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atthequillsmercy

WIP Wednesday: Editing!

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I’m up to three finished rough drafts, as well as parts to edit to post on Patreon. That means no real word counts of note to post. The good news is (is not having word counts ” bad news?) that I am aiming to post again on my Patreon this month. I am still tweaking my page. I’d like a better description and more art, but that’s not the most important part. The most important part is getting more books out.

Also, I’d like to thank everyone once again who has purchased my work during the Smashwords Sale. I really hope you enjoy them!

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atthequillsmercy

Workout Dump: Stuck but still trying!

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I am doing my best to not only continue going on the treadmill in this heat, but incorporating more strength training aside for my morning and evening 60 squats. Parts of me that I’m not used to are sore but I welcome it. I did have to redo a workout since the heat was so bad, I missed an interval but today, I made it!

I’m also trying out more types of meals so I’m not eating the same thing every day. I honestly don’t mind my usual Itaki meals. This way, I can get different nutrients and eat a wider variety of vegetables. Garlic scapes came back so of course I made chimichurri again. And when I made a sandwich with that bagel, I was too lazy to put away whatever tomato didn’t fit on it and just ate the whole thing. I doubt its such a bad thing to eat more vegetables. I’m also on a baby broccoli/broccolini trend right now. Just, again, to switch things up a bit. I’m still stuck around 206 and that will probably go up a little while I build muscle. I can tell by body is changing because I wore a crop top in public and nobody’s eyes starting melting out of their heads from the horror. Things are looking up!

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Steel of the Celestial Shadows” Vol. 10, by Daruma Matsuura

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

Aki and Tsuki travel to the bowels of the village where those who have harmed others when their powers manifested are sealed away. They want to enlist their help to finally defeat Toki.

Oh, this volume has so many twists and turns. It feels like it’s over way too soon. While it may not be battle heavy, there’s plenty of plot to chew on. We get some interesting intrigue around what Aki has seen in her visions, as well as Toki’s backstory. She’s a classic twisted child villain and unapologetically evil. This series continues to explore all these angles I’d never considered and I’m really enjoying it. 4 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Fist of the North Star” Vol. 18, by Buronson & Tetsuo Hara

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

In this volume, Ken faces Emperor Balan, who despises the gods due to his lost love. Then Ken searches for Rin and Bat and after Ken loses his memories, they have to help him.

This really feels like the conflict doesn’t start or actually matter until the main character gets there to fix it. He’s more of a catalyst for the plot to happen rather than feeling like we’re following him on a journey. And Ken is so overpowered, he just punches through or wags his finger at the enemy, and then it’s over. I feel like I know his story, but I don’t know who he is, if that makes any sense. The people around him are more interesting to me as they seem to grow and change, while Ken is pretty much the same. It’s okay I just expected more from such a classic. 3 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Boy’s Abyss” Vol. 10, by Ryo Minenami

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.

While in Tokyo with Chako and Gen, Reiji visits Esemori in the hospital, where he’s dying of cancer.

It seems the misery is cyclical, and I am so tired of this series trying to make me feel bad for horrible people. Yeah, your tragic back story is quite moving, Yuko, but that’s no excuse to, oh, I dunno… Encourage an adult woman’s obsession with your barely legal son? This poor kid has nobody in his corner, and as much as I’d like for this to end in triumph for Reiji, with him breaking the cycle, I don’t have high hopes for that. I get the feeling the sadness will just keep going, and as a reader, the payoff will likely be just the desperate need to go read something more positive. 3 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: Success!

While I enjoy the intervals because I can take a drink of water more often, I was able to complete the 20 minute run! It wasn’t that bad and remember; I don’t go very fast. I run at only 3.5 mph. It’s just enough to get my heartrate up and I can keep that pace for long periods of time.

Since I got up early-ish, I had a protein shake before my run. I have no idea if that impacted my performance but I doubt it. Lunch was more of that chicken and rice I made and dinner was my Itaki. All in all, a damn successful day! My macros were decent, I topped 7,000 steps, and I got a bit of writing done around my work. I’ll take any win I can get these days.

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atthequillsmercy

Lenni Reviews: “Battle Royale: Enforcers” Vol. 3, by Koushun Takami & Yukai Asada

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is for mature readers.

The various squads of children deal with their deadly predicament in different ways, either embracing the chance to kill, abhorring the violence, or coming to terms with the hopelessness of their situation.

This volume cycles through each group who, as stated, are all handling things differently. I think the group that’s painting their faces and acting super edgy (very The Jokerz) were a bit silly. Even when they’re threatening violence, I couldn’t quite take them seriously. As such, there’s not much battling going on. It’s mostly talking and strategizing with the resident loony character committing the only violence in the book. It’s not bad but if you’re looking for a bloody mess, this isn’t it. 3.9 out of 5.

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atthequillsmercy

Patreon Hiatus

Since it’s the holidays, I’m taking a break from posting to Patreon until January! I don’t have any patrons right now so I don’t need to pause anything but I will refund anyone if they do sign up.

atthequillsmercy

Today’s “Workout”: NYCC Day Two

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Today was a shorter day. My kid wasn’t really into it and again, I wasn’t able to find as many panels I wanted to go to… That weren’t happening at the same time. I did cosplay this time but it was my Luna cosplay from last year. Nothing fancy. Tomorrow, I’m doing a new character that my kid isn’t going also cosplay from this show because he didn’t prepare for this year at all. Usually there’s a point where he’s dressed up and I’m not so, this is a rare reversal.

If someone can identify the character in the second picture, that’d be great. I’m totally feeling the second day slump. I didn’t really eat much. The kid whined enough for Javitz food and I ended up picking at their sandwich and chips (for $16 fucking dollars for a small sandwich – SMALLER THAN LAST YEAR – I better get a couple bites) and I think being out and about all day makes me less hungry because that was fine for me till dinner, where I will freely admit I just ordered some Thai food. I’m exhausted. This is partly why NYCC is always such an expensive weekend.

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atthequillsmercy

Today’s Workout: A Little Much

wp-17291227427055394450536277861737I decided to do the bike earlier today. I had an appointment with a patron that went very well (almost too well? I’m not used to good things happening) but I was still doing other work while biking. I can’t help but multitask. I have a problem. This is why my hands hurt all the time.

I thought I didn’t need breakfast when I got up but once I got to work, I felt peckish. I keep some of the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Biscotti at my desk for just such occasions. For lunch, I had the Itaki and dinner was a half chicken from Butcher Box and the last of the roasted vegetables. I am not the biggest fan of Butcher Box’s pre-prepped options. The chicken tasted a little too spicy for me and I think I would have been happier with something I made myself. It was kinda… Oily? And I didn’t add any oil when I cooked it. The kid liked it but they love spicy things. To the point where I’ve had to deliberately not buy things like Takis for the sake of my plumbing.

Tomorrow is the first day of NYCC. My diet and activity will be chaotic for the duration, I can assure you. I don’t tend to eat at the con unless my kid is with me because I don’t enforce my eating habits on my kid and the food there is damn expensive. I don’t even ask my job to reimburse me; almost like a punishment for being dumb enough to get swindled. I’ll try to keep updated here but I make no promised. I am technically working. We’ll see.

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