New year, new short story!
New year, new short story!
and maybe some thoughts about things I like!
Happy 2023!
As I’ve whined in multiple places on multiple occasions, 2022 was a terrible year for me. I went into 2022 full of ambition for my writing career and dreams, and then I got hit with long COVID and daily migraines in February. My plans, productivity, and mental health went out the window. I’ve been forced to become friends with this concept called “rest.” To quote my doctor: “more cats.”
I’m still not doing any better, so I’ve spent a lot of the past two weeks thinking about 2023 goals. Ultimately, I don’t have anything except that I want to devote my limited energy to writing stories that I enjoy.
So, I decided to start 2023 by releasing a f/f short story I’ve had for a while!
Colette Bell and Joni Remington live in different countries, but they “met” in a MMORPG. After a long and friendly online-only friendship, the women start to think about more than playing games together. When Colette finds herself with a free weekend away from her kids and work responsibilities, Joni suggests something fun for them to do. That afternoon, thousands of miles apart, their friendship levels up.
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Longing is a sapphic erotic short story.
Longing is available for only 99 cents USD in multiple storefronts!
Things I Liked in 2022
Reading:
I didn’t read as much romance or non-fic as I usually do! I think I read 3 memoirs and maybe twenty romance novels all the way through (I definitely started but paused many books). Instead of my usual genres, I got heavily into danmei and baihe light novels. The longer the story, the better! My weary brain really enjoyed diving deep into worlds and following the same characters around. Not everything I’ve read is going to get discussed, but here are some highlights for me:
MXTX really put me in a chokehold! I read all of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, all of Mo Dao Zu Shi that’s been published in English so far, and the first four volumes of Heaven Official’s Blessing. Eager to dive into the fifth volume that I just got as a Christmas gift!
I read a fan translation of Please Don’t Laugh’s JWQS/Clear and Muddy Loss of Love in like 2 or 3 weeks?!?!? That’s a million word f/f novel!! Unreal! Really need more people to read this, please, and help me petition for it to get an official English release.
Priest’s Faraway Wanderers and Guardian/Zhen Hun were the first books I was able to read after getting hit with COVID and having my brain scrambled. Thank you, fan translators! Guardian is getting an official English translation, so I’m stoked to reread it soon. I hope Faraway Wanderers gets licensed soon.
TV:
Goodness, I watched so much TV this year!! In the past, I’d always be too busy working to really sit down and watch a lot of television or movies. But having to rest a lot in 2022 meant my brain was primed to consume visual media! The highlights for me, of course, was queer stuff.
I started The Untamed when I was sick with COVID, and that really kicked off my interest in light novels since I wanted to read the original story. I’ve watched The Untamed, like, four times all the way through since February. It’s easily my favorite thing I consumed this year.
Finally got into the What We Do in the Shadows television series! I watched the movie years ago and loved it, but I didn’t have access to the show until recently. It’s so good!! I love these silly queer vampires and their gay familiar/bodyguard/vampire hunter friend. Season five, I am waiting for you!! (and am hoping Nandor and Guillermo will have more sexually-charged duels)
A League of Their Own really surprised me with how funny and sexy it was! Plenty of gripping drama, of course, but it was the constant eye-fucking that won me over immediately in episode one. Does anyone know if we are getting a season 2! I need to hear some good news!
Our Flag Means Death changed my life, and I might venture to say that it changed most of my friends’ lives too. Who knew a show about queer pirates could be so funny and oddly wholesome while there’s a lot of stabbing and fuckery adventures? I came for the nonbinary representation and stayed for, well, everything. I have watched OFMD more times than I can recall. Season 2, you must get here as soon as possible.
I waited so long for Everything Everywhere All at Once to come to streaming, lol, but the wait was worth it. I watched a lot of great movies this year, but this one is my favorite watch of 2022. The cast was phenomenal, and the movie was a hundred times funnier and weirder than I thought it was going to be.
Games:
The way I play video games had to change significantly in 2022. For several months, I couldn’t play them at all. Constant migraines meant staying away from super flashy games or anything that wouldn’t let me easily save in case I suddenly needed to stop. I also simply refused to play anything that was too confusing lol. I found I didn’t play a whole lot of new games so much as I decided to return to familiar ones.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses got another two full playthroughs from me. I’ve had that game since its release in 2019, and I’ve clocked in nearly five hundred hours total lmao. I love it so much! Looking forward to the next game in the series that’s releasing later this month.
Rune Factory 5 caught me by surprise. I have played the other Rune Factory games but was always kind of meh about them, so I waited until the new entry had a sale before buying. It’s easily my favorite in the series! Actually getting to have same-gender relationships is also a huge bonus. I’m still playing it and recently had my guy marry the blacksmith Martin… I am smitten with him, for real. All I want to do is go on dates with Martin and make him fruit sandwiches.
I continued my journey in the Yakuza series by playing Yakuza 3 and 4 remastered. I fucking love these characters so much. Love going on silly little missions in between serious plot stuff. Love playing mahjong and hearing that satisfying click of the tiles.
Music:
I listened to so much BTS. So much. Tons of other k-pop, Beyonce’s Renaissance, Lizzo’s Special, and plenty of 90’s hits were on my playlists, but BTS was (and will continue to be) the group that makes me the happiest and most energetic.
2022 was also probably the first year that I started telling EVERYONE how much I love the music that I listen to. I used to keep my musical interests mostly to myself, but now everyone I interact with is aware that my bias in BTS is Namjoon and that I think the best line in Extreme’s Hole Hearted is “a circle can’t fit where a square should be.” Sharing my love for music has been so freeing and wonderful.
I think I wrote my entertainment recap more for me than for you, sorry, lol. 2022 was such a different year for me. I’ve been thinking it was all bad, but typing up that recap made me realize I discovered new parts of me I truly love in the past year while wrestling with my new chronic illness. There was a lot of gold hiding in the dirt, I guess.
2023 will still have a lot of resting for me, and I strongly encourage you to also rest where you can. Enjoy some hobbies. Try something new. Be kind to yourself if you can’t meet your goals.
I’m cheering you on!
-C