Brandon Varnell's Blog, page 16

Anime of the Fall season that you need to watch!

I've decided to do another something different than this post. Today, I am going to be letting you all know which anime are hot this season!

There's been a load of new anime that came out this Fall, and a lot of them are surprisingly good. While there's almost always those one or two that stand out in the crowd each season, this season has several that I feel are a must watch for anime fans, and that is why I've decided to let you know what I believe are the best anime to watch.

Grisaia no Kajitsu

This is actually an anime I've not see yet. However, I decided to post it due to my twitter friend, Mr. Otaku Comedy, vouching for its awesomeness. I trust him on this matter and will be watching it when I finish with some of the other anime on my list.





Log Horizon Season 2

The first season of Log Horizon was pretty damn good. I enjoyed it a lot and so far, the second season has not disappointed me. While not the best anime out there, it's definitely fun to watch and not something a fan of anime should miss out on.






Madan no Ou to Vandis

The first episode of this anime was, to be blunt, underwhelming. I originally had no intention of watching it further than that. However, on a whim, I went back and watched episode two. I'm glad I did. While this anime is not as good as some of the other Fall anime, it is still fun to watch, and will be of interest to anybody who enjoys fantasy, D&D type storylines.






Shingeki no Bahamut

This is an anime that struck me as awesome from the very first episode. It starts off with an epic battle between two magical forces (angels and demons, I believe) being interrupted by a massive dragon. That's right. A fucking dragon. It then cuts straight into a chase scene where two of our main characters are riding horses on the rooftops of a city that looks like it came from the Victorian era. I would highly recommend watching this one.



Fate Stay/Night Unlimited Blade Works

This is the anime that you would be a fool not to watch. Aside from the first two episodes being 48 minutes long, everything about this anime has proven to be epic. The art-style is incredible, the characters endearing, the backgrounds beautiful, the animations awesome and the fight sequences beyond compare. If you watch no other anime on this list, then you should at least watch this one. This story also follows the UBW route of the VN, which means Shiro and Rin will be getting together. As my favorite Tsundere of all time, Rin is definitely the best, but that's just a personal opinion.

Ashikabi no Shinobi, Chapter 37

Aiden Kennedy: I've decided to use this instead of your blog because I don't know how to leave a question there. Are you going to deal with Higa before you end this story since he wants to get rid of Naruto? Please answer this question in your next chapter and UPDATE SOON!

Answer: Yes. I will be dealing with Higa, probably within the next chapter or two, in fact. All of the loose ends to this story will be tied up and dealt with before the end.

Alviam099: If I say what I would like to say here, I would probably build up a rant.

You're a good writer. Honestly, I would never be able to match that, considering I only occasionally 'try' to write.

Your story contradicts itself. For all the build up with Naruto's remembrance of his daughter over all the story, turns out that he never cares for them at all. You even went as far as making Greek mythology's goddesses his daughters. For what? There's no reason for that at all.

You also occasionally forget the most basic details. I suggest you reread things(uh, this is for all your fic, Devil Ninja most prominent).

And don't forget to check your own stories as you write them, some details written is confusing.

Naruto's immortality, I guess you wanted it to be dramatic and awesome like with Kur0Kishi's Unwavering Sky. I don't think you quite managed it. Reading it, I was like, 'Eh? Was that supposed to be it?'
Shame on you.

To be honest it seems I ranted for a bit.
And to be frank, I will still read your fics, with their abundance of content and honestly, you're one of the notable author in the Naruto section. I'll read your fic, just for that reason alone.
But still, your writing just doesn't do it for me anymore. I think it already has reach the level of being stale.

Answer: I'll not deny that my story has many contradictions. In that, you are correct. I should have been more careful, but I think because I changed my plans halfway through the story, I just screwed things up. However, I do take offense to you stating that Naruto never cared for his daughters. He does, and there was a reason for me making the Goddesses from Greek mythology his daughters. Several in fact. The first was to let people realize just how old Naruto really is. It's one thing to say "I'm thousands of years old" it's quite another to have proof of lineage. The second reason is even simpler. I'm tying Naruto into the various mythologies. In some ways, you can think of Naruto has the Rikudou Sennin of this time. Just like how the ninja world came about as a result of the Rikudou Sennin's actions, Naruto's actions have brought about the various mythos around the world. It was done to show you how his presence has impacted the world.
Tango Charlie: I cant say I really liked this chapter.
Naruto foming such a strong rel. with Kazehana in just ONE chapter kinda went over my head. I dont know, maybe its just me, but this lemon just didnt have the effect that the one with Musubi did. Each and every other Sekirei of Naruto's could have been better appreciated in this chapter. 

Kazehana seems really 'forced' for some reason. She has basically had just some mentions in the previous chapters, and now Naruto takes her on a date, and scores? Even before Tsukiyumi or Akitsu? That didnt go down with me.

Still, a well written and well detailed chapter. Will be patiently waiting for the next one!

Answer: I understand where you're coming from. It does seem to have happened very quickly, but that was actually done on purpose. Think of it like this, until now, Naruto has never been the one to really initiate a winging. It's always been something that was more or less pushed on him. However, with Kazehana, HE was the one who initiated the romance between them. This chapter was done to show how Naruto is finally getting over his hang ups about being intimate with Sekirei. Naruto's wooing of Kazehana was done in a single chapter to show you that he's no longer being held down by the past.
Albert da Snake: AWESOME CHAPTER AND LEMON! YOU AWESOME AUTHOR, YOU! But about the fertility thing is it canon or you added it to the story?
Answer: It is not canon. It's just something I added to the story so I didn't have to worry about protected sex. :P
ddzhalev: Hey,
First of all. great work on your stories so far. The more of them I read, the more convinced I am that you are among the Top 3 authors on this site. I especially like this story as it brings together two of my favorite titles - Naruto and Sekirei. The fact that your stories are heavily character oriented, rather than just fight scenes and lemons, is also a big plus. 

Now, on to the newest chapter. Honestly, I thought it was pretty good but maybe a little too focused on Kazehana. While it's good that she got more time "on screen", I felt that making a chapter focused so much on Naruto's interaction with only one other character doesn't really go with the flow of the story, at least in the last few chapters. 

For the story as a whole, I would very much like to see a little bit more about the training he gives to the other Sekirei. Also, you mentioned a while back that there are only several more chapters to this story, but I honestly can't think of an ending that won't feel rushed if you end the fanfic so soon. (This point has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'd like to enjoy this fic more, honest!)

That's pretty much what I have so far, but if I think of something else I'll write again.

On a side note, I bought your book from Amazon and while I just started reading it, I'm very much enjoying it so far. When can we expect the sequel? (I really hate waiting for books, chapters, episodes, etc.)

Best wishes and keep up the good work,
D.

P.S. I'm not an author or anything, so I apologize if you find anything I wrote (or the fact that I wrote at all) offensive, but I just thought I'd share my opinion as a fan. Cheers!

Answer: While I understand where you're coming from, I think you need to realize that my story has never been about the Sekirei Plan. It's about Naruto and his journey towards healing. If this regard, the Climax has already happened. When Naruto and Musubi made love for the first time, when Naruto accepted Musubi into his heart, THAT was the climax of this story. The rest of the story is merely a tying up of loose ends to reach a satisfactory conclusion. There are simply so many loose ends that need to be tied up that it takes a few chapter.
And thank you, I'm glad you've been enjoying my story thus far. The second book should be out soon.

Preview of Book 1: A Fox's Love: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Paper RouteThe Swift residence was one of the many apartments inside the Le Monte apartment complex located in Phoenix, Arizona. More specifically, it was located on the crossroads of 16thStreet and McDonald Road.Just why anyone would name a street after a fast food restaurant shall remain forever unknown. Someone probably just thought it would be funny.Le Monte apartment complex was a very nice place to live, all things considered. The grass around the various apartment blocks was well maintained. There were two swimming pools, among other amenities, and all of the apartment buildings were clean, modern-looking structures with red roofing and white stucco walls. There were definitely worse places to live.The apartment belonging to the Swifts was a modest sized two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, with a moderately sized kitchen connected to a living room, and possessing an office near the master bedroom. Despite not being very large, the apartment had all the comforts one would expect to find in a well-loved home.Lining the walls were pictures within various sized and styled frames. The images were of a very pretty young woman who didn't look a day over twenty and a boy who grew throughout various pictures. In one, he was a small baby that looked like a tiny ball of fat and pudge, as all babies do. In another, he was a young boy no older than one with a head full of peach fuzz hair, taking his first steps. In another, he was a preteen with short spiky hair and a large grin as he held a soccer ball in his hands. All of the pictures showed the boy as he grew up, and the young-looking woman, who could easily be presumed to be the boy's mother.The apartment was mostly empty of its inhabitants at the moment, save for one bedroom where the boy in the pictures was currently sleeping peacefully―BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BE- CRUNCH!―Or at least, he was sleeping, until the alarm clock went off, ruining a wonderful dream. Couldn't it have beeped just ten seconds later? He had been just about to share a romantic kiss with his crush!Sometimes, he really hated that infernal piece of racket making machinery.Blearily sitting up in his bed as he pulled his hand off the now somewhat abused alarm clock, Kevin Swift blinked his weary blue eyes, striving to come to terms with the fact that he was now awake thanks to that dang alarm. He ran a hand through his tousled, medium-length, light blond hair, brushing several stray bangs out of his eyes. As his mind became more alert, the young teen found himself absently staring around his room.It was about what you might expect from the room of a fifteen year old boy. Lining the walls were posters of all his favorite bands, and his favorite sports teams, along with a number of posters showcasing his favorite movies, animeand manga.Surprisingly, there were no pictures of bikini models, hot actresses or half naked women. Why was this a surprise? Because Kevin was a fifteen year old boy. Large posters of half-naked super models were something people simply expect to see in the bedroom of a young man going through puberty.That they weren't sharing Kevin's bedroom may have had something to do with his innate shyness when it came to dealing with women.To put it simply, he could not talk to girls to save his life. Any time a girl came up to him, he would freeze, his mouth unable to move and his mind unable to think. It was an affliction that affected him in more ways than one, and was the main reason he still couldn't ask Lindsay Diane on even a simple date despite the years they had known each other.Yeah, he was pretty pathetic like that. Laugh it up. Have a joke at his expense. Not like he'll ever know.Another key factor of Kevin's room that most would likely notice upon entering was the large book shelf. It didn't have any books. At least, not reading books. Filling the shelf from top to bottom was a large collection of all his favorite Japanese Pop Culture items. Like a good number of boys his age, Kevin had a thing for it, or at least, he had a thing for Japanese animation and manga.And now that his room has been aptly described, why don't we move this along? We're wasting word count!Grumbling a bit irritably about having to get up so early in the morning (the sun hadn't even come up yet!), Kevin Swift proceeded to complete his daily ritual for waking up and getting ready.In other words, he spent a long time in the shower, staring blankly at the wall as steam rose all around him, made a breakfast of eggs, toast and a glass of milk after getting dressed, and brushed his teeth. Once all this was finished, he was awake and raring to go.Not really. He was actually only marginally more alert than before he got ready, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter. There were things that needed to get done, things that unfortunately couldn't wait.Stepping out of the apartment he shared with his mother (who in case you didn't realize was not home)(and who, just in case you didn't realize, really was the other person in the pictures), Kevin locked the door and walked over to the bike that was padlocked to the railing. He undid the lock, grabbed the bike, rolled it down the set of stairs a few feet from his apartment, and took off, pedaling his way out of Le Monte apartment complex and onto the main street.As he rode in the bike lane on the left side of the road, Kevin mused that even in the wee hours of the morning, it was still hot as hell in this state. Seriously, Arizona had to be the hottest fricken' state in the United States, especially during the summer.Well, technically summer was nearing its end. Just a little less than two weeks and it would be September, but Kevin had never been one to bother with such semantics.This didn't stop him from complaining, despite there being no one around to hear it, or the fact that no one would hear his complaints anyways since they were being done in his head. And so, mentally complaining about the heat, the teenager continued to ride his bike along the side of the road all the way to his job.Yeah, he had a job. Kevin wasn't like other kids who had things handed to him on a silver-platter. He was responsible!Well, that, and the fact that Kevin didn't really like relying on his mom for money or anything else. This may have had something to do with how she was rarely ever home, but again, semantics, he didn't bother himself with them.Kevin's job was delivering the morning newspapers on bike to people's houses. He had started doing this two summers ago when he was in 8th grade and decided to continue doing so after he had started going to high school to earn more cash.Since it almost wasn't summer anymore, he would only be delivering the Sunday morning newspaper. He just didn't have time on weekdays now that he had school, homework, and after school activities. It would mean he made less money, but at least he was still making something, so he couldn't complain too much.He actually enjoyed his job. Sure, the pay wasn't great, but it was enough spending money to go out on weekends and still have a bit saved up. As long as he finished delivering papers by 5:00 am, he was pretty much free to do as he pleased.Of course, he hated the fact that his job required him to get up at 2:00 am in the morning. That sucked. It wasn't like people were actually awake at 2:30 am to read the newspapers when he started delivering them. Why would they be? How many people actually had to wake up and go to their job that early in the morning?Not many, Kevin would wager.After somewhere around fifteen minutes, a hot and sweaty Kevin arrived at the Newspaper Distribution Center, which was really just a fancy name for the place that received the newspapers he delivered.The newspaper building wasn't much to look at. Really, it was just a moderately sized, one story rectangular building made out of drab gray bricks and possessing a flat roof. It looked boring, and the manager there wasn't much better than the building. Actually, Kevin preferred looking at the building as opposed to the manager.Thankfully, the manager would not be there this early in the morning. Kevin supposed there was some kind of silver lining to that, but he couldn't really see it in the early morning darkness.Kevin didn't bother locking up his bike as he set it against next to the front door, which he then unlocked with the key he had been given.When Kevin first started this job, the manager had actually woken up every morning to unlock the door. He would then proceed to watch Kevin like a hawk while the young man loaded the newspapers onto his bike. That had actually been pretty creepy, being watched like that. It had only been after six months when he had proven himself trustworthy, or something like that, that the manager had decided he didn't need to show up every morning and gave him a key to get in.Kevin found his papers ready as usual. The box was pretty heavy, but Kevin was able to take it to his bike in a single haul, which was much better than what he used to be capable of. He had grown pretty strong since the first year he had started. Back then, he'd been forced to make six trips.Which, by the way, totally sucked.Once he had gotten all of the rolled up newspapers in the carrier on his bike, it was off to do his newspaper run.The paper route he took had him traveling through two different neighborhoods near his apartment complex. All the houses there were large and nice and pretty imposing. They were mostly two story homes with off-white plaster walls and red tiled roofs. The front lawns were all manicured to perfection with neatly trimmed hedges, perfectly cut trees and a large variety of cacti. From time to time Kevin would see expensive cars parked in front of the garages.Kevin had to shake his head at the wasteful use of money. Who needs to buy a $145,000.00 convertible Gran Turismo when a $19,975.00 Honda CR-Z worked just as well, had better gas mileage and didn't look too bad either? Maybe it was his mom's influence, but he just couldn't see the point in buying such extravagant vehicles. They might look nice, but they cost more than they were worth, especially considering how most of them were likely custom models that required constant maintenance in order to keep them at peak performance.On that note, it should be stated that Kevin was not a car maniac, but he did know a few people on his track team who talked about cars a lot. When you're forced to listen to people who are so obsessive over something that they can yammer on without any end in sight, you tend to pick up a thing or two, whether you want to or not. Thus, he knew a lot about high performance sports cars like the ones in these driveways, such as the fact that they all cost far more than they were worth.And that's not even getting into the cost of those houses. Those probably had a price range of at least several hundred thousand dollars, if not somewhere around a couple million. Why would anyone want to buy such a large, expensive house when something a little smaller and more affordable would be perfectly acceptable and could probably fit their entire family comfortably without all that excess space?What would they even do with all that extra space anyways? Make their own bowling alley? Dedicate a large room of the house to store various paraphernalia?Actually, that last one sounded kind of cool. Maybe he should think of getting an entire room to dedicate one or more of his favorite hobbies? A room for just video games and anime would be awesome.Thinking of all the people who lived in those houses, Kevin was sure they were just trying to show off how rich they were by living in large, expensive looking houses and driving their fancy cars so everyone could see it. That wouldn't surprise him in the least. While he didn't know everyone in this neighborhood personally, he knew that a good few of the children he went to school with lived in these houses. If they were reflective in any way of their parents, he could imagine them being some of the most obnoxious and snobbish people around.Maybe he was just being biased. He and his mom were pretty well off, even if as a single mom she was always away on business. They could probably afford to live in a nice house like these, but when he once commented on it, she had simply told him there was no point in spending so much money on something as unimportant as a large house that had more rooms then they would ever use. It was even less important because not only was it just the two of them, but when he graduated from high school and moved away to college, she would have that “large ass house” (her words, not his) to herself, with no clue of what to do with all that excess space.Yeah, his mom was frugal like that. This wasn't to say she didn't spend money on other things like those new Android mobile phones that came out a while ago. Those were awesome! Or, on things that were fun, like going on vacation.At least once a year she and Kevin would take a vacation somewhere nice, usually out of the country. He had been to France, Italy, England, Ireland, Spain, and Germany. And then last year she had blown it out and had taken him to Japan.Now that had been awesome. He used to think the Comicon that he went to annually in Arizona was the height of cool, but the anime conventions in Japan were just incredible. The one he had been to when he and his mom had visited must have had at least a couple hundred thousand people on that day alone! And almost all of them had been dressed up in some kind of costume! He'd seen everything from Sozo Ku from Dragon Warriors X to Natsumo Uzukami from Shinobi Natsumo, and upwards of 100 Ichika Kurohimes from White Out.He had also seen a good number of Satsuki's, which was not cool because Satsuki was an emo jerk who needed someone to pull her head out of her rear end.With a shake of his head, Kevin dispelled his rather superfluous thoughts and focused on delivering newspapers. The trip through both neighborhoods took him a little over two hours. By the time he got back to the newspaper distribution building, it was about 4:30 am. He probably could have finished much sooner, but Kevin had decided to make a game of trying to smack the cars with a newspaper. More often than not, he failed. Kevin wasn't a basketball or baseball player. He had no talent in throwing anything unless it was a Frisbee, and even then, not very well.At least he got a few good laughs when he actually did manage to toss a newspaper against the hood of all those ridiculously priced cars. Too bad it wouldn't even scratch the paint.After he finished his newspaper route, Kevin re-parked his bike by the front door, went in and headed down the first hall on the left. He didn't have to walk far, not only was the hall short, the room he needed to get to was the first door on the right.The room was a standard office. It had all the things that were expected of an office. You know, desk, chair, file maintenance cabinet, things like that. This particular office was very spartan, possessing only the bare necessities and nothing else, not even a single picture. There was nothing in this room to indicate it was being used other than the stack of papers that were sitting on the desk.Well, that, and the very large man sitting behind the desk, like Sumo Wrestler were large. Kevin wouldn't be surprised to learn that this man had been a Sumo Wrestler at one point in his life, or perhaps he was the reincarnation of a Sumo Wrestler.The man in question was his boss, Davin Monstrang. He was a big, beefy man with a head of short brown hair and small brown eyes and looked like he could eat two entire cows and still be hungry. He had no neck, somewhere around ten chins, and fat that practically rolled out of his ugly, khaki colored shirt."I finished my newspaper route," Kevin informed the man.Davin grunted, still not looking up from whatever paper he was working on. "And I suppose you'll be wanting your pay?""Yes."Another grunt was the answer he received. Davin wasn't one for words. The chair creaked ominously as he rolled it away from his desk and Kevin actually wondered how long the chair had before it broke under the strain of keeping that man seated."Here," Davin slapped Kevin's paycheck on the desk. "Try not to spend it in all one place, brat."Kevin resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the man. Even after all this time, his boss still seemed to think the worst of him. He wasn't like those spoiled rich kids who spent their money so frivolously....Okay, so maybe he was. But at least he spent it on fun activities like going to the arcade and not on drugs like a lot of kids at his school did. That had to count for something, right?Grabbing his paycheck off the desk, Kevin thanked his boss and hurriedly left. He didn't enjoy being in his boss' presence anymore than necessary.It was all that fat, you see. Whenever the man moved, it looked alive and made Kevin feel like he was staring at some kind of eldritch horror that might eat him if he stayed too long.HP Lovecraft had nothing on those fat rolls.Grabbing his bike, Kevin was just about to leave when a noise caught his attention. It was very muffled and difficult to make out, but it sounded like a whimper from some kind of animal. A cat or a dog maybe.Kevin had two weaknesses, one well known, one not so much. The first was a weakness towards women (everybody knew about this one). He could never talk to them without feeling supremely embarrassed. All any pretty girl had to do was smile at him or bat her eyelashes, and he would turn into a stuttering mass of reddened flesh within seconds.His second weakness, one known only to his best friend and crush, was for animals. Kevin had loved animals ever since his mom had first taken him to the zoo when he was five. He had gone into the petting pen and played with all the animals there. They seemed to like him, unlike some of the other kids who had been bitten, and he'd a great time. Ever since then, he had a small obsession with animals.Back when he was younger, he would occasionally bring stray animals or wild animals home with him. It had caused a lot of problems with the people in charge of their apartment complex because of their no pet policy. His mom had put her foot down and made him promise to stop bringing in every animal he found. Since then, he hadn't brought animals into the apartment.Naturally, with the noise possibly falling into the second category of his list of weaknesses, Kevin quickly made his way towards the source of the whimper. It sounded like it was coming from around the corner of the building.He turned the corner and stopped.His eyes widened.“Ohmygoshit'safox!” Kevin squee'd in a manner that was eerily reminiscent of a fangirl who had just bumped into her favorite pop idol.You know what a fangirl is, right? They're those pre-teen and teenage girls that go “SQUEE!” when they're excited. Squeeing, by the way, is a very shrill noise that pierces the eardrums and can cause them to occasionally burst. In severe cases, it can also induce brain hemorrhaging, in which blood and liquified brain matter ooze out of the ears.According to Mythbusters, being near someone who is “squeeing” has a ten percent fatality rating.If you ever decide to become a pop idol be prepared to buy ear plugs.But you are probably wondering why Kevin was 'squeeing' like one of these fangirls, yes?Because lying near the dumpster was an honest to god fox.Less then a second after letting loose with his “inner fangirl,” Kevin slapped a hand over his mouth. Idiot! What was wrong with him? Squeeing like some kind of prepubescent little girl?Worse still, he had “squee'd” in front of a fox! It was a well established fact that foxes didn't like humans! They shied away from human contact and when frightened, would bite!If he wanted to have any hope of even getting near it, much less petting it, he would need to be quiet. As in, quieter than Elmer Fudge when he was “hunting wabbits” quiet.Luckily, the fox didn't seem to have heard him. It hadn't even moved from its spot. Now all he had to do was sneak in close.He would become one with his surroundings. He would blend in with the shadows. He would be like a shinobi.Nin nin.Making a weird sign that looked like a cross with his fingers for no apparent reason, Kevin began slowly creeping towards the fox. As he did, he began to wonder how it got into the city. There were fox's in Arizona, of course, but they all lived out in the desert and were usually as far away from any human habitat as possible.Though, with the recent expansion of city limits, the fox's natural habitat was getting smaller. Maybe it was forced to come here because it had nowhere else to go. Kevin scowled at the thought. No one seemed to care for how people were destroying the natural habitat of animals like this fox anymore.As he neared the creature, he observed its appearance. The fox was very small, nothing more than a tiny kit that could easily fit in the crook of his arms. It had a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and deep red, almost crimson colored fur.He recognized the species, a red fox, the most common type of fox among its species. Strange, he didn't think red fox's lived near Phoenix. Their habitat was supposed to be the northeastern portion of the state, like up in Flagstaff.Perhaps the most unusual thing about this fox was its tails. Yes, tails. Lying limply behind the tiny critter were two, bushy red fox tails with white tips.How unusual. Kevin had never seen a fox with two tails before, and he was pretty sure that fox's normally didn't have more than one tail.Maybe it was some kind of government experiment? He couldn't see why the government would experiment on a fox to give it two tails, but there was always a conspiracy theory about various world governments doing inhumane experiments on humans. Why couldn't they do one on a fox as well?Another whimper escaped from the tiny red animal and Kevin realized that it was injured. He had not noticed it before because its fur was so red (and because he was so excited about seeing a fox), but the fox was bleeding from its torso. It was only after taking a more in depth observation of the fox and noting that there was a portion where the thick red fur was slick and shiny like someone had splashed some kind of liquid on it that he was able to notice the injury.Of course, now that he had noticed it was injured, he also noticed the expanding pool of blood underneath it, as well as the carnelian trail that showed it had dragged itself to this spot before collapsing.Fearing for its safety, Kevin dropped all sense of subtlety and sneakiness (and his ninja hand sign) and rushed towards the fox.It must have really been out of it not to notice his approach. Foxes were supposed to possess very keen senses. Even injured, he would have expected it to run away as soon as he started making too much noise.It was only after he got in close enough to kneel right next to it that Kevin realized the reason it had not noticed him; the small kit was unconscious.Growing even more concerned, Kevin scooped the small fox into his arms as gently as he could and stood up. A small whimper managed to escape from the tiny animal as its wound was jostled."Sorry," Kevin whispered, even though he knew the fox couldn't hear him. He moved as quickly as he could back to his bike and, after a moments thought, decided to divest himself of his shirt and use it as a makeshift pillow for the fox. Sure, it would likely have a blood stain that was going to be impossible to get out later, but that was a small price to pay to keep the small thing from getting injured further by jostling it as he rode back home.Placing the fox into the basket on top of the waded up shirt, Kevin took off toward his apartment. His thoughts were focused solely on helping the small creature suffering in front of him.

A Fox's Love can be found by clicking on this link.

Five Favorite Opening Anime Theme Songs of 2014

I'm doing something a little different today. I just recently made my first...not-music video? I don't know. It's basically a video with my favorite theme songs for the anime that have come out in 2014. I did this because I wanted to see if I could, mostly.

Anyway, just know that these opening themes are MY favorite, meaning this is really just my opinion. If they're not your favorite, cool, be sure to let us know which 2014 opening anime theme songs you would have chosen for this.

Oh, and please don't mind the quality of the video. I know it kinda sucks, but this is the first one I've ever made. It's not going to be amazing.




#5. Madan no Ou to Vandis: I like this opening because of how different it is. Most anime have a very pop-rock feel to them. This one sounds more like an Opera of some kind, which is awesome.

#4. Akame Ga Kill: I love the hard rock theme this music has. It just makes me wanna bang my head...or something.

#3. Fairy Tail 2014: Something about the hip-hop style this theme song has going for it is just enjoyable.

#2. No Game No Life: This is a fun anime and the opening theme song is just as fun.

#1. Gun Gale Online: Love the anime or hate it, I don't think anyone can deny the opening theme song is catchy.

High School DxD

I'm really not sure why I love High School DxD so much...okay, that's a lie. I do know.

High School DxD is a story about a young pervert who one day dreams of becoming a Harem King.

Unfortunately, he can't get a girlfriend to save his life, and this is in spite of going to a school composed mostly of females. He's just too perverted. All girls know about Issei, the most lecherous existence to have ever graced the planes of the universe.

Things look up when he's asked out by a pretty young girl and they go on their first date. Too bad that date also turns out to be the end of him when his girlfriend reveals herself to be a fallen angel and kills him. Good thing for Issei, the bodacious Rias Gremory was in the area and decides to resurrects him as a devil. Now he works for her, but is still determined to become a harem king.

The story itself is absolutely ridiculous. When you really stop to think about it, the entire plot, or the parts about Issei and his pervy dreams, is actually kind of stupid. So then, why is this story so enjoyable?

A part of is simply because of how dumb the story is. I don't know if this is done on purpose, but the level of perversity in this tale is epic and hilarious. Issei's every waking thought and even his dreaming ones are almost always about boobs. They're like his sole reason for existing. It's just so over the top you can't help but laugh.

The plot is also surprisingly good. It's not amazing, but it is actually kind of original, at least from my perspective. I've never seen a story where someone is killed and then reincarnated as a devil to serve under a master. I've read all 18 volumes of this story and absolutely love it.

Rail Wars!

So, what is there to say about Rail Wars! Honestly, it's one of those anime that I was actually really excited about watching because it looked interesting. I mean, really, an anime about trains and train-ride shenanigans? How unique is that? I've seen anime with trains in them, but never anime about trains. This actually, honestly, sounded pretty interesting.

Unfortunately, after watching all 12 episodes of the series, I ended up being phenomenally disappointed.

The first thing you should know about Rail Wars! is that it's not actually about trains. It's about this:


And this:

And this:

Oh, and some of this too:

Basically, the entire anime is just one big fan service. Now, I enjoy T&A as much as the next guy, however, I also believe that there is a time and place for fan service. This story, which should have been about trains and the crazy situations a group of security agents get up to while on the job, was so over saturated with fan service and some half-assed attempt at romance that the entire plot was pretty much destroyed.
To top it off, all of the characters are completely forgettable. I finished watching Rail Wars! just last week, and I've already forgotten the names of all the characters. Even the chick you see above with the bouncing boobs and camel toe. I've tried recalling her name, but I can't even remember the first letter her name starts with. That's how uninteresting she and all the other characters are, which is sad because this story had some serious potential for awesome.
Now, there were some good things about this story. The artwork is beautiful, especially the character design.  All of the characters, especially the female characters, are gorgeously drawn. They use brighter colors for the main characters, which presents a really nice contrast to the rest of the world and also makes them stand out more, which is good, because I probably wouldn't have been able to figure out who the main characters were without that.




I also enjoyed the opening and closing themes. While the opening theme was mostly a sort of rockish song, the closing felt more like a rap. The contrasting music between opening and closing was interesting. And the animation itself was actually pretty good, for the most part.
Unfortunately, while the artwork and animation was well-done and the music was interesting, that's all this anime really had going for it. The ridiculous amount of fan service pretty much smothered the plot into oblivion, the harem-style romance was so half-assed I didn't even care that the main character was so dull and boring I couldn't be bothered to remember his name, and the female cast are really just stereotypes with a pretty face slapped onto them.
It is for this reason that I am giving this anime a 4.5/10. Had this story developed its characters personalities a little more and focused more on the plot and less on the, well, Massive Plot, it would have been much better.

Book News!

Alrighty. So I don't know how many of you have read my first book, not-so-originally titled A Fox's Love but for those of you who have, and for those of you who liked it, I do have some good news.

First off, my book is with my editor, who is halfway through the book and should be done sometime soon. Yay. Second, I finished writing the rough draft for Book 3 of the American Kitsune Series at 100,000 words and 12 chapters and am currently about 10,000 chapters into Book 4. With luck, Book 2, lovingly titled A Fox's Tail will be ready for publication sometime after December is my hope. So, for those of you who enjoyed reading an anime-inspired, romantic comedy filled with enough ecchi fan service to make Rito Yuki blush and more fourth wall breaking than a Deadpool comic, please look forward to this next story.

For those who are curious to know what the second story is about, here is a small blurb:

Kevin's life appears to finally be settling down. Sure, he still has to deal with the zany antics of a certain gorgeous Kitsune, but desensitization has set in at last and Kevin is actually beginning to enjoy Lilian's continued presence. Too bad he's in denial. Unfortunately, while the waters of his life appear relatively calm, things are about to get ecchi―I mean ugly.
A tsundere dressed in Gothic Lolita fashion…
A boy whose hair is bigger than his brain…
A new enemy that makes Chris Fleischer look like a fifty pound weakling…
Trying to admit his feelings for a certain tomboy…
Not to mention Lilian herself. Yeah, Kevin’s got problems, and life can only get more strenuous from here on out.
Oh well. At least he hasn't been turned into a Harem Protagonist.

Rough Sketch Book Cover

Alright, so here is a rough colored sketch of my book cover. As you can see, there are a few changes. The window is gone, mainly because that space is going to be used for my blurb, and the background setting for the front cover is now a school. Considering my story is a slice-of-life/romance/parody, I think it fits a little better than a forest...especially because my story takes place in a desert and we don't have a forest. That's up in Flagstaff.

Let me know what you guys think. Your opinions are always awesome.

I would like to thank Kirsten Moody for creating my cover. Go check out her artwork at http://snow-the-wanderer.deviantart.com/

Alright, so here is a rough colored sketch of my book cov...

Alright, so here is a rough colored sketch of my book cover. As you can see, there are a few changes. The window is gone, mainly because that space is going to be used for my blurb, and the background setting for the front cover is now a school. Considering my story is a slice-of-life/romance/parody, I think it fits a little better than a forest...especially because my story takes place in a desert and we don't have a forest. That's up in Flagstaff.

Let me know what you guys think. Your opinions are always awesome.

I would like to thank Kirsten Moody for creating my cover. Go check out her artwork at http://snow-the-wanderer.deviantart.com/

High School DxD, Chapter 9, Q&A

Random Reviewer: Continuity error discovered. Naruto is introduced as Rias's pawn to her parents, but he's not actually a pawn. No one knows what he is, including Rias, because at the start of the story his Evil Piece was said to be mutated and not even Rias could figure out what it originally was.

On top of that it was also said ( I think in the training chapter) that Issei was upset because he felt weak and that he had taken all of Rias's pawn pieces and yet wasn't worth the expense. The problem with this statement is that Rias mentioned, in one of the earlier chapters, that when she traded a single pawn piece to Sirzech's for Naruto's mutated Evil Piece she *also* got a mutated pawn Evil Piece as well, which she used on Issei.

That means that Rias *should* have 7 pawn Evil Pieces, 1 Rook piece, and 1 Knight piece still left. Akeno - Queen, Koneko - Rook, Kiba - Knight, Gasper/Asia - Bishop, Naruto - Unidentified mutated piece, Issei - 1 Pawn mutated piece. Since Rias was stated to have traded 1 pawn piece for both Issei's mutated piece *and* Naruto's mutated piece that means that Naruto's piece was, effectively, "free". Which means she should still have her 7 other pawn pieces (Issei didn't use them), one knight and one rook piece left in order to resurrect people into her peerage.

I thought you were going to use this as a plot point to get more people into the peerage that weren't originally in canon, but it appears you have forgotten bits of your own story instead.

Answer: I think the one who needs to double-check his facts is you, not me. I wrote that Rias traded ONE Pawn Piece for the Evil Piece that Rias used to reincarnate Naruto and ONE Mutated piece, which allowed Rias to reincarnate Issei even though she didn't have all 8 pawn pieces. You clearly haven't been paying attention to anything in my story, have you?
TheDisdainful: While I do indeed love your fanfiction, I'm guessing this is the final chapter I will read. Why? Your decision to have slow updates. With 7 ongoing stories, 3 weeks per update, each story will get an update every 5 or so months. Meaning if the third Harry Potter book also has 20 chapters, it will take OVER 8 years to finish. For Devil Ninja to gain a semblance of a decent plot and end it could take over a DECADE. Even if you cut that number by a third too include a couple fast updates or skipping a update on your other stories, that is far too long to stay interested in an ongoing series. So I guess this is it. Signing out -thedisdainful
Answer: I hope this isn't your way of trying to guilt trip me, because if so, I'm going to tell that it's not going to work. And to be frank, even updating only every three weeks to month is better than nearly 80% of the fanfiction writers out there. There hundreds of thousands of stories where people don't update for months if not years. I am still putting chapters out faster than more than half the people on this sight, and this is while working a full-time and trying to become a traditionally published author. If you can't read my work because you don't want to wait three weeks for an update, well, there's not much I can do about that, but it sounds to me like you're being greedy.
Phoenixblade: OKay, before I say anything else, awesome chapter. That being said, time to nit-pick.
Point One - "Reigned" I believe is the word you were looking for when describing the chaos that ensued with the, as I'm going to call it, "Ode to the Sunset Genjutsu of Youth". You have the spelling of "rained".

Point Two - Not actually a problem, more of a small comment. Love how you managed to bring back Kurama, though I'm not certain about making him the new Ten-Tails. Oh, right, connected to this, I do believe the Japanese word for "Ten-tail" would be "Juubi" not "Jyuubi".

Point Three - If Naruto receives the cliche fox-type Familiar, I may have to hunt you down and prove how wrong you were to do so. Let's face it, he has Kurama back. Does he really need more fox? Liger, Sylph (wind spirit if ya didn't know), Wyvern, Hydra, Gnome (Earth Spirit), Salamander (Fire Spirit), Undine (If I need to explain this one, you need to go back to Season of DxD), Firebird (not Phoenix, and yes there differences), Harpy, Basilisk, Dryad, Yeti, Djinn, Griffin (or Gryphon if you prefer), Bugbear, Elfin, Hell Hound, Cerberus, ... There are so many different things to choose from. If you're really stumped, find a D&D Monster Manual, some fun ideas in there. The ones I listed are the kind that come to mind when I think of Naruto's character, something I feel is what a Familiar represents. Rias has that little Devil-Bat, cute and unassuming. Akeno has a group od tiny Oni, not necessarily pretty, but loyal. Koneko has that kitten (ironic), cute and friendly. Kiba actually has a small bird (according to the Wiki), which would actually describe a fair bit about him, and not necessarily good things. And of course Asia gets that little Sprite Dragon, small and rather apathetic-looking, but with hidden strength... I'm ranting. Sorry 'bout that.

With all that said, keep up the good work man.

Answer: Oh. I must have missed that one. Thank you for finding that. I try my best to get the correct wording, but I'm afraid perfection is out of my reach, so I do miss things sometimes.
I understand your concern, but trust me, there is a reason I've done this, and it's not just so Naruto has a Deus Ex Machina power under his belt.
You make a very good point. To be honest, I never intended to give Naruto a fox familiar either way. Foxes and Toads are too cliched, especially because every time they appear in fanfiction it's supposed to be somehow symbolic or something. I don't really need any extra symbolism. That being said, the whole issue is pretty difficult. I may just end up having him go it alone. Not like he actually needs a familiar. He's got Kurama and clones.
SonOfPoseidon05: This is a good chapter! A little Ravel and Naruto moment, and I know some might not want it but it is a very welcome part for me. It IS like Naruto to save and accompany those who are sad and alone. And Rias and Naruto had their first kiss! 
I was actually expecting the talk about Kurama this chapter, but I guess it can wait for a chapter or so. Also, I feel that Koneko is a little off the spotlight this chap. Not that it's a bad thing, but she is cute with Naruto. I'm also looking forward with the talk with Koneko about chakra and sage mode. It would be pretty interesting I think.

And for the familiar, I would think that a female wind sprite would fit nartuto well, and will add some comic relief when she acts all possessive of Naruto :)

Please keep up the good work!

Answer: One thing you should probably understand about my writing is that I try to never do repeat info dumps...anymore, at least. I did that in Ashikabi no Shinobi and I'm pretty sure all the repeating crap made a good portion of my story redundant. That being said, I've tried to get better about this. I'm going to be honest, chances are good that you won't actually bear witness to the conversation where Naruto explains Kurama to Rias. It'll likely happen off-screen because A) I've already shown Kurama's return and B) it's not some great and controversial secret that has any bearing on the overall plot. If it were something that could cause conflict, then I would add it, but other than adding to my word count, this wouldn't really add anything to my story.
Psuedo42: So Naruto doesn't hate Riser. The guy who treated Rias as a possession despite being of lower status as a third son. The guy who then proceeded to introduce and play with his harem in front of Rias and everyone else. The guy who said he would kill her peerage if she didn't come along.
Answer: Um, do you know Naruto? If you do, then you would know that Naruto DOES NOT HATE. He doesn't. It's not really in his nature to hate someone. Naruto is belligerent, obnoxious, kind of an idiot and gets easily upset at people, especially when they threaten the people he cares for. But at his heart, Naruto is one of those people who just doesn't hate. How many people in the anime and manga do you know that Naruto can honestly say he hates? You can't. Why? Because he doesn't hate anyone. Not Madara. Not Obito. Not even Sasuke, who not only shoved a hand through his shoulder but has also taken douche baggery to a whole new level in the recent manga chapters. If Naruto doesn't hate all these people who have wronged him and hurt the people he cherishes, then why would he hate Rizer?
Kid Coheed: Pretty good, the escape of Naruto and Ravel was fun especially since Naruto took her to a Ramen bar and showed her not just a normal time but a normal time with Naruto.
Oh yeah, [Pawn] really I thought you were going for another piece type from Fairy Chess, add into the insinuation that the Mutation Piece Risa used on Naruto was unlike any other mutated piece she had seen, Ie the ones she used on Issei. Maybe a [Fox] Piece or a [Squirrel] Even another cool piece...

As for a familiar... Foxes and Toads would be redundant, add into that we would want to see it often. I say a Animated Armor, kinda like from Kur0Kishi's "End Game Version R", a young Armor, maybe of a Samurai design like Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara etc. Have it all "Youthful" like Gai and Lee, it when worn by its master increases the wearers strength durability and speed several orders and with some fuinjutsu maybe it can store "packets" of Senjutsu Chakra like when Naruto has shadow clones in reserve, gathering and holding the chakra for when his stores run out. Add in when he uses Kurama's Juubi chakra it's facemask/helmet can mold into that of a fox, giving Naruto a Pseudo Scale Mail/Balance Breaker on par with Azazel's "Down Fall Dragon Another Armor", add in just the Juubi Chakra, the Six Path Sage Mode, and his new ability to use basically all 5 elements and Sub elements, he should be on par with the strongest, like Ise and Vali's Juggernaut Drives, or just on par with Sirzechs and the other 4GS/Archangels etc

Answer: A slip of the...finger? Yeah. Let's go with that. It was a slip of the finger on my part. I didn't actually mean to call Naruto a pawn, but a servant. I've actually gone back and fixed that, which I would like to thank you for finding it or I never would have noticed.
Akeno paired with Issei: A lot of people have been bothered by this pairing, feeling that Naruto should get Akeno. While I understand their feelings, I also disagree with them. Everyone who complains does so because they don't like Issei, and it's always the same complaint. He's too perverted and doesn't deserve to have a harem.
Um, who was the one who created the Sexy Jutsu? And just how the hell do you think Naruto came up with this jutsu anyway? I can tell you right now it wasn't from NOT peeping on women.
Who was the person who wanted to peep on Sakura while they were in the hot spring?
Who peeped on women with Jiraiya while they were training? (This one might not be true, but I think I remember watching an episode where Naruto and Jiraiya ran from a horde of women.)
Let's face it people, Naruto might not be as big a pervert as Issei, but he's still kinda perverted. In truth, Naruto and Issei are actually pretty similar. Yes. Issei is way more lecherous than Naruto, but like our favorite blond-haired troublemaker, he's also kind, compassionate and willing to do anything for his friends...or did those moments where Issei cried because he couldn't help the people important to him not tell you this?
Naruto isn't some Gary-stu who's going to get all the women in my fic. I know some of you want to see this, but it just isn't happening. I want the polyamorous relationship to remain small, probably no more than 5-6 women at the most.
Also, I have some fun plans for Akeno and Issei. Ideas that would not be possible if Akeno was paired with Naruto.