A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Reflections #atozchallenge

REFLECTIONS

So I was hedging on whether to do A to Z this year.  I was totally not going to do it.  Then, I watched Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale in theaters on March 9th.  It was a fantastic edition to the SAO franchise.  I loved it.  I love the anime and the light novels.

It inspired and excited me so much that the idea for this year's theme popped into my head then and there.

Thus, I ended up changing my mind.

So I did a headlong frenzy of name finding. I internet searched anime lists, I scoured my anime shelves and manga books, and racked my brain to find those ever elusive Q and X letters.

I had to hedge on only one this year. Stupid X.  But my X post happens to be in my top ten of absolute favorites. So, all was cool. I was happy about it once I resigned that there wasn't an X anime character name that I had watched and liked.

My first post was prewritten on March 13th and it went on from there. I finally got Y (yes, I finished Z before Y) on April 26th.

But the most wonderful thing was I didn't get sick in the midst of April like I usually do. So that was fantastic.

So onto the awesome and not so awesome.

Thank you everybody who visited my blog this year.  Real life kicked my bootie this year with Summer Reading Program prep as well as other catastrophies.  So I couldn't get to other blogs as much as I wanted. I wish I could have visited more but life before fun sometimes.

I really, really missed the linky list.  It was handy to tab out 10 or more blogs and see what was happening on them.  I had a few regulars but not many new ones popping up on my blog this year.

So that was the not so awesome.

The awesome was there were some amazing A to Z blogs I did find. There was the snarky and hilarious posts about Mythology, Hair Bands, and Folklore.

Here are some of the anime characters that didn't make the list that I love as well:

Agil - Sword Art Online
Amon - Witch Hunter Robin

Creed Disketh - Black Cat
Chidori Kaname - Full Metal Panic

Ein - Cowboy Beebop
Edgar - Earl and Fairy

Gintaru - Gingitsune
Goku - Dragon Ball

Hiei - Yu Yu Hakusho
Hagi/Haji - Blood+
Hayate - Pretear

Yuuko Ichihara - XXXHolic

Karma Akabane - Assassination Classroom
Kurapika - Hunter X Hunter
Krusty - Log Horizon
Klein - Sword Art Online

Levi - Attack on Titan

Mikona Modoki - XXXHolic and Tsubasa
Mamoru Kusanagi - Blue Seed
Major Motoko Kusanagi - Ghost in the Shell

Lucrezia Noin - Gundam Wing

Okarin - Stein's Gate

Ryo-Ohki - Tenchi Muyo
Raven - Earl and Fairy

Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
Sadao Maou - The Devil is a Part Timer

Twilight Sazuka - Outlaw Star
Trunks - Dragon Ball Z
Thoth - Kamigami no Asobi

Vincent Valentine - Final Fantasy VII Advent Children

Yu Kanda - D Grayman
Heero Yui - Gundam Wing

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- REFLECTIONS

This year was a fun theme.  I love delving into mythologies and legends, ghosts and evil creatures, and even stories that are just urban myth.

I'm happy that I finished it.  It was very close to being the first one that I did not finish.

I still haven't been able to fix my computer, and I only get bits of time to post at work (aka lunch break and breaks).

So, V was almost not happening.  I had nothing on it the day before it was due, but I got it out and had the the last letters (except for z) written out.  Well, the informational stuff was written out on paper.  I still had to write the stories at the time of posting.

I didn't get to visit many blogs this year, but the ones I did were great.  Silver Fox had some awesome vintage Comic book Heroes and Villians.

Samantha came back in style with her gorgeous MUSIC and STORY with the fantastic contests that I love.

And I got followers!  That made my day.  Thank you!

I had a wonderful time.  See you again next year.

REFLECTIONS A TO Z 2015 . . . SAME ONLY DIFFERENT . . . AND A BIT OF GEEKING AT THE END

Okay, this is where I gush my little heart out about the awesomeness of surviving and finding new blogs to read.

So . . . I DID IT!  I FINISHED ALL MY POSTS! YAY, ME!!

Ahem, now that is out of my system,  I will tell you all the trials and tribulations that nearly did my A to Z in.

To start off with, I was in way better shape than last year.  I only had to M scheduled when April came about last year.  This year I had up to Q or R (But not N.  Nope, N was being a pest.) scheduled along with Z and Y.  Anyway, I was finishing up my remaining posts when --- WHAM! I got sick --- again.   On Friday the 3rd I came down with some scavy disease that killed me for a week.  Joy!

Cough syrup and fake NyQuil déjà vu time!  With doses of Halls and Vitamin C lozenges.

Last year it happened at the end of the month.  I think it was a similar bug because I ran an almost identical course.

This put me behind my finishing the incomplete posts.  Since I don't have a computer at home anymore (Wah! Want my lappy fixed!), I used my work computer.  The iPad works, but it freezes too much and it is a freaking impossible to put a picture in the blog.

Then, I finally get well and go back to working on my posts when --- WOO HOO! -- the internet goes down all blipping day.  A fiber-optic line had been cut deliberately --OOO! Sabotage! -- and that put the kibosh on any attempt to finish the last three.

So I finally get my V and X post done.  Let's say the X post was done only the day before it was due.

Now, I will totally gush about my awesome people that came back over and over again.

Sara -- She had some fantastic story pieces that had to do with trees.  She was with me all 26 letters!

Natasha -- She wandered the lore of books, movies, and TV to find some of the coolest demons and gods from them.

A Tarkabarka Hölgy -- She delved into Hungarian history for the strangest ways to die on her blog Mopdog and Epics from around the world on her other blog, Multicolored Diary.

Patricia -- She had some gorgeous stories that ranged from dark to funny with awesome words for prompts.

There are others that are noteworthy to mention: Nick Wilford, J. H. Moncrieff, and S. L. Hennessy and probably more that I'm forgetting.

Visit all of them because they all have wonderful A to Z posts and are just cool peeps!

So I thank everyone who visited!




And now the whiny bits.  The only real beef I had was when I could not follow a blog through email.  I don't have google+ or bloglovin' or any of that (nor do I want it).  I really don't mind capcha so that wasn't a problem.  The other big problem was when I went to look for the A to Z posts and they are hidden or nonexistent on a page.  I really don't want to hunt and peck through a bunch of stuff to find it  Other than that, I had a blast finding new and unusual blogs.

Now that is over I have just one more thing to say:

Congratulations on finishing A to Z. See you all next year!