astone2292

Oh, boy...lots of comments! I know, she is one mighty penguin! I'm happy you're interested in the story! After getting a new RitS chapter written, I'll be working on another one for this story. I'm so delighted that this chapter stood out! I wanted to build up Arric some more and introduce his itinerary for Cyn. It's so interesting writing for Cyn and his newfound discoveries in the human world. One has to think how his childhood was if he never had a bed... I try to make my reign as long and ruling as possible, but it doesn't seem to work out well in the LPW forum game... Always happy to see your comments, Patch! I think Cyn is interested in the long game, but he doesn't know the rules. That was made clear when Arric's "thing" comment was handled with such...grace. Ha! I channeled a little of One Piece's Luffy in Cyn's obliviousness in his dating statement.

Val...how did you get access to my Google Drive Stories folder? I am so thankful for your PM earlier! It has really helped, and I think I see an improvement in this chapter compared to the others.

“Welcome to Alpha Claude’s manor.” A...a manor? This place...is a home? It’s too big to be a home! If a home could be a forest, this would be it! Cyn couldn’t stop gawking at the structure. He had never seen such a sight, and was baffled at how it could have been built. The manor was a three story tudor-style estate with the plenty of brick and dark wood trimmings elegantly decorating the exterior. With the roof being steep, the building was given a more orderly and menacing statute.

A nice and interesting chapter! Garjah and Essell are beginning to bond as Garjah wishes to repay a debt. These chapters are perfect as I go on break at the same time they get posted. Keep up the phenomenal work, Cia!!! Edit: the only thing I would look at would be a little more detail on Essell's new hand/arm. I'm envisioning a shiny spherical mace, but I can't tell if I'm misinterpreting the description.

Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm beyond excited that you're enjoying the books and that you've commented! I have no intention of losing my love of writing!

A very valid point, but can our little buck combat his survivor's guilt AND tackle such an important ambassador-like role? You may be onto something here...

I am both shocked and currently loving the fact there is still suss on Shaw! I love it! Just forkin' love it! Stefan is surely up to something since his teacher has taken a liking to his newest rival...

I'll never tell... I'm not sure Cyn is the proper one to have such a responsibility, but I'm sure he'd be blushing at the thought. I'm sure someone will pop up for the job...

You are correct on the mental damages, and it will take a good portion of this book for Cyn to overcome. But with Shea's assistance, as well as some others', our little fawn has a good support system. Cyn did go to a normal school, and he did. I have it in my cast list, but I don't think we will find it used very much. Immaterial is a great word to describe his last name. Considering the nomadic nature for raising fawn, the goal was to get in, and get out for the race's sake. Humanity was only needed for basic educational purposes. After leaving the education system, the race wouldn't have need for such, in their culture's description, preposterous descriptions of their being. I believe it will make an appearance or two during Cyn and Shea's conversations.

Thank you! I would look at those sharks and turn around!!! Nope! Nopenopenope! Glad to see that the italics are useful!

Always happy to see your comments, Patch! Everyone is making progress in their goals: Vincent with his magic, Mason being the Alpha, Caleb learning his role, and Cyrus and Kaplan learning more about themselves.

I would love some feedback! I know with the chapters being smaller than my other stories, I'm probably making more mistakes in terms of grammatical and punctuation, but I'm having a blast writing it. As a new writer, I'll gladly take advice and feedback whenever I can get it!

The number of total views and comments was one of my main decisions to start on this site. I starting to create an account somewhere else, but the site looked very dated, despite being somewhat popular. I have gotten several PM's for some errors I've made, and even a suggestion or two, but I will settle for near constant happy feedback and receiving criticism from my editor.

I also relate to the concept of ignoring part of the job. When stocking groceries, once all the stock is up, we have to 'condition' the aisle, pulling a few rows of every product in the store forward. The goal is to make the store look grand opening ready, but it's only that: an appearance. By the end of it all, the store looks, in one of my favorite terms, 'purty.' Personally, I don't see much of a point in it, as it will all be ruined by the first hour or two of shoppers. I see it as building a pyramid of playing cards, only to have your cat dart through it and sending cards flying through the air. Going further in my stock crew's productivity problem, our company is union-based, and some of the crew members have the 'I'm doing the best I can,' mentality. I refuse to adopt that mentality since I see that a job needs to be done. As menial as my job is, I take pride in putting food on a shelf for people to bring home to their families. I love feedback! The only thing I wish for on this site is just a little bit more 'rough around the edges' feedback. I'm not asking for a head slap and to tell me I'm an idiot, but I'd like for some of my common mistakes to be vocalized. I can't see them, because I'm making them. I had to get an editor to tell me to quit starting a sentence with the word, 'And.' I'm hilariously visualizing a 'flipside' button for the site. The site is blue: nice, fun, happy! Flip the switch, and it turns red: flaws, errors, constructive feedback! The feedback I've received has been fantastic, and it is truly one of the only reasons I'm sticking with writing as a hobby. I'm being told that my work is good, so I'll create more! Any time I see a new comment, I must read it, and I must respond!

Explicit language, but boy, oh boy...I love me some Foxboro Hot Tubs...

Thank you! I'm really trying my best with Cyn. I know how I would feel if I saw a button light up for the first time ever, and Cyn's reaction is my best articulation of that scenario. In other writings, I keep finding that inner thoughts aren't well voiced, and when they are, they tend to be mixed in with normal text. I get rather confused easily when reading, and I hope my italicization of the thoughts make reading my work a lot more enjoyable for the reader.

As the door to the hallway opened, a fresh wave of hospital stench rushed over Cyn’s nose. He did not care for the sour smell, but as Shea walked out of the door, he poked his head meekly out of the door frame. In an instant, a few of the passing nurse staff saw his movement and their simple glances felt like fangs ripping into him. Stepping back inside his safe room, Cyn began heaving in vast amounts of air. They’re staring at me! The wolves! They...they… Large and warm hands were placed o

I imagine that magical normality would take many decades, if not centuries in this universe, but this is such an interesting subject. Much like our discussion in Cernunnos about what animals would have what jobs, these mages would almost have dominating control in certain working fields. Philippe...this was a lot! Shady Shadows School. Panda Pad. I'm trying so hard not to laugh out loud and wake Noah from his slumber! Your comments are brilliantly observational, and I love them. Mason might request Vincent to go collect different barbecue from different states to get a fair judgement: Kansas City's, Texas, Australia. Although the town I live in is definitely in the running for the best around... I'm dyin' at Caleb's predicament as Enforcer! He can't keep up with Vincent! Could you imagine...if Lowe...as a toddler...became a shadow mage. That little tyke would be all over the place! With all these wonderful names you've come up with, I might need to create a small dictionary page somewhere.

I've had a love-hate relationship with the word, 'productivity.' With my occupation, it is highly encouraged to be as productive as possible, but it feels strange to see myself being the only one performing. My shift ended several hours ago, but I still can't shake my distaste for how few cares my fellow coworkers give. Seeing how the pandemic is still going on, and a lot of people are finally understanding the lasting power it can hold on human life, workers are feeling fatigued. My fellow stock crew are of no exception to this. Throw in a couple of icy nights and an incoming snow storm, and the remaining cares have been tossed in the rushing winds. Warehouse employees were scarce several days ago, so our truck size dwindled, only to come back up in monstrous quantity last night. My aisle called for eleven man hours. A singular aisle in a grocery store demanded my full and undivided attention, plus another's partial. The aisle was stocked in seven hours' time, and I was whisked away to bail out another coworker. This disgruntled me as I checked the summarized times for the aisles. I was being sent to continue stocking for an aisle that called for five hours worth of stocking time. While I understand that not everyone can be as productive as others, I do expect for said others to meet company standards. Our standards are a wee bit harsh, but they are manageable. The company asks for the stockers to perform at an average of 55 cases of product per hour, or working a case every 55 seconds. From picking up the box, to breaking the cardboard down, this is manageable. What I saw was inefficiency, and I will not stand for it. Why make your life harder? The answer can not be, "I get paid by the hour." I watched this worker walk ten steps from his pallet of product to his cardboard cart, just to place a box in it, and repeat the process for his aisle's stocking. In a hindsight of how I value productivity: I use my laziness to my advantage. Everything I need is within an arm's reach. My pallet, cart, stocking destination, boxcutter, and water bottle. I'm even starting to memorize how to open certain boxes of product in a particular way, just to cut down mere seconds. I don't have time to waste, because I don't want to be in that store any longer than I have to be. So if I can use my productivity to be lazy, and vice versa, so be it. Productivity is coming at me in my writing as well. I've never been one to have multiple tabs open on my browser, but I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. As I type this, I have three different Gay Authors tabs open: one for my most recent chapter of Cernunnos (using it as a footnote since I'm writing the next chapter), one for the Last Post Wins game in the forums, and one writing this blog. Along with those tabs, I have my Google Drive tab, my documents tab holding Chapter 11 of Cernunnos, and a Google Search tab for anything I may need. Before my writing adventure, I have never had more than two tabs open on a single browser. I am feeling like a computer mastermind with all these tabs running! I feel as I am getting somewhere in writing, but I also get the sense of holding myself back. I'm not looking for money as a product of my writing. I'm searching for an escape from being productive at my job. I don't feel appreciated for busting my butt there. Here...I'm thanked, and that feels weird to me. Every job I've had, I have thoughtlessly outperformed my fellow man, and I don't get thanked a lot. With every chapter I post, I get told, "Great job," or, "I love this," or, "Thank you for this chapter!" This has caused the term 'productivity' to have a warped definition to me. In one half of my life, I find it to be troublesome to be productive, while the other praises me. My thoughts are at war, and I don't know how to combat that. I've never been one to articulate my emotions before, but writing has opened that door for me. It is only cracked open, but the drafting winds are appealing to me. With words, I think I can finally begin to understand some of my mental issues and speak out about them. I don't know what they are, and for the time being, I'd rather them remain nameless. So, for now, I'll just relate my issues to Bo Burnham's Left Brain, Right Brain song. I've always found solace in the song, but I could only find reason in the fact that I love comedy. Expanding my thoughts, the song is much more relatable. My job and hobby are at war, and, just as the song states, "my creativity and analysis are at war." Productivity is a hellish word in my job, while it is welcome in my hobby. Productivity...is just forkin' weird.

He’s...the head honcho of the monastery? Vincent stared at the smiling monk. He brushed his hand through his long blonde hair as he continued his deep and slow breathing. The mage noticed it was getting easier to breath at the higher altitude, but kept up the methodical pace. Yes. I do apologize for letting it come as such a big surprise. As the head...honcho, as you say, you are welcome here whenever you please. The aura here is excellent for meditation, or should you need some peace and

Welcome @Rhythminthemind! As a goody-two-shoes, I recommend reading everything the Help tab has to offer, even if it doesn't pertain to, or interest you. I'm glad I did, since it helped me figure out how signatures worked (I noticed a major uptick in views on my stories when I did it)! I also recommend joining the Writer's Circle! There's plenty of tips, advice, and a separate forum section. It helps you find potential editors to aid you and your stories be even better! Take a good look around and leave no 'Stone' unturned! -Aaron Stone

Thank you for your comment! I'm very pleased with how this book turned out. The next book is being written and posted, but I have an editor now! He's teaching me some do's and don'ts, and I'm very grateful to have him!

It's okay, bud. Maybe you'll remember not to post future answers to future questions from 2009... At least you have your steins of beer.

I haven't been around for very long on GA, but if there's two things I'm good at...it's digging up obscure information and making accusations. I'm pointing my finger at the despot! @wildone