色々な理由Various Reasons

... I haven't been blogging that much lately, have I.

最近、このブログであまり書かなかったね...

Well, I can't do anything about that beyond just trying to write more. I've certainly been doing plenty of interesting things, I just haven't been talking about them online.

もっと書くしかない。面白いことをたくさんしたけど、ここで話さなかった。

For this, I do have reasons, but no excuse. Life has been somewhat... chaotic... since this newest semester started. I feel like I've been trying to do everything all at once. It's not a feeling I particularly like, to be honest.

理由があるんだが、申し訳ない。今学期の始まりから、生活はちょっと...混乱、かな。したいことが多すぎるという感じだ。ちょっといやな感じなのに...

But, as long as I've been doing other things, I may as well share. I want to keep blogging, but as long as I'm getting distracted I might as well explain what it is that keeps distracting me - talk about my reasons, as it were.

まあ、僕の理由について話しましょうか。

The first problem is writing. I mean, the total halt to blogging last semester was pretty much entirely due to National Novel Writing Month. Which is only in November... but then, I started writing fanfiction. Because, you know, I'm not enough of an anime fan already. So on days when I actually want to write, I end up writing fiction rather than blogging.

一つの問題は、書くのだ。まあ、先学期、全国小説執筆月間というイベントのせいで、ブログを一時停止しちゃった。このイベントは、11月だけだけど、その後、ファン・フィクションを書き始めた。なぜかわからない。だから、書きたい時に、こんな事を書いて、ブログをしない。

At any rate, I might as well provide a link to my stories. For now I've been writing Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha fanfiction... specifically, a crossover between that and Halo. The Time-Space Administration Bureau is close enough to a military organization that I think it actually works out well... but since this definitely falls in the 'shameless self-promotion' category of activities, well, no promises.

とにかく、こちらは私の書いたこと。だいたい、僕は魔法少女リリカルなのはのファン・フィクションを書いた...具体的に、Halo（ヘイロー）と言うゲームのクロスオーバーだ。時空管理局は軍隊みたいだと思うから、絶対にバカなのではない。

Problem two is anime. I've actually stopped watching anime broadcast on TV, but I make up for it by going to a rental store called Tsutaya. I wanted to watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam series (the one from 1979), but they have a lot more than just that. I can rent five DVDs for 1000 yen, which is a lot better than buying one for seven times that. But watching five DVDs in a week takes a fair amount of time.

次の問題は、アニメ。アニメの放送は最近見なかったけど、つたやと言うレンタル店に行く。最初の機動戦士ガンダムを見たかったけど、それ以外、たくさんある。DVDは1000円で5枚を借りる...買うのは7000円ぐらいかかる。

Finally... well, I'm my usual self. Hanging out on the Internet looking for cool things. And I keep finding them. I keep getting hooked in by stuff that's already been around for a while, thus forcing me to do a lot of reading quickly if I want to catch up.

最後に、僕はいつもどおりの僕だ。インターネットで面白いことを探すとか。物語とかコミックとか第一話を読んで、興味を持って、もっと読みたくなる。時々、一つのはたくさんあるから、たくさん読まなくてはいけない。

Some fanfiction stories are like that... 150 thousand words or more. (For comparison, that's nearly twice as long as the first Harry Potter book.) If you have an interest in those, well, the earlier link to my profile has the stories that I've marked as favorites too.

ファン・フィクションの物語について、時々15万語以上ある。（ハリー・ポッターシリーズの第一巻は7万語ぐらい。）これは興味があるなら、僕の気に入り物語は先のリンクにある。

But then there are the original stories. These are works that the author has simply posted on the Internet, available to read for free. Of course, if you like the stories, there's usually the option to donate/buy a physical copy/what have you.

でも、二次創作じゃないものもある。インターネットで無料で読むことができる物語だ。

Of those, easily the best I've read recently (and by 'best', I mean 'spent four hours last night reading it, instead of doing my homework like I should have been') is a series called Anachronauts, the work of an author named Stefan Gagne. It's an adventure set in a world with magic, high tech, and low-tech all at once (well, actually, modern, so perhaps these categories should be ultra-tech and modern tech...?), and it is a royally entertaining ride. I can't possibly do it justice, so hit the link (which goes to an introduction page) and see for yourself.

今は、一番好きなのはAnachronauts（アナクロノッツ）というシリーズだ。作者はステファーン・ガグネだ。この物語は、色々なファンタジー的なことがある。うまく言えないけど、本当にかっこいい物語だ。でも、英語の物語だ。しかも、読みにくいかもしれない。

Actually, my introduction to his work was a much earlier story called Sailor Nothing, which I also highly recommend. Despite the title, it is not actually connected to Sailor Moon in any way beyond sharing the same genre, magical girl. Although really, Sailor Nothing is what happens when you take a magical girl story and add in a healthy dose of cold reality to the picture. Post-traumatic stress disorder is the least of Himei's problems, to put it bluntly.

実は、同じ作者のもう一つのいいものがある。Sailor Nothing（セーラーノッシング）と言う。魔法少女の物語以外、セーラームーンと関係ない。この物語は、魔法少女に辛い現実を入れる。心的外傷後ストレス障害は主人公（ヒメイと言う少女）の一番簡単な問題だ。

So yes. I apologize for not posting much, and then posting basically nothing but "you should check this out" when I finally do break my silence. Hopefully over the weekend, I can find my stride again with this whole "blogging" shtick. And if not... well, I guess I'll just see what the future brings.

じゃ...あまり書くのは、すみません。これも、この「これを見て！」というのは、ちょっと悪いかもしれない。だけど...まあ、ちゃんとしたいから、やってみる。