Nothing here but my musings about daily life, books, anime, and food.
So I have been struggling with my PMS today. My head was hurting the whole day, my low back pain was a bitch, and of course, I was irritable. I managed to survive work. But it was a struggle for sure.
I got home, thinking I would just be lying in bed and pass out. But I decided against it. I wanted to hang out with my man. I mean, we were only able to spend some time together on Tuesday this week, which was not acceptable in my book.
We ended up watching a couple of episodes of The Case Study of Vanitas and three episodes of Haikyu!!
The Case Study of Vanitas. I do not know what it is about this anime, but I am struggling to be engaged with it. I mean Vanitas and Noe are good enough for sure and their dynamic is pretty interesting. I mean they are not friends whatsoever and they have a level of dislike for each other so I want to see the progression of their relationship as they work together. But the story is just so slow for me, at least at the moment. We are eight episodes in and I feel like there is nothing happening. For lack of a better word, the anime seems fluffy. Or there’s too much fluff that I do not really need. I mean this is a vampire anime, so I have expectations coming into it. There were some dark parts, which I liked, but there was just not enough going on right now. I would be really pissed if all the freaking story and action and all that stuff will be revealed in the last six episodes or something. The artwork is really good, the animation is really great, but damn, the story is dragging for me. Now, if they can just hit me with darkness and maybe little fight sequences here and there, I would be happy.
Haikyu!! Now, I am enjoying this anime a lot. The two main characters are great. Two different ends of the spectrum when it comes to attitude and volleyball experience, but I find myself cheering for them with their little successes. It’s character development in practically every episode. And I love that. I was laughing, I was cheering, I was clapping. I was engaged from the beginning. I find myself looking forward to how Hinata and Kageyama would overcome their difference to be an unstoppable duo in their volleyball team.
I also got to set up my reading spreadsheet tonight. Just a simple reading tracker in excel that can track whatever I want. I might want to use Notion for this too, but I just need to visualize it first before I consider creating a database for all my reading stuff. We shall see. Sounds like a big undertaking.
I am not one to crave things. Well actually, I tend to crave something salty and spicy on a certain week of the month. On top of the cravings, I also get really tired, in pain, and very irritable.
So where am I now? In bed, typing this using my phone because I have no energy to sit in front of my computer. I have been nursing a mild headache the whole afternoon. I even took a quick nap when I got home. Which kept the mild migraine at bay.
Right now, my brain is filled with thoughts of super salty fries, and some buffalo chicken wings. And also questioning why my 18 yr old dog is still so active right now. She’s been walking back and forth from her bed to the gate to the kitchen, it’s triggering my anxiety.
Also, I’m getting annoyed – my body cannot seem to decide if it’s hot or cold at the moment. It’s driving me insane since I cannot get comfortable. Obviously, my post has nowhere to go. So I am stopping here since I cannot think straight.
Today is the last day of my PTO and I would need to go back to work tomorrow. I am not happy about it. Because I really do not like going to work. Not that my being at work makes me any less lazy. Because it actually makes me lazier. Actually me not wanting to do anything. So, my work days – though I get shit done – are normally spent debating if I actually want to do anything or not. As I said, I get shit done, but begrudgingly.
My hun and I finished Castlevania and The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting. We continued watching The Case Study of Vanitas. And we started watching Haikyu!!
Castlevania. OH GOODNESS. Episode 9 – The Endings was so good. I mean, I already knew coming into it that the episode will be full of action sequences. Jesus. I was so happy to see my favorite trio back in action. Trevor, Sypha, and Adrian as a whole just work. I still love the fact that you can leave Sypha alone and she will carry her own in a fight. I love it. The ending of the episode was a shock but I was okay with it. Episode 10 – It’s Been a Strange Ride was more of a clean-up. And it was a really clean ending, wrapped in a bow. I think the only thing that I was missing was Isaac. We did not see him in these last two episodes. I mean I wanted to have a more concrete path for him since I personally think that he has the most character development in the entire series. Overall, I did enjoy the anime. I was engaged the whole time, and it was one of those things where I keep thinking “I want to know what will happen next”. I have a feeling though that this is the last season for this arc since Netflix announced Castlevania: Nocturne which is set in the future. Oddly, I am okay with it. Adrian is back with Sypha and Trevor, with a new path to move on to, Sypha and Trevor are going to be parents and decide to stay in a new village with Adrian. So I cannot complain.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting. This anime was a surprise. It was a ride. I came into this anime thinking that it will some kind of fun relaxed slice of life. And it was but damn, I was not expecting it to pull on my heartstrings. The last two episodes did hit hard for me. Toru Kirishima’s journey of finding who he is, accepting his past, and being okay with it – damn. Yaeka Sakuragi breaks out of her shell and starts to open up her world to other people. The anime is just so wholesome that it’s difficult not to feel for these two characters. I enjoyed it a lot, there were a lot of laughs, and there were tears. It was good. I do want a season 2. And it needs to be now. I feel like there is still some stuff left hanging by the end. No – there are definitely still some situations that need clearing up.
The Case Study of Vanitas. The anime as a whole is fun. I enjoy the backstories for sure. The fact of the matter is that this anime just goes from light-hearted to dark real quick. And I enjoy that, I’m just there for the ride. A romance seems to be blooming between Vanitas and Jeanne, which I am a little bit on defense about. But that is because I see Vanitas with Noe more. Them together make sense to me. I am still trying to understand what is going on between Noe and Domi, sure they were childhood friends but I don’t know. There was some consented blood drinking between the couples and I have no idea what made me so uncomfortable. But it did. Considering that I don’t shy away from those, it was a shock that I got really uncomfortable fast.
Since my hun and I finished Castlevania, he needed to pick a new anime to suggest. The first one that we tried was The Daily Life of the Immortal King. That didn’t last long. We stopped it five minutes in. My hun did not like how the female character was introduced – I’m assuming that she would’ve been an MC. So he decided to give Haikyu!! a chance. It was interesting. I mean you can already tell that it would be a character development anime. I mean, you have one character who kept on practicing volleyball even though his junior high had no volleyball team. And you have one character who has to learn how to play with a team. So I am excited about that. I mean, for the most part, these two characters are the ones who need to work together – a setter and a spiker. So we shall see. The anime for sure has promise.
I am still reading Guilty Pleasures. I am taking my time with it. But my hun suggested, if I am enjoying it, just keep on reading. So that’s what I’m going to do.
I was super lazy again today. I mean, I am always lazy so today was really no different. And honestly, if I do not have to do anything, I would gladly just stay in bed and do nothing. But alas, I needed to go to the store today for a little bit of grocery shopping.
And, to my surprise, the stores were crowded! I mean, it really should not have been. Why? People were not able to leave their houses since Friday because you know – the roads were icy! Any decent human being would not have left the house. Your car would have been an actual death trap. If you have TikTok, I’m pretty sure your FYP was swarming with Seattle ice storm shorts.
I have just been reading Guilty Pleasures as well today. I am not flying through it, I stop every chapter. I am taking my time on this one. I might end up reading nonstop tonight. This would be the last night that I can stay up late so I will take advantage. I will be back to work on Wednesday morning. So yeah,
The first time I read this book was in 2007 or 2008 I think. It has been a while. And now there are about 20-something books out in this series. I think I stopped reading after finishing book 9. I think I got pretty busy with life. But I remember enjoying the series so I just made a decision to just continue with the it.
And yes, when I got to the chapter where Jean-Claude was introduced, I swooned. I mean, that was no surprise. I remember having the same reaction before so there is just no way that my reaction would be different now. The thing that’s funny though was the fact that there was not much description of his physical attributes during that introduction, so I was surprised why I was so smitten right away. But I was. I think it was really more on the fact that he is a master vampire. Who knows. All I know is just I’m smitten with Jean-Claude. If I remember correctly, there will be a list of vampires that I will be smitten with as the series goes on.
I am also debating if I want to read another series alongside this one. Back then I was reading Dresden Files while also reading The Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. I might just read a one-off novel alongside each book from Anita Blake. Reading two series at a time might be a bit too much for me – I honestly think that’s what burned me out years ago. Who knows. Not set in stone. I do need a palate cleanser. I can’t just tackle a huge series like Anita Blake without something to break it with.
First off, Merry Christmas. Or Happy Holidays. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you had a good one. Mine was lazy, which was not a surprise since I really did not make any plans to do anything. And thank goodness my day was practically free today. I did not sleep last night, I went to bed at 5:30 AM and did not wake up until 11 AM. It was awesome.
I was up all night last night reading Darling Girl. The goal was to finish the book today, which I did. And that felt nice since I have not been able to read a book in months. So this was an accomplishment. I have my misgivings about this book, not going to lie. There were issues in the story that I think was not justified – at least to me. But I continued reading because the premise of the book was enjoyable. Regardless of how I felt about the book and certain situations in the story, I was engaged the whole time. So I cannot really fault the book too much.
After reading, I took a nap. I did not wake up until it was time to feed the dogs and cook dinner. I made some fried chicken and pesto pasta. And really just chilled the night away. Chris and I decided to watch Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the Musical and Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.
Matilda. The musical is definitely darker than the book and the 1996 movie. The chorus of kids was amazing. The first thing that came to my head was “where the heck did they get all these kids”. I mean, it was definitely the chorus numbers that made this musical for me. Not to discount the solo performances, which were good as well, I just preferred the group numbers.
Beauty, and the Beast. I would watch this regardless of who the lead is, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney princess movie. But it did not hurt that the person they chose to play Belle is of Filipino heritage. The fact that of the matter that she was able to represent her heritage by having “Bel” embroidered on her apron in Babayin, an ancient Philippine script. That was cool. It was awesome. It was nice to hear a Disney princess getting a deeper cooler voice compared to what we are accustomed to. Honestly, all the talents chosen for the singing parts were really good. I enjoyed it.
Personally, this was a really nice way of celebrating Christmas. I mean, it really is just another day to me, but hey, cannot complain about having a long weekend because of it. I am also searching for my next read. I think I’m going for a re-read right now. Thinking of picking up Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton, the first book in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.
Today was certainly lazy. Since I finished a lot of my chores yesterday, I was free to pretty much do what I want today. And that is exactly what I did.
I slept in – granted I slept late last night. But to actually be in bed until closer to 11 AM was nice. I actually really enjoyed it. Granted the dogs ate a lot later than their normal time, but it was fine. Me sleeping in rarely happens.
I was able to read Darling Girl significantly today. And I really have some issues with the story. I found myself aggravated about so many things that I kept finding myself slamming the book repeatedly on my table and just making really frustrated noises. Chris even heard me from her room and had to ask me what was wrong. And all I said was this book is frustrating. I have not liked the main character like this. The decisions, the morality, just the character itself is just uuuggghhh. And then, I better not see a freaking romance arc here between the MC and the PI. But I’m already calling it. And I am not looking forward to it. I am not one to shy away from romance but Jesus, when I read that two-page hint that there could be a romance arc coming, all I could think of was “are you fucking kidding me”.
My hun and I hang out today, and we watched some episodes of some anime that we are watching – Castlevania, The Case Study of Vanitas, and The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting.
Castlevania. Isaac’s character development was amazing. The way he conquered Styria. My goodness. And he changed. From season 1 until recently, he just accepted the fact that he will die. I mean regardless of him being a trusted lieutenant by Dracula and going along with the plan of killing the human race, he never expected to live. But now, he wants that for himself. He wants to live his life. His main goal before was fueled by revenge but now it was getting rid of evil so that people can live. It was amazing.
Hector too. I mean sure, it might not be as significant as Isaacs but the way he took accountability. The courage shown when he faced Isaac knowing that he will die. His decision to help with reviving Dracula was fueled by guilt and Isaac explained that he already suffered the consequences of that betrayal. And Hector really did. And for him to be able to just voice out what he actually wants to do with his life. Yeah.
The Karen that is Carmilla is now dead. And honestly, sure I love the Isaac fighting sequences, but I really think that was too good of a sequence for a very useless character. And yes, I will continue to think of her as such. She did not do anything in this series. I’m sorry. She is very entitled and unlikeable. She dreamed. That’s it. The fruition of those dreams, the planning, and the execution fell on the other three – Striga, Morana, and Lenore. Carmilla was a waste of space.
And Saint Germain can die now, but a very anti-climactic death, please.
I swear, this series did Adrian so dirty. Being used, being manipulated, and he can’t seem to get a break from it either.
The Case Study of Vanitas. Vanitas just surprises me, to be honest. He is a character for sure. Very animated. I mean, he just kisses Jeanne, the Hellfire Witch. But honestly, I feel like that is just him toying with her, but still. I am really interested in Noe for sure. I mean, he is a vampire so yeah, my being interested more in him is a given. I do enjoy his flashbacks. And hopefully, we get to see some of Vanitas’ past as well.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting. Yaeka planning Kirishima’s birthday party was just adorable. And everyone in the Sakuragi family was involved in making sure he didn’t find out anything about it. From Sugihara trying to confine him in a room with the rest of the group to watch a scary movie to Kazuhiko Sakuragi trying to distract him into a conversation about anime, just so Yaeka has enough time to set up everything. She even gave Kirishima a drawing of him. So sweet. We also got to see a backstory about how Kazuhiko and Miyuki met and how they started dating.
I honestly do not know what is up with this character, Yuri Mashiro. I do not understand his goal – just to antagonize Kirishima and try to bring back the old him. The last few panels of episode 10 were a bit hard to watch. Because I actually saw Kirishima revert back to who he was before he started babysitting Yaeka. It was a bit concerning since he came such a long way.
Anyway, what the plan for the rest of the night? Well, read some more. I have no other plans, just chill and read some more of Darling Girl. I guess, get annoyed even more. I just want to see how the MC will handle the consequences of the decisions she made.
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