(no subject)
So I survived the Yearly Holiday Rant, much to my relief now that it's over.
The girl who was hosting it sent out an e-mail asking what everyone wanted to chip in for lunch that day, and I replied with 'I'd be happy to contribute if I can eat it, and what gift exchange?' She replied to my e-mail with a horrified 'OMG I was told you didn't celebrate Christmas and I didn't even think to ask for myself, I'm so sorry!' and came over to apologize in person shortly after. It didn't make the whole drama of all the decorating better, but it did help to have one person actually realize they shouldn't make assumptions, and have them apologize for it. I decided to sign up after all, and was given someone I'd never met who turned out to be super-easy and gave me a thank you hug. I got a Starbucks gift card in return, which made me happy.
I did make them their Grinch pictures, which were added to the decorations. They won; ironically I was the one to notice the announcement, and had to point it out. My supervisor's still insistent that the free lunch reward is for the whole team, but I'm not really interested in participating. All I care about is that the contest is over, and (most) of the decorations have been taken down.
I ended up with a five day weekend due to the holidays. I spent most of it leveling characters on World of Warcraft to de-stress a bit after the two weeks of hell.* It's a lot easier to play now, which is nice.
On the Friday after Christmas, as her old car had officially become too expensive to fix. (Transmission issues, among other things.) After a lot of research and a terrible experience one of the local dealerships we'd seen around, she decided to try Carmax on a whim. It turned out to be the best decision we could have made: not only was it a MUCH better experience all around, but Shi-chan ended up with the car she's been dreaming of since they came out! It's a silver 2013 Kia Soul. She loves it so much she's (somewhat) willingly been getting up early every day to take me to work so she can drive it again. We also took a day trip to the Texas State Aquarium last weekend to test how it does on roadtrips, which was nice. (Great gas mileage, but the seats still need to be broken in more to be really comfortable for long trips.) But the greatest thing about her getting a new car is that IT IS UNDER WARRANTY. Seriously, after how much money multiple people have had to sink into her old car to keep it running? This is such a relief. Words cannot truly express my happiness.
My other current distraction keeping me from the internets is an adorable anime Shi-chan discovered called ** It's by the same author as the one who wrote Junjo Romantica, for anyone who's heard of it. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this one. The concept is truly adorable: the main character is a editor who has recently changed publishing companies and is put into the shojo manga division by mistake, where he discovers that his boss is actually his ex-boyfriend from ten years ago when they were in high school. It turns out the boss has never gotten over their breakup (they disagree on whose fault it was), and resolves to make the main character fall in love with him again.*** There are two more couples who take an episode or two now and then: a mangaka (artist), his editor/childhood friend, and the love triangle involved with his other childhood friend, both of whom are in love with him, and an older editor who has a habit of falling in love with pretty faces, and kind of accidentally ends up with his current interest, a college-age clerk at a bookstore that sells his books. Shi-chan loves the editor with the college-age kid, but the main characters are my favorite couple, because they're constantly flustering and confusing each other and being really cute.
The hate part comes from the fact that if I stop to really think about the relationship and a lot of things that happen for too long, I start getting upset with it. Word to the wise, there's a *LOT* of potential trigger-warnings for this series. Sexual Harassment at work, multiple occasions of dub-con, near-rape, and lots of people who rage about being friendzoned, which is a personal irritation of mine. The main relationship alone would be likely to have therapy and cops involved if it weren't an anime, or should. Junjo Romantic was like that at points too, so I've come to expect it when reading or watching this author's work.
But while part of me rages that it's wrong, and the relationships are terrible, it's still really sweet at some points. If I could figure out a decent plot or even a drabble, I'd be writing for it. It's also a fascinating way to learn about manga and the publishing business, not to mention just an addictive series. Sadly, also unfinished. If you're willing to accept the trigger warnings, I do recommend it for some good fluff and a chance to yell at the couples on the screen being stupid. It's available on Crunchyroll if anyone who's interested.
But for now, I'm just trying to make it through the week at work, reading gay porn on my phone when it's slow.
As it should be.
* Video Games: Technology's way of making mass homicide legal.
** Yes, I am constantly forgetting the name. It stands for World's Greatest First Love.
*** I realized today that the plot would make a great post-letter Tommy/Kimberly story ... and sort of already is, except with two guys. I've been trying to unsee it ever since. x.x
**** Surprisingly not kidding about the reading gay porn at work, at least today.
The girl who was hosting it sent out an e-mail asking what everyone wanted to chip in for lunch that day, and I replied with 'I'd be happy to contribute if I can eat it, and what gift exchange?' She replied to my e-mail with a horrified 'OMG I was told you didn't celebrate Christmas and I didn't even think to ask for myself, I'm so sorry!' and came over to apologize in person shortly after. It didn't make the whole drama of all the decorating better, but it did help to have one person actually realize they shouldn't make assumptions, and have them apologize for it. I decided to sign up after all, and was given someone I'd never met who turned out to be super-easy and gave me a thank you hug. I got a Starbucks gift card in return, which made me happy.
I did make them their Grinch pictures, which were added to the decorations. They won; ironically I was the one to notice the announcement, and had to point it out. My supervisor's still insistent that the free lunch reward is for the whole team, but I'm not really interested in participating. All I care about is that the contest is over, and (most) of the decorations have been taken down.
I ended up with a five day weekend due to the holidays. I spent most of it leveling characters on World of Warcraft to de-stress a bit after the two weeks of hell.* It's a lot easier to play now, which is nice.
On the Friday after Christmas, as her old car had officially become too expensive to fix. (Transmission issues, among other things.) After a lot of research and a terrible experience one of the local dealerships we'd seen around, she decided to try Carmax on a whim. It turned out to be the best decision we could have made: not only was it a MUCH better experience all around, but Shi-chan ended up with the car she's been dreaming of since they came out! It's a silver 2013 Kia Soul. She loves it so much she's (somewhat) willingly been getting up early every day to take me to work so she can drive it again. We also took a day trip to the Texas State Aquarium last weekend to test how it does on roadtrips, which was nice. (Great gas mileage, but the seats still need to be broken in more to be really comfortable for long trips.) But the greatest thing about her getting a new car is that IT IS UNDER WARRANTY. Seriously, after how much money multiple people have had to sink into her old car to keep it running? This is such a relief. Words cannot truly express my happiness.
My other current distraction keeping me from the internets is an adorable anime Shi-chan discovered called ** It's by the same author as the one who wrote Junjo Romantica, for anyone who's heard of it. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this one. The concept is truly adorable: the main character is a editor who has recently changed publishing companies and is put into the shojo manga division by mistake, where he discovers that his boss is actually his ex-boyfriend from ten years ago when they were in high school. It turns out the boss has never gotten over their breakup (they disagree on whose fault it was), and resolves to make the main character fall in love with him again.*** There are two more couples who take an episode or two now and then: a mangaka (artist), his editor/childhood friend, and the love triangle involved with his other childhood friend, both of whom are in love with him, and an older editor who has a habit of falling in love with pretty faces, and kind of accidentally ends up with his current interest, a college-age clerk at a bookstore that sells his books. Shi-chan loves the editor with the college-age kid, but the main characters are my favorite couple, because they're constantly flustering and confusing each other and being really cute.
The hate part comes from the fact that if I stop to really think about the relationship and a lot of things that happen for too long, I start getting upset with it. Word to the wise, there's a *LOT* of potential trigger-warnings for this series. Sexual Harassment at work, multiple occasions of dub-con, near-rape, and lots of people who rage about being friendzoned, which is a personal irritation of mine. The main relationship alone would be likely to have therapy and cops involved if it weren't an anime, or should. Junjo Romantic was like that at points too, so I've come to expect it when reading or watching this author's work.
But while part of me rages that it's wrong, and the relationships are terrible, it's still really sweet at some points. If I could figure out a decent plot or even a drabble, I'd be writing for it. It's also a fascinating way to learn about manga and the publishing business, not to mention just an addictive series. Sadly, also unfinished. If you're willing to accept the trigger warnings, I do recommend it for some good fluff and a chance to yell at the couples on the screen being stupid. It's available on Crunchyroll if anyone who's interested.
But for now, I'm just trying to make it through the week at work, reading gay porn on my phone when it's slow.
As it should be.
* Video Games: Technology's way of making mass homicide legal.
** Yes, I am constantly forgetting the name. It stands for World's Greatest First Love.
*** I realized today that the plot would make a great post-letter Tommy/Kimberly story ... and sort of already is, except with two guys. I've been trying to unsee it ever since. x.x
**** Surprisingly not kidding about the reading gay porn at work, at least today.