The State of the Gamer: 4/7/22

<–The State of the Gamer: 3/24/22           The State of the Gamer: 4/21/22–>

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!

What I Demoed

Nothing this time.


What I Purchased

  • Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition (Chrono) – $19.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • The Journey Down: Chapter One (The Journey Down) – $6.99 @ Nintendo eShop

Total: $26.98


What I Finished

Nothing this time.


What I’m Playing

Title: Triangle Strategy
Series: HD-2D Series
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Triangle Strategy

Date Started: March 20, 2022

I turned the difficulty down to easy and my life has been so much better.  I’m currently in Chapter 7, which is the first place you can make a decision that effects the “golden route” or the way you get the best ending.  I found a spoiler free guide here if you want to check it out.  There are only a few necessary choices.  I’ve been doing the mock battles, too, which is apparently the best way to gain materials.  I wasn’t able to play for a few days, but currently everything has gone wrong lol.  I knew it was going to happen.  I’m currently past the part I demoed, so I’m hurtling into the unknown now.

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The State of the Reader: 4/6/22

<–The State of the Reader: 3/23/22         The State of the Reader: 4/20/22–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $1.57


Books Finished: 2

Title: The Vela
Series Title: The Vela
Authors: Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, and SL Huang
Date Added: October 2, 2021
Date Started: December 21, 2021
Date Finished: April 2, 2022

Cover of The Vela by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, and SL HuangMedia: eBook/Kindle

Finally finished this, though to be fair I did take some breaks because the borrowed eBook was more engaging.  It was often difficult to stay motivated with this novel, though I can’t say it was uninteresting.  I liked the characters and their motivations were both logically and psychologically sounds.  It’s also nice to see non-binary people getting some representation without it being a “thing.”  All of the characters were morally grey even the ones with good intentions, and it was pretty realistic to what would happen in such a situation.  If the richest/most powerful i.e. capitalists of today were available, you’re goddamn right they’d try to mine the sun without any care for how it would affect them or the rest of the galaxy.  I saw Don’t Look Up.  I’m obsessed with FFVII, and they all have the same motif.  I mean fuck, we’re already doing it!  Climate change is driven by the richest nations, but it mostly affects the poorest.  Parts of the ending served to enrage me, but in a “good” way.  It goes along with the theme of “deserving” that permeates the latter parts of the story.

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The State of the Writer: 4/3/22

<–The State of the Writer: 3/20/22         The State of the Writer: 4/10/22–>

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

Finished Projects: 1


Project: Story
Working Title:
The High Archon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,282
Prior Word Count: 11,211
Word Difference: +71
Status: Outlining
Progress:
Reorganizing

I’ve never struggled so much with a story before, and it’s due to a variety of factors.  I’m sure if I was writing this a decade or so ago I would not have the issues I’m having now because a decade ago I had more energy.  While I have no shortage of ideas, the application of them takes more concentration than I can usually muster, and it’s frustrating AF.  Thank god I take notes on things, because I literally forgot an explanation/story I wrote about a major religious belief that makes perfect sense for how people would see the world, and it’s like 🤦🏾‍♀️ wtf are you doing??  So I need to stop and reorganize…again.  I need to figure out how OneNote and Scrivener are going to function in this story.  I’ve been using Scrivener for notes and OneNote for checklists, but I think I need to define better parameters.  I just hate feeling so unmoored, and I hate how I have to constantly reorganize.  It’s like my methods prior aren’t good enough and shit just becomes chaotic again.  I suppose I should expect the constant fight against entropy with the expectation that entropy will always win.

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The State of the Gamer: 3/24/22

<–The State of the Gamer: 3/10/22           The State of the Gamer: 4/7/22–>

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!

What I Demoed

  • Edge of Eternity (Nintendo Switch) – I like this. The voice acting is excellent, and I’m already drawn into the story.  The demo does a great job getting you interested in the characters and making you care about them and their plight before ending. Their banter is really good and I’m cool with the battle system. It’s also an indie game and I always like supporting the smaller guys.
  • Oninaki – Another Squeenix action RPG. The battle system is totally doable and there’s a casual setting. I’ll definitely pick this up at some point, though I can understand the critiques about the MC.  He’s a stone cold jackass.  I understand the psychology behind it, but I’m hearing he doesn’t get much better throughout, which is a shame if they miss out on character development.
  • Yoku’s Island Express – This game is adorable.  I never thought you could make a game like this around the concept of pinball but then again why not?  Sonic the Hedgehog is pretty much that.  The music is bangin’, the graphics are adorable, and the gameplay is fun and intuitive.

What I Purchased

  • Palindrome Syndrome: Escape Room – $4.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • LOST Sphear – $19.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Star Ocean First Departure R (Star Ocean) – $8.39 @ Nintendo eShop
  • I Am Setsuna – $19.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Final Fantasy X/Final Fantasy X-2 Remaster (Final Fantasy X/Final Fantasy) – $24.99 @ Nintendo eShop

Total: $78.35

Squeenix has all my fucking money! 😭

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The State of the Reader: 3/23/22

<–The State of the Reader: 3/9/22         The State of the Reader: 4/6/22–>

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.

Purchased: 3

Total: $12.97


Books Finished: 0


Currently Reading

Title: House of Sky and Breath
Series: Crescent City
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: March 7, 2021
Date Started: February 23, 2022

Cover of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City)Media: Physical/Hardback
Progress: 7%

Slow progress is better than no progress at all.

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The Books of 2021

I’m following the same format from last year with some tweaks, because was 2021 really that different from 2020?  It’s all been just one continuous “year” hell state so let’s talk about books once more!


Favorite Book

This book hit every single one of my buttons: fallen angel/general turned slave/assassin with a half-human, half-fae lady is just the jumping (falling?) off point.  It really made me wonder if there was just a satchel of tropes that come with fallen/dark angel characters because I’m noticing patterns between this, Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series, FFVII, my own writing, Constantine (the film), and a slew of other narratives with them.  Like wtf is going on?  It’s something I definitely want to research down the line.

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The State of the Writer: 3/20/21

<–The State of the Writer: 3/6/22         The State of the Writer: 4/3/22–>

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

Finished Projects: 0


Project: Story
Working Title:
The High Archon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 11,211
Prior Word Count: 11,215
Word Difference: -4
Status: Editing Chapter 1 and adding in macro edits from notes
Progress:
Chapter 2

I did add some words, but it looks like I cut out a few more than I did, which I’m totally okay with.  My note to myself is to just keep editing from where I left off, but I feel like I might need to so some organization sessions.  I just don’t like how my notes are currently on OneNote.  It probably doesn’t help that I have this both there and on Scrivener.  OneNote is mostly for “To Do” lists and reminders whereas Scrivener is for more honed and organized thoughts.  Because I can update OneNote on my phone and it’ll sync to the computer app and I haven’t figured out how to do that with Scrivener yet.

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The State of the Gamer: 3/10/22

<–The State of the Gamer: 2/24/22           The State of the Gamer: 3/24/22–>

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!

What I Demoed

Nothing this time.


What I Purchased

  • 15in1 – $2.39 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Triangle Strategy – $59.99 @ Target

Total: $62.38


What I Finished

Nothing this time.


What I’m Playing

Title: Etrian Odyssey Nexus
Series: Etrian Odyssey
System: Nintendo 3DS

Cover of Etrian Odyssey NexusDate Started: December 25, 2021

A new labyrinth just opened up, but I haven’t been playing as much.  Other things have been cropping up, but I’m hoping to get some in tonight.

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The State of the Reader: 3/9/22

<–The State of the Reader: 2/23/22         The State of the Reader: 3/23/22–>

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.

Purchased: 2

Total: $25.98


Books Finished: 0


Currently Reading

Title: House of Sky and Breath
Series: Crescent City
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Date Added: March 7, 2021
Date Started: February 23, 2022

Cover of House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas (Crescent City)Media: Physical/Hardback
Progress: 5%

Maas knows how to make you care about someone in just a few pages.  The prologue concerns a character we’ve never met before, but what the author does with her is brilliant.  We were given a hint of what the world was like for humans, but with Sophie, it draws into brutal focus.

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The State of the Writer: 3/6/21

<–The State of the Writer: 2/20/22         The State of the Writer: 3/20/22–>

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

Finished Projects: 1


Project: Story
Working Title:
The High Archon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original
Length: Novel
Current Word Count:  11,215
Prior Word Count: 11,228
Word Difference: -13
Status: Editing Chapter 1 and adding in macro edits from notes
Progress:
Chapter 2

The word count went down because of the editing, and I’m already planning on cutting some more extraneous things out.  I know it’s weird to be editing when I just started drafting, but I’ve mentioned before I need to iron some things out prior to continuing.  I just can’t have it sitting “wrong” even though of course I’d fix it eventually.  I’m just like that lol.  If I know it’s wrong and it’s an integral part of the story, I have to fix it.

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