Magic for a price. [Short Story]

There have always been many books, pamphlets, and other methods of spreading dark, grotesque rituals and spells. A few of the more comprehensive books passed through the ages, such as the old tome by the Mad Arab, but these have been confiscated by many, and hard to decipher given most are still in Arabic, and fewer in Latin. Many remain so hard to find as they are only shown by family, tribes and cults. By this nature, the nightmarish magic has remained obscure, invisible to the common people. Until recently. The proliferation of this world web has created channels that has made a much smaller world. It has made it a smaller world for everyone, including those horrific and fearful groups that had stayed hidden for so long.

What is Love?[Essay]

This is a post on love. This is a post on happiness.

The age old question on "What is love?" as popularized by Haddaway still appears by many an unanswered question. Or perhaps simply an answer that deeply varies from one person to another.

Maybe we were all wrong. Maybe Haddaway is love.

In a relationship, it seems to me, that love is a choice. You choose to love another, and for them to return the love. Love is also a commitment, it's work. It's a private oath between companions on that choice, that commitment. On the good days and the bad. It's a trust that builds over time after the initial leap of faith. 

As a wise man once taught me: "Marriage isn't the end; Marriage is the beginning of the first game of the season. Every date, every relationship is a tryout, or a practice for that big game." I'd go farther to say the courtship before the marriage is the final practices with your teammate for the coming season. More practice gives you greater perspective of who you're working with, what they're strengths and weaknesses are for you to uplift the other in the rough times.

"Marriage isn't the end; Marriage is the beginning of the first game of the season. Every date, every relationship is a tryout, or a practice for that big game."

For me this is the perspective I use in a world that more quickly celebrates the marriage reception than the ones that celebrate the tenth, the twentieth anniversary(though I imagine many of them would vehemently deny this). Those that publicly proclaim a love that hasn't been tried right after the honeymoon, nothing more than the initial infatuation that hasn't worn off. And of those that so quickly get engaged, be it two weeks or two months.