Category: Thoughts

Travel Weekend

So, as the title says, I’m traveling this weekend. It’s not been as smooth as I would have liked. My original set of flights was cancelled because of the weather issues in Chicago. That flight would’ve left early today (Friday), but the earliest flights after that to my destination (which I’m not saying) was early afternoon. My original flight would have gotten me in around 2 pm, but now I’m getting there around 9:30 pm, fun right?

Anyway, I’m sure you’re asking, why are you traveling this weekend, Matt? I’ve got an annual church association around this time yearly and I’m the technological person for it. I make sure our teacher’s camera and mic for Zoom are set up and to fix anything if the Zoom facilitator finds any issues. The Association meets for most of Saturday, and I’ve got an early flight back Sunday morning because I got work on Monday.

Speaking of work, it’s been mostly the same except I’m also doing the main work of the person who left. It’s not been much because most of the facilities are closed, but the first people are coming back to time and finding things that need to be done. The Director of my department sent me somethings to do if I had time that the job can do, and I did them as quickly as I could.

Does it interfere with my current position? Hm, only a little as there are times when not much is happening, even now. My work is mostly dependent on what other people give to us from two different directions. There are small things that we can do in that down time, but I’ve been finding my own things to do when there’s nothing to do. Not that my supervisor has been very interested in the excel spreadsheets I’ve been making to keep track of some data. But, whatever.

So, coming back to this post on Sunday, there are some updates. My Association went fine. There were some audio issues, but most of them were with the local system at the hotel we were at. I helped as best I could, and I caught up with some friends from the association.

Then, at the dinner that the teacher put on for those of us who were helping during the association, guess what I got? Another notification that my flights were canceled again. I was going through Dallas and once again weather caused issues. Instead of waiting I looked and found a route that mirrored the way I got there in the first place as I knew that wouldn’t cause issues. It was only a few hours later, but I wasn’t much planning to much today, so it’s fine. I’m on my first flight and it’ll probably be a hour or from now when it lands. (Later, my connecting flight spent almost as much time on the ground as in the air due to a panel not getting closed before leaving the gate. Fun right?)

For changes in what I’m listening to, hm, I finished Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter vol 4 and am now listening to Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear vol 1 by Kumanano. It’s a game isekai where after an update, rich shut-in 15 year-old Yuna, logs in and a God sends her to a new world. The biggest issue? It’s with a bear onesie that is the only thing that gives her supernatural power. She’s not thrilled with it, but otherwise she wouldn’t be able to be an adventurer. It’s an amusing story and there are two volumes available on Audible.

I did try and listen to Peddler in Another World by Hiiro Shimotsuki and Berenice Vourdon, but I ran into an issue. I’m not a huge fan of the narrator. I don’t know if it’s the cadence of his voice or how slowly he reads. I may come back and try to listen to it on 1.2 speed to see if that helps, but we’ll see. It’s a novel series on a guy who can travel between two worlds through a door in his grandmother’s house that he recently inherited. She left him magic to transfer one world’s currency to another and so he decides to become a peddler to make money in the new world using products from his world. I’ve read the manga and I liked it, but I’ll try the audiobook later.

I also finished Incandescence and decided since I hadn’t listened to Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash by Tofuro Futsukaichi recently, I would. It’s another reincarnated villainess light novel. A Japanese corporate slave (not literally, but she did work herself to death) is reincarnated a villainess in a game that she had been playing. It’s set in slightly different Japan in the recent past. Her family was set to fall to ruin and have her as the scapegoat as the protagonist gets her fiancée. Runa gets her memories very young and decides to use her knowledge and societal position to save herself and as much of the economy that she can. It’s interesting and six volumes are available in the US. I’ve only read through volume 3, but it’s interesting as they actually deal with 9/11 in it. As someone who remembers where I was when that happened, it caught my interest. This is another one I’ve just got in my text to speech reader, not on Audible.

I also moved onto volume seventeen of Death March in a Parallel World Rapsody. The biggest difference for where the story is currently is that he’s not rushing around trying to get money from nobles so they don’t try and get an item he wants from an auction. The item isn’t in the auction at all and it was only mentioned as a side note once or twice as something the MC wants. There are other differences, but that’s the main one.

Moving on the quest, First is Against the Dying of the Light by sakurademonalchemist. It’s a Harry Potter and Fate/Stay Night crossover with a Fem. Harry (Phoebe). I’ve talked about it before here. It’s interesting, but as with most of this author’s works, it’s incomplete with 10 chaps.

Second is, Age of Dragons by sakurademonalchemist. It’s a How to Train Your Dragon and The Hobbit crossover. Somehow, Hiccup, his clan and the dragons end up on Middle Earth before The Hobbit. They’re separated, but Hiccup goes to Thorin (as the Vikings speak a language similar to Dwarfish) and then goes out to find his friends. It’s sadly only 2 chapters as it has an interesting start.

Third is, Age of Titans by Kairomaru. It’s an Attack on Titan fic, where the past is slightly different. I will admit to not having read/watched much of AoT, so don’t have much to work from. In this however, Eren is more important than he seems and Annie has been looking for his bloodline. She awakens his titan and gets started on his harem during traning. It’s interesting, has 16 chapters (available on FF, there’s more on their patreon) and is still updating!

Then there’s a fic that’s the second in a set, so I read them in order. First is, Personify: Into the Mind by NoSignalBlueScreen. It’s a Danny Phantom fic. I don’t think I’ve talked about Danny Phantom, so for those who don’t know… Danny Fenton is the teenage son of ghost hunters. One day, his parents built a portal to the Ghost Zone, but it didn’t work. Danny went into it with only his friends nearby and pressed a switch that turned it on. The ghost zone hit him and when he woke up, he had ghost powers. Ghosts were coming through and he decided to defeat them, but is hunted by both his parents and others. It’s completed with 3 seasons and it’s fairy interesting for an oldish cartoon.

In the fic, Danny’s class goes into his mind using a machine to see what secrets he’s keeping lead by the English teacher Mr. Lancer. They get more than they expected and everything he’d been hiding was shared. Not just with his class, but everyone.

Second is the actual next fic, Agent Omega by NoSignalBlueScreen. In it, one of the human villain organizations that Danny goes against, The Men In White, capture him after the events of the first fic. They’ve been told to not hunt him anymore as he’s still human, but they don’t like that. It’s not a happy fic, but interesting none the less and completed as well.

Following that is Agent Potter by White Angel of Auralon. It’s a Harry Potter and James Bond crossover. Sirius becomes a MI6 agent instead of going to Azkaban. Harry is picked up by him after his first year. This leads to him wanting to become an MI6 agent while going to Hogwarts. This changes things. It’s a fun fic, but unfortunately incomplete and hasn’t updated since 2014.

Then is, Ai Youkai by brown phantom. This is a Naruto fic where Naruto manages to defeat Sasuke at the Valley of the End. And as is the trope, he’s going to be banished. However, more people come along and there’s a surprise. His mother, Kushina wasn’t human and was kidnapped by her people when she was thought to have died. This is the story of those who left and those who stayed behind. [* Warning, rated M for a reason*] Incomplete with 48 chapters, but still updating irregularly.

After that is Alea Lacta Est by ack1308. It’s a Worm fic where Taylor and Diana get different power sets (somewhat swapped, but changed). Taylor also triggers early and uses her powers to get a warning about the locker. Taylor and Diana meet and decide to make their own team, and change the face of Brockton Bay’s cape scene. An interesting fic, still updating, but irregularly.

Next is All Was Not Well by White Angel of Auralon. This is a Harry Potter goes back in time to fix things with a twist. Harry sees that the pureblood faction is gaining power soon after the final battle and decides to go back in time to save his parents and fix the wizarding world. He poses as the lost son of the his grandfather’s younger brother. It’s only six chapters, but worth a read.

Alpha Queen by sakurademonalchemist follows. It’s a Harry Potter and Elfen Lied crossover. I’ve talked about it before here. It’s an interesting fic, but once again incomplete with 8 chapters.

Following that is what I call the Alpha verse series by Miz636, which is what I have the stories under in my list. First is Becoming Alpha by Miz636. It’s a Slytherin Harry fic, I’ve talked about here. Second is Return of an Alpha by Miz636. It follows the 4th & 5th years of Slytherin Harry. The events might seem similar, but there are major changes. Third is Clash of an Alpha by Miz636. This one has the 6th & 7th years of Slytherin Harry and the gang. Just because things change, doesn’t mean things don’t stay the same. Finally, there’s Life of a Conquering Alpha by Miz636. This tells the story of Slytherin Harry and his friends after school. These are one of my favorite fics and are definitely worth a read!

Next to last is Alternate Beginnings by ack1308. This is a Worm fic based on The Breakfast Club. After the scene in the bathroom with the soda, Taylor beats up Madison and both of them are sent to Saturday detention. Joining them are Aisha, an E88 member and an ABB member. Que Breakfast Club antics. It’s fun and even completed!

Last is Amor Enim Vult by BleedingBlade. This is a Youjo Senki fic where Tanya decided to get the war to end peacefully and does! She also is trying her best to make sure conflicts are stopped all around the world. However, Being X still has a few more cards left to play. Its chapters start off with one chapter in the ‘present’ and the next set in the ‘past’ until the first part is completed. It’s a Tanya/Visha fic. It also sadly hasn’t been updated recently, though the author has worked on several other fics. It still has 112 chapters and an Annexe explaining things as the last chapter.

I’m reading some more of the manga for anime airing this season, but haven’t gotten far in them so I’ll talk about them at a later time. I’ll finish up the manga club talk though. The first last two series we were assigned was Solo Leveling. It’s set in an future in Korea where portals opened to dungeons and people began to get powers and become Hunters. The MC, Sung Jin-Woo, is the weakest hunter at Class E (you can’t train to get stronger) and can’t even defeat a low level monster without some work. He has to keep at it because his father disappeared and his mom has ‘sleeping sickness’. One day he goes to a dungeon with a party and it becomes a double dungeon. Many of them die and he’s left to die by himself, then a blue box offers him the chance to become a ‘Player’. He survives and learns he can level up, but he has to follow the rules of the blue boxes to survive. It’s interesting and has 2 anime seasons and completed light novels and manwa (but they’re not all available in the US yet).

The last manga that was chosen for the manga club was Gatchiakuta. It’s a revenge story about Rudo. He lives in the slum of his town and raids the trash of the rich to fix things up for people around him. He’s looked down on because his parents were murders (or so they say) and he lives with his mentor. He even has a girl he likes that he gave a repaired plush to. Then his mentor is killed and he’s accused. He’s sent over the abyss where the trash is dumped. Even the girl who he likes abandons him and discards his plush. He vows revenge as he’s sent into the abyss. He wakes up and learns that the abyss is really the ground of the planet and he has powers to awaken the potential of objects and use them to fight. He works on getting back up there and getting revenge on those who discarded him. Haven’t read much of this, but it’s on my list as the anime has started coming out this season.

Finally, at the association a friend of mine had gone to Japan recently and they got me a defense shrine charm (not that they knew which one it was) and they traded me the Japanese Furfrou (the Kabuki Trim) on PoGo! Maybe next time we meet up, I’ll be able to get Sensu Style Oricorio! As always, May Your Hear Be Your Guiding Key (I did wear it on Friday and an airport store employee said they liked it!)

Happy Independence Day!

Hello readers and Happy Independence Day. First things first, I’m sure you’re wondering, how did things go with your supervisor, Matt? Honestly, it went better than I thought. When I asked for a meeting with him, I didn’t just go into the issue. I brought up the Spanish learning CDs and he had some suggestions. I then asked if there was anything we could do to make things easier for him because he had seemed stressed recently and I specifically mentioned something from last Wednesday.

He said that things would be slowing down for something he had been working on, but he did mention one or two things we could do if he was busy to make things less stressful. He also apologized for Wednesday and asked me to tell him if he starts acting like that again so he can work on it. I didn’t have a chance to see if this would happen over the week, but it in general was a less stressful week, though it was busy.

Something did happen yesterday that I’ll need to see what the fallout for it is. The lady who got the position over me called out yesterday and then quit because she has to focus on taking care of her mother. My supervisor’s supervisor will be out all of next week, so my supervisor or I will be doing her work. I hope the lady’s mother will be okay, but I don’t know what’s going to happen to that position. I don’t know if I was second choice or lower and as it wasn’t more than a few months ago, my interview should still be good. Basically, I don’t know if they’ll offer me the job, but I don’t see a good reason why they shouldn’t honestly. Maybe have me stay in my position for the summer as I am needed where I am, but have me take that position in the new fiscal year. We’ll see what happens, but unless my section’s director decides to say something, I won’t know at least until Monday after next when super’s super comes back.

On to what I’m listening to, I’ve finished vol 10 of Reincarnated as a Sword and on Audible and am now listening to Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter vol 4. It’s about Iris Armelia who is a reincarnation. However, it’s the newish trope where she’s the villainess of a game she was playing. She wakes up during her denouncement and manages to get out of it mostly unscathed. Instead of sending her to a covenant, her father, the duke, makes her acting governor of their territory. She plans to make it the best place she can, but things from the capital keep trying to take her and her family down.  She has to deal with things as they come and why does it seem like the girl who took her fiancée is behind most of it? It’s really good and all 8 volumes are on Audible (though it seems that volumes 6-8 are Iris’s mother’s story).

The only other change is that, as I said, I finished Black Sky. I decided to keep with Katekyo Hitman Reborn and am relistening to Sky Bunny by sakurademonalchemist. I’ve talked about it before here. It’s a fun KHR and Yu-Gi-Oh! Crossover where Fem Tsuna is Kaiba’s assistant. I’m actually almost finished and I’ll move onto Incandescence by the same author. It was posted in 2020, again when I wasn’t posting. It’s another KHR and Yu-Gi-Oh! Crossover, but Tsuna is Kaiba this time. Tsuna is sent back to his younger self again to relieve his life after an accident. He changes things, but ends up in an orphanage and becomes Kaiba. It’s interesting with a fem Yugi as the love interest. It’s unfinished, shocker I know, but still has 20 chaps.

As I move on the current status of the quest, I’ll be posting less this time. First is, Abraxas by Brennus. It’s a Harry Potter fic, but it gets dark, especially the closer you get to the end. Harry merges with the horcrux in his scar and this changes things drastically. Harry and Ginny get together and some aren’t happy about that. [*A warning though, there is some underage sex and religion is not represented in a nice way*]

Second is, Accidental Rewrite by sakurademonalchemist. It’s a My Hero Academia fic where Izuku gets sent back in time. He, his girlfriend (fem Shoto) and Eri (who initiated the rewind) get to change things for the better. Sadly, it’s only 7 chapters (and hasn’t been updated since 2019), but it’s still interesting.

Third is, Accidentally Undercover by Talons-and-Scales111. It’s another MHA fic, but it turns out things aren’t what they seem. Izuku and Ochaco are hit with a quirk that restores memories, but while it shouldn’t do anything, they seem to be remembering a different past then they thought they knew. It seems as if they came to UA to be undercover, but how and why? These questions are not completely answered as the fic is incomplete. However, it’s an interesting premise.

Then is Adrian Romanov by sakurademonalchemist. I’ve mentioned it before here. It’s a MCU and Harry Potter crossover where Natasha raises Harry. It’s from 2014 and hasn’t been updated since then.

Next is two stories as the next one on the list is a sequel. First is, Follow the Phoenix by Rachelme177. It’s a Harry Potter story where Albus makes better decisions for Harry after book 5 and decides to make him part of his family. Harry and Ginny get together fairly early on in this book 6 retelling.

Second is, Advance the Phoenix by Rachelme177. It’s Harry’s 7th year and he managed to change people’s fate from canon book 6. How will he defeat Voldemort? It’s great, but sadly one chapter off from being finished. The author mentioned the next chapter would be the last in 2014 and hasn’t posted on it since.

After that is, Adventures of Shirou Emiya by ShirouKuroEmiya. It’s a Fate series and Harry Potter crossover. This was rewritten since the original I read (and the writer has become a better writer). Harry is Shirou’s reincarnation and what the Potter’s did to save him, awoke Shirou’s memories. Watch as Hogwarts is changed and Shiro’s not the only one around from the Fate universe. It’s okay, but only has 8 chapters currently.

Following that is, After the Battle by Epeefencer. [*Warning of underage drinking and sex*]. After the final battle, Harry and Ginny get drunk and have sex. Molly walks in on them and is not happy. It’s a story of happiness and forgiveness and it’s finished! It’s 22 chapters of love and angst.

After the Chamber – Lords and Ladies by SeerKing comes next. It’s a Harry Potter fanfic, but things change after the Chamber of Secrets. Harry has accidentally activated old laws by defeating Voldemort three times and has become Lord Slytherin and has to marry three girls, one for each of the families, Slytherin, Peverell and Potter. It’s obvious from the way the story was going that it’s going to be Daphne, Ginny and Hermione, but there are only 11 chapters and it’s on hiatus. Luckly, Seerking posted again on another fic on Wednesday so he’s still around!

Finally is, Aftermath by ack1308. It’s a Worm fic, but things change drastically from the beginning. Taylor dies in the locker and people are looking for someone to blame. However, things are not completely as they seem and she might not be as gone as they think. It’s interesting and complete!

Manga and anime wise, I’m mostly focusing on new ones that are coming out and finishing previous season series. I’ve read a good bit of The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity in prep for the anime coming out tomorrow. It’s a awesome story about a tall blond guy in a delinquent high school and a small girl from the girl’s elite high school next door falling in love and their relationship and how it affects those around them. It’s made me cry happy tears and I’m looking forward to the anime.

I’ve also reread the manga (and caught up) to Secrets of the Silent Witch. I know it has light novels, but I haven’t gotten around it them. It’s another interesting anime coming out this season. It has a young girl who’s become one of the most powerful people in the country, but she doesn’t like interacting with people and learned how to do spells silently. She’s sent to make sure the 2nd prince isn’t killed, but she may find out more about herself and other’s along the way!

The last one I’ll talk about now is The Apothecary Diaries. The final episode of the 2nd season came out today and it was just what I wanted for it. I’ve read the manga (though it’s not yet to where the anime ends) and the light novel through vol 4, which is where the anime ended. It’s a great story about a teenage girl who was trained as an apothecary by her father in old time China. She’s kidnapped and sold to the inner palace where the emperor’s harem lives. She’s just a laundry girl, but she manages to save a princess with her advice. This is the story of the mysteries and patents she has to deal with, along with a eunuch who may not be what he appears to be. It’s good and has 14 light novel volumes available here in the US.

I just realized I didn’t talk about the next manga from the Manga Club I was in last time. We went a few months without new ones, but that was when most of the ones that were dropped were. First of the new two was Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. It’s a great manga and anime (that came out last year). It’s an interesting take on a story as the MC, Frieren the elf and her party have already defeated the demon king before the story starts. Then, 50 years later when they have a reunion, Himmel the Hero dies. She realizes she hadn’t gotten to know him well and decides to get to know humans better. She eventually decides to retrace the parties steps to remember and get to ‘heaven’ in the demon king’s castle. There are a lot of flashbacks, but there is a lot of focus on the present and her current party. There’s even some time travel in it and honestly seems like more will come at some point. The manga’s on hiatus and a second season hasn’t been announced, but I’m looking forward to it.

The second one is, Jujitsu Kaisen. I’ll be completely honest with you that I haven’t read much of this. Based on my manga tracker, I got to chapter 60 of a finished 271 and I’ve never watched the anime. Yuuji, a high schooler, ends up possessed by an ancient curse Sukuna. He contains it, but it’s only a part of the curse. He ends up at a high school where he’s to learn how to fight curses. It’s not that I’m uninterested, I just haven’t gotten around to it. Last set of manga from the club next time.

Game wise, last weekend was PoGo’s ninth anniversary and I played. I got most of the special mons and the ones I didn’t have, but I didn’t get many shinnies as I was having phone problems for the first few hours and had other things to do for other parts. So for everyone out there reading, May Your Heart be Your Guiding Key!

I’m Here Again, And Plan to Stay

Hello, everyone out there. As you can see, I have returned. Thanks to those who are still following! I’m sure you’re wondering, why now? Well, part of it is that I wanted to. But one reason I decided to was that someone messaged me through the website contact about a commenter on another website, telling me I should do something about them, like I had control of that website. I didn’t click on the link, because I’m not stupid, but I did look up the website and honestly the mistake was understandable. The website is mattreadingtranslations.com. Let me be clear here, similar naming aside, I have nothing to do with that website. I don’t have the time, inclination, or skills to translate anything from another language. I have some knowledge of Spanish, French and Japanese and very little German from classes and reading/watching many stories, but definitely not enough to translate. I enjoy the fruits of those who do translate but am not one of them. Now that I know of this website, I might at some point look into what he’s translating, but not currently.

Moving on, things are mostly the same with me. I’m still in the same position at work. The position I didn’t get in my department opened up because the person who got it over me left, for no reason that those of us who weren’t there at the time have been told. Well, Matt, you ask, did you apply again? Yes, yes, I did. And as mentioned I didn’t get it, again. I did a lot better in the interview, and I know because my interviewer, my supervisor’s supervisor, told me so, but I didn’t get it because they ‘decided to go in a different direction’. From my few interactions with the lady who got it, the different direction is that she can speak Spanish fluently and I can’t.

Am I thrilled about this? No, I’m not. I’ve indicated my willingness to learn Spanish, in fact, I had been working with the same supervisor about my work paying for a class so I can relearn Spanish or even get a basic computer proficiency certification. The third option I had, which I’m not going to mention other than I would have been able to teach people a skill, fell apart when I found and mentioned that the paperwork I was filling out said I had to teach 10 people a year or potentially lose my license to teach them. We don’t have 10 people a year to teach this skill, sometimes we don’t even have one. So it was dropped.

After this, I was busy, but a month or so ago I sent an email asking them about the other two and they said they’d look into it, but I haven’t heard anything. Quite frankly, I’m pretty fed up with the lot of them as my supervisor is also being very nitpicky. He gets annoyed when I even seem to be telling my newest coworker (in my same position) information or suggestions because he wants her to make her own mistakes. One day my coworker and I were doing a certain job and similar things showed up near when I was leaving and I jokingly said she could do them if she finished what we were working on after I left. When I was mentioning where certain things were in the next morning, as both me and my supervisor had to be out for the day, he came in and blasted me for what I was saying and for telling her to do more the day before, right in front of her. (To be clear, she knew it was a joke and told me she was the one who told him what I had said as a joke, also in a joking tone, the day before and was very annoyed he took it out on me). I walked away and he and I didn’t talk except about work things for the rest of the day and I’ve never mentioned it again.

He seems to get angry with me whenever I do something that infringes on his position or I use knowledge that I gained when I had to do things for him while he was off to solve issues when he’s doing things away from the office. For example, when doing my job, I found a discrepancy, I knew he would be away for a few hours, so I went to someone who had paperwork that he to given them to see if I could find out what went wrong. As I’ve done this before, she didn’t bat an eye at it and in looking at the paperwork I found he had made the mistake. She gave me the paperwork, so he could fix the issue when he got back. So, I let him know that I found an issue and he told me to put it on his desk and so I put both paperwork on his desk. When he got back, he got angry at me that I had went to the other person and gotten the paperwork. What I got from it was that he was angry that I found a mistake he had made. A relative mentioned that he may be afraid I’m trying to take his job. I don’t want his job, just a better paying position, to not have to be on eggshells to see how he’s feeling that day and to not have to deliberately not do things I can do to make him feel better.

To be frankly honest, I’m getting tired of my treatment there. I’m only even there and not seriously looking for a new job because the summer is the busiest time in my position and I’m not heartless enough to bail on them in the middle of that. My relatives have been pushing for me to get a new job for a while now, but I have my pride, in that I won’t leave until it won’t cause a huge problem. If things get better (as in I actually get a new position I apply for, not that there are currently any available that are worth my time or I am qualified for and/or my supervisor stops being overbearing), I may stay but that’s not likely.

For those of you wondering, but Matt, what if a coworker finds this blog. I laugh and say, not likely, I’m following my work’s Facebook page, but I’m not Facebook friends with any coworker. I’m fairly sure that the link on my profile to this page has always been friends only, but I’ve just made sure it will be from now on and I’m fairly sure none of them is subscribed to the blog. If someone at work already knows about it and comes here to see my rant, then come what may. I’ve only aired my opinions and not said anything indicating my job, position or names of anyone involved.

Okay, moving on from That, I’m still working on my quest and I’ve actually reached the Rs now. Of course, the next three letters will take a while, but I’m close to ¾ths of the way done! However, what I’m listening to is first.

The one I’m currently listening to in my rotation is Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship. It’s an audio book and I’m listening to the 11th volume and the last available on Audible. If I haven’t mentioned it before, it’s about Hiro, a Japanese salaryman who loved playing a sci-fi game where he played as a space mercenary. One day he wakes up in the cockpit of his beloved spaceship and has no idea what happened. The universe he finds himself in is similar, but different from the one of the game and he has to figure out how to survive. Space mercenary is the way to he decides to go and it follows the adventures of him and his increasing crew of beauties. It’s an amusing light novel with action and some romance. I definitely recommend it. I’ve read the webnovel too, but that was in the reading quest, so I’ll get to it eventually there.

Next is going to be Angry Harry and the Seven by Sinyk, I’ve talked about it before, here. It’s still good and an interesting Misled Dumbledore story, of course most of Sinyk’s stories have that. After that is the light novels for Death March in a Parallel World Rhapsody. I’m just using text to speech with the novels, not an audiobook. Yes, I’m comparing them as I mentioned it would. It’s, hm, lighter, so far? Like for example, in the webnovel, Satou only saves one homunculi from the Elf made dungeon and can’t save the rest. But, in the light novel, they’re all saved, but the rest go on a journey and don’t even come back up except in passing until 10 or so volumes later. The author also added a few new light novel only stories and introduced a bad guy earlier in a different form. I’m currently on volume 14 of 23 (out in the US), but we’ll see how it turns out.

After that in the rotation is Taylor Varga, an old favorite of mine. I even talk about it in my second post on this blog, here. Unfortunately, it hasn’t updated a chapter in years but I still like to get back to it every once in a while. After that is Super Gene or Super God Gene, a fan translated Korean webstory. There’s a version on Kindle Unlimited, not that I’m sure how that got there, but it exsists, but it’s also on other sites. I’m only listening to a certain point, that I’ve already read to. The rest I’ll read when I get to it on the reading quest. It’s a sci-fi fantasy where humans are interstellar, but when they get transporters working they end up in a parallel dimension (?) where tech doesn’t work other than to get back. In the other dimension, there are monsters that, when you defeat them can give you a monster soul with an ability if you’re lucky. If you eat that animal, you can get geno points and become stronger. Han Sen becomes an outcast right after he gets to his shelter in the other dimension because he attacks a shapeshifted person in the butt. This turns out to be one of the strongest people there and no one likes him after that. He accidentally finds a gem that causes monsters to evolve and manages to become very strong. Then he finds out about the 5th hidden gene, the super gene. Follow him as he becomes stronger and takes revenge on those who wrong him.

Following that is Yesterday’s Tomorrow by Umei no Mai. It’s a completed side story to Black Sky that I’m actually surprised I haven’t mentioned yet. It’s set in the 320s of Black Sky and follows Tsuna when he’s sent to the ‘future’. He immediately realizes it can’t be the future and this changes things drastically. It’s interesting for only being three chapters. Finally, another old favorite, Desperately Seeking Ranma by PixelWriter1. I first mentioned it, here. As before, the author hasn’t updated in years. In my first post I mentioned they hadn’t updated in 2 years, well that was 7 years ago now, so it’s 9 years now. They posted on their profile in 2022 pretty much saying the same thing, so we can only hope they eventually post again.

Moving on to talking about my current quest, this is going to be a longer one because I want to finish off the A’s sooner rather than later. To start off with, is A Day of Boredom also by PixelWriter1. It’s a longer Ranma ½ one-shot set after the series ended. Ranma is left completely to his own devices for a day for the first time in a long time. He heads to a park and meets a guy doing metal detecting. Intrigued, he decides to see if he can do the same thing with a new technique. This sets off a series of events that are very interesting, I definitely recommend.

Second is A Deal Made in Good Faith by sakurademonalchemist. I’ve talked about it before here. An interesting fem Harry with a Supernatural crossover.

Third is A Demon’s Curse and an Angel’s Blessing by Apex Soldier. It’s an older Naruto fic, I mean it came out in 2010 and was last updated in 2017. Yes, unfortunately it’s incomplete. In it, Naruto’s seal malfunctions when he’s young and he becomes more animalistic. Fortunately, Hinata can hm, not tame him, but he’s protective of her. It’s interesting but is unlikely to ever be completed as they haven’t posted anything since 2018.

Next is A Devil’s Bijuu by fg7dragon. It’s a Naruto & High School DxD crossover where in The Last movie Hinata kills Toneri and in his final moments he opens a rip in space that sends all the Konoha Shinobi into the High School DxD universe. They end up becoming devils and the Bijuu get their own bodies too. It’s interesting, but incomplete. It’s only 10 chapters and the author hasn’t posted on any fics since 2018.

After that is A Different Beginning by Breanie. It’s Harry Potter fanfic where the Potters survive and that changes things drastically. James wakes up after the attack and finds Lily is amnesic. Harry still goes to the Dursleys, but James gets him out once he finds out how he’s treated there. It’s a Harry/Ginny stories, but it’s a long time to get there. Oh, and Harry isn’t the only young Potter. It’s a complete 89-chapter story with sequels. A really good long read.

The next one is A Different Course by Aliandris. This is actually a discontinued fic (that wasn’t before I started my quest). It’s a My Hero Academia fic where Himiko Toga is found by Izuku before she’s too far gone and is adopted into the Midoriya family. Izuku still gets One-For-All, but decides to still act like a quirkless hero in mindset and abilities. The author discontinued to rewrite it under a new name with changes. The old fic is still up, but the new one is Family Beyond Blood.

The one after that would have been, A Distant Storm by TheBeardedOne, but I talked about is on my last post because the last fic in a series was up first. Following that is A Dragon’s Prerogative by sakurademonalchemist. This is another story that I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned before, but maybe it was posted after my sakurademonalchemist quest. It’s a crossover between High School DxD and Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Fem Tsuna is the Red Dragon Emperor and she and Vali have a thing. She even manages to help Rias. Like most of this author’s stories, it’s incomplete. There are 9 chapters and it hasn’t been updated since 2019.

Then there is A Dramatic Reading by White Squirrel. It’s a Harry Potter characters reading the books that manages to survive by putting minimal quotations from the books. It’s only the first book, but it’s worth a read. There are three sequels and the most recent was updated earlier this year!

Continuing my mentioning what we were reading for the currently defunct manga club I was in, we starting reading the next two the meeting after the last three. Both were recommend by the club leader. I had already read some of both of them an seen the animes for them. The first one was One Punch Man. Yep, he was a big fan of the background art that the author drew. One Punch Man is about Saitama. He was an ordinary salary man until he tried to defend a young boy from a monster. The defeat and the boy laughing at him he decided to train to become stronger. He did a daily workout of 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run for years. Now he’s so strong, he can defeat any enemy with, wouldn’t you know it, one punch. Even though there’s a Hero Association, he is unregistered and is a hero for fun so many people don’t know how strong he is. It’s an action comedy. There are two seasons of anime and I think a third season was recently announced.

The second was Youjo Senki or The Saga of Tanya the Evil. This one was from a light novel and then became a manga and anime. It’s about a Japanese salary man who was murdered by a subordinate that he had fired early that day. He talks with God or as he calls him, “Being X” who berates him for being an unbeliever. They have an argument and Being X sends him to be reborn in a new world to make him into a believer. He is reborn as a girl in world similar to pre-WWI Germany, but with magic. She enlists at young age and becomes an ace by accident in the first battle of the war. She has to deal with Being X and other Godlike beings interfering and her own delusions about things messing things up. It’s amusing. Sadly, there is only one season and a movie. However, a second season is supposedly to be released next year. Looking forward to that!

Finally, I have finally finished my planning out of the capture of all the Sakura Cards in my own fanfic. I’ve started writing again and am on chapter 5 currently. Remember I want a padding of 10 chapters before I post and I want my writing group to edit and I hope to get a little bit looked at in a few weeks.

Also, sadly, Square Enix cancelled Missing Link after months of nothing. I was very sad to hear it, but hopefully it’ll be a regular game eventually instead of a mobile game. I’m still looking forward to Pokemon Legends Z-A and surprised with the October release.

Before I say my ending phrase, I want to add one thing. I have a shirt with this phrase on it and I found it while looking through my clothes. Unfortunately, it was faded so I bought a new one. My current plan is to make sure I wear it once a week and that day I’ll start writing that week’s post. I wore it yesterday and am posting today when I finish this. So, thanks to those who continue to follow and as always – May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key.

Hello … It’s me again, again.

To anyone who’s still reading this, I have returned once again. Not so long of a break, but it’s not like I wasn’t writing. I’ve been slowly working on my own fanfiction, but I’ve currently paused writing chapters as I plot out some things. But more on that later.

So, Matt, what have you been doing since we last saw you? Well, many things. I mentioned how I was in a temp position higher up in my company, well I’m no longer in it. Not too long after the last post, my co-worker who was in the same position as me in my official position quit. So, I had to go back and do that job again, while doing what I could of the other position. When I heard that my somewhat former temp position was becoming permanent and accepting applications, I of course applied. Only to be denied and told my previous experience wasn’t enough and that someone else had a better interview.

Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about that. Especially that my pay was brought down to a little more than previous levels. This is the fourth time I’ve tried to move up in the company since I joined officially a few months over three years ago and been told no. Three times to the IT department and this one in my own department. It doesn’t make me feel good about myself and being told by the upper echelons of my department that they appreciate me and what I do doesn’t mean much. It’s your actions not your words that matter.

I understand what they said I could have done better in my interview. However, understanding doesn’t mean I have to like or accept it. I think I’ve done a good job in my life of seeing both sides of the story, so I do understand, I just wish that years of work (including one in that position) meant more or that the interview wasn’t so highly weighted. Just because I can see parts of both sides doesn’t mean I agree with both or either. The recent election being one example. This is the only thing I am going to say about it. I am not a member of either party because quite frankly I think both sides have too much hate, propaganda, and disunity. Did I vote? Yes, because it was my right. Am I going to say on this blog which way I voted? Hell no. Topic closed; I will not discuss it again. If you leave a comment or message me about it, I will find out how to ban your email from interacting on the blog again. I don’t need that argument on my blog.

Moving on, for the job, I’m still going to stay and work where I am. I’m working on relearning Spanish because it’s prevalent where I live and it might help. Does it mean that I’m not going to leave if things stay the way they are? That’s for the future.

As I was saying last time, I’m working on one of my famous (infamous?) quests and I plan to finish this one. Though it‘ll be a while before it’s complete. It’s been a few years and I’m only in the middle of the stories starting with L on the reading list and I’m finished with the listening list. That doesn’t mean I’m not still listening to stories/fanfiction.

The one i’m listening to at the moment in my rotation is Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion V2 by Seerking. I’ve talked about it before here, but it’s still good and been updated recently! The next is an audio book of the Japanese light novel – Hell Mode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing by Hamuo (no link because I was listening to the official audiobook). It’s a fun story about a gamer who wanted a harder game and ended up reincarnated as a Summoner in another world. But things aren’t easy because he has to work 100 times harder than others to level up because he’s in Hell Mode. There are 7 volumes out in the US and I’m re-listening to volume 2.

Next is Harry Potter and the Daft Morons by Sinyk. And old classic I like to reread and is sadly still uncompleted. I talked about it several times, but never really described it. It’s an evil Dumbles story where Harry uses the first task to show most of wizarding Britain how they are Daft Morons and start the take down of the leaders of the light and dark. It’s a Harry/Hermione/Daphne/Fleur story for those that are interested.

Following that is an amusing light novel series called Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life! By FUNA (again no link because I was reading the official release). A senior high school girl saves the life of a child who will do great things in the future at the cost of her life. As a reward the God watching over the child sends her to another world with anything she wants. After seeing how being exceptional leads her life to be in her previous life, she only asks to be average. The God agrees, but instead of average by human standards, he does it in average of all life on her new world. With ‘average’ abilities and her lack of common sense, this is a hilarious story. There are 18 volumes available in the US. I’m re-listening to volume 6. It’s not an actual audio book though, just the pdfs in voice dream.

Next is Mauling Snarks by CmptrWz. It’s completed and still really amusing and interesting as all of CmptrWz’s stories are. I’ve talked about it previously here. Next is History’s Strongest Disciple Again? By azndrgn. One of the few Kenichi fanfics I’ve read and I beta read this one! I talked about it previously here. Finally, the last on the rotation is the translated web novel for Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody. This is another isekai story about a game designer who ends up in another world with cheat abilities and has no idea how he got there or de-aged. I plan to read the light novel version after to compare them. I’m re-listening to ‘Chapter’ 14 of 18. I put it in quotation marks because each chapter has many parts in it. For example, Chapter 14 has 47 parts, 4 intermissions and a side story. It also has a one season anime.

You may say, but Matt, why do you have so many in your rotation? Because I like making things harder on myself? Heck if I know, things kept building up and that’s how it is.

To continue on about the reading/listening list, next one in the A’s was a Harry Potter one-shot. Let me leave a warning before the title, this is a smut fic. It’s a three-some between Harry, Ginny and Luna. It’s rated M for a reason. It’s called A Birthday Surprise by Epeefencer. The main reason it’s even on here is because I’ve put all of Epeefencer’s works on Voice Dream.

The following one, I had to start with a story farther down the list because it’s a sequel. I’ve talked about the first three in the series before: it’s The Last Mage of Krypton series by TheBeardedOne. I had to listen (because these are ones I listened to) the first one The Last Mage of Krypton and the second one Rising from the Shadows and the third one A Distant Storm before I got to the last one and the one I was aiming for. I previously talked about all three here.

The last one of this series is A Challenge Unexpected. It’s an interesting ending to the series with the potential to continue if he or someone else wants to. Harry of course ends up in the Triwizard Tournament, but with Riddle, Grindelwald and their lackies out there and Draco to be his Luthor; what will happen?

Then there’s A Christmas Surprise by Artist 111. I actually found this one because of the author’s other story, which will be talked about at a later point. It’s a cute little Harry Potter two-shot about Harry and Ginny’s first pregnancy and a slight reuniting with relatives. Worth a read.

Followed by A Cry For Help by Epeefencer. This is also a Harry Potter one-shot, but is not anything like the previous one by this author. It’s a cute little hurt/comfort short about Harry going to McGonagall about why he doesn’t want to go back to his relatives. There’s a small amount of Harry/Ginny, but it’s just the first real meeting between the two. Fun little fic.

The last one I’ll talk about now is one of ack1308’s newer stories, A Darker Path. It’s a Worm fanfic about Taylor getting a different power set when she Triggers. This time is Path to Ending. It’s kind of like Path to Victory, but about finishing something. This can be used to make sure someone/something dies or kills their villain career. Far warning, there is lots of character death, but it’s still within the T rating. Still updates occasionally.

For the Manga Club I’m in, we next added Perfect World by Aruga Rie, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita and Kaguya-sama: Love is War by Aka Akasaka. These were added by female members that were at the first meeting and never showed up again. Me, being a bibliophile, obviously read them (though I’m still the only one who’s reading all the books on the list), but I kept it to the book we were on.

Perfect World is about Tsugumi Kawana who meets her high school crush Itsuki Ayukawa at her job. However, things have changed drastically for him as he’s now in a wheelchair do to a spinal cord injury from an accident. It’s a love story about two people dealing with their physical and emotional issues. I’ve only read the first two volumes (because it was dropped as I was the only one reading it), but it’s interesting and I’ll pick it up again sometime.

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku is also set in the workplace and Narumi and Hirotaka are childhood friends. However, they’re both different types of otaku (nerds). She loves gay manga and he’s a gamer. She’s trying to hide it because she keeps getting rejected whenever friends and boyfriends find out. This is their and their friend’s love story. A good read. The club dropped it after book 4, for the same reason, but I finished it as it only had 6 volumes.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War is another love story, but this time between the president and vice-president of the high school student counsel of a very highly rated school. The male lead, Miyuki Shirogane is from a poor background, but is always on the top of mock tests. The female lead, Kaguya Shinomiya, is from a wealthy house and competes with him. They both like each other, but refuse to be the first one to share it, because Love is War. Most chapters are styled as a ‘fight’ with a winner told at the end of each one. This is very amusing in the anime as well. It’s finished in Japan, but all the volumes aren’t in the US yet. We dropped this one much later (we got to the 7th volume), again for the same reason (though the main other person reading it just stopped). We added more after that, but that’s for next time.

It’s finally time to talk about what I mentioned at the beginning, my fanfic. It’s an MHA and Cardcaptor Sakura crossover. I’ve read a few (and they’ll be talked about in my quest), but all of them are unfinished and not currently updating. I liked the concept and decided to try it myself, several years ago. However, I got busy and didn’t do anything with it for a while. However, the same group that has the manga club has a creators meeting that has recently been meeting weekly. I’ve been going when I can and working on it. I have 4 or so chapters, but like I said I’ve paused to write the order in which he captures the cards and an outline of how he does. I’m going to do that with most if not all of the cards, then I’ll go back and flush it out.

I’m not going to explain much other than at least the main cast of Cardcaptor Sakura will also be in it even if it’s set in the MHA universe and Izuku is the new cardcaptor. When I’ve got 10 chapters and the base for the rest of the first part (capturing the cards), then I’ll post it. When, not if, I do this, you’ll be the first to know.

Finally, games! Still waiting on information on either of the Kingdom Hearts’ games. Missing Link should have been out already, but there’s been no information for months. I’m looking forward to Pokemon Legends Z-A, but that’s not until next year. I’ve gotten Dragon Ball Z: Sparkling Zero and it’s been fun. Not been focused on it, but I’ve gotten through the first part of Super with all characters, but haven’t done most of the AU stories.

I plan to update again soon. So, as always, May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!

I’m back… Again

Well, after around 2 and half years, I’m back … again. I really have no excuse, I just never thought about it a lot and kept busy. I was officially hired in the job I mentioned in my last post Aug of 2021. I’ve been in and out of a higher temp position helping the higher-ups in my department when I wasn’t needed in my official position because we’ve been having trouble keeping temps. I’ve also been taking music lessons and have had two student performances with that organization. I’m still playing PoGo and sometimes go to in person events when I can make them. I did do the community day on Saturday and got all three shinnies I wanted. Wizard’s Unite shut down and I’ve not started any other Niantic mobile games so far.

I’ve been playing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It’s fun and I’ve got all the current Pokémon and their various forms. I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but I’m all so working on my living dex to level 100. Most are at least level 35, except some that can’t be accessed in any of the Switch games. (I’m in the middle of The Indigo Disk epilogue now)

I joined an anime/manga group in the area and the manga part of the group is reading several series by volume. Of the ones we started with we’re now on volume five of both Black Lagoon and Toilet Bound Hanako-kun. I’ve previously read Black Lagoon, but didn’t mind rereading it. Black Lagoon is about a Japanese businessman who is sent to deliver a floppy drive (yeah, shows you the time it started, lol) with info on his company’s illegal dealings (that he didn’t know about before then), but is captured and ransomed to his company. They instead try to kill him and his captors on their torpedo boat. He renames himself ‘Rock’ and joins them in their ‘transport’ business. It’s not complete, but is no longer on hiatus, I think…

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun is about a high school girl named Neenee who tries to have a wish fulfilled by one of the 7 school legends, Hanako of the Toilet. Instead of a girl, a boy ghost calling himself Hanako comes. He doesn’t fulfill her wish, but she ends up connected to him. It’s about their adventures and finding out his history. 19 volumes have been released in the U.S. and it’s still releasing in Japan.

The other two we started out with were, Daemons of the Shadow Realm and Reincarnated as a Vending Machine. They were not continued as only one volume had been released for each at the time. Daemons of the Shadow Realm is the newest work by Hiromu Arakawa, who wrote Fullmetal Alchemist. It’s about a boy named Yuru who lives in a village and protects his sister. However, people come and attack the village and he learns that things aren’t as they seem and his sister and parents have been gone for a long time. Then he learns of Deamons and the prophecy about him and his sister. It’s about him trying to find them and what happened while people are after him. It’s still updating.

Reincarnated as a Vending Machine is as it says in the title, a man dies trying to save a vending machine and is reincarnated as one. He is in a dungeon and cannot say more than a few stock phrases. He meets a girl and manages to communicate that he is sentient. She’s strong enough to carry him around and takes him with her around the dungeons while changing to different types of vending machines as needed. It’s also still updating. I’ll talk more about what series we’re reading next time.

If any of you have read my previous posts, you’ll know I have ‘quests’ I like to do. This has continued even without me letting you know. I don’t remember if I mentioned this one before, but I was working on the chronological new Doctor Who series, including side series. I got through Season 5 Episode 2. I’ll pick this back up at some point.

Another one on hold is the Marvel extended cinematic universe in chronological order. I started with Captain America and am now on Season 3 Episode 3 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I’ll go more into this later, but this includes the Defenders series and their character’s ones.

The main quest I’m working on now is this, I have a text-to-speech app called Voice Dream on my phone. I copy chapters of fanfictions I like on it to listen to it so I can play them when driving or doing something else. Last year at some point I was bored and organized it into folders and put them in A-Z order. I decided to listen to them from the beginning and work on down. It hasn’t completely gone to plan as there are some I haven’t listened to in a long time and wanted to read instead, but I’m still plugging along. I also decided to split up my one-shots/fully completed fics (on one file) into alphabetical folders more then halfway through and made things harder on myself. On my listen list, I’m actually on the Ts, but the read list is in the Ds (though just one left) and there are a lot and some of them are long. There’s a C left in the oneshot read list, but it’s a sequel so I want to read the first one first, lol.

I’m reading several at once because I found somewhat early on that it was difficult to focus on one, especially long ones, continually. I started switching between several to make sure I wasn’t bored and made it kind of convoluted, but that’s the way I like it I guess. The last D to read is Dumbledore’s Army by Bobmin356. It’s a sixth year Harry Potter fic where Harry gets a letter from his parents in heaven (spelled by Lily before she died, somehow) and with the help of an ex-military American squib, gets himself and his friends ready for a war. It is a completed fic with a sequel. (I finished this later before I posted this)

One of the ones I’m listening to is Total Command by Epsilon110. It’s an AU version of My Hero Academia where only women got quirks and Izuku is one of the only characters not gender-bent. He still impresses Lady All Might and gets her quirk, but did he really not already have one? It’s an incomplete fic that hasn’t been updated since March 2021, though they’ve posted other stories since then.

Another I’m listening to is, Yet Again with a Little Extra Help by Third Fang. It’s a Naruto fic where things went weird before the Fourth Shinobi War and Naruto gets caught and the Kyuubi is being ripped out of him. One of the author’s OCs ends up in his mindscape and end up resetting the Narutoverse back to his academy days. It’s very weird and random. The OC, Ghost is just one of an immortal family who are insane. It’s finished and has a sequel that is still updating. (I also recently finished this one and am on its sequel).

While I’ll talk about the ones I’m working on, I’ll also be going down the list of ones I’ve already completed as well. To start off with is a one-shot called 1A is the Source of Kendo’s Headaches by multiple authors(?) but the one I found it through is Clouds (myheadinthecloudsnotcomingdown). It’s a weird one where Izuku potentially has plans to take over the world that Kendo finds out about (and Nedzu is helping, of course) and he’s being chased by 1A.

Next is 88 Miles Per Hour by Perfect Lionheart. It’s a Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover mainly with Back to the Future, but several other ones eventually. Xander puts on a Doctor Brown costume during the Halloween episode they’re turned into their costumes. That one does some time traveling and goes back to his past self and they go on an adventure. It’s currently 10 chapters and is not finished or updated (Like a lot of his fics) since 2012.

The last one I’ll mention is A Body Roll or Two by TheAmazingWadey. It’s a Miraculous Ladybug fic where Adrian left during High School, but is back for college. The attacks stopped, but now that he’s back will they start again? Also, Marinette has picked up Bachata dancing and joins a professional group, guess who her partner will be? And a certain Chat has taken to talking to her as well. What is going to happen? It’s a fun 54 chapters, but unfortunately is also incomplete (but just by a chapter or two) and not updated since 2017.

I’ll talk about some of the anime I’m watching next time. Finally, I’m still waiting for news on the newest Kingdom Hearts mobile app Missing Link or KH IV. Hopefully they’ll give us more information soon. As always – May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!

I Need to Talk so I’ll Talk to You or Me Ranting about KHUx’s Ending

Hello everyone, I have returned and while I can’t promise I won’t leave again, I can promise I’ll say something if I decide I won’t ever post again.

This past year and a few months has been hard on many people. I will admit I had it better than some as my job never stopped working for COVID. However, the main groups I hung out with occasionally stopped meeting. Those being church and my local Pokémon Go group.

I will admit to being a person who enjoys solitude, but just being around people (even if I’m not interacting with them) recharges me a bit. It didn’t help that I moved with my family to a new state and I know very few people here and none my own age or anyone with my interests. So it’s been a little lonely.

I’m just a temp at my new job and no one is really close to my age (older) and there’s always a chance I could not be renewed after this month. It’s an interesting job, but there are times where we’re not really doing much. I’m told it gets busier soon, but they’ve been saying that for a bit.

But for what prompted me to write, it was the ending to Kingdom Hearts Union x. The worldwide version hasn’t gotten it yet, but Everglow and his team made a translation of the Japanese version’s. So fair warning there will be *spoilers*.

Wow, there’s so much to unpack. First of all, the Master of Masters’ plan to deal with the 13 original Darknesses. So based on what was said and previous episodes, Ventus locked one inside his heart and it eventually became Vanitias. The Master of Masters, Luxu, and the Five Original Union leaders, sealed 7 into their hearts because of everything that happened in the Keyblade War (though Luxu’s happened after he sent ? [Most likely either Strelitzia or Master Ava] into the future), all of which the MoM’s planned. 4 are locked in a cable between digital worlds because of things that will be explained in a little while and the last is most likely locked up with the Dandelions (or in Scala ad Calem cause we don’t know what happened to the one Luxu was fighting because supposedly he already had one inside him).

First of all, what’s the MoM’s endgame here? Because Sora is most likely going to be going against the Lost Masters sooner or later, so are they going to be taken over by the darkness or they going to pretend to be dark to get Sora and company to destroy the Darkness inside of them?

Moving past that, let’s go over what happened to the current Union Leaders and company. Lauriam, Ventus and Elrena are sent to the future. Lauriam ends up in the Dwarf Woodlands, Ventus ends up in the Keyblade Graveyard and Elrena ends up in the Enchanted Dominion. Brain’s heart gets sent to the future, but his body is the first taken over by Luxu.

The player’s character pretends to be taken over by Darkness when they, Skuld and Ephemer are surrounded by four of them. After nearly defeating Skuld and Ephemer, Ephemer sends the player and the Darknesses into the cable between worlds and locks that exit. The player reveals to the Darknesses that he was never taken over and locks the other entrance to the cable, locking all of them in. Skuld and Ephemer take the two pods sent by Brain? to the original Daybreak Town. There they find themselves alone and the world falling apart. They get back in the pods, but it’s unknown if they actually take them to the future, but it seems that at least Ephemer didn’t because it’s revealed when Brain gets to the future that Ephemer was the First Master of Scalia ad Calem and helped them rebuild after Daybreak Town fell apart. We don’t know what happens to Skuld so she may have been sent to the future or not (or even if she survived). She may have been shown as Xehenort’s mother in a part I will talk about in a little bit, but I don’t know. For all we know, the two lived out their lives and then took the pods to the future.

Okay first for this one, so we don’t know when any of the people sent to the future arrived. Ventus is the only one that has a place when can guess at, which is a few years before Birth By Sleep. For Lauriam and Elrena we don’t know if this was them arriving from the past or when they’re defeated by Sora in KH3 (though most likely the first one) and thus we still don’t know how they fell to darkness. Skuld is MIA and Ephemer most likely spent his days out building Scala ad Calem and Brain arrived at some point and maybe became Eraquis’ parent? ancestor?, who knows.

Second for this one, how did they have bodies waiting for them in the future? Based on my guess, Luxu let Scala ad Calem know when Brain would arrive so they would have a medium? body? waiting for him when he arrived. Then Brain would help them find out when the others would arrive and get the same for them? Also, someone had to know them in the future. For Brain, Luxu remembered him, but what about the others? Questions to be answered maybe at some point in time.

Finally, we have what happened to the player. When the four Darknesses confront Skuld, Ephemer and the Player, we pretend to be possessed by darkness to get Ephemer to send us with the Darknesses into the cord between data worlds. Then we lock the other exit of the cord and lock them up and fade to light. There we see all the other Dandelions go to sleep and their Chirithys taking their hearts and transforming into Dream Eaters. We decide not to got to sleep and are told our hearts will dissolve into another heart. Then we see flashes of Xehanort’s life including his mother giving him up, implying that the Player becomes Xehanort. Yes, we all have been Norted, lol. So the question is, when Xehanort decided to pass away at the end of KH3, does the Player have a chance at coming back?

So many questions and few answers. Hopefully E3 will have some more information on the 2nd Phase of Kingdom Hearts and hopefully the International version of Union x will load the last update soon. I’ll return soon with more fanfic and other things next time. And as always, May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key.

I’m Finally Back

Hello, my loyal intrepid readers!  …  Yes, I’m aware it’s been a llllooooooonnnnngggggg time.  I’m very sorry!!!  There was more than one reason for this.  As I mentioned before, I am slightly depressed.  I deal with this mostly by getting out of my head and into stories.  My need to do this overwhelmed me and I didn’t write for a few weeks.  As the weeks went by it got harder and harder to think about posting because I was angry about not posting previously … Yeah, it’s a vicious cycle.  It’s hard to fight even now.  Stories and other things I could be doing even now are working to distract me.

I also joined a Barbershop quartet chorus (as I now realize I mentioned briefly about in one of my last posts), though I didn’t fully join until later last year, but I am still with it.  Though with the ‘social distancing,’ practices have been cancelled for a while and the competition we were practicing for was cancelled as well, so whenever this ends, I’ll go back.

I’m still at the same job, which still has long hours and is exhausting.  Though we’ve been low on work since before this whole virus thing, so I’ve had some time to do things around the house.  I’m still going to work, because apparently my work is ‘essential’ even though where I live and work are on stay at home orders (two different ones, one for my city and another for the county I work in).  I personally don’t think it is, but that’s me, maybe to someone else it’s essential.  Not that I don’t want the work, it’s just my thoughts on matter.

I’m also in charge of streaming my church service via a private server because of the virus.  It was a sudden decision and it’s working fine, just also takes some of my time.  I’m not going to post anything about it here, because it’s private and mostly for my church members.

Anyway, moving on to what this blog is about, books and movies and stuff.  I have watched and read and rewatched and reread so many things since I last posted, I’m not even going to try list them all and it would take a long time.  Currently, I’m watching a guy reading through Homestuck on Youtube (though it was originally on twitch).  It’s the channel Jeff Brenneman and it’s pretty amusing – This is the first episode.  I figured it’d been a while and I should reread it but wanted to watch someone else do it at the same time.

I’ve also been reading the Dr. Stone manga after having watched the first season of the anime.  It’s fun and sciencey (yes, I’m aware it’s not a word).  I also watched Cardcaptor Sakura for the first time in Japanese.  I also learned that another studio redubbed it after the first one years ago.  I understand why, many things were cut out and they changed the names.  However, I do miss the original music for the first dub.  It was awesome and I still have the CD for it!

I’ve been playing Pokémon Sword and Shield since they came out and have all the new Pokémon and most of the Gigantamax forms (I’m missing three and one of them is in the current event that just started).  It has two DLCs coming out, with the first one in June.  I’m really looking forward to it!  I also have Pokemon Home and it’s okay, just wish you could do more with the Pokemon no currently able to move from it.

I think I’ll end here and let you know of a change.  I’m just going to put all the stories I’ve followed or favorited on my sites to the archive.  I’ll go back throughout the week(s) and post something about them to a separate page(s) so that people know what they’re about along with linking to the post that describes the ones that were already mentioned.  Have a great week (even if you’re mostly at home for it) and May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!

I’m So Sorry and Finally the End of the Quest

Hey everyone… Yeah, sorry I haven’t posted these last few weeks.  I was busy, but I’m not afraid to say that I’m generally slightly depressed and that hasn’t really helped.  It’s nothing new, but it hasn’t affected the blog so far, so sorry again.  Other than that, things have been happening in PoGo and Wizards Unite.  PoGo has the Jirachi special research out and the Legendary Dogs are available for a few more days with a shiny chance along with Unowns spelling ULTRA out in 10km eggs.  Next week is a shiny Mewtwo chance and the following week 5th gen starts to come out.

For Wizards Unite there was an event last weekend where eggs were available through different colored 1km portkeys.  The rewards for that event will happen tomorrow with a dragon that’s not usually available in your region available for 3 hours.

Pokemon Masters app is also available now for your phones.  It’s a three vs three fight with gym leaders and other Pokémon trainers as your partners and opponents.  It’s fun but not as good as PoGo.

I spent a lot of the time rereading Pick Up the Pieces and Rebuild, Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion V2, Black Sky, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, and am now rereading Ripples, & Another Fine Mess.  The new chapters are (for the last three weeks): An Essence of Silver and Steel (1st Sun & 2nd Sat), Compass of thy Soul (1st Mon, 1st Thurs, 2nd Mon, 2nd Wed & 3rd Thurs – [Last Chapter]), Headstart, Trump Card (Last 2 Chapters), Mauling Snarks (1st Mon, 1st Fri, 2nd Mon, 2nd Fri, 3rd Mon & 3rd Fri), Exodus, Worm – Justice For All (2 Chaps), Luna Lovegood and Dark Lord’s Diary (Last Chapter), Hybird Hive: Eat Shard (1st Wed, 2nd Wed & 3rd Wed), Supernatural Drabbles, New Beginnings (1st Fri, 2nd Mon & 3rd Fri), Trail by Fire (1st Fri, 2nd Mon & 3rd Fri), Relic of the Future (2nd Sat & 3rd Sat), The Importance of Intent: After the Credits (Last 2 Chapters 2nd Sat & 3rd Sun), The Unseen Hunt (2nd Sun & 3rd Sat), Souls of the Heart, By Your Side is Where I Belong, Taylor Varga (Omake & Interlude), Service with a Smile, Campione of the Raging Tides, Seerking Asylum, Mending the Knots, Darth Vader: Hero of Naboo, RWBY: Destiny of Remnant, History’s Strongest Disciple Again?, I, Panacea, Less Than Zero, Code Geass: Lionheart of the Revolution, Playing Our Roles, Sealed Legacy, Broken Dreams, Go Away I’m Watching Porn, Flames, Ashikabi of Thunder and Lightning, Short Story Drabbles & Taylor Hebert, magical girl at your service. (Yeah, a lot I know)

So, I’ve read a lot, but I did finally finish the quest I set, I really forget how long ago.  Here are the last stories from Mryddin de Celestis.  EvoNet is a Harry Potter and Stargate: SG1 crossover.  Harry has his magic sealed and is exiled to the muggle world for trying to give everyone magic.  His parents and siblings do nothing, and most are in favor.  He finds a way to give magic to everyone anyway and helps the muggles become the third player in the war.  Also he helps SG1 with things.

A Supernatural World full of Paranormal Activity is the newest rewrite of their Harry Potter and King of Bandit crossover.  Harry runs away at five because he’s neglected in favor of the ‘Girl-Who-Lived’.   He’s trained by the King of Bandit and becomes powerful.  He goes to help his sister before her sixth year and ends up with a harem (or will).

hacker Magician: Smoke is a Harry Potter fic where Harry is technologically savvy and learns how to hack magic.  He becomes Smoke in his fourth year and starts gathering a team to change the magical world.  All under Albus’ nose.

Triad: Elements of Balance is a multi-crossover with Naruto, DC Universe, Twilight and Harry Potter being the main ones.  Many girl-girl relationships in this one.  Bella becomes a mutant able to control the powers of the different Lanterns, Fem. Harry vows revenge when they try to marry her off to Ron and Fem Naruto abandons Konoha and then leaves the planet.  Yeah, it’s weird, but fun.

Stop the Monster is a Harry Potter story where Daphne Greengrass decides to help Fem Harry in fourth year.  She wants to stop Dumbles from controlling her.  Also, she likes her.  And Luna and Ginny also get together with Slytherins.

I Know Your Secret is a Harry Potter fic where Fleur knows Harry is a girl in disguise and decides to seduce her.  They create a school newspaper and use it to expose all of Dumbles and the other’s secrets.  It has a short (not complete) sequel called I know Your Secret 2: Foretold where Skulduggery Pleseant is introduced.  That is also the end of the quest, Haza!

Brother, My Brother is a Harry Potter & Final Fantasy VII crossover by sakurademonalchemist.  This is another one where it was in the compliation fic.  Genesis is Harry’s older brother who was accidentally sent to the world of FF VII.  Harry goes to find him and makes life better, and more interesting.  Now has three chapters.

Blood in the Water is Naruto fic by Umei no Mei.  Shisui is saved by an OC who is a Kiri ninja he knocked up.  This changes things.  It’s a crack-fic (meaning is going to be silly) and the author claims Shisui is Hoshigaki Shizuma’s father.

Mirror, Mirror is a Harry Potter one-shot by kb0.  It has Sirius asks a few questions and gets Harry to answer his mirror early.  This changes many things.

Rituals is a Harry Potter fic by Epeefencer.  Ginny is super smart at a young age and starts doing rituals to help and protect Harry.  Only the first chapter is out.

Yeah, that’s it for the week(s).  Sorry again, I’ll do my best so that it doesn’t happen again.  See you next week and May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!

One Year Anniversary of the Blog!

Hello readers!  As you could tell from the title of this post, today is the one year anniversary of my blog!  Thanks for everyone’s support over this year!  So much has happened, both with the blog and my life since then.  I’ll make it nice and long post for everyone today!

The HP: Wizard’s Unite app is having an event for the next few days in preparation for the start of Hogwarts (Sept 1st if you didn’t know).  You’ll be able to find a student from each of the houses to save out in the wild and following the event tasks and getting 5 Portkeys you’ll be able to get everything (it’s not hard, I just have the Portkeys left myself).  Also tomorrow is the Shiny Suicune event on PoGo.  For three hours all gyms will have Suicune and there’ll be a Shiny chance!

This week was mostly rereading stories that I’ll talk about later, but I did reread a little of Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion V2.  The new chapters this week are: Relic of the Future, The Unseen Hunt, Compass of thy Soul (Mon & Thurs), Mauling Snarks (Mon & Fri), Celestial Worm, Hybrid Hive: Eat Shard?, FateKaleid Prisma Taylor, Trail by Fire, Short Story Drabbles, New Beginnings & Famiglia Drabbles.

First, I’ll talk about a web novel, that’s now a light novel I’ve been reading called ‘I Said Make My Abilities Average!’  It’s about a genius recent high school graduate who died saving a young girl from being killed by ‘Trunk-kun’ (lol, it seems many isekai (transported other world) stories happen because of a trunk and now it’s a meme).  God allows her to be reincarnated with her memories because the girl she saved will help humanity later in life.  She asks for her abilities to be average because she received too much attention and sadness for being a genius.  Needless to say, God averaged everything from all races, not just humanity… Thus began Mile’s (her new name from a little while in) amusingly ‘average’ life.  It’s fun and will be animated soon!

I started reading Mirrored Dimensions as part of the Myrddin de Celestis Quest.  It’s a rewrite of Burst Realities with Stephanie from Skulduggery Pleasant series as his main girl instead of Ginny.  It’s okay, but pretty much the same as before.

I also read more (recently, not just this week) from White Angel of Auralon.  How Harry Turned Hogwarts Around is a Harry Potter fic where Harry goes back in time to make things better.  He gets a mastery in Potions and becomes the potion professor instead of Snape.  Things are changed, but it’s kinda bland.

Liliko is a one-shot Harry Potter and Naruto crossover.  Kushina is taken from her deathbed and dragged into past and deaged.  She’s forced in to the role of Lily Evans and eventually forced to marry James.  This is her story about trying to escape and return home.

Overheard Conversations is Harry Potter fic.  It’s a two-chapter year one fic where Harry overhears McGonagall and Flitwick talking about how he’s not trying hard enough and living up to his parents.  He takes this to heart and decides to change.

The Witches Conspiracy is another Harry Potter fic.  In it four women (Longbottom, McGonagall, Sprout and Figg) decide to help Harry before he goes to Hogwarts.  They invite him to an specialty school after his first report card.  He goes to school with Nevile and eventually others.  It goes through first year and is really interesting.

I also read some interesting Worm fics – Exodus is a Worm and Big Hero 6 crossover by Zaru.  Taylor at the end of Worm is cast into the realm where Hiro and Baymax are saving Calhan’s daughter.  They bring her back and she eventually recovers.  She joins them and things get interesting.  Yep, people start to trigger…

Taylor Hebert, magical girl at your service is a Worm fic with magical girl elements by Aurora Moon.  The ‘light’ Gods decide to help Earth win and infiltrate the Queen Administrator shard and make Taylor a magical girl while at camp.  It’s not far in and Taylor doesn’t really trust her animal guide, but it looks fun!

Jurassic Tinker is a Worm and Jurassic Park crossover by Geno515.  A DNA tinker Taylor ends up on another Earth be for Zion shows up.  She decides to help Hammond create his Jurassic Park.  When people start to trigger, she helps those she can.

Taking Control is a Harry Potter fic by fake a smile.  It’s a complete fic where Sirius helps Harry in his dreams to take control of his life after fifth year.  It’s a Harry/Ginny fic and Ron and Hermione aren’t their greatest selves in this fic.  Has slightly OP Harry, but not overly so.

Free Life is the sequel to Taking Control.  He’s taken control and now he’s free from Dumbledore, but Voldie is still around.  It was interesting but hasn’t been updated since 2011.  Sad since I read it long ago and was hoping for more.

I hadn’t mentioned it before, but I’m a singer.  I haven’t done much with it, but I went to a meeting of a barber shop quartet chorus this week.  It looks to be interesting.  Would y’all be interested in hearing me sing?  Leave a comment with a yay or nay.  If people are interested, I’ll see what I can do.

That’s all for this week.  Thanks again for a great year!  See you next week and as always May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key!