#the identical matching hardback covers

[lacnunga]

Theres something about big booktoker/booktuber shelves that really heebies my jeebies

[ashmouthbooks]

binderary 2024: 2/2

stretch goal reached! a good thing too because next weekend I'm travelling and the weekend after that it's March, so this is it for me and binderary 2024.

my stretch goal was to make a matching set of hardbacks and I decided to stay on theme and do Dig og Mig and the sequel Dig og Mig For Altid by @beanhappiness - two Afdeling Q fics. I love these fics a lot, and from a fandom history perspective I can reveal that Dig og Mig is the first ever fic written for this fandom! (At least on AO3 it is, I don't know if there are others out there - if there are, please link me, I want to read them!).

I wanted to make a matching set, and for this I decided that meant the books are identical except for the cover paper - the cover paper is the same pattern, in different colours but with one colour in common: blue. so these are very blue books.

(let's ignore for a moment that I completely fucked up the positioning of the titles on the spines. I didn't center align them correctly before printing, and on the second book I majorly fucked up the measurements and didn't notice until after I took the book out of the press that the title was too close to the top of the spine, at which point it was too late to just print a new one...)

(the sun was wreaking havoc on this photo session, can you tell?)

case: squareback hardback bound in sky blue bookcloth of unknown make, boards covered in decorative paper from Søstrene Grene (weights 70gsm and 140gsm respectively), over 2mm boards

insides: endpapers are 150gsm Daler-Rowney Canford Electric Blue, and the text is printed on 90gsm Munken Pure Smooth Cream

previous posts afdeling q men det handler om mad i stedet for mord et Afdeling Q Julemysterie noget jeg ikk’ tør sig’ i mørket / bryllupsplaner / morgenkys

binderary 2024 goal: 3/3 stretch goal: 2/2

bonus: process video of making the case + casing in Dig og Mig, on tiktok

[minty-malfoy]

reading between the lines

• pairing: draco malfoy x fem!reader

• summary: draco takes you on a date that involves lots of hand holding and a cozy bookshop.

• request: Hi! I was wondering if you could write a Draco malfoy imagine where he and the reader are dating, and he takes her for a hogsmeade date at a bookshop, because she is a bookworm, and they pick books for each other and he pays for everything?

• word count: 2.9k

a/n: no thoughts head empty just draco fluff. this is meant to be a breather after all the angsty love triangle fics i wrote for this boy

oh & this would've been out way sooner if I stopped being too much of a perfectionist (which I did like midway) so yeah I'm finally putting it out and just hoping for the best. my writing style had a weird identity crisis when I was working on this, but let's pretend it didn't. enjoy!

"Cold, isn't it?"

You look up at the voice's owner, only to catch a mixture of sympathy and a terribly smug I told you so on his pretty face.

Despite your scoff, you know he's right, and so does he. The chilly autumn air was penetrating through the fabric of your coat, mercilessly tickling the skin underneath; feeling like an in between that's neither as icy and cold as winter, nor as warm and friendly as summer. Regardless, it's something that your boyfriend, whom your fingers are laced with, doesn't seem to like.

"C'mere," he finally grumbles, tugging you closer towards him. "Merlin, (y/n), couldn't have underdressed more than this, could you?" he says bitterly, but his eyes display the complete opposite. You've learned to recognize the glint of affection in his orbs quite easily by now.

"I was in a hurry!" you exclaim with a wide grin that betrays your stern excuse. "And you don't have to be so rude and mean about it."

"Well, pardon me for being against the idea of my girlfriend freezing out in this weather. Now enough of that, give me your hands," he orders, because the only other thing Draco would be against is the idea of arguing with you, especially when it's over such trivial things. This was just his way of deflating the situation.

You eye him curiously as his hands rub into yours, enveloping them completely with his own. Then when he catches you staring, a small smirk finds its way onto his lips. Suddenly he's lifting one of your hands to his face, holding it right under his mouth before placing a few soft breathy kisses there. Even with the fabric of your glove in between, you can still easily feel the warm contact of his lips.

You can't tell whether it's due to the cold air that a blush paints itself on Draco's cheeks, but you decide not to think about it, because now you're looking away to hide a blush of your own.

Both of you continue walking with hands still entwined, letting the air glide around your bodies softly. It's a complete juxtaposition of the ecstatic impatience pulsing through your veins, all contained behind your soft smile that Draco doesn't need to point out or question. He knows you're excited, and he knows the reason perfectly well.

You've been giddy ever since he proposed taking you on a bookshop date. After all, it involved two of the things you loved most: Draco Malfoy, and your undying passion for reading. It was no secret how often Draco found you deeply engrossed in a book, without fail making him feel awestruck and simultaneously envious. Not that he would ever admit he got jealous over an inanimate object, of course, and least of all to you.

Deep down, Draco's more than happy to see the joy in your eyes when you're rereading one of your favorite books, or the cheerfulness in your smile after picking up a new one. He loves you and your hobby all the same.

When you finally make it to the bookshop, you practically have to hold back from stampeding directly into it, pursing your lips into a line to contain your enthusiasm. This, of course, doesn't go without Draco's notice, and you don't mind the chuckle he sends your way. You're far too occupied with the thought of gliding your fingers over the eclectic book collections.

He pulls you inside gently while eyeing your reaction the entire time, and frankly, he can't help but melt at the way your eyes light up in childlike wonder, the way you take in the familiar scent of parchment, and the way you finally turn to him with an uncontainable grin.

"I have a proposal to make," you announce, unaware of the way your grin makes his heart skip a bit.

"Should I be worried?" he smirks.

"We should pick a book for eachother!"

Draco thinks over the idea in his head for a moment or two, finding it hard to deny that it was rather pointless to him. Neither of you are sure what the other would like, and for the most part, his concerns are true. But then again, it's the way your smile brightens up at the idea, coupled up with his curiosity as to what you'd possibly pick for him, that ultimately leads him to accept the suggestion.

You give his hand a light squeeze before finally pulling away and parting to another section of the bookshop. Draco's left to stare at his empty hand with an obvious frown. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to this, he thinks, as he's missing the contact already. All he wants is to have you nearby, to see the enthusiasm in your face from each book that you pull out. But when his eyes meet yours in the far off corner of the bookshop, he smiles tenderly, and decides to let you be. There's always more time for physical affection later.

Back in your spot in the bookshop, you're already eyeing the countless racks of books in wonder, roaming over every cover and title curiously. For once, you're somewhat thankful to have time and space to yourself from the blonde slytherin. To select a book for him, you would have to be methodical and punctilious. Neither are ever easy when he's around, when it feels like your rational thinking is all turned into mush. Hence, rather than wasting a single second, you immediately focus on the task at hand.

For a brief moment, you wonder if Draco had already deduced the type of book you'd get him, considering how obvious it is by the section you instantly went towards.

Non-fiction, the factual informative reading that might suit his tastes and interests. Something under astronomy seems to make the most sense, although then again, you assume he already knows most there is to know under that natural science. School related studies like potions and transfiguration cross your mind as well, albeit briefly, because you're not sure what good it would be to give someone a book on something they're already quite good at.

You toss your thoughts back and forth as your fingers fumble over multiple books, hoping one of them could strike you with a burst of inspiration. But it isn't until a peculiar idea lights up like a light bulb in your head. You didn't necessarily have to give Draco something he would like, as long as your choice would be meaningful and thoughtful.

That's exactly how you make up your mind and gingerly pull out a certain book with a content smile, keeping it tucked under your arm as you continue to browse the selection for a few books for yourself.

"All done, love?"

You spin around in one swift motion, quickly hiding the book you chose for him behind your back, although it wasn't the easiest thing to do when you had a couple other in your hold.

"What do we have here?" he cheekily tries to catch a peek, but you're already backing away spontaneously.

"It's a surprise!" you squeal, and Draco already has his hands held out innocently, chuckling slightly when he says, "Alright, alright. Now let's go purchase all these books."

You follow him to the cashier where you hand over all the items you've been holding. You reach for your purse in the bag you had with you, rummaging around for it with your fingers. But when you finally pull it out with a triumphant smile, you find that Draco has beat you to it, and he's already paying for all the books you chose.

You give him a look that says that's not fair, but you know it's just one of his many ways of showing his adoration for you.

He picks up the paper bags and begins heading towards the exit, where he's stopped midway by a kiss on the cheek. In other words, your little way of thanking him.

"keep doing that and I'll end up buying you this entire bookshop," he tells you in a half joke, betraying the fact that deep down he's rather serious about the idea. Draco Malfoy had come to a point where spending money was the least of his worries when it came to you.

"Tempting," you hum. "but you know I'd rather do it for free." you get up on your tiptoes again and plant a second kiss on his cheek, as if to prove your point. His hand reaches for the spot with an affectionate look directed your way; not entirely used to receiving the loving words and gestures that you give him.

"There's another bookshop nearby. Fancy giving it a look?" he asks with a wink.

You let out a faux gasp, smacking his shoulder playfully, "If you want more kisses, all you have to do is ask! And besides, I'll make sure to give you lots of them when we get back."

He smiles widely, leaning closer to whisper in your ear, "Well, I'll make sure you stay true to your word on that."

The two of you giggle as you finally walk back out into the outdoors, where the cold air greets you before anything else could. You're trying your best not to shiver, mainly out of knowing it might ignite a second wave of Draco's lecturing. Not that he'd notice, really, he's far too busy staring at that pretty smile of yours and how much he wants to capture it with the matching one on his face.

And he almost would have if you didn't snap him out of his thoughts, reaching for a specific book and pulling it out for him to see. It didn't take much to figure out what you were doing, so he grabbed a book of his own before you both exchanged the two items.

"How did you know what I'd like?" you ask him, gazing at the hardback under your fingers, feeling the texture you've become familiar with against your skin. But when Draco doesn't respond, you take a glance at him with a raised brow.

"Romance?" he blinks in confusion a few times, struggling to hide the surprise at your choice of what was, frankly, not his cup of tea. He's not entirely sure on what to say, so you fill in the silence for him.

"I know it doesn't suit your tastes, but I thought it would be nice to get you something I like instead. Kind of like showing you a part of me that you'll only understand through things like books."

He looks between you and the book, processing the explanation that you gave him. Until finally, his signature smile is back on his face and he says, "I won't promise that I'll like it."

In moments like these, it was easy to read between the lines, when Draco showed his love through actions much more than words. "I won't promise that I'll like it" rather meant "I'm willing to give it a shot only because it means something to you" and it held a larger amount of affection than he let on.

"What?" Draco asks, noticing the stupid lovesick grin decorating your face.

"Oh, nothing. You're adorable."

He raises a challenging brow to match his response, "I think either menacing or charming is far more suitable. Adorable is far off the list." but you still notice the blush on his cheeks. It's not that hard to miss, honestly, with the color of his skin.

"I stand by my statement."

Draco nearly snorts at this, already thinking of an alternative counter argument. One quickly comes to mind, "Try telling that to someone like Weasley. Bet he'd puke before he could even begin proving you wrong."

You roll your eyes, "Well, he's not the one you're snogging or taking on bookshop dates, is he?"

Draco sucks in a sharp breath, stuck between finding it useless to continue the disagreement while also grimacing at the sudden image of him snogging Ron Weasley, likely a potential nightmare fuel to haunt him in his sleep.

"Please never mention that thought ever again," he begs you before switching the conversation to a lighter topic. "Where would you like to head to now, my dear?"

You already have an idea in mind, and you have the feeling Draco would like it just as much.

• • •

And like it he does, although that word is nowhere close to describing the fondness he feels in the moment; having you tucked in between his legs with your back against his chest, the both of you hidden in a spot beside the Black Lake where no one would be around to disrupt.

You melt into him, feeling every intake of air that enters his respiratory, eliciting the soft rise and fall of his chest. You feel every thud of his heartbeat against your skin and every single vibration of his occasional humming.

His free hand is wrapped around your waist to pull you closer into him, where his thumb is absentmindedly rubbing your skin every now and then. It all turned reading into a nearly impossible task, which was a first for someone like you.

"How's the book?" you ask him in hopes of a distraction— which you earn far too easily. Instead of the book in your hands, you're now fixated on the way Draco's lids flutter when he blinks at you, and the way he licks his lips that have gone dry from the crisp air.

"Underwhelming," he begins. "These two idiots are clearly in love, and it would've all been over by the first chapter if either of them made a move."

Draco had thought that this comment was enough to make you attempt reasoning with him; to defend the fiction novel he was reading. What he did not expect, however, was to hear you giggle, bright and clear as day.

He looks at you in confusion, hoping to get handed an explanation.

"You do realize that's exactly how we were back then?" you utter, looking into his grey eyes once again. Both of you take a moment to recall the memory, smiling silently at the image of two clueless lovesick idiots wondering if the other liked them just as much.

"Hm, I suppose if you put it that way." Draco finally affirms. His fingers begin reaching for yours, where both meet in a loving entanglement. "Honestly, (y/n), how was I supposed to know you fancied me when all you did was bloody look away?"

"That's only because I was too nervous to look at you!" you huff out. "I'm beginning to think I should get you more of those romance novels."

You don't hear a reply, but you feel the smile in his lips as he presses soft wet kisses into your skin, followed by the hot breaths that are a contrast to the freezing air. Draco notices this fact from the tiny shivers of your body, and he begins to pull away gently.

"Come now, love, we should head back inside before it gets too cold."

You pout at his offer; enjoying yourself in the current activity far too much, even if you've left the reading part of it unattended. Having Draco's arms around you with your fingers laced together was all that mattered.

Your lover frowns at your reaction, wishing you weren't so stubborn when the cold is biting your skin, but he makes sure to vocalize a second offer; one he knows you wouldn't refuse, "I could read to you in my room if you'd like."

And that's all it takes for you to beam an appreciative grin at him.

"And someone would have to warm up that body of yours. Can't exactly do that out here," he adds, referring to the darkening sky and the decreasing temperature enveloping your bodies. But you seemed to have misread his statement, or perhaps you were purposefully trying to tease him. Either way, a smirk was sitting on your expression that didn't go unnoticed.

"Not in that way, love," he drawls out, letting out a small laugh that vibrates into your skin. "Unless that's what you'd like?"

Your hand immediately comes into contact with his chest in the form of a playful smack, although you can't hide the amused smile on your face. In turn, Draco dramatically gasps out, "I've been wounded!"

For a moment, all that exists is the sound of your laughter coming together like a muddled up choir and the feeling of fingers wrapped together. When the laughter dies down, and you're finally brought back into the present, you pull Draco into a warm hug. You savor the scent of his familiar cologne and the sound of his thudding heart, wishing you could stay that way for the slightest bit longer.

Although it takes a few seconds for him to wrap his own hands around your frame, when he does, it feels nothing short of perfect. His head rests in the junction between your neck and shoulder, where you can feel each of his warm breaths stroke against your skin.

"We should go on these bookdates more often," he suggests, and with the happiest smile you tell him, "I'm not against that idea."

draco taglist — @arossebyanyothername @kawaii-angelanne @thefandomplace @yuosmi @bbeauttyybbx @mywellspringoflife @slytherinsunrise @avatarbeeb @scarlet-says-hi @lunars

[valwrite]

the bella-vista avenue book club; daveed diggs

masterlist

summary: if only she’d double checked her Amazon shopping cart, Y/N L/N wouldn’t find herself torn between what book to give her hot neighbor next.

warnings: fluff, cheesiness, a slither of smut, mentions of a car accident, cooper is a basic dog name, i know but stfu about it.

fic style: oneshot.

word count: 6455.

author’s note: this fic took way too long to write, bye. no but for real, i’ve been back in uni for one month and so far i’ve: done way too many assignments; had more breakdowns than a disney child star; had a covid scare; and spontaneously dyed my hair dark blue/green at 4am instead of finishing an essay. we’re doing well, folks :)

It took exactly twenty one days for the loneliness to kick in.

On the day the lockdown was first announced, Y/N L/N felt the most confusing sentiment of relief and fear blended together. She'd spent just about the whole day in the meeting from Hell, during which three people had stormed out of after countless shouting matches had broken out and her boss had blatantly fired one of the guys from her department, right in front of everyone. When she did eventually get out of said meeting- a whole two hours later than her usual work days ended -, she was struggling with an impending migraine, threatening to blur her eyesight the whole drive home. She arrived home safely that evening, by the force of some miracle, only to find countless texts from relatives and friends alike, detailing the quarantine announcement and all the rules that came with it. Though concerned over the state of the world battling against the rapidly spreading virus, Y/N was just glad there would be no meetings for a while.

Quarantine was exciting at first. In the normal day-to-day life she lead, Y/N often found herself falling short on time to do things she truly enjoyed. There was just always one more task needing done at work; one more errand to complete; one more mile to run. By the time she stepped into her home come the end of the day, her eyelids were always battling to stay opened. So, it was very fair to say that the sudden infinite amount of free time had her feeling rather excited.

Day two and she'd already set herself a list of goals to spend all this time on, a chance to do all the things her schedule got in the way of. Of course, with the situation at hand, all these goals were modified to be achievable from within the confines of her home. The first goal she achieved was knitting a sweater. Granted, it was a mess she'd ended up trying to turn into a dog sweater only to watch as her fur-baby, Cooper, chewed it into rags.

There was no goal on the list to be good at all those goals.

In the following weeks, Y/N found herself trying her hand at pottery - she both made and broke a mug -, baking - the first cake burned but the second she made was actually pretty edible -, guitar playing - it really was just like riding a bike: one never really forgets how to do it - and many other hobbies. In between finding her artistic calling in life, it seemed family quiz nights became the norm.

But twenty one days, that's when she finally took notice of just how lonely living had become for her. A full twenty one days of not having made eye contact with anyone outside of a screen or who happened to not own four paws and a tail.

The loneliness wasn't unique to her, she was very aware. But she was stuck quarantining in a house all by herself, hours away from any of her family and she knew it was going to be a fair while before she even spoke with someone face to face. Much longer than most people. She was still at the point where even bringing up the thought of going to the store- with a trusted mask on, of course - would send her mother into a spiral of worse case scenarios and her father would be threatening to call her doctor.

As neurotic as the two could be about her health, Y/N completely understood their reactions. Things had never really been the same since her accident, even with the years gone by.

She was sat on her sofa- well, actually, sat on her floor, with her back against the sofa - when the door bell rang. She was up at lighting speed, bounding her way over to the front of the house before peaking a look through the peep hole and finding no one there. Unfazed by this, she unlocked the door and pulled it open to unveil a package at her doorstep, the ever familiar Amazon logo splashed across it. In the past few weeks, the delivery service and her bank account had become well acquainted, with most of her new found hobbies being aided by it.

In a matter of seconds, she'd picked up the package, shut the door and made her way into her kitchen, a drawer being pulled open as she dug through it for a pair of scissors. The package was ripped up and there she found a sight she wasn't awaiting, her eyes widening ever so slightly and a "Huh." noise escaping her.

There, laying on the remaining cardboard package, sat a hardback copy of A Tale Of Two Cities. And right next to it sat an identical copy, both of them staring up at Y/N.

“This can't be right, right?” She proposed the question down at Cooper, who'd at some point sauntered in to the kitchen and sat down at her feet, his tail wagging lazily upon being spoken to.

Sure enough, when she checked her receipt online, there was only one copy on the list. She wondered if it was perhaps a “buy one, get one free” kind of deal but quickly found no evidence to back up her hypothesis.

Thinking of what the right thing to do would be, Y/N on instinct began to investigate how she could possibly return the additional book they'd sent to her. As she came to the realization that it would entail her having to return both books and, then, waiting once again for a copy to be sent to her, she changed her mind instantly. A few other solutions came to mind: she could mail it to her sister-in-law, she was just as much of a book worm as Y/N; or she could keep it until the next time she needs a birthday present for someone; or she could just keep both of the copies, even if it felt a little wasteful.

It was only later on that very evening, as Y/N chopped away at some onions and was struggling to contain her tears- she had a spoon in her mouth because her mother swore it stopped you from crying, spoiler: it did not -, that the perfect idea struck.

In the corner of her eye she spotted him, strolling about his own kitchen. He hadn't lived next door for very long, he'd only moved in at the very start of the year, if she remembered correctly. And though they had never really spoken or interacted- polite waves and stiff smiles when spotting one another either leaving or arriving home wasn't exactly very conversational after all-, Y/N couldn't help but decide he was going to be the honorary recipient of the book. After all, what was the worst that could happen? Well, he could use the book to keep his fireplace alight, but Y/N was more eager to just think optimistically about it.

With her mind firmly made up, she neatly wrapped the book in some stray wrapping paper she'd found in her junk drawer and tied a neat, makeshift bow around it. His doorstep was only a couple feet from her own and it wasn't long till she was stood right in front of it, finger hovering over the doorbell as she wrestled with the thought off handing the present directly to him. She recalled one night, where her bedroom curtains had been wide open to let in the moonlight, and he'd walked past his own bedroom window, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. The image of water dripping down those defined abs made her mind up and she placed the wrapped book next to his door, the little note she'd written taped on to it carefully.

Happy housewarming! I hope you're taking care during these trying time! - Y/N, your neighbor from door 27. p.s. Cooper (the German Shepherd) says sorry for peeing in your flowers :(

A few days later, as Y/N and Cooper arrived home from their daily walk, a mysterious package sat on the doorstep. What made it mysterious was the fact it wasn't from Amazon, nor from her local grocery store either. Cooper possessed no hesitation and dashed over to investigate, his tail beginning to wag as Y/N approached the front door.

“What is it, Coops?” She crouched down, her hand rubbing over the top of his head as his tongue dangled out of his mouth. There was a small piece of paper stuck on the package and, at first, she wondered if perhaps her attempt at a kind gesture had backfired and the hot neighbor had just dropped it back off. Then, she read the note. “Housewarming? Took you a while. This Dickens guy's good, hope he finally get's some popularity soon. - Daveed, your neighbor from door 28.” A smile crept onto her face as she learnt his name. It felt nice on her lips. His calligraphy skills only made the name look prettier. “P.S. check this book out, author is a real hidden gem. P.S.S. tell Cooper it's chill, I got my revenge and peed in his flowers.”

It was there on her doorstep, with a thin layer of sweat decorating her face and a tired out dog at her feet, that Y/N upgraded Daveed from hot neighbor to hot and funny neighbor.

It was almost like an otherworldly sign when Y/N stumbled over a chew toy the next day, her whole body slamming right into her bookcase and out from it fell a book, smacking her right on her head to add yet another bruise on to her list. Her mother had always joked that she bruised easier than a peach, partially on account of her incapability to walk five paces without stumbling over air or slipping on dry ground.

She let out a groan, her hand rubbing at the spot the book hit her and she reached down to grab her attacker- which lay face down - off of the floor. The cover turned out to be that of The Great Gatsby and the sudden urge to wrap it up, attach a note and drop it over at Daveed's doorstep became overwhelming. It still felt so personal to know his name.

Was she seriously about to use a book as an excuse to try catch a glimpse of her hot neighbor, who just yesterday was claiming to have peed on her flowers? Yes, yes she was. Because, after all, he was hot. And if society had taught her anything, it was that hot people were excused of everything. Okay, perhaps she was exaggerating just a little bit but it all added up to the same thing: Daveed was hot and she was thirsty.

Maybe quarantine really was beginning to have an effect on her.

A few hours later, Y/N was comfortably snuggled under her blankets in bed, the room illuminated by nothing but her television screen and the streetlights outside. A door opened somewhere, her anxious brain questioning if it was one of her own doors but the sudden laughter she could hear changed her train of thought quickly.

Oh my god, his laugh was music to her ears. And, oh my god, she'd actually made him laugh.

She lay back, wondering which part of her note had made Daveed laugh as consciousness slowly slipped away from her. One house away, her hot and funny neighbor was near mirroring her position in his own bed, his head replaying the note he'd received from the cute girl next door.

Not too sure about this author, he seems to have a fetish for big feet! I'm beginning to question exactly what kind of weird foot erotica you read, Daveed from door 28! -Y/N, your foot hating neighbor. P.S. this guy definitely needs more clout, can't you just picture his writing being used to teach the younger generations? P.S.S. Cooper isn't happy about you peeing in his flowers but he is happy about the treats.

Two days later, in the morning, Y/N was sat at her kitchen island. Her computer lay open in front of her, untouched for the past half hour as she flipped through the pages of her book and sipped away at the smoothie she'd blended up for herself. Cooper lay sound asleep under her seat, the occasional snore coming from the pup. It was those moments in her quarantine that she enjoyed most, just pure tranquility. It took her mind off of the loneliness.

A feeling overcame her, as the hairs on the back of her neck began to rise. It was almost like she could feel someone's eyes on her. She tore her own eyes away from the printed text and checked her surroundings vaguely. It was only when she looked straight ahead, out of the window that she spotted the intrusive stare of his.

They were sat in near parallel, him also sat at his kitchen island with a computer opened, only he had a mug of coffee instead of a smoothie. When their eyes made contact, he grinned at her, waving the book in his hand before pointing at the cover. The Great Gatsby.

He really was reading the book she'd sent over.

Mirroring his actions, she lifted up her own book, the one he'd sent over all those days ago. The Hobbit.

It was short, it was sweet and it was the longest they had ever interacted off paper. Even without verbal communication, so much was said between them both in that small instance. It was a sign that these little book deliveries were appreciated, they both cared enough to read whatever the other sent over.

Maybe it was time to consider Daveed her hot, funny and caring neighbor.

The book exchanges continued onward for weeks.

Daveed sent over a collection of fairy tales by the Grimm brothers, his attached note read: Thanks for putting me onto Fitzgerald, gonna have to see if the school board will let me teach his work in my lectures. Think they might be against it, what ya think? In the meantime, check these indie short stories out. Think Cooper will resonate with the wolf in the Red Ridding Hood story. -Daveed, your literature professor neighbor. P.S. Noticed the Raptors jersey on your washing line, tell your boyfriend the Warrior in me is unimpressed.

To which Y/N replied to with, alongside a copy of Twilight,: Cooper loved the Red Ridding Hood story, but he says you remind him of the grandmother in it. Speaking of wolves, check out this classic example of American literature, the lack of emotions this author puts into her writing is truly astounding. -Y/N, the Raptor next door. P.S. The Raptors jersey is mine, but I'll applaud you for smoothly trying to find out if I have a boyfriend. For the record, I do. He's tall, dark haired and lives in my imagination. P.S.S. Could you ask your girlfriend if she knows any good foundations? I'm thinking of changing mine.

He took less than a day to fire back with a copy of 50 Shades Of Grey: If Cooper is the wolf, and I'm the grandmother, would that make you the girl? I think the romance in this book is quite poignant, it really values the emotional over the physical. - Daveed, your grandmother neighbor. P.S. Not sure about my girlfriend's foundation, seeing as she doesn't exist, but I use L'Oreal. Very creamy, or whatever it is foundation is meant to be like. P.S.S. You looked cute in your paint splattered t-shirt the other day.

Not even an hour later, he opened his door to find a hardback of the Holy Bible and the following: I went into that book expecting a rush of happiness and sweetness, but ended up feeling scared and turned on in the most confusing way. I worry about your taste, Daveed, and that is why I'm recommending this book to you. This will cleanse you of all you've done wrong, my friend. -Y/N, your concerned neighbor. P.S. I'm not the girl, I'm the huntsman. P.S.S. Your dog is so cute, Cooper wants her/his number.

It took 45 days of lockdown for Y/N to finally venture out to her local grocers, tired of ordering food online and desperate for some human contact which didn't have to be separated by a great distance and united by a glass screen and a stable internet connection. She'd felt wrong; out of place; strange the whole time she'd been wandering up and down the aisles of the shop, her mask secured on her face and a near full basket hanging on her arm.

The fact Cooper was at home, holding down the fort for the time being gave her a little comfort.

Despite paying through self-service, and using a contactless card payment, her father's voice was ringing in her ears, scolding her for even taking the risk of stepping outdoors. Naturally, she appreciated his caring tendencies but she liked to consider herself old enough and smart enough to manage her own health problems.

With four bags stacked awkwardly in her arms, she took a few steps away from her car, attempting to peak over her shopping to see just where exactly the gate to her garden was. She could very faintly hear Cooper's excited whining, his paws scratching against the metal gate.

It was the sound of a voice, a very distinct voice, calling out her name that halted her movement and turned her head.

“Let me,” He, Daveed from door 28, paused, his hand clutching at his heaving chest. As her eyes drifted over him briefly, she took note of the trainers, the sweaty running shorts and, most of all, his bare chest, perfectly lined abs scattered along him. “get that for you.”

Before Y/N could so much as protest, Daveed had already snatched all four bags from her arms and was stood holding the gate open for her, a stupidly handsome smile decorating him. Her mask was still firmly held up but she smiled beneath it and done her best to share her gratitude with him.

“You don't need to do that.” Despite her words, she never attempted to take her bags back from him, instead cautiously slipping her way past him into her open garden. Cooper launched his paws up onto her, a bark of excitement escaping him before he licked at her arm and redirected his attention to Daveed. Cooper was still fairly young, not even a year old yet, but he was a fierce dog when it came to guarding his owner from any stranger. So, for Y/N to turn back and find him happily circling Daveed's legs, his favorite toy in his mouth and his tail wagging at lighting speed, it was purely a shock to her system.

And the clearest sign she'd ever seen that Daveed, whether he was a complete stranger to her or not, could be trusted.

“Where should I leave these?” He ignored her protest, effortlessly walking up the path of her garden with the heavy bags secure in his hands. Having him around her, all sweaty and heavy breathing and half dressed was more of a health hazard than her trip to the shops. Y/N began to wonder if it was legal to look so good.

“Uh, just,” She fished through her purse for her door key, avoiding the temptation to peak at his abs again. “on the table over there, if you don't mind.” She nodded her head in the direction of the small table sat out on her front porch and, within a couple seconds, she felt as Daveed brushed past her, so close she swore she could feel the heat radiating off of him.

He done exactly as she requested and lay the bags gently to rest on the table, the muscles in his arms flexing. Y/N had to wonder if this was a purposeful action, a way to tempt and seduce her, as if he needed to try much to succeed at that. She'd more or less been whipped for him the second he delivered his first book to her.

“Are you looking after yourself?” Her parents had asked this every time they spoke on the phone - which was basically a daily occasion - but hearing it from Daveed felt refreshing, as though she'd never heard the words before; as though she'd never been spoken to with such tenderness. She let her eyes meet his face, a dangerous choice when she found a dazzling smile reflected back at her.

“I am.” Was it possible for a smile to be brighter than the sun? “Are you?”

“Yeah. Even started eating kale.” Daveed chuckled and she followed suit, because his laugh was infectious and she would willingly let it consume her. “It tastes like shit, don't get me wrong, but it's gotta count for something, right?”

“Oh, totally, kale-boy.”

“Excuse me, I'd prefer if you called me by what I really am: a kale-man.”

The mask slid down the bridge of her nose as she smiled wider than the Cheshire cat. In her mind, she cursed her heart-eyes behavior but it did nothing to halt it, Daveed simply put her on edge in the best way.

“It was nice to finally hear your voice, it's cuter than I thought.” She wondered if he was aware of the effect he was having on her, if each word and every gesture of his was carefully calculated to make her weak in the knees. “I'll save you from my sweaty smell and head off now, I can hear the shower calling my name.”

The last thing, yet also the best thing, Y/N needed to be envisioning was a water soaked Daveed. “I didn't want to say anything but, yeah, you smell worse than Cooper's breath.”

“There's the attitude from all your notes!” Daveed had at some point stepped closer to her, to the point where it was likely a big enough inhalation of a breath would have their chests touching. He was so tall, and muscular. “I'll see you around, Y/N from door 27.”

For two minutes she stood there, mask slapped across her face and her breath caught in her throat, nothing but the raw memory of his body so close and, yet, so far away from her own. She made her way indoors, finally, in a zombiefied state. Cooper trailed happily behind her through the house and all the way into the kitchen and, like the good pup he was being raised to be, he helped put away a few of the groceries, by greedily grabbing at the packet of dog treats when something else in the bag caught Y/N's attention.

“Thank you for the bible, now may I rebut with a copy of the Torah? The characters might seem similar but I swear it's different. Friend? Was that you officially friendzoning me, Y/N? And to think I was willing to look past the fact you're a raptor.” She mumbled allowed without even noticing, her eyes drifting across the note in her hand. When Daveed had snuck this into her shopping, she didn't know. Perhaps he'd left it earlier on that day and simply scooped it into the bags after carrying them for her. That sure made more sense than her theory of him hiding the book down his running shorts. “P.S. My dog and I share a number, so I guess I'll just have to give you that one. Just tell Cooper no phone calls past ten o'clock, that's her bedtime.”

She'd never thought it would be so easy to achieve her hot neighbor's number, but the crumpled paper in her hand told her differently.

The room was dark. Or maybe her eyes were closed. Y/N honestly didn't know nor care enough to find out which was the truth. No, all she cared about was the feeling of her nerves being lit on fire and simultaneously soothed. As the moments passed, she became more and more aware of the predicament she found herself in. Her head was thrown back on the comfort of someone's pillow- it couldn't be one of her own, it was far too plush and soft -, both her legs were bent up at the knee, her hands were busy grasping on to anything and everything close by (the bed sheets, the headboard, the hair of whoever was currently positioned between her thighs) and her mouth was agape. Hushed moans and whimpers of ecstasy filled the thick air of the room, and they were all coming from her.

The tension was building in her gut, a knot winding itself tighter and tighter all the while threatening to snap at any moment. Her hips started grinding in time with the warm tongue against her heat. Or, maybe, she'd already been grinding before. Nothing was making sense. Up was down, left was right and Y/N was on the brink of the most thrilling orgasm she'd felt in a while, or ever, really.

“You gonna cum for me, baby?”

Her eyes- which apparently had in fact been opened all along-, with heavy eyelids, flickered down to between her legs. The man was certainly a specimen built to the likes of a Greek god, or something deriving from one. His fingers, buried deep within her, coaxed out another moan from her as they curled upwards. Daveed only smiled in satisfaction at this, as if he was getting more pleasure from it than she was.

Daveed.

Holy shit.

Daveed was between her bare legs.

Y/N bolted up and out of bed, hand reaching out and switching on the light. Just as she expected, there was no sign of Daveed in her room: not on her bed, not under her covers, not in her closet. But he was everywhere in her mind. Fully dressed, Y/N had never felt more naked in her entire life as she gazed out of her bedroom balcony door, over at the very window of the man who'd soaked her dream in a haze of steam. 

His light was on.

Worst of all, she found that Daveed was sat at his desk, typing away at something on his opened laptop. As though he felt her intrusive gaze, he looked up from the screen and met her eyes. Due to the distance between them both Y/N couldn't tell for sure but she could have sworn he sucked in his lower lip before releasing it in a teasing smile, his hand lazily waving at her.

With all the shame in the world, she shut her curtains and flopped back on to her bad.

In the span of five minutes she'd dreamed of Daveed doing unspeakable things to her with that mouth of his and been caught peeking into the bedroom of the very same man.

She hadn't phoned him.

She hadn't sent a book over to him.

She hadn't opened her blinds.

He'd been stuck thinking about her for eight days straight, yet it was beginning to feel like she'd been nothing but a creation of his own socially starved brain.

In the grand scheme of things, Daveed was not a narcissist. But he also wasn't an idiot. He was very aware of his own looks, of the lingering stares he'd receive from his students- male and female alike-, of the way soccer moms would shamelessly pay more attention to him than their own sons when he coached the local little league team. And, up until that point, he'd been sure Y/N had been reciprocating whatever feelings he'd amassed for her.

One thing Daveed was is decisive.

Mask pulled across the lower part of his face, he let himself into the gated front yard. In a couple seconds, Cooper had pounced up at him, tail wagging a million miles an hour and tongue lapping away at his face. He chuckled as he lowered the dog safely back onto all four paws.

It only took knocking on the door twice for him to get a “Hold on!” shouted from some part of the house as a response. Relief flooded him at the sound of Y/N's voice, reassuring him that everything was okay. But it only brought on more questions about her sudden lack of communication.

“Hell- Oh, Daveed.” A mask decorated her own face, meaning he was unaware  of the hint of a smile on her lips. All Daveed could see were her widened and tired eyes. “Can I help you?” He'd been stood staring her in silence for a little too long, it seemed.

"You never called.” He'd never sounded more pathetic in his life.

“You noticed.”

“Of course I noticed. Did I do something to make you uncomfortable?”

Apart from appear in one of my wet dreams? “What?! No! I've just been busy and I also didn't want to burden you, if I'm honest.”

“I gave you my number so you'd call me, Y/N.”

“And here I thought it was so our two dogs could kick off their fairy-tale romance.”

“As their parents, don't you think it's our responsibility to get along?” Daveed wanted to ask what had kept her busy for eight days. He wanted to know what she thought about in the morning, in the evening. What she thought about him. About the prospect of there ever being a “them”. But it wasn't the time nor the place. “Promise you'll call.”

“I promise I'll call you, loser.” She laughed behind her mask, leaving him with a longing to see her smile. “Now get lost, I've probably just burnt my omelette because of you.”

Daveed had just closed his front door as he felt his phone begin to buzz in his pocket, an unknown number displayed across the screen.

“You owe me an omelette.” Were the first words he heard as he answered it.

Two months passed. The quarantine rules had loosened and tightened over and over again. The supermarkets had restocked their shelves many times. An entire season had come and gone. And Y/N and Daveed had spoken nearly every single day on the phone.

He'd come to learn a few key things: a health scare had kept her busy those eight days; she was allergic to bullshit and always called him out on his; she loved rose wine, or any wine really; she had the most beautiful mind.

She'd also come to learn some stuff about him: he was a university professor, specifying in classic literature; despite the muscles, he was one heck of a dork; he knew a little too much about the rap industry and was prone to throw himself into tangents about the subject; his voice was even more heavenly in the morning.

“Make yourself something to eat,” Daveed spoke down the line, a twinge of excited demand in his voice. “pour yourself a glass of wine and go up to your bedroom balcony.”

“Ooh, someone's feeling bossy tonight, huh?” Y/N laughed, switching the phone between hands as she pushed herself off of her couch, disturbing a sleeping Cooper. After a few strokes to his head, she began her journey to the kitchen, suppressing a laugh as the tired dog chose to follow her, much like he done all the time. “Am I allowed to ask why I'm doing this?”

“Just do it, before I hang up.”

“I'll add grumpy to list of Daveed Moods tonight.”

With a bowl of heated up leftover pasta, a bottle of red wine and a glass balanced in her hands, and her phone glued between her ear and her shoulder, Y/N found her way up stairs to her bedroom. She was incapable of turning on the lights until she'd put down the items in her hand. It was then, as the lights lit up her room in a warm, golden hue, that she noticed Daveed.

No, not in her room. That would have been completely creepy, and partially arousing.

He was sat out on his own balcony, room lit up behind him, with a dish of unknown food, some wine and a candle lit in front of him. He was dressed casually, yet Y/N still found herself on the cusp of drooling at the sight of him. And when he finally noticed her, Daveed waved with the most shit eating grin on his face.

“Cute onesie. What is it, a bunny?” His tone was friendly, as always, but that never stopped her from groaning in frustration at his teasing.

“Did you call me up here just to criticize my choice of clothing, Diggs? Because I was taking part in an intense Criminal Minds marathon before someone interrupted me.”

“I actually called you to invite you to enjoy the evening with me.” It was a curse and a blessing to be so foul minded, Y/N's instantly flooding her with different meanings to his words. “The sky looked pretty tonight and I need someone to appreciate it with me. Unfortunately, you're the only one who answered my call.”

“I won't hesitate to hang up.”

“Stop talking and sit down, your dinner'll get cold.”

Who knows how much time really passed as the two sat staring out at the other, bellies filled by food and wine, hearts filled with desire and longing. There was a great distance between the two balconies but Y/N couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so close to someone, even before social distancing had become the norm.

“It's crazy, I know. How can we be prepared to teach classes now that the infection rates are higher than back at the start of the year, where we all shut down?” Daveed had brought up the fact he was going back to work soon, a topic which made him a perfect blend of relieved, infuriated and confused. “I give it one semester till they make us go back to online teaching, honestly. What about you? Any signs of getting back to your office?”

“We just got the go ahead last week, we're opening back up in a fortnight.” Her reply was paused by a sip of wine, her second glass of the night. “I say we but I really mean them. My doctor told me I'm not allowed to go back yet, apparently I've got some tests left to do.”

The silence that ensued lasted quite a few minutes, then Daveed sighed down the line.

“Is it alright for me to ask why?” He seemed to regret his words instantly, at least from the limited expressions Y/N could read on his face. “I mean, the doctor thing. Are you sick or...?”

“Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner.” In their months of getting to know each other, there were times she couldn't even open the door to him when he'd deliver some of her mail or drop off a bunch of flowers he'd stolen from a neighboring garden. It was always under the excuse of doctor's orders and he never questioned or doubted her, he just accepted her for everything she said and gave of herself. “I was in a car accident a couple years ago. It wasn't fatal for anyone, thankfully, but it was pretty bad. One of my lungs ended up collapsing.

I pretty much lived in and out of the hospital for months, which almost sucked more than having a lung that was pretty much giving up on me. I don't know if you've ever spent a lot of time in hospital but it's like attending your own funeral. Everyone that visits you has this look of grief, everything they say is apologetic and there are so many tears. Not to mention the fact the place smells like a crime scene with how much bleach cleaning they do. Anyways, I'm okay now but I guess they consider me high risk or something so they're taking extra steps to make sure I'm as safe and as far away from that virus as possible.”

“So, correct me if I'm wrong, but does that mean I won't be able to take you out anytime soon?” Daveed spoke up finally, and boy was she glad that he didn't want to stick on the topic of her hospital stay. It was a dark and sad time, and she didn't want to experience any of that with him.

“Nope, not until I get permission from my doctor.”

“Can't believe I'm getting cock-blocked by some fucking virus.”

A laugh, so loud that Daveed heard it without his phone pressed to his ear, erupted from Y/N. “You'll just have to settle for balcony dates for now.”

“This isn't a date, Y/N.” It was his turn to laugh.

“Oh, sorry.” Clearly, she was worse at reading signs than she'd thought. She'd never felt more foolish in her life.

“When I eventually do take you on a date, there won't be so much space between us.” His words honestly had the chance to make or break her in that moment, her entire soul depended on whatever he said next. “It'll be a night where I take you to the most ridiculously expensive restaurant. We won't really like the food on the menu but we'll stay as part of a principle. You'll be reluctant to let me blow all my money on the bill but I'll get my way eventually. We'll find some excuse or reason to stay out. Maybe we'll find some piano bar, do some dancing, share some drinks. I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about how beautiful you look. We'll still be hungry because dinner was shit, so we'll get some fast food before you let me drive us home. I'll probably hold your hand while I drive. I'll walk you to your front door and, even if I really wish you'd invite me in, I'll be relieved when you don't. I'll try tell you how much I enjoyed our night but I'll probably fumble my words. You'll finally send me on my way but I'll find a way to steal a kiss from you. I'll probably think about your lips until the next date I take you on.”

“The english major really jumped out of you.” Y/N wished she didn't lack the self control to say something normal when a man spoke to her like Daveed did. “But, uh, that sounds really nice. Honestly. Except the bill part. We'll be splitting it or I won't be coming on that date.”

“You're so high maintenance, Y/N from door 27, but I guess that could work.” The eye-roll was audible in his tone. “Speaking of english major, I actually have a book for you to read.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I'll drop it round in the morning.”

“I'll be at the doctors in the morning, sorry.” The wine had rushed to her cheeks, heating them up and making the chill in the air all the more relaxing, lulling her into a half asleep faze.

“Don't worry, I'll leave you a note.”

[nestofstraightlines]

This week in Discworld editions news...

Three Discworld novels have been given variant paperback covers (UK and US market):

At first glance I wasn’t sure but I think these are a really solid design move. The idea, it seems, is to pick out three entry-point Discworld novels and give them an identity which is quite seperate from the rest of the Discworld editions and aren’t bogged down in genre convention, to invite new readers in.

I’ve long thought something of the kind was a good idea for Discworld. There’s so many DW books, all in quite samey-looking covers (at least the traditional Josh Kirby covers) that it can create an inaccurate/unfortunate impression for browsers: that this is all one series of interchangeable books, that the quality probably isn’t very high across such a long and similar-looking set of books.

These editions feature new intros by some cleverly chosen authors. Neil Gaiman introduces the most overtly high-concept fantasy Mort, gritty fantasy-crime writer introduces Guards! Guards! and classy magical-realism-tinged female-ooriented authoor Joanne Harris introduces Wyrd Sisters. Those feel like recommendations which are going to help these books break out of any genre-geek ghetto they’ve fallen into.

Honestly I think the typography is a bit lacking on the covers, making these feel slightly like cheap e-book covers. but the illustrations are nicely done and cleverly conceived, with the running motif of hands demonstrating the core ‘thing’ of the novel. So good job Transworld! I hope these attract some readers who wouldn’t have thought DW was for them to books they’ll come to love.

I also notice that there’s now a Yiddish-language edition of The Colour of Magic, and that Tansy Rayner-Roberts excellent series of essays on the women of Discworld is available now as an e-book:

Meanwhile Randomhouse have completed thir reissuing of the Discworld novels in hardback covers illustrated by the great Joe McLaren.

For context, slightly involved publishing rights issues meant Gollancz had the hardback rights to the first half of the Discworld series (up to Jingo). They began these reissues back in 2013, then they and Randomhouse, who owned the HB rights to the second half of the series, evidently came to come kind of agreement because after a pause the latter continued with the series of new editions.

The Gollancz part of the run featured very consistent and gorgeous with some absolute stand-outs of concept and execution:

The Randomhouse covers somehow never quite reached the same heights, outside of maybe one or two exceptions. I’d say these are the best of the Randomhouse run, and only Thud! and The Truth come up to the highests standards of those above. I might have said Going Postal too but it massively botheres be that the design isn’t centred! And The Fifth Elephant is fab except I’m not sure it nails the colours in the way the Gollancz editins consistently did.

And just generally the standard was less consistent. The above are great, but the run also indluded these:

Like, it doesn’t necessarily read at this size and on screen but these designs/illustration are so much lower in standard than the rest of the run, it makes me wonder what happened and if it was even McLaren on these or if they ran out of time or something and someone had to imitate his style to the best of their abilities?? Making Money doesn’t even have a title treatment that matches the rest - it’s upper/lowercase rather than all-caps and I’m not convinced that’s even the right font! and every other book in the series has the same lockup and placement of Pratchett’s byline but this one splits it across two lines? Ugh.

Night Watch’s is just... eh, not a punchy illustration and a much hastier-looking illustration style than, say, Equal Rites’ treatment of two figures.

As the illustrator remained the same, the only scenarios I can imagine are: a. the Art Director or Senior Designer at Randomhouse just wasn’t as goood or b. they offered McLaren worse terms - less money/time to work on these

Anyway, it’s a shame because while I had to restrain myself from rebuying the entire series I wanted to get all the Watch books and I just don’t want to spend £10 on that edition of Night Watch.

[magickforbohemians]

Cartouche

Information taken from "The Way of Cartouche" by Murry Hope

Cartouche encapsulates those archetypal energies which were known and understood by the ancient Egyptians and embodies them in identities easily recognizable in today's world. Cartouche acts as a bridge between day-to-day things and the transpersonal or Higher Self, which makes it very much a part of the Aquarian Age - the age of individual responsibility. Cartouche is based on ancient Egyptian (or older) knowledge and should not be confused with tarot cards. It consists of 25 cards: Cards 1 to 9 (Osiris, Isis, Horus, Bast, Thoth, Hathor, Nepthys, Ptah and Anubis) represent the major archetypes; cards 11, 12, 13 and 14 the Elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth; and cards 15 to 25 (Sirius, Lotus, Crook & Flail, Uraeus, Winged Disc, The Twins, Sphinx, Scarab, Pyramid, Ankh and Buckle of Isis) relate to more general or mundane energies. Card No 10 is Set, representing all forms of opposition, delays, hindrances and unforeseen problems. Set can indicate one's personal opposition to an idea, to change or to a proposed project.

The ancient Egyptian symbols depicted on the cards capture the essence of the forces or energies that govern the universe. Many believe the Egyptians gained their knowledge of these forces from an even earlier advanced race who, in turn, were instructed by extraterrestrials from the Sirius star system. The symbols, colors and meanings of the cards accord both with the designs found on Egyptian temples, pyramids, tombs and old papyri, and with a secret arcane tradition that has been handed down from century to century.

Each card can be used for meditation, divination, healing or magical or talismanic purposes and, when arrayed in the various layouts, can provide insight and answers to dreams, family or emotional problems, financial or business matters, healing and health, crafts and skills, protection, spiritual seeking, or any of life's many enigmas.

Vibrations are passed subconsciously to the cards when you handle them, so the order in which they fall in a reading is directed by the promptings of your subconscious mind. Normally in life we tend to create a barrier between our conscious and subconscious minds through the overuse of logic. Cartouche will help you to achieve a subtle balance by creating a bridge of contact between your everyday persona and the needs of your inner self.

Egyptian Cartouche Initiations The Initiations into Egyptian symbols brings about a state of heightened awareness and clarity. There are 24 Initiations into the ancient archetypal universal symbols from Egypt and Atlantis which can enhance healing powers and psychic development. Cartouche is the oval in which the hieroglyphs are drawn. The book and cards called "The Way of Cartouche" by Murry Hope does an excellent job of explaining the fundamental symbols.

Origin and Uses of the Cartouche Cards Cartouche is a French word that means oblong box and refers to the shape found around the images of important priests discovered in some ancient Egyptian temples. Murry Hope, an English lady and practitioner of Egyptian magic, using the ancient Egyptian writing system of cartouche and hieroglyphics for self-understanding and awareness invented the Cartouche system in 1983. Hope chose the name Cartouche for the card set because after 30 years of study she felt that "it encapsulates the archetypal and powerful energies known and understood by the ancients and embodies them in identities recognisable in today's world." She and Jed Collard formed Ostaris Publications and published the first 3,000 decks that same year. In 1984, Collard sent some sample cards to St. Martin's Press and they immediately responded with an offer for the worldwide rights to print and distribute them, but wanted Hope to expand the small instruction booklet into a large book which she did. St. Martin's Press then doubled the size of the cards and produced the expanded booklet in a hardback format as "The Way of Cartouche."

The Cartouche deck comprises twenty-five cards each having a number and an image. Ironically 25 is the number of Rune cards in a Runes deck, one might, therefore, liken this to an Egyptian version of a Rune deck. Those cards that portray a god, goddess or element have in addition a set of hieroglyphics, which describe that image and encapsulate its power. The image on each card may have a fixed or mobile nature. For example, Nephthys is a goddess shown on card number seven. She is represented by an image of a cup or container and the ka hieroglyphic (representing the personal life force) appears in the top right hand corner of the card. As Nephthys means psychic receptivity and that which is slightly obscure and fluid she consequently has a mobile nature.

The cards are numbered sequentially from 1 through 25 and each card has either a fixed or a mutable quality corresponding with universal astrology. Each card is presented with a blue border against an almost completely white card, with the exception of two cards, Set and Air. There are scenes or symbols floated in the centre of the card against the white. The title appears underneath in a graphic form that looks like a stone carving. The number is in the upper left corner in a matching format, and in the upper right corner, the hieroglyph for that particular deity/element/symbol.

The first ten cards are representative of various gods and goddesses within the Egyptian pantheon. Each of these cards has several meanings and levels of nuance described in the book as they relate to the Spiritual, Psychological and Material levels of the reading. The god/goddess cards are: 1 - Osiris 2 - Isis 3 - Horus 4 - Bast 5 - Thoth 6 - Hathor 7 - Nephthys 8 - Ptah 9 - Anubis 10 - Set

The next four cards represent the basic elements Fire, Air, Water and Earth and have more scenery drawn on them than the rest of the deck, and are evocative of the elements' affect on the surroundings of both the ancient Egyptians and modern-day man.

The rest of the cards are a mix of various experiences and symbols that the Egyptians might have encountered in their day-to-day life.

15 - Sirius 16 - Lotus 17 - Crook and Flail 18 - Uraeus 19 - Winged Disk 20 - The Twins 21 - Sphinx 22 - Scarab 23 - Pyramid 24 - Ankh 25 - Buckle of Isis

The cards themselves are larger than standard size and printed on a thin, flexible cardstock with smooth edges and rounded corners. They do shuffle and handle easily because of the small number of cards in the deck. The design on the back of the cards is a soft; clay coloured orange with turquoise coloured cartouche markings on it. This design is reversible. In Australia, the set comes with a hardbound book of 208 pages and lists many references, spreads and layouts with divinatory meanings, explanations and keywords for each card, and much more information. Each card is further accompanied by an explanation of the particular hieroglyph that goes with it and the story or legend that it represents.

Uses of Cartouche Cartouche cards may be used for meditation, healing, divination and magical work.

Meditation Meditation on the Cartouche symbols can be rewarding if the type of meditation practised is contemplative meditation. Once the meanings of the symbols are internalised and the myths belonging to the various gods and goddesses are known there will arise in the meditator's mind many images, intuitions and feelings, all of which will convey new insights into the nature of the Cartouche cards.

Healing Cartouche may be used to send healing to others in need or to effect self-healing. Several Cartouche cards carry healing rays, but the three main ones are Horus, which deals specifically with physical complaints such as accidents, fever, viruses and naturally with conditions affecting the eyes; Bast, whose energies are oriented toward mental problems or psychological conditions; and Thoth, which covers the imbalances that cause disease in the first place.

For sending healing to another, select the card that will best fit your friends' needs, place it with an object, photograph or letter that carries his or her vibrations and let the energies do their work. Or, if you feel it would carry more reality for you, meditate upon both the card and your friend and visualise the energies transferring from one to the other.

Some of the other cards also carry energies that are conducive to physical healing: Isis the Comforter; Anubis the Patron of Anesthetics; Ankh the Conveyor of the Life Force; and Sirius the Giver of Strength. It all depends on what produced the sickness in the first place. The answer may not lie in the actual disease, but in an attitude of mind that is causing it to manifest. One of the secrets of good and successful self-healing is to know which cosmic energies you need and how to tune into them. Or, if you prefer the psychological approach, contact those areas of your own brain that can program in good health and help fight disease in a natural way. If you are recovering from an operation, trying to speed up the mending of a broken limb, or fighting off the depressing effects of a bad bout of influenza, Horus is the card to meditate upon.

Worries of a psychological nature, which in themselves frequently give rise to very real physical symptoms, come under Bast. Psychosomatic illnesses are all too frequent these days, so a good meditation on the sistrum, as shown on the Bast card, will help restore mental balance and so ease the physical symptoms caused by stress. People who are attracted to the cat or lion family will also benefit from the feeling of relaxed strength gained from the healing rays of this card. It may be used in conjunction with the Horus card, for it was with good reason that Horus and Bast were considered to be twins by the healer-priests of ancient Egypt; Sound mental and physical health go hand in hand.

Thoth covers all forms of medical help. If you find you have distressing symptoms that your doctor cannot diagnose, concentrate on the symbol on this card. It is the caduceus and it represents balance and harmony that are essential for good health. This is the symbol of the medical profession, and its enlightening rays will fall upon those who are qualified to help you. In other words, the right diagnosis will be made and the right treatment given to you through its help. Of course you can use the Thoth card for self-healing as well but, since it is also the card of karma (which all ties in with the saying "As you sow, so shall yea reap"), Thoth's aid may come as a form of enlightenment as to what you are doing wrong to cause the illness, eg bad habits, incorrect diet, or negative or unkind thoughts that are rebounding on you. By adjusting these you may effect your own healing.

Of course Cartouche does not presume to make a clinical diagnosis, as this is strictly and legally the role of a qualified medical person and rightly so. Cartouche is more concerned with the mind and those mental attitudes that cause the disease initially. Many ailments are actually induced by wrong thinking, so if our negative thoughts are culprits in the first place, positive thoughts can be used to help put matters right. The cards of Thoth, Horus and particularly Bast, if utilised in the meditation and self-healing context can, therefore, aid your doctor in his or her task by helping your mind to play its part in keeping you fit and well.

Divination Divination is the art and science of predicting a course of events. In her book "The Way of Cartouche" Murry Hope outlines two basic methods to use in Cartouche divination: The Horoscope Method and The Star Spread. The former method is also used by Tarot readers and entails asking the enquirer to shuffle the cards and cut them into three piles which are then picked up by the reader and laid out in an anti-clockwise fashion so that twelve consecutive cards form a circle. In the centre of this circle, a thirteenth card is placed. The first twelve cards each correspond with a house of the Zodiac while the thirteenth card gives the tone or atmosphere of the reading. The latter method involves shuffling and cutting the cards as before but this time they are laid out in the form of a five-pointed star or pentagram. The first card represents the situation at hand, the second, considerations for the enquirer, the third, "on the other hand" considerations, the fourth, what the enquirer should do and the fifth, the final outcome.

Magic A popular definition of magic is "The art and science of making changes in conformity with the will". Magical uses of the cards might include protection, attracting the right partner or making more money. Murry Hope suggests in "The Way of Cartouche" that the cards may be used as talismans and that, for example, by simply carrying one of the cards of protection such as Anubis you will be protected from dangers both seen and unseen (one of the meanings of this card is protection at all levels.)

[nightingaleandtheredredrose]

Starting Off the Day

Word Count: 2,451

Characters: Lynette, Silas

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Murder (It’s not very graphic, but just in case)

A/N: This is just a short fic I wrote in order to get a better grasp of my characters’ personalities! I hope to include more of the canon characters of Ozmafia into my writing later on, but for now this focuses more heavily on my OCs w/ brief mentions to some canon characters! I hope you enjoy! (⌒▽⌒)

Lynette

She starts off her day at the dead of night. It sounded odd, but Lynette had a commitment to fulfill at the brothel and she couldn’t be late.

After strapping her daggers to her thighs, Lynette quietly locked her bedroom door behind her and fled across the bookstore’s cobbled floors. She stopped by the coat rack in order to slip on an oversized trench coat.

Before Lynette made it out the door, she glanced back in the direction of the private chambers of the store. Surely Silas would still be fast asleep by now, so she didn’t feel the need to wake him just to tell him she was going out. Lynette thought about leaving him a note, but decided against this as well. He would be able to figure out where she had gone; he was a smart boy after all.

Lynette gave a sheepish smile as she turned the knob to the front door. “Sorry, Silas. Guess you’ll have to start off the morning without me.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lynette hated this.

Her vacant expression belied any emotion she was feeling as she drove her dagger through her victim’s heart one last time. He had stopped struggling a while ago (and stopped breathing a few moments after that), but she had to make sure he was dead. Dorian wouldn’t hesitate to punish her if Lynette let another prostitute escape the room.

A chill ran down her spine as she remembered how dark Dorian’s usually amused gaze had become when he received news of a bloody, half-dead prostitute limping their way through the mansion, hoarsely calling for someone, anyone, to help them. Manboy had intervened and finished him off himself, but that didn’t save Lynette from the punishment that was to come. Dorian didn’t allow her to return to her bookstore for a week, giving her one ridiculously tedious task after another in order to keep her within the establishment. It was her first offense, so the punishment wasn’t as harsh as Dorian initially made it seem, but Lynette didn’t want to take any chances of receiving a second strike. She had really worried Silas too, and she didn’t want to upset him anymore than she usually did.

‘This was simply a job,’ was what she tried to convince herself of. Lynette kept a firm grip on her knife handle, watching her victim’s blood seep through the spaces of her fingers with darkened eyes. She was being pathetic. Lynette was a hitwoman, a cold-hearted murderer, it was a simple as that. She wasn’t allowed to get emotional over this; she would just seem like a hypocrite.

Her gaze eventually traveled to her victim’s face. This was a mistake.

This guy… He looked familiar for some reason. Lynette’s brow furrowed, trying to remember where she had seen him before.

Without warning, one memory flashed after another into her mind. Ah, yes. He was at the bar that one day, laughing and chatting with friends as business ran slow at the brothel. This was also the boy who always tried cheesy movements to flirt with the customers. Some of the other workers would roll their eyes whenever he dramatically dropped to one knee to kiss a woman’s hand, but Lynette had found it cute. He had visited her at the bookstore on one of his off days as well, his eyes shining in wonder when he saw the giant oak tree that was situated in the center of the library. He comically raised his head to take in the whole sight, the tree having grown through the ceiling and out into the open air. The boy had told her he had never seen anything so magnificent. He had introduced himself… His name was…

William.

Lynette felt something warm roll off her cheeks. It took her a couple seconds more to realize she was crying. She had crossed a line she wasn’t supposed to in this job; she had humanized her victim and the overwhelming sense of guilt she felt from this caused a dam to burst. Lynette lowered her head a little lower as she attempted to force her tears to stop. He was so young. If only he hadn’t gotten sick… If only…

But if he had lived he would have continued to work at the brothel. He would have remained a bird stuck within this filthy cage. Was death any better than such a fate? No. Lynette shook her head and tried to regain her composure. She was just making excuses to quell her shaking conscience.

Regardless of what it was, Lynette withdrew her knife and stood up. She didn’t have any right to say this, but she couldn’t help but murmur, “I’m sorry, William. I’m so, so sorry.”

Silas

He started off his day wondering where the hell Lynette could have possibly went. The girl had an irritating habit of not leaving any kind of notice of her leave. She had told him before that he was smart enough to figure it out, but sometimes it was hard to tell.

One day, for example, Silas thought Lynette had just gone out for some grocery shopping, noticing that there was no food in the fridge as he chugged his morning milk. He was sorely mistaken. Later in the evening, Lynette stumbled into the bookstore with a weary smile, a cut on her cheek, and dirt spattered clothing. She had helped a farmer wrangle up some escaped chickens, and it took longer than expected. Silas then asked if she had at least gotten groceries while she was out, and he received a blank look in response. They didn’t eat dinner that night.

As Silas passed by the coat rack to flip the store’s sign to “open”, he noticed that the trench coat was missing. He grimaced. Lynette only took that coat whenever she went to her job at the salon, explaining that she wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Although, if he were being honest, the sight of the small girl wrapped in a large trench coat waddling up the steps of the mansion was one of the most suspicious things he had ever seen.

But Silas wasn’t one to judge. Really, it wasn’t as if he could either. The two had an unspoken agreement between each other. As long as Lynette didn’t ask about his past then Silas wouldn’t try to figure out what her job at the salon actually was. It was as simple as that, and Silas preferred it that way.

He made his way to Lynette’s bedroom and pulled a spare key from the pot of a fern next to her door. He never quite understood why she was insistent on locking it whenever she left the store, even going as far as to hide the key in a different place every week. He just chalked it up to her reading too many mysteries involving robberies in the past month, spotting a stack of these books on the stand near her bed. Lynette was easily influenced by her surroundings after all.

Silas shook his head disapprovingly as he pulled out the top drawer of her stand. “Miss Lynette would be crap at anything that involves suppressing her emotions,” he muttered to himself. “Ah. Found it.”

He withdrew a book from the messy drawer. It had no illustrations nor writing on its covers, but the words, “A Shot in the Dark” were written in gold along the binding. This dark green hardback appeared like nothing special; it was near identical with dozens upon dozens of books in the store.

But things aren’t always what they seem.

Silas opened the book (ignoring the sticky note Lynette had attached to the front cover; “STOP STEALING THIS BOOK, SILAS. DAMMIT, JUST ASK.”) and took out the shotgun that had been stored within a deep cutout of the book’s pages, checking to see if it was loaded.

Lynette had told him that there was no need for him to carry weapons inside the store because she believed she could defend the both of them “easy peasy”.

But since she was gone for the day… Silas placed the gun back into the book, closed it, and casually tucked it under one arm as he headed over to the register.

Just to be safe.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Business was slow today. He folded his arms upon the counter and laid down his head, releasing a heavy sigh.

The only eventful thing that’s happened this morning was Silas having to chase Ande off with a broom. The don had been banned from the bookstore ever since she had accidentally dropped a flaming match near one of the book towers during a “trial demonstration”.

Well, that and the incident where Ande knocked several people off of the bookshelf ladders while running through the store, but the match thing was what really set them off.

Silas raised his head to glance at the front door for any potential customers. His gaze lingered at the doorway before slowly shifting to the coat rack that was next to it. The absence of the trench coat moved him to think of Lynette.

Sure, she could be annoying as hell and would sometimes never shut up about one thing or another, but he kind of… missed that noise. No matter what she talked about, she always spoke with purpose and with an unfaltering smile on her face.

Silas laid his head down once more, hearing the monotonous ticking of the store’s clock. He stamped his foot twice in frustration. He would have traded the constant ticking of that damn clock for that annoying bird’s chirping anyday.

At the End of the Day

Lynette stood outside the door of her bookstore with the sun setting behind her. She took an exaggeratedly large breath and let it out. Then she slapped her cheeks twice. Ok! Back to normal life! She had to be all smiles! All smiles!

She caught sight of her reflection on the glass of the door and cringed at how abnormally large her grin was. Ok… Take a step back. We’re not trying to be like Silas here.

After making a series of faces at the door glass, Lynette decided on what she hoped was the most natural looking smile before reaching for the knob.

Much to her surprise, the door swung open, seemingly of its own accord. Lynette jumped back, and her hands shot instinctively to her daggers. She let her hands drop as soon as she recognized the person in front of her. “Hey, Silas! How’s it going?” Lynette cheerily asked.

Silas raised an eyebrow and replied, “Miss Lynette, you do realize that the doors are made out of regular two-way glass? What were you trying to accomplish by making all of those grotesque faces outside the store?”

Lynette sheepishly laughed, sidestepping past him in order to make her way back into the bookstore. “Practicing my smile? You should try it sometime, Silas. Your customer service smile still scares off the elderly.” She heard a sigh from behind her as well as the ringing of a small bell as Silas shut the door.

“I don’t think Miss Heidi counts as the elderly, Miss Lynette,” reminded Silas, still a bit haunted by the incident.

Lynette shrugged and snatched a donut from a plate Silas had set out on the counter. “I mean, all of the members of the ruling class have been alive for hundreds of years, so wouldn’t we count as the elderly?”

“Well… Not exactly-”

“Ah! That’s right! How were sales today? Sorry I couldn’t help out; that bastard Dorian Gray had more than one thing for me to do at that hell of a brot- I mean, salon.”

“Sales were-”

“Ooooo! Are those the books we ordered last week? Damn, and here I thought they were never going to arrive!”

As Lynette ran over to the stack of boxes in the corner, Silas was left to helplessly follow after her. It was tiring seeing how flighty she could become sometimes, but he more or less learned how to put up with it over the years.

If she talked for a long enough time, Lynette’s speech will start to slow down with pauses just lengthy enough to squeeze in a word or two in response. On the other hand, if Lynette entered non-stop talk mode, it would be wisest to just shut up altogether.

Watching Lynette fawn over the new books, Silas took advantage of this rare moment of silence to speak. “Sales were fairly slow today, so I had no trouble managing the store by myself,” he reported.

Lynette nodded, humming in thought. “Well, it is a weekday, so that’s to be expected. Glad you didn’t need an extra hand though. Anything exciting happen today?”

“I had to chase Miss Ande away from the store.”

“Did you use the broom?”

“As you requested, yes.”

“Good. That has more reach than the feather duster we used before.”

“Why did we even begin with that in the first place?” muttered Silas, more to himself than anyone else.

Regardless, Lynette heard him and shrugged once more. “I’m used to close combat, so I kind of, y’know, thought of the duster as a dagger when fending her off. However, you’re more used to long distance weapons of which would include-” Lynette formed a gun with her thumb and index finger and turned it on Silas. “The gun that I specifically told you to stop stealing from my bedside table. Bang, bang.”

Silas immediately placed his hands over his heart and responded in a deadpan voice, “Ah. You got me, Miss Lynette. Caught me red-handed.”

Although she couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not, Lynette always appreciated whenever he played along with her bad jokes. She grinned and stretched her arms over her head. “Aaaa~! It’s good to be back at the bookstore!” she exclaimed as she walked towards the kitchen. “Come on, Silas! I’ll cook you something to make up for abandoning you this morning!”

He answered her with an “okay”, but hung back for a bit, casting a glance at the trench coat that was hastily tossed back onto the rack and at the empty plate Lynette had stolen from. Messy as always.

Despite this, Silas couldn’t help but feel as if the very atmosphere within the bookstore changes whenever Lynette returns from an outing. It was as if the store itself had sprung to life, every molecule within the building straining to greet her hello. Even the ticking of the clock had faded to the background, Lynette’s absent minded singing drowning out the sound and echoing all around.

He smiled. The bookstore began to feel like home again.

A/N: On another note, HBD to my Oak Tree son, Silas! (I chose June 21 for him b/c I learned that oak trees are associated w/ the summer solstice and just kinda went: “Eh, why not?”)

[kiarazuri]

Cover Appreciation: The Moonlit Lands Series by Zoë Marriott

Trained in the magical art of shadow-weaving, sixteen-year-old Suzume is able to recreate herself in any form - a fabulous gift for a girl desperate to escape her past. But who is she really? Is she a girl of noble birth living under the tyranny of her mother's new husband, Lord Terayama, or a lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama's kitchens, or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Whatever her true identity, Suzume is destined to capture the heart of a prince - and determined to use his power to destroy Terayama. And nothing will stop her, not even love.

(Shadows on the Moon, Goodreads)

I love these covers. These are technically the same series but they’re companion novels instead of a duology and their only connection is that they take place in the same land so they don’t have to be perfectly synchronized. But I’m so glad they are. (The more cover appreciation posts I do, the more I realize I have some very specific hangups about covers)

Matching text formation (the slight difference in placement bothers me but I love that everything else about the text is in sync. I think if the placement was identical then the different colors wouldn’t bother me. The text colors make sense for the book’s contents tho so I’m not exactly mad about it)

Also, I like that Shadow’s title is very clean with exact edges while Barefoot’s got some sweeping ends like wind. It fits with the narratives of each book.

They each have 3 specific colors with the base color being the same (black) plus 1 bonus accent color on each; the red blood on Shadow and the green eyes on Barefoot.

Each cover has about 4 specific objects/items that they stick with and revolve around

The twirling vines + hair compliment each other

The butterflies + moths + flower petals compliment the flowers +

The placement of the tiger’s eyes matches the placement of the top two hair ornaments, specifically the gold pin, on Shadow

Similar glitter and snow overlay

In addition to all that, neither of these covers are flat. They have nice depth and the text is worked in really well with the backgrounds, interweaving with the hair strands, vines, and objects/animals in strategic ways that work well and aren’t overdone.

I really like these covers, alright. (I have both these books and they’re beautiful in person too) They satisfy something inside me that says things need to be in-sync. (While I’m add it, I want to tell everyone that the backs of Shadows bothers me.)

In person the back cover text being lefted is just . . . So Weird. I do like that the hair moves to the back (though the fact the spine doesn’t match up is incredibly annoying, although I understand not wanting the flower on the cover to overflow onto the spine), I just wish the text was centered.

Meanwhile, Barefoot’s back is centered and looks much nicer.

As far as I’m aware, up until now the covers I’ve chosen for these Cover Appreciation posts have all been the original series covers. That’s not the case here as this isn’t the original cover for Shadows on the Moon. So far this has been the only cover change I’ve encountered since starting these posts where I like the changed cover more than the originals.

I do like that the original covers for Shadows on the Moon had Asian models - below are the Paperback and Hardback, which had different covers - but the above covers give them the fantastical feel that the covers below are missing.

The first one with the woman’s face and white flowers feel more contemporary fantasy while the second . . . it looks like it’s supposed to be horror or suspense and not a fantasy love story? (I DNFed this book at about 65% (tho I did read the epilogue) so I know enough to know that these feel wrong when paired with the narrative).

Of the two, the first one is definitely in the right wheel house but it’s missing the really over the top beauty the book’s trying to paint. I think if it was less misty and more vibrant in color that the original cover would’ve been amazing. I think Barefoot on the Wind’s cover is perfect and appreciate that they gave Shadow a new cover to match it but I wish they could’ve kept an Asian model (they have a tiger, but not a woman’s face?)

(Side Note: I wish they’d have kept the “brightest illusions” tagline from the original cover, the “This Cinderella doesn’t crave love” line is . . . uh, horrible.)

That’s it for today! See ya’ll next time!

- Kiara

@tcstu @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales

[raximkoron]

Man, I've apparently been lazy recently. A lot of these I've had for quite a while but haven't tossed up here. Enough that this will have to be split into 2 pieces.

The Longest 5 Minutes - Switch game. It's using NISA's more robust box construction which is great. Also comes with some pins of the characters and the soundtrack.  It's in my backlog, so I can't really speak to the game that much.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 - Woohoo, the first game was pretty fun. This also, uses the more robust box from NISA. This came with a hardcover art book, soundtrack, 2 sets of pins. Also comes with a Hundred Knight stress foam ball externally, and I got the rubber strap set that was sold separately. Yet again, this is in my backlog, so I haven't played much yet.

Oddword: Munch's Odyssey - Another LRG release. This guy has a very interesting box that opens from the middle. The can isn't pictured as I honestly can't figure out how to get it out without damaging the container box. Anyway, it comes with said can, soundtrack, poster, art cards and the LRG card.

Gal*Gun 2 - I was looking forward to this game… having to order it from the UK made it fairly expensive, but at least it exists. Comes with an artbook, soundtrack, set of pins, Mr. Happiness plush and… I think it's a cloth case for the Switch if I remember right. Sadly, I'm not having a ton of fun with this one. I liked the rail-shooter nature of the first one. This one is almost always stationary. I'll probably get through it, but I've picked it up a couple times and haven't continued yet. Yet again, Rice screwed up something with the printing. This time, it wasn't quite as egregious as labeling it E for Everyone, but the inside print accidentally used the inside asset for Wild Guns from Natsume.

Megadimension Neptunia VIIR - I've put off playing this since I did play through VII on PS4 and PC. I know it adds some things (and I do have a PSVR for those waifu scenes) but I can't bring myself to play through it again yet. Probably because I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Re;Birth 1-3. Anyway, comes with a hardback artbook, a case insert, skin for a DS4 controller and a Nepgeardam plush.

Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero UE - I already own this and all the DLC on the Vita. It's a fantastic game, but wanted it for the Switch as well. It also comes with the artbook which I thought was initially only intended for Kickstarter backers (which I wasn't one of). The artbook's great, I didn't bother to open the soundtrack as it's identical to the Vita version I already have, and an instruction manual case insert.

Nurse Love Addiction - Another LRG release for the Vita. It's a VN and by the artwork, I'm guessing it's Yuri, unless it's all first person. I'm perfectly OK with that. The box is fairly robust and has a magnet latch to keep it closed (like Summon Night 6 and Fate/Extella). Inside contains the soundtrack, art cards, sheet of stickers and 5 printed band-aids. Eventually I'll get around to playing a lot of these VNs.

Sir Eats-a-Lot - Another Eastasiasoft release through Play-Asia. The box is in their normal size with the cellophane dust cover (I wish ALL LE's came with something like that. It's dusty here in CO). This comes with an artbook, soundtrack, numbered card (matches number on box), sticker and has a sticker book as a case insert. I've played a bit of this and it's not bad, but feel like the touchscreen additions are mayhaps a bit tacked on or unnecessary… and makes some jumps quite difficult.

Muv-Luv Complete - Well, I did expect this to be a bit more than it was. It's essentially both games (Muv-Luv & Muv-Luv Alternative) with 6 art cards and a cardstock box that (barely) fits the 2 games together and nowhere for the art cards. Glad to have the games, but man, this was damned expensive to have shipped state-side when I could have just got the games domestically.

[lukasidio649-blog]

You Will Thank Us - 10 Tips About Paralegal Services You Need To Know

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a solicitors or law firm in the UK what are the best resources to use and which resources can be trusted in terms of reviews and rankings that they give to a law firm.

There are three main legal directories in the UK that have long a distinguished history of rating and reviewing law firms. The three main players are The Legal 500, Chambers and The Lawyer. I will examine each one of these sites in more detail.

The Legal 500

The Legal 500 website and matching printed directory are the flagship products of Legalese Publishing who were formed in 1987. The Legal 500 was the first was the first UK website that provided reviews of large firms and it is currently the largest site of its type.

Legalese was founded by John Pritchard and he still edits and publishes the directory. Although it initial started as a directory of UK legal services the Legal 500 series now covers most regions in the world.

A firms listing in the directory covers areas of specialism and their position in their region or location. The Legal 500 listing also includes information on key individuals and a firm profile. The Legal 500 is seen as the most authoritative of the legal directories in the UK due to the in depth nature of the research it carries out and the length of time it has been established.

The legal 500 can be viewed on the internet, in a hardback book form an as an ebook.

Chambers

Chambers was established in 1990 and currently employs 140 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide. The legal directory covers a wide range of practice areas and locations within the UK and abroad. They also publish the UK Bar Guide for barristers and barrister chambers and a UK Student Guide that looks at law firms from the view point of those what a career in law.

Lawyers and law firms are ranked in Bands from 1-6 and these rankings are based on a number of criteria including technical legal ability, professional conduct and client service.

Chambers and Partners is avalible as a hardback book, via their website and as an e-book.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is the leading magazine in the UK for solicitors, lawyers and other members of the legal profession. It has first published in 1981 and is owned by Centaur Media who also own Marketing Week and The Creative Review. The magazine and website cover a wide range of legal news stories, briefings and legal jobs. Unlike both The Legal 500 and Chambers the law firm reviews are not the primary function of the lawyer. That is not to say that the reviews do not carry weight and value. The reviews in the lawyer tend to focus on the profit and turnover of the firm with less in depth analysis of the type carried out by The Legal 500 and Chambers. There is a neat little tool that allows you to compare law firm turnovers and plots them against each other on a graph.

There are also a number of other ways to check law firm feedback including checking local forums, Google+ pages, sites such as Trip Advisor and Qype. The issue with these sites is that the information is not always verifiable and the identity of the reviewers cannot be checked.

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a law firm then Chambers and The Legal 500 provide the best information in terms of reputation and areas of expertise. If you are a student thinking about working for a firm then the tools on the lawyer can be useful as well.

[josueamur216-blog]

What Zombies Can Teach You About Paralegal Services

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a solicitors or law firm in the UK what are the best resources to use and which resources can be trusted in terms of reviews and rankings that they give to a law firm.

There are three main legal directories in the UK that have long a distinguished history of rating and reviewing law firms. The three main players are The Legal 500, Chambers and The Lawyer. I will examine each one of these sites in more detail.

The Legal 500

The Legal 500 website and matching printed directory are the flagship products of Legalese Publishing who were formed in 1987. The Legal 500 was the first was the first UK website that provided reviews of large firms and it is currently the largest site of its type.

Legalese was founded by John Pritchard and he still edits and publishes the directory. Although it initial started as a directory of UK legal services the Legal 500 series now covers most regions in the world.

A firms listing in the directory covers areas of specialism and their position in their region or location. The Legal 500 listing also includes information on key individuals and a firm profile. The Legal 500 is seen as the most authoritative of the legal directories in the UK due to the in depth nature of the research it carries out and the length of time it has been established.

The legal 500 can be viewed on the internet, in a hardback book form an as an ebook.

Chambers

Chambers was established in 1990 and currently employs 140 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide. The legal directory covers a wide range of practice areas and locations within the UK and abroad. They also publish the UK Bar Guide for barristers and barrister chambers and a UK Student Guide that looks at law firms from the view point of those what a career in law.

Lawyers and law firms are ranked in Bands from 1-6 and these rankings are based on a number of criteria including technical legal ability, professional conduct and client service.

Chambers and Partners is avalible as a hardback book, via their website and as an e-book.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is the leading magazine in the UK for solicitors, lawyers and other members of the legal profession. It has first published in 1981 and is owned by Centaur Media who also own Marketing Week and The Creative Review. The magazine and website cover a wide range of legal news stories, briefings and legal jobs. Unlike both The Legal 500 and Chambers the law firm reviews are not the primary function of the lawyer. That is not to say that the reviews do not carry weight and value. The reviews in the lawyer tend to focus on the profit and turnover of the firm with less in depth analysis of the type carried out by The Legal 500 and Chambers. There is a neat little tool that allows you to compare law firm turnovers and plots them against each other on a graph.

There are also a number of other ways to check law firm feedback including checking local forums, Google+ pages, sites such as Trip Advisor and Qype. The issue with these sites is that the information is not always verifiable and the identity of the reviewers cannot be checked.

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a law firm then Chambers and The Legal 500 provide the best information in terms of reputation and areas of expertise. If you are a student thinking about working for a firm then the tools on the lawyer can be useful as well.

[garrettfkmu206-blog]

Never Changing Paralegal Services Will Eventually Destroy You

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a solicitors or law firm in the UK what are the best resources to use and which resources can be trusted in terms of reviews and rankings that they give to a law firm.

There are three main legal directories in the UK that have long a distinguished history of rating and reviewing law firms. The three main players are The Legal 500, Chambers and The Lawyer. I will examine each one of these sites in more detail.

The Legal 500

The Legal 500 website and matching printed directory are the flagship products of Legalese Publishing who were formed in 1987. The Legal 500 was the first was the first UK website that provided reviews of large firms and it is currently the largest site of its type.

Legalese was founded by John Pritchard and he still edits and publishes the directory. Although it initial started as a directory of UK legal services the Legal 500 series now covers most regions in the world.

A firms listing in the directory covers areas of specialism and their position in their region or location. The Legal 500 listing also includes information on key individuals and a firm profile. The Legal 500 is seen as the most authoritative of the legal directories in the UK due to the in depth nature of the research it carries out and the length of time it has been established.

The legal 500 can be viewed on the internet, in a hardback book form an as an ebook.

Chambers

Chambers was established in 1990 and currently employs 140 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide. The legal directory covers a wide range of practice areas and locations within the UK and abroad. They also publish the UK Bar Guide for barristers and barrister chambers and a UK Student Guide that looks at law firms from the view point of those what a career in law.

Lawyers and law firms are ranked in Bands from 1-6 and these rankings are based on a number of criteria including technical legal ability, professional conduct and client service.

Chambers and Partners is avalible as a hardback book, via their website and as an e-book.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is the leading magazine in the UK for solicitors, lawyers and other members of the legal profession. It has first published in 1981 and is owned by Centaur Media who also own Marketing Week and The Creative Review. The magazine and website cover a wide range of legal news stories, briefings and legal jobs. Unlike both The Legal 500 and Chambers the law firm reviews are not the primary function of the lawyer. That is not to say that the reviews do not carry weight and value. The reviews in the lawyer tend to focus on the profit and turnover of the firm with less in depth analysis of the type carried out by The Legal 500 and Chambers. There is a neat little tool that allows you to compare law firm turnovers and plots them against each other on a graph.

There are also a number of other ways to check law firm feedback including checking local forums, Google+ pages, sites such as Trip Advisor and Qype. The issue with these sites is that the information is not always verifiable and the identity of the reviewers cannot be checked.

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a law firm then Chambers and The Legal 500 provide the best information in terms of reputation and areas of expertise. If you are a student thinking about working for a firm then the tools on the lawyer can be useful as well.

[cashooqh849-blog]

Paralegal Services: This Is What Professionals Do

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a solicitors or law firm in the UK what are the best resources to use and which resources can be trusted in terms of reviews and rankings that they give to a law firm.

There are three main legal directories in the UK that have long a distinguished history of rating and reviewing law firms. The three main players are The Legal 500, Chambers and The Lawyer. I will examine each one of these sites in more detail.

The Legal 500

The Legal 500 website and matching printed directory are the flagship products of Legalese Publishing who were formed in 1987. The Legal 500 was the first was the first UK website that provided reviews of large firms and it is currently the largest site of its type.

Legalese was founded by John Pritchard and he still edits and publishes the directory. Although it initial started as a directory of UK legal services the Legal 500 series now covers most regions in the world.

A firms listing in the directory covers areas of specialism and their position in their region or location. The Legal 500 listing also includes information on key individuals and a firm profile. The Legal 500 is seen as the most authoritative of the legal directories in the UK due to the in depth nature of the research it carries out and the length of time it has been established.

The legal 500 can be viewed on the internet, in a hardback book form an as an ebook.

Chambers

Chambers was established in 1990 and currently employs 140 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide. The legal directory covers a wide range of practice areas and locations within the UK and abroad. They also publish the UK Bar Guide for barristers and barrister chambers and a UK Student Guide that looks at law firms from the view point of those what a career in law.

Lawyers and law firms are ranked in Bands from 1-6 and these rankings are based on a number of criteria including technical legal ability, professional conduct and client service.

Chambers and Partners is avalible as a hardback book, via their website and as an e-book.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is the leading magazine in the UK for solicitors, lawyers and other members of the legal profession. It has first published in 1981 and is owned by Centaur Media who also own Marketing Week and The Creative Review. The magazine and website cover a wide range of legal news stories, briefings and legal jobs. Unlike both The Legal 500 and Chambers the law firm reviews are not the primary function of the lawyer. That is not to say that the reviews do not carry weight and value. The reviews in the lawyer tend to focus on the profit and turnover of the firm with less in depth analysis of the type carried out by The Legal 500 and Chambers. There is a neat little tool that allows you to compare law firm turnovers and plots them against each other on a graph.

There are also a number of other ways to check law firm feedback including checking local forums, Google+ pages, sites such as Trip Advisor and Qype. The issue with these sites is that the information is not always verifiable and the identity of the reviewers cannot be checked.

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a law firm then Chambers and The Legal 500 provide the best information in terms of reputation and areas of expertise. If you are a student thinking about working for a firm then the tools on the lawyer can be useful as well.

[jeremystrele]

Colourful Modern Home Design Gives Each Room Individuality

Sparing yet powerful colour injections give each room of this home its own special character and individual identity, designed and visualised by Cartelle Design. The 110 square metre property, located in Ivanovo, Russia, is filled with a delicious array of painted feature walls, bright modern art and eye-catching accent furniture. Deep royal blue and spice brown create an urban hum inside the open plan living room, amidst misty grey, woodtone and monochrome accents. Plum purple paint pushes from beneath vivid red art to build drama in the master bedroom, whilst cobalt blue and a shout of yellow pair up to make a shared kids’ room. Sage green settles in the bathroom, around cool white marble.

A spice brown modern sofa enlivens a grey and deep royal blue living room scheme. Black and white accent pieces keep the colour combo crisp. A soft grey rug holds the elements of the lounge together as one snug zone, including the sofa, accent armchair, circular pouf and a round coffee table.

Cold concrete tiles climb a TV wall in front of the warm spice sofa. Beside the concrete TV wall, the window reveal has been clad in wood grain to match the bespoke desk there. The wood tone complements the hue of the couch upholstery, and the flooring.

Houndstooth fabric covers the swivel accent chair at the side of the lounge, in a stylish standout touch. A scatter cushion is covered in matching monochrome fabric over on the contrasting sofa to carry the aesthetic through.

Black piping around the accent chair links it with the grey floor pouf, which is also edged with black.

The living room bookshelf is a custom built unit in a royal blue and woodgrain finish. Glass doors slide closed in front of the stacks to keep the hardbacks and knick-knacks dust free.

Another bookcase is nestled between a concrete column and the window wall by the sofa. One more narrow niche is tucked away at the other window reveal around the home workspace.

The blue feature wall engulfs the room door is it’s wake.

From the kitchen diner end of the open living room, we see that the largest of the bookcases wraps the corner of the room. A dining table wraps two sides of the black central kitchen island with smooth wood grain. Golden dining pendant lights dangle on red electrical cords.

Four modern grey dining chairs sit along the edge of the dining island design.

A white cooker hood descends over the island, where the chef can entertain diners with culinary theatre.

The wood flooring finishes just past the dining area, replaced by hard wearing black tile in the kitchen.

The entryway into the living room heads straight for the home workspace in the window, which is framed as a room within a room.

At the core of the all black kitchen, backlit shelving fires illumination over a black marble backsplash. See more black kitchens.

Chunky black marble countertops give the kitchen base units a luxe finish. Mature indoor plants at the end of the run add texture and freeform to the strict linear visual of the kitchen.

A made-to-measure wooden coat nook, key drawer, and shoe storage rack is tucked beside a wall of mirrors.

The mirrored wall and door makes the hallway look twice it’s actual width, allowing for the wall and door on the opposite side of the corridor to be darkened with a smart black paint job.

A monochrome houndstooth stool sits against the black wall, linking the hall decor with the black and white houndstooth pieces that sit at home in the living room. The blue bookcase from the living room enters the end of the hallway.

In the master, black bedroom pendant lights hang long over floating bedside tables. A white platform bed is pushed up against a white marble headboard feature wall.

The marble panel is atmospherically lit around its edges.

Plum paint pushes across a gallery wall in the bedroom, creating a colourful platform for vivid red artwork. The other half of the room is completely black, and home to a wooden work desk.

The textured bedroom rug complements the shades in the bedroom accent wall.

Opposite the doorway into the bedroom, a modern chair design draws an interesting profile.

Black walls and a glowing mirror set an intense scene inside a walk-in closet.

The closet is accessed via glass sliding doors, the same doors as those that seal the large bookcase in the living room.

Backlighting makes drama of a small bookcase just outside the walk-in wardrobe.

Plum wall paint fills the gaps around wood panelling in the bathroom. Black tiles dress the lower half of the walls and flow down over the floor.

A concrete basin fits into a niche by the bathtub.

The plum paint sweeps across the ceiling too.

Spare toiletries are stored in a skinny column of shelving, making the best use of a leftover nook of space whilst also creating a streamlined perimeter.

Every inch of space has been utilised to the max inside a shared kids’ room.

Cobalt blue accessories colour a cosy window seat/reading nook. The colour cluster travels in a vertical line, from a blue pendant light, to a blue accent cushion, to a blue stool.

Wood and white steps climb up to the top bunk.

Blue bars outline the kids’ beds.

A yellow linear suspension light crosses a pine clad kid’s study area.

Toys peek out from storage nooks in the wardrobe design.

White marble builds a unique bathroom sink, and covers the backsplash and floor.

The shower screen ties in with the other black framed glass doors throughout the house.

A black ceiling gives the decor scheme extra weight.

Textured black panels cover the shower enclosure.

Sage green paint spills over the remaining walls and bathroom door.

Recommended Reading:  50 Modern Home Office Design Ideas 50 Modern Home Office Desks For Your Workspace 50 Stunning Modern House Exterior Designs

For more regular updates from Home Designing, join us on Facebook.

If you are reading this through e-mail, please consider forwarding this mail to a few of your friends who are into interior design. Come on, you know who they are!

Related Posts:

51 Red Bedrooms With Tips And Accessories To Help You Design Yours

Pastel Coloured Interior With A Sweet Sense Of Fun

Sunny Decor Scheme To Feel Like Summer All Year Round

Attention Grabbing Home Design Packed With Colourful Chic Modernity

Modern Open Plan With Refreshing Colour Infusions

A Beautiful 3 Bedroom 2 Bath House [With Floor Plan]

[drewebowden66]

Colourful Modern Home Design Gives Each Room Individuality

Sparing yet powerful colour injections give each room of this home its own special character and individual identity, designed and visualised by Cartelle Design. The 110 square metre property, located in Ivanovo, Russia, is filled with a delicious array of painted feature walls, bright modern art and eye-catching accent furniture. Deep royal blue and spice brown create an urban hum inside the open plan living room, amidst misty grey, woodtone and monochrome accents. Plum purple paint pushes from beneath vivid red art to build drama in the master bedroom, whilst cobalt blue and a shout of yellow pair up to make a shared kids’ room. Sage green settles in the bathroom, around cool white marble.

A spice brown modern sofa enlivens a grey and deep royal blue living room scheme. Black and white accent pieces keep the colour combo crisp. A soft grey rug holds the elements of the lounge together as one snug zone, including the sofa, accent armchair, circular pouf and a round coffee table.

Cold concrete tiles climb a TV wall in front of the warm spice sofa. Beside the concrete TV wall, the window reveal has been clad in wood grain to match the bespoke desk there. The wood tone complements the hue of the couch upholstery, and the flooring.

Houndstooth fabric covers the swivel accent chair at the side of the lounge, in a stylish standout touch. A scatter cushion is covered in matching monochrome fabric over on the contrasting sofa to carry the aesthetic through.

Black piping around the accent chair links it with the grey floor pouf, which is also edged with black.

The living room bookshelf is a custom built unit in a royal blue and woodgrain finish. Glass doors slide closed in front of the stacks to keep the hardbacks and knick-knacks dust free.

Another bookcase is nestled between a concrete column and the window wall by the sofa. One more narrow niche is tucked away at the other window reveal around the home workspace.

The blue feature wall engulfs the room door is it’s wake.

From the kitchen diner end of the open living room, we see that the largest of the bookcases wraps the corner of the room. A dining table wraps two sides of the black central kitchen island with smooth wood grain. Golden dining pendant lights dangle on red electrical cords.

Four modern grey dining chairs sit along the edge of the dining island design.

A white cooker hood descends over the island, where the chef can entertain diners with culinary theatre.

The wood flooring finishes just past the dining area, replaced by hard wearing black tile in the kitchen.

The entryway into the living room heads straight for the home workspace in the window, which is framed as a room within a room.

At the core of the all black kitchen, backlit shelving fires illumination over a black marble backsplash. See more black kitchens.

Chunky black marble countertops give the kitchen base units a luxe finish. Mature indoor plants at the end of the run add texture and freeform to the strict linear visual of the kitchen.

A made-to-measure wooden coat nook, key drawer, and shoe storage rack is tucked beside a wall of mirrors.

The mirrored wall and door makes the hallway look twice it’s actual width, allowing for the wall and door on the opposite side of the corridor to be darkened with a smart black paint job.

A monochrome houndstooth stool sits against the black wall, linking the hall decor with the black and white houndstooth pieces that sit at home in the living room. The blue bookcase from the living room enters the end of the hallway.

In the master, black bedroom pendant lights hang long over floating bedside tables. A white platform bed is pushed up against a white marble headboard feature wall.

The marble panel is atmospherically lit around its edges.

Plum paint pushes across a gallery wall in the bedroom, creating a colourful platform for vivid red artwork. The other half of the room is completely black, and home to a wooden work desk.

The textured bedroom rug complements the shades in the bedroom accent wall.

Opposite the doorway into the bedroom, a modern chair design draws an interesting profile.

Black walls and a glowing mirror set an intense scene inside a walk-in closet.

The closet is accessed via glass sliding doors, the same doors as those that seal the large bookcase in the living room.

Backlighting makes drama of a small bookcase just outside the walk-in wardrobe.

Plum wall paint fills the gaps around wood panelling in the bathroom. Black tiles dress the lower half of the walls and flow down over the floor.

A concrete basin fits into a niche by the bathtub.

The plum paint sweeps across the ceiling too.

Spare toiletries are stored in a skinny column of shelving, making the best use of a leftover nook of space whilst also creating a streamlined perimeter.

Every inch of space has been utilised to the max inside a shared kids’ room.

Cobalt blue accessories colour a cosy window seat/reading nook. The colour cluster travels in a vertical line, from a blue pendant light, to a blue accent cushion, to a blue stool.

Wood and white steps climb up to the top bunk.

Blue bars outline the kids’ beds.

A yellow linear suspension light crosses a pine clad kid’s study area.

Toys peek out from storage nooks in the wardrobe design.

White marble builds a unique bathroom sink, and covers the backsplash and floor.

The shower screen ties in with the other black framed glass doors throughout the house.

A black ceiling gives the decor scheme extra weight.

Textured black panels cover the shower enclosure.

Sage green paint spills over the remaining walls and bathroom door.

Recommended Reading:  50 Modern Home Office Design Ideas 50 Modern Home Office Desks For Your Workspace 50 Stunning Modern House Exterior Designs

For more regular updates from Home Designing, join us on Facebook.

If you are reading this through e-mail, please consider forwarding this mail to a few of your friends who are into interior design. Come on, you know who they are!

Related Posts:

51 Red Bedrooms With Tips And Accessories To Help You Design Yours

Pastel Coloured Interior With A Sweet Sense Of Fun

Sunny Decor Scheme To Feel Like Summer All Year Round

Attention Grabbing Home Design Packed With Colourful Chic Modernity

Modern Open Plan With Refreshing Colour Infusions

A Beautiful 3 Bedroom 2 Bath House [With Floor Plan]

[damienrdgq500-blog]

10 Things You Have In Common With Paralegal Services

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a solicitors or law firm in the UK what are the best resources to use and which resources can be trusted in terms of reviews and rankings that they give to a law firm.

There are three main legal directories in the UK that have long a distinguished history of rating and reviewing law firms. The three main players are The Legal 500, Chambers and The Lawyer. I will examine each one of these sites in more detail.

The Legal 500

The Legal 500 website and matching printed directory are the flagship products of Legalese Publishing who were formed in 1987. The Legal 500 was the first was the first UK website that provided reviews of large firms and it is currently the largest site of its type.

Legalese was founded by John Pritchard and he still edits and publishes the directory. Although it initial started as a directory of UK legal services the Legal 500 series now covers most regions in the world.

A firms listing in the directory covers areas of specialism and their position in their region or location. The Legal 500 listing also includes information on key individuals and a firm profile. The Legal 500 is seen as the most authoritative of the legal directories in the UK due to the in depth nature of the research it carries out and the length of time it has been established.

The legal 500 can be viewed on the internet, in a hardback book form an as an ebook.

Chambers

Chambers was established in 1990 and currently employs 140 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide. The legal directory covers a wide range of practice areas and locations within the UK and abroad. They also publish the UK Bar Guide for barristers and barrister chambers and a UK Student Guide that looks at law firms from the view point of those what a career in law.

Lawyers and law firms are ranked in Bands from 1-6 and these rankings are based on a number of criteria including technical legal ability, professional conduct and client service.

Chambers and Partners is avalible as a hardback book, via their website and as an e-book.

The Lawyer

The Lawyer is the leading magazine in the UK for solicitors, lawyers and other members of the legal profession. It has first published in 1981 and is owned by Centaur Media who also own Marketing Week and The Creative Review. The magazine and website cover a wide range of legal news stories, briefings and legal jobs. Unlike both The Legal 500 and Chambers the law firm reviews are not the primary function of the lawyer. That is not to say that the reviews do not carry weight and value. The reviews in the lawyer tend to focus on the profit and turnover of the firm with less in depth analysis of the type carried out by The Legal 500 and Chambers. There is a neat little tool that allows you to compare law firm turnovers and plots them against each other on a graph.

There are also a number of other ways to check law firm feedback including checking local forums, Google+ pages, sites such as Trip Advisor and Qype. The issue with these sites is that the information is not always verifiable and the identity of the reviewers cannot be checked.

If you are a member of the public looking for information on a law firm then Chambers and The Legal 500 provide the best information in terms of reputation and areas of expertise. If you are a student thinking about working for a firm then the tools on the lawyer can be useful as well.