#that's more than 300 pages of a physical book and idk what to do with that information. i need. a Joint (opens ch8 doc instead)

[johnslittlespoon]

Tough And Sweet (Like You And Me)

Ch. 7/? – 'In Your Heart, In Your Head, In Your Hands'

[WC: 90K | Gale Cleven/John Egan, College AU, The Bikeriders AU, Age Gap, Emotional Slowburn, Hurt/Comfort, Porn With Plot, Set in 2005]

College student John Egan ends up in an old pub on the other side of his small town, where he has a chance encounter with biker and mechanic Gale Cleven. Unconventional circumstances be damned, John is a lovesick fool.

[AO3 LINK]

[nikethestatue]

Anonymous because I don’t want anyone to potentially see this and harass me.. but I’m just so disappointed with this fandom. And tbh, I blame it on ACOSF.

In my opinion, ACOSF really ruined all of the IC characters. And since it’s the last book or the series thus far, people cling to it religiously.

I don’t think SJM really did Nesta justice in her story. I never truly hated Nesta. I felt like her character, while let’s be honest pretty bitchy, was in fact hiding pain through sharp words. Hurt people hurt people. This is a very real world response to trauma. And while we see that, I just felt her journey of training and fucking did not do enough justice. The fact the IC only really “forgave” her for her actions when she saved Feyre/Rhys/nyx is somewhat of a testament in my eyes. Other than Cassian (and Elain from what Cassian mentioned how she understood what Nesta was doing everytime), it felt that she was still misunderstood. That she’s just this mean person. What I wanted for Nesta, other than feeling like she was important and deserved good things, was for the understanding to seep in with all of the characters. And she deserved a real romance. I think the fact it was physical first really took away the romance of Nessian, and honestly sometimes I wasn’t even sure they liked each other, until they had their confession of feelings on solstice. It felt forced sometimes and completely physical.

ACOSF sidelined Feyre completely, made Rhys a villain to half the fandom, made Cassian not a likeable love interest for me and not the funny comic relief character, made Elain more firy which isn’t bad because I guess it’s leading to her story, made Amren a bitch too tbh and Mor. Like she just completely fucked the whole ic with this book imo… and Emerie is a great character as well as Gwyn. Gwyn was retconned in order to ensure Nesta had two female friends. Their characters were really important to Nesta being able to just be herself without history involved. But something I wished we saw was the Archerons hashing out their feelings and trauma. Maybe that will happen in the next book.

It felt like ACOSF added nothing to the plot. Yes, we got the troves but it felt somewhat out of place. A lot could have happened involving the grand scheme of ACOTAR. It’s almost like CC3 needed to come out to answer the questions we didn’t have answered in ACOSF so that we could skip over like 300+ pages of plot.

The smut felt forced, and while “put your hands on the headboard” is definitely a giggle moment, their physical moments were just… not romantic. And I think Nessian deserved more than smut. (This is my personal opinion). Like how did we go from “I don’t have any regrets in this life. My only regret is that we did not have time. That I did not have time with you Nesta. I will find you in the next life.” To.. “I didn’t ask to be shackled to you either”…… it felt very out of character. Not to mention Cassian was still calling Mor beautiful? I don’t dislike Cassian, but I just felt it was very out of character. Or maybe I just had a different headcanon from the original series. Maybe it’s my fault.

For all Nesta went through, I think she deserved more in her book. And so did Cassian. I feel like I don’t know him at all. They had their moments, but there was a lot that wasn’t there. I do ship them because I do see the golden retriever and black cat dynamic, and I love it, and they are the warriors. But I just wanted them to really be happy. Maybe it was the reluctant mates trope that made it difficult to do. Idk. But it makes me worried for Eriel (if that’s what it’s going to be) because I feel like Azriel being a “freak” in bed will once again overpower the actually romance of the couple. Like smut ≠ romance to me. It heightens it for sure, but there needs to be the emotional ground work.

Overall I think ACOSF really twisted the fandom, and it’s lead to this very toxic environment if I’m being honest with ships. I see countless posts hating Rhys, Feyre, Elain, Az (because of his desires etc).. like the fact people are shipping Eris with Nesta instead of Cassian shows how Nessian did not stick after their book. Tbh I felt Eris was more interesting than Cassian a lot of the time.

But ya. Sorry for the long rant. I’m sure lots of this isn’t even explained well because it’s hard to get out my feelings. Like I don’t even want to read the book again in my re-read. I think Nesta was put in cc3 to make up for her book tbh. And Az because of the bonus. Like finding out about Nesta’s powers in CC3 and not her own book…? I think SJM just realized she kind of fucked up. I’m just hoping with the next ACOTAR novel that she doesn’t make the same mistakes. Maybe she just felt rushed to get Nesta’s book out of the way in order to get to Elain’s. Or that it completely was taken over by her own healing journey. Which is not a bad thing at all, it provides the real world ground work, but it also took away from Nesta. But either way, I think personally Nesta deserved better than that. Because I think her character is important and strong. Past just being a warrior. There are a lot of older sister themes that could have been involved in her book. And it just missed the mark. And that’s why I think the “valkayrie” sticks out so much. Because that was the only memorable part of it. Not even Nessian was.

Anyways thank you for reading my massive rant. Would love your opinion!!!

I pretty much agree with everything. Whatever SJM had originally planned for Nesta and for Nessian wasn't what we got in ACOSF.

Overall, it was boring and repetitive, and lacked in any depth. The pregnancy plot was ludicrous and the fact that you have your 500+ year olds losing their shit over a contrary and mouthy 25 year old just makes me want to roll my eyes. I just want to tell everyone to grow up. The writing and their 'reasons' was clunky. You gonna tell me that Rhys the Billionaire, the Elon Musk of Prythian, is gonna lose his mind over $500?

Some other stuff doesnt make sense either--how are the Archerons not the heroes of Prythian. Elain and Nesta slew the king, Feyre reforged the Cauldron, and it seemed like no one cared about that? Not one Fae? Second time Feyre saved their world and nothing? She is just back in Night Court like nothing's happened?

Where were the negotiations which were happening at the end of ACOWAR?

900 pages and the plot didnt move anywhere in ACOTAR. You needed Bryce and half of HOFAS to explain what the heck was going on in Prythian.

My personal pet peeve is that it seems none of these people have jobs, except for Azriel.

I dont understand how a general of an active army has this much time on his hands to train random women for hours every day and then have sex for hours every day. Why is no one doing any work? I think this idleness also contributes to frustration--why are you harping on Nesta and calling her a waste of space, when you all literally do NOTHING, other than build houses.

It's a messy, plotless book and i feel like it definitely contributed to the discord in the fandom. It's so needlessly divisive, and the fact that it lacks an antagonist also makes it super frustrating, because it all just feels pointless.

all in all, you are right on the nose, Anon.

[luxuriousmalfoy]

This or That

I was tagged by @felixantares TYSM FELIX FOR TAGGING ME!!!!!!!!!! It's been a million years and i'm awful for waiting this long lmao

Hardcover or Paperback? Paperback!!!! My hands cramp so quickly from hardcovers so the ones i have are either bc it was the only copy i could find at the used bookstore or just a copy i don't physically read from bc i also own the audiobook. (I'm looking at you, The Anthropocene Reviewed)

Bookstore or Library? EASILY the library, it's free and stimulates the community hello. I like Libby bc i can check out audiobooks and ebooks from my local library!!!!

Bookmark or Receipt? i have a bunch of cute bookmarks so sure i use those but like Felix i am a dog earer! idk it's just always an available option lmao

Standalone or Series? it's definitely less pressure to pick up a standalone bc i don't have to worry about feeling overwhelmed, but sometimes there will come a long series (cough, 39 clues) that i just get so obsessed with and have to binge read. AGAIN like Felix most of my favorites are in series!! BUT standalones are low presh

Nonfiction or Fiction? Fiction! I like the occasional memoir or essay collection or like history book or something, but GENERALLY i prefer to go for Fiction titles

Thriller or Fantasy? honestly thriller!! though i will clarify--i'm not that interested in adult thrillers for the most part. not to be reductive but the divorcee thrillers really bore me. i love a good YA thriller though, from slashers to murder mysteries i just love them!! some of my favorites are (ironically i'm about to list some series') A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, The Amateurs, and One of Us is Lying.

Under 300 Pages or Over? Also over! I do like a short read but between 300 and 400 pages is like the audiobook sweet spot for me honestly

Children’s or YA? YA/Middle Grade for sure!! My favorite book is Holes which is a children's book technically but yeah i freaking love some good YA Middle Grade books

Friends to Lovers or Enemies to Lovers? It depends on the genre for me honestly, but sometimes i think Friends to Lovers has higher stakes and as it stands that's what i would go for, though that could change at any given moment tbh

Read in Bed or Read on the Couch? I do most of my reading in the car technically bc i listen to audiobooks while i drive a lot lmao

Read at Night or Read in the Morning? Day time! It's too scary to read thrillers in the dark LOL

Keep Pristine or Markup? I am such a markup bitch i love to highlight and write notes in the margins fr!!!!!!! I annotate Holes at least once a year

Cracked Spine or Dogear? Majorly controversh but BOTH. I dogear all the time and i am a compulsive spine cracker. It's just too satisfying. But also I'll say i have not spent my whole life as a book person, so idek if i have more than like 2 books that i've had for more than like 3 years anyways

OKAY i'm tagging @vitaminpops @silently--here and @iammyownsaviour, if you've already done this obv ignore

[baked-hylian]

Tag game: Tour my bookshelf!

Thanks for the tag, @hirazuki

An estimate of how many physical books I own: I feel really behind as over the years and moving around I haven't held on to a lot of the books I had once had. At the moment my collection is of roughly 75 books (lost count when my cat wanted to be picked up) including reference books, 36 light novels, 132 manga volumes 11 of which are omnibuses (3-in-1 kind)

Favourite author: That's not actually an easy question for me mostly because I don't pick favourites when it comes to authors, I like different ones for different things. Like I love MXTX for fucked up relationships and situations. And I like the way Tasha Suri and Samantha Shannon describe food in their works The Burning Kingdoms trilogy and The Priory of the Orange Tree. That being said I haven't even tried MXTX's first novel, nor am I clamouring to grab Tasha Suri or Samantha Shannon's other novels, admittedly I am waiting for the prequel follow up to The Priory of the Orange Tree to release in paperback, and Tasha Suri is doing a Doctor Who novel and I'm mildly tempted to check that out, but that's more so the Doctor Who angle.

A popular book I've never read and never intend to read: Honest probably most YA that I didn't read as a kid, I gave an exception to Iron Widow just because I like the author and the youtube content they produced and the concept of imagining the rise to power of the first empress of China as a young woman dealing with some type of alien/monster invasion sounded neat. Another I would say is the first novel from MXTX. There are some tropes from it that sound enjoyable, but I really struggle with the kid eventually growing up and hooking up with his teacher crush for the romance angle. Like I get that because plot technically it shouldn't matter but idk it's just not what I look for when it comes to a romance, yknow?

A popular book I thought was just meh: Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune. He's the type of author I will only buy on sale as paperback. The House on the Cerulean Sea was super charming and fun, this was just, like sterilized handling of death. Idk I just was not a fan of it, plus the romance of it felt quite weak. Honestly Klune vibes like he'd be better off writing for tweens than adults.

Longest book I own: The Priory of the Orange Tree, if it isn't that then it's this dictionary I have specifically for old timey slang that I found while thrifting.

Longest series I own all the books to: Ascendance of a Bookworm is probably just overall the longest even comparing novels, as by the time they finish publishing it it's going to be some 35ish volumes each at least 300 pages (the odd picture probably drops it closer to 290). I'd say Tian Guan Ci Fu but that's mostly because english translations always wind up longer than the original mandarin, i.e. TGCF is only 3 books long in mandarin but getting 8 volumes in english due to length (although, honestly, I have problems with the way they keep constantly copy pasting the same glossary for each novel, could easily trim 30 pages of that and redistribute the overall story to cut out at least two of those volumes.) Inuyasha for manga and I don't even have half of the series.

Prettiest book I own: Maybe it's because I just finished it, but He Who Drowned the World has an absolutely gorgeous cover. The artwork by JungShan is just so pretty and I love the colour choices.

A book or series I wish more people knew about: Among Thieves and its sequel Thick as Thieves. Just a fun medium fantasy duology with the first book being set up and execution of the heist of a highly important magical item that will determine the fates for everyone around the world. The second dealing with the aftermath of that heist and finding out more about where magic comes from in this world.

Book I'm reading now: .......... The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady volume 3. I know how it sounds and honestly it's better than most isekai nowadays at least.

Book that's been on my TBR list for a while but I still haven't got around to it: The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tried The Hobbit in high school right around the time I lost interest in reading, feels like it was mostly a me problem so I figured I'd give them another shot. Just gotta find a very specific copy of Return of the King because I already have the others from that set and I don't wanna mix n match too much.

Do you have any books in a language other than English: I used to have a Japanese pokemon card, does that count? French instruction manuals? No? Then no.

And lastly, paperback, hardcover or ebook? Situational. I like hardcover for certain lengths, but I find once you're nearing 600 pages they become irritating. Hardcover is also dependant on how much I like the author/that series as I'm cheap and I've been burned once by disappointment and not letting it happen again. However I do like that certain manga are getting the hardcover treatment, it looks very classy for some of them, like the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe specials, and the Fullmetal Alchemist recent prints.

Tagging anyone who really wants to talk about their books!

[kummatty]

Do you have any tips on reading more :)

scream I really feel like I'm the last person you should be asking, I've been struggling for years to try to read more and I made my book goal 9 books for this year bc I couldn't conceptualize double digits... but I can share what's helped me some, first this post is rly great, and a lot of what ive been doing echoes it :

put reading materials all around you - I have stuff on my phone/laptop & often have tabs open to what im reading/want to read, a physical book in my bag, the pocket app is also great for keeping track of articles, it makes it easier to read throughout spaces in the day & reducing the time, distance, and decision making it takes to open something is critical for me; i prefer having a variety of materials too- articles, short stories, books, novellas, comics, poetry, graphic novels etc, the variety and different forms keep me engaged

know what kind of reading is going to hold your attention the most rn - to build a habit and build focus for reading, its abt knowing what im able to move through easier, I've been reading shorter books (more than 300 pages makes me hyperventilate), mostly fiction, and books I feel are at my current reading level; in addition to short form anything

on rebuilding focus, ive had to be conscious of where my mind is straying, and when it absent mindedly picks up other things or starts scrolling I have to remind it of what we were doing, and with that the intervals start to get less frequent if u keep doing it, and removing distractions helps; ill also say that i’ve been working on balancing/mediating my relationship to social media over time and that’s helped w focus and reading; all of it is such slow deliberate work

reading several things at a time - maybe this only works if your brain is already so scattered but rly not putting any boundaries on what i start and finish, i like having different genres/types of books, varying the content, jumping into one i just found out abt, returning to ones i started before, im always downloading something or the other just so its there when I want to turn to it,, idk sometimes u do have to stop yourself from jumping too much cuz you'll never settle enough to read anything but it's helped me to be able to shuffle bw readings based on my energy/attention levels and what I'm feeling like reading that day

the feeling of accomplishment has been important, shorter books help w it a lot - also so many great novellas/graphic novels/short stories/articles - and so do rly achievable goals like 9 books, u start to pick up momentum when u find yourself finishing things and feeling good abt it

making associations is also good advice, ive not done this very well but the idea of signaling to ur brain that you're transitioning into a reading space, could be time of day, where u sit in ur house, drinking something like tea whenever u start reading; I'm still trying to make a habit of reading an article/short story every morning so that I can read something complete before the day starts (and usually gets away from me)

and I do believe in hopes prayers and giving it attention in ur mind even if u don't do the reading that much yet - like having in my mind that I want to read I want to read has eventually helped me move towards making it a bigger priority even if it's taken years lol, it's honestly v difficult w work and other things to find the time, part of the reason I read so much this month was cuz of a lot of time off

im sorry this is so long when i don’t think i’ve said anything new, but i hope its helpful somehow! <3

[thoi2020]

u have advanced??????? wow. tips to qualify mains please??? help me with my modules.how do i solve them?????????

hnnng idk bestie here's some short tips n like if u want something more specific u can send another ask or dm me?

pay attention in class. sit in the front. listen out for what things the teacher puts an emphasis on. ask questions. yes, even the stupid ones. especially the stupid ones bc those are fundamentals u cannot miss bc a shaky foundation leads to a shaky building. also pay attention to ur teachers. theyve been doing this since before u even knew about jee they know what theyre doing. most of them want whats best for u, and if not specifically that, whats best for them n their institute which are usually similar things. im not saying blindly trust them without criticism but have some faith. dont dismiss them they prolly know better than u. if id followed my teachers instructions i prolly wouldnt have had to drop (but thats a discussion for another day lol).

revise notes on a regular basis. like. the day u studied it in class. then the next day. then a week later. then 2 weeks later. then a month later. google the curve of forgetting for more accurate time stamps. use flashcards for formulae n stuff that u have to memorise like inorganic chem.

analyse past papers. recognise the most important topics. but also there are some small chapters that are quite easy and some people skip them thinking there wont be any questions from them. ive given 4 papers of mains, and i can confirm that is utter bullshit. 1 question each from units and measurements, mathematical reasoning, stats, chemistry in everyday life, polymers, are guaranteed. u can easily secure at least those marks by spending just a little bit of time on them. esp for jee mains its relatively better to cover a wide range of topics with medium depth instead of just some but with deep understanding (the latter works well for advanced tho).

make a friend or two whos in the same boat as u, preparing for jee n try to keep each other accountable. tell each other everyday what ure going to study that day n then check back the next day. remind each other hlep each other out. also be friendly with the class toppers sometimes they can solve ur doubts better than teachers just bc something they explain clicks better. whenever i get confused about logarithms i think back to what my 9th grade classmate told me when i asked him to explain in 1 sentence n had him repeat it slowly to me multiple times. its burned in my memory and helped me so much. 

practice tests. set the proper 3 hour limit and solve them. be honest w urself ure doing this for u. no point scoring 256/300 to impress ur teacher if u cheated bc on the day of the exam ure going to be screwed. in the beginning try out different strategies, different ones work for different ppl. like for me, math is my favourite and i find it easier than the other 2 so i do it first and it gives me confidence. then i move on to physics and then chem. some people look over the entire paper n solve the easiest from every section first, then the medium ones, then the tough ones. experiment in ur practice tests n figure out whats best for u n ur test taking. after the test, analyse. see what u got wrong, why u got it wrong. clarify doubts. mark problem questions to revise and solve again later. no point in solving more n more questions if theres no retention or learning.

for solving books specifically under the cut bc this is getting too long lol:

stick to 1 or 2 books max per subject. make them ur holy books and swear by them. if ure doing coaching then the modules provided by them are a very good option bc theyre specifically for jee and will cover what u need. coaching teachers will have a lot of experience with them too so u'll have an easy time with doubts clarification. if u choose other books tho, still consult with ur teacher and ask them to tell u what's relevant and what isnt and dont waste ur time on whats not. it might make u look or feel smarter to be solving questions on stuff thats beyond the scope of the exam but u literally dont need it and the syllabus is already very vast so ure just going to waste time and brainspace. like sure if ure interested study it in ur own time but dont make it an Important Must Do thing.

ok now that u have ur book with everything relevant to jee, make sure u devour them. study the theory alongside ur class notes. solve a few questions of corresponding topics the day they are covered so u dont have so many questions lined up at the end of the chapter. like if i studied friction in newton's laws of motion today, i'll solve the questions relevant to friction today itself. or u know this week. like,, keep it current. then while solving, speak out loud and explain the problem to urself like ure teaching someone else (or better yet, find someone to teach them to. stuffed toys, younger siblings, ur classmate, grandparents, online friend, whichever works). mark all the questions that took u longer than 5 mins or u cant solve at all. dog ear the pages. try them again the next day. then again a few days later. take the ones u still cant solve to ur teacher. try n ask for just a hint once and try again. and then if u cant then ask for the solution. DO NOT go on the internet. ur brain doesnt have to work for it then n u think u got it but u dont got it. make ur brain work for the solution so it'll remember. 

now that uve given a good shot to every question and figured out where u stumble. analyse a bit. find a pattern if theres any: like a certain concept that is weak or something ure not understanding. read the theory for it if u have to n ask questions to clarify. then solve these problem questions again and again until u know every question well enough to be able to explain to someone. skip over the easy ones u dont gotta do them again n again, focus on the ones u stumbled on. theyre the weak spots. no use strengthening whats already strong enough.

and uh keep a notebook of the solutions of the questions u solve so that u dont have to go crazy searching for them in an emergency. like ur paper is tomorrow and u cant figure out this question that uve been trying for 1 hour then its a good time to review ur previous solution and refresh ur memory. often if uve practiced enough n its just exam stress etc thats making ur mind go blank then just a hint will be enough to remind u.

also this is more general but just. be consistent. small consistent efforts over multiple days instead of a big one in 1 day. u’ll retain better and ur brain does better with multiple small chunks spread out over an interval than a lot of stuff in a small one. and its ok to to have an off day dont kill urself over academics ur health is more important always. not getting into ur dream college might fuck u up but itll heal but ur health is more precarious and not getting enough sleep or food will def fuck u up and the consequences are a lot harder to deal with. dont think about the big picture or u’ll freak urself out just think about the next small step u can take. getting 99 percentile feels impossible but solving 10 questions for it does not. dont get disheartened by test results if ure working hard n smart u wont fail. even if u dont get into ur dream college u’ll have an excellent work ethic that’ll take u places u never thought of in ur wildest dreams. more than anything, be kind to urself and work n play hard.

[bellaslilpapercut]

Oh boy New Moon! I've got some Thoughts a brewin' babey:

1. Smeyer: you do not need to remind your audience what happened last book, they aren't stupid. Imagine if SC started catching fire with ANOTHER explanation of what the hunger games are and that's the vibe of the first chapters of new moon. We remember james, we know what vampires are, we know that Bella is white, stop reminding us!

2. Bella has the worst self esteem of all time. Every bad thing that has happened to her since the Van Incident has been Edward's fault but she still blames herself and idk if this is Intentional Insecurity or if smeyer is protecting edward's "character" or both but gdamn it's depressing.

3. The reason I said Jasper was Inconsistently Written jumped out at me again. Smeyer dedicated a whole paragraph to pointing out how terrible jasper is at the diet or whatever but in the guide, smeyer tells us jasper actively tried to starve himself in the past because of how difficult his gift made feeding. He was one of only two Cullens to show bella empathy, he smelled her blood before, why does he attack her? The weakness of this decision is pointed out in the exposition: if it really were likely that Jasper would attack Bella, she wouldn't have needed a superfluous paragraph dedicated to telling us how bad he is at self control. If the story had convinced us of that beforehand, we would have believed the attack without the addendum.

4. The party is my least favorite part of the whole series and I will die on this hill: edward should have attacked bella. Bella should have tripped into something glass and edward should have lost it because he tasted her blood before and couldn't help himself. That way: edwards self loathing makes sense and he's forced to recon with his superiority complex from the ending chapters of twilight AND bella's self blame makes sense. A vamp who was able to starve himself before he even heard of the cullens should not have lost it around someone he spent days in close quarters with, building rapport and friendship. Edward got too high and mighty after he fed from Bella in Twilight, that should have had real consequence.

5. The writing is getting a little better as we near Edward leaving. "Better" isn't a good word actually but it's getting closer to the prose in twilight (which was flowery and annoying but at least it didn't constantly feel like being spoonfed exposition every paragraph). Hm wrote this blurb while I was still on chapter 3 and the vibe of being spoonfed reminders has not really dissipated lmfao.

We remember Sam Uley, smeyer, you introduced him four chapters ago. Just quick question: did anyone proofread this?? I think it's fair to say: when she isn't reminding us of things that we remember the prose is more similar to twilight. A little annoying but interesting enough to forgive the errors (or at least move past them easily enough lol).

6. I'm on chapter 8 now (I'm gonna break this up into three parts so I don't forget stuff like I did during the twilight reread) and there's a very heavy Vibe that smeyer is setting Jake up to be a parallel for twilight-era Bella. This line here is a pretty clear parallel for Bella telling Edward not to hold his breath in Twilight when he tells her she might get tired of him.

7. This line here "almost happy in a shallow kind of way" really jumped out. What Bella's narration says about Jacob versus her conversations with him (and her one paragraph about his happiness being effortlessly contagious) are at odds. It doesn't read like shallow happiness when she's with Jake. However, Smeyer is also a bad writer, she thinks the story she's telling us is literally what the narration says and not what the action shows and I think she realizes this in Eclipse (but obviously I'm not there yet so I can't say for sure).

8. I really can't get over the drop in writing quality. I know that she had already mostly finished Forever Dawn by the time Twilight was published (or was halfway done, I think her website said she had over 300 pages of forever dawn complete when she found out Twilight was getting published). I think the writing quality really reveals that she was not prepared to write New Moon. It's sloppier than Twilight in a way I'm not able to articulate (by that I mean I personally have a more intuitive than technical understanding of grammar and syntax so I don't have the language to break down the differences). Twilight itself is ripe with technical errors and plot errors and awkward exposition so it's not an overt drop in quality but I think it very much reads like a rushed writing job. She was committed to forever dawn, her publishers wanted New Moon, it shows.

9. I think New Moon was when I first started physically editing my copies of the saga lol. Even reading it now I'm so tempted to open up a word document and cut half of the useless shit out and fix all the grammatical mistakes. I can't even talk shit because I am also a comma-abuser but I hoped an editor would at least catch the errors before publishing. Guess not! Brevity is very clearly not meyers strong suit and this would have been a much stronger sequel if she had been able to reign herself in a bit. New Moon isn't supposed to be as narration heavy as twilight, there's already more action in the first seven chapters than the there was in the first 19 of twilight but she always delivers exposition via awkward dialogue or Bella's narration. Again, we already got a lot of the exposition in twilight, we know how vampires work et cetera. You can show us how bella feels instead of making her tell us and the story would run a lot more smoothly.

10. I'll end on a nice note! Little treat!

This is my favorite part of the book so far. I whited-out the useless dialogue tag because the line reads better without it ( line originally ends with "I emphasized" but she could have been brief and just ended the dialogue with an exclamation point for the same effect). The dialogue is natural and shows the J/B relationship that lives in my head way better than anything else I've seen on the page at this point. Like, I literally love this line more than any dialogue that preceded it (including twilight) lol.

[rigelmejo]

I don’t know if this extensive reading has helped but I FEEL like it has helped lol. When I started 小王子 how long was it taking a chapter? Just under 5 minutes per page right?

Well I know I got faster than that. Today my Internet was down so while waiting for things to restart and load and stuff I read like 5 chapters of the book. I read them out loud (just a handful of words I didn’t know how to say out loud). I was reading at slow but steady speaking speed so that’s still faster than 5 minutes a page. Ok I just timed myself to test it and I am taking 2 minutes to read a page, and I would guess 3 minutes if I slowed down to consider a bit more on the sayings/less familiar hanzi. That’s better then the 4.5-5 minutes I started at! So I must’ve picked up some words from this book. So I would say... yes a little extensive reading seems to be helping reading speed. Also! I have 16 pages to go! This story is so short. It is sweet and odd and so human though maybe that is why it’s remained loved like Alice in wonderland. (Fun fact I also read 2 chapters of Alice in wonderland in French this week and it is just as bizarre to me as when I watched the movie as a kid, But I do think in book form if I were 6-9 I would’ve related more since Alice’s POV in the story is pretty relatable... and when I was a kid and watched the movie I just did Not relate aha).

Anyway from 4.5 minutes to 2-3 is great!

What I did with graded readers/extensive reading this month, that I am hoping is why this helped:

Read graded reader (butterfly lovers, Pleco, 500 unique characters) - not hard but very satisfying to finish it and read it quickly when it used to take me 40 minutes to read a few Pleco pages of it). So that was a few thousand words comprehensible extensive reading.

Read another graded reader, chinese short stories. While I think it’s good as a study companion, a lot of very specific words which I tripped on (antique coins, being scammed). Which was fine I just think it was not the funnest reading material? It was mostly graded reader though I had to look up a couple handfuls of words.

Read a little of my 500 character Sinolingua reader (2 stories). Also read through the back of it which has all the words in the book, and the HSK 3 words included in the book - I knew all those words but it was a nice refresher. Mostly it was just nice to see how much easier these stories were to read compared to when I first got the book. (I would recommend these books as readers if you want something for adults and in short segments, the short stories are simplified prose from established authors, and the quality of storytelling can therefore be felt a bit. They feel more meaningful as short stories and therefore enjoyable if a bit basic (since they’ve been simplified). You can tell though compared to the Chinese Short Stories book above, which was probably written by a teacher/language textbook maker and not necessarily a literary writer.

Read mandarin companion journey to the center of the earth. 450 unique characters. Another easy read that felt really nice, compared to when I first read a mandarin companion book.

Started reading 小王子 on paper, so extensive reading with little word look up (I’ve looked up less than 10 words so far when reading on paper - notable words I looked up because it frustrated me I didn’t know them: 悲伤，惊奇，惊讶，匆匆，逐渐，观察，测试 a lot of these because I know I’ve seen these Hanzi before I just never remember specifically like 惊讶 惊奇 what the difference is or guan pronunciation 观察 or 测 I tend to forget when it’s not in 测试). I started reading it because it’s supposed to have around 2000 unique words (so not too many), and be pretty easy reading level (so a bit easier than 活着 which is the novel Chinese learners often get recommended). Basically, this was the extensive reading book choice step up from graded readers - it’s got a bit over 1000 unique hanzi, not an overwhelming amount of unique words, but it is not a graded reader so if it goes well I could jump to other stuff of similar or slightly less “ease” while still having it feel this “easy” to read (and hopefully take days to read instead of months).

Started reading 笑猫日记之会唱歌的猫 in Pleco, so clicking words I didn’t know (though this one only had a word or two a page unknown). I saw it recommended on a Chinese learners form as easy reading material after graded readers, and I agree! It’s very easy to read! I could understand it without clicking words but it is nice to understand fully since it’s convenient, and look up the pronunciation etc. I read 8 chapters so far. I also listened to a few chapters after reading, but idk if it helped at all.

15 ish chapters into 小王子 I found it online and reread 4 chapters with a click dictionary for unknown words. It was nice just clarifying the word pronunciations and fuzzy bits, also the online translation was different so seeing the difference on how they decided to word it (mostly just seeing synonyms used instead or different sayings for certain parts). I listened to a couple chapters audio afterwards, idk if it helped.

Unrelated, but I did listen read to 5 chapters of 默读 mainly following the Chinese text so, idk if that would’ve helped my overall reading at all (I want to say no but I did notice in general much more general gist comprehension of lines in MoDu then last time I read a couple months ago - although listening to the audio and being able to glance at the English for unknown words of course also makes things much more comprehensible that’s why listen reading method is the structure it is ahh).

Listened to some audio for 小王子 during work because I happened to find it, for chapters 1-4. Just playing in the background. I looked at the text while listening to one to match pronunciation to some words, since the chapter was like 5 minutes long in listening. Again interesting to see their word choice since It was yet another translation (I think I like my print books translation best).

Back to reading print 小王子 today and I think the audio beforehand did help me with being able to pronounce more of what I’m reading. Read like 4 chapters in one short break, another 3 chapters just now. While I don’t know how well the reading speed will translate to reading harder stuff like guardian (which was oddly also taking me 5 minutes a page? Why is that my default speed?), my reading speed doing extensive reading on “stuff mostly easy” to me has increased noticeably. (Fun fact when I read English technical text like psychology and physics books and educational etc I think my reading speed is it’s like 10-20 pages an hour... I do not read non fiction very fast).

So anyway, my goal with extensive reading easy material this month was to see if I could push UP what my starting base level “easy” material is.

What I used to do is practice with an “easier text” (which was still pretty hard for me tbh) and then once it got bearable (took 30-40 minutes to read instead of an hour), I’d switch to a harder material that took me 1-1.5 hours to read. Then when I’d burn out, I’d go back to that “easier” text until it got easier at 20-30 minutes to read. Then I might pick a harder base reading text (usually what used to be the hard one that would now take 30-40 minutes to read), and find something even harder. Lately that has been 寒舍 as my “easier” text, taking 20-30 minutes a full chapter (2 mini chapters), and 天涯客 as my harder text at 30-40ish minutes a chapter. And yes, at this point I could pick something harder but they’re both hard enough I was just sticking to them. You might notice none of these were actually easy for me though, my actual base easy materials were still graded readers, and manhua. So I want to push that upward until there’s some “easier” material below 寒舍 that I can be built up to and read easily Without a dictionary aid. So I can have a solid base that’s reliable. Hanshe is an “easier” practice material but it’s not necessarily something I can read extensively with ease. But if I keep pushing up the difficulty of what I can extensively read, bit by bit, I will eventually Get it to hanshe (or a little below it realistically but still firmly in regular-webnovel-exist at the reading level). I will not get faster at reading these hard things unless my base level of reading is both higher and already a reasonable speed. (I’m guessing anyway??).

Well happy to say this plan is working. I guess the advice articles I read were right somewhat. I knew graded readers could drag you from 0 beginner to some reading ability, since It’s what I originally did with Chinese (and even French sort of). But I was very quick about it because I’m impatient and easily bored by too-easy things apparently lol. I read 1 mandarin companion graded reader (the 300 word Sherlock Holmes one), a couple chapters of 2 other graded readers, then started on a random webnovel (the bl 他们的故事 which somehow thankfully is on the easier end for novels) and looked a lot of words up to get through. But I did not think to try to “match my reading level and increase gradually” in regular novels, even tho if it works for graded readers it probably works for regular stuff!

And in school in our native languages, that’s why our elementary schools had libraries, and we read books for our age group and the chapter books we read were much easier than what we read as teens or what adults read! I remember bunnicula and cat wings those were not hard but they were chapter stories. Then I remember Dracula and hg wells and mark Twain in high school and how they felt a bit Hard despite me being one of those kids rated at college reading level in 3rd grade. Now as a kid? I had the same tendencies I do now, so I’m not surprised I always jump in the deep end and Try to read hard stuff (and it must help since it’s part of why I got good at reading my native language, and definitely has helped my chinese and french). I would be like 7 and pick up a mitchner novel of My dad’s (is that the author of stuff like Alaska etc?) and I’d read a couple pages and feel drained trying to follow it and give up. Or the huge The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, or HG Wells History of the world, or the biography of benjamin Franklin, I never finished any of these or had any idea what they were about I just got curious and opened up a couple pages every now and then. Yet somehow that must’ve been part of why my reading level so early on was considered “good”? I’m guessing.

But I wasn’t actually good at reading in the sense of doing it often or fast until my dad started reading to me at like age 8-9 I think it was Harry Potter which at the time worked out since the books got harder each time, and also my dad reads out loud slow just like he tutors slow lol so eventually I read myself so he’d stop boring me (I love him and loved the bonding time I’m sure but truly i just apparently always liked jumping in the deep end). Eventually his strategy Im guessing to get me to read slightly harder stuff each time worked, because by books 4-5 I read each in 2 days. He was so impressed because before that I couldn’t read long books and not fast, and that’s when he thought I got good at reading. Looking back lol it’s actually so funny? How much work he had to do to get me to read and how what ended up working I still sort of do now. He started me on Hop on Pop as a kid as my first book cause One Fish Two Fish bored me and I thought jumping on a dad was funny, and he did that just to do something to get me to pick up a book lol. Then he got me that digital book toy they had back then where you had a real book but it was in a digital holder and if you clicked words with the pen it read them out loud. Literally how I learn Chinese now... he really got me digital equivalent to graded readers back then ToT. And just like as a kid I still pick up stuff way beyond my level and just read a couple pages at random. It’s just. Kind of funny to me how much I didn’t really change that much after all ToT

BACK ON THE TOPIC OF APRIL PROGRESS lol ok. I listened to Guardian ep 1 today just in the background so no subs etc and I was Floored by how much I completely understood. I’ve been listening to SpoonFed chinese again (15 audios listened to this month), but I’m floored if it made a difference?! Since I was mostly listening in the background not focusing and missing some stuff. Idk if it made a difference, or listening reading method just that 1.5 hours I did this month or what. Or if my listening skills have been this decent I just don’t test them since I usually watch shows with hard Chinese subs (and read the subs), or watch shows with English subs. So like. Anyway mejo back in what was it august 2019 when I started studying? Would be so happy. Back when I started watching guardian and only knew ni hao and xie xie and zai jian.

Also I can’t even remember now if I did extensive reading guardian (after reading the English translation), this month too or just last month. But I’m sure that helped and I should test general reading sometime of a priest novel. Like.. literally what kicked off the “I should extensive read more” this month is me Desperately wanting to kick up my reading speed after the horrific 25 page guardian chapter I read that took like 1.5 hours.

[shortqueershakespeare]

bro... you just know imma have to ask for all the questions....

I hope you’re proud of my dedication (also thank you for doing this every time lol)

london: when you visit a city, do you take in the tourist points or the more unknown places?

I like to do both, but more unknown places are fun to either discover myself or be shown by someone who loves the city.

paris: where did you last fall in love?

In a bedroom in Cambridge I think.

berlin: do you find history or geography to be more interesting?

History, I love learning about history, but I didn’t study either at school - I now do some history.

amsterdam: would you drink in a room full of strangers?

That’s just freshers week in a nutshell so yes I did.

prague: rivers or forests?

Forests with lakes, although rivers really make me think of home - in my home city my grandma lives next to a river, as does my dad, at uni I live near a river and in Vienna I commute across the river which I love.

vienna: do you enjoy classic literature?

Yes, definitely, I actually read a lot of classics as a kid but I’ve been slacking lately.

barcelona: beaches or cities?

Cities

madrid: who did you last attend a party with?

I’m assuming it would’ve been with uni friends, or many a zoom party.

budapest: if you could do anything and not have to face the consequences, what would you do?

ooh shit that’s such a good question, right now it’d probably be punch/get rid of our incompetent government.

rome: ancient rome or ancient greece?

oooh i think i’d go with ancient greece although i can speak some latin so i’d maybe fare better in rome.

copenhagen: how many languages can you speak?

5, to varying degrees, english and german are my best, russian is prob still my worst because i haven’t practised in forever.

dublin: where was the last castle you visited?

Old Sarum 

stockholm: angst or fluff?

Fluff babyyyy

lisbon: if you had the chance to become a prince/princess, would you?

Hmmm I don’t think so, although the British monarchy have so much monarchy, maybe just to do good with that money.

athens: favourite greek myth?

Off the top of my head, Eurydice and Orpheus.

milan: what matters more: fashion or comfort?

Comfortttt

munich: why did you kiss the last person you did?

I’d broken up with someone not long before and he kissed me and took me by surprise, it was very sweet.

helsinki: when did you last visit a friend’s house?

Start of October I think, we don’t have bubbles in Austria but we made one with him so he wouldn’t be on his own.

reykjavik: do people usually have trouble pronouncing your name when you first meet?

Nope, they often spell it wrong though

florence: how did you discover your favourite artist’s work?

I really like Allie Brosh’s comics and books, my sister introduced me to her.

edinburgh: would you visit a dog park without a dog?

Probably yeah

oslo: what’s more important: work or love?

Love

venice: why did you last fall in love?

He provided me support when I really really needed it and made me feel valued.

glasgow: where were you going during your latest bus journey?

To work

liverpool: do you follow any sports?

I follow league one of British football for AFC wimbledon. I follow tennis sometimes too.

cologne: why did you last visit your grandparents?

To give my mum a break from looking after grandma.

moscow: would you rather perform in a circus or an opera?

Oh hell, probably an opera.

naples: if you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and for how long?

Hmmm I’m gonna give a few answers - if there wasn’t the teeny problem of bigotry and safety I would love love love to go to Russia for like a month.

I also really want to go to Italy and Spain and the Scandinavian countries, so I’d like to do like a month or two of interrailing (which was my plan for March but obvs I can’t do that)

favourite

1 - season?

autumn

2 - classic film?

Men in black?? idk

3 - nostalgia-inducing possession?

my teddy bear - he’s called brownie and my sister got him for me when I was really little

4 - shade of green?

the dark bits of malachite

5 - gemstone?

amethyst

6 - hour of the night?

4-5am

7 - quote?

“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.” - We Were Liars (E. Lockhart)

8 - type of dream?

dreams about being in love

9 - happy song?

Candlelight - Relient K

10 - sad song?

Tobacco In My Sheets - Lauren Aquilina

11 - character from a book?

Ohh I really don’t know I’ll go with Andy Skampt from the Carls.

12 - creative medium?

Pen and paper for writing

13 - memory?

belly laughs around the table with my family 

14 - aspect of a person’s face?

smile or eyes

15 - decade before the 2020s?

2010s

16 - band?

Stornoway

17 - animated film/tv show?

moana

18 - constellation?

cassopeia

19 - poem?

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver.

20 - album?

right now its Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted by Passenger

21 - ending in fictional media?

The ending to Crazy Ex Girlfriend.

22 - shade of blue?

maybe baby blue because its on the trans flag

23 - part of being alive?

love

24 - holiday?

last time I came to Vienna actually

25 - kind of candy?

flying saucers are a classic

26 - person you know?

I’m real homesick so my sister at the moment

27 - musical movie?

Rent

28 - superhero?

Spiderman

29 - book longer than 500 pages?

I think North Child is longer than 500 pages?

30 - book shorter than 300 pages?

We Were Liars

 marvel character asks

iron man: first superhero you ever liked?

spiderman

spiderman: do you believe in hometown pride?

not really 

black widow: would you rather be a secret agent for the heroes or the villains?

heroes

hulk: which approach to conflict do you prefer: analytical or physical?

analytical

thor: what’s your favourite kind of weather?

snow

captain america: how patriotic are you?

fuck not at all

black panther: what’s your favourite sci-fi movie?

the one i immediately thought of was I am Number Four.

ant-man: how tall are you?

something above 5′3″ but i genuinely don’t know

bucky barnes: do you have any hidden talents?

nope

captain marvel: on what topic do you and your parents most disagree?

how tidy my room should be kept

hawkeye: if you had to fight, what would be your weapon of choice?

something i can use at close quarters, maybe a knife

doctor strange: what’s an occurrence of everyday magic you’ve experienced?

Honestly some places and weather and animals are so magical

peter quill: is there anyone that underestimates you?

probably my flatmate

falcon: tell us your feelings on the armed forces.

oof that’s a rough one. My dad was in the army and definitely has ptsd from it. I don’t support the army at all but I do recognise that a lot of working class kids have few alternatives and are funnelled into that system.

gamora: if family and success were mutually exclusive, which would you choose?

family every time

nebula: do you believe a person can truly change?

yes

wanda: if you could have any superpower, what would you choose and why?

shapeshifting

deadpool: tell an offensive joke you feel bad for finding funny.

eh no thanks, i don’t really wanna put that energy out there rn

loki: greatest thing you’ve done on april fool’s day?

i mean probably something annoying to my sister when i was younger

venom: what non-mcu marvel character would you love to see in the mcu?

oh god i have no idea

nick fury: how do other people perceive you?

i hope as empathetic

thanos: do you believe in necessary sacrifices? give an example.

yes and no, not in terms of economy and shit, i don’t think people should ever be sacrificed for economic gain, but in terms of personal life i’ve sacrificed friendships to transition, and i’d do it again.

rocket: favourite non-domesticated animal?

tigerrrr

drax: would you rather fight with fists or knives?

fists

groot: how annoying were you five years ago?

i think i was growing out of my super annoying phase

[writing-prompts-for-friends]

Notes from Robert McKee’s “Story” 09: Genre and Expectations

The majority of this section defines genres and sub-genres of story. I’ll provide a summary of them at the end of the post. I think that we all as writers know what genre our works tend to lean toward, so I instead want to focus on what McKee has to say about what is expected of writers as dictated by genre and by the audience. 

Mastery of Genre

As life-long consumers of media, we have ingrained expectations of a story once we hear the genre. A rom-com? Well then, we’re in for a light-hearted comedy with a happy ending for the love interests. High fantasy? There’s gonna be lore and magic and elves and dwarfs, and a massive conflict that will probably span multiple novels or films. 

“The genre sophistication of filmgoers presents the writer with this critical challenge: He must not only fulfill audience anticipations, or risk their confusion and disappointment, but he must lead their expectations to fresh, unexpected moments, or risk boring them. This two-handed trick is impossible without a knowledge of genre that surpasses the audience’s.”

As writers, it is our job to identify our genre and research it thoroughly. In the previous section about setting, McKee explains how the setting of the story gives the writer both limitations and inspiration. 

Genre is, in a certain way, the frame in which the setting and story sit. Depending on the genre, the frame can be pliable or it can be rather fixed. Here you need to study your own genre deeply to find out exactly how flexible it is. For example, the genre of “Comedy” is much more pliable than that of the “Crime” genre. There are sub-genres, of course. But under the vast umbrella of “Comedy” almost anything goes as long as we can get a laugh out of it. “Crime” on the other hand, generally involves a struggle between a criminal and a justice-seeker (with the justice-seeker most commonly being the protagonist) and culminates in one triumphing over the other. 

How to Master Your Genre

“Never assume that because you’ve seen films in your genre you know it. This is like assuming you could compose a symphony because you have heard all nine of Beethoven’s.”

McKee states that genre study is best done in the following way:

List all the works that feel similar to yours, both successes and failures. Studying works that are similar to yours but were failures can lead to great insights.

Study each of these works from page to page, breaking each one down into elements of setting, role, event, and value. 

Stack these analyses on top of each other and look down through them all and ask yourself, “What do the stories in my genre always do? What are its conventions of time, place, character, and action?

Until you find these answers, the audience will always be one step ahead of you. 

Personally, that sounds like a lot of work lol. But doing case studies like he describes would certainly help me to better understand my genre. Idk when I’ll have time for it, but...well. I’ll work on it. 

Creative Limitations

This section really echoes what McKee had to say about setting, in that both setting and genre create boundaries for you to work within, but having boundaries pushes you to be more creative. 

Until now, I’ve always started writing a story on a whim, based on a single scene in my head that grows into some 300 page monstrosity. I resisted plotting and just wrote what I wanted to write that day. I enjoyed the freedom that came with having no specific plans and not thinking much about my genre. 

However, McKee uses a brilliant example to illustrate the beneficial aspects of understanding and working within the bounds of your genre:

“Robert Frost said that writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down, for it’s the self-imposed, indeed artificial demands of poetic conventions that stir the imagination. Let’s say a poet arbitrarily imposes this limit: He decides to write in six-line stanzas, rhyming every other line. After rhyming the fourth line with the second line he reaches the end of a stanza. Backed into this corner, his struggle to rhyme the sixth line with the fourth and second may inspire him to imagine a word that has no relationship to his poem whatsoever--it just happens to rhyme--but this random word then springs loose a phrase that in turn brings an imagine to mind, an image that in turn resonates back through the first five lines, triggering a whole new sense of feeling, twisting and driving the poem to a richer meaning and emotion.

Thanks to the poet’s Creative Limitation of this rhyme scheme, the poem achieves an intensity it would have lacked had the poet allowed himself the freedom to choose any word he wished.

The principle of Creative Limitation calls for freedom within a circle of obstacles. Talent is like a muscle: without something to push against, it atrophies.”

So one of our first steps as writers is to identify our genre or combination of genres, and then learn the genre conventions. 

Genre conventions are the expected aspects of a certain genre. In a “Boy Meets Girl” romance genre, an obvious convention is that a boy and a girl must meet. It isn’t a cliche--it’s a necessary part of the equation. These conventions force us to use our imagination to reinvent the paradigms our genres and audiences demand, and if we can do it right, we fulfill their expectations while giving them something they had never dreamed of before.

Mixing and Reinventing Genres

What better way to sum up this section than Run DMC’s “Walk This Way,” which was the first hip hop hybrid video every played in heavy rotation on MTV? 

Generally, a work tends to be a mix of two or more genres. For example, there is a Love Story subplot in just about EVERYTHING nowadays, for better or for worse. By mixing genres we as writers have a chance to give the world something that has never been seen before. 

Something that McKee stresses is that genres are not static. He says:

“Genres are simply windows on reality, various ways for the writer to look at life. When the reality outside the window undergoes change, the genres alter with it.”

Social attitudes change. This means that what may have been a compelling story 50 years ago may not be as compelling when looked at once again today. The example McKee uses is the 1950′s film FALLING IN LOVE, which was about a man and woman who fell in love with each other but were already married and in unhappy relationships. Nowadays, in mainstream America, divorce isn’t a big deal. If an audience in 2020 watched this film, they’d just say, “You’re married to people you hate--just get a divorce already!”

“The audience wants to know how it feels to be alive on the knife edge of the now. What does it mean to be a human being today?

Innovative writers are not only contemporary, they are visionary. They have their ear to the wall of history, and as things change, they can sense the way society is leaning toward the future. They then produce works that break convention and take the genres into the next generation.

The finest writers are not only visionary, they create classics.”

McKee’s List of Genres

McKee states that there are many different ways to break genres down, and his is neither the best nor the most complete. Also, keep in mind that this book is actually focused around storytelling through film, so the references he uses are not books, but films. 

LOVE STORY. It’s sub-genre, Buddy Salvation, substitutes friendship for romantic love. 

HORROR FILM. This genre devices into three sub-genres: the Uncanny, in which the source of horror is astounding but subject to “rational” explanation, such as beings from outer space, science-made monsters, or a maniac; the Supernatural, in which the source of horror is an “irrational” phenomenon from the spirit realm; and the Super-Uncanny, in which the audience is kept guessing between the other two possibilities. 

MODERN EPIC (the individual versus the state).

WESTERN. 

WAR GENRE. Although war is often the setting for another genre, such as the Love Story, the WAR GENRE is specifically about combat. Pro-war versus Antiwar are its primary sub-genres. 

MATURATION PLOT or the coming of age story

REDEMPTION PLOT. Here the film arcs on a moral change within the protagonist from bad to good. 

PUNITIVE PLOT. In these, the good guy turns bad and is punished. 

TESTING PLOT. Stories of willpower versus temptation to surrender.

EDUCATION PLOT. This genre arcs on a deep change within the protagonist’s view of life, people, or self from the negative (naive, distrustful, fatalistic, self-hating) to the positive (wise, trusting, optimistic, self-possessed)

DISILLUSIONMENT PLOT. A deep change of worldview from the positive to the negative.

COMEDY. Subgenres range from Parody to Satire to Sitcom to Romantic to Screwball to Farce to Black Comedy, all differing by the focus of comic attack (bureaucratic folly, upper-class manners, teenage courtship. etc.) and the degree of ridicule (casual, caustic, lethal).

CRIME. Subgenres vary chiefly by the answer to this question: From whose point of view do we regard the crime? Murder Mystery (master detective’s POV); Caper (master criminal’s POV), Detective (cop’s POV), Gangster (crook’s POV), Thriller or Revenge Tale (victim’s POV); Courtroom (lawyer’s POV); Newspaper (reporter’s POV); Espionage (spy’s POV), Prison Drama (inmate’s POV); Film Noir (POV of a protagnoist who may be part criminal, part detective, part victime of a femme fatale). 

SOCIAL DRAMA. This genre identifies problems in society--poverty, the education system, communicable diseases, the disadvantaged, antisocial rebellion, and the like--then constructs a story demonstrating a cure. It has a number of sharply focused sub-genres: Domestic Drama (problems within the family), the Women’s Film (dilemmas such as career versus family, lover versus children), Political Drama (corruption in politics), Eco-Drama (battles to save the environment), Medical Drama (struggles with physical illness), and Psycho-Drama (struggles with mental illness). 

ACTION/ADVENTURE. This often borrows aspects from other genres such as War or Political Drama to use as motivation for explosive action and derring-do. If ACTION/ADVENTURE incorporates ideas such as destiny, hubris, or the spirtual, it becomes the sub-genre High Adventure. If Mother Nature is the source of the antagonism, it’s a Disaster/Survival work.

HISTORICAL DRAMA. The treasure chest of history is sealed with this warning: What is past must be present. He must find an audience today. Therefore, the best use of history, and the only legitimate excuse to set a film in the past and thereby add untold millions to a budget, is anachronism--to use the past as a clear glass through which you show us the present. 

BIOGRAPHY. This cousin to Historical Drama focuses on a person rather than an era. BIOGRAPHY, however, must never become a simple chronicle. That someone lived, died, and did interesting things in between is of scholarly interest and no more. The biographer must interpret facts as if they were fiction, find the meaning of the subject’s life, and then cast him as the protagonist of his life’s genre. These caveats also apply to the sub-genre Autobiography.

DOCU-DRAMA. A second cousin to Historical Drama, DOCU-DRAMA centers on recent rather than past events. 

MOCKUMENTARY. This genre pretends to be rooted in actuality or memory, behaves like documentary or autobiography, but is utter fiction. It subverts fact-based filmmaking to satirize hypocritical institutions.

MUSICAL. I would love to see a musical novel lol.

SCIENCE FICTION. In hypothetical futures that are typically technological dystopias of tyranny and chaos, the SCIENCE FICTION writer often marries the man-against-state Modern Epic with Action/Adventure. But, like history, the future is a setting in which any genre may play. 

SPORTS GENRE. Sport is a crucible for character change. This genre is a natural home for the Maturation Plot, the Redemption Plot, the Education Plot, the Punitive Plot, the Testing Plot, the Disillusionment Plot, Buddy Salvation, and Social Drama.

FANTASY. Here the writer plays with time, space, and the physical, bending and mixing the laws of nature and the supernatural. The extra-realties of FANTASY attract the Action genres but also welcome others such as the Love Story, Political Drama/Allegory, Social Drama, and/or Maturation Plot.

ANIMATION. I guess you could equate this to graphic novels, comics, and manga. 

Source: McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. York: Methuen, 1998. Print

[artmusicjoy]

i just want to scream into an abyss

but i also want hang out with friends

but everyone is an ocean away (even though I’m meeting new people but haven’t reached out to them because I don’t know how to nor do I know how available they are but i feel better talking with them, is that because they’re cool people or because they’re people at all? also i’ve kept in touch with pretty much everyone from home anyway so why the fuck do i feel so alone?)

i just want a hug (i like hugs, ok?!?!)

i just want to talk (i don’t even know what about. something deep but simple and trashy but not pointless even though realistically everything is pointless)

i just want something (probably dinner, but I feel sick from eating so much earlier, or am i actually hungry again and just can’t differentiate the feelings because i’m fortunate enough to not wonder where / when my next meal is, except now that I’m feeding myself I can’t get off my lazy ass to take care of myself. or am I just joking about dinner because i can’t describe this want i actually feel?)

i want to do something 

(God going back through this makes that part feel like shitty poetry^^^)

and now i’m going through to bold the original stream of consciousness so anyone reading can see how editing thoughts works, because I can’t even trust my gut on my emotions in real time. or did I just say i can’t trust myself because of a jaded character i was watching a few minutes ago? i can’t even trust my own commentary on my commentary. I’m a mess.

i want to scream and cry and laugh and run and dance and write and read and study and cook and break things and punch a wall without alerting my flatmates and actually feel like I’m close with them without coming across as weird for not getting to know them better the past month and just feel normal

but there is not such thing as truly normal so why do I care so much about being it?

would friends even help me in the long term or just distract me in the moment until we go our separate ways for the night or day or week or lifetime. as much as i love my friends and know they’ll want to help, I don’t want to weigh them down with my wellbeing. Especially since everyone has their own shit to deal with that’s arguably worse than mine. Yet if they said that to me, I’d reply “someone with a broken ankle won’t (or at least shouldn’t) tell someone with a sprained ankle that their pain isn’t real or valid.” 

my is my default feeling so numb and so painful at the same time

why can’t I cry about this? like i physically have felt the need to cry in the back of my mind for the past like three weeks and have only gotten a few tears out

i need to get more done

even if more is crying

why am i bothering to fix any mistakes I type as though I’m going to post this

should I post this or would my friends worry too much? should I let my vent into the infinite abyss of the internet and maybe someone will relate and feel better by seeing it

or am i just typing so I can look through my thoughts like a diary while not talking to myself (like a crazy person in the movies) 

is it even that normal that I can like feel the need to cry build in my life? do i really feel better when cry or is it just the relief of being empty (i just fixed two more spelling mistakes)

I keep telling myself in class that I’m motivated enough to work on the next project (or reading for my classes) and I even started an idea for one, but I’ll probably scrap it because it was so spur of the moment

and I’m behind on the dictionary project partially because I don’t give a shit, partially because I feel like I’m behind in the class when I’m really not, and partially because I feel like putting it off knowing I’l get it done eventually because I always do

I can boast never using an extension even though it means I’ve stayed up till 3 AM to write two paragraphs, only to stop at 3:30 to take a shower that I was putting off until I finished my work, as though disregarding my body’s health is the way to keep my mind from staying idle

and that was a year ago

now I just feel bad about feeling bad and not doing the things I know will help me

I fucking wrote my 300 level English final paper while my mom was packing up my dorm room so I could go home for winter break and have everything to be abroad. She was so worried seeing me work in the moment, so down to the wire. But so proud that I was able to buckle down and do it. Whereas I felt like shit for not doing it sooner. It was a topic I CHOSE and I LIKED IT. WHY THE FUCK DID I PUT IT OFF>!!>??!? I don’t even remember, probably because of my other, less exciting but way bigger project weighing down my spirit

if I just change my scenery then I’ll probably feel better

go to the common room to be on my computer instead of the same for walls of my room that I’ve decided were better because they’re private and nobody can judge me in here, but they also can’t get to know me and I can’t get anything (or much, I’m somehow doing some of the readings) done. You know, like a few other people do and then I’ll feel weird for only starting to do it now. idk

if I could just find another passion to keep me going, a new show or book

god i need to get the courage to go enjoy the library here. I feel so out of place there. nothing’s worse than feeling like a waste of space and a stupid piece of shit in a university library full of people like me who are probably procrastinating or struggling to finish work or even trying to figure out the English language because they’re from the freaking Netherlands and India and everywhere else

while im just the american in England who is struggling over something I probably wouldn’t feel if my life were just a bit worse. as though switching my life with some starving child in the arctic circle would make me feel better because i’d be too close to death to feel like shit and they could enjoy all the benefits I feel like i’m abusing by wasting away on my computer typing into a void rather than actually working to resolve my own issues

because maybe this post will somehow help me resolve things by putting them all out for others to see. or so i can reference it later. idfk

like “hi friends, I’m feeling like shit. Also I’m loving my time abroad, I had chocolate pancakes for dinner last week and I somehow feel like I have the right to complain about doing nothing and feeling bad about doing nothing.”

like knowing you’re a piece of shit doesn’t make you better than anyone because everyone should be trying to work towards a better self and more complete sense of self but i don’t even know where I’m going with this sentence, let alone my fucking life

maybe I should get a boring office job because then I’ll know what to expect and how to get my mundane task done instead of trying to build up the will to be my own boss as a writer and still never feel motivated to put my LONG list of ideas out into the world beyond my desktop

I seriously have over 70 pages of bulleted ideas, half of them are barely formed but i can’t bring myself to get rid of them because they might be worth something to someone one day

i wonder how future historians will deal with old laptops and the documents that were never shared there or the posts that feel so personal but so private as anyone can find them but only some will know the face behind my screen

do I want to share these thoughts with everyone? just close friends? or nobody, not even myself?

fuck it

To my friends: don’t feel obligated to read all this or reply. But you can if you want. Wow this sounds so manipulative, like reverse psychology bullshit. I’m sorry. 

I’m second guessing posting all this. But after all the effort I put in, I think it’s important to have and remember or whatever.

here it goes

EDIT: two minutes later and I feel like an attention whore and feel bad and need to point it out before people (strangers mostly, but still) make that judgment of me themselves. And now feeling like more of an attention seeking piece of shit for pointing it out. why is my brain so broken

would I ever really talk like this face to face? will people see me differently after this? i... whatever

[libraryofmegharoni]

Down Comes the Night [Allison Saft]

started: May 30, 2021 finished: May 31, 2021 rating: 4.5/5

before reading:

bro so instagram has been trying to sell this book to me for the past like 4 months i mcfricking swear. after seeing it like 6 times I finally read the description and holy shit I wanted it so fucking bad. stand-alone, fantasy book, with enemies to lovers, and forced cohabitation (proximity is what I meant lol)????? sign me the fuck up

the last time time it came up on my timeline I was like “stop showing me this book I know I want it but it’s not out yet!!!” but then I had to click on to double check and it actually had come out a few days prior so I immediately purchased :)

while reading:

Love all the women in power / powerful women in the beginning 

ya know I don’t remember the last time I read a book that had a character that was a ‘bastard’ and was a female. every time it’s always a man who’s an illegitimate child of a prince or king. but Wren is an illegitimate child of a PRINCESS — so not only is the bastard a woman, her royal bloodline is through her mother. solid change of pace rather than like a prince who impregnated some random working woman

love all the casual homosexuality — Una is lesbian, Wren is bisexual, the inn keeper (male) has a husband, it be great

The mystery aspect seems like a criminal minds murderer just inserted into a fantasy setting. and I for one enjoy that. it’s but this huge grand magical evil, it’s just a very bad human

after reading:

I finish — I enjoy

I wish there was a little more after Wren woke up. like I wanna know how Hal is received when he goes back to his country. there’s a lot about how Danu worked in terms of politics & religion & shit but hardly any about Vesria. and I understand that the story is from Wren’s POV but I just wanted more!

I think that’s an issue I have with a lot of books — I always want more at the end. like the conflict has resolved now give me how that conflict impacted these characters we’ve been following for 300-400+ pages. 

it is a stand-alone but I would not be upset if Saft wrote a sequel about Hal going back to Vesria with Wren and how that all politically worked out. it seemed too neat of an ending and I want the difficulties that await him upon his return. like does he keep up with his lie that he was captured instead of telling the truth that he let his magic in his eyes deteriorate and ultimately ran away to solve the missing persons case ??

how harshly will Wren be received being Vesria’s rival’s bastard niece? do the Vesrians resent her and she has to fight to win their affections? how long until the Vesrians are receptive to Wren trying to teach them how to use magic to heal? and will they first think it’s a trick and a ploy to weaken them or something?

I know most of the time politics is less flashy rather than physical battles but I think there’s enough potential for a sequel and I want it!

and especially in sci-fi / fantasy — I want to know how the world operates. I really did want to find out more how magic worked in this universe too. 

that’s about all I didn’t like now back what I did

I really liked how Wren wasn’t super quick to side with Hal and how she still held onto the beliefs and goals that she started with. she doesn’t meet Hal and immediately do a 180. even tho she knows she cares about him, she sticks to her original plan of kidnapping him and bring him to her aunt to redeem herself. 

it isn’t until she realizes that Hal had walked back into the snow storm to find her does Wren start rethinking her goals and methods to achieve them. 

I think I really liked Wren and Hal’s characters and their separate character development and the development with / between each other but some of the other characters slightly suffered from it. for example the Queen — she kinda flipped to easily and revealed her magic without any real foreshadowing. or maybe there was foreshadowing and I just missed it idk but the Queen was also hardly present in the book so idk where or when her character would be more fleshed out. 

I loved that we see Wren unlearn so many things she was raised to believe about Hal and his people. in the beginning she describes how the Vesrians do like a the 100 grounder commander choosing style for their leader and i love that Hal is like ‘lol y’all really think that?!’ there’s quite a few scenes where its just Wren and Hal not talking about their host kidnapping and killing their countrymen, but just talking about how they were raised. that i wish we had more of. both of them, but especially Wren, understanding that they are just two countries of humans that have both been told things about the other to dehumanize them and justify killing. 

as for Hal -- he knew the impact of all the killing that he did for his country and was more than willing to answer for them. his redemption arc started before Wren meets him, and its evident from the first meeting that his only motivation in living is proving that Danu is not responsible for the missing Vesrians and Vesria is not responsible for the missing Danu soldiers. at this point, he only wants to prevent all out war between the two rival countries. and he sticks to that. when he’s captured, he doesn’t fight it. he actively gives himself up so Wren doesn’t get jailed too. 

This is another book i want to reread at some point to pick out quotes that i loved and appreciate it more. its a con of trying to read fast -- i miss beautiful quotes and don’t get to appreciate the world and characters enough

tl;dr - its gothic, there’s magic, there’s all kinds of gays, there’s good characterization. it pretty inside and out

[surveysonfleek]

345.

Would you convert to a different religion if your fiancé/fiancée was of a different faith? probably not. i’m open to doing a ceremony their way as long as i get to do the ceremony my way as well.

The world is ending, and you can save one group of five people: who would be the five people that you save? my mum, dad, sister and boyfriend. then i’d probably choose the smartest person in the world that would hopefully help us start over.

Is happiness a delusion? Is happiness only real when shared? Why or why not? i think happiness is a true emotion and doesn’t have to be shared to be experienced. it definitely helps when you’re surrounded by positive people but i’ve found myself to be happy while i’m alone every once in awhile.

What would the cover of your biography (presumably written by somebody else who never knew you, postmortem) look like? something bright but minimal.

Write about a really good or creative Tumblr URL that you see frequently on your dashboard. i don’t usually browse through tumblr anymore.

If swear words were not things like “shit” and “fuck” what would they be otherwise? shoot and fudge lol.

Write a very vivid description of what is/would have been your most perfect way to lose your virginity. What is your exact definition of ‘losing your virginity’? Also: will you/would you have liked to save your virginity for marriage? Why or why not? there’s no such thing as perfect but i’d imagine it with two people who are in love and are ready and willing to take that next step. i guess it could even be cuter if they were both losing their virginity together. i didn’t wait until and and i have no regrets.

Write a six-word fortune cookie. there’s no better time than now.

Why do you think eyebrows exist? i honestly have no idea. do they even have a purpose biologically?

If you could only have one contact on your phone, who would it be? someone i’m close to who’s number i don’t remember lol.

Your bucket list is limited to three items. travel, live to see my grandkids, buy myself something expensive. idk lol.

Do you wake up first or do you open your eyes first? wake up.

Write a love/thank you/appreciation letter to someone you take for granted. thank you for being patient with me, i know i’m always the one that gets irritated first but thank  you for sticking by me all these years.

What makes you feel infinitely sexy? my boyfriend.

Make a video and talk about something for two minutes. Anything. And don’t edit out any parts of it. hahaha no thanks.

Write a poem you’d stick on a refrigerator. no.

Are you afraid of aging? Why? i’m more afraid of planning my future and making sure everything works out than aging physically.

Describe one time you basically thought you were the shit, when your self-confidence was soaring through the roof. This is meant to be a positive thing. i don’t remember the last time tbh. probably during one of my brithday parties and knowing everyone there came for me.

If there was one person you could get drunk with and kiss and then later blame it on alcohol, who would it be? no one.

Does perfection exist? If the word perfection did not exist, what word would be in its place? What would perfection mean instead? meh, perfection is very subjective. another word could just be extreme satisfaction idk lol.

The next book you see that has over 300 pages, open up to page 136. Find a sentence you like, copy it down, and then write about it. nope.

Who makes you laugh the most? my boyfriend and friends.

What is one thing that you are proud of, that you think lacks praise/lacks appreciation from the people around you? It could be a simple thing; it could be a secret thing. my degree.

If you could accuse somebody of being fake/a bitch and not suffer any repercussions, who would you accuse, and how would you do it? eh, no one. if someone in my life is constantly being fake i’ll eventually let them go.

What is the funniest one-liner Tumblr text post you’ve ever read? idk.

Rewrite a verse of lyrics from your favorite song. They have to sound good when you sing it out loud along to tune of the song. no.

If the SATs/grades did not exist, in what way should colleges/teachers evaluate applicants? maybe through actual work?

Do you feel at home in your home? Is home a place for you? A book? A thing? A person? What would you want your home to be? yes, i’ve been living here for majority of my life.

Write your own eulogy. no.

What is something you felt like you deserved or should have belonged to you, but you never got? idk. a promising career.

Do you feel ‘connected to nature’? Do you frequent outside? Do you believe that a connection with the earth we live on is necessary in the first place? honestly not really. i’m always in awe for beautiful landscapes etc. but it’s not something i feel connected to.

Your opinion on oral sex? amazing.

If one TV show could be real, which one would you want it to be? Which one would screw our world over? the office is probably relatable to most office environments. 

How many kinds of love are there? a lot.

Which word needs to exist (or be used again)? idk.

What is the absolute hardest thing about staying alive? taking risks.

What is a book that has been recognized as ‘great literature’ that you dislike? Why? haha idk.

What is one change that you would make/have made to your life that will make/has made it better? there’s a fuckload of things i need to change.

Is everything you do for yourself? Can you truly be selfless? nope, i actually do things more for other people.

Are you the same person you were two and a half years ago? mostly, yeah.

Can you possibly conquer the labyrinth? nope.

As a hyper intelligent pan-dimensional being, what is the answer to the ultimate question, the life, the universe and everything? What is the ultimate question? fuck, idk.

[kiribakus]

P&P ZINE PRICE FAQ

okaaaaay so since i’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding the pricing + shipping of the zine im going to be fully honest with y’all about our production/shipping costs so you realize NO, we are not overpricing and YES, it really is that expensive.

tell us a little about the pricing of each individual book

for a book of about 300 pages, with ~35 color pages, it’s $11 to produce. that means that by selling it at $25, we make $14. double that to get add the second book. that means for 200,000 words and ~44 pieces of art, plus the extra time for designing, we’re making $14 each. for reference, i charge $10 per 1,000 words of my commissions and hina charges $38 per art piece in her commissions, not including if there’s more than one character or the background is complex. to say that we are undercharging is a massive overstatement, but we wanted to fit within the brackets given to us by the survey and we know that, for example, charging $200 for a fanfiction is not gonna fly.

okay well you could still stand to make less

the amount of money we want to amass, total, is around $3,000 and it is ONLY so we can meet each other and i can show hina around my country and hug her and kiss her. we’re not looking to make a living, okay, we’re just trying to pay for ONE trip.

about those bundles tho

so the “bundle” is $50 with the additions of stickers and bookmarks, we make $25 per bundle (so, less than selling them separately). ultimate bundle is the best deal for y’all and the worst deal for us. we make only $29 off of the $66 we charged bc the extra $37 is $11 x 2 (volumes), $9 (concept art), $6 (extras). so not even half of what we’re charging.

okay so your prices are suuuuuuper fair. but that shipping,,,,

united states (domestic) don’t even touch me. you know usps. you know they’re a bunch of bitches. you can pay $7 shipping. as for international, i know it’s ugly, but you can scan the usps international price listing yourself and see that those really just are the prices.

because of the complaints, i did another test weigh. weighed a 600 page book of similar size, then added another 400 page book that was a little smaller and had lighter pages to make up for our heavier pages and the concept art zine and the extras. together, it weighed just a touch over 48 ounces/3 pounds. THIS IS THE REAL WEIGHT. AND THE REAL COST. have you tried shipping a three-pound envelope overseas?? i don’t think so, it’s fucking expensive unless you’re in canada.

i was playing it safe and using the flat rate envelopes, but because people have been so shocked, i’m going to use first class international rates for three pounds and lower the shipping prices ~$5. PLEASE note this is a big risk bc if our zines end up being over three pounds, we’re paying out of pocket for shipping. this is the best we can do for you guys given that these things really just are that heavy idk what else to say.

(this being said, if you’ve already ordered the zine internationally we will be refunding you the extra ~$5 you paid in shipping within the next week)

[insert other comment]

shipping from chile is a no-go. hina laughed when i mentioned it.

i know you may have bought a decent-sized novel from online and paid $10 shipping but a) it’s nicer paper b) there are 2-3 books 3) i am not a corporation or a fortune 500 ceo. i am a third-year college student using an independent printing press.

as it stands im holding onto my ass hoping there won’t be a lot of hidden costs or fuck-ups i have to fix (ie paying for the envelopes).

the digital zine is a thing. it’s edited for readability, includes the whole story in one, and has all the art pieces. we may end up selling the extras on their own if we have overstock anyway so you could even possibly get those separate. i know it’s not the same as having the thing on your shelf but it’s supporting us, getting the full story over half a year in advance, and seeing all the art available nowhere else. asking $30 for 200,000 words and 44+ art pieces is incredibly fair. some may call it us ripping ourselves off.

i don’t mean to be harsh but like. we warned you waaaaaay back in december that physical copies were going to be EXPENSIVE because we were already calculating production costs. we weren’t lying. this shouldn’t be a shock. i promised you i wouldn’t overcharge, and i meant it. we aren’t. i won’t call these fair prices because they soooooo are not fair to us. but i want this printing to be a success and i want to be able to hold in my hands my writing and hina’s art, same as you. what you see before you is reality. and also telling artists their prices are too high is kiiiiinda shitty, y’know?

[meme-and-askbox]

Get To Know Me Uncomfortably Well

1. What is you middle name?     Rae, and I don't hate it as much as I did when I was younger.  In fact, if I ever get published, my pen name is going to be Rae (redacted).

2. How old are you?     43, physically.  Emotionally, 3 or 300, given any particular day 3. When is your birthday?     15 October. 4. What is your zodiac sign?     Libra, and boy, am I ever. 5. What is your favorite color?     Purple, black, fushchia, aqua. 6. What’s your lucky number?     Don't have one.  I don't have luck. 7. Do you have any pets?     I have two.  Fucko and Harpo.  Actually, they're cats, named Sam (Samhain Murray) and Maggie (after Maggie the Cat in Gargoyles) 8. Where are you from?     North Carolina.  Lil bit outside Charlotte. 9. How tall are you?     It says 5'7 on my license, but.  It's probably more like 5'5 10. What shoe size are you?      Ladies 11 wide, Men's 8-9 depending on the shoe. 11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?      5.  Two pairs of Sketchers, a black pair I keep for funerals, a pair of suede ankle boots, and a pair of Harley Davidson biker boots. 12. What was your last dream about?      Roxy the pink police poodle.  She's a recurring dream, and I'm working on turning her and her handler into a novel. 13. What talents do you have?     I don't suck at writing.  I have pretty phenomenal reading retention; I can't tell you page numbers or anything, but I can recall that I read article X, and in it, they said A, B, and C.  I'm good with most non-reptile animals. 14. Are you psychic in any way?     Occasionally I have dreams that come true later, and I get odd flashes of deja vu, in that I'm certain I've done this before but I don't quite remember when. 15. Favorite song?     At the moment, it's "Glitter and Gold" by Barns Courtney 16. Favorite movie?     Sleeping Beauty. I can watch it a million times. 17. Who would be your ideal partner?     oh, oi.  I have no idea, because I don't want a partner.  I guess my ideal would be someone who had the same interests as me, and who didn't mind being either fucked off and left alone, or attended to every whim as the need occurs.  I'd honestly like to have someone to talk TV/Movies/Books with, have a cuddle every now and again, then fuck off to your own thing. 18. Do you want children?     Fuck no.  But even if I did, I couldn't have 'em anymore.  All the lady parts got surgically removed in my 20s. 19. Do you want a church wedding?     Do you WANT me to combust on the spot? 20. Are you religious?     More than I'd admit to, but less than my fam would like me to be. 21. Have you ever been to the hospital?     For myself?  Yes.  For someone else?  Yes. 22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?     Do speeding tickets count?  Cause I had a couple. 23. Have you ever met any celebrities?     I have!  I used to hit the Star Trek convention circuit pretty heavy and I met most of the TOS cast, and the TNG cast too.  My favorite is John deLancie. 24. Baths or showers?     Showers, please. 25. What color socks are you wearing?     White with purple toes and heels. 26. Have you ever been famous?     Christ I hope not. 27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?     I'd like to be a Stephen-King level celeb, but not much more. 28. What type of music do you like?     80s and 90s.  I tuned out of music around 2000. 29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?     Uh, yes. 30. How many pillows do you sleep with?     5.  Three for my head, one between my knees, one tucked under my hip. 31. What position do you usually sleep in?     On my side, but lately it's been 50%-50% side/belly. 32. How big is your house?     3br, 2ba modular home.  So maybe 2000-ish sq ft? 33. What do you typically have for breakfast?     I don't.  I hate breakfast.  But because I take insulin, I usually scarf down some yogurt or Lance crackers. 34. Have you ever fired a gun?     Yes.  I enjoy guns even though I don't really own any.  My uncles both have/had huge collections, and I got my love from them.  But I know myself well enough to know that with my temper and my past suicidal tendencies, having a gun in the house would not end well. 35. Have you ever tried archery?     Nope 36. Favorite clean word?       Fudgin'. 37. Favorite swear word?     Fuck.  It's so versatile. 38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?     48 hours. 39. Do you have any scars?     Quite a few. 40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?     Not a real one.  I thought I had one for awhile in high school, but it turned out to be a joke some of the guys on my bus route played on me. 41. Are you a good liar?     Depends on the subject.  In the small things, yes.  "Does this make my ass look big?"  "No, of course not."  But on the big stuff?  No.  I don't lie well. 42. Are you a good judge of character?     Nope.  I'd like to think I am, but I have a string of disastrous ex-friendships and relationships in my wake to prove that I am, in fact, a shitty judge of character. 43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?      Not convincingly. 44. Do you have a strong accent?     Some people say I do.  I don't hear it, but then, I'm surrounded by it. 45. What is your favorite accent?     British, Scots, Irish, Spanish, Greek, Italian.  In that order. 46. What is your personality type?      INFJ, if I remember right. 47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?       My Harley boots. 48. Can you curl your tongue?      Nope. 49. Are you an innie or an outie?     Innie! 50. Left or right handed?     Right.  My dad was a leftie, though 51. Are you scared of spiders?      Nah, not really.  If I see one, I just burn the house down and go about my life.  Yes, I'm terrified of the little ELFs. 52. Favorite food?     Chicken and rice.  Cook the rice in chicken broth, simmer the chicken in with it, throw in a can of cream of chicken soup, stir, simmer until hot, and serve.  Best thing EVER. 53. Favorite foreign food?     Chinese.  Cashew Chicken, Orange Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork 54. Are you a clean or messy person?     Messy.  Cluttery.  Two Steps Away From Hoarding.  Take your pick. 55. Most used phrased?     Some variation of "fuck."  Lately, "fuck me." 56. Most used word?      See above, re: fuck 57. How long does it take for you to get ready?     If I'm showering first, about twenty minutes.  If I'm just getting dressed, about ten. 58. Do you have much of an ego?     I'd like to say no, but yes, I do. 59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?     Suck, baby. 60. Do you talk to yourself?     Sometimes I'm the only one who listens to me. 61. Do you sing to yourself?     Constantly, especially in the shower or when I'm cleaning. 62. Are you a good singer?     Fuck no. 63. Biggest Fear?     Snakes. 64. Are you a gossip?     Sometimes, especially with my besties. 65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?     Backdraft.  "You go... we go!" 66. Do you like long or short hair?     Shooooooooort. 67. Can you name all 50 states of America?     At one time I could.  But thanks to Yakko Warner, I can name all the countries of the world. 68. Favorite school subject?     Creative writing and physics.  I failed physics at the time, but I can tell, now that I understand most of it (thank you, Mythbusters!) that I would have loved it. 69. Extrovert or Introvert?     An extroverted introvert.  I don't MIND being around people, but I really would be happier with my own company.  But, when I am with other people, I am gregarious to the point of obnoxious. 70. Have you ever been scuba diving?     Nope. 71. What makes you nervous?     Practically everything. 72. Are you scared of the dark?     Nope.  Not since I was like, seven. 73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?     They don't call me Grammar Nazi for nothing... 74. Are you ticklish?      I refuse to answer on the grounds it might be used against me. 75. Have you ever started a rumor?      Nope, but I've certainly helped pass them along. 76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?       Yep, I used to be manager of my office.  Hated it. 77. Have you ever drank underage?       Yep. 78. Have you ever done drugs?       Nope.  I don't like needles, and I don't have the cash. 79. Who was your first real crush?        Wayne E.  He looked so handsome in his ROTC uniform, and he was always nice and friendly with me and my BFF JC.  We both had huge crushes on him, but he was a few grades ahead of us, so I don't think we registered except as friends.  But that was okay. 80. How many piercings do you have?    Four.  Two in each ear. 81. Can you roll your Rs?     Thanks to Sra. Iglacia, yes.  Took her two whole semesters, but she got the whole flaming lot of us Southern kids rolling our Rs. 82. How fast can you type?    80ish WPM, last time I took a test. 83. How fast can you run?     I think a snail outpaced me. 84. What color is your hair?     A nice chocolately brown, with highlights trending a little auburn. 85. What color is your eyes?     Cornflower-type hazel. 86. What are you allergic to?     Mobic, IV contrast dye, Ciprofloxacin, medical-grate latex, ragweed and oak pollens, dumbasses. 87. Do you keep a journal?     Not in a few years, no.  I stopped when my dad died, idk why. 88. What do your parents do?     My dad's passed away, but before he died he was disabled, and before THAT, he was a computer systems programmer and analyst for Piedmont Natural Gas and Bank of America.  Mom's retired and disabled now with back problems, but she was an LPN before that. 89. Do you like your age?     No.  I hate being a responsible grown-up.  I want to be ten or eleven again, old enough to know things, but young enough not to be responsible for anything other than basic chores, and I still got allowance. 90. What makes you angry?     Practically everything, at some point.  My family puts it as I have a wild hair across my ass and it'll go off anytime. 91. Do you like your own name?     It's not a bad little name, but I always liked Daphne better. 92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?    Fuck no.  Ugh. 93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?     NEITHER.  I want cats.  or dogs.  or fish.  or a bird, I think I could love a bird.  or a turtle. 94. What are you strengths?    I'm loyal to a fault; if you're my friend, I am always in your corner and I will 100% throw hands with the first motherfucker who looks at you wrong. 95. What are your weaknesses?    Impulsive, careless, stubborn 96. How did you get your name?     My Dad's uncle (Kelly) and my mother's father (Ray became Rae).  Can you tell they were expecting a boy and got me? 97. Were your ancestors royalty?     Christ, no.  They were poor Irish. 98. Do you have any scars?     ...didn't we just answer this?  Yes. 99. Color of your bedspread?     Flowered. 100. Color of your room?    White walls, burgundy carpet.

from @evilwriter37  and @marcymakemagic

[jacksonarmand-blog]

#TwitterCEO Akash Banerjee @TheDeshBhakt · Feb 9 While we outrage over #TwitterCEO's refusal to appear before the Parliamentary Panel; we can also take 2 minutes to understand how twitter has changed its basic guidelines...resulting in RW accounts being suspended. I have used a @FordMustang 🚗 to keep it as simple as possible🙏 Akash Banerjee @TheDeshBhakt · Feb 9 While we outrage over #TwitterCEO's refusal to appear before the Parliamentary Panel; we can also take 2 minutes to understand how twitter has changed its basic guidelines...resulting in RW accounts being suspended. I have used a @FordMustang 🚗 to keep it as simple as possible🙏 @TheDeshBhakt · Feb 9 While we outrage over #TwitterCEO's refusal to appear before the Parliamentary Panel; we can also take 2 minutes to understand how twitter has changed its basic guidelines...resulting in RW accounts being suspended. I have used a @FordMustang 🚗 to keep it as simple as possible🙏so, the ford mustang was described as a car that has non-owners beliefs attached to it. ill live on a farm and drive as fast as i want. i wont rob the store and then use uniforma to construct reason to harass owner years later. what i am saying is that I have the right to buy a lighter from a person and when called to help start a fire, by the will of myself, right, i will do what is natural. to drive with my own eyes and enjoy freedom. once i cause a person to lose theirs then there is a problem. let the occupants of the "car" read the preliminary hearing and their parents also and you will see that the nosy ignorant people who run mouth rather than engine, at 300 km. have no use of the sights to give opinion when they are re-lying on a social system that is not un-biased if, in fact, by tension, they did not manufacture, nor form the ground they walk on. I have no reason to believe that words can move a people to think about a cell phone picture size (stolen cell phone with a penis and vaginal lips that are beautiful and larger than the normal little tweeter who arithmetically algorithm to block tweets from being posted. me and my ex have what would be called stolen goods, proprietary evidence coincidentally photographic items that have been stolen from our blessing from...we have been stalked in our sleep and used to be made the fall out of sex sells while mainstreem americans are not in the bedroom watching right back. all cell phones have been stolen as well as the meta physical seatings cars and beds clothes and shoes so that the lustful nature of these characters goes un-imprisoned. i have a problem with the twitter ruling and add that have one officer from any of my cases involved and making or passing an opinionated judgment towards me there is to be an agreement that when crimes go unpunished for a length of time the persons involved have stricter consequences including death when people are harmed while handcuffed. It is to me that I say I want as many answers and guilty parties brought before me to be judged according to the good BOOKS. cell phones and computers containing these images are out and have not been returned as they are reported as stolen. thank you. my twitter account is frozen as these images continue to be surfaced around society at high prices.sara jackson @sarajack251 · Jul 3, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand@BoogsMalone stile hoe moves can't help it can usara jackson Retweeted 3 of your Tweets One World Presents Armand Role-lationship http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tcwx9BYFHno&sns=tw via @youtube Show allAin'tFuckedUpaboutIt @delectablerider · Jun 19, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand@_MissDD@YouTube so yeah. i'm listening to it properly now.. yeah y'all can get it too w/ your 4g mackin :-) is u famous?Your contact The Bay Area's Voice (@DTLBlu) is on Twitter!KNJBeats @LSarp · Jun 13, 2014 @jackson_armand Hi. I've got 42 free beats you don't want to miss. Check http://sleazylevy.kanaja.deKP_of_TheColleagues @TheColleagues · Jun 8, 2014 Replying to @daileybeats RT @jackson_armand RT @daileybeats Sick of working with people that get discouraged when shit doesn't happen on their time!Erwin Herre @ErwinHerre6837 · Jun 6, 2014 @jackson_armand U like Blair Fowler so i follwed U! Blair's my #1 guru & my #2 is @VyQwaintSignal My Way liked a Tweet you were mentioned in @SkylarCasteel @taz0121 @lloganduhh @LisPenafiel @jackson_armand @MerikieEBekker Thank you for the support and voting! #warpedtour #friendsSignal My Way Retweeted a Tweet you were mentioned in @SkylarCasteel @taz0121 @lloganduhh @LisPenafiel @jackson_armand @MerikieEBekker Thank you for the support and voting! #warpedtour #friendsDy-verse Productions Retweeted your Tweet http://johnnyjuliano.com a Dy-verse Production feat. Armand/ STAY SAFE http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pw1oAxkvaR8&sns=tw via @youtubeAin'tFuckedUpaboutIt Retweeted your reply @ALL4MYBOYS2010 @_MissDD http://johnnyjuliano.com a Dy-verse Production feat. Armand/ STAY SAFE http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pw1oAxkvaR8&sns=tw via @youtubeAin'tFuckedUpaboutIt @delectablerider · May 23, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand@_MissDD@YouTube idk, is it mastered? I can't pay attention, sounds like a familiar beat tho.. probably just my tablet :-/YNTO Webozine_Ent. and GrizzlyBeatz💭 Retweeted your reply @Grizzlybeatz http://johnnyjuliano.com a Dy-verse Production feat. Armand/ STAY SAFE http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pw1oAxkvaR8&sns=tw via @youtubexW🌊 @xWBooking · May 22, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand were you trying to xWork with us today?🍯HöñëÿĆö🍯 @cocokissx · May 22, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand sorry ! 3236933027 there you go🍯HöñëÿĆö🍯 @cocokissx · May 22, 2014 @jackson_armand hi ^_^come show your talent right now on @CREATIVUradio "take the mic" 323693027 press 1 to go on live!sara jackson @sarajack251 · May 22, 2014 @jackson_armand what u mean by them post u talking shitJoey Huspek Retweeted your Tweet That awkward moment when your focus sets in on that one person. You wonder if they are focused on you too. QuestionMyles Jay Giovanni @TheRealMFast · May 22, 2014 Replying to @jackson_armand @jackson_armand what u mean?Peter Simeti 💬 @petersimeti · May 21, 2014 @CharxiCola @PanteraCfH77 @flixfuel@jackson_armand our #kickstarter for #theCHAIR is underway! please share, thanks!THE CHAIR a dark horror film on death row with a GREAT cast A psychological horror film that will have you on the edge of your seat. Starring Eric Roberts, Brian Thompson, Bill Oberst Jr., & more kickstarter.comWeed and T ｈｉｚｚｌｅ Retweeted your Tweet @PurpleThizzle your friends are awesomeIG: MissLadyShadow Retweeted your reply @missladyshadow @lilunowolfpack @mstacks 'TURnT' http://reverbnation.com/armand1981/song/20900850-turntDy-verse Productions Retweeted 2 of your Tweets http://johnnyjuliano.com a Dy-verse Production feat. Armand/ STAY SAFE http://youtube.com/watch?v=Pw1oAxkvaR8&sns=tw via @youtube i seek the Ford Mustang reps. reason for this HIGHSPEED CHASE CONVERSATION AS WELL AS THE TWEETING REACHING FOLLOWERS AND OR NEWS GROUPS MAKING HEADLINES RANT WITHOUT SAYING THE NAMES KEEPING THE INFORMATION TO THE SOCIAL FROM NON-COMFORMING TO THE NATURAL ORDER OF "USE" COST IS THE SPENDING OF DOLLARS BEFORE YINNING ACCOUNTS FREEZING BELIEFS WITH RUBBISH, INSULATING INSULTS BRANDISHING POLICE FIREARMAS WHEN MAZE FORMERS ARE NOLO CONTENDRE ILL INFORMAED ABOUT WHO IS THE SECRET LABIAL RICH MEN AND THE PHALANDERING PRIESTESSES MAGISTRATING KM. 300 OR MORE OUT OF RRARIFACEBOOK.COMOWI1981FACEBOOK.COMUniform Commercial Code | California Secretary of State

https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/ucc/ UCC Connect provides online services for UCC inquiries, filings, copy and debtor ... The Secretary of State's office is the central filing office for certain financing ... You visited this page on 7/29/19. ALFRED JOSEPH ARMAND JACKSON, DEBTOR UCC 1-207 UCC 1308

Uniform Commercial Code | California Secretary of State

https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/ucc/ UCC Connect provides online services for UCC inquiries, filings, copy and debtor ... The Secretary of State's office is the central filing office for certain financing ... You visited this page on 7/29/19. ALFRED JOSEPH ARMAND JACKSON, DEBTOR UCC 1-207 UCC 1308

Uniform Commercial Code | California Secretary of State

https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/ucc/ UCC Connect provides online services for UCC inquiries, filings, copy and debtor ... The Secretary of State's office is the central filing office for certain financing ... You visited this page on 7/29/19. ALFRED JOSEPH ARMAND JACKSON, DEBTOR UCC 1-207 UCC 1308

so, the ford mustang was described as a car that has non-owners beliefs attached to it. ill live on a farm and drive as fast as i want. i wont rob the store and then use uniforma to construct reason to harass owner years later. what i am saying is that I have the right to buy a lighter from a person and when called to help start a fire, by the will of myself, right, i will do what is natural. to drive with my own eyes and enjoy freedom. once i cause a person to lose theirs then there is a problem. let the occupants of the "car" read the preliminary hearing and their parents also and you will see that the nosy ignorant people who run mouth rather than engine, at 300 km. have no use of the sights to give opinion when they are re-lying on a social system that is not un-biased if, in fact, by tension, they did not manufacture, nor form the ground they walk on. I have no reason to believe that words can move a people to think about a cell phone picture size (stolen cell phone with a penis and vaginal lips that are beautiful and larger than the normal little tweeter who arithmetically algorithm to block tweets from being posted. me and my ex have what would be called stolen goods, proprietary evidence coincidentally photographic items that have been stolen from our blessing from...we have been stalked in our sleep and used to be made the fall out of sex sells while mainstreem americans are not in the bedroom watching right back. all cell phones have been stolen as well as the meta physical seatings cars and beds clothes and shoes so that the lustful nature of these characters goes un-imprisoned. i have a problem with the twitter ruling and add that have one officer from any of my cases involved and making or passing an opinionated judgment towards me there is to be an agreement that when crimes go unpunished for a length of time the persons involved have stricter consequences including death when people are harmed while handcuffed. It is to me that I say I want as many answers and guilty parties brought before me to be judged according to the good BOOKS. cell phones and computers containing these images are out and have not been returned as they are reported as stolen. thank you. my twitter account is frozen as these images continue to be surfaced around society at high prices.