strange and none of your friends are interested in them, they think it's weird and I don’t blame them. You pick up random hobbies but can never stick to one, you also like dressing up in random costumes doing these hobbies. You are in your own little world and to you, it’s your guilty pleasure. However, being a young adult and trying to please your parents at the same time is very tricky, so you get a job in the cooking business and try your best to be responsible and work hard in your career. But knowing you that doesn’t work out, does it? 

You check in with your parents every week and let them know how “amazing” you are in your career and how well life is going for you. It’s your way of showing them how much you've matured…..although what they don’t know can’t hurt them. You like to go to clubs and bars every weekend and sip a few drinks and go on stage and show the crowd how talented you are! Maybe a shot at stardom?…. Yeah in your dreams. 

On one of your weekly trips to the bar you get yourself into a pickle, how are you going to cover this up now?

Traits -  Lazy, Glutton, Family Oriented

Aspiration - Joke Star 

Goals ~

Reach Level 5 in five different skills

Go out to eat with your parents / call them every week (while they're still alive)

Go to bars/clubs every weekend and have a few drinks before you get up on stage and do stand-up comedy 

Have three good friends 

Get into two fights at the bar/club

Get Pregnant or get another sim pregnant from a random hookup

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

Oh no! Now you’ve got a kid, what are YOU going to do? Either, keep in touch with the other parent, meaning let he/she visit your kid and maybe this little hook-up could be more, or not? Up to you. Or after your child is born you keep the baby with you and never speak to the other parent again.

Generation 05 - Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

You can’t stand your mom/dad (Gen 4 parent) everything they do is so questionable as if they have zero idea what's going on at all times; the majority of your free time is spent watching action channels on tv or playing with action figures. You spend most of your time in your room with the door locked and you don’t care to make friends with kids your age so it’s just you. No matter how much your mom/dad tries to please you, you do not pay them any attention. You like spy movies and you decided being a secret agent is your dream job no matter what the cost was. However, being in this line of work made you quite paranoid and all of a sudden you disappeared. Where did you go?

Traits - Genius, Ambitious, Good (when you pick your career branch, change your good trait to erratic or paranoid)

Aspiration - Neighbourhood Confindate (Optional to complete)

Goals ~ 

Have good grades in school (child to teen)

Move out of mom/dad's house once a young adult (Get a part-time job if you have to)

Max the Charismatic skill 

Have a high level of Logic skill

Have a high level of athletic skill (doesn’t need to be maxed)

Have a mediocre relationship with Gen 4 parent

Get a job as a secret agent (eventually, go into the Diamond agent branch)

Surprisingly you fall in love with someone you work with

Have two kids 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

You've grown quite paranoid ever since you started working as a spy. You think that in the middle of the night, someone is going to come for you, I mean I don’t know who but you do.

Pack your bags and all your belongings, leave your spouse and kids behind, move to an off-the-grid location, and lose contact with everyone you know. Quit being a spy to start a new “safe life” (that’s not messed up in the slightest, but hey who am I to judge) 

Or 

In the middle of the night, you decide to wake up your spouse and tell them to get the kids and pack their packs and meet you in the car. Because all of you are moving to a new home that is far far away from your original home to start a “new life”. 

Generation 06 - Globetrotter 

All of a sudden your life changed overnight. Literally! Everything you once knew before is all different now, nothing feels like how it used to be and they won’t even tell you why. No one will tell you why. You started acting up as a teen; going out late at night, staying up super late, fighting, you even ran away. You only made it to a park but that was cut short because one of your parents found you, your life is a complete mess. Honestly, I don’t blame you; but apart from being angry all the time you found a hobby you quite enjoy. 

Remember when I said you attempted to run away? Well, this time you steal your parent's credit card and sneak out at night to a completely different country. Who cares where it was, you just wanted to feel some adrenaline for once. On your adventure, you decided to start taking a lot of pictures of everything you saw and started engaging in conversation with the people who lived there. Your childhood was pretty much sheltered and even though your parents are frantically searching for you, you're too busy living it up overseas; might as well send a postcard!

Traits - Kelptomanic, Hot-Headed, Materialistic  

Aspiration - Serial Romantic (Optional to finish)

Goals ~ 

Have a terrible relationship with Gen 5 parent (if they are still in your life)

Master Photography and Media Production 

Have above Level 5 in writing 

Go for a jog once a week

Have three different romantic relationships with sims from three different worlds

Be disliked by two sims

Go on vacation five times throughout your life or even more (you are a traveller, of course)

Every time you are on vacation make sure you vlog the experience with a drone (Pretending you have a travel channel) 

C H O I C E 

This Generation has a choice for the player to make. These are choices that you could build off of and integrate into your storyline.

These are your choices; you start gaining a little following on your youtube channel but you want more and in order to do more you need money to go on more trips. You don’t have a job and you need money fast. Instead of searching for a job you decide to steal from various people in your neighbourhood without them knowing and sell it for your own gain.

 Or

You resist going down that dark path and choose a none illegal route. You pick up a job and start making money but still keep your followers posted, and every earning you get you put it towards your channel! Only time will tell if it pays off.

Hope you really enjoy this challenge as much as I had fun making it. Dag, Dag! :)

[rhiannonsage]

PINK

Unfortunately, I only made it to one field trip (due to various reasons) which was our visit to the PINK studio in Stockport. We got a chance to explore a bit of Stockport beforehand and was pleasantly surprised with the cute town (no offence Stockport), Until we met up with the rest of the group at PINK.  

If I’m being honest, when I first saw the building in which PINK was housed, I was quite taken aback, as it wasn’t what I had been expecting. The building looked a bit tired, however when we were taken into Katy’s exhibition space, you could instantly see the hard work that had gone into upgrading the space, undergone mostly by Katy and her partner (lesson learned, the age old ‘don’t judge a book by its cover'!). 

PINK is a curatorial project dedicated to interdisciplinary research, practice, and collaborative change. The organisation is non-profit and dedicated to advancing contemporary art practices. During our tour of the exhibition space and studios, Katy explained how the studios are for rent, at £200 per month, which personally I think is incredibly reasonable, although I don’t know much about the cost of studio spaces. The studios were relatively sizeable and quite private but could also be sociable spaces if needed! 

Renting studios is a new venture for Katy, one she seems very proud of, and she should be! she explained the difficulties in getting yourself out there as a non-profit organisation, and how important networking is when trying to create a name for yourself and your company. She raised a very interesting point about the guilt that people sometimes feel for charging for their time and work. Katy explained how in the early start out of her ventures, she would often undercharge for her work, or find it difficult to find smart ways of making money, this led on to her new addition to her exhibition space, the bar (don’t mind if I do) and how it is a great way of making a little extra money during events, think smarter not harder! Katy emphasised to us to not be afraid of charging people for your efforts, the worst you can be told is no, in which case it isn't worth your time.

 I get the sense that Katy, through experience, has learned to know her worth which will be a factor in her successful growth of PINK. She explained that the contemporary world can be one of low confidence, but also very rewarding if done right.

Katy also touched on the problems that workers in the contemporary art field face when they are not part of a traditional institution, Katy, an many other artists, feel they are looked down upon by the traditional museums and galleries, or not held to the same standard, which I would agree with. Almost like the social classes, there is a separation between the traditional institutions and the contemporary ones, this can have an effect on the self-confidence of contemporary art workers and can often, unfortunately, put people off working in the contemporary world, as most of it is freelance, often there is no stable income, which isn’t for everyone. 

I wanted to use a section of this post to explore some of the exhibitions that PINK have hosted, one of them being Courtship, by Liam Fallon, 2021. This exhibition was a sculptural installation by artist Liam Fallon produced in collaboration with the Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre as part of their Sculptural Production award (2019). This piece focuses on the exploration of queer culture and the way materials contribute to this exploration. In his essay that goes a long with the work, Fallon says that ‘queer culture has appropriated and reinvigorated the unwanted things disposed of by society such as baron lands and unwanted objects and instilled a new sense of life into them’. This piece explores the way in which a utilitarian object can be manipulated into performing an abstract notion, it follows the Greek creation story of Aristophanes. The tale ending with two humans spending the rest of their days trying to locate each other, and this piece represents exactly that, yearning for the other half, the bit that’s missing. 

PINK also conducts interdisciplinary research (as mentioned before) that has led to some interesting outcomes. OUT_PUT is a research project that came about during lockdown, PINK decided they wanted to use this time to create a ‘flexible, discursive space for thinking whilst promoting conversations, cross dialogue and supporting our artists and networks'. institutions like PINK, which are very collaborative and social, had to find new ways to support the fermentation of research and find new ways to produce during such a strange time. This evolved into a project in which they thought critically of the format of listening ‘engaging with the act, space or concept of listening’. PINK invited different creatives to pay attention to the notions of listening by asking questions ‘how do we listen?’, ‘Who do we listen to?’, ‘What do we want to listen to’ etc. Each outcome was entirely different, yet still focused on the possibilities of listening as a curatorial act, gesture, space or encounter. 

My favourite outcome was Sit Spot by Juliet Davis-Dufayard, 2021. Almost like a meditation audio, Juliet invites the listener to sit outside in a green space and take 20 minutes or less, to just breathe and take in the things in the environment around you, listening to the sounds, smelling the smells and overall, practicing mindfulness. It is important to take a moment and switch off from your own thoughts every once in a while, something I found very useful during the pandemic. Dufayard’s practice has performance and liveness at its core and takes many forms, from performed lectures, to sound and video. She believes that ‘the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible’ (Toni Cade Bambara). 

Overall, I found the visit to PINK very interesting. Katy’s openness and honesty about her work at PINK really helped me to begin to think critically about the art world. I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t just a tour of the space and that Katy felt she could really let us into her world of what it is like to run PINK. with all the speakers I have mentioned in my earlier posts and including Katy, there seems to be a real sense of (for lack of a gentler term) existential dread that comes with working in the contemporary art world, yet at the core of it all is the want to make the world a better place. Contemporary art tackles issues that historical art can’t, and the contemporary institutions often become ones that fight social causes along with their other works. 

At first, I did wonder ‘why on earth put yourself through so much instability?’ but I now realise it takes a certain type of person to work in the contemporary art world. It takes dedication, passion, and an overwhelming urge to help and inspire others, there really is no other field quite like it!

[2023megan]

Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge

I first learned about nudging in my Consumer Behavior class last year and its was brought up again when I took Crisis Management & Human Behavior class in H3 as a means to influence decision-making as a leader. What makes nudging so effective is its ability to make consumers act immediately or make faster purchasing decisions. The idea of nudging has always been fascinating to me as it’s such a subtle technique that can completely change consumer decisions without them ever being aware, and I believe this is the most powerful form of nudging. As a consumer, I am now acutely aware (or I think I am) of times I’m being manipulated by companies or brands to behave in a specific way they want me to. The top examples that come to mind are notifications from retailers that I “left items” in my shopping cart or when my AppleWatch reminds me to stand.

The most influential nudges are the ones you barely notice because they are so subtle and are designed to make you not notice anything is out of the ordinary, but your behavior still changes. One example that came to mind while reading is the small change Amtrak recently made to the booking process. I spend a lot of time on Amtrak between Boston and New York and therefore I’m very familiar with the flow that an individual goes through while navigating the app to buy a ticket. Amtrak normally orders its train schedule by time of the train, starting with the earliest train and ending with the latest. Recently, I’ve noticed that Amtrak now lists the Acela (most expensive and fastest) trains first followed by the regional trains. I was scrolling to find a ticket and almost bought one for over $200 because it seemed like there were only two options at the time I needed to leave. It took me a few minutes to think, “Where are all the regional trains?” and only then did I scroll to the bottom, where those trains were hiding. As a consumer, I am programmed to see schedules in order of time and by reordering the train options, Amtrak was nudging me to book the more expensive train without me even realizing anything was out of the ordinary. This nudge was so inconspicuous, and I only noticed it because I am a frequent Amtrak traveler who is more cost conscious and usually chooses the regional option, but less frequent customers or new customers can easily fall into that trap.

However, I don’t think nudging always works. Depending on the type of customer (i.e. frequent or new), it can have different effects, like how it did with me. In these instances, companies should explore customized nudging by customer type, demographic, purchase history, etc. to improve results. 

[nataliesnews]

s the holiday of freedom? 8.4.2023

s the holiday of freedom?

my two friends were from Mexico with apologies.. For those who want to and could not open press on 'ver" and then on the link copy paste

How many of you remember the thrill of hearing the bell and getting a sixpence for an ice cream

We sometimes go to Fatma at Chan El Achmar in the desert for an iftar. It is always every difficult for me as there is no path and one has to climb up. This time was more difficult as we came down in the dark but I did it. She makes very good Makluba and stuffed vegetables. It is a way for her to make a living.

I went to Irit and Yaakov for the Seder but I have never in my life felt so alienated from a holiday as I do today. But at least this made me laugh....the smallest of the grandchildren came in with a beautiful smile and the biggest bottle of wine I had ever seen.

\

The  events in the mosque were terrible and this one picture is not one which I have seen in our media but only  on facebook. What reason can there be to go into a mosque and shooting and arresting people. If it is because they were sleeping in the mosque to strike.....they are not harming anyone so why add gasoline on the already burning stake. So they were throwing rocks....at whom? They were far away from any Jews at the Wall. The soldiers did not have to be on the grounds at all or, if so, only in the direction of the wall. And so the inhabitants of the south can spend this holiday of freedom as the Palestinians are spending theirs. Over 200 taken prisoner and as they were walked along you could hear the soldiers shouting....."Heads down, Heads down." Are the soldiers so young that they do not realise who they sound like.

Don’t say we didn’t know 844

"Ittikaf" is a muslim custom, in which Muslims cut themselves off from the external world by spending a long time, sometimes even a few days, inside a mosque and pray.

  Therefore, the intrusion of Israeli forces into Al Aqsa mosque seems to me to be a provocation aimed at setting off another round of fighting. On Tuesday morning 4.4.23, police officers forcibly evicted Muslim worshipers, who were observing the custom of Ittikaf in Al Aqsa during Ramadan. This is an unjustified attack on worshippers, who had harmed no one. This in order to allow Jewish visitors to go up to the Temple Mount, at what the authorities know to be the most sensitive time of the year. After they had allowed only Muslims over the age of 40 to come to the Temple Mount during the day, the following night the police broke in again and forcibly evicted Muslim worshipers from the place. This time they were met with a violent reaction from worshippers"

IDF Passover Haggadah depicts ‘evil son’ as secular, other three boys as religious

Commentary in religious book distributed to officers for holiday says God sometimes 'allows our enemies to attack us so that we're inspired to repent'

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-passover-haggadah-depicts-evil-son-as-secular-other-three-boys-as-religious/

Haredi outlet’s cartoons depict Lapid as a pig, judge as dragon, protester as wolf

Opposition leader accuses ultra-Orthodox site of using antisemitic imagery in its caricatures

https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredi-outlets-cartoons-depict-lapid-as-a-pig-judge-as-dragon-protester-as-wolf/

Because of the recent terrorist attacks there had been discussion of whether to keep holding demonstrations....I for one think it would be wrong to stop. And I again say....I am against  nay innocent lives being lost to terrorist attacks...but as far as Israelis or tourists are concerned it is almost certain that the perpetrators will be found. But for the Palestinians there is no justice.

This was written by Daphne Banai who is  very active in the Jordan valley. Read this and maybe you will understand the desperation which brings on terrorist attacks/  

"My true condolences to the family that pays the price of Israel's war crimes in the Occupied Territories. My heart goes out to the mother, fighting for her life and the daughters she had lost.Yet - since then, for 2 days in a row, all shephard communities in the Jordan Valley, civilians who had nothing to do with the killing and whose precious water was taken from them and given to the settlements, are now forcibly prevented of going with their rusty water tanker to water sources to bring some water.

Thousands of people, children, old people, sick ones are held for 2 days in the heat with no water.

And the sheep - one can't suspect they are to blame ! They , too, are punished !! This is a war crime

and now we have the happy holiday of Peisach

[alaffy]

Vampire Academy, Ep.1 - Pilot

Life’s been extremely busy lately and pretty stressful, so I’ve decided to spend the next couple of months watching a few shows that, let’s just say, I might enjoy.  But most likely will enjoy poking fun of.  Look, I usually don't watch shows that I straight out hate. Even if I am poking fun, there has to be something about it that catches my attention. Or if I do watch a show that I dislike, I'm going to explain why I dislike it.

But I'm getting off track. So, this is the pilot episode of, I think, a show based on a book series? It's got some interesting parts and I do like the main actresses in the show. I don't know who all the characters are right now. They are introduced so quickly, and quite frankly, I don't know if I'm gonna spend a lot of time trying to remember who these characters are.

However, I do have one complaint about the show and it is something that is probably going to drive me nuts by the end of the season.  My God, can they stay on a shot for more than three seconds?  It’s like camera shot, camera cut, camera cut, camera cut, camera cut, camera cut. And the music behind it, I honestly feel like a lot of this episode was almost like the transition shots you’d see on The Bachelor.  Any moment we were going to have a Rose ceremony, or whatever.  It's annoying.

As for the story itself? Well, let's put it this way….it does set up its own, or start to set up its own, lore; which is kind of interesting. You have the Mori who are the royal vampires, the Dhampier who are the bodyguards and the Strigoi, which are kind of the enemy vampires. It seems like the Mori are more, they live along side the human world; whereas the Strigoi see the human world as their hunting ground.  

That being said, I would kind of like it to have explained why some of the old vampire lore isn't necessarily used anymore. For instance, are the Vampires not immortal; they just live longer than humans? Because the queen is saying she's 200 years old and it’s implied that that seems to be old among their kind. Which, with the vampire I'm used lore I'm used to, 200 wouldn't be that much. You have a family that is killed in a car crash, which again, seems like something that the Vampires I’m used to would survive. Of course, the daughter (Lissa) who survives the crash doesn't really remember much about it, so maybe more happened after the crash. And then there's the whole sunlight thing, which I would say this is the part that irks me the most.  It seems like in this case, the Mori, at least, can't be in direct sunlight or they'll be burned. However, if they have an umbrella that is relatively above their head….and let's face it, some of those shots the umbrella is not really protecting anything. Well, at least they don’t sparkle.

The main storyline involves two young girls. A Mori named Lissa and her companion/hopefully soon-to-be bodyguard Rose. They've been friends all their lives. And it seems like Lissa’s family has treated Rose more like a family member then what many people are comfortable with.  (For instance, Rose is allowed to attend a ball instead of working security outside). Not everybody is happy about that. Of course, Lissa's family dies in the car crash. Oh, I should mention that Lissa's brother, is next in line to be the King. Which is a little odd because it sounds like the king has to be elected, but at the same time it's chosen by the previous royal head, which Ok.  Um, anyway, the brother’s about to be king and that’s why I'm assuming that's why he was killed. Well, that and it seems like he had some progressive policies that others did not like.  But now Lissa is now the head of the family and, at the end of the episode, is chosen to be the next Queen of the Mori; which she does not want. She would rather just travel the world with Rose.

Rose, meanwhile, really kind of screws up.  She was just trying to be there for a Lyssa but puts Lyssa in danger, almost gets her killed, and so Rose has to move back into the barracks instead of living with Lissa in her room at the Academy.

Mostly this episode which just a lot of setting things up. About how things work in that society. You have a character, I think his name is Christian, who is pretty much shunned because his parents turned to Strigori. Of course, he and Lissa seem to be getting very close or starting to have these moments; which is also disapproved of.  So, it’s clear they will be the star-crossed lovers in this series.

You also have Dimitri, who was hired to be Lissa's bodyguard.  It seems like maybe, and maybe I'm just reading into this, he will be kind of the person that starts training Rose. It’s clear that he thinks Rose has the ability to be Lissa guardian.  However, Rose seems to need more discipline.  She’s good, but maybe too cocky in her abilities.  

Now, at the moment, it seems like everyone is trying to split up Lissa and Rose.  However, we see that Rose clearly has some otherworldly connection to Lissa, so that won’t last long.

Of course, we also various families who I'm really not gonna get into too much in this moment. They want the throne for themselves, that sort of thing. We mostly just get a taste of that in this episode; just enough to show that there are dissenters among the ranks and some people want to go back to older ways.

I mean, I'll say I’m a little more interested in the show then I thought I would be (I’d probably be more interested if the camera work wasn’t so annoying).  I don’t know if this is a series for me, but I’ll give it a shot.

[anythingstephenking]

I’m Here for Holly

Holly’s back, tell a friend! Jason Bateman is kinda a part of it! Fun for the whole family.

I haven’t read King at such a breakneck pace in a while, and I’m pretty stoked to be back in the swing of things, if not for the sole reason I’m so close to the finish line.

Non-book related personal anecdotes; therapy is really helpful y’all. I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately and while I know I’ll eventually drag myself out of it, I rarely know where to start. My therapist is A++ at helping me set reasonable goals. This go-round the depression-sun, I decided it was all my phones fault. It’s not, but I like to have something to blame. 

I’ve committed myself to 1 goal; no tv + aimless scrolling. You know how it goes; you turn the boob tube on, pick up your phone, dick around on Reddit, and boom! 4 hours of your life is gone, lost to subreddits about idiot drivers and people asking if they’re the asshole. 

The best way to stay off my phone is to pick up a book. Eventually I will want to clean the house and work on projects but this is good enough for now. So thanks to my main man Steve for writing stories so interesting I don’t miss spending my evenings getting enraged by random shit pricks post on the internet.

Ace Ventura says alrighty then! Let’s get to what we came here for, and that is the delightful return of Holly Gibney and things that go bump in the night.

King pulled his inspiration for this novel from the Poe short story, William Wilson, which is referenced several times in the story. I kinda miss the early days when you googled why King wrote a story and the answer is “someone said a junkyard dog didn’t like his face.” As B*Witched once said, c’est la vie.

The Outsider’s basic premise is this: what would happen if someone could be in two places at once? How could someone both commit and not commit a heinous crime? Are doppelgängers real? Is anything real?

Terry Maitland is your regular ol’ boring suburban dad. He coaches football and little league in small town America. A young boy is found murdered (in the most AWFUL way possible y’all) and Terry is literally all over the crime. Prints, DNA, eyewitnesses; if it was an episode of Dateline it would be a quick one, not one of those two-hour mystery specials where there’s a ton of twists and turns but then it was just the husband all along? It’s always the husband.

Not this time tho! Terry’s case is not so simple. Because Terry didn’t do it, someone wearing his face did? Is this a 90’s blockbuster staring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage? 

Things unravel from there. I think I’ll skip a full plot summary this time, but needless to say it’s an endlessly captivating tale. My only gripe is Holly doesn’t show up early enough - the first 200 pages or so I was yelling “you promised me Holly!” to my book until she finally showed up being the best endearing weirdo in only a way she can.

I truly did not enjoy the Bill Hodges Trilogy (save Finder’s Keepers where there was minimal Bill to annoy me) but I lurve Holly Gibney. I hoped after finishing End Of Watch that she’d get a romantic arc in this one; she doesn’t, but she has earned the titular spot in King’s upcoming Holly, so I will remain hopeful. But really, Holly don’t need no man.

The Outsider was a couple things to me. 

Firstly, a study on the power of ignorance and what lurks when people fail to believe in what is possible. What was imitating Terry Maitland’s was, surprise, not of this world, allowing this creature to travel, feed, frame, feed some more, rinse and repeat. For how long? No one knows but probably a long time. What would you say if someone’s bloody fingerprints and semen was found at the site of a child murder? We all have watched enough Forensic Files to know what that means. A world that doesn’t understand can’t fathom another outcome.

Holly almost died taking down Brady Hartsfield and his magical off-brand iPads, so she believes, and thank goodness she does because, per usual, she saves the day.

Secondly, a slight on the criminal justice system and incarcerated innocent individuals. This one ….might…. be a stretch. But there’s enough dumb cops being irrational and innocent people getting the death penalty to make a case. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s a demon from another world wearing her skin for clothes.

All in all, a delightful page turner with countless twists and turns, your good guys and bad guys, your supernatural creature defeated in a pretty innocuous way. All the fixings for a solid King. He’s still got it y’all.

8/10

First Line: It was an unmarked car, just some nondescript American sedan a few years old, but the blackwall tires and the three men inside gave it away for what it was.

Last Line: That was good.

Adaptations

I have been WAITING so hard for this! My unwritten rules to myself are that I do not watch adaptations without first reading the source material. The miniseries aired in 2020 on HBO and it killed me to sit it out. 

I actually watched this as I read, not breaking my own rules per-se, walking that fine line. I’d check the episode summary on IMDB, make sure I was squarely past those plot points on the novel, and watch an episode or two a night. 

I adored this miniseries. Holly was perfect (obvs). I also appreciate the casting of a black actress, so all the “I’m not a racist” idiots on the internet pissing and moaning that Holly is white would reveal themselves. Cynthia Erivo played Holly to a T. I just wish Jason Bateman was around longer; credited for 4 episodes, he’s only really in 2. We all need more Bateman in our lives.

I also enjoyed that Paddy Considine was here, playing a meth-addict-turned-straight strip bar bouncer, while he’s also kicking around on my HBO screen playing King of the Annals and the First Men Viserys Targaryen on House of the Dragon. Man’s got range.

Holly DOES get her relationship arc on the screen and I was so happy for her until the final shootout where I offhandedly said to myself “if they kill Andy I will scream” then they did, and I did. 

They leaned hard into the supernatural aspect, which I’m pleased they didn’t tip toe around. People moaned that the monster was too easily defeated, but I’m not sure what Battle of the Bastards epic level fight these people were expecting. Holly and a middle aged cop in a cave doesn’t exactly scream that a Battle Royale is coming.

I’m done with Elevation and onto The Institute next. 6 books left!