Month: December 2018

The State of the Writer: 12/30/18

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/16/18          The State of the Writer: 1/13/19–>

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

Finished Projects: 2

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 256,067
Prior Word Count: 256,065
Word Difference: +2
Status: Editing
Progress: Chapter 13 Second Edit

Sephiroth braiding Aeris's hairIf things go well, I should have the second edit of this chapter by the end of this week.  I don’t think I’ll need a third.

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Final Fantasy Friday: Final Fantasy V

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Final Fantasy Reviews

<–Final Fantasy IV Review                                                                      Final Fantasy VI Review–>

This is the part of a long-term project to play and review/analyze all the Final Fantasy games.  Whenever possible, I will play the original version, but in cases where it’s not available and/or there are time constraints, I’ll use a port and/or watch a Let’s Play, both of which contingencies will be indicated in the review.  Ideally, I will attempt to play a portion so that I can remark more accurately on the gameplay experience.  These will be long-form reviews with detailed plot analyses, so please be wary if you do not want spoilers.

I started my Final Fantasy journey in the 80’s with the legitimate sixth installment Final Fantasy VI, and though I did eventually go back to play Final Fantasy IV (which is now in my top 5 FF games), somehow or another I missed V.  While IV is known for being the first Final Fantasy to have a cohesive and intricate story, it had a static job system with only one character changing per the demands of the plot.  Final Fantasy V allows the player complete control over what jobs their characters have even more than Final Fantasy III, which required a certain amount of points to alter.  This was a huge advantage and helped distinguish FFV from its predecessors.

Final Fantasy V cover Continue reading →

The State of the Gamer: 12/25/18

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<–The State of the Gamer: 12/11/18            The State of the Gamer: 1/8/19–>

A weekly post updated every other Tuesday 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 Received

  • A box of games from Cheap Boss Attack – an early Christmas surprise, a bunch of games for super cheap to add to my collection and backlog 🙂
    • Yo-Kai Watch
    • Shining Resonance Refrain – the question of whether or not to buy or pass on this was kind of answered for me, since I couldn’t pass up a deal.  I think you can set the battle to easy so I can just enjoy the story.
    • Divinity: Original Sin
    • Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception – I need to learn how to pronounce this.  I kept copying and pasting the name because it’s too difficult to spell.
    • Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth
    • Pillars of Eternity
    • Blue Reflection
  • $50 Nintendo Switch GC – It’s the big one with Bowser on it, too!  I got this from my big bro ♥
  • Jurassic World Evolution  – I received this as a Christmas present from my parents-in-law who are serious about buying gifts.  They go all out for the holiday every year.  I’ll discuss more below, but I actually received two of them.  My husband and his mother didn’t communicate, and she went out and bought the first eleven things on my list (I’m…not kidding).  I have the gift receipt so I’m going to exchange one for Nier Automata, which was also on my list.

Me holding my two copies of Jurassic World Evolution Continue reading →

Amish Cinnamon Bread

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It’s time for The Shameful Narcissist’s yearly recipe.  I think I missed last year, but I know I did Chocolate Chip Cookies, so I should probably call it bi-yearly.

Fluttershy ShrugUnlike the author, I’m not going to give you my life story; I’m just going to tell you the recipe and my experiences with it.  I have no clue why people feel like we need this especially before the instructions.  Tell me about your grand uncle’s roomate’s dying wish while I have bread in my mouth not before.

Note:  I have just heard from my husband that I am a gigantic hypocrite as I did this with my cookie recipe.  I told him to shut up and we’re both laughing our asses off because he’s not wrong.

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The State of the Reader: 12/19/18

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<–The State of the Reader: 12/5/18          The State of the Reader: 1/2/19–>

A weekly 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

Books Finished: 2

Title: Muse of Nightmares
Series Title: Strange the Dreamer
Author: Laini Taylor
Date Added: December 20, 2017
Date Started: October 6, 2018
Date Finished: December 5, 2018

Muse of NightmaresMedia: Hardback

There was one point where I thought the plot was a little slow, but the ending more than made up for it, and it wasn’t so much slow as establishing.  It’s just as amazing as the first book and one of the few duologies I’ve read, though there might be (and god I hope there is) more.

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The Vagrant by Peter Newman (The Vagrant #1)

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Title: The Vagrant
Series Title: The Vagrant
Author: Peter Newman
Date Added: March 20, 2017
Date Started: December 30, 2017
Date Finished: March 21, 2018
Reading Duration: 80 days
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian

The VagrantPages: 400
Publication Date: April 23, 2016
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Media: Paperback

The Vagrant is his name. He has no other. Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate, war-torn landscape, carrying nothing but a kit-bag, a legendary sword and a baby. His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the sword, the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war. But the Shining City is far away and the world is a very dangerous place.

This was a tough one to review.  I noted that back when I finished it and I still feel the same way.  The novel has both issues and merits, and it’s not a straightforward story, which is not only due to the fact the main character never speaks.  The number of enemies/villains also complicates things.  There’s the Usurper, the Uncivil, the first, and the commander among others.  They’re all part of the tainted essence that made the world the broken place it is now, but it was very hard to keep track of them (the Hammer was my favorite for some obvious reasons).

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The State of the Writer: 12/16/18

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<–The State of the Writer: 12/2/18          The State of the Writer: 12/30/18–>

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

Finished Projects: 3

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 256,065
Prior Word Count: 255,520
Word Difference: +545
Status: Editing
Progress: Chapter 13 First Edit

I know it’s not Sephiroth’s hand she’s holding in this picture (not nearly big enough haha), but it’s still a black leather covered one with wrist guards and we’ll just go with it.  I added in the cute nail painting scene I wanted and ran through a first edit of it yesterday.  I’m still in the first edit overall so I may change some things when I go through again, but it’s going, and that’s what matters.

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The State of the Gamer: 12/11/18

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<–The State of the Gamer: 10/30/18            The State of the Gamer: 12/25/18–>

A weekly post updated every other Tuesday 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 Bought

  • The Longest Journey – $2.99 on Steam
  • Art of Balance – $7.99 @ Nintendo eStore
  • Uno – $9.99 @ Nintendo eStore

What I Played

Title: Octopath Traveler
System: Nintendo Switch

Octopath Traveler coverDate Started: August 11, 2018

I am so close to the end, y’all.  I spent the past month leveling all of my characters while watching Let’s Plays.  It was very efficient.  Everyone now knows ever skill from every job and each character is in the high 70’s at least.  All that’s left is to do final preparations and go to the last dungeon.  I haven’t done so because you can only save right outside before a boss rush before the absolute final, and I need time to do that.  Here’s hoping I get to before the end of the year!

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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (DNF)

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Title: The Lovely Bones
Author: Alice Sebold
Date Added: September 23, 2012
Date Started: March 24, 2018
Date DNF: March 24, 2018
Reading Duration: 1 day
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Supernatural

The Lovely BonesPages: 328
Publication Date: July 3, 2002
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Media: Paperback

The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder — a murder recounted by the teenage victim. Upsetting, you say? Remarkably, first-time novelist Alice Sebold takes this difficult material and delivers a compelling and accomplished exploration of a fractured family’s need for peace and closure.

The details of the crime are laid out in the first few pages: from her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that’s calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive — and then some. But Susie isn’t ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature.

I bought this to read with the hopes the end of the book wasn’t the same as the ending of the movie, that the filmmakers took some strange liberties and Sebold did write a comeuppance for the piece of shit pedophile-murderer who lured Susie to her assault and death.

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Strange Luck by Amie Irene Winters (Strange Luck #1) (DNF)

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Title: Strange Luck
Series Title: Strange Luck
Author: Amie Irene Winters
Date Added: February 26, 2016
Date Started: March 13, 2018
Date DNF: March 21, 2018
Reading Duration: 7 days
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal/Supernatural, Young Adult (YA), Romance

Strange LuckPages: 296
Publication Date: June 2015
Publisher: Self
Media: eBook/Kindle

A Mysterious Letter.
A Deadly Discovery.
A World Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen.

All Daisy Darling wanted was to be a writer. What she got was more than she bargained for. As it turns out, the quaint little town of Sea Salt, California houses more than adorable cottages and huge redwood trees. Beneath the coastal charm rests a strange world where wizards, fairies, time-altering portals, and dark magic looms.

A world where memories can be your greatest currency–and weapon.

A world where you can never reclaim what’s been taken from you.

After stumbling into the mysterious world, Daisy’s memories begin to rapidly disintegrate, but she doesn’t even know she’s losing them. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Daisy learns she is the only one who can save herself.

Daisy’s very identity is at stake, but the odds aren’t in her favor. Can she discover the secret to win back her freedom before it’s too late?

I added this to my TBR list because the main character’s sole dream was to be a writer, and that was something I could relate to.  I initially liked Daisy, and I think she deserved better supporting characters (I did like her until she shit-talked cats grrrr).  Her father is supposed to be sympathetic, but he comes off as a selfish dick wanting her to take over the shop so that he can hunt for Utopia while she puts her dreams of going to London on a hold.  What kind of parent would do that to their child?  It’s bad enough he tries to guilt her into staying in order to continue the family business when that’s not what she wants, but then he decides he’s going to foist the shop off on her while he goes on an adventure.

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