today's thursday thinkpiece is short because unfortunately i'm busy and i didn't feel like touching any of the other topics i've thought of. yesterday i listened to a podfic for the first time.
i want to start by saying: i don't really listen to podcasts or audiobooks either. i rarely find myself in situations where only listening to something is stimulating for me, and when i do, i usually prefer listening to music. i've tried podcasts before on longer bus journeys, but yearned too much for my playlist. i don't mind podcasts that also have video, though i don't watch them too much...
but as i was looking through some fics yesterday, i came across one which had a podfic available. i thought, sure, i'll try it. a few seconds in i realised i could read along to the fic while listening, so that's what i did. it was a nice experience! i even looked for more podfics to do this with immediately after, and now i wish there were more podfics in general. i found they helped me to focus more. i understand it's somewhat of an unconventional way to enjoy podfics, but it worked for me and i had fun!! they're something i'd wanted to engage with before, but just never felt like i could. so i'm happy i found a way that works for me.
it kind of makes me want to record my own too, though the speech impediment and the accent make me a little shy about it. even still, i think a bigger barrier for it would simply be that not a lot of authors have transformative works policies! finding fics that are open to podfics is easier said than done. i suppose you can always just ask, but it's nice to know what an author's general policy on it is! this is my shill for transformative works statements. i think whether you're willing to give blanket permission or not (and it's always totally up to you!), they're a great way to keep fandom thriving.
i think that's all i really have to say this time. let's all make more podfics!!
i thought it'd be fun to do some kind of series where i blog about things that interest me on a regular basis. it's sort of inspired by the fannish 50 challenge. i suppose i don't have an overarching theme for this, though it'll end up being mostly fandom-related in some way or another.
today's topic: new year's!
to be honest, i like new year's a lot. for the past six or so years i've had a tradition of staying up as long as possible on new year's day without sleeping. i think it's a natural extension of the whole staying up til midnight thing. in 2022 i even made it to january 2nd, though i don't think i'll ever bother trying that again, because i do value my health a little.
anyways, the main goal of this post is to outline my "new year's resolutions" or things like that. maybe it's more accurate to think of them as goals than resolutions? regardless, without further ado, here's my list.
goal one: read more books.
i'm the classic tale of "kid who used to read a lot that stopped reading much by adulthood", but i got back into it a bit last year! i read ten books :) so this year my goal is a nebulous "read more than that" that i'm tentatively setting at 20, but more importantly at at least one per month. i think i'll manage the latter goal pretty easily, and i'll try my very best to hit the former as well.
i started going to the library last year, and i think the time pressure of having to return the book helps me a lot when it comes to finishing them. it's also just nice to go there. i'd like to read classics, but i don't feel there are that many at my local library, so i always just pick up whatever looks interesting to me at the time. right now i'm reading a book i got for christmas, though.
of course, this is largely a goal i have because i like to write, and the best writers are also readers. but it's also just very fun to read. in fact i don't think i've learned all that much writing advice from reading so far, because i just end up enjoying the books, and i'm not sure how to read with the intention of getting better at writing. i don't think it matters too much though. i'm having fun and i think it's a good hobby to have either way.
goal two: play every fire emblem game!
so, this was actually kind of a goal i had for 2025, though i only came up with it in april after replaying awakening on a whim. to my credit i did, for the most part, achieve the goal i set out to do (play all of the games that were officially released in english, since i already had a way to play all of them legally), though i didn't manage to replay any (in full) other than awakening, and i didn't play shadow dragon.
this year, my goals are to beat fire emblems 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, and then 18 when that comes out. i'd also like to replay three houses, and try my hand at tokyo mirage sessions and three hopes. since i have a full year to do this i'd like not to rush too much, though i did already start 6 (and promptly stop again after resetting on chapter two). oh, and i'd like to play through ephraim's route in 8 and hector mode in 7 as well. maybe i do have my work cut out for me.
if you know me it's probably pretty obvious that i've thrown myself into the fe fandom after losing interest in my previous one, but i do love it here. there are so many talented authors and artists and i really enjoy series that have large casts. i'm excited to dig even deeper into it!!
goal three: write!!
i can admit this is pretty vague. i posted 39,315 words to ao3 last year, and most of that was all the one fic. i would've liked to get to 50,000, but it just wasn't meant to be, so i reckon that's my goal for this year. at least 50,000 words... i'm not sure how well i'll stick to it, but i'll try my best, and there are definitely a few things i'm interested in exploring.
also falling under this category is that i'd like to join a couple more challenges. any fanweeks that catch my attention or things like that. i'm shy, so i find it hard to do things like that sometimes, but i'll see what i can manage. i was pretty nervous about the drabble challenge i joined in november, but i had a lot of fun with it! in particular, i have my eye on fe artscuffle whenever that comes around. i might join the drabble challenge in may as well!
i think i'll also try my hand at femslash february, though i'm not necessarily going to post every day for that. i'd like to give myself the opportunity to do something without stressing too much about hitting every day... we'll see how it goes ^.^
goal four: draw..?
i'd like to start posting my art on tumblr! i like drawing, and last year i tried to push myself a little more with it. in particular i tried to draw some more interesting poses and expressions, and it's surprisingly fun! i'm no professional, but i think i have a good enough grasp on things that finally spicing up my poses a bit isn't too scary. so i'd like to continue with that sort of thing.
another thing i did a bit of last year was warm-up drawings, and wow they really do help. i think i used to find them daunting because i'd always see people post their "warm-ups" that took like an hour, but really even a five minute sketch helps a lot for this kind of thing. so again, this is more something that i want to continue doing into the new year, and hopefully i'll see some more improvement?
an additional point here is that i'd like to get more confident in drawing armour. i've done a couple fe-related doodles that involve lighter armour (mainly eirika and jill), and so far it hasn't given me too much hassle, but i'm definitely not used to it, so i'd like to try drawing more characters who wear it and studying how that all works a bit more.
additional goals and notes
of course, i also plan on maintaining this little series of posts. i think this one is broader than i intend the future ones to be, though i'm not sure what future ones will look like... perhaps just rambling about whatever topic crosses my mind at the time. anything from character analyses to mechanics i like to reviews of games i'm playing or shows i'm watching. actually, i think i'd like to watch some more shows as well. i'm pretty bad at sticking with them. so you can add that to the list.
i'd also like to play some more games other than fire emblem... in particular i have my eye on bravely default, and the final zero escape game, since i played the first two in 2025. there are plenty of others for sure, but those are the ones i think i'd like to get around to the most!
i will perhaps also branch out into more hobbies. i tried painting a little last month, and it was more painful than anything, but surprisingly... not that bad? i never enjoyed it much in school so i never got into it, but it was kind of a nice challenge and i'd also like to paint a portrait of eirika fire emblem. i don't know. i'm crazy.
this could also be the year i become a better Music Listener. i'll like a couple songs by an artist and then never actually delve into their discography any further?? no more!! i have to do better. it's the year of the album baby.
conclusion
i will try my very hardest this year and i'll make sure everyone knows about it. stay tuned for weekly charmbling #2, coming to you next thursday at some point or other, potentially with a snappier name if i can think of one by then.
