The 5 Things That Yung is Thankful For

Thanksgiving may not be a thing where I'm from (the UK if anyone's interested), but I was inspired to do something similar to Kinky and Snooze's recent posts, thinking about a couple things this year that made it easier to bear this increasingly fucked up world we're living in. So here they are: the top 5 things I'm thankful for in 2020!

5. The internet

This is a basic one, but seriously, imagine how we'd be faring during this lockdown if we didn't have the internet? My job and my studies both take place online, and while the internet definitely has its pros and cons I think we'd be living in a much more boring world if we didn't have it. News, memes, online gaming, streaming, porn etc. are things a lot of people take for granted these days, but you'd know the pain of being without them when your wi-fi goes down.

Few feelings compare to your friends sending you some fire memes

4. Books

An old English teacher that I had once gave me a great piece of writing advice: you can't write well unless you read well. My bookshelf has mostly been populated by manga until earlier this year, when I decided to get a bunch of novels and other literature. These days I haven't been reading as much as I was when I was at school, so I'm glad I've been getting back into the habit of reading seriously. Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted is a recent one that really stuck in my mind, and a strong recommend if you have a stomach for some real fucked up shit. I've also got a bunch of William Gibson novels, all three of Limmy's books (my favorite streamer and comedian), and I'm planning on finishing Dune before the movie drops next year.

I miss hanging out in libraries and finding some weird shit

3. Writing

Without tooting my own horn too hard, I'd say I'm at the very least a competent writer, especially compared to some of the stuff I see on other news sites. I'm currently studying a Master's degree in Creative Writing and the feedback I get from my coursemates is more often than not positive, which is good sign that I'm on the right track. I've also been hella busy this month working on a novel of my own; a post-cyberpunk magical girl fantasy adventure cosmic horror (yes, seriously) story I'm calling Zenith. Set on a freshly colonized planet in the far future, it follows a journalist who sets out into the dangerous, unexplored wasteland to film a documentary. On the way, she crosses paths with her childhood friend, who's now become a vessel for a cosmic entity bent on claiming the planet for its own sinister purposes. Spooky things ensue!

Writing isn't easy work, but damn, if it isn't rewarding

2. My guys

I really wouldn't be writing this novel without help from a couple of friends who started this project years ago. Our goal is to create a strong setting that can be used as the backdrop for a multitude of different stories, and we've only recently gone from the "just casually throwing ideas around" phase to actually getting our shit organized so it looks like all that grinding is finally starting to come together into something tangible. Special thanks to my boi Ghostbrush, a massively talented artist who's drawn more than a few of my OCs.

I ask for a cyberpunk arthoe Instagram influencer-type character and *boom*, he delivers

1. Doujins

I don't just mean the many awesome doujinshi galleries we have here, I'm talking 'bout the whole damn website. The staff that work hard behind the scenes, the other writers with their awesome work on the blog, and of course, the fans. Without you guys reading and commenting on my posts, I wouldn't have the motivation to carry on writing. I've always had a thing for talking about stuff that I'm excited about and I'm seriously super grateful that I have an outlet where I can do that about anime, hentai and video games, and people actually like reading my shit! Huge shout out to everyone!