Month: August 2019

The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose by Moses Norton – Review & Analysis

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 8 Comments

Title: The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose
Author: Moses Norton
Date Added: May 28, 2019
Date Started: June 13, 2019
Date Finished: July 5, 2019
Reading Duration: 22 Days
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult (YA), Novella

The Last Stitch Goes Through the Nose by Moses NortonPages: 104
Publisher: Self
Publication Date: May 27, 2019
Media: eBook/Kindle & Physical Copy

Who is the Scissor-man? Nobody cares, nobody sees, except for one little boy. This debut literary fantasy novella takes a hard look at society and its outcasts through the eyes of innocent youth. In a world where death is ignored, Orasi becomes fascinated with the Scissor-man, the homeless mortician. After he finds a black thread in the snow, Orasi begins to unravel the legends surrounding this horrifying figure, and his journey of discovery brings him closer than ever to the father he barely knew. But the world is a place that has already decided its rules. His is just one beating heart among millions who are already dead, and Orasi may not like what he finds in the end…The Last Stitch Goes Through The Nose tests its characters to see if they are still breathing, and it might reach out to see if you are, too. The Last Stitch is perfect for the Young Adult reader who isn’t too grown up yet, or the adult reader who suspects they can still see through the eyes of a child.

Note: I’ll be breaking this up into Review and Analysis where the Review section will contain no spoilers, but the Analysis will.

Review

Only this kind of a memory remained: a makeshift history such as pleased those who had yet to suffer their own encounter with the end. The dead man was glorified, made new in memory.

This is not a happy story.  It’s a story that makes an important point that should lead to better outcomes, but it won’t.  It gives us a child protagonist we hope will bolster change in the tradition that children defy adults as well as adult expectations and prejudices.

Continue reading →

The State of the Reader: 8/28/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 13 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 8/14/19         The State of the Reader: 9/11/19–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Obtained: 1

Books Finished: 1

Title: Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems
Author: Theodora Goss
Date Added: February 5, 2019
Date Started: July 8, 2019
Date Finished: August 21, 2019

Snow White Learns Witchcraft: Stories and Poems by Theodora GossMedia: eBook/Kindle

This was amazing.  I’ll need to look at the table of contents and figure out all of my favorite stories.

Books DNF: 2

Title: The King in Yellow
Author: Robert W. Chambers
Date Added: January 5, 2018
Date Started: August 4, 2019
Date DNF: August 25, 2019

The King in Yellow by Robert W. ChambersMedia: eBook/Kindle

I am very interesting in the concept behind this story, but the writing just isn’t holding my attention.  I decided to DNF it, but I bookmarked an analysis of it as well as a YouTube video breaking it down.

Continue reading →

The State of the Gamer: 8/27/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 8/13/19           The State of the Gamer: 9/10/19–>

A weekly post updated every other Tuesday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

What I Bought

  • Suberbeat: Xonic – $0.89 @ Nintendo eShop

What I Demoed

  • Cadence of Hyrule – Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring Legend of Zelda – I ultimately ended up passing on this game, but only because I suck at roguelike even if they are rhythm based lol.  I wound up watching an Olizandri play-through of it, though, and I was up late listening to the shopkeeper mix of the music.  I’ll talk more about that below and share the awesomeness.

Continue reading →

The State of the Writer: 8/25/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 8/11/19         The State of the Writer: 9/8/19–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 254,544
Prior Word Count: 254,492
Word Difference: +52
Status: Editing
Progress: Chapter 18 Posted

Being lazy today with the status post since I just posted the 18th chapter.  I think that’s enough said for lol.  I’m pretty happy I’ve edited and posted two chapters in a month, so I can’t say I accomplished nothing this vacation.  I intend to start working on Chapter 19 as soon as possible of course.  It’s a chapter I know at least one person has been anticipated for a long time, and it’s so goddamn satisfying even to me.  I’ve done something like this in every single one of my stories, and it’s cathartic because there’s not much I can do in real life.  Expect it to be over the top…because it is.

Continue reading →

The Broken Rose: Chapter 18 – The Unforgiving Stars

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 9 Comments

The Broken Rose Page

<–Chapter 17                                                                                                                                 Chapter 19–>

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Banner Artwork Disclaimer:  The featured artwork for the banner is entitled White rose I and was created by the very talented Deviant Artist RemusSirion who was gracious enough to grant me permission to use it here.  The picture has been slightly altered from the original. All rights belong to the artist, and links are included for both the artist page and the work.

*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******

Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.

A “dance” amongst flowers and piercing starlight yields a surprise at the end.

A blue and purple sky with several falling stars over a dark blue ocean.

The great sea was visible, shining with starlight, cut with the sharp light of moon.  There were houses above and houses below, but none were obscured by cruel steel.  Sephiroth peered over at his little charge, but she was fascinated by peaceful waters.  Though obscured by some higher roofs at times, both its scent and its hush ruled the air.

“Icicle Inn…” she murmured again, as though tasting the chill on her tongue.  The name stirred the mists and through them, though dim, pulsed a green curtain of light.  If Aeris reached forward , she could almost touch it, but a pleading voice drove her back.  It wasn’t hers, but begging for mercy sounds the same on a million tongues.  She clung to his arm, suppressing a whimper, while forcing herself to speak.  “Wh-What’s a model, g-general?”

Continue reading →

The State of the Reader: 8/14/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/31/19         The State of the Reader: 8/28/19–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Obtained: 1

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Author: H. P. Lovecraft
Date Added: March 15, 2013
Date Started: May 9, 2019
Date Finished: August 1, 2019

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward coverMedia: eBook/Kindle

Interesting tidbit: the MC of this isn’t the titular character, but rather Dr. Willett.  He’s the one who struggles to piece everything together before it’s too late, who traverses the horrors of the underground lair, who finds the alchemical dark materia used for nefarious purposes, and who uncovers the terrible truth.  Charles is a victim, and I definitely need to research alchemy.  I realized that after watching a Silent Hill video about it, which made me realize there’s a shit ton of it in FFVII, too.  More essays forthcoming.

Continue reading →

The State of the Gamer: 8/13/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 7/30/19           The State of the Gamer: 8/27/19–>

A weekly post updated every other Tuesday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

What I’m Playing

Title: Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl
Series Title: Etrian Odyssey
System: Nintendo 3DS

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium GirlDate Started: 6/30/19

Nothing to really update.  I haven’t played this in the past two weeks.  I may pick it up a bit tonight, and I’ll probably really get into it during my two week vacay.  I need to look up what to do with the grimoire stones.  There’s an option to combine them, but I don’t want to do anything until I know what the hell I’m doing.

Continue reading →

The State of the Writer: 8/11/19

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 13 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 7/28/18         The State of the Writer: 8/25/19–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 254,492
Prior Word Count: 254,537
Word Difference: -45
Status: Editing
Progress: Chapter 18 First Edit

Forgiveness by Doreen Richter

So we need to talk about this picture.  This picture was created by the fore mentioned Doreen Richter who was inspired to make it by Northern Lights.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  SOMEONE CREATED THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART BASED ON MY INANE SCRIBBLINGS.  AHHHHHH.  She posted it on my Sephiroth RP/Fan page, which I’m shit at keeping updated but I try.  I didn’t even know the post was there until about a week afterwards, so I apologized profusely.  She didn’t get back to me on whether or not she has an art page, so I can’t put a link anywhere, but I am completely humbled and flattered that someone drew a picture based on one of my stories.  The detailing on Sephiroth’s hair is nothing less than amazing and must have taken her long hours and many hand cramps to complete.   It’s things like this that help pull me from the miring thoughts of “I’m wasting my time” and “Why am I doing this?” so never think your likes and comments, no matter how brief, mean nothing.  They mean everything ♥

Continue reading →

Mystery Blogger Award #5

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

Another Mystery Blogger Award this time from one of the best horror authors I’ve ever met, as well as another Sephiroth enthusiast AND Black cosplayer Mercury the Scribe.  She has both a YouTube Channel and Deviant Art page where they share and read their work.

Let’s do this.

Rules:

  • Put the award logo/image on your blog
  • List the rules.
  • Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
  • Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well (That seems to have been lost to antiquity)
  • Tell your readers 3 things about yourself
  • You have to nominate 10 – 20 people (eh, I’m not going to do that)
  • Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog
  • Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)
  • Share a link to your best post(s)

Three things about me:

  1. If I could summon a meteor, I would’ve done it years ago.
  2. I just bought a blue wig, but I don’t know if I like how it looks.  Addendum: I definitely don’t like the way it looks so I’m giving it to a friend.
  3. I honestly thought about studying immigration or environmental law after the 2016 election as well as astronomy, but my health is too shitty still to do either.

My Most Liked Post:

I tried to find this.  I really did, but I couldn’t figure out where it was among my stats, so I’m just going to put some links to my favorite posts

Questions from Mercury:

  1. What scares you the most? – Not being good enough.
  2. Do you believe in ghosts of the paranormal? – I believe in the possibility of these things.  We don’t know everything.  I tend to err on the side of science because when used properly, it’s self-correcting.  I also know that even though I have weird feelings/vibes, there could be a scientific explanation for why I have those feelings that I just don’t know about.  However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to trust my instincts or listen to my gut.  You don’t have to know everything to know what’s right or wrong.
  3. What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you? – My entire life is a joke I hope the universe is laughing at.
  4. If you knew you could get away with it would you kill someone? – I have a list that I won’t talk about so that I can continue to claim plausible deniability.
  5. What’s your current favorite post you’ve written? – Already did that above.

My Questions

  1. If you could have a meteor strike anywhere in the world, what locale would feel your fiery wrath?
  2. Would you rather the world end in fire or ice?  (Bonus if you can explain why both would be nice.)
  3. What’s your favorite species of shark?  (Shark Week special, ya’ll)
  4. VR is now completely realistic.  What fictional character are you spending time with?
  5. I invite you to my pillow fort party.  What kind of character/fandom pajamas are you wearing and what are you bringing for dessert?

Answer at your own leisure or peril.  I’ll be here drinking my wine.

The Broken Rose: Chapter 17 – Gilding the Lily

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

The Broken Rose Page

<–Chapter 16                                                                                                                                 Chapter 18–>

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Banner Artwork Disclaimer:  The featured artwork for the banner is entitled White rose I and was created by the very talented Deviant Artist RemusSirion who was gracious enough to grant me permission to use it here.  The picture has been slightly altered from the original. All rights belong to the artist, and links are included for both the artist page and the work.

*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******

Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.

Author’s Note: I mention the “in between/sidestepping” a bit in this chapter.  It’s a concept I came up with while writing Northern Lights.  This story takes place in sort of an alternative branch to that.  I have a whole thing about that, which I won’t bore you with right now, but it’s another “what if” of the already huge “what if” that is my Aeriseph fanfiction.  Hopefully, you’ll surmise from the text what the hell I’m talking about (if you haven’t read Northern Lights).  I guess I was kind of lazy with writing this in assuming anyone who’d read it would’ve already read that, but it is explained in Chapter 4 of the previous work.

Aeris takes the chance on a more meaningful outing to find a highly coveted item.

A slightly curved, wicker flower basket sitting by a window in sunlight with a shadow underneath. Within the circle of the handle are the words "Chapter 17 Gilding the Lily."

A slightly curved, wicker flower basket sitting by a window in sunlight with a shadow underneath. Within the circle of the handle are the words “Chapter 17 Gilding the Lily.”

Much to his guilt, the general loved the days at a time his Aeris would stay in the Gate.  Loved for there would his flower be, ensconced in his arms on his lap.  Napping or reading or asking him questions, which grew into conversation.  Oft times her fingers woven in silver, as she practiced and tried to recall.  The way of the braid, and he’d gently re-show her over and over again.  She was better with nails, and his were now colored black with the shine of the stars.  A void he could study, draped around her, as the Cetra dreamed on his lap.  Hers were light pink and shimmered, too.  She’d insisted to make them match, and he could not deny his love of the sight: her tiny hand topping his broad.  Seeing it curled there seemed so right, a sign of her rightful place.  He was her support.  He was her protector.  This was an absolute.

Continue reading →