I feel like my life for the last few months can be summed up as follows:

1. School started out stressful as fuck before my give-a-damn abruptly imploded, leaving me free to ascend to a higher plane of existence (is this Senioritis? will I return to epic levels of Sheer Panic when I have to write a 15/20-page paper for my grad seminar? WHO KNOWS~)

2. U.S. politics are dominating my life and everything is horrifying and I am living off John Oliver and Trevor Noah monologues because I really need the reminder that there are sane people in the world (vote, vote, vote vote vote vote vote vote vote--)

3. I somehow acquired another boyfriend because I have apparently become the type of person who meets guys at con raves so, uh.....this is a thing that's happening (2 months and counting and yeah, go ahead and insert, like, a bunch of heart eye emojis because I am Gone)

I think that pretty much covers it!

Oh, and I went to Italy over the summer (and got stuck there!). That was pretty awesome. 8D

Thanks for tagging me rosalui!

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Anybody who wants to do this meme go for it, I'd love to see your answers!

How long have you been writing for? What made you start? Oh man, I was writing novels in journals before I hit the teen years, and I made my own picture books/poetry anthologies when I was, like, eight.
Did you start with fanfic, and if not - how did you view fanfiction before you tried it for yourself? I started publishing with fanfic, definitely. I kinda tripped into it, to be honest--thank gawd I didn't know what ffnet was when I was writing Digimon self-inserts, haha.
What's the best writing advice you've ever encountered? Not advice exactly, but figuring out how to write a really crappy first draft was invaluable.
What is your biggest struggle when it comes to writing? I tend to use too much description, and I'm not great at establishing setting; it doesn't come naturally to me.
What is the best comment anyone has given you? I absolutely treasure the comments that are like, "This is the X time I've reread this fic" or "I read this when I need cheering up". They make my entire week.
Can you write whenever/wherever, or do you need a certain setup in order to make words happen? I tend to do better with music. It drowns out my inner editor for the most part!
Would you say you have a definite style that can be recognised? Is that something you strive toward, or do you like your writing to be more fluid and maybe unpredictable? Apparently, since I tend to get picked out of a lineup even with anonymous postings, lol. I don't mind. I think I have a pretty distinct sense of humor at this point, but that's my personality so I'm okay with it!
Would you like to collaborate with another writer? If you already have, share something you learned from the experience? I...might? It would be really hard for me to relinquish any creative control though, so maybe not.
How attached do you get to your projects? If you can't seem to finish something, do you let it go or work yourself even harder until you get it out? I'll drop something for years and still potentially come back to it. I never delete anything.
Share a work/excerpt/sentence you're really proud of? I'm really proud of "In a Land of Prats and a Time of Zombies" and "from here to eternity".
I honestly don't get to talk to other writers about their process enough. If there's something about your process you've always wanted to share, please do so here! Hmm, okay, fun fact: I cannot write porn unless the type font is either size 8 or colored white. I just...can't look at sex scenes while they're in progress or I'll shriek and delete everything!

SO HOW WAS EVERYONE'S SUMMER???

Mine was pretty great--went to a few concerts, read some great books, saw a ton of awesome movies--and I just started at my big shiny new college yesterday and I think I'm really gonna enjoy this semester. Probably. x)

Also as of today I am...no longer a teenager? That's a little startling. I'll have to come up with some other excuse when I get into stupid shit, haha.

*snuggles one and all*

...but at least I accept that I am otaku trash and always will be. Thus: Two amazing anime I recently finished and adored.

( Noragami )

( Psycho-Pass )

So, there we are--my overlong opinions on anime that no one asked for. Seriously though, if you're looking to dip into some really good series, these two are a great place to start.

Finals are over, thank you god, and I have scraped by again! *Rock Lee pose*

Now I have all this free time, you know? I need to write fic (accepting winter/Christmas-y prompts now~). And also knit (dammit, Heather, I blame you for this).

Speaking of, I've managed to backslide horribly into the Naruto fandom in the wake of that, well, divisive finale, and am going through my old favorite fics like a maniac. Watching AMVs. I feel like it's 2008 again or something, it's so weird. x'D

So how are you lovely people? Going through academic hell, making holiday plans, getting into new fandoms? What's happening? :D

It's not the SasuSaku because I don't get the vibe that they're a couple anymore. It's not Sakura "being a housewife" because I really don't think she's meant to be. It's not the random pairing of absolutely everyone, either.

It's the lousy parenting. It's...I mean, Sasuke is a little shit. We all know this. And it stands to reason he'd have a hard time being a loving parent, or at least showing emotion toward his kid. It pisses me off that he's not there for her more, but I get it.

Naruto, though? Are you fucking with me? Naruto suffered so much because he was neglected as a kid, why the hell would he do the same thing to his own son when he actually has a chance to be there for him?? Minato didn't have a choice seeing as he was, you know, dead and all, but Naruto did. So what the fuck.

I'm honestly perfectly happy to headcanon my way around the other shit in 700 that bothered me, but this is making me want to just ignore the chapter altogether. Was I the only one really bugged by this??

Okay, so this isn't really a chapter review so much as...thoughts.

Because I was reading this chapter, right, and I got to the last page and my jaw dropped in shock (you know what I'm talking about). My sister was sitting next to me and she was like, "What happened?"

So I show her the page and just watch her face go from concern to horror. And then she just looks at me and says again, stunned, "What happened?" And...see, my sister doesn't read Naruto. Has never read Naruto. She watched a handful of the early anime that I forced her into, knows a lot of the plot and characters just from me rambling about them over the years. So I was kinda surprised that she cared at all, but she did, because when you're stuck with me going on and on about these characters for so long I guess you kinda get invested against your will.

It just really got me thinking about how freaking long this stupid manga has been in my life, you know? It was probably my first major fandom, one of my first hardcore obsessions, and even when I wasn't keeping up with every chapter it was still there. Like, background radiation of my life. I made so many friends through it, and apparently my eternal OTP came from it. Naruto was always lurking in the back of my mind somewhere.

It's going to be really strange when that's not there anymore.

(On an actual chapter-specific note, though, can I say how wonderful it was to see Sasuke smile? Really smile? Because it's literally been years since he did that, and it was so great to see again.)

(Two years later...)



Let me talk to you about one of my favorite books: Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett.

First thing's first: Steampunk dragons. I mean...it's right there on the cover. Steampunk dragons. If that's not enough to entice you, how about magicians? How about a massive range of fascinating characters? How about canon same-sex relationships between characters whose sexuality is just one of a long list of their traits? Is this starting to sound like fun yet?

Havemercy takes place in the country of Volstov, which has been at war with the neighboring Ke-Han nation for a century. Volstov's ace in the hole is their elite Dragon Corps, who ride sentient mechanical/magical dragons into battle. Ringleader of the corps is Rook who, while undeniably good at his job, is incredibly insensitive, foul-mouthed, and offensive to just about everyone. His behavior gets the entire corps wrangled into "sensitivity training" run by Thom, a stubborn and intelligent 'Versity student who is terrified of the task but determined to hide it.

On the other side of the country, skilled magician Royston has been exiled for causing an international incident. While staying with his estranged family he becomes enamored of Hal, bookish tutor to his nieces and nephews, but being thrown under the bus by his last lover means romance is the last thing on his mind. Hal subsequently struggles to drag Royston out of his shell while trying to sort out his own feelings for him. The two story threads collide when those in the city begin to suspect that something is going wrong with their magic--and the dragons.

The worldbuilding in this book is fantastic, thorough and believable, and the plot is a lot of fun, but Havemercy's real strength is in its characters. The narration switches POV's between Royston, Hal, Thom and Rook, and each of them has a distinct voice and personality. For example, Royston's brand of intellectually phrased snark is very different from Rook's crude, expletive-filled one (and Thom's blend of the two--this book has a lot of sass in it, can you tell?). The relationships between them are equally fun to watch. Royston and Hal complement each other well but their age difference--and Royston's worldliness compared to Hal's relative naiveté--causes problems. Rook and Thom snipe at each other from day one, but they're undeniably drawn to one another as well. There's also a wealth of secondary characters (the Dragon Corps alone consists of fifteen members) with personalities and traits of their own.

I have a deep and abiding adoration for this book. It's the first of a really fun four-book series, but Havemercy stands on its own just fine. I will say that I wish it had more women in it (something more or less remedied in later installments), but other than that, it's a genuine delight. I highly recommend this one.

"SURELY SOMEONE OUT THERE CAN ARTICULATE THE SENSATION OF SHITTING THEMSELVES" INDEED?!!?!

I've missed at least...ten, twenty chapters? So I have no fucking clue what's happening (who's wearing the mask? where did Tsunade come from? what happened to Obito? aaaand two years running I'm still wondering where Anko is??). But I heard things that forced me to read the last two chapters, and

WHAT

WHAT

WHAT

KISHI I SWEAR TO THE FISHES

I'm just gonna keep telling myself that he's allergic to actually killing off major characters in a permanent way, because otherwise I...I mean, I predicted a "redemption = death thing" a looooong-ass time ago, but that didn't mean it was something I wanted?! DAMMIT WE'VE SUFFERED THROUGH THIS SERIES FOR ALMOST TWENTY YEARS WE HAD DAMN WELL BETTER GET A HAPPY ENDING. THAT IS ALL.