Top 4 Sites to Keep Up With Your Hobbies!

Here's something you probably don't know about me: I love keeping everything organized. I love lists. I love managing lists... and I love doing so easily. I'm a busy woman; I see TV shows, anime, manga, foreign drama and read books in my spare time. And I don't have the ability to keep everything sorted out on my own.

There are a few sites I use in order to easily keep track of my different hobbies, making it possible to effortlessly and seamlessly switch back and forth between them, even after taking long breaks. Took a three years break from anime? Pssssh, don't worry, you can slide right back into it with minimum hassle and bustle!

So without farther ado, here are four sites I would lost my mind without!!

Goodreads - Keeping Up With Books

So, this probably comes as no surprise at all because this is a bookish blog and Goodreads is the site for keeping up with your reading, but I figure I ought to include it in here in case someone is not in the know.

Although Goodreads has some issues that I can discuss very passionately, it's still the best site that I've been able to find for book lovers to keep up with their reading. It allows you to mark what you've read (even down to the precise edition), what you want to read, what you're currently reading, what you dropped, as well as write reviews, create shelves, update where you are precisely in a book, vote on lists, take quizzes, interact with other book lovers, and more!

This is one of the largest databases for books out there, and it's constantly updating.

Without this site, I'd be absolutely lost, and it's what opened my eyes to the reading community on the internet.

My Anime List - Keeping Up With Anime & Manga 

More often known as just "MAL", My Anime List is a site that literally defined my life. As a young girl, I watched Inuyasha, Digimon and some other anime on TV, but I was not exposed to the large and incredible industry of anime and manga until I found this site.

This is basically Goodreads for anime and manga - you can mark anime as "watching", "completed", "on hold", "dropped" and "plan to watch". The site constantly updated with the newest anime news, allows you to interact with other reader/watchers through reviews, groups, recommendation and community posts, and it's just generally a great place to keep up with what you're reading and watching.

It literally saved my life as I just returned to anime after a couple of years of hiatus, and I'm picking up exactly where I left off instead of fumbling and trying to figure out where the heck I was.

Sidereel - Keeping Up with TV Shows

Sidereel is not as developed as Goodreads or MAL and doesn't allow you to categorize shows into "watched", "to watch" and the likes, but instead allows you to "track" shows, thus showing you when new episodes come out and enabling you to mark episodes as "seen".

You can also start lists (thus creating a "to watch" list instead of tracking the shows), write reviews, comment on news and the likes.

Sidereel is also a great database, covering the upcoming shows and telling you when a show you're tracking has been renewed... or worse, cancelled! I'm kind of uneven when it comes to watching TV shows (I can watch 10 episodes of a show in a single night, then watch nothing for the next two months), so Sidereel is a great tool for me to keep up with what I'm watching.

My Drama List - Keeping up With Foreign Drama

Life Sidereel, MDL is also slightly less developed than MAL or Goodreads.

The site allows you to keep track of foreign shows and movies by marking them as "Currently Watching", "Completed", "On Hold", "Dropped" and "Plan to Watch" but not much else. Like Sidereel, you can create lists, read articles, find recommendations, see the top shows/movies and even participate in forums.

My main issues with this site is that it's a bit clumsy when it come to the shows; you can't mark new episodes seen from the shows page easily, and on a personal level it's just not as comfortable as Goodreads or MAL, but this is honestly very subjective.

This is a good place to keep track of your dramas and find new stuff to see!!

Did I Introduce You to a Good New Site To Keep Up With Your Hobbies? Do You Know of a Similar Site for Movies?? I've Been Looking!

My (Extra)ordinary Way to Watch TV

I don't think I watch TV (or more accurately, TV shows) quite the same way other people do, if I were honest. 

It starts off one of two ways: I either find a show through tumblr by seeing dozens of gif sets or what not, finding a couple that looks beyond adorable to ship, and then jumping in to join the party. Or, I find a show through sidereel or my mother's recommendation and THEN move to tumblr.

As you can see, tumblr is pretty important in my watching method either way. I'm emphasizing this because it's going to be extra important in just a sec. 

After I've decided on a show to watch, I usually watch around the first eight episodes in one go... and maybe the whole season. I Just binge right through them. Worth noting:

• If a show has eight episodes and I find myself stopping in episode three or four, then I probably won't continue with it because it means the show is not for me. Usually, I know why I'm stopping but sometimes it just doesn't click.
• If a show is ongoing and doesn't have that many, even if I'm head over heels in love with the episodes I've watched, chances are I'll drop it until there's at least a full season before I continue watching because I tend to forget shows.

TV Review: Shadowhunters Episode 1 | Could Have Been A Lot Better

I'm posting this impulsively minutes after watching the 1st episode of Shadowhunters because I just need to talk about this. Even though I didn't have too many expectations, this was disappointing. It could've been so so so much better. I had prayed it would be so so much better.

5 OUT OF 10 STARS 

Read my live twitter reactions here~

First of all, the effects. This type of show, it needs to have good CGI, otherwise it all looks kind of ridiculous. And, guess what? Bad CGI all around. It makes everything look laughable when they jump up and becomes smears of black on the screen (for too long, as well), or when the bad guys explode like that. And it lessens the impact.

I feel like they just killed video game characters, so I'm hardly going to care/feel scared for them, am I? the substitute for blood is colorful energy looking stuff, for crying out loud!! I assume the rating made them go with this, but couldn't they at least make it look slightly more gritty?

I was kind of prepared for it because of the sneak-peeks but I had hoped that was an unfinished product. No luck there!

Then, the narrative is really choppy, and is hardly helped by editing that lingers a second too long before moving to the next shot. A second may sound insignificant, but it's the difference between the shots flowing to the shots feeling choppy. I saw every wrong cut. I noticed how the actors weren't standing quite where they had in the previous shots. These nuisances usually go unseen when the editing is meticulous. Not to mention there is no subtlety in this type of editing.

Note: this will probably not bother people who are not film majors lol 

But back the the narrative. I felt like the show needed to stop jumping around between characters. Yes, it's cool that OH MY GOD MAGNUS but it didn't help to suddenly cut to him in the bar twice for short interactions that helped the plot not at all. Stick with Clary.

In fact, I think they should have stuck with Clary the whole episode for the most part. Don't show me Jocelyn's past! Don't show me Clary as a shadowhunter child! Don't show me Magnus erasing her memory! No no no no! You take all the mystery out of it!!!

Imagine how delicious it would've been to be confused together with Clary. To see her bump into Magnus and you see recognition in his eyes and dazed confusion in hers and you know there is something there but theoretically (if you haven't read the novels) you don't know what. And if you do know what then you can anxiously await for Clary to find out, which is where the flashbacks could come in. As her memory returning. And it could be choppy and broken because her memory isn't clear.

That could've been so awesome. I would've loved that. 

And hide Magnus's identity from us. Let new viewers see him, but not know who he is so they're curious, and let old fans flail as he comes on screen and eagerly await the moment everyone come together and they learn that the cool warlock they hear about fucking glitters.

Speaking of which, the script was sometimes so blunt it hurt. It was like "pssst, look here" or "this is what you should think!"

Like Luke and Jocelyn. Dude, I don't need a character to "jokingly" tell Luke to marry Jocelyn already to establish their relationship. This does nothing for me. Show me this in their interactions. Show me him coming into the room and giving her a small touch, for example. Show him linger on her a second too long before moving to someone else. Show him hesitate on the answer button (not outright decline it) to make me see his inner struggle.

The scene when he tells Jocelyn "We'll tell her together" does more for their relationship than that cop telling him to marry Jocelyn or that he's already acting like a husband.

Show us that, don't tell! 

These type of jests could come later on, after you established their relationship (in the past and in the present), and then it could mirror the viewers own feelings. Instead, you are telling them what to feel. 

Now, the acting. Hands down the best actors were Jocelyn and the guy that melts to death. I believed in his pain. 

I kid, I kid. All the actors had really weak parts which were just highlighted by their good parts. Thankfully, they were good more than they were bad but when they were bad they went all out! Hopefully, this will even out and become solid the whole time. 

So, yes. I didn't agree with the direction they chose to tell the story, taking all the mystery out of things by showing us everything too early. But I'll probably tune in to see how this continues. 

**I'd like to point out that I had no trouble with the changes they made to the plot. I actually liked them! :D

What to Expect When You're Expecting... a New Blog

Thank you for coming back if you've already been here before, and hello there if you've not!

This time I would like to tell you what you can expect to see on this blog, in order to help you decide whether you'd like to stick with me or not (I hope you'll choose the first)

Starting with what I'd like to get out of the way first:

#1: Recycling Old Content 

Yes, that's right. For some people, reusing old content is a big no-no, but I don't agree with that outlook. My old content is not something to be forgotten and ignored, or be embarrassed by. I love and I'm proud of all of it.

And... I kinda want all my stuff to be in one place.

I love revisiting old reviews and giving them a face lift, rewriting them to fit my current style and the reviewer I have become. I love bringing up old discussions and seeing new ideas and answers to them. I love tracing back to my origins.

But don't worry, none of the old content is just going to be copy-paste. All of it will be re-edited, so in a way it will also be new and shiny.

And I promise - no more than two "recycled" posts a week! That way there will be a good balance between the old and the new.

You can easily recognize the recycled content by looking for this Oldie hashtag on a post. If you don't, it means it's new and original content. 

#2 Bookish Reviews, Tags, Special Features and Discussions 

Obviously, as a blog mostly about books, there are going to be book reviews and book discussions. A lot of them, actually, in all genres and age ranges.

here are going to be young adult, new adult, adult and occasionally even middle grade. There are going to be fantasies, contemporaries, mysteries, historicals and occasionally sci-fi.

There is going to be something of everything!

And when I'm not doing either of those two, you can expect me to do bookish tags (mostly without being tagged 'cause I almost never am lol) or special features. Some more well known, some unique to Afterwords! 

#3: Posts About My Life 

In my other blogs, I always felt... guilty... when writing about my life. I had defined them solely as "book blogs", and therefore anything that wasn't about books seemed to me out of place. It wasn't something my readers came for, after all.

But not with Afterwords.

This blog is for everything I want to talk about. If something big happened in my life - I might talk about it. If something political happened that I want to bring up - I'm going to do it without shame. If there is a celebrity I want to shamelessly fangirl over or publicize because they kind of saved my life by existing... you are going to hear about it. Loudly.

So be warned: this isn't always going to be about books.

#4: Bargains

One of my favorite things on the internet is finding BOOK BARGAINS. I mean, seriously, is there a better feeling than finding a book you've been lusting after at a discount price on amazon / The Book Depository? I dare you to think of one.

So, more often than not I go on deal-searching rampages, and I will share the fruits of those with you guys.

You can thank me later--or sue me for contributing to your bankruptcy. whatever.

#5: Everything I love - Including TV, Movies, Music, Manga and Anime

Same as shamelessly talking about my life when I need it, I'm also going to do the same with everything I love. I'm going to review shows, movies, anime and manga. If there is anything I feel like gushing about--or ranting about--I'm going to do it.

I'm going to recommend my favorite artists, my favorite shows, my favorite anything. I'm going to make this a place where I'm comfortable discussing everything freely.

I am going to make this my home.

So if you'd like to sit down with me around the table or something like that, stick around. Everyone's welcome for as long as you want to be here. Like an open house of something. The door's always opened, and you don't even have to knock.