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Update Diary: Hell/Dolls (January 19, 2025)

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Today, another update on the webnovel to-be!  I’ve been working very hard on progressing the novel in my free time, though it may mean that my reviews are starting to become harder to complete…

In any case, here’s the current stats on the story:

Current Chapter: 9

Pages: 102

Total Word Count: 47,222

I’ve also started using some apps to help me find problems with my story: specifically “tome” and “AutoCrit”.

I’ve been using tome sparingly, but it helps me clarify my goals for the story, character motivations, and basic flow.  To be honest, I’ve mainly been writing this stuff down and addressing inconsistencies with it.

AutoCrit, on the other hand, I’ve started using at the start of this year.  I upload the document, analyze it in various parts, and the program tells me what my plot points are for each chapter, inconsistencies, plot threads that remain unexplored, and character points that have been and need to be addressed.  There are things that AutoCrit gets wrong, and items that it doesn’t quite understand correctly, but overall it helps me identify problems with the story as I write (though when I upload incomplete chapters, it is annoying when it points out that threads I’m working on are not resolved).

Regarding the story itself, chapters 8 and 9 shift the focus from the main character, Vincent, to a couple of the supporting characters.  I might edit how these chapters flow by the time I release chapters 0 and 1, since it’s a little jarring as of now.  We’ll see.

I am PAINFULLY aware that I am late on this post, so apologies in advance.  I still have at least two reviews to complete for content this month, so stay tuned for those.

Update Diary: Hell/Dolls Update 12/31/24

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Good day to all!

Today, I’d like to provide a short update on my Hell/Dolls story, as it stands right now (though, truth be told, I started this article on the 23rd).

As it stands, here are the statistics I have:

Current Chapter: 8 (Talks and Whispers – tentative name)

Pages: 89

Total Word Count: 41,110

So, something some of you may have noticed is that the word count hasn’t gone up much despite entering a new chapter (the last update had 37,185 words, so barely over 4,000 words since the last update).  Part of this is that I went back some days and reconfigured some wording and events, but the other part of this is that I haven’t been able to work on this story as much as I would have liked.  Between a surprise guest in our household and holiday hours at work, the most I’ve been able to do is finish this chapter (a little abruptly), start the new chapter, and review what I’ve written and edit the errors out.

All in all, this is a short update telling you that I have indeed been working on the story despite my personal life.  I have been able to do some work on my reviews during the weekends, but my story has suffered a little due to this.

Update (12/30/24): So, this WAS supposed to come out this morning, but I forgot.  Instead, I’m sscheduling it for the ACTUAL end-of-the-year post.

I did want to address the decision I made regarding the novel’s release – I have decided to release the first four chapters (as well as the prelude) once I reach chapter 10, on FictionPress as I normally do.  My train of thought is that by the time I get to Chapter 10, the wording for the story should be finalized, or at the very least need miniscule changes.  I will also probably do an audio recording at some point, both for myself and for the readers.

What this basically means for the novelization is that it probably won’t be available on hardcopy, unfortunately – I think that releasing the story for free gives more access to people who want to read it, and it gives me less of a headache trying to find a publisher, dealing with fees, and other problems that come with publishing full-on books.

On the plus side, this means that once I feel a chapter is done, it will be available to read (and record).  I won’t (or, will try not to) edit any posted chapters, and I’ll probably start a ko-fi or pull up my Patreon for anyone who wants to support me monetarily.  Both links will come soon.

For now, keep an eye out for the first few releases!  I hope to have them ready by mid-2025.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

-Marcosias the Isif

Anime Review: Special Review

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WHAT? THIS IS NOT ANIME!

Yes, this review is a little different.  Today, I want to spread a series that some of you know or may have already watched.

Hazbin Hotel.

I’m aware that this show is definitely not for everyone, but I feel like it’s a show that should be discussed for one reason or another.  It has some very specific messages, and some that are not as clear, but overall the show is an interesting experience.

I’ll be using the anime scoring system that I normally use, even though this isn’t anime – because it’s an animated series with musical numbers, a specific art style, and dynamic characters, I think it fits enough criteria that I use to fit this model.

Spoilers ahead.

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Anime Review: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (Cour 1 and 2)

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Hello once again, peeps!  After a long time trying to finish this series, I’ve finally done it!  Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a brilliantly-designed series, and I would like to review it here as best I can.

As always, my rating system for Anime is a little weird, but all of the notes for my style of judgement is on a separate page on the blog.

A short synopsis:  Frieren is an elf mage who, along with the Hero Himmel, the priest Heiter, and the warrior Eisen, defeated the Demon King of their world.  Frieren returns to keep a promise to Himmel after fifty years, and is able to be with her party once more before the Hero passes, where she regrets not spending enough time with her short-lived allies.  The show follows the struggle of Frieren trying to understand humans’ emotions, reasonings, and beliefs, while simultaneously retracing her adventures with a new party of younger people.

From here on, it’s spoiler territory.

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Anime Review: Buddy Daddies

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Good morning, my friends! Today, I have a wonderful anime to share with you: Buddy Daddies! I’ve been putting off watching it for no real reason, but now that I’ve seen it, I’d like to provide my thoughts on it.

As with all of my reviews, I have a personal scoring system for each series or film I review (it has been recently updated):

  • Plot / Story. Out of 10 points.  Describes how well-thought out the plot was, and how the story arcs build into the series as a whole.
  • CD (short for Character Development).  Out of 10.  Rates how well the characters and their relationships with each other build over the course of the season / movie.
  • Art / Acting / Music.  Out of 10.  Based around the flourish of the art style(s) and acting; character design, clothing, environment, and how well-placed little details (easter eggs or Chekhov’s Gun moments, or acting details like choking voices during crying scenes) are done.  It also includes musical direction in media where BGM or insert songs have an effect on the flow and atmosphere of scenes.
  • Rewatch Value: Out of 10.  This is my opinion on how often I would watch it given a clear schedule, or in some cases, how many times I recommend rewatching to catch all of the small details.  It is also affected by how much of an impact it leaves (A Silent Voice, for instance, leaves a heavy impact for me, but I wouldn’t watch it for a while afterward because it’s a little depressing for me).
  • Overall Rating: Out of 10.  This is my final opinion of the show as a whole, and is based on all of the above elements, as well as any other feelings I need to mention going into or coming out of a watch session.

At the end of the scoring, I will give an X/50 score with a letter grade from F, D, C, B, A, or S (S being a perfect 50).

Synopsis: Rei and Kazuki are hired killers that work in the underbelly of Japan.  When one of their jobs gets interrupted by a small child looking for her father, Kazuki decides to take her in until they’re able to return her to her parents, but they soon discover that taking care of a child along with their regular work is not as easy as they thought.

From here on out, there will be spoilers.

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