Month: July 2021

The State of the Gamer: 7/29/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 7/15/21           The State of the Gamer: 8/12/21–>

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 Purchased

  • The Darkside Detective (Point-and-Click/Adventure) – $5.84 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Tested on Humans: Escape Room (Puzzle/Adventure) – $3.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • The Lost Child (RPG/JRPG) – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop
  • The Dark Eye: Memoria (Point-and-Click/Puzzle) – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop

Total: $29.81

What I’m Playing

Title: Tales of Vesperia
Series: Tales
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Tales of VesperiaDate Started: May 23, 2021

I am well into the third act of the game and have over 120 hours in.  I’m not exactly sure where when it’s going to end, but I at least know what the real threat is now that we’ve cut through the chaff.  I’ve started using a spoiler free* guide to the side quests since Vesperia has a lot of missables.  There are some that I’m already out of luck on (like the 50% Monster Book and Nan) since I didn’t know about them in the beginning (and watching Oliz play through it has really confirmed that), but I’m trying to get all of the ones I can.  There are some I’m willing to forgo like the dragon races with Ba’ul.  I just eked out a win in the first level.  I’m not good at those types of games, and the big reason to do it seemed to be so you’d get the upgrade that would allow Ba’ul to land on this one island, but something happened in the game that made it accessible so I’m not even sure that’s necessary anymore.

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The State of the Reader: 7/28/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 4 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 7/14/21         The State of the Reader: 8/11/21–>

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: $11.97

Books Finished: 1

Title: We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep
Author: Andrew Kelly Stewart
Date Added: May 22, 2021
Date Started: July 16, 2021
Date Finished: July 23, 2021

Cover of We Shall Sing a Song Into the Deep by Andrew Kelly StewartMedia: eBook/Kindle

I loved the lyricism of this novella, words I can fall in love with.  I’m also a fan of the specific, post-apocalyptic trope where people, usually children, are lied to about the circumstances/situation and they have to figure out what’s really going on.  This is the author’s first book, and he absolutely captured not only the trapped and claustrophibic elements of subsisting in a derelict and failing nuclear sub, but the same for the cruel and monastic order forced upon the main character and their peers.

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The State of the Writer: 7/25/21

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<–The State of the Writer: 7/11/21         The State of the Writer: 8/8/21–>

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: 676
Prior Word Count: 676
Word Difference: 0
Status: Drafting
Progress: Chapter 1

I’ve been stuck in a stalemate with this.  It happens when there’s just too much.  My notes are currently spread across Scrivener and OneNote, and I was drafting the story in Scrivener.  I need to put all my notes in one place, and I decided I’m going to draft the story in Word like my other ones.  So now I need to move things from OneNote.  I haven’t entirely figured it all out yet, but I have a plan, and that’s better than nothing.

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The Broken Rose: Chapter 7 – Dark Promises

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Update: Another artwork update from my lovely illustrator who now has an Etsy shop you should check out!  I’m so happy the artwork for this chapter is completed, as I had to remove the one that was here prior, so I’m overjoyed to have a custom made replacement.

The Broken Rose Page

<–Chapter 6                                                                                                    Chapter 8–>

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its characters, and settings are all property of Square Enix so I can take no credit nor claim any ownership of that. I do take some credit for the story’s plot.
Banner Artwork Disclaimer:  The featured artwork for the banner is entitled White rose I and was created by the very talented Deviant Artist RemusSirion who was gracious enough to grant me permission to use it here.  The picture has been slightly altered from the original. All rights belong to the artist, and links are included for both the artist page and the work.

*******MAJOR CONTENT WARNING*******

Consistent and sustained graphic descriptions and mentions of rape/ sexual assault, sexual slavery/bondage, slavery, human trafficking, physical abuse, graphic descriptions of violence, mental abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, body shaming, starvation, torture, forced pregnancy, forced childbirth, miscarriage, forced miscarriage, abortion, and other potential disturbing and triggering topics.

Sephiroth returns to hunting for monsters on the outskirts of the town, though he reflects, in thinking of Aeris, that their boundaries exceed his borders.  Monsters “hunt” her, too, and she asks him for something the fallen can scarcely believe.

The sea was as hushed as it could be and the stars above only spoke silence.  In language unmeant for mortal ears, and he had no wish to heed them.  The sky and him could never be friends, his guilt and its dark bound together.  Nor did he need the moon to hunt, but that crescent still carved him a horn.  It shimmered pale hair and paler skin and gave the stars something to mourn.

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The State of the Gamer: 7/15/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 7/1/21           The State of the Gamer: 7/29/21–>

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 Purchased

  • Sky: Children of the Light – $0.00 @ Nintendo eShop
  • Discolored – $9.99 @ Nintendo eShop

Total: $9.99

What I Finished

Title: Discolored
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of DiscoloredDate Started: July 13, 2021
Date Finished: July 14, 2021

This was such a quick and fun play.  I wish it were a little bit longer, but I have a feeling they’re going to make more; the ending certainly teased it (a little too cruelly if you ask me).  I was a little worried it was going to be a scary game, and I’ll be honest, near the end it gets the slightest bit creepy, but that’s only because I’m a wuss puss who’s been watching too many horror LPs.  It only takes about two hours to complete, and there’s a robust hint system if you get lost.  I used it more than I wanted to, but that’s totally on me.  I’ll be looking for more items from Godbey Games.

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The State of the Reader: 7/14/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 9 Comments

<–The State of the Reader: 6/30/21         The State of the Reader: 7/28/21–>

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: $12.88

Books DNF: 1

Title: The Magnum Opus: Seek and You Shall Find
Authors: Christopher & Christine Kezelos
Date Added: October 7, 2020
Date Started: July 1, 2021
Date DNF: July 14, 2021

Cover of The Magnum Opus: Seek and You Shall Find by Christopher & Christine KezelosMedia: eBook/Kindle
Progress at DNF: 43%

I had such high hopes for this after watching the charming (if a little creepy) short film (thank you By Hook or By Book for featuring this on your Whimsical Wednesday post!).  The novel promised to expand upon the story and show what happened after the making was done and the original Maker disappeared into glitter.  Initially, I was intrigued if saddened by the turn of events, but still interested even though where the plot was going was blatantly clear.  I almost shelved it a few times before, but things kept happening to hold my interest for a little longer, but I have to be honest: the novel direly needs a good editor.  There were not only the little errors e.g. missing commas in dialogue tags and misspellings, but the chapter would just switch perpsectives without a break, and I mean characters that were in completely different places.

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The State of the Writer: 7/11/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 15 Comments

<–The State of the Writer: 6/27/21         The State of the Writer: 7/25/21–>

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: 676
Prior Word Count: 676
Word Difference: 0
Status: Drafting
Progress: Chapter 1

A little bit of progress?  Like not really in the word count department, but any progress is good, I suppose?  I left myself a note in a previous session to work on outfit descriptions in the next.  I’m not there in the draft yet, but if I have a destination to strive towards, it’s possible I could “build a bridge” per se, so I’ve been working on that.  So far, I’m in the midst of Maya’s (the female MC), and of course as per my brand, I’m adding more than I expected lol, but it’s alright.

*sigh* I also started going back to the worldbuilding, because of course I did.  That’s okay, too.  One of my lovely friends made an excellent point.  She said that even just daydreaming about your projects is working on them, and I’m doing more than that.  Because just thinking about them is solidifying things in your mind, so I shouldn’t be so hard on myself, especially in light of all I’m fighting against.

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The State of the Gamer: 7/1/21

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 5 Comments

<–The State of the Gamer: 6/17/21           The State of the Gamer: 7/15/21–>

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 Purchased

  • Kathy Rain – $2.99 on Steam

What I Put On Hold

Title: Old Man’s Journey
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Old Man's JourneyDate Started: June 15, 2021

I’m really into Tales of Vesperia right now.  I might come back to this when I’m between games again (since that’s why I started playing it anyway).

What I’m Playing

Title: Tales of Vesperia
Series: Tales
System: Nintendo Switch

Cover of Tales of VesperiaDate Started: May 23, 2021

I am really into this game, and I can certainly see why it’s a fan favorite.  Definite thematic similarities to FFVI and FFVII (those are the two I immediately thought of; I’m not discounting any other Final Fantasies) with the the war between humans and monsters for the former and magic/power through alchemical necromancy in both (holy shit “alchemical necromancy” is a kick ass term.  Definitely noted that down).

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