The-unknown-specimen - The Unknown Specimen

Okay folks. I didn’t want to directly tie the book to this account because this is my fan account, but you know what? Screw that. I’m not ashamed of writing fanfiction. I’ve read more excellent fanfiction than I could list here. I regularly rant about how great fanfic and fic writers are on here. I would proudly brag about fic in public. I will keep writing fanfiction even if a miracle happens and the series gets optioned by HBO. So to hell with a veneer of separation. My real person account is @caitymschmidt

I’m very unemployed right now, because I work in themed entertainment, and every client is either slashing their budgets or cancelling their projects. I’m not asking for donations, but I am asking for help. My second novel comes out in a couple of days, and its through a little indie publisher. I don’t have a team spending thousands to promote it. Its mostly just me.

I have a mind-meltingly huge number of readers on my fanworks. Thousands of bookmarks. Thousands of subscriptions. Thousands of comments. Tens of thousands of kudos. I hoard them all like a dragon. But apparently I’m doing something that works for y’all.

The only thing I change about my writing when I’m doing original works is that I pause to explain the universe and characters a bit more. Otherwise? Same style. I’ll give you characters that you want to beat to death with a shovel exactly as much as you want to hug them. And, yes, I will scoop the heart out of your chest so you can watch it beat.

The first book is on sale on Amazon right now as a 99 cent download. I totally understand if you can’t afford that; we’re in a global crisis. If you can? I’d appreciate it. But you know what’s even more valuable? Comments. Reviews. Posts. Reblogs from @caitymschmidt Posts on other sites. Have you ever push-started a 747? Because that’s what this feels like. If it could get the thing going, I could probably pull this off and fly, but right now it’s just a big-ass plane that doesn’t want to move that is very much on the ground. Right now, every extra moment of help makes it a little easier. So, thanks, for whatever you can do.

♪  Who d'you think you’re kidding 

He’s the earth and heaven to you 

Try to keep it hidden, 

Honey we can see right through you   ♪

Review of ‘The Good Soldier’ by Ford Madox Ford ---- 5/5 STARS

Three months ago, when I stumbled upon a beautiful collection of Alma Classics at a book sale, I hardly imagined that one of the volumes I selected would turn out to be one of those rare literary unicorns that ticked all my boxes. It seems unlikely, but The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford fascinated me from practically the first sentence. “This is the saddest story I have ever heard.”

The first thing you should know about The Good Soldier is probably that it’s being told from the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator and has no strict chronology. It reads like a confession and the sequence of events is jumbled according to the mood and flow of conscience of the main character, John Dowell (whose name you will likely have forgotten by the end). The story is written in such a way that you don’t untangle most of its lies and mysteries until the very last page, which gives the book the impression of being a puzzle you must put together. The suspense definitely had me race through the later chapters. 

On the surface, Ford sketches how, at the beginning of the 20th century, the lives of two couples -- one American, one British -- intertwine themselves over the years, giving way to a secret romance and betrayal. On a deeper level, Ford examines the mental processes these people underwent to get where they are now in their lives. It spares us no dirty details. Even our dear unreliable narrator finds plenty of faults within himself and ends most parts of the book on a self-critical note. The Good Soldier is brutally honest in spite of describing an intricate web of lies and the feelings of one man who was the sorry victim of it. 

Despite being first published in 1915, so many elements discussed in this book are incredibly relevant and it’s obvious why that is: The Good Soldier is a portrait of humans, and humanity has not really changed in the past century at a base level. We are still driven by love, pride, jealousy and all that other good stuff. This has led many reviewers to call the characters ‘despicable’ or ‘the worst of humanity’, but I think that’s too quick of a judgement. It was refreshing to see the dark corners of the human psyche portrayed with such stark honesty. The characters felt like people I could possibly encounter in the street; some reminded me of people I knew. Best of all, I could understand all of their motivations at any one point.

Honestly, this book handles so many subjects that we are still struggling with today. Here’s a selection: sexism, male entitlement, the objectification of women, abusive relationships, religious tension between branches of the Christian faith, the downsides of cultural conservatism, and many others. But it also brought some brighter topics to the fore, namely asexuality, polyamory and serial monogamy, male-female friendship, and the importance of responsibility and trust in any relationship. If that doesn’t sound modern then I don’t know what does anymore.

And the ending, damn, it was all I could have wanted. It was realistic and so quietly tragic that I could not help but feel sympathy for all those involved in the tale. It’s true you won’t get happy vibes from The Good Soldier, but you get tonnes of satisfaction from it instead. It’s got my full recommendation.

Nick Robles is honestly out here like:

DC/Marvel crossovers by Vasco Georgiev 

Would you say maladaptive daydreaming about interacting with the Gods would be disrespectful?

No. As far as I’m aware, maladaptive daydreaming is not something you want or control. 

Y’all can pry alterous attraction from my cold dead hands.

It’s such an important concept. As a community we cannot let it die.

When you realize your overpowered goody two shoes, co-worker laughs in the exact way that the mild manner, clumsy, loveable oaf Clark Kent you dated, fell in love with, and then dumped because you knew you could never tell a civilian much less a reporter about your villgantly night “job”. Resulting in ruining the best thing in your life. 

Toph’s Family