Brandon Varnell's Blog, page 23

Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin, Chapter 14

Chapter 14erbkaiser: You're probably thinking about what Harry gets out of his proposal in too tangible a sense. That's why you haven't been able to figure out what he gains from it. Harry wants to leave his mark on the world. He's the wizard who wants to be remembered from eons to come for his accomplishments. He wants people to speak of him in the same tones of awe and respect that Merlin and the Four Founders have long after he's gone. Essentially, what he wants is recognition for his own accomplishments. His proposal for the culture classes is a step in that direction and a good beginning stage to bring forth some of his ideas.I won't say anything more, because it would ruin one of my more important plots, but when Book 6 comes out, you'll look back on this moment and 'oh! So that's why Harry made those culture classes!'.ElectroVenik: What you say is true, but do not forget Harry is still young. He doesn't always think of everything. You may have found the hints I left, but Harry got a little over excited about his own 'amazing idea' that some things like logistics skipped his mind. It didn't help that no one brought it up in the meeting, probably because they felt he was so young that he wouldn't understand everything that went into creating a new class.amoghtalwar: The plot actually isn't slowing down, just your perception of it because you're trying to use JK's canon as a reference point. Don't. This isn't JK's Harry Potter. While her plot is in here, it's not the main plot of my story. The reason we're still at the beginning of the year is because most of the plot moving happens at the beginning of the year. Once my plot development is done, I'm going to be doing timeskips. I suspect by chapter 16 or 17, maybe 18, Harry and the gang will be back home for the Christmas holidays.n0mster: I hate to disappoint, but there will be no romantic relationships in this book. Even though Harry no recognizes that he finds the girls in his group pleasing to the eye and sexually attractive, he's not going to be doing anything. He's still only 12 and feels there is no point to rushing into a relationship or multiple ones at that age.narutoDkurosaki: Again, I don't think you have any concept of what it means for a chapter to be considered a filler chapter. You're so caught up in thinking that my fanfic is using the JK Rowling plot as it's main plot that you completely forget my plot has nothing to do with her plot. My story is based around a more or less original (I hope) plot of Harry leaving his mark on the wizarding world. It runs PARALLEL to her plot, but it is not the JK Rowling Harry Potter Plot, aka, the Chamber of Secrets being opened is not the main plot of this story.I can't say I'm surprised you haven't realized this, but I am disappointed that you don't have faith in my writing.LegendaryArimaspi: It was hypocritical in the first chapter. One thing you have to recognize is that Harry didn't tell her 'you shouldn't lecture everyone' because he was trying to be hypocritical, but because of the ramifications that come with her lecturing people. Hermione is a First Generation (muggleborn) witch, and as such, her lecturing other wizards, especially pure-bloods, is seen as an insult. Do you really think the pure-bloods, even those who are lenient towards First Generation magicals is going to put up with some uppity little witch from a nonmagical family telling them they're wrong? Of course not.On the other hand, Harry can afford to dish out lectures despite being raised by muggles. Why? Just look at his titles. Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry Potter, the heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. Harry, regardless of his history, is an important figure in the magical realm. Because of this, he can get away with things like lecturing pure-blood wizards on magic and various other subjects.Does that make it right? No, of course not, but that's life and sometimes, life is just unfair.A Question for the readers:A good deal of reviewers have told me that my 'Wizard cultural class' is not an original or inspired concept. Now, it could just be because I came to Harry Potter late and whatever story(s) had this idea were so far in the back of the search engine that I simply missed it (or them), but I have not found any other story that uses this idea.
My question is this: What story or stories aside from mine have decided to use the 'give magical children born from nonmagical families wizarding culture and etiquette classes?

Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin, Chapter 13

Chapter 13Yana5: No. That was the age I was when I first started 'checking out girls' as you call it. I don't see why someone who is a lot more mature than I was at that age and going through puberty wouldn't start looking at girls.ElDani: That's because compared to people like Harry and Daphne, Tracey is very much a child. She's also the loudest and brashest one of the bunch. Unlike Susan who is shy, Neville who is under confident, Blaise who is quiet and observant, Hannah who is talkative but polite, Lisa who is for all intents and purposes normal, and Terry who often presents a small focal point to Tracey when arguing, she is the loudest and has the least amount of restraint when speaking. Don't worry though, she will eventually grow up, but right now, she's just a 12 year old kid. Try not to be too hard on her character because of that.DarkPirateKing69, perses7x: That was the first and last time I will ever go into that much detail for an exercising regime. In fact, I would be surprised if I mentioned it anymore other than in passing. I only added it there because I wanted you, the reader, to know they would be doing it, and I wrote it in detail because I'm a detail oriented writer. 0 Jordino 0, Heart of Virgo: I read your reviews and agreed with them. I honestly didn't really think about just how big the Black Lake is. To be honest, since Rowling never mentioned how big it was, I never really thought about it. Anyways, I changed it to Susan completing 2, Daphne completing 1 1/2, Neville finishing 1 and Hermione doing about 1/2. Harry, of course, did 5, which I think is about good.Tsun: The reason Susan didn't get a POV of her own was because it wasn't plot important. Daphne's thoughts actually contain a good deal of information on one of the many side plots running alongside the main story. Basically, it mentions her internal struggle between what her father wants vs. what she wants and gives a bit of information in her own internal struggle.Edmond O'Donald: Actually it's 'Neville and I'. That's the proper English way of writing it. Harry Potter, as an incredibly intelligent and literate young man, would use proper grammer. Anyone else would have used 'Neville and me', but not Harry.Dante 101: I will admit, I may have gone a little overboard on Harry's work out routine. I think a part of the reason is because I'm very religious when it comes to exercising. I go to the gym five days a week, Monday through Friday, every morning at exactly 4:00 am when the gym I have a membership to first opens. And I've been doing this for 6 years now. Exercise has literally been an integral part of my life and something that not only helps me stay in shape, but also makes me feel good after each work out. I have more energy, I'm happier and I'm just in general a better person to be around than if I didn't go to the gym. On top of that, I don't need caffeine to wake up (because exercise actually wakes people up by getting the blood flowing and releasing endorphins into the bloodstream), which means I save a ton of money on coffee and tea. So yeah, as you can see I'm a bit exercise obsessed.By the way, I'm impartial to cheddar.Concluding Statements: So here is something funny for you guys to read. I was looking through my reviews because, well, I needed to know who was asking questions for me to answer and what those questions were when I ran into an anonymous reviewer named Billy. I doubt this is his real name but whatever. Anyways, Billy wrote a review stating this:"I'm unsubsrcibing from update alerts for this story. The pedophilia is to unrelenting, and I don't want to read it."Now, I took two things away from this. The first was that he's a coward. He wrote that he was 'unsubscribing' in his review, meaning he has an account but chose not to use it to tell me this. Only a coward would write a review that could be taken badly by the author anonymously when they have an account.For those of you who know me and those of you who don't, I will never get angry at you for stating an honest opinion so long as it's done in a respectful manner. If you tell me that you can't read my story anymore because it has something you don't like I'll be disappointed, but I'll understand. I won't get mad. I won't throw a hissy fit. I'm not that kind of guy.The second thing I took away was his mention of pedophilia. Now, pedophilia is described as an adult (meaning 18 years or older), having a sexual interest in prepubescent children.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was very sure that Harry is 12, meaning he is still a prepubescent child. That would mean that this story did not have any pedophilia, unless the laws have changed since I last looked them up, which admittedly was never. I'm not particularly enamored with the bodies of children so I wouldn't know.

Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin, Chapter 12

Chapter 12narutoDkurosaki: Well, I am sorry you feel that way, but, honestly, what is happening to Harry is fairly natural, if a little rushed. Harry is going through what I like to call accelerated puberty, meaning it starts very quickly and ends fairly quickly. This was actually the last chapter that will feature the memory/dream sequence scene so you don't have much to worry about anyways.And no, Neville is not a replacement for Ron. If that were the case, I wouldn't have added Terry and Blaize to Harry's group of friends.NARUHAREM FOREVA: The dream sequence involving Perenelle was a combination of memory and a teenagers wet dream. Basically, the part where Harry was with Nicolas Flamel was a memory, and sometime after that was not. However, I am leaving it up to you to decide how much of the 'sexy Perenelle' scene was a dream and how much was memory.kroz phantomville: How dramatic did you want it? Just so you know, the lawsuit issue was nothing more than a subplot. It held no true relevance to the story, so there is no real reason for me to focus on it beyond closing the plot as realistically as possible.shadowz101: No he wouldn't. First of all, Harry did not know Sirius was not the Secret Keeper. He was not around when Lily cast the Fidelius Charm, therefore, he has no clue who the Secret Keeper is. Secondly, Harry has met all four of the Marauders at some point in his life, and none of them gave any indication of being a spy. If they had, Pettigrew would have been ousted very easily. As far as Harry knows, Sirius Black was guilty of betraying his parents and that's that.ImaDenarianLordX: While I understand where you are coming from, I don't really understand how you can think I'm moving fast with Harry's relationships. Right now, all we have some moments of cute fluff and Harry's growing attraction to the girls in his group. Nothing more. I think I explicitly stated in this chapter that even if he likes one or more of the girls in his group, Harry is not going to act on his feelings because he does not believe romance is important for a 12 year old boy.serialkeller: I don't know how you can say that. Occlumency does not keep you from feeling emotions or showing them. It clears your mind and allows you to detect mental intrusions. Now, the act of 'clearing the mind' helps keep your emotions in control and keeps you from being too overt with your feelings, but it's not a sure fire way to yourself from acting like nothing is wrong. If it were, then Snape would have never lost his cool whenever Harry did something he did not like. He IS an Occlumency master with enough skills that not even Voldemort can penetrate his mind, you know.Futon Lord: Maybe you're right, but then, Harry doesn't know that, does he? YOU know that eventually the Firebolt will come out and completely beat the Nimbus 2001, but YOU also have the benefit of having read the original 7 books. Harry does not have that beneficial knowledge, nor is he a seer. Right now, Harry Potter knows that endorsing the Nimbus 2001 is the best way to earn a lot of money, therefore, that is what he's going to do.And don't blame Daphne for my bad grammar. It's not really her fault.amoghtalwar: Selene will not be making a come back in this story, but she will be coming back in the 4th book. As I said, I only introduced her character in book 2 because it was the only feasible time to do so. The rest of your questions I can't answer, as I do not give away spoilers, especially ones that important.totalsolution: Are you forgetting that Harry is already in a close physical relationship with another girl? Namely, Lisa? Also, Harry spent almost an entire summer dealing with Selene trying to seduce him. Do you not think he would get desensitized to such an act very quickly? The fact of the matter is, Harry has already gotten used to physical contact with females by this point in time, so him initiating the contact in this instance shouldn't be very hard to believe.Concluding Statements: A few people how they felt this chapter was really just following canon events. I assume the reason for this is because of the Herbology lesson.Yes. I will admit it. This chapter followed a canon event, but did anyone actually realize why? Aside from this chapter just being a set up chapter to show how Harry will be interacting with various characters like Lockhart, it was also because this particular event in canon cannot be changed simply because Harry has eidetic memory. Things like class scheduling are things that remain canon because nothing Harry does can change that unless he decides to try and convince the teachers that there should be a change in schedules and FIY, there is no reason for him to do that.
This being said, I can assure you that most chapters will not follow standard canon. We already have several difference. For example, instead of having detention with Lockhart, Harry will have detention with Snape. This will also have a large consequence on the storyline, though I won't tell you what. I prefer letting you guys guess.

Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin, Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Tsun:  Selene will not be showing up again until Book 4, which I have yet to name. Her role in the Heir of Slytherin is over. I merely revealed her in this book because I had no feasible way to introduce her in Book 3 and I needed Harry to know her before Book 4. HellFirePhoenix:  It very well could. To be honest, Harry wasn't really thinking about how Lucius Malfoy will react to hearing that Harry went Palpatine on his son. He just saw Draco hurting his friends and sort of snapped. Im Not Itachi, Zikarn Krais:  In most cases you would be correct, but there are two things you need to remember. First, most of Harry's friends have already been introduced to violence. Remember, they were there when Harry blue up that troll's head. Second, these kids are Harry's friends. Unlike in Sacrificial Second Chance were Harry freaked out Hermione on the Hogwarts Express, all of the people here have had over a year to get to know Harry. They're not going to leave just because he does something frightening.They might be wary of him for a while, but they won't push him away. Lightning King:  I suspect this story will be around 230,000 words, maybe a little over or a little under. narutoDkurosaki:  I can see why you might think that way, but I did not use medical ninjutsu found in Naruto as a base for Harry's healing magic. It's just that when I think of 'healing magic' in any capacity, I think green because that's usually the standard color found in video games (cura? Anyone?) and the like. FleeingReality, AlsoKnownAsMatt:  In reverse order, Selene was only partially based on Selene Gallio from Marvel, and Harry already suspects that Daphne might like him as something more than just a friend. However, because he doesn't have much experience with romance, he doesn't know for sure, and he's not going to ask her because he's only 12 and still holds to the mentality that there are more important things for him to worry about than romance. I will still add moments between them, as well as add moments with Harry and some of the other girls in his group, but romance won't truly kick off until halfway through Book 3. nomad62:  To settle your worry, I'm going to tell you right now that Harry is not going to be abused by any of the girls he is with.What I had between Nicolas and Perennelle and Mr. and Ms. Davis was purely put there for comedy purpose and for Harry to decide that if he ever became involved with someone, he would not let himself be pushed around like they were. I won't tell you anything more for fear of ruining the story, but I will tell you that much. DarkPirateKing69:  I wonder, does the 69 at the end of your penname stand for something... explicit? Well, anyways, to answer your first question, possibly. I plan on expanding the POVs to include a few people. I know that Susan will be getting a POV or two and so will Hermione, but I don't know if I'm going to give Daphne anymore as of yet. I might, if I can work it in, but I'm not going to force myself to write a POV from Daphne's perspective if all it's going to do is show her thoughts on something I've already shown or waste words. Unlike most authors who try to add as much as possible to add to their word count, I just write until I'm satisfied.
Now for your second question, I do have a few scenes that will feature Harry and Dumbledore holding a conversation, and I may even show what the Headmaster is doing to try and discover who the 'Heir of Slytherin' is, but other then that... well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin, Chapter 10

Chapter 104master: How Harry got on the train will be revealed next chapter. I left it as a sort of pseudo cliff hanger so you guys would be wondering 'how did Harry get on the train?' because I'm an asshole like that.4master, PotterinCanada, cmcwiki, InfiniteDragon, blueper, n0mster, Wandral: I think I mentioned this before, but every first person italicized scene is a dream/memory. The trick is to figure out where the memory ends and the dream begins. I left this particular one purposely vague so you could utilize your own creative licence on it. Did the memory become a dream when Perennelle showed up looking like sin? Or when she kissed him at the end? I leave it up to you to decide.ImaDenarianLordX: Harry's training is pretty much complete. Thanks to his edietic memory, Harry absorbed all the information Nicolas Flamel had to give on the subject of alchemy without giving any 'freebies' (like how to make a Philospher's Stone) away. Now it's up to Harry to increase his own knowledge by creating Transmutation circles and pushing the boundaries of his knowledge.AlsoKnownAsMatt: Overpowering? Really? You think so? Clearly, you have not watched the movies or read the books. Before Tom Riddle even went to Hogwarts, he was capable of powerful feats of magic no one his age should be able to accomplish."Tom could move objects with his mind and cause them to travel floating wherever he wished, manipulate animals and creatures as he wished, speak Parseltongue, and use his power to inflict harm on other orphans. After getting into a fight with fellow orphan Billy Stubbs, he used his powers to hang the boy's rabbit from the rafters. On one occasion, he took two orphans, Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson, into a cave, where he performed an act so horrifying that the two orphans were traumatised into silence." ~ Excerpt from http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Tom_Riddle.Riddle could do all this before he even came to Hogwarts. And he has had nearly 90 years to perfect his magic since then. How in the hell could Harry possibly be able to compete with that if I don't make him stronger than usual? Seriously dude, if you're going to complain about something, at least research your facts first.Futon Lord: That would be even more work than creating my Bios.On another note, you mentioned not having Harry save Ginny. I won't tell you anything regarding this, since I don't want to ruin anything, but I will tell you that Harry Potter's presence had nothing to do with the reason Ginny received the Diary. Lucius Malfoy planted it on her in an effort to discredit Arthur Weasley, who at the time was advocating muggleborn rights.Death in Pink Boa: Considering I'm a male, you know, the gender with a COCK, a PENIS, a THIRD LEG, a TALLY WHACKER, a DONG and a whole slew of other names for a DICK, I would have to say that, no, Lisa is not a self insert. And if all you're going to do is complain about her, you can leave. I don't mind people criticizing my writing, that could at least help me become a better writer, but criticizing a character who has an important roll to play (even if you and other people can't see it) over and over again in the hopes that they'll make me kill her off or something is just annoying.Same goes with your dislike of Harry going through puberty. He's 12, he's at that age where some children go through puberty. It's a natural process that not even a wizard can get away from. Don't like it, stop reading.Endymion234: No, Harry wasn't going to kill Draco, just hurt him. The burns done to him are all very superficial and will heal up easily with the healing cream Harry gave Hermione.smokeapound: The first parts are in first person because they are a memory/dream sequence told from Harry's perspective. As you are viewing Harry's memories from his perspective, I felt it would be more appropriate to show these scenes in first person.DarkPirateKing69: I'm glad you brought that up. Yes, Harry does have a lot of issues. One of them is a similar case to PTSD, though it's not quite as traumatic. It's one of the reasons he is emotionally imbalanced.I have no intention of making Harry a doormat. The girl's who end up in a relationship with him will be his equals, his partners, but they will not control him.kroz phantomville: Nope, that would be a spoiler, and I don't give spoilers.animekingmike: It's not so much that he just so happened to have a potion on hand, so much as it is that he made a lot of potions during the summer and past year to practice his potion brewing skills. Besides, last year he fought against Voldemort, you think he's not going to want to be prepared? Especially with Dobby's warning during the summer? My concluding statements: First off, I am very glad to see so many of you got my Star Wars references. Consider this my tribute to the coming of Episode 7, which is supposed to be out sometime next year.I do wonder though, did any of you get my foreshadowing? My 'these are not the droids you're looking for' moment was actually a (hopefully) subtle way of informing you guys that something Star Warzy was going to happen. In this case, Harry Potter going Palpatine on Draco Malfoy.The second thing I want to talk about is the end. For those who are worried that Harry's going to get all emo on you. Don't. That's not how I made this Harry. He may be a little critical of himself for a while, but I'm not the kind of person to spend large amounts of words and angst on something like this.
In either case, I do hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. For those who didn't. Eh. You can't please them all.

Golden Time!

Romance animes and me have a very love hate relationship. As a hopeless romantic I absolutely love how the romantic relations between two (or more) people are told in anime. At the same time, there are a few things I have always despised about them.

I think my biggest problem with romance in anime is the lack of closure. Very few anime ever have a definite ending where Main Protagonist A gets with Main Love Interest B and they live happily ever after. No, there's always some kind of wrench thrown in that makes the romance at the very end feel stagnant. Often times, at the end of the story, the main character and his love interest will be right back at square one, with the only real difference being there is now an entire caste of characters who have been introduced. Other times the anime will end with either the main protagonist or the love interest going off on their own and leaving for a "spiritual journey" of some kind for reasons that are beyond me, like in Toradora.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, and one of those exceptions is the anime Golden Time. Funny, sweet, and generally lighthearted, Golden Time is one of the few romance animes that I can say I mostly enjoyed.

The story starts off with a young man who leaves his hometown to head to college in Tokyo. He gets into a university where he meets new friends and the girl of his dreams...unfortunately the girl of his dreams is chasing after some other guy. Yeah, it starts off something like that.

Don't worry. She eventually gets over her crush and gets with the Main Protagonist.

Unlike most anime where the story is about the main character and his love interest getting together, this story is more about how they deal with the hardships that come from being involved in a romantic relationship with someone. I will warn you now, there's a lot of drama in this anime, some of which feels very plot devicy. If there is one thing I would say I did not like about this anime, it was that at least half of the "drama and angst" you see feels more like a massive plot device than the natural drama brought about by being in a relationships. There were many times where I just wanted to strangle the main character because he was being an idiot and making mountains out of mole hills, and other times I wanted to strangle him just because something would happen to his girl and he would just stand there like some kind of idiot.

The other thing I didn't like was the lack of kisses (hopeless romantic here, remember?). Oh sure, there were a few. Like maybe three or four, but three or four kisses isn't much for a 24 episode series.

If there was anything about this anime that really surprised me, I think it would be the lack of fanservice. In most anime of this particular genre, you know, romance, there is always a healthy dose of fanservice. A panty shot here, a boob shot there, oppai for the win, that sort of stuff. This anime was fairly fanservice free, with the most you get being girls in bikinis.

Rather than detract from the story, I think this actually helped. Too many anime become so fixated on serving tits on a silver platter that every scene is more about the boobs than what's actually happening in the story. Golden Time focuses entirely on the story and the romantic development between the two main characters, which gives it a leg up on other anime of this genre.

Overall, I would rate Golden Time with an 8.5/10 for outstanding artwork (the heroine of the story is gorgeous!), originality, high quality storytelling, excellent character development, and an enjoyable romance. I would also recommend any anime enthusiast who is looking for a good romance to watch it.

The Quest for the Holy Coffee Mug!

The Quest for the Holy Coffee MugA story inspired by a colleague at work.By Brandon Blake VarnellI would like to say that it was just another day in the office. That I came to work, opened up the pharmacy like normal. That I gave customers their prescriptions, or the flu-shot, or even just advice for people who wanted over-the-counter medicine for any number of ailments. I would like to say that, but I can't. It would be more accurate to say that my day was absolutely awful, horrible in every sense of the word.It all started this morning when my baby woke me up with his crying. My newborn son, Ericson Frederrin Bauer V (technically, his name was Kevin Bauer. My wife did not like the name I wanted to give him. Personally, I thought she should just be lucky I didn't go with my first choice in baby names for boys, Optimus Prime) was only a few months old. He was therefore prone to much crying.On my way to my babies crib, I ended up stubbing my toe, twice. Ericson (Kevin) kept me up for two hours before going to back to sleep, and I was nearly late for work. To top it all off, I couldn't find my coffee mug.That last one was the real reason my day was going so poorly. I could deal with crying babies, stubbed toes and a lack of sleep. My coffee mug going missing was another thing entirely.The coffee mug in question was not at home when I searched for it. It was not in the cupboard where I usually kept it, nor in any of the other cupboards my wife might have put it in. At first, I had merely thought that I had simply left it at work yesterday. It's not a mistake I usually make, not with this coffee mug, but even I am only human. Therefore, the first thing I did upon opening the pharmacy was search my work space for my coffee mug.It was not there.I began to panic. My coffee mug was missing, and it was not in the pharmacy. It was not in the pharmacy, it was missing, and I did not know where it was.Where is my coffee mug!?“Okay, calm down,” I told myself, speaking out loud. I ignored the customer trying to get my attention for some menial reason. Couldn't they see I had more important things on my mind! “Just take a deep breath. There's no need to panic. Breath in, breath out. In. Out. In. Out. That's it. Now. Think.”And so I thought. I thought about what I should do to find my coffee mug, and I thought about all of the possible places I might have left my coffee mug. It had to be somewhere inside the store. The only places I ever took my coffee mug to were my house, my car, and Safeway. That was it. I didn't bring it anywhere else, which meant it had to be somewhere around here, inside the store.With those thoughts in mind, I managed to conceive my first destination.I ignored the man on the other side of the counter, screaming at me. I was now on a quest; a quest to find my coffee mug, and no two-bit customer was going to stop me!Star BucksThe first destination in my itinerary was Star Bucks. It was the most logical place I could think of. I got my coffee from Star Bucks, so it would only make sense that I left it there. Right?Wrong.“I'm sorry,” the woman behind the counter, Griselda, said after I had told her about my missing coffee mug and asked if she had seen it. “But I haven't seen it this morning. Are you sure you haven't just misplaced it? I saw you with it yesterday.”“No,” I shook my head, “I would never misplace my coffee mug.” Then again, I would have never forgotten my coffee mug either, so that didn't mean much. “Are you sure it wasn't left here? Maybe one of the other employees put it in one of the cabinets or the fridge or something.”“I could look.”Doing just that, Griselda checked all of the fridges and cabinets inside the little Star Bucks stand. She even checked the storage room, where all of their cups and other supplies were stored.When she came back, I was met with disappointment.“Sorry, but it doesn't look like we have it.”“I see.”I tried to keep from panicking. I really did. Unfortunately, I didn't quite succeed. I could feel the anxiety and apprehension creeping into my gut. I needed that coffee mug. I couldn't have my coffee without it!“You could still get a coffee and just use one of our cups,” Griselda suggested.“NO!” I exploded. Griselda stumbled backwards in shock, though whether that was due to my anger or something else was uncertain. “I will use that coffee mug and no other! And if I cannot use it, then I will not have any coffee!”“Why is it so important to use that mug?” Griselda asked tentatively. I get the feeling she was scared of something, but I couldn't fathom what.“That mug has been in my family for generations. It was used by my many times great-grandfather back in world war II and is a historical artifact of great significance. To use any other mug would demean it's value to my family.”“Is it really?” Griselda asked, looking both skeptical and surprised.“No,” I admitted, shrugging. “I made all that up.” Griselda twitched. “But it was the first gift my wife gave me.”“I... see...” Griselda looked like she had something to say, but visibly held back. “Well, good luck finding your coffee mug.”“Yeah.” I sighed morosely. “Thanks.”Customer Service DeskThe next place I thought of that might hold my coffee mug was the customer service desk. That's where all lost and/or misplaced items went. Maybe someone had found my coffee mug and brought it up there. At least, that was my hope when I walked up to the customer service counter.“Liz!” I called out to Elizabeth Hartz, nicknamed Liz because it was much easier to say then Elizabeth. The woman in question turned around from whatever it was she was doing. As her eyes landed upon me, her mouth opened up to speak. She was likely going to give me some kind of greeting. That was what I suspected anyways. I don't actually know what she was going to say because I spoke up before she could.“Have you seen my coffee mug!”Elizabeth paused, then closed to her mouth. She stared at me for a full second, sending me a queer look that I couldn't quite understand.Finally, she spoke.“Are you talking about the white one with yellow dots on it?”“Yes! Yes! That's the one!” I nodded my head emphatically. I leaned forward, placing both of my hands on the table. “You've seen it?”Liz looked like she wanted to take several steps backwards, but quickly stopped herself. After a second or two, she shook her head. “Not since you had it yesterday.”“Dammit!” I swore. Where could my coffee mug have gone? How long would it take before I found it again? Would I ever find it again?No! I shook my head. I couldn't think like that! I would find it! I would! I had to! There were still more places in the store to search! I would just have to search them all, regardless of how long it took!I took off running, my next destination clear. Liz shouted out to me, saying something about custards, or something like that. I couldn't quite hear her, namely because I was no longer paying attention. I needed to find that coffee mug, and any time spent idly chatting was time wasted.Break RoomMy next stop was the break room. I didn't come in here very often, or stay for very long. This is where I logged into work, but I never spent more then a minute or two a day in this room at most. Still, having not had any luck finding my mug at Star Bucks or the Customer Service Desk, this was the next logical place to look.The room was mostly empty of people, save a single young man with combed back brown hair and equally brown eyes, sitting at the table with a tablet of some kind in front of him. He was typing away on a small keyboard.“Brandon,” I called to get the young man's attention. Brandon was another colleague working at Safeway, a courtesy clerk. He was a bit odd. He was always cheerful and friendly when working, but whenever he went on break, he would shut out the outside world completely and focused solely on whatever was on his tablet. His book, most likely. I knew that Brandon was writing a novel which he hoped to get published, which would explain his focus.Brandon looked up at the sound of my voice and turned his head. For a second, I thought I saw a hint of unbridled rage flash in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly that I shook it off as a trick of the light.“Oh, hey Matt!” The younger man said in a cheerful voice, complete with that friendly smile he always wore while working. I shook my head and smiled back. Yes, it must have just been a trick of the light. Brandon was always so cheerful.“Hey, Brandon,” I greeted my younger co-worker. “Listen, have you seen my coffee mug?”“Coffee mug?” Brandon tilted his head, a quizzical expression in play. “I haven't seen any mugs today. What's this coffee mug look like?” I went into a quick description of what my coffee mug looked like. Brandon nodded his head several times as he listened, 'mhmming' and 'ahaing' every so often. After I finished giving my description, Brandon shook his head.“Sorry, but I haven't seen anything like that,” he told me, much to my disappointment. “Are you sure you left it at Safeway?”“There's no other place I could have left it,” I declared, my manner completely assured. This convinced him that I was pretty serious, or so it seemed, as he gave me a small shrug.“Well then, good luck finding your mug.”“Thanks.”As I turned around to leave, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread well up inside me, one that had nothing to do with my current quest. There had been something... off, about my interaction with Brandon, I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something.I shook my head. Enough of this procrastinating! I needed to find my mug!And thus, my search continued.Deli DepartmentAfter leaving the break room, I realized what I needed to do. I couldn't start my day without my coffee, and I couldn't get my coffee without my coffee mug. Therefore, I decided that the only thing I could do was look for my coffee mug until I found it. I couldn't stop searching, not even for a moment.It would be a long, hard journey, I suspected. But that was okay, even if it meant traveling to the far corners of Safeway and the backroom itself, I would not stop. I would find my coffee mug, come hell or high waters.My next stop was the deli department. While I didn't come to this area very often, I knew some of the people who worked there in the morning also got coffee at Star Bucks. They may know what happened to my mug.“I'm sorry,” Desiree said apologetically after I had explained my situation to her, “But I haven't seen a mug like that. Are you sure you left it here? Couldn't you have accidentally left it at home?”“No.” I shook my head. “I would never leave it at home when I have work the next day. And I looked everywhere for it at home before coming to work, so I know it's not there.”“Well, maybe you left it somewhere after you got off work? Like McDonalds or something.”I shook my head again. “I don't eat McDonalds, and I know it's not somewhere else. I never bring my coffee mug into a store or restaurant anyways. The only places it could be are Safeway, my car, and my house. It's not in my car or at my house, so it has to be here.”My logic was impeccable, and Desiree found that she could not disagree with it. That still didn't mean she had any idea of where my mug might be.With one last apology, Desiree walked back behind the deli counter. She had work to do, so she couldn't spend much time talking.Sighing, I wondered where I should look next, even as I ignored someone making an announcement over to intercom. I thought I heard my name being called in that announcement, but played it off as me hearing things.After all, I'm a pharmacist. They never call for us over the intercom, ever. So it couldn't have been me.Liqueur DepartmentI was passing through the liqueur department, on my way to the Bakery, when I ran into a problem.Namely, there was a customer who was looking for some kind of wine. The customer, a little old lady, was looking for a wine called M-something or other; it was a really long name that I couldn't remember. It didn't help that I wasn't really paying attention to anything she said. I had more important things on my mind.Like my coffee mug.“Look, ma'am,” I told the lady as patiently as I could, “I can't really help you. I don't know anything about wine.”“But you work here, right?” The way she said that made it sound more like a statement then a question.“Yes,” I admitted. “But that doesn't mean I can help you. I have no knowledge of wine or alcohol.”The old lady stared at me for a long moment, her dark eyes hidden behind wrinkly skin flashed and sparked with something that I couldn't identify. Whatever it was, though, it caused a shiver to crawl up my spine.“Are you telling me that you cannot help me, young man?” The old lady asked. The hair on the back of my neck began to stand on end.I opened my mouth to speak, but the old lady began talking before I could even get a word out.“I have been going to this store for over thirty-five years, you little ingrate!” I took a step back, my eyes bulging in shock as the little old lady began screeching at me. “Thirty-five ―Bleep ―years!” I blinked. “I am not going to ― Bleep! ― put up with this ― Bleep! ― you ― Bleep! Bleep! Bleep! Mother ― bleep!”“I-I'm sorry,” I said, “But did you know that you just bleeped, like, several times?”“Did I?” The old woman frowned for a moment, her wrinkly face literally sagging to make her look like some kind of ugly hybrid between a pit bull and a bullfrog. “How strange...”A moment later, her expression, which could have only been due to some kind of deep contemplation, cleared up.“Ah, it must be The Author,” the old lady said with a small nod of her head. “He doesn't really like swearing that much, unless it moves The Plot along in some way. I guess he just decided to sensor me.”I stared at the old lady some more. I was beginning to think she was crazy. “I'm sorry, but, The Author? Move The Plot?”“Never you mind, sonny,” the old woman cast me a withering glare. I got the feeling that she had not forgotten about the reason she was so angry in the first place. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find someone who'll be more helpful then you were.”I withheld a wince as the old lady walked away. That had not been a pleasant conversation. Still, with the old lady now gone, I was free to continue on my quest to find my coffee mug, and really, that was all that mattered in the end.Isle 2After checking the bakery and finding out from the woman manning it that my mug was not there, I found myself beginning to lose hope.In desperation, I decided that I was going to check each isle individually.If I were begin honest with myself, I couldn't see my mug being in any of the isles, but I was nearing my wits end. I had to find that coffee mug, and if I had to search every single isle of this store, then by god I was going to do just that.Isle 2, otherwise known as the dairy isle was, as the name might suggest, filled with dairy products. Cottage cheese, cream, butter, yogurt, Greek Yogurt, pre-made dough for bread and rolls and croissants. If it had something to do with dairy, you would find it here.On a side note, the dairy was also where people bought beer. I never understood why we had beer being sold on the adjacent racks within this isle. It just didn't make sense.Anyways, this was the isle I had decided to come down and check to see if I had misplaced my coffee mug somewhere in the store. I walked down the isle slowly, looking at the racks and shelves where each of our products were sold, making sure to be extra thorough in my search so that I didn't miss anything. I didn't want to pass over anything and come to find out that my coffee mug was there and I just didn't look hard enough.It was because I was concentrating so hard on searching through the isle that I completely missed the puddle of water on the floor until I had already slipped on it and was sent crashing to the ground.As I lay there on the floor, staring up at the ceiling while I tried to regain my breath after having all of the oxygen expelled from my lungs in a rather violent manner, a shadow crossed over my vision. I blinked some as the person casting the shadow stepped further into the light and appeared within range of my eyes.“Looks like somebody took quite the spill,” said the voice I recognized as belonging to Mike said.Mike was the dairy department manager. He was a big guy, with short brown hair and eyes. Mike was also one of those people who tended to just go with the flow, never really getting upset or frustrated by anything, unlike me. “Are you alright?”“I'm fine,” I mumbled as I took Mike's outstretched hand and allowed him to pull me up. “I don't think anything is broken...” I checked myself over a bit, just in case. My back was pretty sore, as was my tailbone, but that was to be expected after taking a fall like that. I imagine I would have a lovely bruise on my rump first thing next morning.“You should be more careful,” Mike chided. “You were so focused on everything else that you didn't even see the wet floor cone.”“Wet floor cone?” It took me a second to realize what he meant. Only after Mike tapped on the large, conical yellow sign that said 'caution, wet floor' did I understand. “Ah. My bad.”“Not a problem,” Mike said, “Just be more careful from now on, kay kay?”“Right. By the way, you haven't happened upon my coffee mug, have you?”“Coffee mug?” At his questioning tone and glance, I went about giving him the same description of my coffee mug that I gave everyone else. When I finished describing the item I was questing for, Mike shook his head. “Sorry, haven't seen anything like that.”“I see...” was all I said. I had honestly expected that to be his answer, but it didn't make hearing it any easier for me. Despite this, I still expressed my gratitude towards my compatriot at Safeway. “Well, thank you anyways, but I really must be going now.”Ignoring the sound of Mike's voice as he shouted something out ― he was probably just talking to another customer ― I left the dairy isle to continue my search. I must find that coffee mug!Isle 16I would like to go into a detailed rendition of my quest for my coffee mug, but I felt that would be kind of redundant. And so, after searching through nearly every isle with little to no success, I eventually found myself in isle 16.Isle 16 was the baking and cookware isle. It was the isle that had items used for baking such as flour, sugar, cake and pancake mix, boxed jello and pudding packets, seasonings, cooking oils, baking powder, and various chocolate chips and chopped/crushed nuts. This isle also had cookware and table ware. You know, like plastic cups, plates and forks, Tupperware, tinfoil and baking sheets, plastic bags and even items like spatulas and can openers. If you were a baking nut who loved to cook, this would be your isle.It was just as I was turning down the isle that I ran into my next obstacle in my quest for my coffee mug.My next obstacle was a person, actually, one that I ended up bumping into, causing them to drop the glass bottle filled with olive oil onto the floor. The bottle hit the ground and shattered with a loud 'cccrrrccchhhh!' sound, sending glass everywhere and causing the oil to spill all over the floor.“Oh shit!” The person I crashed into, a man of average height with short brown hair and wearing the standard black pants and khaki shirt combination of Safeway, stared at the ever increasing pool of oil with something akin to horror. “Look at this mess!” He then looked up and glared at me. “Look at what you made me do!”“I'm really sorry about that,” I tried to apologize, but the man, Steven, interrupted me before I could finish.“You're sorry? Sorry isn't going to clean this mess up! If everything could be fixed by simply saying sorry, then people wouldn't have to worry about pink zebras flying into their homes and stealing their babies!”I opened my mouth, then just as quickly closed it. I had no clue how to respond to that, so I didn't.Meanwhile, the shorter male continued freaking out.“Oh man, just look at this mess!” He bemoaned, gripping handfuls of his hair, which I feared he might begin pulling out due to how hard he was yanking. “Look at it! Dammit! What am I going to do now!”“Look,” I tried to help the other man again, “why don't you just calm down and ―”“Calm down? Calm down!? How can I be calm when there's a large spill and glass all over the floor!?” Steven looked back down at where the oil spill was. The nearly clear liquid had already spread over quite a bit of space, and the puddle was continuing to increase in size. “Oh man, what do I do? Look at that! Just look at how big that is! This mess is almost as bad as that time my fat cow of an ex-girlfriend knocked over a bottle of olive oil!”“I know it looks bad, but it's really not as bad as you think,” I said slowly, trying to be patient. It was difficult, being patient, that is. Steven was interrupting my quest for my coffee mug over a silly little spill, but since I had bumped into him, I knew it would only be right that I helped him calm down at least.It wasn't like I had any other choice. I needed to check this isle anyways, and I doubt Steven would let me do that while he was freaking out over his silly, little spill.“It is as bad as I think!?” Steven pointed an accusing finger at me, then pointed down towards the spill. “Do you see how big it's gotten!? It's larger then a pink elephant with Dumbo ears!”I really didn't understand this guys constant need to reference pink animals, so I did what I do best. I tried to ignore the crazy things spewing forth from Steven's mouth and get this entire affair sorted and over with so I could continue looking for my coffee mug.“It's only gotten so big because you haven't cleaned it up yet,” I told him. “Look, why don't you go and get the mop. I'll get a wet floor sign and ―”“No!” Steven shouted, cutting me off with a violent shake of his head. “How can you expect me to clean that up? Just look at how huge that spill is!”I looked at the spill, then back to Steven. Then to the spill again. Then back to Steven.“It is a bit large,” I admitted. Of course, the only reason it got so large was because Steven had been too busy freaking out to grab the mop and start cleaning it up. Not that I would tell him that. “But it's not as bad as it looks.”“But it is as bad as it looks!” Steven insisted.I was beginning to wonder if he was just arguing with me for the sake of arguing, rather then because he actually believed any of the things he said. Or maybe he just didn't want to clean the spill?“Okay,” Steven began again, “let's just calm down and think this through. Calm down! Just calm down!”I raised an eyebrow. “I am calm, you're the one who needs to calm down.”“Look, just calm down, alright!? I got this! We'll, um... we'll... uh... hmm... I think we should...”“Why don't you just call Brandon?” I asked, having finally grown tired of watching Steven try to figure out a solution to what should have been an easy problem.“Brandon's on lunch!”I froze as I heard this. “Lunch? But Brandon doesn't go on lunch until 10:00!” I knew this because Brandon's schedule was pretty much set in stone. He always did certain things at a certain time. I suspect the young man has OCD or something.“What time do you think it is, doofus!” Steven shouted at me. “He's been on lunch for, like, 10 minutes already! Now stop bothering me! I've got to get this spill cleaned!”Though I heard his words, I was no longer listening. It was passed 10:00am. I had been searching for my coffee mug for nearly two hours straight. Not only had I been searching for my coffee mug for two hours straight, I had left the pharmacy completely unattended.I rushed back towards the Pharmacy, my mind in a panic. I really, really hoped that we didn't have many customers to deal with and that I wouldn't get in trouble for not being at my station.HomeIn the end I did get in trouble with my manager. Thankfully, I got off with a warning, but I was told that the next time I did something like this 'corrective actions' would be taken. I don't know what 'corrective actions' meant, but it did not sound pleasant.I didn't manage to find my coffee mug either. Despite looking around the entire store for it. I bet someone found it on the shelf and simply decided to take it with them, no good, thieving coward.Feeling defeated, I arrived home in a slump, something my wife picked up on.“Is everything alright, dear? You look like your cat just died or something,” my wife said as she held our son in her arms.“Yeah, I'm fine...” I released a heavy sigh as I walked further into our living room. My wife followed after me, little Ericson Frederrin Bauer V gurgling away happily in her arms. I was glad to see that someone was happy. “It's just... I can't seem to find my favorite coffee mug.”“You mean the one I gave you during our first Christmas as a couple?”“That's the one,” I confirmed.“Did you check the dishwasher?” my wife asked. “I did the dishes last night, and I saw your mug lying in the sink.” She gave me an accusing look. My wife did not like it when I left dishes in the sink. It was an even bigger pet peeve for her then me leaving the toilet seat up. “I put it in the dishwasher with all the other dirty dishes.”“The... dish... washer...”My mind almost went blank. Surely, it couldn't be that simple? I just spent nearly two hours searching for that mug, and another eight lamenting the loss of my mug. There was simply no way I could have missed it because of something as simple as my wife placing it in the dishwasher.I rushed into the kitchen. With frantic hands I opened the dishwasher. It was there! My coffee mug! It was there, sitting in the dish washer against several other mugs, ceramic ones.I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe that after all this time, all that searching, my coffee mug was at home, in the dishwasher of all places!My vision began to get fuzzy. A culmination of the days events and my own angst over my coffee mugs whereabouts were catching up with me. I thought I heard a scream from behind me, but I couldn't be sure. The last thing I saw was that coffee mug, sitting there in the dish washer, looking so smug. And then my mind went blank.Brandon's homeSeveral miles away, Brandon, the young man that Matt had spoken with in the break room, leaned back in his comfy, leather seat with a satisfied smile plastered on his face.“There!” He said cheerfully. “It's finally done.” He looked at his monitor and basked in his newest accomplishment. “My first short story. I think I'll call it 'The Quest for the Holy Coffee Mug'. What do you think, Bruno?”The giant, fictional mutt that only existed in this story named Bruno, raised its head to look at him. It whined, then put its head back down on its paws and went to sleep. “Yeah, I think it's a good name too.”

Ashikabi no Shinobi Chapter 32 Q&A

Kyo no Kitsune: I won't tell you not to worry, because I don't want to spoil anything, but I will tell you that I am not Arthain. Though we've both written a Naruto/Sekirei crossover, we are completely different as writers. What he writes and what I write are not the same even if they are based on the same universe.

Aiden Kennedy: I don't plan on writing a Naruto/Fate Stay Night crossover because I know very little about the Nasuverse. The truth is I still have yet to watch the anime, read the manga or play the visual novels, so my knowledge on Fate Stay Night is limited to the two fanfics I've read by Neoalpha, and that's not enough to write my own fanfic.

zod6006: I'm not sure how you can say that. More than half of my story is filled with unnecessary amounts of descriptive writing, details and repeated information. If anything my recent chapters have less details than my previous ones. I haven't waxed poetic about how hard Naruto's life is, or made a billion comments about Naruto's past or his woes or anything like that. This is one of the few chapters where there is no repeated information, just pure battle.

Juoppo: I think I've given you enough information to know by now that Naruto isn't really a team player anymore. It's been so long since he truly worked with anyone and not just controlled or manipulated them into doing what he wants that he doesn't really know how to work with others. You should also realize that he's not perfect. Naruto honestly didn't expect his Sekirei to lose. Most of them are single digits, with the only one who isn't being Musubi, and she was with Tsukiumi so he assumed she would be fine. The idea to use clones to keep an eye on his Sekirei didn't really occur to him, not because he doesn't care, but because it's been so long since he HAS cared about anyone that he would do such a thing.

Also, the plan itself was actually well executed all things considered. He succeeded in doing what he set out to accomplish. He just ended up miscalculating how strong Musubi was compared to Benitsubasa.

Lednacek: Many Ashikabi also can't use chakra. Naruto's ability to use chakra and his incredibly potent chakra make the bond much stronger. That's why in the beginning of the fic he was affected by Musubi's emotions to the point that he couldn't distinguish hers from his own.

5-digit: Fear not! I have a plan for Yume, and it is completely different from canon. Can't say much, but trust me, I think you'll like it.

Plums: I am sorry you feel that way, but there's not much I can do about your dislike of my chapter. And I showed all those fights because they were important. Uzume was getting Kuno and Haruka out of Shinto Teito so I had to show the battle because I needed to show that scene and didn't want to leave any loose ends. Naruto vs Karasuba and Musubi vs Benitsubasa should be obvious why I had them, and Tsukiumi vs. Haihane, while not obvious, becomes clear once you think about it. They were fighting. The fact is, if I hadn't shown that fight, people would have wondered what happened to Tsukiumi and then complained when I didn't show it. Sometimes showing something is necessary simply because not showing it leaves unanswered questions.

I hope this answered your guys' questions. If you have anymore on Chapter 32, just ask them here. You can also find this post by going to my Ashikabi no Shinobi Q&A section of this blog.

Devil Ninja, chapter 6!

Chapter 6 Q&A
LDSAuthor2013: You and a lot of other people. Don't worry, while I'm not going to say anything to spoil the story, I will at least tell you that Kurama has a part to play in all this. I just won't tell you what.
l3loodknight: I don't want to spoil anything, but I believe it would be reasonable of you to assume that Mittelt will make another appearance, even if the part she plays is small. I left her alive, so I'm not going to just have her disappear entirely. As for the harem, who can say? To be honest, I don't know where I plan on taking this story as far as pairings go. Naruto/Rias is a definite, but I'm not sure if I plan on adding anybody else yet. Really, it all depends on which direction the story takes me.
Serialkeller: I believe the answer to that question should be obvious. While the Naruto in my story is definitely smarter than his canon counterpart, he is still Naruto. Of course he's an idiot. He's just a little bit less of an idiot than he used to be.
Redhand: I think you're forgetting the fact that Grayfia was NOT IN THE ROOM when Naruto spoke with Rias. She had already left to give them some privacy. Second, I do not think it was out of character at all. You obviously don't understand how relationships work, so let me spell it out for you. If a girl you liked tried to seduce you and you then found out that she was only doing this to get out of a marriage contract, you would be hurt. I don't give a crap who you are, it would hurt. Naruto is much more emotional than you or I. He wears his heart on his sleeve, as it were, and when he realized Rias was trying to sex him up because she wanted to get out of a marriage contract, it hurt. It hurt and it caused him to act irrationally. Naruto isn't some perfect being. I'm sorry if you want him to be, but I don't write perfect characters, because perfect characters are boring to write about. My Naruto is going to be flawed. If that does not please you, you can read the hundreds of other stories on fanfiction.net where Naruto is the ultimate badass of the universe, can act like a prick to whoever the hell he wants because he can do no wrong, and has a complete 180 degree personality change.
Also, having the girl he likes trying to fuck him so she can get out of a marriage contract is not "small stuff" as you so incorrectly put it. There is nothing small about it.
This Q&A has also been linked to my Devil Ninja page, so you can access it there whenever you want.

A new section for all my reviews!

I'm sure a lot of you guys have gotten sick of having to dig through my history to find the reviews I've written for so and so anime or this one specific fanfiction, right? Well worry not! For I have come up with an idea. A rather asinine and idiotic idea, but an idea nonetheless!

As of now, I have created a new page where I shall post a link to all of the anime, manga, fanfics and so on that I've given reviews for. The links are separated by category, so anime has it's own section, fanfics have another, and I am adding a new one: manga, that will have it's own section.

I am also thinking of adding Japanese light novels to this as well, because if you read fanfics you probably would read a good light novel.