The State of the Gamer: 11/17/22

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<–The State of the Gamer: 11/3/22           The State of the Gamer: 12/1/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 0

Games Purchased: 1

  • The Journey Down: Chapter Three – $14.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Total: $14.99

Games Finished: 1

Title: The Journey Down: Chapter Two
Series: The Journey Down
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of The Journey Down: Chapter Two

Date Started: November 3, 2022
Date Finished: November 10, 2022

I really love the world of this game and I think they did a good job with how they broke it into three parts (and I now have a good comparison and riposte for something else).  I did think it would end sooner than it did, but that was a nice surprise.  I’ve already started playing the third chapter as you’ll see below.

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The State of the Reader: 11/16/22

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<–The State of the Reader: 11/2/22         The State of the Reader: 11/30/22–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 1

Total: $0.00

Books Finished: 1

Title: The Charmer, Volume 1
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus of the Damned
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton & Jessica Ruffner (adaptation)
Illustrator: Ron Lim
Date Added: September 25, 2022
Date Started: October 13, 2022
Date Finished: November 6, 2022

Cover of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus of the Damned, Volume 1: The Charmer by Laurell K. HamiltonMedia: Paperback

I was 100% certain I was going to (want to) continue this series when I first started reading it, but as I mentioned last week I think I’ve matured beyond the “possessive paranormal boyfriend” type into more of the “protective but respecting of boundaries paranormal boyfriend/husbando type.”  I mean it’s what all of my fanfics focus on.  In all seriousness there’s a major issue with lack of consent and this whole concept of “owning” people (yes, vampires, lycanthropes et al are people insofar as they’re sentient beings), which is never challenged by the narrative.  If I do keep reading, though, I have enough conflicting feelings for it to make for some good critique.

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The State of the Writer: 11/13/22

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<–The State of the Writer: 10/30/22         The State of the Writer: 11/27/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on surname details

I’m currently transferring the surname stuff I figured out to Scrivener, though there have been some hiccups and the need to use my Word doc scratch pad.  The surnames I’m working on now are mostly jewel or metal based with a type of hierarchy.  I’m almost done with this, especially if I keep myself on track and don’t go off on any wild tangents.  I had to stop myself from falling down a major time suck rabbit hole for something I can figure out later or even during the drafting process.  I have a section for Open Questions, which are for just such things.  They’re not pertinent to know beforehand, and I have to remind myself of that.

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Snow White & the Seven Angels by Rhys Christopher Ethan (Queerky Tales #1)

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CW: Suicide, transphobia

Title: Snow White & the Seven Angels
Series: Queerky Tales
Author: Rhys Christopher Ethan
Illustrator: Ethereal Ealain
Date Added: August 23, 2017
Date Started: November 7, 2018
Date Finished: November 9, 2018
Reading Duration: 2 days
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Romance, LGBTQ+, Short Story


Pages: 54
Publication Date: April 28, 2012
Publisher: Self
Media: eBook/Kindle

The classic tales you know, the characters with secrets you don’t
***
Blurb:
White has a secret. One he has shared with his family to no avail. When he meets the Prince of his dreams, he decides he can no longer live a lie, but in order to do so, he will have to face his worst nightmares.

Queerky Tales is a series of classic fairy tales retold with LGBT characters. Snow White & the Seven Angels is about fighting for your happy-ever-after, whatever shape it comes in.

For children and adults alike.

Snow White is one of the most popular fairytales for revamping possibly because it contains so many of the tropes and motifs we’re familiar with: the evil mother/matron, the maiden lost in the woods, the forbidden fruit, the magical/lucky number seven, and some I might be forgetting.  Ethan’s version adds an aspect I think is even more vital since the titular character is trans, and he (the author) dedicated it to Leelah Alcorn, a trans teenager who committed suicide due to lack of familial support, leaving behind a heartbreaking note asking for something to change so people like her would actually want to live in this world.  To this day (so far as we know) her family continues to deadname and misgender her, taking zero responsibility for what they drove her to do and it’s disgusting.

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My Brother Rabbit

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Title: My Brother Rabbie
Genre: Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Adventure
Developer: Artifex Mundi

Cover of My Brother RabbitSystem: Nintendo Switch
Regular Price: $14.99
Release Date: September 21, 2018

My Brother Rabbit is point-and-click search and puzzle game released by Polish game developer Artifex Mundi for a variety of platforms and consoles.  It is set in a surreal and beautifully drawn world that explores how a young child uses imagination to cope with an uncertain and frightening situation.

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The State of the Gamer: 11/3/22

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<–The State of the Gamer: 10/20/22           The State of the Gamer: 11/17/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 0

Games Purchased: 3

  • Harvestella – $59.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • The Journey Down: Chapter Two – $11.24 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Bear With Me: The Complete Collection – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Total: $81.22

Games Finished: 0

Games On Hold: 1

Title: Cris Tales
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Cris TalesDate Started: October 24, 2022

On one hand I should make my own decisions about games and not follow the comments/critiques.  On the other hand I was already meh on this game anyway.  It’s very pretty; cel shading holds up so well (see Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker), but graphics to me are like icing on the cake for other people (I…love icing; it’s better than cake for me lol).  It’s a nice addition (no one has heard me complain about FFVIIR’s aesthetic), but it won’t keep me interesting in a game.

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The State of the Reader: 11/2/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 7 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 10/19/22         The State of the Reader: 11/16/22–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 2

Total: $3.98

Books Finished: 1

Title: Flowers for the Sea
Author: Zin E. Rocklyn
Date Added: December 4, 2021
Date Started: October 18, 2022
Date Finished: October 27, 2022

Cover of Flowers from the Sea by Zin E. RocklynMedia: eBook/Kindle

This was decent.  I wanted some more information about the nature of the pregnancy/child, but it did live up to it’s Rosemary’s Baby reference if not Octavia Butler.  Since I haven’t read her yet I can’t say, though I do understand why her name was invoked.  I think the author was going for the more vague “the unknown is horrifying” angle, but some more details would’ve been nice.  The final line of the novel is bad ass though.

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The State of the Writer: 10/30/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 10/16/22         The State of the Writer: 11/13/22–>

A post updated every other Sunday discussing my current writing projects and any completed the prior two weeks.

Finished Projects: 1

Project: Story/Series
Working Title: The High Archon (The Truth Seeker Chronicles)
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Status: Reorganizing & Worldbuilding
Progress: Working on language details

One of the many pictures I have saved on Pinterest for potential settings.  I love this as a view from train tracks, though of course you’d have to be walking along them in order to see something like this, not riding in one as my characters would ostensibly be doing.  My initial method of transportation was going to be horse and carriage, but then I started thinking about what technology they might have and I realized a train might absolutely be possible.

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The State of the Gamer: 10/20/22

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 10/6/22           The State of the Gamer: 11/3/22–>

A weekly post updated every other Thursday detailing my current gaming projects.  I have an account at Grouvee, which is a site you can use to keep track of your backlog, so please feel free to friend me there!

Games Demoed: 0

Games Purchased: 1

  • Dinogotchi – $1.99 @ Nintendo eShop
Total: $1.99

Games Finished: 2

Title: The Journey Down: Chapter One
Series: The Journey Down
Developer: Skygoblin

Cover of The Journey Down: Chapter OneDate Started: October 18, 2022
Date Finished: October 20, 2022

I finished this so quickly it didn’t even make it to a Currently Playing.  The world of this game is really interesting, and I like how it weaves in the lore without beating you over the head with it.  You get enough information to make you really curious.  Like what is the Edge?  Is it some sort of Discworld situation?  What is Underland?  What’s there that’s so dangerous and why is the Armando Power Company so interested in it?  They’re giving me Shinra Electric Company vibes tbh especially since they’re controlling everything and looking for something in this weird, off-limits place.  All the characters’ faces are more like masks, and there’s a section in the game where you can see that’s exactly what they are.  Bwana and Kito, the main characters, have faces inspired by real African masks.  More than inspired by actually.  Their faces were based off the masks.  I was afraid the game was going to end once I finished up with the airplane lol.  I’m definitely getting the next chapter.  Oh, and the music slaps.

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The State of the Reader: 10/19/22

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<–The State of the Reader: 10/5/22         The State of the Reader: 11/2/22–>

A biweekly post updated every other Wednesday detailing my current reading projects and what new titles I’ve added to my to-read list.  Title links go to Goodreads, and if you have an account there feel free to friend me!  I’d love to see what you’re reading and/or planning to read.

Books Purchased: 3

Total: $19.12

Books Finished: 2

Title: The Girl from the Well
Series: The Girl from the Well
Author: Rin Chupeco
Date Added: February 28, 2022
Date Started: September 22, 2022
Date Finished: October 17, 2022

Cover of The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco (The Girl from the Well)Media: eBook/Kindle

It’s time for a new library book.  I finished this a few days prior to its due date.  Read some of the comments/critiques and apparently people found it boring and not scary?  I guess they were expecting it to be scary like The Ring, but even though I noticed the similarities (and with a little digging found out it’s a very common trope in Japanese horror), I wasn’t expecting the story to be like that.  Idk.  There’s no accounting for taste, but I think people judged the book based on their expectations not on what it was (the same thing happened with Amy Tan’s The Valley of Amazement).  I’m interested in reading the sequel The Suffering.

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