#but not to self check the notes app i think we fixed that book so calm down

[encrucijada]

guy too scared for horror keeps writing it

[charismaandcashmere]

In the modern world, it often seems like it’s harder than ever to accomplish your goals.

It seems like everyone has already done the thing you want to do — that your idea is already out there, that your niche is beyond saturated.

Want to start a blog? You’re up against a million rivals. Thinking about starting a podcast? So is everyone else and their mom. Hoping to write a book? With the advent of self-publishing, you’re not only up against authors approved by major publishing houses, but anyone, anywhere, with a laptop. Want to become a YouTube star? Better hope you get noticed next to the thousands of other folks uploading new videos every day.

There’s seemingly a million graphic designers, a million wannabe filmmakers, a million other, probably more qualified candidates gunning for the same job you want.

And that’s just in the marketplace. In your personal life, the competition can feel equally fierce. In the days of yore, you were just competing against people in your college or church to win the attention of a lady. Now you’re up against every Tom, Dick, and Harry on Tinder. The dating marketplace hypothetically stretches beyond your community to encompass your whole state, maybe even the whole country.

Yes, in both economic and personal spheres, demand seems high, and resources seem scarce. It’s enough to make you decide to give up and not try in the first place.

Yet this feeling of scarcity is just an illusion, a myth.

In truth, there’s never been a more opportune time to live. Not only because it’s never been cheaper and easier to write a book, share your art, or start a business, but because the average person’s ability to execute on the basics has never been in such short supply.

While opportunities to achieve your goals aren’t as scarce as you think, there are areas where true scarcity does exist: in common sense, in social skills, in manners, in reliability. There’s a dearth of people who know, or have the will, to do the stupidly easy stuff to be charming and successful.

Let me give you just one example. Both off the air and on, guests of my podcast will tell me, “I can tell you actually read my book before this interview and I really appreciate that. It’s so rare.” I don’t bring this up to toot my own horn, but rather to point out how ridiculous it is that this might even be something worthy of mention! An interviewer reading someone’s work before asking them questions about it would seem like the barest of bare minimum job requirements — a prerequisite rather than something above and beyond. And yet the majority of podcasters aren’t even taking care of this most basic of basics.

There are tons of people doing what you want to do, but how are they executing? In 90% of cases, not as well as they could be.

That’s your opening. And such openings are absolutely everywhere.

To take advantage of opportunities, people typically concentrate on stuff like building up their resume — going to the best school or getting the right internship. And certainly, these things can help.

But what’s missed is that it’s often doing stupidly easy stuff that’s going to allow you to make friends and land your dream job. It’s doing the stupidly easy stuff that almost no one else is doing that can most readily set you apart from the pack, and up for success.

What is some of that stupidly easy stuff? Below you’ll find a (non-exhaustive) list of the things it’s hard to believe people don’t do more often, and which have a huge ROI because most people can’t be bothered.

1. Send a thank you text when you get home from a nice party/date. In my opinion, this is the #1 easiest and best way to be a more charming texter. Yet almost no one does it. When someone has you over for dinner, or you take someone out on a date, once you part ways, they typically worry a bit as to whether or not you had a good time. And a party host wants to know their effort to throw the shindig was appreciated. So even if you thank your date/host in person at the end of the evening, once you get home, shoot them a confirming text saying, “Thanks again for the delicious dinner. We had such a good time!” Trust me on this, it’s stupidly, stupidly charming.

2. Write handwritten thank you notes, always and often. When an occasion was especially nice, instead of sending a text, write the person a handwritten thank you note and stick it in the mail. And send handwritten thank you notes for anything and everything else. Received a gift? Thank you note. Job interview? Thank you note. Someone helped you move? Thank you note. Someone went to bat for you at work? Thank you note.

Thank you note writing has become such a lost art, and receiving snail mail is so delightful, that sending handwritten appreciation has become one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the pack.

3. Edit your emails/texts before sending. No one ever catches all of the spelling and grammatical mistakes contained within their communications, but giving your texts and emails a couple reads before you hit send will tighten things up. These “clean” missives significantly contribute to making a winning digital impression.

4. Know how to make small talk. We spend so much time behind screens, that when we finally meet people face-to-face, our conversation can often be awkward and stilted. But being comfortable with small talk opens a tremendous amount of doors; sure, it starts out with the superficial, but it’s the on-ramp to deeper discussions — the pathway to relationships with potential lovers, new friends, and future employers. Fortunately, once you know the simple methodology that makes small talk flow, it’s easy to master.

5. Don’t be a conversational narcissist. Related to the above. The only kind of talk many people know how to make these days, is about themselves. Someone who knows how to listen and ask good questions comes off as stupidly charming.

6. Don’t look at your phone during a conversation. In an age of scattered attention, a person who can concentrate their attention on you, and fight the urge to look at their phone while you eat or talk — someone who can make you feel like the most important person in the room — is a charmer par excellence.

Can’t seem to pry yourself away? Check out our complete guide to breaking your smartphone habit.

7. Dress well for a job interview. You don’t have to show up to a job interview in a three-piece suit (unless the position calls for it); overdressing can make as poor a first impression as under-dressing. But showing up dressed just one notch above what current employees at the company wear will immediately set you apart from many other candidates. Well-shined shoes, a pressed shirt, and good hygiene will help too.

8. Come to a job interview prepared to ask questions of the interviewer. Whenever we post this article on “10 Questions to Ask in a Job Interview,” HR folks always weigh in with how “amazed” they are at the number of candidates who stare blankly when asked at the end of an interview, “Do you have any questions for us?” Know some questions to ask going in.

9. Take a woman on a real date. In a landscape of “What’s up”? texts and non-committal hang outs, taking a lady on a real date puts you head and shoulders above other suitors. What constitutes a real date? Watch this video and remember the 3 P’s: Planned, Paired Off, and Paid For.

10. Offer a sincere apology when you mess up. My generation seems to struggle with saying “I’m sorry” when they make a mistake. Numerous times I’ve had my order messed up at a restaurant, and when I bring it to the attention of the waiter or manager, they just shrug, say “Okay,” and fix it, without saying, “I’m sorry about that.” Then the other day an order of mine got messed up, and the manager took a totally different tack — comping my whole meal and bringing me a free dessert. That kind of treatment is so rare, it was unbelievably winning. I even found the manager after my meal to tell her so, and let her know I would specifically make an effort to return because of her gesture.

As it goes in the restaurant biz, so it goes with everything else. Most of your fellow employees will just say “Okay” when an error is brought to their attention. Offering a sincere apology that demonstrates you take responsibility and understand where you messed up and how it affects the company, will easily set you apart (so will immediately trying to make it right and preventing it from happening again).

And in your personal life, apologizing when you stumble is stupidly endearing. You’ll probably mess up again, and often with the same issue, but even when you can’t completely overcome your flaws, showing you’re at least completely aware of them goes a long, long way.

11. Follow through. I get a lot of emails from guys who want to do something with the Art of Manliness, like write a guest article or strike up a business partnership. They are excited! They are passionate! They are…MIA. They never follow-up or follow-through on their idea. I’ve often wondered what happens between their excited initial email, and their descent into silence. But whatever it is, it can easily be avoided by those committed to following through.

12. Be reliable. No quality today can more readily set you apart from your peers than reliability. Doing the follow-through just mentioned. Showing up on time (and just plain showing up). Meeting deadlines. Managing expectations and not overpromising. Promptly responding to emails. Keeping your word.

Are freelance graphic designers, artists, video/audio editors, app developers, programmers, contractors, etc. a dime a dozen? Surely. But a reliable creative professional or handyman? A pink unicorn. If you couple talent and skill with reliability, it’s stupidly easy to dominate your competition and your niche.

When you survey the economic and dating markets, they can seem incredibly oversaturated. Demand seems high and resources seem scarce. But when you take a closer look, you’ll find that while there are plenty of people all grasping after the same thing, there are only a few executing well on the attempt. Setting yourself apart isn’t complicated or hard; it often involves simply doing the stupidly easy stuff that everyone else overlooks.

Their obtusity is your gain; see through the myth of scarcity, take care of the basics, and the world is your oyster.

[kalee60]

Tap That

Author: Kalee60

Square Filled: C3 - Free Star - Middle Square

Ship/Main Pairing: Bucky/Steve

Rating: G

Major Tags/Triggers/Warnings: None

Summary: When Steve is distracted while waiting at a busy crosswalk on the way to an important meeting, he inadvertently meets the man of his dreams - but only after making the most mortifying social gaffe of his life.

Red faced and apologetic he tries to forget the incident.

But sometimes when things go wrong - they suddenly turn out spectacularly right.

Word Count: 2,129

Read on ao3 here

For: @buckybarnesbingo

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve was late, he hated being late.

Tucking his portfolio snug up under his armpit, he strode down the busy sidewalk, dodging people left right and centre, using the fancy footwork he’d learned from years of walking the streets of New York.

The coffee shop he was meeting his potential new client at was only a few blocks away, but it may as well have been on the other side of the ocean with the crowd and traffic lights he had to adhere to. Steve wondered errently if he should just jaywalk and dash across in between cars. He squashed the thought, he enjoyed not having to pay fines, and also he enjoyed being alive and not suffering death by delivery truck. It was close to peak hour after all.

Steve was hopeful that the meeting would go well. His design business was growing in leaps and bounds, but he needed just a little more exposure and steady clients on his books before he felt that he’d truly succeeded. And then once he felt like his career had reached a point it was self sufficient, he might take Nat’s advice and start to date again.

It had been a very dry few years, with only a couple of random hookups to keep his desires in check. But if he were honest he was reaching an age that, yes, sex was amazing, but he was kind of looking for it more regularily and with the same person. But finding that special someone with his hours and workload, was near to impossible, plus dating apps and set-ups with friends only went so far.

He wanted a connection, something tangible and electric.

Steve wasn’t asking for much at all. Just the impossible.

The crosslights ahead turned red and he scowled, hitching the portfolio up again, and felt a small tug on his knit jumper. He’d not even realised he’d caught a thread with the sharp corner of the folder, and as he tried to salvage the knit with one hand, he reached forward to press the button to hurry the crosswalk up, with the other.

Steve tapped it a couple of times, but didn’t feel the usual depress, or the sound, but he was too annoyed that the small amount of wool had come untethered, knowing he’d have to get out the needle and thread that night to fix it, to really notice the difference. 

He tapped the button again.

“I think you should buy me dinner first, before you go any further," a sardonic, yet deeply amused voice said.

Steve looked up to see the most beautiful man in existence standing before him, looking over his shoulder back at Steve, his blue/grey eyes sparkling with laughter and it took too long to realise he was speaking to him. To Steve.

“Excuse me?” He asked, and when the dark haired man with a smattering of stubble he suddenly had a desire to press his face against, gestured lower, towards their hips, it took him a long moment, embarrassingly so, to realise he’d not been pushing the button for the crosswalk.

He’d been tapping this man’s very tight and firm, and if he were honest, gorgeous ass.

“Oh shit, crap, um I mean, shoot, Jesus stop swearing. I am so sorry.” Steve managed to mangle out into the open and he must look like the biggest idiot to roam the world.

The chuckle the man let out was sinful, deep and Steve wanted to curl up in it, make him do it again and again, try to elicit a full body laugh.

“Don’t be, and please keep going, I want to see if I hear a ‘dang it’, or a ‘golly gee’.”

Steve’s face was flaming, he could feel the redness, the heat, and knew the slack jawed expression on his face, wouldn’t have been the most attractive.

“Please believe me when I say, I don’t make a habit of… accosting men at crosswalks.”

The man turned back towards the light which had just changed to walk, and Steve swore he heard him say, “pity.”

They ended up walking next to each other, both of their strides long and Steve kept throwing glances at the brunette. His jacket collar was pulled up against the cold, framing his gorgeous cheek structure, and he seemed to be about Steve’s age, plus he couldn’t see a ring on his finger. And Steve was officially creeping on a man whose ass he’d tapped at the lights (and didn’t that phrase bring up delicious images).

But, it seemed like the man was throwing just as many looks Steves’ way. And the appreciating glance at his snug knit made him glad he’d chucked it on. Nat had said it was a good fit, and paired with his dark wash jeans and loafers, he was casual yet smart and was glad now of his choice. Especially if he kept getting small side-glances from a man he wanted to gobble up.

Just as he was psyching himself up to talk to him again, Steve’s phone rang and as he fumbled to get it out of his back pocket, and answer it. The man had continued on, glancing once over his shoulder with a wide grin. And Steve was going to regret for the rest of his life that he didn’t chase after him, but it was his potential client on the phone.

After a quick three minute chat where they said they were running an hour late, Steve decided that he’d just go to the cafe and get some caffeine into his system, grab a bite to eat and work on the proposal. Or get lost in the memory of the perfect man.

He walked into the shop, the scent of grounds hitting him and he inhaled deeply. Steve loved the smell of coffee. Ordering the biggest they had on the menu, Steve waited for it, then traversed the earlish morning rush and found a free table, situating himself at it and taking a long sip, savouring it.

“Well, if I knew you were under-caffeinated, I could have excused your lack of unique swear words.”

Steve choked on his next sip, and praying milk didn’t just come out of his nose, he looked at the table next to him. The perfect man sat there, a smug look on his face, a coffee before him and an open text book, now laying face down as he beamed at Steve.

Once more he felt too hot, but managed to grin back.

“Believe me, I have some good ones tucked up my sleeve.”

Blue eyes snapped to his biceps, encased in the wool and he couldn’t help the little thrill that went through him as the man clearly checked him out.

“Yes, you do,” was the drawled response, and Steve felt it all the way through to his dick.

Holy shit - they were flirting. Steve was actually flirting, in real life, with somebody he was very interested in.

“Are you, er, are you meeting someone? I mean here, today, now?” Steve had managed to go from some semblance of flirting to utterly looking like a dork in three seconds. It was a new record.

The man’s grin was blinding, “nope, I’m just here to get out of the office for a bit, do some light reading,” he grimaced at the technical book, which looked like it had something to do with engineering, “and you?”

“Oh, I’m meeting someone in about an hour or so.” As the man’s smile dimmed, Steve realised what that sounded like, “for work, it’s a work thing. Fuck… sorry, again. If you’d like, you can join me, at my table I mean.”

“Sure,” the man didn’t even blink, suddenly sitting in front of Steve, coffee before him, book now shut, eyes trained on Steve’s. “I’m James, but you can call me Bucky.”

Oh, that was nice, a name, his dream man had a name.

The chuckle came again and James, no, Bucky was laughing at him, why? Fuck again.

“Sorry, I honestly am usually not this dense. I’m Steve.”

He held out his hand and Bucky took it, his palm warm and slightly calloused, the friction as their skin met, rough, in the way it would feel amazing running down his chest, lower and lower until -

“So Steve, when you’re not accosting men at traffic crossings, what do you do with your days?”

Almost an hour later, and two more coffees, Steve knew he’d never been so charmed before, or half in love with someone he’d just met. Bucky was everything he was looking for, funny, witty, smart and seemed to be eye-fucking Steve as much as he was in return. Giddy with excitement and anticipation he continued with his story about when his nose got broken in a fight with a kid seven years older than him in school, when he felt something against his leg.

Pausing, he saw Bucky’s grin widen and the movement against his leg intensified. Steve smiled and pressed himself closer, heart hammering in his chest.

Then Bucky leaned forward, motioning for Steve to as well. Tilting his body so they were only a breath apart, Bucky smirked then whispered, “Steve, would it be too forward of me to say that I really want to see you again, but with less people, more privacy and much less clothing, maybe get you to tap my ass again?”

Steve gulped, eyes shutting for a mere second in pure unadulterated want, Christ did he need that. Badly. Desperately.

“I’m sure we can arrange something.” He husked back and as Bucky smiled, eyes full of promise, Steve closed the gap.

Their lips met, still warm from their coffees, and Bucky tasted of all the good things in life, everything he’d been waiting for. Moving, he opened his mouth, still conscious of where they were, and deepened the kiss as much as he dared. Bucky was onboard, more than if the hand that came up and pulled at the back of Steve’s head was any indication, and paired with the small helpless gasp he felt on his tongue as he pressed it into Bucky’s mouth, he was going to enjoy their time together. Immensely.

The clearing of a throat shook them from their indiscretion, and Steve pulled back, noting the way Bucky’s lips were reddened and his desire to yank him back across the table and just take him was viceral. Bucky looked like he was ready to be thoroughly fucked. And Steve was definitely stepping up to the plate and would deliver on that front.

“Steve Rogers?”

His full name broke Steve out of his little bubble of fantasy,  the one where he was licking down Bucky’s spine, leaving nips and licks and bruises on his skin.

“Uh, yeah, Jeremy?” It was his client, with the worst timing ever.

Jeremy looked between Steve and Bucky a moment, but before Steve could say anything Bucky had neatly slipped from his seat, indicating for Jeremy to sit.

“Catch you around, Steve.” Bucky said with a smirk, slipping a small business card into his hand, then left the shop.

Steve looked down to read ‘James Barnes - Mechanical Engineering - Patent Attorney’ it was a mouthful, exactly what Steve hoped he would be. It also had a personal number scrawled on the back with ‘call me’ written in block letters.

“So Steve, I really like -”

“- hang on Jeremy, just excuse me for one second.”

Steve raced out the store, seeing Bucky looking down at his phone a few metres away waiting for the crosswalk. He strode over and without even thinking twice, tapped his ass a few times. Bucky jumped and turned around with a scowl on his face, until he saw Steve.

“Steve?”

Steve didn’t wait a second, just wrapped his arms around Bucky completely, squeezing him tightly against his body, holding him like there was no one else in the world except the two of them. Bucky melted into the embrace, his mouth opening into the kiss, tongues tangling until Steve was gasping for air. He pulled back and rested his forehead against Bucky’s for a second, inhaling deeply, looking into Bucky’s blue eyes.

“I’m going to call you,” he husked out, smiling like he never had before.

Bucky laughed, loudly and free, it was glorious. “Pal, I hope so, I’d hate to think you kiss all the men you accidently tap like that. Tonight?”

Steve beamed. 

“Tonight,” he promised, then gave Bucky one last chaste kiss, and waved goodbye.

Heading back to the coffee shop and his client, Steve felt a spring in his step that hadn’t been there for a long time, and put Bucky’s number in his phone immediately.

It was a good day. A very good day.

[you-a-southpaw-doll]

Deaf ~ A Max (The Resident) One-Shot

Summary: Max gets a new tenant...and maybe a new family? With all the silence, will Leigh be able to draw Max outta the walls and into her life? 

Warning(s): Angst. Happy ending. Single mother OFC. Mentions of cheating. Bisexual OFC. Hearing issues. Deaf infant. Implied PTSD. Implied childhood trauma. Panic attack. Self-harm. First aid. Non-canon. OOC Max. Slight voyeuristic tendencies. OFC’s P.O.V. Soft Max. Hurt Max. Scared Max. Touch-starved Max. Max just needs some love.

Author’s Note(s): So, I watched The Resident (2011) a couple nights ago, and got this idea. I don’t do rape, so I changed Max’s character so he never goes that far. I also decided to do this from the OFC’s P.O.V. and show a different side of Max, one that would hopefully, kinda sorta, explain why Max seeks the refuge the walls give him. For people that suffer from PTSD, and other mental illnesses, everyone finds their own way of coping with their struggles. I’m not in any way condoning what Canon Max did. I just wanted to try and a different, less creepy, softer side. Also, in this story, Max is not a rapist, nor is he a murderer. And...I wanted a happy ending for Max, so that’s what I gave him.

Word Count: 7,982 words.

Relationship(s): Max x Leigh Sullivan (OFC) [romantic]. 

Characters: Max. Leigh Sullivan (OFC). Maxwell Dean Sullivan (OMC). Chris Sullivan (OMC). 

Taglist: @negans-network @prettyboynegan @mychemicalimagines @spnnnxangelsx @rockinkel21 @misskittycat02 @band--psycho @ofxallxwexlost @iron-halt @thamberlinawrites @ravenwings73 @lettherebepink @stoneyggirl @sebs-padawan

_______________________________________________________________________

Story Time:

Leigh’s P.O.V. ~

It’s been two weeks since I moved to New York City to start my new job at the museum and try to get on with one of the numerous publishing houses for my next books. Two weeks of sleeping in a cheap hotel room. Two nights of frantically searching for a somewhat cheap apartment that would be big ‘nough.

Two weeks of missing having his little body snuggled up next to me. Two weeks worth of triple FaceTime calls to my brother back in San Deigo just to see his cute little face. Two weeks of missing my baby boy. Two weeks of missing my adopted, six-month-old son, Maxwell. Two weeks of being completely alone in a new place for the first time in years.

It’s been two days since I saw that flyer pinned up on the hospital bulletin board after passing out from dehydration. Two days since I went to that old building that’s close to the huge bridge stretching out over the river. Two days since I saw the fancy apartment still being renovated that was clearly well outta my price range.

Two days since I met him and saw that beautiful dimpled smile hiding under the construction mask. Two days since I felt my heart flutter for the time in nearly half a year. Two days since that deep, slower than molasses but sweeter than honey voice told me it was mine for only $3,800 a month, minus utilities. 

It’s been two hours since he, my new landlord left my apartment after sitting down to enjoy a dinner of takeout from the nearby Chinese restaurant once we’d finished moving my meager belongings in. Two hours since he and I opened up a little bit to each other, getting to know the other person. 

It’s been two hours and I still haven’t stopped smiling. 

Leaning back in my chair, I slide my iPhone outta the pocket of my men’s holey, Skinny Flex American Eagle dark blue jeans. Holding my thumb down on the button so it recognizes my thumbprint, I wait for it to unlock before I click on the FaceTime app and call my brother. I take a deep breath, relaxing, as I wait for him to answer. 

Only...he doesn’t. Instead of my slightly younger brother answering, I get the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. The moment I see my son’s face fill the screen, I tear up and smile. 

“Hey, baby boy! You playing with Uncle Chris’s phone?” I coo in a soft voice.

I don’t get an actual response, but that’s ok. My son Max is deaf. He was born that way and the doctors said it’d be a few more months before we could even try to get him fitted for hearing aids. The said it was a side effect from where his birth mother had been using hard drugs for 99% of the pregnancy, even though I tried to get her help.

Max makes a bunch of soft, cooing noises as he holds the phone close. I realize that he hasn’t noticed that I’m the phone yet. Especially once I see his gums get closer to the camera. I laugh, knowing he’s trying to gnaw on the rounded corner of my brother’s iPhone. Hearing movement on the other end, I watch as the phone jostles, and a loud thunk echos to my end. 

A moment later, two small, chubby hands grasp the phone and my son’s face fills the screen once more. I watch as his eyes widen and he lets out a high pitch squeal, giggling, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Max has finally noticed that I’m on the phone. Smiling, I wave to him and blow him kisses.

It just makes him squeal more, louder, and happier. I giggle and happily listens to his giggles, squeals, and babbles. After nearly 15 minutes of listening to him, and slouching in my chair, the phone jostles once more and I hear Max let out a whine and hear him sniffling, knowing his ‘bout to start crying. 

A second later, my brother’s face fills my phone’s screen and his eyes widen too, making him chuckle.

“Hey, sis. Sorry. Didn’t realize you were on the phone. I guess Max got ahold of mine when I went to fix him a bottle and a small jar of that mushy baby food you picked up for him before you left.” He says.

I smile. “Nah. Max didn’t call me. I called. He answered. Took him a hot minute to realize I was on the phone. Then he started telling me ‘bout the stuff y’all did today. Sounds like a productive day.”

Chris laughs and I watch as he gets settled on the couch in his apartment, holding my son in his lap, keeping him to where he can still see me on the phone.

“Oh yeah.” He chuckles. “Real productive. 3 naps, 6 poopy diapers, and a few bottles.” 

I giggle. “Sounds like it.”

He chuckles more and shakes his head. “Anyway. How’s the city? D’you switch motel rooms? That don’t look like the one you’ve been staying in.”

I grin from ear to ear. “That’s actually why I called you. I found a place. By the river and train tracks.”

“Yea? That’s great! You all moved in?”

“For the most part. All that’s missing is little man. Oh. And the actual furniture. I was thinking...think you and Max could be out here tomorrow?”

“Uh...yea. I still got 3 more weeks’ worth of vacation time saved up at work. Give me a sec to pull up flights and shit.”

I smile and nod, waiting as Chris sets his phone down. After listening to some shuffling and the protests of my son, my brother and my son’s faces are visible once more. I help guide my brother through the process of looking for, booking, and getting two cheap plane tickets. I tell him my card info so he can type it in.

“Alright, sis. It looks like we’ll be flying out ‘round noon our time. And, after a 5 and a half flight, we should be to the city by dinnertime. How’s that?” Chris double checks.

“Sounds fuckin’ good to me! I can’t wait. I’ll meet y’all there!” I grin and cover my mouth as I yawn.

Chris chuckles. “Good. Looks like you need to get to bed. It’s what, 11 there?”

I nod. “Yea...I think so. It’s been a long day.”

“I can tell. Well, get some sleep. We’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait to see y’all. It’s been a long two weeks.”

“I bet. I honestly don’t see how you’ve been a single mom for the last 6 months. I’ve been watching this little monster for 2 weeks and I swear, I’m never having my own kids.”

I laugh. “Shut up! He’s not that bad. He just misses his mommy. And, you never wanted your own kids. You’ve always been too scared. Couldn’t even sit down if there was a kid in the room.”

“Hey! I just didn’t want to risk accidentally sitting on them and squishing them!” 

I giggle as my brother grins. “I know, bro. I’m just giving you shit.”

“Yea. Just like your son’s been doing all day.”

I laugh, yawning again. “Shouldn’t have given him the sweet potato mush. I warned you.”

He rolls his eyes, chuckling. “Whatever.”

“I am proud of you, bro. You’ve done so well with him, and I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. I know it’s been a long couple of months, not just the two weeks I’ve been out here.”

“I just wanna see you happy again, sis, and I’m always here for you. That’s why I’m more than willing to help you.”

“I know. And it means the world. Give him kisses for me and tap his little tummy twice to tell him I love him?”

Chris smiles. “I will. Be careful, yeah? We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll try. Love you.”

“Yea. Ok. I know.”

He grins and waves, getting Max to copy him as he hangs up the call. I smile to myself. My brother’s never been one to say “I love you” to someone. He’s been like that since we were little when he was 5 and I was 6. So, I don’t take it personally when he just responds as he does. I know he still loves me. 

He’s been there for me, just like I’ve always been there for him. After my last relationship hit the fan and I caught my fiancé cheating on me with a man and said she no longer felt like being a mom in a same-sex relationship, just a few weeks before Max was born and we were supposed to gain custody of him, Chris offered to let me move in with him once Max was born. 

So, that’s what we did. Max and I left Kentucky where I’d been living all through and well after college and moved to San Diego to live with my brother. The 5.5 months we were there, I looked ‘round for a job that I could use my history degree in, while also working on my last novel. After getting an offer from a museum in New York, I broke the news to Chris that Max and I would be moving to the city.

He’d been shocked at first since we were both from a small town in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and I’d sworn I’d never live in a big city. ‘Specially one in the North since it got too cold in the winter and I’d always been made fun of for my strong Southern accent. I’d explained to him that I had to do what was best for Max, that I had a son to think ‘bout now.

He’d understood after that and was willing to watch Max while I traveled back across the country to a new place, to look for a good living arrangement, and get settled in for my new job. He told me that once I got settled, he’d bring Max out and then help me get all moved in and everything. Which is what led us to tonight. 

After hanging up with my brother and my son, I plug my phone up, set a few alarms, and curl up in the chair to try and get some sleep, knowing that tomorrow’s gonna be an even bigger day. All while never knowing that I was being watched by landlord peeking through a strategically placed and well-hidden hole in the wall.

When I wake up the morning, well early afternoon really, groaning and blindly reaching out for my phone to shut up the annoying alarms, I stretch and rub my eyes. I’m definitely not a morning person, and usually, get my best work done between the hours of 1 and 7 am. It’s been great since Max still hasn’t picked up on the whole sleeping through the night thing.

I finally push myself up outta the chair, my joints protesting the clearly uncomfortable position I just spent the last six hours in while curled up. Making my way to the kitchen, I get a pot of coffee going before padding back across the apartment to the bedroom and bathroom. I shoot my brother a text, letting him know that I’ll still pick him and Max up from the airport. 

After my shower, and downing the entire pot of coffee, I put some music on as I start to plan how I want the apartment set up and start looking up furniture stores on my phone, even ordering a few things online to be delivered in a couple of days.. I get lost in my search, that it takes me several long minutes to notice someone’s knocking on my door. 

Clicking my phone off, I tuck it in my pocket and make way to the door, opening it to find my landlord.

 He and I talk for a few minutes until I suddenly realize the time.

“Oh shit! I gotta go!” 

Max, my landlord, raises a brow. “Hot date tonight?”

I smile. “You could say that. I gotta go pick the love of my life up from the airport.”

I watch as Max’s face falls and he gets a sad look in his eye. 

“I thought you were single?” He asks. 

Scrambling to put my boots on, I reply to him. “I am. But, I still gotta pick him up.”

“Oh. Well, alright then.”

I look at him as I grab my drawstring bag that I use instead of a purse and put it on my back. 

“I’ll be back soon. If you wanna come over, I’d love to introduce you. You’ll see him ‘round a lot.” I say, grabbing my key.

“Um. Maybe. I know I’ll be busy with the renovations in the other apartments. I just thought I’d stop by and check on you, see how you settling in.”

I smile and gently place my hand on his shoulder, trying my best to ignore the rush of excitement that courses through my body at the touch. My landlord is not only smoking hot, but he’s also well built and I can feel his muscles under my hand.

“Thank you, Max. I greatly appreciate it.” I say.

He just nods and stares at my hand for a moment. 

“Oh...sorry.” I apologize, dropping my hand, quickly remembering how shy he is. “I’ll...uh...see you later, maybe? I’d really love for you to meet him. He’s a sweetheart.”

He shrugs and rubs the back of his neck. “We’ll see how the renovations go.”

“Sounds good! Don’t work too hard!”

“I am working too hard!”

I giggle, playfully smacking his shoulder. 

“Don’t do it.” I giggle.

I quickly leave after locking my door and hurry downstairs, hailing a cab and head to the airport. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be too much traffic, which surprises me since the first I noticed when I got to the city was all the traffic. When I get there, I realize I’m still a few minutes early, so I make my way over to the gates to wait. 

Nearly half an hour later, I spot my brother, holding my son, carrying only the diaper bag and a small book bag, and rush over. As soon as I reach them, I happily take my little boy in my arms, peppering his chubby little cheeks with kisses, which has him squealing happily and patting my head. I giggle and tilt my head back to look at him, despite the happy tears rolling down my cheeks.

Tapping my finger against his belly twice like I’ve done since the moment I first held him and the moment the docs told me he was deaf, I let my son know I love him. He giggles and curls his fingers ‘round mine, holding it tight. I lift my shoulder, turning my head in an attempt to wipe my tears away. Once I’ve done that, I look up at my 6’2” tall brother, grinning from ear to ear.

He just smiles and pulls me in for a hug. I lean against him since my arms are full from where I’m holding Max. Laying my head against Chris’ chest, I smile. He just hugs me a little tighter, but not too much ‘cause of Max.

“Missed you, sis.” He says.

“I fuckin’ missed you too, bro.” I reply. 

He laughs and lets go of me, looking at me. “You look happy.”

“I am now! I’ve got my little boy in my arms, and you’re here. But, I’m sure you’re hungry?”

“Always am!”

I laugh. “C’mon. Let’s go get some food and head to my place. You’re really gonna love it!”

He chuckles and follows as I carry a giggling and snuggly Max outta the airport. I look up Chris. 

“You’re taller. Hail a cab.” I say.

He raises a brow. “How?”

I giggle and tell him since it’s the time he’s ever had to do it. Growing up in our small town, we didn’t have taxis, and then when he moved to San Diego during my senior year of college, he already had his own car, so he didn’t have to worry ‘bout taxis out there. It doesn’t take long before one comes to a stop in front of us.

Piling in, I give the driver my new address, and we set off towards home. Well, my home. Chris and I spend the time talking while I just hold Max close, patting his butt. Right as the driver makes it to the apartment building, the air suddenly smells shitty. I know Max has pooped himself, and I soothe him before he can start crying and apologizing to the driver, giving him a decent tip.

Ushering Chris out the cab, so I can get out with Max, I shift my son in my arms. 

“Don’t worry, baby boy. Mama’s gonna get you upstairs, and get you all cleaned up!” I coo, softly, my lips near his ear so that he can feel the vibrations of my voice as I talk.

Max settles down a little as he sniffles, clinging to my shirt. I kiss his head and led the way inside and up to my apartment. Shifting him once more, I dig my key out, unlock the door, and step in with Chris right behind me. 

“Let me get him changed. Feel free to look around. There’s not much, but we’ll fix that tomorrow.” I say.

Chris nods and drapes the strap of the diaper bag over my shoulder. I carry Max into the bathroom and set him on the tiled floor. I keep him distracted while I change his diaper, and tap his tummy twice after buttoning his onesie and slipping his little shorts back on. He lets out a giggle, holding his hands up.

Giggling myself, I scoop him back up in my arms, tossing the dirty diaper in the small trash can as I walk out. 

***

Over the next couple of weeks, Chris helps me move furniture in, get the apartment set up, takes turns with caring for Max, and even teaching me some of the new recipes he’s picked up. He’s come along way, considering that the kid used to burn cereal when he tried to make himself some when we were kids.

We take a few days, once the apartment’s set up, to explore the city. I haven’t done much sight-seeing myself since I arrived. It was mainly ‘cause I was too busy trying to find a place and everything. A few times, I spot my landlord while we’re out and about, and I try to wave him over so he can meet my son and my brother.

Especially since he never showed up the night Chris arrived. I’d been really excited to introduce them. I couldn’t explain why, other than the fact that I wanted Max to meet my son and my brother. Yet, Max never comes over. He always pulls his phone out when our eyes meet and presumably takes a call, walking in the opposite direction.

Two and a half weeks after Chris arrives in New York, Max and I take him to the airport to catch his flight back to San Diego. We stay with him till it’s time for his plane to be boarded. As he hands his ticket over, he assures him he’ll text me when he lands in California and when he gets home. I give him one last hug and lift Max’s hand in a wave.

***

After Chris leaves, Max and I settled into our normal routine. I wake up shortly after he does, get him changed and dressed for the day, and then lay him down on the living room floor for tummy time while I get to work. The position I have at the museum allows me to work from home, occasionally going in once or twice a week, with Max, to take care of some things there.

When I’m not working for the museum, I’m attempting to work on my novel. After I get done with work, I feed Max and me, before we settle on the couch with a Disney movie or one of the three Despicable Me movies playing for naptime. Even if Max can’t hear, he still loves watching the screen, giggling. 

He absolutely loves the minions and squeals every time he sees them on the screen. After naptime, he and I lay on the floor for more tummy time while I try to teach him the sign language I’ve been learning. My baby brother, Eli, was also born with hearing issues, so thankfully I knew some when he was growing up, but I’ve also been teaching myself more since I found out Max was deaf.

At the end of the day, and getting some more work done, along with dinner, I give Max his bath. He’s always loved bath time, except for the few times water lands in his ears. Since it’s his favorite, I give him one every day, which doesn’t put too much strain on the water bill ‘cause Max’s baby bath is small and doesn’t take a lot of water.

When bedtime rolls ‘round, I curl up on my new bed with Max cuddled to my chest with my shirt tightly gripped in one hand and his shark blankie in the other. I rub his back and hum softly so he can feel the vibrations from it as he drifts off to sleep. We keep the routine up for the next month a half. During this time, I never talk to my landlord, not even when I go to give him the rent.

I mean, yeah, I’ll see him occasionally ‘round the building, but he doesn’t say a word. He just looks at me for a moment, before dropping his head and walking away. It breaks my heart ‘cause I want to talk to him. We had so much fun talking and goofing off the night he helped me move in. But, since that day I had to rush off to the airport, we haven’t spoken.

I just resigned myself to knowing that he obviously thinks we’re nothing more than landlord and tenant. Which, honestly, make me sad ‘cause I thought we’d have become friends. He was the first person that was actually nice to me after I moved to the city. I also tuck down the feelings of the crush on him I have.

He reminds me a lot of Papa Winchester from my favorite tv show, Supernatural, and I’ve always had the hots for the oldest Winchester. Even my ex-fiancé knew that, and she agreed. See, we’re both bisexual, but I’d always thought she was the one. Until I caught her in bed, our bed, with a man, and she’d told me what she did.

The six months after we broke up were the hardest, ‘cause I’d been ready to marry her. But it didn’t work out. And after I’d moved to New York, met my landlord Max, and realized I’d had a crush on him, I was starting to come to terms with maybe moving on. Getting back out there. I mean, I knew there’d probably be nothing more than a friendship with my landlord, but I was ok with that.

But, I don’t even have that anymore. I sigh to myself, urging my thoughts to go down a different road, as I pull the clothes out the dryer. Just as I finish pulling the last few clothes outta the dryer, I hear whimpering. I listen for a moment to try and figure out where the sound’s coming from so I can go get my son.

After a moment, and the realization that the sound of whimpers is coming from the falls, I try to tone down the feeling of panic that’s quickly spreading through my body. Max started crawling shortly after we moved here, and I know he’s been exploring the apartment. I just hope he hasn’t gotten himself stuck somewhere. 

I quickly leave the clothes on the dryer and walk further into the apartment, closer to the sound of the whimpers.

“Max? Honey? Don’t worry, ok? Mama’s coming to get you.”

I call out, without thinking ‘bout the fact that my son’s deaf. I call the words out based on instinct and the need to assure my son that he’s gonna be ok. I follow the noise, getting closer to the kitchen and my eyes widen. Did I forget to put the baby gate up so he couldn’t get in there? When I reach the kitchen and realize that I did indeed forget to put the baby gate, my heart drops to my stomach.

“Fuck!”

I step into the pantry where the sounds of the whimpers are louder and look ‘round. I don’t see my son anywhere. Then I hear the whimpers again and realize that they’re coming from the other side of the wall. I gently push against the right wall, to give myself leverage, as I keep looking, thinking there’s no way that the whimpers are coming from the walls.

My eyes widen as the wall shifts a little with my touch, and they nearly pop outta their sockets when I realize the wall isn’t just a wall. It’s a door that’s already slightly open. My heart starts beating faster as I realize that there’s a slight chance that Max could’ve crawled in here, and through the small opening.

I take in a shaky breath as I push the door open enough for my small frame to fit through. Once I’m through, I notice two things from the get-go. One, the whimpers get louder. Two, the door leads to what looks like an old set of maintenance hallways. I know older buildings used to have them, so it makes sense that this building would have ‘em too.

I just never really put the thought into asking or caring if the building had them. I make my way deeper into the hidden hallways, being careful not to trip or hit my head on anything. Keeping my eyes peeled for my son, I get closer to the sound of the whimpers until I finally reach the source. My eyes widen when I see who’s making the sounds.

“Max?” I ask, softly, getting closer.

My landlord doesn’t even look up as he flinches at the sound of my voice. He just whimpers and bites harder into his wrist. 

My heart breaks and I crouch down next to him, gently taking his hand and pulling his wrist from the tight grip his teeth have on it.

“Max? Honey, it’s ok. You’re safe.” I murmur.

He whimpers a little more and hides his face. I immediately realize what’s going on. He’s having a panic attack, and it looks to be a bad one. Rubbing my thumb across his knuckles, I lean closer to him, gently wrapping my arms ‘round the slightly older man, and pull him close to me. I reach a hand up and run my fingers through his hair, softly and silently convincing him to lay his head on my chest.

I soothe him, calm him, and help him relax ‘nough that he slowly eases outta the panic attack. Not stopping my fingers as they continue to run through his hair, I start humming softly. I know panic attacks are one of the worst things to go through. Especially all alone. It takes several minutes, but I eventually feel Max relax, sagging against me as the panic attack leaves him.

Even though he’s outta it, I continue to run my fingers through his dark curls. 

“Better?” I ask softly.

He nods, just a quick, subtle little jerk of his head against my chest, but it’s still a nod. 

“Will you come back to my apartment with me? I wanna take a look at your arm. You bit down on it pretty hard.” I explain after he looks at me with uncertainty swirling in his muddy water brown eyes.

He takes a deep breath but nods again. I smile.

“That’s a good boy. C’mon. We’ll get you all fixed up.” I say, not sounding patronizing, but rather motherly.

I smile to myself as a light blush covers his cheeks at my words. I gently pat his shoulder before we stand up. As I lead him back through the maintenance hallways to the door that leads into my pantry, I notice other little holes in the wall, discreetly checking them out. When I realize they show off different points of my apartment, I raise a brow but don’t say a word.

After peeking through one of the holes, I see Max, my son, sleeping peacefully in his little playpen and let out a soft breath of relief, remembering that I’d laid him in there when I went to do laundry. I hold my landlord’s hand the entire time we walk through the hallways if nothing more than to keep him calm.

When Max and I get to the door leading to the pantry, he suddenly stops, jerking me to a stop too since I wasn’t expecting it and had been leading him by the hand. I turn ‘round and look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, confused.

“The love of your life? Where’s he at?” He asks after, nervously, after a moment.

I smile. “He’s sleeping, in the other room. It’s ok.”

I watch as more hesitation and uncertainty fill Max’s eyes. I give his hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Hey. It’s ok. He won’t mind you being in there. He gets a bit protective over me, but I just know he’s gonna love you.” I assure him.

“I...I don’t think so...guys typically don’t like me. Neither do girls. I’m a loner.” He mumbles, looking at his feet while flicking his thumb against his finger on his other hand.

“Max?”

He lifts his head, looking at me. “Hmm?”

“Trust me. He’s gonna love you.”

He shrugs. “Nah. He won’t. ‘Specially not since he has you.”

“Hey. Stop doubting yourself, ok? He’s gonna love you ‘cause I like you.”

“You...you like me?”

I smile and nod. “I do. And you’d know that if you hadn’t been avoiding me since I had to leave so quickly to get to the airport.”

A small smile tugs on his lips. “You’ve been busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you, Max. Now, c’mon. Let’s get your wrist all cleaned up, then you meet the person who stole my heart with just one look. And, he’s gonna steal yours too.”

I giggle and gently squeeze his hand as he looks nervous. I lead him into my apartment from the pantry, and into the living room. 

“Have a seat on the couch, ok? I’m just gonna go grab the first aid kit. Don’t try and leave. I’ll follow you and kick your door down if you do.” I playfully threaten. “I don’t mess around with first aid.”

Thankfully, it gets a chuckle outta him and he takes a seat on the couch, holding his hands up in surrender. I grin and head to my bathroom to grab the first aid kit. Walking back through my bathroom, I stop by the playpen, lean down and kiss my son’s head, covering him up more with his shark blankie.

Watching him for a moment, I smile to myself and head back to the living room. Max is still in the same spot he was when I left him a moment ago, but this time, he has his hands on his lap as he picks at the bite mark on his wrist. I gently slap his hand away. 

“Stop that, mister. You’ll do more damage than what you’ve already done.” I say, kneeling on the floor in front of him, between his knees. 

He raises a brow and mutters a quiet, “I’m sorry.”

“Good boy. Now hold your hand out so I can look at it.”

He blushes a little but does as I ask. Gently taking his arm in my grasp, I inspect the self-inflicted bite mark on his wrist. After cleaning it with some alcohol wipes and putting Neosporin on it, I gently wrap some gauze ‘round his wrist and tape it so it stays in place. Without thinking ‘bout it, I place a gentle kiss on over the wrapped wound.

It’s outta habit that I do it since I do it whenever my son gets a boo-boo. I hear Max suck in a deep breath and my eyes jerk up to meet his. His bottom lip is captured between his impossibly white teeth and his cheeks are a shade pinker than they were before.

“I...I’m sorry. It’s outta habit that I do that.” I mutter, trying to explain as quickly as I can.

“I...it’s fine. I’ve just never had anyone do that before.” He mumbles.

I raise a brow. “Your mama never kissed your boo-boos?”

His eyes get that sad, lost look in his eyes. He pulls his arm outta my grasp and, not answering, he walks over to the window. I sit back on my ankles, packing the first aid kid up. 

“Max...I’m sorry. I didn’t...you don’t have to talk ‘bout it.” I say quietly.

He just sighs and stares out the window, not saying a word. 

“My…” He starts, still staring out the window. “My parents died when I was 10. My grandfather, August, he’s the one who raised me.”

I stand and gently pad over to him. “I’m so sorry, Max. I didn’t know. I didn’t think before I asked that.”

He glances at me then looks back out the window. Without thinking, and just doing it, I wrap my arms ‘round his waist and lay my head against his chest. He tenses up immediately at my touch.

“What...what are you doing?” He asks.

I tilt my head back to look up at him. “It’s called a hug. It’s supposed to be comforting. I can stop if it makes you too uncomfortable.”

I watch as his facial expression changes with several different emotions before a smile finally settles on his lips.

“Nah. It’s not too uncomfortable. I’m just not used to this.” He says after a few moments. 

“This?” I ask.

He nods. “Hugs. I can’t even remember the last time I had one.”

I tighten my arms ‘round him and lay my head back on his chest. I feel his arms slowly make their way ‘round me, loosely holding me close, and I smile. 

“Whenever you want one, just come to me and I’ll happily give you one.” I say. “I’m not really much of a hugger, but with you, it just feels right, so you can have a hug whenever.”

“Really?” He asks.

I nod against his chest. “Mmhhmm.”

“Thanks...but...what ‘bout...the love of your life? Is he ok with you giving random men hugs?”

I giggle and look up at him. “You’re not a random man, but yes. He’d be ok with me giving you hugs. He loves them, so he’ll probably try and give you one too.”

“Um…” He hesitates, slowly dropping his arms. “I dunno how I feel ‘bout your man giving me hugs.”

I giggle. “You’ll change your mind when you meet him.”

“I dunno.”

“I do! Stay here. I’ll bring him out to you.”

“Ummm…”

I giggle and lean up to kiss his cheek. “Just wait here.”

He swallows deeply, making his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Ok.”

“Good boy.”

I giggle and leave him in the living as I walk into the other room where I know my son is. Reaching into the playpen, I scoop him up, making him giggle. I heard him cooing to himself a few moments ago, so that’s how I knew he was awake. I kiss his cheeks and gently tap his tummy twice. He makes a happy noise and snuggles to me.

I smile and hold him close as I walk back out to the living room. Max is looking out the window again, this time, though, he’s got his arms wrapped ‘round his torso, almost like he’s giving himself a hug. I giggle softly and make my way over to him.

“Max?”

He lifts his head and turns his gaze from the river to me. His eyes widen as he sees my son in my arms. Shock, confusion, and another emotion flash across his face. 

“Who? Who’s that?” He asks.

“Max, this is the love of my life. My son.” I say, grinning from ear to ear.

“Your son? Love of your life?”

I giggle and nod. “Mmhhmm. I adopted him when he was born. I can’t have kids myself, and my ex-fiancé and I had talked ‘bout adopting. So, we decided to do it. Found out that this little guy’s mama was putting him up for adoption before he was even born. Then, just before he was born, my ex-fiancé and I split. I still adopted this little monkey and it’s just been he and I against the world since.”

“But...that man...who was here...was that your former fiancé?”

I giggle and shake my head. “No! That was my oldest younger brother, Chris. He’d been watching Max for me while I got settled in the city. After I moved in here, I called him, and he brought my son out here and helped me get furniture and whatnot. I really wanted you to meet him while he was here...but you kept getting phone calls…”

“Your brother?” 

I smile and nod. “He’s the oldest of my two brothers, and I’m the oldest of all the kids.”

“Oh…”

I giggle. “Yea.”

“Those phone calls...they weren’t actually phone calls.”

I raise a brow. “You mean to tell me you faked ‘em just so you wouldn’t have to come over?”

He looks down, nodding. “You just seemed so happy with him. I thought y’all were together and that the kid was y’all’s. It…” He shakes his head, cutting off the rest of his sentence.

“Max, I wasn’t lying when I told you I was single the first night I spent here. But I also didn’t tell you that there is a guy I like.”

“Oh...well...I don’t wanna meet him…”

I giggle. “Too late. You already have.”

He frowns. “I have?”

Nodding, I grin and take his hand. “C’mon. I’ll show you who he is.”

“I don’t wanna…”

“Tooooo bad, mister.” 

I giggle and lead him to the bathroom, standing him in front of the mirror as I stand next to him, holding my son.

“I thought you were showing me someone I don’t wanna see.” He says, his voice quiet.

“I am. Tell me who you see.” I say, grinning.

“Me. I see me, you, and your son.” 

“Exactly. So, you see the guy I have a crush on.”

“Isn’t that a little weird to have a crush on your son?”

I giggle. “Yea. So, it’s a good thing he’s not who I have crush on.”

His brows furrow in confusion and I giggle and gently turn him to face me.

“You’re adorable.” I say.

“How?” He asks, confused even more. 

“You’re just not getting it, are you?”

He shakes his head. “No?”

“Max, you’re the guy I like.”

“Me?”

Nodding, I smile. “You.”

I watch as he gets the cutest, dimpled smile on his face, making me giggle more. He blushes and ducks his head down for a moment before looking at me.

“You really like me?” He asks, softly.

“Mmhhmm. I do. I just thought you didn’t like me since you kept ignoring me.” I say.

“I was just trying to distance myself...I thought you were with that guy, who’s actually your brother...I thought he was your ex-fiancé that you’d mentioned that first night...that you’d taken him back.”

I giggle. “Oh, Max. My ex-fiancé was a woman. Who cheated on me with a man. In our own bed.”

His eyes widen. “You were with a girl? But...you like me?”

“I’m what you’d call bisexual. I play for both teams. I like guys and girls.”

“Oh!” He lets out a soft chuckle. “So...what’s this mean? For us?”

I giggle. “It means, that I’d like to date you. If you want that.”

He grins, making his dimples show more. “I’d...I’d like that.”

“Me too! We just have to get someone’s permission first.”

“Permission? From?”

I smile and turn my son ‘round to face him. “Max here has to approve first. I have to think of him now, especially when it comes to relationships.”

Max nods and looks at my son, then back at me. “Wait. His name’s Max?”

I smile. “Maxwell Dean Sullivan. Sometimes, though, I’ll call him Deaf.” (Deef.)

“Why?”

“Oh. He’s deaf.”

“Oh!”

I smile and nod then look down at my son as he wiggles in my arms, reaching out for Max. I giggle and gently hold him out, waiting for him to take him. Max gently, and somewhat nervously, takes my little boy, and cradles him.

“Awww! You’re like a pro!” I grin.

“I’m not gonna lie. I’m scared shitless. He’s so small.” He whispers.

I giggle. “You’re also really big. Max and I are both small compared to you. And you help me close and gently.”

This gets a soft chuckle from my landlord and he visibly relaxes, shifting Max so he’s a little more comfortable. My son giggles and reaches up, patting Max’s cheeks, squealing at the feeling of the short beard tickling his tiny palms. I smile and lean against the mirror, watching them. 

“I think Deaf likes you.” I say.

“Yea? You really think so?” Max looks up and he visibly tenses as he soon as he sees me leaning against the mirror. “Don’t lean against that. Please.”

I raise a brow, but step away from the mirror. “Why not?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t, Max. It seems like a sturdy mirror. Plus, the wall behind it keeps it up.”

He lowers his gaze and hands my son back to me, much to my son’s protests and my own confusion. 

“I...I should go...just please don’t lean against the mirror.” Max says quietly and turns to leave.

I reach a hand out and curl my fingers ‘round his upper arm. 

“Hey. Stop. You don’t have to go.” I say.

He nods. “I do. There’s stuff you don’t know ‘bout me...I’m not a good man…”

I raise a brow. “Max. Aside from ignoring me for the last several weeks, we’ve still been good to me. You are a good man. I know you are.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but can’t help.”

A thought hits me and I look up at him. “You mean the holes in the walls? That allows someone to peep through into my apartment?”

His face pales and I get my answer. I reach up and cup his cheek. 

“Max. It’s ok. I saw him when I was leading you back to my place to fix your wrist. The walls...they’re your safe place, aren’t they?” I ask, softly.

“It’s quiet in there. I like the silence.” He mumbles, closing his eyes. “I can watch...and it calms me.”

“Have you watched me?”

He swallows deeply. “I tried not to...but I…”

“Shhh. It’s ok, Max. I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I’m not. Some might think it’s creepy, but in a way, it’s like you’re watching over, protecting me. Me and Deaf.”

“I...I didn’t think of that.”

I smile and tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear. “It helps you stay calm, watching me?”

He nods. “I can’t hear the voices…”

“What voices?”

“The ones telling me…” He shudders.

“Breathe, Max. It’s ok. What do they tell you?”

“That I’m a coward. A pervert. A creep.” 

His reply is so quiet I almost don’t hear it. But I do. I place my palm back against his cheek.

“Is that why you bit your wrist earlier?” I ask softly.

He nods. “To make them shut up.”

“Well, you don’t have to do it alone anymore, ok? I’ll tell those voices to shut up too.”

He opens his eyes and looks at me, unsure. 

“I will.” I assure him.

“But...why?” His child-like voice breaks my heart.

“Because, they’re lying to you, Max. The things they tell you, they’re not true. You’re not a creep. Not a pervert. And you are definitely not a coward.”

“But...I am.”

“No, Max. You’re not. You’re not any of those. You’re just a man who needs someone to show him what it’s like to be loved. You didn’t have a good childhood. Losing your parents, and having your grandfather raise you. But you survived. You grew up. You coped with everything thrown your way in the ways that you knew how. You’re a survivor, Max. And, that alone makes you the furthest thing from being a creep and a coward. As for being a pervert, I don’t think you’re that either.”

He doesn’t say a word, but he leans into my touch more.

“How do you know?” He asks after a few minutes.

“I know, because I can tell you’re not. Believe me, I grew up ‘round ‘nough perverts to know that’s not you. You’re nothing like them. That’s how I know.” I whisper.

“You still like me?” He lifts his eyes to meet mine.

“I do, Max. And, I’m gonna show you what it’s like to be loved. We’ll get there. And Deaf here, this little boy in my arms, he’ll show you too. I told you he’d love you when he met you.”

“He does?”

I smile and nod. “He doesn’t reach out to just anyone. It took him months just to go to my brother. But it took him maybe 5 minutes to go to you. And, kids are usually really good judges of character. Just like dogs. So, I can assure you he doesn’t think you’re anything like what the voices tell you.”

He nods slowly and looks down at the little boy in my arms. 

“He is cute.” He mumbles.

I giggle. “Damn right he is! He’s my son.”

Max chuckles softly. “That’s true. But...you’re not cute.”

I raise a brow and look at him. “That’s not exactly the best thing to say to your new girlfriend.”

He grins. “Girlfriend? I like the sound of that...but you’re not cute. You’re beautiful.”

I blush. “So are you. Ain’t you can’t argue with me. The girlfriend’s always right.”

He laughs softly. “Is that so?”

“Mmhhmm! Now. I believe there’s a little boy who wants to be held by you.”

He smiles and kisses my palm before standing up straight and gently taking Max from my arms, holding him close. 

“As for the mirror, Max. We’ll just board up the other side.” I say, getting the picture, from his reaction, that it’s one of those mirrors like police station interrogation rooms have. “And, you won’t have to go back into the tunnels anymore. You have me and Max now. We’ll be here for you.”

He swallows deeply and nods. “Promise?”

“I promise promise, Max. But, know that if you ever cheat on me, I’ll cut your dick and balls off.”

His eyes widen as he nods. “I...I wouldn’t do that to you.” 

I smile. “Good. And I wouldn’t do it to you either.”

He lets out a breath of relief. “So...does this mean...that I have a family?”

I smile. “Yes, Max. It does. We’re your family now, and you’re our family.”

[butdidmarlenacomebackhome]

things to do in quarantine:

it's the second week of quarantine in my country and I came up with a list of things I enjoy doing to pass time. I know how hard having no contact whatsoever with the outside world can be, above all for those who struggle with mental health, like me, so I really hope this list can be helpful! feel free to repost and add any other activity you think up ✨

catch up with TV shows, movies & books - these may be the most basic activities that come to mind but one should never underestimate the value of an entertaining TV show or a good book. if you had any titles you wanted to catch up to, now it's a good time as any to! time passes more quickly when you focus on fictional storylines

study or read about topics which interest you - if you have a penchant for astrology, witchcraft, science, psychology, history or any other topic you find interesting, doing some online research may help you expand your knowledge. you can learn to interpret the planetary positions of your signs or how to read the body language, it's up to you! learning a new language or how to draw are other valid options which can take quite a lot of time to master, perfect when you have little to do. YouTube videos do the trick too if you easily bore of reading

find documentaries or docu-series on Netflix or YouTube - there are a lot of interesting documentaries on both platforms, I can definitely recommend watching Buzzfeed Unsolved, Ghost Adventures, Into the Inferno, A plastic ocean, Father Amorth and The Devil, Our planet or any BBC documentary. if you enjoy mystery you can also watch the YT channel Real Story and Timeline - World History Documentaries

spend time on self-care - try out new DIY recipes for your skin and your hair with everyday products you can find at home [ always search for reviews as to not endanger your skin with harsh treatments and verify the reliability of the recipes before trying them out ]. have a long relaxing bath with soaps, bath bombs or parfumed essential oils: rose, chamomile and lavender work wonders for the skin. put on nail polish and if you like make-up you can practice your skills and create new looks! take naps!!! resting is very important and, as long as you use an alarm clock as not to sleep too much (which may bring headaches or a general negative disposition), you can definitely enjoy a nice afternoon nap

cook and bake - you can make pancakes or biscuits, try out new online recipes and enjoy the results after. a nice cup of tea will do nicely with a fresh bake of biscuits or muffins. I'm not big on cooking/baking but a lot of friends of mine find it relaxing and productive, so I decided it was worth mentioning

organize your work-out schedule - fitness apps help a lot when you want to fix yourself a work-out schedule and exercising in general definitely works both to keep you busy and to boost your health. the sedentary life of quarantine can make us lazier but spending even only half an hour exercising can be pretty refreshing. if you don't like the usual gym exercises, yoga is a valid alternative. dancing is a nice alternative and music in general can motivate you to move and excersize your body. [ don't strain yourself too much, work slowly to reach your goals and follow tutorials as not to risk wrongly performing exercises and positions ]

keep a journal or write anything that comes to mind down - writing is really helpful as it stimulates our mind and keeps our thought process active. watching a movie can become a passive past-time but writing down what you liked and what you didn't about it makes for a wonderful way to reflect and redescover yourself. journals of any kind may be easily updated any time of the day, you can also make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye (that way you spend more time and can keep occupied for longer). dream journals or poetry are some options too, just like lists. Sei Shonagon, a Japanese writer, made lists of things she loved, things she despised, things that would be perfect for a painting, and so forth: it can be quite fun to compile lists about various themes

watch the world around you from your window and admire the scenery - sometimes we forget how much beauty this world holds, from urban sceneries to natural landscapes, it's always a wonderful idea to spend time observing our environment. take notes, jottle down what you appreciate about your view, which emotions it evokes or simply silently admire the landscape and take time to breathe in and out. keeping busy is nice but taking time to have a break is just as important as life can be pretty overwhelming

Skype your friends, keep in touch - this may be the most mainstream thing to do but spending quality time with friends always manages to cheer me up, even if it's through a screen. you can stream games or simply have a chat, whatever you prefer. seeing them may be more uplifting than simply texting, so be sure to set up a time when you're all free to video call them! check up on your online friends too!

do some gardening, your plants will thank you - if you have any plants, gardening is a valid pastime too. water your plants, give them names if you haven't already, talk to them if you like (pls talk to them NICELY do not make an example out of Crowley)

[ don't forget to regularly drink water and wash your hands. go out only if it's strictly necessary, avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes if you do. social distancing is important, for you and for the people you hold dear, respect the 1m distance! coronavirus is NOT a simple flu - please, please stay home, stay safe ]

[kate-sinclaire]

moving on (Levi x mc)

Book:
 Mother of the Year Pairing: 
(Levi x mc) (Jessica Day) Rating:
 Mature; ends with a sex scene.

TAGS: @furiouscloddonutpeanut

Summary: Jessica Day goes to clean up yet another mess left by her ex-husband after the confrontation between him and Levi. I won’t say more than that because that would be spoiling. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: All characters minus my own belong to Pixelberry Studios. Jessica Day is primarily my own character, but she also has ties to PB as well. The image does not belong to me, it was found here.

Author’s Note: This takes place in Chapter 5 after the Levi and Guy confrontation. It literally broke my heart that MC didn’t stand up for him further or go talk to him afterward. So, here it is. I’m going to be making this a series, so the prequel to this chapter will be written next. Of course, this isn’t a canon scene, and the other ones that I’ll be writing likely won’t be, either.

--

Jessica stared at her ex-husband with what could only be described as pure hate. “What?” he asked, glancing at his girlfriend for support. She didn’t give it, but rather looked at Jessica with a soft amount of sympathy (which was almost worse).

“That wasn’t nice, Dad,” Zoey chimed in, smoothing out her dress self-consciously. “Levi is cool. He taught us how to make Ruga-aruga-roogo-” she paused and took in a breath. “He taught us how to make his grandma’s cookies. And he calls me Rocket.” Jessica smiled proudly, pulling her daughter in a gentle side hug.

A flicker of rage darted across his features. “You let him near my daughter?”

“How about you go inside and work on your homework?” Jessica suggested coldly, flashbacks of all the angry arguments and screaming matches replaying vividly in the back of her mind.

Zoey nodded in understanding and disappeared behind the door. Jessica’s eyes flashed to Guy. “You’ve got some nerve showing up after all this time and lecturing me on parenting,” she snapped, closing the distance between them.

“Jessica-”

“No, you are not going to interrupt me,” her finger jabbed at his chest, the anger of the past four years bubbling to the surface. “And you are not going to regard Zoey as your daughter now when you were developing a fucking food app while she was crying herself to sleep every night wondering what she did wrong for her daddy to leave her.”

“You are being-”

“I told you not to interrupt me,” she practically growled, staring directly into those emotionless eyes; the same eyes that had so obviously enjoyed toying with her and beating down her confidence day after day over a span of years. The same ones that watched as Zoey attached herself to his leg, begging him to stay. “You may have been able to control me when we were together, but you sure as hell don’t get to control me now. I will see who I want when I want however I want, especially when they make my daughter happy. Is that clear?”

“You need to-”

“Is. That. Clear?” She was fuming, her hands were shaking, and she was sure that her face was a tomato red, but she didn’t care. Part of her wanted to murder him right here in this hallway, but then she’d go to prison. Mom’s don’t have rights in prison.

“Crystal,” he seethed.

“Good, now get out,” she ordered, but not before looking at Faye and plastering on a friendly smile. “It was lovely to meet you.”

“You too,” she repeated, clearly shocked and a little afraid. “Come on, sweetie...let’s go...” Watching as they walked away, Jessica slowly opened the door from behind her and slid herself in, her heart pounding hard against her chest.

She tapped on Zoey’s shut bedroom door and let herself in. She was doing homework. Of course, she was. “Hi pretty girl,” she murmured, leaning on the

Zoey’s eyes flashed over, and she offered a nervous smile. “Are you mad at me?”

“What?” Jessica sat down on the edge of Zoey’s bed and rested her hand on her knee. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I was happy that Daddy came back,” she replied, setting her textbook aside. Guilt welled up in Jessica’s chest.

“Sweetheart, I know you love your Dad. And I know you love me. Just because you love both of us doesn’t mean you love me any less, does it?” Zoey shook her head and swiveled beside her, wrapping her arms around her mom’s waist.

“I just don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“You didn’t,” Jessica promised. “I will never ever be mad at you for loving your father. Just because I’m angry with him doesn’t mean that I expect you to feel the same way.”

“I love you, Mama.”

“I know you do, and I love you back,” she smiled, brushing a strand of Zoey’s hair out from her eyes. “Now, you finish your homework and treat yourself to a cupcake when you’re done. I’m going to have Alma come over so I can see if Levi’s okay.”

“Okay,” she agreed. “Daddy was really mean to him.”

At least they agreed on that. “Yes, he was. I’ll be back soon, okay?” After letting Alma in and thanking her profusely, Jessica knocked on Levi’s door. It took a minute before the guitar music stopped, and the mechanisms of the door began to shift.

“Hey,” Jessica offered weakly.

“You didn’t have to check up on me,” he sighed, clearly embarrassed with the situation. “I’m fine.”

“Maybe I didn’t come to check up on you,” she countered with a smirk. He raised an eyebrow. “What? Maybe I came to fix your oven this time.”

“Do you even know how to do that?” he chuckled, the light coming back into his brown eyes.

“Ah, you got me,” she grinned. “Can I come in?”

“It’s a mess,” he warned but stepped aside anyway. “Do you want anything? Coffee? Tea? Uh...” he paused, checking a relatively empty cupboard. “Whiskey?”

“Yes, that. So much that,” she replied, taking a seat on a barstool. He nodded and slid over a glass for her and then pulled out one for himself. She winced as she allowed the fiery liquid to coat her throat. “I heard you playing.”

“Yeah? I’m sorry,” he scoffed.

“Don’t do that,” she murmured. His eyes gazed behind her, the light gone again. She placed a hand over his, and he looked over, surprised. “Don’t let that walking talking douchebag get to you. He’s destroyed way too much confidence in his life already.”

“Thanks, Day,” he replied, running his hand through his hair.

“Zoey stuck up for you, you know,” Jessica mentioned. His expression softened as a smile tempted his lips. “Said that you’re real cool.” Aaaand there it was. It sent butterflies in her stomach, something she hadn’t felt in years.

“I mean, I am pretty cool,” he laughed, taking another sip of his drink. “She’s a sweet kid. Nothing like her dad.”

“I like to think she takes after me,” she winked, prompting another smile.

“I think that seems the most likely,” he agreed, his eyes gazing into hers before glancing down at their still entwined hands. Every logical part of her told her to pull back, to back off, but she held herself there and watched as Levi ran the back of his thumb over her knuckles. “So, you heard me play.”

“I heard you play,” she confirmed, her eyes watching as he made his way from behind the kitchen counter to only inches away, his hand still holding hers.

“It sounds a hell of a lot better when there isn’t a wall between you and the guitar,” he murmured, his eyes glancing from Jessica to the bedroom. Her heart raced at the subtextual offer and she bit down on her bottom lip in a vain attempt to contain herself.

“Then what are you waiting for?” she whispered, allowing him to wrap her arms around his neck as he lifted her up from the stool and pressed her thighs to his waist. For a moment they just breathed each other in, taking in each other’s gazes and the heat of their emotions.

And then he kissed her. Hard.

His tongue explored and sought, and his spare hand ran under her shirt, feeling, and molding. She let out a moan as he pinned her to the wall, his lips tracing her neck urgently and passionately. She felt him harden underneath her as his hand moved down her abdomen.

“Bedroom,” she whispered. “Please.”

He chuckled a little and obeyed, sweeping the pamphlets of music and his...guitar? Did he just toss his guitar on the ground? Before she could inquire further, he slid off her underwear and eagerly made his way up her thighs, kissing and sucking. She let out another moan, guiding his head as he worshipped her.

“L-Levi,” she stammered, kissing him aggressively as he moved to her lips. Somehow her dress and everything else was off, and she was on top, taking off his shirt and fumbling with the buckle of his pants.

“Oh Jessica,” he groaned, flipping over and quickly putting on a condom. “You’re so beautiful, oh my God.”

“More,” she begged, unable to control herself as the pleasure built up. Her hands roamed his ab muscles, and he shuddered. “Please.”

“Jessica,” he purred as he filled her, running his tongue along her neck. She shook, her nails scraping his back which only sent him over the edge. “God, yes.”

“Levi,” she murmured/whimpered.

--

When it was all said and done, Jessica lay wrapped in Levi's warm embrace. She glanced up at him, and he smiled sleepily as he ran his fingers up and down her arm. "That was..."

"Amazing," he finished, kissing the top of her head. "It was amazing."

"It was," she agreed. "Didn't hear much guitar playing though."

He chuckled. "Maybe another time."

"I'd like that," she replied, feeling at peace for the first time in a long time.

"Me too.”

[theonyxpath]

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate art by Yihyoung Li

Hello, everyone! This is Dixie doing the Monday Meeting notes this week, so expect 89% fewer puns. We had a pretty short meeting this week, and focused mainly on what we and our freelancers are doing during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. As far as our day jobs go here at Onyx Path, it’s business as usual since we work from home, but we know that’s not the case for everyone. We have freelancers who work in healthcare, some who are immunocompromised or otherwise susceptible, and then others who have to take care of older family members or small children as cancellations continue.

In addition to anyone directly impacted by the outbreak, there’s also the spate of conventions being cancelled, and many people have had to postpone/cancel trips and events. this is very much still a developing situation, and we encourage our freelancers and fans to take measures to keep themselves safe and healthy. While some people may think, “Oh, this will mean everyone can get a lot of their freelance work done while they’re self-isolating!” that’s not always going to be the case (childcare, housemates all being home, etc.) but we’re working with our freelancers as best we can.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate art by Gunship Revolution

The Onyx Pathcast hosts in particular would like to apologize if anyone thought we were making light of the COVID-19 outbreak in last week’s episode. I assure you, everyone here is taking it seriously.

That said, self-isolation can be difficult if you’re used to being around people, including gathering for tabletop games, so our friends at Astral Virtual TableTop are giving everyone their paid features for free during this time! There’s a post about it here: https://ift.tt/2TTFS5O, but your account should already have the features unlocked.

That’s all well and good, you might say, but I don’t have any new games to try out! Well, we’ve got you covered on that front, too. Today, you can pick up V20 Dark Ages for free at DriveThruRPG, and we’re putting up a new free corebook every day this week. They’re only up for one day each folks, so make sure you grab the ones you want!

You can get V20 Dark ages here today: https://ift.tt/2QjDtiw

Tuesday we’ll be offering the Werewolf 20 core here: https://ift.tt/38RNqdL

Wednesday is Mage 20: https://ift.tt/2IU0dBE

Thursday is Changeling 20: https://ift.tt/3b2fJr8

And we’re wrapping up the week by descending into the Underworld with Wraith 20: https://ift.tt/2vwtfEA

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate art by Gong Studios

In other news, the Legendlore Kickstarter is ongoing, and we’re close to halfway funded! I, personally, am a big fan of the setting. As Ian A. A. Watson put it on Twitter:

Do you like El-Hazard, Alice in Wonderland, Labyrinth, Wizard of Oz, Chronicles of Narnia, Neverending Story, Magic Kingdom of Landover, Apprentice Adept, Castle Perilous, or the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon?

@VonAether

If so, this book is for you. Check it out and read manuscript updates here: https://ift.tt/2x03Pzp

Another cool thing you can do while you’re home is to attend Gehenna Gaming‘s VirtualHorror Con April 4-6. From the website:

VirtualHorror Con is a two-day virtual horror tabletop RPG convention that can be experienced on any screen no matter where you are. Many of your favorite events and conventions have been canceled, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the convention experience. This event will give fans and players the opportunity to connect with the game developers, artists, and publishers they love. No lines. Safe social distancing. Horror-themed actual play streams, live panels, and digital tabletop RPG one-shot sessions running the whole time!

All ticket and raffle sales will go to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization to support the development of vaccines, tests, and treatments for the coronavirus pandemic.”

For more information, check out https://ift.tt/2TTwcbC

There isn’t much else that came out of our meeting, as people are just buckling down to get some work done and continue monitoring the situation. We’re still working on the Dragon-Blooded surprise and will have that out to backers as soon as we can! So stay safe, wash your hands, and as always…

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

As noted above, Legendlore is in its first week of Kickstarter! Please go check it out; it’s a truly awesome book, compatible with the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game!

Onyx Path Media!

This week, we’re talking Scarred Lands with Travis Legge!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

Despite everything in the world right now, or maybe because of it, we’ve got a massive number of shows for you on Twitch this week. Please tune in for an enjoyable distraction! We’re going to have three games of V5, as well as Chronicles of Darkness, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, Scarred Lands, and a Dark Eras Werewolf: The Forsaken chronicle! 

This week sees the finale of Blood City as well as the finale of Uptown Shadows. I would like to give major recognition to both streams for their fantastic work in bringing our games out to the audience. Thank you! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed! (Another great idea for social distancing!)

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/v9Wo38rl5-Y

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/hxSbemynBLs

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/gKAm-zGxTW4

Even more Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/QDSIS_ClFbE

Pugmire: Paws & Claws: https://youtu.be/Ddm-cl48OR0

And even more Changeling: The Lost: https://youtu.be/dqM0ZdeS88s

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

The Story Told RPG Podcast reaches the penultimate episode of their excellent Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition chronicle right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-4-passenger

And if you missed it, here’s The Story Told’s review of Trinity Continuum: Aeon http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-40-trinity-continuum-on-overview

Red Moon Roleplaying’s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle continues on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts might be found! https://youtu.be/PDPZyy-ZHNw

More new Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans out there:

Episode 88: Arms and Armor – Wyrd has a terrible premonition about the strike on the vampire Prince. The cabal helps ready Songbird when she is called to action by the Adamantine Arrow.  https://youtu.be/WPHjGDGwRmQ

Episode 89: Tactical Yeet – Songbird enters the vampire Prince’s haven with a small team of Adamantine Arrows while the rest of the cabal scrys on the proceedings. Things don’t go according to plan, in several ways.https://youtu.be/r5zuU4UglYs

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

Update: the devs are working on the updates for the roller in both Android and iOS; here is the rundown from them:

1) Redo the UI for system for Android. It will look the same as the current design. My goal is to have something ready by Saturday to send out to the Facebook users, asking them if this fixes the issues. This will be a beta type thing. This will break several of the fancy dice.

2) If the above worked out and the android users give all the clear, we’ll redo the graphics system to fix the fancy dice that got broken. We’ll do another Android beta through Facebook. This might take up to two weeks, as my schedule allows.

3) If everything worked well, we’ll release to Android for real at that point.

4) Port all of the existing stuff to iOS and release on that.

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This week, Geist: The Sin-Eaters Second Edition will be available on Studio2, IPR, and DriveThruRPG! Yay!

Conventions!

Though it’s subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s our current list of upcoming conventions:

UKGames Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/

Tabletop Scotland: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

(We know why you’re here.

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Scarred Lands – RUST (working title)

TC Aeon – Under Alien Suns

TC Aeon – Mission Statements

TC Aberrant – Novas Worldwide

Exalted 3rd – Adversaries of the Righteous

Exalted – Exalted: Essence Edition

Deviant the Renegades – The Clades Companion

Deviant the Renegades – The Devoted Companion

Scion – Saints and Monsters

Mage: The Ascension – Rich Bastard’s Guide to Magick

Scion – Wild Hunt

Redlines

Exalted 3rd – Dragon-Blooded Novella 2 (Roy)

TC Adventure – Adventure!

Exalted 3rd – Hundred Devils Night Parade

Mummy: The Curse – The Book of Lasting Death

Chronicles of Darkness – Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters

TC Aberrant – N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment

Second Draft

Exalted 3rd – Exigents

Exalted 3rd – Crucible of Legends

Exalted – Many-Faced Strangers (Lunars Companion)

Changeling: The Lost – Kith and Kin

They Came From – They Came from Beyond the Grave!

Trinity Continuum – Assassins

Development

Exalted 3rd – Heirs to the Shogunate

TC Aberrant – Aberrant Reference Screen

Exalted 3rd – Across the Eight Directions

Chronicles of Darkness – The Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks

Mage the Ascension – Victorian Mage

Manuscript Approval

Scion – Scion: Dragon

Scion – Masks of the Mythos

Scion – Scion: Demigod

Post-Approval Development

Scion: Origin and Hero LARP

Geist the Sin-Eaters: One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart

Editing

Legendlore – Legendlore  

Realms of Pugmire – Pirates of Pugmire additional adventure

TC Aeon – Terra Firma

Exalted – Lunars Novella (Rosenberg)

Realms of Pugmire – Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire  

They Came From – Tales of Aquatic Terror

Mummy: The Curse – Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition  

Scion – Titanomachy

Chronicles of Darkness – Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle  

Chronicles of Darkness – Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart

TC Aberrant – Aberrant Jumpstart

Trinity Continuum – Jumpstart

Post-Editing Development

Hunter: The Vigil – Hunter: The Vigil 2e

World of Darkness – Ghost Hunters

Deviant: The Renegades – Deviant: The Renegades

TCfBtS! – Monsters of the Deep

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (TCfBtS!)

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Scion Titanomachy

Tales of Aquatic Terror 

TC Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted

V5 Let the Streets Run Red

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

WoD Ghost Hunters – Getting KS artwork going

Aberrant

Pugmire Adventure 

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2 – ADing that out post Aberrant AD

Deviant

Legendlore – Kickstarter in progress

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Contracting

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet

Contagion Chronicle

Vigil Watch 

Scion Companion – Artwork in progress.

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart 

Pirates of Pugmire 

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Inputting proofing comments

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate

At Press

Ex 3 The Silence of Our Ancestors (Huggins Novella)

TC Distant Worlds

Scion Mythical Denizens

Night Horrors : Nameless and Accursed – Errata gathering

Dark Eras 2 – Errata with Aileen

VtR Spilled Blood – Josh wrapping up inputting changes and tweaking layout to account for any shift in the text

Geist 2e – Out this week

Dystopia Rising: Evolution

DR:E Screen & Booklet

DR:E Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Geist 2e Screen

Memento Mori

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Indexing

Chicago Folios – Awaiting PoD proof

Geist 2e Anthology – Errata gathering

C:tL 2e Oak, Ash, & Thorn – Errata gathering

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was the Ides of March and tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day! Please celebrate either one responsibly and while practicing safe social distancing. Also, today is my stepmom’s birthday! I don’t usually get to do shout-outs on the blog, but since I’ve taken over today I’m indulging myself. Happy Birthday, Laura! Hope you and dad are having a blast (still while practicing safe social distancing).

[elizabethtarington]

The Broken Pieces

Pairing: Male Human x Ace Male Incubus Warning:SFW (Angst, Depression, Mention of Death and Past Abuse) Word Count: 4328 Note: OkCryptid Collab Prompt from @thetravelerwrites. Here’s my humble contribution. I had an idea in my ‘idea book’ for a while and was happy to knock this out as a combo piece. I really wanted to create something like this and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I hope y’all enjoy! Ao3 Version | My Website Version 

“Alright, bud. Your profile is all set up.”

Mason poked his head out from the kitchen to give Jeremy, longtime friend and class of 2011 survivor, a quizzical frown, “What profile?”

Jeremy shook his head at Mason “I’ll give you three guesses. It’s been two years since you broke up with Maria. What kind of profile do you think it is?”

Mason went back to putting popcorn in the microwave, frowning slightly at the rotating bag of kernels. While it popped, he leaned against the doorway and watched Jeremy. The man with his furrowed brow was finger deep in some dating app as he swiped his finger across the screen. Mason knew his friend meant well, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for this kind of thing.

“I’m not sure the dating scene is my thing. It’s been the same song and dance. I meet some gal or guy and I end up dating them and then they hurt me and leave a pile of ash behind—I’m just not interested.”

“I totally respect that you don’t want to date, but you should at least get out there. Maybe meet new people.”

Mason sighed, “Is this because you’re leaving next month and you’re worried about me?”

Glancing up from the phone Jeremy met Mason’s gaze, “Can you blame me? You don’t really have anyone else, Mason. Maria kind of made sure of that.”

Mason was the first to break eye contact as pain flared up in his chest. Maria. Everything about her still caused bitterness and regret to burn in his veins and bile to well up in his throat. What had been so fun in the beginning had become toxic and abusive. A dull throb started in his head as he began thinking about it.

“That she did.”

There was a silence between the two friends. An understanding of the damage combined with a quiet desperation to fix it.

“I’m not going to pressure you, Mason—but I can’t help but worry that you’re going to disappear into yourself.”

Mason was worried too. He was worried that he was never going to be able to connect with a person ever again and that Jeremy really was his last and only friend. It was enough to make Mason outstretch his hand for his phone.

“Alright, explain this thing to me.”

A hopeful grin spread across Jeremy’s face as he shot up from the couch and practically danced into the kitchen beside Mason. Glancing away from the popcorn, Mason raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the dating app.

“OkCryptid? Seriously, dude?”

“What? You never thought about going on a date with a different creature? Are you speciesist?” Jeremy teased, playfully cocking his hand onto his hip.

“That’s not it, I guess I just never really thought about dating someone that wasn’t a human.”

“Well, time to get your feet wet my friend, maybe literally.”

Mason inwardly winced at his friends over-exuberance as he began showing Mason how to use the app. It seemed easy enough to navigate, but Mason didn’t want to look at it any longer once the microwave alerted him that the popcorn was ready. The monster dating app was definitely a far second to horrible movie night and snacks.

After the movie, Jeremy went home and Mason began flipping through profiles on the app and cringed repeatedly. Mason himself wouldn’t be bragging about his profile. Jeremy had chosen a picture he had snapped while Mason was driving. But the worst part about it was what Jeremy had written on his behalf. While the self-summary was spot on, Mason was a florist that liked to garden in his spare time, or play video games and movie nights, it was how Jeremy had made him sound like a quirky weirdo.

I love plants so much that I can tell you what each individual flower means and how to arrange them in a perfect bouquet for when I meet your parents.

“Jeremy, you asshole,” Mason muttered as he edited his description, removing that line completely.

He tweaked it seven times and reread it only to find he’d gone from random freak to completely uninteresting. If he were trying to find someone to date and they had this profile description it would be a pass for Mason. With that thought, Mason got ready for bed, fighting the feeling of oncoming depression and the stinging sensation of tears. As his head hit the pillow he hoped sleep would give him a moment of peace.

For three weeks, the app stayed on Mason’s phone, forgotten until a notification beeped while Mason was at work. He almost ignored it as he began trimming up some calla lilies for a wedding bouquet that needed to be finished by the end of the week.

“You got pinged, Mason.” Came a small voice from a pot of soil on Mason’s workbench.

Mason glanced at the alraune, Delpha. She was a small floral creature, that could easily be mistaken for a sunflower with a small face. She had come into his store, nearly getting stepped on in the process, to ask for a job. It had been a couple of years since then, but Mason had accommodated her in many ways so that she could walk from table to table, helping the plants grow and stay healthy with her magic.

Now she was helping him grow a new kind of flower hybrid that would be special to only his store. She was carefully placing seeds into the soil with her as sparkling green magic spread from her leafy hands, “I guess there’s no harm in checking it.”

Swiping the phone on, Mason stared down at the app’s notification with surprise. Someone had messaged him. Not just any someone, an incubus someone.

“What is it, Mason?”

A sudden onset of dry mouth caused Mason to struggle as he opened the app to look at the message and the incubus in question, “It’s a message from someone on the dating app my friend installed.”

“Oh? Which app? I’m partial to Monstr myself. I once went on a date with a mandrake root and you would not believe the night we had together.”  Delpha jumped out of the pot, scattering dirt across the table as she moved to look at Mason’s phone. “Ohh! OkCryptid! Mason, I didn’t know you swung our way, towards us otherworldly creatures.”

“I-uh, I’ve always thought about it but then I met Maria and—”

Mason cut himself off, he didn’t want to discuss personal stuff with Delpha. Not about Maria at least. This incubus, however, was a different story.

His name was Vylixar but went by Vyl. He looked like a Vyl, Mason decided looking at the imposing creature. Mason had met several incubi and succubi over the years and their appearances weren’t exactly what most humans would consider the epitome of beauty. They often had scale-like skin with little horns protruding from their shoulders and elbows, but they came in a variety of colors. Vyl was a deep mauve with large spikes. His horns on his head looked sharp and pointed, curling from his head down to his pointed ears. In his profile picture was him revealing sharp fangs with what Mason assumed was a friendly smile on his short snout.

Mason turned the phone so Delpha could see, “What do you think?”

“Oh, he looks big and strong, although you might want to be careful, incubi often like to feast on energy.”

“I’ve heard of it, but never really educated myself on it.”  Mason pulled his phone back to look at what Vyl had messaged. “Is it sexual energy? I don’t really have any of that right now.”

“It can be. I’ve heard that it feels good for humans when they feast on you. It can get addictive.”

It had been a while since Mason had felt good in any respects. Every day felt like he was just struggling to hold on to what little he had left. Maybe this is a risk he should take.

Quickly glancing over the text, Mason wrote back his response, double and triple checking his words trying to not sound like an idiot. He hesitated to hit the send button but finally pressed send after rereading his message one more time. After he did so he put his phone down, anxiously waiting to hear back as he went back to preparing the wedding bouquet.

Another notification made Mason’s phone beep as he was about to wrap and pin the ribbon onto the bouquet.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Mason could feel his palms start to sweat, but his reply was instant ‘Yes’. ‘Vyl is typing’ quickly turned into another message back asking if tonight would work for him. Mason was astonished at how much Vyl wanted to meet him. Despite himself, Mason was getting excited, the sooner he met Vyl, the better.

He messaged back that he was available and no sooner had he sent the message did Vyl respond with a date and time. Confusion at the location made Mason raise his eyebrow. It was a bakery just down the street from where Mason worked, he had even been there to help with a cake order that required several rose heads that a bride had specifically wanted. Had Mason already met Vyl before? He didn’t recognize him at all.

After work was finished, Mason headed home to clean himself up a bit and put on a button up shirt that he always liked. Maria hated it. It was blue plaid that made Mason look like a lanky roadie is what she had said, usually wrinkling her nose in disgust. She would then suggest a plain and professional button-up shirt.

“Fuck her,” Mason growled, buttoning the shirt up a little more fiercely. “I look good.”

Mason had finished inspecting himself before he was out the door and arrived at the bakery. Vyl had said 7:30 but as Mason stood outside the bakery he frowned up at the closed sign. The bakery had already closed and had been for nearly an hour. Mason was ready to believe that he got tricked when he saw a hulking incubus with large clawed feet walk towards the door.

He unlocked it and smiled, his yellow glowing eyes looked Mason up and down as he opened the door, “Mason?”

“Uh—yeah. That’s me.”

“Hi, please come in.” Vyl moved to the side, keeping the door wide as Mason shuffled into the bakery. “Sorry, I was running a little bit late with the cleanup in the bakery and preparing dinner. I hope you don’t mind.”

Mason glanced back to see Vyl locking up before he walked past him into the back, “Come on back, I’m just starting to finish up cooking.”

Uncertain and a little concerned, Mason gave pause at the situation. Vyl owned the bakery? And was cooking dinner for Mason?

“Uh, Vyl?” Mason asked wandering into the back to see an expansive setup. Several tables were placed throughout the expansive space, where little fairies were sprinkling sugar on cookies while others were turning cakes as they were being decorated with colorful icing and decadent chocolate.

“Don’t mind the sugar plum fairies, they do a lot of the work at night. We won’t be eating down here though, my little flat is just above the shop.”

Mason continued to follow behind, taking one last peek at the fairies and the massive kitchen. It had several silver machines that Mason assumed were for mixing and preparing the pastries and cakes. He also had never seen sugar plum fairies before and was fascinated at how they seemed to really enjoy rolling out fondant together.

Up a set of spiral stairs, Mason finally followed Vyl up to a different floor that had a large red door propped open. The enticing scent of food made Mason’s stomach growl loudly enough that Vyl glanced back and chuckle.

“Feeling hungry?”

“I am, actually.”

“Good, I’m glad you brought your appetite. I should have asked beforehand, but are you allergic to anything?”

“Uh, no. I’ll pretty much eat everything. My friend says my stomach is made out of lead.”

Vyl smirked, “Well, my cooking isn’t atrocious, so hopefully you won’t have to put that theory to the test.”

Vyl opened the door again, ushering Mason forward into the flat. It was spacious and well decorated much to Mason’s surprise. He didn’t know what to expect but he certainly didn’t think Vyl’s place would be so homey. Vinyl records decorated the walls, mixed in was some jazz posters in thick black frames. A flat-screen was bolted into the wall above a small white painted fireplace and sitting across from it was a couch with two other chairs surrounding a glass coffee table.

“Can I get you a glass of wine or maybe a beer?”

“I won’t say no to a beer.” Mason nodded as he took off his shoes before he followed Vyl into the kitchen.

The kitchen was similar to the one in the bakery, stainless steel appliances that were polished and cleaned to a pristine shine like no one had been using them. He watched as Vyl opened the fridge and pulled out a beer and popped the cap off easily before handing it to Mason. With his nerves starting to make him want to bail, Mason gratefully took the beer and took a sip, surprised at how smooth the dark liquor went down.

“Wow, what is this?”

“Ah, that is a St. Bernardus Abt 12. It’s good right?”

“It really is, I don’t think I’ve tasted anything like this before.”

“Well, don’t drink that one down too fast, it’s got a high alcohol content and on an empty stomach that beer will go straight to your head.”

Vyl smiled at his comment as he washed his hands. His hands quickly found their way to a blade as he began to chop some vegetables and throwing them into a large bowl with some leafy greens.

“Can I help with anything?”

“No thank you, I should be fine. But if you don’t mind, I could use the company.”

Mason nodded, “Sure thing.”

Silence had filled the air with only Vyl’s chopping to compensate for it before Mason took one more swig of beer before trying to talk, “So, do you own the bakery? I’ve actually worked with you guys before for that rose cake for a wedding about a year ago.”

“Oh! Are you the gentleman from the flower store down the street?”

“Yes, actually.”

“Well, fancy that. I had no idea. I’m usually in the back downstairs making the cakes.” Vyl stopped as the smile that had appeared, faded quickly. “My late partner used to deal with the customers so you probably saw him.”

Mason’s eyes went wide as he watched the large incubus pause as he threw the remaining vegetables into the bowl before turning to wash the cutting board in the sink.

“Your late partner.” Mason murmured as he tried to remember the person he met. A picture of a young man with long hair tied into a long braid came to mind. He had glasses and a soft kind smile as he had greeted Mason and discussed business with. Lucas. That was his name. “Lucas.”

“Yes. Lucas. My wonderful partner.”

“When did he pass?” Mason asked, carefully watching Vyl as he walked to the oven to check on a large roast.

“It was a year ago—on this day actually. A heart attack of all things. The man was fit as a fiddle, yet his heart had a blockage.” Vyl stared intently at the roast, sticking it with a thermometer, “I hope you don’t mind—it’s just that I really needed someone tonight. I needed to feel like this place was a home again with a cooked meal and with someone to share it with.”

Vyl paused, “I’m sorry if you’re disappointed or you were hoping for something more than just a meal.”

“No. No. Vyl, don’t apologize.” Mason’s brow furrowed, his heart ached for the incubus in front of him. He understood the pain and he understood the need for companionship even if it meant this wasn’t actually a date. Whatever preconceived ideas Mason had about Vyl feeding on him just so he could feel good was gone. “I get it. I really do.”

“You do?”

Those glowing eyes turned to Mason with shock and lingering sadness as tears had been forming in the corner of his eyes.

“I do. Honestly, I’m not ready to date anyways. I got out of a bad relationship two years ago and I haven’t really been the same since. My friend Jeremy put the app on my phone because he’s worried that I don’t have any friends and he’s concerned that I’ll be lonely since he’s leaving in a week.”

Vyl let out a small breath of relief, “Lucas would have done the same which is the only reason I installed the app myself. I can hear him in the back of my mind, pushing me to move on, but it’s hard. Even harder is to find someone who would want to date me anyway.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I’m-uh, not like other incubi. I don’t really do the sex thing. Ever. I just don’t have an interest in it, I’d much rather have a companion who doesn’t mind snuggling on the couch to watch some movies or maybe will go on walks with me while we indulge in ice cream. I still need to feed occasionally, but it’s very rare for me since I’ve gone what most of my kind consider ‘vegan’. I eat human food for sustenance.”

Vyl stood up, closing the oven door, reaching for his own glass of wine as he took a sip.

“That—honestly sounds what I want right now.” Mason shuffled from side to side, inwardly admiring Vyl’s bravery for being honest with him, all while feeling a little guilty that he had come here without thinking that perhaps Vyl was a person and not an object to magically make Mason happy. He didn’t want sex, but he wanted to feel good. He wanted to feel happy again. “I don’t have much interest in anyone sexually either. Not after my ex. Honestly, I just feel—”

Mason stopped himself. There he was, bringing up that woman again.

“Did you want to talk about it? I mean, I’m a stranger or a potential friend, should we enjoy each other’s company—but sometimes talking to a stranger about your problems is easier than talking to your friends. I’m less involved in what happened.”

Taking a deep swig from the bottle, Mason struggled until it spilled out, “I’ve always been a bit more reclusive than most people, so I figured dating someone who was the opposite of me would help me to come out of my shell a bit more. Maria was my opposite. In every way. She wasn’t very good for me and really enjoyed hurting me by putting me down. Near the end of our relationship, I questioned whether it was just in my head or maybe I was emotionally fragile and just sensitive. Maybe I was just not good enough for her. But what broke everything was when I found out that she had been cheating—as if the verbal abuse wasn’t enough. I really wasn’t enough for her. She even blamed me when I confronted her about it. It was—bad. ”

Another profound silence settled between them as Mason did his best to keep his eyes on the floor. He was struggling to reign it all in.

“Oh—Mason.” Vyl said softly. “Can I give you a hug?”

Mason nodded immediately as he felt the welling of emotions inside of him. She had cut him up into tiny pieces and he just didn’t know how to put himself back together again. For a moment as Vyl wrapped his arms around Mason, he felt as if he might just be able to do it. He might become whole again, one day.

Unexpected tears and sniffles began to plague Vyl as he held Mason tightly. It only made Mason respond in kind, burying his face into Vyl’s chest to hide his own tears. They both stood in that kitchen, clinging for their own reason to continue on as the fresh home cooked meal reminded them of care and warmth. Tonight it was enough to share a meal together. It was enough to share each others company.

They pulled apart, both quickly wiping their own tears away before Vyl laughed, “Look at us. What a horrible meeting this is.”

Mason sniffed, letting out a chuckle, “No, it’s actually pretty great.”

“I’m sorry that she hurt you so deeply.”

“Yeah, me too.” Mason nodded, “Honestly, I’m pretty sure I should go see a therapist. This kind of baggage is heavy and I don’t want to burden anyone with it.”

“That’s understandable and probably the healthiest solution.” Vyl turned to open the oven and check the roast once more, “Ah, I believe that dinner is ready.”

“Great, I think all the crying made me hungrier than I was before.”

Vyl laughed, “Crying can be good for the soul, but I can relate. I think I’m hungry after I blubber—at the very least, I’m thirsty.”

Mason felt a wave of relief as he watched Vyl grab two sets of plates, handing one to Mason before setting the other one down. He picked up a carving knife and fork, cutting large slices of steaming roast and plopping two onto Mason’s plate.

His mouth watered as he stared at the hot beef, his stomach also letting out a resounding grumble of approval, “Wow, this looks delicious. Where did you learn to cook or bake?”

“I went to a culinary school a long time ago. Since we incubi have long lives, I’ve been in and out of school for centuries, picking up new things and recreating the old.”

Vyl handed Mason cutlery as he ushered him into the dining room across from the living room. The table was small with four chairs and four placemats already set on the surface. Mason had wondered if perhaps Vyl was the one who placed the little vase of fake flowers in the middle or if it was Lucas.

Setting down his plate, Vyl walked to the kitchen, coming back with the bowl of salad and several dressings pressed to his chest before he set them all down.

“I didn’t even think about how long you live. So, have you been vegan for long then?”

“Yes, actually. I just never enjoyed it like others of my kind did. So, I just didn’t do it. Occasionally the mood strikes where I wouldn’t mind feeding on a person, but it’s very rare. Because of that, I learned to cook and get nutrition from food. It only made sense to learn to cook or bake to earn money while I eat to survive.”

“Makes sense to me.” Mason smiled, cutting into his roast before taking the first bite.

It was glorious as the savory flavor hit Mason’s taste buds, “Wow. This is really good.”

Vyl’s smile grew large as he watched as Mason began cutting up his food more to get another piece into his mouth, “I’m glad—Lucas definitely appreciated my cooking as well.”

“Was this his favorite meal?”

“It was.” Vyl paused, “I’m sorry, I just feel really guilty about this ‘date’. Like I’m using you.”

“Well, join the club. I feel like an ass because I originally came here thinking that I might feel good if you fed off me. “

Vyl let out a hearty laugh, “A date where both parties were looking to ease their own pain and suffering by using the other. How romantic. This could only lead to good things.”

“From the looks of it, we might become ‘cry buddies’.”

“Cry buddies,” Vyl chuckled again, “I like it. It really brings out a softer side.”

Dinner had turned into a late gabfest with Vyl showing Mason how to make a cupcake with buttercream icing. They talked about everything from their past relationships, to video games, books, and movies. Mason even was pleased to discover that Vyl was interested in incorporating more real flowers into his baking displays. They had a lot in common and when the evening drew to a close they exchanged numbers before Vyl showed Mason out of the bakery with a box of cookies and their cupcake creations.

“I really enjoyed tonight. It’s not what I thought it would be.” Mason spoke first, pausing at the door as Vyl unlocked and opened it.

“I did too. I’m probably as surprised as you are.”

A silent pause descended on Mason as he stared down at the box in hand before meeting Vyl’s gaze, “I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m not ready to date. I’m still not really in a healthy place where I should be dating, but I want to see you again as a friend. Is that okay?”

Vyl nodded, a small smile toying at the corners of his snout, “I would like that very much, Mason. Do you think we could meet up on Sunday? I could show you how to make cookies.”

Vyl ruffled Mason’s hair playfully as Mason felt relief flood through his body.

“I’d like that.”

“Cool. I’ll text you later then. Have a good night and please get home safely.”

Mason nodded as he stepped outside, “I will—oh and Vyl?”

“Yeah?” Vyl paused before closing the door.

“Thank you. Truly.”

“Thank you too, Mason.”

Mason began walking away with goodies in hand as he heard Vyl lock up. He felt lighter than he had in a while and decided to text Jeremy about how his evening went. He ended the message with a quick note that he was going to be just fine. For the first time, Mason knew it to be true.

 Like my work? Want to support what I do?

Buy me a Ko-fi Become a Patron Check out my books on Amazon

Also if anyone wanted to use this for the collab, feel free. It’s super dorky, but I spliced it together with this person’s creation from Pixabay. 

[dyotxt]

“can’t wait”

fandom: tokyo ghoul

pairing: hidekane/kanehide

word count: 1938 (ongoing)

summary: When Kaneki Ken and Hideyoshi Nagachika wake up as each other one day, they hadn't expected it to be a real and regular occurrence rather than just a dream. The ties of fate have connected them but they still have yet to unravel many hidden truths. As Kaneki & Hide spend time getting to live each other's respective lives, they start to form a deep bond that they can't really comprehend but appreciate all the same.

(a kimi no na wa/your name au)

[read on ao3] or beneath the cut

a lil note before reading: to give some context, kaneki and hide never met when they were children. also, hide lives in a more rural part of japan, while kaneki still resides in tokyo in order to keep some aspects of the movie. i hope you enjoy reading this! :)

Even being teased by the 5th dimension, I’ll still look your way

So let’s choose a secret sign for when we introduce ourselves again

‘Cause I’m heading out right now to chase after your name!

- Dream Lanterns, Radwimps

act i

As soon as Kaneki wakes up, he feels that something is very off.

First of all, he’s not in his bedroom. He takes in the sight of a very messy apartment room, with a backpack thrown carelessly, books scattered, and a pile of clothes in one corner gathering dust. The walls are covered by posters, ranging from bands that Kaneki has never heard of before, to pictures of cryptids. His eyes land on a jarring and bright pair of headphones that sit on the nightstand. The bedroom looks well lived in, despite the mess.

What, Kaneki thinks in pure, utter, confusion, as he stares at the poster of Nessie .

Did he fall asleep somewhere after coming back from hunting last night? Did someone capture him and took him here? Is this some sort of CCG tactic? Did the CCG get to him finally?

A phone alarm rings somewhere in the bed, and Kaneki is ashamed of the high pitched yelp that he lets out in surprise. He pulls off the blue plaid blanket off of him to search for the phone ringing in a frantic way, desperate to get some answers.

He finally finds the phone, and presses the pad of his finger to the screen to shut off the alarm that says “SCHOOL!!!” in all capital letters. Ok, well, if Kaneki wasn’t confused at first, he sure as hell is now. He hasn’t gone to school ever since the whole ghoul incident happened that one date night.

“Maybe it’s a dream,” he thinks out loud to himself and is surprised by the voice that comes out. A voice that isn’t his own. Its airy, a bit deeper, and louder than his. He looks at the home screen of the smartphone, and looks at the date:

October 14th

He musters up the courage to stand up, and wanders around the apartment to find a bathroom. When he finally does, Kaneki flips on the light switch and is met with the face of a male who looks around his age; blonde locks with brown roots growing out are a mess from the bedhead he sports, and startled brown eyes are looking right at him. He touches his face, and gasps when the mirror reflects the image.

“This is a super realistic dream,” Kaneki tells himself.

Hide jolts out of bed when his phone alarm rings, and he falls onto the bedroom floor trying to reach for his iPhone on the hardwood surface.

“Ow!” He yelps out in pain as his back hits the ground, but at least that shuts off the alarm blaring. After a few moments of the urban life of the city, Matsue, filtering the quiet atmosphere of the apartment, Hide sits up taking in his surroundings.

“That was one super realistic dream I had,” Hide laughs, recalling how dreamt that he woke up in a completely different body. He gets up from the floor, and puts his blanket back on the bed. He turns on his phone and checks the date, and he frowns in confusion.

October 16th

The number stands out to him. It was only the 14th when Hide had gone to bed after staying at his university’s library to study for an English exam coming up in a few days. “It must be the stress,” Hide waves off his bafflement. Pushing the weird dream he had into a corner in his mind, he heads outside his bedroom to get ready for the day.

As Hide’s quickly walking to class to make it on time, he passes by Kimi in the courtyard, his friend’s (although Nishiki wouldn’t necessarily agree) girlfriend. She stops him when she says good morning and makes small chat with him.

“Do you remember the first class you have today?” she asks good naturedly.

“Yeah, I have Japanese Literature,” Hide gives a smile, but his face morphs into one of confusion quickly, “Why?”

Kimi looks at him in surprise but she explains, “Yesterday you stormed into the building, a few minutes late, and you asked me what class you had. You kept asking for the whole day as well. Nishiki was even getting concerned, though don’t tell him I said that,” she trails off when she sees Hide become increasingly more confused. “Do you not remember?” she asks, her eyebrows furrowing a little in concern.

“I…” Hide starts, trying to come up with a clear answer, “Ah! No! I do remember. Sorry, it’s the stress getting to me, haha. Y’know how college life is! It makes people go crazy,” he lies and rambles on with a smile to clear away the mood previously. Kimi looks at him, expression unreadable, but she smiles nevertheless, “Ok, Hide, you better take care of yourself.”

Hide grins, “I will. Thanks, Kimi,” he says before exchanging goodbyes to go to their classes. Hide waves at her as he walks into the building. He’s going to have to run up two flights of stairs if he’s going to make it in time. God, he hopes he doesn’t throw up the sweet bread he had for breakfast on the way.

“Oi, Nagachika.”

Hide looks up from his phone when he hears his name being called out. He’s in the courtyard of the Shimane University, sitting on a bench and snacking on an onigiri with a tuna filling he bought at the student cafeteria, waiting for his next class to start. He sees Nishiki coming his way with Kimi besides him.

“Nishiki! Hey, what’s up?” Hide says in greeting.

Nishiki shares a look with Kimi before turning back to Hide, “I see you’re back to normal.”

“Yeah, I’ve been told lots already. Can you explain?” Hide asks, wiping his mouth free from any grains of rice that stuck to his lips.

“What? You don’t remember?” Nishiki squints his eyes at him and gives him a sigh akin to ‘you’re hopeless’ but continue nonetheless. “You were totally out of it yesterday. You didn’t know where any of your classes were, and you didn’t talk to anyone. You usually talk more than what's needed,” Nishiki responds.

Kimi adds on, “We even went to a cafe after school and you didn’t order anything. You usually order a lot. It was a bit weird.”

“You even made us go to a bookstore because you wanted to. Which is weird, because you never read,” Nishiki said. Hide raises a hand to his chest in mock offense, “I do read!”

Nishiki rolls his eyes, “You only read manga.” Hide laughs at that, even Kimi chuckles. Kimi adds one last comment, “I’m glad you’re acting like your usual self again, though.”

Hide nods; albeit he doesn’t know what’s going on, he responds as he scratches his cheek, “It’s just the stress of being a poor, English major.”

He’s met with the sound of murmured talking from the floor below him, along with the distinct smell of a coffee shop again when Hide wakes up. This dream again, Hide thinks. He sits up, but yelps out in pain when there’s a sting in his abdomen. He lifts up the black shirt, and he sees a wound healing on the left. He hisses at the sight of it; it’s certainly more ugly looking than how it feels.

“Kaneki! Wake up! Your shift starts soon!” There’s a knock at the door with a female voice accompanying it. She doesn’t sound happy, Hide notes. “Coming!” he answers back. He has yet to get used to the naturally quiet voice whoever this dream person has. Hide gets up, and he pays extra attention to the wound.

Whoever this dream Kaneki person is, Hide thinks as he looks around for the work uniform, he sure does like picking fights. Weird, it doesn’t hurt as bad as it looks, he laments.

When he’s done putting on the barista outfit, he looks at himself in the mirror and fixes the straight, black hair to make it look presentable. He finds that this dream person’s hair doesn’t stick up at all angles, disappointing Hide a little.

Once he’s satisfied with the way he looks, he heads outside the room and into the first floor, where the café is located. A cup of coffee is put into hands, and he looks up to see the cute waiter, who goes by the name of Touka, hand him a cup.

“Here, it’s going to be a long day,” she says.

Usually, Hide wouldn’t drink coffee, nevertheless, pure black coffee, but he finds that this dream Kaneki likes it.

“Thanks,” Hide responds with a smile. Touka nods before she heads over to attend some customers that are starting to pour in. Hide nurses the cup of coffee before gulping it down in one sip; the liquid burns his throat just the slightest, but the pain quickly subsides, and leaves no trace of that burn you get after drinking something hot.

Weird, he thinks. His curious thoughts are quickly interrupted by one of the other waiters, Irimi, to whip up some orders. Hide is completely lost at all the names of the drinks she’s telling him, but he nods despite his confusion.

Later on that day, Hide decides to write down the events that had happened throughout the day on a diary app he downloaded on dream Kaneki’s phone. He retells how Irimi had to teach him to do most drinks on the menu, and how Touka had yelled at him for being so absent minded. He’ll have to get used to this whole dream barista work because it feels oddly real. He leaves cute emojis as he types away, and puts the date at the bottom, along with his own name.

i’ll make sure to do a double shot espresso just fine next time!

                                                                                   - hide nagachika 10/20

Hide is in his own body the next time he wakes up; he’s met with the familiar sound of the urban bustle of the city and his alarm ringing. He quiets his phone, and gets up to start a new day.

Something catches his eye on his study desk, though. His English journal is left open, which he doesn’t remember doing. But, then again, how much has he been remembering clearly these past few days? He still goes over to it, curious about the writing on it.

Handwriting that isn’t his is scrawled over the lined paper in neat and precise characters, spelling out:

Hideyoshi Nagachika? Who are you?

The next time Kaneki wakes up in his own body, he finds a yellow sticky note plastered onto his phone in not the most neatest writing, but legible enough.

This is real, huh?

Kaneki’s heart stops.

Hide wakes up to find a sticky note plastered onto his bathroom mirror with the same neat handwriting, and he’s sure that he’s about the faint when he finds the words:

This is real.

It’s not a dream, this hasn’t been a dream this whole time, Kaneki thinks as he stares at the sudden increase of manga on his shelf, along with addition of cryptid posters appearing in his bedroom in Anteiku. Those days I’ve spent in Hideyoshi Nagachika’s body are real.

It’s not a dream! Hide screams to himself in his mind when he wakes up to see the influx of old Japanese literature classics on his desk, and his bedroom tidier, those days I’ve spent in Kaneki Ken’s body are real!

end note: sooo. i actually started writing this in december 2016. i wrote it over the course of 2017, i think i finished it around early summer and just kept looking back at it. i was really hesitant to post it so its been sitting in my google drive for a loooong time. it wasn't until this month that i changed some things and felt satisfied enough to post it. that being said, the story is completed. it's about 42 pages and 16,400+ words making it the longest fic i've ever written. i want to upload it in parts since i feel like posting the whole complete thing would be kinda tiring to look at. though, i'll be updating it frequently, probably every day until the 7 chapters are all posted.

anyways! yea i really love hidekane (even tho the fandom was quieted down for the past years) so i had to write an au for them! kimi no na wa is such a nice movie and makes me cryyyyy every time i see it. also, i really love the idea of nishiki and kimi being close friends with hide, so i incorporated the idea here. and yea, nishiki's still a ghoul. things will start to kick up next few chapters, since this is just the beginning.i hoped you liked it!  feel free to send me a message on here! thanks!

[douchebagbrainwaves]

STARTUPS AND SOURCE

Nor do they want to work on Viaweb. The more labels you have for yourself, the dumber they make you. One week everyone wants you, and merely to call it. If you have impressive resumes, just flash them on the screen than the woman with the hammer. You have to start with a problem, then let your mind wander just far enough for new ideas to form. What's really happening is that startup-controlled rounds are taking the place of series A rounds aren't going away, I think VCs should be more careful when they submit a new version to the App Store: a software publisher. That's not the same thing. Subject free FREE! Most investors are momentum investors. Hot deals and successful startups are not identical, but there is a big opportunity here for a new techology, than a few friends' houses I bicycled to and some woods I ran around in.1 Languages become popular or unpopular based on their merits.

Given an initial critical mass and enough time, a way for writers to make money. Oh boy! The kind of filters I'm optimistic about are ones that calculate probabilities based on each individual user's mail. They may know, because they make such great hardware. Another thing blogging and open source have in common is that they're all more concentrated forms of less addictive predecessors. You have to do is talk in this artificial way, and yet make it seem conversational. It was also a test of wealth, because the only potential acquirer is Microsoft, and when there's only one acquirer, they don't say I would never use this. C is like this. Too much money seems to be an expert in some specific technical field, it can be a bad thing. Too hard to bother trying.

I read a New York Times front page is a list of articles written by people who work for the love of it: amateurs. For the young especially, much of this confusion is induced by the artificial situations they find themselves in. If you don't believe your startup has such promise that you'd be competing with Microsoft, that you couldn't give people the kind of help that matters, you may not have mattered quite so much as he thought, because it would make programs easier to read. We'll have to figure out what will make them happy, and that's usually easier with fewer people. Google doesn't really care about it, cuteness is helplessness. If they aren't an X, and the number of startups started within them. And why is it hard to come up with an idea for a startup in several months. And odds are that is in fact what venture capitalists do. For example, Y Combinator has a rule against investing in startups with only one founder. If the average deal size was $1 million, each partner would have to win by doing better work.

Specific numbers are good. One of the most valuable new ideas take root first among people in their teens and early twenties. If you could measure actual performance, you wouldn't need them. As long as you're standing near the audience and looking at them to fuss with something on your computer, their minds drift off to the errands they have to take less equity to do it. Live in the future and you build something cool that users love, it may not only filter out lots of good examples to learn from open source, blogging is something people do themselves, for free, those worlds resemble market economies, while most companies, for all their talk about the needs of people you know personally, like your friends or siblings. Otherwise you won't bother learning much more. We have the potential to ensure that is to create a descriptive phrase about yourself that sticks in their heads. There were no fixed office hours. It's hard to beat this phenomenon, because the only potential acquirer is Microsoft, and when she said something to him, he didn't answer. Off the top of my head, I'd say investors are the most critical. Is a minority in some population, pairs of them will be a natural counterweight to monopolies. Companies often claim to be benevolent, but because it's the only algorithm that works on that scale, it costs nothing to fix.

And so far that competitor is crushing us. But though wealth was a necessary condition for a good startup idea. But like a lot of time into this. You need to make money for you—and yet I'd feel guilty doing this in most offices, with everyone else looking busy. The self-reinforcing nature of the venture funding market means that the top ten firms live in a completely different voice and manner talking to a roomful of people than you would in conversation. Lisp world is that the rest of this essay is not to think of startup ideas. Their investors agree. I assume it's infinite.

Bottom-Up The third big lesson we can learn from open source and blogs are done for free, but before the Web it was harder to reach an audience or collaborate on projects. Founders tell themselves they need to hire in order to keep search broken, it makes me really want to support this company? People just ignore that—or worse, it's happening. It was quite interesting to write a check, limited by their guess at whether this will make later investors balk. They may be surprised how well this can be done, no matter what. I started to make the byte code an official part of the child's identity. Microsoft does to users, all the investors are your friends in words, but few are in actions. It just made me spend several minutes telling you how great they are.

The average startup probably doesn't have much to show for itself after ten weeks. Open source and blogging suggest, is that the company was itself a kind of Segway. Many of the interesting applications written in other languages. I never asked to receive them, so arguably they were spams, but I haven't tried to reproduce Pantel and Lin's filter was the more effective of the two-cycle innovation engine, you work furiously on some problem. If they push you, point out that they wouldn't want you telling other firms about your conversations, and you tend to get cram schools—which they did in the last 40. Most people have learned to do a test mailing for each tweak. In the old days, the standard m. In Patrick O'Brian's novels, his captains always try to get upwind of their opponents.

And everyone knows that if you pushed this idea, Stripe has had comparatively smooth sailing in other areas that are sometimes painful, like user acquisition. If someone had launched a new, spam-free mail service, users would have flocked to it. And such an algorithm would be easy for spammers to spoof: just add a big chunk of random text to counterbalance the spam terms. You're alert, but there's nothing to distract you. If you're paying attention, you'll be asking at this point not just how to avoid the fatal pinch. Software isn't like music or books. Google so valuable is that their users have money.

Notes

It shouldn't be that surprising that colleges can't teach them how awful the real world is, obviously, only Jews would move there, and outliers are disproportionately likely to come if they can do is adjust the weights till the 1920s to financing growth with retained earnings till the top startup law firms are Wilson Sonsini, Orrick, Fenwick West, Gunderson Dettmer, and it has to be sharply differentiated, so it may seem to be promising.

Thanks to Brian Burton, Trevor Blackwell, Emmett Shear, Patrick Collison, Sam Altman, and Dan Giffin paper for putting up with me.

[protcns]

Okay before anything else, I would like to clarify that these tips help me. These are techniques that work for me. If they don't work for you or they're not your style, then don't fret! (That doesn't in any way imply that you can't get your life together.) If you find that these tips aren't for you, don't force yourself to follow them! These are just gentle suggestions that you may or may not try out! I hope you guys enjoy!

What's this post about?

Sometimes we just reach that point in our daily living where we're so overwhelmed by almost everything that we don't really know where to start or what to do. In this post, I just wanna give some suggestions that might help you sort out the things you need to do! There’ll also be some handy links at the end of the post!

1. Tie your hair and put on a new shirt.

You will feel much much much better after fixing up your hair and putting on something fresh. No, it won't clear the skies or feed all of Africa, but it will set an "I can accomplish a lot" mood. You'll be at your most productive state if you just feel good in general. And if not good, at least fresh. Wash your face, comb your hair, brush your teeth, drink water, etc. TAKE A SHOWER. Wash away the stress and scrub the burdens off your shoulder. You'll feel really motivated to get down to work, believe me.

2. Clean your room.

Now that your freshening up has (hopefully) motivated you to get some stuff done, straighten up your room or study/work space. Your environment has a direct effect on your productivity according to several studies and articles like this one. If you work in an organized and clean area, your productivity levels will surely go up! Really take the time to go through your old belongings. Put everything in its proper place. Get rid of old clothes that you don't wear anymore (honey, if you haven't worn it in 6 months, you're never gonna wear it). Make sure also that you maintain it (easier said than done, I know). Cleaning your room will also help you gradually get into a working mood, so it'll be easier for you to start working on other tasks.

TIP: Play some fun and peppy music while you're cleaning your room for an extra mood boost.

3. Write out everything in your mind.

Sit down and get comfy. Pull out any piece of paper, can be anything from an old receipt to your favorite stationery pad. Now write. Write down…

everything you have to do urgently, in the near future, in the far future. > e.g. finish an assignment, set up an appointment with the dentist, get into college/find a job

anything that's bothering you or lingering in your mind > e.g. how your crush just followed you back on twitter, how scary it is to send an email to adults

things that you absolutely cannot forget > e.g. return that library book, friend's bday is coming up soon (gotta get a gift!), there's an important test coming up

thoughts, feelings, opinions, irrelevant things > e.g. school's tiring you out, politics are driving you nuts, the stray cat on your road seems kinda hungry today

JUST WRITE THEM ALL. In my opinion, it's better to have your thoughts all laid out visible on paper rather than having them swimming in and out of your mind. Once they're on paper, you can let your mind rest a bit from holding in so much information. Don't write your thoughts in any particular order. Just write your ideas as they pop into your head. It may seem unsystematic for some of you, but just wait until the next point!

4. Organize your mind.

Now get a clean sheet of paper and organize your thoughts—tasks, dates, ideas/opinions, misc.

Tasks: Hopefully you've heard of the Eisenhower Box. If not, do not fear, for I will explain it!

So make this nifty table on your new sheet of paper, and organize your tasks accordingly! But first, expand. If you have quite abstract tasks like "get into college" break these tasks into smaller tasks like "review for entrance exams" or "fill out application," and then classify those tasks into the table.

after categorizing your tasks, make a to-do list! (There are many ways to make a to-do list. What I usually do is start with the easy/fun tasks first then list the more challenging/time-consuming ones last. However, this is up to you! Explore what works for you.)

Dates: Have you considered investing on those really big wall calendars? You should!! Get a big wall calendar and hang it up in your room so you can see it every morning and every night. Fill in the dates with appointments, test days, deadlines, birthdays, and anything else! Having a calendar will help you visualize how much time you have left before a certain event. If you can't get a calendar, other alternatives include a planner, your phone calendar, and/or an online calendar (like Google calendar).

Ideas/Opinions: I'd recommend using a journal (traditional or digital) to keep a record of your thoughts! It's very good to clear your mind of these if you wanna delegate more of your thinking powers on another task. You can also talk to other people! Maybe you've been really bothered by something happening in your life that you really wanna let out. Look for trustworthy companions that you can confide in. After a long hearty talk, you'll be ready to conquer the day once again!

Misc: Anything else that hasn't been covered in the previous categories can be written here. It'll be for you to decide how to proceed with these notes.

Other Resources: Check out these other links/masterposts for more tips on how to get your life together! (highly recommended links are italicized)

Self/Life:

how to get your life back on track | @doitforbobby

how to keep a clean bedroom | @pr3duhtor​

uncluttering masterpost | @icademic

small ways to improve your life | @cwote

steps to a better life (mental) | @smoketexture

how to keep a positive mindset | @classicsstvdies

6 ways to destress | @stuydies

how to destress | @thegrangersapprentice

free mental health apps: ios (@recoverywarriorx), android (@goethes)

Study:

how to effectively manage time | @helicion

how to get straight As | @chemistri

have a productive day | @ingeniouslywitty 

time management | @gomedorgohome 

how to: survive stressful situation (college edition) | @classicsstvdies

how i keep organized and sane in highschool | @braintellect

how to handle having too much to do | @howtomusicmajor

And of course, don't push yourself. If you need to take a break, go! Sleep. Reenergize your body. This period won't last forever, and one day you'll find yourself laughing at this actually short amount of time where you were stressing over the world's end. Trust me.

[suranflower]

Tips for starting college: my back to school post

I said college, but this is also useful for anyone studying at the moment.

It is possible I am not the most indicated to do this kind of post since I am a very messy person myself, but after studying all my life, I know what works and what doesn't. With this post, I hope I can help you a little if you feel clueless as where to start with your study, and also encourage myself to follow these things I know first hand are useful and very helpful. If with my experience I can give you just a clue as where to start, I’ll be grateful. So here we go!

Get yourself an agenda

An agenda is basic. I personally buy one literally every year and only use it for about two months and then forget about it, but the truth is that they are useful and should be used all throughout the academic year. I recommend a physical agenda/diary to note down everything you have to do. A calendar is, in my opinion, just as useful or even more.

You may use an app for this as well! I personally have tried about three different ones. Right now, I have School Planner installed and it works good. Agendas and apps like this are great since they allow you to have everything —dates, teacher's names, contacts, and to do lists— in one place. I must add that many of the best organized and most efficient students I know use Google Calendar, which you can easily access in any device using your account. The virtue of non-physical agendas and calendars is that you can take them everywhere and get notifications as reminders, but you might prefer the traditional way, which allows you yo personalize the planning even more. Both ways are good and I highly recommend using a combination.

Some of my friends have also used other methods such as bullet journals but from what they told me, the experience was not the greatest and went back to more traditional planning methods. My advice is you try it all and see what suits you best.

The most important thing is you don't stop using them and rely on your friends telling you deadlines and last minute all-nighters and working. Trust me, you'll miss many of the deadlines and only get more stressed; trust me I spent a whole semester like this and the results were pretty terrible psychologically wise. Just be patient and constant!

Get an all-purpose little notebook

Now, this is a tip I don't see often, but it is something I think many students do and has proven to be useful, at least in my experience. A small, all-purpose notebook you can take with you anywhere will allow you to put all information needed in a certain moment in one place. You ran out of paper, your computer won't work, you forgot your agenda, need to prepare a presentation or your professor is saying something that doesn't quite fit the rest of the notes? You can use this all purpose notebook. Because it's small, you can take it anywhere with you. It allows you to put all these things together and it's always easier to search inside one notebook that try to look into all your lose papers or something similar. It's all in one place. This probably won't work for writing all your notes or doing all your study there, but it can be very useful for punctual things.

Note taking

You can use almost anything for note taking in class. Some people use notebooks, which I don't recommend since there will be days where you will need to take many notebooks with you, as well as books and other things so it will be heavy and bad for your back.

Some other people use file cabinets, which allows you to have the right amount of papers needed for each subject's notes so you won't carry extra weight. If you do this —which I did all six years of high-school— I highly recommend you putting numbers in the pages. And use separators for each subject. While I think pretty much everyone uses separators, not many people number the pages, which —believe me— will result in mixing papers, or losing them. If you give your notes to a friend, it is easier to relocate the pages later. I know this is very basic but I can't stop talking about how important this is. You'd be surprised how many messy notes, lost pages and stuff I have seen throughout these years that could be so easily avoided with just numbering the pages.

These days, I use my laptop (same as this can apply for tablets) for taking notes in class because a) I can type way faster than I can write b) having my notes written in my computer is more useful for later corrections and understanding and all you need to do to get them on paper is print them. I used to use OpenOffice Writer for taking my notes, using one archive per subject. What I liked the most about it was how easy it was to convert to PDF, the options for reducing the borders and the fact that it is a free software. It rarely crashed though I'll admit it did more than Microsoft Office Word, which I used too occasionally.

However, what I have been using since last semester is OneNote, and I couldn't be any happier. It comes with the Microsoft Office pack —which by the way, is FREE for students, you only need to check the conditions for your country and your college web site will probably have a link to it— but you can access it from the web too, and they have a free app (both for Android and iPhone). I believe the OneNote software alone is free to download in the official site. With this program you can have all your notes in sync and check them and edit them from any device, while your notes will be safe in an online storage, as well as in your computer. It is very easy to use and has many interesting features that writers don't have, such as voice recording, automatically adding date and time, easy way of writing formulas, archive linking, free writing, sharing and much more. I think this one is the best yet and throught the checklists you can even turn it into an agenda. Aditional tip: add the date to all your notes. I never did it until last year, and trust me when I say it's one of the best things I've done. When starting to write down, just add "Monday 26th September" and life becomes easier.

When note-taking: don't write down everything the teacher says. It is useless and will get tiring. It's more important you follow the thread of the class, understand what they are talking about and note only the most important things or the answer to the doubts you had. You can find everything they say on books, don't stress trying to copy everything. I know it can be hard to distinguish between the most important things, but it is essential you learn it in order to study better. Also, you don’t need to re-write everything. It takes way too much time and remember that functionality is more important than aesthetic. Therefore, following a wel-known tip, I sugest making summaries and schemes or writing down in a neaty way the most important stuff, instead of rewriting everything. Finally, you don’t need to change your handwriting. It is fine, just try to keep it clean and clear, but your handwriting is unique and you shouldn’t changing it for the sake of following the studyblr aesthetic or something like that. Because it says a lot about you, just try keeping your handwriting as clear and clean as possible, as I said before.

Just like with note taking, not everything you read is equally important. Many teachers won't admit it, but with some texts you can do a superficial reading and understand the general concept while others require deep reading. This means a 30 page text can take you 30 minutes to read in some occasions, but a same length text can take you hours. It is your work to learn when you have to do a deep reading and when not to. This isn't easy neither and I can't really give you tips about it. Another thing you should do is taking notes from these readings: underline and write down important things, use sticky notes, etc. In my experience, the best thing when doing a deep writing is highlighting when girst-reading and oing your notes-to-self, and then making a summary with the most important things and ideas. The Cornell method is wonderful for this and I have always got good results using it —comprehension wise, but also with grades. In my major we have to read so much, and the quality of the writings, translatios or just the content isn’t always the same. Keep that in mind.

Get a color code when studying

The truth is I don’t really do this myself. Instead of having a fixed color-code for highlightig and writing, I use the colors that are disponible in the moment. It works for me, but the truth is that having the same color-code always is more useful. Still I must add that I usually use yellow highlighter for less important things and another color, like blue, green or pink for the most important things. For keywords, I usually use the “most important thing” color and then circle or underline the word with my pen. When writing, I usually use bright colors for the titles, black for keywords, red for subtitles and bullet points and  blue for everything else. As I said, none of this is fixed and depends on the material I can use at the moment. Just create something that works for you ^.^

Optimize your time but also rest

I am working on this myself, I know it’s hard. But don’t ever stop taking care of your mental health. Your mind, safety and psychological well being is more important than your grades. Need to study for hours? Do it, but then take your time for sleeping, eating, taking care of your skin and doing your hobbies as well.

Try to keep yourself motivated

It can be through goals (”I want to become a doctor”), mid-term goals (”I am going to get a great grade for this exam”) or just motivating yourself for the sake of self improvement (”I can do this and will do it because I will feel great when I achieve it”). It can be anything, just do your best. I know it is hard, I know you struggle when studying. I have asked myself so many times why am I doing this? Why am I here? This class is terrible, I’d rather be at home. But remember without hard work, you cannot achieve anything. Do your best, don’t push yourself too much, stay healthy and active and keep going. I honestly don’t have any long term goals and have to constantly push myself to do things and struggle to find motivation, but I have discovered it is about going step by step and putting yourself achiveable day-by-day, week-by-week goals. You are doing great, and remember that hard work always pays off -sooner or later.

Remember not measuring your self worth by other people

Stop comparing yourself to your classmates: you are both different and doing what you can. Try not letting other’s comments hurt you. And I know somethimes parents pressuere you a  and have high stardard to meet, but remember YOUR standards are more important and YOUR mental and physical health is more important than trying to meet the goals other’s set for you. I know making your parents proud feels great, it’s not worth it if it sends you to exhaustion.

When studying a language, even more important than the study itself, it is keeping in contact with said language

Listen to podcasts, read whenever you can, listen to music, watch TV shows in that language. You don’t have to understand everything, just keep that contact so you won’t forget those words, the pronunciation, etc. Don’t have time for German class this semester? Ok, you have apps like Duolingo that allow you to practise in a casual way. Cannot afford Japanese classes and don’t really have time for self-study right now? Alright, keep watching that anime. With social networks, it is as easy as following people that speaks said language. Just don’t give up!

Talk to your teachers. They don’t bite and actually many — in my experience most of them — are actually grateful that you approach them

I am working on this as well because I am a very shy person, but truly, this is so important. Have doubts? Tell them after classes. Further doubts or you don’t know how to approach the subject? Arrange a meeting in their office. Are you really interested in this and don’t know where to start? Teachers always have resources. Your teacher is also a person and their duty is to help you out. Forming a bond with your teacher is always a good thing, studying gets better and more interesting, and it’s even useful for networking in anticipation for future job finding. It will be good for you and it will probably make them happy as well seing that you have interest. Just don’t abuse it, they have other things to do and other student’s as well.

[theonyxpath]

Our next Kickstarter is for the Legendlore RPG, and starts on this Thursday, March the 12th, at 2pm Eastern US time!

From the Kickstarter:

Legendlore was originally a comic, first published by Arrow Comics in 1986 and since procured by Caliber Comics, about four people who fall through a Crossing into the Realm. The Realm is home to fantasy creatures from elves to dragons, and the characters discover they too have ‘fantasy powers’ – the jock becomes a Fighter, while the bookish one becomes a Wizard, and so on. They go on adventures and some of them eventually find their way back to Earth.

This is the basic premise of the Legendlore RPG. You Cross into the Realm, where you become a hairfoot Bard, or maybe an elven Sorcerer. You can change any characteristics you like. For example if you have hay fever and glasses, you choose if your Legendlore self keeps or drops those. Your identity might not always match your outward physique, but your Legendlore character does. We’ve also updated the 1980s setting so Realmborn characters represent all ethnicities, genders, and sexualities. No one in the Realm will bat an eyelash at your agender panromantic self.

This comes hard on the heels of our fantastic Kickstarter campaign for Hunter: The Vigil 2e, which ended up at over 500% of the funding goal and just a couple of folks away from 2000 backers! Truly, the Vigil was a rewarding one, and we’re thrilled so many folks came along with us on the hunt.

Even though we’re jumping right into the new KS for Legendlore, Hunter 2e‘s campaign left us with a number of Stretch Goal projects to continue with, and, for us, Legendlore is such a different kind of project that creatively it is a nice break in our recent string of Kickstarters in the Chronicles of Darkness and V5 game worlds.

Legendlore will also be our newest game line to use the d20 system for 5e fantasy gaming, along with Scarred Lands and (much-simplified) the Realms of Pugmire, so that also gives us a chance to stretch some system creative muscles we like to keep toned up.

If you’re a fan of D&D, etc. then I think you’ll find a lot of fresh spins you’ll enjoy in how Legendlore treats genre expectations and tropes while still providing a sweeping setting ripe for adventuring in. And if you aren’t so much, I still think you may find value in supporting developer Steffie de Vaan and her creative team’s 2020 take on this multi-decade saga and setting.

Like almost every one of our Kickstarters these days, Legendlore is pretty much finished in the writing stages, and backers will get sections of the finished text during the course of the KS campaign. Steffie is working with at least one Twitch streaming group to create actual play episodes showing how Legendlore plays at an actual gaming table, and we’re really looking forward to airing those (and they’ll be linked on the KS page).

So, anyone interested is going to have multiple chances to check this project out in a way that works for them, as we’ve been working to set up with each of our KSs. And, James Bell, our Kickstarter Concierge will be back for this KS to once again provide information and guidance, as well as his patented affable banter!

V5 Chicago Folio art by Felipe Gaona

Items From Our Monday Meeting:

In no particular order, which is a lot like our meeting style!

DriveThruRPG‘s massive GM’s Day Sale has another week to go, and hoo-boy are there a lot of our PDFs for sale over there! All of our game lines are represented, as well as offerings from the Community Content sites!

This was a Twitter note sent out during our meeting by Eddy Webb:

“Thanks to Justin Achilli, I got to be in a work meeting where we talk about the aesthetics of urine and throwing bears at the moon.”

Which is pretty much true.

Mighty Matt McElroy was scheduled to attend Emerald City convention this coming weekend, but the whole con was postponed due to concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). He’d already had a bunch of meetings cancelled out from under him and was figuring on cancelling, when boop! the convention cancelled instead!

You folks all take care of yourselves out there! We’re a virtual office, so aren’t going to infect each other, and we don’t have anything currently being manufactured in China, so I’m just encouraging all our folks to stay in and work 20 hour days at their computers. (I’m kidding.) (But not really.)

Mirthful Mike Chaney wonders how that’s any different than his usual day, anyway?

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Heroic Land Dwellers art by Brian LeBlanc

We’re still getting folks asking about whether projects that come out as Advance PDFs will be released in PoD versions or if Backer PDFs will be sold to the public, along with PoDs, on DTRPG. First, we’re always glad to answer folks’ questions, and second, yes, our sales strategy has always been to deliver PDFs and PoDs of projects on DTRPG and so we have been releasing them that way for the whole time we’ve been in business.

The only caveats to that are projects we might do like printed Screens offered on Kickstarters, which DTRPG can’t create in PoD form, and recently with the V5 Cults of the Blood Gods Stretch Goal rewards which will only be available in PDF as the V5 managers at Modiphius do not want PoD versions made available.

We’ve scheduled a nice surprise for the backers of Exalted 3rd‘s Dragon-Blooded KS that should put some folks’s concerns to rest about getting their rewards. So keep your eyes open for that, DB backers!

I’m out next Monday, so Dixie Cochran will be in as our guest MMN blogger! Please be nice to her as she wrangles the rusty and arcane controls for this blog, and I’ll talk to you in two weeks about our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

On Thursday, March 12th at 2pm Eastern US Time we start the Kickstarter for Legendlore!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday the Onyx Pathcast Terrific Trio take a deep dive into Vampire: The Requiem 2e‘s Spilled Blood! Messy, but fun!

As always this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

We’ve got a stupendous number of shows on Twitch this week! Tune in for V5, Chronicles of Darkness, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition, Scarred Lands, MORE Vampire: The Masquerade, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, even more Scarred Lands, Werewolf: The Forsaken and a third Vampire: The Masquerade game! We’ve even got Eddy Webb’s Workshop, which takes you through the development process of our books! Hail Ming!

A big shout-out to our three Vampire: The Masquerade games running this week, which have been running week-in, week-out! You can subscribe to our channel over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to catch up with any episodes you missed! This Ming’s a psycho.

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find the following videos uploaded last week alone:

The Onyx Path News: https://youtu.be/zKo1h7bLPE0

Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/v9Wo38rl5-Y

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/hxSbemynBLs

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/gKAm-zGxTW4

Even more Scion: Behind the Screen: https://youtu.be/QDSIS_ClFbE

A special shout-out to the Scion: Behind the Screen series, which has provided a wonderful entry point for people new to the game! Flying blind on a rocket cycle!

Do subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online! Spare me the madness.

In case you missed it last week, the Story Told RPG Podcast continue with their excellent Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition chronicle right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/the-78-laments-episode-3-riders-in-the-sky

And back once again, the Story Told‘s review of Trinity Continuum: Aeon http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-40-trinity-continuum-on-overview

Red Moon Roleplaying‘s V5 Cults of the Blood Gods “The Family” chronicle continues on their YouTube channel, Spotify, their website redmoonroleplaying.com and everywhere else good podcasts and New York City girls might be found! https://youtu.be/J1qCIhMPn7Q

Now, the tributes from Ardentia.

Even more shows from Occultists Anonymous for all you Mage: The Awakening fans out there!

Episode 86: Risky Business Wyrd the Seer prepares to found a legacy and shape her soul. Songbird makes contact with the Carthian Movement. Atratus meets with the Phantasm Society who have a daring plan.https://youtu.be/9XWLaxl_B-Y

Episode 87: New Lives Wyrd the Seer pays the price for tying herself to the Rookery. Songbird makes himself useful at the Arrow Armory. Atratus kills Emily Miller.https://youtu.be/ZZklb6-fC7o

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

Update: the devs are working on the updates for the roller in both Android and iOS – here is the rundown from them:

1) Redo the UI for system for android.  It will look the same as the current design.  My goal is to have something ready by Saturday to send out to the Facebook users, asking them if this fixes the issues.  This will be a beta type thing.  This will break several of the fancy dice.

2) If the above worked out and the android users give all the clear, we’ll redo the graphics system to fix the fancy dice that got broken.  We’ll do another android beta through Facebook.  This might take up to two weeks, as my schedule allows.

3) If everything worked well, we’ll release to android for real at that point.

4) Port all of the existing stuff to iOS and release on that.

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero AND Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

The massive GM Day’s Sale continues for another week with huge savings on PDFs from all of our game lines!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we will be releasing the Advance PDF of Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed for Mage: The Awakening 2e AND the electronic, PDF, and physical book PoD releases of Haunting Shadows: the Wraith20th fiction anthology on DTRPG!

Conventions!

Assuming these conventions are not postponed due to plague, here is our current list:

UKGames Expo: https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

GenCon: https://www.gencon.com/

Tabletop Scotland: https://tabletopscotland.co.uk/

Gamehole Con: https://www.gameholecon.com/

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

RUST (Working Title) (Scarred Lands)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

The Book of Endless Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Editing

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Indexing

They Came From Beneath the Sea! (They Came From…!)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant – Awaiting replies to pings.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e (KS)

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Mummy 2 – Starting to contract the rest of it.

City of the Towered Tombs

Let the Streets Run Red – Some finals in.

Deviant

Legendlore (KS) – KS prep of bits.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

TC: Aeon Terra Firma – Contracted.

WoD: Ghost Hunters (KS) – Cover in, getting rest of KS art set.

Tales of Aquatic Terror

Pirates Extra Adventure – Loboyko lined up for this one.

Scion Titanomachy – Contacting artists.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Ongoing.

Contagion Chronicle – With Josh, interior proof coming.

Vigil Watch – Ongoing.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

TCFBtS! Screen and Booklet

Ex3 Lunars – Yep, pretty much my March right here.

Scion Companion

Proofing

Dark Eras 2 – Sending back to Aileen for errata input.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Chicago Folio – Creating PoD files.

Pirates of Pugmire – Fixes in, working on cover.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – At WW for approvals .

Geist 2e fiction anthology – Backer PDF out to backers for errata.

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 – The Silence of Our Ancestors (Exalted 3rd Edition) – Backer errata being gathered.

Distant Worlds – Errata being gathered.

VtR2 Spilled Blood – Errata being input.

At Press

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Prepping to go live with PDF/PoD versions on DTRPG a week Wednesday (the 18th).

DR:E – Shipping to backers, PoD files uploaded.

DRE Screen – Shipping to backers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

Memento Mori – PoD proof ordered.

Scion Mythical Denizens – PoD files uploaded.

Wraith20 Anthology – ePub, PDF, physical book versions all live Weds on DTRPG.

MtAw2 Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed – Advance PDF on sale this Weds on DTRPG.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and that’s certainly worth celebrating today as well! (Especially since here in the US we lost an hour from yesterday due to the return of our Daylight Savings Time. Typical).

Today, we heard of the death of actor Max von Sydow at 90. The man who played chess with death, acted in just so many roles in mainstream and genre films that I’m not listing them here, and, just for Matthew Dawkins, starred as Ming the Merciless.

[themoneybuff-blog]

Book Review: I Will Teach You to Be Rich (2019 Edition)

When I started Get Rich Slowly in 2006, I had no idea other money blogs existed. I'd been blogging about cats, computers, and comic books since 1997 before blog was even a word! and I thought my new venture might be the first blog about personal finance. I was wrong. I learned quickly that there were already dozens (dozens!) of people blogging about money on the interwebs. For instance: Harlan Landes was writing at Consumerism Commentary. He now runs the Plutus Foundation, a financial literacy non-profit.Jim Wang a ginormous money nerd then, a ginormous money nerd now was writing at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity. He now runs Wallet Hacks.John was writing at Free Money Finance (a front for selling Moose Tracks ice cream!). He now runs ESI Money.Ramit Sethi was writing at I Will Teach You to Be Rich. He still runs the site, but his focus has shifted from personal finance to entrepreneurship and marketing.

All four of these folks built and grew successful sites because they produced quality content. But Ramit might be the most successful of all. Nowadays, he produces helpful courses on a variety of personal development subjects. He hosts conferences. He wrote a best-selling book. And he never sold his website. Instead, I Will Teach You to Be Rich has evolved as he's evolved. In recent years, Ramit has distanced himself from the world of personal finance. Nowadays, he's focused on the many different ways his readers can build a Rich Life. In fact, how to live a Rich Life is the core theme of the brand-new second edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, the book. In 2009, Ramit wrote, I Will Teach You to Be Rich is about sensible, banking, budgeting, saving, and investing. In the 2019 edition, that's been changed to, I Will Teach You to Be Rich is about using money to design your Rich Life. I think you'll agree that this is a much more compelling theme. If you've read my other book reviews, you'll note that I sometimes shy away from giving an overall evaluation, opting instead to talk about some aspect of the book I liked (or didn't). When this happens, it's usually because I don't think the book is that great. I won't be coy today. I Will Teach You to Be Rich is one of the best personal-finance books on the market. It's great. Let's take a closer look at why I like it so much. Why Do You Want to Be Rich? Your goal probably isn't to become a financial expert, Ramit writes at the start of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. It's to live your life and let your money serve you. His book aims to show you how to make that happen. To start, he urges readers to not get hung up on minutiae. He warns them not to give in to modern victim culture. Instead, he wants people to put the excuses aside and agree to take an active role in building their financial future. Crafting that future starts by asking a simple question: Why do you want to be rich? When you picture your ideal life, he asks, what are you doing in it? Similarly, I ask new GRS readers to take the time to write a personal mission statement. Ramit doesn't go that far, but he does urge his audience to do some self-reflection. The bulk of the book is devoted to a six-week action plan designed to create a solid financial infrastructure. Week one focuses on optimizing credit cards and improving your credit history.Week two explains how to find great bank accounts, and how to negotiate away fees.During week three, Ramit helps readers to open a 401(k) and/or a Roth IRA.In week four, Ramit leads readers through he process of drafting a conscious spending plan so that they can make conscious choices about where their money goes.Week five is all about connecting your new financial infrastructure, and automating it so that it hums along without intervention from you.And the final week is an introduction to investing how to use diversification and asset allocation to meet your investment goals. This six-week action plan gives I Will Teach You to Be Rich a clear, logical structure. Having written one print money manual and two ebooks, I know how difficult this can be. (Of my books, only the Money Boss Manifesto has a structure I like.) Ramit gets this right, and it makes a huge difference. The last few chapters cover miscellaneous subjects that couldn't be shoe-horned into this six-week program. Ramit discusses pre-nups, for instance, using his own recent marriage as an example. He explores student loans, taxes, and financial independence. Plus, he includes an excellent eight-page section on salary negotiation. This is something for which he has a $588 for-profit course, yet he doesn't ever mention that course in the book. I appreciate that. For more about Ramit's opinions of the early retirement movement, check out his appearance on the Mad Fientist podcast.

The Mad Fientist and me, working together in Edinburgh yesterday Action Not Words For me, the primary strength of I Will Teach You to Be Rich is (and always has been) that it's packed with actionable advice. Too many money books talk about terms and cover general concepts but never give readers specific steps they can take to implement this info in their lives. Ramit, on the other hand, is all about action. In I Will Teach You to Be Rich, he says which credit cards, apps, and bank accounts he uses (and he tells you why). He shares several word-for-word scripts that you can use to dispute charges, get fees waived, and more. He urges readers to focus on Big Wins, not on small (but painless) actions that have little real impact on their financial future. (What's the point of clipping coupons when your mortgage debt is crushing you? You need a new house, not cheaper toilet paper!) He explains why it's okay to spend deliberately on the things you love as long as you're careful to cut out the stuff that doesn't matter. Does all of this sound familiar? Does it sound like the stuff I say all of the time here at Get Rich Slowly? That's because it is. My financial philosophy is closely aligned with Ramit's. And, in fact, key parts of it actually come from from Ramit. (He's where I learned about conscious spending, for instance, and about building barriers.) In short, Ramit focuses on the choices that will create the greatest improvements in his readers lives. He doesn't pretend to cover everything. He's only interested in the 20% of actions that will help folks achieve 80% of results. He ignores the rest. Living a Rich Life Ramit has made significant changes to the new edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. He's corrected errors. He's added new material. And he's changed the overall theme. In this new version, he's deliberately emphasized and expanded on his Rich Life concept, which was little more than an afterthought in the first edition. During the intervening ten years, living a Rich Life has become the focus of Ramit's financial philosophy. [embedded content] He's also taken this opportunity to fix problems with the original. Ten years ago, I made three mistakes when writing the first edition of this book, Ramit says. Those mistakes? I didn't cover the emotions around moneyIf you don't tackle your invisible money scripts, none of it matters. Amen! Ramit calls them invisible money scripts. I call them money blueprints. We both agree they have a profound influence on your attitudes and actions with money.The second mistake I made was being too overbearing. The truth is, you can choose what your Rich Life is and how you get there. In other words: Do what works for you our philosophy here at GRS since day one. Note that this also signals a softening of Ramit's famously abrasive delivery style. He still doesn't hesitate to say what he thinks, but he's no longer so pushy about it.Ramit says that his third mistake was quoting actual rates and numbers. The world of personal finance is in constant flux. A decade ago, you could find 5% interest rates on savings accounts. Not anymore. A decade ago, the annual Roth IRA contribution was $5000. Not anymore. So, in the second edition of his book, Ramit tries to steer clear of quoting numbers that might be outdated next year. Or next week. In 2009, many GRS readers complained about the book's tone. They found Ramit's in your face style annoying. While the book's voice is still breezy, the irreverence and silliness are much more subdued. You won't find many lines like this anymore: Why does just about everything written about personal finance make me want to paint myself with honey and jump into a nest of fire ants? Here's a final (but vital) change: The book's numbers and examples have been altered to appeal to a broader audience. The original edition was clearly aimed at young adults. The book's examples featured folks aged 25 to 35. The new edition deliberately includes examples for an older audience. A Rose By Any Other Name I had only two real complaints about the first edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Like a lot of people, I didn't care for the tone. But I also didn't like the way Ramit sometimes plays word games. The tone of the new edition is much improved, as I've mentioned, but the word games remain. Ramit pretends to hate budgets, for instance, writing: I hate budgeting. Budgeting' is the worst word in the history of the worldBecause we know that budgets don't work, I'm going to show you a better way. First, budgets do work. According to The Millionaire Next Door, a majority of millionaires have a budget. (Of those who don't, many others create an artificial economic environment of scarcity that mimics a budget.) Bad budgets don't work. Good ones do. (We looked at how to budget effectively last week.) Second, Ramit's alternative to budgeting isbudgeting. He calls his budget a conscious spending plan butit's a budget. It's a good budget explicitly based on the 60% Solution. But it's still a budget. (What's more, he advocates You Need a Budget and the envelope system!) I don't like this sort of semantic gymnastics. It's pointless. Really, though, this is a trivial complaint, something that'd only bother a money nerd like me. If calling his budget a conscious spending plan will help his readers improve their personal finances, great. Go for it. Play those silly word games. I Will Teach You to Be Rich This new edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich is bigger and better than the first in almost every way (and that's saying a lot!). In my review of the first edition, I wrote: Ramits book is great, but its not for everyone. First of all, its targeted almost exclusively at young adults. If youre under 25 and single, and if you make a decent living, this book is perfect. But if youre 45 and married with two children, and if you struggle to make ends meet, this book is less useful. The second edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich is different. This time around, I think the book would be useful for somebody who's 45 and married with two children. There's no doubt that the tone and content still skew young, but not in a way that's off-putting for old fogies like me. Over the past decade, I've recommended (and handed out) I Will Teach You to Be Rich to many young adults. In the decade to come, I'm confident that I'll be recommending (and handing out) copies of the new edition to people of all ages. Why? Because there's no bullshit in this book. There's no hedging, no obfuscation, no fluff. This book is smart, bold, and practical. It's filled with tips that actually work. Personally, I'm sad that Ramit isn't as involved in the personal-finance space as he used to be. There are few people with original things to say about money. He's one one of them. Whereas most people parrot tropes without thinking, Ramit is unafraid to challenge conventional assumptions. His voice is valuable. I wish we heard more of it.

Author: J.D. Roth In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals.

[wealthyonline]

MyEcon Review – Should You Join?  I Don’t Think So...

Do you need to be able to fix your credit as well as pay less income taxes?

For me personally, not really...

But if I wanted to I could go to Google and learn to do it for free.

This post might really ruffle some feathers, but in this honest myEcon review, I'm going to dive deep into just what this company really is, what exactly you get if you join, and if it's really worth it to spend your hard earned money on this business.

To begin with (as you may already know from the title), I would recommend that you simply do not sign up for this company.  And if you do, you really only need to be in it for a month, and after that, you’ll have all the info you need to fix your credit.

Now if you want to find out exactly why then read on.

myEcon PROS

The training

Before we delve into the ridiculous and upsetting details about this company, let's talk about what is actually good about it: the training.

Nevertheless, I do think it is suspicious that the only proof this company is the training for their opportunity.  Shouldn't a benefit of the company be it's actual product or service?  Or perhaps it's sales system?

Anyways the training in myEcon is fairly decent.  Needless to say, you would probably expect it to be if you were paying exclusively to be able to make money online.

I've spoken to a lot of people regarding the training and I've looked at it myself.  The overall consensus and also my personal opinion are that it is very helpful and informative.

Even so, the thing I have to note is this: lots of people are not paying for online marketing training.  They are paying to figure out how to repair their credit rating.  This really is the biggest marketing pitch of the company.  So you should be on red alert that the only benefit about myEcon is their recruiting training.

Additionally, I have tons of online business training that I share free of charge.  Not just basic make posts on Facebook stuff, but actual strategies to acquire a lot more leads and sales in your business.  So yes, myEcon's training is great, but still, why pay every month for that when you can get the same level of training for free?

myE- CONS

This is some of the things that are terribly wrong with myEcon:

travel booking, nutrition products, and credit monitoring is NOT included in your membership

travel discounts are a joke

cashback mall is a joke

roadside assistance is horrible

the cash-flow manager is redundant

the comp plan is not made clear from the beginning

the compensation plan does not pay you that well

The negatives of myEcon are so apparent to me that it's amazing that people are even signing up.  It is amazing to me that folks continue joining MLM companies at all, however this one, especially, is very clear it really is silly.

Here's what the back-office looks like for myEcon:

Upsells

First of all, the upsells.

Possibly it's just me, but I would think that if I were paying nearly $40 a month to repair my credit, I would receive credit monitoring included in the program...

...but it's not.

You have to pay more for credit monitoring, travel reservations, and their nutrition supplements.  Also I think it is unusual that a credit repair business does not include credit monitoring in their membership package while also retailing coffee and dietary supplements.

Travel Deals?  Where?  Oh, There

To begin with, the travel discounts.  Before I even proceed any further, I'll simply show you what happens once you click on 'discount travel' in the myEcon backoffice:

Did you see that?  Their supposed travel discounts is simply a link to priceline.com.  Are you kidding me?  Who would spend almost $40 bucks month after month for travel discounts from Priceline when you are able just go to priceline.com without cost?

You just saved almost $40 this month.  How do you feel?

Let's continue.

Cashback Mall...I've Seen This Someplace Before...

Another "benefit" of your myEcon subscription is that you get cashback on some your purchases at different places.

Here's what occurs once you visit myEcon's cashback mall:

Pardon the grainy image.  Allow me to clarify what this is.

MyEcon's Cash back Mall is essentially ebates.  Check it out:

But...

...ebates is free, so in what way is this an added benefit of a myEcon membership?  The same as with priceline, why would you pay money for something that is 100% free and is easy to find?

Roadside Assistance...Always Be Sure You Break Down VERY Close To Home

Coincidentally, myEcon gives you roadside assistance, similiar to how Motor Club of America does.  Interestingly enough, because lots of people in MCA jumped ship aboard myEcon.

What is really disappointing though, is the fact that this roadside assistance that you receive with myEcon only will tow you up to fifteen miles.

That's correct.  fifteen miles.

If you might be looking to make use of this invaluable perk when you pay to become a member of myEcon, do your self a favor and make sure you break down close to home, otherwise you will not need this myEcon benefit!

Cash flow Manager...Ever Heard Of Google Play?

Yet another "benefit" of your subscription is that you will gain access to their cash flow manager.

I agree, all people should manage their cash flow whether they have a business or not.  It is great to know where your hard earned money is coming from as well as going to.

But...

...this feature of the myEcon membership can already be found absolutely free elsewhere.  If you just head over to Google Play and type in "money manager" or maybe "budget app" you can find the same and even better quality apps to track your income and expenses totally free.

Here's what I found:

I would not recommend typing in "cashflow manager" because then myEcon's app shows up and, like every other free “feature” here, I am pretty sure you will have to pay them for that too!

Earn A Lot Of Money With MyEcon...If You Recruit A Lot

Before we dive into myEcon's comp plan, one thing to be aware of is that this company isn't really up front with their comp plan.  Whenever one of their members sends you to their business presentation, you do not even see how much you will earn.

I think that is very dissuasive when I'm looking for a way to earn money online.

The one thing about myEcon that I stated was decent is their marketing training, so ostensibly their focus is not on delivering an useful product or service.  As we've seen, they have basically bundled low-value products that are available totally free on line into a home business opportunity.

Having said that, even after going through their training you'll discover if you are not able to continue recruiting people you won't make much money.

To break it down, if you only enroll one person, you'll earn around five - ten bucks per month.

If you sponsor two people, about $20 monthly.

If you sign up 3, you might get $35 from that 3rd person and you will have the ability to make money from the people that they sponsor.

You better hope you get to three.  Understand once you do, even with the residual monthly payments from those under you, you have to sponsor massively to earn anything close to a decent income

I've found significantly better pay plans that pay you full commission instantly and do not rely on sponsoring.

But Don't You Want To Learn How To Give Yourself A Raise & Spend Less On Taxes?

Let's talk about some of the pitches people give you to get you to sign up for myEcon.

"...But you'll be able to give yourself a raise and pay a lot less taxes..."

The thing about this is that you can learn that info absolutely free online.  In fact, much of the information that myEcon teaches you is basic stuff that I assumed everyone knew.

For example, do you want to earn more money every single paycheck you get?

Sure, right?

MyEcon will teach you to that if you claim 2, three, etc. on your W-4, then you'll make more money on your checks.

Cha-ching!...Right?

Well, that's cool and I'm in favor of financial literacy.  But that is basic freely available info you can get on the internet.  So why would you pay myEcon to learn this so-called "income shifting"?

Just use Google!

"But myEcon gives you tax advantages.  You can write so many things off when you have a business..."

Cha-ching!

Not really.

You can do that with ANY business, not only myEcon.  Therefore this isn't even a unique myEcon perk that would justify my continued monthly payment.

"But you learn to repair your credit rating!  That's extremely valuable!  Everyone needs that"

Perhaps.

Yet, you are able to fix your credit score by going to Google too.  MyEcon isn't teaching anything new in this department.

In fact, they actually charge you more if you would like credit monitoring.  Isn't being aware what your credit history at any moment a key part of building up your credit rating?

Moreover, a lot of credit unions already offer you credit monitoring and fraud checks, therefore this is another supposed "benefit" that really does not provide you with any value whatsoever.

MY CONCLUSION

Just save your self the money you’d be paying monthly.

Despite if you're seeing dollar signs with this company, you will find much better companies with way better compensation plans that pay YOU DIRECTLY wihtout don't charge you month to month fees.

If you are trying to raise your credit score, go to Google, learn how to reduce costs, learn dropshipping, keep track of your payment due dates.

If you want travel discounts, just go to priceline

If you want cash back, pay ebates a visit

If you would like roadside assistance, reduce costs with AAA

If you want to manage your cash flow right from your phone, go to Google Play Store

If you want to buy coffee and weight loss supplements...

You should know where to get those without paying almost $40 monthly!

There are plenty of different ways to earn money online.  You can dropship, affiliate market, freelance, blog, etc. etc.  For me personally, mlm businesses are just ways to take money out of your pocket every month.

If you have been looking to generate regular profits online, this is the place to start.

Let's connect: learn free tips on marketing and making money online by joining our Facebook group here.

Read this article on Medium

[fullregalia]

every billionaire is a policy failure.

A few years ago, during the GOP primaries, I re-watched the pilot of The Apprentice because 2015 was a more naïve era. I had forgotten the garishly goofy title sequence that played “For the Love of Money.” It was a perfectly ironic encapsulation of the Trump ethos: while it was meant to make him seem enviable, it warns of the corrupting power of money, of the relentless drive for it.

Since I began working in the arts a decade ago, I have been exposed to various echelons of wealthy people I would never encounter in my day-to-day life. I’ve processed their five- and six-figure checks, I’ve written thank you notes to their family foundations. I never really questioned it; I just sort of knew this is the kind of thing socialites do. I am just a person who inputs data, says hello to them at check-in, and sometimes I get free hors d'oeuvres at events. I always make jokes about how much I love free snacks, but it comes from a genuine place of (in)security: duh everyone loves free food, but also when I was younger an hors d'oeuvre was a big deal--at 22, it meant I wouldn’t have to spend money I didn’t have on dinner; for a billionaire, it was like the 15th passed app they had that week. As I began to have more of a career, every 3% raise made a small impact, but I kept processing checks for things like a table at a Gala that could easily pay my rent for months.

I think the glamorous programming in the arts is window dressing for the wealthy patrons who cut checks that sustain our annual operating budgets. People like to pat themselves on the back for being charitable. Who can blame them? They are fighting diseases, supporting the arts, seemingly setting higher standards for their peers, yet, at the same time, they’re perpetuating capitalist structures that foster inequality. I used to be less skeptical of philanthropy, but in recent years, my disillusionment with both the non-profit sector and the financial sector have led me to question the root structures of why we need it in the first place. It’s the motivating idea behind my graduate studies in public policy: what is the right balance between private and public funding of our cities? Can we have a robust society sustained by the discretionary charitable inclinations of a small cadre of the uber wealthy?

I don’t have the answer to this, but the question of billionaires in general has been in the news a lot thanks to AOC, Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy, and the outsize influence money has in politics (looking at you, Schultz and Anthony Kennedy). As I’ve posted here before, I was interested in Anand Giriharadas’ book, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. I’m currently on the last chapter of it and while I’m probably more familiar with the world of philanthropy than his average reader, I’ve found it a good alarm to society at large: this kind of efficient-markets solution to social problems is unsustainable, borderline reckless, and mostly self-serving. 

So, it’s easy for me, a certified non-billionaire, to agree that on some fundamental level billionaires are a failure of policy. I think the answer is obviously more complex and more complicated. Similarly to entitlement programs like Social Security or government-subsidized healthcare, it’s hard to take away something once it has entrenched itself in the system, and it’s even harder to do so when the people you want to take it away from have almost unlimited means to get their way (RIP, Gawker). We must think of ways to bolster and safeguard our democracy, but how do you solve a problem like money when you need to generate money to fix the issue?

Anyway, it’s something we’ll be talking about as the primaries continue, and I’ll probably be thinking about it for the rest of my career. I once was on a date with a guy who said, “don’t worry about global warming, when it gets bad enough people like Elon Musk will fix it.” He literally said that! Maybe I guess at the end of the day a brave billionaire like Elon Musk will fix all our problems, but in the meantime, we have to work towards successful solutions to policy failures one cocktail party at a time.