So Long and Thanks for all the Buns

It’s with a heavy heart that I’m going to have to put this blog on an indefinite hiatus. I simply can’t keep up with my usual schedule of articles while working a 30-hour-a-week physically demanding job.

I hope to someday bring this blog back, either when I have a job that allows me to do more writing or when I have someone to help me run this blog. Unfortunately, I don’t know when either of those will be, so for the moment, know that we’ll be back some day, but not likely any time soon. You’ll still be able to see my writing at this blog here, where I write regular news articles about superheroes, video games, and everything else nerdy.

It’s been fun, bunny lovers. Willow, Julius, and I will miss you.

Have You Seen the Post Anywhere?

 Willow and Julius swear they didn’t eat it, but after what they did to my WiiU cable…

This is happening quite a bit lately, I am well aware. I am seriously so very sorry. With this new job that requires a lot of manual labor, I suddenly have significantly less time during the week, and I’m extremely tired during the free time I do have. I would like to try not to decrease my scheduled postings again, but for that to work, you guys might have to live with more missing posts here and there, if I don’t take a full hiatus. If all goes as planned and the blizzard this weekend cancels work without cutting my power, I should be able to get out two articles this coming week, so look forward to that, and afterward I’ll let you know how I intend to handle scheduling from now on!

Keep Them Coming: Star Trek: The Cage

The start of a story is what decides whether you keep coming back for more or drop the series entirely. In ‘Keep Them Coming’, we look at the beginning of stories, whether it be the pilot episode of a show, tutorial level of a video game, or first chapter of a novel, and figure out what makes it effective or a dud. There will be spoilers, but only if you consider a plot twist within the intro to be a spoiler. 

Possibly the most different pilot episode in American history (that’s still considered canon with the show it came from) is that of the original Star Trek show of the 70’s, an episode called “The Cage.” Very little of what we think of Star Trek now existed in this pilot. We still have the Enterprise, yes, but it is captained not by Kirk but by a man named Christopher Pike. None of the crew we know is in the pilot either, except for Mr. Spock…kind of. Even he is vastly different from his iconic appearance now. In the pilot episode, he smiles.

Keep Them Coming: Attack on Titan

The start of a story is what decides whether you keep coming back for more or drop the series entirely. In ‘Keep Them Coming’, we look at the beginning of stories, whether it be the pilot episode of a show, tutorial level of a video game, or first chapter of a novel, and figure out what makes it effective or a dud. There will be spoilers, but only if you consider a plot twist within the intro to be a spoiler. 

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait between articles! As I said in my last post, I got a new job! It’s not full time yet, but with the hour-long commute into DC, it certainly feels like it. I’m going to try to keep a regular two-a-week schedule of articles, since I already have my articles planned all the way through March, but don’t be surprised if you see another picture of Julius’s butt here and there.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to business – beginnings! I haven’t been keeping as in touch with the anime world as I used to, but I’m not out of it totally either, and I certainly hear of the big names all the time. A trend I’ve noticed with recent animes is that their first episode seems to be pretty different than future episodes. It’ll be longer, or have a slightly different tone, or focus completely on one character, despite the rest of the series featuring a group of characters. The first time I really noticed this was when I watched Attack on Titan.

The episode starts with a minute or so of clips of people fighting huge beasts, but honestly, as there are no main characters and the fighting is generic and inconsequential compared to what we see later in the series, it’s very easy to brush aside. I almost instantly forgot about it after…

Bun-Error 404: Missing Review

Will you forgive us if I show you a picture of Julius’s butt?

 Somehow, I had it in my head that I would TOTALLY be able to write today’s review as soon as I got home from work – what didn’t occur to me was that it was first day orientation, with lots of information and a long tour around the building. I am tired.

On the other hand, I now have a very official-looking government ID, so that should render all  arguments against mine invalid.

Sorry about this! Regular posting will resume on Friday.

Keep Them Coming: The Hunger Games

The start of a story is what decides whether you keep coming back for more or drop the series entirely. In ‘Keep Them Coming’, we look at the beginning of stories, whether it be the pilot episode of a show, tutorial level of a video game, or first chapter of a novel, and figure out what makes it effective or a dud. There will be spoilers, but only if you consider a plot twist within the intro to be a spoiler. 

Since I’m trying this month to show both what to do in the beginning of a story and what NOT to do, and last week we looked at an amazing start to a video game, lets look at one that’s a bit more…iffy.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Hunger Games series. I started to read it before I even knew movies were coming out, and to be honest, I didn’t even make it past the first chapter before I was bored out of my mind, so I stopped reading. Then the movie came out, I rented it, and I really liked it. Later, I was given an audiobook service trial that gave me the first chapter of a book of my choice for free, so I decided to give The Hunger Games another try. The audiobook version was so well done that I proceeded to buy and listen to the entire series.

My opinion of the Hunger Games books continued to swing back and forth, especially during the last one, but we’re not here to talk about how the series ended, we’re here to look at how it began.

Keep Them Coming Editorial: The Importance of a Good Hook

The start of a story is what decides whether you keep coming back for more or drop the series entirely. In ‘Keep Them Coming’, we look at the beginning of stories, whether it be the pilot episode of a show, tutorial level of a video game, or first chapter of a novel, and figure out what makes it effective or a dud. There will be spoilers, but only if you consider a plot twist within the intro to be a spoiler. 

If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m dedicating an article a week throughout January to analyzing how stories begin and deciding just what exactly makes it good or bad. In fact, I have a whole section of my blog dedicated to this. So why do I put such an emphasis on beginnings? Because, without a doubt, they are the most important part of the story.

Keep Them Coming: Undertale

The start of a story is what decides whether you keep coming back for more or drop the series entirely. In ‘Keep Them Coming’, we look at the beginning of stories, whether it be the pilot episode of a show, tutorial level of a video game, or first chapter of a novel, and figure out what makes it effective or a dud. There will be spoilers, but only if you consider a plot twist within the intro to be a spoiler.

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to get into Undertale or not, as I was first introduced to it by the wave of fanart that one day flooded my Tumblr dashboard. Who’s this kid? Is that a fish-person? Why is that robot flirting with that skeleton? Alright, this is far too weird for me. Not the best first impression. Then, a friend of mine gave me the game for my birthday and I was forced to finally give Undertale a try.

I have now decided that friend is a wonderful person and an amazing judge of games. (Even if she has gifted me Hatoful Boyfriend as well. We’ll see how that goes…)

And a Hoppy New Year

A new year means a new look, and it’s about time for Julius to enter the banner as well.

Welcome to the grand unveiling of my newest artwork, “Bonded,” featuring Willow and Julius with their faces smooshed together as they love to do.

It joins the collection of Plot Bunny paintings in my Society6 store, where it can be purchased as a print or on a bag, mug, pillow and more.

Merry Bunmas!

Mrs. Willow Claws and Julius the Big-Nosed Reindeer would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas, happy holidays, happy New Years, and happy everything else that we silly humans like to celebrate.

Plot Bunnies will be back on New Year’s Day with a review on a vastly popular new video game, which will harken in a new month themed around beginnings, plus a series of Productive Procrastination articles about getting yourself organized this year. 2016 will be full of such theme months, looking at romance, endings, and of course our usual month of horror.

In the meantime, enjoy your holidays away from work or school, and we hope your Christmas is full of cuddles and noogies.

For more of Willow and Julius’s Christmas photos, you can check out Willow’s Tumblr.