Now, back to debating with myself whether to switch to tags or stick with categories…

Why haven’t I posted? Well, it started with a decision to focus my limited time and energy on finishing One Hundred Days. Which I did, though it took a long time, then promptly came to the conclusion, with the help of some constructive criticism from the FFML, that the ending sucked and needed to be rewritten. This has taken… a long time, and still is not quite finished, in large part because promptly after finishing the first draft that limited time and energy was all but completely consumed by work on my thesis prospectus. I even quit WoW for a while!

But now that’s done, and while the actual research will be time-consuming, but not so draining on my writing energies. Hopefully.

Plus, I was bored. And curious to see if anyone would actually see and comment on this post.

I suppose the next order of business should probably be to update WordPress and the Tarski theme.

Now I can get back to work on One Hundred Days. And maybe even some content for this blog.

• What’s the difference between the first chapter of a fanfiction I’m not going to read more of and the latest story-arc in Naruto? One swiftly and clumsily eliminates old characters, introduces a host of new characters including a new love interest for a pre-existing character, in a burst of enthusiasm boosts said pre-existing character to new, unrivaled heights of power with little regard to explanation or logic, and generally fails to generate any interest in where the story is going. The other I frequently encounter on Fanfiction.Net.

Record of Lodoss War

• This anime is way, way more boring than I remember it being. I never got around to watching the second half.
• The only amusing bit is noting just how obvious it is that this is based on someone’s D&D campaign.
• Okay, and marveling at how it starts in media res, then promptly goes back in time and tells the long, boring beginning in full detail. Then, when it reaches the point where the mission the characters were on (but did not complete) in the first episode begins, it jumps forward to after that mission, leaving the various very important events and revelations to be slowly revealed in flashback.
• The first time I watched the show, I spent almost ten minutes trying to find the episode I’d accidentally skipped.
• The art is occasionally very pretty, though.

American Comics (About Which No One Reading This Really Cares)

• I’ve been on something of a comics… um… acquiring binge, lately. Exploring DC seriously for the first time, really. Lots of good stuff there, though plagued with many of the same sort of stupid editorial decisions, “big crossover event”-driven plotting, and occasionally just plain bad writing as Marvel.
• Speaking of Marvel, at least the books spinning out of Civil War have been fairly well-done and interesting, even if that event was… not. The pro-registration side is still direly in need of a more favorable portrayal, though, even in their own books.

Claymore Anime

• The first episode has aired. Like the manga, it starts off a little weak, but it was well-done. I’m looking forward to the rest.

This Post…

• …has a lot of categories.

Aaron Nowack…

• …is lazy, and hasn’t posted to this blog or worked seriously on his fanfiction in too long.

I don’t know if anyone’s interested, but I’ve gotten involved in an interesting discussion of the Civil War here and here.

my first thought was: “I didn’t know Steven followed American comics at all.”

Incidentally, both linked articles are worth reading if you’re interested in the Civil War that was about slavery, rather than the one that involved superheros punching each other over a thinly-veiled poor allegory of the Patriot Act.

Real content coming soon. I promise.

Mainly, I’ve been trying – and failing – to work on my fanfiction (though I recently managed to get another scene out). Also, most of the stuff I’ve been watching the past week or so has been a little outside the scope of this blog, and more importantly I haven’t had much to say about it. Short version: Teen Titans Season One – obviously a kids show, but still funny and good; Ultimate Avengers – decent, but not great, and not nearly as good as the comics it was based on.

Posts you can look forward to, or dread as the case might be: Record of Lodoss War (my current watching project), Master of Epic: the Animation Age (which Steven’s posts about convinced me to give a shot), and possibly something on the past few chapters Naruto manga once I figure out what I think about them. And probably some other stuff.

And with that, I’m signing off, not to return until I have some actual content to post.

Posting has been very light lately, mainly because I’ve spent my time trying (and failing) to get cracking on finishing the last chapter of One Hundred Days.