I now have 200 followers so let me in on the self-reflection ship, too!

Many valuable lessons have been taken within this year alone. But hey, err — it has not even been a year since I have started this blog.

Let me first open up to 2018 saying that I have made it. I have survived another year of this extremely engaging game called life and I do not plan on losing too many hit points in the future, especially at the beginning of a new year.

…unlike a certain someone.

Ena… why…

 

As for you who are obviously reading this self-congratulating post of mine; you have made it as well and that alone should be among the biggest tanks of fuel for your courage. Come out of the closet (No. Not that closet) and show your loved ones that you can better yourself. Screw the world and its people; screw whatever they think of you. New Year does not create the new you and obviously the people around you aren’t going to quickly follow on your whimsical resolutions either. Though, there is nothing wrong with making wishes. But if you find yourself unable to complete any of them no matter how ambitious you may be, find a place to vent that pure disappointment. I’m all ears (and eyes) as one man’s junk is another man’s tool; in relation to my topic at hand: your failures can also be my life lessons.

Speaking of failures, there are simply too many (hidden) things I want to share with you—the readers—really soon despite having to write this entire post from my phone with a 4G speed limited down to 120 kbps. But you see, I am ambitious enough to get this done and over with; it’s all in the mindset!

 

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My Blog = My Experiments, You and I

 

In 2017 I have tried quite a few different approaches to my writing consistency, be it styles or schedules — I have seen results from trials and errors. Though, the errors are entirely on my part and nothing else. And that’s also one of the big lessons for my adventurous self.

In my 100 followers appreciation post, I had talked about how I had been stuck on writing posts entirely dedicated to Saekano Flat. What I never tell you, my dear readers, is how on every Friday I had stayed up all night, all the way to late morning in Saturday just so I could conjure up detailed, Looking Into posts for each episode just as they got released on Amazon Strike (at 4 a.m. my time). It was the one experiment I didn’t sign up for but my body simply told me to get involved. I’d since then started reusing my Twitter to relay my immediate reactions from having seen one of a kind melodrama gone down in anime history. I could have sworn that those who followed the second season, as it aired episode by episode, were furiously shaken by whatever happened within the last three episodes; even Fumiaki-sensei was proud of himself for having achieved such a personal feat which was last seen in White Album II.

My posts from episode 3 onward were on average of three thousand words, with episode 9’s post having reached 4.6 thousand. They were not just words describing my reactions either but more or less insights of where exactly the characters stood in their story, each and every time.
Eleven weeks of doing it repeatedly and I’d come to an agreement with my healthy self: I would no longer do episodic reviews as they air. What I’d definitely learn from that unintentional experiment was how results really show if I work my ass off, proven by the fact that June is still my best month for views by a very long shot, even with less than half of the followers at the time and all that jazz.

 

Although, like how my beloved senpai Karandi has said, what really matters more is not the views but rather the conversations we have on our blogs that are more important and the community of people we have met. June for me was not a month of views alone, it brought in a lot of people from outside WordPress to discuss one true waifu that is Megumi.
Okay I’m half joking but really, my Saekano Flat posts from episode 8 onward house more comments than the rest on average. Half of it was the seasonal effect; the other half was my involvement. I’d be lying if I tell you that I’m not waiting for another show which can put me back in that very blogger’s hot seat.

“It was all worth it.“

After that wildly engaging experiment I’d began posting on a weekly basis while at times having came out with two to three posts within the same week. Clearly I’d lost the streak in hot topics and summer season wasn’t helpful for my blog’s traffic either. Literally everything was low-key; Tsurezure Children in rom-com, Aho-Girl with its slapstick madness and even my MVP of the year, Made In Abyss.

Came fall season with a plethora of life savers. My void feelings for the anime medium almost immediately vanished as I’d spent a good amount of time watching promotional trailers for some of the edgiest shows. I ended up having not watched any of them… haha. Well if you have been following my blog for the past 3 months then you would surely know of the shows I have been watching.
The amount of posts that come out per week or per month is basically a meter on how much I’m enjoying the season. And in terms of enjoyability, I don’t know about you but Fall Season really took the cake for me back in 2017.

Lastly I’d also deployed my 30 Day Anime Challenge to complement the lack of any good content in the form of wonders category post. Because counting out the challenges, I have only made 11 posts in December which is a far cry from my excitement in October, with a whopping 25 posts…
…from the person who’d clearly stated that they’d post on a weekly basis. If it is not for my reflection post, I would not know why Irina kept questioning my “absence“ from the blog.

What I’d come to learn from the anime challenge is that people are more willing to open up to me if I don’t keep on pushing my wonders onto them.

 

While I cannot deny that wonders are what made my blog as it is today, I have also learned that I would need to get involved with many more things outside of my own themes if I want to witness an engaging community.

 

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Admiration

 

Have it played.

 

 

This is the part where I would like to firmly remind you that WordPress aniblogger community is akin to a family of relatives. We may not be directly bonded but in the name of anime, we are all related in one way or another. This is also where watching over other bloggers’ progress can feel like watching an Olympics sprint race, or a marathon if that said blogger is slowly making it there.

Now, I have made absolutely no secrets regarding myself having been a huge supporter to Irina and her blog. She first appeared on my blog, in this post to comment something so philosophical my rebel self was not even close to being ready to rationally answer despite the post fully having had to do with rationality.

Lesson number one: Respect is to be earned—not given.

As a blogger, it is only natural that you check out those who interact with you; leave the judgment for later. I’d done exactly so and found out that she loves drinking a hell lot to the point of having her blog running a theme of drinking games. It was then I could have been thinking with two differing types of mindset:

One was a self-centered thought — along the lines of, “Eh. Alcohol just ain’t my thing therefore I don’t want anything to do with her.”
The other would be having to think of the community as a whole; putting my personal taste aside, “Everyone LOVES games!”

But a drinking game within anime community is not something entirely new, so I kept on looking for things that would have me stayed. It was not until roughly a month later I’d found her writing to be filled with personality — something I could have sworn happened to myself and my blog, too. Of course, she wouldn’t have stuck her bum around WordPress for long had we been unwelcoming, which is why…

Lesson number two: Be nice to one another.

Be tolerant to others’ mistakes because not even you are perfect. Had it been the other way around, you wouldn’t want air of complaints blowing your way, would you? Do note that I’m talking about mistakes and more importantly another person’s learning curve. Other stuff like elitism and oppression gets no comment from me as I would do my best to avoid those.

Up until my first Unique Blogger Award post I had been overselling her blog like mad, but that is because she truly deserved the attention which I will call you out for being blind if you cannot see the sheer difference between our blogs from then and now.

I’d written some of the cheesiest stuff I could eternally imagined. When it came to praising someone to heaven, nothing could ever hold me back as I believe in improvements for every little effort.

This one tops it all:

The moment her follower count surpasses mine, I will be looking at her well-deserving achievement the exact same way I look at the comet Charlotte, a once in a lifetime experience–precisely once every 111 and a half years but I will not live that long (lol).

 

Will you live that long, though?

Currently being the bigger one between the two of us, I clearly have made a bad example of myself as the senpai.

 

This was when her follower counter was around three-quarters of mine. Not only that I no longer need to oversell her blog; this is the one rare instance of a famously quoted life lesson for me. Being a twenty-three year old who is absolutely alcohol free, it would be natural for me to not take interest in anime reviews disguised as drinking games. But…

Lesson number three: Do not judge a book by its cover.

Seeing where both of us are now in the community, my admiration grows strong with this knowledge. Though, there is a part of it which actually has to do with my past regret—better described as…

 

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Hesitation

 

To me, this was a big opportunity killer. Many things I now know that I could have done with the exact mindset I have in writing out this post never happened, because somewhere in the back of my mind, I chose to stand back.
I chose to be a spectator who waited until the ball comes flying my way. But that did not really happen either. It is time for me to share probably my third hidden event with you now:

 

The decision to join OWLS

 

This has been lingering for the longest time, I think. The natural flow in checking out people who interact with me happened long before Irina even; all the way back when Arria of Fujinsei first reached my blog (somehow lol). I’d discovered the owl loving warriors through her page and having read pretty much everything, for a while I though I was seeing heaven. I mean, a place where weebs can coexist no matter the hardship?
It’s too good to be true! But the “too good” part is actually my lacking self. I was held back by negative thoughts like…

“I won’t be there all the time!” or stuff like, “Wouldn’t I hurt their reputation, given my audacious style of writing?”

It was then I’d also realized that the exact same thoughts apply to my real life job as well, but the difference is that I HAVE to be at the job. This then gave me another layer of excusing shield, which is mostly why I still haven’t stepped a foot in the owl house.

Hesitation does not always lead to a bad ending. Because for once, the ball did come flying my way:
The 30 Day Anime Challenge which I have held back for 8 months. It was legitimately a good call because had it been running in April, some of the choices you see today would have not appear as I wouldn’t have seen them at the time of writing out the answers. Take the finale post for example: Made In Abyss aired in July and the news regarding Index III were not released either. In short, my anime challenge would not have been as fun as it has been if I did not hesitate.

 

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Appreciation and Continuation

 

I know about it as much as any of you; I (and my blog) stop being great the moment I stop learning from others. Even if comes a day I am no longer able to do wrong, it will pay to learn from the people around myself for the things I shouldn’t do. I guess that is how reviews work in a way; I watched a show for you so you won’t really need to. I just apply that simpleminded logic to others around me, but the real catch is always the same:

Lesson number four: Do not stop learning from others and from yourself.

I want to also give my thanks to these rebels who have stuck with my and my blog like super glue:

• Leap and tetrax: both of you set some seriously good example of awesome weebs. Can I join the club?
• Auricchi and nesha for occasionally giving me this with your like spams.

 

• Fueled by Smiling for doing exactly what the name of her blog implies!
• Michel for literally keeping me company even when I knew there wouldn’t be anyone around.
• Dave for striking my posts with massive paragraphs of comment when I least expect them.
• Irina. Clearly the mom I did not ask for.
• Plyassan and Panties for shoving different opinions down my throat no matter the occasion. They are kinda doing it to me right now with Fate/Stay Night UBW so look out for that very post on Panties’ blog.
• Remy-kun. We cannot let this Yaoi ship sink, okay? Even if it is for a joke.
• Alfredo! Some of you already know that I also love idol stuff but I’m still saying that you are looking at the wrong place! Go check his blog out to strengthen the idol blood in you.
• Karandi-senpai. She lives up to the honorific and none of us are even going to deny that fact.

 

I would like to also, finally thank you all for allowing me to make it past the two-hundred mark. So many events came together but I still hope that a single post would suffice even though my appreciation train as no brakes.

Do tell me that it is okay! Because this entire post is written with my index finger slowly destroying my poor Galaxy S8 screen. It is called a smartphone for a reason. Oh and if you’re wondering why I’d chosen to ‘tap’ on this milestone, that is because I am visiting my relatives right now.
When I get back to my lovely PC tomorrow, I will insert links in deserving places. I swear on me mom.

Ah, coming at the right time…

Here is to your flavorful 2018! |^.^|

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