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 7^th 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!