Month: March 2020

The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen

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Title: The Faust Act
Series Title: The Wicked + The Divine
Author: Kieron Gillen
Illustrators: Jamie McKelvie, Matt Wilson & Clayton Cowles
Date Added: June 6, 2017
Date Started: August 2, 2018
Date Finished: August 7, 2018
Reading Duration: 5 days
Genre: Graphic Novel/Comic, Fantasy, Mythology

Cover of The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust ActPages: 176
Publication Date: November 12, 2014
Publisher: Image Comics
Media: Hardback (Library)

Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead. The team behind critical tongue-attractors like Young Avengers and PHONOGRAM reunite to create a world where gods are the ultimate pop stars and pop stars are the ultimate gods. But remember: just because you’re immortal, doesn’t mean you’re going to live forever. 

The story is fast paced and glamorous in this “gods incarnated into the bodies of youths” metaphor of celebrity culture.  It starts off with Lucifer

standing trial for murder, and the trial itself ending in an unexpected way (yes, even more unexpected than Phoenix Wright, though there is an explosion of sorts…).   It’s clever how once again Lucifer is being thrown under the bus for something he (in shtis case she) didn’t do (as in some interpretations/translations “Lucifer” was erroneously conflated with Satan, but this is something I need to do more research on).

The majority of the characters in this are POC including the main Laura who desperately wants into this world.

Laura Wilson, main character from The Wicked + The DivineThe cycle, or at least who’s chosen, seems perpetuated by Ananke who appears as an old woman.  She infuses people (usually teenagers from what I can tell) with the incarnation per what Luci explains, and this is the main reason Laura was at the Amaterasu concert.  Everyone wants to be a god, but no one wants to deal with the consequences.

The artwork in this graphic novel is absolutely gorgeous; McKelvie, Wilson, and Cowles definitely deserve all the props, but the story is vapid AF.  Before you castigate me and insist “That’s the point!” let me elaborate.  My assumption is that later volumes delve deeper into the reasons for the recurrence, but if this first one is meant as an introduction, it does a poor job at showing them as anything more than one-dimensional caricatures.

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The State of the Gamer: 3/26/20

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<–The State of the Gamer: 3/12/20           The State of the Gamer: 4/9/20–>

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’m Playing

Title: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice
Series Title: Ace Attorney
System: Nintendo 3DS

Cover for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of JusticeDate Started: 3/13/20

Just like the prior AA games, this one has a compelling overarching story.  The writer/writers of these knows what they hell they’re doing.  All of the secret connections and inner workings are just amazing.

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The State of the Reader: 3/25/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 3/11/20         The State of the Reader: 4/8/20–>

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 Finished: 1

Title: Desdemona and the Deep
Series Title: Dark Breakers
Author: C. S. E. Cooney
Date Added: July 24, 2019
Date Started: March 5, 2020

Cover of Desdemona and the Deep by C. S. E. CooneyMedia: eBook/Kindle

This has the lowest rating out of all of the books in the trilogy, but I enjoyed it.  I think I might know why people didn’t, but I thought the overriding message paired well with the delectable writing style is enough for four stars.  What amuses me is I saw a video about Phossy Jaw the other day.  It’s an actual thing, and it’s just as horrible as Cooney describes in her book.  So yeah, this novel was a really good castigation of shitty capitalists/capitalism as well as portraying a spoiled rich girl who isn’t to the core.  Also queer and trans representation, though I’d want an actual trans person to decide on if the latter is decent.  Not my lane, loves.

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The State of the Writer: 3/22/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 3/8/20         The State of the Writer: 4/5/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 252,067
Prior Word Count: 252,222
Word Difference: -155
Status: Editing
Progress: Second edit of Chapter 22

There needs to be a third edit, but the second is easier.  I’ve mostly smoothed out the, er, more awkward parts I’d say?  At the very least this second editing is taking less time.  I’m one session away from finishing it up.  If the third goes well, I should be posting it within the week.

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The State of the Gamer: 3/12/20

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<–The State of the Gamer: 2/27/20           The State of the Gamer: 3/26/20–>

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 Obtained

  • Final Fantasy IV: The After Years – $5.74 @ Steam
  • Final Fantasy IV – $5.75 @ Steam

What I Finished

Title: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies
Series Title: Ace Attorney
System: Nintendo 3DS

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney -Dual Destinies coverDate Started: 12/27/19
Date Finished: 3/11/20

That DLC case about the orca was really good and pretty tragic tbh.  It was definitely worth the money I spent on it.

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The State of the Reader: 3/11/20

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<–The State of the Reader: 2/26/20         The State of the Reader: 3/25/20–>

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

  • 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley: Including Gematria and Sepher Sephiroth by Aleister Crowley – $17.77 @ Amazon

Books Finished: 1

Title: Pestilence
Series Title: The Four Horsemen
Author: Laura Thalassa
Date Added: January 26, 2018
Date Started: February 24, 2020
Date Finished: Marcy 4, 2020

Cover of PestilenceMedia: eBook/Kindle

It seems somewhat irresponsible if not downright cruel to praise a book called “Pestilence” during an epidemic, but current events aren’t the author’s fault.  This book has a very good chance of being my best of 2020…which again is almost brutally ironic for present events.  It could be both hilarious and heartbreaking in the same sentence.  It made sense psychologically, and the main character is a total bad ass.

William Faulkner is quoted as saying, “The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict,” and I think Thalassa would’ve made him proud.  I need to hold off on reading the next book War only because I need some time to emotionally process this.

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The State of the Writer: 3/8/20

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<–The State of the Writer: 2/23/20         The State of the Writer: 3/22/20–>

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

Finished Projects: 0

Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Length: Novel
Current Word Count: 252,222
Prior Word Count: 252,492
Word Difference: -270
Status: Editing
Progress: First edit of Chapter 22

I don’t want to tell you how long it took me to locate this picture, but I feel like my embarrassment should be known.  The fact is, I was looking for another picture at the time, and I know I spotted this one, so when I started this post, I thought “Oo, I can use that one,” and then proceeded to not be able to find it again even through I went through the folder on Deviant Art that had it no less than four fucking times.  I also went through my Pinterest pics at least three before finally switching to my phone to find it so I could search for the artist’s name.  It’s easier on the phone, I think, because the screen is smaller.  My shit brain will get distracted while I’m looking for something, so even if it’s there, I’ll scroll right past it without picking it up, and it’s just…so…exhausting.  I’m pretty sure I have ADHD among other things, so I’m constantly multitasking without even wanting to multitask.  I have to keep my mind busy at all times, usually to avoid obtrusive thoughts, and that gets cumbersome when I actually need to do things like this.  Coffee helps…sometimes.

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