I Needed a Break

How I'm surviving the Administrative Nightmare of the Millennium.

I know, I know. I’ve been missing in action for a couple of months. I had to take a break from the constant barrage of political crap that’s being flung around everywhere I look, everywhere on social media, SubStack included. So, to give you all a brief glance into the life of a real-life magical girl, I thought I’d let you peek inside my private dwelling space (of my mind, not my room!) so you can see what I’ve been up to lately. Most people are going to stop reading here, because, honestly… who cares, right? Well, you do! Right? RIGHT?!

I took a step back and focused on a passion that I’ve had for over twenty years. Foruming. (I guess I just made a new word. Awesome. $0.05 please!) Anyway, I’ve worked quite a bit on my own little anime, role playing, fan fiction, creative writing community (of like one member, me—shameless plug!!!) of adding new themes/skins, content, features (like an arcade), and generally reorganizing the site. If you’re interested in checking it out, or perhaps becoming a free member to my ultra secret otaku hangout fan-club, well, the link is here. I’ve also been digging through the Internet Archive and grabbing all the posts from my first site, Ayeka’s Bliss (may she rest in piece) — (Yes, I know it’s misspelled, on purpose! LOL) So, until I figure out a way to clean up the mess when I’m finished resurrecting the dead, there’s a lot of posts from like 2006 showing up as Recent. Just … deal with it!

I also recently started playing with a new piece of software, known as Scrivener, and I have to say, although I purchased this a very long time ago, it’s sat on my hard drive for months collecting dust— like the pile of digital anime I downloaded years ago, but that’s beside the point, anyway, it’s turning out to be the best $59 I ever spent. I discovered that I don’t need to plan out my fictions with an old fashioned outline like I used to do in school. Instead, I can create Scenes using Note Cards. Whenever I have an idea for a scene, I can write a little synopsis describing what I want to write, and then I can just go to town and write (apparently I’m always been more of a panster style of writer). It creates the outline for me, and I can rearrange the Note Cards and it connects these scraps together into a cohesive story! Obviously, I still need to write out the connection bits between scenes, but I’m finding that’s a lot easier than trying to draft an entire outline before I begin writing—and then the characters will drag me away from my outline anyway as they end up writing the story. Does that happen to any of you? Probably not. But then again, I am crazy.

Why did I bring up Scrivener in the first place? Because I’m writing yet another fan fiction! I just can’t seem to get away from the fanfic scene, despite having my own original story that I should be working on. Anyway, I digress. So, I’ve got three Magical Girls. My main protagonist, Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (whom I’ll write in the first person perspective, as I always enjoy to), Skuld from Ah! My Goddess, although, she’s not truly a magical girl, is she? Eh, who cares. And Sasami from Magical Project S, a spinoff of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. She debuted in Tenchi Universe Time and Space Adventures. Anyway, these three girls will have to work together to save the Universe from the erasure of Magic itself, the possibility of reality being rewritten by a rogue computer subroutine, while trying to undo the PANTIES system trapping them there, and enduring the chaos and absolute madness within the realm of Excel Saga and the world domination plans of ACROSS— okay, city domination.

All of this awesome plotness because I wanted a cool forum signature graphic… Goddess, I’m such a pathetic loser! LOL Anyway, I had to do some research. This involved watching every episode of Magical Project S and Excel Saga (again), and as more time passes between having some free time to sit and actually write, the more I’m brainstorming crazy plot points, like inserting other characters into this story, like Ranma and even the Sailor Senshi. I did mention I’m crazy. And I’ve already developed a significant outline of scenes within Scrivener. The best $59 bucks I spent! I just wish it worked on my Android.

Even writing this article, I’m realizing that my true passion in this God-forsaken world is to be a fiction writer. Maybe not even a good one, but just somebody who entertains others with my creativity. It’s a shame you can’t earn money by writing fan fiction— at least enough to cover the basic cost of living expenses. Oh well. I can dream about the possibility of Universal Basic Income being developed and rolled out to the Ignorant Masses (as Il Palazzo claims), I know I seem to be one, anyway. Until that day, I’ll continue to slave away at the cash register two hours away from home for the majority of my productive hours.

Well, back to brainstorming I go!