Update Diary: Hell/Dolls (May 15th, 2025)

Hello again everyone!  A new month, a new update on the progress of my story.  Summer this year is going to be busy, but I will keep updating my progress at least once a month.

Here are the stats for today:

Current Chapter: 9 (Truths and Lies)

Pages: 112

Current Word Count: 59,215

As y’all can see, I’m plugging away at the story at a breakneck pace compared to the last few months.  I did remember this time to omit the counting for the title page and Table of Contents, so these numbers are for the raw story.

I do have something I’d like to ask of anyone willing to answer:

Do you prefer stories with chapter titles, or just chapter numbers?

I personally like stories with chapter titles in case I take a long break from reading something – the names help me remember what is currently happening.  The current story for Hell/Dolls has chapter names (primarily to find story points easily when editing), but I know that a lot of mainstream YA novels don’t have them.

Once I start releasing the chapters, I’d like to consistently provide chapter names if the public prefers.  Ultimately it’s a personal choice, but I’d like to know what others think.

For now, please be patient for the release of the prelude and first chapter!  Thank you to all who read my ramblings and stories!

-Marcosias

Anime Review: Yozakura Quartet (Hana no Uta, Hoshi no Umi, and Tsuki ni Naku)

Anime review time, y’all! And a doozy at that: a fanservice-y, action-moe-comedy adventure, that is Yozakura Quartet (the later episodes, not the original series)!

I decided to review these three arcs together, since they are meant to be part of the same continuity (the original series deviates a bit compared to these ones, which is why we’ll be ignoring it for now).

Here is a brief synopsis from MAL (this one’s hard for me to explain for some reason):

The world of Yozakura Quartet is actually not one, but two worlds: one of humans, and one of youkai. Despite appearing mostly human, youkai may have animal like physical traits, along with a number of special abilities. Normally youkai are confined to their world, but some have found their way into the realm of humanity. As a symbol of peace, and a bridge between the two realms, a city was constructed within the protective barrier of seven magical trees, otherwise known as the Seven Pillars. This city of Sakurashin is home to both humans and youkai, with the peace between them maintained by the Hizumi Life Counseling Office.

The director of this office is Akina Hiizumi, a teenager with the inherited family ability to perform “tuning,” which can send harmful youkai back to their world permanently. He is aided by a group of girls, including the town’s 16 year old youkai mayor, Hime Yarizakura, their town’s announcer and resident telepath, Ao Nanami, and Kotoha Isone, a half-youkai who can summon objects just by stating the object’s name.

As new residents enter and mysterious events begin to take place, this quartet of protectors and their closest friends must continue to guard the city of Sakurashin, and maintain the fragile balance of peace between humans and youkai.

This show is one of my favorites, though as I rewatched this particular series, I realized it may be a bit… much for people just getting into anime.  Some of the fanservice and jokes may not have aged well, also.

So take everything I say with a grain of salt, and as always, spoilers ahead!

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Anime Review: Vivy ~Fluorite Eye’s Song~

Good morrow!

Today, we will be taking a look at a show that tackles a specific future: AI and the destruction of humanity.  Did you guess right? It’s “Vivy ~Fluorite Eye’s Song~, a series that has one hell of an opening scene, and even more hell of a story!

A little look at the plot synopsis, created from my own mind:

The story follows the beginning of artificial intelligence’s rise to commonplace, as AI begins to grow in both popularity and usefulness.  Specifically, a musical-type AI named “Diva” struggles to gain an audience, though she is “encouraged” by a human child to aim for the big stage.  Her coding is suddenly intruded on by another AI named “Matsumoto”, that tells her she is the key to preventing an AI apocalypse.  As she tries to ignore him / get rid of him, she becomes more aware of how true his mission is – for better and for worse.

And for once, I will ACTUALLY be spoiling some major points, so SPOILERS AHEAD!

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Short Update: Notice for my writing release accounts

Good morning, everybody!

I wanted to take a few moments to alert anyone interested in reaming my content that I do have a couple of presences online already.

Primarily, I’d been using Fanfiction.net and FictionPress (they are general fiction sites that were easy to upload to in the past), but I also have a Wattpad account that I’ve uploaded three stories to (none of which are done).

I am writing this post specifically to point people in the direction of where Hell/Dolls will be released; I will update the blog whenever a new chapter comes out, but I don’t think I will be releasing it directly on here.  I’ve been toying with WordPress / Jetpack since I came back to this blog, and I’m fairly unfamiliar with the new layout, as you’ve probably seen.

In short, until I get a better handle on this blog’s makeup again, I think I’ll release it on the other sites, and post links in my writing diary.

For now, await an update on the blog for the first releases.  In the meantime, I have some short and unfinished stories available on each site:

FictionPress.com

FanFiction.net

WattPad

Also, don’t forget to support my ko-fi if you like my creations.

Thanks to all my readers for your support!

Love you all,

-Marcosias Isif

Anime Review: MASHLE: Magic and Muscles

Hello again, all!

Today’s review tackles a show that I hadn’t had the desire to watch for a while, but took a shot and watched it.  MASHLE: MAGIC AND MUSCLES is definitely a unique show, but it’s got enough of a following that it must be good, right?

Here’s a quick synopsis:

In this world, magic is prevalent, and almost everyone in it can use magic to some degree – except our protagonist, Mash Burnedead, who was born without a mark (basically, has no magic potential).  He instead trains his body to the max, day in and day out, at the behest of his father, who hopes this is enough to protect him from the sinister underbelly of the magic world.  But an event endangering his happy family life forces Mash to enroll in the magic-centric Easton Academy and try to become a Divine Visionary – a person deemed as one of God’s chosen.  Will Mash be able to succeed in his studies and live in peace?

Spoilers start now.

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