Random, happy, confusing, exciting

First of all, many thanks to those who have been leaving BL recommendations for me here! I’ve started looking a bit at some of the recs, and will report back in more detail soon. So far, the series I’ve looked at are Shout out Loud!, Let Dai, and Totally Captivated, and I’ve liked at least *something* about each of them, though I still have some reservations.

Random: This made me laugh for an entire day. Seriously.

Happy: I have at last acquired a scanner, which means that my next installment of the Fullmetal Alchemist Read-a-Long will include scanned pages from the Viz editions, rather than scanlations which I’d resorted to originally. I’ve also updated the previous entries (vol. 1 & 2 | vol. 3 & 4) with the proper pages. I’m also thinking of posting some version of my massive xxxHolic post in this blog (previously posted in fannish places), now that I have proper scanned pages, as I have a pretty much constant urge to try to draw people into that series.

A bit of navel-gazing to follow:

Confusing: I’ve been thinking a bit about how I used this blog, and I realize that I think I’m in a transition of sorts, or perhaps it is that I’m having trouble deciding what kind of blogger I am. My blog has definitely found a focus in manga, but I’m not someone who reviews manga (I spout a lot of opinions when I read something, but I don’t think any of that could be properly called reviewing, despite the fact that I sometimes tag that way). I don’t report news. I have no expertise or deep knowledge to share (not on that topic, anyway). Mostly I just… react. I react to what I’m reading, or to other people’s blogs, and then I talk about it. I’ve begun to think that years of LJ/IJ, etc.-style journaling have created in me a need for connection that is hard to shake. I’m accustomed to journaling in a community, and it shows. I’m not sure what any of this means, but I do think that I’ve yet to really find my voice here. Time will tell, I guess.

Exciting: For those who read my original pathetic plea, I’ve taken Lissa Pattillo’s advice, and have started creating pages online for prospective artists to read about the comic, OEL manga, whatever that I’m writing a script for. What this means, is that there are now a group of password-protected pages intended for artists to read, so if you click on them, do not be surprised when you can’t actually read anything. I’ve sent the information to one artist I was introduced to recently, so we’ll see what happens!