#tips from a ya editor

[tibli]

REALLY quick advice on epithets!!

obviously all art is subjective, but in terms of clear, concise writing, epithets should really only ever be used if the character hasn't been formally introduced, or the epithet is specifically relevant to the current situation wrt the few sentences around it.

"the brunette" -unnecessary, unless the reader literally doesn't know who they are and their defining characteristic is brown hair. using appearance-based epithets when it has nothing to do with a situation at hand is a crutch and comes across as wordy and amateurish

"the singer" - is the current topic about their singing? or are they just playing video games at home? if its the former, then fine that actually makes sense given the context. but something like the latter? its irrelevant. singing has nothing to do with playing video games, and the epithet is semantically useless here

when it comes to structuring a sentence between two people with the same pronouns, i definitely understand the urge to use epithets to try and clarify who is doing what. but it comes out clunky as hell and its best to avoid it. if you cant trust that your reader will understand things with the surrounding context, restructure the sentence, and perhaps even the ones before/after it. this has the added bonus of improving your writing flexibility!

[remotewatch]

make that mfer BAM 💥🥣

Jack Schlossberg x reader | 1k wc

Summary: Jack doubts his speechwriting skills. You tug that nonsense right out of him.

cws: emergency handjob, food play, cum eating, he cum in he got damn soup idk what else to tell ya !! dear readers please make sure you’re registered to vote and do try to get involved with the Harris campaign in any way you can (it’s what Jack would want, after all 😁)

hats off to my darling editor @mystardustmelodyyy as always 🩵🗳️

minors dni in fact don’t even glance at it

Light-footed staff weave around your path as you track the length of the house to check on tonight’s finishing touches. Your shoes clack against the mirror-polished foyer tile in time with the cadence of your speech repetition.

A text had just come in from your assistant: everyone was having a splendid time, they were on their way to your place now, and a smidge of traffic might push the start of dinner back, ten minutes at the most. Everything was falling into place, but you couldn’t turn down a free moment to go over your words one last time.

“As you all know, my grandparents were lifelong patrons of the arts… honored to present our new exhibition at my fiancé’s library… we thank you all for your generous…” you lose your train of thought when you spot Jack pacing frantically in an alcove, hands twitching as he stifles reflexive hang loose signs. He jolts at the hand you place on his shoulder and defaults to an uncharacteristically strained smile when he sees it’s you.

“How’s the rehearsal going?”

“Well, I think I hate it.” He bites a knuckle and squints exasperatedly at the tiny font on his phone. “There’s so many jokes in here. Why?!” Jack getting cold feet was the only thing you hadn’t planned for; usually he’s the one swooping in when you’re in such a state. There’s absolutely no time for rewrites, so you need to shut this shit down before he decides to start editing anyway. You squeeze his shoulder a little bit, and his head snaps up to see your most convincing faux-worried face.

“Can you help me with one thing real quick, and then we can get it sorted?”

That breaks him out of the fog long enough for you to drag him through the dining room and into the kitchen abuzz with steam and roving caterers.

A curt “Out!” scatters them, and then it’s just you two and the gentle hum of the convection ovens. You guide Jack over to where tonight’s soup is already plated, then to his bowl placed off to the side, accompanied by a post it stuck to the counter: “JS NO SWEET POTATO”.

He’s still lost in thought as you nudge him closer and move behind him.

“I already tasted it, it’s fine,” he mumbles as you start undoing his pants. His voice trails to a sigh when you take his cock out.

“You loved that speech all last week. What’s going on now?”

“I just-“ he doesn’t comment when you start stroking him, but you can feel the muscles in his back loosen slightly, and some of the tension leaks out of his voice. “I really want this to go well for us.”

Your unoccupied hand slides up his lapel and grasps his to stop the fumbling with his tie.

“It’s already going well, and we’re going to keep it that way.” His brow is still furrowed, but that cute little fuzzy edge his voice gets when you take control is seeping in.

“Won’t they be here soon?”

“Not for at least twenty minutes.” The slippery noises your movements make as he starts to leak echo off all the stainless steel and sound almost amplified in the empty space. It’s just warm enough in the kitchen for your brain to flirt with the idea of calling the whole thing off and spending the night here. “Don’t worry. I won’t let the clock run out on you.”

You can feel his grip on his doubts loosening with every deliberate stroke, and soon he’s bucking into your hand as much as the space between you and the counter will let him.

Jack’s posture sags as he relaxes against you, the sudden movement nearly bobbing him close enough to dip his tip into the soup.

“Keep moving around like that and you’ll burn yourself.”

“Sorry.” He sounds a million miles away from the ball of nerves you found a few minutes ago.

“On your toes. You’re making a mess.” And he does, of course, so you have a proper angle to aim him down at the bowl and prevent the twin rivulets of precum from sliding down your wrist onto his trousers. His mouth falls open when the first drops break the surface tension.

“That’s all I want you to focus on. You know you’ll do well, I know you’ll do well, just do this for me, okay?”

He nods wordlessly.

“Say it for me,” you croon softly into his ear, watching the goosebumps blossom down his neck when your lips graze it.

Jack’s head slumps to the side for a better look at you, but his irises are wandering like bumblebees and working against him.

“I’m focusing.” he slurs.

“I know, I know.” Your hand speeds up to match his breathing as he white knuckles the counter. It’s hard to keep your wrist steady when you feel his ass start tightening up.

“It’s gonna make a mess,” he gasps out.

“No it won’t. Stay still for me. You’ve got this. I know you do.”

Jack’s whole body tenses up, and his protests fade into little pants at your ambiguous encouragement. He throbs in your hand one, two, three, four times as you hold him just a whisper above the steaming bowl. No splash; the rest of him is trembling with the effort, but his hips stay locked in place to neatly spill into his meal.

As soon as his heels are back on solid ground, you’re stretching up to kiss right above his eyebrow. A hand cradling his jaw eases him back to reality.

“It’s a great speech.”

“It’s a great speech.” He can't stop himself from smiling, finally relaxed enough to let it reach his eyes.

-at the table-

From the beginning you’d insisted Jack should speak after you; he was much better at settling everyone into dinner conversation following your more formal remarks. Of course, your guests are utterly captivated by him; he manages to get even your sternest donors chuckling in under five minutes. So captivated, in fact, that you’re free to ogle at him from the other end of the table without worry. You’re crossing and recrossing your legs watching his mouth move, realizing for the first time tonight how fucking hungry you are. When the soup is served, you scarcely blink watching his first mouthful. He stares back just as entranced, completely forgetting his table manners and using his thumb to swipe an errant drop into his mouth.

[shewriter]

Writing Mermaids

A list of resources on how to write mermaids, since I enjoy writing stories about mermaids.

How to Write Mermaids Provides tips and suggestions for creating a mermaid’s physical appearance, culture, and magical abilities. Provides suggestions for creating a mermaid’s motivations and conflicts in relation to their world and the human world.

Guide to Mermaids Provides tips and suggestions for designing a mermaid’s tail, describing a mermaid’s swimming abilities, choosing where a mermaid lives, and creating a mermaid’s civilization or culture. Many of the links provided do not work, but the post itself contains helpful information.

Writing Notes: Mermaids & Sirens Provides interesting information on mermaids and sirens, along with examples.

Wikipedia: Mermaid The Wikipedia entry on mermaids. Provides a starting place of information on mermaids, including their history and origins, myths and folklore from different parts of the world, and examples from literature and other popular media.

TV Tropes: Our Mermaids Are Different A TV Tropes entry on mermaids. Includes several examples of mermaids featured in different types of popular media.

TV Tropes: Mer Tropes A TV Tropes entry that provides a list of the different tropes about merfolk.

Fandom Wiki: Mermaids The Fandom Wiki entry on the mermaids featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Becoming Mermaids An article that explains the history and origins of mermaids, with examples of different types of mermaids in myths and folklore from around the world. From the American Museum of Natural History website.

Fantastically Wrong: The Murderous, Sometimes Sexy History of the Mermaid An article that explains the history and origins of mermaids, with references from books.

8 Fun Facts About Mermaids A blog post with a list of interesting facts about mermaids. Many of the links provided do not work, but the post itself contains interesting information.

The Anatomy of a Mermaid A detailed discussion on the anatomy of a mermaid. Includes images.

Different Kinds of Mermaids A list of ideas for different types of mermaids.

Goodreads: Mermaid Books The Goodreads page with lists of books featuring mermaids.

Goodreads: YA Mermaid Books A Goodreads list of young adult books that feature mermaids.

19 Mermaid Movies to Watch to Feel like a Little Mermaid A list of mermaid-themed movies from Teen Vogue.

I recommend using these resources as a way to brainstorm your own ideas, or as a starting point for research (i.e., researching things like marine species, the ocean, or folklore and legends). It’s always a good idea to continue your research by checking reputable sources! However, these resources can be used for inspiration or to give you an idea of where to start in your own research.

If you’re stuck on what to name your mermaid characters, you can check out the resources I shared in Names for Mermaids & Mermen.

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I’m a writer, poet, and editor. I share writing resources that I’ve collected over the years and found helpful for my own writing. If you like my blog, follow me for more resources to help with your writing process! ♡

[aequrie]

Hello, this is not a request it's question because I really want to learn how to make graphics with gifs and idk how to do it 😭😭😭

Like your agar agar cookie layouts, I really like your work and would like to learn how you make it

Thank you for reading this, if you don't want reply it's okay, have a very nice day

Haiii!! It's no problem!! Unfortunately, I'm VERY bad at explaining stuff LOL, so here's the best I can do!! (Also, have a sneak-peak to another post :3)

How to make a gif edit.

How I decorate my edits.

How I make my PSDs.

VERY LONG POST BELOW. MASU LOVES TO HEAR HIMSELF TALK.

Okay so step one is to use photopea. I used to be an avid ibispaintx user until I realized that photopea can make gif edits and suddenly I'm photopea's #1 fan (and hater). Photopea is a website, BTW, here's the link!

First, open up a project. Good job! We're 1/4 of the way there! You can import a PSD if you want (Here's a different tutorial for that), but let's just say you DON'T have a PSD, for the simplicity of this tutorial.

Next, find the animation you want! For this example, we'll be using the Wind Archer sprite below (I took this from the CRK wiki). It can be anything - but preferably nothing too big, because Tumblr for SOME REASON HATES high quality gifs. Siiiigh...

From here, you want to go to FILE > OPEN & PLACE. It'll show a window of all your downloaded items. Click on the animation we just downloaded.

Wam-bam! We're almost there!! Okay, if your image is a WEBP file, it will not animate if you export as a GIF. But! That's okay! Because with trial and error, I found out how to fix this!

On the downloaded layer, double click on the layer. After this, go to SMART OBJECT > CONVERT TO LAYERS...

Now, if your photopea tries to explode and pretend it don't know nobody, that's okay! Just let it load a bit. The file is very. very big. It should turn into a folder! You have nothing else to do from this.

After this, you can do, well, whatever ya need!! Slap a stroke on, put a gradient map on this bad boy, anything else! Once you're finished, go to FILE > EXPORT AS... > GIF. Your photopea might try to explode again, for like, a few minutes. Just give it some time. It's a lot of trial and error!! Don't feel bad if you didn't get it the first time!!

Now, before I talk about my edits, I want to make it clear that you should FIND YOUR OWN STYLE! Don't try to copy off of someone else, or try to replicate another style. Every editor is different!! While I overuse overlays and gradient maps like I won't see tomorrow, you may like a more simple style, or something less over and out there ~ ! That's alright! Don't be afraid to branch out.

Now, as we said - we love to use overlays + gradient maps. I am an artist, so a LOT of what I do correlates to that as well (having an interesting silhouette, making a focal point, color theory, color contrast, composition). It'll be WAY, WAY too much to explain in one single post, so I'd just say to go with the flow! If something looks off, try something else! There's no shame in scrapping an entire project - especially if you're unsatisfied with the result. Do what you need to do!! It's your edits.

For making PSDs, our process is actually pretty simple. We just use a gradient map and adjusts it till it works LOL. We add a few others things too - but that's mostly what I do. If you want to learn how to make your own, my word of advice is to dissect from others. Take inspiration!! If you don't feel like doing that, there's no harm in just using a F2U PSD floating out there. Feel free to look at our Squid Ink post and use that as an example of our PSDs! (If you don't feel like going to go get it, yeah I understand, here it is right here.)

All in all, my biggest tip (besides to have fun), is to edit until you like it. Don't try to compare yourself to big editors - they've had TONS, AND TONS, of experience and editing. Experiment with your style, put yourself out there, edit some new media you've never edited before, find resources to help you out, find tutorials, ETC. It takes time to learn, so make sure to take that time!! You got this, don't feel discouraged by other people's work!!!

That's all from us folks!! Peace out!! ^_^

[nanowrimo]

5 Essential Tips for Mastering Scene Writing in Your Novel

There's many parts involved when writing a scene. Knowing how these different pieces work together may help you move forward in your novel. NaNo Participant Amy de la Force offers some tips on brushing up your scene writing knowledge. Scenes are the building blocks of a novel, the stages where characters spring to life, conflicts brew and emotions run high. Mastering the art of scene writing is crucial for any aspiring writer, especially in the lead-up to NaNoWriMo. But what is a scene, and how do you effectively craft one? 

What is a Scene? 

A scene is a short period of time — in a set place — that moves the story forward with dramatic conflict that reveals character, generally through dialogue or action. Think of writing a scene as a mini-story with a beginning, middle and end, all contributing to the narrative. 

Why Scene Writing is Your Secret Weapon in Storytelling

Well-crafted scenes enhance your story to develop characters, advance the plot, and engage readers through tension and emotion. Whether you're writing a novel, short story or even non-fiction, scenes weave the threads of your story together.

Tip #1: Scenes vs. Sequels

According to university lecturer Dwight Swain in Techniques of the Selling Writer, narrative time can be broken down into not just scenes, but sequels. 

Scene

The 3 parts of a scene are:

Goal: The protagonist or point-of-view (POV) character’s objective at the start of the scene.

Conflict: For dramatic conflict, this is an equally strong combination of the character’s ‘want + obstacle’ to their goal. 

Disaster: When the obstacle wins, it forces the character’s hand to act, ratcheting up tension. 

Sequel 

Similarly, Swain’s sequels have 3 parts:

Reaction: This is the POV character’s emotional follow-up to the previous scene’s disaster. 

Dilemma: If the dramatic conflict is strong enough, each possible next step seems worse than anything the character has faced.  

Decision: The scene’s goal may still apply, but the choice of action to meet it will be difficult. 

Tip #2: Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Scene

In Story Genius, story coach and ex–literary agent Lisa Cron lists 4 questions to guide you in scene writing:

What does my POV character go into the scene believing?

Why do they believe it?

What is my character’s goal in the scene?

What does my character expect will happen in this scene?

Tip #3: Writing Opening and Closing Scenes

Now that we know more about scene structure and character considerations, it’s time to open with a bang, or more to the point, a hook. Forget warming up and write a scene in the middle of the action or a conversation. Don’t forget to set the place and time with a vivid description or a little world-building. To end the scene, go for something that resolves the current tension, or a cliffhanger to make your scene or chapter ‘unputdownable’. 

Tip #4: Mastering Tension and Pacing 

A benefit to Swain’s scenes and sequels is that introspective sequels tend to balance the pace by slowing it, building tension. This pacing variation, which you can help by alternating dialogue with action or sentence lengths, offers readers the mental quiet space to rest and digest any action-packed scenes. 

Tip #5: Scene Writing for Emotional Impact

For writing a scene, the top tips from master editor Sol Stein in Stein on Writing are:

Fiction evokes emotion, so make a list of the emotion(s) you want readers to feel in your scenes and work to that list.

For editing, cut scenes that don’t serve a purpose (ideally, several purposes), or make you feel bored. If you are, your reader is too. 

Conclusion

From understanding the anatomy of a scene to writing your own, these tips will help elevate your scenes from good to unforgettable, so you can resonate with readers.

Amy de la Force is a YA and adult speculative fiction writer, alumna of Curtis Brown Creative's selective novel-writing program and Society of Authors member. The novel she’s querying longlisted for Voyage YA’s Spring First Chapters Contest in 2021. An Aussie expat, Amy lives in London. Check her out on Twitter, Bluesky, and on her website! Her books can be found on Amazon. Photo by cottonbro studio

[justmeinadaze]

Colors (Part of Halsey AU)(Eddie X You)

A/N with Warnings: You don't have to have read the others to understand this but it helps. Part of this AU. While the universe is a Steddie pairing, this is about one of the readers experiences with Eddie when he was an addict. I'm writing one for Steve next. I would place it between part one and two of the series.

Warnings: 1994 is healing Eddie munson and 1985 is Toxic/Addict Eddie with Fem Girlfriend Reader, SMUT, slight dirty talk, comfort, needy intimacy

ANGST, Eddie unintentionally triggers Y/N and she disassociates, Steve uses his therapy skills to bring her back and help them both, Eddie exhibits toxic behaviors (yelling, degrading, throwing things, accuses her of cheating), He unintentionally throws something and almost hits her. Mentions of Steve's alcoholism. Wayne scolds his nephew and worries about him "ending up like Allen". A teacher is a dick and belittles Eddie.

The flashback doesn't have a happy ending but the 1994 timeline does. Obviously because events in the series...

Word Count: 4815

Donate/Tip me <3

"You're dripping like a saturated sunrise You're spilling like an overflowing sink You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink."

1994

“Hey, pretty girl.”, Eddie beams from his place at the stove where he was making dinner. “How was your day?”

“Good. Long.”, you sigh as you hop up on the stool by the counter as you watch him move around. “My editor wants me to rewrite the article and he just kind of made me feel bad.”

The metalhead’s back straighten as he turned to face you. 

“What did he say?”

“He kind of insinuated that I’m slacking and that I’ve turned in way better work than this. He’s right ya know?”

“What? No, sweetheart. Fuck that guy!”, he shouted as he turned back to his pan to stir the food. “Y/N, you writing is amazing! That asshole fucking sitting on his high horse behind his desk like he’s God or something dictating what’s ‘acceptable’. He should feel fucking lucky he has someone as talented as you!”

His long hair lightly smacks his cheek as he turns to throw a smile your way but your wide eyes and frozen stature has it falling from his lips. 

“Y/N?”, he coos but you don’t respond. “Baby?”

Tossing the spatula he was holding to the side; he turns off the stove and comes around to cup your face in his palms. 

“Sweetheart, look me. What’s going on?”

You were mumbling something as your mouth moved and he had to place his ear right above your lips to even put any of the words together. 

“What do I have to do? What do I have to do? What do…”

“STEVE!!”

####################

1985

You stare at his empty seat beside you in class when you should be listening to the teacher speak about trivial things like Shakespeare and Hamlet. Eddie had been there that morning when you shared your breakfast with him and Steve knowing they most likely didn’t eat because their vices made them nauseas especially in the mornings. 

Now it was your first class after lunch and he wasn’t here. When he walked away from you, he said he had to go to the bathroom but he would be there before the bell rang. You couldn’t help but envision him hiding in a stall before digging into his pocket to look for the vile filed with powder he felt like he needed to survive. He was probably smearing it along the point between his index and thumb before bringing it to his nose to inhale deeply. He most likely thought about how late he was going to be and how disappointed you were in him but the pull of the high was stronger. 

“Y/N?”, the teacher calls jerking you out of your thoughts. “Do you want to answer my question?”

“I, uh, I’m sorry what was the question?”

“I asked if you thought Hamlet loved Ophelia especially with the way he treated her.”

“Um, I feel like it’s more than what’s on the surface. Hamlet seems to hate her when he says mean things to her and calls her names but he was so consumed by things going on inside his head… that he lashed out and said things he didn’t mean.”

The teacher’s eyes scan you over as the bell rings and kids start to stand to pack up their belongings.

“Alright, class. I’ll see you on Monday. Don’t forget your assignment due first thing Monday morning! Miss Y/N, would you mind staying behind for me?”

You nod as you finish putting away your things before following behind him to his desk where he takes a seat and waits for the last student to leave. 

“Here’s a copy of the worksheet I handed out at the beginning class. Tell him if he skips my class one more time I’m going to have to speak with Principal Higgins and his uncle.” As your lips form into a thin line, you nod again as you reach for the paper, pausing when he doesn’t release it from his grasp. “I know he’s your best friend, Y/N, but you can’t let him keep dragging you down. You are a smart girl and an extremely talented writer. You deserve to excel in life.”

Taking the worksheet, you push it into your backpack and flash him your calmest smile you could muster.

“So does he. Thank you, Mr. Gold. I’ll see you on Monday.”

***

Eddie stirred at the sound of your voice as he forced his eyes open to see a blur standing over him. 

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Shhh, Eddie. You’re in the library. Come on, it’s time to head home.”

“Is it? Fuck me. I meant to sit down for one second. Ok, let’s go, fuck.”, he grunted as he tripped over his feet and fell into your arms accidently pushing you back. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m ok. I got it.”

As you drove his van, you worried about Steve who was supposed to have dinner with his parents and some of his father clients. Knowing him, after he would binge the booze in the house and then come to the trailer looking for you. You always worried when he went outside drunk, afraid he would cause an accident or if he was walking, ended up somewhere he shouldn’t be. Your parents were out of town this weekend so you planned on staying at Eddie’s to help him with his English homework but knowing them none of that would get done. 

“How was class? Did Mr. Asshole have anything to say?”, he sighed as he turned his body to face you while you drove. 

“No.”, you lied. “But he did give me the worksheet we worked on and then he mentioned we have that homework due on Monday.”

“Fuck, I haven’t even started that. I don’t Hamnie.” His eyes flick towards you when you giggle making him smile softly towards you. “What? Why are you laughing at me, pretty girl?”

“It’s Hamlet, dork.”

“Oh, excuse me.”, he teases before tilting towards you to kiss your cheek and leaning on your shoulder. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you to, Eddie.”

***

“Fuck me.”, he whines under his breath when he sees his uncle’s truck still by the trailer.

Taking a hold of your hand, he practically yanks your arm out of its socket as he pulls you to the door and through the living room. 

“Ed.”, Wayne calls before the boy even makes to the hallway. Sighing, he releases you and takes a step back to meet his guardian. “I got a call from a couple of your teachers today. They said you weren’t in class.”

“I was. They must be mistaken. Y/N can vouge for me since she has a couple with me.”

You stiffen as he points to you but Wayne already understands what his nephew doesn’t seem to. It’s not fair to put you in the middle. 

“I’m not asking her, I’m asking you. Your English teacher tells me you’re about to fail his class and your science teacher said you’re one test away from an F.”

“Ok, ok. Jesus, I’ll do better.”

“You said that last time, kid, and the time before that! I won’t tolerate it anymore. You need to get your act together. When I took you in I promised you’d have a better life! I won’t allow you to end up like Allen!”

Eddie’s entire body straightened as you felt the anger practically radiating from him. 

“I’m nothing like him. Now, don’t you have a deadbeat job to get to?!”

Your heart broke for Wayne when you say his own crack open through his eyes. Grabbing his cap, he shimmied around his nephew and paused by the door. 

“Y/N, would you like me drop you off at home on my way?”

Taking ahold of his hand, you caress it gently with your thumb piercing Eddie’s chest as he watches you comfort his uncle. That was the kind of person you were and one of his favorite things about you. You were so kind and full of love he felt he didn’t deserve.

He was always terrified one day someone would notice that and take you away from them. Or even worse, you would realize you deserved better and leave. No…he couldn’t allow that. Eddie and Steve needed you. Without you they were less than nothing; they were empty. A blank canvas with zero color or a dark room with no light. 

“I’m actually going to stay here tonight, Wayne. Thank you and be careful. It looks like it may rain soon.”

Glancing towards the hallway Eddie had disappeared down, he nods and lightly shakes you hand before letting go. 

“Yeah, it does.”

***

“Fucking asshole. I’m nothing like my dad.”, he grumbled as he pulled out a cigarette and lit the end. “And what about you, huh? Why the fuck didn’t you defend me out there?!”

“I didn’t…I don’t want to be in the middle, Eddie.”

“Bullshit! You put yourself in the middle all the fucking time! Why didn’t you tell me Mr. Gold was going to call him?! Do you want to see me in trouble?!”

“No! He told me if you missed one more class then he would call him.”

“So, you lied to me!? He did talk to you?! Why the fuck did you lie?!”

“Because I didn’t think it was a big deal. You are going to class and I’m going to help you get an A.”

“By fucking him?”

“Excuse me?!”

“You heard me! You and I both know you’re not as innocent as you claim to be, little girl! What else did he say huh?! Tell me!!”

Your jaw tightened as you defiantly planted your feet into the floor. 

“He said I deserved better and that I’m an amazing writer! He thinks I’m going to make something of myself one day.”

“And he’s going to help you right?”, he sneered.

“Yes, you fucking dick! You caught me! He said all I needed to do was meet him after class and if I do whatever he wants he’ll help me get into school just to spite you!”, you lied watching as he slowly got amped up the more you spoke. “Is that what you want to hear?! It seems to be because you accuse me of bullshit like that all the time, Eddie!”

“Because I know you’re not fucking perfect like you pretend to be, you fucking whore! FUCK! Teachers think I’m a fucking failure, you think I’m a fucking idiot apparently, and my uncle thinks I’m like my father. You want to see me like my fucking father, I can show you what Allen is capable of. 

You watched him with wide eyes as he trashed his room around you both muttering things to himself under his breath while the destruction happened around him. You were never afraid of either of them when they got low like this. Neither boy had ever hurt you physically and the viper tongue you had long gotten used to. It was when all sense seemed to fade and the light that usually gave you hope disappeared into the background of their anger that you started to worry. When caution was haphazardly thrown to wind and they were no long present which was rare but happened. 

Like now…

He wasn’t even sure what he threw until your squeak filled the room and a loud shattering crash pushed some of the drug induced fog out of his brain. It took him a moment as his eyes darted around the room looking for you before he realized you were on the floor with your hands covering your head. 

“Y/N?” 

Behind you there was now a hole in his wall the size of the ashtray he threw with ashes suddenly sprinkled all around you. 

“Baby! Oh my god!” Falling to his knees, his hand reached out to dust the mess from your hair but you coward away and his heart shattered. “Sweetheart…FUCK! I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean what I said or…” When he tries to touch you again, you forcefully shove him away. “Baby, please, let me make it up to you. L-Let me hold you.”

The last of your resolve faded away as he reached for you again and this time you allowed him to lift you into his arms, where he pulled you onto his bed and held you tightly to his chest. 

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. You’re too good for me, princess. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Eddie…what do I have to do…to show you that I love you both and ONLY you both?”

“Nothing, baby. I know. It’s the blow…fuck…you deserve better. I swear I’m never taking another hit. I hated seeing you afraid of me.”

Closing your eyes, you melted into the frame, his hands shaking as he gently petted your head and kissed your shoulder.

“Y/N?”, he whispered but you chose to pretend to be asleep, to heavy in your trauma exhausted brain to even answer back. “I’m scared. If I ever lost you it would kill me, baby, especially if it was my fault. If I ever… no…I could never hurt you, sweetheart. Not like my dad with my mom…or me. Did you know that black eye I had when you first met me…Allen accused me of ‘being too good for this family’. Popped me so hard… That’s not me…right, baby? I’m not…that bad?

Fuck. The fact that I even have to ask myself that says enough. No more, pretty girl. I’m going to get clean and get my act together. I’m going to be the man you need me to be. I love you so much.” His voice cracks and he clings to you tighter. 

When he finally releases you, you do fall asleep only to be woken up to the bed jostling as someone falls into.

“Steve Harrington!”, Eddie hisses in a murmur. “I have a fucking front door. You’re going to wake her up!”

The boy stumbles not so subtly, still shaking the mattress before rising to his feet. 

“Jesus, dude. What the fuck happened here?”, the jock slurred. 

“I, uh, we… I did too much blow at school and…”

“And? You didn’t fucking hurt her did you?!”, Steve growled.

The sounds of him scurrying off the floor before pushing his friend against the wall fill your ears. 

“Shhhhh!! No, dick. I didn’t fucking hurt her and I never would.”

“Get the fuck off me! I had a long night alright dealing with my parents and their bullshit friends. I don’t need you and your bullshit to!”, the boy shouts with zero regard to the volume of his voice. 

“Steve?”, you call as you open your eyes and face their direction. He was drenched from head to toe from the rain outside and you quickly crawled out of bed realizing just then that Eddie had begun cleaning the mess around the room. “You’re gonna get sick, baby. Let’s get you warmed up and dried off.”

Steve’s eyes softened when you took his hand, leading him to the bathroom so he could shower and change before getting into bed. 

***

The following morning, you awoke to the feeling of fingers in your hair and opened your eyes to lock with Eddie’s tearful, bloodshot ones. 

Without saying a word, you reached out to caress his cheek, swiping your thumb along his face to catch the wetness that stained it. Placing his palm over yours, he tilted his head to kiss your skin and nuzzled into the warmth of your hand. 

When his bottom lip trembled, your own tears began to fall as you pulled his body into yours and held him tightly to you. 

Out of all the many states and emotions you have seen both boys in, you hated this one the most. When the pain, no longer numbed by vice, would leak through. You never wanted to see them hurting and did everything you could to remind them that you were there. You desperately wished there was a way you could take it from them to house it yourself. 

Sometimes you would imagine touching your palm to their chest and blue glow would flow from them to you. They would shine brighter and smile wider; maybe finally be at peace. You were strong. You could handle the heaviness of that glow until they were ready to work through it themselves. 

“I’m not my dad.”, Eddie whimpered as his voice cracked. 

“No, baby, you’re not.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry.” Shaking your head, you tilted back so your lips could kiss his. “I get so scared sometimes…I don’t know what I would do without you…”

“I’m not going anywhere, honey, I promise.”

He kissed you again, slowly at first till they became steadily more passionate with his shaking palm gripping your hips to press against his own. In one swift motion, Eddie pulled you from Steve’s sleeping side, underneath his warm frame as his needy kisses promptly travelled to your neck. 

Feeling the movement between your legs, you wrapped your limps around his waist as he shimmied his cock free from his boxers and you licked your palm before reaching down to pump it along his shaft as a heavy pant escaped his lips. Tilting both your heads to look down, you two watch as you move your panties to the side and guide his length inside of you. 

“Fuck, sweetheart.”, he groaned as he collapsed fully on top of you as you circled both your arms around him. 

“I love you so much, Eddie. I know—mmm—I know you’d never hurt me like he did you.” 

As you spoke, the metalhead steadily thrust his hips delivering long, deep strokes that had the head of him deliciously abusing your g-spot while you tried to focus on comforting him. 

“I’m yours and Steve’s. I would—oh my—I would never hurt you or-or leave you for anyone else. I need you.”

Abruptly pushing up onto his palms, his eyes searched your face as he picked up his rhythm.

“You need me, baby?”

You don’t know what made you do it but your hand extended landing directly on his bare chest. You imagined that blue light leaving his heart and wrapping around your wrist, guiding you as your palm moved behind his neck to bring his lips to yours. 

“I’ll always need you, Eddie. Make me cum, honey, please. I-I need to feel you fill me up.” Honoring your request and not caring about the man sleeping beside you, he pumped his hips harder and faster, slamming his cock deep inside you. “Just like that, Eddie, please.”

“Just like that, Y/N? Fuck, say it again. Say you need me.”

“I need you.”

“Again.”

“I need you, Eddie.”

“Ah—again.”

“I need you.”

Taking ahold of your wrists, he pins them beside you head as his own fall into the nook of your neck and his heavy breaths warm your skin. Your body shakes beneath him as the coil snaps and the pillow smothers his grunts as he pounds his release into your cunt. 

As you both pant, you glance towards Steve who was still fast asleep with his head turned towards the wall. When Eddie shifted his gaze to see what you were looking at he couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Boy sleeps like a rock especially with that whiskey he drinks.” Shifting his gaze to you, he tenderly leans down to kiss your lips. “Tomorrow when we wake up maybe him and I can come up with a plan together on how to get sober.”

Your fingers caress his cheek as he grins and kisses your fingertips. 

***

“Mr. Munson, you seem a bit jittery today.”, Mr. Gold addresses Eddie with an edge as the boy slowly walks to the front to hand him the worksheet with other homework you had given him and worked with him to complete all weekend while you waited for him outside the door after class. 

“Y-Yes, yes, sir. Just, um, trying to get things in order.”

The metalhead just wanted to throw all this bullshit on the man’s desk and leave. He hadn’t had a hit since Friday evening and he felt like his body was trying to kill him. All he wanted to do was go home and lay down with you in his arms. 

“Well, there’s a lot more that needs to be done, son. Did Y/N help you with this?”

“Yes, sir.”

“She’s a sweet girl and very smart. She has a bright future ahead of her.”, the teacher responds absently as he looks through the boy’s assignments. 

“Yes, s-sir. We tell her that all…all the time.”, Eddie winces as he grabs his stomach. 

“Hm. It’s interesting that you tell her that yet you continue to drag her down. She’d probably be in one of our higher courses we offer here but for whatever reason she insists on being where she’s at.”

“Steve and I would never do anything to keep Y/N from being great.”, he growled. “She’s our best friend and we love her.”

“But not enough to grow with her it seems. All right, well, I’ll go over these and input your grade later. Keep showing up and doing the work. Who knows, maybe we can keep another Munson out of jail.”

Eddie’s eyes widen as his brain goes into overdrive before reaching over the desk to grab the paperwork you both had work so hard on and ripped it in half.

“EXCUSE ME!”

“You’re not fucking excused, asshole!”

“Eddie, wait—“, you called trying to stop him as he shoulder checked you and powerwalked down the hallway. “How could you say that to him?!”

You teacher grumbled as began picking up the pieces of paper around him. 

“He did a couple of assignments, Y/N. He has a lot more things he needs to do to show me he actually wants to do better and this isn’t a tick in his favor.”

“How the fuck is he supposed to do better when you belittle him like you just did?! He worked all weekend trying to catch up!”

“Watch your mouth, Miss Y/L/N, or I swear to god I’ll call your parents.”

“Call them! Hell, I’ll tell them when I get home what an asshole you are! You’re a teacher! You’re supposed to guide him not bring him down!”

Turning down the hall, you went on the hunt for him, ending up in the parking lot where he was sitting in his van.

“Babe?”

A small smirk painted his lips as he lazily leaned his head to face you. 

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“Eddie…please…”

“No, baby. Everything…everything’s ok. I actually feel a lot better, you know. Fuck that guy. I’m going to show him how amazing I am and pass that stupid class with flying colors so I can shove it in his face!” 

As his glassy eyes meet yours, your heart shatters into pieces once more as you wonder to yourself why you even bothered to get your hopes up this time when every time before has always had the same outcome. 

“Come on, pretty girl. Let’s get something to eat.”

 After climbing into his van, he inhales and rubs the bottom of his nose with his finger before glancing toward the glovebox to make sure it was closed and reaching for your hand to hold onto his lap. 

###################

1994

Ice touching your arm startles you back into the moment as you gasp and squeeze the hand holding yours. 

“There she is. It’s ok, honey, you’re ok. Breathe. Good girl. Inhale…and exhale…good.”, Steve smiles as he places the cube he was holding back into the cup by his side. His cold fingers continue to run along your skin as he watches your eyes fleet from left to right. “You’re alright. We’re in our apartment in Detroit and your safe, baby.”

“Is she ok?”, Eddie murmurs as he bites the nail on his thumb. “Do we need to go to the hospital or doctor or something?”

Steve calmly shakes his head as his other palm pets your hair. 

“You’ve seen her do this before in high school. She’s disassociating.”

“Because of me? I-I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even think. I—”

Both men watch as your head hangs and you start to sob. You allow Steve to pull you into his arms while he continues to comfort you while his friend waits helplessly on the side lines. 

“Shhhh. We got you, Y/N. You’re safe. Everything is ok. Hey, Ed, why don’t you go make her a bath with those smells she likes?” Without hesitation, he runs that way and the other boy allows him a moment before carrying you to the bathroom. “There we go, pretty girl. There’s no rush ok? You sit here as long as you need to and I’m going to go finish dinner. Is it ok if Munson sits with you?”

You nod and in return he kisses your forehead but before he can leave Eddie grabs his arm. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if I scare her again?”

“She’s not afraid of you, Eddie. Trust me. Whatever happened I’m sure you didn’t do it intentionally. It could have been something as small as a smell or as big as a raise in your voice. Whether we like it or not…we’re responsible for her pain… we just have to be there for her and do whatever she needs.”

“Yeah…yeah…hey, um, can you show me what you did out there to bring her back? Just in case in the future, you know?”

“Of course. Right now, though, I think it would be good for you two to talk.”, he smiles as he pats his friend’s back and leaves the room. 

Exhaling out the nerves, he takes a seat on the floor beside the tub facing you as you stared forward. Your gaze shifted towards him, however, when he leaned his head back and accidently hit it a bit too hard causing him to wince as he rubbed his head. 

A little snort laugh left your lips and he grinned as he playfully rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, that’s funny, huh? I think I just lost some lyrics to a few songs with that little bonk.” When his eyes meet yours, he sees that light that had been reflecting through them this past year return and he sighed in relief. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You didn’t scare me.”, you murmur. “I think it was just a combination of my day and…”

“And what?”, he urges as he rests his chin on his arm that’s laying on the edge of the tub. 

“I don’t want you change who you’ve become, Eddie. You didn’t do anything wrong. My brain just…sometimes things trigger it…”

“Because of what we did.” Your head hangs but he immediately places his fingers under your chin to lift it again. “Baby, we own it. That’s what therapy and rehab taught us. We can never take that back even though every day I wish we could. I wish I could just touch your brain and take away all the pain we caused but I can’t.”

“I always wanted that with you two. I thought of me touching your chest and…”

“Yeah but sweetheart it’s no longer just you facing this alone. You don’t have to carry it alone.”

“My editor said the things he said and then you raised your voice. It reminded me of that incident with Mr. Gold.”

“Pfft, yeah…Mr. Asshole.”, he chuckles as he shakes his head. “I heard he’s not teaching anymore thank God. I, um, that was when I accused you of wanting to sleep him. I threw things including the ashtray…”

When you nodded, he swallowed at the memory. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Do you want to talk about it? I don’t mind. It helps me to understand you know?”

You two talked until the water got cold. 

Eddie brought you to the bedroom to dry you off, put you in comfy pajamas, and brush your hair. By the time Steve said dinner was ready, you wouldn’t have been able to tell anything had happened at all. 

The metalhead threw you over his shoulder and you giggle all the way to the couch where he lightly tossed you down to sit beside you. 

“Don’t get used to this, rockstar. Here you go, honey.”, the other boy teases and hands you both your plates. 

“Thank you. Oh, hey Steven! Fork?”, Eddie sasses, grin widening when you laugh. While they playfully banter, you grab the remote and flip through the tv. “Oh, princess, look!”

“Yes!”, you beam as you both get more comfortable and Steve whines as he places himself beside you. 

“Why? Do we have to watch blood and cuts?”

“Yes.”, you and the metalhead announce at the same time. 

Eddie smiles down at you and tilts down to kiss you lips. 

###########

[evenmorefatallyobsessed]

So...I know you've addressed this in the past, can't remember the specifics, but I know you talked about this topic at some point. That being said, I'll apologize in advance if I'm asking something you've already answered. You're Neo models, specifically the hair...how the hell do you do that in Koikatsu? Do you have specific mods installed? Are you manually adjusting hair in the accessories? I gotta know, cause I'm trying to make her myself, and, I won't lie, it's a pretty daunting task. Any advice or tips you're willing to provide would be appreciated. Thank you for your time and may your days be well.

No Problem, there are a few ways to go about it, Note that I'm gonna be pretty bad at explaining it since I learned all this by myself with no help. I know there's a Koikatsu discord that can help though, can't remember the handle though. Anyways.

First Way is to go into accessories and look for a hair piece that is already split into multiple parts like the one circled below (The X is the whole version)

you simply pick each part and adjust it were wanted, then the one you wanna change the color of you simply go to the box that says 'Match Color with Hair' and unclick it. At which point you can change it's color.

Most of my Neo hairs use this, but there is one that doesn't as well as some other models who I added extra color to their hair. And then there are hair assets that don't work this easily. In there case.

The Second way to go about it is to go into the Material Editor, by clicking the big blue bar with said name printed on it. and from there export either the MainTex (Main Texture) or Detail Mask.

Main Texture can be utterly random if it has one but detail mask is... Easier. Basically the image below is the Hair asset. Your job now is to figure out which part affects where on the hair.

How do you do this, simple, you fuck with it, experiment and see where effects what. It's kinda like a map for the hair. You import it into MainTex and see what parts match up and that tends to give a pretty good idea of how it works.

Not gonna lie it can be long and tedious to do but once you get a good idea how to match up spots it becomes a lot easier to do.

The third way is one I only recently got a handle on, and it's not as useful for hair but might as well tell ya. The third way is to Export the UV Map. No idea what it's stands for, but it basically is the skeleton that the detail mask and maintex wrap around to make the accessory.

It's actually pretty hard to see without a white background but it does basically show you exactly what your coloring over.

Hoped this helped, and feel free to ask more questions, I don't mind, would've really appreciated help back when I was still learning this all after all.

[berrypass-de-murdler]

3 - 7 All Aboard For Murder

...was also the title of 2 - 67.

Sky and Sandy drafts :3

Sky is made of jointed wood, so she clatters when she moves and can turn virtually every body part 360. She still looks a little too much like Ecru and Sunflower for my taste

Sandy is half sugar glider (raven's suggestion) and half crab-eating raccoon. Obviously she can't take off from the ground or anything, so her 'flight' ability is kind of useless and just makes getting dressed a pain in the ass. Whoops! (and even then when I read the episode she's still just sandy cheeks ughhh)

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Horsegico has no choice but to follow the address on the newspaper and meet up with Ivory. And to do that, he has to board a train. Will they let a full-sized horse on a train? He poorly ducks behind some luggage, and spies on the porter Wine, letting people in. 

LOGICO: Psst.

Wine kicks away a potential rattler.

LOGICO: No! Psst! A person! Over here somewhere… WINE: What do you want. LOGICO: Can… can a horse get on the train? WINE: Not this time, Sky. 

He comes creeping towards the luggage, and Logico cannot hide.

WINE: Twilight II? Come aboard, ticket’s free.

Logico is surprised! Being respected is so nice. As he enters the locomotive, he finds out that Bossman Ivory is NOT Editor Ivory, but what appears to be her oddly lagomorphine father.

B. IVORY: There’s the man I was lookin’ for. Ol’ Twilight 2. LOGICO: Yes… that’s… me… 

He rolls his eye. Surely if he completes this video game-style quest, he’ll be able to return to consciousness.

B. IVORY: Now I gotta murder that only you can solve. But before that, we’ve got a lil’ bit of an emergency. The train conductor’s dead. LOGICO: Wonderful.

This is just like one of the earliest episodes. Ugh!

B. IVORY: P-WINE! QUIT YER GAMBLIN’ AND FIGGER OUT HOW’TA DRIVE A TRAIN! WINE: IT’S SOLITAIRE, IDIOT!!

The being trots to the front and gets hold of some levers. Logico feels a smack on the ass, and bucks fiercely.

SKY: Ha. This time, I learned ‘ta duck. LOGICO: You! I thought you were dead! And I certainly thought you weren’t allowed on the train. SKY: ‘S the thing about us outlaws… we NE’ER play by the rules.

Logico hates her so much.

He tries to run to a safe car, but can’t, due to being a horse and also the caboose is filled with nothing but lethal weapons. And speaking of lethal weapons, there’s a half-empty bottle of poison sitting on a table, with no cork in sight! The train is going faster and faster with Wine’s overconfidence. If Logico dies in the dream, does he die in real life??

LOGICO: NO! That’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever thought. 

He spies Ghost Cowboy Irratino sitting at a table, examining coffee grounds.

LOGICO: So you know that I’m Deductive Logico, correct? IRRATINO: [chuckle] ‘Course I do. I never forget a voice. LOGICO: Will you drop the stupid accent please? Am I in a coma? IRRATINO: Legally, I can’t tell you nothin’ that don’t have to do with this murder. But if you look into this mug, you might see an answer or two.

The murderer was the most obvious suspect, Outlaw Sky. 

LOGICO: What am I supposed to do with you? I should kick you off the train! SKY: [tips her hat with a hearty wink] Whaddaya expect, partner? I’m an outlaw.

Logico hates her so much. She jumps out the window and lands on her horse, riding away.

WINE: ALMOST THERE! BUCKLE UP, ASSHOLES… LOGICO: So… what’s the ‘real’ murder you want me to solve. B. IVORY: Ya see Twilight, where we’re goin’ is a ghost town. An’ there’s some’n real not right about this place…

The end!

Personally I hope logico wakes up soon but that's not gonna be for another three episodes

Also, happy birthday to Champ!

i ordered my plush logico

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[evolutionsvoid]

Welp, here is an entry I have been dreading for some time. Now you may assume this worry and hesitancy is because I have something against the species in focus here, and that would be incorrect. I got nothing against these creatures, I am totally fine with them. No, my issue is that this beast has a....certain look to them. A rather...monstrous appearance. Or, more specifically, is very dragon looking. "Of course it looks like a dragon, Chlora, because it is a dragon! Ya silly knot head!" are words I can already hear ringing from around the globe when they see what I am writing about today. It is a big ol dragon, and we all know how Chlora feels about dragons!

But take a good look at the Velue! See its impressive size! Its scaly hide! Its serpentine neck! Bear witness to its strength and mighty flame! "Now there is a dragon if I ever did see one," you may say. And this is the part where I dig my fingers into my headcap and groan at what is to come. Because the Velue is a grand beast of legend and power, who appears to be the perfect candidate for the True Dragon classification, and I got to be the person everyone hates in pointing out that IT IS NOT A TRUE DRAGON!

Oh how I must restrain my quill in this entry! How I desire nothing more to scribble pages upon pages of angry rants at the dragon legends and complete mess of classifications! Yet I must contain myself, lest Eucella reduce me and my writings to mulch. But I stand with what I write, because I am correct, that the Velue is not a true dragon. Because we have to remember that this classification is for reptilian beasts and I can already hear people scream "how is that not a reptile?!" It has scales! It has a snake-like look to it! That has to be a reptile! Yeah, well fish have scales too! And some mammals have scale-like structures too! SO I GUESS THOSE MUST BE REPTILES TOO, YA GNARLED GALL INFESTE-

Now let us professionally discuss this matter at hand. Professionally and politely! The Velue certainly has a scaled look to it, and its appearance does look reptilian, but deep research into their remains and structures have found that they do not align with typical reptiles, either old or new. Instead, the species we find most in common with them is the Tarasque! And if you have seen the Tarasque, then you know that those beasts are very much mammals! They have way more hair and the usual look for a mammalian, while it is much more reduced in the Velue, so what gives? Well, the current theory is that the Velue is like an ancient ancestor of the Tarasque, and possibly something that has been dubbed a "protomammal." A creature that is tied to mammals, but is old enough that it was around before they got all the stuff we associate mammals with! It is wild stuff to learn about, I must say! So despite its six limbs and scaled body, it is not a True Dragon! And I have been informed by my editor that we move away from this subject right away!

The Velue is found in temperate climates, often dwelling in forests. The shifts in temperature that come from changing seasons may be why they have such a shaggy body, helping them keep warm during the colder months. Their long necks are for getting food from trees, be it meat or fruit, as they are omnivorous (though with heavier leanings on the meat side). Velue live solitary lives, staking out huge chunks of territory for them to hunt in and call home. With their size and needs, there is certainly not enough room to share with others of their kind!

When it comes to hunting, their large size makes pursuit a no-go. Can't really chase down things with their slow gait and hefty weight. Instead, they rely more on ambush, letting prey come to them, or using their long necks to snare animals from above who thought themselves out of reach. Their heads can snap forth like a viper, lightning quick, to nab food before it can flee. On the other end, they have a venomous spur on the tip of their tail that can drop food and foe alike with blinding speed and crazy precision. And when all else fails: burn it! The Velue will use its flame to start small fires that flush prey out, forcing them in a direction of their choosing. And if their food burns to death, well, still a win!

Obviously, not much challenges a Velue, as they are heavily scaled, covered in sharp spines and have the weapons mentioned above. Yet, some larger carnivores may try their luck on the young or sick, while hunters and slayers seek them for other gains. Their quick neck and tail makes finding a blind spot difficult, and one wrong move can get you killed. Flame breath scorches any in their wake, and their huge bulk can crush foe who get too close. Other Velue may challenge them for territory or breeding rights, and these battles are settled by a duel of tails and neck. They coil their necks around each other and try to wrestle them down, all while the tails jab and stab in an attempt to achieve dominance. Watching one of these fights is fascinating, but best done at a good distance away. As they wrestle and shove each other around, they can cause a whole lot of collateral damage with their bulk. You would think they were going to knock down the entire forest from the sheer din!

In the regions they are found, Velue are called "dragons" and treated as such. To that, I will keep my mouth shut, because if their culture views them in that way, then who am I to tell them no? In cultural perspective, yes, let them be dragons, but if you dare tread over into my field with that idea, then I will start getting testy! Regardless of my opinions, the Velue are creatures that both inspire and terrify. Their likeness can be found on many crests and shields, and numerous artworks bear their visage. Unfortunately, their powerful presence means people like to hunt them for sport and bragging rights, while their nasty temper and hunger gives people the excuse to slay them. Velue will attack farms and towns if food is scarce, and they don't like intruders into their territory. Thus, conflicts are abundant, and many seek to kill them to gain glory and trophies. Velue materials are highly valued, and I have even seen coats made of their fur!

One last note I want to bring up is a new debate, or I guess idea, that has come up. With how many "dragons" that aren't "true dragons," some folk have gotten the idea that we create a group for mammalian dragon-like creatures known as "Dragon Beasts." That way we can lump all them together into something more dragon sounding! And to that I say, we already HAVE dragon beasts! That is the term we use for any creature with dragon-like features that isn't a dragon! What, we going to use the same name again?! Why does it have to be called an official dragon in science?!What is the hang up!? Call anything you want a dragon, I don't care! As long as it remains in the realm of common names and public views, I can tolerate it (kind of), but when you come trying to actually classify them as such, then I got a problem! Yes, Eucella, I know you told me to stop ranting about it, but I WILL! AND YOU CAN'T STOP M

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

As promised! Some more dragons!

[suzy-queued]

Hi! I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your writing. I've read several of your fics on AO3 and they never disappoint. I've written some as well but I still consider myself very new lol. I wanted to ask you, how did you get started with writing and do you have any advice for new fanfiction writers on how to improve their writing? Thanks!

Oh, wow! This really made my day!! You have quite a few fics on AO3. I look forward to checking them out. 😍😍

I got started in writing very slowly and then all at once. I worked in fields related to writing, like as a newspaper editor and as a proofreader. My goal was to be a cover artist, so I hung out with a lot of authors. I met my husband (an author), and he and I talk about writing craft all the time. He said for … oh, 15 years or so … that I should write. I refused.

I dipped my feet into writing some YA fantasy (original works), but that never gained traction. When I watched Shameless, I got this tingle up my spine and said, "These are the characters I've been trying to write into all my failed stories. How did they crawl out of my brain?!"

The pandemic was tough, emotionally. I felt trapped and defeated in 2020. I said, if I could do absolutely anything without fearing judgment from anyone, what would I do? And the answer was, write Shameless fan fiction. So I did. And it made me so happy. Still does.

I could talk for hours about writing and tips and advice. I'll try to pinpoint the most important things, for me.

Read. Consume other stories. Read them with a critical eye. Ask what works and what doesn't. Study the way they punctuate and break their paragraphs and put words together. Pay close attention to anything that moves you and try to dissect what you like about it. Always keep your antennae up for inspiration, because you'll find it in unexpected places.

Don't take it too seriously. I love love love AO3 because you can put works up whenever you want. It's my refrigerator, and I'm a child drawing with crayons. Look what I created! The way to improve is to continue to create. The way to continue to create is by not letting your stupid mind get in the way. Just write stuff. Write silly stuff. Write half stories. Take chances. You will develop your own sense of what works and how to improve your craft. That will come naturally with repetition. Don't get hung up on making something perfect (my inner perfectionist laughs defensively).

Keep it fun. Maybe that means talking about your writing with a friend. Maybe participating in fandom events (@galladrabbles are wonderful for making you think about every single word you put down). If writing is a chore or a grudge match, that bitterness will come out in your prose. Hey, this is your happy place! Make sure you actually enjoy it. It's easy to obsess over readers and comments, but do the best you can to write for only YOU. Keep yourself satisfied.

I am so happy that you reached out! Thank you for the love! I wish you nothing but the best with your writing!

[waitmyturtles]

TRIGGER WARNING! CONTINUED UNPOPULAR OPINIONS OF STEP BY STEP, EPISODE 10

Stop reading if you like it! Stop reading if you liked that episode! Stop it! SHOO! DON’T COME AT ME if you’re upset after reading this!

Okay.

In the words and paraphrases of my dear friend, @bengiyo: 

Dick is not magical.

Dick cannot fix a drama.

(Ben also says: dick is abundant and low in value, lol, which doesn’t quite apply to this review, but I gotta share it out anyway, GOD BLESS YA, BEN, ILYSM.)

I’ve had my eye ever more trained on Step By Step, critically, since watching TharnType. I understand Tee Bundit criticized the BL industry with Lovely Writer, which I have yet to watch. But: regarding TharnType to Step By Step, I had accountability issues with Tee’s filmmaking and direction in TharnType anyway, besides the problematic content. (TharnType DID NOT DESERVE an hour-and-a-half finale.)

Y’all know I have been on my tip for a second about Tee’s filmmaking and direction for Step By Step -- my biggest issues being pacing and editing. These episodes did not have to be so damn long. They didn’t. I am still barely seeing a connection with the side stories and the main story of Pat and Jeng. Episode 8 was the tip of the iceberg for me. 

Then episode 9 comes, and I feel -- and I know my dear mutual @lurkingshan was more critical of this -- that episode 9 HELPED get Pat in his words. I really appreciated that we spent some time with Pat verbalizing what was going on with him, his confusion at Jeng’s attraction to him. 

But episode 9 ended with QUITE the emotional breakdown on Pat’s end with his parents. And then he’s laying in bed, surrounded by birthday snacks from Jeng. “It makes sense to me” -- Jeng’s attraction makes sense to JENG, but I didn’t get, at the end of episode 9, whether it made sense to PAT.

So we start Step By Step, episode 10, with Chot... scolding Pat. And telling Pat to run to Jeng. Okay.

At that moment in time: Pat may like Jeng. Pat IS upset that Jeng is likely leaving. 

But is this a Pat that’s going to run to Jeng? Is that a mindset that I find convincing AT THAT VERY MOMENT?

CONSIDERING ALL OF THE CONFUSION WE WERE BEARING WITNESS TO IN THE LAST EPISODE, AND.... THE LAST NINE EPISODES???

And then... they boing? In the kitchen?

And then the car?

And they’re.... still working together?

And.... where are they in their relationship at this point? Because they’re in a RELATIONSHIP-RELATIONSHIP now?

And they’re.....fantasizing about getting married?

Tee Bundit. You and I are gonna have words. You need a fucking editor. You also need to listen to your team if your team was telling you to be more balanced in your filmmaking.

Dick is not magical. I love me some D. But not to make up for your RUSHED, UNVARNISHED, CHOPPY-ASS FILMMAKING. 

I’m mad. There was so much potential here.

I just said to Ben in a DM: I did not find this to be a celebration of queer sex. I found this to be using queer sex as a method of cheating on bad filmmaking to rush a story. To rush a story that Tee KNEW he had to close a loop on -- Pat and Jeng’s intimacy -- because he KNEW the storyline had unwound for TOO DAMN LONG on Pat’s emotional processing, WITH NO CLEAR END. Dick is not magical. You can’t solve bad filmmaking with queer sex. That’s not where we’re at with BLs anymore.

This episode did Pat’s emotional processing dirty. To JUMP to the confession and the boing. AND: TO BE WORKING TOGETHER WHILE IN THE RELATIONSHIP. THEIR WORKING RELATIONSHIP was part of the reason why Pat couldn’t imagine them together in the first place! And we get NO processing on Pat’s end ABOUT THAT, in the end?

Dick is not magical.

Whew. Thank goodness for my OGMMTVC project. Without it, I wouldn’t be seeing that Tee Bundit repeated issues of bad filmmaking that I’m seeing in the earlier dramas. Tee -- you can’t use queer sex like that. Yes, Man and Ben are beautiful. I knew Man would act THE HELL out of intimacy, convincingly, and he did. I love them together.

But I find Pat totally unbelievable at this point. To gain such comfort in dating a superior in such a short amount of time on screen. Only to have a breakdown when co-workers are looking critically on it. To resigning.

Wow. Learn to pace, Tee. Please, for the sake of what could have been a totally fabulous and deeply interesting storyline.

This episode had so much potential.

I might have more later, but just. 

[bepoucorp]

HEYHEYY !! IT’S YA BOI.. EDITOR ANON !!! ANYHOW,, DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR FINDING OUTFIT INSPO FOR A SONA ? ^_^

heyo! i recommend looking at pinterest! i get most of my outfits ideas from there!! i normally collage a few pieces together to make an outfit!!

[rockislandadultreads]

November is... National Novel Writing Month!

Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book? by Ally Carter

Have you always wanted to write a book, but don't know where to start? Or maybe you're really great at writing the first few chapters... but you never quite make it to the end? Or do you finally have a finished manuscript, but you're not sure what to do next? Fear not - if you have writing-related questions, this book has answers! Whether you're writing for fun or to build a career, bestselling author Ally Carter is ready to help you make your work shine. With honesty, encouragement, and humor, Ally's here to answer the questions that writers struggle with the most.

Filled with practical tips and helpful advice, Dear Ally is a treasure for aspiring writers at any stage of their careers. It offers a behind-the-scenes look at how books get made, from idea to publication, and gives you insight into the writing processes of some of the biggest and most talented YA authors writing today.

Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell

They say writing is rewriting. So why does the second part get such short shrift? Refuse To Be Done will guide you through every step of the novel writing process, from getting started on those first pages to the last tips for making your final draft even tighter and stronger.

From lauded writer and teacher Matt Bell, Refuse to Be Done is encouraging and intensely practical, focusing always on specific rewriting tasks, techniques, and activities for every stage of the process. You won’t find bromides here about the “the writing Muse.” Instead, Bell breaks down the writing process in three sections. In the first, Bell shares a bounty of tactics, all meant to push you through the initial conception and get words on the page. The second focuses on reworking the narrative through outlining, modeling, and rewriting. The third and final section offers a layered approach to polishing through a checklist of operations, breaking the daunting project of final revisions into many small, achievable tasks.

Whether you are a first time novelist or a veteran writer, you will find an abundance of strategies here to help motivate you and shake up your revision process, allowing you to approach your work, day after day and month after month, with fresh eyes and sharp new tools.

The Book Bible by Susan Shapiro

Hundreds of thousands of books come out every year worldwide. So why not yours? In The Book Bible, New York Times bestseller and wildly popular Manhattan writing professor Susan Shapiro reveals the best and fastest ways to break into a mainstream publishing house. Unlike most writing manuals that stick to only one genre, Shapiro maps out the rules of all the sought-after, sellable novels, memoirs, biography, how-to, essay collections, anthologies, humor, mystery, crime, poetry, picture books, young adult and middle grade, fiction and nonfiction. Shapiro once worried that selling 16 books in varied sub-sections made her a literary dabbler. Yet after helping her students publish many award-winning bestsellers on all shelves of the bookstore, she realized that her versatility had a huge upside. She could explain, from personal experience, the differences in making each kind of book, as well as ways to find the right genre for every project and how to craft a winning proposal or great cover letter to get a top agent and book editor to say yes.  

This valuable guide will teach both new and experienced scribes how to attain their dream of becoming a successful author.  

The Storytellers edited by Mark Rubinstein

Have you ever read a suspense novel so good you had to stop and think to yourself, "How did the author come up with this idea? Their characters? Is some of this story real?" For over five years, Mark Rubinstein, physician, psychiatrist, and mystery and thriller writer, had the chance to ask the most well-known authors in the field just these kinds of questions in interviews for the Huffington Post.

Collected here are interviews with forty-seven accomplished authors, including Michael Connelly, Ken Follett, Meg Gardiner, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, and Don Winslow. These are their personal stories in their own words, much of the material never before published. How do these writers' life experiences color their art? Find out their thoughts, their inspirations, their candid opinions. Learn more about your favorite authors, how they work and who they truly are.

[chriscarthern]

A-Train: New Beginnings Part Deux | A Fan Film by Chris Carthern

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwJYGUar0RY Discover the sequel of A-Train: New Beginnings with Part Deux, a thrilling fan film set in The Boys universe. A-Train: New Beginnings Part Deux is a satirical exploration of fame and what happens when a superhero loses everything. This parody proves that even the fastest man alive can't outrun the truth. Written and Directed by Chris Carthern Co-Director Chong Ahn IMDB: https://ift.tt/4trOdCP A-Train: New Beginnings Part Deux Cast: A-Train / Reggie Franklin - Chris Carthern Nathan Franklin - Jacquez Patterson James Prophet - Jeffrey Lee Cheatham II Allison Bailey - Melissa Jackson Ugo - Ugo and Cosplay ‪@ugoandcosplay‬ Charlotte - Alexandre Raphael Tone - ToneTheGoat ‪@tonethegoat‬ Edgar Dickey - Edgar Dickey Popclaw - Suzanne Wong Cinematographer/Editor - Chong Ahn ‪@ChongAhn‬ VFX - Chris Carthern Dialogue Editor João Paulo "Bill" de Lima Sound design João Paulo "Bill" de Lima Music Supervisor - Chris Carthern ✅ Subscribe To My Channel For More Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscarthern/?sub_confirmation=1 ✅ Important Links: 👉 Website: https://ift.tt/IrlT4bF ✅ Stay Connected With Me: 👉 Cosplay Instagram: https://ift.tt/OX5tKEe 👉 Photography Instagram: https://ift.tt/CEf4vjk 👉 Chris Carthern Instagram: https://ift.tt/025fviu 👉 A-Train Fan Movie Instagram: https://ift.tt/CIUgSzK 👉 TikTok: https://ift.tt/usbyWeH ============================== ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉 I Love Phants: Documentary - (Official Trailer) | Shots By Shinobi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTyjBNapOk8 👉 A-Train: New Beginnings - (Official Trailer) - (Fan Film in The Boys Universe) | Shots By Shinobi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No9E-IvOwWs 👉 Get Out the Way - (Official Music Video) | Shots By Shinobi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEuIiibXBA 👉 A-Train: New Beginnings - (The Boys Fan Film) - (Full Feature) | Shots By Shinobi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii60myCH8qs 👉 Mr Run Through Ya Girlfriend by Chris Carthern - (Official Video) - (A-Train from The Boys) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcy1WU9qLJs&t=0s ============================= ✅ About Chris Carthern: Welcome to Shots By Shinobi, your go-to spot for captivating photography, indie films, podcast interviews, and cosplay magic. Chris Carthern, an award-winning producer, co-producer of CAPTAIN ZERO, and passionate advocate for diverse storytelling, this channel celebrates underrepresented voices and offers a unique perspective on pop culture and entertainment. Join us to explore engaging content that champions creativity and inclusivity in every frame. For collaboration and business inquiries, please use the contact information below: 📩 Email: chris@shotsbyshinobi.com 🔔 Subscribe to my channel for more videos: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscarthern/?sub_confirmation=1 ===================== #atrainnewbeginnings #theboysfanfilm #atrain #fanmovie #theboys #atraincosplay Disclaimer: We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage which is incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of reading any of our publications. You acknowledge that you use the information we provide at your own risk. Do your own research. Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use © Chris Carthern via Chris Carthern https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOrav7MFbNMapmk-koZNlUg May 01, 2025 at 07:19PM

[oldsalempost-blog]

The Old Salem Post

                   Our  Local Tamassee-Salem SC Area News each Monday except holidays                                          Contact: theoldsalempost@gmail.com      Distributed to local businesses, town hall, library & more.                            Volume 8 Issue 20                                                                                  Week of April 28, 2025                https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/oldsalempost-blog                         Lynne Martin Publishing                                                                                                                              EDITOR: True value is often not seen in the products we purchase.  I remember my family members worked in textile mills. I still see the empty textile buildings abandoned when those jobs were sent overseas to factories who offered cheaper labor.  When Americans choose to purchase an imported product that costs less, more than just American jobs are lost.  The true value in an imported cheaper product is immeasurable.   LRMartin

Town of SALEM: 5 Park Avenue  Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM. Closed 12-1 for lunch.  864-944-2819 Town Council meets the third Tuesday each month at 6PM.                                                                 

Salem Library:  5 Park Avenue Mon 10AM-6PM, Tues-Fri 9AM-5PM. Closed 12-1.  864-944-0912  Tech Help on Tuesdays 2:00-3:00– get help with your Kindel, ipad, laptop, smart phone, or other.     Friday May 2, 4:30PM at the Community Center.  May the Fourth Be With You:  Celebrate Star Wars with a craft of Diamond art key chains ages 6–11.  You Must Register 864-944-0912                                                                       

MOBILE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE thru the Clemson Rural Health comes twice each month  to Downtown Salem located across or beside the Fire Department, offering  primary and acute care including chronic disease management. May  Dates: 13th  and 29th 9AM-3PM is the next visit to Salem.   Walk-in or call  864-656-3076.                                                                                             

Health Tip:  It is said “motion is lotion” for the joints.  Regular exercise builds muscle strength, promotes circulation, memory,  and helps your mental state of well being.  Set aside time for exercise.  Your body and you will be glad you did.  Take the time!                                               

Jottings from Miz Jeannie  by Jeannie Barnwell    The Centennial Lawn Party -   The Seneca Woman's Club Among the best dressed and cutest attendees at the Garden Party to support the upkeep of the 100 year old Ballenger House were "Tamasseans" Silvana Baez, Janet & Dan Manhardt, and of course, darlin' Miz Jeannie! THE FOOD:  the most delicious BBQ thanks to Mike Graham and his crew from Oakway; platters of appetizers and salads; fresh shrimp cocktail and selections of tempting desserts.  I am so proud of Oconee County for supporting our Woman's Club!    Rather than tearing the HBH (Historic Ballenger House) down, women donate their dough and their time to its upkeep.  Yearly membership is $25 and supports a variety of classes and programs.  Over the years, the HBH has hosted etiquette classes for teenagers, as well as events for children.  Monthly meetings for women invite writers, poets, and authors to be speakers. I encourage all ladies, but especially newcomers to Oconee, to visit the Seneca Woman's Club.  These are the friendliest gals that you will EVER meet!  Trust me, there is NOT ONE SNOOTIE HOOTIE GAL (SNG). -- (If the club contained SNG's, you KNOW that I would never depart the rarified air of Tamassee to attend! Love Ya All! MizJeannie                                                                                                                                         ASHTON RECALLS by Ashton  Hester         LADY HAD SEVEN GRANDCHILDREN ON 1979 TAMASSEE-SALEM TEAMS - (The following story was in the February 21, 1979 Keowee Courier). . .Mrs. Bea Alexander of Salem has seven grandchildren who are members of this year's Tamassee-Salem High School basketball teams. She and her grandchildren were recognized during Homecoming activities following Friday night's games. . .Her grandchildren are Diane Head, Tammy Alexander and Kim Alexander, who are members of the varsity girls' team; Ron Alexander, who is a member of the varsity boys' team; Mike Alexander, who is a member of the jayvee boys' team; and Linda Alexander and Brenda Alexander, who are members of the jayvee girls' team. . .(Footnote written by Ashton Hester: At the invitation of Tamassee-Salem Principal Sam Bass, I attended the Homecoming games and ceremony and took a picture of Mrs. Alexander and her seven grandchildren as they were being honored. The picture was in this same issue of the Keowee Courier. I always thought this was one of the Courier's most amazing sports stories ever.                                                           

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK FOR JOCASSEE VALLEY BREWING COMPANY,(JVBC) & COFFEE SHOP* 13412 N Hwy 11  Hours: Wed–Sat 9am-9pm & Sunday 2pm-7pm   Events this week: Wed:  WING WEDNESDAY with Blue Ridge Grill!  BLUE GRASS JAM at 7PM.   Thurs: open   Fri: Food: Just a Smile Caribbean  Music:  Water Kickers  6:30PM  Sat:   Food Truck: BLUE RIDGE GRILL Low Country Boil & more!  Music:  Deadly CRANK DOGS!  6:30PM  Sun:  Food: BLUE RIDGE GRILL Low Country Boil and more! Music: SPARE PARTS Bluegrass 4PM 

OPUS TRUST is a local 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to education, conservation, and preservation of open land, farm lands, precious places.  OPUS Trust stays alert to opportunities to raise awareness of issues, contact legislatures, contact and assist landowners, assist other nonprofits with similar missions, and fundraise to increase abilities to continue the mission of stewardship.   Quote this week by Eddie Martin  after a recent trip to Greenville via 123  and seeing the spread of multiple housing units stacked on top of one another in open fields stripped of natural trees and bushes,:  “How did we decide that development is the measuring stick for success?”      

EAGLES NEST ART CENTER 4 Eagle Lane, Salem SC 29676

2025 UPCOMING EVENTS                www.eaglesnestartcenter.org      Email:  eaglesnestartcenter@gmail.com                                                                                                                                                                                Update for the Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea:  May 10, 2025, 2PM-4PM.    Treat yourself to an afternoon of tea, delicious goodies, and a wonderful speaker. Our youngest guests will be treated to a manicure and a craft.    Cost $10   For more information or to RSVP to Kayla Lusk 864-903-0681.  Last year was wonderful!  This year will be too!  Call your sister, mother, daughter, or girlfriends for a magical time together to dress up and have a tea party! 

Oconee Mountain Opry: May 17, 2025 7PM    Tickets $10  Original variety show of local and regional talent. Enjoy the Dacus Villains,  Justyn Fox,  and  Dick Wells  for a fun entertaining evening.     Come early to enjoy homemade concessions,  visit the OPUS museum, the Alumni Room, or search for nice gifts at our Treasure Store.   Unique Old Time Entertainment!   For more information 864-280-1258

Earth Art Camp for ages 6-12 years  June  2-6   9AM-12PM    Cost $50  Children express care of Creation through multiple types of art.  This is educational and a fun focus for children interested in art and for them to create and use multiple expressions for art. Children must be able to follow instruction and show interest in learning.  Volunteer to help or Register call 864-280-1258               

                                                                                                                               Oconee Mountain Opry: July 19,  2025  7PM    Tickets $10 Original variety show of local and regional talent.

Ongoing 2025 Events                                                     Treasure Store Open every Saturday 9AM-12PM. Call for donations 864-557-2462.  - We have some very nice items, vintage and brand-name clothing.  Come check us out! We would like to offer more shopping hours if you would like to volunteer.                                                                                                             YOUNG APPALACHIAN MUSICIANS– Want to play an instrument?  Preserve traditional music!  Sing up to be a YAM! Cost is $50 each month.  3rd grade through adult.   We currently have beginner fiddle and guitar classes.   Call 864-280-1258.                                     

Senior Exercise every Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:30AM and  Saturdays at 10AM.  Evening classes each week on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5PM.    Cost  $2.50 each class or $22.00 each month for unlimited classes.  Classes are growing and the ladies are really enjoying the benefits of exercising and socializing together.     

Keowee Krafters is a nonprofit creating a Maker Space for crafts, artisans and skills. Contact makekeowee.org       Upcoming Classes at ENAC:  May 1:  Watercolor Class 10-1   May 6: Fabric Basket Class 10-1   May 8: Fabric Basket Class 10-1    May 12: Watercolor Class 10-1    May 15:  Naturals off loom weaving 1-4    May 19:  Open Sewing 12-4.   May 20, 5PM-9PM  Build an attractive Cedar potted plant stand. May 24: Quilted Casserole Carrier 10:00  May 24: Soup Bowl Cozy and Microwave Baked Potato maker 1:00    May 28: Watercolor class 10-1    Email:  Events@keoweekrafters.org

Journeys met: I met Peg a few years ago as I transitioned from my nursing career into retirement. It was and still is such a blessing to know I shared her last year of life and Christ values. The last day I cared for her I could tell she was feeling down.  I tried to brighten her spirit by saying “ I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help!”  Her eyes brightened and she continued, “ My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber….”  Peg continued to recite the rest of Psalm 121. Peg shared strength and faith  on her last day that still amazes me.  Cherish the people you meet on your journey.  LRM 

Thank-you Jazzy Jeff 107.9!    LRM

[xcziel]

belated tuesday new release news

(i had the *worst* migraine yesterday and had to work a long shift so i was dead by the time i got home)

louse erdrich the mighty red

patterson's (and david ellis) lies he told me

'danielle steel' released triangle

society of lies by lauren ling brown

the mistletoe mystery a pocket story from the maid author nita prose

for horror buffs the last one at the wedding by jason rekulak

third realm karl ove knausgard

rupi kaur's milk & honey special collector's edition

the wild huntress by emily lloyd-jones

song to drown rivers by ann liang joins the fancy sprayed edges gang

city in glass by nghi vo

also a fancy edges version of emily henry's beach read

fang fiction by kate stayman-london

frieda mcfadden thriller the boyfriend

john scalzi's starter villain is out in paperback

in ya releases:

kathleen glasgow the glass girl

the heir by sabaa tahir, newest in the ember in the ashes series (new covers now in box set!)

catherine doyle's the dagger and the flame

lynne painter hardcover nothing like the movies

lauren roberts powerless + reckless box set

and volume seven of the lore olympus graphic novel series

* also, to tie in with the new maguire book elphie due out this month, all the new merch for the wicked movie is out so if you love the show/book or just pink and green there's so. much.

** plus the wicked lego sets and holiday legos are out! (i predict the poinsettia set will sell out fast)

in final fiction notes: sally roberts' intermezzo is selling out fast and the publisher is dragging their feet on printing more of the fancy trending cover just fyi

dan jones big new history tome henry v

ta nehisi coates' the message

malcolm gladwell revisits his bestselling idea with revenge of the tipping point

ina garten the barefoot contessa has a memoir out be ready when the luck happens

and dolly parton and her sister have a new cookbook good lookin' cookin'

a bunch of kids new releases also came out but the main one where i am is the last dragon on mars by scott reintgen, which going up against british import juggernaut impossible creatures

(note: my personal most looked-forward-to title of the month? villain. the sequel to hench by natalie zina walschots. i can't wait)

OH! OHHHH ! i can't believe i almost forgot to mention:

seven seas paid that horror show daemi for the rights to publish kp and the first volume is out in stores!!

idk whether to be pleased: art is nice! promo for my beloved characters! or to be upset: bad writing! money for a nightmare author!

(i mean .. i read the online translation that was running on wattpad (not good) and heard from some folks who bought the books from overseas and the consensus was that it was not well-written at all, but i have not read through this new version so maybe they got a better translator? new editor? who knows? i will have to check and see)

all i have to say is that if you do buy this, you should be obligated to go and watch or re-watch the show