#i recommend you read the talent skill descriptions - that was such a good laugh

[windmaedchen-oceanhorn]

I was inspired by Vetyr's art and so tried to draw something for Knight of the Dark. I do love the results! ❤️ But sadly, the final composition did not work out, so instead I will share individual pictures. 😉

Here are a few thoughts about it:

I adore the roughness of everyone's hair with this brush, especially Valen's. It suits him so well.

I am happy with how Lavi's expression turned out. Just the right mixture of desperation and defiance.

Valen ended up static on the ground, begging rather desperately to know everything and take action. Which he cannot in the end and that's one of my most favourite aspects about him in KotD, actually.

Berial's not quite as threatening as on might imagine. For him, this entire thing was out of boredom and an observation game about how mortals react. A prelude to his next target, Orson.

Merlin is way to pretty. xD

About Hogan and Lorenzis... something I realised now that I have drawn them again. And something that did bother me back when I drew for the chapters: I never liked Lorenzis in armor. And now I know why. Because he rose to his position due to his connections. I bet he never fought on the frontlines as Hogan did. Lorenzis is the man who wears not only his rank but also his (undeserved) medals for show. Hogan on the other hand, I always wondered why he, as a magistrate, would still wear his armor. And it is because he is a man of action and he will not hesitate to fight to protect. He hardly has to lift a finger and yet he still chooses to be with his soldiers rather than being perched up high behind his office desk and give orders.

[moonspirit]

TOP 10 favourite AA fanfics? (if you have one)

Oh hello xD That's a great blog name! Does that mean more questions will follow ._.?

Anyways, my reading speed has taken a nosedive as of late; too many things have been going on and I'm trying to stick to my own writing schedule too... so my recs remain mostly the same as the previous times I've been asked. Still, here are a few of my faves:

Bury Me in the Shadows of Spring & My Yellow Light in Your Soft Whispers by @annawayne . Features some of the most compelling story-telling I've ever seen. The former is a historic AU set in the 1920s and holy shit the immersion? Anna comes armed with a deep, impressive knowledge base of history and so the fic takes you straight back in time, as if you were standing in the time period itself. BMSS is a story carrying very heavy themes, and the dive into the character's psyches is simply stellar.

As for the latter, a post-canon fic set 10 years after the Rumbling, MYLYSW is a story that takes an in-depth study into the ways that an intensely traumatic event can affect people - both the victims and of those around them. It's a wonderful telling of grief, heartache, unresolved ghosts from the past, with stunning imagery and descriptive writing. :3

Black Water & everything else in @distortedclouds 's collection. BW is, as another reader very aptly put it, the single best take I've seen on Annie's relationship with her father, and how it affects Aruani's relationship. Clouds' mastery in prose and narration is on a whole other level, and every chapter literally hurts your bones. Aside from that, all the other fics in the collection are simply wonderful reads, with everything ranging from fluff to angst to smut and everything in between! My wife is very talented you see :3 Unparalleled!

Little Bird by @aquietjune . Simply a fantastic Annie-centric post-canon story, with writing skills that simply leave you in awe. June takes a deep dive into many of Annie's issues and problems that are still left unresolved, though the world may be rid of titans. Her dedication to period-appropriate research, and the how's and why's of in-world problems make the story a truly delightful experience, and coupled with her talent of being able to tell so much in so few words, this remains one of the best post-canon fics I've ever read. Please also check out her other works, she has an uncanny ability to make you laugh until your sides hurt xD

Coveted by @honeytheriot . One of the first aruani fics I read after the S4 P3 P1 dropped in March 2023, and holy shit xD Every chapter is a smut-filled goodness and delight, and honeyriot makes it WORK with her writing!

Children of War by @/SeaTempest . Primarily a Jeanpiku fic with Aruani as a side-couple, this fic features some of the best writing I've ever seen. Smooth prose and convincing post-canon world-building, plus very good character monologues?? Hell yeah. Hasn't been updated in a while, but has plenty of content, absolutely worth a read.

Tater Tots & Heavy Thoughts by Anonymous and everything in this collection. TT&HT is a modern AU Aruani fic primarily from Armin's POV, dealing with some very dark and heavy subject matter. The writing is really good, and while I haven't caught upto later chapters, I highly recommend it. The other fics in the collection are great too :3

There are many more tbh, but my head is mushy for the moment xD However, I'll add some fics I've been following as of late!

on the path that led me to you by @the-last-thread-of-my-sanity & By Each Crime and Kindness (I'm bound to you) by @aruanimess - two Cadet Aruani fics taking place that are an absolute delight to read! Wonderful writing, wonderful characterization, lots of fluff, and the impending doom of angst~

Who painted the sky? by @dudewhy3 & Hiding in Plain Sight by @midnightraine131, two Modern AU fics that take a look into the issues Aruani deal with from their past, in a modern real-world setting. Engaging and fun, with sprinkles of heavy angst now and then.

A Force To Be Reckoned by @luciensdefenseattorney . Inspired by Bridgerton, this is a wonderfully written and highly engaging Aruani fic set in the regency era. You just want Armin and Annie to kiss and find out all about each other already.

Legends by @mimiwrites2000-fun . Canon-divergence and wonderfully written, this is an Aruani fic spanning 32 chapters and counting! Lots of emotional, heart-wrenching moments, Mimi is a writer who embraces angst with a passion and doesn't shy away from hurting you T^T

[maxismatchccworld]

Patch Notes

Update 07/20/2021

PC: 1.77.131.1030 / Mac: 1.77.131.1230

Console: Version 1.44

Hello Simmers!

Hope you are well wherever you are in the world and that you are all having a fantastic Summer of Sims! We are excited to share today’s update with you. There is a lot of info, so make sure you have your tea/coffee/beverage of choice ready to read on. You all know I have my coffee ready for this!

As we continue to get ready to explore the countryside charm of Henford-on-Bagley and cannot absolutely wait to play with the adorable animals in Cottage Living, we also have updates and fixes that should improve and complement your Sims’ everyday life. We have something for everyone and we hope that you all enjoy them. Thank you for all your feedback and support.

Cheers!

-SimGuruRusskii ft. SimGuruRomeo and SimGuruJoAnna

What’s New?

Let’s start with some items that we shared in our last Sims 411! For this update, we partnered with two talented artists from the LGBTQ+ community, Ashley Lukashepsky, and Mohammed Iman Fayaz, and they have brought their inspiring and beautiful artwork into the game. We have also included the modernized version of the large afro hairstyle that we showed you. But more than tell you about it in text, let me actually attach a screenshot of everything put together:

I love everything about this scene, not only it shows you how the artwork looks in a real game setting, but the whole scene with the two Sims and their surroundings is quite magical. Also, look at that hair! The way the light highlights it, perfection! You may also notice the hair of the Sim on the right, which was also added with this update for everyone. I want to personally thank all Simmers for their feedback and recommendations, as we are continuously working on adding more diverse hairstyles and textures to not only packs, but also to our base game.

Now that we are talking about artwork, the last patch notes I forgot to add the artwork made by the wonderful Jupiter Stevens-Hill. I apologize for that, I totally blanked out. However, I’m happy to see that a lot of you are enjoying it and placing it in your Lots! That makes a very happy Russkii =)

To find Jupiter, Ashley, and Mohammed’s paintings in Build Mode, make sure you take a look at the Paintings and Posters sort and filter by Base Game items. These artists are amazing and we hope you enjoy their creations.

Now, without further ado, let’s get to some new features and improvements that are part of this update!

A little bit of Gallery

When you download a lot made with the bb.moveobjects cheat, the game now notifies you about this so you know to activate the cheat before placing the lot. Builders, this means you won't need to mention it in the lot’s description anymore!

A little for Sims

Trying to find the Sims in the current neighborhood? Select their portraits in the Relationship Panel.

"Focus the Camera" moves the camera to the Sim.

"Lock the Camera" moves the camera to the Sim and keeps following them.

Where did the Notebook go?

Found it! The Notebook has moved out of the Phone and into its own button for quicker access.

The "Center on Current Lot" button that used to be there has moved to the top right, adjacent to the Camera Controls.

Water Tool

You now can make natural, organic bodies of water! Just head into Build Mode, make a hole with the Terrain Manipulation tool, and fill it with water. It is that easy! The Terrain Manipulation and Paint Tools also have more brush sizes to enable finer detail.

In adding the Water Tool, we also took the chance to overhaul the related tools and object categories. Why not? Enjoy!

Pond Effects

All sorts of critters are available to complete the look of your pond ranging from ducks and swans to pesky mosquitoes. There is even an alligator!

New Pond Objects

Outdoor Water Décor now has an assortment of new Pond Objects to decorate the perfect pond. Some of these objects such as the Bog Log and Colorful Lily Pads have interactions on them in Live Mode to activate Turtle and Frog effects. The new Fishing Allowed Sign enables you to stock your pond with any fish your Sims have previously caught. Try it out!

New Water Styles

Go beyond the original crystal blue and dreamy magenta water. Additional options range from “Mossy Water” to “Pond Scum” to complete that au natural look.

The Shrubs category includes new plants to complement the water styles: "Green Fern", "Leaning Not-Grass Grass", "Not-Grass Grass Sans Inflorescence."

Gardening with Children

Children now can help out in the garden by planting, watering, and weeding. They build their Mental skill as they garden. The process of purchasing and planting seeds is streamlined as well to make gardening more enjoyable for everyone.

Group Cooking

Cooking no longer is a solo affair. Sims now can cook in groups of up to five Sims including children. Start cooking together by selecting a fridge, stove, or any empty countertop.

Zoomers Food Delivery Service

Are your Sims getting tired of the same old pizza delivery every night? Well, gone are the days of redundant pizza nights. Maybe you are in the mood for pasta primavera or even a fancy steak dinner. All this and more are available courtesy of Zoomer Food Delivery. Order delivery through the phone or the refrigerator and the food will arrive in a jif.

Calendar

The calendar, previously available only with Seasons, now is available with Base Game to see upcoming events such as birthdays, school and work schedules, festivals, and fairs. You even can use it to book events, so it’s time to get to party planning!

Bug Fixes

Consoles

In Snowy Escape, skiing, sledding, and snowboarding on Bunny Slopes now contribute to the Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration.

Also in Snowy Escape, Sims with high enough Skiing and Snowboarding skills now can enjoy the more advanced slopes. Sims also use the Lift to go to the top of the slopes and not go “the hard way.”

Simmers can now rotate Sims downloaded from the Gallery in Create a Sim. Spin them ‘round, ‘round, Simmers ‘round, ‘round -  like a record ‘round, ‘round, ‘round, ‘round.

The Sims 4

We made some improvements that should help our Simulation lag, particularly on the usage of some computer interactions like playing BlicBlock, along with fishing interactions, which should make the game perform a bit better. Note that this doesn’t entirely fix simulation lag but it should help and it is a step in a good direction.

Fixed an issue in which placing Mirrors directly opposite Doors would create a visual glitch in which walls and borders would disappear around them and well it was quite spooky to be honest, glad we solved that one!

Ever wish your food didn’t expire? I know I do, especially when it comes to traveling and coming back to see a fridge in pristine condition, that is a dream… but alas, it is not meant to be in life or in Sims. Fixed an issue in which traveling didn’t let food expire.

Sims stuck sleeping and couldn’t cancel that interaction? Not a product of a sci-fi film as I thought, but I can say that we have fixed this issue, well I hope.

You want to know how to not make my day, have my coffee brew endlessly but without giving me the coffee! Luckily the issue in-game about the Brew Coffee interaction being stuck has been fixed. Wasn’t it odd? Wait… Sleep and Brew Coffee were stuck in a mysterious loop? SUS.

If your Child Sims suddenly interrupted their computer sessions to draw on the activity table when Inspired, worry not, this should not happen after this update.

Fixed an issue that caused the “Items Removed” pop-up to appear when no items were removed from the game.

Fixed an issue in which setting Lots on Slipshod Mesquite would sometimes generate a crash of the game for some Simmers. The Lot couldn’t handle that much flavor.

Some blush and lipstick opacity sliders are back as they were greyed out.

Step-Parent/Child relationships are no longer missing in the Genealogy Panel. Similarly, other cases of broken families in the Genealogy Panel have been fixed as well. It is all about reconnecting or connecting with what is important.

Platforms will no longer raise in height automatically when creating new walls to intersect part of them.

We also fixed an issue in which if you placed platforms in basement levels and a staircase from the floor to the platforms, it would create this gap or hole in front of the stairs and Sims were not able to route correctly. You know, I have played many platformers in my lifetime, but do you imagine Sims trying to jump those gaps? I mean, I am called JumpFail for a reason… glad we fixed this one!

World view Lots that had some off-centered border have been adjusted.

Toddlers will no longer gain negative Sentiments against their parents randomly, especially the Festering Grudge Sentiment. I should not be laughing at this issue as I type it, I should not…<giggles>

We got word that the camera was malfunctioning and bouncing uncontrollably in some Lots across multiple Worlds. We fixed an issue that caused this, but let us know if there are new instances.

Sometimes Ghosts can be part of our Households if we choose to, however, it is really hard to live with Ghosts that constantly break things, it makes it a bit… unlivable. So our expert team of Simghostologists has communicated with these Ghosts in the non-physical realm and they have agreed to not break everything all the time.

Fixed an issue related to flooring glitches while placing the dance floor or crystal clear flooring.

Went through all the trouble in hiring a Nanny only to have your Toddler get sent to Daycare? More than a schedule conflict I imagine having the Nanny show up and there is no Toddler so what does the Nanny do in this case? Do they leave? Do they stay and wait? I must know… However, This should no longer be an issue.

Fixed an issue where using ‘{}’ (curly brackets)  in renaming objects would make these invisible in lists or UI in general.

Fixed an issue in the Likes and Dislikes section in Create a Sim that had some categories displayed incorrectly (either cut off, or words broken apart in new lines incorrectly) for some languages.

There was a clipping issue with the eye preset ymAsian13_Eyes that occurred when Sims were in extreme emotion, like Angry, and blinked. We adjusted this preset so this should not occur.

Toddlers can be picky eaters, but Toddlers not eating any fish recipe? That is suspicious, so we had a chat with the little angels and we have found a way to help them enjoy the complex flavors of our fish recipes.

Our UI team has fixed an issue in which a scrollbar appeared in the Sentiment section in the Relationship Panel when there were no sentiments. The mysterious scrollbar was mysterious. Similarly, they have also fixed an issue in which if multiple Sims gained sentiments together their thought bubbles look quite not right with the incorrect colors, so now they should look proper.

The Likes and Dislikes icon in Create a Sim will no longer overlap its text. It looked weird, honestly.

Droids (if you own Journey to Batuu) and Drones (if you own Get Famous) clipping into all kinds of objects in Build Mode? We saw that too, so there should be a fix for that in this game update. I mean this went beyond just crashing into things…

The option “Join After School Activity” will no longer be available if Simmers don’t have Seasons or Get Famous packs installed.

Sims in deviant paths now can properly reach the Level 4 of the Criminal Career.

Now, this is one that made my day, Cowplants are now able to dance again when Sims play music in front of them. Dance Cowplant, Dance!

Fixed an issue in which relationship points gained by friendly introductions were more than usual if Simmers didn’t have Snowy Escape installed.

We adjusted the color swatches for the S. Cargeaux Counter Island so that when it gets dirty, the counter doesn’t completely change colors. Dirty Counter - who dis?

Fixed an issue where the Scared Emotion UI was displaying a broken pose for Toddlers. The pose was kinda more scary than what the Toddler had been scared of, so glad that is done.

Outfits worn while Purchased and Worn in Festivals/Kiosks/Stalls should no longer remove accessories that were in place for the Sim.

Error code 134:571e5862 that occurred to some Simmers should be fixed now.

We fixed a few hairstyles (yfHair_EP05WavyBob, yfHair_EP01PartedFlat, yfHair_EP05UnderCutDreads, yfHair_EP01ShortSwept, and yfHair_DreamyCrew) that when used with the recently added color options would create splotches in the eyes, change the color of teeth, and/or change the eyelashes color.

As always the Localization team and this author have fixed and improved text across all packs and updates.

Get to Work

Aliens can now enjoy their custom Blush options in Create a Sim. Lewks out of this world!

Retail employees will now appropriately change into their assigned outfits. Listen, I grew up wearing uniforms for school, I get it, sometimes they are not the prettiest… but you have to wear them if you have to go to that establishment. I know the pain too well… but my sense of style grew from that… I think.

We made a fix to some of the swatches from the Barely Better Digital Camera that were missing a description for the item, so now all the swatches will display the text in all its glory.

Get Together

Some of these Sims are not like the others, some of these Sims just don’t belong. Can you tell which are not like the others by the time I finish writing these notes?

Fixed an issue in which some of the rooftops in Winderburg were not displaying Snow (if you own Seasons) correctly.

Fixed an issue where Sims didn’t sometimes change into their Club outfits when a Club Gathering was being held.

City Living

The Scattered Panes window in Build Mode now displays appropriate shadows in all options.

Sims enrolled in the Social Media career will now gain influence at the end of their stream instead of every few Sim-minutes.

Two hairstyles (ymHair_EP03BunHighPins and ymHair_EP03BraidedFlateBun) have been updated to reflect the correct look when choosing the Neutral Black color option.

Your Sims want to shoot some Basketball Close Shots, but they are trying to eat first? Well, now your Sims can finish eating before trying those hoops. Nutrition is important!

Cats and Dogs

We fixed an issue in which whiskers were not being seen applied to Cats. A Cat without whiskers is like Peanut butter without Jelly… or something like that! Just wrong!

Robot Vacuums should all now return to their docks accordingly. I hope this issue was not a sign that they were becoming sentient.

Sims will no longer get a Moodlet referring to the death of their Pet when witnessing the death of another Sim. The loss of a Sim is heartbreaking, but also getting a Moodlet for the death of their Pet when the Pet has not died, that is cold Grimmy, very cold.

Speaking of Robot Vacuums becoming sentient a few lines above, we fixed an issue that made the game crash when Cats would sit on the Robot Vacuum. CatonRobot.exe is now working.

We fixed an issue in which some Simmers experienced a crash with their last played Household loading into Brindleton Bay.

Seasons

Sims were changing into their cold-weather gear… while not in cold weather? We had some conversations with Sims and even though they love their winter outfits, dressing up in full winter gear in the summer was probably not the wisest choice. So the issue in which Sims randomly would change into their winter outfits while not in winter is solved.

Egg Hunts are adorable and fun! But not being able to have the furniture reset after looking for Eggs in them, can be quite the rain on Sims’ parade. But this should no longer occur.

Island Living

Mermaids will no longer keep the “Dried Scales” Moodlet when they are hydrated. Mermaids’ skincare regimen pays off! Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

Fixed an issue in which Lots that are placed in the sand looked quite odd displaying all edges of the Lot when it rained.

Sims that have the Collector Aspiration Trait are now able to catch Frogs in Sulani as part of their adventures exploring the island waterfall. Good Luck!

We fixed an issue in which some Simmers experienced game crashes when loading into certain lots in Mua Pe’lam. Happy Exploring!

Discover University

Sims having a hard time in Uni? No matter what they do they keep failing classes? Worry not, Sims will no longer fail classes when meeting all the criteria for course completion. Work hard, pass your classes hard!

Having Roommates can be hard. Have your Sims had Roommates complain constantly and leave even when their needs are met? Yeah, we made it so that Roommates don’t do this any longer.

Fixed an issue in which beds were counted incorrectly when placing an ad for Roommates. I mean, as much as Pets and even Toddlers can live with Roommates, the ad should be truthful to how many beds there are actually in the Lot, not count Toddlers and Pets as needing adult-sized beds.

We fixed Servo animations so that they don’t look like they are walking on one leg when hovering to their destination. Now they will hover properly.

We fixed an issue in which in some instances Professors could not go to work when a Professor NPC is added into that same Household.

Fixed an issue in which removing and adding back Household members as Roommates would create some… inappropriate moments, ahem.

Eco Lifestyle

Evergreen Harbor’s peace has been restored: roads and parts of neighborhoods no longer disappear or turn blue when businesses open in Port Promise while the Modern Development N.A.P is active.

yfBody_EP09DressShirt no longer has a weird texture in some of the footwear from various packs, especially platform shoes and chunky sneakers.

Had you moved to Cypress Terrace in Willow Creek and found you couldn’t really do anything there? We fixed the routing failures and interaction failures on the Mitey-Mitey Home - Insect Farm.

Snowy Escape

Mountain Climbing can be challenging, even for those experienced. But having indecisive moments before a climbing route like getting off and on your bike constantly seems that a lot of doubt is passing your mind… However, we did speak to these Sims that were experiencing this behavior and calmed their fears and doubts, so this should no longer be an issue.

The hairstyle yfHair_EP10BobBluntOmbre now covers all of the Sim’s ears.

For Simmers who own Seasons together with Snowy Escape, rain options no longer affect snow.

Sims no longer have the option to give a respectful or military introduction during activities such as Dancing or Bike Riding. I mean, I’m not sure about you, but I can’t dance and respectfully introduce myself at the same time. So many falls… so many falls.

We made some corrections to the Slippers that came with this pack and they should no longer display a greenish texture on Sims’ toes when selected in Create a Sim. Yikes.

Fixed an issue in which for some Simmers playing with the Yoshida Hall Household would generate a game crash when loading into Mt. Komorebi.

We took a look at our Ramen menu and have updated our cooking menu to label Miso and Egg Ramen as Vegetarian safe options. Buen Provecho!

Want to run a Restaurant in Yukimatsu but also want to enjoy the slopes? Now your Sims can enjoy the slopes and dine in style. However, this action is only directed, and will not be autonomous. In the same vein, Restaurant employees will not be tempted to leave work to enjoy the slopes.

Journey to Batuu

Batuu is an awesome destination for those who want to enjoy something fun and different, but if you bought a Droid from the Droid Depot and never saw it in your inventory, I know how frustrating it can be. Never fear, the Droids you were looking for will appear now in Inventories when purchased.

In Journey to Batuu, the First Order ID no longer disappears from inventory so Sims now can Access First Order Plans for the Top Notch Trickery Mission.

Fixed an issue with the Leveling the Playing Field Mission in which the Scoundrel Informant would not appear on the scene after Sims stole the Prototype Blaster and went to Oga’s Cantina to wait for the informant.

Dine Out

Eggs and Toast sound super basic and easy right? They will continue to be that way for our unassuming Chefs on the Chef Station since we fixed an issue that made them… challenging. Sims can also use the second burner for other recipes without fail or routing out.

StrangerVille

The Decorations and Kid's categories in Build Mode should no longer have a "New" highlight when there's nothing actually new.

Dream Home Decorator

Lighting can change the ambiance of a room, and your mood in a flash. Luckily we have fixed an issue that lighting was not even on sectional sofas to continue to set the right mood for our Sims.

Our stylists fixed the Sleep ‘N’ Study Styled Room to remove the P.R.I.M.A Computer from it as this is not an item that is accessible for everyone, pardon our dust.

Laundry Day

Fixed an issue where an animation clipped when Sims were loading their laundry machines. Because having your clothes go through you is awkward, are Sims made of fabric? I don’t think so.

Bust the Dust

Don’t need Simoleons, don’t need Fame. Don’t need dinner to have this date. It’s strong and it’s sudden and it’s cruel sometimes but it might just end your night… the power of Dust, that’s the power of Dust.

Our cleaning agents have determined that Sims won’t get romantic negative Moodlets related to filthy levels of dust in public places like parks.

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: New Game Patch (July 20th, 2021)

There’s a new Sims 4 update available for PC/Mac and Consoles. If you have auto updates enabled in Origin’s “Application Settings”, the game will auto-update once you open Origin. If you have auto-updates disabled, you will need to manually update by clicking the game in your library.

Your game should now read: PC: 1.77.131.1030 / Mac: 1.77.131.1230 / Console: Version 1.44

Remove all MODS and Custom Content before updating your game

Hello Simmers!

Hope you are well wherever you are in the world and that you are all having a fantastic Summer of Sims! We are excited to share today’s update with you. There is a lot of info, so make sure you have your tea/coffee/beverage of choice ready to read on. You all know I have my coffee ready for this!

As we continue to get ready to explore the countryside charm of Henford-on-Bagley and cannot absolutely wait to play with the adorable animals in Cottage Living, we also have updates and fixes that should improve and complement your Sims’ everyday life. We have something for everyone and we hope that you all enjoy them. Thank you for all your feedback and support.

Cheers!

-SimGuruRusskii ft. SimGuruRomeo and SimGuruJoAnna

What’s New?

Let’s start with some items that we shared in our last Sims 411!

For this update, we partnered with two talented artists from the LGBTQ+ community, Ashley Lukashepsky, and Mohammed Iman Fayaz, and they have brought their inspiring and beautiful artwork into the game. We have also included the modernized version of the large afro hairstyle that we showed you. But more than tell you about it in text, let me actually attach a screenshot of everything put together:

I love everything about this scene, not only it shows you how the artwork looks in a real game setting, but the whole scene with the two Sims and their surroundings is quite magical. Also, look at that hair! The way the light highlights it, perfection! You may also notice the hair of the Sim on the right, which was also added with this update for everyone. I want to personally thank all Simmers for their feedback and recommendations, as we are continuously working on adding more diverse hairstyles and textures to not only packs, but also to our base game.

Now that we are talking about artwork, the last patch notes I forgot to add the artwork made by the wonderful Jupiter Stevens-Hill. I apologize for that, I totally blanked out. However, I’m happy to see that a lot of you are enjoying it and placing it in your Lots! That makes a very happy Russkii =)

To find Jupiter, Ashley, and Mohammed’s paintings in Build Mode, make sure you take a look at the Paintings and Posters sort and filter by Base Game items. These artists are amazing and we hope you enjoy their creations.

Now, without further ado, let’s get to some new features and improvements that are part of this update!

A little bit of Gallery

When you download a lot made with the bb.moveobjects cheat, the game now notifies you about this so you know to activate the cheat before placing the lot. Builders, this means you won’t need to mention it in the lot’s description anymore!

A little for Sims

Trying to find the Sims in the current neighborhood? Select their portraits in the Relationship Panel.

“Focus the Camera” moves the camera to the Sim.

“Lock the Camera” moves the camera to the Sim and keeps following them.

Where did the Notebook go?

Found it! The Notebook has moved out of the Phone and into its own button for quicker access.

The “Center on Current Lot” button that used to be there has moved to the top right, adjacent to the Camera Controls.

Water Tool

You now can make natural, organic bodies of water! Just head into Build Mode, make a hole with the Terrain Manipulation tool, and fill it with water. It is that easy! The Terrain Manipulation and Paint Tools also have more brush sizes to enable finer detail.

In adding the Water Tool, we also took the chance to overhaul the related tools and object categories. Why not? Enjoy!

Pond Effects

All sorts of critters are available to complete the look of your pond ranging from ducks and swans to pesky mosquitoes. There is even an alligator!

New Pond Objects

Outdoor Water Décor now has an assortment of new Pond Objects to decorate the perfect pond. Some of these objects such as the Bog Log and Colorful Lily Pads have interactions on them in Live Mode to activate Turtle and Frog effects. The new Fishing Allowed Sign enables you to stock your pond with any fish your Sims have previously caught. Try it out!

New Water Styles

Go beyond the original crystal blue and dreamy magenta water. Additional options range from “Mossy Water” to “Pond Scum” to complete that au natural look.

The Shrubs category includes new plants to complement the water styles: “Green Fern”, “Leaning Not-Grass Grass”, “Not-Grass Grass Sans Inflorescence.”

Gardening with Children

Children now can help out in the garden by planting, watering, and weeding. They build their Mental skill as they garden. The process of purchasing and planting seeds is streamlined as well to make gardening more enjoyable for everyone.

Group Cooking

Cooking no longer is a solo affair. Sims now can cook in groups of up to five Sims including children. Start cooking together by selecting a fridge, stove, or any empty countertop.

Zoomers Food Delivery Service

Are your Sims getting tired of the same old pizza delivery every night? Well, gone are the days of redundant pizza nights. Maybe you are in the mood for pasta primavera or even a fancy steak dinner. All this and more are available courtesy of Zoomer Food Delivery. Order delivery through the phone or the refrigerator and the food will arrive in a jif.

Calendar

The calendar, previously available only with Seasons, now is available with Base Game to see upcoming events such as birthdays, school and work schedules, festivals, and fairs. You even can use it to book events, so it’s time to get to party planning!

Bug FixesConsoles

In Snowy Escape, skiing, sledding, and snowboarding on Bunny Slopes now contribute to the Extreme Sports Enthusiast Aspiration.

Also in Snowy Escape, Sims with high enough Skiing and Snowboarding skills now can enjoy the more advanced slopes. Sims also use the Lift to go to the top of the slopes and not go “the hard way.”

Simmers can now rotate Sims downloaded from the Gallery in Create a Sim. Spin them ‘round, ‘round, Simmers ‘round, ‘round –  like a record ‘round, ‘round, ‘round, ‘round.

The Sims 4

We made some improvements that should help our Simulation lag, particularly on the usage of some computer interactions like playing BlicBlock, along with fishing interactions, which should make the game perform a bit better. Note that this doesn’t entirely fix simulation lag but it should help and it is a step in a good direction.

Fixed an issue in which placing Mirrors directly opposite Doors would create a visual glitch in which walls and borders would disappear around them and well it was quite spooky to be honest, glad we solved that one!

Ever wish your food didn’t expire? I know I do, especially when it comes to traveling and coming back to see a fridge in pristine condition, that is a dream… but alas, it is not meant to be in life or in Sims. Fixed an issue in which traveling didn’t let food expire.

Sims stuck sleeping and couldn’t cancel that interaction? Not a product of a sci-fi film as I thought, but I can say that we have fixed this issue, well I hope.

You want to know how to not make my day, have my coffee brew endlessly but without giving me the coffee! Luckily the issue in-game about the Brew Coffee interaction being stuck has been fixed. Wasn’t it odd? Wait… Sleep and Brew Coffee were stuck in a mysterious loop? SUS.

If your Child Sims suddenly interrupted their computer sessions to draw on the activity table when Inspired, worry not, this should not happen after this update.

Fixed an issue that caused the “Items Removed” pop-up to appear when no items were removed from the game.

Fixed an issue in which setting Lots on Slipshod Mesquite would sometimes generate a crash of the game for some Simmers. The Lot couldn’t handle that much flavor.

Some blush and lipstick opacity sliders are back as they were greyed out.

Step-Parent/Child relationships are no longer missing in the Genealogy Panel. Similarly, other cases of broken families in the Genealogy Panel have been fixed as well. It is all about reconnecting or connecting with what is important.

Platforms will no longer raise in height automatically when creating new walls to intersect part of them.

We also fixed an issue in which if you placed platforms in basement levels and a staircase from the floor to the platforms, it would create this gap or hole in front of the stairs and Sims were not able to route correctly. You know, I have played many platformers in my lifetime, but do you imagine Sims trying to jump those gaps? I mean, I am called JumpFail for a reason… glad we fixed this one!

World view Lots that had some off-centered border have been adjusted.

Toddlers will no longer gain negative Sentiments against their parents randomly, especially the Festering Grudge Sentiment. I should not be laughing at this issue as I type it, I should not…<giggles>

We got word that the camera was malfunctioning and bouncing uncontrollably in some Lots across multiple Worlds. We fixed an issue that caused this, but let us know if there are new instances.

Sometimes Ghosts can be part of our Households if we choose to, however, it is really hard to live with Ghosts that constantly break things, it makes it a bit… unlivable. So our expert team of Simghostologists has communicated with these Ghosts in the non-physical realm and they have agreed to not break everything all the time.

Fixed an issue related to flooring glitches while placing the dance floor or crystal clear flooring.

Went through all the trouble in hiring a Nanny only to have your Toddler get sent to Daycare? More than a schedule conflict I imagine having the Nanny show up and there is no Toddler so what does the Nanny do in this case? Do they leave? Do they stay and wait? I must know… However, This should no longer be an issue.

Fixed an issue where using ‘{}’ (curly brackets)  in renaming objects would make these invisible in lists or UI in general.

Fixed an issue in the Likes and Dislikes section in Create a Sim that had some categories displayed incorrectly (either cut off, or words broken apart in new lines incorrectly) for some languages.

There was a clipping issue with the eye preset ymAsian13_Eyes that occurred when Sims were in extreme emotion, like Angry, and blinked. We adjusted this preset so this should not occur.

Toddlers can be picky eaters, but Toddlers not eating any fish recipe? That is suspicious, so we had a chat with the little angels and we have found a way to help them enjoy the complex flavors of our fish recipes.

Our UI team has fixed an issue in which a scrollbar appeared in the Sentiment section in the Relationship Panel when there were no sentiments. The mysterious scrollbar was mysterious. Similarly, they have also fixed an issue in which if multiple Sims gained sentiments together their thought bubbles look quite not right with the incorrect colors, so now they should look proper.

The Likes and Dislikes icon in Create a Sim will no longer overlap its text. It looked weird, honestly.

Droids (if you own Journey to Batuu) and Drones (if you own Get Famous) clipping into all kinds of objects in Build Mode? We saw that too, so there should be a fix for that in this game update. I mean this went beyond just crashing into things…

The option “Join After School Activity” will no longer be available if Simmers don’t have Seasons or Get Famous packs installed.

Sims in deviant paths now can properly reach the Level 4 of the Criminal Career.

Now, this is one that made my day, Cowplants are now able to dance again when Sims play music in front of them. Dance Cowplant, Dance!

Fixed an issue in which relationship points gained by friendly introductions were more than usual if Simmers didn’t have Snowy Escape installed.

We adjusted the color swatches for the S. Cargeaux Counter Island so that when it gets dirty, the counter doesn’t completely change colors. Dirty Counter – who dis?

Fixed an issue where the Scared Emotion UI was displaying a broken pose for Toddlers. The pose was kinda more scary than what the Toddler had been scared of, so glad that is done.

Outfits worn while Purchased and Worn in Festivals/Kiosks/Stalls should no longer remove accessories that were in place for the Sim.

Error code 134:571e5862 that occurred to some Simmers should be fixed now.

We fixed a few hairstyles (yfHair_EP05WavyBob, yfHair_EP01PartedFlat, yfHair_EP05UnderCutDreads, yfHair_EP01ShortSwept, and yfHair_DreamyCrew) that when used with the recently added color options would create splotches in the eyes, change the color of teeth, and/or change the eyelashes color.

As always the Localization team and this author have fixed and improved text across all packs and updates.

Get to Work

Aliens can now enjoy their custom Blush options in Create a Sim. Lewks out of this world!

Retail employees will now appropriately change into their assigned outfits. Listen, I grew up wearing uniforms for school, I get it, sometimes they are not the prettiest… but you have to wear them if you have to go to that establishment. I know the pain too well… but my sense of style grew from that… I think.

We made a fix to some of the swatches from the Barely Better Digital Camera that were missing a description for the item, so now all the swatches will display the text in all its glory.

Get Together

Some of these Sims are not like the others, some of these Sims just don’t belong. Can you tell which are not like the others by the time I finish writing these notes?

Fixed an issue in which some of the rooftops in Winderburg were not displaying Snow (if you own Seasons) correctly.

Fixed an issue where Sims didn’t sometimes change into their Club outfits when a Club Gathering was being held.

City Living

The Scattered Panes window in Build Mode now displays appropriate shadows in all options.

Sims enrolled in the Social Media career will now gain influence at the end of their stream instead of every few Sim-minutes.

Two hairstyles (ymHair_EP03BunHighPins and ymHair_EP03BraidedFlateBun) have been updated to reflect the correct look when choosing the Neutral Black color option.

Your Sims want to shoot some Basketball Close Shots, but they are trying to eat first? Well, now your Sims can finish eating before trying those hoops. Nutrition is important!

Cats and Dogs

We fixed an issue in which whiskers were not being seen applied to Cats. A Cat without whiskers is like Peanut butter without Jelly… or something like that! Just wrong!

Robot Vacuums should all now return to their docks accordingly. I hope this issue was not a sign that they were becoming sentient.

Sims will no longer get a Moodlet referring to the death of their Pet when witnessing the death of another Sim. The loss of a Sim is heartbreaking, but also getting a Moodlet for the death of their Pet when the Pet has not died, that is cold Grimmy, very cold.

Speaking of Robot Vacuums becoming sentient a few lines above, we fixed an issue that made the game crash when Cats would sit on the Robot Vacuum. CatonRobot.exe is now working.

We fixed an issue in which some Simmers experienced a crash with their last played Household loading into Brindleton Bay.

Seasons

Sims were changing into their cold-weather gear… while not in cold weather? We had some conversations with Sims and even though they love their winter outfits, dressing up in full winter gear in the summer was probably not the wisest choice. So the issue in which Sims randomly would change into their winter outfits while not in winter is solved.

Egg Hunts are adorable and fun! But not being able to have the furniture reset after looking for Eggs in them, can be quite the rain on Sims’ parade. But this should no longer occur.

Island Living

Mermaids will no longer keep the “Dried Scales” Moodlet when they are hydrated. Mermaids’ skincare regimen pays off! Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

Fixed an issue in which Lots that are placed in the sand looked quite odd displaying all edges of the Lot when it rained.

Sims that have the Collector Aspiration Trait are now able to catch Frogs in Sulani as part of their adventures exploring the island waterfall. Good Luck!

We fixed an issue in which some Simmers experienced game crashes when loading into certain lots in Mua Pe’lam. Happy Exploring!

Discover University

Sims having a hard time in Uni? No matter what they do they keep failing classes? Worry not, Sims will no longer fail classes when meeting all the criteria for course completion. Work hard, pass your classes hard!

Having Roommates can be hard. Have your Sims had Roommates complain constantly and leave even when their needs are met? Yeah, we made it so that Roommates don’t do this any longer.

Fixed an issue in which beds were counted incorrectly when placing an ad for Roommates. I mean, as much as Pets and even Toddlers can live with Roommates, the ad should be truthful to how many beds there are actually in the Lot, not count Toddlers and Pets as needing adult-sized beds.

We fixed Servo animations so that they don’t look like they are walking on one leg when hovering to their destination. Now they will hover properly.

We fixed an issue in which in some instances Professors could not go to work when a Professor NPC is added into that same Household.

Fixed an issue in which removing and adding back Household members as Roommates would create some… inappropriate moments, ahem.

Eco Lifestyle

Evergreen Harbor’s peace has been restored: roads and parts of neighborhoods no longer disappear or turn blue when businesses open in Port Promise while the Modern Development N.A.P is active.

yfBody_EP09DressShirt no longer has a weird texture in some of the footwear from various packs, especially platform shoes and chunky sneakers.

Had you moved to Cypress Terrace in Willow Creek and found you couldn’t really do anything there? We fixed the routing failures and interaction failures on the Mitey-Mitey Home – Insect Farm.

Snowy Escape

Mountain Climbing can be challenging, even for those experienced. But having indecisive moments before a climbing route like getting off and on your bike constantly seems that a lot of doubt is passing your mind… However, we did speak to these Sims that were experiencing this behavior and calmed their fears and doubts, so this should no longer be an issue.

The hairstyle yfHair_EP10BobBluntOmbre now covers all of the Sim’s ears.

For Simmers who own Seasons together with Snowy Escape, rain options no longer affect snow.

Sims no longer have the option to give a respectful or military introduction during activities such as Dancing or Bike Riding. I mean, I’m not sure about you, but I can’t dance and respectfully introduce myself at the same time. So many falls… so many falls.

We made some corrections to the Slippers that came with this pack and they should no longer display a greenish texture on Sims’ toes when selected in Create a Sim. Yikes.

Fixed an issue in which for some Simmers playing with the Yoshida Hall Household would generate a game crash when loading into Mt. Komorebi.

We took a look at our Ramen menu and have updated our cooking menu to label Miso and Egg Ramen as Vegetarian safe options. Buen Provecho!

Want to run a Restaurant in Yukimatsu but also want to enjoy the slopes? Now your Sims can enjoy the slopes and dine in style. However, this action is only directed, and will not be autonomous. In the same vein, Restaurant employees will not be tempted to leave work to enjoy the slopes.

Journey to Batuu

Batuu is an awesome destination for those who want to enjoy something fun and different, but if you bought a Droid from the Droid Depot and never saw it in your inventory, I know how frustrating it can be. Never fear, the Droids you were looking for will appear now in Inventories when purchased.

In Journey to Batuu, the First Order ID no longer disappears from inventory so Sims now can Access First Order Plans for the Top Notch Trickery Mission.

Fixed an issue with the Leveling the Playing Field Mission in which the Scoundrel Informant would not appear on the scene after Sims stole the Prototype Blaster and went to Oga’s Cantina to wait for the informant.

Dine Out

Eggs and Toast sound super basic and easy right? They will continue to be that way for our unassuming Chefs on the Chef Station since we fixed an issue that made them… challenging. Sims can also use the second burner for other recipes without fail or routing out.

StrangerVille

The Decorations and Kid’s categories in Build Mode should no longer have a “New” highlight when there’s nothing actually new.

Dream Home Decorator

Lighting can change the ambiance of a room, and your mood in a flash. Luckily we have fixed an issue that lighting was not even on sectional sofas to continue to set the right mood for our Sims.

Our stylists fixed the Sleep ‘N’ Study Styled Room to remove the P.R.I.M.A Computer from it as this is not an item that is accessible for everyone, pardon our dust.

Laundry Day

Fixed an issue where an animation clipped when Sims were loading their laundry machines. Because having your clothes go through you is awkward, are Sims made of fabric? I don’t think so.

Bust the Dust

Don’t need Simoleons, don’t need Fame. Don’t need dinner to have this date. It’s strong and it’s sudden and it’s cruel sometimes but it might just end your night… the power of Dust, that’s the power of Dust.

Our cleaning agents have determined that Sims won’t get romantic negative Moodlets related to filthy levels of dust in public places like parks.

[thetypedwriter]

Gideon the Ninth Book Review

Gideon the Ninth Book Review by Tamsyn Muir 

It would be only a slight hyperbole to say that a million people have either recommended this book to me or have told me to read it. I’ve heard for years now that this book is incredible and extremely well written and beloved by many. So, if that’s the case why did I wait so long to read it?

I don’t have a good answer. Sometimes a book is on your radar, but either the time isn’t right, other books take priority, or in my case, it’s adult fiction and I held slight trepidation that I wouldn’t love it as much as everyone else in the world seemed to. 

Thank goodness, that didn’t end up being the case and I’ll get into why in a moment. 

First, Gideon the Ninth has the most amazing descriptive sentence belonging on any front cover of any book ever. 

I shall put it here for prosperity and awe: “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” -Charles Stross. 

Now, I don’t know who you are Mr. Stross, but that has to be the best sentence written in the English language since its conception. If that isn’t enough intrigue for you to crack open the novel then I truly don’t know what is or what it would take. 

That being said, Mr. Stross wasn’t entirely accurate, but that’ll be clear soon enough. 

The novel surrounds our main protagonist, Gideon Nav, or, known as Gideon the Ninth, the primary cavalier to the Ninth House necromancer. Essentially, this world takes place in a different solar system with its own sun star known as Dominicus as well as nine planets also known as the Nine Houses. 

Each House has a specific specialty for what is known for, and as summarized helpfully, but also overwhelmingly, at the beginning of the novel, the Ninth House is also known as the keepers of the Locked Tomb, House of the Sewn Tongue, and home to the Black Vestals. 

This meant nothing to me at the beginning and quite truthfully, I still struggled to remember throughout the novel who belonged to the Third House, or the Fifth and what that quite meant, as once again, each House has a reputation and expected skill set that precedes them. 

Not to say that it was poorly written because it wasn’t. Muir just has a lot of characters with specific titles and while she actually does quite a good job of categorizing them and helpfully reminding you who is who, I still struggled with just the sheer amount of information and people. 

Normally, this would be a massive criticism, like it was with the cast of characters in Lore but in this case it’s not Muir’s fault. She’s giving me all the information necessary to understand. It was just my brain that struggled trying to recognize and categorize everyone. If anything, I’m excited to re-read Gideon the Ninth and have it sink in like a second skin eventually. 

Having this large cast of characters, the book revolves around each of the Nine Houses (except for the First House) sending their best necromancer, a wielder of both thanergy (death energy) and thalergy (life energy) in the form of a House Adept, someone who is able to wield this kind of energy either in bone magic, flesh magic, or spirit magic. 

In accompaniment, each Necromancer Adept has a primary Cavalier, a trained fighter that is both protector, companion, and often, necessary energy suppliers to their Adept in both horrendous and acceptable ways. 

The goal of these pairs, having been sent to the First planet, is to become a Lyctor, an immortal servant to the Undying Emperor. The catch is that once the Necromancers and their Cavaliers arrive on the First, the shuttle departs and they are trapped in an abandoned, dilapidated, once-regal and great mansion that boasts hundreds of floors, secret doors, and mystery upon mystery. 

Each pair expects a streamlined process to Lyctorhood once they arrive, a methodical procedure, perhaps some training, and ultimately a test. What they don’t expect is a mellow man by the name of Teacher that claims to know nothing about the process himself, but is the overseer of the First. 

What follows is a mind-boggling search to become a Lyctor and unravel the mysteries of the haunted palace. What the pairs don’t expect is the death of their own, gruesome murders at the hand of someone in their very own positions and an evil danger beyond any of their imagination lurking in the mansion. 

This novel was a great concoction of mystery, action, interpersonal relationships, character growth, dazzling descriptions, and world building. 

The world of Dominicus and the Nine Houses is expansive and rich, something that I haven’t been able to sink my teeth into, and not for lack of trying, but because it is so deep and so layered that I simply need to take several bites to get it all down.

The mystery is fulfilling and strangely, to me at least, reminiscent of a game called Danganronpa. If you know what that is, and even if you don’t, it centers around the idea of a murder mystery, but where the killer is one of your own and the mystery is trying to figure out not ony the who, but the why of what they are doing, amongst a slew of other deadly riddles.

Gideon the Ninth is the same. As people continue to get picked off and brutally murdered, as a reader you find yourself trying to puzzle out not only who, but why someone would commit such atrocities and the motivation behind it. 

The plot itself of Gideon the Ninth was extremely satisfying and alluring. There were times where I personally found that novel bogged down with excessive description, but it was usually broken up with Gideon’s personal brand of crass humor, a very much needed breather with the expansive exposition, that, while extremely well done, well researched, and well written, did get a tad boring from time to time for me personally, even if it allowed for clear imagery as well as adding to already well formed world building. 

In addition to the plot, all of the characters were well done and as fleshed out as they could be considering the amount of characters involved. First, even though this is set in a fantasy sci-fi setting, each of the characters seemed realistic and like they could potentially be real people. 

A large criticism of books I often have, especially in YA, is that the characters often come across like caricatures, and not real flesh and blood humans with both positive and negative qualities. 

Each character, some developed more than others, have both flaws and strengths, even the main characters, which I highly appreciated. Not only does it make the story more real and palatable, but it also is just more interesting to read about as it’s actually based in humanity and the nature of human beings rather than some perfect carbon copy of one. 

Gideon as a narrator was hilarious. She was often crass, blunt, horny, humorous and ignorant. But on the other hand, she was also an extremely talented fighter, actually very sweet deep down, forgiving, and loving. 

This mix in a main character was a welcome one in addition to making Gideon feel like a real person, despite all the bone magic and necromancy, and often her thought process and dialogue made me laugh out loud. 

Another main character, Harrowhark Nonagesimus (What a name!) is Gideon’s Necromancer and main companion. She’s bitter, rude, spiteful, and ruthless. She’s also hardworking, intelligent, and stubborn. 

If you’re catching the pattern here, Muir isn’t just writing archetypes and passing them off as characters. She’s writing complex and nuanced personalities that are intriguing and interesting and well developed. 

I could get into the other plethora of characters like Camila, Dulcinea, Palamedes, Magnus, Judith and so on, but this review would be a thousand pages long so I’ll just settle for saying that every character was well done and lovingly crafted and not one of them, even the annoying ones, were characters that I hated. 

One important thing to note was Muir’s writing itself. It was incredible. Such descriptions! Such characterization! Such detail! Such vocabulary! I was supremely impressed with her writing as a whole and often found myself having to look up words that I had never heard of in my life (always a welcome change of pace). I was blown away by her sheet talent and creativity. 

The last two things I have to note might get me in trouble. 

One, the ending for me was...bittersweet. For fear of spoiling someone, I won’t get into details, but I found it both lacking and simultaneously making absolute sense. I wanted both more and yet, found that everything was just enough. It’s hard to put into words, but if you know, you know. 

I do have a slightly sinking feeling though that the ending twist will somehow be undone in the sequel. I don’t know if this is true (although I will eventually find out), and I can’t decide if I’m going to be happy or dismayed by it. 

Such conflicting feelings are in of itself homage to Muir’s skill as a writer and the complexities of her tale. 

Lastly, the one aspect that might get me into the stickiest of predicaments: Harrowhark’s and Gideon’s relationship. I don’t know if I like it or not. On the one hand, I absolutely love it. It's a hate-to-love slow burn, which really is the only way an OTP makes its way into my heart. I love that they’re so different and yet so compatible, one flesh and one blood and all that other nonsense. 

They see each other as equals, as adversaries, and I adore that dynamic in any pairing. I also love the F/F representation of some badass women and that they’re not traditionally attractive and beautiful. 

One of my favorite lines came from the end of the book where Gideon describes Harrowhark’s face as, “bitter” and “hateful”. I just love when characters aren’t conventionally gorgeous and yet beautiful in the eyes of the beholder and all that jazz. 

Now. Onto the problems. 

Harrowhark’s and Gideon’s relationship is kinda...toxic? It grows into something less so, but it definitely starts off that way. I really hate imbalances of power of any kind and Harrowhark definitely has power over Gideon, power that she creully abuses. I asked myself: if Harrowhark was a man and treated Gideon so abysmally for years, and then Gideon eventually forgave him and loved him despite everything, would I think differently?

And the answer is yes, yes I would. 

Is that fair? Probably not. But I can’t help but think how the dynamics change with the two of them being women, and how in my opinion, I think more is forgiven of Harrowhark because of it, even when it’s not deserved. 

Now, Harrowhark is a complex character and has traumas of her own, but I just can’t help but think of all the things she did to Gideon and the things she took away from her and forced her to do and then think of them together and it’s...not great. 

Overall, my feelings on their relationship are complicated (which is a repeated pattern when it comes to Muir’s writing) and I don’t mind that it’s complicated, it makes it interesting, but I also would be bereft to mention it here. I look forward to seeing how it develops and if my feelings change and grow on the matter as well. 

In total, Gideon the Ninth is a fantastic read. It has everything you want inlaid with characters who not only push the plot along, but incentivize you to read more. It has complicated issues and complicated characters, but that means it’s nuanced and complex and juicy enough to bite into. 

Don’t do what I did and wait years for this novel. If you need a good read, you don’t need to look any further and then let yourself be swept along for the necromantic ride. 

Recommendation: “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” -Charles Stross. I mean. Come on people, what more can you ask for?

Score: 8/10 

[heckfick]

Part one

The first call.

Word count:2k+

Pairing:Y/N x Feitan

Warnings:Swearing, mentions of death.

————————————

Y/N sat in her chair, silently leaning against the back of it. She stared blankly at the monitor before her, her mind utterly blank. Her father, her partner in crime, was out at the time and training didn't sound too pleasing at the moment. And, dispite having the surface, deep, and dark web all at her disposal, things got rather boring quickly. The same old drama, government files, and red rooms just weren't appealing anymore.

So, she sat there, staring at her setup. "Wonder what dad is picking up at the store." She thought, scanning her desk for a moment before grabbing her water bottle and twisting the cap off. "Our next client better be interesting at the very least." She hoped. She brought the plastic to her lips, taking a swig of water. When her and her father got a client, she was in charge of planning, and she wasn't always planning the same thing.

On occasion they were hired to be a bodyguard, occasionally an assassin. The jobs varied, there were some that they just wouldn't take and others that they were more than happy to do. Y/N was in charge of finding out the details, helping her father understand what was to be done, and she was the one to come up with what would be done. Of course, if they ever worked for a celebrity then she would tag along. Just to meet them, maybe get their autograph or a couple of pictures. She was more than capable to handle their business all by herself, though. She was strong and smart, talented in what she did.

Her father, however, wasn't able to work by himself. He needed an idea of how things were going to happen, it was just who he was. The more detailed the plan, the calmer he was and without any idea at all, he panicked. He was really the only one she had, so she stuck with him. She worked to keep things in check, and he reeled in clients and handled most of the dirty work.

These were the thoughts that crossed her mind as she zoned out, snapping out of her trance only when she heard the door open. "Speak of the devil!" Y/N shouted, even though she hadn't been actually speaking.

"We have a client!" He boomed, clearly happy.

She grabbed the arms of her chair, standing up to help him put away whatever he had gotten. "Really? Who is it?" She asked, curious as she walked out of her room.

"Come here, I wanna see your reaction." She rolled her eyes at this, knowing that he knew she was on the way. Nevertheless, she picked up the pace until she was in the kitchen.

She walked over, grabbing one of the bags that he set on the counter, digging through it and grabbing a loaf of bread out of it. Her curiosity was now peaked, she saw her father smiling wildly out of the corner of her eye, he was just staring at her. "Well?" She asked, turning her head to look at him better.

He was silent for a moment, it was clear that he was ecstatic, almost bouncing off the walls. "The Spiders." He said, there was a pause, but then she laughed.

"You really shouldn't mess with me like that." She giggled. The Phantom Troupe needing their services? What a crazy idea.

"I'm not fucking with you, they want our help taking out some bodyguards." He explained. She had never seen him this happy.

"You're serious?" She asked, he nodded. "The Troupe." She murmured, trying to take it in. "The Troupe." She said louder, finally getting grasp of the situation. "We're working with the fucking Phantom Troupe!" She screamed, immediately dropping the bread and wrapping her arms around her fathers neck, nearly crying with joy.

He spun her around, as if she were still a little girl and not an adult serial killer. They were excited for two different reasons, Y/N had always admired the Phantom Troupe, their witt, strength and ability to get a job done was almost unbelievable. F/N was excited for the opportunity, if they did well, then a group as well known as the Phantom Troupe recommending them was good for getting business. Dispite their different reason for being happy, they still spun in the kitchen.

He eventually bumped into the counter, however, causing them to stop. They let go of eachother, both of their faces still as happy as ever. "I told the man I talked to to email you, it was about a hour ago. As if on cue, one of her monitors let out a noise that signaled she had a notification.

"And your sure it's them?" She asked, just wanting one last assuring word so she didn't get her hopes up for nothing.

"You know I have my ways of making sure people are the real deal, now go answer him, he said that we'll move out in three weeks so make a good impression!" He said, turning around and continuing to unload groceries.

She turned as well, heading towards her bedroom. She had been with dozens of clients, each and everyone leaving some sort of impression. Very few flirted with her, which she didn't find surprising. This was a professional job, and they didn't offer those kinds of services, although many had asked. An unpleasant thought then popped into her head. "What if the one I talk to is a pervert?"

What if he flirted, would she flirt back? No, she was professional, and while connections did mean alot, almost everything. She wouldn't go as low as to going out with someone just for work. That's something she told herself after she reached eighteen, she didn't care who it was, she wouldn't do that just for work.

So, if he was a pervert, she was fully prepared to ignore it. As she entered her room, the notification was on the screen still. So, she sat down and clicked on it. Her thoughts had ruined the mood she was in, almost instantly.

Blue apple. Hot pink watermelon

This was the message that her father told whoever was on the other end to send, it confirmed that she was talking to the same person and not just a random person who thought it would be funny to email her. With each client came a different secret message, they were all random and some were rushed, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that these helped.

Keep your fruit! For I have a lock of hair!

Be careful, for I only offer you one strand.

Y/N sent this message, followed by a link that would send him to her website, where he would have to enter yet another secret code that her father gave him. It didn't matter if he changed his account, the website wouldn't pop up anymore if he got it wrong he only had one chance. So, if he wanted to try again, he would have to go out and get an entirely different device.

On the same note, if he got it right, then as long as he stayed on whatever device he was using, he wouldn't have to enter the code ever again. She clicked on the link, her screen immediately changed. The website had a dark theme, it was simply easier on her eyes when she had to work late at night. She kept her eyes on the welcome back message, reading it even though she already knew what it said. There wasn't alot on her mind, now that her one main worry had taken over her mood, she thought of this as another job. Until she had talked to the man, just to make sure he wouldn't hit on her or anything of that nature, she decided to stay calm.

Y/N put on her headset, crossing her legs while in the chair.

She made sure that it was plugged in, adjusting the mic so that it was in front of her mouth. She just waited, staring at the screen for about a minute before a small rectangle popped up at the bottom, informing her that she was getting a call. She moved her mouse, hovering over the accept button for a moment, putting on a welcoming smile before clicking.

There was a few seconds of silence, as she scanned her face on her side of the screen to make sure she was looking half decent.

"Hello," she said, pausing as her gaze drifted over to the other side of the screen. "My names Y/N." She quickly took in his features, black hair that seemed wet. Maybe he just got out of the shower, or it could have been raining where he was. He seemed to be scowling, but she wasn't judging. Most of the time business made her grumpy, too.

"Feitan." He said, his voice sounding a little raspy.

"Nice to meet you, will there be anyone else joining the call?" She asked.

"No. I'll relay all of the information to to the others." He explained, leaning back onto the wall behind him. A dark hoodie and what she could only make out to be sweatpants were his clothing of choice, making her feel a little better about wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

She nodded. "Okay, got it. Would you mind explaining the operation?" She leaned forward, grabbing her binder and opening it, picking up the pen that simply laid inside.

"There's a man, he has some stuff we want. So we're going to go take it. He's said to have some skilled bodyguards. I'm sure we would have been able to handle it but Shalnark heard of you and wanted to see if it was worth what people paid for your work." Such a vague description,

"Mhm, could you give me a idea of where it is?" She ignored the last bit, not really caring why they were hired.

"Somewhere out east. It's called Bog Mansion."

She nodded, quickly jotting down this information. "Okay and now I'm going to need some info on the abilities of everyone whose going to be working with us." She prepared to start writing, but what she was asking for wasn't given to her.

"Why would I tell you that?" He questioned.

"I need to plan, that's the whole point of this call. I'll get and gather information, then I'll come up with a plan so you don't have to." She explained.

He considered it, eventually sighing. "I trust the person who wanted to hire you, but since it was his idea I'll leave it up to him to go kill you if you give our information away."

Y/N wasn't fazed, everything was classified of course, that's why she wrote everything on paper and not electronically. If it was stored electronically, you can never tell who has a hold of it even if you think it is only visible to you. "Would you like my address? Hell, I'll gladly deliver myself on a silver platter if I sell you out, of course I never will but still."

This caused Feitan to smile for whatever reason. "Okay, how about you tell me your ability as well. Your father already told me his so don't bother."

"Oh, my ability? It's nothing special I call it Satan's Zoo, and I just make animals with my aura. I have a pole that I use for close range fighting but it's in my closet somewhere." She glanced over to the closet in question. "Of course how many animals I make and the size of them both effect each other, but I can also modify animals it's a little difficult but I think I've gotten pretty good at it."

He took this in, being silent for a little bit as if he was thinking of what to say next. After about a minute he spoke up. "Will you be coming with your father with at a job?" He asked.

She was slightly taken back, of all things she expected him to ask this wasn't one of them. "Yes, I'd like to meet in person so I'll be tagging along."

"Then I would like to fight with you before we go to Bog Mansion." Feitan said calmly.

This was definitely unexpected, it left her speechless. A Phantom Toupe member thinking that she might be worth fighting? This was an odd honor.

"Your ability intrigues me." He said, perhaps trying to carry the conversation after seeing her speachless. "I'll try my best not to kill you. But I'd like to see your ability I person while your fighting against me rather than running into you in the mansion." He explained and all of a sudden her excitement returned.

"Really? You think I'm worth fighting?" Y/N asked, still star struck.

"Why do you sound so happy? I could kill you by mistake." He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I've looked up to the Phantom Troupe for a while. The pure strength that all of the members posses is amazing and I strive to be like all of you. Fast, efficient and good at what I do." She was smiling from ear to ear, making no effort to hide her happiness.

Feitan seemed like an okay guy, focused on business from what she had seen so far.

"Your strange." He commented. "I've never met a Phantom Troupe fangirl." He snickered, but she wasn't insulted.

"Well now you have, maybe you should release merchandise I'm sure there are people who would buy it." This caused him to laugh again, and this time Y/N joined him.

"Anyway, back on track." She said. "Go on ahead and start explaining everyone's abilities and such please." She readied her pen, excited to fill up her page full of information about her favorite group of thieves.

—————————————————

A single page wasn't able to contain all of information. It took at least a full page front and back for each member, sometimes more. With five members the exact number of pages came down to eight pages front and back. Her wrist was used to writing nowadays, but this was the closest it had come to hurting in a while. It was almost overwhelming how much Feitan knew about his teammates. Although, the more she knew the more solid the plan could be but still.

"Well, I have to say Shizuku's ability seems most interesting." She commented, closing the binder. "But I would also like to see your umbrella." She said, sighing as she closed the binder, leaving the pen inside. "I'll do some research and see if I can get a layout of the building and some intel on the bodyga-" while sitting her binder down she removed her eyes from the screen for a split second, and in that split second he was gone.

"Uh, Feitan?" She asked. It was only a moment before he moved back into frame with the umbrella. He sat back down onto the bed, grabbing the handle and actual umbrella before pulling a few inches of the concealed weapon out.

"Wow! That's actually really cool." She said, staring at it for a moment. "Did you just have it laying around?"

He closed it, placing it beside his bed. "Yes, it's best to have a weapon close to you when theres people out for your head."

"Has anyone actually tried to assassinate you?" She asked, wondering who might be stupid enough to try and kill a member of the Troupe.

"A few, unfortunate souls down on their luck. I'm guessing that people have a pretty high bounty on us." He sighed, crossing his arms. "What about you?" He asked.

"Well, people have actually sent some pretty skilled assassins after me. Thankfully, no ones sent in the Zoyldic family yet!" She joked, placing a finger inbetween her two collarbones and starting to trace down. "A man with a sword actually got me right through here." She continued to trace the old scar, moving down until right below her chest, where it curved to the left. "I beat him, of course but he left me with a pretty nasty scar." Her hand returned to her arm rest.

"Now that I I've told you our abilities, what now?" He asked.

She dreaded her next sentence. Talking to him was actually more pleasant than most of her clients, so this would be a little more difficult to let go. "Well, you call me around this time tommorow and until then, I get to work! I'll figure out everything I can and use what knowledge you've given me to make a plan!"

Feitan pursed his lips. "Okay I guess."

"I'll talk to you later, just message me if you have any questions!" She smiled. "Goodbye!"

"Bye." And just like that the call was over.

Y/N grabbed up the binder, opening it up to a new blank page. She needed to impress him, get a good word in with the Troupe and she might be able to work with them again! This was so exciting. So, as her heart pounded in her chest, she got to work on figuring out everything she could about Bog Mansion and the people who lived within it.

[xoshifts]

Hey, congrats on 200 followers--you deserve it! For the ask thing: I'm like 5 foot (short, I know) with short black hair and green eyes. (My CR self, though I guess it could also apply to my DR self fdsjklds) I'm a Taurus and an ENFP; I enjoy writing and sewing. I don't really care what kind of ship you do :]

TY for the congrats:))) I’d pair you with:

The March sisters (Little Women [2019], platonic/familial) and Thor Odinson (MCU, mainly platonic)!

I had a lot of viable options for this pairing, but I decided on these 2 sets specifically:))) I’ll try and keep the descriptions straightforward and in character incase you or others haven’t seen the source material, but I do highly recommend both Little Women and Marvel movies! The pairings under the cut, and I hope you like them! (My 200 follower celebration/pairing requests are here!)

The March Sisters (and Laurie):

I don’t know why, but this made a lot of sense to me! Sewing and writing are both practical/helpful and very creative skills, so you’d fit in with a very creatively hands-on family!

As a Taurus and an ENFP, I feel like you’d be a great teacher/friend to the sisters, because you could have the patience and drive to help and teach them new and important skills

Jo, a fellow ENFP, is also a writer, so while there could be some competitive tension, you’d definitely make each other better and provide editing help/be a confidant to one another

Your height is actually something of an advantage in the March household, seeing as they put on a lot of plays requiring different types of people for each role, and your short and dark hair and green eyes would definitely make you stand out!

I think you’d also be great friends with Laurie, their neighbor/friend, because he’d want to learn to be more creative and your writing and sewing seem like the best way for him to start!

You have similar hair to Laurie, so he often adjusts his own so that he’s just a slightly taller version of you (to a degree)

Overall, you’d have a great time with such a kind and talented family who would want to welcome you in and make you feel as at home as possible

Thor Odinson:

Again, I don’t really know why, but I feel like you guys would be great friends!

Your height would be strange to him because he’s so tall and literally a god, but it doesn’t mean he finds you small or inferior

He really wants to learn about non royal/Midgardian skills, so he comes to you somewhat awkwardly and asks you to read and edit a short story he wrote because he remembered you mentioning that you did both creative and nonfiction writing for a local publication and his memory is pretty good

The short story is literally just his life story, and when he says “short”, he means about 400 pages (he’s had a long life)

He just really wants to learn Midgardian/Earth skills and genuinely does think that they’re impressive, if not slightly unnecessary because he’s so used to magic and powers and all that

At the end of every week, he brings you the project he’s been working on–sometimes it’s attempting to embroider a hammer onto a mended tote bag (he ends up sewing the bag close on accident), sometimes it’s a page of poetry (he copied down half the lines from an episode of Friends), or sometimes it’s a well completed project (rare but not impossible)

While he doesn’t have a job, he does have a ton of money from Tony Stark, so he works on human connection by going to your favorite restaurants/cafes/stores and buying stuff for you a lot. As I said, he has good memory, but he does get distracted/confused sometimes, mispronounces things, or doesn’t understand their meaning, so what was a trip for some French fries and a new notebook ended with a large, dirty French flag and 15 Blu-ray Discs of The Notebook on your floor

Every time he sees someone with similar hair, eyes, looks, or even style to you, he laughs and says that they’re like a duplicate of you

It surprises a lot of people that you’re almost like a mentor to him, an ancient god from outer space, but he really is just goofy and nice

[defellz]

journalism at its finest // hwang hyunjin

★ genre - Journalist AU, Strangers to Friends AU, fluff, a bit of angst(?)

★ pairing - reader x Hyunjin

★ word count - 5.2k

★ description - Hyunjin and Y/N are two coworkers who get paired up to do a story on a rumor that is going around town, though because of Hyunjin's previous experiences this becomes a showdown of who can be saltier.

★ Warnings - explicit language

" Y/N, the boss is asking for you! " my co-worker Elena announced as she propped herself on my desk.

I looked at Elena and laughed, " He doesn't even know I exist, why would I need to go to his office? "

Elena rolled her eyes, " Jeez, thanks Elena for delivering the message to me, I appreciate it. "

I got up from my chair and patted her shoulder, " Thanks Elena, I really do appreciate it."

I walked past her, making my way to the elevator right around the corner until I hear her yell after me, " Buy me coffee during lunch! "

I laughed to myself and got on the elevator, I was quite worried about the fact that I was called to the boss's office as no one from my department was even ever acknowledged and if they were it was one of three things.

They got promoted, they got fired, or the idiot edited the story wrong.

I knew that it couldn't be the first reason as I had only started working in this particular company three months ago and it was surely not enough time to get promoted, so getting fired sounded like the most logical situation, cause as far as I knew, all my edited stories were okay.

My heart started beating faster and faster, I felt my palms become overly sweaty and shaky. That was not a good sign, this meant that I would be an absolute mess in front of my boss. Whenever I get extremely nervous I start to ramble a lot of useless things, I'm not sure how I was even hired in the first place.

As the bell of the elevator rang my heart started beating twice as fast as before if that was even possible. I had many questions going through my head in what felt like 1000 kilometers an hour.

Let's say I do get fired, what else am I supposed to do? It's not like my resume is absolutely fantastic, heck, I had written "fast-talking" as my specialty. In what other world is that even a useful talent? It didn't even help in this field of work, so the reason I'm even here will forever be a mystery.

I pressed the button for the highest floor and took a deep breath as the door was about to close, but at that exact moment, a co-worker ran into the elevator with me. I eyed the guy carefully, even if I didn't have any business with them, I still wanted to know what kind of people were working alongside me.

He was a complete stranger, a handsome stranger, I had never seen him around before this very moment, so assuming he was a newbie made a lot of sense. He looked at the buttons and nodded to himself before facing the door once again. I have never thought that a co-worker of mine could be so handsome, but he looked like a prince so effortlessly.

I shook my head slightly, trying to stop my obvious googly eyes.

" Got called to Chan's office as well? " the stranger pulled me right out of my thoughts and surprised me with his sudden question.

" Chan's office? " I looked at him with a confused face.

He scrunched up his nose before correcting himself, " I mean Mr. Bang's office. "

" Are you friends with the boss? I've never really heard anyone call him by his name, so I'm quite taken aback, " I slightly smiled and looked at him only to regret it in a second, because he was looking at me with those pretty eyes. wait, is that a mole under his eye?

" I guess you could say he's my friend, I've known him for quite a while, " He smiled back at me.

Oh my god, am I imagining this or am I melting?

I looked up at the floor level, " Anyway, what's your name? I don't think I've seen you around before. "

" I'm Hyunjin, I started working here part-time yesterday, so don't feel bad for not knowing me.

I did my best to calm down the heartbeat inside my chest and turned to Hyunjin reaching my hand out for a handshake, " Nice to meet you Hyunjin, I'm Y/N."

Hyunjin reached out his hand and intertwined it with mine. I must say, his handshake is either really weak or he thinks that he would crush my hand otherwise.

" Quite a weak handshake you got there," I looked up at Hyunjin with a very subtle smile.

Hyunjin looked back with a slight smirk," Quite a subtle smile you got there."

He kept a hold of my hand for a bit too long, so I awkwardly coughed and looked to the side," Maybe you could let go of my hand?"

" Why? It's soft."

I laughed in disbelief," You got to be kidding me."

Hyunjin turned his head to the door of the elevator and released my hand," Would you look at that, right on time."

I shook my head and laughed to myself, he was definitely an interesting character, but soon enough the feeling of nervousness took over as I remembered I was supposed to meet up with my boss.

Hyunjin walked into the boss's office before me, if it was debatable if they were friends before, then now it was quite sure that they indeed knew each other. Hyunjin had walked past the secretary without even having to say why he was there, and that only happened when the boss was getting a visit from a family member or a close friend.

I quickly bowed the secretary a quick hello and carefully entered Bang's office.

" Chan, I already told you I was just gonna work here for a little and then leave, Goddamn I wouldn't even be able to finish a project," Hyunjin was looking at Bang Chan with a slight annoyance glazing over his eyes.

So this was about some type of project? Now, this was definitely catching my interest.

" Excuse me? Why did you ask for me?" I asked our boss, who was sitting at his desk right in front of both of us.

Bang Chan smiled at me and started to explain, " You probably already heard that I have a project I would like to assign the both of you."

I nodded my head.

" What is the project about?"

" It's actually quite simple if the two of you work together. As you may already know there has been a rumor going around about some dirty money-making scheme that is taking place through all the local laundry mats, right?"

" Yes."

" Well, I would like the two of you to write a story about it. Maybe try to find out what exactly is happening and if the rumors are true."

Hyunjin raised his left eyebrow," And why would you assign us? I started working here like yesterday."

" Hyunjin, you're my friend, so I already know what you are capable of, plus you're only working here part-time, so it's not like I'm going to overwork you."

" Okay, and why is Y/N assigned as well?"

" I've heard great things about her work ethic from Elena who runs her department."

" And what exactly have you heard about me?" I asked.

" For one I heard that your CV was quite interesting, but leaving that aside Ms. Elena recommended that I choose you for this project because she believes that your journalism skills are being wasted while you work as a mere editor."

I felt my cheeks turn a slight shade of pink, it was truly nice to have my hard work recognized by someone.

" Okay, so both of us have to write a story? Can't she do it alone though? I mean, if her skills are that great."

Hyunjin was being quite rude and it surely made me think of him differently. I had assumed that he was a nice, sly guy, but he turned out to be only nice when he thinks you're hot and turns annoying when assigned for some type of work. Why come to work at this company anyway? Someone else could've gotten his place, but of course, the boss is his friend, so there is no doubt he wouldn't leave his friend to struggle if he could give him a job, even if it was a part-time one.

Our boss sighed, " I would appreciate it if you at least spoke to me as your boss during work. Anyway, to answer your question, I would let Ms. Y/N here do this project by herself, but you see, she has never had this type of a project, so I think it is fitting for her to have a good and successful journalist by her side, who could help her."

A good, successful journalist?

" Chan," Hyunjin looked at Mr. Bang strictly.

" What? " Chan raised both his hands in his defense," You're working with her anyway, so why not just have at least one person who knows about you? Besides, it's not like she knows who you are."

" I swear to god if you don't shut up-"

Not to lie, I was feeling extremely uncomfortable while both of them were arguing in front of me. For one I had never seen my boss unprofessional like this, he actually seemed like a human.

" Or what? She won't tell anyone," Chan turned to me," Right?"

" Yes, I won't say a word."

" See? You're completely fine," Chan cheekily smiled at Hyunjin.

" Fine, when is the deadline?" Hyunjin basically read my mind as I was about to ask the same thing.

" I'm giving you three weeks."

" But isn't that way too much? Usually, rumors die down after a week and the story won't gain attention as there is a possibility people won't be interested anymore," I wondered.

Hyunjin chuckled, " It's really clear she hasn't taken a job like this before. And no, three weeks isn't too much time, when the talk is about money people always care. The interest could even become bigger once the story is published to the company's website or news show."

I looked at Hyunjin, was this really the same flirty guy that stood next to me in the elevator?

Chan caught up on what was happening and smiled at me with a knowing smile," Hyunjin gets really serious and really mean when he decides to take a job. Trust me, you'll learn a lot from him, just please don't give up as he can be quite harsh."

" So this is like university all over again," I said to myself, stupidly I said it loudly and boss laughed at that.

" Exactly, think of this as an exercise in university and having it lead by Hyunjin here."

***

" Okay, so when we work together there is to be no relationship development as this is to be as professional as possible," Hyunjin stated as he placed a box on his new desk in our office.

Mr. Bang had decided that moving us into an office together would be perfect as we wouldn't have any other job besides this one, so apparently being in the same room all the time was the ideal way to work.

" Didn't I already tell you that I don't plan on talking to you about anything else but work?" I snapped back.

Seriously, how does he change so fast? He was so nice and flirty in the elevator a few hours ago.

" I just have to make sure cause I saw how you looked at me in the elevator."

" And how did I look at you?"

Hyunjin smirked, " As if I was the best looking man you had ever seen in your life."

" And you want me to deny that?"

" What?" Hyunjin looked quite taken aback.

" You are the most handsome man I've seen in my life, but that doesn't mean I'm about to swoon over you. I have a lot better things to do than to waste time trying to make a good-looking player pay attention to me. Plus, if I desired your attention so much I would still be getting it anyway."

" You really are blunt aren't you?" Hyunjin claimed as he looked at me with a smirk even wider than before.

" Listen, buddy, you aren't the only one who can change in an instant, I thought you were attractive, so I was shy. But now," I sighed," Now I just really want you to finally close those damn lips and shut up."

I looked at Hyunjin with a slightly teasing smile, " And weren't you the one who told me that we should not develop any type of relationship? Cause you seem too excited to be talking to me."

Hyunjin's smile dropped and he rolled his eyes, " Don't get on my bad side, you still need help from me."

" What? Did I say something that made you mad?" I looked at my coworker, I was aware that my smile was way too wide for his pride.

" Okay, fine, you win. I'll shut up as well."

" Thank you," I sat down at my desk and started to organize the few things I had brought to this new office.

The room was really quiet, the only thing that could be heard was the shuffling of papers and occasional sounds of a pen writing on the same paper.

" Hey Y/N? Could you call this number and ask for an interview? " Hyunjin got up from his chair and gave me a little sticky note with a number written on it.

I took the note from him," Why? Are they somehow related to this?"

" From the information that I already had about the rumor, the person you're going to call is Robert Lee, he had made several posts about receiving dirty money from many different businesses, so even if he isn't related to this case there is a possibility we could get some insider information on how this type of fraud works," Hyunjin theorized.

I rolled my eyes back at him," Yeah, like he's going to tell me all his dirty secrets knowing that I'm working as a journalist right now."

" That's why he isn't going to talk to a journalist but a pretty girl who read his post on the deep web," Hyunjin concluded his idea and went to sit back at his desk.

" So what am I supposed to ask him?" I shrugged at the boyish man sitting in front of my desk.

" Tell him that you read his article on his website and ask if you two could meet in person, so you could find out some extra details about dealing with dirty money," Hyunjin was already back into his world, reading up on some things on his computer and writing down some details that seemed interesting or useful.

I sighed and reached for my personal phone and dialed his number, unluckily a heavy breather picked up.

" Hi, am I talking to Robert Lee?"

" Depends on who's calling."

I felt myself create a fake smile on my lips as if trying to sound as nice and charming as possible," I'm Y/N and I read a post on your website about the best ways to get money and it all seemed really interesting."

" Oh! Yes, this indeed is Robert Lee on the line. Well, sweetheart, I think it would be the best if we were to meet and I could share some juicy details with you," I could practically hear how the creepy dude become overjoyed when he realized I was a person interested in his work, it was sort of adorable?

" Really? You'd meet up with me? I didn't think that would be possible!"

" Yes, yes, yes, we can meet up for coffee and maybe a little more?"

The last part sent shivers up and down my spine, now that was disgusting if I've ever heard what disgusting sounds like.

" Coffee? That sounds nice."

" Great! Where could we meet? Are you from Seoul? Cause I know a really good coffee place."

" Of course! Feel free to text me the address, I'll be waiting! Bye!"

I ended the call as soon as possible and only then realized I would have to be the one meeting that creepy Robert guy on the other end of the line.

" That bad?" Hyunjin asked looking at me with a bit of a worried gaze.

" You don't even know! He's so going to murder me," I tightened my ponytail sighing in defeat.

Hyunjin shook his head," It's not like I'm going to make you go alone. I'll go too, I'll just be undercover, so if he does something threatening I'll be there."

" Wow, thanks!" I fake smile at him in response," Makes me feel so much safer to know that a stick-shaped guy is about to protect my life."

" Has anyone ever told you that you're an extreme pessimist?"

" Yes. My mother, every day."

Hyunjin burst out laughing," You're kidding me? How does that happen?"

I looked back at the guy with a poker face," Sweetheart, only business talk. Don't want a relationship forming now, do we?"

" A pessimist and extremely salty. Thanks, Chan," Hyunjin mumbled to himself and returned to his previous work.

" Oh damn, I just found another person who you could interrogate," Hyunjin's smile was so wide as his eyes ram through the text on his monitor.

" I'm sorry, what? Are you not going to do anything else besides make me interview people and get myself killed?"

Hyunjin's face became sad and that almost made me want to ask him what's wrong, almost.

" I can't. I would but I really can't."

" Why? Are you that scared of someone ripping your guts out if they find out that you're a journalist?"

" You don't know me and my reasonings, so shut up and do as I say, got it?"

....

" So I just go sit in front of him looking all pretty and get him to spill the beans?" I lifted an eyebrow and looked at Hyunjin.

" Yep."

I shrugged my shoulders and entered the coffee shop. It didn't take long for my eyes to travel upon the older guy sitting at the far right corner. He was exactly like I imagined, he was the definition of a dude that should be behind bars, plus, he seemed like a heavy breather, which he definitely was.

My feet felt like they were glued to the floor, but I slowly walked over to the man, it did take a lot of courage and strength though.

" Hi, you must be Y/N, right honey?"

I smiled at the man and sat in front of him," That's indeed me and you must be Robert Lee."

" Exactly. Here have this coffee, I wasn't sure what you liked, so I hope you don't mind plain black coffee."

He slightly pushed the cup to my side of the table, though I wasn't going to drink from the cup, I didn't see it get delivered or how it was made.

" So what were the things that interested you the most?"

" I was wondering how does the transferring of the money happen, 'cause there's no way its as simple as just giving someone else money in a package."

" that's very correct darling, it really isn't that simple, though quite a lot of people do that."

I furrowed my eyebrows," But why would they do it that way if that's not how that works?"

" People are stupid and don't realize that handing money in envelopes isn't as easy as it seems, so why does that exactly interest you?"

I looked to the entry of the cafe and saw Hyunjin walk in with an almost completely covered face, so that was a horrible disguise, cause no one is going to suspect anything.

" Sweetie? What got you so distracted?" Robert Lee turned to look to where I was looking, so I just turned his attention back to me.

" Nothing," I nervously laughed," I was just wondering how I could answer to your question without seeming stupid."

" Why would you seem stupid?"

I bit the inside of my cheek," Cause I don't know anything about this type of business."

" So what got you so interested in my type of money-making?"

" My boyfriend is dealing with this business, so I wanted to make sure that he wasn't doing anything dangerous, and then I just happened to stumble upon your site and post."

The man reached out his hand and placed it on mine, bringing his face closer to mine and staring deep into my eyes," And what was a girl like you doing exploring the deep web?"

I pull my face further from his, but he just pulls closer himself," I like to explore weird and creepy things?"

" You don't seem so sure my sweetheart."

I awkwardly laughed and put my hands on his shoulders, pushing him slightly back," How would you feel if someone asked you shat you were doing there yourself? Would you actually want to answer?"

" Hmph, " Robert Lee chuckled," You got a point there, but you know what I can't understand?"

" What?"

" Why is a journalist from Bang Gears so interested in dirty money? Would it have anything to do with the laundry mat rumors?"

My eyes widened and I felt a knot form in my throat," How do you know who I am?"

" It was quite a rookie mistake to use your real name and phone number. Now answer me, or you're not going to have a fun night."

" I may be a journalist, but that doesn't mean that I'm-"

" You're what? Writing a story? Yeah, sure. Should've told me the truth when I asked why you were so interested, maybe then I would've actually helped."

" I was telling you the truth!"

Robert Lee smiled at me with a sinister smile," Y/N, I know you aren't dating anyone. I did my research on you when I checked who I talked to, let alone the fact that a journalist would have a boyfriend who deals with dirty money just seems sketchy."

" Fine. You're right, but believe it or not I'm really not writing a story. You can check me all I care, cause I don't even have gadgets on me that could record this conversation, so this really wouldn't affect you either way."

" I may say though, I don't believe you'd come here alone."

My heart started beating faster and faster, this dude wasn't actually as stupid as I thought," But I did."

" That means you're either brave or extremely stupid, but fine, I'll tell you all I know, frankly you seem way too nice for me to ruin your life."

" What?"

" Did I stutter? Get out your notes and write down the shit I'm about to tell you, it's important."

" Oh."

I got my notes out along with a pen and looked at the man in front.

" Feel free to ask me questions."

" Are the rumors about the dirty money schemes surrounding the laundry mats true?"

" No," Robert Lee shook his head," These rumors came to be because of stories from the past who had resurfaced, so when many new laundry mats opened in the city, and each being really close to one another, the people went wild. It was as if they all had to start coming up with conspiracy theories."

" Are dirty money schemes common between businesses?" I asked.

" Indeed they are, though they are quite different from how people assume they are."

" What would that mean?"

" It doesn't work how regular people assume it does. Frankly these businessmen don't just trade money, instead, they marry their kids and relatives into the other businessmen families."

I raised one eyebrow up at the man," But that's not how you do it, is it?"

" Yes, I work solo and I do not have a family. That's all I'm going to say. And Y/N, just so you know I didn't do this for you, I know you work along journalist Hwang Hyunjin and I've hurt the boy way too much."

" How do you-"

" I know how he works."

Robert Lee got up from his seat and just walked out.

What just happened?

" So?"

" So what?"

" Did you find out anything?"

I clenched my jaw and fake smiled at the boy in front of me," Yes, he told me, a journalist, all I wanted to know because, apparently, he knows a journalist named Hwang Hyunjin, so you, my dear teammate, got a shit ton to explain."

" Listen, I told you I don't want to develop any type of relationship with you, so I'm not obligated to tell you anything."

" Fine. Let's get this article over with, cause there's no reason to investigate any further. The dirty money scheme is a hoax," I got up from the table and made my way out of the cafe with Hyunjin closely following me.

" What do you mean by it's a hoax?"

" Dude said it was only a rumor, it's clearly based on how us, normal law obedient people, see these types of schemes. In the article, you can write about how we have been misinformed about these things and educate the people."

Hyunjin ruffled his hair in anger, " You mean we worked our assess off trying to get interviews when this was all just an actual rumor?"

I turned back to look at him," Aren't you glad that it's just a rumor though? You should be thankful that these things aren't happening around us."

" I needed a great story, but this. this is just shit."

" Oh would you look at that, Hwang Hyunjin is finally disappointed in something, is it not up there to suit your cosmical expectations?"

Hyunjin dashed by me completely ignoring me.

Great, I made him mad.

...

We were both sat at our office the next week, today was the end of out deadline and Hyunjin was re-editing the story he had written from the information I provided as I had gone to interview people in the police office to get some insight from them as well, but it was the same as Robert Lee said. It was all a rumor.

I could tell my partner was extremely nervous, even more, nervous than I was. This was going to be the first article my name was going to be written on, so shouldn't I be more nervous?

After a few hours passed by of me just sitting in my chair and playing candy crush on my phone, Hyunjin got up from his desk with a sigh.

" Sent it?"

He looked at me with a sincere smile for once," Yes."

Without any other conversation, he got his jacket and walked out of our office going home, though I had to stay even later as I wasn't a part-time employee.

Soon enough my phone rang and I picked it up, only to hear Mr. Bang on the other line.

" Hey Ms. Y/N?"

" Yes?"

" Did Hyunjin send me the article? Cause I've been refreshing my e-mail, but nothing is coming in."

" I'll go check and resend it to you."

I put down the phone and walked over to Hyunjin's computer which he had left on, maybe he was so tired that he forgot to turn it off?

I opened his email and he indeed hadn't sent it to the boss, so I sent it to him, but once the page refreshed I saw a lot of emails flowing in with disgusting titles.

Failure of a journalist - Hwang Hyunjin.

A journalist or a liar with nothing to do?

Famous journalist Hwang Hyunjin controversy.

What are these?

My interest peaked, so I opened one of them and read through what had been sent. In the email was a plain link which led to a news article about a journalist who sided with a mafia boss.

At that moment the door opened and I turned to find Hyunjin at the door," So this is why you needed an amazing story?"

" Get away from my computer, what are you even doing in my seat?"

" You forgot to send Mr. Bang the article, so he asked me to send it."

" And why were you reading that?"

I felt how soft my heart became as I couldn't imagine being a journalist who tries to enlighten people but ends up framed for being a traitor.

" Was this why you needed an amazing story?" I ignored his question," Was this why you actually needed someone else, so you could just put their name on it?"

" Does it matter?"

" Yes. What is this? What did you do?"

Hyunjin rolled his eyes," Didn't I tell you to not form any type of relationship with me?"

" Fuck that rule. Now you have to explain what you did."

...

Both of us were sat at a table by a window inside a small convenience store.

" I sided with a mafia boss. Didn't you read?"

I rolled my eyes," Well you must think I'm stupid if you really think I believe that."

" I did though," Hyunjin sighed and started to explain," Two years ago I was working alongside my best friend at the time and our company had told us to investigate a Mafia problem that was happening, so we did. I went to all the interviews, and I was oblivious of the fact that the men were already aware that both I and Jaemin were journalists at a company. So they kept me in the dark, but one day they took Jaemin and tortured him, well I thought they did cause that was what they told me."

" They didn't?"

" Wait I'll get to that point. So I went to a meeting place they had decided on and told me that I need to leave that company if I want Jaemin free, but before I do, I need to write an article where I say the whole thing was a lie. That there is no mafia. So I did, but later they were caught by the police and the person who wrote the first story on me was Jaemin himself. He didn't leave the company or anything, it turned out that the mafia had some of his friends involved and he gave me up for money. At least I thought he did, but then it turned out he just wanted me out of his way, so he'd be able to climb the career ladder faster."

" So that's why you didn't want a friend or any type of relationship with me, cause I worked with you," I said it mostly to myself, connecting all the dots, but Hyunjin confirmed it.

" Yes. I assume you wouldn't do the same as Jaemin did, but the fear is still there."

" But how did Robert Lee know you? And why did he help?"

" He was that Jaemin's friend, but he got fucked over by him too, so I guess this was as a sorry for distorting all of my potential job opportunities."

I smiled at Hyunjin with a warm smile," I mean, at least now you have a great partner under whose name you can write all those great ass articles."

" I only work for Chan part-time, so I'll be gone anyway."

" Oh stop it! He's your friend, we can tell him that without you I'm not going to write any articles and that we make an amazing team."

" Well, I guess we have to hope he likes the article."

" I'm sure he will!" I reassuringly rubbed Hyunjin's back.

[cherry-valentine]

Spring 2020 Anime:

Kami no Tou is one of my favorites this season. It’s unique in that it’s based on a Korean web comic rather than a Japanese manga or light novel. This gives it a different feel than most anime. The series centers on a massive tower that, when climbed, will grant a wish. Only the strongest warriors can hope to climb the tower, and even attempting it requires passing several grueling tests. The protagonist, Bam, initially enters the tower to find his friend Rachel, but ends up joining a team of three to climb the tower together. For the majority of the first episode’s runtime, I wasn’t really into this series and was pretty sure I wouldn’t watch anymore. It had a pretty vague opening that left me underwhelmed. But just before the episode ends, we get a really awesome sequence that sets the tone for the rest of the series, and I was hooked. The tests to climb the tower are surprisingly brutal, with frequent deaths until the cast is whittled down to the main players. The core group of characters is made up of a refreshing variety, with plenty of badass ladies. The main team of three are all likable. I honestly thought I wouldn’t like the lizard-like Rak very much, but he grew on me very quickly. The art is great, rarely going off model. The animation quality is pretty good and the design work is fantastic. The opening and ending themes are among my favorites this season. Probably my favorite new series of the season.

Kakushigoto covers several types of series all in one. It’s a comedy at its core, with a focus on quick skits and gags. It’s also adorable and heartwarming, following a single father named Goto raising his young daughter, Hime. The hook of the series, and the source of most of the comedy, is that Goto is a manga artist who draws “ecchi” manga (when I first read the description, I had something else in mind, but it turns out he just makes silly, slightly perverted gag manga) and he’s desperate to hide this fact from his daughter, so he pretends he’s a regular “salary man”. His interactions with Hime are so sweet and wholesome, it really makes you just sigh and say, “Awww!” However, the series also covers another type of anime: the tearjerker. The scenes talking about Goto’s dead wife are almost hard to watch, as it’s very clear that losing her was incredibly painful for him, but he had to move on quickly for his daughter’s sake. There are little things, like the fact that the wife apparently prepared boxes for Hime to open at every age containing things she thought Hime might need or want at each age (and it looks like she prepared boxes for Goto as well!), that make it hard to stay dry-eyed while watching. There are also scenes taking place several years later, involving a teenage Hime, that imply some extremely heartbreaking things I’d rather not think about. Basically, any given episode will have you gushing over the cuteness, then laughing hysterically, then crying and batting away some dark and depressing thoughts. The art has a very unique style. To be honest I’m not entirely sure if I like it or not. The colors and backgrounds are lovely, but some of the character designs are a little... odd. In particular, Hime is probably the least cute “young daughter” type character I’ve seen in anime. Something about the way her face is drawn is just... off. Oh well, might be good for warding off the gross perverts who might be watching the show for all the wrong reasons (it’s anime, so I suspect the worst). The music is perfect, with the best ending theme of the season (seriously go watch it, right now! It’s a true visual delight with an amazing song to go with it). Highly recommended unless you have no soul.

Kaguya-sama Love is War Season 2 was something I was looking forward to very much. I enjoyed season one way more than I expected to, and so far season two is just as good. The series follows two highly intelligent but extremely awkward students at a fancy private school who are in love with each other but each is trying to force the other to confess their feelings first. It’s a genuinely funny comedy that also captures the feeling of being in love with someone but being too shy (or too prideful) to tell them. Season two introduces a couple of new characters who, in my opinion, aren’t super interesting but thankfully aren’t around enough to wear out their welcome. This is one of those shows where no actual progress can ever be made, because if these two characters actually get together, the entire premise of the show falls apart and there’s no reason for it to keep going. Despite that, the show continues to be funny and entertaining, and it’s consistently well done, from the art to the writing to the music.

My Life as a Villainess is one of the quirkier “isekai” series out there. It follows a modern teenage girl who suddenly dies and is reborn in the world of her favorite otome game. The catch is that, instead of being born as the lovely heroine that all the guys fall in love with, she’s born as the villain, Catarina, who makes life hell for the heroine and, in every route in the game, ends up either dead or exiled. Upon realizing this, Catarina decides to do everything in her power to avoid these potential fates. This mostly amounts to her being nice to everyone (especially the game’s heroine, whom she meets in this world’s equivalent of high school) and trying to improve both her magic power and her fighting skills so she can defend herself, as well as learning to grow food in a garden so she can feed herself after being exiled. The show’s true (and obvious) twist is that everyone (regardless of gender) ends up falling in love with Catarina. It’s actually a pretty nice message, that people won’t automatically love you, but if you work on improving yourself and be genuinely kind to others, people will gravitate to you. The series is actually really funny and overall light-hearted. It’s particularly amusing if you’ve ever played an otome game and are familiar with the tropes. The art is nice, if a little generic, and the music is fine. Not my favorite this season but certainly worth a watch, especially since the season grew a bit dry a few weeks in.

Major 2nd Season 2 is a baseball anime sequel to the series Major, which I really want to watch (but is clearly not required for enjoying this one). In the second season, protagonist Daigo (the son of the previous series’ protagonist) is now a second year in middle school, and is the captain of the team after most of the third years quit. Almost all of his team mates from the first season have split up and gone to other schools, but Sakura, one of the few girl players, is still on his team. It’s interesting to me that the majority of Daigo’s team is made up of girls, to the point that other teams have a tendency to underestimate them. I didn’t even realize that in middle school, teams could be mixed like this. It’s actually refreshing, as the girls are very skilled (Daigo points out very early on that the girls follow the exact same training regimen as the boys). In fact, the girls in general are much more talented than the boys (Daigo himself even gives up his position as catcher to a first year girl who proves she has more skill than he does). It’s just really nice that these are good players, not “good for a girl”. Another fun aspect of the series is the fact that previous teammates from season one are popping up as opponents in season two. The animation is fine and the music is good. If you like baseball at all, this is the show for you. If you like sports anime in general, give it a shot. It doesn’t really have that “lots of hot guys who are super close with each other” vibe that most sports anime has, so keep that in mind. 

There were a few others I was watching that had to be put on hiatus due to the pandemic. Since I only watched three or four episodes of them, I’ll wait and do write-ups for them once they resume.

EDIT: Added Major 2nd Season 2 because it resumed airing.

Carry Over Shows From Previous Seasons: Black Clover (now on hiatus) Ahiru no Sora

Best of Season: Best New Show: Kami no Tou Best Opening Theme: Kami no Tou Best Ending Theme: Kakushigoto Best New Male Character: Goto (Kakushigoto) Best New Female Character: Catarina (My Life as a Villainess)

[characterpromptgenerator]

I'm trying to revise my first book for the first time and I have no idea what I'm doing. Do you know if you can help me on this?

Of course! Revision is a big task, and it can be really hard to know where to even start. So here is a basic outline/order for revision, advice that was given to me by a very talented editor.

Step One: Take a step back

This may sound strange, but after finishing a complete draft, the best thing you can do is put the manuscript on the shelf for a while so you can look at it with fresh eyes. A few weeks is usually sufficient.

Step Two: Do a structural/narrative revision

At this stage, you’ll read the whole thing through and do a general, structural revision. At this point, don’t worry about making it sound good. Ignore all spelling mistakes, bad grammar, awkward sentences, and poorly written dialogue. What you should pay attention to is the overall structure and effectiveness of the novel. Here are some examples of things to look out for:

Are there characters who just take up space? Who are extra baggage and get in the way? Is there a character role that isn’t being filled?

What subplots are there? Are there any subplots you started and then abandoned halfway through that never got any closure? Is there potential for another subplot that you didn't think of your first time through?

Can you identify the major arcs/storylines throughout the book? Do they progress naturally and resolve in a satisfying way? Can you spice up any arcs?

Do the relationships progress naturally? Does the romance?

Are your characters consistent from beginning to end? Does it make sense for them to have made the decisions they made?

Does the plot make sense? Is the sequence good? How is the overall pacing? Are there action-heavy sections that are followed by long, empty sections during which not much happens?

Is your setting and culture coming through?

There are many other types of structural things to look for - these are just a few examples. However, it’s important to solidify the structure BEFORE spending time editing and perfecting scenes, because you may end up having to completely rewrite certain aspects, depending on what you have and what’s missing. Try to refrain from making small line edits, as it is important to have a large-scale mindset. If you keep changing the wording of sentences because you just can't help it, you'll be pulling your focus to the detail level and won't be able to focus as well on the larger scope of things.

Step Three: Scene level

This level is also all about structure but on a smaller scale: scenes. Again, don’t worry too much about writing style, poorly constructed sentences, or voice. Go scene by scene and think about each one as its own individual entity. These are the types of things to look for in this level:

Does the scene flow naturally? Is there a different structure or sequence you could use to make it stronger?

Are the characters consistent throughout the scene? Do they do anything out of character or weird?

Does the scene have adequate sense of place? What sort of details can you add in and where? Don’t worry about trying to craft a beautiful paragraph of description. Even an insert that says [describe street dancers here] is sufficient at this stage.

What important characters WOULD be there, and ARE they there? Are you keeping track of all the characters? Do any characters who are present in the scene get forgotten and disappear for a while?

What background characters/random passersby should be present and have you mentioned them (e.g., other commuters in a busy train station)?

How else can you fill it in? Does the scene get straight to the point or does it get there through a progression of natural actions and conversation?

Step Four: Writing level

This is the level where you actually worry about fixing up the writing itself. Pick out awkward sentences, weak descriptions, decide which adverbs to keep and which to kill, think about colorful language and imagery, make sure the characters’ dialogue is consistent, see if the voice you’re going for is coming through, and find ways to make your writing sparkle.

In my experience, this is the level that people usually think about when they talk about revising - editing typos and making the writing stronger. However, this is best saved as the last step, because by this point, you should have a solid draft with a strong, properly developed plot, and you won’t be moving, deleting, or adding any more scenes. If you do this step earlier, you may waste time perfecting a scene that you end up cutting.

Beta readers

Beta readers are also an important part of revising. However, it’s good to have different beta readers at the different steps who all have unique purposes. Make sure to tell them beforehand what you would like them to look for so that they have a specific purpose while reading. For example, if you have a friend or colleague who is exceptionally good at developmental edits, you would want them to read the novel around step two so that they can help you with the broad, large-scale edits. If you know someone who’s good at line editing, it would be good for them to read after you’ve finished the writing level stage. Even non-writers, such as friends or family, can be great at giving you general reactions. What parts made you cry? laugh? angry? bored? Have them mark their reactions directly in the draft they read.

Choosing who you want to be your beta readers and at which stages is an important decision, as feedback from others is priceless. Beta readers offer new perspectives on things that we often wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Writing Groups

If possible, I highly recommend writing groups. Like beta readers, these open your eyes to the perspectives of others and also give you a chance to read and critique others’ work. As you do that, your skills in reading critically and revising will get stronger, and you’ll be able to apply these skills into your own work.

I hope this is helpful to you in your revision! Good luck!

[idratherstayslytherin]

Re-writing the story I once wrote, but not really

Some of you may remember my fic “The Feelings We Can’t Let Go”.

It began as a head canon, then the lovely person on tumblr wrote the more put together version of it. We decided to write the fic together. It was going well until university and UK fucked me over. During this whole madness my co-writer disappeared from tumblr and I can’t contact her. I have tried it many times. She didn’t reply. I started writing the fic myself determined to finish it, but my life is hell rn and I don’t have the time to write the two last chapters. I do have the outline and hopefully after i start earning money and start actually getting better mentally and studying and money wise, I’ll finish it. For now I went back to the first version of the headcanon I made  with my co-writer and noticed A LOT OF GRAMMAR mistakes as well as some things that weren’t making sense. I wanted to re write this kind of first chapter, so I did. I added a lot of new text, fixed all the mistakes that I could see and ta da! There you have it. You have to be happy with just this until I have the time to finish this damn fic. I want it to be enjoyable, but also make sense, maybe even help people with their own problems, I want it to seem real and I want it to be a lovely love story. I’m a romantic shoot me. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think of it <3 I love reading your comments. Also if any artist wants to idk make a fanart of my work now or after I finish this damn fic and have a beta read  it , then feel free to do so. Okay, I’m talking way too much, just STFU Ola, no one wants to listen to you rumble :D 

//////////////

Harry felt like he should have wanted to go back to Hogwarts. Even worse, he knew he should go back there. But he just couldn’t convince himself, not even with Hermione and Ginny returning. Then again, Ron wasn’t going back either, and he didn’t even feel guilty about it, not even after Hermione talked to him about the importance of learning and getting the best possible results in their NEWTs. He got a bit of yelling too, but Hermione directed most of it at Ron, leaving Harry to deal with an angry and sad Ginny, who wanted him to go back.

But there they were on the first of September at King’s Cross station saying their goodbyes and waving after the Hogwarts Express before apparating back to Grimmauld Place. Ron had no intentions of spending the year at the Burrow, it was too far away from London, and he wanted to help George out at Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley. He also admitted that he couldn’t really deal with his parents’ grief, and Harry was more than happy to offer him accommodation, not only because Ron was his best mate, but he really needed the company. Grimmauld Place might have looked a lot less gloomy since they renovated it, spending all June and most of July sorting and chucking out old furniture and artefacts, knocking down some of the walls (this being the only way of getting rid of the horrible yelling portrait of Sirius’ mother), and painting the rest in brighter shades, the house was still way too big for one person.

Soon, having turned Hogwarts down, Harry found himself obliged to decide on what he wanted to do with his life or at least the foreseeable future. Of course everyone expected him to become an auror, it seemed like the most obvious choice, but despite admittedly being interested in the job back in their fifth year, he wasn’t sure anymore if he wanted to go along with it. He might have defeated Voldemort, but was that really what he was destined to do all his life? Hunt down dark wizards?

He decided on meeting with Kingsley to discuss further possibilities. After getting detailed information about all of jobs he recommended to Harry, and spending three days straight going through the descriptions, forms and books he got, he was sure he would either want to become an Unspeakable or a Curse-breaker. He would have been happy to dive back into his books and papers to choose one of the two jobs. However Ron was already complaining about the whole house being littered with the papers; how Harry did nothing except sit on the couch, read and compare and read and compare; so Harry decided to give himself some time to consider his choice, meanwhile enjoying his freedom.

Do you seriously want to be an Unspeakable?" Ron asked, his mouth full. This was the only part of the last few days he was enjoying, the takeaway they had every evening. "You can never shut up about what you are doing. Do you really think you could go without telling anyone anything about your job?"

"Probably not." Harry shrugged, picking up another slice of pizza. "Though I guess I’ll have to, and it will be worth it.

"C’mon, Curse-breaking seems much more interesting. I’d go with that without hesitation."

"Well then why don’t you? And let me become who I want to be?" Harry snapped. He ate the last bit of pizza, and wiped his hands. " Sorry I didn’t mean that, I’m tired. " He apologised as soon as he realised Ron said nothing that should have angered him. He rubbed his eyes.

"Hardly surprising, you barley slept these past few days, mate, seriously. Just forget about this job thing for a while, it isn’t going to do you any good. Besides, it’s not like you have to start work instantly, you have enough money to live happily for the rest of your life."

"I did sleep last night." Harry protested, deciding not to comment on the money part, as what Ron said was true, he did have a vault full of money. His friend didn’t, and even though he offered to help them, they never accepted it. What he also didn’t mention was that even though he did get a bit of sleep, he kept waking up from nightmares, and if it hadn’t been for the coffee he had every two hours, he would have nodded off halfway through the day.  The nightmares, and pretty much everything else connected to the war were one of those topics they avoided. It sometimes resulted in uncomfortable silences, Harry agreed that it was better this way.

"I wonder who else from our year is going back to school." Ron said, changing the topic. "I know Neville decided to do the auror training. And Seamus isn’t going back either, he said something about opening some pub in Diagon."

"I think I heard Dean was going back."

"Oh yeah I heard that too. And Padma and Parvati. I don’t know about anyone else though."

"Me neither. I only know that most of the Slytherins aren’t returning, a lot of them got house arrests with their parents and stuff like that."

"Malfoy?"

"House arrest, in France. But I think he will be taking NEWTs."

"He deserves to rot in Azkaban with his father" Ron scowled.

"He isn’t that bad. I mean he did save my life once" Harry said, though he didn’t sound too sure about it. He might not have despised him as much as he did before, but it was still Malfoy.

"Yeah, and then you saved his, so don’t get any funny ideas of owing him or anything" Ron told him, making Harry grin, Ron knew him more than anyone else. He did feel like he owed Malfoy, a bit at least, but he guessed that speaking in his favour at the trials made them equal.

"Alright" Harry laughed. He vanished the empty pizza boxes, and stood up, yawning. "I’m tired, let’s pack it in for the day."

"I second that" Ron stood up as well, and the two friends made their way upstairs to their bedrooms, Ron in one of the guest ones, Harry sleeping in Sirius’s old room.

Days passed, Harry visited Kingsley once again, then spent another day reading before eventually deciding on Curse-breaking, which seemed ideal for him except for one small thing: he needed an Exceeds Expectations in Potions. Which was impossible to say the least with his skill and knowledge. So he went to the Ministry again, and consulted with several people before agreeing to let them find him a tutor.

He ended up spending a week doing whatever he wanted, before he got any news on the matter. He visited Ron and George; he went to Muggle London; he started repainting Sirius’s old motorbike that Arthur fixed for him, leaving the finishing touches for Harry. He also sat around at home, waiting for Ginny’s face to appear in the fireplace, so she could tell him about school, and he could tell her how much he missed her. He also thought about who will be chosen as his tutor. Was it going to be some weird old Potions master like Slughorn or someone distant and cold, but really talented and intelligent like Snape, or maybe just someone of his age, who was better at the subject than him? The Ministry owl arrived on Friday, with the name and address of his tutor. But something was wrong, the address was somewhere in France. And the name was Draco Lucius Malfoy.

"Are you kidding me? Malfoy?"  Ron asked horrified, when he read through the letter Harry shoved into his face as soon as he got home that evening. "Don’t tell me there isn’t anyone else in the whole wizarding world who could help you in Potions. Why did they have to choose that git?"

"I have no idea" Harry sighed. "But it’s not just that. Why France? Why can’t it be someone here in London? I don’t speak French, I don’t know anyone there, it just doesn’t make any sense."

"Can’t you ask the Ministry to find you someone else?"

"Already tried. But apparently Malfoy is the best solution, as we know each other, and we would both benefit from it."

"Both benefit from it?! How would you both benefit from it? What would Malfoy benefit from it? You are lucky to actually learn something if you don’t get killed, but how can he benefit from it?"

"Search me" Harry rolled his eyes.

"When are you leaving?"

"I have a Portkey for next Wednesday."

"Wednesday? But that’s less than a week!"

"I know, but I guess I’ll just have to do it, no matter what."

"This sucks, mate."

"I know. If I don’t get an O after this, I swear I’ll be using some Unforgivables on some people."

The next few days passed quickly, way too quickly in Harry’s opinion, and soon he found himself at the Ministry, looking at the corkscrew on the table, his belongings in his pocket, all shrunken.

"Here goes nothing" he muttered, before taking hold of the charmed corkscrew, and letting it transport him in only a few seconds to his destination: a little French town.

From what he saw on his walk to the Malfoys’ place (Kingsley thought it would be safer for him to arrive outside the town for whatever reason), he thought it could have been England, the small cottages were no different from those they had back there. The one Malfoy and Narcissa were living in was just like the others, a simple Muggle house. The Ministry told him that he would be staying there in a spare bedroom made for him with the help of the expansion charm, until he mastered the needed level of potionmaking, practising in Malfoy's lab. Apart from this, all he knew was that Narcissa had a Muggle job helping out at a clothes shop in the town, and Draco also worked a bit from home, neither of them allowed to leave the boundaries the Ministry had set, and neither of them possessing a wand.

Narcissa greeted him when he arrived, looking as pale and tired as ever, and much to Harry’s surprise wearing a simple blouse and jeans, something he never thought he’d see her in. She showed him around the house before retreating to the living room where she was sorting through some papers, telling him that Malfoy was in his room, and that he should make himself comfortable in the his bedroom. Harry thanked her, and did as she suggested, unpacking, and quickly Flooing Ron and Ginny before lying down, hoping for a decent night’s sleep, not only so he would have all the energy he needed for next day to face Malfoy, but because he would have felt extremely embarrassed if he had woken up screaming from his nightmares like he did sometimes. Then again, a simple muffliato charm should do for the latter.

Next day he woke up feeling surprisingly fresh and well-rested, that didn't mean he was ready to study Potions. With Malfoy. In France. When he could have been at home, spending time with his friends, or just enjoying his freedom.

But then he reminded himself he needed this to get the job he wanted, so gritting his teeth, he headed downstairs to where Narcissa said the lab was, where his old nemesis was already waiting for him.

"Malfoy" he greeted him, sitting down at the table looking around. The walls were filled with shelves of books and tiny bottles, each of them full of liquids of different colours, labelled neatly. The work space however, was empty except for two cauldrons and a copy of a simple Potions schoolbook. Harry's eyes shifted towards Malfoy, who looked pretty much the same as he did the last time Harry saw him, apart from his white-blonde hair being longer, the strands escaping his elegant hair. He also seemed much thinner, Harry noticed, he must have lost at least 20 pounds, it made the boy's features much sharper and angled than they were before.

"Potter." he nodded, restraining himself from scowling, sitting down opposite to Harry. "So, I’ve heard the Chosen One may not be as perfect as everyone thought so. Problems with Potions? Seriously?"

"Shut up Malfoy!" Harry snapped. He wasn’t expecting any different, but it still angered him that the other boy was already getting under his skin.

"Whatever, Potter." Malfoy shrugged. "But then don’t expect to get anything better than a D." He smirked.

"Fine." Harry said angrily.  "Just shut up about other things and let’s get on with it.  I get it, I won’t pass the stupid exam without the help of perfect Draco Malfoy, who is the best Ministry-recommended tutor in the whole Wizarding world, but we’d make better progress if you actually started explaining things" he snarled.

For a moment Harry thought this would be the end, and Malfoy would stalk out, but after glaring at each other, the blonde broke the eye contact and opened the course book without any further ado, and started explaining everything, starting from the very basics. Harry soon found, that even though he would never admit it to anyone else, Malfoy was a good teacher. He cleared up some things Harry previously didn't understand; and apart from the snarky comments, he was almost patient. Well he did snap and start shouting and swearing when Harry messed up a potion even after trying several times, but still. He was way better than what Harry had expected.

Soon they developed a daily routine which consisted of going down to have breakfast on their own, avoiding each other; having a short, theoretical lesson in the morning; having lunch on their own; a longer practical lesson in the afternoon; spending time on their own; then having dinner on their own, except for when Narcissa insisted that they should sit together, which usually resulted in glares and uncomfortable silences.

But Harry was definitely improving at potions, and after all, that was what mattered. As two weeks passed, and October was drawing nearer, Harry found himself tired of arguing with Malfoy, and the other boy must have felt the same way, because all of a sudden the nasty remarks were gone, and they were actually capable of spending time in one room without wanting to kill one another. This definitely was an improvement. Malfoy would actually compliment him if he did something right, and Harry would smile at him. They didn’t try so hard to avoid each other in the time between the lessons, but actually greeted each other, and sometimes even stopped to have short conversations. Nothing too serious or deep, only little things, but this was already much better, Harry realised that Malfoy’s company was actually quite alright sometimes, now that they weren’t constantly arguing.

Weeks passed, and Harry was getting used to living there, and as now he felt more comfortable around the Malfoys, he decided it was time to change some things. He started going for walks around the town and the countryside. He spent a bit more time with Malfoy, they stayed in the lab every so often after the lessons and just talked. One evening Harry even asked Narcissa if he could cook something. They have been eating takeaway pretty much everyday, and Harry didn’t mind it, but after over a month, he had to admit it, it was getting a little repeatable, and he was craving a home-made meal.

Narcissa was surprised, but happy to let Harry work in the kitchen, so after making a quick supply run to the shop around the corner to get all the ingredients he needed for the curry, his favourite dish, he occupied the kitchen.

As he started heating the oil and chopping up the onions, the unmistakable smell of cooking filled his nose, he realised how much he missed it. Cooking was one of those things the Dursleys made him do, but he didn’t really mind it when he was making food for himself or his friends, and after seven years at Hogwarts without cooking, he enjoyed experimenting with all kinds of recipes that he learned from Muggle cook books.

He had started dicing the meat when he grew aware of someone watching him. As he looked up, he saw Malfoy standing in the doorway, watching him.

"You know, it’s not too polite to stare" he said, smirking at the boy. "And do try to be more secretive if you want to look at me." He added, grinning as he saw Malfoy blush, which was definitely something he hadn’t expected to see. Ever. But now that he did, he couldn't stop laughing, making the blonde boy blush even harder, his normally pale face was a deep shade of red. "You should see your face now!" he choked out, holding onto the counter as he tried to calm down, suppressing the laughter that was bubbling in his stomach. Malfoy just stood by the door, glaring at him, his face still flushed. "I’m just messing with you, no need to plan my death" he said with a shy grin as he finally stopped laughing, and went back to chopping the meat, but still keeping one eye on the other boy.

"I wasn’t. I never did. Plan your death, I mean." Malfoy said quietly. Harry looked up and saw that the boy's face was serious. Harry swallowed thickly and nodded, not knowing what to say, so he just kept staring at him, green eyes locked onto the pair of grey ones.

"So, do you want me to show you how to cook?" Harry broke the silence, moving to one side so Malfoy had his space at the counter, offering the boy a little smile. The blonde boy hesitated, running one hand through his hair, and chewing on his bottom lip, which caught Harry’s attention for some reason, he couldn’t explain, he looked away embarrassed, afraid of being caught staring. Malfoy made his way over to the counter. Harry carried on cutting up the meat, giving the other boy smaller tasks, explaining why he did things the way he did, and within half an hour the spicy scent of the simmering curry was filling the room. After tidying up, Harry sat down on one of the chairs, fanning himself with a piece of newspaper that was laying on the dining table, his gaze fluttering to the other boy, who was pouring himself a glass of water, before leaning back onto the counter, flushed, but this time from the heat of the cooking, the top two buttons of his shirt undone, his hair messy and curly from the vapour, making the lines of his face look softer. Harry didn't even know why he thought of that, shaking his head, he stood up, and started setting the table.

"So where did you learn how to cook?" Malfoy asked him, his tone genuinely curious, something Harry still wasn’t completely used to.

"The Dursleys, you know, my foster parents made me cook for them, so I had to, but I actually always enjoyed it a bit." He shrugged.

"They made you cook for them?" Malfoy asked, sounding horrified.

"That wasn’t the worst part. I had to do all the cleaning too, I could never go anywhere. I had to pretend that I didn’t exist whenever they had guests over, and I lived in the broom closet until I was eleven."

"You lived in the broom closet?!" The blonde boy echoed, his voice raised. Harry nodded.  "That’s even worse than how we used to treat our house-elves. At least they had proper bedrooms."

Harry just shrugged again, and went to serve the dinner without a word, he didn’t understand why Malfoy was so shocked by how the Dursleys have treated him, or why he cared at all. Dinner passed quietly, apart from Narcissa complimenting Harry on the curry, but otherwise they ate in a silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, it was just strange. He noticed Malfoy looking at him few times, but he always looked away when Harry caught him staring. When they finished eating, Harry did the washing up by magic, not wanting to spend the rest of the evening scrubbing pans, something Draco watched almost in awe, telling Harry his wand was taken by the Ministry, and how he missed using magic, how strange doing everything manually was.

They carried on talking, and walked up the stairs together, but when they stopped on the landing, instead of parting ways, Malfoy asked Harry whether he could explain Muggle technology to him, and Harry was happy to do that, so he followed the other boy into his bedroom. He was surprised to see that the room wasn’t much different from the one he was staying in, except for having more books and other bits of things. But the walls were plain white, the bed wasn’t the posh four-poster he was expecting, and wasn’t covered in Slytherin green sheets with silver lining. It was just a simple bedroom.

"What were you expecting, Potter?" Draco smirked, and Harry realised he must have been staring in shock.  "This isn’t Malfoy Manor."

"I don’t know. I just thought it would be more like you."

"More like me? And what’s that like?"

"Well definitely not this" Harry said, gesturing around the room.

"Oh and you know me so well that you are positive that I loved Malfoy Manor and now couldn’t stand living somewhere that wasn’t green and grey and silver and black and full of snake-patterns" Draco snorted.

"That’s not what I… oh never mind" Harry rolled his eyes, already feeling irritated with Malfoy, but also himself for thinking that they could actually spend time together properly, without things like this. He was on the verge of walking back to his own bedroom, when he noticed that Malfoy wasn’t glaring at him, he was smirking. Harry sighed, and flopped down onto the bed next to the boy, and started telling him how toasters and TVs and computers worked. He actually enjoyed it more than he thought he would, and he was surprised to see that Malfoy wasn’t being difficult, but genuinely curious and interested, and would listen to Harry’s explanations without interrupting, only showering him with questions afterwards, a fascinated smile spreading over his face, Harry thought that Malfoy was much nicer this way, smiling, friendly, patient and interested in almost a childlike way.

They made this a regular thing, often making breakfast or dinner together, and spending hours before going to sleep talking about Muggle things, and sometimes bringing up other topics as well, and Harry realised he was starting to enjoy Malfoy’s company.

Harry was also improving in Potions, he was now able to make quite a lot of decent ones, and Malfoy was almost proud of him. However then he accidentally burned the cauldron down, causing the blonde boy to give him silent treatment and avoid him after yelling at him about being irresponsible and hopeless.

But after a day of ignoring each other they called truce, and went back to doing things together. This was when Harry realised actually how much time they spent together, and how he talked to Ron or Hermione and Ginny less and less, calling the girls late that evening, feeling guilty. Hermione told him about the lessons, and asked him questions about potions, she was happy with his progress, reminding him again how important it was, and that he needed to carry on. She then left Harry to talk to Ginny privately. They talked about school mostly, and how they missed each other, and how Harry had to go home for Christmas, because Ginny couldn’t go any longer without talking to him properly, face to face, or kissing him, or touching him, and before saying goodbye, Ginny pulled her shirt up, teasing Harry, saying all kinds of dirty words she could think of, leaving the boy with a hard-on. He was too embarrassed to wank, being separated from Malfoy by only one thin wall.

He kept thinking about Ginny, even though he didn’t call her for some time, thinking how things would be when they both got back home. Will they get married straight away? Will they have kids? And if yes, how many? He missed her, a lot, but he had to admit, these thoughts were scaring him slightly. He knew Ron and Hermione were planning on getting married and moving in together when Hermione graduated, but Harry wasn’t sure if he could imagine himself settling down already and becoming a father.

In the end he found himself in the lab, as he did quite often for some time now, deciding it was the best time to practice, trying to make some dreamless sleep for himself, but failing, which meant he could only hope for a decent night’s sleep without nightmares, even though he knew it was unlikely.

He did seem to have less nightmares than before, but now when he did, they were the worst ever, and he would wake up screaming, and couldn’t go back to sleep properly afterwards, and would be stressed and irritable all day. He just really hoped Malfoy never heard him screaming, embarrassed even by the thought of it. One night he felt two unfamiliar firm hands shaking him awake, and a voice, unsure yet steady telling him to breathe, and how it only had been a dream, and finally when Harry was calm enough, handing him a vial of dreamless sleep, he thought he never could have been more thankful, even though he was indeed extremely embarrassed.

Malfoy gave him dreamless sleep and that was all that mattered, because he slept until 1 PM next day, and when he woke up, he feels much better than other mornings, except for the sadness and anger that lingered from the nightmare, but he was used to that. He didn’t even want to get up from bed, he wanted to just stay there and disappear, somehow slip into nonexistence. It was mostly on the days after his nightmares, but sometimes even on just ordinary days, that he thought of what it would have been like to stay dead. He knew some people would have missed him, but with the Horcrux in him destroyed, the world didn’t need him anymore. And it wasn’t bad, it didn’t hurt at all, Sirius had been right, he didn’t feel anything. It didn’t really feel like being dead. It didn’t feel like anything to be honest. But he came back, even though he wasn’t sure he should have.

He decided to go and tell Malfoy that he wasn’t in the mood to study, but he didn’t find the boy in his bedroom or the lab or anywhere else. Or at least anywhere he was expecting to find him, he realised why as he entered the kitchen, there stood Malfoy he was cooking something by the stove, it smelt amazing. The smell of cinnamon mixed with apples and something sweet filled Harry's nose.

"Hi." he said quietly, stopping in the doorway.

"Hey," Malfoy looked up to greet him. "You look like shit" he informed him. Harry snorted. He didn’t need Malfoy to tell him that. He felt like shit.  "I’m making you food. Sit."

"What?  Harry looked up at him, shocked, unsure if he heard him right. Malfoy was making him breakfast. Malfoy. For him. How did this even happen? And why?

"Can’t you ever do just one thing you’re asked for?" The blonde boy asked, rolling his eyes. "Are you really that much of a rebel?" He asked, as he watched Harry sit down, still dazed, he smiled. His voice was softer than the usual, and Harry couldn't understand why. He continued to stare at the blonde boy in complete shock, until the latter lets out a soft chuckle, and told him to stop staring at him with his mouth open. Harry felt his cheeks grow warm in embarrassment, and he mumbled something Malfoy couldn't quite make sense of. Harry dropped his gaze to the table, and toyed with the spoon. He runhis hand through his hair which was messier than usual, he didn’t even try to comb it as he was planning to go back to bed. He felt Malfoy's eyes on him. Harry turned his head to meet the blonde boy's gaze just as Malfoy turned away.

Malfoy sat down opposite to Harry, handing him his breakfast and a cup of coffee, he himself only drinking tea.

They sat in silence, the blonde watching Harry eat.

"We don’t have to study today" he said, breaking the silence. Harry just nodded, still confused by the boy’s kindness, and carried on eating.  As he finished, he watched Malfoy sipping his tea, gazing out of the window. He looked different, Harry thought, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on the difference, the only thing he noticed was that his hair was messier than usual. That couldn’t have made such a big difference, it was more than that. It was something about his whole face, all of his features. But mostly his eyes. His eyes were definitely different, no longer cold and distant, but almost soft. Harry watched his eyes fixed on the garden outside, the shape of the window reflected in the sliver greyness. The practically white eyelashes around his eyes. His pale, porcelain-like skin. The pointiness of his nose. The pinkness of his lips, that for once weren’t frowning. His perfect jawline. The way his shoulder length hair fell onto his shoulders. Harry thought he was beautiful. He felt weird had just thought that, but as he continued to look at the boy, he couldn’t help but admit it. He also couldn't help but notice how his heart was hammering in his chest. He tore his gaze away from the boy and looked back down at the table. What was wrong with him? Why was he finding Malfoy attractive? He swallowed hard, allowing himself another glance at the boy. He noticed the longing in his eyes, the sadness on his face, and he realised, Malfoy must be missing being outdoors. Of course he must miss being outside! He had been in the house arrest for over a year.

Harry couldn't stop thinking how terrible it must be, not being able to go out, and within a minute the idea pops in his mind. He stood up abruptly and told Malfoy he’d be back in a sec. He rushed up to the bedroom and called Kingsley on the Floo, begging him to allow Malfoy leave the house with him, explaining what a great teacher he was, and telling the Minister that he trusted him. He didn’t actually realise all of this before he said it out loud, but it was true. He trusted Malfoy, especially after he gave Harry dreamless sleep and made him breakfast. He deserved something good. Harry was really pleased with himself when Kingsley permitted him to open the doors and go somewhere with Malfoy. He had to make him a promise that he’d look out for the blonde and would be careful, which Harry promised he would. He quickly packed few things and rushed back down to the kitchen.

Malfoy looked up startled as Harry re-entered the kitchen, his expression soon turning to shock, as Harry told him to get up because they were going out.

"What do you mean ‘out’?" He asked, looking at Harry in confusion.

"I talked to Kingsley" Harry shrugged, as if it was nothing, already making his way to the door, unlocking it, and casting several counter spells that would let Draco out as well. The blonde boy followed him, still shocked and surprised, but as he stepped outside and inhaled the fresh air and felt the breeze tug at his hair, he just closed his eyes and let a smile spread across his face. Gosh, how he had missed this. Harry stood looking at him, smiling, thinking how gorgeous Malfoy looked with the strands of blonde hair flowing around his face. No. He wasn’t gorgeous, Harry thought, feeling angry with himself, feeling like his thoughts were betraying him.

"There’s a beach a few miles from here" Draco spoke up.

"Are you suggesting we go there?" Harry asked, snapping out of his thoughts.

"thought that was obvious" Draco smirked, and Harry grinned at him as they set off. They walked in silence, until Draco spoke again.  "Thanks. For taking me out." He said quietly. Harry looked up at him.  "And everything" the boy carried on.  "Testifying for my mother. Saving my life in that room."

Harry didn’t say anything for a few moments. The situation was so strange, Malfoy sounded so honest and so vulnerable, and he just didn’t quite know what to say.

"I did what I thought had to be done." He said in the end.  "And… I never thought you deserved Azkaban." He added after a pause, avoiding Malfoy’s eyes. "You saved me too, at the Manor."

"I should have done more" the blonde boy whispered.  "I was a coward. I still am. I should have helped." The words spilled out of Draco, no louder than the wind whistling in their ears, and if Harry hadn’t seen his lips moving, he wouldn’t have believed that he heard what he heard. He watched the boy’s face, noticing the way his eyes were shining, tears flooding them. "I deserved all they planned for me at the trial. You should have left me there, but I guess you can’t stop yourself from saving people’s lives, even if you hate them." He said, a sad smile on his face, Harry found it heart wrenching. He swallowed thickly, once again lost for words. He wanted to tell him that it wasn’t true, that he didn’t deserve to be punished, that he didn’t hate him. He wanted to squeeze his hand and tell him it was okay. But he didn’t, instead he kept quiet, and carried on walking.

Neither of them said anything on the rest of the way to the beach. It was quite a long walk, they both stopped to catch their breaths as they arrived at the end of the cliff from where the carved steps led down to the beach. Harry had been going out for strolls around the area, but he felt a little exhausted after the walk, and Draco, who had been indoors for ages was clutching his side, but it was definitely worth it.

The view was beautiful, the sun was just starting to set, tainting the sky pink and orange, the warm light reflecting on the surface of the water, the white cliffs and the pale sand on the shore making the picture perfect. It was breezy, but not too much, just enough to ripple the surface of the ocean and to catch in their hair.

They made their way down to the beach, Harry spread out the blankets he brought with him, before sitting down, Malfoy following him, they sat down, watching the sky together.

"I miss Sirius." Harry suddenly blurted out, not even knowing why he said it, regretting it immediately.

"Your godfather?" Malfoy asked, not looking at him, messing around with a stick he found in the sand. Harry nodded, and lied back on the blanket.

"He and Remus were the only people who made me feel like-" He took sharp intake of breath. "-like I still had a piece of my parents with me" he sighed. He didn’t know why he was telling Malfoy this, but he couldn't stop himself. As the blonde boy seemed genuinely curious, Harry carried on talking, telling him about third year, how he met Sirius, and about Peter Pettigrew, and the Marauders Map, and about the Order of the Phoenix, and everything Sirius told him about his parents. Malfoy listened intensely, asking questions every so often, being very careful not to cross the boundaries.

"I’m sorry they aren’t around anymore." Malfoy simply said when Harry stopped talking. He tilted his head to the side, looking at Malfoy’s face, studying his expression, but he couldn't see anything except for honesty and sadness, and something slightly even like an affection. He felt like crying, but he didn't want to cry in front of the other boy. He knew he should feel angry, after all if Malfoy hadn’t let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, if his father hadn’t been there at the Department of Mysteries, Sirius and Remus could still be have been alive, but that’s too many ‘if’s. Harry thought of asking Malfoy what his intentions actually were, or something, but he chose to keep silent.

"I’m going swimming" he announced after laying around for a while, he stood up, already taking his shirt off.

"Are you crazy? It must be minus twenty down there°C!" Draco exclaimed, sitting up.

"Yeah, sure, minus two hundred." Harry chuckled. "Chill Malfoy ." Harry rolled his eyes, shucking his jeans as well, making his way to the water, ignoring the feeling of the other boy’s eyes on him.

"Come back here you prat, I don't fancy being framed for your death. It’s dark and it’s cold and you will drown. We can come back here tomorrow and then you can do whatever you want." Malfoy called after him, making Harry laugh.

"If you are so worried about me, come with me" he snorted, stepping into the water, leaning down and splashing it over his body, before carrying on walking deeper into the water. He was in knee-deep when Malfoy caught up with him, stopping at the side of the water. Harry went in even deeper, looking back and shooting a grin at Malfoy. "You better take that shirt off if you want to rescue me when I drown."

The blonde boy just stood there shaking his head as Harry carried on, the water was now up to his shoulders. He couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the fully clothed Malfoy standing on the beach, and suddenly an idea crossed his mind. What if he faked drowning? Would Malfoy really rush to rescue him? He grinned in anticipation, before going in a bit deeper, and pretending to drown, yelling for help, and sure enough, the blonde was there beside him within seconds, his hands around Harry’s waist.

"You idiot" Malfoy said angrily, letting go of Harry when the brunette burst out laughing.

"And you said I’m the one with a saving people's lives-problem." Harry choked out, still shaking from laughter, clutching his stomach with his arms.

"You’re such an imbecile! We could have both lost our footing! I thought you were really drowning." he sneered, and splashed Harry with water. The other boy splashed him back immediately, still laughing, and soon enough Draco was laughing too. They were splashing each other madly, trying to get away from one another, making their way to the beach.

"Scared?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow as they reached the dry land, still breathless from laughing, clutching each other.

"You wish."  Draco smirked, and chased Harry back to the blankets, ending up on top of Harry, kneeling between the boy’s legs, holding his hands down above his head. "Feeling defeated, Potter? Did I just defeat the Great Harry Potter?

"As if I’d let you." Harry said, wrapping his legs around Malfoy's waist. He knocked the boy over, straddling him, with a triumphant grin, which died down as soon as their eyes met. Until now, Harry didn’t quite realise how close they were, only a few inches between their faces. He was starting to feel uncomfortable, and dropped his gaze, but if anything, this made things worse, as he found himself staring at Malfoy’s chest, his white shirt sticking to his body, the wetness making it almost see-through, the boy’s lean muscles and his hardened nipples visible to Harry, making him blush. What was wrong with him? It was the third time that day that he found the boy extremely attractive.

"Potter…" Malfoy spoke up, sounding a little embarrassed, as he shifted underneath him. Harry didn't get it for a moment, but then he realises he had an unmistakable hardness in his pants, and it was pressing right into the blonde boy’s thigh.

"Shit, I’m sorry, I just…" he stammered, as he stood up as fast as he could.

"Stop, it’s okay. It’s a normal reaction, I guess, I mean you’ve been away from your girlfriend, and…" Malfoy trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished, avoiding looking at Harry, who was also avoiding looking anywhere near the other boy.  "Let’s go home. Or do you want me to go and you can just stay here, think of your lovely girlfriend, jerk off, and meet me back at the house" Draco said, picking their stuff up, his words making Harry blush even harder.

"I’m… I’ll be alright" Harry managed to say. Malfoy snorts.

"For Merlin’s sake, just stay here, and follow me back when you-" "fuck, just take care of yourself, Potter!" With that said, Malfoy was already turning his back to Harry.

"You are wet. You’ll catch a cold." Harry said desperately, not wanting to make this situation any awkward, which he probably was doing anyway.

"Well then cast a drying charm on me, will you?!" Malfoy looked angry. Why was he like that? He was sneering at Harry, Harry felt like they were back at Hogwarts and Malfoy was about to make one of his snarky comments that always boiled Harry's blood. "You are the one with a wand, you arse!" He rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. "if you are so concerned about my health then do it." he snapped, and Harry obeyed. As soon as he did, the blonde haired boy turned around and left in a rush without saying another word. What was wrong with him? Why did he get so pricky about all of this?!

He left Harry there on the beach. On his own. With a bulge in his pants. Still painfully pressing to his trousers.

He tried to think of Ginny, he really did, but he couldn’t help it, his thoughts drifted back to earlier that day, Malfoy’s hair flowing in the breeze, and Harry remembered how much he wanted to run his hands through it. The closeness of the boy made his body shiver, his angular face, his soft silver eyes, his flat yet arousing chest… oh Merlin, he felt like he could melt away just thinking of him, however weird it is, and however guilty he felt about not thinking of Ginny. What the fresh hell?! Malfoy was a boy! Harry wasn't gay for crying out loud! How the hell was he getting of to the thoughts of Malfoy?

The next few days passed in their usual routine, making breakfast together, Potions theory, having lunch together, brewing, making dinner together, and talking about Muggle things until it’s time for bed. Neither of them mentioned the day at the beach, and Harry was thankful for that, but he couldn’t stop thinking back to that very day, and what it felt like to be that close to Malfoy. He kept thinking back, and would often get distracted from doing whatever he was just by looking at Malfoy, or listening the way he talked about Potions, with such enthusiasm, or the excitement on his face when he showed Harry a book on Muggle things and told him how he finally understood how something worked, and it dawned on him, that he was growing more and more attracted to him.

It wasn’t just his looks that made Harry want to press the other boy to the wall and snog him senseless, though he didn’t even try to deny how his soft platinum hair and silver eyes drove him crazy, but it was his whole personality. The way he was nice to Harry now, always, but still kept teasing him, and Harry would tease back, and sometimes it occurred him that it felt almost like they were flirting or something. Or how patient and serious he could be as a teacher. Or how clever and intelligent he was, almost like Hermione, but in a different way. Or how he enjoyed just small things, like walking out into the garden when the sun was shining, or finding a new book among his mother’s belongings that he could read, or a nice meal they made together. How honest he could be sometimes. How passionate he would get if he was talking about something that was important to him. How similar his sense of humour was to Harry’s. He felt like they could be friends, like actual friends, who would stay in contact and have fun together even when they weren’t locked up in a small cottage in France together to study Potions. But real friends. And maybe even more, because Harry wanted to touch him again, to feel his soft skin, or his silky looking hair. Malfoy was driving Harry crazy, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

After another week or so Draco told him that he was doing well enough to pass his NEWTs easily, and they decided to go down to the beach once again, before Christmas. They spent the whole day there, taking a basket of food, they swam, but only a bit because the water was much colder by now, they talked and laughed and talked even more, about school, about their childhoods, about Quidditch, anything they thought of. Harry couldn't imagine his life without the blonde boy by now. He thought of how hard it will be for him to leave this bastard. How hard will it be to say goodbye to all their memories. Forget about all that they have accomplished and of course, about the whole attraction thing. Harry didn't even know if maybe he allowed himself do what his mind, and other parts of his body, told him to do, then would he discover something about himself. He found his mind drifting off to this idea while he stared at the blonde looking up to the sky.

As the sky grew darker, covered in thousands of sparkling spots, bright and shining like diamonds, scattered all over the sheet of the night, they lay back on their blankets, and Malfoy started to point the constellations out to Harry, saving his favourite one, his own one, the dragon for last. His voice proud as he told the boy next to him which one it was, which Harry found adorable, and returned the boy’s smirk with a grin of his own. Their eyes met for longer than they have ever held each other's gaze. It was like looking at the other's soul through them, finally seeing the real version of the person they never got the chance to get to know better. Harry wanted to kiss Malfoy. He wanted to throw his arms around the boy and press their lips together. He didn't. Whether it was because he was scared of what would happen if he did or he was scared of what he would become if he made this move. Harry turned his face towards the ground. The moment was ruined.

Sometime after staying quiet for a while, they started to talk about more serious things, and Malfoy told Harry how he didn’t want to kill Dumbledore, and how he only realised then that his parents were wrong, and how all he wanted before was to make his father proud. How he did everything afterwards just so Voldemort wouldn’t kill his parents. How terrible it was to let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, but how he had no other choice if he wanted his parents to live. What it was like to live at Malfoy Manor with the Dark Lord. How he wanted to just apparate somewhere where no one knew him and there were no expectations he had to live up to, no war, no pain, no suffering. How he felt like a coward but still didn’t do anything.

Harry saw the tears shining on Malfoy's cheeks, in the moonlight, as he got to the end of his story, and without thinking, he wrapped his arm around the boy, pulling him close to himself. Malfoy instantly pulled back as if Harry's touch burned him. He mumbled something about not wanting to be pitied and knowing that he was a coward and a bad person but he wanted to change, and Harry didn’t know what to say, so he just sat there beside him.

Later they lay down on their blankets, and fell asleep next to each other under the starry sky.

When Harry woke up, to the first rays of sunshine stroking his skin, he found himself wrapped around Malfoy's arms, their bodies pressed together. He stayed in those arms for a while, enjoying the warmth that came from Draco's, not Malfoy's, body. Oh how much he wanted to stay here forever and just breath this air, go for long walks, talk to Draco, discover himself, get away from all the stress that England and people there caused him. But he couldn't do it. He felt too obligated to be the man everyone expected him to be. He couldn't just disappear and stay here with the blonde. It would be mad. Besides, he had his friends in England, his girlfriend, probably soon to be wife. He wanted to have a family and a job that he enjoyed, the job that would make him feel more human than just the Savour of Wizarding World. He had to go back home, no matter how much his heart was begging him to stay here and try losing himself in the unknown, something that didn't feel quite possible and normal, in something that was as exciting as scary. Just trying to be happy without all the shit that was going to await for him in London. Harry got up from under the blanket and Draco's arms carefully, making sure he wouldn’t wake the other boy up. He conjured a piece of parchment and a quill, with a deep sigh he started writing a letter. He knew he wasn’t the best with words, especially when they were goodbyes, and writing it all down helped, he could say all the things he could never say face to face. He could thank Draco and promise him he’d talk to Kingsley and find a way for him to come back to England. At least that's what Harry wanted. If he couldn't stay here he wanted to hold on to this unexpected friendship in any way he could. He wrote how he’d wait for Draco, and would want to see him, when he did come back to WIzarding World where Harry would be. Harry realised how much he's going to miss Draco, his smile, his snaky comments, the lessons with him, their midnight or morning walks to the beach, their inside jokes, their conversations, Draco's eyes that at some point became everything Harry could think of, just Draco Malfoy in general, still the same git, but trying to become better.

Harry rolled up his blanket and put it back into the basket along with all of the other scattered bits, and put the letter on top. He looked down  at the boy below him, and leaned in, pressing a soft kiss onto his cheek, feeling the soft skin underneath his lips and smelling the scent he will never be able to get out of his mind, he didn't realise when a warm tear run down his cheek. He shook himself from the trans he was in. Before he got up to his feet and head back to Malfoy's house and then the town to take his Portkey back to London, he took one last look at Draco sleeping peacefully on the beach, Harry once again couldn't breath. If he never again got the chance to see this idiot, he didn't know if he would ever feel understood and complete as much as he did in Draco's presence. He could only hope for the best.

////////////////

Read Chapter Two HERE

[its-a-writer-thing]

Character Guide – What Your Character Experiences While Leaving the Military

As I blundered through yet another wave of revisions for my sci-fi/fantasy WIP, I had an epiphany which, reasonably, should’ve come when the project first began. But didn’t, as all glaring plot holes don’t.

Here I have a soldier-esque character, whose background and experience affects huge swashes of the plot. I’ve nailed down what happens while they’re with the military; I’ve nailed down what happens several years after they’re out. But what about that transitional phase? What did they do there? What would they feel? For that matter, rent exists even in a rundown sci-fi/fantasy – am I looking forward to a played-for-laughs convenience store job, or could my character arguably rocket into a steady position somewhere they like?

Good question.

The answer to those question(s) – and yours, if you’re asking them – took some research, and finally resulted in reading “Leaving the Military: Life After Resettlement; How to Get a Job That Doesn’t Suck,” by Chris Hitchens. What makes it a great resource? Unlike many an article I read and books I checked out at the library, it doesn’t just dive into “hut hut hut get a job here we go!” It takes time to evaluate what may motivate servicemen and women to leave the military, what they might experience in response from their peers, and what an emotional experience it really can be.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the main questions and considerations this book brought to my attention and then answered… so you can write better military characters, figure out that transitional phase and weave it into the plot, or hey – learn what your or a loved one’s options are for exiting the military!

Let’s dive in.

The Five Stages of Grief Apply

My MC doesn’t care much for her military-esque group, especially not at the end of their service. So I always assumed she’d bounce back pretty quickly, and move on to the next stage. However, it’s important to consider that – whether or not you liked something, if it took a huge place in your life, you will feel its absence. Either your character LOVED the military and misses the camaraderie, the structure, the sense of doing good, or any number of things… or they hated the military, but they miss the routine, the sense of direction (even if they disagreed with the direction), or the security of that career. You can’t spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at something and not feel a gap when it’s vanished.

So your character will sense that pit, a pit which is grief in some small or great capacity. Do they fill it up with something, like a distraction? How fast do they go through the stages? Do they skip some stages? Do they go back to the career for a time, draw out the ‘quitting’ process, or do they cut it entirely? No matter what they feel – they will feel something. Nail down what that is!

Civilian Jobs ARE Different From Military Jobs

This is what I’ve heard from most ex-military I’ve spoken to, and this book emphasized it again – officially making it earn a place in my ‘transitional notes for MC’ category. Civvies don’t act like the military, and neither do their jobs. Not only is there less of a strict hierarchy and a lot more (what will be perceived by your character as) disorder, but their values will be different. The military is very goal-oriented, with a task at hand that needs completion. However, a civilian company may be sales- and profit-oriented, motivating them to cut corners or bend quality to achieve that.

No matter what job your character takes up, there will be differences in the company culture as well as the general structure of their new job. The important thing is to identify what your character could and couldn’t tolerate. How does your character feel about this? Do they do something to improve or worsen this? Would it cause them to adapt, or rebel? How important is the job to them? Are they invested in this new team?

Military Skills Do Translate, But Not (Always) Directly

Your character may not create an organizational chart of their strengths and weaknesses, but I recommend that you do. What did they enjoy about their previous career, and what did they hate? What were they good and bad at? This is what narrows military talents into civvy talents like ‘team building’ or ‘unsupervised discipline.’ If your character was a fantastic pilot, then maybe a civilian flying career would be a great choice; or maybe all that skill at multitasking will make them incredible at running a tech company.

This sort of thing can also serve as an excellent way to disguise your characters’ past. Who would suspect an accountant of being an ace tank mechanic? Well, their photographic memory always came in handy.

It’s important to remember your character has real talents – but they haven’t been labeled in the way civilians categorize talents. Marksmanship doesn’t look as typical on a resume as an English degree, but can still be useful. They could be an instructor, could be excellent at sports, could work with the parks department – any number of choices.  

The Lingo is Different

Even if your character finds their way into a secure civilian job, there will still be differences to overcome, mainly in the language. The Army, Air Force, Navy – you name it – operate through a series of shorthand and code words, some not as fancy as you’d imagine, while others downright unintelligible. As Hitchens outlined, even ordering a drink can result in a language barrier, since “Tea, Standard NATO” doesn’t mean “Tea, white, two sugars” to most people.

That doesn’t mean your character runs around shouting “ALPHA DELTA NINER” like a loon, but think of it like this; how often do you translate “Big Mood” to “I feel the same way” when around your grandma? The military has their own ‘meme speak.’ Keep that in mind, and you’re on the right path.

Your character will feel ostracized in the little ways and forced to adjust, which may further their feelings of grief (however intense those may be). Do they adjust quickly? Do they make a conscious effort or let it happen naturally? What do they feel after several months of immersion when they run into a fellow ex-military who knows the lingo? What happens if they’re trying to disguise their past, but keep sliding distinct terms into their speech by accident? Does it hurt their productivity at their job or social life at all?

A Quick and Successful Leap Requires Preparation

Most of us sail out of high school and into the job market, where we flail for a period of time. But that’s expected, because we’re new, right? If your character is fresh from the military, they’re likely past that newbie age group, but are still faced with the same problems. Very little (if any) civilian job experience, an outdated (or nonexistent) CV, and rusty skills (at best) for job interviews. Now, this can be the set-up for a played-for-laughs job at the local grocery store, should you character be the kind who takes things slowly or instinctually.

However, if you want to skip your character to the higher end of the career spectrum – or if they themselves wouldn’t be content with taking it slow – then it’s important to be aware of one thing: making that happen takes preparation. More than probably anyone else leverages to get a job. They’re behind the eight-ball and need to make it up fast. So, this means using some of that military know-how and putting it to good work.

What is the opposition? How to best take it down? Does this mean highlighter pens and a list of keywords from the job description to tailor your CV? Does this mean rehearsing job interview questions? Does this mean thoroughly researching positions online (or cornering other employees under the guise of a drink, should your character be the cunning and over dedicated type)? Keep in mind that, during this transition period, either they will take it slow and adjust gingerly, as most do when they first enter the job market. …Or, if they wouldn’t be content with minimum wage, they will need to actively raise themselves above this – abnormally fast.

All in All

Leaving the military and taking up a civilian life isn’t as simple as ‘sign your name here, you’re a civilian, good luck’ and then immediately diving into a regular life. The transitional phase exists either in a large and dramatic way, or a smaller but still influential manner. Allowing your character to experience this can help round out their personality and create ties from their past to their present in subtle, crafty ways. Even more-so, keeping this in mind can allow you to portray a character of their nature and situation more realistically, so they resonate as human beings.

I touched the high points, but be sure to read the official “Leaving the Military” by Chris Hitchens for a more thorough look. Support a fellow self-published author and give a read! It’s an introduction to the namesake experience, and one of an ongoing series. I’d recommend it as a great resource for a military character – or hey, for an actual member of the armed forces, if you know someone who’s bringing their career to a close. It’s short, funny, and contains actionable tips

Happy writing!

[wordywarriorwrites]

barnesandco reblogged Chapter 11: Feeling Good and added:

I’m so happy to be rereading these chapters after a while of not doing so. This story is as wonderful as ever, and I recommend that everyone read it.

It was wonderful to see them finally get a break from the harsh circumstances that have made it so hard for them to be together and I really enjoyed seeing their joy and playfulness (and the smut. Wow, the smut)

You have an incredible skill with scene setting, and the reader can see every detail so clearly and get fully lost in the environment you’ve built. Then you ground those details in Katherine’s emotions, and root her analysis of the apartment in her feelings that are swelling, day by day. -but the family photos had been framed, and placed on a high shelf well out of reach. It was almost as if Bucky didn’t want them to be touched or even looked at, and her heart ached for him because she understood exactly how he felt.- This was such a wonderful piece of writing.

The way you’ve threaded the magnitude of their happiness with humor, and made it light and let them joke also shows the beautiful evolution they’ve undergone as a couple to be so comfortable with each other. This was another lovely chapter, and I look forward to the next.

Chapter 12: Bespoke & Besotted:

Aaaaaaaaaa. Okay, okay, look. It’s only natural that after the respite they have from the real world, they have to step back into it and deal with everything it keeps throwing at them.

The way you portray conflict in this chapter is so realistic and true to both characters and what they’re experiencing. The dimension of scrutiny under the public eye is one that complicates their relationship, and brings forth more problems. You handled Bucky’s insecurities so sensitively and with so much care, and it really made my heart break for him.

You show both sides of the story, and both their struggle are valid and explained in such a clear manner. The emotions and issues relayed in this chapter and difficult and heavy, and you handle them which such ease. At the end of it all, it was great to see them communicate and come to and understanding, because ultimately, the relationship they’ve built and what they mean to each other is the most important thing for them.

Chapter 13: Heartfelt:

It is such a relief to see someone in Katherine’s life who is supporting her wholeheartedly and can be of good moral support when it comes to backing up her and Bucky. Wanda is a fantastic, exuberant character here, and I adore the charm and cheek with which you’ve written her.

Another highlight of this chapter was the new exploration of Bucky’s protective instinct, and I loved it. It further solidifies the growing, deepening feelings he has for Katherine, and the ones she returns for him. This was another wonderful chapter. Thank you for sharing!

Chapter 14: Fire & Ice:

Within the first few paragraphs, my blood is already boiling with rage. The unpleasantness of high society that you’ve depicted her which such eloquent candor is infuriating and I sympathize with Bucky and how out of place he feels. Even the way you’ve written that unpleasantness, in the descriptions of exactly how the elite men and women torment Katherine and Bucky is incredibly well done, it helps to drive home the feeling of rage and frustration at the situation our lead couple is faced with.

Of course, nobody can tolerate that forever, and the comments alongside the threat made by Charlotte – God I despise her – eventually lead to the inevitable blowout that you’ve written in that coatroom. Even under that simmering rage, your writing shows clearly that the reason why they are so, so angry, is because of the passionate, heartfelt nature of their relationship. They care about each other, but it seems that their surroundings are making that hard to show or to live with. I’m nervous about how it’ll play out, and I’m impressed with how you’ve tackled the emotional complexities in this series.

Chapter 15: Heavy Lies the Head:

Well. Actions speak louder than words, and Katherine’s actions of buying Bucky the land speaks volumes. It’s a tremendous gesture that shows how much Katherine cares for him, even after they’ve had to separate thanks to that awful ball.

There’s a keen sense of awareness of friendship and fierce protection in the way you’ve written Steve’s response. The fact that he’s angry and upset on Bucky’s behalf comes across clearly in his ferocious outrage, and you’ve characterized him so well here.

She must take some of that to heart, given the way tea time with her mother ends up going. I think it’s immensely touching, how Bucky has impacted her so deeply, not to change her for himself, but for her to seek the change that is good for her. The realization she seems to have in the wake of her arguments with Bucky, and how she finally refuses to be manipulated any longer is beautifully explosive, and I look forward to seeing her use her newly realized liberty for her own happiness.

Chapter 16: The Comedown:

Me @ how unfairly fantastic your writing is. AAAAAAAA. OKAY, Okay, it’s cool, I’m fine.

Now. I am an absolute sucker for mutual pining, and to see Bucky longing after her and having realizations of his own after Katherine’s revelations in the last chapter was such a beautiful mirror to reflect how much they both want and need each other. To give Bucky a physical pain, a bodily manifestation of his need for Katherine completely ruined me. It was a powerful way to really get across the hurt being done here, and you wrote it amazingly.

I can’t tell you how relieved I was when Katherine showed up at his door AND SHE SAID SHE LOVES HIM. YES. THANK YOU. The notion of her literally not even being able to stay away from him a moment after the full extent of her feelings has occured to her was a gorgeous sentiment, and to see Bucky respond in the way that he did was lovely. Elegant. Poetry. -Katherine was a calming presence in pearls, an assertive firebrand in red boots, and he knew deep down in his soul that he belonged with her.-

This was a beautiful chapter and I look forward to the conversation that obviously must take place. It’s a rollercoaster of a relationship, but it’s worth rooting for, and I love it so much.

Chapter 17: Liquid Courage:

This was a magnificent chapter. I don’t even really know what to say other than bravo. It was hot and sweet and emotional and I really, really loved it.

I liked the realism in the idea that while they have started to communicate properly and are coming to terms with being together again, they are also hesitant and gentle, because they’re scared of losing this love that means so much to them. You’ve done an amazing job of showing us that even after the confession of love, they’re worried that their love is fragile and they’re being cautious.

The smut was written so eloquently and so softly, and I especially love the way you laced the physical intimacy with that emotional tenderness. -As he rolled her onto her back and divested her of the rest of her clothes, she told him she’d missed him and ached for him so badly she could hardly breathe.-

There’s a different kind of intimacy, a more domestic one, in how she picked up his clothes and in the thoughts she was having while doing so. It’s such a wonderful gesture, that I just adored reading.

I’m almost all caught up, and I’m excited to see what happens next! Thank you for writing this series.

Chapter 18: Home:

ME AT CHARLOTTE RIGHT NOW^^^^^. I have to say, the consistency with which you’ve written her determined, if malicious, persona is remarkable. She isn’t just evil, she’s smart about it, and she’s incredibly resourceful and doing everything she can to protect the family interests. Cool motives, I still hate her.

But then Katherine obviously recognizes that and steps up, and what a step it is. MOVING IN TOGETHER.

I’M SO HAPPY FOR THEM. I’m so happy at how much they’ve progressed, and how they’ve climbed this enormous mountain, and how they’ve endured the two steps forward, one step back dance for the whole story. They’ve struggled and reformed to be together, and the bond you’ve written is a beautiful, special one. I hope it stays that way, but even if it doesn’t, I’m sure I’ll love reading what you have in store!

This is such a lovely story and I recommended that everyone read it. So much heart and soul has obviously gone into it, and every golden drop of your talent shines through here. A phenomenal story - I’m excited for the rest!

@barnesandco​: I don’t think I have enough words to express how much your feedback means to me. I am humbled and flattered and so happy to know you’ve been enjoying Katherine and Bucky’s journey so far. I kind of got into a rut after Chapter 18 (trying to figure out which direction to go in) and your feedback inspires me to keep pushing until the journey/story ends. Thank you for being kind. Thank you for being gracious. Thank you for making me laugh and smile. And as always, thank you for rooting for Katherine and Bucky.

[vixenfur]

I hate to be a pain, but have you got a list of owari no seraph or specifically mikayuu story recommendations anywhere? I love your stories and trust that you have good taste lol :) Thanks!!

OH YES! Now it’s time for me to shamelessly advertise for my favorite fics! ;D Thank you for asking, and thank you for the compliment on my fics! /)///(\ you’re too kind!

In no particular order…

Cherry Boy by EtherealBeing

Summary: As if being dragged into a sex shop by Shinoa wasn’t bad enough, now Yuu also has to deal with the store’s uncomfortably attractive attendant.

Status: Ongoing

This is biased because Anna is one of my closest friends in the fandom, BUT SHE IS SO DAMN TALENTED. You will laugh, you will blush, you will be mindblown by the complexity in these character’s thoughts, it’s honestly a wild ride and I can’t wait to see the grand finale of it all that is coming to us soon. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s a must.

Corner of a Birdcage by oxeh

Summary: “So, to sum it up, you’re like Superman without the spandex… And without the laser eyes, X-Ray vision, and ice breath. Also, you kill vampires and Horsemen instead of dealing with—“

“Basically, I’m not like Superman at all.” 

or

Yuu is a university student that tends to live for the moment. Mika is a cynical superhero that’s more super than a hero. Fate is a bit aggressive with intertwining their lives.

Status: Ongoing

THIS FIC IS BRILLIANT. If you have not read it yet, I swear go do it! It’s funny, it’s exciting, it flows and it’s just a lovely, enjoyable read. Oxy is a sweetheart as well and she’s got some incredible ideas in that head of hers, lemme tell you! Go check it out!!! You won’t regret it :D

Diamond in the Rough by Hannaadi88, Sarah737

Summary: Mikaela had been the captain of the Seraph for over seven years, yet he’d never come across another ship carrying such riches. The prospect of boarding the Opal and stealing all she had made a rare smile play on his lips. 

If he did this well, he would finally make a name for himself. The Opal might just be what he’d always wanted- a chance to prove how fearsome he could be. 

Mikaela Shindo will be a name to revere among all pirates to sail the seven seas.

Status: Ongoing

THIS IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES. Hanna and Sarah are some of the most talented people I know, and together, they are unstoppable and unrelenting!! From the descriptives to the dialogue to the intriguing plot, this story makes pirates sexy, let me tell you. LOL, seriously you will not regret it… if you want a good time, I invite you to read this masterpiece right here!

Garden of Hades by 6lilystrings9

Summary: A stubborn, annoying, and repulsive human is captured by the Vampire forces, and to his dismay, Mika is assigned as his handler.

How irritating.

(The AU where human Yuu-chan and vampire Mika meet for the first time as captive and keeper)

Status: Ongoing

I remember when Lily first talked about her fic in our Skype chat room and how when I read it, I was stunned! I didn’t realize how amazing it was, how well put-together, how structured. It’s enticing and exciting and full of vivid descriptives and intense, heart-pounding scenes. Another must-read, if you ask me, and I also cannot wait to see how it ends.

Scented by Hannaadi88

Summary: In a world ruled by beta neutrality, alphas and omegas are controlled by suppressants which modify their natural inclinations. Under constant surveillance, unproductive members of society are removed in the name of efficiency. Yuichiro Hyakuya is deemed infertile by the Board and is sentenced to certain death. In an act of defiance Yuichiro steals enough suppressants to hide his scent and joins the military under the guise of a beta. 

It would be his luck to find himself under the command of his assigned mate, Mikaela Shindo.

Status: Ongoing

Hanna is not only a friend of mine, but she is sO DAMN TALENTED! I recommend all of her fics, so please check out her page while you’re at it, but she is well known for her big multi chapter fic, Scented. This story takes the concept of omegaverse and gives it almost a Mulan-like feel to it, with Yuu being in disguise and all. It’s really fantastic and another thrilling story I highly suggest!

Afire love by stirkedawn

Summary: After Nagoya’s failed mission, an unsteady truce is formed between Shinoa’s squad and Mikaela Hyakuya, making Yuu feel conflicted inside. On one hand, he’s got Mika back, his friends are alive, and they seem to be trying to be civil with each other, even if it’s just for his sake. On the other hand, Guren is being held captive by the vampires, Shinya has just given them a mission Yuu doesn’t like, and Mika… Yuu doesn’t really know what Mika is feeling.

Maybe not even Mikaela knows what he’s truly feeling, after all.

Status: Completed

You will commonly see the fandom preach that if all goes wrong, Afire love is our accepted canon. This fic immerses itself into the canon universe of Owari no Seraph and gives us an epic climax and end to the series that it probably one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever read. I also agree that if the manga plummets to total disaster, Afire love is what I will think of for a happy ending.

Somebody to Lean On by TrashPanda

Summary: Yuichiro needs a partner to help him with vampire hunting. His only option is to seek out somebody in the slave auctions. He comes upon a discounted slave, as beautiful as he is unwanted, and Yuu claims him for himself. Little did he know, this slave would change everything he ever knew about him himself, and in the process Yuu discovers he cannot live without this man, now that he has him in his life.

Status: Ongoing

This story is fantastic! It’s got an interesting plot that’s brilliantly written, a romance beautifully described and a story that interests the reader endlessly. I can picture this fic animated like it was its own anime show. It’s really, really good and I suggest it! I can’t wait for another update! I also suggest the author in general, they have some really good stuff. 

My Inner Beast by Northernreign

Summary: Yuuichirou is a young werewolf who finds himself awake one evening in a human orphanage.

To avoid being executed, he desperately tries to conceal his true identity from the “monstrous” humans who- along with the vampires, have been responsible for his kind’s slow decline into extinction. But over time, he comes to know one particular human boy who will help him learn to embrace his humanity, not resent it. Together they will overcome countless fated tragedies with the sheer power of will and love alone. Each event will bring him closer to the answer he has been seeking for almost a lifetime.

 Just who really are the true monsters in this world? 

The vampires? 

The humans?

The werewolves?

Or himself?

Status: Ongoing

A truly underrated story!! Nathalie is an incredible writer and artist and she combines those skills to bring you this lovely story that doesn’t get enough attention- ESPECIALLY since it’s her first fic. You would never guess; she writes like a pro. This story takes you all over, from the eyes of so many of our beloved characters to shape the story and relationships in the best possible way. You can really feel everything she describes and it really stimulates the senses. Check it out if you haven’t, it’s a journey and I’m eager to see where it goes.

Rise of the Dragon by Crazyloststar, Sarah737, somnicordia (hihazuki)

Summary: Water… Earth… Fire… Air… In eras bygone, four nations coexisted in harmony. However, a series of tragedies began to befall the world, And none was left unscathed. The equilibrium of power has been tilted to a great imbalance, Its people fallen to temptation. The end is fast approaching, and all souls are fated to meet oblivion. Rumors whisper of the Avatar, the master of all four elements, holding the key to mankind’s only hope of salvation. Families pray under his guiding light, Enemies vow to divide and conquer. But the glimmer of hope is sometimes found in the darkest of places, somewhere people would least expect.

Status: Ongoing

As someone who is only just now watching Avatar for the first time, I had no idea what to expect. I’m still not 100% caught up, but this is a goddamn masterpiece and I can tell that from the first 3 chapters that I’ve read. This is an amazing project put together by some of the most talented authors and writers in the fandom that are all lovely, passionate friends of mine. They deserve all the love in the world. If you haven’t read it yet- especially if you don’t know anything about Avatar- READ IT ANYWAYS. You don’t need to understand Avatar or the original series at all to enjoy this fic. It’s magnificent; please check it out!

And, a little shameless advertising for my own stories, for those who are curious ;o

Unwritten by Vixenfur

Summary: While being forcefully dragged to KFC by Lacus- a man who had a black pit of a stomach- Mika had a once-in-a-lifetime, Snapchat-worthy experience. The guy in the left lane had no shame. He was unintimidated by a stranger with a phone and he continued to sing the song Unwritten confidently. Lacus found the experience hysterical

…. Little did they know they would run into each other again hardly an hour later- Yuu was in desperate need of a haircut, according to Shinoa.

He was dropped off at Sanguinem Salon, and was a little mortified to find out that the hot guy he just sang horribly to was Mika, the one holding hair-trimming scissors behind the chair.

Status: Completed

This fic was a blast to work on and an absolute time, from start to finish. A huge thank you to all the support and love I’ve gotten for it over the months I wrote it. I treasure every comment!

Tale as Old As Time by Vixenfur, Sarah737

Summary: An arrogant young prince named Mikaela and his castle’s servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village boy Yuuichirou enters the Beast’s castle after he imprisons Yuuichirou’s father, Guren. With the help of his enchanted servants, Yuuichirou begins to draw the cold-hearted Mikaela out of his isolation.

Status: Completed

I’m so proud of story! Sarah is my dear cowriter and friend, I’m always honored to collaborate with her and I’m so ecstatic over the love this fic has gotten. Thank you all for the love and we hope you enjoy our future projects!

Hiiragi Cirque Ave. Freakshow by Vixenfur, BlueberryApple

Summary: Yuuichirou is a Siren who cannot sing, and so he is taken captive by the Hiiragi Cirque Ave. Freakshow. He is expected to perform and earn the show money under the instruction of ringmaster Kureto Hiiragi. Naturally, Yuuichirou is opposed to his new life, but he slowly gets to know his new family and accept his situation.

Meanwhile, the ignored Nosferatu Mikaela finds himself incredibly attracted to the new Siren, and Yuuichirou can’t help but to be curious about the ghostly vampire himself.

Status: Completed

This story was so much fun to write. Destiny and I became great friends and made many memories. The sheer amount of fanart we got was OUTSTANDING and we couldn’t be more grateful for the love. Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this story!

Thank you for asking! Feel free to reblog and share this list around. Everything on here is something I really enjoyed reading and think everyone should experience. As for my own fics, I shared the ones I’m most proud of (excluding my current ongoing works) and I hope you can enjoy them as well!

[jillmckenzie1]

Dwayne Johnson Fights a Building

Die Hard is the greatest American action movie ever made. Released on July 12, 1988, there are an awful lot of reasons why it shouldn’t have worked. Casting the lead role of John McClane wasn’t easy. The studios really wanted either Al Pacino or Richard Gere, but neither was interested. Stallone passed on it. Schwarzenegger passed on it. Eastwood passed on it. Hell, even Frank Sinatra passed on it.* They had to settle for Bruce Willis, a motormouthed television actor.

Weirder yet? Despite only being known for fairly obscure English TV, Alan Rickman landed the iconic role of archvillain Hans Gruber. This was his first film. Ever. Even weirder? Director John McTiernan read the novel the film is based on and promptly got rid of most of the story and characters. Why? The book itself is not what you would call a laugh-a-minute. It’s gritty. Serious. The villains are a group of bloodthirsty terrorist fanatics. McTiernan wanted a change. A sense of joy.

Take inspired casting, precision directing, and clever screenwriting, put them together, and you end up with a film that casts a long shadow. Die Hard made $83 million in 1988, which adjusted for ticket price inflation comes out to somewhere around $187 million. It also spawned a sub-genre, in which a lone hero is unwillingly thrust into a dangerous situation located in a single location and does battle with a brilliant mastermind.

There are a lot of Die Hard copycats. A freaking lot. Some are very good, like Speed (Die Hard on a bus) and Cliffhanger (Die Hard on a mountain). Others are okay, like Under Siege (Die Hard on a battleship) and Olympus Has Fallen (Die Hard in the White House). Still others are straight-up Not Good, like Sudden Death (Die Hard in a hockey arena). It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a Not Good copycat. Whoops — shouldn’t have said that, because Skyscraper has been inflicted upon us, and ladies and gentlemen, it is Not Good.

I shouldn’t start sighing audibly at the very beginning of a movie. Sigh I did when we’re introduced to Will Sawyer (Dwayne Johnson) in a flashback to Ten Years Earlier. He’s a member of a hostage rescue team, and when a mission goes wrong, the lower half of Will’s leg is blown off. As so often happens, his surgeon Sarah (Neve Campbell) saves his life and they fall in love and get hitched.

Yeah, Will now has a prosthetic leg, which is kind of a bummer. But Will and Sarah have two cute-as-a-button kids, Georgia (McKenna Roberts) and Henry (Noah Cottrell), so I guess it evens out. Better yet, Will runs a small business charged with assessing the security of skyscrapers. His pal Ben (Pablo Schreiber) even recommends a cushy gig for him at The Pearl.

What is The Pearl, you may ask? Located in Hong Kong, it’s the world’s tallest skyscraper standing at 3,500 feet and 240 stories tall. The Pearl is the brainchild of the bewilderingly rich Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han), and to paraphrase Jurassic Park, he’s spared no expense. The building has state of the art fire suppression systems, top-notch security, and what looks to be a quasi-holodeck in the penthouse. Why is there a quasi-holodeck? Well, the rich are very different from you and I, apparently.

Anyway, the Sawyer clan has moved into a lovely apartment on the 98th floor of The Pearl. That’s inconvenient due to the presence of Kores Botha (Roland Moller), a heavily-armed mercenary leading a team of likewise heavily-armed mercenaries. They proceed to disable the fire-suppression system and set the 96th floor on fire. Why would they do such a nefarious deed? So they can steal a McGuffin, silly! Unfortunately, Sarah and the kids are home and have gotten themselves trapped. As Will prefers his family not on fire, he must brave both the flames and the baddies to rescue them.

Look, if you’re going to rip-off Die Hard and cast Dwayne Johnson as the lead, you immediately have yourself a Rock-sized problem. Johnson is a hulking mass of muscle, and he looks like he could rip Hans Gruber’s head clean off. Do you really want a movie where he smashes his way to victory? No, you don’t, because that’s dull. Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways you make this film defy expectations:

Constantly put Johnson in situations where his strength and physicality won’t help, and he has to rely on his wits.

Have Johnson and the kids get trapped, and Neve Campbell must save the day.

That’s just two scenarios. I thought of those sober and on just two cups of coffee, and I am not a professional filmmaker. Rawson Marshall Thurber is, having previously directed Johnson in the kind-of funny Central Intelligence. Here, he’s getting serious with a slickly-directed film that immediately starts moving and doesn’t let up. That’s a problem, because for a movie like this to work, we first need the environment established. Thurber rushes through the description of The Pearl so fast, we never get a sense of its geography or character. He does a nice job with some vertigo-inducing setpieces, and he’s aided by cinematographer Robert Elswit** in making the fiery mayhem look pretty.

Thurber also wrote the script, and this is where it starts to make me cranky. When the bad guys begin their siege in Die Hard, what’s the first thing John McClane does? He runs away and hides on another floor. That terror is a totally recognizable human emotion, but we rarely feel it here. Dwayne Johnson’s Will is another highly trained badass, and his character is, at worst, uneasy at times. Most of the characters seem unencumbered by personalities. Lead villain Botha is generically evil, and his underlings aren’t much better. There’s a henchwoman who constantly scowls, a snide hacker…and then a bunch of other guys with guns. If you have a big personality like Dwayne Johnson as your lead, you need antagonists that are credible threats. Compare the blue-collar underdog John McClane to the tactical genius Hans Gruber and you’ll see what I mean.

It’s not the fault of the cast that they have so little to work with. Neve Campbell tries her best, and even gets a little ass-kickery thrown her way. She’s a skilled performer and there’s no reason she couldn’t be a credible action lead. As Sarah, she mostly looks terrified, and that’s a massive waste of her talents. I liked Chin Han’s Zhao, despite playing a two dimensional billionaire.

Then there’s Dwayne Johnson and the constant conundrum I have with him. First, understand that he’s an incredibly skilled performer. To be involved in the WWE, you have to be both a credible athlete and a strong actor. Looking at his filmography, I see he’s done films like The Rundown, Pain and Gain, and Southland Tales and delivered strong performances. Also looking at his filmography, he usually plays the same guy over and over. He’s the same guy in Fast Five, the same guy in San Andreas, and the same guy here, the ultra-competent slab of beef who can deliver a haymaker or a quip. It’s all variations on a theme, and understand that I not only like Johnson as a performer, but also he seems to be a good guy. I just wish he’d take risks as big as he is.

Buried beneath the CGI fire, the boring-as-hell McGuffin, and the perfunctory action beats is the seed of a good movie. Imagine an action movie that utilizes all the weird details of modern supertall structures.*** Imagine Dwayne Johnson playing a flawed hero with the odds against him. Imagine a villain that could plausibly beat him — easily. If that movie ever gets made, it’ll be a worthy successor to Die Hard. Until then, we’re stuck with Skyscraper.

  *This is a completely true statement. Die Hard is based on Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever. The novel is a sequel to The Detective, and Sinatra starred in the film adaptation in 1968. Sinatra’s contract stipulated that he had to be offered the sequel first and, completely unsurprisingly, the 73 year old turned down the role.

**Elswit is Paul Thomas Anderson’s usual cinematographer, and he shot There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights. Why was this wildly overqualified guy hired to work on Skyscraper? Probably because he was also the director of photography on Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

***Which you can learn a little more about here.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/dwayne-johnson-fights-a-building/

[lifeideserve]

Ep 5 - Your Purpose: You’re Here for a Reason!

Do you continuously struggle to find your path in life?  Do you feel anxiety when making significant decisions?  Wouldn’t it be amazing, if all of your choices, we’re easier to make?  If you had clarity on which commitments, which paths, would be best for you?  Wouldn’t it be amazing if life seemed to fall into place?  What if I told you, that you could have this clarity?  Listen, as I share with you, the steps to identify, and put to use, your Life Purpose, which will provide you with direction, and guidance, as you navigate this amazing adventure of life!!

We’re each born with a life purpose.  Identifying, acknowledging, and honoring, your purpose, is perhaps the most important step that successful people take.  They take the time to understand what they’re here to do.  Then they pursue that purpose with passion and enthusiasm.

What were you put on this earth to do?  In working with Jack Canfield, I’ve discovered my meaning, my true purpose in life.  I’ve discovered how to inject purpose and passion in every activity I undertake. And, I’ve discovered how purpose can make everything more fun and more fulfilling.

I want you to experience the power of this inner guidance system.  I want you to have this clarity in your life.  I want you to see how the proper paths, and decisions, become obvious, when your purpose is clear.

March 4th Workshop

Jack Canfield, best-selling author, has taught me the tools, perspectives, and attitudes, that have allowed me to transform my life. And I'm now working directly with Jack, to learn how to teach others, how to find their true happiness!

On Saturday, March 4th, in Marina del Rey, California, I’m hosting an exciting, and value-packed workshop, in which I will share what I've learned, and we learn more together! Join me for this fun, festive, insightful event, which will include proven techniques, and practices, that have propelled so many people to great success, and the accomplishment of their dreams!

You'll learn how to identify and define, your mission in life!  You'll learn how to create goals that align with your mission!  You'll learn how to manifest those goals, in a way that will clarify the actions necessary to reach those goals! You'll learn how to tackle the roadblocks standing in your way! And you'll have a great time in the process! Be prepared to learn, grow, and dance your butt off!! Yes, there will be dancing!  Don’t know how to dance, no problem!  No experience necessary.  So reserve your spot today, so we can learn, laugh, and celebrate together!! :-)

Just visit TheLifeIDeserve.com/workshop for more information!

Seating is limited, so reserve your spot today!!

The Power of Purpose

Without a purpose in life, it’s easy to get side-tracked on your life’s journey.  It’s easy to wander and drift.  But, with a purpose, everything seems to fall in place.  To be on purpose, means you’re doing what you love to do, doing what you’re good at, and accomplishing what's most important to you.  When you are truly on purpose, the people, resources, and opportunities, you need, will naturally gravitate toward you. The world benefits too.  Because you act in alignment with your true purpose.  All of your actions will serve others.

Life Purpose Statements

A Life Purpose Statement, also known as a Mission Statement, is a concise description, of your life’s purpose.

For example, here’s mine: My mission is to use my love and creativity, to inspire and empower, those that I encounter, to live full and meaningful lives, by sharing lessons learned, tools for self-improvement, and life-­changing perspectives.

I do this by working directly with Jack Canfield, and other inspirational leaders, to continually learn and refine, my skills and abilities.  Which, in turn, enables me to have a powerful, positive, impact on people, through my podcast, workshops, and coaching.

Here are a few Life Purpose statements, of a few people who have become self-made millionaires, through fulfillment of their life purpose.

To inspire and empower people to achieve their destiny.     - Robert Allen (Co-author of the One Minute Millionaire)

To uplift humanity’s consciousness through business.     - DC Cordova (Co-founder of the Accelerated Business School)

To use my gifts of intelligence, charisma, and serial optimism to cultivate the self-worth and net-worth of women around the world.     - Amanda Steinberg (Founder of DailyWorth.com)

To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.     - Oprah Winfrey (Founder of OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network)

Once you know your life purpose you can organize all of your activities around it.  Everything you do should be an expression of your purpose.  If an activity doesn’t align with your life purpose, you wouldn’t work on it.  Period.

What’s the Why Behind Everything You Do?

Without purpose as the compass to guide you.  Your goals and action plan, may not ultimately fulfill you.  You don’t want to climb the ladder, only to find you had it leaning against the wrong wall.

Your Inner Guidance System is Your Joy

It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires.  It must abandon itself to its master, passion. Dame Rebecca West (Best Selling Author)

You were born with an inner guidance system, that tells you know when you are on, or off, purpose, by the amount of joy, you are experiencing.  The things that bring you the greatest joy, are in alignment with your purpose

Here’s an exercise to help you to hone in on your purpose:

Make a list of the times that you felt the most joyful and alive.  What are the common elements of these experiences?  Can you find a way to make a living doing these things?

So, I went through this process.  When did I feel the most alive?

Well, a few of those times were during dance performances (Hip Hop years ago, then Hustle, and more recently Salsa performances).  Teaching dance to people.  Especially, people who were new to dance, because I felt like I was helping them to discover a new social outlet! Other times I felt alive, were times when I did some public speaking.  Although, I may have been nervous beforehand, it always felt good to be in front of people, sharing an interesting story or perspective.

My conclusion, my mission is to be an inspirational, transformational leader!  My purpose is to help people to learn, grow, and feel amazing about themselves!!  What I’m doing right now, and in my workshops, and in my coaching, is what I am here to do!!!  :-)

Pat Williams

Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic Basketball Team.  He’s also written more than 70 books, and he is a professional speaker.  When interviewed about what he considers to be the greatest secret of success, Pat replied, “figure out what you love to do, as young as you can, and then organize your life, figuring-out how to make a living at it”.  For young Pat, it was sports, more specifically baseball.  When his father took him to his first baseball game in Philadelphia, he fell in love with the game.  He learned to read, by reading the sports section of the New York Times.  He knew he wanted to have a career in sports when he grew-up.  He devoted almost every waking moment to it.  He collected baseball cards, played sports, and wrote a sports column for his school newspaper.  Pat went on to have a career in the front office of the Philadelphia Phillies Baseball Team.  Then he went on, to Philadelphia 76er’s Basketball Team.  When the NBA considered granting an expansion team franchise to Orlando, Pat was there to lead the fight.  Pat has enjoyed 50+ years doing what he loves.  Once you’re clear about what brings you the most joy, you will have a major insight into your life purpose.

Now, I’d like to introduce you to a simple, yet powerful way to create a statement summarizing your Life Purpose.

The Life Purpose Exercise

There are many ways to approach defining your Purpose.  This process, recommended by Jack Canfield, was actually originated by Arnold M. Patent, spiritual coach and author of “You Can Have it All”.  His most recent book is titled “The Journey”.

List 2 of your unique personal qualities, such as “enthusiasm and creativity”

List 1 or 2 ways, you enjoy expressing those qualities, when interacting with others, such as “to support” and “to inspire”.

Assume the world is perfect right now.  What does this world look like?  How is everyone interacting with everyone else?  What does it feel like?  Write your response in the present tense.  Describe the perfect world as you see it, and feel it.  Remember, the perfect world is a fun place to be.  For example, “everyone is freely expressing their own unique talents” or “everyone is working in harmony”, or “everyone is expressing love”.

Combine the results from the previous 3 steps into a single statement, for example, “My purpose is to use my creativity and enthusiasm, to support and inspire others to freely express themselves, in a loving and harmonious way”.

Here are some examples, from some of my coaching clients, and some of Jack Canfield’s coaching clients:

To use my humor, creativity and knowledge to inspire, uplift and empower people in recovery to stay sober.     - Recovery Coach and Author

To inspire and empower small business owners to systemize for easier revenue generation.     - Small Business Consultant and Author

To inspire people to have faith in themselves, and believe in their natural genius.     - Educator

To use my love and nurturing, to raise healthy prosperous children, who make a difference in the world.     - Full-time Homemaker

To create a world in which people are living ecologically sustainable, and spiritually fulfilling lives.     - Environmentalist and Social Activist

My Story

I’d like to share with you, that I was not always clear on my Life Purpose.  I’ve always known that I’ve enjoyed dance, and I enjoy inspiring and motivating people.  But, there were several thoughts that prevented me from acknowledging this.

“Work should be work”.  In other words, work should be hard, and treacherous.  For some reason, I used to believe that work could not be completely enjoyable.  I think this thought was a result of my environment.  When I was young, being raised in a small Texas town, I didn’t see many people excited and passionate about their career.  In the area that I grew up in, it seemed that most people were just doing a job to pay bills.  I now know, that life is full of choices!  And, that we can all live abundantly while pursuing our passions.

The second thought pattern that I heard people express, years ago, in this small Texas town, was if you do what you love, as a profession, you will burn-out, on what you love.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  You may continue to find joy in pursuing your passion.  And, if your passion changes, make the necessary adjustments.  After all, what’s the alternative, to pursue work that you actually don’t enjoy?  Uh, not me.  I know that I have so much more energy, to get things done, and more creativity, to solve problems, when I pursue work that I love.  And, if I stop loving it so much, I start studying something new.  Years ago, while working in technology, I became bored with the projects that I was working on.  I decided to study a new, dynamic, engaging technology.  I was so excited about it, that I would sometimes wake-up in the middle of the night to read more about it.  At that time, I had no use for this technology at my job.  However, I built Applications to demonstrate what could be done with this new technology.  I organized presentations to present my creations.  I invited people from many different departments.  Not knowing if they would show-up.  But, they did.  At one point, my supervisor advised me to drop my endeavors.  He commented that while we (the company) are cutting-edge, we’re not bleeding edge.  I continued with my efforts.  A little more quietly, but I knew I was onto to something big.  So, I continued.  It wasn’t long before a re-organization of the company took place, and I no longer had to report to my overly cautious supervisor.  And, it wasn’t long after that, that I used my new skills to build a revolutionary 30-foot wide interactive video wall.  A wall that several other technologists told me could not be built.  A wall that earned me a patent, because it was a first of it’s kind.  A wall used by Steven Spielberg, Roland Emmerich, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and many other icons in the Movie Industry.  A wall that other Motion Pictures companies wanted, even offered a million dollars for.  And, at this point, where was my ex-supervisor, at another company, calling me to see if I would grant him and his company a demonstration.

I spent a great amount of time studying the new technology, and putting it into practice.  I did this with the optimistic spirit of knowing it would somehow shape my career, and take it in the direction that I wanted it to go.  Even years later, when all development, was outsourced (all Developers were let go), they couldn’t let the creator of their magnificent video wall go, so yours truly was promoted into Management.

For one reason or another, many of us, create excuses for not following, what we’re truly passionate about.  I’m living proof that following your passion pays off!!  I challenge you to let go of your limiting beliefs, identify your passion, and let your passion guide your life.

Trivia

Last show’s question:

Years ago, a woman, sold books door-to-door while her husband served in the military. When her husband returned from duty, the couple divorced. The woman was left with three children, at a time when divorce wasn’t acceptable.  The woman was frustrated when passed over for a promotion because of her gender. So, she and her second husband planned a business. One month prior to launch her husband died.  With a $5,000 investment from her oldest son, this woman launched a cosmetics business.  Despite these challenges, the woman’s company reported a 2014 revenue as over $3.5 billion.  Who was this woman?

And the winning answer…

...was submitted by Caleb Carrington, who correctly guessed “Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics”!!  Congratulations, Caleb!!

Today’s trivia question:

What famous person, does the following Mission Statement belong to? “To inspire and empower people and organizations to achieve their highest vision in a context of love and joy.”

Send your answer from the Web Site, TheLifeIDeserve.com.  From the Web Site, you can leave voicemail or email.  Just click on the “Contact” tab.

To summarize today’s trivia question:

What famous person, does the following Mission Statement belong to? “To inspire and empower people and organizations to achieve their highest vision in a context of love and joy.”

Go to TheLifeIDeserve.com, to submit your answer.

The winner will receive 2 complimentary tickets to The Life I Deserve, 3-Hour Workshop, in Marina del Rey, California, on March 4th.  You can TheLifeIDeserve.com/workshop for more information.

Questions, Comments, Compliments

I want to remind you, that “The LIfe I Deserve” is here for you!  Let me know how I can help you.  What topics would you like to hear more about?  What goals do you have, for your health, wealth, and happiness?  Reach out to me!  Visit TheLifeIDeserve.com.  And send me email or voicemail.  From the Web Site, click on the “Contact” tab.  You’ll see a button, there, that will allow you to record voicemail.  Or, if you’d rather leave email, just fill-in the form, just below the voicemail button.  

I really want to hear from you!!  And, yes, I do mean you!  Reach out!  Let me know what’s on your mind.  Maybe you have an inspirational story, or thought, that you’d like to share.  Just go to TheLifeIDeserve.com, and then click on the Contact tab.

Well, that’s going to do it, for today’s show.  I hope you found this episode valuable!  Like I mentioned earlier, my mission is to use my love and creativity, to inspire and empower, those that I encounter, to live full and meaningful lives, by sharing lessons learned, tools for self-improvement, and life-­changing perspectives.  Subscribe to the Podcast, so we can take this journey together.  If you have your Mission Statement defined, please send it to me.  I would love to read it!  And, if you don’t have one yet, take a moment, create one, and let it guide your future!  :-)

Thanks again, for listening to the “The Life I Deserve”.  This Podcast was designed for you!  Designed to enhance your health, grow your wealth, and fill your life, with happiness!!  Visit TheLifeIDeserve.com, and send me voicemail, or email.  Let me know something about you.  What inspires you?  How can I help you?  Do you have a suggestion for the show?  Let me know.  And, if you just happen to love the show, please post a review on iTunes!  :-)

Thanks, again!  Love you all!!  Until next time… goodbye.