March 30th | Weekly Wrap Up #13

I didn't post a weekly wrap up last week because I just - still wasn't reading anything and so I'm glad to report I finished a book this week! *super hero stance*

Okay, in all seriousness, though, my inability to just read is still driving me a little crazy even though I have finally read a full book. Not a comic or a whatever, a book book. I'm so stupidly proud of this. Also this week I just put together videos/blogs/random stuff because I didn't have a lot of some, more of others.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios (4/5)
Cute, also heartbreaking. I'm really glad I read this, and I'm really glad it's out there (especially in YA) but I still felt like there were some glossed over things. Saying that - I'm also not sure that isn't unrealistic. Overall, I enjoyed it, really loved the characters, and it actually broke my heart a little.

I don't know what I'm going to start next, but I've got a ton of single issues that I'd like to binge through (especially as I have more coming, no regrets). I'd also like to finish some of the books I've been currently reading for a month or more, but I'm not going to be annoyed at myself if I picked up something else, like with I'll Meet You There.

Cool Stuff I've Liked:
If you only click on one link to watch - Great Science Fiction Authors. A fantastic person overall, great channel. And a really great video about (whoops all female, ayooo) SciFi authors!

Books To Help You Get Back Into Reading - books. I haven't taken any of her recs for this, but the video itself helped. Personally, though, I'm just trying to get to a reading slump.

Anime 808 (Nanalew / Shawna) - how I adore her and this series. This is the latest but you should watch through them all, really. Because anime.

Book Riot's Quarterly Unboxing - I loved my box and I love watching these unboxing that are on the Book Riot channel.

So... this is was more last week and the week before, but I didn't post anything last week. If you're squimish, I'd suggest against this but... There's a lovely video gamer Markiplier. Five Nights at Freddy's lets plays. (That the playlist). Also if you want, just scroll to the bottom of the playlist on the side and watch the animated reaction videos because priceless.

And my mom and I are still working our way through our Stargate SG-1 rewatch (have I mentioned this? Because so good).

I discovered this week that a friend of mine has a book blog (I am the worst). And it was her birthday this week so if you're looking for a feminist awesome blog about books (plus: there's Buffy).

And, last but seriously fucking awesome - Spore. About 6 minutes, short film, horror side. Mary Kate Wiles, Ashley Clements. Honestly, I don't want to tell you any more then that, I just put the horror there for people who don't like it. I seriously loved it.

Now that we've covered all of that, I'm curious as to what you are reading? Or what have you found that's cool or you've enjoyed this week/recently?

March 16th | Weekly Wrap Up #12

I'm still mostly at the point where I can't read. I want to read, really want to, and I've reorganized the books closest to me to try and get me back into it. But instead I find myself on tumblr, mostly crying over things relaxed to Steve/Bucky (I have regrets, but also noregrets). And writing a surprising amount for all of that.

I still can't just - read. And it's driving me marginally crazy. Which sounds stupid, because I was fine at first. I'd been going for a while, I knew I was going to crash and burn on the reading front soon and that was fine. At this point, though, it's been a while. Like over a month, a month and a half probably since I've really just been able to sit down and read, and reading helps with my stress and with the crushing anxiety I have - and so not reading, is very bad.

Also, it means I'm not posting anything here. I want to, I have some ideas knocking around (I always do - discussion posts, past reviews I should do), but I don't want to when I'm not in the mood. I don't enjoy forcing words and normally it's just nor right (I've been working on posts and yet to get any to the point of where I want to post them).

Mostly, I'm saying - sorry, I suck. Well, not really, but kind of. Because I can't read. If you want to tell me what you're reading, though, that'd be greatly appreciated! Or solidarity in the - 'it was meant to be a reading break but now I would consider this a slump and I miss books' area.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Nameless #1 & #2 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, more (3/5, both)
I think this is definitely going to be an interesting series. I'm not super impressed yet, but I'm definitely intrigued and interested. And I'm keeping it on my pull list. It drops you in the story, which I always kind of enjoy the what is going on here scramble, and I'm enjoying the art (love the cover of #1), so I've got some hopes I'll like it more as it digs more into the story.

The Fade Out, Act One by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (4/5)
This was really interesting, slightly strange. Last forties hollywood scene, starting with the death of the lead actress on this movie. It's really just starting, it's a kind of slow building, but I really enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to more. But I'm probably just going to wait until volume two and not start picking up single issues. Still - definitely worth a look, I think, and the art is different, the style definitely fits well.

What I've Been Watching:
So... our Dish box... thingy is broken. Which means DVD time! (Well, it's a Blu-Ray player but shut up). And so my mom has accidentally gotten into a Lord of the Rings binge (which I totally approve of, she's been watching them at night).

And we've also, also accidentally, kind of started a Stargate SG-1 rewatch from the very beginning. I think I've spewed my love for SG-1 here before, but it's a show my mom was super into it when i was very young. And I remember watching it new, watching it whenever there were reruns. And then, being older, and watching it randomly, also watching from the beginning through all the episodes. God, i love this show.


Blog Posts I've Liked:
LITERARY REFLECTIONS: WHERE MY GIRLS AT (PART I) - this post speaks to me, on multiple levels, because it's something I've definitely noticed as well. (And oh man so many books listed in one place). And I've debated making a post about why it's important to try and read diversely, even though others have said it better, but I keep coming back to the idea because I could organize a bunch of things in one place. Either way - important shit about queer/LGBTQA+ girls in fiction.

Random:
So much fan fiction has been read in place of physical books. There are some regrets there, but I do love getting my heart ripped out, stomped on, set one fire, thrown of a cliff... and then sometimes stitched back together. Or at least I must because I keep reading those types of fan fictions (there's fluff in there, too). Anyway - if you'd like to spaz out about Steve/Bucky with me (or Steve/Peggy, really, but also... Peggy/Angie, though haven't read any fic for that). Tumblr.

All in all this post isn't very full, but I didn't want to fill it up too much and I feel like these are the most important things to what I've been up to. (Or just important like that blog post). And I'm still figuring out how these work, how I want to do them, and I'll find my feet eventually. Also probably change it around how the weeks go, because weeks are different and such.

Anyway - I hope you had a great week. And I'd love to hear from you. About any of things I've talked about or about about what you've been up to this week (read, watched, video games, didn't do).

On the blog:

March 9th | Weekly Wrap Up #11
Well - nothing, kind of. I'm still not back into reading... really at all, even having actually read things this week, but I'm getting there.

March 9th | Weekly Wrap Up #11

So - it's been a weird, weird week. I kind of feel like maybe I should of let my little hiatus thing go a little longer, but I wanted to get back into the swing of things. I missed blogging and reading, but I can't seen to just will myself into doing things again, which is almost harder then not doing things.

Anyway - I did finally finish something. But still - not a good week overall. But let me know what you've been reading! Or link me to your own weekly wrap up.

However, besides all of that, I did end up spending Sunday at the last day of PAX East (which is a video game convention, there are many of them over the world, East takes place in Boston). So we drove in and had fun. It was overwhelming, completely, but it was also awesome. It was also cool to meet some people from RoosterTeeth. A really, really good day overall.

Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach (4/5)
I've been reading this one since the end of January, so I'm glad to finally finish it, though I did set it aside for a while. It took me a little while, about 40% of the way through, to get into and understand her writing style, to get use to it, and then from there it was smooth sailing. I read this surprisingly quickly for a non-fiction book. And I really enjoyed it - the not quite related to the topic facts, the humor. A really fun, interesting read.

Trees, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis, John Howard (5/5)
This trade surprised the hell out of me. I hadn't looked too much into it, had been hearing good things and what I'd seen of the art was gorgeous - and it seriously blew me away. I'd definitely suggest checking out: diverse cast, gorgeous writing and art, very interesting plot. Really, really good.

On the blog:

I'm Back | March 2015
Discussion Post | Sims 4 & Minecraft binging

Discussion Post | Sims 4 & Minecraft binging

So on my short hiatus, you might be wondering what I was doing. And I figured I should first, foremost, and mostly talk about the thing that threw me into this. Video games. Ah, I do love me some video games - playing, watching someone play, just listening to the music over and over...

Video games are by no means new to me, at all, but recently I've found myself getting more and more into actually playing them (I'd say the past year). That's compared to watching Let's Plays or other people playing the game, which I still adore watching. And I just mean more into, lately my focus has been on other things, but when I was younger I played certain things for hours. But I just had a period of time where I binge played Minecraft and The Sims 4. Not the most original of games (there were some other titles in there, but the binging was those two, they're binge type games to me).

Whenever I play either, I start just playing and playing. My obsession with the Sims goes back to... the first one, I believe. I don't remember playing it except impressions and magic - yes, I was that young, playing with my older cousin if memory serves, and my memory is notoriously bad - but I remember the Sims 2 very well.

The Sims 2 might have left some scars, in all honesty. I was playing it alone, first off, and didn't know any of the cheats. And, as far as I've played - the second is just the hardest to do things in. I don't know why, but I remember struggling hardcore with this family of three and how their 'fun' was never high enough to do ANYTHING, which just sucked, because one of them was a teenager and homework. See? Scared for life.

Anyway - besides my struggles with that one, I haven't really just... played the Sims in a while, until this week. Without the cheats, I mean. (The only time I enabled them were to try and fix bugs, you can debug them like that, theoretically, and good god I wanted to strangle them. Or the fridge). Besides my rants about fridges, it went... surprisingly well.

It's chaos at first, it's always chaos, but it's a fun kind of chaos. I'm honestly kind of thinking of doing one of those challenges and following the rules completely. I've started a couple that I'm not being too strict with myself with, but I think it'd be fun, I tend to react well to challenges, anyway, so maybe it'd be good for me.

And I've actually gotten to the second generation and into the third (although, as of writing this, they're still just kids, but I'm going to persevere!). Which is probably the farthest I've gotten in a family, definitely the farthest I've gotten in a family without using any cheats, just having them try and work and make things and collect things. It's interesting and fun. And a little ridiculous.

And now, you're probably thinking - Casey, is there a point to this post?

Which I can proudly say... kind of? I'm kind of just curious. I know this is how a LOT of people binge play the Sims, and other games. For me it's always those sandbox/open end type games. The Sims is, theoretically, never-ending with endless possibilities, as is Minecraft. I'm a completest, but there's nothing to complete with either game. And so... I just keep going, which leads to binging, or I just kind of tend to start another game when I get a little bored with the one I'm currently working on, normally when the challenge is gone (when the sims have enough money to not worry, when they're starting to just be too easy to manage. Or, in minecraft, when I've mined ALL THE THINGS).

Anyway, what I'd like to know is... do you binge play games? And how do you do it? I want to know how your binge playing ends up happening / how it goes? Mostly to comfort myself that I'm not completely insane in this. I have gotten better at just kind of going with my mood, though, which is why I'm not currently trying to push myself to read, even though I'm starting to miss it, but that's a whole different post.

I'm Back! | March 2015

And with a monthly wrap up and a weekly wrap up, we (whose we?) returns to the blogging world. It's been - a very strange two weeks. I talked about it a little in the weekly wrap up, but to sum it up here: I feel like I just went on a bender, but like... a gaming / fan fiction bender? As someone who doesn't drink, I'm assuming this is what coming out of a bender feels like, disorienting, confused, and completely lost.

So I am officially back! I'm going to be trying to keep up with peoples blogs and posting things here, but I'm not really promising anything at first. I'll try to, at least, get the weekly wrap ups posted and I'll be at PAX East (it's so soon!!), but I don't want to push myself too much.

I'm still not really reading, as I write this, which is why I don't want to push myself. It's hard to write posts about reading when you're, you know, not reading. However, I've actually wanted to read the past few days, which is really just that hint of the slump ending, as I recall. So, hopefully, I'll be getting back on the reading horse and blogging will resume as normal.

So the real question is: what have I missed? I haven't opened a blog since I went on hiatus, I've barely been on Twitter or Instagram, just slightly more on YouTube (and mostly just to watch gamers). So - if you've posted something you'd think I'd like to see - please let me know, because there's so much I'm scared to start wading through it. How is this possible?

I hope you had a good end of February. And I hope March beginnings means less oh look more snow.

March 2nd | Weekly Wrap Up #10

So, I didn't do one of these last week. Mostly because when I went to, I couldn't think of anything to say, and so I took that as just a kind of sign not to try. If I didn't want to write it, it would of been boring, and I didn't have much to say.

I was kind of... not reading, I haven't really been reading. It's been a rough month for reading, I haven't really done much of it. And mostly, this month, all my reading was done in about the first week of February. I did play a shit ton of Sims 4 (also minecraft at the beginning of the video game binge, and some others).


Reading: (finished this week and actively currently-reading)
Most of my reading the past two weeks, pretty much all of it, has been fan fiction. I started just rereading some Supernatural AU favorites. And then, as I'm going to mention below, I fell into the Captain America/Agent Carter thing. Everything in that fandom is painful and I've long accepted I love broken characters. (I'm going to cut myself off there, because I don't want to spew things, but - Steve/Bucky. And Steve/Peggy. Pain and wonderfulness).

I have read a tiny bit of the other stuff on my currently-reading shelf, but not much else. Next week, though, I'm determined to try and get back to reading.


What I've Been Watching:
Uh... I may have accidentally rewatched Captain America: The Winter Soldier about too many times the last two weeks. I'm not sure how it happened, but I have also read a shit ton of fan fiction, which I already talked a little about.

However, more importantly: Agent Carter. Can we just - Agent Carter. I'm so glad that this is the point I just fell into this fandom, and I'm going to be actually seriously sad if they don't renew it for a second season. It's fantastic, but I think it needs to be taken over by a network that could make it darker. Because I think it should have that darkness that's almost there and promised in that finale. I might be super obsessed, I have no regrets. (Watch it. Seriously. You need to watch it).

And, besides obsessing over certain Marvel related things, it's been a little uneventful, but I'm going to... get back into life? I feel like I checked out a little, from everything, and ignoring things helps no one, at least so I hear. So I'm going to try and push myself back into doing things, which is hard.

Also - PAX East, guys, it's so soon.

On the blog:
February 2015 Wrap Up

February 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up

End of the shortest month of the year, and hopefully the least amount of books I read in a month. It was not a good reading month for me, and pretty much everything I read was in the first two weeks or so of the month (all of it that I finished).

I ended up binging some games, which I'm planning on posting something about, and then possibly becoming completely immersed in a fandom (which there will be more info on in the weekly wrap up). Apparently, I still have the ability to fall down the rabbit hole of a fandom so far I can't actually see daylight. Of course, considering I am currently insulated with like 5 feet of snow, which is as tall as I am, I guess I probably wouldn't be able to anyway.

• The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black (5/5)
• Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales edited by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant (5/5) (goodreads review)
• No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay (5/5)
• East of West #17 by Jonathan Hickman (5/5)
• The Angel (Original Sinners / Red Years Quartet #2) by Tiffany Reisz (5/5)
• The Prince (Original Sinners / Red Years Quartet #3) by Tiffany Reisz (5/5)
• The Mistress (Original Sinners / Red Years Quartet #4) by Tiffany Reisz (5/5)

I ended up reading some really good stuff this month, even though I didn't read a lot. 

I loved everything I read, as you can tell since I rated everything 5 stars. I'm counting the Red Years Quartet as being another finished series, counting the separate series as, well, separate series. And it's a fantastic series, but I don't think I'll do a full review of it. However, if you're not into reading about BDSM and all of the possible things related to it, I'd recommend not touching this series, they're intense as fuck, excuse the language. 

Anyway - I didn't get a lot read, I feel like I got almost nothing read with 6 books and 1 single issue, considering how much I read in January and how much I've read in months past. Still, I guess I was due an off month. 

How did your reading go this month? What was your favorite thing you read? Or, if like me you didn't have a good reading month or even if you did - what did you enjoy doing this month not reading related?

On the blog:

February 2nd | Weekly Wrap Up #7
January 2015 | Monthly Wrap Up
Spoken Word & Slam Poetry | How I Found it (+ some recommendations)
Book Review: The Shining Girls
Love for Books Read-a-thon Sign Up (February 9th - 15th)
TBR Pile | Shame? (1)
Book Review: Freakboy
February 9th | Weekly Wrap Up #8
Love for Books Read-a-Thon | Kick-Off
Love for Books Read-a-Thon | Reading Updates
TBR | Purging Shelves (???) (2)
Book Review: The Way of Shadows (Night Angels Trilogy #1)
February 16th | Weekly Wrap Up #9
Hiatus | February 2015