Diary of a Wave Outside the Sea

How have you been, my friend? You've been on my mind a lot recently. My thoughts keep drifting to you. Not much has been happening on my end – I've been trying to wake up before 10 am, doing some drawing, reading and writing, and trying not to worry about my test results. Yesterday, though, was special: it was Benny's thirteenth birthday. It was a very simple affair, though. He woke me up at 8am as usual, and then I went back to sleep.

Recently, I have been plagued by the desire to read good books (and less fan fiction) so that I can improve my own writing. Do you have any recommendations? I trust your taste. I keep jumping between unfinished projects and creating new ones. The newest is a short story about a Shinbutsu-shūgō monk and a tengu travelling together. It's supposed to be about faith in humanity and compassion, but I'm still thinking about the themes I want to explore. For now, I have only written 700 words.

I also started watching Avatar: The Way of Water with my brother and father, but I didn't finish it with them. Movies like this one sometimes make me really sad. While I do think the franchise is full of despair and pain, and I recognise the importance of exploring the themes it does, it's still a difficult watch. It feels as if all the films are meant to portray suffering, and that nothing will ever get better. For me, it kills any hope. It's not a pleasant experience.