#unrelated. or adjacently related i dont know

[slingbats]

testing a brush set I forgot I had, drew these while my wifi was out for like. 3 hours

[captainsparklefingers]

It's always weird when you get an idea for an au story and it sounds great as an idea, but then when you go to try and plot it out, you're like 'wait this is either gonna involve a complete overhaul of canon or I'm gonna have to ignore a lot of shit or get really, REALLY creative'. And suddenly the whole thing just feels very, very daunting.

I think that's why I haven't done anything longer than oneshots (interconnected or otherwise) for a while.

Like, writing Conspiracy of Ravens, my last multichapter story for anything, did involve a major canon change, but it was something that could, I think, be done in a way that could sort of slot into canon and not feel eo out of place? I mean it wasn't perfect, but i5 didn't feel like...wildly impossible, which for something that could have big ripple effects is good, I'd say.

I've got other ideas for longer things, four of which I'm seriously consider writing, one of which I've actually been trying to write on and off for liiiiike...two years? And as you can see, they do not exist beyond my brain and a bunch of notes that go nowhere, or they get started but the idea of a complete canon rewrite is so daunting that even beginning to plan that out is a struggle.

I gotta say, I really admire people who do massive aus that manage to both diverge from their canon source in a big way while also following similar plot beats or echoes and staying true to both the characters and the heart/feel of the original source work. Because that CANNOT be easy.

(you know exactly who you are, if you're reading this, and I both envy and deeply respect you.)

....look I've been home sick with a major headcold all day, with nothing to keep me company but my cats and my thoughts. This is what happens when I have free time. Not any ACTUAL writing, but a dumb blog post about how writing is hard. In short: I'm sick, I'm bored, I have writers block, and I'm complaining instead of, you know, doing anything productive.

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Chapter 18

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

New chapter, new cup, and back on my tea drinking! Today is another past year ren faire hand made cup with a Blueberry Jasmine tea.

This is present me rn - having finished this chapter- I WAS NOT PREPARED WHAT THE FUCK; what a goddamn jump scare of a read! D:

let's get ready for the notes journey so you can see me descend into a cacophony of sound:

Okay the visitor from last chapter was not Luo Binghe, and I really thought it might have been- it is in fact Liu Qingge! p159

Where is Luo Binghe though?? p159

Side note: unrelated, but a little bit related- adjacently related if you will - to the plot -> Big Same Shen Qingqiu! When I see a fan I too have to give that baby a firm crack! p159

Also real as fuck. LQQ: "what's up with you and Luo BInghe?" SQQ: I don't really know, but here we are LOL" p160

What did Liu Qingge see in the room that made him trip up/pause??? (I am sure we will find out later but still what the heck) p162

I'm crying at the strike out over here "His current attire and appearance was exactly identical to the Luo Binghe from before the Immortal Alliance Conference: the model of flawless and pure disciple of a major sect, the image of a pretty, diligent, and competent young wife, it really...really...was..." p162

Why am I so suspicious about the breakfast service Luo Binghe has for SQQ. p163

I love how the two of them in disguise in this very obvious trap of basically every powerful cultivator and sect is Luo Binghe changing his facial expression and SQQ being like "well I've been away for a while they will never recognize me" stealth check natural 1 for sure for sure p168

ewwww. anything to do with Old Palace Master. I really hate this guy, this story is so fucked. honestly poor Luo Binghe rn. pp171-172

oooo! New quest from the system: Raising Righteous Image Points! p176

more me appointed points to my 'SQQ is the damsel/love interest narrative', "In conclusion: So the female lead's role was going to be Shen Qingqiu again, huh?" p177

THANK YOU! This guy is the only one talking sense. Tianlang-jun really did nothing to start this whole war. He was only tricked and then essentially had the shit absolutely beat out of him. I dont even think the rumour he was going to wreak havoc and kill a bunch of humans was true- probably made up by butt hurt Old Palace Master. p181

ugh. Poor LBG having to hear all these people talk about his parents, their story, and how his mom hated him so much she tried to abort him. what the fuck, that's enough to mess anyone up quite badly. pp181-183

LBH: SQQ: my heart!!! pp 186-187

OFC LBH would be blamed mid Menty-B for the random demons being present. p189

Also so valid! the sects really are using the same tricks they used on Tianlang-jun. You know what, i'm really starting to stand with these demons - they have been done so dirty! p190

Hell yeah Yu Qingyuan stepping in! p191

Everyone here wants an explanation- how tf are they going to explain any of this tho LOL p195

Oh fuck, oh fuck! He hit zero points! p196

wait...alternate punishment? p197

Oh dang, he really just collapsed p197

AH! What's happening in the dream punishment. Is the punishment SQQ having to live with the original novel Luo BInghe and forever pining for him LOL? pp 198-199

Oh shit. Luo Binghe is totally figuring out that Shen Qingqiu is not his original Shizun p201

HE TORE HIS ARM OFF?! P202

MORE LIMB RIPPING P203

WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!!

THIS IS WILD.

What a horrible punishment OMG.

[july-19th-club]

how did you first get into tarot? do you have any advice for someone who wants to learn?

i got into it in college when i was doing a bit of exploring around in terms of what i guess you’d call ‘witchy stuff’ - i’m not super involved in it much at all because like all hobbies there’s lots to dive into and i’ve always been just enough of a skeptic that im never sure if what im doing is working or not (also because as a community at least online, the modern witch zone has some problems with racism and TERF-adjacent ‘woman power’ shit and i am not about a) appropriating cultures i’m not a part of’s magical or spiritual traditions or b) associating with gender essentialists not least bc i dont ahve an essential gender). ALL THAT just to say when i was in college i thought tarot reading might be fun and i bought a cool pack with some artwork i liked, and then was gifted some other decks by friends etc. there are lots of beautiful (very expensive) decks out there - some of the fancy ones can run you like $50-60 easy - but you can get a basic rider-waite deck online for like 20 bucks.

the main thing to keep in mind about tarot is that whether or not you have much of a belief in that certain whatever-you-want-to-call-it (magic? the paranormal? words like that always feel WAY too dramatic to me an ex-catholic wary of anything that smacks of hardcore spirituality way) - your tarot deck is just cards, and it’s essentially an intuition tool. whatever you wind up reading is gonna mostly come from you - your interpretation of the cards, your interpretation of the questions you ask. and sometimes you’ll surprise yourself with the insight you glean off of that and you’ll get that cool uncanny ‘i’m onto something here’ feeling and sometimes you’ll just read a spread distractedly and get nothing out of it and just feel like you’ve wasted your time. either way, it can be a great way to sort out your own thoughts, which is mostly what i use mine for. i guess you could call it mindfulness in a way. when i draw a card and know that it either clarifies my thoughts or doesn’t make any sense for what i’m feeling, both of those answers can be helpful ways to narrow down complicated thought processes. if i’m feeling confident about a decision and i draw “The Chariot” for example, that doesn’t necessarily mean that some outside force is agreeing with me that i should do whatever im about to do. probably nobody else is giving me advice from beyond or influencing the cards i draw. but it does maybe mean that i’m not just tricking myself into feeling confident; it might mean that subconsciously (or consciously) i know i’m on top of whatever i was asking about. for someone with a degree of imposter syndrome, that can really help.

this is turning into a bit of a dissertation and you said you wanted tips, so bear with me :) my main tip is to buy a cheap deck (you can always buy a pretty one later) and to spend time with it. lots of people say that, but it’s like learning any new skill or subject - you’ll be more familiar with it and it’ll be more intuitive if you practice. the deck should come with a little book that tells you the commonly agreed-upon meanings of each card and what suit it belongs to (major arcana are for big themes and questions, minor - suits are wands, cups, coins or pentacles, and swords - are for more everyday garden-variety stuff). the book should also have some spread ideas in the back - by which i mean ways in which to lay out the cards and designate questions to each of them.

a simple spread, for example, might look like this: three cards in a row, which you designate past, present, and future. you could consider the spread broadly - the past encompassing a long time, present encompassing every aspect of your current life, future encompassing everything - or you could do it minutely; this morning (past) right now, and tonight (future). another thing everyone always says is not to be afraid to build your own spreads. if you feel like they’re not working or you’re not putting together any clear insight, you can always adjust them or go back to the ones in the book (if you find those work for you) or look some up online.

few other things i’ve noticed help you to achieve “clearer” results from a reading:

yes or no questions or extremely big, broad categories are troublesome. “how,” “what,” and “why” questions, or questions that allow for open-ended answers, are more likely to help you form a conclusion that makes sense

basically, you know how lawyers ask leading questions? this is NOT like that. if you do a spread full of leading questions, you’re just leading yourself in a circle

i’ve noticed that if i read for the same question over and over again all at once, the cards i flip get more and more nonsensical. either the deck’s getting tired of my bullshit, or i’m losing the ability to coherently interpret what’s in front of me - either way, i think past a certain point there’s no reason to beat a dead horse

^ the above leads me to a tangent which i SWEAR is related, tangent being i just said all that stuff about there not being any outside force directing your readings. still think that’s probably true unless you do spirit work about it on purpose, which i know nothing about and probably never will - but one of my few ‘i’m pretty sure i believe this’ beliefs is a bit of mild animism; the idea that objects as well as creatures have something akin to a soul or a personality. im not sure how distinct or clear or ‘real-in-the-way-that-you-and-i-who-are-living-human-beings-are-real’ those *souls* are, but the few hard and fast i-can’t-explain-it experiences i’ve had have been to do with places that felt like they Had Emotions and objects that felt like they Had Intent. and if you do subscribe to the line of reasoning that everything has a beating heart of *being-ness*, then things you spend lots of time with and interact with will probably come to some kind of understanding with you and/or you will influence each other a bit.

SO when the deck seems to be throwing unrelated cards at me after i start reading for the same thing over and over, or when reading for an anxious topic nets me reassuring cards, or when i truly do start a reading baffled and finish it clarified, the part of my mind that is a little less skeptical imagines that the deck and i, having spent some time together, are capable of maybe, just possibly, reading each other. and that magic is potentially, POTENTIALLY, in a barely tangible way, happening.

last thing: also everyone says this, but it bears repeating: don’t be intimidated by Death; it’s a card of transition really. and don’t let scary readings make you feel intimidated or scared or depressed. your readings are a reflection of your own emotional states and thought processes, and like smart seers in stories like to remind characters all the time, what you see is just one possibility and you have the power to change it if you don’t like what it shows.

[icelingbolt]

Fun fact

On top of my naturally pink skin and tan color (cuz my father was a light skinned columbian), I have dermatographia (dermatographic urticaria)

This means if I lightly graze my skin or put too much pressure on it for more than a few seconds, it turns red and apears welted. Even small patterns in clothes or crevices in sheets show up on my skin for about 10-15 minutes after they make contact!

This is due to an elevated level of histamine (a chemical in your body usually used as a reaction to allergens or stress) being released via skin contact. This hormone is also responsible for welts and burns swelling, and is associated with environmental anxiety, allergies, and even some medications (among other things).

Some people get this temporarily when they're having an allergic reaction or fighting an infection, while others (like me) have this all the time. It's not all fun and games though, because it gives a mild burning sensation and becomes irritably itchy (think: a mosquito bite)

Like others with simaler conditions, my skin reacts heavily to things like makeup, skin-adjacent jewlary, or tightly fit textured clothes, so I try not to wear these too often at home to not illicit a reaction. Skin sensitivities often coincide with other skin conditions, so its important to know what causes reactions to your body before wearing or applying anything to your skin.

Some people have simaler conditions, at various severities, that can be extremely annoying or painful. As it usually goes hand-in-hand with other histamine related conditions, many doctors prescribe an antihistamine (you might find this in various allergy meds) for people to have periods of relief.

Just remember, next time you see a person with marks on their bodies, dont automatically assume its something like a hickey or self harm unless you have other reasons to believe so.

Theres other skin conditions like mine, even unrelated to dermatographia that have similar appearances or outcomes, so no matter what a person looks like, try not to judge them!

Edit: picture taken seconds after touching, it develops into a rash or welt over time

[aurimeanswind]

Sleepcasting—Sunday Chats (7-30-17)

I’ve had quite the week. From my rant on Superman, to a late podcast, to people throwing things at my car and damaging it while I was driving, to my car then breaking down in the middle of an intersection (unrelated at a separate time) to running late on Friday to not sleeping on Saturday, it’s been a week y’all.

So let’s start the new week with some positivity. 

Planned Idea

I couldn’t think of anything to do my write up about this week, but I had an idea that I’ll write here for my frequent chatters. It’s one I’ve been bouncing around for a couple of weeks now, but I think next week will be a good time to execute on it. 

I want to make Sunday Chats more interactive for the reader, so my plan is to essentially turn my question-soliciting tweet into a question itself, and have folks answer it in place of their questions for next week’s Sunday Chats. This way, maybe we’ll be able to have a bit of back and forth about some topic or another. It’ll probably be a question that’s both difficult to boil down to 140 characters but also difficult to answer in 140 characters, but I like the idea of keeping the generally pretty short.

I think for my frequent chatters or chat-readers, it’s good to give the warning and give you an idea of what I’m looking for. I’d love for everyone to come out and participate for the first showing, so if you’re interested, let me know! I’ll try and think of a good question to ask, and that way we can get some other folks’ opinions heard on Sunday Chats too!

My Twitter is @ALFighter27, so give me a follow there if you don’t already, and look for my tweet with the question and the hashtag $SundayChats in it next Sunday afternoon!

What I’ve Been Working On

I dont’ have much of an update here, and the only reason I stopped doing the day-by-day updates on my writings is because a lot of them have bled into scripts that I don’t quite want to talk about yet.

I wrote up a Destiny 2 piece this week that generally sums up why I’m excited about the sequel, but I need to polish it a lot so I’m not sure if it’ll be at all relevant in time for me to post it. I also have been working on some teen-related ideas, about teen video games and movies, but I don’t know if that’s a cohesive thought quite yet.

Oh and I’m writing about Overwatch again.

What’s on Tap

Sundered

The new game from Thunder Lotus that just came out this week!

I’ve played it a good deal at events so I knew I’d probably dig it, but it’s rad to see it in motion in person.

It is a procedurally generated Metroidvania, and the way they pull that off is by having some areas be static, and the pathways there be generated.

It’s hidden well, and since it’s using tile sets, it’s pretty easy to navigate still, but fun to mix things up with every life.

I have a lot to say about the game only being 2 hours in, so I’m excited to hopefully eventually review it.

Nier

I don’t have much to add here only that I am still enjoying Nier!

Owl Boy

So I finally got the chance to boot into Owl Boy, one of the many indie darlings from last year.

It’s very interesting. The idea of it being kind of twin-stick shootery when your character, Otus, is carrying a companion, is a really novel idea. I like how it’s executed.

Essentially Otus is a fuck up, and everyone makes him feel bad about it, and it’s not super great at anything really. And it’s sad, and I’m curious to see what they do with it and where they go with it.

It’s gorgeous too! Great sprites and artwork!

Furi

I picked this one back up on a whim, and Furi is still a great, unique, and fascinating video game.

I beat the boss I was stuck on, proceeded to beat the two bosses following it, and then got stuck on truly the final, final boss.

It’s still not perfect, or as tight as it could be, but every time I come back to Furi I remember how great and special it is.

Overwatch

DOOMFIST.

I played a ton of Overwatch this week, and I’m not sure if I’m just getting worse at it or if everyone else in the world is getting better.

Personally I’d put money on the latter, but WHO KNOWS FOR SURE.

Doomfist is very cool. It really is an “aggression rewards with opportunity” kind of character, which I also find to be super true to his personality, something this is far from true with many of the Overwatch characters I think.

He almost feels like a Bloodborne style character, in his execution, because attacks with his fist basically generate him more health.

All of his abilities can combo into one another, and he can just get in and out of any fight so quickly. I’m fascinated to see how he mixes up the meta of competitive play when he launches in competitive next week.

I can see a lot of general strategies failing in the face of his quaking fist, and that’s very exciting.

I PLAYED A LOT OF VIDEO GAMES THIS WEEK!

I also 103%’d Crash Warped but no one cares about that.

Questions!

As always you can find my tweet on Sunday afternoons with #SundayChats in it and reply with your question. I’ll answer. I promise!

Hell yes I am! I wish I was watching this week’s episode right now instead of writing this stupid fu—

I mean...

Well yeah, it’s pretty great. I’ve only watched the show, and it’s just super exciting to see long-running characters on screen together meeting and planning and interacting. I have a feeling some meetings may be happening in this week’s episode too...

But yeah, it’s weird too, because it’s almost swung around to being a bit too upbeat? But what characters do you have left to kill really? Unless you really want to tear things down, which I think they’ll do, but you have to save that for the dramatic pivots toward the end I think.

**update: I went and watched the episode mid write up, and it was very good.

Uhg. So I have given this a great deal of thought, or at least I did when me and my friends all got together and watched The Human Centipede on the night of our high school graduation (yeah, real celebratory, I know). 

Here’s the deal. The A is the best spot, obviously. The B is actually the worst, because you have the least control, and then C is second worst, since you do still have some control.

Everyone wants to be an A. We all do, right? We all wanna be As. It’s what we fucking live for.

But I know my place. I know I’d be a B. And no, I’m not fucking happy about it, but I’m a B.

Look at me.

I’m a B.

I know what I am.

I accept who I am for whom I may B.

Aww, thank you Xyger. <3 Love and miss you too man.

Good god Roger.

I mean like, could typing normal get worked into your schtick at some point at least? Like maybe this Sunday Chats character you’re playing get’s hit on the head and learns to type correctly?

I also live in Maryland, and while MA and MD are next to each other on the state listing, I’m just disappointed in you for making this awful joke.

I’d love to come snuggle though, fr fr, come hmu.

Context:

on the BrOC Season 2 Episode 2, I told a story about how we had to get bathroom attendants at my high school because people were having masturbation contests in the bathroom.

How a masturbation contest works... well, I don’t know. But hear the full story on the upcoming episode of the podcast!

Pokémon is a great thing to think about, for sure. 

I mean Charizard. Duh. But I have a few favorites. Charizard is just my favorite form the OG, so he has held up as my favorite to today. He’s a dragon. That’s pretty sweet.

I also love Lucario. He has a great Pokémon movie, and I think he is a real rad Pokémon to have in your team, especially given his unique abilities.

For a bonus freebie, my favorite Pokémon GAME is Pokémon Black. It’s the only game outside the original that recaptures the magic of the original without feeling old and outdated. Essentially in your initial run of the game, you only see and fight the new 150 Pokémon from the Black and White generation, meaning it’s all new Pokémon, and only new Pokémon, just like Red and Blue. It’s such a cool idea, and I wish every new Pokémon game was like that. 

My first desire was to be a photographer. I still love taking pictures. 

Then I was pretty set on being a doctor. I really wanted to help people. I’ll say now that I’ve discovered that school isn’t for me, that probably will never be my other choice in my head, which is a bummer. School is just terrible IMO. At least, it can be.

The one I keep coming back to or would be into is voice acting. I know that’s still video games adjacent, so if it’s okay if we include non-games-coverage, that’s what I mean. In games, anime, audiobooks, etc.

I’d like to hope I have an okay voice, though I’m not so sure after my recent Hamilton singing situation, but I think that’d be really fun. I love doing fun and varied voices!

Ahh good because this is a good question!

So my go to Patronus answer is a wolf, since i think it encompasses both the loner mentality in me but also the leader mentality in me *cough cough EGO cough*. But in the context of what would my Animagus be? Like, they can’t BOTH be wolf, that’s dumb, so let me think....

Hrm...

For non-Happy Potter nuts, one, get your shit together, and two, a Patronus is your literal spirit animal or guardian, and an Animagus is the animal you can shift your body into at will.

Weirdly I think my Animagus would be an owl. They’re wise, nocturnal, and have a piercing stare. I think it fits up. I could totally see the physical character similarities in the eyes too.

What do you think Brandon? Ooh, and tell me yours on Twitter too!

Two characters:

Ellie, because of her mix of optimism, pessimism, altruism, and just genuine honesty.

And Rise Kujikawa, because of her struggle to find and understand herself, what she wants out of life, and what brings her happiness. That confusion of all the different parts of yourself is something I struggled, and still struggle a lot with.

Plus I’m totally just an anime pop star cutie girl on the inside and we all know it.

For reference, here is the video, which I just watched, and you should too:

This is a tricky thing. The idea, to summarize, is creating video content and not getting any views, or any listens, or clicks, etc. It’s tricky because it’s a thing that happens to me and I still struggle with, and I have a lot of feelings on too.

I’ll say this, I used to get way more frustrated about making video content that got no views, or podcasts that would get no downloads, or reviews that no one would read. It sucks. You pour your heart into something for creation, for content, for it to be out there, and then nothing comes of it, at least for you. I’ve changed my perspective a lot over the last few years, and it’s odd, because only more recently, specifically the last two years or so, has any of the stuff I’ve made really garnered any significant attention. 

By significant attention, we’re still talking like tens of people also, so I don’t mean break out roles.

I make stuff for me. I make stuff for me to have made, to have had fun making, to have most importantly learned while making, and to apply into the next thing I make which will, ideally, be better. And I’m hoping that the best thing I make will do better, and then the best thing I make after that will do even better, but that’s no longer the goal. The goal, is for me to be better, not for the thing to be popular.

It’s not always that easy, and I try not to think about it. It makes it daunting to start new projects, because it’s like a thing I have to make from scratch, and it’s a whole new thing, and I’ll put in all this work, and what if it doesn’t pick up enough attachment to be worth it? It’s a thing you struggle with, but I do something everyday in the hopes of getting better. That’s just always been my thing.

I know people will read my reviews, or listen to my podcasts, because they’re a part of my portfolio, and I’m going to use them to try and get a job some day, and those people I send them to will read/listen/watch them, and at the end of the day, if I spent that time doing it, and doing it right, and making it good, then when I do get that one view, it’ll matter a whole lot more.

So there is my glass half full perspective on the whole thing.

I did actually know about the whole eight pound head thing. I learned it in an anatomy class.

I can’t show you the money one, because I don’t care physical cash because why would you? And two, I didn’t “k ow” I had you at hello, but it’s a good thing to know.

I don’t dream often, and when I do it’s typically nightmarish, or nightmare adjacent.

I had this one really awful dream when I was super young where I was in this cabin in the woods, and these borg-like aliens came and attacked me and my family and were like, “turned”. Now that I think about it, it was really just like, straight up the borg I think.

Anyway, everyone but my mom had been corrupted, and I ran through the woods, and I was so terrified, and then I saw my mother in like a glowing searchlight, and when I got close, I saw that she had finally been corrupted too. And when I saw that, I just remember the feeling of hope draining from me, and I gave up. I let them take me and turn me too, essentially killing me, and I woke up in a cold sweat.

I had this dream when I was maybe five or six years old, and I still remember it vividly. It was the first nightmare I remember having, and it was awful.

Haha, so that’s maybe a bummer-ish answer, but that’s the one that sticks out to me.

I’m doing alright. I am surprisingly tired, which I’m usually not on Sundays, but I’ve had a pretty exhausting week. I’m fine though. 

Assuming you know about this secret project launching soon, you may know more than even I do. I’m very excited about it. See below for more info!

There are definitely a few. It’s worth noting that I have never once considered myself a video games journalist. I am not a journalist. I am not a reporter nor an investigator. That doesn’t mean I don’t have the potential to be one some day, and I’d love to do some investigative reporting at some point, but I have yet to.

For me, Patrick Klepek. Times 1000000. Back in the day when he broke the Infinity Ward story, that was the first time I realized what a video games journalist really was and looked like. And consistently Patrick has reported on some of the most interesting and thought provoking stories to date. That Xbox One policy reversal was such a massive scoop, and it’s one of this console generations highlights by far, on the journalistic end of things, done by Patrick Klepek at GiantBomb.com.

In extension of that, Austin Walker is a huge influence for me. The dude not only is my spirit animal when it comes to sending very nice emails about how I can improve my freelance writing, but is also a great journalist as well. I believe he was the first to break the PS4 Pro story for GiantBomb, but I know him and Klepek broke the story around the same time.

Jason Schreier is obviously another huge one, but I’ve read the least of his work. I just don’t have the most exposure there, but he is breaking delays left and right.

There is definitely more room for actual, genuine journalism in video games, and I hope it evolves to that.

If we wanna talk about just games writers, I’d be remiss not to mention Cara Ellison, who is my favorite writer in the gaming space, who now writes games instead of writes about them, but she is supremely talented, and is probably just my favorite writer in general. Full stop. She is incredible, and you should go dig up some of her old pieces. Might I suggest this one:

http://www.pcgamer.com/old-friends-an-ode-to-defence-of-the-ancients/

**UPDATE:

I missed this! I’m sorry Trevor, I pulled the tweets differently this time because I was really tired, but no question left behind! I’m sorry!!

**

This is a great question! It’s hard to pin down, but easily one of them was picking Roger Pokorny up from the airport with Barrett and Alyssa, and then the car ride back was super fun, cracking wise, bonding, getting to see Roger and Barrett hang out for the first time. That whole week in the apartment with them boys was a blast, and I miss them all very much.

One of my favorite moments was this time I got to see Trevor Starkey and hug him and do fun cool press stuff at PAX East with him. I miss that boy.

<3

I’d make Spelunky 2.

No but seriously, Derek Yu. Please fucking make Spelunky 2. I need it.

I’d probably make a game like Breath of the Wild, open “air” adventure game, where exploration is key and critical to gameplay. There’d be a social link system in the game with really great characters that can interact with each other. And I’d want there to be some kind of Metroidvania progression system if I could work it in. The problem is what works for Breath of the Wild is the fact that anything can be done at any time, and a Metroidvania progression system would directly contradict that. Hrm.

Also, how crazy is it that I’m saying with an infinite budget I’d make an open world game? Because before Breath of the Wild I’d have never said that in a million years. But that game changed a whole lot for me.

You’ve made a great choice.

Jurge Cruz and I actually had a great conversation about Tales of Berseria on ep. 337 of Irrational Passions Podcast. You should listen to that segment if you get the chance! I think you’ll like this one, though you’ll definitely hit some cringe-y anime parts. 

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

This is just ridiculous. Though I do appreciate the positivity. My hair has been a mess all week though. Especially today. And I haven’t been shaving as much and it’s becoming a real problem.

See, me right now, while writing this:

The Checklist

I didn’t really consume a lot of cool stuff this week, but here are some things to keep an eye out for.

I’m going to be on Quinten Hoffman’s podcast, Break in Reality, this coming Tuesday night with my good bud Andrew Taylor. We’ll be talking about what we think will be Game of the Year, so I’m excited to tell those two fuckers they’re wrong about whatever they think it’ll be.

There is also a super exciting new show coming to IrrationalPassions.com THIS WEEK! Ahh, I just got word that it’ll be up tomorrow at 9am eastern daylight time! I’M SO EXCITED.

I’d tell you what it is, but it isn’t my announcement to make, so be excited!

The next two episode of my OC Rewatch Podcast, The BrOC, are fucking bangers. I don’t want to spoil them, but goddamn. They’re very good.

Movies with Mikey - Guardians of the Galaxy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjwzCrtK5G0&t=632s

Movies with Mikey is probably the best film-related show I’ve ever seen, and I’m super thankful to Barrett Courtney for turning me onto it. This episode is quite good, and made for a good view on my lunch today. 

Kingdom Heartache Episode 1: https://www.giantbomb.com/videos/kingdom-heartache-episode-01/2300-12407/

Though I have yet to watch this, I’m endlessly excited about this Giantbomb play through of Kingdom Hearts. I love the series, and I’m sure they’ll shit on it a ton while they play it, but I also know it’ll be very funny, partly earned, and there is just the slightest chance that they come out the other end with an appreciation for what’s there.

Fingers crossed.

That’s it. I need to relax, go watch Game of Thrones, and probably go to sleep at a reasonable time maybe.

Thanks for keeping it positive this week y’all, and do another thing for me will ya?