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wolfs-hunt1 · 5 years ago

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Bucky x agent reader

Pairing: Bucky x agent! reader

Participating in HBC Drunk Drabbles for @the-ss-horniest-book-club

A/N: I’m a bit too tipsy to do any editing on this just yet, so sorry for any mistakes you encounter. XD

Warning: This part is a lemon, which means it contains sexual content. If you are under 18 or you don’t like this sort of things then please turn back now. If you do like then enjoy the reading.

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Being stranded in a small safe house after a difficult mission wasn't so bad after all. After the team had cleaned up the Hydra base you decided to split up and head to different safe houses to rest up before being picked up to head to the compound. You had been assigned a small cabin in the middle of the woods with Bucky, and once you checked the perimeter to make sure no one had followed you, you started to take care of your wounds.

You were in the small kitchen, leaning against the counter, peeling off the top part of your tactical suit when you heard Bucky hiss softly.

"Let me take a look at that." he reached for you, helping you take off your left sleeve that was sticking to your arm like a second skin. You had a jagged slash across your bicep, not too deep, and the bleeding seemed to have stopped already. "We might get by without stitches. Let me go grab a medkit." you nod, sliding to the floor and leaning your head to the counter with a soft thud.

You heard doors opening and closing in the adjacent room, and after a few moments, Bucky comes back holding a small white box in his hands, laying it on the floor next to your thigh. He sat down next to you, and grabbed some gauze, dabbing some distilled water on it and cleaning your wound, making you hiss and squirm in your place for a few seconds.

"Sorry. Should have warned you it might sting."

"It's ok, I just wasn't expecting it to be that cold, that's all." you watched as he reached for some butterfly bandages and peels them off, applying them to your skin and then wrapping the wound with a bandage to keep it from infecting. "Thank you." you whisper to him, a smile gracing your lips.

"You're welcome, doll." he cleans up and stores the medkit back in its place, reaching for your hand and helping you stand from the floor, leading you to sit in one of the two dining chairs in the small room. "What do you wanna eat? We have some canned beans and tuna… I can probably whip something up for us?" you nod at him.

While he makes dinner you bussy yourself cleaning your guns and knives, having found a white shirt in the dresser in the room to change into, tying the sleeves of your tact suit around your waist. You get up from the chair, the smell of food was permeating the air, making you realize how hungry you actually were. You reached your arms around Bucky's waist, resting your cheek on the expanse of his broad shoulders.

"Dinner is almost ready, doll." he says to you while stirring the contents of the frying pan. He chuckles when he feels you snuggling deeper into him, reaching your hands underneath his shirt and tracing the hard muscles of his stomach. "Doll…" he growls low in his throat, "As much as I love your hands on me, I don't wanna burn our dinner cuz you got me distracted." you mumbled something unintelligible against his back prompting him to laugh once more. "What was that babe? Couldn't really hear you."

You turn your face to the side and repeat your sentence. "I don't care about the food, right now I want you." He ponders your words for a hot minute and then turns off the stove, turning around in your arms and grabbing your thigh, pulling you up and prompting you to wrap your legs around his waist. He walks around the small cabin towards the room, you reach your hands to the back of his neck, fingers carding through his soft locks of hair, while your lips busy themselves by suckling a small bruise into the point where his collarbone and neck meet, making him moan and tightening his hands around you.

You feel your world tilting when he trows you both in the bed, landing on top of you, squeezing your ass while kissing you on the lips. His hands trail upwards, going under your shirt and massaging your sides, kisses trailing down and kissing your tummy and ribs, sucking a purple bruise there, and smiling when he hears your loud moan.

You arch your back, all but ripping the shirt from your body while Bucky's dexterous fingers sneak around your back, clipping away your bra. His hot mouth latching into your sink, suckling bruises into it, while you're a squirming mess underneath him. He leans away from your body so he could take away his shirt while you took the opportunity to take off the rest of your tact suit, leaving you only in your black panties.

You wrap your legs around his waist, putting some pressure on it until his back hits the old squeaky mattress and you're straddling him. You lick a stripe from his neck down to his collar bone and then trace some kisses until you reach his nipple, sucking on it while your nails leave red welts on his sides, making him hiss while arching his back closer to your body, hands firmly gripping your ass and grinding up to your core, his pants a rough contrast against your soft skin.

You fumble with his belt and pants button before reaching your hand inside to wrap your fingers around his hardness, pumping him slowly in your hand until he was shooting up in the bed and grabbing you by your upper harms, pushing up down into the mattress and taking off his pants in the process.

His vibranium hand reaches down unto your clothed pussy and presses his knuckles into you. "Your so wet, your panties are all damp already, doll." he drawls while looking at your eyes. He reaches up, hooking his fingers on the waistband of them and pulls harshly, never breaking eye contact with you while he throws the ripped garment to a forgotten corner of the room.

"I'm all wet for you, Bucky." you moan his name, inciting him to nestle himself between your legs and slide his cock against your pussy, smearing your essence on his length and on your thighs, before slowly slipping inside of your tight heat. He started to trust up against you slowly, nipping your neck and smiling against it whenever he hit your sweet spot and made you moan loudly on his ear. "Please, Bucky…" you panted at him, gripping his hair and pulling him to kiss his mouth and nibble on his lower lip before whispering "Faster."

His hips snapped up at you hard once, then twice until he interlocks his right-hand fingers with yours and pushed his vibranium hand to the headboard to find some stability before he started to thrust faster and harder into your core. The small stuffy room was filled with the sounds of moans and the bed frame being pushed against the wall, creaking loudly every time Bucky trusted into you. His left hand found itself on the mattress beside your head griping it tightly, allowing him to lower himself closer to your body and snap his hips just that bit faster, your legs clasping around his hips, your head thrown back allowing him access to bite and suck on the delicate column of your neck, while your nails raked along his back.

His pace was harsh and you could feel both of you sliding further up the bed, but your brain was swimming in ecstasy and you weren't about to tell him to slow down. Your delighted moans and breathy rasps of his name were driving him crazy, his hot mouth finding one of your nipples and sucking harshly before blowing cold breath over it, making you shudder underneath him. You could feel the coil in the pits of your belly getting thither and tighter with each movement of his hips, and so you moved with him meeting him trust by trust.

Your screams of pleasure were accompanied by a ripping sound with a metallic clang, that you were too blissed-out to pay notice to. Bucky laid on top of you, his long hair shielding you from the outside while your pants mingled together riding out your high. You hear him let out a puff of hair before he starts to chuckle softly, hiding his face in the crook of your neck when his laughter turns to full-blown belly laughs.

"What is it?" you ask amazed, but not understanding where the sudden laughing fit was coming from.

"We broke the bed." that makes you open your eyes in a flash and look at him incredulously.

"What?!" he chuckles once more before slowly rising from your plush body and slipping his limping cock out of your warmth core. He looks to the spot where his left hand had been next to your face, and you notice the massive tear on the sheets and mattress, some of the old, rusty coils snaped upwards and escaping the mattress casing. That urges you to start laughing too, him soon following and burying his face in your chest, holding you closer to him while snuggling to your side.

"Let's just hope they don't ask us what happed to the mattress once we're back to the compound." he whispers softly, sleep catching up to you both once you hum softly, fingers carding through his locks and falling asleep nestled together.

#bucky barnes #bucky barns x reader #x reader #lemon #smut #my writing #Drunk Drabbles #HBC Drunk Drabbles #agent! reader

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Did The Dark Knight Really Influence the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

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In 2008, there were two seismic events in the superhero movie genre so close together that you’d be forgiven for thinking they signaled the same thing. Over the span of a few months, Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) via Iron Man, and director Christopher Nolan changed the perception of how seriously to take these movies with The Dark Knight. Both are credited as watershed moments for how audiences and (more importantly) the industry approached such stories; and The Dark Knight is specifically singled out as the gold standard by which all other masked crimefighter films are measured.

However, was Nolan’s haunting vision—one in which a lone avenger is the last, best hope for a major American city on the verge of collapse—really that influential on its genre? The Dark Knight certainly had a monumental impact on the culture, then and now. You saw it when Heath Ledger’s searing interpretation of the Joker made him only the second actor to win a posthumous Oscar, as well as when the film’s exclusion from the Best Picture race changed the way the Academy Awards handled its top prize. And just last year, The Dark Knight became only the second superhero movie inducted into the National Film Registry.

Yet when a friend watching last week’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiere told me Marvel was returning to the “realistic” approach of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and by extension The Dark Knight, I couldn’t help but disagree. The new Disney+ series may have a slightly more grounded aesthetic than the last time we saw these characters (back when they were fighting space aliens over magic stones in Avengers: Endgame), but the medium-blending existence of the series belies the idea that Marvel took anything significant from the insular and self-contained Dark Knight Trilogy.

The Dark Knight vs. Iron Man

It’s interesting to look back at just those 2008 films since at face value they bore minor similarities. They both were focused on fantastically wealthy billionaires using their fortunes to fight wrongdoing on a potentially global scale; each movie was directed by filmmakers with indie cred thanks to Nolan helming Memento (2000) and Jon Favreau writing and starring in Swingers (1996); and each starred unexpected casting choices with Ledger as the Joker and Robert Downey Jr. jumpstarting a career comeback as Tony Stark.

But their goals and approaches were worlds apart. The obvious thing to note, besides The Dark Knight being a sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and Iron Man being an origin movie, is that Iron Man had an slyly hilarious sensibility, and The Dark Knight fancied itself an allegory about post-9/11 America. The former’s success was engineered in large part by Downey’s gift for comedic improvisation and freestyle. Indeed, co-star Jeff Bridges said in 2009 that he, Downey, and Favreau were essentially improvising their scenes from scratch every day during primitive rehearsals. “They had no script, man,” Bridges lightly complained with his Dude diction.

By contrast, The Dark Knight appears at a glance to be an exercise in self-seriousness and lofty ambition. Every scene, written by Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan, appears like a chess move, and each character a pawn or knight who’s been positioned to put contemporary audiences in a state of pure anxiety with War on Terror imagery and dialogue. Of course this clocklike presentation is itself another Nolan illusion, as smaller players like Michael Jai White, who portrayed gangster Gambol in the movie, have been quite candid about. As with almost every film, there is still a level of fluidity and workshopping on Nolan’s set.

Ultimately, the bigger difference between the Nolan and eventual Marvel approach is what each is hoping to accomplish with the film they’re currently making. More than just offering a “realistic” vision of Batman, The Dark Knight attempted to tell a sweeping crime drama epic that would stand alone, separate from its status as a Batman Begins sequel. Rather than being “the next chapter,” The Dark Knight was meant to be a cinematic distillation of Batman and Joker’s primal appeals writ large. With this approach, the film also broke away from the superhero movie template Batman Begins followed three years earlier, and which nearly all superhero films still walk through the paces of.

In essence, The Dark Knight showed that superhero movies could be dark and mature, yes, but they can also be subversive, unexpected, and genuinely surprising. Nolan’s previous superhero movie, as good as it is, followed the beats set down by Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie nearly 30 years earlier. They’re the same beats trod by Iron Man and pretty much every other superhero origin movie, including a large bulk of Marvel Studios’ output. The Dark Knight, by contrast, reached for a cinematic vernacular separate from its specific genre. The movie’s not subtle about it either. The opening scene of Nolan’s epic wears its homages to Michael Mann’s Heat on its sleeves, and the story’s structure has more to do with Jaws than Jor-El.

The approach shook audiences in 2008 after they’d come to expect a certain type of movie from masked do-gooders. In The Dark Knight, superhero conventions could be subverted or obliterated when love interest Rachel Dawes is brutally killed off mid-sentence, or stalwart Batman is forced to claim a pyrrhic victory over the villain by entering into a criminal conspiracy and cover-up with the cops. The thrill of novelty was as breathtaking as the movie’s allegorical elements about a society on edge.

And even with The Dark Knight’s open-ended finale, it stood as a singular cinematic experience, complete with then-groundbreaking emphasis on IMAX photography. Nolan was so adamant about making this as self-contained an experience as possible that he jettisoned his co-story creator David Goyer’s idea of setting up Harvey Dent’s fall from grace for a third movie. Dent’s fate, as that of everyone else’s, would be tied strictly to the events of the movie you’re now watching.

“We Have a Hulk”

In Iron Man, and then more forcefully in Iron Man 2 (2010) and the rest of its “Phase One” era, Marvel Studios demonstrated a wholly different set of priorities. Similar to how Batman Begins paved the way for Nolan to do what he really wanted with that material, Iron Man 2 came to encapsulate Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige’s grander designs for the type of movies he was making. Where The Dark Knight was singular, unconventional, and two steps closer to our world than its comic book origins, Iron Man 2 was episodic, entirely crafted around audience expectations for a sequel, and even more like a comic book world than our own.

In other words, the first Iron Man gently submerged audiences into the fantasy by beginning with contemporary images of Tony Stark in a Middle Eastern desert; Iron Man 2 then made sweeping strides in defining what that MCU fantasy is as quickly as possible: Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is introduced solely to establish the superspy who will be vital to The Avengers two years down the road, and the central narrative about Tony Stark fighting an old rival is put on pause to reintroduce the character Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as a supporting, and superfluous, side character. The post-credit scene even arbitrarily introduces literal magic with a glowing hammer that has absolutely nothing to do with the story you just watched. Still, it’s a hell of a teaser for Thor which was due in theaters a year later.

With the release of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios’ emphasis became diametrically opposed to the driving concept behind The Dark Knight Trilogy. Rather than each film being an insulated, standalone cinematic experience like the Hollywood epics of old, Marvel’s movies would be interconnected episodes in an ongoing narrative saga that spanned multiple franchises and countless sequels. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unlike Nolan after The Dark Knight, Feige and his stable of writers always know where the next movie (or five) is going, and have a better idea of what the overall vision is than any single director working within this system. Ironically, this returns power to the studio and producer as the seeming authorial voice of each movie. Like in the Golden Age of Hollywood, directors are more often hired hands than influential auteurs.

However, this means the aspects Nolan really valued on The Dark Knight beyond a gritty “realism”—elements like spontaneity, subversion, and a distancing from superhero tropes—became antithetical to the type of movies produced by the MCU. For at least the first decade of its existence, the Marvel Cinematic Universe flourished by creating a formula and house style that is as predictable for audiences as the contents in a Big Mac.

When you go to a Marvel movie, you more or less you’ll get: an ironic, self-deprecating tone, a story that often revolves around a CG MacGuffin that must be taken from the villain, and a narrative in which disparate heroic characters come together after some amusing, disagreeable banter. In fact, more than Iron Man, it was Joss Whedon’s The Avengers (2012) which refined the Marvel formula into what it is today.

There are of course exceptions to this rule. Black Panther became the first Marvel movie since Iron Man to arguably tackle themes significant to the real world, in this case specifically the legacy of African diaspora. It also became the first superhero film nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture as a result; James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies might follow the narrative formula of most MCU movies, but they’re embedded with a cheeky and idiosyncratic personality that is distinctly Gunn’s; and in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016), directors Joe and Anthony Russo, as well as screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, attempted to inject a little bit of that “realistic” aesthetic from The Dark Knight. But only to a point.

Particularly in the 2014 effort, there was a push by the Russos to rely on in-camera special effects and cultivate what they often described in the press as a “1970s spy thriller” style. Ostensibly, the hope may have been to make The Winter Soldier as much a spy thriller as The Dark Knight was a crime epic. In this vein, there were even attempts to graft onto the story very timely concerns about the overreach of a government surveillance state, which had only grown in the decade since the U.S. PATRIOT Act was passed, despite a change in White House administrations. However, all of these ambitions had an invisible ceiling hovering above them.

Despite having overtones about the danger of reactionary if well-intentioned government leaders, like the kind personified by Robert Redford’s SHIELD director in the movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier couldn’t become too focused on the espionage elements or too far removed from the Marvel house style. The story still needed to interconnect with other Marvel films, hence Redford’s character turning out to be a secret HYDRA double agent, and it still needed to give audiences what they expected from a Marvel movie. Thus how this “1970s spy thriller” ends in a giant CGI battle with citywide destruction as Captain America inserts MacGuffins into machines that will blow up HYDRA’s latest weapon for world domination.

It’s easy to wonder if the movie was developed a little longer, and didn’t have to play by a certain set of rules and expectations, that instead of backpedaling into comic book motivations, Redford’s character would’ve been a well-intentioned patriot amassing power “to keep us safe,” and in the process destabilized the institutions he claimed to revere.

Movies

What Did Batman Do Between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises?

By David Crow

WandaVision: The Unanswered Questions From the Marvel Series

By Gavin Jasper

A Universe Without End

The Marvel method breeds a heavy need for familiarity and comfortable predictability, as opposed to disorientation and discomfort. Yet both methods are valid. While Nolan achieved near universal praise for The Dark Knight, his attempt to replicate it with the even more ambitious The Dark Knight Rises—an unabashed David Lean-inspired epic that took more from A Tale of Two Cities and Doctor Zhivago than DC Comics—left fans divided. It also was a narrative dead end for the corporate/fanbase need of an ongoing franchise. Nolan instead reached a final, artistic, and emphatic period for his cinematic interpretation of Batman mythology. By comparison, Marvel Studios has created a new cinematic vernacular that only ever uses dashes, semicolons, and commas. There is always more to tell.

Nolan reflected on these changing circumstances for superhero movies in 2017 when he said, “That’s a privilege and a luxury that filmmakers aren’t afforded anymore. I think it was the last time that anyone was able to say to a studio, ‘I might do another one, but it will be four years.’ There’s too much pressure on release schedules to let people do that now, but creatively it’s a huge advantage.”

This lines up with what Jeff Bridges said about the evolution of the Marvel method way back in ’09 after the first Iron Man: “You would think with a $200 million movie you’d have the shit together, but it was just the opposite. And the reason for that is because they get ahead of themselves. They have a release date before the script [and they think], ‘Oh, we’ll have the script before that time,’ and they don’t have their shit together.”

Bridges’ unhappiness with the new process notwithstanding, Marvel was rewriting the playbook about how these types of movies were made. Nolan’s approach of one at a time and years-long development processes created three distinctly different and relatively standalone Batman movies. But Marvel has shifted the idea of not just what a franchise can be, but also what cinematic storytelling means.

Instead of three movies, their rules and structures have generated dozens of well-received and adored entertainments, that when combined can produce experiences as unique as Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019): two movies that were more like a two-part season finale on TV than individual stories. And the latter became the highest grossing film of all time.

The success of this approach is further underlined when one considers competitors that tried to emulate both Marvel and Nolan’s approaches, relying on a lone auteur to build a shared cinematic universe—while also arguably taking the wrong lessons from the “dark” in The Dark Knight title. In the case of the DC Extended Universe, that approach collapsed on itself after three movies, leaving the interconnected “shared” part of its universe in tatters, and fans and studio hands alike divided on how to proceed with the franchise.The Marvel Cinematic Universe took a narrower road than that of The Dark Knight. But it turned out to be a lot smoother and much, much longer.

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noblecrumpet-dorkvision · 7 years ago

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Balancing Homebrew Classes

I get a lot of questions about homebrewing so I decided to make a big ole list of things to look at when making a subclass or even a class for D&D 5e. I've learned a lot from making my own brews and getting critique from others and reworking my own work, and I think everyone can benefit from these. As you are going through your finished homebrew, check for these:

image credit: Randy Gallegos

Balance Your Features

Action Economy

Players get several different types of actions each turn: movement, an item interaction, a bonus action, a reaction, and an action. There are several potential problems when it comes to assigning abilities to these different types of actions. On one hand, you could put too many options on one action type. If every feature in a subclass costs one action, the player has potential bonus actions and reactions it isn't using. Also, if this is a subclass, be aware that you are competing with other features of the base class.

A rogue subclass that has a ton of bonus action features won't be able to use them if it's using its Cunning Action every turn. The rogue also has its Uncanny Dodge taking up its reactions. This leaves very few actions to deal with as far as a subclass goes, which is why the book's subclasses either offer passive features or spells (for the trickster).

The competition for actions can also be a good thing, but try to limit it to two distinct options. Players shouldn't have to choose between a hundred options each round when you could give them two choices. In the case of the rogue, "do I use my reaction for this attack of opportunity, or wait in case I need Uncanny Dodge later?" Two very different options for one action that can lead to very different outcomes.

Ability Score Economy

Keep an eye on how many ability scores your class cares about. A good class really should only care about two of them. If you introduce a third one, make sure it's tertiary and does not require as much effort to make it good, yet not breakable if the player ramps up to 20 in that stat. For instance, my Commander fighter subclass during fighter week was really reliant on CHA for a class that needs STR and CON to be good. When this was pointed out to me, I have since reworked the class entirely to not need saving throws, and instead gains a number of uses based on WIS plus a flat number. This means that even a fighter with no WIS still gets to use the abilities, but rewards the player for having a few extra points. Since the features no longer have saves, the player isn't punished for having a low tertiary score.

Compare Similar Mechanics

The most basic way to check your classes is to compare it to other existing mechanics, but some people forget to do this. There are a few classes I made that essentially gave other classes a ranger's animal companion. To do that, I made sure to look at the ranger's companion feature when making those classes.

Compare Average Damage

Compare the damage output against the damage of similar classes. What matters most is damage per round, which you should usually assume takes place over 1 minute. You can use this link to calculate damage per round for fighting classes, as compiled by Kryx. There are some parts of the tables I still don't understand, but in general this is very helpful.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d-9xDdath8kX_v7Rpts9JFIJwIG3X0-dDUtfax14NT0/edit#gid=2091322934

It doesn't contain spellcasters (except for the bladelock) but I have a quick way I judge a caster's damage output. A spellcaster ideally will be frontloading its most powerful spells with some cantrips between. Assume that the class in question casts its highest level damaging spell once followed by a cantrip the next round, then the next-highest level damaging spell the next turn, then a cantrip, etc. until 1 minute (10 rounds) passes. Use the average damage for each spell and cantrip. Add all those averages together and divide by 10 to get the average damage that the character did over that minute. Overall, spellcasters tend to have a higher average damage than fighting classes, but they become balanced thanks to their limited number of slots each day. Simply because a creature has access to Cone of Cold doesn't mean it can cast it every single round. Bear that in mind and compare to existing classes.

Check Drawbacks

Honestly, I dislike drawbacks in homebrews unless it's for a thematic reason. There shouldn't be a downside to something to gain an upside that is far beyond what another similar class could accomplish. Instead, that upside should simply be balanced appropriately for the situation. Drawbacks can always be negated somehow, so make sure they either can't be worked around or ensure the effect is fully balanced. For instance, paying health can simply mean spending hit dice during a rest unless you also reduce their hit point maximum.

I was making a class that gave offerings for magical power, so I had it apply effects similar to a sorcerer's metamagic to their spells in return for a sacrifice of gold each time. However, a player's wealth very much depends on the DM. I ended up using a chart based on a character's average wealth as they leveled based on treasure hoards to help choose how much gold it should cost. In the end, I decided that it should probably cost no more than a typical Potion of Healing but the effect applied to the spell shouldn't be too much more powerful than a sorcerer's abilities. Even if the character did have limitless wealth to use the effect on every spell, it shouldn't be enough to break the game.

image credit: Sandro Rybak

Edit Your Text

Be Concise

Make sure your wording is detailed and specific, and yet short and succinct. Keep an eye out for sentences that could be interpreted in a different way. Ensure the antecedent is clear. I recently noticed a spell I made referred to "creatures on the side of the wall you designate." I meant for the caster to choose a side of the wall, not choose which creatures get affected, but it could have been interpreted both ways. Careful wording helps prevent players from absolutely busting your homebrew.

Being concise also helps overly wordy things become easier to understand. I guarantee that few players will actually read through your entire homebrew if it's too wordy and doesn't get the point across quick. In my future edits of my classes, I have since removed a lot of the different options that were available for things like the Xammux wizard from my wizard week, which wanted to be a hundred different classes complete with evil flesh grafting rules. Distill your class down to its essence.

What also doesn't hurt is summarizing a feature with a sentence before defining the rules, cluing players into why the rules are that way. "A bright streak flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame." Okay so it deals an area of fire damage. Got it.

Check Syntax

Try to use similar terminology that Wizards uses in their classes. I still sometimes use terminology from 3rd edition because that's what I grew up with. For instance I will sometimes say Handle Animal instead of Animal Handling when referring to the specific skill. Just as well, I often refer to skill checks when they are technically ability checks that just happen to use a skill. I should be saying Strength (Athletics) check, not just an Athletics check. Even though it's easier to say out loud or in-game, and on Tumblr posts I will often do so to make things easier for myself, it's not technically correct. Look at similar existing spells and class features to figure out your wording.

image credit: James Ryman

Test Your Class

Theoretical Stress Test

It is difficult to always run numbers and playtest if you are working mostly by yourself (like me), but there are some intense examples you can test your class against to see if it can be easily integrated into the game. Imagine each of the following for your class:

Imagine the whole party was composed of this class. Would its features still be balanced or is there a way to break them? Has the damage become absurd or awful?

Imagine the class in the ideal party, with a cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard. Have your class replace any one of them and see if the party can still function. If it can't, the class might still need balancing to be useful.

Imagine someone is multiclassing into this class after 5 levels of Fighter, or some other class that grants an Extra Attack by then. Basically, does your class become unbalanced if you give them an extra attack? Keep in mind that 5 levels is still an investment, so it usually won't be a problem, but if the class has an extremely powerful ability that gets even MORE powerful if you can attack more than once in a turn, it might need balancing.

Imagine another class multiclasses by dipping a few levels into your class. While you usually want the class's earliest ability to be their "schtick" that they use very often, you have to make sure it's not so powerful that other classes can become overpowered by taking only 3 or so levels in your class. For instance, during Sorcerer Week I made a swarm hivemind subclass that essentially became a swarm, granting it resistance to physical damage. It made sense flavorfully, but someone pointed out that if a Fighter or other combat class dipped into it, they would suddenly have the resilience of a barbarian for almost no cost, in addition to all those spells. I tried fixing it and left it up but in the book compilation I'm making I actually ended up removing it to replace it with a new class.

Try thinking of other ways to test the limits of the homebrew. Chances are someone out there will want to be able to min-max your class so you have to be ready for anything.

Self-Playtest

While it's unfeasible to playtest every single thing you make in large focus groups with detailed data collection, especially if you are by yourself and make a bunch of it like I do, you can always run through a self-playtest. All you have to do is play the class or mechanic in question in turn order against enemies of an appropriate challenge rating. Use turn order and run through the mechanic precisely as you wrote it. Check what happens if a check is failed OR succeeded to cover all your bases.

For the spells that I make, I will imagine the entire process of the spell from casting to effect (usually more for spells with a duration). Use props for minis if it's easier. This helps the distinctions for "start of turn" and "end of turn" effects become more clear. For instance, if I have a disabling spell that requires an initial save and then give the creature a new save at the start of each of their turns, the creature might fail their initial save but then pass their start-of-turn save, meaning they will never have a single round inhibited by the spell! I might get rid of the initial save or change the recurring saves to happen at the end of the creature's turns, so the creature will at least lose one turn on a failed save.

#dungeons & dragons #homebrew #D&D #custom classes #action economy #playtest #stress test #DnD #D&D 5e #DnD 5e #Noblecrumpet #Dorkvision

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purple-spring · 8 years ago

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Tomorrow - a SH fanfic

Author’s Note: This is my first SH fic and I have absolutely loved writing it. While I know that RPF is controversial for some, this was a piece I wanted to write to speculate on how SH began. This is obviously purely a work of fiction, and no offense is intended. Inspired by the following songs: “FOOLS” (Troye Sivan), “Television Romance” (Pale Waves) and “Can We Work It Out” (Gordi). A huuuuuuge thank you to @jandjsalmon and @theladylabyrinth for all their feedback and encouragement!

Summary: Lili and Cole are friends. Really good friends. So what happens when she wakes up next to him on a couch?

“What would it be like to let him in, to let herself love him? What would it be like to take a chance, to abandon her fears and leap freely into the unknown?”

Fic after the cut. Enjoy! And I love love love feedback, so leave me some love in my asks; hate will be blocked and deleted!

What came first was the warmth. A languid, pleasant warmth that reminded her of… of what? Of Christmas morning, she thought, with a sleepy smile. The gentle anticipation. The feeling of being home.

The second thing was her neck. It hurt. It rested awkwardly not on her own pillow but on the flat, firm surface of a couch that was definitely not her bed. She forced her eyes open and squinted against the bright California sun streaming in through the balcony.

Debby’s balcony. She was at Debby’s place. On Debby’s couch. Fuck. Guess I didn’t make it home last night.

She blinked slowly, attempting to rouse from her groggy haze. She’d overslept. Usually she was up by this time, but a few late nights in a row must have thrown her body off its normal cycle. But despite that, and despite the pain in her neck, she realized that she hadn’t actually slept this well in ages – a deep, dreamless slumber snuggled underneath a giant blanket. Maybe that’s why I feel warmer than usual.

Her neck really was killing her, though. She turned slightly to try and crack it, but was startled by something - someone - shifting behind her. An arm tightening protectively around her waist. A hand half-curled underneath her t-shirt, grazing her bare stomach. A sleepy groan mumbled into her hair. And, most tellingly, the faint scent of a familiar cologne cut by the slight undertone of cigarette smoke.

No.

She suddenly remembered.

Cole.

FUCK.

Her stomach dropped. Cole was spooning her. She had fallen asleep with Cole.

If she could have, she would’ve screamed. But she didn’t want to wake him and face the awkwardness of the situation, so she settled for gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes as tightly as she could, until she saw stars. A thousand thoughts streamed through her mind.

Is Debby awake? SHIT SHIT SHIT. HAS DEBBY ALREADY SEEN US?

I should go. Yup. Definitely need to go.

Okay, Lili. Focus. We can do this. But we need a plan.

Maybe I can sneak into the kitchen, make myself a coffee and pretend that nothing happened once he wakes up.

No. He’s not that gullible. He’ll know.

Okay, how about I pretend to fall out and then we can just laugh about it after? Then it’ll all just be a stupid joke, no harm done! Right? Haha.

Oh, god. Fuck. This is the worst. I’m just gonna go home. Screw it if he wakes up. I am not equipped for this.

Then, in the midst of all the rambling, a traitorous thought.

Or I could stay.

Her breath hitched at the audacity of the suggestion. She shut her eyes against it. No. No. We’ve been through this, Lili.

She felt her throat tightening, eyes threatening to brim over with tears. Images flashed through her head of the torture she had subjected herself to these past few months - letting herself fall for him and then battling, resisting, attempting to undo everything she felt for him.

Because this was all just so typical. Here, lying down next to each other, without any certainty of what they actually were… it was classic Cole and Lili. Affection without definition. Entanglement without clarity.

She sighed. A sigh that she felt all the way down to her bones.

How did we get here, Cole?

…

The immediate, short-term answer to the question was fairly simple.

Debby, Cole’s friend, former co-star and temporary roommate, had texted her the night before with an invitation to come over for dinner. “Cole’s still out of town so I’m getting the girls together for dinner. You down?” With nothing but ketchup and a bag of frozen peas sitting in her fridge, and with no other plans than hitting up her beloved Taco Bell again, she quickly replied with a grateful “yes”.

Lili had become fast friends with Debby since Cole introduced them to each other. Debby was lovely, down-to-earth and, in all honesty, not at all what she’d expected. If she’d been a psychologist or an anthropologist, Lili would have loved to have analysed both Debby and Cole as outlier case studies for the Disney child star phenomenon. They were both smart, worldly, kind and well-adjusted – totally opposite to the cliché of the bitter, washed-up, cynical ex-Disney kid (although she just knew that Cole would probably pipe up at this and say that he was bitter, washed-up and cynical. And then she’d have to roll her eyes and give him real-life examples of why he wasn’t any of those things. And in the middle of passionately enumerating ways in which he wasn’t bitter, he’d stare at her and say, “Okay, relax, Dr. Phil. I was kidding.”)

Lili hadn’t realized that being friends with Debby, well before anyone else on the cast had even met her, was somewhat significant, until she mentioned it in passing to Madelaine over lunch.

“Wait,” the redhead said in between sips of her smoothie. “So you’ve met Debby? Debby Ryan?”

“Um, yeah. Haven’t you?” While it was true that Cole and Lili had been cast first and had been acquainted since February, the rest of the Riverdale gang were becoming closer and were starting to mingle within each other’s circles.

“No. I mean, I’ve come across Debby at a few parties, but unless you count smiling at her awkwardly while re-applying mascara in the bathroom, then no, I haven’t actually met her.”

“Oh.”

“And I certainly haven’t had Cole introduce me to her.” Madelaine looked at her pointedly.

Huh. That was odd. But of course she’d met Debby. Cole was living with her while he was in LA. And Lili had assumed…

Well, what? That Cole brought all of his gal pals over to his place and got them to hang out regularly with one of his best friends? That this was just a normal occurrence for anyone within his circle?

Yeah, kind of?

She was startled to realize that this wasn’t true. Madelaine had a point - she was the only one. She’d even met Dylan, too. To the outside eye, that was… something. But he happened to be in town, she reasoned. And Cole and I had plans to hang out anyway, so…

“Lils, you there?”

Lili snapped back to attention and quickly changed the subject to cover up her thoughts. She brought up their plans to go bike-riding in Vancouver. In no time, Madelaine was distracted, chattering excitedly in between using her phone to find the best bike rides in the city. Lili contributed to the conversation whenever she had to, but her mind was somewhere else. The rest of that lunch – and every day since then, really – she couldn’t shake off that mild revelation that what she and Cole had wasn’t quite the same as what everyone else did.

…

How did we get here, Cole? Now, the long answer. This was more complicated.

What did she feel for him, anyway? ‘Like’ and ‘love’ were simplistic, overused terms. Of course she liked him. They were way beyond that. Did she love him? She wasn’t sure. This was why she rejected those terms to begin with – they were too vague, too general. They didn’t describe the way she felt whenever she was with him, or away from him.

If she could distil it to its essence, she’d say that she and Cole fit, in a way that calmed and exhilarated her in equal measure. It was easy being friends with him. That part came naturally to Lili. Like laughing at a really good punchline, or breathing in oxygen after being underwater for too long. They knew each other uncannily. They laughed at the same jokes and finished each other’s sentences. She told him once that he challenged her views on reincarnation because surely they’d met in a past life. Soon it became a running joke between them. He even created an entire fictional universe about their past lives as otters living along the Nile River (“That… is so random, Cole.” “Well you try studying archaeology for four years and not having Egypt in your subconscious. Shut up and let me have my otter dream.”)

But then there was also… him. She’d be lying if she said that she didn’t find him objectively attractive. It was disarming, to say the least, even though it lay underneath the rumpled clothes he insisted on wearing, which she didn’t mind. If anything, while his brother and his friends teased him by observing a strict roll call for his small roster of shirts (“It’s Tuesday, Cole, how come you’re wearing the Friday Orange?”), she found it endearing, and it drew her in and intrigued her. He was like a prince in exile, determined to downplay any part of him that referenced his darkly glittering childhood. But that face – the keen, blue stare, the mischievous mouth, the constellation of freckles – could not have been more at odds with the concealment. It was a face that was going to stand out no matter what.

So it was that Lili found herself veering between appreciating their easy friendship and then looking up and realizing that the goofball who was making her laugh was also the same man who could make her heart stop in its tracks.

And he wasn’t helping, either. Sure, there were times when she she felt like nothing more than a pal. Like when he’d throw fries at her head. Or FaceTime her at 3 in the morning to show her a cat he’d come across during a shoot (“Very nice, Cole. Now fuck off,” she had said while he cackled at her groggy face dotted with pimple cream. “IT’S NOT LIKE I WAS PLANNING ON SEEING ANYONE, my god, go away”).

But then, there were other times that made her wonder. Like that time when she mentioned that she’d damaged the original lens on her camera, and woke up one morning to a package on her table containing a newer, much better one, attached with a note simply scribbled “For future adventures -C.” And all the times – she couldn’t have just imagined them, there were too many – she’d catch him staring just a fraction longer, with a small smile playing on his lips.

Those were the times when she’d let her guard down, let herself imagine. What would it be like to let him in, to let herself love him? What would it be like to take a chance, to abandon her fears and leap freely into the unknown?

It didn’t matter, anyway. Because the more these feelings took root in her heart, the more she felt and fretted at the weight of the year ahead. With Riverdale getting the green light for a full season after a successful pilot, they were going to be filming full-time as co-workers. This was her big break; this was his return to the spotlight. There was a lot at stake for both of them, and there simply was no room for this foolishness. She couldn’t risk it. She was just going to have to shut it down and get over it somehow.

For herself. And for him, too.

…

For dinner, Debby had somehow managed to concoct a delicious compromise between her healthy eating habits and Lili’s more decidedly low-brow tastes (“Fish tacos!” Lili had exclaimed. “Deb, this is like if you and I got married and had taco babies”). The night was fun and light, and Lili found that she was enjoying herself more than she had all week.

That was until they heard the front door open and a large bag dropping onto the floor.

“Hey, I was gonna yell, ‘anyone home’, but I think the answer’s fairly obvious.”

Cole made his way into the dining room and they all burst into surprised elation.

Except Lili. She felt like throwing up. Well, fuck. She’d been studiously avoiding him – his texts, his calls, his social media – and now there was barely half a room between them. Right before he left, she had sworn to herself that she couldn’t do this anymore, this complicated dance of intense closeness and uncertain labels that only she seemed to be aware of. So she decided that she was going to use his absence productively, to take some space away from him. Out of sight, out of mind, she reasoned. And hopefully out of heart. The first few days were pure torture, but after managing to keep herself busy and out of the house, she was doing well.

Not anymore. Now, seeing his face, his shirt rumpled from travel, she was falling apart.

Debby got up and gave him a quick hug before looking for an extra plate. “Cole Mitchell. I thought you weren’t gonna be home until Friday?”

“Yeah, shoot wrapped up early. We got most of what we wanted on the first day, and one of the models who was scheduled for a later day managed to free up some time.” He looked around the room and spotted her. His face registered shock, and her heart ached as she watched him trying to contain it. “Hey, Lili.”

Fuck. He knew. Of course he knew she was avoiding him. She heard it in those two words, the measured casualness of his voice, the way he said her full name – Lili – unlike everyone else who shortened or lengthened it to Lils or Lilipad or Lilibeth. And fuck him because he just knew how to play it, how to say those two words so that she’d pay attention to what he was trying to say. Hey, you. Where’ve you been?

“Hey, Cole.”

The room tensed momentarily as everyone caught on to the odd coldness between the two. This was, after all, Cole and Lili. Cole, who knew exactly how she took her coffee. Lili, who’d freely walk into Cole’s bedroom to drag his blanket off his bed whenever she was cold.

Debby cut through the awkwardness. “Uh, Cole, you wanted dinner, right?”

“Yep.” After another significant look, Cole made his way into the kitchen. Lili wanted to sink into the floor. When he came back with his plate, he sat well away from her and started a conversation with someone else. She wanted to leave, but she knew that that was only going to attract attention after their little moment. So she resolved to stay and grit her teeth through it, figuring she’d make her escape once everyone left.

She really should’ve known. She should’ve predicted that Cole knew her too well, was far too ingenious to just let her go. They had already started putting everything away when he piped up. “I feel like watching a movie tonight, guys,” he said. “Anyone up for a Baz Luhrmann movie marathon? Strictly Ballroom? Romeo and Juliet?” He caught her eye. “Moulin Rouge?”

You little shit. She wanted to throttle him. Not only did he know it was her favourite film, he knew that Debby knew it, too. And there was no way she was going to get the opportunity to beg off the night without seeming rude.

Debby lit up. “Oh my god, yes. We haven’t done that in ages. Lil! Weren’t you saying you hadn’t seen that in months?”

Lili looked wearily at Cole. He looked right back at her, a shit-eating grin on his face. I win. She couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. He did, too.

“Fine,” she said, settling into the couch. “But we’re skipping Strictly Ballroom and getting straight into some classic old-school DiCaprio.”

Cole settled right next to her. With his forelock falling carelessly across his face, a roguish look in his eyes, of course he had to be the very image of Leo himself. Calm down.

He smiled. Her heart stuttered. “Fine by me.”

…

Lili waited for Cole to snark her about ghosting him. He didn’t. If anything, he seemed determinedly normal, whispering random commentary throughout the movie that made her laugh. She wanted to be annoyed. After all, it had taken considerable effort to ignore him all week. But being with him again - talking to him, trading barbs and banter - was like crawling toward sunlight after languishing in the dark.

After Romeo and Juliet finished, Debby’s friends decided to call it a night. Lili got up and stretched. Cole smiled lazily up at her. “Hey, you,” he said. There was something strange about him.

“Hey, yourself,” Lili replied. “You’re in a funny mood.”

“Yeah? What mood am I in?”

“I don’t know, you’re just being weird.”

Cole smirked in reply and shrugged. “You’re staying for Moulin Rouge, right?”

Lili hesitated. She was starting to feel a little tired. “I… don’t know.”

“Oh, come oooonnn. I’m a little jetlagged and buzzed and could probably do with some company, to be honest.”

“You have Debby.”

“Yeah, but Debby’s boring.”

Debby poked her head in from the kitchen. “I heard that!”

“I meant for you to!” Cole quickly ducked as Debby threw a bag of chips at him, then turned to Lili. “See what I have to put up with? You have to stay. Please.”

“Just stay, Lil!” Debby called out. “I’ll whip up some fresh guac for the chips and bring out some chocolate as well.”

Lili sighed and turned to Cole. “Can you at least promise to drive me home if I get too sleepy?”

“I promise.”

What choice did she have? This was Moulin Rouge and Cole. “Alright, you big baby,” she said, laughing at his puppy dog eyes. “I’ll stay.”

…

Moulin Rouge was Lili’s favourite movie and an absolute assault on the sense, but it didn’t take long for her to feel drowsy. She took advantage of all the snacks Debby had laid out in the living room in an attempt to keep herself awake, but all the sugar was just causing her to crash. She needed to lie down.

“Cole?”

“Mmm?”

“I feel sleepy.”

Cole nodded and shifted down the couch to give her space to stretch out. She settled into her new position, tucking her feet under her so he could have some space.

But he gently resisted that, propping her feet on his lap. She would have protested, insisting that he didn’t have to, but soon he was tracing lazy circles on her ankle with his thumb, and she did not have the energy to fight how good it felt, or overthink whatever the hell it meant.

Soon Debby got up from her spot on the floor and announced that she was going to bed. She turned to Cole. “Can you please turn off the lights? And make sure Lils gets home.” He nodded. She and Lili bid each other a sleepy good night, and she retreated to her bedroom.

Cole and Lili stayed still on the couch as the movie kept playing. Lili had no idea what they were watching anymore - she was fighting her sleep, but more than that, she was fully aware that she and Cole were alone together for the first time in weeks. Which she was usually comfortable with. Tonight, however, something unspoken hung in the air between them.

Suddenly, he got up and walked off in the direction of his room. She was briefly startled, until he came back into the living room holding his dark blue plaid blanket, which he’d dragged off his bed. “Here,” he said, throwing it over to her. “I knew you were approximately thirty seconds from whining about freezing your ass off.”

She laughed as he sat back down on the couch. “Oh yeah? And I do this regularly now, do I?”

“Yep. You’ve also made me watch this musical a thousand times, AND” - he covered her mouth with his hand as she started to interrupt - “you’re going to correct me and say, ‘Cole, don’t be a peasant, it’s a jukebox musical, not a musical, and yes there’s a difference.’”

“There IS a difference. And now you know, so I’ve taught you well, young Padawan.” She pulled the blanket over her body and closed her eyes. “What else do I do?” she asked, yawning.

He looked at her for a moment, his mouth opening and closing, as if to measure what he was about to say next. “You go to Starbucks and always get a size too big, and make me drink the rest of whatever sugary confection you’ve ordered that day. Your favourite VSCO filter is C3, even though it’s obviously trash. Your favourite shirts are all white, despite the fact that you always spill something on yourself - case in point, the salsa on your top tonight.”

“Hey, how did you –”

“Also, you suck at driving my Jeep –”

“I can SO drive your Jeep.”

“–you suck at driving my Jeep, no matter how many times I’ve walked you through it.” He laughed, and his gaze softened. “You buy a new notebook every other week because you write prodigiously. You buy yourself flowers every Friday and never make a big deal out of it. And… you can sleep pretty much anywhere, but once your hand touches your cheek, I know that you’re off and definitely dreaming.”

She looked back at him and smiled, already half-asleep. “Nice work. Since when did you know so much about me, Mr. Sprouse?”

He only smiled in reply, obviously proud of himself. She closed her eyes as his hand settled on hers. I can fall asleep like this forever.

Sleep began to overtake her, but not before she felt a slight puff of air against her leg as Cole suddenly lifted the blanket. He slipped his lithe, sinewy frame behind her, his strong arms wrapping themselves around her waist. She froze. She could feel the length of his body against hers and it was slowly obliterating every reasonable thought in her system.

“Cole?”

“Mmm?”

“Are we doing this?”

He nuzzled his face into her hair, his breath warm against her neck. She felt his mouth turn up into a grin. “Sure. Fuck it. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

Every ounce of logic in her body screamed against it. If she was smart, she’d get up and drive herself home. Or demand that they actually talk about this.

But as his hand found the skin under her shirt and settled on her waist, she decided she was with Cole on this one; fuck it.

We’ll figure it out tomorrow.

…

And now tomorrow was today.

Lili lay still on the couch, wanting to smack herself for being so reckless. For letting Cole get to her so easily. He had a knack for wearing down her defenses, but she’d had enough.

She felt him stir against her. “Morning,” he mumbled, his voice low in her ear. “Did you sleep okay?”

She had to keep a clear head. She had to. “I slept… fine,” she replied, keeping her tone flat and even.

“Good.” Cole stretched his arms above him. She silently berated herself for missing the warmth of his hands on her bare skin. “What do you want to do today?”

I want to stay here with you.

I want to run away from you.

Lili sighed, exasperated. She sat up and faced him. “Seriously? ‘What do I want to do today’? My god. I don’t know, Cole. Maybe figure out what the hell we’re doing here?”

Cole’s eyes flew open in confusion. He sat up to face her. “What?”

“You heard me. Don’t pretend this is normal for us. I just…” She paused and pinched the bridge of her nose to stop herself from tearing up. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Cole looked at her steadily. “Do what, Lili?”

She waved her hand frantically between them. “THIS! You, and me, and this indefinable whatever that we’ve been carrying on for months now.”

“‘Indefinable?’ What’s there to define?!”

“Everything!” Lili’s voice caught at that, and her eyes welled up. “The hanging out. The late night phone calls. The constant texts. The random presents. And on top of that, last night and this morning and the fucking spooning. All of that, Cole!”

His eyes stayed on her, his silence willing her to go on.

“I just… I need to know because I need to get away from it. It’s so fucking complicated, Cole. We can’t keep doing this, not when we’re about to work together, and see each other everyday, and god, I like you too much to screw this up. I have no idea where you are, or how you feel about me – “

“Lili.” Cole grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. “Are you… seriously… that ignorant?”

She went still. His eyes searched her, challenging her to respond. She felt naked under his gaze. She knew that every fibre in her being was about to give in to everything she had fought for so long. But could she really allow herself to? She shut her eyes against his stare, attempting to make a last-ditch effort at resistance.

But the tide had turned, and he was already well ahead of her. Because he had already moved in on her, his lips finding her cheek, grazing her cheekbone lightly and leaving every inch undone in their wake. The damp, fervent heat of his breath made her tremble. Slowly, one of his hands released her wrists and moved up to the collar on her shirt, fisting the thin cotton, pulling her closer to him. His lips worked their way down to her sharp jawline, planting a trail of small kisses that ended at the corner of her mouth. He pulled away and looked at her, and the hunger in his eyes took her breath away.

Then he crashed on her like lightning, his mouth feverish-hot and full of need. One hand slid into her hair, making a snarled mess, the other pulling at her waist, bringing her deeper into their kiss. She tasted smoke, felt thunder churning inside of her. She couldn’t help herself - she lifted her fingers to touch his lips as he brazenly explored hers. Just to check. Just to make sure this was real.

And in brief moments of lucidness, between being kissed into oblivion, she knew. That this would be her undoing. That this was creating a need in her that she never knew existed. That if things did happen later on between her and Cole, and if things went bad, that she would do everything in her power to be kissed like this again.

At last he broke away. As she caught her breath, his thumb lingered on her mouth. She opened her eyes and met his, and she couldn’t help it - she laughed. He made a face at her.

“You’re laughing?”

“No. I mean, yes. Not at this. With this, if that makes sense.” Her mind was still reeling, and she could barely explain herself. Later that night, she would recognize that it was pure joy that had spilled out of her; that it reminded her of running downhill, of riding a rollercoaster, of splashing madly into a sun-dappled ocean.

He took her hands and wrapped his fingers around them. “All this time… you never knew?”

“You never said anything, Cole.”

“Lili, you know that I did. Maybe not with words, but I did. I thought you’d have that figured out. I mean… I don’t just introduce Dylan to anyone, you know. He’s usually locked away in a basement. It takes a lot of effort getting him out.”

Lili laughed. And was relieved to realize that this still happened - that they could still joke and banter like they used to.

“But… this past week made me figure that maybe you weren’t getting that.”

“You noticed I was ignoring you?”

“Noticed? You were killing me, Lili.”

She felt guilty. Tentatively, she leaned forward and kissed him as a way of apology. It caught him by surprise, and he lingered over the kiss longer than she had meant for it to last, tugging at her bottom lip before letting go. Over the next few days, she would lose count of how many kisses they’d trade, but in that moment she took note that this was only their second kiss, and already it felt natural to her. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. And, you know, feel free to apologise again, and soon.” He grinned at her.

“So… can I ask? Why didn’t you just come out and tell me all this before it got tense and weird and complicated?

“Well… one, because I thought you knew. I mean, shit, are you even aware that my nickname around this house is Captain Obvious? It’s actually embarrassing.” Lili smiled at that. “And two, because I really was in no rush to define what we were. I mean, why would I need to name it when it was already so fucking good, you know? I didn’t want to jinx it. I’m sorry, that sounds immature, right?”

“No,” Lili conceded. “But I guess for me it would’ve put some parameters on what I was supposed to feel, what I was supposed to do. Because you came out of nowhere, Cole. Like… a cat. A cat getting hit by a car.”

He burst out laughing. “That is the worst comparison. You suck at this.”

“I’m sorry! But it’s true.” She laughed, and looked down at her hands, still enclosed in his. “So… what now?”

“Now?” He shrugged. “I don’t know, you wanna go out for breakfast?”

“Cole.” She levelled a stare at him. “I’m serious.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Lili. What are you really asking here? Are you really asking about now, or tomorrow?”

“Can I ask about both?”

“Sure. Here’s my answer to now. I’m honestly crazy about you.” With that, he pulled her in until she was sitting on his lap, and buried his face into her neck, his mouth forming words on her skin. “Every time I’m with you, I can’t decide whether I feel brave, or reckless, or vulnerable, or exposed. More likely all of them, all at the same time.”

She smiled, and turned her towards him so that their foreheads were touching. “And tomorrow?”

“If you’re asking me what the next few months will look like, I… really don’t know.” She nodded and pulled back, a little deflated. It was a fair and honest answer, but it left her feeling uncertain. He noticed her disappointment, and planted a kiss on her bared shoulder. “But tomorrow? You and I have that. I can promise you that.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

She looked at him, traced his dimple lightly with her finger. Tomorrow. Maybe she could live with that for now. Maybe in the face of everything that was about to happen to them - the avalanche of Riverdale and everything that came with it - that small promise was enough.

She just needed to know one more thing. “Cole? Can you promise me something else?”

“Shoot.”

“Can you promise me…” her voice trailed off, and suddenly she felt shy. “Can you promise me that you’ll kiss me again? Tomorrow?”

He arched an eyebrow in surprise, and smirked at her. “Tell you what,” he said. “How about we bring tomorrow forward“ - he leaned in to plant kisses on her chin, her cheeks, her neck - “and figure it out as we go along?”

But as he was teasing her, she was already lost, obliterated - this time, it was her pulling him in. And as he returned her kiss with equal passion, she knew with absolute certainty that this was only the beginning. That they’d be here again many times over. That the future may be unsure, but at least, for now, what they had was real and raw and breathtaking.

Tomorrow was already beckoning.

#sprousehart #colelili #sprousehart fanfic #sprousehart fanfiction #mine

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bldgrelationshipwgod · 6 years ago

Text

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' — 1 Timothy 1:15

Condensation is a difficult art. There are few things drier & more unsatisfactory than small books on great subjects, abbreviated statements of large systems. Error lurks in summaries, & yet here the whole fullness of God's communication to men is gathered into a sentence; tiny as a diamond, & flashing like it.

My text is the one precious drop of essence, distilled from gardens full of fragrant flowers. There is an old legend of a magic tent, which could be expanded to shelter an army, & contracted to cover a single person. That great Gospel which fills the Bible & overflows on the shelves of crowded libraries is here, without harm to its power, folded up into one saying, which the simplest can understand sufficiently to partake of the salvation which it offers.

There are five of these 'faithful sayings' in the letters of Paul, usually called 'the pastoral epistles.' It seems to have been a manner with him, at that time of his life, to underscore anything which he felt to be especially important by attaching to it this label.

They are all, with one exception, references to the largest truths of the Gospel. I turn to this one, the first of them now, for the sake of gathering some lessons from it.

I. Note, then, first, here the Gospel in a nutshell.

'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' Now, every word there is weighty, & might be, not beaten out, but opened out into volumes. Mark who it is that comes -- the solemn double name of that great Lord, 'Christ Jesus.' The former tells of his divine appointment & preparation, inasmuch as the Spirit of the Lord God is upon him, anointing him to proclaim good tidings to the poor, & to open the prison doors to all the captives, & asserts that it is he to whom prophets & ritual witnessed, & for whose coming prophets & kings looked wearily through the ages, & died rejoicing even to see afar off the glimmer of his day. The name of Jesus tells of the child born in Bethlehem, who knows the experience of our lives by His own, & not only bends over our griefs with the pity & omniscience of a God, but with the experience & sympathy of a person.

'Christ Jesus came.' Then He was before He came. His own will impelled His feet, & brought Him to earth.

'Christ Jesus came to save.' Then there is disease, for saving is healing; & there is danger, for saving is making secure.

'Christ Jesus came to save sinners' -- the universal condition, co-extensive with the 'world' into which, & for which, He came. And so the essence of the Gospel, as it lay in Paul's mind, & had been verified in His experience, was this -- that a divine person had left a life of glory, & in wonderful fashion had taken upon Himself manhood in order to deliver men from the universal danger & disease. That is the Gospel which Paul believed, & which He commends to us as 'a faithful saying.'

Well, then, if that be so, there are two or three things very important for us to lay to heart. The first is the universality of sin. That is the thing in which we are all alike, dear friends. That is the one thing about which any person is safe in their estimate of another. We differ profoundly. The members of this congregation, gathered accidentally together, & perhaps never to be all together again, may be at the antipodes of culture, of condition, of circumstances, of modes of life; but, just as really below all the diversities there lies the common possession of the one human heart, so really & universally below all diversities there lies the black drop in the heart, & 'we all have sinned & come short of the glory of God.' It is that truth which I want to lay on your hearts as the 1st condition to understanding anything about the power, the meaning, the blessedness of the Gospel which we say we believe.

And what does Paul mean by this universal indictment? If you take the vivid autobiographical sketch in the midst of which it is embedded, you will understand. He goes on to say, 'of whom I am chief.' It was the same person that said, without supposing that He was contradicting this utterance at all, 'touching the righteousness which is in the law' I was 'blameless.' And yet, 'I am chief.' So all true men who have ever shown us their heart, in telling their Christian faith, have repeated Paul's statement; from Augustine in His wonderful Confessions, to John Bunyan in His Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. And then prosaic men have said, 'What profligates they must have been, or what exaggerators they are now!' No.

Sewer gas of the worst sort has no smell; & the most poisonous exhalations are only perceptible by their effects.

What made Paul think himself the chief of sinners was not that He had broken the commandments, for He might have said, & in effect did say, 'All these have I kept from my youth up,' but that, through all the respectability & morality of His early life there ran this streak -- an alienation of heart, in the pride of self-confidence, from God, & an ignorance of his own wretchedness & need. Ah! beloved, I do not need to exaggerate, nor to talk about 'splendid vices,' in the untrue language of one of the old saints, but this I seek to press on you: that the deep, universal sin does not lie in the indulgence of passions, or the breach of moralities, but it lies here -- 'thou hast left Me, the fountain of living water.' That is what I charge on myself, & on every one of you, & I beseech you to recognise the existence of this sinfulness beneath all the surface of reputable & pure lives. Beautiful they may be; God forbid that I should deny it: beautiful with many a strenuous effort after goodness, & charming in many respects, but yet vitiated by this, 'The God in whose hand thy breath is, & whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.' That is enough to make a person brush away all the respectabilities & proprieties & graces, & look at the black reality beneath, & wail out 'of whom I am chief.'

But, further, Paul's condensed summary of the Gospel implies the fatal character of this universal sin. 'He comes to save,' says He. Now what answers to 'save' is either disease or danger. The word is employed in the original in antithesis to both conditions. To save is to heal & to make safe.

And I need not remind you, I suppose, of how truly the alienation from God, & the substitution for Him of self or of creature, is the sickness of the whole person. But the end of sickness uncured is death.

We 'have no healing medicine,' & the 'wound is incurable' by the skill of any earthly chirurgeon. The notion of sickness passes, therefore, at once into that of danger: for unhealed sickness can only end in death.

Oh! that my words could have the waking power that would startle some of my complacent hearers into the recognition of the bare facts of their lives & character, & of the position in which they stand on a slippery inclined plane that goes straight down into darkness!

You do not hear much about the danger of sin from some modern pulpits.

God forbid that it should be the staple of any; but God forbid that it should be excluded from any! Whilst fear is a low motive, self-preservation is not a low one; & it is to that that I now appeal.

Beloved, the danger of every sin is, first, its rapid growth; second,

its power of separating from God; third,

the certainty of a future -- ay! & present -- retribution.

To me, the proof of the fatal effect of sin is what God had to do in order to stop it. Do you think that it would be a small, superficial cut which could be stanched by nothing else but the pierced hand of Jesus Christ?

Measure the intensity of danger by the cost of deliverance, & judge how grave are the wounds for the healing of which stripes had to be laid on Him.

Ah! if you & I had not been in danger of death, Jesus Christ would not have died. And if it be true that the Son of God laid aside His glory, & came into the world & died on the Cross for men, out of the very greatness of the gift, & the marvellousness of the mercy, there comes solemn teaching as to the intensity of the misery & the reality & awfulness of the retribution from which we were delivered by such a death.

Sin, the universal condition, brings with it no slight disease & no small danger.

Further, we may gather from this condensed summary where the true heart & essence of the Christian revelation is. You will never understand it until you are contented to take the point of view which the NT takes, & give all weight & gravity to the fact of man's transgression & the consequences thereof.

We shall never know what the power & the glory of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is until we recognise that, first & foremost, it is the mighty means by which man's ruin is repaired, man's downrush is stopped, sin is forgiven & capable of being cleansed.

Only when we think of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as being, first & foremost, the redemption of the world by the great act of incarnation & sacrifice, do we come to be in a position in any measure to estimate its superlative worth.

And, for my part, I believe that almost all the mistakes & errors & evaporations of Christianity into a mere dead nothing which have characterised the various ages of the Church come mainly from this, that

men fail to see how deep & how fatal are the wounds of sin, &

so fail to apprehend the Gospel as being mainly & primarily a system of redemption.

There are many other most beautiful aspects about it, much else in it, that is lovely & of good report, & fitted to draw men's hearts & admiration; but all is rooted in this, the life & death of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice by whom we are forgiven, & in whom we are healed. And if you strike that out, you have a dead nothing left -- an eviscerated Gospel.

I believe that we all need to be reminded of that to-day, as we always do, but mainly to-day, when we hear from so many lips estimates, favourable or unfavourable to Christianity & its mission in the world, which leave out of sight, or minimise into undue insignificance, or shove into a backward place, its essential characteristic, that it is the power of God through Christ,

His Son Incarnate, dying & rising again for the salvation of individual souls from the penalty, the guilt, the habit, & the love of their sins, & only secondarily is it a morality, a philosophy, a social lever.

I take for mine the quaint saying of one of the old Puritans, 'When so many beloved are preaching to the times, it may be allowed one poor brother to preach for eternity.'

'This is a faithful saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' _____________________________________________________

II. Now note the reliableness of this condensed Gospel.

When a person in the middle of some slight plank, thrown across a stream, tests it with a stamp of His foot, & calls to His comrades, 'It is quite firm,' there is reason for their venturing upon it too. That is exactly what Paul is doing here. How does He know that it is 'a faithful saying'? Because He has proved it in His own experience, & found that in His case the salvation which Jesus Christ was said to effect has been effected. Now there are many other grounds of certitude besides this, but, after all, it is worth men's while to consider how many millions there have been from the beginning who would be ready to join chorus with the Apostle here, & to say, 'One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.' My experience cannot be your certitude; but if you & I are suffering from precisely the same disease, & I have tested a cure, my experiences should have some weight with you. And so, beloved, I point you to all the thousands who are ready to say, 'This poor person cried, & the Lord heard Him, & saved Him.' Are there any who give counter-evidence; that say, 'We have tried it. It is all a sham & imagination. We have asked this Christ of yours to forgive us, & He has not. We have asked Him to cleanse us, & He has not. We have tried Him, & He is an impostor, & we will have no more to do with Him.' There are people, alas! who have gone back to their wallowing in the mire, but it was not because Christ had failed in His promises, but because they did not care to have them fulfilled any more. Jesus Christ does not promise that His salvation shall work against the will of men who submit themselves to it.

But it is not only because of that consentient chorus of many voices -- the testimony of which wise men will not reject -- that the word is 'a faithful saying.' This is no place or time to enter upon anything like a condensation of the Christian evidence; but, in lieu of everything else, I point to one proof. There is no fact in the history of the world better attested, & the unbelief of which is more unreasonable, than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. And if Christ rose from the dead -- & you cannot understand the history of the world unless He did, nor the existence of the Church either -- if Jesus Christ rose from the dead, it seems to me that almost all the rest follows of necessity: the influx of the supernatural, the unique character of His career, the correspondence of the end with the beginning, the broad seal of the divine confirmation stamped upon His claims to be the Son of God & the Redeemer of the world. All these things seem to me to come necessarily from that fact. And I say, given the consentient witness of nineteen centuries, given the existence of the Church, given the effects of Christianity in the world, given that upon which they repose -- the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead -- the conclusion is sound, 'This is a faithful saying . . . that He came into the world to save sinners.'

Men talk, nowadays, very often as if the progress of science & new views as to the evolution of creatures or of mankind had effected the certitude of the Gospel. It does not seem to me that they have in the smallest degree. 'The foundation of God standeth sure,' whatever may become of some of the superstructures which men have built upon it. They may very probably be blown away. So much the better if we get the rock to build upon once more. A great deal is going, but not the Gospel. Do not let us be afraid, or suppose that it will suffer. Do not let us dread every new speculation as if it was going to finish Christianity, but recognise this -- that the fact of man's sin and, blessed be God! the fact of man's redemption stands untouched by them all; & to-day, as of old, Jesus Christ is, & is firmly manifested to be, the world's Saviour. Whatsoever refuge may be swept away by any storms, 'Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried corner-stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not be confounded.'

III. Lastly, notice the consequent wisdom & duty of acceptance.

'Worthy of all acceptation,' says Paul. Yes, of course, if it is reliable. That word of the Lord which is 'sure, making wise the simple,' deserves to be received. Now this phrase, 'all acceptation,' may mean either of two things: it may either mean worthy of being welcomed by all men, or by the whole of each person.

This Gospel deserves to be welcomed by every person, for it is fitted for every person, since it deals with the primary human characteristic of transgression. Brethren! we need different kinds of intellectual nutriment, according to education & culture. We need different kinds of treatment, according to condition & circumstance. The morality of one age is not the morality of another. Much, even of right & wrong, is local & temporary; but black person & white, savage & civilised, philosopher & fool, king & clown, all need the same air to breathe, the same water to drink, the same sun for light & warmth, & all need the same Christ for redemption from the same sin, for safety from the same danger, for snatching from the same death. This Gospel is a Gospel for the world, & for every person in it. Have you taken it for yours? If it is 'worthy of all acceptation,' it is worthy of your acceptation. If you have not, you are treating Him & it with indignity, as if it was a worthless letter left in the post-office for you, which you knew was there, but which you did not think valuable enough to take the trouble to go for. The gift lies at your side. It is less than truth to say that it is 'worthy of being accepted.' Oh! it is infinitely more than that.

It is, also, 'worthy of all acceptation' in the sense of worthy of being accepted into all a man's nature, because it will fit it all & bless it all. Some of us give it a half welcome. We take it into our heads, & then we put a partition between them & our hearts, & keep our religion on the other side, so that it does not influence us at all. It is worthy of being received by the understanding, to which it will bring truth absolute; of being received by the will, to which it will bring the freedom of submission; of being received by the conscience, to which it will bring quickening; of being received by the affections, to which it will bring pure & perfect love. For hope, it will bring a certainty to gaze upon; for passions, a curb; for effort, a spur & a power; for desires, satisfaction; for the whole person, healing & light.

Brother! take it. And, if you do, begin where it begins, with your sins; & be contented to be saved as a sinner in danger & sickness, who can neither defend nor heal yourself. And thus coming, you will test the rope & find it hold; you will take the medicine & know that it cures; and, by your own experience, you will be able to say, 'This is a faithful saying, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.'

#christianity

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leauxdeese-blog · 6 years ago

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Placement Reflection 6

TO-DO: Finalise placement duties with VFA; Fill and submit Final Feedback Form to Farihah by next week Friday; complete Experiential Learning Year-End Report Self-Evaluation; Submit Accessing Placements Fund response; 2-sentence rationale on internship course.

Although I officially fulfill my internship hours (a total of 91 hours fitting the 80-120 hour mark while juggling six courses) next week on April 5th, 2019 (Week 7 with VFA), these past six weeks have been one of the most eye-opening, most insightful, busiest periods of my life. I overheard an interview centering a prospective landscape designer at VFA, which provided insight into crucial areas to discuss during job interviews particularly ones where one would operate within the design industry, like myself. Needless to say, VFA also caters to landscapes as part of the services rendered; hence, it was interesting to learn a thing or two about landscaping from hearing in on the interview. A few areas I have noted down to touch base on for future interviews are:

Ideal pay range.

Passion and what I would like to specialize in within the company.

How I would make expenses.

Interestingly, overhearing this interview relates to my Continual Learning as I remember briefly drafting on these areas in the process of mapping my career goals and it is thrilling to witness the application of such mapping in real-life scenarios right before my eyes! For this, I’m privileged and grateful to be recommended to always have my career mind map with me when going for job interviews as it distills the essence of having a position at a company of my choice, and ensures a fulfilling learning experience and personal growth in my desired career.

Career Mind Map

Asides from drawing valuable lessons from this interview, I also took note of Vanessa’s advice to hone and keep practicing my physical model-making skills either for the purposes of school, personal, or work projects as these are vital creative skills to have as an architect, let alone a designer, when making prototypes. Hence, I would endeavour to take the initiative to practice building cleaner models (with more precise cuts and cleaner edges).

From this placement experience as a whole, I have been able to integrate my weekly diary into my final reflections featured on a group podcast where I came up with the fitting name: Tyro Talk. The whole process of creating this podcast relates to the competencies of Working Together, Critical Participation and all the Creative aspects. I had the pleasure of working with my fellow course mates in other design streams, capitalizing on our different skill sets and strengths to compile this amazing group podcast of our placement reflections not just for the grades, but for us to always refer back to in future and share with others who are interested in getting a glimpse of what is involved and act as channels of insight and advice for prospective interns. I will definitely be able to apply these competencies in the working world where I would also have the privilege of working with others from different backgrounds and just basking in the intellectual diversity that comes with it. Given these points, my special role was designing the cover art for the group podcast where I refreshed my graphic design skills:

Final Cover Art for Group Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/orlisovr/tyro-talks-2019/s-cM1PT

As a whole, I have been able to draw my placement experience as a job ad which has given me a better understanding of my co-working space at VFA and my role as a junior designer, with the perfect blend of humour and sass:

Job Description using Job Ad

Undeniably, this Internship course may have only lasted for just this winter semester; nevertheless, the skills I’ve acquired, connections I’ve made, and lessons I’ve drawn will be a part of me forever. Thank you for being a part of my placement experience, and I cannot wait to tell you more of my reflections whenever we have the opportunity to do so in person! In the meantime, be sure to head over to my webfolio with new additions coming this summer: emem.format.com.

- Signed, Emem.

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artofpeacelove · 5 years ago

Link

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

I usually spend the first weeks of the year making a list of goals I intend to crush and trying out new strategies for how to make it happen. But by the time February rolls around, that list quietly gets nudged to the back burner, thanks to all the other to-dos that have piled up and new realities with which to contend.

With that in mind, this year I decided to try something different—and I couldn’t be happier about the results. I took the first few days of 2020 to audit the bigger picture lying beneath the lists of goals I’ve been working toward. For instance, while I may say it’s a goal of mine to feel fulfilled by my work, going deeper allows me to figure out how I’d like my work to fulfill me and why that’s important. But since these answers are decidedly trickier to nail down, I sought a guide in figuring it all out: the Life Brief workbook ($20) by Bonnie Wan.

A longtime brand strategy executive, Wan invented the Life Brief concept after finding herself at a crossroads 10 years ago. Drawing upon her experience creating briefs for brand clients, Wan put pen to paper to create one for her own life. The resulting document became the groundwork for the Life Brief book and workshops she leads today, one of which I attended a couple of months ago at the In goop Health summit in San Francisco.

I saw several inspiring speakers that day, but Wan’s presentation really struck a personal chord: With my birthday on the horizon and feeling stuck in a creative rut, I was grappling with what I really wanted to achieve going forward. Wan’s Life Brief workshop invited us to “go deep, get sharp, and be bold” in manifesting the lives we want. It sounded like exactly what I needed.

“The Life Brief asks driving questions to get to the root of what’s really most important to you. That question for me was, ‘What do I want?’” —Bonnie Wan, creator of the Life Brief

“The Life Brief asks driving questions to get to the root of what’s really most important to you,” Wan says. “That question for me was, ‘What do I want?’ It’s a simple question, but it packs a powerful punch when you’re honest with yourself.”

After pointed questions, the other key component of creating a Life Brief for yourself is, well, being brief. “Great briefs are short and sharp,” Wan says. “They express the essence of things in a way that inspires you to act.” Once you gain extreme clarity on what you want, she adds, your attention starts to shift toward making those things happen.

Wan says it worked wonders for her: Completing her own Life Brief prompted her to make a fortuitous move to a another state, to create a more flexible work situation, and to strengthen her relationships with her husband and children. In her workshop, she assured that it’s also opened paths and possibilities for others in their marriages, careers, as parents, and in health. I was sold to try it for myself.

What happened when I created my own Life Brief

When I received my Life Brief workbook in the mail, I was surprised to find that it looks more like a children’s coloring book than a guide to fine-tuning an adult life you love. Wan says that’s intentional. “For many people, The Life Brief is simple, but not easy. The handwritten font invites people to get messy and let go of any need for preciousness or perfection.”

And before long, I found that it worked: With its large, unintimidating lettering, the Life Brief workbook looked to me like something I could breeze through rather quickly. I got out my colored markers to keep things fun and started on the first section: a bird’s-eye view of sorts that led me through thought starters and word associations to get to the root of any limiting beliefs that may be holding me back. I quickly realized, though, that the rest of the brief required deep emotional work and deserved a much larger time commitment than I’d allotted.

“The Life Brief nudges you to act on [what matters most] in tiny ways every day and encourages you to let go of the need to know when or how things will happen.” —Wan

Wan is hardly surprised by my reaction. “It’s not every day that we ask ourselves these questions. Actually, it’s easier than ever to avoid these questions,” she says. “The Life Brief nudges you to act on [what matters most] in tiny ways every day and encourages you to let go of the need to know when or how things will happen.” (There go my to-do lists.) To be sure, the Life Brief is not a plan for exerting control over the future. Rather, it’s a practice that connects you to making decisions with your heart. The goal is to make space so your words in the workbook can guide you to an intuitive place of knowing what’s best for your health, spirit, and future.

Over the course of a few days, I chipped away at my Life Brief, writing out my current blocks and deepest desires. I was surprised to find how much my intuition was taking over: There were many moments during this process when I questioned whether what I wrote was my actual truth or a desire I had in the past that no longer actually served me. Or, even more surprising, whether a dream wasn’t mine at all, but something someone else had said I should do at some point, leading me to passively co-opt it as my own.

Then, at the workbook’s prompting, I reworked my ideas and musings until I got down to the clearest, most distilled iteration of what I want most in my relationship, in my work, for myself, and for my community. I walked away with a concise mission statement for each, expressed in just a few easy-to-digest sentences.

My finished brief has served as a gentle daily reminder to come back to the truth of not only what I want my life to look like but, more importantly, what I want it to feel like. I read through it every morning so it’s in my mind as I start each day. It’s an approach that’s much more global than linear for refocusing on what I really want any time I get off track, feel overwhelmed, or lost.

My partner created a Life Brief of his own, and we plan to create another one, specifically for our lives together. We pinned them on the wall in our bedroom so we can refer to them easily and often, especially when making big decisions. Even sharing our individual briefs has brought us closer and aligned us on some mutual goals. So, it seems like it’s already working.

Speaking of goals and rituals, these seven habits can boost your happiness. And on the career front, here are nine habits that entrepreneurs credit for their success.

from Good Advice – Well+Good https://ift.tt/2RngZh6 via IFTTT

#Why I totally stopped setting goals and made a ‘Life Brief’ instead #Good Advice – Well+Good

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lthasablog · 6 years ago

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The Pop Culture Essence of 2019 -- Part I: Movies

The mere existence of the year 2019 is a mystery to me. One need not do more than glance at Twitter, or just have a conversation with a friend, to notice that this year was unique in its ability to torture anyone who had the nerve to exist. Perhaps it was the horrors of the Trump presidency or the snuffing out of black lives like so many candles in the wind. Maybe it was the government-sanctioned camps cruelly detaining the most vulnerable or the existential threat of climate change bearing down on us all with intense inevitability. No matter the reason, I think we can all agree that 2019 has been the absolute worst and can die in a fire.

Now, It is no surprise that the artists who supply our pop culture took full advantage of the one thing 2019 supplied in spades: chaos. It has been one hell of a year and, most often, I chose to handle my feelings by escaping into movies, television, music and podcasts. To prove to myself that I didn’t waste an entire year of my life, I thought I would take this opportunity to distill the essence of 2019 into a list of the pop culture moments that most personify what 2019 meant to me. If you’re reading this, I hope that you learn a little something about me and how I see the world. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll have a little fun. After all, the real joys of 2019 are the distractions we found along the way.

Before we begin, a small preface — I really enjoy writing but I have never thought that I might have an audience for my work until just now. I’ve seen some of my peers publish their work online to great readership and personal success. I’m looking at you, Lincoln. Don’t worry, I’m not even going to attempt to write down my thoughts about debate, so your domain is safe. That said, if you all like this, then I’ll post more. If not, I will probably post more anyway.

Oh and also, I will only be writing about things I have seen and/or heard for myself. While I steep myself in all things pop culture like it’s my job, I do not feel it intellectually honest to analyze or critique a work with which I have no personal experience. Also, 2019 is, sadly, not over yet. There are many things that would likely be on this list that I just have not had the opportunity to see yet! Queen and Slim, Little Women, Cats (because, like, why and how?), Just Mercy, The Farewell, Uncut Gems and so many others come to mind. So if I leave out some of your favorites, or you just flat out disagree with what I have written here, great! I welcome the opportunity to discover new things and to have an open, civil discourse on mainstream culture.

Part I: The Movies That Defined 2019

Let’s begin with movies. As for every part of this essay, this list in no particular order. So, here are the movies I think most reflect the ouvre of 2019. Oh, and there are some mild spoilers ahead for many items in pop culture, so continue at your own risk.

Hustlers

Immediately after leaving the movie theater, I began telling everyone who would listen, and some who really did not want to, that we were now living in a post-Hustlers world. Perhaps it was the soundtrack. I mean, it is just full of songs which effortlessly evoke the energy of a post-2007/2008 financial crisis New York which reverberated throughout the rest of America in myriad ways. Casting Jennifer Lopez as a dancer in a popular New York strip club, and making her a supporting character in your movie is a major flex. Introducing Lopez’s character, Ramona, by showing her bring down the house to Fiona Apple’s iconic 1996 song, “Criminal” is a stroke of movie-making genius unparalleled by any I have seen in recent memory. Once you get over the majesty of that scene, Hustlers takes the viewer on a thrill ride that can only truly be understood by those who have spent their lives being underestimated by society and yearning to steal back just a fraction of what they are rightly owed. Watch out for your wallets in 2020; we’re living in a post-Hustlers world. Oh also, this movie could NEVER have worked if it were directed by a man. Hollywood, take note.

Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his brilliant debut film Get Out is a weird, winding and wonderful story from beginning to end. While the movie may not have fully fleshed out its mythology as did its predecessor, Get Out, I definitely left the theater with more questions than when I entered. One may find it impossible not to get lost in the metatext of Peele’s take on class divides in the United States and the nation’s many broken promises to black America. Also, Lupita Nyong’o’s dual performances as Adelaide and Red are worth the price of admission! She is truly one of the best actresses of our generation and you know that we are truly living in a bleak timeline when an Academy Award winning performer of her caliber can still be considered underrated by the media meritocracy.

Avengers: Endgame

And now for something completely different…Okay yeah, I know, it’s a comic book movie. However, I will not apologize for the fact that Avengers: Endgame was, by far, the best movie-going experience I had all year. The movie is a marvel, no pun intended, in storytelling, quality of performances and the never ending capitalist machine that is the Marvel and Disney partnership. When you think about it, it is truly awe-inspiring that the folks at Marvel sketched out a decade-long plan that actually worked. Endgame delivered near non-stop thrills and emotion, save perhaps the scene between Black Widow and Hawkeye on Vormir. I don’t think I need to say too much more about this one, especially given that the people have spoken with their dollars, as the movie has set a box office record, with grossed $2.797 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Also, isn’t it just beautiful when a plan comes together? Honorable mention goes to Captain Marvel, Marvel’s first lady-led feature. I do hope that the promise of Endgame’s seeming pivot to passing the torch to black, women and queer characters actually bears some fruit. A changing of the guard is definitely in order and I am eagerly awaiting Marvel’s next phase.

Midsommar

Warning: Do not break up with Ari Aster. If you do, he might write a film wherein the avatar for his ex will face some nightmarish comeuppance. All kidding aside, Midsommar is definitely not for everyone. The film is a portrait of grief, mental illness and isolation, all set against an idyllic Sweedish backdrop. It is a horror film, but it almost defies genre. While most horror films deal in hiding the monsters in dark corners and opt for jump scares, Astor chooses instead to bathe all of the wretchedness of his characters in sunlight, and many monsters lurk in plain sight. In Midsommar, you can see everything with a cold clarity, and that alone is disorienting. The most terrifying part of Midsommar is that you will walk away questioning the motives and sincerity of every person in your life, while also reevaluating your previous notions of community and what it means to be a part of something larger than yourself. If that is not the perfect allegory for 2019, I don’t know what is.

High Flying Bird

Tarell Alvin McCraney’s screenplay for High Flying Bird is deep, funny and thought-provoking. That said, it was greatly elevated by performances from the tragically underappreciated André Holland, and rising star Zazie Beetz. Set during an NBA lockout, Holland’s sports agent, Ray Burke, begins the film by discovering that all of his company credit cards have been frozen, and that his job hangs perilously in the balance due to a situation over which he seemingly has no control. Watching Holland navigate the NBA brass, his player clients and the media with a demure and suaveness typically only reserved for the DiCaprios or Pitts of the world is not only refreshing, but necessary. Beetz lends heart and charasma to the film, playing Burke’s assistant, Sam. Beetz’s character motivations are clear yet ever-evolving. She gets to be complex, smart and just cool. It is also really interesting to see a movie lend voice to the idea that if professional athletes ever just decided to unite and refuse to play by the rules of the NBA or the NFL, those in power who profit from their labor would become nearly powerless. It’s a pretty cool premise and frankly, you love to see it.

Parasite

I only recently saw Parasite, but I now understand what all the hype is about. It is difficult to know for sure what director Bong Joon-ho, and his writing partner Han Jin-won who helped Bong pen the screenplay, meant for the audience to take away from this film. Now, I do not want to spoil it for those who may not have seen it. In many ways, Parasite is the long lost sibling of Us. Both movies are tales of the upstairs/downstairs nature of class division. While Peele examines America, Bong gives American audiences a glimpse into the haves and have-nots of a Korean city, and its literal highs and lows. While the Parks are an affluent family who live in their own city which is at the top of an actual hill, the poverty-stricken Kims, meanwhile, live in a literal subterranean basement. This makes the Kims’ quest to improve their lot in life a true social climb. Also present in Parasite is the inescapable reality of climate change, along with the stark contrast on how its effects on the rich are inherently disparate to those on the poor.

Now for the movie grab bag…

These are films that I think capture something of the spirit of 2019, but in a manner explicable in a few sentences or less. They are:

-Glass: So much promise…so little pay off. I mean, apparently one of the heroes’ kryptonite is puddles…

-Ready or Not: Who among us would not hunt down wealthy, would-be murders in a wedding gown that is sleek, yet allows for a shocking amount of mobility?

-Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and The Irishmen: I was surprised by how “whelmed” I was by these films. Perhaps they warrant a rewatch, because I truly love Tarantino’s work and I grew up idolizing Scorsese. To me, these are quintessential dad films. That’s not a knock on dads or dad films, it’s just not where I am right now…

-Marriage Story: Loved it. I’ll simply say this – For your consideration: Adam Driver and Laura Dern.

-Joker: This movie was a pastiche of 70s and 80s era Scorsese films, which took itself far too seriously for me to give it any serious consideration. Was this movie unflinchingly a product of 2019? Yes. It thrived on the buzz, provided by the dual weapons of entertainment writers and social media. The whole origin story of a white terrorist thing was cute. Was Joaquin Phoenix’s performance good? Sure, it really was. However, I liked the character better when he played it in The Master, or Her…I think you get what I’m going for here.

Next up, television! I think this might be my favorite category. Be on the lookout for part two. Check out LT Has a Blog. Yeah, I know, but I wanted the name to be a statement of fact. ‘Til next time!

#LTHasaBlog ThePopCultureEssenceof2019 firstpostforrealthistime

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lovelouisemoriarty · 7 years ago

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Love letter to the world

Dear World , Therapeutic, Artists Journal, Hope it helps!

I am an empath and I am quite sane. Extreme emotions are totally available to all of us. They are tools. Even the most quiet introverted character has a whirlpool of clashing seasons in their landscape. Sometimes it is their very fear of these emotions that keeps them completely quiet for they fear unleashing their dragon. In many ancient culture dragons are symbols of power and protection they stand watch over what is important.

I have a very strong sense of what is important and what is not in life. I have not lived the path of suburbia that led my family to all still live in the same location doing similar jobs to what they set out to do. Raising families and acquiring homes and all the accessories necessary. (Let me just say I am grateful they did. For when we gather as a family we are blessed to be cared for and have all we need to celebrate how lucky we are to have people who care and unconditionally love us in our lives.)

I have tumbled and adventured from job to job and relationship to relationship. I have lived within many subcultures and explored many groups looking to establish community. I have succeeded. It doesn't look like the community of old with its certainty and consistency in one place. I love that our family had extended family. Auntys and Uncles that we could trust and share with, know we could count on them for an adventure and that they would be there at the important occasions in our lives marked as rights of passage. But I wanted more. I always want more. I want others to feel that.

I want no one to be left out of the extended kinship. As an empath I have a huge capacity for feeling. I watch the news and I feel. I cannot do anything to be of service in many of the situations that I see, but I still feel deeply the cacophony of emotions of all the people or animals involved in the drama. I feel the depth of energy and vibration that the earth puts off when it is mined or when a tree is cut or when an animal is harmed. As I grew up I have been trained to know that I must shut down some of these access’s. It is okay to know a person is sad and try and cheer them up but not let them have space to cry. It is okay to feel someone is agitated and angry, it is okay to placate and distract them but it is not okay to let them get to the heart of what they think they are angry about so they can go deeper and feel what their real need is.

There is a lot of lies and confusion. Some of it seems harmless and entertaining but mostly it is debilitating to our sense of our power as humans on this small green blue planet for a short time.

Most of it is devastating for the next generations ability to have access to and enjoy what we have been lucky enough to enjoy.

I am an empath and I am sane.

I wanted to start with that because…..

For too long emotions have been deemed the domain of the clearly insane.

That voices in your head need to be silenced on one hand, unless they report what the bible reports and then because they are inline with the controlling religious propaganda of the time they are prophecy.

Okay I didn't really think I was going to get straight into this ground in my second letter but heh,

My mum was a devoted Christian, she went to church every Sunday had blind faith that it was all true. It served her well. She was a woman of service, someone who you could rely on to put whatever she was doing aside to do you a favour or listen. She never tried to convert anyone or convince anyone that she was right. With a calm quiet certainty she went about her day being a good samaratin, being the fabric of community and holding a family together. For me she personified Love. Yet part of her wished for understanding, wished to guide others, wanted to share her wisdom of what worked for her. I believe part of her died unhappy, unsatisfied and with her needs in this life largely unmet. The church didn't really meet her needs for care and understanding, just company. At the end it was just the simple kindness of individuals who valued understanding and empathy that allowed her to know she was heard and seen and through the good deeds of her family have someone with her every minute till the moment of death. She had pain and fear and great loss around not having some of the things that were most important to her not heard.

Was that because we didn't listen. Was that because we didn't try to be with her. I think it was because she was bound and controlled by a culture that still sees womens role as service and providing something attractive to look at and a pleasurable experience. If you have emotions you are still made out to be the crazy fool with no wisdom or strength. You are dismissed overlooked, or worse locked up or shut down with drugs or rejected and dismissed from service in relationship.

Relationship is so important to woman. We have for so long know our worth in relationship. Been able only to function in this culture in relationship.

The few stories of woman who walk the heroes journey in history are often then walking through the terrible shame of being labelled a nutter and then into the arms of a man who can soften the blow of this cruel world by softening the edges of her feelings of alienation by making her happy and thereby stopping the crazy !?!?!?!? behaviour, Never again need she be upset or angry because her knight has appeared.

Sorry guys looking for a dedicated, unconditionally loving woman. It doesn't change anything that much. Emotion is how many of us empaths process our needs and desires, our wants and passions. Our driving motivational spiritual force. These letters are all just ramblings, unravelling things that I have been thinking over time. Wanting to distill the essence of my wisdom that I have learnt through years of throwing myself into extreme situations and relationships that explore what is possible in the way of intimacy, passion, musing and devotion. Devotion is not necessarily what we think. It is not entrapment. It is not holding the person hostage to what you like and want the world to look like.

It is being able to be with and have the emotions or lack of emotions of the other without loosing the passion for intimacy with that person. It is an unquenchable curiosity for how that person is going. Why that person acts the way they act.

When I go to put hashtags on these letters it will never be one subject neatly orchestrated to sell a particular product at the end. It is near impossible to put me in a box or find the niche market that I represent. My boundaries are too fluid and I play in too many areas to be able to find a way to stream line a funnel for my own benefit. Although of course like everyone else I am working on financial freedom, More than that of course I am trying to find the freedom to pursue my utopia. In that utopia Rivers have Rights and environments remaining in their balance for future generations of animals, children, microorganisms snd birds, reptiles and insects is the highest order of spiritual veneration. Each soul has enough resources to be able to fulfil their basic needs, some kind of basic universal income if that is still necessary. But even this preparing it knowing we want to phase it out. Creating homes like Buckminster Fuller that are sustainable and practical creating less work rather than more. Planting seeds and trees and vines that mean fruit is our environment and create our shelter. Where gardening is a joy and we work with nature to fulfil the delivery of the needs of all people. Letting fresh clean water flow in the streets. Using our waste to feed worms or make gas to cook on. All the ways that people have lived in harmony on this planet are available to us and our new greatest power of having our communication interconnected and our ability to use the creative commons to build on our wisdom and ability to provide what is needed to satisfy and slowly bring down this unsustainable population.

So long I have been thinking about a utopia that suits all people. That would let my dad live in peace alongside me. That would mean people who only feel safe in their ivory towers guarded off from the world can know their children have a future where they are loved and respected by one and all just because they are. Where those who scramble and feel they have to defend and fight for resources every day start to see that the world cares and that they are worthy of human rights whether they are part of the consumer juggernaut or not.

The church of this pagan religion that is flexible enough to include anyone talking about the constant deep seated belief of their religion in any flavour they chose is the heart of your current emotions. The communion between souls of the expression of their own innate creativity in communion wiht nature. No need for fancy gadgets or props, talismans or fetishes. Just you and your God personified in its creation, other people, plants and environments, animals and oceans, moons and stars. Using all that is right before us in the mystery of seeds sprouting, tides pulling and children being birthed or mysteriously dying right before our shocked and astounded eyes. Experiencing the depth of our longing for love and wonder. Experiencing the profound fulfilling gratitude for love and inspiration. Dropping deep deep into our rage and sadness at loss and grief. Then leaping into action to be of service to life and community and beauty.

Yesterday I did just post unedited today I will re read once this after noon before I post.

It is unedited in that I dont refine the flow. Just the general grammar and sentence structure so it is readable out side my head.

I love my wild mind and I want to keep sharing where I jump and what I end up committing to and creating with you.

I said I wouldn't sell anything at the end but ……….

I leap from project to project but always there are threads that I come back to and over time they have become more into solid form. I want to keep that trajectory moving.

So there are two ways you can enjoy being an intimate part of this journey if you want to know the path I am travelling and be mused by my musings.

Keep track of me on Patreon. I am about to revamp it and keep in more constant communication through it. I believe it is essential for artists to have freedom to work on what moves their spirit. They are the muses of our culture and if they are constrained by grants and sales we are missing drawing from the wealth of creativity that this beautiful array of diverse beings are pulling down from beyond this material galaxy. So if you are of the means please place regularly some resources in the Headless Buddhas cup as she jumps from one thing to the next in search of enlightenment and utopian visions to guide humanity in line with the Earths heart beat.

I also am a romantic at heart and the most powerful relationships for me are ones that are connected to the earth and country and are also searching for ways to strengthen community and evoke love. In my last relationship we created music together and luckily we recorded it. I have not been putting it out there because I have not wanted to rock the boat of both of our recovery from our different addictions within our love dependency. But today I want to honour and celebrate what we managed to create with our shared vision for coming together in joy and harmony with the place. So I offer you J & G and Moriarty’s album Songwriters. You can get it on Bandcamp by donation or listen, enjoy then please share. If you have the capacity to broadcast it get it out there.

Thanks to my current muse for being the catalyst for this communication and thanks to John and all the other loves who have given me ramblings and deep conversations into all the areas I touch on. May everything we offer up to you as empaths and changelings nourish your own creative musings for a better world for the next generation.

Someone told me today some Maori communities have business? plans for the next 500 years. Now that is vision! For seven generations in a real concrete form. How bout you? Are you planning for your kins future?

On a quick re read, Maybe all this utopia I am looking for is already here, Maybe I just can’t see it maybe I have to put on different glasses or something. Oh well off into the world for a day of putting on different glasses. Thanks for being my morning pages muse

#7 generations #make creativity viral #mum #grief #empath

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makeitwithmike · 8 years ago

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7 Inspiring Books You Must Read

By Jeff Bullas

She told me to turn off the light.

It was 8pm and it was time to sleep according to the adult’s house rules. These were non-negotiable. My desire and passion for reading that I had discovered after mastering “the cat sat on the mat” sentence at the age of five, made this a cruel and arbitrary time.

And a seven year old’s passionate response…

…”But I want to keep reading“.

Despite protestations and mumblings, the light switch was flicked to the off position. First battle lost. The adults (sometimes referred to as my parents) had all the fun. But they didn’t count on my patience that was driven by an inherited trait of passionate persistence.

As the house went silent I grabbed my bedside lamp and positioned it under the bedcovers so that an orbiting spy satellite would have trouble knowing what I was doing. Parents score zero and child chalks up a win.

This was the start of a reading habit that has sometimes bordered on obsessive.

Glimpses of genius

Inspirational books are your access to the best minds in the world. From creativity, to business and marketing and beyond. They distill the essence of what often is a life of learning into a few pages. It is where you will discover ideas, tactics and habits that are the seeds to success.

A great book is one that reveals the ideas with clarity. They expose the genius but don’t hide it in dross and words that don’t matter. Often the best books are the short books.

It’s also what you do with those concepts that will define you.

Self publishing doesn’t need permission

Some of us may want to not just read but write. Today you do not need to beg for permission to publish a book. You can write it in a word document, send it to your designer (that you found on Freelancer) to create a great looking cover and then upload it to Amazon.

You are now an author!

New age writers and authors are taking advantage of that and building a lifestyle and businesses based on their creative output.

But you must keep in mind that becoming a good or even a great writer requires practice and also that means reading and more reading. Steven King said that “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

Great ideas do not emerge from a vacuum.

It’s a new age and you need to reinvent yourself

In an age of video, multimedia and digital innovation the book and the business landscape has evolved. You can read books on tablets, book readers and even your smart phone. You can gain ideas that were made public just a few seconds after the author hit the publish button on their blog.

In a digital age that changes every day, the role of books, blog posts and self-education are more vital than ever. We cannot rely on just the wisdom of the last century or even a decade that has just passed. We need to continue to hunt down the new ideas and innovations that are driving an ever changing world.

Here are some inspiring books to read that are woven into my creativity, business and marketing habits.

1. Elon Musk: Tesla SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

In this book, veteran technology journalist Ashlee Vance provides the first inside look into the extraordinary life and times of Silicon Valley’s most audacious entrepreneur. Written with exclusive access to Musk, his family and friends, the book traces the entrepreneur’s journey from a rough upbringing in South Africa to the pinnacle of the global business world.

Vance spent over 40 hours in conversation with Musk and interviewed close to 300 people to tell the tumultuous stories of Musk’s world-changing companies: PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX and SolarCity, and to characterize a man who has renewed American industry and sparked new levels of innovation while making plenty of enemies along the way.

My key lessons from this book are the three vital ingredients that all successful people have. An appetite for hard work, passion and a higher purpose that is not about money. It’s what you need if you want to change to world or make a dent in the universe.

Sorry…I forgot one other lesson. Dare to dream big.

2. The One Thing

This inspirational book by Gary Keller reveals the power of focusing on your “one thing”. His New York Times bestselling books have sold more than 2 million copies.

He also reveals the “One” thing that made Keller Williams Realty, Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the world. What was that? It was writing a book that positioned him and his company as the authority in real estate in the USA.

In The ONE Thing, you’ll also learn productivity tips such as:

Cut through the clutter

Achieve better results in less time

Build momentum toward your goal

Dial down the stress

3. Steal like an an Artist

Creativity and genius is sometimes thought of as being that one insight or flash of inspiration that appears from nowhere. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In this this very insightful book by Austin Kleon explains that you don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself.

That’s the message from Austin, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side.

4. Now, Discover Your Strengths

The biggest challenge for all of us is discovering what your mission on this planet is. That is often the journey of a lifetime.

It also means working on your strengths but many of us don’t know what they are.

Or how to find them.

Unfortunately, most of us have little sense of our talents and strengths, much less the ability to build our lives around them. Instead, guided by our parents, by our teachers, by our managers, and by psychology’s fascination with pathology, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to repair these flaws, while our strengths lie dormant and neglected.

Marcus Buckingham, (who was also coauthor of the national bestseller First, Break All the Rules), and Donald O. Clifton, have created a revolutionary program to help readers identify their talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy consistent, near-perfect performance. At the heart of the book is the Internet-based StrengthsFinder Profile, the product of a 25-year, multimillion-dollar effort to identify the most prevalent human strengths.

This book comes with free access to the web based “Strength Finder Test” that you will find very revealing. I know I did.

5. The Lean Startup: How Relentless Change Creates Radically Successful Businesses

The digital age has turned almost every aspect of our world on its head. This extends to our personal lives and how we do business.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. The author Eric Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

I found this a great book to challenge my thinking and grow my business.

6. Insanely Simple: The Obsession that Drives Apple’s Success

This book by Ken Seagall caught my attention after reading Steve Jobs’ biography by Walter Isaacson while travelling by train through Italy. After that 630 page exposure to the mind of a genius, I became a bit of a Steve Jobs fanboy. So finding out more about the person that has redefined our world was tempting.

To Steve Jobs, simplicity was a religion. It was also a weapon. Simplicity isn’t just a design principle at Apple—it’s a value that permeates every level of the organization. The obsession with simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from near death in 1997 to become the most valuable company on Earth in 2011.

What does this book cover?

Think Minimal: Distilling choices to a minimum brings clarity to a company and its customers—as Jobs proved when he replaced over twenty product models with a lineup of four.

Think Small: Swearing allegiance to the concept of “small groups of smart people” raises both morale and productivity.

Think Motion: Keeping project teams in constant motion focuses creative thinking on well-defined goals and minimizes distractions.

Think Iconic: Using a simple, powerful image to symbolize the benefit of a product or idea creates a deeper impression in the minds of customers.

Put it on your reading list!

7. Do the Work

This short but powerful and inspiring book by Steven Pressfield was revealing about a problem that many of us have. Having a lot of great ideas but not doing the work. This book led to me adopting the Mantra “Done is better than perfect”.

It also helps answer questions such as:

Could you be getting in your way of producing great work?

Have you started a project but never finished?

Would you like to do work that matters, but don’t know where to start?

So the answer is Do the Work, a manifesto by bestselling author Steven Pressfield, that will show you that it’s not about better ideas, it’s about actually doing the work. Do the Work is a weapon against Resistance – a tool that will help you take action and successfully ship projects out the door.

Over to you

Books are great and reading them is fun. You can gain many great ideas that are inspiring, motivating and lead to many conversations.

But if you don’t take the key lessons and start the work then nothing happens. I hope this list of the best inspirational books will help you get started.

Over to you.

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#7 Inspiring Books You Must Read

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