



Writing for me is a way to get ideas and thoughts out of my head, but it’s also a way for me to look at the world from different angles. I’m not a very worldly person as I much prefer the comfort of my own home to the outside world, but that doesn’t mean I have nothing to say or share with the world. And much of that comes in the form of the stories I’m telling on this website.
My name is Nick and during the day I am an English teacher in secondary education. I try my best to teach a bunch of 12-16 year old children how to write a sentence in English, but if you were to ask for their opinion I mostly just rage-bait them.
I started this blog not long before COVID turned the world upside down and it has been a great motivator for me to keep writing even on days or weeks that I don’t feel like it. I write about many things, but I mostly write about (my) mental health, anime & manga and about fantastical worlds inhabited by real people. Well, I try to make them feel like real people.
Growing up with undiagnosed autism meant that a lot of the world around me was difficult to understand. I was bullied as a child and have gone through my share of depression and severe anxiety. I am in a much better place now and part of what I want to teach people – be it through my job or this blog – is the possibilities of life that you can grab a hold of despite your disabilities. That sounds very noble, but a lot of it is just me ranting about how unfair the world is, so don’t think too highly of me.
As I said before, the main things you’ll find here are anime and manga reviews, random blog posts and my stories. There is currently one story that I’m actively posting on here – and have been for almost 5 years – while another is currently being worked on. If that seems interesting to you, have a look at the menu at the top of this page and navigate to the “The Hesitant Hero” page. There’s more to come, but if you want to start there, that would make me quite happy. New updates for the story are on Tuesdays and the story goes on break around August-October when the volume ends and I need to prepare for the next volume in January. You can usually expect one more post each week or more if I’m feeling creative. I hope you enjoy my little blog and if you do, don’t hesitate to leave a like or comment as it brightens my day.
The red cat is my old cat Kokkino who passed away in 2019. The white and gray cat is Nami who we got shortly afterwards.
Recent Uploads
- My top 10 manga of all timeAlright, I think I’ve tried writing this post a dozen times before this version and I’m still not fully convinced that I have made the perfect list. It doesn’t help that I keep reading new series and recency bias makes me want to put them… Read more: My top 10 manga of all time
- Tensura Season 4 – Episode 15Storytime before we start the episode recap since today I’m going to be lazy about it anyway. I live in the Netherlands and my brother lives in Denmark (near the capital). My dad and I took a road trip to go visit him over the… Read more: Tensura Season 4 – Episode 15
- Vol 5: Chapter 22 – Royal RequestThey were on the road towards the capital for no more than three days before a messenger intercepted them. Apparently the emperor had a task for Ankh. A town in the southern part of the Severanti empire had apparently been hiding another one of these… Read more: Vol 5: Chapter 22 – Royal Request
- That kindness that’s so normal to you is so special to meI’ve been wanting to talk about this manga for a while now, and it’s already made its way into my manga top 10 of all time – which is coming to this blog next week – but I still want to dedicate an entire post… Read more: That kindness that’s so normal to you is so special to me
- Tensura Season 4 – Episode 14It’s a busy couple of days for me here. Yesterday the painters came over to finish up fixing the water damage we got in the house a few months ago. I was out at work for part of it and apparently they were done much… Read more: Tensura Season 4 – Episode 14
- Vol 5: Chapter 21 – The wandererAfter the survivors emerged from the dungeon, the two arcanist members of the Sahalid went to work on sealing the entrance to the dungeon. Mirgia stayed to watch the process while Karal, Kimi and Ankh went to report to Captain Arios about what they encountered… Read more: Vol 5: Chapter 21 – The wanderer
- Why we love magicWhen I was growing up, I always had a very extensive imagination. I was a bit of a weird kid – who would have guessed – and especially during my teenage years when I wasn’t fitting in all that well with my peers my mind… Read more: Why we love magic
- Tensura Season 4 – Episode 13We’ve reached the midway point of this season which means we are getting a new opening and ending. I woke up to a friend of mine messaging me that they are both very good, so I’m excited to see what this episode has in store… Read more: Tensura Season 4 – Episode 13
- Vol 5: Chapter 20 – Foul MagicAnkh crossed the distance towards the magical barrier within a few steps and plucked one of the floating gemstones that had been orbiting his face out of order. A humming sound filled the room as the rest of the gemstones adjusted their positions to be… Read more: Vol 5: Chapter 20 – Foul Magic
- SummertimeWe’ve just gone through a historic heat wave and it’s only June, the summer has barely begun. It’s cooled down a little bit as of writing this which is great because the kids have just entered their test week. The downside is that I would… Read more: Summertime