Author: atthequillsmercy

atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Rainbows After Storms” Vol. 11, by Luka Kobachi

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Chidori helps Nanoha study but when Nanoha makes a new friend, Minami, Chidori get jealous of her taking up Nanoha’s time.

Minami is the vehicle used to fine out how Chidori and Nanoha met. They also have a date for Chidori’s birthday and head into Summer break. As with other volumes, this is just a sweet slice of life with very little drama. I like that the addition of Minami was just adding another nice person to the group. It’s just sweet to see this couple together in a fairly healthy relationship. 4 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: I don’t do April Fools

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I’ve been editing the completed manuscripts over the last week, but I’ve also resumed working on First Brood 4: Emma. Shelley (my Freewrite Traveler) has three spots. I’m using one for Emma, one for short smut, and the last for Dewey. Sure, I’ll crank out the short erotica to make some extra cash (I need it, I have no Patrons, and there won’t be any OT in the summer), but I need to work on things that make me happy for a while. 

  • Emma: 17,515
  • Smut: 161
  • Dewey: 15,778

I went back and forth between editing and writing today. That’s why the numbers aren’t that impressive. I’d like to finish both those big novels this year since I have book 5 in the First Brood series cooking in the back of my head already. Not that this series is super popular, but I love working on it. I started that back when I was a teenager, and somehow, it’s been a constant in my brain ever since. I did post the chapters of Emma I have so far on Patreon if anyone would like to see what it’s all about.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: I am such a nerd

We’re switching things up today and starting with what I ate:

Yes, I fell for the K-Pop Demon Hunters meals. I left for work early for the Saja Boys breakfast and stopped on the way home for the Huntrix ‘dinner’ meal. I… Okay, I don’t eat fast food very often. Contrary to my waistline, I eat McD’s once or twice a YEAR. Wendy’s can be quarterly, I haven’t been to Taco Bell in like… 5 years, I think? So, on the rare occasions when I do eat it, my system feels like this:

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Most of my meals are my own cooked food, leftovers of that food, or takeout from local places that I eat for three days. I am NOT used to 600 calorie breakfasts and 800 calorie dinners. I average 900 a DAY because of the Saxenda. It may seem boring to you, but I don’t even drink soda. I have water, seltzer water, or unsweetened teas (if not a cocktail or beer). Yeah, the meals were kinda cool, I satisfied my FOMO, and now I can go back to never eating this stuff because I feel SO SICK. I can see how this stuff makes you fat even if you workout, because I feel so sluggish and bloated. It was kinda worth it because I don’t have to do it again. I doubt they’ll do another promotion with a property that I made my entire personality for a few months.

I’m supposed to take a running day off, but when I was putting my food into MyFitnessPal, I knew I was gonna at least take a long walk. I propped up my iPad and ignored the timer until I hit 40 minutes. It helped the guilt of eating so much fast food in one day, but I still feel like crap. I’m gonna eat so light tomorrow… Why the fuck did I do this…

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Getting back to normal

I really hope I’m not jinxing myself when I say I’m getting back into running very slowly. Believe it or not, you’re not supposed to do strenuous workouts the first week after a tooth extraction because the increased blood flow could knock out the blood clot from the wound. The human body is such a disgusting miracle… I was taking it very easy. I don’t want to mess up and have to stop again. I do feel pretty good, even after moving a couch out of the house and to the curb. The thing was disgusting. So glad it’s finally gone.

Since I can eat normal food again (as long as I chew on the opposite side of the wound), I am sticking with thin-sliced or ground meat, steaming the vegetables a little longer than I’d like, and chopping the lettuce thin for salads. The infection is completely gone, and I’m almost done with my antibiotics. I am sincerely hoping this means my luck is turning around. I just need a couple months of normalcy, for fucks sakes…

I also got to try those viral Chloe’s Giant Cookies. They’re really good! Each one is six servings at 130-140 calories per serving. I tried the Lemon, Lava Cake, and Red Velvet and while it will probably take me forever to finish these, I wouldn’t mind getting more! I have other flavors on the way (Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream) and I’ll let you know if they’re any good.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life” Vol. 7, by Miyu Morishita

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Yutaka is doing a lot if inner work on his feelings and making friends; including his student council duties and helping Tsumiki make Valentine’s Day treats.

Much like with Komi, Tsumiki’s earnest and positive attitude is so refreshing and nice to read. I would like to know more about other beings – Raizen’s portion was interesting – but our main two are adorable. You can tell Tsumiki is working slyly to help Yutaka. 4 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Centuria” Vol. 3, by Tohru Kuramori

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Angvall is forced into an impossible choice: obey the orders from the empire she’s pledged her life to, or protect her found family.

This does feel like an Oedipus situation (minus the incest) where by desperately trying to avoid a dismal fate, they’re running headlong into it. Elstri is so certain that Diana will destroy the kingdom, but maybe hunting her down and killing those she loves would give her good reason to? But she’s a zealot and this keeps the story going. It’s still action packed and gives us more characters with other powers. I am super hooked and if you’re into dark fantasy, this series (so far) does not disappoint. 4 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Shinobi Undercover” Vol. 2, by Ippon Takegushi & Santa Mitarashi

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Yodoka is still guarding Aoi as they go through normal high school events like a sports festival and the school camping trip. All the while, battling those who seek to capture Aoi.

This really feels like a slice of life, YA, high school romance with ninjas clumsily grafted onto it. As a result, the original premise feels muddled. Right now, they’re just lobbing new enemies at us while sprinkling in high school drama. It’s not bad but not as amusing as I’d hoped. I hope it comes together in the next volume so it feels more like a cohesive story. 3 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Half Is More” Vol. 1 by Yoiko Fujimi

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Kazumi Mandanda and her brother, Yoneyama, are Japanese and Black (French Black to be specific). Although they have lived in Japan their entire lives, they struggle with being seen as outsiders, handling this in very different ways.

This starts with Kazumi and her brother, then branches off to the other mixed race friends she has and all the complicated feelings around this weird limbo mixed people life in. Now, I’m a mixed race person in America, where it’s a melting pot and a lot of people look different. Getting the “What are you?” is common, nobody ever guessing what mix you are correctly, getting mistaken for every race but the ones you are… Super fun in the way it’s really fucking not. I’m sure it’s a billion times worse in a homogenous place like Japan. I won’t go into all the shit I’ve been through, but I can totally empathize with a lot of what happens in this book. It’s not a DEEP dive, but it gets the point across. 4 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: I cannot EVEN

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Since nothing in my life can just happen without a meandering, dramatic plot full of twists and turns that nobody fucking asked for, the infection that my cracked tooth had seemed to have migrated to the bottom tooth. I called the dentist and told him that I had an abscess and he said to just rinse with salt water and if it’s still there, call him tomorrow. Even though I said it’d been there since Monday… That it went back and forth between hard and soft and was leaking puss at various times.

Not the best flavor, I can tell you.

I was so fucking annoyed that I immediately looked up the nearest urgent care and the doctor there? She was so nice. She did warn me that my blood pressure was high (I am stressed the fuck out) but gave me the antibiotics to kill whatever the fuck is going on in my mouth. She took a look at the bump and said “Yeah, that’s infected.”

Ya know… What the dentist probably should have done? Even if he thinks I’m being paranoid, what if I’m not and there’s a real problem?

At least the doctor said that the actual extraction site is healing well. Just in time for there to be a recall on my car!

I’m gonna need life to stop life-ing for like… Six months. Give me six months of some fucking peace.

Whatever. Here’s the counts:

  • Long Smut: 19,579 (completed, may add more in the editing process)
  • Short Smut: 4,135 (completed, may add more in the editing process)
  • Dewey: 15,779 (still untouched) 

I’ll be editing while I wait for the car to eat my tax return (if I even get it in time to pay for that) and from now on, I won’t be working on more than one smutty project at a time. Yes. I am aware those are my money makers but I still would like to continue my dark fantasy/dystopian projects.

Since I’m a week out from the actual extraction, I can get back to any sort of activity like biking or walking. I’m working my way back up to running but hey, I can write with lower intensity workouts! I’ll get more words in that way. And it being so late in the day for me, just one dose of antibiotics helped that disgusting postule go down. Almost like the dentist should have listened to me…

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “A Man Who Defies the World of BL” Vol. 5, by Konkichi

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Our main character is still dodging various BL tropes but Hataro keeps popping up and threatening to break his avoidance streak.

I like the idea of this new unknown element but it took quite awhile to get there. Not that I want this to fall into the “gay for you” or “bi awakening” trope, since our MC is straight with no desire to change that. I think it’s more interesting if he stays straight while navigating this strange isekai because those two are BL tropes as well. But still, where is this going? Is he going to try to escape this world? So strange… 3 out of 5.

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