Life Update: 2022 Is Already A Bit Rocky

March 5, 2022March 5, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well. Hi. It’s been a while.

Almost two months in fact.

So, first, hi, I’m alive. It’s been a crazy start to the year. I know I said I wanted to do away with personal “rambly” posts, but I hope everyone will forgive me for this one time. There’s been a lot going on, and I want to just hit a bunch of it at once.

So, let’s start with the entire reason I stepped away. The day after I posted my review for Lone Star 3×02, I got an interview for a position that would have been amazing. And it went well! I was hired on the spot, pending human resources. I was warned that I probably wouldn’t hear anything for at least a few weeks, but to be ready at a moment’s notice. This position meant that I would need to step away from social media as a whole, which I started doing. Unfortunately, after a month of waiting, I got a letter from the human resources telling me that I had been disqualified from the position, due to a technicality. I had been warned about it, but it just ended up being bad timing. (The position ended up being eliminated a week later, so it honestly wouldn’t have mattered anyway.)

This honestly sent me in a massive downward spiral for a few weeks. I was so sure that I was about to start that I had done a lot to prepare for the role, and it just got ripped from me. It… wasn’t a good time. I credit the kind people on The 118 Discord for helping me calm down, and always to my immediate family for helping me get back on my feet.

I have another opportunity within a different department, one that wouldn’t be affected by that technicality, and I’m just waiting for a call back. But I don’t have my heart set on this one, so if I don’t get it, I’ll at least be okay.

That’s the biggest reason I’ve been away. I’ve also been suffering from some flareups from carpal tunnel, which I may have made worse by participating in both finishing up the 9-1-1 Bingo as well as Febuwhump. I’ll be doing full wrap up posts about both of those projects in the coming weeks (more information below).

And there’s the fact that my old headaches are back, which is an absolute problem. It’s made looking at a screen for long hours a bit of a problem, though I’ve come up with a few tricks to at least make it somewhat better.

I’m doing better now. I’ve resettled into a routine that allows me to take the time to write, but also sets aside the time I need to work, especially if I can land this new position. Which is why I’m back, because I hate leaving a project unfinished.

Something to quickly note. I spoke during my “Happy 2022” post about getting back into streaming. That’s still the plan, but I’m waiting a bit longer, until I truly know what’s coming next. Once I know for sure, the sidebar will be updated with new dates and times.

So, that’s the life update. But then there’s the fact that there are six episode reviews I haven’t talked about, along with a few book reviews, and some other posts that I’d planned on writing. And at least a good chunk of them needed to be done and posted before March 21st, because that’s when 9-1-1 comes back to screens and Lone Star moves to 9PM and my life is going to become even more busy.

That’s the plan anyway. My goal is to write my episode reviews (of which I have in short hand, just need to fully translate them into an actual readable state) every other day, starting tomorrow, March 6th. On the opposite days, I’ll be catching up on the posts that I’ve wanted to touch upon, whether they be book reviews, or updates to previous posts, or catching up on different challenges (or announcing a new one).

I don’t want to post twice in a day. I really don’t want to. The only time that might happen is if I get behind again, or if I finish a book before I have a space carved out on my schedule.

So. Yeah. Hi, Remy is back, things are slowly being figured out. Content is coming. I hope you’re ready to be along for the ride.

Until next time!

Happy 2022!

January 9, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Hello everyone! I hope 2022 has been treating you okay thus far.

I ended up taking an extra week to rest up after the Christmas holidays. It was a long break, but it was one that was well needed. I’m actually feeling better and stronger and feel like I can just back into things. I guess I just needed to completely step away for a bit. I’m in a good head space.

So. What can you expect from this year on this blog?

My goal is to put out some more quality content, not just me rambling about things that are just interesting to me. That means I’m going to try to do more episode and scene breakdowns, more book reviews, and, and more writing content. Three things I really want to work on this year. I also will do wrap-ups for the various writing challenges I take part in, including wrapping up 2021’s amazing writing year.

On a more personal level, I’m really trying to stick to a couple goals to better myself. One of my biggest goals is to cut soda, which was a goal from last year that failed miserably. Last year, I tried to go cold turkey, had a massive caffeine headache, and basically gave up after two weeks. This year, I’m doing it by cutting back every week, until by the end of the month, I should be off of drinking it completely if things go well.

On the reading front, I’m doing the same reading goal as last year. I ended up getting burned out half way through last year, and barely got halfway to my goal. This year’s goal is 52 books, which works out to roughly a book a week. I’m already on my way to this, as I have one book read, and my next picked. I will be once again posting reviews of the books I read here on my WordPress account, as well as on GoodReads, and (for the first time) StoryGraph. I’m not entirely comfortable with the last one yet, but we shall see.

The writing front is looking insane. Just this month alone, I’m aiming for at least five fics. Then there is Febuwhump, and of course there’s Whumptober later this year. That’s not including the bingo fics I want to write (and will write when the next card drops mid year). It’s gonna be crazy, but I’m looking forward to it. I also want to revisit some old fics that I haven’t touched in years, including my FusionFall fics that ended up just existing in an incomplete void for the past several years.

And of course, there’s gaming. I’m trying right now to get a trophy a day, which has been going pretty smoothly thus far. I have a bunch of cheap games that I can use to get a quick trophy, as well as some major games that I ended up missing over the past few years. I’m hoping to match the amount of platinum trophies I got last year, or even surpass it. But… with more quality platinums, not just vaperware.

And finally, let’s touch on social media. Last year, I let a lot of it lapse during the middle of the year, but I started to get better about posting things as the year came to a conclusion. I started using Tiktok to put up some book and Lego Games related content, and I’m feeling good about it. I’m hoping to increase my presence on social media, primarily on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, during this year. And not just with random messages. Good, actually through out messages. I think it’s time that I get serious about it.

This also includes streaming on Twitch. Now, I basically stopped streaming about midway through the year, when my headaches got worse. I couldn’t imagine doing it on a consistent schedule while feeling sick. Well, one of the biggest problems I discovered is because I had to have bright lights pointed at me to be visible on camera. Because this was making it almost impossible to stream, I gave it up and basically shut down both my twitch page (which I’ve only been using to watch a few different channels) and my associated discord. Well, my goal by the end of January is to start this back up, but without the camera. I’m hoping that if I do that, I’ll be able to play for longer amounts of time. Yes, I do know it’s harder to get an audience, especially as a female gamer, without a camera on. I’ll have it, mostly for unboxing streams with Owlcrate. But I want to give this one more try. If I don’t just do it, I’ll probably never do it.

That’s about it on the goals/update front. Now, onto my posting schedule.

Because I took that extra week to get mentally ready for the year, I’m actually behind where I want to be. So, I will be posting twice on Sunday (this one counts), again on Monday, and on Tuesday, before returning to my normal Tuesday/Thursday schedule I was doing before Blogtober and Blogmas. I may also add in an extra post during the weeks ahead, but that is something that I don’t want to commit to right now.

I will warn you ahead of time, prepare to get a lot of 9-1-1 Lone Star content coming your way. Unlike with the OG, the marketing team for LS is on fire.

Or, rather, on ice, considering the theme of the first four episodes.

Anyway, I’m back, expect updates, here we go into 2022. Let’s make it at least a little better than 2021 (or God forbid 2020).

Until next time!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Blogmas 2021

December 25, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Christmas has come and gone, and I am burnt out.

Daily posting here, on top of near daily posting for Advent, plus a 12 days of Christmas Tiktok thing, and planning and cooking two meals? Yeah, I’m about done for now. But let’s wrap up Blogmas strong.

At the top of the month, I said I was aiming to watch 25 movies in 25 days, the same thing I did last year. I didn’t do it, at all. I got to the end of December 1st and just already felt tired. Then December 2nd rolled around, then the 3rd… I just gave up on it. Instead, I think I’m going to try to watch 52 movies in 52 weeks next year, aka a movie a week. I’m not completely holding myslef to that, but I’m going to try.

As for Advent… I got to day 20 and the burnout hit. Everything is completely planned out, just not finished or published. My goal is to get them all done by the New Year, post some sort of New Year’s fic, and then take a bit of a break. They have gone over reasonably well, though I feel like the big issue of engagement is because of the saturation of Christmas fics. I’ll also be glad when it’s over.

(And I have some Bingo fics to post, anyway.)

But honestly, I spent most of today, when not cooking, playing Spider-Man: Miles Morales. I’m so close to the Platinum trophy, it’s not even funny. But it’s also been strangely calming. I’ll see how I feel if/when I have to do extra work to get the last couple combat trophies (why do they exist why are they not banned).

It was a good Christmas. And I hope that your holidays are wonderful and bright!

As will last year I am planning on taking the week off from posting. And honestly, don’t be surprised if January is a bit sporadic in posting as well. I need to step back a little bit. I will be posting every episode review for 9-1-1: Lone Star as they air, but I’m not sure about anything else. I may drop an extra post here and there, but it will probably be around mid-January to February before my normal posting schedule resumes.

Until then, be safe! Until next time!

1,000 Movies and Not a Thing to Watch – Blogmas 2021

December 21, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

So… about watching twenty five movies this month.

I haven’t watched one.

I know, I know. I really shouldn’t have said I was going to do something, then go back on it. But really, I had all the plans to do it! The biggest problem is, I’m doing Blogmas, the 118 Advent, as well as applying for jobs, and handling so much here at home. Carving out writing time has been bad enough (I’m three days behind on Advent, which is something I hope to fix tomorrow), and something had to give.

I’m changing up what I’m planning in regards to the movies. It’s something that I’ll be addressing in my Goals for 2022 post. I still want to do something like watching a bunch of my backlog, but I need to do it in a better way. Hence, the change.

I will say that I do have some fun ones planned, and I plan to talk about them. It just needs to take a backseat for a bit.

So, yeah. Not the best little thing. But taking it off of the schedule has actually done some good for my mental health, so… progress.

Until next time!

Hair Cuts for the Holidays – Blogmas 2021

December 12, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I got a hair cut.

Yes, that’s what this post is about, deal with it.

The last time I cut my hair was around June, when I finally got a hair cut for the first time in nearly a year. It had been a long time coming at that point, and I was desperate.

Yesterday, Mom and I decided it was time to get holiday cuts. I was starting to complain because the majority of my side swept bangs were ended up just settling into my eyes, and she was sick of the straight cut I gave her (out of desperation, because she’d been worried about the Delta variant at the time).

So we went. For context, this was me, before getting into the chair.

(Yes that is a .hack shirt. What of it?)

I really liked the style of the cut, I just needed it trimmed. And that’s what I asked for. Basically, what style I had was more… Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban style. Or, at least, just a shorter version of what I currently had.

This… this is what I have.

I look like a school boy.

Okay, for argument’s sake, it looks good on me! Especially in person. It’s just not what I wanted. I didn’t want to have my hair this short. It’s too short.

I’m not mad about it, but I am sad. I knew my hair would be shorter when I walked out of the salon, obviously. But this style isn’t something I wanted this time around. I wanted to keep my messy hair. This style being so short means that it basically just lies flat.

So, yeah. Short little update for you today. Tomorrow we shall return to our normal content, I hope.

Until next time!

I’m Caught Up on the MCU! – Blogmas 2021

December 4, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Well, kinda.

For my birthday last month (dear God I’m 31, yikes), I finally got to watch Black Widow. I was actually very impressed! Though I’m also said, because it was clear that we probably won’t see that family dynamic again. Yelena ended up being a great foil to Natasha, while also being able to stand on her own two feet. It’s a great introduction for Yelena, as well as well as a respectful ending for Natasha. I actually managed to avoid all spoilers regarding details in the film, as well as the post-credit scene, so it was an amazing watch.

The next weekend, we watched Shang-Chi, and WOW, that one blew Black Widow out of the park. First off, there was something about the dynamic between Shang-Chi and Katy that drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. Heck, it was the dynamic between every character that made this film so amazing. While the story was a bit simplistic, it was engaging. It currently has the spot for top Phase Four film locked up tight. (Also, the fact that Wenwu wasn’t driven by anger, but instead by love, as the main “villain” was a great change to the formula. He just wanted his wife back, and was tricked into believing that she was in danger instead of dead. It was handled perfectly.)

I’m also halfway through Hawkeye, which is going well. I’ve always been a fan of the character, because I love the underdog. He’s not a superhero, he’s just a human that has trained himself without the help of science. This show has been touching on some subjects that I’m loving to see, including Clint’s hearing loss (the different levels of ALS have been amazing to see, and it seems to be handling it respectfully) as well as his depression and survivor’s guilt. And wow, that scene in episode one, when he’s seeing the musical? That hurt. But it hurt so good.

I’m still on the fence about Kate Bishop, but that’s because she still seems like the plucky teenage sidekick, instead of the adult sidekick that she’s growing to be. There’s a level of mystery in the show that’s keeping me coming back every week for more. I’m just worried that they stretched this out into six episodes, because the pacing seemed a bit… slow sometimes.

I unfortunately haven’t seen the Eternals yet. I haven’t felt safe going back to theaters (which is why I also ended up missing the SAO movie). I also wasn’t exactly excited to go see it, but that’s on a more personal level. This one will have to wait until after it comes to Disney+.

I also won’t be seeing Spider-Man in theaters for the same reason. I can’t justify seeing a film when I know I’m going to be uncomfortable the entire time. I just don’t trust people, and with news of the newest variant, I worry.

The only other piece of (semi-canon) MCU related content that I haven’t seen is What If? It’s been on my list, and I’ve been avoiding it. I just don’t really like the animation style, and honestly the concept doesn’t do anything for me. I’m going to watch it, but it’s not a priority right now.

So that’s it with the MCU. And here’s one other fun Marvel thing I’m going to be missing, well, next year when it comes out. It’s not a MCU film, but it’s still a Spider-Man film all the same. I’m going to be avoiding the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. The animation actually managed to give me a splitting headache this afternoon, and that was just because of the trailer. I can’t imagine how much pain I’d be in if I saw it in theaters.

That’s all for tonight! Sorry for the short length, I ended up being behind with the Advent writing and had to cut something.

Until next time!

So, About that Thanksgiving Post – Blogmas 2021

December 2, 2021April 3, 2022 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Hey all.

So, this was origianlly a post regarding my less than staller Thanksgiving from 2021.

Do to some negative reactions, I’ve gone ahead and taken it down. I still have it, and I stand by it, but I better things to do with my life than have this in the back of my head. It’s called venting, thanks.

Instead, I just want to leave a quick note here. If you’re part of my “family”, please do me a favor and just stay off my social media. I keep it separate for a reason. I want a safe place to vent, to be myself, to not have to censor myself because of your arbitrary rules that you have for others. Do not search me out, do not comment. Forget I even have a presence on the internet. Your commentary on my life is unwanted at this point.

For my entire life, I’ve felt like I was the black sheep of the black sheep, just waiting for something I did or said to be the catalyst to being pushed out of the family. And I guess this is it. This is the hill I die on. And I just don’t care anymore. None of you were in my life until I was nearly twelve, when Mom’s side of the family finally returned, while my father was on his death bed. It was noticed, I assure you.

But ever since, I’ve been held to different standards. Maybe it’s because I’m stuck in a generation gap, but it’s true. At the unwanted “family reunion” when I was 18, when I was in the middle of college exams when everyone decided it was a great time to come, I was being pushed to be with “family” instead of studying, causing me to fail my first ever class. And even now, moving across the country so that my Mom and Uncle could finally be in the city they have always called their hometown, I’ve felt unwanted.

No more. Lose my number. I just don’t care anymore. I’m sick of walking on eggshells with every decision I make, every choice that I decide. I don’t want to feel like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head every time I open my mouth or put fingers to keyboard.

See ya, space cowboys.

It’s Blogmas! – Blogmas 2021

December 1, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ Leave a comment

And I’m still trying to get out of burnout.

Hello everyone and welcome to Blogmas 2021. This is the second of two months during the year that I (attempt) to write a blog post a day. For me, Blogmas will take place starting today, December 1st, and end on December 25th. From there, I’ll be taking a few days off, returning on New Years Eve or so to wrap up the dumpster fire that is 2021.

This month, I’m trying to watch 25 movies, one every day. They are all movies that I’ve never seen before, a mix of new releases and ones that have been out for awhile. In a few days, I’ll drop the whole list, including how I am choosing each film. I would have posted it before December, but again, burnout.

Another thing I’m doing is taking part in my Discord’s Advent Calendar. This is a collection of 25 prompts. I’m once again posting them on AO3, and I once again got a bit ahead, but nowhere near as ahead as I did during Whumptober.

As for what content I will be blogging about, it will be a combination of posts about writing, TV/Movie scene breakdowns, episode wrap ups, maybe a season review or two (depending on if I can blast through a series I want to rewatch), and also that Whumptober wrap up that I’ve been sitting on for nearly two weeks. Oh, and there will be a few personal posts as well, as things here have gotten a bit crazy. I’ll save a lot of that for those posts.

I will say that I’m not holding myself to being able to keep completely on time. After dealing with this burnout for the past month, I’m just trying to basically take it easy and relax. But I am going to attempt without completely stressing myself out.

So, I hope you will all stick around for Blogmas! I’m hopeful to see it go at least somewhat as well as Blogtober back in October.

(And if you’re curious as to how I came up with Blogmas, I didn’t. I decided last year to do Blogtober in place of Vlogtober, a video style of what I’m doing here. I found out later that someone had already coined the term, but I’m still using it. If I can find out who started it, I would be happy to give credit where credit is due.)

Until next time!

Happy Halloween! What Comes Next? – Blogtober 2021

October 31, 2021 ~ Liz Harrison ~ 1 Comment

What a Halloween… of doing basically nothing.

No, seriously, I took most of the day to relax and catch up on some of the fanfic I missed this month. No strain, no stress. It was worth the relaxation.

But that leads us into November. And the month is already shaping up to be just busy.

For one thing, I’m going to be attempting Nanowrimo again this year, but I’m not going to be stressing about it. My goal is to use the month to finish the planned sequels/second chapters for some of my Whumptober stories, as well as the holiday gift fic for the exchange I’m doing through my discord (which I really need to plot out). And hopefully I can knock out a few of my bingo squares as well. I do plan on working on an rewrite of an old fanfic as more original fiction, for the writing group that I’m now apart of.

Will I hit 50k? Probably not. And I’m okay with that. I’m not stressing.

Another goal for November is to finally finish a few of the shows that I’ve been putting off. Not really naming them, simply because I know if I do, I’ll watch anything but. I’m trying to take the month to completely destress.

Now, onto what November will entail for this blog. I’m going down to posting twice a week, simply because I’m almost burned out. I’ll be posting my traditional review of each 9-1-1 episode on Tuesdays, and something else on Thursdays. There may be bonus posts (probably around my birthday), but I’m not pushing it. I’ll be back doing daily posting in December, when Blogmas rolls around. And boy, do I have plans for that.

I guess I should make it clear that if certain things I’m hoping for actually happen, most of these plans will change. I don’t want to go into specifics just yet (don’t want to jinx anything), but… there may be some good hope coming down a pipeline.

Alright, thanks for joining me on this crazy Blogtober journey! I’m gonna go sleep for a we- shit, the hostage episode is tomorrow. Okay, ten hours it is.

Until next time!