Show Recs - Vampire Edition

Here's some of the vampire shows that I either currently love or have loved in the past.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off, Angel
2. Being Human (both UK and US versions)
3. Hemlock Grove
4. Moonlight 
5. True Blood
6. The Vampire Diaries and both of it's spin-offs The Originals and Legacies
7. Midnight, Texas
8. Supernatural (features a lot of supernatural creatures, but vampires make a fairly common appearance)

Animation:

1. Quackula 
2. Rosario + Vampire

Mood Today

So, just got screwed over with something going on in my life. As Such, I'm not going to be working on anything more at the moment. Hopefully my mood will improve by tomorrow and I can get out a Sneak Peek to the next chapter of It's A Twin Thing

Post # 100

So I'm doing a little dance because I'm actually up to post 100...

Now then, that is out of the way.

Below is a short lost moment from Archie's POV. This is something I swore I'd never do, simply because he knows too much, but this small scene allows you to have a tiny look into Archie's thought process and desperation as he realizes he messed up. 

A Death and Rebirth Lost Moment - Archie's Arrival

I was going to be too late to save Beau and I knew it, but I had to try because he was my brother, because I loved him, and because he was Edythe's mate. 

I'd stayed away, even after I realized our leaving was having lasting consequences for Beau, even after I'd watched him almost kill a camper and later a sales clerk in Seattle - in all honesty, I wouldn't have blamed him if the clerk had bit it. I'd watched as Edythe's future became more and more bleak, but still I'd done nothing, because I had known if I'd interceded than everything we'd worked so hard for would be a bust. 

It had to be Beau or Edythe who made the first move and not me. It simply had to be. 

Then I saw Beau's fight with Victor. I saw the pyre. So I'd boarded the next plane after telling Royal to keep his mouth shut until I confirmed everything. The visions had been far too immediate and I knew I was going to be too late, but I still had to try. After all, if Beau died than Edythe would surely follow. Losing even one of them would destroy our family permanently... and I didn't need the crystal ball that was my brain to know if we lost both than it would decimate everything. Earnest, Carine, Eleanor, Royal - they would all die one at a time, either a true death or an emotional one, if such an event occurred. And after they were gone, it would destroy Jessamine and I as well. So I had to try.

But, I was going to be too late.

Even as I got in Carine's Mercedes to drive from the airport to Forks, I could already see my future of looking into the sky and finding the purple billows. I could already see myself finding Beau's letter. I could see the last lines in it clearly stating he wasn't expecting to survive. I pushed the accelerator down even harder, trying to be faster than the future I knew I would find upon my arrival. 

The Hunter Sneak Peek

A brief teaser of Chapter 3 - Danger:

“My name's Bella and I'm new here today. I'm the chief's daughter.” I placed my paper down on the desk and held my hand out to the teacher as I spoke.

The teacher slowly reached out and took my hand in a firm grip. “My name's Mr. Munoz. I wasn't aware the chief had a daughter, but you picked a good time to start as we just starting on cellular biology. The class is a bit full but there is a seat next to Edward Cullen. He's relatively new here as well, so you two may be able to help each other out.”

I barely contained my snort. I wasn't exactly surprised he didn't know my father had a daughter. After all, how was Charlie supposed to explain me anyways? “Oh, I have a daughter who is out slaying monsters. Real ones. She does all the stuff a cop should be doing but is too stupid to handle.” Or perhaps the conversation would go something more like, “Yeah, I have a daughter... What can I say? We all have skeletons in our closet.”

I stood a moment longer than was strictly appropriate without replying to the teacher before I finally nodded and turned toward the aisle to walk to my seat beside the bloody devil incarnate.

Update to Posting Schedule

As I have put Rebirth and Afflction on an official hiatus until inspiration strikes or I can force myself to write it. My upcoming posts have changed in order.

The Hunter, Chapter 3 - Danger (just need to do a thorough edit)

It's A Twin Thing, Chapter 5 - September 13th (this chapter is screaming at me to be written)

RR, Chapter 6 - A New Blow

The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality, Chapter 26 - Party

Newest Shift

(Posts to my original fictions may or may not be interspersed with all of that, and of course there will still be regular posts to The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life.)

Obviously, this is all subject to change and is entirely dependent on if Rebirth and Affliction (or any of it's missing moments/alternate realities) decides to suddenly start speaking to me.

Movie Recs

I've read a lot of books (as in thousands which is not an exaggeration). I've also watched thousand of movies and shows, and from time to time I get asked what my favorite movie, show, song, etc... is. As a general rule when it comes to movies I have a handful of go to answers depending on my mood, the day of the week and more. Those answers I give usually have tongue and cheek reference to my frame of mind but don't have any real depth behind them.

For those who want to know. My knee jerk answers include Tremors (Giant killer worms, what more could you want?), Live Free or Die Hard (This was the first Die Hard movie I remember seeing and is still my favorite), Angry Bird (animation with a ton of adult humor), Now You See Me (Magicians! enough said), or Witches of the Caribbean (cheap b-rated horror flick. don't watch it, seriously.)

Today, I want to rec a few movies which have a little more depth and meaning to them. These are movies of inspiration, tragedy, and more, and they are movie that I tend to guard much closer to my heart. 

Freedom Writers: This is a drama film that was released in 2007 and features Hillary Swank as a new english teacher in a high school in Long Beach where she is forced to work with several minority group students who are treated unfairly in a school system that is made with the sole intent of their failure but manages to overcome the issues to bring these students together and help them through their high school years. It is based on a book called The Freedom Writer Diaries which is a true story. As far as movies go, I find this one to be both tragic and uplifting and recommend it to any avid movie watcher.

Coyote Ugly: This 2000 musical romantic comedy is not for everyone, but it is a story of inspiration. It's about a girl chasing her dream to become a song writer and goes to New York City to follow her dream. Once there, the floor of her dreams falls out from under her and she ends up working in a bar called Coyote Ugly. It's not a super serious story but it can be inspiring.

North Country: A 2005 drama movie around the work in the coal mines in the late eighties and how women workers were treated. This movie gives a hard look at how women may be potentially treated when working in a "man's world." It is based on a 2002 book that is inspired by a true story. 

Some other movies include Soul Surfer, Gone With The Wind, My Sister's Keeper, Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, If I Stay, and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid  (the 1975 anime, not the disney version)

With Regard to Rebirth and Affliction

So, I've been working on Chapter 14 for going on three weeks now, and it just isn't happening. Usually I can sit in front of a computer and force myself to write even when my muse is not in agreement with me. That isn't happening here. I cannot even force the words to come. I wouldn't be posting this though if it was just this chapter, but I already know that the next two to three chapters are going to be just as hard to write as this one is being. I'm also having difficulty writing the Alternate Realities and Missing Moments that go with this story. So to simply put this, Rebirth & Affliction is not speaking to me. At all. And unfortunately, until it is, I'm putting this story on an official hold. I'm seriously hoping that I'll be back by the end of the year, if not sooner, but I'm not making a promise on it. In the mean time, for anyone curious as to what's going on, I will post occasional updates on my status with this story on my blog.

For the time being, if you enjoy my writing, I'll be focusing my efforts on my other stories. Those stories include The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality, The Hunter, It's A Twin Thing, The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life, and RR (on Ao3). I'll also be spending some of my time on my original fictions which are found on Fiction Press, a link to which is on my profile.

Black Friday Story Rec

So today is Black Friday in the US, which for people who are in countries that don't have Black Friday, it is a day where hundreds of products are marked on sale at stores across the country. Amongst the items sometimes seen are electronics, books, movies, music, kitchen appliances and more. As I will be very busy on Black Friday shopping (I mean going broke), I wanted to pre-set this one short story as a rec for people. For some reason, it just... came to mind.

Attention, WalMart Shoppers by sillybella - Edward has decided Bella needs protection. What kind ofprotection? The kind you can buy at Walmart. In the pharmacy.

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life - What Happened To Leah

So in Chapter 58 of The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life, Leah woke up in a motel room with no memory of what happened to her the night before.

She woke up naked and the only things in the motel room were her jeans and a stranger's t-shirt. Her underwear, top, socks, shoes, wallet, car keys, and cell phone were all gone. Her car was not in the motel parking lot, though that hasn't been revealed yet in the story.

As to what happened the night before... well we really need to start during the day. She'd smoked the peyote as well as drank some locally made firewater before she headed into Port Angeles. She was supposed to meet up with Caius and Gianna at a restaurant and bar before going back to their place. However she got to the bar before they did and met a guy by the name of Alonzo Calderas. 

Alonzo gave her a couple of pills, possibly ectasy or lsd,  promising her a good time which she promptly popped. The drug mixed with the alcohol and the peyote she smoked earlier in the day gave her an adverse reaction which caused her to black out for the night. 

That being said, she was conscious and agreed to the whipping, fire play, and everything else that happened to her. She rode to the motel in Alonzo's car and her car as well as her keys, wallet, and cell phone are back at the restaurant. 

Now she's never going to call what happened to her as being rape because she's proud and stubborn, but other people might call it rape.

This brings on a bit of a morality question that has been brought up in court cases in the past. Is it rape if the person agreed to it at the time and decides later they didn't want it since they obviously weren't in their right mind at the time it occurred? I know where I stand on that argument, but I am familiar with both sides and won't officially say either way. 

Rebirth and Affliction Sneak Peek

As I'm having difficulties writing Chapter 14 - Declaration, just wanted to advise that it is being worked on and offer a second short sneak peek into the chapter:

I closed my eyes and leaned against the nearest tree. It had been almost ten months since my birthday had occurred and since they'd all left. I could help but wonder how much more meaningful those gifts would have been had I actually opened them on my birthday and they'd never left. Would I still have burned the hideous pink polo if they'd never left? I knew I wouldn't have thrown the bottle cap necklace into the forest had none of it happened.

By the time I opened the presents up, more than four months after they left, the necklace had almost felt like a final cast off of the love which I'd thought we both shared. I'd had no other explanation for why it had been among the numerous gifts from the Cullens. I wished I'd known then what I knew now.

Still, I knew where I'd thrown it. It was the one good part of having an eidetic memory, because I could remember exactly how hard I'd thrown the necklace and where it had fallen.

I snapped my eyes open, knowing what I needed to do and exactly where to go.

A Bit About My Original Fics

For several reasons I have started to post original fiction over on Fiction Press. The first reason is sometimes I need to write something other than fanfiction. It's also because I genuinely wanted to branch out. I have three that I'm posting though I make no guarantee at the speed of my posts. 

Sex, Blood, Revenge (and Everything in Between)

This is a novella, one of actually five in what will be a series. The series as a whole is called The Vengeful Lust Series. The first three novellas feature the two primary characters; Callidra, the primary heroine who is a vampire hunting her own kind to extinction after Donohue kills her mate. The first two books are direct sequels to each other, and the third is a prequel which will predate the events of the first two. The fourth and fifth novellas focus on the minor characters you'll get to know in the first two books, with the fourth being about Burmilla and Tiernan, and the fifth being about Herasee and Katrine. 

These books not about romance, instead they're more about animalistic tendencies, lust, gore, etc. The idea behind the series of novellas is very raw and is made to bring it out. This series is sort of the opposite of my norm, but that is a large part of why I've written it the way I have. 

Click HERE to go to what is so far posted.

The Dark Assassin

This will be a full length book and hopefully eventually at least a trilogy if not more. The books focus around the main character whose name is Drake and is an assassin. This story is meant to be set in an almost real world idealism. There will be a few small touches of supernatural, but nothing that is extremely out there. This is meant to be a suspense based story filled with action, drama, and tragedy. 

There is a long term romance in it, but whether it will be a happily ever after is yet to be determined. 

Click HERE to go to what is so far posted.

The Wish of the Damned

Finally this book is set in a post apocalyptic world with a heavy focus on the idea of supernatural, mythological, and even religious backings. It focuses around one character who is of an unknown supernatural species (though some may figure out who he is) and female who has only recently gone from being a normal human to something much much more. 

As the two dance around each other in an impossible love/hate relationship more than one secret comes out for both of them. 

Click HERE to go to what is so far posted.

Holiday Woes

Just a short apology here. For anyone in the US, you know thanksgiving is only a few very short days away. As this holiday is approaching, I have a lot of family and other things going on in my life. Unfortunately, it's causing slow writing and posting on all fronts. I hope to get a couple chapters written and posted before thanksgiving, including 14 of Rebirth and Affliction, and 3 of The Hunter. But unfortunately I won't be posting anything tonight.

Affliction and Life Difficulty

So, it is my greatest hope to finish Rebirth and Affliction by the end of January or February at the latest. Not really all that far out, and as I head towards that and then go into the final book, Affliction and Life: Breaking Dawn Reimagined, I come to a surprisingly annoying challenge.

It is my plan to have the final story rated M. I have thought about this for quite awhile and while I could leave it rated T as Breaking Dawn was, I want it to be more mature. So I have an issue because of that.

In the original Twilight Saga we know Edward was a virgin when he was turned, which isn't a huge issue, because he's a dude. Of the female vampires in the original Cullen family, we know Rosalie was raped before she was turned, Esme was married and even had a child before she was turned, and though details about Alice's human life are limited it is easy to assume she was raped either by her father or one of the doctors in the asylum where she was sent. Obviously we know Bella wasn't a virgin when she was turned. Other vampires in the Twilight Saga we don't know enough about to truly guess with the regards to that topic.

In Life and Death, we have Eleanor, Jessamine, and Carine. Purportedly, Carine was the devout religious daughter of her priest father, but she wasn't a nun. And a 23 year old woman in the mid 1600s would have already been married. Perhaps she had had a brief marriage to a man who came down with something like black plague and died leaving her as a widow and returning to her father's care. Or any other number of possibilities. But no matter what, I can't see her as being a virgin when she was turned. Eleanor, we know less about, but she is the female version of Emmett, and I always saw Emmett as being sexually active before he was turned, so I assume the same could be said for his female counterpart. Then there's Jessamine, and my best guess is the male vampire who kidnapped her raped her when he turned her.

So all of this leaves me with Edythe, who by all accounts is a virgin. It makes sense since she was a 17 year old girl in 1918. She may or may not have already had a suitor taking her out on escorted dates, and she may have even had a chaste kiss or two on her lips when she was human if she did have a suitor (obviously forgotten after she was turned) but that would be as far as her sexual prowess would have likely gone.

The problem with her still being a virgin is this little thing called a hymen. And by all accounts, the only way to prevent a vampire from healing is to burn it ... which sounds seriously uncomfortable.

Now, the reality is that in spite of hundreds - if not thousands - of romance novels who show men breaking a woman's hymen their first time together, it is extremely easy for it to have broke before then even when the woman is a virgin. So, did Edythe go horseback riding and suffer from a hard bounce as a child? Or perhaps as a Chicago native, the home of Schwinn Bicycles, she had a bike and suffered damage to her genitalia while riding?

Or perhaps when she was turned to a vampire, the venom naturally destroyed that part of the flesh as there's no true purpose for a hymen?

Or do we go with the Jessica effect? (For those who don't get the reference, please go look up Jessica from True Blood - the show, not the books) ... And if I'm going with this route than this fourth story really needs a new new title. I.E. Comedy and Errors: A Bad Breaking Dawn Parody.

Taking Night Off

Rebirth and Affliction Future Teaser

A small teaser of a scene from a future chapter in Rebirth and Affliction:

For a moment, I was completely frozen. Even though I'd begun to suspect Victor was behind everything and though we'd guessed he had been turned, I'd never expected to see him here at this camp site.

I wasn't afraid of Victor or Raven. In spite of Archie's warning on the note all those months ago, Raven with her stark purple hair didn't concern me in the slightest. It was the third one in the entourage who terrified me. Not because I thought I couldn't successfully kill him as I was sure I could. After all, he couldn't even be a month to this life, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to live with myself after I did it.

Selfishly, I wished he was down in the clearing where our family fought for their lives - where the wolves were - so his ashes wouldn't be on my hands.

Edythe crouched down near me, preparing to strike our foes.

I closed my eyes and pushed the emotional turmoil in my head to the side. I could deal with it later.

My eyes snapped open as I reached my hand out and placed it for half a second on Edythe's arm. "Be careful," I murmured. "I'll handle Allen."

My eyes snapped to his as I slid down into a crouch of my own.

Chapter Issues

I enjoy writing, which should be obvious to most people who check out my profiles or any of my stories.

I have two fanfiction stories I'm more passionate about than any of the rest of my active stories. Those two are Rebirth and Aflliction, and The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality. In spite of the fact that I love those two stories and want to work on them more than just about any other story, and in spite of the fact that I have the stories planned out in my head, the words are just not typing out the way I want them to.

I can work on my other stories, but I really want to get the next chapter of Rebirth and Affliction finished before I move on to my other works so now I'm not a hundred percent sure what to do.

Basically I want to apologize for slow posts as I'm not sure what it's going to take to get me out of the funk I'm in. I will be posting something for Rebirth and Affliction though before I move forward.

Vampires

So, if you're reading this blog than I assume you were led here because of my fiction or fanfiction, as a result it should not come as a surprise that I love vampires. I have always had a fascination with vampires. It's something which far precedes my multi-faceted love/hate relationship with the Twilight Saga.

Probably one of the first things I ever remember watching is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I'm not talking about the show, I'm referring to the movie that came out in 1992. As movies go, it's a bit of a joke, but for all that, it was memorable.

When the tv show the same name came out a few years later, I quickly became obsessed with the show. I also fell in love with it's spin-off. Over the years I've watched dozens of movies and shows about vampires from Underworld to Moonlight to The Vampire Diaries and many more. Similarly, I've read hundreds of vampire books.

So why do vampires fascinate me?

I'd say it's about the immortality, but I've both read and watched stories about vampires who were very much mortal so that isn't it, and it isn't about the romance because I actually enjoy vampire that end in horror and tragedy.

So what does that leave? The sex appeal? Well, I guess in some movies and shows there's a sexual side to it, like in Moonlight, but there are plenty of vampire stories I love where the vampires aren't sexy at all. Priest anyone?

In all honesty I don't know or maybe I do and I refuse to admit it even to myself.

At this point... the only story I have, fanfiction or otherwise, with no vampires is The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life.

Rebirth and Affliction Sneak Peek

A brief teaser of Chapter 14 - Declaration:

The news on CNN had been the constant companion of the household for the last three days... or at least the the majority of the household. Royal and Eleanor still weren't back and it made me emotionally sick, because I'd caused it.

Carine and Jessamine had been discussing the possible purposes behind the creation of the new borns, and the end opinion was they had to be made for the purpose of some sort of army. The problem was, we weren't sure what the army was for. I knew, or at least strongly suspected, Jessamine had some sort of idea, but when she'd opened her mouth to state her opinion Edythe had cut her off. I was a hundred percent certain she did it because I was there and I wasn't all that happy about it, but I let it go.

“I need to go hunt,” I said softly, looking over at Edythe.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

I smiled at her. “If you'd like to.”

I fully expected her to say yes but she frowned instead. “I'm not really all that thirsty, but I'll be waiting for you when you get back.”

I reached forward, stroking under her eye. “Are you sure?” My eyes had more color in them than hers at the moment.

“Yes, you go ahead.”

I leaned forward and kissed her, pulling back after a moment.

“Please tell me what's going on when I get back,” I murmured softly in her ear. I knew the others would be able to hear my words, there was just no way to be quiet enough to say something truly private in a house full of vampires, but saying it in her made it feel private.

“Go. Hunt.”

I kissed her again and then pulled back, heading for the sliding glass door.

The Wish of the Damned Sneak Peek

A small teaser of Chapter 1: Unbeknownst ---

“Where's your stop?” she asks, trying to be friendly.

Her psychologist, where she just came from, had just got through the regular session of castigating her. Well, it isn't her fault she is such a late bloomer. At twenty-six, she is still flat chested and thin hipped with no monthly flow at all. The doctors simply have no clue why, and so they keep on telling her she's just a late bloomer. Still, her psychologist had made a very loud point to her today, telling her she needs to open up, and so she's deciding to try.

“Two stops from here, I'm heading home from work.”

His voice is melodic and smooth, so very smooth, it's like listening to the running of a river. It makes her take a second look at him. She knows his stop and not because it's hers, but because it's quadrant nine – the rich section of Detroit. His hair is overgrown and he has a day or two's stubble on his chin. He wears a heavy duty plaid jacket and a filthy looking t-shirt underneath. His pants, a pair of dark blue suit pants, look like they have seen far too many years of misuse. She never would have guessed he was rich, maybe it's the point to his entire getup.

“Oh, I see, I'm going to quadrant twelve, but I live in fifteen.”

“The ghettos,” he says, his voice quiet. He turns to look more fully at her, “Why are you stopping in twelve? There's nothing there but warehouses and shit, do you work down there?”

She was quite sure he meant shit literally. “No, there's a bar there that I like to go to.”

He isn't wrong about calling fifteen the ghettos as the quadrant has more homeless in it than the rest of Detroit combined. Still it hurt to hear it called that. Her apartment is cozy, and she keeps it together, she even has a small ladies .32 caliber revolver – it cost her almost a year's worth of her menial salary to get it – to help her defend against unwelcome guests. The .32 being the second largest gun civilians are allowed to carry with the largest being a .38. She's quite proud that she has it.

She can't think of anything else to say to him, so the silence draws on as they near his stop.

The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life - Some Info About Jasper's Past

Jasper's service story unfortunately will probably never be fully revealed in Roller Coaster. There are many reasons for this, but the largest part is that for the last year of his four years of service he was locked in some form of prison and tortured - both psychologically and physically. The end result is that he honestly doesn't remember all of it.

For anyone who wants a bit of his backstory, it's below.

Jasper graduated from high school in 2001 and only a few months after he graduated, the two towers fell. Like a lot of impressionable young men (and women) at the time, he applied to join the army in a matter of days after it happened. He finished basic training before Christmas of 2001.

His first two year stint he was in a small platoon of about eighteen men, among them was Peter, who became a quick friend to him. During that two years, he did more aide missions than anything else though there was also fighting and reconnaissance missions. At the end of those two years, several in the platoon rejoined for another two year tour, but most of them were sent to join other platoons.

Jasper and Peter happened to get placed under the same new platoon which was led by a Sargent named Joham. The platoon had a total of twenty men and three women. Unbeknownst to the majority of the platoon, Joham and one of the soldiers, Nahuel, were secretly insurgents.

Some of the orders that came in Joham scrambled and changed to fit to his needs. So some people who they should have been rescuing they killed and people they were supposed to get reconnaissance on or even kill they sometimes aided. Joham didn't do it with every order, only a few, which kept the platoon from getting suspicious.

About ten months after Jasper joined the platoon, an order was sent because Jasper and Peter were needed to report back in the US because of one of the real reconnaissance missions they went on in the first two years where they'd learned vital information. This is what prompted Joham and Nahuel to change their plans and capture everyone in the platoon.

They used the physical torture and murders of the other soldiers in the platoon to try and psychologically break Peter and Jasper after more traditional techniques like waterboarding, shock treatment, starvation, dehydration, and more failed. Both Peter and Jasper kept their mouths shut because they knew if they spoke they'd die.

Eventually, after almost a year of torture and no sunlight, Nahuel tripped up because he assumed Jasper wasn't as recovered as he was when he unchained him to move him. It allowed Jasper to fight his way free, killing Nahuel in the process. He rescued Peter and they managed to escape from the prison they were in. After getting out, Jasper hot-wired a vehicle - something similar to a jeep.

He drove for well over an hour before the vehicle ran over a landmine. The blast left dozens of pieces of shrapnel in his body and Peter's. A particularly large piece tore into Peter's right leg and by the time someone found them and rescued them Peter's leg was beyond saving. Both Jasper and Peter still have some shrapnel in their body that couldn't be removed due to the risk of the damage removing them could do.

When they got back state side they were told essentially that what happened to them, didn't, and they were told to keep their mouths shut or else. Jasper went home after about three months of rehab but Peter's rehab was longer. Peter and Jasper lost contact after Jasper returned to Forks.

Approximately four months after he got back was the wedding between Jacob and Bella (his first cousin on his mom's side) which is where the prologue started at.

Sex, Blood, Revenge Sneak Peek

A small teaser of Chapter 2 ~ Black Heart:

I know how to make him shut up, as well as how to let him know that I’m over it – kiss him. It’s that simple. The thing is, I’m not ready to kiss and make up yet. The masochistic part of me enjoys this fight. “Perhaps it’s because I don’t like the fact I’ve turned into a fag.”

“You think I do?” he snarls. “Do you think I enjoy being cursed to serve your needs and desires for the rest of eternity as your goddamn familiar, and all because I had to repay a life debt? Neither of us agreed to this, but I am sick and tired of your bitching. It wasn’t like you were complaining last night when I fucked you from here to high heaven”

I hiss. Of course, he is right, but it doesn’t mean I have to admit it – or want to. We’re always like this the next day, and usually I’m the one that acts grumpy the next day... Though, every once and awhile, it’s him who makes a point of being the angry one. Neither of us like the situation we are in as unwilling familiars. In all reality though, I wouldn’t change our screwed up relationship for anything.

Easter Eggs

One of the things I have found in movies, books, shows, games, and even songs are what some people kindly refer to as Easter Eggs. An Easter Egg is a casual or sly reference or image of another show, book, game, etc. For anyone who has ever watched Supernatural they do it all the time, the Disney Moana showed a very brief flash of Sven the reindeer from Frozen, the Naughty Dog Uncharted games have hidden Precursor Eggs from their previous game series Jak & Daxter, and I could name many more.

Over the years that I've been writing I tend to do it myself. I've done it several times in my continuation of Life and Death by making casual references to things from the different Twilight Saga movies and books. I also on occasion use characters and other small pieces from some of my own previous fanfics.

Most recently I made a comment in It's A Twin Thing by Alice where she references that as far as she knows, Beau could have been bitten by a radioactive spider when he was a kid. So that would be a little nod of hat to Twilight.

I'm hardly the only author that does this and I do see it on occasion with other fanfic authors.

What Easter Eggs come to your mind when you think of the numerous media types out there?

Forever Protector Teaser 2

A small teaser of Forever Protector:

The legends stayed with me after we left the bonfire up on the cliff and walked along the beach.

“Is all of that why you believe I was meant to be your imprint?” I asked slowly, mostly unwilling but needing to know the answer, no matter what.

Jules didn't answer me immediately, kicking a rock with her feet as we continued a walk. Finally she shrugged and said, “Maybe, I don't know, Beau. I can't really begin to explain it. All I know is that you're important to me... and that I love you. And I know hearing those words makes you uncomfortable, but I can't really deny them.”

I sighed. “Jules, you know I should leave, don't you? It's wrong of me to stay. Our feeling are different, and eventually others are going to get old enough to shift. If me – my kind – truly cause it... Well staying here is the last thing I should do.”

“I disagree.”

I arched an eyebrow at her, I'd never heard her give a different theory for why they turned.

“Not about you being the cause of us shifting, but you leaving because of it. The world's changing, Beau. I can feel it. There's what, over twenty newborn vampires in Seattle? We still don't know what they're being made for... I think our tribe needs to change with the changes of the world, which means we're going to continue to need protectors. You cause us to turn, so you need to be here.”

“Is that even fair on the next generation? They potentially have a chance at a normal life.”

“It's about the same as asking if love is fair or war... or any number of other subjects.” She shrugged again. “Stay, Beau. You have nowhere else to really go anymore, and you will do good here.”

“I already promised to stay for the night.”

“I know, but I want you to stay permanently.”

I closed my eyes momentarily. “I can't promise forever, Jules, and their may come a day when you don't want this half relationship that we seem to be stuck in. Let's just take it one day at a time.”

Random Youtube Vids

Occasionally I just like to watch funny youtube vids. I have a few (mostly older ones) that are my go to ones to watch. For the record, all of these videos can be considered offensive in one way or another... Watch at your own risk.

RR Sneak Peek

A teaser of Chapter 5 - That Pain To Keep:

“What do they call you?” a man with ashy blonde hair asked. He was dressed in very simple black clothes – the type of outfit that could be anywhere from a few months old or several hundred years old.

“Bella, my name was Bella when I was human.” She didn't sound like the Bella that Alice remembered anymore, instead she her voice was more of a soprano. Definitely a vampire, but Alice wasn't at all sure where Bella was or who the other vampires were.

“Then it's still Bella...”

“... or it's not,” another man with dark hair said.

Both of the men had deep red eyes but Bella's were pitch black.

She wrapped her arms arms around her waist. “I don't know who I am anymore.”

“Why is that?”

“Why are you here?”

The two males asked the questions in tandem.

“I... I was abandoned by my mate. I should be dead. I shot myself. But he turned me, or my hallucination turned me. I'm not sure anymore. He should have let me die. He already destroyed me. I don't get why he did this to me.”

“A hallucination?” the blonde one asked.

“I think so. I don't know what's real anymore.”

Why no beta?

I have many reasons for not having a beta, and those reasons vary greatly. Here's a few of the biggest ones.

First, I've had betas and pre-readers in the past that make suggestions that completely defeat the purpose of what I was trying to accomplish with my writing. That's not say that I haven't had good betas too, because I definitely have, but it really only takes one bad experience to put me off of something.

Second, I write a lot. On average, when my muse and I are in agreement, it's nothing for me to write twenty to thirty thousand words in an average week. Trust me when I say that I don't post everything I write. Back in the days of PTB (Project Team Beta) and SRP (Sparkly Red Pen) I spent time as both a beta and a pre-reader so I actually remember some details about how long it took, on average, to get a chapter back. I could usually pre-read within 48 hours or beta within 72, but I knew many people that took a lot longer (some people took in excess of a week). So for me, writing a story which updates daily on average (The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life)  it would be about impossible to have it beta'd. And with most of my stories, unless I could write twenty thousand words in a single day, I'd be making people wait even longer than I already do for updates. On top of all of that, my writing style varies greatly. I have stories written both in first and third person, I also have stories in both past and present tense, and to top all that off even though the majority of what I write are Twilight Fanfics, I do write other stuff as well. That makes it difficult to find a singular person to beta all my work, and if I was to ever consider it, I wouldn't be able to work with multiple people.

Third, I write because I enjoy it and I enjoy posting some of what I write so other people can read it, but I am not, nor do I ever intend to be, a paid and published author. If I was to write for the purpose of publishing my work than it's no longer about my enjoyment, it's about a paycheck instead, which isn't what I want. For me, posting it is not about the reviews though I do love reviews, instead writing and posting is just to give other people a chance to see a small part of the inner working of my mind. And since I'm posting my work completely for free I see no point in having it perfect. I'm a firm believer that the rawness in most fanfiction is a large part of what makes it enjoyable and many of the fanfics I read on a regular basis aren't beta'd. More important than all that, I don't particularly enjoy someone telling me how my story should or shouldn't be written and being told that kind of info would take away from why I write.

Fourth, I'm a complete asshole and I know it. What I mean by this is that I'm often argumentative and it's not even always because I disagree with what people are telling me. It's just because I like to argue. That's the kind of person I am.

All of that being said, if I was to find somebody that was willing to beta some of my posted and finished works I wouldn't be opposed, but I'm not looking for anyone. It's just an if/then situation.

Story Recs

These Recs are freely given without any kind of offer or suggestion from the authors of them. They are for a multitude of fanfics and, as I'm not good at writing personalized reviews, the summaries are directly from the stories in question.

All stories in this post are on FF.net, so if any of the authors that I rec'd are for some reason upset by it and want me to remove their story then please let me know via a pm on FF.net and I'll remove it - but as it's free publicity, I don't know why someone would take issue with it.

A Wolves Moon by Tinkerbella C - Nessie is struggling to deal with her changing feelings for Jake when he disappears. Returning a year later he has gone feral and has forgotten his links to his pack, the Cullen's and Nessie. Can she help him remember who is he or has he changed forever?

Bella Swan: Kidnapper by Kambria Rain - Um. Hi. I don’t really know how to say this, but I have your kids with me, and I was thinking maybe you would like them back. So yeah… call me.

The True Alpha: The EJ Black Chronicles by DazzledbyJake - This story take places 17 years after Breaking Dawn and chronicles Jacob & Renesmee's son, Edward Jacob "EJ" Black. He's part wolf/ human/vampire, who struggles to win the heart of his imprint and has a horrifying run-in with the Volturi. NOT BLACKWATER

Dusk by XxTwilight CrystalxX - Bella comes to Forks the summer before her senior year and meets Jacob first. What will she think of Edward and the rest of the Cullens? Can the wolves keep Bella safe from James and Victoria's twisted plans? Sequel complete, and next installment wip.

The Omega by Untamed Loner - As Bella spends more time around Jake, she begins to discover changes in herself. Suddenly, she doesn't trip, the wolves are completely calm around her, and she keeps feeling people's emotions. Now, she's on the Volturi's most wanted list.

Rabbit Hole by profmom72 - Edward leaves Bella before revealing the Cullens are vampires. Bella’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she spends years chasing her suspicions, drawing attention from dangerous sources. Can Bella be saved from the Rabbit Hole she’s fallen into? AU

Seducing Ms Swan by DQRC - AU Post-NM. Teacher!Bella, Student!Edward; a struggle of wills, an attempt at seduction, a dark secret, a dash of UST, a gallon of attitude, antagonistic motorcycling, a hell of a lot of angst and one unforgettable scene in a snow storm.

Breathe Again by ysar - If Alice hadn't seen Bella cliff-dive, what would have happened? Would Bella have given in to her feelings for Jacob? Was she even capable of moving on? Victoria's hunting, Edward's coming back-and that's just the beginning!

This is My Wish by ericastwilight - Dear Wishes for You, My name is Riley Biers and I'm nine years old. Soon, very soon I'll leave behind my mom because I have terminal cancer. I write to you today and this is my wish... Rated M for language

Dear Maggie by Jenny0719 - A heart leads Bella back home to Forks... and to the brother of the woman who donated it.

It's A Twin Thing Sneak Peek

A teaser of Chapter 4 - Forever Nevermore:

I was being lazy on the quad when I first felt something similar to fear, except it was fear that was dull as if it was some sort of delayed sound through an echo chamber. Most important of all though, it wasn't my fear. It was Bella's and it felt very wrong.

I closed my eyes – something I didn't normally have to do – as I focused on looking through Bella's eyes.

She was following behind the enigma that was Edward Cullen, but even her vision felt hazy to me as if she was in some sort of fog.

Had he drugged her?

Bella! Bella, snap the fuck out of it.

There was no response to my mental shout at her.

I got up and started to run, using my connection to her as a homing beacon to find her.

I was sure I looked insane as I ran through the quad with my eyes closed, but it was easier to focus with my eyes shut and I didn't honestly care what the other people thought.

I ran towards a small walkway that was set between two of the buildings on campus as Bella followed him down it.

I saw through Bella's eyes as Edward spun around and stepped back towards her.

My eyes snapped open as I rounded the corner and glared at Edward.

“Bella, step back!” As loud as my shout was in person, the reiteration I shouted in my head at her was even louder.

Currently Working On

I don't have any sneak peeks or anything to post tonight, but figured I'd post the currently planned order of my next chapter/story posts, not including The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Life, which is generally nightly.

Chapter 4 of It's A Twin Thing is currently being written as entitled Forever Nevermore. I hope to get it posted in a day or two and a sneak peek posted tomorrow for sure.

Chapter 5 of RR, entitled That Pain To Keep will hopefully be written and post by Monday night.

The next post will have to do with Rebirth and Affliction and will either be Chapter 14 - Declaration or the alternate reality, Forever Protector.

After that will be The Hunter, Chapter 3 - Danger

Then Chapter 26 - Party of The Differences Between Fantasy and Reality.

It will round out with whichever of the Rebirth and Affliction post I didn't do before

__________________________________________

I'm exhausted both physically and emotionally for tonight so I won't be getting much in the way of writing tonight, but wanted people to know the general order of everything that's currently being posted.

The Dark Assassin Sneak Peek

A teaser of Chapter 1 - A New Day:

“DRAKE!” the irritated voice practically shouts. I turn to see him standing in one of his many suits. With his black hair, oblique eyes, and dark complexion – not to mention his six foot three frame – he gets plenty of people looking at him without even trying, both girls and guys. But currently he's glaring at me as if he's said my name a half dozen times. He probably has.

“Afternoon, Merrick,” I say to him.

“You have customers.” He manages to grind out, his irritation clearly growing even further.

I look forward for the first time and a young couple of maybe seventeen or eighteen stands in front of me. The boy's eyes clearly show just how weird he thinks I am, while the girl just stares at me with huge eyes. On the counter is two bag of chips and a couple of sodas. I quickly ring them up.

“A can of chew too,” the boy says.

I grab the one he asks for, but stop halfway to ringing it up. “ID please.”

He pulls out his wallet and hands me his supposed drivers license stating that he's eighteen. It's a clear fake as the picture is even on the wrong side. I just shrug though and ring it up like I don't really know that it's a fake. Of course, the boy had know idea how well I could tell that it was a fake.

I take the cash he hands me and shove it in the cash register, hand him his change, and then they leave.

“As cashier, isn't it your job to call the police in when you get a fake ID?” Merrick says.

I look at him again, my eyes saying it all before I even talk. “If I did that every time they'd have to have a cop placed in here full time as many times as I'd be calling.”

He chuckles hardily before responding, “I seriously doubt it's that bad.” His eyes are wandering the store checking how many customers there are even as I turn to my computer screen and shut off the camera that records where I'm at.