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writing log

2025 Writing Log, Part 22

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These days, the Italian Market district of Philadelphia is primarily Latin American, and I go there all the time to eat. This week I tried a slightly fancier seafood specialty restaurant called Blue Corn (their Instagram is here), and it was so fucking good. I’m not opposed to the idea of moving to Europe, but there are many benefits to living in the United States.

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24 Hours to Deadline!

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Lake Lewisia #1261

The many mirrors of the Beacon House sometimes spent too long reflecting each other, an endless tunnel of silvered glass that slowly lost more and more light as it iterated. So in spring, when the sun was growing stronger, the keepers methodically rearranged them, rotating new ones out to the positions that caught more of the house’s white walls and broad lower windows, breaking up pairs that had gone too far down dark alleys. Up into the high reaches of the tower, new light bounced, refreshed, renewed, rekindled, to illuminate those in need.

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LL#1261

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A little of this, a little of that

I've been sick the past 3 weeks or so. I'm starting to feel a bit better, though. Let's see, what have I been up to since then...

I played some more Baldur's Gate 3. I've been exploring the Underdark and am about to go talk to some cool mushroom people.

I finished watching a playthrough of Sonic Adventure 2. I am very confused about a bunch of stuff, and I don't even think I could articulate it at this point. I also started watching a playthrough of Sonic Heroes. And wouldn't you know it? I'm confused again. I'm guessing this is going to be a recurring thing for me with the Sonic games. Might have to check a wiki or something later.

(Mostly my confusion is about the whole Project Shadow/Biolizard stuff and the whole thing with Maria. Like, were Shadow's memories fabricated or something? And also Shadow has amnesia now? Or is he a robot? Just... what??)

(Rouge continues to be great, and I love her a lot.)

My copy of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was delayed, so that's a bummer. Looking forward to playing it once I can, though.

I bought The Last of Us Part 1 remake on Steam during the zombie sale. It runs pretty well on my computer, thankfully. I had one crash early on, but I changed the graphics settings from auto to high, and I haven't had any more crashes since then. So maybe that helped. Or not, I don't know. Computers are weird.

I've played right up to the part where you're about to meet Bill. The graphics are so pretty! I found myself mesmerized by Tess's face at multiple points. Like, wow, look at those expressions! That kind of thing.

Oh! I nearly forgot. Apparently the next chapters of Deltarune already came out??? I have not been following the going-on's closely enough, I guess. I really ought to play it ASAP before I run into spoilers.

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2025,
pinch hits

2 pinch hits added, due 5 July (and check-in approaching)

Updated pinch hits here! Thanks very much to everyone who has claimed one. If you can claim one of these, please comment with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want. All comments are screened.

These pinch hits are now due on 5 Julyy, and they require a check-in during the week of 7-14 June. If you would like to claim one but know you'll need longer than a month, please let me know, and we can discus.

You may ask to exchange your assignment for an open pinch hit. If you are given that pinch hit and fulfill it, this won't count as a default. Please tell me in your comment requesting a pinch hit if you are asking to swap.

Also please consider our treats for pinch hitters post!

This will be the last pinch hit post before the check-in period closes on 14 June.

( PH 2 - Blue Lock (Manga), 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Fairy Tail )

( PH 5 - Temeraire - Naomi Novik, The Inheritance Cycle - Christopher Paolini, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman )

( PH 8 - Path of Night (Podcast), Vampire: The Masquerade - Various Authors (Choice of Games), Vampire: The Masquerade Port Saga (Podcast) )

( PH 9 - 終わりのセラフ | Owari no Seraph | Seraph of the End (Anime & Manga), Blue Lock (Manga), Fairy Tail )

( PH 13 - The Elementalists (Visual Novel), Heart of Battle - Fay Ikin, Royal Affairs - Harris-Powell-Smith )

( PH 17 - Breaking Bad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), The Godfather (1972 1974 1990) )

( PH 19 - Ace Combat (Video Games), Dishonored (Video Games), Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors )

( PH 20 - ATEEZ (Band), Blink-182 (Band), Men's Basketball RPF )

( CLAIMED - PH 26 - One Piece (Anime & Manga), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Poker Face (TV 2023), Wolf's Rain (Anime), Tortall - Tamora Pierce )

( PH 27 - The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien )

Executive Malfunction

I have three tasks before me:

Apply for Medicaid
Request court for legal name change
Request court to petition another state to change my birth certificate*

I don't know the best order in which to do these, since they'll each affect one another. This has led to a domino effect where I have completely shut down, despite having the paperwork ready and sitting on my table. I'm not even answering social media messages/comments anymore because my brain has been too busy doing a War Games Tic-Tac-Toe freakout.

I have NO idea why I'm like this but I really need someone to shake me silly

*(a cool thing my state can supposedly do, but nobody at the courthouse or vital records know how to do, so I need to consult legal aid)

EDIT: I got two of them done!! Sort of. They're both in "hurry up and wait" status. I still need to catch up on online messages, hopefully I can make myself do that tomorrow 🤞

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We Continue.

My gaming partner Tem has been away for a few days, so I've been taking an enforced break from ludicrous child soldier simulator The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.

I was itching for something else to play in the meantime, so I've picked up Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I'm having a really good time with it!

The central concept of Clair Obscur is so interesting. This is the main reason I took an interest in this game; I looked up the central premise and went, 'Huh, that's really unusual and fascinating.' The fact that a lot of people I follow on Dreamwidth are playing and enjoying it definitely helped to recommend it! But just learning the premise was the first thing that tempted me to play this game.

I'll pop the premise behind a short cut, just in case anyone wants to go into this game knowing nothing at all. This cut only contains the basic concept of the game; there's a more spoilery cut further down the post.

( The premise of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. )

I was a little nervous about the battle system, but I'm enjoying it! It's challenging - more than once I've had my party wiped out during a regular enemy encounter - but I'm having fun. I tend not to like games that really expect you to be able to parry with precise timing, but it turns out that's a demand I'm a lot more comfortable with in a turn-based battle system; I only have to focus on parrying during the enemy's turn, rather than having to worry about it all the time.

The scenery is gorgeous. I love how weird and dreamlike the landscapes are. Incredible soundtrack, too.

Major spoilers below the cut! I've just reached the Forgotten Battlefield.

( Spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. )

As a final note: Clair Obscur is perhaps the Frenchest game I've ever played, which is saying something, given that I've played Assassin's Creed: Unity.

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Lake Lewisia #1260

When you say, “They are all out to get me,” or, “The world wants me dead,” you are mistaken. Take this small dog, for instance, which is experiencing the new thrill of receiving head pats from you for the first time, or this bee which has been enticed over by that new perfume you treated yourself to, or this flower which dusted your nose with pollen when you smelled it and gladly made you an accomplice to its reproductive cycle. The world is vast and full of things, and a small and shameful percentage of your own species cannot outweigh the hundreds of thousands of beetle species who think you are entirely acceptable, just for a start.

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LL#1260

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May Media Roundup

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Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: instrumental music

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Old PC games from my childhood

I've been meaning to write about topics from my childhood for some time now. I figured writing about something lighthearted like that might be good. For those of you who may not know I am 37 now. I grew up in the 90's. We didn't have a-lot of money, I would consider us lower income. We weren't able to stay on the computer for long - and honestly I don't think we liked to stay on all that much anyway.
I can't remember much when it comes to what sort of computer we had while growing up. It was pretty basic and starting off we mostly just had regular CD games for it. Some were educational games, some were demos and introductions to games we couldn't afford or get but overall most of them were Sim games. I think it started off with Sim safari and Sim park. Then it grew into the other Sim games like streets of Sim city and Sim copter. The titles make them pretty easy to understand but basically you created a park or a city and did stuff in it. Or in the case of Sim copter or Streets of Sim city - you would ride around in said vehicle and do whatever you wanted honestly. Sometimes I would just do my own thing - other times I would follow along with what the game asked of me. I loved Sim park and Sim safari the best, because of the animals -let's be honest - even as an adult I am a sucker for games or anything based around animals. I also played the Creatures game where you had an egg that hatched into a cute little monster like critter. Then you raised that creature along with others in this fantasy world. I also liked two other games - the one being called Afterlife in which you created a heaven and hell. I'm a bit surprised my parents let me get this game. At times it was somewhat complicated for me but I still enjoyed it overall. And the other one I also enjoyed playing was a game about the Titanic. It was mystery that you were on the ship and like an undercover spy and had to solve a mystery before the ship sank. I could never complete it regardless what I did. But it was a neat game and I was always interested in that famous sinking.
I wish I could remember more of the names of the games we had for our computer back then. At times I will catch myself thinking of them and trying to remember some details but it gets to be foggy at times. It was an interesting time to be a kid - having the in-between of growing up with little to no technology to then becoming a older child into adult and slowly getting into it over the years. We had dial up for the longest time and it was fine, taught us patience. I think I will write about more of my computer games that were downloaded and not on CDs another time soon.
Do you guys have any games from your childhood you'd like to share about? Computer or otherwise?

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: instrumental music

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Two more weeks for Wiley!

So two more weeks hopefully for Wiley until he get's his splint taken off for good. The fracture isn't quite where it should be with healing all the way. This was disappointing news but honestly didn't surprise me all that much. I am a pessimistic deep down in my heart and in situations like this it helps - as bad as that sounds. I can tell he's over it, just Thursday night before he had to go in for his x rays he started chewing off his tape around his splint - and so are we. But just a bit longer. This has been a tiring experience to say the least.

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Lake Lewisia #1259

A new water polo team has been formed and will be hosting tryouts this weekend for those with the skills, confidence, and possibly foolishness to compete. The kelpies seem extremely, perhaps even disturbingly excited for their part on the teams, and we noticed a suspicious lack of polo mallets or balls at the hastily constructed lakeside clubhouse. We recommend anyone trying out also be scuba certified and bring an alternative source of oxygen, just in case the kelpies are excited about something else entirely.

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LL#1259

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2025,
treats

Treats for Pinch Hitters

We're grateful to all our pinch hitters! 5,000 words or 5 pages is a big commitment without any guarantee of a gift in return.

A number of people are writing pinch hits but didn’t sign up for the exchange, and we’d like to give them the opportunity to leave prompts for treats. Treats for pinch hitters go in the same location as treats for anyone else, in the main collection.

If you picked up a pinch hit, aren’t signed up for the exchange, and would appreciate treats, please leave your AO3 name in a comment here along with the fandoms you’re interested in. You can specify characters/relationships, fic or comics, genres, prompts, and DNWs--as much detail as you'd like. Linking to past letters is also fine.

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Neener Neener Neener Neener, You're An Evil Murderer.

More of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy! I have now completed the route full of bees.

( Notes on The Hundred Line. )

Nineteen endings down; eighty-one to go! We have been playing this game for ninety hours.

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guillotine

Re: Flesh, Blood, & Concrete

It feels stupid to say this, but I hope everyone in Russia is doing okay. I hope everyone in Ukraine is doing okay too, obviously. As okay as they can be.

As an American, I don't have any moral high ground. Still, I definitely know what it feels like to be held hostage by an insane government. For Pride Month this year, I would like to wish all populist dictators a very [redacted].

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Flesh, Blood, & Concrete

Flesh, Blood, & Concrete
https://waxwing0.itch.io/fbc

Flesh, Blood, & Concrete is a free-to-play RPG Maker adventure game that bills itself as “an apartment building exploration simulator.” During its 45-minute playtime, the game delves into themes of isolation, mental illness, and existential dread within the confines of a decaying apartment complex.

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As an aside, I was just thinking that I’d love to see more games set in Eastern Europe. Flesh, Blood, & Concrete is a universal story, but the specificity of the game’s Russian setting adds a unique and interesting flavor. I also appreciate that this “apartment exploration simulator” takes the darker aspects of mental illness seriously but still delights in the playfulness of its morbid style of creative expression. It's one of the more intriguing RPG Maker horror games I’ve encountered, and I’d recommend giving it a shot if you can handle the (literal) viscerality of its imagery.

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progress

Done This Week

Another absolutely brutal heat wave. The air quality has been terrible as well, such that I’ve been having asthma-like symptoms off and on all week. It’s supposed to cool off sharply this week, so I’m holding out hope that things will be a bit less taxing.

I got bloodwork done for my upcoming rheumatologist appointment (which has already been rescheduled by them once, because they’re always like this). Thus begins what will be a full month of endless doctor appointments, which I am broadly dreading.

I saw a flock of rental goats out cleaning a hillside on my way into town. While I don’t particularly want to have more animals to look after, the prospect of a few goats does sound fun. Maybe someday.

Lewisia: 3 new pieces written, June posts queued up

Day job: 33.25 hours with the short holiday week and coming in late one day

Gardening: against my will but at mum’s request, I mowed in the wildflower field, pruned the big operculicarya into a more respectable shape and moved it to a spot outside of the cold frame

Reading: Strangers in Paradise #8, 9, & 10 (oh, I love my little soap opera, I’ve hit the section where it is overtly playing with the idea of alternate timelines)

Watching: more Murderbot TV :3, finally watched Jurassic World 3 (hm, it’s not good, even if it’s nice seeing the old team back together)

Listening: Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay (saw the video below of them performing Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes” and liked their sound enough to pick up an album)

Watch on YouTube

Clock Mouse: 1630 words, a third named character, and picking up some kind of momentum

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the legend of zelda

Re: 2025 Writing Log, Part 21

My "fun references for Ganondorf" are all this sort of thing btw:

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If Ganondorf is not serving cunt then what's he even doing in your game. I mean honestly.

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writing log

2025 Writing Log, Part 21

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I had a good time with moss and forests this past month, but now it’s hot girl summer, and by “hot girl” I mean Ganondorf. I’ve been collecting a bunch of fun references, and now I’m looking forward to once again being very weird about a fictional character online.

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Lake Lewisia #1258

The little tugboat that patrolled the waters off Rocky Head Beach was captained by an equally little person who appeared to be somewhere between forty and seventy-five, depending on how historically severe one imagined the weather conditions to have been. They would, with no prompting at all, inform visitors to the boat that she had hauled warships and schooners and weekend warriors in kayaks as a free public service. Such a conversation usually took place in the middle of haggling over the price of some piece of the waterlogged treasures of dubious origin heaped on the stern, the bill-paying side hustle to their charity.

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LL#1258