Tasakeru

First off this week: I’m proud to announce the publication of Mirror Shards, a Shattered Skies recursive fanfiction by friend and frequent commentator/feedback-leaver ArtIdiotGuy222. AIG and I have been collaborating on this thing for several weeks now, trading ideas back and forth to make sure neither of us is stepping on the other’s canon. The story stars Kyoko Kanae, a singularly unique Precure OC who has been part of all of the canon teams, thanks to time shenanigans and multiversal weirdness. Teaming up with the reformed Dark Precure 5 and Bad End Cures, the effects of Dead End’s war on reality strike Kyoko in ways that no one can predict. Needless to say, I’m blown away that someone thinks enough of my work to create their own spin on it, and I’m seriously impressed with the results so far. Please go check it out at the link above, or here on DA.

I had hoped that I would have Chapter 37 of Shattered Skies out tonight, since it’s way overdue, but it looks like it’ll be at least another day before it’s done. There are scenes in this chapter which absolutely must be done proper justice, so the last thing I want to do is rush it out the door. When I do, though… I’m making a change on the meta-level that I think will be for the better. More on that once the chapter goes up.

I also made some major Tasakeru progress on the self-publishing front… I’m happy to announce that Book I is closer than ever to going up on Amazon. There’s still some formatting kinks I need to work out, but the bulk of the work on the manuscript is done at last.

Anime stuff: I don’t think enough of you are watching Planet With. It’s a spectacularly weird sci-fi/mecha show that’s running in the current season, and when I say “spectacularly weird”, I mean that there’s giant perverted cats that swallow people before turning into mechas, alien weapons that attack people with their past traumas, a conspiracy involving warring factions of space-cats versus space-dogs, and Norio freaking Wakamoto as one of the aforementioned space-cats. I find it hilarious that they hired one of the most legendary Japanese voice actors of all time to voice a character that only says “Nya!” in various inflections. I mean, he did voice Chiyo’s Dad in Azumanga Daioh, so he’s got precedent for voicing bizarre cat… things… but still. Chiyo’s Dad could actually talk in that wonderful, distinctive Wakamoto purr. This character, as I said, seems limited exclusively to saying “Nya”… which is thankfully translated by a maid girl who seems to have no other purpose in the show than to stand around turning “Nya” into complete sentences. Oh yeah, there’s also some damned pretty-looking CG fight scenes, even more impressive considering that CG in TV anime usually seems limited to about 6 frames per second, if that. The show is a unique kind of utterly bonkers, and watching it is becoming a highlight of my week.

– BHS

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A minor greetings from below, Storyteller222 (aka ArtIdiotGuy on deviantART) here. I’m very grateful to have worked with BHS on Mirror Shards with him and to have his approval on it. It’s been a fun ride thus far showing the events of Shattered Skies from an OC’s perspective and the consequences of such ranging from the nature of the OC in question to arriving late to the battle.

What I will say immediately is that Mirror Shards isn’t exactly necessary when reading Shattered Skies. It’s an optional side story, like the relationship between the Star Wars Movies and whatever cartoon they’ve recently made.

Still, I hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors and what we have to show.

For when the Sky Shatters, the Shards of the Mirror will fall and only show the ruin…

Signed, ArtIdiotGuy/Storyteller222