Sweet Dreams

1. List of fics completed this year:

Sailor Moon
High School Memory (Spirit of Fire side story)
The Longest Night (Spirit of Fire side story)

Fruits Basket
The Next Step

And though the question asks for completed fics, I’m going to add my WIPs: Friends With Benefits (Kaleido Star), Metamorphosis (Sailor Moon), Stolen Dreams (Sailor Moon).

2. Number of words written: Just counting the completed stories…about 9,700, but that’s kind of cheating because I wrote half of The Next Step years ago.

3. Your most popular fic: That I’ve written this year? None of them were popular. Or rather, they were equally unpopular with just one or two reviews.

4. Your personal fav: Can I pick from my WIPs? Because I really love what I’ve written of Metamorphosis so far. But from the completed fics, probably High School Memory?

5. Your fav scene: Again, my favorite scenes are from my WIPs, but if I had to choose from the completed stories, I would probably pick either the discussion between Saburo and Keitaro at the hospital in The Longest Night or Hiro freaking out over Hatsuharu’s “gift” in The Next Step.

6. A fic or scene that challenged you: The last scene of The Longest Night. I’m still not entirely happy with it, but writing argumentative scenes is not really my strong suit… Honestly, part of the reason I originally skipped this part in Spirit of Fire was because I didn’t want to write the scene where Saburo disowns Takara!

7. A line of writing you’re proud of: I wouldn’t necessarily say I'm proud of this line, but it just really amuses me because Keitaro rarely gets the chance to be snarky. I’m going to post a few lines to give it some context with the line in question bolded.

Now, this part from “The Longest Night” would probably be my choice for the writing I’m most proud of from this year’s completed stories. I just really like the image of the cup floating in front of Keitaro’s face because he can’t really see well without his glasses.

And, as a bonus, here’s an excerpt from Metamorphosis that I really like:

8. A comment that touched you: Like I mentioned before, I haven’t received many reviews for my new stories, but BlueLion and The Time Traveler have been long time fans of my stories, so I was really happy to see their reviews!

9. Something that inspired your writing: I can’t think of anything in particular that inspired the actual stories, but I credit @floraone’s stories for reminding me how good fanfiction can be and inspiring me to start writing again.

10. Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc): Honestly, the fact that I’m just writing again is my proudest accomplishment! I was really burned out when I decided to quit a couple of years ago and didn’t think I would ever write again, so I’m really happy I feel inspired again, even if sometimes it feels like I’ve lost all my talent…

And, what the heck, let's just do the other meme, too!

I have to say this season was pretty...lackluster. Granted, several of the shows I really wanted to watch ended up on stupid Anime Strike, meaning I couldn't watch them, but it seems like I wasn't missing much from what I've heard. The best shows this season were continuations of series I already liked -- Sakura Quest, My Hero Academia, and Hell Girl (well, at least the six new episodes we got). Even they weren't quite as good as the previous seasons, though.

Thoughts on the rest:

Gamers! - The parts where they actually focused on gaming were fantastic, but, oh, my, gosh, the way all the characters would misinterpret pretty much anything related to romance (often in the stupidest of ways) drove me nuts! And, unfortunately, the romantic plots took up most of the show. I really wish the romance had been handled better, because the show actually was pretty funny with a good cast of characters, but...argh! Too many misunderstandings! Still, probably my favorite of the "new" shows.

Restaurant to Another World - Good, but VERY repetitive. I don't necessarily mind formulaic shows, but when each episode is cut into two acts that have basically the same simple plot, just with different characters, it's a bit much. The best episodes were the ones that broke the formula, especially the ones that focused on Aletta (the demon waitress). I will say that all the food looked and sounded delicious, though!

Elegant Yokai Apartment Life - This show should have been better than it was, but the pacing was really weird in the beginning, and it didn't really become interesting until a certain item was introduced halfway through the season. Even then, I still wouldn't call it great...just a little better than the first few episodes.

18if - I actually wasn't going to watch this after reading the Preview Guide at ANN, thinking it wasn't really my kind of show, but then I came  across a .gif of the figure skater who stars as the "witch" of the fifth episode. Well, of course I had to check it out after that! (Learning that characters are figure skaters -- even if they're just minor or one-shot characters -- is a great way to get me interested in a show/movie/book. Led me to checking out Ginban Kaleidoscope, Yuri on Ice, Tiger & Bunny, Diamond Daydreams, Kaleido Star, The Cherry Project, Sugar Princess...probably a few others I can't think of at the moment.) The verdict? It turns out my original instinct was right. Some of the episodes were good, but others were pretty bad, even downright nonsensical. (Each episode had a different director, all who apparently were told they could do whatever the heck they wanted with their episode.) Even the figure skating episode was kind of a let down.

Oh, well, at least the new season looks much more promising. If they have a free legal stream, I'd like to check out Black Clover, Kino's Journey - The Beautiful World (second season), Classicaloid (second season), Ancient Magus' Bride, Anime-Gataris, and March Comes In Like a Lion (second season).