Blogging, huh?
I started at least two drafts about how I should blog more but don't really feel like it, unfortunately, but honestly I'm scraping it every time because I'm in a blogging platform. Like what's the point of pointing out that stuff, right? But in short the monthly journal-like posts stopped doing it for me a while ago, as I have the most uneventful life, and I don't really want to be a media critic writing reviews all the time. All stuff I've talked about before I'm sure.
I guess I miss Cohost. Not the website itself (not mentioning all the drama that happened during that last year, but there was some unpleasant stuff with the community there); I miss the sense of community I had there and the fact I could do a quick blog-style post and talk to my friends about it. But, well, it is what it is.
I'm writing this now because I'm sad, really. Not due to what I just mentioned, I'm just not feeling good and have some stuff that I know I have to deal with, and blogging takes my mind out of it. Writing in general, really, which I should probably go back to, but I just don't. But no I'm not going to start on that subject again lol. I could do a separate post about what's been bugging me but do I want to go into it? Dunno. Stay tuned, maybe.
For more interesting things in the usual format: I've finished the third Dune book, Children of Dune. I was more mixed about it than the first two. It has a great ending that made me really curious to read the next book (finally Worm Time?!), but I felt it took so long to get there. I'm not going to say that X or Y could be trimmed or cut, cause that's hard to tell, but I felt like it was a very long build up that was taking its sweet time to arrive. And I didn't like Leto and Ghanima at first, I'll say it, they had to grow on me throughout the book. All the Alia and Jessica stuff was entertaining though.
Then I started reading Tolkien. The Hobbit is lovely, and now Fellowship of the Ring is great. I grew up seeing the movies a bunch of times, and I do like them, but they don't prepare you for how weird and awesome that book gets. Like, the movies make it feel like high fantasy, which it is, I guess, but there are details and quirks specific to the source that just aren't there, and it's feeling like that was kept from me my entire life. It's been a fun discovery. Did you know elves have a connection with the other world? They really feel more otherwordly here. Also lots of walking and adventures on that first half that were completely skipped in the adaptation. Understandably so, but a shame. Maybe I shouldn't be comparing the reading to the watching that much, but it's a bit hard to avoid since that was my only frame of reference for this story so far. What prompted this was that I wanted to follow along the podcast Shelved by Genre, which has been enriching the experience very much.
And I've been gaming. Mostly short games this year for now, after finishing the gangantuan Etrian Odyssey HD. You can just check my Backloggd for a complete list, but highlights are:
Bulk Slash
Quick and simple Sega Saturn game about shooting stuff up with a giant robot and saving lovely ladies to be your navigators, telling you things such as: "Go right", "Careful!", "They're shooting at you, you moron!", and things of that nature. It's fantastic. There's an English fandub that's surprisingly competent.
Marathon
The famous Bungie sci-fi FPS before Halo. It's fun to play but the real highlight is the story, all told through terminals that you find inside the levels. It's surprisingly interesting, mostly cause Durandal, the starship's AI, is the most compelling character.
House of the Dead
I played through House of the Dead, HOTD 2 and HOTD: Overkill, as well and the latter two's Typing of the Dead iterations, where you kill zombies by typing words. I've always liked shooters on-rails so of course I had fun. And I found out I'm pretty okay at typing, too.
Norco
Norco is an adventure game and it fucking rules. Best game on this list, probably. Really good at creating a very real, very sad world and guiding you along it. Extremely funny when it wants to be.
OutRun 2006
Where I found out racing games rule. This one is very straightforward, not much to say.
Stranglehold
They made a game starring Chow Yun-Fat that's technically a sequel to John Woo's action masterpiece Hard Boiled. Woo is even on it a little bit. Max Payne took from Woo's movies, and then Stranglehold took back from Max Payne for a John Woo game, and it does feel like playing one of them! Probably the most fun I've had among all of those except for
Gitaroo Man
Where I found out rhythm games can rule. My hand hurts playing this one to the point where I thought I'd have to give up, but the soundtrack, the style, and challenging gameplay drew me in completely. I had to put in some hours to manage to beat it, but getting there was the best feeling. I just don't recommend playing it without taking some breaks.
Not really feeling like talking about anything else this time. Work's been a lot, which is good in a way because I need excellent months to make up for weak work months. I've been going out sometimes, connecting with fellow trans girls from the region… Probably not as much as I should, but such is life. I got to see Kokuho and It Was Just An Accident in theaters, that was exciting. See you next time.