#but I currently have 6 or 7 I believe assignments open due sometime in the last month that I have not done

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

I desperately just want to sleep

[riceball1759]

Reading Tips from your Hyper Librarian

"So many books, so little time", right? If anyone understands this, it's us bibliophiles and librarians (and publishers) -especially someone like me! My interests are super varied and many times, I'll start reading a few chapters in a book that REALLY REALLY interests me...but then, I have that ADHD SHINY moment and the poor thing is forgotten. Seriously, this is a constant struggle. Being a librarian makes this even more important that I know what I'm recommending. And I do! I just can't get the focus to actually read them>< I'm part of a committee that is assigned reading every year for 3 months (give or take) and -you guessed it- I get that done. Why? It's got a deadline and I churn through them like nobody's business. It also helps that I didn't choose them and they aren't always what I normally like to read. It gives me an edge when helping certain patrons look for something I normally don't read. Not that I don't have an idea already -it's just more cemented than usual since I actually read that particular book. Though I kinda gave you one of my tips in this blurb, I'll rehash later!

A little more on my SHINY moments and then we'll get to my tips! Like I said before, SHINY really takes a toll sometimes on my goals, but it also helps. How? Situation: I hear all this buzz about this upcoming book (debut author/fresh voice/intriguing plotline/etc.). I either miraculously get an ARC or I'm waiting with bated breath, for the dang thing to get shipped to my library so that I can "steal" it for the weekend before it gets catalogued (I tell everyone I'm borrowing it, so don't judge me!). If all goes according to plan, I DEVOUR it within a day and come back exclaiming all the virtues of reading said book. I might even write a glowing review (if I had the capacity at the time). This has happened with a few books in the past years: Stay Gold, Wicked Fox & Vicious Spirits, Ember in the Ashes, Invisible Differences, and a few others, but I can't remember right now. Point: it's super hard for me to get the reading I want done, actually done.

AND NOW, for the star of our show: The Hyper Librarian's Reading Tips!

Please remember, these are things I remind myself of when I'm having a hard time getting through my TBR (the library-books-out-that-are-due TBR). Some lead into or are extensions of others, but being specific is necessary for me. You can adapt them to your needs or or just copy/paste them into your life :)

1) It's ok to DNF. So you gave this book the 'old college try' and just can't do it -it's becoming torturous and you're at risk of going into the dreaded slump... Just stop already and save yourself more grief. Another reason is that you're just not in the mood to finish, so don't. Why torture yourself (again -I seem to like using this word, but it's so accurate at times!) by seeing a book lying close by that you wish was anywhere but? Some of us (incl. moi) have a shelf on Goodreads just for those pesky things. Let's cut the drama and move on! I find it therapeutic as well as final.

2) You are your own censorship committee. We all have that verbal content line where ~once toed/crossed~ our tolerance, belief, comfort level, etc., is compromised to the point where there's no enjoyment because of that one or more 'tidbits' giving you grief. Sometimes, I'll scan several reviews before starting because I want to make sure I don't get any 'surprises'. Most times, I get to that proverbial part that has me slamming the book closed, never to be opened again (dramatic, yes, but sometimes very true!). {{Point}}: you are the only person keeping you from reading something you don't like!

3) Be picky! You are as unique as your fingerprint. Why wouldn't your reading habits follow? If you get a rec that is absolutely not your thing, say no (thank you). It's not fair to you if you're just going to trudge through it anyway for the sake of being polite to friends/family/librarians/coworkers/etc (publishers, I'm sorry). If you like vampires, werewolves, and all things paranormal (like me) don't despair of the current books coming out -look back to the '90s and '00s! Reading is one of the most personal things we experience in our lives. {{Please, for the sake of your sanity}}: read reviews, look for trigger warnings (if that applies to you), verify that historically under-represented voices are portrayed correctly (misinformation is our greatest threat). For example: I won't buy a book about LGBT+ characters without verifying the plot as authentic (i.e. all fluff and no real problems vs real problems with a happy ending). I need to know that the book about that Transgender girl is written by someone who is either also Transgender or very well-informed.

4) Own your reading preferences. Just own it. I read somewhere in a journal interview that the concept of "guilty pleasure" shouldn't exist. So you like SJM's ACOTAR and are all about that fan community life, but are afraid to talk about it even though it's basically a mainstream subculture now? {{Point}}: Stop feeling guilty for what makes you happy! If people judge, that's their problem. I read romance for stress relief and because I just happen to like happy endings. Seriously, people need to stop shaming romance readers and self-shame is a huge part! Don't shame yourself, "SHUN THE NON-BELIEVERS"! (Charlie the Unicorn, RIP in Youtube history)

5) It's ok to read more than one book at a time. If you're anything like me (the Attention Deficit part), you probably have up to 5 books going at the same time: that paperback at home, the ebook on your phone, audiobook in the car, hardcover in your office, etc. (I know that's not 5 -I ran out of ideas!). Point: it's only natural you're in the mood for something different at certain periods of the day, week, or whatever. They'll get finished eventually. Just spare a thought for the 1 or 2 that are a little extra "dusty" cuz that might mean you need to DNF...just a thought.

6) Book clubs are your friend! They can be your enemy, too; but here's what you do: choose one that reads almost everything you want to in a specific genre. I'm not talking the next bestseller (unless that's you). I'm talking genre-specific and something you researched before joining. Online or in-person, this is has the potential for changing your reading habits for the better because you'll actually want to interact and read the books! I decided to join a book club so I could finally talk about a niche genre that is one of my favorites: Christian fiction. No one around me reads this (anymore) and I have no one to talk to (regularly) and trade recs with, so I joined a Facebook group and it's really nice to chat about all these great books and authors I've recently read with others who do the same:)

7) Book journaling. Yes, you may have heard of these things. There are so many ways to journal about your reading: bullet journals, the blank ones where you can let loose your creativity, the ones like from Moleskin where you just fill in the pre-determined spaces (aka: reading log), lined journals for writing your heart out, themed reading planners and TBR journals... Just look it up, the interwebs has you covered. The key is to use them as a tool for expanding and enriching your enjoyment or education (nonfic). I don't journal for everything, but I do like to do it for the ones I know I'm going to review later or for general reflections as I read. I started doing it by chapters, but that doesn't cut it when something jumps out at me from a random page and I NEED to write about it immediately. So, I make note of the page # and we good! I'm very personal in my writing (if you can't tell) and it can turn into tangents, but that's how I roll. I don't do that artsy stuff because that takes away from the reason I'm doing this in the first place. I write about anything regarding my reading -incl my reading slumps. I love it.

Wishing you Happy Reading! Thank you for reading:)

[vorta-whore]

Personal Log of First Ridok’tala

Notes from the personal log of one Jem’Hadar First in the early days of his species’ initiation into the Dominion, detailing his dealings with a particular Vorta by the name of Weyoun.

Weyoun 1 x Jem’Hadar OC

Entries 1-5 | Entry 6 | Interlude | Entry 7 | Audio File Review

First’s log, personal. Stardate 01.651.7.

It is not my place to question the will of the Founders in any capacity. But I have found myself irritated lately at every turn due to this most recent change. Each rotation of our crew seems to be ordered just as we had begun to develop the efficiency of a cohesive unit. It seems every other week I am staring into a room full of unfamiliar faces. How am I to maintain trust and respect within my unit – loyalty among my men – if they are perpetually strangers among the ship? Moreover, how am I to develop an understanding of how best to serve my field supervisor if I am given no time to establish a working relationship with them before I am whisked away to another assignment?

It has been an acceptable-enough series of reviews from each supervisor so far – I would not be First if they did not recognize my ambition – but I am not given enough time to develop to the best of my abilities. I do not think this current system is conducive to allowing me to serve my Founders adequately. But there is no channel for me to voice these thoughts; it is the will of the Founders and so it is done. I will endeavor to do my best regardless of the circumstances.

 --

First’s log, personal. Stardate 01.653.4.

Field Supervisor Keevan, to my great relief, was promoted to Sixth Fleet Overseer and so we were reassigned once more. It is jarring to be shuffled around so much, but I am happy to be free of that ship. I and my new unit have been placed under the command of a Vorta named Weyoun.

Over the course of my five years of life I have known many Vorta. They do not differ very much from one another. They display cunning, pettiness, manipulation. Their dealings with us are tinged with disdain and contempt. Some, like Overseer Keevan, even tend toward outright abuse.

This Vorta is very different.

He greeted my men kindly and in his voice I detected none of the usual hints of sarcasm. He has so far been patient as the crew has spent time becoming acquainted with the new ship over the past several days. He has not leveraged the White as punishment, which by this point into an assignment would usually have transpired at least twice.

I am not used to such...soft leadership. None of us are. The men don’t quite know how to respond and nor do I. But to say this is an unwelcome change would be a lie. I look forward to seeing how the situation develops.

--

First’s log, personal. Stardate 01.662.8.

My men try their best. They really do. We are all still trying to adjust to this new order of things, Vorta and Jem’Hadar alike; it will take time for the road to become smooth of obstacles. Remnants of our previous life in Jem’Hadarian society, before the Uplifting, still linger in the fringes of our species’ subconscious. We had no need to forge alliances; matters were handled simply, with action rather than with words. And when words were required, they were not tempered with tact or subtlety. But now, before the elegant, intellectual Vorta, my people appear clumsy, uncertain. They interrupt at inconvenient times. They convey rudeness and disrespect where none was intended. They respond to every conflict with violence. It is no wonder the Vorta perceive us as nothing more than feral beasts.

Weyoun does not seem to hold this opinion. It is difficult to tell exactly what opinion he holds of us, but I do not think it is negative. There is a degree of...respect in our interactions. He does not pry for details when I assure him I will see to a matter, looking for holes to poke as the other Vorta have. He has allowed me to handle all disciplinary actions and to my knowledge has not been unsatisfied by the results. He welcomes my input in combat situations and, on one occasion, even thanked me for it.

The men are appreciative as well. He is endlessly patient with their social fumblings. He has not threatened to withhold the White at any point and does not treat the ritual as a burden. I have made it clear to my crew that we are to reciprocate this respect by striving to improve ourselves and our conduct as much as possible. For their part, they have shown progress. I caught two of them yesterday practicing conversational skills. This morning I overheard my Fourth advising the Fifth on techniques he utilizes to quell his anger in inappropriate situations. I have every confidence my people can grow to become something more than the dogs at the Vorta’s heel; if only there existed more supervisors like Weyoun to encourage this development to foster.

--

First’s log, personal. Stardate 01.670.1.

I have been steeling myself for some time for another reassignment, but our orders have not changed since we boarded this vessel. This afternoon, while discussing tactics with Supervisor Weyoun, I made an offhand comment about the matter – another small luxury afforded by the supervisor’s lenient attitude – and he responded with nonchalance that he had personally requested he be allowed to keep his current crew, at least until the next rotation cycle. I wished to know his reasons for doing so, but out of fear of impoliteness I did not press the matter. Still, I remain curious. Perhaps it is related in some way to the recent change in his mannerisms; I have noticed his smiling growing more frequent as well as a tendency to hold eye contact with me for lengthier periods of time. Perhaps he is simply becoming comfortable with my company.

--

First’s log, personal. Stardate 01.673.9.

My men and I underwent an exercise in patience today. Weyoun found himself engaged in animated discussion with a foreign dignitary at the usual time of the White distribution. I do not know if he had mistimed his communication or simply did not plan for it to take quite so long, but it does not matter; we needed the White. No matter how anxious my men grew, however, I did not allow them to interrupt the proceedings. After several hours the Vorta finally stepped away and I immediately made him aware of our need, which he wasted no time addressing.

However, there was an...incident.

Some malfunction caused the lockbox containing our White to fail to open. After several unsuccessful tries, Weyoun admitted with apprehension that he could not produce the White, and my Fifth lost his patience.

The Fifth has had a difficult time adjusting. More so than the others. I was unfortunate enough to serve beside him under Keevan’s command and I witnessed firsthand the injustices he’d suffered as the Vorta’s “favorite.” The experience has left him scarred and he refuses to accept that Weyoun’s kindness is genuine. He can see only snakes in the grass.

This happenstance seemed, to him, evidence to justify his mistrust. He accused the Vorta of toying with us purposely just before he lunged. I caught him easily and no harm was done – moreover I do not believe he was aiming to actually attack the supervisor. But such a display of threat was still unacceptable. I punished him by denying him today’s supply of White, since it was the cause of his unruliness. He will have to learn to deal with his emotions when they are not easily controlled.

Perhaps it was a soft punishment, but I do not feel the need to tarnish the admiration my men are beginning to develop for me with unnecessarily severe consequences. Time will tell if it is a successful tactic. I am only grateful to be able to serve on a ship that tolerates such experimental leadership methodology.

Weyoun, for his part, was sufficiently grateful for my interjection. He did not say as much but it was clear in his eyes. Times such as those remind the Vorta of their nature as prey animals, alone on a ship of predators, and though it is rare for Jem’Hadar to utilize violence against their superiors, it is not unheard of. Sometimes I pity them for this.

Weyoun was able to get the lockbox operational again and he delegated out the White. As I was leaving we had a strange interaction. He stopped me – first to ask if he could speak to me about a personal subject, a qualifier with which most would not be deigned to bother – and upon my approval, asked me to describe what it feels like to crave Ketracel White.

At first I did not know how to answer. The feeling is intrinsic to a Jem’Hadar warrior, and no other race has ever had interest in the process. I have never had need to put it into words. But I found some that I believe did the concept justice. I described to him the anxiety that fills us when we are without it. The thirst that becomes, eventually, overwhelming. The inability to focus on anything else. These things he seemed to understand. But I do not know if he truly appreciated the extent to which I emphasized the sensation of a hit of White. How it rushes one’s veins – fills one with warmth, with clarity, with life. There is no feeling like it in the world. Not even killing.

He seemed distracted as he considered my words. Then, inexplicably, he approached me and touched a hand upon my abdomen. I allowed it, but did not understand the gesture, and when I asked for clarification upon its significance he withdrew, apologized, and dismissed me.

I do not understand Weyoun in the slightest. I wonder if perhaps he is abnormal in some way. But I am finding more every day that my curiosity outweighs my apprehension. I am eager to see how these events will continue to unfold.

--

[evabellasworld]

I Give You My Heart

Chapter 8

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

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Summary:  When Riyo Chuchi’s life was threatened, Commander Fox and Jedi Knight Ava Lira and Eva Bella Young are assigned to bring the senator back to her home planet Pantora, where she will be safe from harm. But when the assassin knows her whereabouts, it’s up to Fox, Lira, Eva, and Riyo to work together and stop the assassin.

————————————————————————————

“Ah, Commander Fox,” Palpatine greeted him, as the Marshal Clone Commander of the Coruscant Guard. “I have been expecting you. Come, take a seat, please. We have a lot to discuss.”

Goosebumps sprouted on his skin as the door slid by itself. Even though his office has a large space, with some ornaments on his desk as decorations, he felt cold for some reason. “Of course, Chancellor,” he answered, trying not to stutter as he took a seat, facing him.

“It seems that the assassin that you have been pursuing has gotten away easily,” the Chancellor pointed out, giving him a crooked smile. “Is that true, Commander?”

Fox gulped as he held his hands together, taking a deep breath underneath his helmet. “Yes, Chancellor. They took down some of my troops, including my best one, Lip.”

“That's a shame,” he expressed his sympathy, much to Fox's dismay. “I'm sure he will heal as soon as possible and get back to his duty.”

Lip is a girl, Fox grunted, tightening his fist to punch his superior in the face, inside his head of course. He wouldn't dare to hit the Chancellor himself and get decommissioned just because he lacks empathy towards his younger sister, who was lying unconscious on the stony ground, with blood flowing from her head.

No, no. Of course, he wouldn't dare. He was supposed to get over it and move on with his duty as a clone, not giving a damn if Lip survived or not. Sometimes, he just wished that he was born from a mother's womb, where he would be loved and cared for instead of being treated like a disposable piece of garbage.

“Commander?” Palpatine called him, snapping him back into reality, where he had to answer for the failed mission to capture Riyo's assassin.

“Yes, Chancellor,” he sighed. “I think we should get more men to protect the senator. It seems that everywhere she goes, the assassin seems to be one step ahead, sir.”

“That won't be necessary, Commander.”

His eyes widened as he glanced at him, who stood up from his seat. “What are you saying, Chancellor?”

“I feel that we need to request additional help from the Jedi Council,” he told him. “I'm sure they would be far more capable to protect Senator Chuchi and bring this assassin to justice.”

But they're currently at war, Fox protested inside his head. They wouldn't have the time and luxury to protect a senator from harm.

“With all due respect, Chancellor, my troops and I are more than capable to take down the assassin.”

“I'm sure they are, Commander, but it wouldn't hurt to get some assistance from the Jedi, especially Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. After all, they have protected Senator Amidala in the past, don't you agree?”

He has nothing to say to him now since there were no other ways to defend himself. He could say how much effort his men should put to protect his violet angel from harm, but that would be rebutted with the Chancellor's arguments. After all, he is a politician while Fox is just a soldier, waiting to expire like the rest of them.

“Yes, Chancellor,” he admitted his defeat, as he stood up and gave him a salute.

“Thank you, Commander,” he gave a smug, as he allowed the door to slide open. “That will be all. I’m sure Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi can take it from here.”

“Yes, Chancellor.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running through the corridors, a pair of twins with red hair, almond-shaped eyes, and heart-shaped lips managed to reach the lift, pressing the button towards the highest floor, which was the Council room. It was the room where Grand Master Yoda and the rest of the members of the Council sat in circles, discussing all kinds of topics with each other, whether it’s the outcome of the war or an internal affair relating to the Jedi Order.

Like most Jedi Knights at war, Lira and Eva just returned from the Battle of Reza, where the casualties of civilians outnumbered the casualties of soldiers that fought hard in the frontline. Though they were barely twelve, the identical twins somehow found themselves surviving every battle they have fought.

They didn’t choose to fight the war, nor to become a Jedi Knight, but they don’t have a say in it, since it was none of their decision, of course. It was obvious that the Council only knighted them too soon since they were losing too many Jedi in the war. But who or what started the war wasn’t really obvious to the both of them, oh no.

Lira and Eva were told by their respective mentors that the war had started because of the assassination of Senator Amidala, whom they were close to. Eva couldn’t believe that a senator who gifted her a lovely doll named Poppy would have someone plotting against her. Lira, on the other hand, wasn’t really surprised, since politicians often conspired with each other to the death.

Lira glanced at her younger twin, who was holding Poppy, and her tooka toy, Stripes, with concern on her face. “You know, I was hoping we would get some rest in our dorm instead of going on another mission,” she complained.

“Well, what can we do about it, Lira?” Eva sighed, rubbing her eyes. “It’s the Council’s Orders after all. We can’t say no to them. Besides, Anakin and Master Kenobi are busy right now.”

“There are tens of thousands of Jedi Knights out there, Evie. Why ask us out of all of them?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe because they don’t want to cause mischief all over the Temple.”

Lira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I get that reasoning, but lately, it seems that we can’t even catch a break. Like every time we finish one mission, we get another, and another, and another, until we puked to death. I don’t even know when was the last time I even slept or ate. I’m just-”

“I get you,” her sister replied, hugging her stuffed toys closer to her. “I just feel that my head is spinning all the time and that I’m starting to hear something that isn’t really there at all. And plus, I hardly see Master Kenobi or Anakin or even Ahsoka. I mean, we do go on missions together from time to time, but it seems that we’re growing distant with them.”

“I could say the same with Master Doyvesky. We do talk to each other through comlink, but I feel that we’re both drifting away from each other, you know.”

They exchanged looks of despair with each other as they reached the Council Chamber, forcing them to hide their distress underneath the masks they wear. “Knight Young,” Yoda spoke, as he greeted the identical twins. “Waiting for you, we have.”

“My apologies, master,” Eva bowed, her hands clasped together. “We just returned from Reza. It was a brutal battle, even though we managed to gain an upper hand in the end.”

Mace Windu leaned slightly forward from his seat, stiffening his posture. “We have an urgent order from the Chancellor. Apparently, Senator Chuchi’s lives have been threatened along with Senator Amidala and Senator Organa and after much discussion, we felt that you both were suitable for the job.”

Both their eyes widened as they silently protested in their mind. Are they out of their mind? Lira wondered. How in Malachor are we going to protect Senator Chuchi from her assassin? Who do they think we are, experts?

“Well,” Eva cleared her throat. “With all due respect, Master Windu, Lira and I have absolutely no confidence in protecting Senator Chuchi. We don’t have the experience to do so and there is a huge percentage that we’ll get ourselves killed during the mission.”

“Not to worry, Eva,” her master, Obi-Wan Kenobi spoke via hologram. “Commander Fox will be there to assist you if both of you have doubts about this mission. Besides, it will be a good experience for both of you.”

“I think you’re missing the point here, master,” Lira raised her points. If we fail to protect the senator, her blood will be on our hands.”

“Understand your doubts, we do,” Yoda smiled. “But ignoring the Chancellor’s order, we shall not.”

“I believe the both of you are more than capable to track down this assassin,” Plo Koon gave a word of encouragement. “Lira, I am confident that you have the technology to bring this killer to justice. And Eva, while diplomacy is your biggest strength, I see your potential in espionage, which is why we are sending both of you for this mission.”

“Both of you will be laying low and putting on a disguise as Senator Chuchi’s servant. This briefing about the mission must stay in this chamber itself. We do not risk potential spies to leak any vital information to the assassin, understood?”

“Yes, master,” Eva bowed.

“May the Force be with you both.”

[ever-fics]

The story I’m about to tell you is the story of 7 Alleyways

The first alleyway is encountered by an eavesdropping young Royal with a penchant for trouble spying yet again on thier fathers plans out of... twisted curiousity especially when their father the current king mentioned change from normal and change in routine. The young royals father had his newly appointed guards lined up in pristine order not unlike holiday nutcrackers.

“You May face unexpected challenges to your work so as guards I expect you to be ready for anything and everything.” The king noted scanning the crowd with almost scholarly study.

“For example Y/N I know your there we have discussed this. If you were not my child another court would accuse you of espionage. Luckily I know enough about myself to recognize my own youthful mischief in my children.” The king sighed

“Sorry Daddy.” Y/N bashfully looked away.... noticing an odd hue of fiery red hair.... and clothes and ok this dude really really likes the color red.

“I expect you to keep them in line.I will most likely assign you by age. However, know this I expect no trouble from either you or your charges. Especially no eavesdropping.” The king sent a knowing look to Y/N

“Dismissed.” The King declared

Y/N who scratched the back of thier neck.

“Oh and Vexx since they are your charge escort them back.” The king added.

“Sure your highness.” Vexx smirked before following orders.

The young royal proceeded walking with Vexx back to thier chambers...

“So you must really enjoy the color red?” The royal smirked eyeing the entire ensemble.

“It’s a bit of a personal moniker due to the hair....” to say Vexx was taken aback by Royals of any kind speaking to or noticing anything about him .... well let’s just say that would be the understatement of the year.

“I figured .... it just must be hard to try to blend into a crowd. No offense I like it it’s just...yeah.” The royal chuckled at their own stupidity.

“Your one to talk child of the king. Media darling ... and appearently according to your father “mischief””

Vexx chuckled air quoting mischief. He wasn’t originally sure about doing this whole gaurd thing... but his assignment doesn’t seem half bad. They have a sense of humor at least.

“First thing you should know if you’re to be working with me my family and the media are almost polar oppposites. One pays almost too much attention too me the other doesn’t notice my existence save for when I’ve caused trouble or dishonored my great ancestral line. An actual lecture I get more than I’d like too.” Y/N looked down.

“Well then I should strive to be the middle then shouldn’t I?” Vexx chuckled.

Alleyway 2

Was the first time Vexx had to come to terms with the fact he had been given the “hard” assignment.

A fact that became painfully obvious when looking around the empty quarters.

Even more obvious when Y/N in whatever garb they had on emerged from the secret alley portrait passage covered in paint... grinning like mad.

“What the hell?” Vexx with crossed arms and an even more cross face demanded.

“I ... Um... It’s not as bad as it looks my brother is a bore so I repainted his private personal portrait in his quarters .... with a unibrow and some buck teeth take him down a peg it’s in his chambers you won’t get in trouble...” Y/N frowned.

“I don’t care about getting in trouble or you’re brothers stupid portrait. You always talk about feeling alone when when were stuck here playing board games... however the one person who doesn’t want you to be alone and you ditch them.” Vexx lectured.

“You get paid to say that just like anyone else here... like the chefs who dump food on my plate and don’t so much as smile at me. Or the servants who cower in my direction fearing my anger but I’m not angry ... your whole directive is making sure I’m not alone is it so yeah...” Y/N retorted

“Ok then fuck this... fuck following the rules. And you know what fuck you’re entitled attitude. Yeah sure maybe this started as a job but I’ve seen you act like everybody’s puppet and I hate it. I’ve seen you cry alone on rainy nights and I’ve seen you do a fake smile that you convince is genuine. I watch you do that tapping thing you do in meetings and how you bite your lip to keep your mouth shut to please whatever dumb conviention this is.... I know that the idea of you’re father sort of looking like those weird candy’s never fails to make you laugh...and you know what at that point it kind of stops just being to quote you my whole directive so yeah sometimes ... and ...get this people actually care about you.” Vexx frowned now out of breath.

Alleyway 3

It had been a week since the previous fight. Y/N didn’t talk to him but he didn’t talk to Y/N. To be honest it was just killing both of them. Both Too awkward for anything other than side glances in the others direction..... and if one looked at the other at the same time they quickly moved thier head and pretended it was nothing. Simple. The trouble with the whole thing is that both ended up feeling just horribly guilty.

“I’m sorry.” They both tried to say before laughing

“Look I’m sorry I’ve been entitled I know I’m a bit privileged and stuck up.... it’s just the only time people have spoken to me how you do is usually right before my father announces he want me to entertain them as a possible suitor. Which spoils the whole thing ,because it ends up being fake. Interested in me for a position as a noble or to raise thier family status or to maintain ours... It’s stupid and annoying I’m sorry I didn’t realize you aren’t like that....” Y/N smiled.

“It’s ok and I’m sorry if I hurt you’re feelings but I meant what I said ... fuck the rules. There’s a passage right There nobody needs to know we’re gone. Pick a place.” Vexx thought.

“What if we get caught. If I prank my brother and ruin his commission portraits that’s one thing as I don’t leave the palace and it’s his personal thing not a relic..... but this .... I’ve seen people get in huge trouble for less.... if something happens to you because of my selfishness I...” Y/N explained.

“Disguises hmm... you do enough of those ridiculous fashion and tabloid magazines to know what a hat can do to change what people see you as... and lucky for you I have a nice kushy job working for the kings family so I can sometimes buy my friends a hat so where too?”Vexx chuckled.

“I’ve always wanted to try that cafe down the street with the themed cocoa.” Y/N smirked

“Done.” Vexx smiled

Before opening up the portrait alleyway in the wall

Alleyway 4 was an accident a close call in between Y/N entertaining another boring suitor and telling them everything Y/N disapproved of and a lecture from the king himself. Luckily Vexx opened the hallway passage just in time as the walls opened in closed again enough for Y/N to slip through.

“Ughhhh I don’t like any of them.” Y/N sunk against the wall down to the floor.

“Eventually he is going to do what he did to my eldest brother and force a proposal for an alliance” Y/N added

“Have you ever liked anyone?” Vexx inquired

“Once entirely by accident, but have I ever been in a real relationship not a staged one for tabloids or an arranged one for an alliance no....” Y/N frowned

“You deserve a real relationship Y/N not just something to please you’re parents or the press.... You deserve somebody who will cherish you I know what it’s like to be let down by people close to you or to want something you can’t have so badly.... I just think you deserve to have what you want especially when other people don’t get that privilege.” Vexx sat down next to Y/N

“What do you want that you can’t have.” The young royal questioned innocent and oblivious.

Unaware that to Vexx thier gaurd it May as well have been an interrogation by the heated all too familiar red color through out his face.

“It doesn’t matter I can’t have it.... I would be risking everything hell I’d be risking them.” Vexx ran his fingers through his hair in slight panic.

“Them?” Y/N frowned a bit not that they had intended it.

“Yeah.” Vexx replied “them.”

“You deserve happiness too Vexx.... you have helped me avoid arrangements that would have ignored my comfort and consent ...you allowed me to see outside for the first time from a citizens Perspective. You’ve allowed me freedom... you deserve the same. Fuck the rules right?” Y/N smiled melancholically.

“Yeah.....actually fuck the rules.” Vexx cuped his hands around Y/Ns cheeks and kissed them.

“Them ... you ....I ... Im sorry.” Vexx looked away.

“Fuck sorry.” Y/N kissed back.

____________________________________________

Alleyway 5

“Y/N... It’s just your brothers wedding it’ll be fine.” Vexx lied and knew he had lied.

He tried to tell himself he could turn back that they didn’t have to die he was leaving today for good... he had to....

The event was in a week and well Vexx wasn’t and couldn’t stay for it... he just lied to the Royal he was guarding hoping that in his last hours as Thier gaurd they would get smart or be less trusting or be more like the other royals in Thier family ... and less Like themselves.....

He memorized Thier face before leaving... or tried too. If Y/N was lucky maybe they’d get out before the wedding see something outside the palace see ... before everything. He always could go back he didn’t have to give up the passages or the plans. He didn’t have to.... but he did have to he would die if he didn’t do it was a question of himself or them.

He wasn’t about to die not for anyone. So he found an alleyway and left forever.

Alleyway 6

It was done... he had heard it from one of the holographic tabloid screens outside of town.... they were dead they all had died .... the plan worked.

Yay...

The bartender wasn’t enthused neither was anyone else the days leading up until the funeral days Vexx spent In drink in shithole taverns ...

Thier funeral the funeral of Y/N....

How could he do that? He ...? He killed them he wouldn’t see the gleam in thier eyes anymore. There would be no more of that stupid perfect melodious laugh. The worst part is for a royal Y/N believed in him as much as he “pretended” to believe in them.

He used to get a hug in the morning everyday without fail. Now he reminds himself when he wakes up that he left.. so he won’t be getting a hug. Now they are dead so no one will. Y/N also won’t sneak any of the guards the good food the royals are severed in buffet. There won’t be any more old high end clothing delivered to sick children from Y/N. No more interviews where they smiled and crinkled Thier nose cute..... it was all his fault he robbed the word of that.

So now he had to sober up and find himself at a funeral parade he didn’t exactly feel like attending at all.

It felt more like his funeral than even theirs....

He killed Y/N and was going to have the balls to go to Thier funeral.

Vexx wondered if thier ever was a worse sin than a killer going to the funeral of thier victim. Worse yet of thier ex that they killed. What sick irony made him feel he had too a fox mourning it’s last prey.

So when Vexx found himself disguised in the front of a crowd of mourners. Counting the sarcofigi until it got to theirs.....

1,the king

2, the kings wives

3, his children

One by one.

To say it was melancholic is an understatement. To watch as a gold and silver box lit with digital lights to accentuate what they looked like alive.

The awful thing about it was Vexx noted even though it was well carved it didn’t pick up a lot about Y/N. Things that couldn’t be depicted now not in paintings or statues. The final resemblance to Y/N didn’t capture them at all.

Too stoic

Vexx noted Y/N was too mischievous always with a plan or prank... just to take the others down a peg. Always in trouble but always laughing. They had a habit of putting their head back. The sarcophagus should have had Thier smirk at least...

But it didn’t ... he didn’t .... no one did.

He remembered suddenly he wasn’t just at the funeral for a friend or lover ..... he was at the funeral of the people he killed and suddenly the bodies just the sheer numbers made him feel more like the people carrying the satcophogi. He left the crowd to hide back in an alleyway..... with heavy shoulders the bottle from the bar and a reason to forget.... how many bodies and how many people had he taken from Thier loved ones how many just like Y/N with smiles and laughs. How many guards he had trained with.

It didn’t matter he just wanted to forget.

____________________________________

Alleyway 7

Vexx hated ghosts or at least the idea of them but in the crowded bar. On what must’ve been the shadiest planet ever he started hallucinating.

Y/N was dead

He had killed Y/N

He never deserved them they should have ran. If they stayed away from him he couldn’t have hurt them. Especially not for his selfish purposes.

Vexx weaved his way out of the bar with his latest drink in hand avoiding the once living and carefree royal now stoic ghost. When he walked far enough to understand it was just illusion he sighed.

That is until he heard the same eerily paced footsteps shambling against the desert floor.

Loosing his smart ass composure he dropped the remains of his glass.

Getting whoever or whatever was following him into a hold. Uttering some quick threat about how stupid it is to follow strangers into alleys he pressed a knife into the throat of whoever this was. Y/N is dead so it’s probably somebody copying Thier style it’s not entirely unlikely people didn’t want to dress like they did they were known for that.

“Who are you?” Vexx questioned through gritted teeth.

“Y/N.” They sounded unsure before Thier face contorted in pain.

“Prince(ss)?” Being the only word he could utter as they weren’t a ghost he felt them he touched them.... his skin felt the same unmistakable tickle of warmth where his hands met Thier neck.....

It was them very much alive and as much as he wanted to give in right here say sorry and cry about what he’d done .... he was about to do the opposite because maybe if Y/N thinks He hates them then Y/N won’t try to save him or follow him or redeem him

Vexx killed Thier family which made him not only dangerous but a monster and so upholding a broken vow made so long ago Vexx looked Y/N in the eyes and broke Thier heart one final time in hopes that he could protect them like he should’ve what now feels like a lifetime ago

[douchebagbrainwaves]

YOU START BY WRITING A STRIPPED-DOWN KERNEL HOW HARD CAN IT BE

Both of which are false. You must resist this. The main value of the succinctness test is as a guide in designing languages. They'll be fine.1 A typical angel round these days might be $150,000 raised from 5 people. If a hacker were a mere implementor, turning a spec into code, then he could just work his way through it from one end to the other like someone digging a ditch.2 I never read the books we were assigned. So please, get on with it. No one has to commit explicitly to what the central point is. But due to a series of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed together with the study of ancient texts was the essence of what scholars did.

If you expressed the same ideas in prose as mathematicians had to do without. But actually being good is an expensive way to seem good. Because the fact is, if you believe as I do that the main reason we take the trouble to write two versions, a flame for Reddit and a more subdued version for HN. In a real essay you're writing for yourself. The reason they like it when you don't need them is not simply that they like what they do. The Internet is changing that. That's why I'm so optimistic about HN. And unless you already have if you can't raise the full amount. And so once university English departments were established in the late 19th century the study of literature. I'm not proposing this as a new idea. Bill Gates would probably have something to read.3 There's always a temptation to do that completely.

They raise their first round fairly easily because the founders seem smart and the idea sounds plausible. So the ability to ferret out the unexpected. Even if you only have one meeting a day with investors, somehow that one meeting will burn up your whole day. And anything you come across that surprises you, who've thought about the topic a lot, will probably surprise most readers.4 For a painter, a museum is a reference library of techniques.5 I can't. It means that a programming language is obviously doesn't know what a programming language should, above all, be malleable. The true test of the length of the delay inversely proportional to some prediction of its quality. Almost everything is interesting if you get deeply enough into it. It hadn't occurred to me till then that those horrible things we had to rely mostly on examples in books. And once you start to doubt yourself.

So no matter how many good startups approach him.6 But I know the house would probably have ended up pretty rich even if IBM hadn't happened to drop the PC standard in his lap. Why is it conventional to pretend to like what you do or what I do is somewhere between a river and a roman road-builder. And open and good.7 A couple hundred thousand would let them get office space and hire some smart people they know from school. And yet a lot is at stake. Browsers then IE 6 was still 3 years in the future, and the power of the more unscrupulous do it deliberately. Hacker News is an experiment, and an experiment in a very young field. So when a language isn't succinct, it will feel restrictive. The paperwork for convertible debt is simpler.

Their search also turned up parse. The study of rhetoric, the art of arguing persuasively, was a kind of final pass where you caught typos and oversights. Colleges had long taught English composition. The existence of aggregators has already affected what they aggregate.8 Study lots of different things, so you can learn faster what various kinds of work. I think he really wishes he'd listened. The advantage of the two-job route is less common than the organic route. There is nothing investors like more than a plan A. Long but mistaken arguments are actually quite rare. Scientists don't learn science by doing it.9 Even the concept of me turns out to explain nearly all the characteristics of VCs that founders hate. Relentlessness wins because, in the Gmail sense everything I've told you so far.

Hacker News is an experiment, and an essai is an effort. Users have worried about that since the site was a few months old.10 So a plan that promises freedom at the expense of knowing what to do, so here is another place where startups have an advantage. It sounds obvious to say that the answer is a simple yes, but no one can predict them—not even the protagonists: we're just the latest model vehicle our genes have constructed to travel around in. There are lots of other potential names that are as carefully designed and, if possible. Another easy test is the number of both increases we'll get something more like an efficient market. For example, in a recent essay I pointed out that because you can start as soon as the first one is ready to buy. Why is it conventional to pretend to like what you do? Twenty years ago, fascinating and urgently needed work. Fundamentally an essay is a train of thought, as dialogue is cleaned-up train of thought—but a cleaned-up train of thought—but social and economic history, not political history. It will always be true that most great programmers are born outside the US.11 The whole room gasped.

I've met a few VCs I like. There's nothing intrinsically great about your current name would seem repellent. Since we hosted all the stores, which together were getting just over 10 million page views per month in June 1998 I took a snapshot of Viaweb's site.12 The advantage of the two-job route, if you have $5 million in investable assets, it would seem an inspired metaphor.13 The advice of parents will tend to feel bleak and abandoned, and accumulate cruft.14 The good things in a community site come from people more than technology; it's mainly in the prevention of bad things that technology comes into play. Investors like it when they can help a startup, but they did have to go to school, which was a dilute version of work meant to prepare us for the real thing.15 Or at least, a thesis was a position one took and the dissertation was the argument by which one defended it. I didn't realize this when I was about 9 or 10, my father told me I could be 100% sure that's not a description of HN. Indeed, you can start as soon as the first one is ready to buy. It's kind of surprising that it even exists. And there was the mystery of why the perennial favorite Pralines 'n' Cream was so appealing.

Notes

Html. If early abstract paintings seem more powerful sororities at your school sucks, where many of the War on Drugs. Most unusual ambitions fail, no matter how large.

The quality of investor behavior. 03%. Bullshit, Princeton University Press, 1981. Source: Nielsen Media Research.

There is no different from deciding to move from London to Silicon Valley. Sites that habitually linkjack get banned. Xenophon Mem.

Hypothesis: A company will be big successes but who are good presenters, but we do the right thing to do some research online. Here's a recipe that might work is in the general manager of the products I grew up with elaborate rationalizations.

Sometimes a competitor will deliberately threaten you with a cap. It's a bit more complicated, because you have to keep them from the DMV.

A single point of a powerful syndicate, you now get to go deeper into the work of selection. The Sub-Zero 690, one could aspire to the hour Google was founded, wouldn't offer to invest the next investor.

At first I didn't care about, like languages and safe combinations, and one VC. Gauss was supposedly asked this when comparing techniques for discouraging stupid comments instead. Proceedings of 2003 Spam Conference.

In part because Steve Jobs doesn't use.

So as a rule, if an employer, I have no decision-making power. Your user model almost couldn't be perfectly accurate, and that most people will pay people millions of dollars a year for a patent is now. Obvious is an understatement.

It wouldn't cut their overall returns tenfold, because when people make the people working for me was the ads they show first. It's hard to say they prefer great markets to great people to claim retroactively I said yes.

Candidates for masters' degrees went on to study the quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music, and that modern corporate executives would work better, and b I'm pathologically optimistic about people's ability to solve a lot of legal business. One of the iPhone SDK.

Cost, again. And they are building, they were. If a company growing at 5% a week for 19 years, it means a big company. However bad your classes because you spent all your time working on is a convertible note with no deadline, you should push back on the parental dole, and journalists—have the perfect life, and stir.

This is not an efficient market in this essay talks about the distinction between money and disputes.

That name got assigned to it because the ordering system was small. In fact, we should make the argument a little about how to deal with them. Auto-retrieving filters will be big successes but who are weak in other ways to do more with less? By your mid-game.

No big deal. This is isomorphic to the frightening lies told by older siblings. It was revoltingly familiar to slip back into it. But should you even working on that.

[theaceace]

I call this - what if Aziraphale hadn’t managed to find a body in time for the apocalypse, AKA I wanted an excuse to make Crowley sad and drunk. There is a happy ending, which I will get around to writing soon. Ish.

Thank you to @i-swear-this-is-for-homework for listening to me ramble. At some point I’ll clean this up and put it on AO3, but today is not that day, it’s already late enough.

Follows book continuity closer than the series. 

Enjoy?

Aziraphale had been discorporated before, of course. One didn’t have a physical form for six thousand years without accumulating a little wear-and-tear1, or scratches in the paint, so to speak. It had, however, been a remarkably long time since his last jaunt through the metaphysical. Only ninety short years2 after he had turned his back on the Garden of Eden for the last time, Aziraphale had rather unfortunately found himself on the wrong end of an extremely unpleasant man with an extremely sharp dagger. Not yet knowing what would happen to him, he hadn’t thought to counter the attack, or even so much as move out of the way; after all, this was no weapon of divine or infernal design.

 So he had been in for a rather nasty shock when he found himself face-to-face with Heaven’s quartermaster and the prospect of filling out innumerable forms3 and joining a thankfully short waiting list before he could be assigned a new body.

 It had been enough to put him off the whole experience, and as such, he had endeavoured to avoid it at all costs in subsequent years.

 He had done a commendable job of it, all told. There had been a couple of instances that had required a little last-minute intervention of demonic origin, but he tried not to dwell on those too much. Not, to be clear, because he felt it was a sign of personal failure, but rather because the memory tended to give him the ethereal equivalent of heart palpitations.

 This instance had been somewhat different – for a start, the only violence had been in the form of a remarkably irate witchfinder bellowing nonsense and waving his finger around. For another, though Aziraphale had found himself unexpectedly flung from his physical form, there had been no real harm done to it4 which made for a nice change. That had been several hours and four continents ago. Now, Aziraphale was starting to feel really quite exhausted.

 It ought not to have been possible, he thought glumly to himself. After all, exhaustion was, by definition, something that happened on the material plane. Cells didn’t have enough energy or something – he’d never bothered himself with the particulars, as he’d never considered any scenario that it might apply to him. Really it should have been impossible for angels to get tired. They were fonts of divine energy, beings that existed on an utterly separate level from the concept of exhaustion.

 And yet, here he was, wherever that may be now. Exhausted. Incorporeal. No idea how much time had passed since he’d stepped into the circle, and therefore no idea just how long the world had left before it all went a bit explodey.

 As a matter of fact, though he didn’t know it at that precise moment, the world had been due some explosions approximately twelve minutes earlier, right around the time he had decided to do the metaphysical equivalent of tucking up his feet on the sofa and dozing in front of Springwatch with a cup of tea tilting precariously in his hand. He had hoped that this would go some way to restoring him to the point that he could continue looking for a suitable body to inhabit that was both receptive and at least in the same country as the antichrist.

 So far it didn’t appear to be making much of a difference, but Aziraphale was persevering nonetheless.

 He was persevering so hard, in fact, that it took him what may have been a small eternity – but was probably closer to a few seconds – to notice that he was no longer alone in the space between dimensions.

 Being that the other entity also lacked a body, and didn’t appear to be an angel, demon, or Crowley, Aziraphale was rather thrown by this.

 “Um. Hello,” he said5 finally. He didn’t really know what else to do.

 “Hullo,” said the being, in what might have been a curious voice if he had a voice, and Aziraphale had ears capable of discerning a curious tone. “What are you doing stuck all the way out here then?”

 “Ah,” said Aziraphale, in a pale imitation of his usual bluster. He found himself wishing rather desperately that he had hands with which to fuss shirt cuffs, and a throat to clear. “Well you see, that’s a rather long story, and I’m afraid we may be on something of a tight schedule – at least, I think we are, it’s rather hard to tell, but I would hope that even like this I might have noticed if things had, er, got under way.”

 “No, it’s okay, we’ve got time,” said the being. “But I think I probably know most of it already, and it’s just boring if you hafta hear the same story twice so close together. Are you Aziraphale then? ‘Cause if you’re not then I really think you should just tell me now. I’ve already got a lotta work to do, and I really do need to find this Aziraphale person. Angel. Angel-person – sorry, that’s not rude, is it?”

 “I – well, no, I don’t believe so,” Aziraphale said. He contemplated lying to the being for just a moment, but some deeply-held instinct told him just what a bad idea that would be. “And yes, I am Aziraphale.”

 “Oh, good,” this time, Aziraphale was swamped with an impression of relief. “It really would’a been a pain if I’d ‘ad to go ‘round looking for you everywhere and when.”

 “Um,” Aziraphale said blankly. He tried to take a moment to rally himself, and failed miserably. “To, to whom am I speaking?”

 “’m Adam Young,” said the voice, apparently oblivious to the tailspin this sent Aziraphale’s poor, racing mind into. “And I think you’re last on my list of things to get sorted out. First I thought I could just put you back the way you was and that’d be jus’ fine, but then I reckon’d I should probably come get you sorted m’self. ‘s tricky trying to get someone back in a body that dun’t exist when they’re not even in the right place for bodies to be.”

 “I see,” Aziraphale said faintly; he was suddenly, acutely aware of the fact that he was speaking currently to the antichrist, a being that could theoretically wipe him from this and every other plane of existence6.

 “An’ then I thought it’d be rude if I just went and stuck you back in the same body as you had, an’ din’t even ask if that body was okay for you,” Adam continued, and he somehow managed to give the impression of a wide-eyed, if not entirely earnest, stare. This was impressive given that he had no body, no eyes to widen, and no actual voice to give any sort of inflection. Aziraphale would no doubt spend a great deal of time later being appropriately impressed, when he was no longer trying to metaphysically hyperventilate.

 “Yes, yes I was rather fond of it,” Aziraphale managed. In that precise moment, he wouldn’t have been able to tell you if that was the truth or not7. He only knew that he really didn’t want to be putting in any special requests for a new body to the antichrist, who had, as far as he was able to tell, not made the world go all explodey.

 “Oh,” said Adam in something like relief. “Tha’s good. Easy, I mean. I’ll hafta drop you off where you were, though. Jus’ gimme a sec, I’ll get you all fixed up proper.”

 And it was so.

 Aziraphale opened his eyes and took a deep, unnecessary breath. He patted his hands over his coat, and tried to twist himself around to see that everything was present and correct. He thought that perhaps his coat was a little longer, his sweater a little more fitted, but it was really quite hard to tell in a body that was still relearning what synapses were.

 He turned slowly, but there was no sign of Adam – not even a lingering hint of ozone to suggest he had ever been there. He then continued turning, struck by the sudden realisation that he had no idea where on God’s green Earth he was.

 “Oh,” he said, followed swiftly by a word that may have been inappropriate in polite company – but, if there is no polite company to hear an inappropriate word fall in a forest, who’s to say if it made a sound?8

 *****

1 – In that particular instance, it had been rather more tear than wear

2 – Give or take. Functioning calendars had only existed for sixty of those years

3 – Literally – humans hadn’t invented numbers that could count that high yet

4 – Aside from the unfortunate dissembling down to the molecular level

5 – He did not speak as you or I might speak, as he lacked the mouth necessary to do so. He did not even speak as you or I might imagine a formless denizen of Heaven would speak. To properly explain how he spoke would require a number of PhDs that don’t exist on Earth and an in-depth understanding of the wavelengths that angels generally occupy outside the range of human perception, of which this author has neither

6 – He was also rapidly coming to terms with the fact that he had listed ‘child murder’ as one of the possible solutions to the problems the day had presented. Very low down the list, mind you, but still certainly present

7 – It was

8 – It did

 *****

The world had been restored for thirteen hours, and a lone demon had been drinking solidly for twelve of them. The first hour had been dedicated to transporting himself back to London, or it would have been a solid thirteen.

 Crowley couldn’t remember the last time he had been this drunk. It might have been in what would later become Croatia, in 1132 BC. It may have been just after the Library of Alexandria – ahem – was destroyed. It might have been sometime in the First World War1.

 Certainly, he thought, staring at the empty bottle in his hand with something a little like betrayal, he had never been this drunk on his own.

 And really, that was the crux of the problem, wasn’t it?

 He let his head fall back against the plush pile of the rug beneath him. It didn’t make quite the satisfying thunk he’d been hoping for – more of a dull whoomf, really – so he waved unsteady fingers through the air to miracle up the delayed sound himself. That, he thought, was much better suited to his current mood.

 The bottle in his other hand had once contained a rather fine 1947 Cheval Blanc that he hadn’t tasted a single mouthful of, and now contained little more than dregs. He hadn’t bothered to get himself more bottles – only continued refilling this one every time it got too light. He’d just tried to do so again, and managed nothing more than a faint headache, so for the moment he’d abandoned the attempt.

 Crowley blinked blearily up at the ceiling, and lamented his inability to fall into a drunken coma.

 Oh, he could sleep well enough – Crowley was a champion sleeper. He was also quite proficient in naps, snoozes, dozes, and the sort of lazy Sunday afternoon in which you are sure that you were awake, yet somehow cannot produce a single piece of evidence to prove it. All of that was, unfortunately, very different from a drunken coma. They all involved being able to keep his blessed mind quiet for longer than two consecutive minutes.

 Aziraphale had been keeping this bottle back – not for any sort of special occasion, but just because it hadn’t, he’d said, felt like the right time to drink it. Aziraphale was very big on listening to those odd little feelings of his. It had been exactly where it had been kept since Aziraphale first bought it in 1948, still perfectly preserved, and Crowley’s hand shook a little when he had picked it up.

 There had been a part of him – small, but far too loud to completely ignore – that had hoped to hear the angel’s huff behind him. To have the bottle snatched away because it still isn’t time for this one, my dear, really.

 Of course, it had been only him, the bottle, and the books. He’d almost tried spilling a little wine over the first-edition Dante, but hadn’t been able to bring himself to, in the end. As satisfying as it might have been, it still seemed like a step too far. Besides, he thought to himself. Besides. It had been bad enough being allowed to drink the wine. He didn’t know what he’d do if there was no-one to stop him ruining the books2.

 Crowley’s wandering mind found itself pondering if Adam had recreated the holy sigil that Aziraphale had hidden beneath this very rug. He could find out, he supposed, then groaned as even the thought of standing made his head swim. It was harmless to him inactive, but he still didn’t like the thought of sitting atop a direct line to the big guys Upstairs.

 Even if he did have a few choice words for them.

 But then again, there was always the chance it wasn’t Heaven at all. The Metatron had looked terribly confused3 when he’d cornered them about Aziraphale on the airfield. Maybe they really hadn’t had anything to do with it. Maybe they really didn’t know what had happened.

 Which only left Downstairs, something that Crowley felt only marginally more equipped to deal with. Beyond that, there really wasn’t a terribly long list of suspects.

 Only the divine or the infernal were capable of true smiting. And if Adam hadn’t brought Aziraphale back, then that meant there was nothing left of him to bring back. It was a fairly simple progression of logic that managed to completely stall Crowley about halfway through. Six thousand years he thought bitterly. Just enough time to get used to having someone around.

 He lifted to bottle to his lips again, grimacing as he remembered his last attempt to refill it. Well, there was no rush. He had time. It wasn’t the end of the world.

 Pity, that.

 Well, no. That wasn’t fair. After all, this world had always been more or less decent to them – him. And he had just spent the last eleven years trying to make sure it could continue being decent. It would have been a terrible shame if, after all that effort, it had just gone and ended anyway.

 It was just that. That. That Crowley had always trusted in the universe to look out for him, one way or another. And he’d never quite realised that, in all of his optimism, he’d somehow included Aziraphale in that assumption. That if there was something out there in the universe watching his back – be it God, Satan, someone else, or just the natural forces of cosmic entropy – then it only made sense that it would be watching out for the angel as well.

 Crowley had been wrong about a lot of things – one of the perils of having been around since the Beginning.

 He didn’t think he’d ever been as wrong about anything as he was about this.

 “Bugger thissss,” he said, trying to sit himself back up for just a moment, before abandoning the attempt when all it did was offer him a better view of the empty room, a mug of congealed cocoa still sat on the desk, and the tartan throw on the back of the sofa that Crowley had foolishly miracled up as a joke and Aziraphale had loved without the slightest hint of shame or irony.

 “Sssshould the burn the placccce back down! ‘d sssserve you right, Zira! Leaving me to deal with the apocap – apolac – Armageddon all by mysssself! Going and getting yoursssself all, all ssssmoted!”

 Crowley waved his hand towards the general vicinity of the rest of the shop in a gesture that he thought was appropriately menacing.

 “I will! I’ll sssset fire to every one of your biblessss! You’ll, you’ll have to thwart me!”

 And nothing happened. The books didn’t catch fire. Crowley did not feel thwarted, so it was probably just that he was in no fit state to be setting fire to anything. He was too busy, he realised in a distant sort of way, making an awful keening wail as he scrunched his eyes shut as tight as he could.

 It was probably a good thing he’d been in some sort of shock on the drive back. If he’d felt anything like this, he likely would have hit multiple other road users, and then Aziraphale, from wherever he was or wasn’t, would have been exceptionally disappointed. Well, there was every chance Aziraphale was exceptionally disappointed with Crowley right now, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. If the angel wanted to judge him, he could come right on back to life and do it to Crowley’s face.

 “Why?” He moaned, from somewhere low in his throat. “What did he ever do? He wasn’t the one who, who invented original sin. He wasn’t the one who mucked up the Plan. What did he do to desssserve thissss?”

 Unless – unless that was the point. Punishment wasn’t really punishment is you didn’t exist to suffer through it. Maybe it wasn’t about Aziraphale.

 After all, Crowley was the only one suffering now.

 Both Heaven and Hell, while unimaginative, were both very keen on the ironic sorts of punishments. And while Crowley would have liked to think that a benevolent God wouldn’t approve of this sort of thing, he knew enough about the Creator – and all the things that had been going on since free will really took off – to know that God wouldn’t really care. At least, not enough to interfere.

 Ineffable, as the bloody angel would have said. Except he wasn’t here to say it now, and Crowley certainly wasn’t going to stoop so low.

 Begging on the other hand, was a low he had stooped to before, and would no doubt stoop to again.

 “Jusssst,” he started, and tried to get the hissing under control. It probably wasn’t a very polite way to address the Almighty, especially not for one of the fallen. “Jussst, please, ssend him back. He should get to ssee that hiss books are all okay, and that the world isss ssstill sssspinning. He’ssss done enough good for that. Thwarted enough wilessss. And all the onessss he didn’t were my fault, really. Ssssso bring him – jussst bring him back. I know we haven’t spoke in a really long time, and I know we aren’t on good termsss, but pleassse. For, for Zira’s ssssake, pleassse, he’sss all I’ve got left, he’sss the only good thing I still have from Heaven, pleassse-”

 His voice cracked and gave up, but Crowley didn’t notice. He kept up his pleas silently, mouth working awkwardly around a tongue just a little too long and forked to pass for human. His ears were ringing unpleasantly – either a product of the wine, or the fact that praying was always more than a little bit painful for demons.

 But the ringing in his ears just grew louder for a brief, horrible instant, before cutting out entirely.

 Had Crowley been even slightly less of a drunken, mumbling mess, he may well have realised that the ringing was actually the doorbell of the shop. He may have heard the click as the door was unlocked, or the shuffling of fine leather shoes over the mat. He may not have, of course, but we will never know for certain. The reality was, he was that drunk, and he didn’t hear any of those things. The very next thing he heard, in fact, was an aggrieved sigh, and a rather put upon tsk. Crowley didn’t have the willpower at that precise moment to lift an eyelid; but then, he didn’t have to. He was very well acquainted with that put upon tsk. His mouth stretched into something that may have resembled a smile if it hadn’t wobbled quite so much.

 “Ssssstill wassssn’t time for it then? Angel?” He asked, waving the bottle haphazardly around. A couple of drops splashed on his face, and more than a couple onto his shirt. He gestured to miracle them away, but didn’t bother to look and see if it had worked.

 “My dear, I’ve never seen you in such a state,” said a familiar voice to his left. Crowley’s grasp on the bottle slackened, and he felt it fall from between his fingers. It must have landed on the thick, soft rug somewhere beside him, because he didn’t hear it hit the floor.

 Crowley loved that rug. He could write sonnets devoted to that rug. That rug and him had been through something real over the last twelve hours.

 “I’ll take this, Crowley,” said the voice that Crowley knew better than any sound in the world, a little nonsensically.

 It wasn’t Aziraphale. Crowley knew that – had several very good arguments for it, in fact4.

 He didn’t open his eyes to check.

 There was a sensation like fingers – soft, warm, and a little bit heavenly – running over his hair. Crowley tilted his face up towards it. He may not look so much like a serpent these days, but he’d never quite managed to shake the habit of seeking out warmth. If Crowley really concentrated, he could almost muster up the familiar scent of bergamot and dust that always seemed to cling to Aziraphale’s overcoat.

 “Oh, my dear boy, what happened?” Asked Hallucination Aziraphale. “I was only gone a day.”

 “Yesssss!” Crowley hissed despite himself. “A whole – a whole blesssssed day! The firsssst day of, of, of the resssst of my life!”

 He hiccupped.

 It wasn’t a sob. Crowley didn’t sob.

 He did, however, drunkenly hiccup several times in a row, hard enough to make his chest ache and his eyes water. He swiped furiously at his face and tried to curl himself into as small a ball as possible – had he been sober enough, he might have even shrunk himself down into a little snake to curl up even smaller and tighter. Snakes didn’t have treacherous tear ducts. Snakes didn’t drunkenly imagine their dead partner gently lifting their head into a soft lap. Clearly, snakes were the superior beings, and it had only taken him six thousand years, one heartbreak, and one stage of grief to notice.

 “Well now,” the voice was somehow both kind and exasperated, a combination that Aziraphale had mastered several millennia ago, and that Crowley had clearly thought worth committing to memory. “Whatever is the matter? The world is safe, my books are all here, and don’t think I didn’t see your car outside. Anything else can be dealt with, hm?”

 Crowley shook his head wordlessly, but didn’t trust himself to open his mouth. He’d only end up hiccupping again.

 “Crowley? Can you sober up, dear?” Crowley shook his head again, but this time managed a sullen little,

 “Don’t want to be sssssober.”

 “Dare I ask why not?” Crowley had long known he was the only demon with something even approaching an imagination, but even he hadn’t realised just how good it was. He was quite certain he’d managed to get Aziraphale’s stuffy, put-upon eye-rolling spot on.

 It seemed perfectly obvious to Crowley why he should never like to be sober again, and as a hallucination of his, it should be perfectly clear to Aziraphale too. He opened one suspicious eye just a crack; just enough to see a vague outline that may have been angel-shaped with none of the defining characteristics.

 “You’ll go away if I’m ssssober,” he said wretchedly. The lap under his head jolted slightly, which was really rather rude for a hallucinatory pillow, in Crowley’s opinion.

 “I most certainly will not!” Ah, yes, the bluster. Crowley always did like tempting that out. “For a start, we’re in my shop! And if you will insist on staying drunk, I should at least like to know why on Earth you thought it was a good idea to pass out on my nice rug!”

 “Din’t pass out,” Crowley muttered sullenly, and didn’t point out that it wasn’t for a lack of trying. His brain and any products thereof would already know that, so it would be rather pointless.

 “Crowley,” said the angel warningly.

 Crowley found himself overtaken by another sudden bought of hiccups.

 “They killed my best friend,” he said, and didn’t hiss at all. The hand that had been moving gently through his hair all this time, almost unnoticed, stopped for a second and shook, before starting again.

 “Oh. I – well. I’m terribly sorry to hear that, dearest,” Aziraphale said, and there was no hint of temper in his voice. Just something a little shaky that Crowley couldn’t quite put his finger on.

 “Have you,” there was hesitance now, where there hadn’t been before. Crowley tried to reach up, in the vague direction he thought the angel’s face might be, to pat at it reassuringly. Aziraphale was de – gone. He had nothing to be hesitant about, and Crowley tried to tell him that with a few clumsy swipes of his hand against what may have been a cheek. It felt like Aziraphale was smiling, but his voice was still sad when he spoke. “Have you tried asking Adam about it? He’s really a terribly nice boy, under all of the Hellish powers.”

 Crowley managed a despondent shake of his head.

 “Silly angel,” he said, and it was fond now. He had decided, rather abruptly, that he could be as fond as he wanted. As fond as he had been for six thousand year, under it all. “Can’t bring back something that dun’t even exisssst anymore. He already fixed everythin’ elsssse.” He leaned up a little, and whispered, like it was some great secret,

 “I even assssked Death.” He spoke over Aziraphale’s squawk of you what? “And y’know what he ssssaid? That it wassssn’t hissss jurissssdiction anymore!”

 It had seemed something of a win-win at the time. Either Death could do something about it, or he would be annoyed enough by Crowley’s asking to do something else – at that point, Crowley hadn’t been too picky. But it seemed his luck had run out – his optimistic streak had carried him as far as it was able, and not an inch further.

 “Would you tell me about them?” Aziraphale asked after a long moment of silence. His voice small, and tight, and something about it struck Crowley as wrong, but his brain was far too slippery to grasp what it was. “They must have been something truly special, to go to all that trouble. It might – help. Help you, I mean.” Crowley thought this through hazily, before nodding. He wasn’t sure if it really made sense or not, but he was willing to trust that Aziraphale would know more about this sort of thing than him.

 “Known ‘m since – sssince – forever. Before time was a thing,” Crowley said. “Could alwaysss count on him. And we din’t have a lot in common, but we had all the important bitsss! And bessssides, you get used to people being around that long.”

 Aziraphale laughed, a little uncomfortably.

 “Well now, you don’t need to tell me that, my dear,” he said.

 “But I do!” This, suddenly, seemed extremely important. Crowley pushed himself into a popstion that could be described as upright, if one were feeling particularly generous5, and peered unsteadily into the hallucination’s eyes for the first time. They looked exactly like Aziraphale’s, complete with the little golden flecks that always caught the light no matter which way he turned. Bless it but Crowley was good.

 “I never told you when you were alive, and now you’ve gone and got yourself smited, so I’ll never get to tell you again!”

 He had the singular pleasure of watching Aziraphale’s eyes widen, and a flood of colour rush up his cheeks, but didn’t pause to appreciate the sight, steamrolling over any of Aziraphale’s attempts to talk.

 “You were -! You were -! Huffy, and you had terrible taste in clothes, and I don’t underssssstand what’ssss so great about Classic FM that you thought it had to be the only blessed channel you can get all over the country no matter how bad the ssssignal is, and sssometimes I hiss my words just because I know it makessss you smile, and I’ve never unkilled a duck for anyone else, and none of it mattersss because Heaven or Hell or ssssomeone decided to off you, and now I’m sssstuck here on my own waiting for the next go-around!”

 It was quiet for a long time. Long enough for Crowley to slump back into the hallucination’s lap and close his eyes again. They really were so heavy, and sore after the hiccups made them water so much.

 “I really do think,” Aziraphale said finally, “that you ought to sober up.”

 Crowley didn’t dignify that with a response beyond tightening his grip on the angel’s calf.

 “It would be in both our best interests?”

 Still not worth a reply.

 “For me?”

 That made him pause a little, before shaking his head definitively no.

 “Oh, for the love of – someone.” The next thing Crowley knew, he was up on his feet, through no effort or will of his own. There were a pair of arms wrapped rather solidly around his shoulders, and his feet didn’t want to move separately, apparently rather stuck on the idea that they used to be a tail. His face was pressed heavily against a soft shoulder though, so Crowley didn’t complain, even when the wool tickled at his nose. He had the vague feeling that he was being led somewhere, but he’d be redeemed if he could figure out where.

 “Here we are,” Aziraphale muttered, right before he dropped Crowley onto what felt like a bed – just the right side of springy, with a thread count that was honestly sinful. Crowley appreciated it for an all-too-brief second before he found himself gripped by panic.

 He surged up, and halfway off the bed before Aziraphale caught him again.

 “Nuh – no!” If Crowley lay down in a bed, then he would go to sleep. If Crowley went to sleep, then he would wake up sober. If he woke up sober, then Aziraphale would be gone. “Nonono.”

 “Yes,” Aziraphale’s voice was firm, though his hands were soft as anything where they were untangling Crowley’s from his lapels. “You need a good night’s sleep my dear, and to face the morning with a clear head. I promise you it’ll all seem much brighter.”

 Crowley shook his head where it was mashed against the side of Aziraphale’s neck. The neck in question moved a little as Aziraphale sighed.

 “Would it help if I stayed with you?” He asked.

 That… gave Crowley pause. He hadn’t thought of that. If the hallucination stayed with him while he slept, and Crowley held on tightly enough – well, he was pretty solid now. As long as Crowley didn’t move a single muscle as he slept6 then it should be fine.

 There was something amiss with that logic, but exhaustion had crept up on him like a snake in the grass, and Crowley found himself being lowered back to the bed once more, this time unresistingly.

 “There you are,” was the last thing Crowley heard as he slipped off to sleep. He had just enough time to congratulate himself on miracling up such a comfortable bed – he’d even managed to permeate the pillows with Aziraphale’s scent, which he desperately pressed his nose into now – before he was swept away7.

 *****

1 – In fact it was none of these, for the simple reason that Crowley had never been this drunk before in his very long existence

2 – Well, no, that’s not entirely accurate. He did know what he would do. He was just trying very hard not to think on it too long, when he knew that Aziraphale would disapprove most vehemently

3 – Insofar as a being with no face made of holy fire can look confused

4 – The arguments went as follows:

·        Aziraphale had been smited. Smote? Smiten?

·        Aziraphale would never approve of Crowley’s deep love for this rug

·        Aziraphale had never, in six thousand years, sounded quite so fondly exasperated, and he wouldn’t have started now

·        Aziraphale was dead

·        Aziraphale hadn’t started nagging him about the wine

·        Aziraphale hadn’t mentioned the new books that Crowley had noticed Adam stocked

·        Aziraphale wasn’t coming back

5 – As well as a little hazy on the meaning of the word ‘upright’

6 – Which was, fortunately, how he naturally slept anyway

7 – Had he stayed awake any longer, he would have realised that not even he would have miracle up such a hideous quilt cover. He also would have felt the careful, cleansing touch of a kiss against his forehead to keep away bad dreams – though demons have no other kind. But he did not stay awake, and so he noticed nothing.

[kaisha-writes-blog]

I did a really long thing (sorry)

Thank you so much for tagging me in this @hklunethewriter! I love the idea and had so much fun reading your answers. Also, I’m brand new to tumblr and only four people out of the 400 I followed have followed me back, so a huge shout out to you guys - and to @hklunethewriter for being kind enough to tag me! Standing nervously in front of the microphone, I can almost hear one of you clapping at the back of the room. 

So, this seems relatively simple, but knowing me I’ll still do it wrong so I’m sorry in advance if I answer the wrong questions. I don’t have 11 followers, so I’m going to tag the four I have, and then just other blogs that I think look interesting. Feel free to totally ignore me and go about your day. 

Note: I hope you’ve got plenty of syrup because this is 100% WAFFLE. I write like I talk, and I talk a lot, so this ended up being much longer than I intended. I’m sorry. I exhaust myself. 

1. What’s your favourite writing spot?

For sure the snuggle chair in my living room (people think I made that name up, but I promise that’s what it’s called in the catalogue). My youngest kitty Cleo likes to sit by me, and walk across the keyboard when I’m trying to type, so that’s always a lot of fun. I consume several hot drinks in the glow of my laptop screen and my crappy ASDA lamp until my eyes start to close. Often I wake up there, and the cycle begins again. 

2. Is there a song you only listen to when you’re writing?

Um, not really. Sometimes I’ll have an idea in my head for something I’m going to write and will make little playlists that inspire me. I’ll listen to them throughout the day, but I find it really hard to hear myself think if music is playing because I just sing to it instead. 

3. What’s your stance on ambiguous endings?

I’m in two minds! Personally, I really like that certain endings are left open to interpretation. I like reading fan theories on the internet, and having the freedom to use my imagination to picture different scenarios, and the air of mystery that comes with saying ‘well, we’ll never know for sure.’ On the other side of the coin, though, if I’m really invested in a story (which happens a lot, because I’m seemingly unable to like things on a low-key level) then I much prefer the closure of a sure, solid ending.

4. Do you believe ‘Death of the Author’ holds up when, especially in our current time period, authors are likely to give and assign parts of themselves to their characters? Do such books exist anymore?

I personally see no harm at all in authors assigning elements of their lives, their personalities, or things that inspired the events they depict to their characters/writing. Though I’m not massively knowledgeable on the subject, as I stated earlier, I agree that interpretation by the reader is key and personally find that being given room to view things in my own way makes for a much more interesting read. I’m a big believer in showing my reader what I’m saying, rather than telling them what’s going on - and while I’m sure that there are books that have been written in mind of this notion, and are intentionally vague, I often find the backstory to the novels I read almost as interesting as the novel itself. 

5. Is writing more of a stress relief or stress causer for you?

I often write for catharsis or enjoyment, so I’m leaning much more towards stress relief. I may, however, answer differently in 24 hours time when I’m frantically writing my assignment for university 12 hours before it’s due to be handed in. Organisation is the enemy, apparently.

6. Adverbs. Thoughts?

I like adverbs, generally speaking, but a pet peeve of mine is seeing them used too frequently! I think it’s Stephen King (could be totally wrong, do NOT quote me on that) who believes that an over-use of adverbs is indicative of timidity? I said earlier that, rather than telling my reader what’s going on, I prefer to show them - and as such, I am often (not always) of the belief that the writing leading up to the adverb should be of a high enough quality to nullify it. Each to their own, though, of course!

7. Has tumblr made you a more productive/”creative” writer, in your opinion?

Mostly yes, but a little bit no. Yes, because I see a lot on here that inspires me to write - whether it’s the work of other writers, a photograph of a beautiful sunset that moves me, a text post of some song lyrics I haven’t heard in FOREVER or a quote I can relate to - I find it all so inspiring. No, because I follow an inordinate amount of ‘cute cat’ pages and find them horribly and fantastically distracting.

8. Who in your life supports your writing the most?

100% my fabulous, brilliant, amazing Nana. I’ve been telling her stories since I was old enough to talk, and I’ll never for one moment forget her constant interest and encouragement. Like many, I’ve explored a wide range of potential interests and career paths in my 23 years; each time, the spark has crackled out, and I’ve given up early and moved onto something else. Understandably, most people in my life started to find it hard to believe in me - but she never did. I’d say “I’m gonna go to college and do this other cool thing I find mildly interesting” and she’d be like “well, ok, maybe this will be the one.” She tells me every time I see her that I could sweep the streets and she’d be proud of me, if it was what made me happy. Her support really is unconditional. 

9. In what medium (books, movies, TV, video games, etc.) do you find the most inspiration?

Honestly, it changes all the time, but at the moment I’m finding a lot of my inspiration through music - particularly Taylor Swift, because she’s a lyrical GENIUS and I adore her. I’ll hear a lyric and start to build a whole scene in my head of what prompted her to write that, and it’s so much fun.

10. Lastly, do you have a link to published work that I, HK Lune, can see/reblog? 

I don’t! I’ve written a few bits and pieces to the point of completion, but have never felt confident enough to share them online, and focus primarily on my university work nowadays. You can read my essays, if you’d like? :D 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ll start by tagging my faithful followers

@cheezbot @jkirs1 @long-live-beau @quilloftheclouds 

Then I’ll tag the lovely person who tagged me 

@hklunethewriter

And now I’ll tag some cool blogs. 

@catsnmeows1 @turtleconservancy @taylorswift @catsthefun @hilariouscats @meow

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OH and even though nobody will answer them, I’m going to post questions so I don’t do the game wrong. They are as follows:

1. If you could meet one author for lunch, who would it be?

2. What are your thoughts on visual stories? (apps like Choices: Stories You Play, Episode, etc.)

3. What was the first book to make you cry?

4. Do you ever base your characters on people you know?

5. Name the worst book you’ve ever read, and tell me why it was bad.

6. Do you have a trademark writing ‘quirk’?

7. Do you have any (un)helpful pets? (I couldn’t resist asking this one. Also, if the answer is yes, please send me photos.)

8. What advice would you give to a person who is new to writing?

9. Tell me your ideal writing environment.

10. Sad endings: realistic, or unnecessary?

11. You’ve decided to write under a pseudonym. What is it? 

[comingouttoteach]

Week 17

What would have been my busiest week turned out to only be three days, but they were intense enough!

Monday: We were back in university for a day divided between two topics: job applications & interviews and the classics in the classroom (that’s some top-notch sibilance there). The contrast in these two topics was much appreciated. I was thoroughly inspired by the classics talk. At my current school KS3 have fortnightly lessons called Let’s Think in English where the teacher reads a texts, pausing at points to give information and ask questions. They then pause before the climactic moment in the text to ask key questions which are discussed in pairs then as a class. The students love these lessons as they think they aren’t doing any work HAHHAAHA little do they know. There is no writing and very little reading involved. The lesson revolves around listening and discussion; two activities which the talk on classics also celebrated. I enjoyed this talk because it helped me understand why I felt these kind of lesson/activities are so important. Firstly, two of the key skills in life that all people need are listening and discussion. Secondly, lessons which heavily involve these skills level the playing field to an extent. Lessons are so often writing focussed and, as I’m sure many teachers are aware, many students can talk the talk but sometimes can’t write the talk (..?). There are of course students whose English language skills are under-developed due to speech difficulties or having recently arrived in the country, but this doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be heard or allowed to be part of a discussion with those who are eloquent. Equality to all voices! 

Lessons taught: 1x Year 10 - ‘Afternoons’ by Philip Larkin. 3x Year 9 - Reading through Chapters 5, 6 & 7, practising essay writing skills. 1x Year 8 - Media/Film lesson on the theme of surveillance, my University Tutor observed lesson. 1x Year 7 - Planning and writing for a vlog.

That’s only 6 lessons but it felt like a lot. Unfortunately I didn’t go to any Year 12 lessons this week because in the first one they had an exam conditions essay writing lesson, the teacher was absent for the second one, and the third one would have been about right now but it’s a snow day.

Year 10: another successful lesson where most students made notes and about 30% contributed. I was doing a lot of the work though and am planning to change this pattern next lesson. I was supposed to teach Emily Dickinson’s As Imperceptibly as Grief today and I had some exciting activities up my sleeve but alas, they will have to wait until Wednesday now. I was going through the SOW that the teacher gave me and found these comments in the ‘context’ slide about E.D:

‘She is sometimes depicted as a solitary genius as she rarely left the house, but in fact she was quite sociable and often entertained visitors. 

Her poetry was only ever really about her home and the surrounding countryside.’

‘only ever really’; what a shocker!!! I have been reading Open Me Carefully this morning which is a compilation of the letters E.D sent to Susan Huntingdon Dickinson, her sister-in-law with whom she shared a ‘deeply intimate and passionate relationship’. I have since changed the comment on this slide to:

‘She is sometimes depicted as a solitary genius as she rarely left the house, but in fact she was very sociable and often entertained visitors. She had 99 correspondents over her lifetime. 

Her poetry tackles themes such as mortality, grief, freedom, faith, identity and nature.’

Safe to say I am quite excited about this lesson. 

Year 9: Animal Farm is not as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. Of course it is interesting, as an extended metaphor, a fable, a polemic; but the ‘literature’ element is secondary to it. The teacher said she had considered studying To Kill a Mockingbird with them and I think that would have challenged and engaged both them and myself more. Oh well. I introduced them to the word ‘polemic’ this week. I got them to form an opinion continuum across the room as to whether they thought Animal Farm was a fable or polemic or somewhere in between. A lot of them bunched in the middle but at least it was something a bit different for them to do!

Year 7: I just had the one lesson with them this week. I gave them a checklist - ‘features in a vlog’ - and go them to note down the features as I played a travel vlog. I paused the video at key points and got them to identify the features. It worked well. Some of them were noting down features straight away, some noted them down when I paused the video and some needed prompting/questioning in order to identify the features. I then showed them a template that they could use to write their own and set them off. They were writing these in groups of 2/3. When I went round to help them quite a few were off task. I quickly worked out that when I asked them to perform what they had so far this really spurred them on because they LOVE performing, being the centre of attention, being heard. Unfortunately I missed the lesson where they performed these to the whole class. On Monday we are in a computer room with them and I might try and record them and add images to a video. My technology skills might not be quite up to the task but I will liaise with the teacher and try my best. 

Year 8: Observation lesson! I think I benefitted from the ‘honeymoon’ period in terms of behaviour during this lesson, as I’d never taught them before. I managed to learn a surprising number of names, even the name of the boy who appeared in the room despite not being on the register or seating plan! It remains a mystery as to why he was in the room. About ten minutes in a quiet boy put his hand up and said ‘miss, he isn’t supposed to be in here.’ Luckily my AT was at hand. The boy said he’d been moved tutor groups but no one, including the class teacher, has found any evidence of this. Anyway, he stayed in the room for the duration and caused a moderate amount of disturbance. The topic for the lesson was surveillance in relation to the film The Truman Show (or if would have been in relation to this film if I’d gotten to the plenary). It was the first time I’d taught a lesson on media/film but I had read the entire SOW so far in preparation and watched some videos on Youtube about the basics of film/media classes. As I look back on it now I wish I had chosen a different topic. I just chose the next topic in the SOW but it didn’t really work in my favour. The text’s reading age was too high, I didn’t model answers to the questions I posed and I didn’t feedback from the questions. The starter/s were more successful in terms of engagement but the content didn’t quite link. I would have liked to come in with something a bit stronger and more personal for my first lesson with them. My main downfalls: I didn’t ask for help with the lesson early enough and I didn’t question the SOW provided. My goal over the next 7/8 weeks is to develop confidence in picking my own topics/ideas/activities for lesson and following through on questions like; what do I think is important? what do I think they need to know?  

Next week I really need to get on the EPS boat. My presentation for the assignment will be on questioning. I chose this topic because I really want to develop my own questioning skills and believe that in the classroom situation, great questioning makes all the difference. I am worried that I won’t be able to identify a solid question in the topic though (ironic). What is the impact of good questioning? How does good questioning affect learning? How do teachers construct questions? What kind of questioning techniques build students’ learning?  How do I measure these? A challenge. I guess I need to ask for help, and in good time. 

Onwards and upwards. I’ve got to plan, deliver and mark multiple assessments over the next two weeks and try to get my lesson plans in earlier as my bad habits aren’t proving conducive to building good relationships within the English department.. :( with whom I still do not share an office with. Oh well!

Happy snow day one and all! Please enjoy my cartoon strip of life so far in Placement 2 as a final word:

[high-pot-in-noose]

@alnair-tair has nominated me! Thanks for thinking of me!

Rules: Answer and tag 5-15 of your followers you’d like to get to know better.

I. Nickname: Jet OR Val

II. Gender: Assigned female at birth and comfortable with it.

III. Astrology sign: Erm, Cusp of Revolution? If I was born in the West, I would have been a Scorpio, no questions asked, but Thailand is ahead by twelves hours, so I’m Sagittarius by many sources -- though other sources say the 22nd of November is still part of Scorpio -- but, also, I was removed a week before I was due, so would that actually make my true birthdate to be the 29th of November? Ugh, Let’s just say Cusp of Revolution and be done with it.

IV. Height: ??cm/5′7(1/2)″ ft

V. Sexuality: Demi-ace

VI. Hogwarts house: Ravenpuff (Horned Serpent, too)

VII. Favorite animal: Octopus

VIII. Average hours of sleep: I try for 8, but sometimes I go with 6

IX. Dogs or cats: Cats. I don’t really believe in owning animals, so the thought of dogs, an animal bred specifically to be pets, puts me off. Cats, at least, can take care of themselves even if they are pets. I don’t hate either dogs or cats! I just don’t like the idea of owning another living creature.

X. Number of blankets you sleep with: Two. Thin ones (with a fan on) when it’s hot. If it’s cold (below 40 F), I’ll go with thick ones.

XI. Dream trip: I actually don’t like travelling -- I get motion sickness of all kinds. If you could teleport me there, I’d love to see movie sets for LoTR and Harry Potter

XII. Dream job: Librarian

XIII. When I made this account: No idea. Years before I actually became active.

XIV. Follower count: 138 (Rather proud of this since I’ve only been active for maybe two months now)

XV. Relationship status: I’m open to friendship and that’s it.

XVI. Favorite colors: Every shade of purple, pale green, and dove gray.

XVII. Lipstick or chapstick: Tinted lip balm

XVIII. 3 favorite foods: Pad Thai, Papaya salad, anything nominally Italian

XIX. Song stuck in your head: That’s Not My Name by The Ting Tings

XX. Last song you played: Go Down Moses by Louis Armstrong

XXI. Top 3 tv shows: I don’t really watch TV shows anymore, I just binge seasons of whatever fandom I’m interested in joining. Um, within fandoms I’m already in: Sherlock, Merlin, Teen Titans -- Outside of fandom: Good Eats, Between The Lions, and . . . anime (I swear to God, I can’t name anything else that isn’t just anime or old cartoons)

XXII. Book you’re currently reading: I’ve been consumed by the fanfiction, there’s no escaping it. Erm, but I recently read a book I’ve had sitting in my digital bookshelf for a while, A Nameless Witch. Shit’s hilarious!

XXIII. Last thing you googled: List of tv series for question 21

XXIV. Time: 5:10 PM

I nominate @silenceia , @tomoe-san , @thefringeperson , @funnymuffin91 , @lovingempress , @giantsstolemyheart , @helly-watermelonsmellinfellon , @melody-chii

[phynxrizng]

ILLUMINATION, LIONS GATE PORTAL 8:8:18, NEW MOON AND PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.

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New post on Monika Carless Author *Intuitive Coach

Illumination. Lionsgate Portal 8:8:18, New Moon and Partial Solar Eclipse.

Source by Monika Carless

August greetings Wild Ones!

Can we take a minute here to breathe? I find August so potent and expansive, sometimes I need to run and hide in a cave and eat grounding food to keep myself from floating out into the atmosphere!

Here's what's happening:

Lionsgate Portal, at its peak today, and waning until August 13th.

New Moon August 11th, Partial Solar Eclipse, AND Perseid Meteor Showers!

I've been dreaming, astral traveling, having communication with guides in the last week that have illuminated my purpose with new insights. How about you? What dreams or visions have you been having?

The Lionsgate Portal is something that occurs every year in July/August and is felt most strongly on the 8th. The Sun, Earth and Sirius move to specific points in the sky. Sirius is our Spiritual Sun and what activates the Third Eye, or Pineal Gland. We open to higher wisdom, or in essence, to our higher self, as well as intuition, telepathy, clairvoyance, etc.

The Perseid Meteor shower will be seen most effectively on the Dark/New Moon on the 11th, and its energy can be harnessed for communing with extra-terrestrials, calling up connections with the Fey/Underworld, working with Goddesses/Gods, or deep vision questing. Leave spell casting for the day after the Dark Moon, unless well versed in the nuances of such work, or there is specific banishing work to be done. The darker entities are easily summoned on this day, best to leave this as a day of rest from magic.

If you'd like to work with the number 8, allow it to help you find balance between the material and immaterial worlds. Tap into its magnetic forces of renewal and infinity. 8 also speaks of abundance. Include these elements in your meditations.

I've been marinating in the wise words of TulaFae's astrological forecast for each sign. Check out what it means for yours.

***

Lion’s Gate opens for us to receive radical wisdom. Throwing all things into flux for us to witness and re-calibrate. It is beyond letting go of what is not working our lives.

It is an energy that is asking us to choose ascension in each word or action to ourselves and others.

Who do we have on our side that will support us as we rise in embodying our wisdom? Who can withstand the regal radiance of our expressed heart space? What energies serve us? Take your passion and turn it into light by radical heart centered action.

Currently, meditation is important throughout the Mercury Retrograde. Even if the meditation is just sitting by flowing water. Companions will be clear calcite, Icelandic spur, quartz, rose quartz, and sunstone.

There are now 6 out of 9 planets in retrograde. Retrogrades bring all that needs to be addressed to the surface. If you feel that someone is out of character, it is due to what they have been suppressing. Everyone, even yourself, needs plenty of compassionate patience.

The New Moon is the last partial eclipse of the summer. Peaking at August 11 th at 08:02:08 UTC time with the moon in 17 degrees of Leo, the Sun at 18 degrees Leo.

Aspects discussed further will be the Leo Moon and Mercury Retrograde in 14 degrees Leo quincunx the Retrograde Saturn in 19 degrees Capricorn and Retrograde Neptune in Pisces at 15 degrees. The positioning creates a yod; a geometric positioning in a chart that is also known as the finger of “God” pointing to fate and destiny and karma.

Fate is pointing her finger to the illumination our subconscious desires of our hearts and how we express our talents.

Neptune brings in dreams. The dreams will be more prominent during this time. Especially for Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, and Aquarius. Neptune also brings up manipulation and deceit. We can easily deceive ourselves by believing we cannot have what our heart truly wants.

From this space, it is also easy to continue a pattern from a concern of lack the needs of food, shelter, and love. The retrograde gives insight to how we have been continuing this and the core wounds which manifested the behavior. The heart knows what it needs out of a logic far beyond the analytical mind.

Saturn’s role here unveils karma contracts to either be assigned or annulled. Making it a wonderful time to clear, delete, and dissolve any cords and contracts with your mind, body, soul, and relationships that hold you back from claiming the authority on your radiant, wild power.

As I go about the signs, note that the rising sign is the vital component. Sun is for how life is perceived. The moon will show the journey of the emotions. Mercury is how we meditate and communicate.

Reading the descriptions for one’s Venus and Mars will reveal about finances and friendships or instinct and sexuality. May you use these descriptions in a way to ascends your confidence and consciousness in all aspects of your life.

Aries

The eclipse happens in your 5 th house, eager for you to get the creative project off the ground. Beloved Aries, your expression and creations are perfect as they are now. Yes, even if they do not feel fully formed. People need you to do what you do best for the greater good. Keep being the leader and show up regardless of what is going on or how you feel. Forgive those who trespass against you by not forgetting but by making your boundaries firmer. Be direct in your compassion and understand the most loving actions can be letting go. Allow the bounty of blessings that are ready for you.

Taurus

Uranus became retrograde in your sign on the 7 th . It is too easy to fool yourself in being unable to manifest what you need. Go back to your values. Dig into your stubbornness when in the manifestation process. Remember your worth as you appreciate all that you have at the point you are in now. Walk barefoot on grass, smell the sunshine, and close your eyes and breath and smile into your heart. Things will shift quickly. All of it is working out as intended for your alignment. Remember being in bliss is what ascends us. Placing concern in money, finances, shelter, and romance are all distractions shielding your eyes from absolutely accepting the goodness that is coming to you.

Gemini

Eclipse in your 3 rd house of communication. Honor your truth, speak it with your heart, and allow others to show up with their truth. Saturn in your 8 th house has been nudging you to build own resources for your future. Uranus retrograde in your 12 th is leading to spectacular insight. It is a perfect time to shift patterns of belief that have karmically played out in your lineage. Look to how your parents have had relationship to money, themselves, and others in their life. Chose what you adore and what is time for you to shift.

Cancer

Uranus retrograde in the 11 th house will bring friends and connections. These connections are usually people you have just started to get to know or have always admired you from afar. The eclipse in the 2 nd house of your own image and values. Your finances reflect how your feel about yourself. If you feel you are radically changing, accept it. Lose all concept of what others expect you to be for them.

Leo

Simply radiate from your heart. Meditate with your hands on your heart. Uranus in your 8 th beckons your intuition and spiritual growth. Go back to old practices that have been swept under the pace of life. Most likely practices and routines you had in 2016. Saturn is bringing a lot of awareness to your body so take care of it kindly.

Virgo

Mercury retrograde is bringing up aspects of the subconscious that need to be deleted. The inner critic can hold you back from choosing your own reality. The words that speak in your mind as you think are potent during the eclipse and new moon. What you think, you will create.

Libra

It will serve you well to change around the furnishings and decorations in a room. Maybe an altar in a certain direction that is specific to your desires. There are some activities in the home that have not been addressed. Perceive who truly has your best interest within your community. Network with those that wish would want to give you the leg up. Express yourself passionately to all you know. Please don’t attempt to censor your heart.

Scorpio

Career is changing; traveling will create more ideas. The 9 th house is activated bringing in innovative ideas, new ways of teaching, and new psychic connections. As ascension is happening to your consciousness, you are being gifted with ascended guides that have witnessed your journey recently. You are becoming clear with what you want and need. It is time to place all events and relationships to the universe. Follow the flow of the ascension as you transmute.

Sagittarius

Being honest with your values. Communicating your perceptions and intuition is needed by everyone who surrounds you. It is necessary to be in the heart. You are not one to mince words, yet truth from you sets others free. Recognize and own where you are not being truthful to what you sense and believe.

Capricorn

Relationships will take the focus during the eclipse and the new moon. It is important to have some space to yourself to perceive your needs and your changing values. Relish in the relationships who support you and nurture you. Spend extra quality time with those who matter the most after your alone time.

Aquarius

Holding space for creating your dreams. It may be only in visualization for five minutes in a day. Be in the process of creating it. Let it happen even though it will not be perfect or make much sense. All that is holding you back is a deep-rooted doubt.

Pisces

Finding new ways to communicate and express yourself. See it as a way of expanding your vocabulary with precision of describing where you are at emotionally. The world needs your service of intimacy by the way you speak and connect with others. Spending time at home and writing will help in this process. The eclipse is offering a way to reveal yourself to all who seek the medicine of your wisdom.

***

Darlings, we are in a continual cycle of ups and downs, the planets do their thing, externalizing our internal landscape. We won't ever be done with retrogrades or full moons or eclipses. We will always play with fire, light and dark will color our soul journey. There is barely a breath of relief between one celestial occurrence and another. The wheel turns and we with it. What we make of it - that's where the magic is.

Let's support each other during this incredibly powerful period in time - non-linear of course, haha! Let us be kind. Let us observe the sky and our internal universe. We are but stars. And that is a beautiful truth.

TulaFae is a well-being coach, astrologer, yoga teacher, world traveler, and a candidate pursuing a license in naturalistic medicine. Her work uncovers blocks in the energy, mental, and physical bodies by illuminating the blueprint of each soul set in and individual’s star charts. She helps others connect to their purpose in life through astrology, meditation, and essential oils. Dissolving confusion and delays of desire by using the body and mind to get tuned into one’s inner compass with harmony and trust.

TulaFae can be reached via these links: Blog

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***

Intuitive Coaching for the Wild Soul. Work with me!

Monika Carless | August 9, 2018 at 1:09 am | Tags: astrology, channeled messages, Making Magic, Moon Lore, Pagan, spirit | Categories: Musings | URL: https://wp.me/p44EFj-KJ

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[kelanfilms]

Stop Signs: The Joys of the Edit

Due to the everchanging weather onset, continuity for our film was looking to be a big task to maintain. As AD I was onset to note these changes/mistakes and write messages to my editor self, but there was a couple of times I was dealing with other things and in post have realised somethings happened, for example: Georgie’s hair flowing wildly in the wind, shoes and feet appearing, clouds changing and necklaces jumping in/out of jumpers, and the bench... we don’t talk about the bench. So my first day was spent noting down cuts that would be used only where necessary and sorting out my workflow.

After each day on set I’d been transcoding and logging the files ready for edit but unfortunately by day3 I was exhausted so left it for the train-ride home. Unfortunately this is when Avid decided to stop working for my laptop. The second Avid opened my laptop became so slow it barely worked, and the program wouldn’t allow the day3 footage to transcode. With editing at home I didn’t have room for error with Avid, so decided to do what I really didn’t want to, and turn to Adobe Premier Pro. Thankfully this program was working quickly and for now, working well with the files. I am concerned about issues presenting themselves in the exporting process so have booked a tutorial with Kieran to discuss the workflow and exporting issues that may need amended to ensure there’s no error. Because we are working quickly our crew has left a lot of room for issues and resolvement in the post-production process (there’s always something), so I’m not feeling too stressed.

Due to the wind on Day 2 of shooting a lot of the camera and sound slates aren’t matching. When shooting in the wind we could barely hear each-other so it’s no wonder the slate numbers got lost. As well, on the day the wind was so high that the clapper board would become another instrument getting blown away, and nobody had hands free to hold it, especially during the boot shot. [I think in future as a team we check the wind as well as rain, and during recces, don’t choose wide open spaces as the primary location, we should have a backup that’s as sheltered as we can from the weather]. So in post I’ve had to sync where I can for these outdoor shots, but as they don’t contain dialogue I think Anne-Marie could foley/SFX these sections easily enough. To ensure we both know what’s going on and that she’s prepared for any issues I’ve had with sound during the edit (Sound’s my least favourite thing to deal with unless I’m completing it myself, I can understand my mess of an audio track, other people... not so much, so I’m having to ensure that Anne Marie can understand what I’ve done and what’s where and any issues that may arise). 

The Edit Process:

The First Cut: 15th April

As always with my first cuts I set to work on initially blocking out the story on the timeline, going through each cut and finding the moments of the performances that told the story for me. Unfortunately with Hollie’s full script in there the film was 7.5mins (1.5mins over the limit), so I requested her to cut pieces of dialogue she was willing to part with. After a discussion we decided to make it more of a rant from Georgie, and take away the bits of Brodie’s dialogue that she was ignoring anyway. The first cut as always is a bit untidy so it needs work but it’s good to get into the flow. One thing I’m struggling with so far is the continuity in the shots, due to the weather cuts are interrupted by moving hair, wind, water getting rough then still, and due to our location quite a few trains and dogs interrupting. So it’s a case of trying to build a good edit around the perfect bits of dialogue and performance to create emotional moments. My aim with the edit is to prepare a new cut and build on it every day, and send uploads to the director and sound designer so that issues are resolved before a picture-lock attempt. By feeling the changes with each draft I feel my faith growing in my abilities and also connect and think about the film more, so it’s a process that really works for me too.

Link for first cut: https://youtu.be/PeZvG8euYWc

2nd Cut: April 17th

The 2nd draft was completed 2 days later, and will be tidied into draft 3 for rough cut tutorials. I’ve included a temporary phone ringtone to get the atmosphere of the phone there so that I can attempt to include the tension I saw in the script, however these shots aren’t as jumpy as I’d imagined so that may have to be rethought. Lines have also been cut, but I’ve been careful where to do it. Georgie is now on less of a rant with Brodie and it’s now a flowing conversation, so I’m intrigued as to what Hollie will think of this. For me, I feel like I get the story more when Brodie’s not interjecting, everything we understand is coming from our protagonist now. We are also now back into the 6min mark which is a good sign, as the original draft went over by 1.5mins, and I’m really feeling the story coming through the edit a lot more.

Below: Draft 2 Timeline (17th April): 

Link for 2nd cut: https://youtu.be/Odk2UCY1LSE

3rd Cut: 19th April

Following notes from my producer (which I heavily agreed with), we decided to cut the car sequence down (3 shots for 50secs was always too long), and adjust the shoes being taken off. Klaudia wasn’t a fan of the necklace sequence, but I think after tidying it has potential. The closeup is a nice shot too and gives a bit more dimension to the complexity of Georgie’s turmoil. She says she doesn’t care for her mum, but that moment is a nice sense of connection whether she likes it or not. So in draft 3 I went to work doing this, this cut is now 5mins 30secs which gives room to bring back more of the dialogue especially for Brodie now. It’s just a case of finding his key moments, as he was a younger actor sometimes you can see him thinking his lines so the performance is lost or the lines come out a little one note, so it’s just a job of finding his key moments (and there are a few lovely moments from Robbie so it’d be great to bring these back). I’ve also noticed the 180 line is being crossed in the edit far too much so I’m going to need to use the wides and Georgie’s CU to amend this. I think this problem has arisen as the film was not shot with the 180 line in mind onset, when I asked where we were working from/where the line was I was told “I don’t know” by a crew member so I think maybe that’s why a lot of our shots contradict themselves in this sense. So the next draft will really focus on solving/hiding the 180 problem to make the space more understandable to the viewer. I think because we see the full scene in the master shot when Georgie walks over it isn’t confusing to a viewer, but does make the edit look a bit lazier. 

Below: The draft 3 timeline. (Blue audio is camera, audio tracks need to be tidied).

Link for 3rd cut: https://youtu.be/gu5Tb3z7a14

The 4th Cut: 20th April

I’m feeling confident in how this edits now coming together. I’ve sorted a tutorial with Andrew for tomorrow and am preparing 2 more drafts for then, so that following his comments we can picture-lock tomorrow evening, giving Anne-Marie enough time to get her sound done. (And for me to colour-grade).

Below: The Draft 4 Timeline (the tracks that are displaying “out of sync” were a few frames out when they synced so they are correct).

Link for Draft 4 Cut: https://youtu.be/kISNk4BKCMA

The 5th Cut: 21st April “Potential Picture-Lock Day”

With the 5th cut I’m feeling more confident we’re there with locking picture. Small tweaks and issues have been resolved and I’m hoping to fine cut and lock it today to send to Anne-Marie for sound. Currently I believe I’m colour-grading so with the programs I have it will be done on Premier, so I’ve been touching up the colour in drafts as I go to get them all similar. Then if Hollie wishes for specific LUTS/Looks then I’ll apply this week, and hopefully be done with the project this weekend to give me time to finish assignments for other modules.

This cut is definitely the strongest, I’m feeling more of a tempo and having the temporary phone in there is giving me a feel for the story. I’ve highlighted points of Robbie’s performances more, and given a little more reaction time but unfortunately due to wind the actors couldn’t hear each other (so that emotive reaction is often absent in all our shots from day2).

All in all though, feeling strong for our tutorial with Andrew today (that feeling may change after that...)

Below: The Draft 5 Timeline, undergoing colour correction for one of the brighter shots.

Link for the Draft 5 Cut: https://youtu.be/3wCQtG6lU5Q

Picture Lock! Draft 6 & 7

Following comments from the lecturers and team we have moved to do a quick redraft before picture lock. The first redraft focused on the lecturer’s comments and ensuring the film didn’t sit on the line of action.

Draft 6: https://youtu.be/v5ZaEA6e0Qo

After this redraft I decided we needed to get rid of the Georgie close-up because it was too jarring being on the line. The pacing was amended too but due to shot choices and continuity (wind going through folks hair, and movement, was spoiling cuts), so I created Draft 7 - the picture lock.

Picture lock (draft 7): https://youtu.be/54AvA3lFxMg

I am happy with the picture lock but wish I’d had more time. In order to upload the AAF and MXF files to our sound designer that took 2 days off of our schedule due to my internet, so even an extra week on this would’ve allowed me to perfect it. Apart from that I am happy with the film and it’s definitely an improvement on some of my other edits. We’re still awaiting the recordings for the start and end to close up the story for the viewer, and reduce the narrative questions, so I’m intrigued to see what that’s like. I’ve mentioned to the director that these voicemail recordings have to hit the mark, as I’m worried they’ll be too vague and won’t answer the questions needing answered (are they going to the funeral? is it a funeral? legit what is happening in this world?). But we shall see, for now though, that’s my primary role as editor done.

[lovemesomesurveys]

Do you ever judge people based on if they believe in God or not? No, I have no right to judge.

Do you ever brush your teeth in the shower? No.

Has your printer ever stopped working at the last minute and you had a paper due the next day? What did you do? Oh that’s definitely happened more than once. I truly believe that printers have a way of knowing when you really need something printed, so it purposely messes up. It’s a fact.

Are you sometimes scared to express your opinions in fear of what others might think? Yes. I keep a lot of my opinions to myself.

Do you have a girl that is strictly a friend that isn’t related to you that you can go to? No.

Have you ever painted your nails on only one hand, forgetting about the other one or getting side-tracked? No.

Have you ever tried sucrets? I have no idea what that is.

Would you date someone that smokes? Cigarettes? That would be difficult for me because I can’t be around that smell. It seriously gives me headaches and makes me lightheaded.

What about drinks? As long as they’re not an alcoholic.

Have you ever gone to one of those parties where everyone is falling around drunk everywhere? No.

Are you “the good guy”, or “the bad guy”, or somewhere in between? I think I’m the good guy genuinely, but I’ve been going through a lot and I haven’t been the best that I could be.

Do you ever erase the numbers off of surveys just because they annoy you? No.

Person you like shows up at your house: you … I would die because it would be unexpected, which means I would be a mess.

Last person you talked on the phone with? My mom.

Do you think you will have the same best friend a year from now? My mom will always be my best friend.

Do you have siblings over the age of twenty-one? Yep, my older brother is 33.

Will tomorrow be better than today? *shrug* I imagine it’ll be another typical day in the life of me.

What do you hear right now? Catfish.

What was the last thing to go into your mouth? Water.

Do you usually tell people when you’re mad at them? No.

Honestly, how is your heart lately? Sad.

Do you miss anyone? Yes.

Are you waiting for a phone call? Nope.

If an ex said they hated you, what would you say? If Joseph said he hated me, it would really come out of nowhere. I’d have no idea what would cause him to feel so strongly in a negative way towards me.

What would you do if you found out your most recent ex was in a relationship? It’d be... weird.

What do you think when someone kisses you on your forehead? It’s cute.

What do you usually do right when you wake up? Check the time and then take my meds.

Are you looking forward to anything? No.

How late did you stay up last night? Until about 5.

Do you truly hate anyone? No.

Would you ever get a tattoo? I’d like to, but I’m a big baby.

In the past forty-eight hours, have you hung out with a girl? My mom and my pup.

Were you happy when you woke up today? I don’t wake up happy.

If someone liked you, would you want them to tell you? If it was Ty.

Would you rather go back a week or go forward? Forward, I guess.

Would you ever smile at a stranger? I do if we make eye contact.

Who was the last person to text you? My mom.

What are you doing today? I have a doctor appointment, but after that I’m just coming back home and will probably go to sleep.

Truthfully, is there someone you used to date that you miss?  I do miss Joseph. Not in that way, just as a friend.

Have you ever gotten burnt by a cigarette? No.

Have you ever been so bored that you started drooling on yourself? No.

Do you brush your teeth right away when you wake up? No, I have my coffee first.

Do you have someone of the opposite sex you can tell everything to? No.

Want to get smashed tonight? No.

What time are you getting up tomorrow? I’ve been sleeping until 4 these days.

Are you happy with the choices you’ve made? No, not all. There’s a lot I regret.

Think back to last June; were you single? Yes.

How did you feel when you woke up today? I haven’t gone to bed, yet.

Have you ever made someone laugh when they were crying? Yes.

Describe how you feel right now. Tired.

Would you date someone three years older than you? Yeah.

Do you prefer to shower at night or in the morning? At night.

Do you think more about the past, present, or future? The past and present.

Are you okay with the life you live? No.

Could you handle living with the last person you texted? I do live with my mom.

Was the last book you read for fun, or was it for some type of assignment? For fun.

Have you accomplished any goals you set for yourself this year so far? The year is just starting, but I haven’t set any goals for myself.

If you could go forward in time and see your life 5 years from now, what would you hope to see? I would hope that I got health stuff better managed and that I got my life a little more together. I can’t see all that happening in 5 years, though. That’s not much time.

Are there still movie rental stores where you live or have they all gone out of business? They’re all gone. Closest thing is Redbox.

What was the last thing to annoy you or make you upset? Something stupid, I’m sure.

Do you think you would be a good match for your celebrity crush/es assuming you have one? Why? If you don’t have one, who was the last person you saw that you found attractive? Ha, no. He can do soooo much better than me. I stand no chance.

When looking for something to watch on TV do you tend to pick shows you know you like, or try new shows that look interesting even though you’ve never heard of them before? Usually just stick to what I know.

Have you ever been ditched by someone only to find them out and about with someone else? I found out about it later.

How old were you when you had your wisdom teeth removed? I got mine young, I think I was in like 6th grade.

What is the last song you sang out loud? I don’t recall.

Where was the last job application you filled out sent to? I haven’t filled out any.

Have you ever been fired from a job? Nope. I never had a job to be fired from.

What do people tell you your voice sounds like? They haven’t said it sounded like anything.

What financial class are you? Middle.

What poster is hanging closest to you? None.

What time did you go to bed last night? I’ve been asked this so many times just within the past few surveys I’ve done tonight.

Do you watch any reality shows? Yes, a few.

Are you more comfortable with men or women? It depends on the person.

Do you think you’re fat? No.

Have you ever borrowed money from someone and never repaid them? No.

Do you have a pet cat? No.

What is worse: physical or emotional pain? Both are awful, but emotional pain seems to go deeper and last longer.

How is your hair? A mess.

Who was the last person who called you? My mom.

How long does it take you to fall asleep at night? I’m up late, and usually until I’m finally so tired I can’t keep my eyes open.

How many people have you had strong feelings for in the year of 2012? One.

What are you doing for your next birthday? No idea. I’m really not thinking about that.

Would you go on a date with someone right now if they asked? If it was Ty.

Do you believe that if you want something bad enough, you’ll get it? No, it’s not enough to just want it.

Last movie you watched? On TV it was The Devil Wears Prada.

Who were you with? I was by myself.

Who came over last? My older brother.

Have you ever wanted to be a ballet dancer? No.

Does your family keep tons of leftovers in the fridge? We keep leftovers if there are any.

Favourite FRIENDS character? That is, if you like it. I don’t watch it.

Skullcandy headphones, yay or nay? I have the Beats ear phones.

Are you thinking of getting another piercing? Where? No.

Do you love when people remember little things about you? Yes.

Do you ‘bless’ strangers when they sneeze? Yes.

How many phones have you gone through? Maybe like 6 or 7.

Have you always lived in the house you currently reside in? Nope.

Do you think your future will be a good one? It’s terrifying to think about.

[evabellasworld]

I Give You My Heart

Chapter 7

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Summary:  When Riyo Chuchi’s life was threatened, Commander Fox and Jedi Knight Ava Lira and Eva Bella Young are assigned to bring the senator back to her home planet Pantora, where she will be safe from harm. But when the assassin knows her whereabouts, it’s up to Fox, Lira, Eva, and Riyo to work together and stop the assassin.

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“Ah, Commander Fox,” Palpatine greeted him, as the Marshal Clone Commander of the Coruscant Guard. “I have been expecting you. Come, take a seat, please. We have a lot to discuss.”

Goosebumps sprouted on his skin as the door slid by itself. Even though his office has a large space, with some ornaments on his desk as decorations, he felt cold for some reason. “Of course, Chancellor,” he answered, trying not to stutter as he took a seat, facing him.

“It seems that the assassin that you have been pursuing has gotten away easily,” the Chancellor pointed out, giving him a crooked smile. “Is that true, Commander?”

Fox gulped as he held his hands together, taking a deep breath underneath his helmet. “Yes, Chancellor. They took down some of my troops, including my best one, Lip.”

“That's a shame,” he expressed his sympathy, much to Fox's dismay. “I'm sure he will heal as soon as possible and get back to his duty.”

Lip is a girl, Fox grunted, tightening his fist to punch his superior in the face, inside his head of course. He wouldn't dare to hit the Chancellor himself and get decommissioned just because he lacks empathy towards his younger sister, who was lying unconscious on the stony ground, with blood flowing from her head.

No, no. Of course, he wouldn't dare. He was supposed to get over it and move on with his duty as a clone, not giving a damn if Lip survived or not. Sometimes, he just wished that he was born from a mother's womb, where he would be loved and cared for instead of being treated like a disposable piece of garbage.

“Commander?” Palpatine called him, snapping him back into reality, where he had to answer for the failed mission to capture Riyo's assassin.

“Yes, Chancellor,” he sighed. “I think we should get more men to protect the senator. It seems that everywhere she goes, the assassin seems to be one step ahead, sir.”

“That won't be necessary, Commander.”

His eyes widened as he glanced at him, who stood up from his seat. “What are you saying, Chancellor?”

“I feel that we need to request additional help from the Jedi Council,” he told him. “I'm sure they would be far more capable to protect Senator Chuchi and bring this assassin to justice.”

But they're currently at war, Fox protested inside his head. They wouldn't have the time and luxury to protect a senator from harm.

“With all due respect, Chancellor, my troops and I are more than capable to take down the assassin.”

“I'm sure they are, Commander, but it wouldn't hurt to get some assistance from the Jedi, especially Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. After all, they have protected Senator Amidala in the past, don't you agree?”

He has nothing to say to him now since there were no other ways to defend himself. He could say how much effort his men should put to protect his violet angel from harm, but that would be rebutted with the Chancellor's arguments. After all, he is a politician while Fox is just a soldier, waiting to expire like the rest of them.

“Yes, Chancellor,” he admitted his defeat, as he stood up and gave him a salute.

“Thank you, Commander,” he gave a smug, as he allowed the door to slide open. “That will be all. I’m sure Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi can take it from here.”

“Yes, Chancellor.”

Running through the corridors, a pair of twins with red hair, almond-shaped eyes, and heart-shaped lips managed to reach the lift, pressing the button towards the highest floor, which was the Council room. It was the room where Grand Master Yoda and the rest of the members of the Council sat in circles, discussing all kinds of topics with each other, whether it’s the outcome of the war or an internal affair relating to the Jedi Order.

Like most Jedi Knights at war, Lira and Eva just returned from the Battle of Reza, where the casualties of civilians outnumbered the casualties of soldiers that fought hard in the frontline. Though they were barely twelve, the identical twins somehow found themselves surviving every battle they have fought.

They didn’t choose to fight the war, nor to become a Jedi Knight, but they don’t have a say in it, since it was none of their decision, of course. It was obvious that the Council only knighted them too soon since they were losing too many Jedi in the war. But who or what started the war wasn’t really obvious to the both of them, oh no.

Lira and Eva were told by their respective mentors that the war had started because of the assassination of Senator Amidala, whom they were close to. Eva couldn’t believe that a senator who gifted her a lovely doll named Poppy would have someone plotting against her. Lira, on the other hand, wasn’t really surprised, since politicians often conspired with each other to the death.

Lira glanced at her younger twin, who was holding Poppy, and her tooka toy, Stripes, with concern on her face. “You know, I was hoping we would get some rest in our dorm instead of going on another mission,” she complained.

“Well, what can we do about it, Lira?” Eva sighed, rubbing her eyes. “It’s the Council’s Orders after all. We can’t say no to them. Besides, Anakin and Master Kenobi are busy right now.”

“There are tens of thousands of Jedi Knights out there, Evie. Why ask us out of all of them?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe because they don’t want to cause mischief all over the Temple.”

Lira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “I get that reasoning, but lately, it seems that we can’t even catch a break. Like every time we finish one mission, we get another, and another, and another, until we puked to death. I don’t even know when was the last time I even slept or ate. I’m just-”

“I get you,” her sister replied, hugging her stuffed toys closer to her. “I just feel that my head is spinning all the time and that I’m starting to hear something that isn’t really there at all. And plus, I hardly see Master Kenobi or Anakin or even Ahsoka. I mean, we do go on missions together from time to time, but it seems that we’re growing distant with them.”

“I could say the same with Master Doyvesky. We do talk to each other through comlink, but I feel that we’re both drifting away from each other, you know.”

They exchanged looks of despair with each other as they reached the Council Chamber, forcing them to hide their distress underneath the masks they wear. “Knight Young,” Yoda spoke, as he greeted the identical twins. “Waiting for you, we have.”

“My apologies, master,” Eva bowed, her hands clasped together. “We just returned from Reza. It was a brutal battle, even though we managed to gain an upper hand in the end.”

Mace Windu leaned slightly forward from his seat, stiffening his posture. “We have an urgent order from the Chancellor. Apparently, Senator Chuchi’s lives have been threatened along with Senator Amidala and Senator Organa and after much discussion, we felt that you both were suitable for the job.”

Both their eyes widened as they silently protested in their mind. Are they out of their mind? Lira wondered. How in Malachor are we going to protect Senator Chuchi from her assassin? Who do they think we are, experts?

“Well,” Eva cleared her throat. “With all due respect, Master Windu, Lira and I have absolutely no confidence in protecting Senator Chuchi. We don’t have the experience to do so and there is a huge percentage that we’ll get ourselves killed during the mission.”

“Not to worry, Eva,” her master, Obi-Wan Kenobi spoke via hologram. “Commander Fox will be there to assist you if both of you have doubts about this mission. Besides, it will be a good experience for both of you.”

“I think you’re missing the point here, master,” Lira raised her points. If we fail to protect the senator, her blood will be on our hands.”

“Understand your doubts, we do,” Yoda smiled. “But ignoring the Chancellor’s order, we shall not.”

“I believe the both of you are more than capable to track down this assassin,” Plo Koon gave a word of encouragement. “Lira, I am confident that you have the technology to bring this killer to justice. And Eva, while diplomacy is your biggest strength, I see your potential in espionage, which is why we are sending both of you for this mission.”

“Both of you will be laying low and putting on a disguise as Senator Chuchi’s servant. This briefing about the mission must stay in this chamber itself. We do not risk potential spies to leak any vital information to the assassin, understood?”

“Yes, master,” Eva bowed.

“May the Force be with you both.”

[crvcio]

85 Questions Tag Game

I was tagged by @tedslupin thanks so much! xx 

rules: answer these 85 questions and tag 20 people

tagging: @malfoymaxima @draccomallfoy @malfoyxsx @parselmouthingoff @engorgio @dearlovegood @susanbone @jilyss @unsqeakable @ginniewheezie @gothicmalfoy @horaceslughorn @azkabqn​ @burkesandborgin​ @ptterharrys​ @gryffindvor​ @gryffindorkx​ @1959black​ @bottomkirk (if you’ve already done this, don’t want to, or don’t do tag games, feel free to come to my house and punch me in the face honestly ill be totally fine with it)

THE LAST

1. drink: water 2. phone call: my mom 3. text message: my mom 4. song you listened to: cruel world by active child  5. time you cried: yesterday, really difficult homework assignment had me freaking out. apparently i wasnt the only person in my class to cry over it lol!

HAVE YOU EVER 6. dated someone twice: only if fwb counts? 7. kissed someone and regretted it: yep 8. been cheated on: not as far as i know 9. lost someone special: to death? not really, but in other ways yes 10. been depressed: yep im in a good place but it happens sometimes 11. gotten drunk and thrown up: nah fam im sober

3 FAVOURITE COLOURS 12. black 13. blue 14. purple

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU 15. made new friends: yep! lots of the lovely people on here included :) 16. fallen out of love: wasnt in it to begin with! 17. laughed until you cried: yeah not too long ago because of a dumbass inflatable alien haha 18. found out someone was talking about you: yeah, sort of, had some nasty coworkers 19. met someone who changed you: aforementioned nasty coworkers changed how much i trust people, but nothing super significant 20. found out who your friends are: in little ways, but for the most part i was already pretty confident where people fell in my life. 21. kissed someone on your facebook list: haven’t kissed in the last year at all!

GENERAL 22. how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: the vast majority 23. do you have any pets: cat named moose, dog named crusher 24. do you want to change your name: i already have once legally (my last name), and i use different first names in various places for trans reasons but i dont think ill legally change my first name 25. what did you do for your last birthday: took a trip to DC, got horribly sick, threw up everywhere. good times haha! honestly it was still really nice. 26. what time did you wake up: 8am, i usually get up a bit later but i had a dentist appointment 27. what were you doing at midnight last night: reading fanfiction... whoops 28. name something you can’t wait for: my phone interview to work for disney tomorrow! 29. when was the last time you saw your mom: literally like a minute ago, she’s on my couch rn 31. what are you listening to right now: world princess pt II by grimes 32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: probably but i cant think of anyone i know named tom 33. something that is getting on your nerves: homework  34. most visited website: tumblr, tied with my email probably 35. hair colour: brown 36. long or short hair: really long, i dont cut it. 37. do you have a crush on someone: only celebrity crushes ha 38. what do you like about yourself: my adaptability 39. want any piercings: i might get a fourth on my left ear, but otherwise im happy with the ones i have 40. blood type: o-, universal donor 41. nickname: in a way, j.d. is a nickname 42. relationship status: single af lol 43. zodiac: saggitarius 44. pronouns: he/she/they 45. favourite tv show: person of interest 46. tattoos: nope 47. right or left handed: right 48. surgery: had dental surgery done twice. it’s not so bad. 49. piercing: 1 on right ear, 3 on left ear (all on the lobe) 50. sport: basketball, but i rarely play. im not very sporty 51. vacation: been dying to go to peru someday! 52. pair of trainers: one? 

MORE GENERAL 53. eating: nothing but im hoping i can bug my mom to make cinnamon rolls for us 54. drinking: water 55. i’m about to: finish my paper due thursday... but really im gonna write fanfic cause im trash 56. waiting for: my mom to wake up so i can bug her about the cinnamon rolls ha 57. want: cinnamon rolls. also world peace. 58. get married: ha, it’s gonna be a while before that. but i hope to someday. 59. career: educational psychologist, what im getting my degree in. or musician, if it works out lol.

WHICH IS BETTER 60. hugs or kisses: kisses 61. lips or eyes: eyes? 62. shorter or taller: shorter i guess? im open minded 63. older or younger: considering im 18, im not going to go much younger 64. nice arms or nice stomach: idk stomach? 65. hook up or relationship: relationship  66. troublemaker or hesitant: i guess troublemaker. but there are limits

HAVE YOU EVER II 67. kissed a stranger: no 68. drank hard liquor: yes 69. lost glasses/contact lenses: yes, temporarily 70. turned someone down: yes 71. sex on the first date: technically no 72. broken someone’s heart: yep 73. had your heart broken: yep 74. been arrested: no 75. cried when someone died: yes 76. fallen for a friend: yes

DO YOU BELIEVE IN 77. yourself: yes 78. miracles: small ones, but not like crazy stuff 79. love at first sight: infatuation, sure, but not real love 80. santa claus: no?  81. kiss on the first date: sure idgaf 82. angels: angels are real have you seen tom felton

OTHER 83. current best friend’s name: dont really have a best friend but my closest friend is ezra :) 84. eye colour: green 85. favorite movie: all that jazz

[legggoes2qatar-blog]

First Offshore Job!!

I went for my first job on March 6th and stayed offshore until May 8th when I got to go back to land for the casing break (after begging the company man to let me go to drink beer) then I returned to the rig for the last section May17-28th. 

Here’s what I documented while offshore:

Day 1:

Arrived to the heliport at 5:30am. It is just like an airport but much smaller and no carry-on liquids limit! Watched a pre-boarding safety video, put on lifejackets and earplugs then loaded the helicopter. This was my first helicopter ride! I was surprised how gently the helicopter took off and landed, much more gentle than any airplane I’ve ridden. The platform we are working on for the next undetermined amount of time is smaller than I thought but from what I’ve gathered from other people this is a normal size except the accommodation is very, very small. I think the maximum number of people on here is around 200. I cannot see any land or buildings in the distance. However, it is quite hazy today. The water is a very pretty blue color and the waves today are bigger than I expected! Everyone has told me I will start hating all the blue soon but I am optimistic because blue is my favorite color. J

I am sharing a room with 3 coworkers. I am the only female on this rig. We share a bathroom with 2 other guys, 6 total. Due to the high capacity, there are no extra rooms to give me a private one but I don’t mind sharing so it’s a non-issue for me. Our room has bunk beds; I’m in one of the top bunks. There are curtains that go around the entire bed so you do have your own private area…kind of! The bed is comfortable except for the pillow, which is hard. There are constant PA announcements so it is not a little difficult to get a good night’s rest. The water depth here is only 12 meters so the waves don’t sway the rig, the drilling does. It feels like a small earthquake so I woke up twice confused because I wasn’t in California, haha! The food is very good! The water in the shower only stays hot for 2 minutes at a time so quick showers only.

So far I have enjoyed my first day offshore. The rig is still in set-up mode so we are looking at a possibility of not having anything to do for the next 3-7 days. I’m loving every second out here watching this operation!

 Day 2:

We still have no internet. There is not much more we can do until we are granted access to the rig internet. After dinner, I got to go up to the rig floor and stand in the dog house (driller’s cabin) to watch them make up the Bottom Hole Assembly (BHA). We are starting a new well so the first section will be the conductor pipe; water table protector, largest hole size. The tools used to drill the conductor are huge. I’ve seen big bits before but never a hole opener! **Note to self: find picture of 36” hole opener to post** We should begin drilling tomorrow if all goes according to plan!

 Day 3:

Still no internet—the struggle is real. We are able to call the base to talk to the Drilling Engineer and our Field Service Manager (FSM). Again, not much to do today. I learned a lot about running electrical cables and the sequence of the wires when using the crimping tool to change/add a head. We were supposed to start drilling today but it looks like we won’t start until early tomorrow morning. I am still enjoying myself. The SLB team that is with me is one other MWD Engineer and two Direction Drillers (DD). The DD’s are the age of my dad and the other MWD is 9 years older than me. All of them are very smart and funny.  Hopefully, tomorrow we get internet so I can do some studying on the tools we are going to be running.

 Day 5:

The mudloggers wouldn’t let us share their internet cable that runs from their unit, which is right next to ours, to the company man’s office in the accommodation and to the geologist’s office next to the accommodation. So, we had to run our own cable which required opening ceilings, drilling holes through walls and lots of zipties. It was a long process but, luckily, we have extra down time because there were some issues spudding the well. SLB won’t be running any of their MWD and directional tools until the 3rd section which was supposed to begin on the 10th of March but will likely happen around the 12th or 13th.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned how awesome the laundry service on offshore rigs are. You just put your dirty clothes outside your room and 3 hours later they’re back nice and clean. I think I would prefer staying offshore 24/7 if we got internet access. I’m still loving the ocean view!

 Day 6:

I slept so good last night! Best sleep since being here. At breakfast, I convinced the kitchen staff to let me have some of the company man’s strawberries…early win for the day! They are running conductor pipe today so nothing to do for us. Still no internet access, which is real annoying. The mudloggers got their internet access yesterday. l won’t be able to access the internet from the accommodation, but I can in our unit. I didn’t properly prepare for coming offshore. I learned I should have brought less clothes and downloaded a lot more books, I guess not that many lessons lol! I am very appreciative of my co-workers, we laugh a lot and talk a lot.

I’ve been doing a lot of studying during all this downtime. I will be going to school sometime in June and July. By then, I will be very prepared. Most people do this schooling with no field experience and I will have 5 months field experience. Because I don’t have internet access, I only have the first two school’s information downloaded and I have gotten through that material so I’ve begun bugging our DD’s about their job. I got a lot of the DD school information from one so I can start looking through that.

 Day 7:

Still no internet. In the accommodation room, on the 1st floor, there is a small collection of books so I won’t die of boredom after I finish the last 10 pages in the book I’m currently reading. I’ve also been collecting movies and TV shows from various people around the rig. I should have brought my big hard driver—another lesson learned.

This week has gone by fast. It is easy to lose track of the days. I’m excited to get to the section of the well where we start running our tools—it will be another big learning curve I am excited to learn but nervous about remembering everything in such a short time period. I will get to shadow during the 26’’ section and then be on my own for the rest of the well. Still not sure if they will keep me out here until Total Depth (TD).

Day 8:

We finally got internet access!!! We requested for 11 mac addresses to be granted internet access but they only gave us 4. So, to compensate we set up one of the laptops as a hotspot and now have wifi in the unit. But no one knows and no one should find out. It was so exciting to finally get on the internet and let everyone know I am okay. I had emails from people I wasn’t expecting and from people I wanted to contact to talk drilling stuff. The rig crew is installing to BOP so we aren’t neglecting work to play on the internet.

I was able to download two more books even though I already started a new book that I got from the Rec room.  Progress is happening! I think I will be out here from at least another 2-3 weeks.

Day 9:

We are finally drilling. Still not running our tool so I have more time to prepare for my job. The other MWD out here with me is leaving to go back to land and they are sending a new MWD on loan from Algeria. I’ll be switching to night shift tomorrow, hopefully things will be calmer during the night shift and I won’t have to talk to so many people (company man/manager/town). J

Day 13:

Time is flying by! I can’t believe I’ve already been here for almost two full weeks! It feels like 5 days. Night shift is really relaxed, partly because we still haven’t run our tool downhole and partly because most people are sleeping so no one is bugging us for data. I miss the sun because I liked looking at the ocean and watching the waves. Today we had TWO drills. Went to bed at 7am, woke up for the first drill at 10am, went back to sleep for maybe 5 minutes and the second drill started. Thankfully, I was able to go back to sleep. I had worked a double the day/night before so sleep exhaustion helped to get back to sleep quickly!

The night DD is fun. He plays music and dances! He’s become like my second dad—very protective. He says he doesn’t like the other guys here asking about me and talking to me so whenever the driller calls for a survey print out I send Yuri up to deliver it. But if the company calls, I’m the one that’s sent. I’ve been put on a mission to figure out how the guys in the surface room are able to get on facebook when it’s blocked for the rest of us. My coworkers tell me I need to use my “woman power”. I just laugh. Disclaimer, no one has been rude to me, just Uncle Yuri looking out!

I’ve been assigned a mentor just 2 days ago. Turns out to be a Texas A&M alumn! I thought I escaped all the Aggies because I’m working in Qatar and not Texas! He’s been extremely helpful, kind and very intelligent. I’m very appreciative for all of his help and for all that he is teaching me! I need to figure out a way to thank him BIG for all he has done for me!

 Day 19:

We have been on standby for 6 days now because of a bad cement job. I’ve been gathering 3-6 movies from people around the rig every day so my collection is getting pretty good. In the mornings I’ve been going up to the helideck to walk/run (running gets boring pretty quick without music and running in small circles). I especially enjoy watching the sun rise, it’s so beautiful over the water. Yesterday it was a really, pretty pink sunrise! I saw a big, brown sea turtle, first sea creature I’ve seen since coming here!

My normal schedule has become:

16:30-roll out of bed, throw on my coveralls, put on socks and crocs, brush teeth, head downstairs to the galley for dinner

17:30-walk into the unit, get the update for current operations and what happened during the day, joke around, get the latest rig gossip (yes boys gossip a lot!)

18:00-start shift

00:00-go to the galley (if operation permits) for some soup

5:00-6:00-go have breakfast

6:30-go to helideck (weather permitting) and walk/run

7:30-go take a shower

8:00-read until I fall asleep

REPEAT

Day 21:

The new joke in our unit has become “are you speaking English?” any time anyone has to ask “what”. It started because the other MWD from Algeria and the day DD from India have a really hard time understanding my English because of “my accent”. I also have a hard time understanding their English but we’re making it work. I’ve been learning some Hindi, French, Arabic, and Indonesian. Just a few words, mostly naughty words.

 Day 23:

Today and yesterday have been long! We got H2S (hydrogen sulfide gas) at surface so we’ve had to muster for 5 hours total yesterday and so far 3 hours today. H2S is a toxic gas, smells bad at low concentrations but can’t be detected by smell at medium-high concentrations which makes it very dangerous. Our unit is located right above the shakers where H2S is usually located. Because I am working night shift, my sleep has been majorly disturbed. After waking us up throughout the day to stand at our muster stations with SCBAs on, when day shift went to bed they decided against having everyone muster and just have those working night shift to muster. So, us working night shift are getting screwed out of sleep. I’m ready to get this section over with!

  Day 30:

We are experiencing problems with the well. We almost got to go home because it was going to take longer than a few days to remedy the issue but town called with a new plan that requires us to stay. I was looking forward to going back to land but I was also kind of bummed because I wanted to work with a Rotary Steerable System (RSS) that we are running in the next section. Right now it looks like I will be staying, you never know though, decisions are always made last minute!

The night DD working with me found some real coffee, not the instant nescafe crap! We don’t have a proper coffee machine nor do we have filters but in Indonesia they don’t make coffee the way we do in America. You scoop the ground coffee into your cup, add boiling water, stir, let it sit for ~5 minutes for all of the grounds to settle to the bottom and enjoy! It was a little weird at first but it’s totally worth having good coffee.

FINALLY BACK TO LAND!

As soon as I arrived on land, I dropped my bags off at the hotel, changed into normal clothes and met the Oil Installation Manager (OIM), rig superintendent and the mud engineer at a hotel bar to celebrate finishing the section. How good beer tastes after so long! After spend a couple of days in base testing tools and a few days sitting by the pool, I returned to the rig to finish drilling the well.

It was fun returning to people I knew. Drilling only took us about a week, the geologist called early TD because we hit water (not what you want when drilling for oil). One of the tools we ran in this run is brand new, only three in the world and two were on board with me. I was very nervous going into this run because I hadn’t run the older generation of this tool, never ran a LWD tool so I had to do a lot of studying and research to gain knowledge about the tool to be prepared for any issues during drilling. PLUS it was even more important for this run to go well because the tool is in the field test stage. Inshallah, all went really well and only took ONE run to finish! This was SO unlike the previous section where it took 9 runs to finish. It was such a happy feeling when TD was called. After all of the problems experienced throughout this well, I didn’t think we would actually finish it.

 My first hitch offshore was great. Challenging yet rewarding. It was an experience I won’t soon forget! Now it’s time to prepare for school in RUSSIA!