mithen

1. It was my first day of one of my more difficult classes, and the energy seemed generally positive and interested, which is good. I'm trying some new things and hoping to turn it around a bit (we have three-year-long seminars here, which is wonderful, but if the mood starts to sour it can be a panicky feeling, knowing there's still a year and a half to go!)

2. My usual haircutting place has moved to a new place next door and it's all shiny and new, which is nice!

3. Yuletide nominations are open and I'm having a lot of fun contemplating my possible nominations! So far I think my three are going to be:

--Lord of the Rings Online, because I've fallen in love with two of the characters original to that game (a Dunlending and a Rohirrim who fall in love, I'm rooting for them so much and hoping they don't get a cliched tragic ending) and would love to see fic for them.

--The Bride's Stories, which is a wonderful manga about a woman in central Asia in the late 1800s who has moved from a rural tribe to a town to marry. The marriage is basically arranged, and the groom is 12 and she's 20 (in the context of the manga, she's considered far too ancient for him). Over time as he matures, she truly falls in love with him. The supporting cast is amazing, the art is staggering, and I find the romance incredibly charming (I suppose it's a bit squicky and will probably require an "underage sex" tag, but damn it, they're so sweet together!)

Here's a page that shows how dynamic the art is:



And here are Amir and Karluk together, shortly after Karluk has saved her life and she suddenly finds herself flustered and awkward around the groom she has always seen as a boy:



--Koi to ha Yobenai, the manga I mentioned a while back, because it's sooo cute.

( I shall share Ei and Junpei's first kiss below the cut! )

I've been tagged by kizzia , and it's just the kind of thing I can't resist (also, Kizzia is irresistible as well!)

Rules are: for five consecutive days post three positive things that have happened, plus tag three other people to do the same, so the positivity keeps growing.  I might have a glitch in there because I'm flying internationally in the middle of these five days, so I'm going to pretty much lose a whole day, but will try to keep a decent schedule.

I'm going to tag navaan , Zolac_no_miko, and prince0froses, with the caveat that if five consecutive days is tough, I'd much rather get five non-consecutive good things than nothing at all!  :)

For today:

1.  I bought a book by the group that does Our Bodies, Ourselves about menopause.  I'm not there yet but my mother had a very rough transition and I want to try and be ready. So that made me feel very proactive and prepared.

2.  I finished reading Koi to ha Yobenai in Japanese!  It's a really sweet manga about a guy who's just been dumped by his money-grubbing boyfriend, who finds a stranger and a kitten freezing to death on the street and brings them home.  Over the course of a year the roommates fall slowly in love, have ridiculous angsty complications, and end with an incredibly sweet and tender sex scene free of any of the noncon vibes that can crop up in such scenes (the nervous top actually checks a bunch of times to make sure he's not hurting the bottom and the bottom is enthusiastically consenting). It's adorable and has a cute kitten character and made me smile a lot, and I read it in Japanese with only occasional checks of a scanlation (which was off a lot of the time, so that made me feel good too!)

Here is a shot just after Junpei confesses his love to a flustered Ei, who decides to hide behind the kitten:



3.  As I was typing this, I saw a hummingbird sipping from a bird of paradise flower, and it doesn't get much more positive than that.  :)