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honey-andtea1889 · 4 years ago

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The Cold Autumn Evenings (H.S.) Part One

AN: Okay so I really tired making this an MGG fic but it didn’t work out like at all. However, Harry literally fit this so well and I seriously couldn’t resist. I’m currently working on parts two and three already and I’m so excited for y’all to read this! Please don’t forget to request stuff, my asks are open and dry asf!

Summary: Y/N works as a writing intern for a large Publishing Company in London. Harry is her boss and wants her to read a novel he had written, little does she know that the novel has a deeper meaning to Harry.

Warnings: None

Song: The City by Ed Sheeran

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It started like any other day. The November morning was frigid as Y/N had made her way into the publishing office she was interning at with four coffees for her coworkers and boss. The heat of the building caught her as she walked into the small, busy office. Fall in London was always beautiful, but the cold could take its toll more than anything.

Y/N had gotten this internship during Uni, she was lucky enough to be able to get it due to it’s high demand for already set writers. It was one of the more prestigious Publishing Companies to work for. She had applied for the paid internship position earlier in the semester and was very lucky to have gotten in when she did. The company was only hiring one or two interns and with how much Y/N loved writing, she knew she had to push to get the job.

Y/N had been writing stories since she could pick up a pencil. She thoroughly enjoyed writing fantasy stories, however she’s recently grown accustomed to romances. She always knew this was a career path she wanted to take which made her job all the more worth it. She was able to lose herself in her writings, that’s what she loved most about it.

“Thank you Y/N!” Claire, Y/N’s best friend, said as she took the warm beverage from the cup holder.

“No problem! How’s that story going so far? Anything interesting yet?” Y/N asked as she passed out the other coffees.

“Ugh no. Don’t get me wrong, the whole Sci-fi feel of it is cool, but there’s little to no understanding of the plot. Plus no background on the characters at all, and don’t get me started on the vague descriptions of the settings.” Claire groaned as she flopped the packet of paper down on her desk.

“Yikes, sounds rough. What chapter are you on?” Y/N asked.

“Chapter five.. I don’t want to toss it just yet because there’s some potential to it but seriously, this guy couldn’t have tried a little harder?”

Y/N chuckled as she settled into her desk, getting herself ready for the day that was planned. She had a set schedule for each and every day. She would answer calls, take stories back to her boss, and so on. Y/N was happy that she landed this internship but she wanted to show off some of her writings. She knew she wasn’t terrible with her stories and there’s always room for improvement, but she wanted to show what she could do. She had actually brought it up to her boss, Harry, but he never had the chance to read it simply because he was too busy with other clients.

Harry always took on a lot of work. He would read almost 4 stories a day! It was astonishing to see that someone who runs one of the top publishing companies still had time to make himself a meal in between all of the work he was doing. That was an admirable trait about him. Y/N knew that asking Harry to take time to read something she had written was asking a lot, to which she never really tried.

Y/N had also tried reaching out to Claire but she felt as though reading a friend’s work was biased, like she already knew she would go through and publish it without reading it all. Y/N didn’t want to just be given that kind of credibility. She needed to work for it and the only way to even remotely come close to that was for her boss to read it or for her to go to an opposing firm which could cause her to lose the internship and everything she had worked for up to this point. So with that in mind, Y/N left it alone.

There was a stack of papers on Y/N’s desk for Harry, contracts and other stories that needed to be read over again for editing. She sighed as she picked up the stack and walked over to his office, slightly knocking on the mahogany door.

“Come in.” Harry said as he pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

“Good morning Mr. Styles! I have your coffee and here are some things that were left for you. There’s a contract or two for the last couple authors you signed and some stories that came in this morning.” She said, settling everything in its proper place.

“Thank you, Love. Don’t know if I could do this job without ya!” Harry smiled, his thick English accent melting into the words he spoke.

Y/N blushed and left the office with a skip in her step.

In a sense, Y/N was Harry’s assistant. Though that wasn’t necessarily her job title, it was basically the job of it. She didn’t mind it though. She actually loved the job, only because Harry made work so much better.

There’s no denying that Harry is attractive, anyone with a pair of eyes could see that. His dark brown hair flopped on his head elegantly, a few loose curls falling down around his face sometimes. He had these bright green eyes that could captivate anyone with a single stare and these plushy, raspberry colored looking lips that looked so inviting. His dimples that appeared whenever he smiled were some of the cutest things people have seen. His stature was also something that caught the attention of people. He was tall, just the right height to show some intimidation. He had broad shoulders that had Y/N weak in her knees nearly every day and his suits always clung onto his built form, driving every woman in the office mad with how great he looked. Hell, the word attractive doesn’t do the man any justice.

Y/N flopped on her desk and began her work. She spent most of her day answering emails and printing off agreements and such for incoming clients. It wasn’t the most fun, but she was able to stop into Harry’s office a few times so she wasn’t too bummed.

“Well I’m sorry Mr. Thompson, but unfortunately, this was already written and made into a play on broadway. I can’t really do that considering it’s plagiarism and I can get into a lot of trouble with that.” Harry sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

Y/N giggled as she set the last set of stories on his desk. He shook his head and hung up the phone, rubbing his eyes and groaning out of frustration. Y/N smiled and sat down on the chair in front of his desk.

“What was that all about?” She asked.

“Some very estranged gentleman wanted me to publish a story about two witches in a form of High school setting.” Harry said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Wait...isn’t that Wicked?” Y/N asked as she crossed her legs.

“Exactly my point. Do you know what he wanted to call it?”

“Oh man, this should be interesting.”

“He wanted to call it ‘Haunted High’. Sorry but I’m not going to be sued because of his lack of creativity and effort.” Harry chuckled.

Y/N giggled and ran her fingers through her hair. Harry smiled at the girl in front of him.

He did have a form of admiration for Y/N. He loved how hard she worked and her drive for the job. He enjoyed having her around the office as well. Her energy was something sweet to behold and he adored her personality. She was always so happy and bubbly whenever he saw her. Harry was a little nervous when she was brought in from Uni. He didn’t want to overwhelm her with everything they did but she’s been working like a champ. He was so lucky to have someone like her to help him out.

“I was going to head to lunch here pretty soon, did you need me for anything before I go?” Y/N asked as she stood from the chair.

“I think I’m all set at the moment, love. Thank you.” Harry smiled as he turned to his computer.

Y/N smiled as she exited the small room and headed to the elevator. Claire joined her as they went down to the main floor. The pair walked to a small cafe that was down the street from the Publishing building. They found a few seats over by the big window and happily sat down for their lunch hour.

“So, have you tried to get Mr. Styles to read your book yet?” Claire asked as she skimmed over the menu.

“Not yet. He’s got a lot coming up and not to mention the I-couldn’t-tell-you how many new stories to read every day. I don’t wanna add to it, ya know? He doesn’t need the extra stress.” Y/N explained.

“Though I do understand it, I still think you should try. I’m sure he’ll make time for you.” Claire winked.

Y/N chuckled as she continued looking over the menu.

Claire had a preconceived notion that Harry had a bit of a crush on Y/N and vice versa. Anyone could see the slight attraction between the two and it was only a matter of time before either one made a move on the other. Even Y/N’s mother thought that they’d make a cute couple!

She thought about what Claire had said. Would Harry really make time for her? And if so, why? She’s only his assistant, it’s not like they were the closest of friends or something. Y/N wanted some of her stories published, but was she ready to actually pull through with it?

After lunch, Claire and Y/N returned to the office to finish up their work day. Y/N sat at her desk and contemplated on talking to Harry about her stories. She built up some courage and made her way to his office. She knocked on the door and heard a faint ‘come in’ from the other side. As she entered, she could see Harry with his glasses on, indulged in one of the stories that was brought in earlier. She cleared her throat, Harry picking his head up and smiling at her.

“Hello, petal! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Harry asked, looking back down at the packet.

“M-Mr.Styles....I was wondering..I-I know you’re incredibly b-busy with other stories a-and clients b-but...I was curious that...m-maybe you could look at..m-my story that I’ve wr-written?” Y/N stumbled on her words.

Harry looked up at the girl in front of his desk. She was playing with the buttons of her blouse, indicating that she was nervous to ask, as though her mumbling and stuttering didn’t already give that away. He smiled at her. Harry had a feeling that Y/N knew it might not happen due to how busy he always is, but she looked so sweet with asking and she’s probably worked so hard on it. She wants him to look over her work. In his heart, he’s honored. It’s not every day where one of your employees wants you to take a look into their daily lives. Y/N wanted his opinion and his judgement on something she holds near and dear to her.

“Alright, Y/N. Since you’re so eager for me to see it, bring it in tomorrow and I’ll take a look.” Harry said.

Y/N could feel the weight lift off of her shoulders.

“You’re kidding.” She coughed.

“Y/N, when it comes to doing my job, I don’t do anything of the sort. I will do you the favor of reading it, however this does not guarantee that it will be published. You’re still rather young so I am not having my hopes super high for it.” Harry sighed, closing the packet and setting it in his briefcase.

Y/N felt the slight pang in her chest from his words. He didn’t think her writing would be good. She was hoping he would be a little more excited about it but it seems as though she was wrong.

“Yes Mr. Styles, I understand. I will have it on your desk tomorrow morning.” Y/N whispered.

She exited the office as quickly as she could and slumped over to her desk.

How could he think her book would suffice to all of the other bullshit he was reading? It just didn’t make sense to her. She knew she had to prove him wrong. She pulled out her computer and began looking for her best story. She found the one she had written in her 3rd year of Uni and printed it out. She wrote on a sticky note for Harry to see that it was one of her best pieces.

Harry was leaving his office when he saw her making a few notes on her calendar. She looked up and straightened up her posture, becoming a little nervous that he might ask if she was upset by his comment that was made a few minutes prior.

“I’m heading home now, I’m going to be a bit late tomorrow morning. I have a meeting with corporate. They’ve been on my arse about how things have gone here and why we haven’t met our quota for this quarter. Whenever you get your story, please leave it on my desk and I will try to read it as soon as I get in.” Harry stated, looking down at his phone.

“Yes sir. Is there anything you need me to do tonight?” Y/N had asked.

“N-..actually yes. There’s an extra novel in the top drawer of my desk that needs to be looked at. I can’t get to it at all, is there any way you could look at it?” He asked.

Y/N nodded. He bid his goodbyes and left the building. Y/N entered the office with her book in hand, placing it on the center of his desk neatly. Presentation is key. Before she left, Y/N grabbed the novel that Harry was talking about and exited his office. She looked at the title and stopped in her tracks.

His Beloved, Her Heart by Harry Styles.

He wanted her to read his novel. Just like hers, there was a note attached to the packet of paper.

Y/N, I know I was a bit harsh with my words earlier to which I apologize for and this is probably the last thing you want to do tonight but I need a second opinion. I trust your judgement and would appreciate any feedback you give. Xx H

She traced over his handwriting delicately and felt a smile creep on her face. She soon packed up her things and scampered back to her small flat on the South side of London. When she returned home, Y/N threw her shoes into the closet closest to the door and entered her kitchen. She heard the small pitter patter of her french bulldog, Sam. Petting the sweet pooch, she started up her coffee machine and went into her bedroom to change into some comfier clothes.

Y/N snuggled into her couch with her coffee in hand and began reading Harry’s story. Within the first few chapters, she was hooked. The plot of two people meeting in Central Park and falling in love during Christmas time was enticing, not to mention the beautiful descriptions of the settings, emotions, and character development was captivating.

She never really pegged Harry as a writer. From what she’s heard around the office, Harry was more for reading poetry and writing music rather than stories. Rumor has it that he didn’t want the job of running the company in the first place. However, from what Y/N was reading, those statements were more wrong than anything. She loved how he worded certain paragraphs and how delicate the characters were made to be. It almost felt as though she was reading the script to her favorite Hallmark Christmas movie.

She did note a few small things like grammar/spelling mistakes (happens to the best of us, really), questioned why he wanted to end a certain chapter the way he did, and so on. It was almost one in the morning before she noticed how late it was.

With that in mind, Y/N headed to bed, preparing for more reading tomorrow.

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callsignbaphomet · 5 years ago

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10 Qs!

Tagged by @lordfenric (tysm!)

1. Do you have an OC that’s basically a version of yourself?

I....do actually. I've said it a couple of times and then I get embarrassed and then delete the post. Anyway, he's a version of myself AND a version of myself I wish I was. Ya know, my ideal self. He also filled another role which I haven't had the need to put to use as hard in a very long time which is a good thing I think. He's grown, evolved, matured as I have. Any changes to him are pretty much things I've changed about myself. Basically he'll always be a WIP because I'm one too.

2. What is your favorite type of scene to write?

Ooh! Many scenes! Fight scenes are super fun! Love me a good gun fight. I think I like more dramatic and emotionally charged scenes. I think I'm pretty good at those and suspense filled scenes. Not to be mistaken for horror though.

I know it wasn't part of the question but my least favorite are sex scenes only because I am HORRIBLY TERRIBLE at them. For real. I've tried my hand at it numerous times but it sounds disingenuous and like I'm trying way too hard. I really suck at them. Got a bunch of half finished files of n///sfw stuff that I never finished because I just think I did a terrible job at it. Maybe I'll upload 'em for a laugh one of these days.

3. Do you write cliffhangers?

No. I don't like them. I think they're like jump scares in horror movies. Just cheap ways to get the reader's attention.

If I ever leave a chapter on a cliffhanger it was not intentional. Much less would I leave a story on a cliffhanger.

4. One word or phrase that you think you overuse (but probably don’t):

I overuse the word however way too much. Probably another one but can't recall at the moment.

5. Least favorite thing about writing?

Editing. Gods above I haaaaaaaate editing. Mainly for two reasons: I always think the sentence/paragraph/chapter coulda been better executed. Second reason is I waste a shit ton of time second guessing my choices in words. Listen, you don't need to tell me my vocabulary is at kindergarten level. I KNOW it is. Most times I feel like shit about it and waste even more time with the browser on dictionary.com looking for synonyms for words to replace them with so it doesn't look like a 5-year-old just tried to write a weird espionage (idk C called what I'm writing that and it's stuck ever since).

6. How much prepwork do you do before writing if any? (outline, scene breakdown etc)

Far

Too

Much

I overthink it to death.

I have my plot, characters, locations and everything that goes into it. To the point of what weapons everyone will be using and why. I take a crash course on the locations, the culture, languages, take an unnerving amount of screenshots on Google Earth. Check stores and hours of business. Traffic, population, day to day activity. Check the history of the location and a refresher on what happened in the years where the story takes place. Find ways to translate the local language. Weapons! I check their history, when they were made, if they're still in service, what ammo, they're strengths and flaws, manufacturers. Same goes for the gear they wear. Why are the antagonists there. What do they want and how do they get it and how can they succeed. Should they succeed? Should they fail? Why? What motives they have. What the history and origin of the mythological creature(s) are involved is.

Take all I just said and triple the amount of work if I make up a town or city for the sake of storytelling.

Tl;dr a lot.

7. Do you use any visuals to help you with writing? If so, what?

Nowadays I have to. I don't know, I think my brain is broken or something and I can't concentrate like I used to. I can see and hear the scene in my head like a movie and I can repeat it as many times as needed but as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard I draw a blank and lose direction. I've actually resorted to doing storyboards of scenes and rough sketches of buildings so I know where to go, why and what for. I've turned all my sketchbooks into storyboards.

If there's hand to hand fighting or with bladed weapons I watch some videos on YouTube or wherever I find them and write down what I see and later edit it well.

If I was any good at it Legion would be a comic instead but I'm no good at it. So I gotta resort to writing and even then I heavily question my ability to do so. I know I'll get something written and finished someday but boy is it frustrating.

8. Is there magic or new technology in your WIP? How did you come up with it?

Yes. Both but mostly magic. I'm kinda working on implementing more technology. I do also combine both magic and technology. One example is a small sphere made of plastic that can easily break. Place it in your mouth and bite into it. Inside is a light pink mist that feels like a warm liquid (also minty sensation) that travels through your body. It's a combination of adrenaline, pain killer and healing aid. Won't magically mend broken bones, remove bullets or revive the dead but it'll help in ugly situations. There's also laser weapons that run on crystals. So long as the crystal has energy you got ammo then just recharge the crystal and you're good to go. There's some more tech but that's for another time.

The only magic I've made up for this is Astral magic and its counterpart and it's been a bitch trying to balance it out but I've gotten there.

Portals are also a thing I added in.

Honestly I really wanted to add magic. There's supernatural stuff in it anyway so might as well go all the way. I just come up with these out of wanting it there or to fill a role.

9. What are you currently reading?

Nothing. With my attention span I'm lucky to get to the third page. Last book I bought is still in a drawer gathering dust. Was a Tom Clancy I believe.

10. What would you like to see more of in Fantasy novels?

Wouldn't be fair to make demands for a thing I don't partake in now would it. Don't read anymore honestly.

Tagging: no one but if ya wanna give this a go then go right ahead.

#tag game

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mercurialsmile · 7 years ago

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Another Update---What Now?

So. I finally won fucking NaNoWriMo I finished that shit 5 days early in fact. I’m pretty proud of myself but more than anything, I kinda wanna lay down and never open up google docs ever again.

That being said, rest is for the weak, I still have a lot of shit to do, so this post is kinda me organizing my ideas and spitting them out. When I talk/type out my ideas and share them, it helps me figure things out. Which is what this is, mainly.

As of right now, I still need to actually finish Mirroring Shadows (My NaNo novel) as tho it is now 50k words+, it’s not even halfway done yet. Kinda makes me wanna cry but that’s how it is I guess. Since I wanna get the “update every day during November” achievement for NaNo, I’ll prob end up still working on that until December 1st. Then I’m gonna take a break from Mirroring Shadows and return to it either when I am no longer sick of writing it and wanna continue it, or in January. We’ll see which comes first.

That being said, I will probably both be taking some breaks during most of December (both because of my current burned out-ness and also school shit) but once the semester ends, I’ll return to writing full-force hopefully unless my shitty mental health gets in the way.

During December, I hope to post a new BAP oneshot (this one is gonna be smut ;3c), chip away more at LiaL and try and get. SOMETHING done. At least a chapter. I hope. Aaand lastly, I will also be trying to finish Icarus. I’m more than halfway done with Icarus so we’ll see how that goes.

On top of all that writing mumbo-jumbo, I also wanna get to reading my first draft for my Counting Stars novel. As of right now, it is severely underwritten and a lot of it needs a complete rehaul and most likely, most of it will need to be rewritten from scratch.

I won’t get into the nitty-gritty writing process during December, tho. December will be me printing it out, reading its bullshit, hating it, and then marking it all up and figuring out a new outline for it. God. Fun. I guess. But not until 2018!

Now that NaNo is over, my main goal is, of course, “getting shit done that’s been sitting around.” I really wanna finish Icarus so I can be done with it and not have it on my plate anymore, I really wanna get back into the groove with LiaL so I can get that posted and put together again, and I ALSO am still applying edits to LiaFt.

AND ON TOP OF ALLLLL THAT STUFF I might be moving some of my fics over to WattPad. I haven’t decided quite yet. If I did, it would most likely be my more completed and... “”respectable”” fics. Sorry Triphile such as The Once Upon a Time Trilogy, Icarus, There’s Still No Cure For Crying, My Sincerest Apologies, and also some of my original works MINUS 30 Ways since 30 Ways is super old and misgenders Ophiel and I guess I should edit that but jesus that will take forever and I really don’t want to.

Idk. I’m throwing lots of ideas at the wall and most of them I’ll forgot. I’ll probably make a poll about whether or not I should post anything fanfiction related on WattPad, then do ANOTHER poll with what fics I should transfer over there.

Maybe. I might do that if I actually remember to do that.

Speaking of posting nonsense, I am debating on whether I wanna post Mirroring Shadows online. It might be a good idea to actually show my novels (or at least one lol) to people rather than just hope the charisma I totally have will interest people (note: I am being sarcastic. I am well aware my Charisma is like a -5 or smth).

Thing is, Mirroring Shadows isn’t done, I have no idea when it will be done, I am terrified of people ignoring my original writings as most people do bc it sucks I guess idk, and yeah. Which is why I am REALLY on the fence and will probably do a poll about this as well December is gonna be the month of polls I guess guys

Anyways. Yeah. That’s allll that’s up. I hope you can make sense of this gibberish I just typed out. There’s a lot of it.

ANYWAYS those are my plans, if you’re interested, want clarification, or have a question about something, just shoot me an ask, and I’ll be happy to answer it.

If not, if ya actually read through this entire post, like it so I know you read it please!

#shutuplanx #update

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neioo · 7 years ago

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SUMMARY: They thought it was over once the ‘Plan’ was completed. Time had passed. Most of their wounds had healed, but unknown to them, there were still other Nations, forgotten Nations, who continued to be tortured and experimented on.

All until one man, also forgotten, decided to rescue them and craft his revenge.

His actions cause the secrecy of the ‘Plan’ to crumble. Those who were involved are exposed. And as their punishment, they’re forced to work as pawns. Their ideals are again challenged—their humanity put to the test. Are they doing the right thing? Who can they trust? But most importantly:

Are they to blame?

This book is a Sequel to Are we humans? THE BOOK is available for purchase (HERE) or (HERE) as well as can be found (here) on AO3. As it’s a sequel, AWH can also be found (here) on AO3

Thank you so much for sticking with me! A bunch of rambling about this novel and updates on WDWW under the cut ^^

It’s done. It’s finally fucking done.

I mentioned this when I posted the proof, but my spring semester was rough, and then I catapulted myself into a study abroad in China for two months, which was very labor-intensive (10+ hours of work every day, not to mention going to 5 hours of classes)

I’m alive, though, so that’s cool.

I think DFU after being editing is way better than when I started. Are there still mistakes? Probably. Typos? I hope not, but…I was trying to go really fast at the end.

But Maddie, shouldn’t you stay with DFU and release it when it’s perfect?

I’m one person who’s doing this in their free time and at this point, I’ll be pissed if I find something wrong, but I’ve just come to accept it. If you purchase this or read on AO3 and see something, I apologize.

My editor really helped a bunch, so thank you so much. DFU is better because of you ^^

Updates:

Sorry for not touching WDWW in a month (I needed to focus on DFU and I needed a break as people do every now and then). I have an outline for the next two chapters, and I’ve already started writing the next

Ha ha.

I think I planned too many chapters. 6 (yes 6) seem unimportant so I’ll probably be scrapping them, making the total to 15 chapters. idk I’m not sure if this’ll be longer than 45k. That’s either cool or not cool. I’ll be done it soon! But I’ll also be done the AWH AU soon so.

Still gotta edit the fucking thing, though. You’re not free of me quite yet

In all honesty, I want to go back and edit AWH more too (I know jesus), but that’s still up in the air

Once WDWW is edited and done, I’m not writing any more hetalia fanfiction. I’ve done my support for the fandom. 再fucking见

(nah I’ll probably be sad and have an identity crisis but considering I’m only on chapter six as of now, and then I have to edit, we have at least 5 months before that happens)

What’s afterwards then? Probably OC work. I do want to get a novel published one day. And this blog? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe I’ll go into the void like George deValier . you son of a gun George

Goodies! Or whatever.

Here’s what I posted at the back of DFU that you can read here if ya want:

I was a freshman sitting in my high school’s library, named the ‘Knowledge Commons’ because the school was a newly opened IB only high school within my school district, and I guess the ‘Head Master’ felt the need to be pretentious. I was the only kid in there. It was the first year and there were only two grades, and most kids had class while I opted to take a free period. My friend Simran got out of orchestra early and ran in there to find me.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

I was probably fucking around on YouTube, looking up anime OSTs, but it’s hard to remember. “Nothing.”

“You should watch this new anime I found!”

I frowned. “Yeah, but I’m watching Soul Eater right now.”

“No, trust me. Have you ever heard of Hetalia?”

“Vaguely. I was thinking I might watch it next.”

“Watch it now! The episodes are only 5 minutes, and it’s on YouTube.”

I shrugged. “Okay.”

And that’s the story of how I sold my soul.

Simran left me in the middle of me watching the first episode. I don’t know where she went—the bathroom? But I was left alone and confused as all hell.

But I kept watching.

I never did finish Soul Eater, by the way.

I immediately got sucked into the Hetalia universe, and with the 2012 Olympics approaching; I started daydreaming weird scenarios with the characters. That summer, I was also working at a horse camp, and the times when I was doing mind-numbing manual labor work, I would also daydream.

It was somewhere in late 2013 that Are We Humans? was fully laid out in my head. The universe started with the single scene of Spain and Prussia rescuing France from Nazis (which I’ve never even written yet), and then expanded into…this.

It was in late 2013 when I was taking a shower that I finished daydreaming about how Prussia was rescued and happy, realized that: “I could make this a complete novel,” and then immediately got irrationally angry. I had told myself I would never write fanfiction because then I could never get it published.

So I refused to write it.

I focused on OC work, but then in my junior year of high school, we started learning about the Second World War and the Cold War.

Before this, I never cared for history class, but I started paying attention for the sole fact that I could ‘make my Hetalia daydreams more historically accurate.’

In May 2015, I graduated high school.

And I was bored.

A few weeks passed, and I tried to entertain myself. It was on June 9, 2015 that I dug through my computer to look at my old writings.

On that fateful day, I found something I wrote in 2014.

I was at an internship for school—if you could call it that. It was a three-day thing where I went to a company, interviewed people, then sat around and tried to bide my time. It was in one of those down periods that I desperately tried to entertain myself by writing.

AKA, I wrote the first two chapters to Are We Humans?

It was in first person. The last OC novel I wrote in was that, so it only seemed fitting at the time. But on June 9th, 2015, I knew that people hated reading fanficion in 1st person, so I change it to 3rd, posted it online, and then shut my computer for the rest of the night.

The first comment I ever got, was “Nice drawing :)” back when I posted my own artwork with the fic. I was immediately flabbergasted, thinking no one would ever comment on it, let alone read.

Since then, the entire series grew. I finished Are We Humans? in a little over six months, and after doing so didn’t think I would write a sequel. But then, somewhere in March 2016 I was walking laps outside my dorm, and came up with this entire idea. Honestly, I wasn’t going to write this either until I got bored, yet again, in summer 2016.

Shout out to my job, which was mind numbing but had enough downtime that I could furiously write the chapters to DFU in a notebook.

I’ve singled people out on AO3, so to those who I expressed my gratitude there, thank you so much again. This universe has been enjoyable for me to write. I may never be able to officially publish it, but at this point this project is just a labor of love, and to have these paper copies are enough for me.

Prussia was always going to die. Even if I never wrote the sequel, I was trying to hint at that he would die in Are We Humans? If we’re being real, this universe was invented around him. He may not be the central focus 100% of the time, but nevertheless, I’m happy I got to explore his character.

Er ist mein Sohn, und ich liebe ihn. Vielleicht ist er tot, aber er lebt immer in meinen Herz.

Again, to all those who have read, thank you. It’s your support of the fic that pushed me to finish and expand this universe.

And to my brother, who used to make jokes about how Prussia is dead, look at what you did. If you, dear reader, wanna blame anyone, blame Steven, who’s begrudgingly listened to me ramble about hetalia for 5 years now.

#hetalia fanficion #historical hetalia #aph #hetalia #yeah #miscellaneous #i was gonna post a pic of myself but then didn't feel like doing my makeup. so woo *jazz hands*

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huntsthemoon · 8 years ago

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1. Your first OC ever?

It was a vampire in the Beyblade universe, her name was Tru Darling and I was 14, don’t judge me lol

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

I have a personal soft spot for Eleanora ‘Nora’ Argent obviously. She’s the first fully fleshed out character I’ve created and I thought about her for a year before I started writing. I’m just super proud of her.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

The same beyblade fic I had made friends with some folks on ff.net and basically added them as characters. By the time I was down there was like 20 OC’s in the story and it wasn’t finished. It was a mess lol.

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Mika Parker, she’s a poly-sterek fic I started to work on but she never got very far. I might still write her some day. She helps spark!Stiles control his magic and come to grips with his attraction to one Derek Hale

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Ooooo it’s hard to pick, but I think I’d have to go with Nora. Just because I’m like 18 chapters in and I just really want to see people love my little broken bird.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

The only ones who aren’t related that look somewhat alike would be Gabriel and Valentina and only because they’re blonde and blue eyed. Not really anything other than that.

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Eleanora and Gabriel are part of The Moon Huntress (latest chapter here)

Frankie and Ben Connelly are part of Above All Else which is in the process of being written. (learn more about them here and here)

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I don’t RP sorry

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I’m willing to allow crossovers or fan works but I would like to be asked first although those who’ve already made me stuff no they have full permission ;)

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

All of them lol I love writing complicated characters what can I say?

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Not sure what’s meant here, but Frankie is all smiles and sweetness on the surface...

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

I can’t pick just one lol.... a few OC’s that I’ve read so far are and they’re all great. If I miss someone I’m sorry.... Ellie Connor, Piper Dean & Merikh Amor by @lady-baratheon Fred Ackerman by @susiesamurai Emery Duran, Diana Chang & Bianca Larson by @dubonet Maddie Hayes by @anarchxst Arianna Patrakis by @fraysquake and there’s so many more my brain is just not functioning right now.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

My biggest troublemaker would be Gabriel from TMH, he’s not even fully introduced into the fic as a real person and he’s causing all kinds of problems ;)

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Eleanora Argent thought she was tough as nails, but being back in Beacon Hills hunting a rogue alpha werewolf throws her world for a loop. And the addition of Derek Hale in her life only helps to complicate things. Her family has a code, but what's her code?

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Like it? I love it! And I love hearing about others OCs as well. Anything you wanna know ask away and I’ll try my best to answer.

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Probably Frankie, she’s super smart and not afraid to go after finding something out she doesn’t know about. Unfortunately she doesn’t have much time to study.

17. Any OC OTPs?

Obviously Eleanora x Derek for sure..... my OTP ride and die.

18. Any OC crackships?

A few Eleanora paired with @lydamartin‘s Oliver always has amazing things. And I have a feeling her with @dubonet‘s Will Martin would be interesting as well. And I also love her with @susiesamurai‘s Kevin ;)

I’ve always thought Gabriel and @papermoon262‘s Alex would be really interesting if they could survive each other lol.

Frank with @dubonet‘s Dylan Larson has been interesting lately as well. And Ben could be interesting with either @catgrant‘s Gwen Lodge or @lady-baratheon‘s Piper Dean

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

The one that would probably sing would be Valentina and it’d be a soft sweet voice singing something in Russian

21. Your most artistic OC

Nora for sure, if she was in AU she’d be finishing art school and have a thriving career illustrating graphic novels or something similar. She draws allot to try to sort her mess of a head out.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

Nora again, I sometimes get the feeling people think of her allot like Kate but I hope that the more you read the more people realize they couldn’t be more different.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Frankie has changed allot but it has to do with development as she doesn’t have a story fully yet. Also watching the first episode of Riverdale changed some things in my head.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Probably Nora so I could give a hug she wouldn’t take ;)

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

There’s allot of myself in Nora, hard to write some of the traits without including myself or having personal experience but I feel each of my characters has a small part of me in them. Yes even Gabriel... :D

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

I changed Nora FC after joining tumblr and realizing that I wanted to learn to edit and it was just to hard to find good stuff to makes edits with her original FC.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

I’m one of those people who writes with my entire music library on shuffle so there’s probably some crossovers from my favourite songs but not inspired exactly no.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Definitely Gabriel, there’s nothing more dangerous than a man with no morals, he’s the true definition of beast when it comes to werewolves.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Pretty much all of them... they’re all pretty much lone birds if you know what I mean.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

I wanna say Gabriel because it’s just too funny but probably more like Frankie, she wants to be mature but she’s just a small child inside.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Frankie’s would be lots of pink, sayings reblogged and lots of fashion and hipster blogs reblogged.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Nora.... girls got skills!!!!

33. Your shyest OC?

Probably Frankie, she’s shy to go after what she truly wants.

34. Do you have any twin characters?

No I don’t

35. Any sibling characters?

Well Eleanora is Allison Argent’s sister

Ben & Frankie are siblings.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

Eleanora is paired with Derek Hale and Gabriel and is siblings with Allison Argent and daughter to Chris and Victoria, Niece to Kate, Granddaughter to Gerard and Friends with Stiles, Isaac, Erica and Boyd.

Gabriel is paired with Eleanora.

Valentina is paired with Oliver Queen.

Frankie is paired with Jughead Jones and becomes friends with the gang. Sister to Ben.

Ben is paired with Ms. Grundy and is friends with FP. Brother to Frankie.

Mika is paired with Stiles and Derek and Friends with Jackson.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

Mika is a talented spark and emissary from England that is a member of the pack Jackson ends up in. She meets Stiles through Jackson and then Derek through Stiles. She’s a fun loving but no nonsense when it comes to magic kind of girl.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Valentina is very good on her feet and could whisk you away ballroom style.

39. Introduce any character you want

Valentina has climbed the ranks of the Bratva for the past five years. All without a care about what Oliver Queen had been doing since their last meeting. The last time they spoke one of them was laying on the ground bloody and beaten and the other stared coldly down.

She had been 20 at the time and full of rage and a need for revenge. Now when Church is busy destroying Star City the Bratva bring in their best enforcer and assassin to take him down. Her mission is to strengthen their holdings in the city and it’s not long before she runs into it’s new Mayor.

Seeing her again brings up questions for Oliver and gives his new team more reasons to question his methods. But can he stop her from adding another name to her ever growing list of regrets? Or is she too well trained by the Bratva for even Oliver to stop her when she gets her target.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

The fact that Nora is basically the reason I’ve gotten to meet all you amazing people, love ya.

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

No I haven’t had any drawn I’ve had many awesome other edits made for my characters and I love them all.

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

Probably Gabriel ;)

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

I don’t think I do....

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I love that they’re all fun to write for in different ways...

45. A character you no longer use?

That original OC lol.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

A few times teehee....

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

A few times teehee....

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

None of my characters are pure......

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Probably Frankie or maybe Gabriel in a weird way....

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

I just want to thank everyone who continues to support me and my OCs I love you all. Even if it’s just reading these and not comment or liking or anything I still love that you take that time. I just want everyone to love my children like I do :D

Wow this is a beast, sorry some of my answers aren’t longer...

@papermoon262

#heather answers #eleanora argent #gabriel #the moon huntress #ben connelly #frankie connelly #fic: above all else #Mika Parker #valentina sokolov #my OCs

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ecotone99 · 6 years ago

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[AA] Keep the Change Kid

WARNING: Contains swearing and sexual references.

Introduction: This is a chapter from a mostly finished novel I wrote 10 years ago. Time restrictions and especially a huge amount of editing yet to be done have prevented me from completing the project, though I do fully intend to finish it before my time on planet Earth is up, which may well be sooner than I would prefer. At any rate, the plot of the novel is as follows; after shooting Condoleeza Rice (remember her?) in the head with a sniper rifle, a lone and expert assassin is being hunted by the dark forces of one government or another. These hunters are led by an individual going by the cover-name of “Mom”. Mom is a British ex-secret service operative with SAS and a “diplomatic” background in South-east Asia, among other locales. He is a very tough and capable individual (picture someone like the actor, Charles Dance, perhaps best known for playing Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones). He employs a band of Russian/Chechen ex-military/FSB operatives, particular in their capacity for violence and ruthlessness. The assassin they are hunting is a young half Asian/half Caucasian woman of exceptional beauty and grace, as well as cold-blooded focus and precision in the trade she has assumed for herself. She goes by the cognomen of “The Angel of Death”. A tacky cliche of a name to be sure, but this was not intended to be permanent, but rather only a working handle for her as I developed the plot. She is being protected by a type of guardian angel named Aidan. Aidan is a wise-cracking smart-ass type, unique in that he was brought back from the dead by the “Heavenly Powers That Be” (whomsoever those might be), for the express purpose of protecting the life of our lovely assassin.

The novel’s plot is set in and around Vancouver, British Columbia during the unfortunate reign of George W. Bush, one of my favourite whipping boys at the time. This chapter (and the following one) deals with one of Mom’s operatives named Anton. Anton is a hapless Russian of limited intelligence and unlimited violence. On orders from Mom he is trailing a couple travelling north from Vancouver on the way to Pemberton BC in a pick-up truck during a lengthy and ferocious summer storm. Anton thinks this couple are the assassin and her guardian angel Mom and his crew have been tasked to take out. He will discover many things during this long, stormy night and the following day.

If any readers of this story indicate a desire to read the next chapter in this drama, please comment to that effect and I will post that under the title of “For Morons Like You” forthwith.

Hope you enjoy the read. Cheers, Popeye Le Pew.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘Come on ya prick… hurry-up fer chrissakes… I'm gettin soaked here, eh!?’, a woman’s raspy voice, punctuated by a burst of desperate, phlegmy coughing, calls out in the night.

‘Yeah, yeah. Keep yer friggin panties on will ya, I gotta piss’, a man’s booze-slurred voice barks back.

Anton, lost deep in a dream of perplexing dimension, is rudely awakened from an uneasy sleep by the loud drunken voices just outside his Pathfinder.

‘I ain't wearin no panties.’

‘Well then keep yer bra on.’

Disoriented and groggy, Anton looks around trying to blink the sleep out of his brain and trying hard to figure out where in the Hell he is.

‘I ain't wearin one of them neither. Let’s go Stud, its takin ya longer to piss than it did to blow yer load, eh?’

It comes to him after a moment or two and he curses the one that put him here: MOM! Fucking Mom!! Ублюдок!!! Anton is in fact in the parking lot of the Chieftain Pub in Squamish, BC. ‘If is not asshole of world, is sure smell like”, he’d scowled as he drove into town earlier that day. The paper mill just across Howe Sound bestowed “a certain something” to the Squamish air. Though he doesn’t realize it, he's been fast asleep for the past couple of hours… with the truck’s engine idling.

The wind is still howling like a troop of drunken banshees and the torrential rain that was falling when he’d arrived hasn’t let up, but rather seems to have increased in intensity. The voices are coming from the right and, leaning across the passenger seat, Anton wipes a narrow strip of condensation from the window. He can see a man and a woman by a pick-up with “Pemberton Spud Farms” on the driver-side door. “Is where cell-phone signals come from, for sure.” In the downpour, he can’t quite make out if they’re the same two people in the photos Mom gave him, but it is the truck he’s been looking for.

The man finally finishes relieving himself, opens the driver’s door and climbs into the pick-up. He rolls his window down and spits before leaning over to unlock the passenger door. The woman climbs in saying, ‘about friggin time, eh! Couldn’t ya have pissed before we come out?’

‘Couldn’t you shut the fuck up?’

‘Close yer goddamn window, I'm friggin cold.’

‘Ah quit yer bitching,’ he says, lighting a cigarette and tossing the match out the window.

‘I wanna stop at the Mickey D’s to get some grub.’

‘Fuck that, I ain't stopping till we put some miles behind us.’

‘Come on ya cheap prick, I’m hungry and it’s a long ride to Mount Currie, eh? Be nice to me and maybe I’ll blow ya on the way up.’

It was an offer he wasn’t about to refuse. It’s a long drive up to Mount Currie after all.

‘Yeah, yeah OK, we can stop at the slop-shop up on the highway.’

‘Alrightee then Stud, but yer buyin, eh?’

‘Sure. That’s me, last of the big-time spenders,’ he says as he fires-up the engine and drives to the parking-lot exit, spitting out the window again and planting a large gob on the hood of the Pathfinder as he drives by.

Anton waits for them to get ahead a bit and then pulls out after them, staying half a block behind the pick-up. Is not matter with the raining like this, they are not seeing nothing. They are the goddamns drunk anyways. Fucking shit, he thinks, wishing he were off somewhere, drunk himself with a hooker to take the edge off his blues instead of following these two through the driving rain in this god-forsaken stinking dump of a town. Anton does bad moods rather well.

Taking out his cell-phone he tries calling Mom again, but doesn’t make a connection. ‘Is the bullshits’, he snarls. The pick-up stops by the intersection at the highway and turns north. Anton comes up to the flashing traffic signal, waits for a couple of cars to go by and then follows. Up ahead, just past the main intersection, the pick-up slows, turns into a McDonald’s lot and lines-up in the drive-thru lane. He pulls the Pathfinder over to the side of the highway and waits. Is going to being the long goddamns night, he thinks, watching as the driver gets out, walks around to the back and rummages around in the pick-up’s box. He removes something and deposits it in a garbage container by the take-out window. ‘What’s in fuck he is doing now?’, he mutters. The man then takes a sports-bag from the box, looks the cargo over and gets back into the cab. Though Anton can’t get a good enough look to compare him to the man in the photos, he thinks, must be is guy. Mom is saying he is having the sports-bag with him and is tall.

The cloying odour of hot grease and fried food wafts in through the heater blower and Anton’s stomach starts to growl. Though he hates American fast-food, Anton realizes he’s famished. He hasn’t eaten since before he left Vancouver and thinks, I am gotting to eat somethings, anythings.

Waiting until another car drives in behind the pick-up, he shrugs his shoulders and pulls into the McDonald’s lot, lining-up in the drive-thru lane and calling his order into the mike on the menu board when his turn comes up. Sitting there, compulsively cracking his knuckles, he sees the pick-up’s order being handed out from the take-out window. It then pulls ahead to the road, stops to let some traffic by and turns onto the highway. Shit!! Is better I not am losing this prick in pick-ups, Anton thinks and puts the transmission in reverse to pull out of the drive-thru line himself. Checking the rear-view mirror he curses seeing that two more cars have come up behind his, boxing him in. He’s stuck there and fidgets nervously, waiting for the car in front of him to get its order and get out of the way. Ahead, a hand holds a large fast-food bag out of the take-out window and remains suspended in mid-air, waiting for the driver of the car to take it. But the man appears to be having some kind of a problem with the transaction. He’s dropped his money on the ground.

‘Come on fucking motherfucker, you are hurrying ups. I don't am having all the fucking nights to waiting for you’, he calls out his window.

A man’s head emerges from the car’s window, completely ignoring the bag plainly being held out to him, and turns to glare at Anton. It is a large, curiously deformed head, perhaps the product of foetal alcohol syndrome. The head sticking out of the car window bears an exceptionally ugly face, sporting an exceedingly belligerent expression. And it looks only too eager for trouble. Anton has seen a number of unfriendly faces in the course of his life, starting with the band of mujahedeen fighters who came to kill his father, uncle and older brother when he was seven years old. That face in the car in front of him is even uglier and less friendly-looking than that of the FSB drill-instructor who made Anton’s already miserable life a living Hell. One of the most satisfying moments he ever had was when he put a bullet between the bastard’s eyes. The eyes on this guy’s face are having considerable trouble focusing. He’s obviously very drunk.

‘Eh!? What the fuck’s goin on buddy? Ya got yerself some kind of problem back there or what?’

Anton sticks his head out the window and looks at the guy, thinking, oh shits, now what is!!?

‘Who, me? You are meaning me? I not am was speaking at you, I am calling the friend who is go to washrooms for the pissing.’

The face continues to glare at him, it’s mouth hanging open and it’s eyes each looking in a different direction. It’s not buying Anton’s contrite explanation.

‘Zat right, eh? Sure sounds like yer having a little problem with me.’

‘No, no. Is cool, is completes cool.’

‘I could maybe fix that problem for ya… howboudit pal… ya wanna go, or what?’

‘No, no, is not the necessary, is not the problems with you. Is with the friend I am was calling. At washrooms. Not you. He is pissing the long times.’

‘Yeah? Well yer startin ta piss me off, pal!’

‘Is all the big mistakes. I am not here for the pissing-offs to you, I am come for Bigs Mac and fry, like you.’

‘Ya sound like yer some kinda foreigner. Zat what ya are, some kinda goddamn foreigner?’

Anton reaches over and takes his M88 from the glove-box and screws the silencer onto the barrel. He considers firing several rounds into that ugly drunk face glaring him right away, but remembering why he's there in the first place, puts the pistol on the passenger seat and pulls his jacket over it. He pokes his head back out the window, smiling with as much meekness as he can muster. Not an easy feat for Anton.

‘No, no I not am the goddamns foreigner like you are say, I am tourist. I not am being here for having the problems with good guys like you. Nice to be meeting you and visit your great city.’

‘What the fuck…? Yer a tourist? Ya sure you ain't got yourself no problem with me? Cuz if ya come looking fer one… I’m the guy fer ya alright!’

Fuckings Hell, this prick is not wanting to gives up, Anton thinks.

‘No, no, is no problems, you can believing to me. Is everything cool. Only with friend at washrooms, he is taking really long times for the pissing. You are the friendly Canadian guys, I am not having the problems with you. Really.’

‘Oh Yeah? Ya sure bout that?’

‘Yeah, is no problems, for sures.’

‘I mean, if ya wanna go… ya wanna go or what?’

‘Look mister guy, there is being your Bigs Mac and fry, they are wait for you. You are enjoying delicious hamburgers and having the nice evenings.’ You are fucking-offs now or I am shoot you in goddamns face, you prick, he thinks as his hand reaches for the locked and loaded M88 next to him.

The face looks at him, still trying hard to focus with limited success and then, somewhere in the remnants of his tiny pickled brain, the penny drops and he abruptly turns toward the hand holding the bag out to him. His head collides with it and he exclaims, ‘what the fuck!? Oh yeah right, my burgers.’ He looks down at the bills he dropped a moment ago, opens his door and reaches down to pick them up, grabs the bag the hand is holding and hands the hand his money. He takes his change and drops it on the pavement and says, ‘aw fuck-it!’, and closes the door again.

‘Hey… awright then buddy. So yer a tourist eh?’, he says looking at Anton again with a crooked grin on his stupid face.

Anton smiles and nods his head enthusiastically as he takes out a pen and paper. He jots down the car’s license-plate number thinking, I am fixing you later you сосунок петуха, you just are waiting.

‘Sure, you are rights-on, I am the tourist to you fantastics country Canada and I am visit you beautiful city Squamish this nights.’

‘Zat right? Huh, well whaddya know, a tourist!? Hey, I don't got me no problems with no tourists.’

‘OK mister guy, this is good… I don’ts gots the problem with you too.’

‘Aw that's great, that's just great!’ He turns to his companion beside him and says, ‘Ain't that just great baby? Guy’s a goddamn tourist.’ He sticks his head out the window once more, blinking his eyes as he tries to focus on Anton. ‘Well you have yerself a real nice time in our town there buddy, we gotta get goin now… welcome to Squamish, eh?’

‘Fucking crazy whacks-job,’ Anton says as the car pulls out to the exit and drives up the highway in the same direction the pick-up went earlier. He considers ignoring his own order and leaving immediately in pursuit of the pick-up, figuring it must be quite a ways up the highway by now. Screwing it, he thinks, pick-ups is not can be that far and I must am eating something, even if is this shit of McDonald, and moves up to the take-out window.

‘That’ll be twelve dollars and sixty-three cents please,’ says a skinny teenager with bizarrely pointed ears, buck-teeth and coke-bottle glasses somewhat too large for his face. He looks like a rabbit who’s parents could well be closely related, too closely perhaps. And, possibly being that particular fine dining establishment’s number one best customer, has really, really bad acne.

Holy cows, is the fucking Canadian mutant, Anton thinks, recoiling. He shakes his head, reaches over to take the bag the kid is holding out and hands him a fifty.

‘Oh, a fifty,’ the rabbit-kid says, holding the bill up to his glasses and squinting. ‘Don't you have anything smaller?’

‘No, is all I am gots. Make it fast kid, give to me the changes, I am in the big hurry.’

‘Well I don't have change for a fifty sir, you'll have to wait for my manager to come and break that bill for me.’

‘Where this goddamns manager is?’

‘He’s just in the men’s room.’

‘What he is does in there? Is jerks-off?’

‘I’m not really sure but I think he’s taking a long du…’

‘Is OK kid, I don't are needing to knowing of detail.’

‘If you’d like to pull into one of those parking slots off to your left to wait, he’ll be out to change that as soon as he’s done, sir.’

‘No! I not am having times for waiting of fucking manager to wiping asses of he. You are keeping of changes kid, buying yourself new head,’ Anton says and pulls out to the highway. He peers squinting through the driving rain, one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding a soggy, dripping burger on which he munches while trying to keep the Pathfinder steady in the howling wind. After several kilometres he finally sees the car that was in front of him at the drive-thru and what looks to be the pick-up’s tail-lights beyond it in the distance.

The weather has turned from really bad to atrocious. Anton finishes the now cold French fries and second triple burger and, feeling like he’s just been horribly violated, belches loudly. ‘Fucking Americanski garbage’, he scowls. Throwing the wrappers and bag out the window in disgust, he takes out his cell and tries calling Mom again but still can’t get a connection. He watches as the car from the drive-thru pulls out to pass the pick-up and smiles. Flipping his cell-phone open again, he dials 9-1-1 thinking, you wait Canadian cocksucker prick, is shits hitting the fans for you soon, and is connected after half a dozen rings.

‘This is emergency services, what area are you calling from?’

‘Yeah, I am driving on 99 Highway to the Whistlers.’

‘Exactly where on Highway 99 are you sir?’

‘Sure, you are right. I am exactly on 99 Highway.’

‘What part of Highway 99 are you travelling on at the present time?’

‘I am not knowing what is part, but is… you know, on way to the Whistlers, just north at Squamish.’

‘Do you have an emergency to report? What is the nature of your call please.’

‘Yeah sure is emergency, is why I am call you. What you are think, I am being lonely?’

‘Could you please tell me what is your emergency sir?’

‘There is the car just now, is passing really fast, is swerves like the crazy guys, almost crashing to me. I am seeing this car is passing of pick-ups ahead and almost is crashing to pick-ups too. Car is nearly drives in ditches.’

‘I see. And what would you like us to do?’

‘What kinds of question this is!!? I am thinking you are better to sending somebody for stopping this crazy guys before he is kill somebody.’

‘Were you able to get the license-plate number of the car sir?’

‘Yeah sure, I am getting. I am writing this down, just the minute, I am telling you number… OK, here goes… is VNG 642. You are getting this?’

‘VNG 642. Did you happen to take note of the make and model of the car as well sir?’

‘Is looking like the Chevy Blazer, old shit-box, lots rust. Brown maybes, yeah, colour is for sure brown.’

‘An older model Chevy Blazer, brown in colour with lots of rust, is that correct sir?

‘Yeah, that’s it, is what I am say to you. The old shit-box Chevy Blazer. Is the goddamns rusty buckets.’

‘And the vehicle is northbound on Highway 99, north of Squamish at the present time? Is that correct?’

‘Uh-huh, this is right. The 99 Highway, past of Squamish. Is driving north.’

‘What type of vehicle are you in sir? Are you the driver of this vehicle or are you a passenger?’

‘No, I am driver for sure. I am being all alones, is not no passengers here. And is the Pathfinder I am driving. Nissan.’

‘Is this your own vehicle sir?’

‘Vehicle of me? No, I am renting.’

‘A rented Nissan Pathfinder. Which year would that be sir? And what is the colour?’

‘Why are you ask me questions like this about car I am driving? Is the fucking pricks in goddamns shit-box Chevy Blazer who are drunks you must are worry for, not car of me.’

‘I require the information about your vehicle for my report sir. And I would appreciate your not using foul language when speaking to me.’

‘OK, I am being sorry for to say fucking at you and pricks and goddamns too, is no personal, I just am being nervous with this kind of dangerous drivers. I am scare he is killing me. Sorry lady.’

‘I understand sir. Can you tell me the year of the vehicle you're driving?’

‘What year is!? Is 2002! You don't are knowing this? Month is September in cases you don't are knowing this too.’

‘The vehicle sir, I am inquiring as to the age of the vehicle you're driving, not what the current year is. What is the year of that vehicle please?’

‘I don't am knowing. I am not asking guy at renting place what is year. Is not making the difference for me as long as is running. But colour is black.’

‘I see. Do you know the license-plate number of the vehicle?’

‘No, I don't am knowing. What this is, the fucking quiz-show? Oh sorry, I am forgets, you don't are liking the fucking. But OK, I can stopping car to having looking at plate numbers if you are wanting this.’

‘That won’t be necessary sir.’

‘Good, because is raining like the dog and cat. I am not wanting to gets wet like the duck.’

‘I understand. I’ll need to get your name sir.’

‘Name? Why for you are needing name of me?’

‘For our records sir, we require your name for our records.’

‘You are telling my names to the drunks guys in Chevy shit-box Blazer!!? I am rather you not are telling this. I not am want to having troubles with this drunks guys.’

‘No sir, you won’t be having any problems from that driver. Any information you give us will be kept strictly confidential.’

‘What this is meaning, strictly confidential?’

‘It means we do not give out the information that you provide us with.’

‘OK, if you are being sure.’

‘Yes sir, I'm sure. What is your name please?’

‘My name? You still are wanting to knowing name of me?’

‘Yes sir, what is your name please?’

‘Is Josef.’

‘Is that your surname or your given name sir?’

‘Giving name? I am just giving you name of me? Is Josef. You not are understanding my English?’

‘I can understand you perfectly sir. I just need to get your name.’

‘Josef, I am telling to you already.’

‘I will need to get your surname as well sir.’

‘What this is meaning, how you are saying? Sir-name?’

‘Surname refers to your second name, given name refers to your first name.’

‘I am already giving to you first names. But I am having four names. What you are calling other names?’

‘I need you to tell me your name, sir.’

‘Which names you are wanting first?’

‘Your first name sir.’

‘I am telling to you already, Josef. Is first names.’

‘I will need your surname as well sir.’

‘What name? Sir-name?’

‘Your family name.’

‘You are not wanting other names first? They are coming before the family name.’

‘Just your first name and your family name is all I require. What is your family name please sir.’

‘Stalin. Like Great Hero of Soviet Union who is squashing Hitler like the cockroach.’

‘Have you been drinking this evening Mr Stalin?’

‘Yeah sure. I am drinking delicious super-size Coca-colas with eating triple lousy cheeseburgers of McDonald and shitty fry. Is diet Coca-colas. Why you are caring what I am drinking?’

‘I meant have you been drinking any alcohol this evening Mr. Stalin.’

‘No, of courses I am not drinking no alcohols. I do not drinking the alcohols. Besides, is against law for drinking the alcohols and driving of cars. You are not knowing this!!?’

‘Yes Mr. Stalin, I am familiar with the law.’

‘Well I am sure hoping you are being familiar about drinking the alcohols and driving cars law. Is very big problem in my country. So, you are wants to knowing something elses?’

‘What is your address sir?’

‘I am visitor to your country. I am living at Moscow. You know in Russia? Used to be Soviet Union, but now we are calling Russia agains. Same places but name is different. You are wanting address in Moscow, Russia?’

‘Do you have an address here in Canada Mr. Stalin? A hotel or friends you're staying with perhaps?’

‘No, I am just flying at Vancouver today. I am not yet having time for to checking in hotels.’

‘What is your address in Moscow then sir?’

‘You are not telling address to drunks guys in car? I am not wanting to having no troubles. I am telling you this before. You have listen to me when I say this to you?’

‘Yes, I am listening to you Mr. Stalin. I promise you, you won’t have any trouble. Your address will remain in our confidential files. There's no need for you to be concerned. I only need it for my report.’

‘Is happens all times in Moscow. Guy I know is get shoot last year because he is giving address to police. In fucking head. Oh sorry, I am keep forget you don't are like fucking. Sorry lady.’

‘Yes well, we do things a little differently here in Canada Mr. Stalin. You don't need to worry about that happening.’

‘OK, you are sounding like the nice lady, I will trusting you. But oh boys, I am hope is not nobody waiting to shoot in head of me when I am comes home.’

‘If that should happen Mr. Stalin, you may rest assured it is not in any way connected with this call or the information you provide.’

‘Yeah sure. OK, I am giving to you address now. You are having the pens to write this down?’

‘Yes sir, I have a pen. You may go ahead and give me your address.’

‘Is Kremlin Apartments, number 622, 1942 Red Square Moscow. You are getting this?’

‘Kremlin Apartments number 622, 1942 Red Square Moscow, Russia, is that correct sir?’

‘Yeah sure, that’s is it.’

‘Is there a postal-code for that address?’

‘Of courses is being the postal-codes, but I am not remembering. I just am movings in.’

‘Well thank you very much for calling this in Mr. Stalin. We really appreciate it.’

‘You welcome. Is nice country this Canada you are having here. Maybe I am buying couple house in the Whistlers for girlfriend of me. Listen lady, I am hoping you are not minding for me to saying this, but you sure spending lots time asking the question to me. You don't think you should be getting off from phone now and catching drunks guys in shit-box Chevy?’

‘Yes sir. Enjoy your visit to Canada. You drive safely now. Good night Mr. Stalin.’

‘Yeah so longing lady.’

Several minutes later, two police cruisers come tearing up the highway behind him with their lights flashing and sirens blaring. Anton chortles with glee and pulls-over to let them pass and then resumes on down the dark highway. They should is taking cares of drunks prick from drive-thru of McDonald. It is not long before he comes up to the Chevy Blazer and cruisers by the side of the road. Slowing as he passes, he sees a couple of constables struggling to put a large hand-cuffed man into the back of one of the cruisers. ‘Is what you are gets for piss-off to Anton, you stupid fuck,’ he says laughing as he drives by.

Trying Mom again, he still cannot get a connection. Well, at least drunks prick from drive-thru back at Squamish has getting whats is comes to him. Is too bads I am not having the chances to shoot this prick in face of him, he thinks, I can trying Mom later, after fucking storm is finish. Is must havings to stops sometimes. Maybe is being the phonebooths on this bullshits highway to nowheres and I can call to Mom from there. Anton emits a sigh of dejected resignation and settles down to what he figures will surely be a long and uneventful drive down a dark deserted highway. (Just you wait Anton my lad, just you wait - ed)

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angst-in-space · 4 years ago

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december ‘20 writing progress (and yearly wrap-up)

december progress:

words written: 15.2k

yearly total: 248.8k

projects worked on:

- sylvix dreamscape fic - edited/posted the sylvix xmas fic, “where the love light gleams” - finished writing the altea rising recap - worked on a couple secret projects

december goals: - reach my yearly goal of writing 250k words....*sweats* (ok i didn’t quite get there but i’ll give myself credit cuz i was only like 200 words off) - finish/submit final draft of piece for long live zine - finish editing and publish the sylvix xmas fic! - finish/publish [redacted] and [redacted] - work some more on the sylvix dreamscape fic - finish the altea rising recap summary (and....maybe work a little on chapter 19 if i have time)

notes:

well, december was....a very busy month. had kind of a hellish start to the month what with a health-related thing (not covid, don’t worry i’m fine dkfjdl) so that kinda sapped my energy for about a week. then ofc there was the holidays and everything. aaand on top of that i had like four writing deadlines (although like....two of them were postponed so that was good haha).

but anyway! i did at least manage to finish a couple of things––mainly my sylvix christmas fic (“where the love light gleams”), finishing/submitting my “long live” zine piece, FINALLY finishing the altea rising recap summary ... and also finishing one secret thing that is not published yet, but it’s for a fandom i’ve never written before and i’ll be very excited to publish it once i can!

other than that, i mostly worked on the sylvix dreamscape fic and on a secret santa exchange fic that i still have not finished (we extended the deadline to end of january bc like...no one in the group had finished by end of december lol).

i didn’t quite reach my goal of 250k words for the year, but i mean my initial goal was 150k and i only ended up being about 200 words shy of 250k SO i still think that’s a big win lol.

as for what i’ll be working on next: top priority is finishing the secret santa fic. but i also hope to keep working on the sylvix dreamscape fic. aaand hoping to edit/publish the klance hotel au by the end of january maybe, since uh i finished a draft of it in november and STILL have not finished editing that so OOPS. and mayyybe will finally delve into finishing the last few chapters of altea rising, and maybe at least start editing chapter 15 but that’s pretty optimistic of me lmao.

2020 wrap up:

total words written: 248.8k most words written in a month: 50.1k (november) least words written in a month: 14.1k (march)

works completed:

- want your fire on me - i know a place we can run - illumination - cover my skin with your sunkissed light - where the love light gleams - klance hotel au (not published yet) - [secret project] (not published yet) - miles to go (my zine piece for “long live”, not published yet) other wips: - sylvix dreamscape fic - altea rising - secret santa fic - planning my wlw YA sci-fi novel

2020 goals:

- write every day - write at least 150k words - focus more on my multichaps - finish altea rising - finish a couple of my kl standalone fics?? not sure which ones yet, but yeah! - finish galolio fic - write burning hearts piece - work on wangxian fic w jessie! - maybe start writing something original??

notes:

all in all, a very productive year! there were some yearly goals i did not reach (i.e. finishing my old klance multichaps.....rip) but i mean, i also ended up getting involved in (and writing fic for) several other fandoms, so i couldn’t really have anticipated that at the beginning of the year. i’m really happy with the two sylvix fics i’ve published so far, and i hope to write a lot more for them this year!

so yeah... i have a few big projects i want to tackle in 2021. firstly the sylvix dreamscape fic is...already over 30k and i’m estimating it’ll probably end up being a total of somewhere around 50k-60k so uh yeah that’s gonna be a big commitment lol. but i think i’m gonna do the same thing i did with “cover my skin...” and make it a chaptered fic. not sure when i will start posting it but i’m hoping ideally sometime in like late february or early march, depending on a few things.

i have a few other sylvix fics i also hope to at least start writing sometime this year. one in particular i have had fully planned out for months but ironically have not started it yet even though it was the first sylvix fic idea i came up with... but yeah i might start that one after the dreamscape fic is done. i also have a couple aus that i might tackle, but they both need a lot more fleshing out before i even begin writing them so hmm we shall see.

besides that... i do really honestly want to finish my klance multichaps even tho it’s been...over a year since i updated either of them and idk if anyone even gives a shit anymore but i’m a completionist at heart and just wanna see them through sooo yEAH. i have at least finished writing up a (very long) summary of everything i’ve written of altea rising so far, mostly to recap myself to make sure i tie up all the loose ends in the last few chapters. i did work a bit on actually writing it in 2020 although tbh i like kinda fell off the rails once i fell into fe3h/sylvix hell BUT i still intend to get back to it because i do still have a soft spot for it and want to finish it. and long story short, i’ve decided to divide up what i’ve written of the last part into like...5-ish chapters so yeah, hopefully i can start posting those at some point in the near future. ....and uhh i don’t think i worked on red skies at all in 2020 which makes me sad bc i still love that fic dearly and want to complete it as well, it just may take me a few months to get back to it but hey if i’m able to update it at all in 2021 that would be great haha. another thing i’m hoping is to possibly open commissions in 2021, something i said i would do in 2020 and never did but....kinda wanna give it a try, especially because i am funemployed once again. :’) AND LASTLY...i’ve been planning an original wlw YA sci-fi novel for like two years and i would really love to start at least the first draft of it this year....that would be neat.

so yeah this post is starting to get insanely long but i’ll just wrap up with my 2021 goals and january goals, and...yeah. 2020 sure was a weird year, here’s hoping 2021 is (at least..slightly...??) better.

2021 goals: - write every day - write at least 150k words - finish the sylvix dreamscape fic - start on like 1 or 2 other sylvix multichaps...? - finish altea rising - work on red skies again - do some fic commissions - continue planning my novel and maybe start the first draft january goals: - finish secret santa fic - publish [redacted] - work on sylvix dreamscape fic - edit klance hotel au (hopefully send to betas by end of month at least?) - maybe work on altea rising ch. 19

#brigidposts #writing updates #monthly writing progress 2020 #fanfic #text #long post

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mercurialsmile · 7 years ago

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Halo Review

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto is the worse book I have ever read. Reading Halo made me appreciate Twilight for what it is. I can't even call it a Twilight ripoff, because calling it that actually insults Twilight.

Halo is the worst published book I have ever come across. It was so terrible, for most the book, I had to read a single chapter at a time! Any more just pissed me off and bored me to tears. A chapter a day, and I was done. Only time I could read more than one chapter at a time was at the end, in where I was just rushing to get the book finished because HEY! I HAVE ONLY A FEW PAGES LEFT! I'M ALMOST DONE!

I am going to try and put the terribleness of this book into words. I really, really am gonna try. But I don't think words can really explain just how thoroughly BAD this book is.

So instead of just telling y'all how bad this book is, I'm going to show y'all. Because unlike Adornetto, I actually know how to show, not tell.

The Writing:

First, let's talk about the writing. Apparently, you can just string any words into any sentences and have them make sense now! Wow! What a concept!

But seriously, the writing was godawful. I counted maybe two descriptions that were actually needed and well-written. TWO DESCRIPTIONS! Out of... What… 485 pages? That's just sad.

The writing was bland at best and confusing at worst. It hit all the YA cliches, and then some. Random descriptions of things that had nothing to do with anything- such as a tree, or paintings. Descriptions about how beautiful the love interest was littered EVERY PAGE he was in. Seriously, you can not escape his "tousled walnut hair" and his "beautiful nutmeg hair" because apparently, his hair is made of nuts and spices. Also, he is yet another character whose blue eyes constantly change color; sapphire, ocean, cobalt, blue, turquoise… yeah every "blue" metaphor was in this book minus clorox! Pro-tip to everyone out there; all those blues are different shades and hues! Stick to one metaphor, using is sparingly, and we get it!

Besides the cliches, the similes in this book were just plain strange. "I resembled a column of shimmering moonlight" and "it blew like flour in the wind." and I honestly cannot remember EVERY strange simile and metaphor in this book, but trust me, they're there. Too many times I found myself stopping and scratching my head because of the weird way things were worded or compared to.

The book's pacing is everywhere. The beginning is rushed, the middle is slow and plods along at a pace that makes you wanna die, and the end is rushed so badly, the ending chapters just fall apart. It's like someone reminded her that books have plot, so she shoved a plot that should've been building up for the past 400-something pages into the last 50 pages. Near the end of the book, the writing simply deteriorated. It was like the book was missing entire SCENES that connected what was going on together. The characters began teleporting around the scenes as well, their body movements not written out at all. One second, one character was in the middle of the living room, the next they were at a dining table, and then they were back in the living room, then thrown across the room across the dining room table. Yeah. It was that confusing.

There were no slow parts near the end to let you dwell on any of the tragedies that happened, no feeling or care put at all into it. Most the book focused on the insta-love between the two leads.

And because it really needs to be said, there is also no showing in this book. Everything is told. Nothing is left to your imagination, nothing is left up for you to interpret, and there are no points in which the book lets you think and chew on what you just read. The writing is very simple besides the random words she obviously plucked out of the Thesaurus to use. There is nothing new about the writing style, nothing interesting, hell there is barely a style here at all, if I am being honest. It's plain and bland.

The last thing I have to say about the writing was the amount of typos in this shit book. Which, to be honest, if I had to edit this hot flaming mess, I'd fall asleep too. That's the ONLY way editors could have thought this was fine. There were missing commas everywhere, wrong punctuation, missing words in a couple of places, and too many times I stopped just to wonder how this book got published on the amount of typos alone.

I have nothing left to say about the writing. It was just a hot mess. Beyond a hot mess, it was how did this get published?

Angel Mythology and Research:

The mythology and clear lack of research that went into this book gets its own little part because I CANNOT let it slide.

For one, I can't believe that the woman who wrote this was a Christian. I seriously do not understand how any Christian can butcher their own religion so thoroughly. I'm not even a Christian, but even I could see the clear errors.

And the thing is, the errors aren't even small little errors either!

I think the biggest issue was the clear lack of any research done in angelology. One of the most basic things about angels, is that their names end in -el in some way. -El, -iel, and -ael, usually. -El means "of god."

The main angel character was Bethany while one of the other angel characters was named Ivy. The only angel that adhered to the angel mythos was Gabriel, who is, yes, the archangel Gabriel. So not even a character she really created herself. Well, if you can call any of this book's characters characters.

But I'm getting ahead of myself there.

I don't think this book could figure out which version of Heaven it wanted to use. I thought it felt Catholic, but then it fucked up the Virtues and Circles in Heaven, and also the hierarchy of angels. Archangels are not the most powerful angels in Heaven. I'll admit, I didn't really know that until I was doing my own research into angels for my own book series, but that's the thing: I did my research. This author clearly didn't. Archangels are actually pretty low on the hierarchy. The most powerful angels are Seraphim, who I believe guard God's throne.

Look, if you're gonna write a book based on already established mythology- and especially biblical mythology of a religion YOU ARE A PART OF- you have to do your research to make sure the shit you're spewing is correct!

Speaking of shit spewed, the world building in this book based on this fractured mythology never painted a clear picture. It's obvious that the angle of angels hiding among humans was barely thought out at all. The bits of worldbuilding given was always info dumped and half of it was completely pointless. It was just a mess, to be honest.

Plus, the fact that Bethany, the main character, gets involved with a human is completely hand waved with no real reason. Usually, angels being with humans is a big no-no. Look, you can either have it be a problem, or not. Plus, the reason why angels can't be with humans was never actually given! Usually, the reason is the chance of birthing nephelium children. That was never mentioned. It was mentioned briefly in a very vague manner that it's a sin for a human to get with an angel, but the reason why it's considered a sin is never given. This book tries to push that this relationship is somewhat forbidden, but it never actually is shown to be! No consequences come from the characters being together.

And I'll admit, there are parts in this book in which you kinda forget Bethany is an angel and just think of her as some stupid, naive, annoying girl. Well, she is all those things even with being an angel. It's ridiculous.

I'll go more into detail about the angel characters in the character section of this review. Let's move onto the… "plot" of this book.

The Plot:

Plot? What plot?

Seriously, there is absolutely no plot to be found here. It's tacked on at the end like the author somehow forgot books are supposed to have a point and plot.

Before I get into the train wreck that was the execution of this so-called "plot," let's talk about the actual plot itself.

The story of Halo is supposedly that Dark Forces have been gathering in a coast town called Venus Cove. Three angels; Gabriel the Warrior, Ivy the Healer, and Bethany, the most human, are sent to this town to root out the Dark Forces and put an end to the unnatural troubles the town has been facing.

Now, this is… kinda cliche. The basic story of angels-going-to-Earth and one of the angels happen to fall in love with Earth and doesn't want to leave. We've seen it all the time. It's been done to death. Of course, just because a book's plot is cliche, doesn't mean it's going to be bad. If the execution is handled well enough, and if it's nuanced enough, then any cliched plotline can become interesting again. However, this book does not play with the possibilities at all. It takes the safest route possible with this plotline and thus, in just a few chapters in, you're already bored. If you've read any YA novel at all, or hell, even seen any movies based on YA novels or high school movies in general, you'll be able to easily map out what happens in this book. Strange girl appears on Earth. Strange girl goes to school. Strange girls meets her best friend forever her first day and love interest and maybe even the bitchy cheerleader slut that hates her. Yeah, the only thing missing here was the cheerleader slut, though considering all of Bethany's friends and her best friend are shown and slut-shamed, I guess the bitchy cheerleader wasn't needed here.

Yeah. Nothing new or interesting is done here.

But that's not the worst part of this plot. The worst part was, really, just how godawful this execution was. Like… seriously. As I stated before, the pacing was atrocious.

The first two chapters really hammers in how big of a deal it is to try and figure out what these "dark forces" are in this town. But then, the book completely drops that. It's mentioned a couple of times by Gabriel and Ivy randomly, but they never actually do anything to go find these dark forces. Or, if they do, it's all offscreen and mentioned in passing. Seriously, this book drops its main and only plot for hundreds of pages to focus on the insta-love between Bethany and her love interest, Xavier. Thing is, there is nothing interesting about these characters. Putting them together doesn't make them interesting either! You could go outside right now, find two rocks on the ground, and those two rocks would have better chemistry between them than Bethany and Xavier. They meet one another like… three times, fall in love within a couple short chapters, and the rest of the book till the very disastrous end is Bethany obsessing over her love for Xavier three times a page. I'll get more into how disgusting and unhealthy their relationship is in a bit.

Now, about 2/3s into this book, the villain is introduced. You know he's the villain right away since he's described as being dark and almost gothic. Oh, and he has a tattoo. Because everyone knows ALL VILLAINS have tattoos and are "too skinny to be comfortable to hug." Yeah, that was in here too.

Thing is, the villain doesn't do anything except become Bethany's friend and act like a Nice Guy. Yeah, he's described as looking "cool and gothic" and then later donned a fedora, scarf, and trench coat. I wish I was joking.

Prom is the only thing built up in this book and that's when the villain FINALLY strikes Bethany. Now, you'd think prom is where all the bad shit goes down and the climax of the book, right? It'd be cliched, but whatever. But nope! Prom happens, the villain is revealed to the shit cast in this book. I say cast because all us readers have known for pages that he's the villain, and then the book has the GALL to spend a couple of chapters with the angels being pussies and not knowing what sort of creature the villain is.

The villain is causing the dark forces! Which is caused by demons and "agents of lucifer" (yeah that's what demons are called in this). His touch has already been described as to burn Bethany! Why are y'all being little bitches and letting him just continue to hurt people?! Why does it take y'all such a long time to figure out he's a demon! Seriously, it's eye roll worthy. It's so dumb.

After the prom, which you would think is when the actual climax would happen, events that should've taken place hundreds of pages ago are condensed in the last few chapters afterwards. Foreshadowing and everything. Someone dies, there are like a couple of pages focusing on how sad the death is even though you saw the character who died like… only 3 or 4 times in the book, then everyone is a-okay basically. Bethany is an idiot, tracks down the villain with her boy-toy, of course she is overpowered at the end, gets kidnapped, then rescued by her love interest and her sibling angels who I guess have finally decided to stop being pussies. The villain is defeated in a single paragraph, Bethany's special angel power… because this book took some influence from My Little Pony I guess and every angel has a special gift, and Bethany's is shown to be love, of course, and she defeats the villain. Everyone is saved besides the chick who died who is already forgotten about, and of course there is a sad scene with Bethany being gone briefly because she was recalled into Heaven, but no she can stay on Earth now it's all good and everyone is okay.

Yeah. An entire plot of a single book crammed into a few chapters at the end. Something tells me this author has never heard of Freytag's Pyramid or even knows what a "Beginning, middle, end" is.

Like, I've seen some pretty plotless stories in my day. I've seen some pretty butchered stories in my day. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, compares to how fractured this story is. Nothing. It's inexcusable that this was published. It's inexcusable that the author thought that this sort of flow was acceptable. As a fellow writer, I'm offended and a little ashamed.

The Setting:

Usually, the setting of a book wouldn't get its own section, but because even the plain setting was butchered, I thought it would be apt to include.

I did some research on the author, and as it turns out, she's from Australia, not America. Believe it or not, America has its own cultures and the fact that the author doesn't know any of them sticks out like a sore thumb.

Now, if not so much focus was put on these three things, I maybe would've let it slide in this book.

First thing's first, the love interest of this book- Xavier- is never referred to the proper term. He is always called the School Captain, but in most American schools, he would be apart of a Student Council and be known as the Student President most likely. Yes, it's a nitpick, but it still annoyed me.

The second thing was the fact that rugby was the Big School Sport. Rugby? Excuse me? Yes, there is rugby here in America, but everyone knows that 9 times out of 10, the most popular sport at American schools is either going to be American football, basketball, baseball, or maybe soccer. Considering how conservative this town seems to be, I'm going to say it's most likely in the south, which would make it doubly weird that rugby is the big school sport and not, say, football.

Lastly, the biggest issue was how prom was represented. Again, I would let this slide if the prom hadn't been talked about all the time every chapter, but since it was and was done terribly, I'm gonna pick at it.

First of all, there is no mention of prom tickets and of the competition to get on the prom king/queen court. The latter, I could probably let slide, but definitely not the former! You ALWAYS have to buy a ticket to go to prom! And considering how much the characters of this book never shut up about the prom, it wouldn't be hard having one of them mention something about the tickets.

The crowning of prom king/queen was also done poorly. In this book, there were multiple winners for different sections. Such as "best hair" "best dress" and etc. I have… never heard of a prom setting up their competition like that. Usually it's just plain king and queen.

Finally, the prom itself was completely ridiculous and over the top. It had no theme (every knows proms have a theme. Come on). Plus, it was fancy to the point of comedy. Waiters? Five-star food and meals? You have to be kidding me. This is some rich-ass neighborhood bullshit right there.

And honestly, the biggest sin the setting caused, which I already mentioned before, is the fact that there is NO REASON for these angels to be here! Nothing happens! Nothing all the bad happens! Every town gets its fair share of rowdy teens, fires, car crashes, and etc.! It's a fact of life and is normal. If none of those things happen wherever you live, that would be strange. The entire town of Venus Cove sounds like a rich white neighborhood. Everyone is spoiled, everyone has money to throw around for whatever reason, and my question is: why here?

Yeah, the book says that there are angels in other places- in war-torn countries and the like, but it feels like an excuse. There is never a real reason for these angels to be here at Venus Cove besides vague warnings and threats that never really come true till the last few pages of the book.

It all just feels… pointless.

The Characters:

Halo is written in first person, and we see through the eyes of Bethany, however there are multiple other main characters that need to be discussed besides the main two and villain.

The full cast of characters that actually kinda matter in this book is as follows: Bethany, Ivy, Gabriel, Xavier, Molly, and finally Jake. And they are all absolutely terrible, and I am gonna tell you why.

Let's start this off with our titular character: Bethany Rose Church.

Yup. That's her full name. Seriously, WHO in their RIGHT MIND thinks THIS is a good name?! It sounds like a name some 13 year old would think of! Bethany Rose Church is hardly better than Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way. The only difference is that the former somehow got in a published book. How, I don't know. Editors must have fallen asleep.

Honestly? There is nothing much to say about Bethany. She makes Bella Swan look like a Harvard Graduate. She's naive to the point of just plain stupidity, pointless, shallow, selfish, and of course, flawless and pure. Seriously, she has no flaws to speak of that are pointed out in this book. No real character flaws, and not even physically! Her skin is described as being pale and having no blemishes or splotches at all! The book tries to play her off as this perfect beautiful sweet angel who never does any wrong, but she is honestly selfish, but no one and not the narration points out that this is a bad thing to be. She puts herself and her love interest before her work, her status as an angel, her family, and even points out that it's okay for her to neglect her friends because she has a boyfriend, so it's understandable. Um, no. Everyone knows you don't drop your fucking friends for a boy or girlfriend come on.

She's just… nothing. She's perfect and pure and shiny and an absolute bore to read because she's not a character. She's a mouthpiece for the ideologies in this. And there isn't much else I can say.

Ivy exists. That's all I can say. Supposedly she is the oldest angel, but she's literally just a housewife. All she does is cook and clean. She's barely in the book at all. I can't say anything else about her because she isn't anyone. She is also the only other female character in this book not shamed or dismissed. But I'll get into the meanings of that later.

Gabriel is just like Xavier. He's kinda broody and serious and that's about it. He does most the work and is probably the most likeable character in this book, which isn't saying much. He acts as Bethany's older brother more or less, but their relationship is just… nowhere to be found, really. They have no familial chemistry or bond. He's just kinda there to pop up every once in awhile to remind Bethany that she can't be with humans and that they have a job. Least, in the first part of the book. The middle is dedicated to him being eye-candy for Molly, which is really creepy considering he's posing as a teacher and Molly is his student.

And those are the three angel characters. And before I go on, I'm gonna talk a little about their wings.

Yes, these three have wings, and their wings make NO SENSE at ALL. In fact, you forget they have wings because their wings only ever come into play to waste time or as plot devices. Nothing more.

Furthermore, their wings make no logical sense. And I know we're talking angels here, but the book clearly says they use their wings to fly, not magic, so they still gotta follow what physics dictates since they have mostly-human bodies (and I say mostly humans because they don't have belly buttons… if they HAVE to stay undercover for a mission, why not give them actual normal human bodies? Then again, if they had normal human bodies, they wouldn't be able to be absolutely beautiful and flawless.)

Sorry, lemme get back on track to these shitty wings.

Their wings are described as being paper-thin…. Which makes no sense since wings need bone, muscle, and proper feathers, and can easily fold up against the back. Which, again, makes no sense. If they could be folded up against just the back under a shirt, then they would be too small for them to fly with and the shape would most likely be wrong.

Also, somehow Bethany was able to hide her wings even though she wore things like a prom dress, which you know… are thin up top usually and you can't even hide the bump of your bra strap sometimes, let alone wings. Also, even if you could put a shirt over your wings to hide them, you would still be able to see the impression of the wings underneath. FURTHERMORE STILL, wings are a limb of the body! They would get too cramped up to be folded up like that for days and weeks! And it is mentioned that she does get wing cramps, but it's not mentioned enough. Plus, there is always the chance that she could've flapped them by accident, or they could twitch, or get an itch somehow, or in general be uncomfortable folded up against her back and under her shirt, but again, it's never really brought up as anything important besides padding, or when the author randomly remembers that she is indeed writing angels. Gabriel and Ivy also never mention their wings beyond the fact that they have to hide them.

And the fact of the matter is is that the only reason they have wings is so it's obvious they're angels. Literally no other reason, since so many gaps and inconsistencies are made with this wing shit! It makes no logical sense to the book either! If you're going undercover, wouldn't you want NORMAL HUMAN BODIES with BELLY BUTTONS and NORMAL SPLOTCHY AND BLEMISHED SKIN and NO WINGS? Seriously, it's implied God made these bodies for them and if that's true then, quite frankly, God is an idiot as well in this.

Sorry for going on such a tangent, but I wasn't so sure where else I should put this little nitpick. Let's move onto the other three non-angel characters.

Xavier is basically your stereotypical YA love interest minus being a bad boy. He's almost too clean cut, in fact, almost too perfect. In fact, like Bethany, he's just a glittery rock too. Except he's also demanding, rude, controlling, and judgmental as all hell. He slut shames and is obsessed with gender roles. It's VERY strange. For example, he states multiple times he dislikes poetry because it's "for girls" which… considering some of the most FAMOUS poets are men, is really, REALLY fucking strange. Makes him sound like an idiot. And of course, he's the one who points out only women can wear makeup and if boys wear makeup, they must either be emo or in a boyband…. Yeah… those two only… considering a lot of actors wear makeup and many, many bands wear stage makeup… it's just… gross. As you can probably tell, this is where the book gets some transphobic overtones. Furthermore, he enforces the idea that all men know about cars and motors because they're men, and likewise all men like sports and don't understand prom and don't enjoy prom for the same reason… look, it makes no sense. I'm trying to explain it, but it makes no sense and he makes no sense either.

As for being controlling, as I mentioned before, he commands Bethany to do things like eat and such. He only allows her to hang around people he "approves" of, and HE has to be the one to protect her. He, a simple human teenage boy, has to protect and fucking ANGEL.

I'm not the only one seeing a problem with this, right? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, please come back and prevent this book from having ever being written. Thanks.

But, really, besides the fact that Xavier is controlling and edging that abuse line… which a lot of YA male love interests in these books do anyways, he's nothing. Just another white pretty boy who has no personality.

Of course, the author TRIES to give him a personality and a kinda? Tragic backstory, but it goes nowhere. Basically his old girlfriend died in a fire and he refused to date anyone else. But of course after knowing Bethany for a few days, he falls in love with her and the illusion of grief given to him was shattered. Honestly, you forget that his old girlfriend died in a fire till the end. It didn't add or shape his character at all, probably because he isn't a character.

Molly is the standard BFF and she's also the slut of the book. She's heavily slut shamed, obsessed with boys and prom, and that's the extent of her character and personality. She also has this super creepy crush on Gabriel (HER TEACHER) and borderline stalks him and it's… supposed to be seen as acceptable? The book never paints it in a bad light. It's really gross, if I am being honest. She's also the character used as the example of what NOT to be and is often used to bounce ideologies off. I'll get more into the ideologies of this book later, however.

Last "character" I can talk about is Jake Thorn. Yup, that's the name of the enemy. He's a demon, which isn't a spoiler because you know he is as soon as he enters the scene, and honestly he is the closest character to actually being a character. The best dialogue in this shit book actually comes from Jake and Bethany when they are together. They have the closest to an actual chemistry in this. Which is… odd and sad.

Jake is a really strange character. He's introduced and is basically described as a goth and bad boy. He's pale, has dark hair and eyes, and is thin. Oh, and he has a tattoo. Of course.

And then he basically is turned into a Nice Guy? Wears a fedora, scarf, and long coat/trench coat, feels entitled to Bethany… who he is interested in, for some reason, and doesn't accept rejection from her. Like, I didn't know you could mix a goth, a bad boy, and a Nice Guy together, but apparently you can. He's one of the strangest characters I have ever read about, and not in a good way.

Besides that, he's just… standard asshole evil. His characterization is whatever the plot demands at that time.

And that's our cast! None of them are good, interesting, or developed in the slightest, and you will hate every character for most the book. Trust me on that.

The Relationship:

I have… so much and so little to say about the relationship shown in Halo. On one hand, it's just plain instalove. You never feel like the characters are really as in love as Halo tries to convince you they are. There is absolutely no chemistry between them whatsoever, and neither of them really have hobbies beyond telling one another how much they love one another. It's almost sickening, if I am being honest. Most the book is dedicated to Xavier and Bethany's relationship, but they can't possibly have a relationship as they don't have personalities, they aren't characters. And seeing two rocks interact with one another isn't interesting. Having two rocks doesn't suddenly make them interesting! It just means you have two rocks.

On the other hand, however, there is quite a bit of your standard YA Abusive Boyfriend trope, and several other gross implications.

Xavier and Bethany's relationship is pretty standard when it comes to terrible YA books. Instalove, as I have said before, and a lack of understanding on why these characters are even together. Xavier is controlling and possessive, which is played off as being worrisome and protective. He controls who Bethany is allowed to hang out with, controls how much she eats, and there is even a part in the book where he talks for her, and this is seen as romantic.

As vile as this controlling behavior is, it's standard fare as I've said. It's prevalent in many YA books. The idea that a man will lay down his life and do anything to protect you is a romantic fantasy for many women, and many writers just don't have the skills to write something like that and have it not cross the line into just being possessive instead of protective.

Lastly, in the beginning of Halo, Bethany fretted about her and Xavier's relationship being forbidden. Now, this is common, and usually the answer given is because an angel lusts over a human, and lust is a sin. If not that, then Angel/Human relationships are banned due to the chance of birthing Nephilim children. Thing is, neither of these things really apply to Bethany, and the reason why Human and Angel romantic interaction isn't allowed is never ever brought up!

Plus, after Xavier and Bethany get together, this "forbidden romance" angle is just completely hand-waved. Look, "because God works in mysterious ways" is as good an excuse as "because magic" and that's not a reasonable excuse either! I know this is a book about angels and shit, but come on, I need a little bit of believability. If you don't wanna write and go into details about how the romance is forbidden and explore the consequences of two characters being together that aren't supposed to be together, then just don't write it. Come on. Not writing something is easier than actually writing something!

Anyways, besides this standard fare, Xavier seems to almost constantly look down at Bethany. Considering how fucking stupid she is, it's understandable, but there are implications that he looks down at her because she's a naive girl. He doesn't let her learn, he's like a hovering parent, and it's quite creepy. It's vaguely misogynistic. It's also strange because Bethany is an angel, and yet she needs some human boy to protect her? Yeah, right.

Furthermore, Xavier shoves gender roles down your throat constantly. There are multiple parts of the book where he degrades things such as literature, poetry, and makeup as being "things for girls" and neither the narration or Bethany speaks out against this. It's reinforced in this book, actually, as the only guy in this book who is shown to like poetry and literature is the villain!

The watery relationship between Xavier and Bethany is also put on a pedestal, and there are multiple times throughout this book where Bethany ditches her friends to be with Xavier, and even says that having a boyfriend is much more important than having friends. Which is… a very toxic thought. How many sayings are there that look down upon people who ditch their friends for a boy/girlfriend? It's clear Halo has never heard of the saying "chicks before dicks" or even "bros before hos." I know I have stated before that Bethany is a shitty person and is very selfish, but this is just the cherry on top. It's hard to believe she is an angel. Ditching your friends for a boy or girlfriend makes you a shitty friend, end of story.

Other little instances that make this relationship out to be toxic is that Bethany and Xavier are always around one another, and when they aren't together in a scene, Bethany whines about how she feels empty and "aches" when not with Xavier, reinforcing the idea that women need a man, which again, is misogynistic. Plus, the fact that these two are so codependent on one another, and can't do anything without one another is just… unhealthy.

Lastly, there is a huge implication throughout this book that Bethany and Xavier's romance and relationship together is more pure, more meaningful, and better than other characters' relationships because Xavier and Bethany haven't had sex yet. Which is… just bullshit and just another way this book slut shames other women for their choices, whatever they may be.

I don't understand how anyone could look at this relationship between Bethany and Xavier and think it to be healthy or romantic. I have met people who had been in similar relationships to this, and guess what? Those relationships didn't last, and turned out to be abusive.

No surprise there, though.

The Ideology:

This… book… I am hesitant to call it a book, is just trying to preach borderline evangelical Christian ideas. It has transphobic and homophobic implications, views women as being lesser than men, and is so set in its gender roles, it's absolutely creepy. It degrades "feminist ideals" such as women having choices and being independent, and all of that is all wrapped up in a story that holds no weight itself. Plus, not only is it misogynistic, it also has several examples of misandry as well, degrading men who show emotions and painting every man in this book besides Xavier and Gabriel to be these awful people who only care about sex and are potential rapists, as well as stupid to boot.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the toxic yet smug messages in this book, I wouldn't be so infuriated with it. If it was just your standard shitty YA book, I wouldn't have even finished it, and would've tossed it to the side. But unfortunately, I couldn't do that. In this book, if you are not exactly like the angels or Xavier, you are a terrible person, and deserve to be pitied. What a hateful set of ideals.

Recommendation and Final Thoughts:

I can't recommend this book to anyone, really. I mean, if you're looking for a shitty book to laugh at because it's so terrible, pick up Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer or 50 Shades of Gray, not this garbage. Hell, go google My immortal and read that. It's free.

If you are insecure to the point of tears in your writing style, and need a book to read to show you that, hey, least you're better than this, then go ahead and pick up Halo. If you need to read a book to show exactly what not to do when writing angels, then pick up and read Halo. Those two types of people are all that I can recommend this too and even then, I don't recommend reading the entire thing.

Halo is one of the worst books I have ever read, if not the worst. I had originally planned to read the entire series, and I bet there are other offensive things in the sequels, but I just can't bring myself to do it, and I am sorry about that.

Halo is one of the worst books I have ever read. It's offensive and has almost every YA cliche. 0/10, would never ever recommend.

#Halo #Book review #My Reviews #my rants #shutuplanx #i wanna apologize to mobile users who gotta scroll past this #also I hate tumblr for never keeping my formatting

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