#and inflict it upon Timmy

[motleyfam]

Re: your Grayson apt post, I’d love to read it!! I love reading sick Tim haha! I can never get enough, and it never mattered to me whether or not it was plausible spleenless or not!! Sorry you get negative comments :(( but know there’s people out there that love your work!! Thank you for sharing your writing with us :D

I’m actually working on it right now!

[pipliekit]

I finished a lonely place of dying and here are a few more excellent panels

Tim completely focused on Dick Grayson, while a man is bleeding out on stage. He has his priorities set.

Dick has known this kid for like, an hour, and he's already deeply stressed.

Dick has entirely given up and is now inflicting Tim on Alfred. Tim continues to be a menace.

Dick and Alfred: please God, let him have parents

Aww Timmy is being such a cutie :) please don't mind Dicks ever growing horror

More of Tim completely horrifying all adults present

I have no words. Alfred's face says it all

These two immediately conspiring to inflict Timothy upon Bruce.

Lies and slander.

In conclusion Tim has always been a weird little freak , even before he picked up the mantle.

Reading 'A Lonely Place Of Dying' and so far every scene with Tim is sending me.

Like bro stalked Starfire and said some weird and concerning stuff than just left without even saying goodbye??

Then IMMEDIATELY breaks into Dicks apartment???? Hello???? Timmy that's an entire crime??? Why are you being so nonchalant about this lmfao??????

Some how this is more unhinged than the fanon retelling of Tim's origin story

[burnxngslash]

genshin questions meme / accepting / @eternalbxtterfly​

🌳: Which is your favourite nation so far?

📝: Favourite story quest?

✍: Favourite non story quest?

😡: Least favourite quest?

🏔: Favourite spot to take photos?

👻: Favourite boss to fight?

💀: Least favourite boss to fight?

🦴: Favourite enemy design?

🧍‍♂️: Favourite NPC?

💥: Favourite and least favourite domains?

⛏: Least favourite resource to farm?

Liyue, I find it’s practically one of the most stable countries in the game so far in terms of a story. Like literally anything can happen and the citizens can deal with the problem. I can say without a doubt 90% of the time Liyue really doesn’t even need Aether. That kind of independency I can get behind.

Kazuha’s introduction quest. From meeting him on the ship to finding a criminal with him, it was ALL a good time. Honestly if the traveler wasn’t shit at keeping his ability a secret Kazuha would have been the first one to notice something off. OH That would have been great wouldn’t it?

I can’t remember how it started but we got an item to see people’s imaginary friends and the fact that Timmy’s a ruin guard freaking KILLED me. Someone’s gotta find that quest for me so i can relive it.

It’s kind of a tie between the first Lantern rite, Scaramouche’s whole quest and Genshin Impact’s version of Groundhog day where we relived the same day over and over. Quests like those we just need a whole skip button.

I don’t have a favorite spot I just spontaneously only take photos whenever there’s a rare chance i’m playing with a friend. Stupid stuff like Diluc checking Jean out in her summer outfit, Xiao standing near Keqing talking about how standing around is absurd, or that one time I took a pic of my Kazuha and my friend’s Ayaka and Yoimiya, one more wife and he’d be Genshin’s Tengen.

In a gameplay sense I’ll have to go with Magu Kenki, so far I still think he’s one of the most polished bosses we’ve gotten.

FUCKING RUIN SERPENT, FUCKING BIG WOLF THING, FUCKING ALHAITHAM’S BOSS. I hate three of these sons of bitches equally.

Dainsleif, and I know what y’all finna say in the comments or your minds: ‘But Jay Dainsleif is a friend of ours’. Yes he is BUT we WILL have to fight against him, he said it HIMSELF in that REALLY early leaked trailer. IF we want to save Lumine then we’ll have to show him our resolve and go through him. THEM’s right there be fighting words which makes him an enemy. That makes him the one with the baddest drip, though I can do without the shoulder pad thingies.

I might have had one once upon a time when I was COMPLETELY into this game and it’s lore but it’s really been a while for me and I CAN’T remember. WAIT I do love Nimrod, anyone that fucking drinks before 10AM has a caribbean’s soul. 

My most favorite Domain is the one where you can farm for Veredent. Cause it’s straight forward, HIT EVERYONE. The one I hate the most, is the one that inflicts hydro on you and your cooldown becomes a freaking eternity. THANK GOD for Ganyu.

ANYTHING THAT CAN’T FREAKING GROW IN THE SERENETEA POT IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE.

[queenlua]

you know how some people

kick up the spice level on their food every time they eat

until they can no longer enjoy any food with fewer than 100k Scoville heat units?

i think some people get that way with board game complexity

[fowlofprey]

“Where’s Mum?” Myles asks at breakfast while your father sets plates of pancakes in front of the twins and you’re mixing your coffee.

“Oh, ah, she’s just a bit under the weather,” says Artemis Sr, and you feel a chill run through your veins. “A couple days’ bed rest and she’ll be right as rain.”

“Mother is ill?” you try to keep your tone neutral, but you’re afraid the way your spoon clinks too loudly against the mug as you unintentionally drop it gives away your fear.

“Just a cold,” your father says, trying to be reassuring as he meets your gaze. “Really, Arty. She’s just got a common cold. Like I said, she’ll be better again before you even know it.”

“...Might I go see her?” you ask.

“Of course,” answers your father. “Go right on up and see her, you’ll see for yourself that she’s just fine. It’s not like...” last time, is what he doesn’t say, but you hear it anyway. Last time, when you had all thought she had simply caught a cold, which turned out to be a severe case of spelltropy, inflicted upon her by Opal Koboi thanks to your meddling with time travel in an attempt to cure her of that very same affliction. Last time, when you thought you would lose her again, for good this time. Last time, when you had manipulated Holly into helping you cure your mother, using the help she had offered years before against her to convince her that it was her own fault. You do not look upon last time fondly.

You just nod in response, and silently leave the kitchen to go and visit your mother.

“What’s wrong with Artemis?” you hear Beckett ask as you leave.

“Well, uh, when-- when you two were little, your Mum got very ill...” your father starts, and you don’t stick around to hear him finish.

“Come in,” Angeline Fowl calls as you knock on her bedroom door, and you do so. “Timmy, back already? Weren’t you going down to have breakfast with the boys?”

There’s that chill, again. Does she not recognize you? Surely, she can’t be that ill...

“Mother, it’s me, it’s Artemis. Don’t you recognize me?”

“No! Impostor! You’re not my little Arty, you must’ve done something to him! Where is he!? What have you done with my son!?”

“Moth-- Mum, it’s me--” you begin, trying to shake yourself out of the memory, and your mother cuts you off.

“Oh, Arty! I’m sorry, dear, it’s just that you look so much like your father. Looking out the corner of my eye, I thought you might have been him. Come on in, Arty, don’t be shy.”

You release the breath you’d unintentionally been holding as you step further into the room, closing the door behind you. Your mother does look sick, but not horribly so. Just a cold, you tell yourself. Just a cold.

She waves you over towards her. “Come on, come here, oh-- but not too close, of course, I’m contagious, after all.”

“I don’t mind getting a cold,” you say, but stop to sit at the foot of the bed at her behest.

“Of course you don’t; something so small would never keep my brave little Arty down for long.” She laughs, and you manage a weak smile. “And that’s all it is, Arty. Just a small cold. I’ll be better in no time.”

“That’s what Father said,” you reply, unsure what else to say.

“And isn’t he always right? ...Usually, at least,” she adds with another small laugh.

Seeing her like this, you can’t help but be taken back to age fourteen, helplessly watching her wither away before your eyes. She was so, so sick, and you knew it was your fault, even though your theory of the true cause had been incorrect at the time, either way, you were still the culprit.

This time, it’s not your fault, and you know that there’s no way it can be, and she’ll be fine, she said so herself, but... you can’t help but find reasons to blame yourself anyway. You should have washed your hands even more than you already do, you should have gotten sick instead, you should have, you should have...

“...temis? Arty? Are you with me?” your mother calls softly as you come back to yourself, feeling her hand around yours and horrid tears falling down your cheeks.

She’s sat up now, holding your hand and looking at you with extreme worry. You once again try to offer a weak smile, wiping the tears from your eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mother. I simply got lost in the past for a moment; that’s all.”

“Well, I’m here in the present, can you stay here with me?”

“...I can try, yes.”

[rexisan]

In other news. I have another au brewing in my head that I shall inflict upon you.

Dragon Tim AU. Where Timmy doesn't know how to handle his instincts really. Not sure when it'll go up cuz I need to do... plotting for it. But! It is in the works.

To those that are following me for Jaytim! Chapter 4 of Gotham Made Us More is up!

So.. so much smut. Proud of it tho. Go have a read. I'll start on chapter 5 the final chapter soon.

[latenightsleuth]

Anyone who owned a television in the '80s will recognize the name Steven Stayner.

Kidnapped in 1972 at the age of 7, the California boy became a national hero when — seven years later — he not only escaped his longtime abuser but freed 5-year-old Timmy White who was being held captive alongside him.

Steven's brave act thrusted him into the national spotlight. He and Timmy attended press conferences, testified at their abductor's trials and inspired a hit 1989 TV movie called I Know My First Name Is Steven.

But while Steven was relishing in his newfound fame and working to overcome the trauma inflicted upon him during his formative years, his older brother, Cary Stayner, stood in the background quietly turning sour.

"A lot of attention went to Steven — we all got a little jealous," says one of the Stayner sisters in Hulu's upcoming docuseries Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story. "My older brother, Cary, he was off."

Ten years after Steven died in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24, something inside of Cary snapped.

Between February and July of 1999 he brutally murdered three tourists and a naturalist in Yosemite National Park: Carole Sund, 42; Juli Sund, 15; Silvina Pelosso, 16; and Joie Ruth Armstrong, 26. Two of the women's bodies were found burned in the trunk of their charred vehicle, one had her throat cut and the final victim had been decapitated.

[gunpowderdtim]

bertie for the headcanons thingy?

oh shit bertie huh

:)

Headcanon A: what I think realistically

TRANS. Short. Bertie is 5″3 feet of anger and I'll fuck you up. Older than Tim by at least a year, but more like two. Bertie was 17/18/19 when he got drafted and time was 16/17 when he enlisted to go with Bertie. 

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious

chronically clumsy. no sense of direction. gets turned around in hallways.

C: what is heart-crushing and awful but fun to inflict on friends

Died trying to save Jonny. Not knowing Jonny is immortal and would be fine.

D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway

is a ghost and watching the whole fucking time. Narrates everything shitty angry narrator style. Like “and so Timmy stumbles, probably thinking about whatever as he gazes upon Raphaellas Lab, stepping inside for Shenanigans and Chaos reasoning, most likely.” like fucking cecil welcome to nighvale narrating peoples lives style. l

[crazyfreckledginger]

Batboys x Reader - “Fear”

Your arrival in the mansion has made you forget about what you were put through, quickly growing attached to all your new brothers. Slowly, you were starting to adjust after your incident. Until the Joker makes you have a stepback.

Requested on Wattpad: “Can I request a story for Batfamily x reader Age:8 She/He is captured by Joker and while her brothers and dad save her she gets infected with joker and scarecrow gas, and almost dies”

A/N: Hope you like it, sorry it took so long, but now my exams are over and I can write again yaaay!!

"This is my room?" Her eyes went wide as she stared up at Dick. 

"Yup," he nodded. 

"B-but it's so big, and other people might need a home, oh, am I sharing with other people?" There were conflicted feelings in her eyes. 

"Nope, you have this beautiful room aaall to yourself." He placed the few belongings she had on her bed. 

(Y/N) timidly felt how soft the mattress was before sitting on it.

"What if there are bad men hiding in the closets -- or under the furniture." Slowly, she hugged her legs, suddenly feeling self conscious. 

"I'll check for you okay?" 

"But what if they come during the night?" She was hugging her pillow now. 

"My room is two doors down, just run as fast as your legs can go and I'll protect you." Richard smiled reassuringly.

****

It must had been a month since the girl  had settled into Wayne Manor and she had grown attached to her brothers, Damian more or less.

She bit her tongue as she tried to keep her balance on the pavement, half of her hovering above the road. 

"Careful," Tim clasped his hand with hers and slowly nudged her back to his side. 

"Where are we going now, Timtim?" The girl skipped to stay beside him. As soon as her eyes caught a glimpse of the marble building on the other side of the road. (Y/N) groaned. "Please tell me we're not going for more money, there are so many people and it's not good to take money from others." The girl peered up at her older brother with puppy eyes. 

"Huh? Oh you mean the bank, no we're not going in there, it's our money they keep in here as well. We're just picking up a few groceries and then we're heading back to the Manor." He stopped her in front of the small grocerie shop to pull out his wallet.

"But wouldn’t make that their money?" She scrunched her nose in confusion. The girl was met with a blank stare. 

"Ask Jason next time you see him." 

"Okay," she grinned. Her eyes locked on a dog that was nearing the pair. 

"Okay, let's go in so we can be out quickly." He gripped his wallet and pushed the door open.

"Aww, puppy." (Y/N) smiled, crouching down as it cautiously sniffed her, completely ignoring the door closing behind her brother.

"Don't me scared 'kay? I only wanna cuddle you." The furball's tail started waggling rapidly, enjoying the small scratches she was inflicting on his forehead and behind his ear. 

His mouth fell open, tongue springing free, thoroughly enjoying the treatment he was receiving. 

A loudly explosion pierced through their ears as debris collided with a building on their side of the curb.

"Timmy!" She screeched, crouching down and covering her ears. The dog whined and rushed off. 

"Well well, who do we have here?" A voice chuckled mischievously.

"H-huh?" 

**** "What was that?" Tim scanned the small grocery shop.

"It sounded like an explosion!" The scared man behind the counter pressed a button under his till.

"Where-" 

The young man's heart nearly dropped: (Y/N) wasn't here with him. He cursed under his breath, racing towards the door as a loud metal screech roared in the room. Bars were falling from in front of the main door in case of a robbery. 

"No, no no!" The Wayne grunted, watching it fall tightly shut as he opened the windowed door. 

"Open it!!" He turned to the cashier. 

"I-I can't until the cops get here!"

*****

"Who was robbing the bank?" His fingers pulled at his strands of hair cascading down his forehead and teasing at his eyes. 

"Joker." Dick murmured.

"This is so much fucking BULLSHIT!" Jason threw hands around.

"How long before you track her down?" Damian turned towards his father who was typing away at the Batcomputer.

"Soon, it's been narrowed down to two locations." 

"Hurry up so we can go!" Red Hood ushered.

****

Slowly, her eyes opened, they felt heavy and unfocused. Her body was numb and her head ached against the cold, damp ground.

"D-daddy?" She sobbed, feeling the pain from each breath she took. A gasp escaped her as she finally realised something around her mouth and nose, which had previously muffled her sounds. It contained green gas and she was instinctively breathing it in. 

Since when is air green??

Her arms and legs were tightly bound by rope that was digging into her skin. Squirming only made it worse. 

"Aah, the little Wayne brat is finally awake, I was wondering how long you would take, I didn't hit you THAT hard, you're only of use to me alive." An insane cackle spread through the room. Her heartbeat picked up widely, making the pain even more unbearable at her poor attempt at respiring oxygen. 

Small tears fell off her cheeks to the ground as she distinguished a figure in the dim lit room. 

"You recognise me?" He teased, hovering over her restrained figure on the floor. She was too terrorised seeing the face of the man that she could only half recognise from when her brothers switched the new channel as soon as she entered the room.

Cowering inside herself, as much as her restrains enabled her to, she painfully watched as the mad man towered over her.

Abruptly, he pulled off the gas mask to watch her cough.

"Good, now the gas can sink into your lungs and show you loaaads of wonderful things." He snorted. 

Terrorised, it felt like her throat and lungs tied a knot to stop her from breathing all together. 

She shut her eyes as tightly as she could, hoping this was a nightmare, wishing she would wake up from it and having one of her brothers were soothingly combing through her hair, cooeing and reassuring her that everything was alright. That they were there for her -- but this felt all too real to be up to her imagination. 

Glass breaking, thumping, groans, and yells teased at her ears, she heard, but could not listen. Her entire body was failing her, shutting down, purely mechanical. 

Every thing felt distant, like her consciousness was leaving her body, her skin was burning up but she felt so cold inside, what happened to her? 

After the torture her body was inflicting upon itself, her limbs went limp. Eyes fell shut, blocking out her unfocused and dazed senses. 

Finally, the physical pain morphed into numbness, but the poor girl didn't know that her inner demons awakened, and the emotional pain was just starting.

****

"How is she, Alfred?" He rushed into the hospital, worry and concern threading at his face. 

"She's... alive," the butler turned towards him with a sorrowful look. 

"Her heartbeat is stable, but we don't know when she'll wake up." Dick muttered, head barely hanging from his shoulders as his attention stayed glued to the floor, elbows on either knees. 

"Joker has disappeared again, we have to make sure this doesn't happen again." Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

"That's all good and well but-" 

"Jason, not now," Tim interjected, shooting a glare his way as his older brother scoffed. 

Dick stood up, sighing deeply and leaning against her bed.

Her heartbeat was above normal, clearly showing that she was either stressed, scared, or excited. However, her contorted, painful facial expressions showed that she was nowhere near that last one. 

A single tear formed in the corner of her eye, dropping down towards her ear. His thumb rubbed it away, but the action only made his heart break. 

(Y/N) was so cheerful around them, worming into their hearts and making a little home for herself. She was just a child, and she'd gone through so much in so little timex she didn't deserve it, none of his brothers deserved it.

A sob escaped her and all eyes tore to her. 

She did not budge.

How could she still be asleep and crying? How much more painful could this be for her? 

The heart monitor shot up, making alarmingly rapid noises. Damian, who had previously been quiet walked over to her bed and leaned over it, the others followed suit. 

"P-please," the tiniest of whimpers escaped her and her eyes finally opened. The child sat up and crawled as far from the figures as she could instinctively.

"(Y/N), it's okay, it's Dick, everyone is hear as well," the eldest robin soothed, holding her hand and staring at her affectionately. His beautiful eyes held hers and upon recognising them, she accepted his firm hand, being pulled in his tight embrace. The others grouped around her in relief. 

She was shivering, suspected of still being under the fear gas. 

"We're here, and we're not letting you go until you're ready." Tim mumbled. 

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[hermeschalamet]

I watched A Rainy Day in New York today bec Timothée's in it and oh waow. I really wouldn't have inflicted it upon myself to the end had he not been in it. It's so, so bad? I don't even know where to start.

I found the time period confusing, everyone looks retro but somehow they have phones. But that actually might be the only thing I enjoyed in the whole movie. It was confusing in a good way.

It's not even that the cast is bad because I know it for a fact that Timmy's an excellent actor, and Elle Fanning from what I'd seen before is not bad at all, but in this movie everyone seems plagued with typical Woody Allen mannerisms in a way that feels overused, borrowed, out of place. The way Timmy's hunched over and the way he speaks just doesn't ring true AT ALL, just a projection of Woody Allen on him. Same goes for Elle, the delivery doesn't feel real one second.

The dialogues are so bad. The plot is phony and uninteresting. I honestly struggle to fathom why Timmy did this movie, like, putting aside entirely the fact that Woody Allen was the director and is embroiled in scandal, it's a really lousy movie. And it's not even that the script was supposedly good and the end result is bad: there's nothing of substance. Mediocrity all around. Wtf.

[oldshowbiz]

August 1958 - Timmie Rogers, the first major Black comedian to emerge in the post-war period, was brutally beaten by an army sergeant on the base where he'd been booked to perform. Rogers was the first of a new generation of stand-ups that included Nipsey Russell and Redd Foxx.

Timmie Rogers was the first Black stand-up comedian to play before white audiences. In the 1940s Black performers could sing and dance for a white audience, but it was generally verboten to just talk and joke as yourself. Rogers played both Black and white clubs and was a hit in both. He was known for his catch phrase, “Oh, yeah!” He occasionally sang and danced and even released several soul singles, but was best known as a fresh, brash, stand-up comic.

Timmie Rogers was a regular on The Jackie Gleason Show where his stand-up act made him a crossover star. He had just finished a month at the London Palladium with Liberace and Dick Shawn when he was booked for a month's worth of work, doing comedy on US army bases all around Europe

He had just finished performing at two different US Army installations in Germany when he arrived for his third and final show of the evening, scheduled for 12:15am, Saturday night. Upon arrival at midnight, a white army sergeant screamed in his face, "Where's the fucking emcee?"

It was 15 minutes before showtime. Timmie Rogers reportedly asked the sergeant, "What's the problem, man?" The sergeant accused him of being late and yelled, "Don't call me man'!" He punched Rogers in the face, knocking him against a shuffle board table, throwing him to the ground.

Two white soldiers watched while the army sergeant repeatedly kicked the comedian while yelling the N-word. Rogers suffered internal bleeding, two black eyes, three broken ribs, and several cuts and bruises. Rogers was already well-known. A famous star. He had just spent a month entertaining US soldiers.

The army sergeant was court-martialed for "inflicting grievous bodily harm, felonious assault, and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentlemen." He was expected to get five years in jail if convicted. Several witnesses saw the sergeant scream the N-word and assault the comic.

The army sergeant claimed he never touched the comedian. He told the press, "I’m in a blouse uniform and I’m going to beat up some [N-word] in the back yard? That would be ridiculous. I never laid a hand on him. I know better than that. I’ve been in the army sixteen years." 

Later the army sergeant admitted to the crime. As the Pittsburgh Courier reported, there were audible gasps in the court martial room when the army sergeant was acquitted of all charges other than disorderly conduct. He was fined one thousand dollars and went back to work.

Rogers was livid, calling it Deep South style justice. “Man, the jury was Little Rock and the judge was Governor Faubus! Billy and Yvonne Moore, two English actors, saw the whole thing and offered to return from England to testify. The army refused to bring them back for the trial. [The Major] was really reeling and completely confused about the starting time of my performance. Man, he didn’t know what was happening.” 

Due to his injuries, Timmie Rogers would no longer be able to dance in his act, but his stature as a stand-up comedian only grew. He enjoyed even greater cross over success in the 1960s, appearing in hundreds nightclubs and television shows. A pioneer.

[cbk1000]

Jenn Recommends: Fantasy

All right, kids; it’s that time again. Time for me to babble on for an obnoxiously long time about books I have read and adored, and time for you to just shut the fuck up and take all my advice, because I have great taste.

Since this recommendation list concerns fantasy, all of the following books are actually part of a series, because it is illegal for fantasy authors to write standalone novels: they will be publicly executed for devoting anything less than 3,000 pages to Timmy’s sword and stones. You know this is true because you just read it on the internet.

If You Like: Political intrigue, really hot people, + everyone and their brother being canonically gay as fuck.

Read: The Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey.

This series starts with Kushiel’s Dart, and there are actually two trilogies worth reading in this world: Phedre’s (the first trilogy) and Imriel’s (the second, which I may like even better). We do not talk about the third trilogy. In this write-up, I’m just going to talk about the first trilogy, but if you enjoy it, I definitely encourage you to read the next three books.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a courtesan who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye--a mark of the god to let others know that she’s into really kinky shit. You cannot spank this bitch hard enough. As a child she is sold into indentured servitude, and bought by a man who recognizes the mote in her eye for what it is and what it signifies--namely, that people who sexually enjoy having the ever-loving fuck beat out of them are pretty much up for anything, which means she will make a great spy.

So that is what she is trained in--not just the arts of the bedroom, but the arts of overhearing everything meant for non-State-approved ears. Of course because this is a novel and something has to happen in it, she stumbles upon a plot against the throne that gets a lot of people stabbed multiple times and throws her and her hapless goddammit-this-is-my-first-real-assignment bodyguard into a Perilous Journey that spans Many Lands.

Two things I really love about this series: the world building and the casual approach to homosexuality.

The various different countries are obviously based heavily upon European history and lore, but she’s done enough research to really flesh them out. We don’t just have a few generic descriptions here and there of vaguely European geography, but actual religions and languages and histories which are more than just given a hasty, passing mention to conjure the illusion that the world is more tangible than it actually is: you can taste and touch and hear Terre d’Ange.

As for the casual homosexuality: the main pairing is hetero, but Phedre takes several female lovers, because in Terre d’Ange, the one rule by which everyone must abide is ‘Love as thou wilt’. No one is really straight or gay; sexuality isn’t really a thing, labels aren’t a thing; people bone who they bone and nobody bats an eye. Kind of like Ancient Greece, till it came time for you to stop porking Archimedes during oily wrestling sessions and churn out a couple of brats. Sex work in this world is also considered in the service of the goddess, and those engaged in it are bestowing a blessing on their customers; it is an honorable and profitable line of work.

I honestly could not put these books down. I have two copies of the third book in this trilogy because I ordered it online while halfway through the second, then promptly panicked when I realized it wouldn’t arrive in time for me to immediately begin the third as soon as I finished the second novel. I actually drove an hour and a half to the nearest Barnes and Noble just so I didn’t have to wait two agonizing days for the next book to arrive. The writing can be a little heavy-handed (think purple euphemisms for a man’s steely pleasure wand, etc.), but overall it’s gripping and lush and I could barely stop reading long enough to take bathroom breaks.

If You Like: Bleak stories where probably nobody is ever going to get anything more than a brief glimpse of happiness before it’s cruelly torn away from them and legitimately creepy monsters.

Read: The Banned and the Banished series by James Clemens.

This series on the surface is your fairly generic Evil Dark Lord vs. Savior Newly Awakened To Their Powers. Elena is a thirteen-year-old girl who has just been visited for the very first time by the dreaded Aunt Flo. With puberty comes the blossoming of new powers: a red hand that shoots a lot of fire out of it, a power I would’t mind having while trying to navigate a bunch of idiot-inflicted traffic. Over the course of the five books in the series, she picks up her Adventure Party and they sally forth to do battle with the Dark Lord’s minions (of which there are a metric fuck ton, in scientific terms). Some parts begin to feel a little monster-of-the-week, as the protagonists barely have time to take a breath in between waves of tentacly evil.

So why I am I recommending this series? Because Clemens is not content with just scattering some generic tropes around the page and calling it good: he wants you to go, “What the FUCK, dude??”. A lot. This is probably the only book in which you will encounter a woman letting a bunch of spiders crawl into her vagina. Or later giving birth to those spiders, which have, upon the touch of the Dark Lord, transformed into a monster that smells like dead baby and eats people’s faces. I recently came across this series in Russian and have been rereading it as a 31-year-old adult, and there are scenes which even now thoroughly traumatize me; it really explains why I am the way I am, since I first read the beginning books when I was only 11-12.

This series is surprisingly hard to put down; I suppose it’s because you are compelled (or at least I am) to find out what the hell kind of nasty thing is next going to emerge from the forest and inspire you to check under your bed at night even though you’re a goddamn adult. This series is not for the faint of heart, obviously. But if you like dark fantasy, and you’re into the idea of reading something that on the surface seems a pretty standard fantasy tale before it suddenly starts hurling vagina spiders all up your business, check it out. Also, if you’ve read any of my work and you’d like to know just what the fuck is wrong with me, I believe this series can throw a little light on that.

If You Like: A protagonist who won’t take your shit but also is allowed to be emotionally vulnerable, Chinese history, detailed military campaigns.

Read: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang.

Rin, a war orphan raised by shitty foster parents in a backwoods village, is accepted into a prestigious military academy where pretty much everyone, teachers included, hates her because she’s a peasant and this school is for the sons of rich people, goddammit. Rin is talented in the nearly lost art of shamanism because she’s the main character of a fantasy novel, and it is only her newly-found powers that have a chance of halting the advance of the Federation as they march upon the Nikara Empire, intent on conquering (and graphically torture murdering) everything in its path. On the flip side: her powers have also been known to turn literally all their wielders into raging loonies who have to be imprisoned for the good of everyone.

My ignorance of Chinese history is absolute, so I’ve no idea where the author (herself Chinese, and an historian, I believe) is pulling from in order to build the foundations of her world, but it’s obvious she has done a lot of research and painstakingly agonized over every little detail. It’s nice to finally step away from the usual Euro-centric world of much Western fantasy, and into one so fully fleshed-out.

This story actually reminds me in some ways of Mulan: the unlikely protagonist bests nearly everyone in all of her training--but only because she works three times harder than anyone else, and no one particularly admires her for it, saving her from Mary Suedom. She’s intelligent and determined, but nothing comes easily (especially when one of your masters is more than a little unhinged). She has exactly one friend, and spends most of her time trying to read her way to a better martial artist. 

This is not, however, a school story; and though the characters are 16-17 when they first enter the academy, it is not a YA story either. It is a story about war, and the author has no interests in presenting war as anything other than it is: revolting, traumatizing, horrific. There are some very graphic depictions of violence, so if you do not have the stomach for that, this is not the book for you.  Neither massacres nor first kills are glossed over; everything is presented exactly as it looks, smells, feels. 

Because life is never one long angst-ridden slog, however, and there was always something, before war, there are moments of legit humor; I actually laughed out loud at several lines. And that leads me to something else the author does very well: dialogue.  Much dialogue is an excuse for the author to sound worldly, wise--poetic. It also often hardly sounds like human speech. Real humans, even articulate, intelligent humans, do not shit a fucking Keats verse every time they open their mouths. In The Poppy War, people, wonder of wonders, actually sound like people; perhaps even more notable: teenagers sound like teenagers.

Stylistically, this book is utilitarian; I won’t be highlighting any phrases because they’ve left me awestruck. But it is not lightweight fantasy; the main characters wield terrifying powers with immense consequences. They are mangled, tortured, killed; some of them are drug addicts because only in opium can they find a momentary release from what they have survived. It’s a hold-onto-your-balls-kids kind of story. This is the first novel in a purported trilogy, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the rest of the series.

[sweet-timmytea]

he built a fire just to keep me warm

Summary | “I’m okay.” He whispered brokenly to himself, shaking hand reaching up to roughly grab onto the skin on his neck. He gasped for breath and closed his eyes tightly, remembering a time when it was his hand gently holding onto his neck, his soft lips placing sweet kisses onto his full lips. He remembers everything.

“I’m okay.” He tries to reassure himself as he lowers himself in front of the toilet, hand reaching up to shove his fingers down his throat to empty the contents of his stomach.

He’s okay.

Warnings - mentions of eating disorder, self hatred, thoughts of suicide, suicide attempt, heavy angst, very sad Timmy

Chapter One

Timothée Chalamet has always been a happy kid. His childhood was fantastic and so full of love and everything a child’s life should be. He’s always said it, but he got so incredibly lucky. He has the most amazing, supportive parents in the world. His family is beautiful.

Acting is something he wasn’t forced into. He didn’t grow up with parents who pushed him into this career he didn’t want to be in. This has always been his passion.

He didn’t grow up in the spotlight, which was also a good thing. He was able to have a childhood and go to school like a normal kid and experience normal kid things. He didn’t have cameras and yelling paparazzi following him everywhere. He didn’t grow up seeing his name on the front cover of magazines. His life was perfect, and he wouldn’t change a single thing about it.

He doesn’t know when it started to not be okay.

He doesn’t know who to blame or what to change, because it happened so suddenly. One minute he was the happiest he had ever been in his life, and the next he was letting older men fuck him into dirty mattresses he wasn’t familiar with and kneeling in front of toilets to empty the contents of his stomach.

Suddenly he was sad and lonely. Suddenly he didn’t want to socialize at award shows and smile for the cameras. He just shut down- lost himself in the midst of the high.

Sometimes, he blames it on love.

He blames it on him. A dark and twisted side of him sometimes wonders what his life would have been like if he never met him.

He pinches his stomach sharply at the thought. How could he ever think something like that? Armie was the most amazing, supportive person in his life.

Even though it was true, Armie is also the reason Timothée cries at night and can’t sleep. It’s his face he pictures and his lips he feels against his own. He can’t escape him. He is the reason why he hates himself as much as he does; why he skips meals until he finds himself passed out on his bathroom floor. It’s all his fault.

He hates loves him so much, so fucking much it hurts.

———————————————————

“I promise I will visit soon.”

His promise to Harper plays over and over in his head that it’s starting to give him a headache. He’s taken four painkillers to rid himself of the pain and his eyes are beginning to feel heavy. I promise I will visit soon.

He hates himself so much for lying to her like that.

“Are you feeling okay, Timmy?”

“Yes.” No.

He hates himself even more at the thought of Elizabeth’s kindness towards him. He doesn’t deserve her love and concern. He doesn’t deserve to be in this beautiful family’s lives. He doesn’t deserve anything good at all.

He deserves to be here wallowing in his own self-hatred and pain, lying in his cold bathtub in his shoebox apartment.

He deserves the hunger pains and dizzy spells. He reaches over to dig his nails into his arm harshly. He deserves that too.

It’s not enough though.

What he actually deserves is to starve until his body is too weak to get up from bed. Maybe if he’s lucky enough he’ll die in that bed too.

“My mind is so fucked up.” He laughs bitterly to himself.

He doesn’t deserve anyone. He deserves to die alone in this tiny apartment in this sad and lonely city.

He wonders if anyone would find his dead body, and how long it would take for anyone to notice he was dead. His eyes glance at the bottle of painkillers sitting on the bathroom counter and he almost reaches over to take a handful of them, almost.

But then he thinks about how selfish that would be. He thinks about his mom and his sister finding his body, he can hear their loud sobs ringing through his head. He thinks about the phone call between his mom and Armie. He can see Armie screaming and punching walls and inflicting pain upon himself.

He doesn’t want that. If anyone should be in pain it should be him. He wishes no one cared about him so then he could just end it all and be done with it; but he’s got people to look after.

So tonight, he’ll just pass out in his bathtub and dream about gentle blue eyes and a beautiful 6’5” man.

a/n: Should I continue?

[dhampiravidi]

ashortgothamite​:

Damian eyes her vitals, and sighs. Father had warned him that this was the most likely path she would take. Oh, how we was looking forward to using the electricity for the first time, but c’est la vie. Father had elected that they get the necessary information in alternative ways if this is how she chose to proceed, stubborn as she was and not completely motivated by pain to submit to them as others they had held captive. She was an owl, after all, and she succeeded in training as they all did. “Yes, you may change. Jason will escort you to dinner.” He motions to Jason with a look of distaste at how eagerly he goes to get the girl out of her cell once she’s is finished changing.

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“I’m sorry about that, the rest of the family is suspicious about how much those heroes brainwashed you. We’ll just have to prove to them your loyalty again now that you’re back.” Jason smiles at Jayn in the doorway, holding a hand out invitingly.

The walk to dinner upstairs is quiet, Jason intermittently rubbing his thumb over the back of Jayn’s hand as they ascend into the manor itself. It hadn’t changed a bit since the last time Jayn had been home if Jason’s memory serves him. Her room, even, hadn’t changed- Jason had made sure of that, with the amount of time he spent in it, awaiting her eventual return.

Upon their entry into the main dining hall, long table set for the family and lit by low light, Dick grins at them viciously and swaggers over to the two cockily, a snarl already building on Jason’s lips. His eyes linger a little too long along Jayn’s form, and on Jason’s, but that’s not what he cares about. He tugs Jayn closer to him, to the delight of the eldest. “Our two final little guests will be here shortly. Apparently your little friend was a bit more to handle than Timmy assumed.” He snickers. All the better for him, he’d be the one that would get to both assure that Tim wasn’t actually overtaken by the small redhead, via brutal sparring of course to allow Tim to prove himself to Bruce, and to get a chance of punishment at the little redhead himself that Tim is trying so hard to evidently make her into the newest addition to their family.

Rye’s heart freezes in her chest when she feels the grapple line twist around her midsection, and fails at trying to get it undone before it stops her in her tracks with a jerk and begins to pull her backward. “FUCK- no, no, no, no-“ She yelps, but it’s already too late, her back pressing into the unyielding chest of her captor.

She flinches as the brush of his breath over her ear, even as the arms that hold her so securely don’t bring any more pain than she had inflicted on herself by running barefoot.

She couldn’t escape. Of course she couldn’t, they’re the owls, but the threat of losing limbs sends a shock of fear down her spine. He would do it too, she had seen how the victims would show up on the news. You could always tell who was a personal job done by the owls by the particularly gruesome death they had to endure. She was stuck.

She lets him lead her back to the car silently, trying not to let the tears drop from her eyes as the quiet acceptance of her fate overtakes her. She didn’t know what awaited her in this new fate of hers…. But she didn’t think it would entail her ever seeing her two true loves again; her cat and her espresso machine.

The manor looms as it gets closer, Rye watching out the window as they drive, and she swallows heavily.

@dhampiravidi

Jayn’s glad to be able to move again. She takes her time changing just because she can, and because she needs a few seconds to turn a bit of the Cave’s vapor into liquid water, to ice, and back again while her hands are behind her back. Good, powers are online. It’s weird having her kid brother watch her strip down to her underwear, but she knows it’s only to ensure she doesn’t do anything sneaky--something tells her he hasn’t become...bonded...to the rest of the family yet. Jason watches, which doesn’t mean anything to her. Regardless of how she might feel now, he’ll always be her first love.

It just hurts to see Jason smile the way he does. Part of her blames herself for not asking him to run away with her--not when Cavalier had come calling, by then it was too late--before Jase had killed the Jester. Sure, it would’ve been scary, two teenagers alone in the world, but it would’ve been better than this. And yet, he’s still got that timeless, lovestruck grin, like all the bloodshed and beatings in the world couldn’t take it away.

Her sadness turns into pure disgust the moment Dick saunters over to meet them. Jayn steps in front of Jason, not needing him to protect her.

“I’m sure everything’s fine,” she says with an icy smile. “Now sit down.” She uses her powers to play Dick like a marionette, shoving him back to his seat without ever laying a finger on him. Then she takes Jason’s hand again and walks him over to their own empty chairs. Bruce doesn’t say anything, though she’s sure he noticed. Good.

--

Rather than pull to a stop in the courtyard in front of the Manor, Tim actually drives to the garage, where he parks the car. That way, he and Rye can go directly from there to the main house without having to see the family. He still very much wants her to change her clothes.

“Alright, we’re twelve miles from the city, and you remember what I said earlier. Don’t speak unless you have to, and don’t do anything stupid,” he tells her, holding her jaw in one hand. He leans forward to wipe her tears and press a firm kiss to her rosy lips, then undoes his seatbelt and unlocks both car doors. Tim waits until she gets out, holding out a hand for her to take--after all, he was raised to have manners. With the press of a button, the car locks, and they’re off. He holds a finger to his mouth as they enter the hall. It’s possible to sneak past the dining room to get to the staircase (which, itself leads to the bedrooms), but they’ll need to be quiet, and well...they are sneaking past a room of Gotham’s Finest Detectives. Tim picks up Rye and begins to quietly make his way toward the stairs...

@ashortgothamite​

[ourworldofenergy]

The Great Oil Slump of the 2020s – Part 1, Supply

Guest blog by S. A. Shelley  Many readers are probably wondering what is happening with oil prices, especially with all the efforts by OPEC+ to curtail supply and all the efforts by various trade groups and governments (e.g., Denmark and China) to affect demand. Every year in January, big companies (BP, EXXON) and big organizations (OPEC, EIA, IEA, OECD) release their energy reports. I don’t have quite the scale or resources that they do, but I try my best. Back in 2016, when I wrote about oil demand peak, I included a chart of a possible oil price path for the next few years (Fig. 1). I was under on the demand and supply a bit, and relied upon the 2016 futures prices to guide my price thinking, but I was damn near bang on with the timing of the most recent collapse of oil prices, Q3 of 2018.

Fig 1 – SAS prediction of oil price collapse from 2015

In order to get a sense of the future direction of oil prices, and by extension which technologies to invest in or which companies will thrive or fold, we need to consider the current likely future states of oil supply and demand in order to make a self-educated forecast of where the equilibrium will be in the future (down). This blog, Part 1, will focus on oil supply and another blog, Part 2, to be posted later, will focus on oil demand. So, all other things being equal, as oil prices crashed (again) then that means that the world must be in an oversupply condition (again). Sit back, grab a beer and a smoke, or a Timmies and a donut, and hold on tight as I lead you through a wonderful collection of charts and divinations.

I. Increasing Oil Supply due to Increasing Tight Oil Production

A lot of global oversupply is the result of the amazing growth in shale oil production in the United States, primarily the prolific production coming out of the Permian Basin in West Texas (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 – The Rise of Shale Oil

In terms of global oil supply, the United States has surpassed both Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the largest oil producer in the world (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 – Monthly crude oil production

(Aside, this resurgence of United States oil production, along with the fracturing of OPEC, was forecast back in 2008 by Paul Michel Wihbey in his prescient book, “The Rise of the New World Oil Order”).

The United States is not done growing its supply. Once the pipeline constraints in West Texas are resolved, Permian basin production can increase by another few million barrels of oil per day. Furthermore, if Americans can replicate the success of the Permian basin with the Bakken, Marcellus, and eventually the Greater Green River Basin (with estimated reserves of over 4 trillion barrels of oil, yes trillion), the United States will become totally self-sufficient in oil, and oil from the Middle East could be stranded. One thing I never wager against is American ingenuity to figure things out, but hopefully without reverting to again using atomic bombs.

There are huge tight oil formations in other places too, including Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Poland, and thus the potential for tight oil production from those places is also significant. Though maybe I should not include Canada as a potential tight oil supplier as Canada is suffering a politically self-inflicted mess that is making it difficult for Canada to maintain its current supply to global markets let alone expand it. The particular problems of Canada will be addressed in a separate blog.

II. Decreasing Oil Supply due to Mismanagement by Low Tech Legacy Suppliers

In addition to the growing shale oil production in the Unites States, there is the danger of Low Tech Legacy Suppliers (LTLS), also coming back on stream to quickly add to the global oil supply. My two favorite LTLS states are Mexico and Venezuela (Fig. 4). Looking at oil production in the last ten years together between Mexico and Venezuela, the loss of production is almost 1,400,000 bbls / day.

Fig. 4 – Crude oil production decline in Mexico and Venezuela

This loss of production is mainly due to mismanagement of fields and infrastructure and not so much because of depletion or loss of access to world markets. Thus, with a bit of investment in hardware and meritocratic operators, the production of these two states could quickly increase back to historical levels which would then add back those 1,400,000 bbls of oil / day to an already well supplied global market.

A similar review of production in states like Libya, Angola, etc., reveals that compared to historical averages, those states are under-producing by around 500,000 bbls / day, each, and those states could also, if the political will and competence is there, quickly rebuild production volumes.

Iraq, much affected by war, has started to rebuild its production and is already producing at around 3,200,000 bbls / day with plans to increase production by another 1,500,000 bbls / day. Iraq is another LTLS country which just needs to apply a bit more hardware and people to ramp up production quickly.

OPEC+ has for reasons of self-interest been ignoring the problems of Venezuela, and OPEC+ has probably been grateful that many other oil states have also been under producing.

III. Increasing Oil Supply due to the Application of “Big Data”

A new technology that is contributing to a boost of oil production and upward revisions of recoverable reserves is digital and data analytical technology. Though not yet widely applied in the industry, where it is applied, data analytics is already having a profound impact on production and costs. A good example is the announcement by BP that with better data analysis, BP was able to find additional, significant reserves in way of its Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The result of this discovery at this one site is forecast to boost oil supply by about 100,000 bbls / day.

It is not just the success with reevaluating data about existing fields; data analytics is now being used to improve efficiencies and output across the whole spectrum of oil production activities, including drilling. Most applications of “big data” to oil are still somewhat hush-hush, but conversations with a few neighboring firms suggest that the impact is substantial.

IV – The World is Awash with Oil

The global oil market is already well supplied with oil and it won’t take much to flood the global markets. Adding even just a fraction of the technically available LTLS or tight oil to the global markets is very doable in the short term. Perhaps just an additional 100,000 bbls / day of new supply is enough to flood the market and keep oil prices low, even very low, because supply is plentiful but demand is weakening. Demand will be discussed more in Part 2.

Right now suffice it to say that oil supply and oil oversupply is here to stay for a while.

Published by Our World of Energy

The Great Oil Slump of the 2020s – Part 1, Supply was originally published on OurWorldofEnergy

[swipestream]

Q&A with Richard Cain

I took a dive into CH’s back catalog and came up with Richard Cain’s God Hates Me. I remember Vox featured it earlier in the year and though the accompanying text and review highlights made it sound good, I could never get past the cover but I’m glad I gave the book a chance. This really is a case of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. 

  When it comes to supernatural fiction I don’t enjoy cheap and gruesome thrills and concentrate on the underlying theological background; think the opening of The Exorcist  at an archaeological site in Iraq over the famous “pea soup” scene. Well, Richard Cain has created an intriguing backstory with an unique story line featuring a demon seeking redemption. Unlike The Exorcist, Cain’s book is humorous, so don’t expect a depressing or overly violent read. The demons know their time before judgement is limited and they pass the time in causing as much mischief as they can. If you are going to suffer for eternity you might as well get your money’s worth. Another aspect that comes out is the ennui many demons suffer as they await their fate. Atrocities and inflicting pain can only remain interesting for so long and many demons are heavily involved in hobbies such as running historical reenactments in haunted houses and we meet some that take their LARPing as aliens so seriously they can only be described as demonic otaku. 

  For the dudes that can’t get over the cover we discuss Richard Cain’s next book in the Q&A which he promises will have a cover easier on hetro male eyes. I don’t have a release date yet but it should be soon and I’ll update this post when I get the word.

  Q&A on the next page.

Scott Cole: I have to admit I wasn’t expecting much from God Hates Me, maybe the cover threw me off (more on that later) but it was an enjoyable read and the story line is definitely unique…

  Richard Cain: Thank you. Some argue that the demon/angel thing is overdone. It’s not. Like communism, it’s simply never been done right – until now. If you’re expecting Frank Peretti – don’t. He missed the chance for humor in the dark lives of the damned. In God Hates Me, we meet Malach, a put-upon demon unjustly kicked out of heaven, leaving his unfinished rock garden behind. Now he’s stuck in the Kingdom of Darkness, dealing with Nephilim, working for Moloch and having to put up with LARPing demons in UFOs. It’s a sad, sad life for a misplaced angel. To make himself feel better, he possesses random and forces them to tell his story to anyone who will listen. Including Tinder dates.

    SC: Where did you get the idea to write about a demon seeking redemption?

  RC: I am friends with an exorcist and she hooks me up with the juicy stuff. “Touched by an Angel” ain’t the way it works. Demons are here and they want to party before they hit the flames – except for Malach, who just wants to get back into Heaven. On his own terms, of course.

    SC: The demon mentions portals between the physical and spiritual realms which are actually created by humans (e.g. blasphemy, sacrifices, sites where atrocities have taken place). Human souls can’t pass through the portal because they are tied to their physical bodies but entities from the spiritual realm are free to cross over. What does your exorcist friend report as the most likely avenues of possession?

  RC: She’s told me that demons hang out where horrible things have taken place. Lunatic asylums, old human sacrifice sites, etc. If someone has a horrible event in their life, that can be a point where a demon jumps in and makes himself at home. If you’ve ever had the hair stand up on your arms when you’re walking through the DMV, you know the feeling.

    SC: What can one do to help prevent interaction with demons?

  RC: Don’t play around with the occult. Burning witches is always a good idea. Interacting with the spiritual realm is that it is like swimming in the ocean. You are out of your element, with no protection and do not knows what lurks beneath the surface. In fact, you are at the mercy of any shark that decides to come out of the depths and take a bite out of you. There are protections, of course, but don’t play in their field. I’ve seen a guy go from a quiet drunk to a ranting madman when I mentioned the name of Jesus Christ. It was like someone grabbed the strings of a puppet and spoke through his mouth. Even if you think you can deal with them and say the right things, if you’re not allied to the Kingdom of Light, they may strip you naked and beat you senseless.

  SC: Let’s talk about the cover. I went on a trip recently and had the book loaded on my AMZN Fire device. When I went to read in the airport lounge or on the airplane I noticed a couple of funny looks when my seatmates would see the romance novel style of cover with the bare chested model on the front. Not sure if the cover is congruent with the story?

  RC: Sexual insecurity is a sign of demon possession. Since God Hates Me is rather like CS Lewis meets Douglas Adams, The Supreme Dark Lord naturally decided to give it a lurid homoerotic romance cover. This represents three standard deviations of cover design conceptuality. It’s okay, though. My next book features a scantily clad female on the cover.

    SC: Details, please, about your next book?

  RC: My upcoming novel Vessel of Venus tells the story of a hopelessly gamma IT professional who discovers a cheesy sorcery app which grants him some strange abilities. He also has a genetic secret which makes him a person of great interest to ambassadors from the long-dead planet Venus. His quest to hone his occult powers and fight global warming as a Venusian ambassador turns into a trainwreck thanks to his possessed girlfriend and his own neuroticism. It’s like Alpha Game: The Novel, except with aliens. And a demonic locust named Timmy.

    SC: Does Vessel of Venus tie into the God Hates Me story line?

  RC: Somewhat. Both stories are in the same universe but the second story stands alone.

  SC: I’m looking forward to it.

  RC: It’s 666 times better than the first one. And the first one was damned good.

  S

C: Why it is better?

  RC: God Hates Me was my debut novel. Since writing it two years ago, I’ve been honing my pen on other writing projects and deliberately sharpening my writing skills by studying pulp authors as well as writing theory. I’ve easily written 500,000 words in between the time I wrote the first book and finished the second book. Readers will notice the difference. If you liked the first one, you’ll like this one even better.

  SC:

Talking about writers, who do you read on a regular basis?

  RC: On the non-fiction front, Dr. Michael Heiser’s theological writing was quite helpful. As for fiction, two years ago I read through all the works of Lovecraft. I also read the first two Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Out loud, to my tank of poisonous toads. They weren’t sure about the anthropomorphic apes at first but still got into the story. G.D. Stark’s Wardog novels are a very good read, although he needs more demons. I also finished reading John C. Wright’s Count to A Trillion series recently – amazing concepts, which he carries over into Superluminary. I’m waiting expectantly for the second half of Vox’s A Sea of Skulls but have entertained myself during the wait by reading all the Arkhaven and Dark Legion comic book titles.

  SC: Thanks for your time and good luck with the new release.

Q&A with Richard Cain published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames