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Monday, December 27, 2021

Everchanging Dilemma: First Draft Page One VS Second Draft

Still a work-in-progress (please let it stop!!!) but if you're interested in the behind-the-scenes sausage making then here is what it looks like.  Also I suppose it sort of works as a sneak peek/peak of the book.  Also shows why it's a book and not a novella any longer since that first page grew 3x what it began as.  Of course it will change more in drafts 3 and 4, so...

Also for those of you that ARE aspiring writers...FIRST DRAFTS SUCK, keep working on it!  Granted you probably shouldn't show your first draft to people like this, since it does feel a lot like walking around with your fly open...actually that might be the second draft, the first draft is probably butt naked with a zit on your cheek...

Please don't copy and paste, link back here, all rights reserved by me, Richard Raley, yada yada.

First Draft Page One:

For the Institution of Elements, Learning Academy and Nature Camp, there were few greater failures in its illustrious one-hundred year history than Isabel Soto.

Evelyn Strange had hardened her heart year after year for her whole life and yet seeing one of her kids in such a sad, deplorable state still somehow touched the empathy she’d buried deep in its own ocean trench.  Empathy mixed with rage.  Rage at what this child had done to her many brothers and sisters in Elementalism over the years.

Rage at myself, for not pushing harder when we might have done something to prevent all this murder and mayhem, the violence and betrayal.

Evelyn knew all the symptoms and signs, had seen the signs of that great enemy many times in the nearly two decades she’d served as Head of the Infirmary.

Anima Madness.  And all its recognized stages.  Dormant.  Progressive.  Dominant-Subverting.  Converted.

She had recorded them dutifully into her student medical database, forwarding all information to Administration just as the school bylaws ordered, where the Testing and Mental Wellness departments had sole dominion over that particular malady.  Keep them healthy and happy, Evelyn, that’s your job.

She’d petitioned for classes on the signs and symptoms, for pamphlets, even for a club where the students could understand and freely talk about their particular anima personalized issues.  We have therapists for just that reason, Evelyn, and we wouldn’t want to unduly scare the children, would we?

Her hands balled up into fists at her side.  Evelyn knew she was…grouchy…on her best days.  Angry on her worst.  Winter War when they let her kids hurt each other just for tradition and entertainment, so parents could beam over victories and crow during the Old Mancy Party Circuits.  But this rage…

Ever since that battlefield…

Eureka.

Victory.

Second Draft:

In the illustrious one-hundred year history of the Institution of Elements, Learning Academy and Nature Camp, there were few greater failures than Isabel Soto.

Failure to stop her.

And, yes, failure to save her.

Not one single failure either.

Many failures.

Failures of such weight and magnitude that they could not be claimed as a simple mistake.  Nor could they be easily brushed aside or ignored.  Nevertheless, they had tried that too, placing her in the same lockbox where all the other misshapen and ill-fitting broken citizens from the many prominent nations of elemental mankind resided.  It had a name that place:  the Cleansing Sphere of Reform.

But Isabel Soto escaped.

And her misery grew, still as dirty as gutter water, unreformed and unrepentant, worse than ever before.  It multiplied and festered.  Isabel Soto walked a twisted, gnarled path where blood splattered at every curve.  Her life and choices growing darker and more desperate until…what now could be done to rectify that cemetery of wrongs?  To heal those wounds that ran soul deep?

And what hope was there for ethos, pathos, or logos to bridge a divide created by such frighteningly overpowering magic?

Evelyn Strange, Head of the Infirmary, didn’t have the answer.  All she could do for now was to maintain her always strain composure and carry on in her most unusual task.  Even that was difficult.  Frustrating too.  Extra frustrating for a woman well familiar with the emotion.  Her mind was sharp and her skills, both mundane and elemental, were honed and yet…it all eluded her.  She was not one to leave such answers to others.  One could say her whole life was about finding answers, specifically to questions teenagers constantly asked of the world about how they could possibly make their lives more difficult by inflicting injuries upon themselves and their peers.  When Evelyn answered those questions, the kids stayed safe.  They healed.  They grew.  They learned.  They…turned into slightly less idiotic adults.

An improvement, if a small one!

(only now getting to the original second paragraph) Evelyn had hardened her heart year after year for her whole life preparing to answer those many questions, equally standing at the ready for the next instant crisis of blood and bone or a lazy malaise of runny noses and sour stomachs.  Few situations at the Institution surprised her at this point—seven years keeping King Henry Price in check will do that for a person—yet seeing one of her kids in such a sad, deplorable state still somehow touched the empathy she’d buried deep.

Empathy mixed with rage.

Rage built along the same dual line as those twin failures.

Rage at what this child had done to her many brothers and sisters in Elementalism over the years.

Rage at Evelyn herself, for not pushing harder when they might have done something to prevent all that murder and mayhem.

Strange knew all the symptoms and signs, had seen the signs of that great enemy many times in the nearly two decades she’d served as Head of the Infirmary.

Anima Madness.  And all its recognized stages.  Dormant.  Progressive.  Dominant-Subverting.  Converted.

She had recorded them dutifully into her student medical database, forwarding all information to Administration just as the school bylaws ordered, but nothing more.  Keep them healthy and happy, Evelyn dear, that’s the job I place at your feet! the Lady had said upon Evelyn accepting her position all those years ago. 

Happy?  Me?

A cackle sounded.  Point made, point well made!  Can you at least restrain your natural inclinations and not make them feel too guilty while you stitch them back together?  For me?  And so I don’t have to deal with letters from their parents?

Evelyn had…mostly.  For whole days.  Maybe a week here or there.

Okay, so she hadn’t strangled any of them yet…that qualified as restraint, didn’t it?

Anima Madness might not have been in her purview, but it was inescapable.  Question without an answer though it might be, even worse than Isabel Soto’s dilemma.  She’d petitioned for classes on the signs and symptoms, for pamphlets, even for a club where the students could educate themselves and freely talk about their particular anima personalized issues.  We have therapists for just that reason, Evelyn dear, and we wouldn’t want to unduly scare the children, would we?

Her hands balled up into fists at her side.  Evelyn knew she was…grouchy…on her best days.  Angry on her worst.  Winter War especially, when they let her kids hurt each other just for tradition and entertainment, so parents could beam over victories and crow during the Old Mancy party circuits.  But this rage…

Evelyn felt reversed.

Inverted.

Not with days and weeks of peace either, but merely hours and spare minutes at best.

The why frustrated as much as all the rest, but she knew exactly when it happened.

That battlefield.

Eureka.

A victory, they all crowed, as loud as those parents after Winter War. 


Friday, December 24, 2021

Minor Pre Holiday Work-a-thon

230/242

Now the only question before me is do I rewrite the ending or not...

And how, I suppose...

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

King Henry Tapes Quiz (No Whiners Edition)

You asked for it, so here's 20 BAMF Quality King Henry Tapes quiz challenges!  Frankly...you'll probably have to work together and search through the books to double check the answers since I don't even know all of them off the top of my head.

How many Vicky Welf Sparkle Princess Rainbow Points can you win?

1. We Start Easy (for No Whiners Level): Who gave King Henry an Elven Blade?

2. Name King Henry’s four student advisors.

3. What is King Henry’s Guild number?

4. Jethro Smith often wins this award at the Asylum.

5. What is Christmas Ward’s Fairy Name?

6. What is Heinrich Welf’s Construct called?

7. Who was King Henry’s first "girlfriend"?

8. Have you figured out King Henry's birthday?

9. This is the last known Alpha of the Wolf Nation.

10. Horatio Vega’s “majordomo” is a Vega family member, what is her name?

11. The Divine Eresha wore many shells, which one was she wearing when King Henry first met her?

12. This vampire royal was never seen but ran the San Francisco Vampire Embassy when King Henry first visited.

13. This Intra team was set to play against Class 2009 at the BI Winter War before someone intervened.

14. Mrs. Dingle keeps this type of animal in her classroom.

15. Victim Number Splat, Victim Number Yank, Victim Number Crush.

16. What is the motto of the Guild of Artificers?

17. The Winterwarden teacher at the Asylum is often mentioned by Raj Malik with awe, what is their name?

18. How many faces did Isabel wear during “The Mancy Martial Artist”?

19. Moira von Welf’s maiden name infuriates her, what is it?

20. This rival and ruler of the Jaguar Nation represents the biggest challenge to Horatio Vega for Shifter domination.

BONUS ROUND (2 Points!!!)

What is the most horrific vampire sexual position as yet conceived?

DOUBLE BONUS ROUND (3 Points!!!)

King Henry knows Tad Code 12, so should you!


*Teamwork and Answers Allowed in the Comments*

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Stay On Target

212/234.

And the back has had it again, need a few more days off.

Good thing season 2 of the Witcher is coming out to keep me entertained right?  And all the other TV I need to watch like Wheel of Rand's Nightmare Jumper-Sweater-Thing-That-Eats-Souls Episodes 2 through 8.  And Squid Game.  And Arcane.  And the Great.  And Succession.  And...pfft...

For as difficult as this has physically been I really have spent all of my brain juice on this edit, without doing much else besides the occasional foot-soccer-ball game or Hearthstone video...haven't even been playing Football Manager, which is like...a miracle...

You guys didn't like do some group séance dark ritual shit to cure me of my Football Manager addiction and then accidentally give me a herniated disc did you?  Cuz...dude...not cool...

Anyway, very close to done with this Longest Round and moving on to the 3rd draft, which is already 1/3 done because of the Do What You Can When You Can mindset we're working with this go around.

Though I DO think I'm going to rewrite the last scene so its different characters instead of what I have now...which could take a few extra days and might add...who knows how many pages...but I think the new plan is a lot better and will be much more fulfilling for you readers.

I'm still trying to figure out how what was supposed to be a prologue to FM7 (oh, spoiler alert, post school story wrapping up, the books are going to have prologues and epilogues from the wider world, typically of a more antagonistic nature) has turned into a 240ish page novel...a really fucking awesome 240ish page novel, but still...

My name is Richard Raley and I might have a world-building, secondary-character motivation problem...

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Pretty Useless Again

Can't type a lot.  Just...FYI.  Back is fucked again and stuck in bed.

Second draft of Everchanging Dilemma is also stuck at 2/3rds finished.  Have to be able to sit to work on that last third, so no bueno.  What I have done is print out the 2/3rds I have and I'm doing the third draft on that with my trusty red pen Cart Before the Horse Style.  Once I finish that, if I still can't sit for long, I suppose I'll change things up further and hand write the last School Story again just to keep busy on the idea that eventually all of this WILL get out to you guys.

So...everything is awful.

But I'm doing what I can!

Sorry I'm getting slapped around again, trust me, I'm 10x more frustrated by it than you are.

Now I need to go lie down.

12/12 Update:  162/223, typing lying in bed with a portable keyboard and a tilted tablet leaning against a pillow so I don't have to bend my neck.  Behold my dedication!!!

12/14 Update:  196/229, closer, but this last bit needs a lot of work...

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Quick Notes Pre Thankgiving Edition

1.  Fuck turkey!  That's right, I said it!  Fajitas for Thanksgiving, woohoo!

2.  After doctor + groceries/pharmacy I am beat to hell again backwise and will be struggling to sit in a chair for the next week so expect more limited progress on the edit.

3.  That said, do feel like it's shaping up nicely and we're about 1/3 of the way through it.  Actually, it's such a comprehensive edit this time around that I don't think I need my "character" edit and will be skipping it.  Also as stated before Evelyn POV does not bleed into everything as much as KH, so easier that way.  I actually find writing Miss Strange easier than either Tyson (who makes my anxiety flare) or Vicky (way way too happy, plus EVERYTHING with Welfs is like fifty layers of politics deep so every comment or line of dialogue is this massive minefield).  Maybe even Darth Eva too.  Evelyn is...done with this shit and YOUR shit and ALL the shit, especially as we find her in this novel-lite.  Which nicely matches my mood at the moment...

3.  Better second X-Ray found thoracic scoliosis with 20% curvature in my spine.  Don't know the cause yet.  Wasn't there when I was a kid.  Could just be the weight for so long.  Also had a nasty fall in the bathroom 6 to 8 years ago.  Of course there's also the Betrothal story about me falling out of the car (oh yeah, true story!) only like I said, not there in childhood so doubt it was that.  Could be the weight loss not helping, since the bones and muscles and ligaments are getting all moved about and really sensitive, but...

4.  So...MRI, CT Scan, and an Orthopedic consultation are in my near future as long as insurance agrees.  Doc is worried about possible nerve damage and the like, herniated discs and all that.  Joy!  Guess I'll keep downing Tylenol and bathing in Biofreeze for awhile yet.

5.  But at least I don't feel as crazy as I did having these symptoms no one seemed to know why I had, so that's good.

6.  3 books came out yesterday I want to read, like my To Be Read pile isn't big enough already!  Granted the one plus of not being able to use a gaming controller is that I spend a lot more time reading and AM actually finishing a book a week once again, miracle of miracles!  Granted the new Outlander novel is probably 20,000 pages so...might take longer.

7.  Finally did some movie watching.  Shang Chi was great.  Raya and the Last Dragon was...weirdly similar and worse for the comparison.  Also made for 12 year old girls who read nothing but YA novels.  Which...fine if you're a 12 year old girl, they should have things they like, but...I am not one, so...that with the comparison made Raya a pretty poor two hours of my time.

Was thinking about it and the best way to describe Shang Chi is to call it the best Star Wars since Force Awakens (which had world-building problems, but we had hope in those days, before the dark days, before the Subverted Expectations Crisis).  Anyway, family saga, mom believing in the light, father pulled toward the dark, Father vs Son, Brother and Sister reuniting, great evil that wants to be released and suck people's soul/force out...totally works as a Star Wars movie.  With some amazingly shot fight scenes.

8.  Okay, back has had enough, going to lie down and read.  Enjoy your family and friends, eat up, and dodge the Rona!

11/27 Update:  85/203.  Very much a novel at this point, if another smaller one.

11/30 Update:  105/209.  Halfway there.  Again, sucks how difficult and painful this is due to the back being a bastard, and how slow it's going compared to the 20 hour edit hell sessions I wish I could put in, but we are making progress.

12/1 Update:  120/213.

12/3 Update:  141/218.  It keeps getting bigger, it's gonna eat me!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Everchanging Dilemma Mini Tease #1

“She’s not showing yet,” Eva commented. “Her belly at least, everything else…would it have been that difficult to give her some panties?”

“Well established fact that the medical community does not believe in underwear, Reti.”

Eva blinked. “For the patients...right?”

Friday, November 19, 2021

We Continue Gingerly

Not stupido but arm is dead.  Back is...well, I'm figuring out how to cope better.  Using a portable keyboard helps.  Finally have my doctor appointment for more news on Monday.  Probably need a couple days at least to recover from more waiting room chairs.  Did do some editing today, 45/186.  One forth of the way, basically.  Then we move on to the next stage and start cutting.  Then formatting.  Then copyedit and...yeah.  Should be able to do a lot of that on my Kindle in bed at least...

That's all for later though.

Now I'm going to watch Wheel of Time and probably cry over how they've mangled my absolute favorite fantasy series from when I was a teenager (I imagine if you've read Wheel of Time and the King Henry Tapes that you might have put many of the influences it has on this series together by now...).

Well...at least we got Dune!

And here's hoping its not TOO bad...if they just managed like...Witcher quality...I suppose I'd take that...

Also season 2 of The Great to watch.

Huzzah!

Update:  First episode was rough, with some questionable changes, but not unwatchable.  Rand's ?wool? sweater, however, will haunt my dreams for the rest of my days.

Update 11-20:  56/189.  Doubt I'll get any work done tonight...booster seems to finally be kicking me in the balls with some serious brain drain.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

2nd Draft Sputters Over the Starting Line

Still really rough here in crookedbackville but I did manage to position some pillows and lean just the right way so I could type a bit while in bed and we're making slight progress killing this beast.

Well...I mean...I edited/reworked 7 pages but now the whole thing is 2 pages longer so...

*looks at calculator*

Yeah, let's hope I'm able to start getting more done.

Especially since the OTHER math means I'll be adding 50 pages to this then very-much-novel at this rate...

11-12 Update:  21/183

11-15 Update:  Felt better today so managed a little bit.  31/184.  Getting my Covid booster tomorrow so...if it goes how it has before I suppose we'll be politically correct for once and say I will be mentally disabled for the better part of a week.  

Monday, November 8, 2021

Stalled Out

Insurance wanted a second x-ray (full spine) before they signed off on anything more expensive, so I was in a waiting room miserable for the better part of 3 hours a few days ago and now...everything hurts.  Sitting hurts, typing hurts.  Why my back being messed up makes my left ring finger scream I'm not sure, but...it's a thing.  Has been a thing for years now apparently.  Thought I had two small problems, now have one big problem!  Knowing is half the battle, so...yay?

Do feel better today compared to the last couple, but now I'm slightly paranoid about putting in too many hours per day and might have to throttle myself going forward until the docs figure this out.  6 to 8 hours a day sitting at a computer slightly uncomfortable being preferable to a marathon followed by days in bed wanting to gnaw my own arm off as it were.  

If I am stuck in bed for prolonged periods I suppose I can put the edit down for a bit and just go back to handwriting "War to End All Wars" again, which IS progress, if not the kind that will immediately get a MancyVerse story into all of your greedy hands.

Getting to do a lot of reading of my own, I suppose and finally watching Succession...so...double yay?

Anyway, here's hoping for some more healing and a return to progress this week!


Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Step One Down

Okay, Prep Reading is done.   28 notes to consider for the edits.  I really hate reading my old writing.  Even novel to novel you learn so much, go back years and it's really cringe.

Really...you always see improvements, it's just a matter of time and finally letting go.  Though part of you never wants to...and if you're a billionaire you even get to force your special editions onto everyone!

On one hand the writing in the earlier part of the series is sparse and simplistic but there's also an innocence and brevity to it.  A single-minded determination to be in your face and take no prisoners.  But...everything is more complex these days, the characters, the plot, the prose, and some of the scenes I craft with the way characters go at each other and even the writer can't decide who's in the right...chef's kiss!

Part of me just misses a bit of the brevity I suppose.  Although I did just write a 170 page story that had a nice little arc and got the job done with plenty of hints and world-building added on top, so...maybe it's just King Henry that needs to shut his foul mouth!

Yeah, blame that guy, he never shuts up!

What an asshole!

Some trouble I am having with all this experience as an author, not related to "Everchanging Dilemma" but "War to End All Wars" is that King Henry has advanced so much in my head, in your hearts, etc that with respect to the double timelines the Hep King Henry really is more civilized and complex than he comes across as the graduated KH in FM1.  I have to keep reminding myself to not hold back and think...oh yeah, he'd totally be that big of an asshole!  Even though...probably still a more understanding less in-your-face KH than unadulterated FM1 stuff.  Arcing into an arc...pretty tough!  Landing might be rough!

Although perhaps there's a weaselly out to say technically FM1 adult KH is middle age KH remembering what that felt like so maybe it's good that it's not exact?

Anyway, I'll start the second draft some time this week I hope.

My back is...I can still sit a chair at least.  But not as easily as last week.  Might need to take a day in bed.  Stop getting in street fights.  Give up the orgies.  Stuff like that.

Perfect excuse to watch all of What We Do In the Shadows Season 3!  RR recommended TV series for sure!  Oh, I'd love for Annie B to meet those dipshits...

Monday, November 1, 2021

That was a Crazy Day...

 Well...my edit note list is already 18 items long and I've still got 3/4ths of "Dread Fortress" left to work my way through.  Plus I got into a six hour wonderland dive of checking through everyone's class year and finally said "fuck it" and created a great big list where every character will eventually be added.  Goes back to Class 1982 at this point...

Class years might be the only bane of my existence worse than timelines!

Crazy thing is I don't think I've found an error yet...so...accidental genius?

Or I'm an idiot and you'll all point out my errors like usual.

Basically it all started with me trying to figure out how Ceinwyn/Strange would fit together while at the school together and if Evelyn had to go to med school and do a residency then was she around when Ceiwnyn killed Paine/Amis died in 2001 and also if she was that class year then that would mean Mordecai Root would have been her student-advisor when she was a Single...accidental genius confirmed!

Also I have this class list of King Henry's class from when I started world-building and it lists all of the classes siblings (not all named since fuck that, but how many and where they relate age wise, etc.) so I decided to go through that and add them to my snazzy new file and just some interesting things popping up or barely missing out.  Is Wilson Hunting in the same year as Christmas Ward?  Nope, year younger than her.  Blake Gullick is in 2013 with the Four Peers, Maud Gullick is in 2017 which is a year older than Christmas Ward.  Dawn Hunting is in the same class as Matty Rivera and could have been a student-advisor for KH if she was chosen.

Miroslav Urban mentioned as the youngest Strike member having just graduated gets placed in 2011 with Falcon Smart and Dahlia Gullick.  Eugenie Gotha is four or so years older than T-Bone which puts her about 2001.  Which means she was a Single when Paine/Amis died.

Hey, if JoJo HAD gone to the school would she have been in the same year with the Three Queens?  Nope, but Susan likely WOULD have been King Henry's student-advisor.

I mean, some of this I knew and I'm just playing it up for this blogpost, but it's nice to have it all written down.  I really need to do this more going forward and like I said spend more time doing groundwork even more than I already do.  Plus updating my concordance with the last 7 something books/novellas is probably an emergency mission at this point...

But I could be writing instead!

Or editing!

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Everchanging Dilemma Edit Plan

 So for those newbies who weren't around the last time we did this (four score and seven years ago), our pathway goes something like:

1.  Prep Reading:  Read through relevant character passages from old works I think I might need to remind myself of.  This time I'm actually really nervous about this, since I've been away from the work for so long it's not as inside my mind as it usually is and I'm only slowly getting everything back in its proper place and training my brain to make all those connections again.  So if I do fuck up some continuity stuff...oops!  But usually this is my superpower so here's hoping, right?

Another big reason I want to do a full reread of the series before I start FM7 (finally)(I know)(no, really, I know!)

For "Everchanging Dilemma" we are looking at "Shadow Running" and Eva's POV/Isabel scenes from "Assault on Dread Fortress Paine", should be starting this today and typing down more notes.  Fuck you Halloween, there's writing to do!  Not you, Football Manager, daddy loves you!

2.  Second Draft (Addition Edit):  Basically where I just let the work engulf me a second time.  Early career me would be adding inner monologue and fleshing out scenes so the characters would be active in them, not just standing in a boundless, bodiless space talking.  More experienced me has started to really manipulate and rework scenes on a fundamental level, far more fearlessly than ever before.  We get better!  Future me...might even plan ahead more to begin with?  Now that's scary!

3.  Third Draft (Character Edit):  Another pass looking specifically on making sure secondary characters sound like themselves and that King Henry isn't overriding everything, making sure dialogue and mannerisms are right, stuff like that.  No KH this time, Evelyn Strange instead, so she shouldn't bleed over as much, I imagine.  It is at this point when the work is it's most bloated and unwieldy.

4.  Fourth Draft (Subtraction Edit):  We start cutting off bits and killing our children!  Cut!  Cut!  Cut!  It was at this point in editing "Assault on Dread Fortress Paine" where I caught the worst flu of my life and really half-assed it, leading to why the stream of consciousness of that novella was so TURN IT UP TO 11.  This might be the most important draft and starting with "Glassbreaker Goes Home" I promised myself to be extra ruthless going forward and will show no mercy this time around either.  No, Raley, you can't have a cock joke on EVERY page.

5.  Fifth Draft (Formatting/Kindle Edit):  At this stage I finally reformat the files for digital use and add in all the bells and whistles.  I then read through the book on my Kindle which kind of works to reset your brain and let's you notice errors and typos easier.  I also keep making cuts, the novel slimming down and getting sexy.  This is also when the annual Ellipsis Genocide usually takes place.

6.  Copyedit:  We hate typos!  At this point I also hate myself and hate what I've written and never want to read it ever again.  You also start obsessing over words and shit gets very weird.  Fuck you 'that', fuck you!  You're so unneeded!  You're ugly!  I hate you!

7.  Beta Read:  the lucky few friends, family, and hanger-ons get advanced copies and also kill typos since their brains don't know what "should" be there.

8:  Release!!!

9.  I make money?!?!?!

10.  You laugh and cry and feel things.

11.  The reviews make me want to commit suicide no matter how good they are.

12.  I work on the next novel because I am a masochist!

Thursday, October 28, 2021

FM22: Newcastle Season 1

!!!VIRGINITY REJUVINATION WARNING:  SUPER NERDING OUT INCOMING!!!

How can you pass up $275 million to spend (yes, I use evil American freedom bucks) for your first Football Manager save of the year?

(I'm not addicted, you're addicted!)

RESULTS:


FUCKING RONALDO!!!  He ruined everything!  And...AND...guess who signed Mbappe on a free?  Not fair at all.  Even $275 million can't compete with that shit.

Granted I am happy to manage Top 4 in the first year, especially since Saint-Maximin had a really badly timed 2 month injury during Dec-Jan.  Callum Wilson was insane, even given where he played in the system I use being a goal fiesta spot for just about anyone.

TACTICS:


Started prepping for next year before I thought to share (read: brag) and too lazy to slot players back into their usual spots.  So...basically...two F9s should make zero fucking sense, but in video game world it works wonders.   A couple years ago attack mids were just horrible across the entire game and I abandoned them completely and haven't looked back and by the same token didn't like wingers last year either.

So I settled on my Not False 9s that work between those two positions as basically VERY aggressive attacking mids that players that can play either winger or attack mid or striker can be trained for, opening up a wide player pool.  In lower leagues where F9 capable players aren't as available I settle for Pressing Forwards and usually Target Men for the Complete Forward as well.

The most important players on the pitch with this tactic are the wingbacks, followed by the Complete Forward, and then the Mezzala.  You're basically creating three layers of crossing for your wingbacks, CF up front that is tall and can lead the line (he won't likely have the majority of the goals, but taking up space and pulling in defenders is his entire purpose, there will also be games were he has an average rating and that's just fine, he's still often doing his job), the two Not-F9s who might find space if the defenders over commit to the CF or if they don't can dart towards the goal for their own shot, and the Mezzala sits at the edge of the box and sprays in long shots (13+ long shot preferable, Right Foot required).

There's actually a MORE aggressive version of this with a Regista over a BWM at DM and that's a fourth layer where they shoot from like 30 yards plus.

Secondary tactic for this is that the right sided Not-F9 should be right footed and have good dribbling and crossing so when you do break they can cross across the field to the other Not-F9, hence many of Callum Wilson's goals.

TRANSFERS:


Best to Worst:

1.  Grimaldo: amazing, player of the year for me and a steal at that price and the wage he he's on.  13 assists, 7.41 average rating.  

2.  Isak: kicked ass leading the line and just what I was looking for, did demand a 90mil release clause and I'm probably going to lose him :(

3.  Milenkovic:  a rock for the defense all year and probably the next five years.

4.  Lacroix:  Steal at that price.  Wants a low release clause but did accept new contract with a higher number.  Played both beside Milenkovic and at BWM since Kondogbia collects yellows like they're Pokemon cards.

5.  Almada:  Long time wonderkid is still good and what a price!  Does take half a season to train his stats up before he's ready to start games, but he's earned his spot and has more development room probably too.

6.  Edwards:  English player down in Portugal that I mostly picked up because of the 8 english player requirement, but he played a ton and ended the season starting next to Almada, knocking Joe Willock (already at Newcastle) to the bench

7.  Dest:  Pretty disappointed in my countryman.  He had great games but he also had HORRIBLE games.  Like...6.0 games 3 or 4 in a row at some points, just made me want to scream.  Has development room, but we'll see might sell him in a year or two.  Do like that he can play on either side!

8.  Ceballos:  cheap!  Starts on the transfer list and if you wait a month or two he'll drop down a lot.  Still don't know if I recommend.  Had a few good games, but was middling most of the time, eventually replaced by Almada.  Planning to sell him for easy profit this off season.

9.  Kondogbia:   Disappointingly average.  Was hoping for much more.  Also starts transfer listed and cheap-ish, but looking at other people's saves do not recommend going for him.  Zakaria is available, plus Kessie is on the last year of his contract and was placed on the transfer list late in the summer which would have been SO much better for about the same price.  Also as pointed out before, loves yellows and was suspended for a lot of games late in the year.  Already sold him on to Barca for a small profit.

10.  Mings:  also signed for English quota and...WTF.  Totally capable of a 7.5 masterclass against weak competition but expect him to get destroyed by the big boys with those dreaded red ratings sub 6.0.  Do not recommend at all.

Rest:  Too young or subs that we'll see in the years to come.

As for what Newcastle starts with...so bad, SO BAD.  Sell them!  Be merciless!  Keep Wilson, ASM, and Willock...the rest are average at best.  Like most of this team is rated "good for sky bet championship" and the contracts some of them on are awful.

Jacob Murphy is signed until 2027, what the fuck?  Is someone laundering money through this guy?

Joelinton...listen, if the very first day of the game you can transfer list him and sell him for $0 dollars do it!  I would even consider $0 and some of his wages to be a HUGE success.  I was lucky to loan him out with a team paying 20% of his wages, that's how bad his contract.  It's soul crushing!  Please, please let me be able to sell him soon FM gods!

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

First Draft Done

 "The Everchanging Dilemma" is officially in edit hell.  2.0 edition up next!

Probably going to let it sit for a week  or so and work on King Henry's last school story for a bit, then I'll get to it.  Still looks like a decent shot to be published before the end of the year.

47k words.  172 manuscript pages.

Some laughs.  Some tears.  Lots of crazy shit from Miss I'm-Not-Crazy!

Monday, October 25, 2021

Almost There

One scene left to write!

Back is better than it was.  Still iffy by the end of the day, but I do have a chunk of hours to get some writing in when the caffeine, tylenol, and biofreeze hit the spot.  Still waiting on MRI news and next steps.  Other than that...editing might be a little rough since I can't pull 12-20 hour days to get it all done quick-like in my current state, but we'll see what happens.

Other than that...

Still got Vicky and KH to get back to!

Also:  WORMS!!!

If they don't give us Dune Part 2 we riot!!!


Saturday, October 23, 2021

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition #3

"Farmer boy from Nebraska. People look down on that sort now, but before pornography they had a firm head start on the mechanics of the act that left city boys at a severe disadvantage.”

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Great News, Horrible News

 We'll start with the great news:



Surprise!!!  So I called an audible and have been working on this for not quite 2 months now.  I'm a couple scenes from having the first draft done.  It is an Evelyn Strange POV chunky novella or novel-lite that will probably be about 45k or 160 pages-ish by the time its all nice and edited.

It takes place the same day that "Glassbreaker Goes Home" does and hopefully as you guessed from the title is about the Asylum dealing with Isabel now that she's been captured.  So in that way its a direct sequel to "Assault on Dread Fortress Paine" but is also really a spiritual sequel to "Shadow Running" which was Strange and Eva's story in "King Henry and the Three Little Trips".

Why did I do this?  Well...the Vicky novel and "War to End All Wars" both had a lot of work to be done and I wanted to get something out sooner and I made that joke post a while back about Isabel not being Anima Mad and all of you took it so seriously that I thought maybe I should answer it sooner than I planned.  Plus...I just got the urge and since I've written 40k so quickly I'd say it was a good one!  It's really helping to get the ring rust off for sure!

Now that we're shedding the two timeline structure going forward there's likely to be prologues and epilogues in the books from other characters (especially "villains") and this was on the slate for that as well, but here we go now!  Plus its a lot longer and fuller this way...

No King Henry, obviously, since he's in Visalia with Val and his family, (which I'm sure there will be whining reviews about but hopefully not too many) and it's not earthshattering or anything, but I do think it is very meaningful and some of you world-building nerds will be VERY HAPPY with a few events that take place.

...

SO....

Horrible news...

I've had shoulder pain for a month or two and then last week it became back pain so bad I couldn't even sit in a chair.  It's better than that now, still painful and sore and limited, but obviously I'm typing this blog post so...better!  But...it's not good.  It's going to slow me down.  Plan was to get this out next month and now I'm thinking more before the end of the year with the realization that at any point if the back gets worse who knows where we'll end up?

I finally got into the doctor yesterday and an x-ray showed enough that an MRI is getting ordered, with the expectation of thoracic disc herniation as the most likely diagnostic.  If that is what they find, then more surgery might be in my future.  On one hand, completely shitty adding on top of what has been a shitty number of years in a row.  On the other, at least all the nerve pain I've been having over the last five years has a probable cause now, so I don't feel like a crazy person.  Obviously, very early, could be something else, x-rays don't have the accuracy required and I'm not a doctor, but...I don't think spines are supposed to poke out that much.

So...I'm pretty bummed today...

And the flu shot they stuck me with also isn't helping...

And Hearthstone's Mercenaries Mode is boring as hell...

But...we endure, we write, we edit, we make shitty covers!

AND DUNE COMES OUT THIS WEEK!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEE!!!!



Friday, October 8, 2021

Monday, September 27, 2021

Late Night Writing

 And I'm cold...

And the air isn't trying to strangle me...

Fresno...are you feeling okay?

This isn't like you!

10/3 Update:

NEVERMIND!!!

PURE MISERY AGAIN!!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition #2

“A man with an action-figure collection should be careful with his jests.”

Friday, September 10, 2021

Yearly Endoscopy Down

I probably shouldn't be typing this today since I'm legally a danger to myself and to society and in no way responsible for my actions (hell yes sedatives!), but...

As if all the bariatric surgery stuff wasn't enough, I'm still wrapping up treatment for the massive EOE flare I went through during lockdown (not recommended unless rolling around in agony on your bed trying not to scream because that will just make it hurt more is one of your personal kinks).  Last September (post surgery since all my pipes got reworked) I finally showed proper eosinophil count from biopsies and if it's still good this go around I get to start tapering off the meds over the next year, so...here's hoping!

Yeah, once a year doctors get to stick a probe down my throat and cut pieces of me out...cuz science!

Better than the other end, right?

But...bit of a sore throat and upset stomach (what's left of it) and...very tired since there is something very very very wrong with society that we think waking up before...let's go with 2pm...is ever acceptable.  Vampire hours are best hours!  Especially this 5am shit, drive to the hospital at 7am and there's already hundreds of high school kids milling all around, no wonder they're all asleep in class!  Bitch, I stayed up to watch Conan and Stone Cold raise some hell on WWF Raw and Beavis and Butthead and South Park back when it was still paper stop motion, how am I waking up at 5am to go school?  Oh, wait, that was over 20 years ago, you  old cranky bastard...

Anyway...writer is tired.

Fresno...might cool down end of next week.

So...progress should increase then.

Although, I have been working quite an acceptable amount just not on anything up on the status update page quite yet...

Hmmm....

Secrets!

Monday, September 6, 2021

Not Cool, Fresno!

I grudgingly accept that you're a shithole from May to August, but 105 for three days in a row during September is fucking uncalled for!

Also, more interestingly, Saturday marks the 10 year anniversary of THE FOUL MOUTH AND THE FANGED LADY being published.  Been a rough few years, as we've hashed over again and again, but things are looking better.  Still not on track, but I'd say the track is in sight and I can hear the train over the horizon.  Which is a big improvement on where we were.

Granted, even at six main novels and 4 side novels, quite a nice bit of effort all told.  Will definitely be looking at beating that mark in the next decade for sure!

Also granted, the books have gotten bigger and the tales have gotten wilder 😉

Oh for the days when King Henry thought teapots were his greatest nemesis!

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition

 “Can I just stand in the corner and be all cool and broody while you do it?”

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Not Much to Say Update

Still hot.

Still smoky.

Still working when I can but really looking forward to autumn and winter.

Crossed below 230 pounds last week.  Ton of it is hanging skin at this point.  Don't quite have the Lady Knockers I can throw over my shoulder, but if I do a sumo pose its pretty fucking skin monster hilarious.

Still sick of doctors.  Have an endoscopy in a couple weeks I'm really not looking forward to.  Might not even happen cuz the Rona keeps killing everyone...AGAIN...so there's that.

Still working...which I guess I already said.  Very much the marathon-not-sprint part of the job.  Slogging through TWO middles at the moment.  Humps abound and not the grunting variety!  Also putting some pages into another project which you guys might hear about if it doesn't suck...

Nothing exciting, but consider this my Author Is Still Kicking Update for the next month!

Stay safe, stay cool!

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

So HOT August Update

So hot...

Not as ON FIRE as last week, but...so hot...just, I generally hate living in Fresno, but I REALLY hate Fresno at the moment, like...am about done with Fresno at this point in my life kind of hate Fresno...just...so hot!

*glances at Canada, sees its also on fire*

*glances at Alaska, sees bear eating a moose*

Anyway, 27 pages left to type in.  Session 94 is in the can.  7ish left to go from what I figure.  Been averaging about 12k a chapter at this rate, so makes it 84k left to write, which is probably what I've written so far once these pages are in the word file, so...

Halfway there?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Everything has ballooned with this novel so far, so I'm leery, but...maybe we are?

I do have to remind myself that as the last School Story, this novel is wrapping up a whole timeline and has quite a bit more to do.  Also there's the whole Class 2015 aspect, which...them's a lot of new characters, Raley.  Granted they had their moment and should be more background now, but...pffft.

Story-wise...we're not even to the Winter War that represents the title of the book, so...

I'm fucking scared, guys!

What have I created?

It's gonna eat me!!!

Just like that poor moose...

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

War to End All Wars Mini Tease #4

“There’s three testing periods?” Tatiana wasn’t the only one horrified, she’s just the one spoke up.

Wagged my finger. “Testing never stops, that’s just when they let it get mundane with the exams.”

“We don’t have homework, right?” Max Lamont worried.

“It’s a school,” Cicero Yates scoffed, “of course we have homework.”

“But…we don’t have a home!”

“If it’s anything like at the Academy,” Juliette Maes-Welf mollified, “then think of it less as busy work and more like weekly essays.”

“That’s worse!” Tat growled.

“Down with the system!” I agreed, fist in the air.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

FYI

 Text Widget is acting weird and I couldn't update it without messing around in the blog layout with html so I've changed the Status Updates at the top to its own page so it's easier on me, just click the link if you want to see them now.

Outside of that...I'm typing all those hand-written pages into the laptop at the moment editing as I go.

60 left at this point.

Also, I finally admitted to myself that WAR TO END ALL WARS will need 16 sessions, not the usual 8 a school story gets, and things look more manageable now.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

July 2021 Quick Notes

 1.  Feeling better finally.  Took a long while, but...feeling better.  Pretty much Link in BOTW at this point, have to hang out in AC land or I start getting super hot really quick, but better than where I was at a couple weeks ago.

2.  I'm sticking with War to End All Wars and doing a readthrough/edit on what I have so far, then going to pump the 69 (nice!) pages into the laptop over the next week.

3.  Really like what I have so far.  Took me a bit to get back into fighting shape but I've got this one's number now.  Plenty more to figure out for the back half, but we're grooving!

Just read through what might be the best KH/Welf interaction ever...just so very tense.  This isn't some childish shallow argument, this is two people who have known each other for years now really digging deep at the other, and me having written the characters for so long now having a great feel for who they are.  Plus, I like to think after a decade of writing in the minor leagues I finally kinda know what I'm doing at this point, maybe, sorta...

4.  So I've had some serious left hand pain for the better part of five years.  Basically since just after I finished FM6.  It isn't the main reason for why things got so fucked up with my output (surgery/health/grandpa/etc), but it didn't help.  Finally bit the bullet and got a steroid shot in the problematic joint at the start of the month.  Good news is now I have much better movement and can type for longer than a couple hours of a day without any pain.  Bad news is I still can't grasp, twist, or hold a gaming controller for an hour without wanting to die.  So even if I HAD a PS5, I couldn't play with it!  I have a feeling we're heading towards X-Rays/Ultrasounds/MRIs to figure out what's going on in there...

Oh, I'm left handed, have I mentioned that before?

Pencil lead edge-chop masters unite!

5.  You know, before these Olympics started, I thought: sure, I'll watch some this time!  Why not?  Covid still has all the good movies backed up until later in the year, I could use some once-every-four-years sports in my life.  Have I actually watched any of it?  NOPE!!!

6.  THAT FUCKING DUNE TRAILER!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!

7.  Actually finally starting the newest Stormlight book by Sanderson finally.  Probably take me a month to read it since based on what's come before it's likely 5000 pages long.  And I thought PIT OF NO RETURN was a big baby!

8.  Apparently they fucked with He-Man over at Netflix and the Nerd World is ON FIRE.  Again.  Haven't watched it yet, since that was just a little bit before I was born and not really a fan and...maybe when part 2 comes out.  More of a Transformers and GI JOE kid and...I mean, Michael Bay been diddling my childhood for a decade at this point.  Actually Transformers: The Movie scared me for life when I was like 3, so...can't even blame Mr. Explosion Man.

Also had a Power Rangers phase I probably shouldn't talk about or admit to...but Green Ranger was so cool, guys!  A kids show with a 5 part mini-series?  Whaaaa?  And did you see his fucking flute?!?!

But in a post The Last Jedi world, after we saw the fallout from that, I'm kind of shocked anyone thought it was a good idea to attempt the same game plan with He-Man.  So I get why He-Man fans are so upset.  Luke Skywalker guzzling green alien titty milk still gives me nightmares.  And the way the media/critics/bloggers sit on high and just label upset fans as haters and man-children and everything else you can use to belittle a person's opinion, that's still neither fair nor a good look.  Again, the same game plan we saw in The Last Jedi mess!  How are you repeating the same mistakes?  This does not end well for anyone!!!

I do feel bad for Kevin Smith, even if he was the architect of his own demise.  Used to listen to Hollywood Babble-On weekly at one point, and him talking about the Indie movie scene just as I was getting into the Indie book scene helped me not feel quite so crazy for spurning a traditional agent--->publisher route.  For his sake, I hope Part 2 does right the ship and Netflix just made a mistake splitting up the story.

Could not be AS bad as the Anti-SJW crowd is making out.  They're pretty much just as annoying as their foils, if not more so at this point.  So...assholes all around because everyone has one!  Balanced, as all things should be!

Luckily I'm writing my own characters I personally created, so when I kill off a beloved character none of you will complain on YouTube or send me mean emails about how much of an asshole I am, right?!?!

9.  Been watching a ton of movies instead of TV recently, mostly in the John-Wick-Like vein.  The best one was probably WRATH OF MAN, Guy Ritchie's newest.  Great ride beginning to end, check it out.  Liked it even more than NOBODY, which seems to be getting more buzz.  With NOBODY everyone feels protected.  With WRATH OF MAN...anyone can and will die, so it's super tense.  Also has a HEAT like element added to the John Wick revenge story and some timeline manipulation going on.  If you haven't seen THE GENTLEMEN, which was the movie Ritchie released before WRATH, check that out too, it's even better.

Of course I still haven't watched John Wick 3...so...should probably do that soon!

10.  LOKI was much better than the two previous Marvel shows, but the action scenes were REALLY bad.  I mean, action scenes almost always bore me nowadays, but those were pitiful.  I dug that there was a lot of talking and world-building and character moments.  The finale was three people with conflicting desires chatting about how the universe should end instead of two people throwing CGI fireballs at each other, so I liked that.  Final Boss was great and I can't wait to see his Super Saiyan version.

Loki, however...had almost no agency in the entire show.  He was simply along for the ride and watching as everyone else made choices around him.  In episode 3, I kept waiting for him to turn everything around and be like, a ha, tricked you!  But...I'm still waiting.  Could have been a choice the creators made and we'll see him step up in Season 2 and I hope that's what happens, because this isn't some newbie character that deserves to be a sidekick with training wheels.

But I have hope for the MCEU again, so that's great!  Down with the sophomore slump, on to the Multiverse Wars!

11.  Delta variant sucks, get your shots!  Even King Henry believes in science, people!  And he knows blood tentacle monsters rule the world not no wimpy Bill Gates!

12.  I'm thinking of putting together a King Henry Quiz for you guys and gals, up to the challenge?


Thursday, July 22, 2021

War to End All Wars Mini Tease #3

Val was delighted by part of this news at least. “You danced with Heinrich?”

Miranda might not blush as often as she used to, but when she did she still blushed like a champion. “No one else would. I was bored…”

“Did he grab your butt?”

“Valentine!”

Friday, July 16, 2021

So That Sucked Serious Blood Tentacle

 *sigh*

My AC died July 5th, obliterated by post July 4th firework residue, firmly etching that holiday as the worst of all holidays, not even close, no not even you New Year's Eve Dodge the Redneck and Gangbanger Bullets Extravaganza, sit the fuck down!  Used to love it--swimming, family, grandpa's burgers, tag football games that only ended when someone dislocated a shoulder...but now?  Hate it.  Loud, noisy, scares the cats, turns the valley into an asthmatic's worst nightmare even more than it usually is, and oh yeah, KILLS MY FUCKING AC.

DURING THE WORST HEATWAVE FRESNO HAS SEEN IN A FUCKING DECADE.

Maybe two.

TWO FUCKING DECADES.

When Britney Spears only sang about being a slave, but wasn't an actual fucking slave, that's how long ago!

 *sigh*

I survived miserably for five nights.  Not well, every moment a struggle, but...I kept going.  Saturday it was 110 degrees out and my body with its tiny bariatric stomach and lovely Scot-Irish What's the Sun? Genes had enough, I developed the first signs of serious OH SHIT heat exhaustion.  I don't know if my neighbors deciding to have a live mariachi band in a residential neighborhood until 3AM contributed or not, but I'm guessing it didn't help. 

Covered in wet rags and cold packs after two hours I finally cooled down and slumped into a restless sleep.

Sunday morning I could barely walk and decided to not fuck around anymore and went to the ER.

They were barely helpful, but...I got eight hours of free cool during the peak of the heatwave (115) they gave me obvious-but-fine-I'll-do-them tips and an IV, as well as warning signs on what to watch out for.  Spent the rest of the day in a Taco Bell, went home for a small miserable sleep in a house that wouldn't cool down past 90, and repeated at my uncle's place the next day.

Despite all this...Tuesday morning at about 2AM it got even worse in a terrifying escalation of symptoms, so...back to the ER.

*sigh*

New doctor.  They were...insultingly unhelpful.  I quote "your organs aren't failing yet, so there's nothing we can really do for you."

OH, I'M FUCKING SORRY ABOUT THAT, MY BAD!

I've only got uncontrollable body shaking and I'm so dizzy I can barely walk and hey, if I wasn't dizzy every muscle below my knee and elbow is cramping and spastic, and I'm so fucking smooth-brained it took me a whole minute to spell out my own name to the nurse, but no biggie!  Also I seem to have forgotten how to sweat, sure that's not important or on that list of shit you told me to watch out for.   How rude of me, I should have waited until my kidneys were giving out!

"Get some sleep and wet some towels to throw over you".

Oh yeah, why didn't I fucking think of that?

*sigh*

So I moved in with the uncle for three days to borrow his couch and luckily I somehow didn't get worse.  Thursday the new AC got put up and I'm finally back home.  I've slept about 12 hours a night since that last ER visit and I'm just to the point where the dizzy and cramping seems to have gone away, still can't go outside for longer than five minutes, even at 90 degrees.

I've also lost ten pounds in the last week...which is VERY not how my surgeons expected this shit to go at this point.

Obviously no writing has been done, this is the first time I've touched a computer ever through all that.  I'll probably need a week more of rest, then we'll see where we go from there.

I was just starting to think that maybe, just maybe I could get one of these books out to you guys before December rolled around, but it would probably take a miracle at this point.  So we're looking at February at the earliest.  If I don't self combust.  Which...is probably 50/50 at this point!

Part of me wants to change things up and switch over to the Vicky novel and put some time into that, readthrough, fix some problems, and reenter into the world of elemental politics, pretty dresses, and art collections.  But I also might just type the 69 (nice!) pages I have into the computer and keep going with THE BEST STUDENT ADVISOR EVER.  None of them have died yet, have they?!?!  Sure, one of them is raising up animals from the dead as pets, but you try to stop her!

Not necessarily boxing myself in to whatever you lot say, but...any desire on which you'd rather read first, Vicky Present Time Line One Month Before FM7 or Last School Story MEGA EDITION?

Anyway...I'm going back to napping...

And maybe I'll have some sugar free popsicles...


Tuesday, June 29, 2021

July-ish 2021 PURE INFERNO Quick Notes

 1.  Just a tad hot out here in California, well...the whole country really.  And the Artic circle apparently, which I'm sure is JUST FINE.

2.  Wrote a very acceptable amount this month, feel like I'm really making significant progress for the first time in forever.  [Cue Frozen music].  Like...I'm going to finish this book.  And the Vicky book not so long after it.  Which is how things are supposed to work when you're an author, but after the last few years in this quagmire of misery this is the first month I've felt like victory wasn't just possible, but it's going to fucking happen.  You almost start questioning yourself...did I really do this at least once maybe even twice a year?  Yeah, Richard, you did.

I mean...every novel I've ever finished has felt like a miracle at one point or another, but...so very nice to be back where I am and to feel like I'm reclaiming this career I sacrificed so much for.

3.  Still months of writing and editing for WAR TO END ALL WARS but...I can feel it now, it's not an idea, it's reality.  Also, I'm...me, I guess.  I'm sharp.  I'm thinking through all the angles.  I'm starting to remember bits and pieces of the series and how to connect them all.  I feel funny again and want to make people laugh and smile and feel all the wonderful emotions we humans are possible of.  And maybe a few of the horrible ones as well...

4.  Had a massive epiphany concerning FM7.  Seismic.  It changes nothing, but changes everything.  Heh.  More on this later.  Still thinking it through.  But...well...I guess I'll just tease you and say it cleans up some problems I had with the back half of the series.

5.  No delays and nothing has to be rewritten though, so don't freak out.

6.  July is stuffed with doctors sadly, so not sure if I can keep this pace up without getting distracted by REAL LIFE.  One year post surgery on July 31st so...they want their blood work and appointments and procedures and ARGH!!!

7.  Lost 160 pounds almost.  60 pre surgery, 100 post.  Walking a mile five days a week now.  Tried a bunch of different stuff but that seems to be the best for me.  Let my legs take the brunt and save my wrists and elbows for writing!  Need another round of new shirts probably.  3XLs are looking quite huge these days.  Food wise can pretty much eat anything I'd want at this point outside of sugary treats.  Still allergic to dairy and pork and nuts because of the stupid EOE throat thing, but...just had a whole black bean burrito for breakfast.  Yummy!  Without cheese...  😱  Stupid EOE!!!

8.  Was also the one year anniversary of my grandfather's death last week.  Tough.  Especially on my Mom.  Whole thing has been, but that week was bad.  You think you have it handled, and maybe you mostly do, but grief still hits you in ways you don't expect.  A favorite saying slipping from your mouth or a stranger at the store wearing a shirt that looks too close to one you've seen hundreds of times before...

9.  Anyone else watching the Euros?  Yesterday was CRAZY.

10.  Rereading Sanderson's Stormlight book 3 finally, so I can get back into that series.  Still have Abercrombie, Malazan, Hobb, and plenty more to catch up on!

11.  Stay cool!!!  Stay safe!!! Stay foul!!!

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

War to End All Wars Mini Tease #2

 A whole weekend to myself.

Just me and my old playground.

Consider the King Returned, Bitches!

Where the Elf women at?!?!

Friday, June 18, 2021

War to End All Wars Mini Tease #1

"How, uh...how long you been standing there, Boom?"

"Oh, just something about choking and chains..."

Monday, June 14, 2021

Jury Duty Done

Lucked out this time!

Doctor appointments here and there for the next couple months as we're coming up on the one year post surgery date in July, but plenty of time to steal more pages of progress, I hope...

Is fucking hot...

Like record breaking hot this weekend, so...

...

.

.

.

Guess I got some more good ol' pen and paper in my immediate future!

Also:  we do not believe in normal periods in this household!

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Watching, Playing, Reading Pre Summer Fiery Inferno 2021 Edition

Been awhile since we did one of these!  Not that I'm even sure if you enjoy them.  Also still not sure if giving opinions on other creator's work is ever a good idea, especially big, powerful production studios, but...like my books are ever going to be movies anyway, right?  😢

Spoilers, probably?

==WATCHING==

Invincible:  WATCH IT NOW!!!  The only part better than watching Invincible is going on YouTube and watching everyone freak the fuck out in reaction videos to Invincible.  It's up there with the first season of The Boys as my favorite superhero show ever.  Six season and a movie, please!  One of the few experiences that was so good I don't even want to read the original comic, just give me more of this so I can be surprised again and again!

The Mitchells vs the Machines:  A great, enjoyable CGI animated movie from Netflix, how is this possible?  Well, it's by the same Sony animation group that did Spiderverse, that helps, and it shows.  The animation alone has so much style and interesting background detail stuff going on that you could probably be entertained watching it on mute, but the story is sweet, heartwarming, and if you have children you should probably watch it with them and then hug/cry/repress emotions with them afterwards.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier:  You're a fucking mess, Marvel.  Get your shit together!

There's a lot going on here, I think.  For one, I think it's obvious that the herculean task of building everything towards Infinity War and Endgame has emotionally sapped the entire studio of its creative juices.  Especially if you look at the whole MCU up to this point as "book 1" or "story 1", it really feels like we're in sophomore slump territory where they are struggling to get to the next big thing.

And of course:  pandemic!

But...my hope for these DisneyPlus shows was that they would be on the same shared universe interconnectedness that we saw with season 2 of the Mandalorian.  Actually, I'd want more, but that should have been the minimum threshold in this day and age.  Instead we aren't even reaching the same level as Season 1 of the Mando.  We're barely over Agents of SHIELD or Netflix Daredevil interconnectedness in that it's kind of following up and we see SOME characters but not the ones we really want and...

Even if we ignore expectations and just focus on what is actually there, what's there is a ton of scared writing.  Lazy writing too.  Or...fast writing at least.  They're handwaving A LOT.  Ankle is in the water but they never jump in for a swim.  US Agent could've been been really complex, but...he's redeemed now everyone, just like that!  And hey, he's not crazy from the super soldier serum any more, we only needed that to happen for a few episodes anyway!

Ignoring the fact that killing the terrorist guy was actually not completely unjustified and the idea that the United States Senate (have you ever listened to any of these people in real life!?!?!?!) would even scolded him for that or especially gone so far as to strip him of the shield was laughable.  Oh and we're probably supposed to support Karli and ignore all the murder?  Sure got a speech about it.  Are the Flag Smashers wrong?  Or right?  What are they even really trying to accomplish?  No, no, don't think about that, don't look into that, don't build a plot around that, have cake and eat too, whatever we need for the next scene!  We call it...Schrodinger's Freedom Terrorist!

You can make a villain that's complicated AND evil, Marvel.  You did it with Thanos and Zemo...who's in this very series dancing the night away!  So why are you freaking out about it now?  Or that horse crap they pulled the end of WandaVision.  They'll never know what you sacrificed for them, Wanda!  I know Wanda mentally abused about a thousand innocent people and maybe we might want to deal with that, since, ya know...its conflicted and dirty and fun.  Don't fucking handwave.  Steer into the storm!

I rant because I know they can do better and have done better.  Get over the slump.  X Men.  Fantastic Four.  Crazy Nimrod Sentinel Shit?  Galactus that's not a fucking space cloud?

Please?

More complaints too, but I fail to recall all of them at the moment.  Oh, the Sharon Carter thing, or that we're supposed to believe Steve Rogers just left her to rot for years.  Fuck that!

Attack on Titan Final Season Part 1:  It's Attack on Titan time and that means I'm in an anime binge mood!  Hey, Marvel, this, this right here.  This is what it looks like when you fucking go for it.  I hope all my foreshadowing and plans in the King Henry Tapes come out as well as what's been pulled off with Attack on Titan.  It really is a masterpiece of onion layers.  Bleeding, skull crushing, everyone is dying onion layers.

I have read ahead in the manga I am aware they rushed...just a tad...with some things, but here's hoping when we get Part 2 in the anime they tinker a bit?

If you ever watch one anime, this is one of the handful you should pick from.

Haikyuu!!! Season 4:  I don't know why I care about a Japanese high school boys volleyball team, but I really do...

ReZero S1 Rewatch and S2:  Great, but...I'd forgotten how much crying there was...do still love a good death loop though!

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1:  Distilled Shonen that I binged yet never loved.  Kind of like they went for a solid bronze medal, nothing more, nothing less, and accomplished just that.  Hey, it's a medal. It's snazzy.  But I seen those handstands done better...

Justice League Snyder Cut:  Actually watchable.  Somehow.  The fact the execs managed to fuck this whole thing up even more than Lucasfilm did with the Star Wars sequels is an amazing feat of maleficence. 

Other HBO Max Junk Movies:  You're allowed to release good movies, Warner Bros, really.  You can do it!  (In the Heights isn't out yet as I write this).  Judas and the Messiah was about the only one I've liked so far.  Please let Dune be good, please please please!

Jupiter's Legacy:  Glad it got cancelled before I watched more than two episodes because I was really not looking forward to watching any more of it.

Mare of Eastown:  Just a great, condensed, seven episode mini-series and I'm sure Kate Winslet will get tons of award nods.  Jean Smart was fantastic as well.  Depressing, I suppose.  I don't know, anxiety and horror and awkward humor freaks me out a lot more than any of the depressing stuff does.  It'll probably get a second season they weren't planning on that goes totally batshit crazy...

LOKI Episode 1:  That's more fucking like it, Marvel!!!!!

==PLAYING==

I've actually not been gaming much.  Been suffering from a lot of joint pain related to the weight loss as my joints and ligaments acclimate to the new normal, so I've been saving my wrists and elbows for writing and especially staying away from console controllers (tiny PS4 controller is absolutely the worse).  Also when I'm writing I have less time for other pursuits and as you'll see in the next section when I write I'd rather be reading anyway, so...no pressy pressy the butty buttons!

Ori and the Blind Forest:  Finally played this on the Switch and it was magical and beautiful and the perfect amount of difficult with every death and triumph feeling earned and satisfying.  Though I will say the water temple escape made me start screaming curse words at my TV.  Still, very much worth the journey and I already bought Ori and the Will of the Wisps and should get to it eventually I hope.

Crash Bandicoot 4:  Fuck you depth perception!  Why is it that out of all the characters in this game that Crash somehow controls the worse?  Or maybe I suck, I mean I probably suck, platformers have never been my thing and its not like I ever beat the original Crash games as a kid anyway.  

Civilization 6:  The final update to my surprise, kind of ruined the game for me.  Man at Arms and the way the AI rushes that tech already for industrial zones has just made for a generally miserable Deity experience.  Not that Deity isn't half bullshit anyway, but it feels a lot worse.

Football Manager 2021:  Less of a game and more of a lifestyle choice at this point.  It's just kind of always on in the laptop background...not interrupting my writing though and don't seem to be addicted to it now, so...that's an improvement!  And it's so low impact it doesn't hurt my wrists or fingers at all, so it's the one game I can relax with without worrying about tiring out.

Hearts of Iron 4:  So there was a huge Paradox sale on Steam and I grabbed a few dlcs I haven't bothered with over the last couple years and HOI4 is first up.  Feels very much the same, just with boats and spies to play with that might or might not actually do anything.  I never feel like there's replay value with HOI4 and still it feels like only the major players are worth bothering with.  Also a lot of the "skill" is just knowing the most effective Focus Tree path and build order.  Plus, the best HOI4 experience still remains a mod and not the official game, so...not sure how long I'm going to be at this one before moving down the next on my list.

==READING==

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe:  Quite the crime novel and history on the Troubles.  Engaging and thought provoking from beginning to end.

Clanlands by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish:  I have vast amounts of Scottish DNA and was a Ron Moore fan from DS9 and BSG and had obviously heard of the Outlander books, but when Starz started the TV series I jumped on board.  Yes, I just admitted I'm a man that reads and watches Outlander (though I need to catch up on season 5 and I'm not looking forward to it knowing what will happen to Claire from the books...) No, I do not own a kilt, no I do not have abs of any sort...

Anyway, this specifically is just a Scotland travel novel chaotically told by two actors and probably double that many ghost writers and double that many editors.  Unless you're a huge fan I wouldn't bother, might not even bother anyway, quite a bit of it is just shilling various commercial endeavors.

Premonition by Michael Lewis:  I read everything by Lewis.  This is up there with his best.  The CDC probably comes off the worst.  Also, if you're a 30-40 something actress in Hollywood right now and you haven't told your agent you want to play Charity Dean, you are throwing away the role of a lifetime.  Not saying there weren't biases in the book, but...what a character that woman is!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir:  Liked the Martian more...this was one of those odd cases where I felt like the choice the author made with the main character to try to show growth actually completely did the opposite.  I realize I'm probably the extreme minority opinion here and I don't want to spoil what is one of the most popular books of the year, but...I suppose I will say that we didn't get to see what I thought of as the interesting stuff at the end of the novel.

I mean, we're VERY different writers so not surprising.  Weir likes survival, science, and math problems, what I want is interpersonal communication and political strife.  And curse words!

He also like....makes money at this and I...don't...

The Assassins of Thasalon by Lois McMaster Bujold:  I've mentioned Bujold's semi-retirement project and she's now kind of unretired and released a full novel in the series.  On the shorter side, but still, more Penric!  Still very much recommend these!

And next, oh fuck me, I have so many authors I need to catch up on!!!  Much less trying new ones!

Should probably keep writing my own stuff too...

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Fresno Strikes Back!!!

106 degrees today and the AC died last night trying to shake the house down to the ground.  No writing until it's fixed 😱

Dark rooms, lots of fans, and cold showers...

Outside of that...have been using pen and paper lately per the updates above.  Making progress.  Have one last Class 2015 kid to introduce, or rather reintroduce, a certain hydromancer you're already aware of that King Henry has saved for dessert.

Still not sure how much I'm going to cut all this up...it's just massive as is...very funny in parts, but massive.

Point is:  progress even in the summer!  Until the Bitch-Queen Fate destroyed my AC...

Probably revenge for what I did to poor, innocent, Best Most Loving Neighbor Ever Countess Sariel in GLASSBREAKER GOES HOME.

Edit 6.3:  Might be fixed tomorrow?  Waiting on a part and so so enjoying my 88 degree sauna of stuffy, sweaty misery.  Shortages for everything right now!  Burt is just laying in front of a fan staring up at me with pure judgmental loathing...

In the middle of MARE OF EASTTOWN, very good down to earth crime drama so far, very much recommended...but that might just be the dehydration talking...

Edit 6.4:  At this rate the heatwave will end first.  Let's look on the bright side shall we?  If I'm suffering so much right now then karmachameleontheory means that when I call in for jury duty a week from now they won't need me, right?  RIGHT, WORLD?!?!?!

Edit 6.7:  Still not fixed but it's cooled off.  Wrote a few pages and went for a walk today...so I'm back to normal amounts of crazy...instead of planning to hijack ice cream trucks or searching above-ground pools on Amazon.

Edit 6.8:  Finished the big massive Class 2015 intro chapter finally.  5 more to go.  Although that one felt like 5 all on its own...  Might be the biggest chapter I've ever written...trying to think of others...any super nerds out there that already know my biggest chapter?  For shame if you don't!

I don't know, I might have to find some wiggle room with the session structure so you guys don't accidentally think 'gee I'll read just one more before bed' and suddenly it's five hours later and you're still not done! Since none of you ever EVER dare to skim read just so you know what happens faster, right?  Bunch of proper one-page-per-two-minutes reading max comprehension style, right?

Most important:  AC should be fixed Thursday.  As I said we've cooled off a crazy amount.  Was 107 last week and tonight we're suppose to hit 49.  But the heat will return and I shall not go into battle unarmored yet again!

Thursday, May 13, 2021

"War to End All Wars" Sneak Peek #2

 Been a few months and you've all been very good.  Early days and subject to change and all that!

Copyrighted by me, Richard Raley, all rights reserved, do not copy and paste but instead link back here please, etc.


Divjot coughed one last time, took a deep breath, then turned her eyes up to get a full blast of Preston Landry in all his perfect boy scout glory.  No nervous peek here.  Twenty-year-old handsome hunk of pure man meeting her awkward, unworthy fourteen-year-old gaze and those so white teeth, and those lips and that blocky chin with just a hint of stubble and the way the floromancer’s coat highlighted his bulging shoulder muscles…

Squeeeeee!

Pretty sure anima wasn’t involved, but if you told me anima was involved, I’d have believed it.  Cuz every girl in Class 2015 seemed spellbound.  Instantaneously.  Even Sigfrid paused her devouring frenzy to burp.  Which for her was like second base.  “You okay?” Pocket asked Divjot.

She opened her mouth and something that was probably noise came out of it.

There was also some drool…

“I know he’s teasing you plenty right now, but you’re in good hands with this guy,” Pocket told her.

More noise and lots more drool.

Perfect moment to strike, ain’t it?  “That ain’t cool, Pocket, you can’t hit on Raj’s sister like that.  In fact I promised Raj we wouldn’t do this.”

Jesus somehow spontaneously teleported back over to us from wherever the fuck he’d been.  “Raj’s sister?  Can’t be Raj’s sister, El Rey.  Much too guapa.”

Divjot’s face went a strawberry caramel so pure she turned into a fucking Ben and Jerry’s flavor.

“I see it now,” Jesus changed his mind immediately.  “Pocket, control yourself!  Stop hitting on Raj’s sister!  Once she saw your pequeno it would be over anyway!”

Pocket actually lost his cool long enough to growl, “How was the dog?”

“Not so stuck up as far as purebreds go,” Jesus gave his expert opinion on all things canine, “but I’ve never met an animal that’s more worried about his culo disappearing.”

Monday, May 10, 2021

Quick Notes May 2021

 1.  Hit 60k words last night working on a very fun Pocket and Jesus scene.  That is generally the point where I consider a work to be a "novel" so...we got us a book, boys, girls, and blood tentacle monsters!

2.  How accurate is the estimate?  Are we really 2/5ths of the way finished?  Probably not.  This isn't one of those books (like FM6 or FM7...*cough*) where I know exactly what I want to do scene to scene and have been picturing it in my head for over a decade now, replaying conversations over and over in all the myriad of paths they can take and it just explodes out of me in an unstoppable torrent.  Even ignoring how sick I've been and how that's made things difficult, WtEaW has been much more nebulous.  I've had to wander and I've already cut out quite a bit of that wandering and expect more to follow.  Also the path ahead could be quite long and twisty or short and straight...there's just no telling!

3.  That said, I have more of a feel for the book than I ever had before and have come to some key revelations in the last few weeks.  Despite my first idea of the novel being that Class 2015 and the Winter War matches they take part in being at the forefront, I've realized I'm more interested in King Henry and his classmates and their last moments at the Asylum.  These were always the key elements of the story, but I think they've shifted in importance as I've worked.  Maybe part of me even always knew it should be that way since instead of starting the novel exactly when Class 2015 showed up, I delayed it until the third session (more on this later btw).

I suppose some of you will "no shit sherlock" this one.  It's not that Class 2015 isn't important or doesn't play big parts in this novel and they will VERY MUCH show up in the mainline, especially as we get to the later books.  As I've said, some are even in the Vicky novel!  But...generally you either show the planning for an event or the event itself (unless the event goes very wrong!) and I think how King Henry helps and the chaos he spreads around the Winter War is a lot more interesting than the matches themselves.  He's also a passive observer, so...does that really work?  I'm learning towards NO. So...more hijinks, less sporting spectacle, more Class 2009, less Class 2015 is probably where we are headed.

Always be adaptable as a writer, it's very important!

4.  One truly miserable situation in this novel is that because I decided I was just going to be so so smart and have the series have a session count that doesn't reset novel to novel, we only have 8 sessions to work with in this book despite the fact it's probably going to be at least 500 pages long, so...this one I'm working on is closing in on 100 manuscript pages and the two that preceded it weren't slim either.  Why is this one so big?  Well...I'm having to introduce 30 new characters in one shot!  It might be the most challenging thing I've ever done, but I'm have lots of fun with it.  Even if Class 2015 won't be so overwhelming as before, they still have tons of pages devoted to them and there's some great characters in there I'm sure you will love, many of them related to characters you already love!

5.  A couple weeks ago I saw an aunt and cousin I haven't seen since before the pandemic.  They live in North Carolina these days and couldn't even fly in for my grandfather's funeral (which obviously greatly upset my aunt), so since things are better and my cousin's kid decided that a not-quite-post pandemic wedding was a great idea (and lapped me and two of my other cousins on the whole marriage thingy in the process) they drove up from LA and visited for a couple days before the wedding, including a trip to the gravesite.  Graves are just...weird, humanity, so fucking weird.  Ignoring that, it was wonderful to visit and hug family, since ya know...vaccines rule!

6.  Good news on my father's battle with his heart.  After huge doses of some meds and a second attempt at the procedure, he's finally out of AFIB.  Still very rough and can very quickly be problematic again, and he's still on some rather dangerous meds, but for now, we'll take it.

7.  It's hot.  Fresno is already headed into summer, ignoring the occasion couple days in the 80s, so...my writing output is always depressed in May/Jun/July/August/Sept...we'll still be battling for 10k words a month, but we will be battling!  Maybe I'll even do some writing with a pen and paper to escape hot laptops?  Some post-midnight writing?  We shall see!

8.  Jury Duty in June 😭😭😭

9.  Oh!  Check out "Invincible" on Amazon Prime if you haven't already!  Foul Mouth Baby Seal of Approval!

Thursday, April 15, 2021

April 2021 Quick Notes

 1.  It finally happened!!!  I got two cherry twin sugar free popsicles in a pack!!!

2.  Am writing, progress is being made--if not insane levels--but even satisfactory levels are a wonderful improvement!

3.  Some of the scenes in WTEAW are just choice.  Maybe my favorite Welf/KH back and forth ever.

4.  Past me is an asshole.  Or maybe better to say it is a sign of how much pain I was in through 2019-20 that there is basically no outline work done beyond the chapter I'm now finishing.  Just like "Chapter X: Winter War round one and post match hijinks."  Thanks dude, real helpful.

5.  So I had to do a bunch of outlining to figure things out.  Plus research on a few things, like the Winter War set up I came up with in FM3.  Also what I've said about Welf and Constructs before.  Probably going to have to make a minor continuity edit in FM5 so everything works, but nothing major.  Oh happy days that this is the last of the timeline craziness!

6.  With that done I'm now working on new material finally, and this will be quite the send off for the school timeline it looks like!

7.  Funny to be introducing characters here that I've already written whole scenes with in the Vicky novel.

8.  Living next to a field with cats is a pain, the sticker season is upon Burt!


Wednesday, March 24, 2021

I...have...nothing on my schedule...for almost 3 months...

Guys, I...knock on wood, but...I think...I can maybe...like...write?

Like I used to write too, not this "few minutes here and there" bullshit.

So, love you all, but tomorrow I am officially cutting myself off from the net and civilization and we will see what happens, won't we?  Going to start with continuing the "War to End All Wars" reread edit and we'll see how long before I inevitably get bored with it and switch over to the Vicky novel, but...there's hope for progress of some sort!

I'm even giving up my hunt for a PS5!  Oh, the great sacrifices I make for you people!

I might finally play Assassin Creed Valhalla and I'll have to play it in 720p and sub 30fps, the horror!

Edit:  So I would have a PS5 right now, but my fraud service blocked the charge and shut down my card until I called my bank...FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, done with this, see you all in a couple months!

*goes to cry in a corner*

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Extremely Important Observation

 Why is it that every time you get double same flavor in a sugar free Popsicle pack it's always fucking grape?!?!

Where's my fucking double cherry?  Huh?  Where?!?!

Slightly more important:  I got my second shot today.  Two week countdown until I can make-out with random strangers.  Cuz, ya know...I did so much of that before the pandemic...

Update:  they killed my arm.  RIP arm.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Rather Horrid Medical Update

My father finally got in for his heart procedure yesterday, driving through Fresno at 5am in a rain storm being quite an adventure in itself, and...well they pretty much treated him like an electric appliance and switched him off and back on.

Normally this resets your rhythm but they tried 3 times and it did nothing.  So...not good all around.  It's only the first step, but usually it's a first step that works, at least for a number of months, so...very bad mojo.

Next week I have to take my mother in for her second vaccine shot and then get mine a couple days later, so that's good, if another distraction.  Second shot is supposed to hit harder than the first, so we'll see what happens there.

I also have my six month from my first post surgery appointment the week after that.  That side of things has been awesome.  I'm down 85 pounds since surgery, 140 since I set off on this path.  Back nerve weirdness is minimal now, throat thing is in remission and looking back I cant believe how much pain I was in day to day that now is just gone.  Wrists can still be a little funky, but I live with my braces on at this point and even they've gotten better without all that extra weight around.

I also think...well, if I wrote that well feeling like shit, what can I do going forward?

I'm hopeful for the long future again, but it doesn't look like my father will be there to see it.

More good news is that April and May are clear so far and, maybe I can finally go Mad Scientist?  We'll see...we'll see.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Writer's Brain

Having just spent the day helping my mother grocery shop for hours and hours and hours, I finally boot up the laptop to check in on a Lego set I bought (Medieval Blacksmith so cool!!!) and see if it was shipped yet.

Me:  Supposed to be here by Friday but currently in Texas...well, God be with it.

Brain:  Isabel can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  ...what?

Brain:  Isabel can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  First of all, we aren't even writing that novel yet because we're an idiot who wanted to show off and came up with two fucking timelines and also thought why not write a Vicky novel--

Brain:  You kind of wrote some of it.

Me:  Like fifty pages and--

Brain:  Isabel can't be Anima Mad.  The problem isn't what you are writing, the problem is what you already wrote.

Me:  When did I say--

Brain:  Maximus can't be Anima Mad.  Isabel is a Maximus.  Thus, Isabel can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  So we know that yes there's more going on with dragons but that doesn't mean anima can't--

Brain:  She can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  When did I fucking write that then?

Brain:  Glassbreaker Goes Home.  When King Henry is talking to Old Man Price.  It's just one line.

Me:  *dawning realization*  Son of a Bitch!

Brain:  Better look it up, because I'm always right.

Me:  You are not.  Half the time you're just spouting stupid anxiety shit in the middle of the night about fucking typos.

Brain:  We hate the typos!!!

Me:  *look it up* Holy fuckballs!

Brain:  Isabel can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  Fine...Isabel can't be Anima Mad.  Sort of.  I don't quite have it all worked out, but it's complicated and we'll--

Brain:  Well whatever it is, she can't be Anima Mad now.

Me:  I fucking see that.

Brain:  I bet you just wrote that because you thought it sounded cool, didn't you?

Me:  *seething at past self*

Brain:  It is cool...it's a cool paragraph and a cool moment.  But...Isabel can't be Anima Mad.

Me:  It's 4PM, I've been out all day, I'm probably covered in Rona except for the mask shaped hole around my mouth, my Lego still isn't here yet and I just want to watch some YouTube, leave me alone!

Brain:  ...

Me:  *staring at the paragraph* Stupid ass.

Brain:  ...you should make a note.

Me:  New writer chair so comfy...

Brain:  You've already got it half figured out, but if you don't make a note you'll forget that you have to figure out the second half.  Then you'll have a continuity error.  All because you were too lazy to make a note.  Actually, you should open up your writing laptop and find the correct file and then make a note on the file in the chapter where it will probably come up since--

Me:  Paper note in my writer folder is all you get.

Brain:  ...what if you forget it?

Me:  You'll remember at some odd fucking hour out of the middle of nowhere, you weird fucking creature, won't you?!?!?

Brain:  ...I do it because I love you!

Me:  *make note*  Happy?

Brain:  You could make this into a funny blog post!