The Arcana Chronicles

If you followed me ages ago and you are still here, hello. I will be posting again. I also have a new forum for book discussions. All books. 

https://www.mybookhaven.com/

Waiting for the last Arcana Chronicles book. From the Grave. Been a while. So many theories. Years of reading and waiting. As long as Jack lives, I’m fine. Death can die. Sooner is better. 

Been A While

Has been a long time since I was here. Not sure when the last visit was. Work has kept me excessively busy the past several years. Not so busy now. 

Bethyl

Not been here in a while. But just saw a new poster for S9 of The Walking Dead. Apparently, Daryl is going to step up with the exit of Rick. And Washington, DC looms in the background. So. Did Beth survive afterall. Medically possible. Will we have a Daryl and Beth reunion that we all wanted? Never got? And deserve? I hope so. I know it’s doubtful. But it’s something I’m going to hope for. I stopped watching when they killed Carl. I’ll watch now in hope of having something I want. And it damn sure ain’t Caryl.

Jackson Is Better Than Death

Death. Let me count the ways. He is calculating. He pretty much told Jackson he was worthless. That Jack was no comparison to his wonderful, wealthy self. I have a castle with every luxury for Evie. What do you have? Nothing. He knew Jack would always put Evie first. He has always put Evie first. He breathed for her. Starved for her. Killed for her. Protected her. Walked into a hail of bullets for her. Taught her how to survive. He never put his hands on her to cause her harm. Death though. He let her fall face first onto a concrete curb. He let her walk in freezing rain barefooted with no coat. And her hands tied behind her back. And don’t even get me started on the cilice. He implied that Jack, Matthew, Selena, and Lark were dead. Evie. Thinking she was totally alone in the world. Except for her grandmother. No one alive to help her. Totally alone. She liked Lark. She loved Matthew. Selena, not so much, but they were growing close. And Jackson. The boy she loved. Dead. He let her believe, deep down in her soul, that she was alone. She was a girl. A very young. Sheltered. Kind and sweet. Girl. He may not lie, but he is very, very, very deceptive. And I know she’s The Empress. However.

Death had unlimited access to her mind. He could hear every thought. And he didn’t notice she was innocent? Kind? Caring? Not the evil Red Witch he has known in the past? He didn’t notice that among the banality? That right there is unforgivable. The only time he actually paid attention was when she was going to have sex with Jack? Really? A little bit late there, Death.

And sex. Death tried to coerce her into having sex. And if that had happened? That is rape. And if you disagree, google is your friend. He apologized. Due to his nobility? Or because he knew Evie would eviscerate him the first chance she got. He played her the entire time she was at the castle. A 16-year-old girl alone. Devastated. Her home, gone. Her mother, gone. Everyone, gone. She had to turn to someone. Human nature. Death is thousands of years old. He’s read. He’s studied. I do believe he has picked up a few tricks over that amount of time. Sneaky. Deceptive. Calculating. And of course. Death is beautiful. He’s tempting. Do we know if he has the power of seduction? Hasn’t Death been seductive in one way or another throughout history? Evie’s call might be, “Come. Touch. But you’ll pay a price.”, but so is Death’s. The most beautiful boy she’d ever seen. That is extremely tempting. Displaying his hotness in every possible way. Teasing.

Death knew how Jack felt about Evie. And he played his hand. He told Jackson Evie would be warm, dry, safe, with her dance studio, her art studio, a library, heat, lights, food, everything she would need or want. Compared to life on the road. Sleeping in a tent. Eating whatever. He played on the one thing he knew Jack always took to heart. Evie. Again. Deceptive. Got rid of Jack before Evie even made a decision. So yes. Sneaky Death. He played Jack right on out of Ft. Arcana and away from Evie. Saving Evie from having to tell him she chose Death. To save her the pain, he knew it would cause her. Always. Putting Evie first. Evie though. She picked the right one. Jack. Not Death.

On the forum, one of the members (thank you, Deb! All credit to her for this.) brought up the fact that Death was supposed to have left Ft. Arcana, heading home. Evie in the other direction. Should have been two hours apart? At least? Death was outraged. He loved Evie. But he wanted to possess her. Was he upset that he lost her? Or the fact he not only lost her but that he lost her to an uncouth, rough around the edges Cajun boy, that had nothing. Except an undying love for Evie, a desire to rebuild Haven for her, and build a better world. Not Death though. Go hide out in his castle. Let the humans rot. Did he in his anger, the one Major Arcana, that could talk to everyone, tell Richter where Selena was? The one that killed him in the past? So he could kill her? Kill Jack?Plus the added bonus of all those humans? How did he travel two hours back to Evie so fast? To be able to grab her? To keep her from going into the lava after Jack? Just how fast is Thanatos? Or was Death following her? Knowing Richter was going to strike? Get rid of Jack. Another Arcana. And save Evie. Pretty good trick if you can do it. And Death could.  

Since day one at school, Evie treated Jack like dirt. Like scum. Like he wasn’t good enough to even speak to her. Even after he saved her life. She kept secrets. He thought she hated him. She didn’t do much to change that perception. And since when would a boy that was dirt poor, ever think he could ever be good enough for a super wealthy spoiled princess? In what world? She made life on the road so much harder. All she had to do was open her mouth and talk to him. But nope. She kept quiet. Which hurt him. Daily. All day. As if he wasn’t even good enough to talk to. How would you feel? As for him bossing her on the road? Well. He could have let her die. Multiple times. It was Jack’s nature to protect. To do for. He had been caring for his mother since he was a child. He did what he could to take care of Clotilde. It was what he knew. Protect. Feed. Care for. I mean. What an awful thing for a guy to do for you. And remember. He didn’t know she was The Empress. Silver bells and cockle shells.

I got to thinking about The Hanged Man, Jackson, Evie drawing him in class, and the possible past connection with The Empress, The Hanged Man, and The Moon. I won’t go into it here. We discussed it on the forum. And actually, Jasmine posted about it on another forum in 2015. Plus other theories about The Hanged Man. All makes sense. We also discussed Evie attempting to apologize to the other Arcana for her duplicity in past games. For example, saving Jackson’s eyes after squishing them out in the past. Theories. So many theories.

Counting the days until The Dark Calling comes out.

Trumperica

Let's just destroy the FBI. Why not? Dismantle it. It was formed in 1908. That was a long time ago. How about Trump hand pick his own little TBI. The Trump Bureau of Investigation. Sounds right? Sounds good? Think about it. Trump is all powerful. He's the smartest man to ever live. The greatest man to ever live. No one has even come close to his greatness. Smartness. Perfectness. The absolute. A god among men. Let's just change everything the United States has ever been. If you can't trace your family back at least 200 years, out you go. Send you back to whatever country your grandparents came from. We are in need of a good overhaul. Drill on public lands. Drill in our parks. We need OIL. Gotta have OIL. Drill all around the coast. We don't need beaches. We don't need a healthy ocean. Oh no. Trump is all we need. I mean...really. The ocean goes to shit and we die, who cares? We die we go to Trump Paradise. Sit on gold toilets. Play golf every day. All of these investigations into his handpicked men for upper echelon jobs is fake news. Made up by Democrats. CNN. The Washington Post. NY Times. And the worst of the worst, The Morning Joe. Nothing illegal going on. Oh no. Everyone is a liar. Our press lies. Doesn't matter they have it on video. It's all a lie. Only truth is Trump truth. And don't forget. He likes his young women. He will want to see your daughters. 18-30. Only the prettiest. He's GOA. God of America. He can grab your daughter by the pussy. Make you proud. We can pollute our rivers. Destroy the coastline. Kill as many animals as we can. And for fuck's sake, let's get that wall up. THE WALL OF THE UNITED STATES. Put the Great Wall of China to shame. Our wall will be the best. The greatest. Doesn't matter it will destroy the eco system in areas. Doesn't matter some of it is on private land. Nope. Gotta have that WALL. I am so sick of this shit, I really wish I could go off planet. So utterly, absolutely, totally, beyond tolerance, tired of this shit. I haven't watched the news in days. And within 30 minutes this morning. I'm so disgusted by my own country, it breaks my heart. Where is my America? It no longer exists. It's going down the Trump shithole. Has gone. Back to no news for me. Because it's disgusting beyond measure. And I hate the P word. 

They should not kill Carl. He needs to be immune. Or be a Whisperers bite. Killing him off will ruin the show for me. Comic reader and fan of the show. The show is Carl’s story. The comic is Carl’s story. And now this shit. They have been on thin ice ever since they killed Beth. Well, the ice has not only cracked, it’s splintered, separated, and the pieces floating off and melting. I’m done. 

STOP POSTING THAT FAKE CHELSEA CLINTON DINING ROOM TABLE TWEET. 

FUCKING HELL. JUST STOP.  DELETE IT. 

Book Reviews That Are Rude

Everyone is entitled to their opinion in reading because there are so many genres and tastes. I realize not everyone wants to read a very long book. Most that criticize them complain of too much prose. Too wordy. The author likes to talk too much. That with the advent of computers being wordy makes it much easier for authors to go all poetic and drag things out. And reading them makes for a tiresome job. 

I consider Diana Gabaldon guilty of this. But I’ve never given her books a bad review. Because they are excellent. I just say the author is wordy, to me. I like a long book. An extensive adventure. I want to see it. Smell it. Taste it. Feel everything. I consider Lonesome Dove, (paperback 864 pages) and The Stand, (paperback 1,200 pages) the two best books ever written. That’s quite a few pages. And not one boring word can be found. 

A recent review of an author that is a bit wordy offended me. Because not all wordy is bad. With some, it enhances the story. It provides a bit more emotion. Paints a better picture. Makes you beg for more. Sarah J. Maas is a perfect example. When you panic when nearing the end of a book that’s a good thing. 

When writing a review state why you liked it and why you didn’t. Being condescending is not a review. It’s rude. Sneering is ugly. Not only are you being nasty to the author, but also to the people that love that author’s books. And set yourself up for some not so pleasant rebuttal. 

Complaining that a planned series is not going to be the number first stated makes me wonder if the person even liked the books. Doesn’t like reading. Any series that I loved, I hated to see it end. If the author decides to write a few more books in a series that I loved; read more than once; explore the story of one of the other main characters, I’m happy to hear it. I’m not going to bitch and moan about it. As long as the story is interesting, I’ll continue to read it. 

You have such authors that are prolific writers of series. Kresley Cole. Gena Showalter. Rachel Caine. Sherrilyn Kenyon. Just to name a few. How long would I read about the characters in SJ Maas’ books? As long as she writes them and they continue to be as good as the previous. 

So please remember. When writing a critical review don’t insult the people that love the author and love their books. The backlash might be very unpleasant. Falling from a high horse might be more painful than you’d expect.