Mini-Reviews Round 165

My holiday continues apace!  Today, even as you read this, perhaps, I've got a friend's bachelor party to go to.  It's sure to be an exciting, scandalous affair; our big plans involve learning a new tactical battle boardgame that one of the other guys is bringing.  We're a bunch of wild and crazy guys, I tell you.  And right on the heels of that will be New Years, which I typically celebrate with... more games with friends.  Sometimes we don't even make it to midnight, anymore.

Man, I'm getting old.

Whatevs (see?  Youth-speak!  Still got it).  Mini-reviews, below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 194: It's Not Like I'm Deaf

 To read the story, click the image or follow this link.

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend.  Well, the first one, anyway; I suppose New Year's is also a "holiday weekend" this year.  Enjoy it, too!  But first, enjoy my review of Arreis of Avalon's It's Not Like I'm Deaf, below the break.

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

OMPR will resume its normal mix of reviews, commentary, and Carrot Top on Wednesday the 28th.  Until then, I'll be spending Christmas with my family.

I urge you all to take the time to visit or call the people who matter most in your life--whoever they are--and make sure they know just how important they are to you.  A sincere, genuine "I love you" is more powerful than most people believe, and it's not said nearly often enough.  Tell those you love that you love them.  I promise, no matter how awkward the words can be (and I know, they can be awkward; I was a teenage boy too cool for sincere emotions once, too), they're not ones you'll look back upon with regret.

Merry Christmas, to you and yours.

Mini-Reviews Round 164

There's just enough time for some more holiday-themed fics before the actual holidays are upon us!  But first, take a moment to appreciate this: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer rewritten as an Anglo-Saxon alliterative poem, plus an English translation!  The best thing I've seen in a while, it is.

Now, to stick with the theme ("internet fiction about hooved animals at Christmas Hearth's Warming"), here are some holiday fics!  In fact, let's do romance-tagged holiday fics while we're at it, because why the heck not?  Check out my thoughts, below the break.

Fandom Classics Part 193: Post Negative Comments Only

The author didn't give any cover art, so I get to pick for him!  Let's be honest, there was only ever one choice of subject material, relevance to the story itself be damned.  Oh, also: to read the story, click the image or follow this link.

Because of Christmas and New Year's both falling on a Sunday this year, "winter break" for our district is only going to include six days off, instead of the usual seven or, most often, eight.  I know it shouldn't matter to me--winter break is still the same number of days in absolute terms, and the school year involves a set number of school days regardless--but it still feels like I'm being cheated, somehow.  Oh well; my review is Estee's Post Negative Comments Only, below the break.

Mini-Reviews Round 163

By now you've probably already seen someone else blog about it, but Bad Horse is doing a survey, and he's looking to get 1000 responses.  It's maddeningly vague in places and only mentions me by name once (I mean, come on), but you should still be a sport and take it for him.  Details here.

Now, let's get on to the mini-reviews!  More Hearth's Warming stuff today, because the windchill is -30 and It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas.  Get it below the break.