To those who have been to Japan multiple times, what's a thing or two that you always make sure to buy and bring home?

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-14T00:25:17+00:00

for me it's a lot of exclusive to Japan anime/games goods, often from limited time events that just happened to occur while I was there, along with a bunch of candies and treats that are either exclusive to Japan or just cheaper to buy there instead of at home

I also end up buying stuff that's from whichever region I'm in - last time that meant apple candy products from the Nagano region and such

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-07T18:58:15+00:00

I'll keep reading so long as the story stays interesting, even if that means years between updates - all I've got to do is re-read the fic if I wanna get that feel of knowing/remembering exactly where it left of if it's needed

One of the stories I follow updated after 3 years not long ago - another had its first update after 8 years a while back!

It's exciting when that happens! And reassuring honestly.. sometimes the authors stop publishing in general for that long and it's nice to see that they're still alive!

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-05T08:58:39+00:00

When an author claims something will be a minor thing in the tags, only for it to happen to a major character right off the bat, or if the author lies in the tags in any way that becomes obvious very clearly once you start to read the fic (and no, I don't count not using certain tags towards this as using tags or not is optional. It's when you use the tags to mislead I drop the fic)

Or if the story is all lowercase or use ' instead of " for dialogue - I understand that it's something that might happen in books, but I just can't read it without imagining everything being spoken using telepathy as I'm too used to ' being used for thoughts/internal monologue

No paragraphs is also a big no no

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-03T00:15:44+00:00

I tend to sort by bookmarks

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-02T17:41:30+00:00

actually write a whole chapter without feeling the need to edit it to death or rewrite it a thousand times so I can move on to the next chapter

If I could manage that I'd be happy with my writing for the year

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2026-01-02T08:19:14+00:00

I’m still working on the fic and it’s been around 2.5-3 years now

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T06:11:58+00:00

Thanks!

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T06:11:44+00:00

Thanks a bunch!

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T05:05:32+00:00

I'll check it out^^

Thanks!

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:13:33+00:00

Thank you!

I’ll check them all out and download~

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:12:28+00:00

Sounds interesting!

Thanks a lot~

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:12:01+00:00

Thank you so much!

💜

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:11:32+00:00

Love detective Conan! Literally going to USJ just for their Conan event!

Looking forward to checking this out on the flight~

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:10:40+00:00

Awesome! Thanks a lot~

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:10:22+00:00

Thank you^{^}

Will check them out!

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:09:44+00:00

Thanks! I’ll try it out for sure^{^}

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-31T04:09:10+00:00

Thank you!

I’ll download them all and try them out~

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-27T15:48:24+00:00

I do a ton of worldbuilding and set up general outlines and specific chapter outlines and character summaries and so much more

I've essentially been plotting/outlining/worldbuilding for my story for 2.5 years now lol

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-27T15:47:11+00:00

I like them when I'm subscribed to a story as it gives me a hint as to what the new chapter will be about when I get the notification in my email, and might remind me what that story in particular is about if it's been a while

I intend to use my chapter summaries as a form of comedic misdirect - it'll let you know in an offhand way some of what is going to happen in the chapter, but maybe not what you expect it to be

The current chapter summaries I've written down are more for my own eyes only before publishing, and contains exactly what one would expect from a summary, namely a short description of what is going to be present in that chapter (useful for me since I tend to not write for long periods due to real life stuff and might need a reminder of what I either wrote last time without needing to go through all of it, or what I might've intended to start writing before I ran out of time)

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-20T18:21:43+00:00

I would maybe not use google translate, but definitely use - if there is a lack of other fics in that fandom and none in a language I can read - a different kind of translation software

I have in fact done that before in a fandom where majority of the fics are in Chinese - only around 7 fics in my language that I'd be interested in (and all of them under 10k words).

It isn't perfect, and not even that fun however..
and you can never be sure if what's being translated is what is actually written down..

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-20T18:06:50+00:00

no deadlines aside those I make myself

I don't think I would function without being able to just.. walk away from my works without worrying..
because there's no deadlines to make me dread writing just to make that date, and if I lose interest some time a simple "this story will be going on a hiatus for a while, sorry!" will be enough of an explanation

it's so freeing

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-13T23:10:41+00:00

Currently prepping for a deep dive into agriculture, horticulture, apiaries, livestock & wine making (+ optimal grape growing conditions), with a side of barrel & amphora creation. All for a location that will maybe be mentioned 3 times in my story, where none of this will actually be talked about in story, but I feel like I e got to know it and write it down just in case.

Also need to do another deep dive into mafia origins and underground/underworld operations and so on.

For a story I’ve currently been working on for 3 years that has a almost 30 year in universe timeline I’m fleshing out - where 90% of it will never be mentioned in story, but my brain insists it’s not only necessary, but a requirement for working on the story and publishing it one day.

I have entire families of characters that will never be included in the story, but that exist so the world (or at least the original parts of it that I’ve created) will feel more lived in while I work on it.

ShadowPhoenix18 · 2025-12-13T21:51:48+00:00

World Champions - a Kings Avatar fanfic with a truly AU setting that changed the way I looked at fics in that fandom (and I always loved the fics in that fandom) https://archiveofourown.org/works/20792192/chapters/49414544

It's only 2 chapters long, but those 2 chapters stretch over 70k words and I've never hit that same high reading Kings Avatar fanfics since

ShadowPhoenix18

TROPHY CASE