The Fundamental Problem With 'Orange'

The anime 'Orange' is the shoujo-slash-science-fiction that has taken the summer by storm. We've hit the fifth episode (Out of thirteen) of this anime. But there is something that sticks out in my mind. Something significant.

With the most recent episode (Episode five), we were lectured by the gang's chemistry teacher about parallel worlds and time travel. This brought up a few questions about the story.
But let me explain.
The story revolves around our main character Naho receiving a letter from her supposed 'future self' who has many regrets, mostly about the new kid Kakeru. The letter is a few pages long (As seen in the way Naho holds it like there is more than one.) Within its pages, the Future Naho explains what she regrets...and how to stop it. The Current Naho is supposed to prevent these regrets from happening. And maybe even save Kakeru.
But where did the letter come from?
This is a fundamental question. The whole series revolves around the letters being legitimate (This legitimacy is established early on. Naho discovers that there IS a new kid named Kakeru and some other facts that are from the letter.) 

Here are a few possible explanations.

The first one is the most obvious one. Time travel. The anime hints at it; the teacher talks about parallel worlds and time travel. Episode five is divided into two parts; one is entirely about Naho thinking about parallel worlds and time travel. 

Here is the problem, though. Bear with me. This might get a little complicated. If a letter from Future Naho went into the past to Current Naho, wouldn't this cause a paradox? (Let's quickly define a paradox. According to Merriam-Webster, a paradox is "something that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true". In layman's terms, that means something that shouldn't exist but does.) In terms of time travel, though, a paradox is a bad thing with a capital B. It's so bad that a paradox would rip the fabric of time. (You might have heard that phrase before. Doc Brown said it in 'Back to the Future'. Not sure which one, though.) 
Simply put, the letter delivered via time travel = paradox = how are they existing?

Of course, if you believe in the parallel worlds theory, the letter caused a change in the future. So the Future Naho (From Future 1) doesn't exist in Future 2. Future 2 is caused by the existence of the letter and Current Naho's actions. So Current Naho caused Future 2. 
Okay, you're probably all confused by now. So here's a little diagram to show what I'm talking about.

Does this make more sense now? But this is, of course, if you believe in that theory. If you don't, then Current Naho's actions could destroy the world. And the letter might not even exist anymore. But that's a topic I'd rather not discuss. It's too big for someone like me. 

If ripping apart time and space with a simple letter isn't satisfying for you, I have another route. But it's awful. It's the only other option I could think of. And that is...the letter is a really elaborate prank. Introduce the letter to Naho and have Kakeru ACT OUT what will happen. Therefore, the actors (Kakeru and whoever else is involved) know EXACTLY what the letter will say and know EXACTLY how to act. 

This is a sad option, though. This means that all the feelings Current Naho has for Kakeru are from a bad place. This means that Kakeru lied to them all. 
And I don't believe that he's the type of person to do that. After all, he acts so kind to everyone. I try to think positively about Kakeru and hope he has a future living. You know, the thing the rest of us do? That. 
I want the future to change. 

So. What are your thoughts? Do you believe it's from time travel? Is time travel even possible?

Tomato Talks Episode 5: Love Your Numbers

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Today, I sound too motivational speaker-y as I talk about stats.

What are stats?

Stats are short for statistics. In this context, stats are the number of followers, daily/monthly page views and all.

What do stats mean?

Stats, at least to my knowledge, mean how popular or well known you are. But...that's not all. Somebody with a higher follower count could get that ARC compared to somebody who is just starting out.

People with higher stats get more perks. And that is why we care too much. We want that blog tour spot or that ARC or the deal with the publishing house to help create buzz for a book. I mean, you can try it on your own, but it's super hard. Trust me. I know from personal experience.

Caring about stats is normal. It's something we all care about. Even in every day life. We want the lower weight or the lower gas price. It's human to care about this stuff.

But we can sometimes care too much.

But how can stop this? Or...at least...care less?

I put together three (extremely hard) tips to stop us from caring so much about stats. But...I'm a hypocrite for not doing these. Whoops.

1) Acknowledge that your stats are just numbers. These numbers don't define you.

2) Acknowledge that there will always be somebody with better stats.

3) Acknowledge that you're awesome no matter your stats

So...what do you think? Do you care too much about stats? Or do you not? If you don't, how did you stop that mentality of caring too much?

I'd love to hear from you!

Tomato Talks Episode 4: Small Blog, Big Personality

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Today, I talked about small blogs. And how much it sucks to be a small blogger.

Well...what is a small blog? 

For me, it's somebody whose blog isn't as well-known. It's not some blogging household name. 

So...what's a big blog?

It's somebody who is more well-known in the blogging community. People recognize your name.

You might think there are no perks to being a small blogger.

But there are. Even if you don't want to admit it.

You can mess up and not as many people notice. That's a perk. A big one. 

And you can try out new things and not have people judge you. Awesome, right?

But everyone wants to be popular. Even I do. For me, there's another level of feeling sad about being a small blogger. 

I sometimes think I won't get popular. You might feel that way too.

So here are some tips for people who feel like they'll never make it to the big leagues.

1) everyone started like this. So they get it. You can talk to anyone about the struggles

2) you're amazing. People just might not know this yet

3) realize that there is a lot of standards for big blogs. So it's not as pretty as you thought.

4) and it takes time and luck. The big blogs might have been lucky to get a big break. I'm not saying that's universal but it's possible.

Don't let being a small blog dampen your spirits. YOU'RE AWESOME. Don't let anyone say otherwise!

And...if you'd like to gain 'followers fast', you could join an established blog. They have a readership and all. But don't join one you don't like. You want to fit in. In a way.

Tomato Talks: Episode 3: Why I Sometimes Hate Reading Books About Mental Illness

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Today I talked about mental illnesses and other personal-ish stuff.

This came about because of The Memory of Light which is about a girl who attempted suicide. I started to think about my feelings towards mental illness books. (Just saying, I use mental health books and mental illness books interchangeably. By this, I mean, books that have a character with a mental illness.)

So...mental illness books. 

They kinda are part of my life now. My best friend has depression. I have other friends with different mental illnesses. I only recently started learning about 'reality'. And that includes mental illnesses. And I'm still not sure the right term. (I use disorders and illnesses interchangeably.)

I began to think about this two years ago. I was carefree and innocent before that. I never thought about the real things that make the world go round and round.

But I don't particularly love them. I mean...I do love that they exist. If you have a mental illness, you can relate to a character with the same illness. You can feel for them, and they can be your strength. 

If there was a book about someone like me, I'd definitely love it. I'd read it and cherish it. Even if the writing style is awful...okay...not true. 

And why don't I like them at times?

I think too much about it. I think too much into it. I try to match myself up to these mental illnesses. Am I depressed? Do I have an anxiety disorder? What am I?

And I hate putting myself in a box. But I do it instinctively. Why? I have no clue. Why do we do anything?

I'm just trying to figure out who I am. 

Who is Wren? Who am I? 

And it's something I've been thinking about for two years.

And I think I might always be wondering the answer to the question we all want to know the answer to. 

And apologies for random typing sounds because I was looking up some facts.

And I overuse schizophrenia as an example...but it's not true. I'm just paranoid.

And I switch back and forth between agreeing and disagreeing. So...sorry.

And I kinda get dark at the end...sorry..

And sorry for apologizing so much...wait.

My 2016 Challenges

I'm reluctant to committing to reading challenges. Why? I'll forget about them by March. Trust me on that. 

But I'll signup for them anyways.

6 Squared Challenge

This challenge is hosted by BookstacksAmber. 

The Rules:

• Your challenge is to read six books from each of the six categories, for a total of 36 books by the end of 2016:
  • 6 New Releases (Debut Authors)
  • 6 New Releases (Loved Authors)
  • 6 Books to Start a Series
  • 6 Books to Complete a Series (can be different from above)
  • 6 Book to Movie Adaptations
  • 6 Goodreads Choice Awards Winners or Nominees
• There are no minimum number of books required for each month. Three per month would be a good starting point since there are 36 books in the challenge, but you can read 1 book from the challenge in January and 10 in February if you want. This challenge is super flexible, so do whatever works best for you!

My Goal:

Duh. This one is a bit obvious.

I'm reading 6 books in each of the six categories. 

Rock My TBR

It's hosted by The YA Book Traveler.

The Rules:

• To read a minimum of 1 book per month you already own (published book). This challenge is totally what YOU make of it! You can do 5 books a month, 10, WHATEVER! Anything you accomplish is fantastic. This challenge is really what you make of it.

My Goal:

I haven't quite planned out which books I'll be reading. I just have my TBR to look at. 

2016 Discussion Challenge

I have so many ideas for discussions, but I'm so lazy in writing them. This will definitely get me writing.

This is hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts At Midnight.

The Rules:

• Every month, we’ll update this 2016 Book Blog Challenge Page with the links to that month’s Challenge linky – so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
• Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!

My Goal:

I'll be trying to do 2 discussions a month. 

That's 24 discussions in the year.

Creative Conversationalist

Commenting 365 Challenge

I'm also taking a part of a commenting challenge. 

It's hosted by Read Write Love 28.

The Rules:

Comment on a blog every day. (I'll be using the master list.)

My Goal:

Commenting every day. Isn't that obvious? 

Tips to Help You Control Your TBR Monster

Tips to Help You Control Your TBR Monster

My TBR is a monster. I have to constantly feed it. It wants boookkkss to eat. It devours words, its teeth stained with ink. 

So I constantly give it books to feed upon. 

Every reader has a TBR monster. Some are satisfied with only 100 books. Some are ravenous and require 200 or 300 books. 

It's hard to tame your monster. 

You may feel like quitting. 

You may feel depressed. 

You may feel like locking your monster up.

But you can conquer your monster.

Here are my tips to help control your unruly TBR:

You can DNF books. This means you can say, 'Nope. I don't like this book' and put it down. 

And if you're wondering, 'What if I need to write reviews!', the answer is you write a review about why you DNFed the book.

I don't DNF. For me, I like to finish books. Not for just the finality but also because the book might be amazing in the end. If no, that's okay. If yes, awesome.

 Update your TBR list from time to time. Go through the books you marked as to-read. Do you want to read it? Make sure you do before getting that book! 
Are you sure you want to read that book from your childhood for the ninth time? Are you sure that book is right for you?
At times when I have many TBR books, I update my TBR. And I can eliminate a few books. Which is great for me. 

If you get many books at one time, you can definitely put some on hold for later. 

I do this when I get too many books at once. I will return a book to the library or put it aside until I have more time. 

You don't need to finish the series. If you don't like book one, drop it. 

I used to read the entire series. Even if I didn't like it. 

(Translation: drop it like it's hot.) 

I hope I was able to help you control your TBR monster!

How do you control your TBR?